In North- West Canada. 137 



usually dry ; June is the rainy season ; July and August the 

 hot months, and during these the growth of all plants is mar- 

 vellously vigorous and quick. The autumn is cool, 'dry and in- 

 vigorating, the very weather for harvesting. The rivers and 

 lakes freeze in November, and open for navigation in April, 

 December is clear and cold, but little snow. January and 

 February are the coldest months, and storms may be looked 

 for occasionally. March is sunny and broken by thaws. Dur- 

 ing the greater part of winter, the air is remarkably still. 

 The thermometer may sink to 50 degrees below zero, but 

 people properly clad experience no inconvenience, and team- 

 ing, logging, and rock-cutting go on to as great an extent as 

 in the eastern provinces. 



A few difficulties may be mentioned, such as local hailstorms 

 in August and September, which damage the crops sometimes; 

 terrific thunder and lightning, mosquitoes, especially near 

 swamps, grasshoppers from the great American desert, occa- 

 sional summer-frosts, and alkali, or an impure sulphate of 

 sodium in the soil, over large tracts of country, particularly in 

 the heavier clay lands, must also be taken into account, but 

 these have been magnified. As to the last, farmers now con- 

 sider a little alkali in the soil beneficial. It brings cereals to 

 maturity earlier, and tends to stiflfen and shorten the straw, 

 thus enabling it to stand the high winds. The chief difficulty 

 is to keep it out of the wells. In a word, emigrants with 

 small means need not expect to become wealthy suddenly. 

 They can, with frugality and industry, attain to independence 

 in Manitoba in a shorter time than in Eastern Canada. Then, 

 as to the Indians, they are gradually disappearing before the 

 stronger races. Bred and reared in poverty and dirt, and hav- 

 ing generally the taint of hereditary disease, they are, as a rule, 

 short-lived. The Government has appointed instructors well 

 supplied with implements, seed and cattle, to teach them farm- 

 ing by precept and example, but the poor creatures do not take 

 kindly to steady work. They are seen at their best when they 

 assemble at the appointed rendezvous to receive their treaty 

 money ; faces daubed with bright paint, and the Union Jack 



