Carleton and I exclaimed, "The prairie is on fire!"

As we uttered the words, there was a loud rustling behind us, and a herd
of deer broke headlong through a thicket of tall reeds and bulrushes,
and dashed up to their necks into the water. There they remained, not
fifty paces from us, little more than their heads above the surface,
gazing at us, as though imploring our help and compassion. We fancied we
could see tears in the poor beasts' eyes.

We looked behind us. On came the pillars of flame, flickering and
threatening through the smoke, licking up all before them; and, at
times, a gust of so hot and blasting a wind as seemed to dry the very
marrow in our bones. The roaring of the fire was now distinctly audible,
mingled with hissing, whistling sounds, and cracking noises, as of
mighty trees falling. Suddenly a bright flame shot up through the
stifling smoke, and immediately afterwards a sea of fire burst upon our
aching eyeballs. The whole palmetto field was in flames.

The heat was so great, that we every moment expected to see our clothes
take fire. Our horses dragged us still nearer to the creek, sprang into
the water, and drew us down the bank after them. Another rustling and
noise in the thicket of reeds. A she-bear, with her cubs at her heels,
came towards us; and at the same time a second herd of deer rushed into
the water not twenty yards from where we were standing. We pointed our
guns at the bears; they moved off towards the deer, who remained
undisturbed at their approach; and there they stood, bears and deer, not
five paces apart, but taking no more notice of each other than if they
had been animals of the same species. More beasts now came flocking to
the river. Deer, wolves, foxes, horses--all came in crowds to seek
shelter in one element from the fury of another. Most of them, however,