JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE THROUGH THE
<#1? track that was -but lately made, they began-to be ferioully alarmed,- and
, Jtiilê. ■ . . . , ■ ,, ' , ” ,
Qj^ inquiring of the guide where they were, he pretended,.p^®tJ-t®.mad*ff"
ftand thèm'. They the* ^ S i^ d ii
out any k in d 'o f covering: they were*cold-, wtety and-hungry,.bit dared
not light a fire, from 'thé apprehenfio’n of arr fenetnÿ, in This.'icomfertrlefs-
fpdt-they'lSBf Jat the" dawn o f’ dàÿ,J and, oh-their arrival' at the lodges,
found them defériéd ; thé property of the fndiansîbeinf féattered- about,:
as 'if abandonedToT etfer. T he guidfe’ then dfede two«Or three trips into-
the woods, calling aloud, arid bellowing like a. madman; , At length
He fet‘ off in the famé direâitm a s 'th e f binvèv'and had notfince appeared.
T o heighten their' mifery, as they did not find us>afthe place appointed,
they cdnclùded'that we were all deftroyèd, and had already formed their,
plan to-ïaké to lh e Woods, a n d erefs in as a éirfeft a line as they^ould
jribeee<£ta*he vTaterS o f the P e a ^R iv e r, aÿfëhëttt» which could :only-be
fiiggefted by defpàiri They intended, to have waited for us till noon;
arid i f ^ 'd i d not a p p e a r 'b f that time, to> have entered without furtheTr
delay on their defperate expedition. ; ‘
This alarm among the natives was a very unexpëried as weMvas perilous
event, and my powers of eoigeftufe were exhaufted in fearching for the
caufe of i t A general panic feized all around me, and, any further pro-
fecution of the voyage was now confidered by them às altogether hope-
lefs and impracticable. But without paying the leaft attention to their
‘ opinions or furmifes, I ordered them to take every thing,out pfth e
canoe, except fix packages : when that was done, L Jeff .four men tp
take Care of the lading, and returned' with the others to pur camp of laft
night, where I hoped to find the two men, with their families, whom yrp
had
IfORTH:WEST GDHTINENT OF AMERICA, *%
had fe£n there; and to be able to bring them td^isdge with us, when I
ffaould wait-tlhefrffae of this my fterious bulinefs. This projeft, however,
was difappointed, for thefe people had quiittedtheir {herds in the filencei
o f the night, >and had not taken a {ingle article of their little property
with them,
Ï Thefe pefpfexing cfrcumfta'nces imadè a deep itnprefîion on my rnind,
hot as to par imn^diàte fefètyy#t 'ï>'ent«rtained-t®t thtlea'® apprehehfiöh
of the Indians I had hitherto feenveven- if 'their Whole forée fhould
have been combined to a tta c k s , but-thefe untoward 'ëvetits feemed to
threafen the profoeütïon of my joutöey j add’ f <eOuld not on the
poffibility offitefe a< difappoin&nent but witHidenÄt*o^>Ätfe fliort o f
agony. Whatever might have been the wavering dffpdfiiioft of the peo*
pie on former "occafions, they were now decided in theinopinions as to
the neceflity of returning withoütdelay; and whbn weeameback to them,
their,cty was— “ Let ns reimbark, and be gone.9’ This; boWever; ivasr
not my deign, and in a more peremptory tonethan I uftaally employed,
they were ordered to unload the Canoe, and take her out of the water.
On -examining our property, lèverai articles appeared to be miffing^
which the Indians mu ft have purloined1; and among them were an aixe;
two knives; and the yoehg men^s kajg Of -medicines. We now took a
pofition that was the beït calculated for defence, got our arms in com-»
plete order, filled each man’s flalk Of powder, aiid diftributed an hundred
bullets, Which were- all that 'remained, while fome Wëre employed in
melting down mot to make «sore. The weather was fe> elbudy that I
had not an opportunity o f taking an obfervation, -
M m While