262 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



described it as it presents itself a few miles south, of the 

 49 th parallel : " After a hot and fatiguing ride over the 

 plains, we arrived an hour after sunset at the foot of the 

 Pembina Mountain. In the twilight as we stood at our 

 encampment on the plain, it looked as if it might be three 

 hundred feet or more in height ; but in the morning, by 

 broad daylight, it seemed less. When I came to measure 

 it, I was somewhat surprised that it did not exceed 210 

 feet. I observed on this as on many other occasions that 

 a hill rising out of a level plain, appears higher than it 

 really is, especially when, as in this case, the trees on its 

 flank and summit are of small growth. Pembina Moun- 

 tain is in fact, no mountain at all, nor yet a hill. It is a 

 terrace of table-land, the ancient shore of a great body of 

 water, that once filled the whole of the Eed Eiver valley. 

 On its summit it is quite level and extends so, for about 

 five miles westward, to another terrace, the summit of 

 which I was told is level with the great Buffalo Plains, 

 that stretch away towards the Missouri, the hunting 

 grounds of the Sioux and the half-breed population of 

 Eed Eiver. 



Instead of being composed of ledges of rock, as I was 

 led to suppose, it is a mass of incoherent sand, gravel, and 

 shingle so entirely destitute of cement, that with the hand 

 alone a hole several feet deep may be excavated in a few 

 minutes. The Pembina Eiver has cut through this 

 material a deep, narrow valley, but little elevated above 

 the adjacent plain. Along its banks are precipices of 

 sand, surmounted by gravel and a few boulders. I was 

 told that it was impossible to ascend these banks. So 

 loose is the deposit, that, no sooner is an ascent attempted, 

 than the stones fifty or a hundred feet above, are detached, 

 and come tumbling down at such an alarming rate that 

 the climber is glad to make his escape."* 



