ning, he was
carefully gathered up from the hunter's couch on which he lay, repentant
and supine, and, being packed upon one of the horses, was hurried
forward with the convoy, groaning and ejaculating at every jolt.

In the course of the day, Wyeth, being lightly mounted, rode ahead of
his party, and overtook Captain Bonneville. Their meeting was friendly
and courteous; and they discussed, sociably, their respective fortunes
since they separated on the banks of the Bighorn. Wyeth announced his
intention of establishing a small trading post at the mouth of the
Portneuf, and leaving a few men there, with a quantity of goods, to
trade with the neighboring Indians. He was compelled, in fact, to this
measure, in consequence of the refusal of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
to take a supply of goods which he had brought out for them according
to contract; and which he had no other mode of disposing of. He further
informed Captain Bonneville that the competition between the Rocky
Mountain and American Fur Companies which had led to such nefarious
stratagems and deadly feuds, was at an end; they having divided the
country between them, allotting boundaries within which each was to
trade and hunt, so as not to interfere with the other.

In company with Wyeth were travelling two men of science; Mr. Nuttall,
the botanist; the same who ascended the Missouri at the time of the
expedition to Astoria; and Mr. Townshend, an ornithologist; from these
gentlemen we may look forward to important information concerning these
interesting regions. There were three religious missionaries, also,
bound to the shores of the Columbia, to spread the light of the Gospel
in that far wilderness.

After riding for some time together, in friendly conversation, Wyeth
returned to his party, and Captain Bonneville continued to press
forward, and to gain ground. At night he sent off the sadly sober and
moralizing chief of the Hudson's Bay Company, under a proper escort, to
rejoin his people; his route branching off in a different direction.
The latter took a cordial leave of his host, hoping, on some future
occasion, to repay his hospitality in kind.

In the morning the captain was early on the march; throwing scouts
out far ahead, to scour hill and dale, in search of buffalo. He had
confidently expected to find game in abundance, on the head-waters of
the Portneuf; but on reaching that region, not a track was to be seen.

At length, one of the scouts,