The Arkansas advocate., 1835-06-19

! tree, obtaining good quantity of honey to }eat with our beaf meat; and the next morning we struck the road which goes in 10 Fort Towson. Owing to our nlakinF a slight mistake, and taking the wrong end 1 of t, however, we did not manage to reach that place. There is d conical bare mound called the Cadeau Hill; near this place in the road, and also timbered hill, both of which Lewis thought he would know, bat did not. We followed the road about six miles in southwest direction, and conclu- ding VIC were not getting homeward, we stopped and ate on the edge of the timber ed hill; followed the road little further until 1t vanished, and then we again struck an east course. Had we taken the other end of the road, we should have been spar ed some trouble.
 On the morning of the 29th, our north ward course brought ns to the first fork of Boggy, where we cut sycamore and crossed on 1t; part of the log was under water, and 1t was altogether slippery busi- l ness, especially for Irwin; who had receiy- 1 ed kick day or two before, and was 1 obliged to stradde the log; and as they qaaintly call 1t in the west, Coon II across. : | lame leg IS no great accommodation in the prairie. After crossing, we kept to the east, but soon found ourselves getting en- tangled in bottom, and turned to the north again; and on the 30th, about noon, we reached the other fork of Begay. Here we heard dog bayIng; and the cries of indians; and while we remained on the bank, Lewis went 10 find the Iadians.-IIe returned just at night, and, of course, we deferred crossing until the morning. Kill cd some turkeys, and contented ourselves. The next morning we cut willow and eros- sed on It, and were then obliged to cut a road through the cane with knives.--.At noon we ate nothing; and at night NC iin- lished our turkeys.
 DEc. I.-'n the morning we met q Choetaw. who informed US t}mi there was a road not far ahead. We nooned, however, before reaching it, and after starting again, turned eff of our course, 10 the sound Of an axe, and found five or SIX Choctaws, Eet.ttlng bee tree. We offered 10 buy some of the hone9, tssy eaaseed to sell t, but tried to beg powder ana b3s ls GhoctaW Is, without exception, the mean- est Indian on earth. About the middle of the afternoon We reached the road which runs from Fort Smith to Red River We, however. not knowing that thero was any such road supposed 1t to run from the ford of Boggy to Fort ToWson, on Red River, 10 which we wished to go; and we accord ingiy took the north end of the road, being then twenty-three miles from Red River, and the weather too cloudy and wet for Us to see the sun, or to know our course.- We travelled about sixteen miles after strik- ing the road, and encamped in the rain, without food. From this time, we travel ed from thirty to thiry-five miles a day, driving the wearied animals before us.
 On the End, I sold my rifle to the Choc- jaws, for about dozen pounds of meat, and Ish disposed of his in the same man. her.
 On the 4th, we encamped with two or three Delawares, and Irwin sold his doub- le-barrelled gun for meat likewise. Upon leaving the Delawares, the next morning, and striking across to the road, we took the wrong end of it, and following 1t eight or
 
 we encamped, and the next morning look the road again; and on the 9th, we reach ed, about noon, the house of a certain sub agent for the ChoctaWs, an acquaintance of Lewis's, but whose heart was not quite big enough to allow him to invite us to dine with him. We accordingly went on to the ferry on the Porteau, which We arrived af- ter dark, and found little Frenchnan, there, whe had nothing to eat but pounded corni and nothing te cook t in but 8 kettle that held about pint and half. It took Us about half the night to cook three kettles full of said corn, from each kettle of which, each man got perhaps six spoonfuls.
 On the 10th we reached Fort Smith, and we must have made most ludicrous ap- pearance. Falstaf''s $ ragged regiment was nothing to us. ! had pair of leather pam taloons, scorehed and wrnkled by the fire, and full of grease; an old greasy jacket ard vest; q pair of huge moccasns, in mending which I had laid out all my skill during the space of two months, and in so 1 doing, had bestowed upon them whole shot-pouch; shirt witch; made of what Is commonly called counterpane, or big checked stuff, had not been washed since left Taes; and, to crown all, my beard and mustachios had never been clipped du- ring the same time. Some of Us were worse of. Irwin, for examples had not halt shirt. In short, we were, to use an- other western expression, 'as pretty look 1 inp set of fellows as ever any man put up