30 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



mand a view of the environs, and be ready to give the alarm m 

 case of danger. 



The captain cries the hour regularly by a watch, and alVs 

 well, every fifteen minutes, and each man of the_ guard is re- 

 quired to repeat this call in rotation, which if any one should 

 fail to do, it is fair to conclude that he is asleep, and he is then 

 immediately visited and stirred up. In case of defection of this 

 kind, our laws adjudge to the delinquent the hard sentence of 

 walking three days. As yet none of our poor fellows have 

 incurred this penalty, and the probability is, that it would not at 

 this time be enforced, as we are yet in a country where little 

 molestation is to be apprehended ; but in the course of another 

 week's travel, when thieving and ill-designing Indians will be 

 outlying on our trail, it will be necessary that the strictest 

 watch be kept, and, for the preservation of our persons and pro- 

 perty, that our laws shall be rigidly enforced. 



31(11/ 1st. — On rising this morning, and inquiring about our 

 prospects of a breakfast, we discovered that the cook of our mess 

 (a little, low-browed, ill-conditioned Yankee) had decamped in 

 the night, and left our service to seek for a better. He 

 probably thought the duties too hard for him, but as he 

 was a miserable cook, we should not have much regretted 

 his departure, had he not thought proper to take with him an 

 excellent rifle, powder-horn, shot-pouch, and other matters that 

 did not belong to him. It is only surprising that he did not 

 select one of our best horses to carry him ; but as he had the 

 grace to take his departure on foot, and we have enough men 

 without liim, wc can wish him God speed, and a fair run to the 

 settlements. 



We encamped this evening on a small branch of the Kanzas 

 river. As wc approached our stopping place, we were joined 

 by a band of Kanzas Indians, (commonly called Kaic Indians.) 

 They are encamped in a neighboring copse, where they have 



