28 
ANNALS OF THB 
the fire, and, spreading the robes and blankets beneath it, we rolled ourselves in 
them, feet to the fire, and soon fell into a sleep, the soundness of which was in pro- 
portion to the fatigues of the day, the softness of the ground beneath, and the mus- 
ical powers of the wolves, who occasionally gave us a serenade. 
We left the settlement on the 16th October, the long Indian summer, as it is 
called, having just then commenced. Crossing the Assiniboine River at Fort Garry, 
we followed the river up on the west side till we arrived at Pembina, a small settle- 
ment immediately on the American side of the boundary line. The country here, 
like that at the settlement and between, is a perfectly flat treeless plain and well 
adapted for agriculture, the only drawback being ihe scarcity of wood, which is 
only found in narrow strips on the banks of the river, and already most of it has 
been used for fuel. 
Crossing the Red River here, we travelled through a low, swampy country, 
dotted with small groves of aspen, and, along the banks of small streams, scrubby 
oaks. Here we began to find game in great abundance, prairie chicken, ducks, and 
the little ground squirrel, and occasionally fox, badger, elk, and the little prairie 
wolf, which generally annoyed us a good deal at night. In this part of the journey 
the rivers were very bad to cross, being deep, and the bottoms of soft mud, into 
which the horses would stick till assisted out. This continued for about fifty miles, 
till, arriving at Snake Hill River, we found the river bed sandy, and the land high 
and dry, consisting of long, narrow, sandy ridges, bordered on each side by marsh. 
These ridges, a singular feature in that part of the route, were generally only a few 
hundred yards wide, and extended five or ten miles, almost invariably in a north 
and south direction. 
At Sand Hill, the next river, we found the country, though still sandy, very 
hilly and very bare of vegetation of all kinds. This gradually merged into a level 
prairie again, with abundant vegetation. The next river, and the largest was Red 
Lake River. This was crossed with a great deal of difficulty, on account of the ra- 
pidity of the current and the narrow width of the sand bar which formed the ford. 
However, by putting extra weight on the cart, to prevent it being swept ojBT the 
bar, and both of us holding the horses' heads against the current, we finally got over. 
But here a change awaited us. After passing through the strip of oak, ash, and 
tamarack, that fills the wide bottoms of this river, and obtaining a view of the 
open country, as far as the eye could reach nothing could be seen but a scorched 
and blackened mass. The fire left by some careless hanter had spread and burned 
everything. This was a serious thing to us, as we knew that the fire had extended 
till stopped by the next river. However, after holding a council, we determined 
to push on that day, in hopes of getting grass before night. Night came, and no 
grass, and at ten o'clock the horses began to show signs of giving out, so we camped 
where the fire had spared a few rushes. 
