A Volunteer with Pike / The True Narrative of One Dr. John Robinson and of His Love for the Fair Señorita Vallois

A first-person narrator, Dr. John Robinson, tells of volunteering on an expedition under Pike and of his courtship of a Spanish señorita. The account moves from society scenes in the capital and a fateful introduction to frontier voyages, shipboard life, and encounters with political agents and hospitable households. The journey meets natural obstacles—a formidable peak, barriers of rock, famine and frost—and confrontations with hostile parties and conspirators that strain loyalty and courage. Episodes of duel, captivity and corporal punishment alternate with romantic interludes, leading to a final crossing of the Gulf that concludes the narrator's tale.