TO SAN ANTONIO. 
15 
partment of the work. They selected their assistants, 
and entered upon their operations on the 3d of Septem- 
ber. 
The preparations on the train, the breaking in of 
the mules, and obtaining the additional transportation 
before alluded to, occupied about a week after my ar- 
rival. I left Indianola on the fifth of September for 
Victoria, distant about thirty miles, a portion of the 
train having preceded me. Immediately on leaving 
the shores of the bay we entered a fine level prairie, un- 
limited by hill or any elevation, and covered with the 
richest grass. Not a tree or shrub interrupted the 
broad expanse that lay before us. Here and there were 
gentle undulations, like the long waves of the ocean 
when, after a severe blow, its agitated waters are sub- 
siding into a calm. The prairie fowl, the great curlew, 
and flocks of quail arose as we moved along ; and be- 
ing in advance of the party, I had an opportunity to 
test the qualities of my double-barrelled gun. When but 
a few miles from the town, we began to observe herds 
of deer a short distance from the road, grazing in 
quietness among the innumerable cattle which dotted 
the plain in every direction, doubtless imagining that 
proximity to their tame companions added to their 
security : though, in fact, it proved directly the reverse ; 
for the cunning hunter would take advantage of their 
presence to approach the nearer to his game. The young 
men who accompanied me, being prepared with rifles, 
dashed off to try their hand at this exciting sport, in 
which they were more or less successful ; so that on 
reaching our place of encampment, they were provided 
with a fine saddle of venison for their dinner. 
