over me. It appears that I had received a coup-de-soleil,
in addition to my other mischances.

When I returned to consciousness, I was astonished to see Gabriel and
Roche by my side; the expedition had returned triumphant. The Cayugas'
villages had been burnt, almost all their warriors destroyed, and those
who remained had sought a shelter in the fissures of the earth, or in
the passes of the mountains unknown to any but themselves. Two of the
Mexican girls had also been rescued, but what had become of the others
they could not tell.

The kindness and cares of my friends, with the invigorating influence of
a beautiful clime, soon restored me to comparative health, but it was a
long time before I was strong enough to ride and resume my former
exercise. During that time Gabriel made frequent excursions to the
southern and even to the Mexican settlements, and on the return from his
last trip he brought up news which caused the Indians, for that year, to
forsake their hunting, and remain at home. General Lamar and his
associates had hit upon a plan not only treacherous, but in open
defiance of all the laws of nations. But what, indeed, could be expected
from a people who murdered their guests, invited by them, and under the
sanction of a white flag. I refer to the massacre of the Comanche chiefs
at San Antonio.

The President of Mexico, Bustamente, had a view to a cessation of
hostilities with Texas. The Texans had sent ambassadors to negotiate a
recognition and treaty of alliance and friendship with other nations;
they had despatched Hamilton to England to supplicate the cabinet of St.
James to lend its mighty influence towards the recognition of Texas by
Mexico; and while these negotiations were pending, and the peace with
Mexico still in force, Lamar, in defiance of all good faith and honour,
was secretly preparing an expedition, which, under the disguise of a
mercantile caravan, was intended to conquer Santa Fe and all the
northern Mexican provinces. This expedition of the Texans, as it would
pass through the territory of the Comanches, whose villages, &c., if
unprotected, would, in all probability, have been plundered, and their
women and children murdered, induced the Comanches to break up their
camp, and return home as speedily as possible.

CHAPTER XXIV.

During my convalescence, my tent, or I should say, the lawn before it,
became a kind of general divan, where the warriors and elders of the
tribe wou