EXPLORATION OF THE PRAIRIES, 1879 141 



open meadows and copses of poplar, and over the whole country 

 was an immensity of flowers. We had never seen or thought of 

 such a country as the one we were passing through. My company 

 were in the finest spirits, and I discovered that the four boys were 

 first class men and capable and willing to do anything that was 

 required of them. We soon passed Last Mountain on our left 

 and, after a number of days, we reached Long Lake, our first 

 objective. 



At Long Lake, we found ourselves eight miles out of our 

 reckoning, as the head of the Lake was still eight miles off. The 

 country we had passed through may be summed up in a few words 

 taken from my note-book: 



"To the east of the head of the Lake lay rich country which 

 produced enormous mushrooms and various flowers and this 

 caused me to call this region "The Flower Garden of the North 

 West." While crossing the plain, before we reached the Lake, 

 we found mushrooms by the cartload and used them every day 

 while travelling at least two hundred miles in a westerly direction. 

 From the reports of other travellers and my own observations, I 

 am led to believe that, on the whole prairie, an abundance of 

 mushrooms will be obtained after a rainfall during the summer. 

 One species of Lycoperdwn (puff-ball) was seen that grew to a 

 very large size and numerous others were noticed during the whole 

 season, scattered over the plain in great profusion." 



The following notes from my journal will illustrate the flora 

 in the vicinity of Long Lake as seen in the first week of July, 1879. 

 "Flowers are a most conspicuous feature of the prairie. Hedy- 

 sarum and various Astragali vieing with the lily and vetch in 

 loveliness and luxuriance. Often, whole acres would be red and 

 purple with beautiful flowers and the air laden with the perfume 

 of roses. Sometimes, lilies (Lilium philadelphicum) are so abun- 

 dant that they cover an acre of ground, bright red. At others, 

 they are mixed with other liliaceous plants, such as Zygadenus 

 glaucus, and form a ring around the thickets which we passed. 

 Another time, we come upon a pool of fine, pure water and in it 

 grows Carex aristata, which the horses love so well. Around it, 

 where the water is nearly gone, are Carex marcida and lanuginosa; 



