No. 4.] SELWYN — THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 20S 



sized white bircli trees. On the English River, and thence 

 westward, both alons: the banks of the Saskatchewan and of the 

 northern tributaries, spruce, pine and tamarack of small size are 

 tolerably abundant. Along the river, above Edmonton, large- 

 spruce timber is plentiful and is annually cut in considerable 

 quantities, and floated down the river for the supply of the posts 

 and settlements below, as far as Carlton. 



The greatest extent of uniformly rich soil in all this vast region^ 

 is certainly to be found on the first prairie steppe, which stretches 

 in an almost level plain westward from Red River for about 

 eighty miles to the base of the hills already mentioned as extend- 

 ing from Pembina, in a northerly direction to near Cumber- 

 land Lake on the Saskatchewan. Its lesser elevation, probably 

 in no part exceeding 750 feet above sea-level, renders it still 

 more favorable for the cultivation of wheat and other products 

 liable to injury by early and late frosts. The general luxuriance 

 of the vegetation, however, both on the second and third steppes,, 

 over many hundreds of miles, at heights varying from 1,500 to 

 2,500 feet, amply testifies to the exceeding richness and fertility 

 of the soil. Even on the hills and ridges where for the most 

 part somewhat lighter and shallower soil prevails, and which 

 might not be well suited for cultivation, there is, with few excep- 

 tions, an abundant growth of the most nutritious grasses and 

 herbs, on which all kinds of cattle thrive admirably ; while in the 

 low lying flats and swamp beds an abundant supply of the finest 

 hay can readily be secured for winter fodder in case of need- 

 At present there are very few cattle in the country, and it is cus- 

 tomary to house them and feed them on hay during the winter,, 

 the prevailing belief being that they cannot otherwise survive. 

 There is, however, every reason to believe that this is a mistake;, 

 and that if a hardy race of cattle, suitable to the climate, were 

 introduced, they would speedily become acclimated, and not only 

 be able to survive, but that they would thrive through the win- 

 ter without the aid of artificial feeding and shelter ; and if so,, 

 vast herds might soon be reared on these rich and boundless pas- 

 tures, reanimating the now deserted feeding grounds of the buf- 

 falo, and not only becoming a source of large profit to the settler^ 

 but also afibrding a ready and cheap means of providing for the 

 Indians, who are now frequently reduced to the verge of starva- 

 tion, owing to the annually increasing scarcity of the bufi'alo, upoa. 

 \vhich they are at present entirely dependent. 



