Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/57

 Our ride was enlivened by a spirited wolf-hunt, one of our ordinary pastimes in the plains which environ the colony, where the horses are trained to the pursuit of the buffalo and wolf, and to stand fire at full speed. At sunset we rejoined our little caravan, which encamped on a bushy knoll about two leagues from Fort Garry. After spending some hours with me, my young friends retraced their steps homewards, and left us to our night's repose.

The waning moon shone brilliantly when we awoke; and, taking an early breakfast, we all started on foot. The morning was cold, but exhilarating. The sun, rising in cloudless splendour, threw his horizontal rays across the wide plain, and, illuminating the hoar-frost upon the long dry grass, gave to the expanse around us the appearance of a silver-spangled sea. At noon we halted for a short time at a cluster of trees, in whose shade we obtained sufficient snow for our horses and dogs, in lieu of water, a luxury not to be found in these arid plains. The country traversed was studded with a few copses of poplar and dwarf oak; but a great part of it having been swept by the running fires, so frequent and terrible in the prairies, presented a blackened and dismal aspect. I noticed a number of small natural mounds, on which lay frag