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Mapa. piataa. cliarta. ate. may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly inciudad in ona axpoaura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand comar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrama illuatrata tha mathod: Laa cartaa. planchas. tablaaux. ate., pauvant itra filmAa i daa taux da rMuction diffirants. Lorsqua la documant aat trop grand pour Atra raproduit ii un saul clichA, ii ast film4 A partir da i'angia sup4riaur gaucha. da gaucha h droita, at da haut it baa. an pranant la nombra d'Imagaa n^cassaira. Las diagrammaa suivants illuatrant la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 « BIBLIOTHEQUE | --- I M. I'abbe VERREAU | A o W CI ass e \ Df'vlsioft ^^ SfiHe NflBTH WEST OF CANADA GENERAL SKETCH OF THE Extent, Woods and Forests, Mineral Resources and Climatology of the Four Provisional Districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Athabasca. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THB DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 1B87 1 v. Entered by L. J. Demers, according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty six, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NORTH WEST OF CANADA OR OF THE Bxtent, woods and forests, mineral resources and olimatoloffy of the four proTisional districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Athabasca. CHAPITER I A OEHTKRAIi YIEW the The central portion of North America consists of an immense plain extend- ing from south to north between the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, and from east to west between the Alleghany region and that of the Rocky Mountains. This plain is divided into two distinct basins : the waters of one flowing towards the south ; those of the others, towards the north. The divid* ing line of the waters separating these two great basins is very nearly at an equal distance from the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, passing between the sources of the Mississippi and its affluents on one side, and those of the Red River, Assiniboine and the South Branch of the Saskatchewan on the other. This is the Une of natural division , Ij,> artificial division is formed by the forty ninth parallel of latitude which sep. rates the United States from Canada. The plain comprised in the Basin, which discharges its waters to the nortk, nearly forms an isosceles triangle ; having for its base, a line drawn in a north west direction from the Lake of the Woods to a certain point between 64° et 650 of latitude, a distance of nearly 1500 miles ; and for its two sides, the 49th parallel of latitude as far as the base of the Rocky Mountains, and a line following the foot of those mountains. The summit of this vast triangle, between the sources of the Missouri and the South Saskatchewan, has an altitude of nearly 4000 feet ; but the gennal level of the plain descending as it stretches to the north west, at the point of the base of the triangle it is only from 400 to 1000 feet above the sea leveL The principal rivers which drain this great plain are the Peace and the Athabasca, two affluents of the Mackenzie River, which empties into the Arctic Ocean ; the Saskatchewan, and the Red River, With its principal tri- butary the Assiniboine, which flow into Lake Winnipee; and thence by the Nelson River into Hudson Bay, In the " plain " region these rivers have hollowed out deep beds, often of considerable width, and as the lands through which they cut their way, are composed of alluvial soil or of soft rocks easily eroded, their course is generally uniform, scarcely interrupted in a few places by little cascades and they descend with a nearly regular fall to their mouths. — 4 — The inclination towards the north east of the plain comprised in this triangle, is slightly undulating, with ranges of heights of which the most prominent form hills rising from five to eight hundred feet above the general level of the country around. The direction of these ranges of hills is generally nearly the same as that of the Rocky Mountains, with the exception of the range separating the basin of the Peace River, from that of the Saskatchewan, which is transversal to the general axis of the great chain of the Rocky Mountains. In the Athabasca region, this "plain" country is turned round to the south east by the metamorphic rocks of the Laurentian system and a belt of forest zone in which the whitey foliage of the birch and poplar stands up against the sombre verdure of the conifers. To the north west of this forest zone is found a region of prairies ; steppes whose undulations resemble petrified waves ; where the rivers flow between teep banks over beds scarcely interrupted by accumula- tions of sand or gravel. The beauties of this region have been so well described by Archbishop Tach6, who in his character of missionary, traversed the whole country in every direction, that we cannot resist the pleasure of quoting his magnificent description : " The prairie which borders on the desert," he says : ** like its neighbour " is composed of secondary rocks, although at its extremities may be " found in it transition rocks, as for example, the limestone stratifications of " the Red River and the coal fields of the different branches of the Saskat- " chewan. The diluvial age borders upon and sometimes is confounded with " the Devonian system. Immense deposits of sulphate of loda are found near " the limestone beds and elsewhere. The valleys of the rivers, the refuse and " waste of the forests multiply everywhere fresh land formations. Thick allu- " vial beds are there, and when they have a certain age, they are covered with •* vegetable beds sometimes also of great thickness. " The p' or colonist who has worked to clear our thick forests in Canada, ' • who has only been able to sow his land after having waged a terrible war *' with the giants that cover it and after having dug deeply to extract their innu- ' nierable and enormous roots, naturally feels a certain repulsion to lands " well wooded ; he has expended too many efforts, and exhausted too many of '• his resources to believe in the superiority of these kinds of lands. It seems " to him that the open country where he has, so to speak, only to put his * plough into the ground, is a fortunate country. From this point of view, " the prairies have an incontestable advantage : but as nothing here below is " perfect, this advantage has its disheartening compensation in the excessive ♦' scarcity of wood for use and for fuel, (i.) " To the buffalo hunter, the prairie is a country without an equal ; it is " his empire in winter as well as in summer ; he experiences there a veritable *' happiness in spurring his rapid courser in the pursuit of a prey until lately '• still so abundant and so easy. It is there, that, without an obstacle so to " speak and without toil, he tracks their routes, overcomes space, and enjoys a " spectacle often grand, although a little monotonous. " Seen at the ^eason of flowers, the prairie is truly beautiful since upon " a foundation of verdure, it is completely enamelled with different colors. It " is a rich carpet whose various shades seem disposed by the hand of in " artist ; it is a sea, which at the least breath of wind, undulates in sweet ♦' smelling waves. This prairie, although so smooth that it seems a super- (1) We shall ^eeeI■ewbere that In reality this Inconvenlenoe does not exist in aaapprMl- •ble manner, as Is established by recent surveys. , • ' n li tc w 01 d 8, ej ai d 8< ^^ 01 s< te — 5 — ,_ ,h,''-i " ficial horizon, suddenly undulates and forms a rolling prairie. Its beauty " then increases ; a thousand little hillocks raise themselves here and there, " and give in their almost regular variety, the idea of th:; undulations of the " ocean in the midst of a great storm. " It seems that the powerful hand of the Ruler of the seas, in mockery of " the fury of the waves, has seized them at the moment of their rising, and by " a word of command, transformed them into earth In some places erratic •• blocks of stone seen from afar on the tops of the downs and hillocks, seem *' the foam of fleecy waves petrified. Elsewhere the prairie is dott«;d with " clumps of wood and sown with lakes with contours as agreeable as varied, " there are basins which one would say are reservoirs destined for the " play of great waters, and whose sides bear the visible imprint of the different " levels that the supreme Artist as^gned to these dried up ponds. Apart •' from the wild and savage beauty of the great mountains, apart from the " view of a great sheet of water bathing a beautiful shore, altogether without " what art has added to natural beauty, it is difficult to imagine anything more " beautiful, or at least more pretty or more lovely than certain points in these " undulating prairies. It would be easy to fancy oneself in an immense park, " whose rich proprietor had put under contribution the most experienced talent. *' In the midst of these clusters of trees, these thickets, this rich verdure, these *' lakes without number, one would ask where is the master to whom " belong the numerous flocks that are tranquilly feeding in the distance ? " Who has tamed that gazelle so light, so graceful, which seems to come to " salute our travellers, which fear drives away, and curiosity brings back ? " Those bands of wolves which sport around you, which bark, which howl and " whistle by turns, are they the impatient pack which wait the signal to dart " away in pursuit of the game ? Then, in the autumn, what variety, what " quantity of aquatic birds covers all these lakes ? Ducks sport there by '• thousands, the swan, that inhabitant of all beautiful pieces of artificial water, " is there, floating with a majestic negligence and pouring forth plaintively her " mysterious song. Oh ! yes, it is beautiful, the prairie, and since only inha- " bitants and habitations are wanting, there are certain spots which I will " willingly point out to amateurs. " To facilitate, to hasten the settlement of this magnificent country, whose natural beauties dispute the paftm with the astonishing fertility of the soil, in 1882, the government of Canada divided the part of this prairie region situated to the west of the province of Manitoba into four provisional districts, which will be before long organised regularly into provinces, designated by the names of the district of Assiniboia, district of Saskatchnvan, district of Alberta, and district of Athabasca. These four districts comprise an area of 431,000 square miles or 275,* 840,000 acres, which exceeds by at east 14,000 square miles, the collective extent of France, Great Britain and Ireland, Portug il, Switzerland Belgium and Holland. As these different countries have not a richer soil than the four districts in question, and as they are inhabited by a population of over 80,000,000, it is evident that the four future provinces of the Canadian North West will be able to support with ease a population at least a third of that of these countries of Europe, that is to say one of at least 25,000,0000. As we see it, immigration for a very long time could be poured into these immense territories without the least danger of encumbering them. The greatest part, much the greatest part of these vast prairies possesses a soil of astonishing fertility, and even in regions less favoured in this — 6 respect, there are no great extents as stated by Capt Palliser, in his report to the Imperial Government, at all approching to sterility. The careful explorations made for some years back, by surveyors in the service of the Department of the Interior, in the territory bordering on the American fron- tier, entirely corroborate the opinion of Capt. Palliser. They establish, that even in that strii) heretofore designated " the desert " there is comparatively but a small part of the land unfit for the culture of the cereals or for pasture. In nearly every spot not favourable for culture, the soil is covered with suc- culent grasses which render it profitable for cattle raising, so much the more profitable, that these pasture lands are nearly all in the neighbourhood of the Canadian Pacific Railway. As we have already seen, the surface of this great prairie, i^ only slightly uneven. It gradually grows lower as it stretches towards the east, and, in the great basin of the Saskatchewan forms two very distinct plains. The first whose mean elevation above the level of the sea is about 2700 feet, extends frorfi the foot of the Rocky Mountains to a range of heights of which the most elevated are the mountains or rather the Hills of Elk, File, Touchwood and Eagle to the west of Fort Carlton. The second plain or steppe, whose general level is scarcely 1600 feet above that of the sea, is contained between the ranges of heights we have mentioned, and another parallel range which runs to the north west, extending from Pembina Mountain on the United States frontier, to the neighbourhood of Fort Cumberland, on the Saskatchewan. The highest points of this second range of heights, after Pembina Mountain are the Dauphin, Duck, Thunder, Porcupine and Pasquin Hills. The conformation of these ranges of heights is distinguished at nearly every point by characteristic features, showing clearly that they have been formed by denudation or by the gradual withdrawal of the waters of the sea or lakes which once covered this country. On the western side, the declivities have a gentle inclination hardly perceptible in many locaHties, while on the east they are generally abrupt, often even steep, showing a decline of several hundred feet in a distance of a few miles. These accidents in the surface of the ground, constitute a very distinct line of demarcation between the tran- sition or sedimentary formations east of them, and the secondary formations which form the western plateau. Besides these ranges of hills forming the limits of the two great plains between which the western part of the prairie region is divided, there are several other eminences marking out the valleys of the tributaries of the prin- cipal rivers which traverse these two plateaux. Between Battle River and the north branch of the Saskatchewan, the most striking of these eminences are the Bear- Hills, the Beaver, the four Hills of the Black Feet, and those of Willow and Wolf. Between Battle River and the La Biche, there are the Squirrel Hills and especially those of La Main which attain a height of 3,400 feet above the level of the sea and 600 above the bed of La Biche river. More to the south, the south branch of the Saskatchewan passes round in describing an arc of a circle towards the north, the extremity of the *' Great 'Coteau" of the Missouri, on the borders of which are found the Cypress Mountains, 3,800 feet high, and the Thunder Mountains in the vicinity of the '* Elbow, " or the place where the river turns to the left to take a northern direction. At the bend of the north branch, it is separated from its principal affluent by the Eagle Hills, which attain an altitude of 2,328 feet. The basin of the Saskatchewan is separated from that of the Athabasca by ,»» — 7 — . ^t a range of heights forming the dividing line between the waters flowing into Hudson Bay, and those which empty into the Arctic Ocean through the McKenzie River. This range of heights starts from the neigh bourhcKKl at the Miette rock, one of the peaks of the eastern spurs of the Rocky Moun- tains and stretches to the north east into the vicinity of Portage-la-Loche, after having passed between Lakes Beaver and La Biche. Over a distance of more than two thirds of its length after leaving the Rocky Mountains, this range of heights skirts the right bank of the Pembina river, one of the principal affluents of the Athabasca. For the greater part of its course, its mean elevation is scarcely 400 feet above the level of the Saskatchewan at Edmonton or nearly 2,500 above the level of the sea. The region north west of this line is for the most part comprehended in the district of Athabasca ; it forms a great plain gradually growing lower as it grows more distant from the Rocky Mountains ; scarcely broken in a per- ceptible manner by a few mountains of comparatively little akitude, and ridges of high land forming the lines of demarcation between the valleys of the rivers which drain this great plain. Between the Pembina and Athabasca rivers, the only accidents in the formation which vary the uniformity of the plain are the ravines at the bottom of which flow the rivers of that region especially the valley cut out by the river McLeod, another great tributary of the Athabasca. Beyond the Athabasca, another range of heights, nearly parallel to that above described, forms the dividing line between the waters of the Athabasca valley and the plateau drained by the Peace River and its numerous southern affluents. This range of heights extends from the foot of the Rocky Moun- tains unto the vicinity of the point where the 58th degree of latitude cuts the 1 1 2th meridian. The only branch of the Athabasca which crosses this range, is the Little Slave River, issuing from the lake bearing the same name. This lake is 1800 feet above the level of the ocean, and between it and Lake Athabasca to the south, the mountains attain a height of 3,500 feet, that is to say, they rise 1700 feet above the lake. Nearer to the Rocky Mountains between the Athabasca, and the sources of the Smoky river, the elevation of thii range of heights is scarcely 3,300 feet above the sea or from 600 to 800 above the general level of the plain. Beyond the Little Slave Lake, the elevation of this ridge of high lands diminishes, but it contains still some points of a considerable height, notably those designated as the mountains of La Biche, which are prolonged beyond the Athabasca ; and the Wood Mountains, which form the extremity of the range and end at the Red River, an affluent that the Athabasca receives on its left side, not far from its mouth. To the north of Little Slave Lake, there is a group, of which the highest points attain an altitude of 2,500 feet. From this group detach two ranges running towards the north ; one inclining to the west, the other to the east, to form on two sides the boundaries of the great valley through which flows the Loon river, one of the affluents of the Peace. The most salient point of the eastern range is found in the Birch Mountains, which terminate at the 58th parallel, and at the foot of which are found the sources of the Red, and Vermillion rivers, two small tributaries of the Peace. The western range sepa- rates the Lpon from the Peace river, and projects several spurs which mark the division between the lands drained by the little rivers Cadotte, Car- cajou and others, and then terminate in the Buffalo Head Mountains to the north of White Fish Lake, which is only a few hundred feet above the plain. Twenty tniles to the north of the Peace River, starting from the Rocky — 8 — .•'■' I '.Wi '.Vv.' Mountains, another ridge of high lands extends from west to east and seems to be prolonged beyond the Peace river which it crosses twenty miles below the mouth of the Smoky river and then mingles witlj the hills of the Buffalo Head. A httle before arriving at Peace river, that is to say between 1190 et 1200 of longitude, this zone of high land parts into two to give place to another range running north and gradually rising, running in that direction, forms the Cariboo Mountains, or the summit Ime between the Peace river valley, and that of the Hay and Liards. The plateau which crowns these mountains, and forms thus the left bank ot the Peace river, measures from 1900 to 2400 feet above the sea, and the height of the Cariboo Mountains varies from 600 to 1500 feet above the level of the plateau. On the south side, or rather on the right bank of the Peace River, the high lands are much farther removed than on the left bank, and as far as Smoky river their course is nearly everywhere transversal to that of the river which flows from west to east. These heights separate the viUeys of the tributaries of the Peace River and do not present, except in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, any isolated peaks of noticeable elevation. Finally, between Hudson's Hope and Lake Moberley is found an eminence 2,900 feet above the sea, rising nearly 900 feet above the lake, whose altitude is 2,050 feet. More to the south west, in the vicinity of the forks of the Pine River, rises Table Mountain at least 3,400 feet high, of which the altitude exceeds by 1,000 or 1,20c feet, that of the plateau, which, further east, rises to form a range of heights bounding on the western side the large and beautiful valley of Smoky River. Let us state before going further that, except the mountains surrounding the Little Slave Lake, and Table Mountain near Pine River, the ranges of heights above described are only accumulations of earthy matter, hillocks devoid of rocks, composed of soft earth, everywhere arable, and in which the most stony parts at the most, contain beds of little pebbles or gravel. Solid rock is so hard to be found in these lands, especially in the Peace River valley that in the whole extent of the District of Athabaska, there is not perhaps five per cent of the lands not cultiveable on account of the composition of the soil, which is, in general, of great richness, resting on beds of limestone and a subsoil of clay, then covered again in many places and over great extents by a bed of vegetable mould often of great depth. Apart from these secondary accidents of formation, these undulations which only render the drainage more easy and the landscape more pictures que, the surface ot the great plam drained by the Athabasca and Peace rivers forms a smooth plateau regularly inclining towards the north east. The inclination is scarcely perceptible, but of an uniformity pretty nearly constant. Along the Rocky Mountains, the general elevation of the ground varies from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. This elevation is very nearly maintained as far as the longitude of Dunvegan, that is to say, to the east of the IT 9th meridian, south of Peace River, and is increased a little as it expends to the south ; then in the valley of Smoky River towards 54" of lati- tude, the mean elevation is nearly 2,500 feet, and further south attains >even 3,300 feet in the plateau which separates the valley of the Athabasca from that of Peace River. To the north of Dunvegan, the level of the plateau is found a mile from the river to be 800 feet above it, or a little more than 1900 above the sea. At first some undulations of the ground are met, with groves of aspens, but five or six miles from the river these undulations disappear and the surface of the ground becomes perfectly smooth ; as far as the eye can reach, the plain is — 9 level with scattered clumps of aspens, and admirably suited for agriculture. The soil is composed of a strong loam covered again by a bed of rich black earth a foot and more in thickness. There are neither savannas nor marshes, and these beautiful lands continue for fifteen miles from Peace River. This plateau is prolonged towards the west up to the foot of the Rocky Mountains between Dunvegan and Fort St. John, a distance of a hundred and twenty miles,its elevation varying from 1900 to 2400 feet above the sea. The soil is everywhere rich and well drained, and the prairies dotted with clumps of aspens alternate with the forest which occupies nearly 25 p. c. of the lOtal extent. In these forests, are found, in considerable quantities spruce trees measuring 10 inches or more in diameter. Beyond this plateau, the elevation of the plain diminishes towards the north, where are found the valleys of the Liard and Hay rivers, which flow north and east to pour out their waters, the one into the Mackenzie, and the other into the Great Slave Lake. As we have already seen, to the north of Dunvegan, the Cariboo Mountains form the dividing line between the waters of the Hay and tlie Peace rivers. They seem to be a prolongation of the high lands which, more to the south, separate the Smoky River from the basin in which lies Little Slave Lake. This range of heights running in general from south to north, seems to form the dividing line from a great plain extending as far west as the Rocky Mountains and whose mean elevation as the references given above indicate, is very nearly 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. To the east of this great plain, the general elevation sensibly diminishes ; it is nearly 1500 feet at the confluence of the Smoky River, and it does not exceed 1000 feet at Fort VermiUon, scarcely a degree of longitude more to the east. At this last place, the general level of the plain is from 50 to 100 feet above the bed of the river. This elevation steadily diminishes as far as Lake Athabasca, which is only 600 feet above the sea level, and it is evident that the great plain measuring nearly 200 miles in width, through which passes the lower part of Peace River, forms a la^t steppe whose mean eleva- tion does not much exceed 700 feet above the ocean, and which comprises an area of very nearly 40,000 square miles. Professor Macoun, who has gone over a great part of this country, gives in a few words, an excellent idea of the vast extent of the lands of which wp are treating, " The whole country, he says, contained between the R (1) Oeologioal Shirvey qf Canada, 1879-80, page 03 B. — 12 — '■:/'>U^ ./■,S f certain sprung up concerning our rich and fertile plains from the perusa books treating of the plains of the United States. Contrary to what is the case further south, it may fearlessly be affirmed that throughout the whole extent of the immense plains of North Western Canada, th^re is not certainly ten per cent of the lands, which are not susceptible of profit WOODS AIVD FOBESTfl .K- . : i':V, The two fiist regular exploration" made in the Canadian North West, were those of Hind and Palliser, extending only to the prairies of the Red and Saskatchewan rivers ; they only, so to speak, ran over the country where the prairie predominates and where consequently wood would be comparatively scarce, since these prairies have been formed by the destruction of the primitive forests by fire. Besides, to travel more easily, these expeditions avoided the forest country as much as poi-sible to ful ow everywhere, as well as they could, the tracks of the buffalo hunters ; so that the reports published by them apply in nearly an exclusive manner to the prairie lands ; it is not then astonishing that after the reading of these magnificent reports, one remams a little too much under the impression that the absence of wood Mould make itself strongly felt in this country so beautiful in situation and so rich as agricultural land. This impression is incontestably erroneous. The multiplied surveys carried on in every direction, for a dozen years past, by the members of the Geological Survey as well as by the surveyors of the Department of the Interior, e^tablish, that apart from an area of comparatively little extent, along the South Saskatchewan upon the borders of the great Missouri Coteau, there is, even in the prairie region, sufficient wood for ordinary domestic use — fuel and the building of fences — as well as a considerable quantity of wood for building. Nearly everywhere, areas of prairie alternate with thickets of poplar or spruce ; in several places in the south east portion, the valleys of the creeks and rivers contain oak, maple, ash and elm capable of being utilised as lumber. All — 14 — Mi this seems to show clearly enough that wood is hardly more scarce in our great western plains, than it is to-day in the older parts of Quebec and Ontario which have been cleared. But if wood, and above all, building timber, is not as abundant as one could desire on the prairies themselves, it must be admitted that it abounds in the forest zone bordering these prairies to the west, north, and rast. The whole ea;5tern slope of the Rocky Mountains from the frontier of the United States to beyond the Peace River over a mean width of more than a hundred miles, is a country of forests, in which abound the finest building woods, except the hard woods and white pine. In these forests as in those of the North Saskatchewan, and especially in those of the Athabasca and Peace Rivers, white spruce abounds ; it can furnish timber at least as fine in every respect, if not finer than that which our eastern forests furnish for exportation and which is more and more sought for by our lumber merchants. There is also a red pine in the Rocky Mountains, and a species of hemlock met with in quantities in the great plateau from whence issue the two rivers Saskatchewan. It seems as if it would at least be exaggerated, to contend that a country surrounded with such forests, traversed in every direction by great rivers, down which the floating of wood could be done under the most advantageous conditions, along three or four hundred miles of mointains, can really suffer from scarcity of lumber, especially when it is considered that in all parts of the prairie there is poplar enough for fuel and fences, and there are even great stretches of f^ne timber on the tops of nearly all the hills rising in many localities above the level of the prairie. In Europe, a country which contained such forests as those of the Saskatchewan and Peace river prairies, would* be called well wooded. The abundance of wood in our old provinces has rendered us more exacting, and if this is not a misfortune, it is at least a great error of a nature to prevent our taking the part rightfully belonging to us, in the settlement of our superb western plains. Let us now enter into some details respecting the ligneous species which compose the forests we have sketched. The hard woods of full grown trees are not numerous as species ; they comprise only oak, maple, ash, elm and birch. The oak is only met with in the south east p.irt of the district of Assinfboine especially on the river Souris and its tributaries, notably in the valley of the creek Pierreh-Calumet, where it is large enough to be used for lumber and building. The maple {negundo aceroides, negundo fraxinifolium, ash leaved maple, and Giguire maple) spreads over a much more extensive area. The expedition of Palliser established that it existed in the Rocky Mountains, generally as a shrub, not far from the sources of the Saskatchewan. More to the east, in the vicinity of Lake Manitou, in the valley of Battle River, this tree is large enough and in sufficient numbers to be tapped by the Indians, who convert its sap mto sugar and syrup. There is also some maple in all the region lying between the United States frontier, the South Saskatchewan and the river Qu'Appelle, especially between the Cypress and Wood Mountains. In the valleys of Maple and Moose Jaw Creeks, tne tree measures from ten to fourteen inches in diameter, and covers considerable spaces. Its cultivation by planting has been tried with success, at Victoria, a doien miles north of the 54th parallell"; but in the natural state, it has not been found farther north than Lat. 52° 30' and about Long, 109°, in the valley of Battle River. The most considerable forests of it are probably found in the < .% — 15 — which ; they valley of the Carrot River, one of the principal affluents of the Saskatchewan in its lower course. There is besides maple in the region of the Elbow of the South Saskatchewan, chiefly in townships 23, 24, 25 and 26, ranges 7 and 8 where this tree is from ten to fourteen inches in diameter. The elm and the ash grow in the same regions as the maple, except that as trees of an old growth they do not pass the longitude of the Cypre's Mountains. The finest elms are found in the neighbourhood of Fort Cum- berland, especially in the beautiful rich valley of the Carrot River, which also contains a good deal of ash. There are also both ash and elm, ten to four- teen inches in diameter, a little to the north west of the elbow of the South Saskatchewan in townships 23, 24, 25 and 26, ranges 7 and 8 as well as in many other places which it would take too long to enumerate. The birch grows in all parts of the territory, mixed nearly always with the ligneous forest trees, principally spruce and poplar. In the Athabasca region and that of the Peace River, as well as in the valley of Carrot River, this tree attains to two feet in diameter, and constitutes in many places a precious resource both for timber and fuel. When these regions shall have been peopled, it will be of great use for the making of furniture, as it is already in some of our older provinces. In these north western forests, the conifers are represented by the cedar, cypress or Banksian pine, red pine, fir, a species of tamarac, black spruce, red spruce and especially white spruce which forms much the greatest part of all these forests. There is while cedar (Thuya Occidentalis)m the Rocky Mountain region, where it is of colossal dimensions, at the sources of the river Saskatchewan, in Kicking Horse Pas*^, and in the adjoining valley of the Kootenay river. The expedition of Palliser went through places where these trees measured four or five feet in diameter at four or five feet from the ground and were a hundred to a hundred and twenty feet in length. They are in sufficient quantity to make an important object of export, and the more readily that the Canadian Pacific Railway crosses this region and furnishes the desired means of transport. In British Columbia, cedar is much used for making shingles : it could be put to the same use on the plains of the Saskatchewan, and especially be very advantageously employed in making stakes and rails for fences, as is practised in the eastern provinces. The cypress (pinus contorta, pinus banksiana) is a cosmopolite tree ; it is found nearly every where on the plains, on the plateaux of the mountains, upon high and poor lands. It crossses the chain o'' the Rocky Mountains into the valley of the Peace River and is met in more or less great abundance over a very extensive area, generally on the higher parts of the plateau, or on poor lands. It is found in considerable quantities and of very good dimensions in the high lands forming the watershed between the Athabasca and the Saskat- chewan. Naturally it grows on the Cypress mountains, to which it gives its name and as far as twenty miles east of Fort Walsh. Towards the north, it is again found as far as Clear Water valley, and in the valley of Peace River, between Dunvegan and Fort Saint John. This tree springs up on high and gravelly lands, but does not disdain the richest soils, in which it attains a height of from 60 to 100 feet and more than two feet in diameter. Its wood is not much used, because generally it is of small dimensions ; but it is white, durable enough, and merits to be looked after in those places where the tree attains proportions fit to make logs. The red pine (tinus resinosa, pinus ponderosa) is found in more or less — 16 11 1' H great quantity in the vicinity of Lake Waterton, near the United States fron- tier, in the valley of Bow River, above Morley ville, on the banks of the North Saskatchewan, especially in the neighbourhood of Rocky Mountain House, and nearly the whole length of the river as far as Fort Carlton. The trees that Dr. Hector saw in this last place and at Rocky Mountain House measured six inches in diameter on an average, were straight and free from branches to a height of 60 or 70 feet. In the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountain House, in the valley of Clear water River, and in that of Whistling River, this pine enters largely into the composition of the forest. '• The wood is very good," says Dr. Hector, " but *' not of large dimensions. On the high grounds I have remarked here what " I think, ought to be the pinus resinosa. The tree that I suppose to be the *^ pinus resinosa, has a beautiful straight trunk nearly without branches up to " a height of 70 feet ; the trunk is often sixteen inches in diameter and goes ''up d< ninishing like a mast. The cones and foliage resemble a little " those of another pine which grows 't abundance on the gravelly terraces." Dr. Hector saw in the same places another pine which the Hudson Bay Company's peaf)le designate by the name of " cypress," but which he thought was the pinus banksiana. " This tree," says he, " corresponds very nearly " with the pinus inops of New Jersey, but has more vigorous habitudes, and " several other particular characteristics. It is the same that I saw near " Carlton, and that, after leaving that locality, I only saw again along the " Saskatchewan, beyond Edmonton, and never in any quantity, except in the " vicinity of Rocky Mountain House. It only seems to grow in light soils, " and prefers the slope of the terraces." In the Kicking Horse Pass, Dr. Hector found another species of pine {pinus Lambertina), which attains enormous dimensions. This tree measures four or fiye feet in diameter, and its cones are nine inches long. There is fir {abies balsamed) in several places, and in the mountain region this tree attains good dimensions, especially in the region where the two rivers Saskatchewan have their sources and in the Bow River valley, in the vicinity of Mounts La Grotte and Bourgeau, where Dr. Hector reports to have found it well grown. Another species of fir (abies suhalpina), Engelm {abies labiocarpa, Hook) crosses the Rocky Mountains into the Peace River region. This fir grows in the cold and wtt soils of the country between Little Slave 1 ake and the Atha- basca. It is often more than two feet in diameter, but it is said that its wood is of little value. It is very abundant in groves of great extent east of Lake McLeod, in the country watered by Parsnip River. In the same region, that is to say from Rocky Mountain House to the United States frontier, from north to south and as far as beyond Kicking Horse Pass, the expedition of Palliser found in considerable quantities, a species of Hemli ck (Thuya Mertensiana) which attains colossal proportions four to five feet in diameter and a hundred and a hundred and twenty in height. The foliage of this tree much resembles that of the hemlock of the eastern pro- vinces, but the bark is completely different, and so much resembles that of the balsam poplar, that to distinguish the two trees one is absolutely obliged to look at the foliage. The cone of this species is only two inches long, and is formed of large prickly scales. This tree gives good timber and in British Columbia where it attains to 200 feet in height, its bark is successfully employed in tanning. Sir Alexander Mackenzie states that he has seen this species of hemlock in the region from which the Parsnip river, one of the ' " _ 17 — . branches of the Peace, takes its rise, which ' woClld place the growth of Ihis tree, really valuable both for its bark and wood as far as north as 54° 30'. The other varieties of the Abiaiinaa family are red spruce, black spruce and white spruce. The rtd spruce or American Larch (Larix Americana) grows in nearly all parts of the four great provisional districts we are describing and even further to the north. This tree is found in abundance in the swampy parts of the great plateau of the Peace river as well as in the valley of the Athabasca. In the country about Lake Athabasca as in the valley of Beaver river the red spruce attains its greatest perfection on high and dry lands, of good quality, as well as in the good lands which border the lakes and rivers. There is in the Kootenay river valley and in the country about the sources of the Saskatchewan, another specits of larch (latix occiden talis) of enormous proportions, as are nearly all the trtes of that country. The expedition of Palliser saw these red spruces measuring four or five feet in diameter and more than a hundred and twenty five teet in height. The trunk of this tree is straight, its bark hard, and its colour pale red. The wood of this species of tree is as hard and strong as that of the ordinary red spruce, but more coarse. The black spruce {abies nigra) has the fame habitat as the white spruce but is far from being as abundant. In compensation, its wood is more durable. This tree seeks the tops of the hills and the swampy and cold lands ; it attains to dimensi ns sufficiently large to make good building timber. It is compact enough and durable enough to be very advantageous y employed for railwiy ties, so much the more that its ordinary proportions render it eminently suited to this purpose. There is much of this spruce on the hills and in the swampy places of the Athabaska region. The white s| ruce (abics alba) is much the mo t abundant ligneous tree in all parts of the great plains of the North West. Here, this tree attains its perfect development, and in many places specimens measuring thirty inches in diameter and from a hun :red to a hundred and twenty in height, have been found in considerable quantities. It seeks by preference the borders of the lakes and rivers, and especially the valleys in which the soil is rich and sufficiently dry, which may expla n why it is so abundant on the fertile plains of the Sask;itchewan and the Peace River where these two qualities are every where fo ind. This tree forms forests, valuable both for the quality of the wood and for their extent, in the lower valley of the North Saskatchewan, going down from the Forks, in the rich valley of Carrot river, in the region north of the Elbow as far as the valley of Beaver river ; in the valley of Sturgeon river and Lake St. Anne behind Ethnonton and as far as Rocky Mountain House. It is also white spruce XhuV is found in the superb forests of the upper half of ihe valleys of Battle and La Biche rivers, and finally, it is also white spruce which forms the grater part of the forests of the Peace river plattau, of the Athabaska valey and of that of the Oreat SI »ve river, as far as the northern 1 ne of the District of Athabasca. It is still white spruce which forms the greater part of the clumps of primeval forest which are scattered nearly everywhere over t'le prairits properly so called. Eveiy where this wood is geneially large enough and long enough to be advantageously employed for building purposes ; and in ma.iy localities it is very superior to that which our forests of the eastern provinces furnish for tiade and export. There are three species of poplar in the country we are describing ; the aspan (jf>o/>ulus tremu/oides) the balsam po.) nr {populiis balsami/era), and an — 18 - other poplar which explorers designate under the different names oi popului (randidentata, populus trichocarpa, or perhaps monilifera. This last species and the balsam poplar, which are probably only two varieties of the same species, are nearly invariably met with in the valleys of the rivers in which these trees attain very great dimensions. In the valley of the Parsnip, in that of Peac.^ river and above all in the valley of the South Saskat- chewan, in the part bordering on the great Misouri Coteau, these poplars spring up in nearly all quarters in the hol'uws and the islands. They are four to five feet in diameter in th • Peace river country ;they are also large enough on the banks of the South Saskatchewan, and the people of Palliser's expedi- tion measu- ed soTte 9 feet 7 inches in circumference in Bow River valley, near Mutton cr ek where these large trees were found in very considerab e numbers. The aspen is much more abunda t, and in our north west plains it always mdicates a very fi rtile soil. It ordinarily spring*; in clumps amo g the forests of whit# sprue:, and invariably replaces that tr.e when it is destroyed by fire, lathe prairies, it i^ the clumps and thickets of aspens, one finds every- ^ere which vary the monot ny of the landscape and give in many places to the plain, the appeirancc of beautiful artificial parks. Its wood f-rnishes a good part of the material employed in the construction of fences and even of farm b ildings. Like its congener, the balsam poplar, it furnishes to the savages the bark with which to make their cabins as well as their canoes, which they construct by hollowing out the trunk of these great trees. The aspen is generally from twelve to twenty four inches in diameter and its wood gives a good enough fuel, burning with less flame and making fewer sparks than the spruce and the other resinous woods. It is, par excellence^ the wood of the prairie. The extracts which follow show from evidence that it requires a good deal of imagination to entertain seriously the idea that on our North Western plains wood is sufficiently scarce to constitute a real inconvenience, a serious obstacle to colonisation. Without doubt wood is more scarce, since it is a prairie country, than in the eastern provinces which are a wooded country ; but there is siifficient wood for domestic uses — fuel, fences and the greater part of the farm buildings — and building tnnber abounds in the Rocky Mountain region, in places where it can be floated down the rivers with the greatest facility into every part of the plain situated more to the east, and it abounds al o in the lower valley of the Saskatchewan and a little to the north of that river from the Forks to Rocky Mountain House. Finally it forms forests as beautiful and as abundant as those of our old provinces to the east, in the country where the Battle and La Biche rivers take their rise. What more is to be desired ? After all, does not a good part of the lumber, for carpenter work and furniture, which is used in the souih east parts of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario come from the north, and is it not taken distances of three or four hundred miles and even more from the localities wheie this wood is consumed. The distnnct; is no greater between the prairies of the lower Saskatchewan and the sui)erb forests which bordet the upper Bourses of that livcrand its principal affluents. Let us complete our researches by some more circumstantial details, of a nnture t > show thoroughly how much there is of false and erroneous in the idea that the scarcity of wood can form a serious obstacle to the well being of the population who will inhabit ere long the four rich districts of Assiniboia, Alberta Saskatchewan and Athabasca. The f rests of this vast territory naturally divide themselves into three — 19- classes sufficiently distinct, which may be designated as hard wood forests, mountain forests, and plain forests. The hard wood fore-.ts. if the birch is taken out of this class, are only found in the south and south eastern parts of the territory. They are composed of oak, maple, ash and elm, which grow either isolated or m small clumps. The oak is found only in the valleys of the Qu'Appelle and Assiniboine. The maple forms' forests of some size in the Battle River region, along certain parts of the South Saskatchewan, of Carrot River and especially of the creek to which this wood gives its name. This tree appears to the west as far as Cypress mountains and Pa!lis-r found it still farther in the Rocky Mountains along Kicking Hor^e Pass. At this place, as nearly everywhere else, the ash accompanies the maple and these are there two feet in diameter. This last wood is more abundant in the region of the S juth Saskatchewan and Carrot River, where there is likewise elm of good size. Let us cite the very words of some of the explorers, the better to see the value of these second giowth forests and the uses to which they can be put. " In the forest behind our cam j (near the sources of the Saskatchewan and " the Kicking Horse Pass) there i< some moose wood (viburnum). There is " also now much hard wood, especially maple and mountain ash." {PaUiset^s Explorations in B. N. America^ page 152.) " We saw maple with ash leaves (in the neighbourhood of the Elbow of the " South Saskatchewan) but not in abundance. We found also a species of " ash and two kinds of birch." {Palliser's Explorations, page 54.) " The rorthern extremity of this valley (of Wignatignou or Grande Coulde, " one of the afflue its of the Battle River, I^t. about 1520 30*, Long, ioq",) is " principally wooded with aspen ; ash leaved maple and white birch are in " small quantities. The aspens are the most beautiful specimens of the " species we have seen in this country. At the southern extremity of the " valley, there was a great wood of ash leaved maple, where we found the *' traces of an Indian camp, indicating that a party of these savages had come " here in the spring to make their sugar." {Pallisers Expedition, page 85.) " The bottom of the creek upon which the farm is established contains " aspens and maples, the first, the largest I have ever seen in the North West, some trees measuring three feet in diam ter." {Report of the Minister of the Interior {ox 1880, page 15.) " There is upon the noth side of these hills (the Cactus Hill>) a good " number of deep ravines containing a great quantity of good wood for fuel, " viz : ash, maple and poplar, with an abundance of cherry and burning bushes. " The river Moose Jaw cro ses section 3c, (Township 15, range 26,) three " times. There is in the valley a considerable quantity of wood, principally " ash and maple." {Report Min. Int. for 1880, page 70.) "The Creek (Maple, Township 8, Range 17) is bordered by a skirt of " wood composed of ash, maiile, elm and alder in sufficient quantity and " large enough dimensions to furnish the settlers for many years with wood " for fuel and fencing." {R. M. I. for 1880, page 120.) " Along the whole of Moose Jaw Creek there are ash from five to twenty " inches in diameter." {R. M. I. for 1880, page 128.) " In sectons 24 and 19 (range 18, township 7) I crossed a creek running " in a north east direction. This creek is bordered with large elms and ash." {Report Minister Interior for i88d, page 129.) " The bed of the South Saskatchewan (Township 31, range 8) is much " obstructed by sand bars. The two banks are raised and bordered with a « — '20 — :i " considerable quantity of fine wood, ash, maple and poplar." (Report Mm. Int.'iox J 889, page 110.) " The Eagle was crossed twice (Township 46, range 11.") Upon its banks " there is good wood for fuel, ash, maple and alder." R. M. I. for 1880, page III.) " These ravines (township 31, range 18) contain a good deal of wood of *' fair size, ash, maple and poplar." (Item |)agc 115.) *' For thirty miles east of this post (at the Wood mountains, about lat. 49° " 50' and long. 106° 40') as far as the Great Mud river, I found good clear " wood in great quant'ty, of which I think could be made axles, spokes of '' wheels, shafts, double and single, and poles, of quite as good a quality as " those at present imported for the use of the Mounted Police." J. M. Walsh, •' superintendent of the M. Y"— {Report Min. Jnt. for 1879, Part III, page 12.) " Over a distance of nearly 80 miles in a straight line, to the east of Fort k la " Come, the Catroi river crosses a fertile country, well wooded and well " drained. . . . There are many large wo< ds, espt*; lally along the lower part " of the river, which are composed of spruce, pO; lar, balsam poplar, maple^ " elm, &c. According to the Indians, these wood.s cxi nd far back from the *' river " (A. L. Russell. Refort Min. Int., for 1879, Purt II, page 21.) These extracts show clearly er ough that in the st ui hern part and to the east of the prairies of the Saskatchewan, the hard woi ds aa far from being wanting. The mountain forests are found on the higher powns of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, from the frontier of the t i.it d States to beyond the Peace River, between the line made by the crest ol these mumtams, and the parallel range whith forms the wt stern limit of the great plains of the Saskat- chewan and Peace Rivers. This great plateau extt nds over more than 40.000 squat e miles, enjoys a moist and temperate climate, most propitious to forest veg« tation, as we shall elsewhere see. Besides the hard woods we have mentioned abc ve, the ligneous trees which compose these forests, are cypress, red pine, white cedar, fir, red spruce, black spruce, white spruce, and the hemlock of the west. In the southern part from the American frontier as far as beyond the \x per valley of the North Saskatchewan, these trees, m many places and over great extents, attain colos- sal dimtnsions. Further on, there is little but white spruce, but it is generally very fine, ai d combines the qualities desired both for good eawn wood and for timber. A few extracts will suffice to give a good idea of these forests. " After marching three miles, we | erceived a path leading to the ford which * crosses Bow rivtr on the way to Kananaskis pass. Up to this time, the road * we followed, passed through beautiful forests of young pines. .. . Up the *• river from ihe place where the valley narrows, we 1 enetrated into a lab}rinth '• of dense fori sts where a porton of the black pines are very large. ... At *• daylight, we stirted to make the ascent of Mont k la Grotte. Afier having * asc< nded 500 feet, we came out of the wood, but raiher in mounting to the '• top of great wrinkled rocks than in any other way, for the great trees shot *• up 8co feet higher on favorable pieces of ground." (Falliser, p. 99.) " Lower than this point by 500 feet, the forest (in the vicinity of Cascade " Mountains) is composed of pines of fine growth, then come the trees that *' one ordinarily finds in the valleys among mountains, among which the white " and black spruce are the la gest, mixed with birch and sometimes with '• hemlock, a species of conifer seen for the first time at the Bow fort, and " which resembles the hemlock of Canada." {Pal/iser's Exf edition., p. 101.) — 21 — " We hid climbed six hours through the woods, when we reached to the " level of the trees, but w ' hud not made more than a dozen miles, we had we were still far from the limits of and finer than in the Bow River *• not crossed the r rky lands, >«ing even larger " valley." (Ide/^i, j). 102.) " Three hours marrhing brought us to a great tributary coming from the " north and having its sourcj in Mount Ball . . . . The valley was still well " wooded. We had become entangled in a forest of cedars, the first I have " seen since leiving Lake Winnipe.(," {Idem, p 103.) " We had ascended a good deal and went on our way ov r terraces of " gravel where the w od w ts pine, as is ordinarily the case in s ich a soil. At *• noon, we stopped at 50° 52' Lat., being s-ill in forests so thick that " we travelled with diffic Ity. I se t Pierre and Nimrod to explore the land. '* Alter having crossed the Kootenay river, they returned and gave us great " tales of the size of the wood they found th'.re. " " After three hours, we de cendei 300 feet to the bottom of tho valley and *• crossed the river Ko tenay. The valley was two or three miles wide, and " the woods very fine i>n both sides, especially the southern. " (/etula " papycacea) and thickets of tall elms border the little tributaries. In general " the forest is composed of quite large trees, a good number of the spruces '• being more than two feet in diameter." {Geological survey of Canada, 1875-76, p. 143. — Macoun.) n n n « , — 24 — " The country east of Parsnip river is entirely covered with dense forests, fallen down or burned. For ten or twelve miles going up the Misinchinca, alders and sombre coppices of great spruces border the river. In several places are found big black spruces and big poplars ; some of these last measure five feet in diameter. " {Geological Sun^ey of Canada, 1879-80, p. 35 B. and 36 B. Dawson.) " In leaving the *' Precipice, " the source of the South Spruce river, not far *' from Lake Azouzetfa, whit h is the source of this river, the valley is thickly ** wooded and contains belts of large fine trees.... From the mouth of " the Misinchinca up to a point on Spruce river, situated seven miles to the north west of the highest | art of the Mountains' range, • (about thirty miles) the humidity of the climate is shown by the vegetation and in other ways; the forest fire^ have been very • numerous and have not affected great extents. The valleys are filled with df nse sombre forests of spruce, and the trees attain great diaiensions. " {Ibid, p 38 B.) " From the "Precipice" (towards the head of the Spruce River south) up to this place (Lat. 55° 25', Long. 122" 32'), to the ea.st of the Rocky " Mountains, the slope is nearly uniform, and the river flows in a bed of very " small pebbles. The valley is thickly wooded with spruce and poplar of '* good quality." {Canadian Pacific Railway Surrey, 1878, p. 77. All testimony goes to establish the fact that the mountain regions contain forests of incontestable value, which will always be capable of furnishing good building timber to the plains which border that region to the east, with the Athabasca, Spruce, Parsnip and Peace rivers, as means of transport for bringing down these woods from the mountains to the plains. These, besides, have also their forests containing fine and good building timber, especially in the zone bordering the Rocky Mountains, called by the explorers the Foot Bills. To the east the general limit of this forest zone follows very nearly the meridian formed by 113^ 30' of longitude, from the 49th parallel as far as the water shed between the basin of the Saskatchewan and that of the Athabasca. The area comprised bt^tween these two lines and the flank of the Rocky Mountains forms a great triangle having its base to the east and its f ther longer side to the north, which clearly enough indicates that the width of this wooded zone increases as it goes in the direction of the Athabasca. The finest part of these forests is found in the region crossed by the upper courses of Battle and La Biche rivers, and that of the North Saskatchewan from Rocky Mountain House to about 20 miles from Edmonton. In all these fine fore>ts, the white spruce is the tree which dominates — and it is in general ver)' fine — but there are also cypresr, red pine and especially very fine balsam poplar. The intervals of praiiie which in many places alternate with the forest, and the rivers navigable for rafts which furrow this country in every direction, render the working of "these fine forests more easy and more profitable, and this explains why a good portion of these wooded lands is already taken up. There are also fine forests in the Bow River region, but they are less extensive than those in the country farther nqrth. In compensation there are on the Bow River and the Kanana-«kis, one of its tributaries; several cascades and falls capable of furnishing wat-. r ])ower at little expense for a good number of saw mills. The forests of the Bow River and its tributaries are already being worked, and supply a good part of the building material used at Calgary and elsewhere. 25 — L^t us see what explorers have said of the trees found in this great fo;est region. Alone; the foot of the R(>f^ky Mountains there is a tract of country presenting very peculiar characteristics which has been called "The Foot Hills." Long borders of high !;rounds alternate with parallel valleys through which flow liitle stream^ of water ; the streams which have their sources in the mountains have hollowed nearly at right angles out through this region, deep beds in order to reach th • plnins which lie beyond. The portion of this region not wooded is covered with a luxuriant growth ot buffalo gra s, and there is fine building timber (generally Oregon pine, Douglass fir) in considerable quantity in some of the more sheltered valleys. " After leaving the 49th parallel, for a distance of twenty four miles in a north west direction along the foot of the mountains, the foot hill> are not high, and contain but few continuous extents of forest, except in the upper part of the valley of the Great Belly river. The land is covered with a fine buff do grass, and the trees are in great part massed in the valleys. From this point, in going towards the north, the foot hills grow larger, there are considerable extents of forest, chiefly io the immediate vicinity of the mountains, and before Bow River is reached, a great part of the Foot Hill reg'on is cover^ d with fortsts more or less den e." (Geological siiiTey of Canada 1879-80, p. 11, Dawson.) " The banks of the river (Bow, long 113° 30', lat. 51") are nearly 120 feet *' high, the valley is Very nearly a mile wide and bears a good growth of alders ** and poplars. A balsam i oplar measured 9 feet 7 inches in circumferer ce, and " we saw a fine clump of white spruce two miles higher up. In resuming our " southward course, we found ourselves again in the fertile zone ; the land " was good and undulating. The valleys of the tributaries of Bow river, con- " tain considerable quantities of wood of good dimensions fit for lumbtr. We" ** made twelve miles. The coulees are not as abrupt as yesterday, and the " wood generally better. I measured a poplar 9^ feet in circumference at " the height of my shoulder. We saw white spruce in abundance along the *' two insignificant tributaries we had crossed." {Pallisrr's Exploration p. 91.) " A little higher up than this place, the Little La Biche river, coming from ** the south west, and Medicine river, from the north west, empty into ihe " Great La Biche River. At the expansion of the valley at the confluence of " these rivers, there are extensive forests of large white spruce. " {Idem, p 119). " The banks of the river (Little La Biche) are very high and covered with a thick pine forest — after six miles marching, we began the ascent of a series " of terraces dry, gravelly, and covered with cypress — After going some miles, " we descended rapidly from the terraces and went along the valley of the " little river La Biche. There is in this valley much pasturage and abundance *' of good building timber. In the evening, we descended to the river and " camped under some splendid pines. " {Idem, page 120.) " At the confluence of the rivers La Biche and Medicin^^, fine building " timber is in abundance, and if a mill is ever established at this 1 lace- (Beef *' Lake) nothing would be more easy than to float down the wood by the •' river La Bic?he. In this place (Headman's Creek) spruce ar^pears to be in ** considerable abundance." {Idem, i). 88.) ** Making our way across an uneven and wooded country, we dc-jcended into the valley of the La Biche river (about lat. 52" 19', long. 113" 3\) *' There are fine forests in the valley of tho La B'che river, and the more one " proceeds towards its source, the more abundant is the wood." {him, p. 89.) « <( 26 — •* Here the river (La Biche, range 7, base line west of 5th initial meridian) *• is 600 feet higher than where it crosses range 6. The trees, chiefly of piues ** and white spruce, are much larger ; there are trees, thirty inches in diame- " ter. The little valleys contain white spruce, and the heights, pine." {Rept. " Dept. Int. 1883, part II, p. 73.) " As Battle River is approached, the country is more wooded. West of the " river, the line goes through a very fine clump ( f spruce ; many of the trees " are 100 feet high, and at least 8 to 20 inches in diameter." {Idem, p, 103.) " The 14th base hne passes through a section of well wooded coantry. ' " Poplar is found there and cotton wood 4 to 8 inches in diameter. Belts of " white spruce, 8 to 20 inches and 60 feet high. " {Idem, p. 104 ) " Range 4. (nth base line, west of 4th initial meridian). There are alders, " poplars, groves of white and red spruce. " {Idem, p. 105.) " Range 5. Is full of white spruce, cotton wood, balsam and poplar in " groves. With the exception of some open spaces of prairie, all the range is " thick'y wooded. " {Idem, p. 105.) " I went upwards along the river Clearwater, after leaving Rocky Moun- " tain House, travelling on the ice, a dozen miles. The wood is good every ** where, but never of large dimensions. Upon the h'gh lands, I have sees " here what I believe to be the pinus tesinosa. although all the pines are " called, by the Company's st rvants, cypress, which however is ratht-r the " pinus Banksiana. I have never seen lower down along the Saskatchewan, " the tree which I suppc;se to be ik^t pinus resinosa (or red pine.) Its beautiful " straight trunk rises with small branches to the height of 70 feet, and the " tree is often 16 inches in diameter and goes on diminishing like a mast. '* Besides these pines I have seen here for the first time, since we left the " boats, the abies balsamea, or the fir-tree of the voyageurs, with its fine foliage, " dark green above, and silvery below. Here, however, it is not a common " tree, the mass of the forest being still composed of white spruce, white birch " and poplar together with the pines above mentioned. " (Pallisit's Expedition^ P- 75J " Here (upon Roseau Creek) I saw the pine having cones like the one " that I remarked at Carleton. It appeared to me to be very abundant upon " the heights, where thire are strips of light and gravelly soil." {Idem, p. 73.) *' The great valley lying between the Brazeau range, and the urincipal " range is very beautiful. The wood has been a good deal destroyed by fire, " but there remain still great stretches of it." {Idem, p. 113.) " We descended again to the river (North Saskatchewan, about lat. 52", 26') *' and fvjund the valley much wider, with great beds of alluvial soil. The trees " are \ery fine katchewan is a land of forests, in which there is an abundance of fine timber and in places where the land i ■ suffi^nently high and dry some kinds of hard wood '* In the Indiin reserve at Birch Portage, south of Fort Cumberland, the '* land has been pirtially cleared along th^ river. The soil is all t'lat could be " desired, very fertile, with a clay bottom covered with a rich sandy earth, " yellow and black Birch Portage itself crosses an excellent country. The •' northern side jxissts into a thick forest chiefly composed of balsam poplar, " of which some sp cimens measure at least two and a half feet in diameter. *' The white elm comes next, both in abundance and size. The white ash " (fraxinusviriais) is likewise abundant, and ^omtxTin^Ae^ ( iie,^iindo aceroides) " are also to be seen as well as aspens. The white spruce attains here large " dimensions."" {Gtoio^ical Siirrty of Canada, 1879-80, page 10 C.) *' We saw pines for the first time in coming from the Thunder Mountains to " Fort Pelly at Lake Assinibiine. The pine against which I rested when we sat " down to breakfi\st. measured 6 feet 3 inches in circumference. Fort Pelly " is the chief 1 lace in the district of Swan River, a region abundantly provided " with wood." {Palltser's Expedition, p. 59.) " The for-st in Swan River district has its importance, and on its eastern *• limit we begin to find ligneous woods of greater utility than those to the " west. Dauphin. Duck, Thunder, Porcupine, and Pasquin Mountains are *' well wooded. Between the A-siniboine and the Eauphin and other Moun- " tains there are fine lands lands so advantageously situated that the rivers " which flow from these heights can. in the spring, float do,/n wood in " abundance." {Skftch of the North West, by Monseigneur Tache p. 54.) " It is said that the region watered by the river La Biche (which has its " source a hundred miles to the east of the South Saskatchewan, runs along " the Pasquin' Mountains to the south, and empties into the north west extre- " mity of Lake Winnipegosis) is very fertile, and the fact that mnple is found " there in considerable quantities confirms the opinion that the climate is not " unfavounible. In all this region, wood is sufficiently abundant to assure a •* supply of fuel f r many years to come. "' {Report of the suri'ry of the country bettveen Lak^ Superior and the Saskatcheican, by S J. Dawson, )>. 5.) " The second division naturally comprehends the hilly region f )rming the " south west limit of the great alluvial plateau which has been described ; it " extends from the 49th parallel to the Saskatchewan, a distance of 360 miles* " in a north west direction, and may have a mean width of 40 miU s. ... In " all this region wood is sufficiently abundant to satisfy the wants of settlers " for generations to come. The high lands are generally covered with devse *' forests, and the valleys contain a nearly equal extent of f jr.st and prairie. " {Idem, p. 15.) Thes«. extracts, perha')stoo much multiplied, establish conclusively that the magnificent plains of the Saskatchewan are surrounded to the west, north and east by forest regions,which are capable of furnishing an abundance of wood for use and for building and that in fact these woods are no more rare, lor more difficult, nor more expensive to obtain on the plains of the Saskatchewan than in the valley of the Richelieu or e/en a good part of that of the St. Lawrence in the province of Quebec. Besides these great extents of continuous forests, there are on the prairies themselves a number of places where good building timber is found in — 29 — de'^se considerably quantities, notably on ihe top of nearly all the ranges of hills which break the levels of these great plains. This fact is establi>hed by the evidence of explorers. " We were in reality going alorg the Cypress Mountains. We were several " miles out of our course, and we encamped in a valley where there was a " considerable quantity of maple. The Cypress Mountains in truth make a " great contrast to the smooth level country in which we have been travelling ; •' they are covered with wood, of which a great part is fit for lumber, the soil " is rich and the supply of water plentiful. " {Palliser's Expedition, p. 141.) *' The Touchwood mountains are composed of gently undulating hills, elevated at least 400 feet, well wooded, however, and containing many lakes.'' {Palliser's Expedition, p. 59). " Clay soil prevails in the Little Touchwood mountains which are covered " with forests of poplar, which trees in several places are large and valuable •' for timber. " {Geological Sufi'ey of Canada, 1873-74, p. 82, Selwyn. " It was necessary to cross the Big and Little Touchwood mountains, both •' thickly wooded with poplar and birch. On the Little mountain the poplar " often exceeds two feet m d ameter, is very tall, round, and of good quality. . " There are, among these mountains, places very suitable for agricultural pur- " poses ; lands well drained for cereals, bottom lands for hay, wood for fuel, " fences, and even fit for lumber, in the clusters of poplars." {Report Dept. Int. 1880, p. 43.) " There is every where plenty of wood for fuel beyond Battleford. especially " upon and along the slopes of the coteau (Eagle Hills) which overlooks the " valley from the i-outhern side, as well as in some of the islands ; and in the " ravines there are large trees The wood consists principally of balsam popla' , " although there is some spruce." {Report Dept. Int. 1876. 1 art III, p. 26.) If to all this bt' added the fact that, nearky everywhere on the prairie, groves of poplars alternaie with the grassy spices, and that generally this poplar is fit for fuel and fi ncing, it maybe admitted that, after .11, the pains of the Saskatchewan, a e far from being absolutely badly endowed with respect to wood. For, in fact, one great advantage of a good partof ih^se plains, is their capability of cultivation without the previous labour of ( karing. This would not furnish a lumbtr dealer with business, but it is txr.ctly what the colon st seeks for. as ht goes on these lands to cultivate them, not to carry on the busi- ness of a lumberman. The evidence that has been given ;.bove shows that there is sufficient wood to supply the wants of settlers, and this is all that is neces- sary. Besides there is really no need for wood, but for fences and buildings, for coal for fuel can be got at a very reasonable jjrice from the inexhaustible beds found along the slope?; of the Reeky Moui tains. ; y 1 The recion through which the Athabasca passes is a forest reg'on, in which there is abundance of fine timber, < specially of white spruce which there attains to thirty inches in diameter. Here the difficulty for settlers would be not so much to obtain wood, as to get rid of the i;reat forests which clothe nearly all the valley of the river, from the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca. " We have now crossed the river three tiines, and aie encamped about the " mouth of the Malin River (at the foot of Miette Rock, thir y miles above " Jasper House.) We saw to-day much fine wood, and our march was greatly '* hindered by the trunks of hemlock or a species of spiuce fir, resembling *' hemlock, but with a different cone." {Pal/iscr's Expcd.tion, p. 128.) " The track leading to the camp of the free n.en (:o or 25 mile, north " west of Jasper House) passes through very fine large forests." Idem, p. 127.) — 30 — " The valley of the river is much larger (on arriving at the River Baptiste, " in going up again) and the trees are very fine." Idem, p. 124.) " On leaving the McLeod River this morning, we marched between east * and south acioss a forest much resembling that which we saw upon *' the portage leading to Fort Assinibome and composed of fine big trees, '* pines and birches." {Idem, p. 130.) " Behind the Fort (Assiniboine), the country is level, but covered with *' forests af very large trees. . . .Where we encamped (between Fort Assini- " boine and the McLeod river), there were very fine trees ; birch, 2 feet in " diameter ; fir {albies balsamed) 2 feet 6 inches ; and the poplar with the " thick bark {pepulus balsamifera) 4 to 5 feet in diameter." {Idem, p. 123.) " This afternoon, we crossed the river Pembina, which measures nearly " 80 yards in width. The valley is wide, and there are on its borders some *' fine stretches of open land. The timber in all this region that we have *' crossed, is much finer than in the neighbourhood of Edmonton." (/me. years. I size, and uce, have he Clear- ; they are y itself in inches in ge clumps for which ong. On ;ood deal generally more free I to coni- 5 through his point ! Lake." thabasca normous eter and plain of In going — 31 — " On the Quatre Fourches (the branch of the Peace River emptying into ** Lake Athabasca) there is some very fine spruce, with groves of poplar and " a few pitch pine mixed through it. On the Peace, up to Vermillion River, " (a distance of 200 miles,) there is a great deal of first class spruce, much of " it being the best I have seen in the country. The sandy and gravelly " ridges here, as elsewhere, are covered with pine. There is also much poplar "and cotton wood, but it is generally small; mixed with it is a liitle white " birch. Above Vermillion River, as the banks get higher, the timber becomes " thinner and smaller, until, near Battle River, many of the hill sides ae bare, *' or covered only with scrub. Wherever a flat or a moderate slope occurs, " the wood is generally of fair size ; I conclude therefcjre it is the same on " the prairies back from the steep banks." {Report Dept. Int. 1884, p. 52.) We saw when speaking of the forests of the mountain region that there were supei b forests in the valley of the Parsnip river. The other tributaries of this river, coming from the mountains, also cross timbered lands where there is plenty of fine spruce. " Leaving the "Prec pice" not far from the Lake Azouzetia, which is the " source of South Spruce River, the valley is thick'y wooded and comprises " areas of large and beautiful tees. " From the mouth of the Misinchinca as far as a point on Spruce river, " situated seven miles to the north east of the most elevated part of the range *' of mountains (a distance of thirty miles), the humidity of the climate is proved " by the vegetation and other things : the forest fires have not been numerous " and have not affected great extents. The valleys are filled with thick and " sombre groves of spruce and the trees attain large dimensions, " (Geological Survey of Canada^ 1879-80, p. 38B). •* From the "Precipice" as far as lat. 50O25', long. 122032' east of the " Rocky Mountains, the descent is nearly uniform and the river flows over a " bed of fine gravel. The valley is thickly wooded with spruce and poplar " of good quality. " (Surrey C. P. R., 1878, p, 77.) There is likewise good timber iri the valley of Smoky River, about midway between the mountain forests and those in the neighbourhood of the lower Athabasca. " We crossed to the south of Elk river between that stream and Smoky " river Along this line, the country is generally scantily timbered with " poplars and conifers, although there are thick belts of spruce in which the " trees are some times very large. Between Smoky River and Sturgeon " Lake. ... the country may be described as being generally covered with *• dense forests, for the most part of second growth, composed of aspen, " birch, cypress, spruce and poplar and generally of moderate dimensions. ** Hi»wever, considerable tracts arc still covered with the primitive forests of " big spruces and poplars. " ( Geological Survey of Canada, 1879-80, p. 55 B.) As is seen, the superb plain of the Peace River possesses wood in abun- dance ; besides what may be brought from the mountain region by the Parsnip and Spruce rivers, there are m the midst of the plain itself the forests of Smoky river, forests which are in the vicinity of an extent of nearly 500,000 acres of superb prairie. Lastly, there are in the lower portion, immense forests which border the Great Slave river and the lower course of the Aiha- basca, and which, can furnish spruce, for trade products superior to those which we draw from our forests of the eastern provinces, wh;re logs of thirty inches m diameter are not common. The forests of Athabasca present unco nmon advantages. Glancing at the ,>» — 32 ~ • map, it is er.sy to see that at two or three places, especially between Athabasca- Landing and the curve made by the Saskatchewan near the point of intersection of 113" of longitude by 54" of latitude, the distance between the two rivers is at the most only from fifty to sixty miles. The land does not ofter the least dfticulty in the way of the construction of a railway by which timber could be easily transported from one place to the other, that is to say, from the Athabasca to the Saskatchewan. Once placed on the Saskatchewan, the wood could be brought down with the greatest facility as far ss the Forks, then taken up the South branch into the region of the Elbow or even higher, into any loca- lity where lumber is needed. When one thinks that the construction of this little bit of railway would put the Saskatchewan in direct communication with the fine forests traversed by the Athabasca in the first seven or eight hundred miles of its course, that is to say, with forests as extensive as those of the Ottawa valley, it must be admitted that the question of timber for building ought not to be an obstacle in the way of the colonisation of the rich lands of the Saskatchewan, even did this last region not possess any of the fine forests whose existence and extent we have established. CHAPTER III. .llfl^fiUALOUICAI^ SKETCH The mineral riches of the four provisional districts of the North West are comparatively little known, for the good reason that no special surveys have been made to establish their existence or extent ; but the minerals already found in these territories have an incontestable importance. Besides building materials, whet stones and mill stones, there are in these regions salt mines, and gypsum, petroleum in abundance, silver and gold, iron oi iS and above all inexhaustible beds of coal and lignite. Materials fok building. — Along the rivers Saskatchewan, Battle and La Biche, as also on the banks of the Athabaska and Peace Rivers, there are in a number of places, sand stones which furnish an excellent building stone ; • beds of it even, in which are found a stone as beautiful, as rich and as easy to work, as that which we import at s • great an expense from Ohio. The quarrying of this stone offers no difficulties, since where the stone crops out on the b.;nks, it presents sections al! ready fc r cutting. In the f ct hills especially in the Bow River region, sa ,d stone of excellent quality for building stone is found in abundance, and further on, am ng the mountain^, thcr are in inexhaustible quantities, lime stone and other p.iloeazoic rocks which would furnish an infinite suppy of excellent building materials The lime stone groups of the Rocky Mountains, will necessarily be the source for the supply o lime to all the cotintiy. The position of these lime stones is most favourable for eas\' working, at the point where the Pacific Railway enters the mountains a.i.l cs;xcially at several localities along the line between Kananankis and a '] oint eight miles distant from that stttion. Wood is jjlentiful in that neighbourhood any enables lime to be manufactured at little expense, and it can be lasily ~ 33 — shipped by the railway or even by the South Saskatchewan t the plain of the east, as well as sand stone, lime stone and other building si ynes. There are likewise in this Bow river region flinty clays, arid in certain localities deposits of alluvion giving good materials for the making of common brick ; and in the clay lands, there are in great abundance, soft slates and very fine sedimentary matters, suitable for brick of superior quality. Some of these clays are fire proof ; and many of them suited to the manufacture of common pottery, tiles, and draining tiles. There are also in abundance limestone and slaty concretions, as well as beds of nodules of the same kind, of which a good hydraulic cement can be made. The Devonian limestones in several places along the Athabaska, yield also good lime, and at the rapids of the Clearwater river can be got any quantity desired of lime stone for this purpose of a superior quality and several of the beds would also furnish excellent building stone. In the vicinity of Hudson's Hope upon Peace rver, and in several other places along that river, the water which oozes out of the siedimentary matters, has deposed great masses of calcareous tufa, which has become so solidified and compact as to form a pure crystalline lime stone which would make good lime. There is also on Peace River, at the Falls, and at Fossil Point, blue limestone which would make lime as well as good building stone. And, again, in nearly all parts of the plains, good earth for brick is found, especially in the vicinity of Battleford, where a brick yard has been for several years in operation. Whet stones — The b ack schists in the vicinity of Hudson's Hope contain strata of sand stone which would furnish good whet stones. At the fort, they use for this purpose ston.s brought five or six miles from this locality which give the greatest satisfaction. These stones are likewise found in the Athabasca region especially near Pembina river, where they form immense beds. They are also found along Clearwater river a little distance from its mouth, where the employes of the Hudson Bay Company procure the stones of which they have need, and which are very good. In the La Biche Mountains, on the North West side, the fa'ling of the rubbish has raised mounds a hundred and fifty feel high. There have been found here cropping out of a rock stones which would make excellent whet stones. On its north side, the bank of Little Slave Lake is covered with blocks and pebbles of a particular sand stone which would make excellent mill stones, and Professor Macoun says that all these blocks could be converted i ito good, whet stones. PLAsri'R. — The Boiling Rapid is found about a hundred miles from the mouth of the Peace rivcr. Leaving the head of this rapid, and descending for a distance of twenty miles, the layers of blueish lime stone which crop out on both sides of the river are stratified by a band of plaster whose thickness varies 'roin ten to fifteen feet. This plaster is pure, clear, fine and white as snow. Its extraction would not offer the least difficulty, since the bed which holds the plaster, crops out on the banks of the river and is only covered by a soft 1 ock, which could be easily removed and the plaster uncovered. This rock, besides, would also have its uses, since it would furnish stone for lime and for building. As to the plaster, the f ict that it forms a layer of from ten to fifteen feet thick, and that Professor Macoun has traced it over a course of twenty miles, shows clearly that it is to be founJ in inexhaustible quan- tities, and can be made the object of a considerable industry. The usefulness of this mineral in agriculture and in building, is too well known for it to be necessary to insist upon the importance of so extensive a deposit. Let it suffice to say that if this bed of plaster be supposed to have a width of a mile '■ ' 3 ■ •- ■ V. . ■ ,, , .. , — 34 — on each side of the river and a mean thickness of seventeen and a half feet, it would contain more than 264,000,000 cubic yards. The farmers of the North * West have here an inexhaustible provision of this precious mineral to renew • the soil and augment its yield. Marl. — This mineral, as precious for agriculture as that which has just been mentioned, is found in abundance in the Athabasca regiDn as well as in several parts of the other provisional districts of the North West. The bed of Lake La Eiche, near the point where it discharges, is covered with a marl in sweet white water, and it is reported that this substance is found in the other lakes of this region. The strata of Devonian Limestones which are found near the forks of the Athabaska supply also a blue greenish marl which is employed to whiten the interior of houses and which is much appieciated. Salt. — The tract of Paloeazoic lands which bounds at the north the plains of the Saskatchewan, Athabasca and Peace Rivers, contains formations charac- terised like the formations of the same age in Ontario, by deposits of salt and petroleum of great value. According to Dr. Selwyn, the DirectO"- of the Geological Survey, there is little doubt that Canada posseses here a region full of mines of salt,and petroleum, whose extent and capacity of production exceed all that has yet been found in America, (i) The princii 111 salt mines of this region are found on the banks of Salt river, one of the afiiucuts of the Great Slave river which passes through the north west part of the district of Athabasca. Along this rtver and a little distance from its mouth, the existence has long bem known of seven or eight abun- dant .salt springs which spring out of a long ridge seven hundred feet high, and spread their brine over a clay plain, where the evaporation procuced by the heat of summer and still more by the winter's cold, accumulates immense deposits of salt of the first quality. Sir Alexander Mackenzie speaks of it in the narrative of his voyage of discovery. " One finds salt, he says, " in the region lying north west of the Peace river, in a great number of salt " marshes and springs which could furnish fine well crystalised sail in illimit- " able quantity, of perfect whiteness and pureness. " (2) It is there that the Hudson Bay company procures all the salt which it wants for its posts at Peace river and Athabaska. It sends thither a boat eveiy autumn, and itspeopie have only to take the salt with the shovel and put it in the sacks. Some of the men employed in this task reported to Professor Macoun that the thickness u^, well as the extent of these beds of salt is illimitable, and that there are immense deposits a little below the surface of the soil. (3) There are other mines as rich, midway between the Great Slave Lake and Cireat Bear Lake. Mr. Moberley, Hudson Bay Company factor, informed Professor Macoun that fifteen miles from the mouth of the Clearwater, one of the affluents of the x'\thabasca river, there is a spring of which the brine is very strong, and Mr. King had informed him of the existence of similar springs which had been found on th^ bank^ of the Athabasca, fifteen miles down the stream from its confluence with the Clearwater. And Sir John Richardson stales that there are in the Pasquil Mountains, south of Fort Cumberland, and in the lower valley of the Saskat chewan, salt springs which made him class these lands in the salirerous Onondaga group. Petroleum. — Mackenzie, Richardson, Father Petitot and all other explo- (1) Geological Shrcc}/ of Canada J87.i-74, p. 21. (2) Voj/ugea from Moitreal to the Frozen & Facijlo' Oceant, p. XC» (8) Oeoloyical Stiney of Cana'la, 1875-76, p. 90. . " — 35 — half feet, it f the North il to renew ch has just i well as in The bed vith a marl •und in the i which are marl which ppi eciated. le plains of Dns charac- 3sits of salt icto' of the re a region production ■ Salt river, the north le distance iight abun- feet high, I pro( uced xumulates izie speaks ;, he says, iber of salt L in illimit- re that the ts at Peace eupie have of the men less a-, well immense r mines as Moberley, teen miles )as(:a river, i informed th-; bank^ ;e with the he l*asquil ;he Suskat sali-erous ther explo- rers have affirmed the existence of petroleum in the Athabasca and Mackenzie regions. Father Petitot visited mines of bitumen found at the outlet of Clreat Bear Lake, where they occupy more than a square league, and Mackenzie relates, that twenty four miles from the con- fluence of La Biche river, there are wells of bitumen in which poles twenty feet long, could be sunk without experiencing the least resistance. These imperfect data regarding the petroleum wells of Athabasca, have been veri- fied by the explorations of Dr. Bell, of the (Jeological Survey of Canada, who has established the existence of this mineral from the Noy6 rapids to a point twenty miles from I^ke Athabasca, that is to say, over a distance of from 130 to 140 miles. The bed of fine sandstone through which the petroleum oozes, is covered with deposits of marl and other transposed matters whose thickness sometimes reaches two hundred feet. In several places the petroleum of the under lying sandstone, has accumulated in the upper layer so as to form deep wells, or it runs scross these layers and often reaches the shores of the Athabasca, upon which it forms immense beds of asphalt and thick bitumen. Below we cite the description given by the learned explorer, of these deposits of petroleum, asphalt and plastic bitu- men, (i) " At the Noye rapids, a black petroleum-bearing sind stone of fine grain " is met with for the first time, and becomes al)undant and prominent nfter- " wards as far as to a very short distance from Lake Athabasca. It underlies all " the strata before described, and lower down the river is stated to be two " hundred feet deep. The dark bed of the rapid Noye appears to represent " the highest of these petroleum bearing layers which lower down take so " great a development. The under-lying marls, which probably prevent the " petroleum from rising higher into these rocks, contain also a little oil and " have its characteristic smell. " The marly fine grained sand b'ackened by the petroleum from the Noy6 " rapid, has a strong cleavage .... At a temperature of 600 Fahr. the mass is " plastic enough to bend considerably before breaking. When cut withaknife, " the chips roll up like those of hard soap. When kneaded in the hand, ij " softens and can be moulded like cement and is breakable. In a wood fire, this •' dough >-oon takes fire and burns for some time with a smoky flame, then " falls in a powder which floats, when sprinkled on cold water. If a hot piece " is put into water, it does not separate from the oil, but strongly resists the " .ater. Along the right bank of the Fas-de-Bout rapid, the petroleum-bearing " sand-stone forms a steep bank forty feet high. In some places there appears " to be an excess of asphalt, and the bank has grown soft under the rays of " the sun, and has run down, forming below great beds of tar. " All the 120 feet of sandy btds w'lich repose on ihe lime stone upon the *• bank going u[) from the Crooked Rapid are more or less impregnated with " petroleum. " Upon the left bank of the river, nearly midway between Biche Island and " the Crooked Rapid, the sandy petroleum-bearing marls form a bank nearly " 200 feet high. " The river, at the Cascades Rapid, descends over two or three banks or " ledges of limestone. Ujjon it there are 80 or 90 feet of petroleum-bearing (1) See Geological Survey of Canada, 1882-3-4 p. IP. r, r. nntl heq. — 36 — 1ii! •* marls. In one place, a stream of sandy pitch has run down the limestone on " to the beach. Three miles higher up than the Cascades on the left •* side there are 80 feet of petroleum bearing layers. . . . the 40 lower feet are *' black, homogeneous and solid. This part is evidently saturated with thick *• petroleum. The tar comes out of it in many places, under the heat of the * sun and at one place it forms a little stream. " On the right bank of the river, at the Mountain Rapids, a fine sand, •• full of tar, forms a band 80 or 90 feet high. The sandy pitch melts in the •* sun, and runs in great viscous masses along the side of the bank and even •* on to the limestone at the bottom. Tar and pitch are to be seen running "down from the banks at diflertnt places between this rapid and Fort •* McMurray. For nearly a mile down the river from the Mountain Rapids the •* petroleum-btaring beds more than 100 feet deep, dip in going up the river. " On the right bank, oi)posite the mouth of the little river Peche, three miles ** above Fort McMurray, nearly 70 feet of petroleum-bearing sand are exposed. " The sandy petroleum-bearing beds that are seen so well on the east bank, ** over the 53 first miles below the Forks, are only found at intervals along *' the left bank of the river. They have been noted at the following measured ** distances in a straight line after leaving Fort McMurray, viz : 18, 42 * (Tar River), 49, 51, 74 and 87 miles (on both banks.) Nearly everywhere •* along the black cliffs of the east bank, the asphaltic sand has melted under **the rays of the sun, and run down to the foot of the bank in viscous masses, •* which appear to contain a greater proportion of petroleum than the undis- " turbed beds. At a temperature of nearly 60" Fahr , the sandy pitch of these *' droppings has the consistency of hard cheese. In some places, however, it ** is much clearer and even forms little pools of oil, and of tar proceeding " from this pitch. " During the summer heat, the tar or the li(]uid pitch, free from every " mixture of !;and, oozes from the banks into the | laces where the black bods ** appear to be completely saturated with thick [)ctroleum. This pitch accu- ** mulates among the vegetnhle matters in the low places, and can be gathered * up in large quantities. It is possible that the tar also could be forced up in "some places by a pressure exercised from below upwards. It is transported *' in barrels to the Hud.son Bay Company's pots and to the mission stations, '• and after having been sufficiently boiled so that it will harden when cold, ** is used to pitch the boats, roofs, (S:c. For these puii)oses, the tar near the ^ bank of the river i , collected at the places situated at the following dist;inces, " in a straight line, from Fort McMurray, all upon the right bank : 19, 33, •* 36, 40 and 51 miles. Monseigneur Farand, from Lake La Biche, tells me •* that he has seen a great ({uantity of this tar, is an island of the river, •* about sixty miles below I'ort McMurray. At the first of these localities, 19 " miles below, the tar is found 640 paces back of the river's bank, upon a •♦ piece of ground elevated 50 or 100 feet above the water, at little dis- ** tance from the foot of a second escarpment nearly 15 feet high. The " surface of the ground is formed of hardened pitch, covered again with * moss, &c., and more or less m ngled with vegetable matter or fine " sand. Sixteen little orifices were made in this crust, and from the most " of them, tar was extracted by means of wooden spoons. The locality " mentioned as 40 miles down the river, is hardly a mile above the mouth of ** Elk Kivir. Here the tar oozes out at the same time as springs of clear " water at 20 or 30 varus from a bulk of petroleum-bearing sand 30 or 40 " "eet high. 'iMie water and the tar are equally covered with a crust of hard '% '"# nestone on m the left :er feet are with thick heat of the fine sand, lelts in the and even en running and Fort Rapids the ) the river, three miles re exposed. ; east bank, rvals along ; measured z : i8, 42 everywhere ilted under )us masses, the undis- ch of these however, it [)roceeding from every black beds [)itch accu- >e gathered irced up in ransported 5n stations, ^vhen cold, r ncir the distil nces, ^: 19.33, e, tells me the river, ■alities, 19 ik, upon a little dis- ligh. The [gain with ;r or line 1 the most ie loaxlity • mouth of ;s of clear 30 or 40 >t of hard — 37 — ' pitch mixed with moss and other vegetable matters but still plastic enough " to yield to the pressure of the foot. Holes are dug through this crust, the " fresh tar collected with wooden ladles, and put into barrels for transport. " There is found here a kind of thick tar in the holes under the clear watei; " while a clearer variety floats on the surface of the water under the hardened " crust. " All along the banks of the Athabasca, from the Forks to the mouth may " be seen patches of oily foam shining and spots of petroleum floating on " the water near the shores, and they sometimes collect in masses when they " are stopped by branches or trunks of trees lying across the current. " Some traces of oil were found in a bed of limestone on the Clearwater "river.... On our return, we followed the road which passes Cleai water " river and Isle a la Crosse. In going again up the river, the plateau of petro- " leum-bearing strata which came out on the eastern bank of the Athabisca " below the Forks, appeared to be prolonged for some miles up the river on " the north side. Great masses of sandy pitch, like that falling down the steep " banks of the Athabaska have been found in the bed of the Clearwater river, 'at II, 13 and 17 miles above the Forks. We saw also small quantities etency, clearly e.sta- blish that the petroleum mines of the .\thabasca river and of its tributary, the Clearwater, are of a richness which perhaps exceeds that of similar mines in the province of Ontario and several parts of the United States. When it is remembered that this petroleum-bearing ret,ion, such as Dr. Bell has explored and described, is more than a hundred and twjnty fivj miles lon<; from south to north, and that in the valley of Clea' water rivjr it exten;j$ towards the east at least seventeen miles, it is easy to judge of the source of wealth which we there have and of the development of which these petro- leum springs are susceptible. Besides the liquid oil, which may be extracted as in other places by means of artesian wells, the quantities accumulated in the tellurian beds on the surface are also susceptible of being utilised for many purposes. In the natural state, this paste of sand and oil makes an excellent fuel, which burns easily and offers no other inconvenience than making a rather smoky flame. Dr. Bell says that this asphaltic sand could also be utilised with little or no manipulation, for paving streets, or roofs, for manufacture of 1 ■•:: « '' — 38 — draining tiles as well as for the isolating of electric wires. From it can also be extracted a lubricating oil of superior quality. Mr. Hoffman, of the Geological Survey, Mr. Isaac Waterman, the celebrated refiner of London, Ontario, and Lieut. Cochrane, professor of applied science in the military college at Kingston, have found that this sand contains from 12 to 15 per cent of bitumen. Small as this percentage, may appear, the sand exists in such great quantities that a profitable method of extracting the oil and paraffine it contains, might be found. Aa this bituminous paste burns easily and is most easy to extract, a part of it could be employed as fuel to extract the oil from the other part, seeing it may be said that, there is no limit to the quantity which can be procured. Mr. Waterman declared to Dr. Bell that in the specimen of bitumen submitted to him, the proportion of parafifine was con- siderable, and could advantageously be extracted from deposits such as have debciibed. Gold and silver — For many year it has been reported that the Peace River and the two Saskatchewans, as well as their tributaries flowing from the mountains, contain in the alluvial earths which form their bed.s, gold in more or less considerable abundance. Dr Selwyn states that gold in paying quantities has been collected in several places along Parsnip and Peace rivers, and that Daniel Williams who has been in this region for a dozen years back, has lived in a great measure by collecting gold from the bed of these rivers. The people in the locality reported to Professor Macoun that gold had been found in the bed of the Iroquois creek, one of the smaller tributaries of Peace river, as well as in the Buffalo mountains, which lie south west from Fort Vermilion. It was also said that silver had been found in those mountains. Gold seems to be more abundant in the Saskatchewan, especially in the north branch. " The first gold bearing alluvials that we .saw in descending the river, says Dr Selwyn, {Ge(tlogical Survey, 1873-74, p. 58), were found a little more than forty miles down from the mouth of the Brazeau, and thence to Edmonton, and some miles lower down, more or less gold has been found on the b .rs which cross that river as well as on the banks. Even as low down as Carlton, I believe that gold may be found, but not in sufficient quantity to make prospecting pay. On the South Saskatchewan, at the ford twenty miles south tast of Carlton, I garlicred in the 'gravel of the river bed some grains of gold." Mr. Ells, of the Geological Survey, reports that, during his stay at Edmonton, in 1876, the miners [prepared to go exploring along the La Biche river, whjre the prospecting for go d Si.'emed more attractive than elsewhere. ' Thus, says Dr .Selwyn, the fad is well known that gold has not been found in the streams '"hich form the sources of the Saskatchewan in the Rocky Moun- tains, nor in the neighbourhood of these mountains on the east side ; but it has been found in this river and its* tributaries from the north, from the vicinity of the Rocky Mountain House a-, lar as the Forks. I have been informed by .several miners, who have sjient much time in prospecting, that they found fine gold in nearly every stream where they tried diggings, between the two branches of the Saskatchewan, from the longitude of Edmonton to the Forks. We ourselves found little particles of gold at the Elbow of the South Saskatchewan and at Red Ochre Hill. However, gold appears to be the most abundant in the vicinity of Edmonton." Dr. Dawson, another member of the Geological Survey, states that in the Bow River region, there is found in certain streams, gold in sufficient quantities to maki; it profitable to collect it, in all places where there are deposit* I i )m it can also Fman, of the of London, the military 12 to 15 per sand exists in the oil and burns easily uel to extract limit to the . Bell that in ffine was con- such as have lat the Peace nng from the gold in more ted in several ms who has t measure by ality reported the Iroquois the Buffalo also said that icia'ly in the ; scending the found a little and thence s been found as low down It quantity to ford twenty ;r bed some iring his stay the La Biche n elsewhere, een found in locky Moun- side ; but it ith, from the 1 have been peeling, that ed diggings, longitude of f gold at the )wever, gold i that in the [It quantities re deposit* — 39 — from rocks belonging to the Laurentian and Huronian formations. And Mr. Hoffman has made an analysis of certain minerals brought from the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains which have given 2246 ounces of silver to the ton of; rough ore. Let us complete these references by quoting what is said in the report of the Minister of the Interior concerning the existence of the precious metals in the Rocky Mountains. " 'f he eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains promises to be nearly, if not , " quite as rich as the western slope, -in the deposits of the precious metals which " it contains. " (Report for 1882, p. XL) " The prospects of successful mining for the precious metals on the eastern " scopes of the Rocky Mountains are exceedingly encouraging. A large " number of practical miners, drawn from various parts of the world, expended " a good deal of time and capital iti prospecting at different points in the " course of the past summer. Some discoveries of rich ores are said to have " been made, and there is every reason to anticipate that there will be an " extensive movement of population towards the mining regions. On the " upper part of the North Saskatchewan and its tributary streams flowing from " the mountains, there has yet been no discovery reported of quartz or other '' gold bearing rocks in place ; but this section of country is rich in promise *' of remunerative employment for the class of miners who, with primitive *' appliances and inexpensive outfit make the development of alluvial and *' subaqueous deposits their business. " (Idem 1883, p. XV.) " The yield of gold in some localities, although not sufficient to remunerate *' individual labour, may prove profitable when conducted by companies " with proper appliances for hydraulic placer mining. " {Idem., for 1884, " p. XIV.) Bog Iron Ores.— These ores abound in many parts of the four provi- sional districts. The most considerable and mo'-t valuable deposits yet disco- vered, are those of Spruce River, Smoky River, Edmonton and the Great Belly River. The coal beds of the Spruce river contain in many places bog iron ore in abundance, in the form of foliated no Jules. In the valley of the Smoky river, are found beds of pure bog iron ore from three to four feet thick alternating with a ferruginous sand stone occupying an extent of several miles, and still preserving its thickness with much regularity. This ore gave on analysis 30.98 par cent of metallic iron ;md 15.94 per cent of inso- luble matter. This ore is found in smaller quantities in the section lying bet- ween Peace river and the Athabasca. The Edmonton ore gave 34.98 per cent of metallic ir.n ; Mr. Hoffman the analyst of the (Geological Survey, says that it is a rich and valuable ore, composed of carbonates with an exterior layer of hematite. In the Bow River valley not far from (Irass Island, 1)"' Dawson found great masses of carbonate of iron weighing sometimes several tons, contained in veins of sandstone, and so numerous thit they might have an industrial value and be made the object of a considerable business. Coal. — The zone of coal fields which borders the Rocky Mountains be- tween the United States frontier and Peace River, measures nearly 450 miles in length, and has a mean width of nearly 125 miles, making an area exceed- ing 55,000 s(]uare miles. The surveys so far made establish, that throughout all this vast extent, there are lignite and coal in abundance, and that in many places the mining of this combustible could not be more easy or less expen- sive. To assist in an appreciation of the deposits found in various places, we — 40 — 'itv' i. ! will pass in review those of each locality, or rather of each coal region in par- ticular. In 1876, Dr Selwyn discovered in a pass in the Mountains on Peace River about Longitude 1220 10', a bed of coal six feet thick, and three years later Mr. Cambie, one of the engineers charged with the survey for the Pacific Railway, found, in nearly the same place, another bed two feet thick. The coal discovered by Dr Selwyn gave on analysis the following results. Sloiv Burning Rapid Burning Water 2 10 2.10 Volatile combustible matter 21.M 25.09 Fixed carbon 71.63 68.0« Ashes 4.73 4.73 100.00 100.00 Mr. Hoffman, who made the analys's of this coal, says that when quickly burned, it gave a beautiful coke, and that it might be considered in every respect a fuel of excellent quality. Let us remark here that this coal is found at the head of the Peace River navigation, and that it can be easily transported by water into all places east of it, for a distance of 5 or 600 miles. The Spruce River, which falls into the Peace River some miles below Fort St. John, also runs through lands abounding in coal. In speaking of the surveys made in 1876 in the vicinity of Table Mountain, Dr. Selwyn says : " I employed the remainder of the day in exploring a deep rocky gorge, " through which a little stream empties itself into the Spruce River. I disco- " vered here four seams of good bright coal, in about ninety feet of alternate " layers of sandstone and schist ; following a descending order these beds " are respectively six inches, eight inches, two feet and six inches thick. " In the lower part of Coal Creek which falls into the east branch of Spruce River there are large exposures of sandstone of an inferior grade, (i) In 1877, Mr. Hunter found coal in this sandstone. He sent me some specimens which he had gathered there, and I have myself since examined thi> localitty. (2) The coal forms beds and appears to be of good quality, but as far as I have been able to discover, all th(se brds are very thin, the thickest measur- ing about six inches. There is also coal on the east branch of the Spruce River, going up from the mouth of Coal Creek, and there is every reason to hope that there will be found in this region, beds of coal fit for workinc;. Smoky River another affluent of Peace River entering below Fort Dunvegan about 250 miles from the Rocky Mountains, flows also through coal beds of real importance. In Mountain creek, (one of the tributaries of Smoky River) great fragments of lignite which evidently had come from no great dis- tance covered the bars found in the river. Some very thin beds were observed in the banks, but the scattered bits must have been taken from thicker beds which mav crop out lower down in the water, and be concealed by the bank. Similar pieces of lignite were found along Elk river above the mouth of Mountain creek, which shows that there should be also beds of coal along the upper course of Elk river. (3) The learned explorer cited above suins up thus the nature of the coal regions of Peace River. " In the Peace River region, says he, the two horizons characterised by K (C U (( <( (( II (1) {geological Survey qf Canada, 1870-80. p. 117-18. Dawson.) (2) The banks of thf river are covered with bits of coal, several thin beds of which appear on the face of the exposure. (J. Hunter. Report on Pacific Railway surveys 1878, p. 79.) (3) {Geological survey, 1879-80, pages 124 and 126 B— Dawson.) — 41 — " sandstone contain coal. That constitutes in iiself a point of considerable " importance, and demonstrates that the carboniferous nature cf the rocks is * not limited to a single series of beds, but is found again in two strata. " It would appear then that if, in the region situated between the Peace " and Athabasca rivers, there have not yet been found beds of coal sufficiently *' thick to have an industrial valie, still roal ai d lignite of good quality are " nevertheless found in two distinct series of beds. Everywhere that the " natural sections of these layers are iret with in the valleys of the rivers and " in the running streams, coal in more or less great quantity is found, which *' sufficiently proves the persistence of the carboniferous nature of these beds. " The existence of coal in the valley of the Athabasca and its principal " affluents was long ago stated by Dr Hector, the learned geologist of Captain " Palliser's expedition ; and the researches of the Geological Survey of Canada •' have demonstrated that in this region coal abounds, and have shown that " in many places the beds are sufficiently thick to be worked with profit. " The presence of coal has often been remarked in the banks (of the " Athabasca,) over a distance of nearly ."-ixty two miles going up from Fort " Assiniboine and several miles going down fiom that place. The ex| osure, " containing coal, that we saw still farther on in going uj) the river, exhibits " near the bank of the stream, the following sections in a descending order : Feet. Inches. Sandstone and schist — — Schistous lignite coal S Sandstone and soft schist 4 Gooil coal 1 8 " About eight miles lower down, at Lat. 54° 11' 40", Long. 115° 56' was " found the mo-t important deposit of coal seen along the Athabasca. Here ** there were two beds of coal. They appeared near the water's edge, in a " heap of rubbish which hnd fallen from the principal bank. The upper bed " is ten feet thick, not including nearly six th n layer- of schist which separate " the coal and form a collective thicknc s of a dozen inches. Below this bed, " there arc twei ty feet of sandstone and soft and earthy schists, below which " again is found a second bed of pure hard coal, about three feet thick. The " coal of the upper layer contains, according to the analysis of Mr. Hoffman, " 11.47 per pent of water, and that of the lower, 10.58 per cent. " Lower down, along the river, the existence of two beds of lignite occupying " the same horizon, has been also ascertained, which shows the persistence of ** the carboniftrous nature of these lands although the only beds suitable for " working may be those mentioned above. " " We did not see farther down the river than fifteen miles from Fort Assini- " boine, exposures of the rocks underlying the transposed matter, although " there were oi)st.rved in se\eral places btlow the mouth of the Little Slave " River, heaps (^f overturned schists and iron carbonate whic h might indicate " that rocks similar to those above described will be found in the higher parts " of the valley. Mr. McConncll found at a point north of Little Slave Lake, " an exposure of sandstone ; and some fragments of lignite were found in the *' bed of a large stream of water which came from near the east extremity of " the lake. According to Mr. Horetzky, there is also impure lignite and sand- " stone on Swan river and in the La Biche Mountains south of Little Slave " Lake." (1) (1) Geological Survey of Canada, 1870-80, p. 126 and 127— Dawson. — 42 - i " On the North Saskatchewan, Dr Hector found deposits of coal from Rocky Mountain House as far as several miles below Edmonton, or over a distance of a hundroil and sixty five miles. He says that the two beds he examined on the banks of Clearwater river contained a lignite, superior as a fuel, to that in the vicinity of Edmonton. At Rocky Mountain House, he found on the bank of the Saskatchewan and followed along the river, for more than two miles, a bed of coal two feet thick, from which was easily dug the fuel required for the supply of the fort. The coal was shiny, with a clean cubic fracttire, and had no tendency to decompose. A little below the mouth of the While Earth River, in about 113" 40' of long tudc, upon the banks of the Saskatchewan, Dr Hector found another bed of vei , iiv" 1 cv f the current at its base, could not be easily examined, the bed is ne ' k^v-cl and forms, as it risesabove the water a cliff very nearly vertical, *' ex!i > ii^f i.ighteen feet of coal, apparently of excellent quality. In this place "the i ) jttoni of the bed was below the water and could not be examined. " Th see nd exposure, which is evidently a continuation of the same bed, *' ha^ tie i'mw of an arch, and allows eighteen feet of coal to be seen, with *' sep I all j!is o( one, two, and three inches of schist. At intervals, over all (I) Ofol'jijir.al Survey of Canada, 1879-80, p. 127-127— Dawson. ^ rom Rocky r a distance xamined on as a fuel, Je found on more than iug the fuel clean cubic 113" 40' of mother bed over a dis- nd Edmon- river. The which have e gives the ite. There ppear to be le exclusion ne that the le exposure, le opposite md another s structure, his investi- n furnished earches, he 1 't wanting is the exis- )cky Moun- e of being i than four favourably ansiderable right bank Brazeau, I 5 to 20 feet js distant a ire, which 3unt of the the bed is ly vertical, 1 this place examined, same bed, seen, with Is, over all — 43 — *' the distance from Rocky Mountain House to Edmonton, 135 miles, and " from there, as far as Victoria 76 miles lower, we remarked along the river, " similar rocks with beds of coal and carboniferous iron." There is also coal in the valley of the river Brazeau, as is established by the following fact reported by Mr. Ells, of the (ieological Survey : " Mr, Brown he says, " the guide of th party of Pacific Railway surveyors, under the con- * duct of Mr. McLeod, dclared to me, that in the course of the survey made " by him of the river Bnzeau, a hundred miles to the west, he saw in the "cutting of a ledge of sandstone three beds of coal superimposed and of a " thickness varying from fourteen to twenty six feet." Mr. Ells also discovered a little above Victoria a bed of coal two feet and a half thick. There is ground for bclijving that the bed of twenty feet discovered by Dr. Selwyn forty miles from the mouth of the river Brazeau, is only the continuation towards the east of the bed of twenty feet found on the same river, a hundred miles from its mo^.th, by Mr. Brown, which would give to this bed a develop- ment of 140 miles, at least, from west to east. As it appears to be fifty or sixty yards wide, it is easy to form for ones self an idea of the quantity, so to speak illimitable, of the fuel which it contains. The analysis of three specimens of this coal gave the following mean results : Slow Quick combuHtioii, combuRtion. Water 11,88 ll.>>8 Volatile combustible matter 29.43 35.64 Flxedcarbon 5{.50 47.40 Ashes 11,90 5.0S 100.00 100.00 After having studied and even explored a large part of the carboniferous lands of t'.ie North Saskatchewan, Dr Selwyn has arrived at the following con- clusions : " There can be no doubt that in the region situated to the west of " Edmonton, bounded north by the Athabasca River and south by LaBiche " River, there is a vast extent of carboniferous lands occupying ? area of at " least 25,000 square miles , and that, under a g^eat i)art C" .iie surface of '* this area, we may exiject to find beds of coal capable of being worked at " depths rarely exceeding 300 feet, and often, as in the case of the great bed " above described (that found forty miles from the confluence of the Brazeau *' River) situated in a manner favourable for surface mining." The existence of coal in the valley of Battle River was first made known by the expedition of Captain Palliser, who discovered exposures of this mineral in a ulace situated in lat. 52° 28* and long. 111° 29' (i). Mr Ord. a surveyor in the employ of the Depjrtment of the Interior, discovered a little higher up than this locality, in 1883, a vein of coal, massive and pure, four feet thick, which he thus describes : "The clays (in Township 43, Range 18 west of the " 4th initial meridian) are mixed with thin beds of slaty coal, of friable sand " stone, and of one or two thin beds of hard and ferruginous clays, and below " all that, on the bank of Battle river nearly 100 feet downwards from the " plains, is exposed here and there a vein of coal nearly four feet thick. " It is placed under a shaly schist and upon a bed of clay, and like the " other strata which accompany it, it forms a straight band, with the excep- '* tion of some rare and slight undulations. It is besides free from .slaty leaves, " the coal being pure and massive, of good quality, although it was exposed " to the action of the air and consequently friable. This vein corresponds *' perhaps to the upper vein observed at Edmonton." Pnlliser'M E.xploratlon, p. 87, These carboniferous beds are prolonged towards the south into the La Biche valley, where the existence of considerable deposits has been reported by several explorers. Dr. Hector discovered there a bed of fifteen feet thick eight miles above the mouth of Dead Man's Creek. " The depth of the valley, " he says, exceeds 200 feet, and the river has a mean width of 130 yards. Upon " the two banks there are strata of coal which are in many places 15 feet thick ; "but the quality of this fuel is not superior t<> that found at Edmonton, " on the North Saskatchewan. In making an assay of it, I ascertained that " this coal burns without any flame; but that once kindled, it burn? for a ** considerable time. Some little bits kindled in the evening kept the fire *' lighted until morning. The ashes that it leaves resemble wood ashes, and " this coal gives considerable heat." Dr. Hector traced back these beds of coal over a distance of a dozen miles along the river. The surveyors in the employ of the Department of the Interior have traced back these beds of coal in the valley of the Biche River as far as 100 or 125 miles towards the south east, from the place where Dr. Hector found the bed of fifteen feet mentioned above. " In Range 17, Townships 26 and 27, the ground begins to descend from ** the sand hills towards the river. I saw exposures ot coil in several places " on the banks of the river. I got from a vein, nearly three feet thick and '* lying twenty feet from the surface of the ground, some excellent specimens " of hard coal." (T. Fawcett. Report of Min. Int. for 1883, part II, p. 72.) '* In regard to the veins of coal that I saw, at first, in Township it, Range " 10, exposed in the perpendicular banks of ihe La Biche River, and further " on, on the banks of Bow River and Crow Foot Creek, I am of the opinion •' that all the region contained between these points is covered with a bed " or beds of coal, varying in thickness from 5 to 15 feet and lying from 50 to " 75 feet, below the surface of the prairie. I believe that this is the same " bed which crops out at the Seven Persons Coulee, and extends very nearly " in the same direction north and west towards Edmonton. The coal that *' I have examined is ligneous and bituminous." (C. F. Miles. Report Dept. of Interior for 1882, pnrt II, p. 90 ) Dr. Dawson, of the Geologic.il Survey, has made lately a systematic exploration of the greatest part of the region drained by Bow and Big Belly rivers as well as of certain parts of the valleys of I,a Biche and Milk rivers. With the exception of this last, oil the other rivers empty their waters into the South Saskatchewan. The region thus explored includes the southern part of the district of Alberta and the south west part of that of Assiniboia. Starting from the base of the Paloeozoic rocks, or of the Rocky Mountains, and going towards the east, this region embraces a superficial area of about 26,960 square miles, of prairie and plain reposing upon the softer and more recent formations designated by the names of "Cretaceous " and " Laramie." The limits of this pamphlet do not permit us to enter into the details of these investigations — they may be found in the report of the operations of the Geological survey of Canada for 1882-3-4 — we must content ourselves with giving the excellent summary made by Dr. Dawson himself " There is not (says this learned explorer), in the area included in the " present report, anything more remarkable than the universal distribu- " tion and the immense quantity of combustibles fit for industrial uses, " and it may be said without exaggeration that, practically, all the area '* designated in the preceding chapter under the name of " plains ", " everywhere covers, as well as can be judged by the natural exposures, "d " c (( " s ' n — 45 — " deposits of clay or lignite, while at the same time there are found over " considerable arens, two or three successive horizons of beds of combustible. " .... Theie is not in reality any point more than thirty miles distant from •* some natural exposure of coal or lignite fit at least for local use. and the * natural exposures in several localities demonstrate the existence of a fuel of " easy extraction, which would serve for on a great scale during a consump- " tion many ages. " The places showing the natural exposures are not sufficient to furnish " a general estimate of the quantity of combustible matter found in this " region ; but we may form an approximatiur sufficiently exact with regard to " certain defined districts, and this will amply suffice to show that the pro- " viiion is, apparently inexhaustible. The base of the Pierre group consti- " tutes the most persistent coal horizon which has been up to this time " established in this region, and veins of coal varying in thickness and quality ** are everywhere found where good cuttings can be seen. The exposure of " these combustibles found on Great Belly River, near the Coal Banks, has " been followed towards the south at intervals, nearly as far as the 49th " parallel and towards the north east as far as La Biche River, which makes " a total distance of a hundred and fifty miles. The south and south east " extremities of this exposure cannot, judging from the thickness of the veins, " be classed as workable, but on Big Belly River and the lower part of St. '* Mary's river, an exposure nearly eighteen miles in length may be looked " upon — according to what appears in numerous good cuttings — as every " where workable, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Coal Banks it " may be estimated that there are 5,500,000 tons of coal to the square mile. " Supposing - and this supposition is much below the reality — that this com- " bustible may be worked with the greatest facility over the width of a mile, " the length of eighteen miles of exposure above defined would contain in " itself alone 90,000,000 tons. The same coal horizon is found at a distance " of sixty six miles on the banks of St. Mary's River, and on Bow River at Grass " Isle, where it is calculated there are 5,000,000 tons under each square " mile. This may be regarded as the probable minimum for that part of the " exposure above mentioned. . . . Taking thi-. minimum figure— simply lor the '* purpose of forming an api)roximate idea of the richness of the vein — it is " found that the quantity which the width of a mile on the line of exposure " would produce, is 330,000,000 tons, or taking mto account, the waste and " some decrease, a yield equal to 1,000,000 tons for 300 years. " The thickest seam which is found near Medicine Hat may be also *• counted upon, as a mean, for nearly 5,000,000 tons a square mile and it " may be affirmed that the cutting-^ on ih- banks of the river prove its exis- " tence over an extent of more than thirty ih )nsand square miles, which would " give a quantity of workable coal ofaboat 150,000,000 tons. The vein near " the Horse Shoe elbow on Bow R-er, is t^timated to be equal to nearly " 4,900,000 tons to the square mile. However, as this vein has only been seen " in a few places in this locality only, md h is probably only a looal character, " it would not perhaps be safe to clain th.it it coveis more than ten thousand " square miles, which would give a total of 49,000,000 tons. The exposures " seen on the river in the Black-feel county as well as the borings lately '• made by the Pacific Railway Company, and the general persistence m all " this region of a vein found very nearly at this horizon in the Laramie for- mation, appear to justify us in saying that the extent established for this locality is about thirty square miles, which, since the vein is thick, ought to <( 46 - (i " give very nearly 9,00,000 tons of coil to the square mile, or a total of " 270,000,000 tons. " In calculating the quantity of combustible over an extended line, in con- " nection with the exposures on La Biche River, and in the numerous loca- " lities, in the foot-hills and mountains where good veins are found, the figures given above for some districts might be considerably augmented ; but the practically inexhaustible character of these deposits once admitted, these calculations would not have much more signification. In the measure "that the regionof the frot hills becomes better known, and more thickly '* settled, there will doubiiess be discovered in other localiiies, coal fields in " great number, for the veins are found repeated upon several lines by the " parallel folding of the beds. . . . The same remarks apply to the very inter- " esting areas of Laramie cretaceous rocks, which form basins or depressions " between the Pal(eozoic chains of the mountains. " As to the quality of these coals or lignites, complete and precise details " will be found in the report of Mr. Hoffman, as well as some observations " touching their value and practical uses. It may be well to add, however, " that some of the coals of the mountains and foot hills yield in nothing to " those of the carboniferous or coal regions of Nova Scotia and the Eastern ** States, while those which are classed as true lignites are very superior to " wood for the production of heat, and can in conditions favourable for •' combustion be employed with success, not only for ordinary domestic fuel, " but also for the production of steam, and industrial needs in general. For " burning brick— which is an important consideration, owing to the scarcity " of wood for building, lignites of a quality altogether inferior can be employed. " The value of the coal beds of the mountains and foot hills for everything " relating to the mining, smelting nnd reduction of the metallifer ms deposits " which will probably be discovered, is evident, and for purposes of this nature, ** some even of the most distant and most inaccessible beds could be utilised " later on. " Let us complete these statements by the following extract from the repoit of the Minister of the Interior for 1883. " The existence of coal in practically unlimited quantities in Sou h Western " Manitoba, in the valleys of the North and South Saskatchewan, and uideed *' more or less throughout the whole of the territories west of the second " meridian, had already been s.it sfictorily proven ; but not until the season of *' 1883 did coal mining become an established industry in the country " The deposits on the South Saskatchewan and its tributaries, consist of a " superior class of lignite, etjual to much of the hiiuminous c >al consumed " on this continent. The product of one mine in the Belly Rive country has " been tcsed by the Lccomotive Department of the Canadian Pacific railway *' with so mu< h success, that the Company has contracted for a large supply " of it for the next five years. " ('ontraiy to the ex.^ectation of the most sanguine, a valuable deposit of " anthracite has been dis overed (lose to the line of the Canadian Pacific *' Railway on the Devil'.- Head Creek a tr butary of Bow river, about 40 miles " east of thr- summit of the Rocky Mount lins and 60 miles west of Calgary. '• The in-i|K)rtance of this discovery can hardly be overrated, particularly as " the dei)osit is already known to extend over a considerable area. " A I )r Dawson has himself stated, the (luantities of coal found and that he has exammed.in the Bow river and Bell v river regions, are practically inexhaustible, and sufficient to supply all the North West for ages. This region has an area Ital of jn con- loca- ., the :nted ; itted, leasure [hickly :lds in |by the inter- ;ssions — 47 — about 27,000 square miles, and the thickness of the coal in the deepest beds fo'ind does not exceed ten feet. Taking these figures for a ground of comparison, we arrive at the conclusion that the coal basin betwt^en the Athabasca and the Biche rivers of which the extent is estimated at 2 5, 000 square miles by I)"" Sclwyn, contains or at least should contain more coal than the other region so well explored by D"" Dawson. About a hundred miles west of the month of the Brazeau river, Mr. Brown discovered, as we have already seen three beds of good coal of a thickness varying from fourteen to twenty six feet. More to the east, forty miles below this river, and consequently a hun- dred and forty miles from the bed discovered by Mr. Brown, D"" Selwyn dis- covered on the banks of the North Saskatchewan, a bed eighteen or twenty feet thick, in two places four miles distant from each other and finally, the expedition of Palliser discovered another bed fourteen feet thick on the banks of La Biche river, eight miles from Dead Mari's creek. Casting a glance at the m ip, it is immediately seen that these three very considerable deposits of coal, are found m such a position, that it is impossible n it to conclude that they are three exposures of an immense bed which would be nearly 200 miles long. It would be useless to statu that such a depost would much exceed in richne-., notwithstanding the i nmensity of these, the coal beds of the south branch of the Saskatchewan. However this may be, it may be affirmed with mt fear that there is no country more rich in mineral fuels of good quality than our four provi -ional districts of the North West, and none whi h possesses so many facilities for the transport of thie fuel into all parts of the territory. CHAPTER IV. CI^iniATOIiOOICAIi SKETCH. The climatology of the region we are describing has never been submitted to a methodical study ; but the data furnished by science and observation esta- blish beyond a question, that the greater part of these vast territories enjoys a climate superior, in every respect, to that of the eastern half of Minnes )ta and the province of Manitoba. Thus— to cite only one fact in su,>port of this assertion — it is well established, that, in the region lying east of the Rocky Mountains, from the United States frontier to beyond the Athab^.sca district, less snow falls, and the winter is less cold than at Red River or the country about St. Paul, the rich and flourishing capital of Minnesota. It is established likewise that wheat and cereals ot all sorts would succeed as well in the Peace River country, Lat. 560 and 57°, as in the province of Manitoba, lying five or six degrees more to the south, and finally, it is established that in the environs of Fort Vermillion, maize has been successfully cultivated, whi( h cannot be done in England on account of the climate. These fiicts, which are established perfectly, at first sight appear extra- ordinary, especially to those who are prepossessed with an erroneous notion that the temperature of a country corresponds to its latitude ; but they are easily underst(H)d when the causes which act upon the climate of these teniiories arc a little examined into. 48 — a^:- In \iriuc of ccrtiiii well known 1. vs in physics, the action of the sun in the equatorial regi' m causes the current of warm water and air to deviate from the coasts of Japan and the Meutian Islands, and it is directed upon Alaska and tintish Columbia. I'ui suing its course towards the east, and increased by the temperature of the sea, which in winter in the Japan current IS 50', this current of warm air passes over the Rocky Mountain', whose height and breadth are here much less c jnsiderable than in thj regions lying farther south, and carries into the Peace River country, and over the plains of the Saskatchewan, a quantity of heat which considerably raises the tempe- ratuie of the country. This fact has been established by a great number of scientific men and traveilf^rs, particularly by the Hon. M. G. Garfield, delegate to the United States Congresi from Washington territory, by Capi. Palli.ser, Dr. Hector. Father Petitot, and Dr. Dawson, of the Geological Survey of Canada. There are other causes, writes the Hon. Mr. Garfield, which contribute to render the winter less severe according to its latitude in the vicinity of the 49th parallel and flxrther to the north, than in the regions situated more to the south. One of these causes is this : The two principal chains of the Rocky Mountains, attain their highest elevation between the 32nd and 40th degrees of latitude. Farther north, these chains of Mountains are less elevated and intersected by a great number of wide and low passes. The highest parts of the mountains o,'pose a barrier to the warm south west winds, prevent them from penetrating into the interior of the continent and force them to follow along their side in a north west direction. At the same time as they advance towards the north, the mountain chains becoming lower, and the depressions wider, thjse winds pass over their tops, are engulfed in the defiles, and thus spread a part of their heat over tlie interior regions lying farther north. This atmospheric " Guh Stream '" is evidently a pdrt of the great south wesl current which circulates in the temperate zone around the world, as wind skim- ming over the .^urflice of the ground wlierever it meets rio obstacles ; but more espec'illy as an upper (. urrent wherever it is obstructed by chains of mounta ns or continental masses. These currents driven upward by the mountain chains, often return to the surlacc of the ground, and produce very marked effects. On the great Columbia plateau, during the intervals of great cold, after having passed over the tops of the Cascade mountains, the south west wind descends at times to the surface of the ground ; then snow is immediately formed, the ice disappears, and the temperature becomes mild and i)leasant. When the current goes up again, frost reappears, and the winter resumes its course. These occasional currents are designated by the name of Cliinooks. These warm winds of the south west passing through the lower parts of the Rocky Mountains, blowing hard through the defiles which cut through tf^ese mountains in their northern section, and extending, like a fan, over the immense regions of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboine, (the kast elevated plains also being those farthest north), give to these regions a mildness of climate at once incomprehensible by, and incredible to, those who have not given the subject any particular attention. But theory and ob-ervations have established that after leaving the Pacific coasts and going east towards the Mississippi, the severity of winter augments under every latitude in which cause-, of disturbance do not intervene such as chains of mountains or a general elevation of the surface of the soil, (i.) a Al (I) QlimatM qf the.Xorth Wett, by Hon. G. Garfield. - 49 - an in viate upon and rrent vhose lying plains ein|)e- ector. According to Dr. Dawson, the region bordering on the mountains incon- testably possesses a more temperate climate than that more distant from them, notwithstanding, up to a certain point, its greater mean elevation. The series of air currents coming from the west, and especially the great west winds called "Chinooks ", play an important part in this amelioration. It is a fact that the passage of these winds above a high mountain barrier, and their ulterior descent upon a section of land lower, although still compara- tively dry and warm, in accordance with well known physical laws, permits them to effect rapidly the dissolution and evaporation of the snow. These remarks of Dr. Dawson apply principally to the section comprised between latitude 49" and 51'' 20', that is to say the southern part of the Saskatchewan plain. But Dr. Hector likewise estabMshes the influence exercised by the west winds in winter over the temperature in the region of the North Saskatchewan and even in the valley of the Athabasca. He says that several circumstances led him to believe that the climate in the vicinity of Rocky Mountain House was more favourable to agriculture than that of Edmonton which lies much more to the east and is eight hundred feet lower. Every day, says he, speaking of the time that he passed in wmter at Rocky Mountain House, we have here mild winds coming from the west, which make the thermometer rise, even above freezing point, and they tell me that the winter is always much milder and the spring earlier than in places lying more to the east. Under the date of 25th February, 1858, at Edmonton, the same traveller writes in his journal, as follows : " The weather has been chan- " geable and stormy during some days, but today it is extraordinarily warm. " We have had the windows opened, sat in our shirt sleeves, and made no " fire since breakfast. Two hours after noon, the thermometer registered 650. " The snow has altogether disappeared, several ot the streams are running " freely, and the ground is thawed to a depth of six inches." He says also, that nine days later, on the 6th March, the thermometer expos :d to the sun in the open air registered 70". In speaking of the investigations of D^ Hector, Captain Palliser states that he had obtained much valuable information concerning the winter tempera- ture of the region bordering on the Rocky Montains, in the Athabasca and Saskatchewan valleys, and that among other interesting phenomena he was assured that the mean temperature of the winter months at the foot of the Mountains, is fifteen degrees higher than that of the western part of Canada ; that is to say, of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In his journal, under the date of 5th February, 1859, speaking of the neighbourhood of Jasper House, Dr Hector has set down the following description, which gives the clearest possible idea of the mildness of the winter climate ff the region, produced by the winds blowing from the Pacific : " Although the weather here continues to be mild and fine, it is evident " that it is snowing east of us outside the mountains. This forenoon, a duck " was killed in the river in front of the fort, and a man instantly threw himself " into the water to find it. When one thinks that on the prairies the rivers wil " remain still covered with ice for three months yet, reckoning from this date, a " circumstance like this proves. the difference which exists between thi climate " of the region bord .ring on the foot of the m )gntains and that of those sec- " tions lying more to the south east." Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who i)assed a winter in the Peace River country a couple of hundred miles f om the Rocky Mountains and several from I^ke Athabasca, in like manne- sta'.es the influence exercised upon the winter — so- li climate of these regions by the warm winds coming from the Pacific, as may be seen from the following notes, taken- from his printed journal:— " The 29th (December) he ^ays, the wind blowing from the east, theweather " was still and cloudy. In the air was heard n dull sound resembling distant " claps of thunder, and then the sky began to lighten far off in the souih west, " from whence came to us a veritable hurricane of wind, which blew for eight *' hours. A little after this wind began to blow, the atmospheie became so '* warm that all the snow melted upon the ground ; the ice even was covered " with water and had the same appearance as at the time of its breaking up *' in the spring. The 5th (January) in the mornmg, the day was calm, clear •* and very cold ; the wind bt gan to bow from the south west and in the course " of the afternoon a thaw set in. At Lake Aihabaska, I had already observed " that this wind inva'iibly brings fine mild weather, while the opposite one, ** on the other hand, brings snow. Here this is much more sensibly felt ; for *' if the wind blows from the south we^t during four hours, it is followed by a ' thaw, and when the wind comes from the north east, it brings sleet *' and snow. These warm winds come off the Pacific Ocean. " (i) To conclude, these warm winds are sensibly felt even within the polar circle. Father Petiiot, mis-ionaiy at Fort Gi^od Hope, on the Mackenzie, narrates in his journal that in January 1S67, they made the thermometer rise to one dtgite above zero, and toe k away so much of the snow that the bodies of the wild animals made a irack into the wood. The action of the?e warm winds is thus explained by Dr G. M. Dawson who has made (f them a spicial study. " It has been often stated in a general way, that the cause of the excep- " tionally favourable climate of the Saskatchewan and Peace River countries, "as compared with that of ihe eastern i)art of the American continent, is to " be found in the prevalence of warm westerly winds from the Pacific. Sir " Alexander Mackerzie speaks of the influence of these westerly winds in " winter. More to ihe south, ihty are called '"Chinooks," and it has been " observed that they pioduce similar effects. "■ The complete explanation is to be found in the great (juantity of heat " rendered latent when moisture is evaporated or air expanded in volume, •* but which becomes sensible again on condensation of the moisture or com- " pression of the air. " The pressure in the up])er regions of the atmosphere being so much less " than in the lower, a body t^air rising from the sea level to the summit of a " mountain range, must ex])and, and this, implying moleciUir work, results " in an absorption of heat, and consequent cooling. The amount of this *' cooling has b^en estimated at about i" ceniigrade for 100 metres of ascent *' when the air is dry, but heromes reduced to '/^ degree when the tempera- '' ture has fallen to the dew-point of the atnn sphere, and preci])itation of " moisture as cloud, rain, or snow begins ; the heat res king from this con- *' densation retarding to a certain degree, the cooling due to the expansion of " the air. When the ar des( ends again on the farther side of the mountain "range, its conden.sation leads to an increase if sensil.ile heat equal to i'» " centigrade for each 100 metres " The data are wanting for "an accurate investigation of the circumstances " of oui west coast in this regard, but a general idea of the fact may be gained. << an (1) Mdrkrmie's Jounw/zs tn the Pnvijfr Ocean, 51 — may ther ;tant vest, ight Be so ered up clear 3uise rved one, for by a sleet who *• We may assume that the air at the sea level is practically saturated with " moisture, or already at its dew-point ; that in crossing the mountainous region ** the average height to which the air is carried, is about 2000 metres (6,560 *' feet) and that it descends in the Peace River country to a level of about " 700 metres (2,296 feet). The loss of sensible heat on elevation would, in " this case, amount to io'> C. (180 F.) ; the gain on descent to the level of " 700 meters to 13° C. (23.4° F.) The amount of heat lost by the air during ** its passage, across the mountainous region by radiation and contact with the " snowy peaks, cannot be determined. It is of course much greater in winter " than in summer, and depends also on the speed with which the current of air ** travels. Taking the mean summer temperature of the coast at about 120 C. " (54" F.), and allowing several degrees for loss by radiation, it becomes easy " to understand how the western prairies may be flooded with air nearly as " warm as that of the coast, through it has travelled to them over a region " comparatively cold. *' Owing to the great width of the mountain barrier, the main result is " complicated by local details ; regions of considerable precipitation occuring " at each important mountain range, with subsidiary drier regions in the lee. ** The last of these regions of precipitation is that of the Rocky Mountain ** Range properly so-called. In descending from this, a further addition is " made to the air, which then flows down to the east as a dry and warm " current.' (i) These extracts are a little long, but it is necessary to establish well the important effect that these warm winds from the Pacific, or from the great Japan current, have on the climate of the North West, and to demonstrate clearly that if the elevation of the latitude has the effect of lowering the temperature in these regions, the winds from the Pacific more than counter- balance this effect, and give to these vast territories a climate which puts them on a footing of equality with the parts of the world which are the mrst thickly settled and the most advanced in arts and industry. In summer, the warm winds hardly make themselves felt, since their tempe- rature not being ordinarily so high as that of the plains lying east of the Rocky Mountains, their influence could only be exerted in places where the gene- ral tcm|)erature is lowered or affected by local circumstances. As the spring advances, and the sun tr.ivels from the equator northwards, these warm south west winds, whose action in winter is so perceptible, advance also towards the north as upper currents, being constantly rarified and held in suspension by the incrcasinj^f action of the sun ; anf' the accumulation of these masses of hot air in the arctic regions, lun es back a lower and cooler counter-current which blows from the north west into the plaii s. When autumn arrives, in the degree that tnc lower stniia of the atmosphere become cold with the diminu- tion of llie solar actii)n, they lower themselves anew, and gradually resume the calorific influence \vhi( h they exert on the plains during the cold season. The effect oi \\\c gu/f stmiNi, or the equatorial current of the Atlantic on the teir;»erature of a good jiart of Europe i-; well known. It is this which carries the heal >.f the troj^irs to the cold regions of Northern Europe. The water retains the heal until it strikes the shore, where, in its restless motion, it robs itself of this heat which the winds carry into the interior of the conti- nent, and this gives to a great part of north and middle Europe, the (1) Oeolouical Survey 0/ Canada for 1879-80, pages 7(1 B and 78 B. ~ 55 - temperature that renders them habitable. In short, it is well known that if the beneficent action of the Gulf Stream should cease, the North Sea would become a frozen ocean, the British Isles would become another Labrador incapable of producing wheat or barley, and its inhabitants would be obliged to emigrate to preserve themselves from perishing in a frozen desert. Now the equatorial current of Japan which directly influences the climate of our North West territories is much more powerful as a source of heat than the Atlantic gulf stream, and when we know the influence of the latter on the climate of European countries, it is easy for us to form a just idea of that of the former over our vast countries of the North West, and the fact is explained and established without question, that in British America wheat has been successfully cultivated above the 6oth degree of latitude. Another important factor affecting the climate of the plains of the North West from an agricultural point of view, especially that of the ripening of the cereals, is the length of the days in summer. On this point, thermo- metric observations are far from giving an exact idea of the climate of these regions. It is not so much the degree of heat as the sum of calorific action which makes the grains sprout and ripen, and this view is confirmed by the fact that vegetation is always much more rapid in northern countries than in those which more nearly approach the equator. In truth, in the north, the temperature indicated by the thermometer being the same, in a given region, with that in another region lying farther south, the quantity of heat would be more considerable, since the more one advances towards the pole, the more the days lengthen, and consequently, the greater is the sum of the calorific action of the sun. The length of the days of summer increases with the latitude in the following proportions : ititude Longest Day. Length of night 45" 50" 55" BO" 15.6 hours 16.3 " 17.3 " 18.7 " 8.4 liours. 7.7 " 6.7 •• 5.3 " _ It is easy to see the results given by this table when applied to comparisons between well known localities. The 45th parallel, which passes near Cornwall, Bracebridge, on the Muskoka River, and Cape Hangcliff'on Ceorgian Bay, divides into Lwo nearly equal parts, that portion of the province of Ontario contained between Lake Nipissing and Lake Ontario. Along this line the duration of the longest day of summer is 15.6 houis. The most northern part of the plains of the Peace River is crossed by the 55th degree of latitude. In this latitude, the longest day of summer is 17.3 hours, or nearly an hour and three quarters more than in the pro- vince of Ontario, which is the same as saying that the result of the sun's action upon vegetation is not much less than 12 per cent more considerable in the district of Athabasca than in the province of Ontario. Instituting a similar comparison between the central part of Manitoba and the corres- ponding part of the plains of Peace River, there will be found in favour of this latter region a differepce of an hour and a quarter. It is evident then that under a like thermometric temperature, the most northern regions of our great North West territories receive a greater amount of solar heat, and consequently the ripcnirg of the cereals will be more rapid and prompt there than in regions lying further south. This fact, stated by Schubeler in Norway, and corroborated by observations in other <;ountrie.s is brought out clearly in the attempts at cultivat on which have been made on the plains of the Sisk iichewaii and the Peace River. at if ould ador iged Now (four n the 1 the lat of ained been the with -_ 53 — Another important fact in the climatology of the four districts we are describing, is this : their small elevation above the level of the sea, as com- pared with the lands farther south. Tne altitiid ; of the upper part of the plain of the Saskatchewan is computed by Captain Palliser to be 2,700 feet, and that of the lower part 1,600. It is calculated that for every thousand feet of elevation, the temperature lowers three degrees ; so that from this point of view, the temperature, of the highest part of the Saskatchewan plains repre- sents only four and a half degrees, and the lowest ten anl a half degrees, which is much less than on the plains of the United States lying more to the south. '* It is well known " says the Hon. Mr. Garfield (i) " that the tempe- " rature lowers nearly three degrees for every thousand feet of elevation. It " will be seen, that by reason of this cause alone, the region of the Saskat- " chewan in British America, has a temperature 1 2" higher than if it had the ** elevation of the Union Pacific Railway, and of 24° higher than if it were of " the altitude of tht Mexican plateaus. This smgle difference of altitude " compensates for the difference of latitude." The elevation above the sea of the plains of the Peace river is still less than that of those of the Saskatchewan. The general level of that part lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Smoky river is about 2000 feet, and that of the part between that river and Lake Athabasca, the eastern limit of the district ot hat name, does not exceed 1,000 feet and even diminishes as it goes nc is. The low lands which surround the north end of Lake Atha- basca ai'l >b(ch are crossed by the lower part of Peace river, so similar in other respects to that of Red river, have also the same elevation above the sea, viz ; 600 to 700 feet. Thus, the warm winds from the Pacific, the comparatively greater length of the summer days, and the little elevation of the land above the level of the sea, considerably ameliorate the astronomical climate of the plains of the Saskatchewan as well as of those of the Peace river, more than com- pensate for the high latitude, and give to these va^t territories a temperature which puts them in the category of the most favoured agricultural lands, as well as of a climate, the most fitted for the development of the energy and industry of man. Lei us now examine the results of thermometric observations made in diffe- rent parts of these territories. These observations will be found condensed in the tables which follow : (1) Climates of the North West. - 54 — SOUTH waST REGION January — February.. March April May June July August September. October. ... November. December.. Year. Winter... Spring. . . Summer. Autumn. 57.00 60.20 58.80 49.00 41.20 58.66 LOCALITIES Fort-Wal8h. Fort-McLeod Fort-Calgary Altitude Liatitiide 49° 32' 109° 51' 49°aB' 113°12' 50*55' Lionsrttude 113°45' 19.40 25.70 2510 42.50 53.20 61.10 67.10 64.80 54.60 41.00 27.20 25.80 42 26 23.66 4U.26 64.16 40.93 11.40 1.60 10.00 86.70 51.80 61.00 59.60 53.50 47.20 36.10 16.00 21.20 33.76 11.40 32.83 58 03 32.76 A I L J F IM A iA Ji Ji A Si O N D Si Ai ■> NORTH WEST REGION LOCALITIES Fort-Norway. Fo.-t Cumberland Fort-Pel ly Altitude 400 feet 51°00 98°0D 900 feet £3-57' 102°16' 800 feet (T) 5r64' Latitude Loncltude 102°10' January -7°00 — 2.4IJ 7.00 27.10 44.60 54.9.) 6;15() 61.20 46.40 31.10 12.30 — 1.70 4° 11 — 6. 60 12. 15 26.00 51.29 64.25 71.25 61.42 46.25 86.08 16.24 6.47 10.60 February 18.80 March 2.60 April 88.50 May 51.60 June July 69.20 67.20 Augu>t 60.10 September 48.80 October 35.10 November — 0.20 December — 0.70 Year 20 01 83.51 31.81 Winter - 3.33 26.28 59.53 29.03 — 5.73 29.81 t5.U 82.86 — 3.20 Spring 29.20 Summer 62.16 Autumn 27.73 LI - 5-) — NORTH SASKATCHEWAN CENTRAL REGION lary » 76 40 8S 03 76 January.... February.., March April May June July AuKust September. October No. ember. December. . Year. Winter.. Spring. .. Summer. Autumn. 0.00 — 7.00 26.30 a5.80 45.00 59.90 •61. 50 *«5.61) •45.95 •.S5.8. 17.:H0 8.90 33.76 0.30 35.36 63.83 33.33 LOCALITIES Gai-lton Battlelord Edmontoa Altitude 1321 feet 5r5 ■ 10«°13 52° »1' 108°30' 2088 feft f. Latitude 5i°ao' Lougitude 112°52' .^dm 8.00 16.10 19.00 41.20 m.m 69.10 65.01) 68.20 46.90 33.20 19.80 11.00 36.12 10.03 37.03 64.10 33.30 6.10 8.10 22.20 38.10 49.10 58.12 •64.00 •63. 00 •46.00 38.60 27.10 2.90 36.18 5.70 36.46 61.70 36.86 NORTil WEST, OR PEACE RIVER REGION Pelly ) feet (T> I'bi' no' ).50 3.80 2.60 8.50 1.50 9.20 7.20 0.10 8.80 15. 10 0.20 0.70 11.81 3.20 !9.20 i2.16 !7.73 LOCALITIES Altitude... Lat'tude .. Longitude. January. .. February. . March April May June July. Augus: September. October. . . . Novenibi r. December.. Year. Wln!er... Spring. . . Summer. Autumn. Fort Chlpewyan 700 feet 5843' 11H8' — 8.76 — 4.01 3.08 19.80 45.40 'jS.OO O.'^.OO 5H.10 43 513 ■MM 1 !».!;! 2.76 27.52 - 3.33 22.7rt 58.70 34.88 Lower Peace Rive.' 850 feet .')8'50' 112^00' (?) -9.10 22.38 38.26 48.04 56.00 56.89 57.03 47.02 32.8H 19.17 1J).95 32 63 4.24 32 89 66.64 33.02 Dunvegan 1302 feet (?) in'is' -9.80 9.20 17.05 ai.55 5!).40 60.95 6.5.30 60.45 52.10 41.05 26.55 0.85 34.77 0.06 .S3.66 61.90 40.20 — 56 — Before entering into other details, let us compare the temperatures these figures indicate with those of certain well known localities in Europe. This comparison will show clearly, that, the plams of the Saskatchewan and those of the Peace river differ very little in this respect from the finest agricultural countries of Europe, and that as regards summer temperature, the climate of our prairies is superior to that of several European coun- Jtries, especially to that of Great Britain. The figures which point out these temperatures are given below : LOCALITIES Winter Spring Summer j Autumn Year Fort-McLeod " Calgary " Norway " Cumberland . . . " Pelly " Carlton Battleford Fort-Edmonton . . . . " Chipewyan Lower Peace River. Fort Dunvegan London Liverpool Glasgow Edinburgh.. . Paris Berlin Christiana Stockholm St. Petersburg R»ga Warsaw Moscow Kazan 23 II 3 5 3 o 10 5 3 4 o 39 40 38 38 37 31 22 26 i8 25 25 15 6 .66 .40 ■33 •73 . 20 •30 I •03 ! .70 i ■33 ' •25 1 •OS ; . 20 : .50 I .40 .40 .80 ' .40 , .80 .00 I . 10 I . 20 .20 . 20 .20 40. 26 32.83 26.23 29.81 29. 20 35 36 37-03 36.46 22.76 32.89 33-66 47.60 46 . 20 45-90 45.00 50.60 47.40 39-40 38.20 35-90 45-20 44.90 41 .00 36. 20 64. 16 58-03 59-63 65.64 62. 16 63-33 64. 10 61 . 70 58.70 56.64 6t .90 61 .00 57-60 60. 10 57-10 6^.50 64.50 59-70 60.40 60.60 63.00 64.60 64 .00 62.40 40.93 32.76 29-93 32.86 2773 33-33 33 30 36.86 34.88 33-02 40. 20 50.70 49.10 49.00 47-90 52.20 49.20 42 .00 44.40 40.30 41 .20 46.00 39 . 90 36.90 42. 26 33 76 29.01 33-51 31-81 33 76 36.12 35-18 27.52 3253 34-77 49.60 48.30 48.60 47.10 51-30 48. 10 41 .00 42.30 38.70 43-70 45.20 40.00 35-50 As is seen, the other seasons are a little colder ; but the summer, the specially important season Irom an agricultural point of view, is warmer in our North West Territories than in the greater part of these European localities, in which agriculture has nevertheless been wonderfully successful. It is worthy of remark ihat Fort Chipewyan and the lower Peace River region, which show the lowest summer temperature, have yet a summer, not less warm than that of Edinburgh and Liverpool. Now these two cities are the centres of sections where all the cereals, except maize, ripen perfectly and are cultivated with success. Let us look a little into the characteristics of each season. In general, the winter is cold, but much less severe than the thermoinetric observations would indicate. The sky is ordinarily clear, the weather fine — 57 — hese This and nest ture, oun- hese 26 76 01 51 81 76 12 18 52 53 77 60 and dry, making the cold infinitely less penetrating than in such humid climates as that of Great Britain and of certain parts of Germany, which are notwithstanding populous. The raw wet weather, so unhealthy and so uncomfortable, of Great Britain and the north of Europe, is unknown on our great western plains, and one can go out without suffering from cold in the least degree when the thermometer registers 10°, 15°, or even 20° below zero, especially as when ii is very cold, the wind never blows. " Owing to the dryness of our atmosphei , says Father Petitot, the climate is very salubrious and gives strength to those in feeble health: sanitas e sicco." This same dryness is also the reason why less snow falls than in more humid climates. It will be easily compichended that with an atmosphere generally so dry during the winter, comparatively little snow falls on the plains of the North West. Along the Rocky Mountains, there is a narrow border where no more than a few inches of snow ever remains on the ground. Forty miles farther east the thickness of the snow fall increases but rarely exceeds two feet. Upon the prairies the snow rapidly evaporates and does not accumulate except in the hollows, but it accumulates in the woods which protect it both against the wind and from evaporation rd in the north east part, it sometitries reaches in the spring or rather at the end of winter, the depth of three or four feet. As is seen, on the prairies just enough of snow falls to make excellent winter roads, and permit travel in all directions without the least difficulty and without being troubled with those drifts which so often render it difficult and even impossible to get about in the eastern provinces. As we have seen above, the quantity and depth of snow increases as we go towards the north east ; there is even less in the southern part than in the section nearest the mountains, and in these sections cattle can browse on the trees without difficulty during all the winter. This is established by the fact of the buffaloes before they were destroyed or hunted away by settlements, having preferred to winter in those regions from the United States frontier to Peace River. This fact is also stated by all explorers who inform us that the domestic animals winter perfectly well on the plains without either stabling or artificial nourishment and that they even grow fat on it In the narrative of their journey across the plains. Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle relate that the horses which they had put out to graze on the prairie during the winter, were in excellent condition, and like " balls of fat " when they were taken in in the spring ; and the 80,000 cattle that the owners of ranches have wintered for several years in the Bow River region, without shelter or artificial food also prove without dispute, that the winter is far from being as severe as thermometric observations would indicate, and is in fact less severe than on the plains of Russia and Germany. On the North West portion of the Saskatchewan plains, the section of which Fort Edmonton is the centre, the subject of the winter temperature was carefully studied by Capt. Palliser, who has recorded the phenomena we give below. At Edmonton, the winds may be divided into three groups ; First, the clear wind which in winter brings intense and extreme cold, and which comes from the north west. This wind may be regarded as the rightly named " con- tinental " curreni, and is that which accompanies settled fine weather. Often it only acts on the lower strata of the atmosphere, the clouds in the upper strata taking a contrary direction. The direction of this wind must not be too strictly defined, since it often varies more or less, althrough its character — 58 - » remains the same, its force being altogether subordinate to one or another of the other groups, which are cloudy winds. Secondly, the winds which gene- rally blow from the north and east, as well as from intermediate points and which, in winter, bring snow. Thirdly, the south and south east winds which coming from the Pacific Ocean, across the Rocky Mountains, bring always clouds, heat and sometimes in the winter even rain. On the upper Saskatchewan, the phenomena of winter temperature follow each other in nearly the following order. Some days of fine settled weather, though perhaps extremely cold, are followed by a slight rise in temperature occasioned by the north east wind accumulating a canopy of clouds above the lower strata of the atmosphere and thus preventing radiation. This is done gradually every mornmg, the sky becoming more and more cloudy, but lightening up at first in the middle of the day, until at the end of a few days the clouds remain until evening, then a piercing north east wind rises, which ends in a hurricane followed by a fall of snow. This snow-fall often lasts two or three days, after which the snow falling more gently and the temperature rapidly rising, the clouds open, and allow the upper strata of the atmosphere to be seen rapidly moving from the south west and drawing little fleecy clouds over a clear sky. Generally, the night following, the wind blowing then from the south west increases in violence, veering sometimes to nearly all points of the compass, and in a short time, is transformei into a cyclone, raises the temperature and forms big clouds which fa'l in rain. After this hurricane brought by the south west wind, a light wind from the north west generally springs up in an irregular manner, and in a few days the temperature lowers to extreme cold during which the weather is generally calm, and then come the fogs and mists brought by thi north west wind. In the winter noted in a special manner and with the greatest care by the expedition of Palliser, the distribution of these winds at Edmonton, was as follows. January Winds clear and cold from the north west 4 days Winds cloudy from the north east 17 days Winds moist and warm from the south west 6 days There were 10 days cloudy and 4 days of snow with the north east wind, 4 days cloudy and i of rain with-the south west winds. February Winds clear and cold from north west 10 days Winds snowy from north east 7 days Winds moist and warm from south west 11 days There were 7 days of cloudy weather and four of snow with the north east wind, 7 days of cloudy weather and 3 of rain with a south west wind. March Winds clear and cold from north west i day Winds, snowy, raw and cold from north east 15 days W.nls warm from sjinh w.^t 15 days er of jene- and irhich ways bllow are wind Dhere the leof then a fall — 59 — There were / days of cloudy weather and 7 of snow with north east wind, 9 days of clouds and 3 days of rain with the south west winds. April. , Winds clear and cold from north west o day. Winds cold and raw from north east 10 days. Winds warm from south west 15 days. There were 8 days of cloudy weather and 2 of snowy, with the north east wind. 10 days of clouds and 4 of rain with the south west winds. We have given the months of March and April in order tj show how the transition from winter to spring is made. This progresses rapidly m all the Saskatchewan country, but particularly in the north west section, where it is not retarded as in the north east, by the melting of the ice on the lakes and streams, which cover a much greater extent in this section. At the posts of Carlton and Edmonton, the thermo- meter rises nearly always to 40° and 45° after the 15th March, and it some times reaches 60° and even 70° in the sun, in the section lying between Fdmonton and House Jasper on the upper Athabaska. The snow melts rapidly, so much so, that in their excursions at this season, the expedition of Palliser could only travel early in the morning or in the evening after sunset, when the frost gave a little hardness to the snow, which was too soft and moist, or rather too much melted, during the day to allow walking on snowshoes, or the dogs drawing their sledges. The snow ordinarily disappears at the beginning of April and often by the end of this month, the work of cultivation has already commenced. The following extracts taken from the journal of the Rev. Thomas Wooseley, missionary, and from that of Palliser, will enable us to see the progress of this season at Edmonton. (TournalofMr. Wooseley for 18^7.) March 21. — The ducks and wild geese appear. *• 31. — The snow has completely disappeared. April 7. — Work has commenced. The river has been crossed on the ice for the last time. April 28. — The first wheat sown. May 5. — Boats arrive from Rocky Mountain House, navigation is open. (Journal of Expedition of Pallisei, 1858.) March 13. — Strong breeze from the south. A party of men arrive from the plains with sleighs ; they have had hard work to get them here, ys there was no snow at all on the road ; the snow has entirely disappeared in exposed places, but there is still a little in the thick woods. March 20. — Rev. Mr. Steinham arrived to-day front the Serpent Hills, informs us that the river is open in several places. April 12. — The weather continues very mild. Three men have commenced work in the field around the fort. April 23. — The river is clear of ice above the fort. April 25. — Adders and mosquitoes seen at the fort. April 29. — Fine clear weather. Three men sowing wheat. May 4. — Three men sowing barley. - 60 May 5. — Fine clear weather, Mr. Biazeau arrived this morning by boat with his family from Rocky Mountain House, and the rest of his men with the other boats, in the evening. May 7. — Nine boats have started, loaded with skins fioni Rocky Moun- tain House. May 10. — Seven men are busy at work. The journal of Dr. Hector, for the same year, contains the following notes : "May 5. — The work of cultivation around the foit is now well advanced. " Although it still freezes at ni^'ht, the weather this month has been mild and ' " favorable to vegetation, which, when one considers the latitude and the con- " tinental position of this place, is marvellously vigorous. Although this •' spring is regarded as a month later than others, everything here was much " more advanced at the beginning of May than it was at the middle of June ** in 1857 on Lake Superior, five degrees further south. " Captain Palliser states that the ice takes on the Saskntchewan about the 1 2th November, and that it breaks up from the 15th to 20th April, that the spring progresses with much rapidity, that the snow disappears in a r:w days, and that> at the beginning of May, the grass has already began to grow. The nth April, the blue anemone was in bloom on the prairie as well as the alders on the river banks, and there were myriads of butterflies. In the Peace River region, the spring is still earlier and progresses as rapidly, as may be seen from the following notes, extracted from the journal of Sir Alex. Mackenzie, relating what he noted during the winter that he passed at the confluence of Smoky and Peace Rivers. " The cold weather that we had at the beginning of February, lasted until ** the i6th March, when the wind blowing from the south west, the weather " became mild. The 13th March, some wild geese were seen, and these *' birds are always considered as the precursors of spring. The 1st April " our hunters killed five. The weather has been mild for a fortnight and " promises to continue so. The 5th April, the snow had entirely disappeared." " The 2cth April. I made an observation of Jupiter and his satellites to *' obtain longitude, and we had then a visit from our companions of the sum- " mer, the gnats and mosquitoes. On the other side of the river, which " was still covered with ice, . the plains were delightful to see ; the trees were " sending out their buds and many plants in flower. Mr. Mackay brought me " a bouquet of rose coloured flowers and a yellow button surrounded by six " leaves of a soft purple colour. The change in the aspect of nature was as " sudden as agreeable, for only a few days before, the ground was covered " with snow. On the 25th April, the river was free of ice. " At this time (from the 5th to the nth of May) the buffaloes were accom- " panied by their young who gambolled around them. All the country shone " with an exuberant verdure ; and the flowering trees were rapidly approaching " the moment of giving us the delightful spectacle of their bloom." In all Canada, there is only the south-east part of the Province of Ontario in which the spring approaches that of Peace river, as it is described by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and it may be safely affirmed that the state of vegetation so well observed by him, denotes a spring more forward than that of England and a good part of Germany. In comparing the tables of the mean temperature of the spring in the diffe rent parts of the north west wjth that of the principal centres of population the Eastern Provinces, it is found that the difference is inconsiderable an d — 61 — hardly to be observed. The following table will furnish the elements for this comparison : LOCALITIES March ! April May Spring Toronto Cornwall Montreal Quebec Halifax St. John Fort-Norway . . . Cumberland. . . . Fort-Pelly Calgary Fort-McLeod. . . Carlton Battleford Edmonton .... Fort-Chipewyan Dunvegan 27 . 2 24-3 26.7 21.8 29 27 7 12 2 10 25 26 19 22 3-8 17.1 f) 40.2 53-4 39« 55-5 43-4 58.6 36.1 50.4 37-5 46.4 36 -5 45-7 27. ro 44.6 26.0 513 34 52.0 36 7 51.8 42.5 53-2 35-« 45-0 41.2 51.0 38.1 49 I 19.8 45-4 33-^ 50-4 I 40.3 39-8 42.9 32.8 37-6 36.6 26.2 29.8 29. 2 32.8 40-3 35 37 36 22.8 33-7 The figures given for Toronto, Cornwall, Montreal. Quebec, Halifax and St. John are the mean of the five years between 1870 and 1874 inclusive. The figures given for the other localities apply only to a single year, except those for Dunvegan, which represent the mean of observations made in 1803 by Mr. Thompson, the astronomer of the Hudson Bay Company, and i> 1880 under the direction of the Meteorological Department of Canada. The obser- vations of Mr. Thompson, made with the greatest care, ,T;ive a temperature much higher than that of 1880, since they give 25.1° for March, 37.9" for April and 54.6"^ for May which would make the mean 38.2" for the spring, in place of 33° given above as the result of the observations ni.\de in two diffe- rent years. The conclusion which may be drawn from the comparison of all these figures, is that : 1. The temperature of the spring at Fort MeLeod is the same as at Toronto, and higher than that of all the other localities in the old provinces, except Montreal ; 2. The same at Halifax and Battleford, but higher in this last place than at St. John, N. B. or Quebec ; 3. The same at Edmonton and Saint John, and four degrees higher than at Quebec ; and 4. The same at Dunvegan, taking the figures of Mr. Thompson, as at Toronto and Cornwall, and a degree higher than at Q)uebec taking the mean of the two years in which observations were taken. These facts need no commentary. They piove beyond question that in our North Western prairies the temperature of the spring is as high, even relatively higher in some localities, than in the more populous and more advanced — 62 - sections of the old provinces of Canada, with this difference, that over there the snow goes off earlier, and that conseciuently the work of cultivation begins much sooner than in the eastern sections. At Kort McLeod, Battleford, Edmonton, or Dunvegan, work and seeding commence after the 15th of April, which is nearly a month in advance of a good part of the province of Quebec, of New-Iirunswick and of Nova Scotia, where rain and had weather are at this season infinitely more frecpient, and of longer duration than on the western plains, which enjoy in this respect also an incontestable advantage. In all the prairie region, but especially in the north west portion and along the United States frontier, the spring, in an agricultural point of view, is one of the finest seasons possible to imagine. The weather is clear,still, dry, and rain almost unknown. The gradual thuwing out of the soil furnishes vegetation all the moisture of which it has need, and gives it a vigour of which it is hardly possible to form an idea, unless one has seen it with his own eyes. These facts are all stated by Professor Macoun, who has made of this subject a special study : *' Early in Aprill, he says, the sun which is already strong " melts the small quantity of snow which covers the ground, and almost imme- " diately work commences, for even w-hen the surface of the soil is thawed ' only six inches, the work of cultivation may be begun. Work and seedmg * go on at the same time, as the soil is entirely dry, and in a few days the *' grains germinate, thanks to the heat of the sup the roots receive plenty " of moisture from the soil as it thaws out, anu .ollowing the frost, in the " degree which that comes out, in the very pores even that it opens, penetrate " to an astonishing depth (sometimes even two feet) sending out all the time "innumerable fibres. When the rain and heat of the month of June arrive, a mass of roots is already formed, which rapidly push the plants to maturity. " It is as much to the power possessed by the frost of opening the soil, as to " its fertility, that we must attribute the enormous crops raised in the North- ' West.' The summer is a magnificent season on our great western plains. In [)laces not affected by local circumstances, the mean temperature of this season is higher than in a great part of (.ur old |)rovinces, hightr than in the greater part of the agricultural counties of Great Britain, and the weather is of a nature to make all the cereals ripen rapidly. The two first summer months, June and July, are naturally the most rainy, but there are no long rains, such as are common in other countries, retarding vegetation and injuring the grain. These rains are produced by the coming together of the warm moist winds of the south and south west with the colder currents of the north west, and fall only in showers, generally warm, which do a considerable good to vegetation, and increase its activity in an extra- ordinary manner. They cease altogether at the end of July or beginning of August, which month is dry and warm and could not be more pleasant in any respect. The following notes taken from the Journal of Palliser for June and July give a sufficiently clear idea of the sort of weather found in these two months : " i6ih June— At half past seven P. M., the thermometer registered 60*. *' In the afternoon the wind veered from south to north, with violent gusts and " heavy passing showers. " " 17th June — Cloudy this morning. .Vt half past 9, a thick fog came from " the north, which disappeared at the end of an hour and was followed by " cloudy weather. " " 1 8th June — Heavy rain in morning and at noon. " — 63 — ire ns d, il. ■c, at rn <( <( 19th June — Lowery weather in morning, clear in the afternoon, cloudy in evening. " •' 20th June — Rain and mist nearly all day. " " 2 1 St June — Beautiful cnorning. Afternoon, clouds coming from the west, a little rain fell durmg the night. " " 22nd June — At half post six P. M., great clouds in the souih. A little rain, clouds veer to the west, and lightning. " " 23rd June — West and south wtsL winds, cold and high tintil about sunset, then it fell. In the evening aurora borealis. " •' 24ih June — Wind veered to the north during the night. In the afternoon, " a strong squall of north wind accompanied with heavy rain. At nine in the *' evening, the wind suddenly turned to the south e.'iSt and the weather " cleared ; the rain ceased and a strong wind came up " " 27th June — Cloudy weather at 10 A. M., after ha^ 'v.g been clear in the " morning. " " 28th June — Heavy rain during lasi night, great cloud in the south west. " Thunder in the distance, heavy rain during the m^ht, no thunder, but some *• lightning " " 29th June — Cloud weather all day 'vjth fres'" east anc sout'' east wind." " June 30th — Wind increasing became fresh about nc ;a, and turned into " a squall at 8 o'clock. Rain. " " July 3rd — South wind until sunrise, fine wcath r until noon when it " became cloudy. In the afternoon the clouds .i. • mulated in t! south and " formed great masses. At half past five P. >'., th'* storm broke. It hailed. " The storm was half an hour in passing. La:ge clouds very high up and sHarp " lightning. The clouds passed to the north west. Rain continued Ici x:\ " hour after the passing of the storm. " July 4th — At 1 1.45 A. M., cloudy weather, thunder at a distance in the " north east. At mid-day the weather cleared and remained clear until 7 " P. M., then black clouds began to form. " '* J"'y 5th — Great storms at noon and most terrific thunder. " July nth — At sunset, great clouds in the north, and heavy rain during *• the night. " " July 12th— Very warm weather ; A little mist in the night. " " July 13th — Very warm all dp". In the afternoon, fresh wind from the " north east. At 4 o'clock, heavy i' jds from the south west going against " the wind, for a storm of rain and diunder going to the north east. Rained all night. * July 15th — From i3ih f'- to-day clouds and rain. Rain very local. " "July 17th — Very warn-, although a breeze comes from the west. Sky " without clouds for 48 hours. " July 1 8th — In the afternoon, accumulation of clouds coming from the " we^t and a violent thunder sti)Mii passing in a circle above us, from west " to north east. The clouds are high and scattered, but the lightning is vivid, ** and the rolling of thunder continual. All was over by 8.50 P. M. " July 19th — Clear and warm a 1 day, at 8 o'clock great clouds in north " and north west, with 7 flashes of lightning. •' July 2ist — In the afternoon, cl mdy weather and rain. Flashes of light- " ing in the north west. " July 23rd — All the afternoon, heavy clouds and thunder on the slope of " the mountains south of us. <( - 64 — " July 29th — Clouds threatening thunder passed to the south west during " the day, but did not reach us. Weather overcast, but fine. " Ju'y 30th — Clear in the morning, cloudy at 8 o'clock A. M. Cloud " threatening thunder and a good deal of lightning in the east. Cloudy all " day. Much rain east of us." These notes indicate 8 rainy days in the last fortnight of June, and the same number for all the month of July. But apart from the two days from 13th to 15th July, there was no persistent rain ; it only fell in showers of short duration, that is to say giving just enough moisture to stimulate vegetation. These little showers, and the electricity shown by the lightning constitute a state of the atmosphere most favourable to the development of plants and at the same time one of the healthiest. As to the mean temperature, the following table enables us to see how it compares with that of some well known localities of Europe, and of the old provinces of Canada ; localitip:s Fort-Walsh " McLeod. . . . " Calgary . . . . '• Norway . . . . " Cumberland. " Felly " Carleton. . . . Rattleford Fort-Edmonton. . " Chipewyan . . " Dunvegan . . Toronto Cornwall Montreal Quebec Halifax St. John London Liverpool Glasgow Edinburgh Paris Berlin Christiana Stockholm St. Petersburg. . . . Riga Warsaw Moscow Kazan — 65 — From the comparison between the summer temperatures of the different localities mentioned in this table, it results thit : 1. Cumberland, Battleford and Fort McLeod have the same summer temperature as Toronto, Quebec, Moscow, Warsaw. Berlin aiid Paris, but from six to eight degrees warmer than that of St. John, Halifax, Liveri>ool, Edinburg and Christiana ; 2. Chippewyan, Calgary and Fort Walsh have the same summer tempera- ture as St. John, Halifax, Liverpool, Eiinburg, Christiana, and Norway House, the same temperature as Stockholm ; 3. Fort Pelly and Carlton have the same summer temperature as Riga and Kasan, and a higher temperature thai that of St. John and Halifax ; and 4. Edmonton and Dunvegan have the same summer temperature as Halifax, London, Glasgow, Stockholm and St. Petersburg, and a higher temperature than that of Liverpool, Edinburg and Christiana. These tacts, based upon incontestable data, establish beyond dispute that, as far as regards summer temperature, our great North West plains are in no way inferior and in some cases are even superior, to the most noted agri- cultural sections of the old provinces of Canada, and of the European countries in which agriculture is the most prosperous and the most advanced. It would be very exacting, certainly, to ask for more. The autumn is finer in the North West than in the old provinces on the Atlantic. During the months of September aud October, the weather is calm, clear, most pleasant and most favourable for agricultural operations. The nights become very gradually colder after the middle of September ; but during the day, the heat keeps up, often even is intense, until the last week in Octo- ber. This season, at least during the two first months, has no rain, or only a very little, so that the harvesting of the cereals, and the storing of the root crops in the cellar are done with greater ease and under better conditions than it is possible to imagine. Then the animals, not being exposed to the inclemency characterising the last part of this season in the older provinces, are kept in a better state for entering on the winter, and can remain later in the fields, which is a considerable advantage. The cold weather ordinarily begins in a more or less regular manner in the first week of November. The following notes, taken from the journal of the Reverend Mr. Wooley for 1857 and that of the Palliser expedition for 1858, will show the kinds of weather and the atmospheric phenomena which characterised this month at Edmonton. 1HS7 November ist — Sensible change in the weather, the thermometer marking a* below zero. November 3rd — A little snow. November 4th — The snow remains on the ground and the river is full of floating ice. November 5th— Very mild weather, thermometer rising to 330. November 6th— Cold. The snow is increasing. November 7th — The snow increases. The dogs were harnessed for the first time to the sleds. November 9th— The snow increases. The river entirely covered ' with ice upon which the horses and carts have crossed. November loth — Piercing cold. November toth-— Nothing remarkable since the loth. 66 IHSH November ist — The marshes and water courses freeze for the first time; the earth is also frozen to the depth of 2 inches and the heat of the sun only thaws out the surface. There aie still ducks and geese along the river. There have been snow birds for several weeks. The grey plovers are the only birds remaining on the plains. November 4ih — The river is lower than it has ever been, and the ford is crossed in a cart. It is full of floating ice, and there are fringes of ice along the banks. November 5ih — The ice collects in the windings of the river. November iiih — The ice in the river gradually increases. Snow is falling. November r2th — Still snowing. At different intervals, there have fallen very nearly 2^ inches of snow during the last twenty hours. An east wind is rapidly melting it. . November 14th — During the last week, the ice has again disappeared from the river as well as its banks. All the summer birds have left. The surface of the ground is frozen to four inches. November 15th — South west wind the greater part of the day. In the evening strong wind accompanied by rain, changed into sleet when the wind reered to the north. In the night, hard frost. November i6th — The river is rapidly filling; with ice. The water is rising quickly. Ice has taken on the bays, very cold. November 17th— The river crossed the first time on the ice, by making a circuit, but the main current is still free of ice and the carts laden with meat were brought across m the boat. November i8th — This morning there were only some small spots on the fiver free of ice. November 19th — Thr wind yesterday veered to the south, which brought on a thaw. The ice on the river is a little broken up. November 22nd — The river taken m solid ice and a horse has passed over. At the ford, above the rapids, there is still much ope.i water. November 23rd — Weather remarkable, continuing mild and the thermo- meter has har.jly changed for 24 hours. A little snow this morning. The wind continues light and vannblc, veering several times in the day. A fall of fine sleet at 6 P. M. This h.ip,jens nearly every evening. November 28th — The snow which fell yesterday in the neigbourhood of the fort, had almost entirely disappeared at break of day, at 9 o'clock this morning it rained ; at 10 o'clock the wind veered straight north and it froze hard ; at 8 o'clock in the evening a strong squall of wind got up, and since, the thaw continues. " This is very nearly the weather that we have in the best sections of the Atlantic provmces, with the exception of our rain and melting snows, which are unknown on North Western prairies. This constitutes a considerable advantak^e, since at this season, the animals are not exposed to those falls of melting snow and sleet, common in Ontario as well as in the other eastern provinces and which are so unhealthy for the cattle not yet put up into their regular stables. — 67 - With regard to mean temperature, the following table will enable us to form a just idea : — Localities September October November Autumn Fort-McLeod . . Calgary Norway House Cumberland. . . Fort-Pelly Carlton Battleford Edmonton . . . . Chipewyan . . . . Dunvegan Toronto Cornwall Montreal Quebec Halifax St. John St. Petersburg . Riga Moscow Kasan 54-6 47.2 46.4 46.2 48-3 45-9 46.9 45c 43 52 59 58 58.7 57-3 1^6.5 54-8 51.0 51.6 53-2 590 41 .0 36.1 311 36.1 35 35 33 38 33 41 47 47 48.4 43-6 48.6 47-7 40.6 40-5 39-5 37-1 27 15 12. 16, o, 17- 19.8 27 19 26 32 30 31 27 35 32.8 29.4 315 27.1 24.7 40.9 32.8 29 32 27 33 33 36 34 40 46 45-6 46. 1 42.6 46.8 45 40 4X, 39 36 I As we see, the thermometric observations show a dozen degrees of differ- ence in favour of places situated in the eastern provinces ; but when is taken into account, the humidity which, in these provinces, renders the cold much more penetrating than in the dry climates of tlie North West, the conclusion is necessarily arrived at, that pr.ncucally, the am mm temperature on the plains of the Sisknt hewan and Peace rivers is very n.-uly the same as in the valley, of the St. Lawrence and the ear'iest p irts of th^; maritime provinces. Asa point of sii[)eriority in favour of the wetern pmiries theie rests the absence of those rains and those melting sn.)ws which render our autumns so disa- greeable and bird to be eniured by cattle. Taking Diinvegan, the only place in the North West where regular obs rvations have been made, — it is found that in 1880 the number of days on which rain fell, was as follows : Localities Toronto . Cornwall. Montreal. Quebec . . Halifax . . St. John. . Dunvegan September October November Total 13 12 8 33 14 20 9 43 ( 17 17 8 42 . 19 19 6 44 ^5 II 10 36 13 10 II 34 j 7 9 4 20 n - 68 — In 1883, there were at Dunvegan only 20 days on which rain fell. Now in this regard, Dunvegan represents not only the plains of Peace River, but also those of the Saskatchewan ; which shows clearly that in the North West the autumn is much drier and infinitely finer than in the old provinces of the confederation. We have given all these details upon each of the four astronomical seasons to permit ihe most complete comparison between the climate of the north we^t, and that of the best kncwn and most forward countries. It remains now to study the agricultural season, that is to say, the six months during which the temperature and the state of the soil permit the labours of agriculture to be carried on, and especially the bearings of the temperature and of the atmosphere, upon the po'nt of the ripening of grains and their harvest. The £igriculti)ral season, that is to say the interval during; which the land can be woiked, is the six months, from the 15th April to 15th October, except in the north eabt section and certain other portions where great bodies of water make the s-pring a little later. The five months of May, June, July, August and September show the following temperatures : Localities Fort McLeod . . . " Calgary .... " Cumberland " Pelly " Carlton Battleford Fort Edmonton. " Chipewyan.. " Dunvegan . . Toronto Cornwall Montreal Quebec Haliiax St. John May June July August 53-2 61. 1 67.1 64°- 3 51.8 61 .0 59-6 53-5 513 643 71.2 61 .4 51-5 59-2 67.2 60. 1 45 -o 59-9 645 65.6 50-9 591 65.0 68.2 49.1 581 64.0 63.0 45-4 55-5 63.0 58.0 50-4 59-9 65-3 60.5 53-4 637 68.2 67.8 55-5 66.6 70.4 68.3 58.6 67. 5 70.9 69.2 50-4 62.3 67.0 65.1 46.4 56-7 62.8 633 45-7 56.3 60. 1 59-9 September 54-6 47.2 46.3 48.3 46.0 46.9 45 -o 43-5 52.1 59-3 58.6 58.7 57-3 56.5 54.8 Mean 60.06 54.60 58.90 57.30 56.20 58.02 55-84 52.98 57.24 62.08 63.88 64.98 60.42 57.14 5536 This table shows that the temperature of these five months is very nearly the snme in the North West as in the valley of the Saint Lawrence and the Maritime Provinces. But we have seen elsewhere, that by reason of the greater length of I he days, the thermometric degrees being the same, the sum of the heat is much greater in the North West than in our old provinces, and thus practically and as regards vegetation, the temperature of the agricultural season is warmer and higher on the plains of the west than in the finest por- tions of the eastern provinces, where the days are shorter. Thus, in the Saskatchewan region, and in the greater part of the Atha- basca and Peace river countries, the temperature of the agricultural season is warm enough and high enough and to spare, to make wheat and all other cereals ripen perfectly. To ripen whsat perfectly requires a mean 69 — temperature of from 620 to 650' for the months of July and August Now, for these two months, we find for the different localities the follow- ing figures : Fort McLeod 65.70 ; Fort Pelly, 63.6° ; Norway House 62.3" ; Cumberland 66.30 ; Carlton, 65.10 ; Battleiord 66.6°; Edmonton, 63.50 ; Dunvegan, 62. 90, or 66.70 if we take the observations of the astro nomer Thompson. Even at Fort Simpson, in Lat. 61051', or nearly 350 miles north of Dunvegan, the mean temperature for July and August is 63.3° ; and it is established by experiments that at this place four times out of five, wheat ripens perfectly. The temperature of our prairies is even high enough to allow of the cultivation of maize— which the climate in England renders impossible there — since the census of 1880 states that in that year 190 bushels of maize had been harvested at Qu'Appelle, 1567 bushels at Prince Albert and 200 bushels at Edmonton. Professor Macoun states that maize comes also to perfection at Fort Vermillion on Battle River, in the Peace River country, at 580 of latitude. Cucumbers planted in the open air come also to maturity, which further proves the adaptability of this region to the cultivation of all cereals, since the cucumber is one of the plants most sensitive to cold. As 10 wheat, the north limit of its culture follows a line starting a little to the south of Fort Simpson, situated in lat. 61° 57" and long. 121° 51', passes through Lake Athabasca, L'lle h la Crosse Lake, and ends to the east of Lake Winnipeg, so that grain can be cultivated in a profitable manner in all parts of our four great provisional districts of the North West, which contain a superficial area of more than 275,000,000 acres. As this grain requires a temperature of 60° for the three summer months, it may very well be con- cluded that apart from places which are perhaps affected by some local cir- cumstances, this summer temperature exists everywhere within the limit or the isothermal line which we have above indicated. This fact repotted and affirmed a long time ago by Sir John Richardson, an observer as judicious as worthy of credenc.% has been established by practical experience. Professor Macoun reports that he was informed by Mr. Hardisty, the factor for several years in charge of the Mackenzie district, that at Fort Simpson, latitude 62° north, barley always ripened from the toth to 20th August, that wheat succeeded four times out of five, that melons ripened well after having been first sown in a hotbed, that the frost rarely did any damage in summer, and that there was altogether heat enough to ripen any kind of grain no matter what. Monseigneur Tache states that wheat succeeds at Lake Athabaska and at He ^ la Crosse, and this is confirmed by Professor Macoun, who has been over all these Inc ilities. Oits even, which are more tender than wheat, lie cultiva'e I ai lie i\ ia ('losse, and whjat succeeds at F.>it McMur- ray, at the confluence of the Cleaiwater river with the Athabasca, at the mis- sion of L'Etoile, 50 miles north of Fort Carlton, as well as a*; White Fish Lake, betweeu Lake La Biche and Victoria, upon the Saskatchewan. At White Fish Lake, Dr. Dawson saw in 1880 a field of wheat belonging to the Revd. Mr. Staines, the Wesleyan Missionary, who had raised that year a mean of twenty eight bushels to the acre ot excellent wheat, although this field had been sown to wheat fur fourteeu consecutive years. As to the Saskatchewan region, it is known that, with rare exceptions due to local circumstances, it is eveiywhere most favourable for the cultivation of wheat) as well as other cereals ; and this fact is superabundantly pioved by the following statistics, extracted from the Census of i88r, sh' w^np; the p-nduc- 4i| 'I, — 70 — tion of grain in the places where its cultivation in a regular manner has hardly been commenced : Localities Qu'Appelle Wood Mountain Bow River Battleford Prince-Albert . . . Edmonton Wheat 3,820 bushels 300 " 10,331 " 3,246 " 61,641 " 20,000 " Barley 2,202 bushels 3.798 4,219 17,260 2,500 « « (( Oats 4,600 bushels 253 18,034 3,108 18,269 12,000 In all these localities, the mean yield to the acre was nearly twenty one bushels, or three times more than in the Province of Quebec. Thee facts settle in a peremptory manner the question of summer tempe- rature, as far as regards agriculture. And yet, this temperature will undoubt- edly growbtill higher as the cultivation of the land proceeds, and then there will be heard no more of those rare summer frosts which sometimes happen in the North West as in all other places where the absence of drainage and other like circumstances occasion at times an excess of radiation, not sufficient, however, to affect large areas of cultivation. In general, the country is exempt from hard fiosts from the begining of May to the middle of September, or four months and a half, and only in the latter part of September and in October are nocturnal frosts at times strong enough to injure the grains or the plrrts which have either been put in late or not well cared for. The same thing happens in all the old provinces of Canada. As to the humidity of the atmosphere, it is every where sufficient to give to vegetation all the energy, all the development of which it is capable. This is proved by the vegetation itself which is most luxuriant as well as most abundant, and by the testimony of all explorers, especally Palliser and the surveyors in the employment of the Department of the Interior. " During the summer months, " says Captain Palliser : " when the expedition was " travelling the greater part of the time on the driest plains, or passed along " the borders of the wooded country, rain and cloudy weather were of more " frequent occurrence than we could have then expected On the '* higher plains which were crossed in 1858, from Carlton to the Rocky " Mountains, the altitude of which plains varied from 2,000 to 3,500 feet, "storms accompanied with thunder, were more rare, but a good quantity of " rain fell. During the latter half of the month of June, in the Eagle Hills " region, there were nine days of rain and cloudy weather, and six of clear " weather. The mean of atmospheric humidity was 0.64, the point of satura- " tion being 100. During the month of July, between the Grande Coulde, and " the foot of the mountains, the proportion of fine weather was greater, with •' light and variable winds. However, there were during twelve days of this " month, rainy clouds, with 0.59 for the mean of the humidity of the atmos- '* phere. The radiation, as is natural to expect, is very considerable during " the summer nights in the section north of the prairies, so much so that — 71 — " when the weather is not cloudy the quantity of dew which is produced, is " considerable, in proportion to the degree of the humidity of the atmosphere. " It is owing to these dews and to the white frosts, that in September the rich " grazing lands of the North Saskatchewan plains are preserved green and " juicy until the snow comes, when the frost continues t ) preserve them as " fresh and as nutritious as the cured hay, even until the return of spring." In 1883, Messrs. Elgar and Fawcetr, employed on the survey in the Saskatchewan country, each kept .i regular reii's'er of the state of the atmos- phere from the begin li igof May to the "i I of .S:;pce n )er. T.iese (jbiervations apply to the district lying bjtween the ih i\i 1 luial mj.idi.in and th; fojt liills of the Rocky Mountains, from cast to west, .m i between the fifth and tenth base lines from south to north, that is to say, the greater part of the South Saskatchewan country, which is considerel the driest on these great plains. The result of their observations makes it evident that there is in this country sufficient humidity for all the needs of vegetation, and that if the rains are never obstinate or of long duration, they are comparatively frequent enough. Below we give the notes ot Mr, Edgar : 4'\ ^^^ a — 72 - Date 5 May. . 13 14 16 17 21 21 26 27 30 31 3 5 7 8 10 13 '5 16 June July. 17 21 25 2 5 II 12 13 14 " .. 25 '« .. 4 August. 8 " .. 17 18 ao 31 30 4 5 October Com- mencing 7.30 p. m, 1.30 p. m. 11.30 a. m, 10.30 p. m. 12.30 a. m. 1.30 p. m. 3.00 p. m. 1.30 p. m. 2.00 p. m. 1.30 p. m. 8.30 p.m. 1.30 p. m. 12.30 a. m, 5.00 p. m, 8.00 a. m. 5.00 p. m. 1. 00 p. m. Ending 10.00 p. m, 2.00 p. m. 2.00 p. m. 1. 00 p. m. 2.30 p. m. Observations 4.00 p. m. 5.00 p. m, 2.30 p. m. 3.30 p. m, 10.00 p. m, 3.00 p. m, 1.30 p. m, 3.00 p. m, 10.00 a. m, 9.30 a. m. 6.00 p. m. 7.00 a. ni. Rain followed by a storm, snow during the night; there were 0.60 inches of snow on the morning of the 6th. Light showers during the whole day. do do do Storm accompanied with thunder with slight showers during the afternoon. Slight showers during the whole day. Slight shower. Nearly all night, squalls of wind with a little rain. Light shower. Light showers in afternoon. Light shower. Heavy showers in afternoon followed in the night by snow and hail, with squalls of wind. Light showers in the afternoon. Heavy storms in morning and afternoon with hail. Rain in afternoon. Light showers in afternoon. Rain during the whole day. Rain and hail. Rain during night. Great storms accompanied with thunder during the day and night. Storm in afternoon. Stormy. Storm with hail. do Storm of rain. do Storm of rain in the afternoon, do do do do Rain Storm in the morning. Light shower. Heavy rains. > Light showers. Slight showers in afternoon. Great snow storm (near the mountains). Storm. — 73 — Of the 153 days between the 5th May and the 5th October, there were 39 rainy or stormy, 11 in May, 11 in June, 8 in July, i in August, none in September, and 2 in October. It is easily seen that the rain fell in a way most favourable for vegetation. The notes of Mr. Fawcett comprise 140 days from 15th May to 30th September, of which 47 were rainy, These are the notes : Date. 15 May. . . . 18 " .... 21 " .... 25 26 27 28 31 (i June 4 5 6 7 9 10 II 14 IS 16 17 21 22 3P 2 July (( << t< t( (i « (« <( (( 3 5 6 II 12 13 14 15 19 23 24 25 Begining. Ending, 6.00 a. m, 3.00 a. m, 7.00 a. m. 5.30 p.m. 6.00 a. m. 7.00 p. m. 9.30 a. m, 5.00 a. m 8.00 p. m 3.00 p. m 7.00 p. m 4.00 p.[m 5.00 a. m, 7.00 a. m. Night 10.30 p. m. 1 1. 00 a. m. Noon, Night 5.00 a. m. 8.00 a. m. 10.00 a. m. 10.00 a. m. 8.00 p. m. 5.00 p. m. 1. 00 p. m. Observatfcns Slight shower. Slight successive showers. Rains during the day. Frequent rain during day. Some showers. Heavy showers. do Showers of rain, followed in the night bj snow and hail. Showers in afternoon. Several small showers. A little rain all day. Showers. " . do Rain all night and ) Rain untill noon, j Thunder Storm during night. Shower early this morning. Some little showers. do do Heavy rain. Rain early this morning. Rain in the evening. Shower this morning ; raining still at 6 in the evening. Shower in morning. Rain during the night. Rain this morning. Thunder Storms during day. Frequent light showers during the day. Squalls of wind with rain during the night Rain all night. Rain this morning. ' ' Showers, Rain. Violent storm with thunder. .. ' Heavy rain. • > /^ — 74 — Date. Begining Ending Observations <; Ausust.. Rain during night. Showers (Heavy). Slight showers. Fine rain all night. do in the morning. Several little showers during day. do do 7 " .... " . . . . 4.00 p. m. 5.00 p. m. 17 '• .... i / .... i8 " 1 1. 00 a. m. .... 10 " . . . . y .... 30 " . . . . to **.... Mist all day. do JW . • . • 7 September 14 " i8 " I.oop. m. 6.00 p. m. 6.00 p. m. Rain all the afternoon. Rain during night. Rain this morning. 19 " That is to say that of th* 140 days between May 15th and September 30th inclusive, 47 were rainy ; 8 in May, 14 in June, 13 in July, 8 in August, and 4 in September. These light rains would evidently give to vegetation all the moisture required, without rendering the weather disagreeable or unsuitable for work in the (jpen air. The fact is that from a 7veather point of view, in all parts of the Canadian North West, the crops are harvested in condi- tions exceptionally favour ible, infinitely more favourable than in the greater part of the other provinces of the Confederation. As to the time of the opening and closing of the agricultural season.the times of sowing and harvest, the following statements show at what dates these took place. It is well known that the ice disappears upon the Saskatchewan towards the middle of April, and only forms again in a permanent manner about the middle of November. This fact is afirmed by Palliser and all those who have a personal knowledge and experience of the country. It is very nearly the same thing on the Peace River, as may be seen from the following notes, extracted from a journal kept by the Hudson Bay officers at Fort St. John : « Years Breaking up of ice First ice 1866 19 april 7 November, 8 " 1867 21 " 1868 20 " 7 " 8 " 1869 2X " 1870 26 " Not registered. . 10 November. 1871 18 " 1872 IQ " 8 " 1871 21 ** 4 " 31 October. *•"/ • • 1874. *o 10 " 1875 *y 16 " % — 75 — As Professor Macoun observes, these notes show, that from the middle of April to the first week o! November, the ground can be worked ; that the winter is shorter in the Peace river country than in the Province of Manitoba, and that the Autumn temperature is warmer than atWinnepeg, 1200 miles south east of Dunvegan, Finally the ice breaks up at least twelve days sooner on the North Saskatchewan and the Peace River than on the St. Lawrence starting from Quebec and going up it. Even at Montreal, the passenger boats do not ordinarily commence their service until the last weeek of April. In the Peace River region, the seeding and harvesting are done very early. " At Dunvegan, reports the surveyor Mr, Ogilrie, the crops were very fine both " in quantity and quality. During my stay at this place (about the 23rd Septem- *' ber, 1883), the R. Catholic missionaries had threshed their grain, of which " I brought away some samples. Here is what had been their harvest : " 50 pounds of wheat, sowed the i6th April and reaped the 20th of August, " had yielded 27 bushels of good very clean grain : 15 lbs. of Egyptian •'barley, solved the i8th April and ripe the 20th August, had yielded 15 •* bushels weighing at least 60 lbs. to the bushel." (i) Professor Macoun contends that the season is still more forward at Fort Vermillion, more to the east, and two degrees farther north than Dunvegan. " I exammed, says he, " the field and the garden and found with the greatest surprise that " barley and vegetables were much more advanced here than at Dunvegan " or at Fort St. John. The barley was in sheaves on the field, having been " cut on the 6th August, and the scattered ears of wheat I found were per- " fectly ripe (12th August, 1875.)" •' The barley had been sown on the 8th May, and cut on the 6th August, " having been in the ground exactly ninety days. This wheat and this barley " were the finest I have ever seen. There had been no frost since the " beginning of May, and it was not e::pected there would be before the month " of September. Often all the season passes without frost from the beginning " of May to the end of October. The vegetation indicates that th« climate is '• still warmer at the Red River (a small tributary of the Peace,) than at " Vermillion, and all the garden vegetables were more advanced." (2) *' That the *' Peace River country " writes in another place the same explorer, " enjoys " an exceptional climate, every one who visits that country is forced to admit. *' While we werre travelling there, our notes were constantly, warm sun, west " wind, balmy atmosphere and sky a most beautiful blue." '" Even as late as " the T5th October, the thermometer at day break, registered 48°, and at "noon, 610 in the shade." "Among the hills at the foot of the Rocky " Mountains, I picked on the 26th October, three species of plants in bloom." These facts and many others that could be cited show in a conclusive manner that the autumn is fine and long ; and the unanimous testimony of the resi- dents of the country clearly establishes that the spring commences before the first of May. The summer should also be hot for on the 15th July we picked service berries {Amelenchior Canadenscs) perfectly ripe. In the Edmonton region, work commences about the 12th or 15th April, and in general, the wheat is sown in the last week of this month and is ready for harvest about the 15 th of August. The grounds begins to freeze at the end of October, which does not prevent there bei«g usually much fine weather after this date. After saying this, it is not necessary to add that the climate (1) Report of the Minister of the Interior for 1884, part il, page 67. (2) Oeologioal Survey of Canada, 1876-6, p. 169.) - 76 — of Edmunton is favourable to the cultivation of all the grains, even of com, of which a crop of a couple of hundred bushels was harvested in 1880. " We " have seen," says Dr. Selwyn, " proved abundantly at Edmonton, Victoria, •' Fort Pitt and Prince Albert, the aptitude of the soil and climate to produce " all kinds of cereals and vegetables which are elsewhere cultivated with *' success, even in conditions more favourable as regards latitude and altitude. " It would be impossible to find in any part of the world whatever, barley, " wheat, potatoes, turnips, carrots, onions and cabbage finer than those I saw •' harvested at Victoria, and the R. Catholic Mission of Prince Albert, near '• Edmonton." (1) Dr Selwyn saw all this in a tour of exploration from Fort Ellice to Rocky Mountain House, going by Carlton and Edmonton, and returning by Cumberland and the lower Saskatchewan, from the 6th August to ihe 16th October. " During all the journey " says he, '* we were favoured " with remarkably fine weather. We were stopped by rain only one day in " going, and half a day in returning. We had the first frost on the 4th Sep- " tember (at Victoria)." This confirms the statement of Capt. Palliser, — that the work of harvest need not be interru])ted in a serious manner by the three or lour rainy days occurring ordinarily in September. This fine season is earlier and warmer and longer also in the South Saskatchewan region and the Qu'Appelle. Professor Macoun has stated that at the Qu'Appelle Mission — the centre ot a region comprising 16,000,000 acres of excellent wheat land — the harvest ripens earlier than in any other part whatever of the North West. In 1879 and 1880, barley was cut in the last week \n July. There is never any summer frost in this region, and the spring is two weeks earlier than at Winnipeg. Indian corn succeeds perfectly. This fact has also been established by the expedition of Professor Hind, that of Palliser, and especially by the Census of 1881 In 1884, the Pacific Railway Company in order to make a practical test of the soil and climate of ihe South Saskatchewan country, instituted ten experimental farms in the country extending west from Qu'Appelle to the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains, that is to say from 1060 25' to 113° long, from east to west, and between 50" and 51° of latitude, from south to north. These experiments most abundantly established that both the soil and the agricul- tural climate could not be more favourable for cultivation. Below we give the results of these experiments at each ot the localities, which are stations on the railway. Secretan. — h^nd ploughed the 13th October, so7vn the 6th April, harvested the 1st September. Yield jjer acre : wheat, 22 bushels : oats, 33 bushels and a fraction, barley, 17^^ bushels. Rush Lake. — Ploughed r6th October, sowing i6th April, harvest ist September. Yitld per acre : wheal 22^ bushels; oats, 54 bushels; barley, 18 bushels. Swift Current. — Ploughed 28ih October, sowing 14th April, harvest, 13th August for oais and 21st for wheat. Yield per acre : wheat 13 J^ bushels ; oats, 30 bushels. . ' . Gull Lake. — Ploughed 24th October, seeding 17th and 28th April and ist May, harvest i8th August and 7th September. Yield per acre : wheat, 24 bushels ; oats, 55 bushels ; barley, 29 bushels ; peas, i6^ bushels. Maple Creek — Ploughed i8th October, seeding loth April, harvest 9ih (.) ■ ti /icnl Survey of Vanada, 1S73.7'1, page CJ. — 77 — August for barley and oats and 19th for wheat. Yield per acre : wheat a 2^ bushels; outs, 49^ bushels; barley, 30»/g bushels peas, 15^ bushels. Forbes — Ploughed, zyih October, sowing, 8th to 19th April, harvest, nth and 20th August. Yield per acre : wheat, 30*/, bjshels; oats, 50 bushels, barley, 28 bushels, peas, 15^ bushels. DuNMORE — Ploughed, 24th October, put in seed 4th and 5th April; harvest, 23 July for barley, 6ih August for oats and 7th for wheat. Yield per acre : wheat, 20 bushels; oats, 38^ bushels; barley 32^^ bushels; peas, lo^VS bushels. Stair — Ploughed, i8th October, sowing 3rd and 20th April, haivest, 25th July, for bailey and 9th August for wheat and oais. Yield per acre : wheat, 19J4 bushels; oats, 24^3 bushels; barley, 15 bushels; peas, 12 bushels, TiLLEY — Ploughed, 20th October, sowed, 2nd April, harvest, i8ih August for barley and the 25th for wheat and oats. Yield per acre : wheat, 12 bushels ; oats, 38^ bushels; barley, 14 bushels; peas, 10 bushels. Gleichen — Ploughed, 22nd October, sowed, 31st March and 22nd April; harvest of a part of the wheat and oats on 25th August, and of the rest, 9th September. Yield per acre : wheat, 28^ bushels; oats, 56)^ bushels; peas, 13 bushels. These facts establish on evidence that in this region, the agricultural season, that is to say, the interval during which the earth can be worked, is nearly six months and a half. It would be very exacting, certainly, to ask for more ! Which are, in the north of Europe, the countries that have an agricultural season longer or even as long ? When the fact is considered that in ail this region, measuring 350 miles from east to west, ihe seed is sown in the middle of April as a mean time, the harvests take place in August, and work is carri d on until the end of October, one would naturally ask, what of the nature of en agricultural climate could this magnificent country find to envy in the coun- tries most favoured in this respect ? The absence of rain at the season of harvest adds yet more to all these advantages, and gives to the climate of our plains a seal of incontestable superiority. And the yield of grain shows clearly that there is no lack of moisture, especially when the fact is taken into consi- deration that these experimental cultivations, made alf impromptu, were not accompanied with the care given to cultivation regularly organised beforehand. Such are the principal characteristics of the climate of our rich vast plains of the North West. The winters are apparently severe in some places ; but the temperature and atmospheric conditions of the fine season, which lasts more than six months, are so favourable to cultivation and to comfort, so salubrions and so healthful; the air is so pure, so exhilarating, so stimulating, that there is hardly a land in the world, where life can be more agreeable, or man can lead an existence more active and more happy ia all its aspects. Here the active and industrious man experiences a true pleasure in working the fertile soil which spontaneously offers him its astonishing riches, without exacting, as elsewhere, the tribute of a hard preparatory labour ; the Author of creation has shed over it a profusion of beauties which elevate the soul, and inspire in a heart .capable of feeling noble sentiments, the de:>ire of contemplating this Heaven so pure' and so calm, which gives only fertilising rains and never anything which can affect the happiness or health of man. Th Fa INDEX CHAPTER I ' a- E isr E la -A. Hi ■vib-w The plains of North America, 3 — Part comprised in North West of Canada, 3 — Boundaries and principal rivers, 3 — Description of th*? prairies, 4— The four provisional districts, 5 — Their extent, 5 — Fertility of soil, 5 — The two great steppes of the Saskatchewan plain, 6 — Principal ranges of heights, 6 — Plain of the Athabaska and Peace Pivers, 7 — Prairie* and Forests, 10— Origin of the prairies, 10— It does not proceed from aridity of soil, 10 — Richness of the soil, 12 — Coal in inexhaustible quantities, 12 — Wood, 12 — Advantages that the prairies offer to settlers, 13. CHAPTER 11 ■WOOI5S ^isriD iFOi^BS'rs False impressions, 13 — Woods alternating with prairie, 13 — Forest regions, 14 — Forests easy to work, 14 — Principal ligneous woods : map'.e, 14 ; elm and ash, 15 ; birch, 15 ; whife cedar, 15 ; cypress, 15 ; red pine, 15 ; Piniis Lambertinus, 16 ; fir, 16 ; hemlock of the west, 16 ; red spruce, 17 ; black spruce, 17 ; white spruce, 17 ; poplar, 18 — General considerations, 18— Forests of hard wood, 19— Mountain forests, 20 — Saskatchewan region, 21 — Easy working, 22— Athabasca and Peace River forests, 23 — Richness of the forests of Battle and La Biche rivers, 25 -Forests of the Edmonton, Victoria, Carlton and Cumberland ren;ions,27 — Forests of the Upper Athabaska and Peace River, 29 — General Recapitulation, 31. CHAPTER in General remarks, 32--Building materials, 32- Sand stone, 32— Lime stone, 32— Brick, 33 — Whet stones, 33— Plaster, 33— Marl, 34— Salt, 34~Peti oleum, 34— Gold and Silver, 38— Iron ores, 39— Coal, 89 —In Peace River region, 40 -In the Athabasca region, 41— In the North Saskatchewan region, 42— In Battle River Valley, 43— In La Biche Rivei Valley, 44— In the region of Bow ind Big Bel ly'ri vers, 44— Inexhaustible quan- tities of coal, 46. — 11 — CHAPTER IV oiiinsdr^TOLOGHo-A-ii sicetoh: Climate superior to that of a part of Minnesota, 47 — Warm winds from Pacific or ckinoukt, 48 — Climate of region bordering the mountains, warmer, 49 — Explanation of action of thinooks, $o—ln{i\xencQ of gulf stream on temperature of part of Europe, 51 — Length of days ameliorates agricultural temperature, 52 — Plains little elevated, 53 — Recapitu- lation of causes ameliorating astronomic climate of the North West, 53 — Thermometrical observations, 54 — Comparison with some well known European localities, 56 — Charac- teristics of each season, 56 —Winter, 57 — Spring, 59 — Summer, 62 — Autumn, 65 — Agricultural season, 68 —Cultivation of wheat, 69 — Humidity of atmosphere, sufficient for vegetation, 70 — Date of work of cultivation in Peace river country, 74 ; in the Edmonton region, 75 ; in the South Sackatchewtn and Qu'Appelle region, 76 — General conclusions, 77. 't If" V ),' , u ?"\l<. / I' :|f »m^«^4p^^-*^^;■ ;f ^ Ot4> VOPLAMa TBAT ADOKN ram lowkr uuvAgT:8$ Buntt ON THB sira or thoss W^ICH DXFBIIDBD THX ClTt IN Thk WAU3 HAVB wnn NtOtaCrVD, BUT AXX NOW BUNa BBSTOKBD TO THSIR OMOINAL CONDITION BY THX »DOMINION OOVBKNMBNT. ' J ■ «| ►"'I Fart ef (be Lower Banii A VIEW AT QUEBEC By H. R. H. the princess LouxsB *U