2G JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



There is a story told of an engineer who was called upon to 

 draw a map of this river. When it was completed he found that 

 he had tied a knot in it, making it cross itself. Of course this is 

 an exaggeration, but it goes to show how ver}- crooked the river is. 



These rivers that flow through soft material are ver}' muddy. 

 They are in great contrast to the St. Lawrence in this respect. 

 There is no river to compare with the St. Lawrence for deep vivid 

 green. But the western rivers are very muddy — the farther down 

 one you get the muddier it becomes. The higher the water the 

 muddier they are. In the flood season you need to let the water 

 stand some time and settle before you can drink it, though there is 

 no truth in the saying that you have to close your teeth tightly, 

 when drinking, to keep the pebbles out. The water, however, is 

 very wholesome after it has been allowed to settle. 



The rivers flow^ through flat countries for some distance, but 

 they are somewhat navigable. There is one region along the 

 Saskatchewan that is very interesting, for the reason that it is gold- 

 bearing. No very large quantities have been found, however. 

 The gold found there is very fine, for it has to come a long way. 

 The fact is that the Saskatchewan gold never came from the Rocky 

 Mountains, and in fact its origin has never yet been accounted for. 

 A theory is that this gold came from the Selkirk Mountains, which 

 are gold-bearing everywhere, that it came down before the Rockies 

 existed. It is not an improbable theory. The Rockies have been 

 raised since the Selkirks, and the Saskatchewan cut its way down 

 through mountains rising many thousand feet. 



The greatest river of the plains is still to be mentioned. That 

 is the Mackenzie. It is the greatest river of Canada and carries 

 more water than the St. Lawrence, the only one in America to sur- 

 pass it being the Mississippi, and that onl}- in length, but not in 

 volume of water. The Mackenzie has the same bad habits as the 

 St. Lawrence. A glance at the Great Lakes will show what those 

 are. It passes under many different names. This gives rise to 

 disputes as to the headwaters. Some sa)' that .'\thabasca is the 

 headwater of the Mackenzie — it carries out the direction better. 

 Perhaps the Peace River is its origin, and not the Athabasca. 



