i IRRITO. T VES? “a RTH ( XPEDITIO cae ING E ULE ItIND, M. A. xO HENRY JOE R (Peary ai it i i i i r REPORTS ON THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. REPORTS OF PROGRESS; TOGETHER WITH A PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL REPORT ON THE MADE UNDER INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE PROVINCIAL SECRETARY, CANADA. By HENRY YOULE HIND, M.A. PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TRINITY COLLEGE, TORONTO, IN CHARGE OF THE EXPEDITION. Printed by Order of the Legislative Assemblp. TORONTO: PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, CORNER OF YONGE AND MELINDA STREETS. (O68 Fee A./1087 INTRODUCTION. THE interest manifested by the Government and people of Canada in the North-West Territory, and particularly that portion of it described in the following pages, appears to call for a precise description of the manner in which the explora- tion was conducted. An enumeration of the data and of the sources of information embodied in the accompanying maps, sections, and plans, may also be acceptable. With a view to anticipate and satisfy a very reasonable demand, I give below a brief description of our mode of observing and recording the natural features of the country through which we travelled. I do not suppose that the method pursued possesses the slightest novelty, or that it is not sus- ceptible of improvement, but in view of the wide extent of country it was desirable to describe and delineate during one season of five months, it was after much consideration and the experience of the previous year, thought to be the best we could adopt. My instructions, as regards objects to be observed and facts to be recorded, were precise and exact; but with reference to the exploration of particular sections of country, His Excel- lency the Governor General, with a generous and encouraging “ confidence in my judgment and discretion,” left me at liber- ty to make any other exploration in addition to those specially mentioned.* At the outset it was agreed to employ certain descrip- tive terms in noting the features of the country, which the experience of the previous year enabled us to select, in order to record an accurate and uniform representation of different objects of the same kind, in case separate parties should be formed from time to time.t A little experience in Rupert’s Land shows the necessity of this precision. wo oO =z. es co oO ize Fi. Al < m a THE N¢ 2 N? 3 LANE’S POST. AT LITTLE SOURIS AT OF ORT ELLE #t Zz - . 4, Carrent Tt miles an hour. Current 7+ miles an hour. larrentlé miles are hour 720 FEET. 250 FEET. 195 FEE Te s= ie SOUTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN, NE AR TT HiCE Ek. (Bi *O--We Current 2é¢ mules av hour. 7649 FLEET. THE LITTLE SOURIS LiTT LE SASKATCHEWAN OR DAUPHIN RIVER AT ES MOUTH. 5 Met bE 2S: FROM IFS: MOUTH. bi Za a i 4 - Current pa mile wr hour. Pinta Bey ie a, 7¢3 FEET, We he E SASKATCHEWAN, AT BIGSTONE RIVER. Current 2 miles an hour. GEO FEET. VALLEY of thr ASSINNIBOIS NEAR. FORT ELE VCe. THE R ED REVER AT 0&8 BUNN’S HOUSE. AT LANE’S PC wy Current It miles ark = Current ¢ mile av hour. 48O FEET. 720 FEET. THE SASKATCHEWAN RIVER, AT FORT A LA CORNE. Current 3 miles an hour. 965 FEET. FISHING LAKE N? 3, IN THE QUAPELLE VALLEY. i Mer creer cere c reer ee THE N? ] N? 2 N? 3 LANE’S POST, AT LITTLE SOURIS : AT FORT “ELLICE Current It miles an hour. Current 7E miles an hour. Carrentlé mules arv hour. 720 FEET. 230 FEET. 7385 FEET. SOUTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN, N E AR To JAE EL BOw Current 2¢ mules av hour. 7849 FLEET HOR: SCALE 10. CH®*T INCH. , VER: COA LE 200 Fr = JINCH. —————————————————————————— NEN Vacear 6 Co. Lith Torcnts ’ THE ear ke SOUR. IS: 5 Cuter Loe SASKATCHEWAN OR DAUPHIN RIVER AT Lor MOUTH. 5 MILES FROM its MOUTH. - z Current pamile wr hour Current ot miles an hour 743 FEET. 3IO FEET. T HOE SHAS: i A Te Cone WwW AUN, AT BIGSTONE Ro BOR: Current 2 miles an hour. GBO FEET. VALLEY of tar ASSINNIBOINE, NEAR FORT Ebb LeEe . MILE 80° CHAIN GENERAL REPORT AND NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. GENERAL REPORT OHAPTER I. FORT GARRY TO THE MOUTH OF THE LITTLE SOURIS RIVER.—THE MOUTH OF THE LITTLE SOURIS TO THE BOUNDARY LINE. The Start—Supplies— Prairie Ridges—The Big Ridge— Pigeon Traps—Stony Mountain—Birds—Saline Effiores- cence—Character of the Big Ridge—The Assiniboine— Grasshoppers— Ojibway encampment—Archdeacon Cochrane —Prairie Portage—Cliff Swallow—Thunder Storms— Ojibways— The Bad Woods—Assiniboine Forest—River— Rabbits—Sandy Hills of the Assiniboine—Latitude—Dimen- sions of Valley—Variation of Compass—Sand Dunes— Aspect of Country — Hail storm — Balsam Spruce — Pine Creek—The Iniitle Souris—Grasshoppers — Fish—Sioux— Cretaceous Rocks—Blue Hills —Pembina River—Backfat Lakes—Vast Prairie—Prairie Fires—Horizontal Rocks— Inoceramus—Guelder Rose—Lignite—Ancient Lake beaches —Sand Dunes—Oak Lake—Souris Sand Hills — Night- hawk—Bog Iron Ore—Floods in 1852—Grasshoppers, Inji- nite multitude of—Appearance of the Sky, of Prairie--Little Souris Valley—Tracks—Turile Mountain—Sioux—Charac- ter of Prairie—Souris Lakes—Boulders—Mandan Village— Character of the Souris south of the 49th parallel. On the morning of the 9th June, 1858, the Half-breeds en- gaged for the Expedition into the Prairie country west of Red River, assembled at our temporary quarters in the Settlement, and began at once to load five Red River carts and a waggon of American manufacture, with two canoes, camp equipage, instruments, and provisions for a three months journey. At noon the start was made, and the train proceeded to Fort Garry,* a distance of eight railes, to take in a supply of flour and pemican. We camped about half a mile from the Fort and took an inventory of our baggage, and made such regulations and arrangements as are considered necessary at the com- mencement of a long journey through a country partly inhab- ited by hostile tribes of Indians, and not always affording a supply of food even.to skilled hunters. The whole party consisted of thirteen individuals besides myself, namely: Mr. Dickinson, Surveyor; Mr. Fleming, Assistant Surveyor; Mr. Hime, Photographer and Assistant Surveyor ; six Cree half-breeds, a native of Red River of Scotch descent, one Blackfoot half-breed, one Ojibway half- breed, and one French Canadian. Our provisions consisted of * “The mean of five observations at Upper Fort Garry, at the mouth of the Assiniboine, for latitude, three meridian by altitude of the Sun and two by Polaris, gave for the latiude 49° 53’ 24". Mr. Calhoun, who was attached to Major Long's expedition in 1823, made it 49° 58’ 35", but accoraing to a record in the possession of one of the officers of the Fort, Lefroy placed it in latitude 49° 58" Owen’s Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, p. 180. one thousand puunds of flour, four hundred pounds of pemican, one thousand rations of Crimean vegetables, a sheep, three hams, and tea for three months, with a few luxuries, such as pickles, chocolate, a gallon of port wine, and one gallon of brandy. Each cart was loaded with about 450 lbs. weight, and the waggon with double that amount. The canoes of birch bark, 18 feet long, weighed 150 lbs. each. At the White Horse Plains, 22 miles from Fort Garry, we purchased an ox to serve as a dernier resort in case we should not meet with buffalo; and at Prairie Portage, the last settlement on the Assiniboine, I engaged the services of an old hunter of Cree origin, who had been from his youth familiar with Indian habits and stratagems. This addition increased the party and mate- rial, before we left the last settlement, to fifteen men, fifteen horses, six Red River carts, one waggon, and one ox. Leaving our camp early on the morning of the tenth, we ascertained by levelling the altitude of an ancient lake ridge, near to St. James’ Church, to be eleven feet above the prairie at Fort Garry, and about two miles from it. These ridges are common in the prairies of Red River, and do not necessarily point to an ancient lake margin. It is probable that most of them were formed under water. They may be traced for many miles, but are sometimes lost in the Sone rise of the prairie. The ancient boundaries of Lake Winnipeg, when its waters |-were about 90 feet above their present altitude and occupied the whole of the country now covered by Lakes Manitobah, Winnipego-sis, and Winnipeg, with the intervening low land, is well defined in one direction by the Big Ridge, which on one side or another of Red River is easily traced for more than three hundred miles; it is shown on the map. On arriving at St. James’ Church, we separated into two divisions, Mr. Fleming and Mr. Hime, with the carts and waggon, proceeding to Lane’s Post on the Assiniboine, 22 miles from Fort Garry, while Mr. Dickinson and myself, with two half-breeds, struck in a north-westerly direction across the prairie to Stony Moun- tain, and thence to the Big Ridge, having arranged to meet at Prairie Portage. In a wheat field opposite St. James’ Church were several pigeon traps, constructed of nets 20 feet long by 15 broad, stretched upon a frame ; one side was propped 1 up by a pole 8 feet long, so that when the birds passed under the net to pick up the grain strewed beneath, a man or boy concealed by the fence withdrew the prop by a string attached to it, and the falling net sometimes succeeded in entrapping a score or more of pigeons at one fall. Near the net some dead trees are 40 placed for the pigeons to perch on, and sometimes stuffed birds are used as decoys to attract passing flocks. In pursuing our course to Stony Mountain we endeav- oured to follow the ridge before alluded to, but after tracing it for several miles it became imperceptibly blended with the level prairie. Several ridges were crossed after we lost the first, but in all cases they died away after having preserved their rounded form for two or three miles. Stony Moun- tain is a Limestone island of Silurian age, (?) having escaped the denuding forces which excavated Red River valley. It is about four miles in circumference, its highest point is 66 feet above the prairie level. Horizontal layers of Lime- stone, holding very few and obscure fossils, project on its western cliff-like sides. Its eastern side is gently sloping, and some ten feet from the summit the remains of an ancient lake beach is well preserved. Viewed from a distance Stony Mountain requires little effort of the imagination to recail the time when the shallow waters of a former extension of Lake Winnipeg washed the beach on its flank, or threw up as they gradually receded, ridge after ridge over its level floor, where now are to be found wide and beautiful prairies, covered with a rich profusion of long grass. Leaving the Stony Mountain our course lay westerly through a wet prairie to the Big Ridge. Gray cranes, ducks, and plover were numerous on the marshy tracts, and in every little bluff* of aspen or willow the beautiful rice birds were seen or heard. Where we camped on the edge of a lake near the the foot of the Big Ridge, bittern, grackle, and several varie- ties of duck flew to and fro in alarm at our invasion of their retreats. On the flank of the Big Ridge the Cinnamon or solitary thrush was noticed ; but most common of all was the Tyrant flycatcher, who endeavoured to hold undisputed sway over the bluff he had selected as his home. Near and west of Stony Mountain many small barren areas occur covered with a saline efflorescence. They may be traced to the Assiniboine and beyond that river in a direction nearly due south to la Rivéire Salé, and the 49th parallel. These saline deposits are important, as they in all probability serve, as will be shown hereafter, to denote the presence of salt bearing rocks beneath them, similar to those from which the salt springs of Swan River, Manitobah Lake, and La Riviére Salé issue. iarly on the morning of the 17th, we ascended. the Big tidge. Its elevation above the Prairie is about 60 feet; on its south side it slopes gently to the Prairie level, on its north side is a Plateau well wooded with aspens. The view from its summit extends far and wide over the Assiniboine Prairies. On the south flank, and skirting its base, are groves of aspen and balsam poplar, with scattered oak trees and willow bushes. The pasturage in the open glades is of the first quality. The ridge is quite level and about 80 to 100 feet broad, destitute of trees, slightly arched and composed of gravel forming an ex- cellent road. Here and there it is cut by rivulets draining the marshes in the Plateau on its northern side. As it approaches Prairie Portage its apparent elevation diminishes, until at the Portage River it is no longer discernible. We traced it for a distance of 70 miles. It will be mentioned further on that this ridge, or one formed at the same period, is again seen wes! of Manitobah Lake, near the Hudson Bay Company’s Post, Ma- nitobal: House. It continues to preserve there the same cha- racters of horizontality, uniform outline, gravelly formation and * The Half-breeds call little groves of aspens or willows in the prairies “ bluffs,” admirable suitability for the purposes of a road which have been noticed in connection with its extension north of the Assi- boine and east of Red River. For many miles, ties for a Rail- way might be laid upon it without a pebble being removed, and the only. breaks in its continuity occur where streams from the Plateau and higher grounds in the rear have forced a passage through it. It follows, however, the south and western contour of Lakes Winnipeg and Manitobah, and passes through a country not likely to be first selected by a large body of set- tlers. It is important, in so far that it forms the boundary of land of the first quality which occupies the low Prairie Valleys of the Assiniboine and Red River. Soundings in Lake Manitobah showed such a uniform depth of eighteen feet for a distance exceeding 60 miles along its south eastern coast that, if its bed were exposed, it is probable that it would, in process of time, also become a rich and extensive prairie country, with its present beach, distinctly visible as its old boundary. Indeed, the aspect of this drained country for several miles beyond the Big Ridge, both on the Assiniboine and Red River, is similar to the undrained marshes, ridges and bogs which exist on the west coast of Lake Manitobah, and points to a very gradual but constant draining of this region. We reached Prairie Portage in the evening, where we join- ed the main party. The Assiniboine at Lane’s Post (June 16th) is 120 feet broad; its turbid water flows at the rate of one mile and a half per hour. A few miles west of Lane’s Post, the saline efflorescence before noticed as occurring in patches on the prairies and forming small barren areas, is no more to be seen; it consists of chloride of sodium and sulphate of magnesia, with a little chloride of calcium. Grasshoppers were first observed at Lane’s Post this year, they were the brood from the eggs deposited by a swarm which alighted on the White Horse Plains in September last. At Prairie Portage we found an Ojibway encampment in which were some of the refractory personages who had hitherto resisted the humane and unceasing efforts of Archdeacon Co- chrane to christianize them. Among the various methods tried by the Archdeacon to induce them to settle and farm, the first preliminary to the progress of christianity among wild Indians, that of presenting the most docile with an ox and plough and teaching them to use it, was the least successful. At the first good opportunity, or during a time of scarcity, the ox and plough would be sold to the highest bidder for very much less than it cost. A promise to add another ox at the end of a year if the first gift was faithfully preserved was of no avail,—the charms of the buffalo plains were too tempting or the seduction of gambling too powerful to be withstood, notwithstanding the most solemn heathen promises. The school, however, gives better hope, and no doubt the rising generation, both Indian and half-breed at Prairie Portage, will form a thriving, indus- trious and christian community. Prairie Portage is very delightfully situated 65 miles west of Fort Garry, on the banks of the Assiniboine. The prairie here is of the richest description, towards the north and east, boundless to the eye. The river bank is fringed with fine oak, elm, ash, and ash leaved maple; on the south side is a forest from three to six miles deep; the river abounds in sturgeou and gold eyes, and, within 18 miles, there is a splendid fishing station on the coast of Lake Manitobah, where the Por- tage people take vast numbers of white fish every fall. The old water course of the Assiniboine, near the Portage, now a long nazrow lake, fringed with tall reeds, teems with wild 41 fowl and grackle, among which we frequently noticed and pro- cured specimens of the yellow-headed blackbird. Prairie Portage will become an important settlement, not only on account of the vast extent of fertile country which surrounds it, but because it lies in the track of the buffalo hunters pro- ceeding to the Grand Coteau and the South Branch by way of the Souris River. It is also near to the fertile country unwatered by White Mud River, and the road to the south western flanks of the Riding Monntain passes by the Portage. The current of the river is very uniform here, careful levelling showed that it fell 1yy’p inches a mile; its speed is two miles an hour. The cliff swallow (hirundo fulva) had built its nests in great numbers on the banks of the river, which are about 16 feet above the level of the water; I counted no less than thirteen groups of their nests within a distance of five miles, when drifting down in a canoe. The cliff swallow was afterwards seen in great numbers on the Little Souris, the South Branch of the Saskat- chewan, and the Qu’Appelle River. The first of a series of thunder storms which lasted for some weeks visited us this afternoon (17th). The warm rain fell in torrents and thoroughly wet all who were exposed. Pigeons were flying in vast numbers across the Assiniboine, and the black tern was numerous in the prairies near the settlement. In descending the river for a few miles to inspect its banks, we had occasion to pass by a fish weir where a number of Ojib- ways from the camp near the Portage were watching with spears in their hands for sturgeon. They took no notice of us as we passed, being too busily engaged, but on our return to the encampment we found them waiting with fish to barter for tobacco and tea. We made them a few trifling presents, and, by way of recompense, sustained during the night the loss of a fine cheese, which after curiously eyeing during supper, they had modestly asked for a morsel to taste. They found it excellent, no doubt, and quietly in the dead of night, opened the basket in which it had been placed and abstracted it. In future, when Indians were around, all eatables and articles they might covet were properly secured, and the cheese proved to be our only loss during the exploration. Leaving Prairie Portage on the morning of the 19th, we took the trail leading to the Bad Woods, a name given to a woody district about 30 miles long, by the buffalo hunters in 1852, who, in consequence of the floods of that year could not pass to their crossing place at the Grand Rapids of the Assini- boine by the Plain or Prairie Road. There were four hundred carts in the band and the hunters were compelled to cut a road through the forest of small aspens which form the Bad Woods, to enable them to reach the high Buffalo Prairies. This labour occupied them several days, and will be long ‘remembered in the settlements in consequence of the misery entailed on the children and women. The trail lay for three miles through a continuation of the low prairies of the Assiniboine, until a sudden ascent of 20 to 25 feet introduced us to a different kind of country, the plateau beyond the Big Ridge, which here crosses the river, and forms the lowest or first step of the Pembina Mountain. The physical features of this boundary to a great table land will be noticed at length inthe sequel. The soil continues poor and sandy for several miles, supporting clumps of aspen with a few oak in low places. The view across the Assiniboine reveals in the distance the Blue Hills, and between them and the river is a vast forest, which a subsequent exploration in the autumn showed to consist for two to three miles nearest to the Assini- boine, of oak, elm, ash and aspens, beyond this limit the forest is almost entirely composed of aspens of small growth. Grasshoppers were observed in great numbers, and the first humming bird was seen here. The banks of the river showed recent water marks twelve feet above its present level, willow and other trees overhanging the stream being barked by the ac- tion of ice during spring freshets at that elevation. Everywhere rabbits are numerous, and considerable areas occur covered with dead willows and young aspens, barked by these animals in the winter about two feet six inches above the ground. The height of the bank is 80 feet above the valley, denoting a rapid rise ip the general level of the country. On the morning of the 20th we entered the Bad Woods, and followed the road ert by the hunters in 1852. The aspens were much disfigured by countless numbers of caterpillars re- sembling those of the destructive Palmer worm. In the afternoon we arrived at the Sandy Hills; they consist of rounded knoils covered with scrub oak and aspens. Our lati- tude to day was ascertained to be 49° 46’ 19", the height of the prairie 150 feet above the river, the breadth of the valley in which the river flowed 5680 feet, and the variation of the com- pass 13° E. After passing the point where the foregoing ob- servations were made, the trail again enters the Bad Woods and continues through them until it strikes the Sandy Hills again. These rounded eminences have all the appearance of sand dunes, covered with short grass and very stunted vegeta- tion. As we emerged from the Bad Woods a noble elk trotted to the top of a hillock and surveyed the surrounding country ; a slight breath soon carried our wind as the hunter was endea- vouring to approach him, he raised his head, snuffed the air and bounded off. Another terrible thunderstorm came on at sunset, with heavy rain and boisterous wind. The aspect of the country for many miles is that of a plain sloping gently to the west, covered with innumerable mounds or hillocks of sand, scarcely clothed with vegetation ; here and there small lakes or ponds are found, fringed with rich verdure, but its general character is that of sterility. From the summit of an imposing sand-hill, formerly a drifting dune, which we ascend- ed on the 21st, the country lay mapped at our feet; as far as the eye could reach, north, east and west, sand hills, sometimes bare, but generally covered with short grass met the eye. On the afternoon of this day a hail storm of unusual violence caused us to halt. The stones penetrated the bark of our canoes and broke off the gum. The grasshoppers, which were very numerous just before the storm began, suddenly disap- peared, but they might be found quietly clinging to the leaves of grass in anticipation of the storm. After it had passed, they re-appeared, apparently inundiminished numbers, although every member of the party, crouching for shelter under the carts and waggon, fully expected the complete annihilation of these destructive and troublesome insects. A singular instinct enables them to seek and find refuge, even from a pitiless hail- storm or a drenching rain. The same evening a thunderstorm again visited us, but the sun set in gorgeous magnificence, with a brilliant rainbow and vivid flashes of lightning in the east. The Cinnamon thrush is not uncommon among the sandy hills, we saw several during the day. The next day we reached the pines, for which we had been anxiously looking, but to our dis- appointment they proved to be nothing more than balsam spruce in scattered clumps. Another thunderstorm this evening. On the 23rd we passed for a distance of eight miles through 7 42 a country of sand ridges, until we reached Pine Creek. Here the Sand Hills are absolutely bare, and in fact drifting dunes. Sending the main party in advance, Mr. Dickinson and I set out to examine the valley of the Assiniboine where Pine Creek disembogues. The sand dunes were seen reposing on the prairie level, about 150 to 180 feet above the river. In crossing the country to regain the carts, our course lay across a broad area of drifting sand beautifully ripple-marked, with here and there numbers of the bleached bones of buffalo protruding from the west sides of the dunes, memorials probably of former scenes of slaughter in buffalo pounds similar to those which we witnessed some weeks afterwards at the Sandy Hills on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. ‘The progress of the dunes is very marked, old hillocks partially covered with her bage are gradually drifted by the prevailing westerly wind to form a new one. Sometimes the area of pure sand was a mile across, but generally not more than half that distance. The largest expanse we saw was near the mouth of Pine Creek, it is called by the Indians “the Devil’s Hills,” and a more dreary, parched-looking region could scarcely be imagined. We reached the mouth of the Little Souris River on the 24th, and made preparations to cross the Assiniboine at this point. The distance travelled through the Sandy Hills was about 48 miles, their breadth does not exceed ten miles. At the mouth of the Souris the grasshoppers were in countiess numbers and so vo- racious as to attack and destroy every article of clothing left for a few minutes on the grass. Saddles, girths, eather | bags, and clothing of any description were eaten without distinction, Ten minutes sufficed them, as our half-breeds found to their cost, to destroy three pair of woollen trousers which had been carelessly thrown on the grass, The only way to protect our property from the depredators was to pile it on the waggon and carts out of reach. There were two distinct broods of grasshoppers, one with wings not yet formed, which had been hatched on the spot, the other full-grown, invaders from the prairies south of the Assiniboine. We noticed here to-day the first flight of these insects which afterwards were witnessed on ascale of alarming magnitude, giving rise in their passage through the air to optical phenomena of very rare and beautiful descriptions. As we cautiously approached the bank of the river opposite the mouth of the Little Souris on the look-out for Sioux Indians, some jumping deer and a female elk were observed gambolling in the river. A shot from a Minie rifle dispersed them and started from their lair two wolves who were watching the deer, patiently waiting for an opportunity to surprise them. The volume of water in both rivers was carefully measured at the point of junction, The Assiniboine was found to be two hundred and thirty feet broad, with a mean depth of six feet, and a current of one mile and aquarter per hour. The Little Souris was one hundred and twenty-one feet broad, two feet four inches mean depth, and flowing at the rate of half a mile an hour. Observing numbers of fish rising at grasshoppers in the Souris we stretched a gill net across the mouth of the river and succeeded in taking pickerel, goldeyes and suckers, the grey and the red. In a second attempt we caught a tartar, a huge sturgeon got entangled in the meshes of the gill net, and before we could land him he succeeded in breaking away and carrying a portion of the net along with him. Signs of Sioux Indians in the neighbourhood led to our keeping watch during the night ; and on the morning of the 25th we pro- veeded cautiously up the valley of the river, keeping a sharp look out. On the left bank the Blue Hills of the Souris are visible ten miles from the mouth of the stream, and towards the west the Moose Head Mountain is seen to approach the Grand Rapids of the Assiniboine. The first rock-exposure in the valley was observ-- ed about fifteen miles from the mouth of the Souris. It consisted: of a very fissile, dark-blue argillaceous shale, holding numerous: concretions containing a large per-centage of iron, partly in the: state of carbonate and partly as the peroxide. Some very obscure- fossils were found, with fragments of a large Inoceramus. The shale weathers ash-white. It is exposed in a cliff about ninety: feet high. ‘The upper portion of the cliff consists of yellow sand,. superimposed by sandy loam holding limestone boulders and. pebbles. The exposure of shale is seventy feet thick, in hori- zontal layers. The country west of the Souris, so far, is an open, treeless, undulating prairie. On the east side the Blue Hills are very picturesque, with their flanks and summits wooded with aspen. Rain as usual; the day closed with a thunder storm, On,the 27th we arrived at the westerly Bend of the Souris in the midst of a very lovely, undulating country ; the river is here fifty feet broad, and in its passage through the Blue Hills it has excavated a valley fully four hundred and fifty feet deep. Rock exposures are of frequent occurrence, the dip being 3° south. Fragments and perfect forms, but very fragile, of a large Inoceramus are very common. The feruginous concre- tions are disposed in regular layers and constitute a marked feature of the Cretaceous rocks of this valley. A continuation of the valley of the Souris extends in a direction nearly south-east towards Pembina River, with which it is said by the half-breeds. to interlock. Three lakes visible from our camp were said to. be the sources of the Pembina River ; a little stream issuing from: the most westerly of these is called Back-fat rivulet, it flows. into the Souris. Deer are very numerous at this beautiful bend: of the river; it appears to be a favorite watering place. The: half-breeds of St. Joseph often cross it at this bend when on their hunting expeditions to the Grand Coteau. It is not improbable that it will become a point of importance if ever an emigrant route should be established from Minnesota to the Pacific, vid the South Branch of the Saskatchewan ; and from the great distance saved by going through St. Joseph, instead of Fort Garry it is not improbable that this may yet be the case. On the30th we succeeded in passing the Blue Hills, and enjoyed on the evening of the same day one of the most sublime and grand spectacles of its kind which it is possible to witness. Before leaving the last ridge of the Blue Hills we suddenly came upon the borders of a boundless level prairie, one hundred and fifty feet below us and of a rich, dark-green colour, without a tree or shrub, and with one solitary conical hill in its centre. Here we expected to find Buffalo, but not a sign of any living creature could be detected with the aid of a good glass. The prairie had been burnt last autumn, and the Buffalo had not arrived from the south or west to people this beautiful level waste. What a magnificent spectacle this vast prairie must have furnished when the fire ran over it before the strong west wind! From beyond the South Branch of the Saskatchewan to Red River all the prairies were burned last autumn, a vast conflagration extending for one thousand miles in length and several handreds in breadth. The dry season had so withered the grass that the whole country of the Saskatchewan was in flames. The Rev. Henry Budd, a native Missionary at the Nepoween, on the North Branch of the Saskatchewan, told me that in whatever direction he turned in September last the country seemed in a blaze; we traced the fire from the 49th parallel to the 58rd, and finn the 43 98th to the 107th degree of longitude. the Rocky Mountains. A few miles west of the Blue Hills, being anxious to ascer- ‘tain the dip of a very remarkable exposure of shale with bands vof ferruginous concretions, Mr. Dickenson levelled with the utmost care an exposure facing the south, and found it to be perfectly horizontal. At the base of the exposure, and on a level with the water’s edge we succeeded in finding a layer of rock full of gigantic Inoceramus. One specimen measured 84 inches in diameter, it was very fragile, but the peculiar prismatic struc- ture of the shell was remarkably well preserved. On attempting to raise it, it separated into thousands of minute prisms so characteristic of this shell. Vast numbers of pigeons were flying in a north-westerly direc- tion, and our friends the grasshoppers were everywhere abundant, From the Blue Hills to the South Bend of the river, rock expo- sures possessing the characteristics already noticed occurred at every bend of the river. The first specimen of Lignite was seen near the mouth of Plum Creek, where we camped on the 29th. It was a water-worn rounded boulder. On points of the river valley some fine oak, elm, balsam poplar and aspen are found for the first twenty miles. The guelder rose is common, wild prairie roses abundant, snowberry and two varieties of cherry of frequent occurrence, as well as woodbine, wild convolvulus and hop. A little beyond Plum or Snake Creek we found numerous peb- bles and boulders of Lignite, and with a view to ascertain whether the Lignite existed in situ we made an excavation in the bank of the river and exposed the stratification for a depth of twenty-five feet. The last exposures of the Cretaceous shales were observed about three miles east of the bank where this trial was made. A few hours labour revealed five old beaches, probably of an inland lake. These beaches were composed of sand and boulders of Lignite from the size of a hen’s ege to one foot in diameter. No fragment of Lignite was found which did not possess a rounded or spheroidal form and a roughly polished or worn surface. An abundant supply was speedily obtained for a fire which was soon made on the bank ; a strong sulphurous odour was emitted from the iron pyrites in the Lignite. The section exposed the strati- fication shown in the wood-cut. Some boulders of Lignite when broken open exhibited streaks and small particles of amber. The low hills about Snake Creek are sand dunes, and on their sides an Opuntia is very common. The prairie on the west of the Souris as well as on the east is treeless, the banks of Snake Creek support a thin belt of small forest trees, such as oak, and ash, with a few ash-leaved maple. The annual fires prevent the willows and aspens from covering the country, which they undoubtedly would do until replaced by other spe- cies, if not destroyed to within a few inches of the root every time the fire sweeps over them. The banks of the Souris here are not more than 40 feet high, with level prairies on either hand, a few miles beyond the Snake Hills. Within four miles of the mouth of Snake Creek, Oak Lake, several miles in diam- eter attracted the hunting portion of our party; they brought back some pelicans and a score of duck. usual to day and yesterday. On the Ist July we arrived at the Souris Sand Hills, and made a section of the river bank where a land slip occasioned a fine exposure to the water’s edge. The formation consisted of blue clay above the level of the river five feet, supporting four feet of ferruginous sand and gravel, on which reposed twelve feet of sandy loam and sand to the prairie level. The It extended, no doubt, to Thunder storms as blue clay, capped by the ferruginous sand was traced for a distance of 24 miles, and showed a dip to the south of two feet in the mile, the clay disappearing beneath the water. No organic remains of any description were found, although a Yellow Clay. Lignite Boulders in Sand. do. Lignite Boulders in Feruginous Sand. Sand. Lignite Boulders. Sand with Lignite. Blue Clay. SS = Seale Tien lie SECTION ON THE LITTLE SOURIS SHOWING ANCIENT BEACHES WITH LIGNITE BOULDERS. careful search was made. Boulders of lignite from 6 inches to 9 in diameter, were frequently seen in the bed of the river. The eggs of the nighthawk were several times found on the bare ground, with no approach to a nest for the helpless young. The parent birds endeavored to draw us away from their eggs, fluttering as if wounded a short distance from them and uttering cries of distress. The Hudson’s Bay Company have a post on the river among the Sand Hills, which is maintained only during the winter; the Sioux in summer and autumn, being altogether opposed to the approaches of civilization in their hunting grounds, and entertaining besides a feeling of deadly hostility to the Red River half-breeds. Near the Company’s house we found on the river bank an ex- tensive deposit of bog iron ore, capped by shell mar], and above the marl drifted sand. The banks of the river are here not more than 25 feet high, and on the east side there is a narrow fringe of fine timber. The Bois de Vache (dried buffalo dung) is dis- tributed very abundantly in the prairie and through the Sand Hills and ranges near to the post. In fact the buffalo were very numerous during the whole of the winter of 1856 and spring of 1857 on the banks of the Souris, but the great fires during the autumn of last year, have driven them south and north-west, and between the two branches of the Saskatchewan. 4A The country is very low after passing the last sand hills, and over a large extent of prairie south of these, drift timber is found, showing the extraordinary rise in the waters of the river during the floods of 1852, On the second of July we observed the grasshoppers in full flight towards the north, the air as far as the eye could pene- trate appeared to be filled with them. They commenced their flight about nine in the morning, and continued until half-past three or four o’clock in the afternoon. About that hour they settled around us in countless multitudes, and immediately clung to the leaves of grass and rested after their journey. On subsequent days when crossing the great prairie from Red Deer’s Head River to Fort Ellice, the hosts of grasshoppers were be- yond all calculation ; they appeared to be infinite in number. Early in the morning they fed upon the prairie grass, being always found most numerous in low, wet places where the grass was long. As soon as the sun had evaporated the dew, they took short flights, and as the hour of nine approached, cloud after cloud would rise from the prairie and pursue their flight in the direction of the wind, which was generally S.S.W. The number in the air seemed to be greatest about noon, and at times they appeared in such infinite swarms as to lessen per- ceptibly the light of the sun. The whole horizon wore an un- earthly ashen hue from the light reflected by their transparent wings. The air was filled as with flakes of snow, and time after time clouds of these insects forming a dense body casting a glimmering silvery light, flew swiftly towards the north north east, at altitudes varying from 500 to perhaps 1000 feet. Lying on my back and looking upwards as near to the sun as the light would permit, I saw the sky continually changing colour from blue to silver white, ash grey and lead colour, according to the numbers in the passing clouds of insects. Opposite to the sun the prevailing hue was a silver white, perceptibly flashing. On one occasion the whole heavens, towards the south-east and west appeared to radiate a soft grey-tinted light with a quivering motion, and the day being calm, the hum produced by the vi- bration of so many millions of wings was quite indescribable, and more resembled the noise popularly termed “a ringing in one’s ears,” than any other sound. The aspect of the heavens during the greatest flight we observed was singularly striking. It produced a feeling of uneasiness, amazement and awe in our minds, as if some terrible, unforeseen calamity were about to happen. It recalled more vividly than words could express the devastating ravages of the Egyptian scourges, as it seemed to bring us face to face with one of the most striking and wonder- ful exhibitions of Almighty power in the creation and sustenance of this infinite army of insects. In the evening, when the grasshoppers were resting from their long journeys, or in the morning, when feeding on the grass leaves, they rose in clouds around us as we marched through the prairie—if a strong wind blew they became very trouble- some, flying with force against our faces, in the nostrils and eyes of the horses, and filling every crevice in the carts. But fortunately, comparatively few flew on a windy day, otherwise it would have been almost impossible to make headway against such an infinite host in rapid motion before the wind, although composed individually of such insignificant members. Those portions of the prairie which had been visited by the grasshoppers wore a curious appearance ; the grass was cut uniformly to one inch from the ground, and the whole surface was covered with the small, round, green exuvie of these des- tructive invaders. The valley of the Souris, along which we travelled during the day, varies from one quarter to one mile broad, the river is not more than twenty five feet across and very shallow. It flows through a rich open meadow, 20 to 35 feet below the general level of the prairie, which on either hand is undulating, treeless, light and covered with a short stunted grass, with abundance of last year’s bois de vache. The first fresh buffalo tracks were seen to-day, and while taking observations for lati- tude, tracks of a different character and greater significance were discovered by one of the half-breeds—the fresh print of horses’ feet, pronounced to be a few hours old, denoting the pre- sence of Sioux or Assiniboines in our neighbourhood. Before reaching the 49th parallel, the Souris meanders for several miles through a treeless valley, about a mile broad and 60 feet below the prairie level. Turtle Mountain on the east rises nobly from the great plain, the boundary line between British and American territory cutting it. The country west of the Souris is a treeless desert, in dry seasons destitute of water, and without a shrub or bush thicker than a willow twig. We ascertained the breadth of this arid, woodless tract to be at least 60 miles, north of the Red Deer’s Head River on the 49th parallel. Near the boundary line the Souris expands into a series of large ponds and marshes which are called the Souris Lakes. In high water they form a continuous lake of imposing magnitude, ex- tending many miles south of the 49th parallel, consequently far within the United States Territory. A vast number of boulders are strewed over the hill bank of the Souris, near the 49th parallel, and on a point between a small brook and the Souris, we found a number of conical mounds, and the remains of an intrenchment. Our half-breeds said it was an old Mandan village; the Indians of that tribe having formerly hunted and lived in this part of the Great Prai- ries. We endeavoured to make an opening into one of the mounds, and penetrated six feet without finding anything to indi- cate that the mounds were the remains of Mandan lodges. There is a Mandan village near Fort Clark on the Missouri, and in the country unwatered by the Yellowstone the remains of this once fine and powerful tribe are now to be found. Having reached the 49th parallel and traced the Souris in search of Lignite in position for a distance of 100 miles, we altered our course to a good camping ground on Red Deer’s Head River, and made preparations for crossing a treeless, arid, prairie at least 60 miles broad, in a direction nearly due north. The Little Souris nowhere approaches the Missouri nearer than thirty or forty miles.* Beyond the Souris Lakes it flows in a valley 200 feet below the level of the prairie, with a wooded bottom from one half to two miles wide. The nearest timber in the direction of the proposed Pacific Railroad, near the 49th parallel, east of the Souris, is in the valley of Red River, two hundred miles distant, and with the exception of cotton wood there is no timber west of the Souris for four hundred miles, at the Bear’s Paw.t Where Mr. Tinkham crossed the Lit- tle Souris,} far within the limits of the United States Territory, (Lat. 48.02) he found it on the 21st July to be 120 feet wide, and too deep to ford. The effects of evaporation are plainly seen in the diminished volume of water which flows through the Blue Hills, only a few miles from its junction with the Assi- niboine. * Governor Steven’s Explorations and Surveys, page 21. } Ibid, page 41, Report of the Secretary of War. $ Lbid, page 354, 45 CHAPTER IT. FROM THE FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL ON THE LITTLE SOURIS TO FORT ELLICE—FROM FORT ELLICE TO THE QU’APPELLE MISSION. Indian Signs— Smell of fire — The Sioux — Precautions— “ Something ’*—‘' Souris Lakes”’—Red Deer’s Head River —The Great Prairie, character of— i.irage— Birds— Grass- hoppers—Pipestone Creek—Country chunged—Forest dis- appeared—Cretaceous Rocks—Buffalo Bull—Fort Ellice— McKay—Crees—Hunters— Provision Trading Posts—Pem- tcan—Dried Meat—Thunder Storms—Mammoth Bones— Oyibway Hunter—Half-breeds—En Route for the Qu Appelle Mission — Grasshoppers — Thunderstorm — Trail — Weed Ridge—Kinni-Kinnik—Mode of Manufacturing— Boulders — White Crane—Magpies—Birds—Dew—Aridity of Great Prairie—Charles Pratt—Chalk Hills—Indian Turnip—Qu- Appelle Lakes—Fresh arrangements— Descent and ascent of the Qu’ Appelle— Qu’ Appelle Mission— Dimensions of Valley —Character of Lakes—White Fish—Rev. James Settee— Garden of Mission — Grasshoppers — Christian Worship— Baptism—“ Praying Father” and “ Praying Man”—Rum —Indian wishes. While engaged in taking observations for latitude at the mouth of Red Deer’s Head River, on the night of the 3rd July, John McKay, a Scotch half-breed, observed what he thought to be a wolf approach the brow of a hill, about 200 yards from us, and after apparently gazing at the encampment for a few minutes it retired beyond view. The night was clear and as we were encamped in the valley of the river, close to its junction with that of the Souris, surrounded by steep hills about 150 feet high, an object appearing on the brow of those in our rear could be seen projected against the clear sky. McKay took no further notice of the strange visitor than to mention that he saw it and thought it was a wolf, but before we retired to our tents at 2 a.m. we saw another figure, which he declared to be an Indian, appear near the same spot. Two of the party cautiously approached the foot of the hill, but before they could reach it the figure crouched and slowly retired. The horses were gathered near the carts and a watch set, but this night passed without the re-appearance of the object of our suspicion. On the following morning we endeavoured to discover tracks at the spot where it had appeared, but the hill being composed of gravel, the soil had received no impression which our most sharp-sighted half-breeds could detect. In the afternoon of the following day having verified our ob- servations on polaris by a solar observation at noon, we started for a new camping ground about twelve miles up Red Deer’s Head River, where we proposed to take in a supply of wood for fuel before crossing the great prairie to Fort Ellice. On our way thither the old hunter who had joined us at Prairie Portage said he smelt fire ; every member of the party strained his olfac- tory nerves 1o the utmost but without detecting the smell of fire, nevertheless the old hunter persisted in his statement that he had “ smelt it.” We camped at sunset close to the river, and when taking supper distinctly heard the distant neigh of a horse; this was considered sufficient warning, and taken in connection with the appearance of the object on the hill in the rear of our camp the night before, was held to be conclusive evidence, that we were watched by the Sioux, and that an attempt would be made in the night to steal our horses. Our fires were put out, the carts placed close together and a watch set; the half-breeds did not anticipate an attempt until the approach of dawn, but the sudden galloping of several horses who were feeding in the valley about 100 yards from us, towards the carts soon after ten, proved that Indians were already near us. On hearing the horses approach the men started up and ran to stop them, which they succeeded in doing before they passed the carts. Each horse was now tethered and the half-breeds crawling through the long grass arranged themselves in a half-cirele about 70 yards from the carts, each with his gun loaded with buckshot. The night was dark, and perfect silence was maintained in the camp; to- wards morning one man came in to report, he stated that he had heard “ something” cross the river and crawl through the grass within a few yards of him, he waited a few minutes for more to follow before he fired or gave the alarm, and then cautiously crawled through the long grass in the track of the “something” which had passed near to him. The track led him to within 30 yards of our tents, and then turned towards the river, and evidently crossed it. Morning soon dawned, and the watchers came in; we examined the tracks described by the half-breed who had first heard the intruders, and they were pronounced to be those of an Indian. Further examination in full daylight showed that we had been surrounded by a band, who, however, perceiving that we were on the alert, and that the horses were tethered, made no attempt to steal them. Had it not been for the old hunter’s excellent nose, there is little doubt that we should have lost our horses during the night. The mouth of Red Deer’s Head River is within a few yards of the 49th parallel, Mr. Hime took a photograph of the valley while others of the party made an excursion to the Souris Lakes, within the United States territory, in the hope of finding buffalo to replenish our stores ; but although fresh tracks were seen, and skulls and bones in large numbers, the remains of last year’s “run”, yet no living animal but a ‘ cabri’ was visible. On the morning of the 4th, having loaded the carts with wood and taken a supply of water from Red Deer’s Head River, which is here a rapid, clear stream twelve feet broad, we started on a nearly due north course to cross the Great Prairie. The water marks on the banks of Red Deer’s Head River show that it rises 15 feet during spring freshets, almost filling the low, narrow valley in which it flows. The banks are fringed with small 46 elm, balsam poplar and aspens. The prairie for many miles appears to be perfectiy horizontal; we always seemed to be in the centre of a very shallow depression, with a uniform and well defined horizon in all directions. In the morning the dis- tant outline meeting the clear sky was best defined ; as the day wore on refraction magnified the tufts of grass and small wil- lows into bushes and trees, destroying the continuity of the fine horizontal line where sky and earth seemed to meet. Occasion- ally the effects of mirage were very delusive, beautiful tranquil lakes suddenly appeared in the distance, and as quickly faded from our view. Fortunately, the almost daily thunderstorms which had occurred replenished the marshes and small ponds, and gave us an abundant supply of water, but in some seasons the buffalo hunters suffer much from the want of water in crossing this vast treeless prairie. Among the birds noticed during this monotonous journey were turkey buzzards, ravens, barking crows and black terns —we saw some herds of cabri, and McKay succeeded in killing a female. We came to several shallow lakes, which are often dry in the autumn; ducks were plentiful in them, and afforded us a grateful supply of fresh food. The grass- hoppers were very abundant, and for four days filled the air like flakes of snow; they rose simultaneously, when about to take their flight, from areas two to twenty acres in extent, first perpendicularly to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, then in a slanting direction, until they had attained an elevation of from two to three hundred feet, after which they pursued a horizontal course before the wind. In a light breeze, the noise produced by their wings was like a gentle wind stir- ring the leaves of a forest. Our half-breeds informed us that this great prairie west of the Souris continues treeless and arid fora distance of 60 miles, it is then crossed by a river, probably an arm of the Souris, connecting, as will be afterwards shown, with the Qu’Appelle River at Elbow Bone Creek ; beyond the river the prairie conti- nues for 80 miles further, without tree or shrub; and as this was the utmost westerly limit to which any of them had jour- neyed in their buffalo-hunting expeditions, they could afford us no further information respecting itsextent. They were most of them familiar with the country south of the Great Prairie, the Grand Coteau de Missouri, where the buffalo range during the summer in vast herds, On the 6th July we arrived at Pipe Stone Creek, and found the country swarming with a young brood of grasshoppers, with wings about a quarter of an inch long, showing that their progenitors had arrived in the preceding autumn in time to deposit their eggs in the soil. Innumerable hosts of these insects passed overhead during the day, and on looking up through an excellent marine glass, I could see them flying like scud at an immense height. Had it not been for the thunderstorms which daily refreshed and invigorated the herbage, it is probable that our cattle would have suffered se- riously from the devastations of these insects, Pipe-Stone Creek is 20 feet broad at our crossing place, with a swift current, and adepth of water varying from 1} to 8 feet. Among the trees fringing its banks the ash leaved maple is most numerous. The valley of this river is narrow, but rich and beautiful. On the hills in its neighbourhood, boulders are nu- merous and the soil barren. We arrived at the Assiniboine near the Two Creeks on the evening of the 7th July. It may here be remarked that our hunter, who had undertaken to guide us in a straight line across the prairie from Red Deer’s Head River, confessed that he did not know the country when within ten miles of the Assiniboine; he nevertheless declared his con- viction that we should strike the river at the point to which he had promised to lead us. He had not visited it for twenty years, and the timber, consisting of aspens and willows which then covered the country, had nearly all disappeared. The old man was correct, the face of the country had changed, the aspen forest had been burnt and no vestige remained; we struck the Assiniboine within two miles of the spot to which he had been directed to lead us. Cretaceous rocks were again recognized on the steep hill-sides of the Two Creeks. They had the same lithological aspect as those of the Souris; organic remains were scarce, but in suffi- cient numbers and variety to establish their position. On the 9th we passed through a fine grazing country, and here saw the first buffalo bull. After a chase of half an hour’s duration, we succeeded in killing him. Although very tough and rather strong flavored, he was an acceptable addition to our larder. Three more bulls were seen on the following morning, but being anxious to reach Fort Ellice, and already provided with meat, they were permitted to pass us unmolested. The country in the neighbourhood of Beaver Creek is very beautiful, but the soil is sandy, supporting a short stinted herbage. We arrived at the Fort on the morning of the 9th, and took up our camping ground on the banks of Beaver Creek, close to the beautiful valley of the Assiniboine. Fort Ellice was at one period a post of considerable impor- tance, being the depot of supplies for the Swan River District, now removed to Fort Pelly. The buildings are of wood, sur- rounded by a high picket enclosure. Mr. McKay, one of the sub-oflicers, was in charge at the time of our arrival. Some twenty years ago, before the small pox and constant wars had reduced the Plain Crees to one-sixth or eighth of their former numbers, this post was often the scene of exciting Indian display. Mr. McKay remembers the time when the entire tribe who now hunt on the Qu’Appelle and South Branch would approach the Fort to receive their supplies, to the number of eight hundred warriors, splendidly mounted, and singing their war songs. Twenty years ago the tribe numbered 4000, in five hundred tents, at the present day they do not exceed 120 tents, which represent a population of 960 or 1000 souls. Formerly Fort Ellice used to be visited by the Crees alone, now it numbers many Ojibways among the Indians trading with it. The Ojib- ways or Saulteaux have been driven from the woods by the scarcity of game, the large animals, such as moose, deer and bear having greatly diminished in numbers. Many of the wood Indians now keep horses and hunt on the Plains. On the 11th July, a number of hunters attached to Fort El- lice came in with provisions, such as pemican and dried buffalo meat, which they had prepared in the prairies a few days before, about thirty miles from the Post, where the buffalo were numerous. Fort Ellice, the Qu’Appelle Post, and the establish- ment on the Touchwood Hills being situated on the borders of the great Buffalo Plains, are provision trading posts. They obtain from the Plain Crees, the Assiniboires and the Ojibways, pemican and dried meat to supply the brigades and boats in their expeditions to York Factory on Hudson Bay, and throughout the northern interior. Pemican is made by pounding or chop- ping buffalo meat into small pieces and then mixing it with an equal quantity of fat. It is packed in bags made of the hide of the enimal, in quantities of about ninety pounds each. Dried meat is the flesh of the buffalo cut into long and broad thin pieces about two feet by fifteen inches, it is smoked over a slow A7 fire for a few minutes and then packed into a bale of about 60 pounds. We had many opportunities of seeing the Cree women on the Qu’Appelle, cut, prepare and pack dried meat. At Fort Ellice, the thunder storms were as violent as on the Souris, not a day passed without lightning, thunder, and gener- ally violent rain of half an hour’s duration. The grasshoppers at this Post had destroyed the crops last year, and, at the time of our visit, the young brood were well advanced, their wings being about one third of an inch long. Full grown insects from the south were flying overhead or alighting in clouds around us, so that all hopes of obtaining a crop from the garden or potatoe fields were abandoned for this year. Provisions were very scarce at the Post, and had it not been for the fortunate arrival of the hunters with some pemican and dried meat, we should have been compelled to hunt or kill the ox. From Mr. McKay, I received a particular account of the ‘“*Great Bones” on Shell Creek, which had long been a source of wonder and awe to the Indians hunting on the left bank of the Assiniboine, and whose magnificent descriptions led me to suppose they might belong to a cetacean, and were worth a day’s journey out of our track to visit and examine. They were seen many years ago protruding from the bank of Shell Creek, twenty feet below the prairie’s level. Mr. McKay instructed some of the hunters attached to the Post to bring them to him. No Indians would touch them, and the Half-breed only brought a tooth and collar bone, which were stated by a medical gertle- man to whom they were shown, to belong to a mammoth. Mr. Christie, of Fort Pelly, we were informed, went to Shell Creek with a view to collect more specimens, he obtained some ribs but in a state of crumbling decay ; they were sent to Red River Settlement. The Indians had long regarded them as the bones of a Manitou and worthy objects of veneration. An old Indian on Dauphin Lake, to whom reference will be made hereafter, described similar bones in the banks of Valley River leading to Dauphin Lake; but the season was too late when exploring that part of the country to permit of an examination. On Monday, the 12th, preparations for continuing our journey westward were completed by engaging an Indian to assist in paddling Mr. Dickenson down the Qu’Appelle or Calling River from the Mission to its junction with the Assiniboine. The half of his wages he stipulated to have in advance. Mr. McKay told me he was a bad Indian and not to be trusted, but we could not succeed in getting another. When on the point of starting, a young Ojibway, painted and adorned with feathers, galloped up to the Post, entered the room, drew from beneath his moose skin robe two moose tongues and a mouffle which he quietly handed to Mr. McKay, and, squatting on the floor without speaking a word, lit his pipe. After a few minutes, he informed us that he and his father had killed two moose, thirty miles off, and desired McKay to send for them. Two Half-breed hunters also arrived at this moment, in sad plight, hungry and tired, with worn horses and torn clothes. They had come from Fort Union, on the Missouri, having being hunting on the Grand Coteau, where they met a war party of 60 Blackfeet. They then fled to the fort, the Biackfeet pursuing them and insisted that the Fort Union people should give them up, a re- quest which was promptly refused. During the night the Fort Union people gave them a small supply of provisions, and leading them out to the prairies, told them to run for it; they did so, and arrived in safety at Fort Ellice after a harrassing journey. At 4 p.™. on the 12th July, we left Fort Ellice and travel- led due west through a pretty country near the banks of the Qu’Appelle or Calling River. We passed one quagmire, and, after breakfast on the following day, arrived at the Cross Woods; they consist of aspen, with a splendid undergrowth. The pasturage is excellent, and the road good. Observed to- day the grasshoppers descending from a great height perpendic- ularly, like hail—a sign of approaching rain. On the 12th, we passed through a fair rolling country, the soil consisting of sandy loam with much vegetable matter in the valleys. Aspen groves are numerous, and many little Jakes, margined with reeds afford quiet breeding places for duck. The road is good in summer, but wet and soft in the spring. The grasshoppers, yesterday, were excellent prognosticators, a violent thunder storm iu the afternoon commenced in the east, (all preceeding storms had come from the west) an] was accom- panied by exceedingly heavy rain and a very boisterous wind. The: storm continued for several hours. At 9 in the evening, the air was calm and the heavens clear and bright; at 10, the storm returned from the west, and a more terrific and sublime exhibition of elemental warfare none of us had ever before witnessed. Three times the lightning struck the earth so close to us that there was no perceptible interval between the flash and the shock. It was distinctly heard to hiss through the air, and, instead of penetrating the ground at once, it seemed to leap from bush to bush for a distance of 60 or 70 yards. So clo-e did one flash approach us that when we had recovered frum the shock and our eyes had regained their powers, several of us met each other, groping from cart to cart, to see if any of the party had been struck. It is remarkable that although the wind was blowing violently before and after the two flashes just described occurred, yet, between them, an interval of about three quarters of a minute, there was a dead calm, and a calm of short duration succeeded each flash in our immediate vicinity. The trail continued through good land for nine miles, with as- pen groves on the crown of each undulation, and willow bushes in the hollows. Then came a prairie, three miles across, but of much greater extent longitudinally. Ponds were numerous, abounding with ducks and ducklings. The grey crane was very abundant, as weli as a young broad of grasshoppers. Another rain and thunder storm on the evening of this day, the 14th, lasting as usual for about one hour. On the following morning, we reached a treeless prairie marked at its western extremity by a sandy ridge running N. W. by S. E., known among the Indians as the Weed Ridge. It was covered with the bear- berry from which the kinni-kinnik, used to mix with tobacco is made. This was the first time we saw this weed since leaving the Sandy Hills of the Assiniboine. The Indians of the prairies generally use the inner bark of the cornus sericea, the red barked willow as they term it. We saw them smoke the inner bark of the dogwood, cornus alternifolia. The mode in which these barks are prepared is very simple. A few branches about three quarters of an inch thick and four or five feet long are procured, the outer bark is scraped off, after having been warmed over a fire ; a knife is then pressed against the inner bark and drawn upwards, for a space of six or eight inches, until the whole of the inner bark is gathered in curly clusters round the stick, it is then thrust in the ground over the embers and roasted until quite dry, when, mixed with tobacco in equal proportions, it forms the favourite kinni-kinnik of the North-West Indians. I often saw them smoke bark or the leaves of the bear-berry alone, when their supply of tobacco was exhausted. The Indian who accompanied us to the Qu’- 48 Appelle Mission, complained of weakness and pain in the chest, he suffered much from cough, and was evidently consumptive ; he was, however, treacherous and indolent, and, as will be shown hereafter, soon left us in the lurch. Beyond the Weed Ridge the country is very undulating; boulders of both fossiliferous (silurian limestone) and unfossi- liferous (gneiss) rocks were strewed on the flanks and summits of the hills. The white crane was first seen to-day. This beautiful bird is common in the Qu’Appelle Valley and in the Touchwood Hill range. It is a dangerous antagonist when wounded, striking with unerring aim and great force with its powerful bill. When a bird is wounded, the best way to avoid its attacks is to present the muzzle of the gun as it approaches, it will fix its bill in the barrel and may then bs destroyed without danger. Instances have been known of this bird driv- ing his bill deep into the bowels of a hunter when not succesful in warding off its blow. Magpies are numerous on the Weed Ridge, and the cat bird is heard in every little wooded dell. On the 15th we passed two streamlets flowing into the Qu’ Ap- pelle. Their banks were fringed with small timber and quite lively with birds. In general, birds are far more abundant here than on the Souris. On all the wooded brooks we saw mag- pies, cat birds, crows, and, occasionally, the solitary thrush ; in the wet prairies, the rice bird, black tern, plover, the golden legged and common, the yellow headed black bird, common meadow lark, chipping sparrow, and grackle; on pondsand in marshes, ducks of many species, bittern and cranes. Jn the morn- ing after a clear night, we always observed heavy dew; this phe- nomenon was not so frequently noticed on the Souris under simi- Jar circumstances. There can be little doubt that the aridity and barrenness of the Great Prairie between the Qu’Appelle and the 49th parallel is owing to the small quantity of dew and rain, and the occurrence of fires. North of the Qu’Appelle, the country seemed to be far more humid and the vegetation infinitely richer than south of that great valley. Another prairie eight miles broad succeeding to that last described, and bounded by ridges having a N. W. and S. E. direction, introduced us on the 16th to a hilly country for some miles; the range is called the Indian Head; it con- tains many beautiful lakes and is well wooded. Here we met with Charles Pratt and party going to Red River. Charles Pratt is a Half-breed catechist of the Church Missionary Soci- ety, well acquainted with the habits of Indians and of buffalo, but apparently scarcely sensible of the importance of his duties and the responsibility of his charge. He gave me a good deal of valuable information respecting the country, and, with char- acteristic generosity, if not christian sympathy, told John McKay to take a young heifer belonging to him when we arrived at the Mission and kill it in honour of our arrival. Pratt showed me some specimens of lignite which he had taken from a bed two feet thick at the Wood Hills about 80 miles south-west of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Post He described the bill or range of hills as an island in the Prairie. Probably it was the remains of a Tertiary coal bed, which, like the Stony Mountain near Red River, had escaped denudation. An old Indian accompanying Charles Pratt, born in this part of the country, told us that he remembered the time when the whole of the prairie through which we had passed since leaving Fort Ellice was one continuous forest, broken only by two or three narrow intervals of barren ground. The view from the Indian Head range is excedingly beautiful; it embraces an ex- tensive arca of level prairie to the north, bounded by the As- pen Woods on the borders of the Qu’Appelle Valley. A por- tion of the old forest alluded to by the Indian still exists on this range. It consists of aspen of large growth and very thickly set. A few cabri (prong horned antelope) were seen in the Indian Head range; they used to abound in the country unwatered by the Qu’Appelle. On Saturday the 17th we entered a very beautiful and fertile prairie at the foot of the Indian Head Range, our course lead- ing us in a northerly direction to the Qu’Appelle Mission. The common yarrow was very abundant, and with the hare-bell reminded us of other scenes far away. Six miles from the hills we arrived at a subordinate, shallow, broad valley, parallel to that of the Qu’Appelle. The aspect of its boundary sug- gested the shore of a lake or bank of a large river. The lower prairie consisted of a sandy loam, in which the Indian Turnip was very abundait. We soon came up with a group of squaws and children from the Qu’Appelle Lakes, who were gathering and drying this root, which the Crees call the Mis- tas-coos-se-ne-na or big grass root. The French half-breeds call it the pomme de prairie. The Sioux, Tip-si-nah. It is an im- portant article of food in these regions. The botanical name is Psoralea esculenta. Many bushels had been collected by the squaws and children, and when we came to their tents they were employed in peeling the roots, cutting them into shreds and drying them in the sun. J saw many roots as large as the egg of a goose, and among those brought with me to Canada are some of even larger dimensions. The Crees consume this important vegetable in various ways. They eat it uncooked, or they boil it, or roast it in the embers, or dry it and crush it to powder, and make soup of it. Large quantities are stored in buffalo skin bags for winter use. A sort of pudding made of the flour of the root and the mesaskatomina berry, is very palatable, and a favourite dish among the Plain Crees. We reached the Qu’Appelle Lakes at 6 p. m., after passing through a magnificent prairie the whole day ; in fact the country north of the Indian Head and Chalk Hill ranges is truly beautiful, and will one day become a very important tract. The Chalk Hills are a continuation of the Indian Head range. In the language of the Indians they contain bands of “soft, white earth or mud.” The half-breeds call them “‘ Chalk Hills.” It isa matter of regret that the time at our disposal did not permit us to make an excursion to them, notwithstanding that no indications of rocks in position were seen on the Indian Head range; they were recorded as composed of drift; which may or may not conceal rocks in position above the general level of the prairie north of them. Great was our astonishment on arriving at the Qu’Appelle Lakes to find that they were narrow bodies of water, occupying an excavated valley about one mile broad, 250 feet deep, and differing in no important particular from the same valley at its junction with the Assiniboine—one hundred and twenty miles distant by the river, or one hundred and thirty-four by the trail. The importance of the Qu’Appelle valley began to develope itself when the Crees at the Lakes informed us that it continued through to the Saskatchewan without losing its breadth, and maintained, except for a short distance, a great depth below the prairie level. 1 determined, therefore, to explore the whole valley from the South Branch of the Saskat- chewan to the Assiniboine, and ascertain the relation it bore to those rivers. With this view the canoes were put in order, the party and supplies divided, and the arrangements detailed in the following paragraph completed. 49 Mr. Dickinson with a French Canadian and a Cree half- breed was to descend the Qu’Appelle river from the first Fishing Lake to its mouth. Mr. Fleming and myself were to ascend it from the same starting place to its source, and follow up the valley to the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. Mr. Hime was to explore Long Lake and meet Mr. Dickinson at Fort Pelly. I intended, upon reaching the South Branch, to descend that magnificent river in canoe to the Grand Forks, and then by the main Saskatchewan to Lake Winnipeg and Red River, a distance of about one thousand miles canoe navigation. The Qu’Appelle Mission is situated between the second and third Fishing Lakes. The situation is beautiful and the coun- try on all sides of a very novel and peculiar description. Here the Qu’Appelle valley is one mile and a quarter broad, and two hundred and fifty feet deep. Both north and south a vast prairie extends, fertile, inviting, but treeless on the south, and dotted with groves of aspen over a light and sometimes gravelly soil on the north. Most beautiful and attractive, however, are the Lakes, four in number, and from the rich store of fish they contain, are well named the Fishing Lakes. A belt of timber fringes their sides at the foot of the steep hills they wash, for they fill the entire breadth of the valley. Ancient elm trees with long and drooping branches bend over the water; the ash leaved maple acquires dimensions not seen since leaving the Red River, and the Me-sas-ka-to-mi-na is no longer a bush, but a tree eighteen to twenty feet high and loaded with the most luscious fruit. The Qu’Appelle Mission was established last year (1858). For some time past, however, Charles Pratt, the catechist, has resided where the Mission is situated, and has constructed a comfortable log house, fenced in a garden, and now possesses six or seven cows and calves. An old half-breed, whose name is obliterated in my note-book, took up his residence with Pratt; he had been engaged for the better part of his life at different fishing stations belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company through- out Rupert’s Land, and he declared that in all his experience he had never seen the white fish (corregonus albus,) so large, numerous and well flavored as in the Qu’Appelle Fishing Lakes. The Rev. James Settee, the missionary, a native of Swampy Cree origin, occupied Pratt’s house ; he arrived at the Mission last autumn. In the garden, where we found him, Indian corn was growing, as well as potatoes, turnips, beans, and other culinary vegetables. The grasshoppers had not yet visited the Mission, but vast flights had passed over it. They were seen passing the Company’s post, 20 miles south, on the 8th of the month. They were then flying to the east. They had missed the Mission in 1857, for they visited the Touchwood Hills, forty to fifty miles north, and deposited their eggs in the ground, and during the present summer the young brood, as I learned a few weeks afterwards, destroyed all garden crops at the Touchwood Hills, and on the 28th July took their flight to the south-east. Cn Sunday we attended service in Pratt’s house; the Rev. Mr. Settee read the prayers in English with great ease and cor- rectness ; he preached in Ojibway, and a hymn was sung in the Cree language. Before the sermon the missionary surprised us by waking up a drowsy Indian who was enjoying a quiet nap in a corner of the room, and Jeading him to the temporary reading desk, commenced the ceremony of public baptism. My astonishment was not diminished when the reverend gentleman turning to me, without any preliminary notice, said abruptly, Name thisman! After a moment’s reflection I said, John, and without any unnecessary loss of time or words, John walked to his bench, and was soon apparently lost in noisy slumber to all consciousness of the privileges and blessings of which adult Christian baptism, duly received, had made him the inheritor. When the Rev. James Settee arrived at the Mission last au- tumn, the Crees of the Sandy Hills having received intelligence that the bishop had sent a ‘‘ praying man” to teach them the truths of Christianity, directed messengers to enquire whether “the Great praying father had sent plenty of rum, if so, they would soon become followers of the white man’s good Manitou.” The messengers returned with the sad intelligence that the great praying father had not only omitted to send rum, but he hoped that the Plain Crees would soon abandon the practice of demanding rum in exchange for their pemican and robes. The messengers were directed to return to the missionary with the announcement, that “if the great praying father did not intend to send any rum, the sooner he took his praying man away from the Qu’Appelle Lakes, the better for him.” There are very few tents about the Mission at present. Mr. Settee speaks English very fluently, and gets through the service without loss of time. The field for his labor is extensive, but not at present promising. When conversing with the Crees of the Sandy Hills, many of them expressed a wish to have their children taught by white men, but they did not appear to like the idea of their being taught by a native of a different origin. The school, however, appears here, as elsewhere among Indian tribes, to be the only sure ground for establishing the true faith among them. “Teach my children for two or three years, but let me follow the ways of my fathers,’ said the son of the Chief of the Sandy Hills to me. Many expressed a wish that their little ones should know the white man’s cunning, and learn to cultivate the soil, but they would stipulate to remain them- selves still the wild prairie Indians, hunting the buffalo, and occasionally tasting the savage excitement of war. On the 20th July we launched our canoes on the Third Fish- ing Lake, and having seen Mr, Hime en route for Long Lake, my carts and horses on the way to the Grand Forks of the Qu’ Appelle, Mr. Dickinson started for the mouth of the river, Mr. Fleming and myself with an Ojibway and Cree half- breed, paddled up stream with a view to trace out the valley to its junction with the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. The succeeding chapter contains a narrative of this exploration, which is followed by Mr. Dickinson’s description of his canoe voyage to the Assiniboine. We arranged to meet at Fort Ellice forty- three days after our simultaneous departure from the Third Fish- ing Lake. 50 CHAPTER III. FROM THE QU’APPELLE MISSION TO THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN. Depth of Fishing Lakes—Cross-sections — Conferve—Lower Lakes 66 feet deep — Birds — Vegetation —Water-mark— Third and Fourth Fishing Lakes — Fish — Soundings in Fourth Lake—Ffishing Lakes probably once united—Geese— Pelicans—Fourth Lake—Water-mark—Aspect of Valley in 1852— Quw’ Appelle River—Prairie—Depth of Valley— White Cranes—Section of Alluvial Flats— Temperature — Character of Prairie — Birds — Shrubs — Antelope — Hare — Roses— Grand Forks—Pilain Crees—Temperature of River—Ice marks —Buffalo tracks—Character of stream— Willow bushes —Fetid air— Drift clay—Erratics—Freemen’s houses— Prai- rie— Want of Timber—Thunder-storms—Touchwood Hills— Indians — Tolls — Diplomacy — Indian resolve—The Grand Forks—Long Lake—Souris Forks—Souris of Qu Appelle and Assiniboine — Dimensions of Valley — The Grand Coteau—Prairie Fires—Indian signs—A Prairie on fire— Buffalo— Consequence of Prairie fires—Reclamation of sterile areas—Indian Telegraph—Scarcity of Wood— Ancient Indian encampment—The Plain Crees—Cree Tents—Provisions— Buffalo Mill Pound Lake—Indiuns—Shortstick—Aspect of Country — Coteau de Missouri—Last Mountain—Treeless Plain—The Grand Coteau—Character of—Buffalo—Birds Plain Crees, Camp of—The Qu’ Appelle Valley—Marrow— Precautions —The Sandy Hilis—Crees—Bots de Vache—Salt Lake—Dimensions of Valley—Erratics—Indian hospitality Eye-brow Hill—Source of Quw Appelle—Buffalo—Character of Qu’ Appelle Valley—Water-marks—Sandy Hills—Distri- bution of Boulders—Section— Rock exposure—Shortstick— Sand Dunes—South Branch—The Qu? Appelle Valley—Cree Camp—Height of Land—Section of Valley—Levels— Buffalo Pound— Camp moving—‘ Dead men’—Old Buffalo Pound —AHhorrible spectacle—New Pound—Bringing in Buffalo— Slaughter in Pound—Shortstick—“ Talk ?— Objections to Half-breeds—To the i. B. Co.—Shortstick’s wants—Rock exposure — boulders in Valley— Character of the South Branch. Three quarters of a mile from the mouth of the little stream joining the second and third Fishing Lakes, the lead showed 44 feet of water. This great depth surprised us, as we had been paddling since leaving the Mission in shallows not ex- ceeding four and five feet in depth. Cross sections subse- quently made showed that the lakes were generally deep on the north and shallow on the south side. An abundant growth of green conferve covered the surface, which, in its aggregations and general distribution, reminded me of a similar profusion on the Lake of Woods during August, in 1857. The hill sides of the valley are deeply ravined; two excellent photographs, taken near the Mission, of the lakes and hills, display the chief characteristic of the valley with the fidelity which can only be approached by that wonderful art. The ravines are wooded, but the hills they separate bare, and we soon noticed that the north side began to show far less timber than the south, and of more stunted growth. ‘The snow berry was seen in every hol- low. Ash, leaved maple and elm were numerous on the south side of the lake, Soundings near the middle of the lake showed 56 feet, which, when added to 249 feet, the depth of the valley below the prairie as ascertained by trigonometrical measurement, make the total excavation 305 feet. Another sounding 200 yards from the N. W. point, gave 57 feet of water. This was the greatest depth we obtained; but Mr. Dickinson found the lower lakes to be 66 feet deep. The shores of gravel are strewed with blocks of drift limestone and the unfossilifer- ous rocks. Gulls are numerous about these remote lakes and a pair of eagles have had their eyrie for many years in a fine elm tree, near the west end of the third Fishing Lake. The hop grows very luxuriantly in the thin belt of woods on the south side, and the frost grape hangs in beautifal festoons from the drooping branches of the elm. The water mark shows that this lake rises six to seven feet above its present level. A low plateau, inundated every spring, separates the third from the fourth lake. It is the delta of two ravines which in the spring and autumn bring down a large quantity of water from the prairie above. Third Fishing Lake is connected with fourth Fishing Lake by a rapid stream flowing through the plateau, about 100 feet broad. At its mouth we saw a large number of fish rising at the grasshoppers which dropped from flights of these insects passing over at the time. In the same stream were many large fish, and among them several indivi- duals of a species to which further reference will be made. Soundings in the fourth lake showed 54 feet; this depth was maintained for a long distance with great regularity. In fact, these lakes appear to be nearly uniformly deep and point to an excavating force, or peculiarity of rock formation deserving of further enquiry. The deltas at the mouth of the ravines coming in from the prairie at right angles to the general course of the valley, give a clue to the mode in which the lakes were sepa- rated one from the other. It is very probable that they were once all united. Geese appeared in large flocks in the Fourth Lake, and at its western end we saw a splendid flock of pelicans numbering thirty-five individuals ; as we approached they sailed majestically round and round, but took flight before we arrived within gun shot. Magpies are very numerous in the thin woods fringing the lakes, so also are grackles, the cat bird, and many smaller birds. The Fourth Lake is very shallow at its western extre- 51 mity, six feet being the greatest depth recorded. The hills on the north side are quite bare, and trees on the south side are found only in the ravines. It is fall of weeds and its water emits a very disagreeable odour, but the watermarks show that during spring freshets its level is eight feet higher than in the summer season. This is an important fact when taken in con- nection with the alleged appearance of the whole valley during wet springs ; it is then said to resemble a broad river from a few miles east of the Saskatchewan to the Assiniboine. In 1852, a year memorable in Rupert’s Land for the great floods which covered an immense tract of country, the Indians repre- sent the Qu’ Appelle Valley as filled with a mighty river through- out its entire length, flowing with a swift current from the lake- lets at the height of land, soon to be described, to the Assini- boine, and as a mountain torrent through the short distance of 12 miles which separates them from tie South Branch of! the Saskatchewan. After leaving the Fourth Lake and the marshes at its west extremity, we paddled, sailed or tracked up a narrow swift stream, four and five feet deep and seventy feet broad, winding through a low alluvial flat in a valley of undiminished breadth and depth. The hill sides were absolutely bare, not a tree or shrub was to be seen. The prairie on either side is also tree- less and arid. On the 21st, after spending a restless night owing tothe attacks of multitudes of mosquitoes, we left the canoe in the hands of our ilalf-breeds to track up the stream, and as- cending to the prairie walked for some miles on the brink of this great excavation. We waited five hours for the canoe to reach us, the windings of the stream involving a course three times as long as a straight line up the valley. The hill sides began to acquire a more imposing altitade and probably ex- ceeded three hundred teet. White cranes appeared in flocks of four and seven together; there were very wary and could not be approached. The river was often seen to draw near to either side of the Great Valley, and it had excavated a channel ten to twelve feet deep in the alluvial flats through which it pursued its tortuous course. Its banks revealed the following section: 6 inches light vegetable mould with sand, 4 inches yellow clay, 10 inches light vegetable mould (former surface), 9 feet yellow clay, 2 to 3 inches hard ferruginous sand to the level of the river. es The last layer was hard, compact, and very coarse-grained. The river is here 60 feet broad and flows at a rate of one mile and a half an hour. The temperature at noon was 71.5° F, At the mouth of Long Creek, an insignificant affluent, the hills are covered with limestone and granite boulders; the north side is treeless like the vast prairie beyond it, the south side has aspens in the ravines and aspen groves in the prairie. The width of the valley remains uniform, never exceeding one mile and a quarter or less than one mile. The pasturage in the flats is superb, the grass long and very thickly set. Robins, mag- pies, and yellow birds enliven small aspen groves on the south side, or the thickets of cherry, mesaskotomina, dogwood and snowberry, which fill the hollows and ravines ; the cat bird is also common and the tyrant fly catcher everywhere. In the river are vast numbers of ducks and geese, the young birds frequently made us an excellent meal, but no four footed ani- mals were seen, with the exception of one prong horned ante- lope and one prairie hare. In the afternoon of this day, we made many miles by sailing before a strong east wind; notwithstanding a heavy rain and thunder storm we were glad to push on through this seemingly interminable and now monotonous valley, as the air from the marshes on either side of the river was fetid and oppressive. A scramble to the summit of this steep hill bank, three hundred feet high, though very fatiguing, was amply repaid by the cool, pure and delightful breeze blow- ing over the desolate prairies around us. Roses of three dif- erent varieties, red, white and variegated, were numerous on the upland, and, in the morning, when the dew was on them, or at night when it was falling, the fresh air from above came down in puffs into our deep, hot valley with delicious and invigorating fragrance. On the 4th day after our departure from the lakes we sighted the Grand Forks; leaving the canoe I hastened on to a point where the men with the carts and horses were to await our arrival, and found them safely en- camped on a beautiful meadow anxiously looking for us. An empty cart and a couple of horses were despatched for the canoe still some miles below us, and in the evening we were joined by Mr. Fleming and the two voyageurs. Soon after sunset our camp received an unexpected addition of six Plain Crees, who were on their way to Fort Ellice with dried buffalo meat and pemican. During the day the tempera- ture of the River was found to be 74°. At the mouth of a dry bed of a stream which we called Maple Creek, some very old trees of the ash-leaved species were observed. Many of them showed marks where they had been tapped. The willows which fringed the banks of the Qua’Appelle were barked by ice eight feet above the surface of the water. Numerous buffalo tracks began to appear, and where these animals had crossed the river, they had cut deep roads to the water’s edge, and lanes through the willow bushes. The bones of many a young bull and cow were seen sticking out of the banks where they ‘had been mired. The tortuous character of the stream before we took the canoe out of the water, may be imagined from the fact that eleven hours constant, steady tracking enabled us to progress only five miles in a straight line through the valley. Some little time was lost in crossing from one side to the other in order to avoid the willow bushes, which only grew on the inside of a bend, rarely or never on the outside or longest curve. The breadth of the river where we left it was forty feet, and the speed of its current one mile and a quarter an hour. The fetid air from the marshes made most of the party feel unwell, and I therefore determined to carry the canoe in a cart on the immediate edge of the prairie, keeping the valley in constant view, and occasionally descending into it and crossing it, to ascertain by levelling and measurement its leading dimensions. No rock exposure has yet been seen. It appears that drift covers the country toa great depth. Where land slips have occurred and exposed an almost perpendicular section, the yellow gravelly clay is alone visible. Some of the limestone erratics strewed over the sides of the ravines resemble those frequently seen on the south-east side of Lake Winipeg. Near our camp are six or seven log-houses, occasionally inhabited by freemen (that is, men no longer in the service of the Company, ) during the winter months. The prairie above the freemen’s houses, slopes gently to the edge of the valley from the distant horizon on both sides. Clumps of aspen vary its monotonous 52 aspect, and though clothed with green herbage, due to the late abundant rains, the soil is light and poor. Some distance back from the valley it is of better quality, the finer particles not having been washed out of it; the grass there is longer and more abundant, but the greatest drawback is the want of timber. Since we have been on the Qu’Appelle we have frequently noticed thunderstorms towards the north-west and north, in the neighbourhood of the Touchwood Hill range, which did not reach us; the day before yesterday, (22nd July,) a very violent thunderstorm in the Qu’Appelle valley, which delayed us for several hours, did not wet the carts ten milestothe south. Rain clouds appear to follow the Touchwood Hill range; the fre- quency of storms in that region is proverbial, and the richness of the vegetation proves that an abundant supply of rain falls during the bot summer months. The Indians who visited our camp had been hunting between the two branches of the Sas- katchewan—they represented the season as very dry and the buf- falo scarce. We passed a quiet and friendly night with them, and on the following morning made them a small present and pur- sued our way to the Grand Forks. [ happened to be about 100 yards in advance of the carts, after we had travelled for about a quarter of an hour ; when hearing a loud clatter of horses’ feet behind me, on looking round I found the six Indians galloping up behind. One of them, who had rep- resented himself as a chief, seized my bridle, drew the horse’s head round and motioned me to dismount. I replied by jerking my bridle out of the Indian’s hand. My people came up at this moment and asked in Cree what this interference meant. We wanted to have a little more talk, said the soi-disant chief. The real state of the case being, however, that they wished to establish a sort of toll of tobacco and tea for permission to pass through their country, threatening that if it were not given they would gather their friends in advance of us, and stop us by force. We knew that we should have to pass through about 100 tents, so there was some little meaning in the threat. The old hunter, however, who knew Indian habits and diplomacy well, at once remarked that we were taking a large present to the chief of the Sandy Hills, and we should not distribute any tobacco or tea, until we had seen him, according to Indian custom. They tried a few more threats, but I closed the parley by unslinging a double barrelled gun from the cart, and instructing the men to show quietly that they had theirs in readiness; wishing the rascals good day, we marched on; they sat on the ground, silently watching us, but made no sign. In the evening one of them passed near us at full gallop, towards some tents which we saw in the distance, as we ascended the hill at the Grand Focks. One rather significant statement they made proved to be correct, namely, that the Plain Crees, in council assembled, had last year “determined that in consequence of promises often made and broken by the white men and half-breeds, and the rapid destruction by them of the buffalo they fed on, they would not permit either white men or half-breeds to hunt in their country or travel through it, except for the purpose of trading for their dried meat, pemican, skins and robes.” We crossed to the north side of the Qu’Appelle when we arriv- ed at the Grand Forks, and ascended the hill bank to the prairie. The Grand Forks consist of the junction of two deep, broad valleys; the south valley being that in which the Qu’Appelle river flows, the other is occupied by Long Lake, or Last Moun- tain Lake, forty miles in length, and from one-half to two miles broad, being in fact an exact counterpart of the Qu’ Appelle Valley ; narrow, deep, filled throughout with water, and inoscu- lating with the South Branch of the Saskatchewan some miles below the Elbow. In its general aspect Last Mountain Lake is similar to the Fishing Lakes. A rapid, winding stream, 30 feet broad, runs from it into the Qu’Appelle. Both valleys are of uniform breadth and depth, and very little narrower than when united they form the main valley of the Qu’Appelle. From the Grand Forks to the Souris Forks (Elbow Bone Creek) the country is treeless, slightly undulating and poor. The In- dians say that the Souris River of the Qu’Appelle, coming from the Grand Coteau de Missouri, inosculates with an arm of the Souris of the Assiniboine before described, and a canoe in high water might pass from one river to the other without a portage. If this be the case, the diversion of the waters of the South Branch down the Qu’Appelle valley would acquire additional importance, and give value to an immense extent of territory, now comparatively inaccessible, and destitute of water. A few miles west of the Souris Forks the Qu’Appelle is 19 feet wide and 13 feet deep, but the great valley is still a mile broad and 200 feet deep. Here on the 25th we caught a glimpse of the blue outline of the Grand Coteau, with a treeless plain be- tween us. After passing these Forks, the country is more undu- lating, small hills begin to show themselves; the general cha- racter of the soil is light and poor, the herbage consists of short tufted buffalo grass, and the plants common in dry arid plains. This afternoon we saw three fires spring up between us and the Grand Coteau. They were Indian signs, but whether they re- ferred to the presence of buffalo, or whether they were designed to intimate to distant bands the arrival of suspicious strangers we could not then tell, and not knowing whether they were Crees, Assiniboines, or Blackfeet, we became cautious. In a few days we ascertained that the fire had been putout* by Crees, to inform their friends that they had found buffalo. The grandeur of a prairie on fire belongs to itself. It is like a volcano in full activity, you cannot imitate it, because it is impos- sible to obtain those gigantic elements from which it derives its awful splendour. Fortunately, in the present instance the wind was from the west, and drove the fires in the opposite direction, and being south of us we could contemplate the magnificent spec- tacle without anxiety. One object in burning the prairie at this time, was to turn the buffalo; they had crossed the Saskatche- wan in great numbers near the Elbow and were advancing towards us, and crossing the Qu’Appelle not far from the height of land ; by burning the prairie east of their course, they would be diverted to the south, and feed for a time on the Graid Co- teau before they pursued their way to the Little Souris, in the country of the Sioux, southeof the 49th parallel. Putting out fire in the prairies is a telegraphic mode of commun- ication frequently resorted to by Indians. Its consequences are seen in the destruction of the forests which once covered an im- mense area south of the Qu’Appelle and Assiniboine. The aridity of those vast prairies is partly due to this cause. The soil, though light, derives much of its apparent sterility from the annual fires. In low places and in shallow depressions where marshes are formed in spring, the soil is rich, much mixed with vegetable matter, and supports a very luxuriant growth of grass. If wil- lows and aspens were permitted to grow over the prairies, they would soon be converted into humid tracts in which vegetable matter would accumulate, and a soil adapted to forest trees be formed. If a portion of prairie escapes fire for two or three years the result is seen in the growth of willows and aspens, * A native expression ; ‘ put out fire,’ signifies to set the prairie on fire. 53 first in patches, then in large areas, which in a short time become united and cover the country; thus retarding evapora- tion and permitting the accumulation of vegetable matter in the soil. A fire comes, destroys the young forest growth and esta- blishes a prairie once more. The reclamation of immense areas is not beyond human power. The extension of the prairies is evidently due to fires, and the fires are caused by Indians, chiefly for the purpose of telegraphic communication, or to divert the buffalo from the course they may be taking. These operations will cease as the Indians and buffalo diminish, events which are taking place with great rapidity. Wood began to be a great treasure in the prairie after passing the Moose Jaws Forks; we were compelled to go supperless to bed on the night of the 24th, because we had neglected to take a sup- ply at the last aspen grove we passed, thinking that the bois de vache (dried buffalo dung) would be found in abundance, but the fires had burned it also, and not even a fragment was to be pro- cured. No tree or shrub, or even willow twig could be seen in any direction from our camp on the morning of the 26th. Our customary breakfast of tea and buffalo meat was impossible. We had to content ourselves with uncooked pemican and water from a marsh. : Immediately on the banks of the Qu’Appelle Valley here, are the remains of ancient encampments, where the Plain Crees, in the day of their power and pride had erected large skin tents, and strengthened them with rings of stones placed round the base. These circular remains-were twenty-five feet in diameter, the stones or boulders beinz about one foot in cir- cumference. They wore the aspect of great antiquity, being partially covered with svil and grass. When this camp ground was occupied by the Crees, timber no doubt grew in the valley below, or on the prairie and ravines in detached groves, for their permanent camping grounds are always placed near a supply of fuel. Making an early start in search of wood, we came suddenly upon four Cree tents, whose inmates were still fast asleep ; about three hundred yards west of them we found ten more tents, with over 50 or 60 Indians in all. They were preparing to cross the valley in the direction of the Grand Coteau, following the buffalo. Their provisions for trade, such as dried meat and pemican were drawn by dogs, each bag of pemican being supported upon two long poles, which are shaft, body and wheels in one. Buffalo Pound Hill Lake, thirty two miles long, begins near the Moose Jaws Forks, and on the opposite ‘or south side of this long sheet of water, we saw eighteen tents and a large number of horses. The women in those we visited on our side of the valley and lake, had collected a great quantity of the Mesaskotomina berry, which they were drying. They announced the cheering intel- ligence that the Chief Shortstick, with some thirty tents was at the Sandy Hills impounding buffalo. Leaving the hospitable Crees, after an excellent breakfast on pounded meat and marrow fat, we arrived at Buffalo Pound Hill at noon. The whole country here assumed a different appearance ; it now bore resemblance to a stormy sea suddenly become rigid ; the hills were of gravel and very abrupt, but none exceeded 100 feet in height. The Coteau de Missouri is clearly seen from Buffalo Pound Hill towards the south, while north-easterly the Last Mountain of the Touchwood Hill Range looms gray or blue in the distance. Between these distant ranges a treeless plain in- tervenes. The Grand Coteau runs parallel with the Missouri ; its average breadth is 60 to 80 miles, and it rises from 400 to 800 feet above the bed of the great river it flanks, and between 400 to 800 feet above the high plains through which the Shayenne and James River meander to the Red River of the north, and the Missouri.* The vegetation on the Grand Coteau is very scanty, the Indian turnip is common, so also is a species of cactus ; no tree or shrub is seen, and it is only in the bottoms and marshes that rank herbage is found. Ponds and lakes are numerous on the Grand Coteau side, and it is probably on this account that the Buffalo cross the Qu’Appelle valley near the Moose Jaws Fork and west of Buffalo Pound Hill Lake ; in the winter they keep towards the Touchwood Hills for the sake of shelter, and the excellent herbage which grows in the beautiful meadows between the aspen clumps. The prairies there too are not so often burned as south of the Qu’Appelle, the valley of that river serving as a great barrier to prevent the onward progress of the devastating fires. We began to find the fresh bones of Buffalo very nume- rous on the ground, and here and there startled a pack of wolves feeding on a carcass which had been deprived of its tongue and hump only by the careless, thriftless Crees. Peli- cans and ducks are seen in vast numbers on the lake, while on the high banks of the valley the remains of ancient encamp- ments in the form of rings of stones to hold down the skin tents being everywhere visible, testify to the former numbers of the Plain Crees, and afford a sad evidence of the ancient power of the people who once held undisputed sway from the Missouri to the Saskatchewan. The remains of a race fast passing away, give more than a transient interest to Buffulo Pound Hill Lake. The largest ancient encampment we saw lies near a shallow Lake in the prairie about a mile ‘rom the Qu’ Appelle valley. It is surrounded by a few low sandy and gravelly hills, and is quite screened from observation. It may have been a camping ground for centuries, as some circles of stones are partially covered with grass and embedded in the soil. At noon on the 26th we rested for a few hours opposite to a large camp of Crees on the other side of the lake; our sudden appearance at the edge of the prairie threw them into a state of the greatest excitement as evinced by their haste in collecting their horses and gathering in groups in the valley below. A few of them set out to ride round the head of the lake but in the wrong direction, so that the chance of their overtaking us was highly doubtful, as they would have to make a round of thirty miles in consequence of the intervening lake. This magnificent sheet of water, never less than half a mile broad and thirty-two miles long, shadowed forth what the Qu’Appelle valley might become if a river like the Saskatchewan could be made to flow through it. As we neared the height of land the physical structure of tnis great valley became a deeply inter- esting and almost exciting subject of enquiry. So far it had preserved its breadth and depth with astonishing uniformity all the way from the Mission, and we were within forty miles of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. The hill banks of the river now became wooded again, ash-leaved maple and elm in the ravines, sustained, no doubt, by the presence of so large a body of water as Buffalo Pound Hill Lake. Towards evening we arrived at another Cree encampment, where we were again hospitably treated to beaten buffalo meat and marrow fat. Birch bark dishes full of that nutritious but not very tempting food was placed on the ground before us and * Explorations and Surveys for a railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Governor Stevens, page 877. 54 we were requested to partake of it. The Indians took a piece of the pounded meat in their fingers and dipped it into the soft marrow ; they were delighted to receive a small present of tea and tobacco, and while we were engaged in the tent with the men, the girls, children and old women came round our carts asking if we had any rum, and snuffed the boxes and bags containing provisions, in search of that odoriferous stimulant. We left our hospitable friends in the evening and camped about three miles from the last Cree tent. The Chief of the band, an old man, expressed very kindly feelings towards us, and hinted that it would be as well to keep a watch over our horses during the night, for there were some young scamps among his band who would think it an honour to steal a white man’s horse. Visitors came during the evening, and from their actions we thought it advisa!ile to keep watch and tether the horses ; observing these precautions they retired at an early hour after a friendly smoke. At dawn on the following morning we were en route again, and towards noon approached the Sandy Hills, the valley con- tinuing about 140 feet deep and maintaining its width. Two days before our arrival the Indians had been running buffalo, and many carcases of these animals were scattered over the arid, treeless prairie through which our route lay, Several herds of buffalo were visible wending their way in single file to the Grand Coteau de Missouri distinctly looming south of the Qu’Appelle valley. After travelling through a dry, barren region, strewed with erratics, until 2 p.m., we arrived at the Lake of the Sandy Hills, and on the opposite side of the valley saw a number of tents with many horses feeding in the flats. When within a mile of the lake a buffalo bull suddenly appear- ed upon the brow of a little hill on our right. A finer sight of its kind could hardly be imagined. The animal was in his prime and a magnificent specimen of the buffalo. He gazed at us through the long hair which hung over his eyes in thick profusion, pawed the ground, tossed his head and snorted with proud disdain. He was not more than 50 yards from us, and while we were admiring his splendid proportions he set off at a gallop towards some low hills we had just passed over. Our appearance on the brink of the valley opposite the tents surprised the Indians, they quickly caught their horses and about twenty galloped across the valley, here quite dry, and ina quarter of an hour were seated in friendly chat with the half breeds. We kindled a fire with bots de vache, of which there was a vast quantity strewn over the plain, but no wood was near at hand. When the men were going to the lake for water to make some tea the Indians told us it was salt, and that the only fresh water within a distance of some miles was close to their camp on the opposite side of the valley. We were there- fore constrained to cross to the other side and erect our tents near tothe spring. Advantage was taken of our passage across the valley to make an instrumental measurement of its leading dimensions. It was found tobe 140 feet deep, estimating from the abrupt edge of the bank, and one mile five chains broad. The depth below the general level of the prairie is considerably greater, for there was a descent of fifty or sixty feet by a gentle slope not included in the foregoing measurement. A vast number of erratics strewed this slope, indeed it was with great difficulty that we steered the carts through the formidable accumulation of boulders which beset our path. The bed of the Qu’Appelle is quite visible in the valley, but on account of the porous nature of the soil the overflow from Sand Hill Lake penetrates it in dry weather, and reappears about half a mile below in the form of a little stream about ten feet broad, issuing from a marshy tract occupying the entire breadth of the valley. In crossing, the carts and horses sank deeply in the soft grassy bottom, already much cut up by the passing of a large number of buffalo during the week preceding our arrival, Sand Hill Lake is four and a half miles long, very shallow and contains water strongly impregnated with epsom salts and com- mon salt. We made ourselves acceptable to the Indians by mak- ing them a present of powder, shot, tea and tobacco, and in return they invited us to partake of pounded meat, marrowfat and berries. The chief of the band assured us that his young men were honest and trustworthy, and in compliance with his instruc- tions property would be perfectly safe. During the night a heavy rain filled the hollows with water and gave us promise of an abundant supply until we arrived at the Sandy Hills where the main body of Plain Crees were encamped. On the following day, the 28th, I rode to the Eye-brow Hill range, a prolongation of the Grand Coteau, and distant from the Qu’Appelle Valley about four miles. It was there that the Indians told us we should find one of the sources of the Qa’Appelle river. Atter an hour’s ride I reached the hills and quickly came upon a deep ravine at the bottom of which bubbled a little stream about three feet broad. I followed its course until it entered the prairie leading to the great valley, and traced it to its junction with the main excavation, through a deep narrow gully. The Eye-brow Hill range is about 150 feet above the prairie and forms the flank of a table land stretching to the Grand Coteau, of which it is the western extension. The recent tracks of buffalo were countless on the hill sides, and in the distance several herds could be seen feeding on the treeless plateau to the south. In the afternoon we bid farewell to our Cree friends and travelled west on the south side of Sand Hill Lake until we arrived at the gully through which the stream from the Eye-brow hill range entered the Qu’Appelle valley. It was here nine feet broad and three deep, having received accessions in a short course through the prairie from the hills where I had observed it scarcely three feet broad, We camped in the valley and employed the evening in taking levels. About four miles west of us we saw the Sandy Hills and could discern the Great Valley passing through them, and containing as the Indians had alleged, ponds which sent water both to the South Branch and the Assiniboine. An important physical fact which we alterwards verified instrumentally and by optical proof. We found the streamlet from the Eye-brow Hill range strike the Qu’Appelle Valley eight and a half miles west of Sand Hill Lake, and four miles from the height of land where the ponds lie. The fall between the ponds and our camp was about five feet, and the valley 150 feet deep, and one mile seventy chains broad. The Eye-brow Hill stream had exca- vated a channel nine feet deep in the bottom of the Great Valley, and was joined by a sluggish brook coming from the ponds a few yards from our camp. Water marks on the hill banks showed that the entire breadth of the valley is flooded during spring. The Sand Hills commence on the north side about two miles west of Sand Hill Lake as it appears in summer. They are drifting dunes, and many of them present a clear ripple marked surface without any vegetation, not even a blade of grass. They have invaded the Great Valley and materially lessened its depth. One feature in its banks is worthy of special notice. Many boulders or erratics are dis- tributed over the west extremity of small hills or ridges into 55 which the steep banks are broken, seventy to one hundred and twenty feet above the level of the flats. These ridges have the form of long, narrow islands, their longitudinal axes being par- allel to the sides of the valley, and the erratics are deposited and arranged on the top of each ridge and at their western extremities. The form of these ridges is also peculiar, they are sharp at the west end where the erratics lie, and rounded at the east end. The slope is gentle at the west end, abrupt at the east end.. This peculiarity is a constant feature of all the ridges seen on the sides of the banks of the valley. They vary in height from 10 to 30 feet, and in length from 60 to 140 feet, and in breadth from 20 to 80 feet. They have evidently some relation to the excavating force which has produced this great valley, and cannot be attributed to the long continued action of a small stream ; however competent running water may be to produce deep and long depressions in loose drift, or a soft friable rock. (See wood-cut on page 57.) A section of the bank of the Eyebrow Hill stream, on its course through the flats, showed fine clay brought by recent rains from the hill banks, sand blown from the dunes, and loam pro- duced by the blending of the two. Where it leaves the prairie the little river has exposed a section of a drift hillten feet above the level of the flats, which reposes upon an ochreous stratified rock, seamed with veins of selenite. It exhibits yellow and red ferruginous clay about 6 feet thick, and below it is a hard greenish sandstone, in which gigantic concretionary masses are numerous. Veins of selenite penetrate the greenish coloured rock, but are most abundant in the ferruginous clay. This is the first rock seen in position above the Mission. On the morning of Thursday, 29th, we prepared to visit the main body of the Crees at the Sandy Hills, and with a view to secure a favourable reception, sent a messenger to announce our arrival, and to express a wish to see Short- stick, the Chief of the Sandy Hills. Soon after breakfast we crossed the valley and entered the sand dunes; one which we measured was 70 feet high, quite steep on one side, beauti- fully ripple-marked by the wind, and crescent-shaped. Sand dunes are on both sides of the valley. From the summit we saw the woods and hills beyond the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, and what was more delightful to us traced with the eye the Qu’Appelle valley with undiminished depth and breadth through the Sandy Hills, until it was lost as it dipped: towards the South Branch. At 8 o’clock, a.m., we came in sight of the Cree camp, and soon afterwards messengers arrived from Shortstick, in reply to the announcement of our arrival, expressing a hope that we would delay our approach until they had moved their camp half-a-mile further west, where the odour of the putrid buf- falo would be less annoying. We employed the time in ascer- taining the exact position of the height of land, and soon found a pond from which we observed water flowing to the Saskatch- ewan and the Assiniboine. The pond was fed by a number of springs and small streams, a foot or two broad, issuing from the Sandy Hills, on both sides, at right angles to the valley. We selected this spot to level across the val- Sw, ley, and found its ~” NG depth to be 110 feet below the first pla- River dunes, 78 chains, or nearly one mile. Here we commenced taking the levels to the South Branch, twelve miles distant from us, an operation which we soon found necessary to close for the present, in consequence of the arrival of about sixty Cree horsemen, many of them naked, with exception of the breech cloth and belt. They were accompanied by the Chief’s son, who informed us that in an hour's time they would escort us to the camp. They were about constructing a new pound, having literally filled an old one with buffalo, and being compelled to abandon it on account of the stench which arose from the putri- fying bodies. We sat on the ground and smoked, until they thought it time for us to accompany them to their encampment. Shortstick had hurried away to make preparations for bringing in the buffalo; the new pound being nearly ready. He expressed through his son a wish that we should see them entrap the buf- falo in this pound, a rare opportunity, few would be willing to lose. We passed through the camp to a place which the Chief’s son pointed out, and there erected our tents. The women were still employed in moving the camp, being assisted in the opera- tion by large numbers of dogs, each dog having two poles har- nessed to him, on which his little load of meat, or pemican or camp furniture was laid. After another smoke, the Chief’s son asked me, through the interpreter, if I would like to see the old buffalo pound, in which they had been entrapping buffalo during the past week. With a ready compliance I accompanied the guide toa little valley between sand hills, through a lane of branches of trees, which are called ‘dead men’ to the gate or trap of the pound. A sight most horrible and disgusting broke upon us as we ascended a sand dune overhanging the little dell in which the pound was built. Within a circular fence 120 feet broad, constructed of the trunks of trees, laced with withes to- gether, and braced by outside supports, lay tossed in every con- ceivable position over two hundred dead buffalo. From old bulls to calves of three months old, animals of every age were huddled together in all the forced attitudes of violent death. Some lay on their backs, with eyes starting from their heads, and tongue thrust out through clotted gore. Others were impaled on the horns of the old and strong bulls. Others again which had been tossed were lying with broken backs two and three deep. One little calf hung suspended on the horns of a bull which had impaled it in the wild race round and round the pound. The Indians looked upon the dreadful and sickening scene with evident delight, and told how such and such a bull or cow had exhibited feats of wonderful strength in the death struggle. The flesh of many of the cows had been taken from them, and was drying in the sun on stages near the tents. It is needless to say that the stench was overpowering, and millions of large blue flesh flies, humming and buzzing over the putrefying bodies was not the least disgusting part of the spectacle. At my request the Chief’s son jumped into the pound, and with a small axe knock- ed off half a dozen pair of horns, which I wished to preserve in memory of this terrible slaughter. “To-morrow,” said my com- panion, “ you shall see us bring in the buffalo to the new pound.” After the first run, ten days before our arrival, the Indians had driven about 200 buffalo into the teau, its breadth, although partially invaded by sand TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE VALLEY OF (Horizontal Scale, 16 chains to an in "T mile enclosure, and were stil urging on the THE QU’APPELLE AT THE HeIGutT oF Lanp. ‘ remainder of the ch; Vertical Scale, 200 feet to an inch.) 56 herd, when one wary old bull, espying a narrow crevice which had not been closed by the robes of those on the outside, whose duty it was to conceal every orifice, made a dash and broke the fence, the whole body then ran helter skelter through the gap, and dispersing among the sand dunes, escaped, with the excep- tion of eight who were speared or shot with arrows as they passed in their mad career. In all, 240 animals had been killed in the pound, and it was its offensive condition which led the reckless and wasteful savages to construct a new one. This was formed in a pretty dell, between sand hills, about half-a-mile from the first, and leading from it in two diverging rows, the bushes they designate dead men, and which serve to guide the buffalo when at full speed, were arranged. The dead men ex- tended a distance of four miles into the prairie, west of and beyond the Sand Hills. They were placed about 50 feet apart, and between the extremity of the rows might be a distance of from one and a half to two miles. When the skilled hunters are about to bring in a herd of buftalo from the prairie, they direct the course of the gallop of the alarmed animals by confederates stationed in hollows or small depressions, who when the buffalo appear inclined to take a direction leading from the space marked out by the dead men, show themselves for a moment and wave their robes, immediately however hiding again. This serves to turn the buffalo slightly in another direction ; and when the animals having arrived between the rows of dead men, endeavour to pass through them, Indians here and there stationed behind a dead man, go through the same operation, and thus keep the animals within the narrowing limits of the converging lines. At the entrance to the pound there is a strong trunk of a tree placed about one foot from the ground, and on the inner side a shallow excavation is made, sufficiently deep, however, to prevent the buffalo from leaping back when once in the pound. As soon as the animals have taken the fatal spring they begin to gallop round and round the ring fence looking for a chance of escape, but with the utmost silence the women and children on the outside hold their robes before every orifice until the whole herd is brought in, they then climb to the top of the fence, and with the hunters who have followed closely in the rear of the buffalo, spear or shoot with bows and arrows or firearms at the bewildered animals, rapidly becoming mad with rage and terror, within the narrow limits of the pound. It is then that a dreadful scene of confu- sion and slaughter hegins, the oldest and strongest animals crush and toss the weakcr ; the shouts and screams of the excited In- dians rise above the roaring of the bulls, the bellowing of the cows and the piteous moaning of the calves. The dying struggles of so many strong, full grown animals crowded together, furnish a revolting and terrible picture, but with occasional displays of wonderful brute strength and rage; while man in his savage, untutored and heathen state shows both in deed and expression how little he is superior to the noble beasts he so wantonly and cruelly destroys. Shortstick is about fifty years old, of low stature, but very powerfully built. His arms and breast were deeply marked with scars and gashes, records of grief and mourning for departed friends. His son’s body was painted with blue bars across his chest and arms. The only clothing they wore con- sisted of dressed elk or buffalo hide, and the breech cloth ; this robe was often cast off the shoulders and drawn over the knees when in a sitting posture ; they wore no covering on the head, their long hair was plaited or tied in knots, or hung loose over their shoulders and back. The forms of some of the young men were faultless, of the older men bony and wiry, and of the aged men, in one instance at least, a living skeleton. I enquired the age of an extremely old fellow who asked me for medicine to cure a pain in his chest; he replied he was a strong man when the two Companies (the Hudson’s Bay and the North West) were trading with his tribe very many sum- mers ago. He remembers the time when his people were as numerous as the Buffalo are now, and the buffalo thick as trees in the forest. The half-breeds thought he was more than 100 years old. Shortstick accepted the presents of tea, tobac- co, bullets, powder and blankets I made him, with marked satisfaction, and expressed a wish to learn the object of our visit. We held a “talk” in my tent, during which, the chief expressed himself freely on various subjects, and listened with the utmost attention to the speeches of the Indians he had summoned to attend the Council. All speakers objected strongly to the half-breeds’ hunting buffalo during the winter in the Plain Cree country. They had no objection to trade with them or with white people, but they insisted that all strangers should purchase dried meat or pemican and not hunt for themselves. They urged strong objections against the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany encroaching upon the prairies and driving away the buffalo. They would be glad to see them establish as many posts as they choose on the edge of the prairie country, but they did not like to see the plains invaded. During the existence of the two companies, all went well with the Indians, they obtained excellent pay and could sell all their meat and pemi- can. Since the union of the companies they had not fared half so well, had received bad pay for their provisions, and were growing poorer, and weaker, and more miserable year by year. The buffalo were fast disappearing before the en- croachments of the white men, and although they acknowledge the value of firearms they thought they were better off in old times, when they had only bows and spears, and wild animals were numerous. I asked Shortstick to name the articles he would like to have if I came into his country again. He asked for tea, a horse of English breed, a cart, a gun, a supply of powder and ball, knives, tobacco, a medal with a chain, a flag, a suit of fine clothes, and rum. The talk lasted between six and seven hours, the greater portion of the time being taken up in interpreting sentence by sentence, the speeches of each man in turn. They generally commenced with the creation, giving a short history of that event in most general terms, and after a few flourishes about equality of origin, descended sud- denly to buffalo, half-breeds, the H. B. company, tobacco and rum. Early on the morning of the 30th I retraced my steps to examine an exposure of Cretaceous rock, forming part of the bank at the summit level of the Qu’Appelle valley, while Mr. Fleming continued taking the levels of the South Branch. (See Section, p.55.) The rock is a sandstone, dipping very slightly to the south-west. The length of the exposure is about fifty yards, east and west ; it is covered with drifting sand. Near the summit the layers are highly fossiliferous, and almost wholly composed of Avicula Linguiformis (Evans and Shumard) ; above and below the fossiliferous portion there is a coarse greenish coloured sand, interstratified with brown ferruginous layers. The thickness visible is about twelve feet. The rock occurs at the bend of the valley at its summit level ; the expo- sure is perpendicular, and about 60 feet above the bottom of the valley. Some of the beds, those which are unfossiliferous, “ITE ee : r ci r G9 730" ; Rho 120° ASSINNIBOINE & SASKATCHEWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. } 1 es . : be \3 p | 43°20 3 z Sk ; - s x 53°20 8 ss = : u = ez, PROFILE OF THE GRAND RAPID. OS S$ x ; y Horizt Scale 60 chainstoan indu. Sa ( - Vertict do.120 feet » » 4 Sg ‘- / — Buff colored Limastone/ £ a 3 i : a5 - aa Stratification Horixontal, eais s dp etaceed Sastre a ep tee cag. PET OO IGFET OUR TOD Raga ho iy pa uu : =” ess = ss § _ ; a "a LA Ke E ae 4 flat ees al f iy 4 SAgor | a aa c + 9 poretoet .¢ C Ww iw > . hp pes NY * ; ak N yo ©) pe sey Ww o LEE a vv over v$ flatland covered mip PE \ ¢ Na 9 Low’ 8 a of white May tae \ Si SS pipe ro PS) Westin oe VAS NG G] ROP Gage tarie-ppat ee ta AS | et > \ ee a NoTE.ThisRapiisatong gradual slope, with) “ § ‘AN ag. fF SSS Sff* eet ere of deep water in the middle, aa

> Slo or Eo 5 er ta, : ozo ; Qy ie LANA NAN “*ndulating UZ NAN War Say si yp Eyebrow, Grark Harney : of the : QUAPPELLE VALLEY FROM SAND HILL LAKE WESTWARD shewing its junction with the SASKATCHEWAN Sager XO ONG ASG laa asian WG AAs eS . | psi Hill wy | & ' enre™ Scale 2 miles to an Inch. Maclear & Co. Iith Toronto. a . =~ Longitude West of See aaa 2 : 57 are very soft and friable, easily disintegrating, and may, farther west, be the origin of the sand dunes distributed over so wide an area in this part of the country. In descending the slope from the summit level to the Saskatchewan, the boulders on the ridges in the valley were found to be generally deposited upon the west side. The inclination of the boulders was towards the east, those forming the upper stratum were inclined against or superimposed upon the west side of those beneath, leading to the inference that the current which directed the course of ice which bore them, came here, as on the other side of the summit level in the valley, from the west. SQW RT eae Catt t at aie 1) a fi, fey iby; UU sy aaa o « 5 Bay, ‘ ° yD © 2 ate PLAN ere cosas ceune © Be igi Oi Peer Nt mee < RE WEstT “ELEVATION RipGEs, WITH BOULDERS, ON THE East AND WEST SIDE OF THE HEIGHT oF Land IN THE QU’ APPELLE VALLEY. About fourteen miles from the Saskatchewan there is a gigantic erratic of unfossiferous rock on the south side of the valley. It is seventy-nine feet in horizontal circumference, three feet from the ground; and a tape stretched across the exposed portion, from side to side, over the highest point, measured 46 feet. The Indians place on it offerings to Manitou, and at the time of our visit it contained beads, bits of tobacco, fragments of cloth and other trifles. At noon I bid farewell to Shortstick, and joining the carts ‘we wended our way by the side of “ the River that Turns,” occupying the continuation of the Qu’Appelle valley, to the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. The carts were accom- panied by several Indians who watched with much curiosity the progress of taking the levels, and were very anxious to know what “‘ medicine” I was searching for when sketching the position of the erratics in the valley. Now and then a fine buffalo bull would appear at the brow of the hill forming the boundary of the prairie, gaze at us for a few minutes and gallop off. The buffalo were crossing the South Branch a few miles below us in great numbers, and at night, by putting the ear to the ground, we could hear them bellowing. Towards evening we all arrived at the South Branch, built a fire, gummed the canoe, which had been sadly damaged by a journey of 700 miles across the prairies, and hastened to make a distribution of the supplies for a canoe voy- age down that splendid river. We were not anxious to camp at the mouth of “the River that Turns,” in consequence of a war party of Blackfeet who were said to be in the neighbour- hood of the Cree camp, watching for an opportuity to steal horses, and if possible to “lift a scalp.” The Indians who had accompanied us hastened to join their friends as soon as they saw the canoe in the water, and just as the sun set, the canoe containing Mr. Fleming and myself, with two half breeds, pushed off from the shore ; the rest of the party, with the carts and horses in charge of the old hunter, retired from the river to camp in the open prairie, where they would be able to guard against a surprise by the Black- feet, or the thieving propensities of treacherous Crees. Great precautions were undoubtedly necessary, as sure signs had been observed within three miles of the Sandy Hills, proving that a war party of Blackfeet were skulking about. The Crees, always accustomed when on the South Branch to their attacks, merely adopted the precaution of posting watches on the highest dunes, about a mile from the camp, and it was owing to the advice of Shortstick that we embarked so late in the evening in our canoe. We drifted a mile or two down the river until we came to a precipitous cliff showing a fine exposure of rock, which proved a temptation too great to be resisted, so we drew the canoe on the bank and camped for the night on the east side of the river, making arrangements to watch in turns. The first view of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, fully six hundred miles from the point where the main river disembogues into Lake Winnipeg, filled me with astonishment and admiration. We stood on the banks of a river of the first class, nearly half a mile broad, and flowing with a swift cur- rent, not more than three hundred and fifty miles from the Rocky Mountains, where it takes its rise. We had reached this river by traversing either within it or on its banks, for a distance of two hundred and seventy miles, a narrow deep excavation con- tinuous from the valley of one great river to that of another, and exhibiting in many features evidences of an excavating force far greater than the little Qu’Appelle which meandered through it, was at the first blush, thought capable of creating. How were the deep lakes hollowed out? lakes filling the breadth of the valley, but during the lapse of ages not having increased its breadth, preserving too, for many miles, such remarkable depths, and although in some instances far removed from one another, yet maintaining those depths with striking uniformity. What could be the nature of the eroding forve which dug out narrow basins fifty-four to sixty-six feet deep at the bottom of a valley already 300 feet below the slightly undulating prairies, and rarely exceeding one mile in breadth? It was easy to understand how a small river like the Qu’Appelle could grad- ually excavate a valley a mile broad and three hundred feet deep. The vast prairies of the North-West offer many such instances; the Little Souris River, for example, in passing through the Blue Hills; the Assiniboine, for a hundred and fifty miles, flows through a broad deep valley, evidently exca- vated by its waters; the rivers in western Ganada often flow in deep eroded valleys; but in no instance to my knowledge are deep and long lakes known to occupy a river valley where the altitude and character of the rocks preclude the assumption that they may have been ozcasioned by falls, without having increased its width by the action of their waves on the banks, or without leaving some traces of the force which had exca- vated them. It was certainly with mingled feelings of anxiety and pleasurable anticipation that we embarked on the broad Saskatchewan, hoping during our long journey down its swift stream to find some clue to the origin of the curious inosculat- ing valley of the Qu’Appelle we had traced from one water- shed to another. 58 LEADING DIMENSIONS OF THE Qu’APPELLE or Caine River Vary, AND oF THE LAKES WHICH OCCUPY IT. Table showing the length, with the breadth and depth, of the Qu Appelle Valley at different points. Length of Valley from the South Branch of the Saskatchewan Seema to the ASSinTDOING oo... eeecseecccecsececaeusveceeuenceesecueesees 269 #0 Breadth of Valley 70 miles from the Assiniboine ............00 0 78* Do do 177 do O°” ehacaidahlanivas 1 30 Do do 239 do GO aaveswoustewes 1 65 Do do 253 do GO gewededeeuanas 1. 70 Do do 258 do Or. _wedeaversueeees 0 73** At its junction with the Assiniboine its breadth exceeds one mile. At its junction with the Saskatchewan its breadth exceeds one mile and a quarter. Feet. Depth of the Valley 70 miles from the Assiniboine...........ccccceeecees 320 Do do 177 do AO sstssiowsnensxwansanderds 250 Do do 230 do AG —-“asasuesacaestonerener’ 220 Do do 253 do GO: —-daebsanassidsdasasinnscae 140 Do do 258 do dO sdesstige vexuasscnasiaee 110 At the junction with the Assiniboine the prairie slopes to the Valley of that river, and its depth here is......... cc eceeceseseseeeeeeteceeeseeees 240 At its junction with the Saskatchewan the prairie also slopes to the Valley of the Saskatchewan, and its depth was estimated to be ... 140 * One mile less 44 yards. ** One mile less 164 yards. Table showing the length, breadth, mean depth, greatest depth, and. distance from the Assiniboine, of the Lakes in the Qu’ Appelle Valley. Depth. |Distance Name of Lake. Length. | Breadth. from Mouth. Mean. | Gr. m ch. | Chains. | Feet. |Feet] m. ch. Round Lake, or Ka-wah-wi-ya-ka-mac..| 4 56 60 28 30 41 20 Crooked Lake, or Ka-wa-wa-ki-ka-mac} 6 10 60 31 | 42} 56 0 Fishing Lake, No. 1, or Pa-ki-ta-wi-win] 6 0 40 52 | 66] 108 0 . 1 NO. FD nenesdacavan + oe ¥ 3 25 40 82 48 | 114 20 & © NO. 8 cc eee e een reves 4 30 60 41 57 | 119 20 e Cs (ee 8 50 60 37 54! 124 12 Long Lake .....ceesecereereeccreretecsceres 60 as far|....--]..--| 168 0 as seen, Buffalo Pound-hill Lake .......+--00+ 16 0 40 |wasscea |i eee 194 20 Sandhill Lake ......ceeeeereeecencs 4 50 45 [.wceeeleoee 239 50 Total length of the Lakes......| 53 61 Nore.—The breadths and depths are the means of several measurements. The distances are taken along the centre of the Valley. CHAPTER IV. FROM THE QU’APPELLE MISSION TO FORT ELLICE, DOWN THE QU’APPELLE RIVER. The Second Fishing Lake—Depth of—Indian Map— Origin of name Qu’ Appelle, or “ Who calls River” —The First Lake, or Pakitawiwin—Great fdepth of First Lake—Fish—Con- fervee — Depth of Valley — Width of River — High-water mark-- Valley flooded—Affluents— Depth of Valley—Crook- ed Lake, or Ka-wa-wa-ti-ka-mac—Dimensions of —Effects of fires—Trees in Valley—Boulders—Character of the couniry— Indian surprise — Indians — Summer berry Creek—Dimen stons of Valley— Valley and Prairie scene—Camp scene— Character of Valley—Ka-wah-wi-ya-ka-mac, or Round Lake — Dimensions of—Stony Basin— Granite Boulders—Litile Cut-arm Creek— The Scissors Creek—Rock exposure— Grass- hoppers—Big Cut-arm Creek—Dimensions of Qu’ Appelle— Flooding of Valley—Timber—Undergrowth—Birds— Minks — Deer—Uniformity of Qu Appelle Valley. MR. DICKINSON’S NARRATIVE. Dear Sir,—Soon after parting from you on the nosing of July 20th, at the Church of England Mission in the Qu Appelle Valley, my instruments for surveying, with watch, a oe compass, a log line and sounding line, all arranged for ready use, and a cargo of kettles, pans, pemican, and eee slowed away, our little canoe commenced its voyage down the river. In half an hour we reached the lake, which is gene- rally called the second of the Fishing Lakes. Before ventur- ing 10 go down it we were obliged to stop for the purpose of 1 5 gumming the canoe, as it was leaking more than was desirable. To save time we took breakfast here. The distance between this lake and the one at the Mission is 14 miles, while the actual length of the river is upwards of 2 miles. Its width averages 80 feet, and its depth 3 feet; the rate of current, which is nearly uniform throughout its length, is one mile per hour. The difference of level between these two lakes, ob- tained instrumentally on a previous day, is 1.50 feet. These measurements, not valuable in themselves, are taken for the purposes explained in the “ Rules for conducting the Exploring Survey,” namely, as the means for calculating approximately the total fall in the river. I may mention, that at every oppor- tunity similar measurements and observations were made, with the assistance of Mr. John Fleming, from which we were able to deduce some general laws for guiding us in estimating the fallin rivers. I may mention also, as it has not often been used before, I think, on similar surveys, that the log line was found to be most invaluable in ascertaining the rate of the canoe on the rivers as well as on the lakes, being a much more accurate way than that of estimating it by the eye. The canoe being now declared to be sea-worthy, we started on our way again. The lake is 34 miles long and three quar- ters of a mile in breadth, extending between the slopes of the valley, and appearing to be merely an expansion of the river, but on trial found to be something more than that. For some distance out from the mouth of the river it is only from three 59 to four feet deep, but on trying it when we were about half a mile distant with a sounding line 30 feet long, to my great surprise, I could find no bottom ; having added more line, the depth proved to be 42 feet. About the middle of the lake the depth is 48 feet. A stream a quarter of a mile in length, flowing sluggishly through a marsh, connects this lake with the next, the first of the Fishing Lakes, or as itis in Cree, Pakitawiwin. All the Indian names of the lakes and tributaries of the Qu’Appelle I got afterwards on my arrival at Fort Ellice, from an old Indian 70 years of age, who had been once upon a time a great hunter and warrior, now in peace and comfort spending his remaining days at the hospitable Fort. With a piece of charred wood he drew on the floor a map of the Qu’Appelle Valley from the Fishing Lakes to the Agsiniboine, shewing every little creek so accurately that I easily recognised them. Mr. McKay, who was then in charge of the Fort, kindly acted as interpreter on the occasion. The Cree name of the Qu’Appelle river is Ka- tapaywie sept, and this is the origin of the name as told me by the Indian :—A solitary Indian was coming down the river in his canoe many summers ago, when one day he heard a loud voice calling to him, he stopt and listened and again heard the same voice as before. He shouted in reply, but there was no answer. He searched everywhere around, but could not find the tracks of any one. So from that time forth it was named the “Who Calls River.” Pakituwiwin is six miles long and half a mile wide, and is most wonderfully deep. In one place by means of putting together various pieces of cord, sashes, &c., the sounding line being too short, the depth was found to be about 66 feet. The mean of several depths is 52 feet. Itis famous forthe quantity and quality of its fish. For three miles we passed through a dense decaying mass of conferve, which an east wind had driven to the upper parts of the lake. The smell of it was most unpleasant ; the men pushed through it as hard as they could, no easy matter, as it impeded the progress of the canoe considerably. The valley here is about the same depth as it is at the Mission, but the slopes are not so precipitous; one of them, that on the south side, has been the whole way covered with a dense growth of young aspens, and the other has been bare of trees except in some of its many hollows and ravines. Leaving the lake we now descend the river at an average speed of four miles an hour, the rate of current being generally about one mile and a quarter per hour. Paddling was easy work, but the steering by no means so, for the bends of the river are innumerable and very sharp, and the waters sweep round them with great velocity ; oftentimes, but for the strong and dexterous arm of the steersman, the canoe would have been dashed against the bank, as it was he could not avoid sometimes getting entang- led among the overhanging branches of the willows. The width varies from one chain to one and a half, and the depth from four and a half totwo fee:. The bed for the most part consists of soft mud and is quite free from boulders, as is the case the whole way to the mouth, excepting in one place to be mentioned hereafter. The high water mark, very apparent on the willows growing along the banks, was eight feet over the present level of the water; the whole bottom of the valley, | was told, is often flooded to a depth of three feet. Nineteen small creeks flow into this portion of the river, two only of them having names, the first and second Pheasant Creeks, called in Cree Akiskoowi sepisis, named after a hill which lies to the north some miles away, from near which they both take their rise. I took a cross section of the valley here, and found it to be $20 feet deep and 78 chains wide ; it is I think the deepest part of it. At noon, on July 23rd, we reached Crooked Lake, called in Cree Kawawak-kamac, the most picturesque of the Qu’Appelle Lakes. Several streams draining the prairies on both sides have excavated deep and wide gorges opening into the main valley, which here sweeps in graceful curves, so that Crooked Lake seems to be embosomed amongst hills, and thus differs from the others which have very much the appearance of a gigantic canal. It is a little more than six miles in length, and its mean width is three quarters of a mile. The greatest depth I found was 36 feet, and the mean of several soundings was 31 feet. The south slope, as before, is clothed with a dense foliage of young aspens, willows, and dogwood; a great contrast to the opposite side, on which only grows short and scanty grass, leaving the granite boulders which lie scattered over it, exposed to view ; only in the ravines and thé deep hollows are seen patches of young aspens and straggling oaks which have escaned the de- vastating fires. For some time I could not understand why one side should be covered with trees and the other quite bare, the soil on both being exactlysimilar, until [discovered unmistakeable evidences of fire, which may be the cause of it. On enquiry afterwards I found that Indians often travel along the valley on the north of the river, which accounts for the fires being on that side. Between the gravelly beach and the first of the slopes a fringe of willows runs all round the lake, and several points of low land jut out on both sides, on which grow oak, elm, and ash; not very large trees certainly, but healthy and thriving looking, and giving additional beauty to the landscape. I ascended a bluff on the north side by a well-worn deer path, on which there were many foot-marks quite fresh, for the purpose of taking some observations connected with the sur- vey and seeing the nature of the surrounding country. A gently undulating prairie, dotted with clumps of small poplars and willows, stretched away on every side, and as far as I could see, the soil was a light sandy and gravelly loam, and in many parts strewed with boulders. I rather think that such is the character of a considerable extent of this section of the country. As 1 stood upon the summit of the bluff, looking down upon the glittering lake 300 feet below, and across the bound- less plains, no living thing in view, no sound of life any- where, I thought of the time to come when will be seen passing swiftly along the distant horizon the white cloud of the loco- motive on its 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 River to see the beautiful lakes of the Qu’Appelle. The view down the valley, where the river after issuing from the lake commences again its strange contortions, was doubtless very pretty, but it shewed too the trouble that was before me, that there would be no rest for eye or finger, such as I had when taking long straight courses on the lake. Again re-seated in the canoe we soon passed out of the lake into the river, the current of which for some distance is very strong and rapid, about 24 miles per hour according to the log- line, and the width averages 70 feet, and the depth 3 ft. 6 in. A little way down it, as we swiftly and noiselessly glided round a sudden bend, we were borne by the current very close indeed to a group of Indian women who were enjoying the pleasures 60 of a bath, quite as much to our astonishment as to theirs. First a loud chorus of screams arose, and then there was a rushing about for blankets and other apparel, which they adjusted with most wonderful rapidity, and then away they scampered to their wigwams laughing heartily as they went. Presently men and boys came trooping down to us simply arrayed in blankets, some worn in rather a negiligé fashion, for the day was very hot. The chief man of the party, which consisted of six fami- lies, invited me in the most polite and hospitable manner to go to his lodge and have something to eat ; but I had to decline as he had told me previously, in answer to a question as to how many days’ journey it was to Fort Ellice, that we would have to sleep four or five times before we reached it, and this was now our fourth day from the Mission ; and, moreover, I thought that the interior of a wigwam would not be a very agreeable place on such a hot day. While we were speaking the young ladies, whom we had so unintentionally disturbed, came down one by one to see us. Although their toilets were quite completed, so very modest were they, that they remained behind the bushes and peeped at us through the branches. Having given the men some tobacco, and receiving in return a large supply of Pembina berries (High-bush Cranberries), wewished them good-by and resumed our journey. We went at the average rate of four miles an hour for two hours and a half, and camped before sun- set at the foot of a bluff on the south side of the valley, of which I had taken a bearing from the end of the lake, and close to a creek about ten feet wide called Nipimenan sepesis, or summer berry creek. The valley is here of the same breadth as heretofore, that is, about one mile, and its depth is from 250 to 300 feet. The bottom is covered with willows interspersed with young sugar maples, with here and there an open patch of long luxuriant grass. With some difficulty I made my way to the level of the prairie through a dense and tangled mass of aspens and underwood of willows, dogwood, and rose trees ; but the beauty of the glorious sunset, and the cool refreshing breeze that came across the plains, more than repaid the trouble. I need not try to describe the exceeding beauty of the scene, for I could not 3; I will merely state what the components of the picture were. The sun just merged from behind a bank of crimson clouds reflected in the waters of Crooked Lake. Part of the valley in deep shade and part brightly illuminated. The vivid green of the young poplars on one side, and on the other large granite boulders lying on the bare and rugged surface of the slope. The blue smoke of the wigwams rising up high and straight from the bottom of the valley. The river, with its complicated coils, gliding among the willow bushes. To the south the great prairie, ocean-like, with its many islands of poplars and single trees, looking in the distance, and by twilight, like becalmed ships. As this view just dissolves away, another arises very pleasant to see,—our camp fire is now burning brightly below, and over it swings a kettle, and passing round and about it are my two men, one busily engaged in preparing supper, the other in spreading out the blankets on the ground between the fire and the canoe. Next morning (24th) we started as soon as it was daylight, glad to escape from our insatiated tormentors the mosquitoes and black flies, that would not let us rest or sleep all night. While at breakfast at 8 o’clock a great thunder storm from the south-west came upon us. Having thrown an end of the tar- paulin over the canoe, and resting the other end on the paddles ° stuck into the ground, we got beneath it and very soon fell fast asleep, andsl ept till 1 o’clock, when I was awoke by the sud-. den calm, for the storm had apparently only just then ceased, The valley and river still retain their old character and di- mensions till we come to the lowest of the lakes, called Kaw- ahwiga-kamac, or Round Lake, which varies from one mile to half a mile in width, and is nearly five miles long. The name is by no means an appropriate one, as it is far from being round. The mean of some soundings I took was 28 feet, the greatest being 30 feet. On the sand banks which are at the head of the lake, were myriads of duck, and large numbers of geese were swimming about in every direction, and a few great northern divers or loons. We camped at a place about two and a half miles down the river, called the Stony Basin, the Cree of which is Asini-pichigakan. For about 100 yards in length the river is full of large and small granite boulders, rendering it quite impassible for the smallest canoe when the water is low ; at this time the water was just high enough to admit of us passing over it. Two miles down the river from this spot a little stream brings in its gatherings from the prairies on the south, rejoicing in the name Isquawistequannak Kaastaki, which means, ‘ where. the heads of the women lie.’ A long time ago two women, one. a Cree and the other a Chippeway, were killed by the Man- dans on the banks of this stream; their bodies were left unburied, and their skulls are still lying there, from which circumstance the stream derives itsname. This was all my informant at Fort Ellice knew of the story. The next creek which is dignified with a name is the “ Little Cut-arm,” or Kiskipittonawe sepesis, the origin of which I could not find out; it flows in from the north. A few miles further down another creek, ten feet wide and very rapid, joins the Qu’Appelle on the other side ; its name is Pesquanamawe sepesis, which may be rendered into English, ‘the Scissors Creek ;? it is not a very literal translation, but is the best that can be given. The incident to which it owes its name exhibits a peculiar habit of the Indian, but is one that can- not be told. Near this spot there is an exposure of rock on the north slope of the valley, which on examination proved to be a shale similar to that on the Little Souris, but so decomposed that the amount or direction of its dip could not be ascertained. There are several extensive patches where the surface of the rock has been re-converted into soft mud, very much cracked, and on which no grass grows. On digging into it I found the mud to be three inches thick, then fragments very small and soft, and gradually increasing in size and hardness to a depth of about two feet, where the rock is perfectly hard but very much shattered. About fifteen miles to the east of this the rock is again to be seen on the south slope of the valley, also much broken. On the 26th vast clouds of grasshoppers, flying towards the east, passed high over our heads, without intermission, for nearly two hours. It was the last large flight I saw. Big Cut-arm Creek, or Kichekiskapettonano sepesis, the last to be noted, joins the Qu’Appelle about 20 miles from itsmouth, and is the largest of its affluents. It is twenty-five feet wide and three feet deep where it issues from a wide ravine on the north side. The Qu’Appelle from thence to its mouth is from eight to twelve feet deep and varies in width from seventy to eae: feet, and the rate of current is one mile and a half per hour, 61 There is much good land in the valley from the Fishing Lakes to the Assiniboine, but as it is flooded every spring it is questionable whether it will ever be of much importance. For ten miles up it there is an abundance of timber, consisting of aspens, balsam poplars, elm, black ash, oak, birch, and sugar maple. None, however, exceeding 1.6” in diameter, and few so large. The underwood, which is very beautiful, is chiefly composed of dogwood, roses, cherries, and pembinay, inter- twined with convolvuli and vetches. In this wooded part the birds are innumerable. Kingfishers, blue jays, and Canada jays, cat-birds, and American magpies, flitted from tree to tree uttering their discordant notes. Cherry-birds and pigeons were calmly and listlessly perched on the dense trees, having eaten plentifully of their favourite fruits, while the tyrant Aycatcher, when alone or with some companions, chased and worried the crows, ravens, hawks, and eagles, who tried in vain to escape from them. The beautiful white-bellied swallow swiftly skim- ming the surface of the river, helped in addition to enliven the valley. Ducks and geese crowded the river for several miles ; there were enough of them, I should think, to supply all the markets in Canada. Minks were perpetually crossing and re-crossing the river in front of the canoe. I was told that deer are sometimes very numerous in the valley, but I was only fortunate enough to see two jumping deer who were coming down to the river to drink, but the moment they got a glimpse of us away they bounded up the slope. The only other ani- mal we saw was a little prairie wolf, Togany as he is called by the Indians, that was standing by the edge of the river, and who was so much astonished at our sudden appearance that he never thought of runuing away, but stood staring at us incapable of motion. The wonderful uniformity of the valley, or that part of it which [ have described, necessarily causes a great deal of repetition in the description of it; so similar is its character throughout, that my two men, half-breeds, well accustomed to mark any peculiarities in the features of a country, said, that though they might pass up and down it several times they thought they would often be at a loss to know in what part of it they were. The length of the valley from the second Fish- ing Lakes to its Junction with the valley of the Assiniboine is 110 miles, while the river itself is about 270 miles long, which will give an idea of its extraordinary tortuous course. We arrived at its termination on the evening of July 27th, and hav- ing hauled up the canoe on the bank, walked across to Fort Ellice, distant about three miles, where I was kindly received by Mr. McKay. Very truly yours, J. A. DICKINSON. Professor H. Y. ind, &c. &e. &e. CHAPTER V. FROM THE ELBOW OF THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN TO THE NEPOWEWIN MISSION, ON THE MAIN SASKATCHEWAN. Rocks on the South Branch—Cretaceous—Altitude of exposure —Character of —Selenite—Fossils—Concretions— Mesaska- tomina berry—Character of river—Drift—Rock exposures— Fibrous Lignite—Treeless prairie—Cree Camp—Mud Flats — Rock exposure— Concretions—Treeless banks and prairie— Low country—Driftwood— Ripple marks— Dimensions of the South Branch—The Moose Woods— Water and Ice marks — Forest Timber—Character of River—Treeless Prairie— Boulders — Soundings — Buffalo — Dimensions of River— Absence of animal life—‘ The Woods’—Rate of current— Boulders, arrangement. of—Artificial pavement—Tiers of Boulders — Temperature — Balsam spruce — Former aspen Sorest — Good country — Water-marks—Soundings— Absence of animal life—Stratified Mud—Fall of River—Character of River—Colour and temperature of North and Sou'h Branch—The North Branch—Absence of Indians—Grizzly bear—Current of North Branch—Coal Falls—Dimensions of North Branch—Boulders—Trees—The Grand Forks—The Main: Saskatchewan—Fort ala Corne—Cubic feet of water in North and South Branch and Main Saskatchewan. The first rock exposure on the South Branch below the Qu’- Appelle Valley is a Cretaceous sandstone occupying the river bank, unconcealed by drift for some miles. The altitude of the .highest part of the exposure is sixty feet above the level of the river. It is capped by about seven feet of drift, which reposes on twenty feet of soft and easily disintegrated sandstone of a pale yellowish-grey colour, containing a large number of small, bright, pale, yellow, spheroidal bodies, varying from one-tenth of an inch to one inch and a half in diameter, and composed of sand. Below this soft siratum there occurs a layer of sand- stone about three feet six inches thick, which is broken into an irregular projecting outline by the protrusion of a series of immense concretions, of a flat spheroidal form, like that of a lemon slightly compressed at its longest diameter. The con- cretions vary from three feet to six feet in horizontal dimensions. They are very hard in the centre, and show concentric rings for at least six inches from their outer casing, which is a shell of gypsum, often passing into Selenite. Selenite is found in this and lower strata in veins and fragments. Some of the concretions thrust out their rounded forms from the face of tie cliff, others have been broken off and show their internal struc- ture. A gray sandstone with a slight tinge of green, soft and friable, then occurs for a space of four feet ; it is succeeded by five feet of hard sandstone containing a vast number of obscure cylindrical forms, slightly conical, composed of sandstone, and 62 showing occasionally traces of organization. Below this stra- tum a layer of sandstone occurs, six feet thick, holding spher- oidal forms, which vary in size from six inches to two feet in diameter ; they are composed of yellow sand containing a hard central calcareous nucleus often six inches to one foot in diam eter, and compased almost altogether of an aggregation of Avicula Nebrascana, (Evans and Shumard.) The stratum in which they are imbedded holds Avicula Linguiformis, (Evans and Shumard.) A second layer of huge concretions then occurs, similar in external aspect to those already described. Below them there is a persistent layer of hard calcareous sandstone about four feet thick, containing Avicula Linguiformis, (E. and 8S.) The lowest stratum exposed is a soft sandstone about six feet above the river, and passing beneath its level. This rock is worn into caves by the action of water. The part of the formation exposed is nearly horizontal, with a slight north- westerly dip. For several miles this rock continues to form the river bank. The concretionary masses are persistent, bold, and prominent; and about three miles in a north-westerly direction from the point where they were first observed, those of the lower stratum are nearly on the same level as the water, thus showing a north-westerly dip of about three feet in the mile. Friable pale yellowish-grey Sand- stone. POE. First Concretionary layer. Sandstone. Hard Sandstone holding cylindrical forms. Soft Sandstone with concretions containing Avicula Nebrascana, Second concretionary layer. Hard calcareous Sandstone with Avicula Linguiformis, Soft Sandstone. SECTION ON THE SouTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN, SHOWING CoNRE- TIONARY LAYERS HOLDING Avicula Nebrascana anv Avicula Linguiformis. The banks of the river slope gently from the prairie on the south-west side to an altitude of about 250 feet, they then become abrupt. On the north-west side the Sandstone cliff, varying from 30 to 60 feet in altitude, rises abruptly}from the _—— river, then follows a hilly slope to the prairie level. Trees, consisting chiefly of aspen and the Mesaskatomina (la Poire), are found in patches on both sides. The river continues about half a mile broad, with numerous sand-bars and low alluvial islands. The drift above the sandstone is gravelly, and many small.sand dunes occur on the hill bank sloping to the prairie, and have progressed beyond the prairie to a considerable dis- tance. A treeless prairie, boundless and green, except where the patches of drifting sand occur, is visible on either hand from the top of the bank ; below, the river glides with a strong current, two, and two and a half miles an hour, filling the broad trench or valley it has eroded. The Mesaskatomina berry (Amelanchier Canadensis) la Poire, is very abundant ; shrubs or trees eighteen to twenty feet high, loaded with this fruit perfectly ripe and of excellent flavour, are numerous in every grove ; the berries are of the size of large black currants, very juicy and sweet. This shrub is the La Poire of the Red River Voyageurs. During the morning of this day (31st Aug.) three Crees from a cainp on the east bank came to the river, they shouted to us, asking us to land, an ivitation we declined. About twelve miles below the Qu’Appelle the river becomes narrower, being not more than a quarter of a mile broad, but full of mud flats and shoals. The banks are more sloping, and frequently bro- ken into two plateaux, the upper one being the prairie. The lower plateau is dotted with small groves, the intervals con- sisting of pretty grassy areas, smooth as a lawn. About fifteen miles from the Qu’Appelle valley the drift is occasionally exposed in cliffs, which disclose its structure twenty to thirty feet above the river. It consists of coarse sand stratified in curves, and often containing beds of gravel; it is also frequently capped by the same material with small bould- ers. The dip of the rocks to the north-west, aud the aspect of the drift appear to indicate a geological depression, which may have been the seat of a large lake during earlier periods. Some exposures of sandstone appear on the river at intervals lower down, and the drift above them is well stratified with layers of boulders of the same character as the sandstone below, and so regularly placed as to lead, when viewed from a small distance, to the belief that they are part of rock in posi- tion. ‘Thirty miles from the Qu’Appelle the rock appears on the south-west side, and consists of a white sandstone, with impressions of fragments of leaves, and some brown, fibrous lignite. ss “A treeless prairie with a few sand dunes forms the country on either side for a distance of thirty-eight miles, which com- prised the extent of our voyage during the day. As evening began to close upon us we came to a camp of Crees just after they had crossed the river. They numbered nineteen tents, and in order to avoid them we drifted several miles further down, and built our fire close to the river at the mouth of a small gully leading from the prairie, 200 feet above us. Mud flats and sandbars continue as before, but the river is not more than a third of a mile broad. A narrative of a canoe voyage down a river flowing through a prairie country must necessarily involve numerous descrip- tive repetitions, which will appear perhaps less tedious and more readable in the form in which they were registered at the time in my note book, than if I were to attempt a connected narrative. I shall therefore strictly follow the daily record of what we observed, at the risk of its being nothing more than a dry enumeration of not very interesting facts. 63 August Ist.—Found a fine exposure of rock on the river bank where we camped last night. There is a change in the aspect of some of the strata. They occur massive, in rusty red and greenish-gray sandstone layers, with the concretionary bands as before described. A belt of sandstone twelve feet from the river level is capped by brown and red argillaceous layers forty feet thick in the aggregate. Drift sand, ten feet thick, to the prairie level succeeds. The upper portion of the drift is hard and reddish coloured ; as it approaches the clays below it partakes of an argillaceous character. The upper stratum of the sandstone weathers reddish brown, with bands of deep red and purple. Below this a greenish-gray stratum occurs enveloping more concretions of a reddish-brown colour. The concretions are hard and argillaceous. The greenish- gray matrix is soft when weathered, otherwise hard, and may be split without difficulty into thin layers. The concretions occur in the sandstone in forms easily detached, and often con- tain abundance of Avicula Linguiformis. If the clays above the sandstone are rock in position, the exposure has an altitude of about 60 feet. Fragments of fibrous lignite, dark-brown and sometimes approaching to black in colour, occur in the sand- stone. The attitude of the rocks is neariy horizontal. The greenish-gray sandstone is identical with the rocks seen on the south bend of the Qu’Appelle above Sand Hill Lake; the red layers are similar lithologically to those observed at the height of land in the same valley, holding the same species of shells. Sometime layers of grey sandstone occur which are easily split; they contain the impressions and remains of plants. The position of these rocks is about fifty miles from the Qu’- Appelle valley. The river banks and the whole country is now much lower. This subsidence began about four miles from our camp south of us. The banks at our camp are not more than one hun- dred feet in altitude, and are getting lower as we proceed north. They are treeless areas, and so is the prairie on either side, with few detached exceptions. The river is about half a mile broad, with a current in the lead fully two miles and a half an hour. Large drifted (rees are sometimes seen on the beach, and one pine was noticed this morning. They have probably travelled from the flanks of the Rocky Mountains. About twelve miles from our camp, or 60 miles from the Elbow, forests of aspen begin to show themselves on the banks, after passing through a low country, which is an expansion of the river valley. Ripple marks are numerous on the fresh mud, the furrows lying parallel to the course of the stream. They are quite recent and similar to those observed on Red River in the spring. The ash-leaved maple begins io show itself, but the aspen is the prevailing tree. ‘I'he woods are not continuous, and the prairie on either side of the river remains bare ; it is fast regaining its former altitude. ‘and hills are visible in the distance from the top of the bank. La Poire is very abundant and fine flavoured. The exposed cliffs consist of reddish loam, and the rock is no longer seen below them. At a point fifty-three miles from the Elbow we made a careful section of the river, and found its breadth to be nearly one-third of a mile (28 chains) ; its greatest depth was ten feet on the east side, but on the west side there is another channel with nine feet of water. As we approached the Moose Woods we passed for several hours between a series of low alluvial islands from ten to twelve feet above the water, They sustain some fine elm, balsam-poplar, ash, ash-leaved maple, and a vast profusion of La Poire. The river valley is bounded by low hills lead- ing to the prairie plateau four to eight miles back. The country here furnishes an excellent district for the establish- ment of a settlement. The spot where we are camped for the night is an extensive, open, undulating meadow, with long rich grass, and on the low elevations rosebushes in bloom grow in the greatest profusion. It is only ten feet from the water, yet it does not appear to be flooded in the spring ; water-marks and ice-marks are nowhere seen above four feet from the present level of the broad river. August 2nd.—The region called the Moose Woods, which we entered last evening, is a dilatation of the Saskatchewan, flowing through an extensive alluvial flat six miles in breadth, and cut into numerous islands by the changing course of the stream. This flat is bounded by sand hills, some of which are nothing more than shifting dunes. The woods are in patches, and in the low land consist of balsam poplar, white wood, and aspen. Small aspen clumps cover the hills, but no living timber of importance has been seen as yet, although many fine dead trunks are visible, probably destroyed by fire. The river continues to flow through a broad alluvial flat for about twenty-five miles. Its water is very turbid, like that of the Mississippi, holding much solid matter in mechanical suspen- sion. Beyond the Moose Woods the banks close upon the river, and have an altitude not exceeding sixty feet. The breadth of the stream contracts to 250 yards, with a current fully three miles an hour. On the east bank the prairie is occa- sionally wooded with clumps of aspen, on the west side it is treeless, and shows many sand hills. During the afternoon we landed frequently to survey the surrounding country. Noth- ing but a treeless, slightly undulating prairie was visible ; many large fragments of limestone not much water-worn lie on the hill banks of the river, which is about 100 feet in alti- tude. The river continues very swift, and maintains a breadth of 250 yards. Frequent soundings during the day showed a depth of ten to twelve feet. A little timber displays itself occasionally on the east bank below the level of the prairie. The dead bodies of buffalo are seen floating down the stream, or lodged on sand-bars in shallow water. The banks expose occasionally yeilow drift clay with numerous boulders; the soil of the prairie appears to improve as we progress north- wards, and the grass is no Jonger stunted and withered. Little rapids occur at the bends of the river, but there is always deep water on the other side. A heavy thunder storm compelled us to camp two hours before sunset. August 3rd.—The river is not more than 200 yards broad, but deep and swift; the volume of water it carries here, about eighty miles from the Grand Forks, is much less than at the Elbow, where it is half a mile broad. No doubt evapora- tion during its course through arid plains is competent to occa- sion a large diminution. Recent water-marks show a rise of five and eight feet, but near the top of the lowest bank stranded timber occurs twenty-five feet above the present level of the river. On both sides a treeless prairie is alone visible. There is a remarkable absence of animal life, no deer or bear have been seen, tracks of buffalo are everywhere, but they have already passed to the east. The nights are cold but fine, dew very abundant. ‘The prairie level is not more than eighty feet above the river. At 8 A. M. we arrived at a part of the river where it showed 64 an increase in breadth, it is now about a quarter of a mile broad, still flowing through a treeless plain, in which only one low hill is visible. This character continues for many miles, the hill banks then begin to increase in altitude, and are about 100 feet high, but the river flows through a dreary treeless plain for 30 miles from our camp, after which “ The Woods,” as they are termed, begin; they consist of a few clumps of aspen on the hill flanks of the deep valley of the river. The face of the country is changing fast, it is becoming more undulating, and patches of aspen woods appear on the prairie; here and there, however, the remains of a heavier growth are visible in clusters of blackened trunks ten to four- teen inches in diameter. During the afternoon we anchored to measure the rate of the current. The river is 200 yards broad, and it flows three miles and a half an hour. Its aver- age depth is seven and a half feet. Some remarkable exposures of drift, consisting of clay with long lines of boulders, occur frequently after entering the wood- ed parts of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. The drift is exposed in cliffs 50 to 80 feet in altitude at the bends of the river. The fragments cf shale, slabs of limestone, and small boulders imbedded in the clay are not arranged according to the position they would take if dropped by floating ice; some of them stand in the drift with their longest axis vertical, others slanting, and some are placed as it were upon their edges. They have the same forced arrangement and position as the shale, &c., in the blue clay at Toronto. (See chap. XI.) Here also are long lines of boulders from ten to twenty feet below the surface, or top of the cliff; they lie horizontally as shown in the woodcut. “A Sand. =~ Fine Clay, stratified. CDF» 8 Boulders—First tier. Clay with slabs of shale, d&e. &e. Fine Clay, stratified. Ey_-D Second tier of Boul- es ders. Polished Boulder Pavement. Horizonrar Layers or BoutpErs In Dairt on THE Soura Branou, wits PouisHeD BoULDER PAVEMENT AT THE EDGE oF THE RIVER, In many places close to the water’s edge and rising from it ina slope for a space of 25 to 30 feet, the fallen boulders are packed like stones in an artificial pavement, and often ground down to a uniform level by the action of ice, exhibiting ice grooves and scratches in the direction of the current. This pavement is shown for many miles in aggregate length at the bends of the river. Sometimes it resembles fine mosaic work, at other times it is rugged, where granite boulders have long resisted the wear of the ice and protected those of softer materials lying less exposed. Two tiers of boulders, separated by an interval of twenty feet, are often seen in the clay cliffs. When first noticed they were about fifteen feet above the stream; as we de- scend the stream they rise above its level, preserving evi- dently a nearly horizontal position. The lower tier con- tains very large fragments of water-worn limestone, granite, and gneissoid boulders, above them is a hard sand containing pebbles, this is superimposed by an extremely fine stratified clay, breaking up into excessively thin layers, which envelope detached particles of sand, small pebbles, and aggregations of particles of sand. Above the fine stratified clay yellow clay and unstratified sand occur. The fine clay must have been deposited in very quiet water. The polished pavement at the foot of the cliff was observed this afternoon inclined at a high angle, so much so, that it was difficult to walk upon it. SECTION PoLIsHED AND GRoovED PavEMENT oF BoULDERS ON THE SovTH BRANCH. Towards evening the country began to improve, and the tim- ber to include afewelm and birch. In the prairie are clumps of aspen. On the flats, which occur regularly on the inside of each bend of the river, with steep clay cliffs on the outside of the curve, fine aspens are common, and the herbage is very luxuriant. August 4th.—Temperature of air at 8 A.M. 61°, of the South Branch 67°. The balsam-spruce begins to appear in groves. The river winds between high wooded banks, with low points and wooded bottoms on one side, high cliffs also wooded with aspen and spruce groves on the opposite bank. The flats are covered with a rich profusion of vetches, grasses, and rose bushes. There are traces everywhere of a former fine aspen forest, with clumps of elm and ash; the dead trunks of these trees, 18 inches in diameter, being frequently concéal- ed by the undergrowth, offer a rude and stubborn obstacle to progress on foot through the tangled mass of vegetation which covers the rich flats. A view obtained from a low hill coming down to the banks of the river, continues to show a deep valley about three quarters of a mile broad, through which the river winds from side to side in magnificent curves. The polished pavement on the banks was frequently seen dur- ing the day, with ice furrows and scratches. During the whole afternoon we passed swiftly through a good country, well fitted, as far we could judge from soil and vegetation, for settlement. Islands are numerous in the river, and extensive alluvial flats occur in an expansion of the valley. The water marks are seen seven and nine feet above the present level, The banks of loose clay, when not protected by the pavement before described, are being undermined, and fall bit by bit 65 into the river. A violent thunder-storm at 5 P.M. compelled us to camp. ; August 5th.—The early part of the morning was employed in examining the surrounding country, which gave evidence of an excellent soil, and timber sufficient for the first purposes of settlers. Much of the tiinber, however, has been burnt, and the country is fast becoming open prairie land. Soundings yesterday showed ten to fourteen feet water in the channel ; the current maintains its speed of three to three miles and a half an hour. Throughout the entire length of our voyage we have been surprised at the extraordinary absence of animal life. Of quadrupeds, we have seen half a dozen wolves, two or three badgers, several beaver, skunks, minks, foxes, and a number of dead buffalo ; of birds, eagles, geese, a few ducks, kingfishers, cliff mattins, pigeons, crows, cranes, plover, hawks, and a few of the smaller birds; but no deer, or bear, or live buffalo; and if we had been compelled to depend altogether upon our guns for a supply of provisions, it is pro- bable that our voyage of two hundred and fifty miles down the South Branch would have been attended with some incon- venience and delay. Early in spring and late in the autumn game is more abundant, but during the summer season the smaller rivers in the prairies, the ponds and lakes which abound throughout the country north of the Touchwood Hills, to be afterwards described, are the haunts of vast numbers of aquatic birds and of the larger four-footed animals which now form the small remnant of the earlier representatives of animal life in these wilds, before the fur trade led to their destruction, either for the sake of their flesh or skins. The stratified layers of fine mud before described, were found again this morning forty feet from the water’s edge, above the horizontal layer of boulders which has again made its appear- ance, The small aggregations of sand are still distributed be- tween the thin layers of fine clay. A great change is coming over the character of the stream ; its fall, as ascertained by level- ling, is two feet three inches in the mile, with a very rapid cur- rent, sometimes six miles an hour. Large boulders are numerous in the bed of the river, but there is always a passage from 50 to 60 yards broad, often however very tumultuous, and for a small heavily ladened canoe rough, and at times hazardous. The hill banks are getting higher as we approach the North Branch. Balsam spruce appears in patches and stripes. The river sweeps in grand curves at the foot of high bluffs, in which fine exposures of the drift may be seen; on the opposite side are low alluvial points covered with aspens, thick and impene- trable. Yellow clay cliffs, 120 feet high, appear at the outside curve of the bends, and where the adjoining flats begin, balsam spruce, two feet in diameter, is not uncommon. At half past two P.M. we arrived at the North Branch, coming upon it suddenly and finding ourselves in its waters almost be- fore we were aware of its proximity. The temperature of the South Branch was 67°, of the North Branch 62°; au impor- tant difference at this season of the year. It is perhaps a fair standard by which to estimate the climatic character of the regions of country through which these rivers flow, in relation to agriculture. The difference in the time of the ripening of fruits on the two Branches has already been noticed. (See page 25, par. 20.) The water of the South Branch is yellowish brown in colour, and turbid; of the North Branch, a shade lighter, and clearer. The one more resembled the waters of the Mississippi, the other those of the St. Lawrence. The South Branch is the larger river of the two at the Grand Forks, After resting for some time at the junction of these mighty rivers, the South Branch being about 180 yards, the North Branch 140 yards broad, their currents meeting one another at the rate of three and a half miles an hour, we turned our canoe up stream and attempted to stem the tide of the North Branch of the Saskatchewan in search of the Coal Falls. With the exception of the Cree encampment passed during the first and second days of our voyage, we did not meet with a single Indian or Half-breed. Once or twice, smokes, which from their being soon answered in another quarter, we presum- ed to be signals, and might be raised by Blackfeet in the dis- tant prairies, appeared on the west side of the river. The plan we adopted one night when danger was apprehended, was to cook our supper early in the evening and then drift down the river at sunset for a few miles. Once only were we disturbed in camp, and this may or may not have been a false alarm. Both of our Half-breeds came into the tent some time after we had retired to rest, and in alow tone whispered ‘a grizzly bear,’ at the same time seizing a rifle and a double-barre]led gun which were purposely placed at the foot of the tent ready for any unwelcome intruder upon our re- pose. The night was dark and the fire nearly out. Our men declared they had seen a large animal within ten yards of us, and pronounced it to bea grizzly bear; the alarm they testified was the only proof of the presence of that terrible animal, for the patiept watching of the whole party during the greater part of the night, and a careful search for tracks next morning failed to satisfy me that we had been disturbed by this deservedly dreaded monster of the Western Plains. That the grizzly bear is sometimes found far down the South Branch is a well known fact, and he is such a daring and formi- dable antagonist that proper precautions are always advisable. A large camp fire often fails to deter this animal from making an attack, and when a large fire might attract the attention of wandering parties of Blackfeet which were known to be follow- ing the Crees, who had crossed the river some distance above us, it would not have been wise to have availed ourselves of this doubtful security. Ourcamp was at the edge of a cliff, we therefore were sure of not being attacked in our rear, and the greater part of the night was passed in quietly watching the open space in front of us. It was the steady determination of the Half-breeds to watch, after a fatiguing day, that led me to suppose they had really seen a grizzly bear, for under ordinary circumstances no people are so unwilling to watch during the night in the prairie as those who have lived the greater part of their lives in them, without they have the best reasons for keeping themselves awake. During the afternoon of the 6th and morning of the 7th of August we occupied ourselves in dragging the canoe up the North Branch. Paddling was quite out of the question, the current being from six to seven miles an hour a few hundred yards above the Forks, and continuing rapid for a distance of seven miles, that being the furthest limit of our explora- tion up the North Branch. This rapid current is maintained for eighteen miles above the Grand Forks; the valley of the river, as far as we saw it, resembles in almost all particulars the last ten miles of tue South Branch; the river channel is much more obstructed by boulders, and the depth and volume of water considerably less. It is doubtful whether in its pre- sent condition a steamer drawing more than two feet of water could ascend it, and in dry seasons the boulders and rapids would probably present an insuperable obstacle. The river 10 66 was high at the time of our visit, and about 180 yards broad ; nevertheless in descending we had a few narrow escapes from striking against huge boulders just concealed by the water. If some of these were removed, the chief difficulties during low summer levels to steamers of shallow draft and great power would vanish. The character of the Coal Falls, above the point we reach- ed, is described by the people at Fort a la Corne to be similar to the part we saw. The hill banks expose drift in which large masses of Tertiary rock are imbedded containing fish scales. Fragments of Lignite are numerous, but no rock was seen in position. The breadth of the valley is about half a mile and 150 feet deep ; the river winds from side to side like the South Branch. The low points are covered with aspen; the hill banks with white spruce, aspen, banksian pine, and poplar. Just below the junction of the two branches, after they unite to form the Main Saskatchewan at the Grand Forks, there is an extensive flat, on which the remains of an old Post of the Company is situated. The Main Saskatchewan is a noble river, sweeping in mag- nificent curves through a valley about one mile broad, and from 150 to 200 feet deep. We paddled rapidly round eight points, making a distance of sixteen miles in three hours, and towards evening sighted Fort 4 la Corne, with the Nepowewin Mission on the opposite or north side of the river. As the de- scription of the Saskatchewan and the valley in which it flows at Fort 4 la Corne applies equally to the river between it and the Grand Forks, it is unnecessary to incur the risk of needless repetition by enumerating the features of each of the eight points or bends we passed, and the character of the valley through which the river flows. At Fort a la Corne we made measurements of its leading dimensions, a section of the bed of the river, (see sheet of sections,) ascertained its rate of current, examined the cliffs, points, and flats, which are so curiously reproduced at every bend both above and below for many miles, and which will be amply sufficient to illustrate the most interesting and important features of this noble stream between the Grand Forks and a short distance below Fort ala Corne, after which the country begins to assume a different. aspect, and will require an independent notice. An approximate estimate of the number of cubic feet of water passing down the South Branch, North Branch, and Main Saskatchewan, gives the following numbers :— Cubic feet per hour. South Branch ...... 123,425,616 North Branch ....0.-.00seeeceseeses 91,011,360 Main Saskatchewan, at Fort a la Corne, 214,441,290 Main Saskatchewan near Tearing River, 206,975,000 Ce CHAPTER VI. FROM FORT A LA CORNE TO FORT ELLICE, AND FORT ELLICE TO THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENTS. Sandy stripes on the Saskatchewan — Banksian Pine—Fine country— Long Creek— Old forest—Fires, extent of—Exten- sion of the Prairies—Former extent of wooded country— Effect of fires—Long Creek—Hay Ground— Moles—Humi- dity of climate—Source of Long Creek-~The Birch Hills— Flowers—Aspect of country—Carrot River—The Lumpy Hill of the Woods—Lakes—The wooded country—Former extent of —Limits of good lund—Raspberries—Mosquitoes— The height of land—Continuation of the Eyebrow Hill range —Vailley inosculating with South and North Branch of the Saskatchewan — Grasshoppers—Character of the country— Birds—Destruction of forests—The Big Hill—Boulders— Limit of wooded country —Belts of wood— Great Prairie-- Character of the country—Salt Lakes—The Touchwood Hills — Beautiful country — Excellent soil — The Quill Lakes— Flowers— White Cranes—The Heart Hill—-The Last Moun- tain —~ The Little Touchwood Hills — Lakes numerous— Touchwood Hill Fort—Ka-ou-ta-at-tin-ak—Touchwood Hill Range—Long Lake—Devil’s Lake—Garden at the Fort— White Fish in Long Lake—Burnt Forest— Grasshoppers— Winter Forage for horses—White Fish— Buffalo—Medicine man—Climate of Touchwood Hills— Humidity of—Trail to Fort Ellice—Marshes—Little Touchwood Hills— Character of country changes — Depressions — Pheasant Mountain— Character of the country— Heavy dews— Hoar frost —Cut-arm Creek — Willow Prairie — Little Cut-arm Creek—Rolling Prairie — Attractive country — Spy-Hill — Boulders— Aspen groves increasing—Sand hills—The Area of Lake..........--1902 Square miles DT Mi re 122 Statute miles Greatest Breadtf.......------24----- _ miles Prarie of Foplan Willow a \ “ 7a } Height above the Sea... 670 i (ay prow) Level of Lake tl below Highit ihe? Awak i> Place Stony ae - : ae an , 7 4 Mounterir j ae Queaey | ‘am, ) an ' A Wot 2-3 g | > ol & tavel Prats (pias th. 3 Fe Douglas Pratrte t 4 Very Marshny ae < 4 w.. 2 & Ta of small L “a8, a 4e az Ae i Bene ane ; cw 4 “Oz, Hap. a CP eae Preciveé ies petite tees “ 2 / p>, se 2 Iwo —- rah Be a: willows & young PoP” Z SEES a, LpQsese Mose TRBUN CAI Get FE pypy ZLP Ze : : i he pet. opel Practrve Pep pe * bevel ee | Dray. : nls qghoVteet a TL TUATERLS 2e puck é gras long & ricky 4 Pigg ERE piste Ge Storeng of Oak on 5 OUI poplar? ot \ forest © yee & Suger mnie - ie De ot fot you ung * 8 \ A 16h c j L \ z cS \ aol x At A evans PS Se > — os g mete : ; » ; . eu if reg, ground ‘ Open leveg i : y a - ‘ rte ‘ Bi am ag } \ a > . Be \ i J CS: S. be Hf es ; 4 ‘ S long & thick eee 3 f i ae RIVE, eee si al ay a A i ona NETLEY Sb Homince ca CRO) aroves op young AR Willow Harsh: wt clamp F022 ee Na < Marshiy wit: 9 acctrsional dry i Sse ase ae 8537 Square miles. a age tg eta 280 Statue miles po Oe AY. 30. _miles = : y ase: (approx) G30 Statue miles Re is ape WM feet Sow Magik en Water M* Inetianlillegy . Chuveh ne A the Woe es , hetween Red River the Lak a ay Pogo nps, (ro CHS EE ith Tamarae, Spruce The CORNMTY lying is said tO abound Ie ts wooded 2 marsies 3 ge here a Weve an ‘ i 7 age: S Poplar eqvemsive Tarsus } ) 1 The whole of this Country 1s reported to be Mm anhy PIwampy ons | ( a: Prairte \ ope leve pny a wut rs ays You) gre wi a s T. 9 LAMAVALe ANG Leaar Tze between the § Sipe] UTA Wee L ' Li LA Ti www 7 ae # ‘. | \ a TER & ye TUN} » : y Pinkt™.. | b oF onileaee j - Muskeg or Bogg ; 5 % ~~. : By nas Tamarac Sita ts of Drak Clay ay ky gak soaker Oy oer Dog Lake . —- Or is J Ahhils Why aT WW Wiehdi, well ML ig i WY / i; 4 | Ae Ih Aj) Lil 5 Ma EN Wi tes wooded, Vy : (\ HAN) Wy HM) NZ WZ i Ue Wie “s HAY livid, Y \( WA Vip Mid NYE i ) hi Me oF dogwood rr nts & roses : Sng, WF LT WY) er ae Szem i Dee, Pw, i Cray, ; ee ee Se morG of” Poplars . o, 720 FE we diam” 2 # a , aw a | @ nent Orne AWN Ee ( oy) Meadows #OM" ae | IW ) ale Porras Ma 4 . | pegh | 3 ao ) c 2 : Nr Ps 5 | / Me] ef 8 ez isy cs i ae tt | Lf f o “S S SS \ Yin | Vij Aye wid, dys af !Wetidw swoaep 7 J < Ay F TPIS \S 1 Wy; Wy Vi wipiy, j : Lip : i j . ; i} Yi, YANN WY N Wi 5 2 . Ke NO NVANT/ UW WIN Wit WW Big a & Pe % UW WGA ANN WG)! 3 < ie QS L UM MEY E.. I\\i/ Yi), a sant ‘ Bd Fy yw SS WU MZ VA WAVY! Fishery Higiv witlo 5 e . M S ap : SS i ee VA Ne Ly iy 1, ; : 5 ga eS UMN % ; 5 4 INS Yi Zpryy, YAN, LAUTAN NNT se WSN Harti, “Seis a A 8S Coa, rete grows \ | : | | @ ~ Boy : ts a Ue a oa e est Cons istimwg chrerly f° 7 a ee = ? 2 . a Take.........---1902 Square miles ~~ ee oo on 92 Statute mules nn, Se Prawre mm Length wtreata ost ; : iiles Ope mus : Greatest Breadth wecee hens 24 OES Ti ia «jae erom Height above the Sea:..C70 a : Pies gee: ope Level of Lake Hv pelowHighWater Mark : ae U7) i Good e } { eo in . , aw ¢ ate, : 2 np duo? Pre *ndulating court”? f © Seanttial ¢ fertile: ; Bp ene | \ é — C4 ay on 2 5 sD | | | : a FAR ay lo AV 5 Ores J tre lav % ponds <> ger a p2 Y L , Clue of aspens ae ao a convalynli, vetohes Hf fe ete *, yr ee SS. mor y reat os 24 ee, “> ; kh o 7 os > a se ¢ / Fan, : , Leved | - \ ‘ re OE aS An je oro. eo “— Aas i ‘ : if cpr niboine f + | : . : ie ae z The whole of the Country betwen the a . ince | | | ; i pi SF 6 / E ' Vel 2 pupal LULL j c \ and the Sumintt or hiding Mountarn 16 ¢ i | ‘BS ? y & tavel Lra ' sf : | ' adapted Jor seltlement yf | : / | \ / f \ i. : oe | v / : | | ) . ¥ Z X/ | a ay | i q a OS) St Tinh Ee sandy age yee) Bt: = S yg (4 ; z 3 / ; i os 8 cotch (ha SO } x "Sadat Uh. mi lib agli us 7 ce ) | nes f \St Boniface Cah ' % ere eT Fiat y i ‘ i a . | PP) \ proves of youd ~ 4 / i Willow Har: / with Lamp ? Fenty ba ket a OC seg ‘ 5 rat, nS : Marshiy ' < onal ; zy AlCAETMe Pen, “rerpys { se | WAS | Soh | Pratrve | yy TL TUT SVs / nev” i) { Aww ee | prairie sas Ast o (ft s s : . si osu g : S S x | ye nd lating FTO™ or” ae BLU l ! \ ane Be DS AN WWE Sw? | Gently ; 5 : Ye ; i S aie =. . ‘ ¥ s es se Sy } ZY | is Sez wwetth. stained = . . -- ' ( Z sth : + i cl 1 } Lm, - a ve viet ere co ! La a \ Ny Were piste 9 Oy i ( . ee AIT Ng / ‘ _ 5 ies uW//) ; We Yp ' ' | SRirting oF Oak a7 ee Mba a YN 8 A ; eu / ' if Me SOURIS PLY hy + wile Clues Bet ck sandy 1087 H F Wir, GZ, : 3) a ; : (i 2 How | \ sanay Li, } AY ~ AS : , De Se \ “sy ‘ \ \ Ror retest. rat ‘ ; > , 7 | \ ss \ \ \caiapeiabeae ens ica s Open Pratrte of sandy & gravelly clay ee bs a Vegetation very poor an ad scanty 5 P pope, tre cee . \ ety D Sele ype WT tues SS | 2 ee \ : Vv Ep S'/ & Sugar T eerie \ mS A raat ‘ ee eT OL re FUG ; So Le ta mere TE ‘ Bs \ LI ‘ K oh eee Me se ee re eee V Ss ‘ 2 a P| Se a ; Ha See \ Aa Lign ite four !t ‘\ \ y) wn the form ? i 8 : WORET WONT OEE Ree ee he a Pc he RSD reign amet pg ET oy Be OC og aig gn AEE wet, NNN IO NW 3 eR NN A Re OEY A ONS Se SR ee i! ee ee ’ ‘ oh 30 hy Lgl wv ) ‘ long k-bhich f yt Ww bry ir Siz as Ta. of Lak OUI oe ging Prairte HALE WAY p74 MU MY willgi iy, will SWAY 1, VAT A : | Hunn ys AWGN AW NAN 2 j : eg a j Soe 3 . ANI: ay ANN as ss ; ZZ a | . s , \ : ‘gt JOSEPH or a MG ON iy i iS LL Fe Be ek io ny 3x TheVillige 0% (Pop 500) TR ba Mice Level Pla Leautifns A CrL27,, fe Bey 2, 2, 7p aol eked By the Red River ay BOM | The Country zs sin btrea Werredtasta coarere0t: BE SUT IDAESE: & LOMOACE ‘ 4 ois noe : in the richness &lertility grand P4( e \ Michel Greek oe ae PEMBINA | 5 $.PO33f% st Vinceent P V) Wid mM, DIN j WAI Wye Wtlyy wy WA AM WN +1 Wi i i Lys ZA) WY ; < Zs 7 = J f Vy iy iy oe WH “St oS ; t ro ely “undulating cour” Cantij~ul 4 fertile Wy) WZ fy , W WF, sey ‘ WY Wy yy ne Yi Vs Wy LS, Wy yy Y — COnmstistiNlg 41) GN IN WW) Ks) Ni Wy Yo) i} Ni) in Nii iy) Wf) . “ S \ NW J iy, x j ae Ae Lishery Awakte Crag Pry 2 e Place Area. of Lake..........---1902 Square miles Deng the. ___ 122 Statute miles Greatest Breadily.......-.-.-.24 _metles Hetght above the Seac...--670 Bek approx) Level of Lake? helo wilighWeter Me Te: | a. ve Poplar 2 2 | Tiliow = » Oak & Wu rte SVUNe pak! iz, CRE iy, \ oda Her OT Subp LTAL Qn exceed Coyne ieee = stony Yountatie ith AS) C7 ded We 72 #. ta lie OWE velar : NETLEY CRE Indianlillagy ~ Shee > nt Sugar Fou! \ Level Pra irt e Re 3 vay v 7) Da wea } ne LW YIN TIN wi WY es ji Y Mi, ae i a Ay io Ik ne { ih Wey grarnrec # sas Zs iy Ti ws wwe = Sees 'N Qi \\) a) NA WS) MM x ag | ge fre mua’ meer ® - | @ Pp | 0 4 uo" | wr “potted with lumps 7 ze | k Ountry ae Gently Wt (a aulating Prairie 1 duhating praire’ We 5 LOWS Ota with, low NHN ane Dy a ae Ds Se Fans plea x of S94 BOE tas pee esy ~ Les \ tae ae Hite Qakes & SUGE? ape ve SS pgur"”>g ! @ TALI LE p shale \ oe 970 ro gun rs | \. ae ee. ReoeE ere : The Country Bow carereot be SUT PASSER CUBUSTCAIW opert Pratr "LE nded by the Red River “me = > & Pembina WUorrtatre ich Sanky 7 S deiieae, 2577. _ nthe richness & fertility of its sow erate oF en7- 10 # above lower Plat: Ow: 2 Gi tows 0. \ Michel Greck. APA { pa pipougies poet afht RO) Si omlice Caf noves on your Ae eq tensive TH! ; / Willow Harsh a fi ny ASP with LAM ory < Mari y wh 9 accrstonal ays” ps me 9 \ = bere l Wi aaah me 8537 Square miles 280 Statwe miles at 5 Oy -=-" 628 #: ra 930 Statue miles s ape WW feet yuna M tease pelow Thigh Hater M™* mY Fine (arming Conny ; % UEP, Prairté a LTra. “rLe i miles oF pr averse B Tie Country LYens Letw is said to Ghouna Ut MATSHES ts woodeu fhere® there ys ridges. It vcen Red River & the Lah nips th Tamara, ‘A VCORSCE SpTUe? The whole of thas COURUY reported to be Mar - A io A ) of tight san dy a y swampy The Big Bend Qr ver wide t R R N ne ian I i, Wun? "The oN Me Wan m ‘ avelly Clay Christ Church Cumberland Statign ) | ¥ GW aU St7o | IV CF | | | 20’ 100° ae 10 NG, Seas ae ee eer us eed SP ET La Re eas ee | hectare asa | | | aes ath" { rw Bo vit As ; f ot wv se y CoV avi os Se . Co —S : i Gi eB Fi aeesk Rat [8 Rank grass eeds & rus trea of Lake Length... { f Creates Breadth a & = a Area Lake 372 Sq. miles. ‘ \ & | | | Length 30 St. miles. \. a Pot sa SO | Greatist. Breadth 259 .--F ) s ae Vad Vars to | | | Height above the Sea.....988 feet (approx) } 3 )) SQ BFE = s =) Lott the Pt | } | ‘ 1936 Square miles 120 Statute miles 27 ” 27 | \ i Freight’ above the Sea 692 Ket (approx ) puck g Isd 400g a / li i e WILY (A WATER HEN | LAKE! Ly NM e = ah ‘ % Mag *) R | . Po es ae | A we ‘ | Lia | Area &f Lake... HOG Square miles \ Meadow 4 Lengtl |... 30 Statute SS \ Por, 3 Greatest Breadth becca yf Crlage 4 | ; eR eas Je Fi Height above the Sea.....653 feet (cpproce) 9\6° 9 tte fall } LW | } | ‘ / 7 | & y € | s : | Kapid Imilelong 77 Ee 35 10 j} | ad a | | ) jfwoot i Zp) * | . Day a | | | “or Creek. & Lakes g ° SS S IY ®) a Martins Isles said to be22mN’ | a Old Missionary Poste M ie Blood Rey (ree \ © Var. 16102: \. e “THE DOG'S HEAD 1 REAT MOOSE )3\ en a s ithMoose I- | f , Av g 0 Sa. as “a? A yer ———— { x i mat ‘ 6 OW Z 8 4 “Y = fi 4, Se ye p e io wae : } > = » 7 ~ Se n ; Sh, eS RX, é i es } sy Ze | 4 e ff vv Vv | x C. a La (Fi ‘ j osesate » , ‘ . G LA N \ 78 SN SAS “Se - eee | j STURGEON LAKE ISLAND LAKERA GY { 10 | L Pn. Nepows $ (a a la Corne > Var? 22°30 EK, S foie 2 & \ ( | , rT x, —_ Y ee : / j ! | cs f*CARLTON nyse j a | | p % ; i 3 i S A | | | | | = f | 4 ei , | | L Jig / | | | . / e | / | : oO tous K iar ¥ recip + high P po} & ¢ smo J res 0! | 8 t \ / S Wer ISS par ET. a ema fs i } oe Ey e & me A Ee Ow ern "7 aiaanel a. € “a , : t om, LS -¥ Dmncy & S » AIS rma AS on a i . FORT PELLY i y Var® 19°30'E | SWZ | a Ts . Ree AOA Ae Dp ALLLS AS UNE ir BOS LINN Byrne: pm Saeeith