about an hour before
noon
The country remained thoroughly wild , and he soon had proof of it . Another deer , this time obviously started up by himself , sprang from the canebrake and darted away in the woods . He noted tracks of bear and resolved some day when the war was over to come there hunting . His course led him again from firm ground into a region of marshes and lagoons , which he crossed with difficulty , arriving about an hour before noon at a considerable river , one that would require swimming unless he found a ford somewhere near . He was very weary from the journey through the marsh and , sitting on a log , he scraped from his clothes a portion of the mud they had accumulated on the way . He was a good swimmer , but he had his arms and ammunition to keep dry , and he did not wish to trust himself afloat on the deep current . Wading would be far better , and , when his strength was restored , he walked up the bank in search of a shallower place .