Volume 1

;
PLENTY OF WATER—ASSINIBOINE CAMPS. 307
mountain bearing S. E., distant about seven leagues. At
ten o'clock we proceeded, and having cleared the hills,
fell upon the Assiniboine route from Montagne a la Bosse,
which is only one short day's journey N. of us. The
heat was intolerable, without a breath of air, and the mosquitoes
tormented us.
At one o'clock we stopped
at a small lake, as the excessive
heat had nearly knocked the horses up. The water
was cool and pleasant ; we all bathed, which refreshed us
very much. It is fortunate for us that water is plentiful.
It sometimes happens in this country, in very dry seasons,
that water is only to be found in some particular creek or
lake. When this is the case we provide ourselves with
small kegs or bladders. But this often proves insufficient
some people have lost their lives on this account, and
others have had very narrow escapes, being two days
without a drop of water. This must be still worse than the
mosquitoes ;
our thirst is perpetual, and at every pool some
of us stretch out upon our bellies to drink. But this year
we are under no apprehensions, heavy rains having filled
up every creek, lake, pond, and indeed every hollow spot
in the plains.
At three o'clock we saddled. We passed several Assiniboine
camps of this summer on the banks of the river;
they consisted of from 30 to 70 tents. These people are
remarkable for choosing the most delightful spots to pitch
their tents, commonly on elevated places, where there is no
wood to interrupt the view. They would be a happy
people, were it not for their continual wars and the frequent
quarrels among themselves, which generally end in
bloodshed. The common causes of these quarrels are
women and horses.
We attempted to cross the river, but found the water too
high, and continued on the N. side. This lengthened our
route some miles, as the river here makes a considerable
bend to the N. W.; however, to make up for this, we
pushed on faster than usual. The cool of the evening was