Forr Fraser Division. 31

NATALKUZ LAKE AND VICINITY.

Bast and south from Ootsa Lake the Upper Nechako drains through Intahtah
Lake to Natalkuz Lake. Mr. Rolston reported as follows regarding the Natalkuz
Lake District, comprising the territory between Ootsa Lake and the Nechako River
and northward to Cheslatta Lake: “The outlet of Ootsa Lake, situated at its
easterly end, is 250 feet wide and 6 feet in depth. This river being the principal
tributary of the Nechako is deserving of special mention. The banks on the north
side are open and covered with peavine. In the lateral valleys very good land is
found, lightly timbered with cottonwood and jack-pine. The river widens at several
points into small lakes and then enters Natalkuz Lake at its north-west corner. This
lake, twenty miles in length and two in width, lies in an easterly and westerly
direction. The hills on the north side rise to an elevation of 3,500 feet and are for
the most part devoid of timber, and although perhaps too rough these hills afford
good summer range for cattle, and mixed farming would prove a profitable under-
taking on this land.

“The country to the north of Natalkuz and extending to Cheslatta: Lake is very
rugged and not deserving of special mention, other than to say that it may some
day be proved a good coal area, several seams having been discovered in the
neighbourhood of Cheslatta Lake.

“At the east end of Natalkuz Lake is the outlet which may now be called
Nechako River. It is formed of all the drainage of the country heretofore described.
The river is 600 feet wide, with an average depth of 10 feet. For the first six miles
it flows in an easterly direction and then swings to the north. At the bend Mason
River enters from the south, having its source in Tatalkuz Lake.

“On the south shore of Natalkuz Lake and extending to Mason River the country
is open and some small areas of very good land were found. As a whole, this land
is better suited to mixed farming and cattle-raising.

Mason River VALLEY.

“This valley, fifteen miles in Jength and two miles in width, will prove a
valuable tract of agricultural land and merits survey. The stream, which is sluggish,
alternates from one side of the valley to the other, and in past years beavers have
dammed it, causing some very fine meadows to be formed. The general elevation of
the valley is 2,800 feet. At Tatalkuz Lake (elevation 3,000 feet) a very good Indian
garden was seen, proving that the soil is well suited to farming and the elevation
not too great.

Upper NECHAKO VALLEY.

“from Mason River down-stream for a distance of twelve miles the Nechako
flows at an average rate of four miles and hour and retains its width. The valley
on the east side is in terraces half a mile in width and stepping up about 100 feet
between terraces. The timber is park-like and devoid of underbrush. The soil is
light, but, as the topography of the country is well suited to irrigation, it is safe to
say a very large area can be improved into very valuable agricultural lands. Ata
point eighteen miles below Natalkuz Lake the river enters a deep gorge and for a
distance of ten miles is in a continuous canyon. This canyon forms a barrier to
navigation by steamboats which is impossible to eliminate. The river narrows to a
width of only 25 feet in many places and falls of 10 to 20 feet are frequent, while
the walls of the canyon are perpendicular to a height of 200 feet. It is due to these
falls that no salmon can enter the large lakes already described. The.country on
either side of the canyon is rough in the extreme, consisting in broken ridges of
trap-rock and dense jack-pine thickets in the ravines.

BACHINIKO DIVIDE.

“At a point just above the canyon a small stream joins the Nechako from the
east through a wide valley. Some splendid meadows were found close to the
Nechako, so that a trip east was made to discover the extent of good land. This