Part 4 (2/2)
”At this terrible moment several objects appeared before us on the plain, that caused reen est of them about the size of a bee cap They looked like a nu on all sides their thorny spikes On seeing theerly forward My co why I should have drawnwhat they were
But I knehat they were: I knew they were the _globe cacti_
”In a moment's time I had peeled the spikelets fro party caetables, with the crystal water oozing out of their pores, they were satisfied that I had not gone e spheroids into slices, which we cheith avidity We set some of them also before the horse and oxen, both of which devoured thes lapped the cool liquid wherever they were cut
”It is true, that this did not quench thirst, in the sareatly relieved us, and would, perhaps, enable us to reach the mountain We resolved to halt for a short while, in order to rest the oxen Unfortunately, the relief had come too late for one of them It had been his last stretch; and ere about to start again, we found that he had lain down and was unable to rise We saw that wesuch harness as we could find, we put the horse in his place, and arden of cactus plants; but none appeared, and we toiled on, suffering as before
”When we had got within about five miles of the mountain-foot, the other ox broke down, and fell--as we supposed--dead We could take the wagon no farther; but it was no time either to hesitate or halt: we must try it afoot, or perish where ere
”I loosed out the horse, and left hier able to carry any of us I took an axe froon--also a tin-pot, and a piece of dry beef that still remained to us Cudjo shouldered the axe and little Mary; I carried the beef, the pot, Luisa, andin their hands Thus burdened, we bade adieu to the wagon, and struck off toward theto be left behind, ca after
”There is not h the five miles the best e could As we drew nearer to thedown its sides, and in the bottouished a silvery thread, which we kneas the foaave us new energy, and in another hour we had reached the banks of a crystal strea thanks for our deliverance”
CHAPTER TEN
ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO
”Well, my friends, we had arrived on the banks of a rivulet, and were thanking God for bringing us safely there We soon satisfied our thirst, as you an to look around us The stream we had reached was not that which runs into the valley here, but altogether on the other side of the mountain It was but a mere rill, and I saw that several si a short distance into the plain, fell off toward the south-east, and united with others running from that side I found afterwards that they all joined into the sa a considerable river, which runs from this elevated plain in an easterly direction; and which I take to be a head-water of the Great Red River of Louisiana, or perhaps of the Brazos, or Colorado, of Texas I have called it a considerable river That is not quite correct; for although, where they all unite, they forood-sized body of water, yet twenty miles farther down, for three-fourths of the year the channel is perfectly dry; and that is the case I know not how far beyond The water, which passes from the mountain at all times, is either evaporated by the hot sun, or sinks into the sands of its own bed, during a run of twenty reat rain--a rare occurrence here--or when very hot weather melts an unusual quantity of the snow, that there is water enough to carry the stream over a flat sandy tract which stretches away to the eastward All these things I found out afterwards, and as you, my friends, know them to be common phenomena of the Desert, I shall not noell upon them
”I saw that, where ere, there was but little chance of getting anything to eat The sides of the ri frorass and s that lined the banks of the little rills-- although cheering to the eye, when compared with the brown barrenness of the Desert--offered but little prospect that we should get any thing to eat there If the Desert stretched away to the south of the mountain, asthat it did to the north, east, and west, then we had only reached a teht still perish, if not froer
”This was upperhts at the ti that day; so we turned our attention to the piece of dried meat
”'Let us cook it, and make a soup,' said Mary; 'that will be better for the children' My poor wife! I saw that the extreth, yet still she endeavoured to be cheerful
”'Yes, papa, let usto cheer histhat he was not dismayed
”'Very well, then,' I replied 'Come, Cudjo, shoulder your axe, and let us to the mountain for wood Yonder are some pine-trees near the foot,--they will make an excellent fire'
”So Cudjo and I started for the wood, which was growing about three hundred yards distant, and close in to the rocks where the stream came down
”As we drew nearer to the trees, I saw that they were not pine-trees, but very different indeed Both trunks and branches had long thorny spikes upon theht shi+ning green, pinnate with s bean-shaped pods that hung down thickly from the branches These were about an inch and a half in breadth, and soth They were of a reddish-brown, nearly a claret colour Except in the colour, they looked exactly like large bean-pods filled with beans
”I was not ignorant of what species of tree was before us I had seen it before I kneas the honey-locust, or thorny acacia,--the carob-tree of the East, and the fanorant of its uses neither,--for I knew this to be the tree upon which (as many suppose) Saint John the Baptist sustained himself in the Desert, where it is said, 'his meat was locusts and wild honey'
Hence it is sonorant of its value The uht:--
”'Massa--Massa Roff, lookee yonder!--beans and honey for supper!'
”We were soon under the branches: and while I proceeded to knock down and collect a quantity of the ripe fruit Cudjo went farther up arew there