great forests, but
in the park-like openings that occur in many parts of the Rocky Mountain
valleys.

"Sometimes whole tracts of country are met with in these regions, whose
surface exhibits a pleasing variety of woodland and prairie; sloping
hills appear with coppices upon their crests and along their sides.
Among these natural groves may be seen troops of the long-tailed deer,
browsing along the declivities of the hills, and, by their elegant
attitudes and graceful movements, adding to the beauty of the landscape.

"Some years ago I had an opportunity of hunting the long-tailed, deer.
I was on my way across the Rocky Mountains to Fort Vancouver, when
circumstances rendered it necessary that I should stop for some days at
a small trading-post on one of the branches of the Columbia. I was, in
fact, detained, waiting for a party of fur-traders with whom I was to
travel, and who required some time to get their packs in readiness.

"The trading-post was a small place, with miserable accommodations,
having scarcely room enough in its two or three wretched log-cabins to
lodge half the company that happened at the time to claim its
hospitality. As my business was simply to wait for my travelling
companions, I was of course _ennuye_ almost to death in such a place.
There was nothing to be seen around but packs of beaver, otter, mink,
fox, and bear skins; and nothing to be heard but the incessant
chattering of Canadian voyageurs, in their mixed jargon of French,
English, and Indian. To make matters still more unpleasant, there was
very little to eat, and nothing to drink but the clear water of the
little mountain-stream upon which the fort was built.

"The surrounding country, however, was beautiful; and the lovely
landscapes that on every side met the eye almost compensated for the
discomforts of the post. The surface of the country was what is termed
rolling--gentle undulations here and there rising into dome-shaped hills
of low elevation. These were crowned with copses of shrubby trees,
principally of the wild filbert or hazel (_corylus_), with several
species of _rosa_ and raspberry (rubus), and bushes of the june-berry
(_amelanchier_), with their clusters of purplish-red fruit. The
openings between were covered with a sward of short gramma grass, and
the whole landscape presented the appearance of a cultivated park; so
that one involuntarily looked along the undulating outlines of the hills
for some noble mansion