STUART RIVER AND LAKES.

Stuart River, joining the Nechako 22 miles from Van-
derhoof, flows 67 miles from Stuart Lake, south-east, then
south, about 600 feet wide, except where confined in two
or three places by canyons. Tributary streams are mostly
small irregular creeks from the plateau. Necoslie River,
which flows north-west, paralleling Stuart in opposite
direction, to Stuart Lake, is small, winding, sluggish.

Stuart Lake, 2,200 feet altitude, is 46 miles long, 6
wide, 152 square miles in area, trending north-west. At
Nancut village, 33 miles from Fort St. James, where Cun-
ningham Creek empties from Cunningham Lake, 12 miles
long, 1% wide, a low pass traversed by a wagon-road
reaches Babine Lake. About 12 miles up, Pinchi Creek
drains from Pinchi Lake, 2,300 feet, 14 miles long, 21/2
wide, covering 22 square miles, with falls in lower part.
About 14 miles farther up, Tachie River, a navigable
stream, enters, connecting with Trembleur Lake, 2,245
feet, 20 miles long, 3 wide, covering 45 square miles, in
transverse direction. Tezzeron Lake, 2,255 feet, 14 miles
long, 3 wide, covering 35 square miles, into which Tezze-
ron and Hatdudatehl Creeks drain plateau country to the
north, empties to Tachie River by Kuzkwa River. Middle
River, flowing south-east, sluggish with little fall, drains
from Takla Lake, 2,270 feet, 60 miles long, with 22 miles
farther in north-west arm, 3 miles wide, covering 150
square miles. Driftwood River, rising across a low divide
from Bear Lake, which flows to the Skeena, flows south-
east to head of Takla Lake and several swift mountain
streams empty from either side of the lake.

Babine Lake, largest and longest in the Province, alti-
tude 2,222 feet, is 110 miles long, 7 wide, 260 square
miles in area. Tatalpin, 16 miles long, 134 wide, cover-
ing 23 miles, and Pinkut and Augier Lakes drain to it at
south. Fulton and Chapman Lakes empty in by Fulton
River, flowing south-east and emptying about midway on
the west, and Morrison Lake drains to a northern arm.
Babine Lake has its outlet through Babine River at the
north, tributary to Skeena River.

AREAS SUITED TO SETTLEMENT.

Areas suited to agricultural development are found
mainly in valleys and along lakesides not exceeding 2,800
feet elevation, the bulk at several hundred feet lower.
In vicinity of Stuart Lake soil is extremely fertile. The
Stuart basin is described as ‘‘ an old glacial lake, probably
200 miles long, with numerous arms and variable width,
probably 100 to 200 feet deeper than present lake, con-
taining numerous islands, now hills, the silt area being all
space between present lake and old basin-rim.” J. H.
Gray, who surveyed 61,359 acres in 1918, near south end
of Stuart Lake, quotes a soil specialist from United States
that the soil ranks amongst best on this continent, attrib-

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