304 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



breeds did not anticipate an attack until the approach of 

 dawn, but the sudden galloping towards the carts soon 

 after ten o'clock of several horses, who were feeding in 

 the valley about one hundred yards from us, proved that 

 Indians were near us. On hearing the horses approach, 

 the men started up and ran to stop them, which they suc- 

 ceeded in doing before they passed the carts. Each horse 

 was now tethered to a cart or stake, and the half-breeds 

 crawling through the long grass arranged themselves in a 

 half-circle about seventy yards from the carts, each with 

 his gun loaded with buckshot. The night was dark, and 

 perfect silence was maintained in the camp ; towards 

 morning one man came in to report : he stated that he 

 had heard " something " cross the river and crawl through 

 the grass within a few yards of him ; he waited a few 

 minutes for more to follow before he fired or gave the 

 alarm, and then cautiously crawled through the long grass 

 in track of the " something " which had passed near to 

 him. The track led him to within thirty yards of our 

 tents, and then turned towards the river, and evidently 

 crossed it. Morning soon dawned, and the watchers 

 came in ; we examined the tracks described by the half- 

 breed who had first heard the intruders, and they were 

 pronounced to be those of an Indian. Further examina- 

 tion in full daylight showed that we had been surrounded 

 by a band, who, however, perceiving we were on the 

 alert, and that the horses were tethered, made no attempt 

 to steal them. Had it not been for the old hunter's ex- 

 cellent nose, there is little doubt that we should have lost 

 our horses during the night. 



On the morning of the 4th, having loaded the carts 

 with wood and taken a supply of water from Eed 

 Deer's Head Eiver, which is here a rapid, clear stream, 

 twelve feet broad, we started on a nearly due north 



