Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/674

 no longer permitted to move, having to sleep on deck, crowded, like bars of soap, on top of each other. Positive orders had been given to the sentinels to blow out the brains of any man that raised his head. Therefore, without obtaining a drink of water, or being allowed to attend to the wants of nature, we laid our heads down, motionless, until sunrise.

Very early on the 8th, after striking a bell three times, as is customary on these vessels, the machine was set in motion, and we glided down to Galveston. Not to forget it, I will mention a strange incident. As the steamboat passed opposite the battle-field of San Jacinto, the troops on board were formed, facing to the field, and presented arms, the drums beating a march. They remained in that position until they had lost sight of the field. What was their object?

A little after 12 o'clock M. we reached Galveston, remaining in the sun the rest of the day.

There we passed another unpleasant moment. The company from Kentucky was composed of the most reckless, drunken, and lawless men in the Texan army, and we prisoners were placed under the charge of these lambs. Some of the men began, I do not know why, to fight with their fists, which soon brought about a general melee. They struck at each other indiscriminately, some seizing their rifles and pistols. Officers interfered, and were soon mingled in the row, giving and receiving blows. Soldiers knew no longer their officers, and a fierce affray raged for some time. The uproar and stamping of feet on the deck attracted the attention of the gentlemen in the cabin below. They came out to ascertain the cause of the difficulty, but the rascals were so hotly engaged in their contest that they did not mind the voice of their President and other chiefs any more than the barking of dogs. Fearful that the disorder might increase, and, perhaps, end in a tragic manner, we remained motionless. At length, by choking some of them, and by the utmost exertion the brave Captain Allen succeeded in restoring order.

General Santa Anna was transferred on board the Independence, and we were landed at sunset.

I was lucky enough to meet Lieutenant Carlos Ocampo, of the Battalion of Jimenes, who gave me a bounteous supply of coffee and hard bread, with which I made up for the last two days' fast. For several days our philanthropic benefactors had allowed us but one ounce of food. The citizens Don Ramon Murgo and Don Gil Hernandez, who had been captured on a Mexican vessel boarded by the Texans, shared the captivity of Lieutenant Ocampo. The bad treatment inflicted by these wretches on that officer can scarcely be conceived. I saw his shoulders covered with stripes and sores, resulting from one hundred lashes laid on him when fastened to a gun.

On the 9th the officers were assigned a camping-ground — less than fifty square yards — where we remained until the middle of August. Our condition was infinitely worse on that accursed island, because we had no wholesome water, nor the shelter of shade trees, which we had enjoyed on our former camping-grounds. The heat is much more intense on the coast, and, besides, we had to contend with myriads of flies, mosquitoes, and sand-crabs, not to speak of continual storms and showers. Such were the swarms of mosquitoes, that it would seem that the whole species in the world had taken Galveston for a place of rendezvous. The sand-crabs would bite,