This sachem was called Eagle-head. He came, in the name of his tribe, to invite Don Rafael, whom he obstinately called Loyal-heart, to a great buffalo hunt which was to come off in Apacheria toward the middle of the "Moon of the wild oats," that is to say, about September 15th.
Don Rafael was greatly inclined to accept this invitation, but a sorrowful look, which his wife gave him aside, made him understand how anxious his absence would make her. He therefore expressed his inability to be present at this hunt, which he would have so much liked to be, but very important business compelled him to remain at the hacienda. He added, however, that his friend Belhumeur would be happy to take his place, in order to prove to Eagle-head the value he set on his invitation and his lively desire to show him all the deference which so great a chief as he merited.
After a few words whispered in his ear, Belhumeur introduced me to the Indian chief, to whom he mentioned that, as I had never witnessed a buffalo hunt, I should be delighted with his permission to attend the present one. The chief politely replied that Belhumeur was an adopted son of the tribe, and that any persons he thought proper to bring with him would be received not only with great pleasure, but with the greatest kindness, according to the consecrated customs of Indian hospitality.
I warmly thanked, as I was bound to do, the chief, who was flattered to hear me express myself with some degree of elegance in his own language; and we agreed to meet at the winter village of the Comanches of the Lakes, on the fifth sun of the Moon of the wild oats.
Eagle-head took leave of us the same evening, in spite of all our efforts to keep him at least till the next morning. He started in the direction of the desert with the light and gymnastic step peculiar to the redskins, which a trotting horse could not keep up with, and which enables them to cover an enormous distance in a relatively very short period.
Two days later, Belhumeur, myself, and another Canadian hunter attached to the hacienda, by the name of Black Elk, mounted on excellent mustangs, and armed to the teeth, took leave of Don Rafael, who saw us depart with a sigh of regret, and we proceeded in the direction of the great western prairies.