60 HIS FIRST JOURNEY ACROSS THE PRAIRIES 



valley and among the sand hills near the stream to inspect the 

 flora and came back rewarded by finding half a dozen new species. 



For the next few days we were passing through a very fine 

 country and still we felt that there were no signs of the want of 

 fertility. All the land was good. After passing through the little 

 Touchwood Hills and the greater Touchwood Hills, which are not 

 hills at all but merely a succession of beautiful little lakes and 

 forests of poplar that had been kept from fires by the lakes, we 

 shortly came to the widest expanse of prairie we had yet seen. 

 Away to the west and south it extended without a break as far as 

 we could see. Before descending to the plain, the half-breeds, on 

 horse-back, rode into the thickets and pulled down some small 

 poplar trees that were there, put them on their shoulders and rode 

 to our camping place out on the prairie. 



The day after we crossed the Touchwood Hills, when out on 

 the prairie south of Quill Lake, we saw two white cranes, on a 

 ridge, that looked to me like two ostriches, they stood so high. 

 Willie, the boy that got our horses and Frank Fleming, immediate- 

 ly started out to catch the cranes. Frank carried a gun and Willie 

 carried a lariat. I, being at the rear of the train, had a good look 

 at the pursuit. As they galloped towards the cranes, the cranes 

 ran for their lives along the ridge and, as the boys approached the 

 ridge, one of the cranes took to flight and the other one, which 

 may have been a young one and unable to fly, ran like a race 

 horse. Willie went after it and eventually ran up close enough to 

 throw his lariat around its head and brought it to the ground. 

 The old one returned and seemed to attack Willie, but was beaten 

 off by Frank Fleming. In a few moments, Willie came riding past 

 him with the crane over his shoulder and, at the camp fire, it was 

 cleaned and got ready to eat at our first camping place. In ex- 

 tent its wings were at least six feet; a most excellent specimen. 

 The flesh tasted very good, but was of a dark color. 



Day followed day and, on the fifteenth of August, we arrived 

 at the South Saskatchewan. At this time there was no established 

 ferry. W r hen travellers came to the shore, if the boat were on 

 the far side, they would send over a man on horseback, and if 

 the boat were on their side they just took it over and left it when 



