ficulty replaced. By this time we had lost nearly the half of the
upper works of the boat, one portion after another having been torn off
by the limbs of the trees as the impetuous current drove us along. To
add to our difficulties, a strong wind rose against the current, and the
boat became quite unmanageable. About noon, when we had gained only
seven miles, the wind abated, and two Menonnomie Indians, in a
_dug-out_, came alongside of us; and as it was doubtful whether we
should arrive at the mouth of the river on that night, or be left upon a
sand-bank, I got into the canoe with them, to go down to the
landing-place, and from thence to cross over to Prairie du Chien, to
inform the officers of the garrison of our condition, and obtain
assistance. The canoe would exactly hold three, and no more; but we
paddled swiftly down the stream, and we soon lost sight of the Noah's
Ark. Independently of the canoe being so small, she had lost a large
portion of her stem, so that at the least ripple of the water she took
it in, and threatened us with a swim; and she was so very narrow, that
the least motion would have destroyed her equilibrium and upset her.
One Indian sat in the bow, the other in the stern, whilst I was doubled
up in the middle. We had given the Indians some bread and pork, and
after paddling about half an hour, they stopped to eat. Now, the Indian
at the bow had the pork, while the one at the stern had the bread; any
attempt to move, so as to hand the eatables to each other, must have
upset us; so this was their plan of communication:--The one in the bow
cut off a slice of pork, and putting it into the lid of a saucepan which
he had with him, and floating it alongside of the canoe, gave it a
sufficient momentum to make it swim to the stern, when the other took
possession of it. He in the stern then cut off a piece of bread, and
sent it back in return by the same conveyance. I had a flask of whisky,
but they would not trust that by the same perilous little conveyance; so
I had to lean forward very steadily, and hand it to the foremost, and,
when he returned it to me, to lean backwards to give it the other, with
whom it remained till we landed, for I could not regain it. After about
an hour's more paddling, we arrived safely at the landing-place. I had
some trouble to get a horse, and was obliged to go out to the fields
where the men were ploughing. In doing so, I passed two or three very
large snakes. A