" STANDING STONE." 



307 



the day, and on looking up through an excellent marine 

 glass, I could see them flying like scud at an immense 

 height. Had it not been for the thunderstorms which 

 daily refreshed and invigorated the herbage, it is probable 

 that our cattle would have suffered seriously from the 

 devastations of these insects. 



Pipestone Creek is 20 feet broad at our crossing-place, 

 with a swift current, and a depth of water varying from 

 1^ to 3 feet. The valley is narrow, but rich and beautiful 

 in comparison with the desolate prairie lying to the south. 

 Among the trees fringing its banks the ash-leaved maple 

 is most numerous, and the hop, together with the 

 frost grape, is abundant on the edge of the stream. On 

 the hills in its neighbourhood boulders are uniformly dis- 

 tributed, but on the highest a considerable number have 

 been collected together by the Assinniboine Indians, and 

 a rude monument erected in commemoration of a battle 

 fought at a remote period. 



The level character of the country disappears after 

 passing Pipestone Creek ; the prairie is either undulating 

 and sandy, or varied with low hills of drift, on which 

 boulders are scattered. On the evening of the 6 th we 

 camped at Boss Hill Creek, which flows into the Assinni- 

 boine through a broad valley among low hills and gentle 

 slopes. From a conical eminence near our camp, Boss 

 Hill, Standing Stone Mountain, and the woods fringing 

 Oak Lake are visible. 



The " Standing Stone " is probably the same familiar 

 object in these regions as mentioned by the Eev. John 

 West, who traveled during the winter of 1821 to Bran- 

 don House and the mouth of the Qu'appelle on a 

 missionary journey. Mr. West relates that he stopped to 

 breakfast at the Standing Stone, where the Indians had 

 deposited bits of tobacco, small pieces of cloth, and other 



