OCR Text |
Show 308 DREARY APPEARANCE OF THE PRAIRIES. down the river, we should have to take that very direction. As Mr. Me Kenzie would soon return to Fort Pierre, it was intimated to the leader, that it would be advisable to go another way with his people; for, if he met the travellers, his young people might, perhaps, be tempted to steal the horses. The Indian immediately expressed his willingness to follow this advice. Most of the Assiniboins now gradually withdrew, and only a couple of tents remained near the fort, so that the prairie, already naked and desolate, was scarcely animated by a living creature, except that a hungry wolf or dog sometimes prowled about in search of food. The forests, too, had entirely lost their foliage ; a cold wind swept the country; and, as early as the 27th of October, we had a heavy fall of snow, and the cold was so intense, that we did not willingly leave the fire-side. On the following day the weather was again bright, calm, and cold, and the forest thickly covered with hoar frost. We now, for the first time, saw the prairie in its winter dress; all was drear and cheerless; only the smoke of the fires of the men that guarded the horses rose in the distant horizon. The horses could now find no food, except the bark of the poplar trees, and appeared to be quite ravenous; for, during the night, when they were always driven into the fort, they completely gnawed off the oil paint on the wooden palisades. The four weeks that I lived at Fort Union passed rapidly away, to which the agreeable conversation of Mr. Hamilton, a well-informed Englishman, greatly contributed. Every evening we formed a circle round the fire, where the conversation turned as well on our distant native land as on the wildernesses of America. As the time for our departure approached, the necessary preparations were made. I had exchanged my boat, which was too small, for a larger one, which was old and in bad condition, but which Mr. Hamilton quickly had repaired. Mr. Chardon had caused a stone hearth to be fixed in this boat, but we were obliged to remove it, as it proved too heavy. A deck or covering of Indian tent skins was put up as a protection against the weather. The people whom I obtained from the Company for this voyage, were, besides my steersman, Henry Morrin, four Canadians, two of whom were inexperienced young men. Mr. Hamilton had the kindness to provide us with many necessaries and comforts. I shall always be grateful to him for his friendliness, and remember, with pleasure, the time passed at Fort Union. We took a cordial farewell of our obliging and courteous host, and of Mr. Chardon, who had likewise given himself much trouble for my accommodation. |