These systems come so
close together at this region, that while my midday kettle was filled
with water which finds its way through Battle River into the North
Saskatchewan, that of my evening meal was taken from the ice of the
Pas-co-pee, or Blindman's; River, whose waters seek through Red Deer
River the South Saskatchewan.

It was near sunset when we rode by the lonely shores of the Gull Lake,
whose frozen surface stretched beyond the horizon to the north. Before
us, at a distance of some ten miles, lay the abrupt line of the Three
Medicine Hills, from whose gorges the first view of the great range of
the Rocky Mountains was destined to burst upon my sight; But not on this
day was I to behold that long-looked-for vision. Night came quickly down
upon the silent wilderness; and it was long after dark when we made our
camps by the bank of the Pas-co-pee, or Blindman's River, and turned
adrift the weary horses to graze in a well-grassed meadow lying in one of
the curves of the river. We had ridden more than sixty miles that day.

About midnight a heavy storm of snow burst upon us, and daybreak revealed
the whole camp buried deep in snow. As I threw back the blankets from my
head (one always lies covered up completely), the wet, cold mass struck
chillily upon my face. The snow was wet and sticky, and therefore things
were much more wretched than if the temperature had been lower; but the
hot tea made matters seem brighter, and about breakfast-time the snow
ceased to fall and the clouds began to clear away. Packing our wet
blankets together, we set out for the three Medicine Hills, through whose
defiles our course lay; the snow was deep in the narrow valleys, making
travelling slower and more laborious than before. It was midday when,
having rounded the highest of the three hills, we entered a narrow gorge
fringed with a fire-ravaged forest. This gorge wound through the hills,
preventing a far-reaching view ahead; but at length its western
termination was reached, and there lay before me a sight to be long
remembered. The great chain of the Rocky Mountains rose their snow-clad
sierras in endless succession. Climbing one of the eminences, I gained a
vantage-point on the summit from which some by-gone fire had swept the
trees. Then, looking west, I beheld the great range in unclouded glory.
The snow had cleared the atmosphere, the sky was coldly bright. An
immense plain stretched from my feet to the mountain--a plain so vast