On landing at
night, therefore, a vigilant guard was maintained about the camp. On the
following morning a number of Indians made their appearance, and came
prowling round the party while at breakfast. To his great delight, Mr.
Crooks recognized among them two of the miscreants by whom he had been
robbed. They were instantly seized, bound hand and foot, and thrown into
one of the canoes. Here they lay in doleful fright, expecting summary
execution. Mr. Crooks, however, was not of a revengeful disposition, and
agreed to release the culprits as soon as the pillaged property should
be restored. Several savages immediately started off in different
directions, and before night the rifles of Crooks and Day were produced;
several of the smaller articles pilfered from them, however, could not
be recovered.
The bands of the culprits were then removed, and they lost no time in
taking their departure, still under the influence of abject terror,
and scarcely crediting their senses that they had escaped the merited
punishment of their offenses.
The country on each side of the river now began to assume a different
character. The hills, and cliffs, and forests disappeared; vast sandy
plains, scantily clothed here and there with short tufts of grass,
parched by the summer sun, stretched far away to the north and south.
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