Thus for a time, in present revelry, however uncouth, they
forgot all past troubles and all anxieties about the future, and their
forlorn wigwam echoed to the sound of gayety.
The next day they resumed their labors, and by the 6th of the month it
was complete. They soon killed abundance of buffalo, and again laid in a
stock of winter provisions. The party were more fortunate in this, their
second cantonment. The winter passed away without any Indian visitors,
and the game continued to be plenty in the neighborhood. They felled two
large trees, and shaped them into canoes; and, as the spring opened, and
a thaw of several days' continuance melted the ice in the river, they
made every preparation for embarking. On the 8th of March they launched
forth in their canoes, but soon found that the river had not depth
sufficient even for such slender barks. It expanded into a wide but
extremely shallow stream, with many sand-bars, and occasionally various
channels. They got one of their canoes a few miles down it, with extreme
difficulty, sometimes wading and dragging it over the shoals; at length
they had to abandon the attempt, and to resume their journey on foot,
aided by their faithful old pack-horse, who had recruited strength
during the repose of the winter.
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