He had at first joined the English legion in Spain, in which he had
advanced to the rank of captain; he soon got tired of that service and
went to Persia, where he entered into the Shah's employ as an officer of
artillery. This after some time not suiting his fancy, he returned to
England, and decided upon visiting Texas, and establishing himself as a
merchant at San Antonio. But his taste for a wandering life would not
allow him to remain quiet for any length of time, and having one day
fallen in with an English naturalist, who had come out on purpose to
visit the north-west prairies of Texas, he resolved to accompany him.
Always ready for any adventure, Fitz. rushed madly among the buffaloes.
He was mounted upon a wild horse of the small breed, loaded with
saddlebags, water calabashes, tin and coffee-cups, blankets, &c.; but
these encumbrances did not stop him in the least. With his bridle
fastened to the pommel of his saddle and a pistol in each hand, he shot
to the right and left, stopping now and then to reload and then starting
anew. During the hunt he lost his hat, his saddlebags, with linen and
money, and his blankets: as he never took the trouble to pick them up,
they are probably yet in the prairie where they were dropped.
The other stranger was an English savant, one of the queerest fellows in
the world.
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