246 RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



of the Blue Hills, the country is fertile and beautiful, but 

 the areas adapted for settlement lose much of the value 

 which would otherwise belong to them, from the absence 

 of wood. West of the Souris is a boundless, treeless 

 prairie ; so that in crossing from Eed Deer's Head Eiver 

 to Fort Ellice it was found necessary to carry wood for 

 fuel for a distance of sixty miles. At Sand Hill Lake, on 

 the Qu'appelle, timber is so scarce in the river valley and 

 gullies leading to it, that bois de vache is the only avail- 

 able fuel. The South Branch, from the Elbow to the 

 Moose Woods, flows through a treeless region, as far as 

 relates to the prairie on either side ; but in the ravines 

 leading to the river detached groves of small timber occur. 

 The boundary of the prairie country, properly so called, 

 may be roughly shown by a line drawn from the great 

 bend of the Little Souris, or Mouse Eiver, to the Qu'ap- 

 pelle mission, and from the Mission to the Moose Woods, 

 on the South Branch. 



AREAS FIT FOR SETTLEMENT. 



Valley of the Assinniboine. — Issuing from the Duck 

 Mountain are numerous streams which meander through 

 a beautiful and fertile country. This area may be said to 

 commence at the Two Creeks, ten miles from Fort Pelly, 

 thence on to Pine Creek, fifteen miles further. The vege- 

 tation is everywhere luxuriant and beautiful, from the great 

 abundance of rose-bushes, vetches, and gaudy wild flowers 

 of many species. After passing Pine Creek the trail to 

 Shell Eiver pursues a circuitous route through a country 

 of equal richness and fertility. Shell Eiver is forty-two 

 miles from Pine Creek, and in its valley small oak appear, 

 with balsam-poplar and aspen, covering a thick under- 

 growth of raspberry, currant, roses, and dogwood. 

 Between Shell Eiver and Birdstail Eiver, a distance of 



