Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

26 BARRIVE AT THE BRAZOS.
on the morning of the 29th. The weather was intensely hot.
Not a breath of wind ruffled the smooth glassy surface of the
Gulf, and during the three days occupied in the passage, the
feverish invalids watched and panted in vain for the sea
breeze which we had hoped would invigorate our wasted
bodies. Thanks to the genius of Fulton, ours was a steam
ship, and, heedless of the calm, glided in triumph over the
slumbering sea. Many unfortunate companies, transported
in sail vessels, were two weeks on the voyage. An officer of
my acquaintance was becalmed ten days, in a filthy little
schooner, in which, as he gravely informed us, "the passengers had to fight like terriers to keep the rats from the
cabin table." Ike ever afterwards spoke of the voyage as
the veritable purgatory between heavenz (the United States)
and hell (Mexico); commencing many a story or jest with
the preface-" When I was in purgatory."
At dawn on the 29th, we hastened on deck to see the land
which Spanish chivalry and more recently American courage
had invested with charms that kindled the most romantic
spirit of adventure. Next to the classic shores of the Mediterranean, those of Mexico and Central America, yet so rich
inl relics of ancient art, had long been most interesting to me.
Who, perusing the brilliant pages of Prescott, does not
desire to visit the grand and beautiful scenes, he so grandly
and beautifully describes? To revel among the intoxicating
perfumes and flowery plains of the tierrac caliente; to wander
among the verdant fields and fruits of the tierra tem.tplada; to
gaze upon the magnificent scenery and wonderful exhibitions
of Aztec civilization displayed in profusion throughout the