Another cache was
therefore digged, about two miles further on; when, as they were
about to bury the effects, a line of horsemen with pack-horses,
were seen streaking over the plain, and encamped close by.
It proved to be a small band in the service of the Hudson's Bay
Company, under the command of a veteran Canadian; one of those
petty leaders, who, with a small party of men, and a small supply
of goods, are employed to follow up a band of Indians from one
hunting ground to another, and buy up their peltries.
Having received numerous civilities from the Hudson's Bay
Company, the captain sent an invitation to the officers of the
party to an evening regale; and set to work to make jovial
preparations. As the night air in these elevated regions is apt
to be cold, a blazing fire was soon made, that would have done
credit to a Christmas dinner, instead of a midsummer banquet. The
parties met in high good-fellowship. There was abundance of such
hunters' fare as the neighborhood furnished; and it was all
discussed with mountain appetites. They talked over all the
events of their late campaigns; but the Canadian veteran had been
unlucky in some of his transactions; and his brow began to grow
cloudy. Captain Bonneville remarked his rising spleen, and
regretted that he had no juice of the grape to keep it down.
A man's wit, however, is quick and inventive in the wilderness; a
thought suggested itself to the captain, how he might brew a
delectable beverage. Among his stores was a keg of honey but
half exhausted. This he filled up with alcohol, and stirred the
fiery and mellifluous ingredients together. The glorious results
may readily be imagined; a happy compound of strength and
sweetness, enough to soothe the most ruffled temper and unsettle
the most solid understanding.
The beverage worked to a charm; the can circulated merrily; the
first deep draught washed out every care from the mind of the
veteran; the second elevated his spirit to the clouds. He was,
in fact, a boon companion; as all veteran Canadian traders are
apt to be. He now became glorious; talked over all his exploits,
his huntings, his fightings with Indian braves, his loves with
Indian beauties; sang snatches of old French ditties, and
Canadian boat songs; drank deeper and deeper, sang louder and
louder; until, having reached a climax of drunken gayety, he
gradually declined, and at length fell fast asleep upon the
ground. After a long nap he again raised his head, imbibed
another potation of the "sweet and strong," flashed up with
another slight blaze of French gayety, and again fell asleep.
The morning found him still upon the field of action, but in sad
and sorrowful condition; suffering the penalties of past
pleasures, and calling to mind the captain's dulcet compound,
with many a retch and spasm. It seemed as if the honey and
alcohol, which had passed so glibly and smoothly over his tongue,
were at war within his stomach; and that he had a swarm of bees
within his head. In short, so helpless and woebegone was his
plight, that his party proceeded on their march without him; the
captain promised to bring him on in safety in the after part of
the day.
As soon as this party had moved off, Captain Bonneville's men
proceeded to construct and fill their cache; and just as it was
completed the party of Wyeth was descried at a distance. In a
moment all was activity to take the road. The horses were
prepared and mounted; and being lightened of a great part of
their burdens, were able to move with celerity. As to the worthy
convive of the preceding evening, he was carefully gathered up
from the hunter's couch on which he lay, repentant and supine,
and, being packed upon one of the horses, was hurried forward
with the convoy, groaning and ejaculating at every jolt.
In the course of the day, Wyeth, being lightly mounted, rode
ahead of his party, and overtook Captain Bonneville. Their
meeting was friendly and courteous; and they discussed, sociably,
their respective fortunes since they separated on the banks of
the Bighorn. Wyeth announced his intention of establishing a
small trading post at the mouth of the Portneuf, and leaving a
few men there, with a quantity of goods, to trade with the
neighboring Indians. He was compelled, in fact, to this measure,
in consequence of the refusal of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
to take a supply of goods which he had brought out for them
according to contract; and which he had no other mode of
disposing of. He further informed Captain Bonneville that the
competition between the Rocky Mountain and American Fur Companies
which had led to such nefarious stratagems and deadly feuds, was
at an end; they having divided the country between them,
allotting boundaries within which each was to trade and hunt, so
as not to interfere with the other.
In company with Wyeth were travelling two men of science; Mr.
Nuttall, the botanist; the same who ascended the Missouri at the
time of the expedition to Astoria; and Mr. Townshend, an
ornithologist; from these gentlemen we may look forward to
important information concerning these interesting regions. There
were three religious missionaries, also, bound to the shores of
the Columbia, to spread the light of the Gospel in that far
wilderness.
After riding for some time together, in friendly conversation,
Wyeth returned to his party, and Captain Bonneville continued to
press forward, and to gain ground. At night he sent off the sadly
sober and moralizing chief of the Hudson's Bay Company, under a
proper escort, to rejoin his people; his route branching off in a
different direction.
