Feb. 27, I860.] PALLISER ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 73 



The third Paper read was — 



3. On the Rocky Mountains. By Captain J. Palliser, f.e.g.s. 



Communicated by the Duke of Newcastle, f.r.g.s. 



'These papers refer to the proceedings of Captain Palliser's expe- 

 dition since May, 1859, down to the time of its completion, and to 

 his arrival at Vancouver Island, in the winter of that year. 



His party left their winter quarters at Edmonton earlier than 

 would otherwise have been desirable, on account of a great scarcity 

 of provisions. It was not until May 11 that he fell in with buffalo 

 and was able to resupply himself with stores of pemmican. 



Owing to Mr. Palliser having been in the Blackfoot country both 

 in the summer of 1858 and in the winter of 1858-9, he was well 

 known and unmolested by the natives. Dr. Hector, also, had 

 acquired great influence among them by his medical skill. The 

 consequence is, as Captain Palliser says, " We have now travelled 

 through the whole of their territories (Blackfeet and Blood Indians), 

 a portion of country hitherto considered so dangerous as to be almost 

 impracticable, and we have neither had a horse stolen nor a gun 

 pointed at us by any of these tribes. However, I do not wish to 

 infer that a total stranger would be equally safe, nor that any one 

 accompanied by a military force (unless that force were a very large 

 one) would also be safe." These Indians lie in very large camps 

 of from 400 to 600 tents. 



Captain Palliser was much disappointed with the character of the 

 district lying between the meridian 107° 30' and 112°, on the 

 south branch of the Saskatchewan : his expectations had been that it 

 would afford a most desirable place for settlers, but he finds it to be 

 ill watered, barren of grass and bare of timber, and it is only in a 

 few places here and there, where the land rises 300 or 400 feet 

 above the plain, that the vegetation improves. The Cyprees 

 Mountains, in lat. 49° 38', long. 111°, are well watered, timbered, 

 and fairly stocked with game. Here the party encamped and 

 hunted, and from here Dr. Hector was despatched on a branch ex- 

 pedition to re- explore the pass he discovered last year, and to look 

 for a road to the valleys of the Eraser and Thompson Eivers. 



As it ultimately proved, this route is not a practicable one. Dr. 

 Hector was entangled in vast forests of extraordinary density, and it 

 was only with the greatest exertions that he even succeeded in 

 forcing himself through it and in avoiding being caught by the 

 winter snows. 



Captain Palliser, accompanied by Mr. Sullivan, followed the boun- 



G 2 



