burning thirst! The horses and mules appeared to rejoice, neighing and rearing with impatience; as soon as their bridles were loosened, they plunged into the waves and in dulged in long draughts. When the whole caravan had assuaged their thirst, we continued our route. We traversed an undulating plain; and perceiving in the distance a prominent point of land which appeared sparkling with crystals, we named it Diamond Hill. It was covered with large pieces of mica. For the first time since we left Fort Alexander we breakfasted beside beautiful springs of fresh water, the most remarkable in the country.
After advancing about twenty-three miles that day, we camped on the banks of Tongue river. There we had new occasion to recall and arrange our recollections of the land we had seen. Coal also appears as abundant south of the Yellowstone as above it; we met it everywhere. The slopes of the hills are well wooded with larch and pines of every variety up to the very summit, throughout the whole extent of the Little Wolf chain. This we left for that of the Great Wolf, which we reach before arriving at the Black Hills. These mountains form spurs of the Rocky Mountains; the principal summits are over 13,000 feet high.' On the 23d eve left Tongue river. For ten hours we marched over mountain and valley, following the course of one of its tributaries, making, however, only about twenty-five miles. On the day following we crossed a chain of lofty mountains to attain the Lower Piney Fork, nearly twenty miles distant. We arrived quite unexpectedly on the borders of a lovely little lake about six miles long, and my traveling companions gave it my name." There our hunters killed several wild ducks. On quitting the lake, we discovered another elevated portion of land on which red mounds and scoriae, vol
e Father De Smet here refers, presumably, to the great mountain svstem known as the Big Horn range, whose commanding summit, Cloud Peak, is 13,300 feet high.
10 This lake still bears the name De Smet. It is soon to be utilized for storing the waters of Piney Fork to be used in irrigation.