BEYOND THE RED RIVER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 768, 17 March 1860, Page 2

BEYOND THE RED RIVER.

(Prom the..' Guardian.')

Our readers may recollect that the expeditions which have recently explored the interior of North-Western America were three in number. In our two previous, articles we have been dtaling exclusively with one of these— that sent out by the Canadian Government in the year 1857. The object of that expedition was to determine upon a line of road between Canada and the Red River, and for that purpose to examine into the merits of the various routes which traverse the intermediate country. The result of the survey was to define, with great exactness the geographical limits within which the principal hindrances to communication are contained, and it might have been expected that the investigation would be resumed at the earliest opportunity in the area thus marked out. The colonial authorities appear, however, to have thought differently. They disregarded the fact that the difficulties of the undertaking lay at its very threshold— just outside their own frontier, and though they sent out another expedition in the year 1858, the members of it were instructed, not to make themselves better acquainted with the granite background of Lake Superior, but to fix their head-quarters at the Red River, and from thence to make excursions into the prairies beyond. Of course there may be reasons of which we are ignorant for this seoming'ly illjudged step. Perhaps the Canadian public are found to require some further stimulant, in. the shape of more detailed accounts of the wealth which the proposed road is to open up to them> before they will consent to vote a new tax, or to take shares in.a new company. But in the absence of any such explanation, it is difficult to believe that the time devoted to this second expedition would not have been better bestowed elsewhere. We are quite ready, however, to own that the report of its proceedings gives us a good deal of information which we might not otherwise have obtained, It is true, indeed, that Captain Palliser had in part gone over the same ground the year before on his way to the Rocky Mountains; but, from the greater length of his journey, his movements were necessarily more rapid and his narrative more concise. We shall now endeavour, by the help of the two accounts taken together, td'complete the sketch of our North American possessions by a description of the country lying to the west of the Red River.

The interior of the continent, for the space of five degrees of latitude north of the United States frontier, stretches in a long and gradual slope from the base of the Rocky Mountains in the direction of Hudson's Bay. At the foot of this decline '.lie three great lakes. Lake Winipeg1 extends from north to south over more than 250 miles with an average breadth of thirty-five miles. To the west of Lake Winipeg, and parallel with it throughout its whole length, are Lakes Winipegoos arid Manitoba, the latter forming in reality the southern half of the former. Their breadth is about half that of Lake Winipeg, and they are united with it at one point by the stream of the Little Saskatchewan, though elsewhere there is a belt of densely wooded country between the two, measuring nearly a hundred miles across. The western shore of Lake Winipegoos (including' for convenience Lake Manitoba under that name, is generally flat. Towards the north it Opens out upon the level prairie, and here the soil is fertile, arid the woods come down to the water's edge; but farther to the south a succession of bogs and marshes extend from the lake to the foot of a broad ran^e of hills which rise, at a distance of about fifteen miles, to a height of a thousand feet. The sides of these hills are clothed

to the very summit with forests of large and valuable timber, and a small outlay in drainage would reclaim some thousands of square miles! from the swamps below/ The most remarkable feature) however/ of .this district is the salt springs. Large areas of barren ground covered with a briny deposit are of frequent occurrence between the northern end of Lake Wim'peg-and the river Assiniboine. On some of these, salt works, on a very primitive model, have been for some time established. The settlers at the Red Hivev derive their supply from this source; and by the opening* of new springs and. the introduction of improved methods of working, it would seem that the quantity yielded might be increased almost indefinitely. Passing beyond; the immediate• neighbourhood of the lakes,; the prairie presents three distinct and boldly; marked levels. The first of these ,is ,formed \ by the plain'of argillaceous marl, with'a sub-.; stratum of stiff clay, which extends from the: eastern bank of the Red River <to a distance of about ;fi% miles west of LakevWinip'egoos. at this point it meets the second level, which crosses it in the form of an abruptly sloping terrace from two to three hundred feet in height, with a direction from.. south-east to. north-west. The soil of this second level is chiefly composed of sand, and its breadth from east to west may be taken at between two and three hundred miles. Its termination is marked by the great bend on the south branch of the Saskatchewan, where the; third level appears. . This is called by the hunters La Grande Prairie '; its slope is nearly parallel with that of the second level, above which it rises about three hundred feet. The two lower levels are very much more fertile than the,third. Throughout the whole extent the character of the country approximates very closely to that of the prairies of the Red River. Clumps of poplar.and willow are scattered over the plain, and the openings between the woodlands are covered with a thick growth of natural grasses. There are some'few lakes and occasional swamps. The most luxuriant vegetation is found along the river bottoms. Every little rivulet lias cut itself a channel through the prairie of from one to two hundred feet in depth, and wide or narrow in proportion to the size and strength of the current. Thus the larger streams present the appearance of broad valleys, out of which open a succession of transverse glens running far up into the country. Sometimes these valleys are covered from side to side with a thick growth of trees, at other times the green herbage comes down in an unbroken sweep to the water's edge, or slopes clothed with timber overhang the natural meadows through which the river winds its way. The third level reaches in a westerly direction to the foot of the mountain chain, while it extends towards, the north from the boundary line to about the 52nd degree of latitude. This latter point appears to be the northern limit of true prairie land. Beyond that the country was originally covered with pine forests, and although'the fires which are recklessly kindled; by the Indians, for any or no purpose, have for. the most part destroyed the .timber, ,the soil is.still very fertile. The lower slopes of the Rocky Mountains are marked by the same characteristics.' The frequent streams which issue from them have their banks still well wooded, and between the rivers there is the/same rich soil, showing everywhere the traces of former forests. The Great Prairie itself»is less adapted for.cultivation than the land to the north and east of it. It is composed, to a great.extent, of low hills, of. which the northern slope is steep and wooded, but the southern is exceedingly gradual, destitute of trees, and with little or no pasturage. . . We cannot but think, then, that those perhaps who wish to see this whole region thrown open to colonisation have the pnmd Jade argument strongly in their favour. The main requisites of a successful settlement are a fertile soil, a healthy climate, and reasonable facilities of communication. ,As to the ..first of these conditions, the soil has been found capable,of producing, throughout the greater portion of the district, timber of the largest size, and wherever its elements have been analysed they have been shown to approach sufficiently near to those which compose the prairies of the Red River to warrant the belief that they will prove equally applicable for agricultural purposes. As to the climate, we are not yet in possession of the meteorological registers kept by Dr. Hector—-the naturalist attached to Captain Palliser's party—and his assistants• but here, again, the experience of the Red River settlers comes to our aid, and affords sufficient evidence that an extreme degree both of length and severity in the winter cold may be perfectly compatible with the successful summer cultivation both of grain and root crops, and with the perfect health of. the inhabitants. .One great necessary of life in these regions—fuel—there will be no difficulty in procuring; for even though the wood which the prairie fires have J eft unscathed should be wanted for other purposes, coal has been found in several.places along the north branch of' the Saskatchewan between Port Carlton and Fort Edmonton, on the banks of two of its tributaries, and towards the south-east on the river Assouri, near the frontier. The almost uniform level of the prairies, rising as they do little more than 2000 feet in the course of 600 miles, can offer no important obstruction to the formation both of roads and railroads, and a natural channel of communication of the utmost importance exists. in the river Saskatchewan. The two branches of this noble stream rise within a short' distance of each other in the midstbf some of the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The northern arm flows at first towards the north-east, it then turns towards the south, and again flows northward for about fifty miles; until at a distance of more than six hundred miles from its source, it receives the south branclv—also called the Bow River, which, after running almost due east for several hundred miles, turns to the north at " the Elbow," and flows into the north branch some way below Fort Carlton. The united streams then run eastward for nearly four hundred miles, arid finally discharge their waters into Lake Winipeg. Near the mouth, of the stream occur the grand Rapids, but if this impediment were

removed, there seems to be no doubt that the Saskatchewan would be navigable at least as far as Fort Carlton'on the north branch, and the Elbo\v on the south. As to the character of the river beyond these points,: it is difficult to form an opinion. According to some accounts, it is navigable on both branches to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains. But if we make" every allowance for exaggeration, and accept only the most sober and trustworthy representations, the length of navigable water is great enough to make the Saskatchewan a most important auxiliary to the internal traffic of the district through which it flows.

We must not forget, however, that the object,of Captain Palliser's expedition was not so much to discover localities, for future colonies as to report upon the possibility of opening a communication overland with one already in existence., We have traced the proposed route to British Columbia as far as the base of the Rocky Mountains, but we should have effected very little if we had to stop there. Strange to say, the obstacles which that great natural barrier present to the progress of the traveller are really much less formidable than those offered by the low hill ranges at the back of Lake Superior. It is true that some .of the peaks in this portion of the Rocky Mountains are among the loftiest in the world, but the ridges from which they rise, and the passes which intersect them, are often of very moderate height. Six practicable passes are' laid down by Captain Palliser, two discovered by himself and four by Doctor' Hector. Of these the most important is Vermillion Pass, which leads from the south branch of the Saskatchewan to the Vermillion River, and thence to a transverse watershed, from which the descent may be, made either by the Kootanie or the Columbia Rivers. The height of this pass above the level of the • sea is 4,944 feet, but when the elevation of plateau from which the mountains rise is taken into account, the actual ascent to the watershed is less than 1000 feet.. The slope on the other side is equally slight, a descent of 1227 feet being distributed over a distance of forty miles. Doctor Hector is of opinion that there would be no difficulty in constructing a railroad across the mountain at this point, arid in the meantime a road passable for carts may be formed by the simple process of cutting* away the timber along the route. Captain Palliser and Doctor Hector have been engaged during the past summer in pursuing their investigations in this quarter. They may be expected in England by the close of the present year 5 and we shall look with interest for the additional information which the labour of another season will, doubtless, enable them to give us.