Although Frenchmen had gone up and down the river long before, they felt
like genuine explorers. So little was known of the mighty stream that they
regarded every stretch and turn with keen interest. It was not beautiful
now, a vast, brown flood flowing between low and changing shores, but in
its size and loneliness it had a majesty peculiarly its own.
Wild geese and wild ducks flew over the river in abundance, and they were
so little used to man that often they passed near "The Galleon." The
fowling pieces proved useful again, as the five were able to sit in
comfort on their boat and shoot geese and ducks for their needs. Some were
of kinds that they had never seen before, but all proved to be good
eating, and they were welcome.
Jim Hart also exercised his ingenuity in a very useful manner. In the prow
of the boat, but under the tarpaulin, he spread a layer of mud about two
inches thick. Protected from the rain, it soon dried, forming a hard,
impervious, brick-like covering for the bottom of the boat, and upon this
he built a small smothered fire of dry sticks, a supply of which they kept
in the boat. Here Jim, with all the skill and delicacy of a gastronomic
artist, would cook their wild ducks and wild geese, and, considering the
limited area and resources for the exercise of his favorite occupation,
he did extremely well.
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