ATHABASCA RIVEK. 201 



Indeed, it seems to be high up on the water-shed which 

 separates the Mackenzie valley from the basin of Hudson's 

 Bay. 



According to Captain Lefroy's measurements and esti- 

 mates. Me thy Lake is about 1,540 feet above the sea; and 

 I ascertained the summit of Methy Portage road to be 188 

 feet higher than the lake ; Avhile the Washacummow, or 

 Clear-water River, on the north side of the portage, is 590 

 feet below it, and by my calculations 910 feet above the 

 sea. From Methy Portage westwards, the country, though 

 deeply furrowed by river courses and ravines, and more or 

 less thickly wooded, partakes so much of a prairie cha- 

 racter that horsemen may travel over it to Lesser Slave 

 Lake and the Saskatchewan. At the junction of the 

 Washacummow with the Elk, the channel of the river is 

 sunk 925 feet below the summit of the portage, which 

 may be assumed as near the mean level of the district, and 

 is 1,688 feet above the sea.* 



The Athabasca, Red Deer {La Biche), or Elk River, 

 the most southerly feeder of the Mackenzie, originates in 

 the Rocky Mountains near Mount Browne, which is said 

 to rise 15,000 feet above the sea, and, flowing through 

 prairie lands, receives the waters of Lesser Slave Lake, 

 whose axis crosses its general course, and afterwards those 

 of Red Deer Lake. Its bed is in many places deeply cut 

 beneath the level of the prairie plateau, which is not 

 separated by any marked ridge from the Saskatchewan 

 prairie country. Further north, the wide-spreading sources 

 of the Peace River drain the Rocky Mountain chain for 

 four degrees of latitude, and the trunk formed by their 

 union curves across the slope to join the Athabasca a 



* See Narrative, Vol.1, p. 114. Captain Lefroy's estimate of the 

 height of Methy Lake exceeds mine by 40 feet. 



