OF THE POLAR SEA. 1s 
Beyond the steep bank behind the house, com- 
mences the vast plain, whose boundaries are but 
imperfectly known; it extends along the south 
branch of the Saskatchawan, and towards the 
sources of the Missouri, and Asseenaboine Rivers, 
being interrupted through the whole of this great 
Space, by few hills, or even rising grounds. The 
excellent pasturage furnishes food in abundance, 
to a variety of grazing animals, of which the buf. 
falo, red-deer, and a Species of antelope, are the 
most considerable. Their presence naturally at- 
tracts great hordes of wolves, which are of ‘two 
kinds, the large, and the small. Many bears 
prowl about the banks of this river in summer ; 
of these the grizzle bear is the most ferocious, 
and is held in dread both by Indians and Euro- 
peans. The traveller, in crossing these plains, 
not only suffers from the want of wood and water, 
but is also exposed to hazard from his horse stum- 
bling in the numerous badger-foles. In many 
large districts, the only fuel is the dried dung of 
the buffalo; and when a thirsty traveller reaches 
a spring, he has not unfrequently the mortifica- 
tion to find that it consists of salt water. | 
Carlton House, and La Montée, are provision- 
Posts, an inconsiderable quantity of furs being 
obtained at either of them. The provisions are _ 
procured in the winter season from the Indians, 
