The 
Departure— 
en 
yet learned to pack my mule. The usual way of doing 
TheCaravan it is this: The baggage is divided into two equal 
parts, each part firmly bound up, and hung by loops 
on either side of the yoke-shaped pack saddle. The 
whole is further fastened by the so-called “‘lash rope,” 
of stout buffalo leather, which is first wound around 
the barrel of the animal, and then in diamond shaped 
turns as firmly as possible around the pack. My bag- 
gage weighed 150 to 200 pounds, a quite ordinary 
load for a mule; but I had not divided the burden 
properly, so that I had to repack repeatedly on the 
toad. It was well toward evening when I reached 
the camp, where the others already had arrived. Our 
caravan was small. It consisted of only twenty-seven 
persons. Nine of them were in the service of the Fur 
Company of St. Louis (Chouteau, Pratte & Co.), 
and were to bring the merchandise to the yearly ren- 
dezvous on the Green River. Their leader was Mr. 
Harris, a mountaineer without special education, but 
with five sound senses, that he well knew how to use. 
All the rest joined the expedition as individuals. 
Among them were three missionaries, two of them 
accompanied by their wives, whom a Christian zeal 
for converting the heathen urged to the Columbia. 
Some others spoke of a permanent settlement on the 
Columbia ; again, others intended to go to California, 
and so on. Almost all, however, were actuated by 
some commercial motive. The majority of the party 
were Americans; the rest consisted of French Cana- 
dians, a few Germans, and a Dane. The Fur Com- 
