Apkil 24, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



341 



lowest prairie-level, and lies along the base of 

 the eastern Laurentian plateau, has an altitude 

 of about eight hundred feet only. From this 

 level, with minor exceptions, the surface may 

 be regarded as sloping gradually and continu- 

 ously upward, at a rate of from four to five feet 

 in the mile, to the foot-hills. There the hori- 

 zontal and unaltered strata o£ the cretaceous 

 and Laramie formations break against the base 

 of the ancient rocks of the mountains into a 

 series of sharp and nearty parallel flexures, 

 producing a varied and picturesque region, 

 with quite peculiar characters. In the central 

 portion of the plains, the most marked excep- 

 tions to their generall}' even and monotonous 

 contour are found in the tumultuously hilly 

 belt of countiy known as the Missouri Coteau 

 and in a line of diffuse and indefinite elevations 

 nearl} T parallel to the Coteau, which includes 

 Turtle Mountain, Moose Mountain, and the 

 File and Touchwood Hills. These hills, or 

 mountains so called, are really tracts of con- 

 siderable size, with rolling or hilly surface, 

 more or less wooded. The northern extension 

 of the Coteau, where known as the Eagle 

 Hills, near Battleford, also becomes partly 

 wooded. 



To any one familiar with the territoiy lying 

 west of the Missouri, the most remarkable dif- 

 ference of a general character, observable in 

 this northern extension of the same region, is 

 perhaps the extraordinary abundance of small 

 lakes, ponds, or ' sloughs,' which are scattered 

 everywhere over its surface. This peculiarity 

 is evidently in connection with the mantle of 

 glacial drift, which is here universal, and 

 dependent on the irregular deposition of its 

 material. The lakes and ponds, while at times 

 arranged in intercommunicating linear series, 

 are usually distributed without the least ap- 

 parent regularity, and occupy shallow basins 

 "without outlet. Filled by the melting of the 

 snow or rains of the early summer, a great pro» 

 portion are complete!}' emptied b}- evaporation 

 before the autumn, while the water remaining 

 in others becomes more or less distinctly saline 

 in many instances. This is more particularly 

 the case with those of the southern and more 

 arid portion of the region. Near the northern 

 margin of the plains, saline lakes are quite ex- 

 ceptional. It is generally on the edge of one 

 of these rush-bordered pools that the traveller 

 makes his evening camp ; and, while the abun- 

 dance of water in one respect facilitates travel 

 in the spring and early summer, the moist con- 

 dition of the deep alluvial soil at these seasons 

 may prove a more than countervailing dis- 

 advantage. The most serious obstacles, how- 



ever, to be met with in long journeys across the 

 plains, are the various rivers. The Assiniboine, 

 Souris, Qu'Appelle, and other streams of the 

 eastern district, during the breaking-up of the 

 ice, and for some time subsequently, may prove 

 formidable barriers in the absence of bridges 

 or ferries. The North and South Saskatche- 

 wan, the Red Deer, Bow, and Belly rivers, all 

 eventually uniting to pour their waters into the 

 northern end of Lake Winnipeg, rise far back 

 in the Rocky Mountains, and, while subject to 

 considerable spring freshets in some seasons, 

 are generally not in full flood till June or July, 

 when the snow is disappearing from the highest 

 summits of the range, and the snow-fields and 

 glaciers about the sources of some of them 

 are melting most rapidly. These streams have 

 trenched valleys across the surface of the 

 plains, which are generally from a hundred 

 to three hundred feet in depth, and a mile to 

 two miles or more in width. All the trails 

 used as regular means of communication make 

 for recognized crossing-places on these rivers, 

 where the approaches are favorable, and where 

 very generally the river may be forded at low 

 water, though ferries of some kind have usually 

 of late years been established for use at other 

 seasons. 



As above indicated, almost all the larger 

 river-valle} T s hold more or less timber ; and in 

 the northern part of the region this is not con- 

 fined to the bottom-land, groves and thickets 

 spreading also into the lateral valle}^ (' cou- 

 lees ') and broken ground which is very gener- 

 ally to be found in the vicinity of these great 

 river- troughs. Should any serious opposition 

 be offered to the expeditions now on their way 

 to quell the present unfortunate disturbance, 

 it will in all probability be at one or other of 

 the ' crossings ' which naturally lend them- 

 selves to defence. The rivers, as might be 

 expected from the considerable general inclina- 

 tion of the surface, are usually rapid and shal- 

 low, with numerous gravel-bars, and reefs of 

 bowlders, at low water. The} T are often, more- 

 over, extremely tortuous ; and in consequence 

 of these peculiarities, and the considerable por- 

 tion of each year during which they are ice- 

 bound, the}' are not expensively utilized as 

 means of communication ; and trains of wag- 

 ons or Red-River carts are still generally em- 

 ployed in travelling, or in the transport of sup- 

 plies and goods at a distance from the railwaj^s. 

 The Hudson-Bay company has, however, for a 

 number of 3-ears, used a couple of small stern- 

 wheel steamers between the Grand Rapids, near 

 Lake Winnipeg, and Edmonton, far up on the 

 North Saskatchewan. Two or more steamers 



