It was now nearly dark;
a duck lighted near him, and he shot it. He then went on the head of a
small island, where he found some driftwood, which enabled him to cook
his duck for supper, and laid down to sleep on some willow-brush. The
night was cool, but the driftwood gave him a good fire, and he suffered
no inconvenience, except from the mosquitoes."
The easy indifference to discomfort with which these well-seasoned
pioneers took their hardships must needs impress the reader. It was a
common thing for men, or for a solitary man, to be caught out of camp
by nightfall and compelled to bivouac, like Captain Lewis, in the
underbrush, or the prairie-grass. As they pressed on, game began to fail
them. Under date of July 31, they remark that the only game seen that
day was one bighorn, a few antelopes, deer, and a brown bear, all of
which escaped them. "Nothing was killed to-day," it is recorded, "nor
have we had any fresh meat except one beaver for the last two days; so
that we are now reduced to an unusual situation, for we have hitherto
always had a great abundance of flesh." Indeed, one reason for this is
found in Captain Lewis's remark: "When we have plenty of fresh meat, I
find it impossible to make the men take any care of it, or use it with
the least frugality, though I expect that necessity will shortly teach
them this art." We shall see, later on, that the men, who were really as
improvident of food as the Indians, had hard lessons from necessity.
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