s where larger parties had experienced so much danger
and distress. When recruits were sought in the preceding year among
experienced hunters and voyageurs at Montreal and St. Louis, it was
considered dangerous to attempt to cross the Rocky Mountains with less
than sixty men; and yet here we find Reed ready to push his way across
those barriers with merely three companions. Such is the fearlessness,
the insensibility to danger, which men acquire by the habitude of
constant risk. The mind, like the body, becomes callous by exposure.

The little associated band proceeded up the river, under the command of
Mr. Robert Stuart, and arrived early in the month of April at the Long
Narrows, that notorious plundering place. Here it was necessary to
unload the canoes, and to transport both them and their cargoes to the
head of the Narrows by land. Their party was too few in number for the
purpose. They were obliged, therefore, to seek the assistance of the
Cathlasco Indians, who undertook to carry the goods on their horses.
Forward then they set, the Indians with their horses well freighted, and
the first load convoyed by Reed and five men, well armed; the gallant
Irishman striding along at the head, with his tin case of despatches
glittering on his back. In passing, however, through a rocky and
intricate defile, some of the freebooting vagrants turned their horses
up a narrow path and galloped off, carrying with them two bales of
goods, and a number of smaller articles. To follow them was useless;
indeed, it was with much ado that the convoy got into port with the
residue of the cargoes; for some of the guards were pillaged of their
knives and pocket handkerchiefs, and the lustrous tin case of Mr. John
Reed was in imminent jeopardy.

Mr. Stuart heard of these depredations, and hastened forward to the
relief of the convoy, but could not reach them before dusk, by which
time they had arrived at the village of Wish-ram, already noted for its
great fishery, and the knavish propensities of its inhabitants. Here
they found themselves benighted in a strange place, and surrounded by
savages bent on pilfering, if not upon open robbery. Not knowing what
active course to take, they remained under arms all night, without
closing an eye, and at the very first peep of dawn, when objects were
yet scarce visible, everything was hastily embarked, and, without
seeking to recover the stolen effects, they pushed off from shore, "glad
to bid adieu,"