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forests and soon knew all theIndian passes and lakes in the neighborhood. The natives, by some intuitive faculty, discover an encampment of this kind almost as quickly as a flight of vultures find a dead deer; and I soon met some strolling in the woods on the lookout. Their numbers gradually increased, and in about a week, several of these unfortunate rambling beings were around us. Some were Osages, but the greater part were Shawnees. The former were athletic, robust, well-formed, of a nobler aspect than the others, from whom they kept apart. They hunted nothing but larger game—the few elks that remain in the country and one or two buffaloes were all that they paid attention to. The latter were more reduced, or rather harder pressed upon by the whites; they condescended to kill opossums and even wild turkeys for their subsistence. Though I was often amongst the Osages and very anxious to observe their manners, as they were a race new to me, yet as they spoke no French and very little English, I could hardly get acquainted with them, being ignorant of their language. They were delighted to see me draw, and when I made a tolerable portrait of one of them in red chalk, the others, to my astonishment, laughed to an excess. They bore the cold better than the Shawnees and were more expert in the use of their bows and arrows.
    Our time passed away; after hunting all day with a young Kentuckian of our party [John Pope], he would join me at night to chase the wolves that were prowling on the ice, crossing the river to and fro, howling and sneaking about the very camp for the bones which we threw away. Meanwhile I studied the habits of the wild turkeys, bears, cougars, raccoons and many other animals and drew more or less every day by the side of our great fire.
    I will try to give you some idea of a great fire at a camp of this sort in the woods of America. Just before evening the axemen tumble down four or five trees—probably ash, about three feet in diameter and sixty feet to the first branches, or as we call them, the limbs. These are again cut into logs of about ten feet in length and, with the assistance of some strong sticks, are rolled together into a heap several feet high. A fire is made at the top with brushwood and dry leaves kindled by a flint and steel, and in the course of an hour, there is a flame that would roast you at the distance of five paces. Under the smoke of this, the party go to sleep. It happened, on the only night that my friend Rozier slept on shore [rather than in the keelboat], that being very chill, he drew himself so close to the fire, that the side of his face which lay uppermost was fairly singed and he lost one [side] of his whiskers. We all laughed at this, but it was not a joke to him, and he shaved off the remaining whiskers very ruefully the next morning.
    We remained here six weeks. We had plenty of company from ourIndian friends, with whiskey and food in abundance, but our stock of bread began to give way and we got tired of using the breasts of wild turkeys for bread and bear oil instead of meat. The raccoons and opossums, however tender, were at last disliked, and it was decided one morning that I and my Kentuckian friend should cross the bend to procure some Indian cornmeal and have it dragged down by men on skates or otherwise. I was no novice in the woods and my companion bound on his moccasins with great glee and told me to come onwards, and I followed his steps until, meeting a herd of deer, we pursued them, tracking them with great ease through the snow. I shot one, and as we did not know what to do with it, we hung it on a tree, and after marking the place, resumed our course. We walked on till nearly dark, but no river was seen. My friend urged me forward and I still followedhim, knowing very well that the business would end at last in supping on an opossum, when we suddenly struck upon two tracks which I took for those ofIndians. He said that they would guide us to the river, and