The Bear
Was Old, And The Meat Tough, So That They Took The Skin Only,
And Rejoined Us At Camp, Where We Had Been As Much Terrified
By An Accident Of A Different Kind.
"This was the narrow escape of one of our canoes, containing all
our papers, instruments, medicine, and almost every article indispensable
for the success of our enterprise.
The canoe being under sail,
a sudden squall of wind struck her obliquely and turned her considerably.
The man at the helm, who was unluckily the worst steersman of the party,
became alarmed, and, instead of putting her before the wind, luffed her up
into it. The wind was so high that it forced the brace of the square-sail out
of the hand of the man who was attending it, and instantly upset the canoe,
which would have been turned bottom upward but for the resistance made
by the awning. Such was the confusion on board, and the waves ran so high,
that it was half a minute before she righted, and then nearly full of water,
but by bailing her out she was kept from sinking until they rowed ashore.
Besides the loss of the lives of three men, who, not being able to swim,
would probably have perished, we should have been deprived of nearly
everything necessary for our purposes, at a distance of between two and
three thousand miles from any place where we could supply the deficiency."
Fortunately, there was no great loss from this accident, which was caused
by the clumsiness and timidity of the steersman, Chaboneau.
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