Ed. Umfreville, in his volume “Eleven Years in the Service of the Hudson’s Bay Company and Four Years in the Canada Fur Trade”, published in 1790, speaking of latitude 55°, says:—“The Hudson’s Bay Company servants have tried Indian corn and barley by way of experiment which came to perfection. Potatoes, carrots, radishes, onions, etc., have been reared and found as good as those in Canada (Quebec). The natives collect vast quantities of wild cherries and bring them to the fort. Raspberries, strawberries, currants, cranberries, and an infinity of other kinds of which I do not know the names, are to be found everywhere. The grass grows to a great height which fattens our horses in a short time. “The late Chief Factor Archibald, in his journal of Sir George Simpson’s trip from York Factory to the Pacific in 1828, speaks of having had, on July 12, two days after leaving York, “a peep at the Rock, an old establishment with its gardens.” The Rev. John Semmens, who spent many years as a missionary in the north country, went to live on the banks of Burntwood river, at Nelson House, in the year 1874. He remained there two years, and for a number of years thereafter paid occasional visits to the locality and made journeys through the adjacent country. He writes:—“The most of my tripping was between Norway House and Nelson House, though I have been as far north as Indian lake, as far west as Nelson lake, and as far east as Split lake. The information I have to offer, therefore, concerns the lower reaches of the Burntwood after its junction with Rat river at Nelson House. Much of the country specified is hilly, with frequent outcropping of granite rock, and some large tracts of muskeg or swamp land, but there are found large areas of open country, and valleys of tributary rivers, where the soil is rich and deep and where grazing and stock raising could be very successfully carried on. The sheltering forests, and the abundant water courses, the numerous beaver dams, and the rich native grasses would indeed make this locality ideal to sheep raisers and general ranchmen. The absence of anything like a market has hitherto kept this country from being reported of, but if a railway becomes an actual fact, Manitoba will add very much to her available resources, when extension comes, and settlers will find that in soil, in wood, in grasses, and in waters, this unknown land will afford comfortable homes for thousands. It will be seen by the map that about one hundred miles down the Nelson all the branches of that noble river unite in one. From that point we are accustomed to strike across country to Landing lake, Wintering lake, Pipestone lake and thence into Burntwood river. This short cut has along its course many thousands of acres, such as I have described, and for fishermen as well as ranchers must some day be a paradise.