348 ASSINNIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



prairie leading to the great valley, and traced it to its 

 junction with the main excavation, through a deep narrow 

 gully. 



The Eye-brow Hill range is about 150 feet above the 

 prairie, and forms the flank of a tableland stretching to 

 the Grand Coteau, of which it is the northern extension. 

 The recent tracks of buffalo were countless on the hill 

 sides, and in the distance several herds could be seen 

 feeding on the treeless plateau to the south. On the 

 flanks of the Grand Coteau the true prairies may be said 

 to terminate, and the plains to commence. It is doubtful 

 whether the term "Plain" is not now applicable to a large 

 portion of the country west and south of the Qu'appelle 

 Mission. The destruction of " woods " by fires has con- 

 verted into sterile areas an immense tract of country which 

 does not appear necessarily sterile from aridity, or poverty 

 of soil. 



The Plains and Prairies of America occupy regions dif- 

 fering widely from one another in physical characteristics. 

 The phraseology of the half-breeds tends to mislead a tra- 

 veler not familiar with the precise application of the 

 words they use. Such terms as " woods," " prairies," and 

 " plains " are illustrations of this apparent want of preci- 

 sion, which if employed without explanation in a written 

 narrative, would very probably cause considerable misap- 

 prehension, and lead to deductions wholly at variance 

 with fact.* A tract of country may be described as a 

 " wooded country," conveying the idea that timber covers 

 the surface and is capable of affording a supply of that in- 

 dispensable material for building purposes and fuel ; but 

 in Eupert's Land, west of the Low Lake Eegion, and south 

 of the 53rd parallel, the " woods " consist generally of 



* Vide Col. Emory's Remarks quoted in the Chapter on the Climate of 

 the Southern Part of Rupert's Land, Vol. II. 



