raised good potatoes, turnips, beets, cabbages, and rhubarb, as well as raspberries,
gooseberries, and strawberries. He has not tried oats, barley, or rye. Mr. Ross, his
successor, had a good crop of potatoes in 1918 which averaged 4 Ib. to each tuber.
The Police Trail built by the Royal North-West Mounted Police passes through Fort
Grahame from Alberta and Fort St. John on its way to the Telegraph Trail and the
Skeena. In 1905-6 a large detachment of the Royal North-West Mounted Police
wintered here and built winter quarters. Opposite the post, on the west side of the
Finlay, mica has been found.

THE PEACE RIVER.

From Finlay Junction, where the Parsnip and Finlay Rivers unite to bend east-
ward and form the Peace River, that great waterway flows north-east for about
eight miles through what is practically part of the valley of the Finlay. Within
half a mile from the junction the Finlay rapids are reached, nearly half a mile in
length, swift, with curling waves in the centre of the channel, while towards the
shores numerous large boulders, almost submerged, render that part dangerous to
the boatman. Hight miles from the junction the river bends to the east and cuts
through the main range of the Rocky Mountains, running in a narrow valley through
the mountains for about forty miles, without much land of great value in this part.

After leaying the Rockies the valley widens gradually, and small flats and
benches covered with a light growth of poplar and pine occur along the river. The
mountains bounding the valley decrease and the slopes are open and grass-covered.
Between the point where the river enters the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky
Mountain Canyon, about eighty miles from the junction, where the river, which has
been generally following an easterly course, bends sharply to the south, leaving the
main valley, which continues on in the same direction, A. W. Harvey, B.C.L.S.,
estimates that there is not more than 25,000 acres of good farming land.

The Wicked River flows in nine miles from the junction on the north, Barnard
Creek five miles lower down. Other tributaries are the Ottertail, which flows in
from the north, rising in the vicinity of Laurier Pass at the north of the land
division, and the Carbon River, which enters from the south farther down, about
thirty miles from the junction. Areas of coal have been located on this river and
also near Rocky Mountain Canyon. The Wicked River, a swift and narrow stream,
runs for about six miles from its mouth in a valley about a quarter of a mile wide,
with green spruce timber on both sides. The valley of the Ottertail is reported to
be practically stripped of timber between the mouth and the Police Trail, about fifty
miles, and the narrow yalley between the Ottertail and Schooner Creek is also burnt
over. It is covered for the most part with a second growth of poplar and in places
with jack-pine, and is good for agriculture.

The Peace River, between the mouth of the Finlay and the Rocky Mountain
Canyon, is navigable for steamboats for the entire length at:every stage of water,
the only obstacles being the Finlay and Ne Parle Pas Rapids. The former could be
greatly improved by removing the rocks which obstruct the stream, and the latter
presents but little difficulty to navigation. The Rocky Mountain Canyon, which
stops navigation east and west, is reached eighty miles from Finlay Junction. Many
years ago the Hudson’s Bay Company had a post, Rocky Mountain House, estab-
lished in 1805, at the west of the canyon, near the west end of the “ Portage of the
Mountain of Rocks,” the portage, about fourteen miles long, reaching to Hudson Hope
at the west end of the Peace River Block, where the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Post
is now located, an outpost of Fort St. John. The main valley extends across north
of the canyon, with general width of two miles for a length of twelve miles.

PARLE PAS RAPIDS.

The Parle Pas Rapids mark the eastern end of the Rocky Mountain Range, in
which the peaks near the river rise from 4,000 to 4,500 feet, while to the east as
far as the “Portage of the Mountain of Rocks” the hills are rounded, and only
from 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the river. At this point the rocks of the coal-bearing
formation begin to show up strongly, continuing to the eastward. The Parle Pas

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