78 



THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



Uva-ursi 



saw on the Beaulieu trip. They are wet now, though 

 a horse can go anywhere, and the grass is good. We 

 camped about six on a dry place back from the river. 

 At night I was much interested to hear at intervals the 



familiar Kick-kick- 

 kick-kick of the Yel- 

 low Rail in the ad- 

 joining swamps. This 

 must be its northmost 

 range; we did not 

 actually see it. 

 Here I caught a garter-snake. Preble says it is the 

 same form as that at Edmonton. Our guide was as 

 much surprised to see me take it in my hands, as he 

 was to see me let it go unharmed. 



Next morning, after a short hour's travel, we came 

 again to Salt River and proceeded to cross. Evi- 

 dently Squirrel had selected the wrong place, for the 

 sticky mud seemed bottomless, and we came near los- 

 ing two of the horses. 



After two hours we all got across and went on, but 

 most of the horses had 

 shown up poorly, as spirit- 

 less creatures, not yet re- 

 covered from the effects Linnaea 

 of a hard winter. 



Our road now lay over the high upland of the Salt 

 Mountain, among its dry and beautiful woods. The 

 trip would have been glorious but for the awful things 

 that I am not allowed to mention outside of Chap- 

 ter IX. 



