A new history of Texas for schools : also for general reading and for teachers preparing themselves for examination Page: 99 of 412
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ERA OF COLONIZATION.
83
attached to him that we hate to give him up. For bread we have
not fared so well. Our flour was shipped, but never reached us.
We have had enough corn-bread most of the time and have no fear
for the future. Did you ever do without salt for a week? That
is the experience we had, and in Austin's colony they went with-
out for much longer. You cannot imagine how necessary it is to
your comfort till you are deprived of it. Dear me! it makes me
shudder to think how tasteless everything was. Our hunter brings
us plenty of honey, which he gets from the " honey-trees," so called
because the bees are fond of depositing their honey in that kind of
a tree. Many of the hunters will not be bothered gathering the
honey, as they wish the wax to sell to the Mexicans. You know the
Mexicans are Catholics, hence they consume great quantities of
the wax in making candles for their churches. By the way, speak-
ing of honey reminds me of a curious fact our hunter told me about
bees. He says bees never come to a country except when the pale-
faces are to follow. Whenever the honey becomes plentiful the wise
Indian moves away, for he feels sure the Great Spirit has sent him
this warning that the whites are coming.
About a week after our arrival our nearest neighbor, only thirty
miles away, sent us some butter, eggs, and chickens, with the re-
quest for coffee in exchange. I was only too willing, as I was anx-
ious for poultry. This system of trade is rather common. If you
decide to emigrate, bring with you a large supply of coffee and
sugar, and I believe you can buy up almost everything in the
country.
We now have an abundance of butter and milk, while my fowls
are as fine as any you have.
All settlers in Texas have not been so fortunate as we have. The
following pitiful account was given me by Mr. Dewees, who has writ-
ten a series of interesting letters on Texas: " Our sufferings have been
great for want of provisions. On account of the dry weather our
crops were poor and are now entirely spent; the game has left this sec-
tion of the country. There have many new settlers come on this fall,
and those who have not been accustomed to hunting in the woods for
a support must suffer. A party of men is obliged to go each morning
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Pennybacker, Anna J. Hardwicke. A new history of Texas for schools : also for general reading and for teachers preparing themselves for examination, book, 1895; Palestine, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2388/m1/99/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.