Ben Tubber were a pair of the most truculent
ruffians in all America, and it seemed a marvel
to me what bond of union could exist between
them and the soft-spoken pliant Ignotus, who
gave me the idea of anything but a fighting
man. Hall was a black-browed shaggy
Missourian, athletic in person, and forbidding in
countenance; his character was more than
dubious, and he was reputed to have been one
of the fiercest of those 'border ruffians' who had
afflicted Kansas during the pro-slavery riots.
Tubber was a powerfully-built Georgian, who
prided himself on his prowess in 'rough and
tumble,' and who boasted to me one evening,
after a fourth tumbler, that he had 'gouged
nigh twenty eyes,' and would back himself to
'do the trick neatly, all thumb and forefinger,'
with any one in the United States. This
engaging pair, who wore revolvers and bowie-
knives in their belts, and who were never seen
without their rifles, were nicknamed the doctor's
bull-dogs.

"The teamsters were of very various characters.
Two of them were lathy dark-complexioned
Missourians, with reckless mien, and whisky
written on their blotched faces; but still they
were bold muscular men, who knew their trade.
Two were mere lads, recent draughts from
some Alleghany farm, and quite raw to prairie
life; the others were flaxen-headed Germans,
well-meaning enough, but very inexpert where
horses were in question. The cook and his
boy were general favourites, but the guides
hardly pleased me. In the first place, even
after they were joined by three other Indians at
the Yellowstone Rock, they brought in no fresh
meat.

"They made no pretence of hunting, but
lounged about at every hut, sleeping in the shade
of the cotton-wood trees, smoking and drinking,
prowling about the waggons, and begging for
tobacco and spirits, but never sallying far
beyond the camp. When remonstrated with by
those who began to grow tired of pickled pork
for breakfast, dinner, and supper, the half-breed
replied:

"'What for hunt here? No game here, so
near settlement. All frightened away. Hunt
when far off. You very foolish mans you
emigrees. Gib Rising Sun some tobacco, and
he get you plenty of deer meat presently.'

"My second reason for not liking the half-
breed and his red relations was a mere question
of physiognomy. I did not like Rising Sun, in
particular, for the same reason assigned in the
poem for an aversion to Dr. Fell. He had the
long slanting Mongolian eyes—the true feline
eyes of his race—and as for his high cheek-bones,
large mouth, and lank hair, these were such as
all the aborigines possessed. But with him they
had an especial treacherous crafty look, or so I
fancied, and I hinted as much to the doctor,
who merely laughed, and said the man had been
well recommended.

"Nothing worthy of notice occurred till we
crossed the Rocky Mountain, which we did by
way of Fremont's Pass. Up to that time we had
certainly seen bands of roving Indians, dim
against the evening sky, a sort of distant vision of
spears and blanket-clad horsemen; but they had
been mere Pawnees or Foxes, tribes which were
in a kind of vassalage to the white man. At the
foot of the pass, however, an imposing cavalcade
of Crows arrived, and seemed to design an
attack. For some hours they kept prancing and
caracoling around us, uttering loud shouts, and
shaking their lances and robes at us, with many
a barbarous gesture of defiance or threat, but
they took care to keep out of rifle range, and
our camp was too well watched at night to allow
them an opportunity of stampeding our
quadrupeds. The officer in command of the dragoons
valued these Crows very lightly, but when we
got over the pass, and into the country usually
traversed by war parties of the Blackfeet tribe,
he grew more serious, and his vigilance was
unremitting.

"Our supply of meat now began to run short,
for some of the barrels which had been stored
up, and which were duly labelled with the words,
'Prime Pickled Pork,' proved to be half empty,
and to contain little, more than garbage, unfit for
human consumption. Some of the flour and
biscuits, too, turned out to be mouldy, and full
of weevils; and while the doctor laid the blame
on the storekeeper who had supplied the provisions,
many were disposed to lay the blame on
the doctor.

"Violent reproaches were also lavished on
the laziness of the guides, and the military
officer was appealed to to exert his
authority in compelling the half-breed and his
dusky kindred to hunt for us, in terms of
the agreement. The officer spoke tartly, the
doctor suavely, and the red-skinned attendants
of the caravan were induced to sally forth; but
they rarely brought in anything beyond a half-
grown deer or a wild turkey, and excused
themselves on the ground of the buffalo herds having
been driven off by Indians.

"We found the grass much less plentiful
and succulent, to the west of the mountains. It
was a stony region which we were traversing, and
the animals lost flesh and strength from the
difficulty of picking up sufficient nutriment among
the boulders and pebbles. Over vast tracts, too,
extended a carpet of charred turf and white
ashes, where the grass and flowery weeds had
been wantonly set on fire by careless emigrants
or roving savages. But when we got into the
well-watered region on the banks of Lewis
River, we found verdant pastures enough, and
our jaded quadrupeds recovered their strength
and sleekness.

"At Fort Boisé, on Lake River, our leader,
Dr. Smith, suddenly announced that our road
no longer lay in the same direction as that of
the Oregon party. This was a great disappointment
to myself and some others, who had begun
to imagine that we should journey on with the
other caravan, under military protection, almost
as far as the British possessions. But Dr. Smith
had decided that we should here quit the main
Oregon trail, and strike off into the mountainous