Complex sentence: The river journey proved difficult, with the canoe unmanageable, the Indians from Canelos deserting them, and one of the party drowned trying recover the hat of one of the Frenchmen.
Split into simpler sentences: The river journey proved difficult, with the canoe unmanageable. The Indians from Canelos deserted them, and one of the party drowned trying recover the hat of one of the Frenchmen.