20 OLD TAB’S GEOGRAPHY. 
our knowledge of the geographical position 
of the country for which we were steering, 
and the indications of a compass and sextant. 
This was emphatically a pioneer trip; sucha 
one also as had, perhaps, never before been 
undertaken—to convey heavily laden wagons 
through a country almost wholly untrod by 
civilized man, and of which we, at least, knew 
nothing. We were therefore extremely anx- 
ious to acquire any information our visitors 
might be able to give us; but Tabba-quena 
being by no means experienced in wagon 
tactics, could only make us understand, by 
gestures, mixed with a little wretched Span- 
ish, that the route up the Canadian presented 
no obstacles according to his mode of travel- 
ling. He appeared, however, very well ac- 
quainted with the whole Mexican frontier, 
from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, and even to the 
Gulf, as well as with all the Prairies. During 
the consultation he seemed occasionally to 
ask the opinions of other chiefs who had hud- 
dled around him. Finally, we handed him a 
sheet of paper and a pencil, signifying at the 
same time a desire that he would draw us a 
map of the Prairies. This he very promptly 
executed; and although the draft was some- 
what rough, it bore, much to our astonish- 
ment, quite a map-like appearance, with a far 
more accurate delineation of all the principal 
rivers of the plains—the road from Missouri 
to Santa Fé, and the different Mexican settle- 
ments, than is to be found in many of the en- 
graved maps of those regions. 
