The Desert Home: The Adventures of a Lost Family in the Wilderness Read online

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.

  We were soon in the bottom of the valley, where we followed a plaintrack that led along the banks of the rivulet. We knew that that woulddirect us up to the lake, where we should get a view of the house. Wewere astonished at the great variety of trees which we saw in the woods;but there appeared to be almost as great a variety of beautiful birds,that fluttered among the leaves as we rode forward.

  We came at length within sight of the opening in which the house andlake were situated. It was prudent to make another reconnoissancebefore we advanced farther; and two of us, again dismounting, stolecautiously forward through a thicket of leafy Shrubs. The house and allits grounds lay before us.

  It was a log-house--such as are met with in the western states ofAmerica--and well constructed. There was a garden at one end, andfields on all sides. These fields were, as we had supposed, some ofthem under cultivation. We noticed one with a crop of Indian corn, andanother of wheat. But what most astonished us was the kind of animalswe saw in the enclosures. One would have thought at first sight thatthey were the animals usually seen around an English or Americanfarm-house,--that is to say, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, andpoultry. You may fancy, then, our surprise, when, on looking narrowlyat them, we could not make out a single animal exactly resembling anyone of the above, with the exception of horses; and even these wereunlike the common kind, for they were smaller, and spotted all over likehounds! We knew that they were _mustangs_--the wild horses of theDesert.

  We glanced at the animals we had taken for black cattle. What were theybut buffaloes! Buffaloes penned up in fields, and not heeding the humanbeings that passed shouting among them! More than all, we now saw thattwo animals yoked to the plough were of the same species,--a pair ofhuge buffalo bulls; and they were working with all the quietness andregularity of oxen!

  Another kind of large animals drew our attention, still taller than thebuffaloes. We saw several of them standing quietly in the water of thelake, in which their huge bodies and branching horns were shadowed as ina mirror. These we knew to be elk--the great American elk. We sawseveral kinds of deer, and antelopes with their short pronged horns, andanimals that resembled these last in size--but with immense curvinghorns like those of the ram--and other animals like goats or sheep. Wesaw some without tails, having the appearance of pigs, and othersresembling foxes and dogs. We could see fowls of different kinds movingabout the doors, and among others we distinguished the tall, uprightform of the wild turkey. The whole picture looked like the collectionof some zoological garden or menagerie.

  Two men were seen,--one a tall, white man, with a somewhat floridcomplexion. The other was a short and very thick-set negro. The latterwas by the plough. There were two younger men, or lads nearly grown. Awoman sat by the door engaged in some occupation, and near her were twolittle girls, no doubt her daughters.

  But the sight which was strangest of all, both to my companion andmyself, was what appeared in front of the house, and around the littleporch where the woman was sitting. It was a fearful sight to look upon.First there were two large black bears, perfectly loose, and playingwith each other! Then there were several smaller animals, that we hadat first taken for dogs, but that we now recognised, by their bushytails, sharp snouts, and short erect ears, to have at least as much ofthe wolf as dog in them. They were of that kind often met with amongthe Indians, and might more properly be called dog-wolves thanwolf-dogs. There were at least half-a-dozen of them sauntering about.But the most fearful-looking of all were two animals of a tawny redcolour, that lay in crouching attitudes within the porch, almost at thefeet of the woman. Their round, cat-like heads and ears, their shortblack muzzles, their white throats, and pale reddish breasts, told uswhat they were at a glance.

  "Panthers!" ejaculated my companion, drawing a long breath, and lookingat me with a puzzled air. Yes; they were panthers--so called by thehunters, but more properly cougars--the _felis concolor_ of thenaturalists--the lion of America.

  In the midst of all these fierce creatures, the two young girls weremoving about, apparently unconcerned at their presence, while theanimals appeared equally unconcerned about them! The whole scenereminded us of the fanciful pictures, we had seen, of that time promisedin the Sacred Book, when all the earth shall be at peace, and "the lionshall lie down with the lamb."

  We did not stop to see more. We were satisfied, and went back for ourcompanions. In five minutes after, the whole of us entered theclearing, and rode up to the house. Our sudden appearance producedconsternation on all sides. The men shouted to each other--the horsesneighed--the dogs howled and barked hoarsely--and the fowls mingledtheir voices in the clamour. We were taken, no doubt, for a party ofIndians; but we were not long in making it understood who and what wewere. As soon as our explanations were given, the white man invited us,in the politest manner, to alight, and partake of his hospitality. Atthe same time he gave orders for our dinner to be prepared; and,desiring us to lead our horses into one of the enclosures, he commencedthrowing corn into a large wooden trough. In this he was assisted bythe negro, who was his servant, and the two young lads, who appeared tobe his sons.

  As yet we had not ceased to wonder. Everything around us was strangeand inexplicable. The animals, which none of us had ever seen, exceptin their wild state, were as tame and gentle as farm cattle; and wenoticed some new species at every turn. There were strange plants too,growing in the fields and garden, and vines trained upon espaliers, andcorn-cribs filled with yellow corn, and dove-cotes, and martin-boxes,with swallows twittering around them. All formed a curious but pleasingpicture.

  We had sauntered about for an hour, when we were summoned to dinner.

  "Follow me, gentlemen," said our host, as he led the way to the house.We entered, and seated ourselves around a good-sized table, upon whichsmoked several savoury and inviting dishes. Some of these we recognisedas old acquaintances, while others were new to us. We foundvenison-steaks, with buffalo tongues and hump-ribs,--the daintiestportions of that animal. There were fresh-cooked fowls, and eggs of thewild turkey boiled and dressed in omelettes. There were bread andbutter, and milk and rich cheese, all set out to tempt our appetites,that, to say the truth, just at that time did not require much coaxingto do justice to the viands before us. We were all quite hungry, for wehad eaten nothing since morning. A large kettle simmered by the fire.What could it contain? thought we; surely, not tea or coffee. In ashort time we were satisfied on this head. Bowls were placed before us;and into these the hot liquid was poured, which we found to be a verypalatable as well as wholesome beverage--the tea of the sassafras root.It was sweetened by maple-sugar; and each helped himself to cream to hisown liking. We had all tasted such tea before, and many of our partyliked it as well as the tea of China.

  While we continued to eat, we could not help noticing the strangeness ofeverything around us. All the articles of furniture were of unique andrude description; and it was plain that most of them had beenmanufactured upon the spot. The vessels were of several sorts and ofdifferent materials. There were cups and dishes, and bowls cut out ofshells of the gourd or calabash; and there were spoons and ladles of thesame material. There were wooden platters and trays carved and scoopedout of the solid tree. And more numerous were the vessels of redpottery, of different shapes and for different uses. Of these therewere large pots for cooking, and jars for holding water, and jugs ofvarious dimensions.

  The chairs, too, were all of rude construction; but admirably adapted totheir purpose. Most of them were covered with raw-hide seats, whichstretched up the back in a slanting line, and thus rendered them firmand commodious. A few lighter ones--evidently intended as the furnitureof the inner rooms--(there were but two in the house), had seats wovenout of the leaves of the palmetto.

  There was very little attempt at ornament upon the walls--if we exceptsome curiosities that were placed there, all of which were evidently theproductions
of the valley itself. There were stuffed birds of rare andbright plumage, and huge horns of animals, with two or three shells ofthe land tortoise carefully polished. There were no mirrors norpictures, and not a book to be seen, except _one_; that was amedium-sized volume, placed on a small table by itself, and evidentlypreserved with great care as it had been neatly and elaborately bound inthe skin of a young antelope. I had the curiosity to open this book,shortly after entering. I read upon the title-page the words "HolyBible." This circumstance increased the interest I already felt in ourhost and his family; and I sat down with feelings of confidence, for Iknew that even in this remote place we were enjoying the hospitality ofa Christian.

  During the meal our host with his family were present. We had seen themall on our arrival, for they had run forward to greet and welcome us;but we became puzzled as we listened to the conversation of thechildren. We heard with surprise that we were the first white men theyhad seen for a period of nearly ten years! They were all beautifulchildren--robust, and full of life and animation. There were two boys--Frank and Harry,--so their mother called them--and two girls. Of thegirls one was of a very dark complexion--in fact, quite a brunette, andwith a Spanish expression of face. The other was as fair as her sisterwas dark. The fair one was a beautiful little creature with flowingyellow hair and deep blue eyes, with long, dark lashes. Her name wasMary. That of the sister was Luisa. They were both very pretty, butvery unlike each other; and, what was odd to me, they appeared to beabout the same age and size. The boys were also of like size, thoughboth much older than their sisters. They appeared to be seventeen ormore, but I could not have guessed which was the elder. Harry, with hisfair curling hair, and red manly face, bore a strong resemblance to hisfather; while the other was darker, and altogether more like the mother.She herself did not appear to be much over thirty-five years of age,and was still a beautiful and evidently a light-hearted woman.

  Our host was a man of about forty--a tall, well formed man, with lightruddy complexion, and hair that had been fair and curling, but was nowsomewhat grey. He had neither beard nor whiskers; but, on the contrary,his chin bore evidence that he had freshly shaved himself that very day;and his whole appearance was that of a man who regularly attended to theduties of the toilet. There was also about him a gentlemanlike bearing;and his address and conversation soon convinced all of us that we werein the company of an educated man.

  The dress of the whole family was peculiar. The man himself wore ahunting-shirt and leggings of tanned deerskin, and not unlike that ofour own hunters. The boys were similarly attired, but we could see thatthey had a sort of homespun linen garment underneath. The female partof the family were dressed in clothes, part of which were of the samehomespun, and part of a fine skin, that of the fawn, dressed to thesoftness of a glove. Several hats were lying about; and we noticed thatthey were curiously fabricated from the leaves of the palmetto.

  While we were eating, the negro appeared at the door, and, looking in,eyed us with glances of extreme curiosity. He was a short, stout man,black as jet, and apparently about forty years old. His head wascovered with a thick crop of small curls, that appeared to form an evensurface, making the outline of the skull as round as a ball. His teethwere very large and white, and anything but fierce--as he showed themonly when he smiled, and that he did almost continually. There wassomething very pleasing in the expression of his rich black eyes, whichwere never at rest, but kept always rolling on both sides of his flatand expanded nose.

  "Cudjo! drive out these animals," said the woman--or rather lady, weshould call her--for she was evidently entitled to be so styled. Hercommand, or more properly request--for she had made it in that tone--wasobeyed with alacrity. Cudjo leaped into the floor, and, after a shortwhile, succeeded in turning out the wolf-dogs, and panthers, and otherstrange animals, that up to this time had been snarling at each other,among our feet, to the no small terror of several of our party.

  All these things were so strange, that we watched them with interest andcuriosity. At length our meal was ended; and as we were most anxious tohave everything explained to us, we signified this desire to our host.

  "Wait until night," said he. "Around the cheerful log-fire I will tellyou my story. Meanwhile you all need other refreshment than eating.Come to the lake then, and take a bath. The sun is high and warm. Abath will refresh you after your dusty travel."

  So saying, he stepped out of the cottage, and proceeded towards thelake, followed by all our party. A few minutes after, we wererefreshing ourselves in the crystal water.

  During the remainder of the day, we occupied ourselves at differentemployments. Some went back to the mountain-foot for the mules andMexicans; while the rest of us strolled about the house and grounds--every now and then stumbling upon some new object of wonder.

  We were impatient for the coming of night, for we were wound up to apitch of extreme curiosity, and longed for an explanation of what we sawaround us.

  Night came at length; and after an excellent supper, we all sat aroundthe cheerful fire, to listen to the strange history of Robert Rolfe--forthat was the name of our host.