378 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



merable. Kingfishers, blue jays, and Canada jays, cat- 

 birds, and American magpies, flitted from tree to tree 

 uttering their discordant notes. Cherry-birds and pigeons 

 were calmly and listlessly perched on the dense trees, 

 having eaten plentifully of their favourite fruits, while the 

 tyrant flycatcher, when alone or with some companions, 

 chased and worried the crows, ravens, hawks, and eagles, 

 who tried in vain to escape from them. The beautiful 

 white-bellied swallow swiftly skimming the surface of the 

 river, helped in addition to enliven the valley. Ducks 

 and geese crowded the river for several miles ; there 

 were enough of them, I should think, to supply all the 

 markets in Canada. Minks were perpetually crossing and 

 re-crossing the river in front of the canoe. I was told that 

 deer are sometimes very numerous in the valley, but I was 

 only fortunate enough to see two jumping deer who were 

 coming down to the river to drink, but the moment they 

 got a glimpse of us away they bounded up the slope. 

 The only other animal we saw was a little prairie wolf, 

 Togany, as he is called by the Indians, that was standing 

 by the edge of the river, and who was so much astonished 

 at our sudden appearance that he never thought of run- 

 ning away, but stood staring at us incapable of motion. 



The wonderful uniformity of the valley, or that part of 

 it which I have described, necessarily causes a great deal 

 of repetition in the description of it ; so similar is its 

 character throughout, that my two men, half-breeds, well 

 accustomed to mark any peculiarities in the features of a 

 country, said, that though they might pass up and down 

 it several times, they thought they would often be at a 

 loss to know in what part of it they were. The length of 

 the valley from the second Fishing Lakes to its junction 

 with the valley of the Assinniboine is 110 miles, while the 

 river itself is about 270 miles long, which will give an 



