When Meal-Time Arrived, However, Then Came His Season Of
Activity.
He no longer hung back, and waited for others to take
the lead, but distinguished himself by a brilliancy of onset, and
a sustained vigor and duration of attack, that completely shamed
the efforts of his competitors - albeit, experienced trenchermen
of no mean prowess.
Never had they witnessed such power of
mastication, and such marvellous capacity of stomach, as in this
native and uncultivated gastronome. Having, by repeated and
prolonged assaults, at length completely gorged himself, he would
wrap himself up and lie with the torpor of an anaconda; slowly
digesting his way on to the next repast.
The gormandizing powers of this worthy were, at first, matters of
surprise and merriment to the travellers; but they soon became
too serious for a joke, threatening devastation to the fleshpots;
and he was regarded askance, at his meals, as a regular
kill-crop, destined to waste the substance of the party. Nothing
but a sense of the obligations they were under to his nation
induced them to bear with such a guest; but he proceeded,
speedily, to relieve them from the weight of these obligations,
by eating a receipt in full.
35.
The uninvited guest Free and easy manners Salutary jokes A
prodigal son Exit of the glutton A sudden change in
fortune Danger of a visit to poor relations Plucking of a
prosperous man A vagabond toilet A substitute for the very fine
horse Hard travelling The uninvited guest and the patriarchal
colt A beggar on horseback A catastrophe Exit of the merry
vagabond
As CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE and his men were encamped one evening among
the hills near Snake River, seated before their fire, enjoying a
hearty supper, they were suddenly surprised by the visit of an
uninvited guest. He was a ragged, half-naked Indian hunter, armed
with bow and arrows, and had the carcass of a fine buck thrown
across his shoulder. Advancing with an alert step, and free and
easy air, he threw the buck on the ground, and, without waiting
for an invitation, seated himself at their mess, helped himself
without ceremony, and chatted to the right and left in the
liveliest and most unembarrassed manner. No adroit and veteran
dinner hunter of a metropolis could have acquitted himself more
knowingly. The travellers were at first completely taken by
surprise, and could not but admire the facility with which this
ragged cosmopolite made himself at home among them. While they
stared he went on, making the most of the good cheer upon which
he had so fortunately alighted; and was soon elbow deep in "pot
luck," and greased from the tip of his nose to the back of his
ears.
As the company recovered from their surprise, they began to feel
annoyed at this intrusion. Their uninvited guest, unlike the
generality of his tribe, was somewhat dirty as well as ragged and
they had no relish for such a messmate. Heaping up, therefore, an
abundant portion of the "provant" upon a piece of bark, which
served for a dish, they invited him to confine himself thereto,
instead of foraging in the general mess.
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