CHAPTER VII 



THE BUFFALO HUNT 



We left camp on Salt River at 7.45 in the morning 

 and travelled till 11 o'clock, covering six miles. It 

 was all through the same level country, in which wil- 

 low swamps alternated with poplar and spruce ridges. 

 At 11 it began to rain, so we camped on a slope under 

 some fine, big white spruces till it cleared, and then con- 

 tinued westward. The country now undulated some- 

 what and was varied with openings. 



Sousi says that when first he saw this region, 30 

 years ago, it was all open prairie, with timber only in 

 hollows and about water. This is borne out by the 

 facts that all the large trees are in such places, and 

 that all the level open stretches are covered with sap- 

 ling growths of aspen and fir. This will make a 

 glorious settlement some day. In plants, trees, birds, 

 soil, climate, and apparently all conditions, it is like 

 Manitoba. 



We found the skeleton of a cow Buffalo, apparently 

 devoured by Wolves years ago, because all the big 

 bones were there and the skull unbroken. 



About two in the afternoon we came up a 200-foot 

 rise to a beautiful upland country, in which the forests 

 were diversified with open glades, and which every- 

 where showed a most singular feature. The ground is 



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