BOEDER LIFE IN THE WEST. 215 



But the river was falling fast when we left Louisville, and 

 we found great difficulty on that account, in the way of our 

 navigation ; and indeed, when we reached the point of land- 

 ing, just at the head of the rapids, which was not until eleven 

 o'clock of a dark night, we found to our great dismay, that 

 the captain could not be induced to land on the Kentucky 

 side by any entreaties. He said that at such a stage of the 

 water, landing on that side was entirely unsafe, and that he 

 would not risk the safety of his boat and other passengers 

 for the accommodation of one or two but as he offered to 

 land us on the Indiana side, where there was a small wood- 

 yard and cabin, in which we could take shelter until morn- 

 ing, we were bound to feel satisfied. 



However great this obligation was, my elderly companion 

 did not seem by any means to appreciate it with sufficient 

 gratitude. When he found that the captain was brutally de- 

 termined upon his course, he said nothing more, but seemed 

 reconciled to put the best possible face upon the matter. I 

 could see, though, from his manner, that there was something 

 behind the studied coolness with which he accepted the 

 alternative ; what it meant I could not comprehend, for I 

 had been too long absent from the country to be at all aware 

 of the then infamous reputation of that portion of the Indiana 

 border. The boat stopped in the middle of the stream, and 

 the yawl was manned to put us, with our baggage, on shore, 

 when, as we were entering, we found ourselves about to be 

 joined by a third party, whose " traps " had been handed 

 forward, and had been passed down. First came four square 

 boxes of cherry-wood, highly varnished, and ostentatiously 

 mounted with silver German silver, I suppose and which 

 proved very weighty ; so much so, that the " hands " in- 

 dulged in many mysterious jokes about them, enjoining each 

 other to be careful not to let them fall, for if they " bust " 

 open and " spilt anything," it might be too much " for a man 

 to stand," &c. Then came several large and heavy black 

 trunks. 



