The pines were not here in thick impenetrable masses but perched aloft in single groups on the heights or shrouded by the livelier hues of the poplar and willow.
We passed the mouth of the Red Willow River on the south bank flowing through a deep ravine.

It is the continuation of the route by the Pembina before mentioned.

At noon we entered the majestic Athabasca or Elk River.
Its junction with the Clear Water River is called the Forks.

Its banks were inaccessible cliffs, apparently of clay and stones about two hundred feet high, and its windings in the south were encircled by high mountains.

Its breadth exceeded half a mile and was swelled to a mile in many places by long muddy islands in the middle covered with trees.