300 Canandia Record of Science. 



numbers. The mountains themselves yet afford sustenance 

 to the Indian hunter, the Eocky Mountain sheep or bighorn 

 and the mountain goat being moderately abundant. Black 

 and grizzly bears are also frequently met with, and the 

 puma or mountain lion — held in great dread by the Indians — 

 is occasionally found. The moose is sometimes shot by the 

 Indians, but the cariboo is scarcely, if at all, found within 

 the district here described, requiring more extensive alpine 

 plateaus than those afforded by this part of the mountains. 

 Smaller fur-bearing animals are numerous where they have 

 not been too assiduously trapped. Trout are abundant and 

 large in most of the streams, and the white-fish and lake- 

 trout, are procured from the larger lakes. 



~No insuperable obstacles to travel exist in these moun. 

 tains. Many of the passes and trails are open and easily 

 traversed, and the field for mountain climbing and explora- 

 tion is unlimited, few of the higher peaks having yet been 

 scaled. Starting from the line of railway, or from the 

 vicinity of Fort MacLeod, with a few pack-animals and a 

 small camping outfit, much may now be accomplished in a 

 comparatively short time, the months of July or August 

 being the best, on account of the lowness of the rivers and 

 mountain torrents, which at other seasons constitute formida- 

 able barriers. If fine scenery, combined with adventure of 

 the less hazardous kind, and the pleasure of exploring tracts 

 which yet appear as blanks on the map, will compensate 

 for the minor discomforts attending such an expedition, I 

 can promise that the enterprising traveller will not be dis- 

 appointed. 



