thick growth of willow, so as to
yield both shelter and fuel, as well as materials for building. The
river swept by in a strong current, about a hundred and fifty yards
wide. To the southeast were mountains of moderate height, the nearest
about two miles off, but the whole chain ranging to the east, south,
and southwest, as far as the eye could reach. Their summits were crowned
with extensive tracts of pitch pine, checkered with small patches of the
quivering aspen. Lower down were thick forests of firs and red cedars,
growing out in many places from the very fissures of the rocks. The
mountains were broken and precipitous, with huge bluffs protruding from
among the forests.

Their rocky recesses and beetling cliffs afforded retreats to
innumerable flocks of the bighorn, while their woody summits and ravines
abounded with bears and black-tailed deer. These, with the numerous
herds of buffalo that ranged the lower grounds along the river, promised
the travellers abundant cheer in their winter quarters.

On the 2d of November, therefore, they pitched their camp for the
winter, on the woody point, and their first thought was to obtain
a supply of provisions. Ben Jones and the two Canadians accordingly
sallied forth, accompanied by two others of the party, leaving but
one to watch the camp. Their hunting was uncommonly successful. In the
course of two days, they killed thirty-two buffaloes, and collected
their meat on the margin of a small brook, about a mile distant.
Fortunately, a severe frost froze the river, so that the meat was easily
transported to the encampment. On a succeeding day, a herd of buffalo
came trampling through the woody bottom on the river banks, and fifteen
more were killed.

It was soon discovered, however, that there was game of a more dangerous
nature in the neighborhood. On one occasion, Mr. Crooks had wandered
about a mile from the camp, and had ascended a small hill commanding a
view of the river. He was without his rifle, a rare circumstance, for
in these wild regions, where one may put up a wild animal, or a wild
Indian, at every turn, it is customary never to stir from the camp-fire
unarmed. The hill where he stood overlooked the place where the
massacre of the buffalo had taken place. As he was looking around on the
prospect, his eye was caught by an object below, moving directly towards
him. To his dismay, he discovered it to be a grizzly bear, with two
cubs. There was no tree at hand in