REMOVING GOODS BY CANOE. 213 



increased and improved since I first saw it two years 

 ago, but the place never pleased me. 



Our house being near the river, we required a boat, 

 partly to carry out goods from Little Rock to the place 

 of destination, thirty miles up the Arkansas, and forty 

 miles up the Fourche le Fave, and partly to carry us 

 occasionally across the river. We obtained a very good 

 one for ten dollars, loaded it with flour, potatoes, coffee, 

 sugar, some carpenter's tools, and a puppy that had 

 been given me, and which I meant to break in, and 

 rowed away in good spirits towards our new home. 



We entered the Fourche le Fave on the evening of the 

 second day, hoping to reach a house, said to be about 

 seven miles up the stream ; but we could not find the 

 smallest spot fit for a human habitation, and landed on 

 a projecting rock, quite tired, between nine and ten 

 o'clock. As it had rained all day, this was the only 

 clean spot we could find ; and the stone was so small 

 that we were obliged to rest our feet in the boat, to' keep 

 them out of the water. 



Next day it rained harder, and we were very glad 

 to get to a house before dark, where we were in 

 some measure protected from the tremendous rain. 

 I say in some measure, because the roof was none of 

 the best, the rain dropping on my face and neck; 

 luckily, before dark, I had espied an old cotton umbrella 

 in a corner (no common article in a block-house), and 

 slept comfortably enough for the rest of the night under 

 its shelter. 



We arrived next evening at Kelfer's farm, where we 

 were hospitably received, and reached our place of des- 

 tination on the day following. The four naked walls 



