FISH IN LONG LAKE. 



415 



men like the Ojibways, they did not know how to catch 

 fish when the attention of the people at the Touchwood 

 Hills Fort was first directed to the treasures of Last Moun- 

 tain Lake. Mr. Hoover, the officer in charge at the time 

 of my visit, told me that he had first observed white-fish 

 under the ice in November of 1854, and since that period 

 they have established a fishery which provides the fort 

 with an ample supply for winter consumption. The white- 

 fish weigh on an average 7 lbs., but 10 lbs. each is not 

 uncommon. 



The timber on the Touchwood Hills is nearly all small 

 and of recent growth, fires years ago having destroyed the 

 valuable forest of aspen which once covered it. The re- 

 mains of the forest are still seen in the forms of blackened 

 poles, either standing erect or lying hidden in the rich cover- 

 ing of herbage which is found everywhere on the south- 

 west flank of the range. So luxuriant and abundant is 

 the vegetation here, that horses remain in the open glades 

 all the winter, and always find plenty of forage to keep 

 them in good condition. The cows are supplied with 

 hay, the horses are worked during the winter, either 

 journeying to Fort Pelly or to the Last Mountain Lake 

 to fetch fish. Buffalo sometimes congregate during the 

 winter in the beautiful prairie south of the fort in vast 

 numbers. 



On page 319 mention is made of a descent into a 

 lower prairie before reaching the Qu'appelle Valley, whose 

 boundary bore the aspect of a lake shore. On the north 

 side of the Qu'appelle, and distant from it about fifteen miles, 

 Mr. Hime saw a low ridge during the whole day's journey 

 west from the Fishing Lakes towards Last Mountain Lake. 

 This ridge was traced parallel to the Qu'appelle Valley 

 for a distance of twenty miles in a westerly direction from 

 the Fishing Lakes, how far east it extends is unknown. 



