On the Physical Character of Rupert District. 351 



stone lie irregular beds of sand and clay of a yellowish 

 colour, and on the surface a deep black mould, which, when 

 cultivated, forms a rich and fertile soil. These upper beds 

 contain no fossiliferous remains ; on the surface are scattered 

 a few granitic boulders, but none are found imbedded in the 

 drift clay. At Beaver Creek and Pipestone Creek the clay 

 drift is deeply cut through in the former to a depth of 

 200 feet ; there are here slaty boulder stones, called Pipe- 

 stones, and some large bones are reported to have been found, 

 probably of cetacean animals. The flora of the district is 

 rich and interesting, and from the collection of dried speci- 

 mens exhibited, many of the families and some of the species 

 common to Scotland may be recognised, as the ranunculus, 

 violet, strawberry. 



The buffalo, now becoming scarce in most parts of the 

 continent, here exists in large herds, and a spirited drawing 

 of one of these herds extending in dark lines and groups in 

 the distance, with two bulls in front, gives a good idea of 

 the vast multitudes of these animals which congregate in 

 those extensive grazing plains. 



" My sketch/' says Major Seton, " is intended to repre- 

 sent a scene w T hich / saw on 8th August 1858, in lat. 50° 

 north, long. 104° west. But even to myself my sketch does 

 not convey any idea of the numbers of bison presented to 

 view on that occasion, for we looked down upon them more 

 than in my sketch. On the 7th, as we journeyed along, we 

 came to a few stray outlying bulls, scattered here and there 

 miles apart, in the vast plains. These became more nume- 

 rous, and might be seen on the low wooded ridges in twos 

 and threes, and later on in the day we came to a small 

 a band" of bisons, consisting of seven cows and a good many 

 bulls. These we " ran," killing all the cows and a good 

 many of the bulls, and one calf; for such is the practice of 

 the half-bred hunters that they kill all they can. At this 

 season the bulls and calf are of no use. Ere the tents were 

 pitched and the meat cut and brought to camp, night 

 had set in. Next morning we rode to the summit of a 

 slight ridge, about three miles from the camp, and there saw 

 what I have endeavoured to represent in the sketch. Com- 



