74 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



is primarily a description of the Canadian Rockies, the finest scenery 

 on the continent south of Alaska ; but it is enlivened by many interest- 

 ing narratives of exploration, and with accurate descriptions of forests, 

 trees, flowers, and animals. The region explored lies in the vicinity 

 of Lake Louise and Banff and the wonderful country lying between 

 and south of the Bow River. This region, which is the cream of the 

 mountains, is now easily accessible to tourists by means of excellent 

 mountain trails and a system of splendid hotels maintained by the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway. A large part is included in the Canadian 

 National Park. Some idea of the stoical Indian mind is given in an 

 incident when one of the party slipped and nearly lost his life. When 

 being carried back to camp the stony Indian guide attempted to con- 

 sole him by this remark: "You think you die? ]\Ie think so too!" 

 However, the man recovered. 



Accurate descriptions are given of the forests and trees, but chiefly 

 from the standpoint of the physiography of the country and of the 

 artistic impressions. "The trees are spruce, balsam, and pine. On the 

 sunny south-facing slops there are a few large Douglas firs which pene- 

 trate the lower mountain valleys from the foothills, but do not live at 

 much higher altitudes than that of Banff, which is 4,500 feet. The 

 open glades are filled with small aspen poplars, willows, and birches, 

 which are practically the only deciduous trees. The scrub-birch 

 (Bctula glandulosa) is rarely absent from any mountain meadow. 

 The white spruce (Picea cngelmanni) is found everywhere through- 

 out the mountains, from the lowest altitudes to the highest limits of 

 tree growth. . . . The balsam spruce [Alpine fir] {Abies subal- 

 pina) has about the same range as the white spruce, but is less com- 

 mon. . . . There are two kinds of pine, black pine [lodgepole] 

 (Piniis murrayana) , which cannot endure high altitudes, and the white- 

 barked pine {P. albicaulis), which is found on rocky slopes at greater 

 heights. . . . The most interesting and by far the most beautiful 

 conifer is Lyall's larch (Larix lyaUi). . . . It is restricted to the 

 summit range of the Rockies and its southern limits have not been de- 

 termined. ... It rarely lives at altitudes below 6,000 feet, the 

 extreme range being 5,600 to 7,600 feet. Probably no other tree in 

 the world endures such stress of weather. The Douglas fir is only 

 found in the foothills east of the mountains or in valleys which are less 

 than 5,000 feet above tide. Here it is found in company with the 

 aspen poplar (Populus trctnnloidcs) and the cottonwood (P. balsam- 

 ifcra)!' The hemlocks occur only west of the Columbia River, in the 



