I 
314 TRAVELS THROUGH UFPEfe CANADA * 
These plains are covered with long coarse 
grass, which, at a future day, will probably 
afford feeding to numerous herds of cattle; 
at present they are totally unfrequented. 
Throughout the north-western territory of the 
States, and even bevond the head waters of the 
Mississippi, the country is interspersed with 
similar plains; and the farther you proceed 
to the westward, the more extensive in general 
are they. Amidst those to the westward are 
found numerous herds of buffaloes, elks, and 
other wild graminivorous animals; and for¬ 
merly animals of the same description were 
found on these plains in the state of New 
York, but they have all disappeared long since, 
owing to their having been so constantly pur¬ 
sued both by the Indians and white people. 
Very different opinions have been enter¬ 
tained respecting the deficiency of trees on 
these extensive tracts of land, in the midst of a 
\ 
country that abounds so generally with wood. 
Some have attributed it to the poverty of the 
soil; whilst others have maintained, that the 
plains were formerly covered with trees, as 
w ell as other parts of the country, but that the 
trees have either been destroyed by fire, or by 
buffaloes, beavers, and other animals. 
It is well known that buffaloes, in all those 
parts of the country where they are found wild, 
commit great depredations amongst the trees. 
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