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Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851

"Oak Openings"


By the bee hunter's calculations, they were now about seventy miles
from the mouth of the Kalamazoo, having passed the outlets of two or
three of the largest streams of those regions.
The fugitives selected a favorable spot, and landed behind a
headland that gave them a sufficient lee for the canoes. They had
now reached a point where the coast trends a little to the eastward,
which brought the wind in a slight degree off the land. This change
produced no very great effect on the seas, but it enabled the canoes
to keep close to the shore, making something of a lee for them. This
they did about noon, after having lighted a fire, caught some fish
in a small stream, killed a deer and dressed it, and cooked enough
provisions to last for two or three days. The canoes were now
separated again; it being easier to manage them in that state than
when lashed together, besides enabling them to carry both sails. The
farther north they got the more of a lee was found, though it was in
no place sufficient to bring smooth water.
In this manner several more hours were passed, and six times as many
more miles were made in distance. When le Bourdon again landed,
which he did shortly before the sun set, he calculated his distance
from the mouth of the Kalamazoo to be rather more than a hundred
miles.


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