On these occasions it was that the merits of the Canadian voyageurs came
into full action. Patient of toil, not to be disheartened by impediments
and disappointments, fertile in expedients, and versed in every mode
of humoring and conquering the wayward current, they would ply every
exertion, sometimes in the boat, sometimes on shore, sometimes in the
water, however cold; always alert, always in good humor; and, should
they at any time flag or grow weary, one of their popular songs,
chanted by a veteran oarsman, and responded to in chorus, acted as a
never-failing restorative.
By such assiduous and persevering labor they made their way about four
hundred and fifty miles up the Missouri, by the 16th of November, to
the mouth of the Nodowa. As this was a good hunting country, and as the
season was rapidly advancing, they determined to establish their winter
quarters at this place; and, in fact, two days after they had come to a
halt, the river closed just above their encampment.
The party had not been long at this place when they were joined by Mr.
Robert M'Lellan, another trader of the Missouri; the same who had been
associated with Mr. Crooks in the unfortunate expedition in which they
had been intercepted by the Sioux Indians, and obliged to make a rapid
retreat down the river.
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