THE ASSINNIBOINE. 137 



miles from its outlet than twenty-two miles from the 

 same place. Even at Fort Ellice, 280 miles from its junc- 

 tion with Eed Biver, the Assinniboine is 135 feet wide, 

 11*9 feet deep in the channel, with a mean sectional 

 depth of eight feet, and a current flowing at the rate of 

 one and three quarters of a mile an hour ; in other words, 

 this river, 280 miles from its mouth, carries a larger body 

 of water than at a point twenty-two miles from it. 



The following table shows the quantity of water which 

 the Assinniboine carries at three different points, distant 

 respectively in round numbers, twenty- two miles, 140 

 miles, and 280 miles from its outlet by the windings of the 

 river valley, but not by the windings of the river itself, 

 which will be at least double the length of the river valley. 



Cubic feet per hour. Distance from outlet 



at Fort Garry. 



Lane's Post 5,702,400 22 miles. 



Mouth of Little Souris . . . 12,899,040 140 „ 



Opposite Fort Ellice . . . 9,979,200 280 „ 



It thus appears that the volume of water in the Assinni- 

 boine is nearly twice as large at Fort Ellice as 253 miles 

 lower down the river, if the foregoing table affords suffi- 

 cient data on which to rest an opinion. It is very probable 

 that the character of the season would modify these results 

 in different years. The measurements were not made 

 simultaneously, and the rainfall in the neighbourhood of 

 the Touchwood Hills and in the region about Fort Pelly 

 in 1858 was represented to be more in the extreme, than 

 is usual during the summer months. But judging from 

 the appearance of the river bank, and the statements of 

 Indians and half-breeds, familiar with the summer level at 

 the localities where the sections were made, there is no 

 reason to suppose that its waters were in excess of their 

 ordinary summer level. It is, therefore, very probable 

 that evaporation during a long and tortuous course through 



