1914] The Ottawa Naturalist. 31 



It is difficult to over-estimate the value of the waterways 

 of the Mackenzie basin, not only to the region itself but to Canada 

 as a whole. They constitute an asset of the first importance in 

 the development of the natural resources of the region. Not 

 only have they been the channels of trade and exploration in 

 the past, but they will continue to be in the future the means by 

 which further exploration, settlement and development will be 

 carried out. In the early history of the region the waterways 

 formed the routes by which the explorers traversed the country, 

 and while, at the present time, most of the main streams have 

 been explored, yet there are vast areas between these main 

 streams, aggregating 240,000 square miles in extent, that are 

 still unknowm and the smaller streams and watercourses con- 

 stitute the easiest and only natural means by which these areas 

 are to be explored. To-day, with hardly any exceptions, the 

 settlements of the region are situated on the waterways, and for 

 a long time to come these waterways will determine the location 

 of the centres of population in the region. No doubt, in the 

 future, mining camps ma}- be opened up in the interstream 

 areas and agricultural communities formed in sections where 

 the land is suitable, as is now being done in the south-western 

 portion of the region, but in the early stages of development 

 and growth of either of these two classes of communities, the 

 watercourses must be used before other routes of travel are 

 opened up. 



Railways will eventually be built into the region from the 

 south, and this period is now beginning for the extreme southern 

 fringe of the Mackenzie basin, but unless there is some extra- 

 ordinary mineral development in the northern part of the basin, 

 the limit northward, to which the future railways will extend, 

 will be determined by the limit at which successful farming 

 operations can be carried on, for, except in certain exceptional 

 cases, the products of agriculture furnish the bulk of the traffic 

 for the railway lines. 



Until these railways are built, however, water transporta- 

 tion must be practically the only means by which the traffic 

 of the region is handled, and, indeed, the building of railway 

 lines will by no means do away with the navigation of the lakes 

 and rivers, when there is such a magnificent s^^stem of water- 

 ways, because of the difference in the cost of the one method of 

 transportation over the other. 



Of course, on account of the climate, it is not possible to 

 navigate the lakes and rivers of the region for a longer period 

 than four to five months of the year. On the other hand, how- 



