l-known courage obtained for him the presidency, has
declared his intention to do the same, and to retire to the United
States, to follow up his original profession of a lawyer. Such is the
demoralised state of Texas at the present moment; what it may hereafter
be is in the womb of Time.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

We had now entered the white settlements of the Sabine river, and found,
to our astonishment, that, far from arriving at civilisation, we were
receding from it; the farms of the Wakoes and well-cultivated fields of
the Pawnee-Picts, their numerous cattle and comfortable dwellings, were
a strong contrast to the miserable twelve-feet-square mud-and-log cabins
we passed by. Every farmer we met was a perfect picture of wretchedness
and misery; their women dirty and covered with rags, which could
scarcely conceal their nudity; the cattle lean and starving; and the
horses so weak, that they could scarcely stand upon their legs.

Where was the boasted superiority of the Texians over the Indian race?
or were these individuals around us of that class of beings who, not
daring to reside within the jurisdiction of the law, were obliged to
lead a borderer's life, exposed to all the horrors of Indian warfare and
famine? Upon inquiry, we discovered that these frontier men were all,
more or less, eminent members of the Texian Republic, one being a
general, another a colonel; some speakers of the House of
Representatives; and many of them members of Congress, judges, and
magistrates. Notwithstanding their high official appointments, we did
not think it prudent to stop among them, but pushed on briskly, with our
rifles across the pommels of our saddles; indeed, from the covetous eyes
which these magistrates and big men occasionally cast upon our horses
and saddle-bags, we expected at every moment that we should be attacked.

A smart ride of two hours brought us to a second settlement which
contrasted most singularly with the first. Here, all the houses were
neat and spacious, with fine barns and stables; the fields were well
enclosed, and covered with a green carpet of clover, upon which were
grazing cattle and horses of a superior breed.

This sight of comfort and plenty restored our confidence in
civilisation, which confidence we had totally lost at the first
settlement we had fallen in with; and perceiving, among others, a
dwelling surrounded with gardens arranged with some taste, we stopped
our horses and asked fo