The Night Was Cool,
But The Driftwood Gave Him A Good Fire, And He Suffered No Inconvenience,
Except From The Mosquitoes."
The easy indifference to discomfort with which these well-seasoned
pioneers took their hardships must needs impress the reader.
It
Was a common thing for men, or for a solitary man,
to be caught out of camp by nightfall and compelled to bivouac,
like Captain Lewis, in the underbrush, or the prairie-grass. As
they pressed on, game began to fail them. Under date of July 31,
they remark that the only game seen that day was one bighorn,
a few antelopes, deer, and a brown bear, all of which escaped them.
"Nothing was killed to-day," it is recorded, "nor have we
had any fresh meat except one beaver for the last two days;
so that we are now reduced to an unusual situation,
for we have hitherto always had a great abundance of flesh."
Indeed, one reason for this is found in Captain Lewis's remark:
"When we have plenty of fresh meat, I find it impossible to make
the men take any care of it, or use it with the least frugality,
though I expect that necessity will shortly teach them this art."
We shall see, later on, that the men, who were really as improvident
of food as the Indians, had hard lessons from necessity.
Anxious to reach the Indians, who were believed to be somewhere ahead of them,
Captain Lewis and three men went on up the Jefferson, Captain Clark and his
party following with the canoes and luggage in a more leisurely manner.
The advance party were so fortunate as to overtake a herd of elk,
two of which they killed; what they did not eat they left secured
for the other party with the canoes.
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