met not a single Indian, and no vestige of human habitation greeted the eye. But ever and anon we distinguished small artificial mounds, erected by the hand of man; irregular heaps of stones, and tombs containing the mortal remains of Indians, carefully wrapped in buffalo robes. At times a solitary post marked the spot where some brave had fallen in the field of battle-where reposed, perhaps, some ancient Nestor of the desert. These monuments, though with no epitaph to attest lofty deeds or transmit names to posterity, are a tribute of a feeling heart - a mute testimony of the respect the Indian bears to the memory of a father or a friend, and of the value he attaches to the glory of his ancestors. Some herds of bison and dense flocks of deer, of several species, that fled at our approach, alone beguiled the tedium of the march.
It is customary to encamp in places where the grass is fresh, which is generally on the border of a stream or pond of clear water. Care must also be taken for the safety of
the horses during the night. To prevent all accident, they are hobbled - en farge, as the Canadian voyagers say - that is, the two fore-legs are tied together, so as to prevent
their straying too far from the camp. Two or three men remain on guard against any surprise from the Indians, too justly renowned as the most expert of horse-thieves. These sentinels also protect us against the bears and wolves which infest the wilderness, and incessantly prowl in the
neighborhood of camps. Horses, on perceiving them, take fright and fly, unless the necessary precautions have been taken, and it sometimes happens that the most careful meas ures prove futile. Thus we, one day, lost a superb stallion
of great value. Every evening he was tied to a post, with a long and heavy halter, but in a fright. caused by the approach of wolves, he darted forward with such velocity after the other horses as they rushed by him, that on reaching the end of his halter he broke his neck.
In so long a march, through regions so singularly various, two great inconveniences are sometimes experienced -