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SECOND LETTER FROM M. E. BOURGEAU. 18 
Second Letter from M. E. Вопва®Ап, Botanist to Capt. PAL- 
LISER'S American Exploring Expedition. Addressed to Sir W. 
J. Ноокев, F.R.S., F.L.S., and communicated by him. 
[Read May 5th, 1859.] 
Fort Edmonton, Saskatchewan, 
October 9th, 1858. 
SrR,—I have much pleasure in laying before you the results of 
my botanical labours during this second season. 
I suppose that you have received my account of the preceding 
season, in which I gave you full details up to Fort Carlton. I 
shall now, therefore, confine my narrative to the period between 
that locality and the Rocky Mountains. 
The expedition started on the 15th of June, crossing the prairie 
Saskatchewan between the two arms of the river of the same 
name. Some days afterwards I found several places rich in legu- 
minous plants, and particularly some Astragali, which I had not 
found in the previous year. The numerous plants which I 
gathered led me to hope that I might find some fine things farther 
on. My only difficulty was from the rains, which fall annually in 
June and July. I recorded thirty-three days of more or less con- 
tinuous rain. I have succeeded in preserving all my collections, 
without losing a single packet. I have not found as many dif- 
ferent species as I had hoped to do. I have preserved many 
species already" gathered the first season, on account of their 
forms, the dates, or their geographical distribution: probably half 
the collection is in duplicate. 
On the 26th June we travelled over the open and treeless 
prairie, and on the 27th we encamped by a small forest of the two 
species of Populus (lat. 52° 39' N., and long. 108° 52^ W.). On 
the 2nd July we reached more abundant forests, composed of the 
same trees, with thickets of rather large Salix, which provided us 
with excellent firewood. 
The spaces between the forests consist of more or less marshy 
prairies, with large plants of different species, nearly all inha- 
bitants of the forests, such as Lathyrus, Vicia, Orobus ?, Astra- 
galus, and Carez, in abundance. 
The prairies are rich in food for animals, the grass averaging in 
height from 18 inches to 2 feet (lat. 52? N., long. 109° 8' W.). 
From the 8rd to the 7th July we crossed a wooded sandy 
slope. In many places the vegetation appeared to have suffered 
from the frosts and the hail. All the poplars looked as if they 
