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RETURN OF COMPANY FROM SCOUTING.

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fied to remain where we were, for we had a fine, shady camp, plenty of forage, plenty of provisions, and nothing in the world to do; and beside that, were, at that time, most remarkably fond of repose.

January 27th. Company G returned from its scout in the state of Vera Cruz, where they had been in the neighborhood of a large Mexican force, under Gen. Cos, which has been there collected for some time; with that general's head quarters at Tuspan, about seventy-five or eighty miles to the southward.

The engineers sent out, under protection of the company, finished their observation satisfactorily. They reported that section of country as being fertile, producing in abundance pine apples, cocoa nuts, and every kind of the richest fruits,

CAPT. HATNES' COMPANY WITH gen. Quitman's BRIGADE.

made herself very obliging to those who liked Mexican dishes, with a friend or two, I entered her house, called for 'cafe, pan, gallinas, huevos,' which means coffee, bread, chickens, and eggs. Everything was soon ready, and our hostess assured us, that it was all done up in American style.

"Having seen a commotion amongst the soldiery, she inquired if we were all going away. We told her yes. She wished to know if Gen. Taylor was gone. We told her, all, but us; and we would be off immediately. Assuming a thoughtful air, she exclaimed, "Yo soy triste! Mui triste !" (I am sad-I am grieved); and then, as if soliloquising, she continued: ' entonces, no puedo vender mas cafe, ni pan, ni huevos; ni mas gallinas!' (Then, I shall sell no more coffee, nor bread, nor eggs; no more chickens.) Americanos, mui amigos! Mexicanos, mal!' (Americans, good friends; Mexicans, bad.)

“Much amused at the sadness of this money-loving dame, we mounted our horses, and marching round the plaza, we left the city at one side, as a Mexican body of cavalry (as we afterwards learned), entered it at the other.

“Everything went on quietly, till the evening of the second day; when a small party of my company, who had gone out to drive in beeves, saw a party of Mexican cavalry, about six miles ahead of our camp. Next morning, a beef-contractor, named Bigelow, who started from the centre brigade, in the morning, to come back to ours, was fired upon, and pursued for some distance, by a party of Mexican cavalry, who shot him through the leg. The fleetness of his horse enabled him to reach an advanced party of my company. That evening, Lieut. Chambliss, with twenty of the Giles' troopers, went forward some miles, to ascertain the position of the Mexicans, but they had disappeared in the chapparal.

"Two days afterwards, a party of Mexican cavalry, armed with lances and rifles, attacked a few men of the Georgia Regt. and Balt'e Batt'n., who had dropped behind the rear guard, and killed one, took another prisoner, and were in pursuit of others, who were relieved by the gallantry of Henry Pitts, David Myres and P. C. Morton, privates of my company. Being in the rear of the column near two miles, and hear

386 BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY SOUTH OF THE PANUCO.

and most fragrant and beautiful flowers;-of tall trees, of growth and luxuriance previously unknown to them;-of most lovely lakes spread out, winding in a thousand shapes; -of fields of maguey, larger even than any before seen;of lofty hills;-of most luxuriant valleys of green;—of the air refreshed by the sea breeze, which is loaded with the fragrance of the orange blossoms;-of the valleys having fields of sugar-cane, of great size; and, in one word, as a perfect earthly paradise. It was amusing to observe the enthusiasm with which all of the company spoke of it, officers and men.

We heard before their return, from the Mexicans, that the country south of the Panuco, and up along its bank, was extremely beautiful and fertile, and therefore we did not discredit the accounts of the men, though, as said before, it was amusing to hear how flowing were their descriptions of its attractions.

CAPT. HAYNES' COMPANY WITH GEN. QUITMAN'S BRIGADE.

ing the guns in their rear, they charged back in a gallop. The lancers, seeing them approaching, supposed a body of cavalry was near, and fled to the thick chapparal.— One man with difficulty saved himself from their lances, by climbing a small thorntree, the leaves of which hid him from their view.

"Before day the next morning, my company marched back, by order of Gen. Quitman, and lay in ambush, on the roadside, hoping that the lancers would follow on,but they had taken the alarm. There was a body of Mexican cavalry, who hadbeen, until then, following in our rear.

"The only remaining incident is to be told.-At Altamira, which is a town of between one and two thousand inhabitants, a horse was stolen from my company, as we left the encampment. In the evening I returned from our next camp with ten men, and calling on the alcalde of Altamira, inquired of him whether any Mexican had brought an American horse into the town. He said, at first, that he did not know; then that he would inquire, and soon after said 'yes; there was a horse, which he had sent into the country. His evasive answers led to a suspicion of his honesty, and I immediately took him prisoner, and placed a man on each side of him, with a loaded carbine. This produced quite an excitement in the town. The crowd gathered round us quite boldly, and the second alcalde came forward, to remonstrate against the arrest of his brother. His remonstrance soon exhibited the fact, that he had secreted another horse, which had been stolen from the Tennessee cavalry; so he was ordered to take his seat between the sentinels as a prisoner. They were then told, that unless the horses were forthcoming in half an hour, they would be car ried off. They immediately ordered out some men on horseback, to bring in the stolen animals. In ten minutes, one was brought in; in half an hour another, and shortly after, a third, with the two men who had received the horse from the thief; but the thief was allowed to escape.

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This little place of La Encarnacion had only a few houses, one of which was of stone, with a store. Here, too, was the largest garden of bananas that we had seen. The growth of this tall plant, with its fruit, is well known in the southern part of the United States.-Here it was about ten feet high, with its long waving leaves of green, and hanging bunches of cucumber-shaped fruit, making a fine appearance, especially as it was planted so thickly. It seemed to be the main "staff of life" with the inhabitants of this section of Mexico.

-We found here a stone idol, of the ancient Mexican, or Aztec race, which idol, we were informed by the intelligent owner of the house, was dug up not far from this place, with many other things, instruments and utensils, which he said were now all lost. This idol is about three feet high, and with its pointed pedestal, is one piece; of a rude style of sculpture, but cut with great care. A sketch of it was taken

CAPT. HAYNES' COMPANY WITH GEN. QUITMAN'S BRIGADE.

"Taking possession of the recovered horses, the alcaldes were ordered to mount, and we started with them to the camp, with the assurance that we would keep them prisoners, until the thief should be brought to us; but the junior alcalde offered, if we would allow him to remain, to have the thief captured. We left him, therefore, with a promise, that if he did not send us the thief the next day, we would return and take him to camp also.

"About this time, some Mexicans, six or seven in number, armed with swords and pistols, rode up near us; these we quickly disarmed and made prisoners, also.-Our party was ten in all. Our prisoners, one alcalde, three horse-thieves, six pack mules, bearing forty or fifty gallons of muscal, six or seven disarmed men, and another, who could speak a little English, and begged us to take him a prisoner also, as he was determined to die with his particular friend, the Senor Alcalde. His request was promptly granted, and he was ordered into line.-With this cavalcade of prisoners, mules, and recaptured horses, we entered our camp, sometime after midnight.-Early in the morning the thief was captured, and placed at our command, and we released the alcalde, whose rejoicings, at his deliverance, were only equalled by the fright during his captivity. This was the last horse stolen by the citizens of Altamira."

Some complaint was soon after made by the Mexicans, to Gen. Quitman, of this capture, who reported the affair to Gen. Patterson, who very wisely passed the matter over. It was said, at the time, that these gentlemen attached some blame to Capt. Haynes, for having thus summarily dealt with the rascals, who aided and abetted in the stealing of his horses. Rather than of censure, for capturing them, that officer was deserving of praise. If officers higher in command than him, had acted in the same prompt way that he did, when in command of his separate detachment, it would have been better than the milder, temporizing course that was pursued.

388

ANCIENT MEXICAN IDOL.

by the author, both side and front view, which will be seen below.

It is one of the numerous idols that were worshipped by the ancient Mexicans, before the conquest of Mexico by Cortes, in the year 1521.-It has much resemblance to the old Egyptian style of sculpture; and from this, as well as the similar customs, in some respects, the present pyramids in both countries, the similar ancient calendars, &c., some reasons might be obtained to establish the similarity, or identity, of the two races.-The carved apron in front of this image was curiously wrought, and the two figures in the centre, now worn by time, appear to be the disfigured remains of two large hieroglyphics.-The ears of the image are large, and nearly square, and stand directly out from the head;the pointed pedestal appears as if made to fit into a socket. Of its general appearance, the reader can get a good idea from the sketch, which is a correct likeness.

There was considerable sickness in the regiment now, and one man, James Allen, of Captain Gillaspie's company, died to-day. His comrades made a coffin from a gun box, which they were so fortunate as to procure.-Most of those who have died have been buried without coffins, for no material of which to make them could be procured.

January 28th. Our regiment of cavalry, the first and second Tennessee infantry, comprising, in all, the Tennessee

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MARCH TO TAMPICO.

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brigade, under General Pillow, were this morning ordered by him to strike their tents, and march to an encampment selected near Tampico.

The morning was very pleasant, and the work of striking tents, loading wagons, saddling up, &c., was quickly performed, and we were soon in lines and on the march. The second battalion of our regiment, under Major Waterhouse, were in advance; then we of the first battalion, under Lt.col. Allison, followed; then came the first Tennessee regiment of infantry, under Col. Campbell; then the second regiment, Col. Haskell; then a small train of company wagons; then the rear guard.

Our battalion being a little behind hand, had some trouble to pass the infantry, to get into our position.-The sun was hot, but we were shaded from it by the lofty oaks, the extended branches of which, in some places, nearly met over the wide road.-Five miles took us through this sandy level forest, to the cultivated hills. Here we halted for a little while, to allow the infantry to come up; for on the good road we had got nearly a mile in advance of them.In this halt we had leisure to observe the surpassing beauty of the scenery around us.

On our right, far down at the base of the hills, was the wide lake, spread out more beautiful still than we had before seen it, on account of our height above it, which enabled us to look down on its extent, and over the numberless beautiful green islands, with which its calm surface was relieved. Here and there, among the islands, could be seen the long slender lines of the boats of the inhabitants, moving almost imperceptibly on the brilliant surface of the water, which was unruffled even by a ripple.-The natural beauty of this lake, as seen from these hills, with the tall blue eminences far beyond it, rising in the horizon, is seldom excelled. But, on the other hand, the prospect, to the left, was delightful :-The hills were clothed in perpetual green, of a heavy growth of tropical trees, of the richest appearance ;— here in forests, there singly or in groves; while ranchos were thickly scattered around far down in the vales, or perched, as it were, high up on the hill-sides.-The bloom

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