E. Petitot on the Athabasca District 41 



map of those two great estuaries as accurately as possible, pre- 

 serving the local names of the lakes and water-ways. This map 

 is, indeed, the chief result of my labors. 



Besides these vast deltas there are other lands, on the left bank 

 of the Slave River, perfectly fit for cultivation ; this is indeed 

 proved by the old settlement of the Beaulieu family on the banks of 

 the Salt River ; but the settlers there would have to struggle 

 against inextricable forests, and an entire want of roads or other 

 communications, without mentioning other serious incon- 

 veniences. 



But there is in the Athabasca district a belt not overrun by 

 forest, and which has nothing to fear from periodical inunda- 

 tions ; where timber only grows sufficiently for the needs of colo- 

 nists, and is rarely a mechanical obstacle; well covered with 

 undergrowth and grass, capable of cultivation, crossed by a wag- 

 gon-track, watered by streams, stocked with fish-bearing lakes, 

 and offering every facility and advantage for the construction of 

 a railroad. I refer to the zone of natural prairie along the Rocky 

 Mountains, from the mountains of the Upper Saskatchewan to 

 the banks of the Hay River, one of the feeders of the Great Slave 

 Lake. I have been told by very many persons who have 

 travelled over the Great Prairie, by which name this fertile belt 

 is known, that it comprises every condition requisite for settle- 

 ment, as well as being rich in lumber requisites and minerals of 

 all kinds. Sulphur, bitumen, and coal crop up in many places, 

 with rock-salt, iron, native copper, and even gold (according to 

 report). Against these advantages, must be set the fact that the 

 means of subsistence have become more and more rare, from the 

 rapid diminution and imminent extinction of the animals which 

 supplied the daily food of the Indians, such as the moose, caribou, 

 wapiti, bison of the woods (a distinct species from the musk-ox 

 and prairie bison), beaver, porcupine, &c. The musk-rat alone 

 seems not to have failed as yet, and continues, as before, to swarm 

 on the lakes, ponds, and smallest streams. I can only regret that 

 I have no personal knowledge of this fertile region. 



