SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 41 



ments frequently spread in dry weather, and burn away the 

 grass to a great distance. We may therefore consider fire 

 as the cause of the continuance, if not of the original ex- 

 istence, of prairies, at least over much of our country ; but 

 there are some parts, and in this class we would be induced 

 to include the country on Red river, where the great 

 drought, the want of streams to moisten the soil, and perhaps 

 some other causes, unite in preventing the growth of trees. 



The settlement of Pembina is situated on Red river, 

 about one hundred and seventy miles above its mouth. 

 The river is here only fifty yards wide, but its depth 

 is very considerable ; in the middle of the stream not 

 less than from ten to twenty feet; it is deeply incased, 

 which prevents the water from overflowing the country, 

 though its swells are considerable. An old trader, who has 

 resided there for upwards of forty years, informed us, that 

 he had once witnessed a flood which covered the banks ; 

 the water having risen sixty-six feet. The usual rises are 

 from fifteen to twenty feet. 



The principal inhabitant of the place, Mr. Nolen, being 

 apprized of our arrival, furnished us the means of crossing 

 the river, and entertained us several times at his house 

 during our stay in his vicinity. We are indebted to him 

 for much polite attention. 



Pembina constituted the upper settlement made on the 

 tract of land granted to the late Lord Selkirk by the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company. It may be well to observe, that by 

 virtue of a charter from Charles the Second, granted in 

 1670, to Prince Rupert and others, constituting the "ho- 

 nourable Hudson's Bay Company," the whole of the British 

 dominions lying contiguous to Hudson's Bay or its tribu- 

 taries, has been claimed by that company, not only as re- 

 gards the monopoly of the fur trade, but also as respects 



