"The northwest wind rose so high at eleven o'clock that
we were obliged to stop till about four in the afternoon,
when we proceeded till dusk. On the south a beautiful
plain separates the two rivers, till at about six miles there
is a piece of low timbered ground, and a little above it
bluffs, where the country rises gradually from the river:
the situations on the north are more high and open. We
encamped on that side, the wind, the sand which it raised,
and the rapidity of the current having prevented our
advancing more than eight miles; during the latter part
of the day the river became wider, and crowded with
sand-bars. The game was in such plenty that we killed
only what was necessary for our subsistence. For several
days past we have seen great numbers of buffalo lying dead
along the shore, some of them partly devoured by the
wolves. They have either sunk through the ice during
the winter, or been drowned in attempting to cross; or
else, after crossing to some high bluff, have found them-
selves too much exhausted either to ascend or swim back
again, and perished for want of food: in this situation we
found several small parties of them. There are geese, too,
in abundance, and more bald eagles than we have hitherto
observed; the nests of these last being always accom-
panied by those of two or three magpies, who are their
inseparable attendants."

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