-204 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii. 



I took some trouble to enquire into this subject, and though I 

 ifound the prevalent belief to be as T have stated, yet I was in- 

 formed of several instances of cattle having been lost in the fall, 

 and, in every case, they had not only survived but had been re- 

 covered in excellent condition in the following spring. 



Such facts speak for themselves : but in any case the question 

 is one of such immense importance to the country, that it seems 

 to me to be well deserving the consideration of the Government 

 "whether it would not be advisable to devote a sum of money for 

 the purpose of practically and thoroughly testing it. The threat- 

 ened and much dreaded Indian trouble in the North-West is, in 

 reality, simply a question of food ; and if this experiment proved 

 successful, it would certainly be the easiest possible means which 

 could be adopted to overcome it. Intoxicated or hungry Indians 

 are dangerous animals, and in this respect they do not differ 

 much from their more civilized white brethern. Remove the 

 causes which produce the intoxication and the hunger, with 

 which they are now periodically afflicted, and I venture to say 

 that very little trouble would be experienced in dealing with the 

 Indians. To convert the plain Indians into tillers of the soil 

 might never be accomplished, but to induce them to undertake 

 pastoral pursuits, would, I conceive, not be attended with similar 

 difficulties. At all events, the experiment is worth a trial ; and 

 m.ay, I think, be said to offer a fair probability of success, if 

 carried out with intelligence and energy. 



With the exception of the limited extent of land which is cul- 

 tivated at the Hudson's Bay posts and at the various Mission 

 stations, no cultivation has yet been undertaken on either of the 

 higher prairie levels. We saw abundant proof, however, at Pitt, 

 Victoria, Edmonton and Prince Albert, of the fitness of the soil 

 and climate for the growth of cereals and of all kinds of vegetables 

 which can be successfully grown elsewhere under similar condi- 

 tions of elevation and climate. It would be impossible in any 

 •other part of the world to find finer barley, wheat, potatoes, tur- 

 iiiips, carrots, onions and cabbages than those we saw growing at 

 V^ictoria and at the St. Albert R. C. Mission station near Edmon- 

 Tton. Even at Rocky Mountain House, a hundred miles nearer 

 the mountains, and according to my observataions 3,432 ft. 

 .above the sea, barley, potatoes, turnips and onions were being 

 vgrown successfully, while on the farm of Mr. McKenzie, 62 miles 

 west of Fort Garry, the crops, which included wheat, barley, 



