New-York tribune., 1842-02-02
For the n. YORK Tf1oune-
WESTERN ADVENTURES.
Being Lost--Rough Roads Fording River oy
Night, &c.

capped the experience: and OF al! the feelings 10
which unfortunate humanity is liable, faw ina
CINE arc less to be envied. The Sun has strayed
to the wrong side Of the heavcns-the river runs
upstream The fence is the wrong SIDE OF '''
road-;he road itself has swapped head tor 'al-
rhe very tree. are wrons--all as if the man hao
slept awhile and walked up in the wrong world
MANY a time in such case, among tiie sunny ms
of NewEugland, have | suspected that nlyseil
had been swappcd away for some other urchin oy
mistake and been fain oprick myself with pm
70 ,est The question of identity. Bat in New
ENGLAND. such mistakes soon had their end he
road followed solved the mystery; or some field,
or house, or known token, brought the wanderer
10 some place and dispcled the hallucinaton-
Not so in The wild West; there the lost wanderer
runs into perils of which the uninitiated little
dream The traveller rides up to the settler with
How far to the mex, settlement" Twelve
miles Direct road 2" Yes "No turning
off No-kcep straight ahead Cheered by
,he point and precision of the direction, ne pushes
on The road IS evident, and nothing can be
plainer than that The man who directed him is
about IN The midst of the euogy, thus pouring
forth onthc heart of the squatter, the road forks;
and not a mile from the place of inquiry. Wrath
and pcrplcxity take round of fsticufis in his bo-
som and then he concludes to go on; for, after
all, thee za0y come together again. Soon q held
suddenly meets him, and the road grows gradually
DINNER ls he courses along the fence, in the hope
of coming on to the old track again. He follows
the fence mile or so, and then meets what must
be the road The direction is right; 1t leaves
the field for the prairie, and besides there is none
other. With q good heart he Puts forward and
not until he has travelled some three four miles,
far from man or his dwelling, does he perceive
that his road is actually leaving him. DINNER
and DINNER it grows. Here part of it runs
round a slough; nor does it all seem to come back
again Then a new track has been made to avoid
some impeachment and it threatens always te h.
new irach-cvery now and then a part of his road
runs of ucross the prairie, till all at once thu
whole road has actually left him Some few
tracks seem to keep on but nothing like road.
In the mean time night comes on, and happy is
hcif it be no'.;l cold stormy one; and thougllh'
puts forward with what speed nc can muster II
what he Judges to be the proper direction, We
Night settles dow: and finds llinl truckess ano
suideless III the great ocean of land. Hills rs'
out of the plain III every direction; and grove
cloaked in shadows almost reveal themselves I'll
obscurity has swallowed all the universe but tlr
stars, and he alone lives to gaze at them.
But where will he go? Let any man start with
out any object to guide lliIn, in the deternnatio
TO proceed in a straight line, and he will com
around upon his own track in short time.
have made some experiments, and never knew til
man who could proceed in direct line without
guide for the distance of six rods. Where, thcl
should man on u prairie, in Il cloudy nigh;
without road, wander? After sufficient numbc
of gyrations, and sufficient faiignc, the travclc
concludes to tic up to bush, if he can find one
md if he has match, to kindle fire OF prairi
rass, if nothing else offers. for the sake of CON
pany-or, in want of both, to hold his horse b
he bride and catch little broken, cold, dew
sleep. in the intervals of the wolves howling, an,
sufficiently rational intervals to curse the stupidit
Of the man who could so badly direct him. ]
truth think this business of highway dircctin
has never vet received its share Of attention.
.,:.l l. L
whereas it should bc subjected rules and taugl
bows as regularly as catechisms, with diagrams
Most people direct stranger as if they suppose
him as well acquainted with the road then
selves; and the result is, thata man might as We
g righ, and left a suthcien, number of times, as
dancing, and then 60 on, as to ask his way
ninety nine people out of every hundred he meet
Being Milwakie the frost season, and havin'=
] made special inquiry for smoother pnssag,
back On this subicc, | had the care Secur,
,he opinions Of some dozen people that had beer
on, 10 the centre of Wolwouh County, who, TO
man, represented that rs prime road and every
,vav worthy 10 be travelled, Cheercd by such as
Suranccs, set forward Mile after mile, as wc
lodged s,umps and stones with every now and
chen 4 whir il, a hole. well Nigh, deep enough to
,,rSet US, did wonder where the good road was,
bur concluded it must be after emerging upon the
prairie Accordingly of the first man met asked
shc distance on, of the woods. :. Eight miles,
lvas the consoling reply. While was nedtating
apon the intcrminablc length of eight miles, the
herses gave snort and came to dead stand
There lay slough, wide, black, and deep as a
little Acheron. on,he opposite side there bris-
lied row OF slumps. of such remarkable frroci'y