58 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



of devils, and that the grizzly bear was not unfrequently 

 met with, so that no persuasion could induce him to 

 follow the track unless a half-breed accompanied him. 

 The sky and air became quite free from clouds and mist 

 before 10 a. m., permitting us to take bearings of different 

 prominent points. After measuring a number of trees in 

 the neighbourhood of our camp, we commenced to re- 

 trace our steps at noon. Our course was a little to the 

 left of our track on the preceding day ; and the following 

 estimate of the ascents, descents, and distances were 

 noted as carefully as circumstances would permit. 



The first descent from the summit is about 250 feet 

 deep, and very precipitous ; where the snow had not 

 lodged, boulders w T ere seen reposing on unstratified clay 

 and gravel. A narrow gully is then crossed, and an ascent 

 of forty feet made to a terrace sloping towards the east ; 

 on this terrace are the conical hills before alluded to. 

 The descent continues for a further depth of 150 feet in 

 a distance of half a mile ; this brought us to the edge of 

 a ravine seventy feet deep. At the bottom flows a small 

 stream over gravel and boulders. A rise of thirty feet 

 led us to the top of the opposite bank, along which we 

 traveled until we came to its termination at the beginning 

 of a second terrace about eighty feet below us. This 

 narrow table land is consequently about 480 feet below 

 the summit, and on it we found the second range of conical 

 hills. A gradual descent for a quarter of a mile lowered 

 us thirty feet ; we then ascended a bank about twenty 

 feet high, and found ourselves on the edge of a precipitous 

 descent, 150 feet deep, which brought us to the third 

 terrace, and to the edge of a ravine seventy feet deep. 

 On the sides of the ravine, and far above it, exposures of 

 Cretaceous rocks were seen ; the highest spot where the 

 rock was observed in position, is probably between 400 



