540 



NATURE 



{Atigust 7, 1884 



NOTES ON THE CANADIAN NORTH 'WEST 



'"pHE excursion to the Rocky Mountains, along the 

 -l Canadian Pacific Railroad, will probably prove a 

 !< 1 ittractive feature in connection with the British 

 Association meeting this season. Living on the cars for 

 several successive days and nights is a novel experience 

 for most people, and one, it might be supposed, that 

 would prove monotonous : but the alternation of forest. 

 Like, prairie, and mountain scenery, each with its asso- 

 iated pei uliarities, will probably prevent the trip becom- 

 ing at all tedious. Some members of the Association 

 may prefer taking the route through the United States to 

 Winnipeg, but from thence all will proceed through the 

 rich wheat lands of Manitoba, then over the rolling 

 prairies west of Brandon, with their numerous alkali 

 lakes and relatively unproductive soil beyond Moosejaw ; 

 through the cattle-ranching district at the eastern base of 

 the Rock\' Mountains, and up the winding How Valley to 

 the summit-level in the Kicking Horse Pas,. Here at 

 Stephen, on the confines of British Columbia, the railway 

 terminates for the present. 



On crossing the prairies for the hist time, many inter- 

 esting peculiarities will arrest the attention ; perhaps none 

 so strongly as the general flatness and absence of timber, 

 which as a rale onlj occurs skirting the rivers, or as a low 

 51 rib in certain wet or marshy lands, or in scattered in- 

 dividuals along the dry sand and gravel ndges. These 

 are probably the pati hes of country that escape the prairie 

 fires, ou ing to the vegetation being either too damp ortoo 

 scanty to support a conflagration. \ 1 

 is luxuriant, especially on the rich lands, where the grasses 

 grow tn a great height. The soil is mostly a rich black 

 loam of variable thickness, accumulating by the annual 

 decay of the grasses or by the ash fro 1 hi The 



loam is thickest on those flat lands with clay subsoil that 

 lie south of the Manitoba likes : in the arid districts of 

 the western sections it becomes very light. 



The subsoil is for the most part stratified sand and sub- 

 angular gravel, winch often contain large boulders of 

 - and quartz ; it appears to be in a great measure of 

 glacial origin ; but in many places, as in the vicinity of 

 Winnipeg, the subsoil is a stiff brown clay which is pro- 

 bably the tilling of an ancient lake : it is seen in the 

 banks of the Red River and Assiniboine. In the high 

 banks of tin Saskatchewan at Medicine Hat the clay has 

 more the appearance of a stiff boulder-clay. 



A few miles up the River Saskatchewan from Medicine 

 Hat there is an important outcropping of coal ; another 

 seam is exposed on the Bow River near Crowfoot Creek ; 

 but the most import mi is that on the Belly River, where 

 there are active collieries, the fuel being conveyed down 

 the river to Medicine Hat, whence it is distributed along 

 the line of railway. These fuels are lignitic in charai ter, 

 anil are considered to be either of later Cretaceous or 

 early Tertiary age. They come to the surface in many 

 localities, and evidently underlie a large portion of the 

 western plains. Adjacent to the eastern face of the 

 Rocky Mountains the strata in which the coals reappi ai 

 are more indurated and highly inclined, and some of the 

 beds contain silicified wood. 



In the section of country between Moosejaw and Medi- 

 cine Hat alkali lakes are numerous: the smaller ones 

 evaporate during the dry season, leaving a flat surface 

 covered by a thick, white, glistening deposit : from this 

 district fine specimens of selenite are obtainable. Pro- 

 bably some of the largest of these bitter lakes are those 

 called the Old Wives Lakes, which lie in a large, sterile 

 depression, on Le Grand Coteau du Missouri, evidently 

 representing the site of a former large inland sea. The 

 fresh-water lakes and marshes, locally numerous 

 the track, generally teem with wild fowl. In mam of 

 'hem also the tall elevation of reeds, formed by the musk- 

 rat, may be seen. 



Of other animal life on the plains there is a great ab- 

 sence. However, the so-called "blackbird'' or purple 

 crakle {Quiscalus) is locally very abundant ; during the 

 early season they keep in pairs, but, on the ripening of 

 the corn, immense flocks of them congregate about it ; 

 prairie chicken are also numerous, but of other birds 

 there are very few. Snakes abound in some places ; they 

 are constantly to be seen basking in the sun along the 

 railway track. Of mammals the most frequent is the little 

 Gopher or " prairie dog." Almost the only other visible 

 quadrupeds are foxes and a few antelope. 



Of the former great numbers of the now practically ex- 

 terminated buffalo there is abundance of evidence. Their 

 wallowing holes and runs are seen in all directions ; 

 the latter, narrow furrow-like tracks, stretch in straight 

 lines across the plains, being most numerous in the 

 vicinity of water. Bleached bones and skeletons, which 

 he scattered about in great profusion, testify to the whole- 

 sale destruction effected, chiefly by the Indians and half- 

 breeds. On the introduction of modern repeating rifles 

 whole bands of buffaloes were ruthlessly slaughtered, 

 solely for their tongues and skins, ami often nothing save 

 the tongues were taken from the carcasses. 



This indiscriminate destruction has reduced the Indian 

 of the plains to a state of the most abject poverty and 

 destitution, for formerly most of his wants were supplied 

 by the buffalo : now he is wholly dependent on the 

 Canadian Government, which allows .1 grant to each 

 individual for his support, amounting in all to about 

 200,000/. per annum. Alcohol is not permitted amongst 

 them, and there is a very heavy penalty for bringing in- 

 toxicating liquors into the North-West Territories. Of 

 the various tribes, Sioux, Crees, and Assiniboines are met 

 on tin eastern portions of the plains ; the Blackfoot re- 

 serve is situated near the Blackfoot crossing on the Bow 

 River, where an Indian supply farm has been established. 



The Sa :si rve is near Calgary; and at Morley the 



Stonys have their reserve ; the latter, however, migrate into 

 the mountains early in the season, and spend the summer 

 in hunting ; and although game is now very scarce, they 

 are better off in this respect than their brethren of the 

 plains. From these they differ greatly in physique, being 

 shorter and more thick-set. They are more tractable 

 than many of the other tribes, and a mission has been for 

 some time established among them at Morley. 



The country of the plains does not appear to be wholly 

 adapted for agricultural purposes ; Manitoba and a great 

 part of Assiniboia are very rich, producing magnificent 

 orn ; but the most fertile belt appears to stretch 

 away from Brandon towards Edmonton, the line of the 

 railway traversing a less fertile district to the south. West 

 of Moosejaw the agricultural prospects are indifferent, 

 and in many cases very poor. About Calgary the season 

 is short, but a good deal of cattle-ranching has been done, 

 and the district is considered well suited for it, although 

 two years ago about 75 per cent, of the imported cattle 

 died : tins mortality seems to have been the effect of 

 bringing cattle from lower latitudes late in the season, as, 

 on arriving, they were in such a poor condition that they 

 were unable to bear the winter, which that year set in 

 unusually early, and was particularly severe. 



Further north, towards Edmonton, the climate is not 

 considered to be so harsh as about Calgary : this is 

 probably owing to the lower altitude of the mountains 

 permitting the warm Pacific winds to be more beneficial. 

 Beyond Calgary the railway follows the valley of the 

 P.ow River through the district of the Foot PI ills for a dis- 

 tance of about fifty miles, when it enters the Rocky Moun- 

 tain by the Bow Pass at Padmore, or the Gap. Between 

 Calgary and the mountains the character of the country 

 1-. very different from the prairie districts: the surface is 

 hilly, with patches of pine forest. The strata are more 

 indurated and folded, being often highly inclined. 

 Several well-marked river-terraces can be traced along 



