THE LUMPY HILL OF THE WOODS. 



409 



minutes to pick the delicious fruit. I offered the Cree 

 guide a piece of tobacco for a tin cup full of raspberries, 

 he tried to win it, but after a short struggle with these 

 terrible insects he rushed from the hill side and buried 

 his face in the smoke of the fire we had lit in the hope 

 of expelling them from the neighbourhood of our camp ; 

 the horses became quite frantic under the attacks of 

 their tormentors, holding their heads over the smoke, and 

 crowding together in a vain endeavour to avoid the 

 clouds of insatiable insects which surrounded us. Both 

 man and beast passed a miserable, restless, and sleepless 

 night. 



The early part of the morning of the 12th was. spent 

 on the summit of the Lumpy Hill. A strong breeze 

 drove the mosquitoes away, and permitted me to enjoy 

 a quiet view of the country, which lay mapped about 400 

 feet below. After breakfast the trail, taking a direction 

 nearly due east, passed over a series of hills and through 

 intervening valleys, constituting a height of land. This 

 range may be from thirteen to fifteen miles from the South 

 Branch ; it appears to be a continuation of the Eye-brow 

 Hill range on the Qu'appelle, before described, receiving 

 in its easterly prolongation the name of the Birch Hills, 

 which limit the valley of the north Saskatchewan, as far 

 as the rear of Fort Pelly. As soon as we had passed the 

 crest of this range and entered a small prairie east of the 

 hills, a valley through the range became apparent to our 

 right. From lakes in this shallow depression water passes 

 during spring freshets, to the South Branch and also to 

 the North Branch by a tributary of Carrot Eiver. 



Grasshoppers were seen during the day flying to the 

 north-east. They are the first that have been observed since 

 leaving the Fishing Lakes on the Qu'appelle. The vege- 

 tation still continues luxuriant, lakes are numerous, aspen 



