The remainder of
the night was passed in giving chase to the fugitives, who, at last,
halted at a bend of the river, in a position that could not be forced
without great loss of life; so the Indians left them, and, after having
collected all the horses and the booty they thought worth taking away,
they burnt the waggons and returned to their own camp.
As we quitted the spot, I could not help occasionally casting a glance
behind me, and the spectacle was truly magnificent. Hundreds of barrels,
full of grease, salt pork, gin, and whisky, were burning, and the
conflagration had now extended to the grass and the dry bushes.
We had scarcely crossed the river when the morning breeze sprung up, and
now the flames extended in every direction, gaining rapidly upon the
spot where the remaining Texans had stood at bay. So fiercely and
abruptly did the flames rush upon them, that all simultaneously, men and
horses, darted into the water for shelter against the devouring element.
Many were drowned in the whirlpools, and those who succeeded in reaching
the opposite shore were too miserable and weak to think of anything,
except of regaining, if possible, the southern settlements.
Though protected from the immediate reach of the flames by the branch of
the river upon the shore of which we were encamped, the heat had become
so intense, that we were obliged to shift farther to the west.
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