240 ON THE ETHNOGRAPHY AND PHILOLOGY OF THE 
above the junction of that river with the Assiniboin. Nine miles above its mouth, and 
spread along its banks, is a settlement of the Cree half-breeds. 
La Riviere aux Souris owes its origin to springs rising in the Coteau de Prairie, or 
“divide.” ‘This is a long and very crooked stream; so much so, we are informed, that 
after seven days’ travel down it, a distance of not more than thirty miles in a right line 
has been gained. Its length is estimated at six hundred miles; it is from one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty yards wide, but very shallow, and is not navigable except when 
swollen by the spring thaws, when it may be descended with loaded Mackinaws. It joins 
Assiniboin River ninety miles above the mouth of Red River, and there are five trading- 
posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company along its banks. 
These are the principal rivers in the Cree country, although there are many others 
running into these. Along the banks of all, and indeed throughout the whole of this 
immense district, are a great many springs of excellent water, many of which might afford 
power for machinery; others are impregnated with salt, from which an abundant supply 
of this article is obtained by the inhabitants. Nearly all the lakes of the larger class are 
deep enough for good-sized steamers, and are stocked with incredible quantities of fish 
and wild fowl. 
All the territory claimed by the Crees, with the exception of a few square miles near 
its southeastern boundary, is beyond the parallel of 49°, and consequently in the English 
possessions. ‘The general surface of the country is what may be called rolling, though 
there are extensive level prairies in some parts of it. As a whole it forms a gradual descent 
from the base of the Rocky Mountains east of the Missouri, including several mountains 
of smaller note, which give rise to the rivers and creeks running in every direction through 
the interior, thus cutting up the surface. At the base of many of the hills and mountains 
from which springs flow are found marshes, or what are called by the inhabitants “ mus- 
kegs,” of various extent, from a few miles to a day’s travel across, depending upon the 
supply of water by which they are fed, or whether the surface of the ground is level and 
without any indented outlet. These swamps are, for the most part, covered with tall, strong 
grass, growing very thick, six or eight feet high, sometimes with rushes intermingled ; but 
the ground, though humid, is not miry, and can in most places be traversed on horseback. 
All the rivers are well wooded along their margins, and groves occur on the adjoining 
bluffs and for some distance beyond, often extending several miles when the soil is moist 
and adapted to the growth of trees. On the level plains patches of timber are to be met 
with, being more numerous and larger in the northern than in any other part of the dis- 
trict. Although there is more prairie than woodland, it is by no means a barren country, 
and differs materially in quality of soil and appearance from the Dakota lands, which 
continue on the east and southeast, where all the plains are dry and unfruitful. 
