A pack of hungry wolves, attracted by the scent of camp, were our regular nocturnal visitors, and proved a constant source of annoyance. On one occasion they carried off a bake-kettle to a distance of several hundred yards;—at another time, they took away a tin-pan, which we never afterwards recovered;—and, stranger yet, one night these piratical pests stole a fur cap from off my head while I was sleeping, and in the morning, after a diligent search, no trace of it could be found.
The river having slightly risen, we again loosed cable, and, after toiling all day, and tugging with might and main, by hand-spikes and levers, — twisting, screwing, and lifting, now in water up to our necks, and now on dry sand-bars, we succeeded in dragging, or rather carrying, our craft for a distance of about five miles, and again lay by for four succeeding days to await a still further rise.
Upon the opposite side of the river was a bald-eagle's nest, with two half-grown fledglings. One of our party, ascending the tree, captured the young ones, and we had a fine meal from their carcases. A wood-duck's nest, containing some twelve eggs, near by, afforded a seasonable repast, and, in hunting for game, we came upon the nest of a wild goose, as well as those of numerous ravens among the neighboring cottonwoods and willows, which we subjected to such forced contributions as appetite demanded.
A portion of the interval was employed in fishing, but with poor success, the fish of the Platte being nearly all of them small, and not very plentiful even, at that.
An old Franco-Canadian, of our crew, here favored us with, perhaps, a little the biggest fish story of any told at the present day.
He had been down the Missouri on several occasions in boats connected with the fur trade. On one of these voyages, while in the act of reaching over the boat-side for a drink of water, he dropped his cup, which immediately sank to the bottom of the river and was lost.
Three years afterwards he again passed the same place, with hooks and lines attached to the boat-stern for the purpose of catching fish as he glided along.
A large cat-fish, attracted by the tempting bait borne upon the hook, greedily swallowed it, and, in a trice, found himself translated to a new and strange element.
The creature was so heavy, it took two men to pull him into the boat, while his gigantic proportions astonished all beholders.
But the most surprising thing was revealed on opening him; — there, snugly stowed away in one corner of the monster's capacious maw, reposed the identical cup our voyageur had lost, three years before, with his name and the date marked upon it!
"Pooh! Gumbo," said an old sailor, "I can beat such stories as that, all day."
“Why, fellow, on my last trip from Liverpool to New York, a shark followed the ship for a long time, picking up such bits of bread and meat as were thrown into the sea.
“Our steward was a very careless fellow, and, in shaking the tablecloth, he would frequently drop overboard the knives and forks and spoons, and received from the captain several floggings on that account. He was even
