A PARLEY WITH SAVAGES. 159 



It is one of the remarkable tactics of this remark- 

 able people, in military emergencies, that when they 

 can not put distance between them and the enemy, 

 they must substitute something else. A single trooper, 

 on an open plain, could send a small army of them 

 scampering off, but let them get behind a barricade, 

 and they will continue banging away with their old 

 muskets until either the weapon bursts or ammuition 

 gives out. It is surprising how harmless their fusil- 

 lades generally are. If Mexican powder is used, it 

 goes off like a mixture of lamp-black and nitro- 

 glycerine, with a premonitory fiz and then a fearful 

 concussion, leaving a smell of burnt oil in the air 

 which overcomes for a moment the natural aroma of 

 the warriors themselves. 



But while we were still being run away with by 

 our spirited animals, another change occurred in the 

 situation equally as unexpected as the first. The In- 

 dians had stopped running about the time that we com- 

 menced, and now stood in a dusky line something less 

 than half a mile off, making signs to us. Shainus 

 evidently considered it a horrible incantation for his 

 scalp, and every time he looked backward plied with 

 renewed fervor at his donkey's ribs. Our guide, who 

 had stayed with the wagons and exerted himself to 

 silence the Mexican batteries, motioned us to return, 

 which we were finally enabled to do by virtue of 

 steady pulling upon one rein and coming back in half 

 circles. 



By the time our cook reached us, out of breath 

 and perspiring terribly, two savages had rid- 

 den out from their band, weaponless, and were 



