THE ALLEGASH AND EAST BRANCH. 
163 
remained in Bangor, in preparing for our expedition, 
purchasing provisions, hard bread, pork, coffee, sugar, 
&c., and some India-rubber clothing. 
We had at first thought of exploring the St. John from 
its source to its mouth, or else to go up the Penobscot by 
its East Branch to the lakes of the St. John, and return 
by way of Chesuncook and Moosehead. We had finally 
inclined to the last route, only reversing the order of it, 
going by way of Moosehead, and returning by the Penob¬ 
scot, otherwise it would have been all the way up stream 
and taken twice as long. 
At evening the Indian arrived in the cars, and I led 
the way while he followed me three quarters of a mile to 
my friend’s house, with the canoe on his head. I did not 
know the exact route myself, but steered by the lay of 
the land, as I do in Boston, and I tried to enter into con¬ 
versation with him, but as he was puffing under the 
weight of his canoe, not having the usual apparatus for 
carrying it, but, above all, was an Indian, I might as well 
have been thumping on the bottom of his birch the while. 
In answer to the various observations which I made by 
way of breaking the ice, he only grunted vaguely from 
beneath his canoe once or twice, so that I knew he was 
there. 
Early the next morning (July 23d) the stage called 
for us, the Indian having breakfasted with us, and already 
placed the baggage in the canoe to see how it would go. 
My companion and I had each a large knapsack as full 
as it would hold, and we had two large India-rubber bags 
which held our provision and utensils. As for the In¬ 
dian, all the baggage he had, beside his axe and gun, was 
a blanket, which he brought loose in his hand. However, 
he had laid in a store of tobacco and a new pipe for the 
