A horse's instinct. 57 



tlie shores of a small lake, wliere they awaited the 

 arrival of the carts, in order to camp. These soon came 

 up, the horses were taken out and hobbled, and whilst 

 the camp was being prepared, La Ronde walked down 

 to the lake to try and get a shot at what he supposed 

 were ducks on the water. He crept cautiously up, 

 but when he peeped through the bushes which fringed 

 the shore, he found to his astonishment that what he 

 took for ducks were prairie hens. The lake was dry, 

 and the saline incrustation in its bed had in the 

 twilight, at a little distance, the most complete ap- 

 pearance of water. Although it was nearly dark, 

 we had no choice but to harness up again, and go 

 forward until we did find water somewhere. La 

 E-onde and Cheadle were considerably chaffed for 

 the mistake they had made, and Milton galloped 

 off in search of a suitable camping ground. After 

 riding two or three miles, principally through thick 

 wood, without meeting with a sign of water, his 

 horse suddenly neighed and turned abruptly out of 

 the track into the bushes. The quacking of ducks 

 at a little distance induced his rider to dismount and 

 search, and there, sure enough, hidden amongst the 

 trees, was a fine sheet of w^ater. The instinct of the 

 horse saved us many miles' journey in the dark, for 

 we travelled far next morning before we found another 

 lake or stream. 



On the 25th of September we reached the south 

 branch of the Saskatchewan, here a stream of about 

 eighty yards wide, flowing in a valley cut deep in the 

 plain level, the sides of which are steep and wooded. 



