In This Journey, We Found Plenty Of Good Mutton,
Pork, Poultry, And Game, Including The Red Partridge, Which Is
Near Twice As Big As The Partridge Of England.
Their hares are
likewise surprisingly large and juicy.
We saw great flocks of
black turkeys feeding in the fields, but no black cattle; and
milk was so scarce, that sometimes we were obliged to drink our
tea without it.
One day perceiving a meadow on the side of the road, full of a
flower which I took to be the crocus, I desired my servant to
alight and pull some of them. He delivered the musquetoon to
Joseph, who began to tamper with it, and off it went with a
prodigious report, augmented by an eccho from the mountains that
skirted the road. The mules were so frightened, that they went
off at the gallop; and Joseph, for some minutes, could neither
manage the reins, nor open his mouth. At length he recollected
himself, and the cattle were stopt, by the assistance of the
servant, to whom he delivered the musquetoon, with a significant
shake of the head. Then alighting from the box, he examined the
heads of his three mules, and kissed each of them in his turn.
Finding they had received no damage,
he came up to the coach, with a pale visage and staring eyes, and
said it was God's mercy he had not killed his beasts. I answered,
that it was a greater mercy he had not killed his passengers; for
the muzzle of the piece might have been directed our way as well
as any other, and in that case Joseph might have been hanged for
murder.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 179 of 535
Words from 48024 to 48303
of 143308
