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States. The evidence of this is seen in the grooved and 

 polished surface of the rocks, when these are freshly exposed, 

 and in the deposits of boulder clay and gravel which over- 

 spread the country. 



These deposits, over the district traversed by the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway, are not sufficient to entirely cover up the 

 solid rocks ; the general character of the country is 

 rocky with marshy hollows, which are in some cases due 

 to ice-worn hollows in the solid rock, and sometimes to 

 deposits of drift blocking the drainage. In these marshy 

 hollows the vegetation is peculiar, as is described by Mr. 

 Mennell. The whole of this area is unsuited for settlement, 

 the soil being poor and thin, and the woods thick ; but it 

 contains many districts of great natural beauty. The neigh- 

 bourhood of the Lake-of-the-Woods being especially fine. 



(b.) The next zone is that of the Prairies, which stretch 

 across the continent to the " Foot-hills" of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. These Prairies may be divided into three parts. In 

 the East there is the Red River Valley, in which Winnipeg 

 (the old Fort Garry) stands. This is a great plain, opening 

 out to the North to include Lake Winnipeg and the neigh- 

 bouring lakes. It is entirely formed by alluvial deposits of 

 the Red River, and contains some of the most fertile soil in 

 the world. In many farms large crops have been raised 

 continuously for sixty years without any manure. Land 

 of similar character stretches up the North Saskatchewan 

 River; and again, further North-West, along the Peace 

 River. 



The Western limit of the Red River Valley is a low 

 range of hills, the Eastern limit of the 2nd Prairie level on 

 which Regina stands. This Prairie is formed of a variety of 

 drift deposits, mostly loamy and of good quality. A series 

 of hills rise from the plain ; these are mostly formed of 

 gravel, and when so are generally wooded, but the normal 

 character of the Prairie is a vast grassy plain. 



West of Regina we come to another belt of rising land, 

 which extends southwards into the States, and is known as 



