on in his half-breed hunters; who considered him as
trenching upon their province, and meddling with things quite above
his capacity; for these veterans of the wilderness are exceedingly
pragmatical, on points of venery and woodcraft, and tenacious of their
superiority; looking down with infinite contempt upon all raw beginners.
The two worthies, therefore, sallied forth themselves, but after a time
returned empty-handed. They laid the blame, however, entirely on their
guns; two miserable old pieces with flint locks, which, with all their
picking and hammering, were continually apt to miss fire. These great
boasters of the wilderness, however, are very often exceeding bad shots,
and fortunate it is for them when they have old flint guns to bear the
blame.

The next day they passed where a great herd of buffalo was bellowing on
a prairie. Again the Castor and Pollux of the wilderness sallied forth,
and again their flint guns were at fault, and missed fire, and nothing
went off but the buffalo. Wyeth now found there was danger of losing
his dinner if he depended upon his hunters; he took rifle in hand,
therefore, and went forth himself. In the course of an hour he returned
laden with buffalo meat, to the great mortification of the two regular
hunters, who were annoyed at being eclipsed by a greenhorn.

All hands now set to work to prepare the midday repast. A fire was made
under an immense cotton-wood tree, that overshadowed a beautiful piece
of meadow land; rich morsels of buffalo hump were soon roasting before
it; in a hearty and prolonged repast, the two unsuccessful hunters
gradually recovered from their mortification; threatened to discard
their old flint guns as soon as they should reach the settlements, and
boasted more than ever of the wonderful shots they had made, when they
had guns that never missed fire.

Having hauled up their boat to dry in the sun, previous to making their
repast, the voyagers now set it once more afloat, and proceeded on
their way. They had constructed a sail out of their old tent, which they
hoisted whenever the wind was favorable, and thus skimmed along down the
stream. Their voyage was pleasant, notwithstanding the perils by sea and
land, with which they were environed. Whenever they could they encamped
on islands for the greater security. If on the mainland, and in a
dangerous neighborhood, they would shift their camp after dark, leaving
their fire burning, dropping down the river so