t night, they made a scanty meal of their
remaining provisions, and lay down to sleep with heavy hearts. In the
morning, they were up and about at an early hour, and began to prepare
their knapsacks for a march, while Ben Jones repaired to an old beaver
trap which he had set in the river bank at some little distance from the
camp. He was rejoiced to find a middle-sized beaver there, sufficient
for a morning's meal to his hungry comrades. On his way back with his
prize, he observed two heads peering over the edge of an impending
cliff, several hundred feet high, which he supposed to be a couple of
wolves. As he continued on, he now and then cast his eye up; heads were
still there, looking down with fixed and watchful gaze. A suspicion now
flashed across his mind that they might be Indian scouts; and, had they
not been far above the reach of his rifle, he would undoubtedly have
regaled them with a shot.

On arriving at the camp, he directed the attention of his comrades to
these aerial observers. The same idea was at first entertained, that
they were wolves; but their immovable watchfulness soon satisfied every
one that they were Indians. It was concluded that they were watching the
movements of the party, to discover their place of concealment of
such articles as they would be compelled to leave behind. There was no
likelihood that the caches would escape the search of such keen eyes and
experienced rummagers, and the idea was intolerable that any more
booty should fall into their hands. To disappoint them, therefore, the
travellers stripped the caches of the articles deposited there, and
collecting together everything that they could not carry away with
them, made a bonfire of all that would burn, and threw the rest into the
river. There was a forlorn satisfaction in thus balking the Crows, by
the destruction of their own property; and, having thus gratified their
pique, they shouldered their packs, about ten o'clock in the morning,
and set out on their pedestrian wayfaring.

The route they took was down along the banks of Mad River. This stream
makes its way through the defiles of the mountains, into the plain below
Fort Henry, where it terminates in Snake River. Mr. Stuart was in hopes
of meeting with Snake encampments in the plain, where he might procure a
couple of horses to transport the baggage. In such case, he intended to
resume his eastern course across the mountains, and endeavor to reach
the Cheyenne River b