Note 145 — {100} CHAPTER VI

The surprise of the Indians will hardly be cause for wonder, after reading the following description of the "Western Engineer," which appeared in the St. Louis Enquirer, June 19, 1819, ten days after the expedition arrived at that place: "The bow of the vessel exhibits the form of a huge serpent, black and scaly, rising out of the water from under the boat, his head as high as the deck, darted forward, his mouth open, vomiting smoke, and apparently carrying the boat on his back. From under the boat, at its stern issues a stream of foaming water, dashing violently along. All the machinery is hid. . . . The boat is ascending the rapid stream at the rate of three miles an hour. Neither wind nor human hands are seen to help her; and to the eye of ignorance the illusion is complete, that a monster of the deep carries her on his back smoking with fatigue, and lashing the waves with violent exertion."

A resident of Franklin, Missouri, thus described the boat and the impression it made upon the savages: "In place of a bowsprit, she has carved a great serpent, and as the steam escapes out of its mouth, it runs out a long tongue, to the perfect horror of all Indians that see her. They say, 'White man bad man, keep a great spirit chained and build fire under it to make it work a boat.'"—Ed.