22 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May 



and agriculture. The agricultural portion, namely, that within 

 the basin of the Peace and Athabasca rivers, has been widelv 

 advertised as "The Last West," and is being graduallv settled 

 up. This portion of the Mackenzie basin, together with that 

 immediately to the north of it as far as the Liard river, contains 

 the greatest area of unoccupied agricultural country in Canada, 

 and it is the direction in which Canadian expansion in agri- 

 cultural pursuits is bound to take place. 



The northern and eastern portion, however, is still largely 

 unexplored and, while it is never likelv to support a large agri- 

 cultural population, offers a vast field of possibh^ great value to 

 the prospector and the mining man. 



To develop the Mackenzie basin, railway companies are 

 building lines into it from the south, one going north-westward 

 from Edmonton into the Peace river, and another down the 

 Athabasca river, and still others are asking for charters to cross 

 it from Hudson bay to the Pacific. Its magnificent system of 

 waterways, with thousands of miles of river and lake navigation, 

 combined with the transportation that will be afforded by the 

 proposed railway lines, will make the development of the more 

 accessible parts a quick and easy matter. 



Although it is more than 100 3^ears since the first explorer 

 descended the Mackenzie river to its mouth, yet at the present 

 time practically all we know of most of the region north of 

 Athabasca lake is confined to the valleys of the main streams 

 and the shores of the Great Lakes, and that knowledge is very 

 imperfect. The vast extent of country lying between the river 

 courses is still virtually unknown, except to the Indians. What 

 those portions of the country contain in the way of mineral 

 resources it is impossible to say and unsafe to hazard a guess, in 

 view of the surprises we have already received in opening up 

 similar country in northern Ontario. 



Twenty-five years ago the basin of the Mackenzie was the 

 subject of an investigation by a select committee of the Senate 

 of Canada. The report of that committee summarizes the 

 information that was available at that time on its climate, 

 inhabitants and natural resources. That information is valuable 

 to-day, but little new information has since been obtained on a 

 great part of the region. The time is at hand, therefore, when we 

 should endeavour to learn more about this region. 



Physical Features. 

 The Mackenzie river is on the Arctic watershed, draining 

 an area of 682,000 square miles, a territory covering about one- 

 fifth of the total area of Canada. 



