198 Obituary Notice of 



29 and 30, and May 1 and 2, action of Arroniz ; May 10 

 and July 3, action of the Val de Berrueza. For these ser- 

 vices, but more especially for his gallantry at Belascoin, he 

 was created, by Isabella II., a " Knight of the first class of 

 of the Order of St Fernando,'' receiving the royal permission 

 to accept and wear the order in the British service ; and, on 

 his return from Spain, at the close of 1839, he found himself 

 gazetted to a commission in the 89th regiment, which corps 

 he immediately joined in Ireland. 



It was while serving with this regiment in Canada that 

 he first became acquainted with the stirring scenes of Indian 

 life which he has since so graphically portrayed. The " open 

 Prairie'' and " the Indians," was just the field of adventure 

 which suited his organization, both mental and physical, and, 

 yielding to that impulse which in him was irresistibly deve- 

 loped, he resigned his commission, and directed his steps to 

 the Indian wigwam, and to the wild, enchanting scenery 

 around it, — a land only tenanted by the Red man or the soli- 

 tary American trapper. Those who are familiar with his 

 writings cannot fail to have marked the singular delight with 

 which the author dwells upon the recollections of this portion 

 of his career, and the longing which he carried with him to 

 the hour of death for a return to those scenes of primitive 

 freedom. " Although liable to an accusation of barbarisni," 

 he writes, " I must confess that the very happiest moments 

 of my life have been spent in the wilderness of the far west ; 

 and I never recall but with pleasure the remembrance of 

 my solitary camp, with no friend near me more faithful than 

 my rifle, and no companion more sociable than my good horse 

 and mules, or the attendant cayute which nightly serenaded 

 us. With a plentiful supply of dry pine logs on the fire, and 

 its cheerful blaze streaming far up into the sky, illuminating 

 the valley far and near, and exhibiting the animals, well fed 

 and at rest over their picket-fires, I would sit cross-legged, 

 enjoying the genial warmth, and, pipe in mouth, watch the 

 blue smoke as it curled upwards, building castles in its 

 vapoury wreaths, and in the fantastic shapes it assumed, 

 peopling the solitude with figures of those far away. Scarcely, 

 however, did I ever wish to change such hours of freedom for 



