THE MAIN SASKATCHEWAN. 



443 



Moose Woods or the great prairies on the south Saskat- 

 chewan, and return in bull-boats laden with dried-meat 

 and skins, both craft and cargo being the proceeds of their 

 hunt. Bark canoes, although more durable than bull- 

 boats, are nevertheless very fragile and require to be 

 handled with great care ; the seams and cracks in the 

 bark require constant "gumming" and attention. Our 

 canoe being leaky, owing to injuries it had sustained in 

 crossing the plains from Eed Eiver to the Elbow of the 

 South Branch, was the source of much trouble until we 

 reached Cumberland House, where, through the courtesy 

 of the gentleman in charge, we were enabled to procure 

 a new canoe and some other necessaries. 



The general direction of the Saskatchewan from Fort a 

 la Corne to Cumberland House is north-easterly. The 

 current continues strong for a considerable distance below 

 Fort k la Corne, where the average rate was found to be 

 three miles an hour. In some places the mean velocity 

 of the current exceeds this, as ascertained by repeated 

 trials ; and at the points or alluvial promontories at the 

 great bends a small rapid is frequently seen, generally 

 caused by a submerged spit or reef of boulders and gravel 

 protruding into the river ; but the water is turbulent in 

 its passage over these shoals only, which are always on 

 one side of the river: in the bay opposite them it is quite 

 smooth and deep, averaging in the channel nineteen feet. 



At Fort a la Corne the breadth of the Saskatchewan 

 according to trigonometrical measurement is 965 feet, 

 and its immediate banks are high ; the sides of the 

 valley" which are much higher, being no great distance 

 from the river. The breadth of the river continues very 

 uniform, but its banks become gradually lower, the hill 

 sides of the valley at the same time diverging. About 

 twenty miles below Fort k la Corne the banks of the river 

 are low, and the general character of the adjacent country 



