650 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
the Mackenzie, into the Arctic Ocean. Between the headwaters of these tribu- 
taries of the Mackenzie and the sources of the Missouri, is interposed a network 
of streams that flow eastward into Lake Winnipeg and the Red River of the 
North, and, distributed from thence into the great lakes and Hudson's Bay, find 
their way into the Atlantic. Of these streams the most considerable is the Sas- 
katchewan, the northern branch of which rises a little to the north of Athabasca 
Pass, at about the 53d parallel, and, uniting with the southern fork, flows into 
Lake Winnipeg. On the western side of the mountains the rivers which seem 
pertinent to the subject are the Columbia and Frazer's Rivers; the former of 
which draws tribute through its northern and southern branches throughout a 
region extending from the 40th to the 5 2d parallel — from Athabasca Pass on the 
the north to Fremont's Peak on the south. Gathering from this immense scope 
of mountain and plain a mighty flood, this river rolls its united waters westward 
and enters the Pacific about 120 miles south of Vancouver's Island. Frazer's 
River rises within Athabasca Pass and, flowing first northeast then southwest, 
empties in the gulf that separates Vancouver's Island from the mainland. Be- 
tween the Columbia and Frazer's River, formed by thern into a peninsula of 
wonderful beauty and fertility, guarded on the west by the sea and on the east 
by the escarpments of the Rocky Mountains, lies a region which was probably 
one of the earliest homes if not the cradle land of the Mound-builders. The 
mountain barrier which forms the eastern limit of this mesopotamian country is 
traversed by several passes, among which are those of Athabasca and Kananaski. 
Of these, the former is accessible by way of both the rivers named — one even 
rising within its gorge — and the latter is contiguous to the northern sources of 
the Columbia. Thus it would naturally result from traversing these rivers to 
their fountain-heads, that the passes referred to would be discovered; and they 
certainly would be utilized if the wandering instinct should tempt the discoverers 
to a passage of the mountains. Between the northern and southern branches of 
the Columbia, the country is, for the most part, rugged and uninviting ; full of 
difficulties for the traveller, yet presenting, now and then, spots of singular love- 
liness and fertility. In the region thus described portions of British Columbia, 
Oregon and Idaho and all of Washington Territory are comprised — a theatre 
more extensive and more varied in character than ancient Egypt, Chaldgea, Greece 
or India. 
In the northern part of this region, on Vancouver's Island and the neigh- 
boring mainland, remains exist in considerable profusion, which have been de- 
clared identical with mounds and earthworks found in the Mississippi basin. 
Indeed, if the newspapers can be trusted, it is in this vicinity that the mound- 
builders left their most stupenduous work — a mound 300 feet high and 900 feet 
square at the base. I know that the exploration of this region has not been either 
thorough or very intelHgent, yet no candid student can reject the evidence at 
hand, which needs only be credited to establish the presence at this point on the 
Pacific coast of characteristic remains of the Mound-builders. Northward, how- 
ever, of this locality, passing travellers have noticed analogous remains extending 
