16 INTRODUCTION 



veloped, he resigned his commission, and directed 

 his steps towards the stupendous wilds tenanted 

 only by the Red Indian, or by the solitary Ameri- 

 can trapper. 



" Those familiar with Mr. Ruxton's writings 

 cannot fail to have remarked the singular delight 

 with which he dwells upon the recollections of this 

 portion of his career, and the longing which he car- 

 ried with him, to the hour of his death, for a re- 

 turn to those scenes of primitive freedom. ' Al- 

 though liable to an accusation of barbarism,' he 

 writes, ' I must confess that the very happiest mo- 

 ments of my life have been spent in the wilderness 

 of the Far West ; and I never recall but with pleas- 

 ure the remembrance of my solitary camp in the 

 Bayou Salade, with no friend near me more faith- 

 ful than my rifle, and no companions more sociable 

 than my good horse and mules, or the attendant 

 cayute which nightly serenaded us. With a plenti- 

 ful 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 exhibit- 

 ing the animals, with well-filled bellies, standing 

 contentedly at rest over their picket-fire, 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 vapory 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 



