ed
to have arrived long before. At that moment, the light fog which had
been hovering over the river was dispersed, and the other shore became
visible, and showed us a sight which arrested our attention. There, too,
the drama of destruction was acting, though on a smaller scale.

Just opposite to us was a canoe, the same in which our two Indians had
gone upon their expedition the day before. The two Umbiquas keeping the
stolen horses were a few yards from it; they had apparently discovered
it a few minutes before, and were uncertain what course to pursue; they
heard both the war-whoop and the yell of their own people, and were not
a little puzzled; but as soon as the fog was entirely gone they
perceived their party, where they had sheltered themselves, and probably
in obedience to some signals from it, they prepared to cross the river.
At the very moment they were untying the canoe, there was a flash and
two sharp reports; the Indians fell down--they were dead. Our two
scouts, who were concealed behind some bushes, then appeared, and began
coolly to take the scalps, regardless of a shower of arrows from the
yelling and disappointed Umbiquas. Nor was this all: in their rage and
anxiety, our enemies had exposed themselves beyond the protection of the
rock; they presented a fair mark, and just as the chief was looking
behind him to see if there was any movement to fear from the
boat-house, four more of his men fell under our fire.

The horrible yells which followed, I can never describe, although the
events of this my first fight are yet fresh in my mind. The Umbiquas
took their dead and turned to the east, in the direction of the
mountains, which they believed would be their only means of escaping
destruction. They were now reduced to only ten men, and their appearance
was melancholy and dejected. They felt that they were doomed never more
to return to their own home.

We gathered from our scouts opposite that the six warriors of the post
had returned from the settlement, and lay somewhere in ambush; this
decided us. Descending by the ladders which the Indians had left behind
them, we entered the prairie path, so as to bar their retreat in every
direction.

Let me wind up this tale of slaughter. The Umbiquas fell headlong on the
ambush, by which four more of them were killed; the remainder dispersed
in the prairie, where they tried in vain to obtain a momentary refuge in
the chasms. Before mid-day they were all destro