248 RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



great numbers breed on their borders, and the waters of 

 the Eapid Eiver abound in fish. It will probably become 

 important as a means of conveying to the settlements on 

 the Assinniboine and Eed Eiver supplies of lumber from 

 its valley and the Eiding Mountain. 



From the Eapid Eiver to White Mud Eiver the 

 distance is thirty-three miles, and the country continues 

 to preserve the same general character with respect to 

 fertility and fitness for settlement which has now been 

 traced out for a space of 164 miles. White Mud Eiver 

 flows into Lake Manitobah at its south-western extre- 

 mity. This river drains an extensive area of the richest 

 prairie land, similar in all respects to the White Horse 

 Plain on the Assinniboine, or the rich wastes on Eed 

 Eiver. White Mud Eiver is connected with Prairie 

 Portage by an excellent dry roacl, the crossing place 

 being about eighteen miles from the Portage. The river 

 banks are well timbered with oak, elm, ash, maple, aspen, 

 and balsam-poplar. It possesses valuable fisheries, and 

 communicates by an uninterrupted canoe navigation with 

 Lake Manitobah for a length of thirty miles. The soil 

 on its banks and far on either side is of the finest quality. 

 At the mouth of the river a fishing establishment has 

 been maintained by the people of the Portage for several 

 years. 



The valley of La Eiviere Sale has a general direction 

 parallel to that of the Assinniboine, and about sixteen 

 miles south of it. The country between the two rivers 

 is wet and marshy, with large areas covered with wil- 

 low thickets and clumps of small aspen. South of the 

 valley of the first-named river the prairie is magnifi- 

 cent, and not surpassed by any area of equal extent on 

 Eed Eiver. 



The area of the region well adapted for settlement on 



