University of Virginia Library

44. CHAPTER XLIV.

Reader!

“Well, what now?”

Will you go with us? Come, surely Tippecanoe will
arouse you; and although we have miles of dark, tangled,
and, in places, almost untrodden forests to pass; although
we shall ford and swim creeks, swollen from recent rains,
and where a blundering horse would plunge the rider into
rapid and whirling waters; and although some inconveniences
and customs will be found inconsistent with steamboats
and rail road journeys, yet who will not risk all to
stand on the battle field of the brave, amid the sadness of its
solitary and far distant prairie!

“Very eloquent!—but, Mr. Carlton, only think of the
mud.”

Yes, dear reader, but the girls are to go along.

“Girls!”

Yes, and very pretty and intelligent ones too—real lady
Hoosiers.

“Are you in earnest? Who are they?”

The young ladies of Miss Emily Glenville's Woodville
Female Institute.

“Oh!—ay!—I had forgot your school—what then?”

Why, it is our vacation, and myself with one or two

other gentlemen are going to escort the girls home. Seven
of the pupils belong to wealthy and respectable families
in the north, and one or two live very near to Tippecanoe.

“Heigho!—out of compliment to the ladies we go; but
how long will you be yet?”

Oh, we shall get through after a while. “No lane,”
you know, &c. Of course then you consent.

Well, our party consisted of eleven persons—the seven
girls, the father and brother of one girl, and myself and
young Mr. Frank, of Woodville, who, like myself, wished
to see the world. To carry us were precisely ten horses
and a half, the fractional creature being a dwarf pony, an
article or noun, which young B—k, the brother rode, like
a velocipede, and which, by pressing the toes of boots
against hard and hilly places in the path, could be aided
by pushing. And thus, also, the rider could a sorter stand
and go, like wheels in motion, at once; and all that would
greatly relieve the tedium of monotonous riding. The
special use of the pouy was manifested in fording mud-holes,
quicksands, quagmires, marshes, high waters, and
the like. In vain did the rider pull up his limbs;[7] in vain
shrink away up towards the centre of his saddle—up followed
the cream-coloured mud in beech swamps, the black
mud and water in bayous, the black mud itself in walnut
and sugar lands, or the muddy water in turbid creeks and
rivers, and the rider became deeply interested in the circulating
medium.

But what a contrast to a stage coach, to say nothing of a
car; ten horses and upwards to carry eleven people! And
how I do wish you could have seen us set out! Dear, oh
dear! the scampering, and tearing, and winnowing, and
kicking up, and cocking of ears, as the quadrupeds were

“being” rid up to the rack! and then the clapping on of
horse-blankets and saddles, male and female, croopers and
circingles and bridles, double and single! What a drawing
of girths! What a fixing and unfixing and refixing of
saddle-bags! What a hanging of “fixins” themselves,
done up in red handkerchiefs on the horns of the gentler
sex saddles! And then the girls—like the barbarians in
Cæsar's Commentaries in one battle, they seemed to be
every where at once—up stairs, down stairs, on the stairs,
in the closet under the stairs! They were in the house,
out of the house, in the yard, at the door, by the horses!
And oh how they did ask questions and get answers.
“Where's my shawl?” “Is this it?” “Did nobody see
my basket?” “I didn't.” “Who's got my album?” “Mr.
Frank.” “Will some body fasten my fixens?” “He ain't
here.” “Won't nobody carry this?” and so on through all
the bodies.

The animals were now all harnessed, and stood comparatively
quiet, except an occasional impatient stamp, or
an active and venomous switch of a tail: the bustle, too,
had subsided, and all had come to that silent state when no
more questions can be asked, but all are waiting for some
one to begin the—farewell. And then came that sad word,
amid gushing tears—mid sobs and kisses—for with some
“the schooling” was finished, and “who could tell whether
ever more should meet” those sprightly, happy, sweet
companions!

But soon followed the uproar of mounting; and with that
seemed to pass all sorrow; and yet so painful had been the
last few moments, that an excuse was needed for saying
and doing something lively. Of course we all said a great
many smart things, or what passed for such, in the way of
compliment, raillery and repartee; and we guessed and
reckoned and allowed and foretold the most contrary matters
about the weather, and the roads, and the waters, and

even about our fates through the whole of our coming lives.
In the meanwhile horse after horse was paraded towards
the block, each receiving extra jerks, and some handsome
slaps and kicks on the off flank, to make him wheel into
position, when next moment away he scampered with a
side-way rider, in trot, shuffle, pace, or canter, according
to his fancy, till all the lady riders were on the saddles, and
then Mr. B—k, sen., and myself riding in advance, he
shouted, “Come on, girls—we're off.”

And off it was—amidst the giggling of girls, and the
laughter of neighbours, nodding good-byes with their heads,
or shaking them out of handkerchiefs, from doors and windows;
and also the boisterous farewells of some two
dozen folks that had helped us fix. Off it was, some at a
hard trot, some at a round gallop, and others at a soft pace
or shuffle, the animals snorting, squeeling, and winnowing
—sometimes six abreast, sometimes two, sometimes all
huddled like a militia cavalry training; and then all in
Indian file, one by one, with yards of space between us!
Oh! the squeezing of lower limbs against horse rumps!—
the kicking and splattering of mud!—the streaming forth
of ill-secured kerchiefs and capes! Oh! the screeching!
shouting! laughing! shaking! What flapping of saddle-skirts!
What walloping of saddle-bags! Away with
stages!—steamers!—cars! Give me a horse and the
life, activity and health of Hoosiers and Hoosierinas let
loose all at once in the whirligig storm and fury of that
morning's starting!

We soon degenerated into a slow trot, and finally into a
fast walk, with episodial riding to scare a flock of wild
turkies, or add wings to the flight of a deer; till we all
became at last so shaken down and settled in our saddles
as to seem each a compound of man (homo) and horse.
Yet for hours we kept up talk of all kinds. Yea! we
halloed — we quizzed — we laughed! Ay! we talked

seriously too—for no one rides through our grand woods
any more than he sails forth on the grand waters, and feels
not solemn! And we even talked religiously—more so than
most readers would care to hear! Lively, indeed, we
were—but God even then was in our thoughts; and some
of that happy company were then, and are yet, ornaments
of the Christian world—some are in heaven! Yes, then
as now, we often passed, as is the case with the joyous,
the frank-hearted, the middle class,[8] and, in an instant,
from laughter to tears.

No halt was made for dinner: it was handed round on
horseback. A piece, or half a piece of ham, boxed neatly
between two boards of corn broad, and held delicately—
as possible—between the finger and thumb of an attendant,
was thus presented for acceptance. Yet not always was
it easy to take the proffered dainties; since often the
horse, out of sheer affectation, or because of a sly kick or
switch from an unseen quarter, would, at the instant of captation,
jump aside, or leap forward, and verify the proverb
—“many a slip between the cup and the lip.”

Towards evening it was heard that Slippery River was
falling, but could not yet be forded; and hence it was determined
to stay all night in a cabin several miles this side,
in expectation of our being able to ford in the morning.
We were, of course, received by our friends with open
hearts, and entertained in the most approved backwoods'
style,—the only awkwardness being that beds could be furnished
but for four of our party. As some, therefore, must
sleep on the floor, it was unanimously voted that all should
share alike in the hardship and frolic of a puncheon's
night's rest; and hence, in due season, all hands were
piped to convert our supper-room into a grand bed-chamber.

And first, the floor was swept; secondly, our blankets were
spread on it; thirdly, over these horse-cloths was put a good
rag carpet; and, lastly, in a line were ranged saddle-bags
and valises, interspersed with other bolsters and pillows
stuffed with feathers and rags; and then, the fire being secured,
we all began to undress—

“Oh! goodness! Mr. Carlton!—girls! and all?”

Girls and all, my dear.

“I vow then, I will never marry and go to a New Purchase!
But did the ladies really divest—hem!—before—
the—the—”

To be sure.

“What! take off all the usual—”

Oh! that I cannot say. Western gentlemen never peep.
Besides the gentlemen took off only coats and boots; and
intelligent ladies everywhere always know how to act according
to necessity.

Our order of “reclinature,” as Doctor Hexagon would
here doubtless say, was as follows: Mr. B—k, sen., reclined
first, having on his outside next the door, his son,
and on the inside, his daughter; then the other girls, one
after another, till all were finished; then his modesty, Mr.
C., who, having a wife at home, was called, by courtesy to
suit the occasion, an old man; and then, outside him, and
next the other door, young Mr. Frank—

“I never!”[9]

—and then after a little nearly inaudible whispering,
bursting at short intervals into very audible giggles, the
hush of the dark wilderness came upon us—and—an—a—

“What?”

Hey!—oh!—ah!—I beg pardon—I think we must have
been asleep!

After breakfast our friend Mr. B—k, sen., offered an
earnest prayer, in which thanks were returned for past
mercies and favours, and supplication made for protection
during the prospective perils of the day; and in an hour
after we were within sight, and hearing too, of the sullen
and angry flood.

The waters had, indeed, fallen in a good degree, and
they were still decreasing, yet no person, a stranger to the
West, could have looked on that foaming and eddying
river leaping impetuous over the rocky bed, and have heard
the echoes of its many thunders calling from cliff to cliff,
and from one dark cavern to another in the forest arched
over the water,—no inexperienced traveller. all sign of
hoof and wheel leading to the ford obliterated, could have
supposed that our party, and mostly very young girls, were
seriously preparing to cross that stream on our horses!
But either that must be, or our path be retraced; and
sobered, therefore, although not intimidated, we made ready
for the perilous task. The older and more resolute girls
were seated on the sure-footed horses, and all their dresses
were properly arranged, and all loose cloaks and clothes
carefully tied up, that, in case of accident, nothing might
entangle the hands or feet. Several little girls were to
be seated behind the gentlemen, while a loose horse or
two was left to follow. We gentlemen riders were also to
ride between two young ladies, to aid in keeping their
horses right, to seize a rein on emergencies, and to encourage
the ladies, in case they showed any symptoms of
alarm.

Things ready, we all rode boldly to the water's edge;
where a halt was called, till Mr. B—k and Mr. C.
should go foremost and try the ford. And now, dear reader,
it may be easy to ford Slippery River in this book, and
maybe Mr. C. has contrived to seem courageous like—but
that morning, at first sight of that ugly water, he did secretly

wish it had been bridged, and feel—that is—wished
all safe over; and possibly had he been favoured with a
few moments' more reflection, he might have been rather
scared—yet just then, souse went Mr. B. up to his saddle-skirts,
seeming a man on a saddle with a tail streaming
out horizontally, and then came his voice thus:—

“Come on, Carlton!—come on!”

“Ay! ay! sir—I'm in—souse—splash! Oho! the
water's in my boots!”

“Hold up your legs!—why don't you?”

“Forgot it, Mr. B.—don't care now—can't get any wetter.”

N. B. None, save born and bred woodsmen, can keep
the limbs properly packed and dry on the horse neck, in
deep fords: naturalized woodmen never do it either gracefully
or successfully. I have myself vainly tried a hundred
times: but at the first desperate plunge and lurch of the
quadruped, I have always had to unpack the articles and
let them drop into the water—otherwise I should have dropped
myself.

Mr. B. and myself rode around and into the deepest places,
satisfying ourselves and the rest, that with due caution
and fortitude the ford was practicable—or nearly so: and then
I returned for the girls, while Mr. B. rode down and stationed
himself in the middle river about twenty-five yards below
the ford proper, to intercept, if possible, any article or person
falling from or thrown by a blundering horse. Having
myself been in the deepest water, although not the most
rapid, and knowing that much depended on my firmness
and care, my sense of personal danger was lost in anxiety
for my precious charge; and I re-entered the perilous flood
with the girls with something like a determination, if necessary,
to save their lives rather than my own.

Several of these, from the first, utterly refused all assistance;
and they now sat like queens chivalric age—

seeming, occasionally, tiny boats trimmed with odd sails and
tossing mid the foam, as their horses rose and sunk over
the roughness of the rocky bottom! The other girls, shutting
their eyes to avoid looking at the seeming dangers, and
also to prevent swimming of the head, held the horn of the
saddle with a tenacious grasp, and surrendered the horses
to the guidance of the escorts.

On reaching the middle of the river, here some eighty
yards wide, the depth had, indeed, decreased to about two
feet; but then the rocks being more, and larger and rougher,
the current was raging among them—a miniature of the
Niagara Rapids. Here was I seized with a momentary
perplexity. By way of punishing the incipient cowardice,
however, I checked my own horse and that of the trembling
girl next me, and thus remaining, forced my eyes to survey
the whole really terrific scene, and to contemplate a cataract
of waters thundering in an unbroken sheet over a ledge
of rocks thirty feet high, and a short distance above the ford.
And having thus compelled myself in the very midst of the
boiling sea, to endure its surges, we proceeded cautiously
and leisurely, till with no other harm than a good wetting,
especially to my boots and upwards, and a little palpitation
of the heart, all came safe to land.

And then the chattering! and how we magnified ourselves!
The charges and denials too!—“Mary what makes
you so pale?”—“Pshaw!—I'm not—I was not scared a
bit!”—“Nor me neither—” “Ha! ha! ha!—you had
your eyes shut all the time!”—“Oh! Mr. Carlton had I?”
“Well”—said he—“we must not tell tales out of school:
beside I was half afraid I should get scared myself.”

“You! Mr. Carlton”—said Mr. B.—“well it may be so;
but without flattery, you brought the girls over about as well
as I could have done it myself—why, you were as cool as
a woodsman.”

“Well after that praise, Mr. Blank”—(for that is the
name)—“I mean to set up for a real genuine Hoosier.”

Reader! I did not deserve such praise: but as to being
“cool,” there was no mistake—only think of the cold water
in my boots and elsewhere!

Inquiry was now made about the pony: and that was
answered by a general “Haw! haw! haw! hoo! hoo!
hoo! he! he! he!” and so through the six cases—and
mingled with the exclamations “look! look!”—“down
thare! down thare!”

We of course looked; and about thirty yards below the
landing, was pony, or rather pony's head, his body and tail
being invisible; but whether hippopotamus like he walked
on the bottom, or was actually swimming, was uncertain.
But there he was; and, by the progression of his ears, he
was manifestly making headway pretty fast towards our
side; although ever and anon, by the sudden dousing of
his ears, he had either plunged into water deeper than his
expectation, or been momentarily upset by the current. By
this time our two young gentlemen had got opposite to pony
and were waiting to assist at his toilette on his emerging;—for
his saddle and bridle, &c., had been all brought
over on a vacated steed. The three soon rejoining us, we
all, in health and with grateful hearts and good spirits, were
again dashing on, wild and independent Tartars, through
our own loved forests.

But before we could reach our quarters this night, Nut
Creek was to be passed, too deep to be forded, and having
neither bridge nor scow! it was to be done—by canoe!
and travelling by the canoe line has very little amusement,
although abundance of danger and trouble and excitement.

The canoe, in the present case, was a log ten feet long
and eighteen inches wide and hacked, burned, and scraped,
to the depth of a foot: and it was tolerably well rounded
to a point at each end, being however, destitute of keel or

or rudder. It was indeed, wholly unlike any fairy skiff
found in poetry or Scott's Novels, or in the engravings of
annuals bound in cloth and gold and reposing on centre tables.
Nor was it either classical or Indian. It differed
from a bark-canoe as a wooden shoe from a black morocco
slipper! Either nature, or a native, had begun a hog-trough
to hold swill and be snouted: but its capacities
proving better than expectation—a little extra labour had
chopped the thing into a log-boat!

Well—into this metamorphosed log was now to be packed
a most precious load. To one end went first, Mr.
Blank, senr. with a paddle; then were handed along, one
by one, the trembling girls, who sitting instantly on the bottom
of the trough and closing their eyes, held to its sides
with hands clenched as for life; and then followed Mr. C.
filling up the few inches of remaining space, and for the
first time in his days holding a canoe paddle! and then at
the cry “let go!” our two junior gentlemen on the bank relaxed
their hands and our laden craft was at the mercy of
the flood!

Many a boat had I rowed on the Delaware and the
Schuylkill,—often a skiff on the Ohio,—ay! and poled and
set over many a scow: but what avail that civilized practice,
in propelling for the first time in one's life a hollow log,
and with a small paddle like a large mush stick?—and
across a raging torrent in a gloomy wilderness? Was it so
wonderful my end went round?—and more than once!
Could I help it? Was it even a wonder I looked solema?
—grew dizzy?—and at last quit paddling altogether? But
it was a wonder I did not upset that vile swine thing, and
plunge all into the water—perhaps into death! and yet we
all reached, by the skill of Mr. Blank, our port in safety.

The horses in the meanwhile had been stripped, and
three or four trustworthy ones released from their bridles to
swim over by themselves; and so we made ready to ferry

over the remaining animals and all the baggage, not, indeed
at one, but several trips. The trust-worthy and more sensible
creatures were led by the mane, or the nose, or driven
with switches, and pelted with clods to the edge of the
creek; where they were partly coaxed, and partly pushed into
the flood, whence rising from the plunge, they swam snorting
to the far side, and landing, continued cropping about
till wanted.

The less accommodating creatures were one at a time
managed thus: Mr. Blank, senr. took a station at that end
of the canoe, which when dragged round by the horse
would become the stern, to guide and steer; and Mr. C.
twice, and Mr. Frank and young Blank each once, was
seated in the prow that was to be, and held the rope or bridle
attached at the other end to the horse's head: then, all
ready, the creature pulled by the person in the canoe and
pelted, beat, slapped and pushed by the two on land took
the “shoote;”—in this case a plunge direct over head and
ears into water a little over nine feet deep! If this did not
drag under or upset the log, that was owing to the—(hem!)
dexterity and presence of mind and so forth, of the steersman—and
the man at the bridle end! But when the animal
arose and began to snort and swim ahead!—oh! sirs,
then was realized and enjoyed all ever fabled about Neptune
and his dolphins! or Davy Crockett and his alligators!
What if you have a qualm at first!—that is soon lost in the
excitement of this demi-god sailing! It is even grand! to
cross a perilous flood on a log harnessed to a river horse!
and with the rapidity of a comet, and the whirl and splash
of a steamer! No wonder our Western people do often
feel contempt for the tender nurslings of the east! And is
it not likely that the fables about sea-cars, and water-gods,
originated when men lived in the woods, dieted on acorns,
and recreated themselves with this horse and log navigation?
The hint may be worth something to the editors of
Tooke's Pantheon.

In an hour and a half we reached our second night's
lodging place; and next day, at noon, the girls being committed
to the junior gentlemen to escort to Sugartown,
the residence of Mr. Blank, he and the author took the
episodial journey, described in the following chapter.