Some of them determined to desert, and to make their way back to St.Louis.They accordingly purloined several weapons and a barrel of gunpowder, as ammunition for their enterprise, and buried them in the river bank, intending to seize one of the boats, and make off in the night.

Fortunately their plot was overheard by John Day, the Kentuckian, and communicated to the partners, who took quiet and effectual means to frustrate it.
The dangers to be apprehended from the Crow Indians had not been overrated by the camp gossips.

These savages, through whose mountain haunts the party would have to pass, were noted for daring and excursive habits, and great dexterity in horse stealing.

Mr.Hunt, therefore, considered himself fortunate in having met with a man who might be of great use to him in any intercourse he might have with the tribe.

This was a wandering individual named Edward Rose, whom he had picked up somewhere on the Missouri--one of those anomalous beings found on the frontier, who seem to have neither kin nor country.