ON THE TRAIL TO PEACE EIVER 91 



Altogether we estimated the prairie areas of the upper 

 river at about half a million acres, with much country, in 

 addition, which resembles the Dauphin District in Manitoba, 

 covered with willows and the like, which, if they can be 

 pulled out by horse-power, as is done there, will not be very 

 expensive to clear. There is, of course, any quantity of tim- 

 ber for building and fencing, though much has been destroyed 

 by fire, the varieties being those common to the whole country. 

 To the south, in the Yellowhead, and on the Upper Athabasca 

 and its tributaries, there is considerable prairie also, more 

 easily reached than Peace Kiver; but this is apart from my 

 subject. I may say, in conclusion, that the Upper Peace 

 River coimtry is a very fine one, drained by a vast and navi- 

 gable river, compared with which the Saskatchewan must 

 yield the palm, and, beyond doubt, this will be the first 

 region to attract settlement and railway development. 



Aside from settlers and a railway, the chief needs of the 

 country are a good waggon-road to Edmonton and mail 

 facilities, which were almost non-existent when we were 

 there, but which have recently been to some extent supplied. 

 JSTearly three months had elapsed since we entered the coun- 

 try, and not a letter or paper had reached us from the outer 

 world at any point. Xhe imports into the country were 

 increasing very fast, and, through competition and fashion, 

 its principal furs were immensely more valuable than in the 

 past. 



As for the natives of the region, we found them a very 

 worthy people, whose progress in the forms of civilized life, 

 and to a certain extent in its elegances, was a constant sur- 

 prise to us. As for the country, it was plain that all we met 

 were making a good living in it, not by fur alone, but by 

 successful farming, and that its settlement was but a question 

 of time. 



