Forr Fraser Drviston. 37

The Lake Country.

“ Considering it as a whole, I would say this northern lake country (see Pre-
emptors’ Map 8c, Stuart Lake Sheet) is one of the most beautiful parts of the
Province. It is very broken up with low rocky ridges and high mountains and
innumerable lakes, large and small. All these lakes and the larger streams abound
in trout, the rainbow trout running as large as 25 lb., and the lake trout up to 40 Ib.
Game is somewhat scarcer in summer-time, though deer are fairly plentiful in places,
and also bear, grouse, and rabbits are abundant, and ducks and geese in the late fall.

“The climate in the summer is warm, with very little rain, chiefly short, heavy
thunder-storms. There is occasional light frost at night during the summer. The
winter sets in about the end of October, and the snow remains until the end of
April in the valleys.

“There are still large areas in the vicinity of Takla and Stuart Lakes very little
known, and there are many large lakes and streams which are very roughly shown
on the maps of the Province.” :

Messrs. White and Weir, of the Department of Agriculture, in their report of
a journey in this district in 1911, said: “For approximately six miles south of
Stuart Lake and extending for a considerable distance farther along the west side
of the Stuart River is an area of slightly rolling land of silty clay loam. ‘This is
very rich soil, of practically the same consistency as that in the richest parts of
the Nechako.

“On the McLeod Trail leading toward Fort McLeod the land is rolling, but
fairly good for about four miles east of Fort St. James, when it becomes very
patchy, and about four miles farther becomes so rocky and gravelly as to be of
little use for cultivation. North and north-west of Fort St. James the country is
rough and rocky. A limestone mountain rises from the edge of the lake just north
of the fort.

“A. C. Murray, the Hudson’s Bay factor who has been stationed here for
thirty-four years, takes daily observations of temperature, precipitation, ete. Mr.
Murray says the Hudson’s Bay Company have grown timothy and other crops here
for over seventy-five years. At present timothy, red clover, and white clover are
both doing well. Red clover was sown four years ago and has yielded a fair crop
since, notwithstanding it is only a biennial plant. The hay had been cut this year
before Fort St. James was visited, and yielded about 2 tons per acre. A small
field of barley was ready to cut (August 15th, 1911), but as it had been sown
extremely thick, the straw was very fine and the heads short. Oats were beginning
to ripen, but, according to Mr. Murray, this season was just two weeks later than
usual. Cabbage, radishes, spinach, lettuce, carrots, turnips, and beets were all as
good as could be wished for, and black, red, and white currants were ripe in
abundance in the garden. Domesticated raspberries have been grown here for thirty
years and bear a good crop, in spite of the fact that they receive no attention. They
were ripe last season about August 10th. The fact that cutworms did a great deal
of damage in the garden last year makes the excellence of the crops all the more
creditable, as they were greatly retarded by this pest.

“Stuart Lake itself is one of the largest as well as one of the most beautiful
lakes in the north. There is no doubt that, as soon as the railway passes through
this north country and people realize the pleasures of a summer in this part, the
shores of many of these lakes, with their numerous beautiful bays and creeks leading
into them, will become the haunts of thousands of tourists and pleasure-seekers,
for in the writers’ opinion they cannot be surpassed anywhere if the traveller wishes
rest and an opportunity to study the beauties and harmonies of nature.”

J. H. Gray, who subdivided the tract for soldier settlement in 1918, said:
“Judging from experience of people who have lived in this locality, the climate is
healthful and invigorating. The summers are not excessively hot and showers are
frequent up to the middle of August. The autumn is usually dry. Extreme winters