on the American side
of the Red River; the doctor was already speculating upon the fevers and
agues of the ensuing summer; the parson was continually dreaming of a
neat little church and a buxom wife, and the three lawyers, of rich fees
from the wealthy cotton planters. The next day, therefore, I was to be
alone, among a people less hospitable than the Indians, and among whom I
had to perform a journey of a thousand miles on horseback, constantly on
the outskirts of civilisation, and consequently exposed to all the
dangers of border travelling.

When we resumed our march through the swampy cane-brake, Gabriel, Roche,
and I kept a little behind our companions.

"Think twice, whilst it is yet time," said Gabriel to me, "and believe
me, it is better to rule over your devoted and attached tribe of
Shoshones than to indulge in dreams of establishing a western empire;
and, even if you will absolutely make the attempt, why should we seek
the help of white men? what can we expect from them and their assistance
but exorbitant claims and undue interference? With a few months'
regular organisation, the Comanches, Apaches, and Shoshones can be made
equal to any soldiers of the civilised world, and among them you will
have no traitors."

I felt the truth of what he said, and for a quarter of an hour I
remained silent: "Gabriel," replied I at last, "I have now gone too far
to recede, and the plans which I have devised are not for my own
advantage, but for the general welfare of the Shoshones and of all the
friendly tribes. I hope to live to see them a great nation, and, at all
events, it is worth a trial."

My friend shook his head mournfully; he was not convinced, but he knew
the bent of my temper, and was well aware that all he could say would
now be useless.

The natural buoyancy of our spirits would not, however, allow us to be
grave long; and when the loud shouts of the doctor announced that he had
caught a sight of the river, we spurred our horses, and soon rejoined
our company. We had by this time issued from the swampy cane-brakes,
and were entering a lane between two rich cotton-fields, and at the end
of which flowed the Red River; not the beautiful, clear, and transparent
stream running upon a rocky and sandy bed, as in the country inhabited
by the Comanches and Pawnee Picts, and there termed the Colorado of the
West; but a red and muddy, yet rapid stream. We agreed that we should
not ferry the river that evening