JOYFUL OCCASIONS. 153 
have never been beyond the purlieus of the 
land of their nativity, can form but a poor con- 
ception of the joy which the wanderer in dis- 
tant climes experiences on treading once more 
upon his own native soil! Although we were - 
yet far from the abodes of civilization, and 
further still from home, nevertheless the heart 
within us thrilled with exhilarating sensations; 
for we were again in our own territory, breath- 
ed our own free atmosphere, and were fairly 
out of reach of the arbitrary power which we 
had left behind us. 
As we continued our route upon this nar- 
row dividing ridge, we could not help remark- 
ing how nearly these streams approach each 
other: in one place they seemed scarcely five 
miles apart. On this account our Comanche 
guide, as well as several Mexicans of our 
party, who had some acquaintance with these 
prairies, gave it as their opinion that the Wa- 
shita or Rio Negro was in fact a branch of 
the Canadian ; ‘for its confluence with Red 
River was beyond the bounds of their peregri- 
nations. 
As the forest of Cross Timbers was now 
beginning to be seen in the distance, and fear- 
ing we might be troubled to find a passway 
through this brushy region, south of the Ca- 
nadian, we forded this river on the 29th, with- 
out the slightest trouble, and very soon en- 
tered our former trail, a little west of Spring 
Valley. This gave a new and joyful im- 
pulse to our spirits; for we had been travel- 
ling over twenty days without even a trail, 
