44 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.

developed in the basin of the lower Nechacco. With the change in the
appearance of the surface material, the soil becomes much more fertile
and supports heavy timber. On the lower benches, Engelmann’s spruce
frequently surpasses three feet in diameter, and the aspen attains a
diameter of two feet and grows tall and straight. Occasional large
cottonwoods (Populus balsamifera) also occur, and clusters of well grown
and tall birches. The alder and high-bush cranberry abound as an
undergrowth. On the higher terraces, spruce and aspen characterize the
damper and more sheltered localities, while elsewhere, the scrub pine,
tall and straight, forms the forest.

The river from this point, making a second considerable bend, turns
almost directly northward, At its angle it is joined by a brook about
twenty feet wide by nine inches deep, with a rapid current through the
valley of which the railway location line was carried. The Nechacco
then, for about five miles, flows through a broken hilly region, forming
a spur of the Telegraph Range, in a deep, heavily wooded valley with
steep sides. The hill slopes have been in many places thoroughly burnt
over, and are now partly open and covered with wild pea and vetch,
raspberry bushes and a varied herbaceous growth. The river is bordered
by clay, sand, and gravel bluffs.

On emerging from the hilly country, the Nechacco continues northward
to the vicinity of Fraser Lake in a low, level region, which for the most
part appears to be thickly timbered along the borders. According to —
Mr. Bowman, who examined this part of the river by canoe, its current
is uniform and tranquil, with the exception of two small rapids, each of
which was estimated to equal a descent of about two feet. The banks
show frequent exposures of the white silts.

Leaving the river with our trail, while still involved in the hilly
country, we steered north-eastward in the direction in which Ta-chick
Lake was believed to be, and reached the Telegraph Trail on its south-
eastern border on the 31st August, short of provisions, and with the pack
animals nearly useless from the privations through which they had gone.
The country intervening between the nearest part of Ta-chick Lake and
the Nechacco River, to the west, is low, but slopes gradually up to the
south. It has been for the most part pretty well cleared of heavy timber
by fire, but still shows occasional patches of bad windfall. The higher
ground is rather light and sandy, and forms undulating ridges; but on
approaching the lake it became nearly level, and slopes gently down to
the fertile land bordering it.

The country in the vicinity of Ta-chick and Nool-ki Lakes, stretching

,