PRAIRIE SCENERY. 25 



vertebra of the country the Rocky Mountains hill after 

 hill rises, overtopping each other ; again frowned down 

 upon by lofty mountains, beautiful in colouring, soft in 

 their distant outlines, and grand in their irregular and 

 picturesque shape. Moreover, between these hills, 

 almost impassable at first glance, through canons and 

 gulches you can thread your way, perhaps for many, many 

 miles, when, perchance, a beautiful meadow,* thousands of 

 acres in extent, opens before you, rich and bright in the 

 abundance of its grasses, while the slopes that gird these 

 retired retreats are covered with the densest and loveliest 

 of indigenous trees. Such spots as these are a naturalist's- 

 elysium, for game of every variety select them for retreats. 

 The buffalo cow comes to them frequently to calve ; th& 

 worn-out fierce-looking bull, over whose head so many 

 years have passed that he no longer has strength to keep 

 pace with the migratory herd, and struggle in its dense 

 phalanx for female favour or choice croppings of pasture, 

 retires to them to spend in abundance the winter of life ; 

 while the graceful deer, the timid hare, and the sagacious 

 beaver here pass their lives in peaceful, happy content- 

 ment, except some adventurous white man or snake- 

 visioned redskin should pay it a visit, destroying, as man 

 ever does, the serenity that reigned around previous to his 

 advent. 



But come, the morning has broken clear and invigo- 

 rating, breakfast has already been discussod, and the horses 

 have got a rough rub over. The neigbourhood is well 



* In America termed park. 



