244 NORTH FORK — INDIAN FORTIFICATIONS. 



feet in height — the cliffs rising abruptly from the water's edge. 

 The formation consists of horizontal strata of a soft, coarse, brown 

 sandstone, overlaid bj bituminous shales, above which are clay and 

 earthy marl, the whole capped with a heavy stratum of sandstone. 

 The river in its present stage is one hundred and sixty feet wide 

 and two feet deep ; the bed consisting of gravel, rolled pebbles, and 

 boulders, among which a red feldspathic granite, gneiss, granite, 

 quartz, and a very compact, firm-grained, ferruginous limestone are 

 the most prevalent. 



The cotton-woods round our camp are the first trees, worthy of 

 the name, that have greeted our eyes for more than a year. They 

 seemed to us like old friends, and, as they waved in the fresh breeze 

 over our heads, reminded us of those beloved woodlands from which 

 we have been so long separated. Oh ! with what longing desire 

 had we looked forward to such a sight ; while our souls, sick of 

 rolling prairies, barren plains, bald and rocky ridges, muddy flats, 

 and sandy wastes, sought in vain for the forest shade and those 

 hills of living verdure which give the charm to every landscape. 

 Day after day, week after week, had we journeyed over that deso- 

 late basin, without a tree to be seen in the whole horizon. But now 

 the rustling sound of embowering leaves assured us that we had 

 once more reached a spot fitted by nature for the habitation of 

 man. 



The place we now occupy has long been a favourite camp-ground 

 for the numerous war-parties which annually meet in this region to 

 hunt buffalo and one another. Remains of old Indian stockades are 

 met with scattered about among the thickets ; and the guide in- 

 formed us, that four years since there were at one and the same 

 time, upon this one bottom, fifteen or twenty of these forts, con- 

 structed by different tribes. Most of them have since been de- 

 stroyed by fire. As this was the season of the year when we might 

 expect to find them upon their expeditions, we were on the qui vive, 

 lest we should be surprised. Arms were inspected and put in 

 order and a vigilant guard kept during the night. 



It had been intended to reach this camp by ten in the morning, 

 so as to rate the chronometers and take lunar observations for the 

 longitude. We arrived, however, barely in time to obtain a me- 

 ridional observation, which gave our latitude 41° 32' 49''. 2. Com- 

 puted longitude, 107° 6' 11". 



One of the pack-mules, having for his burden all the flour be- 

 longing to the officers' mess, had, by some oversight, been left 



