predominant of these noxious substances is a species of alkali, known there by the name of tequesquite. It is often seen oozing out from the surface of marshy grounds, about the table-plains of all Northern Mexico, forming a grayish crust, and is extensively used in the manufacture of soap, and sometimes by the bakers even for raising bread. Here we had another evidence of the alarming effects of the recent flood, the road for several miles along the margin of the lake being completely inundated. It was, however, in the city of Chihuahua itself that the disastrous consequences of the freshet were most severely felt. Some inferior houses of adobe were so much soaked by the rains, that they tumbled to the ground, occasioning the loss of several lives."- Vol. 11., pp. 80, 81.

Mr. Kendall's account of his adventures is already so generally known, through the medium of the public journals, • that it is unnecessary to relate in much detail the circumstances to which he was indebted for much inconvenience and suffering, and his readers for his lively and entertaining volumes. Early in 1841, partly in consequence of impaired health, and partly impelled by a desire to have some experience of life in the wilderness, he resolved to undertake a tour upon the prairies. An agent of the government of Texas chanced to be at that time in New Orleans, where Mr. Kendall resided, with the view of purchasing supplies for an expedition to Santa Fé. The president, General Lamar, had received information, that the inhabitants of that portion of New Mexico which lies on the eastern side of the Rio Grande, claimed by Texas as her western boundary, were anxious to throw off their allegiance to Mexico; and this expedition appears to have been designed to produce a revolution there, or, as it was more gently expressed, to give them an opportunity of throwing off the yoke; but its ostensible purpose was, to open a direct trade with Santa Fé by a nearer route than the one usually pursued through the United States. To this end, the members of the expedition were to go prepared to act as soldiers or traders, as circumstances might render most convenient. The military alternative was not made known to Mr. Kendall until the expedition was fairly on its way to Santa Fé. In an evil hour, he attached himself to this ill-starred company, supposing that it might afford the facilities for sport and adventure of which he was in quest; and he thus became the sharer of their fate. Mr. No. 126.

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Kendall is persuaded, that the expedition went forth with no hostile purpose against Mexico, and was provided with no greater armament than defence against the savages required. But he himself tells us, that, "on its arrival at its destined points, should the inhabitants really manifest a disposition to declare their full allegiance to Texas, the flag of the single-star republic would have been raised upon the government-house at Santa Fé "; and surely it is by no means marvellous, that Mexico should not regard this as a very friendly purpose; or, considering the relations subsisting between herself and Texas, should look upon such trading propositions as the Trojans looked upon the presents of the Greeks.

Mr. Kendall reached Galveston on the 19th of May. This was about a month before the expedition was ready for departure, and he employed the intervening time in seeing all he could of Texas. He has recorded the results of his observations in several chapters, to which circumstances since occurring have given greater interest than they possessed at the time of their publication, when the plan of our fraternization with its citizens had not become matter of earnest negotiation. Two hundred and seventy volunteers, divided into six companies, constituted the array, and they were accompanied by about fifty others, including General McLeod, the commander, and his staff, together with the Texan commissioners, merchants, tourists, and servants. Their tour through the wilderness was long and arduous, though not without scenes and incidents which afforded the author an opportunity for much animated and picturesque description. After passing, not without difficulty, the "Cross Timbers," a vast forest, from thirty to fifty miles in width, constituting, for hundreds of miles, the border which separates the western prairies from the woodlands of the settled parts of the United States, they reached, as they supposed, the Red River; and were confirmed in the supposition by a Mexican of their party, who professed himself familiarly acquainted with that stream. Whether he mis

led them intentionally, or not, does not appear; but, if he had been hired by his countrymen to betray his new associates, he could not have better served their purpose. Day after day, they went on under this erroneous persuasion, until they had come, as they supposed, within about eighty miles

of San Miguel; there, a party of three persons were sent forward to procure supplies and inquire into the state of feeling in that quarter, while the main body quietly pursued its way. Some doubt of the correctness of their course began to dawn upon them; but suffering, as they were, from hunger and thirst, and at a loss what direction to pursue, it was resolved to divide the party, by sending out a detachment of one hundred men, mounted, with instructions not to return until they should find the settlements. A more unfortunate measure could not well have been adopted; it is hardly credible, that the officers should have been so deluded as to the reception they were likely to encounter at their journey's end. Mr. Kendall accompanied this detachment. Thus,

separate divisions, the whole company were marching to their doom; the Mexicans, with honeyed words and professions of eternal friendship, first disarming, and then securing them as prisoners; giving them the full benefit of the earlier experience of Sir John Hawkins, and the later fortune of General Pike.

Mr. Kendall maintains his good humor and liveliness so well, while encountering the various trials, some serious ones, too, of his passage of the prairies, that we regret our inability to present to our readers several of his animated sketches. Those who are at all acquainted with the prairies will understand the danger he describes in the following passage. He had, in company with a veteran hunter, pursued some deer, without being aware, that, when they once take the alarm, they can rarely be approached within gunshot.

"My experience, in comparison with that of the veteran borderer, was limited, and I was simple enough not to resist the temptation of following the herd over a roll of the prairie, in the vain hope of obtaining a shot. They halted, as I supposed they would, but were on the look-out; and before I was within three hundred yards, again bounded off across the prairie. Hope induced me to give one more trial, which terminated like the first. I now reluctantly gave up the chase, and cast my eyes about for my fellow-hunter; but he was nowhere in sight. I tried hurriedly to ascertain the direction in which I had left him ; but the result of my reflections convinced me that I was, to use a common expression, thoroughly turned round,'-lost. I put spurs to my horse and galloped to the highest roll of the prairie,

with the hope of obtaining a sight of my companion or companions, but without success.

"A sickening feeling of loneliness came over me, on finding myself in that worst of all situations upon a prairie,- lost! The sun was still high in the heavens, and I could not tell which was north or which south. I had my rifle and pistols with me, was well mounted, and had a sufficiency of ammunition; but I was not well enough acquainted with a prairie life to steer a course, even if I had known what course to start upon. Neither was I hunter enough to feel confident that I could kill a sufficiency of meat, in case I should be unsuccessful in finding my companions. Another thing; I had already found out, what every hunter knows, that the more hungry a man grows upon the prairies the more unlikely he is to find game, and the more difficult it is to shoot it. There, then, I was, without a companion and without experience, starvation staring me in the face; or even if I was fortunate in obtaining meat, I still was almost certain to be killed and scalped by the Indians, or end my days in vain efforts to reach the settlements. I thought of home, and made up my mind firmly, that, if ever I was fortunate enough to reach it, I should be in no particular hurry to leave it again.

"I dashed off to what appeared a still higher prairie swell than the one I now stood upon; nothing could I see, except a solitary wolf, trotting stealthily along in the hollow below me. I even envied this most contemptible of the brute creation, for he knew where he was. I strained my eyes as though to penetrate beyond the limits of human vision; but all was a waste, a blank. I leaped from my horse and sat upon the ground for a moment; it was only for a moment, for, in my uneasiness, I could not remain motionless. I tried to reflect, to reason; but so fast did thoughts of starvation and of Indian perils crowd upon my mind, that I could come to no definite conclusion as to my present position with reference to that of my companions. I tried to follow my own trail back to the point where I had so foolishly left" Old Paint"; but the ground was so hard, that my horse's hoofs had made little or no indentation, and I was too impatient to examine the face of the prairie with that searching scrutiny which might have resulted in success.

"But,' the reader will perchance inquire, why did you not give your horse the reins, and trust to his natural sagacity for regaining his or your companions?' And again; Why did you not wait until the sun was low in the western heavens, then reflect, for one moment, in what direction the command was travelling, and the side on which you had left it? You knew that

the sun would set in the west, and that, as you had faced it, north was to the right and south to the left; surely you could then steer a course, even if you could not while the sun was vertical.'

"Gentle reader, you have never been lost on a wide ocean of prairies, unskilled in border life, and little gifted with the power of first adopting a course to follow, and then not deviating from it. You must recollect, that, there, as on the wide ocean, you find no trees, no friendly landmarks to guide you, - all is a wide waste of eternal sameness. To be lost, as I and others have experienced, has a complex and fearful meaning. It is not merely to stray from your friends, your path, but from yourself. With your way, you lose your presence of mind. You attempt to reason; but the rudder and compass of your reflective faculties are gone. Self-confidence, too, is lost; in a word, all is lost, except a maniacal impulse to despair, that is peculiar and indescribable.

"In my case, fate, fortune, good luck call it by what name you may-stepped in to my assistance. While upon one of the highest rolls of the prairie, I resolved to proceed in a certain direction, and, if possible, to keep it without variation. Whether I did so, or not, I am unable to say; I only know, that after travelling at a rapid pace, it may be some five miles, I suddenly found myself upon the brow of a high and steep declivity, overlooking a narrow but beautiful valley, through which a small creek was winding. I had examined the prairies in every direction during my short ride, until my eyes ached from over-straining, yet had not for a moment allowed my horse to slacken his pace. I now paused to examine the valley before me. reader may judge my feelings, when, after a hasty glance, I discovered the white tops of the wagons, far off in the distance to the right, slowly winding their way down a gentle slope into the valley. Never was the sight of friendly sail more welcome to the eye of a shipwrecked mariner than was the appearance of those wagons to me, and I fairly laughed aloud at my good fortune." Vol. 1., pp. 155–159.

The

We doubt whether Mr. Kendall would have laughed aloud, even after an escape like this, if he could have anticipated that which was about to befall him. It is unnecessary to be particular in recapitulating circumstances which are familiar to most readers. Mr. Kendall's passports, derived from the Mexican consul at New Orleans, did not protect him from the indignities and cruelty which were poured without measure on the heads of his fellow-prisoners. Armijo was at