CHARLEY 363 



trodden down by a herd of buffaloes, and, trembling with 

 fatigue and fear, Charley staggered out, and lay down in 

 the soft grass to be dried by the sun. 



When the two travellers reached the Osage river they 

 found it so swollen by the heavy rains that it had spread 

 to a width of sixty or eighty yards, and had a fierce and 

 rapid current that swept everything before it. Catlin at 

 once unloaded Charley and tied him safely up to feed, 

 while he wandered along the banks for some distance 

 collecting all the wood that had been carried down by the 

 stream and had stuck along the edge. With this he 

 made a small raft, and on the raft he lashed his skins, 

 his guns, his portmanteau, and even the clothes he had 

 on. This done, Charley was driven into the river, and 

 left to cross by himself, which he managed very well, in 

 spite of the current, and soon might be seen enjoying his 

 dinner on the opposite shore. Then his master plunged 

 in after him, and pushing the raft in front, landed it safely 

 about half a mile below. This sounds easy enough in 

 the telling, but any one who has ever watched a river in 

 flood, and knows the great trees and big animals that it 

 hurries along, will understand how many things Catlin 

 had to dodge in that short distance, and how glad he. 

 must have felt to be on Charley's back again. 



