The snow which had prematurely fallen had passed away, and the
trappers now found themselves wandering about in a country so
beautiful and a season so delightful, that it would have seemed to
them a perfect paradise, but for the savage tribes who hovered about
them, and kept them ever on the _qui vive_.
They soon passed from the immediate embrace of stupendous heights and
dark gorges to a land of sloping ridges, which divided the country
into a hundred luxuriant vales, composed part of woodland and part of
prairie. Through these, numerous rivers and streams flowed deviously,
beautifying the landscape and enriching the land. There were also many
lakes of all sizes, and these swarmed with fish, while in some of them
were found the much-sought-after and highly-esteemed beaver. Salt
springs and hot springs of various temperatures abounded here, and
many of the latter were so hot that meat could be boiled in them.
Salt existed in all directions in abundance and of good quality. A
sulphurous spring was also discovered, bubbling out from the base of a
perpendicular rock three hundred feet high, the waters of which were
dark-blue and tasted like gunpowder.
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