Afterwards he made extensive explorations up and down the country, and took up with mining and with petroleum-boring. Asked about the Peace River Valley, Mr. Von Hamerstein said it is “a good country for agricultural settlement—as good as any country in Alberta.” He described both the Athabasca and Peace River regions as “marvellous for the growth of small wild fruit,” adding: “At the end of July, or the first part of August, there are strawberries, followed by raspberries and blueberries. Then come the saskatoons, choke cherries, white plums and berries of every description. They are found all over the country and they all have a very nice flavour indeed.” From this gentleman’s experiences I take the following interesting facts: He has seen trees in the neighbourhood of McMurray that would make 1,000 feet of timber. The missionaries and natives catch a quantity of fish, including a creature called the “inconnu”—the unknown—which weighs from 40 to 50 lbs. Sometimes on a walk of fifteen miles he has seen as many as twenty or thirty bears, which are quite harmless. The long list of Alberta quadrupeds includes the wolverine—a gigantic skunk with stripes on his back and known out West as “the devil.” Among the birds are several varieties of the eagle, a little wild canary, and the Canadian jay, commonly called “the whisky jack.” Along the northern boundary of Alberta, around Salt River, the cariboo, the moose and other game congregate to lick the salt, “and there are quite a few buffalo” to be seen. Ducks and geese assemble around Lake Athabasca in enormous numbers, “and when killed their stomachs are found full of cranberries.” Mr. Von Hamerstein has done a good deal of gold-mining in the Athabasca and Peace River districts. “I took out gold,” he said, “at a little bar right opposite the mouth of the Lesser Slave River in the Athabasca. I worked it for part of two summers. I would take out enough to last me for the winter and then quit. It is hard work.” He mentioned that the Indians have “gold and diamonds on the brain,” and they have brought him “rocks containing very nice garnets, but they were very mysterious about them.” He explained that there is “very good gold-mining” on the Peace River, a little below Battle River. “But the gold is so very fine that for every dollar you save there, about four and a half go away.” He also referred to many good seams of coal, and mentioned that one season, at Fort McKay, he “took out about twenty tons right on the river bank.” It was a good quality of bituminous coal. At McMurray “150 feet of salt was found,” and the Hudson Bay people “come down and take it with shovels.”