The Vultures In Great
Clouds Were Soaring Overhead, And The Dead Bull Near The Camp Was
Completely Blackened By The Flock That Had Alighted Upon It; They
Flapped Their Broad Wings, And Stretched Upward Their Crested Heads
And Long Skinny Necks, Fearing To Remain, Yet Reluctant To Leave
Their Disgusting Feast.
As he searched about the fires he saw the
wolves seated on the distant hills waiting for his departure.
Having
looked in vain for his knife, he mounted again, and left the wolves
and the vultures to banquet freely upon the carrion of the camp.
CHAPTER XXVI
DOWN THE ARKANSAS
In the summer of 1846 the wild and lonely banks of the Upper Arkansas
beheld for the first time the passage of an army. General Kearny, on
his march to Santa Fe, adopted this route in preference to the old
trail of the Cimarron. When we came down the main body of the troops
had already passed on; Price's Missouri regiment, however, was still
on the way, having left the frontier much later than the rest; and
about this time we began to meet them moving along the trail, one or
two companies at a time. No men ever embarked upon a military
expedition with a greater love for the work before them than the
Missourians; but if discipline and subordination be the criterion of
merit, these soldiers were worthless indeed. Yet when their exploits
have rung through all America, it would be absurd to deny that they
were excellent irregular troops.
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