IV THE LATE 



commission in the 89th Regiment ; and it was whilst serv- 

 ing with that distinguished corps in Canada that he first 

 became acquainted with the stirring scenes of Indian life, 

 which he has since so graphically portrayed. His eager 

 and enthusiastic spirit soon became wearied with the mon- 

 otony of the barrack-room ; and, yielding to that impulse 

 which in him was irresistibly developed, he resigned his 

 commission, and directed his steps towards the stupendous 

 wilds tenanted only by the Red Indian, or by the solitary 

 American 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 carried with him, to the hour of his death, 

 for a return to those scenes of primitive freedom. " Although 

 liable to an accusation of barbarism," 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 in the Bayou Salade, with no friend near me more 

 faithful than my rifle, and no companions 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, 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 cas- 

 tles 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 all the luxuries of civilised life ; and 

 unnatural and extraordinary as it may appear, yet such is 

 the fascination of the life of the mountain hunter, that I 



