The country again became flat, but very pleasant for ourselves and our horses. The prairies are frequently covered for miles with post oaks, that is to say, oaks growing so close together, that their foliage is interlaced, and hardly allows the sun a peep at the ground, covered with fine short grass. Large and small clumps of trees of this sort are scattered over these grassy plateaux, and give the country an appearance as if human hands had been active here years agone, and these are the remaining and border lines of former grounds and gardens. Riding under this roof of foliage is extremely pleasant: you are not checked by any obstacle, or diverted from your course, and the horses move lightly and quickly over the short grass. It was at the same time a fine day, the wind blew freshly, and hence we resolved to ride late, as we were in the moon's first quarter, which promised us light for some time after sundown. About six in the evening we crossed another small stream, which probably also flows into the Rio Grande, where we could have spent the night very comfortably; but we only filled our gourds, let our steeds take a hearty drink, and rode on, as we could at all events pass the night now without water. At about nine o'clock we reached, with pleasant conversation, the end of the post-oaks, through whose middle a clear stream wound. We greeted it gladly; for it is always disagreeable to camp without water near at hand. Our animals were soon unpacked, a small fire was lit in the thickest bushes, and at about eleven o'clock we lay down, with Czar and Lizzy by our side, hoping for a better night than the last. We slept gloriously, and awoke the next morning invigorated and in the best spirits. The sun had just risen over the horizon when we mounted and rode over the plain, after taking, with the help of the compass, the nearest direction to the forest rising in the blue distance above the wide prairie. According to my calculation, it was about ten miles off. The prairie was very flat, and only a few mosquito trees grew on it here and there, which sufficed to estimate distances, for that is a difficult job without such marks. I told Kreger it would be better for us to push on, now the road was good, for a feeling of anxiety involuntarily oppressed me on this broad plain, where we could be so easily observed from the woods that formed a semicircle round it. I spoke to Czar every now and then, and we had nearly reached the middle of the prairie when my horse gave a start, and tried to break into a gallop. I attempted to pacify him, but he soon began snorting, and could not be held in.