238 Dr James Hector on the Physical Features of the 
posed. In the second letter and notes addressed to Sir Wil- 
liam Hooker, which have already been published,* I fhave 
treated these questions with all the care that was permitted to 
me by observations taken in the midst of the harrassment 
and fatigue of a long journey, but it remains for me, tofcall 
attention to the advantages there would be in establishing agri- 
cultural settlements in the vast plains of Rupert’s Land, and 
particularly on the Saskatchewan in the neighbourhood of Fort 
Carlton. Thisdistrict is much more adapted to the culture of 
staple crops of temperate climates—such as wheat, rye,'bar- 
ley, oats, &c.—than one would have been inclined to believe 
from its high latitude. In effect, the few attempts at the culture 
of cereals already made in the vicinity of the Hudson’s Bay © 
Company’s trading ports, demonstrate by their success how 
easy it would be to obtain products sufficiently abundant 
largely to remunerate the efforts of the agriculturists. There, 
in order to put the land under cultivation, it would be neces- 
sary only to till the better portions of the soil. ‘The prairies 
offer natural pasturage as favourable for the maintenance of 
numerous herds as if they had been artificially created, The 
construction of houses for habitations by the pioneers in the 
development of the country would be easy, because in many 
parts of the country, independent of wood, one would find fitting 
stones for building purposes; and in others it would be easy to 
find clay for bricks, more particularly near Battle River. The 
other parts most favourable for culture would be in the neigh- 
bourhood of Fort Edmonton, and also along the south side 
of the North Saskatchewan. In the latter district extend 
rich and vast prairies, interspersed with woods and forests, 
and where thick wood plants furnish excellent pasturage for 
domestic animals. The vetches found here, of which the princi- 
pal are Vicia, Hedysarum, Lathyrus, and Astragalus, are as’ 
fitting for the nourishment of cattle as the clover of European 
pasturage. ‘The abundance of buffalo, and the facility with 
which the herds of horses and oxen increase, demonstrate 
that it would be enough to shelter animals in winter, and to 
feed them in the shelters with hay collected in advance, in 
order to avoid the mortality that would result from cold and 
* Lin, Soc, Proceedings. 1859. 
