284 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



given to a wooded district about thirty miles long, by the 

 buffalo hunters in 1852, who, in consequence of the floods 

 of that year, could not pass to their crossing place at the 

 Grand Eapids of the Assinniboine by the Plain or Prairie 

 Eoad. There were four hundred carts in the band, and the 

 hunters were compelled to cut a road through the forest 

 of small aspens which forms the Bad Woods, to enable 

 them to reach the high prairies. This labour occupied 

 them several days, and will be long remembered in the 

 settlements in consequence of the misery entailed by the 

 delay on the children and women. 



The trail continued for three miles through a continua- 

 tion of the low prairies of the Assinniboine, when a sudden 

 ascent of 20 to 25 feet introduced us to a different kind 

 of country, the plateau beyond the Big Eidge, which here 

 crosses the river, and forms the lowest or first step of the 

 Pembina Mountain. The physical features of this boun- 

 dary to a great table-land will be noticed at length in the 

 sequel. The soil continues poor and sandy for several 

 miles, supporting clumps of aspen interspersed with a few 

 oaks in low places. The view across the Assinniboine 

 reveals in the distance the Blue Hills, and between them 

 and the river is a vast forest, which a subsequent explo- 

 ration in the autumn showed to consist of oak, elm, ash 

 and aspens, for two to three miles nearest to the Assinni-. 

 boine ; but beyond this limit the forest is almost entirely 

 composed of aspens of small growth. 



Grasshoppers were now seen in great numbers, and the 

 first humming-bird was noticed here. The banks of the 

 river showed recent watermarks twelve feet above its 

 present level, willow and other trees overhanging the 

 stream being barked by the action of ice during spring 

 freshets at that elevation. Everywhere rabbits were nu- 

 merous, and considerable areas occur covered with dead 



