SOURCE OF ST. PETEr's RIVER. 63 



of a tiiick growth of willow, next to which comes cotton- 

 woed, and higher on the bank, aspen, bass, elm, oak, 

 &c. 



At about seventy miles from Pembina, while we stopped 

 for breakfast, we were informed that there was a salt 

 spring in the vicinity ; to this we immediately repaired ; 

 we found it to be in the bed of a brook, called Saline ri- 

 ver ; the brook was dry at the time ; there was a stagnant 

 pool of water, which contained probably about five per 

 cent, of salt; the spring which supplies this pool must be 

 a very large one. We were informed that this spring, 

 which was worked during one season, had been abandon- 

 ed, being considered the weakest in the country. We ob- 

 served, with some surprise, the Salicornia herbacea grow- 

 ing very abundantly around it. We brought home specimens 

 of it. Mr. Schweinitz states, on the autliority of Mr. Nut- 

 lall, that this is the only inland locality of this plant, be- 

 sides the Onondago salt springs in the State of New York, 

 vide Appendix 1, Botany. At this place Lieut. Scott saw 

 an antelope, (Antilocapra Americana, Ord,) but did not 

 succeed in killing it. A singular fact respecting this ante- 

 lope was that it approached very near to Mr. Say, with- 

 out evincing the least appi'ehension ; unfortunately he was 

 at that time so intent upon the collecting of insects, that 

 he was not even aware of its presence. This animal is not 

 abundant here ; we occasionally saw tracks of it, as well as 

 of the elk and bear, on the soft mud near the river bank, 

 but the most frequent tracks were those of the wolf. Mr. 

 Say killed here a Muscicapa ruticilla and Totanus flavipes. 

 But the most abundant game we saw were ducks and pi- 

 geons, of which we might have killed many, had we been 

 able to spare the time ; our sportsmen, however, occasion- 

 ally fired at them and were generally very successful. In 



