448 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



into Pine-Island Lake, and when low, the water from the 

 lake flows into the Saskatchewan. At the time my survey 

 was made (16th August, 1858), Big-Stone Eiver was 

 flowing into the Saskatchewan, at the rate of one and a 

 half miles an hour. The eastern connection is about the 

 same size as Big-Stone Eiver, and joins the Saskatchewan 

 some distance below Pemmican Portage ; it is called " Tear- 

 ing Eiver," and is the route followed by the McKenzie 

 Eiver boats. The Saskatchewan boats go by these rivers 

 when they require to call at Cumberland. 



The country around Cumberland is low and flat ; the 

 soil in some places is a stiff clay, but in general it consists 

 of a gravelly loam a few feet in thickness, covering a 

 horizontal bed of white limestone, and supporting a light 

 growth of poplar and birch. Occasional groves of spruce 

 (the so-called pine of Eupert's Land, from which Pine 

 Island derives its name) are seen here and there. The 

 land being so little raised above the lake and river, a 

 great deal of it is submerged during the spring floods, 

 and some portions upon which the water remains be- 

 come marshes and swamps, but many of them could be 

 drained and improved without much difficulty. 



There are about ten acres of ground enclosed and under 

 cultivation at Cumberland. I observed a field of barley, 

 and another of potatoes, both looking well, within the fort 

 palings ; and there is an excellent garden adjoining the 

 chief factor's house; the soil appeared rich and fertile, 

 bearing an exuberant growth of rhubarb, cabbage, peas, 

 carrots, and other vegetables. 



Cumberland House being at the junction of two great 

 lines of water communication, one leading from the Pa- 

 cific, and the other from the Arctic Seas to the Winnipeg 

 basin, is a place of importance, and was formerly one of 

 the Company's principal depots. Within the fort there 



