Height of
Blackwater
River.

Bella Coola
Trail.

Eu-chen-i-ko
and Na-tan-i-ko.

20 . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.

that the destruction of the forest has led to the desiccation of the
soil, some places which it had been necessary to corduruoy when the
trail was originally made, being now quite hard. The vegetation on
the plateau is appreciably behind that at Quesnel, the difference being
most apparent when elevations above 2,000 feet are reached. The
only land fit for cultivation is within a few miles of Quesnel, and that
lying beyond the immediate valley of the Fraser is very limited in area.

The valley of the Blackwater near the bridge, with its wonderfully
terraced sides, has been described in a former report (1875-76, p. 244.)
The height of the river itself above the sea, brought down by barometer
from the nearest bench-mark on Mr. Bell’s location line of 1875, is
2,170 feet. :

Blackwater Bridge to Eu-chen-i-ko River, &Gc.—On the northern brink of
the Blackwater Valley, the so-called Bella Coola Trail leaves the well-
beaten Telegraph Trail, and following the Blackwater River and its tri-
butaries till those of the Salmon River are reached, leads eventually to the
Salmon House near the head of Dean Channel, and the Indian villages on
the Bella Coola River, discharging into Bentinck Arm. This trail appears,
from the markings on the trees and other circumstances, to be a very old
one, and indeed, we know from Sir A. Mackenzie’s narrative of his
journey to the Pacific Ocean, that it was in constant use at the time of
his visit (1793). He speaks of it as a well-beaten path, and it has
probably been for a long time one of the great trading roads between
the coast and inland tribes. Like all the other Indian trails in the
northern part of British Columbia, since the great reduction of the
Indian population by small pox, it has become in many places much
encumbered with windfall.

Five miles from Blackwater Bridge, the trail leaves the river bank,
and continuing westward, crosses the Telegraph Range north of the Upper
Cafion, and at about twenty miles from the Bridge reaches the Na-tan-i-ko
and Is-cul-taes-h or Eu-chen-i-ko Rivers near their junction, four miles
from the Blackwater, which here bends far to the south. This part of
the route has been already described in my report for 1875.

From the western slope of the Telegraph Range, an extensive view is
obtained up the low valley of the Hu-chen-i-ko, and a belt of low country,
which, I believe, extends north-westward to the Nechacco. About the
junction of these two streams a wide sandy flat occurs, with an average
elevation of about 2,750 feet. The Eu-chen-i-ko, when in flood, is astream
about sixty feet wide, and where rapid can not be forded; the Na-tan-
i-ko may carry about one-third as much water. These streams do not