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Show 54 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL. d d the tents much refreshed by the bath, We rna e towar ' . h · h t f the weather J. oined to our prejudices, had whiCh t e ea o ' rendered very desirable. , What's the matter with the Captain 1 look at him !' said Shaw. The Captain stood alone on the prairie, swinging his hat violently around his head, and lifting first one foot and then the other, without moving from the spot. First he looked down to the ground with an air of supreme abhorrence ; then he gazed upward with a perplexed and indignant countenance, as if trying to trace the flight of an unseen enemy. We called to know what was the matter; but he replied only by execrations directed against some unknown object. We approached, when our ears were saluted by a droning sound, as if twenty beehives had been overturned at once. The air above was full of large black insects, in a state of great commotion, and multitudes were flying about just above the tops of the grass-blades. 'Don't be afraid,' called the Captain, observing us recoil. ' The brutes won't sting.' At this I knocked one down with my hat, and discovered him to be no other than a ' dor-bug ;' and looking closer, we found the ground thickly perforated with their holes. We took a hasty leave of this flourishing colony, and walking up the rising ground to the tents, found Delorier's fire still glowing ·brightly. We sat down around it and Sha\v beo·an to ' b expatiate on the admirable facilities for bathing that we had discovered, and recommended the Captain by all means to go ~own there before breakfast in the morning. The Captain was ln the act of remarking that he couldn't have believed it possible, when he suddenly interrupted himself, and clapped his hand to his cheek, exclaiming that 'those infernal humbugs 'FHE 'BIG BLUE.' 55 were at him again.' In fact, we began to hear sounds as if bullets were humming over our heads. In a moment something rapped me sharply on the forehead, then upon the neck, and immediately I felt an indefinite number of sharp wiry claws in active motion, as if their owner were bent on pushing his explorations farther. I seized him, and dropped him into the fire. Our party speedily broke up, and we adjourned to our respective tents, where closing the opening fast, we hoped to be exempt from invasion. But all precaution was fruitless. The dor-bugs hummed through the tent, and marched over our faces until daylight ; when, opening our blankets, we found several dozen clinging there with the utmost tenacity. The first object that met our eyes in the morning was Delorier, who seemed to be apostrophizing his frying-pan, which he held by the handle, at arm's length. It appeared that he had left it at night by the fire; and the bottom was now covered with dor-bugs, firmly imbedded. Multitudes beside, curiously parched and shrivelled, lay scattered among the ashes. The horses and mules were turned loose to feed. We had just taken our seats at breakfast, or rather reclined in the classic mode, when an exclamation fron1 Henry Chatillon, and a shout of alarm from the Captain, gave warning of some casualty, and looking up, we saw the whole band of animals, twentythree in number, filing off for the settlements, the incorrigible Pontiac at their head, jumping along with hobbled feet, at a gait much more rapid than graceful. Three or four of us ran to cut them off, dashing as best we might through the tall grass, which was glittering with myriads of dew drops. After a race of a mile or m?re, Shaw caught a horse. Tying the trail-rope by way of bridle round the animal's jaw, and leaping upon his |