We made immediate preparations for departure, and as we proposed to pass
through Austin, the capital of Texas, our kind entertainers pressed five
hundred dollars upon us, under the plea that no Texan would ever give us
a tumbler of water except it was paid for, and that, moreover, it was
possible that after passing a few days among the gallant members of
Congress, we might miss our holsters or stirrups, our blankets, or even
one of our horses.
We found their prediction, in the first instance, but too true. Six
miles from Austin we stopped at the farm of the Honourable Judge Webb,
and asked leave to water our horses, as they had travelled forty miles
under a hot sun without drawing bit. The honourable judge flatly
refused, although he had a good well, besides a pond, under fence,
covering several acres; his wife, however, reflecting, perhaps, that her
stores were rather short of coffee or salt, entered into a rapid
discussion with her worse half, and by-and-bye that respectable couple
of honourables agreed to sell water to us at twenty-five cents a bucket.
When we dismounted to take the bridles off our horses, the daughters
arrived, and perceiving we had new silk sashes and neckerchiefs and some
fine jewels, they devoured us with their eyes, and one of them, speaking
to her papa, that most hospitable gentleman invited us to enter his
house.
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