14 SECOND LETTEE EROM M. E. BOURGEAU. 



had beeu trimmed. The ends of the branches are cut by the frost 

 nearly every year, and the number of checks which they thus 

 receive gives them a peculiar appearance. Near this place we 

 crossed two wide spaces, where the hail had destroyed all the 

 vegetation except the trees and the Salix. 



It is worth describing to you the inconvenience of some 

 seasons ; for instance, the frosts which occurred this year, on the 

 16th of May and the last week of July, destroyed all the seeds of 

 the trees ; and the catkins of the Populiis and Salix fell to the 

 ground without ripening. The same thing occurred with the 

 coniferous trees ; and thus I have been unable this year to pro- 

 cure the seeds of any trees. 



On the 10th of July we encamped on the shores of the river 

 Battle, between the woods and rich prairies. The soil appears 

 very fertile here ; and I remarked some specimens of Abies alba 

 and of Pinus Banksiana which had escaped the fire — the first 

 observed since leaving Carlton. This river is insignificant in 

 summer. Towards the boundary of the woods it is in some places 

 «unk between high banks. Lat. 52° 28' N., long. 111° 17' W. 

 from Greenwich. 



Erom the 18th to the 20th of July we encamped on the prairies 

 and amid thickets near the Lake de Boeuf, which contains an 

 abundance of a rather large fish of excellent quality. At this 

 place we were about fifty miles from the superb river De la Biche, 

 which is of sufficient size for the navigation of the ordinary boats 

 of the country. Its shores are wooded for about 100 miles, par- 

 ticularly with Abies alba and the two species of JPopultis, useful as 

 timber. Vegetation also is vigorous, and the soil appears to be 

 very fertile. The varieties of herbaceous plants are not very 

 numerous, but the quality of the species forms a good forage for 

 horses. Fires appear to have been less frequent in this latitude 

 —52° 1' N. 



On the 24th, 25th, and 26th July, we were in sight of the 

 magnificent chain of the Bocky Mountains. I here observed a 

 change in the vegetation. The first plants which attracted my 

 attention were the Geum rivale, Polygonum viviparum, two species 

 of Geranivm, &c. Although still 100 miles from the mountains, 

 I am each day in hopes of finding new plants. 



Near a large " coulee" named the " Coulee of Coloured Stones," 

 the prairie is magnificent ; the Astragali especially forming a great 

 ornament to it. There are large patches of different colours, par- 

 ticularly red ; a yellow and a white Astragalus ; a red, a white. 



