THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1007, 5 July 1862, Page 3

THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE.

'Twas night, and wb were camping by the mighty Rio Grande, Around us dim and silent stretched the boundless prairie land, No sound disturbed the stillness, save the footfall of oar steeds And the fitful wind that gently stirred the trembling water reeds. The moon was sinking westward, and the midnight hour was near, ; When strangely indistinct there fell a sound upon mine ear, It floated ever and anon upon the miduight gale, • And sounded like the distant bay of wolves upon our trail. Swiftly that sound came nearer, and it grew more wildly deep, ; Our steeds grew mad with terror, and each hunter sprang from sleep ; ; The moon grew wild and crimson, and the stars looked fierce and dire, J 1 Then the cry burst forth from every lip," the prairie is on fire." Onward came the fearful element, leaping amid its play, ' On it came,until the prairie-gleamed in broader light than day, : On it came, and wildly flying, before the rushing tide, i The timid deer and prairie wolf were bounding side by side. Then the cry was," to your saddles, though the river's broad j and deep, ■ " Though its stream is swift and turbid, and its banks are high 1 and steep, ; " Yet that river must be crossed to-night, the struggle is for life, i " The foe that tracks us will not yield, to carabine or knife." ' Onr steeds were desert-nnrtured, they had seen that light before ; When they roamed the boundless prairie,and no bitorsaddle bore, : They knew the river was their hope, and as each hunter flung ■ His hand upon the flowing mane, forward tbey madly sprung. I A bound! and we were struggling with the mighty rolling flood, ; That gleamed amid the firelight, like a sea .of reeking blood; With fearful calmness, steeds and men held through the rushing i tide, \ For we knew that death was gliding o'er the water by our side. ; That night the silent spectre clasped fnll many a gallant breast ; Far beneath the silent river now the steed and rider rest; j They died as they had ever lived, the fearless and the brave, ; And 'tis a worthy monument that lies above their grave, Canterbury. F. S. 0.