the opposite shore, and beheld meat
roasting before the fire, he jumped up, shouted, clapped his hands, and
danced in a delirium of joy, until he upset the canoe. The poor wretch
was swept away by the current and drowned, and it was with extreme
difficulty that Delaunay reached the shore.

Mr. Hunt now sent all his men forward excepting two or three. In the
evening he caused another horse to be killed, and a canoe to be made
out of the skin, in which he sent over a further supply of meat to the
opposite party. The canoe brought back John Day, the Kentucky hunter,
who came to join his former employer and commander, Mr. Crooks. Poor
Day, once so active and vigorous, was now reduced to a condition even
more feeble and emaciated than his companions. Mr. Crooks had such
a value for the man, on account of his past services and faithful
character, that he determined not to quit him; he exhorted Mr. Hunt,
however, to proceed forward, and join the party, as his presence was all
important to the conduct of the expedition. One of the Canadians, Jean
Baptiste Dubreuil, likewise remained with Mr. Crooks.

Mr. Hunt left two horses with them, and a part of the carcass of the
last that had been killed. This, he hoped, would be sufficient to
sustain them until they should reach the Indian encampment.

One of the chief dangers attending the enfeebled condition of Mr. Crooks
and his companions was their being overtaken by the Indians whose horses
had been seized, though Mr. Hunt hoped that he had guarded against any
resentment on the part of the savages, by leaving various articles in
their lodge, more than sufficient to compensate for the outrage he had
been compelled to commit.

Resuming his onward course, Mr. Hunt came up with his people in the
evening. The next day, December 13th, he beheld several Indians, with
three horses, on the opposite side of the river, and after a time came
to the two lodges which he had seen on going down. Here he endeavored in
vain to barter a rifle for a horse, but again succeeded in effecting the
purchase with an old tin kettle, aided by a few beads.

The two succeeding days were cold and stormy; the snow was augmenting,
and there was a good deal of ice running in the river. Their road,
however, was becoming easier; they were getting out of the hills, and
finally emerged into the open country, after twenty days of fatigue,
famine, and hardship of every kind, in the ineffectual attempt to find a
passag