mSTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 81 



Every man, liowevcr, seized liis rifle, and DoT^ling, 

 hastening towards us, told us of what had just occurred. 

 All wa,s still for the next few moments, and I mounted 

 a little hill to reconnoitre. Suddenly I saw a troop of 

 Indians, the foremost of them on horseback, approach- 

 ing at full speed. I hastily returned to my companions, 

 and we sought shelter in a little dell, determined to 

 await there, and resist the attack, for it was evident 

 that tho savages' intentions were any thing but pacific. 

 " It was a moment of breathless excitement. "We 

 heard the tramp, tramp of the horses coming on 

 towai-ds us, but as yet, they and their riders were 

 concealed from our view. I confess I trembled vio- 

 lently, not exactly with fear, although I expected that 

 a few moments would see us all scalped by our savage 

 assailants. It was the suddenness of the danger which 

 startled me, and made my heart throb violently ; but 

 at that moment, just as I was reproaching myself with 

 the want of courage, a terrific yell rung through the 

 air at a short distance from us, and forty or fifty war- 

 like Indians appeared in sight. My whole frame was 

 nerved in an instant, and when a shower of arrows 

 flew amongst us, I was the first man to answer it with 

 a rifle-shot, which brought one of the foremost Indians 

 off his horse to the ground. I instantly reloaded, but 

 in the mean while the rifles of my companions had been 

 doing good service. We had taken up our position 

 behind a row of willow trees which skirted the banks 

 of a narrow stream, and here we were protected in a 

 great measure from the arrows of our assailants, which 

 were in most cases turned aside by the branches. A 

 second volley of rifle-shots soon followed the first ; 

 and while we were reloading, and the smoke had 

 slightly cleared away, I could see that wo had spread 



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