Gypsum Deposits in Northern Manitoba. 355 
this rough country, gypsum may be seen in numerous out- 
crops, being usually soft and crumbling from the effect of 
weathering, but in some cases it is still quite hard. The 
height of the tops of the knolls in this hilly area is about 
thirty-five feet above the eastern level plain, or sixty feet 
above Lake St. Martin. The breadth of the hilly country 
was not determined, but an Indian who accompanied us 
stated that it extended in a south-westerly direction, as 
far as a certain point on our journey of that day, which 
was about a mile and a half distant from where we were 
then standing, beyond which the level country began again. 
In a north-westerly direction the ridge was followed for 
two miles further, to a rather conspicuous hill a short dis- 
tance north of the Ninth Base Line in section 2, township 
33, range 9, west of the Principal Meridian. In this dis- 
tance it appeared to be broken through by considerable gaps 
in several places, but where it was well marked, it 
invariably showed the irregular surface so characteristic of 
country underlain by gypsum deposits. In many places, 
small caves would extend in from the bottoms or sides of 
the pits, some of which held beautifully clear, cold water, a 
luxury of which we were able to appreciate the value, after 
tramping for the greater part of a sweltering July day 
through meadows, forests and swamps, where the mosqui- 
toes and black flies did not attempt to treat us any the more 
tenderly because we were strangers. 
This country is a famous winter hunting-ground for the 
Indians, forin the autumn the bears retire to these caves, as 
being comfortable quarters in which to pass the time until 
the following spring,and many of them are killed every year. 
Around the mouths of several of the caves could be seen 
marks of the axe, where the hunter had been obliged to 
widen the entrances to the cave to be able to get into it to 
secure his prey. The thickness of the exposures of gypsum 
in these holes and caves was nowhere very great, ranging 
as a rule from three feet to six feet six inches, but in none 
of them was the total thickness of the deposit seen. 
The hill at the furthest point to which the ridge was fol- 
