| OCR Text |
Show GOOSE EGG LAKE-DANGEROUS PLACE-GRIZZLY BEAR. 183 returned from an excursion on shore, without bringing me some handfulls of plants, often, it is true, only common grass, because they had observed that we always brought plants home with us. We lay to about three miles below Goose Egg Lake. A white wolf accompanied the steamboat as it proceeded. We came to the canal which joins Goose Egg Lake to the Missouri, which I was unable to examine, as the steamer did not stop. Here the river makes a great bend, which, as well as that near Fort Lookout, is called by some Canadians Le Grand Detour. Early on the following morning, the 22nd, we saw wild animals of various kinds, such as buffaloes, elks, and Virginian deer. The wild geese with their young suffered us to approach pretty closely, because, at this season, they moult their long wing feathers. About ten o'clock we had an alarm of fire on board: the upper deck had been set on fire by the iron pipe of the chimney of the great cabin. We immediately lay to, and, by breaking up the deck, the danger was soon over, which, however, was not inconsiderable, as we had many barrels of powder on board. We had scarcely got over this trouble, when another arose ; the current of the swollen river was so strong, that we long contended against it to no purpose, in order to turn a certain point of land, while, at the same time, the high west wind was against us, and both together threw the vessel back three times on the south coast. The first shock was so violent, that the lower deck gallery was broken to pieces. Our second attempt succeeded no better; part of the paddle-box was broken, and carried away by the current. We were now obliged to land forty men to tow the vessel, for which purpose all on board voluntarily offered their services, even the two Blackfeet overcame their natural laziness. Beyond this dangerous place, we took on board the hunters whom we had sent out. They were covered from head to foot with blood, and hung about with game, having killed two elks. The effect of the current and the wind upon our vessel continued for a long time. It was often thrown against the alluvial bank, so that the deck was covered with earth, and the track of our vessel clearly marked along the clayey sand bank. After four o'clock we stopped at a narrow verdant prairie in front of the hills, to fell wood: several pretty plants, among which was a juniper with the berries still green, were found here. The cat bird, the wren and blackbird animated the thickets, and we observed also the great curlew {Numenius longirostris). A very large elk horn of twelve antlers had been found; a number of them lie about in all the forests and prairies, of which no use is made. In the afternoon we saw in the prairie of the north bank a large grizzly bear, and immediately sent Ortubize and another hunter in pursuit of him, but to no purpose. Soon after we saw two other bears, one of a whitish, the other of a dark colour, and our hunters, when they returned, affirmed that they had wounded the largest. Harvey had shot an elk, and brought the best part of it from a great distance, and with considerable exertion, to the river. From this place upwards, the grey bear became more and more common; further down the river it is still rare. Brackenridge says, it is not found below the |
