There were white settlements upon the prairies of Opelousas, but our adventurers did not go out of their way to visit them.

Their purpose was to get far beyond; and they did not wish to lose time.
They crossed numerous bayous and rivers, generally running southward into the Mexican Gulf.

The shallow ones they forded, while those that were too deep for fording, they swam over upon their horses.

They thought nothing of that--for their horses, as well as the mule Jeanette and the dog Marengo, were all trained to swim like fishes.
After many days' travel they reached the banks of the river Sabine, which divides Louisiana from Texas, then a part of the Mexican territory.

The face of the country was here very different from most of that they had passed over.