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especially well adapted for cattle-raising and dairying, with considerable good bottom
land suitable for general agricultural purposes ; but what is very important as a factor
of settlement, it was mutually agreed that the Skeena route was impracticable in many
respects, even with the building of a waggon road to connect it with the colony, which
would be located some distance south of Hazelton. From what the delegates learned
from the Indians, it was supposed that an easy and direct route could be found to
connect Bulkley Valley with the head of Gardner Inlet, and upon their return they
recommended to the Government that an,exploring party should be sent in to investigate
the merits of the proposed route. The following is the report of Mr. J. W. McIntosh
on behalf of the colonists, made to the Department of Immigration :—

“We left Hazelton on May 6th, taking the Poudrier Trail on the west side of the
river, which we crossed on a bridge constructed by the Indians, which spans the river
at a canyon about five miles from Hazelton. The Bulkley, for the greater part of the
distance between Hazelton and Moricetown, flows through rocky vanyons. There is not
much good land in the valley until after Moricetown is passed, the mountains pressing
close to the river in some places. There are two or three open patches of nice prairie
covered with good grass and pea-vine on the trail not far north of Moricetown. There
would be about 200 acres in the largest patch. At Moricetown. which is a good-sized
Indian village, the trail crosses again to the east side of the river, which is here spanned
by a sort of cantilever bridge, built by the Indians, over a narrow canyon through which
the river flows with great speed. The only material used by the Indians in the
construction of the bridge was round poles tied together with telegraph wire, from the
old telegraph line constructed through that country about forty years ago.

“<The Indians at both Moricetown and Hazelton have good gardens in which they
grow all the potatoes and other vegetables required for their own use. The potatoés
are of first-class quality and the yield is good, the soil being a rich sandy loam with a
clay subsoil. The Indians of Moricetown informed us that the snowfall at that point
will not average more than ten inches, and that it varies in other parts of the valley
according to location, running all the way from six inches in depth to two feet. The
snow starts as a rule about Christmas time, and from that time until about April 10th
cattle will have to be housed and fed.

‘* Very little open land occurs until the ranch oceupied by men in the employ of the
Hudson’s Bay Company is reached. This ranch is about fifteen miles south of Hazelton,
and is a first-class place for stock. Mr. Hill, the man in charge of the ranch, has
probably had more experience, and is better able to tell of the climate and agricultural
possibilities of the Bulkley Valley than any other man in there, as he has lived there for
four years or more, and has made various tests trying to find out what kind of soil and
what situations of land are most suitable for the successful cultivation of potatoes, oats,
and other cereals. He informed us that to escape the effects of the light summer frosts,
to which the whole valley is to a greater or less extent subject, it would be well to plant
the crops on land not too near the low-lying land, which is found along the creek
bottoms, as frost is more liable to strike the low-lying land than land more elevated.
A western slope is also found the best, so that the hot rays of the mountain sun will not
so seriously affect the plants which have been touched by frost at night. My own
experience in farming in the North-West also bears out this statement, and T also have
found that summer frosts in parts of the North-West and Manitoba in which I have
lived usually disappear after the ground is broken up and the bush cleared away, and I
think the same would apply to this part of the country. _ The Hudson's Bay Company s
ranch embraces Sections 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21 in Township 2 of Poudrier ssurvey. The
soil is principally a rich black loam and the country is rolling. The timber in the
vicinity is mostly small spruce and poplar. Sufficient timber can be had all through
the valley for all purposes of construction and for firewood for years to come, but there
is not a ‘great deal that is suitable for milling purposes. After leaving the Hudson's
Bay Company’s ranch, going south, we cross a stream called Driftwood C reek, Ek rom
the large amount of driftwood along its banks it would appear to bea regular torrent in
time of freshet. From here on to Aldermere Lake, which is situated on the southern
boundary of Township 4, is a good strip of country, partly open and well watered by
spring creeks. The soil is mostly first-class, and where the country is not w holly open

t could very easily be cleared by the aid of fire, the timber for the most part being