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Show BIO BLUB- TEADER'S GRAVH. 21 the names of hundreds of emigrants who had preceded us, the dates of their passing, the state of their health and spirits, together with an occasional message for their friends who were expected to follow. Such a record, in the midst of a wide solitude like this, could not but make a strong and cheering impression on every new- comer, who thus suddenly found himself, as it were, in the midst of a great company of friends and fellow- travellers. On the left bank was the freshly- made grave of a French trader, whose name was well known to most of our voyageurs. It was heaped up with earth and covered longitudinally with heavy split logs, placed there to prevent the depredations of the wolves; the whole being surmounted by a wooden cross, with the name of the deceased and the usual significant abbreviation, IHS, carved rudely upon it. We had passed six graves already during the day. Melancholy accompaniments they are of a road silent and solitary at best, and ill calculated to cheer the weary, drooping wayfarers. Our encampment was pleasantly situated under the spreading branches of some large oaks, with a spring of pure, cold water near at hand- the latter an item which we soon afterward learned to value beyond all price. Just above us was a wagon with a small party of emigrants. They had lost most of their cattle on the journey; and the father of three of them having died on the road, they, in conformity with his dying wishes, were now on their return to the settlements. A short distance beyond these, we found another small company, who had been encamped here for twelve days on account of the illness of one of their comrades. They also were on their return. Had we been going out on a private enterprise, discouragements were not wanting as well from the dead as the living. Since crossing the Vermilion, the character of the country has changed from that of a high and rolling prairie to a comparatively fiat and elevated plateau, with the drains much broader and not so depressed as heretofore. The soil is much deeper, the trees larger and more numerous, and the water cooler and more abundant. White sandstone, light- coloured shales, some flints, and a few fossils, were passed during the day. At the crossing of a small branch, about two miles before reaching the Big Blue, the rock exhibited a section from north to south, nearly horizontal, with perhaps a slight dip to the south. It consisted of white limestone and strata of flint, with some imperfect fossils. The general surface of the rock is worn into escarpments in the shape of bastions. |