Its proportion to arable land is
generally put at about 50 per cent., which may be over or under
the truth, for only actual township or topographic surveys can
determine it.
The country drained by the lower river, the Loon, as it is
improperly called in our maps, navigable for canoes all the
way to where it enters the Peace, was described as an extensive
and very uniform plateau, sloping gently to the north. To the
south the Pelican Mountains formed a noble background to the
view from the Mission, which is indeed charming in all directions.
At the mouth of the river, and facing the Mission, a long point
stretches out, dividing the lake into two deep arms, the Mission
being situated upon another point around which the lake sweeps
to the north. The scene recalls the view from the Hudson's Bay
Company's post at Lesser Slave Lake, but excels it in the larger
extent of water, broken into by scores of bayous, or pools,
bordered by an intensely green water-weed of uniform height,
and smooth-topt as a well-clipt lawn. Behind these are hay meadows,
a continuation of the long line of them we had passed coming up.
Upon the whole, we considered this an inviting region for any
farmer who is not afraid to tackle the forest. But whether a
railway would pass this way at first seemed to us doubtful. The
head of Lesser Slave Lake lies far to the south-west, and there
it is most likely to pass on its way to the Peace.
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