In this he was well supported by his friend Dr. Saugrain.
"You are ill, Governor--you have the fever of these lands," urged that worthy. "By all means leave this country and go back to the East. Go by way of New Orleans and the sea. The voyage will do you much good."
"Peria," said Meriwether Lewis to his French servant and attendant, "make ready my papers for my journey. Have a small case, such as can be carried on horseback. I must take with me all my journals, my maps, and certain of the records of my office here. Get my old spyglass; I may need it, and I always fancy to have it with me when I travel, as was my custom in the West. Secure for our costs in travel some gold--three or four hundred dollars, I imagine. I will take some in my belt, and give the rest to you for the saddle-trunk."
"Your Excellency plans to go by land, then, and not by sea?"
"I do not know. I must save all the time possible. And Peria----"
"Yes, Excellency."
"Have my pistols well cared for, and your own as well. See that my small powder-canister, with bullets, is with them in the holsters. The trails are none too safe. Be careful whom you advise of our plans. My business is of private nature, and I do not wish to be disturbed. And here, take my watch," he concluded. "It was given to me by a friend--a good friend, Mr. Wirt, and I prize it very much--so much that I fear to have it on my person. Care for it in the saddle-trunk."
"Yes, Excellency."
"Do not call me 'Excellency'--I detest the title! I am Governor Lewis, and may so be distinguished. Go now, and do as I have told you. We shall need about ten men to man the barge. Arrange it. Have our goods ready for an early start tomorrow morning."
All that night, sleepless, fevered, almost distracted, Meriwether Lewis sat at his desk, writing, or endeavoring to write, with what matters upon his soul we may not ask. But the long night wore away at last, and morning came, a morning of the early fall, beautiful as it may be only in that latitude. Without having closed his eyes in sleep, the Governor made ready for his journey to the East.
Whether or not Peria was faithful to all his instructions one cannot say, but certainly all St. Louis knew of the intended departure of the Governor. They loved him, these folk, trusted him, would miss him now, and they gathered almost en masse to bid him godspeed upon his journey.