Bitterly against the folly that had sent these unfortunate men
to perish miserably in the fathomless depths of the continent.
They no longer treated it "as a philosophism," or wild prank,
but as a wicked scheme to risk life and property in a search
for the mysteries of the unknown and unknowable.
As a striking illustration of this uncertainty of the outcome
of the expedition, which exercised even the mind of Jefferson,
it may be said that in his instructions to Captain Lewis he said:
"Our Consuls, Thomas Hewes, at Batavia in Java, William Buchanan
in the isles of France and Bourbon, and John Elmslie at the Cape of
Good Hope, will be able to supply your necessities by drafts on us."
All this seems strange enough to the young reader of the present day;
but this was said and done one hundred years ago.
Chapter III
From the Lower to the Upper River
The party finally set sail up the Missouri River on Monday, May 21,
1804, but made only a few miles, owing to head winds.
Four days later they camped near the last white settlement on
the Missouri, - La Charrette, a little village of seven poor houses.
Here lived Daniel Boone, the famous Kentucky backwoodsman,
then nearly seventy years old, but still vigorous, erect, and strong
of limb.
