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62
Birthdays.
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for its living,
And the child that is born on Sabbath day
Is good and great, fair and gay,
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
JACK DOBELL;
Or, A Boys Adventures in Texas.
A STORY FOR BOYS.
CHAPTER 11.
THE TEXAN COAST—AMONG THE BREAKERS AT
VELASCO-MUSTERED INTO SERVICE-A NA
VAL ENGAGEMENT—CRUIZING—A MAN LOST.
IST the morning of the
seventh day after leav-
South-West Pass,the
dimly discernible from
*he h> ea< d, looking like a long
low cloud upon the western hori-
JY* zon. The wind was dead ahead,
and it took us nearly the whole
day to beat up within sight of the beach,
and the few miserable shanties that at
that time constituted the city of Yelasco.
Finding it impossible to cross the bar
with the wind ahead, we cast anchor out
side, hoping for a favorable change in the
morning. But in the morning the wind
was from the same old quarter, and, tired
out with our confinement aboard of the
vessel, a dozen or more of us manned the
long boat, resolved upon effecting a land
ing in spite of wind and weather.
But in this we “reckoned without our
host,'’ for we missed the channel and got
into the breakers, which came very near
swamping our boat, and from which we
were glad to make our escape back again
to the vessel. Two years subsequently, I
saw a boat capsized amongst those same
breakers, and although in full view of
hundreds of people on shore, every soul
but one on board of her perished before
assistance could be rendered them.
A short time after our return to the
schooner, to our great joy the wind haul
ed around to the eastward, which enabled
us to cross the bar, and soon we were
safely anchored in the mouth of the Bra
zos river. I must confess I was not much
pleased with the first view I got of the
“promised land.” The country around
Velasco is low and swampy, and back of
it a dead level prairie extended as far as
the eye could reach. Yelasco itself was
a miserable little village, comprising two
stores, a hotel , and ten or a dozen grog
shops. Opposite to it, on the other bank
of the river, was the rival city of Quin
tana, containing about the same number
B URKE’B WEE KE Y .
of shanties, and a mixed population of
Yankees, Mexicans and Indians.
We landed upon the Quintana side and
pitched our camp upon the beach along
side of several other companies that had
arrived before us. Here we remained
some weeks, and as we were liberally
supplied by the firm of Messrs. McKinney
k Williams with flour and bacon, sugar
and coffee, and game and fish w r ere to be
had in abundance, we fared “ sumptuous
ly every day,” though not “ clothed in
purple and fine linen.” In hunting and
fishing, making tents, cleaning up our
arms, and in preparing in other ways for
our anticipated campaign, our time pass
ed pleasantly enough.
Whilst here, we were formally muster
ed into the service of the “Republic of
Texas.” It was left optional with us to
enlist for twelve months or for the dura
tion of the war, and we unanimously
chose the latter alternative, upon the
principle, I suppose, of “in for a penny,
in for a pound,” or, as Davy Crockett
would have expressed it, we resolved to
“go the whole hog or none.”
One day, whilst lying here, we had
quite an exciting scone, which bade fair,
for a time, to initiate us at once into the
realities of actual warfare. Two vessels
were descried in the offing, one of them
evidently in hot pursuit of the other. As
soon as they had approached near enough
to be distinctly seen through a glass, it
was asserted by those who pretended to
know, that the smaller vessel was the
“Invincible,” a schooner lately purchased
by the Republic of Texas, and that the
larger one, which was the one in chase,
was the “Bravo,” a celebrated Mexican
privateer. In this opinion we were all
confirmed by a brisk cannonading that
soon commenced between the pursued and
pursuing vessels. Our company being
the best organized and armed, was order
ed on board of a small steamer lying in
the mouth of the Brazos, with instruc
tions to hasten to the assistance of the
Invincible with as little delay as possible.
\\ r e quickly got up steam, and notwith
standing the violence of the breakers up
on the bar, which, on two occasions, roll
ed completely over our little craft, we
were soon alongside of the foremost ves
sel, which turned out, as we had suppos
ed, to be the Invincible. By this time the
other vessel had approached sufficiently
near to be recognized as one that had also
been lately purchased for the Texas navy,
and the cannonading ceased.
Each, it appears, had mistaken the oth
er for the Bravo, and hence the pursuit
ol the one and the attempt to escape on
the pai tol the Invincible. The Invinci
ble had only her sailing crew aboard. So
we had to return to camp without haviiw
had an opportunity afforded us, as we an
anticipated, of “fleshing our maiden
swords.”
A few days afterwards, our company
was ordered on board the Invincible to
serve as a sort of marine corps for her
protection, until her regular crew could
be shipped. Whilst on board of her, we
took a cruise along the coast, in hopes of
picking up a Mexican prize, as far up as
the eastern end of G alveston Island. Here
an incident occurred, which, as it shows
the great changes that have taken place
since the time of which we write, is worth
mentioning.
We were lying at anchor right off the
point of the island where the city of Gal
veston now stands, and, as w t c were run
ning short of wood and water, a boat was
sent ashore for a supply. The former
was to be had in any quantity along the
beach, and the latter could be obtained,
of passable quality, by digging shallow
wells at the foot of the sand hills. When
the boat was ready to return, it was found
that one of the crew was missing. Search
was made for him, but he was no where
to be seen, and as there was every ap
pearance of a Norther coming up, the
officer in charge of the boat thought it
most prudent to return to the vessel leav
ing their missing companion behind.—
Scarcely had the boat reached the schoon
er when the norther struck us, and we
were compelled to hoist anchor and run
before it. Th ree days elapsed before we
could make our anchorage again, and a
boat was sent ashore to search for our
lost comrade. At length he was found
wandering along the beach, seeking for
oysters and crabs, upon which ho had
subsisted since leaving the vessel. His
mind was sensibly affected by his expo
sure to the weather, and his dread of
wild beasts and savages, and the appre
hension that we had abandoned him to
his fate. For several days he talked in a
wild and incoherent manner, and some
time elapsed before the tone of his mind
was entirely restored. For three days
this man was the sole occupant of the
island, and at the very point where we
found him the beautiful city of Galveston
now stands, containing a population of
20,000 souls!
After cruising several days longer in
the vicinity of the island without success,
we returned to our old anchorage ground,
near Velasco.
4*4
As daylight can be seen through
the smallest holes, so the most trifling
things show a person’s character.