144 EED RIVEE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



sence of several bands of Sioux Indians on the trail of the 

 buffalo hunters, who were then coming in from the Great 

 Prairies, after their summer hunt. The Sioux had suc- 

 ceeded in driving off ten horses from the tail of the cara- 

 van, about half a day's journey from Prairie Portage the 

 night preceding my arrival there ; and this incident led 

 John Spence and others to decline going with me, unless 

 the number of the party amounted to ten in all. So large 

 an addition I found it impossible to procure at Prairie 

 Portage, and after my return to the settlements, the time 

 at my disposal was too short to admit of the exploration. 

 In carefully searching the recent mud-flats of the Assin- 

 niboine at, and a little above Prairie Portage, I found 

 numerous small fragments of lignite, from which it might 

 be inferred that an exposure of the parent rock was situ- 

 ated some distance up the river ; but beyond this and the 

 reiterated statements of many who had descended the 

 stream in a batteau, I found no proof of the existence of 

 lignite in available quantities. 



In the settlements on Bed Eiver and the Assinniboine, 

 small specimens of lignite were frequently shown to me 

 by different people, who stated that they procured them 

 from the crossing-place on the Little Souris ; and an Indian 

 had a bag containing about half a bushel of the same mate- 

 rial, together with specimens of silver mica, carefully trea- 

 sured up in many folds of dressed buffalo skin. Many intel- 

 ligent people in the settlements appeared to be much im- 

 pressed with the importance of ascertaining the true nature 

 and extent of the lignite beds on the Little Souris. The 

 great scarcity of wood in the prairie country, and all 

 through the valleys of Eed Eiver and the Assinniboine, 

 making the question of a permanently increasing settle- 

 ment in a measure dependent upon the supply of fuel 

 which may be obtained from other sources than those 



