The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 50
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50 A WET NIGHT IN CAMP.
becoming desperate, we awoke the Major, and asked him if it
would not be advisable to shift our quarters ? Stopping one of his
long snores, with a loud snort, the Major showed his head from
under cover, and inquired what we wanted.
"Bless me," cried he in the same breath, "why, it is raining !
The ground is getting damp too."
("We think it is, Major, and if we don't leave this pretty
soon, we shall be washed off. Let's move to some dryer place."
( Lie down, Jim,' lie down and go to sleep. Don't you see
that we have got this puddle of water warm now, by the heat of
our bodies, and if we move, we shall only get into another, and
take cold. So lie down, 'Jim,' and go to sleep; it's nothing when
you get used to it."
We could not but admire the Major's philosophy, but, notwithstanding,
we had not yet become a sufficient convert of hydropathy
as to sleep in the warm puddle! So taking up our blanket, much
against the Major's will, we sat down at the foot of a tree, and
slept for the remainder of the night in that position. That a man
can sleep, and soundly too, half immersed in water, may seem
strange to those who have never spent much time in the woods;
but to those who are well acquainted with a frontier life, it appears
natural enough, and we can assure the skeptical, that the foregoing
anecdote is literally true.
The next morning, as soon as our blankets were sufficiently
dry, we mounted, and again advanced towards the Monterey
road. Our way now lay for the most part across bald and rocky
hills. About noon we came upon a little pond in the hills, which
was stagnant, the surface covered with a green scum, and the
water itself almost warm enough to make coffee. Yet as none
better was to be had, we were obliged to drink it, and notwithstanding
its nauseousness, it served to quench our thirst. Shortly after
leaving this pond we came in sight of the Monterey road, and by
our sudden descent from the hills, alarmed a merchant very much,
who was carting his goods to Monterey. That we were a band
of robbers he was quite sure at first, from our appearance, and
great was his delight when he found out his mistake. We purchased
some corn from his carts, and also procured a supply of
dried beef. While 6"nooning it" at the carts, a solitary horseman
turned the angle of the road, about a quarter of a mile ahead of
us, and halted in evident alarm, when he saw the bad company
he was about to fall in with on his road. He was about to turn
and fly, when he perceived about a dozen of the boys mounting
to seek his company, so mustering up his courage he concludedIto
venture boldly into our camp, as escape was out of the question.
As the horseman rode up, his salute was returned, and before he
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Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/54/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.