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Show 244 NORTH FORK- INDIAN FORTIFICATIONS. feet in height- the cliffs rising abruptly from the water's edge. The formation consists of horizontal strata of a soft, coarse, brown sandstone, overlaid by bituminous shales, above which are clay ajid earthy marl, the whole capped with a heavy stratum of Sandstone. The river in its present stage is one hundred and sixty feet wide and two feet deep; the bed consisting of gravel, rolled pebbles, and boulderp, among which a red feldspathic granite, gneiss, granite, quartz, and a very compact, firm- gtained, ferruginous limestone are the most prevalent. The cotton- woods round our camp are the first trees, worthy of the name, that have greeted our eyes for more than a year. " They seemed to us like old friends, and, as they Waved in the fresh breeze over our heads, reminded us of those beloved woodlands from which we have been so long separated. Oh! with what longing desire had we looked forward to such a sight; while our souls, sick of rolling prairies, barren plains, bald and rocky ridges, muddy flats, and sandy wastes, sought in vain for the forest shade and those hills of living verdure which give the charm to every landscape. Day after day, week after week, had we journeyed over that desolate basin, without a tree to be seen in the whole horizon. But now the rustling sound of embowering leaves assured us that we had once more reached a spot fitted by nature for the habitation of man. * * ' # The place we now occupy has long been a favourite camp- ground for the numerous war- parties which annually meet in this region to hunt buffalo and one another. Remains of old Indian stockades are met with scattered about among the' thickets; and the guide informed us, that four years since there were at one and the same time, upon this one bottom, fifteen or twenty of these forts, constructed by different tribes. Most of them have since been destroyed by fire. As this was the season of the year When we might expect'to find them'upon their expeditions, we were on the quivive, lest we should be surprised. Arms were inspeeted and put in order and a vigilant guard kept during the night. It Bad been intended to reach this camp by ten in the morning, so as to rate the chronometers and take lunar observations for the longitude. We arrived, however, barely in time to obtain a meridional observation, which gave our latitude 41° 32' 49'\ 2. Computed lobgitude, 107° 6' 11". • One of; the pack- mules, having for his burden all the flour belonging to the officers' mess, had, by some oversight, been left |
