20 

 prairie travel always to encani|) at the fui'ther side of the 

 stream, that the morning's start may be made with dry clothes 

 and fresh horses ; and while Blackie and Bichon are recruit- 

 ing their energies on the rich grass of ungrazed savannah 

 land, let me give a brief account of the character of this old 

 trail from Pembina to Crow Wing. The low savannah coun- 

 try dotted with willow bluffs, such as I have mentioned, and 

 which is drained by the two rivers, extends from Pembina to 

 the Tamarac River crossing, about thirty-five miles from Pem- 

 bina ; and the traveller, after fording this, the Middle and 

 Snake Hill rivers, all branches of one stream, enters upon a 

 country of fine gravel ridges, running in the main north and 

 south, with a growth of aspen willow and bal^^am poplar 

 tlankino' them, the delicate catkins, buds and leaves of which in 

 the early s|)ring make them look like a long avenue where the 

 landscape gardener has been at work. This extends nearly all 

 the long way from the Snake Hill to the Sand Hill River, 

 where the old gravel rido'es of former lakes trend off" too much 

 to the east, and the trail crosses a high dry prairie which is 

 fairly good for travel, but yet is unlike the voyageur's para- 

 dise I have just described, and I may as well explain why. 

 The three essentials of prairie travel are wood, water and 

 grass ; and the swamp-tianked, tree-bordered ridges I have de- 

 scribed furnished these in their perfection. Ducks and prai- 

 rie chicken constantly flj'ing up, good encanipments anywhere 

 to right or left of track, safety from prairie fires, which can- 

 not run in such a country, and the best of pasturage till the 

 snow falls, for the ponies; while on the other hand the dry level 

 prairie affords no safety from the mad rush of the fierce fires 

 its now dried herbage, save the objectionable one of starting 

 anothei- to your leeward ; there are long stretches between 

 watering places, wood only on river banks, and no shelter 

 from any preliminary canter which old Boreas may choose to 

 take before he settles down to his winter's pace ; and as it 

 was the 18th of October before we started on our journey, the 

 beautiful Indian sunnner might or might not last us through 

 our trip. 



