The ground was broken and covered with thick
bushes, which would not allow them to pass with the horses. Besides this
reason, an Indian always selects his road where he thinks he has nothing
to fear. We determined to take the direct road to the post, and chance
assisted us in a singular manner. The Indians and my old servant were
asleep, while I was watching with the Irishman Roche, I soon became
aware that something was moving in the prairie behind us, but what, I
could not make out. The buffaloes never came so far west, and it was not
the season for the wolves. I crawled out of our bush, and after a few
minutes found myself in the middle of a band of horses who had not
allowed themselves to be taken, but had followed the tracks of their
companions, to know what had become of them. I returned, awoke the
Indians, and told them; they started with their lassoes, while I and
Roche remained to sleep.
Long before morn the Indian scout guided us to three miles westward,
behind a swell of the prairie. It was an excellent precaution, which
prevented any Umbiqua straggler from perceiving us, a rather
disagreeable event, which would have undoubtedly happened, as we were
camped only two miles from them, and the prairie was flat until you came
to the swell just mentioned.
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