Introduction 9 



The Third Prairie Steppe, or Coteau du Missouri, is far 

 beyond our limits, except for the Turtle Mountain, which, 

 rising some 500 feet above the plain to the east of it, is more 

 than 2,000 feet above the sea, and is a sort of island or eastern 

 outlier of the Third Prairie Steppe, which extends to the foot 

 of the Rocky Mountains. 



Salt Springs. 



In Professor Macoun's book, "Manitoba and the Great 

 Northwest,"^ I find the following: *' Numerous salt springs 

 are found in connection with them [the Devonian Rocks]. 



"The subjoined list of those known to occur on Lakes Mani- 

 toba and Winnipegosis may tend to excite interest in these 

 extensive deposits: 



1. Crane River, Lake Manitoba. 



2. Waterhen River, Dickson's Landing. 



3. Salt Point, east side of Lake Winnipegosis. 



4. Salt Springs, Lake Winnipegosis. 



5. Pine River, Lake Winnipegosis. 



6. Rivers near Duck Bay. 



7. Turtle River, Lake Dauphin. 



8. Swan or Shoal River, two localities. 



9. Salt River, flowing into Dawson Bay. 



10. Numerous salt springs and bare, saturated tracts of 

 many acres in extent on Red Deer River, which flows into the 

 head of Dawson Bay, Lake Winnipegosis. For ten miles up 

 this river, salt springs are quite frequent, and in former years 

 excellent salt was collected in three places, where it formed a 

 crust on the surface of the ground. Some springs were ex- 

 amined where a respectable rivulet of strong brine issued from 

 them, as clear as crystal, and evidently quite pure. All the 

 springs and marshes seen were bordered with seaside plants, and 

 one of them, which has never been found from the sea coast be- 

 fore in America, was found in abundance. The plant referred 



* Manitoba and the Great Northwest, 1883, p. 400. 



