Such were the scenes that beset Mr. Hunt, and gave him a foretaste of
the difficulties of his command. The little cabarets and sutlers' shops
along the bay resounded with the scraping of fiddles, with snatches of
old French songs, with Indian whoops and yells, while every plumed and
feathered vagabond had his troop of loving cousins and comrades at his
heels. It was with the utmost difficulty they could be extricated from
the clutches of the publicans and the embraces of their pot companions,
who followed them to the water's edge with many a hug, a kiss on each
cheek, and a maudlin benediction in Canadian French.
It was about the 12th of August that they left Mackinaw, and pursued the
usual route by Green Bay, Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to Prairie du Chien,
and thence down the Mississippi to St. Louis, where they landed on the
3d of September.
CHAPTER XIV.
St. Louis.--Its Situation.--Motley Population.--French
Creole Traders and Their Dependants.--Missouri Fur Company--
Mr. Manuel Lisa.--Mississippi Boatmen.--Vagrant Indians.
--Kentucky Hunters--Old French Mansion--Fiddling--Billiards
--Mr. Joseph Miller--His Character--Recruits--Voyage Up the
Missouri.--Difficulties of the River.--Merits of Canadian
Voyageurs.
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