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been noted by explorers are Black river at the east end of Athabaska lake, and
Taltson, Lockhart, and Yellowknife rivers flowing into Great Slave lake.

Waterpower could also be developed on Peace river at the chutes, where
there is a total fall of 25 feet, part of it being a direct drop of 15 feet, and on
Slave river near Fort Smith where the river falls 125 feet in a series of strong
rapids spread over a distance of about 14 miles. The most evident waterpowers
and those which no doubt could be most cheaply developed occur on a number of
rivers which fall over the face of the Devonian escarpment south of Great Slave
lake. Little Buffalo river, for example, has a total fall over the escarpment of
about 100 feet, half of which is a direct drop. Hay river also falls over the
escarpment in two leaps with a total drop of 151 feet, the upper fall having a
sheer drop of 105 feet and the lower one 46 feet. Beaver river, which flows into
the Mackenzie immediately below the outlet of Great Slave lake, plunges in a
direct fall over the same escarpment, and the two next streams north, Yellow-
knife river and Trout river, are also said to fall in the same way over the same
escarpment. Waterpower could be developed on a number of other streams, but
a sufficient number have been mentioned to show that there is much available
waterpower to meet the requirements of any mining, lumbering, or other
industries that may spring up in the region.

INHABITANTS

The white people of the Mackenzie basin are few in number and north of
Peace river and Athabaska lake consist chiefly of the families of the fur traders
and the missionaries of the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. These
reside at the small posts (Plate IX A and B) which are scattered at intervals of
100 to 200 miles along the valleys of Slave, Liard, and Mackenzie rivers, and
their total number is very small. A considerable number of white settlers, how-
ever, have within the last five years entered the southwestern part of the
Mackenzie basin and taken up homesteads in the upper part of Athabaska River
basin, the basin of Smoky river, and other neighbouring parts of Peace river.
The building of several lines of railway into these regions has been the cause of
this large influx of people. : .

The natives of the region include Esquimo, and Indians of three different
stocks, Athapascan, Cree, and a few Iroquois.

The Esquimo are confined to a belt along the Arctic coast, but the numbers
‘that live or trade at posts within the Mackenzie basin cannot be much more than
150. g

The Iroquois consist of a few families living about the headwaters of Smoky
and Athabaska rivers, descendants of boatmen and voyageurs of the fur traders.

Crees occupy the greater part of the basin of Athabaska river and the
region between that stream and the Peace.

The remainder of the Mackenzie basin is occupied by various tribes of the
Athapascan family, comprising in that region about 6,000 to 7,000 individuals.
These tribes are situated as follows: Chipewyans in the regions south and east
of Athabaska lake, Caribou-eaters north of Athabaska lake, Yellowknives east
of Great Slave lake, Dogribs north of Great Slave lake, Hares north of Great
Bear lake, Beavers in the upper part of Peace river and Fort Nelson river, Slavis
in the valley of the Mackenzie from Great Slave lake to Great Bear river
Loucheux in the basin of Peel river, and Sikannis, Kaskas, Nahannis, and other