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Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 by Various
page 16 of 309 (05%)
shout. But although I heard nothing, I saw something which gave me no
great pleasure. In the direction in which we had ridden out, the grass was
very abundant and the flowers scarce; whereas the part of the prairie in
which I now found myself presented the appearance of a perfect
flower-garden, with scarcely a square foot of green to be seen. The most
variegated carpet of flowers I ever beheld lay unrolled before me; red,
yellow, violet, blue, every colour, every tint was there; millions of the
most magnificent prairie roses, tuberoses, asters, dahlias, and fifty
other kinds of flowers. The finest artificial garden in the world would
sink into insignificance when compared with this parterre of nature's own
planting. My horse could hardly make his way through the wilderness of
flowers, and I for a time remained lost in admiration of this scene of
extraordinary beauty. The prairie in the distance looked as if clothed
with rainbows that waved to and fro over its surface.

But the difficulties and anxieties of my situation soon banished all other
thoughts, and I rode on with perfect indifference through a scene, that,
under other circumstances, would have captivated my entire attention. All
the stories that I had heard of mishaps in these endless prairies,
recurred in vivid colouring to my memory, not mere backwoodsman's legends,
but facts well authenticated by persons of undoubted veracity, who had
warned me, before I came to Texas, against venturing without guide or
compass into these dangerous wilds. Even men who had been long in the
country, were often known to lose themselves, and to wander for days and
weeks over these oceans of grass, where no hill or variety of surface
offers a landmark to the traveller. In summer and autumn, such a position
would have one danger the less, that is, there would be no risk of dying
of hunger; for at those seasons the most delicious fruits, grapes, plums,
peaches, and others, are to be found in abundance. But we were now in
early spring, and although I saw numbers of peach and plum-trees, they
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