about forty years ago, and probably there was another fire which occurred about five years ago, so there are no trees. Going down the Little Churchill there are no trees to be seen on the heights, except in the valleys of the river, where groves of spruce and poplar which escaped the fire are standing. These spruce and poplars which are in the valleys are sometimes twenty inches in diameter. The cottonwood grows to about fourteen inches. It is tall and very healthy looking. The spruce trees grow pretty long, and quite a number of sawlogs could be taken out of each tree. The soil is pretty good, but the area is small. After leaving Big lake, all the way down there is no timber at all. In the valleys of all the streams there is timber, consisting of bunches of spruce and tamarack. At the Big Churchill the clay hills are mostly covered with moss. It has been burned over, and there are good large spruce in the valleys of Little Churchill river away up to about eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, but they are very few. They are all very healthy looking trees. In 1902, Mr. Alfred W. G. Wilson, of the Geological Survey, made a reconnaissance traverse across the southern part of the unexplored area lying to the north of Lac Seul and east of Trout lake, visiting Slate, Marsh, Gull, Smoothbrook, Cat and St. Joseph lakes. He states in his report:—“The forest growth is found chiefly around the lakes and streams. The sands, sandy gravels, or clays, usually of glacial origin, are generally forested, the trees varying with the character of the soil. There are large areas of nearly bare rock, where only a few stunted conifers or poplars grow in the crevices. Where the soil is sparse, and the country low-lying but yet fairly well drained, there is an open forest, chiefly black spruce, and the ground is covered with a dense mat of moss interlaced with fibrous roots. The soil covered, and the swampy areas, are usually thickly overgrown with small shrubs, mostly alder. In general the timber is rather small, in most parts of the district at present too small even for pulpwood or ties. Occasionally along streams the trees are larger, especially north of the east end of Lac Seul. Another area of good timber, chiefly black spruce and tamarack, occurs along Root river between Lac Seul and Lake St. Joseph.”