358 EXPEDITION TO THE 



falls in from the left side. The Mea Wahkan is said to 

 take its rise near the head waters of Red river, with which 

 it interlocks. On Beaver rivulet, the bank, which was high 

 and steep, was found to consist of loose white sand. Near 

 this bank there were seven or eis^ht artificial tumuli, all 

 placed on a straight line except one, which was in advance 

 of the other. On the two largest, which were five feet high, 

 and thirty feet in diameter at the base, recent graves of a 

 kind now much used by the Indians, were observed. In 

 these the corpse is deposited in a very shallow excavation, 

 or more frequently upon the surface of the ground, and 

 stakes placed over it, forming a sort of a roof. These stakes 

 are very necessary to protect the remains of the dead 

 against the rapacity of wolves, who, if they were merely 

 interred, would dig them up. In this case, notwithstanding 

 the great strength of the stakes, the grave had been broken 

 open, and its contents scattered over the ground. The 

 wolves appear to be very abundant in these prairies. We 

 have frequently heard them barking in the night, and oc- 

 casionally seen them Two young wolves were seen near 

 Beaver rivulet, and easily caught by the soldiens, to whom 

 a reward was offered if they would carry them alive to 

 Mackinaw; but they both made their escape during the 

 night. In the dull monotony of a journey across the prairie, 

 destitute of interest, and uninterrupted by any incident, 

 the capture of these wolves created such a sensation in the 

 party, as will not be readily conceived by those, who have 

 not experienced how eagerly man seizes the first oppor- 

 tunity of being relieved from his own thoughts, when he 

 has been left to the uninterrupted exercise of them for a 

 certain length of time. 



We spent half a day in the vicinity of Lake qui parle ; 

 our tents were pitched on an eminence near the lower ex- 



