That the climate of Peace river country is exceptionally healthy is declared by all the white people who have lived there, and their declaration appears to be borne out by the fact that a considerable portion of the inhabitants have attained a very old age. Mr. Charles Mair in his book “Through the Mackenzie Basin” mentions that when the Indian Treaty expedition was at Lesser Slave lake in 1899 his attention was drawn to the number of people of extreme old age among the inhabitants. He especially mentioned the case of an aged half-breed woman, Catherine Bisson, who was born on New Year’s day in the year 1793. She was blind at the time Mr. Mair saw her, and scarcely able to walk, but was able to talk, and even cracked jokes with those about her. In a footnote Mr. Mair states that this very old woman died in the spring of 1908 at the remarkable age of one hundred and fifteen years. ----- [15] It will be observed that this paragraph and other portions of this testimony really refer to the Athabaska country treated of in the preceding chapter, but to save an awkward dislocation of Professor Macoun’s testimony it has been kept intact. (E. J. C.) [16] The railway is now being constructed, and there has been a remarkable development in this section since Inspector Howard penned this report. CHAPTER XII. NORTHERN ALBERTA. Tree Growth and Timber Resources. An Abundance of Timber in the Vicinity of Chipewyan.—Much of the Country Has Been Swept by Fires.—Most of the Timber is Along the Rivers.—Millions of Cords of Pulp Wood.—Spruce and Black Bark Poplar the Principal Varieties.—The Water Power Possibilities Described as Tremendous. The timber resources of northern Alberta, according to the evidence in hand, are very considerable, a matter of not a little importance in a new country. We will deal first with the eastern, or Athabaska division of this section. In his evidence before the Senate committee of 1888, Professor John Macoun, Botanist to the Geological Survey, said:—“There is an abundance of timber in the vicinity of Chipewyan on Lake Athabaska. There are as fine spruce in the Athabaska delta as are to be found in any part of the northwest. I have measured trees on the Embarass river that were two feet and a half in diameter and were very tall. On Peace river, likewise, especially on islands, there are many large groves of spruce and poplar, which attain extraordinary dimensions.”