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in the geographical centre of the Province. _ So
of the surveys in Township 7 Sinkut Mountain rises.
several thousand feet, being the dominating height .

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The townships to the south of the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway are 1, 2, 3, 9, and 11. From Van-
derhoof the main road to Quesnel via Sinkut Lake,
Mapes, and the Telegraph Trail south-east via
Blackwater runs south through Township 2, and
crosses the north-west of Township 7 and south-
easterly across Township 8, in which Mapes Settle-
ment is located, 15 miles from Vanderhoof, and the
Vanderhoof-Prince George Road crosses south-
easterly across Township 1 and eastward via the
Cluculz Lake and Bednesti prairie districts and
Chilako vicinity to Prince George. Another road
runs south-west from Vanderhoof to the Nulki
and Tachick Lake and Stony Creek vicinity, with
a cross-road connecting from Stony Creek village
via the west end of Nulki Lake with the main road
at Sinkut Lake. The road to Stony Creek and
Nulki Lake swings north-west from that lake
through Townships 4 and 9 en route to Fort Fraser,
a branch road leading’ south-west from it to Greer
Valley and down that valley to the Upper Nechako.

The country to the south, more rolling, is locally
known as the “ Lakes District.” It holds numbers
of well-kept farms, with well-tilled fields and fine
buildings, notably a demonstration farm of a land
company with 980 acres fenced, 200 acres in crop,
and 500 acres cleared, with high-grade cattle, sheep,
and pigs. Mapes, centre of a settlement in Town-
ship 8, has store, post-office, school, and telegraph-
office, and is supplied by motor over the road from
Vanderhoof. At Nechako, 11 miles from Vander-
hoof, at the north side of Nulki Lake, is a post-
office and school, and between Nulki and ‘Tachick
Lakes is a large Indian reserve in which Stony
Creek village, with about 250 Indians, is located,
adjoining Stony Creek, which drains from Nulki to
Tachick Lake and thence north-east to the Nechako,
about half a mile west of Vanderhoof. East of
Townships 1 and 8 the land is in Fort George
Division. The surveyed area in Townships 1 and
2 and 8 and 7, to the south, is mostly rolling coun-
try, with numerous open patches intervening with
lightly timbered country, mostly poplar and spruce,
portions being broken. Sinkut River, heading in
the broken hilly country to the south of Township
11 on a divide from a tributary of the Chilako,
runs north to Sinkut Lake, near which a consider-
able area of good land is found. Sinkut oe .

out

of the district. Soil, though variable, is generally

the deep white silt characteristic of the valley, —

becoming sandy and. sometimes gravelly on the

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ridges and upper slopes.

Mapes, in Township 8,

is/the centre of considerable settlement and has a

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progressive Farmers’ Institute. About 1380 people
live in the vicinity of the post-office.

Township 8, the area in vicinity of Nulki and
Tachick Lakes: Township 6, south of Nulki Lake,
aud Township 4, to the west, have a large area
of excellent land, with many well-developed farms.
That portion surrounding the west end of Tachick
Lake and between the lakes, where Stony Creek
reserve is located, is practically level. Portions are
slightly rolling, and there is a small broken area at
the north-west of Township 4 and to the south of

‘Township 6, where, back from the gentle slopes to

ulki Lake for little over a mile south, rolling
country merges into broken country and hills, form-
ing the divide between the Sinkut and Chilako

Hivers, part of a hill country covering many miles,
with alternating stretches of rolling upland plateau,

forming a divide between the Nechako- Blackwater
dvainages. The remainder of these townships has
a great expanse of practically level or gently roll-
ing land and a large part is cultivated: Some of
the farms are quite large. The Milne Farm, a
pioneer holding, has about 450 acres cleared and

a large amount under cultivation in yicinity of

number of creeks drain from the south-}

the upper slopes.

Nulki Lake, and there are a number of other good
farms in this part of the district. A post- -office is
located at Nechako, also a school, 11 miles from
Vanderhoof by motor-road at the gerth of the lake.
The Stony Creek Indian village is on Stony Creek
near the’ junction of the road from Sinkut Lake
with the main road, with many well-bull

Indians, who whipsawed the lumber, in

is fea. slightly rolling in places, simila)
rolling tract in Township 14 to the north
covered with poplar and scattering spruce ¢

limited extent in plete

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surveyed areas in Townships 9 and 11, west of the
Nechako, are rolling, timbered mainly with jack-

pine, with a considerable area of fairly level or

gently undulating land, with good soil in vicinity
of the river.

At the south of Township 10 Greer Creek heads
in a stretch of rolling, broken country, and flows
south-west to the Nechako, the valley containing a
strip of bottom land 1 to 2 miles wide, which has
been surveyed throughout, and a number of pre-
emptors have located here. A road runs from the
Vanderhoof—Nulki—Fort Fraser Road to the mouth
of the valley on the Upper Nechako. North from
the mouth of Greer Valley a block of surveys about
2 miles wide have been made northward at the
west of the Nechako. The country at the east
between the Nechako and Greer @reek Valley is
broken and has not been surveyed. South of the
Greer Creek vicinity surveys extend up the Nechako
to about 6 miles from the mouth of Cheslatta
River, extending northward to Copley and Hallett
Lakes, draining to the Nechako, where an undulat-
ing tract is found, in which a considerable area of
willow-bottom land occurs, notably near Copley
Lake. On the river-flats and meadows, usually
small, soil is black loam, and on the benches and
slopes, sandy loam. The valley is timbered with
poplar and pine, with willow and alder fringing the
river,

The only surveys south of this are in a block on
Chedakuzko Creek, flowing north-west to the Upper
Nechako, 6 miles from where the river leaves Natal-
kuz Lake.. These surveys in vicinity of Natalkuz
Lake and the upper part of the creek are difficult
of access, reached only by long trails. On some of
the flats and benches near Tatalkuz Lake Indians
have raised good vegetables. Part of this area is
bottom land near the lake and creek, with benches
and open grassy slopes, amongst patches of rolling
timbered country. ‘The creek-valley is about 2 miles
wide, with many fine meadows in its bottom lands
at altitude of 2,800 feet.

The Nechako River, receiving the assembled
drainage of many lakes in the southerly part of
the extensive lake-plateau region to the west, the
various systems of connecting lakes in the several
valleys draining east and south-east to it, from
Natalkuz Lake leaves the south-east of that lake
at altitude of 2,647 feet, a stream 600 feet wide,
flowing east 6 miles to where Chedakuzko Creek
joins from the south-east, and then winds north-
east 12 miles, when it bends eastward, cutting
through mountain country in a rock- walled canyon,
narrowing in places to 25 feet, with falls and

for 25 miles above Fort Fraser.

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rapids estimated to offer 30,000 horse-power if

developed. At the bend a creek drains from the
Batzuniko-Blackwater divide on rolling plateau at

3,300 feet, with a considerable number of meadows |

in depressions between the ridges and many ponds
and lakes. Rough broken country extends for some
miles on either side of the Nechako near the canyon.
There are several other rapids lower down which
could easily be cleared by removal of a few rocks,
and the river made navigable for stern-wheeler
steamers to the canyon above the Cheslatta. The
river has been ascended by a small stern-wheeler
The upper river
is roughly 70 miles long in its north-easternward
course to the vicinity of Fort Fraser, where, after
receiving the drainage of Fraser Lake, which is fed
by Francois Lake and Endako River: through the
short Nautley River, 144 miles long, it bends east-
erly to the Fraser at Prince George, and prior to
the building of the railroad was the main highway
for the Nechako Valley Settlement, river-steamers
plying up-stream from Prince George to Milne’s
Landing and Fort Fraser during the season of
navigation.

VICINITY OF FRASER LAKE.

Fraser Lake, altitude 2,192 feet, 12 miles long,
2 miles wide, covering 20 square miles, lies north
of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Fort Fraser,
a growing town on Nechako River, is 3 miles east
of the lake, with good stores, school, and business
facilities, also a sawmill which cuts for local use,
and seat of the administrative offices of the district.
Roads run west from Fort Fraser on either side
of the lake. At the east end is the Nautley Indian
Reserve, with a village of about 200 Indians adjoin-
ing the old settlement, in which the Hudson’s Bay
post was established in 1805. The old post, now
discontinued, was situated on a bench about 25 feet
above the lake-level at the north-east, overlooking
the lake and the mountains to the south, also the

straggling Indian village built along the bank of

the Nautley near the lake, where for many years

the Indians have come to put up fish for their

winter food, salmon swarming up the Nautley dur-
ing the run. Now few salmon run and the village
has comparatively few of its former numbers. Fort
H’raser is the depot for the settlement area com-

-mencing about 2 miles east and stretching for 7

miles eastward with width of about 8 miles in
vicinity of Marten Lake, in which tracts of land
are offered for sale on moderate terms and con-

ditions by the Land Settlement Board. There are ©