116 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



for the reception of these vegetables, about the middle of April, and 

 when Dr. Richardson visited this place on May 10th, the blade of 

 wheat looked strong and healthy. There were only five acres in 

 cultivation at the period of my visit. The prospect from the fort 

 must be pretty in summer, owing to the luxuriant verdure of this 

 fertile soil ; but in the uniform and cheerless garb of winter, it has 

 little to gratify the eye. 



Beyond the steep bank behind the house, commences the vast 

 plain, whose boundaries are but imperfectly known; it extends along 

 the south branch of the Saskatchawan, and towards the sources of 

 the Missouri, and Asseenaboine rivers, being interrupted through the 

 whole of this great space, by few hills, or even rising grounds. The 

 excellent pasturage furnishes food in abundance, to a variety of 

 grazing animals, of which the buffalo, red-deer, and a species of ante- 

 lope, are the most considerable. Their presence naturally attracts great 

 hordes of wolves, which are of two kinds, the large, and the small. 

 Many bears prowl about the banks of this river in summer ; of these 

 the grizzle bear is the most ferocious, and is held in dread both by 

 Indians and Europeans. The traveller, in crossing these plains, 

 not only suffers from the want of wood and water, but is also ex- 

 posed to hazard from his horse stumbling in the numerous badger- 

 holes. In many large districts, the only fuel is the dried dung of 

 the buffalo ; and when a thirsty traveller reaches a spring, he has 

 not unfrequently the mortification to find that it consists of salt 

 water. 



Carlton House, and La Montee, are provision-posts, an incon- 

 siderable quantity of furs being obtained at either of them. The 

 provisions are procured in the winter season from the Indians, in 

 the form of dried meat and fat, and when converted by mixture into 

 pemmican, furnish the principal support of the voyagers, in their 

 passages to and from the depots in the summer. A considerable 

 quantity of it is also kept for winter use, at most of the fur-posts, 



