nery was a delight.
In the serene close of the afternoon they encamped on one of the Kansas
bluffs. From this spot they had an enchanting view of the valley, about
four miles broad, interspersed with beautiful groves and prairies of the
richest verdure. This evening they killed one of their oxen for food. Thus
far their route had been along the southern bank of the Kansas. The next
day they reached what was called the ford of that river, a hundred miles
from its entrance into the Missouri.

But the recent rains had so swollen the stream that it was rushing by, a
swift and rapid torrent two hundred and thirty yards wide. The river could
not be forded. Several mounted men entered it to swim their horses across,
and thus to act as guides or leaders for the rest. The remaining animals
were driven in, and all got safely across excepting the three oxen, who
being more clumsy swimmers, were borne down by the current and again
landed on the right side. The next morning, however, they were got over in
safety.

Lieutenant Fremont had adopted the precaution of taking with him a
portable India rubber boat. It was twenty feet long and five feet broad.
It was placed in the water, and the carts and the baggage were carried
over piecemeal. Three men paddled the boat. Still the current was so
strong that one of the best swimmers took in his teeth the end of a rope
attached to the boat and swam ahead, that, reaching the shore, he might
assist in drawing her over. Six passages were successfully made and six
carts with most of their contents were transported across. Night was
approaching, and it was very desirable that everything should be upon the
other side before the darkness closed in.

"I put," says Lieutenant Fremont, "upon the boat the two remaining carts.
The man at the helm was timid on the water and, in his alarm, capsized the
boat. Carts, barrels, boxes and bales were, in a moment, floating down the
current. But all the men who were on the shore jumped into the water
without stopping to think if they could swim, and almost everything, even
heavy articles, was recovered. Two men came very near being drowned. All
the sugar belonging to one of the messes was dissolved in the water and
lost."

But the heaviest calamity of all was the loss of a bag containing the
coffee for the whole company. There is nothing so refreshing to a weary
mountaineer, as a cup of hot coffee. Often afterwards these travellers,
overcome with toil, mourn