"No. 4.] SELWYX — THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 201 



Many of the lakes which we passed between Fort Ellice and 

 €arlton, especially some of those in the Touchwood Hills, seem 

 to be as well suited for fish as others do where they abound, 

 and the cause of their partial and irregular distribution in 

 the country is not very apparent, though perhaps a careful 

 investio-atiou of the character of the waters in the difi"erent lakes 

 would afford a satisfactory explanation of the circumstance. West- 

 'ward from the summit of the ascent to the second prairie steppe 

 >of Palliser, the eastern slope of which forms the long range of low- 

 hills extending from the Pembina Mountains to the Basquia Hills 

 near Cumberland House, and including the Riding, Duck and 

 Porcupine Mountains, the country on the route which we travell- 

 ed, especially after crossing the Assiniboine River at Fort Ellice, 

 is generally undulating or rolling, and often hilly : some of the 

 :hills rise to from 200-300 feet, and occasionally to as much as 

 -400 feet above the general level of the prairie, and afford from 

 their summits extensive views of the surrounding country which 

 everywhere presents a park-like aspect ; belts, patches and clumps 

 of woodland with intervening grassy meadows, or wide stretches of 

 open prairie interspersed with countless lakes and pools, are seen 

 •on all sides, while the wonderful variety and beauty of the flower- 

 ing plants, roses, lillies, gentians, lark-spur, a beautiful purple, 

 aromatic mint like plant, buffalo-root, varieties of sunflowers and 

 a host of others, lend an additional charm to the beauties of this pic- 

 turesquely lovely landscape. 



The ridges, which do not appear to maintain any constant 

 -direction or parallelism, as well as the hills, are all covered 

 ■with drift sand and gravel, and scattered over them, resting 

 on their flanks and summits, or partially imbedded in the 

 soil, are numbers of angular ice-borne boulders or rock masses 

 of enormous dimensions, consisting of limestone, granite, 

 gneiss, mica schist and other metamorphic rocks. Absolutely 

 level and open plains constitute but a small proportion of 

 the total area of the region, while by far the larger part of it 

 may be described as a vast billowy plain without either deep val- 

 leys or prominent hills. Besides the lakes which have streams 

 constantly flowing out of them, and which all contain fresh water, 

 there are others, far more numerous, holding water of almost 

 every degree of saltness. Some of these saline lakes are as much 

 as three, four or five miles in length and often from one to two 

 miles wide. They occur either in isolated, irregular basin- 



