FISH STORIES. 187 



A pack of hungry wolves, attracted by the scent of camp, were oij! 

 regular nocturnal visitors, and proved a constant source of annoyance. Or 

 one occasion they carried off a bake-kettle to a distance of several huiuircd 

 yards ; — at another time, they took away a tin-pan. whicli we never after- 

 wards recovered ; — and, stranger yet, one night these piratical pests stole a 

 fur cap from off my head while I was sleeping, and in the morning, after a 

 diligent search, no trace of it could be found. 



The river having slightly risen,' we again loosed cable, and, after toiling 

 all day, and tugging with might and main, by hand-spikes and levers, — 

 twisting, screwing, and lifting, now in water up to our necks, and now on 

 dry sand-bars, we succeeded in dragging, or rather carrying, our craft for a 

 distance of about five miles, and again lay oy for four succeeding days to 

 await a still further rise. 



Upon the opposite side of the river was a bald-eagle's nest, with two half- 

 grown fledgelings. One of our party, ascending the tree, captured tiie 

 young ones, and we had a fine meal from their carcases. A wood-duck's 

 nest, containing some twelve eggs, near by, afforded a seasonable repast,— 

 and, in hunting for game, wo came upon the nest of a wild goose, as weU 

 as those of numerous ravens among the neighboring cottonwoods and wil- 

 lows, which we subjected to such forced contributions as appetite demanded. 



A portion of the interval was employed in fishing, but with poor success, 

 the fish of the Platte being nearly all of them small, and not very plentiful 

 even, at tliat. 



An old Franco-Canadian, of our crew, here favored us with, perhaps, a 

 little the biggest fish story of any told at the present day. 



He had been down the Missouri on several occasions in boats connected 

 with the fur trade. On one of these voyage.^, while in the act of reacliing 

 over the boat-side for a drink of water, he dropped his cup, which imme- 

 diately sank to the bottom of the river and was lost. 



Three years afterwards he again passed the same place, with hooks and 

 lines attached to the boat-stern for the purpose of catching fish as he glided 

 along. 



A large cat-fish, attracted by the tempting bait borne upon the hook, 

 greedily swallowed it, and, in a trice, found himself translated to a new 

 and strange element. 



The creature was so heavy, it took two men to pull him into the boat, while 

 his gigantic proportions astonished all beholders. 



But the most surprising thing was revealed on opening him ; — there, 

 snugly stowed away in one corner of the monster's capacious maw, repo- 

 sed tJie identical cup our voyageur had lost, three years before, with hii 

 name and the date marked upon it ! 



" Pooh ! Gumbo," said an old sailor, " I can beat such stories as that,all 

 day. 



" Why, fellow, on my last trip from Liverpool to New York, a shark 

 followed the ship for a long time, picldng up such bits of bread and meat 

 as were thrown into the sea. 



* Our steward was a very careless fellow, and, in shaking the table- 

 cloth, he would frequently drop overboard the knives and forks and spoona 

 uid rtceived from the captain several floggings on that account He wai 



