The captain now set to work with his men, to prepare a suitable entertainment for his guests.  It was a time of plenty in the camp; of prime hunters’ dainties; of buffalo humps, and buffalo tongues; and roasted ribs, and broiled marrow-bones:  all these were cooked in hunters’ style; served up with a profusion known only on a plentiful hunting ground, and discussed with an appetite that would astonish the puny gourmands of the cities.  But above all, and to give a bacchanalian grace to this truly masculine repast, the captain produced his mellifluous keg of home-brewed nectar, which had been so potent over the senses of the veteran of Hudson’s Bay.  Potations, pottle deep, again went round; never did beverage excite greater glee, or meet with more rapturous commendation.  The parties were fast advancing to that happy state which would have insured ample cause for the next day’s repentance; and the bees were already beginning to buzz about their ears, when a messenger came spurring to the camp with intelligence that Wyeth’s people had got entangled in one of those deep and frightful ravines, piled with immense fragments of volcanic rock, which gash the whole country about the head-waters of the Blackfoot River.  The revel was instantly at an end; the keg of sweet and potent home-brewed was deserted; and the guests departed with all speed to aid in extricating their companions from the volcanic ravine.

43.

A rapid march—­A cloud of dust—­Wild horsemen—­“High Jinks” Horseracing and rifle-shooting—­The game of hand—­The fishing season—­Mode of fishing—­Table lands—­Salmon fishers—­The captain’s visit to an Indian lodge—­The Indian girl—­The pocket mirror—­Supper—­Troubles of an evil conscience.

“Up and away!” is the first thought at daylight of the Indian trader, when a rival is at hand and distance is to be gained.  Early in the morning, Captain Bonneville ordered the half dried meat to be packed upon the horses, and leaving Wyeth and his party to hunt the scattered buffalo, pushed off rapidly to the east, to regain the plain of the Portneuf.  His march was rugged and dangerous; through volcanic hills, broken into cliffs and precipices; and seamed with tremendous chasms, where the rocks rose like walls.

On the second day, however, he encamped once more in the plain, and as it was still early some of the men strolled out to the neighboring hills.  In casting their eyes round the country, they perceived a great cloud of dust rising in the south, and evidently approaching.  Hastening back to the camp, they gave the alarm.  Preparations were instantly made to receive an enemy; while some of the men, throwing themselves upon the “running horses” kept for hunting, galloped off to reconnoitre.  In a little while, they made signals from a distance that all was friendly.  By this time the cloud of dust had swept on as if hurried along by a blast, and a band of wild horsemen came dashing at full leap into the camp, yelling and whooping like so many maniacs.  Their dresses, their accoutrements, their mode of riding, and their uncouth clamor, made them seem a party of savages arrayed for war; but they proved to be principally half-breeds, and white men grown savage in the wilderness, who were employed as trappers and hunters in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company.