THE GRAND FORKS. 



331 



tonous valley, as the air from the marshes on either side 

 of the river was fetid and oppressive. A scramble to the 

 summit of the steep hill bank, 300 feet high, though very 

 fatiguing, was amply repaid by the cool, pure and de- 

 lightful breeze blowing over the desolate prairies around 

 us. Eoses of three different varieties, red, white, and 

 variegated, were numerous on the upland ; and in the 

 morning, when the dew was on them, or at night, when 

 it was falling, the fresh air from above came down in 

 puffs into our deep, hot valley with delicious and in- 

 vigorating fragrance. On the fourth day after our 

 departure from the lakes we sighted the Grand Forks ; 

 leaving the canoe, I hastened on to a point where the men 

 with the carts and horses were to await our arrival, and 

 found them safely encamped on a beautiful meadow, 

 anxiously looking for us. An empty cart and a couple of 

 horses were despatched for the canoe, still some miles 

 below us, and in the evening we were joined by Mr. 

 Fleming and the two voyageurs. 



During the day the temperature of the River was found 

 to be 74°. At the mouth of a dry bed of a stream which 

 we called Maple Creek, some very old trees of the ash- 

 leaved species were observed. Many of them showed 

 marks where they had been tapped. The willows which 

 fringed the banks of the Qu'appelle were barked by ice 

 eight feet above the surface of the water. Numerous 

 buffalo tracks began to appear before we reached the 

 Forks, and where these animals had crossed the river, 

 they had cut deep roads to the water's edge, and lanes 

 through the willow bushes. The bones of many a young 

 bull and cow were seen sticking out of the banks where 

 they had been mired. 



The tortuous character of the stream before we took 

 the canoe out of the water, may be imagined from the 



