The veteran trappers and voyageurs of Lisa's party shook their heads
as their comrades set out, and took leave of them as of doomed men;
and even Lisa himself gave it as his opinion, after the travellers had
departed, they would never reach the shores of the Pacific, but would
either perish with hunger in the wilderness, or be cut off by the
savages.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Summer Weather of the Prairies.--Purity of the Atmosphere--
Canadians on the March.--Sickness in the Camp.--Big River.--
Vulgar Nomenclature.--Suggestions About the Original Indian
Names.--Camp of Cheyennes.--Trade for Horses.--Character of
the Cheyennes.--Their Horsemanship.--Historical Anecdotes of
the Tribe.
THE course taken by Mr. Hunt was at first to the northwest, but soon
turned and kept generally to the southwest, to avoid the country
infested by the Blackfeet. His route took him across some of the
tributary streams of the Missouri, and over immense prairies, bounded
only by the horizon, and destitute of trees. It was now the height of
summer, and these naked plains would be intolerable to the traveller
were it not for the breezes which swept over them during the fervor of
the day, bringing with them tempering airs from the distant mountains.
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