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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata J to e pelure, ;on ci D 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 ♦ : • 6 ^T j i MAP OF THE SOUTH-WEST PORTION 01 lonj^tude "West 89° ftw Viym»a &. S o n* . U iko _1 ST PORTION OF THE PROVINCEOF MANITOBA Longitude 'West 89° fbom. Greenwich. I 'I Gf QiMan S« London.W.C Manitoba I ^AlyIn•A JLoont. Uiiio G^Qu««D S« Lo&dlon.W.C .SV\ AS^?? M MANITOBA DESCRIBED: llnd.Res. ^-9? i!i:is(. A .sl:k[i:s of gl:xei;.\l observations ii'ijN rule Farniin^^, CliinxtCy Spjrt, Natural History, and Future Prospects of the Country. nv ROBERT MILLER ClIRLSTV. WITH MAPS. LONDON : WYMAN & SONS, 74-76, GREAT QUEEN STREET, i.i\(Oi-N\s-iN'x rir.i.ns. 1SS5. / k S^ Loxulon.W.C I' "There is, indeed, scarcely a I'ritish Colony, or a State of the Union, which has not an agency in this country engaged in distributing the most glowing accounts of the unrivalled riches, above ground and beneath, which are waiting to be picked up in their respective territories. And I am far from spying that many of the documents so circulated are not carefully prepared, and their contents, to a great extent, justified by the facts. But they are not what is needed. Not one of them, that ever I saw, tells a youngster how he will be housed and fed, what wages he may hope to earn, what sort of company he will be thrown amongst." — Tiihmas IIic.iies. I 1 r it nil upon more arc a it ni; modi value( it nov will n: Fui the re My Canac kindl> which Chi PREFACE, i tate of the listributing ijiound and respective icuments so to a j;reat ded. Not be housed nipany he IN launching this, niv little hark, upon the iruuhled sen of Literature, 1 have only to express one hope : that it may escape those perils of shipwreck and collision which, upon waters so crowded with crafts bearing larger and more valuable cargoes of intellectual goods of every kind, are always imminent ; and that, in the course of its voyages, it may ultimately reach many havens where the com- modities with which it is laden will be welcomed and valued. The good name of the firm under whose auspices it now first sets sail is at least one guarantee that this hoj e will meet with fulfilment. I'or an explanation of the scope and object of the work the reader is referred to the Introduction. My warmest thanks are due to Sir Charles Tupper, the Canadian High Commissioner in London, who has most kindly supplied the very excellent map of the Dominion which accompanies this work. R. M. C. Chelmsford, January 15, 1S85. CONTENTS. ■«o» iMkUDLcilU.V. Unc-si(lc(l nature of ntcrc journey out CHAl'IKR I. (^KNKRAL OnsKKVAT.ONS ON tHK PHV.ICAL AX,> o,„EK IKATURKS or MANITOIJA. ^'nam^'-n,''' ^"""^'^'••'■■N "i'^e. n.ul posilion-OnViu „f ,J,, 4nd 1 Uk tV'"'''"' ^' '". '''^- ^''^^"'-' ^f fJ'^' North-uVs -!^T1,, krtility of the soil-Muctuatiuns in the water-level /"s ON CHAPTER 11. 'J III-; ACJICN OF I'KAIKIK FIRLs IN THk NOR IH-WKSJ-. CANADIAN ilestroved hv fl,^,r,_n.i,«.. .7 , ' , V^'" Hie l)]ufl.s arc destroyed by them-Other damage done by ihcm /''.. 2U VI MANITOr.A DESCRir.ED. CHAPTER III. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE OF MANITODA. The r'anadian winter — Its severity in the North-west — Professor Tanner and the Mark Lane Express — The climate of Manitoba — American stoves— Precautions against the winter — Snowdrifts on the prairies — Blizzards — Summer-time — Thunderstorms — The mirage — The Indian summer page 49 4 oi \\\x\ CHAPTER IV. FAR.MIXG IX MANITOBA. The advantages and disadvantages of prairie-farming — Breaking — Backsetting — Sowing — The various crops grown in Manitoba — Potatoes — Barley — Oats — Wheat — Self-binding reapers — Yield of wheat per acre, and cost of cultivation — The season of 1883 — Fencing materials — Particulars as to the horses, cattle, sheep, wagons, ^:c., used in Manitoba — Red River carts — " Spear-grass" — Bell l-'arm — Locusts- -The Provincial Depart- ment of Agriculture — Fruit and tree culture on the prairies, /^^f 63 lir CHAPTER V. HINTS I"OR I'HOSE WHO CONTEMPLATE EMIORATINC. ^Vho should emigrate and who should not — State-aided emigra- tion — Amount of capital required — How and when to go to Manitoba — Labour, wages, and prices — How to obtain land-- What to take and wha; not — Amount of cultivated land in the Province ... ... ... ... ... pai;c (lO CHAPTER VI. SETTLERS IN MANITOBA : THE SOCIAL AND i'OLITICAL CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THEY LIVE. The kind of settlers now in Manitoba — Their intellectual con- ditions, nationalities, and religions — The Mennonites — The tribes of Indians — The settler's shanty — A "raising bee" — Plducational and Church acconnnodation — The mode of survey — Money values — Weights aud measures — The postal service — Prairie .oads — How settlers live — The Liquor Laws — The coal-sui)ply — Manitoban newspapers — Canadian politics — JU teh'ra poi^v 1 1 \ CON'TrXTS. VII DDA, jfeshor nitoba tvdrifts )rins — 49 ;aking litoba )ers — son of :attle, irts — fipart- OK AMKKICAN KMIAVAVS ,X ,;„xkKa,.. ling conveniences ^^^^^^"-Tl.c Western plains-Travel- ••• A'^i"'-' 127 CHAPTER VIII. THE -nOOM" AX„ ITS KVIL kfFKCTS. Xature of the boom— Depression in i.o,?. ti Carbeny ... H'ression in trade -The town of ••• /''y:;r 146 TIXC. ligra- [o to nd- n the CHAPTl'R IX. I'ili; CrjA 01 DRAXDOX Brandon: its rapid rr,owth, it.s .siiuat farms near the citv ion. anis< kir.iK. ciiAPri'.k 1. (JKNr.K \1, onsiKVAI ION ; ('\ IIII': imivsicai, axd othkk KKA'l'UUl'.S OF MANirOMA. Ti'.N or twelve yonrs ngo. li;ul ;iny man in I''ii,:;laiul been asked tlu> wlKicahoiits of Manitoba, it would not have shown any unpardonaMe i^'jioranee on his jiait had he rejtlied that heilid not know : for at that time the jnovincc had seaii'cly entered upon its existence. Now, however, the ease is very different. Not even the dullest < an have failed to i;ain some knowlcclL;e of this mueh-advertised country. It we juek up almi'st any local newspaper, or enter the small general shop which serves as Posl-Oftice in some remote country villaL;e, there we are almost certain \o he confronted by an announcement as to lu)w nuich land mav be obtained in Manitoba as a "free urant "" from Cicnernment. There seems, nevertheless, to be still some misconcejition left, many perst)ns usinj; the name Manit{)b:i to signify a much larger tract of country than that to which it reallv belongs. Manitoba is situated in what is now commonly known as the North-west, or the Canadian North-west : but still it is not one of the " North-west Territories," being a province of the Dominion of Canada, and having a separate Provincial Covernment of its own. The enormous region known as the North-west Territories, including the adjacent islands in the Polar Sea, covers an area of 2.665,252 scjuare miles. It was ac([uired by purchase from the Hudson's Bay Com})any, and added to the Dominion of Canada in 1870. In 1882 a portion of this region was divided up into four huge districts or territories, which lie to the north and west of Manitoba, and have received the names of Assiniboia (95,000 square miles), Alberta (100,000 square miles), Athabasca (122,000 square (W.NI.KM, OIISFRVA'IIONS f)N M AN'I'K )r..\. by Ithe [his [cs, ive ire miles), nnd S;isk.'il( In-w:iu (i i,),coo siiuan.' miles). It juay hvrc l)c cxplaiiu'd lliat in tins hook I am only < fjuccrncd with Manitoba proper.*'' Manit(.ba, with a ,L;rc-atrr or less extent of the country surrotnulini; it, has, in the jta^t, been known by the lollow- inp; names, amons^ others : Red River ( !ountry, Red River Settlement, I'ort ( '.arry, Selkirk Scltlenient, Iluflson's I'.ay Territory, Rui)ert's Land, and ,\ssiniboia. Since its forma- tion into a jirovince in the year 1.S70, its boutidariis have undergone exteti'^ion ; and, at the present time, it is projjosed to extend them ai/ain as lar to the north as Hudson's j'.a\-. Then, as n'.- ■, the .jfjth |)arallel of north latitude, fonniiiLr tlu- boundarv Ime between ("aiiada and the United States, constituted its soutlr.rn limit. ( )n the west, the <)(){\\ de;.';. of west lonj^itude ; on the north, a line drawn -^o mil), north of the 5 ist par.dlel ;and on the east, the r)6th (K'l;. of west longitude, foiined its other boundaries. 'I'he province at that lime measured about 135 by 105 mile.--, and (oiUained an area of i.l,.vto S'juare miles, or 9,177,600 acres, with a total population of about i.S,ooo ])ersons,inchuling nearly 7.000 Indians. Fort (larry, the well- known chief trading station of the liudsc^n's iiay (Company, or rather the settlement around it (num!)ering, at that time, some 250 souls), which ! had now come to be known as \\'innipeg, was the capital ; Vv'hilst there was also a small settlement at Portage la Rrairie, as well as a considerable nmnber of Half-breeds, Indians, and old servants of the company located along the banks of the Red River and the Assiniboine. I>ut in i.SSo the area of Manitoba was increased by the addition of territory on all sides except the south. On the south, the provinc e is still divided from Minnesota and Dakota by the 49th parallel of north latitude; it extends northward as far as 52 deg. 50 min. north latitude, taking in the major portions of the great lakes of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Winnijiegosis ; on the west, it adjoins the territory of Assiniboia in loi deg. 20 min. west longitude; while on the east it extends to the Lake * Those desiring to know more of the great country to the nf)rth nnd west of Manitoba '^hould consult "Manitoba and the threat North- west " (Jack, Ludgate Hill, London, 1883), by Professor John Macoun, Botanist to the Dominion Government Geological Survey. 8 MANIT0I5A DKSCRIItEI). of tlic ^\'oo(ls, joining on to tlic province of Ontario in west longitude 95 dug. It measures, therefore, about 260 miles from north to soutli, 300 from east to west, and con- tains, rouglily, an area of about 80,000 scjuare miles, or 51,000,000 acres. JUit it should be observed that for some time ]nist the respective Governments of Ontario and Manitoba have carried on a very vigorous discussion as to which shall possess the stretch of country lying between the Lake of the Woods and Lake Superior. If this is ultimately awarded to ^Llnitoba, the province will then extend eastward as far as the 89th deg. of west longitude, and will contain about 123,200 sciuare miles, or 78,848,000 acres, which is an area considerably larger than that of the United Kingdom. As this area is the one given in the Government pamphlets, it has been usually employed in making calculations. The country thus marked out occu})ies an almost exactly central ])Osition in North America, hence the name of " the Centre Province," which is occasionally a])i)lied to it. By the route at present i)roposed for the Canadian Pacific Railroad, \Vinnipeg will, 1 believe, be within twenty miles of being eciui-distant from Montreal and Port Moody, the two termini of the line ; while its position in the continent is almost equally central, reckoning from north to south. This fact may astonish some people, but it is true never- theless. There are numbers of persons in England who, having never troubled themselves to consult a map in order to ascertain the truth, and who — forgetting that Mani- toba is far removed from that great eciualiser of temjjerature, the sea, and consequently can have its atmosphere warmed by no such kind friend as the Gulf Stream, which renders our climate so mild and damp, — have contracted the not unnatural idea that, on account of its exceedingly cold winter, Manitoba must be a country not very far removed from the Arctic Circle. I have sometimes amused myself since my return by asking friends how many hundreds of miles north of London they imagined Manitoba to be situated ; and the replies have actually ranged from " a few miles " up to " about 900 " ! No wonder, then, that some have been astonished when they have been informed that Winnipeg, being situated close to the 50th parallel, is 1 il i;i:\i:r.\i, oi!skksamons on mamioha. 'J in 11 cd icrs the old v'cd self of be e\v ime lat is nearer the latitude of Paris than that of London, or more than i,ooo miles from the Arctic Circle. The ori;j;in of the name Manitoba* which I heard given differs considerably from that which Professor Tanner mentions in his recent '* Report." It means literally *' 'i"he voice of the (Ireat Spirit," and is taken from the 1-ake Manitoba, so called by the Indians, it is said, from the tact that at a certain part of what is known as the ''narrows" of the lake, the rushiiiLj of the water jjioduces a sound which is su' erslitiously said by them to be '* The voice of the (ireat Spirit " {.\fanitou). Unless I have been wrongly informed, the name was never ajjplied by the Indians to the country ; but, when the jjrovince was formed the euj)honious Indian name of the lake was given to it. I'Tom the fcjregoing, it may be seen what an exceedingly small i)()rtion of Pritish North America (or, as it is now called, the Dominican of Canadat) Manitoba forms. An illustration may serve to make this still i)lainer: if we take a piece of pa])er exactly one yard scjuare to rei)resent the si/.e of Canada, anil mark off, in any part of it, a space about six inches scjuare, that portion will re[)resent the size of Manitoba. The Dominion of Canada has an estimated area of 3,470,392 square miles, and is actually larger than the United States, not including Alaska. It is I^igland's largest, nearest, and by lar her most important colony. The natural wealth of Canada is immense. Provided with magnificent sea-ports, both ( n the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, she has also an unui:ually excellent internal water communication ; her stores of coal are enormous ; her forests are inexpressibly vast ; her minerals, in some regions, are in immense abundance ; her fisheries are among the most valuable in the world ; one vast area has unrivalled corn-growing cai)abilities ; while a region still vaster has, for over two centuries, supplied wild animals provided with * In England the name is frequently pronounced Manitoba, with the accent on the last syllable ; but in the country itself I never heard it otherwise than Manitoba, with the accent on the penultimate syllable, as in Dakota. t Newfoundland, which has an area of 40,200 square miles, and is Kngland's oldest colony, forms no part of the Dominion of Canada. It is still a separate colony, with a Government of its own. 10 MAMTOHA Dr.sciiir.r.i). I valual)lc furs, wliich have cnnblcd one of the lari:(cst trading companies in the universe to pay a steady dividend. !»ut l)y no means tlie smallest part of Canada's wealth lies in her hardy, independent, intelligent, industrious, and pushinj^ l)opulation. which, since the year 1784 (that is, in exactly a century), is said to have increased no less than 3,000 per cent., or more than twice as fast as that of the United Stales during the same ])eriod. Canada alone, had luigland no other dejjendencies, has regions of such great fertility, and of such vast extent, that she would be able to relieve the mother- country of her surplus population for very many years to come. In spite of all the noise that has been m:ide over the few thousand colonists who have gone to Manitoba, it is certain that ik t one ten-thousandth part of nil the good and fertile land in the \orth-west is now under any sort of cultivation. A\'ere the whole of this vast region thickly settled, Canada would be able to sujjply us with her surplus grain in such immense (|uantities that we should scarcely need to trouble our heads about that arriving from any other (piarters. On the whole, it would be far more unreasonable to doubt that, in the future, Canada is destined to become a great and powerful nation, than it would have been, a few hundred years ago, to doubt that England would ever rise to the jjroud position she now occupies. But I have been diving into the future where prophets and seers alone are accustomed to tread, and, not being one of these, I will retrace my steps to speak of the present state of Manitoba. Manitoba is often spoken of as the " Prairie Province," and it is well so-called — ])rairies being its most striking feature — though, eastward from \\'innipeg, it is true there is a region of almost unbroken forest, widely different from the kind of countrv extending for hundreds of miles west of the city. Certainly the province cannot be generally described as a beautiful or very jiicturescjue one, in the usual sense of those words. No country, of which prairies are the main feature, could well be so, even though watered by great rivers and in places covered by a dense growth of small timber. Some parts of Manitoba, therefore, are of an undeniably dismal aspect; but, speaking personally, I I CKNIUAI- OIISEUVATIONS ON MAMTOI'.A. IX ^r. " 0111 est ^lly the ries led of of I do not consider that by any means tlie whole of the country answers to this description : on the contrary, I saw several very |>ictures(iiie scenes — notably Shoal Lake. Not only Manitoba, but tlie whole North-wtst has a romantic interest and a fascination about it whi< h nuist inevitably be felt by all travellers who have the slightest appreciation of Mature in her wild and untamed aspects. The unknown, solitary e\]>anse of dark pine forests, the great 'herds of wild jjuffalos which formerly existed, the roving Indians, the enormous lakes antl solitary rivers, the desolate, waste sandhills, and the fertile, endless jtrairies, have all their (harms, even for one, like myself, who has but seen their outskirts. It does not take mu( h research to fmd that the country of which I speak — and not only Manitoba, but much of that beyond has deeply impressed nearly all iiUelligent travellers who have visited it for the last twenty or thirty years. Many of them have expressed in powerful language their belief that in the near future it is destined to become a thriving agricultural region, supporting a large jjopulation. How near their prophecies are to being fulfilled will, I think, be seen from the few jjaragraphs I will next (juote. Captain (now Colonel) lUuIcr, who, as I learned from the newspajjcrs, visited the North-west during the time I was there, writes, in his charming book, "The Creat Lone Land,'' of the district around the forks of the Saskat- chewan : " It is impossible that the wave of life which rolls unceasingly into America can leave unoccupied this great fertile tract As I stood in twilight, looking down on the silent rivers, merging into the great :;ingle stream which here enters the forest region, the n ind had little difficulty in seeing another picture, when the river forks would be a busy scene of commerce, and man's labour would awaken echoes now answering only to the wild things of plain and forest." Elsewhere the same author says : " The plain through which the Red River flows is fertile beyond de- scription." Professor Henry Y. Hind, writing in i860,* says: "Many * "Narrative of the Canadian Red River, Assiniboine, and Sas- katchewan Exploring Expeditions," vol. i., p. 191. 4 I 12 MANITOBA DESCRIBED. ' l-f I % ,' million acres of land which cannot be surpassed for fertility, being composed of rich jjrairie mould from i8 in. to 2 ft. deep, lie free and unsettled on the banks of Red River, the Assiniboine, and their tributaries, inviting settlement.'' Further on (p. 226) he writes: "No fact, however, is more satisfactorily determined than the adaptation of the climate of Assiniboia [now Manitoba] to the cultivation of wheat. I'orty bushels to the acre is a common return on new land." The report of Mr. J. A. Dickenson to Professor Hind, the head of the expedition, after the former Iiad returned from a branch ex|)edition which he had undertaken in order to ex{)lore the valley of the (^u'Aj^pelle, reads now like true prophecy. Having ascended an elevation near the Crooked Lake, he writes (y). 373) : " As I stood upon the summit of *he bluff, looking down uj)on the glittering lake 300 ft. below and across the boundless plains, no living thing in view, no sound of life anywhere, I thought of the time to come when will be seen swiftly ]:)assing along the distant horizon the white cloud of the locomotive on the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and when the valley will resound with the merry voices of those who have come from the busy city on the banks of Red Kiver to see the beautiful lakes of the Qu'Appellc." It is needless to say how nearly all this has been fulfilled. The railway, which at that time was scarcely even projected, now passes hundreds of miles to the westward, though not yet (}uite to the Pacific ; the Qu'Appellc valley now contains the largest arable farm in the whole world ; and " the busy city on the banks of Red River," then a village of 150 inhabitants, is now an accom- plished fact. In 1S65, Viscount Milton and Dr. Cheadle, in their fascinating book, "The North-west Passage by Land," which describes the hardships of their journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and which most people will have read, speak (in the preface) of " the magnificent regions of the Red River and Saskatchewan, where 65,000 square miles of a country of unsurpassed fertility and abounding in mineral wealth lies isolated from the world, neglected and almost unknown, although destined, at no very distant period, perhaps, to become one of the most valuable i GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MANITOHA. 13 the lutiful early- time miles the in the Red com- thcir and/' L the have )ns of quare tiding dand istant uable possessions of the British Crown." Again (p. 41), tliey say : " From Red River to the Rocky Mountains, along the banks of the Assiniboinc, and the fertile belt of the Saskatchewan, at least sixty millions of acres of the richest soil lie ready for the farmer when he shall be allowed to enter in and possess it. This glorious country, capable of sustaining an enormous poi)ulation, lies utterly useless, except for the su[)port of a few Indians and the enrichment of the shareholders of the Last Great Monopoly."' The Rev. James McOregor, D.D., who accompanied tlie Marfjuis of Lome on his journey through the North-west Territories in 1881, afterwards wrote as follows in the Contemporary Fcvien' : — " As day after day, and week after week, we drove across those fertile regions, it was a daily wonder to us all how they had so long been kept hidden from the hungry millions of luu-ope. From \Vinni])eg to the Rocky Mountains, we did not come across a tliousand acres which were not fit for grazing or for agriculture.^^ Of the marvellotis fertility of the hrst prairie steppe, tiie Red River Region, there is no doubt whatever. 'I'lie soil is a rich, black, friable mould, from 2 ft. to 4 ft. in de|)th, and has in some ])laces yielded crops of wheat for fifty years without manure." Nothing would be easier than to multiply these cpiota- tions to any extent, for such enthusiastic descriptions are the rule among travellers, and it would need some search to meet with exceptions. To the testimony already brought forward, I will merely add a few words to the effect that, although I have seen but a comparatively small j)ortinn of the lands in the valleys of the Assiniboine and Red River, and nothing at all of those in the vallevs of the Saskatchewan and ()u'A])pelle,t the innate fertility of the soil, and the fair excellence of the crops raised on it, by means which, if adopted in Fngland, would result in complete faihire, far surpassed my wildest CN])ectations. It is, 1 think, almost impossible for any one to travel through the North-west without being impressed with the fact that, in'the course of * In this case, th.-n, I think His Kxcclloncy must have been con- ducted thr()U.;li the iiick of the country, for I saw liundieds of acres that were practicably worthless for either purpose. f See p. 142. 14 MANITOBA DESCRIBED. i; time, wlien railways sliall have rendered its many capa- bilities available, the country will have before it a bright future. There could, however, hardly be a greater mistake than to imagine all the land of ^Manitoba to be of this excellent character ; for, although I do not believe that the better parts could, for fertility, be suri)assed in the world, still there are parts so execrably bad that I hardly know of any use on earth to which they could be put. They nil,^ht keep one or two sheep to the scjuare mile, but for any other agri- cultural puri)ose I believe them to be as valueless as the middle of the Atlantic ! I allude to the ranges of sand- hills which occupy a very large stretch of country-^pro- bably not less than i,ooo S{[uare miles — on the north bank of the Assiniboine, sending out s])urs far to the northward, which, crossing the main line of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, have the tendency of very much disappointing travellers who view the country merely from the line. The sand-hills proper are merely wind-blown dunes of absolutely pure sand. They are never of great height, and are separated by hollows, in the bottoms of which water often stands. A {q.\\ spruce-trees or stunted oaks and poplars are gene- rally scattered over their surface, but never grow densely. Willows and various other shrub-like trees often surround the ponds. The surface of the sand is covered by a dry, scant growth of benty grass, which, with a plant known to settlers by the name of " ground juniper," and which sends out long, rope-like branches, thickly covered with leaves that cross and recross with one another till the sand is covered with a thick carpet of evergreen verdure, doubtless has a very marked effect in preventing the shifting of the sand during high winds. These desolate sand-hills are the home of many a bright flower and many wild birds and other animals, which might often live long months together with- out seeing a human being. Beside the sand-hills proper, there are in their neigh- bourhood large tracts of sandy soil, which are of next to no value, excei)t as grazing- lands, and very little for that. In some parts, too, immense numbers of erratic boulders obstruct cultivation : in others, innumerable ponds, lakes, and " sleughs " render the ground very wet ; while in other k i bright gcne- nsely. ■ound 0. dry, )\vn to sends eaves md is sshas sand home other with- leigh- )\t to that, ilders akes, other GENERAL OUSERVATIONS ON MANIIOF.A. 1 5 places the soil is hardly as yet capable of cultivation, on account of the fact that in the spring time it is covered with water, resulting from the melting of the snow. It is evi- dent, however, that these last are difficulties that can, and doubtless will, be remedied when, all the first-class land being taken up, the second-class land comes to be more valuable. Drainage is an operati(jn which is hardly likely to recommend itself to the Manitoban farmer for a long while to come yet ; but there is no (question that very much of the land at present wet could, by its aid, be rendered fit for cultivation. It not unfre(|uently hapi)ens that such land lies on the highest ground, as, for instance, the wet districts round Rapid Citv. This is due to the retentive nature of the clay sub-soil. The fact, too, that most of the rivers flow along the bottoms of more or less deep gorges will be found of great advantage when drainage comes to be undertaken. A friend of mine, who has seen a good deal of the country, has made a very rough calculation. He estimates that, of all ^Manitoba, one-third is prime land, ready for the plough; one-third is second-rate, but most of it ca})al)le of being made almost as good as the first ; and one-third is almost worthless. In this I think my friend is not very far wrong. Throughout the entire province there is little variation in the nature of the soil which forms the surface of the ground. Excei)t upon the sand-hills, it is everywhere a fine, black, powdery, and almost soot-like mould, too sandy in some places to be of much value, but elsewhere of surjjrising fertility and great productive power. Soil it can hardly be called : manure would be a better name. In the next chapter (where also will be found some analyses) I have given reasons for believing that its fineness, blackness, and fertility are due to the action of prairie fires. Nothing sjjeaks more strongly in favour of the soil of the prairies of the North-west than the fact that, go where you may, nearly every settler assures you that nowhere can better soil be found than that of the district in which his farm hai)pens to lie. Over and over again have people told me this, till there is scarcely any well-settled • portion of the Province of ^Manitoba which I have not been assured is absolutely the iStl! 16 MANITOHA DKSCRir.KD. best, I do not think Mr. Hcpple Hall is very far wrong when, in his " Lands of Plenty," he says : " Tlic soil, it may be safely stated, is as fertile as any the sun shines on in this world." The thickness of this stratum of black loam varies considerably : in some ])laces it is barely one foot, in others four ; but the average is perhaps about eighteen inches. In some parts a high wind will cause the surface of ploughed land to drift when very dry. l^ielow the loam is, in most parts, a stratum of very fine, imi)crvious, sandy clay, varying in thickness from two to four feet, and suital.'le for making into bricks, as is done near most of the towns. Beneath the clay, again, is often an unknown thickness of fme, pure sand, which forms the sand-hills when it comes to the surface. In some parts large numbers of erratic blocks of granite and other sorts of rock strew the surface or are found in large quantities beneath it ; but for some miles round Carberry 1 did not (with one e.\rei)tion) see half a dozen stones weighing as much as a (^ouple of ounces. 'J'here seems to be a very general, and ai)parently well- grounded, opinion that for the last few years the whole body of water throughout INlanitoba and the North-west Territories has been gradually rising ; in fact, that it under- goes ])eriodical flu(^tuations. Thinking this an interesting circumstance, T endeavoured to inquire into the matter, but with only a very j^artial amount of success, the great ma- jority of the settlers having been in the country much too short a time for them to hnve mnde any extended observa- tions. The belief in the fluctuations, however, appears to be wide-s})read, and not a few settlers could give me what seem to be actual instances. Some appeared to be of the opinion that the water had now been falling for a year, or perhaps more. About two miles to the south of Carberry is a large "mus- keg," or swamp, over a square mile in area, and presenting a good deal of open water. Mr. William Harkness, who lives on ♦^he edge of it, told me that a few years since grass could be cut with a mowing-machine in many parts where now is open water, upon which terns, ducks, and grebes disport themselves. There is a long, narrow sleugh running up towards Carberry on the eastern side, concerning which a farmer stated that he could now procure water for his cattle GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MANITOBA. 17 ■ wrong it may s on in :k loam foot, in :iij;litt.'cn surface :ic loam >, saiuly suital.'lc 3 towns, ^ness of omes to : blocks e or are le miles 3 half a es. tly well- e whole rth-west t under- ercslinu; Iter, but leat ma- luch too bserva- k'ars to le what of the /ear, or "miis- tntinsi a |io lives Is could re now [disport ling u\i Ihich a cattle at a spot something like a mile nearer to the town, and closer to the beginning of the sleugh, than he could five years ago. I was told of other sleughs in that neighbour- hood which formerly could be crossed with a wagon, but are now almost impassable. But the most valuable piece of testimony I received was from the Rev. H. McKellar, of High Bluff. This gentleman has an extensive knowledge of some of the more remote parts of the country, having, for many years past, acted as missionary. The regular i)eriodicaI rise and fall of the water seemed to be a phenomenon which he fully recognised, and he was inclined to believe that it passed from a maximum to a minimum in about seven years. At present the water was slowly falling, having passed its maximum height about two years since. Several years ago, when returning from Prince Albert, on the Saskatchewan, whither he had gone a year or two before, he was able to drive through ])laces which had been impassable on the journey up, and there were other unmistakable signs of a falling of the water. On the whole, although the exact period occupied by each rise or fall may at present be unascertained, it hardly seems reasonable to doubt that s(jme such fluctuation does ac- tually take place ; and, seeing that periodical fluctuations in the height of the water in the Great Lakes have, for years, been well known to occur, it seems only reasonable to suppose that these two interesting i)henomena may have some connexion. Professor Hind makes a good many remarks upon this subject ('"Exploring Expeditions," vol. i., p. iS), some of which I take the liberty of ([noting : " The occasional fluctuations in the level of the waters of Lake Sui)erior certainly exceed 3 ft In the region about Lake Superior the years 1845-6 were unusually dry, and in 1847 the lake had reached a very low stage of water. The years 1849-50 were wet, and the level of the lake in 1851 was from 3 to 3 5 ft. above the level of 1847."'*^ The Pro- fessor adds : " The variations in the levels of the great Canadian lakes are phenomena of the utmost importance * "Report on the Geology of Lake Suporior District," by J. W. Foster and J. D, Whitney, U.S. Geologists. C i8 MANITOnA DESCRinED. to commercial interests. The supply of water to the Erie and Wclland Canals is dependant upon the relative height of the water of Lake Erie. Periods of great anxiety have occurred among mercantile men at IkifAalo respecting the supply of water to the great artery which unites Lake JM-ie with llic Hudson River." Professor Hind next gives a tabic showing the lluctuations of the height of the water in Lake Erie, as observed for many years past by various autho- rities : — IIekuits of Water ix Lake Erie (1790 to 1S59). Maxima. 1st. 1790, 5 ft. 6 in. above lowcbt level. 2ncl. I Sot. 3rcl. 181 5, 2 ft. below 1S3S. 4th. 1827-30. 5th. 183S, 5 ft. 3 in. above zero. 6th. 1S53, Minima. 1st. 1795. 2n(l. 1 8 10, 6 ft. below 1838. 3nl. 1820, zero of eoniparison. 4th. 1832. 5th. 1846, 2 ft. above zero. 1859 (April), 5 ft. 6 in. above zero. After commenting on these figures, he says : "As a result of observations extending over twelve years (1846 to 1857) in the variations of the level of Lake Ontario, the following facts have been established: — (i) The mean minimum level is attained in January or February. (2) 'Plie mean maximum level in June. (3) The mean annual variation is 25 in. (4) The maximum variation in twelve years was 4 ft. 6 in. (5) There is no periodicity observable m the fluctuations of the lakes, and recent observations tend to show that there is no flux and reflux dependent upon lunar influence. "■^' With the first three paragraphs I am not particularly concerned. They treat merely of an annual variation which is very easy of exi)lanation. The water is lowest at the time when all the small feeders of the lakes are frozen solid, and anything that falls will remain uj^on the ground ; while the maximum is attained during the summer month of June, when all the snows of winter have been melted and poured into the * Whittlesea and Dewey, American Journal of Science and Art, May, 1859. GKXI.RAT- OnSERVATIONS ON MANITORA. 19 inuim mean Iriation years rvablc s tend upon )hs I [ely of ation. small that limum ,11 the to the i swollen streams to be carried down to the lakes. A similar fluctuation may be observed daily in many — perhaps all — rivers which have their orii,nn among snow-cai)})ed moun- tains. They are highest during the day, when the sun is melting the snow, and lowest during the night, when the snow is not being interfered with. This annual variation amounts to only twenty-five inches, whilst I am speaking of a variation of several feet in several years. Twelve years seems to me altogether too short a ])eriod of observation for the state- ment to be made that " no periodicity is observable in the fluctuation"; for reference to I'rofessor Mind's table shows that there is a certain amount of periodicity observable, and, although there arc exceptions, that the passage from a maximum to a minimum, or rice vcrsa^ occupies about six years, or not much different from that which is stated to be the case with the water throughout the North-west. This latter, if it really takes place, will, from time to time, exercise a considerable influence on the "sleughs" and *' muskegs " on the prairies, and it seems |-robable that those settlers who have dug their wells during the recent wet years will shortly find it necessary to deepen them. It may further be observed that frightful floods, consecpient upon the overflow of the Red River, are reported to have taken place in 1776, 1790, 1809, 1826, and 1852, all of which dates, except 1809, correspond with those mentioned by Professor Hind as having been marked by a maximum of water in Lake Erie. Whether or not these few remarks may ever assist in throwing light upon the subject I cannot say. They are merely given here for what they are worth.* ^ The fact that fluctuations in the water-level do take place in the North-west has not escaped the notice of the meuil)er5 of the Geological Survey of Canada, as reference to the reports will show; but only a sinking seems to have been observed by them. Professor Selwyn, the director, speaks of this in an account of a journey r.cross the country in 1874. Art, C 2 20 MANiioiiA ni:scuiiu;i). CllAPri'.R II, ox iiii: ACTION oi' I'UMuii; 111-11, s IN riii; cax.ndian N(^KiII WKST. 'I'mur, is n vonKuico about tho vasl prairies of America wliith is not likely soon to disappear. All of us iVoin (Uir rhildliooil have reail tales ot' Indians, ol" hunters and fur- trai)pers, ot" wolves and of hullaloes, of the boundless extent of the prairies, and of the vast eonlla^rations which otlen sweep over their surface. These and other thinns have all heliKxl to create in our minds a feelinjj; of interest in these great nnendiuL; meadows ; but, to ])ersons who have travelled over their surface day after day, seeini;, perhaps, neidier man, nor house, nor tree, - nothinL; but the _i;rassy llat, bounded by an ever shit'tini;, unreachable hori/on, — no comparison will seem more a|)t than that (■om])aring them with a threat ocean. 'I'he simile is in many points strikingly (\)rrect. I'A'erywhere stretches an ocean — not of water, but o( grass ; here the surlace is smooth and level, but wo travel on, and i)resently arrive at a spot where it is uneven anil rt)lling ; travellers need a compass or the stars as their guide : the smoke of a loco- motive drills away and spreads itself on the hori/on like that of a steamer at sea ; living creatures are comj)aratively seldom seen ; a vulture may sail over with easy, magnificent flight, conjuring up the idea that he is the albatross of the Prairie Ocean, but usually all is still ; provisions and other necessaries for a long journey have to be taken in at the outset ; storms, tempests, and high winds swee[) over the ocean of grass, as over th.it of water; if a cluster of trees does appear on the tar-distant horizon, i)erhaps raised up and brought into view by the decei)tive mirage, it calls up the idea of a cluster of jialms on some low coral reef : the fact, too, that there is one great main ocean, joined by many smaller tributary seas — all these, and many other things, help to strengthen the com])arison. In many minds the question will arise : " Why should PHAIKir, FIRI.S IN' IHr, CANADIAN Nf )Rrir WIS I , \N \i)IAN Aniciii ;i inin our ;in(l lin- ;)Uii(llrsK s which •r tilings i lit I rest )iis wlu) sccinjj;, linij, hut .'achnhle ,i;ui that \c is in (lies an rtacc is It rive at need a a loco- kc that ativcly lificcnt of the d otlicr at the er the f trees sed up alls up If: the icd l)y other should the prairies l)c ?.(» hare and treeless?" 'I'lie soil, in many paits at least, is ahtuidantly feilile; the hi;.^li winds that sweep over their 'airlai e aic n(»t so hi^^h hut what trees could llourish. That the prairies lie too near to the i( y noilh till trees to !;rnw on thein is ridi<:uIous ; for by far the larger port inn of tli' ir area lies south of Scotland, while nowhere are the forests denser or niore extensive than on their northern niar;'in. To the solution of this |)oint, tlnii, let us now turn our attention. I inav at once state my unhesitating' belief that the ti(( K'ssness of the prairies is due to arti(ici;il causes — that the a'^i'iv v \>v whi( h the prairies have been biouL'ht to their pif^e'it 'tale is biki, one of the best ser\ants, but, at the '-auie lime, one of the worst masters, inan ever had, \\ hen it i; undtrslood that, to the i»revaletve of I'rairie l''iresin the past, I am inclined to attribute, to a lar^e ex- tent at least, the \ei\' existeiK e of the prairies themselves, tlu ir dreat\' treelessness, the fertility of their soil ;md its fme, blai k, soot like t(Mure, the alteration of the flora, and the extermination of certain or;^^anic creatures (which are usually abundant in similar situations, and would, I believe, exist now on the prairies had it not been for the fires), I do not know whether I shall find many persons willing to go with me so far as I go myself; but my oi)inions, iferrone<')US, are, at v.uy rate, formed from personal observation, and after coiner.^ation with many residents on the [irairies themseKes. The idea that the prairies are due largely to the action of i'\rc is not by any means a new one. It cro])S up freited, and the Indians set fire to the grass for convenience during their Fall Hunts, speak of the |)rairie fires as taking place at the latter season, before the wiiUer snows hatl fallen ; but I am very strongly inclined to belie\e that, although great fires do still come in the autunm, the majority (or, at least, many more than formerly) nmv come in the s/^ri/ii^. 'I'he reason for this is, that the settlers do not like to put out fire in the fall, because they prefer io kee}) the pasturage for theiv cattle until as late a period in the year as j)ossible, and also because there are at that se.ison corn and hay stacks stand- ing about in every direction : but in the spring-lime none of these reasons have any force, and the settlers then burn the prairie, with the objects already mentioned, as soon as the disapjiearance of the snow has left the dead grass dry enough to " carry fire."' Towards the end of .September, the j)rairie, which u^) to that time has been so gay with a never-tailing succession of brilliant flowers, becomes of a uniform, sombre brown colour. A very abundant, bright-blue species of gentian is the last flower to a]:)pear, and, when that is over, nothiuLT remains but a few strav blossoms belonging to an odd assortnient of species ; while the grass, hitherto green, becomes dead, dry, and highly inflammable. From this time until the first tall of snow, which often does not come till December is well ailvanced, is the time when the autumn fires ajjpear ; or, if they do not come then, the dead grass remains and can be burned as easilv the fol- lowing spring. IJefore visiting the ])rairies of the Xorth-we>,t, I must confess that, like many other persons, I had no clear idea as to the great prevalence of the fires, regarding them as occasional occurrences only ; but, from what I have seen and heard, I imagine that the larger i)ortion, at least, of the whole area of the prairies gets burned over annually. This is not surprising when it is considered that the only con- ditions required for fire to run over hundreds of miles — or round the world, for the matter of that, — are a more or less strong wind behind and a stretch of dry grass in front. I H 24 MANITOBA DESCRHU:!). myself saw a fire whirli I had reason to l)clicve was forty miles in lengtli, wliile Professor H. V. Iliiul, to whose "Narrative of the Canadian Red River, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan Ivxplorinj; Ivxjjedilions of 1857 and 185.S," I have already referred, says: "From beyond the south brancli of the Saskatchewan to the Red River, all the ])rairies were burned last autumn [1857]— a vast contlagra- tion extendin^i; for r,ooo miles in len!j;tli and several hundred in oreadth." It is, h(iwever, very ])robable that the jtrairie fu'es occurring now in the North-west are not so extensive as formerly, although probably they are more numerous, on account of the very much greater number of persons there are to start them. 'J'hat their courses should be shorter now than formerly is not due to any increase of the only natural obstacle to their progress, — namely, water, in lakes or streams, — but to the amount of ploiii^lud land which now, both in sj)ring and autumn, largely checks their movements. Iwen on stubble, 1 was told, hre could only run before a very high wind. lUit, if 1 have been compelled to enlarge my ideas as to the ordinary frecjuency and extent of the hres, I have, on the other hand, found it iiecessary to contract my notions as to their average magnitude. It ajipears that on the prairies there are fires and fires : everything de])ends on the length of the grass and the strength of the wind. Every settler, with the slightest grain of forethought, i)ro- vides his house and i)remises with what is known as a " fire- guard." This is done by the very sinijjle process of turning a few furrows Avith a i)lough all round the pren"i,,..s. Many a settler, through the neglect of this jirecauiion, or when he has allowed his fire-guard to become old and overgrown with grass, has had to bemoan the loss of a stack of wheat, oats, or hay, his farm-buildings, or a comfortable house or shanty, built with the labour of his own hands. Not a few persons, whose ideas of prairie fires have been gathered from what they have read, or from pictures in which men, horses, cattle, buffaloes, hare, deer, birds, and what not, are depicted as flying before the devouring element, may feel disinclined to believe that such a simple precaution could be sufficient to stay the onward progress of a fire ; but in most cases it will suffice. On many of the drier PRAIUIi: riKF.S I\ TIIK CANADIAN NORTH-WKsT. 25 was forty whose iiie, and (1 1S5.S," ic south , all the nntlnp;ra- h unci red c prairie xtcnsive uiicrous, persons ould be e of the vater, in H'd land :ks their lid only :as as to lavc, on notions on the nds on wind. t, pro- ' iire- . urn inn- ATany when irown wheat, use or a few hered men, t not, may LUtion fire ; drier 4 portions of tlie prairies, the ^Tnss is very sliort and scanty, and a fire will not "run " unless there be ronsiderablc wind to drive it. ' I'-veii then it is but a very small alTair — merely a narrow, llickerin.i,' line of advancing flame, whi( h uuL^ht almost be llipi)ed out with a wet pocket-handkerchief; and, indeed, as a matter of fact, is olU'U brushed out for short distances with a wet sack or a broom by settlers nn\i )us to preserve their homes ; for. if the fire be stopped alonj^ the windward side of a settler's j)remises, the wind carries the tw( winus of the luv on jtast the sides of the buildin^^^s ; and, althoULih they may eventually join aicain to the leeward, they cannot then ntmn to burn the premises, unless the wind shifts completely round. Such small fues as those of which I now s])eak are often stopped for con- siderable distances by obstacles of much smaller im- jjortaiice than a settler's fire-j,aiard — for instance, by the numerous " traib." as the prairie roads arc called. These, thouuh merely, as a rule, two narrow wheel-marks with L;rass fzrowini,^ between (the "team" runnini:; in the wheel-tracks), often slo|) fires for short distances ; but, bein^ able to cross the trail at other spots, the broken line of flanie L;radually joins again, leaving many triangular patches of imburnt grass on the leeward side of the trail, the apex of the triangle, of course, pointing in the direction in which the fire has gone. I saw instances of this one bright moon- light night when T was i)assing over the dry, sandy prairie between I'ort b.llice and Klkhorn. 'i'hc short, scanty grass had been burned by a fire, the lurid glare of which I had plainly seen, miles away, after dark on the previous evening. The trail 1 travelled on, though but faintly worn, served, nevertheless, to check the fire for 100 yards in some places, so that on one hand I had burned, and on the other un- burned, prairie ; but in ])laces the flames had contrived to creep across, and had gone on their way rejoicing. On one occasion, too, I remember seeing a spot where a small fire had been checked, for several yards at least, by the wheels of a wagon having previously crossed its track, pressing down the short grass, though they had left almost no impression on the soil. Such trumpery fires as these are the rule in dry districts ; but there are times when the wind is strong, and the waving grass grows long and rank ■ ii i 26 MANITOBA DESCRIHED. in a moist soil, when fires occur of much more serious pro- portions. Then a great wall of flame, yards in height, rushes along, causing danger to travellers over the prairie, and destruction to all kinds of settlers' effects. I have been credibly informed that such fires find no difficulty in leaping such a river as the Assiniboine. The f.Uowing account of an adventure with the fire I clijiped from a newspaper. It recounts the experience of a gentleman from Toronto, and will show the danger there is at times : — A Prairik Firk. — Severe prairie fires arc raging between the North and South Saskatchewan, ar ' extending east and west for hundreds of miles, burning up everything throughout this part of the country. I left Battleford last Friday on a buckhoard, accompanied by Dr. Dyke Parker. For several days IJattlefc^rd had been enshrouded in smoke ; anc^ as we advanced southward, the smoke became denser, until some eighteen miles south of ikittlefcird a heavy column of dense smoke and flame was seen advancing towartls us, with a strong wind blowing directly in our teeth. For some little time we dnjve towards it, and then halted, with the intention of burning a patch in which to stand as the fnc swept jiast. V/e were advised by some Indians, however, who were going before the lire, to make for a butie, or hill, where the grass was short, and to run through the fire th.ere, as the smoke was becoming unbearable. This wo accordingly did, reaching it just before the llames lapped up the lguard. 3 it was ponds wd and but, d at a dth, as The smell an not umed the short ire of rested ready :iiries. rtility 'I'rtile ledge only hide it tliat these features are due to the fires. In any case, the ash of the burnt grass was left as a black deposit upon the surface of the ground ; and this was especially the case in the bottoms of sleughs and hollows, and where the willows had made the grass long and rank by shading the soil and keeping it moist. Such siiots, at a little distance, ai)pcared much blacker than the rest of the prairie, and examination showed the deposit of ash to be sometimes as much as one-eighth of an inch in thickness. Now, it is a matter of common observation- that the black prairie- loam is usually blackest in such situations, and I do not think it is at all difficult for any well-trained mind, capable of weighing the effect of a very small cause very often repeated, readily tn comprehend that the blackness, fineness, and fertility of the soil of the prairies is the effect^ in a very large measure at least, of the annual deposition, for many generations past, of a very small quantity of this ash, which must undoubtedly have great manurial value. The thickness of the black loam varies from about one to three feet ; but, taking the average at about eighteen inches and the average annual dej^osition of ash at only one- thirty-second of an inch, we find that it would have taken just 576 years to deposit eighteen inches of soil by this means alone. But the ash would certainly rot further and l)ecome consolidated after deposition ; therefore, let us double our figures, and we get 1,152 years as the time required for the formation of eighteen inches of black loam. Of course, in moist districts, where the grass grows long, the rate would be higher, and in dry districts lower. I am perfectly aware that the foregoing is a very vague, and largely a speculative, calculation ; but it will serve to illustrate my point. The belief as to the black loam having originated thus is far from being an original one, as I met and conversed with many settlers who fully supported it ; whilst others accepted the view, when the facts of the case were repre- sented to them, and only a few dissented. If the blackness and fertility of the soil are not due to the fires, to what are these features due ? Some persons told me that the gradual decay of the grass for generations past was the cause ; but dead grass and leaves have 30 MANM(M!\ ni',^tKH'.II>. (lotMvod in in;uiv iAhcv placrs (or r^ucwxUowi without UmvIu!:. so Inv as 1 h.wc si-rn. a soil nrarlv so lilack as that ol M uiilol>a ri 10 opimon o t" r oii'^sof Shcliloti. of iho .\!:ii(ultural ('o1U\l;o, Pownton. \\ih'-hii(\ is o)ilv mother Mt^ci^ ol' o\ idonco in lavoiu' ot thcMiios, though he docs not alhido I(> th(Mn. llowrilc-s: "Thosoilot' Manitolia is ;i 1 jMUVly \^\;\t taMo loam. Mark as ink and lull ol" or^ani niatt(a-, m sonu^ placos nianv toot thicl <, I'c'stin:; o n the 'Vhv allnxial drift of iho \\(\\ and Assinihoino Rivers." viMv 1i"\v analvsi^s o[' [he soil of Manitoba that ha\o \)ccn made have hoon iniMishod in I'aniuralion Pamphlets almost tiJ 7h7USi\7?n : but, as thev bear on this subject, I will introdn<-e tw»> ot" them liere : AxAiAsis NiMra i; Om: ANAivriiM I , mum; \ rtii^v. Si'uia-oN'-' II\ii. l-aMMU'Rcn. .'\;y ;;//•(•>■ l.|, 1S76. "NToisturc Orgaiiie matter (\intainii\i; nilroL^en eijual U) anmionia, j^^ Saline matter : rhosphaies C'arbetnate lit" lime Carbonate oi' maLrncsia Alkaline salts ... CHide ot" iron ... Silieious niatter : Sand and siliea Aluminia 21-364 \l'22^ 0-47.7 ">/ 51-721 8 ■ 1 3 2 7'5(^>o 59'^'53 lOO'OOO Tito above soil is very rieh in orp;anic matter, and con- tains the full amount ot' the saline I'ertilising matters Ibund in all soils of a good bearing quality. (Signed) SrErHEXsox !M.\cadam, M.D. Lecturer on Chcmisin\ 6"V. >*MR without < ;is (hat 1. «>( llu' inollicT loi's nol )I).i is a (TUMuic ."' 'VUc ; almost , I will Ml. ■}. iS7('). '^C)o ^\53 'OOO con- :)uncl I I f -P, rKAnui: irurs fN mr ( \^'At•r^^^ nmi- i rt wi -i. ',r Anm.vsis Ntmi'I i; Two. A^('. I. — Surfiuc Sinl. 1. Moisture ... ••• ... •• 4"^^' 2. ()r<^aiiic. nuittcr, liiiiinis ( nnt.iiiiiri;; ni(ro[;cn, 'v I'liosplialo and ( atlioiiMtc of" liinc ... ,:; i '[ .|. Soliililc alk;iliii(.' salts, potash and soda >VU 5. Insoluble sili lOO'O N(K 2. — Soil n I 15 ///. /i('!(>7(' S'lrfitcr. 1. Moisture ... ... ... .-• 3*2 2. ( )r<;anic matter ... ... ... ... f/o ;^. IMiospliate and < arhonate of lime ... 5 t "4 4. Soluble alkaline salts ... ... ... 4*6 5. Insoluble siliea ... ... ... ... 3r'8 lOO'O jVo. 3. — Soil a I 24 ///. />c/oii< Surface. 1. Moisture 2. Organie matter ... 3. Carbonate and j)hos])hale of lime 4. Soluble alkaline salts ... 5. lnsolu])le silicates and gravel ... 7-2 2 8- 6 io*4 5i-« lOO'O I consider the aljove a very favourable result for a wlieat soil. It contains a fair average of the constituents of an immediate crop on the surface No. i. l)Oth in ammonia and phospliate of lime, and the constituents of No. 2 and No. 3 show tliat the soil in this res])ect is endur- ing and practically inexhaustible under ordinary prairie tillage. (Signed) J. Bakkr Iu)W.\rds, Ph.TJ)., D.Ch. Professor of Chemistry, Montreal. Jan. 20, 1883. s f 32 MANITOUA DKSCUinKD. No less an authority than Dr. (lilbcrt lias also analysed sanii)lcs of Manitoban soil, and hears testimony to its extraordinary richness in nitrot^en.^' * I cannot pass from tliis discussion as to the ]H'ciiliaiitios and pro- bable origin of the black soil of the North American prairies, willuuit alluilin}; to the ((hor>to:ei>i, or black earth, of Southern Russia, so well described by Sir Roderick Murchison in his " (Icohji^y of Russia in ICurojie and the Ural Mountains " (vol, i., p. 557), and in the " 'ournal of the Royal At:;ricultural Society " (vol. iii., p. 125). The region occupieil by the black earth is an enornu)Us one. llaviiiLj its connnencenRMit in Iluni:[ary on the west, it extends completely across the whole of Munipean Russia, and, althou};h its limits upon the i)lains of Siberia are unknown, it is reported to extend "over considerable spaces in the eastern, central, and southern jiarls of that reifion," and is probably of a somewhat similar nalu'e to the nxitr, or dark soil, of Central India. A line drawn from Kief on tlie l)niei)er, through Kasan on the Volga, to ICkalerinburi; on the eastern side of the Urals, marks its northern boundary ; while another line, n in tlic ) formed )e easiest ly sweep- liabi table, e may, I ic) a still e absence . 1 have and have elsewhere -ielly refer with Mr. )efore Ins ort on of benefited |re, in fact, last, have in their lie North- f the soil ch atten- ntly this must be le shown 1- worms is 's remark rid, and ;y inhabit '• worms I do not know of any cause which can satisf:;ctorily account for the absence of worms from the prairies except the fire, which, by burnintf the grass over large areas, would annually ile[)rive the worms of that variety of decaying vegetable matter which constitutes their food. Frost, the only other possible cause, seems inadmissible, since worms are known to occur in Iceland hundreds of miles to the north. It appears, therefore, as if the cause which has deprived the soil of the North-west of that natural cultivation which the s(jils of most other countries enjoy has, at the same time, liberally su])i)lied it with a manure resulting from tlie ashes of the grass which is annually burned. W'c come now to the consideration of another statement that I have already put forward, which is this : That the fires, by gradually killing and consuming the forests, have caused the treelessness of the prairies ; or, in other words, that the prairies themselves are, largely at least, due to fire. The evidence on this point is, I think, very clear. Several exi)lorers of the North-west, from whose works I shall take the liberty of (quoting, since great experience lends weight to their opinions, speak of this matter without the slightest hesito^ion. It can be shown, on the clearest evidence, that, if the lires have not caused the prairies, they are at least now extending them in numberless places ; that trees still grow on the prairies in spots that are protected from the fire ; and that over large portions of the prairies young trees spring up annually, only to be at once burned ; but, if jjro- tected from the fire, they would grow, and in due time reproduce the banished forest-growth. We will consider the last point first. It is a matter of every-day observation on the prairies, that on any piece of ground over which the fire is prevented from passing (as, for instance, that inside a settler's fire-guard), a flourishing growth of willows, roses, silver-leaf bushes, and poplars at once shows itself. If a portion of the prairie escapes the fire for one year, the growth of bushes has time to attain a height of, say, one or two feet ; but, by keeping the ground moister, they en- courage the growth of long grass, and thus bring about more surely their own destruction ; for, when the relentless fire comes, it catches the grass, and burns the young shoots D 2 i(turc, but one which I have seen in all stages of completion in the bluffs round (.'arberry and elsewhere. It does not seem to me reasonable for any man who has seen the destructive effect of these fires to deny that ^ufticient time inlv is wanted for exactlv the same means to have originated even the wide ])rairies themselves. Over and over again I'rofessor Hind speaks of having observed the same thing — forests of large i)ines, spruces, or tamaracs, l)rostrated by the fire, to be partially succeeded by a less valuable growth f elm, poplar, or willow, which, in its turn, is at last destroyed. Here is what he says upon the subject:-— "That forests once covered avast area in Rupert's Land there is no reason to doubt. Not only do the tradi- tions of the natives refer to former forests, but the remains of many still exist as detached groves in secluded valleys, or on the crests of hills, or in the form of blackened, pro- strated trunks, covered with rich grass and sometimes with vegetable mould or drifted sand. The aLrent which has caused the destruction of the forests which once covered many parts of the prairies is undoubtedly iu-e ; and the same swift and effectual tiestroyer prevents the young growth from acquiring dimensions wi.'-h would enable it to check their annual progress. Nearly everywhere, with the exception of the treeless, arid prairie west of the Souris, and west of l.ong Lake on the north side of the (^u'Appelle, young willows and asjjcns were showing themselves in 1^58, where fire had not been in the previous year. South of the Assiniboine and Qu'Api)elle, few plains had esca])ed the conllagration in 1S57, and the blackened shoots of willow were visible as bushes, clumps, or wide-spreading thickets, where the fire had passed." Again, he says : — " 'i'he annual extension of the prairies from this cause [fire] is very remarkable. The limits of the wooded country are becoming less year by year ; and, from the almost universal i)revalence of small asjjcn woods, it appears that in former times the wooded country extended beyond the Qu'Appelle, or three or fcjur degrees of latitude south of its present limit This lamentable destruction of forests is a great drawback to the country, and a serious obstacle to its future i)rogress." There is no mistaking the tenor of these remarks ; but the same facts must strike every observant traveller on the ' *i 40 MANITOBA DESCRII'.KD. i i prairies. Macoun, for instance, writes : — " The real cause of the absence of wood on every part of the region uhder consideration is undoubtedly prairie fires, which sweep over every ])art of it year after year, destroying the seedling trees as long as there are any seeds left to germinate, and year by year killing the bushes till the capacity of the root to send up shoots dies out, and then ever willows cease to grow Finally, there is not a series of sand-hills throughout the country, no matter how poor the soil, but what has either wood or brush ; while immense tracts of first-class soil are without a bush. The rich soil, with its abundance of grass, affords, when dry [presumably the grass is meant], fuel for the flame which destroys any seedlings which may spring up ; at the same time the sand-hills, being unable to carry fire through their extreme poverty, keep it [the growth of seedlings] alive." Professor Macoun has, over and over again, expre • ;ed ■ ■''■'-n belief in the opinions I have here advanced as to ili^ ^, .trur.tion of the forest-growth by means of fire, and many statements in supi)ort of these views may be found in his interesting work, " Manitoba and the Great North- West " (especially on pages 27 and 28), where he states that between the Rocky Mountains and an imaginary straight line connecting Moose Mountain and the Touch- wood Hills, the whole country is utterly devoid of wood as far north as latitude 52, with the exception of Wood Mountain, the Cypress Hills, and certain narrow river valleys. Elsewhere, in reference to Professor Hind's journey of exploration in 1859, Professor Macoun adds that " where he saw large forests, I passed over in 1880 and never saw a twig." Although further evidence may not be wanting to corroborate that \\ hich has gone before, I will make one more extract. Professor A. R. C. Selwyn, Director of the Geological Survey of Canada, writes as follows : " Whatever the effect may be of these destructive conflagrations, in reference to the water-supply of the region, there is no doubt that at different times almost every square mile of the country between Red River and the Rocky Mountains has been subjected to them ; and that hundreds of miles of forest have thus been converted into wide and almost PRAIRIE FIRES IN THE CANADIAN NORTH-WEST. 4it ?al cause )n uhder eep over seedling late, and the root cease to and-hills soil, but tracts of with its :he grass leedlings Is, being , keep it xpre . ;ed :d as to fire, and e found North- e states 1 aginary Touch- A'ood as \V'ood w river Hind's |in adds n 1880 ting to ike one of the hatever ions, in is no mile of untains f miles almost treeless expanses of prairie." He then goes on to speak of the large area now devoid of trees. Dr. R. IJell, the Assistant Director, in forwarding a report t ; Professor Selwyn shortly after, comments upon the foregoing sentence in the following words : " Your remarks upon the destruction of forests by fire, between Red River and the Rocky Mountains, are corroborated by all that I could hear u})on the subject. The rapidity with which some tracts between Prairie Portage and Fort EUice were stated to have been converted from forest to prairie, is almost incredible." Could anything show more conclusively than the foregoing statements the destruction which these fires have wrought? It may, however, be asked : What has become of the trunks and stumps of these destroyed trees ? The former, lying upon the surface of the ground, would be annually attacked by the fire, and at last would be entirely con- verted into ash, or they would be speedily disintegrated, when once well rotted, by a species of ant which drives tunnels through such soft logs in all directions. Dr. Bell, in speaking of the district south of Fort Ellice, writes : " The aspens of that rc^gion burn much more readily than does the wood of the same tree in Ontario and (Quebec, and the portions which escape total destruc- tion by fire rot and disappear in the course of one or two years." I have heard of charred logs being dug up from a considerable depth below the surface of the open prairie. They had probably been covered by the burrowings of gophers and badgers. 'J'he working of these animals will also, to some extent, account for the disappearance of the roots and stumps of the trees ; but it certainly is surprising that these should have disappeared so completely as they have done. It is a well-known fact that the growth of forests is intimately connected with the climate of any country, and it is natural to conclude that the disafforestisation of the prairie region must have caused some change in the climate. 7"he whole subject has of late been brought prominently before the Canadian public through an ener- getic pamphlet by Mr. R. W. Phipps, of Toronto, in which he shows that the removal, during the last fifty years or ■\{ • n 42 M \M MM! \ IMM KII'M'. SO, of (li(^ (vlrnMxr ((Mrsls wluih loiintMh' (ovckmI tin* r \o\inr('ol ( Mit.mo h;is srnoiish ;illr< ii-ti iis » lim.ilc hv low 'i'hi cnn;; llir nii-;in InnpcMlnu' nmi !«"<•. t-niii!; llir iiiml.i s. ;ii:nin. ilo ll 11,1' iliM \r;r>(^(i llu' \olnm<> ol ihc sIhmius, ImiI in;uii' llv.MU NiiDjvM t lo 'mm(o\1', llood', on Ihr MppiMiinirc o( li(\n\ i.iin. rhr- Ihmmi; tho r;is(\ onr luav liiitiv < ot\< linle th,\1 ihr viinr vc^snljs li;iv»^ lollnwrd llu' iiMno\,\l ol tho iovrsls m thr Noith wx^sl. .nul lli;i1. wimc iIu^\ ti'slnicd, iho high winds ^mrliuhnj: hii/ /rivtls') would hr !'j(\Ml\ K-sscMud. thi^ i;nr,l;\ll «^|n,ilisrd. ;ind llir iiuMii irtnprinliiro lar.rd. Tho sniuo rnuso nnist. ;is ;ilir;id\ st.ilrd. li;i\i' h;id ;i « oti sidiM;iM«' v\'\'ci'\ on \hc lltM;i ;ind (;iunn. holh iIikm ll\- ;md nidiiv«'tl\. b\ « h.inj^inj; llir ( liin;\1o ;ind b\ \hc r\l('nnin;i tion ol ihosr s]H^ri(^s iitl(^d lor ;i lorosl ]\\{\ in hivonr ol tliosr nioi(^ suitt^d \o c\\'^\ o\\ \])c ojhmi phun. or ;il)lo in soino s]HN lal w;n" to \c'^\A []\c iwc. lUMoiv jMOtin^lins; tinllioi U will Ix^ nccrssnrv for mo io ni;iKo two r\p1nn;iti(M\s. Vhc liist is. llinl in s|u\ikinj; ot " ]M,niios" 1 rotor lo tho triio jMinrios onl\, ;ind do lU"*! inrludo tho ;ni«l. stcniU^ roj^ion now » (uninonlv spokon ot' ns tho " Viiont ri;iins."" hot IohiumIn « ;ilK>lain roi^ion. Tho wholo oi tho ((Mitral ]>orti('(n (>t X(>rth Amorica. Ivinu hotwoon tho (iiwil 1 akos and tlio Ro(kv Mountains. nia\ \)c dcscribod as a vast plain sh^iMnu downwards h(Mn tho loot ol tlu^ mountains. North o\ tho Intornational In^undarv lino iho slop(> is nuMV north oastward. as sh(>wn bv tho ooursos ol tho Saskatoliowan. Clunvhill. No1s(Mi, and othor rivors ; while south ol" tho lino tho InMindarv is moro sinith oastward, as shown by tho ooursos ot' tho Miss(nni and tho Mississippi, so that, {o S(Mno oxtonl. tho di\ ision botwoon Canada and the Slates is a natural one. AKmiu this boutularv-lino. the surlaoe ol llie ground vises irom alu">ut 700 leet at the point where the Rod River erosses it lo alnnil 4,000 toot at the base of ilie Roeky Mountains, a distanoe ot" about 1,000 miles ; but this rise inoludes two sutldon litis ot" over ()oo t"eet each, marking the boundaries of the " three prairie IT Ml' I in ■; IN I III ( AN' A hi AN N'll' I II Wl S'f. ^^ im.\li> l)v ' i;uiil;ill. .ims, |)ii| n;li;» r n( ( OH" lildr ll »t| tlit< orcd. ll)(« losscnctl, i«' iMJscd. I ;i ton M ll\ .nul ;iV()iir nl ;il>lr in ■ Ini WW iiiiil do SpilkiMl 1 pooplc ,' /•/.;//;*•; piiiiric Iillcirnl <\Mili,d I ,lkc>S ;i v;isl inl.iins. o|H' is ol \hc ; wliilr nrd. as issii)pi, la and no. the point al the I,O0O cr boo >raiiic I ■,'* sl(>pp("; " mlo will' ll til'' y\('j\ »'iiti.d pl.iiii i; n.ifiii illy divided. '\\\v In^l. or ( ;i',trtiiiiio:;t, Ktippi nnlii.iM"; iIm- vallrv^' ol die l'''d kiv'ci ;iiid I'pprr IVI issi . -ippi. Notlli n( die Intciiialionai I'.oiiiiduw il i'; jpoiindcd "n tjic west |»V die « liain of clcval loir; known a ; die !'( iiiliin,i, Ridiru';, |)iHk, and I'a'i Moimlaiip; ; Itut dic^f air iiltoi/;! tli'T niJH naini'd inoiintaiir;, in.iaiin'li ;i;, wImii tlw ii '.iiiniiiit is ?t ;!( lu'd, aiiodici cxtrn .iv<' phiin ^di<' Sc ond I'ijiih; Steppe) i'> (oiind to ev(( lid huin it, avv;iy to the weslwaid. 'riiis, aj;ain. e; l»oiiiid'. of lon,L;itnde. 'I'lie true plains o( f iipy the Third I'rairu: Steppe, or all the country liet ween the prairie . and the koeky Mountains, "where" (as Trof. I find says) " l)f>th soil and climate unite in estahlishin;^ a slerih; re^'ion." I'ire may have ht.d somethini!; lo do with denuding.'; this re-Mon of its trees, as I'rof. Maeoun seems to(()nsider; hut, on the' f)fher hand, Lieut. K. 1. hodi^^e, in his intercstinj^' work, "Hunting- grounds of the Wild West,'' says he does not heiieve the trei'lessness of the true |)lains tf) he due solely to lire, hut also ])robal)Iy, in jiart, to liiLdi winds .and laek (jf water.* 'I'he second point on whit h I wish to offer an ex[)lana- tion is, that in discussing the destruf tion by fire of the * For further observations on the- plains, rsce p. 14 r. 44 MANIT013A DESCRIBED. ^ ■ ,y forests which once covered large ])ortions of the prairies, wc must take into consideration the fact that the fires will, in nearly all cases, travel eastwards with the i)revail- ing winds. This will be the more clearly seen when it is pointed out that the mean resultant direction of the wind for eleven years (1871 to 1881 inclusive) was N. 44deg. W. This will help us to understand several facts ; such, for instance, as why, if there are any trees, they will, in the majority of cases, be upon the eastern side of a lake or river. Thus, as Captain Butler remarks of the Red River : — " Its tributaries from the east flow through dense forests ; those from the west wind through the vast sandy wastes of the Dakota prairie, where trees are almost unknown." Roughly speaking, the whole of the region for hundreds of miles to the east of Red River and Lakes Manitoba, Winnipegoosis, and Winnipeg, is one of dense forests, pro- tected from the ravages of the prairie fires by those friendly pieces of water ; while the whole region to the west is prairie, exposed to the fire. On the north, the north branch of the Saskatchewan forms the boundary of the true prai- ries. Presumably, the fires must have had some open re- gion in the east for them to start upon, before they could gain strength to attack and destroy the forest lying to the east ; and doubtless the arm or extension of the great plain which extends northwards to the South Saskatchewan, provided such a tract. Another conclusive proof that the reason for trees not growing on the prairie is that the fire prevents them so doing, is afforded by the fact that, wherever there is an island in a lake or in the middle of a " sleugh," that island, being protected from the fire, is covered with trees and bushes. Proofs of this may be seen everywhere on the prairies. Further, when a deep ravine, formed by some rivulet, crosses the bare prairie, its sides are thickly covered with bushes, because, as a rule, the wind cannot get down into the ravine to drive the fire onwards. The same thing is often observable where there is a sudden drop in the surface of the ground. Captain Butler, in his " Great Lone Land," compares the edge of the great sub-arctic forest, " whose northern extreme must be sought where the waters of the Mackenzie mingle with the waters of the Arctic Sea," to the shore of I'RAIRIK FIRES IN THE CANADIAN NORTH-WEST. 45 prairies, the fires prevail- len it is the wind '. deg. \y. uch, for , in the lake or i River : forests ; 'astes of 1." Lindreds anitoba, sts, pro- friendly west is branch -le prai- pen re- y could to the It plain he wan, lat the he fire that, die of fire, is lay be deep rie, its rule, le fire where ipares 'thern :enzie )re of an ocean with *' its capes and promontories, which stretch far into the sea-like prairie, the indentations caused by the fires sometimes forming large bays and open spaces won from the domain of the forest by the fierce flames which beat against it in the dry days of autumn." Of Fort Carlton, on the Saskatchewan, he writes : — " Carlton stands on the edge of the great forest region, whose shores, if we may use the expression, are wasted by the waves of the prairie ocean lying south of it ; but the waves are of fire, not of water. Year by year, the great torrent of flame moves on deeper and deeper into the dark ranks of the solemn, standing pines ; year by year, a wider region is laid open to the influence of sun and shower, and soon the traces of the conflict are hidden beneath the waving grass, and climbing vetches, and the clumps of tufted prairie roses But another species of vegetation also springs up in the track of the fire : groves of aspens and poplars grow out of the burnt soil, giving to the country that park-like appearance already spoken of. Nestling along the borders of the innumerable lakes that stud the face of the Saskatchewan region, these poplar thickets sometimes attain large growth ; but the fire too frequently checks their progress, and many of them stand bare and dry, to delight the eye of the traveller with the assurance of an ample store of bright and warm firewood for his winter camp when the sunset bids him begin to make all cosy against the night." Enough evidence has now been brought forward to show that fire is the agency which has destroyed the forest- growth that once covered the prairies, and that, were the fires stopped once for all, trees in plenty would soon grow up in all parts of the prairies, which are at present so bare. Had these fires been stopped some fifty years ago, it is not, I believe, too much to say that at the present day the Pro- vince of Manitoba would better have merited the title of the Sylvan Province than that of the Prairie Province. In support of this, I will again quote Prof. Hind, who says : — '* In the State of Missouri, forests have sprung up with wonderful rapidity on the prairies as the country became settled so as to resist and subdue the encroachment of the annual prairie fires from the west." Again, he says : — " If ' 'I ii 46 M \Nll(ni\ DISCKIlilP. willmvs and aspens wimt lUMinillrd lo i;i(>\v over the piaities, ihey wouUl soon Ik' eon\eiteil into humid tracts, on which vegetable matter wonld at cunmlate, and a soil adapted to lorest trees be lornu-d. 1 1 a portion ot tlu' prairie escapes the tire tor two or three years, the result is seen in the growtli of willows, :md aspens, thst in patches, then in large areas, which in a short tune become united awA coviM' the country, thus retarding evaporation, anil permitting the necumulation ot'\egelable matter in the soil. A lire comes, destroys the voung lorest growth, and establishes a prairie once more. The reclamation oi iuunensc areas is not be- yond human innver ; the extension oi the prairit-s is evi- ilentlv due to tires, and tires are caused by Indians, chielly lor the juupose of telegra]»hic comnnmicalion, or to divMl the butfaloes from the ct)urse they may be taking. These opcrati(Mis will lease as the Indians and the bulTaloes diminish, - events which are taking place with great ra]>idity.'' lUit the whole oi' the indictment against the tires is not yet told. In the spring time, they often destroy tlie nests of the prairie chickens ; and, as might be exi)ected, when they eome in the autunm, they cause immense destrudion among the settlers' croj^s an^l buildings. The following ]")aragraphs will speak for themselves. They are a few of those I clipped Uom various Manitoban journals :* — "Prairie tires are raging at Long Lake, .l\gg Lake, and the Heaver Hills. At l\gg Lake the lire has entered C'ajnain Moore's limber limit, and is destriiying all betbre it. Twelve or fifteen miles up the river the lire has run through to the bank, and is now working east. Unless rain f:\lls soon, the chanees are tlic whole ct)untry will be burned over. Ahiny of the tarmers at St. Albert have burned around their stacks, and on the south side they have been ])loughed around. No serious losses have been reported so far, and, with a little i")rceaution, no loss of any account need be sus- tained."' ''There has been considerable hay destroyed by fire * A single copy of the /vc^/na Leader, which has just come to haml, dated October 22, 1SS4, records no less than eight instances of the loss by settlers of valuable property. There is also a leading article upon the subject. rKAIkll', IIKIS IN I UK ( \N MU AN N< U I 1 1 W I > r. 47 " |n;iinos, oil \vhi(~h l;il)tc«l to / ('S( .ipcs ;n in the n ill lnri;o rover the itting the re < (lines, a ])niiric is not 1)0- cs is evi- ls, cliiclly to (livrt ;. Those l)iilTal()os Xh i;roat res is not the nests led, \vlion struetion \)ll()\vinL!; a low of ake, and ("aptain Twolvo h to the soon, the Many ir stacks, around. 1, with a, be siis- by fire t come to istances of a leading ^> around tliis district lliis lall. Waller Wells and AIIutI Norton, we arc told, lost all tlicy Ind, in the sliapr of several stac ks, wliii li tlicv l"it n|) at the place known as \i(toria Ho.:;, jaiiies Shaw and ( leor^e Hyde are anion;; th(- lo^ros. 700 bushels of wheat and oats, and 17 tons of hay. Mr. I)est came very near losing his house, the fire burning up his wood-pile to within a few feet of the door." " A prairie fire a few miles from Crystal City was raging the latter j)art of last month. The horizon on every side was lighted up, and it made ."> landscape long to be remem- bered for its j)ictures(|ue beauty. The fire is said to have started on the American side in Dakota, and swept into Canadian territory with great fury, and we are sorry to state that some of the farmers suffered severe loss in the destruc- 4S M.\Nir«)H\ 1)1 s(uim;i). tion ol their rro]is. Mr. D. l\)tl(.M, \vc arc told, l«)st ail of a very large rrop, and lUMrly all ol" the < roj) of Mr. Alex. MeTavish was destroyed, as was in part the crops of (lahriel llohues and Corhilt vV ( 'rookshank, and William (loult- hard. Mr. l-orsyth, in 1,15. not only lost all o( his crop, but also his granary, and nearly all the material he had on the ground tor the construction of a dwelling. This sad exjierience oi' those who have had their crops thus ruth- lessly destroyed will i)'()ve a lesson to many to secure their crops with good and j.ulli( ient the breaks." l''rt)ni the evidenie now atlduceil, it will be seen that the enormous damage tione by the prairie fires has no com- pensating features, except that the i)asturage after them is, perhaps, imj)rt)ved for a time, a matter of comparatively small moment surely. Net I am convinced that by far the largest number o\' fnes, both in the sjjring and autvunn, arc started intentionally by settlers lo improve their i)asturage, t)r, as they tliink, to ritl themselves of moscjuitoes, while the rest arc due to carelessness in not putting out camj)- lires, iVc. This being the case, most persons will very naturally ask why the starting of a fire should not be heavily punishable by law. 'i'hc only answer returnable is, that it is so ; but the difiiculty of carrying out the law is very great. Mr. Acton lUnrows, Minister of Agriculture, obligingly furnished me with a copy of the Act ])assed on February 8, 1880, and entitled "An Act to Prevent the Ex- tension of Prairie Fires.'' It is rather a curiosity in the way of legislation, and may be summarised as follows : — (i.) Any person making haystacks on the oi)en prairie shall ]")rotect them with a ploughed or burned fire-guard, not less than S ft. wide, and not less than 20 ft. from them ; and, to i^'cvent accidents, a tire shall not be lighted for this purpose unless at least three men be present to prevent it running. (2.) Any person disobeying this to be liable to a fine. (3.) Any person allowing tire to run off his own woods or prairies, to the damage of those of other persons, shall be fined, on conviction, not less than 200 dols. or, in defiiult, not more than twelve months' imprisonment. (4.) Any ]-)erson leaving a fire burning without taking effectual means to prevent its spreading on to lands other than his own, shall be finable to the extent of 100 dols., or im- I (•HSl,inA-||«)NS ON 'IlIK CI.IMNTI' (»r MANIInl'.A. lost all of Mr. AKx. of (lal)ricl ;iin (!()iilt- his crop, lie had on 'I'liis sad llius ruth .•cure their }n thai the s no < oin- •r them is, iparalively by far llie ituinii, are pasturai^e, toes, wliile out canip- s will very Id not be returnable .It the law grieulture, passed on nt the Kx- ity in the ows : - len prairie fire-guard, om them ; ed tor this prevent it liable to a his own r i)ersons, ols. or, in ent. (4-) effectual than his Is., or im- V) prisoned lor not more than si\ nionilr.. (5.) The inronncr is to receive half the line. (6.) j'ersons n)ay let out (ire to save Iheujselves from danger. (7.) In case of (ire in woods or on prairies, the nearest overseer of highways may sum- pion tlu> inhabitants to assist in putting it out. (.S.) In case of default, the parties are linabh-. (<).) Damages are recoverable bifore any compelent ( 'ourt of jurisdi* lion. (10.) ( 'opies of this A< I are lo be distributed, (ii.) Ke- l)eals former Ads and ( )rders in Council. Here we have the fust section anupclliniyx man to pro te< t his own goods, and, in so doing, either to use a plough, or, at his own option, the very means whi( h are as likely as not to ^.^( 1:1111 l>. ii i not so meat an onussion ;.s ir.any ]ico]»lo will he iiu iincd to bclicvi". Of nil iho cansc'-: wliicli niakc I'-n^lislunon distrMstfiil ol" C'anada as a lu'ld tor scttKincnt, llio scvciilv of the winter is hv far the most poweilul. \\ ere our would he enUL;rants perl'eedy sati>i"ied in their owiv minds that the winter eerlainlv is not so ^reat an obstacle to the luturc (levelopmtMit ol" the (onntry as some lursons have repre- sented it to 1h'. the tide of emii^ration to (Canada as a whole, and to \ anitoha in partieelar, would he j^reatK increased. To tins point, then, ' will now direct my attention. To the mind ol" the avera;j;e l''nj;lishman, ( 'anada in ;onsihly jircstMits itscU" as a land of i)iM|ietual winter. The ideas ot" t'nr-cl;id nuai, ol' iinulin;; sleigh hells, of hard frosts, ot" " ice carnivals,"" aiul all other kinds of winter sports arc so iiiscparahly c uniecled with C'anada in the tlu)UL;hts of many, that the nijtio.' of there heinj; a sunmicr at all in that eonnlry — to snynothiiiL; of that sunnncr heini; a delightful one — is, at first, not altoi^ether unlikely to ai>pcar absurd. This idea, that Canada is a country know- int; no other season than the winter time, which has almost nneonsciously iKMineated our thoughts, is, 1 believe, largely resjionsible tor the bad name which Manitoba has now come to ])osscss in ihe eves of many peo])lc. What amonnt of truth there is in it let my readers jndgc after having read mv statements. I have no desire whatever to make tlic ISFanitoban winter appear cither more or less severe than it really is ; but the almost universi'l lostimony retxMvcd from actual settlers has }icrfeclly convin( ed nic that the disadvantages of the severe winter have been greatly exaggerated in this country ; though it is useless to deny that they are very great. Lest some should imagine that, having only s'.v'i things at their best, 1 am disinclined to believcthey ever reach their worst, I will here (]uote some remarks made by Captain lUitler in liis "Wild North Land"' (p. 68). He says: ''Those who in summer or autumn visit the great prairie of the vSas- katchewan can form but a faint idea of its winter fierceness and utter desolation. They are prone to paint the scene as wanting only the settler's hut, the yoke of oxen, the ()|!Sr,KV.\l IONS f)\ TFtl CF.IMVIT. OT MWIIOIM. 5' |)c iiK lim-d (listrustrul •ity »'l llir r would l)r Is thai the tlio fntuiv Kivc n'i)rc ;in;i(la as a !)(• L;rcall\ direct my Canada in inter. 'I'lie Is, of hard s i)t winter lada in the i; a summer nmer beinj;]; unhkely to nitry know- iias ahnost eve, largely 1 lias now le. What udge after )han winter is ; but the settler's has the severe s country ; reat. I .est iL!;s at their their worst, in lUitler in 'I'hose who of the vSas- ;r fierceness t the scene f oxen, the waiMin, In Ixrninr at omc the I'aradisc (A' the Inisliafid man. Thi'V lilllc know ol what they s|)(ak. Should they really wiJi to lomi a tine ( onception ol lilc in these solitudes, let tin in ;',o out towards the r lose ol November into the treeless waste; ///f// midst liert (vstorm and blindinp, cold, a!i(l snowdrift so densf that earth and Ik av<'n s(( in wrapped together in indistinguishable chaos, they will witness a sight as different from the sununer ideal as a mid-Atlantic mid-winter storm varies from a tranquil mooiilighl on the ,1'"gean Sea.'' Tius, it may be pointed out, is written as a. result of th'- author's (.'Xjierienf e under canvas merely, and, therefore, is not I'kely to be under- drawn ; but, if any one fancies that occasional spells of weather as bad, or even worse than this, renders life in a well warmed house unbearable, let him go out and a^!: the many settlers that are already on the ])rairies <•, Iiat their cxperieiK e has been, and they will answer almost to a man : " Long and severe the winter doubtless is ; but, for all that, it is not unbearable, nor even, at times, imenjoyable." The -IA^a/' /.(r//c /'^x/^/rss is leader of the anti-Manitoba faction in this country, in a recent issue, the editor of this usually-reliable journal waxes exceedingly wrolli against Professor Tanner, whose ( hief fault appears to have been that, in his " Report on Canada," he had given his opinion U])()n the Manitoban climate, after having made many incpiiries concerning it upon the spot, instead of setting to work in a London oltice to draw ujjon his imagination for his ideas u[)on the subject, as his antagonist has most clearly done. I do not wish to deny that the Professor's rcj)ort docs require rather more shading, by way of contrast with the sui)er-abundant rose-colour whi(h it shows; but, of the two, his opponent, by rushing infinitely further in '.he oi)i)osite extreme, has fallen int(j by far the gravest error. 'J'he North-west is derisively s])oken of as " Pritish Siberia," while, as to its climate, we are told that "sev^n months of winter and five months of mos(luitoe^; is the programme of the year in Manitoba." Next we have the inquiry, very innocently put forward : "Shall we ever get a report on Manitoba written by a visitor who chooses some other time than the pleasant Indian summer — f/n' only tolerable portioii of the year l/i Manitoba — for his travels ]•: 2 i i 'S I P I 52 MANTJOnA F^ESCRIIJED. in the province ? " As showing tlie value of such abuse, it will be well to observe that a few lines higher up we luid been led to suj)pose that no portion of the year was either pleasant or tolerable in Manitoba. It is usually ([uite useless to argue with an author who makes such statements as the foregoing ; but, for the sake of the readers, I wish to poinf out that many reports, such as those asked for, do exist. i''or instance, no one has spoken more highly of the North-west than Cai)tain lUitler, Viscount Milton, Dr. Cheadle, and the author of " A Year in Manitoba," all of whom have passed at least one winter in the country, and some have even suffered considerable hardship from the cold. I'or my own i)art, although I was not in ^Tanitoba during the Indian summer, — a season, it should be remem- bered, which has an average annual duration of less than seven days, — I can assert that during almost the whole of the time that I was there the weather was not only toler- able, but delightful. The author of "A Year in Manitoba," after having sj^ent a winter there, writes : "The sense of cold is certainly much less here than in England ; its dry- ness probably accounts for much of this ; but cold and heat are relative terms as regards the feelings." With 12 deg. of frost, he says, " the weather felt (|uite warm, and both gloves and overcoats seemed sui)erfluous." Ikit the editor's confidence in his own opinion has led him into a trap. He makes an extract from the Professor's report, in which the following appears : — " On account of the bracing dry atmosphere, the fluctuations of temperature are not inconveniently felt, as is the case where the atmosphere is more humid. The warm days in summer are generally followed by cool evenings, and such a thing as very sultry and oppressive heat is scarcely known. The warm days followed by cool nights, and copious dews, facilitate the growth of cereals in a wonderful degree. The winters here are also very pleasant and bracing, proceeding from the same cause, namely, the dryness of our atmosphere." "This is a little too much, and it renders one unavoidably cautious in accepting the Professor's judgment of other matters in Canada," says our editor, apparently over- looking the fact that the foregoing is no vain imagination of Professor Tanner's, but the deliberate opinion of Mr. i J f § " such abuse, it icr up we liad year was cither usually ([uitc uch statements ders, I wish to asked for, do c highly of the : Milton, Dr. nitoba," all of '2 country, and ship from the t in Manitoba jld be remem- n of less than t the whole of lot only toler- in Manitoba," The sense of ;land ; its dry- cold and heat With 12 deg. rm, and both ." But the )d him into a or's report, in Df the bracing ature are not itmosphere is are generally as very sultry le warm days facilitate the : winters here ing from the atmosphere." : unavoidably ent of other irently over- imagination iiion of Mr. IM 'M Genkral Meteorolocical Means and Ouantities from Ohservations i Mean Height of the Darorneter j 29.1369 Mean Temperature \ 32*43 Maximum Temperature | ioo'3 -Minimum Temperature — 40"3 Mean Percentage of Sky Clouded ' 0-52 Auiount of Rain in inches 15-600 Amount of Snow in inches ei-t^o Total Precipitation of Rain and melted Snow 20-i75 Xum her of Days on which Rain fell , j 56 Number of Days on which Snow fell j 48 Numbe'- of Fogs J7 Number of Auroras | ^g Number of Thunder-Storms "' j 27 32-84 99-5 -41 "o 0-50 2 1 '620 73 '02 30-170 54 46 9 59 27 29-1295 32-29 94-3 ! — ^6-0 i — 0-49 13-vSo 36-85 1 7 -040 61 55 6 81 24 29-1451 31-85 94-5 387 0-41 14-988 36-17 18-314 47 42 8 54 31 29-1474 29-63 94'3 -41 -b 0-46 12-290 47'ii 15-847 68 57 2 42 13 Certain Meteorological Means and Quantities Pmenemona. Jan. Feb. 1 March. April. May. 5475 83-5 29-2 June. Mean Temperature Maximum Temperature .... .. iSSo > 5 0-50 40-5 31-3 — 2*23 364 35-3 447 • 36-3 30-72 67-5 3-2 62-79 Minimum Temperature i^7*o 34 'o Mean Tem])erature Maxinnnn Temperature Minimum Temperature . 1881 — 9*2 31-5 -40 "5 37 29-0 -27-3 1 20-8 41 '3 ! 8-2 32-12 59 5 10-3 57'4 84-6 21-3 6-28 98-0 397 Mean Temperature (avera^j^e)... 2-9 30 i 9-0 i 30-2 51-2 63-6 •ROM OliSERVATIONS TAKKN AT ^VI^^•II•E(;, FROM 1871 iO 18S1 INXLUSIVE. IS74 1875 1876 29-3191 31 34 95-0 43*0 0-50 22-950 74-21 29-184 68 46 8 31 28 i 1877 1878 1879 1S80 1881 Mean for II Years. 29-1451 31-85 94-5 -38-7 0-41 14-988 36-17 18-314 47 42 8 54 31 29-1474 29-63 94-3 — 41-b 0-46 12-290 47-11 15-847 68 57 2 42 13 29'i5i7 36-88 95-0 44-3 0-48 22-034 30-30 24-608 78 29 16 33 25 29-0993 36-96 94-5 25-3 0-56 24-135 34-44 29*516 81 34 5 12 17 29'I'520 33-36 93-0 -50*5 0-52 19-810 57-90 25*235 91 39 9 36 31 29-1365 31-82 90-3 —44-4 0-55 21-683 58-19 27-166 76 46 7 26 33 29-1520 34'3 98-0 —40-5 0*57 8*055 80-19 18-094 79 49 II 36 29 • 29-1530 33-06 95-34 40-5 f 0-51 16-977 52-72 23-304 69 45 9 42 27 ?ANs AND Quantities observed at Winnh'ec. May. June. Julv. August. wSept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Year. 54-75 83-5 29-2 62-79 5^7-0 34-0 6S-61 90-3 39*0 62-24 84*3 37*0 51-97 78-0 27-0 38-25 74-3 14-0 12.46 46-3 25-3 —2-58 34-5 44*4 31-82 90-3 44-4 57-4 84-6 21-3 6-28 98-0 39-7 69-9 93-5 39 -o 66-4 88-7 51-1 81-0 27-0 34*3 66 -o 11 -0 121 44-8 —26-3 lo-i 387 —27-3 34*3 98-0 —40-5 51-2 i 63-6 65*9 64-8 51-3 1 40-0 1 146 0-6 32-6 To face p. 53. li ( iKM.KAJ. Mm K<)K()I.()i;i(.\ IIKNOMKNA. Mean I Icitjht of the Ijarometcr Mean 'rcni|)ei-atiirL' Maximum Temptiaturc M inimum Temperature. . Mean I'erceiitage of Sky Clouded Amount of Rain in inehes Amount of Snow in inches Total I'recijiitation of Rain and melted Snow Number of Days on which Rain fell Number of Days c>n which Snow fell Number of Foj^s . . Number of Auroras Number of Thunder-Storms 1S7 29.1 32-4 IOO\3 -403 51-5 20'I 5 4 I 4 2 1' !§ '' I Pit K.N EM ON A. j an. Fei Mean Temperature 18S0 ) » 1881 J) 5» 0-50 40-5 -31-3 — 2": Maximum Temperature Minimum Temiierature 36 V -35-: Mean Temperature Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Mean Temperature (averai^e) — 9-2 31-5 —40-5 3-: 29 'C -27-: 2-9 3c OBSERVATIONS ON THK CLIMATE OF MANir015A. 53 5 A I A 2 J) / James Stewart, of vSt. Andrews, Manitoba, who has resided there and systematically recorded the fluctuations of the weather since the year 1867. Further comment is need- less. So f:ir as the readings of the barometer and thermometer go, no one need any longer be in ignorance of the climate of Winnipeg ; for the daily readings of both, from the beginning of 187 1 to the end of 1S81, together with "certain meteorological means and ([uantities " for each year, and for ^he whole period of eleven years, are given in full in the " Report of the De})artment of Agriculture for 18S2." The first of the two tables on the accomj)any- ing sheet gives the principal results of these observations. The second indicates the maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures for each month in 1880 and 1881, and also for those two years as a whole, as shown by the report : as well as the average mean temperature of Winnipeg for the year and for each month in the year, as given in the article " Canada,'' i'^. the last edition of the "' Encyclopcncdia Britannica." Although the winter is thus shown to be excessively severe if the thermometer alone be consulted, the almost universal testimony one receives from settlers is that, although the duration might be considerably shortened with advantage, still it is far from being an unbearable or even disagreeable time ; that a temperature of many degrees below zero is not felt to be anvthing like the inconvenience it would be here. The nights are excessively cold, and so are the mornings and evenings. It is then that the mercury shrinks to 30 deg. or 40 deg. below zero, and people who are not very careful of themselves are certain to get more or less severely frost-bitten. But for several hours at mid-day the state of things is generally very different. The sun shines brightly, and even warmly, through the clear dry air, upon the dazzling white snow : out-door work can be carried on, provided there is no wind ; the mercury rises to zero, or even higher, and all nature looks so cheerful that existence itself is said to be a l)leasure. Of course there are precautions which must be taken, or the return of the intense cold at night will freeze the unlucky settlers in their very beds. 'I'he houses are 54 MAXITOIiA DESCRIBED. u ^;[^ I built bolidly and coni])actly, with small rooms that can be conveniently warmed with a stove in which a fire is kept up all night. Not a few settlers told me that if they could only get plenty of coal they would laugh at the worst frosts. The much-abused stove is, of course, as much an insti- tution in Canada as in the States. Whether or not it is more unhealthy than an open fire I do not know ; but I do know that as a warming contrivance it is vastly superior, while, as a cooking api)aratus, it is not inferior. A hot fire is very (juickly obtained in a Canadian stove, and cooking is done as easily as with a kitchen range. Unlike an open grate, a stove gives off heat all round, while the chimney or pii^e, still giving off heat, is carried u}) through the ceiling to the room above (when there is one), where a tin contrivance, called a "drum," is often used. In this the hot air circulates, often giving off as much warmth as the stove below. Thus, the whole of the heat generated by the consumjjtion of fuel in the stove, is, as far as possible, utilised, and but little is sent up the chimney to warm the clouds, which is the i)rincipal effect of open grates. The ]\Ianitoban farmer, with his small, stove-warmed house, has the power of making himself snug, which many an English cottager finds he lacks when an unusually severe winter arrives. Out-doors, great fingerless mittens of buffalo-hide are worn on the hands ; huge overcoats, made of woolly bufflilo- robes, and worn over everything, give human beings an extremely ursine api)earance ; while mocassins of soft moose-skin cover the feet, and permit that free circulation of the blood which hard leather boots would prevent, thereby causing the feet to become frozen. Though made of soft skin, there is no danger of their becoming worn out or wet through, for the fine powdery snow is always dry, and always soft, and seldom melts until the arrival of the universal and rapid spring thaw. IManitobans know what to expect during winter, and prepare for it accordingly. There is never any doubt, as there is here, whether the coming winter is going to be a hard one, or, indeed, whether there is going to be a winter at all. 'rhe hard frost comes one year much as it came the year before — perhaps a little more or a little less severe, OI5SERVATI0X.S OX TIIK C Ll.MATi: OF MAXITOI'-A. 55 t can be kept up :iy could St frosts, an insti- nct it is but I do superior, ^ hot fire cooking an open chimney :)Ugh the lere a tin this the ith as the erated by ; possil>le, warm the tes. The lOUse, has n Enghsh re winter •hide are y buffalo- beings an of soft irculation prevent, (Ugh made worn out Iways dry, val of the inter, and doubt, as rm to be a le a wmter as it came ess severe, but still always intense. During tlie night, the very earth outside, and the logs or beams of the house, can sometimes be heard cracking like pislol-shots. 'l"he })anes of the window become covered with solid blocks of ice, due to the condensation of moisture, often levelling them up with the sashes: and little buttons of ice form on the lieads of each of the tacks that nail the paper to the frame of tiie house. The winter of 1882-83 ^^"^'^ often si)oken of as a very severe one, the mercury fretjuently falling at night to 20 deg. or 30 deg. below zero, while on one occasion it is said to have reached - 50 deg. Fahr. The cracking of the beams of a house is akin to the cracking of a ship's timbers during an Arctic winter. It is imaginary rather than real, since no cracks o\^q\\. Hut it is different with the earth. In hollows and slight dei)res- bions on the prairie, where water has stood in the autumn and been frozen with the soil, the surface of the ground during the following summer may be jilainly seen to have been cracked and riven by ziz-zag, lightning-like seams running into one another every few feet or inches. The actual cracks do not ga})e open, but still it is easy enough . to see where they have been. Even on the dr)-, level l)rairie, when breaking is going on, a number of sods may often be seen to break in two in exactly the same line as the plough lifts them. This is due to an old winter frost- crack, which, though it could not before be seen by the eye, thus shows itself The winter usually sets in about the last week in October or first in November, and continues without a break until the beginning or middle of April. It is said that a thaw which does not completely clear the ground is more to be dreaded in the North-west than a temperature of 50 deg. below zero ; for the hard crust that forms during the next frost causes manv animals to starve through being unable to get at their food beneath it. lUit it must not be sup- posed that the lovely winter days that have already been spoken of are invariable. As in other countries where the cold of winter is intense, it only becomes unpleasant when a wind is added. A very low temi)erature can be easily endured when all is perfectly still ; but, when a wind is added, frost-bites at once occur. Now ^vlanitoba, being a 56 MANITOHA DKSCRinEI). level, open country, is a good deal exposed to the effect of winds ; and this fact may be blamed for the greater part of all that is disagreeable in connexion with the winter. The fine powdery snow lies on the ground ready to drift with the slightest wind, and it requires no little skill so to manage the winter drifts that they may be turned where they are the least inconvenience. Out on the open prairie, the slightest obstruction or eminence causes the driving snow to form a long, narrow drift behind it, which drift, as soon as the wind shifts round to any other ([uarter, throws another drift, as wide as the first is long, and at right-angles to it. Few things throw a worse drift than a straw-stack, or a building with sloping sides ; for, as there is '^othing to turn the wind, the snow is deposited all over and around such a building, whereas a sheer upright wall throws the wind back, to some extent, causing a drift to be formed at a little distance from the wall, — this distance being greater according as the wall is high. Of all things Manitoban, the most to be dreaded is a *' blizzard." This phenomenon is usually concurrent with a very low temperature, and woe be to the unlucky settler who is out on the prairie away from shelter when a blizzard comes on ! A terrific wind, chilled below zero, sweeps over the surface of the ground, driving the [)0wdery snow in clouds before it till it is utterly impossible to see one's way. A real blizx.ard of great severity, fortunately, is not of very frec^uent occurrence. A blizzard often lasts for an entire day, but seldom more than one occurs in a year, and that usually about February. During a blizzard, it is not neces- saiy for snow to fall, but that which i)reviously lay on the ground is lifted up and driven forward with tremendous S])eed. One man told me that he had heard of a case in which a settler, returning home with his team, had been caught in a blizzard ; but, by standing up on his load, he was able to get above the snovv into clear atmosphere, and he thus managed to find his way home. Yet, after all, a blizzard is as nothing when compared with the frightful tornadoes, which are sometimes known to sweep over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Dakota, clearing everything before them, — levelling houses, and killing people. For "iiE OHSKRVATIONS ON llir, t'MMATK 01 MAMIOIIA. feet of jr part ^vintcr. drift . so to wlicrc ion or narrow ; rouiid as the throw a sloping e snow A'hercas extent, om the 1 wall is led is a cnt with y setder blizzard eps over snow in le's way. ; of very n entire nd that |)t neces- on the [iiendous case in lad been load, he ere, and Iter all, a frightful ep over |-erything lie. For whatsoever reason it may be, Manitoba has never been cursed with such as tliese. The following grai)hic desi riplion of a bli/zard is from the pen of my friend, Mr. E. V. T. Seton, of Carberry. 1 make no excuse for inserting it here : -- A M.\Nn()i;.\\ l'i.i/,/,.\Rr). l^raniati^ pcrsoyuc. — A Manitoban party consist incj (after ("apt. Mayiie Rcid's jilan) of some [^lecnhoins, a scientific member, and an experienced native, known as John. All Ontarians liave heard of that simoon of the snow — a Manitoban bli/.zard ; but, unless they have travelled beyond the bounds of their province, they can never have experienced one ; for a bli/zard can only take place in a land of intense cold where there is a level unbroken waste of snow. Durinj:^ our first winter we were very naturally lookint; out for the terrors of a bliz/ard. Time W(jre on into the Christmas season ; the snow lay deeper and deeper on the ground, and the thermometer was steadily below zero ; but there was no _L;real