of-war. These could be used or not as required, by responsible captains, who would be capable of forming an opinion as to the time when they should be utilized.

Now, one word about offensive torpedo warfare.

Torpedo-boats

could be sent from blockading squadrons into an enemy's port, and if the enemy's ships were unprepared, could do, no doubt, a vast amount of injury. Further than this, I am at a loss to perceive how they can be utilized.

I have ventured in this paper to throw some doubt upon the great efficacy of the so-called fish-torpedo, inasmuch as I think its danger can be averted. I will now turn to other torpedo inventions, which I think, when perfected, will prove better adapted to naval warfare. It must be remembered that the origin of the torpedo was in America during the great war between the North and South. The torpedo used, although at that time in its infancy, proved itself to be a most deadly weapon of defense. Placed at the mouths of great rivers, in the rivers themselves, and in shoal-water, wherever an enemy was likely to be cruising, it did good service on many occasions. I think I am right when I say that more than fifteen vessels were destroyed by torpedoes during the time that the war lasted. This torpedo was, with some very rare exceptions, used as a mine placed either floating, or at the bottom of the sea or river, and several vessels were thus destroyed while passing over these snares. More than one case of conspicuous daring on the part of the Southern naval officers occurred during the war, while using most effectively what is called the cigar torpedo-boat. This was a craft which, when in motion, was entirely immersed, except the top of the funnel, and might almost be called a submarine torpedo. I remember on one occasion during the war, when I was at Charleston, meeting in a coffee-room at that place a young naval officer (a Southerner), with whom I got into conversation. He told me that that night he was going to sink a Northern man-ofwar which was blockading the port, and invited me to see him off. I accompanied him down to his cigar-boat, as he called it, and found that she was a vessel about forty feet long, shaped like a cigar, on the bow of which was placed a torpedo. On his stepping on board with his crew of four men, his boat was immersed till nothing but a small piece of funnel was visible. He moved off into the darkness at no great speed,-say at about five miles an hour. The next evening, on visiting the coffee-house, I found my friend sitting quietly smoking his pipe. He told me that he had succeeded in making a hole in the frigate which he had attacked, which vessel could, in fact, be seen lying in shallow water, some seven miles off, careened over to repair damages. But he said that, on the concussion made by firing the torpedo, the water had rushed in through the hatches of his boat, and she had sunk to the bottom. All his men were drowned. He said

that he didn't know how he escaped himself, but he fancied that he came up through the hatches, as he found himself floating about, and swam on shore. This affair was officially reported by the American blockading squadron, corroborating the fact of the injury done to the frigate, and stating that the torpedo-boat was got up, with four dead bodies in her hold. Here is one system which might be utilized in naval warfare if perfected, and I am given to understand that a submarine torpedo-boat is already invented by Mr. Nordenfeldt.

In regard to the fixed torpedoes I have already referred to, the admiral commanding the American squadron told me that on one occasion he was steaming in line, his flag-ship being second in the order of sailing, when suddenly the ship ahead of them disappeared altogether, having struck on a mine; and that he found these mines the most deadly enemies to deal with, especially when the water was not very deep. I have seen a clever invention of Colonel Lay tried at Constantinople. This invention, which is now being put into shape by Mr. Nordenfeldt, struck me as being the weapon of the future, if the present somewhat serious defect-namely, its want of speed and immersion-could be overcome. When I saw it tried, it was steered by electricity, and went very straight for more than a mile. But it was too visible in the water, and only obtained about nine knots' speed, and thus, I think, would have been easily destroyed in the daytime. However, I am given to understand that Mr. Nordenfeldt has partially, if not entirely, overcome the above-named defects. If so, he has had a good chance of taking a lead in torpedo-manufacture, as he does now in machine-guns. General Berdan also promises great things in torpedoes. If he can do what he professes, he will cut every one out; for he undertakes to give speed, distance, safety against nets and other obstacles, easy steering powers, certainty of direction, etc. I wish him well, but he has been a very long time about it, and so far his trials have shown few satisfactory results.

Now, in this paper I have spoken of the fish or Whitehead torpedo, the Harvey, the Pole, the fixed or mine torpedo, the Lay or Nordenfeldt, the cigar-boat, and the Berdan. I have no doubt that there are other inventions, because the fact remains that the torpedo is not perfect, no, not by any means. When it is so, we had better act like the coon up a tree in America, who says to the sportsman whom he knows to be a dead shot, "Don't shoot,-I'll come down;" for war would then be too awful.

As the torpedo scare may extend to merchant vessels, I will say a few words of consolation on that head. A merchant vessel need not fear the torpedo-cruiser, because if the vessel carrying the boats which launch that nasty weapon can get near enough for them to use it, she will be near enough to go alongside, for the capture of valuable property is of more importance than its destruction. Moreover, it would

be useless to send out torpedo-boats alone to look for prizes. Where could they be sent from? Where would they get coals? And what would they do with the prizes after they had taken them? They cannot carry prize-crews; and to destroy a vessel for the sake of destruction would be a wanton act, which would be universally condemned. Besides, a torpedo is a very expensive article to throw away for the sake of destroying an enemy's merchant vessel. So I think that the captains and crews of merchant vessels may breathe freely as far as torpedoes are concerned. It is intended, I understand, to use torpedoes on board regular sea-going vessels of from three hundred to four hundred tons. This seems to me to be a practicable idea; and should the distance a torpedo can be fired be increased, these vessels would be serviceable craft: but so long as four hundred yards is the maximum distance, they would, unless attacking a craft of their own size, be liable to be knocked to pieces before they could get within torpedorange of the enemy; and it must be remembered that they would be a much larger target than the torpedo-boats.

One word more. I would ask my naval friends how they would judge distance at night when firing their torpedoes, and how they propose to approach ships guarded with nets and boats? Remember, also, that ships can cruise with their nets down. The fact is, that what frightens people is the great speed at which they see the devilish-looking torpedo-boat dashing by them. They do not take into consideration the damage that great speed would cause to the torpedo-boat itself, in the event of its meeting any obstacle, or being obliged to stop suddenly. For example, a curious case occurred lately on this coast. A torpedo-boat was obliged to stop suddenly, the result being that her machinery came to utter grief, and three men were killed by the fires being thrown out of the furnaces and on them; and I repeat that a boat fouling a wire rope was capsized and sunk, through the sudden check of the great impetus through the water. Taking into consideration all the experiences that I have narrated in this paper, I think that I am justified in saying that fish-torpedo warfare is to a great extent a bugbear, and though not to be entirely despised, may be designated as the "naval scare of the day."

HOBART PACHA.

INDIAN WARS IN TEXAS.

II.

WARS WITH THE PRAIRIE TRIBES.

1829. DURING the spring and summer of 1829, the Prairie Indians1 became troublesome, and continually committed depredations upon the unprotected frontier settlements. Small marauding-parties would come in, kill stock, rob the settlers, and leave for their mountain retreats before they could be punished. This was annoying to the colonists, and they determined to follow them to their hiding-places and punish them. For this purpose, Captains Abner Kuykendall and Henry S. Brown conducted a scouting-party of one hundred volunteers up the Colorado. Near the mouth of the San Saba they found an encampment of about one thousand Waco and Tehuacana Indians. The Indians were surprised, and retreated, leaving their women and children behind.

Finding it impossible to pursue the retreating red-skins, the disappointed volunteers returned to the settlements, without molesting the helpless women and children or destroying the village.

The following letter, written by one of the volunteers after his return, gives an interesting and truthful account of this expedition:

"COLORADO RIVER, TEX., January 2, 1830. "DEAR FRIEND ..: During the past summer there have been constant depredations committed on the frontier settlements by the Indians. Strolling parties have been constantly coming in, killing stock and robbing the settlers, and then leaving before they could be discovered and punished. This has troubled us exceedingly. At last we heard that a party of the Wacoes and Towaconies (Tehuacanas) had encamped during the summer at the mouth of the San Saba River, for the purpose of raising a crop of corn. A call was now made for a hundred volunteers, who were raised in the course of two or three days. Abner Kuykendall was elected captain. We obtained the services of two guides, a Mexican and an Indian, who knew the route to the mouth of the San Saba River, and also where the Indians were encamped. We then set out, traveling up the east bank sixty or seventy miles, when we struck out, taking the dividing ridge between the Colorado and

"Prairie Indians"-a name commonly applied to the migratory or roaming tribes who once held sway over the extensive prairies of Texas. This included the Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches, Wacoes, Tehuacanas, Caddos, and other kindred tribes.

the Brazos Rivers, crossing the Yegna, Brushy, and Little Rivers. We then traveled up on the bank of Little River to the mountains of the Colorado. For several days we continued our course through the mountains, till our guides informed us that they thought we were within thirty miles of the Indian encampment.

"Here we halted for a couple of days, and sent our guides, with two men to accompany them, to search and spy out the situation of the Indian camps. On the second day they returned, and brought information that we were about twenty miles from the Indian encampment; that they had spied it out, and had found a crossing to the river. They also gave it as their opinion that we could get to the Indian village in a night. We remained where we then were till dark, when we set out for the Indian village with the expectation of arriving and attacking the Indians before day. The night was very dark, and our course lay over mountains of rock and through cedar-brakes, which so impeded our course and bewildered our guides, that at daylight we found ourselves near the Colorado River and ignorant of our distance from the Indian village.

"Here was a deep ravine running down between the mountains, and hid from the eye of the Indians by lofty trees which towered their heads in grandeur towards the deep-blue heavens above. Rocky hills lay on either side of the ravine, and, by their overhanging cliffs, promised a safe and secure hiding-place from the savages, should they be near where we were. Into this ravine we went with our horses. We tied our horses to the trees and secreted ourselves, determining to remain here till night closed in upon us, and then make our way to the Indian encampment and commence an attack.

"We now sent out four men to find the village, as we did not know how far we were from it. They had been gone about half an hour, when they were surrounded by forty Indians, well mounted and completely armed and equipped. They surrounded our men without firing upon them. Finding that they seemed intent on going in a certain direction, the Indians formed a sort of half-circle around them, leaving open the side towards which they were traveling. Knowing that they would not be there by themselves, but must belong to some party, the Indians followed them, hoping to fall upon our encampment and do us more injury than they could by killing our men. The spies came on, followed by the savages, till they reached a cliff which overhung our place of concealment, then they raised a cry. We mounted our horses in an instant and rode up the bank.

"The Indians, knowing as soon as our men hallooed that they were on the encampment, instantly turned their horses' heads and retreated. We pursued; but the Indians separated, and each took a course of his own. Being aware that we should no longer be safe in concealment, we kept on to the crossing of the Colorado. Immediately on crossing we beheld, about three hundred yards above us, the Indian village; but the Indians who had followed our spies had arrived before us and given the alarm. All were flying from the town. We now received orders to ride in quickly and fire. We obeyed, but only succeeded in killing one man: the rest were soon hid from our view by the thick cedar-brake, and we feared pursuit would be useless, for our horses' feet were completely worn out, and would not, we thought, be able to follow. One gentleman, Bartlett Simms, said that he thought his horse would be able to go, and that if others would accompany him he would pursue. Fifteen of us joined him, and we pressed on after the Indians. We passed a great many women and children; but as we did not wish to hurt them, we still

The writer remembers hearing a gentleman, a son of one of the volunteers who accompanied the party, giving an account of this expedition, and he said that they encamped one night on the banks of the Salado Creek in Bell County, where the beautiful village of Salado is now situated. He also spoke of the number of bold springs along the banks of the Salado. The second night after leaving this place, he said they encamped at the famous "sulphur springs" in Lampasas County.