A Tour on the PrairiesThe productions of Washington Irving are deservedly held in high estimation, not so much, perhaps, for their intrinsic merits as literary compositions, although in this respect they hold no mean position, as for the inimitable tracings of adventurous life which they display through all their gradations and variety, and for the interest they keep alive in the reader, without outraging nature. Several hundred miles beyond the Mississippi extended a vast tract of uninhabited country, where there is neither to be seen the log-house of the white man nor the wigwam of the Indian. It consisted of large grassy plains, interspersed with forests and groves, and watered by the Arkansas, the Grand Canadian, the Red River, and all their tributary streams. Over these fertile and verdant wastes roamed the elk, the buffalo, and the wild horse, in all their native freedom—and these were, in fact, the hunting-grounds of the various inhabitants of the Far West. Thither repaired the Osage, the Creek, the Delaware, and other tribes, that had linked themselves with civilization, and lived within the vicinity of the white settlements; and here resorted also the Pawnees, the Comanches, and a variety of fierce and as yet independent rovers, the nomades of the prairies, or the inhabitants of the skirts of the Rocky Mountains. |
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Page 41
... if comprehending their disaster , they settled down , in clusters , on a dry branch of a neighbouring tree , from whence they seemed to contemplate the prostrate ruin , and to buzz forth doleful lamentations over the downfall of 2 ...
... if comprehending their disaster , they settled down , in clusters , on a dry branch of a neighbouring tree , from whence they seemed to contemplate the prostrate ruin , and to buzz forth doleful lamentations over the downfall of 2 ...
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a-head alarm animal Arkansas arrived banks Beatte beautiful beheld blankets borders brook brought buffalo buffalo bull buffalo prairies bugle camp Captain carcass CHAPTER chase companions comrades course coursers cried Cross Timber dashed deep deer distance encampment fire ford forest Fort Gibson forward frontier gallop gave gazing grass grazing grizzly bear grove half-breed halt head herbage herd hill horseback hunting hunting-grounds Indian killed lariat length little Frenchman little Tonish looked meat miles morning mounted night o'clock old Ryan Osage Agency Osage hunters pack-horses party passed Pawnees prairie dogs prairies pursuit ravine Red Fork rifle river roasted round saddle savage scamper scene seemed shot side sight skirts soon spirit steed straggling stream thickets took track trail trees tribe troop turkeys turned valley venison wandered wild horses wild turkeys wilderness woods wounded young Count young rangers
Popular passages
Page 40 - ... straight line, almost with the velocity of a bullet. The hunters watched attentively the course they took, and then set off in the same direction, stumbling along over twisted roots and fallen trees, with their eyes turned up to the sky. In this way they traced the honey-laden bees to their hive, in the hollow trunk of a blasted oak, where, after buzzing about for a moment, they entered a hole about sixty feet from the ground.
Page 135 - ... wildfire Jack-o'-lantern little Frenchman to deal with. Instead of keeping quietly up the right side of the valley, to get above the horses, the moment he saw them move toward the river, he broke out of the covert of woods, and dashed furiously across the plain in pursuit of them, being mounted on one of the led horses belonging to the Count.
Page 32 - They are great mimics and buffoons, also, and entertain themselves excessively at the expense of the whites with whom they have associated, and who have supposed them impressed with profound respect for their grandeur and dignity. They are curious observers, noting every thing in silence, but with a keen and watchful eye ; occasionally exchanging a glance or a grunt with each other, when any thing particularly strikes them : but reserving all comments until they are alone. Then it is that they give...
Page 41 - It is difficult to describe the bewilderment and confusion of the bees of the bankrupt hive who had been absent at the time of the catastrophe, and who arrived from time to time, with full cargoes from abroad. At first they wheeled about in the air, in the place where the fallen tree had once reared its head, astonished at finding it all a vacuum.
Page 39 - ... skirt and intersect the prairies, and extend along the alluvial bottoms of the rivers. It seems to me as if these beautiful regions answer literally to the description of the land of promise, " a land flowing with milk and honey...
Page 41 - These busied themselves as eagerly and cheerfully as so many wreckers on an Indiaman that has been driven on shore ; plunging into the cells of the broken honey-combs, banqueting greedily on the spoil, and then winging their way full freighted to their homes. As to the poor proprietors of the ruin, they seemed to have no heart to do...
Page 57 - It appeared to me pretty much like the embarkation of the wise men of Gotham, who went to sea in a bowl: I stepped in, however, without hesitation, though as cautiously as possible, and sat down on top of the luggage, the margin of the hide sinking to within a hand's breadth of the water's edge.
Page 135 - The flanking parties were quietly extending themselves, out of sight, on each side of the valley, and the residue were stretching themselves, like the links of a chain, across it, when the wild horses gave signs that they scented an enemy; snuffing the air, snorting, and looking about. At length they pranced off slowly toward the river, and disappeared behind a green bank. Here, had the regulations of the chase been observed, they would have been quietly checked and turned back by the advance of...
Page 134 - The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, who start off in an opposite direction. Whenever they approach the bounds of the ring, however, a huntsman presents himself and turns them from their course. In this way, they are checked and driven...
Page 178 - At length, some who resided on the opposite side of the village, taking courage from the continued stillness, would steal forth, and hurry off to a distant hole, the residence possibly...