Rapids in the lower 12 miles of Stuart River offer an obstruction, though not an impassable one, and engineers who have made examina- tions say these rapids can be rendered easily navigable when the river is open at comparatively small expense. A small outlay is also considered necessary to improve the Tachi River. From Takla Landing on Takla Lake distance by rail to Omineca River is about 40 miles and that river can be travelled for 70 miles. The railway route reconnoitred in 1920 follows to some extent the country traversed by the Manson Creek Trail. A railway traversing this portion of the Province would connect a number of sections in which agricultural settlement would be made possible with communication. The more important sections, going northward from Fort St. James, which would be made accessible to settlement would be the area surveyed in vicinity of Ocock and Tsilcoh River, where about 50,000 acres have been platted; the Nation Lake Plateau in vicinity of Nation Lakes, where surveyors consider at least 250,000 acres are eminently suited for agri- cultural settlement; and the Parsnip and Finlay Valleys, with upwards of 600,000 acres suitable for agriculture. In Omineca Valley it is esti- mated that some 80,000 acres are suitable for agriculture; in Osilinka Valley, 20,000 acres; and Mesilinka Valley, about 40,000 acres; in’ addi- tion to the considerable acreage available in Peace River District. It would also provide access to the Omineca Mining District and Manson Creek mining regions, in which placer operations have been carried on since 1864, and it is anticipated that with railway communi- cation enabling the taking of modern mining machinery into the district there would be a considerable revival of the mining industry. This district was worked for three years from 1864 by placer-miners, who then left it for the Cassiar fields. In 1871 it again attracted attention and work continued to about 1887, and it has been worked intermittently since. Since 1874 the returns that have been made by miners show $603,790 in gold has been taken from this district. Since 1902 work has been on a small scale, the district being handicapped by its remoteness and inaccessibility, which made operations expensive. At the mouth of the Ingenika River, which enters Finlay River about 65 miles above Finlay Forks, the Ingenika Gold Mining Company is working a dredging proposition, but owing to lack of transportation little progress has been made. Another gold-dredging outfit is at work at Brennan’s Flats on the north side of Peace River, about 7 miles below Carbon Riber, but little progress has been made. Galena and sulphide ore is found from the Peace south beyond Pine Pass. Mica with large sheets and clear cleavage is found in various places, especially near a low-grade ore-body at Mount Selwyn. Platinum is reported to exist in tributaries of the Finlay, and Mr. Williams, during his survey, was shown a small quantity said to be worth $300 and which was said to have come from this district.