was covered with wild rose bushes, cactus, and artemisia of several varieties, and intersected with ravines which were exceedingly difficult to be crossed with baggage-wagons. The shores of this river relieve the eye with an occasional group of cottonwood, intermingled with plum, cherry and service-trees, which thrive here in undisturbed plenty.
The Little Wolf Mountains, whose rivulets give rise to the Rosebud river, have in general a charming appearance in their hills and acclivities - and in their combined aspect as a whole chain. The absence of water, especially of springwater, is a painful privation to travelers in this season of the year. We found, indeed, some holes of stagnant water in the dry beds of the rivers, but the taste is almost insupportable. The buffalo herds are less numerous here than in the lands lying farther north, owing no doubt to bands of warriors that roam over the space. Yet we perceived at every moment large troops of elk, and a great many deer and mountain sheep. We remarked recent traces of endmies - such as the slain carcasses of very dangerous wild animals, the impress of human feet in the sand, concealed encampments and half-quenched fires. Consequently we redoubled our vigilance, in order to avoid a perilous surprise. A beautiful chief's coat of scarlet cloth, trimmed with gold lace, suspended from the branch of a tree, was perceived waving in the air like a floating banner. There was a race to win the prize; an Assiniboin having carried it off, it was most carefully scrutinized. The conclusion was that it had been offered only the day before by some Blackfoot chief. These Indians, when on the warpath, frequently make such offerings either to the sun or to the moon, hoping thus to render them propitious, so that through their intervention they may obtain many scalps and horses. The most precious objects which they possess and which they esteem most, are often thus sacrificed. The Mandans, the Aricaras and their neighbors go still further: they cut off fingers and make deep incisions in the fleshy parts of the body before starting for war, in order to obtain the same favors of their false gods.