394 BUFFALO LAND. 



Mexican teamster reported having seen a strange 

 woman, near his camp, who fled when he approached 

 her. His description left no doubt of her identity 

 with the missing captive. I have since conversed 

 with some of the soldiers, then stationed at Wilson, 

 and they assured me that the white girl was plainly 

 visible to them on both occasions. As she was never 

 afterward seen in the vicinity of civilization, the 

 poor creature is believed to have perished from ex- 

 posure. Possibly she was making her way to the 

 settlements, when frightened back by the negroes, 

 who may have resembled her late tormentors too 

 closely to be recognized as friends. 



After one has been for months passing over a coun- 

 try stained every-where by savage outrage, it is easy 

 to understand how the man whose wife or sister has 

 met the terrible fate of an Indian captive, can spend 

 his life upon their trail, committing murder. For mur- 

 der it is, when revenge, not justice, prompts the blow, 

 and the innocent must suffer alike with the guilty. 



While breakfast was preparing next morning, some 

 fiend suggested to one of our Mexican teamsters that 

 the Americans might like a taste of Mexico's stand- 

 ard dish, "chile," of which, the fellow said, he had 

 a good supply in his wagon-chest. Shamus was con- 

 sulted, and assented at once, seeming delighted with 

 the prospects of astonishing our palates with a new 

 sensation. Know, reader, of an inquiring mind, 

 that chile consists of red pepper, served as a boiling 

 hot sauce, or stew. It is believed to have been in- 

 vented by the Evil One, and immediately adopted 

 in Mexico. 



