72 NOTES TAKEN. 
He was waiting patiently until the whole purchase should 
be crossed over into the Reserve, when he followed with his 
men, and .promptly destroyed it all, amounting in value paid 
to one hundred and forty dollars. May he continue vigilant 
ifi this good cause, and perhaps, examples made, and the 
penalties suffered, may, in time, arrest this horrible evil. 
The town of Preston, from which all this misery for the 
Red man emanates, is a collection of low groggeries and a 
few stores, lining the high bluff bank of the river. 
It is notorious as the scene of some most cold-blooded and 
cruel murders, committed in open day, and with—up to that 
time—perfect impunity. This, together with the detestable 
traffic I have just alluded to, has brought such a stigma upon 
the place, that the very name is sufficient for all that is 
ruthless and vicious. 
Whether our men had saved some drams from the old 
stock, or whether they procured a new supply from the Semi- 
noles, we knew not, but to our surprise and dissatisfaction, 
they began to get noisy and uproarious before leaving the 
‘shores of the nation, and by the time that, with the most 
strenuous exertions on the part of the officers and the few 
sober men in the command, our heavy train and oxen were 
‘ferried over, insubordination was rife in the fanks: 
So soon as they could be formed upon the Texas shore, the 
officers marched them rapidly through the village, but it | 
being late in the afternoon, and the weather very hot, they 
