On the supposed Welch-Indians. 83 



saw neither beast nor bird, and, though there was an 

 abundance of salt-springs, fresh water was very- 

 scarce. In one of these prairies, the salt-springs ran 

 into small ponds, in which, as the weather was hot, 

 the water had sunk, and left the edges of the ponds 

 so covered with salt, that they fully supplied them- 

 selves with that article, and might easily have collected 

 bushels of it. As they were travelling through the 

 prairies, they had likewise the good fortune to kill an 

 animal, which was nine or ten feet high, and a bulk 

 proportioned to its heighth. They had seen two of 

 the same species before, and they saw four of them 

 afterwards. They were swift footed, and they had 

 neither tusks nor horns. After having passed through 

 the long prairie, they made it a rule never to enter on 

 one which they could not see across, till they had 

 supplied themselves with a sufficiency of jerked veni- 

 son, to last several days. 



After having travelled a considerable time through 

 the prairies, they came to very extensive lead-mines, 

 where they melted the ore, and furnished themselves 

 with what lead they wanted. They afterwards came 

 to two copper- mines, one of which was three miles 

 through ; and, in several places, they met with rocks 

 of copper-ore, as large as houses. 



When about fifteen days' journey from the second 

 copper-mine, they came in sight of white mountains, 

 which, though it was in the heat of summer, appeared, 

 to them to be covered with snow. The sight natu- 

 rally excited considerable astonishment; but, on their 



