OFF UP THE RIVER
"She's riding fine, sir," called Rob to Uncle Dick, over the noise of
the two little propellers that kept the gunwales trembling. "I can head
her square into the mid current and buck her through!"
Uncle Dick smiled and nodded. "It's going to be all right! She rides
like a duck. Spread that foresail, Frank, you and Jesse. We'll do our
six miles an hour, sure as shooting! Haul that foresail squarer, Jesse,
so she won't spill the wind. Now, Rob, keep her dead ahead."
"How far did they go each day?" demanded Jesse, "and how often did they
eat?"
They all broke out in a roar of laughter over Jesse's appetite.
"They ate when they could," answered Uncle Dick, "for they had their
hands full, working that big scow upstream. She was loaded heavy, and
they often had to drag her on the line. When the line broke, as it did
several times, she'd swing into the current and there'd be trouble to
pay.
"How far did they go? Well, that's really hard to say. They usually set
down the courses and distances on the bends. For instance, here is the
first record of that sort, May 15th. 'S{t}' means starboard, right-hand
side going up, and 'L{bd}' means larboard, to the left.
"'Course and Distance assending the Missourie Tuesday May 15.
Course M{ls}
West 1-0--To p{t} on S{t} Side
N 80 deg.W 2-0--" " " " "
N 11 deg.W 2-1/2--" " " " "
N 20 deg.W 1-1/2--" " " L{bd} "
S 10 deg.W 1-1/2--" " " S{t} "
S 22 deg.W 1-0--" " " " "
-----
9-1/2'
"We'll not try to keep our own courses, and we'll have to guess at our
distances except as we can estimate it from average speed, which is what
they also did. I suppose it seemed a long way. Patrick Gass says it was
three thousand and ninety-six miles to the head of the river. Anyhow,
they didn't make it as soon as we shall."
They ran on steadily, both motors firing perfectly and the sun bright
overhead, while the fresh breeze back of them still held fair for most
of the bends. They made St. Charles by noon, as had been predicted, but
did not pause, eating their lunch aboard as they traveled.
"Our captains didn't do this," said Rob. "As near as I can learn, they
camped and cooked on shore. And they certainly got plenty of game."
"I know!" said Jesse, his mouth full of bread and marmalade. "Deer and
turkey all along in here, then."
"Sure!" added John. "Thirty deer, four bear, and two wolves in the first
six weeks."
Uncle Dick sighed. "Well, we'll have to live on rolls and marmalade, and
if Jesse's appetite holds we'll have to make a good many towns for
supplies. More's the pity, there's a good town now about every ten miles
or so--two dozen towns in the first two hundred and fifty miles."
"Aw now!" said Jesse. "Aw now! I guess a fellow can't help getting
hungry. Maybe we can catch some fish, anyhow."
"Gass said they did," nodded John. "They got a lot of fine catfish, and
I think Patrick Gass must have liked them, way he talks. He says, 'We
are generally well supplied with catfish, the best I have ever seen.'"
"What kind of a grub list did they have?" inquired Jesse; and John was
able to answer, for he found the page in the _Journal_, which was close
at hand on a box top, so it could be consulted at any time.
"They didn't have any marmalade or preserves, or fruit or acid of any
kind, and they must have relied on the hunt. They had four bags of
'parchmeal,' which I suppose was parched corn ground--the old frontier
ration, you know. That was about twenty-eight bushels in all, with some
eighteen bushels of 'common' and twenty-two bushels of hominy. Then they
had thirty half barrels of flour, and a dozen barrels of biscuit, a
barrel of meal, fifty bushels of meal, twenty-four bushels of Natchez
hulled corn, four barrels of other hulled corn, and one of meal. That
was their cereal list.
"They only had one bag of coffee, and one each of 'Beens & pees,' as
Clark spells them, and only two bags of sugar, though eight hundred and
seventy pounds of salt."
"Not much sweets," grumbled Jesse. "How about the grease list?" Jesse
was rather wise about making up a good, well-balanced grub list for a
camping trip.
"Well," answered John, "they had forty-five hundred pounds of pork, a
keg of lard, and six hundred pounds of 'grees,' as he calls it. Not so
much; and they ran out of salt in a year, and out of flour, too, so they
didn't have any bread for months. They had some stuff spoiled by getting
wet.
"They had some trade stuff for the Indians, and tools of all sorts, and
other weapons and ammunition. They had sun glasses and an air gun and
instruments for latitude and longitude. They were travelers, all right."
"Lay her a half north, fifty-seven degrees west, and full steam ahead!"
sang out Uncle Dick. "Cut this big bend and take the wind on the
larboard quarter, Jesse. I'll promise you, if our gas holds out, we'll
get somewhere before dark. The _Adventurer, of America_ is a mile eater,
believe me!"