342 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



about three miles from the last Cree tent. The chief of 

 the band, an old man, accompanied us for some distance, 

 expressing very amicable sentiments, and hinting that it 

 would be as well to keep a watch over our horses during 

 the night, for there were some young scamps among his 

 band who would think it an honour to steal a white man's 

 horse. Visitors came during the evening, and from their 

 actions we thought it advisable to keep watch and tether 

 the horses ; observing these precautions they retired at an 

 early hour after a friendly smoke. On the following 

 morning when looking for my hunting knife I was very 

 suspiciously reminded of the old chief's caution ; it flashed 

 upon me that the cunning fellow had himself secretly 

 abstracted the knife while pressing his friendly advice. 



At dawn we were en route again, and towards noon 

 approached the Sandy Hills, the valley continuing about 

 140 feet deep and maintaining its width. Two days 

 before our arrival the Indians had been running buffalo, 

 and many carcases of these animals were scattered over 

 the arid, treeless plain through which our route lay. 

 Several herds of buffalo were visible wending their way 

 in single file to the Grand Coteau de Missouri distinctly 

 looming south of the Qu'appelle valley. After travelling 

 through a dry, barren region, strewed with erratics, until 

 2 p.m., we arrived at the lake of the Sandy Hills, and on 

 the opposite side of the valley saw a number of tents, with 

 many horses feeding in the flats. When within a mile of 

 the lake a buffalo bull suddenly appeared upon the brow 

 of a little hill on our right. A finer sight of its kind 

 could hardly be imagined. The animal was in his prime 

 and a magnificent specimen of the buffalo. He gazed at 

 us through the long hair which hung over his eyes in 

 thick profusion, pawed the ground, tossed his head and 

 snorted with proud disdain. He was not more than fifty 



