The loss of two stark hunters and prime riflemen was a serious affair to
the party, for they were approaching the region where they might expect
hostilities from the Sioux; indeed, throughout the whole of their
perilous journey, the services of such men would be all important, for
little reliance was to be placed upon the valor of the Canadians in
case of attack. Mr. Hunt endeavored by arguments, expostulations,
and entreaties, to shake the determination of the two brothers. He
represented to them that they were between six and seven hundred miles
above the mouth of the Missouri; that they would have four hundred miles
to go before they could reach the habitation of a white man, throughout
which they would be exposed to all kinds of risks; since, he declared,
if they persisted in abandoning him and breaking their faith, he would
not furnish them with a single round of ammunition. All was in vain;
they obstinately persisted in their resolution; whereupon, Mr. Hunt,
partly incited by indignation, partly by the policy of deterring others
from desertion, put his threat into execution, and left them to find
their way back to the settlements without, as he supposed, a single
bullet or charge of powder.
The boats now continued their slow and toilsome course for several days,
against the current of the river.
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