268 EXPEDITION TO THE 



the Mississippi. It was a horrid sight, in a small 

 boat, not more than thirty feet long, in which the par- 

 ty were much cramped for want of room, to behold a 

 man affected with occasional fits of raving, and these of 

 the most distressing kind ; he made frequent attempts to 

 throw himself overboard, which at last induced Mr. Scott 

 to have him secured to the mast; he was very loquacious 

 in his insanity, replying as he thought to the voice of his 

 officers at Prairie du Chien, whom he fancied he heard 

 calling him ; at times he became ironical, bursting into 

 a wild and convulsive laughter, then launching out into 

 profane and abusive language ; in fine, exhibiting all 

 the workings of a disordered imagination. At one of the 

 encampments, he broke his bonds and wandered near a 

 swamp ; men were sent after him who were out a long time 

 before they overtook him ; he was for a while given up 

 for lost, and it was by the most fortunate chance that he 

 was at last discovered by one of the men wading through 

 a swamp ; had he proceeded much further he must have 

 perished in this fen. Mr. Say having administered to him 

 the proper remedies, he gradually recovered, but finding it 

 agreeable to abstain from work, feigned sickness, and his 

 insanity was observed apparently increasing while the 

 other symptoms indicated a general improvement in his 

 health ; suspecting that he was playing the old soldier, Mr. 

 Say prescribed the use of an oar as a sudorific, by which 

 he soon recovered the use of his lost senses. 



The party had encamped for the night on a prairie, be- 

 tween Raccoon and Bad-Axe rivers, but the mosquitoes, 

 which had hitherto proved very tormenting, becoming 

 still more so, they determined, at eleven o'clock at night, 

 to resume their journey. If a sleepless night was to be 

 spent, it was better to pass it in the boat, in the middle of 



