The Crayon miscellany :: :: University of Virginia Library

We had now arrived at the river, about a
quarter of a mile above the junction of the Red
Fork; but the banks were steep and crumbling,
and the current was deep and rapid. It was
impossible, therefore, to cross at this place; and
we resumed our painful course through the
forest, despatching Beatte ahead, in search of a
fording place. We had proceeded about a mile
further, when he rejoined us, bringing intelligence
of a place hard by, where the river, for
a great part of its breadth, was rendered fordable
by sand bars, and the remainder might easily
be swam by the horses.

Here, then, we made a halt. Some of the
rangers set to work vigorously with their axes,
felling trees on the edge of the river, where with
to form rafts for the transportation of their baggage
and camp equipage. Others patrolled the
banks of the river farther up, in hopes of finding
a better fording place; being unwilling to risk
their horses in the deep channel.

It was now that our worthies, Beatte and Tonish,
had an opportunity of displaying their Indian

adroitness and resource. At the Osage
village which we had passed a day or two before,
they had procured a dry buffalo skin. This
was now produced; cords were passed through
a number of small eylet holes with which it was
bordered, and it was drawn up, until it formed
a kind of deep trough. Sticks were then placed
athwart it on the inside, to keep it in shape; our
camp equipage and a part of our baggage were
placed within, and the singular bark was carried
down the bank and set afloat. A cord was attached
to the prow, which Beatte took between
his teeth, and throwing himself into the water,
went ahead, towing the bark after him; while
Tonish followed behind, to keep it steady and to
propel it. Part of the way they had foothold,
and were enabled to wade, but in the main current
they were obliged to swim. The whole
way, they whooped and yelled in the Indian
style, until they landed safely on the opposite
shore.

The Commissioner and myself were so well
pleased with this Indian mode of ferriage, that
we determined to trust ourselves in the buffalo
hide. Our companions, the Count and Mr. L.,
had proceeded with the horses, along the river
bank, in search of a ford which some of the
rangers had discovered, about a mile and a half
distant. While we were waiting for the return

of our ferrymen, I happened to cast my eyes
upon a heap of luggage under a bush, and descried
the sleek carcass of the polecat, snugly
trussed up, and ready for roasting before the
evening fire. I could not resist the temptation
to plump it into the river, when it sunk to the
bottom like a lump of lead; and thus our lodge
was relieved from the bad odour which this savoury
viand had threatened to bring upon it.

Our men having recrossed with their cockleshell
bark, it was drawn on shore, half filled with
saddles, saddlebags, and other luggage, amounting
to a hundred weight; and being again placed
in the water, I was invited to take my seat. It
appeared to me pretty much like the embarcation
of the wise men of Gotham, who went to sea in
a bowl: I stepped in, however, without hesitation,
though as cautiously as possible, and sat
down on top of the luggage, the margin of the
hide sinking to within a hand's breadth of the
water's edge. Rifles, fowling-pieces, and other
articles of small bulk, were then handed in, until
I protested against receiving any more freight.
We then launched forth upon the stream, the
bark being towed as before.

It was with a sensation half serious, half comic,
that I found myself thus afloat, on the skin of a
buffalo, in the midst of a wild river, surrounded
by wilderness, and towed along by a half savage,

whooping and yelling like a devil incarnate.
To please the vanity of little Tonish, I discharged
the double barrelled gun, to the right
and left, when in the centre of the stream. The
report echoed along the woody shores, and was
answered by shouts from some of the rangers,
to the great exultation of the little Frenchman,
who took to himself the whole glory of this Indian
mode of navigation.

Our voyage was accomplished happily; the
Commissioner was ferried across with equal
success, and all our effects were brought over in
the same manner. Nothing could equal the
vain-glorious vapouring of little Tonish, as he
strutted about the shore, and exulted in his superior
skill and knowledge, to the rangers. Beatte,
however, kept his proud, saturnine look, without
a smile. He had a vast contempt for the ignorance
of the rangers, and felt that he had been
undervalued by them. His only observation
was, “Dey now see de Indian good for someting,
any how!”

The broad, sandy shore where we had landed,
was intersected by innumerable tracks of elk,
deer, bears, raccoons, turkeys, and water-fowl.
The river scenery at this place was beautifully
diversified, presenting long, shining reaches, bordered
by willows and cottonwood trees; rich
bottoms, with lofty forests; among which towered

enormous plane trees, and the distance was
closed in by high embowered promontories.
The foliage had a yellow autumnal tint, which
gave to the sunny landscape the golden tone of
one of the landscapes of Claude Lorraine. There
was animation given to the scene, by a raft of
logs and branches, on which the Captain and
his prime companion, the Doctor, were ferrying
their effects across the stream; and by a long
line of rangers on horseback, fording the river
obliquely, along a series of sand bars, about a
mile and a half distant.