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NOTES ON MANITOBA. 
NOTES ON THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF MANITOBA 
AND THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES. 
FroM OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING EXPLORATIONS IN 1872, 1875, AND 1879. 
BY JOHN MACOUN, M.A. 
The region to which the following remarks will mainly apply is 
bounded on the south by parallel of Lat. 49°; on the north by parallel 
of Lat. 60°; on the east by meridian 95°; on the west by the line 
of the Rocky Mountains. An area, in round numbers, of 667,600 
square miles. 
For many years this vast region was almost a blank on our maps 
—little was known of it, either by Englishmen or Canadians, beyond 
the fact that furs were obtained therefrom. It was not so, however, 
_ with the Americans. More than twenty years ago they recognized 
its value, foretold its great future, and even described it as the pro- 
spective granary of the world. 
In 1857, Capt. Palliser was commissioned by the British Govern- 
ment to examine the country south of the 54th parallel. Commencing 
his examination at the international boundary, in the vicinity of the 
Red River, he made a few traverses and reached Fort Ellice late in 
season. Proceeding up the right bank of the Qu’ Appelle to its head, 
he crossed the South Saskatchewan and proceeded northward to 
Carlton, where he wintered. In June, 1858, he turned to the south- 
west and spent the summer on the Great Plains, wintering that year 
at Edmonton. © In the following spring he again proceeded south to 
the boundary, but afterwards passed to the west into British Columbia. 
He reported in very favorable terms of the northern portion of the 
country that he had traversed, but of the southern portion he spoke 
much less favorably—alleging that running water was very scarce ; 
that no wood was to be seen except in the river valleys; and, that 
owing to the enormous herds of buffalo which covered the plains at 
that time, feed in many places was poor. 
As far as public opinion was concerned the only immediate result 
of this exploration was that a certain district in the north became 
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