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This section is separated from the Athabaska Lake section by 90 miles of
rapids on Athabaska river, extending from Grand Rapids to McMurray, which
are navigable with difficulty for scows and canoes.

The Peace River section is 550 miles in length and extends from Hudson
Hope down to Vermilion falls, and is navigable for steamers with a 23-foot draft.
The Wabiskaw river, a tributary of the Peace, in this section is said by McConnell
to be navigable for powerful river steamers for a distance of 150 miles, but is
not included in the table.

This section is interrupted at its upper end by the Peace River canyon, where
the river breaks through the Rocky mountains, and is separated from the Atha-
baska Lake section by the rapids known as Vermilion chutes, where there is a
fall in the river of about 25 feet. This obstruction could possibly be overcome
by locks to such an extent as to allow steamers to pass from the Peace River
section into the Athabaska Lake section. “

The Athabaska Lake section has 570 miles in length of navigable river, for
boats of 24-foot draft, and a shore-line on Athabaska lake of about 560 miles in
length, making a total of 1,130 miles. It is separated from the Mackenzie River
section by a series of rapids on Slave river about 16 miles in length, where
there is a total fall of 125 feet. This break in navigation is now overcome by
a wagon road of 16 miles from-Fitzgerald to Fort Smith, but scows and light
eraft are usually taken down through the rapids by making four short portages.

The Mackenzie River section is by far the most important of the whole
system, covering as it does about 4,980 miles of known river and lake shore-line,
on which a minimum depth of water, ranging from 2 feet to 6 feet, may be
found. This section embraces the trunk stream from Fort Smith down to the
Arctie coast,a distance of 1,500 miles, over which a depth of 5 feet of water
can be obtained. This, with the shore-line of Great Slave lake, 1,440 miles in
length, the Liard river, and the small part of Peel river, is the only part of the
section that is now being used by steamers. The remainder of the navigable
waters of the section are available only for the light-draft steamers and cannot be
navigated by the deep-draft steamers that now ply on the portion previously
mentioned. Liard river is obstructed on its lower part by a strong rapid

which, however, is ascended by a powerful light-draft steamer with the aid of

a line, making the navigable water on this stream 440 miles in length. Great
Bear river, 90 miles in length, also has a shallow rapid about half-way up its
course, which could possibly be ascended in the same way. With this obstruction
removed or overcome, the whole of Great Bear lake, with a shore-line of about
1,360 miles, becomes connected with the Mackenzie system. Peel river is
navigable for shallow-draft steamers from the Mackenzie to the mouth of Wind
river.

The Mackenzie has a number of other tributaries about which little or
nothing is known, but which, on exploration, might prove to be navigable for
certain distances. Among these are Little Buffalo river, Hay river, Willow Lake
river, Hare Indian river, Arctic Red river, and some others.

COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES

The natural resources of the basin of Mackenzie river are very varied, but
as yet few commercial enterprises have been undertaken with a view to
developing them. The oldest of these enterprises is that associated with the
traffic in furs, but agriculture is now finding a large place in the commerce of
the region. Transportation systems, both by railway and steamboat lines, have

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