178 NOTES TAKEN. 
the fourth day after he left us, having found his way there 
and back through this trackless wilderness as true as the 
needle to the Pole. Surely, what life can be more calculated 
to harden the frame and steel the nerves, than this one of 
such bold self-reliance. 
- One of our Delawares, Jackson, amused us very much during 
our ride. He had always appeared to us demure and morose 
in temperament, but to our surprise and amusement he broke 
out with one of our eamp-fire songs, which, requiring a good 
deal of action, made it very ludicrous, the whole performance 
proving to me my before-formed opinion, that the Indian is 
far from being the non-observant creature he is supposed to 
be. The tone, the manner, and gesticulation of the original 
of this song, were expressed, though somewhat in broad bur-. 
lesque, yet sufficiently accurate to prove a quick perception 
of the ridiculous and close imitative powers, 
Shortly after daylight we reached a deep, broad bed of a 
creek, which requiring heavy work to bridge, we halted and 
encamped. 
Our amateur sportsmen started in pursuit of game, and 
found the creek full of deep water, a mile below camp, and 
plenty of catfish, gar, and soft turtle. t 
A new species of gar was seen here, of a deep, shiny black 
colour, the shape, size, &c., the same as the grey gar. 
About noon, Indians were seen approaching, and pretty 
soon Ke-tum-e-see, a chief of the Southern band of Camanches 
rode in, accompanied by two of his wives.” He told us that he 
