ment with the sail and rigging for a
long while before I could make them work to my satisfaction.

My inventive powers did not fail me, and by attaching a rope to each end
of the two yards, I obtained the control of the canvas. When I had
completed the work, and hoisted the sail, I was delighted with its
operation. The wind came pretty fresh from the north-west, and I think
the raft made five, if not six miles an hour with its help. With the
sail drawing well, the labor of steering was reduced more than half. The
raft had no tendency to whirl round, and it was really a pleasure to
steer her. We were not obliged to follow the current in its broad sweeps
around the bends of the river, and we saved many miles by taking "short
cuts." I found, too, that the raft was under better control, and,
instead of being at the mercy of the current, we could go where we
pleased. When there was any wind, and it came from the right direction,
I could make a landing where and when I wished with very little
difficulty.

Day after day we continued on our voyage, Sim and I dividing equally
between us the labor at the steering oar. We could not use the sail all
the time, but it was a vast help to us when the wind was favorable. As
time permitted, I made improvements on the house, which added to our
comfort. I put up two berths, which we filled with hay obtained from the
prairies. I made a closet for the dishes, and a well in the body of the
raft, where the kettle of milk could be kept cool in the water.

We made a landing almost every day at some town, and on Sunday we hauled
up and went to church, whenever we were in a place where we could do so.
On our sixth day it rained in torrents, and I hauled up at the bank of a
river, and made fast to a tree. It was not comfortable to stand on the
platform, wet to the skin, and steer. Sim and I slept nearly the whole
day, while Flora read the books and newspapers which I had bought at the
towns. I had done all the work I could find to do on the raft, and had
fitted up the house to my mind. I had an easy time of it.

At one of the large towns I found what was called "A Panorama of the
Mississippi River," which I bought and put up in the house. After this
we knew just where we were, for the Panorama was a kind of chart, with
all the towns on the river, the streams which flowed into it, and the
distances from place to place, indicated upon it. With a good breeze we
made about a hundred miles in twenty-