WE ARE FINED. 173 



should take the oxen, on which he brought two span and took 

 us out at -once, oxen being very much better in mud than 

 mules. We passed through Richmond, which was then a 

 miserable little place, and camped on a creek some eight or 

 ten miles on the other side, choosing that spot as it was near a 

 cabin where we could buy butter, milk, &c. 



When riding through the town we met an Irishman named 

 Gallagher (no relation to our late host), who told us of a wonder- 

 ful race-mare he had, which was said to be the fastest animal in 



Texas, so a day or two after pitching oar camp F and I 



rode in to have a look at her, going most of the way at a 

 gallop. We saw the mare, with which we were disappointed, 

 and were returning to camp when a man came up and told us 

 that the Justice wanted to see us, so we accompanied him to 

 the court house. Here we were informed by that official that 

 we were fined one sovereign each for riding fast through the 

 town. Now Richmond was a straggling place, and what they 

 called the principal street had no houses for some distance, 

 and then only one now and again at long intervals, the street 

 itself being a sandy track ; so we told him that we had seen no 

 regulation about riding fast, and had not even known we were 

 in the town, so we should not pay, on which we walked out 

 and rode off at full speed. As we were leaving the town, we 

 came across a herd of cattle, which separated to let us through, 

 and we were almost past them when a yearling calf, finding, I 

 suppose, that its mother had gone in the opposite direction, 



crossed right in front of us, and F , who was ahead, ran 



into it, going at full speed, turning a complete summersault, 

 horse and all, and landed with a loud thud in a cloud of dust, 

 sending the calf some ten yards in front of him. On pulling 



