Another Cache Was
Therefore Digged, About Two Miles Further On; When, As They Were
About To Bury The Effects, A Line Of Horsemen With Pack-Horses,
Were Seen Streaking Over The Plain, And Encamped Close By.
It proved to be a small band in the service of the Hudson's Bay
Company, under the command of
A veteran Canadian; one of those
petty leaders, who, with a small party of men, and a small supply
of goods, are employed to follow up a band of Indians from one
hunting ground to another, and buy up their peltries.
Having received numerous civilities from the Hudson's Bay
Company, the captain sent an invitation to the officers of the
party to an evening regale; and set to work to make jovial
preparations. As the night air in these elevated regions is apt
to be cold, a blazing fire was soon made, that would have done
credit to a Christmas dinner, instead of a midsummer banquet. The
parties met in high good-fellowship. There was abundance of such
hunters' fare as the neighborhood furnished; and it was all
discussed with mountain appetites. They talked over all the
events of their late campaigns; but the Canadian veteran had been
unlucky in some of his transactions; and his brow began to grow
cloudy. Captain Bonneville remarked his rising spleen, and
regretted that he had no juice of the grape to keep it down.
A man's wit, however, is quick and inventive in the wilderness; a
thought suggested itself to the captain, how he might brew a
delectable beverage. Among his stores was a keg of honey but
half exhausted. This he filled up with alcohol, and stirred the
fiery and mellifluous ingredients together. The glorious results
may readily be imagined; a happy compound of strength and
sweetness, enough to soothe the most ruffled temper and unsettle
the most solid understanding.
The beverage worked to a charm; the can circulated merrily; the
first deep draught washed out every care from the mind of the
veteran; the second elevated his spirit to the clouds. He was,
in fact, a boon companion; as all veteran Canadian traders are
apt to be. He now became glorious; talked over all his exploits,
his huntings, his fightings with Indian braves, his loves with
Indian beauties; sang snatches of old French ditties, and
Canadian boat songs; drank deeper and deeper, sang louder and
louder; until, having reached a climax of drunken gayety, he
gradually declined, and at length fell fast asleep upon the
ground. After a long nap he again raised his head, imbibed
another potation of the "sweet and strong," flashed up with
another slight blaze of French gayety, and again fell asleep.
The morning found him still upon the field of action, but in sad
and sorrowful condition; suffering the penalties of past
pleasures, and calling to mind the captain's dulcet compound,
with many a retch and spasm. It seemed as if the honey and
alcohol, which had passed so glibly and smoothly over his tongue,
were at war within his stomach; and that he had a swarm of bees
within his head.
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