CHAPTER XXXVI. 

 The Klotz Overland Hudson's Bay Expedition. — Continued. 



FROM THE FORKS TO LAKE WINNIPEG — FORT A LA CORNE — CUMBER- 

 LAND HOUSE — THE PAS — CHEMAHAWIN — GRAND RAPIDS — THE 

 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SASKATCHEWAN. 



IpjiROM the Forks, where the Saskatchewan divides into the 

 ^ml north and south branches, to the mouth of the river at Lake 



P Winnipeg, the distance is 41 6£ miles. It was the business 

 o£ Mr. Klotz's party to make a micrometer survey of the 

 river over this distance, and then, after crossing the lake, to follow 

 down the course of the Nelson to Hudson's Bay. The main trunk 

 of the Saskatchewan was pretty well known in a general way ; but 

 the Government were not in possession of anything official pertaining 

 to its peculiarities or the general formation of the adjacent country. 

 Hence the importance of the task. 



In one sense the river may be divided into three sections. First 

 from the Forks to the foot of Tobin's Rapids, a distance of about 

 one hundred and twenty miles. This section is high table land, 

 with considerable timber along the banks, especially on the north. 

 On the south the country is mostly open. The whole district is 

 available for agriculture. The second division is from Tobin's Rapids 

 to Cedar Lake, a distance of about two hundred and twenty-five 

 miles. This is the silt or river-deposit country, a vast area emerging 

 from morasses and lakes, and destined to become equal to the best 

 Manitoba soil, as soon as it is built up high enough. Its western 

 extremity is well wooded and already ripe for agricultural pursuits. 

 The eastern portion is not so well wooded, the banks are lower, and 

 when Cedar Lake is reached the banks of the river are lost in a 

 vast swamp or marsh, especially at high water. Here there is no 



