seemed to be floating far in the very middle of the river.
A more critical experiment awaited us; for our little mule-cart was
but ill-fitted for the passage of so swift a stream. We watched it with
anxiety till it seemed to be a little motionless white speck in the
midst of the waters; and it WAS motionless, for it had stuck fast in a
quicksand. The little mules were losing their footing, the wheels were
sinking deeper and deeper, and the water began to rise through the
bottom and drench the goods within. All of us who had remained on the
hither bank galloped to the rescue; the men jumped into the water,
adding their strength to that of the mules, until by much effort the
cart was extricated, and conveyed in safety across.

As we gained the other bank, a rough group of men surrounded us. They
were not robust, nor large of frame, yet they had an aspect of hardy
endurance. Finding at home no scope for their fiery energies, they had
betaken themselves to the prairie; and in them seemed to be revived,
with redoubled force, that fierce spirit which impelled their ancestors,
scarce more lawless than themselves, from the German forests, to
inundate Europe and break to pieces the Roman empire. A fortnight
afterward this unfortunate party passed Fort Laramie, while we were
there. Not one of their missing oxen had been recovered, though they had
remained encamped a week in search of them; and they had been compelled
to abandon a great part of their baggage and provisions, and yoke cows
and heifers to their wagons to carry them forward upon their journey,
the most toilsome and hazardous part of which lay still before them.

It is worth noticing that on the Platte one may sometimes see the
shattered wrecks of ancient claw-footed tables, well waxed and rubbed,
or massive bureaus of carved oak. These, many of them no doubt
the relics of ancestral prosperity in the colonial time, must have
encountered strange vicissitudes. Imported, perhaps, originally from
England; then, with the declining fortunes of their owners, borne across
the Alleghenies to the remote wilderness of Ohio or Kentucky; then to
Illinois or Missouri; and now at last fondly stowed away in the family
wagon for the interminable journey to Oregon. But the stern privations
of the way are little anticipated. The cherished relic is soon flung out
to scorch and crack upon the hot prairie.

We resumed our journey; but we had gone scarcely a mile, when R. called
out from