Of the land ceded in the Province of Manitoba, it will be hardly
necessary for me to speak, as His Excellency the Governor-General
is already in possession of accurate information touching its
fertility and resources; but I may observe that, valuable as are
these lands, they are fully equalled if not exceeded by the country
of which the Government now comes into possession by virtue of
the treaty concluded at Manitoba Post. Already settlers from the
Provinces in Canada and elsewhere are pushing their way beyond the
limits of the Province of Manitoba; and there is nothing but the
arbitrary limits of that Province, and certain wood and water
advantages found in the territory beyond it, to distinguish one
part of the country from the other. The fertility that is possessed
by Manitoba is shared by the country and its confines. The water
courses of the Province are excelled by those of the territory; and
the want of wood which threatens serious difficulty in the one is
by no means so apparent in the other.

The Indians of both parts have a firm belief in the honor and
integrity of Her Majesty's representatives, and are fully impressed
with the idea that the amelioration of their present condition
is one of the objects of Her Majesty in making these treaties.
Although many years will elapse before they can be regarded as a
settled population--settled in the sense of following agricultural
pursuits--the Indians have already shown a disposition to provide
against the vicissitudes of the chase by cultivating small patches
of corn and potatoes. Moreover, in the Province of Manitoba, where
labor is scarce, Indians give great assistance in gathering in the
crops. At Portage la Prairie, both Chippawas and Sioux were largely
employed in the grain field; and in other parishes I found many