SEARCHING EXPEDITION:
JOURNAL OF A BOAT-VOYAGE THROUGH RUPERT'S
LAND AND THE ARCTIC SEA,
IN SEARCH OF THE DISCOVERY SHIPS UNDER COMMAND OF
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
%WITH AN APPENDIX ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA.
BY SIR JOHN RICHARDSON, C.B., F.R.S.,
INSPECTOR OF NAVAL HOSPITALS AND FLEETS,
ETC., ETC., ETC.
NEW  YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.
1852.








CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Route assigned to the Expedition under Command of Sir John Franklin.-Names of the Officers. -Erebus and Terror.-Date of its
Sailing.-Last Letters.-Sir John Franklin's Last Official Letter.Last Sight of the Expedition.-Sir John Ross proposes a Search.Discussion of various Opinions offered respecting the Fate of the
Expedition.-Plans of Search adopted. —Main Objects of the Overland Searching Expedition.-Instructions from the Admiralty....  13
CHAPTER II.
Overland Searching Expedition.-Routes through the Interior.-Hudson's Bay Ships.-Pemican.-Boats.-Boat Party leaves England.
-Arrives at Winter Quarters.-Volunteers. —Mr. John Rae appointed to the Expedition.-The Author and Mr. Rae sail from
England.-Land at New York.-Proceed to Montreal and La
Chine.-Canoe-Men.-Saut Ste. Marie.-Voyage to the North.Reach Cumberland House................................  30
CHAPTER III.
Pine Island Lake.-Silurian Strata.-Sturgeon River. —Progress of
Spring.-Beaver Lake.-Isle a la Crosse Brigade.-Ridge River.Native Schoolmaster and his Family.-Two kinds of Sturgeon.Native Medicines.-Bald Eagles.-Pelicans.-Black-bellied and
Cayenne Terns.-Cranes. —Frog Portage.-Missinipi or Churchill
River. -Its Lake-like Character. -Poisonous Plants and Native
Medicines.-Athabasca Brigade.-Sand-fly Lake.-The Country
changes its Aspect.-Bull-dog Fly.-Isle a la Crosse Lake.-Its
Altitude above the Sea.-Length of the Missinipi.-Isle a la
Crosse Fort.-Rornan Catholic Mission.-Deep River.-Canada
Lynx.-Buffalo Lake.-Methy River and Lake.-Murrain among
the Horses.-Burbot or La Loche.-A Mink.-Methy Portage.Join Mr. Bell and his Party.............................  54
CHAPTER IV.
Clear-water River. —Valley of the Washakummow.-Portages.-Limestone Cliffs.-Shale.-Elk or Athabasca River.-Wapiti.-Devonian Strata.-Geological Structure of the Banks of the River.



vi                          CONTENTS.
PAGO
Athabasca Lake, or Lake of the Hills.-Meet Mr. M'Pherson with
the Mackenzie River Brigade.-Send home Letters.-L'Esperance's
Brigade.-Fort Chepewyan.-Height of Lake Athabasca above the
Sea.-Rocks.-Plumbago.-Forest Scenery.-Slave River.-Reindeer Islands.-Portages.-Native Remedies.-Separate from Mr.
Bell and his Party......................................  77
CHAPTER V.
Pyrogenous Rocks.-Rate of the Current of Slave River.-Salt River
and Springs.-Geese.-Great Slave Lake.-Domestic Cattle.Deadman's Islands.-Horn Mountain.-Hay River.-Alluvial Lignite Beds.-Mackenzie's River. -Marcellus Shale.-Fort Simpson.
— River of the Mountains.-Rocky Mountains.-Spurs.-Animnals.
-Affluents of the Mackenzie.-Cheta-ut-Tinne.                94
CHAPTER VI.
Rock by the River's Side.-Shale Formation.-Fort Norman.-Tertiary Coal Formation.-Lignite Beds.-Fossil Leaves.-Edible
Clay.-Spontaneous Combustion of the River Bank.-Hill at Bear
Lake River.-Hill at the Rapid on that River.-Forest.-Plants.Birds................................................   113
CHAPTER VII.
Peregrine Falcon.-The Rapid.-Ramparts.-Hare Indians. —Fort
Good Hope.-Hares.-Kiutchin.-Their Contests with the Eskimos.
-A  Fatal Dance.-A Hare Indian devoured by a Brown Bear.Vegetation.-Narrows.-Richardson Chain of Hills.-Fort Separation.-Cache of Pemican and Memorandum.-Alluvial Delta.Yukon River.-Reindeer Hills. —MGillivray Island.-Harrison Island. -Termination of the Forest. -Sacred Island. — Richard's Island.-Point Encounter................................. 127
CHAPTER VIII.
Enter the Estuary of the Mackenzie.-Interview with the Eskimos.Remarks on that People.-Winter-houses near Point Warren. —
Copland Hutchison Bay.-Flat Coast with Hummocks.-Level
boggy Land.-Mirage.-A Party of Eskimos visit us.-Point Atkinson.-Kashim.-Old Woman.-Old Man.-Young Men.-Cape
Brown. — Eskimos. —Russell Inlet.-Cape Dalhousie. - Sabine
Xema. —Liverpool Bay.-Nicholson Island.-Frozen Cliffs of Cape
Maitland. —Rock Ptarmigan.-Eskimo Tents. —Harrowby Bay.Baillie's Islands. —River of the Toothless Fish or Beghula Tesse.
-Eskimo of Cape Bathurst.-Their Summer and its Occupations.
-Shale Formation of the Sea-Coast...................... 145




CONTENTS.                           vii
PAG 
CHAPTER IX.
Voyage continued along the Coast.-Franklin Bay.-Melville Hills.
-Point Stivens.-Sellwood Bay.-Cape Parry.-Cocked-hat Point.
-Cache of Pemican.-Ice Packs. —Archway. —Burrow's Islands.
-Darnley Bay.-Clapperton Island. —Cape Lyon.-Point Pearce.
-Point Keats.-Point Deas Thompson.-Silurian Strata.-Roscoe
River.-Point De Witt Clinton.-Furrowed Cliffs. -Melville Range.
-Point Tinney.-Buchanan River.-Drift Ice.-Croker's River.Point Clifton.-Inman's River.-Point Wise.-Hoppner River.Wollaston Land.-Cape Young. —Stapylton Bay.-Cape Hope.Cape Bexley.-Ice Floes. —Point Cockburn.-A Storm.-Chantry
Island.-Salmon.-Lambert Island. —Leave a Boat.-Cape Krusenstern.-Detained by Ice.-Basil Hall's Bay. —Cape Hearne.Peculiar Severity of the Season.-Conjectures respecting the Discovery Ships.-Resources of a Party inclosed by Ice among the
Arctic Islands. -General Reflections........................ 166
CHAPTER X.
Preparing for the March.-Sleep in Back's Inlet.-Eskimo Village.Eskimos ferry the Party across Rae River.-Basaltic Cliffs.Cross Richardson's River.-March along the Banks of the Coppermine.-Geese. —First Clump of Trees.-Musk-oxen.-Copper Ores
and Native Copper.-Kendall River.-Make a Raft.-Fog.-Pass
a Night on a naked Rock without Fuel.-Fine Clump of Spruce
Firs. -Dismal Lakes.-Indians.-Dease River.-Fort Confidence.
— Send off Dispatches and Letters........................  185
CHAPTER XI.
ON THE ESKIMOS OR INUIT.
The four Aboriginal Nations seen by the Expedition.-Eskimos.Origin of the Name.-National Name Inu-it.-Great Extent of
their Country.-Personal Appearance.-Occupations.-Provident
of the Future.-Villages.-Seal Hunt.-Snow-houses.-Wanderings not extensive.-Respect for Territorial Rights.-Dexterous
Thieves.-Courage.-Traffic.-Compared to the Phoenicians.Skrellings.-Western Tribes pierce the Lips and Nose.-Female
Toilet.-Mimics.-Mode of defying their Enemies.-Dress.-Boats.
-Kaiyaks.-Umiaks.- Dogs.-Religion.- Shamanism.- Susceptibility of Cultivation. —Origin.-Language.-Western Tribes of the
Eskimo  Stock.-Tchugatchih.-Kuskutchewak.-A  Kashim  or
Council  House. —Feasts.-Quarrels.-Wars.-Customs. —Mammoth's Tusks.-National Names.-Namollos or Sedentary Tchukche.-Reindeer Tchukche.-Their Herds.-Commerce.-Shamanism. —Of the Mongolian Stock........................... 202




vtii                       CONTENTS
PAGN
CHAPTER XII.
ON THIE KUTCHIN OR LOUCHEUX.
Designations.-Personal Appearance. —Tattoo.-Employ Pigments.
-Dress.-Ornaments.-Beads.-Used as a Medium of Exchange.
— Shells.-Winter Dress.-Arms.- Wives.-Treatment of Infants.
-Compress their Feet. —Lively Dispositions.-Religious Belief.Shamanism.-Anecdotes.-Treachery.-Contests with the Eskimos.-Occupations.-Traffic.-Beads and Shells.-Tents.-Vapor
Baths. -Deer Pounds. -Oratory. - Talkativeness. -Dances.Manbote or Blood-money.-Ceremonies on meeting other People.Population of the Valley of the Yukon.-Same People with certain
Coast Tribes.- Kolusches. - Kenaiyers.- Ugalents. -Atnar. -
Koltshanen.-Persons and Dress.-Deer Pounds.-Passion for Glass
Beads.-Kolushes descended from a Raven.-Courtship.-Wives.
-Revenge.-Murder.-Burn the Dead. —Mourning. —Do not name
the, Deceased.-Custom connected therewith.-Winter Habitations.
-Journeys of the Kenaiyer Inland.-Porcupine Quills.-Slavery. 223
CHAPTER XIII.
OF THE:TINNE OR CHEPEWYANS.
Geographical Position.-National Name.-Tribes.-Hare Indians and
Dog-ribs.-Personal Appearance.-Women.-Dress.-Disposition.
-Wars.- Socialism.- Improvidence. - Suffering. - Affection for
their Children.-Hospitality feeble.-Falsehood.-Honesty.-Religious Belief.-Volatility.-Marriages.-Wrestling for a Wife.Dogs.-Moose-hunting.-Public Opinion the only Rule of Conduct.
-Chiefs. -Introduction of Christianity. -Horses.-Houses. -
Dawnings of Civilization.-Members of the'Tinne People west of
the Rocky Mountains.-Southern Athabascans................ 244
CHAPTER XIV.
EYTHINYUWUK, OR CREES AND CHIPPEWAYS.
National Names.-Division.-Tribes.-Territory.-Wars with the
Mengwe.-Conventional Character not true.-Persons.-Gait.Crimes.-W abunsi.-Wigwams.-Religious Belief.-Vapor Baths.
-Everlasting Fire.-Its Rites. —Used in Sickness.-Its Priests.Its  Origin.-Chief  Sun.-Policy.-Calumet.-Maize.-Food.Reindeer.- Bison.-White-Fish.-E arth-Works.-Pottery.-Language.-Half-breeds.-Colony of Red River, or Osnaboya.-Spirituous Liquors........................................... 262
CHAPTER XV.
OCCURRENCES IN WINTER.
Fort Confidence.-Situation.-Silurian Limestone.-Lake Basin.Trees.-Dwelling-house.-Occupations.- Letters -Galena News



CONTENTS.                            iK
PAGE
paper. -Oregon " Spectator." — Extent of the Hudson's Bay
Company's  Territory.-Fisheries.-Venison.-Wolverenes.-Native Socialism. -Provisions collected at Fort Confidence. -Fetes.
-Winter  Fishery. —Eskimo  Sleds. —Reindeer.-Wolverene.Wolves.-Honesty of the Dog-ribs.-Their Indolence.-Provisions
not individual Property.-Indians move off.-An Accouchement.Ccelebs in Search of a Wife.-Might makes Right.-None but the
Brave deserve the Fair.-Progress of the Seasons.-Temperature.
-Arrival of Summer Birds: at Fort Confidence; at Fort Franklin; on the Yukon...................................... 278
CHAPTER XVI.
Mr. Rae's Expedition in the Summer of 1849.-Instructions.-He
crosses to the Coppermine.-Descends that River. —Sea covered
with Ice.-Surveys Rae River.-Eskimos.-Cape Kendall. —Cape
Hearne.-Basil Hall Bay.  Cape Krusenstern.-Douglas Island.
-Detention.-Dangerous Situation.-August 23, return.-Author
and Mr. Bell leave Fort Confidence. -Cross Great Bear Lake.Descend Bear Lake River.-David Brodie lost in the Woods. —His
Adventures.-Fort Simpson.-Methy Portage.-Receive English
Letters.-Norway House.-Part from the Seamen and Sappers and
Miners.-Continue the Voyage to Canada.-Boston.-Land at
Liverpool.-Summary of the present State of the Search for Sih
John  Franklin.........................................    306
POSTSCRIPT.......................................... 330
A   P E N D I X.
No. I.-PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
GENERAL VIEW.-Rocky Mountains.-Their Length.-Their Height.
-Glaciers.-Parallelism to the Pacific Coast.-Continental Slopes.
-Russian America.-Eastern Slope.-Prairies.-Mississippi Valley.-Its Slope.-Fundamental Rocks of the Basin.-Silurian
Strata.-Carboniferous Series.-Tertiary Beds.-Lignite Formations.-Series of Lake Basins.-Transverse Valleys.-Intermediate
Belt of Primitive, Hypogenous, or Metamorphic Rocks.-Its Rivers
mere Chains of Lakes.-Its Breadth.-Altitude.-Sources of three
great River Systems.-Great Fish River.-The Yukon or Kwichpack.-Basins of Excavation.-Glacial Action.-Active  Volcanoes......................... 337




x                           CONTENTS.
VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.-Altitudes of the Lakes above the
Sea.-Lake Superior.-Lake Michigan.-Lake Huron. —Lake Erie.
-Lake Ontario.-Lake Champlain.-Northern Brim  of the St.
Lawrence Basin.-Its Geological Structure.-North Shore of Lake
Superior.-Structure of the Country at the Sources of the Mississippi................................................ 348
WVINIPEG OR SASKATCHEWAN VALLEY.-Height of Lake Winipeg.Sea River.-Katchewan River.-Thousand Lakes.-Portages.River Winipeg. —Red River.-Saskatchewan River............ 359
MIISSINIPI VALLEY.-Its Lakes.-Frog Portage................. 363
MACKENZIE RIVER VALLEY. —Methy Portage.-Athabasca, Elk, or
Red-deer River.-Lesser Slave Lake.-Peace River.-Slave River.
-River of the Mountains.-Noh'hanne Bute.-Great Bear Lake. 363
YUKON VALLEY. —Yukon or Kwichpack.-Volcanic Chain of Alaska.
-Coal.-Fossil Bones.367
No. II.-CLIMATOLOGY.
Snow Line.-Ground Ice.-Thermornetrical Observations in the Valley of the St. Lawrence.-Comparative Temperature of the two
sides of the Continent. —Phenomena of the Seasons at Penetanguishene: at Fort William: at Fort Vancouver.-Thermometrical
Observations in the Valley of the Saskatchewan. —On the East and
West sides of the Continent in that Parallel.-Phenomena of the
Seasons at Cumberland House; at Carlton House; at Martin's
Falls on Albany River.-Thermometrical Observations on the Missinipi, and in the same Parallels on the East and West Sides of the
Continent.-Thermometrical Observations in the Valleys of the
Mackenzie, Yukon, and Pelly.-Progress of the Seasons at Fort
Franklin. -Thermometrical Observations on the Arctic Seas.General Remarks.-Nocturnal Radiation.................... 372
No. III.-THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS
NORTH OF THE 49TH PARALLEL OF LATITUDE.
Generic and Specific Forms of Plants decrease in Number as the Latitude increases.-Analogy between Altitude and Increase of Latitude. -Culture of the Vine. -Of the Cerealia.-Maize.-Wheat.
-Oats.-Barley.-Potatoes.-Botanical Districts.-Their Physiognomy.-Woodland   District.-Barren  Grounds.-Prairies.Rocky Mountains.-Sitka.-Polar Plants.-Arctic Zone.-Trees
and Shrubs. —Table of Distribution of Species in three several
Zones.-Carices........................                408




CONTENTS.                           xi
POES
No. IV.-LIST OF INSECTS.
Note on Hymenoptera in Arctic North America.-List of Coleoptera.
— Orthoptera.-Neuroptera. —Hymenoptera.- Hemiptera.-Homoptera-Lepidoptera-Diptera............................ 471
No. V. -VOCABULARIES.
Eskimo Vocabulary.-Comparative Table of the Dialects spoken by
the Beering's Sea and Labrador Eskimos. —Vocabulary of the
Kutchin of the Yukon or Kutchi-Kutchi, with Chepewyan Synonyms.-Chepewyan  Vocabulary. —Dog-Rib  Vocabulary.-Fort
Simpson Dog-Rib.-" Mauvais Monde" Vocabulary.-Chepewyan
and Dog-Rib Words.................................... 479
WOODCUTS AND DIAGRAMS.
Rocky Mountains at the Bend of the Mackenzie............ 107
Rock by the River's Side................................... 113
Hill in Bear Lake River................................... 122
Ramparts, Mackenzie's River, Geological Section................ 130
Diagram of Rocks in Lat. 68~ 10' N..............   140
Sandhills on the Mackenzie, Lat. 680 50' N............. 142
Conical Hill near Point Encounter........................... 144
Torso Rock....................................... 171
NOTICE.
In the Indian names which occur in the following narrative, u is to be sounded
like oo, in "moon;" yu as in " yule," or like "you;" and i as in "ravine."








ARCTIC SEARCHING EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER I.
Route assigned to the Expedition under Command of Sir John Franklin.-Names
of the Officers.-Erebus and Terror.-Date of its Sailing.-Last Letters.-Sir
John Franklin's Last Official Letter.-Last Sight of the Expedition.-Sir John
Ross proposes a Search.-Discussion of various Opinions offered respecting
the Fate of the Expedition.-Plans of Search adopted.-Main Objects of the
Overland Searching Expedition.-Instructions from the Admiralty.
HER MAJESTY'S government having deemed it expedient that
a further attempt should be made for the accomplishment of a
northwest passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the
" Erebus" and "Terror" were fitted out for that service, and
placed under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin, K.C.H.
He was directed by the Admiralty instructions, dated on the 5th
of May, 1845, to proceed with all dispatch to Lancaster Sound,
and, passing through it, to push on to the westward, in the latitude of 74~0, without loss of time or stopping to examine any
openings to the northward, until he reached the longitude of Cape
Walker, which is situated in about 98~ west.  IHe was to use
every effort to penetrate to the southward and westward of that
point, and to pursue as direct a course for Beering's Straits as
circumstances might permit. He was cautioned not to attempt
to pass by the western extremity of Melville Island, until he had
ascertained that a permanent barrier of ice or other obstacle closed
the prescribed route. In the event of not being able to penetrate
to the westward, he was to enter Wellington Sound in his second
summer.
He was further directed to transmit accounts of his proceedings
to the Admiralty, by means of the natives and the Hudson's Bay
Company, should opportunities offer; and also, after passing the
65th meridian, to throw overboard daily a copper cylinder, containing a paper stating the ship's position. It was also understood




14                  FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.
that he would cause piles of stones or signal-posts to be erected
on conspicuous headlands at convenient times, though the instructions do not contain a clause to that effect.*
The following officers joined the expedition:
EREBUS.                         TERROR.
Captain, Sir John Franklin, Kt.  Captain, Francis R. M. Crozier.
K.C.H.                     Lieutenant, Edward Little.
Commander, James Fitzjames.   Lieutenant, George H. Hodgson.
Lieutenant, Graham Gore.      Lieutenant, John Irving.
Lieut., H. P. D. Le Vesconte.   Ice-Master, Thomas Blanky.
Lieut., James W. Fairholme.    Surgeon, John S. Peddie.
Ice-Master, James Read..Assist.- Surgeon, A. M'Donald.
Surgeon, Stephen S. Stanley.    Sec. Master, Gillies A. Maclean.
Paymaster, C. H. Osmer.       Clerk-in-Charge, Edward J. H.
/ssist.-Surg., H. D. S. Goodsir.    Helpman.
Sec. Master, Henry F. Collins.
And the conjoined crews of the two ships amounted to 130 souls.
The " Erebus," originally built for a bomb-vessel, and therefore
strongly framed, was of 370 tons measurement, and had been fortified, in 1839, after the most approved plan, by an extra or double
exterior planking and diagonal bracing within, for Sir James C.
Ross's Antarctic voyage, from which she returned in 1843. Having been carefully examined and refitted for Sir John Franklin,
she was considered to be as strongly prepared to resist the pressure
of the ice as the resources of science, and the utmost care of Mr.
Rice, the skillful master-shipwright who superintended the preparations, could insure.   The "Terror," of 340 tons, was also
constructed for a bomb-vessel, and had the bluff form, capacious
hold, and strong framework of that class of war vessels. When
commanded by Captain Sir George Back, on his voyage to Repulse Bay in 1836-7, she had been beset for more than eleven
months in drifting floes of ice, and exposed to every variety of assault and pressure to which a vessel was liable in such a dangerous
position. In this severe and lengthened trial, the " Terror" had
been often pressed more or less out of the water, or thrown over
on one side, and had, in consequence thereof, sustained some
* The instructions are published at length in a parliamentary Blue
Book, and all known particulars respecting the expedition have been communicated from time to time to the public by the same channel. The
above abstract mentions the leading points which would direct the course
of the expedition.




LAST LETTERS                      1s
damage, particularly in the stem post.  All defects, however,
were made good in 1839, when she sailed for the Antarctic Seas,
under the command of Captain Crozier, the second officer of Sir
James C. Ross's expedition. She was again examined, and made
as strong as ever, before Captain Crozier took the command of her
a second time in 1845.
The best plans that former experience could suggest for ventilating and warming the ships in the winter were adopted. and
full supplies of every requisite for Arctic navigation were provided,
including an ample stock of warm bedding, clothing, and provisions, with a proportion of preserved meats and pemican.
The expedition sailed from England on the 19th of May, 1845,
and, early in July, had reached Whalefish Islands, near Disco,
on the Greenland coast of Davis's Straits, where, having found
a convenient port, the transport which accompanied it was cleared
and sent home to England, bringing the last letters that have
been received from the officers or crew. The following extract
of a letter, from Lieutenant Fairholme, of the " Erebus," will
serve to show the cheerful anticipation of success which prevailed
throughout the party, and the happy terms on which they were
with each other:
" We have anchored in a narrow channel between two of the
islands, protected on all sides by land, and in as convenient a
place for our purpose as could possibly be found. Here we are
with the transport lashed alongside, transferring most actively all
her stores to the two ships.  I hope that this operation will be
completed by to-morrow night, in which case Wednesday will be
devoted to swinging the ships for local attraction, and I suppose
Thursday will see us under way with our heads to the northward.
We have had the observatory up here, on a small rock on which
Parry formerly observed, and have got a very satisfactory set of
magnetic and other observations.  Of our prospects we know
little more than when we left England, but look forward with
anxiety to our reaching 72~, where it seems we are likely to
meet the first obstruction, if any exists.  On board we are as
comfortable as it is possible to be. I need hardly tell you how
much we are all delighted with our captain. He has, I am
sure, won not only the respect but the love of every person on
board by his amiable manner and kindness to all; and his influence is always employed for some good purpose both among the




16                  FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.
officers and men.  He has been most successful in his selection
of officers, and a more agreeable set could hardly be found. Sir
John is in much better health than when we left England, and
really looks ten years younger. He takes an active part in every
thing that goes on, and his long experience in such services as
this makes him a most valuable adviser. July 10th.-The transport is just reported clear, so I hope that we may be able to swing
the ships to-morrow and get away on Saturday. We are very
much crowded; in fact, not an inch of stowage has been lost,
and the decks are still covered with casks, &c. Our supply of
coals has encroached seriously on the ship's stowage; but as we
consume both this and provisions as we go, the evil will be continually lessening."
Letters from most of the other officers, written in a similarly
buoyant and hopeful spirit, were received in England at the same
time with the above.  An extract of a letter from  Sir John
Franklin himself to Lieutenant Colonel Sabine deserves to be
quoted, as expressing his own opinion of his resources, and also
his intention of remaining out should he fail after a second winter
in finding an outlet to the southwestward from Barrow's Strait.
The letter is dated from Whalefish Islands, on the 9th of July,
1845, and, after noticing that the " Erebus" and " Terror" had
on board provisions, fuel, clothing, and stores for three years complete, from that date, adds, " I hope my dear wife and daughter
will not be over-anxious if we should not return by the time they
have fixed upon; and I must beg of you to give them the benefit
of your advice and experience when that time arrives, for you
know well that, without success in our object, even after the
second winter, we should wish to try some other channel if the
state of our provisions and the health of the crews justify it."
The following is the last official letter written by Sir John
Franklin to the Admiralty.
"Her Majesty's Ship' Erebus,'
Whalefsh Islands, July 12, 1845
"SR —I have the honor to acquaint you, for the information of the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that Her Majesty's ships' Erebus'
and' Terror,' with the transport, arrived at this anchorage on the 4th instant, having had a passage of one month from Stromness. The transport was immediately taken alongside this ship, that she might be more
readily cleared; and we have been constantly employed at that operation
till last evening, the delay having been caused not so much in getting the
stores transferred to either of the ships, as in making the best stowagoe of




LATEST OFFICIAL LEf'ER.                    17
thein below, as well as on the upper deck. The ships are now complete
with supplies of every kind for three years: they are, therefore, very deep;
but happily we have no reason to expect much sea as we proceed further.
" The magnetic instruments were landed the same morning; so also
were the ether instruments requisite for ascertaining the position of the
observatory; and it is satisfactory to find that the results of the observations for latitude and longitude accord very nearly with those assigned to
the same place by Sir Edward Parry. Those for dip and variation are
equally satisfactory, which were made by Captain Crozier with the instruments belonging to the' Terror,' and by Commander James with those of
the'Erebus.'
" The ships are now being swung, for the purpose of ascertaining the
dip and deviation of the needle on board, as was done at Greenhithe;
which I trust will be completed this afternoon, and I hope to be able to
sail in the night.
" The governor and principal persons are at this time absent from Disco;
so that I have not been able to receive any communication from head
quarters as to the state of the ice to the north. I have, however, learned
from a Danish carpenter in charge of the Esquimaux at these islands, that,
though the winter was severe, the spring was not later than usual, nor
was the ice later in breaking away hereabout. He supposes, also, that it
is now loose as far as 74~, and as far as Lancaster Sound, without much
obstruction.
"The transport will sail for England this day.  I shall instruct the
agent, Lieutenant Griffiths, to proceed to Deptford, and report his arrival
to the Secretary of the Admiralty. I have much satisfaction in bearing
my testimony to the careful and zealous manner in which Lieutenant
Griffiths has performed the service intrusted to him, and would beg to recommend him as an officer who appears to have seen much service, to the
favorable consideration of their Lordships.
" It is unnecessary to assure their Lordships of the energy and zeal of
Captain Crozier, Commander Fitzjames, and of the officers and men with
whom I have the happiness of being employed on this service.
"I have, &c.,
" JOHN FRANKLIN,
"The Right Hon. H. L. Cary, M.P.                 "Captain.
"&c.    &c.    &c."
The two ships were seen on the 26th of the same month (July)
in latitude, 740 48' N., longitude 663 13' W., moored to an iceberg, waiting for a favorable opportunity of entering or rounding
the " middle ice" and crossing to Lancaster Sound, distant in a
direct westerly line from their position about 220 geographical
miles. On that -day a boat from the discovery ships, manned by
seven officers, one of whom was Commander Fitzjames, boarded
the "Prince of Wales," whaler, Captain Dannett. They were
all in high spirits and invited Captain Dannett to dine with Sir




18                FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.
John Franklin on the following day, which had he done, he
would doubtless have been the bearer of letters for England, but
a favorable breeze springing up he separated from them. The
ice was then heavy but loose, and the officers expressed good
hopes of soon accomplishing the enterprise. Captain Dannett
was favored with very fine weather during the three following
weeks, and thought that the expedition must have made good
progress. This was the last sight that was obtained of Franklin's ships.
In January, 1847, a year and a half after the above date,
Captain Sir John Ross addressed a letter to the Admiralty,
wherein he stated his conviction that the discovery ships were
frozen up at the wuestern end of Melville Island, from whence
their return would be forever prevented by the accumulation of
ice behind them, and volunteered his services to carry relief to
the crews. Sir John also laid statements of his apprehensions
before the Royal and Geographical Societies, and, the public attention being thereby roused, several writers in the newspapers
and other periodicals published their sentiments on the subject,
a variety of plans of relief were suggested, and many volunteers
came forward to execute them.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, though judging
that the second winter was too early a period of Sir John Franklin's absence to give rise to well founded apprehensions for his
safety, lost no time in calling for the opinions of several naval
officers who were well acquainted with Arctic navigation, and in
concerting plans of relief, to be carried out when the proper time
should arrive.
A brief review of the replies most worthy of notice may help
the reader to form a judgment of the plans that were eventually
adopted by the Admiralty for the discovery and relief of the absent voyagers. It is convenient to consider first the notions of
those who believe that Sir John Franklin never entered Lancaster Sound, either because the ships met with some fatal disaster in
Baffin's Bay, and went down with the entire loss of both crews,
or that Sir John endeavored to fulfill the purposes of the expedition by taking some other route than the one exclusively marked
out for him by his instructions. That the ships were not suddenly wrecked by a storm, or overwhelmed by the pressure of the




VARIOUS OPINIONS.                   19
ice, may be concluded from facts gathered from the records of the
Davis's Straits whale-fishery, by which we learn that of the many
vessels which have been crushed in the ice, in the course of several centuries, the whole or greater part of the crews have almost
always escaped with their boats. It is, therefore, scarcely possible to believe that two vessels so strongly fortified as the " Erebus"
and " Terror," and found by previous trials to be capable of sustaining so enormous a pressure, should both of them have been
so suddenly crushed as to allow no time for active officers and
men, disciplined and prepared for emergencies of the kind, to get
out their boats.  And having done so they would have had little
difficulty in reaching one of the many whalers, that were occupied in the pursuit of fish in those seas for six weeks after the
discovery ships were last seen. Moreover, had the ships been
wrecked, some fragments of their spars or hulls would have been
found floating by the whalers, or being cast on the eastern or
western shores of the bay, would have been reported by the
Greenlanders or Eskimos. Neither are any severe storms recorded as having occurred then or there, nor did any unusual calamity
befall the fishing vessels that year.
With respect to Sir John Franklin having chosen to enter
Jones's or Smith's Sounds in preference to Lancaster Sound, his
known habit of strict adherence to his instructions is a sufficient
answer, and the extract quoted above from his letter to Lieutenant Colonel Sabine, which gives his latest thoughts on the
subject, plainly says that such a course would not be pursued
until a second winter had proved the impracticability of the route
laid down for him. This point is mooted, because Mr. Hamilton,
surgeon in Orkney, states that Sir John, when dining with him
on the last day that he passed in Great Britain, mentioned his
determination of trying Jones's Sound. But Sir John's communication to Colonel Sabine shows that this could be meant to refer only to the contingency of a full trial by Lancaster Sound
proving fruitless.  Supposing that, contrary to all former experience, he had found the mouth of Lancaster Sound so barred by
ice as to preclude his entrance, then, after waiting till he had
become convinced that it would remain closed for the season, he
might have tried to find a way, by Jones's Sound, into Wellington Sound; but in such a case, we may hold it as certain that
he would have erected conspicuous cairns, and deposited memo



20                FRANXLIN'S EXPEDITION.
randa of his past proceedings and future intentions, at the entrance
of Lancaster Sound.
Taking it, then, for granted that the expedition entered Lan
caster Sound, the most probable conjecture respecting the direction
in which it advanced is that Sir John, literally following his instructions, did not stop to examine any openings either to the
northward or southward of Barrow's Strait, but continued to
push on to the westward until he reached Cape Walker, in longitude 980, when he inclined to the southwest, and steered as
directly as he could for Beering's Straits. But even supposing
that the state of the ice permitted him to take the desired route,
and to turn to the southwestward by the first opelilng beyond
the 98th meridian, we are ignorant of the exact position of that
opening, the tract between Cape Walker and Banks's Land being
totally unknown. That a passage to the southward does exist in
that space, and terminates between Victoria and Wollaston Lands
in Coronation Gulf, is inferred from the observed setting of the
flood tide. There is, it is true, an uncertainty in our endeavors
to determine the directions of the tides in these narrow seas, where
the currents are influenced by prevailing winds; but Mr. Thomas
Simpson, who was an acute observer, remarked that the flood tide
brought much ice into Coronation Gulf round the west end of
Victoria Land, and facts collected on three visits which I have
made to that gulf lead me to concur with him. Entirely in accordance with this opinion is the fact noted by Sir Edward Parry,
that the flood tide came from the north between Cornwallis and
the neighboring islands, and that the ice was continually setting
round the west end of Melville Island and passing onward to the
southeast.
These observations, while they point to an opening to the
eastward of Banks's Land, may be adduced as an argument
against the existence of a passage directly to the westward be
tween it and Melville Island; and, though they are not con
elusive, they are supported by another remark of Sir Edward
Parry's that he thought there was some peculiar obstruction immediately to the west of that island, which produced a permanent
barrier of ice.
But wherever the opening which we presume to exist may be
situated, the channels among the islands are probably not direct,
and may be intricate. Vessels, therefore, having pushed into one




VARIOUS OPINIONS                   21
of them, would be exposed to the ice closing in behind and barring all regress. Sir John Ross, whose opinions are first recorded
in the parliamentary Blue Book, believes that " Sir John Franklin put his ships into the drift ice at the western end of Melville
Island," and that, " if not totally lost, they must have been carried by the ice, which is known to drift to the southward, on
land (Banks's Land) seen at a great distance in that direction, and
from which the accumulation of ice behind them will," says he,
" as in my own case, forever prevent the return of the ships."
Sir W. Edward Parry is of opinion that Sir John Franklin
would endeavor " to get to the southward and westward before he
approached the southwestern extremity of Melville Island, that
is, between the 100th and 110th degree of longitude:" "how
far they may have penetrated to the southward between those
meridians, must be a matter of speculation, depending on the
state of the ice and the existence of land in a space hitherto
blank in our maps." " Be this as it may, I (Sir WV. E. Parry)
consider it not improbable, as suggested by Dr. King, that ap
attempt will be made by them to fall back on the western coast
of North Somerset, wherever that may be found, as being the
nearest point affording a hope of communication, either with
whalers or with ships sent expressly in search of the expedition."
Sir James C. Ross says: "It is far more probable, however,
that Sir John Franklin, in obedience to his instructions, would
endeavor to push the ships to the south and west as soon as they
passed Cape Walker; and the consequence of such a measure,
owing to the known prevalence of westerly winds, and the drift
of the main body of the ice, would be their inevitable embarrassment; and if he persevered in that direction, which he probably
would do, I have no hesitation in stating my conviction, that he
would never be able to extricate his ships, and would ultimately
be obliged to abandon them. It is, therefore, in latitude 730 N.
and longitude 1350 W. that we may expect to find them involved
in the ice, or shut up in some harbor."
The opinions here quoted are contingent on the supposition, that
Sir John Franklin found the state of the ice to be such that he
could take the routes in question; but the several officers quoted
admit that, in the event of no opening through the ice in a westerly or southwesterly direction being found, Sir John would attempt Wellington Sound, or any other northern opening that was




2?                SEARCHING EXPEDITIONS.
accessible. Commander Fitzjames, in a letter dated January,
1845, says:'The northwest passage is certainly to be gone
through by Barrow's Straits, but whether south or north of Parry's Group remains to be proved. I am for going far north, edging northwest till in longitude 1400 W., if possible."  Mr. John
Barrow, to whom this letter was addressed, appends to it the following memorandum: " Captain Fitzjames was much inclined to
try the passage to the northward of Parry's Islands, and he would,
no doubt, endeavor to persuade Sir John Franklin to pursue that
course, if they failed to get to the southward."
My own opinion, submitted to the Admiralty in compliance
with their commands, was substantially the same with that of
Sir James Clark Ross, though formed independently; and I
further suggested that, in the event of accident to the ships, or
their abandonment in the ice, the members of the expedition
would make either for Lancaster Sound to meet the whalers, or
Mackenzie River, to seek relief at the Hudson's Bay posts, as
they judged either of these places most easy of attainment.*
After deliberately weighing these and other suggestions, and
fully considering the numerous plans submitted to them, the Admiralty determined that, if no intelligence of the missing ships
arrived by the close of autumn, 1847, they would send out three
several searching expeditions-one to Lancaster Sound, another
down the Mackenzie River, and the third to Beering's Straits.
The object of the first, and the most important of the three,
was to follow up the route supposed to have been pursued by Sir
John Franklin; and, by searching diligently for any signal-posts
he might have erected, to trace him out, and carry the required
relief to his exhausted crews. Sir James Clark Ross was ap
pointed to the command of this expedition, consisting of the " Enterprise" and " Investigator;" and, as his plan of proceeding bears
upon my own instructions, I give it at length:
" As vessels destined to follow the track of the expedition must, necessarily, encounter the same difficulties, and be liable to the same severe
[* Since the publication of the English edition of this work, the return
of the American Arctic Expedition (Oct., 1851), has brought intelligence
proving that Sir John Franklin's expedition was at Beechy Cape, at the
Entrance of Wellington Sound, from Januaryl, to April 3, 1846, at least.
The graves of three members of his party, bearing these dates, were discovered at that spot.-AM. PuB.]




SIR JAMES C. ROSS'S PLAN OF SEARCHI.              23
pressure from the great body of the ice they must pass through in their
way to Lancaster Sound, it is desirable that two ships, of not less than
500 tons, be purchased for this service, and fortified and equipped, in every
respect as were the'Erebus' and'Terror,' for the Antartic Seas.
"Each ship should, in addition, be supplied with a small vessel or
launch of about 20 tons, which she could hoist in, to be fitted with a steamengine and boiler of ten-horse power, for a purpose to be hereafter noticed.
" The ships should sail at the end of April next, and proceed to Lahcaster Sound, with as little delay as possible, carefully searching both
shores of that extensive inlet, and of Barrow's Strait, and then progress to
the westward.
" Should the period at which they arrive in Barrow's Strait admit of it,
Wellington Channel should next be'examined, and the coast between Cape
Clarence and Cape Walker explored, either in the ships or by boats, as
may at the time appear most advisable. As this coast has been generally
found encumbered with ice, it is not desirable that both ships should proceed so far along it as to hazard their getting beset there and shut up for
the winter; but in the event of finding a convenient harbor near Garniel
Bay or Cape Rennell, it would be a good position in which to secure onc
of the ships for the winter.': From this position the coast line might be explored, as far as it extends to the westward, by detached parties early in the spring, as well as
the western coast of Boothia, a considerable distance to the southward,
and at a more advanced period of the season the whole distance to Cape
Nicolai might be completed.
" A second party might be sent to the southwest as far as practicable,
and a third to the northwest, or in any other direction deemed advisable
at the time.
" As soon as the formation of water along the coast, between the land
and main body of the ice admitted, the small steam-launch should be dispatched into Lancaster Sound, to communicate with the whale-ships at
the usual time of their arrival in those regions, by which means information of the safety or return of Sir John Franklin might be conveyed to the
ships before their liberation from their winter quarters, as well as any
further instructions the Lords Commissioners might be pleased to send for
their future guidance.
"The easternmost vessel having been safely secured in winter quarters,
the other ship should proceed alone to the westward, and endeavor to
reach Winter Harbor in Melville Island, or some convenient port in Banks's
Land, in which to pass the winter.
" From this point, also, parties should be dispatched early in spring, before the breaking up of the ice. The first should trace the western coast
of Banks's Land, and proceeding to Cape Bathurst, or some other conspicuous point of the continent, previously agreed on with Sir John Richardson, reach the Hudson's Bay Company's settlement of Fort Good Hope on
the Mackenzie, whence they may travel southward by the usual route of
the traders to York Factory, and thence to England.
" The second party should explore the eastern shore of Banks's Land,
and, making for Cape Krusenstern, communicate with Sir John RichardRon's party on its descending the Coppermine River, and either assist him




24                 PLAN OF SEARCH ADOPTED.
in completing the examination of Wollaston and Victoria Land, or return
to England by any route he should direct.
" These two parties would pass over that space in which most probably
the ships have become involved (if at all), and would, therefore, have the
best chance of communicating to Sir Johnl Franklin information of the
measures that have been adopted for his relief, and of directing him to the
best point to proceed, if he should consider it necessary to abandon his ships.
" Other parties may be dispatched, as might appear desirable to the
commander of the expedition, according to circumstances; but the steamlaunches should certainly be employed to keep up the communication between the ships, to transmit such information for the guidance of each
other as might be necessary for the safety and success of the undertaking.
(Signed)     "JAMES C. Ross,
" Captain, R.N.
"Athenmum, 2 December, 1847."
By a subsequent arrangement between Sir James Ross and
myself, under the sanction of the Admiralty, I undertook to deposit pemican at Fort Good Hope and Point Separation on the
Mackenzie, and Capes Bathurst, Parry, Krusenstern, and Hearne,
on the sea-coast, for the use of Sir James Ross's detached parties.
The Beering's Straits expedition was composed of the " Herald," Captain Kellet, then employed in surveying the Pacific
coasts of America, and the " Plover," Commander Moore.  The
vessels were expected to arrive in Beering's Straits about the 1st
-of July, 1848, and were directed to " proceed along the American
coast as far as possible, consistent with the certainty of preventing the ships being beset by the ice." A harbor was to be sought
for the " Plover" within the Straits, to which that vessel was to
be conducted; and two whale-boats were to go on to the eastward in search of the missing voyagers, and to communicate, if
possible, with the Mackenzie River party. The " Plover" was
fitted out in the Thames in December, 1847; but having been
found to leak when she went to sea, was compelled to put into
Plymouth for repair, and did not finally leave England until February, 1848. This tardy departure, conjoined with her dull sailing, prevented her from passing Beering's Straits at all in 1848;
but she wintered near Cape Tschukotskoi, on the Asiatic coast,
just outside of the Straits.
The "Herald" visited Kotzebue Sound, repassed the Straits
before the arrival of the "Plover," and returned to *winter in
South America, with the intention of going northward again next
season.




OBJECT OF THE OVERLAND EXPEDITION.          25
The main object of the searching party intrusted to my charge,
was to trace the coast between- the Mackenzie and Coppermine
Rivers, and the shores of Victoria and Wollaston Lands lying
opposite to Cape Krusenstern. In a preceding page I have adduced reasons for believing that there is a passage to the northward between these lands; and if so, its position makes it the
most direct route from the continent to the unknown tract interposed between Cape Walker and Banks's Land, into which Sir
John Franklin was expressly ordered to carry his ships. Should
he have done so, and his egress by the way he entered be barred
by the ice closing in behind him as already suggested, there remained a probability that the annual progression of the ice southward would eventually carry the ships into Coronation Gulf, or,
if abandoned before that event, their crews were to be sought for
on their way to the continent.
At the time when Sir John Franklin left England, two other
openings from the north into the sea washing the continental
shores were supposed to exist. The most westerly of these is between Boothia and Victoria Land, and it was part of Sir James
Ross's plan to examine the whole western side of Boothia and
North Somerset by one of his steam-barges.
The other supposed entrance was by Regent's Inlet. Dease
and Simpson had left only a small space unsurveyed between that
inlet and the sea, which was known to afford in good seasons a
passage all the way to Beering's Straits; and this might have
recommended the route by Regent's Inlet for trial.  But, exclusive of its being absolutely prohibited by Sir John Franklin's instructions, Sir Edward Parry and Sir James Ross: on whose opinions Sir John placed deservedly the greatest reliance, were decidedly averse to his attemping a passage in that direction; and
it was known that Sir John Franklin had resolved on trying all
the other openings before he entered Regent's Inlet, which was
to be his last resource. It fortunately happened before any of the
searching expeditions were finally organized, that the non-existence of a passage through that inlet was fully ascertained.
Mr. John Rae, a Chief Trader in the service of the Hudson'sBay Company, left Fort Churchill in the beginning of the summer of 1846, with two boats, for the express purpose of completing the survey of Regent's Inlet. He arrived in Repulse Bay
in the month of August of that year, and immediately crossed an
B




26           SURtVEY OF PRINCE REGENT'S INLET.
isthmus, forty-three miles wide, to the inlet, taking one boat with
him.  Finding that the season was too far advanced for him to
complete the survey that year, he determined, with a boldness
and confidence in his own resources that has never been surpassed,
to winter in Repulse Bay, and to finish his survey of Regent's
Inlet on the ice next spring; so that he might be able, to return
to Churchill and York Factory by open water in the summer of
1847. He therefore recrossed the isthmus again with his boat,
and set about collecting provisions and fuel for a ten months' winter. To one less experienced and hardy, the desolate shores of
Repulse Bay would have forbidden such an attempt. They
yielded neither drift-wood nor shrubby plants of any kind; but Mr.
Rae employed part of his men to gather the withered stems of
the Andromeda tetragona, a small herbaceous plant which grew
in abundance on the rocks, and to pile it in cocks like hay: others
he set to build a house of stone and earth, large enough to shelter
his party, amounting in all to sixteen; while he himself' and his
Eskimo interpreter were occupied in killing deer for winter consumption. He succeeded in laying up a sufficient stock of venison,
and kept his people in health and strength for next year's operations, though not in comfort, for the chimney was so badly constructed for ventilation, that when the fire was lighted it was
necessary to open the door, and thus to reduce the temperature of
the apartment, nearly to that of the external air. The fire was,
therefore, used as seldom as possible, and only for cooking or melting snow to drink. In the spring he completed the survey of
Prince Regent's Inlet on foot, thereby proving that no passage existed through it, and confirming the Eskimo report, first made to
Sir Edward Parry, and afterward to Sir John Ross. A party
of Eskimo, who resided near Mr. Rae in the winter, informed
him, through his interpreter, that they had not seen Franklin's
ships, thereby excluding the Gulf of Boothia from the list of
places to be searched.
Having thus mentioned the opinions most worthy of note, respecting the quarters in which search was to be made, the plans
of search adopted by the Admiralty after duly weighing a great
variety of suggestions, and the extent of coast and parts of the
Arctic Sea embraced in the three expeditions of the summer of
1848, I subjoin the instructions I received from the Admiralty:




INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE ADMIRALTY.                 27
Instructions to Sir John Richardson, 3M.D., 16th March, 1848.  By the
Commissionersfor executing the office of Lord High A.dmiral, 4c.
"Whereas, we think fit that you should be employed on an overland expedition in search of Her Majesty's ships'Erebus' and' Terror,' under the
command of Captain Sir John Franklin, which ships are engaged in a voyage of discovery in the Arctic Seas, you are hereby required and directed to
take under your orders Mr. Rae, who has been selected to accompanylyou,
and to leave England on the 25th instant, by the mail steamer for Halifax
in Nova Scotia, and New York; and on your arrival at the latter place, you
are to proceed immediately to Montreal, for the purpose of conferring with
Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company's Settlements,
and making arrangements with him for your future supplies and communications.
" You should next travel to Penetanguishene, on Lake Huron, and from
thence, by a steamer, which sails on the 1st and 15th of every month of
open water, to Saut Ste. Marie, at the foot of Lake Superior, and there
embark in a canoe, which, with its crew, will have been provided for you,
by that time, by Sir George Simpson.
"Following the usual canoe route by Fort William, Rainy Lake, the
Lake of the Woods, Lake Winipeg, and the Saskatchewan River, it is
hoped that you will overtake the boats now under charge of Mr. Bell, in
July, 1848, somewhere near Isle a la Crosse, or perhaps the Methy Portage.
" You will then send the canoe with its crew back to Canada, and having
stowed the four boats for their sea voyage, you will go on as rapidly as
you can to the mouth of the Mackenzie; leaving Mr. Bell to follow with
the heavier laden barge, to turn off at Great Bear Lake, and erect your
winter residence at Fort Confidence, establish fisheries, and send out
hunters.
" Making a moderate allowance for unavoidable detention by ice, thick
fogs, and storms, the examination of the coast between the Mackenzie and
the Coppermine Rivers will probably occupy 30 days; but you can not calculate to be able to keep the sea later than the 15th of September, for, from the
beginning of that month, the young ice covers the sea almost every night,
and very greatly impedes the boats, until the day is well advanced.
" If you reach the sea in the first week of August, it is hoped you will
be able to make the complete voyage to the Coppermine River, and also to
coast a considerable part of the western and southern shores of Wollaston
Land, and to ascend the Coppermine to some convenient point, where the
boats can be left with the provisions ready for the next year's voyage; and
you will instruct Mr. Bell to send two hunters to the banks of the river to
provide food for the party on the route to Fort Confidence, and thus spare
you any further consumption of the pemican reserved for the following
summer.
" As it may happen, however, from your late arrival on the coast, or
subsequent unexpected detentions, that you can not with safety attempt
to reach the Coppermine, you have our full permission in such a case to
return to Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie, there to deposit two of the
boats, with all the sea stores, and to proceed with the other two boats,
and the whole ofthe crews, to winter quarters on Great Bear Lake.




28            INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE ADMIRALTY.
"And you have also our permission to deviate from the line of route
along the coast, should you receive accounts from the Eskimos, which may
appear credible, of the crews of the'Erebus' and'Terror,' or some part of
them, being in some other direction.
" For the purpose of more widely extending your search, you are at liberty to leave Mr. Rae and a party of volunteers to winter on the coast, if,
by the establishment of a sufficient fishery, or by killing a number of deer
or musk oxen, you may be able to lay up provisions enough for them until
you can rejoin them next summer.
" As you have been informed by Captain Sir James Ross, of Her Majesty's ship' Enterprise,' who is about to be employed on a similar search
in another direction, of the probable directions in which the parties he will
send out toward the continent will travel, rou are to leave a deposit of
pemican for their use at the following points-namely, Point Separation,
Cape Bathurst, Cape Parry, and Cape Krusenstern; and as Sir James Ross
is desirous that some pemican should be stored at Fort Good Hope, for the
use of a party which he purposes sending thither in the spring of 1849,
you are to make the necessary arrangements with Sir George Simpson for
that purpose, as his directions to that effect must be sent early enough to
meet the Company's brigade of Mackenzie River boats at Methy Portage,
in July, 1848.
" Should it appear necessary to continue the search a second summer
(1849), and should the boats have been housed on the Coppermine, you
are to descend that river. on the breaking up of the ice in June, 1849, and
to examine the passages between Wollaston and Banks's and Victoria
Lands, so as to cross the routes of some of Sir James C. Ross's detached
parties, and to return to Great Bear Lake in September, 1849, and withdraw the whole party from thence to winter on Great Slave Lake, which
would be as far south as you will have a prospect of traveling before the
close of the river navigation.
" Should you have found it necessary to return to the Mackenzie (September, 1848), instead of pushing on to the Coppermine, the search in the
summer of 1849 would, of course, have to be commenced from'the former
river again; but should circumstances render it practicable and desirable
to send some of the party down the Coppermine with one or two boats,
you are at liberty to do so.
" A passage for yourself and Mr. Rae will be provided in the'America,'
British and North American mail-steamer, which sails from Liverpool on
the 25th of March, and you will receive a letter of credit on Her Majesty's
Consul at New York for the amount of the expense of your journey from
New York to Saut Ste. Marie, and the carriage of the instruments, &c.
" And in the event of intelligence of the'Erebus' and'Terror' reaching
England after your departure, a communication will be made to the Hudson's Bay Company to ascertain the most expeditious route to forward your
recall.
"We consider it scarcely necessary to furnish you with any instructions
contingent on a successful search after the above-mentioned expedition, or
any parties belonging to it. The circumstances of the case, and your own
local knowledge and experience, will best point out the means to be adopted for the speedy transmission to this c6untry of intelligence to the above




INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE ADMIRALTY.                  29
effect, as well as of aiding and directing in the return of any such parties
to England.
"We are only anxious that the search so laudably undertaken by you
and your colleagues should not be unnecessarily or hazardously prolonged;
and while we are confident that no pains or labor will be spared in the execution of this service, we fear lest the zeal and anxiety of the party so
employed may carry them further than would be otherwise prudent.
" It is on this account you are to understand that your search is not to
be prolonged after the winter of 1849, and which will be passed on the Great
Slave Lake; but that, at the earliest practical moment after the breaking
up of the weather in the spring of 1850, you will take such steps for the
return of the party under your orders to England as circumstances may
render expedient.
" It must be supposed that the instructions now  afforded you can
scarcely meet every contingency that may arise out of a service of the
above description; but reposing, as we do, the utmost confidence in your
discretion and judgment, you are not only at liberty to deviate from any
point of them-that may seem at variance with the objects of the expedition, but you are further empowered to take such other steps as shall be
desirable at the time, and which are not provided for in these orders.
"Given under our hands, 16th March, 1848.
(Signed)    "AUCKLAND.
"J. W. ID. DUNDAS.
" To Sir John Richardson, M.D., &c.
" By command, &c.
(Signed)  "W. A. B. Hamilton."




CHAPTER II.
Overland Searching Expedition.-Routes through the Interior.-Hudson's Bay
Ships.-Pemican.-Boats.-Boat Party leaves England.-Arrives at Winter
Quarters.-Volunteers.-Mr. John Rae appointed to the Expedition.-The Author and Mr. Rae sail from England.-Land at New York.-Proceed to Montreal and La Chine.-Canoe-Men.-Saut Ste. Marie.-Voyage to the North.Reach Cumberland House.
THE preceding pages contain an exposition of the objects of the
expedition, with a general outline of the course tq be pursued
after leaving the Mackenzie; but as that great river can be attained only by a long and laborious lake and river navigation, it
is proper that I should introduce the narrative by a brief account
of that first stage of our overland journey.  There are two routes
to the Mackenzie, one of which, traced at an early period by the
Canadian fur companies, passes through Lakes Huron and Superior, the Karnenistikwoya, or Dog River, the Lake of the Wioods,
Rainy Lake, Lake Winipeg, Cedar Lake, the Saskatchewan
River, Beaver and Half-moon Lakes, Churchill or English River,
Isle A la Crosse, Buffalo and Methy Lakes to the Methy Portage,
and the Clear-water or Little Athabasca River, one of the affluents of the Mackenzie.  From thence there is a continuous
water-course to the sea, through the Elk or Athabasca River,
Athabasca Lake, Slave River and Lake, and the Mackenzie
proper.
The length of this interior navigation from  Montreal to the
Arctic Sea is, in round numbers, four thousand four hundred
miles, of which sixteen hundred miles are performed on the Mackenzie and its affluents, from Methy Portage northward, and in
which the only interruptions to boat navigation are a few cascades and rapids in Clear-water and Slave Rivers.
During the existence of the Northwest, X-Y, and other fur
companies trading from Canada, supplies were conveyed to their
northern posts by the way of the Ottawa River and great Canada
lakes; but they reached the distant establishments on the Mackenzie only in the second summer, having been deposited in the
""'-' -— J -  "" "~"~~~""'^r ~""




ROUrES TIIROUGH THE INTERIOR.            31
first year at the depot on Rainy River.  Owing to the shallowness of the streams, and badness of the portage roads over the
heights between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, the transport
of goods requires to be performed in canoes, with much manual
labor, and is, consequently, very expensive.  On this account the
Hudson's Bay Company, who are now the sole possessors of the
northern fur trade, no longer take their trading goods from Canada, but send them by the shorter and cheaper way of Hudson's
Bay; though they still employ two or three canoes on the Lake
Superior route, to accommodate the Governor in his annual journeys from his residence at La Chine to Norway House, and for
the transport of newly-hired servants to the interior, or for bringing down'officers coming out on furlough, and men whose period
of service has expired. No repairs having of late years been
made on the portage roads, they have very much deteriorated,
and are truly execrable.
The distance between York Factory, in IIudson's Bay, and
Norway House, situated near the northeast corner of Lake Winipeg, does not much exceed three hundred miles; and as the navigation, though much interrupted by rapids and cascades, admits,
in the majority of seasons, of boats carrying a cargo of between
fifty and sixty hundred-weight, it offers a much more economical
approach to the interior of the fur countries than the other; since
one of' these boats may be managed by the same crew that is
required for a canoe carrying only twenty hundred-weight.  The
Hudson's Bay ships are generally two in number; one of them
being employed in taking supplies to Moose Factory, at the bottom of James's Bay, and the other to York Factory, in latitude
570 N., longitude 92'~ Wi., on the west coast of Hudson's Bay.
T'hey sail annually from the Thames on the first Saturday in
June, and, after touching at the Orkneys, to receive laborers for
the Company's service, proceed on their voyage to Hudson's
Straits. The York Factory ship has dropped her anchor at the
mouth of Hayes River as early as the 5th of August, and as late
as the beginning of September. A tardy arrival is very inconvenient, both in respect of forwarding goods into the interior, and
also with regard to the return of the ship to England, there being
in such a case scarcely time for the embarkation of the cargo of
furs and the passage of Hudson's Straits before the winter sets in.
This brief notice of the modes of communication with RPupert's




32            THE GOVERNOR OF RUPERT'S LAND.
Land —for so the possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company are
named —is given, to explain some parts of the plan of the expedition, and particularly to show why the stores and men were
sent out by ships which sailed in June, 1847, although the expediency of searching expeditions was not considered by the Admiralty to be established until the last of the whalers came in at the
close of that season, without bringing tidings of the discovery ships.
It was arranged that in that case, the officers were to leave England early in 184S, and, traveling as rapidly as they could through
the United States and Canada, were to overtake the party conveying the stores in the vicinity of Methy Portage.
In April, 1847, I had the advantage of a personal interview
with Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-chief of Rupert's Land,
who was then on a visit to England, and of concerting with him
the measures necessary for the future progress of the expedition;
and I may state here that he entered warmly into the projects
for the relief of his old acquaintance Sir John, Franklin; and
from him I received the kindest personal attention, and that support which his thorough knowledge of the resources of the country and his position as Governor enabled him so effectively to
bestow. He informed me that the stock of provisions at the
various posts in the Hudson's Bay territories was unusually low,
through the failure of the bison hunts on the Saskatchewan, and
that it would be necessary to carry out pemican from this country, adequate not only to the ulterior purposes of the voyage in
the Arctic Sea, but also to the support of the party during the
interior navigation in 1847 and 1848. I, therefore, obtained
authority from  the Admiralty to manufacture, forthwith, the
requisite quantity of that kind of fobod in Clarence Yard; and as
I shall have frequent occasion to allude to it in the subsequent
narrative, it may be well to describe in this place the mode of its
preparation.
The round or buttock of beef of the best quality, having been
cut into thin steaks, from which the fat and membranous parts
were pared away, was dried in a malt kiln over an oak fire, until
its moisture was entirely dissipated, and the fibre of the meat
became friable. It was then ground in a malt mill, when it
resembled finely grated meat. Being next mixed with nearly an
equal weight of beef suet or lard, the preparation of plain pemican
was complete; but to render it more agreeable to the unaccus



PEMICAN.                          33
tomed palate, a proportion of the best Zante currants was added
to part of it, and part was sweetened with sugar. Both these
kinds were much approved of in the sequel by the consumers, but
more especially that to which the sugar had been added. After
the ingredients were well incorporated by stirring, they were transferred to tin canisters, capable of containing 85 lbs. each;. and,
having been firmly rammed down and allowed to contract further
by cooling, the air was completely expelled and excluded by filling the canister to the brim with melted lard, through a small
hole left in the end, which was then covered with a piece of tin,
and soldered up. Finally, the canister was painted and lettered
according to its contents. The total quantity of pemican thus
made was 17,4241bs., at a cost of Is. 71d. a pound.*  But the
expense was somewhat greater than it would otherwise have
been from the inexperience of the laborers, who required to be
trained, and from the necessity of buying meat in the London
market at a rate above the contract price, occasioned by the bullocks slaughtered by the contractor for the naval force at Portsmouth being inadequate to the supply of the required number of
rounds. Various temporary expedients were also resorted to in
drying part of the meat, the malt kiln and the whole Clarence
Yard establishment being at that time fully occupied night and
day in preparing flour and biscuit for the relief of the famishing
population of Ireland. By the suggestions of Messrs. Davis and
* Particulars of the estimated expense of pemican, manufactured in the
Royal Clarence Victualing Yard, in Midsummer quarter, 1847:
8. d.  ~.  s. d.
Fresh beef 35,651 lbs. at 6?'d. per lb.  979 10  1
Lard.... 7,549 " at 88s. per cwt. 296 11  4
Currants. 1,008'" at 84s. per cwt.  37 16  0
Sugar...  280 " at31s.2d.percwt. 3 17 11
-     1,317 15  4
Oak slab 46 fins. at 22s. 6d. per load  47  5  0
Hire for laborers...............  59  8  8
Hire of kiln and cartage..........   8  1  0
114 14  8
1,432 10  0
Deduct for scraps of fat sold...............    35 18  1
1,396 11 11
Quantity of pemican manufactured 17,424 lbs.; average cost per lb.
Is. 71d.




34                         BOATS.
Grant, the intelligent chief officers of the Victualling Yard, and
their constant personal superintendence, every difficulty was obviated.
As the meat in drying loses more than three-fourths of its
original weight, the quantity required was considerable, being
35,651 lbs.;~ and the sudden abstraction of more than one thousand rounds of beef from Leadenhall Market occasioned'speculation among the. dealers, and a rise in the price of a penny per
pound, with an equally sudden fall when the extra demand was
found to be very temporary.
The natives dry their venison by exposing the thin slices to the
heat of the sun, on a stage, under which a small fire is kept, more
for the purpose of driving away the flies by the smoke than for
promoting exsiccation; and then they pound it between two stones
on a bison hide. In this process the pounded meat is contaminated
by a greater or smaller admixture of hair and other impurities.
The fat, which is generally the suet of the bison, is added by the
traders, who purchase it separately from the natives, and they
complete the process by sewing up the pemican in a bag of undressed hide with the hairy side outward.  Each of these bags
weighs 90 lbs., and obtains from the Canadian voyagers the designation of " un taureau."  A superior pemican is produced by
mixing finely powdered meat, sifted from impurities, with marrow
fat, and the dried fruit of the Amelanchier.
By order of the Admiralty, four boats were. built; two of them
in Portsmouth Dock Yard, and two in Camper's Yard at Gosport.
These boats, to fit them for river navigation, were required to be
of as small a draught of water as was consistent with the power
of carrying a cargo of at least two tons; to have the head and
stern equally sharp, like a whale-boat, that they might be steered
with a sweep oar when running rapids; and to be of as light a
weight as possible, for more easy transportation across the numerous portages on the route, and especially the formidable one between Methy Lake and Clear-water River. They were also to
be as good sea-boats as a compliance with the other requisites
would allow. It is manifest that the invention of a form of boat
possessing such various and in some respects antagonistic qualities
would task the skill of the constructor, and I felt much indebted
to William Rice, Esq., Assistant Master Builder of Portsmouth
* By drying this was reduced to about 8000 lbs.




BOATS' CREWS.                      35
Yard, for the care and skill with which he worked out a successful result. The Company's boats, or barges, as they term them,
are generally about 36 feet long from stem to stern-post, 8 feet
wide, stoutly framed and planked, and are capable of carrying
seventy packages of 90 lbs. each, with a crew of eight men. The
thickness of the planks of these boats is such that they sustain
with little injury a severe blow against a rock, to which they are
much exposed in descending the rapids; but their weight being
proportionally great, they are transported with much labor across
the ordinary portages, and it is necessary to avoid this operation
altogether at Methy Portage by keeping a relay of boats at each
terminus.  Moreover, these boats resemble the London river
barges in the great rake of the stem and stern, by which they
are better fitted for the descent of a rapid, but from the flatness
of their floors they are leewardly and bad sea-boats.
Two of the expedition boats measured 30 feet from the fore
part of the stern to the after part of the stern-post, 6 feet in breadth
of beam, and 2 feet 10 inches in depth; and each of them weighed
6- cwt., or, including fittings, masts, sails, oars, boat-hook, anchor,
lockers, and tools, half a ton.  The other two boats measured 28
feet in length, 5 feet 6 inches in width, 2 feet 8 inches in depth;
and weighed 5~ cwt., or, with the movable fittings and equipment,
9 cwt.  They were all clinker-built of well-seasoned Norway fir
planks -A- of an inch thick; ashen floors placed 9 inches apart;
stem, stern-posts, and knees of English oak; and gunwales of
rock-elm.  To admit of their stowing the requisite cargo, they
were necessarily very flat-floored, but screws and bolts were fitted
to the kelson, by which a false keel might be readily bolted on
before they reached the Arctic Sea, so as to render them more
weatherly. The larger boats when quite empty drew 7~ inches
of. water, and, when loaded with two tons but without a crew,
14- inches. They were constructed of two sizes, that the smaller
might stow within the larger ones during the passage across the
Atlantic.
For the voyage on the Arctic Sea, a crew of five men to each
boat was considered sufficient, but for river navigation a bowman
and steersman experienced in the art of running rapids were required in addition. Five seamen and fifteen sappers and miners
were selected in the month of May, for the expedition, from a
number of volunteers.  They were all men of good physical pow



36                    EMBARKATION.
ers, and, with one exception, bore excellent characters in their
respective services.  The solitary exception was one of the sappers and miners who had repeatedly appeared on the defaulters'
list for drunkenness, but as he was reported to be in other respects
a good and willing workman, and I knew that he would have no
means of obtaining intoxicating drinks in Rupert's Land, I yielded
to his request that I would allow him an opportunity of retrieving
his character. Few seamen were employed, since I knew from
experience that as a class they march badly, particularly when
carrying a load, and the bulk of the party was composed of sappers and miners, because that corps contains a large proportion
of intelligent artisans. Of the men selected, six were joiners or
sawyers, and four were blacksmiths, armorers, or engineers, who
could be useful for repairing the boats, working up iron, constructing the buildings of our winter residence, or making the furniture.
Every thing was ready before the appointed day; and the boats
and stores, having been sent round from Portsmouth to the Thames.
were embarked with the expedition men on board the " Prince of
Wales" and " Westminster," bound to York Factory, the exigences
of the Hudson's Bay trade of that year requiring two ships to go
to that port.  The stores consisted of 198 canisters of pemican,
each weighing 85 lbs., 10 bags of flour, amounting in all to 8 cwt.,
5 bags of sugar, weighing 4' cwt., 2 of tea, weighing 88 lbs., 3
of chocolate, weighing 2 cwt., 10 sides of bacon, amounting to 4cwt., and 6 cwt. of biscuit; also 400 rounds of ball cartridge, 90
lbs. of small shot, and 120 lbs. of fine powder in four boat magazines.  In the arm-chests and lockers of the boats, there were
stowed a musket fitted with a percussion lock for each man, with
a serrated bayonet that could be used as a saw; also a complete
double set of tools for making or repairing a boat, a tent for each
boat's crew, towing-lines, anchors, and one seine net.
Each man was provided with a Flushing jacket and trowsers,
a stout blue Guernsey frock, a waterproof over-coat, and a pair
of leggings. Instructions were also given that they should be
furnished in winter with such moccasins and leather coats as the
nature of their employment should render necessary. Could the
expedition have depended on procuring supplies of provision at
the Company's posts during their progress through the interior,
and a sufficient quantity of pemican at one of the northern dep6ts
for the sea voyage, the boats would have been lightly laden, and




STORES LANDED.                     37
a quick advance into the interior might have been anticipated.
But such not being the case, it was necessary to employ one of
the Company's barges to assist in the transport; and Governor
Sir George Simpson undertook to provide one, and to engage a
proper crew in Rupert's Land, together with bowmen and steersmen for the expedition boats. He also agreed to select from the
Company's stores a complete assortment of nets and other necessaries for the use of the party in the winter of 1847-8.*
The Company's -ships sailed from the Thames on the 15th of
June, 1847, and, being much delayed by ice in Hudson's Straits,
had a long passage; so that the " Prince of Wales" did not cross
the bar of Hayes River till the 25th of August, nor the " Westminster" until five days later; and the 8th of September arrived
before the expedition stores were landed. Sir George Simpson,
on his annual visit to the Company's de6pt at Norway House,
had engaged a guide or river pilot, with the requisite number of
bowmen, steersmen, and fishermen, and placed the whole under
the superintendence of Mr. John Bell, chief trader, who, having
resided many years on the Mackenzie, was intimately acquainted
wvith the natives inhabiting that part of the country.  Notwithstanding the high wages offered, being much in advance of the
rate ordinarily paid by the Company, and though none of these
men were required to extend their services beyond the winter
quarters of the party in 1848, there was a scarcity of volunteers;
and several of the steersmen, that were, from the necessity of the
case, engaged, were men of little experience. None of them were
acquainted with the neighborhood of Great Bear Lake, and they
all anticipated with more or less apprehension a season of extreme
hardship in that northern region. Mr. Bell's party consisted of
twenty Europeans, a guide, and sixteen Company's voyagers, together with the wivest of three of the latter, and two children;
making in all, with himself and two of his own children, forty-five
individuals, embarked in five boats. Had the ships arrived early,
there was a possibility of the party reaching Isle a la Crosse before
the navigation closed, which, in that district, may be expected to
* See Appendix.
t It is desirable to have two or three females at every post in the in.
terior for washing, making, and mending the people's clothes and n-rccassins, netting snow-shoes, making and repairing fishing nets, and other
services of a similar nature.




38                  WINTER QUARTERS.
occur about the 20th of October. But the very late date at which
the stores were disembarked precluded such a hope; and the extreme dryness of the season, and consequent lowness of the rivers
between York Factory and Lake Winipeg, obliged Mr. Bell to
leave a quantity of the pemican and some other packages at York
Factory, that he might reduce the draught of his boats.
These facts were communicated to me on the return of the
Hudson's Bay ships to England in October; and in February,
1848, I heard by letters forwarded through Canada, that Mr.
Bell and his party had, from the causes specified, made slow progress; that the boats had been often stranded and broken in the
shallow waters, causing frequent detention for repairs; and that
the party was overtaken by winter in Cedar Lake. Mr. Bell
forthwith housed the boats, constructed a store-house fbr the goods,
left several men to take care of them, and such of the women and
children as were unable to travel over the snow. This being
done, he set out with the bulk of the party for Cumberland House,
and reached it on the eighth day after leaving Cedar Lake. His
first care was to establish a fishery, which he did on Beaver Lake,
two days' walk further north; and having sent a division of the
men thither, the others were distributed to the several winter employments of cutting firewood, driving sledges with meat or fish,
and such-like occupations. The unforeseen stoppage of the boats
occasioned a large consumption of the pemican destined for the
sea voyage, but was attended by no other bad consequences, and
the deficiency was amply made up in spring through the exertions
of the gentlemen in charge of the Company's provision posts on
the Saskatchewan; so that Mr. Bell, when he resumed his voyage
northward in the summer of 1848, was enabled to take with him
as much of that kind of food as his boats could stow.
While the body of the party was thus passing the winter at
Cumberland House and its vicinity, I was almost daily receiving
letters from officers of various ranks in the army and navy, and
from civilians of different stations in life, expressing an ardent desire for employment in the expedition. It may interest the reader
to know that among the applicants, there were two clergymen,
one justice of peace for a Welsh county, several country gentlemen, and some scientific foreigners, all evidently imbued with a
generous love of enterprise, and a humane desire to be the means
of carrying relief to a large body of their fellow creatures. But




DEPARTURE FROMS ENGLAND,               39
as long as there remained a hope of the return of the discovery
ships in the autumn of 1847, it was not thought necessary to take
any steps for the appointment of a second officer to the party
which I was to command. In November, however, when the
last whalers from Davis's Straits had come in, I suggested to the
late Lord Auckland, then the First Lord of the Admiralty, that
Mr. John Rae, chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, mwas
fully qualified for the peculiar nature of the service on which we
were to be employed. He had resided upward of fifteen years in
Prince Rupert's Land, was thoroughly versed in all the methods
of developing and turning to advantage the natural products of
the country, a skillful hunter, expert in expedients for tempering
the severity of the climate, an accurate observer with the sextant
and other instruments usually employed to determine the latitude
and longitude, or the variations'and dip of the magnetic needle,
and had just brought to a successful conclusion, under circumstances of very unusual privation, an expedition of discovery fitted
out by the Hudson's Bay Company, for the purpose of exploring
the limits of Regent's Inlet.  Lord Auckland highly approved of
my suggestion, and Mr. Rae was appointed, with the assent of
the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Mr. Rae and I left Liverpool on the 25th of March, 1848, in
the North American mail steam-packet " Hibernia," and landed
at New York on the morning of the 10th of April.  In addition
to our personal baggage, we took with us a few very portable
astronomical instruments required for determining our positions;
and four pocket chronometers, one of them being the property of
Mr. Frodsham, which had been used on the several expeditions
of Sir W. E. Parry and Sir John Ross, and which he wished to
lend gratuitously f6r service in the present enterprise. We had
also a few meteorological instruments, and some others for determining questions in magnetism, that shall be more particularly
described hereafter, when their employment comes to be mentioned. An ample supply of paper for botanical purposes, a quantity of stationery, a small selection of books, a medicine chest, a
canteen, a compendious cooking apparatus, and a few tins of
pemican, completed our baggage, which weighed in the aggregate, above 4000 lbs.
Mr. Barclay, the British consul, assisted with much kindness
in expediting our departure from New York. An order from the




40          LAND AT NEW YORK.-REACH MONTREAL.
United States Treasury directed that our baggage should not be
inspected by the custom-house agents, and it was without delay
consigned to the care of Messrs. Wells and Co., forwarders, who
contracted to send it to Buffalo, by railroad, and from thence to
Detroit and Saut Sainte Marie, by the first steamboat, which
was advertised to sail from Detroit on the 21st of April. Immediately on landing, the chronometers were placed in the hands of
Mr. Blount, of Water-street, that he might ascertain their rate
by comparison with the astronomical clock in the observatory.
For this service Mr. Blount would receive no remuneration, but,
on the contrary, said that he was glad of the opportunity it afforded him of showing his sense of the courtesy he had experienced
from the hydrographer of the British Admiralty.
We received the chronometers next day, and embarked in the
evening on board the " Empire," for Albany and Troy, with the
view of proceeding, by way of Lake Champlain, to Montreal,
where the canoe-men engaged for us by Sir George Simpson were
ordered to rendezvous.
We waited one day at Whitehall, for the complete disruption
of the ice on Lake Champlain*, and did not reach Montreal till
the fourth day after leaving New York. Sir George Simpson
received us, with his usual kindness and hospitality, at his residence in La Chine, and expedited our arrangements by all the
means in his power; but two days were spent in collecting the
voyagerst who were engaged as our canoe-men. Four of them,
with the levity of their class, were absent at the time finally fixed
for our departure, thereby, in terms of their agreements, incurring
fines, which were afterward levied by the Hudson's Bay Company.
The steamers commenced running on the St. Lawrence on
the 18th of April; we embarked on the 19th, reached Buffalo
on the 21st, Detroit on the 23d, and Saut Ste. Marie, at the outlet
of Lake Superior, on the 29th, where we again found ourselves
in advance of the season, the lake being covered with drift ice.t
* The ice broke up on Lake Champlain on the 13th of April. On the
previous day a steamer was prevented from reaching Whitehall by drift
ice filling a narrow passage of the lake.
t The Canadian term "voyageurs" is usually employed to designate
these men, as that is the language in which they, are addressed; but there
seems to be no reason why they should not be called " voyagers," or " canoe-men," in an English work.
t in the instructions, the route by Penetanguishene is specified for the




CANOE-MEN.-REACH CUMBERLAND HOUSE.              41
At the Hudson's Bay House, the residence of Chief Factor
Ballenden, we found two "north canoes," made ready for us, by
direction of Sir George Simpson, and, having engaged four additional men to supply the place of an equal number who had failed to appear at La Chine, our crews now consisted of
First Canoe.
Thomas Karahonton (dit Gros Thomas), an Iroquois guide.
Laxard Tacanajaze...................... Iroquois.
Thomas Nahanajazc......................
Francois Monegon........................
Thomas Anackera.....................    "
Sauveur St. Martin....................... Canadian.
Thomas Cadrant........................ Half-breed.
Joseph Dinduvant........................   "
Second Canoe.
Charilot Arahota..............          Iroquois.
Louis Taranta.................    "
Ignace Atawackon.......................   "
Ignace Sataskatchi.......................   "
Apoquash.............................. Chippeway.
Miskiash............................ "
Piquatchiash (Peter)......................   "
Two days were occupied in re-packing our baggage, instruments, and provisions, in cases weighing 90 lbs. each (being the
established size for the portages); in which, and in all other
matters connected with our equipment and comfort, we experienced great assistance and personal kindness from Mr. Ballenden.
On the 2d of May, 1851, we quitted his hospitable roof, but it
was the 4th before the ice on the lake broke up, and permitted
us to pass the portal of the lake formed by Gros Cap and Point
Iroquois.
We accomplished the navigation of the lake on the 12th by
arriving at Fort William, attained the summit of the water-shed
which separates the St. Lawrence and Winipeg valleys on the
18th*, the mouth of the River Winipeg on the 29th, Norway
House, near the efflux of Nelson River, on the 5th of June, and
Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan, on the 13th; our
expedition to take; but the steamer from that port to Saut Ste. Marie
was not advertised to start for three weeks later than our time.
* Dog Lake, near the summit of this water-shed, broke up only on the
eve of our arrival; an Indian whom we met on the Kamenistikwoya, which
flows from it, having crossed it on the preceding day over the ice.




42           MR. BELL LEAVES WINTER-QUARTERS.
passage through Lake Winipeg having been much delayed by
ice, from which we did not disengage ourselves till the 9th.
We learned at Cumberland House, that Mr. Bell had given
the boats a thorough repair at Cedar Lake in the spring, had
brought them and the stores up on the first opening of the Saskatchewan, and was now a fortnight in advance of us on his
way to Methy Portage. The bulk of his party had leen maintained at Beaver Lake on fish, but some having wintered in
Cedar Lake, to look after the stores, and the fishery there having
failed, there had been an unavoidable consumption of the pemican destined for the sea-voyage. The provision posts on the upper part of the Saskatchewan had fortunately been able to replace what was consumed, and Mr. Bell had started from Cumberland House with his boats fully laden.
He had left two men of the English party behind, who were
unequal to the labors of the voyage; one of them, because of an
injury received in the hand early in the spring, and the other
owing to a recurrence of pains in the bones, with which he had
formerly been afflicted.  After carefully examining these men, I
decided upon sending them to York Factory by the first conveyance which offered, that they might return to England in September, in the Hudson's Bay annual ship.
Having thus briefly touched on the line of route pursued by us
int a journey of two thousand eight hundred and eighty statute
miles, from New York to the wintering place of the boat-party,*
I shall detail the events of the remainder of the voyage in form
of a daily journal. To have given a full account of the country
traveled through between New York and the Saskatchewan,
would have swelled the work to an inconvenient size; and I
must, therefore, refer the reader, who wishes to have a physical
description of that part of the continent, to Sir Charles Lyell's
accounts of his recent visits to the United States, to Ptrofessor
* New York to La Chine.......................   500 miles.
La Chine to Buffalo.........................   372 "
Buffalo to Detroit...........................   230'
Detroit to Saut Ste. Marie..................   400  "
Saut Ste. Marie to Fort William...............   370  "
Fort William to Cumberland House (Franklin's second journey)............................. 1,018  c
2,880'"




SHORES OF I1AKE SUPERIOR.                43
Agassiz's description of Lake Superior, and to Major Long's voyage to the St. Peter's, Red River, and River Winipeg.  The
Appendli to the present work also contains a summary of the
physical geography of North America, wherein the lake basins
of the St. Lawrence and \inipceg or Saskatchewan are particularly noticed.  This may be consulted by the reader before he
enters upon the narrative of the voyage, and I shall give in this
place a few remarks, by way of preface to the botanical and. geological notices which follow in the journal.
On the bluff granitic promontories and bold acclivities which
form the northern shore of Lake Superior, the forest is composed
of the white spruce, balsam fir, Weymouth pine, American larch,
and canoe birch, with, near the edge of the lake and on the
banks of streams, that pleasant intermixture of mountain maple
and dogwood* which imparts such a varied and rich gradation
of orange and red tints to the autumnal landscape.  Other trees
exist, but not in sufficient numbers to give a character to the
scenery. Oaks are scarce, and beech disappears to the south of
the lake. The American yew, which does not rise into a tree
like its European namesake, is the common underwood of the
more fertile spots, where it grows under the shade to the height
of' three or four feet, in slender bush-like twigs. On the low
sandstone islands deciduous trees, such as the poplars and maples,
abound, with the nine-bark spirea, cockspur thorns, willows,
plums, cherries, and mountain-ash.t When we entered the lake
on th, 4th of May, large accumulations of drift snow on the
beaches showed the lateness of the season; none of the deciduous
trees had as yet budded: and the precocious catkins of a silvery
willow (Salix candidca), with the humble flowers of a few Saxifrages and Uvularie, gave the only promises of spring.
In various parts of the lake, the gorges lying between the jutting bluffs of granite or slate are filled with deposits of sand rising
in fbur or five successive terraces' to the height of more than a
hundred feet above the present surface of the water. Mr. Logan
has measured some of the most remarkable, and Professor Agassiz
* Dbies alba,.bies balsamea, Pinus strobus, Larix americana, Betula
papyracca, dscer montanum, and Cornus alba.
t Populus tremuloides et balsamifera; RAcer; Spirea opulifolia; Crcetegus crus-galli, punctata, glandulosa, et coccinea; Prunus americana;
Cerasus punmila, nigra, pennsylvanica, virginiana, et serotina; Pyrus
amntericana.




44               SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
devotes an interesting chapter to the discussion of their origin;
in which he comes to the conclusion that they were formed by
the waters of the lake itself, and have been raised, at various
intervals, from the beach to their present levels, by the agency
of the innumerable trap dikes which cross the rocks in many
directions.
Near Cape Choyye, on the south side of Michipicoten Bay, a
small gorge between two points of granite is filled, to the height
of twenty-five feet above the water, with rolled stones and pebbles. These rounded stones vary in size from that of a hogshead
to a hen's egg, and form a steeply shelving beach, with a flat
terraced summit, the larger boulders being next the water, and
the smaller pebbles highest up. As the cove is sheltered from
high waves, the terrace could not be thrown up by the waters of
the lake standing at their present height; nor can it be owing to
the pressure of ice, since that would not graduate the pebbles.
At Michipicoten River we had a curious illustration of the
agency of frost, on the outlet of the stream. During the summer,
when the waters are low, the waves of the lake throw a sandy
bar across the mouth of the river. In winter this bar freezes
into a solid rock and closes the channel, but as the spring advances the stream acts upon it and cuts a passage. At the time
of our visit, on May 7th, the river was in flood, and the bar remained hard, but was cleft by a narrow channel with precipitous
sides like sandstone cliffs, and a cascade one foot high existed.
This fall, which was five or six feet high when the riverbroke,
would, we were told, entirely disappear in a few days.
The north coast of Michipicoten Bay is the boldest and most
rugged of the shores of the lake, and apparently the least capable
of cultivation.  It rises to the height of about eight hundred feet,
and for twenty-five miles comes so precipitously down to the water
that there is no safe landing for a boat. On much of the crags
the forest was destroyed by fire, many years ago, and with it the
soil, presenting a scene of desolation and barrenness not exceeded
on the frozen confines of the Arctic Sea. The few dwarf trees
that cling to the crevices of the rocks, -struggling, as it were, between life and death, add to the dreariness of the prospect rather
than relieve it, and wreaths of drift snow lining many of the recesses, at the time when we passed, though it was in the second
week of the glorious month of May, gave a most unfavorable




WVATER-SHlED.                   45
impression of the land and its climate. Professor Agassiz has
pointed out the sub-arctic character of the vegetation of Lake
Superior, by a lengthened comparison with the sub-alpine tracts
of Switzerland; but this is due to the nature of the soil, rather
than to the elevation or northern position of the district; for as
we advance to the north at an equal elevation above the sea, but
more to the westward, so as to enter on silurian or newer deposits
in the vicinity of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River, we
find cacti and forests having a more southern aspect.
The ascent to the summit of the water-shed between Lakes
Superior and Winipeg, by the Kamenistikwoya River, is made
by about forty portages, in which the whole or part of a canoe's
lading is carried on the men's shoulders; and a greater number
occur in the descent to the Winipeg.  The summit of the watershed is cn uneven, swampy, granitic country, so much intersected
in every direction by lakes that the water surface considerably
exceeds that of the dry land. Its mean elevation above Lake
Superior is about eight hundred feet, and the granite knolls and
sand-banks, which vary its surface, do not rise more than one
hundred and fifty or two hundred feet beyond that general level,
though their altitude above the river valleys which surround
them is occasionally greater, giving the district a hilly aspect.
The highest of these eminences does not overtop Thunder Mountain and some other basalt-capped promontories on Lake Superior,
and had not the silurian strata, which, judging by the patches
which remain, once covered the gneiss and granitic rocks nearly
to their summits been removed, the country would have been
almost level, and would have formed part of the rolling eastern
slope of the continent, above whose plain the highest of the hills
on Lake Superior scarcely rises. The summit of this water-shed
of the St. Lawrence basin, commencing toward the Labrador
coast, runs south 520 west, or about southwest half-west, at the
distance of rather more than two hundred miles from the watercourse, until it comes opposite to that elbow of the line of the
great lakes which Lake Erie forms; it then takes a north 510
west course, or about northwest half:west, toward the northeast
end of Lake Winipeg, and onward from thence in the same direction to Coronation Gulf of the Arctic Sea.  The angle at
which the two arms of this extensive water-shed (but no where
mountain ridge) meet between Lakes Huron and Ontario is with



46                THOUSAND ISLANDS ILAKE.
in half a point of a right one, and the character of the surface is
every where the same, bearing, in the ramifications and conjunctions of its narrow valleys filled with water, no distant resemblance to the fiords of the Norway coast. Such a preponderance
of fresh water coupled with the tardy melting of the ice in spring,
makes a late summer, and augments the severity of the climate beyond that which is due to the northern position of the
district.
Though the whole tract is most unfavorable for agriculture,
much of the scenery abounds in picturesque beauty. Of this we
have an instance in the Thousand Isl'ands Lake, which forms the
fiunnel-shaped outlet of Lake Ontario. At this place the pyrogenous rocks, denuded of newer deposits, cross the river to form a
junction with the lofty highlands of the northern counties of New
York. The round-backed, wooded hummocks of granite which
constitute the more than thousand islets of this expanse of water,
are grouped into long vistas, which are alternately disclosed and
shut in as we glide smoothly and rapidly among thern, in one of
the powerful steamers, that carry on the passenger traffic of the
lakes.  The inferior fertility of this granite belt has deferred the
sweeping operations of the settler's ax; the few farm-steadings
scattered along the shore enhance the beauty of the forest; and
the eye of the traveler finds a pleasant relief in contemplating
the scenery, after having dwelt on the monotonous succession of'
treeless clearances lower down the river.  Sooner or later, however, the shores of the Lake of the Thousand Isles will be studded
with the summer retreats of the wealthy citizens of the adjacent
States, and the incongruities of taste will mar the fair face -of
nature.
On the summit of the canoe-route between Lakes Superior and
Winipeg, a sheet of water bearing the analogous appellation of
Thousand Lakes, is also studded with knolls of granite, forming
islets; but low mural precipices are more common there; and
there is, moreover, an intermixture of accumulations of sand, such
as are commonly found on the summit of the water-shed, along
its whole range.  The general scenery of this lake is similar to
that of the Thousand Islands; but though the elevation above
the sea does not exceed fourteen hundred feet, the voyagers say
that frosts occur on its shores almost every morning throughout
the summer,




LAKE WINIPEG.                      47
Silurian strata occur on both flanks of both arms of the watershed above spoken of, to a greater or smaller extent throughout
their whole length.* When we descend to Lake Winipeg we
come upon epidotic slates, conglomerates, sandstones, and trap
rocks, similar to those which occur on the northern acclivity of
the Lake Superior basin; and after passing the straits of Lake
Winipeg, we hlave the granite rocks on the east shore, and silurian
rocks (chiefly bird's-eye limestone) on the west and north, the
basin of the lake being mostly excavated in the limestone. The
two formations approach nearest to each other at the straits in
question, where the limestone, sandstone, epidotic slates, green
quartz-rock, greenstone, gneiss, and granite occur in the close
neighborhood of each other.
The eastern coast-line of Lake Winipeg is, in general, swampy,
with granite knolls rising through the soil, but not to such a height
as to render the scenery hilly. The pine-forest skirts the shore at
the distance of two or three miles, covering gently-rising lands, and
the breadth of continuous lake-surface seems to by in process of
diminution, in the following way. A bank of sand is first drifted
up, in the line of a chain of rocks which may happen to lie across
the mouth of an inlet or deep bay. Carices, balsam-poplars, and
willows speedily take root therein, and the basin which lies behind, cut off from the parent lake, is gradually converted into a
marsh by the luxuriant growth of aquatic plants. The sweet
gale next appears on its borders, and drift-wood, much of it rotten
and comminuted, is thrown up on the exterior bank, together with
some roots and stems of larger trees. The first spring storm covers these with sand, and, in a few weeks, the vigorous vegetation
of a short but active summer binds the whole together by a network of the roots of bents and willows. Quantities of drift-sand
pass before the high winds into the swamp behind, and, weighing
down the flags and willow-brarnches, prepare a fit soil for succeeding crops. During the winter of this climate, all remains
fixed as the summer left it, and as the next season is far advanced
before the bank thaws, little of it washes back into the water, but,
on the contrary, every gale blowing from the lake brings a fresh
* A Pentamerus very like P. Knightii, was gathered by Dr. Bigsby on
the Lake of the Woods, and presented by him to the British Museum. He
probably found it in some of the western arms of the lake, the islands in
the more easterly part being mostly granite.




48                      LAKE WINIPEG.
supply of sand from the shoals which are continually forming
along the shore. The floods raised by melted snows cut narrow
channels through the frozen beach, by which the ponds behind
are drained of their superfluous waters. As the soil gradually
acquires depth, the balsam-poplars and aspens overpower the
willows, which, however, continue to form a line of demarkation
between the lake and the encroaching forest.
Considerable sheets of water are also cut off on the northwest
side of the lake, where the bird's-eye limestone forms the whole
of the coast. Very recently this corner was deeply indented by
narrow, branching bays, whose outer points were limestone cliffs.
Under the action of frost, the thin horizontal beds of this stone
split up, crevices are formed perpendicularly, large blocks are detached, and the cliff is rapidly overthrown, soon becoming masked
by its own ruins. In a season or two the slabs break into small
fragments, which are tossed up by the waves across the neck of
the bay into the form of narrow ridge-like beaches, from twenty
to thirty feet high. Mud and vegetable matter gradually fill up
the pieces of water thus secluded; a willow swamp is formed;
and when the ground is somewhat consolidated, the willows are
replaced by a grove of aspens.* Near the First and Second
Rocky Points,t the various stages of this process may be inspected, from the rich alluvial flat covered with trees and bounded by
cliffs that once overhung the water, to the pond recently cut off
by a naked barrier of limestone, pebbles, and slabs, discharging
its spring floods into the lake, by a narrow though rapid stream.
In some exposed places the pressure of the ice, or power of the
waves in heavy gales, has forced the limestone fragments into the
woods, and heaped them round the stems of trees, some of which
are dying a lingering death; while others, that have been dead
for many years, testify to their former vitality, and the mode in
which they have perished, by their upright stems, crowned by the
decorticated and lichen-covered branches which protrude from the
stony bank. The analogy between the entombment of living
* The fact of the formation of these detached ponds, marshes, and
alluvial flats, points either to a gradual elevation of the district, or to
an enlargement of the outlet of the lake, producing a subsidence of its
waters.
t The strata at these points contain many gigantic orthoceratites, some
of which have been described by Mr. Stokes in the Geological Transac.
tions.




RAINY LAKE.-BOULDERS.                   49
trees, in their erect position, to the stems of sigillaria, which rise
through different layers in the coal-measures, is obvious.*
The action of the ice in pushing boulders into the woods was
observed at an earlier period of our voyage, and is noticed in the
following terms in my journal: " In the first part of our course
through Rainy Lake we followed a rocky channel, which was in
many places shallow, and varied in breadth from a mile, down to
a few yards. Some long arms stretch out to the right and left
of the route, and particularly one to the eastward, into which a
fork of Sturgeon River is said to enter. There is considerable
current in these narrows. The first expanse of water we traversed is six miles across, and the second is fully wider. They are
connected by a rocky channel, on whose shores many boulders are
curiously piled up eight or ten feet above the rocks on which they
rest. Other boulders lie in lines among the trees near the shore.
They have been thrust up, many of them very recently, by the
pressure of the ice, since the channel is too narrow for the wind
to raise waves powerful enough to move such stones."
The granite and gneiss which form the east shore of Lake
Winipeg, strike off at its northeast corner, and, passing to the
north of Moose Lake, go on to Beaver Lake, where the canoeroute again touches upon them. At some distance to the westward of them the Saskatchewan, which is the principal feeder of
Lake Winipeg, flows through a flat limestone country, which is
full of lakes, the reticulating branches of the river, and mud-banks;
it has in fact all the characters of a delta, though the divisions of
the stream unite into one channel before entering the lake. This
flat district extends nearly to the forks of the river, above which
the prairie lands commence.  Pine Island Lake, Muddy Lake,
Cross Lake, and Cedar Lake, where the boats were arrested by
ice in 1848, are dilatations of the Saskatchewan, and when the
water rises a very few feet, the whole district is flooded; which
commonly occurs on the snow melting in spring. Some way to
the south lies an eminence of considerable height, named by the
* If one of the spruce firs included in the limestone debris, had its top
broken off, and a layer of mud were deposited over all, we should have the
counterpart of a sketch of Sir Henry de la Beche's Manual (p. 407). The
thick and fleshy rhizomata of the Calla paluzstris, marked with the cica.
trices of fallen leaves, and which are abundant in these waters, bear no
very distant resemblance to stigmarice.
C




V0       VEGE'TAT'ION ON THE SHORES OF LAKE WINIPE-;G.
Crees Wapiiskeow-watchi,* and by the Canadians Basquiau.
It separates Winepegoos Lake, and Red-Deer Lake and River
from the bed of the Saskatchewan.  I am ignorant of its geological structure, not having visited it.
With respect to the forests: The white or sweet cedar (Cupressus thyoides) disappears on the south side of Rainy Lake,
within the American boundary line. The Weymouth pine, various maples, cockspur thorns, and the fern-leaved Comptonia,
reach the southern slope of the Winipeg basin. Oaks extend to
the isiands and narrows of that lake. The elm, ash, arbor vitae
and ash-leaved maple terminate on the banks of the Saskatchewan. The " wild rice," or Folle avoinet of the voyagers and
traders, grows abundantly in the district between Lakes Superior
and Winipeg. This grain resembles rice in its qualities, but has
a sweeter taste. Though small, it swells much in cooking, and
is nourishing, but its black husk renders it uninviting in its natural state. In favorable seasons it affords sustenance to a populous
tribe of Indians, but the supply is uncertain, depending greatly
on the height of the waters. In harvest time the natives row
their canoes among the grass, and, bending its ears over the gunwale, thresh out the grain, which separates readily. They then
lay it by for use in neatly-woven rush baskets. This grass finds
its northern limit on Lake Winipeg, and it is common in the
western waters of the more northern of the United States; but
how far south it extends, I have not been able to learn.  Strachey, in his " Historie of Travaille in Virginia," speaks of a' graine called Nattowine, which groweth as bents do in meadowes. The seeds are not much unlike rice, though much smaller; these they use for a deyntie bread, buttered with deere's suet."
(p. 118). It is possible that he may refer to a smaller species
(H. fluitans) of the same genus, which is known to abound in
Georgia; but the seed of that could scarcely be collected in sufficient quantity.  The hop-plant (Humulus lupulus) reaches the
south end of Lake Winipeg, and, according to Mr. Simpson, yields
flowers plentifully in the Red River colony. We observed it in
the autumn of 1849, growing luxuriantly on the banks of the
Karnenistikwoya, and connecting the lower branches of the trees
* Wapis, strait; Ke-ow, woods; Watchi, hill: the signification being,
" a pass through woods on a hill."
t Z7izania aquatica. L., or Hydropyrum esculentum of Link,




CHIPPEWAYS AND CREES.                51
with elegant festoons of fragrant flowers. An opinion prevailed
among the traders that Lord Selkirk introduced it into this neighborhood when he took possession of the Northwest Company's
post of Fort William, upward of thirty years ago; but the plant
is indigenous to America, and grows abundantly in the Raton
Pass, lying on the 37th parallel, at the height of eight thousand
feet above the sea, as well as in many localities of the northern
States. Throughout the canoe-route from Lake Superior to Lake
Winipeg, no district shows such fertility as the banks of Rainy
R iver. In autumn, especially, the various maples, oaks, sumachs, ampelopsis, cornel bushes, and other trees and shrubs
whose leaves before they fall assume glowing tints of orange and
red, render the woodland views equal, if not superior, to the finest
that I have seen elsewhere on the American continent, from Florida northward.  Nor are showy asters helianthi, lophanthi, gentianece, physostegice, irides, and many other gay flowers, wanting
to complete the adornment of its banks.
From Saut Ste. Marie to the Saskatchewan, and the banks of
Churchill River, the native inhabitants term themselves In-ninyu-wuk or Ey-thinyu-wuk, and are members of a nation which
formerly extended southward to the Delaware.  That part of
this widely spread people which occupies the north side of Lake
Huron, the whole border of Lake Superior, and the country between it and the south end of Lake Winipeg, call themselves
Ochipewa, written also Ojibbeway, or Chippeway; * and the
more northerly division, who name themselves Nathe-wywithinyu, are the Crees of the traders, and Knistenaux of French writers
In a subsequent chapter I shall speak more particularly of the
place which this people hold among the aboriginal nations. At
present, I wish merely to point out some of the circumstances
which have tended to work out a difference in the moral character of these two tribes, essentially the same people in language
and manners. The Crees have now for more than twenty-six
years been under the undivided control and paternal government
of the Hudson's Bay Company, and are wholly dependent on them
for ammunition, European clothing, and other things which have
become necessaries. No spirituous liquors are distributed to them,
and schoolmasters and missionaries are encouraged and aided by
* They are the Satteurs or Saulteaux of the Canadians, and Sotoos of
the fur traders.




52                     CHIPPEWAYS.
the Company, to introduce among them the elements of religion
and civilization. One village has been established near the dep6t
at Norway House,- and another at the Pas on the Saskatchewan,
each having a church, and school-house, and a considerable space
of cultivated ground. The conduct of the people is quiet and inoffensive; war is unknown in the Cree district; and. the Company's officers find little difficulty in hiring the young men as
occasional laborers.
The case is otherwise with the Chippeways, who live within
the Company's territories. The vicinity of the rival United States
Fur Company's establishments; the vigorous competition which
is carried on between them and the Hudson's Bay Company, in
prosecution of which spirituous liquors are dispensed by both parties liberally to the natives; and the abundance of Folle avoine
on Rainy River and the River Winipeg, with the plentiful supply of sturgeon obtained from these waters, rendering the natives
independent of either party, have had a demoralizing effect, and
neither Protestant nor Roman Catholic missionaries have been
able to make any impression upon them. One party of these Indians, from whom we purchased a supply of sturgeon on Rainy
River, are briefly characterized in my notes, made on the spot,
as being " fat, saucy, dirty, and odorous." A Roman Catholic
church, erected some years ago on the banks of the Winipeg, has
been abandoned, with the clearing around it, on account of the
want of success of the priest in his endeavors to convert the natives;
and neither the Hudson's Bay Company nor the United States
people have been able to extinguish the deadly feud existing between the Chippeways and Sioux, nor to restrain their war parties.
Very recently the Chippeways of Lake Superior, through some
oversight in the Canadian government in not making arrangements with them at the proper time, organized a war party against
the mining village of Mica Bay, containing more than a hundred
male inhabitants. In passing through Lake Superior we were
pleased with the flourishing appearance of this village, containing
many nicely white-washed houses, grouped in terraces on the steep
bank of the lake. The mines were worked by a company, under
a grant from the Canadian legislature, who, at the same period,
made many other similar grants of mining localities on the lake,
without previously purchasing the Indian rights. As the game
is nearly extinct on the borders of the lake, the natives subsist




ATTACK ON MICA BAY.                  53
chiefly by the fisheries; and the vicinity of the mining establishments was likely to be beneficial to them rather than injurious,
by providing a market for their fish.  But when they beheld
party after party of white men crowding to their lands, eager to
take possession of their lots by erecting buildings, and inquisitively
examining every cliff, they acquired exaggerated ideas of the value
of their rocks. For two summers they descended in large bodies
to Saut Ste. Marie, expecting payment, and, being disappointed,
thought they were trifled with. They determined, therefore, in
council, to bring matters to a crisis by expelling the aggressors,
and, in the autumn of 1849, made a descent upon Mica Bay, and
drove away the miners and their families. To repel this attack
a regiment was ordered up from Canada, at an expense which
would have paid the Indians again and again: but a small part
of the force only reached Mica Bay, to find the Chippeways gone;
the rest were driven back to Saut Ste. Marie by stormy weather,
not without very severe suffering, leading, I have been informed,
to loss of life.




CHAPTER III.
Pine Island Lake.-Silurian Strata.-Sturgeon River.-Progress of Spring.Beaver Lake.-Isle a la Crosse Brigade.-Ridge River.-Native Schoolmaster
and his Family.-Two kinds of Sturgeon.-Native Medicines.-Bald Eagles.Pelicans.-Black-bellied and Cayenne Terns.-Cranes.-Frog Portage.-Missinipi or Churchill River.-Its Lake-like Character.-Poisonous Plants and
Native Medicines.-Athabasca Brigale.-Sand-fly Lake.-The Country changes
its Aspect.-Bull-dog Fly.-Isle a la Crosse Lake.-Its Altitude above the Sea.
-Length of the Missinipi.-Isle a la Crosse Fort.-Roman Catholic Mission.Deep Riher.-Canada Lynx.-Buffalo Lake.-Methy River and Lake.-Murrain among the Horses.-Burbot or La Loche. —A Mink.-Methy Portage.Join Mr. Bell and his Party.
WE left Cumberland House at 4 A.M., on the 14th of June,
but had not passed above three miles through Pine Island Lake,
before we were compelled to seek shelter on a small island by a
violent thunder storm, bringing with it torrents of rain. The rain
moderating after a few hours, we resumed our voyage; but the
high wind continuing and raising the waves, our progress was
slow, and the day's voyage did not exceed twenty-two miles.  In
the part of the lake where,we encamped the limestone (silurian*)
rises, in successive outcrops, to the height of thirty feet above the
water, the strike of the beds being about southwest by west, and
northeast by east, or at right angles to the general line of direction of the gneiss and granite formation, which lies to the eastward. Many boulders of granite and trap rocks are scattered
* Some fragments of large Orthocerata, and a specimen of Receptaculites neptunii, point to the bird's-eye and Trenton limestones as occurring
in this neighborhood. Mr. Woodward says of the latter specimen, " The
only wood-cut in the New York State Surveys at all resembling your engine-turned fossil, is a very rude representation of part of a circular disk,
with radiating and concentric (not engine) turned lines.  It is called Uphanteria chemungensis, and is supposed to be a marine plant (p. 183, Vanuxem). A fossil much like yours is figured by De France in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles under the name of Receptaculites neptuni, from
Chimay, in the Pays Bas.  This is certainly the same genus.  De Blainville also describes it in his.Actinologie at the end of the corals, but offers
no opinion respecting its affinities. I should compare it with Eschadites
Konigi of Murchison's upper silurian. but that was originally spherical
and hollow."




STURGEON RIVER.                   55
over the surface of the ground, far beyond the reach of any modern
means of transport.
Thunder and heavy rain detained us in our encampment the
whole of the following day; but some improvement in the weather
taking place at midnight, we embarked, and at one in the morning of the 16th entered Sturgeon River, named by the voyagers,
on account of its many bad rapids, " La Riviere Maligne."  We
made two portages, and an hour after noon reached Beaver Lake.
The entire bed of the river consists of limestone, sometimes lying
in nearly horizontal layers more or less fissured; in other places
broken up into large loose slabs, tilted up and riding on each
other. Boulders of granite occur in various parts of the river,
some of them of considerable magnitude, and rising high out of
the water. In the lower part of the river the banks are sandy, a
considerable deposit of dry, light soil overlies the limestone, and
vegetation is early and vigorous.
Wthen we left Lake Superior, in the middle of May, the deciduous trees gave little promise of life; and, in ascending the
Kamrnenistikwoya, we were glad to let the eye dwell upon the
groves of aspens which skirt the streams in that undulating and
rocky district, and which, when well massed, gave a pleasing variety to the wintry aspect of the landscape-the silvery hue of
their leafless branches and young stems contrasting well with the
sombre green of the spruce fir, which forms the bulk of the forest.
On the 27th of May, while ascending Church Reach of Rainy
River, we had been cheered by the lovely yellowish hue of the
aspens just unfolding their young leaves; but the ice, lingering
on Lake Winipeg, when we crossed it, had kept down the temperature, spring had not yet assumed its sway, and the trees were
leafless. Now, the season seemed to be striding onward rapidly,
and the tender foliage was trembling on all sides in the bright
sunshine. It was in a patch of burnt woods in this vicinity that,
in the year 1820, I discovered the beautiful Eutoca Franklinii,
now so common an ornament of our gardens.
Constantly, since the 1st of June, the song of the Fringilla
leucophrys has been heard day and night, and so loudly, in the
stillness of the latter season, as to deprive us at first of rest.  It
whistles the first bar of " Oh dear, what can the matter be!" in
a clear tone, as if played on a piccolo fife; and, though the distinctness of the notes rendered them at first very pleasing, yet, as




56                     BEAVER LAKE.
they haunted us up to the Arctic circle, and were loudest at mid
night, we came to wish occasionally that the cheerful little songster would time his serenade better.  It is a curious illustration
of the indifference of the native population to almost every animal
that does not yield food or fur, or otherwise contribute to their
comfort or discomfort, that none of the Iroquois or Chippeways
of our company knew the bird by sight, and they all declared
boldly that no one ever saw it. We were, however, enabled, after
a little trouble, to identify the songster, his song, and breedingplace. The nest is framed of grass, and placed on the ground
under shelter of some small inequality; the eggs, five in number,
are grayish, or purplish-white, thickly spotted with brown; and
the male hides himself in a neighboring bush while he serenades
his mate.
At the. outlet of Beaver Lake,land at several succeeding points
on both sides of the canoe-route, the thin, slaty limestone forms
cliffs, thirty or forty feet high; but about the middle of the lake,
there is a small island of greenstone. Beyond this we again
touched upon the granite rocks which we had left at the northeast corner of Lake Winipeg, bearing from this place about east
82~ south.
At the entrance of Ridge River we met Mr. M'Kenzie, Jun.,
in charge of a brigade of boats, carrying out the furs of the Isle
a la Crosse district, and were glad to obtain from him tidings of
Mr. Bell, who was advancing prosperously, though he had been
stopped for three days by ice, on the lake which we had just
crossed. The Missinipi, or Churchill River, Mr. M'Kenzie told
us, did not open till the 6th of the present month, though in
common years it seldom continues frozen beyond the 1st.
Soon after parting with this gentleman, we met the schoolmaster of Lac La Ronge district, who, with his wife and-four
children, were on their way to pass the summer with the Rev.
Mr. Hunter, Episcopal clergyman at the Pas. Both husband and
wife are half-breeds, and both are lively, active, and intelligent.
The family party were traveling in a small canoe, which the husband paddled on the water, and carried over the portages with
their light luggage. For their subsistence, they depended on such
fish and wild-fowl as they could kill on the route; and the lady
was very gratefill for a small supply of tea, sugar, and flour
which we gave her. The young ones bore the assaults of the




TWO KINDS OF STURGEON.                  57
musquitoes with a stoical indifference, as an inevitable evil, that
had belonged to every summer of their lives, and from which no
part of the world, as far as they knew, was exempt. At the
Ridge Portage, where we encamped for the night, the rock is
gneiss, resembling mica-slate, owing to the quantity of mica that
enters into its composition.
On the 17th, we came early to a long and strong rapid, bearing the same appellation with the preceding portage, and which
is said to be the highest point to which sturgeon ascend in this
river; and it is most probably the northern limit of the range of
that fish, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains.  It is situated
in about 541 degrees of north latitude.  We noticed two, species
of this fish in the Saskatchewan River system. One of these is
described in the Fauna Boreali-Americana under the name of
Accipense' rupertianus, and has a tapering, acute snout.  It
seldom exceeds ten or fifteen pounds in weight. The other is
the Nameyu of the Crees, and has not been hitherto described.
It very commonly weighs ninety pounds, and attains the weight
of one hundred and thirty. Its snout is short and blunt, being
only one third of the length of the entire head; its nasal barbels
are short, its shields small and remote, and the ventral rows are
absent.  Its caudal is less oblique than that of the smaller kind,
the upper lobe being proportionally shorter. This species ascends
the Winipeg River as high as the outlet of Rainy Lake: and
the smaller kind is occasionally, though rarely, taken also in that
locality, but, in general, it seems to be unable to surmount the
cascade at the outlet of the Lake of the Woods. The rocks here
are granite, and a mountain-green chlorite slate, similar to that
which occurs so abundantly on the north side of the Lake Superior basin; the latter, under the action of the weather, forms a
tenacious clayey soil. A hornblende-slate occupies the bed of the
river, and rises, on each bank, into rounded knolls and low cliffs.
The inequalities of the country here, as well as its vegetation, are
very similar to that on the Kamenistikwoya, where the same
formation exists.
The woods, being now in full but still tender foliage, were
beautiful. The graceful birch, in particular, attracted attention
by its white stem, light green spray, and pendent, golden catkins.
Willows of a darker foliage lined the river bank; and the background was covered with dark green pines, intermixed with patches
C*r




58            NATIVE MEDICINES.-SUCKING CARP.
of lively aspen, and here and there a tapering larch, gay with
its minute tufts of crimson flowers, and young pale green leaves.
The balsam poplar, with a silvery foliage though an ungainly
stem, and the dank elder, disputed the stand at intervals with
the willows; among which the purple twigs of the dog-wood contributed effectively to add variety and harmony to thetcolors of
spring.
The Acttea alba grows abundantly here; it is called by the
Canadians le racine d'ours, and by the Crees, musqua-mitsu-in
(bears' food).  A decoction of its roots and of the tops of the
spruce fir is used as a drink in stomachic complaints. The Acorus calamus is another of the indigenous plants that enter into
the native pharmacopoeia, and is used as a remedy in colic. About
the size of a small pea of the root, dried before the fire or in tie
sun, is a dose for an adult, and the pain is said to be removed
soon after it is masticated and swallowed. When administered
to children, the root is rasped, and the filings swallowed in a glass
of water, or of weak tea with sugar. A drop of the juice of the
recent root is dropped into inflamed eyes, and the remedy is said
to be an effectual though a painful one. I have never seen it
tried.  The Cree name of this plant is watchufske mitsu-in, or
"that which the musk-rat eats."
At breakfast-time we crossed the Carp Portage, where there is
a shelving cascade over granite rocks. The gray sucking carp
(Catastomus hudsonius) was busy spawning in the eddies, and
our voyagers killed several with poles. Two miles above the
portage there are some steeply rounded sandy knolls clothed with
spruce trees, being the second or high bank of the river, which is
elevated above all floods of the present epoch.  In some places
granite rocks show through sand, heaped round their base. The
frequent occurrence of accumulations of sand in this granite and
gneiss district, near the water-sheds of contiguous river systems,
has been already noticed. In the course of the forenoon we passed
the Birch lightening-place (Demi-charge du lbouleau), where a
slaty sienite or greenstone occurs, the beds being inclined to the
east-northeast at an angle of 450; and an hour afterward we
crossed the Birch Portage, five hundred and forty paces long.
The rocks there are porphyritic granite, portions of which are in
thin beds, and are therefore to be entitled gneiss.
The river has the character peculiar to the district, that is, it




HALF-MOON LAKE.-BALD EAGLES.               59
is formed of branching lake-like expansions without perceptible
current, connected by falls or rapids occasioning portages, or by
narrow straits through which there flows a strong stream. At
four in the afternoon we crossed the Island Portage, where the
rock is a fine-grained, laminated granite or gneiss, containing nodules or crystals of quartz, which do not decay so fast as the rest
of the stone, and consequently project from its surface: the layers
are contorted. In 1825, which was a season of flood, this islet
was under water, and our canoes ascended among the bushes.
Two hours later we passed the Pine Portage (Portage des
Epinettes), and entered Half-Moon Lake (Lac Mi-rond*).  At
this portage the rocks are granite, greenstone, and black basalt,
or hornblende-rock, containing a few scales of mica, and a very
few garnets. The length of the portage is two hundred yards.
At our encampment on a small island in Half-Moon Lake the
gneiss lay in vertical layers, having a north and south strike. A
few garnets were scattered through the stone.  This piece of
water, and Pelican and Woody Lakes, which adjoin it, are full
of fish, and they are consequently haunted by large bodies of pelicans, and several pairs of white-headed eagles (Halie'tus albicilla). This fishing eagle abounds in the watery districts of Rupert's
Land; and a nest may be looked for within every twenty or thirty
miles. Each pair of birds seems to appropriate a certain range
of country on which they suffer no intruders of their own species
to encroach; but the nest of the osprey is often placed at no great
distance from that of the eagle, which has no disinclination to
avail itself of the greater activity of the smaller bird, though of
itself it is by no means a bad fisher. The eagle may be known
from afar, as it sits in a peculiarly erect position, motionless, on
the dead top of a lofty fir, overhanging some rapid abounding in
fish. Not unfrequently a raven looks quietly on from a neighboring tree, hoping that some crumb may escape from the claws
of the tyrant of the waters. Some of our voyagers had the curiosity to visit an eagle's nest, which was built, on the cleft summit of a balsam poplar, of sticks, many of them as thick as a man's
wrist  It contained two young birds, well-fledged, with a good
store of fish, in a very odoriferous condition. While the men
were climbing the tree the female parent hovered close round,
and threatened an attack on the invaders; but the male, who is
* Called by mistake Lac Heron in Franklin's Overland Journeys.




60     PELICANS.-BLACK-BELLIED AND CAYENNE TERNS.
of much smaller size, kept aloof, making circles high in the air.
The heads and tails of both were white.
The pelican, as it assembles in flocks, and is very voracious,
destroys still larger quantities of fish than the eagle.  It is the
Pelicanus trachyrhynchus of systematic ornithologists, and ranges
as far north as Great Slave Lake, in latitude 60~-61~ North.
These birds generally choose a rapid for the scene of their exploits,
and, commencing at the upper end, suffer themselves to float down
with the current, fishing as they go with great success, particularly in the eddies. When satiated, and with full pouches, they
stand on a rock or boulder which rises out of the water, and air
themselves, keeping their half-bent wings raised from their sides,
after the manner of vultures and other gross feeders.  Their
pouches are frequently so crammed with fish that they can not
rise into the air until they have relieved themselves from the load,
and on the unexpected approach of a canoe they stoop down, and,
drawing the bill between their legs, turn out the fish. They seem
to be unable to accomplish this feat when swimming, so that then
they are easily overtaken, and may be caught alive, or killed with
the blow of a paddle. If they are near the beach when danger
threatens, they will land to get rid of the fish more quickly.
They fly heavily, and generally low, in small flocks of from eight
to twenty individuals, marshaled, not in the cunei-form order of
wild geese, but inl a line abreast, or slightly en echellon; and their
snow-white plumage with black-tipped wings, combined with their
great size, gives them an imposing appearance. Exceeding the
fishing eagle and the swan in bulk, they are the largest birds in
the country.  Their eggs are deposited on rocky islets among
strong rapids, where they can not be easily approached by man
or beasts of prey.  The species is named from a ridge or crest
which rises from the middle line of the upper mandible of the
male; sometimes from its whole length, when it is generally uneven; and' sometimes from a short part only, when it is semicircular and smooth-edged.
The black-bellied tern (Hydrochelidon nigra) is also abundant
on these waters, and ranges northward to the upper part of the
Mackenzie. And the Cayenne tern (Sterna cayana) is common
in this quarter and onward to beyond the Arctic Circle; but notwithstanding Mr. Rae's expertness as a fowler, and eagerness to
procure me a specimen, the extreme wariness of the bird frustra



CRANES.                        61
ted all his endeavors until this day, when he brought one down,
and gave me an opportunity of examining it, which I was glad to
do, since from want of a northern specimen the bird was not noticed in the Fauna Boreali-Americana. Mr. Audubon mentions
the great difficulty of shooting this bird, and he succeeded in doing so only by employing several boats to approach its haunts in
different directions. Albert, our Eskimo interpreter, told me that
it does not visit Hudson's Bay.
I was also indebted to Mr. Rae's gun for specimens of the
brown crane (Grus canadensis). Mr. Audubon, who is so competent an authority on all questions relating to American birds,
and whose recent death all lovers of natural history deplore, was of
opinion, in common with many other ornithologists, that the brown
crane is merely the young of the large white crane (Grus americana); but, though I concede that the young of the latter are
g'ray, I think that the brown species is distinct; first, because it is
generally of larger dimensions than the white bird, and secondly,
because it breeds on the lower parts of the Mackenzie and near the
Arctic coasts, where the Grus americana is unknown.  As far
as I could ascertain, the latter bird does not go much further
north than Great Slave Lake. At Fort aux Liards, on the
River of the Mountains, large flocks of cranes pass continually to
the westward, from the 17th to the 20th of September; the gray
and white birds being iU different bands, and the former of smaller size, like young birds. Very rarely during the summer a flock
of white cranes passes over Fort Simpson, in latitude 62~ N.
The brown cranes, on the other hand, which frequent the banks
of the Mackenzie from Fort Norman, in latitude 656 N., down
to the sea-coast, are generally in pairs. They are in the habit of
dancing, round each other very gracefully on the sand-banks of
the river.*
June 18th.-About three hours after embarking we came to
the Pelican lightening-place (Demi-charge de chetauque), and by
breakfast-time we had crossed the three portages of Woody Lake.
A micaceous gneiss or mica-slate rock prevails at these portages.
A family of Cree Indians, who were encamped on one of the
many islands which adorn the scenery of Woody Lake, exchanged
* Much of this information I received from Murdoch MacPherson, Esq.,
who, during twenty years' residence on the Mackenzie, became thoroughly
acquainted with all its feathered and ferine inhabitants.




62              MISSINIPI OR CHURCHILL RIVER.
fish for tobacco, and enabled us to vary the diet of our voyagers,
an indulgence which pleases them greatly; for, though they generally prefer pork or pemioan to fish, they relish the latter occasionally. At five we crossed the Frog Portage, or Portage de
Traite of the Canadians, and encamped on the banks of the Missinipi or Churchill River, in the immediate vicinity of a small
outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company.*
No change of formation takes place in passing from the Saskatchewan River system to that of the Missinipi. The Frog
Portage is low, and Churchill River, in seasons of flood, sometimes overflows it, and discharges some of its superfluous waters
into the Woody Lake.t The general level of the country for some
distance, or down to the lower end of Half-Moon Lake varies
little; but in this and in Pelican Lake there are a few conical
eminences, which rise several hundred feet above the water. We
did not approach them sufficiently near for examination.
Frog Portage is the most northerly point of the Saskatchewan
basin, and lies in 55~ 26' N. latitude, 1030 20' W. longitude.
Below it there is a remarkable parallelism in the courses of
Churchill and Saskatchewan rivers, both streams inclining to the
northeast in their passage through the " intermediate primitive
range," the district from whence they receive lateral supplies being at the same time very greatly narrowed. Several other considerable streams run near them, and parallel to them, but do not
originate so far to the westward. In their widely spreading upper branches, and their restricted trunks, they resemble trees.
As they are not separated high on the prairie slopes by an elevated water-shed, they may be considered, in reasoning upon the
direction of the force which excavated their basins, as one great
system, having an eastern direction and outlet, interposed between
the Missouri and Mackenzie, which discharge themselves respectively into southern and northern seas.
The Churchill River is the boundary between the Chepewyans
* The Cree term Missinipi signifies "much water," and is analogous to
4bat of Mississippi, which means " great river;" nipi, being water, and
sipi river. The Canadians call it English River, because on it the early
fur-traders from Canada encountered the Hudson's Bay Company's people
ascending from their principal dep6t at Fort Churchill.
t About forty years ago, in a season remembered especially for the landfloods, a gentleman was drowned on the Frog Portage, by his canoe oversetting against a tree, as he was passing from Churchill River.




MISSINIPI OR CHURCHILL RIVER.            63
and Crees, but a few of the latter frequent its borders, resorting
to Lac la Ronge and Isle a la Crosse posts, along with the Chepewyans, for their supplies.
On June the 19th, a fog detained us at our encampment to a
later hour than usual; when being unwilling to lose all the morning, we went some distance in the thick weather under the guidance of the post-master, who was acquainted with every rock in
the neighborhood. As the sun rose higher the atmosphere cleared,
and we ascended the Great Rapid by its southern channel, making a portage part of the way, and poling up the remainder. A
recent grave with its wooden cross, marked the burial-place of one
of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants, who was drowned here
last year. His body was thrown out a little below the rapid.
We next crossed the Rapid lightening-place, and afterward
mounted four several rapids, connected with the Barrel Portage.
In the afternoon the Island Portage was made, where the river,
being pent in for a short space between high, even, rocky banks.
is there only five or six hundred yards wide, and has a strong current, requiring much exertion from the canoe-men in paddling
round the headlands. Elsewhere, except at the rapids during
this day's voyage, Churchill River has more the character of a
lake. In the evening we crossed the portage of the Rapid River,
one hundred and sixty paces long, which has its name from a
tributary stream on which the Hudson's Bay Company have a
post, that is visible from the canoe-route. Afterward we passed
the lightening-place of the Rapid River, and encamped five or
six miles further on, at half-past eight o'clock.
Our Iroquois, being tired with the day's journey, and longing
for a fair wind to ease their arms, frequently, in the course of the
afternoons scattered a little water from the blades of their paddles as an offering to La Vieille, who presides over the winds.
The Canadian voyagers, ever ready to adopt the Indian superstitions, often resort to the same practice, though it is probable that
they give only partial credence to it. Formerly the English shipmenl, on their way to the White Sea, landed regularly in Lapland to purchase a wind from the witches residing near North
Cape; and the rudeness and fears of Frobisher's companions in
plucking off the boots or trowsers of a poor old Eskimo woman on
the Labrador coast, to see if her feet were cloven, will be remembered by readers of Arctic voyages.




64                   CHURCHILL RIVER.
Thoughout the day's voyage, the primitive formation continued.
In several places we observed micaceous slate, traversed by large
veins of granite, and alternating with beds of the same, also gneiss
in thick beds, with its layers much contorted. Below the Great
Rapid there are many bluff granite rocks, and some precipices
thirty or forty feet high, the higher knolls-rising probably from
two to three hundred feet above the water. At the Great Rapid
a greenstone-slate stained with iron occurs. At the Barrel Portage, a mile or two further on, where the river makes a sharp
bend, beds of chlorite-slate occupy its channel for two miles, having a northeast and southwest strike, and a southerly dip of 600
or 70~. Beds of greenstone-slate are interleaved with it. Above
the Island Portage a sienite occurs which contains an imbedded
mineral; and at the Rapid River Portage, mica-slate, passing
into gneiss, prevails, the beds having a southwest and northeast
strike. The granite veins here have a general direction nearly
coincident with that of the beds, but they are waved up and
down. In the vicinity of the veins the layers of slate are much
contorted, following the curvatures of the veins closely. At the
lightening-place of the Rapid River, there is a fine precipice of
granite fifty feet high, which is traversed obliquely from top to
bottom by two magnificent veins of flesh-colored porphyry-granite.
Five miles further on there are precipices of granite one hundred
and fifty feet high.
The country in this neighborhood is hilly, and a few miles
back fromn the river the summits of the eminences appear to the
eye to rise four hundred or perhaps five hundred feet above the
river. The resemblance of the whole district to Winipeg River
is perfect, and the general aspect of the country is much like that
of the north shores of Lake Superior, though the water basin is
not so deeply excavated.
An hour and a half after starting on the morning of the 20th,
we crossed the Mountain Portage, one hundred paces long, where
the rock is horneblende-slate. At Little Rock Portage, a short
way further on, the thin slaty beds have a northeast and southwest strike. Above this, a dilatation of the river, named Otter
Lake, leads to the Otter Portage, of three hundred paces, made
over mica-slate. The beach there is strewed with fragments of
a crystalline augitic greenstone, showing that that rock is not far
distant.




BLACK-BEAR ISLANDS LAKE.               65
From a party of Chepewyans who were encamped on the Otter
Lake, we procured a quantity of a small white root, about the
thickness of a goose quill, which had an agreeable nutty flavor.
I ascertained that it was the root of the Sium lineare. The
poisonous roots of Cicuta virosa, maculata, and bulbifera, are
often mistaken for the edible one, and have proved fatal to several laborers in the Company's service. The natives distinguish
the proper kind by the last year's stem, which has the rays of its
umbel ribbed or angled, while the Cicutce have round and smooth
flower-stalks. When the plant has put out its leaves by which
it is most easily identified, the roots lose their crispness and become woody.  The edible root is named iiskotask by the Crees,
and queue de rat by the Canadians.  The poisonous kinds are
called manito-skatask, and by the voyagers carrotte de Moreau,
after a man who died from eating them.
The Heuchera Richardsonii, which abounds on the rocks of
this river, is. one of the native medicines, its astringent root being
chewed and applied as a vulnerary to wounds and sores. Its
Cree name is piche quaow-utchepi. The leaves of the Ledum
palustre are also chewed and applied to burns, which are said to
heal rapidly under its influence. The cake of chewed leaves is
left adhering to the sore until it falls off.
In the course of the forenoon we ascended four rapids, occasioning short portages, then the Great Devil's Portage, of fourteen
hundred paces; and in the afternoon several other rapids were
passed, among which were the Steep Bank, Little Rock, and
Trout portages.  At the Steep Bank Portage (Portage deo
Ecores), which is one hundred and sixty paces long, gneiss and
mica-slate occur interleaved irregularly with each other, and intersected in every direction by reticulating quartz veins; the prevailing rock in the neighborhood being gneiss, and the hills low
and barren.
June 21st. —Soon after starting we crossed the Thicket Portage (Portage des Haliers) of three hunded and sixty paces, and
entered Black-bear Islands Lake, a very irregular piece of water,
intersected by long promontories and clusters of islands. After
four hours' paddling therein we came to a rapid, considered by
the guide as the middle of the lake; in three hours more we
came to another strong rapid, and after another three hours to
the Broken-Canoe Portage, which is at the upper end of this




66         THE ATHABASCA BRIGADE.-SNAKE RIVER.
dilatation of the river. Granite is the prevailing rock in the
lake, and one of the small islands consists of large balls of that
stone, piled on each other like cannon shot in an arsenal. They
might be taken for boulders were they not heaped up in a conical
form and all of one kind of stone; and they have obviously received their present form by the softer parts of the rock having
crumbled and fallen away. At Thicket Portage and the lower
end of the lake, the granite is associated with greenstone slate;
and at Broken-Canoe Portage, above the lake, a laminated stone
exists, whose vertical layers are about an inch think, and have a
north and south strike, being parallel to the direction of the ridges
of the rock. This stone is composed of flesh-colored quartz, with
thin layers of duck-green chlorite, and no felspar. It ought perhaps to be considered as a variety of gneiss.
Later in the afternoon we came to the Birch and Pin Portages, on the last of which we encamped. The granite rocks here
are covered by a high bank of sand and gravel, filled with boulders.
June 22d. —Embarking early, we passed through Sand-fly
Lake, and afterward Serpent Lake, in which we met the Athabasca brigade of boats, under charge of Chief Trader Armitinger.
This gentleman informed us that he met Mr. Bell with our boats
on the 19th, on which day they would arrive at Isle a la Crosse.
The aspect of the country changes suddenly on entering these
lakes.  The rising grounds have a more even outline, and one
long low range rises over another, as the country recedes from
the borders of the water, where it is generally low and swampy.
The trees near the water are almost exclusively birch and balsam-poplar, or aspen; the spruce firs occupying the distant elevations, which are generally long round-backed hills, with a few
short conical bluffs. Serpent Lake is named from the occurrence
on its shores of a small snake.* I was not able to learn that
this or any other snake had been detected further to the north.
Having passed a high sand-bank on the north side of Serpent
Lake, six miles further on, we entered the Snake River, within
the mouth of which there is a bank of loam, sand, and rolled
stones, thirty-five feet high. The bed of the stream is lined with
these stones, and its width is about equal to that of Rainy River.
The rocky points, as seen from the canoe, appeared to be of gran.
ite.  All the boulders that I examined were of a dull brownish* Coluber or T'ropidinotus sirtalis.




BULL-DOG FLY.-PRIMEAU'S LAKE.             67
red, striped or laminated granite, which, on a cursory inspection,
might be mistaken for sandstone.  Boulders of the same kind
occur at the Snake Rapid, where they are intermixed with a few
pieces of hornblende rock.
JYune 23d.-The musquitoes were exceedingly numerous and
troublesome during the night and this morning.  Our route lay
through Sandy Lake and Grassy River, where the country retains the same general aspect that it has on Sand-fly and Serpent Lakes, and where the prevailing rock is a brownish-red,
fine-grained sienite, resembling a sandstone. The same rock
abounds in Knee Lake, where, however, we saw, for the first
time since leaving the south end of Lake Winipeg, fragments of
white quartzose sandstone; but did not find the stone in situ.
The sienite, when traced, is found to pass into hornblendic granite, by the addition of scales of mica to some parts of the same
beds. The high banks of Knee Rapid consist of sandy loam
crammed with boulders.
The Tabanus, named by the voyagers " Bull-dog," has been
common for two days.  The current notion is, that this fly cuts
a piece of flesh from his victim, and at first sight there seems to
be truth in the opinion. The fly alights on the hands or face so
gently that if not seen he is scarcely felt until he makes his
wound, which produces a stinging sensation as if the skin had
been touched by a live coal. The hand is quickly raised toward
the spot, and the insect flies off. A drop of blood, oozing from
the puncture, gives it the appearance of a gaping wound, and the
fly is supposed to have carried off a morsel of flesh. In fact, the
Tabanus, inserts a five-bladed lancet, makes a perforation like a
leech-bite, and, introducing his flexible proboscis, proceeds to suck
the blood. He is, however, seldom suffered to remain at his repast; unless, as in our case, he be allowed to do so, that his
mode of proceeding may be inspected.  These Tabani are troublesome only toward noon and in a bright sun, when the heat
beats down the musquitoes.*
In the afternoon we passed through Primeau's Lake, having
previously ascended three strong and bad rapids.  At the middle
turn of the lake a moderately high, long, and nearly level-topped
* Of the five lancets with which the Tabanus wounds his prey, two are
broader than the others. They are inclosed in a black, hairy sheath, whose
extremity folds back. The palpi are conico-cylindrical and tubular.




68               ISLE A LA CROSSE LAKE.
hill closes the transverse vista. The channel between the eastern
and western portions of the lake winds among extensive sandy
flats, covered with bents, and in some places there was a rich
crop of grass not in flower, but seemingly a Poa. In the evening we encamped at the "Portage of the Exhausted," on the
river between Isle a la Crosse and Primeau Lakes. The rock
here, and on the two lakes below it, is the brownish-red slaty
sienite already mentioned; it has much resemblance to a rock on
Lakes Huron and Superior, which seemed there to be associated
with a conglomerate. The brownish color belongs to the felspar;
a vitreous quartz also enters into its composition, and a little
hornblende. It is rather easily frangible, and has a flat, somewhat slaty fracture.
Two hours after embarking on the 24th, we passed the Angle
Rapid (Rapide de l'Equerre), and subsequently the Noisy
(Rapide Songante), and Saginaw Rapids, and entered the small
Saginaw Lake, which we crossed in half an hour. At various
points we had cursory glances, in passing, of granite forming low
rocks. The crooked Rapid, a mile and a half long, conducted us
to Isle a la Crosse Lake. In traversing twenty-three geographical miles of this lake, we disturbed many bands of pelicans,
which were swimming on the water, or seated on rocky shoals,
in flocks numbering forty or fifty birds. On the shores there are
fragments of a white quartzose sandstone, but I noticed no limestone. The country consists of gravelly plains, having a coarse,
sandy soil, and numerous imbedded boulder stones. Shoals formed by accumulations of boulders, are common in the lake, and in
various places close pavements of these stones are surmounted by
sandy cliffs twenty or thirty feet high. The bulk of the boulders belongs to the brownish glassy sienite mentioned in a preceding page.
The funnel-shaped arm named Deep River (La Riviere Creuse) meets the northern point of the lake at an acute angle, inclosing between it and Clear Lake a triangular peninsula. Beaver River, the principal feeder of the lake, flows from Green
Lake, which lies directly to the southward, near the valley of
the Saskatchewan in the 54th parallel of latitude. The winter
path from Isle a la Crosse to Carlton House ascends this river to
its great bend, whence it leads to the Saskatchewan plains,
through an undulating country, but without any marked acclivity.
I consider it probable, therefore, that Isle a la Crosse Lake and




LENGTH OF RIVERS.-BEAVER RIVER.             69
Carlton House do not differ more than two hundred feet front
each other in their height above the sea.  The altitude of the.
latter I have judged to be about eleven hundred feet; and Captain Lefroy, from his experiments with the boiling water thermometer, assigns an elevation of thirteen hundred feet to the former.
Churchill River, disregarding its flexures, has a course to the
sea from Isle a la Crosse Fort, of five hundred and twenty-five
geographical miles, and the length of the Saskatchewan below
Carlton House is six hundred and thirty miles. The general
descent of the eastern slope of the continent to Hudson's Bay
from these two localities may be reckoned at a little more than
two feet a mile. Further to the westward, in the vicinity of
Fort George, near the 110th meridian, the upper branches of the
Beaver River rise from the very banks of the Saskatchewan.
On Beaver River the strata are limestone, and a line drawn
from the north side of Lake Winipeg, to the south side of Isle A
la Crosse Lake, runs about north 58~ west, and touches upon the
northern edge of the limestone in Beaver Lake. That line may
therefore, be considered as representing the general direction of
the junction of the limestone with the primitive rocks in this district of the country. Judging from relative geographical position
and mineralogical resemblances, the north part of Isle a la Crosse
Lake belongs to a similar sandstone deposit with that which skirts
the primitive rocks on Lake Superior —a peculiar looking sienite
being connected with the sandstone in both localities. From its
order of occurrence the limestone of Beaver River is probably
silurian.  My observations were too limited and cursory to carry
conviction, even to my own mind, on these points; the circumstances attending the several journeys I have made through these
countries having prevented me from obtaining'better evidence.
In a voyage with ulterior objects through so wide an extent of
territory, and with so short a traveling season, every hour is of
importance, and whoever has charge of a party must show that
he thinks so, otherwise his men can not be induced to keep up
their exertions for sixteen hours a day, which is the usual period
of labor in summer traveling. Of this time an- hour's halt is allowed for breakfast, and half an hour for dinner. We did not
reach Isle ai la Crosse Fort till half-past nine in the evening, and
then learned that Mr. Bell with the boats was four days in ad.
vance of us.




70               ROMAN CATHOILIC MISSION.
June 25th.-A strong gale blowing this morning detained us
at the post, and the day being Sunday, our voyagers went to
mass at the Roman Catholic chapel, distant about a mile from
the fort. This mission was established in 1 846 under charge of
Monsieur La Fleche, who has been very successful in gaining the
confidence of the Indians, and gathering a considerable number
into a village round the church. In -the course of the day I received a visit from Monsieur La Fleche and his colleague Monsieur Tasche. They are both intelligent, well-informed men, and
devoted to the task of instructing the Indians; but the revolution
in France having cut off the funds the mission obtained from that
country, its progress was likely to be impeded. They spoke
thankfully of the assistance and countenance they received from
the gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company. The character
they gave the Chepewyans for honesty, docility, aptness to receive
instruction, and attention to the precepts of their teachers, was
one of almost unqualified praise, and formed, as they stated, a
strong contrast to that of the volatile Crees. They have already
taught many of their pupils here to read and write a stenographic
syllabic character, first used by the late Reverend Mr. Evans, a
Wesleyan missionary, formerly resident at Norway House, but
which Monsieur La Fleche has adapted to the Chepewyan language. On asking this gentleman his opinion of the affinity between the Cree and Chepewyan tongues, both of which he spoke
fluently, he told me that the grammatical structure of the Chepewyan was different, the words short, and the sounds dissimilar,
bearing little resemblance to the soft, flowing compounds of the
Cree language.
As there is generally some difficulty in making an early start
from a fort, we moved in the evening to the point of the bay, that
we might be ready to take advantage of the first favorable moment for proceeding on our voyage.
June 26th.-We embarked before 3 A.M., but a strong headwind blowing, we could proceed only by creeping along-shore
under shelter of the projecting points. For some days past the
water has been covered with the pollen of the spruce fir, and today we observed that it was thickly spread with the downy seeds
of a willow. The banks of Deep River, which forms the discharge of Buffalo and Clear Lakes, consist of gravel and sand
containing large boulders, principally of trap and primitive rocks.




CANADA LYNX.-:-METHY RIVER.             71
The eminences rise from fifteen to forty feet above the river, and
the land-streams have cut ravines into the loose soil, the whole
being well covered with the ordinary trees of the country. This
low land extends to Primeau Lake on the one side, and Buffalo
Lake on the other. The beach, especially toward the openings
of Cross and Buffalo Lakes, is strewed with fragments of quartzose sandstone, mixed with some pieces of light-red freestone, and
many boulders of earthy greenstone, chlorite-slate, porphyritic
greenstone slate, and gneiss.  Neither mica-slate nor limestone
were observed among them, and no rocks in situ. Many of the
bays have sandy beaches. The Deep River has little current,
except where it issues from the lakes.
In the morning a Canada lynx was observed swimming across
a strait, where the distance from shore to shore exceeded a mile.
We gave chase, and killed it easily. This animal is often seen
in the water, and apparently it travels more in the summer than
any other beast of prey in this country.  We put ashore to sup
at seven in the evening, at a point in Buffalo Lake, where we
found evidences of the boat party having slept there a night or
two previously. Being desirous of overtaking them without delay, we immediately resumed our voyage, but were caught in the
middle of the lake by a violent thunder-storm, accompanied by
strong gusts of wind. The voyagers were alarmed, and pulled
vigorously for the eastern shore, on which we landed soon after
eleven. The shores of Buffalo Lake are generally low; but, on
the west side, there is an eminence named Grizzle Bear Hill,
which is conspicuous at a considerable distance. It probably
extends in a northwest direction toward the plateau of Methy
Portage and Clear-water River.  The valley to the east is occupied by Methy, Buffalo, and Clear Lakes, the last of which is
said to have extensive arms.
Embarking at daylight on the 27th, we crossed the remainder
of the lake, being about fourteen miles, and entered the Methy
River, which we found to' our satisfaction higher than usual; as
in so shallow a stream the navigation is very tedious in dry seasons. The watermarks on the trees skirting the river showed
that the water had fallen at least five feet, since the spring floods.
The musquitoes are more numerous in seasons of high water, and
this year was no exception to the general rule.
At the Rapid of the Tomb (La Cimetiere) several pitch or




72     MURRAIN AMONG HORSES.-BURBOT OR LA LOCHE.
red pines (Pinus resinosa) grow intermixed with black spruces,
one of them being a good-sized tree. This is the most northerly
situation in which I saw this pine, and the voyagers believe that
it does not grow higher than the River Winipeg.
An Indian, who has built a house at the mouth of the river,
keeps fifteen or twenty horses, which he lets to the Company's
men on Methy Portage, the charge being " a skin," or four shillings, for carrying over a piece of goods or furs weighing ninety
pounds. From him we received the very unpleasant intelligence,
that not only had his horses died of murrain last autumn, but
that all the Company's stock employed on the portage had likewise perished. This calamity foreboded a detention of seven or
eight days longer on the portage than we expected, and a consequent reduction of the limited time we had calculated upon for
our sea-voyage. I had used every exertion to reach the sea-coast
some days before the appointed time, expecting to be able to examine Wollaston's Land this season; —this hope was now almost
extinguished. Another stock of horses had been ordered from the
Saskatchewan, but they were not likely to arrive till the summer
was well advanced.
Methy River flows through a low, swampy country, of which
a large portion is a peat moss. Some sandy banks occur here
and there, and boulders are scattered over the surface, and line
the bed of the stream. We encamped on the driest spot we could
find, and had to sustain the unintermitting attacks of myriads of
musquitoes all night.
The Methy River, Lake, and Portage, are named from the
Cree designation of the Burbot (Lota maculosa), (La Loche of
the Canadians), which abounds in these waters, and often supplies a poor and watery food to voyagers whose provisions are
exhausted. Though the fish is less prized than any other in the
country, its roe is one of the best, and, with a small addition of
flour, makes a palatable and very nourishing bread.
Four hours' paddling brought us, early on the 28th, to the
head of the river, and two hours more enabled us to cross to the
eastern side of Methy Lake, where we were compelled to put
ashore by a strong headwind. A female mink (Vison lutreola)
was killed as it was crossing a bay of the lake. It had eight
swollen teats, and its udder contained milk; so that probably its
death insured that of a young progeny also.  The feet of this




MR. BELL AND HIS PARTY.-TRANSPORT OF BAGGAGE.    73
little amphibious animal are webbed for half the length of its
toes.  It is the Shakweshew or Atjakashew of the Crees, the
" Mink" of the fur-traders, and the Foute;reau of the Canadians.
In the evening, the wind having decreased, we paddled under
shelter of the western shore to the upper end of the lake, and
entered the small creek which leads to the portage.
Mr. Bell was encamped at the landing-place, having arrived
on the previous day, which he had spent in preparing and distributing the loads, and the party had advanced one stage of
different lengths, according to the carrying powers of the individuals, which were very unequal. On visiting the men, I found two
of the sappers and miners lame from the fatigue of crossing the
numerous carrying-places on Churchill River, and unfit for any
labor on this long portage. Several others appeared feeble; and,
judging from the first day's work of the party, I could not estimate
the time that would be occupied, should they receive no help in
transporting the boats and stores, at less than a fortnight, which
would leave us with little prospect of completing our sea-voyage
this season. In the equal distribution of the baggage each mall
had five pieces of ninety pounds' weight each, exclusive of his
own bedding and clothing, and of the boats, with their masts,
sails, oars, anchors, &c., which could not be transported in fewer
than two journeys of the whole party. The Canadian voyagers
carry two pieces of the standard weight of ninety pounds at each
trip on long portages such as this, and, in shorter ones, often a
greater load.  Several of our Europeans carried only one piece at
a time, and had, consequently, to make five trips with their share
of the baggage, besides two with the boats; hence they were unable to make good the ordinary day's journey of two miles, being,
at seven trips with the return, twenty-six miles of walking, fourteen of them with a load. The practiced voyager, on the contrary, by carrying greater loads, can reduce the walking by onethird, and some of them by fully one-half.*
* In 1825 Sir John Franklin ascertained the position of the first resting-place, after leaving Methy Lake, to be in latitude 56~ 36' 30" N.,
longitude 109~ 52' 54" W. By carefully pacing the distance from thence
to Methy Lake, I found it to be 1790 yards, on a south 430 25' east
bearing, giving 22" difference of latitude, and 58" of longitude. Hence
the east end of the portage lies in latitude 56~ 36' 08" N., longitude 1090
51' 56" W.
The usual encampment by the tomb on the south side of the Little Lake
D




74               BAROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
By their agreements, our canoe-men were at liberty to return
as soon as we overtook the boats; and, in that case, the additional
pieces we had brought, would, of course, be added to the baggage
of the boat party; but I engaged them to assist us during the
time that we were occupied on the portage, for an increase of
wages of four shillings, York currency, per diem, each...
June 29th.-Our canoe-men were early astir this morning, and,
before breakfast time, had carried all the cargo of the canoes to
the banks of a small lake, being two-thirds of the whole portage,
or 16,724 paces: the entire distance from Methy Lake to Clearwater River is 24,593 paces.
By observations with the aneroid and Delcros' barometers, I
ascertained that the Little Lake was elevated twenty-two feet
above Methy Lake; that the highest part of the pathway between the Little Lake and the Clear-water River rises above the
latter six hundred and fifty-six feet, but, above Methy Lake, only
sixty-six feet.  The Cockscomb, or the crest of the precipitous
brow which overlooks the magnificent valley of the Clear-water,
is twenty-two feet lower than the summit of the path, or six hundred and thirty-four feet above the last-named river. The portis in latitude 56~ 40' 17" N., longitude 109~ 57' 54" W., and the north
end of the path on the banks of the Clear-water River is in 56~ 42' 51"
N., 109~ 59' 08" W. The direct distance from one end of the portage
to the other is therefore only 7l geographical miles in a north 270 west
course; while the paces, reduced to yards at the rate of 23 feet to every
10 paces (which I found after several trials to be the average), are 18,855,
or 10-7 statute miles.
I subjoin the voyagers' names for the several resting-places on the portage, premising, however, that the halting-places vary both in number and
position with the loads and strength of the carriers, and that the names
are often transposed.
Methy Lake (Lac la Loche).
Thence to Petit Vieux................ 2557 paces.
"    Fontaine de Sable................ 3171  "
c"   La Vieille....................... 4591 
"    Bon Homme ous de Cypres.......... 3167  "
c"   Petit Lac...................       3238
"    De Cypres ou La eux.............    4302':
" La Crete..............                1283  "
"    Descente de la Crete............... 1984
cc  La Prairie.300'",
24,593  "




ELEVATION OF METHY LAKE.                       75
age-road is, in fact, nearly level; the inequalities being of small
account as far as to the sudden descent of the Cockscomb. In
the sandy soil there are many fragments of sandstone, a few of
limestone, and scattered boulders of granites, sienites, and greenstones. The deposit of sand is about six hundred feet deep, and
most probably incloses solid beds of sandstone. It is based on a
(Devonian?) limestone, which lines the whole bed of the Clearwater River, till its junction with the Elk River, as I shall hereafter mention.*
Captain Lefroy assigns fifteen hundred feet as the elevation of
the surface of Methy Lake above the sea,t and, from various esti* As the Cockscomb is under the level of the brow of the valley, the
depth of sand may be more than 600 feet at its highest points.
t The exact height assigned by Captain Lefroy to Methy Lake is 1540
feet, which I have reduced in the text to the even number of 1500, as
agreeing better with my own estimates. If this be nearly correct, Captain
Lefroy gives too small an altitude to Isle a la Crosse Lake, since the route
from thence to the portage is chiefly lake-way; and the Methy River can
not have a descent of 240 feet, which his altitudes would assign to it.
In the year 1848, I made several observations with the aneroid on Methy
Portage to ascertain its levels, but they were neither so carefully made nor
so extensive as they would have been, had I been less anxiously and constantly employed about the transport of the goods and boat. The error in
this case is not, however, likely to be many feet, as the portage is evidently very nearly level as far as the Cockscomb. The height of the latter was
ascertained on July 27, 1849, by Delcros' barometer, the observations being as follows:
I_  0-34
Hour  baelrom.  geer.al     Reng.   to  Att. Therm.  Det.
Six feet above Clearwater River......... 4 0  72719  72]753  28-644'88606   6-4  435  40-8
Two feet above Cockscomb...............4 446  71-079  71-113  27'998  27-944  10-2  50 4  50.9
Six feet above Clearwater River......... 5 20  72-740  72.774  28'652  28-591  11'4  52 5  51' 0
These furnish two sets for calculation,
The first giving a height of................... 640 feet.
And the second of......................... 632  "
The aneroid barometer in 1848, gave.......... 631  "
Mean.......... 634  "
Sir Alexander Mackenzie estimated this declivity at 1000 feet, Lieutenant Hood at 900 feet, both judging merely from  the eye and time employed in its descent.




76              RETURN OF THE CANOE-MEN.
mates of the rate of descent of Mackenzie River and its feeders, I
am inclined, independent of his calculations, to consider the Clearwater River at Methy Portage, to be nine hundred feet above the
sea, which accords well with his conclusions; since the difference
of level between Methy Lake and Clear-water River being five
hundred and ninety feet by my barometrical observations, the
latter would be nine hundred and fifty feet above the sea by his
data.
On the 3d of July, the whole of the baggage and the boats
were brought to the banks of the Little Lake; and on the 6th,
every thing having been carried over to Clear-water River on the
preceding evening, we descended from the Cockscomb, where we
had remained encamped for two days, that we might avoid the
musquitoes which infested the low grounds.  While the boats
were loading, we took leave of our canoe-men, who returned to
Canada, and at half-past eight, A.M., we pushed off.
The portage occupied nine days from the time of Mr. Bell's
arrival; but, with the assistance of horses, we could have passed
it easily in three, and saved nearly a week of summer weather,
most important for our future operations, besides husbanding the
strength of the men. The transport of the four boats, being made
on the men's shoulders, employed two days and a half of our time.




CHAPTER IV.
Clear-water River.-Valley of the Washakummow.-Portages. —Limestone Cliffs.
-Shale.-Elk, or Athabasca River.-Wapiti.-Devonian Strata.-Geological
structure of the banks of the River.-Athabasca Lake, or Lake of the Hills.Meet Mr. M'Pherson with the Mackenzie River Brigade.-Send home Letters.
-L'Esperance's Brigade.-Fort Chepewyan.-Height of Lake Athabasca above
the Sea.-Rocks.-Plumbago.-Forest Scenery.-Slave River.-Reindeer Islands.-Portages.-Native Remedies.-Separate from Mr. Bell and his Party.
IT is probable that the sands of this district and the adjacent
limestones, belong to the Erie division of the New York system of
rocks, considered by the United States geologists to be an upper
member of the silurian system, but, by various English naturalists,
to be rather part of the Devonian, or of the carboniferous series.
The valley of the Clear-water River, or Washakummow, as it
is termed by the Crees, is not excelled, or indeed equaled, by any
that I have seen in America for beauty; and the reader may obtain a correct notion of its general character by turning to an
engraving in the narrative of Sir John Franklin's second Overland Journey, executed from a drawing of Sir George Back's.
The view from the Cockscomb extends thirty or forty miles, and
discloses, in beautiful perspective, a succession of steep; wellwooded ridges descending on each side from the lofty brows of the
valley to the borders of the clear stream which meanders along
the bottom. Cliffs of light-colored sand occasionally show themselves, and near the water limestone rocks are almost every where
discoverable. The Pinus banksiana occupies most of the dry
sandy levels; the white spruce, balsam fir, larch, poplar, and
birch are also abundant.; and, among the shrubs, the Arnelanchier,
several cherries, the silver-foliaged Eleagnus argentea, and rustyleaved Hippojphde canadensis are the most conspicuous.
At the portage, the immediate borders of the stream are formed
of alluvial sand; but six or seven miles below, limestone in thin,
slaty beds crops out on both sides of the river, and, to the left,
forms cliffs twenty feet high. A short way further down an isolated pillar of limestone in the same thin layers rises out of the




78                    PINE PORTAGE.
water; and soon after passing it, we come to the White Mud
Portage (Portage de Terre blanche), of six hundred and seventy
paces, where the stream flows over beds of an impure siliceous
limestone, in some parts meriting the appellation of a calcareous
sandstone, and, for the most part, having a yellowish-gray color.
On the portage, and on the neighboring islands and flats, the
limestone stands up in mural precipices and thin partitions, like
the walls of a ruined city; and the beholder can not help believing that the rock once formed a barrier at this strait, when the
upper part of the river must have been one long lake. The
steep sandy slopes, as they project from the high sides of the valley, appear as if they had not only been sculptured by torrents of
melted snow pouring down from the plateau above in more recent
times, but that they had been previously subject to the currents
and eddies of a lake. If such was the case, we must admit that
other barriers further down were also then or subsequently carried away, as the sides of the valley retain their peculiar forms
nearly to the junction of the stream with the Elk River. I
have been informed that the country extending from the high
bank of the river toward Athabasca Lake is a wooded, sandy
plain, abounding in bison and other game.
In the evening we encamped on the Pine Portage (Portage
des Pins), which is one thousand paces long. The name would
indicate that the Pinus resinosa grows there; but, if so, I did
not observe it, the chief tree near the path being the Pinus banksiana, named Cypres by the voyagers. A very dwarf cherry
grows at the same place; it resembles a decumbent willow, and
is probably the Cerasus pumila of Michaux.  This is the most
northern locality in which it, and the ]zIudsonia ericoides, which
was flowering freely at this time, were observed. The Lonicera
parviftora was also showing a profusion of fragrant, rich, yellow
flowers, tinged with red on the ends of the petals, especially before they expand; and on this day we gathered ripe strawberries
for the first time in the season.
July 7th.-The Pine Portage was completed in —the morning,
and an hour later we crossed the Bigstone Portage of six hundred
paces. Afterward we passed the Nurse Portage (Portage de
Bonne), of two thousand six hundred and ten paces; the Cascade Portage, of one thousand three hundred and eighty; and
encamped on the Portage of the Woods, two thousand three hun



SULPHUREOUS SPRINGS.                 79
dred and fifty paces long; where two of our boats were broken.
At this place, and on many other parts of the river, smooth
granite boulders line the beach. The strata in situ are limestone covered by thick beds of sand.
July 8th.-The boats having been repaired early in the morning, we embarked at half-past six, and at eight came to a sulphureous spring, which issues from the limestone on the bank'of
the river. Its channel is lined with a snow-white incrustation,
the taste of the water is moderately saline and sulphureous, and,
fiom its coolness, rather agreeable than otherwise: it had a slight
odor of sulphureted hydrogen. Here I obtained specimens of a
terrebratulite (T. reticularis).
In the afternoon we passed the mouth of an affluent named
the Pembina, from the occurrence of the Viburnum edule on its
banks. I did not observe the fruit of this bush further north
than Winipeg River, but I was assured that it grew in various
localities up to the Clear-water, beyond which it has not been
detected. It is distinguished as a species from the very common
cranberry tree, or mooseberry (Mongsba meena of the Crees), by
the obtuse sinuses of its leaves; and its fruit has an orange color,
is less acid, more fleshy, and more agreeable to the taste. There
is a rapid in Clear-water River just above the Pembina, where
a section of the north bank is exposed; and I regretted that I
had not leisure to examine it. As seen from the boat in passing,
it appeared to be formed of sandstone at the base, then of sand,
and high up of shale or sandstone in thin layers. Three miles
further down a cliff on the south side, about twenty feet high, is
composed of an impure limestone, in very thin layers, capped by
a more compact, cream-yellow limestone. The sun was intensely hot this day, and, dreading the musquitoes, we avoided the
bushy banks of the river, and encamped on an open sand-flat, but
did not thereby gain immunity, for we were assailed by myriads
during the whole night, a heavy rain having driven them into
the tents. The species that now infested us had a light brown
color. Each kind remains in force a fortnight or three weeks,
and is succeeded by another more bitter than itself.
The Dog-bane and Indian hemp (Apocynum androscemtfolium
and hypericifolium) grow luxuriantly on the sandy banks of this
river. They abound in a milky juice, which, when applied to
the skin, produces a troublesome eruption.  The voyagers, by




80               ELK OR ATHABASCA RIVER.
lying down incautiously among these plants at night, or walking
among them  with naked legs, often suffer from the irritation,
which resembles flea-bites; hence they designate the plant herb
a la puce.  The second-named species grows more robustly and
erectly than the other, and furnishes the natives living on the
coast of the Pacific with hemp, out of which they form strong
and durable fishing nets.
Jzuly 9th.-Three miles below our last night's encampment
we entered the Elk or Athabasca River, a majestic stream, between a quarter and half a mile wide, with a considerable current, but without rapids.
The lower point of the bank of the Clear-water, where it loses
itself in the Elk River, is formed of limestone strata, covered by
a thick deposit of' bituminous shale, which is probably to be referred to the Marcellus shale of the United States geologists.*
The shelving cliff of this shale is one hundred and fifty feet high
or upward, and is capped by sand or diluvium. The high cliffs
extend for two or three miles up the Clear-water River, above
which the sandy slopes for the most part conceal the strata, except at the water's edge, where the limestone crops out.  Much
of this limestone has a concretionary structure, and easily breaks
down. Other beds are more compact.
The same kind of limestone forms the banks of Elk or Athabasca River for thirty-six miles downward, to the site of Berens'
Fort, now abandoned. The beds vary in structure, the concretionary form rather prevailing, though some layers are more
homogeneous, and others are stained with bitumen. The strata
for the most part lie evenly, and have a slight dip, but in several
places they are undulated, and in one or two localities dislocated,
though I did not observe any dykes or intruding masses of trap
rock.
Among the organic remains obtained from the beds of limestone at the water's edge, were Producti, Spirifers, an Orthis
resembling resupinata, Terebratula reticularis, and a Pleurotomaria, which, in the opinion of Mr. Woodward of the British
Museum, who kindly examined the specimens, are characteristic
of Devonian strata. In the following season, Mr. Rae picked up
from the beach of Clear-water River a fine Rhynchonella, which
* See Appendix for a classification of the rocks of the New York system. The Marcellus shale belongs to the Erie division.




GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF RIVER'S BANK.          81
retained chestnut-colored bands on the shell. The occurrence
of colors in fossil shells of so ancient an epoch is very rare. The
specimen has been deposited in the British Museum. In one of
the cliffs not far below the Clear-water River, the indurated
arenaceous beds resting on the limestone contain pretty thick
layers of lignite, much impregnated with bitumen, which has
been ascertained by Mr. Bowerbank to be of coniferous origin,
though he could not determine the genus of the wood.
Fourteen or fifteen miles below the junction of the Clear-water
with the Elk River there are copious springs on the right bank.
They rise from the summit of an eminence among the fragments
of a ruined shale bank, which they have wholly incrusted with
tufa.  This incrustation, analyzed for me by Dr. Fife in 1893,
was found to be composed principally of sulphate of lime with a
slight admixture of sulphate of magnesia and muriate of soda,
and with sulphur and iron. Below this there is a fine section of
a bituminous cliff from one hundred and twenty to one hundred
and thirty feet high, resting on limestone whose beds are undulated in two directions. The limestone is immediately covered
by a thin stratum of a yellowish-white earth, which, from the
fineness of its grain, appears at first sight to be a marl or clay.
It does not, however, effervesce with acids, is harsh and meagre,
and, when examined with the microscope, is seen to be chiefly
composed of minute fragments of translucent quartz, with a grayish basis in fobrm of an impalpable powder. This seam follows
the undulations of the limestone; but the beds of the superincumbent bituminous shale, or rather of sand charged with slaggy
mineral pitch are horizontal.
About thirty miles below the Clear-water River, the limestone
beds are covered by a bituminous deposit upward of one hundred
feet thick, whose lower member is a conglomerate, having an
earthy basis much stained with iron and colored by bitumen.
Many small grains and angular fragments of transparent and
translucent quartz compose a large part of the conglomerate,
which also contains water-worn pebbles of white, green, and
otherwise colored quartz, from a minute size up to that of a hen's
egg, or larger. Pieces of greenstone, and nodules of clay-ironstone, also enter into the composition of this rock, which, in some
places, is rather friable, in others, possesses much hardness and
tenacity.  Some of the beds above this stone are nearly plastic,
D




-82       GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF RIVER'S BANK.
from the quantity of mineral pitch they contain. Roots of living
trees and herbaceous plants push themselves deep into beds highly impregnated with bitumen; and the forest where that mineral
is most abundant does not suffer in its growth.
The shale banks are discontinued for a space in the neighborhood of Berens' House, where thin beds of limestone come to the
surface, and form cliffs twenty or thirty feet high at the water's
edge.
Further down the river still, or about three miles below the
Red River, where there was once a trading establishment, now
remembered as La vieux Fort de la Riviere Rouge, a copious
spring of mineral pitch issues from a crevice in a cliff composed
of sand and bitumen.  It lies a few hundred yards back from
the river in the middle of a thick wood. Several small birds
were found suffocated in the pitch.
Soon after passing this spot, we saw right ahead, but on the
left bank of the river, a ridge of land named the " Bark Mountain," looking blue in the distance, being fully sixty miles off.
From its name, I conclude that the canoe birch abounds on it.
It is the length of a spring day's march, or about thirty miles,
distant from Fort Chepewyan; and bison, moose deer, and other
game, are said to resort to it in numbers.
At the deserted post named Pier're au Calumet, cream-colored
and white limestone cliffs are covered by thick beds of biturninous sand. Below this there is a bituminous cliff, in the middle
of which lies a thick bed of the same white earth which I had
seen higher up the river in contact with the limestone, and following the undulations of its surface.
A few miles further on, the cliffs for some distance are sandy,
and the different beds contain variable quantities of bitumen.
Some of the lower layers were so full of that mineral as to soften
in the hand, while the upper strata, containing less, were so
cemented by iron as to form a firm dark-brown sandstone of' much
hardness. The cliff is, in most places, capped by sand containing boulders of limestone. One very bituminous bed, carefully
examined with the microscope, was found to consist, in addition
to the bitumen, of small grains of transparent quartz, unmixed
with other rock, but inclosing a few minute fragments of the
pearly lining of a shell. A similar bed in another locality contained, besides the quartz, many scales of mica. The whole




ELK OR ATHABASCA RIVER.-THE WAPITI.           83
country for many miles is so full of bitumen that it flows readily
into a pit dug a few feet below the surface.
In no place did I observe the limestone alternating with these
sandy bituminous beds, but in several localities it is itself highly
bituminous, contains shells filled with that mineral, and when
struck yields the odor of Stinkstein. It is probable that the
whole belongs to the same formation, but I do not possess evidence
of the facts to satisfy a geologist.
The rate of our descent of the Elk River must this day have
exceeded six geographical miles an hour, indicating a strong current.  This river, named also the Athabasca or Riviere la Biche,
rises in the parallel of 47-~ north latitude, near the foot of Mount
Brown, a peak of the Rocky Mountains, having a height of sixteen thousand feet above the sea. Its course in a straight line to
the influx of Clear-water River is three hundred mniles; but the
river course, including its windings, must be more than one-third
greater. The elevation of its sources is probably seven or eight
thousand feet. Lesser Slave Lake, situated about midway between its origin and the junction above mentioned, lies, according
to Captain Lefroy, eighteen hundred feet above the sea. Some
of the feeders of the Oregon spring from very near the head of
the Athabasca, and many tributaries of the Saskatchewan arise
not far to the southward. It is the most southern branch of the
Mackenzie; and as it originates further from the mouth of that
great river than any other affluent, it may be considered as its
source. It flows partly through prairie lands, and its Canadian
appellation of Riviere la Biche indicates that the American reddeer, or Wapiti, frequents its banks.  Its English name of Elk
River, having reference to the moose deer, is a mistranslation of
the Canadian one, and is also inappropriate as a distinctive epithet, though the moose grazes on its banks, as well as on the
Mackenzie, down to the sea. The Wapiti is not known on
Slave River or Lake, but further to the west it ranges as far
north as the east branch of the River of the Mountains near the
59th parallel, where Mr. Murdoch M'Pherson informs me that
he has partaken of its flesh.  From the Saskatchewan and Lesser
Slave Lake the country can be traversed by horsemen who are
sufficiently acquainted with the district to avoid the deep ravines
through which the streams flow. By this route a band of horses
were brought to Methy Portage in August, 1848, though they




84              1MACKENZIE RIVER BRIGAI)E.
were too much exhausted by their journey to be of service. In
1849 a fine body of upward of forty horses came to the portage
from Lesser Slave Lake, early in the season and in good condition.
July 10th.-Our voyage this morning was impeded by a strong
head-wind, followed by heavy rain, which compelled us to put
ashore for four or five hours. We were able to resume our route
at 10 A.M., and at noon we came to high sandy bankls named
Les Ecores, resembling the sandy deposits on the Clear-water
River. These continue down to the alluvial delta formed by the
four or five branches into which the river splits before entering
the Athabasca Lake, or Lake of the Hills.
At 5, P.M., we arrived at the head of this delta, and, passing
down the main channel, held on our way till 8 o'clock, when we
landed to cook supper, and then re-embarked to drift with the
current during the night, the crews, with the exception of the
steersmen, going to sleep in the boats.
July 11lth. — We entered Athabasca Lake at three in the
morning, but found, to our mortification, that two of the boats,
through the inattention of the steersmen, had taken a more easterly branch of the river in the night, which would delay their
arrival at Fort Chepewyan for some hours, and consequently be
the means of detaining us for that time.
Immediately on emerging from the river we saw the Mackenzie River brigade of boats crossing the lake toward the entrance
of the Embarras River, lying fobur or five miles to the westward
of the branch we had descended. On our firing guns and hoisting the sails and ensigns, we were perceived by the officer in
charge of the brigade, Chief Factor Murdoch M'Pherson, who
waited till we joined him. From this gentleman I received much
useful intelligence of the measures he had taken for supplying the
expedition with provisions during our winter residence in Fort
Confidence, at the north end of Great Bear Lake, and also a list
of all the provisions and stores remaining at Fort Simpson, the
Company's chief post and de6pt on the Mackenzie; and I have
pleasure in acknowledging here, that I am indebted to him for
much valuable assistance, as well as for very many acts of personal kindness.
To him we committed the last letters that we could send to
our families and friends in Europe this year. I had sent dispatches to the Admiralty from Methy Portage, not being sure




FORT' C'HEPEWYAN.                   8
that we should meet the Mackenzie River brigade, which is the
latest that goes out. It can seldom cross Great Slave Lake before the end of June, and from twenty to twenty-four days are
required for the passage of loaded boats from thence to Methy
Portage.  There the Mackenzie River party are met by a brigade from York Factory, which brings up goods for next year's
supply of the northern posts, and takes back the furs brought
from the Mackenzie. There is just time in common seasons
for that brigade to descend to York Factory before the annual
ship sails from thence for England, about the middle of September, or in backward seasons a week or two later; and afterward
to return to the colony at Red River, where the crews reside, and
from whence they come annually in the spring on this special
service. For many years the Methy Portage brigade has been
conducted by a guide named L'Esperance, and on that account
it is known by the name of L'Esperance's brigade.
After the return of the Mackenzie River boats to Fort Simpson, the winter's supply of goods has to be sent to the outposts;
but as some of these are at a distance of four or five weeks' traveling, the parties carrying them are not unfrequently arrested by
frost, far from their destination, and the posts suffer severelysometimes to the length of actual starvation and loss of life; an
instance of which occurred before I left the country.
We reached Fort Chepewyan at half-past 7 A.M., but the two
boats that strayed from us did not arrive till the afternoon, and
the chief artisans being in the missing boats, the intention I had
of giving them a complete repair here, and putting on false keels,
was frustrated. Their leaks were, however, stopped, and some
planks replaced, which detained us till 11 A.M., on July the 12th,
when we left the fort.
The height of Lake Athabasca above the sea is estimated by
Captain Lefroy at six hundred feet.* Its basin offers another
instance of the softer strata having been swept away at the line
of their junction with the primitive rocks; and a reference to the
map will show that there must have been an evident connection
between the cause of this excavation and that of Wollaston and
* Eight months of observations with the boiling-water thermometer by
this officer, give an elevation of 468 feet, excluding two observations on
which he could not rely. This being, however, in his opinion too low, he
assigns the altitude mentioned in the text, after a review of his entire body
of observations in various parts of the country, and checking one by another.




86                      PLUMBAGO.
Deer's Lakes, belonging to the Missinipi River system.* Wollaston Lake is said to supply a river at one end, which falls into
Athabasca Lake, and one at the other, which joins the Missinipi,
which, if correct, is not a common occurrence in hydrography,
though one or two instances of the kind, in seasons of flood, have
been alluded to in the preceding pages.
Much of the country in the immediate vicinity of Chepewyan
is composed of rounded knolls of granite, nearly destitute of soil,
and many of them smooth and polished. These rocks extend along
the north shore of the lake; and the eminences rise in the interior in a confiused manner, one over the other, to the height of
four or five or perhaps six hundred feet above the water. They
also form many islands at the west end of the lake and in front
of the fort. Between this end of the lake and the mouth of Peace
River there lies a muddy expanse of water, named Lake Mamawee; and, in times of flood, the waters of Peace River flow by this
channel into Athabasca Lake, rendering its usually transparent
waters very turbid. A short way to the eastward of the fort a
gray gneiss rock is associated with reddish granite, and its beds
are much contorted, and are traversed by veins of vitreous quartz.
Still further off in that direction a cliff of chlorite slate occurs.
Plumbago of excellent quality has been found on the shores of
this lake, and I have been informed that at its eastern extremity,
named the Fon du Lac, there is much sandstone-the resemblance
to the succession of strata on Lake Superior being maintained
here also. Granite rocks, generally forming rounded knolls, prevail in Stony River, by which name the discharge of Athabasca
Lake is known, and on whose banks we encamped on the evening
of the 12th.
Soon after starting on the morning of the 13th, we passed the
mouth of Peace River, or Unjugah, which is the largest branch
of the Mackenzie, since it brings down more water than either
the Athabasca River or River of the Mountains. VVhen it is
flooded it overcomes the stream of Stony River, and carries its
muddy waters into Lake Athabasca, meeting there another rush
of waters coming through Lake Mamawee; but at other times
there is a strong current in Stony River, and at one point a dangerous rapid, where a gentleman of the Northwest Company was
drowned many years ago. A delta, intersected by several chan* See Appendix.




CAPTAIN LEFROY'S OBSERVATIONS.             87
nels, exists at the junction of Peace River with Athabasca Lake
and its outlet. The source of Finlay's branch of this river is
nearly in the same parallel with its mouth, but in its course the
trunk of the river makes a great curve to the southward, and its
southern tributaries rise in the same mountains from which Frazer
River issues on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, the upper
waters of the Peace River coming in fact through a gap in the
chain which forms one of the passes leading to the Pacific coast.
Captain Lefroy, who has traveled through this district, makes
the following remarks upon its elevation.  " The next series of
observations was made in the elevated region at the base of the
Rocky Mountains, between Peace River and the Saskatchewan,
a district remarkable for its gradual and regular ascent, preserving throughout much of the character of a plain country. From
Lake Athabasca to Dunvegan, a distance of about six hundred
and fifty miles" (250 geographical miles in a straight line)
" there occurs but one inconsiderable fall, and a few rapids; the
bed of the Peace River preserves a nearly uniform inclination, in
which it rises three hundred and ten feet.  The stream is, however, more rapid above Fort Vermilion than below it. The
depth of the bed of the river below the surrounding country increases with great uniformity as we ascend the river. A defile,
very similar to that called the Ramparts on Mackenzie's River,
but on a finer scale and with far more picturesque features,
occurs about eight miles above the river Cadotte, in long. 117~;
and here the river has cut a passage through cliffs of alternating
sandstone and limestone to a bed of shale, through which it flows,
at a depth of two hundred feet (by estimation) below their summit. The general elevation of the country, however, still continues to increase, and at Dunvegan, it is six hundred feet above
the bed of the stream; yet even at this point, except on approaching the deep gorges through which the tributaries of Peace River
join its waters, there is little indication of an elevated country;
the Rocky Mountains are not visible, and no range of hills meets
the eye. A rough trigonometrical measurement gave five hundred
and thirty-eight feet as the elevation of Gros Cap, a bold hill
behind Dunvegan, above the bed of the river; and the ground
was estimated to rise behind Gros Cap, by a gradual ascent,
until it attains the general level." (Lef'roy, 1. c.) The elevation
above the sea, that this intelligent officer assigns to the country




88                     FOREST SCENES.
about Dunvegan is sixteen hundred feet, and the region in which
the sources of the river occur is probably four times as high.
The oaks, the elms, the ashes, the Weymouth pine, and pitch
pine, which reach the Sackatchewan basin, are wanting here,
and the balsam-fir is rare; but as these trees form no prominent
feature of the landscape in the former quarter, no marked change
in the woodland scenery takes place in any part of the Mackenzie River district until we approach the shores of the Arctic
Sea. The white spruce continues to be the predominating tree
in dry soils whether rich or poor; the Banksian pine occupies a
few sandy spots; the black spruce skirts the marshes; and the
balsam-poplar and aspen fringe the streams; the latter also
springs up in places where the white spruce has been destroyed
by fire. The canoe-birch becomes less abundant, is found chiefly
in rocky districts, and is very scarce north of the arctic circle.
It still, however, attains a good size in the sheltered valleys of
the Rocky Mountains, up to the 65th parallel. Willows, dwarf
birches, alders, roses, brambles, gooseberries, white cornel, and
mooseberry, fobrm the underwood on the margins of the forest;
but there is no substitute for the heath, gorse, and broom, which
render the English wild grounds so gay. On the barren lands, indeed, the heath has representatives in the Lapland rhododendron,
the Azalea, Kalmnia, and Andq'omeda tetragona, but these are
almost buried among the Cornicularice and Cetraria nivalis of
the dry spots, or the Cetraria islandica and mosses of the moister
places, and scarcely enrich the colors of the distant hills.
The granite knolls show themselves at frequent intervals on
the banks of Slave River, which is the appellation of the stream
formed by the junction of the Peace and Stony Rivers; and in
several places, ledges of the rock crossing the river form rapids.
One of these is named the Lightening Place of the Hummock,
because it occurs at the beginning of a reach two miles long,
which is terminated by a sandy bluff on the right bank, twenty
or thirty feet high, and covered with Banksian pine. This Bute,
as it is termed by the Canadian voyagers, is about thirty miles
from Fort Chepewyan, and opposite to it there is a limestone cliff,
constructed of thin undulated layers. The lower beds of the
limestone have a compact structure, a flat conchoidal fracture,
and a yellowish gray color. Some of the upper beds contain
ineral pitch in fissures, and shells, which Mr. Sowerby in 1827,




SLAVE RIVER.                      89
ascertained to be Spirifer acuta, and several new Terebratula3
one of them resembling T. resupinata; associated with them a
Cirrus and some crinoidal remains occur. Not far above this
cliff; a vitreous reddish-colored sienite protrudes; and half a mile
or so below it, the stream passes between rounded hummocks of
granite, one of which forms an island, the water-course evidently
following the line of dislocation of the strata.  The clustered
nests of large colonies of the republican swallow (Hirunzdofilva)
adhere to the ledges of the limestone cliffs, and the bank swallow
(Hirunzdo riparia) has pierced innumerable holes in the sandy
brows.
A small tributary enters the river from the left, behind an
island, lying a short way below the Bute, and another comes in
from the right, beneath which the brown vitreous sienite re-appears, forming a flatly-rounded eminence.  Within a mile of this
pyrogenous rock, another limestone cliff occurs on the left bank,
at the commencement of a pathway which leads over prairielands, or through spruce-fir woods, marshes, and by small lakes,
to the Salt River, to be hereafter noticed.
A mile and a half below this are the three Rocky Islands (Isles
dles Pierres), which is perhaps the best locality on the river for
studying the connection of the limestone with the pyrogenous
rocks; and I regretted that I could devote no time to this purpose. The beds of limestone, as seen in passing rapidly along
these islands, appeared of various thickness, some being thin and
shaly, and almost all more or less undulated, saddle-formed or
contorted. On the borders of a channel between two of the
islands, a conglomerate is interleaved with sienite; and in the
vicinity there are beds of a brownish, finely crystalline limestone,
having a conchoidal fracture, the fragments being sharply angular. The conglomerate varies considerably in its texture in different parts of the same bed. It contains, in general, a large
proportion of small rounded grains of translucent or milky quartz,
with angular fragments of various sizes of vitreous quartz, chlorite-slate, and calc-spar, imbedded in a powdery or friable white
basis, which does not effervesce with acids; the whole forming a
tough stone. In some beds the quartz grains predominate, so as
to render the rock a coarse sandstone; but in other parts, these
grains appear to have been fused into a bluish quartz rock, the
original granular structure being only faintly discernible, and to




90                  REINDEER ISLANDS.
be detected chiefly in spots, where some of the powdery basis remains unchanged. In one bed' angular fragments of-greenstone
incrusted with calc-spar occur. The sienite contains grains of
hornblende and quartz in about equal quantities, imbedded in a
snow-white powdery basis, which appears to be disintegrated felspar.
A mile below the Stony Islands we passed the smaller Balsam
Fir Island, below which there is a pretty little bute on the left,
where the purplish-colored rock that protruded appeared to us in
passing to be amygdaloid or porphyritic trap rock. Some miles
further down we entered among the rather high and rocky cluster
of the Reindeer Islands (Isles de Carrebceuf) by a channel having a north-northwest direction.  The rocks here appeared to us
as we shot past them, to be principally trap, associated with
gneiss, or perhaps chlorite-slate. A point on the main shore, on
which I landed in 1820, is composed of felspar and quartz, and
is probably a variety of granite.
A short way further down the Great Fir Balsam Island (La
grand Isle des.Epinettes), which is a mlile across and three or
four long, has a triangular form, and divides the river into two
channels. We descended the easternmost, or right-hand one,
which is the most direct, and has a high and sandy eastern bank.
Below this a bend of the river is filled with many rocky islands.
occasioning numerous rapids and cascades, and seven or eight
portages. The river expands here to the width of a mile and a
half or two miles; its bed is every where rocky, and the rocks
are apparently all primitive; but as the boat-route lies wholly
through the eastern channels, we had no opportunity of inspecting the opposite shore closely. The islands are well wooded, and
the scenery picturesque. Some of the narrower channels, which
would be convenient for the descent of boats, are blocked up by
immense rafts of drift timber, which have been accumulating for
many years, and which could not be set free without very great
and long-continued labor. Large flocks of pelicans have made
their nests on the more inaccessible rocks rising from the brows
of the cascades. In the evening we ran down the Dog Rapid
after lightening the boats, and afterward descended a second
rapid, and then encamped on a smooth granite rock early in the
evening, there not being time to complete the Chest Portage before dark.




CHEST PORTAGE.-MOUNTAIN PORTAGE.             91
Embarking at 3 A.M. on the 22d of July, we descended a narrow channel to the Chest Portage (Portage de Cassette), where
our five boats were hauled over a pathway of four hundred and
sixty-five paces, and their cargoes carried. A rocky chasm at
this place, being one of the numerous channels through which
the water flows, incloses a perpendicular cascade upward of twenty feet high; beneath which an isolated column of rock divides
the current into two branches, which eddy with great force
into the niches and recesses of the stony walls. Huge angular
blocks obstruct the water-cours*, and drift trees, entangled among
them, partially denuded of their branches, and wholly of their
bark, point in all directions. The overhanging woods almost
seclude this gloomy ravine from the sun; and it presents such an
aspect of wildness and ruin as rarely occurs even in this country.
In one part of the portage road a bed of gneiss is flanked on each
side by masses of granite. A labyrinth of passages among granite rocks exists below the portage, many of them entirely choked
up with drift timber. In passing rapidly through one of them
we grazed a point composed of a crumbling red and gray porphyritic rock, perhaps an amygdaloid; many cubical and irregularly
angular fragments had fallen from it.
At the Island Portage, which immediately followed, the cargo
is carried only in the ascent of the river. Our boats descended
the fall with their entire load.  We next crossed the Raft Portage (Portage d'Embarras), which occupied us three hours. At
the Little Rock Portage, which follows, the rock is composed of
felspar, quartz, and chlorite, being the protogine of Jurine. It
differs from the slaty rock observed near the Reindeer Islands, in
not being stratified. At the Burnt Portage, the next in order,
the rock, which is a porphyritic granite, acquires a polished glistening surface. There is a cascade here of fifteen or twenty feet.
The succeeding portage, named the " Mountain," from the steep
bank down which the boats are lowered, is shorter than the
others, being only one hundred and seventy paces across. The
rock at this place is a red, compact, shining or vitreous-looking
granitic porphyry, much fissured, and breaking, by the action of
the frost, into cubical or rhomboidal blocks, sometimes of great
size. The principal fissures are generally, but not always, parallel
to each other, and may be traced for seventy or eighty yards without a break, in a transverse direction to that of the eminences and




92                    OPPRESSIVE HEAT.
projecting tongues of the rock. Their course is northeast by
north, and southwest by south; and they are, for the most part,
four or five feet apart. The minor cracks meet the chief ones at
various oblique angles, and sometimes cross them, but not generally. At another denuded point of rock, the wider cracks crossed
each other, one set running east-southeast and west;northwest.
The recesses left by the blocks which fall away retain their sharpcornered rectangular shape. A layer of hornblende-slate or basalt
shows itself at one spot.
The launching-place for the bcats here is both steep and rugged; and a brigade seldom passes without some of the boats being
broken. One of ours was injured; but, being soon repaired, we
left the portage by six in the evening, and encamped for the
night at the south end of the Pelican Portage, which is seven
hundred paces long.
The power of the sun, this day, in a cloudless sky, was so
great, that Mr. Rae and I were glad to take shelter in the water
while the crews were engaged on the portages. The irritability
of the human frame is either greater in these northern latitudes,
or the sun, notwithstanding its obliquity, acts more powerfully
upon it than near the equator; for I have never felt its direct
rays so oppressive within the tropics as I have experienced them
to be on some occasions in the high latitudes. The luxury of
bathing at such times is not without alloy; for, if you choose the
mid-day, you are assailed in the water by the Tabani, who draw
blood in an instant with their formidable lancets; and if you
select the morning or evening, then clouds of thirsty musquitoes,
hovering around, fasten on the first part that emerges. Leeches
also infest the still waters, and are prompt in their aggressions.
The Geulm strictutm grows plentifully on these portages, and
is used by the natives for the purpose of increasing the growth
of their hair. They dry the flowers in the sun, powder them,
and mix them  with bear's grease.  The Eleagnus argenta,
which is also abundant on the banks, is named by the Chepewyans Tap-pah, or gray berry. It is the bear-berry of the Crees,
and the stinking willow of the traders; so called, because its bark
has a disagreeable smell.
July 15th. —The portage was completed, and breakfast prepared and eaten, in five hours and a half. At the lower end of
the path, a sienite rock, composed of crystallized quartz, aurora



PORTAGE OF THE DROWNED.                93
red felspar, and greenish-black hornblende, yields large cubical
blocks of a handsome stone. One of the small boats was overset
in lowering it down a narrow channel, and the oars, a coil of
rope, and the boat-lockers were swept away by the current.  A
boat's anchor, and some clothes belonging to two of the crew,
were in one of the lockers.
An hour before noon we had crossed the Portage of the Drowned (Portage des Noyes), where granite is the prevailing rock.
This being the last of the portages, three of the small- boats
brought from England were stowed with pemican for the scavoyage; and Mr. Bell was left to follow with the large boat and
the fourth small boat, containing the stores for house-building,
nets, ammunition, and other supplies for winter use. He would
have accompanied us; but his men had to make oars in place of
those which had been lost; an employment which was likely to
occupy them for two or three hours.




CHAPTER V.
Pyrogenous Rocks.-Rate of the Current of Slave River.-Salt River and Springs.
-Geese.-Great Slave Lake.-Domestic Cattle.-Deadman's Islands.-Horn
Mountain.-Hay River.-Alluvial Lignite beds.-Mackenzie's River.-Marcellus Shale. —Fort Simpson.-River of the Mountains.-Rocky Mountains.Spurs.-Animals.-Affluents of the Mackenzie.-Cheta-ut-tinne.
No primitive rocks were seen on the route down the Mackenzie,
on this voyage, after leaving the Portage of the Drowned; but in
1820, when we crossed Great Slave Lake. near the 113th meridian, we traced the western boundary of these rocks, from near
the mouth of Slave River, northward by the Rein-deer Islands to
the north side of the lake, and continued to travel within their
limits up to Point Lake in the 66th parallel. The western edge
of the formation was afterward found at the northeast and eastern arms of Great Bear Lake.
The district intervening between the granite at the Portage of
the Drowned and the Salt River is flat, with sandy.terraces and
slopes rising from the river to the height of from twenty to eighty
feet, there being in some places two in others three or more such
terraces, while in others the river has made a section of the sandy
deposit, and formed a high and steep cliff: The valley of the
river, deflected to the westward by the rocks of the portages,
passes here through the more level (upper?) silurian strata.
At Gravel Point (Pointe de Gravoir), ten miles from the portages, a bed of concretionary or brecciated limestone protrudes from
under a sand-bank forty feet high, and two miles higher up a cliff
of cream-colored and brownish limestone stands on the right bank.
The country on both sides of the river there appears to be a plain,
which has a general level of about fifty feet above the bed of the
stream.
Just before arriving off the mouth of Salt River, we picked up
one of the boat's lockers containing the anchor, which had been
carried away fifteen miles higher up nearly eight hours before, so
that it drifted about two miles an hour, including the time it
might have been detained in eddies.




SALT RIVER AND SPRINGS.               95
In 1820, I ascended the very tortuous Salt River, for twenty
miles, for the purpose of visiting the salt springs, which give it
its name. Seven or eight copious springs issue from the base of
a long even ridge, some hundreds of feet high, and, spreading their
waters over a clayey plain, deposit much pure common salt in
large cubical crystals.  The mother water, flowing off in small
rivulets into the Salt River, communicates to it a very bitter
taste; but before the united streams join the Slave River, the
accession of various fresh-water rivulets dilutes the water so much
that it remains only slightly brackish. A few slabs of grayish
compact gypsum protrude from the side of the ridge above mentioned, and a pure white gypsum is said to be found at Peace
Point on Peace River, distant about sixty or seventy miles in a
south-southwest direction, whence we may conjecture that this
formation extends so far. From the circumstance that the few
fossils gathered from the limestone on Slave River are silurian, I
venture to conjecture that these springs may belong to the Onondaga salt group of the Helderberg division of the New York system. The Athabasca and Mackenzie River districts are supplied
from hence with abundance of good salt. We obtained some
bags of this useful article from Beaulieu, who was guide and
hunter to Sir John Franklin on his second overland journey, and
who has built a house at the mouth of Salt River. This is a
well-chosen locality for his residence: his sons procure abundance of deer and bison meat on the salt plains, which these animals frequent in numbers, from their predilection for that mineral; and Slave River yields plenty of good fish at certain seasons.
It is the most southern locality to which the Inconnu or Salmo
lMackenzii comes, on this side of the Rocky Mountains, as it is
unable to ascend the cascades in the Slave River. The Coregoni are the staple fish of the lakes here, as they are elsewhere
throughout the country: and there are also pike, burbot, and excellent trout. A limestone cave in the neighborhood, which was
too distant for us to visit, supplies Beaulieu with ice all the summer, and he gave us a lump to cool water for drinking, which
was extremely grateful. The ammunition and tobacco with
which I repaid these civilities were no less acceptable to him.
Indeed, I believe that he turns his residence on the boat-route to
good account, as few parties pass without giving him a call.
After a short halt, we resumed our voyage until 7 P,i., when




96             MIUSQUITOES.-CANAD.A GEESE.
we landed to cook supper, after which we re-embarked to eat it:
and, having lashed the boats together, drifted down the stream
all night, one man being appointed to steer.
July 16th. —Though we lay down in the best manner we
could in the boats during the night, the continuous assaults of
the musquitoes deprived every one of rest, and rendered us all so
feverish, that we were glad when daybreak called the crews to
the oars, and the boats acquired motion through the water, by
which we obtained some relief.
The sandy banks of the river show sections in many places
upward of twenty feet high; and, in almost all, the sand is distinctly stratified; the layers being of different colors, and often
having clayey or loamy seams interposed. The whole of the
banks, from Salt River downward to Slave Lake, appear to be
alluvial; and many small lakes existing behind them communicate with the river by narrow channels. In ordinary seasons at
this date, vast numbers of Canada geese moult in the district,
and are followed by their young brood not yet fully fledged, which
fall a ready prey to the natives or voyagers descending the river.
In 1825 I could have filled a boat with these delicate young
birds. This year, owing to the high waters, the greater part of
the broods had retreated to the lakes, where grass could be more
easily procured, and we obtained only a few. The natives observe, that, besides the old birds which rear young, and moult
when their offspring are obtaining their plumage, there are a
considerable number who do not breed, but keep in small bands,
and are called "barren geese." Of these we saw some flocks;
but they were not easily approached without a greater loss of
time than we could spare.
We kept at the oars all day, except when we landed to breakfast, or to cook supper, and, after sunset, resumed the plan of
drifting, with very little better success, as far as sleep was concerned, than on the preceding night. During the day the sun's
rays felt intensely warm; and the puffs of northerly wind blew
as hot as if they had passed over the deserts of Arabia. At midnight a strong contrary wind springing up, compelled us to anchor
until half-past 2 A.M., on the 17th, when we again took to the
oars, and entered Great Slave Lake at 7 in the morning.
Like the Athabasca River, the Slave River joins its lake
through a delta of low, well-wooded, alluvial islands, by many




GREAT SLAVE LAKE.-DOMESTIC CATTLE.          97
channels, having a spread of more than twenty miles. Near the
easternmost, which is named John's River (Riviere a Jean), is
Stony Island, a naked mass of granite, rising fifty or sixty feet
above the water; and beyond that, to the eastward, the banks
of the lake are wholly primitive. In the vicinity of the westernmost channel of the delta, and from thence to the efflux of the
Mackenzie, the whole southern shore of the lake is limestone,
associated with a bituminous shale, and belonging, as well as can
be ascertained from its fossils, to the Erie division of the New
York system, which includes the Marcellus shales, and is referred
by English geologists to the carboniferous series. In the small
channel which divides Moose-deer Island from the point of the
bay on which the present Fort Resolution stands, many boulders
of porphyritic and common granites, greenstone, and limestone
occur; also large angular blocks, not worn or rounded, of a conglomerate of granite, chert, and hornblende rock cemented by a
basis of ironstone.
We reached Fort Resolution at 10 A.M.; and having received
some supplies of fish, and two or three deals for repairing the
boats, we resumed our voyage, after a halt at the fort of one
hour. Domestic cattle have been introduced at this place, and
at the posts generally throughout the country, even up to Peel's
River and Fort Good Hope, within the Arctic circle. At this
season the musquitoes prevent them from feeding, except when
urged by extreme hunger; and fires are made for their accommodation near the forts, to which they crowd, and, lying to leeward
amidst the smoke, ruminate at their ease. Smoke is the only
remedy against these venomous insects; and at this time of the
year, when the heat renders a free circulation of air in the houses
essential, the rooms are made comfortable by nailing bunting
over the windows, and burning turf or rotten wood in a pan on
the threshold of the door. At no place on our route were the
musquitoes in denser clouds than this day at Fort Resolution;
and we gladly left them behind as we launched into the lake with
a favorable breeze. We had not gone above two miles, when we
saw Mr. Bell and his boats issuing from behind Moose-deer Island, and steering for the house; but time was too precious for
us to wait for his coming up. Our route lay through a small
group of islands lying five or six miles off the bay into which
Buffalo Creek falls. In these islands, a bituminous limestone
E




98                  DEADMAN'S ISLAND.
crops out in thin horizontal layers near the water's edge; but,
except in a few places, its beds are concealed under a beach
composed of fragments of the same stone, partly rolled and worn,
partly with recently broken edges. The islands are most of them
low; and the stony beach rising above their centres incloses
marshy spots traversed by ridges of sand and gravel, more or less
wooded.
At 5 P.M. the wind which had been increasing all the afternoon, rose to a high gale, and we put into a good boat harbor at
Deadman's Island and encamped. This spot received its name
from a massacre committed by a war party of Beaver Indians,
who surprised a body of Dog-ribs encamped there, and destroyed
them all. Thirty years ago many of the bones of the victims
were to be seen, but they have now disappeared. The influence
of the Hudson's Bay Company has put a stop to these war excursions, and tribes formerly the most hostile to each other now
meet in amity at the trading posts.
This lake is a breeding station of the Sterna cayana. The
Arctic tern also hatches on its shores, depositing its eggs among
the gravel on the beach. The leaves of the gooseberry bushes had
been stripped off by a black-banded caterpillar, and it was evident
that the fruit would fail this season. The ice having parted from
the shore little more than a fortnight, vegetation was backward.
A strong gale, bringing on a keen frost, blew all night, and effectually quelled the musquitoes, so that, though we could not but
regret the detention, we all enjoyed some hours of sound repose.
But in the morning of July 17th, during one of the squalls of a
thunderstorm  accompanied by heavy rain, the tent pegs drew
from the sandy soil on which we had encamped, and the dripping
canvas falling upon us put an end to our rest. We were miserably cold and wet before this mischance was remedied. High
winds and a rolling sea kept us stationary all day, and our carpenters took advantage of the delay to secure the thwarts of two
of the boats which had given way on the portages.
July l8th.-The gale did not abate so as to allow us to embark until 4 Pr.M., when we resumed our voyage, and at 9
encamped again in a small boat harbor at Burnt Point.  This
coast of the lake generally is flat and shelving, and secure landingplaces for boats are very scarce.  Though we did not discover
limestone in siteu here, the beach is formed of fragments of that




SULPHIUREOUS STREAMS.-HAY RIVER.                99
stone of very various size, mixed with some bituminous shale,
and a few granite boulders. This point is about thirty-five geographical miles from Fort Resolution. In a bay a little to the
westward several sulphureous streams issue from a limestone containing corals. The channels of these streams are encrusted with
a similar tufa to that observed on Clear-water and Athabasca
Rivers, and the organic remains that have been examined indicate
the formations to be of the same geological epoch.*
July 19th. —Embarking at three, we passed the mouth of
Buffalo Lake River, and after five hours' pulling, put into Canoe
or Sandy River to cook breakfast. From this place a rising
ground on the north side of the lake is distinctly visible, the
distance being about thirty miles or more. The Horn Mountain,
an even ridge more to the westward, appeared also in the extreme
distance, being at least sixty miles off.
Hay River enters the lake at the distance of eleven or twelve
miles from  Canoe River.  It is formed of two branches, the
westernmost of which rises from Hay Lake and the other one
originates not far from the banks of Peace River, and flows past
Fort Vermilion. Hay River Fort, now abandoned, stood at the
junction of the two.  On the eastern branch, the country is an
agreeable mixture of prairie and woodland, and this is the limit
of those vast prairies which extend from New Mexico. Below
the forks of Hay River the country is covered with a forest intersected by swamps.
The range of the Wapiti is nearly coincident with the boundaries of these prairies. The bison, though inhabiting the prairies
in vast bands, frequents also the wooded country, and once, 1 be* The fragments of black and bituminous shale which strew the beaches
of these islands, and which evidently have not traveled far, contain a
" pteropodous shell (Theca) apparently the Tentaculites fissurella of Hall, a
Chonetes, the Strophenema setigera of Hall, and A.vicula levis. of the same
author; at least they are undistinguishable from his figures of these fossils
in the Marcellus shale, which according to him is upper silurian, but is
probably somewhat newer, and what we call Devonian. Two corals in the
associated bituminous limestone are characteristic of the same epoch, namely a Strombodes of Hall, having its cysts filled with bitumen, and a
Favosites very like the common F. polymorpha of the Plymouth marbles.
I have not identified any of the Terebratulce from Great Slave Lake, but
they are certainly either Devonian or carboniferous, and not silurian.
There is nothing like a secondary fosil in the collection."- Woodward
in lit.




100                   ALLUVIAL BEDS.
lieve, almost all parts of it down to the coasts of the Atlantic;
but it had not until lately crossed the Rocky Mountain range,
nor is it now known on the Pacific slope, except in a very few
places. Its most northern limit is the Horn Mountain mentioned
above. The musk-ox does not come to the south of the Arctic
circle.
In the evening we pitched our tents on a small island, being
one of a group known as Desmarais's Fishery, and from a party
of Indians encamped on a neighboring point we obtained a
supply of fish.
The whole south shore of the lake, westward from Slave River,
is low and level, and is lined in parts, and especially between Hay
River and Desmarais's Islands, by rafts of drift-timber, which,
pressed on shore by northerly winds, become water-logged and
covered with sand mixed with comminuted wood and decaying
grasses. As this buried forest accumulates, willows and balsam
poplars spring up from its surface, and bind all together by their
roots. The swamps that extend backward from the lake appear
to have originated very much in this way; and had the locality
been one where there was much drift-sand, the erect trees might
in parts have been swallowed up and killed by sand-drifts, having
their roots in the subjacent lignite or shale. In Slave Lake,
however, the sand does not act so conspicuous a part as in Lake
Winipeg. The recent deposits conceal the limestone strata, except at a very few places, but the numerous fragments which line
the beach show that a bituminous limestone, associated with a
black shale having a resinous streak, and a thin marly slate, must
exist in the neighborhood. They are referrible, as has been
mentioned above, to the Marcellus shale. At the Stony Point,
between Hay River and Desmarais's Fishery, fragments of these
rocks from the beach, on which some very large boulders of gneiss,
sienite, and greenstone also lie. At Desmarais's Fishery I observed the same kind of beach, with the addition of blocks of
basalt, of a dull-red sandstone, a coarse conglomerate composed
of rounded pieces of sandstone cemented by a basis of red clay
strongly impregnated with iron. The limestone fragments contained bivalves and corals. On the 6th of July, in the following
year, the whole bay that we had traversed in this day's voyage
was filled with ice, not yet parted from the shore; and the lake
is scarcely ever navigable in this quarter before the beginning of




ABUNDANCE OF FISH.                  101
the month,* so that we were only a fortnight later than we could
have hoped to cross the lake, had the boats advanced even to
Isle A la Crosse the first season, as they might have done under
a very favorable combination of circumstances. But this fortnight, by enabling the expedition to be at the mouth of the Mackenzie on the disruption of the ice of the Arctic Sea, would have
been of the very greatest advantage. In fact, a fortnight is no
contemptible portion of the six weeks during which the Arctic
Sea is navigable for boats. The ice on this lake is sometimes
eleven feet thick; at Fort Resolution, and at Big Island, which
lies across the western outlet of the lake, it varies from five to
seven feet.
July 20th.-This morning we crossed from  Desmarais's
Fishery obliquely to the north side of the lake, through an archipelago of islets and along the south side of Big Island. There
is more or less current in the passages, and from the general shallowness of the water, it is probable that the limestone strata come
near the surface, but they are concealed by gravel and boulders.
To the south of this traverse, on a strait two miles wide, which
separates the site from Big Island, stood formerly Fort George.
The limestone beds are said to crop out in its neighborhood.
During the whole summer, in the eddies between the islands
of this part of the lake, multitudes of fish may be taken with
hooks and by nets, such as trout, white-fish, pike, sucking-carp,
and inconnu. In spring and autumn wild-fowl may be procured
in abundance at several places in the neighborhood, which are
their accustomed passes; and the fishery on the north side of Big
Island seems to be inexhaustible in the winter. With good fishermen and a proper supply of nets, a large body of men may be
wintered here in safety and plenty, and it was to this place that I
contemplated conducting any of the crews of the Discovery ships
that we might be so happy as to find. To it, also, I purpose
to send a large portion of my party in the winter of 1848-9. In
no other part of the Hudson's Bay Company's territories, that I
am acquainted with, can so many people be maintained, with so
much certainty, on the resources of the country. A body of good
native hunters, well supplied with ammunition, could not fail to
bring from the Horn Mountain an agreeable variety of diet in
* Dean and Simpson made their way through it on the 24th of June;
the ice, however, was still adhering to the shore at som- points.




102                 THE BARKING CROW.
form of reindeer and bison meat, and in some seasons the American hare may be shared in great numbers.
After we had rowed about thirty-four or thirty-five miles from
our encampment of the preceding night, the funnel-shaped entrance of the river had contracted to a width of about two miles,
and the current, as it washed the boulders of the beach, made a
bubbling noise, like that of a strong rapid; and not long afterward we shot a rapid, the river having still further narrowed.
The barking crow (Corvus arnericanus) is not seen to the northward of this place.  In the Fauna Boreali-Americana, I have
stated that it does not range beyond the 55th parallel; but more
correct information, received on the present voyage, enables me
to carry its northern limit on to the 61 st.  It becomes rare before
it ceases altogether to be seen, and we have not noticed it in flocks
since leaving the Saskatchewan. In its gregarious habits on the
latter river it resembles the European rook, but differs from that
bird in the care with which it conceals its nest. In the evening we landed to cook supper, and afterward re-embarked to drift
with the stream. At midnight, having come to the Little Lake,
where there is no current, we could no longer drive; we therefore anchored under a small sandy island, and at 4 A.M. on
July 21st, resumed our voyage. Four hours afterward, we
landed at the outlet of the lake to cook breakfast. The morning
was close and hazy, with distant thunder; and at 10 A.M. the
storm approaching us, we were driven to take shelter for a time
under the bank of the river. When the squall abated, we Continued our voyage, notwithstanding' that the rain fell throughout
the day; and during the night we again drifted with the stream,
the crews sleeping in the boats.
We made sail on the 22d, at a quarter before 3 A.M., with a
fair wind, which soon afterward chopped round against us, and
increased to a fresh breeze. At an early hour we passed the
mouth of Trout River; and after breakfast descended the westerly reach below the site of the old fort. An hour later we passed
the River La Cache, and in an hour and a half more came to
Hare-skin River. The rate at which we passed the land must
have been at least seven geographical miles an hour; but the
distances in this part of Sir John Franklin's chart are too great,
and Fort Simpson, which was laid down by him from dead reckoning, is placedr twenty miles too far north.




GEOLOGY OF THE BANK OF THE RIVER.              103
The river having, through the increase of the wind, become too
rough for the use of oars, we worked down under sail, and made
good progress, arriving at Fort Simpson at five in the afternoon.
The position of this place, as ascertained by Mr. Thomas Simpson
in 1836, is in latitude 61~ 51' 25" N.; and longitude deduced
from lunar distances, 121~ 51' 15" WV.*
Between Desmarais's Fishery, on Slave Lake, and Fort Simpson, the direct distance is about one hundred and fifty-five geographical miles. In the wider parts of the river the coast is
shelving, and not easily approached, in boats, from the shallowness of the water; but in the narrower places the beach is steep,
and the channel is full of boulders. In a few spots where sections of the strata are visible, a bituminous shale, containing many
fragments of the small pteropodous shell Tentaculites fissurella,
indicates the formation to be the same with that on the Athabasca
River and Slave Lake, which has been said above to be probably
the Marcellus shale. Between the old fort and Hare-skin River,
the basis of the bank is formed of a grayish green slate-clay,
which, under the influence of the weather, breaks into scales like
wacke, and at last forms a tenacious clay.  The whole banks of
the river seem to belong to a shale formation; but from the want
of induration of the beds, they have crumbled into a slope more
or less steep, and the capping of sand, clay, and boulders has
fallen down and covered the declivity. Oni the south, a long
even rising ground, named the Trout Mountain, which runs parallel to the river at a distance of from ten to twenty miles, is
visible at intervals the whole way; and a similar but higher
range, named the Horn Mountain, exists on the north.
Of the composition of these eminences, I have no information;
but I suspect, from the evenness of their outlines and their relative
position, that they are escarpments of the sandstone and shale of
* From this it appears that, by some means, an error of twenty miles
of latitude had crept into the reckoning of Sir George Back and Lieutenant Kendall in 1825, between the old fort, in long. 1200, where the
latitude was obtained by these officers, and Fort Simpson; but, on the
other hand, they assigned too little departure, so that the mistake was in
the courses as much as in the distance. And in correcting the chart, to
give Fort Simpson its proper geographical position, a corresponding alteration must be made in the course and length of the river between that fort
and the great bend below it, where the latitude and longitude were again
ascertained by the observations of Back and Kendall.




104            GROWTH OF CORN. —IAYMAKING.
the Erie group, remaining after the excavation of the valley of the
river, such as has been already noticed as existing in the Clear-water
and Elk Rivers, and as we shall afterward have occasion to mention, when describing the northwest side of Great Bear Lake.
The bank of the river at Fort Simpson is precipitous, and about
thirty feet high; but the river sometimes flows over it in the spring
floods, occasioned by accumulations of drift ice. It is composed
of sand and loarn, and the beach is lined with boulders of granite,
greenstone, limestone, and sandstone.
Barley is usually sown here from the 20th to the 25th of May,
and is expected to be ripe on the 20th of August, after an interval of ninety-two days. In some seasons it has ripened on the
15th. Oats, which take longer time, do not thrive quite so well,
and wheat does not come to maturity. Potatoes yield well, and
no disease has as yet affected them, though the early frosts sometimes hurt the crop. Barley, in favorable seasons, gives a good
return at Fort Norman, which is further down the river; and
potatoes and various garden vegetables are also raised there.
The 65th parallel of latitude may, therefore, be considered as the
northern limit of the Cerealia in this meridian; for though in
good seasons, and in warm, sheltered spots, a little barley might
possibly be reared at Fort Good Hope, the attempts hitherto made
there have failed. In Siberia it is said that none of the corn tribe
are found north of 600. But in Norway barley is reported to be
cultivated, in certain districts, under the 70th parallel. It takes
three months, usually, to ripen on the Mackenzie, and on our arrival at Fort Simpson we found it in full ear, having been sown
seventy-five days previously.  In October, 1836, a pit sunk by
Mr. M'Pherson, in a heavy mixture of sand and clay, to the depth
of 16 feet 10 inches, revealed 10 feet 7 inches of thawed soil on
the surface, and 6 feet 3 inches of a permanently frozen layer, beneath which the ground was not frozen.
A number of milch cows are kept at Fort Simpson, and one or
two fat oxen are killed annually. Hay for the winter provender
of the stock is made about one hundred miles up the river, where
there are good meadows or marshes, and whence it is rafted down
in boats. We met the haymakers, being three men, some hours
before we reached the fort, on their way to cut the grass, which
is a bent that grows in water. The hay will be brought down in
September.




RIVER OF THE MOUNTAINS.               105
The fort stands on an Island at the junction of the River of the
Mountains (Riviere aux Liards) with the Mackenzie. This
large tributary originates in the recesses of the Rocky Mountains,
by many small streams which, uniting, foirm two branches. Both
branches rise to the westward of the higher peaks, and afford
another of the many instances of streams of magnitude crossing
the chain. By Dease's River, which is the westernmost affluent
of the north branch, boats pass through the mountains, and gain,
after much trying and perilous navigation, and some portages, the
Pelly and Lewis, at the junction of which the Company have a
post named Pelly Banks. Native traders travel thither twice in
the season from Lynn Canal, situated to the north of the island
of Sitka, on the 59th parallel. This inlet is frequented by the
Hudson's Bay Company's steamers, and, in this present summer
of 1848, Mr. Todd, captain of one of these steamers, forwarded
letters and newspapers to Mr. Campbell, the officer in charge at
Pelly Banks: One of the newspapers, published at Honolulu,
which was sent on to Fort Simpson, was transmitted by Mr.
M'Pherson to Fort Confidence in the winter, and gave us the
first intelligence of the origin of the gold hunt in California, and
of the migration within a few days of two thousand men from
Oregon, and of most of the Company's servants at Fort Vancouver, on that exciting pursuit. Such unexpected channels does
commerce open for the conveyance of intelligence, and had previous arrangements been made, we might, by the route across the
Andes at Panama, the Atlantic steamers to California, or the
Sandwich Islands, and this northern way back again across the
Rocky Mountain ridge, have had much more recent intelligence
of our friends in Europe than we were destined to receive during
our long winter residence on Great Bear Lake.
The Lewis flows from a large sheet of water, lying within the
English boundary, but named the Russian Lake, because Mr.
Roderick Campbell, who was the first officer of the Hudson's Bay
Company who visited it, met there a party of Russian traders.
The influence of these rivals in trade is supposed to have caused
the attack made by the natives on Mr. Campbell's post in the
winter of 1839, which resulted in the loss of three of his party by
famine, and the narrow escape of the remainder from the same
fate, as related in thle narrative of Dease and Simpson's voyage
(p. 173).  Mr. Campbell, undaunted by this calamity, renewed
E *




106                    RIVER PELLY.
nis journeys in the same direction, and, in consequence of an
agreement that had then been made between the Hudson's Bay
and Russian Fur Companies, with less hazard. His first post,
named after himself, was on the Pelly, and at the supposed distance from Fort Halkett, on the River of the Mountains, of three
hundred miles, by the winter route, which is usually as direct as
the nature of the country will admit. From Campbell'g post to
the Forks or junction of the Lewis and Pelly, where the present
fort is situated, the distance is reckoned at two hundred and forty
miles on a southwest course. To retrace this length of way, the
crew of a light canoe are said to consume twelve days on the
tracking line, being at the rate of twenty miles a day, which is
generally considered as but an indifferent day's work against the
current. It is probable, however, that the river is very tortuous,
and that there are many impediments in a stream flowing through
so mountainous a region. Of these two branches, the Lewis is
the westernmost, and the river formed by their junction, which
retains the name of Pelly, falls into the Pacific. By observations
made by Mr. Campbell pn the temperature of boiling water at
Pelly Banks, the height of that post above the sea has been estimated at 1.314 feet.
After the union of its two arms, the River of the Mountains
flows for a considerable breadth of longitude on the 59th parallel,
and near the middle of this part, at the influx of Smith's River,
Fort Halkett stands. Fort Liard is situated lower down, after
the river has made a sharp turn to the north, in its course toward the Mackenzie, which it joins at Fort Simpson.  Though
this post is more elevated than Fort Simpson, by at least one
hundred and fifty feet, and is only two degrees of latitude to the
southward, its climate is said to be very superior, and its vegetable productions of better growth and quality. Barley and oats
yield good crops, and in favorable seasons wheat ripens well.
This place, then, or the 60th parallel, may be considered as
the northern limit of the economical culture of wheat.
It has been already mentioned that the Wapiti or Wawaskeeshoo of the Crees, the representative of the European red deer,
does not range to the north of the River of the Mountains, and
the same stream marks the northern limit of the American magpie, Say's grouse, and the white crane (Grut americana).
Mr. M'Pherson had most kindly set aside for me a cask of ex



ROCKY MOUNTAINS.                   107
cellent corned beef, cured at the fort, and some bags of very fine
potatoes raised at Fort Liard, with several other things which he
knew would be serviceable at our winter residence. I left them
in store, for Mr. Bell to embark when he came up, together with
such supplies of iron-work and dried meat as the dep6t could furnish, and to convey them to our future winter residence, on Great
Bear Lake. The boats were hauled up, their bottoms payed over
with boiling mineral pitch, and such other repairs made as were
necessary. I had intended to give them additional false keels at
this place, to render them safer and more weatherly at sea, and,
with this view, had long bolts and screws prepared at Portsmouth
dockyard, to fit plates sunk in the keels; but the bolts were unluckily left behind at Cumberland House, Mr. Bell not being
aware of the purpose for which they were designed, and we could
not spare time to make others. All our preparations having been
made on the 23d, we left the fort on the 24th, at 5 A.M., and
three hours afterward had the first sight of the Rocky Mountains.
In nine hours we were exactly opposite the end of the first range,
where the Mackenzie, seemingly to avoid the barrier formed by
the mountains, makes a sudden flexure from a northwest course
to a north-northeast one.
Here I must interrupt the narrative for a little, to give some
ROCKY MOUNTAINS AT THE BEND OF THE RIVER.




108                   ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
account of the geological structure of the country through which
the Mackenzie flows.
W hen the mountains are first seen, in descending the river, they
present an assemblage of conical peaks, rising apparently about
two thousand feet above the valley; and it is not until we come
opposite to the end of the first mountain, that we observe them to
be disposed in parallel ridges, having a direction of abouit southsouthwest and north-northeast;* which makes an angle of rather
more than forty-five degrees with the axis of the great chain, from
which they project like spurs   The circumstance of the valleys
pervading the chain transversely, though with more or less of ascent, explains the reason of the principal rivers on both the eastern and western slopes having their sources beyond the axis of
the range, and flowing through it. From some passages in Dr.
Hooker's letters, I infer that the Hiinalayas have a similar configuration.
As the successive spurs and the valleys between them open out
to the voyager who descends the river, he observes that the eastern faces of the ridges rise abruptly like a wall, while their western flanks are more shelving. This is not, however, uniformly
the case, as in some of the ridges lofty escarpments occur also on
their western sides.
The height of the almost precipitous cliff of the first mountain
at the bend of the river appeared to the eye, from a distance of
seven or eight miles, to be eight or nine hundred feet, though the
width of the base of the hill did not exceed a mile.  Further
back, the summit of the ridge terminated by this mountain was
judged to be between two thousand and two thousand eight hundred feet high.  The heights here mentioned were estimated
solely by the eye, and as in this climate heights and distances
are very deceptive they must be considered as very rough approximations. No trees could be detected on the summits when
examined with the telescope, but the lower hills, and the slopes
to the height of a thousand feet, were well wooded.
The first range re-appears on the east side of the river, and is
seen at intervals running in the direction of M'Vicar's Bay of
* I have never had leisure to ascertain the true course of these ranges
within six or seven degrees, but from the bearings I have taken several
times in passing, I suppose that south 20~ west, and north 200 east, is
very near their direction.




ROCKY MOUNTAINS.                   109
Great Bear Lake, whose basin interposes between its termination
and the granite and gneiss that skirt the eastern arms of that
lake.
At the bend of the Mackenzie, the valley which interposes between the first and second ridges does not appear to exceed five
miles in width, but it was seen too obliquely to enable us to form
a correct judgment. The river flows through this valley'for
upward of fifty miles, when, making a small bend to the westward, it escapes across the ridge. Thus far the second ridge*
runs on the west bank of the river, showing a bold precipitous
craggy side at intervals, some parts being concealed from the voyager by the intervening swelling grounds which form the floor of
the valley. Where the river cuts it, a high island of limestone
stands in mid channel, and on the east bank, a round-topped hill,
named the "Rock by the River's Side" t (Roche qui trempe
a l'eau), rises precipitously from the water's edge to the height
of five or six hundred feet or more. The base of this hill scarcely
exceeds a mile in diameter, and most of the ridges seem to be of
similar breadth. From the Rock by the River's Side the ridge
continues, but with interruptions, onward in the same direction
to the elevated promontory of Great Bear Lake, named Sas-choh
etha (Great Bear Hill), which stands between Keith's and
M'Vicar's Bays.
The other spurs, which succeed these down to the delta of the
river, rise in like manner like rugged walls from the surrounding
low, undulating country, the stream escaping through them by
successive gaps. Many of the escarpments, when seen from a
distance reflecting the rays of the sun, look as bright and white
as chalk cliffs: and but for information which I have gleaned
from voyagers who have crossed them, I should have been in
doubt whether they were not formed of that material or of white
sand, instead of being hard limestone.
At this date only a few patches of snow remained in the hollows, having a northern exposure; but in the following year they
were entirely covered with snow until late in June, and for some
weeks after all the low country had become quite bare. Both
the first and second ridges are distinctly stratified at the bend of
the river, and seemingly capped with trap.  Wrhere they and the
* Partly seen on the right-hand side of the wood-cut, p. 107
t See Wood-cut, p. 113.




110              BANKS OF THE MACKENZIE.
succeeding ridges are cut by the river, limestone is the chief rock
that is visible; but I have had no opportunity of examining the
principal cliffs, and have made but a very cursory inspection of
any. The spurs which reach the Mackenzie consist, perhaps,
wholly of limestone. Sandstone exists in their vicinity, but I
believe it is a newer deposit, belonging to that which forms the
floors of the valleys, and rests unconformably on the tilted beds
of the ridges. No organic remains were detected in any of the
highly inclined beds, but gypsum and chert are ot frequent occurrence.
Traders who have crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific
slopes of the continent say that there are fourteen or fifteen ranges
of hills, and that when they are viewed from the summit of a
peak, the mountain tops appear to be crowded together in great
confusion, like a sea of conical billows. My informants could not
tell me whether granite, clay-slate, or trap rocks entered into their
composition or not; but it is probable that such is the case, as
we know it to be in more southern latitudes. I received specimens of semi-opal, plumbago, and specular iron, gathered on one
of the ridges. The more westerly ranges have obtained from the
traders the name of the Peak Mountains.
On the Mackenzie, a shaly formation makes the chief part of
the banks, and also much of the undulating valleys between the
elevated spurs. It is based on horizontal beds of limestone, and
in some places of sandstone, which abut against the inclined
strata of the lofty wall-like ridges, or rest partially on their edges.
Covering the shaly beds, there exists in many places a deposit
of sand, sometimes cohering so as to form a friable sandstone;
and where a good section of the bank occurs, a capping of gravel
and boulders, of various thickness, is seen crowning the whole.
The shale crumbles readily, and often takes fire spontaneously,
occasioning the ruin of the bank, so that it is only by the encroachments of the river carrying away the debris that the true
structure is revealed. The boulders that have dropped from
above pave the beach in many places as closely and regularly as
if it were a work of art, the passage of ice over them driving them
irmly and evenly into the bed of tenacious clay which the shale
n breaking down produces.
I have no evidence whereby the geological age of the shale;nay be certainly dcdluced, but am inclined to consider it as be



SHALY BEDS.-ANIMALS.                  i 11
longing to the epoch of the Marcellus deposit, on account of its
exact lithological resemblance to the bituminous beds of Athabasca
River, and the occurrence of the Tentaculites fissurella in the
fragments which line the beach at the west end of Great Slave
Lake.* The difficulty of deciding upon the age of the beds
through which the river flows is increased by the occurrence
among them of a tertiary lignite formation, which also takes fire
spontaneously. This general account of the rocks of the Mackenzie is here introduced to facilitate the subsequent descriptions
of such points as I landed upon.
With respect to some of the more remarkable quadrupeds that
inhabit the Rocky mountains, I may state that the mountain
sheep, or big-horn as it is named (Ovis montana), frequents the
higher peaks down to the delta of the Mackenzie.  The Slave
Indian appellation of this fine animal is Sass-sei-yeuneh, or
"Foolish Bear."  It keeps to the craggy summits, and can
scarcely be approached by the hunter who ascends toward it from
below; but should he once get above it, he can come near it
easily. Its flesh is said to be equal to well flavored mutton, but
its coat resembles that of the reindeer, and is not woolly. The
goat-antelope (Antilocapra americana), which is covered with a
fine long-stapled wool, has its northern limit on the River of the
Mountains.  Its flesh is much inferior to that of the mountain
sheep. Reindeer, of a much larger size and darker color than
the "Barren-ground variety," frequent the mountain valleys;
and moose deer, extending their range nearly to the Arctic Sea,
through the wooded districts only, feed on the banks of the rivers
where willows grow. Neither musk-oxen nor bison inhabit this
part of the Rocky Mountains; the latter, as has been mentioned,
having their northern limit on the Horn Mountain; while the
former keep within the Arctic circle, and to the east of the Mackenzie. The little Pika, or tail-less hare, occupies the grassy
eminences, and lays up a stock of hay for winter use.  Say's
grouse (Tetrao Sayi), named Ti-choh, i. e. " big grouse," has not
been killed further north than the Nohhane Bute; the pin-tailed
* In 1826, Mr. Sowerby referred some fossils which I obtained from the
limestone beds of the Mackenzie, to the Oxford oolite and cornbrash. These,
which were mostly terebratulites, are not now within my reach, but should
his opinion be confirmed by further specimens from the same quarter, they
would indicate that the bituminous shale of the Mackenzie belongs to the
lia s.




112           AFFLUENTS OF THE MACKENZIE.
grouse goes as far down as the delka; and the Tetrao canadensis
lives in the marshy parts of the forest up to Peel's River, and is
named Ti; while the willow and white-tailed ptarmigans bear
the designation of Kasbah or Kampbah, in the Slave or Chepewyan tongue. The last named is exclusively an Alpine species.
The American magpie has not been seen to the north of the River
of the Mountains, and is rare even there.
Many large streams join the Mackenzie below Fort Simpson.
One, which the Nohhane Indians are accustomed to descend,
flows down the valley between the first and second mountain
ridges, and joins the Mackenzie at its great bend. It is designated from these people, but it must not be confounded with the
stream of the same name, which issues also from the huntinggrounds of the Nohhanes, but falls into the River of the Mountains.
The Willow Lake River enters the Mackenzie a little below
the bend, from the right bank.  It is ascended by the Marten
Lake Indians as far as it is navigable for their canoes, and then
a march of four hours, or of from ten to fifteen miles, takes them
to Marten Lake.
Another river of considerable size comes in on the left bank,
which is named the Bekka-tess by the Dahadinzeus who frequent
its banks, and La Riviere de Gravoir by the voyagers.  It joins
the Mackenzie in latitude 64-~ N., and is said to issue from a
large lake, situated on the summit, or even on the western side,
of the Rocky Mountain range. The impediments to its navigation have prevented it from being used as a channel for the Company's trade; and it has been as yet only partially explored,
though it has been thought that a route might be discovered
through it to the banks of the Yukon.  The Dahadinnes speak
a dialect of the Chepewyan tongue. Mr. M'Kenzie, the gentleman in charge of Fort Norman, to which these people resort, informed me that their correct designation in their own language is
Cheta-ut-tinne or'Dtchetata-ut-tinne, which, being also the national name of the Beaver and Strong-bow or Mountain Indians,
points them out as members of the same nation.




CHAPTER VI.
Rock by the River's side.-Shale Formatlon.-Fort Norman.-Tertiary Coal Formation.-Lignite Beds.-Fossil Leaves.-Edible Clay.-Spontaneous combustion
of the River Bank.-Hill at Bear Lake River.-Hill at the Rapid on that River.
-Forest.-Plants.-Birds.
ODE drifted with the stream all night, and in the morning of
July the 25th, a thick fbg preventing us from pulling, we continued to drift, trusting that the current would carry us clear of
shoals and low islands.  The sky cleared at breakfast-time, and
by noon we were abreast of the " Rock by the River's Side."
In some places, where there are islands, the river is two or three
miles wide; in others, it does not appear more than a mile, or a
mile and a half. The small island, which lies in the channel
just above the Rock by the River's Side, is composed of blackish
ROCK BY TIHE RIVER'S SIDE.
gray compact limestone, dipping to the south-half-east, at an
angle of about twenty degrees; the upper bed, which is thinner
and more slaty than the others, being composed of irregularly




114      ROCK BY THE RIVER'S S[DE.-RIVER TERRACES.
oblong distinct concretions.  On the upper or south side of the
Rock by the River's Side the stone is a bituminous limestone,
yielding the smell of stinkstein when struck; the precipitous face
of the rock appears to be the same kind of limestone. Immediately below the Rock, for the distance of half a mile, limestone similar to that of the small island occurs in gently inclined
beds.
In the body of this high bluff the beds are nearly vertical;
and, as well as I could judge from the view obtained in descending the stream, they were disposed as if the axis of the ridge hadl
been the direction of the elevating force, the beds inclining toward the summit from both sides. In s6me parts there seemed
to be inclined beds lying non-conformably over the ends of the
nearly vertical ones, but I could not be certain, without closer
examination, that what I saw was not merely oblique sections
of the edges of the lower beds.
A thermal spring, much resembling sea-water in its saline contents, issues from the front of the cliff, and the fissure from whence
it flows is incrusted with crystallized gypsum.* Shale beds abut
against the lower side of the rock, covering the limestone beds
above mentioned; but they are in a great measure concealed by
the shelving debris of the bank. Contiguous to the upper or
south side of the Rock there are sloping banks of gravel, capped
by a vertical wall of friable sandstone. And three miles higher
up the stream, there are two river terraces, more complete than
any I noticed elsewhere on the Mackenzie, though in many places
a high and low bank can be traced. These terraces are composed
of fine sand: and the slope between them is so steep as to require
to be ascended on all fours. Both terraces are very regular in
their outlines, and are covered with well grown Pinus banksiana.
The uppermost is about two hundred and fifty feet above the
river.  From this terrace, the Rock by the River's Side is clearly seen to be part of a chain, which is crossed there by the river,
as has been already mentioned. This is not so evident from the
channel of the stream. The high sand-banks continue almost
without a break for twenty miles further up, and in some places
they are seen to rest upon a gray shale.  At one place where
there is a good section, it was perceived that the surface of the
* Dr. Davy, who kindly analyzed some water from this spring, ascertained that the chief saline ingredient was sulphate of magnesia.




BLACK-WATER RIVER.                 115
shale on which the sand reposed was uneven, and much indented
also by pot-holes and projecting tongues; the gravel and sand
descending into the pits, and the points of shale rising among the
sand. The similarity of these shale and sand-cliffs to those at
the junction of the Clear-water and Elk Rivers is very great; but
the shale generally is not so bituminous as at the latter locality.
The surface of the country above is strewed with gravel and
boulders, and in the decay of the bank these fall down and line
the channel of the river. When the water is high, as it is in
the spring, little flat beach is to be seen; but in the autumn, the
pavement of boulders to which I have already alluded is exposed.
Among these, above the Rock by the River's Side, I observed
a considerable number of granites, some gneiss, many sienites,
basalts, and greefstones; also felspar rock, felspar porphyries,
Lydian-stones, quartz rock, and limestones of various kinds, with
quartzose sandstones, white, red, and spotted.
I have been disposed to give a more full abstract of the notes
I made in descending and ascending this part of the river, because, in following its oblique course of more than fifty miles,
from the first ridge of the Rocky Mountains at the bend, to the
second at the Rock by the River's Side, all the various strata of
the valley are seen, and, if properly examined, there is little reason to doubt that a key to the geological formations of the entire
length of the Mackenzie might be obtained.
On the left bank, six miles below the Rock by the River's
Side, beds of shale appear, having a slight dip to the southward;
and the ridge, which is prolonged on that side from the rock abovenamed in a north-northeast direction, appears very rugged, with
irregularly serrated summits, the crest being apparently extremely narrow. The country between the ridges seems to be pretty
even, except where it is cut by rivulets; and the high bank of
the river is level, though in places it looks hummocky or hilly,
because of the gullies which intersect it.
In the evening we landed to cook supper at the mouth of
Black-water River, which issues from a lake of the same name
lying on the eastern bank; and, embarking again to drift during
the night, passed a bend of ninety degrees, which the river makes
to the westward, and which is known to the voyagers by the
appellation of " The Angle" (L'equerre).  It marks the passage
of the river through another range, of which a high hill on the




116                   FORT NORMAN.
eastern bank, named Clark's Hill, is the most conspicuous part
The ridge continued from this hill crosses Bear Lake River in
the middle of its course, and there forms a rapid.
A short way below the " Angle," the Red Rock River, named
also Riviere des Grosses Roches, flows in from the west. It looks
wide at its mouth, but is not a large stream   Fifteen miles further down, the Gravel or Dahadinne River, already mentioned,
flowing also from the mountains on the left, comes in below the
site of an old fort. VWe were opposite to this when we resumed
our oars on the morning of the 26th at four o'clock, and soon
afterward, passing a sandy promontory on the left hand, named
the "Crumbling Beaver" (Castor qui deboule), we arrived at
Fort Norman. Obtaining here a bottle of milk as a grateful
addition to our breakfast, we landed two hours later to prepare
that meal, and at noon reached the mouth of Bear Lake River.
Between Fort Norman and this river a tertiary coal formation
occurs, which deserves particular notice.
The coal, when recently extracted from the beds, is massive,
and most generally shows the woody structure distinctly, the beds
appearing to be composed of pretty large trunks of trees lying
horizontally, and having their woody fibres and layers much
twisted and contorted, similar to the white spruce now growing
in exposed situations in the same latitude. Specimens of this
coal, examined by Mr. Bowerbank, were pronounced by him to
be decidedly of coniferous origin, and the structure of the wood
to be more like that of Pinus than Araucaria; but on this latter point he was not so certain. It is probable that the examination of a greater variety of specimens would detect several kinds
of wood in the coal, as a bed -of fossil leaves connected with the
formation reveals the existence at the time of various dicotyledonous trees, probably Acerinece, and of one which I am inclined
to consider as belonging to the yew tribe. To these I shall refer
again.
When exposed for even a short time to the atmosphere, the
coal splits into rhomboidal fragments, which again separate into
thin layers, so that it is difficult to. preserve a piece large enough
to show the woody structure in perfection. Much of it falls
eventually into a coarse powder; and if exposed to the action
of moist air in the mass it takes fire, and burns with a fetid
smell, and little smoke or flame, leaving a brownish-red ash, not




TERTIARY COAL FORMATION.                117
one-tenth of the original bulk of coal taken from the purer beds,
for some contain much more earthy matter.
Different beds, and even different parts of the same bed, when
traced to the distance of a few hundred yards, present examples
of "fibrous brown-coal," " earth-coal," " conchoidal brown-coal,"
and "trapezoidal brown-coal."  Some beds have the external.
characters of " compact bitumen;" but they generally exhibit in
the cross fracture concentric layers, although from their jet-like
composition the nature of the woody fibres can not be detected
by the microscope. Some pieces have a strong resemblance to
charcoal in structure, color, and lustre. Very frequently the coal
may be named a " bituminous slate," of which it has many of
the lithological characters, but on examination with a lens it is
seen to be composed of comminuted woody matter, mixed with
clay and small inlbedded fragments resembling charred wood.
Crystals of selenite occur in this slate, and also minute portions
of resin, or perhaps of amber. When this shaly coal is burnt, it
leaves light, whitish-colored ashes. The shape of the stems and
branches of the trees is best preserved when they contain siliceous
matter or iron-stone; and in this case, the bark of the tree is
often highly bituminized, and falls off from the specimen.
From the readiness with which the coal takes fire spontaneously, the beds are destroyed as they become exposed to the atmosphere; and the bank is constantly tumbling down, so that it is
only when the debris have been washed away by the river, that
good sections are exposed.  The beds were on fire near Bear
River, when Sir Alexander Mackenzie discovered them, in 1785,
and the smoke, with flame visible by night, has been present in
some part or other of the formation ever since.
From one to four beds of coal are exposed above the water
level on the banks of the river, the thickest of which exceeds
three yards, and was visible a short way above Bear River in the
autumn only-the Mackenzie being then seven or eight feet below
its spring level.
Interstratified with the coal beds, there are layers of gravel,
which occasionally, through the intermixture of clay more or less
iron-shot, acquire tenacity enough to form vertical cliffs, but more
often are very crumbly. The pebbles composing the gravel vary
in size from that of a pea to that of an orange, and are formed
of Lydian-stone, flinty slate, white quartz, quartose sandstone, and




118                    FOSSIL LEAVES.
conglomerate, clay-stone, and slate-clay. The gravel is sometimes
seamed by thin layers of fine sand, and its beds vary in thickness
up to thirty or forty feet.
In place of the gravel, a friable sandstone is often interposed
between the coal-beds or rests upon them.  It is fine-grained,
often dark from the dissemination of bituminous matter, and has
so little tenacity, that in many places it is excavated by the sandmartens. Being porous, it fills with water, and is frozen into a
compact, hard rock, for most of the year; but becomes moist,
and breaks down under the influence of the hot rays of the sun
in spring.
Potter's clay, of a gray or brown color, alternates with the
beds already named; in layers varying from one foot to forty or
more in thickness. This clay is often highly bituminous, and is
penetrated by ramifications of carbonaceous matter, resembling
the roots of vegetables. About ten miles above Great Bear
River, a layer of this material, lying immediately over a bed of
coal which was on fire, has been baked so as to resemble a fine
yellowish-colored biscuit porcelain. In a part of this, I found
numerous impressions of leaves, most of them dicotyledonous, but
one of them apparently coniferous, and belonging, probably, to
the yew genus. The existence on many of the leaves of the latter plant of little round bodies like the fructification of ferns, invested the specimens with much interest. The clay had unfortunately cracked so much under the influence of the heat to which it
had been subjected, that I could not obtain entire specimens of the
larger dicotyledonous leaves, but in the general character of their
venation they resemble the Acerinece. Some portions of the clay
were semi-vitrified, and so hard as to receive no impression from a
file: and I gathered pieces of this kind, composed of blue semivitrified layers, alternating with others of a rich buff color. All
the indurated clay, containing leaves, splits easily into thin layers,
in every one of which there were impressions, so that the various
kinds of leaves must have been deposited thickly above one another at this place. The fossiliferous clay is covered by one hundred and forty feet of sand and sandstone, and by some thin layers
of conglomerate.
A pipe-clay is very generally associated with the coal beds,
and is frequently found in contact with the lignite. It exists in
beds varying in thickness from six inches to a foot, and is gcener



EDIBLE CLAY.-PORCELAIN EARTH.              119
ally of a yellowish-white color, but in some places has a light
lake-red tint. It is smooth, without grittiness, and when masticated has a flavor somewhat like the kernel of a hazel nut. When
newly dug from its bed, it is plastic, but in drying becomes rather
meagre and adheres to the tongue: its streak is less glistening
than that of the ordinary English pipe-clay. As the natives eat
this earth in times of scarcity, and suppose that thereby they
prolong their lives, I requested Dr. Davy and the late Dr. Prout
to examine it, but neither of these able chemists could detect any
nutritious matter in it. Neither have I been able with the microscope to discover in it the remains of any infusorial animals.*
Mr. NuttaI1l speaks of a similar substance under the name of
pink-clay, which he observed in the lignite deposits on the Arkansas. It is known generally among the residents at the fur
posts on the Mackenzie by the appellation of " white-mud," and
is used for whitewashing houses, and also, when soap is scarce,
for washing clothes.
In one place in the vicinity of the burned cliff where the leaves
were found, several beds of porcelain earth occur from two to
three yards thick, and apparently replacing the sandstone of other
parts of the formation. It has a whitish color, and at first sight
looks like chalk, but some of its beds have a grayish hue from
the quantity of carbonaceous matter disseminated in them. Its
texture is fine-granular; it adheres slightly to the tongue, yields
readily to the nail, is meagre, and soils the fingers slightly.  Besides the coaly matter, it contains, also, a few minute scales of
mica, and some of quartz. It is not plastic, and becomes more
friable when moistened with water; neither does it effervesce
with acids.  This lignite formation extends from  the Rocky
Mountain spur of which Clark's Hill forms a portion, to the spur
of which the hill on the lower side of the mouth of Great Bear
River is a prominent point, being directly across the valley about
twenty-five miles, but considerably further by the course of the
Mackenzie. The depth to which the deposit descends below the
bed of the Mackenzie was not ascertained, but the height from
the surface of the water to the top of the bank varies from ninety
to one hundred and fifty feet. Ten or twelve feet or more of the
crest of the bank consists of diluvial gravel with boulders, and the
3 Baron Humboldt mentions a tribe of Indians residing on the Orinoco,
who eat large quantities of clay when food is scarce.




129                ELEVATED RIVER'S BANK.
soil is generally peaty to the depth of a foot or two. The beds
are usually almost horizontal or have a very moderate inclination,
but in some few places they dip very considerably, and in the
second reach of the Mackenzie above Great Bear River a bed
of stone passes obliquely from the top to the bottom of the clay
bank.  By the destruction of the coal beds the cliff falls down,
the slope is covered with the-gravel and boulders, and the latter
pave the channel of the river also. The strong current of the
river varies its direction from time to time, and as the deposition
or removal of alluvial islands expose or protect the banks, the
debris of the ruined cliffs accumulates or is carried away.  This
constant waste of the bank would proceed much more rapidly,
were it not that the ground is still frozen hard when barriers of
ice, during the high spring floods, often raise the river thirty feet
above its ordinary level. Then the frozen earth resists the action
of the water as a rock would do, and the surface yields only in
proportion as it thaws, which is slowly, since the water loaded
with ice is kept down to the freezing point.
I observed that the bank of the river was generally higher than
the land behind it, by at least the thickness of the diluvial capping, and sometimes by a part of the sand or clay of the tertiary
beds, and that the narrow elevated bank extended in the same
form along the principal affluents, a marked instance of which
occurs on the south side of Great Bear River. In consequence
of this configuration of the surface, the spring floods of melting
snow accumulate, and at length make their escape through gullies, contributing further to the ruin of the bank, and giving it a
broken and hilly outline when seen from the river. Landslips
are of common occurrence, and are occasioned by pressure of
water collecting in fissures produced by the partial subsidence
of the cliff.*
* Similar tertiary coal formations occur on the flanks of the Rocky
Mountains; the most southerly one of which I have any account, being
in the Raton Pass, in latitude 370 15' N., longitude 1040 35' Wr., and
upward of seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. Leaves of dicotyledonous trees, obtained in these beds by Lieutenant Abert in 1847, are
figured in Colonel Emory's report to Congress (pp. 522, 547). Nuttall
observed lignite beds associated with the pink-colored pipe-clay on the
Arkansas, somewhere near the 48th parallel. Sir Alexander M'Kenzie
states that a narrow strip of marshy, boggy, and uneven ground, producing
coal and bitumen, runs along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains,
and he specifies latitude 520 N., longitude 112"~ W., on the southern




HILL AT BEAR LAKE RIVER.                   121
The Mackenzie traverses the basin ill which the tertiary coal
is deposited very obliquely, and the Great Bear Lake River cuts
it more directly across.
The hill on the north side of the last named river rises about
six or seven hundred feet above the water, every where steeply,
and in some places precipitously. It is, as has been stated, part
of one of the spurs of the Rocky Mountains, a gap in which furnishes a channel for the passage of the Mackenzie. Its base,
measured directly across, is about three-quarters of a mile. The
Great Bear River flows between its south flank and the tertiary
coal beds described above; but on its north flank horizontal beds
of limestone and bituminous shale appear again. The strata of
the hill itself are highly inclined upward on both its flanks toward
its axis, and some are vertical. I did not procure organic remains
from any of the upheaved beds forming these ridges or spurs,
whereby their age might be determined, but they are evidently
branch of the Saskatchewan, and latitude 560 N., longitude 116~ W.
(Edgecoal Creek) in the Peace River, as places where coal beds are exposed. Mr. Drummond procured me specimens of coal with its associated
rocks at Edmonton (latitude 530 45' N., longitude 113~ 20' W.) on the
north branch of the Saskatchewan, and, consequently, between the places
mentioned by Sir Alexander Mackenzie. According to Mr. Drummond the
coal was in beds varying in thickness from six inches to two feet, and interstratified with clay and sandstone. The examples he selected were precisely similar to the slaty and conchoidal varieties which are found at the
mouth of Great Bear River, and the resemblance between the sandstone
of the two localities is equally close. He also found a black tertiary pitch
coal which breaks into small conchoidal and cubical fragments, which Mr.
Small, a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, who gave me the first information of these beds, likened well to Spanish liquorice. At Edmonton
the more slaty coal-beds, pass gradually into a thin, slaty, friable sandstone,
which is much impregnated with carbonaceous matter, and contains fragments of fibrous lignite. Hand specimens of this can not be distinguished
from others gathered from the shale cliffs on the Athabasca River. Highly bituminized shale, considerably indurated, exists in the vicinity of the
coal at Edmonton, and clay-ironstones occur in the clay beds.
Chief Factor Alexander Stewart told me that beds of coal are on fire
on the Smoking River, which is a southern affluent of the Peace River,
and crosses the 56th parallel of latitude, and also that others exist on the
borders of Lesser Slave Lake, that lies between Smoking River and Edmonton. There are coal beds on fire, also, at the present time near Dunvegan on the main stream of the Peace River. All these places are near
the base of the Rocky Mountains. or the spurs issuing from that chain,
and their altitude above the sea varies from 1800 to 2000 feet and upward. The beds at Great Bear River are probably not above 250 feet
above the sea level.
F




122         HILL AT THE RAPID.-SHALE FORMATION.
older than the limestone and shale formation which abuts against
them or covers their edges, and are, very probably, judging from
the scarcity of fossils, of the protozoic epoch.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _        &
HILL AT THE RAPID ON BEAR LAKE RIVER.
The Hill at the Rapid, twenty-four miles higher up Bear
Lake River, is very similar to the one just noticed, and its beds
have the same anticlinal arrangement. It is, as has been already
stated, a member of the same spur with Clark's Hill, and from
its summit the ridge may be seen extending through a comparatively level country toward the west end of Smith's Bay in Great
Bear Lake. The floor of the valley lying between it and the
spur at the mouth of the river is well wooded, but is much intersected by lakes, marshes, and considerable streams, some of which
fall into the Mackenzie, and others into Bear Lake River. Immiediately to the westward of the Hill at the Rapid, but separated from it by a rivulet, there are horizontal beds of friable sandstone, and beyond them a thick deposit of bituminous shale, which
extends northward into the high promontory of the Scented Grass
Hill, that divides Smith's Bay from Keith's Bay in Great Bear
Lake. The excavation of the body of the lake terminates the
shale formation in this direction, but more to the westward it
can be traced onward to thle Arctic Sea.*
* Various detailed accouats of some of the tertiary coal beds, and of the
elevated spurs which cross Bear Lake River, are contained in the Geo



FOR EST. —PLANT'.                    123
As has been already said, the general aspect of the forest does
not alter in the descent of the Mackenzie.  The white spruce
continues to be the chief tree.  In this quarter it attains a girth
of four or five feet, and a height of about sixty in a growth of
from two to three hundred years, as shown by the annual layers
of wood. One tree, cut down in a sheltered valley near Clark's
Hill, measured the unusual length of one hundred and twentytwo feet, but was comparatively slender. Most of the timber is
twisted, particularly where the trees grow in exposed situations.
The Banksian pine was not traced to the north of Great Bear
Lake River; but the black spruce, in a stunted form, is found
on the borders of swamps as far as the woods extend. The dogwood, silvery oleaster (Eleagnus argentea), Shepherdia, and
Amelanchier grow on banks that in Europe would be covered
with gorse and broom, and the southern Salix candicla is replaced by the more luxuriant and much handsomer Salix speciosa, which is the prince of the willow family.  The Hedysarum
Aliackenzii and boreale flower freely among the boulders that
cover the clayey beaches; while the showy yellow flowers and
handsome foiage of the Dryas Drutmmondii cover the limestone
debris, which give shelter also to the Androsace Chamcejasmi.
In the heart of the spruce-fir forests, the curious and beautiful
Calypso borealis lurks, along with some very fine, large, oneflowered, ladies' slippers (Cypripedia). There is, in fact, notwithstanding the near neighborhood of the Arctic circle, no want
of flowering plants to engage the attention of a student of nature;
logical Appendix to Franklin's Second Overland Journey; and the maps
on a large scale, given in that work, may be consulted with advantage by
any one who wishes to become well acquainted with the topography of the
country, or to trace the course of the ridges here described in the text.
The limestone which forms the body of the hill at the mouth of Great
Bear Lake River is blackish-gray, full of sparry veins, or brownish-gray
and bituminous, associated with calcareous breccia. On the northern flank
of the hill, abutting against the vertical beds, there are layers of bituminous shale, some of which effervesce with acids, while others approach in
hardness to flinty slate. Underlying the shale, horizontal beds of limestone are exposed for some miles along the Mackenzie, and from them
there issue springs of saline sulphureous waters and mineral pitch.
The horizontal sandstone beds, above the Hill at the Rapid, of the same
river, contain fossils, some of which were considered by Mr. Sowerby to belong to the same age with the English oolitic limestones; but they require
re-examination. and then we may learn whether the very extensive bitumninous formation belongs to the Marcellus shale or to thoe iias beds.




124                        BIRDS.
and many of the feathered inhabitants of the district recall to
the traveler or resident fur-trader pictures of southern domestic
abodes. The cheerful and familiar Sylvia cestiva is one of the
earliest arrivals in spring, coming in company with the wellknown American robin (Turdus migratorius) and the purple
and rusty grakles. A little later, the varied thrush makes its
appearance from the shores of the Pacific. The white-bellied
swallow (Hirundo bicolor) breeds, at Fort Norman, in holes of
rotten trees; and the Sialia arctica, a representative of the bluebird so common in the United States, enlivens the banks of the
Mackenzie, coming, however, not from the Atlantic coasts, but
from the opposite side of the Rocky Mountain range.  On the
Mackenzie, there is an intermingling of the floras of both coasts,
as well as of the migratory feathered tribes, the Rocky Mountain range not proving a barrier to either.
One of the birds which we traced up to its breeding-places on
Bear Lake River, but not to the sea-coast, is the pretty little Bonapartean gull (Xema Bonapartii).  This species arrives very
early in the season, before the ground is denuded of snow, and
seeks its food in the first pools of water which flrm on the
borders of Great Bear Lake, and wherein it finds multitudes of
minute crustacean animals and larvae of insects. It flies in flocks,
and builds its nests in a colony resembling a rookery, seven or
eight on a tree; the nests being framed of sticks, laid flatly. Its
voice and mode of flying are like those of a tern; and, like that
bird, it rushes fiercely at the head of any one who intrudes on its
haunts, screaming loudly. It has, moreover, the strange practice, considering the form of its feet, of perching on posts and
trees; and it may be often seen standing gracefully on a summit
of a small spruce fir.
The insectivorous habits of this bird, and its gentle, familiar
manners, contrast strongly with the predaceous pursuits and voraciousness of the short-billed gull (Larus brachyrhynchus of the
Fauna Boreali-Americana).  If a goose was wounded by our
sportsmen, these powerful gulls directly assailed it, and soon totally devoured it, with the exception of the larger bones. In the
spring of 1849, when Mr. Bell and I were encamped at the head
of Bear Lake River, waiting for the disruption of the ice, the
gulls robbed us of many geese, leaving nothing but well-picked
skeletons. Mr. Bell who was the chief sportsman on this occa



FROG.S.                       125
sion, and spent the day in traversing the half-thawed marshes in
quest of game, hung the birds, as he shot them, to the branch of
a tree, or deposited them on a rock; but, on collecting the produce of his chase in the evening, he found that the gulls had left
him little besides the bones to carry. If by chance a goose, when
shot, fell into the river, a gull speedily took his stand on the carcase, and proceed to tear out the entrails, and devour the flesh,
as he floated with it down the current. Even the raven kept
aloof; when a gull had taken possession of a bird.
The harlequin duck ( Clangula histrionica) also frequents Bear
Lake River; but is comparatively rare in other districts, and is
not easy of approach. It congregates in small flocks, which,
lighting at the head of a rapid, suffer themselves to glide down
with the stream, fishing in the eddies as they go. A sportsman,
by secreting himself among the bushes on the strand, conveniently near to an eddy, may, if he has patience to wait, be sure of
obtaining a shot. In this way I procured specimens. The osprey and white-headed eagle both build their nests on the banks
of Bear Lake River, and the golden-winged woodpecker migrates
thus far north, and perhaps further, though it did not come under
our observation in a higher latitude.
A small frog (Bufo americanus) is common in every pond,
and Mr. Bell informed me that he had seen it on Peel River,
which is the most northern locality I can name for any American
reptile.* A frog resembling it, but perhaps of a different species,
abounds on the Saskatchewan, and its cry of love in early spring
so much resembles the quack of a duck, that while yet a novice
in the sounds of the country, it led me more than once to beat
round a small lake in quest of ducks that I thought were marvelously well concealed among the grass.
On Bear Lake River, the frogs make the marshes vocal about
the beginning of June. Throughout Rupert's Land, they come
abroad immediately after the snow has melted. In the swampy
district between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, they are particularly noisy. While we were descending the Savannah River
on the 20th of May, we were exposed to the incessant noise of
one called by the voyagers le crapaud,t whose cry has an evident
* See note, p. 126.
t This is probably the Bufo americanus, also. Mr. Gray of the British
Museum, who examined my specimens, found old and young examples of




126                         REPTILES.
affinity with the brekekex of Asia Minor, and closely resembles
the braying sound of a watchman's rattle; but a hundred of the
latter, sprung in a circle, would not have equaled the voices of
the frogs that we heard at one time. A smaller species, called
la grenouille, inhabit the same places, and has a shrill, less unpleasing note than the other, yet which was, nevertheless, tiresome from its monotony.
As a contribution to what is known of the geographical distribution of reptiles, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, frogs
may be set down as attaining the 68th parallel of latitude;
snakes, as reaching the 56th; and tortoises, as disappearing beyond the 51st, at the south end of Lake Winipeg. There the
Emys geographica of Le Sueur, named asate by the Chippeways, occurs; and also one with a flexible neck, called by the
same people miskinnah, which is probably the snapping turtle.*
B. americanus from Lake Winipeg, and young ones from Great Bear Lake.
There were also many specimens of Rana sylvatica (la grenouille) from the
former locality; some of Hyla versicolor of Le Conte, or H. verrucosa of
Daudin; and a solitary individual of a Hylodes, which he thinks may be
new.  It resembles, he says, " H. maculatus of Agassiz, but differs in color.
The back is gray, with three cylindrical dark bands, interrupted and diverging from each other on the hind part of the back.  The side of the
face has a black streak. which is continued over the base of the fore-arm,
and along the side of the body, gradually descending toward the belly.
The toes are free and cylindrical, that is, scarcely tapering, and truncate
at the end." (I. E. Gray in let.)
* By the same post which brought me a proof of this sheet, I had a
letter from Mr. Murray, dated on the River Yukon, in which he informs
me that a " frog" and " a grass snake" had been killed near his encampment, and that another snake had been killed on the north bend of the
Porcupine River, far within the Arctic circle.




CHAPTER VII.
Peregrine Falcon.-The Rapid.-Ramparts.-Hare Indians.-Fort Good Hope.Hares.-Kutchin.-Their Contests with the Eskimos.-A Fatal Dance.-A Hare
Indian devoured by a Brown Bear.-Vegetation.-Narrows.-Richardson Chain
of Hills.-Fort Separation.-Cache of Pemican and Memorandum.-Alluvial
Delta.-Yukon River.-Reindeer Hills. —M'Gillivray Island.-Harrison Island.
Termination of the Forest.-Sacred Island.-Richard's Island.-Point Encounter.
WTE continued to descend the river until 7 in the evening,
when we encamped for the night, as I did not consider it to be
safe to drift here, there not being one person in the boats who had
ever been in this river before but myself, and I could not trust
to my recollections of the best channels after the lapse of so many
years since my former visit.
About twelve or fourteen miles below the influx of Great Bear
River, the channel of the Mackenzie approaches the spur on its
eastern bank, and flows parallel to it for some distance.  At the
spot where we encamped the beach was formed of displaced bituminous shale with imbedded granite boulders, both evidently
derived from the ruined bank, a section of which showed layers
of gravel consisting of rolled pieces of shale and a few limestone
pebbles, alternating with sand and coarser rolled pieces of limestone. This seemed to be a tertiary deposit formed out of the
subjacent beds, but not by the river flowing at its present level.
In the course of the day's voyage we noticed a peregrine falcon's
nest, placed on the cliff of a sandstone rock. This falcon is not
rare throughout the Mackenzie, where it preys on the passenger
pigeons and smaller birds.  Mr. M'Pherson related to me one of
its feats, which he witnessed some years previously as he was
ascending the river. A white owl (Styx nyctea), in flying over
a cliff, seized and carried off an unfledged peregrine in its claws,
and, crossing to the opposite beach, lighted to devour it. The
parent bird followed, screaming loudly, and, stooping with extreme rapidity, killed the owl by a single blow, after which it
flew quickly back to its nest. On coming to the spot, Mr.
M'Pherson picked up the owl, but, though he examined it nar



128                      THE RAPID.
rowly, he could not detect in what part the death blow had been
received; nor could he, from the distance, perceive whether the
peregrine struck it with wing or claws.
Jouly 27th.-Embarking at 3 this morning, we continued our
voyage down the river, and for upward of twenty miles pursued
a course nearly parallel to the spur which the Mackenzie crosses
at the influx of Great Bear River. In latitude 65~ 32' N.,
longitude 127 W., we were opposite to a magnificent cliff in this
ridge, only two or three miles inland, apparently about four
hundred feet high, and some miles in length. The escarpment
faces directly southward, is remarkably white, and the layers
composing it are nearly horizontal, but with some undulation.
The heights of the peaks appeared to me to be about eight hundred feet above the water. The beach is composed of fragments
of bituminous shale with pieces of lignite; and five or six miles
further down, there is a good section of the shale beds interstratified with dark colored sandstone.
At the " Rapid" the Mackenzie crosses another spur, Inaking three elbows in its passage through it.  The channel of the
river there is formed of limestone, and is shallow, producing,
when the water is low, a considerable fall on the east side, and a
shelving rapid on the west. At the elbow of the river, above
the rapid, one of the hills, which rises steeply from the water's
edge on the east bank, is composed of limestone beds, wrapping
over one another like the coats of an onion, and curving, at
the place where this structure was most distinctly seen, at a
spherical angle of 65~, or thereabouts. These inclined beds are
capped and covered on the flanks by strata of sandstone, which
breaks down readily and forms a steep talus of pale-red sand.
A cliff of the upper and more compact sandstone overhangs the
crumbling layers beneath it.
Another eminence of the same spur, which rises from the rapid
a few miles lower down, shows the same conical elevation with
curved concentric beds. In one spot there is a fault, with dislocation of the beds. On both flanks of these inclined beds there
are layers of aluminous shale interstratified with limestone and
sandstone. Where these shale beds rest on the inclined rocks,
they are also inclined, but they rapidly assume the horizontal
position as they recede from the hill.
In the earlier part of the summer, a steamboat could ascend the




SANDSTONE CLIFFS.                   129
rapid without difficulty; and this great river might be navigated
by vessels of considerable burden, from the Portage of the Drowned in Slave River, down to its junction with the sea, being a
navigation of from twelve to thirteen hundred miles.
In a dilatation of the river, about ten miles below the rapid,
bituminous shale lies horizontally in the hollows of undulated
beds of limestone. Having cooked supper at this spot, we embarked to drift for the remainder of the night.
At 5 in the morning of the 28th, we were at the commencement of the Ramparts, where the river is hemmed in to the
width of from four hundred to eight hundred yards, and has a
strong current. This is the " second rapid " of Mackenzie, who
states that it is fifty fathoms deep; but in obtaining such soundings, his lead must have fallen into a crevice, or have been carried down the channel of the stream by the strength of the current; for gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company, who are
well acquainted with the locality, informed me that a bed of
stone crosses the stream, and at the close of the summer, when
the river is at the lowest, produces a fall, except on the east side,
where there is a channel that boats can ascend by towing.  In
the dilatation of the river above the Rampart defile, there are
some fine examples of sandstone cliffs, which have decayed so as
to form caves, pillars, embrasures, and other architectural forms.
The beds have slate clay partings and seams of clay ironstone.
Associated with them there is a marrly stone, containing corallines, referred by Mr. Sowerby to Amplexus; and covering the
sandstone in many places, and alternating with the upper beds,
there is a deposit of bituminous shale.
In making its way through the defile, the river bends suddenly to the east-northeast, and, as the dip of the beds forming the
cliffs on each side is in the contrary direction, the strata rise into
sight in succession as we descend the river. The cliffs have
been denuded of the covering of shale which exists higher up the
stream, but the limestone of which they are chiefly formed is
stained with bitumen, either in patches or whole layers. At the
upper end of the defile, a fine granular, foliated limestone is interleaved with beds containing madrepores, and parted by seams
of carbonaceous matter. Near the middle of the defile the limestone contains the Terebratula sphleroidalis (or a nearly allied
-,ecies) which is a fossil of the inferior oolite, also some Producti
F*




130                HARE INDIANS.-HARES.
and the coralline named Anmplexus. Several seams of black
shale, about eighteen or twenty inches thick, exist among the
SECTION OF THE RAMPARTS.
limestones, and rise with them in succession above the level of
the water; but there are not more than two or three of these
seams in the height of the cliff at any one part. The shale is
of various degrees of hardness, and passes into a brownish black
flinty slate. The dip of the beds is not uniform throughout the
defile, being more or less undulated, and for some way the layers
are horizontal. In places here and there, the limestone beds are
excavated into deep pot-holes filled with shale, resembling the
gravel pits which dip into chalk beds.
On the top of the Rampart Cliffs we found a large body of'
Hare Indians encamped. This is a common summer haunt of'
these people, who resort thither to avail themselves of the productive fishery which exists above the defile.  At this time,
owing to the river not having subsided so rapidly as usual, they
were taking only a small number of fish, and, consequently, were
complaining of' want of food. This people, and most of the tribes
who live the whole year on the immediate banks of' the Mackenzie, depend greatly for subsistence on the hare (Lepus anmericanus). Of these animals they kill incredible numbers; but every
six or seven years, from some cause, the hares disappear suddenly
throughout the whole country; so that not one can be found
either dead or alive. In the following year a few re-appear; and
in three years they are as numerous as before. The Canadian
lynx migrates when the hares, on which it chiefly preys, become
scarce. The musk-rat is subject to periodical murrains, when
great numbers lie dead in their nests; but the dead hares are not
found, whence we may conjecture that when their numbers become excessive they disappear by migration. I could not learn,




HARE INDIANS AND ESKIMOS.               131
however, that the Indians had ever seen them traveling in large
bands.
The Hare Indians are a tribe of the Tinne or Chepewyan nation, and speak a language differing only as a provincial dialect.
They are, like the rest of the nation, a timid race, and live in
continual dread of the Eskimos, whom they suppose not only. to
be very warlike and ferocious, but also endowed with great conjuring powers, by which they can compass the death of an enemy
at a distance. The possession of fire-arms does not embolden the
Tinne to risk an open encounter with the Eskimo bowmen; and
unless when they are assembled in large numbers, as we fobund
them at the Ramparts, they seldom pitch a tent on the banks of
the river, but skulk under the branches of a tree, cut down so as
to appear to have fallen naturally from the brow of the cliff; and
they do not venture to make a smoke, or rear any object that can
be seen from a distance. On the first appearance of a canoe or
boat, they hide themselves, with their wives and children, in the
woods, until they have reconnoitred, and ascertained the character
of the object of their fears. More than once in our descent of the
river, when we had landed to cook breakfast or supper, and were
not at all aware of the vicinity of natives, a family would crawl
from their hiding-places, and come to our fire. They always
pleaded want of food; and as their wretched appearance spoke
strongly of their necessities, they invariably shared our meals;
but not unfrequently they sold us a fish or two before we parted;
being probably what they had reserved for their next meal, if we
had not furnished them with one.  We never found them with
abundance of food; for, in times of plenty, they do not think it
necessary to lay up a stock, but let the future provide for itself.
It is supposed that formerly the Eskimos were in the habit of
ascending the river to the Ramparts, to collect fragments of'
flinty slate for lance and arrow-points; but they have been only
once so far up, since the trading-posts were established. An old
Indian, who was alive within a few years, told Mr. Bell that on
that occasion he was wounded by an arrow; but that he succeeded in escaping to the top of the cliff, from whence he killed
two Eskimos with his fowling-piece.
As we passed the encampment, the Indians rushed down to the
river's side, and, launching their canoes, accompanied us to Fort
Good Hope, which now stands near its earliest site, a short way




132                  FORT GOOD HOPE.
below the defile. At the time of Sir John Franklin's descent of
the river in 1825 and 1826, the post stood about one hundred
miles further down; but it was removed to its present position in
1836, after the destruction of the former establishment by an
overflow of the river. The flood, carrying with it large masses
of ice, rose thirty feet; and, mowing down the forest timber,
swept onward to the fort, which it filled with water, thereby destroying a quantity of valuable furs. Mr. Bell, who was the resident officer at the time, escaped with the other inmates in a boat
to the centre of the island; and shortly afterward, the dam of ice
giving way, the flood subsided as rapidly as it had risen, leaving
the buildings still standing, though much injured. A few turnips,
radishes, and some other culinary vegetables, grow at Fort Good
Hope in a warm corner, under shelter of the stockades; but none
of the Cerealia are cultivated there, nor do potatoes repay the labor
of planting. Mr. M'Beath, who had charge of the post, supplied
us with some reindeer venison, which he had kept fresh in his icecellar, dug under the floor of his hall. This gentleman informed
us that no rain had fallen this season in his vicinity, except two
very slight showers on one day: there had been no thunder-showers. From him we learnt also that a rumor of guns having been
heard on the coast of the Arctic Sea, and supposed to have been
fired from the Discovery ships, originated in a story brought by
the Kutchin or Loucheux to Peel's River Fort, but that the officer in charge placed no reliance upon it. He also gave us the unpleasant intelligence of three Eskimos having been killed in Peel's
River last summer. A large body of that nation, having ascended the Peel River, it was surmised, with hostile intentions, were
fired upon by the Kutchin, and three of them killed, upon which
they retreated.
The Kutchin and Eskimos of the estuary of the Mackenzie,
meet often for purposes of trade, and make truces with each other,
but they are mutually suspicious, and their intercourse often ends
in bloodshed. The Kutchin have the advantage of fire-arms,
but the Eskimos are brave and resolute, and come annually to
Separation Point, at the head of the delta, for the purposes of
barter. Most of the Kutchin speak the Eskimo language, and
from them the latter people have become aware of the existence
of a post on the Peel. It is probable, therefore, that the Eskimos
had a purpose of opening a trade directly with the white people;




KUTCHIN AND ESKIMOS.                    133
but this, being so obviously contrary to the interest of the Kutchinl, was likely to meet with all the opposition they could offer, and
hence their firing on the Eskimos without parley.  The Kutchin
give a very bad character of their neighbors for treachery, and
throw on them the whole blame of their mutual quarrels; but
the faults are certainly not confined to one side; and, doubtless,
were an intercourse once fairly established between the Eskimos
and the Company's posts, it might be kept up as peaceably here
as it is with the same people elsewhere.
In the course of Mr. Bell's residence on Peel's River, an event
occurred in the history of these people, which, in its principal feature, bore no small resemblance to the skirmish between the parties of Joab and Abner, related in the second chapter of the Second Book of Kings. A party of Kutchin having met a number
of Eskimos, their demeanor to one another was friendly, and the
young men of each nation rose up to dance. The Eskimos, however, being accustomed to carry their knives concealed in their
wide sleeves, did so on this occasion, and, grasping them suddenly,
on a preconcerted sigual in the midst of the dance, thrust them at
their Kutchin companions, by which three of the latter fell mortally wounded.  A melee ensued, in which several were slain on
both sides. This is the story told by the Kutchin survivors, but
the Eskimos would, perhaps, give a different color to the matter
were they the narrators. It is to be hoped that in a few years, the
interference of the traders will put an end to these disastrous conflicts, which have long ceased in other parts of the fur countries.*
* An unexpected and cruel massacre of a party of Eskimos, has been reported to the Admiralty by Commander Pullen, since this and some of the
following sheets were set in type. This sad occurrence is rendered more
lamentable, from a Canadian in the employment of the Hudson's Bay
Company, having been a prime actor in the affair. It appears that in the
spring of 1850, two men belonging to Peel River Fort had landed on Point
Separation, on which a body of Kutchin were at the time encamped. Soon
afterward a small number of Eskimos approached in their kaiyaks. The
Canadian would have fired upon them instantly, but was restrained by his
companion, who did all that he could to prevent the bloodshed that ensued
The leading Eskimo called to the Kutchin to lay down their guns; and, to
show his own peaceful intentions, he fired his arrows into the sand, and then
showed his empty quiver. His signs of amity were replied to by the Canadian
firing upon him, and the Kutchin following his example, the party was destroyed. I fear that our endeavors to establish friendly relations with the
Eskimos in the estuary of the Mackenzie, may have lured these poor people
to the bold advance among their enemies which ended so fatally for them.




134            INDIAN DEVOURED BY A BEAR.
By Mr. Bell, I was also informed of the melancholy death of
an Indian in the vicinity of Fort Good Hope.  This poor man,
having set several snares for bears, went to visit them alone.
The event showed that he had found a large bear, caught by the
head and leg, and endeavored to kill it with arrows, several of
which he shot into the neck of the animal. He seems to have
been afraid to approach near enough to give full effect to his
weapons, and the enraged bear, having broken the snare flew
upon him and tore him in pieces. The man's son, a youth of
about sixteen years of age, becoming alarmed by the lengthened
absence of his father, took his gun, and went in quest of him,
following his track. On approaching the scene of the tragedy,
the bear hastened to attack him also, but was shot by the lad as
he was rushing at him. The boy found his father torn limb from
limb, and mostly eaten, except the head, which remained entire.
The bear, whose carcass was seen by Mr. Bell, was a brown one,
and of great size. Fragments of the snare remained about his
neck and leg.
These brown bears are very powerful; and the same gentleman who told me the above story informed me that on the Porcupine River, to the west of the Peel, he saw the footmarks of a
large one, which, having seized a moose-deer in the river, had
dragged it about a quarter of a mile along the sandy banks, and
afterward devoured it all, but part of the hind-quarters.  The
bones were crushed and broken by the animal's teeth, and, from
their size and hardness, Mr. Bell judged the moose to have been
upward of a year old, when it would weigh as much as an ox of
the same age. The species of these northern brown bears is as
yet undetermined.  They greatly resemble the Ursus arctos of
the old continent, if they are not actually the same; and are
stronger and more carniverous than the black bears ( Ursus americanus), which also frequent the Mackenzie. The grisly bears
(Ursusferox) reach the same latitudes, but do not generally descend from the mountains.
After a halt of little more than two hours with Mr. M'Beath,
we resumed our voyage down the river, and, rowing until suppertime, the crews retired to rest in the boats, which were suffered
to drift with the current all night under the guidance of a steersman. On the morning of the 29th, the fog was so dense that
for some hours we allowed the boats to follow the current, being




LOFTY BANKS.-VEGETATION.               135
afraid to row, lest we should run aground. At night we encamped not far from the Old Fort. The shale, sandstone, and
limestone beds, continue throughout the space intervening between
the former and present sites of Fort Good Hope. In some places
the friab!e sandstones, yielding readily to the torrents of water
which flow over the brow of the cliff in spring, were cut into
deep ravines at regular distances, producing conical, truncated
eminences, like shot-piles.  In others, beds of bituminous shale,
one hundred and twenty feet high, existed, interleaved with two
or three beds of limestone, and in several places the shale banks
were crowned with a thick deposit of sand, which rose above the
level of the country behind. This peculiar arrangement, which
has been already mentioned as occurring not only on the Mackenzie, but extending also some way up many of its affluents, is colnspicuous in the reach immediately above the old site of Fort Good
Hope, and has the aspect of ridges of sand left in these situations
on the subsidence of waters, that have swept over the neighboring country. These banks rise much beyond any floods of the
present day, some of them being fully two hundred feet above the
river. In this neighborhood, the drift timber showed that the
spring accumulations, at the disruption of the ice, occasionally
raises the river at least forty feet. Here, as well as higher up,
there is generally a capping of diluvium, with boulders, which
roll down and line the beach. Among these, sandstones predominate; but there are many of a beautiful porphyritic granite,
and others of sienite, hornblendic rocks, greenstone, &c. No clayslate nor mica-slate boulders were observed.
Vegetation here preserves the same general character that it
has higher up the river.  Salix speciosa continues to grow twenty feet high in favorable localities; the humbler Salix nzyrsinites
skirts stony rivulets; and the Salix longifolia covers the flooded
sandbanks, and arrests the mud.  The Hedysarum  boreale furnishes long flexible roots, which taste sweet like the liquorice,
and are much eaten in the spring by the natives, but become
woody and lose their juiciness and crispness as the season advances. The root of the hoary, decumbent, and less elegant, but
larger-flowered Hedysarum Mackenzii is poisonous, and nearly
killed an old Indian woman at Fort Simpson, who had mistaken it
for that of the preceding species. Fortunately, it proved emetic;
and her stomach having rejected all that she had swallowed, she




136                 KUTCHIN.-NARROWS.
was restored to health, though her recovery was for some time
doubtful.*  On the beach I observed a patcl of parsley (Apiurn
petroselinum) in flower; probably having sprung from seed scattered by a party going to Peel River, as I met with the plant in
no other quarter.
July 30th.-In this day's voyage we saw many small parties
of Kutchin, seemingly all in want of provisions, owing to the
high water spoiling their fishery. From one man, however, we
purchased a fine white-fish (Coregonus), weighing nearly eight
pounds. These families are the most easterly of the Kutchin;
and, far from exhibiting the manly conduct and personal cleanliness for which their nation is noted on the banks of the Porcupine and Yukon, have much of the abject demeanor of their neighbors, the Hare Indians. Their jackets differ from those of the
Chepewynns in being peaked, after the manner of those of the
Eskimos.  From their being able to remain in the close vicinity
of the latter people, it is evident that they possess more courage
than the Hare Indians.
In the morning we passed an affluent thirty or forty yards
wide, coming in from the eastward, which is probably the stream
mentioned by Sir Alexander Mackenzie as one on whose banks
Indians and Eskimos collect flints. These flints are doubtless
either chert from the limestone beds, or flinty slate, which exists
plentifully in some parts of the shale formation.
Early in the morning of the 31st, we ran through the " Narrows," a defile similar to that of the Ramparts, and in passing
which the river makes a similar sharp elbow. The cliffs are
composed of sandstone, in some places horizontal, in others dipping to the south by east at a small angle. The stone is of various textures; some of it having a conchoidal fracture, and containing much calcareous matter. The basis is earthy, and the
coarsest stone is composed of small, rounded, and also sharply
angular grains of opake, white, green, or blue quartz, with grains
of Lydian-stone and coal; the basis being also tinged with coaly
matter.  Other beds pass into a kind of wacke, or shale, which
breaks down quickly into very small angular fragments. This
shale is often incrusted with alum in powder, and it is sometimes
* There must have been some mistake in the information which I furnished to Sir William J. Hooker, respecting these two plants, as the H.
Mackenzii is said in the Flora Boreali-Amnericana to have the edible root.




RICHARDSON HILLS.-PEMICAN BURIED.         137
stained with iron, and contains spheroidal nodules of clay-ironstone. The cliffs vary in height from fifty to one hundred and
fifty feet, and the capping of clay and loam with boulders is thin.
The shale formation extends along the banks of Peel's River;
and Mr. Bell informed me that he had procured crystallized alum
from some beds in that quarter. The Mackenzie is about one
mile and a half wide in these straits. The current sets at the
rate of three miles an hour, and we got soundings with eight
fathoms in mid-channel. By a mutual understanding between
the Eskimos and Kutchin, the Red River, which falls into the
Narrows, is considered as the boundary between the two nations.
On emerging from the Narrows, we had a distant view of the
Richardson chain of hills, which skirts the western branch of the
Mackenzie, and a little before noon reached Point Separation.
Mr. Rae observed for the latitude; but the sun being obscured
by passing clouds, the observation would have been doubtful, had
it not corresponded exactly with the position assigned to the spot
in Sir John Franklin's map, of 670 49' north latitude. The variation of the compass by the sun's meridional bearing was south
55~ east, being five degrees more than in 1826.
In compliance with my instructions, a case of pemican was
buried at this place. We dug the pit at the distance of ten feet
from the best-grown tree on the point, and placed in it, along
with the pemican, a bottle containing a memorandum of the
objects of the Expedition, and such information respecting the
Company's post as I judged would be useful to the boat party of
the " Plover," should they reach this river. The lower branches
of the tree were lopped off, a part of its trunk denuded of bark,
and a broad arrow painted thereon with red paint. A stake was
also erected on the beach, and a paper attached thereto, directing
attention to the tree. We considered it likely that the stake
might be taken down by Indians or Eskimos; but as the latter
people lop trees in the same manner, we did not think the circumstance of one being so cut here would induce people of either
nation to dig in the vicinity. To conceal as effectually as we
could that the earth had been moved, the soil was placed on a
tarpaulin, and all that was not required to fill the hole was carried to a distance.  The place then being smoothed down, a fire
of drift timber was made over it, that the burnt wood might indicate the exact spot to the " Plover's" party, who were furnished




138             FORMER VISIT TO SAME SPOT.
with a memoranlum mentioning that these precautions would be
used. Along with the pemican, a letter for the purser of the
"Herald," which his friends had committed to my care, was
placed in the pit.*
In performing these duties at this place, I could not but recall
to mind the evening of July 3d, 1826, passed on the yery same
spot in company with Sir John Franklin, Sir George Back, and
Lieutenant Kendall. We were then full of joyous anticipation
of the discoveries that lay in our several paths, and our crews
were elated with the hope of making their fortunes by the parliamentary reward promised to those who should navigate the Arctic
Seas up to certain meridians. When we pushed off from the
beach on the morning of the 4th to follow our separate routes,
we cheered each other with hearty good-will and no misgivings.
Sir John's voyage fell some miles short of the parliamentary distance, and he made no claim.  My party accomplished the whole
space between the assigned meridians; but the authorities decided that the reward was not meant for boats, but for ships.
Neither men nor officers made their fortunes; and, what I more
regretted, my friend and companion, Lieutenant Kendall, remained in that rank till the day of his death, notwithstanding
his subsequent important scientific services.  On the present occasion, I endeavored to stimulate our crews to an active look-out,
by promising ten pounds to the first man who should announce
the Discovery ships.
Most of the islands constituting the delta of the Mackenzie are
alluvial, and many of the smaller ones are merely a ring of white
spruce trees and willows on a sand or mud bank, inclosing ponds
or marshes filled with drift timber. Some of the larger ones have
a drier and firmer soil, but are low and even, except near the
sea, where a few conical hummocks rise abruptly above the general level to the height of eighty or ninety feet. Sir John Franklin saw these hummocks on Ellice Island; and, as they occur
also near the western boundary of the delta, I shall have occasion
to notice them again. The Richardson Mountains, which skirt
the western channel of the river, appear like a continuous ridge
4 Commander Pullen, with two boats from the " Plover," in Sept. 1849.
visited this de6pt, and found it safe. The lopped tree had previously, in
autumn, 1848, been examined by a party of the Hudson's Bay Company's
servants going to Peel River, but they did not discover the pit, having no
key to enable them to find it.




YUKON RIVER.                     139
when viewed from Point Separation; but it is more probable that
they are the termination of a succession of spurs from the main
chain of the Rocky Mountains, which come obliquely to the coast
of the estuary. The general altitude of the ridges does not apparently exceed one thousand feet; but some peaks, as Mount
Goodenough, Mount Gifford, and'Mount Fitton, are perhaps considerably higher.
In ascending from the west bank of the delta, the brow of the
first range is attained at the distance of about forty miles from
the river, of which the first four miles are over a low, marshy,
alluvial plain, covered with willows. Two or three almost precipitous ascents and descents across other mountains bring the
traveler to a small stream, called the Rat River, which flows to
the westward.  This is said to issue from a lake, which also
gives origin to a still smaller stream, bearing likewise the appellation of the Rat, and taking an opposite course to join the western branch of the Mackenzie. The western Rat River is an
affluent of a considerable stream, named the Porcupine, which,
running to the west-southwest for two hundred and thirty miles,
enters the Yukon, a river emulating the Mackenzie in size, and
flowing parallel to it, but on the western side of the Rocky
Mountains. Of the country watered by this great river, and its
inhabitants, I shall take occasion to speak hereafter.
The eastern channel of the delta of the Mackenzie is also
flanked by a ridge, named the Reindeer Hills, which I consider
to be a prolongation of the spur that the Mackenzie crosses at
the "Narrows." They are not so rugged or peaked in their outline as the Richardson chain, or the spurs which the Mackenzie
passes through higher up; and their general height does not appear to exceed seven or eight hundred feet.
Having finished the operations at the cache, we resumed the
voyage, and, retracing our way for a few miles, entered the eastern channel of the delta, and pursued it until seven in the evening, when we encamped, about twenty-two miles below Point
Separation. The banks of the river here, and the numerous islands are well wooded. The balsam poplars rise to the height of
twenty feet, and the white spruces to forty or fifty.  Numbers of
sand-martens burrow in the banks. These birds winter in Florida. Mr. Audubon informs us, that in Louisiana they begin to
breed in March, and rear two or three broods in a season.  In
the Middle States their breeding-time commences a month later




140                   SAND-MARTENS.
and in Newfoundland and Labrador it rarely takes place before
the beginning of June. Near the mouth of the Mackenzie, the
banks are scarcely thawed enough to admit of excavation by the
feeble instruments of this bird before the end of June; and in the
beginning of September, the frosts prostrating the insects on
which the martens feed, they and their young broods must wing
their way southward. I was unable to procure a specimen of
this marten, though it breeds in multitudes along the whole
course of the Mackenzie, and am  therefore unable to decide
whether it is the Hirundo riparia or Hirundo serripennis of
Audubon; but from its nearly even tail, I rather incline to think
it may be the latter; and if so, it may not be the same species
which breeds in the Southern States. The sand-marten was first
seen by us on the 28th of May, as we were descending the River
Winipeg, near the 50th parallel, and we know, from our observations in 1826, that it reaches the delta of the Mackenzie by
the beginning of July; affording thus an index to the progress
of spring in different latitudes. On the Winipeg it was accompanied by the purple swift (Progne purpurea), whose northern
limit we did not ascertain.
We resumed our voyage at three in the morning on the 1st of
August, and when we landed to cook breakfast, saw some recent
footmarks of Eskimos.  As these people are employed at this
time of the year, in hunting the reindeer on the hills which we
were skirting, we were in constant expectation of seeing some of
their parties.  The Reindeer Hills, as viewed from the eastern
channel, seem to be an even-backed range; but when examined
with the telescope, they are seen to consist of many small, oblong,
rocky eminences, apparently of limestone, and are sparingly wooded. In the course of the morning we crossed the mouths of three
pretty large affluents, coming in from the hills, and also two cross
canals, dividing M'Gillivray Island into three sections.
About thirty-five miles from Point Separation, or in latitude
TRAP
TON




MASS OF TRAP.-HARRISON ISLAND.           141
680 10' N., the channel washes the foot of a low dome-shaped
bluff, in which the intrusion of a mass of trap, which now forms
the top of the hill, has tilted up a bed of limestone, and separated
it from one of sandstone.
In the afternoon we passed another considerable affluent from
the hills in lat. 68~ 18' N.; some hours later, another one of less,
size; and very soon afterward crossed a channel which bounds
Harrison Island on the south. This island, like M'Gillivray's,
is divided into several portions by minor creeks. The boats were
under sail all the afternoon, and must have been observed, about
5 o'clock, by the hunting-parties of the Eskimos, for at that time
we noticed a line of six or eight signal smokes, raised in succession along the hills, and speedily extinguished again. As the
Eskimos use fire-wood very sparingly for cooking, and, like the
Indians generally, burn only dry wood which emits but little
vapor, we knew that the smokes we saw were intended to spread
the intelligence of the arrival of strangers in the country, and
therefore that we might expect to find a considerable body assembled on some part of the river to meet us. In the evening
we landed to cook supper, and re-embarked to continue under
sail all night, with a very light breeze; our progress was, however, slow, owing to the uncertain eddies and currents, produced
by the junction of the several cross-channels. At midnight we
passed the creek which bounds Harrison Island on the north,
in 680~37' N.  Here several gently swelling elevations interpose between the river and the main ridge of the Reindeer
Hills. The valleys and borders of the rivers are well wooded,
but the summits of' the eminences present only scattered spruce
firs, with stunted tops and widely spreading depressed lower
branches. The canoe-birch (Betula papyracea) is frequent, and
the trees we measured were about five inches in diameter. The
Populus balsamrifera and Alnus viridis grow to the height of
twenty feet, and the Salix speciosa to upward of twelve. The
Ribes rubrum, Rubus chamcemorus, and Vaccinium vitis idea,
bore at this time ripe fruit.  The Rosa blanda, Kalmia glauca,
IYardosmia palmata, and Lupinus perennis, were also observed
flourishing in this high latitude, together with several other plants
which extend to the sea-coast. Among the birds, we saw the
great tern (Sterna cayana), the Coryle alcyon, and Scolecophagusferrugineus, the latter in flocks.




[142                  REINDEER HILLS.
August 2d. —For five or six hours this morning we ran past
the ends of successive ridges separated by narrow valleys. The
diagram gives the outlines of one of these spurs seen on the southern flank.  It is about three hundred feet high, and its acclivities
are furrowed deeply, producing conical eminences which are irn
pressed with minor furrows.  The vegetation is scanty; a few
small white spruces struggle up the sides; and the soil, where it.. -,.    \
SAND HILLS. LAT. 68' 50' N
is exposed to view, is a fine white sand. Large boulders lie on
the sides of the hills, and, judging from the structure of the only
point on which time permitted rue to land, the whole appears to
be similar to the sand deposit with its capping of boulder gravel
which covers the shale on Athabasca and Mackenzie Rivers. On
the point in question, the white sandy soil was ascertained to
come from the disintegration of a sandstone, which has just coherence enough when in situ to form a perpendicular bank, but
crumbles on being handled.  It consists of quartz of various colors,
with grains of Lydian-stone loosely aggregated, and having the
interstices filled with a powdery matter, like the deposits of some
calcareous springs.  Similar sandstones occur at the " Narrows."
Above it, there is a bed of gravel, also formed of variously colored
grains of quartz, mixed with chert from limestone.  Most of the,uartz is opaque, and veined or banded, but some of it is trans



CONICAL HILL.                     143
lucent.  Some bits are bluish, others black, and many pebbles
are colored of various shades of mountain green. The latter are
collected by the Eskimos and worn by them as labrets. The
gravel covers the whole slope of the point, which is so steep as
to require to be ascended on all fours.  In one part a torrent had
made a section of a bed of fine brown sand, twenty feet deep.
On this bank I gathered the Bupleurura ranunculoides, which
grows in Beering's Straits, but had not been found so far westward as the Mackenzie before; also the Seseli divaricatuzm,
which had not been previously collected to the north of the Saskatchewan.
In latitude 680 55' N. the trees disappeared so suddenly, that
I could not but'attribute their cessation to the influence of the
sea-air. Beyond this line a few stunted spruces only, were seen
struggling for existence, and some scrubby canoe-birches, clinging
to the bases of the hills.  Further on, the Reindeer Hills lowered rapidly, and we soon afterward came to Sacred Island, which
with the islets beyond it, is evidently a continuation of the sandy
deposit noticed above. Had time permitted, I should have gone
past Sacred Island, northward, to deposit some pemican on Whale
Island, but at so advanced a period of the summer, I was unwilling to incur the loss of a day which that route was certain
to occasion, and perhaps even of two days.
We did not land on Sacred Island, but observed in passing
that it still continued to be a burying-place of the Eskimos; two
graves covered by the sledges of the deceased, and not of many
years' construction, being visible from the boats. This is the
most northerly locality in which the common red currant grows
on this continent, as far as I have been able to ascertain. Five
miles beyond the island, we landed on the main shore, to obtain
a meridional observation, by which the latitude was ascertained
to be 69~ 4' 14" N., and the sun's bearing at noon, south 51~
east. About three miles further on, we had a distant view of
an eminence lying to the eastward, which resembled an artificial
barrow, having a conical form, with very steep sides and a truncated summit. This summit, in some points of view, presented
three small points, in others, only two, divided from one another
by an acute notch. In the afternoon I landed on Richard's
Island, which rises about one hundred and fifty or two hundred
feet above the water, has an undulated grassy surface, and is bor



144                POINT' ENCOUNTER.') ---— I~_,^- a "
The tide ebbed at the encampment, from seven. in the evening..
_-.,, —.U —.
CONICAL HILL BEYOND POINT YNCOUNTER
dconnoitred by clayey or sandy cliffs and saw nhelvothing beaches. The main
shore has a similar charracter The of Sir John Frannel varies in depth from
two to six fathoms, but is fullect that off thisand-banks, on which the boats
frequently grounded.
At ten in the evening we encamped on Point Encounter, in
latitude 69~ 16' N., and set  a watch at the boats, and also on
the to of the bank, which is here nearly two hplundred feet high.
The tide ebbed at the encampment, from seven in the evening
till half an hour after midnight. The ensign was planted on the
summit of the cliff all the evening, and was no doubt seen by the
Eskimos, who were in our neighborhood, and most probably reconnoitred our encampment, but we saw nothing of them.
The readers of the narrative of Sir John Franklin's Second
Overland Journey will recollect that off this point the Eskimos
made a fruitless attempt to drag the boats of the eastern detachment on shore, for the purpose of plundering them.




CHAPTER VIII.
Enter the Estuary of the Mackenzie.-Interview with the Eskimos.-Remarks
on that People.-Winter-houses near Point Warren.-Copland Hutchison
Bay.-Flat Coast with Hummocks.-Level boggy Land.-Mirage.-A Party
of Eskimos visit us.-Point Atkinson.-Kashim.-Old Woman.-Old Man.Young Men.-Cape Brown.-Eskimos.-Russell Inlet.-Cape Dalhousie.Sabine Xema.-Liverpool Bay.-Nicholson Island.-Frozen Cliffs of Cape
Maitland-Rock Ptarmigan.-Eskimo Tents.-Harrowby Bay.-Baillie's Islands.-River of the Toothless Fish or Beghula Tess6.-Eskimo of Cape Bathurst.-Their Summer and its Occupations.-Shale Formation of the Sea-coast.
August 3d, 1848.-HAVING given some verbal instructions to
the crews of the boats, respecting their conduct in the presence
of the Eskimos, we embarked at four in the morning, and, crossing a shallow bar at the east end of a sandbank, stood through
the estuary between Richard's Island and the main, with a moderate easterly breeze, which carried us gradually away from the
main shore. About an hour after starting, we perceived about
two hundred Eskimos coming off in their kaiyaks, carrying one
man each, and three umaiks filled with women and old men,
eight or ten in each. The kaiyaks are so easily overbalanced,
that the sitter requires to steady it before he can use his bow or
throw his spear with advantage, unless when three lie alongside
each other, and lay their paddles across, by which the central
man is left at liberty to use both hands. By taking the precaution, therefore, of not allowing the Eskimos to hamper us, by
clinging to the boats, and continuing to make some way through
the water with the oars, we were pretty sure that they could not
take us altogether by surprise; and I felt confident that as long
as they saw that we were on our guard, and prepared to resist
any aggression, none would be attempted. I had, moreover,
especially directed Duncan Clark, who was cockswain of the third
boat, in which there was no other officer, to keep close to mine,
which he could easily do as his was the swifter of the two; but
the novelty of the scene caused him to neglect this command, fortunately with no serious bad consequence, though a conflict might
have been the result of his inattention to orders.
G




146             INTERVIEW WITH ESKILIOS.
Mr. Rae and I carried on a barter with the men in the kaiyaks, paying them very liberally for any thing they had to offer
in exchange, such as arrows, bows, knives of copper or of bone, &c.,
and thereby furnishing them with much iron-work, in the shape
of knives, files, hatchets, awls, needles, &c. The articles we received were of no value to us; but a gift is generally considered
by the American nations as an acknowledgment of inferiority, and
it is better to exact something in exchange for any article that
you may wish to bestow. The men were very persevering in
their attempts to hold on by the boats, and we were obliged to
strike them severely on the hands to make them desist. Previous
experience had taught me the absolute necessity of firmness in
repressing this practice, and I was pleased as well as surprised to
see the patience with which they generally endured this treatment
-a few only of the bolder spirits showing a momentary anger,
but all acquiescing at length in the rule we had laid down. The
freshness of the breeze which blew- during our intercourse rendered it easier to deal with them, as they dropped behind directly
they had ceased to ply their paddles; but they had no difficulty
in out-stripping our boats whenever they exerted themselves;
and I have little doubt but that they -are able to propel their
light kaiyaks at the rate of seven miles an hour.
While we were thus engaged, we heard the report of two muskets from the third boat, which had dropped two or three hundred yards astern.  It appeared that the kaiyaks had not been so
rigidly kept off by Clark, but had been allowed to hamper the
oars so as to retard the boat's way. Some of the Eskimos, paddling close up to the stern, had tried to drag the cockswain overboard by the skirts of his jacket; and performed other various
aggressive acts, evidently with the view of ascertaining to what
lengths they might proceed with impunity. The umiaks, which
had been kept aloof from the foremost boats, made a push for the
third one, and one of them running across her bows, the men
and women it contained instantly began to plunder the boat, and
to struggle with the crew, who, being only six in number, would
have been soon overpowered. Immediately on hearing the reports of the muskets, which were fired in the air merely as signals, I wore my boat round amid the shouts of the Eskimos who
were hovering near us, and who thought that I was about to
comply with their urgent requests that we should land and en,




INTERVIEW WITH ESKIMOS.               147
camp in their neighborhood. Hauling up under the stern of
Clark's boat, I declared that I would immediately fire upon the
assailants if they did not desist, and my crew at the same time
presenting their muskets, the attempt was at once quelled. I
found, on subsequent inquiry, that nothing had been carried away
but a small box on which the cockswain sat; which contained his
shaving apparatus, and some other trifling articles belonging to
himself, together with the boat's ensign. Though vexed at the
loss of the latter, I could not but be glad that he was the only
one of the crew who suffered, and I looked upon the theft of his
property as poetical justice for his want of firmness.  The
umiaks, not being suffered again to approach our boats, soon
pulled toward the shore, but the majority of the kaiyaks continued to keep company with us, the men conversing and begging
as if nothing unpleasant had occurred. At length, as we had
been drawing away from the shore all the morning, we totally
lost sight of the land; and the kaiyaks assembling together, the
men held a short consultation, and then paddled toward their encampment, being guided in their course by a dense column of
smoke, which their families on shore had raised. Four or five
of them continued to follow us for a short time, after the great
body had gone away, evincing their boldness, even when much
inferior in numbers, but they, also, went off on receiving some
presents, which we could then make to them without fear of
misconstruction.
Our inquiries were directed chiefly to obtaining information of
the Discovery Ships, but the Eskimos, one and all, denied having
ever seen any white people, or heard of any vessels having been
on their coast. None acknowledged having been present at the
various interviews of their countrymen with white people in 1826,
and perhaps the circumstances attending those meetings might
have deterred them from confessing that they were relatives of
the parties that assailed Sir John Franklin's boats at that time;
and as most of the men were stout young fellows, and few beyond
the prime of life, only two or three of the old men in the umiaks
could have been actually engaged in the struggle which then took
place. One fellow alone, in answer to my inquiries after white
men, said, " A party of men are living on Jhat island," pointing,
as he spoke, to Richard's Island. As I had actually landed there
on the preceding day, I was aware of the falsehood he was utter



148                     TIIE ESKIMOS.
ing; and his object was clearly to induce us to put about and go
on shore, which he and others had been soliciting us to do from
the commencement of our conversation. I, therefore, desired
Albert to inform him, that I had been there, and knew that he
was lying. He received this retort with a smile, and without
the slightest discomposure, but did not repeat his assertion.
Neither the Eskimos, nor the Dog-rib or Hare Indians, feel the
least shame in being detected in falsehood, and invariably practice
it, if they think that they can thereby gain any of their petty ends.
Even in their familiar intercourse with each other, the Indians
seldom tell the truth in the first instance; and if they succeed in
exciting admiration or astonishment, their invention runs on without check. From the manner of the speaker, rather than by his
words, is his truth or falsehood inferred; and often a very long
interrogation is necessary to elicit the real fact.  The comfort,
and not unfrequently the lives, of parties of the timid Slave or
Hare Indians are sacrificed by this miserable propensity. Thus,
a young fellow often originates a story of his having discovered
traces of an enemy for which there is no real foundation. This
tale, though not credited at first, mnakes some impression on the
fears of the others, and soon receives confirmation from their excited imaginations.  The story increases in importance, a panic
seizes the whole party, they fly with precipitation from their hunting grounds, and if they are distant from a trading post, or large
body of their nation, many of the number often perish in their
flight by famine.
The Eskimos are essentially a littoral people, and inhabit
nearly five thousand miles of sea-board, from the Straits of Belleisle to the Peninsula of Alaska; not taking into the measurement
the various indentations of the coast-line, nor including West and
East Greenland, in which latter locality they make their nearest
approach to the western coasts of the Old World.  Throughout
the great linear range here indicated, there is no material change
in their language, nor any variation beyond what would be esteemed in England a mere provincialism. Albert, who was born
on the East Main, or western shore of James's Bay, had no great
difficulty in understanding and making himself understood by the
Eskimos of the estuary of the Mackenzie, though by the nearest
coast-line the distance between the two localities is at least two
thousand five hundred miles. Traces of their encampments have




THE ESKIMOS.                     149
been discovered as far north in the New World as Europeans have
hitherto penetrated; and their capability of inhabiting these hyperborean regions is essentially owing to their consuming blubber
for food and fuel, and their invention of the use of ice and snow
as building materials. Though they employ drift-timber when
it is available, they can do without it, and can supply its place
in the formation of their weapons, sledges, and boat-frames, wholly
by the teeth and bones of whales, morses, and other sea animals.
The habit of associating in numbers for the chase of the whale
has sown among them the elements of civilization; and such of
them as have been taken into the Company's service at the fur
posts fall readily into the ways of their white associates, and are
more industrious, handy, and intelligent than the Indians. T~ he
few interpreters of the nation that I have been acquainted with
(four in all) were strictly honest, and adhered rigidly to the truth;
and I have every reason to believe that within their own cornmunity the rights of property are held in great respect, even the
hunting grounds of families being kept sacred. Yet their covetousness of the property of strangers and their dexterity in thieving
are remarkable, and they seem to have most of the vices as well
as the virtues of the Norwegian Vikings.  Their personal bravery
is conspicuous, and they are the only native nation on the North
American continent who oppose their enemies face to face in open
fight.  Instead of flying, like the Northern Indians, on the sight
of a stranger, they did not scruple in parties of two or three to
come off to our boats and enter into barter, and never on any occasion showed the least disposition to yield any thing belonging
to them through fear.
As the narratives of the recent Arctic voyages contain descriptions of the manners, customs, and features of these people, and(
the sketches of Captains Beechey, Lyons, Sir George Back, Lieutenant Kendall, and others, give correct delineations of the personal appearance and costume, I shall not say more of them in
this place.
As soon as the last of the kaiyaks disappeared beyond our horizon, we struck the boats' masts, and, pulling obliquely in toward
the shore, landed to cook our supper at a place where there were
three winter Eskimo habitations, and which is situated about
seven or eight miles to the eastward of Point Warren. These
buildings are generally placed on points where the water is deep




150                  WINTER HOUSES.
enough for a boat to come to the beach, such a locality being
probably selected by the natives to enable them to tow a whale
or seal more closely to the place where it is to be cut up. The
knowledge of this fact induced us generally to look for the buildings when we wished to land. The houses are constructed of
drift-timber strongly built together and covered with earth to the
thickness of from one to two feet. Light and air are admitted
by a low door at one end; and even this entrance is closed by a
slab of snow in the winter time, when their lamps supply them
with heat as well as light. Ten or twelve people may seat themselves in the area of one of these houses, though not comfortably;
and in the winter the imperfect admission of fresh air and the
effluvia arising from the greasy bodies of a whole family must
render them most disagreeable as well as unwholesome abodes.
I have been told that when the family alone are present, the several members of it sit partly or even wholly naked.
As soon as supper was prepared, we withdrew to the boats to
eat it, having anchored them under a sand-bank about a bow-shot
from the shore. We had scarcely assumed this position when a
party of Eskimos were perceived coming round a point a little to
the westward, crouching under the bank, and evidently hoping
to surprise us at the fire, of which they had seen the smoke. As
soon as they knew they were perceived they brandished their bows
and knives, made gestures of defiance, and threw their bodies into
various most extraordinary attitudes, as they are accustomed to
do when they meet with a strange party, of whose intentions they
are uncertain.
As we were all, both men and officers, exhausted by the constant clamor, watchfulness, and exertion sustained throughout
the morning, and I wished the men to have some repose, we determined on having no communication with this warlike group,
since we could hope for no additional information from people
residing so near the large body we had so recently parted from.
On coming to the winter-houses, they showed themselves, at first
cautiously, then openly, and ceased to gesticulate.  Soon afterward one began to wade out to the sand-bank, and another to
launch a kaiyak which he had brought. Thereupon, to intimate
that we declined to receive them, Mr. Rae fired a ball so as to
strike the water a few feet on one side of him. The bold fellow
leaped into the air, cut several capers of defiance, and then re



COPLAND HUTCHISON BAY.               151
treated with the others into one of the houses, where they thought
themselves safe, and from whence they continued to watch us.
After a time one of them waded out to the sand-bank, planted a
stick on it, and pulling off his reindeer jacket, hung it up, intimating that he wished to have its value, and then retreated to
the shore. We, however, declined bartering, and at 10 P. M,
weighed anchor, and, standing out to sea, worked to windward
all night against a stiff breeze.
Auzgust 4th.-We gained only a few miles by the night's
operations, having to contend with a tumbling sea, which drove
us to leeward; and at 3 in the morning, on the wind moderating
sufficiently to allow us to use the oars, we struck the masts and
pulled for three hours across Copland Hutchison Inlet, when we
landed on its eastern side to prepare breakfast.  The shore in
this quarter is for the most part low, but, at intervals of seven or
eight miles or more, some of the conical eminences already mentioned occur. They have not the ridged and escarped aspect
of sand hills, but, on account of their isolation, look more like
artificial barrows, though unquestionably they can not be works
of art. I am inclined to think that they are remnants of the
sand formation which covers the shale so extensively along the
banks of the Mackenzie, and that they have received their conical form from the washing of high tides during the occasional
inundations of the low lands by the sea.
Copland Hutchison Inlet is about ten miles across, and its
mouth is obstructed by sand-banks. A river seems to flow into
it, as we could trace sandy cliffs for some distance inland, like
the banks of a stream. Though many small ponds existed at the
place where we landed, they were mostly brackish, and we had
to search for some time before we obtained fresh water. On, at
length, discovering some, we filled our breakers, to avoid a similar detention at our next meal. Drift-wood was also -scarce.
From these causes we were unusually long at breakfast; and
soon after embarking we landed again to observe the meridional
altitude of the sun; by which the latitude was ascertained to be
690 44' N., and the variation of the needle 58~ E.
As we advanced to the eastward, in the afternoon, the coast
became still flatter, so that the beach was under the horizon
when we were in no more than half a fathom of water. The
hummocks above-mentioned, which came into view in succession,




152             LEVEL BOGGY LAND.-MIRAGE.
looming like conical islands, as we ran along with a light westerly breeze, were the only land in sight.  In blowing weather, the
only resource for boats on this coast is to keep a good offing, as
the surf then breaks high on the shelving flats. During the afternoon the sky was lurid, as if loaded with fog, and, though the
horizon was tolerably clear, objects were very much altered by
mirage.  Altogether I have never, either in this climate or in
any other, seen a more disagreeable atmosphere, and we all predicted a coming storm. At night, the wind heading us, so that
we could not fetch the easternmost hummock in sight, we ran
under a sand-bank, and anchored in a foot and a half of water
about a quarter of a mile from the shore. On the tide ebbing,
the boats were left dry.
The perfectly flat land here is covered, to the depth of four or
five feet, with a moorish or peaty soil, which is much cracked,
and in many places treacherously soft and boggy. Small lakes
and ponds intersect it in all directions, mostly filled with brackish
water, but some of them containing water fresh enough for cooking, though by no means good. The irregular ponds and marshy
places make the course to any particular point exceedingly devious,
and I had a long walk to reach one of the eminences, though its
direct distance from the beach was little more than a mile. This
hill rose from the boggy ground, in a conical form, to the height
of about one hundred feet, its base having a diameter about equal
to its height. A ditch, fifteen or twenty feet wide, which surrounded it, was passable only at two points; and, on ascending
the hill, I found that hollow, like the crater of a volcano; in
which, about fifteen feet below its brim, stood an apparently deep
lake of very clear and sweet water. The interior beach of this
curious pond was formed of fine clean gravel, and the hill itself
apparently consisted of sand and gravel with a coating of earth.
From its summit, I saw many similar heights to the eastward, and
southeastward, that is, in an inland direction, and they seemed to
rise, like islands, out of a great inlet or bay, for the low land connecting them, if such existed, was not visible. I looked long on
the scene, but could not satisfy myself whether what I beheld was
actually water, or merely the mirage of a low fog simulating an
inlet of the sea. I was inclined to consider that the latter was
the real state of the case, since, during the whole afternoon, the
hills we had passed, as well as the one on which I then stood,




VISIT OF ESKIMOS.                  153
seemed equally to rise out of a hazy sea, when we were at the
distance of only four or five miles from them. Could I have convinced myself that the isolated peaks I saw were really islands, I
should have thought that I was on the borders of the extensive
Eskimo Lake, laid down as problematical in Sir John Franklin's
chart, but which I now believe does not exist. The Indians,
upon whose report it was indicated, meant, most probably, by the
expression they used, the sea itself, or perhaps the inlet of Liverpool Bay, which lies further to the westward. Round the lower
part of the hill, about eight or ten feet above the then level of
the sea, lay a ring of large drift-timber, showing that, in certain
states of the wind, the sea rises so as to inundate all the low lands.
Nothing that we observed in the whole course of our voyage led
us to think that the spring tides rise more than three feet on any
part of this coast, and their rise was more generally only about
twenty inches.
Reindeer frequent these flat lands at this season to feed on
bents and grasses, and the ponds are full of geese and ducks.
Many red-throated divers (Colymbus septentrionalis) also resort
thither, and utter a most mournful cry when any one invades
their retirement; the Lapland finch (Plectrophanes lapponicus)
and horned lark (Phileremos cornutus) make a breeding station
of this coast, and we observed the young birds running in numbers over the ground.
While Mr. Rae was out hunting, the crews were cooking supper on shore, and I remained with two boat-keepers at the boats,
I received a visit from two middle-aged Eskimos and their wives;
the latter being fat, jolly-looking dames, and considerably younger than their husbands. Albert was absent, so that I could not
profit by the interview to ask as many questions as I desired to
do, but I made out that if we kept in shore of the sand-banks,
we should have water enough for our boats when the tide rose,
and would find a passage out to sea at a point on which their
winter houses stood-or, as they invariably termed such stations
in their own language, Iglulik. They had not seen any white
men on their coast, but with a ready flattery expressed their affection for them. Having been very liberal to my visitors, not
only in purchasing all the small articles of traffic they had to
offer, but also by making them some useful presents of files,
hatchets, and knives, with a considerable quantity of beads, I
G*:]




154                  POINT ATKINSON.
became tired of their company and of the constant vigilance required to prevent them from pilfering, and therefore requested
that they would go away, since I would give them nothing more.
Their smiling countenances and deferential manner prevented me
from using any threat, but I had to repeat my request several
times, and, at length, from the urgency with which I spoke, one
of the women seemed to think that I was afraid of their using
violence, and opening the hood of her jacket, she showed me that
there was a little naked infant in it.  She then explained that
when they went to war they left the children behind, and that
she and the other woman had brought their young ones as a
pledge of their pacific intentions. I prevailed upon them at length
to go, by assuring them that I would part with nothing more at
that time, but would give them something on a future occasion,
if they came again to us.
Mr. Rae went in pursuit of reindeer in the afternoon, but the
talking of the men who were wandering about scared away the
animals. He was more successful in the night, and, by taking
Halkett's portable boat on shore with him, killed nineteen brent
geese, and some ducks. The water-fowl at this time were moulting in the small lakes, and became an easy prey.
August 5th. —A strong gale of wind raised a high surf on the
shoals under which we lay, so that we could not launch the boats
over them seaward. We, therefore, made sail when the tide
rose, and ran on the inside of them until we became involved
among the flats, and the boats were left quite dry. During low
water, we marked off the best channels with poles. The tide
began to flow at 11~ A.M., and by 2- P.M., there was water
enough for us to proceed, by launching the boats over some bars
which intervened between the place where we were detained,
and deeper water. Following a narrow channel till 5 in the
afternoon, we secured the boats in a snug harbor under a tongue
of sand at Point Atkinson. A strong northwest gale had raised
a high sea, and we could do no otherwise than remain here at
anchor until the wind and sea subsided.
Point Atkinson is a flat, low piece of ground, with a range of
sand hills, forty or fifty feet high, thrown up along its northern
side by the winds and waves. When we visited it in 1825, its
extreme point was a small island separated from the main by a
ditch, but this was now choked up and formed a marshy pond,




KASHIIM.-OLD WOMAN.                 155
the water of which being brackish, and fetid as well as greasy,
from the quantity of whale oil with which the ground was saturated, was totally unfit for use. The oil had acted as a manure
on the soil, and produced a luxuriant crop of grass from one to
two feet high (Elyntus  zollis, Calamagrostis stricta, Spartina
cynosuroides, and some shorter Carices).  A small village of seVen or eight huts stood on the point, among which is the Kashirm,
or house of assembly, described and figured in the narrative of my
former voyage along this coast. I am not aware that a house of
this description, appropriated as a council chamber and eating-place
for the males, has been described as existing among the more eastern Eskimos. They possess, however, the appellation for it in their
language. It is of more importance among the western tribes,
as I shall have occasion to mention in a subsequent chapter.
The sea has carried away much of the sandy bank on which
the Kashim stood, and the spray now washes its walls, so that it
will likely be overthrown in a few seasons. It is still supported
by whale-skulls built round its outside wall. After seeing the
boats secured, AMr. Rae and I walked through the village by a
well-beaten path which meandered among the long grass; and
on looking into one of the smaller houses, found an old crone sitting warming herself over a few embers. She seemed surprised
when she saw our faces, but exhibited no signs of fear, and soon
began to talk very volubly. Some rows of very inviting herringsalmon being hung to dry on poles by her tent, she gave me five
or six at my request, and, while Mr. Rae had gone to the boats
to procure some articles to repay her and for presents, she told
me that she must go to a party who were encamped on the shore
about a mile off. I endeavored to persuade her to remain till she
got the articles I had sent for, but she was bent on going, and,
having made up a small bundle of some of her property,.walked
off with a quickness and elasticity of step which her first appearance was far from warranting. The deep furrows of her countenance, and its weather-beaten aspect, gave her the appearance of
advanced age; and while she sat she seemed to be a woman of
ordinary stature, a little bowed down; but when she stood up she
looked dwarfish, her height not exceeding four feet. Two tents,
toward which she bent her steps, were visible from the boats, but
we thought it better to let the inmates recover from their surprise
at our arrival, and to seek an interview in their own way.




156                     OLD MAN
After a time we saw a man coming toward us. He made his
approach very slowly, and by a devious path, keeping a muddy
channel between us and him. On Mr. Rae going alone and un
armed to meet him, he waited his approach with evident trepidation, and, when they met, began to express by signs and words
that he was old, infirm, and nearly blind, which was by no means
the truth.  Mr. Rae invited him to come to our tents, which
were by this time pitched, and, after much persuasion, induced
him to come on, but not until he had, on tne request of the old
man, blown in each of his ears, tapped his breast, and touched
his eyes, as a charm, either to remove his maladies, or more probably to avert any evil influence which the white men might possess. After the performance of these ceremonies he came to us;
and as his confidence increased he gradually laid aside the appearance of infirmity, and began to bustle about and pry into every
thing, until at length he became troublesome. Though repeatedly
spoken to, and told that we would not suffer him to handle any
thing belonging to us, he was scarcely restrained, and required
constant watching to prevent him from stealing. He took up his
abode in one of the huts, and, after we had retired to rest, made
an attempt to raise one of the boat's anchors, and continued to
prowl about until the sentinel on duty checked him by showing
his musket.  In the middle of the night he entered one of the
tents, with a long knife in his hand, but retreated on being spoken
to. Perhaps he had no intention of committing any violence, as
he habitually carried this knife, which was of Russian manufacture, either in his hand or up his sleeve. Through Albert I learnt
that the two natives whom we had seen on the preceding day
were sons of this man, and that they, with their families and
some young people who were hunting with them, would come to
the village in a few days to engage in the chase of whales, when
they would be joined by one or two parties then in the pursuit of
game on the east side of a river which falls into M'Kinley Bay.
This small community does not wander far from their winter
station on Point Atkinson.  The hunters pursue reindeer and
water-fowl on the neighboring flats in summer, chase the whale
during one month or six weeks of autumn, live with their families
in the village during the dark winter months, and in spring travel
seaward on the ice to kill seals, at which time they dwell in snow
houses. The old man and several of his elderly companions who




YOUNG MEN.-HEAVY GALE.                157
subsequently came to the village declared that they had no remembrance of my former visit to this coast, and said that now
was the first time that they had seen white men. They do not
go as far as the mouth of the Mackenzie, and dread their turbulent countrymen in that quarter.
As none of the ponds or ditches which intersect Point Atkinson
in all directions contain drinkable water, we were on first landing
at some loss.  The old woman, however, had told us that her
people procured water from the seaward side of the sand-hills,
and, by following a path which led in that direction, we discovered
three wells, carefully built round with drift-timber, below highwater mark; which, when we first saw them, were completely
sanded up. On clearing them out water contaminated with fetid
whale oil flowed in abundantly, but this being repeatedly drawn
off, until the surrounding sand was washed from its impurities,
we at length obtained tolerable water for making tea. These
wells are evidently supplied from rain falling on the sand-hills,
and kept up to the level at which we found it by the pressure of
the sea.
August 6th.-The old woman whom we first saw, another
still older, and an aged blind man, came to the village this day;
and in the afternoon three fine young men brought some ducks,
which we purchased from them. They were eager to sell waterfowl for buttons, beads, or any trifle we chose to offer, and our
crews eventually obtained a considerable number in that way;
but they were very unwilling to dispose of the fish which hung
on poles in the village. After letting us have a few, they refused
to part with any more, even for a good price, assigning as a reason, that they belonged to a man who was absent. They either
prize that kind of food very highly, or are scrupulous about using
the property of an absent countryman.
A heavy gale continued all day, and raised a very high surf on
the beach. As the weather was extremely cold, we required a
considerable quantity of fire-wood, and converted two of the Eskimo
scaffolds to that use; but I informed the owners that we would
pay for it before we went, to which arrangement they gave a ready
assent. At high-water, about a quarter before seven o'clock, A.M.,
the sea rose so much that the shoal off the point was covered, and
the surf began to reach our boats, so that we had to shift them
further in. The wind blowing on the shore had increased the




158                   CAPE BROWN.
rise of water considerably beyond an ordinary tide. It was lowwater again a few minutes before one. In the afternoon the gale
began to moderate, and in the evening three men came to the
village, two of them being of the party who had visited the boats
three days before. They told us that their women were coming
in the umiaks on the following day.
We had now a pretty numerous body around us, and all were
perfectly orderly except the man that we first saw, who seemed
to be the chief, or perhaps the shaman or conjuror, of the community. His features were forbidding, but the younger men had
intelligent countenances, modest and cheerful manners, and were
neither forward nor troublesome. They were of moderate stature.
August 7th.-The wind continuing to abate throughout the
day, and the sea to subside, we prepared to resume our voyage as
soon as the evening tide had flowed sufficiently to admit of the
boats being launched over the sand-flats. In the afternoon we
saw the women and children approaching slowly in the umiaks.
They stopped about a mile off, and, notwithstanding the signals
and shouts of their husbands, hung back. The men called out
umiet kai-it, " Boats, come here," with a peculiar elevated intonation, which could be heard at a great distance, similar to that
practiced by the inhabitants of the Swiss Alps.  We did not
await their arrival, but, having found water enough about half a
mile to the westward of the point, pushed out to sea; and partly
under sail, partly by rowing, coasted during the night a very low
shore, varied by a few higher islands, which the very flat sands
surrounding them prevented us from approaching.
At eight in the morning of the 8th August we landed on one
of a cluster of clayey and sandy islands, near Cape Brown; and
while we were preparing breakfast were visited by four Eskimos,
who told us that they had just killed several reindeer on a neighboring island. On desiring to have some of the venison in exchange for a knife they went away in their kaiyaks, and, before
we had finished breakfast, returned again, bringing with them
only the toughest and most inferior parts of the animals. I paid
them what was promised, and made them some presents besides,
but reprimanded them for their want of hospitality, and told them
that I meant to have given them an ax had they been more
liberal. These people, like the other parties we had previously
communicated with, declared that no large ships nor boats had




RUSSELL INLET.-XEMA SABINII.           159
been seen on their coasts, and that we were the first white men
they had ever beheld. I could not discover that any remembrance
of my visit to their shores, twenty-three years previously, existed
among any of the parties I saw on the present voyage, though I
never failed to question them closely on the subject.
After breakfast we crossed Russell Inlet, and as we passed Cape
Brown several Eskimos put off from the shore, and three of them
overtook us though we were going with a stiff breeze at the utmost speed of our boats, or about six geographical miles an hour.
To those that came up we made presents, and put the usual
questions.
In the evening we anchored the boats under the westernmost
of two islands lying immediately off Cape Dalhousie, and, having
landed, pitched our tents on the beach. The islands here, and
the Cape itself, consist of loam or sand, and present steep cliffs
toward the sea forty or fifty feet high. The surface is level, except where ravines, occasioned by the melting of the snow in the
beginning of summer, intersect it; and all the islands are so surrounded by sandy flats that a boat can not come near the beach.
On the present occasion we anchored three or four hundred yards
from the shore.
The island on which we encamped is a breeding-place of the
Xenma sabinii, the handsomest of all the gulls. Many of the parents were flying about accompanied by their spotted young, also
on the wing.  This is the most westerly ascertained breeding
station of the species, which has been found at Spitzbergen,
Greenland, and Melville Peninsula.  Mr. Rae shot some fine
male specimens, whose plumage and dimensions agreed exactly
with the description in the Fauna Boreali-Americana.  The
eggs are deposited in hollows of the short and scanty mossy turf
which clothes the ground.
August 9th.-Through the carelessness of the night-watch the
boats were suffered to ground on the ebbing of the tide, and it was
not till eight o'clock that the water had flowed sufficiently to
permit of our embarking. We then stood across Liverpool Bay
with a very light breeze, and about two o'clock had sight of the
eastern coast near Nicholson Island, the western shore being
visible at that time, but soon afterward sinking below the horizon.
At half-past nine, P.M., we reached the eastern shore, and encamped
under the frozen cliffs of Cape Maitland. This cape is an island,




160           CAPE MAITLAND.-ESKIMO TENTS.
and on the former voyage I passed through the channel which
divides it from the main. Its surface is nearly level, the soil is
loam or clay, and the cliffs which bound it are about eighty feet
high, and, being worn at the base by the action of the waves,
overhang the narrow beach by eight or ten feet.  Landslips are
frequent, and occasion a frozen surface to be constantly exposed
to view.  The island does not differ from the neighboring lands
in its subsoil being frozen: since permanent ground ice is found
every where at eighteen or twenty inches beneath the surface.
All access from below would have been cut off by the overhanging cliff, were it not for deep gullies which here and there afford a
steep path to the top. Vegetation was very scanty, and throughout this voyage I observed that flowering plants were more scarce,
and the herbage generally thinner, than in 1826. The bulk of
the cliff is composed of a black clay or loam, which is disposed in
undulated beds, and, in some places, the section exhibits a spherical mass eight or ten yards in diameter, with concentric layers,
like the coats of an onion. A few pebbles occur in the loam, and
the beach is formed of sand and small pebbles washed from the
cliffs, and. consisting mostly of trap mixed with quartz, and a little
white sandstone and limestone.
In 1826 1 observed many slabs of red sandstone in the channel behind the island, but there were none at our present encampment. I caused a pit to be dug at the top of the cliff, and
found that the thaw had penetrated sixteen inches. A thermometer laid on the bottom of the pit indicated 330 F., the temperature in the shade being at the time 42~ F. High water occurred at 1 A.M., and the ebb flowed to the northward along the
island.
The distance we ran from our encampment at Cape Dalhousie
to Point Maitland, measured by Massey's log, was thirty-five
geographical miles, or thirty-one direct (excluding the angle we
made), which agrees exactly with Lieutenant Kendall's map of
1826.  Mr. Rae killed some rock ptarmigan in the night.  The,old males were moulting at this time.
Augutst 101th.-Having breakfasted before embarking, we left
our sleeping place at 6 A.M. Soon afterward we saw two Eskimo tents on the extreme point of the island; but as the inmates
did not show themselves, and we did not wish to be delayed, we
proceeded onward without disturbing them. and crossed the mouth




BAILLIE'S ISLANDS.                161
of Harrowby Bay. At 4 P.M. Baillie's Islands came in sight,
and we held on our course between them and the main.  Some
Eskimos coming off here, we learned from them that a large
river falls into the bottom of Liverpool Bay; and we had previously received the same information from the party which we
saw on the 8th. Eskimos inhabit the banks of this river, but
the families residing at Cape Bathurst do not go so far. The
river can be no other than the " Begh'ula tesse " of the Hare
Indians, who frequent Fort Good Hope. These Indians say
that it is a large river, abounding in the fish from which it is
named (" toothless fish," Salmo Miackenzii); that it rises near
Smith's Bay of Great Bear Lake, and is eight or ten days' journey to the eastward of Fort Good Hope overland (one hundred
miles or thereabout). They also said, that some years ago they
fell in with a party of Eskimos who were hunting on its banks,
and, a quarrel ensuing, several of the latter were killed.
We could not find a convenient landing-place either on Baillie's Islands or on the main shore, owing to the flatness of the
coasts, and were compelled to anchor the boats nearly a mile
from the beach. The men waded ashore to collect driftwood
and cook supper, after which we all embarked to sleep in the
boats.  We had scarcely completed our arrangements for passing
the night, when we became aware of a fleet of kaiyaks with
three umiaks coming down upon us in a crescentic line, looming
formidably in the faint twilight. As I did not wish the men's
rest to be interrupted by visitors, a ball was fired across their
path to arrest their progress, on which they assembled in a group
evidently in consultation. Albert now hailed them by my direction, and said that we were going to sleep, and that the sentinels
would fire on any one who came near the boats by night, but
that we should be glad to trade with them in the morning.
YWhen they fully understood our wishes, after a little further
parley, they retired and did not afterward trouble us.
At 2 o'clock A.M., on the 11th, we weighed anchor, and nine
Eskimos, with their. kaiyaks, and three umiaks, containing the
women, having come off; they led us by a sufficiently deep channel to the westward of a dry bank or a sandy island, over a bar
on which we found from four to five fathoms of water.  On
crossing this we passed suddenly from muddy water into a green
sea, in which we had no bottom with the hand-lead. In 1826




162                 PEMICAN DEPOSITED.
we sought a way out to the eastward of the island, and, the bar
there being muddy and shallow, found no little difficulty in forcing the boats through. The northern channel would form a
good ship harbor.
From these people we learnt that during their summer of two
moons they see no ice whatever, that they were now assembling
to hunt whales, and would go out to sea to-morrow for that purpose. The black whale, their present object, they call ai-e-werk,
and the white whale, which also frequents this coast, keilaloo-ak.
In some summers they kill two black whales, very rarely three,
and sometimes they are altogether unsuccessful. In the course
of conversation; we were told that the several families have hunting grounds near their winter houses, on which the others do not
trespass; and the proprietors of several points of land in sight
were named to me. They knew but little of the country beyond
their own vicinity; and one of them having told me that Cape
Bathurst was an island, I affirmed that it was not, on which,
with an air of surprise, he exclaimed, " Are not all lands islands?"
None of them could remember my former visit, though I had communicated with a part of their countrymen only a few miles from
their present residence. We told them that we were looking for
ships and men of our nation whom we expected to meet; and
they said they would be glad of the visits of white men, and
would treat them hospitably. In exchange for some fish, seal
and whale-skin leather, and a few other things, we supplied them
well with knives, files, hatchets, and beads. Part of the number
who wished to come to the boats the preceding evening had, on
our declining the interview, gone to their winter houses on the
western shores of Baillie's Islands; and those who accompanied
us from our anchorage in the morning landed on the extremity
of Cape Bathurst, where their winter houses stood.
It was part of my instructions to bury some pemican at this
cape, and to erect a signal-post; but the presence of the natives
hindered me from doing so. As soon, however, as we had gone
far enough to be, as we supposed, beyond their view, we put on
shore, and having dug a hole on the top of the cliff, deposited
therein a case of pemican, with a memorandum explaining the
objects of the expedition. Every precaution was used to replace
the turf, so as not to betray that it had been moved; some drifttimber was piled upon it and set on fire, and a pole, painted red




CAPE BATHURST.                   163
and white, planted at the distance of ten feet. As all the drifttimber at this place had beeh gathered into a heap by the Eskimos, and the pole was part of it, we hung up some articles of
value to them by way of payment, in the hope that it would
cause them to respect the signal-post. In the mean time our
crews were preparing breakfast, and we had just finished this
meal, when we saw some Eskimos from the cape running toward
us. They had evidently been watching us, and came in the expectation of receiving some additional articles; nor were they
disappointed. The soil here was thawed to the depth of fourteen
inches. The deposit was made about five miles from the extreme
point of Cape Bathurst.
Many black whales and two white ones VWere seen this morning. The eider ducks had now assembled in immense flocks, and
with the brent geese were migrating to the westward. Both these
water-fowl follow the coast-line in their migrations on the Pacific
as well as the Atlantic sides of the continent. The eiders are
only accidental visitors in the interior, and the brents are not seen
inland to the eastward of Peel's River; but Mr. Murray informs
me that in their northerly flight they follow the valley of the
Yukon, thus cutting across the projecting angle of Russian
America.
The surface of the country in the vicinity of Cape Bathurst is
level or gently undulated, and the sea cliffs are in many places
nearly precipitous, and about one hundred and fifty feet high.
The strata, where exposed, are sand and clay, and I believe that
this promontory, from its northern point to the bottom of Franklin
Bay, is the termination of the sandy and loamy deposit and bituminous shale which throughout the whole length of the Mackenzie rests on the sandstone and limestone beds so frequently noticed
in the preceding pages, and fragments of which may be traced
among the alluvial islands in. the estuary of the Mackenzie, and
in Liverpool Bay. A line drawn from Clowt sang eesa, or Scented Grass Hill, of Great Bear Lake, to the north-northwest, would
fobrm a tangent to the eastern coast-line of Cape Bathurst, and
most probably mark the limit of the formation on that side.  If
so, the river Beghula, which enters Liverpool Bay, will flow
through a country similar to that forming the banks of the Mackenzie, and being consequently well wooded, will abound in
animals.




164                 SHALE FORMATION.
As we proceeded to the southeast from Cape Bathurst along
the shore, the crest of the high bank rose to about two hundred
and fifty feet, and beds of bituminous shale, similar to those on
the Mackenzie, are exposed in many places. At Point Trail, in
latitude 700 19' N., the bituminous shale was observed to be on
fire in 1826, and the bank had crumbled down from the destruction of the beds. Selenite, alum in powder, and the wax-colored
variety of that salt named " Rock butter," with sulphur, were
among the products of the decomposition of the shale which I
then collected; and the clays which had been exposed to the
heat were baked and vitrified, so that the spot resembled an old
brick-field.  The sand covering the shale here is coherent enough
to be a friable sandstone; and many concretions of clay iron-stone
exist in the shale beds, exactly similar to those which are irnbedded in the shale of Scented Grass Hill.  Wilmot Horton
River flows out by a narrow gorge from a flat valley, and the
high banks, rising in ridges above the valley, flank it some way
inland, as we had noticed them doing on the tributary streams
that join the Mackenzie.
Near Point Fitton the cliff is two hundred feet high, and contains layers of rock-butter two inches thick, with many crystals
of selenite adhering to the surface of the slates.  The cliff is
capped by a marly gravel, two yards thick, containing pebbles of
granite, quartz, Lydian stone, and compact limestone.  To the
southward of Wilmot Horton River, portions of the ruined bank
continue to emit smoke.
Cape Bathurst has been recently invested with more interest
sinoe it is the point of the main shore from whence Commander
Pullen was directed by the Admiralty to take his departure in
the summer of 1850, in his adventurous attempt to reach Melville Island. By the last accounts from Mackenzie's River, we
learn that this enterprising officer received his instructions by express, on the 25th of June, being then in Slave River, on his way
to York Factory. He immediately turned back, having been
supplied with 4500 lbs. of jerked venison and pemican by Mr.
Rae, which he embarked in one of the Plover's boats, and in a
barge of the Hudson's Bay Company, being the only available
craft. The barge is well adapted for river navigation, but from
its flatnevs unfitted for a sea-voyage, though it may be in some
respects improved by the addition of a false keel, which Com



COMMANDER PULLEN                       165
mander Pullen would probably give it before he descended to the
sea. Its weight will render it much less manageable among ice
than a lighter boat. No intelligence of this party his reached
England since the above date, but we may expect to hear of his
proceedings in May or June, 1851, before this volume has passed
through the press.
* This anticipation has been realized, as has been mentioned in p. 133.
Commander Pullen found the sea covered with unbroken ice all the way
from the Mackenzie to Cape Bathurst, a small channel only existing in
shore, through which he advanced to the vicinity of the cape. Failing in
finding a passage out to sea, to the north of Baillie's Islands, he remained
within them, until the advance of winter compelled him to return to the
Mackenzie.




CHAPTER IX.
Voyage continued along the Coast.-Franklin Bay.-Melville Hills.-Point Stivens.-Sellwood Bay.-Cape Parry.-Cocked-hat Point.-Cache of Pemican.Ice Packs.-Archway.-Burrow's Islands.-Darnley Bay.-Clapperton Island.
-Cape Lyon.-Point Pearce.-Point Keats.-Point Deas Thomson.-Silurian Strata.-Roscoe River.-Point De Witt Clinton.-Furrowed Cliffs.-Melville Range.- Point Tinney.-Buchanan River.-Drift Ice.-Croker's River.Point Clifton.-Inman's River.-Point Wise.-Hoppner River.-Wollaston
Land.-Cape Young.-Stapylton Bay.-Cape Hope.-Cape Bexley.-Ice Floes.
-Point Cockburn. —A Storm.-Chantry Island.-Salmon.-Lambert Island.Leave a Boat.-Cape Krusenstern.-Detained by Ice.-Basil Hall's Bay.Cape Hearne.-Peculiar Severity of the Season.-Conjectures respecting the
Discovery Ships.-Resources of a Party Inclosed by Ice among the Arctic
Islands.-General Reflections.
August 11th, 1848.-WE sailed along the coast all day with
a light breeze, and in the afternoon eleven Eskimos came off
from the shore and sold us some deer's meat. A woman of the
party ran for two miles along the beach in the hope of receiving
a present, and, when quite exhausted with her exertions, stripped
off her boots to barter with us. One of the men in the kaiyaks
brought them off, but, as they were too small for any of our
crew, we returned them with a present of more than their value.
These men gave us no additional information, but expressed pleasure when told that they might expect to meet other parties of
white men.  A scull of eleven white whales were seen in the
evening.
We continued under sail all night, and at three in the afternoon of the 12th, landed in a very shallow bay, to the southward
of Point Stivens, to cook a meal which served for both breakfast
and dinner. Mr. Rae went in pursuit of some reindeer which
were seen from the boats, but, owing to the extreme flatness of'
the land, which afforded no cover, he was unable to approach
them.
The high banks of Cape Bathurst are continued to the bottom
of Franklin Bay, where they recede a little from the coast, and
are lost in an even-backed ridge, apparently not exceeding four
or five hundred feet in height. These hills are named the Mel



SELLWOOD BAY.                    167
ville Range, and cross the neck of the peninsula of Cape Parry,
appearing again behind Darnley Bay. The peninsula is so flat
near its isthmus, and so much intersected by water, that I am
still in doubt whether it may not be actually a collection of islands. But if this is the case, the channels which separate the
islands are intricate and shallow. To the south of Point Stivens
the soil was wholly mud, apparently alluvial; to the northward
beds of limestone crop out. In the evening we encamped on
Point Stivens, which is a long, narrow, gravel beach, composed
mostly of pieces of limestone, some of which contain corals. Seaweed is very scarce throughout the whole of the Arctic coast, but
we saw on the beach here some rejected masses of decayed Lamzinaria, probably saccharina; also a stunted white spruce, lying
on the beach, still retaining its bark and leaves. Mr. Rae shot
a fine trumpeter swan, on which we supped. The only water
we could find here for cooking was swampy, and full of very
active insects shaped like tadpoles, which were just visible to the
naked eye (Apus; Lepidurus, probably Lynceus).
The crimson and lake tints of the sky, when the sun set this
evening, were most splendid, and such as I have never seen surpassed in any climate.
On August the 13th, we embarked at 3 A. M., and at half-past
ten landed in Sellwood Bay on some horizontal beds of limestone,
which are the first rocks ini situ that become visible, in tracing
this peninsula from the south. No organic remains were detected in the stone. Many very large slabs, moved but a short way
from their parent beds, were piled upon each other within reach
of a high surf, and among them lay great boulders of greenstoneporphyry and hornblende rock. To the north of the bay, there
are high cliffs of limestone, and also a detached perforated rock,
which employed Lieutenant Kendall's pencil on my former voyage. Many white-winged, silvery gulls were breeding on the
various shelves of its cliffs, and their still unfeathered young were
running about, alarmed by the clamor of the parent birds.
In the evening we anchored in a snug boat-harbor, within the
westernmost of the two points which terminate Cape Parry.
The part of the Cape which will be first visible on approaching
from sea, is a hill about five hundred feet high, which far overtops all the neighboring eminences. From it a comparatively
low peninsular point stretched west-northwest about half a mile,




168                  CACHE OF PEMICAN.
being connected to the main by a gravel bank, and terminated
on its sea-face by a limestone cliff, which in some points of view
resembles a cocked-hat. An indented bay, about three miles
across, separates this point from another more to the east, which
extends fully as far north. Booth's Islands, five in number, form
a range nine miles long, whose extremities bear fronm the hill
northwest and southwest respectively. The channels between
the islands vary in width from one to three miles. On the east
side of the hill, cliffs of limestone, washed by the waves, have
been scooped into caves and arches, which, without much aid
from the imagination, recalled many fine architectural forms. A
boulder of chert, lying on the shore, measured five feet in length,
by four in breadth, and exhibited some curious veining.
In approaching our anchorage we shot two seals, and one of
them, being thrown on the strand, attracted, late in the evening,
the attention of a gray fox, which was prowling about the beach.
As soon as the animal saw the carcass, it halted, and, after a
momentary survey, leaped lightly behind a large log of drift-timber, from whence it peeped out at it from time to time. While
I was watching the fox's reconnoitring tactics with some interest,
and speculating upon the time it would devote to the survey before it ventured to approach the carrion, a noise made by the
sentinel, who was seated by the fire, scared the wary object of
my study, and it fled swiftly up the hill.
August 14th.-This morning we deposited a letter, with a
case of pemican, on the verge of the cliff of Cocked-hat Point,
covered it with fragments of limestone, and erected in front of it
a pile of stones marked with red paint. The beds of this cliff
are horizontal, and they are not only interleaved with regular
layers of chert, but also contain nodules of the same material.
On rounding the eastern point of Cape Parry, we saw packs of
drift-ice for the first time since we commenced our sea voyage.
Eight or ten miles to the southward of the Cape we passed an
isolated rock, perforated by an archway, standing in front of some
bold limestone cliffs; soon after noon we were opposite to a point
distinguished by a remarkable rounded hummock; and in the
evening we encamped on one of Burrow's Islands. This island
is composed of cherty limestone, which in decaying acquires a
honeycombed surface as hard as a flint or file. Rain fell in the
night for the first time for many days.




CLAPPERTON ISLAND.                 169
A Ifdir wind having sprung up in the night, we embarked an
lhour before midnight, and on the morning of the 15th stood down
the bay, with light breezes and hazy weather; landing at 10 A.M.
on Clapperton Island to prepare breakfast. The coast in this
quarter is similar in character to that on the opposite side of the
peninsula in the same parallel, being low and not easily approachable on account of the extensive sandy banks which lie off it.
Clapperton Island, itself, is gravelly. From it, we saw land
round the bottom of the bay, with some intervals, apparently
inlets.
On re-embarking, we steered directly for Cape Lyon, distant
about ten miles; but a low thick fog coming on, we got involved
in a stream of drift-ice, on which the course was altered a little,
so as to fetch within the cape. We made our way through the
ice without damage to the boats, and in the afternoon found ourselves about four miles from the pitch of the cape, close in-shore,
under some very high mural precipices of a bluish-gray, slaty
rock, on which a thick mass of columnar basalt is imposed. The
cliffs are about two hundred feet high, and stand out in succession, forming the salient angles of several shallow indentations of
the coast-line. A talus of unmelted snow-drift lay under most of
them, which being undermined by the action of the waves, would
be detached on the first heavy fall of rain, and become icebergs.
Toward the bottom of Darnley Bay, the coast-line declines greatly
in altitude, but the heights of the Melville Range are dimly seen
in the distance. We anchored for the night in the northwest
angle of the cape, between two projecting points of basalt. The
land here rises between three and four hundred feet above the sea.
On the 16th we continued our voyage to the eastward, and, on
landing to prepare breakfast at Point Pearce, ascertained that
high-water took place there at eight o'clock. The trap ranges
run in this quarter in a southwest and northeast direction, and
produce small bays; their precipitous faces are turned toward
the west-southwest. Judging from the view we had of them
from the boats in passing, the cliffs were mostly composed of'
greenstone-slate.  At Point Pearce, the shore is formed of flesllcolored limestone, whose beds crop out in successive cliffs like
stairs, and attain a height of two hundred and fifty feet a short
way from the beach. At a small point lying between the one
just named, and Point Keats, there are magnificent columns of'
H




170                     POINT KEATS.
basalt, with a pillar of the same material rising out of the water
immediately in front of them. The bay to the south of these
columns is lined with cliffs of flesh-colored limestone; thin layers
of sandstone crop out further to the eastward, and covering them
there is an overflow of dark leek-green basalt or greenstone.
A strong head-wind having sprung up and occasioning much
fatigue to the rowers, while our progress was small, we put in at
Point Keats, and encamped. Mr. Rae and Albert went to hunt
reindeer, and I took a short walk inland. I soon came to extensive beds of flesh-colored sandstone, forming the bounding walls
of a deep narrow ravine, through which flowed a small shallow
river varying in width from ten to thirty yards, but whose channel bore evidence of a considerable body of water passing through
it in the spring floods. The ridges of sandstone seem to have a
direction from west-northwest to east-southeast, or nearly parallel
to the general coast-line here, and are much fissured, the principal
fissures being in the line of the strike. The cliffs for the most
part face westerly, and the west wall of the ravine is lower than
the eastern one. The sandstone is fine-grained, hard, and durable. Some beds are very white, others flesh-colored, and interleaved with them are beds of chert or quartz rocks. The domeshaped summits of the Melville Range are visible in the distance.
The fragments of sandstone cover many miles of surface, and
the limestone, which splits off in thin layers by the action of the
frost, becomes by the action of the weather as rough as a file, and
soon wears out a pair of shoes. There are some beautiful excavations in the cliffs that are exposed to the waves, and a fine gothic
shrine, with a canopy and mouldings supported on slender pillars,
attracted our special notice. An isolated column, which stands
before it, had been selected as a breeding-place by two ivory gulls,
who were very clamorous when any one approached their nest.
The young had ash-gray backs, and were nearly fledged. A very
clear sunset enabled me to obtain an extensive view to seaward,
and I am convinced that no land much above the level of the
water lies within forty miles to the northward of this point.
A thick, wet fbg, accompanied by a strong head-wind, detained
us at our encampment till after breakfast on the 17th. During
our enforced stay, Mr. Rae killed a roe reindeer in excellent condition, and we procured also some waveys (Anser hyperboreus).
These geese and the northern divers (Colymbus borealis) were at




NATURAL BRIDGE.                    171
this time migrating to the southeast, or in the opposite direction
with respect to the line of coast that we had observed the eider
ducks and brent geese proceeding a few days previously near Cape
Bathurst.
About a mile and a half to the westward of Point Deas Thomson, the projecting point of a deep cove is perforated, forming a
natural bridge, and not far from it another projection exhibits a
less striking opening.
TORSO ROCK.
A detached column of limestone, inclosing masses and layers of
chert or quartz rock, is also cut through, forming a pointed arch.
The whole coast is composed of limestone, forming high cliffs at
intervals. The quartz rock beds acquire occasionally a pistachiogreen color, as if from the presence of epidote. A similar stone
occurs at Pigeon River on the north shore of Lake Superior; and
the limestones and sandstones of the latter district, with their associated trap rocks, as at Thunder Mountain, correspond in most
respects with those between Cage Parry and the Coppermine
River; and consequently, if we can rely on lithological characters, they may be considered as the oldest members of the silurian
series, or as the rocks on which that series is deposited, to which
epoch the Lake Superior formation has been assigned. If we
hadl been able to trace up t&e limestone spurs of the Rocky




172               POINT DE WITT CLINTON.
Mountains which traverse the Mackenzie, they would most probably have been found running up to and connected with the limestone of this coast.
At six in the afternoon the wind veering round to the southwest, we embarked again, and continued under sail till three in
the morning of the 18th, when the wind failing us we dropped
anchor in the mouth of Roscoe River.  We resumed our voyage
at 8 A.M., after preparing an early breakfast.
A little to the westward of Point de Witt Clinton, a range of
basalt and limestone cliffs extends for a mile along the beach,
under which there lay a talus of unmelted drift-snow. In 1826,
though we passed along this coast nearly a month earlier in the
season, we observed much fewer of this kind of memorial of the
preceding winter, and that year, the flowering plants were more
plentiful, and the vegetation generally more luxuriant.  The
deterioration of the climate after rounding Cape Parry became
daily more and more evident to us, though we had decreased our
latitude above a degree since leaving Cape Bathurst. The presence of a large body of warmer water, carried into the Arctic
Sea by the Mackenzie, may have some influence in ameliorating
the temperature within the limits of that wide estuary; but I am
inclined to think that Vollaston and Banks's Lands, by detaining
much drift-ice in the channels which separate them from one another and from the main shore, have a still more powerful effect
in lowering the summer temperature.
At Point de Witt Clinton the cliffs are formed of flesh-colored
beds of limestone interleaved with bluish-gray beds, and containing fibrous and compact gypsum in veins. These cliffs are forty
or fifty feet high, and are covered to a considerable depth with
diluvial loam, containing fragments of sandstone, limestone, and
trap rocks, some of them rolled, others angular. The surface of
the loam is undulated; and, about a quarter of a mile from the
beach, cliffs of basalt protrude, at the height of two hundred and
fifty feet above the water. A short way to the westward also of
the point, cliffs of basalt rise from the beach. This stone breaks
up here into cubical blocks, many of which are piled up at the
foot of the cliff. These fragments and the basaltic shelves at the
base of the cliff, are sculptured by fine acute furrows, and polished
by the action of ice and gravel, the scratches being generally
perpendicular to the line of coast, but occasionally crossing each




POINT TINNEY.-DRIFT-ICE.             173
other.  The Melville Range is about five miles distant from this
part of the shore, and presents many mural precipices and ravines
on its acclivity. The highest points did not appear to rise more
than seven or eight hundred feet above the sea. An undulated
grassy country intervenes between the range and the shore.
In the evening we encamped on a point situated in latitude
69~ 30' N., to the westward of Point Tinney.  The sea-bank
shelves down from the general level of the country here one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet, and, being cut by ravines,
shows conical eminences when seen from a boat. The diluvium
is at least forty feet thick.
August 19th.-This morning we crossed the mouth of Buchanan River, which is a very small stream in this month, but the
channel which it fills in time of flood is one hundred yards wide.
I have mentioned, in the preceding narrative, that when we visited
Fort Good Hope, no rain had fallen there this season, and a few
short showers only occurred after we came to the coast. The
banks of this stream gave further evidence of the dryness of the
summer, in the clayey soil being cracked every where into round
flat cakes, on which the foot-prints of geese, which had walked
over them while yet muddy from the melting snow, were sharply
impressed. Were such a surface to be covered by drift-sand, the
foot-prints might be preserved as in the ancient sandstones. In
the present instance the winter frosts set in without any heavy
rains having fallen to obliterate the traces, which would consequently remain hard until the following spring.
Mr. Rae brought in two fine reindeer, and several seals also
were itilled; but none of the men relishing the dark flesh of the
seals, while they had abundance of excellent venison, I gave directions that no more should be shot. A meridional altitude was
obtained in lat. 69~ 192' N.
To-day we passed through much drift-ice by very devious channels, and not without risk of the boats being crushed, but fortunately without damage. Croker's River issues from a triangular,
level valley, three or four miles wide at the beach, and extending
about five miles backward. Over this the stream spreads when
flooded, but when low, filters out by narrow channels, barred
across by sand-banks. The valley is bounded on the east and
west by elevated banks of sand, diluvial loam and boulders, which
meet at the Melville Range. The valley at this time presented




174            POINT CLIFTON.-HOPPNER RIVER.
a singular scene of desolation; for though the summer was nov
far advanced, its flat bottom was entirely covered with large floes
of ice, which had been probably driven over the sand-bar from the
sea by northerly winds.
A brood of long-tailed ducks (Harelda glacialis) were seen
swimming in one of the streams, with the mother bird in the van.
Her wariness did not prevent us from laying her flock under contribution for our evening meal.
August 20th.-This day also our voyage was performed among
crowded floes of ice, and was consequently slow. When we landed to prepare breakfast, Mr. Rae killed a fine buck reindeer. In
this quarter, a skillful hunter, like Mr. Rae, could supply the
whole party with venison without any loss of time. A meridional
observation was obtained in lat. 69~ 9' N. between Point Clifton
and Inman's River, and about two miles from the latter; the
variation of the compass, by the sun's bearing at noon, being 611 o
E., and Point Clifton bearing north 26~ west, distant a mile and
a quarter.
A little to the eastward of Point Clifton, there are cliffs of
limestone, from whence to Inman's River the beach is alluvial
and shingly.  The river flows between high gravel banks and
alluvial cliffs; and to the eastward of it, the limestone rises in successive terraces to the height of four hundred feet above the sea.
The eminences which this formation produces are long and roundbacked, and it abounds in narrow deep ravines or fissures.
At Point Wise, the cliffs are composed of crumbling earthy
limestone, containing chert in layers and nodules.  Frop this
point, at sunset, Wollaston Land was distinctly seen at the distance apparently of thirty miles.
On the morning of the 21st, we passed two ranges of high limestone cliffs, at the second of which, lying to the eastward of Hoppner River, we put ashore to prepare breakfast. The ice under
this cliff was loaded with many tons of gravel. Wrollaston Land,
as seen from hence, appeared to have its summits and ravines
covered with snow, but the channel being filled with ice, the iceblink rendered the true form and condition of distant land very
uncertain.
One of our boats having been injured by the ice and rendered
leaky, we put ashore early at Cape Young to repair the damage,
which was effected in the course of the evening.




A STORM.-SLOW PROGRESS.               175
August 22d. —On embarking this morning in rather thick
weather we struck across Stapylton Bay, for three hours, and then,
getting sight of Cape Hope, bearing east-northeast, hauled up for
it. The sky was dark and lowering, with occasional thick haze
and heavy showers, and a water-spout, seen in-shore, gave intimation of an approaching storm. Ice floes lying close off Cape
Hope caused us no little trouble, the passages among them being
very intricate, and the perpendicular walls of the masses being too
high to allow of our landing, or seeing over them. In the afternoon we passed Cape Bexley, running before a stiff breeze, and at
5 P. M., a storm coming suddenly on, we were compelled to reduce
our canvas to the goose-wing of the main-sail, under which we
scudded for an hour, and then entering among large masses of ice,
about two miles from Point Cockburn, found shelter under some
pieces that had grounded. The shore was too flat to admit of our
bringing the boats near enough to encamp; the ice-cold sea water
chilled the men as they waded to and fro; there was no drifttimber on the beach; and we passed a cold and cheerless night
in the boats, the wind being too strong to admit of our raising any
kind of shelter. I afterward learned that this storm began at Fort
Simpson at 6 A.M. on the 23d, or, making allowance for the difference of longitude, about thirteen hours and a half later.  It
commenced on the Mackenzie by the wind changing from northeast to northwest, and the sky did not clear up till nine in the
morning of the 24th. At the same date an earthquake occurred
in the West India Islands, which did much damage.
During the night mnuch ice drifted past, and in the morning of
the 23d the sea as far as our view extended was one dense close
pack. By 10 A. MI. the wind had moderated considerably, and the
rising tide having floated some of the stranded pieces of ice, we
were enabled to advance slowly along the shore, by moving them
aside. In this way every small indentation of the coast-line required to be rounded, and as these were numerous the direct distance made good was small.  We encamped, on the tide falling
again, at 2 P.M., on a gravel point lying about ten miles to the
westward of Chantry Island. Snow, which fell in the night, did
not wholly melt this day, and the distant rising grounds were
white. The weather continued very cold; drift-wood proved to
be exceedingly scanty; and in the night we had high winds and
much sleet.  The coast-line is more deeply indented in this quar



176               SALMON.-LAMBERT ISLAND.
ter than the chart* indicates, as chains of low sandy islands which
lie across the entrances of the bay hid them from our view on the
former voyage.  The country is flat and strewed with fragments
of limestone.
No lanes of open water could be discerned on the 24th from
any of the eminences near the coast. By handing the boats over
the flats, where the water was too shallow for heavy ice, we were
enabled to round six small bays.  In the course of this labor
many salmon were seen, a few were killed by the men with their
poles, and some were found on the ice, having been left by seals,
which were scared away by our approach. The shape of this
salmon is much like that of the common sea-trout of England,
but its scales are rather smaller.  Its flesh is red, and its flavor
excellent. A medium-sized fish measured 29 inches in length,
and 16 in girth. We encamped at five in the evening a little to
the eastward of Chantry Island, having traveled about twentyfour miles round the bays, but gained only eight in direct distance. At this place, beds of compact white limestone crop out
on the beach, and the surface of the country is thickly strewed
with boulders of bright-red sandstone, some of them very large.
Many boulders of basalt and other trap rocks also occur.
Augzust 25th.-A strong west-northwest wind blowing during
the night, cleared away much of the ice that pressed immediately
on the beach, though all remained white to seaward. We were
enabled thereby to run for three hours before the wind, but then
came to a bay, through which there was no passage, large floes
resting on the rocks of the beach, and no lanes existing outside.
A meridional observation gave the latitude of this place 68~ 36' N.
Lambert Island lies some miles distant in the offing. The surrounding country, as far as my examination extended, consists of'
limestone, but many sandstone boulders of various colors, lying on
the surface, point out that stone as existing in situ in some locality
not far distant.
August 26th.-A frosty night covered the sea and ponds with
young ice, and glued all the floes immovably together, so that the
rise of the tide was no longer serviceable to us. We carried the
cargo and launched the boats across a point of land for half a mile
in the morning, and spent the rest of the day in the various operations of cutting through tongues of ice, dragging the boats over the
* In Franklin's second Overland Journey,




LEAVE A BOAT.-CAPE KRUSENSTERN.           177
floes, where they were smooth enough, moving large s4ones that
lay in the way and resorting to every expedient we could devise
to gain a little advance. Two more portages were made in the
afternoon over rugged paths, and we traveled in all about five
miles in a day of very severe labor. A heavy snow-storm converted the surface of the pools of sea water into a thick paste, the
water being already cooled down to the freezing point.
By a repetition of the same operations, which occupied us during
the previous day, we advanced on the 27th about three miles and
a half. After Mr. Rae had attentively examined the sea from a
high cliff without perceiving any slackness in the ice, or motion
during the flood or ebb tide, I determined on lightening the labors
of the men, by leaving one boat and her cargo on a rocky point,
which bears north 280 west from Cape Krusenstern, distant
twelve miles. Our encampment in the evening was on a flat
terrace of slaty limestone under a high cliff of the same rock.
The limestone reposes on beds of chert or quartz rock in thin
layers, which in some places are detached in large slates. Here
we deposited, on a flat shelf of the rock, several cases of pemican,
an arm-chest, and some other things that encumbered the boats,
and rendered themn less fit for launching over the ice.
During the night, a fresh wind from the east-southeast brought
much snow, which added to the pasty condition of the surface of
the water, and produced a layer of semi-fluid matter that completely deadened a boat's way under oars.
Three hours were consumed on the morning of the 28th in
bringing the boats about a hundred yards, the cold weather
almost paralyzing the men's powers of exertion.
When the tide flowed in the afternoon, a portage of a thousand
yards was made, and the boats being afterward dragged across
some smooth floes of ice, we gained a pool of open water, and
pulled to the bottom of Pasley's Cove, where we encamped.
Mount Barrow is a conspicuous object from the bottom of the
cove, as it rises abruptly from the flat limestone strata.
August 29th.-During the night and this morning the same
keen frosty east winds continued, with snow showers. The tide
fell so much that the boats were left aground inl the morning, and
we were unable to proceed until 7 A. M. In three hours we came
within about a mile and a half of the pitch of Cape Krusenstern,
when further progress being barred by ice heaped against the
Hi




178                FURROWED LIMESTONE.
clifis, we put ashore and drew up the boats on the beach.  In
the flat limestone beds, of which the country here is formed, I
observed a curious variety of structure which I saw no where
else, and which I can not satisfactorily account for. It was a
diminutive ridge like the roof a house, formed in this manner A,
of the upper slaty layer of the limestone, its height or the breadth
of its sides being about a foot only, yet its length was half a mile
It seemed to be connected with a fissure. Though the layers of
the limestone are most extensively detached by the freezing of
the moisture, which insinuates itself between them, such a process could not produce any thing so regular as this small antie(linal ridge. If beds already fissured were, in subsiding, to be
pressed more closely together, the edges of the fissure might perhaps assume such a form   Elsewhere, in the same formation,
straight furrows, as if drawn by a plow, are common, and evidently
proceed from the small fragments which cover the ground, filling
a crack, nearly to the brim   Judging from  the whole surface
here being covered with thin pieces of limestone to the exclusion
of soil, I should infer that the fiost splits off the layers and breaks
them up more effectively than any agent to which rocks are exposed in warmer climates, and that the scantiness of the soil is
owing to the shortness of the season of growth of the lichens and
other plants, which have the power of decomposing the surface
of the stones and so producing a little mould. The frost breaks
up the stone before the lichens have time to establish themselves.
The limestone which forms the cliffs of Cape Krusenstern, and
the other cliffs on the coast between it and Cape Kendall, contains many thin slaty beds of chert or quartz rock, either bluishwhite, or colored reddish-brown by oxide of iron.
We remained all the 30th in an encampment, watching the
ice outside, or making excursions across the cape to examine the
sea in various directions. Some small lanes of water were visible, and the ice was moved to and fro by the flood and ebb, but
no channel was discovered by which we could hope to make any
progress toward the Coppermine River. The wind continued in
the east-northeast quarter, and the weather was very chilling.
We employed the men in erecting a column of stone near the
tents. It was on this cape that Mr. Rae spent a month of the
following summer in anxiously watching for an opening in the
ice, by which he might cross to Douglass Island and Wollaston




BASIL HALL'S BAY.-CAPE REARNE.           179
Land   The true position of Douglass Island is ten miles from
Cape Krusenstern.
At 4 P.M. on the 30th, a sudden movement of the ice having
opened a narrow channel, we hastened to launch and load the
boats; and, pushing them through, succeeded in rounding the
cape. We then ran under sail with a favorable breeze till 11 P.M.,
when the night being dark we got involved among drift-ice, and
not being able to reach the shore dropped anchor off Point Lockyer, and went to sleep in the boats.
We resumed the voyage at 4 A.M. on the 31st, and, getting
inside of fields of ice which covered the sea as far as our view
extended, we ran along the coast until we came to an island in
Basil Hall's Bay, on which the sea ice rested, barring our further
progress on its outside. On the former voyage, this island was
thought to be part of the main shore; but on ascending to its
summit, which rises about three hundred feet above the sea, we
discovered its insular nature, and perceived that the ice within
it was not only smoother, but lay less compactly. We therefore
took that direction, and found that the inlet runs about five
miles behind the island into a narrow valley, bounded by hills
between three and four hundred feet high.
In the afternoon we reached Cape Hearne, and ascended its
high grounds to look to seaward, from whence we beheld the
same impacted floes of ice to which we had of late been accustomed. The cliffs of this cape are composed of a shingly or slaty
limestone, and the beach presents much greenish slate-clay, which
breaks down like wacke, and becomes brown on the surface, but
its relations to the limestone in respect to position could not be
made out. The extreme point of the cape is low and sandy;
and the country lying immediately to the southward of the limestone ridge, that constitutes the high grounds of the promontory,
is flat, grassy, and marshy, forming a fine feeding ground for reindeer, of which we saw several herds. A considerable stream
winds through the plain, and enters the sea about two miles to
the southward of the cape. Its mouth, which is barred by a
sand-bank, is mnarked by two cliffs of' sand, and it pours out water
enough to render the sea clay-colored for two or three miles, and
fresh enough to be drinkable. We encamped three miles beyond
it, on a point formed of slate-clay, of which the beach, after we
had passed Cape Hearne, seemed every where to consist Here




180                  SHALLOW WATER.
we found a decayed sledge, that was put together with copper nails
marked with the broad arrow, which must have been extracted
from the boats I abandoned on the Coppermine River in 1826.
Since rounding Cape Parry, we had seen very few traces of Eskimos, and had not met a single individual of that nation; but
we had now entered a better frequented district, in which traces
of the natives abounded. There was a hard frost in the night,
with a sharp east-southeast wind blowing from the ice.
The coast being flat, and the water within the ice very shallow,
the officers and most of the men walked along the shore, on the
morning of the 1st of September, leaving two of the crew in each
boat to pole them along. The country is level and swampy, and
is crossed by long channels like ditches, on whose banks shale and
slate-clay are occasionally exposed. It would seem that on this
eastern flank of the limestone formation there is also a shale deposit, but not so extensive a one as that seen on its western side.
In the course of our walk we passed an Eskimo stage, on
which, among deer. skins and other effects, we observed the skin of
a white bear. We had previously found a skull of this animal on
the beach, so that there is no doubt of its frequenting this coast.
After breakfast we made very slow progress, having to cut a
way through new ice. It did not exceed an inch in thickness,
but, being formed on a foundation of snow, did not crack readily,
while, at the same time, it was hard enough to cut the planks
of the boats through, rendering them scarcely sea-worthy, though
we had strengthened them on the water line with sheets of tin
beat out from the pemican cases. In dragging them over the
floes they were much shattered. At noon, finding that we could
not advance further, in the present condition of the ice, without
pulling the boats to pieces and running the risk of losing all our
stores and provisions, we encamped about eight miles from Cape
Kendall, which bore southwest.
On viewing the sea from the high grounds behind our encampment, and ascertaining that no lanes of open water were visible
in any direction, I determined, after consulting with Mr. Rae,
to leave the boats at this place, and commence the overland
march in the course of two days, if no amelioration of the weather
or alteration in the state of the sea occurred during the interval.
f the weather should improve, it was our intention to remain
some days longer, to watch its effects on the ice. The higher




TERMINATION OF SEA VOYAGE.             181
grounds at this time were covered with snow, but the lower lands
were mostly bare.
The unavoidable conclusion of our sea voyage while still at
some distance from the Coppermine River was contemplated by
me, and I believe by every individual of the party, with great
regret. I had hoped, that by conveying the boats and stores up
the Coppermine River beyond the range of the Eskimos we could
deposit them in a place of safety to be available for a voyage
to Wollaston Land next summer. But abandoned as they must
now be on the coast, we could not expect that they would escape
the searches of the hunting parties who would follow up our
foot-marks, and who were certain to break up the boats to obtain
their copper fastenings. The unusual tardiness of the spring,
and our unexpected delay on Methy Portage for want of horses,
caused our arrival on the Arctic coast to be considerably later
than I had in secret anticipated, though it differed little from the
date I had thought it prudent to mention when asked to fix a
probable time. Even a few days, so unimportant in a year's
voyage elswhere, are of vital consequence in a boat navigation to
the eastward of Cape Parry, where six weeks of summer is all
that can be reckoned upon. Short, however, as the summer
proved to be, neither that nor our tardy commencement of the
sea voyage would have prevented me from coasting the south
shore of Wollaston Land, and examining it carefully, could I
have reached it, for the distance to be performed would have
been but little increased by doing so. The sole hinderance to my
crossing Dolphin and Union Straits was the impracticable condition of the close packed drift ice. In wider seas, where fields
and large floes exist, these offer a pretty safe retreat for a boat
party in times of pressure, and progress may be made by drag-.ging light boats like ours over them: but the ice that obstructed
our way was composed of hummocky pieces, of irregular shape,
and consequently ready to revolve if carelessly loaded or trod
upon. At certain times of the tide, moreover, they were hustled
to and fro with much force.
As only small packs of ice and few in number were seen off the
Coppermine by Sir John Franklin in 1820, by myself in 1826,
and by Dease and Simpson in 1836 and 1837, being four several
summers, the sight of the sea entirely covered so late in August
was wholly unexpected, and I attributed so untoward an event
to the northwest winds having driven the ice down from the




18 2              THE DISCOVERY SHIPS.
*north in the first instance, and to the easterly gales, which afterward set in, pressing it into that bight of Coronation Gulf; but
Mr. Rae's experience in the summer of 1849 shows that in unfavorable seasons, the boat navigation is closed for the entire summer, and' we learned from a party of Eskimos whom we met in
Back's Inlet, as I shall have occasion to mention hereafter, that
the pressure of the ice on the coast this summer was relieved
only for a very short time.
The state of the straits produced the melancholy conviction
that a party, even though provided with boats, might be detained on Wollaston Land, and unable to cross to the main; but
yet at that time my apprehensions for the safety of the missing
ships were less excited than they have been since. For then
their absence had not been extended much beyond the time that
their provisions were calculated to last: and, being ignorant of
Sir James C. Ross having been arrested in Barrow Straits, I
hoped that the accumulation of' ice which annoyed us might be
the result of a clearance of the northern channels, and that the
two ship expeditions might have happily met at the very time that
we were no longer able to keep the sea. It is now known that
the season was equally unfavorable throughout the Arctic seas
north of America.
The idea of a cycle of good and bad seasons has often been
rnooted by meteorologists, and has frequently recurred to my
thoughts when endeavoring to find a reason for the ease with
which at some periods of Arctic discovery navigators were able
to penetrate early in the summer into sounds which subsequent
adventurers could not approach, and to connect such facts with
the fate of the Discovery ships. But neither the periods assigned, nor the facts adduced to prove them by different writers,
have been presented in such a shape as to carry conviction with
them, until very recently. Mr. Glaisher, in a paper published
in the Philosophical Transactions for 1850, has shown, from
eighty years' observations in London and at Greenwich, that
groups of warm years alternate with groups of cold ones, in such
a way as to render it most probable that the mean annual temnperatures rise and fall in a series of elliptical curves, which correspond to periods of about fourteen years; though local or casual
disturbing fbrces cause the means of particular years to rise above
the curve or fall below it.
The same lasws doubtless operate in North America, producing




METEOROLOGICAL SPECULATIONS.            183
a simnilar gradual increase and subsequent decrease of mean heat,
in a series of years, though the summits of the curves are not likely to be coincident with, and are very probably opposed to those
of Europe; since the atmospherical currents from the south,
which for a period raise the annual temperature of England,
must be counterbalanced by currents from the north on other
meridians. The annual heat has been diminishing in London
ever since 1844, according to Mr. Glaisher's diagram, and will
reach its minimum in 1851.
It can be stated only as a conjecture, though by no means an
improbable one, that Sir John Franklin entered Lancaster Sound
at the close of a group of warm years when the ice was in the
most favorable condition of diminution, and that since then the
annual heat has attained its minimum, probably in 1847 or
1848, and may now be increasing again. At all events, it is
conceivable that, having pushed on boldly in one of the last of the
favorable years of the cycle, the ice, produced in the unfavorable
ones which followed, has shut him in, and been found insurmountable; but there remains the hope that if this be the period of the
mean heat in that quarter, the zealous and enterprising officers
now on his track, will not encounter obstructions equal to those
which prevented their skillful and no less enterprising and zealous predecessor in the search, from carrying his ships beyond
Cape Leopold.
With respect to the maintenance of a party detained on the
islands north of Coronation Gulf, reindeer and musk-oxen may be
procured by skillful hunters; but unless the chase were duly organized, and only the most expert marksmen and good deer stalkers suffered to go out, there would be a danger of the animals
migrating from feeding grounds on which they were much disturbed. With nets a large quantity of salmon and other fish
might be captured in Dolphin and Union Straits, and doubtless
also in the various channels separating the islands; with percussion guns we had no difficulty in killing seals, and we might, had
we chosen, have slain hundreds, though, as they dive at the flash,
the chance of shooting them with a ship's musket having an ordinary lock, would be greatly diminished.  Swans, snow geese,
brent geese, eiders, king ducks, cacawees, and several other waterfowl, breed in immense numbers on the islands: and the old
ones when moulting, and the young before they are fledged, fall




184               GENERAL REFLECTIONS.
an easy prey to a swift runner, and still more surely to a party
hemming them in and cutting off their retreat.
To people acquainted with the Eskimo methods of building ice
and snow houses, shelter may be raised on the bleakest coast, except in the autumn months; but, unless blubber were used as fuel,
there would be a difficulty in maintaining fire for cooking by any
one who has not the genius for turning every thing to account
which Mr. Rae evinced, when he boldly adventured on wintering on a coast bearing the ominous appellation of Repulse Bay,
with no other fuel than the Andromeda tetragona-an interesting and beautiful herb in the eye of a botanist, but giving no
promise to an ordinary observer that it could supply warmth to a
large party during a long Arctic winter. To apply it, or any of
the other polar plants, to such a purpose, a large quantity must
be stored up near the winter station before the snow falls.
I have thought it right to throw these few observations together in this place, that a reader unacquainted with the natural
resources of the country, may judge of the probability of the whole
or part of the crews of the Erebus and Terror maintaining themselves there, supposing the ships to have been wrecked.  Of
course, as long as the vessels remained, they would afford shelter
and fuel; but the other contingencies would come into consideration, if parties went off in various directions in quest of food. One
great purpose of the expedition which I conducted along the coast,
was to afford relief to such detached parties, or to the entire crews,
had they directed their way to the continent, and our researches
proved at least that none of the party, having gained that coast,
were dragging out a miserable existence among the Eskimos, without the means of repairing to the fur posts. In the following summer of 1849, Mr. Rae ascertained that the Eskimo inhabitants
of Wollaston Land had seen neither the ships nor white men.
The knowledge of these facts had an influence with the Admiralty in concentrating the future search in the vicinity of Melville
Island; Captain Collinson and Commander Pullen being directed
to approach its coasts from the westward, while Captain Austen,
and the squadron of hardy navigators in his wake, were to trace
the Discovery ships from the eastward. A more ample and noble effort to rescue a lost party was never made by any nation,
and it has been humanely seconded from the United States of
America.  May God bless their endeavors!




CHAPTER X.
Preparing for the March.-Sleep in Back's Inlet.-Eskimo Village.-Eskimos Ferry
the Party across Rae River.-Basaltic Cliffs.-.Cross Richardson's River.March along the Banks of the Coppermine.-Geese.-First Clump of Trees.Musk-oxen.-Copper Ores and Native Copper.-Kendall River. —Make a Raft
-Fog.-Pass a Night on a Naked Rock without Fuel.-Fine Clump of Spruce
Firs.-Dismal Lakes.-Indians.-Dease River.-Fort Confidence.-Send off
Dispatches and Letters.
ON the 1st and 2d of September, we had northerly and northeast winds, with a low temperature, sleet, snow, and occasional
fogs. We were all employed in preparing the packages for the
march, consisting of thirteen days' provision of pemican, cooking
utensils, bedding, snow-shoes, astronomical instruments, books,
ammunition, fowling-pieces, portable boat, nets, lines, and a parcel
of dried plants. These were distributed by lot, each load being
calculated to weigh about sixty or seventy pounds. Mr. Rae
voluntarily resolved to transport a package nearly equal to the
men's in weight; but, distrusting my own powers of march, I
made no attempt at carrying such a load, as I had done on a
fobrmer voyage, and restricted myself to a fowling-piece, ammunition, a few books, and other things which I thrust into my pockets.  Six pieces of pemican were buried under a limestone cliff,
together with a boat's magazine full of powder. The tents were
left standing near the boats, and a few cooking utensils and hatchets deposited in them for the use of the Eskimos.
After an early breakfast on the morning of Sunday, the 3d of
September, we read prayers, and then set out at six o'clock. At
first we pursued a straight course for the bottom of Back's Inlet,
distant about twelve geographical miles; but finding that we
were led over the shoulder of a range of hills on which the snow
was deep, we held more to the eastward, through an uneven
swampy country, where we saw many deer feeding; but made
no attempt to pursue them.
The men, with a few exceptions, walked badly, particularly the
two senior seamen, and after we had gone a few miles, were glad
to lighten their loads by leaving their carbines behind. At half



186                  CROSS RAE RIVER.
past three we reached the inlet, about seven miles from the pitch
of Cape Kendall, and halted for the night under a cliff of basalt
two hundred feet high. The inlet and the sea in the offing were
full of ice, and the weather continued cold; but some scraps of
drift-wood, chiefly willows, being found on the beach, we managed to cook supper; and, selecting the best sleeping places we
could find among the blocks of basalt, passed a pretty comfortabli
night.
We started a quarter before six on the morning of the 4th, to
walk round the inlet; and Frazer having sprained his knee on
the preceding day, we were constrained to lighten his load by
leaving a large hatchet, and distributing a portion of his pemican
among the others. Our course along the inlet was south 740
west for four miles and a half, when we perceived ten Eskimo
tents on the opposite shore. Mr. Rae and Albert went ahead of
the men, who were straggling very slowly along; and on coming
opposite to the tents, and shouting, three Eskimos crossed the inlet in their kaiyaks, and cordially consented to ferry the whole
party over. This small tribe have no "umiaks;" and, as the
kaiyaks carry only one person, some contrivance was requisite to
render them available as ferry-boats. Our friends had already
learned how to effect this from their intercourse with Mr. Simpson and his party in 1838, viz., by placing two poles across a pair
of kaiyaks, and lashing them firmly together. In this way a sin
gle paddler could take over a sitter and his bundle. Four kaiyaks,
being all they could muster, were brought into requisition, by
which, with the addition of Lieutenant Halkett's portable boat,
three men with their loads could be ferried over at each trip. At
the place where we crossed, the inlet had contracted to the
breadth of four hundred yards; and is there, in fact, a river,
since its water is fresh. The whole party was landed on the
southern shore by eleven o'clock. On the river I bestowed the
name of my active, zealous, and intelligent companion MIr. Rae,
as a testimony of my high sense of his merits and exertions, which
had been called forth to the uttermost in our late endeavors to push
on through the ice. It was mainly through his skill and perseverance that we had been enabled to travel as far as we did by
sea, and thus shorten the land journey; which, with an increased
distance, and, conseqently, proportionably augmented loads, would
have been a very arduous undertaking indeed to some of our




RAE RIVER.                     187
party. We considered ourselves as very fortunate in obtaining
the assistance of a friendly party of Eskimos at this place, on
learning from them that the river kept its width, and was not
fordable for a long way up the country. Mr. Rae, in the succeeding spring, ascended it for twenty miles, and ascertained that
it flowed directly from the west, and was about the size of the
Dease, or about one hundred and twenty yards wide. Its bed is
limestone; and a range of basaltic cliffs, varying from fifty to two
hundred feet in height, skirts its northern bank. These cliffs are
a continuation of the magnificent precipices, which, commencing
at Cape Kendall, rise at intervals of three or four miles on the
north shore of Back's Inlet, their faces being to the southward,
and their line of direction or strike nearly due east and west. At
Cape Kendall the basalt is obscurely columnar, and rests on a
bed of compact felspar, containing minute grains of a green mineral. At a cascade in Rae River, ten miles above its mouth,
walls from eight to twenty feet high, of bluish-gray quartz rocks
in thin layers, hem in the stream. Salmon and other fish ascend
a shelving shoot of the cascade. At this place Mr. Rae discovered, among the limestone and quartz rock, layers of asparagusstone, or apatite (phosphate of lime), thin beds of soap-stone, and
some nephrite, or jade-a group of minerals which belongs to
primitive ibrmations; and from the similarity of the various rocks
associated in this quarter to those occurring at Pigeon River, and
other parts on the north shore of Lake Superior, I am inclined to
consider that the two deposits belong to the same geological era,
both being more ancient than the silurian series. Neither Mr.
Rae nor I discovered any organic remains in the limestone.
Among the Eskimos here encamped, we recognized two mentioned by Mr. Simpson, one having a wen on his forehead, and
the other being a very old man who walked on crutches. The
kind treatment and presents they received from Messrs. Dease
and Simpson had impressed them with a favorable opinion of the
dispositions of white men, and doubtless was the cause of their
readiness to come to our assistance, and to put themselves and
their families so completely in our power. Our men bought sealskin boots from them, which proved very useful; and we paid
the man with the wen, who was the leader, for his services in
ferrying us over, with two hatchets, which were of great value
to him. I had cautioned every one against offering this harm



188                   ESKTMO WOMEN.
less, good-natured people any offense; and I must give our men
the credit of having strictly adhered to the orders they received.
I believe I was the only one who entered any of.their huts; and
I did so for the purpose of presenting some needles and other articles to the women, and obtaining a glimpse of their menage.
In one tent six or seven women were seated in a circle sewing.
They were nearly naked, very dirty, hung their heads down, and
seemed to be much afraid. As the females we met on the coast,
who showed neither fear nor shamefacedness, were generally
clean, I believe that the apprehensions of these poor women had
caused them to rub ashes or mud on their faces and persons.
They received my presents, but seemed to be relieved when I
took my leave. Before we quitted the encampment, several
younger men joined from the northern shore of the inlet; and
we learnt that we had interrupted their day's occupation in killing reindeer. The more active among them go at this season
to the meadows which we had crossed on the previous day, and
gradually drive the animals to the inlet, hemming them in, and
compelling them, with the aid of their dogs, to take the water.
As soon as this takes place, the rest of the party, who are lying
in wait in their kaiyaks, paddle toward the herd, and spear
as many of them as they can. A considerable quantity of deer's
meat was hanging to dry on stages; and we purchased a little
of it for our evening meal.
These people told us, as I have mentioned already, that the
ice had parted from the shore only a very short time this season,
which, they added, was almost unprecedented within their recollection. Their migrations extend only to the lower part of the
Coppermine River on one side, and a short way along the coast
on the other. They communicate occasionally with the Eskimos
of Wollaston Land, but none of them had been so far to the westward as the sources of Rae's River. The want of umiaks was
a sufficient indication of the shortness of their migrations seaward.
Our friend with the wen accompanied us three or four miles
on our journey, to show us a ford across Richardson's River;
but the number of questions he put to Albert respecting the
boats, showed that his thoughts were directed to the treasures he
expected to find in them; and at length he turned back, after
pointing out the direction in which we ought to go. Albert had




RANGES OF CLIFFS.-RICHARDSON'S RIVER.        189
been told not to mention the place where the boats were left; but
the Eskimos could without the slightest difficulty trace up the
fbot-marks of so large a party as ours; and I believe that by
the evening, or early next day, most of the party were assembled
in our deserted tents.
We arrived on the banks of Richardson's River about three
o'clock, but failed in finding a ford; and, the walking being bad,
some of the men lagged far behind, which induced us to encamp
early. Richardson's River, as well as Rae's, is flanked by lofty
precipices of basalt, which, coming successively into view, produce
striking vistas in a bleak and otherwise uninteresting country.
From the summit of one of these eminences near our encampment I obtained a wide view of the land, and saw a line of cliffs
running along the Rae from Cape Kendall; another rank marks
out the course of the Richardson, from Point Mackenzie* up to
the junction of its two branches, where the cliffs also fobrk off at
an acute angle, a series of them skirting the valley of each branch.
A range of cliffs, but of a less imposing character, forms the
western boundary of the valley of the Coppermine, separating it
from that of the Richardson. All these rows of precipices face
toward the south-southeast, or east-southeast, and radiate between
west and south-southwest from a point in Coronation Gulf, at
which they would meet if prolonged. The western boundary of
the granite formation appears in the islands of that gulf, associated with many trap rocks; in the form of lofty hills at Cape
Barrow; again at the bend of the Coppermine, on the south side
of Kendall's River; on the northeast and eastern arms of Great
Bear Lake; on Point Lake; in country round Fort Enterprise;
and from thence to Fort Providence and across Great Slave Lake
to the mouth of Slave River, and so onward to Athabasca.
Richardson's River was discovered in 1822 by some hunters of
Sir John Franklin's party, and, on their report, it received its
present name from that officer; but its outlet was erroneously
supposed to be only four or five miles to the west of the Coppermine. In 1826, I ascertained that its supposed mouth was only
a shallow bay; and, in 1838-9, Mr. Simpson examined the river,
and proved that it falls into Back's Inlet; on which occasion he
confirmed the appellation which Sir John Franklin had given it.
* At this point the basalt is superimposed on a dark bluish-gray crysti a line limestone.




190                 COPPERMINE RIVER.
Its junction with the inlet was ascertained by Mr. Simpson to be
in lat. 67~ 53' 57" N., long. 115~ 56' W.
Commencing the day's journey at six in the morning of the
5th, we crossed, about an hour afterward, a small tributary of
the Richardson; and at nine, having then walked about four
miles and a half from our sleeping place without discovering a
ford, we determined on crossing in Lieutenant Halkett's boat,
though, as it could carry no more than two men at a time, the
operation was likely to be tedious. Some tall willows (seven or
eight feet high), growing on the muddy banks of the river, afforded
us the means of making a fire and preparing breakfast. In the
mean time, all the net lines, spare lines, and carrying slings were
united to fbrm a hawser, wherewith we might draw the boat
backward and forward. Mr. Rae and Albert crossed first; and,
owing to the man to whom the paddles had been assigned as part
of his load having left them behind, they had no other instruments
for propelling the boat than two tin dinner-plates. They succeeded, however, in crossing, though their hands were much chilled
by the ice-cold water; and subsequently the whole party were
drawn across. The width of the stream, by measuring half the
line, was ascertained to be one hundred and forty yards.
At one o'clock all had crossed; and, the bundles being again
duly arranged, we resumed the march, and in a short time gained
the summit of the ridge dividing the valley of the Richardson
from that of the Coppermine. The latter was clothed with snow,
the climate being seemingly more severe, though the distance between the streams is so small. The plain which lay at our feet,
between the ridge and the Coppermine, is so much intersected by
small lakes, that we chose the driest line of march, rather than
the most direct, to avoid the necessity of fording the lakes, or
losing ground by rounding them. At three o'clock we reached
the banks of the river, three or four miles above Bloody Fall;
and, having found a sufficiency of wood, made a good fire, which
of late had been a very rare luxury. Many deer, Hutchin's and
snow geese were seen; and Mr. Rae having killed nine or ten of
the latter, we enjoyed an excellent supper.
The country within the influence of the sea-breezes which come
from the icy surface of Coronation Gulf, has the barren aspect
and poor climate of the tundras of the Siberian arctic region.
The moister tracts, where the soil is clayey, retain so much ice



VEGETATION.-GEESE.                  91
cold water in the short summer, that a sparing vegetation exists
only in the hassocks, which bear, among the Chepewyan tribes,
the name of " women's heads," and render the footing of pedestrians
insecure and dangerous. " You may kick them," say the ungallant Indians, "but they cause you to stumble and never go out of
the way."  In the drier, sandy, and gravelly spots, which are
more common among the primitive rocks, the ground is covered
with the lichens on which the musk oxen and reindeer feed. Of
these the cornicularie and cetrarice are the most important; and
they are most prized by the animals when the melting snow in
spring renders them soft and tender. As the season advances,
the grasses and bents which flourish in sheltered valleys furnish
the chief food of the herbivorous animals; and, when the snows
fall, the reindeer retreat southward to the woody districts, into
which they penetrate deeper in severe weather, and in the milder
intervals return to the barren grounds to scrape the hay from beneath the snow. The suddenness of the winter in these high latitudes serves the important purpose of arresting the juices of the
grasses and freezing them, so that until late in spring they retain
their seeds and nutritive qualities without withering. It has the
same effect on the berry-bearing plants. The crow-berry (Empetrum nigrum), bleaberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum), and cranberry (Vaccinium  vitis idea), which grow in profusion among
the lichens of the arctic wastes, not only furnish fruits for the
bears and geese in autumn, but retain them in perfection until
the ground begins to dry up under the influence of the hot summer suns, and the new flowers are expanding.  In the month of
September the snow-geese (Anser hyperboreus), and Hutchin's
geese (Anser Hutchinsii), feed much on the crow-berries, which
render them fat and well-flavored.  The first-named geese breed
in WTollaston Land, to which they cross in the beginning of June.
We had noticed, while on the coast of Dolphin and Union Straits,
the earliest bands traveling southward again in the middle of
August, so that their stay in their native place falls short of three
months. The Hutchin's geese and brent geese breed on the coasts
of the Arctic Sea, and the laughing geese (Anas albifrons) resort
to the country north of the Yukon, beyond the Arctic circle. The
Canada geese, or "bustards" of the Canadians (les outardes),
breed throughout the woody districts, but do not reach the viciliity of the Arctic Sea, except on the banks of some of the large




192          NARROW LAKES.-CLUMP (F TREES.
rivers. The most northern localities in which we observed them
were the channels between the alluvial islands which form the
delta of the Mackenzie.
On the 6th we had clear weather with a hard frost, and gladly
welcomed the face of the sun, which had been a stranger to us
for more than a fortnight.  The swamps being frozen over so as
to support a man's weight, the party generally walked more briskly than usual; but three of the seamen and two of the sappers
and miners were so lame, that we were obliged to make long and
frequent halts to allow them to close in, and were unable to accomplish two geographical miles in the hour. To spare their
strength, we encamped at the early hour of 2 P.M., having marched
about ten miles and a half.  Deer, geese, and ptarmigan, were
seen in abundance during the day.  In the evening the weather
became cold, with rain, snow, and hail.
On the 7th our morning's march was performed in a snow
storm, with a chilly northerly wind. About fbur miles from last
night's sleeping-place, we came to a chain of narrow lakes, lying
parallel to the river, and emptying themselves into it by a small
stream which issues from their northern extremity. They are
three miles in length, and lie about a mile from the river. We
afterward forded two rapid torrents full of large greenstone boulders. One of them flows through a narrow chasm in friable darkred sandstone, and the other is bounded by cliffs of red quartz
rock, or perhaps of trap, but I could not approach them near
enough for examination. The discomfort of the march was greatly augmented by the freezing of our clothes, wet in crossing the
streams, and we gladly encamped, at two o'clock, on coming to
a clump of stunted white spruce trees, where we arranged a comfortable bivouac, by placing small branches between the frozen
ground and our blankets.  In the existence of many scattered
stumps of decayed spruce fir trees, and the total absence of young
plants, one might be led to infer, that of late years the climate
had deteriorated, and that the country was no longer capable of
supporting trees so near the sea-coast as it had formerly done.
Many plants of different species of Pyrola grow on the sea-shore;
and as these are most abundant in forest lands, it is possible that
they may be the memorials of ancient woods. The largest tree
in the clump in which we bivouacked had a circumference of
thirty-seven inches at the height of four feet from the ground.




MUSK OXEN.                     193
Its annual layers were very numerous and fine, and indicated
centuries of growth, but I was unable to reckon them.  This
place lies in lat. 673 22' N.
The evening proving fine, Mr. Rae and Albert went out to
hunt, and both had the pleasure of seeing the musk-ox, for the
first time in their lives. The unzing-malk is known by name and
reputation to all the Eskimo tribes; but as it does not exist in
Greenland, or Labrador, nor in the chain of islands extending
north from that peninsula along the west side of Davis Straits,
Albert, who was a native of' East Main, now for the first time
approached its haunts. Mr. Rae, with the feelings of an ardent
sportsman, had longed to encounter so redoubtable an animal;
and the following is an account of the meeting:
On perceiving a herd of cows, under the presidency of an old
bull, grazing quietly at the distance of a few miles from our
bivouac, he and Albert crept toward them from to leeward; but
the plain containing neither rock nor tree behind which they could
shelter themselves, they were perceived by the bull before they
could get within gun-shot. The shaggy patriarch advanced before
the cows, which threw themselves into a circular group, and,
lowering his shot-proof forehead so as to cover his body, came slowly
forward, stamping and pawing the ground with his fore-feet, bellowing, and showing an evident disposition for fight, while he
tainted the atmosphere with the strong musky odor of his body.
Neither of the sportsmen were inclined to irritate their bold and
formidable opponent by firing, as long as he offered no vital part
to their aim; but, having screwed the bayonets to their fowling,
pieces, they advanced warily, relying on each other for support.
The cows, in the mean time, beat a retreat, and the bull soon
afterward turned; on which Mr. Rae fired, and hit him in the
hind quarters. He instantly faced about, roared, struck the
ground forcibly with his fore-feet, and seemed to be hesitating
whether to charge or not. Our sportsmen drew themselves up
for the expected shock, and were by no means sorry when he
again wheeled round, and was, in a few seconds, seen climbing a
steep and snow-clad mountain side, in the rear of his musky kine.
These animals inhabit the hilly, barren grounds, between the
Welcome and the Copper Mountains, from the sixty-third or sixty-fburth parallels to the Arctic Sea, and northward to Parry's
Islands, or as far as European research has yet extended.  They
I.




194                     AMUSK-OXEN.
travel from place to place in search of pasture, but do not penetrate deep into the wooded districts, and are able to procure food
in winter on the steep sides of hills which are laid bare by the
winds, and up which they climb with an agility which their
massive aspect would lead one ignorant of their habits to suppose
them to be totally incapable of. In size they are nearly equal
to the smallest Highland or Orkney kyloes; but they'are more
compactly made, and the shaggy hair of their flanks almost touches
the ground. In structure they differ from the domestic ox, in the
shortness and strength of the bones of the neck, and length of the
dorsal processes which support the ponderous head.  The swelling bases of the horns spread over the foreheads of both sexes, but
are most largely developed in the old males. The musk-ox has
also the peculiarity in the bovine tribe of the want of a tail; the
caudal vertebrae, only six in number, being very flat, and nearly
as short, in reference to the pelvis, as in the human species; the
extreme one ending evenly with the tuberosities of the ischium.
A tail is not needed by this animal, as in its elevated summer
haunts musquitoes and other winged pests are comparatively few,
while its close, woolly, and shaggy hair furnishes its body with
sufficient protection from  their assaults.  The fore-pasterns are
provided on their outsides with a slender accessory bone, of about
half their length. The fossil Irish elk and musk-deer have also
rudimentary toes, but of a different form. Though I have not
been able to ascertain that the range of the species was ever
greater than it is known to be at present, I have read somewhere
of a skull having been found in Greenland. One in tolerable
preservation, but defective in the nose, was procured by Captain
Beechey, from that very curious deposit of bones in the frozen
cliffs of Eschscholtz Bay of Beering's Straits. That skull is now
preserved in the British Museum, and a perfect skeleton of the
recent animal exists in the museum at Haslar Hospital.
Sept. 8th.-A meridional observation was obtained to-day in
lat. 670 17' N. We crossed a projection of the Copper Mountains, to cut off a considerable bend of the river; and, at four in
the evening, reached its banks again, and encamped. While
among the hills we had to walk in snow shoes, with much fatigue;
but in the afternoon a thaw took place in the low grounds, under
the influence of a warm sun; and we were annoyed by sand-flies
in the evening. I noticed that the upper branches of the scrubby




COPPER ORES AND NATIVE COPPER.          195
spruce firs, among which we. encamped, were confined to their
southeast and southern aspects. The lower branches, as usual
in such exposed situations, lay close to the ground, and spread
widely, considering the small height of the tree.
The effect of the last two or three days' march proved to me
that I had over-calculated my strength, in loading and clothing
myself too heavily. I therefore transferred my gun and part of
my clothing to Dore, an active young seaman, who was always
at the head of the line, and whose load, as well as that of the
others, had been reduced by the consumption of pemican. Some
of the worst walkers had already been eased of every thing but
their blankets, spare clothing, and a few pounds of pemican, but
they still lagged in the rear.
In this neighborhood, in 1826, we found a vein containing
malachite and other ores of copper, with some of the native metal
scattered in detached pieces. The Indians procure the metal on
both sides of the Coppermine, in a district which requires several
days to traverse. A rolled piece of chromate of iron was picked
up on the banks of the river by Mr. Rae. This mineral, so
valuable on account of the beautiful pigments which are manufactured from it, is found, according to Jameson, in primitive porphyry, and in beds between clay-porphyry and wacke, and more
abundantly in America than on the Old Continent.
The 9th proved to be another fine day. Commencing our
march a little before six, we halted at noon for an hour and a
half, and encamped at five. A meridional observation gave the
lat. 670 14' 32" N. In the afternoon we passed the boat left by
Dease and Simpson in 1839, which required too much repair to
render it water-tight, or we should have availed ourselves of it
for the remainder of the river course we had to follow.
Starting at the usual hour on the 10th, we struck the Kendall
about a mile and a half from its junction with the Coppermine,
after a march of five hours and a half. Mr. Rae went down to
its mouth to look for a note which we expected to find, as I had
directed James Hope, with two or three Indians, to meet me
there; or, if he arrived earlier than us, to leave a memorandum
and descend the river as far as Bloody Fall. This arrangement,
which was made in anticipation of our bringing the boats up the
river, was my chief reason for making the circuit of the Coppermine; for our most direct course, after leaving Back's Inlet, would




196              MAKE A RAFT.-DENSE FOG.
have been by tracing up Richardson's River, and crossing the
mountains more nearly in the parallel of Fort Confidence. As
we had discovered no foot-marks of the party on our march, we
concluded that they had not arrived; and Mr. Rae confirmed this
opinion by his report of the absence of any signal mark at the
mouth of the Kendall. From specimens of the rockq obtained
by this gentleman, I ascertained that the walls of the gorge by
which the stream enters the Coppermine are composed of red
quartz rock disposed in thin layers. The mouth of the Kendall
is laid down by Mr. Simpson in lat. 67~ 7' N., long, 116~ 21' W.;
and a meridional observation gave 67~ 06' 43" N., as the latitude
of the place where we fell upon the stream.
We walked for nearly three miles along its banks to look for a
crossing-place; but, finding that it was nowhere fordable, we resolved to construct a raft, as there was a sufficiency of dry timber
for the purpose. We therefore encamped, and Mr. Rae superintended the operation of raft-making.  The weather being mild
we were again troubled with sand-flies.
Sept. 11th.-During a fine night we enjoyed the light of a
full moon; but toward the morning the wind veered to the north
west, and a moist, chilling fog enveloped us. Our raft could
support three at a time, and enabled us all to cross by seven
o'clock. A fresh arrangement of the loads was made here; and,
to lighten them as much as possible, I deposited my packet of
dried plants and some books in a tree, intending to send for them
in the winter.  After breaking up the raft to recover the lines
by which we had fastened it, we piled the logs up on the bank
to attract the attention of Hope's party, should we happen to
miss them.
Our course was shaped directly across the country for Dease's
River; and as we ascended the high grounds the fog became
more dense, so that by noon we could not see beyond two or three
yards. We steered by the compass, Mr. Rae leading, and the
rest following in Indian file. I kept rather in the rear to pick
up stragglers; but, though we walked at a much brisker pace
than usual, there was little loitering. The danger of losing the
party made the worst walkers press forward. On the hills the
snow covered the ground thickly; and it is impossible to imagine
any thing having a more dreary aspect than the lakes which
frequently barred our way. We did not see them until we came




A NIGHT WITHOUT FUEL.                197
suddenly to the brink of the rocks which bounded them, and the
contrast of the dark surface of their waters with the unbroken
snow of their borders, combined with the loss of all definite outline in the fog, caused them to resemble hideous pits sinking to
an unknown depth. The country over which we traveled is
composed chiefly of granite; and after walking till half-past five
without perceiving a single tree, or the slightest shelter, we came
to a convex rock, from which the snow had been swept by the
wind. On this we resolved to spread our blankets, as it was just
big enough to accommodate the party. There being no fuel of
any kind on the spot, we went supperless to bed. Some of the
party had no rest, and we heard them groaning bitterly; but
others, among whom were Mr. Rae and I, slept well. We
learned afterward that a clump of wood grew within a mile and
a half of our bivouac; but even had we been apprised of its existence, we could scarcely have found it in the fog. Several
showers of snow occurred in the day, and some fell in the night.
Had it not been for the fog, we should have met James Hope
and two Indians this day, for they were not many miles distant
in the morning; but, notwithstanding their acquaintance with
the country, they went astray in the thick weather, and did not
reach the place where we crossed the Kendall till the second day
afterward. Perceiving then by the remains of the raft that we
had crossed, they traced our foot-marks, and, following with their
utmost speed, reached our bivouac on the rock two days after we
left it.
Commencing the day's march at half-past four in the morning
of the 12th, we came to a tributary of the Kendall at eight. In
fording this, the water came up to our waists, and we were all
more or less benumbed; but a few trees on the bank furnished
us with the means of making good fires; and by the time that
we had finished breakfast we were comfortably dry. A meridional observation gave us lat. 67~ 09' N.
At two we came to another branch of the Kendall, which runs
through a ravine of red and spotted sandstone, under whose shelter there grew a remarkably fine grove of white spruces. The
best-grown tree measured sixty-three inches in circumference, and
did not taper perceptibly for twenty feet from its root. Its total
height was from forty to fifty feet. Other trees of equal girth
tapered more, and one decayed trunk, which lay on the ground,




198              DISMAL LAKES.-INDIANS.
looked to be considerably thicker. We encamped in this snug
place, and Mr. Rae and Albert, employing the evening in the
chase, killed a reindeer and some snow geese.
Mr. Rae endeavored in the winter to measure the height of
the creek on which we encamped this night, and of other remarkable places on the route between Great Bear Lake andthe Coppermine River, by the aneroid barometer; but that instrument
during the journeys underwent such a change, that no reliance
could be placed on its indications, when they were compared with
those of the barometer at Fort Confidence. The same inconvenience, however, did not materially affect observations made
on it at short intervals of time; and in this way the brow of the
hill to the south of the creek was ascertained to be six hundred
and seventy feet above the stream.
Onward from the level of this brow the country is a gently
undulated plain, which is bounded on the south at the distance
of a few miles by an even range of hills two or three hundred feet
high, and far to the north by the Coppermine Hills, which Lieutenant Kendall and I crossed in 1826, as mentioned in the narrative of Sir John Franklin's second overland journey. A range
of lakes, named by Mr. Simpson the Dismal Lakes, lies between
these hills and our line of route. They are skirted by broken
belts of wood, but the rest of the country is qvite naked, the few
dwarf trees that exist on the plain being concealed in the depressions of the water-courses of the small rivulets.
The comfortable supper of venison, a sound night's rest in an
encampment where nothing was wanting, and the lighter loads,
had such an effect on the spirits of the party, that we mounted
the hill above the ravine on the morning of the 13th with unusual alacrity, and kept together in close single file. Traveling
in this way, our line, as it undulated over the gentle swellings
of the plain, was seen from afar, and we were discovered very
soon after emerging from the ravine by a party of Indians, encamped on the side of a hill about six miles distant. Happily
for these people they knew we were now on the march, and expected to see us at this time; for had it not been so they would
have fled instantly with their wonted timidity, and most probably
have left every thing they possessed behind them. As it was,
we were not many minutes in sight before they signaled their
position by raising a column of smoke. This was replied to by




INDIANS.                      199
us as soon as we could strike a light and gather a few handfuls
of moss; and our answer was immediately acknowledged by
them with a fresh column. They were encamped nearly at right
angles to our line of route; but I thought it better to join them
for the purpose of obtaining intelligence, and we accordingly
strucl off in that direction.
We reached their tents a little before noon, time enough for
us to make a meridional observation, by which we ascertained
that the latitude was 67~ 11' 30" N., and the sun's bearing at
noon S. 50~ E. These Indians informed us that James Hope
and his companions had been with them five days previously,
and that he had then been two days absent from the fort.
The site of their encampment was selected for the commanding view it possessed of the neighboring country, so that they
could mark the movements of the herds of reindeer and muskoxen that at this season were numerous. Their chase was successful, and their condition and that of their dogs showed that
they were reveling in abundance. No doubt this party might
now have laid up a sufficiency of venison to feed them, with due
economy, all the winter; but such is not the habit of the nation.
When the pressure of want ceases to be felt their exertions flag,
and they consider it useless to store up provision which, according to their custom, is at the mercy of every idle and hungry
person of the tribe.
They gladly sold us some meat for ammunition, and would
readily ha;e parted with their whole stock on hand, but I had
no desire to load my party again. We agreed, however, with
one of the young men to accompany us to the fort, that he might
lead us by the best paths, and waited for an hour until he had
prepared a heavy load of half-dried meat, to carry with him as
an article of trade. In the afternoon our way lay over hills of
spotted gray sandstone, sandy shale beds, and toward the evening
over knolls of gravel. The day's journey was seventeen geographical miles.
Our march on the 14th was made in a southwest by west
direction, and was short, for our guide complained of being fatigued by his load. We relieved him of a part, by distributing
about forty pounds of it among the men for their supper.
The country we crossed in the course of the day is composed
of sandstone, with gravel banks, and undulates, but is not mount



200                  FORT CONFIDENCE.
ainous. Thin groves of trees occur here and there, especially on
the borders of rivulets, and many dwarfish and ancient dead
stumps remain on the sides of the eminences. The soil is cracked, hummocky, and swampy, and affords uneasy footing to pedestrians. I found much comfort by walking immediately behind
the Indian, that I might avail myself of his quick eye, and tread
exactly in his footsteps.
We set out early on the 15th, that we might reach the fort
betimes.  Wre lost, however, a considerable time, while the guide
went in pursuit of several bands of deer that crossed the path.
His skill in hunting was indifferent, and he had no success.  The
morning was snowy. Before noon we forded a branch of the
Dease, and at two o'clock came to the banks of that river at the
first rapid. Here we found a barge moored for our use, and, ernbarking the whole party in it, reached the house at 4 P.M. We
were happy to find Mr. Bell and his people well, and the buildings much further advanced than we had expected. All the
houses erected by Dease and Simpson had been burnt down, except part of the men's dwelling. Mr. Bell reached the site on
the 17th of August, and immediately set to work.  Since that
time he had built an ample storehouse, two houses for the men,
and a dwelling-house for the officers, consisting of a hall, three
sleeping apartments, and store-closet. This building was roofed in
when we arrived, but the flooring and ceiling of the rooms were
not yet laid, though planks had been sawn for that purpose; the
kitchen was still to be built, and tables, chairs, and other articles
of furniture, to be made. In the log houses, which are commonly erected in this country, the chimneys are massive affairs of
tempered clay and boulder stones, and require to be leisurely constructed.  The Canadians, who are all practiced in the use of
the ax, soon set up the wood-work; and Bruce, the guide, who
superintended the operations, and indeed did two men's work
himself, advanced them rapidly.
Mr. Bell and Mr. Rae quartered themselves with Bruce in
the store room, and I took possession of my sleeping room, which
was put temporarily in order. I could there enjoy the luxury of
a fire while I was preparing dispatches for the Admiralty and
writing my domestic letters, though the walls not being as yet
clayed, the snow drifted in between every log. The 16th of September was emplnyed in writing, and on the 17th, being Sunday,




WINTER RESOURCES.                  201
wev assembled in the hall, where I read divine service and returned thanks to the Almighty for our safety. The fishermen
who were stationed about five miles from the house came in on
this day, so that the whole party were met together. The Canadians, though Roman Catholics, were present on the occasion;
and most of them regularly attended our Sunday services in the
winter. In addition to the party from the coast, Mr. Bell had
with him here fourteen men, with three women and four children;
so that we had in all forty-two souls to provide for, exclusive of
Indians coming casually on our store.
On Monday the 18th of September, the packet of letters was
placed in charge of Francois Chartier and Louis La Ronde, who
were directed to carry it on without delay to Isle A la Crosse, where
the wife of the latter resided. Henry Smith, Joseph Plante, and
Henry- Wilson, Canadians, accompanied them for the purpose of
wintering at the fishery on Big Island, Great Slave Lake; and
with them I sent the following men of the English party, whose
services could be well dispensed with at our winter quarters:
Stairs, Sully, and Clarke, seamen; Frazer, Dall, Dodd, Sulter,
Hobbs, Ralph, Geddes, Webb, Weddell, and Bugbee, sappers and
niners.  Being thus relieved from the maintenance of eighteen
people, the resources of the post were considered equal to feeding
the remainder, and I looked forward to the winter without anxiety.
Mr. Bell had placed two fishermen, by my desire, at the west
end of Great Bear Lake, near its outlet, to be ready to feed my
party, had I found it necessary to return up the Mackenzie. I
judged it prudent to continue these men there, not only as their
fishing hut would be a convenient station for parties traveling to
and fro, between Fort Confidence and the posts on the Mackenzie, but also that they might give aid, should our fisheries near
the fort fail.
1*




CHAPTER XI.
ON THE ESKIMOS OR INUTT.
The four Aboriginal Nations seen by the Expedition.-Eskimos.-Origin of the
Name.-National Name Inu-it.-Great extent of their Country.-Personal Appearance.-Occupations. —Provident of the Future.-Villages.-Seal Hunt.Snow-houses.-Wanderings not extensive.-Respect for Territorial Rights.Dexterous Thieves. - Courage. - Traffic. - Compared to the Phmenicians. -
Skrellings.-Western Tribes pierce the Lips andNose.-Female Toilet.-Mimics.-Mode of defying their Enemies.-Dress.-Boats.-Kaiyaks.-Umiaks.Dogs.-Religion.-Shamanism.-Susceptibility of Cultivation-Origin.-Language.-Western Tribes of the Eskimo Stock.-Tchugatchih.-Kuskutchew ak.
-A Kashim or Council House.-Feasts.-Quarrels.-Wars.-Customs.-Mammoth's Tusks.-National Names.-Namollos or Sedentary Tchuchke-Reindeer Tchukehe.-Their Herds.-Commerce.-Shamanism.-Of the Mongolian
Stock.
To keep the interruptions of the narrative within reasonable
limits, I have hitherto avoided saying much of the native tribes
that occupy the countries through which the Expedition traveled,
and shall here supply that deficiency by giving some details of the
manners and customs of the four nations whose boundaries we
crossed in succession.
Reversing the order of our journey, the first of the native nations that presents itself in descending from the north, is that of
the Eskimos, as Europeans term them. This appellation is probably of Canadian origin, and the word, which in French orthography is written Esquinzaux, was, probably, originally Ceux qui
miaux (mniaulent), and was expressive of the shouts of Tey-mo,
proceeding from the fleets of kaiyaks, that surround a tradingvessel in the Straits of Hudson, or coasts of Labrador. The sailors of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships, and the Orkney men
in the employment of the Company, still call them  Suickmnds or
Seymnzs. Some writers, however, have thought the word to be a
corruption of the Abenaki term Eskimantik, signifying " eaters
of raw flesh," which is certainly a habit peculiar to the Eskimos.
But be the origin of the name what it may, it certainly does not
belong to the language of the nation, who invariably call themselves Inu-it (pronounced Ee-noo-eet), or " the people," from i-nuk
" a man," though families or tribes have, in addition, local designations.




GREAT EXTENT OF TIlE COUNTRY OF THE ESKIMIOS.   203
The Eskimos offer an interesting study to the ethnologist, on
account of the very great linear extent of their country-of their
being the only uncivilized people who inhabit both the old and
new continents-and of their seclusion to the north of all other
American nations, with whom they have a very limited intercourse; so that their language and customs are preserved more
than any other from innovations.
They are truly a littoral people, neither wandering inland, nor
crossing wide seas; yet the extent of coast-line which they exclusively possess is surprising. Commencing at the Straits of Bell.
isle, they occupy the entire coast of the Peninsula of Labrador,
down to East Main in Hudson's Bay; also, both sides of Greenland, as far north as they have been examined; and they also inhabit the islands which lie between that land and the continent,
and bound Baffin's Bay and Davis's Straits on the west. On the
main shore of America, they extend from Churchill, through the
Welcome, to Fury and Hecla Straits; thence along the north
shore to Beering's Straits, which they pass, and follow the western coast, by Cook's Sound and Tchugatz Bay, nearly to Mount
St. Elias; members of the nation have also possessed themselves
of the Andreanowsky Islands, Unalashka, and Kadiak. They
even cross the Straits of Beering, a part of the nation dwelling
on the Asiatic coast, between the Anadyr and Tchukotsky Noss,
where they are known to the Russians by the names of Namollos
or Sedentary Tchukche.  Outside of Beering's Straits, on the
North Pacific, their language and customs have undergone considerable changes, as we shall have occasion to notice; but elsewhere there is no substantial variation in either; the modes of life
being uniform throughout, and the differences of speech among
the several tribes not exceeding in amount the provincialisms of
English counties.
The Greenlanders have been known to Europeans longer than
any of the other North American nations, and full accounts of
their manners and customs have been given to the world long
ago. All the recent voyages in search of a northwest passage,
also, contain characteristic portraits and descriptions of the Eskimos that reside on the west side of Davis's Straits and Melville
peninsula. I shall not, therefore, attempt a systematic account
of the nation, but shall confine myself chiefly to what fell under
my personal notice in the central parts of the northern coast-line,




P204              PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
where the Eskimos, from their position, have little or no intercourse with other nations, and have borrowed nothing whatever,
either from the Europeans or'Tinne, the conterminous Indian
people.
The faces of the Central Eskimos are, in general, broadly eggshaped, with considerable prominence of the rounded cheeks; but
few or no angular projections even in the old people. The greatest breadth of the face is just below the eyes; the forehead is generally narrow and tapers upward; and the chin conical, but not
acute; most commonly the nose is broad and depressed, but it is
not always sv formed. Both forehead and chin in general recede,
so as to give a more curved profile than is usually to be observed
in any variety of the Caucasian race, or among the male Chepewyans or Crees, though some of the female'Tinne have countenances approaching to the egg-shape.  As contrasted with the
other native-American races, their eyes are remarkable, being narrow and more or less oblique. Their complexions approach more
nearly to white than those of the neighboring nations, and do not
merit the designation of " red," though from exposure to weather
they become dark after manhood. As the men grow old, they
have more hair on the face than Red Indians, who take some
pains to eradicate it, but I observed none with thick bushy beards
or whiskers like those of an European who suffers them to grow.
An inspection of the portraits in " Franklin's Second Overland
Journey," and in " Back's Great Fish River," will show that in
elderly individuals both the upper lip and chin have a tolerable
show of hair, though none have the flowing beard which was
productive of so much benefit to Richard Chancellor and his
countrymen.
Dr. Pickering says of the Mongolian, with which, in common
with other ethnologists, he classes the Eskimos and the major
part of the other American nations, that both sexes have a feminine aspect; that the stature of the men and women is nearly
the same; and that the face of the male is pre-eminently beardless. These peculiarities are but faintly developed among the
Central Eskimos, and the females are uniformly conspicuously
shorter than the males. Most of the men are rather under the
medium English size; the defect in height being, perhaps, attributable to a disproportioned shortness of the lower extremities,
though this opinion was not tested by measurements. They are




APPEARANCE.-OCCUPATIONS.              205
broad-shouldered, and have muscular arms; so that, when sitting
in their kaiyaks, they seem to be bigger men than they do when
standing erect. Some individuals, however, would be considered
to be both tall and stout even among Europeans, and they certainly are not the stunted race which popular opinion supposes
them to be. The comparative shortness of the females is common to them and the neighboring'Tinne (Hare Indians and Dogribs), whose women are of small stature.
In both sexes of Eskimos the hands and feet are small and
well-formed, being less than those of Europeans of similar height.
The boots which we purchased on the coast were seldom large
enough in the feet for our people, none of whom were tall men.
The Central Eskimos, when young, have countenances expressive of cheerfulness, good nature, and confidence; and the
females, being by no means inclined to repress their mirth, are
wont to display a set of white teeth that an European belle might
covet. The elderly people have features more furrowed than
those we see in civilized life, as we might expect when the passions are not habitually repressed; and in some of the old men
the lines of the countenance denote distrust and hatred. These
ill-favored individuals were, happily, not numerous, and several
of the patriarchs we communicated with had a truly benevolent
aspect. The weather-beaten faces of some of the old women, gleaming with covetousness, excited by seeing in our possession wealth
beyond the previous creations of their imagination, lead or e to believe that the poet who sang, " Old age is dark and unlovely,"
had drawn his picture from a people equally hard and unsoftened
by the cultivation of intellect; and I feel no surprise that Frobisher's people should have suspected the unfortunate elderly
woman who fell into their hands of being a witch, while they let
the young one go free.
Year after year sees these people occupied in a uniform circle
of pursuits. When the rivers open in spring they resort to rapids
and falls, to spear the various kinds of fish that ascend the streams
at that period to spawn. At the same date, or a little earlier in
more southern localities, they hunt the reindeer, which drop their
young on the coasts and islands while the snow is only partially
melted. Vast multitudes of swans, geese, and ducks, resorting to
the same quarters to breed, aid in supplying the Eskimos with
food during their short but busy summer of two months. In the




206                      VILLAGES.
beginning of September the reindeer assemble in large bands and
commence their march southward; and then the Eskimos reap
a rich harvest by waylaying them at established passes on the
rivers or narrow places of a lake. On parts of the coast frequented
by whales, the month of August is devoted to the exciting pursuit
of these animals, a successful chase insuring a comfortable winter
to a whole community. Throughout the summer, the families
associated by twos and threes live in tents of skins, and generally
enjoy abundance of food, while they carefully lay up what they
can not consume for after use. In this respect they are more
provident than the Hare Indians, or Dog-ribs, who seldom trouble
themselves with storing up provisions.  This difference of the
habits of the two nations, which greatly influences their general
characters, has perhaps originated in the different circumstances
in which they are placed. The Eskimos, wintering on the coast,
are in darkness at mid-winter: the reindeer and musk-oxen have
then retreated into the'Tinne lands, and fish can not at that
season be procured in their waters; life, therefore, can only be
maintained in an Eskimo winter by stores provided in summer.
In the country of the'Tinne, on the contrary, the winter fishery is productive, and animals are by no means scarce at that
season, but they require to be followed in their movements by
the hunter and his family, often to a great distance. In such a
case, any surplus of food that has been procured must be placed
en cache, as the term is, where it is exposed to the depredations
of wolverenes, or the still more irresistible attacks of their hungry
fellow-countrymen, who are wont to track up a successful hunter
in order to profit by his labors.  The'Tinne, therefore, have
practically decided that it is better for them to live profusely
while they have venison, and then to go in search of more.
Were they to be content with the product of their fisheries, they
might build villages, and live easily and well, so productive are
the boundless waters of the north; but they like variety of diet,
and prefer the chase, with the hazard of occasional starvation
which follows in its train.
The villages of the Eskimos are, therefore, a feature in their
domestic economy in which they differ wholly from their neighbors. The houses are framed strongly of drift timber, are covered
thickly with earth, and are used only in winter. They have fio
windows, and are entered by a low side door, or, when they stand




SNOW-HOUSES.                     207
in situations where the drift-snow lies deep, by a trap-door in the
roof. The floor is laid with timber, and they have no fire-places;
but a stone placed in the centre serves for a support to the lamp,
by which the little cooking that is required is performed. For
the site of a village, a bold point of the coast is generally chosen
where the water is deep enough to float a whale; and to the
eastward of Cape Parry, where we saw no whales, we met witf
no villages, although solitary winter-houses occur here and there
on that coast. The association of a number of families is necessary for the successful pursuit of the whale. When the villagers
of the estuary of the Mackenzie, or of Cape Bathurst, are fortunate enough to kill one or more of these marine beasts, they revel
in greasy abundance during the dark months, and the ponds and
the soil around are saturated with the oil that escapes.
In March the seals have their young, and soon afterward they
become the principal objects of chase to the Eskimos, who greatly
esteem their dark and unsightly flesh, reckoning it as choice food.
The seal, being a warm-blooded animal, respiring air, requires a
breathing-hole in the ice, which it has the power of keeping open
in the severest frosts, by constant gnawing.  It is a watchful
creature, with acute senses of sight and hearing; but it is no
match for the Eskimo hunter, who has carefully studied all its
habits from his infancy. As the days lengthen, the villages are
emptied of their inhabitants, who move seaward on the ice to the
seal hunt. Then comes into use a marvelous system of architecture, unknown among the rest of the American nations. The
fine, pure snow has by that time acquired, under the action of
strong winds and hard frosts, sufficient coherence to form an admirable light building material, with which the Eskimo mastermason erects most comfortable dome-shaped houses. A circle is
first traced on the smooth surface of the snow, and the slabs for
raising the walls are cut from within, so as to clear a space down
to the ice, which is to form the floor of the dwelling, and whose
evenness was previously ascertained by probing. The slabs requisite to complete the dome, after the interior of the circle is
exhausted, are cut from some neighboring spot. Each slab is
neatly fitted to its place by running a flenching-knife along the
joint, when it instantly freezes to the wall, the cold atmosphere
forming a most excellent cement. Crevices are plugged up, and
seams accurately closed by throwing a few shovelfuls of loose




208                    SEAL-HUNTING.
snow over the fabric. Two men generally work together in raising a house, and the one who is stationed within cuts a low door,
and creeps out when his task is over. The walls being only three
or four inches thick, are sufficiently translucent to admit a very
agreeable light, which serves for ordinary domestic purposes; but
if more be required a window is cut, and the aperture fitted with
a piece of transparent ice. The proper thickness of the walls is
of some importance. A few inches excludes the wind, yet keeps
down the temperature so as to prevent dripping from the interior.
The furniture, such as seats, tables, and sleeping-places, is also
formed of snow, and a covering of folded reindeer skin, or seal
skin, renders them  comfortable to the inmates.  By means of
ante-chambers and porches in form of long, low galleries, with
their openings turned to leeward, warmth is insured in the interior; and social intercourse is promoted by building the houses
contiguously, and cutting doors of communication between them,
or by erecting covered passages. Storehouses, kitchens, and other
accessory buildings, may be constructed in the same manner, and
a degree of convenience gained which would be attempted in vain
with a less plastic material. These houses are durable, the wind
has little effect on them, and they resist the thaw until the sun
acquires very considerable power.
The success of the seal-hunt depends much on the state of the
ice, and should it fail, great misery results; the spring being, in
fact, the time of the year in which the Central Eskimos incur
the greatest risk of famine.  WThen the thaw lays the ground in
the valleys bare, reindeer and wild-fowl return to the sea-coast,
and plenty follows in their train.
It will be evident, from the account of the yearly round of the
lives of these people, that their movements are restricted to
narrow limits, as compared with the'Tinne, who pursue the
chase over tracts of country hundreds of miles in diameter, as
necessity, fear, or caprice, drives them.  A strict right to hunting
grounds does not seem to be maintained by the several members
of the widely spread'Tinne nation, so as to hinder several tribes
from resorting to the same districts in pursuit of deer, and meeting each other in amity, unless an actual feud exists. Thus our
presence at Fort Confidence was sufficient to determine various
bands of Hare Indians, Dog-ribs, and Martin-lake Indians to resort to the northeastern arm of Great Bear Lake; and but for a




RESPECT FOR TERRITORIAL RIGHTS.          209
deadly feud with the Dog-ribs, which twenty years ago greatly
reduced the numbers of our old friends, the Copper Indians, we
should have had their company also. The Eskimos, on the
contrary, have a strong respect for their territorial rights, and
maintain them with firmness. We learned at Cape Bathurst,
that each head of a small community had a right to the point of'
land on which his winter house or cluster of houses stood, and to
the hunting grounds in its vicinity. We had also evidence, at
various places on the coast, of the unwillingness of these people
to appropriate the goods of their absent neighbors, even when we,
not knowing the proper owner, tempted them by the ofler of a
price much beyond the value of the article in their eyes. The
answer on such occasions was, " That belongs to a man who
is not here." We also saw on the coast stages on which provisions, furs, lamps, and other articles were placed, while the owners
had gone inland; and hoards of blubber, secured from animals
by stone walls, but without any attempt at concealment. " Tiglikpok" (he is a thief) is a term of reproach among themselves;
but they steal without scruple from strangers, and with a dexterity which training and long practice alone can give. Nor did
they appear ashamed when detected, or blush at our reproofs. I
believe that on this point their code is Spartan, and that to steal
boldly and adroitly from a stranger is an act of heroism.
In personal courage, the Eskimos are superior to the Chepewyans, Crees, or any other Indian nation with whom I am
acquainted. The Hare Indians and Dog-ribs dread them, and
even when much superior in numbers, would fly on their approach. Nor do the fire-arms which the bolder Kutchin have
lately acquired enable that people to lord it over the Eskimos,
or encroach on their grounds.
The populous and turbulent bands which inhabit the estuary
of the Mackenzie carry on a traffic with the Western Eskimos
from the neighborhood of Point Barrow and Beering's Straits,
whom they meet midway on the coast; and though often at
feud with the Kutchin have occasionally commercial relations
also with them. But they who dwell to the eastward of Cape
Bathurst communicate with none of their own nation except the
families in their immediate vicinity, and speak of the distant
Eskimos as of a bad people. The reputation of the Kablunaht
or Kablunet (white men) is superior among them to that of the




210                      TRAFFIC.
remote tribes of their own nation.  With the Allani-a-wok, as
they term the inland Indians, they have no intercourse whatever.
The Central Eskimos have had no traffic with Europeans, except with those employed on the recent voyages of discovery,
until the last year (1849), when a family from the coast to the
west of the Mackenzie, having gone inland with a.party of
Kutchin, were visited at their tents by a trader sent out from
La Pierre's house, which is an outpost to the Hudson's Bay Company established on the Western Rat River.
Articles of Russian manufacture, procured by barter coastwise, were traced by us in an easterly direction no further than
Point Atkinson. Previous to the recent establishment of the
RPussian Fur Company's post in the vicinity of Beering's Straits,
the objects exchanged at Barter Island, on the 144th meridian,
were brought on the Asiatic side from the fair of Ostrownoie near
the Kolyma, by the Tchukche, who passed them in the first instance to the Eskimos of Beering's Straits, by whom they were
bartered at the island in question, for filrs brought thither by the
Eskimos of the estuary of the Mackenzie.  In like manner various wares of English make found their way, through the Kutchin
and Mackenzie River Eskimos, coastwise to the Russian establishments on the Pacific.
From the predilection for commercial pursuits shown by the
Eskimos, Von Baer compares them to the Phaenicians, and, referring back to very early times, finds traces of their voyages
along the eastern coasts of America, as far south as the present
state of Massachusetts. There the Scandinavian discoverers of
Vinland (Rhode Island) had many skirmishes with the Skrellings (Skr&llingern), whose identity with the Eskimos Von Baer
considers as established by the recorded descriptions of their personal appearance and dress, and the appellation given to them
being the same as that applied to the Greenlanders.
From Beering's Straits, eastward as far as the Mackenzie, the
males pierce the lower lip near each angle of the mouth, and fill
the apertures with labrets resembling buttons, formed often of blue
or green quartz and sometimes of ivory. Many of them also
transfix the septum of the nose with a dentalium shell or ivory
needle. These ornaments have perhaps been adopted from the
Kutchin and Pacific coast tribes south of Mount St. Elias, since
they have not extended to the Eskimos of Cape Bathurst or more




FEMALE TOILET.                   211
eastern members of the nation. Most of the women are tattooed
on the chin, but they have not adopted the unsightly gash and
extension of the under lip on which the Kolushan ladies pride
themselves.
Unlike the Hare Indian and Dog-rib women, who neglect their
personal appearance, the Eskimo females turn up and plait their
hair tastefully, ornament their dresses, and evidently consider their
toilet as an important concern: hence we may judge that more
deference is paid to them by the men. Egede informs us, that
unmarried Greenland women are modest, both in words and
deeds, but that greater laxity exists among the wives, with the
connivance of their husbands, who are not jealous. I fear that
so much, scanty as the praise is, can not be justly said in favor
of the fair sex on the northern coast. The gestures and signs
made by young and old when they came off in the untiaks were
most indelicate, and more than once a wife was proffered by her
husband without circumlocution in the presence of his companions
and of the woman herself. I understood, indeed, from Augustus,
our interpreter in 1826, that such an offer was considered by the
nation as an act of generous hospitality; and similar customs are
said to exist among the inhabitants of Tartary.
Almost all savage people are excellent mimics, and the Eskimnos are not defective in this accomplishment. They imitated
our speech and gestures with success and much drollery; and the
men excel the other native Americans in the art of grimacing.
When they wish to defy strangers who intrude into their country,
they use the most extraordinary gestures and contortions of the
body and limbs, making at the same time hideous faces. This
was evidently practiced systematically to terrify invaders; for such
as resorted to it on their first interview with us, the moment that
they were made to understand our friendly intentions, instantaneously relaxed their features into a broad, good-natured grin, and
came alongside our boats without further hesitation.
The dress of the two sexes is much alike, the outer shirt or
jacket having a pointed skirt before and behind, those of the females being merely a little longer. The Kutchins also wear these
pointed skirts, but they have not been adopted by the Hare Indians or any of the Chepewyan tribes, who in common with the
more southern Indians cut their shirts or frocks evenly round at
the top of the thigh. I suspect that the long skirts of the Kutchin




212                  3BOATS.-RELIGION.
or Eskimos have given origin to the fabulous account of men with
tails, thought by the Kolushes of the Pacific coast to inhabit the
interior in the direction of Mackenzie's River.
The Eskimo boots are also peculiar to the nation, being made
of seal-skin so closely sewed as to be water-tight, and coming up
to the hips like those used by fishermen in our own land. The
Chepewyans and Crees manufacture no leather that resists water;
the deer-skin dressed by them like shammy absorbs water like a
sponge, and hardens and spoils in drying. Neither have these
Indians boots, but merely shoes or mocassins, with soft tops that
wrap round the ankle, and are unconnected with the leggins or
trowsers.
The Eskimos show much skill in the preparation of whale,
seal, and deer-skins, using the first for thongs and lines employed
in the capture of sea-beasts, also as harness for dog-sledges, soles
for boots, and other purposes where strength and durability are
required.
Their skin kai-yaks and ut-mi-aks are also peculiar to the nation, and can be formed only by a people who dress hides so as to
be water-proof. The kaiyaks are impelled by a double-bladed
paddle, used with or without a central rest, and the umiaks with
oars; neither of which are employed by the inland Indians, except where they have been adopted from Europeans. The use
of a light waterproof outer dress, formed of the intestines of the
whale, and secured to a ledge round the aperture of the kaiyak
so as perfectly to exclude the water in a stormy sea, is also an
Eskimo invention; and the address which is acquired in the management of the light, swift, but unstable kaiyak, contributes to
the education of a race of fearless seamen.
The dogs of the Eskimos along their whole line of coast are
superior in strength to those of the neighboring nations, and are
used in sledges and also in the chase of reindeer and musk-oxen.
With respect to the religion of the Eskimos I could obtain personally no satisfactory answer to my inquiries; but it is certain
that belief in witchcraft and the agency of evil spirits prevails
throughout the nation, except in Greenland and Labrador, where
demon worship has been combated by Christianity. Connected
with this belief is the Shamanism, or influence which certain individuals claim to possess over the evil spirits. Sorcery has been
reduced to a system on the shores of Beering's Sea,; and that it




SUSCEPTIBILITY OF CULTIVATION.          213
is not unknown even on the Labrador coast, the following words,
collected from an Okkak dictionary, will show.  Ange-kok, "a
shaman;" Elihetak, "one killed by sorcery;" I-yerok, "the
devil's servant or messenger;" Nang-iner-minik, "an appearance
produced by a sorcerer;" Torngak, "a devil or evil spirit;"
Torngiwok, " he performs the office of a sorcerer."
As to intelligence and susceptibility of civilization, I consider
the Eskimos as ranking above the neighboring Indian nations,
though my personal experience on this head, being confined to the
interpreters employed on the several expeditions to which I have
been attached, is perhaps too limited to found much upon. These
individuals, however, showed a docility, industry, steadiness of
purpose, a ready adoption of European customs, and an amiability
which I did not observe among the Northern Indians or Crees
in the course of several years' study of their characters.
The success of the Moravian Missionaries, in introducing Christianity and the arts of reading and writing among the population
of the Labrador coast, is a strong inducement to attempt an extension of the same system of instruction to the well-fed multitudes
that frequent the estuary of the Mackenzie.
The origin of the Eskimos has been much discussed, as being
the pivot on which the inquiry into the original peopling of
America has been made to turn. The question has been fairly
and ably stated by Dr. Latham, in his recent work "On the
Varieties of Man," to which I must refer the reader; and' I shall
merely remark that the Eskimos differ more in physical aspect
from their nearest neighbors, than the red races do from one another.  Their lineaments have a decided resemblance to the
Tartar or Chinese countenance. On the other hand, their language is admitted by philologists to be similar to the other North
American tongues in its grammatical structure; so that, as Dr.
Latham has forcibly stated, the dissociation of the Eskimos from
the neighboring nations, on account of their physical dissimilarity,
is met by an argument for their mutual affinity, deduced from
philological coincidences.
The comprehensiveness of the Eskimo language and its artificial structure are curious, when we take into our consideration
the isolated position of the people, and the few objects that come
under their observation. In 1825, I devoted the whole winter
to the formation of an Eskimo vocabulary and grammar, with the




214                       LANGUAGE.
aid of our very intelligent interpreter Augustus, who was a native
of the shores of Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome, and having resided
at Churchill, had acquired the power of expressing his meaning
in very tolerable English. The book containing the results of
his labors and mine was unfortunately stolen from me in the following summer by the Eskimos of the estuary of the Mackenzie;
but through the kindness of the Reverend Peter Latrobe, the
philanthropic secretary of the Moravian Mission, I was provided
for use on the present expedition with an excellent grammar, and
a pretty full dictionary, formed by some of the industrious missionaries of the Labrador coast. By carefully perusing these
volumes, together with Captain Washington's extensive vocabulary, published under sanction of the Admiralty in 1850, I feel
justified in maintaining the assertion I have already made, that
the Eskimo language does not materially vary throughout a line
of coast longer than that which any other aboriginal people possesses. Many seeming discrepancies I have been able to trace
to the genius of the language, by which the same object receives
a distinct appellation for every different aspect and condition
which it assumes; and the formers of the vocabularies have
seldom given the precise translation such a language requires.
Thus a-nio signifies " the snow;" ap-ut, " snow," a general name
for snow on the ground, whence ap-quti-tut, " as white as snow;"
kan-ek, "snow falling;" aki-lokak, "new  fallen white snow;"
auma-yali-wok, "a great fall of damp snow;" siko, "ice;"
tu-wak, "solid ice;" nilak, "light ice;" ka-cho-ak, "drift-ice;"
sir-mek, "thin ice."  We have already remarked, that the Eskimos of Labrador and Beering's Straits retain the name of the
musk-ox, though the Central Eskimos alone come into contact
with the animal, (page 193.)*
The inhabitants of the northwestern coasts from Tchugatsky
Bay (or as it is named in the English charts, Prince William's
Sound), northward, including the peninsula of Alaska and the
* The following are some of the local designations of tribes of the central Eskimnnos. The.-hak-'lan-helet reside near Repulse Bay; the Ut-kusik-kaling-me-ut, or " Stone-kettle Eskimos," live further to the westward;
the Kang-or-me-ut, or " White Goose Eskimos," dwell to the eastward of
Cape Alexander; those who frequent the mouth of the Coppermine River
call themselves Na-ge-uk-tor-ne'-ut, or Deer-Horn Eskimos;" and the
numerous tribe that resorts to the eastern outlet of the Mackenzie call
themselves Kitte-gJi-re-ut or " inhabitants of land near the mountains."




WESTERN TRIBES.                     215
islands in Beering's Sea and Straits, are considered by Baron
Wrangell, Baer, and others acquainted with them, to be of the
Eskimo stock.* Captain Beechey believes that the Western
Eskimos who meet the Mackenzie River tribes at Barter Island
have their western boundary at Cape Barrow; there they have
commercial intercourse with the tribes described by Wrangell
and Baer, who, in their turn, barter with the Asiatic Tchukehe
and with the Russians settled on the American coast, and their
neighbors the Kolushans. The tribes crowded together on the
shores of Beering's Sea within a comparatively small extent of
coast-line exhibit a greater variety, both in personal appearance
and dialect, than that which exists between the Western Eskimos and their distant countrymen in Labrador; and ethnologists
have found some difficulty in classifying them properly. The
appellations they have assumed, or which have been bestowed
upon them correctly and incorrectly, have increased the confusion.
They are, however, like the other Eskimos, a littoral people, who,
in their skin kaiyaks, pursue all kinds of sea-beasts-seals, sealions, walruses, polar-bears, sea-otters, and whales-clothing themselves in their spoils and in bird-skins, and making much less use
of the leather of the reindeer skin than their southern and eastern
neighbors of a different stock.  The Tchugatchih of King William's Sound are the most southern of several tribes, and state
that, in consequence of some domestic quarrels, they emigrated
in recent times from the Island of Kadyak,t and they claim, as
their hereditary possessions, the coast lying between Bristol Bay
and Beering's Straits. They believe that their nation originally
sprung from a dog, in which respect they agree with the Chepewyan tribes, and differ from the Kolushes.
The Tchugatchih are of middle stature, slender, but strong;
with skins often brown, but in some individuals whiter than
those of Europeans, and with black hair. The men are handsomer than the women. They pierce the under lip and septum
of the nose, filling the apertures with corals, shells, bones, and
* " The inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands (i. e. Beering's and Copper
Islands), of the Rat Islands, Andreanowsky Islands, and Prebiilowiini
Islands, of Unalaska and Kadiak, are all Eskimo; a fact which numerous
vocabularies give us full means of ascertaining. In respect of the difference of speech between particular islands, there is external evidence that
it is considerable." —Dr. Latham, Varieties of Man, 4-c.
t Kikhtak of the English maps.




216                   KUSKUTCIlEWAK.
stones. Their manners were originally similar to those of the
Kuskutchewak and other communities living more to the north;
but in later times they have carried off the women of the more
southern tribes, and from their intermarriages with the captives,
combined with their long intercourse with the Russians, their
opinions, customs, and features have undergone a change, so that
they have now a greater resemblance to the inland Indians than
to the northern Eskimos.
Baer's work, which is my chief authority with regard to the
inhabitants of Russian America, contains some interesting details
of the habits of the Kuskutchewak alluded to above, from which
I shall make a few extracts for the purpose of comparison with
the better-known manners and customs of the eastern Eskimos.
The Kuskutchewak inhabit the banks of a river which falls into
the sea on the 60th parallel, between the island of Nuniwak arid
Cape Newenham. They are neither a nomadic nor hunter folk,
but dwell in winter in stationary villages built on the river, and
in summer disperse themselves inland to collect provisions. They
have a strong attachment to their ancestral abodes. Their winter dwellings are partly sunk in the earth, as on the Eskimo
coasts, but nowhere else to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains.
On the west coast this mode of building extends as far south as
Unalaschka; and in Cook's Third Voyage there is a representation
of a winter house at that place far superior in size, accommodation, and furniture, to any that we saw on the northern shores.
In each village of the Kuskutchewak there is a public building, named the Kashim, in which councils are held and festivals
kept, and which must be large enough to contain all the grown
men of the village. It has raised platforms round the walls, and
a place in the centre for the fire, with an aperture in the roof for
the admission of light.*
I have mentioned such a building as existing at Point Atkinson
(page 155), but that was of inferior size, being indeed suited to a
smaller community. In the language of the Labrador Eskimos
Kiashiminwik, or Kashimin-wikhak, signifies a place where men
assemble in council;" and Kaschinz-i-ut, " an assemblage of men
for council;" from which we derive additional evidence of the
national identity of the two people.
* In Franklin's Second Overland Journals there is a plan of the Point
Atkinson kashim, which answers to the above description.




FEASTS.-QUARRELS.                   217
The kashim is the sleeping apartment for all the adult ablebodied males of the village, who retire to it at sunset; while the
old men, women, children, and the shaman sleep in the ordinary
dwellings. Early in the morning the shaman goes to the kashim
with his drum, and performs some religious ceremony, varied as
his fancy prompts, for the shamanism of the tribes of the Eskimo
stock is said not to be guided in its ceremonials by any fixed practice.* The only women who are allowed to enter the kashim to
eat with the men are those who have been initiated in a certain
formal manner.
Feasts are held in the kashim, and particularly a great festival
or harvest-home which recurs annually at the close of the autumn
hunting season. Then the produce of the chase of each hunter
is proclaimed before the assembly in detail, down to the small
birds or mice killed by the children, and the generosity of the
contributors to the feast is lauded.  Many are thereby excited to
give profusely, and to pinch themselves and their families for the
whole of the ensuing winter. Minor feasts are held on various
occasions, and the hospitality of the Kuskutchewak and neighboring tribes is said to be very great, not only at festival occasions, but at all other times.
On the murder of a relation, retaliation is decided upon at a
council held in the kashim, and is generally blood for blood. In
their wars they do not slay old people or children, and instead of
killing women, they lead them into slavery. On the north coast,
in 1826, we observed that the old men and women were more
forward in provoking a fray, in anticipation of plunder, than the
young men, and perhaps they reckoned upon personal immunity
in the contest.  Disputes between parties of long standing are
settled by dual combat in a ring of the people. Augustus, our
interpreter, told me that the Eskimo of the Welcome decided
their quarrels by alternate blows of the fist, each in turn presenting his head to his opponent; and Cunningham says, that the
* Augustus informed us that in his tribe, which occupies the coast of
Hudson's Bay between Churchill and Knap's Bay, there were sixteen men
and three women who were acquainted with the mysteries of shamanism.
The women exhibited their skill on their own sex only. When the shaman
was sent for to cure a sick person, he shut himself into a tent with his
patient, and, without tasting food, sung over him for days together. The
shamans also swallowed knives, fired bullets into their bodies, and practiced
various other deceptions to show their powers.
K




218                       CUSTOMS.
natives of New South Wales have a similar practice, but use the
waddie instead of the unarmed hand, their thick skulls being able
to resist blows with that formidable weapon. Both people consider it cowardly to evade a stroke. In these primitive methods
of settling their points of honor we may perceive the germ of the
medimeval combats in lists, and of the more absurd modern duels,
which the light of Christianity has not yet abolished.
When a Kuskutchewak hunter returns from the chase, he steps
from his kaiyak or dog-sledge, and goes straight to the kashim,
while his wife dries and secures the kaiyak, or unharnesses the
dogs, and lays up the produce of his hunt. She cooks for him,
and makes and mends his clothing. The husbands visit their
wives, like the Spartans, by stealing out of the kashim at night,
when the others have gone to rest. Every hunter preserves some
remembrance of each reindeer that he kills. He either scratches
a mark on his bow, or draws out a tooth of the beast, and adds it
to a girdle which he wears as an ornament.
The mode of treating infants is one of the national customs of
a people that changes most slowly. It does not appear that any
branch of the Eskimo nation flatten the heads or repress the
growth of the feet of their children, like the Tchinuks and Kutchin. The Central Eskimo women carry their nurslings in the
hoods of their shirts. and the figures in Cook's Third Voyage show
that custom to be practiced as low down as Unalaschka.
The Kuskutchewak are passionately fond of the vapor bath,
and often use it three or four times a day, occasionally in the
kashim, more frequently in small inclosures, which can be formed
in every hut, and in which the steam is raised by throwing water
on hot stones. If a father happens to be on bad terms with his
grown-up son, he invites his most intimate friend into the baoth,
discloses his grievance to him, desires him to inform his son why
his father is displeased, and what he ought to do to appease him.
A secret which no one will tell elsewhere is revealed in the bath.
This is also, I believe, a Turkish custom.
The Kuskutchewak indicate the times of day or night with great
accuracy, and they can even distinguish some stars and planets.*
* Viz.,'untonok (Reindeer), the Great Bear; Mi-seuschit (the Rising),
Orion; Ka-wegat (the Fox-earth), the Pleiades;.Is-guk, Aldebaran; Uleuch.
tugal-ya (Fox and Hare Killer), Venus; ig-yach-laik (Abundance of Wild
B3easts), Sirius.




MAMMOTH'S TUSKS.                     219
Before concluding my extracts from Baer relating to this tribe,
I may remark that mammoth-teeth are numerous in crevices of
the sandy banks of the river Kuskokwim.  The natives have a
tradition that the great animals to which the tusks belonged came
in old times from the East, but that they were destroyed by a
shaman of the river Kwichpak. Some of them, however, say
that the herd was merely driven into the earth, and that it comes
up in one night of the year. Elsewhere I have alluded to the
singularity of no tusks nor fossil bones having been hitherto discovered in Rupert's Land, though they abound on the coast of
Beering's Sea.
The various small tribes or communities nearly related to the
Kuskutchewak, enumerated by Baron Wrangell, are inserted in a
note at the foot of the page.* Their name for people or men is
Tia-tchut, which corresponds in signification with the Eskimo
Inu-it; and among the inhabitants of the Aleutian Archipelago,
the word is modified into Tii-gut and Yagut. The similarity of
this term to the national appellation of the Lena Yakuts of Turkish stock is worthy of notice, though it may probably be no more
than a mere accidental coincidence.t  The syllable ta in the
language of the Kutchin, who are the inland neighbors of the
Kuskutchewak, signifies water, and Ta-kutchi denotes "the water
or ocean people."  To (or Ta in composition) means "water" in
the'Tinne or Chepewyan tongue also.
The Sedentary Tchukche, who inhabit the shores of the Gulf
of Anadyr, and assume, according to Saner, the national appellation of ]Lamollo, are a tribe of Eskimos.  They seem once to
have possessed the coast of Asia as far westward: as the 160th
* Agolegmeuten, Kiyataigmeuten or Kiyaten, Mayimeuten, Agulmeuten,
Paschtoligmeuten, Tatchigmeuten, Malimeuten, Anlygmeuten, Tschnagmeuten, Kuwichpack-meuten, are the designations of the communities
most closely allied to the Kuskutchewak by, neighborhood and identity of
manners. The Tchugatschen and Kadyaken, the Inkaleuchlenhten and
the Inkaliten reside at greater distances to the southward, and have some
diversities of customs.
t The Turkish words Yacubi and Yakutski signify the " Sons of Jacob,"
and, on applying to several well-informed Turks, they could recollect no
other words so similar in sound to Yakut. A Christian community named
Yakubi or Yakupi reside at the present time in Jerusalem.
t Commencing at the east coasts of Labrador and Greenland, the Namollos become the western members of the family, as Dr. Latham has
noticed; and even in respect to Europe they are less eastern than their
American brethren. Is Namollo from nruna-mullo, " distant land?"




220                 REINDEER TCHUKCHE.
parallel, traces of Eskimo dwellings having been found up to the
mouth of the Kolyma. The more powerful Reindeer Tchukche
oppress and restrain them within narrow limits, and are therefore
considered as the invaders of the Namollo territory.
With the mention of the Asiatic detachment of the nation, and
without entering into the question of whether it ought to be considered as the remains of the ancient trunk, or merely a decaying
branch, we close our remarks on the Eskimos.
REINDEERP TCHUKCHE.
Before proceeding to give an account of the Kutchin, the second
of the native nations whose lands were traversed by the Expedition,
I shall introduce a brief notice of the Asiatic Reindeer Tchukche,*
who designate themselves by the appellation of Tchekto, " people."
Mr. Matiuschkin describes them as being a remarkably strong and
powerful race, resembling the Americans in their physiognomy.
They once owned the whole country from Beering's Straits to
some distance westward of the Kolyrra, having dispossessed, according to tradition, a once numerous people, named Omoki, who
are now extinct, and also the Nanollos of the coast.t The advance of the Cossacks and Russians has driven them back beyond
the Kolyma into the northeastern corner of Asia;; but they resist
the invaders with firmness, and maintain a greater degree of independence than any other native Siberian tribe.
Neither the Eskimos nor any other North American nation
have domesticated any animal except the dog; but the Asiatic
Tchekto are a truly nomadic people, and have tamed the reindeer,
of which they have numerous herds. The rearing of the deer,
which constitutes their wealth, requires the command of a woody
country and also of barren grounds or tundras.  Comnmodore
Moore, during the winter that the " Plover" passed in Emma's
Harbor, not far from Cape Tchoukotsky, purchased reindeer froml
* The notices of this people are taken from Matiuschkin's description
of them in " Wrangell's Expedition to the Polar Sea." In the orthography
of the name I have followed the English translation of Wrangell's book.
The French translator writes Tchouktchas, and Bier Tchuktschen.  In
Cook's Third Voyage it is written Tschutski, and by Dr. Latham Tshuktshi.
t Omoki has an Eskimo sound: thus oma, "he," okkba or omokba,
"they."  And as the Central Eskimos soften k and g into I and m, a
little etymological coaxing might produce a word like Namollo.
t For the use of the relative terms east and west see note, p. 219.




COMMERCE.                       221
the inhabitants of a village near his anchorage, to the great benefit of his crew, and at the low rate of twelve carcasses for a ship's
musket. The Tchukches are skillful traders. Those who frequent the fair of Ostrownoie bring thither furs and walrus-teeth,
and receive in return tobacco, iron articles, hardware, and beads.
They are accompanied by their women and children, and bring
with them  their arms, skin tents, and household goods, all conveyed on sledges drawn by reindeer. The journey occupies six
months, for they have to make circuitous routes in search of pasture; and they also visit by the way Anadyrsk and Karnenoie,
where inftrior markets are held. After remaining eight or ten
days at Ostrownoie, they commence their return; so that their
life is actually passed on the road, allowing barely time for the
necessary preparations and for their visits to Beering's Straits.
These are made in summer in baidars, or skin-boats, and in winter over the ice on sledges, with which they carry Russian wares,
to the Gwosden Islands in the Straits.  There they are met by
people from Cape Prince of Wales, with furs and walrus-teeth,
collected from the dwellers in Kotzebue Sound, and from the inhabitants of the coast still further north.  The Tchukche trade
with St. Lawrence Island also, and with Ukiwok, a rock of not
more than three miles in circumference, but rising seven hundred
and fifty-six feet above the sea.  It is destitute of' vegetation, and
yet a body of two hundred people, friom the American coast, have
formed a settlement on it, at the height of one hundred and fifty
feet above the water, for the purposes of trade. They inhabit
caves of the rocks, and procure clothing, tobacco, and other necessaries by the sale of walrus-teeth. Sledge Island, equally small,
is also inhabited by skillful traders, who are employed by the
Tchukche as factors, to exchange the articles intrusted to them
for furs collected on the banks of the Kwichpak, Kuskokwim,
and neighboring rivers of America.  By this channel, previous
to the formation of the Russian Fur Company, wares brought
from Asia were distributed over seventeen hundred miles of American coast.
The Reindeer Tchukche practice shamanism; and though
they occasionally beat their shamans to compel them to bring
about some event which they desire, this treatment may be considered as evincing a belief in the powers of the sorcerer, and in
times of general fear and calamity the shamans have put forth




222                     SHAMANISM.
their pretensions with great effect. In 1814, an epidemic having
carried off many of the Tchukehe assembled at the fair of Ostrownoie, the shamans held a consultation, and decided that Kotchen,
the most respected of their chiefs, must be sacrificed to appease
the wrath of the spirits.  Neither presents nor severe treatment
could prevail on the shamans to alter their decision, and Kotchen,
like another Curtius, devoted himself to the infernal gods. The
love of his people, however, was such, that none could be prevailed upon to execute the sentence, until his own son, incited by the
exhortations of his father, and terrified by his threatened curse,
plunged a knife into his heart, and gave the body to the shamans.*
The tents of the Tchukche, called namet, have a fire in the
centre with an opening for the smoke to escape, and inclose several apartments named pologs, or square closets of skins, stretched
over laths, and so low that the inmates must remain in a crouching position. The polog is heated by a lamp, and its temperature is so high, and the air so close, as to be scarcely endurable
by a person unaccustomed to breathe so impure an atmosphere.
Dr. Latham considers the Tchukche as the northern branch
of the Koriaks, the southern branch being named Korceki, which
is said to be an indigenous appellation t; and he reckons the Koriaks as a division of' the Peninsular Mangolidae.  It is probable
that on further investigation the Reindeer Tchukche will be
found to be the connecting link between the Asiatic and American Mongolidae. In their attachment to commercial pursuits,
fondness for beads, and in their bold independent character, they
have a resemblance to the Kutchin, described in the following
chapter. The similarity of the appellation Tchukche, derived
from Tchekto, " people," to Tchutski or Ta-kutski, " water-people," tribes of the Kutchin, is, however, in Dr. Latham's opinion,
merely an indirect glossarial affinity. The great variety of dialects which prevail in the Aleutian Archipelago and neighborhood
of Beering's Straits is most probably the result of the active commerce there carried on, having brought several nations into contact with each other.
* Wrangell's Polar Sea, translated by Mrs. Sabine, p. 119.
t Kora, "a reindeer."




CHAPTER XII.
ON THE KUTCHIN OR LOUCHEUX.
Designations.-Personal Appearance.-Tattoo.-Employ Pigments.-Dress.-Ornaments.-Beads.-Used as a Medium of Exchange.-Shells.-Winter Dress.Arms.-Wives.-Treatment of Infants.-Compress their Feet.-Lively Dispositions.-Religious Belief.-Shamanism.-Anecdotes.-Treachery.- Contests
with the Eskimos.-Occupations.-Traffic.-Beads and Shells.-Tents.Vapor Baths.-Deer Pounds.-Oratory.-Talkativen ss.-Dances.-Manbot
or Blood-money.-Ceremonies on meeting other People.-Population of the
Valley of the Yukon.-Same People with certain Coast Tribes.-Kolusches.Kenaiyers.-Ugalents.-Atnaer.-Koltshanen.-Persons  and Dress.-DeerPounds.-Passion for Glass Beads.-Kolushes descended from a Raven.Courtship.-Wives.-Revenge.-Murder.-Burn the Dead.-Mourning.-Do
not name the Deceased.-Custom connected therewith.-Winter Habitations.
-Journeys of the Kenaiyers inland.-Porcupine Quills.-Slavery.
FROM Churchill River in Hudson's Bay round northward to
the estuary of the Mackenzie, the only nation that the Eskimos
come in contact with is that of the'Tinne or Chepewyans, and
even with them they have no friendly intercourse, nor do they
meet except at the trading post of Churchill, and within its influence. To the west of the Mackenzie, however, another people
interpose between them and the Tinne, and spread westward
until they come into the neighborhood of the coast tribes of Beering's Sea, which have been already noticed. On Peel's River
they name themselves Kutchin, the final n being nasal and faintly pronounced. It is dropped altogether further to the westward,
on the banks of the Yukon.  They are the Loucheux of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and the Di-go-thi-tdinne of the neighboring
Hare Indians.
Of this people I have but little personal acquaintance, having
had only brief interviews with the families that frequent the
banks of the Mackenzie for a hundred and fifty miles or so above
its delta.  My information respecting them is derived from my
friend Mhr. Bell, who has traded with them for many years, and
is the first European who penetrated into their country from the
eastward; and from Mr. Murray, who is now, and has been for




224                 PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
some seasons, resident among them. It is to this gentleman's
very able letters, which I have had the advantage of perusing,
through the kindness of chief factor Murdoch M'Pherson, that
I am indebted for descriptions of the tribes dwelling on the Yukon.
The few members of the nation that I saw on the Mackenzie
had much resemblance in features to their neighbors the Hare
Indians, but carried themselves in a more manly manner. Being,
however, merely outliers of the Kutchin, they were a less favorable example of that people than the dwellers on the Yukon that
came under Mr. Murray's observation. He states that the males
are of the average height of Europeans, and well-formed, with
regular features, high foreheads, and lighter complexions than
those of the other Red Indians.* The women resemble the men,
and Mr. Murray speaks of the wife of one of the chiefs as being
so handsome that, setting aside her Indian garb and tattooed
face, she would have been considered a fine woman in any country. All the females have their chins tattooed, and when they
paint their faces they use a black pigment. The men employ
both red and black paints on all occasions of ceremony, every one
applying them according to his fancy; and that they may always
have them ready, each has a small bag containing red clay and
black lead suspended to his neck.  Most commonly the eyes are
encircled with black; a stripe of the same hue is drawn down
the middle of the nose; and a blotch is made on the upper part
of each cheek. The forehead is crossed by many narrow red
stripes, and the chin is streaked alternately with red and black.
The Chepewyans and Crees paint their faces in a similar manner.
The outer shirt of the Kutchin is formed of the skins of fawn
reindeer, dressed with the hair on, after the manner of the Hare
Indians, Dog-ribs, and other Chepewyan tribes, but in its form it
* Mr. Isbister, speaking of the Kutchin who frequent Peel's River Fort,
says, " Theyfare an athletic and fine-looking race, considerably above the
average stature, most of them being upward of six feet in height, and remarkably well proportioned. They have black hair, fine sparkling eyes,
moderately high cheek bones, regular and well set teeth, and a fair complexion. Their countenances are handsome and pleasing, and capable of
great expression. They perforate the septum of the nose, in which they
insert two shells joined together, and tipped with a colored bead at each
end."'; —cp. of Bfrit..ss. for 1847, p. 122.




D RESS.-ORN AMENTS.                 225
resembles the shirts of the Eskimos, being furnished with peaked
skirts, though of smaller size. The men wear these peaks before
and behind; the women have larger back skirts but none in front.
A broad band of beads is worn across the shoulders and breast of
the shirt, and the hinder part of the dress is fringed with fancy
beads and small leathern tassels, wound round with dyed porcupine quills, and strung with the silvery fruit of the oleaster.*
The inferior garment of both sexes is a pair of deer-skin pantaloons, the shoes being of the same piece, or sewed to them. A
stripe of beads, two inches broad, strung in alternate red and
white squares, runs from the ankle to the hip along the seam of
the trowsers, and bands of beads encircle the ankles.  The poorer
sort wear only a fringe of beads, and sometimes only porcupine
quills. The wealthy load themselves with beads, strung in every
kind of pattern, on the breast and shoulders; and sometimes immense rolls of this valuable article are used as necklaces. Headbands are formed of small, various-colored beads, mixed with dentalium shells, and the same kind of shells are worn in the nose
and ears. The hair is tied behind in a cue, bound round at the
root with a fillet of shells and beads, and loose at the end.  This
cue is daubed by the tribes on the Yukon with grease and the
down of geese and ducks, until, by repetitions of the process continued from infancy, it swells to an enormous thickness; sometimes so that it nearly equals the neck in diameter, and the
weight of the accumulated load of hair, dirt, and ornaments,
causes the wearer to stoop forward habitually. The tail feathers
of the eagle and fishing-hawk are stuck into the hair on the back
of the head, and are removed only when the owner retires to
sleep, or when he wishes to wave them to and fro in a dance.
Mr. Murray, when he went among these people, found that they
attached nearly as much honor to the possession of their cues as
the Chinese do to their pig-tails, but he in a short time acquired
sufficient influence to persuade a young but powerful chief to rid
himself of the cumbrous and uncleanly appendage; his example
was followed by the rest of his band, and will, it is to be hoped,
spread through the nation. The mittens, which the men always
carry with them, are also adorned with shells, and some of these
expensive appendages are even attached to their guns. The
* Elceagnus argentea.




226                     ARMS.-WIVES.
women wear fewer shells and beads, both of which have a high
value in the nation, especially the shells.*
In winter, shirts of hare-skin are worn, and the deer-skin pantaloons have the fur next the skin.  On their journeys, travelers
carry with them their dress clothes, which they put on every
evening after encamping, and when they come to the trading
posts. None of the neighboring nations pay so much attention
to personal cleanliness and appearance.
The arms of the men are a bow and arrow, a knife, a dagger,
and a spear, with a quiver hanging on the left side, and suspended
by an embellished belt, which passes over the right shoulder.
Fancy handles and fluted blades are more valued than the good
temper of a knife; and this people complain of the trouble of
shapening a hard steel weapon. Not so the Central Eskimos,
who try one knife against another, and will purchase a well-tempered blade at a high price. Guns have been lately introduced
among the Kutchin, and are in great demand.  All the men
carry powder and ball, whether they own a gun or not, and for
it obtain a share of the game killed by the possessors of fire-arms.
The same custom exists among the Dog-ribs.
The husbands are very jealous of their wives, but in general
treat them kindly, contrasting in these respects with their neighbors. The Chepewyans treat their wives indifferently, and are
jealous: the Eskimos treat them well, and are not jealous. The
principal men of the Kutchin possess two or three wives each,
and Mr. Murray knew one old leader who had five.  Poor men,
whose abilities-as hunters are small, and who have been unable
to accumulate beads, remain bachelors;t but a good wrestler,
even though poor, can always obtain a wife. In winter the
women do all the drudgery, such as collecting the fire-wood, assisting the dogs in hauling the sledge, bringing in snow to melt
for water, and in fact perform all the domestic duties except
cooking, which is the man's office; and the wives do not eat till
the husband is satisfied. In summer the women labor little, ex* The shells, being several species of Dentalium and.renicola, are collected in the Archipelago lying between the Oregon and Cape Fairweather,
and pass by trade from tribe to tribe. The large-ribbed Dentalium is
most prized.
t      Scilicet uxorem cum dote, fidemque, et amicos,
Et genus, et formam, regina pecunia donat,
Ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque.




RELIGIOUS BELIEF.                 227
cept in drying meat or fish for its preservation. The men alone
paddle, while the women sit as passengers; and husbands will
even carry their wives to the shore in their arms, that they may
not wet their feet. The Eskimo women row their own umiaks,
and the Chepewyan women assist the men in paddling their
canoes. On the whole, the social condition of the Kutchin women is far superior to that of the Chepewyan women, but scarcely equal to that of the Eskimo dames.
The Kutchin women do not carry their infants in their hoods
or boots after the Eskimo fashion, nor do they stuff them into a
bag with moss, as the Chepewyan and Crees do, but they place
them in a seat of birch bark, with back and sides like those of
an arm-chair, and a pommel in front, resembling the peak of a
Spanish saddle. This hangs at the woman's back, suspended by
a strap which passes over her shoulders, and the infant is seated
in it, with its back to hers, and its legs, well cased in warm boots,
hanging down on each side of the pommel. The child's feet are
bandaged to prevent their growing, small feet being thought
handsome; and the consequence is, that short, unshapely feet
are characteristic of the people. A practice so closely resembling
the Chinese one, though not confined, as with them, to females,
may interest ethnologists.
The Kutchin live more comfortably than the Hare Indians
or Dog-ribs. They are a lively, cheerful people. Dancing and
singing, in which they excel other Indians, are their favorite
amusements, and they practice leaping, wrestling, and other athletic exercises. All these are called into play when different
bands meet on friendly terms.  They are inveterate talkers.
Every new-comer, as he arrives at a trading post, halts at the
door of the house and makes a speech, in which he tells where
he has been, what he has done, how hard he has labored to obtain furs, and urges the propriety of his being well paid for his
exertions, relating also the news he obtained from other tribes,
and any thing that has checkered his life or crossed his thoughts
since his former visit.  Established etiquette forbids any one to
interrupt him until he has concluded.
Of their religious notions no full account has yet been obtained,
but they speak of good and evil spirits, and belief in shamanism
is common to them, the Eskimos, and the Chepewyans. The
evil spirit whose malevolence they dread is propitiated through




228              MANBOTE OR BLOOD-AIONEY.
their shamans, who profess to have the sole power of communicating with the unseen world, and foreseeing deaths and foretellirig events. Such powers clothe the shamans with authority and
awfulness. Should any one have a quarrel with the members of
another tribe, his death is attributed to sorcery, or, as the interpreters render it, to " evil medicine." A strong party is forthwith
mustered, to seek the band which the shamans have designated,
and to demand blood-money for their relative, or to avenge his
death should compensation be denied. The amount claimed varies
with the rank of' the deceased, and the estimation in which he
was held, from twenty " skins" of beads to thrice that quantity.
Mr. Murray mentions a bloody instance of this superstition which
occurred in 1847.  A woman of the Kzutcha-kutchi tribe dying
suddenly, her death was at first attributed to the presence of
white people on their lands, but the matter being debated, this
opinion was overruled, and the blame was attached to a band
named Teytse-kutchi, residing further down the river, some of
whom had a dispute with the husband of the deceased. Upward
of thirty warriors started on the blood-quest, and five of the unsuspecting Teytse-kutchi happening to approach a sleeping-place of
the war-party were waylaid. Four of them  were dispatched
silently on their landing, and the fifth, who was a little behind
the others, not seeing his companions when he came up, suspected that evil had befallen them, and, landing on a sand-bank, interrogated the war-party across the stream. While his attention
was engaged by the conversation that ensued, two of his foes carried a canoe through the willows to the other side of a point
higher up the stream, and, having embarked, drifted leisurely
down the river,-as if they belonged to another party. On approaching the sand-bank, they called to the Teytse-kutchi man,
that they were going further down, and would be glad of his
company. He waited till they came up, and as he was stepping
into his canoe, one of the Kutcha-kutchi tripped him up, and the
other stabbed him to the heart as he lay. Having accomplished
these murderous feats, the war-party resumed their voyage, but
meeting afterward only with numerous bodies of the Teytse-kutchi,
they concealed their evil intentions, and returned to their own
lands.
Mr. Thomas Simpson, in his " Narrative of Discoveries in the
Polar Sea," relates an instance of the Peel River Kutchin de



TREACHERY.                     229
manding blood-money from the Eskimos, and receiving it for several years, for one of their countrymen, who they asserted had
died of wounds received in a contest between the two nations.
The Eskimos having at length discovered that the man for whose
death they had been paying was still living, reviled the Kutchin
for their falsehood and extortion, and then took their revenge by
killing three of the party who had come to demand the compensation for the following year.
Mr. Murray reports that the Kutchin are a treacherous people,
that they never attack their enemies in open fight, and only when
they consider themselves to be unquestionably superior, either by
numbers or in position. They boast of their successes, but seldom
tell of their reverses, which are nevertheless frequent, as their
wars are chiefly with bands of their own nation, who are as wary
and treacherous as themselves. By these feuds one half of the
population of the banks of the Yukon has been cut off within the
last twenty years. Little value is set by this turbulent people
on human life, and the constant dread of ambuscade deters them
from traveling except in large parties. They have not as yet
imbrued their hands in European blood. Messrs. Dease, Bell,
and others of the Company's officers, who have resided at Fort
Good Hope on Peel River, have used their influence, and distributed large presents among the tribes, for the purpose of establishing peace, but with only temporary success. The pretensions
and arts of the shamans are fertile sources of mischief.
The Peel River Kutchin, in speaking to Mr. Bell of their contests with the Eskimos, always charged the latter with treachery,
but it is more likely that they were themselves the aggressors.
One of their encounters with that people deserves to be mentioned here, because of its resemblance in some particulars to the
meeting of Joab and Abner recorded in the Second Book of Samuel.
A party of each of the two nations having met, the young men
rose up to dance, as if the meeting had been entirely amicable;
but the Eskimos having, as they are accustomed to do, concealed
their long flenching knives in the sleeves of their deer-skin shirts,
drew them, in one of the evolutions of the dance, and thrust them
into their opponents. A general conflict ensued, in which the Kutchin were the victors, owing to their guns-that is, according to
their report of the affair; but had the Eskimos been the tellers of
the story, the circumstances might have been related differently.




230                 BEADS AND SHELLS.
Another incident, which occurred on the banks of the Yukon in
1845, gives a further insight into the suspicious and timorous
lives of these people. One night four strangers, from the lower
part of the river, arrived at the tent of an old man who was sick,
and who had with him only two sons, one of them a mere boy.
The new-corners entered in a friendly manner, and, when, the
hour of repose, came lay down; but the sons perceiving that their
guests did not sleep, and suspecting from their conduct that they
meditated evil, feigned a desire of visiting their moose-deer snares.
They intimated their purpose aloud to their father, and went out,
taking with them their bows and arrows. Instead, however, of
continuing their way into the wood, they stole back quietly to the
tent, and listening on the outside, discovered as they fancied, from
the conversation of the strangers, that their father's life was in
danger. Knowing the exact position of the inmates, they thereupon shot their arrows through the skin covering and killed two
of the strange Indians; the other two, in endeavoring to make
their escape by the door, shared the fate of their companions.
This is spoken of in the tribe as an exceedingly brave action.
The golden age of innocence and security is not to be sought for
among a savage people ignorant of the precepts of divine truth.
The Yukon Kutchin pass the summer in drying white-fish
(Coregonus) for winter use.  For the purpose of taking these
nsh, they construct weirs by planting stakes across the smaller
rivers and narrow parts of lakes, leaving openings in which they
place wicker baskets to intercept the fish. This practice is common in Oregon and New Caledonia,* but does not exist to the
eastward of the Rocky Mountains. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Yukon are unacquainted with nets, so largely
employed by the Chepewyans and Crees. The Kutchin take the
moose-deer in snares, and, toward the spring, most of the nation
resort to the mountains to hunt reindeer and lay in a stock of
dried venison.
Beads are the riches of the Kutchin, and also the medium of
exchange throughout the country lying between the Mackenzie
and the west coast, other articles being valued by the number of
strings of beads they can procure. No such near approach to
money has been invented by the nations residing to the eastward
* Cook observed fishing weirs at Nootka Sound. —Third Voy., vol. ii.
p. 281.




TENTS.-VAPOR BATHS.                231
of the Rocky Mountains, though their intercourse with the furtraders has given them a standard of value in the beaver's skin.
Their accounts at the posts being reckoned by the number of
" beavers" they owe, and the Company's tariff fixes the value of
a "beaver." To be accounted a chief among the Kutchin, a man
must possess beads to the amount of 200 beavers. The standard
bead, and the one of most value, is a large one of white enamel
which is manufactured in Italy only, and can with difficulty be
procured from thence in sufficient quantity.  Fancy beads, i.e.,
blue and red ones of various sizes, and the common small white
ones, are, however, in request, for ornamenting their dresses.
Dentalium and Arenicola shells are transmitted from the west
coast in traffic, and are greatly valued. None of the Chepewyan
tribes wear nose-ornaments, neither have the latter people the
same passion for beads. A supply of them is indeed sent to all
the trading posts frequented by the'Tinne, but they are mostly
purchased by the wives of Canadian voyagers or half-breeds residing in the establishments, and if desired by the natives for the
same purposes they are given to them as presents, or exchanged
for articles of small value, and never, I believe, for furs.  The
Kutchin, on the contrary, will not part with their furs unless
they receive most of the price in beads or shells, as they have not
yet learnt to value English cloth and blankets above their skin
dresses. Ammunition, by the instructions of the Hudson's Bay
Company, is given in exchange for provisions, or, when the natives
are in want, gratuitously, that they may be able to support themselves.
Each family possesses a deer-skin tent or lodge-the skins used
in winter being prepared without removing the hair, that the
cold air may be more effectually excluded. In summer, when
the family is traveling in quest of game, the tent is rarely erected.
A winter encampment is made usually in a grove of spruce firs.
The ground being cleared of snow, the lodge-skins are extended
over flexible willow poles, which take a semicircular form, and
are transported with them from place to place. The hemispherical shape of their lodges is not altogether unknown among the
Chepewyans and Crees, being that generally adopted for vapor
baths, which are framed of willow poles stuck into the ground at
each end; but the lodges used by these nations for dwelling places
are cones, formed by stiff poles meeting at the top. The lodges




232                    DEER POUNDS.
of the Kutchin resemble the Eskimo snow huts in shape, and also
the yourts of the Asiatic Anadyrski. When the Kutchin winterlodge is raised, snow is packed on the outside to half its height,
and it is lined equally high within with the young spray of the
spruce fir, that the bodies of the inmates may not rest against the
cold wall. The doorway is filled up by a double fold of slkin, and
the apartment has the closeness and warmth, but not the elegance
of a snow house. Mr. Murray remarks, that though only a very
small fire is usually kept in the centre of the lodge, the warmth
is as great as in a log house. The provisions are stored on the
outside, under a covering of fir branches and snow, and further
protected from the depredations of the dogs by the sledges being
placed on the top.
Mr. Bell informed me that, on the open hilly downs frequented
by reindeer, the Kutchin have formed pounds, toward which the
animals are conducted by two rows of stakes or trunks of trees
extending for miles. These rows converge, and as the space between them narrows, they are converted into a regular fence by
the addition of strong horizontal bars.  The extremity of the
avenue is closed by stakes set firmly in the ground, with their
sharp points sloping toward the entrance, so that when the deer
are urged vehemently forward they may impale themselves thereon. The hunters, spreading over the country, drive the deer within the jaws of the pound; and the women and children, ensconced
behind the fence, wound all that they can with arrows and spears.
These structures are erected with great labor, as the timber has
to be brought into the open country from a considerable distance.
Some of the pounds visited by Mr. Bell appeared to him, from
the condition of the wood, to be more than a century old. They
are hereditary possessions of the families by whom they were constructed.
Mr. Murray's letters describe the meetings of several tribes
which he witnessed. On one occasion two parties who had been
at war with each other, and had not yet arranged their differences,
met at his encampment. Very long harangues were made by
different members of the two bodies before they landed. After
this, one party, stepping from their canoes, formed a circle and
pranced round, yelling and shouting furiously. The other party
landed a little way off, and ranging themselves in Indian file, the
chief in front and the women and children in the rear, danced




ANECDOTES.                     233
forward slowly, until they came up to the others; when the whole,
joining in one circle, capered for half an hour, uttering the most
horrible cries, the two chiefs meanwhile keeping in the centre.
The formal dance is always in a circle, but the gestures and
the songs which accompany them vary.  After a ball kept up
vigorously by man, woman, and child, for hours, the parties retire
to their tents, and raise the song at intervals till the morning.
At the festivals held on the meeting of friendly tribes, leaping and
wrestling are practiced.
Several other illustrations of the superstitions and manners of
this people might be quoted from  MIr. Murray's letters, but, as
they relate only to peculiarities already mentioned, I shall restrict
my extracts to two ether anecdotes.  A young chief was at Mr.
Murray's encampment when a party of another tribe, named the
Vanta-kootchi, arrived, one of whom  had married the chief's
sister, and was reported to have killed her. The young chief
demanded an expiatory offering in beads for his sister's death,
which was refused; and an altercation ensuing, something was
said which insulted hinl.  He immediately drew his knife and
walked boldly up to the others, who would have cut him in pieces
but for the immediate intervention of the white men.  A few
words of explanation from a hunter in Mr. Murray's employment
calmed the storm. The woman had not been killed, but was
drowned in crossing a river, through the upsetting of a canoe.
A present of a large Eskimo spear, valued at ten skins, was made
to the brother, and peace was restored.
A body of the Han-kutchi, residing at the sources of the Yukon,
came to visit Mr. Murray early in August.  RPumors of their
hostile intentions preceded them.  The sudden death of their
chief in summer had been attributed by them to the shamanism
of the Kutcha-kutchi, and also to the presence of white people in
the country. The Canadian voyagers looked on, therefore, with
apprehension, which was not quieted by the first movements of'
their visitors. Twenty canoes first appeared, gliding stealthily
down the river to a point above the encampment, on which the
party landed and assembled in'silence. Mr. Murray walked up
to them, and expressed his pleasure at the meeting; but. rushing
past him, the whole body ran in full career to the lower end of
the encampment and back again to their landing-place, shouting
and whooping in a peculiar manner.  Then they formed a half



234               THE YUKON RIVER TRIBES.
circle, and danced with great energy for a few minutes, beating
time to their songs with their feet. Their dresses, tinkling with
beads and brass trinkets, and their long clouted hair shaking in
the wind, gave them  a wild and savage aspect.  They were
armed with pikes of their own manufacture, also with similar
weapons, mounted with sheet-iron, procured from the iRussians.
On the dance ceasing, Mr. Murray presented the brother of' the
deceased chief with twelve inches of tobacco to smoke over the
grave, which produced a favorable impression, and called forth
the remark that now he could consider the white people as his
friends. These Indians afterward became troublesome, asked for
goods on credit, and on being denied threw out some significant
innuendos, saying, among other things, that the Russians had
used them so at first, but had become more civil since they had
cut off one of their outposts. At the great dance in the evening,
the deceased chief's brother did not join the circle, but retired to
a corner, and made piteous lamentations.
Mr. Murray, from information collected from the natives, estimates the population of the banks of the Yukon at about one
thousand men and boys able to hunt. They are distributed as
follows. Between the upper branches of the river and the coast
of the Pacific, on or near the 62d parallel, reside the Artez-klutchi,
or "tough and hard people," numbering 100 men.  The Tchukutchi, "people of the water," of about the same numbers, inhabit the banks of Deep River, a western affluent of the Yukon,
opposite Comptroller's Bay. The Tathzey-kutchi, "people of the
ramparts," known to the traders and Canadian voyagers by the
name of " Gens du Fou," number about 230 men, who are divided into four bands, the uppermost of which is called Tratzekutchi, "people of the fork of the river."*  The Tathzey-kutchi
inhabit a wide country, which extends from the sources of the
Porcupine and Peel to those of the river of the Mountain-Men.
They visit the Russians on the coast of the Pacific, and trade
with the intervening tribes.  The Indians of the lowlands at the
* One of'Dtche-ta-iut'tinne, or Mountain Indians, who inhabit the conterminous mountainous country that lies between the Noh'hanne and the
Becatess (" Gull" or:" Gravel River" of the voyagers), called the Gens du
Fou, Ey-une'tinne; and a Mountain Indian hunter, employed by Mr.
Bell, called them Tratza-ut'tinne' which is evidently another mode of pronouncing the designation they give themselves, substituting for Kutchz the
synonymous appellation'Tinne.




RELATED TO OTHER COAST TRIBES.            235
influx of the Porcupine River, named Kutcha-kutchi, number 90
men.  Further down the Yukon are the Zeka-thaka or Zi-unkakutchi, "people on this side," or "middle people," numbering
only 20 men. West of these reside the "people of the bluffs,"
Tanna-kutchi, 100 strong.  And further down, at the influx of
Russian River, are the Teytse-kutchi, " people of the shade," or
"; shelter," of about 100 men. Nearer the mouth of the Yukon
are two bands, usually called Tlagga-silla, or "little dogs," but
not by themselves.  These trade their furs with the Kuwichpackmeuten, mentioned in page 219. The banks of the Porcupine
and country on the north of it belong to the Vanta-kutchi, " people of the lakes," having 80 men; and to another band, named
Neyetse-kutchi, " people of the open country," who have 40 men.
Though the short Kutchin vocabulary formed by Mr. Murray,
which will be printed in the Appendix, contains some Eskimo
words, the language, as far as one can judge from so brief an
example, is more nearly related to the'Tinne. How far the
Kutchin are to be considered as actually a distinct nation from
the'Tinne or Chepewyans, must be decided hereafter when their
two languages are better known.
At my suggestion Mr. Murray made, by the aid of his Athabascan interpreter, the following collection of words, having a
similar sound and signification in the Kutchin and Dog-rib languages.
English.            Kutchin.            Dog-rib.
One                Tech-lagga         Inch-lagga or Ingeh-lagga.
Two                Nak-heiy            Nak-he.
A hare             K6                  Ka.
Fire               Kon or Khon         Khu or Kun.
Wood               Tutshun             Tutshin.
A blanket          Tsatte              Tsat-he.
Reindeer (male)    Bat-zey-tcho       BIet-sich-tcho.
A dog              Chli-en or Chlyn    Chli or Thling.
My country          Sun-nun            Sa-nun-na.
Moss               Ni-en               Ni.
A goose            Chre                Chra.
A snow goose       Ku-ke              Ko-ka.
Thunder            Nach-thun           Nach-thun.
Willow             Khy-i              Khy-i.
Snow shoes         Ai-i or Ay-i        Ah.
A poplar tree       T'ho               T6e or T'hbe.
An Indian cap      Tse                 Tsa.
White               Ta-kyne            Tek-kyne.




236                         DIALECTS.
English.              Kutchin.            Dog-rib.
Man'Tingi'Dinne, or'Tenneh, or Dunneh
A quill or feather    Teh or Tay       Tah.
A sinew               Tche              Tle.
You                   Nuhn or Nunn    Nunney.
In this vocabulary the ch, except when immediately preceded by t, is pronounced as in the Scottish "loch," or Irish " och;" u is sounded as oo in
good, except before double consonants; and i as ee in "see," or e in " me."
Mr. Murray remarks that, though the above words and a few
names of trading goods are similar in sound, the languages of the
two nations are very different. More resemblances, he thinks,
might be traced through the Mountain Indian speech (Naha'tdinne or Dtche-ta-ut'tinne) than directly between the Kutchin
and Dog-rib tongues.  The Han-Kutchi, of the sources of the
Yukon, speak a dialect of the Kutcha-iKutchi language, yet they
understand and are readily understood by the Indians of Frances
Lake and the banks of the Pelly. Now these converse freely
with the Naha- or Dtche-ta-ut'tinne., and other Rocky Mountain
tribes, whose language resembles the Dog-rib tongue, and who
are, in fact, acknowledged members of the Chepewyan nation.
Again, the Frances Lake Indians understand the Netsilley, or
Wild Nation, who trade at Fort Halkett, on the River of the
Mountains; these again are understood by the Sikaneis; and the
Sikanis by the Beaver Indians, whose dialect varies little from
that of the Athabascans, the longest-known member of the'Tinne
nation.
Fromr the great resemblance in manners, customs, and person
of the'Tnaina * or Kenaiyer of Cook's Inlet, the Ugalakmrnutsi
* Tnai signifies " men," and is used when the Atnher speak of themselves. Their Eskimo neighbors the Kadyakers call them Kenai-yut, and
the Russians have adopted this latter appellation.  Koltshanen means
" strangers" in the Atnier dialect, and Gultzanen " guests" in the language of the Kenaiyer. These people, coming from the interior, about
the sources of the Copper River and the water-shed between it and the
valley of the Yukon, have commercial relations with the Kutchin who
dwell on Deep River, an affluent of the Yukon.  Their accounts of the
pointed skirts of the Kutchin shirts have given rise to the fable already
alluded to of men with tails dwelling beyond the mountains, current
among the Kenaiyer.  And their reports of the cannibalism of the tribes
of the interior have a similar foundation. Lynn's Canal is not mentioned
as the ascertained southern limit of the tribes akin to the Kutchin, but
because down to that inlet the language of the Yukon Kutchin seems to
be readily comprehended.  The traveling merchants who go from thence




KENAIYER.-UGALENTS.                     237
or Ugalents of King Williarn's Sound, the Atnlier of the mouth
of the Copper River, the Koltshanen or Galtzanen of the sources
of that stream, and the other Kolusch tribes as far as Tchilkat
or Lynn's Canal, on the 54th parallel and 135th meridian, to
those of the Kutchin, I arm inclined to consider them as all of
the same stock. Captain Cook, from whom we have the earliest
accounts of these people, remarks their dissimilarity in person
and language to the Wakash nation who inhabit Vancouver's
Island.
The Kenaiyer and Ugalents are described by Captain Cook*
and Baron Wrangell as a moderate-sized race, occasionally tall,
with women of equal height, and, when young, handsome; particulars in which they agree with the Kutchin, whose women
have finer persons than the'Tinne females.  Both these authors,
however, remark that there are many deformed individuals among
to the banks of the Pelly and sources of the Yukon meet there with the
Tratze-kutchi or Gens du Fou, by whom they are understood —as has been
mentioned in page 105 of the narrative.  Dr. Scouler and others maintain,
and probably with justice, that the Kolusch language is spoken as low as
Queen Charlotte's Island and the Observatory Inlet.
* "The natives who came to visit us in the Sound were generally not
above the common height, though many were under it. They were square,
or strong-chested; and the most disproportioned part of their body seemed
to be their heads, which were very large; with thick short necks; and
large, broad, or spreading faces, which upon the whole were flat. Their
eyes, though not small, scarcely bore a proportion to the size of their
faces; and their noses had full round points hooked or turned up at the
tip. Their teeth were broad, white, equal in size, and evenly set. Their
hair was black, thick, straight, and strong; and their beards in general
thin or wanting; but the hairs about the lips of those who have them,
were stiff or bristly, and frequently of a brown color. And several of the
elderly men had even large and thick but straight beards."  " Their countenance indicates a considerable share of vivacity, good-nature, and frankness.  Some of the women have agreeable faces." —Cook, Third Voyage,
vol. ii. p. 366.
Wrangell says, " The Kenaiyer are in general of middle size, slightly
built, and betray a true American descent in their features and color of
the skin. Many among them are of gigantic stature, and I have never
seen so many deformed persons among any people in the colonies."
These quotations will give the impressions the coast tribes made on two
accurate observers at distant periods. With respect to the shortness and
thickness of the neck, I may mention that the skeletons of the races which
flatten their foreheads artificially have very short necks, the bodies of the
vertebrae being unusually thin.  This is doubtless the result of the process
resorted to in infancy; and the same effect may be produced by masses
of dirt and hair adding weight to the head.




238                    KOLTSHANEN.
the coast tribes, contrary to what occurs among the inland Indians.
Both sexes of the Kenaiyer and of the allied tribes powder their
hair with the down of birds, and smear their faces with black,
blue, and red pigments. The blue pigment.was noticed by Cook,
and Mr. Bell informed me that some of the Peel River Kutchin
possess it, but he did not ascertain where they procured it, and I
have not been able to obtain a specimen of it, so as to ascertain
its nature. The men wear dentalium shells in the nose, and also
ear-pendants, and the unsightly labrets. They are a cheerful
people, sing during labor, and when it is over recreate themselves
with dancing. Cook notices the thick short necks of the people
of Prince William's Sound. The muscles of the necks of the
Kutchin are called strongly into action for the support of their
weighty ties of hair, and, in consequence thereof, increase in size;
and we might have been inclined to attribute the disproportion
noticed by Cook to a similar cause, had he not mentioned that
the men wear their hair cropped round the neck. Some of the
women, however, clubbed it behind; and this looks as if, at that
period, the tribe had found out the inconvenience of the unwieldy
and uncleanly cues, and that a few only of the women retained
them.
Among the Atnaers and neighboring tribes who hunt reindeer,
pounds, formed of hedges converging thus >, are in use. Weirs
and wicker-baskets for taking fish are also constructed by the
coast tribes. The shirts of the Ugalents reach to the knee or
lower, and are cut evenly round without peaks. They are made
of skins, with the fur turned outward; but the coast people wear
also a waterproof outer dress, made of whale-gut or other thin
membraneous substance, which they have most probably adopted
from their Eskimo neighbors. The dwellers of the interior do
not use it, and indeed have not the material. The Koltshanen
construct birch-bark canoes; but on the coast skin boats or bai(dars, like the Eskimo kaiyaks and umiaks are employed. Another
opening has, however, been added to the kaiyak, which is therefbre longer, and carries two sitters. It would seem that the constant commercial intercourse between the coast tribes had led
them to adopt whatever they thought worthy of imitation from
one another.
The passion for glass beads extends from the coast to the Mackenzie. The Atniers bury their accumulations of this treasure




SUPPOSED DESCENT FROM A RAVEN.-COURTSIIP.          239
in the earth, and leave the hoard to their children. In Cook's
time a large light-blue bead was in the greatest request.
All the coast tribes now under consideration claim descent
from the Raven; and it would strengthen the opinion we entertain of their affinity with the Kutchin, if the same belief existed
among the latter. This, however, has not been ascertained.
The west coast Eskimo and the Chepewyan tribes agree in tracing the origin of their respective nations to the Dog. The Raven,
say the Northern Kolushes, Prometheus-like, stole the elements
one after another, out of which he made the world. The Kenaiyer tradition is, that the Raven also mrade two women, one of
whom is the mother of six races, and the other of five.*  It was
the custom that the men of one stock should choose their wives
from another, and the offspring belonged to the race of the mother.
This custom has fallen into disuse, and marriages in the same
tribe occur; but the old people say that mortality among the
Kenaiyer has arisen from the neglect of the ancient usage. A
man's nearest heirs in this tribe are his sister's children, little
going to his sons, because they received in their father's lifetime
food and clothing.
Courtship is a simple affair with these people. Early in the
morning the lover makes his appearance at the abode of the
father of the object of his choice, and, without a word& of explanation, begins to heat the bath-room, to bring in water, and to prepare food. Then he is asked who he is, and why he performs
these offices.  In reply he expresses his wish to have the daughter for a wife, and if his suit be not rejected, he remains as a
servant in the house a whole year. At the end of that time he
receives a reward for his services from the father, and takes home
his bride. No marriage ceremony takes place. Rich men have
three or four wives. The wife, though the most industrious
worker in the family, is not the slave of her husband. She may
* The stock descended from one female ancestor are, 1. the Kachgiya,
from Gekaihze, "the raven;" 2. Tlachtana, so called from their being
weavers of grass-mats; 3. Montochtana, who take their name from  a
corner in the back part of their huts; 4. Tschichgi, named from a color;
5. Nuchschi, "'descendants from heaven -;" 6. Kali,'fishermen."
The races sprung from the other women are, 1. Tultschina, " bathers in
cold water;" 2. Katluchtna, " lovers of glass beads;" 3. Schischlachtana,
" deceivers like the raven, who is the primary instructor of man;" 4.
Nutschichgi, and 5. Zaltana, named from a mountain on the borders of
Lake Skil/ich toward the sources of the river Katnu.




240                BANQUETS.-MOURNING.
return, if dissatisfied with the treatment she receives, to her
father's house, and then she takes with her the dowry the husband received at the conclusion of his year of service. The wife
retains as her own property whatever she gains by her labors,
and it often happens that the husband makes purchases from her.
If there be several wives in a family, each has her own household
stuff, which may not be meddled with by the other wives, or by
any member of the household.
Banquets, accompanied by dances, songs, and distribution of
presents, take place on various occasions. A man, on recovering
from sickness, will give a feast for the benefit of those who have
shown him most sympathy during his illness. One who spends
freely on these occasions is looked up to by his fellow-countrymen,
and his advice sought. This is the origin of Toyonhood, or chieftainship. Though the power of the petty chief does not depend
on descent, it frequently passes to his heir; but submission to him
is conditional, and any one may attach himself to another leader.
If a man be murdered or injured by one of his own clan, the
nearest relative revenges it without seeking aid; but if the injury
be perpetrated by one of another clan, the allied families are called
together to consult on the defense of their honor.  The feud that
ensues is sometimes bloody, but seldom of long duration, and any
prisoners that are taken are set free for a ransom, or retained as
slaves. Before the Russians came, all the tribes were at war
with the Kadyakers and others of the Eskimo nation, who on
that account received from the Kenaiyer the denomination of
Ultsehna, or Ultsehaga,' slaves."
One who dies is mourned by his whole clan. The mourners
assemble in the dwelling of the nearest kinsman, sit round the fire,
and howl. The master of the house, dressed in his best garments,
leads the lamentation, having his face blackened, an eagle's feather
in his nose, and a cap of eagle feathers on his head. Ringing a
bell which he holds in each hand, he raises the voice of.mourning,
making at the same time violent contortions of the body, and
stamping continually on the ground with his feet. He recounts
in his song the famous actions of the deceased; stanzas.are improvised by the other mourners, and sung to the accompaniment
of drums. A general cry of grief is raised at the end of every
verse, and during its continuance the chief mourner pauses from
his exertions, and lets his head sink on his breast.




DO NOT NAME THE DEAD.                241
The clothing and rest of the property of the deceased are divided
among mourning relatives.  The body is then burnt, and the bones
are collected and interred by friends who are not of kin to the deceased. At the end of the year the nearest relative celebrates a
festival to the memory of the departed. From that time the dead
man's name must never be pronounced in the presence of that
relative, and he even changes the name by which the deceased
had been accustomed to address him. If a relation transgresses
this law, he is reproved; but if it be a more distant friend he is
challenged by the kindred, and must buy himself off. Poor men
will sometimes endeavor to entrap a rich relative into a breach
of this custom, to obtain the redemption-money. The Kenaiyer
suppose that after death a man leads, in the interior of the earth,
where a sort of twilight reigns, a similar life to his former one,
but that he sleeps when those on the surface are awake, and wakes
when they sleep.
One other way, among several, in which a poor Kenaiyer endeavors to improve his condition is, to invite his rich friends of
another family to a festival. Melted snow only is set before them,
and the relatives, watching for any sneering expressions respecting
this Barmecide feast, report them to the host. He then rushes out
with angry gestures, and challenges his mockers, wounding himself at the same time with an arrow, to signify that he prefers
death to degradation. This scene was expected, and the mockers
having their presents prepared, declare their readiness to make
reparation.
The winter huts of the Northern Kolushes are high, large, and
roomy, built of wood, with the hearth in the middle, and the sides
divided into as many compartments as there are families living
under the roof; the number varying from two to six. Two or
three bath rooms are constructed at the end, and in them much
of the winter is spent. These vapor baths resemble the den of a
bear, and open into the hut by a small aperture through which
a man can creep with difficulty. They are covered on the outside with earth, and heated within with hot stones.
Baron Wrangell, from whom most of the preceding details have
been translated, is of opinion that the Kenaiyer came originally
from the interior, bringing with them their bark canoes, and borrowing the skin kaiyaks from the Eskimo Tchugatschih, who are
more expert and bolder navigators of the sea. The following
L




242             JOURNEYS OF THE KENAIYER.
notice of the journeys of the Kenaiyer, given by the author above
named, will show that they must come occasionally into contact
with the dwellers of the Yukon Valley, as they approach its watershed. The people on the south side of Cook's Inlet hunt mountain sheep in the neighboring hills. Those that dwell onr the north
side travel much further.  Striking off to the northeast, after
seven days of rapid march, or ten of ordinary traveling, in which
they can accomplish about one hundred and thirty or one hundred
and forty miles, they arrive at the foot of a high mountain chain,
where, on the banks of Lake Knitiben, the women, children, and
less skillful hunters are left. The others cross the mountains in
a southerly direction, and in seven days more arrive at Lake
Chtuben, on an elevated plateau not far from the source of the
Suschitna, and fourteen days' march from the northern arm of
Cook's Inlet.
There they kill reindeer, which winter in that district in numbers. The Atnaer and Galzanen of Nutatlgat, on the Copper
River come, after ten days of rapid traveling, to the same lake.
From thence the Kenaiyer go six days' march further to a small
lake, where they are met for the purposes of trade by the more
distant Koltshanen, who supply them with articles of English
manufacture. Porcupine quills, colored by the Atnaer with moose
berries, used for embroidering seal-skin shirts, are valued articles
of commerce; and in their traffic all parties are wary and skillful.
The fatigues of this excursion render the Kenaiyer hunters lean
and exhausted; but they kill beavers as they return home, and
continue to do so up to the beginning of winter, when they hold
the annual festival, announce the produce of the chase, and give
themselves up to recreation and pleasure.
Slavery, to a certain extent, prevails among the coast tribes,
and the slaves, who are originally prisoners taken in battle and
not redeemed, are transferred from one tribe to another by barter.
Captain Cook mentions, that on his first intercourse with them
none would come into his ship, until a seaman had gone into one
of their boats, when an Indian was sent up into the ship. This was
considered by the English officers as an exchange of hostages, but
perhaps the Indians reckoned it to be a barter of slaves, as they
would not part with the seaman until muskets were presented at
them; and when he returned on board they took their own man
and departed.  The slaves are named Kalgen, and are occasion



SLAVERY.                      243
ally sacrificed to the manes of deceased chieftains by the Koltshanen and Koluschen, but not by the Atnaer. Previous to the
arrival of Europeans, the Atnaler were workers in copper, and supplied the neighboring tribes with weapons. They have since acquired the art of fabricating Russian iron into various articles.
They are a milder tribe than the other Kolushes, and are generally
on good terms with the rest.




CHAPTER XIII.
OF THE  TINNE OR CHEPEWYANS.
Geographical Position.-National Name.-Tribes.-Hare Indians and Dog-ribs.Personal Appearance.-Women.-Dress.-Dispositions.-Wars.-Socialism.Improvidence.-Suffering.-Affection for their Children.-Hospitality feeble.Falsehood.-Honesty.-Religious Belief.-Vcatility.-Marriages.-Wrestling
for a Wife.-Dogs.-Moose-hunting.-Public Opinion the only Rule of Conduct.
-Chiefs.-Introduction of Christianity.-Horses.-Houses.-Dawnings of Civilization.-Members of the'Tinn6 People west of the Rocky Mountains.Southern Athabascans.'TINNE or'Dtinne, Athabascans, or Chepewyans.  Under
these national appellations I have to speak of a people whose
southern border is the Churchill River, or the Missinipi, as it is
termed by the Eythinyuwuk, to whom it is also a boundary line.
Every where, in the country lying east of the Mackenzie, the'Tinne lands are conterminous with the Eskimo coast, and, to
the westward of the Rocky Mountains, with the Kutchin grounds,
though the precise geographical limits of the two nations in that
direction have not yet been correctly ascertained.  The'Tinne,
however, extend across the continent, since the Ti-kuli and almost the entire population of New Caledonia have been referred
by ethnologists to their nation.
The name by which the'Tinne designate themselves has, as
is usual with the native Americans, the signification of " people,"
or "the people," and its proper application, when ascertained
with care, would seem, at first sight, to be a good test for fixing
the nationality of some tribes whose position in the ethnological
scale is still uncertain. But as our acquaintance with the various American languages extends, and the way in which the pronunciation of the same word in the mouths of different tribes is
gradually modified becomes known, doubts arise as to the value
of such a test, or, rather, the opinion of the intimate connection
between the various tongues is strengthened, though it may be
difficult to trace their links in vocabularies compiled by Europeans. Thus, though no two languages can be apparently more




TRIBES.                       245
dissimilar than the harsh, guttural, unpronounceable, and unwritable'Tinne speech, and the flowing, harmonious, and easily
acquired tongue of the Eythinyuwuk, yet the'Thinyu (man) of
the latter may be resolved into the'Tinne,'Tinye, or'Dunne,
of the former, and the Ting-i of the Kutchin, without much philological artifice.*
Various tribes have been distinguished by peculiar names, but
there is little variety in their general appearance, and few discrepancies in their dress, customs, or moral character. The Hare
Indians (Ka-cho-'dtinne) inhabit the banks of the Mackenzie,
from Slave Lake downward, and the Dog-ribs (Thling-e-ha-'dtinne) the inland country on the east, from Martin Lake to
the Coppermine. There is no perceptible difference in the aspect
of these two tribes. They meet in the same hunting-grounds at
the north end of Great Bear Lake, intermarry, and their speech
scarcely differs even in accent.  The Hare Ihdians, frequenting
a thickly wooded district in which the American hare abounds,
feed much on that animal, and clothe themselves with its skins,
while the Dog-ribs depend more upon the reindeer for a supply
of winter dresses, but in all essential respects they are the same
people. To the eastward of the Dog-ribs are the Red-knives,
named by their southern neighbors the Tantsa-ut-'dtinne (Birchrind people). They inhabit a stripe of country running northward from Great Slave Lake, and in breadth from the Great
Fish River to the Coppermine. They were also formerly in the
habit of resorting to the north end of Great Bear Lake, to kill
musk-oxen and reindeer; but many of their influential men being
cut off by treachery in a feud with the Dog-ribs, they have lately
kept more toward the east end of Great Slave Lake. These
three tribes roam northward to the Eskimo boundary line, but
mutual fears cause the two people to leave an ample neutral
ground, on which neither party are willing to venture.
Other mrembers of the'Tinne nation inhabit the country at
the mouth of the Missinipi, and carry their furs to Fort Churchill, where they meet the Eskimos that come from the north* Mr. Isbister says the Chepewyan tongue is "harsh and guttural,
difficult of enunciation, and unpleasant to the ear."  " As a language it
is exceedingly meagre and imperfect." —Rep. Brit..Ass. for 1847. Mr.
M'Pherson pointed out to me, as a curious coincidence, the similarity in
sound of the Gaelic word for people, with the'Dunne of the Dog-rib Indians.




246                    CHEPEWYANS.
ward, and, through the influence of the traders, carry on an amicable intercourse with them, so that the Tinne families occasionally accompany the Eskimos to their hunting-grounds. A wide
tract of barren lands intervenes between the Churchill'Tinne
and the Red-knives, and the tribes on the Slave and Elk Rivers
which resort to Fort Chepewyan.  These " barren-grounds" are
very thinly peopled, and rather by isolated families who resort
thither for a year or two to hunt the reindeer than by parties
associated in such numbers as to deserve the name of a tribe.
Part of these wandering, solitary people resort at intervals of two
or three years to Churchill for supplies, and part to Fort Chepewyan, where, from the direction in which they came, they are
named Sa-i-sa-'dtinne (Eastern or Rising Sun folks). The
Athabasca'Tinne, named also Chepewyans, frequent the Elk
and Slave Rivers, and the country westward to Hay River, which
falls into Great Slave Lake.  There is some difference between
their dialect and that of the tribes on the Mackenzie, but not so
much as to occasion any difficulty to an interpreter, versed in
either tongue. The name Chepewyan has no relation to the
word Ojibbeway or Chippeway, which designates an Eythinyuwuk people frequenting the coasts of Lake Superior, but has
rather, I believe, its origin ia the contempt felt by the warlike
Crees for the less manly Tinne, whom they oppressed by their
inroads, before commerce introduced peace between them.  Chipai-uk-'tin  (you dead dog) is a most opprobrious epithet.  The
appellation of " slave" given to the Dog-ribs by the same people,
whose war-parties penetrated even to the banks of the Mackenzie, has a similar origin; and it has been stated in a preceding
page, that the Kolushes also called the Eskimo Kadyakers with
whom they warred " slaves."  To the south of the Athabascans,
a number of'Tinne frequent the upper part of the Missinipi,
where they mingle with the Crees, and in common with them
trade with the posts on Lac la Ronge and Isle a la Crosse.
(See p. 63). The Sarsis or Circees, who live near the Rocky
Mountains, between the sources of the Athabasca and Saskatchewan Rivers, are said to be likewise of the Tinn6 stock.
Between the Peace River and the west branch of the Mackenzie are the Beaver Indians, who take their name from an affluent
of the latter. Their dialect is reported to be softer than that of
the other'Tinne, having probably been modified by their inter



HARE INDIANS AND DOG RIBS.             247
course with the Crees of the prairies. Other tribes on the mountain branch of the Mackenzie differ somewhat, either in language
or manners, from the eastern part of the nation, and have peculiar designations. The Noh'hanne inhabit the angle between
that branch and the great bend of the trunk of the river, and are
neighbors of the Beaver Indians. Higher up are the'Dtcha-taut-'tinne, " Mountain Indians" or " Strong-bows," who keep t6
the ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and the Tsilla-ta-ut-'tinne,
or " Brushwood-people."
Between the trunk of the Mackenzie, on the 65th parallel,
and the Rocky Mountain ranges, dwell a tribe named Daha-'dtinne by the Dog-rib Indians, and Noh'hai-e by the Kutchin.
They descend the Gravel River to come to Fort Norman, and
are ill understood by the Dog-rib interpreters there.  In p. 112
I have mentioned, on the authority of Mr. M'Kenzie, that the
Ddha-'dtinnes name themselves in their own tongue Cheta-uttdinne, which indicates their identity with the Strong-bows, both
being mountaineers.  Further down the Mackenzie, near the
65th parallel, another small tribe also descends from the mountains to visit Fort Good Hope, and is named Amba-ta-ut-'tinne,
or " Sheep-people," because they hunt the Ovis montana on the
mountain-tops.  These people speak a dialect of the'Tinne,
which is well understood by the Hare Indians.
This enumeration of the various'Tinne tribes dwelling on the
east side of the Rocky Mountains, all of whom believe that they
are sprung from a dog, will give some idea of the geographical
extent of the nation. It is not my intention to speak of them
severally, as my personal acquaintance is too partial to enable me
to state correctly in what respects, they differ from each other.
The Athabascans or Chepewyans proper have been so long known,
and so often mentioned by writers on the fur countries, and
Hearne has given so many details of the habits of the,'Tinne of
Churchill, and of the tribes he encountered in his journey over
the barren grounds, that I could add little of importance; I shall,
therefore, restrict my remarks to the Dog-ribs and Hare Indians,
who resorted to Fort Franklin and Fort Confidence during my
residence on Great Bear Lake.
These people possess more regular features than the Eskimos,
with, at the same time, a greater variety among individuals,
many of whom have good profiles. Taken as a whole, they ex



248                      \vWOMEN.
hibit all the characteristics which we observe in the red races
dwelling further south; but their inattention to personal appearance, want of cleanliness, and their abject behavior, give them a
very inferior aspect, particularly when in company.of white people. For they possess the whine and air of accomplished beggars,
and their solicitations are constant as long as they have any hope
of gain. The women are inferior to the men in height, features,
and care of their dress; for, dirty as the men generally are, they
do paint their faces and wear ornaments on festive occasions,
while few of the women take so much trouble. Most of the
latter, however, are tatooed on the chin, or at the angles of the
mouth.
The clothing of the men in summer is reindeer leather, dressed like shammy, and is beautifully white and soft when newly
made. A shirt of this material, cut evenly below, reaches to the
middle; the ends of a piece of cloth secured to a waistband, hang
down before and behind; hose or Indian stockings descend from
the top of the thigh to the ankle; and a pair of mocassins or
shoes of the same soft leather, with tops which fold round the
ankle, complete the costume. When the hunter is equipped for
the chase, he wears, in addition, a stripe of white hare-skin, or
of the belly part of a deer-skin, in a bandeau round the head,
with his lank, black elf-locks streaming from beneath; a shot
pouch, suspended by an embroidered belt, which crosses the shoulder; a fire-bag or tobacco pouch tucked into the girdle; a pair
of mittens; and a long fowling-piece, in its coat, thrown carelessly across the arm or balanced on the back of the neck. The
several articles here enumerated are ornamented at the seams
and hems with leathern thongs wound round with porcupine quills,
or are more or less embroidered with bead-work, according to
the industry of the wife or wives. One of the young men even
of the slovenly Dog-rib tribe, when newly equipped from top to
toe, and tripping jauntily over the mossy ground with an elastic
step, displays his slim and not ungraceful figure to advantage.
But this fine dress, once donned, is neither laid aside nor cleaned
while it lasts, and soon acquires a dingy look, and an odor which
can be perceived from some distance. In the camp a smoky,
greasy blanket of English manufacture is worn over the shoulders by day, and forms, with the clothes, the bedding by night.
In winter the skins of fawn reindeer, retaining the hair, are




WOMEN.-DRESS.                     249
substituted for the shammy leather, and a large robe of the same
material is thrown over the shoulders, and hangs down to the
feet, in place of the blanket. As the preparation of so much
leather and dressed fur keeps the women busy, they are glad to
use English cloth, of blue, red, or green colors, or Canadian capots
of white or blue cloth, which they acquire at the trading posts
in exchange for venison or furs. But, with regard to the winter
dress especially, the substitution of the produce of the English
loom for their native leather is a loss both of comfort and of appearance.
The women's dress resembles the men's, except that the shirt
is somewhat longer, and, for the most part, is accompanied by a
petticoat which reaches nearly to the knee.
The form of the dress here described is common to the whole'Tinne nation, and also to the Crees and Dakotas, though the
material varies with the district; moose deer, red deer, or bison
leather, being used in the south and west, where those animals
abound; and the Hare Indians make their shirts of the skin of
the hare. This, being too tender to be used in the ordinary way,
is torn into narrow strips, which are then twisted slightly, and
plaited or worked into the required shape. I have noticed no
process among the northern Indians that approaches so nearly to
weaving as the manufacture of these white hare-skin shirts.*
Such is the closeness and fineness of the fur, that they are exceedingly warm, notwithstanding the looseness of their texture.
Though the dress of the southern Indians is after the same pattern with that of the'Tinne, the Kutchin, both in the interior
and on the coast, form, as has been already mentioned, the hose
and shoes of the same piece; thus imitating the Eskimo boot,
though with a different material.
The Dog-rib men and women leave their hair without other
dressing than simply wiping their greasy hands on the matted
locks, when they have been rubbing their bodies with marrow,
which they occasionally do.
The Hare Indian and Dog-rib women are certainly at the bottom of the scale of humanity in North America.  Not that they
are treated with cruelty, for the'Tinne are not a cruel people,
but that they are looked upon as inferior beings, and in this be* The Kenaiyer of Cook's Inlet are said to weave the wool of the
mountain goat (Capra americana) into a stuff used for clothing.
L*




250                    DISPOSITIONS.
lief they themselves acquiesce. In early infancy the boy discovers that he may show any amount of arrogance toward his sisters,
who, as soon as they can walk, are harnessed to a sledge, and inured betimes to the labors which are their inevitable lot through
life; while the future hunter struts in his tiny snow-shoes after
the men, and apes their contempt of the women. The women
drag the sledges alone or aided by dogs, clear the ground for the
tent, cut poles to extend the lodge or tent-skins upon, collect firewood, bring water, make all the dresses and shoes, clean the fish,
and smoke or jerk the venison for its preservation. They also
cook both for themselves and their husbands, the'Tinne not holding the opinion of the Kutchin that a man ought not to eat meat
prepared by a woman. Neither are the'Tinne women altogether
precluded from eating with the men; though in times of scarcity
the man would expect to be first fed, as it is a maxim with them
that the woman who cooks can be well sustained by licking her
fingers. The women are not, however, generally discontented
with their lot, and better days are certainly dawning upon them,
as the opinions of the traders are beginning to tell visibly on the
whole nation. Notwithstanding their servile condition they are
not without influence over the stronger sex; and they seldom permit provisions or other articles to be disposed of without expressing their thoughts on the matter with much earnestness and volubility.
Few traces of the stoicism popularly attributed to the red races
exist among the Dog-ribs: they shrink from pain, show little daring, express their fears without disguise on all occasions, imaginary or real, shed tears readily, and live in constant dread of enemies, bodied and disembodied. Yet all, young and old, enjoy a
joke heartily. They are not a morose people, but, on the contrary, when young and in a situation of security, they are remarkably lively and, cheerful. The infirmities of age, which press
heavily on the savage, render them querulous. They are fond of
dancing, but their dance, which is performed in a circle, is without the least pretensions to grace, and is carried on laboriously
with the knees and body half bent and a heavy stamping, having
the effect of causing the dancers to appear as if they were desirous of sinking into the ground. It is accompanied by a song resembling a chorus of groans, or pretty nearly the deep sigh of a
pavier as he brings his rammer down upon the pavement. They




FEUDS WITH THE RED-KNIVES.             251
are great mimics, and readily ape the peculiarities of any white
man; and many of the young men have caught the tunes of the
Canadian voyagers, and hum them correctly.
They are an unwarlike people, and averse to shedding blood;
yet, as they do not meet their foes in open warfare, or man to
man, their very timidity impels them to treachery or a violatipn
of the laws of hospitality, when, by long-continued oppression and
the loss of relatives, they have been driven to retaliate upon the
few individuals or families of the domineering tribe who were living in confidence among them. This remark applies directly to
their feud with the Red-knives, who for many years resorted to
the hunting-grounds of the Dog-ribs, tyrannized over them, and
carried away their women. This was long borne; but, at length,
some lives having been lost in the contests which occasionally ensued, the Dog-ribs, watching their opportunity, cut off several
leading Red-knives and their families, who, not dreading any
thing at the time, were scattered among the Dog-rib encampments. The details of these reprisals give a curious insight into
the character of the people. Some of the victims, deprived of the
means of resistance, and aware of their intended fate, traveled for
a whole day with the hostile party; but the latter required to
have their passions roused by altercation before they acquired sufficient boldness to perpetrate the deed, and were finally incited to
its commission by the sufferers demanding to be killed at once if
their death was intended, for they would go no further. When
the husbands and grown men were killed, the Dog-ribs argued
that pity impelled them to slaughter also the wives and children,
who would be unhappy and perish for want, having lost their
means of support.  To a people who could no longer support the
tyranny of their bolder neighbors, nor combine so as to repel aggression by force, treachery seemed to be the only mode of obtaining redress; and, in fact, the extent to which they carried their
reprisals, effectually broke the spirit of the Red-knives, and drove
them to a distance.
The Dog-ribs are practical socialists; and, as much of the
misery they occasionally experience may be traced to this cause,
the study of the working of such a system may be instructive in
a community like this, whose members owe their condition in the
social scale solely to their personal qualities, and not to inheritance, fiavor, or the other accidents which complicate the results




252                     SOCIALISM.
in civilized life. Custom has established among them a practice
universally acted upon-that all may avail themselves of the produce of a hunter's energy and skill; and they do not even leave
to him the distribution of his own game. When it is known in
the camp that deer have been killed, the old men and women of
each family sally forth with their sledges, and, tracing up the
hunter's footsteps to the carcases of the animals he has slain, proceed to divide them among themselves, leaving to the proper owner the ribs, which is all that he can claim to himself of right.
He has also the tongue, which he takes care to cut out on killing
the deer. It is not in the power of these people to restrain their
appetites when they have abundance; and the consequence is,
that when the chase is successful, all the community feast and
grow fat, however little many of the men-and there are not a
few idle ones-may have contributed to the common good. The
hunter's wifb dries the rib-pieces, after cutting out the bone, in
the smoke, or over a fire, to carry to a fort for the purposes of
trade; but, unless there is a superabundance, little provision is
made by the party for a time of scarcity, which is sure to arrive
before long; since the deer, when much hunted, move to some
other district. Taught by their frequent sufferings on such occasions, the more active hunters frequently withdraw themselves
and their families from the knowledge of the drones of the community, leaving them at some fishing station, where, with proper
industry, they may subsist comfortably. A fish diet is not, however, agreeable to the palates of these people for any length of
time; and, as soon as rumors of a hunter's success reach themwhich they do generally much exaggerated by the way-a longing for the flesh-pots is instantly excited, especially among the
old, and a general movement to the hunting-ground ensues. If,
on their march, the craving multitude discover a hoard of meat
stored up by any of the hunting parties, it is devoured on the
spot; but they are not always so fortunate. Before they reach
the scene of anticipated abundance, the deer may have gone off;
followed by the hunters, with uncertain hopes of overtaking them,
and nothing remains for the hungry throng, including the old and
the lame, but to retrace their steps, with the prospect of many of
them perishing by the way, should their stock of food have been
quite exhausted. Such occurrences are by no means rare; they
came several times under our immediate notice during our winter




AFFECTION FOR PARENTS.               253
residence at Fort Confidence, and similar facts are recorded by
Mr. Simpson of the same tribe. This gentleman expresses his
opinion that the charge made against this nation, of abandoning
their infirm aged people and children, had its origin in the sauve
qui peut cry raised during a forced retreat from some one of these
most injudicious excursions; and I am inclined fully to agree
with him; for I witnessed several unquestionable, instances bf
tenderness and affection shown by children to their parents, and
of compliance with their whims, much to their own personal inconvenience. The grief they show on the loss of a parent, is often
great and of long continuance, and it is the custom, both for men
and women, to lament the death of relations for years, by nightly
wailings.
Hospitality is not a virtue which is conspicuous among the
Dog-ribs, who differ in this respect from the Eythinyuwuk, in
whose encampments a stranger meets a welcome and a proffer of
food. It is not customary, however, for the Dog-rib to receive
the traveler who enters his tent with the same show of kindness.
If he is hungry, and meat hangs up, he may help himself without
eliciting a remark, for the'Tinne hold it to be mean to say much
about a piece of meat; or he may exert his patience until some
cookery goes on, and then join in the meal; and should there be
venison at hand, he will not have long to wait, for every now
and then some one is prompted to hang a kettle on the fire, or to
place a joint or steak to roast before it.
Another habit which darkens the shade in the character of
these Indians is that of lying, which they carry to such an extent,
even among themselves, that they can scarcely be said to esteem
truth a virtue. If a young man has been successful in his morning's hunt in a time of famine, he does not rush into his family
circle with joy beaming on his countenance, to tell that there is
food, but, assuming an aspect of sadness, squats himself in silence
beside the fire. The women with doubt and anxiety examine
his shoes and dress for spots of blood, that may betoken the death
of an animal, but discovering none, put the question, " Did you
see no deer?  " Not one, the deer are all gone, not a single footstep was to be seen." When the colloquy has continued for a
time, and hope seems to be extinct, he then draws out from beneath his shirt two or three tongues, as the case may be, and says
with an air of the utmost indifference, "You may go for the




254             ~HONESTY.-RELIG1OUS BELIEF.
meat." It is not, however, merely at such times, and to enhance
the pleasure by previous disappointment, that truth is violated,
but on almost every occasion; and the skill of an Old Bailey
practitioner would find exercise in eliciting facts from the mass
of contradictions with which they overload them. A story which
was at first a pure invention, or perhaps, a perversion of some
simple occurrence, becomes so changed by the additions it receives
in its transmission from individual to individual, that it deceives
the originators, and if it bears on the safety of the community,
may spread consternation among them, and occasion a hasty
flight.
It is pleasant, instead of dwelling longer on this defect, to turn
to another feature —their strict honesty; the practice of the'Tinne with regard to the property of white people differing remarkably from their northern neighbors, the Eskimos, and their
southern ones, the Crees, though the temptations to which they
are exposed are equally great. No precautions for the safety of
our property at Fort Confidence were required. The natives
carefully avoided touching the magnetic instruments, thermometers, and other things placed outside the house, arnd could be
trusted in any of the rooms without our finding a single article
displaced. Our dining-hall was open to all comers; and though
the smallness of our separate apartments caused us to exclude
hangers-on, new comers were permitted to satisfy their curiosity
respecting our occupations, and they always squatted themselves
down at the door, and looked on in silence, wondering, as we were
told, at our constant writing.  From M. La Fleche, the intelligent missionary at Isle a la Crosse, I received a similar character
of the southern part of the nation, who, if they find any article
left by the voyagers on the portages, are sure to bring it in to be
claimed at the forts.
Of the peculiarities of their religions belief I could gain no certain information. The interpreters to whom I applied for assistance disliked the task, and invariably replied, " As for these savages, they know nothing; they are ignorant people." The majority of the nation recognize a' Great Spirit," at least by name,
but some doubt his existence, assigning, as a reason for their atheism, their miserable condition; or they say, " If there be such a
being, he dwells on the lands of the white people, where so many
useful and valuable articles are produced." With respect to evil




SHAMANISM.                      255
spirits, their name in the Dog-rib country is legion.  The'TinnY
recognize them in the Bear, Wolf, and Wolverene, in the woods,
waters, and desert places; often hear them howling in the winds,
or moaning by the graves of the dead.  Their dread of these disembodied beings, of whom they spoke to us under the general
name of " enemies," is such, that few of the hunters will sleep out
alone. They never make any offerings to the Great Spirit, or
pay him an act of adoration; but they deprecate the wrath of an
evil being by prayer, and the sacrifice of some article, generally
of little value, perhaps simply by scattering a handful of deer-hair
or a few feathers.
The dead are not burnt, after the manner of the Kolushes, but
are buried. In lamenting for deceased relatives the mourners
sometimes gash their bodies or limbs with knives, but more rarely
now than in old times. It was formerly the custom, on a death
occurring, for the family to abandon every article they possessed,
and betake themselves in a perfectly destitute condition to the
nearest body of their own people, or to the trading post. The
advice of the traders is gradually breaking down this practice.
Shamanism does not seem to exert the important influence
upon the'Tinne that it does among the Asiatic Tchukche, the
Kutchin, or the Eskimos. There are men in the nation, with
the reputation of sorcerers, who profess to have power over spirits;
but they have but little personal influence, and are generally of
small repute, to which, perhaps, the contempt of the white people
for their arts contributes. A belief, however, in the power of the
Eskimos and of strange Indians to hurt them by incantations, or
"bad medicine," prevails.  White people are said to be exempt
from such dangers, their " medicine" being the most powerful.
The " conjurers" are occasionally employed to cure the sick, and
I suppose on such occasions receive some reward; but I heard of
no instance of their being beat and coerced to influence the spirits
favorably, in the manner that the Asiatic Tchukehe are reported
in Baron Wrangell's work to deal with their shamans.
Among the Crees the conjurers perform a much more prominent part than with the'Tinne, and their practices come frequently
under the observation of residents on the lands of that people; but
I never saw one exhibit among the Hare Indians, Dog-ribs, or
Red-knives, in the course of four or five years passed among them,
though I have many times seen some of the old men throw trifling




256         MARRIAGES.-WRESTLING FOR A WIFE.
articles into the water, to procure a fair wind, or secure a safe
passage across a lake or down a rapid.
From a people so liable to be actuated by fears of imaginary
evils no steady line of action can be expected, and the Dog-ribs
are in reality as volatile as children. When accompanied by a
white man, they will perform a long journey carefully to a distant
post; but we found, by experience, that however high the reward
they expected to receive on reaching their destination, they could
not be depended upon to carry letters.  A slight difficulty, the
prospect of a banquet on venison, or a sudden impulse to visit
some friend, were sufficient to turn them aside for an indefinite
length of time.
In general, the'Tinne have only one wife, the numbers of the
sexes being equal, or the males rather predominating. The women
are married very young, but the man must have shown some skill
in hunting before he obtains a helpmate readily. The consent of
the parents is usually gained by the suitor, and is seldom withheld
from a man whose activity promises the old folks some addition
to their comforts or consequence.  The woman's wishes have,
perhaps, some weight with her parents, but I could not ascertain
that any show of courtship * was made, or that her disinclination
was allowed to interfere with the man's determination to take
her, if the parents did not oppose.  No ceremony attends the
union. Hearne says, that it is the established etiquette among the
Eastern'Tinne for the woman to affect unwillingness to change
her condition, and for the man to rush into her father's tent, and
drag her off by the hair of the head. We witnessed no scene of
this kind among the Dog-ribs, but more than once saw a stronger
man assert his right to take the wife of a weaker countryman.
Any one may challenge another to wrestle, and, if he overcomes,
may carry off his wife as the prize. The younger children generally follow the fortunes of the mother, but the father may retain
them if he chooses.  In such contests, it is suspected that the
wife sometimes prompts the aggressor; but I have been toldfor I never actually witnessed one of these wrestling matches* The term "dear," or "beloved," is said to be unknown in the language; and Captain Lefroy, who tried to ascertain if it was so, says, "I
endeavored to put this intelligibly to Nannette, by supposing such an expression as ma chere femme; ma chere fille.  When at length she understood it, her reply was (with great emphasis),'I' disent jamais fa; i' disent mafemme; mafille.' "




DOGS.-MOOSE-HUNTING.                257
that she looks on with composure and impartiality, and does not
insult her late master with a display of pride on being the object
of such a struggle, the causa teterrima belli.  The bereaved husband meets his loss with the resignation which custom prescribes
in such a case, and seeks his revenge by taking the wife of another man weaker than himself. From a passage in one of Mr.
Murray's letters, I infer that this practice extends to the Kutchin,
but it is unknown among the Cree tribes, and does not exist
among the Eskimos. The'Tinne are said to be jealous of their
wives; but rather, I believe, lest they should be enticed away,
than from any nice sense of. honor. The laxity of morals, however, with respect to female chastity, which prevails in the Eskimo
tribes is not conspicuous in the'Tinne, and is, perhaps, contrary
to the national character, though some corruption may have crept
in through their acquaintance with white people.
Before the introduction of articles of European manufacture,
the'Tinn6 caught fish with hooks of bone, or speared them with
weapons pointed with bone or copper. Some of their fish harpoons
were constructed very artistically. They also used, and still continue to use, nets made of lines of twisted willow bark, or thin
stripes of deer-hide cut very evenly. Nets are unknown among
the northern tribes west of the Mackenzie, and some of the parties of the Eskimos that we saw declared their ignorance of their
use. On the banks of the Mackenzie and other rivers frequented
by moose-deer, these animals are hunted in spring by a small
breed of dogs, which run lightly over the crusted snow, and hold
the animal at bay until the Indian comes up in his snow-shoes.
At other times of the year, the success of the Hare Indians and
Dog-ribs in killing the moose is small, as they have not the skill
of approaching so wary an animal which the Athabascans and
Crees possess. Reindeer are captured in pounds and by nooses,
but are in the present day more generally killed with the fowlingpiece, which is also the weapon used against the musk-ox. The
pounds are formed on the verge of the woods, and are made with
much less labor than those of the Kutchin; yet, as they need the
exertions of all the community for their construction, the indolence
of the major part causes them to be rarely made. The black bear
is snared or shot, but few of the Dog-ribs will venture to attack
the "brown barren-ground bear," whose fierceness, or, as they
say, "potent medicine," appalls them. It is killed by them, how



258               PUBLIC OPINION.-CHIEFS.
ever, without risk when it is detected hybernating under the snow
in spring.
Order is maintained in the tribe solely by public opinion. It is
no one's duty to repress immorality or a breach of the laws of society which custom has established among them, but each opposes
violence as he best may by his own arm or the assistance of his
relations. A man's conduct must be bad indeed, and threaten
the general peace, before he would be expelled from the society;
no amount of idleness, nor selfishness, entails such a punishment.
Superior powers of mind, combined with skill in hunting, raise
a few into chiefs, under whose guidance a greater or smaller number of families place themselves; and a chief is great or little, according to the length of his tail. His clients and he are bound
together only by mutual advantage, and may and do separate
as inclination prompts. The chief does not assume the power of
punishing crimes, but regulates the movements of his band, chooses
the hunting-ground, collects provisions for the purchase of ammunition, becomes the medium of communication with the traders,
and extends his sway by a liberal distribution of tobacco and ammunition among his dependents. At present, the rank of a chief
is not fully established among his own people until it is recognized
at the fort to which he resorts. The Company send in annually
a number of red coats, ornamented with lace, for presents to the
chiefs, which are worn as badges of office on great occasions.
The power of a chief varies with his personal character. Some
have acquired an almost absolute rule, by attaching to themselves
in the first instance an-active band of robust young men, and
using them to keep in order any refractory person by claiming his
wife, after the custom of the tribe. It is in vain in such cases
that the poor husband, dreading to be deprived of his most valuable property, retires to a remote hunting-ground; for he is sure to
receive a message, from some passing Indian, expressive of the
chief's intentions; and he generally comes to the conclusion that
submission is the best policy. He is certain to fall in with the
chief and his band sooner or later, either as he goes to the fort for
supplies of ammunition or elsewhere. A free expenditure by the
chief of the presents he receives from the traders, and even of the
produce of his furs, is a main bulwark of his authority, in addition
to the skill which he must possess in the management of the
various tempers with which he has to do.




INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.           259
The sounds of the'Tinne language can scarcely be expressed
by the English alphabet, and several of them are absolutely unpronounceable by an Englishman.  In my attempts to form a
vocabulary I had great difficulty in distinguishing several words
from one another which had dissimilar sounds to the native ear,
and were widely different in their signification. A Dog-rib or
Athabascan appears, to one unaccustomed to hear the language,
to be stuttering. Some of the sounds must have a strong resemblance to the Hottentot cluck, and palatal and guttural syllables
abound in the language. Vocabularies of this tongue can not be
greatly depended upon, as no two people will agree on the orthography.
With respect to the future prospects of the'Tinne, the nation
in general may be said to be more docile and confiding, and more
directly under the influence of the traders, or of missionary exertions, than their southern neighbors, the Crees. As yet Roman
Catholic missionaries alone have entered the'Tinne country, and
they have already a large number of nominal converts.  For some
years Canadian priests from the Red River colony went annually
to Methy Portage, where many of the Athabascans and Churchill
River'Tinne congegate at the usual season of transporting the
outgoing furs and incoming supplies. On these occasions, numbers of the Indians were baptized, a considerable inducement to
submit to the rite being the present of a piece of tobacco, or perhaps some vague notion of the protection thereby afforded against
evil influences. There was no time to instruct them in the truths
of the Christian religion, and this could be but very imperfectly
done through the medium of interpreters. In 1846, however,
the Roman Catholic mission under Monsieur La Fleche was
established, as has been mentioned in a preceding chapter. This
gentleman and his associate, Monsieur Tasche, members, I believe, of the Society of Jesus, applied themselves to the study of
the'Tinne language, and were soon enabled to teach many of
their converts to read and write.
By sympathizing with their people in all their distresses, taking
a strong interest in every thing that concerns them, by acting as
their physicians when sick, and advisers on all occasions, the
priests of the mission have gained their entire confidence.  It is
not likely that Protestant missionaries, coming later into the field,
will succeed in introducing their more spiritual but less imposing




260                  WESTERN TRIBES.
form of worship among a people whose first teachers have been
so successful.
When the fur traders first penetrated to the Elk River, the
Athabascans had only a small breed of dogs useful for the chase,
but unfitted for draught; and the women did the laborious work
of dragging the sledges. Now the cultivation of a stouter race
of dogs has in some respects ameliorated the lot of the females,
and within a few years the acquisition of horses by many of the
natives on that river, has introduced a still greater improvement.
Houses are beginning to be built, and the more provident and
staid of the people have fixed homes to retire to. With the
means of securing their property and provisions, new ideas respecting them spring up, and a revolution in the opinions of the
nation is evidently in progress. Recently, also, it has been the
policy of the Hudson's Bay Company to employ many of the young
natives, during the summer, in navigating their boats to the
d6pots, and back again to the outposts. By these trips prejudices
are broken down; the youth acquire information and habits of
labor and steady industry, and, being well paid, the clothing they
purchase gives them respectability in the eyes of their countrymen. A generation has passed away since'the whole Indian
country was demoralized by the opposition of trading companies,
and the present race of Chepewyans are ignorant of the use of
spirituous liquors.
Of the nations belonging to the'Tinne stock who inhabit the
country west of the Rocky Mountains, the Ta-kuli or Carriers
occupy the greater part of New Caledonia. They subsist chiefly
on fish, and their name denotes people employed on the waters.
They burn their dead; the widow becomes the servant of the
relations, is harshly treated, and is compelled to carry about with
her for several years the ashes of the deceased.  When the time
of her trial ends, a feast is made by the kindred, and she is at
liberty to marry again. A custom somewhat similar prevails
among the Chippeways. The Tsitka-ni, who dwell between
the Stikeen and Simpson's Rivers, to the north of the Carriers,
are said also to be of the same stock. They bury their dead and
are hunters.
In addition to these tribes, a detached portion of the'Tinne
people is mentioned by Dr. Latham, under the name of Southern
Athabascans. They occupy the sea-coast from the north bank




SOUTHERN ATHABASCANS.                 261
of the Oregon, southward to the River Umqua, in 13"~ of lat.
For an account of these, I must refer the reader to the works of
the author just named, and to the Transactions of the American
Ethnological Society from which he quotes.
Dr. Latham may, also, be consulted for an account of four or
five isolated languages, spoken by tribes that interpose between
the North and South Athabascans to the west of the Rocky
Mountains, and for notices of the inhabitants of the Archipelago
skirting that coast. The Kolush language ends, he thinks, at
the north end of King George's Archipelago.
The Chenooks, one of these isolated people, are noted for their
habit of flattening the foreheads of their infants artificially, a
custom which crosses the continent southward to the coast of
Florida, and was practiced, though not exactly in the same way,
by the extinct Peruvian races of Lake Titicaca.*
* Among some good examples of flattened skulls from the west coast
of America, in the Museum at Haslar, there is the remarkable one of
Comcomly, the hero of Washington Irving's Astoria.




CHAPTER XIV.
EYTHINYUWUK, OR CREES AND CHIPPEWAYS.
NatioIfal Names.-Division.-Tribes.-Territory.-Wars with the Mengw&.Conventional Character not true.-Persons.-Gait.-Crimes.-Wabunsi.-Wigwams.-Religious Belief.-Vapor Baths.-Everlasting Fire.-Its Rites.-Used
in Sickness.-Its Priests.-Its Origin.-Chief Sun.-Policy.-Calumet.Maize.- Food.- Reindeer.-Bison.-White-Fish.-Earth-Works.-Pottery.Language.-Half-breeds.-Colony of Red River, or Osnaboya.-Spirituous
Liquors.
THE people who designate themselves Eythinyuwuk or InizyuwI-u, occupy the country lying between the Rocky Mountains
and Hudson's Bay, and reaching from the'Tinne boundary down
to the plains of the Saskatchewan and valley of the St. Lawrence; their hunting-grounds on the plains interlocking with
those of the Dakotas or Sioux. They are identified as a nation
with the Algonkins and Lenni-lenape or Delawares, who once
owned the whole country east of the Mississippi as far south as
Carolina, but who, blighted by the precocious expansion of the
Anglo-Saxon colonists, have dwindled down to a few remnants
of mixed blood. The generic term Algic, taken from the root of
the word Algonkin, has been employed by the philologists of the
United States to comprehend all the tribes who speak dialects of
the Algonkin tongue, and whose southern limits are stated by
Schoolcraft to be conterminous with the Catawbas, Creeks, Cherokees, Chactas, and Chickasas. The tract which they occupied
in the year 1600, includes the whole area of the United States
east of the Mississippi, north of these nations, excepting the
grounds of several tribes of the Iroquois race, north and south.*
In 1603, when the French settled in Canada, the Algonkins,
according to Colden, were " the most warlike - and polite nation
in all North America."
The national name of this people is derived, according to the
x The Abenakis, Etchemins, and some kindred tribes located to the
south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Hochungarras, or Winnebagoes,
and Wyandots, to the northwest, belonged to the Iroquois stock.




NATIONAI, NAME.                     263
custom of the Americans, from the word " man," which is in different dialects Ethinyu, Ethin-u, Inin-yu, or Inine.*  According to Schoolcraft, they do not call themselves Unischauba,t or
"aborigines," but, on the contrary, have a tradition current among
the southern members of the nation, that the country they now
hold was previously possessed by the Alligewi, of whom the name
only remains in the appellation of the Alleghany Mountains.
Before the European invasion, the Dakota, Huron, Oneida,
Mohawk, and Iroquois association, or Mengwe, T generally known
as the " Five Nations," had penetrated into the Eythinyuwuk
territory by way of the Missouri and St. Lawrence. The contests by which the Mengwe established themselves in a district,
surrounded on all sides by their enemies, must have been severe;
and they are not even now ended, but are carried on in the country between the Saskatchewan and Missouri, notwithstanding
the persevering efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the
officers of the American outposts, to suppress them. Deadly feuds
exist between the Blackfeet Eythinyuwuk, and the Mandans,
Minetares,~ and other Dakota tribes which frequent the bison
plains; and on the Red River of Lake Winipeg fatal conflicts
took place in the last year between the Chippeways and the
Sioux, who are Dakotas.
Dr. Latham states that the Shyennes, who dwell on the head
waters of the Yellow Stone and Platte Rivers, are of the Algonkin race, though insulated by other people from the rest of their
nation; and that there is in like manner a southern detachment
of Iroquois (Tuscaroras, &c.), between whom and their countrymen the Delawares interpose; but as I mean to restrict myself
to the St. Lawrence Valley, and the country lying north of it, I
* Dr. Latham traces affinities between the terms for " people," in several languages. The similarity of the terms Inuk or Inuit, and'Tinne, or'Tinye', to some of the above is obvious. Mr. Howes makes Ethizn'u =
eOv-og. From Ethinu comes ethiniseu, " manly; " wise," indicating the
opinion the Crees have of their own nation.
t From unisha, " common" or " general," inine, " a man," and aub, a
generic particle denoting "light," "virility," or "life."- Schoolcraft.
t This confederacy assumed the appellation of Mengloe from the ancient
Iroquois title, Ongwe-honwe, which signifies, according to Colden, "'men
surpassing all others."
~ Called also.bsoroka. These and the Mandans are the so-called Welsh
Indians, said to be descended from Madoc and his followers. The same
origin has been attributed to the southern Tuscarora, of the Iroquois stock.




264                        DIVISIONS.
must refer the reader who wishes for a general classification of
the native American races, to the " Natural History of the Varieties of Man," by the learned author just named.
The various tribes of Eythinyuwuk assume local designations
from the rivers or other remarkable features of the districts they
inhabit, and they have also names of more general import. Thus
the northern ones, who border on the'Tinne, call themselves
Nathewy-withinyu, Nehethe-wuk, or Nithe-wuk,* "Exact or
complete men." These are the Crees of the fur-traders; and
Mr. Howse, though he does. not publish the grounds of his opinion, considers them to be the stem of the Algonkin race. On the
south of these, in the country extending from Lake Winipeg to
the south side of the basin of Lake Superior, dwell the Odchipewa
(Chippeways or Ojibbeways, called also Sauteurs t or Sotoos).
A third great division of the nation name themselves Lennilenape (Delawares), which denotes " Uncommon men." 
* From Ni, " exactly."
t Spelt by some Canadian writers Saulteaux. A populous Chippeway
tribe frequent the Saut Ste. Marie to feed on the.Adikumayg or dttikamaig
(White-fish, Coregonus sapidissimus, Agassiz), whence the name of " Cascade people" (sauteurs).
t The following list, drawn up in 1770 by Mr. Hutchins of the Hudson's Bay Service, gives the names of the Eythinyuwuk tribes then trading with the Hudson's Bay Company:
KEISCATCHEWAN NATION.
Names of Tribes or Places.        Districts they inhabit.
MVuska-siskow............. Saskatchewan prairies.
J.thdpeskow....................
Omiska-sipi...................B. Beaver River and Lake.
Pegog -me-u npi............. Muddy Lake, Moose Lake.
Misi-nipi.............. Churchill or English River.
Wuske'sew-sipi.................. Red-deer River.
Po-i-thinne'-kaw-sipi.......... Nelson or North River.
Pemmichi-ke-me'-u............... Cross Lake (Nelson River).
Maskegowuk............. Swampy or low grounds near Hudson's Bay.
Ne me-u sipi............. Sturgeon River.
Chuki-tanu sipi............ Hill River.
Penesay-wichewan' sip............   Hay's River.
Washe-u-sipi............. Severn liver.
Wewanito-wzuk..................
Ka-stitchewanuk................ Albany River. Here Hudson had his
first interview with the natives, among whom traditions of the
circumstances attending it were current in 1770.
NAKA-WE-WUK, OR NORTHERN UTAWAWA.
This people inhabit the country lying between Christianux Lake (Lake




TRIBES.                                265
The  Iroquois name the Algonkin  race Adirondak, and  Mr.
Schoolcraft thinks that this appellation, being still retained for
the Highlands at the source of the Hudson, countenances the
Winipeg) and James's Bay, approaching within one hundred miles of the
latter. They speak the Odchipewa tongue.
Names of Tribes or Places.           Districts they inhabit.
Name'kusi-sipi................. Trout River.
Wa-pusi-sipi................... Hare River.
Christianux.................... Lake Winipeg.
Weniska-sipi..............B... Badger River.
Odchipewe'-sipi................. River Winipeg.
Misthe'-saka-hegen.............. Great Lake Winipeg.
MIith-kwa-ga me'-u-sil)i..........   Red or Bloody River.
Shama-tawua..................    Henly House River.
UPE-SHI-POW.
This people resort to the eastern coast of Hudson's Bay, between Rupert's and Whale Rivers. Their language differs in some words both from
the Keiskatchewan and Nakawawa. (They border on the Eskimos of the
Labrador peninsula.)
Muswva-sipi.................... Moose River.
WTTinne-peskowuk....                  East Main.
La Hontan enumerates the tribes speaking the Algonkin language in
1700 as follows:
In Acadia  (Nova Scotia): Abenakis; * Mickemac; Canibas; Mahingaus; Openangos; Soccokis (Sokokies, living eastward of Boston, New
England —Colden); Etechemins.t  These seven tribes are brave warriors,
more expert and less cruel than the Iroquois.  Their language differs little
from the tAlgonkin.
On the St. Lawrence, from the Sea up to Montreal: Papinachois; Montagnois: Gaspesiens; Abenakis of Sciller; dAlgonkins.
On Lake Huron:  Outaouas; Nockes; Missisagues; Attekamek; Outchipoues (Odchipewa), called Sauteurs, brave warriors.
On the borders of Lake ilinois (Lake Michigan): Some Ilinois of Chegakou; Oumamis, brave warriors; Maskoetenss; Kikapous, brave warriors;
Outagamis, brave warriors; Malomimis; Pouteouatamis;   Ojatinons, brave
warriors; Sakis.
On the borders of Lake Frontenac (Lake Ontario): Tsonontouans; Goyoguans; Onontagues; all of whom  speak a language differing from  the
Algonkin; Onnoyoutes and dAgnies.
On the Outaouas  (Uttawa): Tabitihi; Monzoni; Machakandibi; Nopemin of Achirini; Nepisirini; Temiskamnik (Lake Temiscamaing).  These
six tribes speak Algonkin, and are all cowards.
* This tribe are of the Iroquois stock, according to Schoolcraft, who says that Abenaki is
a derivative from Wabanung, " the east," and ahki, " earth," and signifies " eastlanders."
The Abenakis were called Tarrenteens by the early English colonists, and formerly inhabited part of the present States of Maine and New Hampshire. They were divided
into several sub-tribes, of whom the best known are the Penobscots, Norridgewocks, and
Ameriscoggins. About the year 1754, all but the Penobscots withdrew into Canada.
The fullest vocabulary of the Abenaki language is furnished by the manuscripts of Father
Rale, and has been published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The language is peculiar, from the frequent use of the rolling sound of r, or a burr.
t The Etrhemins are of the Iroquois race, according to Schooleraft.
Ai




266                WARS WITH THE MENGWE.
traditions current among the western Algonkins, that their ancestors came from  the eastern coast.  It is probable that the
Mengwe, on the contrary, advanced from  the west, if we may
judge by the way in which their tribes are distributed. The aggressive movements, however, of the two nations, would throw
little light on the primary peopling of the continent, even were
they ascertained, since there are traces of their respective districts
having been previously occupied by a people of small stature but
superior in the arts, who have left memorials of their existence,
in numerous and extensive earth-works, and mounds of ancient
date, wherein copper bosses overlaid with silver have been found.
The shafts or galleries lately discovered at the copper mines on
the south side of Lake Superior, containing immense quantities
of stone chisels, betoken a people more advanced than the Canadians were on the first arrival of the French; and are said to be
now followed by the American miners, as guides to the most
valuable deposits of native copper.
The wars of the Eythinyuwuk and the MIengwe with each
other, or with Europeans, have been recorded by many pens, and
have supplied incidents for numerous works of fiction, in which
the writers have ascribed a loftiness of soul and other noble qualities to these people, of which it would be in vain to seek traces
in the present day; and we may without much skepticism assert,
that they never really possessed them. Actions prompted only
by the caprice of a barbarous people, have been considered as the
results of refined sentiment; and savage cunning, seen through a
false medium, has been elevated to the promptings of far-seeing
policy. The revolting cruelty with which they tortured prisoners of war, and the stoicism with which, when vanquished, they
endured such treatment in their turn, are more certain traits of
character. A few men, remarkable for their powers of mind,
have certainly appeared among the Eythinyuwuk nations, and
On the north of the Mississippi, and in the country bordering on Lake
Superior and Hudson's Bay: Sonkaskitons; Ouadbatons;.Jtintons; Clistinos, brave and skillful warriors.
The A.ssimpouals, (Assinipoytuk, or Stone Indians) and Eskimaux are
struck out from La Hontan's list, as they belong to other nations.  The
chart appended to his book gives the positions he assigns to these several
tribes; but Schoolcraft, whose authority is of the greatest weight, says
that the list contains many errors. The chart, of course, has all the imperfections which attached to the geography of the great lakes and more
northern country then, and for more than a century afterward.




PERSON.-GAIT.-CRIMES.                 267
from them the abstract idea of a North American Indian has
been formed by Europeans.
Among this people there are to be found finer examples of the
human figure, handsomer countenances, and a more manly and
independent carriage, than among the Eskimos and'Tinne; and
West's exclamation on seeing the Apollo Belvidere, that he was
a young Mohawk warrior, may be adduced as evidence of the
natural grace which a ranger of the woods, unfettered by artificial restraints, may possess. In fact, the attitudes of the Eythinyuwuk are occasionally, and especially when actuated by strong
passion, striking, and sometimes elegant; yet the habitual gait
of the Red Man is not a graceful one.  The toes are turned in;
the step, though elastic, has an appearance of insecurity, and is
by no means majestic, nor even pleasing, to one unaccustomed to
see the centre of gravity thrown so much forward. Even though
the palm of personal appearance be given to the Eythinyuwuk, in
moral conduct I hold them to be decidedly inferior to the Eskimo
and'Tinne. They are less honest, and though, perhaps, not so
much given to falsehood as the'Tinne, are more turbulent and
more prompt to invade the rights of their countrymen, as well as
of neighboring nations. Their wars are carried on by ambuscade
and treachery, seldom in open field: they spare neither infants
nor women in their forays; and instances of personal bravery,
such as the Eskimos often exhibit, are rare indeed among them.
The worst of the vices of which St. Paul accuses the heathen
world are said to exist among the Crees of the plains, and gambling is practiced to excess by the whole nation.* One game in
which the odd or even number of pebbles, and the hand in which
they are held, are to be guessed, is constantly resorted to whenever two or three meet together, and it is accompanied by singing
and gestures, indicating some kind of divination. They will pass
a whole day so occupied, and will stake all that they hold most
valuable on the result.
As the Narrative of Sir John Franklin's First Overland Expe* A society named Wabuno is said to have been formed among the
Chippeways, for the practice of certain nocturnal orgies called Wabunsian appellation signifying " not yet light," from wauben, " daylight," and
the negative suffix.-See Schoolcraft. The appellation of Wahunsenacawh,
by which Powhattan's subjects were accustomed to address him, had probably reference to his being chief of a society of this kind. (See Virginia
by Strachey).




268                       WIGWAMS.
dition in 1819-21, contains all the particulars of the manners and
religious belief of the Crees, or Nethewuk, that I had then collected, I shall not here repeat them; but shall merely allude in
a brief way to such of their habits and usages as have not been
noticed among the'Tinne.
The ordinary wigwams,* skin tents, or " lodges," as they are
called, of the two people are exactly alike as to form, being extended on poles set up in a conical manner; but, as a general
rule, the tents of the Crees are more commodious, and more carefully and frequently supplied with a fresh lining of the spray of
the balsam fir. This people also occasionally erect a larger dwelling of lattice-work, covered with birch bark, in which forty men
or more can assemble for feasting, debating, or performing some
of their religious ceremonies.  These erections are chiefly made
on the skirts of the bison plains, or in localities where a large
number of the nation are accustomed to assemble together. The
entire nation of the Eythinyuwuk cultivate oratory more than
their northern neighbors, who express themselves much more
simply, and at the same time with much less readiness.
Neither among the Eskimos nor'Tinne did I observe any image or visible object of worship; but most of the Crees carry with
them one or more small wooden figures rudely carved, some of
which they state to be representatives of a malicious, or, at least
capricious being named Kepuchikan,t to whom they make offerings. They acknowledge other spirits or Manito-wutk, and demons or vampires called Witako; but I could not ascertain that
prayer was ever made to the Kitche-manito, the " Great Spirit"
or " Master of Life." The vapor-bath, which is comparatively
seldom used by the'Tinne, is in frequent request with the Crees,
and is more or less connected with religious observances. It is
the great medium by which the shamans or conjurors cure the
sick. The operator in this case shuts himself up with his patient
in the sweating-house, where he shampoes him, singing all the
* Wigge or Wigwap signifies a dwelling. Most of the Indian words
and names of places adopted into the languages of the United States and
Canada are of Algic origin. The Mandans and other Dakotas of the Missouri build more substantial huts, with dome-shaped roofs, covered with
earth, to which, as to look-out places, the men resort.
T Or Gepuchikan. The propensities as well as designation of this being
resemble those of " Puck." Dr. Johnson derives the latter word and Pug,
from the Icelandic and Gothic word Puke, signifying " a hobgoblin."'




EVERLASTING FIRE.                 269
time a kind of hymn. As long as the shaman can hold out, so
long must the sick man endure the intensely hot atmosphere, and
then, if the invalid be able to move, they both plunge into the
river.
One custom of the Chippeways which fell into desuetude after
the arrival of the French on the Great Lakes, is still preserved
by tradition in the tribe. It was an institution for preserving
an eternal fire named Kag,agish'koda.* Mr. Schoolcraft gives
the following account of the rites and duties connected with it,
which I make no apology for quoting, as so singular a custom,
related on such good authority, deserves to be mentioned, when
the peculiar habits of the race are spoken of:
"The Chippewa tribe had its council-house, and the seat of
eternal fire, on the south side of Lake Superior, west of Keeweenau Point. Here lived the principal chief, called the Mutchekewis, who exercised more authority, and assumed more state, than
would be compatible with the present feelings of the Indians.
The designation was official, and not personal, and the office was
hereditary in the direct male line. He was supported by voluntary contributions, his mushinawa, or provider, making known
from time to time his necessities by public proclamation. Whatever was required on these occasions, whether food or clothing,
was immediately furnished. He appears to have been the chief
priest, and could neither engage in war nor hunting."
" In the village where he resided, and near his cabin, the eterna.
fire was kept burning. The altar was a rude kind of oven, over
which no building was erected. Four guardians were selected by
the Mutchekewis, to take care of the fire. Two of these were
men, and two women.  They were all married; but the wives
of the men employed oil this service, were required to cook and
do the necessary domestic work, while the husbands of the women destined to the sacred duty were always engaged in hunting,
and in providing whatever else was wanted. The four persons
devoted to the altar were thus left without any secular cares to
divert their attention from the holy trust committed to them. A
perpetual succession was kept up in the priesthood, by a prerogative of the Mutchekewis, and the principal head woman; the
former selecting a husband, and the latter a wife for the survivor,
* From Ka-gi-gi, " everlasting," and iskada, " fire."  The corresponding words in Cree are kd-ki-ki and iscu-teyu.




270               FIRE USED IN SICKNESS.
whenever one of these eight persons died. The chain was thus
always unbroken, and the traditionary rites transmitted unimpaired. Death was the penalty fobr any neglect of duty, and it
was inflicted without delay and without mercy."
" The council fires were lighted at the great fire, and carried
wherever the council was held. After the transaction of the
business, a portion of it was carefully returned, and the remainder
extinguished. Whenever a person became dangerously ill, if near
enough, he was taken to the house of the Mnutchekewis, where
his fire was extinguished, and a brand was brought from the altar
and a fire kindled, at which a feast was prepared. A great dance
was then held, and the viands consumed. And it is added that
the patient seldom failed to recover.
" Once in eight years, the whole Chippewa tribe assembled at
their principal village, about the season of the swelling of the
buds. Early in the morning the great pipe was lighted at the
sacred fire, and delivered to the Mutchekewis.  He took one
smoke, and then handed it to the women, and these to the men,
by all of whom it was in like manner smoked. It was then
passed to the children. This ceremony consumed the day, and
early next morning a feast was held, at which the men and women and children sat in separate groups. This feast was partaken silently, and without singing or dancing. in the evening
they departed to their different villages."
" The principal male attendant on the Kaugagiskoda was the
Kauga gizhek, or'Everlasting Sun;' and his assistant was
named Kanawaudenk-shkucla, or the' Fire Keeper.' The principal female was called Gaubezwekwa, or the'Everlasting standing woman;' and her assistant Kabagaztbewekwa,' The woman
who stands all the time.'"
" The Chippeways assert that they received this custom from
the Shawnees, who are the most southern of the western Algonkins, their country being in the present State of Kentucky. Traces
of its prevalence at a former period among other North American
nations exist. The Natchez and most of the Louisiana tribes
are represented by Charlevoix as having had a perpetual fire in
their temples. Both he and Du Pratz were eye-witnesses of the
rite. The hereditary ruler, or'Chief Sun,' whose title was
equivalent to that of Inca or Emperor, exercised a more despotic
power than appears to have been permitted in any other nation




THE CALUMET.                    271
north of Mexico. This power and this worship were kept up
with an oriental display of honor and ceremony long after the
French had settled in the valley of the Mississippi, and indeed
up to the destruction of the nation by them in 1729.'The Sun
has eaten,' proclaimed an official functionary daily, before the
Ruling Sun, after his morning's repast;'the rest of the princes
of the earth may now eat.'"
From this interesting extract we may gather, that the Algic
race were much more advanced in the forms of government and
association of tribes than the more northern nations, and especially than the'Tinne, who had no villages when first known to Europeans. Cultivation of the earth was not carried on to the north
of the Chippeway country, since maize does not prosper in America beyond the 52d parallel.
M'Kenney relates that a Chippeway widow must carry a bundle of rags, or a doll, which is called her husband, constantly in
her arms, until the relations of the deceased think that she has
mourned long enough, when one of them releases her from it.
This occurs generally at the expiration of a year, and the widow
is then allowed to marry again; but the probation may be extended much longer, if her husband's relations choose.
The use of the Uspogan, or Calumet, which forms so important a part of every ceremony among the Eythinyuwuk, was not
an original practice of the'Tinne, but was introduced to that
people by Europeans along with tobacco, whereas this weed must
have been grown from the most ancient times by the Chippeways,
if the traditions which Mr. Schooleraft collected during his long
residence with that people are to be trusted. Maize is more used
on the Missouri than in the proper Chippeway country, its cultivation forming a part of the regular economy of the Dakota
tribes; the Chippeways, however, do not admit that they received
it from that quarter; but, in a legend related by Mr. Schooleraft,
ascribe its origin to one of their own chiefs, who received it as
the prize of a victory he obtained over a spirit. Hence its name
of Mondamnin, or the Spirit's Grain. The Delawares had extensive fields of maize at the time of the discovery of America,
and to them the early Virginian colonists were indebted on their
first landing for food, which being afterward withheld, produced
extreme misery and famine.
From some of the details of Mr. Schoolcraft's account of the




272                REINDEER.-WHITE-FISH.
rites of Kagagish'koda, we may infer that the national polity and
social condition of the Chippeways have greatly deteriorated since
their acquaintance with Europeans. The contact with civilized
man has induced among them an incontrollable desire for intoxication, unaccompanied by any real benefit. For though missionaries have made a number of nominal converts, the blessings of
vital Christianity are confined, as far as I could ascertain, to only
a few Chippeway communities on Lake Huron, and to some of
the Crees in the Hudson's Bay Company's territory. The wellfed Sauteurs of the River Winipeg, who are independent of the
traders, repel the missionaries; and the same is the case with
the bison-hunters on the prairies.
Throughout the whole eastern wooded and barren country,
down to the 42d parallel of latitude, the reindeer was, three
centuries ago, the most abundant of the deer kind, and, being the
most easily approached, furnished the staple provision for the Eskimos,'Tinne, and Eythinyuwuk.  On the wide prairies of the
Missouri and Saskatchewan, the populous Sioux, Stone-Indians,
or Assini-poytiik, and other Dakota tribes, fed on the countless
herds of bison which pasture there. Next to the reindeer in importance in the eastern districts, is the species of Coregonus,
named " white-fish," to which the Chippeways and Nithe-wuk
have given the figurative appellation of " reindeer of the waters,"
Adikumaig or Atih-hameg.*  On referring to Strachey's account
of Virginia, I do not find this word, nor the name of the reindeer,
in his vocabulary of the Delaware tongue; the white-fish indeed
not being an inhabitant of the southern waters. The Chippeways have a legend, which relates that the white-fish sprung first
into existence at the outlet of Lake Superior, being produced
from the scattered brains of a woman, whose head, for some very
guilty conduct, was doomed to wander through the country, but,
coming in its travels to the Falls of St. Mary, was there dashed
in pieces. A crane, by virtue of that inherent power so frequently attributed to birds and beasts by the aboriginies of America,
instantly transformed the particles of brain into the roe of a whitefish, to the wide-spread benefit of the Indian nations.t
Though the earth-works already alluded to are supposed to
* Adikumaig, from adik, a "reindeer," and guma, a generic word for
" water" in composition, and the animate plural ig, (Schooleraft). tdthik
or atik, " a reindeer," in Cree.               t Schoolcraft.




POTTERY.-LANGUAGE.                 273
have been raised by a people more ancient than the Eythinyuwuk,
yet the fact of their northern limits being within the Chippeway
lands is worthy of note; and vestiges of pottery works, apparently of a rude kind, have been found on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan within the Nithe-wuk bounds, but not further
north,* the substitute for earthenware among the Eskimos being
vessels of potstone, and among the Tinne water-tight baskets, in
which the fluid was warmed by hot stones dropped into it.
I have already alluded to the softness and harmony of the Cree
language. It differs in construction from the Eskimo tongue, in
the personal pronouns being prefixes, not suffixes, and in other
particulars; but both have the polysynthetic character of the
other American idioms. The sounds of the English f and v do
not occur in the Cree; 1 and r are also wanting in the pure Cree
of the plains. Other Algic tribes substitute y, n, or 1, for the
Cree t/h, and instead of k, the inhabitants of East Maine use the
sound of tch.  The Chippeway is distinguished from the Cree by
the frequent omission of s before k and t, and the insertion of nz
before b, and of n before d and g. The permutations of the Cree
and its cognate dialects chiefly affect the linguals; but the Mohawk and Huron languages have none of the labials, neither b,
p, f, v, nor m. When conversing, the teeth of these people are
always visible; the auxiliary office usually performed by the lips
being by them transferred, or superadded, to that of the tongue
and throat.t Of the grammar of the'Tinne I know little, but
the nouns seem to be much more frequently monosyllabic than in
the Algonkin dialects. The Appendix contains some portions of
a Cree vocabulary, which I formed in 1819-20.
It is from among the Eythinyuwuk that most of the servants
of the Fur Companies, who have married native women, have
selected their wives; few of them having chosen Chepewyan
females, and no one, I believe, an Eskimo maiden. From these
marriages a large half-breed population has arisen, which will ere
long work a change in the flr trade, and in the condition of the
whole native population. In character, the half-breeds vary ae* On the east side of the Rocky Mountains. The Eskimos on the western coast of Russian America manufactured a very rude pottery when first
visited by the Russians.
t Mr. Howse: from whose Grammar much of this paragraph has been
borrowed.
Me




274              IIALF-BREEDS.-EDUCATION.
cording to their paternity; the descendants of the Orkney laborers,
in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, being generally
steady, provident agriculturists of the Protestant faith; while the
children of the Roman Catholic Canadian voyagers have much
of the levity and thoughtlessness of their fathers, combined with
that inability to resist temptation, which is common to the two
races from whence they are sprung. Most of the half-breeds have
been settled by the Hudson's Bay Company in the colony of Osnaboya, which extends for fifty miles along the banks of the Red
River of Lake Winipeg.  Of the six thousand souls, to which the
mixed population of this settlement is said to amount, three-fifths
are stated by Mr. Simpson to be Roman Catholics; while the
valuable property is mostly in the hands of the remaining twofifths, who own sixteen out of eighteen wind and water mills,
erected within the precincts of the colony.
The settlement is under the government (it can scarcely be said
the control) of a governor, council, and recorder, all nominated by
the Hudson's Bay Company. The recorder is the civil and criminal judge, presides at jury trials, and is aided by justices of the
peace, and a constabulary in the Company's pay.
In 1849 a bishop was sent from England to oversee the Episcopal
church. There are also some ministers of the Wesleyan persuasion; and the Roman Catholic worship is maintained by two
bishops, a staff of priests, and a nunnery.  The Hudson's Bay
Company aid the clergymen of all the persuasions by free passages,
rations, and other advantages, besides granting salaries to those
employed at their fur posts, whether Protestants or Roman Catholics. There are also various educational establishments in the
colony for the settlers and native population; and most of the
children, both male and female, of the Company's officers are
now instructed in a boarding-school in the colony, of a high character, a few of them only being sent to Great Britain or Canada.
Many of the young men so educated have entered the Hudson's
Bay Company's service as clerks, and some have attained the rank
of chief traders and chief factors; while the young women, in their
vocations as wives of the officers and clerks, diffuse a knowledge
of Christianity, and a taste for domestic comfort and decorum, to
the remotest posts. The present state of society in the fur countries contrasts most favorably with the almost general heathenism
which prevailed during the murderous contests between the trad



SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS.                 275
ing companies by which the country was demoralized when I first
traversed it thirty years ago.
The half-breeds, as a class, show great quickness in acquiring
a knowledge of letters, as well as skill in the mechanical arts.
As joiners, workers in iron, and boat-builders, many of them would
rank high among European craftsmen; and, taught by necessity,
they have generally the advantage of being able to work at all
the several branches of the carpenter's and blacksmith's arts, even
to the forging of their tools.
At the Wesleyan Missionary establishment of Rossville, near
Norway House, and round the Episcopal church at the Pas on
the Saskatchewan, native villages have sprung up, and agriculture to a small extent is practiced.  Though the cerealia and
leguminous vegetables thrive well at Red River, and horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, and sheep flourish, agriculture is eschewed by
the large section of the population, who are descendants of the
Canadian voyagers. The pleasures of the precarious chase are
preferred by this part of the community to steady industry, and
every summer there is accordingly an extensive movement to the
plains to dry bison meat for winter use.
As to the effect of the colony on the neighboring natives, Mr.
Simpson, who from his residence in the settlement had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the facts, speaks as follows:
" Nothing can overcome the insatiable desire of the Indian tribes
for intoxicating liquors; and though they are interdicted from the
use of spirits, and the settlers are fined when detected in supplying
them with ale, yet, from the great extent of the colony, they too
often contrive to gratify that debasing inclination, to which they
are ready to sacrifice every thing they possess.  They feel no
gratitude to their benefactors or spiritual teachers; and while
they lose the haughty independence of savage life, they acquire at
once all the bad qualities of the white man, but are slow indeed
in imitating his industry and virtues."  It appears from this testimony that the Chippeways have not the friendly feelings toward
their instructors which the'Tinne, according to Monsieur La
Fleche, manifest; but Mr. Simpson speaks more favorably of the
Crees, who are in general better disposed than the Chippeways.
Goods for the use of the colonists are imported both by the
Company and by individual store-keepers in the ships that come
annually to York Factory; but the distance is too great, and the




276               HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
inland navigation too difficult, to admit of agricultural produce
being carried down profitably in return. Hence most of the halfbreed settlers, encouraged by some of the colonial merchants and
Roman Catholic priests, have made strenuous attempts to share
the fur trade with the Hudson's Bay Company, who at present
have the monopoly of that traffic; and the Company do not seem
to possess a force adequate to prevent their eventually succeeding
in their object.
Of late years, a communication has been formed between the
colony and the United States by way of the plains and St. Peter's
River. This furnishes a channel for the disposal of peltry without detection; and through the relationship existing between the
half-breeds of the colony and the various tribes of Indians as far
north as Methy Portage, no great difficulty is experienced by
them in withdrawing a considerable quantity of the most valuable furs from the Company's trade.
In the winter of 1848 a half-breed was summoned before the
Recorder of Osnaboya for a breach of the Company's regulations
in this respect, and on the day of trial, five hundred of his class,
armed to the teeth, surrounded the court-house. The Recorder
was obliged to secrete himself, and the matter was finally compromised by the Company's agent purchasing the furs from the
delinquent. Secretly or openly, this contravention of the right of
exclusive trade in fur claimed by the Company is sure to proceed,
and, emboldened by success, the young half-breeds are not likely
to acknowledge any law that is contrary to their own will. They
hold that the territorial right derived from their Indian ancestry
is theirs, and not the Company's; and their claims have been
supported by a philanthropic body in England, and advocated in
parliament. Without entering into the question of the chartered
rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, or the propriety of maintaining a monopoly of the fur trade, it is my firm conviction,
founded on the wide-spread disorder I witnessed in times of competition, that the admission of rival companies or independent
traders into these northern districts would accelerate the downfall
of the native races. This has been rapid on the confines of the
settled parts of the United States and of Canada, and has been
stayed only by the extinction of the fur-bearing animals, by which
the power of the Indians to purchase spirits has been cramped.
Even the benevolence of the English government in making an



TRAFFiC.                      277
nual presents of clothing and blankets to the Indians of Canada
is converted into an injury by a set of unscrupulous petty dealers,
who hang about the encampments to purchase these articles as
soon as they come into the possession of the Indians, by supplying
them with the baneful liquid they so ardently covet.  This is
punishable by the colonial laws; but when crimes are committed
beyond the pale of civilization, conviction is difficult. By the
laws of the United States, also, it is penal to supply Indians with
spirits; but according to general report this benevolent enactment
is extensively violated by their fur traders; and it is greatly to be
regretted that competition for the Indian trade in that quarter
should induce the Hudson's Bay Company to follow so bad an
example, after having abolished the use of spirits with so much
advantage in the north, where they have no rivals.
I was informed that in 1848 the natives at the Red River
colony of Osnaboya were paid a high money price for their furs
by the Company's agent, and that they immediately crossed the
boundary-line to purchase rum at the American post with their
money; but it would be better to seek for the redress of such an
abuse by a representation to the United States government, than
resort to retaliatory measures of the same nature.




CHAPTER XV.
OCCURRENCES IN WINTER.
Fort Confidence.-Its Situation.-Silurian Limestone.-Lake Basin.-Trees.Dwelling-house.-Occupations.-Letters.-Galena Newspaper.-Oregon Spectator.-Extent of the Hudson's Bay Company's Territory.-Fisheries.-Venison.-Wolverenes.-Native Socialism.-Provisions collected at Fort Confidence. —Fetes.-Winter Fishery.-Eskimo Sleds.-Reindeer.-Wolverene.Wolves.-Honesty of the Dog-ribs.-Their Indolence.-Provisions not individual Property.-Indians move off.-An Accouchement.-Ccelebs in Search of a
Wife.-Might makes Right.-None but the Brave deserve the Fair.-Progress
of the Seasons.-Temperature.-Arrival of Summer Birds.-At Fort Confidence.-At Fort Franklin.-On the Yukon.
THE site selected for our winter residence was about th ree miles
from the mouth of Dease River, on a peninsula having ant undulating surface, which, at the distance of three or four miles from
the lake, attained a height of about three hundred feet.  In front,
or to the south, and separated from the main by a strait five or
six hundreds yards in width, lies Fishery Island, elevated toward
its centre two hundred and forty-five feet above the water.*
The peninsula is composed of limestone, which forms low precipices at the edge of the water, as well as in various places of the
interior; and the same rock appears in higher cliffs on the borders of the lake, about eight miles to the westward, at Limestone
Point.  Six or seven miles back, on the banks of Dease River,
red sandstone is the prevailing rock. The soil generally is a
mixture of gravel and loam; and boulders of granite and trap
rocks are scattered over the surface of both hill and valley.
Ten miles to the eastward, a range of primitive rocks rises
gradually from the borders of the lake, to the height of, perhaps,
six hundred or seven hundred feet, and separates Dease's Bay
from the northern arm of M'Tavish's Bay. This rising ground
is a continuation of the " intermediate primitive belt" mentioned
in page 189, and many other parts of the preceding journal, and
which will be described more fully in the Appendix. The nearest
* This altitude was ascertained by Mr. Rae, in the spring of 1848, by
the aneroid barometer.




SILURIAN LIMESTONE.-TREES.               279
pyrogenous or metamorphic rocks to Fort Confidence that we observed are about four miles off, in a bay on the southeast side of
Fishery Island.
The limestone is probably the remains of the silurian strata,
which were removed when the basin of the lake was excavated.
On the south side of the lake, about ninety miles distant in a direct line from Fort Confidence, stands the Scented Grass Hill,
between Smith's and Keith's Bays. It consists of bituminous
shale, and is one of the extreme points of that shaly formation,
which constitutes so large a part of the banks of the Athabasca
and Mackenzie Rivers, and which has been thought to be equivalent to the Marcellus shale of the New York system of rocks.
The summits of the higher eminences are mostly naked, but
on the edges of streams and small lakes a thin forest of spruce fir
covers the ground. In wet places there is a tolerable growth of
willows. Little underwood of any other kind exists. Birch is
very scarce; neither the balsam spruce nor banksian pine were
observed on the lake, and only a few young aspens. Except
where the forest has been destroyed by fire, the spruce firs are
from three to four hundred years old, as ascertained from their
annual rings. One of the best-grown trees that I saw, measured
fifty-seven inches in circumference, at the height of four feet from
the ground. The tallest of them are between forty and fifty feet
high. The observations of Mr. Simpson in 1837-8 place Fort
Confidence in 660 54' of north latitude, and 1180 49' of west
longitude, which corresponds pretty closely with the position I
assigned to the mouth of Dease River on the chart constructed
in 1825.  The mean of Mr. Rae's observations for latitude gave
about a quarter of a mile more northing than Mr. Simpson's.
Our winter dwelling, though dignified, according to custom, by
the title of " the fort," had no defensive works whatever, not even
the stockade which usually surrounds a trading post. It was a
simple log-house, built of trunks of trees laid over one another,
and morticed into the upright posts of the corners, doorways, and
windows. The roof had considerable slope: it was formed of
slender trees laid closely side by side, resting at the top on a ridgepole, and covered with loam to the depth of six or eight inches.
A man, standing on the outside, could touch the eaves with his
hand. VWell-temnpered loam or clay was beat into the spaces
left in the walls by the roundness of the logs, both on the outside




280                  DWELLING-HOUSE.
and inside, and as this cracked in drying, it was repeatedly coated
over, for the space of two months, with a thin mixture of clay
and water, until the walls became nearly impervious to the air.
The rooms were floored and ceiled with deal. Massive structures of boulder stones and loam formed the chimney-stacks, and
the capacious fire-places required three or four armfuls of firewood, cut into billets three feet long, to fill them.
The building was forty feet long by fourteen wide, having a
dining-hall in the centre, measuring sixteen by fourteen, and the
remaining space divided into a store-room and three sleeping
apartments. A kitchen was added to the back of the house, and
a small porch to the front. Mr. Rae's room and mine had glazed
windows, glass for the purpose having been brought up from York
Factory. The other windows were closed with deerskin parchment, which admitted a subdued light. Two houses for the men
stood on the east, and a storehouse on the west, the whole forming three sides of a square which opened to the south. The tallest and straightest tree that could be discovered within a circuit
of three miles was brought in, and, being properly dressed, was
planted in the square for a flag-post; and near it a small observatory was built, for holding magnetic instruments.
Of the buildings which Dease and Simpson erected, Mr. Bell,
on his arrival in the middle of August, found only part of the
men's house and a stack of chimneys standing; the others having,
through the carelessness of the Indians, been destroyed by fire.
Our predecessors had cut down most of the timber within a mile
of the house, and what we needed had consequently to be brought
in from a wider circle. A part of Mr. Bell's people were constantly engaged with the fisheries, but the others had worked so
diligently, that the buildings were all covered in on our arrival,
and the flooring, ceiling, and partitions were shortly afterward
completed. Two of the sappers and miners, Mackay and Brodie,
carpenters by trade, were employed to make tables and chairs:
and Bruce, the guide, acted as general architect, and was able
and willing to execute any kind of joiner's work that was needed.
Two men were constantly employed as sawyers; four as cutters
of fire-wood, each of them having an allotted task of providing a
cord of wood daily; others were occupied in drawing it home on
sledges; and four men were continually engaged in fishing. On
the Sunday no labor was performed, the fishing party came iu,




OCCUPATIONS.                     281
and all were dressed in their best clothes. Prayers were said in
the hall, and a sermon read to all that understood English; and
some of the Canadians, though they were Roman Catholics,
usually attended. James and Thomas Hope, who were Cree
Indians, having been educated at Norway House as Protestants,
and taught to read and write, were regular attendants; and
James Hope's eldest son, a boy about seven years of age, who had
already begun to read the Scriptures, frequently recognized passages in the lessons that he had previously read.
During the winter Mr. Rae and I recorded the temperatures
hourly, sixteen or seventeen times a day; also the height of
the mercury in Delcre's barometer; the degrees of the aneroid
barometer, the declinometer, and dipping-needle.  Once in the
month a term day, extending to thirty-six hours, was kept, in
which the fluctuations of the magnets were noted every two and
a half minutes, and various series of observations were made for
ascertaining the magnetic intensity with the magnetometer, the
vibration apparatus, and Lloyd's dipping-needle. Mr. Rae ascertained frequently the time and rates of the chronometers by
observations of the fixed stars; and a register of the winds and
weather and appearances of the aurora was constantly kept.*
From this sketch of our occupations, it will be seen that our
time was filled up, and that we had no leisure for ennui in the
long winter. In fact, we enjoyed as much comfort as we could
reasonably expect, and had our postal arrangements succeeded
as well as the others, we should have had little more to desire.
Our schemes for sending and receiving letters were, however,
failures, and productive of much subsequent disappointment.
The packet of the Admiralty dispatches and private letters
sent off on the 18th of September, 1848, on the third morning
after our arrival from the coast, was placed in the charge of
Franqois Chartier and Louis le Ronde, with directions for them
to proceed with all speed to Isle a la Crosse, at which place
Chartier's wife was residing.  I wrote to Mr. M'Pherson, requesting him to forward the party without delay; and Mr. Rae,
who put up the packet, inclosed, I believe, a circular, soliciting
the gentlemen at the several posts to send the packet on, as
quickly as possible. Mr. Rae himself was of opinion that he
* The magnetic observations are now in process of reduction at Woolwich, and will soon be published under the superintendence of Lieutenant
Colonel Sabine, along with an abstract of the meteorological observations.




282                       LETTERS.
inclosed such a document, though he does not perfectly recollect
that he did so. But whether the circular was inclosed or not in
the first instance, or afterward left out, the circumstance of a
packet being sent express for fifteen hundred miles ought to have
insured its being forwarded from the further posts. No delay
occurred at Fort Simpson, Mr. M'Pherson sending the party
on as soon as their provisions could be prepared.  Chartier and
his companion reached Fort Chepewyan by open water, and were
dispatched to Isle.a la Crosse as soon as the ice was strong enough
for traveling over.  At Isle a la Crosse the letters were put en.'ozute again after a fortnight's detention, and at Carlton House
they were kept two months. This last delay was unaccountable.
When they did reach Red River they were sent on; but instead
of reaching England in April or May, as we had a right to expect, and when a knowledge of our proceedings was much desired
by the Admiralty previous to the sailing of the " North Star,"
they did not arrive till the middle of July, and our families were
nearly twelve months without intelligence from us. We were
also unfortunate with our subsequent letters, which were not,
however, sent by special express, but were left to the chance of
the ordinary conveyance through Rupert's Land.
On the 31st of October, two men and an Indian guide were
sent with a second packet of letters to Fort Simpson, hoping that
they would be in time for an express which leaves that post annually for the south on the 1st of December. The Indian lost
himself, or rather, I believe, went willfully astray, for the purpose
of falling in with some hunters that he expected to find. In this
he failed; and the party, after suffering some privations, were
saved from starvation by killing a deer. They did not reach Fort
Simpson till some time after the winter express had left; and as
the letters were not of public importance they remained there until
the spring, when they were forwarded along with some others that
we subsequently sent to Fort Chepewyan, that they might go
down with the first boats. On my way out in the summer, finding part of these letters at one of the posts, I took them on with
me; the others reached England by the same mail packet that
I crossed the Atlantic in, and were delivered on the day after my
arrival at home.
The only letter-bag from England that we received during our
stay at Fort Confidence came in on the 12th of April, 1849, and
brought us home news up to the 22d of June, 1848. ten months




GALENA " ADVERTISER."-OREGON "SPECTATOR."    283
old. This came by the usual canoe route, and was brought up
from Canada with the Red River mail; but at the same time we
received a single newspaper, which gave us some English intelligence as late as the 15th of September. The history of this newspaper is that of the triumph of the electric telegraph. WVhile
the English mail packet was steaming up the sound of New York,
on the 30th of September, a summary of European news having
been carried on shore by an express steam-vessel, was in the act
of being transmitted by telegraph to the banks of the Mississippi.
Within a few hours, it was published there in the Galena " Advertiser," of which it filled one entire folio. This paper, being
carried over the plains to Red River, by a party which set out
on the day following its publication, was sent to Great Bear Lake,
and gave us the first intimation of a rebellion in Ireland. The
other newspapers that we received at the same time were of very
old date, but every paragraph of them, as well as of our letters,
was read again and- again with a keenness that can be understood
only by those who have undergone similar privations of intelligence. We heard of an old resident in Rupert's Land, who was
philosophic enough to extend this pleasure over the whole year,
by laying up his annual file of newspapers, and taking one down
daily for perusal according to its date, so that he had just mastered the news of the preceding year when a new file arrived.
Our impatience was too great to permit us to follow an example
so systematic.
By the return of our packet men from Fort Simpson in January, we received the Oregon "Spectator," dated Oregon City,
February 10th, 1848, with the motto " Westward the star of
Empire takes its way." It was a creditable production for so
young a State, remarkable for the extreme dearth of " news," but
a strenuous advocate of temperance and morality, and curious
fbr the insight which it gave of the first movements of a community destined at no distant period to play a conspicuous part among
the nations of the world. The State is already involved in an
Indian war, which will not cease until the Red Men are hunted
from their native soil. The cause of hostility was one of those
unavoidable accidents which the vicinity of white people entails
on the Indian race. A large body of emigrants brought smallpox and measles with them, which, spreading among the populous and warlike Kaiyuses or Black-feet, cut off mi'ny of the tribe.
Blv the Indian moral code, the death of their brethren was to be




284                 FISH ERIES.-VENISON.
revenged by the slaughter of people from whom the injury came,
and as it was sufficient if the victims were of the same nation
with the offenders, the Kaiyuses fell upon the nearest and most
defenseless.  A  missionary and his family, to the number of
twelve persons, were cut off, and their property and some women
and children seized.  Through the interference of the Hudson's
Bay Company's Governor at Fort Vancouver, the captives were
redeemed, but five hundred of the inhabitants of Oregon marched
to chastise the Indians. The paper says, " the thunders of war
have commenced; let them be continued until American property
and American life shall be secure upon American soil."  We
afterward learnt that the demonstration had little effect upon the
Indians, who, being well provided with horses, shunned the encounter, or returned to harass the Oregon army at their pleasure.
Sooner or later, however, the Kaiyuses will feel the strong arm
of the white man, and be compelled to cede their native lands to
the emigrant hordes that are pressing westward.
As the crow flies, the distance between Fort Vancouver, on the
Oregon, and Fort Confidence exceeds 1350 geographical miles,
and the space between the Company's posts on the Labrador coast,
or on Lake Huron, and their advanced station on the Porcupine,
measures about 2500 miles. Throughout this vast extent of
territory, a regular communication is kept up between the Governor and the numerous scattered posts, and supplies are forwarded to all the districts annually, with a regularity which can
not be interrupted without hazarding the lives of both traders and
natives. Besides the establishment of fisheries for our winter
support, Mr. Bell employed several of the most active Dog-ribs
in the capacity of fort hunters, furnishing them with clothing,
guns, and ammunition, to be repaid in venison. He also gave
large credits of ammunition and other articles of trade to several
leaders of small bands, for the same object. In the end of Septernber and in October, which is the best hunting season, we
heard of great success. Two hundred carcasses of reindeer were
reported as having been put en cache for us, which we were to
send for as soon'as the snow was sufficiently deep to permit the
dog-sledges to run. A few animals killed near the fort were
brought in, and our prospects looked flourishing. In the mean
time the Indians sent a sick man and a very aged woman to
be nourished by us through the winter, and a large body of old
men, elderly widows, and children settled down near us at a fish



WOLVERENES.                     285
ing station behind Fishery Island. From this body visitors came
to us almost daily, begging for a meal or two of dried meat to
vary their diet, or bringing in a trout or two for sale. The fish
were always purchased, and then the seller invariably asked for
a bit of meat, as he could not walk back without eating. The
simple cunning by which these poor folks endeavored to accomplish their ends, and to move Mr. Bell to be liberal, was amusing,
and generally in the end successfiul, for his habitual good-nature
was not long proof against their varied entreaties.
In the first two weeks of October, the ice driving about compelled the fishermen to take the nets out of the water, and during
that time the Indian party subsisted mostly on rations from us,
being supplied with both meat and fish. As soon as the straits
separating Fishery Island from the main froze completely over,
which occurred on the 16th of the same month, the old men were
well supplied with trout-hooks to set under the ice, and they
caught, I believe, fish enough for their wants, but they concealed
their success that they might continue to draw aid from our store.
By dint of much talking, occasionally withholding supplies, and
threatening to do so entirely, Mr. Bell at length persuaded most
of the party to move toward Cape M'Donald, where fish were
reported to be more plentiful. Our own fisheries, however, as
well as the Indian ones, declined as the winter wore on, and in
February scarcely sufficed to furnish a meal daily to the fishermen
themselves.
The snow having by the middle of October smoothed the inequalities of the surface, and covered the stones and stumps, Mr.
Bell sent out parties to bring in the venison that had been stored
up for us; but instead thereof we received a very beggarly account of empty caches. The wolverenes had destroyed some; our
Indian friends at the fishery had eaten up a greater quantity, having, unknown to us, made several excursions for the purpose; and
we did not take into the store-house a tithe of what had been reported to us. The hunters by whom the caches had been made
came in for fresh supplies of ammunition, and, on being remonstrated with, merely said, what could they do if hungry Indians
came their way? they must eat.  This socialist practice presses
heavily on the industrious hunter, and encourages the lazy individuals in their idleness; butits continuance in force after so long
an intercourse with white men is a proof of a fuind of good-nature




286                         PROVISIONS.
at the bottom  of the national character.  It is of itself sufficient
evidence against the imputation that the Chepewyan tribes habitually desert the old and infirm.  We saw on several occasions
children attending their sick or aged parents with tenderness and
solicitude. Instances of desertion, which have undoubtedly occurred, are to be ascribed to the pressure of famine, which has
urged the able-bodied to hurry on in quest of relief, disregarding
those who were unable to keep up with the line of march.
Our intercourse with the Indians continued throughout the
winter in the way that has been stated. The more industrious
among them resorted to good hunting stations, generally in parties of two or three families together, and also in two more numerous bands, under the direction of two chiefs. Most of them resorted to the confines of M'Tavish's Bay, where the animals are
plentiful in winter. From them we received occasional supplies
of venison, and two or four of our men were employed for a considerable part of the winter in bringing it in with the dog-sledges.
From  two steady old men, who had been furnished with nets, we
purchased some hundreds of fine trout, together with a quantity
of white-fish and freshwater herrings. Some of the Martin Lake
Dog-ribs also, though not fitted out by us with ammunition, found
it convenient to bring their meat to Fort Confidence, instead of
going to Fort Simpson. In this way we obtained more than we
required for our present and future wants, including the eleemosynary demands of the Indians, which were, however, kept within
bounds by Mr. Bell's carefill management.
The following table, extracted from Mr. Bell's journal, gives a
summary of all the provisions received into our store-house up to
the middle of April, 1849:
No. of   Fresh   Half dry  Pounded  Reindeer Reindeer
i      Months.        Fish.  Venison.  Venison.  Meat.  Fat.    Tongues.
LNo.     lbs.   lbs.  I    s.    lbs.   No.
1848 September......   420   500    1500      200    150    120
October.........  2370   130    2100              170    105
November......  1163    4330    570                18    65
Decemberl......  560    1830    140                       10
1849 January.......   279    2005
February........   223    1850    560                    40
March..........   176    3165    1680    105      10    125
April...........                2670      55       5    160
Totals....  5191   13,810    9220   360    353    625
In addition to the above, Mr. Bell brought up, in autumn,




FETES.                        287
1200 lbs. of dried meat from Fort Simpson, 6 cwt. of barleymeal, and three kegs of rough barley, several 90 lb. bags of flour,
some bags of potatoes, with tea and sugar, together with a full
supply of pemican for Mr. Rae's summer expedition, and for the
provisioning of the men returning to England.
So well provided, we had no dread of want at any time, and
passed the winter in abundance   Our men had each a daily
ration of 8 lbs. of venison on five days in the week, and on the
other two from  0lbs. to 15lbs. of fish.  The women also received rations, and the children smaller allowances. Barley and
potatoes were issued in addition as long as they lasted, and
flour occasionally. All the men preferred barley-meal to wheaten
flour, as it answered better for thickening the soup, and they
thought that it was a more substantial article of diet. The rough
barley was beaten in a wooden trough until the husks separated,
and then boiled whole along with venison, in which way it made a
nourishing soup, that was much relished by all the party. Few
of the Europeans consumed the whole of their provisions, and the
Indians were generally in attendance at their meals to receive the
surplus.
Several feasts varied the monotony of our winter life: one was
given as a house-warming when the buildings were finished;
another, as is customary at all the posts, on the first day of
the new year; and two others when the winter was further advanced. On these occasions, the fishermen and wood-cutters were
called in, and the whole establishment, man, woman, and child,
supped at long tables placed temporarily in the hall. Preparations for the feasts were made by a great baking of bread, pies,
and tarts* for two days previously; and tea was served liberally
as long as any of the party felt an inclination to drink. The
tables were then cleared away, and the dance was kept up with
vigor to a late hour, or rather to an early one, for the party did
not separate till the morning was advanced.  Mr. Bell and Bruce
were the musicians. The latter, with that aptness which the
half-breeds show to learn any thing that comes under their observation, had made his own fiddle, and taught himself to play
upon it.
* We had large supplies of cranberries, bleaberries, and the fruit of the
amelanchier, the produce of the country; which, with a few pounds of
Zante currants, served for tarts and pies all the winter.




288                   WINTER FISHERY.
A short description of the modes of fishery by which most of
the fur posts in Rupert's Land are supported may not be inappropriate in this place. The nets, formed like those used in the
herring fishery, measure, before mounting, one hundred and twenty yards in length, but are gathered in to eighty yards by the introduction of the backing-line along the upper edge. The depth
of the net varies with that of the waters in which it is to be employed, from two to four yards. For the capture of white-fish,
of the ordinary size of three or four pounds, the mesh is five and
a half inches long, and where these fish are very large it is increased to six. For taking the Bear Lake herring, and the small
coregoni of other localities, the meshes vary from two inches to
two and three-quarters. In open waters the nets are shot, as in
the herring fishery; the upper margin being buoyed with cedar
or fir floats, and the lower one depressed by stones. The fish
hang themselves in the meshes, being unable, from the form of
the gill-plates, to withdraw their heads after having once passed
them through. Trout of 15 lbs. weight may be taken in the
white-fish nets, and also inconnu (Salmo mackenzii) weighing
25 lbs.; but the meshes will not admit the heads of the larger
trouts (namaycush), which weigh from 30 lbs. to 50 lbs.  These
are caught with cod-hooks.
In winter the nets are set under the ice. The first step is to
make a series of holes, about fifteen feet apart. A pole is then
introduced, and conducted along the surface of the water from
hole to hole, carrying with it a line, which serves to haul in a
string of nets, properly buoyed and loaded, but seldom exceeding
five in number. The rope is then detached, and each end of the
net is fastened to a piece of wood, laid across its respective hole,
or to a stake driven into the ice. On visiting the nets next day
only the extreme holes are opened, the rope is attached anew at
one end, and is veered away as the nets are withdrawn by the
opposite hole. The fish that have been caught being removed,
the nets are drawn back to their places by the line. A line of
nets reaches about 400 yards, and the fisherman generally endeavors to carry it entirely across a strait or pass in the lake which
fish are known to frequent.
Every second or third day, fishermen who are careful, take
their nets out of the water to dry and repair them. If this be
not attended to, the threads swell and rot and few fish enter the




ESKIMO SLEDGES.                   289
meshes; the floats also become water-logged if not often dried.
In severe weather, the fisherman erects a canvas or skin screen
to windward, to shelter him while he overhauls his nets. Eskimo
snow barricades are much more effective, but pride will not permit the Orkney or Canadian fishermen to turn the useful expedients of the Eskimos to account.
In the winter, Albert built a snow wall very neatly round the
water-hole by which the fort was supplied, to keep off the snowdrifts, cut steps through the ice down to the water, and then fitted to the aperture a light snow-lid, that could be easily removed.
By this contrivance the water-hole required little clearing for a
week, and the convenience was great; but after the first admiration of his ingenuity subsided, the cover was thrown aside, and
the hole allowed to fill up with snow-drift. The consequence of
this neglect was, that the first man or woman who went for
water in the morning had half an hour's hard work to procure it,
and then it was necessary to remove all the impurities left by the
dogs which had resorted there to drink on the preceding day.
Albert found more ready imitators in another practice which
he taught the men. He was appointed to attend to the officers'
fires, and immediately set about preparing his wood-sledge according to his own fashion.  He first coated the runners with earth
or clay tempered with water, coat after coat freezing as rapidly
as it was applied.  Hot water was used in this operation, otherwise it would have frozen too quickly for him to give it the convex form and smoothness that were necessary. He next washed
the runners with water, polishing the ice with his naked hand
as it formed. Canadians and Europeans looked on carelessly,
merely saying to one another, " What can the savage be about?"
but none of them having the most distant idea that they would
follow his example next day. The four sledges employed by the
woodmen were of equal size, and each was drawn by two men.
The drawers of wood went out together, were equally loaded,
and, to their extreme surprise, Albert and his companion outstripped them all on the journey home; their emulation was excited,
they labored hard the whole day, and at night confessed that they
were fairly beaten. Then they tried Albert's sledge, and found
it run so easily, that forthwith they requested him to prepare
their sledges in the same way; and during the winter the sledgemen invariably dressed their runners in the Eskimo mode.
N




290                     REINDEER.
The venison that we obtained was the flesh of the small or
barren ground reindeer, which drops its young on the coasts or
islands of the Arctic Sea. This kind does not penetrate far into
the forest even in severe seasons, but prefers keeping in the isolated clumps or thin woods that grow on the skirts of the barren
grounds, making excursions into the latter in fine weather. A
full-grown, well-fed buck seldom weighs more than 150'lbs. after
the intestines are removed. The bucks of the larger kind, which
were mentioned in a preceding chapter as frequenting the spurs
of the Rocky Mountains near the Arctic Circle, weigh from
200 lbs. to 300 lbs., also without the intestines. Whether these
be the same with the woodland reindeer, which inhabit the southern districts of Rupert's Land and the adjoining parts of Canada,
and of the United States, has not been determined, no comparisons having been instituted. The small barren ground deer are
generally in excellent condition in the proper season, and yield
the very finest venison, hence they can scarcely be supposed to
have been dwarfed through defective pasture; and it is probable
that a rigid comparison of examples of the several kinds would
elicit specific differences. The reindeer that visit Hudson's Bay
travel southward toward James's Bay in spring. In the year
1833, vast numbers of them were killed by the Cree Indians at
a noted pass three or four days march above York Factory. They
were on their return northward, and were crossing Hayes River
in incredible multitudes. The Indians, excited by the view of
so many animals thronging into the river, committed the most
unwarrantable slaughter; man, woman, and child rushed into
the water and stabbed the poor deer wantonly, letting most of the
carcasses float down the stream or putrefy on the beach, for they
could use only a small number of those they slew. From that
date the deer did not use the pass until last year, when a few
resumed their old route, and were suffered to go unmolested, the
Indians not being prepared for their coming. Mr. Rae made two
successful excursions in search of deer in the winter, and the
Hopes likewise went a short way into the barren grounds on the
same errand, but though the latter also killed animals, their caches
being carelessly made, were invaded by the wolverenes, and our
store reaped no advantage from their efforts. The wolverene is
extremelywary, and shows extraordinary sagacity and perseverance in accomplishing its ends. The Indians believe that it is




WOLVERENES.                          291
inspired with a spirit of mischief, and endowed with preternatural
powers. Though more destructive to their hoards of provision
than the wolf, or even the bear, and able to penetrate fences that
resist their powerful efforts, it is only about thirty inches long, a
foot high at the shoulder, and one foot six inches at the rump,
but it is very compactly made.* With teeth that do not seem
to be peculiarly fitted for cutting wood, it will sever a log equal.
to a man's thigh in thickness by constant gnawing. In selecting
the spot it intends to breach it shows as much skill as the beaver,
generally contriving to cut a log near one end, so that it may fall
down into some void space, and thus open an entrance into the
hoard. The animal works so hard in carrying on this operation
that it causes its mouth to bleed, as the ends of the logs and the
snow often testify. Once admitted into the hoard, it has to gnaw
the pieces of meat asunder, as they are generally frozen together,
and then it proceeds to drag them out one by one, and to bury
them in the snow, each in a separate place. As it travels backward and forward over the meat, it smears it with a peculiarly
fetid glandular secretion, after which no other animal will touch
it. In this way one of these beasts will spoil a large cache in an
hour or two, and wholly empty it in a few nights. The pieces
which are carried off are so carefully concealed in the snow, and
* Its Dog-rib name is Nbh-gaiye, pronounced from the depths of the
throat with a strong aspirate on the h. The exact dimensions of a wolverene, which was surprised in one of our caches, and killed in the month
of March, were as follows:
Length from root of tail, measured along the back and between the  Inches.
ears to the point of the nose............................   30'5
Length of stump of tail.................................    6-5
"   of long hairs at top of ditto..........................  5-5
Total length of animal, including the entire tail.............   42-5
Height at fore shoulder.................................   12-0
"  at rump.......................................   12-6
Breadth of fore paw, the toes moderately spread............. 2-5
"   of hind paw....................................    2'7
The legs are remarkably muscular, the fore ones in particular, when skinned,
having a strong resemblance to a finely proportioned, muscular human
arm, rather than to the limb of a quadruped. The paws are covered
underneath with long matted fur in winter, so that the small callosities
that do exist are discovered with difficulty.  The anal glands, one on
each side, of the size of an olive, are filled with a very fetid secretion of a
yellowish color, and the consistence of cream. A young female produces
two young; an older one four; and it brings forth later in the summer
than other ferine animals inhabiting the same districts.




292                      WOLVES.
the wolverene makes so many tracks in the neighborhood, that it
is difficult to trace out the deposits, and they are seldom found.
Where there are trees, the meat caches are generally made with
logs let into each other at the corners by notches, as in building
a log-house. This, as we have seen, can be invaded by the wolverene. Mr. Rae, however, made a safe cellar by cutting a hole
in the ice, covering it thickly with snow, and then pouring water
over all, until the frost had rendered the whole a solid mass.
Wolves also follow the hunter, and lurk in his neighborhood,
to share in the produce of his gun. Their strength enables them
to break occasionally into a cache, but they have neither the skill
nor the tenacity of purpose of the wolverene, and the damage
they commit is generally on the carcasses of deer recently slain,
while the hunter has gone for a sledge to bring them in. On his
return in an hour or two he often finds only the well picked bones.
These wolves, though of large size, are a timid race, and seldom
or never exhibit the ferocity and ravenous boldness of their Pyrenean brethren. When reduced by famine they are very abject
and unresisting.  Mr. Bell once, while residing on Mackenzie's
River, caught a full-grown but famished wolf in a marten-trap
tied to a small log, which it had not strength to carry away.
He went to the fort for a line to lead it home, and the children
who accompanied him back assisted in bringing it in, by pushing
it on fiom behind. It made no resistance, and suffered itself to
be tied quietly to the stockades of the fort.  The experiment of
taming it was not, however, made, and after the curiosity of the
people was satisfied, it was killed. At another time, a wolf,
driven by hunger, was prowling about Fort Edmonton, when,
being scared by some of the people who were passing, it took
shelter in the kitchen.  The cook, an old Canadian, who was
busily engaged in frying pancakes, was frightened by the aspect
of his visitor, and oversetting the frying-pan in the fire, and leaping into bed, he hid himself beneath the blankets. The poor
wolf, astonished at the novelty of the scene, and amazed by the
blaze of the flaming grease, and the screams that issued from the
bed, retreated into the square of the fort, and was there killed by
the people who had rushed from their several houses on the alarm
being raised.
One of Mr. Rae's hunting and exploring excursions was made
in the month of December, in the coldest period of the winter;




INDOLENCE OF TIlE DOG-RIBS.           293
and he informed me that at that time the vapor which lose from
the reindeer completely hid the individuals of a herd; so that,
unless he could approach a detached one, or get into the midst
of them, he could not take an aim.
Notwithstanding the indolence of a large part of the Dog-rib
and Hare Indians who resorted to Fort Confidence, and their
total disregard of truth, they had the merit of being strictly honest with respect to property, and also of being quiet and unwilling to offend. No precautions were taken to guard knives and
other articles used in the house to which they had easy access,
but they meddled with nothing, and we missed none of our effects.
The thermometers, of which at least a dozen were constantly
hanging up outside, were never touched, and none of the natives
ever intruded into the magnetic observatory, after a general intimation that they were not to do so. When parties of them came
in with venison, they slept in our dining-hall, and their friends
from the fishery joined them to hear the news, and to talk for a
great part of the night, yet, though the place was crowded, they
gave us very little trouble. Some of the new-comers would frequently enter the sleeping apartments, and crouching down against
the wall, remain in perfect quietness for an hour together, gazing
at the books and other things exposed to view, and watching MIr.
Rae and myself writing.
In December, January, and February, the Indians pressed
heavily on our store, as the fishery was at a low ebb, and they
had either consumed, or we had brought in, all the venison that
had been put en cache for us. The more active hunters, with
their families, had fobllowed the game to a greater distance, and
several detachments of stout but idle young men had joined the
fishery encampment. From these able-bodied fellows we steadily
withheld rations, though they were more than once furnished with
provisions and ammunition to go out on a hunting excursion. The
efforts to get them to do any thing were, however, ineffectual.
They generally returned when their food was exhausted, saying
that the animals were all gone. They were afraid, I believe, to
venture far in the proper direction, lest they should meet enemies
of whom they are in constant dread, and especially of their spiritual foes. Their complaints of the want of game were, however,
proved to be unfounded, by the excursions of Mr. Rae and the
two Hopes.




294        PROVISIONS NOT INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY.
In January, intelligence came that the hunters had stored up
a number of deer at a considerable distance from the fort, but the
news reached Cape Macdonald as soon as Fort Confidence, and a
party from the fishery set off in quest of it. They were, nevertheless, too late, some of their wandering countrymen having discovered and consumed the store before their arrival, and they were
compelled to return, in a famishing condition, to the fishery. Our
men had also a fruitless journey to the empty cache. The lies
that were told on these occasions were innumerable, and every one
was ready to clear himself, and inculpate some other party. We
generally, however, succeeded after a time in finding out the real
delinquents, who consequently were coolly received, and had short
rations when they came to the fort.
As the months of February and March rolled away, and the
days lengthened, cheering reports from the hunting parties came
in, and some of the more active of the fishery party went to join
them.  Mr. Bell, on'two several occasions, fitted out the whole
of the residents at Cape Macdonald with provisions enough to
take them to the hunting stations; but their hearts failing them,
they consumed what was given to them, and came with their
daily petitions as before.  During this time they were taking
trout, and denying that they did so, though they occasionally sold
us a few. At length, toward the end of March, two of our fort
hunters, who had left their wives at the fishery, coming to fetch
them, the desire of the whole party to eat venison became uncontrollable, and they came en masse to the fort, with their sledges
and all their movables, to receive another fit-out. They remained
encamped near the house on this occasion for about three weeks
before they took their departure, subsisting chiefly on the produce
of their trout-lines. During this time some of the young men
made two excursions to plunder the caches of the hunters employed by us, but were foiled in the attempt, and came back fasting; for Mr. Bell, taught by former losses, had been very prompt
in sending men for the venison, and had secured it before the marauders reached the spot.
At this time some considerable supplies were brought in by the
Martin Lake Indians, and we had several opportunities of observing the way in which these people act toward each in regard to
provisions.  The venison intended for us was neatly packed on
the sledges, but each Indian generally carried a kind of knapsack




AN ACOUCHEMENT.                    295
on his shoulders, containing some choice pieces of meat to be consumed on the journey back to his tent.  The sharp eyes of the
hungry party at the encampment, discovered the approach of
strangers while yet at a great distance, and the rumor of an arrival spreading with rapidity, men, women, and children crowded
into the square of the fort. The first act of the new-comers was
to run the loaded sledges at once into the store-house, which was
opened to receive them; but as they arrived in succession, the
women from the camp generally pressed in, and throwing their
arms round a young hunter, with much kindness of manner would
say to him, "It is long since we have seen you, my relation; how
have you fared since we met. You are a generous man!" and
so on. While his attention was thus engaged, and before he could
free himself from the unwashed sirens, whose unwonted softness
of speech led him to suspect either ridicule or plunder, one of the
females, having cut the strings of his knapsack, would carry it
off, amidst the laughter of the crowd. The young fellow, thus despoiled of his provisions, however much he might be vexed in
secret, was obliged to join openly in the mirth: and the expression of face of some of the youths thus preyed upon, as they endeavored to force a smile in their distress, was irresistibly comic.
The loss fell ultimately on the store, as Mr. Bell had to furnish
the party with food for their return, though in that case he did
not certainly select titbits. When at length the great move was
made, and the fishery party, exceeding forty in number, went off,
in the end of March, news came that the wife of one of the hunters, a very small woman, had been taken with the pains of labor.
The three females belonging to the fort went to her aid, and found
the new-born infant, the mother's first child, wrapped in a deer's
skin, and stuck into a hole made in the snow. It was brought
into the house, and dressed by the fire. This event delayed the
mother's departure about two hours. She then set out dragging
a sledge, and having her first-born suspended between her shoulders, in a bag or Indian cradle. She was not suffered, however,
to profit by the well-beaten path pursued by the rest of the party,
who had gone before her, but had to make a new track parallel
to it through the loose snow, always a laborious task, even to a
stout man. Want of success in hunting, or some other calamity,
was sure to befall an Indian who should incautiously tread in her
footsteps. This was the custom; no slight or unkindness was




296                 MIGHT MIAKES RIGHT.
shown to her; her husband was, I believe, really fond of her;
and her sledge was a light one, being loaded only with things belonging to herself.
Soon after what may be considered a great event in the simple
annals of Fort Confidence-the departure of so numerous a body
of hangers-on-we had a visit from a Dog-rib, who had been residing on the other side of the lake, at the plentiful fishery opposite Fort Franklin. Our visitor, a stout, able-bodied fellow, came
empty-handed, and introduced himself as a very serviceable man,
who had been of great use to our two fishermen stationed at Fort
Franklin. We readily understood that the truth concealed under
this self-praise was, that he had been living by their labors, perhaps bringing in a little wood for them occasionally, but really
sharing in the produce of their nets. On questioning him more
closely as to the object of his coming, he at length said that he
came to look for a wife. Had he no wife? Yes, he had had one,
but an Indian had taken her from him. Had he an aversion to
his wife that he had parted from her without a struggle? No;
his wife was a very good wife; she suited him very well. Then
why did he not fight for her? " You see," said he, "it was a big
Indian that took her! I am a little fellow, what could I do I"
This hero met with little countenance from us, and after being
fed for two days, an intimation was made to him that he would
receive no more rations; on which he followed the others, and,
as we afterward learnt, soon procured another helpmate.
The singular national custom of the women being the property
of the strongest, had been acted upon a short time previously at
the fishery.  A blind man, who was more assiduous in setting
trout lines, and more successful as a fisherman than most of the
others, was deprived of his wife on the general movement of the
party, by an old fellow who wanted her to drag his sledge. Mr.
Bell questioned the ancient Paris about the truth of the report when
he came to the fort, and instead of denying the fact, or seeming
ashamed, he gloried in the deed as a manly action. A child, the offspring of her former connection, followed the fortunes of the mother.
After Mr. Bell and I quitted the fort in May, the reindeer
migrating toward the sea-coast left the Indians again in straitened
circumstances. The active hunters -moved toward the open country in quest of musk-oxen, and the more helpless threw themselves
on Mr. Rae's compassion at the fort. He distributed among them




PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS.                297
the remains of the dried meat brought from Fort Simpson, and a
quantity of musk-bull meat, which was too strong for his own
men, but which the natives relished greatly.  Thus furnished
they betook themselves reluctantly to various fisheries. Such is
the life which these poor creatures lead. Occasional feasting and
rejoicing, with intervening periods of want, sometimes of absolute
famine.  With proper management, the natural resources of the
country would support a population ten times as great; but as
long as all the drones of the community claim a right to appropriate to their own wants the produce of the exertions of an industrious hunter or fisherman, no certain provision for the future
will be made. The first step in advance will be the formation
of fishing villages, and the culture of barley and potatoes; and,
under the guidance of intelligent missionaries, this might be effected
without much difficulty; while, at the same time, the truths of
Christianity might be brought to bear on the heathenism and
moral defects of the'Tinne nation.
The preceding details may lead the reader to imagine that the
Dog-ribs or Hare Indians are an unhappy race; but such is not
the case. They are timid, and assume the attitude and solicitations of beggars in their intercourse with white people; but. among
themselves they are lively, volatile, and full of fun and mirth,
which even an empty stomach can not suppress.
With regard to the progress of the seasons, the " Indian summer," as it is called, brought us three weeks of fine weather after
our arrival in September. The centre of Bear Lake usually remains open till late in December, but by the middle of October
the bays and straits are frozen across.  As the structure of ice
has of late years attracted the attention of speculative geologists,
principally in connection with the movements of glaciers, I am
induced to mention here a few facts which intruded themselves
on my observation during my residences in the fur countries.
The first step in the freezing of rivers in this rigorous climate,
after the water has been cooled down to 320 by a succession of
cold weather, is the formation of somewhat circular plates of ice,
six or eight inches in diameter. These drift for a time with the
current, until they have become numerous enough to cover the
surface of the water, when they are arrested in a narrow part of
the river, or by any slight obstacle, and speedily adhere to each
other, after which the illterstices between the circles fill rapidly
N*X




298                    ICE AND SNOW
with crystals that'bind all firmly together. The sheet of ice thus
produced is at first nearly opaque; but when, in the course of a
day or two, it has acquired the thickness of a few inches, it becomes
transparent, and remains so until a fall of snow has obscured the
surface. In unsheltered lakes the wind drifts the snow to the
beach, and would perhaps keep the ice clean for great. part of the
winter, were it not that in certain hygrometric conditions of the
atmosphere small starry tufts of most beautiful tabular and latticed crystals are deposited at short intervals on the ice, and freeze
firmly to it. In a dry atmosphere these crystals evaporate again,
but should a fall take place of the fine, dust-like snow, which is
the most common kind in the high latitudes, they serve to detain
it until it consolidates, so as to resist the wind. It is rare, however, for the snow to lie more than a foot deep on any of the large
lakes, unless where it has drifted under the lee of piled-up slabs
of ice, or of rocks, islands, or other shelter.
During winter the ice receives an increase of thickness from
beneath, and at the same time evaporates above; the latter process going on with a rapidity that would scarcely be credible to
one ignorant of the extreme dryness of the air in an arctic winter.
The ice acquires a thickness of from four to eight feet, according
to the severity of the season, the depth of the lake, and other
modifying circumstances; and I desire here to advert especially
to the fact, that although it is constructed of successive horizontal
additions beneath, when it decays in spring it consists of vertical
prisms, penetrating its whole thickness, and standing side by side
like the columns of a basaltic cliff; which, in their mode of formation, have, I imagine, a close analogy. Dr. Slagintweit informed
me that neither the ice nor the basalt forms exact prisms, the
angles never having the precise measurements of true crystals.
In this condition the ice may be strong enough to support a considerable weight; and I have traveled over it with a large party
on several occasions when the prisms on which the foot rested
were depressed at every step, and a pointed stick could be driven
through the whole thickness into the water beneath, with as much
ease as into a bank of snow. The ice then, in fact, presents the
physical characters of a semi-fluid mass, as pointed out by Professor Forbes, its parts being movable on each other, not only
vertically, but as in the case of traveling glaciers, capable of
gliding past one another horizontally.




TEMPERATURE.                      299
In spring, when the action of the sun-light is very powerful,
an incipient thaw takes place at mid-day on the surface of the
snow, which, on freezing again, acquires a glassy crust. As the
season advances, but while the temperature of the air is still, even
at noon, far below the freezing point, the crust in clear weather
becomes penetrated in the direction in which it is struck by the
sun's rays at mid-day by innumerable canals, and finally crumbles
into a granular mass like thefirn of the high Swiss glaciers, that
crackles under the feet as soon as the sun sinks toward the horizon.
This firn is not universal; it is more common within the Arctic
circle, and in situations where there seems to have been originally
a certain looseness in the texture of the snow, and where its surface
is so much inclined that the sun's rays do not fall on it obliquely
about noon. I did not notice it in any quantity on the level surface of a lake.
The rapid evaporation of both snow and ice in the winter and
spring, long before the action of the sun has produced the slightest
thaw or appearance of moisture, is made evident to residents in
the high latitudes by many facts of daily occurrence; and I may
mention that the drying of linen furnishes a familiar one. When
a shirt, after being washed, is exposed in the open air to a temperature of 400 or 50~ below zero, it is instantly rigidly frozen,
and may be broken if violently bent. If agitated when in this
condition by a strongwind, it makes a rustling noise like theatrical thunder. In an hour or two, however, or nearly as quickly
as it would do if exposed to the sun in the moist climate of England, it dries and becomes limber.
Mr. Rae mentioned to me another example of the same fact
which bears on the transportation of boulders, and may interest
geologists.  During his memorable residence on the shores of
Repulse Bay, he noticed several large boulders which were partially exposed at low water. When the sea froze they became
engaged in the ice, and were lifted with it from the bottom by
the flood-tides. The ice gaining at each tide in thickness beneath,
and losing above by superficial evaporation, the boulders in process of time came to rest in pits on its surface.
In consequence of the extreme dryness of the atmosphere in
winter, most articles of English manufacture made of' wood; horn,
or ivory, brought to Rupert's Land, are shriveled, bent, and
broken. The handles of razors and knives, combs, ivory scales,




300                     TEMPERATURE.
and various other things kept in the warm rooms, are damaged
in this way.  The human body also becomes visibly electric from
the dryness of the skin. One cold night I rose from my bed, and,
having lighted a lantern, was going out to observe the thermometer, with no other clothing than my flannel night-dress, when,
on approaching my hand to the iron latch of the door, a distinct
spark was elicited. Friction of the-skin at almost all'times in
winter produced the electric odor.
In November the snow was deep enough for sledges to run
without receiving much injury. On the 1st of December the
sun was just visible for an instant at noon, from an eminence behind the house. This month was a cold one, and the coldest
days in the year were the 17th and 18th, when the average temperature for forty-eight hours was 55-~0 below zero of Fahrenheit.
The lowest observation made was at seven in the afternoon of
the 17th, at which time the temperature was 589~0 F. The
thermometer, one of Adie's making, was hang by the side of a
dozen by the same artist, none of which differed a degree from it.
When tested by freezing mercury, this one stood at 36~, which
is considered to be from 40 to 6~ too high; so that, making the
smallest of these corrections, the actual minimum temperature
we observed was 656  F.*  This is one of the greatest colds on
record, and pains were taken to ascertain it correctly.t
Even at mid-winter we had three hours and a half of daylight.
On the 20th of December I required a candle to write at the
window at ten in the morning. On the 29th the sun, after ten
days' absence, rose at the fishery where the horizon was open;
and on the 8th of January, both limbs of that luminary were
seen from a gentle eminence behind the fort, rising above the
centre of Fishery Island. For several days previously; however,
its place in the heavens at noon had been denoted by rays of light
* Mr. Saunders, commander of the North Star, records 64- 0 F. as
the lowest temperature observed in Wolstenholme Sound in the winter
of 1850.
t In two thermometers, made by a London artist, and hung up beside
the others, the spirit retreated into the bulb, though the scales were graduated down to 73~. In freezing mercury, these thermometers indicated
550, being about 150 too low. Mir. Adie's thermometers were construoted under the superintendence of Professor Forbes of Edinburgh. The precautions used to insure their correctness will be detailed when the meteorological observations at Fort Confidence are published.




ARRIVAL OF SUIMMER BIRDS.             301
shooting into the sky above the woods. The lowest temperature
in January was 50~ F.
On the 1st of February the sun rose to us at 9 o'clock and set
at 3, and the days lengthened rapidly.  On the 23d I could write
in my room without artificial light from 10 A.M. to half-past 2
P.M.. making four hours and a half of bright daylight. The moon
in the long nights was a most beautiful object; that satellite being constantly above the horizon for nearly a fortnight together
in the middle of the lunar month.  Venus also shone with a
brilliancy which is never witnessed in a sky loaded with vapors,
and unless in snowy weather, our nights were always enlivened
by the beams of the Aurora.
In February the lowest temperature was 56~ F. (or 620 corrected), and in March, 440 F. (48~) was the lowest observed.
On the 20th of April, signs of the snow softening on the south
side of the house, contiguous to the walls, were perceived. The
day by this time had lengthened so far, that I was able to read
off the degrees of the thermometer by daylight at nine in the
evening. Snow-birds arrived in small flocks, and on the 27th
the snow began to melt in sheltered places, exposed to the direct
rays of the sun. Ospreys, ger-falcons, eagles, and gulls appeared
on the 17th of May; and, from the 19th to the 23d, melted snow
stood deep on the surface of the ice. On the prior of these two
dates, the first goose was seen. The geese approach the high
latitudes as soon as the swamps are uncovered, when they feed
on the undeveloped flowering stalks of the cotton-grass and other
Cyperacee. Their arrival is thus an indication of the progress
of spring, and frosty weather will sometimes drive them back for
a week or so to a milder district.  The impulse, however, by
which they are urged to their breeding stations is so uncontrollable, that in backward seasons they are driven to the sea coast
before the snow is gone, and then, from want of food, they are in
a very lean condition.  Their incubation, the fledging of the
goslings, and the moulting of the parents, has to take place before
the end of August, when old and young pass southward to spend
the winter in more genial climes. An indelible attachment leads
them back to their natal places, and the ensuing summer sees
them winging their way northward in cuneal bands, with unerring instinct. Their arrival in a district enlivens white man alti
Indian: during their passage, plenty reigns in every encampment;




302              ARRIVAL OF SUMMER BIRDS.
and the dingy, pot-bellied children run about with smiling, greasy
faces, brandishing in each hand the leg or wing of a goose.
The Canada geese come in the van, and remain breeding in
the woody country; snow geese next arrive, and pass onward to
Wollaston's Land; then the laughing geese come and go, holding
a northwest course; and at the same time with the latter, the
Hutchin's geese speed to the sea coast.
On the 22d, pin-tail ducks were seen; on the 24th, swans;
and, on the 30th and 31st, large flocks of snow geese and brown
cranes passed northward. On the 1st of June, bees, sandpipers,
long-tailed ducks or cacawees, eider and king ducks, and northern
divers were seen: the catkins of the earliest willows also burst
their envelopes on this day. On the 5th, teal, widgeon, scaupducks, shovellers, and jagers arrived; but, on the 8th, the fur of
the polar hare was still white.
The progress of spring at Fort Confidence, subsequent to the
7th of May, is recorded from Mr. Rae's notes, as on that date
Mr. Bell and I commenced our journey southward. To contrast
with the above the dates of the arrivals of the migratory birds at
Fort Franklin in the same season are here added, the difference
of latitude between the two places being a degree and three
quarters.
On the 11th of May, under a hot sun, a pool of water had
formed on the ice near the bay of the Deer Pass. We bivouacked
on the shore beside it, and had not yet arranged our sleepingplaces, when a Canada goose alighted in the pool. It was scarcely allowed to settle before it was shot, and, with a celerity unknown in civilized lands, stripped of its feathers and committed to
the cooking-kettle.  This was evidently a straggler, and must
have seen the small pond in which it alighted from a great distance; for, on our arrival at Fort Franklin on the following day,
we learnt that neither our two fishermen employed there, nor an
Indian residing near them, had as yet seen any of the spring
birds.  On the 14th the Indian saw gulls; on the 18th, snow
geese and various small birds came, together with the pretty little
gull named Xenma bonapartii, which in large flocks sought for
insects in the open water now forming along the shores of the
smaller lakes.  On the 22d, bands of snow geese passed to the
northwest, flying high. They evidently found the country about
Fort Franklin still too closely wrapped in its winter garb, and




ARRIVAL OF SUMMER BIRDS.               303
were winging their way to the valley of the Mackenzie, where
the season is earlier.
Geese, according to Mr. Bell's information, arrive at Peel
River Fort, upward of two degrees farther north, from the 12th
to the 15th of May, rarely varying above a day or two, the 15th
being the date of their coming in backward seasons. At that
time they find the marshy places bare of snow, and can procure
the roots of bents and other plants on which they feed. There,
as elsewhere, the Canada geese precede the snow geese a day or
two.  The Hutchin's geese* come later, and pass high overhead
toward the north. The Indians believe that a small finch (Plectrophanes lapponica) avails itself of the strength of wing of the
Hutchin's goose, and nestles among its feathers during its flight.
When a goose is shot, they often see the small bird flying from
it. Neither Mr. Rae nor I noticed such an occurrence, nor did
I obtain a confirmation of it from the personal observation of any
of the gentlemen resident in the country, but it is generally affirmed by the Indians.
While we were at Fort Franklin, Mr. Bell, who was employed
all day in shooting geese, pointed out to me a fact in the natural
history of the snow and laughing geese. Though they migrated
in large flocks, each had already selected its mate; and if the
female was shot, the male bird instantly separated from the rest,
and descended to look after her. In this way, he often fell a victim to his conjugal fidelity; but if he escaped the shots aimed at
him, and became shy, he would still continue for hours, and even
days, searching the neighborhood for his lost mate. The case
was different if the male bird fell first. The female, it is true,
also left the flock, but she kept more aloof, and generally, after
making a circle or two round the spot where the body of her
partner lay, went off with the next flock that came up.
The laughing geese passed Fort Franklin a few days later than
the snow geese, but a single individual was often seen some days
before the arrival of the main body, associated with a flock of
snow geese, and generally acting as leader by assuming a station in the apex of the angle in which they fly. About the same
time, the American robin, or migratory thrush, came with the
yellow-poll and black and yellow warblers (Sylvia cestiva et
* These are commonly called "Eskimo geese" in Rupert's Land.




304                ARRIVAL OF SUvMIIER BIRDS.
maculosa). The latter fed on the berries of the Alpine arbutus,
as did likewise the golden plovers, whose stomachs also contained
the juicy fruit of the Empetrum  nigrum.  The Eskimo curlew
at this time fed on large ants. It would appear that these insects descend to the stomachs of the curlews alive, since I found
that several, having taken fast hold of the lining of the gullet
with their mandibles, remained sticking there, and even after
death required some force to detach them. The tree bunting
(Fringilla canadensis), black-finch (F. hyemalis), and whitecrowned finch (F. leucophrys)* were also early visitors, and soon
after their arrival began to construct their nests. The Lapland
finch was also seen, but only on its passage to the coast. The
Lestris richardsonii flew about in pairs, and was observed to have
the habit of quartering the ground like the hen-harrier. In the
stomach of one which I killed, there were the skin and some of
the bones of a mouse, rolled into a ball, like the pellets that are
rejected from the stomach of an owl. The purple-throated diver
visited Bear Lake River in considerable numbers. This species
is easily distinguished from the great northern diver (C. glacialis),
while flying, by its swollen, bluish-gray neck. Almost all the
summer birds arrived before we left that neighborhood; but I
have enumerated only the earliest comers, or those which I had
not previously seen in so high a latitude, and whose range is,
therefore, not correctly given in the Fauna Boreali Americana.t
* I have already mentioned the nocturnal song of this bird, which breeds
throughout Rupert's Land. In attempting to express its clear, loud notes
by syllables, the nearest approach I could make was cheet-cheet, tareet,
cheet, cheet. The first two syllables are loud and high, the next two short,
and the two last lower and softer.
t From Mr. Murray, I have received the following account of the arrivals of the water-fowl in the Valley of the Yukon. " Of the two kinds
of swan, only the largest sort (Cygnus buccinator) are seen here; they
pass on to the northward of the Porcupine River, to breed among the lakes.
Bustards (i. e. Canada geese) are plentiful, and breed every where, from
Council Bluffs on the Missouri to the vicinity of the Polar Sea. On the
ramparts of Porcupine River they frequently build high up among the rocks,
where one would suppose only hawks and ravens would have their nests.
How they take their young down is unknown to me, but they must be
carried somehow. Ravens and large gulls are very destructive to young
geese. With respect to the breeding-quarters of the laughing geese (Anser
albifrons), I am able to inform you correctly, having myself seen a few of
their nests; and, since the receipt of your letter, made further inquiry
among the northern Indians. Their nests are built on the edges of swamps
and lakes, throughout most of the country north of the Porcupine, where




LEAVE FORT CONFIDENCE.                     305
Great Bear Lake is navigable for its whole extent fobr only
fifty days in the year.  It is frozen over later than shallower
pieces of water in its vicinity, but the ice remains longer unbroken, and drift ice continues on its surface till the middle of August.
On the 7th of May, the day on which Mr. Bell and I set out to
travel to Fort Franklin, the ice was as firm as in mid-winter;
and, though the snow softened in fine weather, it still covered
the ground deeply.
the ground is marshy.  It is only near the most northerly bends of that
river that any are seen in the breeding season, and these are male birds.
They pass to their breeding-places in the beginning of June, and make their
nests among long grass or small bushes, where they are not easily seen.
They are shy birds when hatching; and, when any one comes near the
nest, manage to escape unperceived, and then show themselves at a distance, and manceuvre like grouse to lead the intruder away from the place.
Notwithstanding our ruthless habit of collecting eggs of all kinds to vary
our diet, I have often felt for a laughing goose, whose anxiety for the
safety of its eggs was frequently the means of revealing to us the situation
of its nest. When the bird was swimming some hundreds of yards off,
immediately that any person in walking round the lake came near its
treasure, the poor bird began to make short, impatient turns in the water,
resuming her calm demeanor if the intruder passed the nest without seeing it. As soon as the eggs are taken, the goose rises out of the water
and flies close to the head of the captor, uttering a frightened and pitiful
cry. These geese are more numerous in the Valley of the Yukon than any
other kind; and the numbers that pass northward there are perhaps equal
to that of all the other species together.  The Gens du large (Neyetsekuetchin), who visit the north coast regularly to traffic with the Eskimos,
say that they have never seen any flying northward over the sea in that
quarter. White geese (snow geese, Chen hyperboreus) are also passengers
here, and there are likewise black geese, which I presume you have never
seen. A few of them pass down Peel's River, but they are more abundant
on the Yukon. They are very handsome birds, considerably smaller than
the white geese, and have a dark brown or brownish black color, with a
white ring round the neck, the head and bill having the shape of that of
the bustard."  (This description applies pretty well to the brent goose.nser bernicla).  The black geese are the least numerous and the latest
that arrive here. They fly in large flocks with remarkable velocity, and
generally pass on without remaining, as the others do, some days to feed.
When they alight, it is always in the water; and, if they wish to land,
they swim ashore. They are very fat, and their flesh has an oily and
rather disagreeable taste. Bustards, laughing geese, ducks, and large gulls
make their appearance here from the 27th to the 29th.of April. Snow
geese and black geese about the 15th or 16th of AMay, when the other kinds
become plentiful. They have mostly passed by the end of the month,
though some, especially the bustards, are seen in June. The white geese
and black geese breed only on the shores of the Arctic Sea. They return
in September and early in October, flying high, and seldom halting."




CHAPTER XVI.
Mr. Rae's Expedition in the Summer of 1849.-Instructions.-He crosses to the
Coppermine.-Descends that River.-Sea covered with Ice.-Surveys Rae
River.-Eskimos.-Cape Kendall.-Cape Hearne.-Basil Hall Bay.-Cape
Krusenstern.-Douglass Island.-Detention.-Dangerous Situation. —August
23, return.-Author and Mr. Bell leave Fort Confidence.-Cross Great Bear
Lake.-Descend Bear Lake River.-David Brodie lost in the Woods.-His
Adventures.-Fort Simpson.-Methy Portage.-Receive English Letters.-Norway House.-Part from the Seamen and Sappers and Miners.-Continue the
Voyage to Canada.-Boston.-Land at Liverpool.-Summary of the present
State of the Search for Sir John Franklin.
HAVING in the preceding chapter mentioned such occurrences
during our winter's residence at Fort Confidence as seemed most
worthy of notice, this is the most appropriate place for introducing
an account of Mr. Rae's endeavors, in the summer, to reach
VWollaston Land, and complete the search in that quarter. Had
we succeeded in taking our boats up the Coppermine, beyond the
reach of the Eskimos, according to our expectations when the
plan of search was formed, the voyage might have been resumed
in the summer of 1849 with two or three boats; and, in that
case, both Mr. Rae and I would have gone, that we might aid
each other among the ice. But, having been compelled to leave
our craft in September, without the smallest hope of their being
found again in a seaworthy condition, and having only one boat
remaining that could be employed on the service, it became necessary to determine which of us should take charge of that vessel
and of the small party it could contain.  Setting all personal
considerations aside, and looking solely to the means of providing
for the examination of as large a portion of the Arctic Sea as
could be accomplished, I had no hesitation in deciding in favor
of Mr. Rae.  His ability and zeal were unquestionable-; he was
in the prime of life, and his personal activity and his skill as a
hunter fitted him peculiarly for such an enterprise. The arrangement I made for withdrawing the European party, and employing
volunteers from the men engaged in the country, was a considerable pecuniary saving, whioh I was bound to consider, as far as I
could, without cramping the means of search.




MR. RAE'S EXPEDITION.                      307
It has been already mentioned that Mr. Rae explored the
country between Fort Confidence and the Coppermine River in
winter, to select the,best route for dragging the boat over in
spring. In April he conveyed provisions, boat stores, and other
necessaries across to the Kendall on dog-sledges, and left two
men at Flett's station in charge of them, together with two In-.
dian hunters. Befbre the end of the month we learnt that they
had obtained both musk-ox and reindeer meat, and were drying
part of it for summer use. The subsequent proceedings are told
in the following official documents, which I quote entire, premising that the names of the men composing his party wereBoat's Crew.
Neil M'Leod.............................   OrKney man.
James Hope............................   Cree Indian,
Thomas Hope...........................' "
Halcro Humphrey........................  Orkney man.
Albert One-eye..........................  Eskimo.
Louis Olivier............................  Canadian.
Left in charge of Fort Confidence.
Baptiste Paul........................  Canadian.
Louis Dubrill...........................          "
(Memorandum).
" Fort Confidence, Great Bear Lake, May 1, 1849.
As in the prosecution of the search for traces of the Discovery Ships
under command of Sir John Franklin, the continental coast line between
the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers has been carefully examined, the
only part of my instructions not complied with, is the examination of the
adjoining shores of Wollaston andVictoria Lands, which the state of the
ice in Dolphin and Union Straits rendered inaccessible last autumn. That
these two islands are separated from each other by a strait. lying between
the 111th and 113th meridians, is rendered almost certain by a consideration of the direction of the flood tide, which, on the west side of these
parallels, sets to the westward through Dolphin and Union Straits, and
to the eastward of them, sets to the eastward toward Cape Alexander;
coming, we must conclude, from the northward between the lands in question; for the survey by Messrs. Dease and Simpson has shown that the
coast of Victoria Land is continuous up to the 111th parallel; and the
latter gentleman records his opinion, that much of the heavy drift ice that
encumbers Coronation Gulf descends between these lands from the north.
" The exploration of the shores of this strait is of much importance in
the search for the Discovery Ships, for the following reasons: Sir John
Franklin having been directed to steer to the southwest after he had passed Barrow's Straits, would be led directly into it, and he would be deterred from attempting a more westerly course by the circumstance of Sir Edward Parry having found that route impracticable for two successive sea



308                  MR. RAE'S INSTRUCTIONS.
sons. Should there be several islands between Wollaston and Banks's
Lands, and the channels between them be intricate, it is not unlikely that
the ships may have been shut up therein by ice. It was the intention of
Sir James Ross, in the event of his reaching Winter Harbor last year, to
send a party across the ice this spring to pass between Victoria and Wollaston Lands toward Cape Krusenstern and the Coppermine River. To
co-operate with that party and to aid it with provisions, or to supply its
place, should circumstances have prevented its being sent, it is expedient
that a party should go from hence, and as you and a sufficient number of
men have volunteered for this service, I hereby, in virtue of the clause of
my instructions which authorizes me to detach you and a party of volunteers under your command, appoint you to this duty. You are therefore
to descend the Coppermine River; and as soon as the sea opens in July,
are to proceed to explore the strait in question, endeavoring to communicate with any parties of Eskimos you may meet with on Wollaston or the
neighboring islands. Should you reach the northern coast of Bank's Land,
you are there to erect a pile of stones, and deposit a memorandum of your
object and proceedings at the distance of 10 feet from its base, marking
that side of the pile with a broad arrow in red or white paint. You are
also to erect similar piles, and deposit in the same manner on conspicuous
headlands, memoranda for the guidance of the party detached by Sir
James Ross, when you can do so without materially delaying your progress. Should you discover any signal posts erected by that party, and
learn from the memoranda deposited near them that the strait has been
sufficiently explored- down to that place, you are to proceed no further in
that direction; and you are at liberty to use your own judgment in deviating from this route, if, from information given by the Eskimos, or obtained from other sources, you are of opinion that the ships, or part of
their crews, may be found in another quarter.
" Having the fullest confidence in your judgment, experience, and prudence, I shall not name a period to your advance, further than by requesting you not to hazard the safety of the party intrusted to your care,
by delaying your return too long. The last season furnishes a strong instance of the early date at which the winter occasionally commences in
these seas.*
" Having performed this service, or prosecuted it as far as practicable,
with a due regard to the safety of your party, you are to return with all
speed to Fort Confidence, and, embarking without delay the instruments
and stores remaining at that post, to proceed forthwith to Fort Simpson.
Such of the stores as are useful to the Company are to be valued and
handed over to them, and the instruments are to be forwarded to England,
addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty.  The men are to be sent to
winter at some fishing station sufficiently to the southward to insure their
early arrival at Norway House next spring; and you are to direct them
to be furnished with nets, that they may provide for their own sustenance
during the winter, with as little expense to the Government as possible.
" Immediately on your return from the coast, you are to communicate
an account of your proceedings to the Secretary of the Admiralty, for the
* The 25th of August was the date at which I considered it prudent that Mr. Rae
should endeavor to be on the south side of Dolphin and Union Straits, and I expressed
this opinion in a private note to him.




MR. RAE ASCENDS THE DEASE.                   309
infonnation of their Lordships; and you are also to transmit him a chart
of any hitherto unexplored coasts or straits you may discover, as soon as
you have had leisure to construct it.
"Given under my hand, at Fort Confidence, 1st May,. 1849.
(Signed)    "JOHN RICHARDSON,
" Comlmanding Arctic Searching Expedition.
"John Rae, Esq."
Copy of a Dispatch from Mr. Rae to the Secretary of the /admiralty, narrating the Proceedings of the Expedition under his Command to the shores
of the A.rctic Sea, in the Summer of 1849.
" Fort Confidence, Great Bear Lake, Sept. 1, 1849.
" SR —I have the honor to acquaint you, for the information of my
Lords Commisioners of the Admiralty, that the expedition under my command, which descended the Coppermine this summer to the Arctic Sea, for
the purpose of examining the shores of Wollaston and Victoria Lands, in
search of Sir John Franklin and party, returned to this place to-day, having
been quite unsuccessful in its object, and with the loss of Albert, the
Eskimo interpreter, who was drowned at the Bloody Fall, the particulars
of which unfortunate accident I shall mention hereafter.
" Having made every requisite arrangement at Fort Confidence for facilitating our progress across land to the Coppermine, I waited impatiently
for the disruption of the ice on Dease River, to which our boat was hauled
on the 7th of June. Next day we learned that the upper parts of the river
were clear of ice; and on the following morning I started in company with
four men and two Indians, and a couple of sledges on which our baggage
and provisions were stowed. The Pease was still covered with strong
and solid ice for two miles up its course, over which we hauled the boat before getting to open water.
" Our ascent of the stream was extremely slow, owing to the many barriers of ice (some of them six or eight miles long) over which we had to
launch the boat, and it was the 15th before arrived at the forks of the
river, where it was my intention to diverge from the route of Dease an&
Simpson. They followed the north branch, while. we ascended the southeast one. This stream was also much obstructed by ice, and so very shallow, consequent on the coldness of the weather, which prevented the snow
on the high grounds from thawing, that the whole party were almost continually up to their knees among water and snow engaged in launching the
boat. In ordinary seasons it was evident, by marks along the banks, that
there is sufficient water for a boat drawing some inches more than ours
throughout its whole length, which is little more than 15 miles, including
its various curves. On the 17th we passed over the ice on the lake from
which the stream flows. It contains many islands, and its breadth, where
we crossed it in a nearly south direction, is 31 miles.
"' Indian report had led me to believe that there was a creek, having
sufficient depth of water for the boat, flowing from this lake into the south
branch of the Kendall, which we were to descend to the Dismal Lakes;
but in this we were disappointed, and consequently had a portage of six
geographical miles to make overland nearly due east. I had examined
this place in the winter, but the ground being then covered with snow and
ice, I could not form a correct opinion on the subject. The west end of




310            MR. RAE DESCENDS THE COPPERMINE.
the portage is situated in latitude 67~ 10' 48" N.; longitude by accountS
117~ 18' W.; and the variation of the compass 50~ 49'E.
" Crossing the portage occupied us two days; the ice had not yet broken
up in many places on the river on its east side, and the water was ten
inches lower than when Sir John Richardson and party forded it last
autumn; we consequently found some difficulty in descending it. Its general course is northeast by east, and the length from where we entered it,
to its influx at the west end of the most easterly of the Dismal Lakes, 17!
miles. On the 21st we arrived at the station on the banks of the Kendall
River, to which provisions for the sea voyage had been hauled on dog sleds
in April, and found the two men who had been left in charge quite well.
We descended the Kendall next day to the Coppermine, which was still covered with ice, so firm and solid that a person might have crossed the river
without being more than ankle deep in water.
" During five days that we were detained here, we were occupied repairing the injuries received by the boat. shooting deer to save our pemican,
and making observations when the weather would permit. The result of
three meridian observations of the sun gave mean latitude 670 07' 20" N.j
and the mean variation from five sets of azimuths on different days (the
extremes being 490 38', and 510 55') was 500 37' 48" E.  On the 28th
the dwarf birch was observed to be in leaf, and the leaf-buds of the willows began to develop. In the afternoon of the same day the river was
thought sufficiently open to permit us to descend it for some distance
among the driving ice; but after proceeding six miles, we found the stream
again blocked up. We were so often and so long detained by interruptions
of this kind, that it was the 11th of July before we arrived at the Bloody
Fall, having been fourteen days in doing the work of one. Notwithstandstanding the inefficiency of our steersman James Hope (one of Dease and
Simpson's men), we ran all the rapids, including the Escape, without
shipping much water, and with all the cargo in the boat.
"Hitherto deer had been so numerous that we could easily have shot
enough for the maintenance of a party double or treble our numbers. Here
~tey had become more scarce and shy, which could be only accounted for by
the proximity of the Eskimos, no recent traces of whom could, however, be
seen. From the fall to the sea the ice remained fixed until the 13th, when
it cleared away, a circumstance that was very soon indicated by the numbers
of fish which appeared below the fall. With the aid of Halkett's air-boat,
which had been brought from a hill some miles distant, where it had been
left last season, a net was set in one of the eddies, and before the men had
finished arranging it, seven fine salmon and two white fish were caught,
and we afterward obtained a supply for several days' consumption.
" On the 14th we entered the sea, and found a narrow and very shallow
channel along the ssnore of Richardson Bay, until we came to its north
side, where the ice lay against the rocks. Here the latitude 670 51' 19" N.
was observed; and two azimuths of the sun, the one on the meridian and
the other when on the prime vertical, gave variation 570 04' and 560 25'
E. While encamped at this place, we were visited by seven Eskimos, one
of whom I at once recognized as the active, intelligent man who had
afforded Sir John Richardson's party such efficient assistance last season,
* The rates of the chronometers had become so irregular, or had altered so mucb. that
they were of no use until rated anew.




MIR. RAE SURVEYS RAE RIVER.                 311
when crossing the river at the head of B3ack's Inlet.  On inquiry I learnt
that they had been well supplied with provisions in the early part of winter
and in spring; but that in the interval they had nearly starved, owing to the
scarcity of seals, having had to subsist for some time on the skins of the
larger species of these animals, which they had reserved for making boots.
In the winter they had communicated, either directly or indirectly, with
the natives of Wollaston Land, none of whom had ever seen whites, large
boats, or ships. They were all made happy by some small presents, and.
a supply of fish, which they ate raw, and appeared to relish much. They
left us near midnight. promising to return next day with some boots and
shoes for sale.' On the 16th, by making a number of portages over the ice, we rounded
Point Mackenzie and entered Back's Inlet, which was partially open. Having
a fine breeze from the east, we set sail and soon ran to its head, when we
entered Rae River (discovered and named by Sir John Richardson last
autumn); and on proceeding three miles up it, came to the lodges, six in
number, of our Eskimo visitors, who said that they had been so much
alarmed at seeing the boat under sail that they were on the point of running away.
"' As there was no possibility of our making much progress along shore
until the ice wasted a little more, I devoted the two following days to an
examination of this river; the Eskimo whom I have already mentioned as
our active assistant last year willingly agreeing to accompany us. At the
distance of 91 miles from the river's mouth, there is a perpendicular fall
of 10 feet, which extends across the stream, except a few yards on the
north side, where the rock slopes so much that, during the spring-floods,
salmon and white fish are able to ascend, affording the natives a fine opportunity of spearing them. Here I left the boat and four of the men,
while, in company with the other two, and our Eskimo guide, I traced the
river 19~ geographical miles further.  Its course is nearly due west, and
very straight; about the size of the Dease River, and varying in breadth
from 80 to 200 yards, with a very strong current, and sufficient depth of
water for a boat drawing 14 or 15 inches. It flows over a bed of limestone, and is bounded on the north, at the distance of half a mile or less
from its banks, by precipices of basalt from 100 to 200 feet high, superimposed on limestone of the same kind as that which forms the bed of the
river.
"At the extreme west point of our journey, we found a party of ten
Eskimos with their families, who informed us that the stream maintained
the same course and size as far as they had seen it, which was somewhat
more than three days' march, or about sixty miles; how much further
they knew not, as they had never been to its source.  Two of this party
returned with us to the boat, where they received presents, which I had
some difficulty in getting them to accept, as they said they had nothing to
give in exchange. On the evening of the 18th we ran down stream, and
landed our guide among his friends, who seemed very glad to see him return safe. They were now much less timid than when we first met them,
and we pitched our tent close to theirs, without causing any apparent
alarm, although it was afterward observed that two of the men kept watch
during the night.
" Early on the 19th we took a friendly leave of these simple and inof



312          MR. RAE REACHES CAPE KRUSENSTERN.
fensive people, and pulled down to the mouth of the river, where I staid
until noon, when the latitude 670 55' 20" N. was observed. The cloudy
state of the weather during the two preceding days had prevented any observations being made. New moon occurring to-day, it was high water a
few minutes before I P.M.; the rise being 10 inches.  In the afternoon,
when on our way to Cape Kendall, we experienced a severe thunder-storm
from north-northwest, which obliged us to land for shelter.
"Our advance along the coast was so slow, that we did not arrive at
the place where the boats were left last autumn until the 24th. We found
that they had been much broken up by the Eskimos to obtain the ironwork
The tents, oil-cloths, and part of the sails, still remained uninjured, and
were of much value to us, as we were ill-provided with the two first of
these articles. The'cache' of pemican and ammunition was also untouched, having apparently escaped notice from being covered with snow.
The latitude 680 10' 44" N., and variation 560 8' E., were observed
here.
" On the 27th a west-northwest breeze having cleared away the ice for
a short distance from the shore, we continued our course toward Cape
Hearne, which we reached before noon, and found its extreme point to be
in latitude 68~ 11' 17" N. Basil Hall Bay being filled from side to side
with unbroken ice, we encamped here. Next forenoon a light south-southeast breeze opened a crack in the ice, wide enough for the boat to cross to
an island in the middle of the bay, on the north side of which we found
some open water, which enabled us to get two miles beyond it. At 3
P.M. on the 30th, we arrived at Cape Krusenstern, and when opposite its
high cliffs a strong breeze sprung up from north-northeast, which drove
the ice so forcibly against the rocks, that we were obliged to unload with
all haste, and haul the boat up on a drift-bank of snow to save it from
being squeezed.  Here for the first time this season we found the ice
broken up in the offing, caused evidently by the strong currents of the ebb
and flood tides; whereas on looking in the direction from which we had
come, all, except immediately along shore, was smooth, white, unbroken,
and apparently as firm as in winter.: We were now at the most convenient though not the nearest point for
making the traverse to Wollaston Land, passing close to Douglas Island,
and there was no necessity for our proceeding further along the shore, even
had we been able to do so, which at present was impossible; the high
rocks presenting an insurmountable barrier on the one hand, and the ice
by its roughness equally impassable on the other. We pitched our tents
on the top of the cliffs, in the ascent of which the before-mentioned snowbank served as a ladder, and waited for the first favorable change in the ice.
" A few days afterward, Albert (the Eskimo interpreter) and one of the
men, when some distance inland looking for deer, overtook five Eskimos,
traveling to the interior with loads of salmon, which they had speared in
a rivulet that falls into Pasley Cove. From these the interpreter learnt
that the sea ice had commenced breaking up only one day before our arrival, and that they had been in company with the natives of Wollaston
Land during the winter, none of whom had ever seen Europeans, large
ships, or boats.
"During our long and tedious detention here, several gales of wind occurred, principally from the northward, but the space of open water -was




SEA COVERED WITI ICE.                      313
so small that they produced little effect upon the ice.  Our situation was
most tantalizing to all the party: occasionally at turn of tide a pool of
water, a mile or more in extent, would appear near us, and every thing
would be prepared for embarkation at a minute's notice, in expectation of
the opening increasing and permitting us to cross to Douglas Island, but
our hopes were always disappointed. A number of observations were obtained, which placed our encampment in latitude 68~ 24' 35" N., the
longitude being very nearly the same as that assigned to it by Sir JohnRichardson and Mr. Kendall. The mean variation of the compass, from
eight sets of azimuths, on different days, and at different hours, was 590
8' 08" E., the extremes being 570 42' and 61~ 25'.
" The ice continued driving to and fro with the tides, without separating
sufficiently to allow of the practicability of passing among it until the 19th
August, when there was more open water to seaward than we had yet
observed, caused by a moderate southerly breeze that had been blowing
for the last two days. After waiting some hours for a favorable opportunity of forcing our way through a close-packed stream of ice that was
grinding along the rocks as it drove to the northward, we at last pushed
off, and after more than once narrowly escaping being squeezed, we reached
comparatively open water, where we had room to use our oars. We had
pulled more than seven miles and were still three miles from the island
(Douglas), when we came to a stream of ice, so close packed and so rough
that we could neither pass over nor through it; a thick fog had come on,
and the ebb tide was carrying us fast to the southeast.  Under these circumstances I thought it advisable to return toward the main shore, on
which we landed early on the morning of the 20th, a short distance to the
south of the place from whence we had started. A northwest breeze came
on some hours after landing, and cleared away the ice a few yards' distance
from the beach, of which we took advantage to shift our quarters, which
being under some crumbling cliffs, were neither safe nor convenient. We
poled along shore for three miles or more toward Point Lockyer (the only
direction in which we could go), and then took shelter in a small bay, into
which we had scarcely entered when the wind changed to east-northeast,
and in a very short time left not a spot of open water visible, either near
shore or at a distance.
" The wind continued to blow from east and northeast for the two following days, during which, when the tide was in, we advanced a few miles
to the south, principally by launching the boat over the ice. On the evening of the 22d I ascended a hill near the shore, from which a fine view
was obtained. As far as I could see with the telescope in the direction of
Wollaston Land, nothing but the white ice forced up into heaps was visible, while to the east and southeast there was a large space of open water,
between which and the shore a stream of ice, some miles in breadth, was
driving with great rapidity toward Cape Hearne and its vicinity.
" As the fine weather had now evidently broken up, and as there was
every appearance of an early winter, I thought it would be a useless waste
of time to wait any longer in hopes of being able to cross to Wollaston
Land; I therefore gave orders for our return toward the Coppermine, at
which I did not expect to arrive in less than a week, as the ice wore as
unfavorable an aspect as it did last year.
"At an early hour on the 23d the men commenced carrying the baggage
0




311                     FArAL ACCIDENT.
to Point Lockyer, still more than a league distant, and afterward hauled
the boat to the same place; doing this gave all the party ten hours' hard
work; but our fatigues were soon forgotten on finding some open water on
the south side of the point, in which we were speedily afloat and sailing
before the fast-decreasing breeze. It fell calm in half an hour; but we
plied our oars to such good purpose, that we pitched our tents late at night
on Cape Hearne. Here I had expected to find the ice close packed on the
shore, and quite impassable, but I was agreeably surprised to.discover as
we advanced, that there was a lane of open water between the beach and
the pack, wide enough for us to pass through. The only way that I can
account for this is, by supposing that the gale of wind that had been blowing from northeast and east-northeast had shifted to the north and northwest as it approached the land, and carried the ice along with it.
" By working seventeen hours next day we came to the mouth of the
river, and on the following morning ascended to the Bloody Fall. Here fish
were still very numerous, and while some of the party were cooking, others
set a couple of nets to obtain a supply for some days. I may here mention
that when on the coast, we obtained as many salmon and herring as wc
could consume, wherever there was a piece of open water large enough foi
setting a net to be found.
" Dease and Simpson, after hauling their boats over the rocks opposite
the lower and strongest part of the fall, had them towed up the remainder
by water; and as our boat was now much weakened by the rough usage
it had unavoidably been exposed to, for the purpose of saving time, and
the tear and wear that would be caused by having it dragged over the
portage, I was desirous of doing the same. I was the more led to do this,
as the men were of opinion that it might be effected with safety. All
that appeared in any way difficult was easily done, and there was only
one short place to be ascended, which was so smooth that a loaded boat
might have passed it; here, however, from some unaccountable cause, the
steersman was seized with a sudden panic, and called to those towing the
boat to slack the line. This was no sooner done sufficiently to allow him
to get firm footing, than he leaped on shore, followed by the bowman, and
allowed the boat to sheer out into the current, where the line broke, and
the boat soon oversetting, was carried into one of the eddies some distance
down stream; to which Albert and I ran, and stationed ourselves at two
points of rock near which the wreck would pass. It drove to where Albert
was, and he hooked it by the keel with an oar until I came to his aid,
when I fixed a pole in a broken plank and called my companion to assist
me in holding on; he either did not hear me correctly, or thinking that he
would be of more use on the bottom of the boat, sprung to it, and before I
had time to call him off, or even think of his danger, they were carried by
a turn of the current into a small bay, where I believed both were safe;
not so, however, for the next minute they were swept out again, and the
last I saw of our excellent interpreter was his making a leap toward the
the rocks; he missed them and disappeared, nor did he rise again to the
surface.
" This melancholy accident grieved me much, as the brave lad was universally liked for his activity, lively and amiable disposition, and extreme
good-nature. On James Hope, the steersman, rests all the blame of the
loss of the boat; his carelessness in using a small towing-line when there




CLOSE OF MR. RAE'S EXPEDITION.                315
was a much stronger one in the boat, and his cowardice when there was
no danger, can admit of no excuse.
" On taking up our nets (which we laid carefully on the rocks for the
Eskimos), they were found full of herring-salmon, inll fine condition. We
commenced our journey, across land, toward Great Bear Lake, on the 26th,
each of the men carrying about 90 lbs., and my own bundle being nearly
50 lbs. Three days' easy march brought us to that part of the Coppermine (lat. 67~ 12' N.), from which it was my intention to make a straiglht
course to Fort Confidence. Here we expected to meet with some Indians,
but we did not fall in with them until the following evening, when our
loads were much lightened, and we arrived here early this afternoon (being
our seventh day from the Bloody Fall), accompanied by upward of thirty
of the natives, who had joined us at different parts of the route.
" The two men who had passed the summer at Fort Confidence were
well; and having all the stores ready packed, I shall leave this to-morrow,
after supplying the Indians with ammunition, to enable them to hunt their
way to the trading-posts.     I have, &c.,
(Signed)    "JOHN RAE.
"Fort Simpson, September 26, 1849.
"P.S.-I arrived here this afternoon, and intend sending off the expedition men to Big Island, Slave Lake, on the 28th, with an ample supply
if nets and twine, so as to enable them to procure sufficient fish for their
winter provisions, without being any additional expense to Government.
(Signed)      cc J. RAE."
Mr. Rae's failure in crossing to Wollaston Land is to be attributed solely to the strait being filled with impracticable ice. I
know from his private letters that the mortification he experienced
in the result is much more severe than he has thought proper to
express in his official dispatch. The presence of ice in Dolphin
and Union Straits and in Coronation Gulf for two or more successive seasons, where the experience of former years had led us
to expect a comparatively open sea, is suggestive of the manner
-in which a party may be shut up in these regions, and leads to
many melancholy reflections.
Every reader of my narrative of the proceedings of the expedition, will be aware of how much I was indebted to Mr. Rae's
activity and intelligence throughout its progress; and this seems
to be the appropriate place fbr me to express formally my sense
of obligation to him for his sound advice and co-operation on every
emergency. His society cheered the long hours of an Arctic winter's absence from my wife and family, and it was in a great
measure owing to his skill and assiduity in observing, that our experiments on magnetism, during our stay at Fort Confidence, were
carried on so as to be productive of scientific results.




3!6              LETTERS TO AND FROM MR. RAE.
In consequence of intelligence obtained from newspapers on my
journey home, I addressed the following letter to Mr. Rae:
" Lake Winipeg, August 19, 1849.
"MY DEAR RAE,
"As I learn from the newspapers which I have just read, and shall forward for your perusal, that Sir James C. Ross did not reach Barrow's Strait
till after the 28th of August, and that it is probable that he' may have
been arrested short of his intended wintering quarters at Melville Island or
Banks's Land, and could not, consequently, send off his proposed spring
party to the Coppermine River this season, I consider it likely that he may
determine on sending that party next spring; and if so, by the present
arrangements they will, on their arrival at Great Bear Lake, find Fort
Confidence deserted.
" I therefore think it important that you should engage either the chief
of some band, or two expert hunters, to pass the months of June and July,
1850, on the portage between Bear Lake and the Coppermine River, promising them a handsome reward if they render any assistance to the expected white party, and paying them such moderate sums, in addition to a full
supply of ammunition, as may content them for spending the summer on
such excellent hunting-grounds.
" You will have no difficulty in engaging either Martin Lake or Bear
Lake Indians for this service; and there is abundance of time, after the
arrival of the March packet, by which you will receive this letter, for them
to reach Fort Confidence long before the snow begins to melt. I will thank
you to furnish them with five or six memoranda in waterproof cases, with
directions to plant them in conspicuous places at the mouth of the Kendall,
Flett's Station, Fort Confidence, and elsewhere.
" These precautions may prove to be unnecessary, as Ross's party will
most likely, early in their march, discover some of your landmarks, and
learn, by the notes you have left, your intention of quitting Fort Confidence this season, and thereupon turn back to the ship. But, at a small
expense, if the Indians carry their instructions out fully, they will save the
party, should it come on, from having to make the long journey round Bear
Lake without assistance.
"I remain, &c.,
(Signed)    "JOHN RICHARDSON.
" P.S. -Mr. M'Pherson recommends Tecon-ne-betah for this service."
Extract of a Letterfrom Mr. Rae to Sir John Richardson.
" Portage La Loche (Methy P.), July 30, 1850.
" When the winter packet arrived and I received your instructions respecting the establishment of an Indian party on the Coppermine, the Martin Lake Chief Tecon-ne-betah was at Fort Simpson, and I had no difficulty in engaging him to pass the summer at certain stations on the route
between the Kendall and Bear Lake. He received three notes which were
to be delivered to any Europeans he might meet, in which the strangers
were requested to put themselves wholly in the hands of the Indians, who
would guide them by the best road, and feed them by the way. In the
event of his not seeing any parties, other notes, with a rough chart of the




JOURNEY HOME.                   317
best route, were supplied, well wrapped in oil cloths, which were to be
placed on a pole in conspicuous stations.
(Signed)    " J. RAE."
Having by the preceding quotations brought the narrative of
the search made by the expedition to a close, I now revert to the
period at which Mr. Bell and I left Fort Confidence. A party
of men preceded us by a week, taking with them the baggage,
which they were directed to carry on to Fort Norman, along with
some pemican and stores, left at Fort Franklin. This was intended as a precautionary measure to avoid the delay that might
be caused by Bear Lake River being late in breaking up.
On the 7th of May we took leave of Mr. Rae, and left the
fort.  Bruce, Mitchell, Brodie, M'Leod, and Mastegon accompanied us in our journey over the ice, which was completed on the
12th, having occupied five days and a half. On the northern
shores of the lake, the snow had lost little of its depth, and we
had to clear it away to the thickness of five feet in making our
encampment on Cape M'Donald; but on the southern shores we
found some exposed sandy spots of ground bare, and pools of water
forming at mid-day. Mastegon shot the first goose of the season
on the 10th, a straggler that was tempted to cross our pathway
by a pool of water, produced under the influence of a powerful
sun (p. 302). Cloudy weather followed, and five or six days
elapsed before the geese began to arrive in earnest.
The men who preceded us were at the fishing hut, near the
site of Fort Franklin, when we arrived there. They had transported three sledge loads of pemican about seventeen miles down
Bear Lake River to the usual winter crossing-place, but, finding
the stream open, they had put them in en cache on the right
bank, and returned to wait further orders. According to their
report the rivulets were swollen with melting snow, and traveling by land with dog-sledges was at an end for this season.
On the 14th, being Sunday, we assembled to read prayers;
and, early on the following morning, Bruce set out for Fort Norman, taking with him Dore, Cousins, Thomas Hope, Mastegon,
Plante, and M'Leod. They traveled light, carrying with them
merely their blankets and provisions. By the arrangement I had
made with Mr. M'Pherson they were to find at Fort Normaa
a small barge, which Bruce was directed to bring up to us as
quickly as he could. The only difficulty we anticipated was at




318                   FORT FRANKLIN.
the rapid in Bear Lake River, where lofty walls of ice remain
to a late date, covering the tracking-ground. Hope and M'Leod,
being part of Mr. Rae's boat's crew, were to return overland immediately with some articles from the store at Fort Norman.
They did come back nine days afterward, and passed onward to
Fort Confidence; and we learnt in the sequel that the Mackeazie did not break up at Fort Simpson till the 23d of May, being
fifteen days later than Mr. M'Pherson had, known it to do during
twenty years' residence on its banks.
We remained waiting nearly a month for the barge, having
with us Mitchell and Brodie, with the two Fort Franklin fishermen, Hector Morrison and Narcisse Tremble.  Our diet consisted of trout, white-fish, Bear-lake herring and geese, the latter
being Mr. Bell's contribution to the common stock. Of Fort
Franklin the only vestige remaining was the foundation of a
chimney stack; and the fishing hut not being large enough to
hold us all, we bivouacked under the shelter of a boat's sail, as
a substitute for a tent. When the water had run off the surface
of the ice on the lake, so that we could transport our effects across
it without wetting them, we moved to the banks of Bear Lake
River; being glad to quit the vicinity of the hut, which, like all
fishing quarters, became extremely disagreeable as soon as the
accumulated impurities of the winter were revealed to view by
the wasting of the snow. The marshy places or dry sandy banks
first became bare, but many wreaths of drifted snow continued
unmelted till the end of the month.  We stayed at the encampment on Bear Lake River till the 8th of June, much surprised
that the boat did not arrive, and forming various conjectures to
account for the delay. On that day, Bruce and Mastegon came
to us on foot, bringing information of the lower part of the river
being still covered with ice, and that they had left the barge a
few miles within its mouth. They had been four days on the
march, one of which was occupied in examining the ice, which
they stated formed a bridge at the rapid many feet in thickness.
On receiving this intelligence, I resolved on descending to the
mouth of the river on foot, and after going in the barge to Fort
Norman, where I could join Mr. M'Pherson, to send her back
for the stores. These were accordingly placed in a secure cache,
and left under the charge of Narcisse, to whom we transferred
our surplus stock of fish and geese, being sufficient to maintain




BEAR LAKE RIVER.                  319
him eight or ten days without touching the pemican, of which
there was a large reserve. The snow drifts formed excellent ice
cellars for preserving fresh provisions, the only precaution necessary being to protect them from the dogs by branches of trees.
On the 9th, Mr. Bell, Bruce, and Mastegon, embarked with
me in the fishing coble, and Morrison, Mitchell, and Brodie, were
directed to walk along the bank of the river, each of them carrying his own bedding and clothing. I cautioned them against
going inland, and promised that we would wait from time to
time at particular points for their coming up. Half an hour
after setting out, finding the river smoother than we expected,
and Bruce being of opinion that we could embark all the party,
we put ashore, and in a short time Morrison and Mitchell joined
us, but David Brodie, having struck into the woods with the
view of making a straighter course, did not arrive in the hour
that we remained waiting for him. Supposing then that he had
gone past, we resumed our voyage, taking into the coble Morrison and Mitchell.
The rate of our descent of the stream rather exceeded four
miles an hour, and at half-past six A.M. we reached the cache
situated fourteen miles from the lake. Brodie not arriving in the
course of' the day, I became convinced that he had lost himself
in the woods, and therefore sent Morrison and Mitchell back to
the lake to acquaint Narcisse with what had happened, and to
endeavor to engage an Indian who was residing at the fishery to
go in quest of Brodie.  In the mean time we fired our fowlingpieces at intervals, and set fire to some trees that the smoke
might be seen from a distance.
Mastegon, who knew that part of the country, informed me,
that ten or twelve miles back from the river, there was an extensive swamp, from which there flowed one stream that fell into
the Mackenzie, and another, named the Black River, which joined Bear Lake River about four miles below the cache.  The latter stream was so rapid, he said, that Brodie would be unable to
cross it on a raft, and it was not fordable; he would therefore,
by following it, be certainly led to Bear Lake River.
Next day our two men came back from the lake, having themselves gone astray for some hours in the attempt to make a short
cut across a neck of land. After placing written directions for
Brodie in the cache, we all embarked again, and in a short time




320                 DAVID BRODIE LOST.
came to the influx of the Black River, which was evidently flooded.  Here I left another paper of instructions for Brodie, directing him to the cache for provisions, and to remain with Narcisse
until the barge came for them. The incident of Brodie's straying gave me much uneasiness, as I feared he would experience
some suffering, though I did not apprehend that he would lose
his life. He was a man of much personal activity and considerable intelligence, and though his judgment would be probably at
fault when he first became conscious that he was lost, I knew
that as soon as he was in a condition coolly to consider his position, he would be enabled to shape a course for the river by the
sun, and following its bank to return to the lake. And so it
eventually happened.  When he discovered that he was walking
in a wrong direction, he began to mend his pace and to run as is
usual in such cases, but took an inland course, and at length
came to the borders of the swamp above mentioned. Here the
woods being more open he obtained a distant view of the " Hill
at the Rapid," which he recognized from having seen it on his
former journey to the cache, and as he knew that we must pass
it in descending the river, he resolved on walking straight for it
in the hope of arriving there before us. After this he came to
the Black River, and being a fearless swimmer, swam across it,
carrying his clothes on his head. The stream, being very tortuous, came again in his way, when he crossed it a second and a
third time in the same manner, but on the last occasion, his bundle slipping off floated away, and he regained the bank with difficulty in a state of perfect nudity. After a moment's reflection,
he came to the conclusion that without clothes he must perish,
and that he might as well be drowned in trying to recover them
as to attempt proceeding naked. On which he plunged in again,
and fortunately landed this time safely with his habiliments.
He now refreshed himself with part of a small piece of dried
meat, which, in his anxiety he had hitherto left untouched, and
forthwith decided on finding the cache, and returning from thence
to the lake.  On the third day (11th of June), he found my note
together with some provisions which we had suspended to a pole
for his use, but he had so husbanded his own small supply that
he had still a morsel of dried meat remaining. He had no difficulty afterward in joining Narcisse, by keeping sight of the river
the whole way.




FORT SIAMPSON.                  321
This adventure is recorded as an example of what happened to
all the seamen and sappers and miners of the expedition, each in
their turn. Four of them were lost in the winter of 1848-49, for
three days, having mistaken their way to the boat encampment
in Cedar Lake. The straggling of the others was of less account,
but none of them could be taught that they were liable to suchaccidents, until they learned it by experience. One man who
strayed in the winter on Cedar Lake, when found, was contentedly steering for the moon, which, being near the horizon and
gleaming red through the forest, was mistaken by him for the fire
of the men's bivouac. The snow which covered the ground at
the time fortunately enabled the Indian who went in pursuit of
him, to trace his steps before he had gone many miles.
About twelve miles below the mouth of Blackwater River, we
came to the commencement of the rapid, and hauling the coble on
the beach there, proceeded on foot to the "Hill," immediately below " the Rapid," where we encamped. While on our march we
perceived that the bridge of ice was giving way, and the river directly fell some feet. Early next morning Bruce went back with
the men for the coble, and brought it down by the time that Mr.
Bell and I had prepared breakfast for the party. After concluding that meal, we crossed the river in her obliquely, among high
walls of ice; and a mile or two below came to the barge which
the crew had brought up so far two days previously. A short
time sufficed to launch her, embark the tents kindly provided for
us by Mr. M'Pherson, and descend to the mouth of Bear Lake
River, where we passed the night. Next day we went on to
Fort Norman, where I purposed to wait for Mr. M'Pherson, who
had gone to Fort Good Hope, to bring up the year's returns of
furs from that post, and from the Peel and Porcupine Rivers.
On his arrival on the 14th, I sent back the small barge, to
bring down Narcisse, Brodie, and the stores, and embarking with
Messrs. Bell and M'Pherson, proceeded to Fort Simpson. The
rest of the journey homeward, being by the same route as the outward voyage, need not be mentioned in detail.
On the 25th we left Fort Simpson, having previously been
joined by the men who wintered at Great Slave Lake, and also
by the small barge, bringing Brodie and Narcisse Tremble, from
Bear Lake. We were detained by drift ice at the west end of
Great Slave Lake till the 6th of July, and did not reach Fort
o0*




322          METrHY PORTAGE.-NORWAY HOUSE.
Resolution till the 11th. On the 19th we arrived at Fort Chepewyan, and on the 26th at Methy Portage, which we crossed on
the 27th with all our baggage, on horses hired from the Indians.
From L'Esperance, who was encamped with his brigade on
Methy Lake, I had the pleasure of receiving English letters,
brought up from Canada by the governor's light canoe, which
leaves La Chine in May.  Mr. Bell at the same time received
instructions to return to Mackenzie's River, to conduct the Company's affairs there. This was unpleasant tidings to him, since,
having spent the greater part of his life in that northern region,
he had been soliciting a change, but the mortification was softened by the society of his two daughters who had been sent from
Isle a la Crosse to meet him. In taking leave of this gentleman,
I must express my obligations to him for his assiduous endeavors
to forward the interests of the expedition, and my high sense of
his excellent management of the Indians at Fort Confidence, to
which we owed a winter of abundance, and the excellent condition in which the store was left in spring. I had enjoyed much
pleasure in his society, and parted from him with regret.
The remainder of the voyage down was performed in company
with Mr. M'Pherson, who was going down to Canada on furlough
with his family. At Norway House, where we arrived on the
13th of August, the men of my party who had been engaged
there in 1847 were discharged, and the Europeans were sent
down to York Factory to go to England in the Company's ship.
During the time these men were under my command not a single act of disobedience occurred. Crews better fitted for heavy
portage work, and for the ordinary duties of a winter's residence
in the north, might doubtless have been selected in the country,
but none that I could have depended upon with so much confidence in adverse circumstances. Dore and Cousins, the two
younger seamen, who were extremely serviceable from their activity, intelligence, and willingness to perform any duty that was
required, have gone again on the same errand to Beering's Straits.
From Norway House I proceeded to Canada in a brigade of
three light canoes, manned by voyagers who were returning
thither at the close of their engagements in the country. On the
14th of September we came to Fort William, and on the 25th to
Saut Ste. Marie. From thence we went in a steam-vessel to the
lower end of Lake Huron, and taking a stage coach there for




LAIND AT LIVEIRPOOL.               323
Orillia, crossed Lake Simcoe in a steamboat.  Then we traveled
by coach through Young Street to Toronto, a distance of about
forty miles, and there embarked in one of the steam-packets that
ply daily between that port and Montreal.
After a few days passed at La Chine with Sir George Simpson in revising the outstanding accounts between the Company
and the Expedition, I went to Boston, and embarking in the
British mail steam-packet, crossed the Atlantic, and landed at
Liverpool on the 6th of November, 1849, after an absence of
nineteen months, twelve of them passed in incessant traveling.
Without delay I presented myself at the Admiralty, and, having laid before their Lordships a narrative of my proceedings, had
the honor soon afterward to receive a letter announcing their approbation of my' conduct.
Here the journal of the transactions of the expedition ends, but
a summary of the present condition of the search may not be unacceptable to the many who take an interest in the fate of our
absent countrymen.
Sir James C. Ross, with the " Enterprise" and " Investigator,"
reached the three Islands of Baffin in lat. 740 N., on the 26th
of July, 1848, but was not able to cross the " middle ice" till the
20th of August, on which (lay he attained open water in lat.
75~0 N., and long. 68~ WA. He then steered for Pond's Bay,
and examined the coast carefully from thence to Possession Bay,
in which he landed on the 26th.  There he found a memorandum
left by Sir Edward Parry in 1819, but no trace of Sir John
Franklin. On the 1st of September, the ships arrived off Cape
York, where a conspicuous land-mark was erected.  Sir James
next examined Maxwell Bay, and some smaller indentations of
the north coast of Barrow's Strait, but was prevented by a firm
barrier of ice from approaching Cape Riley at the entrance of
Wellington Channel. Neither could he get near Cape Rennell,
because of compact, heavy ice extending from Wellington Channel to Leopold Island. Not being able to penetrate to the west,
the ships were run into Port Leopold on the 11th, and on the
following morning the main pack of ice closed in with the land
and shut them in for the season. On the 12th of October the
ships were hove into their winter quarters.  During the winter
many white foxes were taken in traps; and copper collars, on
which were inscribcd notices of the situation of the vessels, and




324           PRESENT STATE OF TIE SEARCH.
of the depots of provision, having been secured round their necks,
they were set at liberty again.
In May, 1849, Sir James Ross and Lieutenant M'Clintock
thoroughly explored on foot the west coast of North Somerset
down to lat. 72~ 38', N., and long. 953o W., where a very narrow isthmus separates Brentford Bay of the Western Sea, from
Cresswell Bay of Prince Regent's Inlet. They returned to the
ship on the 23d of June.
In the mean time, Lieutenant Robinson examined the western
side of Regent's Inlet down to Fury Beach, and several miles
beyond it.  Lieutenant Brown had crossed the inlet to Port
Bowen, and Lieutenant Barnard had traversed Barrow's Strait
to the vicinity of Cape Hurd, but was unable to reach Cape
Riley on account of the hummocky state of the' ice. By these
excursions, taken in conjunction with Mr. Rae's expedition in the
spring of 1847, the whole of Prince Regent's Inlet and the Gulf
of Boothia was examined, with the exception of one hundred and
sixty miles between Fury Beach and Lord Mayor's Bay; and
as there were no indications of the ships having touched on any
part of the coast so narrowly traced, it is certain that they had
not attempted to find a passage in that direction.  Sir James
caused a house to be built at Port Leopold, and covered with
housing cloths, in which he left provisions and fuel for twelve
months, together with the Investigator's launch and steam-engine.
He then proceeded to cut a way out for the ships through the ice,
which was not effected until the 28th of August, 1849. On leaving the harbor he crossed over toward Wellington Channel, where
he found the land-ice still fast and preventing his approach.
WThile contending with the loose packs, and struggling to advance
to the westward, a strong gale of wind on the 1st of September
suddenly closed the ice around the ships, wherein they remained
helplessly beset until the 25th, by which time they had drifted
out of Lancaster Strait, and were off Pond's Bay. As the season
was now far advanced, further search that year was thus frustrated by an accident, often experienced in the navigation of the
Arctic Seas; and all harbors in that vicinity being closed for the
winter, Sir James reluctantly gave the signal to bear up for
England.
WThile Sir James C. Ross was still engaged in the ice on the
west side of Baffin's Bay, Mr. James Saunders, Master and Com



NORTH STAR.-HERALD.                 325
mander of the " North Star," having been sent out with supplies
in the spring of 1849, was working up on the east side, with imminent danger to his ship. Owing to the unusual quantity of ice
in the bay that summer, and the frosts which glued the floes into
one impenetrable mass, he was unable to cross over to Lancaster
Sound, and his ship becoming involved in the ice about the same
date that the " Enterprise" and " Investigator" were caught in
the pack, drifted with it the whole of September, until on the
last day of that month she was providentially driven into Wolstenholme Sound, where there being a pool of open water she was
at length extricated, There the ship wintered in lat. 760 33' N.,
long. 680 566' W., being the most northerly position in which
any vessel has been known to have been laid up. February was
the coldest month, and the thermometer on two occasions marked
63-~, and once 64-~, of Fahrenheit below zero.
On the 1st of August, 1850, the " North Star" was hauled
out of the cove in which she had remained ten months, and on
the 8th she had crossed over to Possession Bay, which was examined. Mr. Saunders next proceeded to Whaler Point, Port
Bowen, Jackson's Inlet, and Port Neill; but being prevented
from landing his provisions at any of these places by the heavy
land-floes of old ice, he bore up for Pond's Bay, and succeeded in
depositing his cargo on Wollaston Island.
Meanwhile the search was proceeding from the quarter of
Beering's Straits.  Captain Kellett in the " Herald," on July
25th, 1849, after examining Wainwright's Inlet, dispatched Lieutenant Pullen to the Mackenzie; and afterward, in standing along
the margin of the ice, discovered a group of high islands on the
Asiatic coast in lat. 71~ 20' N.; long. 175~ 16' W., with extensive and very high land to the north of them deeply seated in the
ice.* Commander Moore, also, in the " Plover," made several
attempts to penetrate to the eastward at this time, and not succeeding, returned first to Kotzebue Sound, and subsequently to
Norton Sound, where he wintered.
Lieutenant (now Commander) Pullen, accompanied by Mr.
Hooper, mate, and twelve men performed the coasting voyage to
the Mackenzie in two 27-foot whale-boats. He was convoyed past
* Captain Smyth suggests that this land may be that reached by Sergeant Andreyer in 1762, which he reported to be inhabited by a people
named Kraihai.




326              OTHER SEARCHING VESSELS.
Point Barrow by the " Herald's" pinnace named the" Owen,"
and the Royal Thames Yacht-Club schooner, the " Nancy Dawson." The latter was owned and commanded by Mr. Shedden,
a mate of the Royal Navy, who had come thus far with his small
craft, solely at his own expense, to prosecute his search for the
discovery ships, and who, though he was in the last stage of consumption, was not prevented by the languor of the disease, which
carried him off two months afterward, from giving most efficient
aid to Lieutenant Pullen.
On Sir James C. Ross's return to England in 1849, the Admiralty resolved that a still more vigorous search should be organzed, and accordingly the " Enterprise" and " Investigator" were
again fitted out and dispatched to Beering's Straits, the former
under the command of Captain Collinson, C. B., and the latter
of Commander McClure. These ships having separated in the
Pacific, the " Investigator," which was the dullest sailer, through
a fortunate choice of route, reached the Straits first, succeeded in
passing Point Barrow, and was last seen on the 4th of August,
1850. The " Enterprise," having been unable to penetrate the
barrier of ice, went to Hong Kong to refit in the winter, and is to
make another attempt this summer of 1851.
The preparations for the search on the side of Lancaster Sound
were on a large scale. The " Resolute" was commissioned by
Captain Horatio T. Austin, and the " Assistance," Captain Eras-:mus Ommaney, was put under his orders, together with the
" Pioneer" and " Intrepid," steam tenders to the two vessels.
Captain William Penny, an experienced whale-fisher, was also
engaged for the search, and placed in command of the " Lady
Franklin" and " Sophia."  In addition to these expeditions fitted
out by the Admiralty, otlhers furnished from private sources
showed the interest that was widely and deeply felt in the
cause. Captain Sir John Ross, notwithstanding his advanced
years, sailed in the "Felix" schooner; and by the munificence
of Mr. Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant, the United States
sent forth the " Advance" and " Rescue" on the same humane
quest, under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, U.S.N.,
and Mr. S. P. Griffin.  Lady Franklin likewise, with that untiring energy and conjugal devotion which has marked her conduct throughout, dispatched the " Prince Albert" under the orders
of Commander Forsyth of the Royal Navy.




FRAGMENTS DISCOVERED.                327
This squadron was assembled in Lancaster Sound in the month
of August, 1850, at which time the " North Star" was also there,
fobrming in all a fleet of ten vessels. On the return of the lastnamed ship and of the " Prince Albert," we received intelligence
from Barrow's Straits as late as the 25th of August, 1850. By
that time both sides of Lancaster Sound had been thoroughly
searched as far as Cape Riley on the north side, and Port Leopold
on the south, also Prince Regent's Inlet down to Port Neill and
Fury Beach. On the above-mentioned date, Mr. Snow, of the
"Prince Albert," went ashore at Point Riley to examine a flag-post
which had been erected by Captain Ommaney; and found a note
from that officer, stating that he had landed with the officers of
the " Assistance" and " Intrepid" on the cape on the 23d, had
found foulnnd traces of an encampment and collected the remains
of materials, which evidently proved that some party belonging
to her Majesty's ships had been detained there.  Traces of the
same party were found on Beechey Island.  The note concludes
by the announcement that Captain Ommaney proceeds to Capes
Hotham and Walker, in search of further traces of Sir John
Franklin's Expedition. No mention is made of the nature of the
materials collected; but the tenor of Captain Omnmaney's note
indicates that he had no doubt of Captain Franklin having been off
Cape Riley. Lieutenant De Haven, of the " Advance," landed
on the cape on the morning of the 25th, and erected a second
signal post, but seems to have carried nothing away.  Mr. Snow
gathered and brought off five pieces of beef, mutton, and pork
bones, together with a bit of rope, a small rag of canvas, and a
chip of wood cut by an ax. From a careful examination of the
beef bones, I came to the conclusion that they had belonged to
pieces of salt-beef ordinarily supplied to the Navy, and that probably they and the other bones had been exposed to the atmosphere
and to friction in rivulets of melted snow for four or five summers. The rope was proved by the ropemaker who examined it
to have been made at Chathami, of Hungarian hemp, subsequent
to 1841. The fragment of canvas which seemed to have been
part of a boat's swab, had the Queen's broad arrow painted on
it; and the chip of wood was of ash, a tree which does not grow
on the banks of any river that falls into the Arctic Sea. It had,
however, been long exposed to the weather, and was likely to
have been cut from a piece of drift-timber found lying on the




328       TRACES OF THE " EREBUS" AND "TERROR."
spot, as the mark of the ax was recent compared to the surface
of the wood, which might have been exposed to the weather for
a century.* Mr. Snow counted five rings of stones with two or
three slabs in the centre of each circle, which he took for fireplaces, but on which there were no traces of smoke nor any remains of burnt wood. As tent-pegs could not be driven into the
shingly beach, the stones had been evidently used in the erection
of as many tents as there were circles, and the slabs in the centre
were likely to have served as stands for magnetic instruments.
Colonel Sabine remarked that four tents would be needed in using
the instruments supplied to Sir John Franklin's expedition, and
a fifth for the protection of the observers. If the ships were stopped in that locality about the time of the monthly term-day, the
officers would almost certainly make the term observations, which
last for twenty-four hours, and in that case each ship would select
a separate place of observation. The term-day in August, 1845,
was the 29th; and we may conclude, from the information which
we at present possess, that on that day, or about a month after
they were last seen, the discovery ships were off Cape Riley. It
is ascertained that the bones and rope were not left by any party
from other ships of the Royal Navy that have visited Barrow's
Straits; and had the " Erebus" and " Terror" wintered there, a
cairn, with memoranda, and many other evidences of that fact,
would undoubtedly have been found. The ships must have been
temporarily arrested by a barrier of ice; and Sir John Franklin,
having good anchorage between Beechey Island and Cape Riley,
turned the delay to the best account by making the term observations. With the prospect of soon passing the Straits, he
evidently had not thought it necessary to erect a cairn, or signalpost, at the threshold, as it were, of the enterprise.
These first traces of the Expedition are exceedingly interesting,
and they lead directly to the inference that it pursued its course
to Cape Walker. Had Sir John, finding the Strait barred, gone
up Wellington Inlet, he would undoubtedly have left a memorandum at Cape Riley, assigning reasons for departing from his
instructions.
On the 25th of August, 1850, the " Assistance" and "Intrepid"
* The grounds of these conclusions were fully stated in a report made
to the Admiralty by Sir W. Edward Parry, myself, and other officers, which
has been published with other parliamentary returns.




EXPECTED RETURN OF SIR JOHN ROSS.              329
were well over toward Cornwallis Island, and a little to the north
of Cape Hotham. Captain Penny with his consort was standing
up the west side of Wellington Channel, Sir John Ross was
making for Cape Hotham, the " Rescue" was near the head of
Wellington Sound on the east side, land being visible from Cape
Riley, crossing the Sound just beyond her, and the " Advance"
was lying under Beechey Island, having grounded on a shoal;
but Lieutenant De Haven, expecting to get his vessel off without
difficulty, declined the assistance from the " Albert" which was
offered.  Captain Austin, with the " Resolute" and " Pioneer,"
was at that time examining the south side of Barrow's Straits.
He had visited Possession Bay on the 18th, and then intended to
look into Pond's Bay. He has not been seen since, and it is
probable that he passed the " North Star" and " Albert" without being descried, in the thick weather that prevailed when they
were coming out of Lancaster Sound.
Such was the state of the search in August, 1850. As Sir
John Ross intended to return in 1851, after landing his stores on
Melville Island,* we may expect that he at least will bring
further intelligence in October or November next.
* Sir John Ross took with him four carrier pigeons belonging to a lady
residing in Ayrshire, intending to liberate two of them when the state of
the ice rendered it necessary for him to lay his vessel up for the winter,
and the other two when he discovered Sir John Franklin. A pigeon made
its appearance at the dovecot in Ayrshire, on the 13th of October, which
the lady recognized by marks and circumstances that left no doubt on her
mind of its being one of the younger pair presented by her to Sir John. It
carried no billet; but there were indications, in the loss of feathers on the
breast, of one having been torn from under its wing. Though it is known
that the speed of pigeons is equal to one hundred miles an hour, the distance from Melville Island to Ayrshire being in a direct line about 2400
miles is so great, that evidence of the bird having been sent off about the
10th of October must be had, before that we can well believe that no mistake was made in the identification of the individual that came to the dovecot. Sir John's letters from Lancaster Sound mention that when he wrote
he had the pigeons on board.




POSTSCRIPT.
SINCE the preceding sheets were printed, we have received information of the result of the last year's search for the lost Expedition. The first traces of the missing ships, discovered on the
south side of Beechey Island and on Cape Riley, as mentioned in
p. 327, were followed up by the discovery of seven hundred empty
meat-tins, and other remains, which furnish undoubted proof of
Franklin's ships having wintered, in 1845-6, on the inside of the
above-named Island. The tombs of three men, with head-boards
bearing their names and the dates of their deaths, were erected on
the east'side of the Island, not far from the site of the armorer's
forge, an observatory or storehouse, and other inclosures opposite
to the anchorage. One of these men belonged to the " Terror,"
and two to the ",Erebus," which is sufficient evidence of the
presence of both ships; and the latest death supplies us with the
date of 3d April, 1846. The mortality does not exceed that of
previous expeditions; and we may therefore conclude, that the
Expedition was in highly effective order when it left that anchorage, with only a moderate inroad into its stock of preserved meats,
the seven hundred empty tins found on the island forming but a
small proportion of the 24,000 canisters with which the ships were
supplied.
Captain Penny and his officers, who examined Beechey Island
and the neighborhood very carefully and minutely, believe that the
Expedition did not quit its winter anchorage till the end of August
or beginning of September, 1846, founding their opinion mainly on
the lateness at which the ice breaks up; that much of the summer
was passed there, they consider as proved by the deep sledge ruts
in the shingle, which must have been made after the snow had
partially disappeared, and by small patches of garden ground bordered with purple saxifrage, and planted in compartments with
the native plants.
It is also the opinion of several officers of the searching party
that Franklin's ships left their wintering station suddenly. The
reasons assigned for this belief are, that several articles which
might have been useful were left behind, and that at a look-out or
fowling station, on Cape Spencer, a long day's journey from the'.nchorage, the lines for securing the covering of a circular inclos



VOsOi'TlScUPT.                    331
ure, formed by a low wall of stones, had been cut, instead of having
been deliberately untied, when the covering was removed, leaving
the ends of line attached to the stones. The absence also of any
memorandum of past efforts or future intentions, either at the stone
cairn erected on the south side of Beechey Island, at the pile of
canisters, or in the neighborhood of the kitchen, forge, and other
marked localities opposite the anchorage, is thought by some to be
an indication of the sudden departure of the Expedition. The value
of the articles left behind is too trifling to support such an inference,* and the absence of the diligently searched-for memorandum
does not seem to be sufficiently accounted for by such a supposition.
The time required for calling in the parties from Cape Spencer,
Caswall's Tower in Radstock Bay, and other points where they
have been traced, and for embarking the instruments and utensils
from the observatories and kitchen, might have sufficed for the
planting of a copper cylinder or bottle, with a memorandum.That the ships drifted out unexpectedly in a floe of ice is not considered by the nautical men who have examined the anchorage to
be possible. The north point of Beechey Island being connected
to North Devon by a shingle beach, covered by only two or three
feet of water, no pressure of ice can operate on the harbor from
that direction so as to drive out vessels by the southeastern and
only navigable entrance, and it is almost certain that Franklin's ships
must have made their exit by the tedious and laborious operation of
sawing out.
The absence of a memorandum at the wintering station is remarkable, and, in my opinion, wholly unexplained by any suggestion
that has hitherto been given by the many writers who have made
* These were an armorer's wooden stand, used when laid on its side for
the support of an anvil, and when standing on its end for the insertion of
a vice; several coal bags, two of them containing coal dust mixed with a
small proportion of small cinders and ashes, some pieces of rope, and scraps
of old canvas, and a small piece of oaken fire-wood, besides many fragments of worn clothing utterly worthless. An iron stove that had been
made on board ship was also found at a fowling station near the east
corner of the island, but, it is stated to have been not worth carrying on
board. The birds' bones remaining in the vicinity of the stone inclosure
on Cape Spencer show that the sportsmen encamped there had been tolerably successful; and much small shot was found scattered among the
stones with which the inclosure was paved. In the interstices of the
stone wall there were many pieces of newspapers, also two bits of paper
of much interest to the friends of two of the missing officers-one being
inscribed with the name of Mr. M'Donald the surgeon; the other containing part of a memorandum in the handwriting of Captain Fitzjames, giving directions as to the times of recording certain meteorological observations.




332                      POSTSCRIPT.
their opinions known, through the medium of the periodical press.
From Sir John Franklin's well-known anxiety to act up to the tenor of his instructions, combined with the expressed desire of the
Admiralty, that he should embrace every opportunity of forwarding
accounts of the progress of the Expedition to England, I should
have thought that he would certainly have left a record of his doings at a winter station, which he knew to be within reach of the
whalers, before he commenced his voyage of the second season, in
the hope of penetrating either to the southwest or northward, where
he knew there would be little or no chance of finding a channel of
communication, unless he succeeded in overcoming all obstacles,
and pushing his way through that archipelago, which has hitherto
proved a barrier to successive expeditions. And should he, as
soine suppose, but contrary as I think to all likelihood, have cut his
way out of Beechey Harbor merely to turn his face to England,
still I think he would have left some authentic record on the spot,
mentioning his labors, and the cause of his return.
As there are no natives on the north side of Lancaster Strait to
disturb any memorial or flag-post that may be erected, Sir John
Franklin would probably not think it necessary to bury the copper
cylinder or bottle containing his memorandum, but would rather
suspend it in the most conspicuous way he could devise. Now, I
have learnt, by experience, that the wolverene* will ascend trees
to cut down a package hung to a branch; and that bears have similar habits was fully ascertained by Captain Austin's sledge parties.
A dep6t formed by Lieutenant MClintock on Griffith Island was
entirely eaten by bears, the tin cases proving to be but a poor defense against the tusks of these omnivorous animals, who expressed
their approval of preserved potatoes by the way in which they
cleared out the canisters. That they would relish the pemican,
which was part of their spoil, might have been predicted. They
did not respect even the sign-post, but overthrew it, and bit off the
end of the metal cylinder containing the record.
The want of this memorial leaves us totally in the dark as to
Franklin's intended course, which would in all probability have
been decided upon before he left the harbor; for, from his position,
he had the means of ascertaining the state of the ice both in Barrow's Strait and in Wellington Channel. If the former was open,
his course would be to Cape Walker and the southwest, agreeable to
his instructions; but if Barrow's Strait was closed, as he had found
it to be the preceding year, and Wellington Channel open, then he
would gladly follow the latter, which one at least of his intelligent
officers considered to be the most promising route of all, and which
* The M olverene inhabits the islands north of Lancaster Strait, and its
recent footmarks were often seen by Lieutenant M'Clintock.




POSTSCRIPt.                      333
the spirit of his instructions permitted him to take, if shut out fiom
the west or southwest.
The well-planned and thoroughly organized traveling parties of
the searching squadron, though they traced with extraordinary
perseverance extensive portions of insular coast, failed in detecting
any further decisive vestiges of Franklin's course. Captain Austin's two ships, with their tenders, wintered at the southwest end
of Cornwallis Island, under the shelter of Griffith Island. From
thence Lieutenant MClintock, who made the longest journey of all
the pedestrian parties, setting out in spring, rounded the west end
of Melville Island in longitude 1143 W., and, passing over the extreme discoveries of Sir W. Edward Parry, saw distant land extending beyond the 116th meridian. The intermediate passages and
bays were explored by Lieutenant Aldrich, Mr. Bradford, and Mr.
MDougall.  On the south side of Barrow's Strait. Cape Walker,
and the adjoining coasts, were traced by Captain Ommaney and
Lieutenants Osborne, Meecham, and Browne; Lieutenant Osborne
having carried his researches nearly to the 72d parallel on the 104th
meridian. This was the most southerly point attained.- It lies
within 180 miles of the south shore of Victoria Land, and is perhaps
part of the same island. Throughout the whole of the great extent of coast-line closely examined by these officers, on both sides
of the strait, no traces whatever of Sir John Franklin's ships were
discovered, though Lieutenant MClintock found the wheels of a
cart used by Sir W. E. Parry in 1820, and other traces of that officer's traveling parties. The signal-posts planted by the latter were
thrown down by wind or animals.
Captains Penny and Stewart in the Lady Franklin and Sophia,
wintered in Assistance Harbor, in company with Rear-Admiral Sir
John Ross, of the Felix. The spring journeys of the two former,
and of their officers, were directed to the examination of Wellington Sound. Captain Stewart and Dr. Sutherland explored the
west and north sides of this inlet, their most northern points being
in latitude 760 24' N. Messrs. Goodsir and Marshall traced its
south and west sides to the 99th meridian; and both parties, fiom
their most westerly stations, saw a navigable sea extending northward and westward, to the utmlost limits of their vision. Wellington Strait, closed to the eastward and northward, opens into this
westerly passage by three channels, separated from one another by
Baillie Hamilton's and Deans Dundas Islands. Baring's Island lies
more to the westward, opposite the middle channel. Its shores,
and those of the two other principal islands, were examined by
Captain Penny, who crossed over to the point of Sir Robert Inglis
Bay on the northern shore, which has been named Albert Land;
and from whence he had the melancholy prospect of boundless




334                       POSTSCRIPT.
open water, which he had not the means of navigating. A boat
was transported over the ice toward it with much labor; but, the
provisions of the crew'unning short, it was abandoned.  Mr. Goodsir found a spar of American spruce, untrimmed, with its bark worn
off, and broken at both ends, twelve feet long, and as thick as a
man's ankle, on the shore facing the open water; also many smaller pieces of the same kind of drift-wood, while none was'picked up
by Captain Stewart in Wellington Sound. From this fact these
officers inferred, that the drift-wood had come from the westward.
The currents or tides among the islands at the western outlet of
Wellington Strait, were at times, according to Captain Penny's
judgment, not less than four knots; and the general opinion of his
officers was that the principal set of the stream  came from  the
westward, and the prevailing winds from the northwest.
Animal life was abundant in the open water, and on its coasts.
Walruses were seen repeatedly in the several channels, north and
south of Baillie Hamilton's Island; and polar bears were numerous
and bold, so as to be dangerous to parties not well armed.  Several of the bears were killed, and one of them contained an entire
seal in its stomach, the practice of these voracious animals being
to swallow their prey without mastication when it is not too large
to pass their gullets.' The walrus can not exist except when it
has access to open water; nor is the polar bear usually found at a
distance fiom it, except in its passage from one sheet of water to another.  The travelers also saw polar hares, wolves, foxes, herds of
reindeer, vast flocks of king and eider ducks, brent geese, and
many gulls and other water-fowl of less utility to man. Musk oxen
were seen only on Melville Island, where Lieutenant MClintock
killed four, and might have procured more had he wished to do so.
On the 5th of September, 1850, a floe of ice at least two years
old, and upward thirty miles in width, filled the lower part of Wellington Strait, and remained fast, though diminished in breath, when
last visited on the 24th of July, ]851.  Captain Penny is of opinion
that open water existed beyond it all the winter.
With respect to traces of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, beyond
Cape Spencer none whatever were observed by Captain Penny's
traveling parties, except a small piece of drift-wood, which had been
recently charred, and had been exposed to little or no friction subsequent to the operation of fire.* This was found by Mr. Goodsir in Disappointment Bay, in latitude 750 36' N., longitude 960 W.; and I con* A piece of elm board that had been originally coated on one side
with mineral pitch or tar, and after long exposure to the weather split by
an ax, was too much weathered even on the most recent surface to come
within the date of Sir John Franklin's Expedition.  It was found on Baillie Hamilton's Islan(l. and must have drifted a very long way.




POSTSCRIPT.                       33b
sider it to be certainly a relic of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, as
these coasts are not now visited by natives, and this piece of charred
wood could not have been water-borne from any great distance. It
must have traveled however, some short way subsequent to its having
been exposed to the action of fire; for if it had been the remains of
a fire kindled on the spot, other fragments of charcoal would have
been found lying beside it. Franklin would, undoubtedly, durinrg
the spring passed in Beechey Bay, send out a party up Wellington
Sound as he never never would let the opportunity escape of examining, as far as he was able to do, a route that might influence
his future movements; and as the course to the westward within
the reach of pedestrian parties was known, the resources of the two
ships would be turned to the undiscovered way, commencing in
their vicinity.  That such exploring party went beyond the limits
of Captain Penny's researches, I infer firom neither post nor cairn
marking the limit of its journey having been seen. If the same expanse of open water was visible, in 1846, from Baillie HIamilton's
Island, which Captain Penny saw in 1851, we may readily conceive
the efforts that would be made to carry the Erebus and Terror into
it by any practicable extent of ice sawing, particularly if Barrow's
Strait remained closed. The age of a floe of ice filling a strait does
not indicate with certainty the length of time that the strait has been
blocked up, for drift ice, loaded with the remains of several years'
snow, may be carried into a narrow passage, so as to shut it up, and
as suddenly removed again on a favorable concurrence of winds
and tides. One navigator, therefore, may be able to sail, as Sir VT.
E. Parry did, nearly quite through that northern archipelago in one
season, while his successors may find impassable barriers thrown
across the path which he pursued, and new avenues opened. It
would be unsafe, therefore, to argue that Wellington Strait is always
closed, because it was choked by a floe of some age in 1850 and 1851.
By the efforts of the searching parties, which have just returned, combined with those of preceding years, all the accessible parts
of the continental coast of America have been explored, and both
sides of Barrow's Strait, to the further side of Melville Island, and
the land beyond Cape Walker. Land has also been traced, though
only by distant view, round the bottom of Jones's Sound. This has
narrowed the lines of search to two distinct points-that is, to the
southwest of Cape Walker, which, from its being the direction in
which Sir John was instructed to go, seemed to be especially the
one in which he was to be sought; and the newly-found channel
opening out to the westward from Wellington Strait. It is greatly
to be desired that this one may be pursued by new efforts.
Mr. Rae, in April last, was on the eve of setting out from Great
Bear Lake, in the hope of crossing on the ice to Victoria Land,




336                       POSTSCRIPT.
and of continuing his search in a boat as soon as the navigation
opened. Though he may not actually attain Lieutenant Osborn's
furthest, he may, under favorable circumstances, approach so near
to the scene of that officer's search, or of Lieutenant MClintock's,
as to prove, should he find no traces of the ships, that the intervening space is too confined for the seclusion of living men. Captain
MClure, who passed to the eastward of Point Barrow last season,
if he found the sea as open as the more sanguine believe it to be,
may have reached the west side of Parry's Archipelago, and have
spent the winter not far fi'om the supposed outlet of Victoria Channel; and this season Captain Collinson may be sailing eastward in
the same direction. It is from Beering's Straits, then, that we are
next to look for tidings of great interest to the civilized world, which
sympathizes so universally with the efforts made to trace and relieve so many gallant victims to science.*
20th October, 1851.
* With reference to Sir John Ross's pigeons, mentioned in a note on
page 329, it appears that he dispatched the youngest pair on the 6th or 7th
of October, 1850, in a basket suspended to a balloon, during a W.N.W.
gale. By the contrivance of a slow-match the birds were to be liberated
at the end of twenty-four hours.




APPENDIX.
No. I.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL VIEW.-Rocky Mountains.-Their Length.-Their Height.-Glaciers.
-Parallelism to the Pacific Coast.-Continental Slopes.-Russian America.Eastern  Slope.-Prairies.-Mississippi Valley.-Its Slope.-Fundamental
Rocks of the Basin.-Silurian Strata.-Carboniferous Series.-Tertiary Beds.Lignite Formations.-Series of Lake Basins.-Transverse Valleys.-Intermediate Belt of Primitive, Hypogenous, or Metamorphic Rocks.-Its Rivers mere
Chains ot Lakes.-Its Breadth.-Altitude.-Sources of three great River Systems.-Great Fish River.-The Yukon or Kwichpack.-Basins of Excavation.Glacial Action.-Active Volcanoes.
VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.-Altitudes of the Lakes above the Sea.-Lake
Superior.-Lake Michigan.-Lake Huron.-Lake Erie.-Lake Ontario.-Lake
Champlain.-Northern Brim of the St. Lawrence Basin.-Its Geological Structure.-North Shore of Lake Superior.-Structure of the Country at the Sources
of the Mississippi.
WINIPEG OR SASKATCHEWAN VALLEY.-Height of Lake Winipeg.-Sea River.
— Katchewan River.-Thousand Lakes.-Portages.-River Winipeg.-Red
River.-Saskatchewan River.
MISSINIPI VALLEY.-Its Lakes.-Frog Portage.
MACKENZIE RIVER VALLEY.-Methy Portage.-Athabasca, Elk, or Red-deer
River.-Lesser Slave Lake.-Peace River.-Slave River.-River of the Mountains.-Noh'hanne Bute.-Great Bear Lake.
YUKON VALLEY,-Yukon or Kwichpack.-Volcanic Chain of Alaska.-Coal.Fossil Bones.
IN drawing up the following Appendix, my object has been to
record facts in the light in which they appeared to me. When
treating of districts which I did not visit, I have borrowed from
every work concerning them to which I had access.  The most impoertant sources of information are generally named or expressly
alluded to; but I thought that it would give too much formality to
so slight a sketch were I to parade every authority for the statements it contains. Where practiced geologists have examined the
cuntry, their report has been chosen in preference to my own observations; and this is the case on the route of the expedition up
to the 49th parallel. Beyond Lake Winipeg no geologist has yet
P




338                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
penetrated, and the descriptions of the rocks occurring within
the space of twenty degrees of latitude that lie to the north of that
sheet of water are, with all their imperfections, entirely my own.
It would be true economy in the Imperial Government, or in the
Hudson's Bay Company, who are the virtual sovereigns of the vast
territory which spreads northward front Lake Superior, to ascertain without delay the mineral treasures it contains. I -have little
doubt of many of the accessible districts abounding in metallic wealth
of far greater value than all the returns which the fur trade can
ever yield.
The Rocky Mountain chain, which is the northern prolongation
of the Andes, has a general course of north 26~ W. for 2700 geographical miles, from the 30th parallel of latitude up to the shores
of the Arctic Sea. Its higher peaks rise from 12,000 to 15,000 feet
above the ocean, and enter the region of perpetual snow; but the
northern part of the chain, which touches on the Mackenzie, is so
Inuch lower, that even its summits* are denuded during the short
summer of that district, and perennial patches of snow exist there
only in shady crevices which have a northern aspect. I have not
been able to discover, after many inquiries, that glaciers which flow
through mountain gorges into the lower country are formed in any
part of North America, though travelers who have crossed to California, Oregon, and New Caledonia, speak of hills clothed with
perpetual snow; and the Copper River, which joins the sea opposite to the peninsula of Alaska, is said by Baer, on the authority of
Klimowskij, to issue from a solid mass of ice. Several passes which
traverse the chain do not rise more than 6000 feet above the sea
level, and being free from snow in summer may be crossed in that
season by pack-horses and even by wagons. The more northern
of these passes have long been known to the fur-traders; the
southern ones have lately been explored and used by the multitudes
who have hurried from the United States to California in search
of gold.
Up to the 60th degree of latitude the chain runs nearly parallel
to the coast of the Pacific, and not far distant from it; the descent
to the level of the sea is consequently rapid on the west-a configuration which M. Guyott has noted as peculiar to the New
World, while in the Old Continent the short slopes are turned to
the south, and the long ones toward the north. A large triangular
corner, which belongs to the Empire of Russia, and extends westward to Beering's Straits, has a different physical character, in the
existence of a transverse series of active volcanoes, as we shall
* Supposed to be at least 3000 feet high, in the 62d parallel.
t Phys. Geogr., p. 50.




ROCKY MOUNTAINS.                      339
hereafter have occasion to notice; at present my remarks will be
confined to the continent lying eastward of the mountains.
The width of the chain is stated at fiom forty to one hundred
miles, and the central parts and peaks are said to consist of granite
and other igneous rocks.
The eastern slope toward the Atlantic commences by a belt,
formed mostly of sandstone, 150 miles in width, which rests.or/
the shoulder of the chain, with an inclination of about 37 feet in
the mile, in its descent from 8000 feet above the sea, to 2500. The
more gradual slope of the great prairies, beginning at the last-named
elevation, has a breadth of 700 or 800 miles, and retains in its
descent the prairie character of a treeless, sandy, and moderately
undulated, or, as it is locally named, ", rolling" plain.
Most of the streams which cross the prairie flow through deep
furrows, sunk abruptly below the general level; nevertheless the
Mississippi, Missouri, and some of their larger tributaries have
wider valleys, skirted by successive terraces and alluvial deposits.
On the banks of all the rivers there are belts of woodland, and
clumps of trees that encroach on the prairie, intercepting grassy
lawns, and producing remarkably fine park scenery, which is often
enlivened by small lakes. In the interior of the prairie, however,
water is scarce, and there is such a total want of wood, that for
days together the traveler can find no other fuel than the dung of
the bison. Near the mountains the soil is coarsely sandy, strewn
with boulders, and sterile; further eastward the sand is finer, and
the boulders disappear, but they recur in numbers on the lower
border of the prairie: they are also scarce or wholly absent over
very extensive tracts of the rich alluvial deposits of the valley of
the Mississippi, south of the Ohio.
The Mississippi drains the entire space between the Rocky
Mountains and the Alleghanies or Apalachian chain, embracing
thirty degrees of longitude. The whole of this vast water-shed
may be considered as one valley, whose bottom, indicated by the
channel of the river, has a southerly course, inclining slightly to
the eastward. The length of the river, fiom its source in Itasca
Lake, at an altitude of 1490 feet above the sea, to Balize, on the
Gulf of Mexico, has been estimated by Schoolcraft at 3160 statute
miles, following its windings, and may be stated in round numbers
at 2400 geographical miles in a straight line. The moderate hills
and eminences of the country in which the river has its origin do
not rise above the plane of the general eastern slope of the continent in the same parallel; and the general longitudinal descent of the
great valley from Lake Itasca is at the rate of 10 inches in the mile
for the upper half of the river, and for the other half of the way, or
from St. Louis downward, of only two inches and a half per mile.




340                   PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
As St. Louis is 500 feet above the sea, and about 600 geographical miles distant transversely from the western summit of the
prairie slope (which has been taken at 2500 feet above the sea),
the lateral descent of the valley to the channel of the river in that
parallel is 40 inches in the mile; but the sinuosities of the Missouri,
a mightier stream than the one in which it loses its name, and of
the other grand affluents of the Mississippi that drain the prairies,
give a gentler inclination to their beds.  The Illinois, Ohio, and
the minor streams which come in from the other side of the valley, flow at a lower level than the western feeders; their upper
branches being subordinate to the general slope, which has there
descended considerably.*
From the Apalachian chain to the Rocky Mountains the fundamental rocks would appear to be silurian]  overlaid in large tracts
* The following facts, ascertained at the Navy Yard of Memphis, in
Tennessee, by R. A. Marr, Esq., are interesting points in the history of
the Mississippi. The quantity of water passing through the channel of
the river at that place in 1849 was sufficient to cover an area of 100,000
square miles to the depth of seven feet and a half, and the quantity of silt
it carried down would make a bed of earth one mile square and seventysix feet deep.  The current in the central area of the river generally exceeded three miles an hour, and was less toward the sides.-Proceed.
Amer. A/ssoc., p. 340.
t As the silurian rocks are most extensively developed in North America,
and are of constant recurrence throughout the route of the Expedition, I
shall introduce here, for reference, a tabular enumeration in the order of
their superposition, as ascertained by the United States geologists, beginning with the lowest.
A. CHAMPLAIN DIVISION; supposed to underlie three-fourths of the territory
of the United States, and to occupy the surface of one half.
1. Potsdam sandstone; a quartzose rock, generally gray, often striped,
sometimes partially or wholly red: is supposed to be the lowest sedimentary fossiliferous rock.  The Taconic rocks of Dr. Emmons, consisting of lamellar white limestone, with specular iron ore, are supposed to be the earliest deposits of this period, modified by metamorphic agency. Footmarks of reptiles have been found by Mr. Hunt
in this sandstone.
2. Calciferous sandrock; a deposit of calcareous and earthy matter variously mixed.
3. Black river or Chazy and Birds-eye limestone; a brittle limestone,
having a smooth, flat-conchoidal fracture. This limestone, characterized by its peculiar fossils, is of frequent recurrence northward, up to
the islands of the Arctic Sea.
4. Trenton limestone; a dark-colored limestone, interlaminated with
dark shaly matter. Often metalliferous.
5. Utica slate; dark-colored carbonaceous slates, which readily dis.
integrate.
6. Hudson River group, Loraine shales, Frankfort slate, and Rubble



SILURIAN STRATA.                         341
by the old red sandstone and the carboniferous series. The sandstone, which rises on the flanks of the Rocky Mountains to the
height of 8000 feet above the sea, is referred by some geologists
stone; mostly dark dlates and shales, and gray thick-bedded grit
stones.
B. ONTARIO DIVISION, includes a series of limestones, shales, and sandstones, which pass insensibly into each other.
7. Gray sandstone of Oswego.
8. Medina sandstone; red or slightly variegated, and of every degree of
coherence. Originates many brine springs.
9. Oneida conglomerate; a variable intermnixture of sand and quartz
pebbles.
10. Clinton Group; consisting of deposits of various characters, such as
thin shaly sandstones, shales, conglomerates, thin-bedded impure
limestones, with iron ores.
11. Niagara group; consisting of dark-bluish shale and dark limestone,
and taking its name from the cataract, where a section of both its
members is exposed.
C. HELDERBERG DIVISION.
12. Onondaga salt group, is an immense development of argillaceous
shales and marls with shaly limestones, veins and beds of gypsum,
giving origin to copious and very rich salt springs. This formation
re-appears near Slave River, on the 60th parallel of latitude, and also,
I believe, on the shores of the Arctic Sea.
13. Water-lime group, consists generally of two layers of drab-colored
water-limestone, with an intervening layer of blue lime-rock.
14. Pentamerus limestone; named from its characteristic fossil, and rarely
-a pure limestone, being more or less mixed with black shale.
15. Delthyris or Catskill shaly limestone; composed of beds of subcrystalline gray limestone, slaty limestone, and slaty argillaceosiliceous limestone.
16. Oriskany sandstone; a whitish sandstone, composed of sand derived
from granitic rocks or mica schist.
17. Caudagalli grit; named from the feathery forms in which it abounds.
It is a drab-colored or brownish calcareous and argillaceous sandstone.
18. Schoharie grit; a fine-grained calcareous sandstone, from which the
calcareous matter may be washed away by long exposure, leaving the
siliceous skeleton of the rock.
19. Onondaga limestone; recognizable by its crystalline structure, toughness, and numerous organic remains.
20. Corniferous limestone; a fine-grained compact limestone, which is
very durable, and produces cascades where the smaller streams
traverse it. It is the uppermost of the important limestone beds of
the New York or silurian system, being succeeded by shales in which
the limestone fossils give place to others of a different character.
D. ERIE DIVISION, referred by most English geologists to the Devonian
or to the carboniferous series.
21. Marcellus shales; black, slaty, bituminous shales, containing septaria,
with occasional thin bands of limestone. Similar in lithological characters to Genesee slate.




342                   PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
of the United States to the triassic system; but its exact geological
position is not yet satisfactorily determined. Cretaceous beds,
known by their organic remains (but not containing white chalk
with flints), occur extensively along the Missouri, and spread widely
on both sides of the Mississippi, below the influx of the Ohio.
They exist also near the Rocky Mountains, high above the sea, in
the vicinity of the sources of the Arkansas, Platte,\ and Gila;*
22. Hamilton group; an immense deposit of dull-olive calcareous shales,
which change to light ash-gray in weathering. It contains septaria.
23. Tully limestone; usually thick-bedded, blue, or nearly black, limestone, often divided by seams into irregular fragments.
24. Genesee slate; is a great mass of argillaceous, black, fissile slate,
which rapidly exfoliates and falls down. Fluid bitumen is of common occurrence. Either this deposit or No. 21 exists on the north
side of Methy Portage, on the Elk or Athabasca River.
25. Portage group; a vast deposit of shale, flag-stones, and thick-bedded
sandstone, rising with a slope or abruptly from the shales on which it
reposes.
26. Chemung or Ithaca group; a highly fossiliferous series of shales and
thin-bedded sandstones.
To the last succeed the OLD RED SANDSTONE and tile COAL MEASURES.
The lower part of the Champlain division has been considered as the
equivalent of the Cambrian system, the Utica slate being parallel to the
Landeilo flags; the Hudson River group and Ontario division, up to the
Niagara group, is thought to be equivalent to the Caradoc sandstone; the
Niagara group and the whole iHelderberg division is supposed to be ccequal with the Wenlock rocks; and the Erie division as equivalent to the
Upper and Lower Ludlow rocks, including the Devonian system of Phillips.
-ide Hall, Geol. Report of New York, p. 518.
* " The cretaceous formations terminate in the Atlantic regions of
New York, before they have reached the city of New York, so that their
limit scarcely touches the 40th degree of latitude, or 160 lower than in
Europe. In Kentucky and Tennessee it remains below 370, but it is very
different far up the Missouri; this great river flows uninterruptedly from
the foot of the Rocky Mountains for 1400 miles through strata of chalk, at
least as far as the Sioux River.  This. is the result of the researches of the
Prince of Neuwied, and of the reports of the celebrated astronomer, Nicollet.
In these western parts of America the chalk rises to 50~ of latitude.
There, also,, it shows a continuous extension, greater than that of any
other formation on the globe. Captain Fremont saw chalk strata and
fields covered with Inoceramnus crispii, on the River Platte; Lieutenant
Abert found them on the Arkansas, and Dr. Wizlizenus also beyond the
Rio del Norte, near Monterey and Laredo. The Rocky Mountains, and
their continuation beyond Santa F6, have entirely cut off this cretaceous
sea. No trace of chalk was discovered either by Captain Frernont on the
Columbia River or on the Humboldt, in that wonderfully great basin which
dips to the Pacific; or yet by the observant Captains Cooke and Johnstone
along the River Gila, in Sonora, or California."  " The whole of this vastly
extended chalk formation consists only of the upper beds. After very




TERTIARY BEDS.                      343
while toward the mnouth of the Mississippi there are very extensive
recent tertiary and alluvial deposits, which, skirting the Gulf of
Mexico, run into Texas on the one side, and along the Florida
coast on the other.
Tertiary coal, containing dicotyledonous leaves, exists in the
Raton Pass, between the sources of the Red River and the Arkansas, at an elevation of 4600 feet. Coal of the same description,
associated with similar leaves, occurs on the Mackenzie in latitude
65~ N.; and at various intermediate parts on the flanks of the
Rocky Mountains beds of lignite are known to exist, which are
probably also of the tertiary era.@
In the whole width of the Mississippi basin, from the falls of St.
Anthony downward, no primitive (or hypogenous) rocks appear,
except in the low ridges of the Ozark Mountains, which have a
hilly prominence, owing to the excavation of the valley; but their
summits scarcely rise above the plane of the general slope, supposing that it were extended with an even descent to the Atlantic.
They range fiom Red River to St. Louis, parallel to the Alleghanies, and consequently make an angle with the Rocky Mountain
chain. Coal measures crop out on their flanks.
Of the forty degrees of latitude which intervene between the
Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Sea, the valley of the Mississippi
occupies, as we have seen, about one half; and the whole drainage
of that portion west of the Alleghanies is accumulated in one great
channel, which is directed southward and a little eastward. From
the head of Lake Superior northward, there is a series of great
transverse excavations, occurring in succession, on to Great Bear
Lake, which lies under the Arctic circle; and it is remarkable that
nearly all the lake basins f of these valleys commence in the silurian
strata, and are continued into or entirely across a belt of primitive,
or hypogenous, and metamorphic rocks,T which extends from Lake
careful and -accurate investigation, Sir Charles Lyell decided, that in the
whole of North America, chalk strata, from the Maestricht beds down to
the gault, alone occurred; and Mr. Ferdinand RImer, as the result of his
highly valuable and accurate researches in Texas, goes the length of considering all the strata in that region, already so far removed from the
Atlantic coast, as entirely of the upper division, and not even touching on
the gault. This peculiarity is, however, singularly enough, limited to
North America alone. Even in Mexico deeper chalk bkeds occur; and
Darwin saw cretaceous shells in abundance 2000 feet above the sea, near
Port Famine, in 53~ south latitude."-Silliman's Journal, Sept. 1850.
* Vide Journ. p. 194.
t This grand series of lakes forms the line of canoe navigation from
Canada northward; and the fact of its position in the fracture bet ween limestone and granite, was perceived and recorded by Sir Alexander Mackenzie.: My imperfect acquaintance with the science of geology renders me in



344                  PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Superior to the shores and islands of the Arctic Sea. The western
limit or strike of this formation, which I have traced for more than
1400 geographical miles, has a general course of north 30~ W., its
rhumb line, consequently, inclines slightly toward the axis of the
Rocky Mountains, and the intercepted space grows narrower toward the north.
On the other hand, the Apalachian chain, running parallel to the
Atlantic coast for a thousand miles up to its termination in the
Shickshock and Notre Dame Mountains of the promontory of
Gaspe, and having a direction of north 46~ E., diverges from the
Rocky Mountain axis at an angle of 72~. These are the three
chief pyrogenous systems of North America, the Ozark Hills being
of lesser account, and coinciding, as has been said above, in direction with the Alleghanies.
The middle belt of primitive rocks may, both fiom its position
and diagonal direction, be distinguished as the intermediate primitive or hypogenous formation.  Its altitude nowhere entitles it to
the appellation of a mountain chain. Its hypogenous rocks, which
are chiefly granite and gneiss associated with trap, scarcely rise
above the mean eastern slope, and do not present acute peaks or
continuous elevated ridges. They exhibit generally rounded or
dome-shaped summits, or form oblong eminences, which are separated fiom one another by narrow inclined valleys. Most of these
valleys, and the larger ones without exception, are occupied by
lakes, which are often deep; and the proportion of water in the
district is very great, probably considerably exceeding that of the
dry land.
The rivers that traverse the intermediate primitive belt (and for
ten degrees of latitude all the rivers that originate high on the
prairie slope do so) form, on entering it, lake-like expansions, which
are studded with rocky islets, and send long winding arms into all
the neighboring valleys. These dilatations have little or no current, but they are connected with each other by one or more
straits, in which the stream is turbulent and rapid, and the overfall
frequently great enough to produce a cascade.  The tortuous arms
of such expansions often wind for many miles through the country;
and the Indian, by making short portages from one string of lakes
to another, may travel with his canoe in every direction, as far as
the formation extends.  Sometimes a river forks in this rocky discompetent fully to appreciate the worth of the several systems that profess
to explain the mode in which the beds forming the crust of the earth have
been formed; neither have I exclusively adopted any of the current opinions: I would therefore be understood to use the terms " primitive,"
" hypogenous," and " metamorphic," as designations of the rocks so called
by geologists, and not as exponents of theories.




PRIMITIVE ROCKS.                     345
trict, and its branches running far apart, just as they would in an
alluvial delta, unite again, intercepting a considerable tract of country of the prevailing character, that is, having a predominance of
water surface. Examples of this peculiarity occur in the River
Winipeg, which conveys the waters of the Lake of the Woods to
Lake Winipeg; also in the discharge of the latter sheet of water
by Nelson River and Play-Green Lake; as well as in some of the
expansions of the Missinipi or Churchill River. Instances also of
lakes having more than one outlet are not rare in this formation;
and now and then, though comparatively very seldom, these outlets lead to distinct river systems.
On the east side of Lake Winipeg the width of the primitive
belt is about two hundred geographical miles; and from the summit of an eminence which rises only a few hundred feet above the
general level, but yet is sufficiently conspicuous to have obtained
the distinctive appellation of ",the Hill," thirty-six lakes may be
counted. In many localities, where the knolls are denuded of soil,
the surfaces of the rocks are evenly ground down, and are sometimes smooth, polished, and striated.
By a rough measurement, the centre of this formation on the
53d parallel of latitude is found to be between 700 and 800 geographical miles from the Rocky Mountains; the Great Canadian
lake district is of equal width  and Labrador on to Newfoundland
and the eastern shores of Nova Scotia occupy a similar space in the
map. Now assuming, as we have done, and as the observations
of the topographical surveyors of the United States entitle us to
do, that the height at which the gentle eastern slope of the continent commences is 2500 feet, and supposing the descent to be
cquable, we should have an altitude above the sea in the country
from whence the sources of the Mississippi proper, the St. Lawrence, and the Red River of Lake Winipeg issue. of'1800 feet.
The actual elevation of that district is between 1400 and 1500
feet,* and the only marked hilly eminence in the district, which
is named the hauteur des terres, and is said to consist of drift-sand
and boulders, does not appear, from the descriptions we have of
it, to rise more than 300 feet beyond the general level. The summits, therefore, of this tract of land, distinguished though it be by
* Schoolcraft estimates the height of Itasca Lake, from which the Mississippi issues, at 1490 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. Major Long, who
ascended the St. Peter's, a head branch of the Mississippi, reckons the
altitude of the short portage, which separates its sources from those of
Red River, at 1400 feet; and my own barometrical observations and
estimates place the summit of the water route between Lakes Superior
and Winipeg, traversed by the Expedition, at 1460 feet above the tide
level of the St. Lawrence.
r*




346                  PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
shedding its waters into three separate river systems and as many
different seas, are also subordinate to the general eastern slope of
the continent.
Before naming more particularly the transverse basins which
cross the intermediate belt of primitive rocks, I may state that the
Mackenzie, inferior indeed to the Mississippi, but yet a river of
the first class, running in an opposite direction, drains seventeen
degrees of latitude into the Arctic Sea, taking its course through a
valley which differs in its character firom that of the Mississippi,
as the details of progress of the expedition through it have already
shown. In this place it will be sufficient to recall to mind that
from Methy Portage (Portage la Loche) to the sea, a distance of
1400 geographical miles, the fall is about 900 feet, the successive
portions of the river being designated the Washacummow, Elk or
Athabasca, Slave, and Mackenzie rivers.
Two other rivers of magnitude cross the Arctic circle, viz., Back's
Great Fish River, which, originating near Great Slave Lake at an
altitude of 150 feet above its surface, runs east-northeast into the
Arctic Sea, draining the northeastern corner of the continent; and
the Yukon, which, rising to the westward of the Rocky Mountains,
not far firom the union of the Francis and Lewis, which form the
Pelly, flows first to the north, and after receiving a large tributary
named the Porcupine, to the westward, falling into Beering's
Sea, where it is known to the Russians by the name of the Kwichpack.
A glance at the map will show, that on the eastern side of the
continent the water basins generally maintain the northeasterly
inclination of the Alleghanies, while further to the westward the
basins of the two great rivers assume a parallelism to the Rocky
Mountains; and that the influence of the intermediate hypogenous
formation has been of a different character, the rivers winding
their way across it, sometimes with a southerly, sometimes with a
northerly inclination, seemingly indicating the obstruction offered
by the harder rocks to the agent by which the river channels were
excavated. On emerging from the belt, the lower parts of the
rivers generally incline toward the northeast, with a considerable
degree of parallelism to each other before they fall into Hudson's
Bay.*
* A study of the map will show, that the lake basins north of the St.
Lawrence have generally their long axes across the river courses to which
they respectively belong, and that many assume a greater or less degree
of parallelism to the intermediate primitive belt. Perhaps movements of
elevation or depression had occasioned an extensive disruption of strata
along the western border of the hypogene rocks, previous to the removal
of the silurian beds on the excavation of the lake valleys.




SOURCES OF THREE GREAT RIVER SYSTEMS.          347
The peculiar configuration of the continent which I have endeavored to sketch must be duly considered by any one who endeavors to detect the agency by which the river valleys and lake
basins were excavated. It is not, however, my purpose to enter
upon the discussion of this question, or to speak of the partial and
often repeated elevations and depressions by which the lacustrine
and fluviatile terraces have been accounted for; nor would a summary of this kind admit of the necessary elucidations. I shall
merely say that, adopting the opinion of the United States' geologists, that they are basins of excavation, I consider them all to be
of the same epoch, and that the currents or waves of translation,
if such they were, must have had an easterly direction in the middle latitudes, and gained strength as they rolled toward the Atlantic, when they swept away wholly or partially the fossiliferous deposits that once covered the primitive rocks of Hudson's Bay,
Canada, and the eastern parts of the United States; the former
extent of the newer rocks being indicated by the patches which
remain. By a singular coincidence of a political with a natural
limit, the northern boundary of the United States, or the 49th parallel, marks the line on the great prairie slope, where the current
took a southerly direction, to excavate the wide and magnificent
valley of the Mississippi. A similar diversion of the excavating
force northwards would produce the basin of the Mackenzie, commencing on the 53d parallel, but in a district narrowed and disturbed by the approximation of the intermediate primitive rocks to
the Rocky Mountains.
Supposing the continent to have retained its present form since
the era of these excavations, it seems scarcely possible to reconcile
the existence of extensive glacial action with any modification of
climate; yet the smoothened surfaces, streaks, and furrows referred to that action, whether in the form of glaciers or of drift
ice, are of no rare occurrence, wherever durable rocks show themselves, between the St. Lawrence and the Arctic Sea.
In connection with the excavations of the North American
continent, the fact may be mentioned of the great indentations of
the coast line, including Hudson's Bay, the Gulfs of St. Lawrence
and Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea being on the east side; while
breaks of the west shore, to the south of the peninsula of Alaska,
are comparatively small, and both coasts of South America are
nearly entire.
The geologists of the New York Survey consider that the present continent of North America was constructed from the debris
of land lying more to the eastward. Mr. Hall, speaking of the
strata exposed between the Hudson and the Mississippi, states
that they contain organisms which must have lived in the bed of




318                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPt1Y.
the ocean, and that the chief source of the sedimentary deposits
lay to the east and southeast.  To the westward, the sedimentary
rocks are of a finer grain, and at the same time diminish in quantity,
while the carbonate of lime increases, indicating, in conjunction
with the contained fossils, the bottom of an ocean of greater depth
and more quiet condition. The cretaceous and tertiary deposits
of the western prairies show, according to the geologist just quoted,
that the eastern part of the continent was first elevated, and that
the older rocks in the west were subsequently overlaid by the new
deposits.  However that may be, the occurrence of the chalk
fossils and tertiary deposits in their present position and altitude
clearly indicates that the elevation of the Rocky Mountain chain
was one of the latest of the great movements that have occurred
in this continent. It is to the westward of these mountains only,
along the Pacific coast, and in the peninsula of Alaska,* and the
Aleutian chain of islands, that recent volcanic action can be traced.
The existence of coal measures, containing ferns and other plants
of a tropical.character, in Jameson's Land and Melville Island, in
the high latitudes of 710 and 750, is a curious fact, to be accounted
for by those who theorize on the ancient condition of the surface
of the earth; and the vast accumulations formed at a later epoch in
the Siberian Sea and Kotzebue's Sound, of fossil bones of mammoths, rhinoceri, and other animals, which do not exist in Arctic
regions at the present day, and the preservation to this date of
some of their undecomposed carcases, are equally interesting facts,
which need explanation.
VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.
The first in order of the great transverse excavations, and the
grandest, is the basin of the St. Lawrence, which has a length
equal to the whole course of the Mackenzie, and contains by fai
the greatest accumulation of fresh water in the world. It has no
connection with the drainage of the prairie slopes in the same
parallels, which is performed by the Missouri and its numerous
affluents on one side, and on the other by the Saskatchewan and
its tributaries, aided by the upper feeders of the Mackenzie. It
differs from the three great lacustrine basins which succeed it, in
its head lying within or to the eastward of the termination or elbow
of the ", intermediate primitive rocks." The position of this head,
or as it is well named fiom its elevation above the other members
of the basin, Superior Lake, is midway between the Gulf of Mexico
and the Arctic Sea, and its water-surface is 641 feet above the level
* Spelt thus, and also Alashka in Cook's Third Voyage. The French
and Russian authors write the word.Aliaschka.




LAKES MICIIGAN, HURON, AND ERIE.              349
of the tide.*  The other great lakes descend successively in the
following order of their heights above the sea: Lakes Huron and
Michigan, 600 feet: Erie, 565 feet; Ontario, 492 feet; and Lake
Champlain, 93 feet.
At the west end of Lake Superior, and on its northern shores,
several promontories, having an altitude of from 800 to 1000 feet
above the water, give a mountainous character to the coast wheh
seen from the surface of the lake, but which it is far from possessing when viewed in relation to the country lying behind it. It is
such as would result fiom the excavation of the basin by the removal of the softer rocks which have covered the granites, porphyries, and traps of these eminences. The silurian beds, not
having been so extensively broken up to the westward of the Fon
du lac. envelop the pyrogene nucleus so as, in conjunction with
recent arenaceous deposits and drift, to cover it on that flank almost to the summit. From this locality, which is rather a plateau
than a mountainous district, issue the feeding streams of the three
several river systems-of the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Saskatchewan —as has been mentioned in a preceding page.
If we trace the south side of the St. Lawrence basin from this
quarter, we find that already on the upper lake it assumes a different aspect, being composed chiefly of sandstone, and having less
elevation than the north bank. Lake Michigan runs far to the
southward among the silurian strata, entering as it were into the
valley of the Mississippi. So small is the elevation of the ground
between the Fox River which falls into Green Bay on the west
side of that lake, and the Wisconsin, a tributary of the Upper Mississippi, that in times of flood a barge may float readily fiom one
stream into the other.t  A very moderate elevation in like manner
separates the south end of Lake Michigan fiom the Illinois, another affluent of the Mississippi, so that a depression of 600 feet
would produce a communication between the waters of the Gulf
of the St. Lawrence and those of the Gulf of Mexico, through the
Illinois valley.T The basin of Lake Huron is excavated in the
* Some discrepancy exists between the heights assigned to this lake by
different authors. We have taken that deduced by Captain Lefroy from
barometrical measurements made in connection with the observatory at
Toronto. Dr. Houghton, the Michigan geological surveyor, estimates its
height at 641 feet; but he makes the descent from it to Lake Huron 45
feet, while Professor Henry reckons this descent at only 18 feet, which
must be under-estimated.  Mr. Logan, in 1847, sets down the height of
Lake Superior as 597 feet. having adopted for the height of Lake Michigan
578 feet, from Professor Henry. In the height of Erie and the inferior
lakes authors are generally agreed.
t Featherstonhaugh.
t A depression of thrice that amount would carry the ocean to the west



4350                PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
silurian strata, and the great promontory which divides it from Lake
Michigan is said to be a deposit of old red sandstone inclosing the
extensive coal measures of Saginaw. The lake shores are bold,
but not mountainous.
Lake Erie has lower shores, and is the shallowest of the series.
Its bed and much of its northern margin is formed of the corniferous limestone, one of the upper members of the silurian rocks.
Mr. Hall remarks that, had the eroding agency removed this bed,
and penetrated to the soft strata of the Onondaga salt-group, Erie
would probably have been the deepest of the lakes.* The southern
brim of its basin is so low, that an easy canal communication has
been opened to the Ohio, a tributary of the Mississippi; and other
water connections might be made with facility. Lake Ontario occupies a hollow in the silurian rocks inferior to those of the Erie
basin; t and the country which lies to the south of it has in general
a level character, though the Clinton and Niagara groups of rocks
rise in places in high escarpments.
For a full account of the heights of the southern border, the
whole valley of the great lakes and the St. Lawrence, and for detailed descriptions of the rock formations, the reader may consult
the several geologidal surveys published under the authority of the
legislatures of New York, Michigan, and Ohio,: the preceding brief
notices have been extracted therefrom for the purpose of showing
the general character of the country, and the lowness of the barrier which separates the valleys of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence. I may add, as a further exemplification of the passes on
the south side of the St. Lawrence, that a subsidence of 400 feet
would cause the waters of Lake Ontario to flow through the valleys of the Mohawk and Hudson into the Atlantic, and at the same
time convert Lake Champlain into a maritime strait, thereby forming islands of the State of New York, the New England States,
and of the British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Before we proceed to trace the northern bank of the valley of
the St. Lawrence, it will be convenient to notice more particularly
Lake Champlain, since it is there that we have an approximation
of the Apalachian chain to the primitive rocks which form the
ern border of the prairie islands, leaving, as insular ranges, the summits
of the Alleghanies and their continuation in Vermont, New Hampshire,
and Gaspe, with a few peaks in the hilly region of New York, which lies
between Lakes Ontario and Champlain; while the primitive masses on the
north of Lake Superior would be mere reefs, over the highest of which an
agitated sea would dash its spray.
* Hall, p. 408.
t In the Medina sandstone, gray sandstone, the Hudson River group of
shales, and, toward its eastern extremity, in the Trenton limestone.-Hall.




LAKE CHAMPLAIN.                      351
northern brim of the St. Lawrence basin, and unite with the intermnediate belt on the north shore of Lake Superior.
Dr. Emmons* estimates the length of the valley of Lake Champlain at 180 miles, and its average width at about twenty. Its bed
is most depressed between West Point, Burlington, and Port Kent,
where its soundings reach 600 feet, or 500 below the surface of
the ocean.t It is in fact a deep chasm with a very abrupt slope on
the western side, and a more gradual one on the eastern bank.
The direction of the lake is north and south; it opens into the St.
Lawrence basin on the north, and the valley of the Mohawk crosses
its axis at some distance on the south. The summit level of the
canal which connects it to the Hudson is only 147 feet above the
tide; and a depression to that amount would cause the waters of
the ocean to flow through it from New York Sound into the Gulf
of St. Lawrence.
The New York highlands, bounded by Lake Champlain, the St.
Lawrence, and Lake Ontario, are formed of primitive granite,
hypersthene, and limestone rocks, which constitute many striking
and picturesque groups of conical peaks. Amnong these Mount
Marcy rises 5467 feet above the tide; Mount M'Intyre, 5183;
Mount Seward, 5100; Mounts Martin and Santanoni, each 5000;
and Whiteface, Taylor's Mountain, and Nipple-top are a few hundred feet lower. These highlands extend into Canada, where
they form a mountain belt twenty-five or thirty miles wide, along
the sources of the Chau'diere and St. Francis.   They are separated fiom the neighboring districts of the State of New York'by
the river and lake valleys named above; and, being impassable for
an army, Lake Champlain was the only route by which the Atlantic
States could be assailed fi-om Canada East, or vice versa; hence the
* New York Geol. Survey.
t The lake lies, as has been stated in a preceding page, 93 feet above
the tidal waters of the St. Lawrence: hence the fall of the St. John or
Richelieu River, which discharges its waters just above the tidal level, may
be estimated at 10 inches in the mile; and the descent of the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario, excluding the comparatively currentless expansions of the Thousand Islands' Lake and Lake St. Francis, is nearly in the
same ratio. These facts may aid in the calculation of the inclination of
the beds of similar rivers. With the same view, I may add that the fall
of the St. Lawrence between Kingston, at the outlet of Lake Ontario, and
Montreal is 220 feet, in a distance of 160 geographical miles in a straight
line, of which a considerable part is lake-way, which gives an average of
16 inches in the mile.
t Orford and Sutton Mountains are each reckoned at more than 4000
feet high. The latter is the summit of a wide hilly tract, composed of
chloritic and micaceous schists and gneiss. —Hunt.




PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
celebrity of its defiles in the annals of colonial and revolutionary
warfare.
The valley of the lake is excavated in the lowest group of the
silurian rocks. The Potsdam sandstone, together with a greenishwhite marble, and a trap-rock, are quarried extensively at Whitehall, situated at the upper extremity of the lake, for the double
purpose of clearing sites for houses, and procuring building stones.
In various parts of the lake shores, the silurian rocks are covered
with beds of clay and sand, in which there have been detected
about twenty species of marine shells, which exist in a living state
on the coast of the Atlantic at the present time. The general
character of the scenery, and especially of the upper half of the
lake, is bold, hilly, and picturesque, often rocky, but occasionally
cliffs of clay and sand 100 feet high border on the water. The
shores are low and shelving only in the bays, which are formed by
short lateral valleys.
The State of Vermont lies along the east side of the Champlain
Valley; and the country, as it recedes fiom the lake, rises gradually into the acclivities of the Green Mountains, which are a continuation of the Alleghanies, and are prolonged into the Shick-Shock
and N6tre Dame Mountains of the promontory of Gaspe on the Gulf
of St. Lawrence.*
* Mr. Hunt, of the Canada geological survey, says that " the whole of
the Green Mountain Rocks belong to the Hudson River group, with the
possible addition of a part of the Shawagunk conglomerates. The fossiliferous rocks of the St. Francis valley are referrible to the Niagara limestones of the upper silurian beds: a similar formation exists at Gaspe, and
has been traced 150 miles southwest (in the direction of the Green Mountains); and from the similarity of Notre Dame (Gaspe) to the Green Mountains, and the fact that the Hudson River rocks flank the St. Lawrence to
the Cape Rosiere (Gaspe), we may conclude that the upper silurian rocks
will be found to be nearly continuous throughout. Resting upon this
formation, in Gaspe, is a body of arenaceous rocks, 7000 feet thick, which
apparently correspond to the Chemung and Portage group of New York,
with the old red sandstones. As this formation is found extending quite
to the Mississippi, it is probable that it will accompany the silurian rocks
through New England, surrounding the coal-fields of New Brunswick, and
of eastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. To this may be referred, in
part, the rocks of the White Mountains, which may sweep around the
western border of Massachusetts' anthracite formation, until lost under the
super-carboniferous rocks of the Connecticut River.  The limestones of
western New England seem to be no other than the metamorphic Trenton
limestones of Phillipsburg; while the chlorito-epidotic rocks and serpentines
of Sutton valley appear again in the rocks of southern Connecticut, between
these limestones and the new red sandstone. With such a key to the
structure of the metamorphic rocks of New England, and of the great
Apalachian chain of which these form a part, we may regard the difficulties




ST. LAWRENCE BASIN.                    53
The predominating rocks on this slope are an alternation of argillaceous slates, with slaty and fine grained sandstones, and shaley
grits belonging to the Hudson River group. In breaking down, the
shales produce a cold, clayey, retentive soil, much less favorable
for agricultural purposes than the I, birds'-eye" and other limestones
which crop out nearer the shores of the lake.*
With respect to the northern slope of the St. Lawrence valley,
a reference to the mnap will show that the brim of the basin, where
its feeding streams have their source, is generally about 150 geographical miles from the centre of the lake-way from Ontario upward, and considerably further off from the river channel lower
down. The bays of the great lakes, in many places, curtail the
breadth of the slope; and it is every where exceeded in breadth
by the northern slope toward Lake Winipeg, James's Bay, and
Hudson's Straits.  It will also be perceived that the valley, with
reference to its northern bank, makes an acute bend of which the
west end of Lake Erie forms the elbow; the lower or eastern arm
being parallel to the Alleghany range, while the upper one takes
more the direction of the axis of the Rocky Mountains. The angular form of the basin is in conformity with the course of the
primitive rocks from Labrador to Lake Superior, where they blend
with the " intermediate belt."t The general level of the ridge
formed by these rocks does not exceed the height of 700 feet above
the river or lake surface; but, partaking of the general eastern slope
of the continent, it attains a height of about 1400 feet above the sea
on the north side of Lake Superior.t  The course of the St. Lawthat have long environed the subject as in a great degree removed, and the
bold conjectures as to their metamorphic origin, which have been from time
to time put forth, fully vindicated."-Hunt, Proceed..im. A.ssoc. at Cambr.
1849, p. 333.
* During our voyage through Lake Champlain, I was informed by a fellow-passenger that the agriculture of Vermont was very superior, especially
near Burlington, where there are many large orchards, and sheep farming
is extensively pursued. Cleared land, he told me, sells currently at forty
dollars (~8) an acre, and fifty dollars are thought to be a high price. Two
hundred acres form a good-sized farm in the opinion of the neighborhood,
and eighteen hundred acres a very large property.  Many steamers are con.
stantly employed in summer in visiting the various bays of the lake, and
carrying the produce to Whitehall, whence it is transferred by canal to the
Hudson.
t The whole belt from the Labrador coast, along the valley of the St
Lawrence, and northward to the Arctic Sea, seems to be a segment of the
border of a great basin of which Hudson's Bay is the centre, and fragments
of its eastern brim may be found on the shores of Hudson's Straits, and in
the islands to the north.
$ The following ascertained points may be noticed: Lake Temiscam



354                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
rence through Canada East is conformable to the general strike of
the beds in which the channel is excavated.
The geological structure of the north side of the St. Lawrence
basin, as ascertained by the Canadian state survey under Mr. Logan,
has been summed up as follows by his assistant, Mr. Hunt:, A
formation of syenitic gneiss, often passing into mica-schist, and interstratified with crystalline limestone, forms a ridge of high land
extending from the coast of Labrador along the north side of the
St. Lawrence, at a short distance of from twelve to twenty miles
from the shore, until it crosses the Ottawa, near Bytown, and thence
is traced across Lake Simcoe to the shores of Lake Huron, where
its northern limit is observed near the mouth of the French River,
while it again appears at the southeastern extremity of the lake in
Matchedash Bay. Resting upon this is a series of rocks forming
the whole north coast of the lake, and numerous small islands. It
is made up of sandstones, often coarse-grained, and sometimes becoming conglomerate from the presence of red jasper pebbles.
These beds are associated with slates and one or more bands of
limestone.... The formation is much cut by greenstone dikes,
and exhibits very frequently interstratified beds of greenstone, often
of great thickness, Both these and the sedimentary rocks contain
metalliferous quartz veins, of which the copper mines of this region
are examples. Resting unconformably on the tilted edges of this
formation, and in other places directly upon the southern limit of
the syenitic gneiss, appear the silurian rocks, identical with those
which are found in New York, and covering the peninsula between
Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. Beginning with the Potsdam sandstone, we have, upon the Manatoulin Islands and the coast between
Matchedash Bay and Sarnia, a complete exposure of those formations known as the Trenton limestone, Utica slates, Loraine shales,
_Medina sandstones, and the Niagara limestones, with the rocks of
the Clinton group. All these are well characterized by their respective fossils, and are spread out quite undisturbed at a very gentle dip of about thirty-five feet in a mile.
", Passing to the east, we find that the syenitic rocks have divided
where they cross the Ottawa, and, taking a southward course, are
spread over a considerable extent of country between the Ottawa
and the St. Lawrence. Crossing this river below Kingston, they
ing, which is high up on the Ottawa, and near the line dividing the watershed of that river from the Abitibbe and Moose River, which falls into Hudson's Bay, was ascertained by Mr. Logan to be 612 feet above the tide.
The dividing portage between the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing is 696 feet
above the sea, the lake itself being, according to Mr. Murray, 647 feet high.
Lake Simcoe was ascertained, by the same observer, to have an altitude
of 704 feet above the tide.-Logan's Geol. Rep. for 1848.




NORTH SHORE OF LAKE HURON.                  355
constitute the greater part of the Thousand Isles,* and are extensively developed in the northern counties of New York."
Mr. Logan gives a more particular account of the north shore of
Lake Huron, of which I have made the following abstract: ", The
north shore of Lake Huron, on which twenty-two mining locations
have been claimed of Government, presents an undulating country
rising into hills which sometimes attain the height of from 400 to
700 feet above the lake. These occasionally exhibit rugged escarpments and naked rocky surfaces; but, in general, their summits
are rather rounded, and their flanks, with the valleys separating
one range from  another, are most frequently well clothed with
hard and soft wood, often of large growth, and of such species as
are valuable in commerce, in many places giving promise of a
good arable soil.  Many of the slopes are gentle, and many of the
valleys wide. The Thlessalon, of the reported length of 200 miles,
and the Spanish River, of 120 miles, flow through this country,
with three other rivers of from 50 to 60 miles' length each." With
respect to the rocks occupying this country, he says, that " for 120
miles from the upper end of the lake one great formation. having a
breadth in some places of ten and in others exceeding twenty miles,
exists. It is composed of sandstones, conglomerates, slates, and
limestones; the sandstones often vitreous, and presenting the character of a perfect quartz rock. These are associated with greenstone trap and other igneous rocks, in the form of overflows, dykes,
and veins, and with amygdaloidal trap in layers.  The whole reposes on granite, which is the metalliferous rock of the district,
and lies beneath the lowest known fossiliferous beds. The Potsdam sandstone, Trenton limestone, Utica slates, and Loraine shales
are exposed in successive deposits, resting on the tilted beds of the
quartz rock in a nearly horizontal, unconformable position in the
Grand Manatoulin, La Cloche, Snake, Thessalon, Sulphur, and
other islands, and at the east end of the lake.  Medina sandstone
and Niagara limestones exist in certain localities of the promootory
of, Cabot's Head."
Of the mining places above alluded to by Mr. Logan, the Bruce
mines, situated on the main shore behind the island of St. Joseph,
are the principal; and, in 1849, when I was returning to Canada
in the month of September, and had an opportunity of visiting
* In the Lake of the Thousand Isles, as the funnel-shaped outlet of
Lake Ontario is denominated, many of the round-backed hummocks of
granite which form the innumerable islets exhibit the parallel furrows,
streaks, and smooth surfaces attributed by some geologists to glacial action.
This expansion, in fact, has exactly the aspect of many of the dilatations
of the northern rivers which flow through the " intermediate primitive district."




33 6                PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
them, 160 people were there employed, forming, with their families, a considerable village population. Mr. Logan calculated that
250 tons of dressed ore might be raised monthly, yielding, at an
average, about 15 per cent. of copper. At present, fuel for mining
purposes is obtained from the Pennsylvania coal-field, through the
port of Cleveland, on Lake Erie; but ere long, the coal district in
Saginaw Bay, on the south side of Lake Huron, will become the
smelting place for both the Huron and Lake Superior minerals.
To complete the outline of the north bank of the St. Lawrence
valley, we may state that the primitive rocks continued from Lake
Huron to the outlet of Lake Superior, form there the bold promontory of Big Cape (Gros Cap), which is a mass of flesh-colored
granite and porphyry rising 700 feet above the water.  Point Iroquois, on the opposite side, three miles distant, is 600 feet high,
has a more table-shaped summit, and firom  its base a line of low
sandy beach stretches away on the south side, sending out a projecting tongue named ", White-Fish Point." The north shore, as
seen fromn Big Cape, presents a grand and varied coast line, deeply
indented by Goulais and Batchewaung Bays, with the promontory
of Mamainse, composed of rugged and crumbling amygdaloid, dipping into the wide expanse of waters on the northwest. The
granitic ridge which skirts the bottoms of these bays comes out in
bold cliffs on both sides of Michipicoten Bay, at the Otter's Head,
and at the bottoms of Nipigon and Thunder Bays, projecting also
in various capes between them. From the last named bay it
stretches across the northern bend of the Kamenistikwoya River,
by which stream the canoe navigation to the interior is carried on.
Mr. Logan considers the granite, which firequently passes into
gneiss, as the base of the series of rocks composing this bank of the
lake. 2. To this succeeds gneiss, and both are traversed by dykes
and veins of granite. 3. The next in order are dark green talcose
slates, and a pebbly and slaty conglomerate. 4. Resting unconformably on these, is a series of bluish shales, interstratified with
trap. 5. Lastly, white or spotted sandstones, indurated marls,
and conglomerates interstratified *'ith trap. Trap dykes in vast
numbers traverse all the beds down to the granite. Veins containing copper, lead, zinc, and silver, belonging to two systems —one
coincident with the rock masses, the other parallel to them-occur
in very many places on the north shore. The courses of the veins
vary in different bays, and Professor Agassiz has shown that the
outline of the lake has a close connection with the directions of
the trap dykes, of which he describes six different systems, each
of them associated with one of the great curvatures or bays.
A granite porphyry, which is very durable, forms a considerable
portion of the boldest and most barren parts of the north shore of




LAKE SUPERIOR.                      357
the lake; the projections of amygdaloid, being more perishable,
assume the most picturesque shapes; and some of the loftiest headlands are thickly capped with greenstone, basalt, and other trappean
rocks. The low, flat, well-wooded islands are mostly sandstone.
The general elevation of the northern brim of the Lake Superior
basin may be stated at between 800 and 900 feet above the water
surface, and the distance of its crest from the margin of the lakke
at from 20 to 50 miles.
Many mining stations have been granted to adventurers by the
Canadian legislature, but workings are carried on in three only;
viz., one in Pigeon Bay, one among the islands of Nipigon Bay, and
the third in Mica Bay. At the last named 100 miners were employed in 1849, when the establishment was broken up by a foray
of Chippeways, who thought that their territorial rights were invaded.*  But little ore has as yet been shipped from the Canadian
side of the lake. The export of native copper from the United
States shore is considerable. In 1849. 1114 tons of pure copper
were transhipped at Saut Ste. Mary.f
Our limits will not allow us A dwell longer on the St. Lawrence
basin; t but with respect to the general character of the ridge
which divides it fiom the Winipeg excavation the aspect of the
country traversed in pursuing the canoe route may be considered
as a type of the whole.  The surface of that tract is hilly, the
granite rising in rounded and sometimes in rugged knolls abruptly
from lakes or swamps, but only to small heights above the general
level. Here and there, but particularly toward the summit of the
ridge, there are considerable deposits of sand, gravel, and loam,
with many boulders. The term ridge is used with reference to
* Narrative, p. 53.
t The Detroit Free Press states that, in 1850, the shipments exceeded
4000 tons, and it is calculated that they will equal the whole consumption
of the United States, which is 6000 tons. in 1851. There are twenty-two
copper companies in operation on the Michigan shores, employing 800 men.
The masses of native copper on Kewawoonan Point are enormous; but,
from their very purity, they can neither be blasted nor hewn out in the
ordinary way. The method adopted at present is to use long iron chisels,
which are turned slightly by the hand at each blow of the hammer. In
this way large slats weighing two tons or more are cut out, to which not
above five per cent. of quartz rock and other impurities adhere. On this
point there are said to be parallel ridges of trap rising through beds of
sandstone. Among these the native copper lies in walls or veins which
have two directions, one running across the trap ridges in N.W. 6 N. - N.
direction, the other parallel to the ridges and strike of the sandstone.
t Professor Agassiz has devoted a large volume to the natural history
of Lake Superior alone, which is full of interesting facts and comprehensive
general views.




358                  PHYSICAL GEOGItAPHY.
its being a height separating two depressions; but its summit is a
marshy plateau of some extent, across which narrow winding lakes
afford a canoe navigation in a variety of directions.*
This summit of the water-shed, which, level as it is with respect
to its water communications, is rendered very uneven by the protrusion of numerous granitic masses to various but moderate heights,
lies much nearer to Lake Superior than to Lake Winipeg; and in
descending toward the north, the same rocks appear in succession
which have been noticed as forming the bank of the St. Lawrence
valley, the ", bird's-eye limestone" of the Chanmplain division of the
New York system being the newest deposit on the Winipeg Lake.
If we trace the water-shed to the southwest, beyond the head
of Lake Superior, by the sources of the St. Louis and head waters
of the Mississippi, the uneven marshy surface gradually merges in
the sandy prairie lands of the Red River, the Saskatchewan, and
Missouri, where the naked rocks disappear, or are to be found only
in the deep river channels.
The manner in which an elbow of the, intermediate primitive
rocks," which form the nucleus offthe water-shed here spoken of,
incloses the head of Lake Superior, and extends along part of its
south coast until lost under newer deposits, may be learned from
the subjoined extract of a, Report by Dr. Owven, geologist to the
States of Iowa and Wisconsin." t
* Vide map of the district in Franklin's Second Overland Journey.
t " The protozoic strata form sections on the Mississippi for an average
distance, in a direct line, into the interior of Wisconsin, of from fifty to
seventy-five miles, or up to the low falls of the principal eastern tributaries
of that river, where the crystalline rocks first appear. In this part of the
country the igneous ranges do not rise into elevated mountains, but, on
the contrary, they are seldom seen except in the immediate cuts of the
streams, being, for the most part, covered with drift.  The character of
the country generally, toward the summit levels leading to Lake Superior,
is a succession of terraces of moderate elevation, chiefly composed of drift,
having a nucleus, no doubt, of granite, syenite, or hornblende rocks; but
these protrude only occasionally. At intervals the streams are ruffled into
rapids, being filled with boulders which materially obstruct their navigation.  A portion of these boulders may have been transported from great
distances, but the greater part appear not to be far removed from their
parent rock. It is a matter of surprise that so large an area of the interior of this district, and indeed of the sources of the Mississippi generally,
should be level tamarack and cedar swamps, since, on approaching a great
water-shed that gives rise to one of the greatest rivers in the world, one is
led to anticipate a country with physical features of quite a different
character. Interposed between the crystalline and igneous rocks of the
interior of the district and the lowest sandstones, some green and red
schistose beds have'been observed at different localities.  These appear to
have been derived from the decomposition and detritus of the more easily




VALLEY OF THE WINIPEG.                  259
VALLEY OF THE WINIPEG OR SASKATCHEWAN.
The next great transverse excavation includes the whole valley
of the Saskatchewan and Nelson Rivers; and from the sources of
the former near Mount Hooker, one of the Rocky Mountain peaks
said to be 15,700 feet high, to the mouth of the latter in Hudson's
Bay, the axis of the valley runs in a direct line about east-northeast for 660 geographical miles.  Lake Winipeg, the principal
lake basin in connection with the river, lies at right angles to that
axis, is nearly parallel to the Rocky Mountain chain, and forms
one of a series of great lakes succeeding one another in a northnorthwest direction.  Their names are Lake Superior, Lake
Winipeg, Deer Lake, Wollaston Lake, Athabasca Lake, Great
Slave Lake, Marten Lake, and Great Bear Lake; the northern
coast line being moreover indented on the same bearing by Liverpool and Franklin Bays.
Lake Winipeg itself is 230 geographical miles long and about
40 wide, but its width would be increased to 120 miles, if Moose
Lake, Muddy Lake, Winepegoos and Manitoba Lakes, which
differ very slightly from it in level, and are evidently component
parts of the same lake basin, were included in the measurement.
Into this great lake the Saskatchewan, by its two diverging branches,
gathers a wide extent of prairie drainage, its northern tributaries
being conterminous with the affluents of the Elk or Athabasca
River, and its southern ones with those of the Missouri. The
Assinaboyn also traverses much prairie land, one of its branches
originating on the banks of the great southerly bend of the Missouri;
and the Red River, which the Assinaboyn joins, rises, as has been
already mentioned, on the same level and in the close neighborhood
of the sources of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence. The waters
of the lake wash, on the east side of the basin, the ", intermediate
primitive rocks," and find their way through them by anastomosing
disintegrating felspathic granites. The lower beds of sandstone adjacent
to the igneous outburst are not unfrequently changed to hard quartzite."...
" The highest ranges of the Wisconsin side of Lake Superior, situated from
ten to sixteen miles from its south shore, are estimated to be near 1000
feet above the lake, and are formed of hornblende rocks, metamorphic
slates, syenite, and trap. No organic remains have been detected in the
great mass of sandstone bounding this part of the lake whereby its geological era may be determined. On the west side of the Mississippi, north
of the Winebago reserve (Minesota), and as far north as St. Peter's river,
limestone, with underlying sandstone, prevails to the extent of half a degree of longitude."




360                  PHYSICAL GEOGRAPIIY.
channels named Sea River, Katchewan, and, in its lower part, Nelson River.  After it has passed through the intermediate belt, it
takes its way over silurian limestones, and finally enters Hudson's
Bay through alluvial deposits of some extent.
The surface of the lake has been calculated to be 853 feet* above
the sea, and its basin is excavated in the silurian beds. Along the
whole eastern shore the granite, gneiss, and trap rocks are every
where exposed, the first named rock being the most extensive;
and nowhere do these masses rise to the altitude of hills. On the
north and west the birds' eye limestone is the prevailing rock, and
forms low cliffs, in a country otherwise every where flat; and toward the south end of the lake, and in the narrows, arenaceous
deposits appear in the immediate vicinity of granite, trap-rocks, and
chlorite slates, having a close resemblance to those of Pigeon Bay
of Lake Superior, where argentiferous veins occur. It is, therefore, an interesting quarter for exploration by the practical miner.
In ascending fiom Lake Superior by the Kamenistikwoya, and
its upper branch named the Dog River, to Thousand Lakes
(Milles Lacs), forty portages are made, in which the whole or part
of the cargo is carried, there being besides some long rapids where
it is not necessary to unload; and in descending to Lake Winipeg
the portages are about fifty, their number and even the route varying with the height of water. Thousand Lakes f (Journ. p. 62) is
* Captain Lefroy's observations: -" In the Geological Appendix to Sir
John Franklin's Second Journey, I estimated the height of Lake Winipeg
above Hudson's bay at 800 feet, which I considered to be a rough approximation. Major Long places it at the same level with Lake Superior, and
the dividing ridge between the two basins at 600 feet higher; but, by the
best estimates I have been able to form, he makes the summit of the ridge
230 feet too low.":
t The height of this lake above Lake Superior was ascertained approximately as follows:
Feet.
Foot of Mountain Portage estimated by Captain Lefroy..........   48
Upper end of ditto (bar. meas.. Rich.)...................    127
Ascent of river to Dog Portage (estimated, Rich.)..............  150
Upper end of Dog Portage above the lower (bar. meas., Rich.).....  332
Ascent of Dog River to Thousand Lakes (estimate).............  160
817
Lake Superior above the sea................................  641
Thousand Lakes above the sea............................. 1458
Owing to the obstructions in the upper part of the Dog River, the canoe
route diverges from that stream at Cold-water Lake, and passes by the
Prairie, Middle, and Savannah Portages, and a small stream which flows




IHEIGIHT OF LAKE WINIPEG.                 361
an extremely irregular piece of water, having many extensive arms,
some of which are very shallow. Multitudes of islands well covered with birch, aspen, arbor-vitro (Thuya occidentalis), and the
various pine trees of the region, render the scenery pleasing. A
few granite knolls and mural precipices show among the trees;
but many of the islets appear to be formed of sand, of which sections twenty feet high occur. The lake not only branches into
the neighborhood, but water communications diverge fiom it in
every direction, as is customary in the ", middle primitive belt."
From the Thotisand Lakes the canoe route keeps on the border
of the primitive rocks, touching on silurian deposits, when it bends
to the southward or westward. At first it is flanked on both sides
by granite. In Rainy Lake there is much mica-slate; and at its
from the latter into Thousand Lakes. The heights of this part of the
route are as follows:
Feet.
Dog Lake, above Lake Superior............................  657
Ascent of Dog River.............................        14
Portage to Cold-water Lake...............................    2
West end of Prairie Portage and Middle Portage..........  161
834
Lake Superior above the sea...............................  641
Height of Prairie or of Middle Portage above the sea............ 1475
The difference of height between the ends of the Mountain Portage was
carefully ascertained by me with Delcro's barometer in 1849.  Major
Delafield estimates the difference at 125 feet, and Lieutenants Scott and
Denny, who accompanied Major Long in his voyage up the St Peter's, at
130 feet. Mr. Murray, of the Canadian Geological Survey, measured the
actual height of the falls here (named Kakkabikka) from the smooth water
at their summit to the base, and found it to be 119 feet; but at least 8
feet must be added to give the difference between the ends of the portage,
which terminates some way above the brow of the cascade. Captain Lefroy makes the height, by barometrical measurement, only 115 feet.
In 1849 the height of the upper end of Dog Portage was ascertained by
me with Delcro's barometer; in the previous season the aneroid barometer gave 328 feet as the height, which was a greater degree of accordance
between the instruments than I generally found. Major Long estimates
the water-shed between Lake Winipeg and Superior at 1200 feet above the
tide; Major Delafield calculates the height of Cold-water Lake at 505 feet.
to which, if 161 be added for the Prairie Portage, and 641 for Lake Superior, we have 1307 feet for the height of Prairie Portage over the sea.
Captain Lefroy, by barometrical measurements made in connection with
the observatory at Toronto, makes the west end of Prairie Portage 1361
feet above the sea; but the distance between the two places of observation
renders the result liable to some error.
Q




362                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
outlet the stream, falling over gneiss rocks, produces the cascade
of La Chaudiere. The greater fertility of the country about Nemican Lake and Rainy River show the vicinity of newer formations.
In the Lake of the Woods Dr. Bigsby found the Pentamerus
Knightii, a fossil characteristic of the upper silurian rocks; but
granite is the chief constituent of the islands and shores of the
lake. The River Winipeg flows wholly within the granite district,
and has the lake-like dilatations and other characteristics of the
streams which traverse the, intermediate primitive rocks."  The
wide extent of land which its reuniting arms inclose is remarkable.
One of its affluents, named English River, issues from Lake Sal,
which lies near the water-shed, dividing the Winipeg basin fiom
that of James's Bay. The Berens River which falls into Lake
Winipeg, issuing from the common brim of the same basins further
north, in the vicinity of the sources of the Severn River, affords a
canoe route to Hudson's Bay. From my own observations in 1819,
and Mr. Barnston's at a later period, it has been ascertained that
limestones of the silurian epoch occur on the. northern flank of the,, intermediate primitive belt," as well as in the basin of Lake
Winipeg. The Red River, which has been already repeatedly referred to, and which to prevent confusion with its southern namesake it would be well to call Osnaboyna, lies wholly to the westward
of the,"intermediate belt," and has a direct course from Lake
Travers of 300 geographical miles. The sandy ridge named C6teau
des Prairies, or Hauteur des Terres, separates its upper part from
the Missouri valley; but the metamorphic rocks which present
themselves around the sources of the Mississippi and its tributary
the St. Peter, are also visible near Lake Travers. In the lower
part of Red River limestone crops out in one place only, and is
quarried by the settlers. Elsewhere the rocks are concealed by
the sandy deposit forming the soil of the prairies, along whose
eastern border the river flows. Major Long enumerates thirty affluents of the Red River, and its western branch, the Assinaboyn.
The Saskatchewan, which is to be considered as the main feeder
of the Winipeg basin, flows from a considerable distance above Pine
Island Lake down to Lake Winipeg over horizontal beds of limestone, through so flat a country that the river forks as it would in
an alluvial delta. A rich mud is deposited in parts, particularly between Pine Island Lake, and the main stream, and round Moose
and Muddy Lakes. In Beaver Lake, which lies immediately to
the north of Pine Island lake, the silurian strata are again seen covering the flanks of the primitive rocks; while to the southward an
eminence named Basquiau,* lying at the distance of nearly a de* See Journal, p. 50.




VALLEYS OF THE MISSINIPI AND MACKENZIE.         363
gree, separates the river valley from the Red Deer Lake and Swan
River. As powerful salt springs exist on this eminence, we may
conjecture that it belongs to the Onondaga salt group.
I-have been more particular in the topographical and geological
remarks on the St. Lawrence and Saskatchewan basins, because
economy of space made it expedient to omit the details of the voyage of the Expedition through them. The remaining districts Wvill
be more briefly mentioned here, since the narrative included many
facts relating to them.
VALLEY OF THE MISSINIPI.
The next river basin that we have to notice is that of the
Churchill, English River, or Missinipi,* the latter, or Cree appellation, being nearly synonymous with Mississippi. This basin, in
crossing the intermediate primitive rocks, lies nearly parallel to the
Nelson River or Katchewan, which is the lower part of the Saskatchewan.  Deer and Wollaston Lakes, which discharge their
waters into the Churchill River, lie in the line of lake basins mentioned above as running northward from Lake Superior; but their
axes do not cross the river valley so nearly at a right angle as Lake
Winipeg does the valley with which it is connected. Further up
the Missinipi the Methy, Buffalo, Clear, and Isle a la Crosse Lakes,
which are situated just to the westward of the primitive rocks,
taken in the aggregate, lie more in the plane of Lake Winipeg.
On the eastern flank of the intermediate primitive ridge lie Big
Indian and Weskayow-washgow Lakes, belonging also to the Missinipi river system.
The Missinipi, by its principal feeder, the Beaver River, has its
source lower down the eastern slope than the Saskatchewan, and
drains a comparatively small extent of prairie lands. At the Frog
Portage and elsewhere the two basins are divided from each other
by rocks only a few feet high, over which, in times of flood, the
waters pour; so that the two may be viewed as one great valley
through which two large rivers flow, their trunks running parallel
to each other.
VALLEY OF THE MACKENZIE.
Further to the north lies the great valley of the Mackenzie, extending to the Arctic Sea, but having also its subordinate transverse
lake basins, which differ frotn the southern ones in their heads
merely entering the western border of the intermediate primitive
locks, and their discharging streams taking an opposite direction
through the newer deposits.
* Misi or mitchi, in Cree, signifies "much or great," and nipi "water,"
while sipi means " river."




364                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Methy Portage forms the dividing brim between the Missinipi
basin and the Mackenzie River valley, at the place where it is
crossed in the usual canoe route; and, though the country be
wooded, it may be considered as a partial extension of the prairie
slope. The strata are bituminous shales resting on silurian limestone, and covered with a thick arenaceous deposit. This is deeply
furrowed by the channels of the Elk River, and its tributary the
Washacummow; but the lake basins which mark out the border
of the intermediate primitive rocks must be sought for further to
the eastward. It is probable that this border touches a straight
line drawn from Knee Lake, across the outlet of Athabasca Lake,
to the deep northern arm of Great Slave Lake, and onward by
Marten Lake, across the two eastern arms of Great Bear Lake,
to the Copper Mountains. That portion of the line which lies between Athabasca Lake and Methy Portage is little known, because
the water route lies to the westward of it. Wollaston and Deer
Lakes already mentioned, will, if this line be correctly drawn, be
situated considerably within the border of the primitive rocks; and
an illustration of the manner in which the waters occupying the
minor valleys of that district communicate with each other is afforded by Wollaston Lake sending a stream from its north end into
Athabasca Lake, and one from its south end into the different river
system of the Missinipi.  This fact, which, as reported on the
authority of the fur-traders, is expressed in Arrowsmith's map,
may be considered as proving that Wollaston Lake is considerably
elevated. Indeed, it seems to be high up on the water-shed which
separates the Mackenzie valley from the basin of Hudson's Bay.
According to *Captain Lefroy's measurements and estimates,
Methy Lake is about 1540 feet above the sea; and I ascertained
the summit of Methy Portage road to be 188 feet higher than the
lake; while the Washacummow, or Clear-water River, on the
north side of the portage, is 590 feet below it, and by my calculations 910 feet above the sea. From Methy Portage westward, the
country, though deeply furrowed by river courses and ravines, and
more or less thickly wooded, partakes so much of a prairie character that horsemen may travel over it to Lesser Slave Lake and the
Saskatchewan. At the junction of the Washacummow with the
Elk, the channel of the river is sunk 925 feet below the summit of
the portage, which may be assumed as near the mean level of the
district, and is 1688 feet above the sea.t
The Athabasca, Red Deer (La Biche), or Elk River, the most
* It is doubtful whether this shale be referable to the Marcellus shale
or not.
t See Narrative, p. 75. Captain Lefroy's estimate of the height of Methy Lake exceeds mine by 40 feet.




ATHABASCA RIVER.                    365
southerly feeder of the Mackenzie, originates in the Rocky Mountains near Mount Browne, which is said to rise 15,000 feet above
the sea, and, flowing through prairie lands, receives the waters of
Lesser Slave Lake, whose axis crosses its general course, and
afterward those of Red Deer Lake. Its bed is in many places
deeply cut beneath the level of the prairie plateau, which is not
separated by any marked ridge from  the Saskatchewan prairie
country. Further north, the wide-spreading sources of the Peace
River drain the Rocky Mountain chain for four degrees of latitude,
and the trunk formed by their union curves across the slope to
join the Athabasca a little below the transverse basin of the Lake
of the Hills. The Channel of the Peace River is cut into silurian
or Devonian strata; but the Lake of the Hills, or Athabasca Lake,
runs eastward among the, intermediate primitive rocks," and, as
has been said above, receives a tributary stream from Wollaston
Lake, situated near the water-shed which divides the basin fiom
Hudson's Bay. The conjoined stream of the Peace and Athabasca
Rivers assumes the name of Slave River, which flows in the fiacture between the silurian and primitive rocks. The junction of
the western arm of the river with Great Slave Lake marks the
western border of the primitive rocks, which is also indicated on
the northern side of the basin by the Fort Providence Inlet. Aylmer and Artillery Lakes lie 150 feet higher at the east end of the
lake, into which they send their waters; and in their immediate
vincinity, on the same plateau, are the sources of the Great Fish
or Back's River, which falls into the Arctic Sea, as has been already
stated. The streams that run from the westward into Chesterfield Inlet must come from near the same place; and this inlet,
from its transverse direction, and east-northeast bearing from
Great Slave Lake, has an evident connection with that excavation,
their axes being nearly at right angles to the Rocky Mountain
chain.
In Great Slave Lake the Mackenzie is deflected from the intermediate primitive belt, and flows first westward then northward,
in a channel scooped out of the upper silurian strata and still newer
deposits, for 1000 statute miles of river course, or nearly 600 geographical miles in a direct line; neither granite, gneiss, nor mica
slate are seen on its banks, and even trap rocks are rare, if any
actually occur.
The River of the Mountains, embracing by its feeders a more
northern part of the Rocky Mountain chain, after disengaging itself from the rugged hills fiom which it draws its supplies, makes
a northerly bend nearly parallel to Slave River, and then joins the
Mackenzie at Fort Simpson. Ofthis mountain stream I have allready
given a slight notice in the Narrative (see pp. 105, 106); and I




366                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
may add here that for twenty-five miles upward from its mouth it
flows through sand and shale, with limestone occasionally cropping
out. At the end of that distance there is a rapid, above which
low wooded points exist, with at intervals mountain bluffs coming
down to the banks of the river. The most remarkable of these
stands at the influx of the Noh'hanne River, and is named the
Noh'hanne Bute. It is the highest hill in that quarter, and'is about
seventy-five miles from Fort Simpson. Perhaps it is a member
of a range whose prolongation is seen indistinctly in descending
the Mackenzie about half-way between Hare Skin River and Fort
Simpson. Messieurs MPherson and Bell ascended it, and the
latter gentleman was seized with nausea and vertigo before reaching its summit; so that its altitude is probably considerable, but the
snow disappears fiom it in summer.  On its top there is a salt
spring, having a basin fifteen feet in diameter, which is never dry.
For this notice I am indebted to Mr. MPherson, who brought
from it some fragments of limestone that were similar in lithological character to those procured at the Rock by the River's Side described in page 113.
Great Bear Lake, the most northerly of the transverse fieshwater lakes, lies about 150 feet above the channel of the Mackenzie,
and crosses the Arctic circle on the line where the hypogenous
and silurian rocks meet. Coronation Gulf is also excavated on the
same line, which has a general parallelism to the Great Slave Lake
series of excavations enumerated above.
The northerly trending of the coast line west of the Mackenzie
is evidently due to the prolongation of the Rocky Mountains, whose
successive ridges or spurs come out en echelon, diminishing in altitude as they approach the shore.
The short western slope of the continent from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific differs from the eastern one in its configuration,
its river valleys being all more or less transverse. The peculiar
wing-like projection in the north, toward Asia, is evidently due to
the volcanic chain of Alaska, which runs at right angles to the
Rocky Mountains.  The great transverse river valley of the Yukon
or Kwichpack lies to the north of it. The western sea-coast from
Cook's Inlet to Beering's Straits is delineated in a map attached
to BLer's - Nachrichten fiber den Nordwestktiste von Amerika,"
published in 1839, though it seems to have been hitherto neglected
by our topographers: and the interior of Russian America has remained a blank in our maps.*
* The newest work on this district of America is, " Beitrage zur Kenntniss der orographischen und geogllostischen Beschaffenheit der Nordwest.
kiiste Amerikas, von Dr. C. Grewingk, St. Petersburg, 1850; but this I have
not been able to procure.




THE YUKON.                        367
For the following information respecting the Hudson's Bay Company's land to the west of the Mackenzie, and for some account of
Russian America gathered from the natives, I am indebted to Chief
Factor MPherson, Chief Trader Bell, and to the letters of Mr.
Alex. H. Murray, alluded to in a preceding page. By ascending
the River of the Mountains, and tracing its northwest branch to
Lake Frances, a very elevated mountainous country is reachedct.
In this the Lewis, which flows toward the Pacific, takes its rise,
its sources springing to the eastward of those of the River of the
Mountains; so that here, as well as in other parts of the Rocky
Mountain chain, the rivers falling into opposite seas interlock at
their origin. In lat. 610 30' N., long. 130~ W., the Lewis is joined
by the River Francis, which has no connection with the lake of a similar name, but comes from Russian Lake, a sheet of water lying more
to the south. At the junction of the Francis and Lewis, Mr. Roderick Campbell has built a trading post, named ", Pelly Banks," which,
according to his experiments with the boiling water thermometer,
is elevated 1400 feet above the ocean. The united streams take
the name of the Pelly, which falls into the Pacific, probably into
Tchilikat or Lynn Canal, but the exact situation of its mouth has
not been ascertained. Native traders come from the head of Tchilikat to Pelly Banks in a fortnight.
From the same elevated district in which the Lewis or Pelly
and the northwest branch of the River of the Mountains take
their source, the Yukon, a river of great magnitude, issues; and
for a considerable part of its course flows to the north, through a
country which, as far as I can judge fiom the descriptive notices
of it which I have collected, closely resembles the valley of the
Mackenzie.  Mr. Murray was disposed at one time to identify
this river with the Colville, which falls into the Arctic Sea about
120 miles to the east of Point Barrow; but more recent and full
native information leads him now to conclude that it flows toward
Norton Sound; and one of the officers of the Enterprise, in a private letter which has been published, states that the Russians have
established its identity with the Kwichpack, which falls into Beering's Sea between Cape Stephens and Cape Romanzoff.*
* The following is an extract of a letter to me from Mr. Murray, dated
May, 1850, on the Yukon:-" My account of the course of this river, also
a sort of chart I made of it from the description given by the Indians,
might, perhaps, lead you to have a wrong impression respecting the
mouth of the river. I am now convinced that it is not the same with
the Colville, and I have for some years suspected that its mouth lay to
the west. The Russians have come up the lower part of the river regularly for some seasons: I was at first informed that they entered it from
another river, but I am now told positively by Indians who went down




368                  PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
In 18,17, Mr. Bell, having heard of the Yukon from the Kutchin
who visited the fort on Peel's River, set out in quest of it, accompanied by a native guide. He first crossed the mountains to a stream
termed the Rat River, on which an outpost named La Pierre's
House has since been built. This post is about sixty miles distant
from Bell's Fort on the Peel, and is about ten miles to the southward of it. Shortly after embarking in a canoe on the Rat River,
Mr. Bell came to one of much larger size to which it is tributary,
and which is named the Porcupine. Three days' descent* of this
carried him into the Yukon, which it enters at right angles in the
66th parallel, and in the supposed longitude of 147-~ west.t At
this place the Yukon is 1{ mile wide, and is full of well-wooded
islands, with a very strong current in the channels which separate
them. After issuing fiom the mountainous district north of Pelly
Banks, the course of the Yukon is, according to the Indians, to
the westward of north; and in one place where it cuts a spur of
the Big Beaver Mountains, it passes between high limestone cliffs
resembling the,, ramparts" on the Mackenzie.  Its current is every
where more rapid than that of the river just named. The first important tributary which it receives is the Red Island River, that
flows in from the mountains on its eastern bank, and is divided at
its source from the head of the Peel by a single ridge of land. Between it and the Lewis there is a barren plateau, which the Indians cross in four days, but on which they find no water.t Another tributary fiom the east comes in lower down, and below that
Deep River enters from the west. The Russians appeared on
this stream with a skin boat (baidar), coming overland, it was supand met them last summer that they come into it direct from the sea.
By one of these Indians I received a letter from the Russians which, being
in their own language, is unintelligible to me. Salmon and hooked-nosed
trout (Salmo scouleri) ascend the river, but are not found in the Mackenzie,
or rivers falling into the Arctic Sea. Again, I have made frequent inquiries of the' Gens du large,' or the northern Indians, who visit the
Arctic Sea coast, and find that they are unacquainted with the mouth of
the river. For two winter days' walking below the Porcupine, the Yukon
trends to the west and southwest, and the natives say that it flows on in
the same direction. I am therefore inclined to believe that the Colville is
a smaller river, and that the Yukon empties its waters into Norton
Sound."
* In returning from the Yukon against the stream, by tracking the
canoe, nine days were required to reach Rat River.
t By Mr. Murray's courses and distances.
t There is a district in Siberia on which neither snow nor rain is said
to fall. This may be a similar one; for it can scarcely be, in so rigorous
a climate, that melting snow, if it exists, should not leave pools of water
all the summer.




COURSE OF THE YUKON.                  369
posed, from the Copper River or Atna, which joins the Pacific in
Comptroller's Bay. From below the ", ramparts," which are reckoned to be about seventy miles above the influx of the Porcupine,
the Yukon flows to the northwest through a flat country; but
twenty or thirty miles below the mouth of that tributary it again
cuts a spur of the Beaver Mountains, trending at the same time to
the southwestward and westward, and finally issuing in Beeringes
Sea, under the Eskimo appellation of Kwichpack, as has been
mentioned above. Below the Big Beaver Mountains it receives
from the south the ",River of the Mountain Men," which runs
parallel to the main stream for some distance before entering it.
From thence to the sea the Kwichpack flows, according to the
natives, through a low, marshy, and very sparingly-wooded country.
Mr. Murray, in his letter to me quoted above, mentions his intention of exploring the Yukon as far as he had leisure to do so in
the summer of 1850; and it was probably the report of his party
having been seen which induced Captain Collinson to land Lieutenant Barnard and Mr. Adams at Fort Michaelowsky, that they
might ascertain who the white men were.
On the Pacific coast only of North America does volcanic action
exist at the present time. Many peaks throwing out fire and
smoke are mentioned by Baer. They lie in a line running westsouthwest from the north side of Kanai or Cook's Inlet, through
the peninsula of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.' Many of their
summits rise into the region of perpetual snow. Among these Iusman has a height of 13,151 feet, and Winkelh~he of 11,270, both
lying on the north bank of Cook's Inlet. In Alaska there is the
Peak of St. Paul, and in the islands Schischaldin, which is 8953 feet
high, besides Schimaldin, Makuschkin, Korowenskische, and many
others. The line in which these volcanic peaks lie, when prolonged
to the eastward, strikes the Big Beaver Mountains on the Yukon.
Mounts Edgecumbe, Fairweather, and St. Elias are, I believe,
extinct volcanoes, which form, with those of Alaska, nearly the
segment of a circle.
On the side of the Atlantic, modern volcanic rocks occur in Jan
Mayen's Island only, whose principal mountain, Beerenberg, rises
6870 feet above the sea. In the coal of Jameson's Land, lying in
north latitude 710 on the east side of Greenland, and in that of
Melville Island, in latitude 750 north, Professor Jameson found
plants resembling fossils of the coal fields of Britain. This fact is
sufficient of itself to raise a world of conjecture respecting the condition of the earth when these ancient fossils were living plants. It
the great coal measures, containing similar fossil vegetable forms,
were deposited at the same epoch in distant localities, there must
have existed, when that deposition took place, a similarity of conQ*




370                 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
dition of the North American continent from latitude 750 down to
40~.*
In concluding this sketch I shall advert to the distribution of the
fossil remains of mammalia, and especially to those of the mammoth. Teeth of this animal have been discovered on the banks of
several rivers in Russian America, north of Mount St. Elias; and
there is a celebrated locality in Kotzebue Sound where the thawing
and waste of frozen cliffs is continually exposing the bones and
tusks of mammoths and other quadrupeds. Dr. Buckland, in his
interesting account of the specimens collected at this place, on
Captain Beechey's voyage, enumerates fragments of bones of mammoths, and of the urus, the leg-bone of a large deer, and a cervical
vertebra of some unknown animal, different from any that now inhabit Arctic America. Along with these there were found also the
skull of a musk ox and some bones of the reindeer in a more recent
condition than the others. In Asia, from the Don to Beering's
Straits, on the banks of all the great rivers, bones and teeth are
still more plentiful, the local deposits being richer and more extensive the more we advance to the north. They are especially abundant on the islands north of Sviatoi Noss (Sacred Cape), lying between the 73d and 76th parallels; and some of these islands seem
to consist in a great part of organic remains, which fill more space
than the matrix in which they lie. The soil containing them is
frozen as hard a's a rock; and, as it thaws annually, the bones drop
out or are quarried by the natives. From time immemorial this
has been proceeding, and the ivory hunters have been obtaining
their annual supply without any sensible diminution of the store
they draw from. Some tusks found in New Siberia weigh 480 lbs.,
and from that island alone the merchants of Yakutzk, in 1821, obtained 20,000 lbs. weight of this fossil ivory. Though the tusks of
the mammoth (Elephas primigenus) are chiefly sought for, bones
and teeth of other animals are found, and among the rest those
of the Rhinoceros tichorinus, of which the skulls, flesh, and skin
with its hair, have been procured. The remarkable discovery, in
1799, by a Tungusian, at the mouth of the Lena, of the entire carcass of a mammoth, in excellent preservation, is well known. The
existence of these numerous testimonials of an ancient fauna is
suggestive of many curious speculations, and geologists seem hitherto to have failed in explaining the circumstances under which accumulations so vast could occur in such high latitudes. The difficulty is increased when we consider that these bones have not
been detected to the east of the -Rocky Mountains in the northern
* The coal of Vancouver's Island and Oregon belongs, it is said, to the
great coal measures.




BOULDERS.                       371
latitudes. None have hitherto been found in Rupert's Land, though
the annual waste of the banks of the large rivers and the frequent
land slips would have revealed them to the natives or fur traders
had they existed even in small numbers. They are rare also, or
altogether wanting, in Canada, but in the valley of the Mississippi
the bone-licks are well known as most extensive, and furnishing
the remains of a different series of extinct quadrupeds.
The existence of the skull of a musk ox in Kotzebue Sound is of
much interest. This relic is preserved in the British Museum,
and the naturalists who have compared it with recent skulls of the
animal brought from Melville Island or Churchill, perceive no difference. But, as the species is not known to frequent any district
to the westward of the Mackenzie, the transport of any of its bones
in modern times to Kotzebue Sound can not be readily accounted
for.
In a preceding page I have alluded, in a general way, to the distribution of boulders on the eastern prairie slope and in the valley
of the Mississippi. The journal of the voyage shows that these
are every where present in the north. The surface soil, the beds
of rivers, and sea-shore abound in them. I noticed them also in
various places accumulated in clusters, forming small eminences of
from 10 to 100 yards in diameter, and from 8 to 20 feet high.
These may be ice-borne boulders. The usually circular form of
the heaps militates against their being glacier moraines. Such
collections are of frequent occurrence on the borders of Great Bear
Lake, and in the valleys that separate the spurs of the Rocky
Mountains-several hundred feet above the present levels of the
lakes and rivers. They also occur in more southern localities.




3 -5 2                    CLIMATOLOGY.
No. II.
CLIMATOLOGY.
Snow line-Ground Ice-Thermometrical Observations in the Valley of the St.
Lawrence-Comparative Temperature of the two sides of the Continent-Phenomena of the Seasons at Penetanguishene: at Fort William: at Fort Vancouver.-Thermometrical Observations in the Valley of the Saskatchewan-On
the east and west sides of the Continent in that Parallel-Phenomena of the
Seasons at Cumberland House: at Carlton House: at Marten's Falls on Albany River-Thermometrical Observations on the Missinipi, and in the same parallels on the east and west sides of the Continent-ThermometricalObservations
in the Valleys of the Mackenzie, Yukon, and Pelly-Progress of the Seasons at
Fort Franklin-Thermometrical Observations on the Arctic Seas-General Remarks-Nocturnal Radiation.
THE remarks which follow on the climate of North America
have reference especially to the districts through which the Expedition traveled, some general facts being, however, illustrated by
observations made in other quarters.
The course of the snow line has always engaged the attention of
travelers, who have ascended high mountain ranges, or penetrated
into Polar regions. Nowhere on the route of the Expedition is the
snow permanent; not even on the summits of that part of the
Rocky Mountains which skirts the Mackenzie. Snow may indeed
be occasionally found in summer which has drifted into some narrow ravine, or under a high cliff with a northern exposure; but
these patches are of small extent, and have no general influence on
the temperature of the district in which they occur.
In lat. 650 N., the snow remains continually on the ground from
the middle of October till the beginning of May, at which time the
soil begins to appear after it has been covered up for 260 days.
The thickness of the snowy covering materially affects the depth
to which the low winter temperature can be traced into the subsoil.  In places of small extent, sheltered from  cold winds, and
having a good drainage, with a southern aspect, the vernal rays of
the sun assist in removing the snow early; while a retentive clay,
even in lower and more southern localities, produces a tardy summer and late frosts. Such are the hypogenous or primitive districts, which from their cold climate and ungenial soil have been
justly named, barren grounds," and are analogous to the terra




SNOW LINE.                        3,3
damnata- of Lapland, described by Linnaeus; or the tundras of
Arctic Siberia; in such tracts the snow falls early and remains
long. The active vegetation of forest lands reacts on the soil; excited by the sun's rays, the trees are roused from their winter's
sleep, while the soil is still as hard as a rock, and the snow disappears sooner from over their roots than elsewhere. At the Equator
the permanent snow line is said to vary from 15,000 feet of altitude
to 20,000, to sink to 3800 on the 60th parallel of latitude, and to be
one foot high on the 75th parallel.* The latter assumption does
not, however, accord with observations in the northern hemisphere.
In no arctic district to which man has yet penetrated, is there a
permanent covering of snow through any wide extent of low country. Even at Spitzbergen, only nine degrees from the Pole, there
is a summer in which vegetation proceeds, of which we have witnesses in the flora and fauna. The well-fed herds of reindeer,
which that hyperborean land maintains, must find grass and lichens,
whereon they fatten.t
On the north side of Lake Superior, the duration of the winter's
snow is less by at least sixty days than it is in lat. 650 N., that being
the difference due to about twenty-seven degrees of latitude. In
favorable seasons, at Melville Island, in lat. 74~0 N. and long.
110~ W., the snow toward the end of June lies only in the valleys
where it had drifted deeply, and the level meadows remain uncovered for seventy days, or till the beginning of September. In
Regent's Inlet, which is more to the eastward, the snow dissolves
less rapidly; and at Igloolik, still further east, notwithstanding a
difference of 5' ~ of southing, the soil is uncovered for a still shorter
period, furnishing an illustration of the depression of temperature
on the eastern coast, on which some observations will be made in a
subsequent page. The subjoined tables will furnish the dates of
the disappearance of the snow in the spring, of various more southern localities.
The opinion held at no distant date by eminent meteorologists,
that a mean annual temperature of the freezing point of water
coincides with the snow line, has been satisfactorily disproved by
* Von Buch states the height of the snow line at the North Cape
(Europe) at 2275 Prussian feet.-Meyen, Geog. of Plants.
t The Herald Island, discovered by Captain Kellett in lat. 71~ 13' N.,
long. 175' 23' W., to the north of IBeering's Straits, is 1200 feet high,
and consists of granite precipices to the height of 900 feet, and then a
succession of terraces, on which there grows a turfy vegetation. Eight
species of plants were gathered from these terraces, viz. a Hepatica, Poa
arctica and another grass,.Artemisia borealis, Cochleria fenestrata, Saxi.
fraga laurentiniana, a moss and a red lichen, which covered the rocks.




374                    CLIMATOLOGY.
observation. Every where to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, the isothermal of 32~ F. is below the fifty-seventh parallel of
latitude.
When the rigor of the climate of Arctic America is considered,
the under limit of permanent snow on the hills appears to be very
elevated. The true laws of the altitude of this line have not yet
been ascertained. Correct measurements have shown that within
the tropics the snow line varies several thousand feet, even in the
same range of mountains, according to its different aspects. The
active radiation of the sun in the continuous day of an arctic summer, in conjunction with the comparatively small winter deposit,
must tend to elevate the snow line; while within the tropics, the
effect of a vertical sun is compensated by nocturnal terrestrial radiation, and the deposition that attends the sudden cooling of an
atmosphere charged with moisture. The same or similar causes
must tend to vary the breadth of the mountain zone, comprehended
between the summer and winter snow line. The east coast climate
every where north of Canada has an analogy to this zone, and not
to its upper limit or the permanent snow line.
Another phenomenon intimately connected with the mean temperature of a district, is the, ground ice" or ", permanently frozen
subsoil."  The lateral extent of this substratum, its southern limits,
and its thickness, are interesting subjects of inquiry. It is well
known that the warmth excited by the sun's rays is conducted
slowly and progressively into the earth, the effects of seasons and
years following like tides, but becoming less sensible and less distinct until they are blended, and at a certain depth vanish altogether.
Professor Forbes says, that ", the decrease of the annual range is
common to the strata of the air above the surface of the earth and
to those of the soil beneath; both ultimately, no doubt, exhibit a
limit, first where the diurnal variations disappear, then the annual."
The cause, however, he states is different in the two cases; the
one being chiefly the result of the radiation, and the other of the
conduction of heat. The limit here spoken of, or the depth to
which the periodical changes of summer and winter are felt, is influenced by a variety of circumstances, and differs in different
localities. The temperature of that limit would be, it is supposed,
that of the mean of a number of years (fourteen or fifteen perhaps)
forming a complete cycle of the annual variations.
The limit or commencement of permanently frozen soil, or
ground ice, is coincident, according to Bater, with the isothermal
line of 320 F.; and its thickness increases in proportion as the
mean temperature of the locality falls below that degree, its unlimited descent being checked by the interior heat of the earth.




GROUND ICE.                     375
Observations oft he temperatures of mines and of artesian wells
have established the fact that the temperature rises as we penetrate into the crust of the earth; but the rate of increment has
not yet been satisfactorily determined. The temperatures of mines
in the same district, and of different parts of the same mine at equal
depths, vary greatly. Some authors fix the increment at one degree of Fahrenheit for every forty-five feet of descent, after the
superficial stratum which is directly influenced by the solar heat
has been passed.
At Yakutzk, in Siberia, on the sixty-second parallel, with a mean
annual temperature of 140 F., a well dug to the depth of 382 feet
just penetrated the frozen earth, and the resulting increment of
heat there is one degree for twenty-eight feet of descent. At Fort
Simpson, on the Mackenzie, very nearly in the parallel of Yakutzk,
but having a mean annual temperatue of 250 F., the frozen substratumrn was found to terminate at the depth of seventeen feet from
the surface, the underlying bed being loose and sandy. The surface soil there was thawed at the close of summer (19th October,
1837), to the depth of nearly eleven feet, so that the ground ice
was only six feet thick.
At York Factory, on Hudson's bay, in lat. 570, in October, 1835,
recent frosts had penetrated eight inches into the soil; the thaw
due to the summer heat extended twenty-eight inches beyond this,
beneath which a frozen bed seventeen and a half feet thick reposed
on thawed mud which had a temperature of 33 F. The mean
annual heat of this place is 251 F., being equal to that of Fort
Simpson, which lies five degrees further north.
At Seven outpost, exactly one degree of latitude to the south of
York Factory, and on the same coast of Hudson's Bay, the surface
had thawed at the close of the summer of 1835 nearly to the depth
of six feet, and the frozen substratum was dug into seven and a
quarter feet, being thirteen feet in all, but not passed through, so
that its thickness was not ascertained.
I have no information respecting the ground ice of the Peace
River or Saskatchewan prairie districts.
At Rupert's House, on James's Bay, near the level of the sea, in
lat. 510 26' N., long. 780 40' W., the soil in an exposed situation
in the month of April was frozen to the depth of seven feet; but
under a snow-drift the frost had penetrated only thirteen inches
into the earth.
At East Main, situated on the opposite side of the same bay, in
lat. 520 15' N., long. 780 40' W., the ground under a snow-drift
eight feet thick was frozen to the depth of only ten inches.
The pits at these places were not dug deep enough to give any




3 7 6                   CLIMATOLOGY.
information respecting the existence of a permanently frozen
substratum.
On Michiskum Lake, which lies in lat. 490 N., long. 78~ W., on
the north side of the water-shed that divides the Abitibbe, or eastern
branch of Moose River, from Lake Temiscaming and the Ottawa,
and which is about 700 feet above the sea, the frost toward the
close of winter had penetrated three and a half feet in a cultivated
field, while in the woods not above six inches of soil were frozen.
No search was made for a frozen substratum. These are the chief
observations* I have been able to collect, having reference to this
subject. It is plain that much more extensive researches are re-.
quired to enable us to form any general conclusions which can be
relied on.
Professor Baer informs us that in Europe and Siberia, the
farther we go east, the more southerly do we find the limit of perpetual ground ice to be. In the environs of Lake Baikal, ice remains at least in one locality all the year. No permanent ice was
found at Tobolsk in lat. 580 N., but Humboldt discovered small
pieces at the depth of six feet in summer in the elevated district of
Boguslowsk, near the foot of the Ural Mountains, in lat. 590 45' N.
It would appear from these instances that the ground ice has a
more southerly limit on the shores of Hudson's Bay than in Siberia;
and that in America, as far as observations go, that limit follows the
course of the isothermal lines which dip to the south as they proceed to the eastward.
THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS IN THE VALLEY OF THE ST.
LAWRENCE.
The subsequent tables of temperature and notices of the progress of the seasons are arranged so as to convey, as far as my materials go, a view of the climates of the successive lake basins from
the St. Lawrence northward.  Table IH. is intended also to illustrate the fact that the climate, on the west side of the continent, is
milder than in the eastern States. Fort Vancouver being upward
of forty miles from the coast in a direct line, its climate can not be
called maritime, and its temperatures may be conveniently contrasted with those of Montreal, which is also situated on the banks
of a first-rate river, and not under the influence of sea-breezes.
There is very little difference in the latitudes of the two places,
or in their altitudes above the sea; but the direct distance between
* All the experiments made in Rupert's Land, in 1835-36, are detailed
in the Ed. New Philos. Journ. for January, 1841.




VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.               377
them exceeds 2200 geographical miles. The difference of their
mean annual temperatures is, at least, eight degrees of Fahrenheit
in favor of the Pacific coast, and is equal to what would be produced
by a diminution of four or five degrees of latitude on the same meridian. The greater mean heat of the Pacific side of the continent
has been long known, and a reference to the table will show that it
is mainly due to the milder winters; the mean difference between
the summer and winter temperatures being-twice as great at Montreal as on the Oregon. On the other hand, the summers are sensibly warmer at Montreal. The notices of the progress of the
seasons on the two sides of the continent will illustrate these facts
equally well. The early spring at Vancouver, with the two inches
of snow and a rainy winter, contrasts strongly with the long dry
winter and three feet of snow at Penetanguishene, where the ice
does not disappear fiom the lake till past the middle of April.
Columns 1 and 2 of the same table refer to places immediately
on the coast, and Franklin Malone is at an altitude above Fort
Vancouver, which is considered to be equivalent to two degrees of
mean annual temperature.  If we compare these columns with
column 4, we perceive that with little change of mean annual temperature, places on the coast have a more equable climate, the
three winter months being comparatively milder, and the three
summer ones less warm.
Table I. shows that as we advance into the interior, the heat of
the summer is kept up, or even augments, notwithstanding the
elevation above the sea attained by ascending the successive stages
of the St. Lawrence basin.
The nature of the rock formations has a considerable influence
on the climate of a district. In the primitive country, such as has
been described in a preceding page as abounding in lakes and
swamps, the climate is extreme, the winters being not only longer,
but also more severe, the dissolution of the ice in such districts
absorbing much heat. A marked difference occurs when we pass
from the,"intermediate primitive range" to the prairie districts
lying to the westward; for, notwithstanding the greater elevation
of the latter, the winters are milder, the snow less deep and less
durable, the rivers break up earlier, and the sap flows sooner in the
trees. A corresponding difference in the vegetation occurs; the
prairie plants have much less of an arctic aspect than those of the
primitive districts. Professor Agassiz, in his work on Lake Superior, has instituted a very interesting comparison between the vegetation of that basin and the lower and middle subalpine zones of
the higher tracts of the Jura, proving their very great similarity.
With the prairie districts, the analogy of the Jura is very much




378                    CLIMATOLOGY.
less strong. Many of the plants which give the peculiar character
to the prairies south of the Missouri, range northward to the
branches of the Peace River, a main affluent of the Mackenzie;
and several prairie plants enter the silurian wooded tracts which lie
to the westward of the,"intermediate primitive range," though
they have not been discovered in the more eastern parts of the
continent.




TABLE I.
TEMPERATURE OF VARIOUS PLACES IN LAKES ONTARIO, ERIE, HURON, AND MICHIGAN.
Lake Ontatrio.        Lake Huron,         Lake Michigan.           Lake Erie,            Lake Erie
North Side            East Side            Green Bay,             East End           and R. S. Clair,
Toronto.         Penetanguishene.        Fort Howard.             Bulffalo.             Detroit.
Lat. 430 401 N.      Lat. 440 48t N.       Lat. 44~ 401 N.       Lat. 4-2 65/ N        Lat. 421 191 N.
Long. 79Q 212 W.    Long. 80~ 40t W.    Long. 87Q 00' W.    Long. 78~ 655 W.    Lon.  820 68 W.
Alt. 340 Feet.       Alt. 626 Feet.        Alt. 600 Feet.        Alt. 575 Feet.        Alt. 575 Feet.
PERIODS.                                                                 8 and 8,                                Computed by              8 nd 2,
Obs.fo              by C. Todd,             7r P,9,          the Form. N.Y.           3  Years,
5 Years at         Surgeon R. N.          corrected by             Dove.              Corrected by
Magn. Obs.                     Dove'                               Yrs Obs-           Dove's Form.
Dove's Form.
Ca
(21.)* (2.                                  (3.)                  (4.)                  (5.)
O       January................................................                           25-34                 23-42                 17-76                 23-41                 20-26
February...............................................           23'71                 22-60                 20-05                 21-14                31-32
C       March................................................                             30'37                 31 90                 30-87                35-49                 39'88;       April...........................................          43-38                 37-82                 42-83                 40'70                49'68
Xr      May....................................................                           5328                  55-36                 56-57                 55-29                 57'07
0       June...................................................                          60-88                 67'99                 67'86                 67'45                68'02
H       July................................................             66-28                 73-31                 71-71                 71-55                 70'83
August...............................................                             66-73                 69'40                68-67                 69-99                 68-87:       September..........................................                               58-71                 56-03                 56-91                 59-89                61'68
~ October................................................                                 45'69                 50(11                 46-74                 48-75                 54-28
9       November..............................................          36'03                 38-86                 33'97                 37-22'                38-05
X       December................................2724                                  25-24                 20-95                 27-80                29-32;A      Year.............................................            4-8
X Year.................................................. 44'81                            45'74                 4457                  45'54                 49'10
Winter.................................................                2543                 23.75                  19-59                24-12                 26-97
Spring..................................................                          4234                 35-02                  43-43                43-83                 48 87
Summer................................................                            64-43                 70-24                69-41                 69-66                 69'24
Autumn................................................  46-81              48'34                 45-87                 48-62                 51'34
Difference of hottest and coldest months..................        48-81                49 99                  53,95                50-41                 50'57
Difference of summer and winter.........................                          39'20                 46-49                 49'82                 45-54                 42-27
* NI. 1 is taken from the volume of observations made at the observatory at Toronto, published by Government. No. 2 from Franklin's Second Journey.
Nos 3, 4 and 5. front Dove's Tables in the Report of the British Association for 1847.




380                                 CLIMATOLOGY.
TABLE
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF TEMPERATURES ON THE EAST AND
EAST SIDE.
Aqtlantic Coast.           St. Lawrence Valley.
PERIODS.                Maine,       Nova Scotia,   North N. York,   Canada East,
Eastport,       Halifax,     Fr. Malone,      Montreal,
Lat. 44Q 541 N.  Lat. 440 391 N.  Lat. 440 50/ N.   Lat. 450 31/ N.
Long. 66~ 56/ W. Long. 63 38/ W. Long. 740 23 W. Long. 73~ 35/ W.
Alt. 15 Feet.    Alt. 15? Feet.   Alt. 645 Feet.    Aft. 60 Feet.
(12.)*   (2.                   (3.)           (4.)
January............            19 18          20'00          28-24           13-03
February................       22-71           18-00          26-15           17-68
March...................        29-85           25'00          31-42           30-89
A pril....................     38-72           30'00          45-08           46-80
May.....................        48-99           40'00          52-67           53'97
June...................          5631           50'00          60'22           59'73
July...................         63-28           63-00'66'90           68-90
Aulgust..................      63'24           70'00          65'45           68-04
September...............       57-15           5100           55-17           57-61
October.................        46f33          51-00          46'92           46-50
November...............        36-18           38-00          32-85           31-58
December...............        24-55           25'00          21-22           19-66
Year....................       42-41           40-08          43-52          42 12
3 Winter months........        2215            21 00          21'87           16-95
3 Spring months..........        39-19          31-67          43-06           39'03
3 Summer months........         60'94          61'00.64-19           67-26
3 Autumn months........          46'55          46'67          44'98           45'18
Difference of hottest and  I   44-10            52'00          48'66           55'87
coldest months..........
Difference of summer and         3879           40'00          42-32           50-31
winter..................
* Columns 1, 2, and 3 are extracted from Dove's paper, published in the Report of the British
Association for 1847, being corrected for the diurnal variation computed for Toronto by
Dove, in the same paper.  No. 4 is abstracted from a paper by J. S. M'Cord, Esquire,
printed at Montreal, and discussing observations of temperature for 1839 and 1840, and
1840-41, 12 times daily at the even hours.
Column 5 is also from Dove's paper, and is reduced by his formula.
Columns 6 and 8 are abstracted frtm a year's observations, by G. B. Roberts, Esquire, of
the Hudson's Bay Company, with a thermometer of Newman's construction. Column 6 is
reduced for the hours of observation, according to Dove's formula for Toronto. Column 8 is
transcribed without correction. Column 7 is an abstract of observations by the Rev. S. Parker, also corrected by Dove's formula.
The subjoined is an abstract of observations for seven years, made by Henry Poole, Esquire,
at Albion Mines, near Pictou, in Nova Scotia, and on the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Mr. Poole ascertained the minima in the night by a self-registering thermometer, and the
maxima between 1 and 2 P.M., by a thermometer hung on the north side of the house, and
sheltered from the north winds by a plantation of firs at the distance of a few yards. The ob



COMPARATIVE TABLE OF TEMPERATURES.                                 381
II.
WEST SIDES OF THE CONTINENT NEAR THIE 45TH PARALLEL.
WEST SIDE.
Oregon State.
Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia, 50 m. from the Sea.          PERIODS.
Lat. 45~ 37' N.
Long. 1220 45' W.
Hours 7, 2, 9.   Hours 8 and 8.    Hours 7-1.  Hour 2 p.m.
(5.)           (6.)          (7.)            (8.)
37-62          36i58          37'10           40'68      January.
42'89          35-37          38-98           44'07      February
43-68          44'05          47-47           55'06      March.
45'55          50-22..            62-50      April
53'44          58-43                          74'61      May.
62-48          58-72..            7317       June.
65'46          61-76..            75'71      July.
65'84          63'05..            79'74      Allgust.
60'30          61-10..            74-27      September.
53-23          52 62          48'27           68-16      October.
42-68          38'83          39'23           48-27      November.
42-95          34-49          38'60           42-06      December.
51-34          49'73.61-91                   Year.
41'15          35'49          38'23           42-21      3 Winter months.
47-55          50-90..            64'07      3 Spring months.
64'67          61'30..            76-14      3 Summer months.
52-00          50'92..            64-71      3 Autumn months.
28-28         -28 56..           39 06       Difference of hottest and
coldest months.
23 52          25-81..           33 93      I Difference of surnnmmer and,
servations are corrected for the Toronto diurnal variation for an hour before sunrise, and 2 P.M
As there appears to have been some local cause producing higher winter temperatures than isl
other parts of the coast, I did not think it expedienit to introduce these observations into the
comparative table.
Abstract of Temperatures at Albian Mines, 120 Feet above the Sea, Lat. 450 34k' N.
Long. 620 42' W. Means of Maxima.
Jan. 50'58 F.  March 5253  June   68-86 Sept.  6242  Year....... 5603
Feb. 51-85    April 54-51  July   70-64 Oct.  55-10 -         _
Dec. 51-11    May  58-64  August 70'61 Nov.  4998  Diff. hot at d cold months..   20.66
Wint. 51-18    Spring 53-23  Summer 6904  Autumn 55-83  Diff. of summer and winter.. 1786




382                                 CLIMATOLOGY.
TABLE III.
TABLE OF TEMPERATURES ON LAKE SUPERIOR AND ON THE UPPER PART OF
THE OTTAWA RIVER.
Lake Superior.
L. Temiscaming.
H. Bay Post,
Fort Brady,     Northeast     Thunder Bay    on the Ottawa.
Saut St. Mary.    angle,       Fort Wiliam    Lat. 470191 N.
Lat. 46 3M' N.   Michipicoten.  Lat 4o 23Wl.   Long. 790 31' W.
Long. 784 15 W.  LLong. 89 2I' W.
PZRIODS.                                       _.
Sunrise, sunset,
L7,1,9,         ad 8, by      8 and 8        aad noon.
LDove      g. Keith, Eq.,   Corrected by     by -
Corrected.    corrected by   Dove's form.   Seeright, Esq.,
Dove's form.                   corrected by
Dove's form.
(1.)           (2.)           (3.)            (4.)
January.................    -l1830           +10'63          +5'70           +9-23
February................        19-69          16-66           8-22           18-44
March...................        27'04          26-09          22-72           24-41
April.................. 38-05                  34-66          31-42           39-04
May.....................        52-00          51-88          48-87           49'35
June....................        58'61          55-00           58'73          62-75
July.....................       65-36          57'03           62:19          67-28
August................         64-36          60-04          58-84           6.5-58
September...............        55'55          49 67          48-16           53'39
October.................       44'75           44'92          41-88           40'83
November..............         33'59           29'01          23-43           25'97
December..............         22-23           22-38           18-16          17'68
Year....................       41-63           38-25          35-90           38'58
3 Winter months........        20-07           1668            10-75          15-02
3 Spring months.........        39-04          37-57          39'67           37-58
3 Summer months........         62-77          57'39          59'94           65-23
3 Autumn months........         44-63          41-24          37-80           40'07
Difference of hottest and        4606           4941           5649            5805
coldest months.......
Difference of summer and         42 70          40-71          49-19           50-21
winter months........
Column 1 is extracted from Dove's paper, already referred to; columns 2 and 3 are compiled from documents obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company; and column 4 is extracted
from Mr. Logan's Geological Report for 1845-6.




PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS AT MICHIPICOTEN.           383
Phenomena illustrative of the Climate of Penetanguishene, on Lake
Huron.*
The spring sets in very suddenly. Snow continues until the latter end
of April, and longer in the forest than in cleared lands. The weather in
March is clear and cloudless, and the ice, which in winter has attained-a
thickness of sixteen inches, begins to dissolve. Toward the end of the
month the sap of the maple flows, and the sugar harvest commences.
Flocks of Canada geese and various ducks appear about the same time,
and are the harbingers of fine weather. The ice disappears on an average
on the 24th of April. Alders and various willows flower about the middle
of the month, and the Hepatica triloba blossoms on the 25th. Potatoes
are planted between the 1st and 20th of May, and cucumbers and melons
are usually sown between the 25th and the end of the month.  Viola
blanda, Xylosteum, Leontice, Erythronium, and many other plants, blossom
in this month; the forest trees come all into leaf about the 16th, and,
about the 19th, the musquitoes begin to be troublesome.
In the month of June the temperature rises to 90~ F. in the day, and
heavy dews fall in the night. Barley and oats are sown about the 15th,
and toward the end of the month garden peas are fully podded, and the
male flowers of maize spring up. The Lilium philadelphicum blossoms at
this time.
In July and August the weather is usually dry and sultry. About the
beginning of the former month Penstemon pubescens, Rhus typhinum, garden melons, and cucumbers blossom; and, toward the middle of August,
melons grown without artificial warmth are ripe, and the wheat and oat
harvest commences. Maize is fit for pulling about the end of the month.
In September numerous flocks of Turdus migratorius and other birds
arrive from the north, and remain for a time feeding on the berries of
various rasp bushes. Maize ripens about the first of the month, and near
its end frost destroys the cucumber and melon vines: forest trees chang,,
their hue, and potatoes are dug and stored for winter use.
The forest assumes a variety of autumnal hues in the beginning of
October; about the middle of the month, many flocks of geese and ducks
pass to the southward, and their appearance precedes a series of cold
weather, which strips the leaves from the trees. A fall of snow usually
occurs about the 25th.
November is generally calm and pleasant, and about three weeks of
peculiar weather, named the " Indian summer," occurs. It is characterized by a fog or haze rising from the earth, through which the sun is seen
obscurely, and there is little or no wind. In December, the thermometer
sinks a few degrees below zero, and much snow falls. The harbor freezes
in the beginning of the month. In January, the thermometer sinks 20
degrees below zero, and rarely to — 32~. The snow attains a depth of
three feet in the woods, but the ground it covers is not frozen. A great
fall of snow takes place in February, and there is usually a temporary
thaw about the end of the month, accompanied by heavy rain, and occasionally by thunder.
* By the late C. C. Todd, Esq., Surgeon, R. N.




384                        CLIMATOLOGY.
Phenomena indicating the Progress of the Seasons at Michipicoten, Lake
Superior,* in the year 1840.
Jan. 19. Open water in the bay. Mergansers frequenting it.
Feb. 14. Bay again closed by ice.
March 8. Snow-birds departed for the north.  26th. The snow-birds returned again, the weather having been severe. Domestic hens
began to lay eggs. Two ducks seen.
Apr. 10. Lake clear of ice in Michipicoten Bay.  12th. Turdus migratorius came.
May  2. All the snow  gone.  6th. Swallows came.  22d. Potatoes
planted.
Sept. 4. Small trout collecting in the rivulets to spawn.  On the 23d
they ceased spawning. Frosty nights. Potatoes not hurt.
26th. Corregonus lucidus spawning in the river.
Nov. -10. Ice beginning to drift in the river. 18th. The large trout and
Corregonus albus cease to spawn here at this time, though they
carry on this operation later in other parts of the lake.
Dec.  3. Ice broken up in the river.  Little snow lying on the ground.
13th. River again frozen over. Season mild.
Phenomena indicating the Progress of the Seasons at Fort William, Lake
Superior, in the year 1840.
Feb. 29. Thermometer at noon rose to 390 F.
March 1. Temperature 61' in the middle of the day. On the 27th a
gray hawk, and on the 31st a barking crow, Corvus americanus,
were seen.
April 2. The sap of the sugar maple began to run. On the 4th small
holes began to perforate the ice. On the 9th the first wild
ducks of the season came, and on the 10th butterflies, blue flies,
and gulls were noticed. 20th. The general thaw commences
at this period.  Ground frozen to the depth of 3 feet 9 inches.
21st. Anser canadensis, Anas boschas, and mergansers frequenting the neighborhood.  28th. Heard a nightingale (Turdus?).
30th. River partially open.
May  2. River free of ice.  Bay of the lake full of drift ice.  6th. Anser
hyperboreus passing in flocks.  8th. Musquitoes seen.  10th.
The birch tree and maple budding.
June 15. Swallows building in the outhouses.  17th. Sturgeons spawning
in the rapids of the river. 19th. Catastomi beginning to descend the river from  the rapids.  21st. Corregonus lucidus
comes to the entrance of the river in shoals.
July  3. The Corregoni have left the mouth of the river.  15th. Barley
just coming into ear. Potatoes in flower. The Lepus americanus having its second litter of young.  31st. Raspberries
ripening.
Aug. 8. Red currants and blue berries (Vaccinium) perfectly ripe.  10th.
* By chief factor George Keith. Esq.




PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS AT FORT VANCOUVER.              385
Reindeer begin to rut.  19th. Barley ripening.  29th. Peas
quite ripe. 31st. The swallows have disappeared.
Sept. 2. Reindeer rutting season ends. On the 7th the leaves of the
birch and aspen change color.  10th. Small trout begin to
spawn. 13th. Potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and cauliflowers
nipped by the frost. 14th. A few ducks arriving from the
north.  16th. The first stock-ducks arrived from the north this
autumn. 20th. Small trout spawning abundantly on the
shoals.  23d. The orioles have departed for the south.  Canada
geese arriving from the north, and going southward. 30th.
Corregonus lucidus at this date begins to spawn in the rapids of
the river.
Oct. 6. The large trout begin to spawn in the lake at the Shaguinah
Islands: they cease on the 18th. Thunder. 7th. Leaves of
the birch and aspen falling.  10th. The Corregonus lucidus
has ceased spawning on the rapids. 14th. Thunder..rnser
hyperboreus arriving from the north.  15th. Passing in large
flocks.  20th. Hail, thunder, and lightning.  Plovers, divers,
snipes, orioles, geese, and ducks in the neighborhood. On the
31st, snow-birds began to arrive from the north.
Nov. 3. The small lakes frozen over.  On the 9th, the river (Kamenistikwoya) covered by a sheet of ice, which broke up again. 21st.
The spawning season of the Corregonus albus terminates.
Dec.  1. Ice driving about in the lake with the wind.  On the 17th, the
bay was frozen across to the Welcome Islands.
The following Notices of the Progress of the Seasons at Fort
Vancouver in 1838,* may be contrasted with the state of vegetation
at the same times of the year in the valley of the St. Lawrence:
Jan.  2. Short young grass, affording good pasturage for sheep in places
that were flooded in summer. 8th. Berry-bearing bushes budding, such as the wild cherry, black currant, &c.  Swans
abundant, ducks, geese, and cranes scarce.  10th-12th. Snow
fell to the depth of an inch and a half, and vegetation was retarded by unfavorable weather till
Feb. 17. when wild gooseberry bushes were observed budding. Between
the 26th of this month and
Mar. 16. Thunder and hail showers occurred.  Ribes sanguineumn blossoming.  Trilliumn grandiflorum, having the local name in Oregon
of "Herb Paris," in full flower.  21st. Apple and pear-trees
budding. The wild gooseberry in full leaf, and further advanced than bushes from England cultivated in the garden.
24th. The swallow first noticed. 30th. Humming-birds appearing; strawberries flowering../lpril 3. Mahonia in blossom, and, on the 5th, peach-trees flowering.
8th. Potatoes that have lain in the ground all winter, beginning to show. 11th. Dog-wood and elder in blossom. 17th.
Several species of violet in flower. 20th. Field iris in flower.
23d. Brambles flowering. On the 25th, clover in bloom; and,
D By G. B. Roberts, Esq., of the Hudson's Bay Company




386                         CLIMATOLOGY.
on the 26th, wild tares flowered. Hail and thunder storms.
28th. Blossoms of the fruit-trees falling.
May  1. Lupins in flower.  7th. Wild rose and eglantine in flower.
12th. Strawberries ripening.  28th. Field-peas in blossom.
30th. Garden-peas brought to table. Thunder.
Jwne  1. Spring barley in ear.  5th. New  potatoes raised from  tubers,' left all winter in the ground, fit for table. 7th. Oats in flower.
10th. Spring wheat coming into ear. 17th. Bramble-berries
ripening. 23d. Gooseberries, currants, and raspberries ripe.
Thunder.  26th. Blackberries (Vaccinium) ripe.
July  4. Humming-birds scarce this season.  19th. Barley fit for the
scythe. 22d. Winter wheat ripe. 28th. House-flies numerous.
1ug. 3. Oats ripe.  7th. Field-peas harvested.  9th. Foggy mornings,
followed by a clear sky and excessive heat. Dewless mornings
succeeded by rain. 12th. Salmon season usually ends. Several cases of ague occurring. 27th. Musquitoes very troublesome.  Geese arriving from the north.
Sept. 7. Hail and thunder. 12th. Buckwheat harvested. 13th. Ague
prevalent.  19th. Mowed barley that was sowed on the 16th
of June-a fair crop. 22d. Peas sown on the 19th of June,
on alluvial land, that was flooded in winter, now ripe.
Oct. 27. The Columbia or Oregon River unusually low, the greatest depth
opposite the fort being less than fifteen feet.
Nov.  8. Potatoes killed by the frost.  18th. A little drift ice in the river.
20th. Rain and sleet.
Dec, 26. Snow at this time two inches deep, being the greatest fall this
season, and less than usual.




TEMPERATURES IN SASKATCHEWAN VALLEY                                 387
TABLE IV.
THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.-VALLEY OF THE SASKATCHEWAN.
Fr                          ICumberland    Oxford House.   York Factory.   Rupert House.
House.      Lat. 54' 55i N.   Lat. 574 0/ N.   Lat. 510 21/ N.
Lat. 53Q 57/ N. Long. 960 28/ W. Long. 92~ 261W. Long. 83' 40 W.
Long. 102' 20/ W.  Alt. 400 Feet?    Alt. 20 Feet.    Alt. 20 Feet?
Alt. 900 Feet.   Mean Temp.,    Mean Temp.    Mean Temp.,
MONTHS AND SEASONS.    Mean Temp.,   7 A.M., Noon,   Morn., Noon,  Sunrise, 13 P.M.,
8 A.M., 8 P.M.,   aud 8 P.M.,    and Evening,    Sunset,
corrected      corrected,     corrected,     corrected,
1839.          183.3.         1830.          1839.
June...................                                       47-67
July...................                                       59.99
August..........              62-84..            54-85
September..............        44'50..            4190
October.................       33'15           17'53          33-43          34'80
November.21-48                                 13-29          25-17          23-33
December.                        7'94         -23'06            3-73          15 59
January................       -0'89          -22-06         — 512           — 409
February.............  -8'06          -  1'90         — 660          — 0 68
March.1830                                      8'57           4-77           7'64
April...........7...          P7'01           28'62          19-21          21-05
May.....................       5259            38'01          33'53          41'51
Year................           33-20..            25-63
Summer.................         62-62..            5207
Autumn...............          330.. )4                       33'50
Winter..................      -017            -0-82         — 2-53             0-14
Spring...................       3270            7'51          19-17           0-78
Difference of hottest and        7206                          6659
coldest months.......         72'06..            66'59
Difference of summer and         61-79                         54160
witer...............         61'79..            5460
The observations recorded in the above table were made at Cumberland House, by chief
factor John Lee Lewis, between the beginning of August, 1839 and the end of September, 1840,
the register being deficient in June and July, when Mr. Lewis was traveling on the business
of the Company. The temperatures were measured by a thermometer made by Newman, and
sent out at that time with many others, by the Geographical Society, but at the expense of the
Hudson's Bay Company. The monthly means of the combined temperatures at 8 A.M. and at
8 P.M. were corrected by Dove's table, calculated for Toronto.-Rep. Br. Ass. 1847.
The observations at Oxford House were made between October, 1833 to May, 1834, at 7 A.M.,
noon, and 8 P.M., and these are also corrected by Dove's formula for Toronto.
The register for York Factory, Hudson's Bay, was kept by chief factor Joseph Charles, from
June, 1830 to end of May, 1831, the temperatures being recorded in the morning, noon, and
afternoon, but the exact hours of the morning and evening are not specified. They have been
corrected by Dove's table, on the supposition that the hours were sunrise and sunset.
The observations at Rupert House, on the east side of James's Bay, were made at sunrise,
an hour an" a half after noon, and at sunset, and Dove's corrections have also been applied to
them.
An examination of the several columns will show clearly the effect of open water. in HudSon's
and James's Bays, in tempering the atmosphere in the months of October, November, and even
December, and of the presence of ice in those seas, keeping down the summer heat.




388                                  CLIMATOLOGY.
TABLE V.
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF TEMPERATURE ON EAST AND WEST SIDES OF THE
CONTINENT.
Nain.          Okak.           Sitka.
Lat. 570 10' N.    Lat. 570 301  Lat. 570 3 N.
Long. 61~ 501 W.    Long. 660.   Long. 1350 181 W
PERIODS.                      Alt. 20 Feet.   Alt. 20 Feet.    Alt. 20 Feet.
3 Years.        2 Years.       2M Years.
8,12, 4, 8.    8,12, 4, 8.      Reduced.
Dove.           Dove.           Baer.
June..................................           42.53           44-65           53-83
July....................................         5018            51-65           57-11
August......................   50'99                           52-00           57'79
September..............................          44-98           44-45           55-96
October.................................          33'98           31-15           46-63
November..............................           26-51           22-40           42'89
December...............................            6'51             8-45          36,32
January.............................               0'95            2'15           34-18
February...................                        351              195            33-60
March..................................  752            8-25           38-01
April............................          29-97           29-00            40'64
May....................................           36-23           38-25           48-18
Year.........................           27-82           27-86            45'44
Summer................................           47'90            49.43 ~         56-24
Autumn................................           35-16            3267           48-49
Winter.............................              3'66             4-18           34'74
Spring                                            24-57            2517            4228
Difference of hottest and coldest months..        50'04           50'05           24-19
Difference of summer and winter.4424                              45-25           21-50
TABLE VI.
ABSTRACT OF A RECORD OF TEMPERATURES OF THE AIR IN THE SHADE,
KEPT BY MR. DRUMMOND, AT EDMONTON HOUSE, LAT. 53~ 40' N., LONG.
1130 W., ALT. 1800 FEET.
Monthly Means.                 Extreme Temperatures.
MONTHS.
Of Maxima.   Of Minima.    Of these.      Highest.       Lowest.
1827.
January.............        18'68         3-42         11-05        +42-0         -27-0
February............       29'96          3-68         14-32        +47'0         — 250




CARLTON HOUSE.-SASKATCHEWAN VALLEY.                                  389
TABLE VII.
ABSTRACT OF A JOURNAL OF TEMPERATURES KEPT AT CARLTON HOUSE BY
THE AUTHOR, LAT. 520 51' N., LONG. 106~ 13' W., ALT. 1100 FEET.
Monthly Means.               Extreme Temperatures.
MONTHS.
Of Maxima.   Of Minima.    Of these.    Highest       Lowest.
Feb., last 10 days.....    12'50      -1'20           5-65        31-0        -29-0
March..............       23'10       +0'74          11'92        42'0        -26-0
April................     40'97         18-53        29'75         59'0       +  2-0
May.................      61 90         33'95        47-92        75'0        +22-0
TABLE VIII.
TABLE OF THE EXTREME TEMPERATURES OCCURRING IN EACH MONTH AT
SEVERAL PLACES IN THE  SASKATCHEWAN VALLEY, AND IN HUDSON'S AND
JAMES'S BAYS.
Cumberland House.   Oxford House.:York Factory.    Rupert House.
Lat. 530 57' N.   Lat. 540 55/ N.  Lat. 570 00 N.    Lat. 510 21/ N.
Long. 10i2 o0/ W.   Long. 96Q 28/ W.   Long. 92Q 26t W.   Long. 83Q 40' W.
Alt. 900 Feet.   Alt. 400 Feet      Alt. 20 Feet      Alt. 20 Feet.
Highest  Lowest  Highest  Lowest  Highlest  Lowest  Highest  Lowest
Temp.   Temp.   Temp.   Tamp.   Temp.   Temp.   Temp.   Temp.
June...........    87        42....      83        25
July........... 98           47....     96        35
August.........    90        49....      79        40
September......    73         30....      70        28
October........    68         5      49      - 3       58        19      61        13
November......    38       — 10      39      — 6       42         8      36      -10
December......    25       — 26      32      -29       30      -30       37      - 5
January........    25      -32         0     -44      1] 9     -34       16      -32
February.......   34        — 35       30     -33       37      -35       39      -36
March..........     50      -  9      34      -27       47      -25       34      -25
April...........    55     -3        64      — 8       55      -- 9      53      -16
May...........    93         27      65         15     62        15      71        19
Table VIII. shows that tropical temperatures occur in the Saskatchewan basin, for a day or
two, or it may be only for a few hours at a time in summer, yet that the three summer months
seldom pass without night frosts. These destroy tender plants, and in untoward seasons injure
the growth of cerealia. Wheat, however, ripens well in the drier limestone districts, and still
better in the prairie country; but it is there subject to periodical ravages of the larva of caterpillars, which come like an army of locusts, and eat up all that is green. Were the country
more generally cultivated, and rooks and domestic poultry encouraged, this plague might be
lessened. Maize ripens well at the Red River and Carlton, and, I believe, at Cumberland
House also, though I did not see it in cultivation there. The 54th parallel may be considered
as its northern limit, but its profitable culture does not, perhaps, extend beyond the 49th or
50th degree on the east side of the Rocky Mountains.




390                       CLIMATOLOGY.
In the following Table of Phenomena, indicating the Progress of
the Seasons at Cumberland House, I have combined my own observations in the spring of 1820 with those of chief factor John Lee
Lewis, in 1839 and 1840, distinguishing the remarks by the years.
The supposed altitude of Cumberland House above the sea is 900
feet, according to Captain Lefroy's calculations.
March 4. Water collecting in pools round the establishment. 1840.
7. Much bare ground visible.
8. The snow which covered the ground to the depth of three feet,
was observed to moisten in the sun for the first time this season. 1820.
12. Temperature in the shade rose for the first time to +300 F.
The melting snow began to drop from the eaves of the houses.
21. Patches of earth became visible, the season being in respect to
the melting of the snow fourteen days later than that of 1840.
The river Saskatchewan broke up partially, the melting snow
covered with Podurce, as it is also frequently in the autumn.
24. A white-headed eagle was seen, this being almost always the
first of the summer birds which arrives; it comes as soon as it
can obtain fish. In 1840, the first eagle was seen on the 26th.
~.pril 2. The river Saskatchewan froze over again, after some very cold
days.
7. Barking crows (Corvus americanus) seen.  They were not observed till the 19th in 1840.
8. First snow bunting seen (Emberiza nivalis). 1840.
9. A merganser seen. 1820.
10i Willow catkins beginning to burst.
12. Geese and swans seen in 1820. In 1840 they were not seen
till the 20th; and pelicans and ducks were observed that year
on the 21st.
13. Buds of Populus balsamifera bursting.  1820.
17. Plovers, grakles, and orioles seen, and, on the following day,
Canadian jays and fly-catchers. Frogs croaking.
20. Coltsfoot, Nardosmia palmata flowering.
26. Alder flowering. The sugar harvest, which is collected in this
district from the Negundo fraxinifolium, commenced in 1820,
on the 20th of this month, and lasted till the 10th of May.
The flow of the sap is greatly influenced by the direct action of
the sun, and is greatest when a smart night's frost is succeeded
by a warm sun-shining day. The flow ceases in a cold night.
28. The Saskatchewan thoroughly broken up. The ice on Pine
Island Lake did not disappear until nearly a month afterward.
Wahlenberg observes that the mean temperature of the air in
Lapland must rise to 40~ F. before the rivers are completely
free. The Saskatchewan opens in this district before the mean
heat for ten days rises so high; but its upper part flows from a
more southerly and warmer, though a more elevated, country.
30. Commenced plowing. 1840.
May  1..nemone patens, or wind flower, in blossom, its leaves not yet
expanded. 1820.




PROGRESS OF SEASONS AT CARLTON HOUSE.             391
May 2. A fall of snow to the depth of two feet. 1840.
13. Planting potatoes.
14. Sowing barley.  1820. Negundo fraxinifolium and gooseberry
bushes in flower.
17. Willows, gooseberries, aspens (Populus tremuloides) in leaf.
Various Drabce in flower. 1820. In 1840 the trees were
bursting their buds at this time.
17. Wheat sown on the 8th of this month, above ground to-day,
having germinated in nine days.  1840.
21. Barley sown on the 14th above ground, having taken seven days
to germinate.
22. Leaves of the trees expanding rapidly.
24. Ulmus americana flowered.  1820.
25. Pine Island Lake clear of ice. 28th.  Prunus pennsylvanica,
P. virginiana, and Amelanchier in flower.  30th. From the
23d to the 30th of this month in 1840, the temperature in the
shade at 2 Pr.. varied between 78~ F. and 930 F. On the
30th, potatoes planted on the 13th appeared above the grounrd.
1840.
June 12. All the forest trees in full leaf.  1820..ug. 1. Commenced reaping barley. On the 15th, 18th, 19th, and
September 1, the thermometer at noon ranged between 80~
and 900, being the hottest days in the month. There was
much thunder and hail on these days. 1839.
Sept. 2. Flocks of water-fowl beginning to arrive from the north. 3d.
The first fall of snow this autumn. 4th. Vast numbers of
water-fowl flying southward. A severe fall of snow and frost
in the north causes these birds to hurry to the south.  11th.
First hoar-frost.  Birch and aspen leaves turning yellow.
14th. Wild-fowl numerous. ~ 20th. Snow; 21st, ditto very
heavy.  24th. Thunder and lightning.
Oct.  1. Taking up potatoes.  5th. Leaves all fallen from the deciduous
trees. On the 11th, thermometer at 2 P.-n., in the shade, 680
F., being unusually high.
14. Water-fowl passing southward in large flocks. 1839.
15. Bays of the lake frozen over. 16th. The ground frozen hard.
17th. Last water-fowl seen this season. 18th. Lake entirely
frozen over. In 1839 the Little River was frozen over on the
24th of this month, but broke up again in part, and remained
partially open all the winter.
31. Waveys (A.nas hyperborea) passing. Lake partially opened.
The following are the Phenomena of the Spring of 1827 at Carlton House, in lat. 520 51' N., long. 106~ 13' W., on the eastern
limits of the Saskatchewan prairie lands, and at an elevation above
the sea of about 1100 feet.*' This was estimated in 1827 at 1000 feet from the length of lhe river course
between Carlton House and York Factory, making a smaller allowance per
mile for the descent, as far as Lake Winipeg, and a considerably greater one
for the falls and rapids of Nelson River. It accords sufficiently with Captain
Lefroy's observations; and its error does not probably exceed 200 feet at most




392                        CLIMATOLOGY.
Feb. 15. Snow thawing in the sunshine, and on the 17th many sandy
hummocks on the plains were bare. This is at least three
weeks earlier than the thaw commences in an early season at
Cumnberland House, which is a degree further north, but is 200
feet lower.
March 6. Trees thawed in fine days, and on the 8th the black earth on
the immediate banks of the river was softened to the depth of
two inches by the power of the sun's rays. At this place the
westerly winds bring mild weather, and the easterly ones are
attended by fog and snow.
13. Sparrow-hawks (Falco sparverius) arrived from the south, and
on the 17th several migratory small birds were noticed.
29. Large flocks of snow-birds (Emberiza nivalis) came about the
establishment; and, by the 31st, steep banks, which had a
southern aspect, were clear of snow..April 1. Many Fringillidce (birds of the sparrow tribe) were seen.  On
the 2d, swans arrived, and, by the 3d, much snow had disappeared from the plains.
4. The snow at this time was melting in the shade, and the sap of
the maple trees (Negundo fraxinifolium) began to flow.
April 6. Geese arrived.  Stormy weather, about the middle of the month,
retarded the arrival of the summer birds; but the plants continued to grow fast. On the 20th, the Telltale plover (Charadrius vociferus) and several small birds came.
22. Turdus migratorius, Pyrrhula ludoviciana, and Lanius excubitor
were seen, and the flowers of a.nemone patens expanded.
27. Ice in the river Saskatchewan gave way. Frogs began to croak.
28. Canada cranes Grus canadensis.arrived.
May  1. Sturnus ludovicianus arrived, and the last flocks of Emberiza
nivalis departed for the north.
2. On this day, Icterus phcniceus and Scolecophagus ferrsgineus
were seen, and most of the water-fowl had by this time arrived. On the 4th, Phlox hoodii flowered.
5. Ranunculus rhomboideus, Viola debilis, Nlardosmia palmata, and
several carices flowered.
6. Hirundo viridis and many gulls arrived.
7. On this day the sap of the ash-leaved maple, which had flowed
scantily for ten days, ceased to run altogether, and the sugar
harvest closed..ivocetta americana arrived.  Populus tremuloides in flower.
9. Crow-blackbirds were first seen. Corydalis aurea, Corylus americana and. rostrata, Hippophiie canadensis, Thermopsis rhombifolia, Vesicaria arctica, and Alnus viridis flowered. 12th.
Potentilla concinna, Townsendia sericea flowered.  14th. Goose.
berry bushes coming into leaf. Ash-leaved maple flowering,
seven days after the sap had ceased to flow from wounds in
the stem.  16th. The Picus varius arrived in considerable
numbers, and on the 19th the Viola nuttalliana flowered.
The average antecedence of spring phenomena at Carlton House to their
occurrence at Cumberland House is between a fortnight and three weeks.




SEASONS AT MARTIN'S FALLS.                   393
The difference of latitude, which is only one degree, is nearly counterbalanced by 200 feet of greater altitude; but the dry sandy soil of the plains,
which are early denuded of snow, gives the spring there a great superiority over that of the lower country, where the groand is almost submerged,
and the greater part of it icebound for a month after the river is open.
I obtained no other register of temperatures at Edmonton House, or
from the country near the base of the Rocky Mountains in that parallel,
than the daily maxima and minima for two winter months observed by
Mr. Drummond in 1827. These are included in the subjoined table; and
it will be observed that the winter, as far as we can judge from a few
isolated observations, is even milder at Edmonton than at Cumberland
House, though it is on the same parallel and at a much greater altitude.
Edmonton House is in latitude 540 N., and longitude 113~ W., and its
elevation above the sea is estimated by Captain Lefroy, from his observations on the boiling point of water, at 1800 feet.
Neither have I been able to procure registers of temperatures kept at
any post in the southern parts of the Saskatchewan basin.  The Red River
Colony extends to the boundary line of the United States, or the 49th parallel; andc I hav;e been informed that the Fagus ferruginea, or American
beech, grows within the limits of the settlement, though it does not exist
on Lake Superior, but terminates in that direction at Michilimackinac, on
the 46th parallel. In the interesting account of the Alps of New Hampshire by Professor Agassiz, the trees which grow in the zone comprised
between the elevations of 830 and 1500 feet above the sea are the same
kinds which grow on the Red River and forks of the Saskatchewan at
nearly as great altitudes, and from five to ten degrees further north; with
the addition of the oaks, which find their northern limit on Lake Winipeg,
though they do not enter the corresponding New Hampshire zone. The
same trees, however, if I understand the passage in the work on Lake
Superior (p. 186) to which I here refer, continue to ascend the New Hampshire mountains to the height of 2080 feet; above which, to the height
of 4350 feet, the vegetation consists almost entirely of Abies alba and
balsamea, and Betula excelsa and papyracea.  Betula excelsa scarcely reaches the Saskatchewan basin, or, if it does, is rare even in the southern
parts; but the other trees here named go northward on the Mackenzie till
the 69th parallel, and terminate there on coming within the direct influence of the winds blowing from the Arctic Sea. The summits of the New
Hampshire Alps, 6280 feet high, present a truly arctic flora, much more
so, I believe, than the slope of the Rocky Mountains at that elevation on
the 52d parallel. On this point, however, I can not speak with any confidence, as I have no measurements of the heights at which Mr. Drummond gathered his plants, and he is the only authority for the botany of
that district.
That I may carry on as complete a view of the climate of the
country as I can produce from the observations of others as well as
from my own, I introduce here a table* drawn up by a very intelligent officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, chief factor George' Mr. Barnston having sent me this paper in 1840, I published it in the Edinburgh Philosophi-al Journal for April, 1844.
P. 




394                      CLIMATOLOGY.
Barnston, giving the progress of the seasons at Martin's Falls.
This post is situated in lat. 51" 32' N., long. 86~ 39' W., on Albany
River, about 200 geographical miles in a direct line from the coast
of Hudson's Bay, an ejual distance in a westerly direction from the
water-shed between the Albany and Winipeg Rivers, and somewhat less from the beach of Lake Superior, bearing south. According to Mr. Barnston's remark which follows, the country about
the falls is similar in its geological character to the west side
of Lake Winipeg, and referrible to the silurian epoch.', Our geological position," says that gentleman, ", is upon the confines of the
great basin of James's Bay, an immense extension of the older calcareous strata. Between the, falls' and the coast the bed of the
river is composed of limestones and clays, both containing extinct
genera of shells; while above, toward the interior, little is to be
seen but gneiss and greenstone schist, with a mixture here and
there of less fissile granite rocks. The fossils I have been able to
procure in this neighborhood are principally spirifers, producta, terebratula, and impressions of trilobites.  Although in winter we
have the cold of Russia, in the months of July and August we enjoy the climate of Germany and the north of France." (Barnston,
1. c.) A reference to the map will show that there is a canoe route
from Winipeg River, through Lake Sal, and by a portage over the
water-shed to Lake Saint Joseph, and Albany River, and also a
shorter one from the Peek River on Lake Superior to the southern
tributaries of the Albany. In short, as has been already frequently
stated, the primitive rocks forming the brims of these several river
basins are traversed in every direction by sheets of water occupying more surface than the rocks themselves.
On the Progress of the Seasons at Martin's Falls.
Dec. Jan. Feb. We are frequently visited in these dead winter months by
the white owl (Strix nyctea) from James's Bay, but the hawk
owl (Strix fusnerea) is our most common bird of prey.  Tetrao
umbellus, T. canadensis, and T. phasianellus are residents in this
district the whole year. The Tetrao saliceti, or willow ptarinigan, is a winter visitor which comes from the north..March.  Martens (Mustela martes) pair, and soon afterward rabbits (Lepus americanus.)
15. In the middle of the month the snow often melts in the height
of the day, and by the 20th a snow-bird (Emberiza nivalis)
may be seen occasionally if the season be early.
20. Tops of the higher grasses, which have been concealed beneath
the snow, begin to show. A few brown feathers clothe the
necks of the willow-grouse, and these birds leave us..April.   A slight crust now forms on the snow, produced by night frosts
after thaw in the day. In mild weather, a few insects show
in the sunshine.




SEASONS AT MARTIN'S FALLS.                     395
S. Two species of Perla and one of Nemoura come up through the
crevices of the ice and porous snow, and all proceed straight to
the nearest beach. The cold renders them too weak to fly, though
most of them have got rid of their nymphine investments before emerging from the ice.
15. Snow-birds have become plentiful, and are now joined by the
Emberiza lapponica and Hlauda alpestris.  20th. The flesh-fly
is still scarce.  The small owl (Scops) calls in the warm nights,
and the common woodpecker (Picus pileatus) drums on the hollow trees.  22d. The Canada goose (Anser canadensis) and
stock-ducks (.Anas boschas) sometimes arrive at this date, but
are frequently forced to return for want of water, and by northerly blasts.
5. A few spots of ground bare; (more than a month later than the
earth begins to appear at Carlton House.)  28th. The redbreasted thrush (Turdus migratorius) and cattle blackbird (Scolecophagus ferrugineus,) are now arriving, and pick up the benumbed grubs and caterpillars. Goshawks arrive.
May  1. Snow melting rapidly.  Ground getting barer.  5th. Wild geese
and ducks passing to the northward. Hawks still arriving.
10th. Every fine day brings an accession to the small bush
birds, fly-catchers, &c. Food for these is still scarce, and they
approach the houses in quest of Dipterce, which rise from the
manure and rich earth round the place. Snow-birds have left
us, and ermines and hares (Lepus americanus) are becoming
altogether brown. The ice is now shingly and dangerous, and
strong currents and rapids are open.  Waveys (Anser hyperboreus) and brents (.Anser bernicla) passing toward James's Bay
in large flocks. No weather stops them after this time.
12. The northern diver (Colymbus glacialis) and several black ducks
(Anas nigra, fusca, and perspicillata) are still scarce, but are
sometimes seen. The buds of the balsam poplar, aspen, and
of various willows, swell. On the latter may be found the earliest Tenthredines, the larvae being nursed in the tender bud.
Two species of butterfly (Vanessa and./rgynnis) sport over the
ice and snow, when these are not gone.
15. The larger rivers break up.  (The Saskatchewan opens about
twenty days earlier at Carlton House.) Fish ascend the small
streams to spawn.  The pike (Esox lucius) and dore (Lucioperca) spawn. Sucking-carp (Catastomi) soon follow them. Trout
take bait greedily.  The cliff-swallow (Hirundo flva, Vieillot)
is seen. (On May 28th, 1849, Mr. Rae found this swallow on
the banks of the Coppermine, having constructed its clustered
nest against the cliffs at the mouth of Kendall River, lat. 67~
N., but net yet laid its eggs.) Swamps and stagnant pools are
thawed. Frogs begin to croak, and musquitoes to bite.
20. Shells (Limncei) begin to move in the pools along the river.
Snails (Limax, Helix, Bulimus, &c.) remove from under stones
and fallen timber. The end of the month discloses some species
of moths (Noctualites).
25. Our only goatsucker (Chordeiles virginianus), and the golden



3096                       C LIMATOLOGY.
winged woodpecker (Colaptes auratus), the last of the spring
birds in this district, arrive. Beavers, otters, and musk-rats
have their young.
May 28. The balsam poplar, and aspen expand their leaves. (Not so
early as on the Saskatchewan, two or three degrees further
north.)  The Hudson's Bay reindeer has young.
June 1. Sturgeon begin to frequent falls and rapids, and to spawn. 5th.
Insects are busy on warm days; the Tenthredinide on bushes,
the Sphingides,.lndrenete, and Pangonie, on the grouind, all
attended by a variety of parasite ichneumons. The first flowers
blow, and those of the willow are surrounded by Sylphides and
flower-flies (.dnthomoy&e).
10. A night-frost will sometimes intervene, even at this late period;
and, in the woods, the ground is still frozen solidly at the depth
of a foot from the surface. Vegetation, nevertheless, still goes
forward. Musquitoes become a torment; the swamps and
puddles swarm with their larve.  Small tadpoles abound in
the pools. 13th. The country is now covered with verdure.
Birds are nestling; geese and ducks hatching. The natives
are occupied with the sturgeon fishery.
15. The latest shrubs are in leaf, and the majority of moths and
butterflies are disclosing themselves. The large Ephemeree
(Perle and Phryganece) issue from the water.  20th. Trout
take the fly-hook.  White-fish (Corregonus albus) rise to the
surface.  Cattle seek the houses to get rid of the tormenting
Tabani.  In dry seasons rivulets become low, though rivers retain their strength.
July     Our warmest month.  The river unusually gets low.  Sturgeon
fishing continues. Cattle become lean, being tormented by
flies in the day, and feeding in the night only. 10th-20th.
Many genera of Coleoptera appear, some of them of forms more
characteristic of warmer climes; Cicindelae, Necrophori, many
Buprestes, -and a species allied to Lucanus.  Of those whose
larvae live on wood, the Serropalpus, a very fine Dorcacenis,
Cerambyx, Callidium, Lamia, and numerous species of Lepturetee.  Neuroptera are abundant on the banks of the riverLibellule,.Agrion, &c.; and on the leaves Hemerobius, Panorpes, Sialis.  In the other orders, also, there are many genera to
keep up the character of the month. It ends with bringing in
strawberries, and in sending off sturgeon, which return to the
depths.
Slug.    The raspberries begin to ripen.  Young ducks are well feathered.
We have sultry weather for a few days, and then thunderstorms followed by chilly nights. 10th. Pigeons (Ectopistes
migratorius) are numerous.  Young geese (Anser canadensis)
can fly. Gnats decrease, and sand-flies (Similium) replace
them.
15. The raspberries, and red and black currants ripen. Grasshoppers
are full grown.  Trout move about, ascending the river.
Sturgeon are very scarce. Grass becomes brown in dry situations. 20th. The noisy lesser tell-tale (Totanus flavipes) ap



SEASONS AT MARTIN'S FALLS.                   397
pears, and if we have much rain we are visited by a species of
snipe. The golden and ring-necked plovers are not uncommon.
Sept.    The air is generally cooler and the wind stronger, and frosty
nights may be expected.
10. Trout spawn. Many insectivorous birds depart. The passenger
pigeon disappears. Hawks and the large horned owl (Strix
virginianus) are common. Night frosts frequent.
15. Tops of potatoes always blackened. Caterpillars nearly 11
cased. Trout refuse the fly'hook, but still take bait; they are
now poor fish.  Canada geese pass to the southward.  Ducks
abound in the grassy lakes. Leaves turning yellow rapidly.
20th. Pleasant weather at mid-day but cold in the night.
The fall-moth (Phalkena autumnalis) is now to be seen.  Sandflies bite only in the height of the warmer days. The musquito is utterly defunct. Diving ducks common; the others gone.
Oct.  1. Pools and swamps crusted with ice. White-fish (Corregonus
albus) begin to spawn. 5th. Sucking-carp (Catastomi) and
trout desert the small streams.  Foliage is yellow, and falls.
Deer rut.  Instead of rain we have snow, which generally
melts, the earth being warmer than the atmosphere.
10. A single blast of northerly wind will now suffice to bare the
trees, strip the shrubs, and send all water-fowl to the south.
The last of these are weak or lingering flocks of waveys (A.nser
hyperboreus), which may be observed passing. They seldom
alight unless when met by adverse winds.
20. The small lakes and rivers sometimes frozen. (Between the
21st and 28th is the the usual period for the freezing of the
lake at Cumberland House.)  Tullibee (Coregonus artedi)
spawns. Quadrupeds acquire thick fur. The willow-grouse
(Tetrao saliceti) arrives from the north. There is usually a
little snow on the ground; and the American hare and ermine
aie becoming white.
Nov.  1. The ground is covered with snow, which in mild weather harbors multitudes of Podurce. 10th. I have frequently observed
at this time, and later, a wingless tipula (Chionea hiemalis)
crawling about. 20th. Large rivers and the lakes often solidly
frozen; strong rapids filling with ice, and setting fast. American hares and ermines entirely white. Swamps passable, and
winter fairly set in.
(George Barnston.)




398                                     CLIMATOLOGY.
TABLE IX.
TEMPERATURES BETWEEN THE PARALLELS OF 52~ AND 612~ NORTH
LATITUDE.
Churchill.                      Pelly Banks.
Lat. 59~ 02 N.    Greenland.    Lat. 611 301 N.
LoA2g.90  / Feet. Fredericksthal   Long. 130 W.
Alt 20 Feet  Lat    N.  Alt. 1400 Feet.
Morn    Afternson g A. 25e, e3       188 t849.
Dove's formula.                     Corrected.
(1.)             (2.)      1       (3.)
January................................     -21-21        19 62          -21-95
February...................                        -7-31              18-72          -14-73
March..................................            -A4-63             2210           -  099
April...................................             S16-29           27350            20P44
May..............................-             28 42
June................................                44-69
July....................................             5680
September..............................              36-03
October......26..........................            2650             3245
November..............................                3'32            35-15
December...............................             w14-00            29'75          -13'98
Year................................ 18'19           3000?
Winter.................................            — 417              22'70         — 16'88
Summer................................'I 63
Spring..................................             13'36
Autumn.................21..............              2195
Difference of hottest and coldest months..           78-01
Difference of summer and winter.........             65-80
No. 1. The register at Churchill was kept by Mr. 1Iarding, of the Hudson's Bay Company's
Service, from  February, 1838, to May, 1839, the observations being made daily in the morning,
afternoon, and evening.  Column 2 is extracted fiom  Dove's table; and for column 3 I am indebted to Murdock M'Pherson, Esq., who sent me a register kept at Pelly Banks by R. Campbell, Esq.




TABLE X.-THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS IN THE VALLEY OF THE MACRENZIE; IN GREENLAND; AND ON THE YTrKON.
Godllaab.    Fort Chepewyan. Fort Resolution.  Fort Simpson.   Fort Reliance.  Fort Enterprise.  Fort Franklin.  Fort Confidence.  Yukon.
Lot. 640 10 N.   Lat. 580 43 N.   Lat. 61 10' N.   Lat. 61l 51' N    Lat. 6i2Q 461 N.  Lat. 640~ 28t N.   Lat. 65i 12' N.  Lat. 660 54' N.    Lat. 66~ N.
LLat. 64~ U3 N.                Lat. 161 10' N..1 4
Long. 52~ 24' W.  Long. 118 2 W. Long. 11g.1 511 W. Iong. 121~ 51' W. Long. 109~ 00/W. Long. 113~ 06 W. Long. 12.30 13/ W. Long. 118~ 49/ W. Long. 147Q W.
PERIODS.          Sea level.      Alt. 700 ft.   Alt. 500 ft.   Alt. 400 ft.    Alt. 650 ft.   Alt. 850 ft.   Alt. 500 ft.    Alt. 500 ft.  Alt. 200 ft.?
(1.)   (2.)                (3.)           (4 )           (5.)           (6.)            (7.)           (8.)           (9.)
J:anuary..........       12-38         -8-76            0,42         -12-54         -25-00         -15-57          -23-33         -21-57         -26 85
February.........       12-56          — 401         -25-60          -  9 06        -18'84         -25-88         -16'75          -21-52         -26-44
March............       15-60            3-08           9'95            5'55        -  6-14        -13-48          -  5-38        -20-21         -11-16
April............       22-01           19-80          12 88           26'28           8'23           5-78           12-35        -  4-71          12'66
May..............       32-16           45-40          40-14           48-16          36-03          31-20           35'18..            4124
C     June.............       39'09           55-00..            6364....            48'02..            53.49
J July..............           41'92           63-00..            60 97....           52 10..            65-75
August.......               40-84           58-10..            5384..                           50-56..            59'90
September........         35'65          43-53                          49'10                         3159            41-00                          38-66
c     October...........        29'84           33'00          26'06           24-28          20)70          21-75          22'47           19-43          21'60
<     November.........         21-94           19-13          12'04           8-53           13-44        -  1-70        -  011        -  3-68         -  828'     December.........         17-49            2'76        -  2'59        -  8-36         -17-07         -30-54         -10-88          -38f69 -       -18'43
Year............         26.79          27-52           21'00?        25'75          16-00  1794                    17'75           9'00?        14'58
X Winter...........            14-14         — 334          -  8'09        -10'00          -16-97         -24'00         -17-00          -27-26         -23-80
O     Summer..........         40-62           58-70                          59-48                         55'00?         50-41..            56'73
Spring............       23-26           22-76          20-99           26-66          12-21          23-50           12-69..            14-60
Autumn..........        29-14           31-89..       2734..            17-21           21 15..            17-37
and cold. months
~      and cold. months t       29'54           71'76..           76'18..86688  74'43.      9.      2'60
Diftbrence of sumP   mer and winter. t 1  26-48          62-04.69-48..            7900?          67'41..            8053
met and winter.
No. 1, extracted from Dove's table, Seventeenth Rep. Br. Ass. p. 376, gives the temperature of the west coast of Greenland, in that parallel, and is inserted for
comparison.- No. 2 is compiled from 3A years' observation by Messrs. Keith and Stewart it 1825 and 1826, and by another officer in 1838 and 1839. In the latter
case, the times of observation were eight and eight, and the correction for these hours, calculated Iy Dove for Toronto, has been applied. The summer months were
not entered in the register on the second occasion.  Observations were also made at 2 P.M., and are recorded in another table.-No. 3 is abstracted from a register of
observations made at eight and eight, in the winter and spring; Dove's correction has been used. —No. 4 is an abstract of 2k years' observation by Murdock M'Pherson, Esq., in 1837, 1838, 1839, and 1840, at eight and eight, with Dove's correction for Toronto applied.-Nou. 5 is compiled from  Sir George Back's observations in
1834 (fifteen daily).-No. 6 is abstracted front a register kept at Fort Enterprise in 1820, 1821, and 1822. The summer observations are defective; but the mean
summer heats are inferred from observations made in traveling over the barren grounds further north.-No. 7. Two years' observations at Fort Franklin; first year
nineteen observations daily, except in summer, during which, and in the second year, six observations daily at equal intervals.-No. 8. Fifteen to seventeen observations daily.-No. 9. Observations at six and six in summer; and in winter as early as the thermometer could be read in the morning, and as late In the evening.
Dove's correction for these hours at Toronto has been applied.




TABLE XI.
TABLE OF THE SUMMITS OF THE DAILY OR MONTHLY CURVES OF TEMPERATURE IN THE VALLEYS OF THE MISSINIPI, MACKENZIE,
YUKON, AND PELLY, BETWEEN THE PARALLELS OF 5830 AND 660 54' N., EXPRESSED IN DEGREES OF FAHRENHEIT.
Fort   Fort     RFort          Fort      Fnt
ChrhilResolution.  Simpson.r                 Fort      Fort Franklin.  Fort Confidence.    Yukon.     Pelly Banks.
Ckurckilk Cke  wynn.   Latio.     Latson   Rat 640 21.   Lat. 6i50 12' N.    Rat. 660 54' N.
Lat. 5902' N. Lat. 58 43' N.    La61 10'.    L              n.   Lat. 65 12 N.    Lat. 66 54 N.   Lat. 660 N.   Lat. 61 301 N.
Long.61 101 N.  61 51 N.                                  Long.           L        ong.      Long. 147" W. Rong. 130L n.
930 10o/ W  1180 20' W ~. Long.  Long  R    1        23 13' W.      1180 491  W.                  ng  130.
93 11W.11~90.  Long.                  Long.    1130 061 ~V.                            Alt.  200  ft.?    At.10Fet
SeaLevel'1101W 1210 51' W    13 0 WA. Al500 ft.                                          Alt. 200 ft.?  Alt. 1200 Feet.
Sea Level  I Alt. 700 ft.  113Q85 51/.
Alt. 500 ft.  Alt. 400 ft.   Alt 850 ft
(1.)     (    20>         (3.)        (4.)        (5.)       (6. )                (7.)           (8.)          (9.)
PERIODS..~~-                                             ~ —-- ~...
On,3.      d 0.39  >                            a    0-       nI                             C Hd   0      HI
9    s E                               of   s        c~~~~~~d  6,h Cc4  d,?t
I;.d   E-a                      So.o 0x.f 0  a) c
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January.            -1648  -2 -70.........4  22     209 -61755  I 96    20  -21,53   118  -17-83   26-0 -27-58   17  -16-61   16
February.............          -  1-18   42    3'21  44         2      -  168   -19'10 1    -  824   27'8  -16'49   27'0 -2355   10  -00'32   29
March.....................        8'51   37   16'72  47        37         12'68      0'90  24      1'71   31'8  -  7'45   128 -  094   28    10'35  34
April.......................    31'66   58   39812  65         32        47'22      16-40  40    23.21   49'0      6'70   24'5   1943   52    3650  50
May........................    37'94   65.33'33  76          64        56'98      42'80  68    41'65   69'0....    4881   70
June.......................    55'17   82   62-00  97..         7340...    5100   75'0....    6200?
July........................      66'81   86   69'00  78..         7061....    59'02   80'0...      74'84   76
August...................   62-97   83   66'10  72..        6587  i..    5688   74'0                     70'94   86
September..................    5409   84   4600  65                      6000       39"30  53    44'82   66.0                     5273   69
October...................   33'32   46   41'06  56            47         30'08     27'90  37    23'75   47'0    2242   32'0    9'4.9  50
November..................        8-00   23    16-71  39       31         1251       2-80  25      4-81   32-5     0-41   19 0    5-40   28
December...................  - 9'77    5:   495   40            20     -- 798   -25'80    6  -1207   27.5  -32 -53  -70  - 5'39   22  - 034    4
Year.......................    2759   86I  3261  97..        33'51....    22'09   80....    23'89   86
Winter.-.......... 9'14.-t 0'38]4                                   0I'7i-71
WintSummer...................      1..       038  44       20      -  937   -1715   20  -1414   27'8  -22'28   27  — 22'70   22  -  572  29
Summer....................   6165      65-70 i 97                69-96..          55-64   80....    69'28   86
Spring......................   26'04..       2972  76        64         38'89....    2218   69....    2271   70
o      Autumn....................   31'80..    3459  65..         3415      23"33..    24'45   66'5...    2603   69       -
C:I~~~~~~~~~~~ I J
"i                                                                                                                      f -      II                               _




SEASONS AT FORT FRANKLIN.                    401
Progress of the Seasons at Fort Franklin, on Great Bear Lake, in lat. 650
12' N., long. 123~ 12' N.
The mean temperature of the three winter months varies comparatively
little in different years; but the relative temperatures of these months
differ greatly among themselves, so that in one year December is the
coldest month, in another February, and in a third January. In some
years the temperature of places exposed to the sun rises for a day or two
in winter above the freezing point, and the snow moistens on the surface;
but in other winters no thaw whatever occurs.
In March the snow is deepest, and averages about three feet, being,
however, often drifted to a much greater thickness under cliffs and on the
borders of lakes. In the end of March or beginning of April trees begin to
thaw, the mean temperature in the shade being about zero Fah.; but the
effect of the sun's rays on the blackened bulb of a thermometer being
sufficient to raise the mercury to +90~ Fah.
About the 10th of April the snow begins to thaw decidedly in the sunshine, and myriads of Podur&e are seen at such times moving actively in
its cavities. Ptarmigan begin to assume their summer plumage toward
the end of the month.
From the 1st to the 6th of May, according to the season, water-fowl
arrive. The Colymbuzs glacialis and arcticus? arrive occasionally earlier,
and frequent a piece of water at the effiux of Bear Lake River from the
lake, which remains open all the year.
Swans (Cygnus bueccinator and americanus) are among the early arrivals,
the larger species coming first.  The A/nas acuta,.A. crecca, Clangula
histrionica, and Oidemia perspicillata make their appearance within the
first eight days. Gulls come about the 9th or 10th. Singing birds,
orioles, and swifts arrive about the middle of the month; the latter varying their time of appearance to a week later, if the spring is tardy. Pools
of water and swamps must have been thawed long enough to release a
sufficiency of winged insects for the support of the swallow tribe, before
they show themselves in a district. About the 10th or 12th of the month
small streams break up, the mean temperature of the ten preceding days
having risen to 370 Fah. Bear Lake River, which is fed from the depths
of the lake with warmer water, breaks its bonds at its effiux earlier.
Lower down, this river remains fast till the first or second week of June.
Mackenzie River usually opens at Fort Simpson about the 7th of May,
and in the more northern quarters in the course of a week later; the boats
which follow the flood in its descent taking about that time to go to Fort
Good Hope. In 1849 the river broke up on the unprecedently late date of
the 23d of May.
At this latter date there is bright light at midnight on Great Bear Lake,
and the Fringilla leucophrys is employed with other songsters in singing
at that hour.
Snow-geese arrive about this time, or a week earlier, and are followed in
a fortnight by the laughing-geese. Both kinds wing their way northward
in bands of from fifteen to forty individuals, which are passing every few
minutes, day and night, for about three weeks. Many go on without halting; others alight in the marshes to feed on the nascent sterns of the early
Cyperacete, which are developed with marvelous rapidity after the com



402                       CLIMATOLOGY.
mencement of the thaw, and, though still wrapped in the dead leaves of
last season, have acquired juiciness and a sweet taste by the time that the
snow has mostly gone. Toward the end of May, or in the first week in
June, according to the earliness of the spring, Chrysosplenium alternifolium,.drbutus alpinus, Eriophorum vaginaturnm begin to flower, and the Betula
glandulosa and some willows show  their tender foliage and catkins.
Early in June the Potentilla fruticosa, the Rhododendron lapponicum, and
several anemones flower. Frogs at this time croak loudly; and by the
middle of the month, summer may be considered as fairly established.
About the 24th or 26th of July, ripe bleaberries (Vacciniumn uliginosum)
may be gathered. Strawberries are generally a week earlier, and the.Arbutus alpina and Rubus chamaemorus, or cloudberry, are somewhat later.
In the beginning of August stars may be seen at midnight; and in the
last week of this month the van flocks of snow-geese are seen going southward, having spent between eighty and ninety days at their breeding
stations. The laughing-geese follow in a day or two: but they pass on in
autumn without any of the delays that characterize their spring flights,
which are necessarily checked as often as a few cold days arrest the melting of the snow on the sea-coast. Drift ice obstructs the navigation of
the lake in some seasons till the first or second week of August.
In the last week of August, or in the beginning of September, snow
falls, and by the 10th of the month the deciduous leaves begin to drop.
By the 18th, most of the birds which breed in the district have migrated
southward, a few water-fowl and the winter residents alone remaining.
Between the first appearance of vegetation, till the falling of the leaves of
deciduous trees, about a hundred days elapse; but although this may be
taken as the length of the season for the growth of plants, some of the
grasses continue to ripen their seeds till the beginning of October, notwithstanding much severe frost before that date. In ordinary seasons the frost
sets in severely before the end of September, and the seeds of carices and
grasses, instead of dropping off, are frozen hard in their glumes, and remain hanging on the culm till next spring, when they drop off into a soil
prepared by the thaw for their reception. It is on these grass seeds of the
preceding year that the graminivorous birds feed on their first arrival from
the south. In October, when the soil begins to freeze again, the summer
thaw has penetrated about twenty-one inches in the neighborhood of Fort
Franklin. The small lakes are covered with ice by the 10th or 12th of
the month; and, when that occurs, the last of the water-fowl depart. By
the 20th of the month the smaller trees are frozen through, thd larger ones
remaining soft and moist in the centre.  By the end of the month, or early
in November, the young ice, filling the bays, puts an end to the navigation
of the lake, after it has continued open about sixty days. The centre of
the lake does not freeze over till late in December




TABLE XII.-THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS IN THE ARCTIC SEAS.
Wolstenholme
Melville Island.  Port Bowen.       Iglolik.       Winter Island.      Sound.         Fort Hope,
Lat. 74/Y4 N.    Lat. 73/.0  N.   Lat. 69S6 N.     Lot. 69,  N.     Lot. 76    N. 
September, 1819-   September, 1824-    August, 1822-  Augnt, 1821-   Six times doily.    Lot. 610 0' N.
PERIODS.                     August, 1820.     August, 1825.    July, 1822.      June, 182.      August, 1849-    Lng. 86Q 56 W.
July, 1850.
I                     I <:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1.)  ) ~(2.)  ~     (3-)             (4.)            (5.)             (6.)
September.........................                 +226              +2590           +2510            +3162             +2676           +2857
N October..............................            -  3-02          +10-84           +13-72           +1315            +11-32           +1256
November..............................             -2085            -  5'00          -18'66           + 7-81J          -18-60           +  0-68
V     December........................              -21-80           -19-05           -28-25           -14 24            -2705           -1927
P     January...............................        -30-64           -28'91           -16'13           -23-13           -25-07           -29-32
t     February................................      -3231            — 2731           -19'58           -24-01           -34-02           -26-68
X     March............................             — 1810            -2836            -19'01           -10-78           -1747           -2810
April...................................           -  830            -  6-50          -  0'85         +  6-50          -  374           -
May...................................  +16-74          +17'62           +2514            +2331            +25-82           +1788
Z June...................................           3622            +3612            +32-16           +3316              3973           +31-38
July................                          +42.43           +38.87           +38-58           +35'33           +40352           +4146
a     August..............................            3263           +3577            +3388            +3688            +3367            +46-32
-     Year...................................       +  143            +  433           +  576           + 980            +  4-54          +  614
-    Spring..........................        -  313           -  5-74          +  1-79          +  6-35          +  159           -4-73
Autumn................................            043          +10'58           +  6'80          +17 53           + 6-55           +13-81
Sumtnmer...............................      +37'09           +36'93           +35'07           +35'( 15S59
Summer.+37-09    +36-93           +3507            +3515            +37'97
c     Winter.............................           -28-36           -25-02           -2138            -2035            -28-53           -25-04
0                                                                             _ _ _         _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. _ _
Difference of hot and cold months........       74'74            67'78            66'83            60-89            74-54            75-64
Difference of summer and winter.........        65'45            61-95            56'45            55.50            66550            64-43
Columns 1, 2, 3, 4, are extracted from a paper which I published in the Ed. Phil. Journ. for 1841. Column 5 is an abstract of a thermometrical register,
kept by James Rae, Esq., surgeon of the Royal Navy, on board the North Star. An observation was made every four hours. Column 6 is from observations by John Rae, Esq., in 1846-7. The observations were made eight times in the twenty-four hours, at equal intervals; and the house was situated
only a few feet above the sea level.




404                      CLIMATOLOGY.
OBSERVATIONS IN SPITZBERGEN.
June.      July.     August.   Sum. Quarter.
Hecla Cove, lat. 800 N..  +35-86  +-{40-17  +38-40   -+38-15
Trent cruising, m. lat.  33-73   3598       33 80      34.5280~ N., long. 100 E... 
The preceding pages contain the temperatures of the districts
through which the Expedition traveled, wherever I have been able
to ascertain them, and also data for extending the lines of mean annual heat (isothermal), mean summer heat (isothceral), and mean
winter heat (isocheimenal) across the continent. By comparing the
sea-coast temperatures in Table II. and those of the shores of the
great lakes in Table I. with those of places in France and Italy
lying between the same parallels of 420-45~ north latitude, we
perceive that the mean annual heat of Europe is from 8~ to 15~ Fah.
greater than that of America at the same distance from the equator, while the summer heats differ only from 2~ to 60.* The inferior mean heat of America is therefore due principally to excessive
winter colds, and this is decidedly the case in the interior. As the
summer heats, however, regulate the culture of the cerealia and
the growth of deciduous plants generally, the severe winters of
America do not cause a scanty vegetation. From the 50th parallel
northward the trees are frozen to their centres in winter; and,
consequently, the development of buds and other vital processes
which go on in the temperate climate of England, even in the coldest months, are completely arrested. This hybernation of plants
increases in length with the severity and duration of winter which,
generally speaking, augment in the interior of America with the
latitude. The summer heats do not, however, decrease in the
same ratio as we go to the north; on the contrary, the isothaeral
lines nearly follow the canoe route, and run to the northward and
westward. The elevation of the prairie slopes has less influence in
depressing the summer heat, than the nature of the soil and other
causes have in raising it.
Experiments are still wanting whereby we may ascertain the
ratio of the decrease of mean heat in America with the -increase
of altitude. In Table II. we find that, notwithstanding the eleva* Dove's table in the Report of the Brit. Association for 1847 has furnished the means of making this comparison. The places compared were
Alais, Arles, Bordeaux, Dax, Manosque, Marseilles, Montpellier, Pan, Puy,
Tarascon, Toulon, Toulouse, Perpignan, Alba, Bologna, Cascina, and Lucca.
Olcron of Beam has the same altitude with Lake Superior, and Mount
Louis is 4900 feet high. All of them lie within the parallels of 43~-45~
except the last which is in 420 50' N. The maps of isothermal lines of
this' author express the general results of the study of the table referred to.




COMPARISON OF TEMPERATURES.                405
tion of Franklin Malone above Eastport of 645 feet, its mean temperature is greater; its interior position giving it an advantage in
summer heat over the sea-coast, which its greater altitude does not
destroy. If we refer to Dove's table, and contrast the temperatures
of Mount Louis, which lies near the 43d parallel, with those of low
country situations enumerated at the foot of the preceding pagQ,
we find a mean difference of temperature of one degree of Fahrenheit for 350 feet of altitude. A similar allowance for the elevation of the successive steps of the St. Lawrence basin would place
in still greater prominence the rise of the isothermal lines, and more
still that of the isothaeral ones, as they recede from the Atlantic
coast. There is, however, this difference in the climate of the summit of a mountain and of an elevated plateau, that in the former
case we approach near the line of invariable temperature, and the
summer heat therefore differs less from the mean of the year, and
more from that of the plains, than on a plateau where the depression
of mean temperature produced by elevation is due chiefly to winter
colds, and in a small degree only to defect of summer heat.
From Table II. also we may learn that the mean temperature of
the coast districts of the Pacific is greater than that of the Atlantic
countries, and, at the same time, more equable; the difference between the hot and cold months being less. We find in it an expression of the general fact, that the west coasts of continents
are warmer than the east ones; and as Montreal and Fort Vancouver lie nearly in the same latitudes and at the same altitudes
above the sea, and both are far enough removed from the coast to
be beyond the direct influence of the sea breezes, columns 4 and 6
furnish the means of eliciting many of the peculiarities of climate
on the two sides of the continent. Instead of four or five months
of continuous snow and ice which Canada may be said to enjoy, for
it is the season of general enjoyment, Oregon has an open, rainy
winter, with little frost or snow; but, at the same time, a summer
of less power.
Table V. exhibits even greater differences in the Pacific and
Atlantic climates in a higher parallel. The course of the ocean
currents, and the interposition of the peninsula of Alaska and its prolongation by the Aleutian chain of islands, protect the west coast of
America from the masses of drift ice which in the same latitudes encumber and chill the Labrador coast for the most of the year. Even
in the polar regions the west coasts have milder climates. Table
X. shows, as far as it goes, that the mean temperature of the west
coast of Greenland exceeds that of places on the continent, up to
the 150th meridian, though the summer on the coast is greatly colder
than that of the interior. By the study of Table XII. we learn
that in the polar seas the summer heats vary little, as we might




406'CLIMATOLOGY.
expeet from the constant presence of ice; but the annual mean
seems to decrease generally with the latitude, the only exception
being that of Wolstenholme Sound, in which we have a confirmation
of the greater mildness of the west Greenland coast. In the high
latitudes the mean heat of the three winter months does not differ
greatly in different years; but in some seasons one of these months,
in others another, is the coldest, the temperature being ruled greatly
by the prevailing winds.
Generally speaking, the mean annual temperature of places in
the interior of North America falls within a degree or two of the
mean heat of the two months of April and October. The mean
temperature of the whole surface of the earth is, according to
Dove's calculations, 58.2~ Fah., being 540 in January and 62~ in
July. For such a mean annual heat in America we must descend
to the 34th parallel of latitude; but the July heat of 620 Fah. extends northward to the Mackenzie.
The intense winter colds in the high latitudes are apparently in a
great measure owing to the active nocturnal radiation into the clear
blue sky. The observatory, which was a small log building without a fire-place, furnished us with the means of judging how much
greater the depression of temperature in the night was in places
exposed to the sky, than in those covered in.
The daily curve of atmospheric temperature for the three winter
months was a bold and nearly regular hyperbolic curve, of which the
mean was — 25-2~ Fah., the maximum — 22.2~ Fah., and the minimum — 26.7~ Fah.* The maximum occurs at lh. 18m. P.M., and
the mean line is crossed by the curve at 9h. 19m. A.M., and 6h.
29m. P.M.; the lowest temperature being reached at 7 A.M. The
ascending branch of the curve, -therefore, corresponds to an interval of 6h. 18m., and the descending one to 17h. 42m. During
14h. 51m. the temperature is below the mean, and it is only 9h.
9m. above it, which indicates a tolerably bold curve in the day, and
a nearly horizontal course in the night.
In the observatory the mean for the same period was only
-15.91~ Fah., and the range no more than 0.97~. The maximum
occurred at 6 P.M., being retarded 43 hours; and the minimum at
10 A.M. being delayed 3 hours. For most of the night the temperature was above the mean-such being the effect of the interposition
of the building between the thermometer and the blue atmosphere.
The walls of the observatory, it is necessary to remark, were by no
means air-tight, and the door was opened at least once an hour in
the day, and sometimes, especially on term  days, much oftener.
There was, consequently, a considerable and frequent admission of
* The correction for the error of the thermometer at low temperatures
used in Tab. X. col. 9, was not applied to these numbers.




EFFECTS OF SUNLIGHT ON VEGETATION.             407
the external air; and, on the other hand, during the experiments
on magnetic intensity, the heat of the observer's body had an evident effect in raising the temperature of the room.
I had intended to have instituted a series of observations, with
Sir John Herschell's actinometer, on the nocturnal radiation, and
also on the momentary intensity of the direct rays of the sun; hut
the instrument was unfortunately broken on the voyage. The
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1841 contains the results
of observations made at Fort Franklin, with the black bulb thermometer, on the heating power of the sun's rays, and I renewed these
observations at Fort Confidence; but, as they were not carried on
later than April, they furnish no information respecting the power
of the sun in the months in which the processes of vegetation are
active. As the black bulb thermometer indicates the accumulative
effect of the sun's rays, it seems to be a useful instrument for ascertaining the heating power of the sun on the stems and larger
branches of trees, at least, if not also on their leaves and on herbaceous plants. The hybernation of trees ceases long before the
temperature of the atmosphere is sufficient to restore activity to
the vegetative processes, and before the earth, still enveloped in its
snowy covering, has felt the influence of returning spring. This
is evidently mainly or wholly due to the sun's light direct or reflected; and perhaps its rays as reflected from the pure and glassy surface of the snow, after the days have increased considerably in
length, may have the same powerful effect on the forest that, according to Professor Forbes, they have on the black-bulb thermometer. For some time after the trees have begun to thaw by day,
they freeze again in the night; and in more southern localities,
where the sugar-maple grows, the sugar makers are well acquainted with the fact that a hard frost arrests the flow of the sap in the
night. Should a hot day, however, follow such an occurrence, the
flow is more abundant than ever, the short rest seemingly increasing the irritability of the organs by which the sap is eliminated and
circulated.*
* As I was revising this sheet, Sir William Hooker favored me with an
extract from the journal of Mr. Berthold Seeman, botanist of the Herald,
part of which follows: "During our stay at Port Clarence, in September,
1850, I made several experiments to ascertain the depth to wrhich the thaw
penetrated the soil: the result varied; in some places it did not descend
above two feet into the earth, while in sandy places the ground was free
from frost to the depth of four or five feet. The season was much colder
than in 1849, the sea more loaded with ice, and the terrestrial vegetation
less vigorous."




408         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
No. II1.
ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS IN THE
COUNTRY NORTH OF THE 49TH PARALLEL OF LATITUDE.
Generic and Specific Forms of Plants decrease in Number as the Latitude increases.-Analogy between Altitude and Increase of Latitude.-Culture of the
Vine. —Of the Cerealia.-Maize.-W-heat.-Oats.-Barley.-Potatoes.-Botanical Districts.-Their Physiognomy.-Woodland District.-Barren Grounds.Prairies.-Rocky Mountains.-Sitka.-Polar Plants.-Arctic Zone.-Trees and
Shrubs.-Table of Distribution of Species in three several Zones.-Carices.
THOUGH the isotheral lines, when the term is restricted to the
mean temperatures of the three summer months of June, July, and
August, run from Lake Superior northward to the Mackenzie, yet
the short duration of the summer on the banks of that river, and
the occasional frosts in June and August, and in some years even
in July, render the climate unsuitable for numbers of vegetables
which flourish in the northern districts of the United States. Many
trees, shrubs, and perennial roots can be frozen without injury if
the firost be continuous throughout the winter; and they acquire so
much irritability in their hybernation, that the stimulus of perpetual
though less fervid day within the arctic circle causes them to perform
the functions of foliation and fructification with a rapidity unknown
in more temperate regions. Other plants which need longer time
to perfect their fruit or woody fibre, terminate in succession according to their several constitutions as the latitude increases.
Their place is only partially supplied by other species, which have
in like manner their equatorial and polar limits. These are not,
however, so numerous as those which die out, there being no rule
more general than the decrease of generic and specific forms in
passing from temperate zones to arctic or polar ones.
There is a similarity in many respects between the vegetation of
alpine tracts and that of high latitudes, but not an identity, the condition of the'two regions differing in some essential particulars. No
more apt illustration of this fact is needed than that adduced by
Meyen, of Titicaca. This alpine lake, situated on the plateau of
Chuquito in southern Peru, at the elevation of 12,700 feet, is surrounded by a rich and beautiful vegetation, which flourishes under
a perpetual spring. On its banks a populous community, inhabiting
magnificent cities, is supported by a fertile soil, yet trees are want



THE CEREALIA.-THE VINE.-MAIZE.              409
ing in the country; whereas we have seen that the pine forest extends in North America to the 69th parallel, beyond the limits of
the cerealia. On the shores of Lake Titicaca barley and oats
grow, but wheat does not succeed, and maize is raised only by artificial heat. In respect of these products, therefore, its climate
agrees with that of Fort Simpson on the 62d parallel. Its summer heat, which, according to Meyen, ranges between 520 and 660
Fah., is more equable than that of Fort Simpson which has a
mean daily summer temperature of about 590 Fah., with a mean
at noon of 70~ Fah.; and a range of from 90~ Fah., down to below
the freezing point.
It is necessary to remark, however, that the decrease of vegetable forms with an increase of latitude has more analogy to that
which is observed on a lofty isolated mountain than on an elevated
plateau; and plants actually grow on the summits of the White
Mountains of New Hampshire which are not met with again until
we reach the shores of the Arctic Sea.
The peculiarities of the climate of Canada and Rupert's Land
may be in part shown by reference to a few of the plants usually
cultivated for food. The vtine would thrive with the summer heat
of Fort Simpson were the season long enough; but the September
and October heats, which are required to ripen its fruit, do not occur in any district of Rupert's Land; and the grape is destroyed
by the severe night frosts which are frequent in autumn even in so
low a parallel as the north shore of Lake Superior. The conditions
essential to the due growth of the vine, mentioned by Meyen,* do
not extend in the basin of the St. Lawrence beyond the 43d parallel, while on the Rhine wine is a profitable production up to the
51st.
Maize is a plant which thrives best in the dampest and hottest
tropical climates, where it brings forth eight hundred-fold. Its culture extends into temperate regions, but with a greatly diminished
yield; and it is cultivated near its northern limit only as a green
vegetable, the grain seldom ripening, and being eaten in its milky
state. This is its condition in most parts of Great Britain, when
reared in the open field. On the western shore of Europe it is
not cultivated beyond 46~, though in the valley of the Rhine it extends to 490 north lat. In South America, on the Chili coast, it is
* This author states that the culture of the vine is regulated more by
the length of summer than by its high temperature, though the latter is
also an element in the proper ripening of the grape. It will succeed, he
says, under every tropical heat, provided the atmosphere be not too moist.
It thrives well under a mean heat of 600 Fah.; it ripens with a lower
mean heat of 480 Fah., and a summer heat of 680 Fah., but the juice contains less sugar and yields less alcohol. (Meyen, Geogr. of Plants.)
S




410         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
planted as low as 400 south lat.; and on the Peruvian plateau, at
the height of 12,000 feet, above which it requires artificial shelter
and warmth.  A profitable return can be obtained fiom it in Rupert's Land between the 49th and 51st parallels, where, however,
the vine does not accompany it, as on the banks of the Rhine. Garden cultivation and shelter fiom spring frosts would extend its cultivation in Rupert's Land even higher than in England: On the
fertile acclivity of Young Street which leads from Toronto to Lake
Simcoe, and crosses the 44th parallel of latitude, we may behold
heavy crops of maize, and cucumbers and gourds, ripening, in the
sam;ne field, with but little expenditure of care or labor, though the
Inean annual heat, being 41~ Fah., is inferior to that of the Orkney
rand Shetland Islands, where barley, one of the most northern of
the cereals, grows imperfectly.  The summer heat of Young
Street, however, exceeds that of any part of the British Isles.
ItWheat is the cereal which requires most heat of those usually
cultivated in England. Its culture is said to ascend to 620 or 640
north lat. on the west side of the Scandinavian peninsula, but not
to be of importance beyond the 60th. Onthe route of the Expedition
it is raised with profit at Fort Liard in lat. 600 5' north, long. 1220
31' west, and having an altitude of between 400 and 500 feet above
the sea. This locality, however, being in the vicinity of the Rocky
Mountains, is subject to summer frosts; and the grain does not
ripen perfectly every year, though in favorable seasons it gives a
good return. At Dunvegan, on Peace River, lying in lat. 560 6'
north, long. 1170 45' west, and at an altitude of 778 feet, the culture of this grain is said to be equally precarious. It grows, however, freely on the banks of the Saskatchewan, except near Hudson's Bay, where the summer temperature is too low. From Mr.
M-Pherson I learnt, that on the west side of the Rocky Mountains
good crops of wheat are raised with facility at Alexandria, on Frazer's River, in lat. 520 30' north, long. 122~ 40' west, and 300 or
400 feet above the sea; also at Fort George, on the same river,
more than a degree further north, and 100 feet higher.
At Fort James, on the borders of Stuart's Lake, in lat. 54~0
north, in a mountainous region near the source of Frazer's River,
wheat continues to grow, but often suffers from the summer frosts.
In these quarters the grain comes to maturity in about four months.
In the colony of Red River its growth is luxuriant, though the
upper part of that country, which touches the 49th parallel of latitude, is elevated about 1000 feet above the sea. Periodical ravages
of grasshoppers, however, fiequently destroy the hopes of the husbandman.
At Fort Francis, situated on the banks of Rainy River in lat.
48~ 35' north, long. 93~ 288' west, wheat is generally sown about




WHEAT.-OATS.-BARLEY.                   411
the 1st of May, and is reaped in the latter end of August, after an
interval of about 120 days. In 1847 multitudes of caterpillars spread
like locusts over the neighborhood.  They traveled in a straight
line, crawling over houses, across rivers, and into large fires kindled
to arrest them. Throughout the whole length of Rainy River, on
the Lake of the Woods, and on the River Winipeg, they stripped
the leaves firom the trees, and ate up the herbage. They destroyed
the folle avoine on Rainy Lake, but left untouched some wheat
that was just coming into ear. This was the, first time that Fort
Francis had experienced such a visitation.  When we passed that
way in 1848, the still leafless trees were covered with the cocoons
of last year, in each of which there remained the hairy skin of a
caterpillar.
On the island of Sitka, lying in 57 —58~ north latitudes, though
the forest, nourished by a comparatively high mean temperature and a very moist atmosphere, is equal to that of the richest
woodlands of the northern United States, yet corn does not
grow.
In the middle temperate zone of France wheat is cultivated to
the height of 5400 feet only. In Mexico its culture commences at
the altitude of 2500 or 3000 feet, and ascends to more than 9000
feet. On the plateau of southern Peru, 8000 feet above the sea,
its yield is extraordinary; and on the foot of the volcano of Arequipa it succeeds as high as 10,000; but it will not grow in the equable temperature of Lake Titicaca, the heat there not being sufficient
to ripen either it or rye. It requires for its growth, says Meyen,
the mean annual heat of 560 Fah.; a much inferior heat is, however
s.tfficient in the extreme climate of subarctic America, provided the
si;mmlner heat for 100 or 120 days be great enough.
Oats are litle cultivated in Rupert's Land; they require longer
time than barley to ripen, and are therefore not likely to grow so
far north. They have not been tried at Fort Norman, however,
which is the most advanced post in that direction where barley is
cultivated.  Mr. MPherson finding some grains of oats accidentally in a barley field, propagated them, and raised some good crops
on the River of the Mountains, and I believe also at Fort Simpson.
On the Scandinavian peninsula this grain is said to extend to 62~0
N. and 65~ N., but, even on the latter parallel, falling five degrees
short of the latitude which barley reaches.  Meyen saw ripe oats
at Lake Titicaca.
In good seasons barley ripens well at Fort Norman on the 65th
parallel, as has been mentioned in the Narrative (page 104.) All
Mr. Bell's attempts to raise it at Fort Good Hope, two degrees
further north, failed. It reaches, as we have just observed, the
70th degree of latitude on the Scandinavian peninsula, and it is cul



412         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
tivated for green fodder in Peru uptthe height of 13,800 feet, but
seldom ripens its grain higher than 10,000 feet.  (Meyen.)
Potatoes, which have been cultivated from time immemorial on
the banks of Lake Titicaca,.yield abundantly at Fort Liard, and
grow, though inferior in quality, at Fort Simpson and Fort Norman. They have not succeeded at Fort Good Hope, near the 67th
parallel. At the latter place turnips in favorable seasons attained
a weight of from two to three pounds, and were generally sown in
the last week of May. At Peel's River the trials made to grow
culinary vegetables had no success. Nothing grew except a few
cresses. Turnips and cabbages came up about an inch above the
ground, butwithered in the sun, and were blighted by early August frosts.
In the preceding narrative, as well as in the geographical sketch,
we have had frequent occasion to allude to several great divisions
of North America, each of which has a peculiar physiognomical
character in its vegetation.
1st. The eastern woodland country constitutes the first division,
in which the forest extends from the Atlantic westward till it meets
the great prairies.
2d. The second division lies to the north, of the forest lands,
and is appropriately named the "Barren Grounds." This tract
has its greatest north and south extension on the eastern coast.
On the shores of Hudson's Bay and the Welcome it reaches from
the 60th or 61st parallel to the extremity of the continent, but narrows to the westward; since the boundary line of the wood takes
a diagonal or northeast direction from the 91st meridian, and, before
reaching the 120th, has risen to the 67th parallel. Further to the
west the Barren Grounds form a border to the Arctic Sea of greater
or less breath according to the northerly prolongation of the continental promontories, since the southern limit is nearly coincident
throughout with the arctic circle, on which it approaches Beering's
Straits-clumps of spruce fir,* the usual outliers of the forest,
having been observed on Buckland or Noatak River which falls into
Eschscholtz Bay. The fertile alluvial deposits of z le well-sheltered valley of the Mackenzie interrupt the continental continuity of
the Barren Grounds by carrying the woods nearly to the sea-shore;
but there seems to be no other material indentation of the barren
district; and even on the Mackenzie the valley is bridged, as it
were, by the naked summits of the alpine ridges.
3d. The prairie slope forms a third physiognomical district of
vegetation, which has the greatest transverse expansion on the Missouri, and, narrowing as it goes north, runs out on the 60th parallel,
* The species is doubtful.




DISTRICTS OF VEGETATION.                413
having, after passing the Saskatchewan, been much indented by the
woods which feather the numerous rivers that drain the declivity.
These prairies have much analogy with chalk downs in aspect as
well as in mineral constitution.
4th. The Rocky Mountain chain, and the alpine ranges and
isolated peaks which rise to the westward of it, may be considered
as a fourth district which nourishes some peculiar species of plants.
5th. And the lower woodland country on the Pacific side of the
range forms a fifth.
If we trace any one of these districts northward, making due allowance for the varying altitude of the country above the sea, we may
ascertain the effect of increase of latitude on the vegetation of that
meridian; but, if we compare one district with another, we must
keep in view the climatological fact of the rise of the isothermal
lines in proceeding westward. The course of the forest boundary
is one illustration of this phenomenon; and we have another in the
range of certain species or forms constituting that forest.  Thus the
Cupressus thyoides is rare beyond the 49th parallel in the eastern
district, and terminates altogether along with the Thuya occidentalis
on the 53d, while the magnificent Cupressus or Thuya nutkatensis
adorns the forests of Norfolk Sound on the 58th parallel of the
Pacific coast.  The distribution of the Pinus inops, Abies canadensis, Rubus nutkanus, and of some other conspicuous trees and
shrubs, show that the vegetation of the district of Sitka on the northwest coast is equal and similar to that of the eastern States of Wisconsin or Minnesota eight degrees further south.
The physiognomy of the woodland district through which the
canoe route lies has been incidentally touched upon in the descriptions of several localities that have been introduced into the narrative,
yet it will not be out of place to recall its general features here.
Of this district, which has a breadth of about 600 geographical
miles between the 50th and 55th parallels, the white spruce is the
most abundant and characteristic tree; yet up to the 54th parallel
it is conjoined, and especially on the banks of the rivers, with other
trees which break the monotony of the dark evergreen forest. Beyond the banks of the Saskatchewan the oaks, elms, ashes, maples,
bass-wood, white thorns, Virginian clematis, and various other trees
and shrubs cease to grow; and the white spruce may be said to
cover the face of the country, except on the alluvial borders of
rivers and lakes, where the aspen, balsam poplar, balsam fir, alder,
and multitudes of willows usurp its place, or on the edges of swamps
where the black spruce- leads a lingering, unhealthy existence.
With the black spruce the larch is often associated; though it is
not confined to morasses, yet it is too much isolated in its distribution
to produce a difference of tint sufficiently massive to please the eye,




414         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
except in very few localities. The Banksian pine is more frequently seen in considerable patches, and its appearance is agreeable to the voyager; for, independent of the fact that its spreading
branches and general form, resembling that of the Scotch fir, is a
rest to the eye wearied with the tapering stiffness of the spruce, it
offers the prospect of a dry and comfoirtable encampment.  It always
grows in a sandy soil, and is remarkable among the Rupeirt's Land
trees for its freedom from underwood. Not so the white spruce,
which admits of a thick undergrowth of willows, cornel bushes,
viburnum, roses, brambles, and goosberries; and in the country
south of Lake \Winipeg, of maples, American yews, and many
other shrubs and trees. The willows, especially when conjoined
with the failling or inclined stems of forest trees-the growth of bygone centuries-form a barrier to the progress of a white man in
the forest; but the slim and agile native glides through the tangled
thicket with a noiseless and ghost-like ease, impassive to the annoyance of the musquito clouds that darken the air.  The prickly
twining Panax horridurn. which interlaces and arms the brushwood
on the north-west coast up to the 58th parallel, has no representative
on the east side of the continent, except perhaps the Aralia hispida,
which, though of the same family, has feeble defenses, and is not a
climber.  The Crateegi have the most offensive weapons of any
of the shrubs in Rupert's Land.
Even beyond the Saskatchewan, where the maples, ampelopsis,
and some other trees and shrubs whose leaves assume the orange
and red tints before they fall, cease to grow, the river banks are
enlivened by the bright purplish shoots of the white cornel berry'(osier rouge) and the gay spires of the Epilobium angustifolium,
which rise above a man's height in the alluvial deposits, and are
varied also by other shrubs that have been noticed in the descriptions interspersed through the preceding pages. These are merely
the foreground incidents, however; the sombre spruce every where
forms the background.
The agency of man is working a change in the aspect of the forest
even in the thinly peopled north. The woods are wasted by extensive fires, kindled accidentally or intentionally, which spread
with rapidity over a wide extent of country, and continue to burn
until they are extinguished by heavy rains.  These conflagrations
consume even the soil of the drier tracts; and the bare and whitened rocks testify for centuries to the havoc that has been made.  A
new growth of timber, however, sooner or later springs up; and
the soil, when not wholly consumed, being generally saturated with
alkali, gives birth to a thicket of aspens instead of the aboriginal
sl)I'uce.
The frozen subsoil of the northern portions of the woodland




WOODY DISTRICT.                      415
country does not prevent the timber fiom attaining a good size, for
the roots of the white spruce spread over the icy substratum as they
would over smooth rock. As may be expected, however, the growtlh
of trees is slow in the high latitudes. On the borders of Great
Bear Lake, four hundred years are required to bring the stem of
the white spruce to the thickness of a man's waist.  When the
tree is exposed to high winds, the fibres of the wood are spiralJy
twisted; but in sheltered places, or in the midst of the forest, the
grain is straight and the wood splits freely.
At the limit of the woods the white spruce is every where the
most advanced tree, growing either solitarily, with its branches
clinging to the ground and its dwarfed top bent from the blast, or in
small clumps in some favorable locality.  The Salix speciosa may
indeed be said to pass beyond the spruce; but it does so only on the
alluvial points of rivers, and not in its tree form.
Though the species of plants become less numerous as we advance northward through the woody region, there is no falling off
in the number of individuals of the species that remain. For not
only is the forest crowded, and often almost impenetrably so, when
the trees are young, but on the margins of rivers, and other open
places, there is a dense herbaceous vegetation, which clothes the
ground in Rupert's Land as perfectly as it is covered in a lower
latitude, though the vegetation be less rank. On the inundated
alluvial flats tall carices grow as closely as they can stand, and furnish an abundance of nutritious hay. There is, however a total absence in the north of the Lianas, Tillandsia, and parasitic Orchidee
which impart so peculiar an aspect to the forests in some of the
warmer districts of the earth. The great hedge bindweed (Calystegia), the Virginia creeper, the hop plant, and the twining herbaceous Smilacina, with its grape-like clusters of blackberries, disappear on the south side of Lake Winipeg, and the only aerial
parasite in the north is the leafless Arceuthobiunz oxycedri, which
seats itself on the branches of the Banksian pine. The graceful
Usnece which hang from the branches of the ancient black spruces in
long, thread-like hanks, have, it is true, some resemblance to the
Tillandsite which forms an elegant drapery to the evergreen oaks
of Georgia and Florida.
In the eastern woodland district, from the St. Lawrence to the
Saskatchewan, the Composite are the most numerous family of
plants, and they form between the sixth and seventh of the whole
plhanogamous vegetation. Next to them come the CGyperacee, which
owing to the great development of the genus Carex, constitute more
than one-ninth of the Phanerogamia of the district.
In the second, or barren ground district, in places where the soil
is formed of the coarse sandy debris of granite, and is moderately




416         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
dry, the surface is covered by a dense carpet of the Corniculariae
tristis, divergens, ochroleuca, and pubescens, mixed in damper spots
with Cetrarice cucullata and islandica.  In more tenacious soils
other plants flourish; not, however, to the exclusion of lichens, except in tracts of meadow ground. The Rhododendron lapponicum,
Kalmia glauca, Vaccinium uliginosum, Empetrum nigrum, Ledumn
palustre, Arbutus uva ursi, Andromeda tetragona, and several depressed or creeping willows, lie close to the soil, their stems short,
twisted, and concealed, with only the summits of the branches
showing among mosses or lichens. Here and there, on the moister
sides of the hills, there is a gay display of saxifrages, pediculares,
or primroses; and a few of the sandy spots on the coast are enlivened by a beautiful dwarf phlox or a handsome dodecatheon. On
the alluvial banks of rivers only are willows of erect growth to be
found, and of the Salix speciosa is the most robust and the handsomest. On the sandy shore of the sea the Pisum (or Lathyrus)
maritimum, the Polemonium  ceeruleum, various blue and yellow
Astragali, and several'Artemisice flourish.  Most of these plants
also occur, though more sparingly, in the interior. One circumstance which came under my observation, and has been cursorily
alluded to in the Narrative (page 192), is the existence of very
ancient stumps of trees, either solitary or grouped, in various places
of the barren grounds, seemingly the vestiges of the forest, which
had spread more widely over the country some centuries ago than
in the present day. Further evidence that such was the case may
be obtained in the extension of Pyrolce, and some other woodland
plants to the coasts of the Arctic Sea. On the sheltered banks of
rivers, even in the barren grounds, clumps of living trees occasionally occur; but the stumps I speak of stand often on the exposed
side of a hill, and indicate a deterioration of climate, however that
may have been produced. We saw no young firs growing up in
such situations to leave similar vestiges in a future age.
In many sheltered valleys on the sea-coast, and even in the more
elevated interior, especially where a fertile soil has been formed by
the decomposition of trap rocks, there is a good growth of grasses,
several of which flourish well on lands that are occasionally inundated by the sea. Among these are Elymus mollis, Spartina'
cynosuroides, Calamagrostis stricta, Carices stans, compacta, glareosa, membranacea, and livida, Colpodium, Deschampsia, Festuca,
and several Poce. In some of the maritime meadows to which the
reindeer resort to bring forth their young, there are treacherous
mud-banks, which are soft enough and deep enough to swallow up
a deer or musk ox, that may rush heedlessly into them when chased
by a wolf; but in general the frozen subsoil is so near the surface
as to preclude any such accident. The existence of these boggy




ARCTIC CIRCLE.                    417
places, which were seen only on the sea-coast, scarcely affords a
satisfactory solution to the problem of the entombment of a living
elephant or rhinoceros, and the subsequent preservation of the entire carcass in the frozen soil. But in whatever manner this may
have taken place, I should infer, from the economy of the arctic
regions, that these animals were migratory, like the reindeer of the
present day, and wintered in milder climates.
On approaching the arctic circle the relative proportion of the
Composite greatly decreases, and that of the Cyperaceae increases
within the woody tracts, though it falls off on the barren grounds.
Taking the whole zone between the arctic circle and the extremity
of the continent, which includes much woodland, the Cyperacee are
the most numerous family of plants, and are more than double the
Graminece.  The Crucifere come next to the Cyperacete in this
zone. In the polar regions beyond the continent, the Crucifer&c
take the first place in respect of number of species, then come the
Graminece, which are closely followed by the Saxifrage~e.
The third, or prairie district, has the prevailing aspect of a grassy
plain, the herbage, however, having a considerable intermixture of
carices among the true grasses. The herbage grows up rather
wiry in the dry summers of that region; but, in consequence of the
fires that frequently spread over vast tracts, a young growth takes
place, to which the bison and deer resort.  On the Arkansas, the
", buffalo or bison grass" is the Sesleria dactyloides. Whether this
species extends to the Saskatchewan or not, I am unable to say:
we certainly did not gather it there; but at the time that Mr.
Drummond and I visited that part of the prairie, recent fires had
inade flowering specimens of grasses very rare. Of the phaenogamous prairie plants actually collected, the Graminece form about the
eleventh, and the Cyperacece the sixteenth. On the plains the
Compositee are numerous and showy; there is a considerable variety
of handsome Leguminosce, with some pretty Boraginece; and the
Artemisice, owing to the quantity of surface they cover, though the
species are not numerous, contribute greatly to the hoary aspect of
the prairie vegetation. The Rosacece vie with the Cyperaceae in
number of species; but many of them are fruit-bearing shrubs,
growing on the banks of the rivers that serpentine among alluvial
points, in channels sunk deeply below the general surface of the
prairie.
Between the 32d and 33d parallels, on the Gila and Rio del Norte,
west of the Rocky Mountain ridge, Colonel Emory gathered many
examples of Cacti, of which Dr. Engelman has described fifteen
species belong to the genera Mammillaria, Echinocactus, Opuntia,
and Cereus. Among these the Pitahaya, or Cereus giganteus, is
the most remarkable, as it grows in the shape of a candelabra, or
q0i




418         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
Titanic tuning-fork, with three or four prongs, to the height of sixty
feet. Cacti tare numerous also on the eastern side of the mountains in the same parallel; and the smaller kinds, chiefly Opuntice,
range northward over the prairies to the 49th parallel, and perhaps
still further north. We gathered Opuntia glomerata, or the crapaud
verd of the voyagers, on the Lake of the Woods; and a species of
the same section of the genus attains an equally high parallel on the
Pacific coast.
With the physiognomy of the vegetation on the Rocky Mountains,
and of the district to the west of that range, I have no personal acquaintance, and borrow the following notice of the vegetation of
Sitka from Bongard. Sitka is situated in the entrance of Norfolk
Sound, on the 57th parallel, near an extinct volcano, named Mount
Edgecumbe, which marks the entrance of the sound. The most
remarkable mountain in the immediate vicinity of the settlement is
WesterwBi, which is 3000 Parisian feet in height, and is clothed
to its summit by a dense forest of pines and spruces, some of which
acquire a diameter of seven feet, and the prodigious length of 160
feet. The hollow trunk of one of these trees formed into a canoe,
is able to contain thirty men, with all their household effects. The
climate of Sitka is very much milder than that of Europe on the
same parallel. The cold of winter is neither severe nor of long continuance; but the atmosphere is charged with vapors, whose condensation occasions almost constant rains. In the month of July the
sun is seldom visible on more than three or four days, and then only
for an instant. This humidity gives astonishing vigor to the vegetation, yet corn does not grow there; and, in fact, the want of level surface is an impediment to cultivation. In six weeks the botanists collected 222 species of plants, of which thirty-five were new to science
Of the Polar plants, amounting to ninety-one species. which inhabit Melville Island, the shores of Barrow's Straits and Lancaster
Sound, and the north coasts of Greenland, between the 73d and
75th parallels of latitude, about seven-ninths range to Greenland,
Lapland or Northern Asia. Of the remainder, some have been
gathered on the shores of the Arctic Sea firom Baffin's Bay to Beelring's Straits; and it is probable that if these high latitudes were
fully explored, the flora of the entire zone would be found to be
uniform. Some of the more local plants will perhaps be ascertained, on further acquaintance, to be mere varieties altered by peculiarities of climate. That the flora as well as the fauna in the high
northern latitudes is nearly alike in the several meridians of Europe,
Asia, and America, has long been known. And even when we
descend to some distance south of the arctic circle, we find that this
law is superior to the intrusion of high mountain chains, and is but
partially infringed upon. In taking the St. Lawrence basin for in



POLAR PLANTS.                        419
stance, if we allow for the rise of the isothermal lines on the west
coast, and make our comparisons in an oblique zone, including Sitka
and Wisconsin, we shall find that there is much similarity in the
floras on the two sides of the continent.  The Rocky Mountain
ridge is not by any means a boundary to the peculiar vegetable
forn-ms of the Pacific coast; on the contrary, many of them cross the
ridge to its eastern declivity, though they do not descend into the
low, country; and there is actually more similarity between the
vegetation of the prairies of Oregon, and those of the Missouri and
Saskatchewan, than there is between the latter and eastern parts
of the United States and Canada.  In still more southern latitudes
the case may be different; and Ehrenberg has found a totally different group of Infusoria in California from that which exists on the
east side of the continent; the Rocky Mountains, in his opinion,
proving a complete barrier to these organisms.
The families of Polar plants which are most rich in species are
the Cruciferc-, Gramineee, Saxifrageea, Caryophylleee, and Compositce.  Of these the Saxifragece are most characteristic of extreme
northern vegetation.  All of them that inhabit the 74th parallel in
America are found also in Spitzbergen, Lapland, or Siberia; and
even the polar species are twice as numerous as those which exist
in the wide district which Gray's ", Flora of the Northern States"
comprehends.  If we reckon all that enter the arctic circle, we
shull find them to be four times as many as those which Dr. Gray
enumerates; and we may add that the plant which Humboldt
traced highest on the Andes was a saxifrage.  The Caryophyllece
and Cruciferece, which vie with the saxifrages in number on the 74th
parallel, include mnany of the doubtful local species above alluded to.
Of the most northern G-ramineee, about one half are, as far as we
yet know, exclusively American; the few species which the other
families contain have as extensive a lateral range as the saxifrages.
Arctic zone.-On descending to the main land from  the 71st
parallel down to the arctic circle, including a zone of four degrees
of latitude, we find that the species have increased eight-fold in
number, and there is a large addition of generic forms, as might be
expected on entering within the limits of the forest.
The Polar families areRanunculacee            Composite              Polygoneea
Papaveraceme               Cichoracece         Salicaceas
C ru ci feram             Eupatoriacea!       Juncese
Caryophylleae              Senecionidece    I Cyperacea
Leguminosae             Campanulaceae          Gramineae
Rosaceve                Ericee       s         Lycopodinem
Onagrariae              Polemoniaceae          Equistacies
Saxi frageae            Scrophularineae        Cryptogamia




42.0         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
In addition to the above the following enter the Arctic CircleSarracenieas             Caprifoliaceae         Chenopodieas
Fumariacea               Valerianeae            Eleagneae
Violariewe               Composite      s       Santalaceae
Droseraceae.steroideme           Empetrete
Polygalea3               Vacciniea              Urticewe
Linem                    Monotropea              Betulaceve
Balsaminea      s        Gentianeae             Coniferae
Celastrineae             Diapensiacea           Juncaginewe
Haloragea                Hydrophylleae          Aroidewe
Ceratophylleae           Boraginea              Naiades
Portulaceae              Orobancheae            Smilacewe
Crassulaceve             Labiatee               Melanth aceae
Grossul ariee   s        Verbenacece            Asphodelese
Umbelliferas             Primulaceu             Orchideve
Araliaceea               Plumbagineme           Irideve
Corneae                  Plantanginee    s      Filices
I made a pretty full collection of lichens and mosses within the
arctic circle; but since so many of them are almost cosmopolites,
and a still greater number are common to both the temperate and
frigid zones, under similar conditions of moisture and exposure, I
have avoided swelling the lists with their names. Fungi are not
wanting in the northern regions, but the difficulty of preserving
them prevented me from gathering many. All the families in the
above two lists are represented in England, except Diapensiacete,
which is a Lapland form; and Sarraceniere and Araliacece which
are more purely American.
Between the arctic circle and the south side of the Winipeg or
Saskatchewan basin on the 50th parallel, embracing the entire
width of the continent, the following families make their appearance —
Berberideae              Terebinthacee    s     Euphorbiaceae
Nymphueaceas             Cucurbitaceae          Ulmacees
Capparidewe              Loranthacewe           Cupulifereae
Cistinewe                Paronychiee            Myricese
Malvaceae                Jasmineme              Liliacewe
Tiliaceme                Apocyneve              Alismaceae
Hypericineae             Asclepiacewe           Pontederiaceme
Acerineu                 Convolvulaceme         Restiacewe
Ampelidewe               Solaneue                Hydrocharidees
Geraniaceae              Amaranthaceee          Marsiliaceae
Oxalidece                Aristolochieua         Salvinaceae
Rhbamneoe
The families which reach the St. Lawrence basin, but do not
extend northward to the Winipeg valley, or enter the western
prolongation of that zone, are



ST. LAWRENCE PLANTS.                    421
Menispermacee    s     Hamamelideae          Saururepe
Podophylleue            Composite          i Juglandacea
Limnanthacevs             Vernoniaceae       Platanaceue
Oxalideea              Acanthaceve           Camelineme
Rutaceae               Nyctagineme            Hypoxidee
Lythrariees            Phytolaccee            Dioscoreme
Cactea                 Laurineae
To give a further view of the accession of families in going southward, the following are added from  Dr. Gray's, Botany of the
Northern States"Magnoliaceme            Hippocastanaceve     Nyssaceve
Anonaceae              Melastomacee          Podostomeae
Cabombacew             Hydrangeae            Balsamifluae
Resedaceea             Aquifoliacew          Amaryllidacees
Elatinaces             Ebenacee              Haemodoracees
Anacardiacew           Bignoniaces           Xyridacee
In tracing individual species to their northern limits, we did not
discover in any one instance that the crest of a water-shed between
successive transverse river basins was a boundary to the plant.
Many of the more remarkable trees, oaks, &c., flourish in the
neighborhood of Rainy Lake and on the upper part of Red River,
but die out on approaching the south end of Lake Winipeg.
Others go a degree or two further north to the banks of the Saskatchewan, about Cumberland House, and there make their last
appearance; among these are the ashes, elms, and maples. Some
which are not seen beyond that locality on the canoe route, go
three or four degrees further north on the western side of the
prairies, in the sheltered valleys of the Rocky Mountains. In these
valleys also the lamented Drummond found a considerable number
of the species of the Pacific coast, their range not being cut short
by the dividing ridge, but being seemingly more effectually limited
by the dry prairies. It'is unfortunate that the vertical limits of
the species gathered by Drummond in the mountains were not
noted, as a careful list containing that element, and which no one
was more able than he to make, would have conveyed much information with respect to the distribution of plants. The statistical
enumeration of the mountain species, collected between 520 and
57~, in the subjoined table evidently contains a mixed flora; some
families having an arctic, almost a polar character; others a subarctic, or almost temperate one.




422          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.*
RANUNCULACEXE.-Clematis virginiana is common to Oregon, the eastern United States, and Canada, and extends northward to the Saskatchewan.
BERBERIDE.-Berberis vulgaris has been found in Canada, Newfoundland, and New England, and is considered as having been introduced from
England.  The pinnate-leaved barberries or Mahonie are natives of Oregon,
and perhaps extend northward into New Caledonia or Vancouver's Island.
CIsTINEXE.-Hudsonia tomentosa grows in New Jersey and Canada, on
the borders of all the great lakes, and onward on the canoe route to Clearwater River on the 57th parallel, beyond which it was not observed.
TILIACEE. —Tilia glabra, the lime tree, white-wood, or bass-wood, is a
familiar ornamental and useful tree in the United States and Canada.
We observed it as far north as Lake Winipeg, but only as underwood,
sending out long flexible branches, which the natives convert into temporary cordage.
ACERINEA:. —Acer montanum (vel spicatum), the mountain maple, has a
range from Maine, Pictou, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, to the River Winipeg,
and, from the beautiful orange and red tints which its leaves assume in
decay, is a great ornament to the woods in autumn.  A. circinatum is
confined to the west coast, is common in Oregon, and extends to the
British territory on that side of the mountains. It grows in the woody
country only, and chiefly in the pine forests, where its pendulous branches,
taking root, form almost impenetrable thickets. The close-grained tough
wood is used by the natives for making hoops.
A. sacchainurnm, sugar maple, with the variety, or perhaps species,
named S. nigrum by Michaux, has been traced by Dr. Asa Gray along the
Alleghany Mountains to Georgia. In the low country it scarcely passes to
the south of Pennsylvania, but on the west side of the valley of the Mississippi is found as far south as Arkansas. Its northern limit is a short way
beyond the 49th parallel on the elevated southern water-shed of Lake
Winipeg; but it may, perhaps, attain a greater northern latitude in the
lower country of Canada. A little to the south of Rainy Lake it yields
abundance of good sugar. The variety named bird's-eye maple grows on
one of the islands of the Lake of the Woods, and has been employed for
making gun-stocks. Goat Island, at the Falls of Niagara, according to
Mr. David Douglas, nourishes some of the largest sugar maples in North
America.
A. rubrum, red or swamp maple, ranges southward, according to Dr.
Gray, to Florida, and round the whole Gulf of Mexico to northern Texas;
but some of the southern forms, he says, would probably be considered by
European botanists to be specifically distinct from the northern tree. It
grows in Nova Scotia, throughout Canada, westward to Lake Winipeg and
the Rocky Mountains on the 52d or 53d parallel, and also crosses that
chain to the head waters of the Columbia.
A. pennsylvanicum, striped maple, or moose-wood, comes down along the
* I am indebted to Dr. Asa Gray for some valuable information respecting the range in
the United States of some of the trees in the following list. The Northern States referred
to in the list extend from New England to Wisconsin, and south to Ohio and Pennsylvania,
inclusive.




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                   423
coast to Boston, and follows the mountains from Pennsylvania to the borders of Georgia. to which Dr. Gray has traced it. It grows also in Kentucky, and was seen by us on the banks of the Winipeg, where it has more
the character of a flexible willow than of a tree..A. macrophyllum is confined to the mountainous country on the Pacific up to the 50th parMlel,
and is one of the most graceful trees, rising to the height of ninety feet,
with a circumference of sixteen..1 dasycarpum, white or silver maple, is
a fine large ornamental tree, well known in the United States. It is found
on Lake Huron, but does not appear to rise northward out of the St.
Lawrence basin. Good sugar is made from the juice of this tree.
Negundo fraxinifolium or aceroides, ash-leaved maple, does not, to Dr.
Gray's knowledge, grow wild in "New England. It abounds in Pennsylvania, and extends westward to western Texas and the Rocky Mountains,
growing at the high elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet near Santa Fe and the
Pawnee Fork, according to Lieut. Abert. It terminates northward about
the 54th parallel on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and is the tree which
yields most of the sugar made in Rupert's Land. Though this product
varies much with the skill of the operator, the kind obtained from the
juice of this tree is generally of a darker color than that which the true
sugar maple yields.
AMrPELIDEXE. —Jmpelopsis quinquefolia, Virginia creeper, or American
ivy, extends northward to Lake Winipeg, and is a great ornament to the
protruding rocks over which it creeps. It is a familiar shrub in the Northern States, but I have not been able to ascertain its southern limit.  The
Vitis cordifolia or riparia, frost grape, grows, on the evidence of collections
made on my former journeys, as far north as the south end of Lake
Winipeg, on the 50th parallel. I did not observe it on my late voyage, in
which, indeed, I had very little leisure to search for plants; and if it
actually grows in so high a latitude, it does not produce edible fruit so as
to attract the attention of the residents, who could give me no information
concerning it. Together with the Vitis estivalis, or summer grape, it is
common in Wisconsiri and Minesota.  Some of the native American vines
are cultivated in the Eastern States; and the Isabella grape, a variety of
the Vitis labrusca, has an agreeable though peculiar flavor.
ZANTHOLACEXE. —Zanthoxylum americanurn, northern prickly ash, and
Ptelea trifoliata, the shrubby trefoil, grow in Canada and Wisconsin, where
they seem to find their northern limit.
CELASTRINEze.-Staphylea trifolia, bladder nut; Eutonymus atropurpureus, burning bush; E. americanus, strawberry bush; and Celastrus scandens, inhabit Canada and Wisconsin, but were not observed to the north
of Lake Superior.  E. atropurpureus crosses the continent to Oregon.
RHAMNEXi.-Rhainnus alnifolius, alder-leaved buckthorn, grows from
Maine and Michigan northward, to about the 58th parallel.  It is a low
shrub, and is applied to no economical purpose.  R. purshianus is an
Oregon plant, which extends to Vancouver's Island and New Caledonia.
Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey tea, ranges from Maine, Michigan, and
Wisconsin, to Canada West, but was not gathered by us to the north of
Lake Superior. The C. leevigatus, a west-coast species, which extends
from Oregon to Vancouver's Island, seems to be the only member of the
genus that enters the British territory.  C. sanguineus is common in the
valley of the Columbia, and crosses the mountains to the upper tributaries




424          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
of the Missouri, forming one of the many instances of west-coast plants
traversing the dividing ridge to the eastern prairies, but not extending to
the eastern woodland districts.
TEREBINTHACEZ;, or ANACARDIACErm.-Rhus radicals or toxicodendron,
the poison oak; R. aromatica, the fragrant sumach; and R. glabra, the
smooth sumach, reach the banks of the Saskatchewan, or latitude 45~.
R. typhina and R. venenata extend to Canada, but have not been discovered north of Lake Superior.
LEGUMINOSXu. —.fmorpha fruticosa, false indigo;.A. canescens, lead
plant; and.d. nana, grow abundantly on the prairies of Osnaboya, and
are the only shrubby leguminous plants which extend to Rupert's Land.
Robinia pseudacacia is plentiful in Canada East.
CXuSALPMNEm.- Gymnocladus canadensis, the Kentucky coffee-bean tree;
Cercis canadensis, red bud; and Cassia cham&ecrista, partridge pea, have
their northern limits in Canada or Wisconsin.
ROSACEAE.-Prunus americana, the wild yellow plum, seems to reach its
northern boundary on the River Winipeg, not having been observed by me
beyond the 50th parallel. Lieut. Abert gathered its fruit as far south as
the banks of the Canadian and Pawnee forks of the Arkansas, on the 40th
parallel. It is a common bush on the river banks in the Northern States.
The American plums and cherries require further investigation, as the
number of the species and their distinctive characters are imperfectly
known. This one grows to the height of ten or fifteen feet on the Winipeg,
producing in the woods long flexible branches, armed with a few slender
sharp thorns. Its ripe fruit is fleshy and well flavored, but rather mealy,
of a yellowish color inclining to orange. It has an ovoid shape, with a
shallow groove on one side like a peach, is nearly an inch in diameter, and
its stone is so much compressed that its thickness is less than half its
width; while its length, being 0'63 inch, exceeds the width by a fourth
part. The nut is oblique, with convex valves, being circumscribed by
two unequal curves.  One edge is acute, with a groove on each side of it;
the other edge is occupied by a narrow groove. I have been thus particular in the description of the northern fruit, that it may be compared with
plums growing in other districts.  The fruit is the Puckesdminan of the
Crees; and La Prune, or the plum, of the white residents.
The Nekl-u-mina of the Chippeways, or Thekd-u-mina of the Crees, and
sand cherry of the residents on Rainy River and Lake Winipeg, is a bush
or srall shrubby tree, a foot and a half high, which grows on sand hills.
The bark of its annotinous and biennial shoots is reddish, and the older
twigs are brownish, with small warty specks. When in fruit (in which
state only I examined it in September, 1849) the fruitstalks are solitary,
and spring from the base of the summer's growth; they are rather more
than half an inch long, or about equal to the diameter of the fruit, which
is black and rather austere, but edible. The stone is 0-38 inch long,
almost regularly elliptical, and acute at the ends, but more so at one end
than the other. Its valves are very convex, so that its width exceeds its
thickness very little.  The sides are not acute-edged: one suture is depressed, forming a shallow groove; on the other side, which is very obtuse
and almost flattened, there is a furrow above and below the suture, and
rather remote from it. The annotinous shoots are smooth, angular, and
generally flexllose, with the leaves springing alternately at the curves




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                    425
The leaves measure two inches and a half, the footstalk forming about one
fifth part of this length.  The lamina is lanceolato-elliptical; that is,
nearly regularly elliptical, with an acute end, and a gradual tapering into
the footstalk; it is serrated by acute, appressed teeth at the upper end,
and is entire toward the footstalk; its under surface is pale and somewhat
glaucous, the upper one dark green, and both sides are perfectly smooth.
The footstalks are edged by the decurrent lamina for more than half their
length, and the deciduous linear-lanceolate stipulm are incisco-pinnate ihferiorly.  This cherry is probably the Cerasus pumila of Michaux and later
American botanists. It was not traced by me beyond the 50th parallel.
Another small shrubby cherry grows on moist sandy soil, by the banks
of rivers and lakes, from Lake Superior to the Elk River on the 57th parallel. Its fruit is scarcely half the size of the preceding, but is, like it,
black, and hangs generally on solitary footstalks, though the flowers grow
by twos or threes in short racemes. This shrub lies close to the ground;
makes no approach to the tree form; seldom exceeds a foot in height; and
so much resembles the Salix myrsinites and some other depressed willows,
that, on looking for catkins, I have not been undeceived until I found the
footstalks of the last year's cherries.  The fruit of this sand cherry is
sweeter than that of the preceding one.  Whether it be the Cerasus depressa of some botanists I can not determine; nor do I pretend to clear up
the confusion that exists in botanical works respecting C. pumila and
depressa.
C. peennsylvanica, wild red cherry, the Pdsis-so-wey-minan of the Chippeways, and Pdsi-z-wey-minan of the Crees, produces a small sour red fruit,
which grows in a many-flowered raceme on long slender footstalks. Its
equatorial limit, according to the United States botanists, is the New England States and Pennsylvania, where it is a slender tree 20 or 25 feet
high. Its polar limit is within the Saskatchewan basin, which it ascends
toward the base of the Rocky Mountains, nearly to the height of 2000 feet
above the sea.  C. virginiana, choke-cherry, is named by the Crees
Ta-kwoy-minan, and by the Dog-ribs Ki-e-dunne-yerre.  It was found by
Lieut. Abert on the Kansas and Arkansas, and on Purgatory Creek; and is,
in northern latitudes, a shrub with long branches. At Fort Liard, on the
61st parallel, it is 20 feet high, and on the confines of the arctic circle, where
it terminates, it does not exceed four or five feet. The fruit can scarcely
be said to be edible by itself; but it is often pounded, stones and all, and
mixed with pemican.  C. serotina, wild black cherry, is a general inhabitant of Rupert's Land, extending westward to the valleys of the Rocky
Mountains on the Pacific side, where, however, it is generally dwarfed; and
northward to near Great Slave Lake. It is said by Dr. Gray to be a fine
large tree in the Northern States, with purplish-black fruit, having a
pleasant vinous flavor. Besides these I gathered specimens of a cherrytree, not in flower, on Athabasca and Slave Rivers, which Sir William
Hooker is inclined to consider as the C. mollis, discovered by the unfortunate
David Douglas, on the banks of the Columbia, growing on subalpine hills
to the height of from 12 to 25 feet.
Purshia tridentata inhabits the Rocky Mountain prairies near the head
waters of the Missouri and Columbia, and extends northward to the 49th
parallel.  Spirsea opuelifolia, nine-bark, ranges from Maine, Canada, and
Wisconsin, westward to the valley of Oregon, in which it is found from the




426          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
sources of the Columbia downward.  It is common on the low islands of
Lake Superior, and has its polar limit in the colony of Red River.
S. chameedrifolia inhabits the northwest coast up to Sledge Island in
Beering's Straits, and Chamisso Island in Kotzebue Sound.  It does not
cross the Rocky Mountains, nor does any other Spirea go so far north on
the east side of the continent.  S. bet2alifolia is another western species
which inhabits the Blue Mountains and Mount Hood, and crosses the
Rocky Mountains to their eastern valleys between latitudes 52~ and 54~,
but does not descend to the lower eastern country.  S. tomentosa, hardhack or steeple-bush, is common in the meadows and low grounds of New
England, and spreads through Nova Scotia, Canada, and Rupert's Land to
Lake Winipeg. S. douglasii is an Oregon species resembling the preceding,
which extends to the Straits of Da Fuca.  S. aricefolia forms part of the
underwood in forests on the Pacific coast, on the Kooskdosky, Spokan,
Flathead, Salm-non, and M'Gillivray Rivers, up to the 49th parallel.  S.
salicifolia is very abundant on the banks of every lake and river in the
St. Lawrence and Saskatchewan basins, and northward to Slave River.
It is often associated with the fIfyrica gale, growing in the water. In its
northern range it approaches the S. chamcedrifolia of the west coast, but
does not attain so high a latitude, owing to the greater severity of the
climate on the east side of the mountains.
Rubus occidentalis, black raspberry or thimbleberry, extends from the
Northern States to the Saskatchewan basin, and also to the Pacific coast.
R. strigosus, wild red raspberry, is also found on both sides of the continent; on the east side it inhabits the United States, Newfoundland, and
Canada, and may be traced in the interior canoe route throughout the Saskatchewan basin.  R. nutkanus, white flowering raspberry, was discovered
in Queen Charlotte's Sound by Mr. Menzies in lat. 51~ on the Pacific
coast, since which time it has been found in Norfolk Sound, lat. 570, and
traced down to Cape Orford in lat. 430, and to the head waters of the
Columbia in 520. On the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains it
grows between latitudes 52~ and 540, and on the River Winipeg, Lake
Superior, and Upper Michigan. Near the Pacific it is ten feet high, and
forms the underwood on the island of Sitka; but in the passes of the
Rocky Mountains dwindles down to a foot or eighteen inches.  In thickets
on the Winipeg its leaves attain remarkable dimensions: the fruit is
inedible. R. odoratus, purple flowering raspberry, is a native of the Northern States, Canada, and the country between Lake Superior and the Saskatchewan. R. spectabilis is a prickly shrub, ten feet high, inhabiting the
Pacific coast from Oregon to Unalashka.  R. suberectus, bramble.  This
species, which is also European, is an inhabitant of Newfoundland, and of
the country between Lake Superior and the Saskatchewan, where it was
found both in 1825. and 1848. R. villosus is common in the Northern
States, and is found also in Nova Scotia and Canada TWest up to Lake
Huron and Wisconsin. It is included in Elliott's "' Flora Carolina," but I
have not ascertained its equatorial limit.  R. hispidus vel obovalis, running
swamp blackberry, is common in the Northern States, and extends through
Canada to Lake Superior. R. canadensis (L.), vel trivialis (Pursh), low
blackberry or dewberry, has a similar range with the preceding species.
R. nivalis (Douglas), is an alpine shrub, found on the snowy ridges of the
Rocky Mountains, and not growing more than six inches high. There are




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                     427
also several herbaceous species of this genus; as R. trifiorus, dwarf rasFberry, which is common in the Northern States and throughout Rupert's
Land, northward to Slave and Mackenzie Rivers. The Dog-ribs name it
Tasille —ki-eh. Its northern limit is about lat. 68~. R. chamcemorus,
cloudberry, is found on the White Mountains of New Hampshire near the
limit of trees; also in Maine and Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador.
In lat. 540, and more to the north. it crosses the continent, and is found
on the summits of the Rocky Mountains between latitudes 52~ and 56-0;
in Unalashka, on the shores of Beering's Straits, and on the most northern
promontories of the continent. Near the Arctic Sea it is a common plant
on mossy plains, but produces fruit there only in fine seasons.  The fruit,
which has a rich honey flavor, perishes with the early frosts. It is perhaps
the most delicious of the arctic berries, when in perfection, but cloys if
eaten in quantity. R. stellatus, resembling the preceding, has been found
only at Foggy Harbor on the northwest coast.  R. a'rcticus and R. acaulis
inhabit the shores of Hudson's Bay, Labrador, and the country westward
to Kotzebue Sound.  Their southern limit seems to be in the Saskatchewan
basin, in about lat. 530. On many parts of the flat beaches of Slave and
Mackenzie Rivers the lively red flowers of R. acaulis cover large patches
of ground which are partially flooded by small rivulets. In woods the
last-mentioned species has a stouter growth, and emits long flagelli which
run among the mosses.
Potentilla fruticosa, the shrubby cinquefoil, grows abundantly from the
Northern States to the Arctic Sea, by river banks as well as in the most
exposed and elevated situations.  It occurs in the high valleys of the
Rocky Mountains, at Pelly Banks on the west side of that range, and in
Kotzebue Sound. On the Coppermine River near the sea it is almost herbaceous, the woody stem being extremely short and subterranean.
Rosa woodsii, R. carolina, R. blanda, R. cinnamomca, R. majalis, and
R. stricta grow in the wooded districts; but, from their similarity to each
other, their respective limits have not been ascertained. R. blanda was
found flowering freely near the mouth of the Mackenzie on the 69th parallel.  This species and R. cinnamomea cross to the Pacific coast.  R.
woodsii and majalis have been traced as far north as the Mackenzie.  R.
nitida and lucida grow in Newfoundland and in the New England States.
R.fraxinifolia is confined to the Pacific coast; and R. lcevigata has not
been found beyond Lake Huron. R. setigera, a fine climbing rose, grows from
Ohio to Wisconsin, but has not been detected to the north of the great lakes.
Cratcegus punctata, dotted thorn, is found every where in the Northern
States, extends northward to Wisconsin, and crosses the continent to the
coast of the Pacific; but has not, so far as I have learnt, been found
within the British territory.  C. glandulosa occurs in Canada, and northward to the south side of the Saskatchewan basin; probably also on the
Pacific coast.  C. coccinea, scarlet-fruited thorn, is a common low tree in
the Northern States; was found by Lieut. Abert, as far south as Stranger
Creek, in lat. 39~; and extends to Wisconsin and the great lakes. C.
cordata, Washington thorn, is supposed by Dr. Asa Gray to have been introduced into New England, but to grow wild in Pennsylvania and the
more southerr. States. It is found from Canada to the Saskatchewan and
the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, and about the sources of the Columbia, in between lat. 520 and 54~.  The Crategi flourish on the banks of




428         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUT[ON OF PLANTS.
Rainy and Winipeg Rivers; but are scarce further north. Mertens found
several in the forest lands of Sitka.  A.melanchier canadesasis (botryapium
et ovalis,) shad-bush and service-berry, is La Poire of the voyagers, the
Misass-ku-tu-mina of the Crees, and the Tche-ki-eh of the Dog-ribs.  This
shrub extends along the banks of rivers nearly as far northward as the
woods go, and produces fruit up to the 65th parallel on the Mackenzie. It
is common in the Northern States, in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and
Labrador, and westward to the Pacific. The black fruit is abofit the size
of a pea, is well tasted, dries well, and in that state is mixed with pemican, or used for making puddings: for which purpose it nearly equals the
Zante currant. Its wood, being tough, is used by the natives for making
arrows and pipe-stems, and has obtained on that account the name of bois
de fleche from the voyagers; but in the United States the name of arrow
wood is given to a different tree. The variety or species named./. sanguinea was traced up to the 60th parallel.
Pyrus rivularis, Powitch tree, inhabits Oregon and Vancouver's Island.
Its fruit is edible, and its wood, which is hard enough to take a fine polish,
is used for wedges. P. americana, the American mountain ash, is found
on the southern parts of the Alleghanies, and more commonly in the swamps
and mountain woods of the Northern States. It is frequent on the shores
of Lake Huron and Superior; but is seldom seen on the canoe route beyond
Lake Winipeg. On the acclivities and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, however, it ranges northward to Fort Liard, near the 60th parallel.
It has been observed as high as the 56th degree of north latitude on the
Pacific coast, from whence it extends southward through the subalpine regions of Oregon. P. arbutifolia, choke-berry, is common in the damp
thickets of the Northern States, in Newfoundland, in Canada, and onward
to the Saskatchewan basin; but was not observed so far north as the immediate banks of that stream.
GROSSULARIEs. —The species of this family seem to attain their maximum number to the north of the United States. Ribes oxyacanthoides,
sharp-thorned gooseberry, inhabits Newfoundland, Canada, and the canoe
route northward to the 62d parallel, or perhaps further.  R. cynosbati,
prickly gooseberry is common in the rocky woods of the Northern States,
and accompanies the preceding species northward to Slave Lake. R. saxosum inhabits New England, the shores of Lake Huron, and the valley of
the Saskatchewan, extending also probably to Oregon. R. hirtellurm, shortstalked wild gooseberry, the most common species in New England, extends
to Canada, Wisconsin, and northward to Great Slave Lake. The preceding one seems to be considered by Dr. Asa Gray to be a variety of this
species. R. lacustre, swamp gooseberry, is common in the most northern
parts of the United States and Nova Scotia; crosses the mountains to
North California and Oregon; and extends northward along the Mackenzie,
nearly or quite to its delta. It is the Tagossay-ki-eh of the Hare Indians,
which name is common to several kinds of gooseberry in the Dog-rib country, where there is a greater variety of species.  R. divaricatum is common near Indian villages on the northwest coast, from 450 to 520 north
lat.  R. rotundifolium, Michx. (triflorum, Willd.,) is a rare inhabitant of
the mountainous districts of Oregon, and inhabits the Northern States from
Massachusetts to Michigan and Wisconsin, but has not been found on the
north side of Lakes Superior or Huron.  B. rubrum, the common red cur



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                    429
rant, native both of Europe and America, extends from the Northern States
very nearly to the shores of the Arctic Sea, having been gathered beyond
the 69th parallel; and it ranges westward to Kotzebue's Sound. It is the
Ki-eh-eth-lule-aze of the Dog-ribs and Hare Indians.  R. prostratum, fetid
currant, inhabits cold damp woods from Nova Scotia and the Northern
States northward to the Athabasca, and westward to the Rocky Mountains
and Oregon. The fruit is produced in copious racemes; but, in common
with the foliage, it has an unpleasant odor, and a strong taste of turpehtine.  R. hudsonianum.  This is the Nut-sinne of the Dog-ribs, and is a
common gooseberry from Hudson's Bay to the Rocky Mountains and subalpine districts of Columbia; also in a northerly direction on the Mackenzie to lat. 67~. R. floridum, wild black currant, resembles the preceding,
and is a common species in the Northern States, westward to Wisconsin,
and ranges northward to lat. 540.  R. sanguineumn, which has become so
common an ornament of our gardens, is a native of the Pacific coast only,
where it ranges from 38~ north lat. to 520. There are several other very
handsome species in Oregon, and, among others, the rich P. a ureum; but
they have not been traced beyond the 49th parallel.
ARALIACEME.-Panax horridum, prickly ash-leaved panax, a twining
shrub common in California, Oregon, and New Caledonia, as far north as
570 or 58~, crosses the Rocky Mountain ridge to the upper tributaries of
the Saskatchewan, but does not descend to the eastward. JAralia hispida,
bristly sarsparilla, may be considered as the eastern representative of the
preceding, though it is scarcely shrubby, having merely a very short, tough
stem, almost buried in the crevices of the rocks from which it springs.
CoRNEAz.-Cornus alba vel stolonifera, red osier cornel.  This willowlike shrub, which is the osier rouge of the voyagers, ornaments the river
strands from the Northern States, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, northward to near the mouth of the Mackenzie, and westward to the shores of
the Pacific. It is named by the Crees, on account of the bright red color of
its twigs, Mithwka-pe'-min-ahtik (red stick,) and its fruit Muskwamina (bearberry,) because the bears eat it. The Dog-ribs call this berry, Kai-gossaiki-eh. A warm decoction of the bark and twigs is used by the natives for
bathing their limbs when swelled by fatigue.  C. alternifolia, C. paniculata, C. sericea, and C. circinata, which are inhabitants of the Northern
States, are said to extend to Canada; but except the last named, which
occurs on Lake Superior, none of them were gathered by us on the. canoe
route. C. cericea and C. florida, also Canadian species, cross the continent to Oregon, but do not occur north of the great lakes. The herbaceous
C. canadensis reaches the shores of the Arctic Sea, crossing the continent
from east to west; and the P. suecica a European plant, is found in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the west coasts of arctic America as high as
Kotzebue Sound, and southward to Oregon; but has not been detected in
the interior districts.
LoRANTHACEcz.-.rceuthobium oxycedri, this leafless parasitical shrub,
is common to Europe, Central Asia, and North America, where it grows on
cedars and pine trees. On the eastern declivities of the Rocky Mountains
it ranges from lat. 52~ to 57~ north, and also eastward to Hudson's Bay.
growing on the Pinus banksiana.  On the western side of the mountains,
from the Spokan River, in 470 north lat., to near the sources of the Columbia, it infests the Pinus ponderosa.




430          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
CAPRIFOLIACEE.-Sambucus canadensis, black-fruited elder, was gathreed by Lieut. Abert on the Cottonwood Creek of the Neosha, in lat. 38O  
north, at an altitude of about 1400 feet.  It has its northern limit in the
Sascatchewan basin, and ranges westward from Nova Scotia across the
prairies. S. racemosa vel pubens, the red-fruited elder, is common in the
Northern States on the shores of Lake Superior, going northward to the
Saskatchewan, and westward to Oregon. Its polar limit, as far as ascertained, is on the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains between 520
and 590 north lat.  V. prunifolium, black haw, or sloe-leaved viburnum,
reaches the north shore of Lake Huron; but is more common in New York
and Ohio. V. lentago, sweet viburnum, is a handsome tree in the Northern States, grows in Nova Scotia and Wisconsin, and extends northward
to the south side of the Saskatchewan basin.  V. nudum, withe-rod, is
more common from New Jersey southward than toward the great lakes;
but occurs as far northward as the last-named species.  V. dentatum, arrow wood, is common in the low grounds of the Northern States up to
Wisconsin, and is said by Pursh to extend to Canada; but it seems to be
rare in that country.  V. acerifolium, maple-leaved arrow-wood, is a more
northern species; and, in common with other shrubs that approach the
arctic circle, it crosses the Rocky Mountains to the valley of Oregon, and
also to Sitka. It has been traced as far north as Great Slave Lake, occurs
also in Newfoundland, and is common in the rocky woods of the Northern
States.  V. opulus vel oxycoccus.  Sir William Hooker is inclined to consider the European and American shrubs known by these names-and of
which the handsome snow-ball tree, or guelder rose, is a cultivated variety-to be one species, and Dr. Asa Gray unites them.  In America the
shrub extends from the Northern States and Nova Scotia to lat. 68~ on
the Mackenzie, and perhaps very nearly to the verge of the woods. It also
crosses to the Pacific coast, having been found in the valley of Oregon.
Its fruit, of a bright pinkish red color, has a sharp acid taste. and is the
Mongs6-a mind (moose-berry) of the Crees, and the Dunrne-ki-e or Indianberry of the Dog-ribs and Hare Indians. The fruit being sometimes used
as a poor substitute for cranberries, has obtained for the bush the name of
cranberry tree in the Northern States.  V. edule, the pembina of the voyagers, was traced by us northward to the Elk River. It is much less comrnmnon than the preceding, and has a more fleshy and less acid fruit, of an
orange-red color. The voyagers relish this fruit; and it has given name
to many of the rivers of Rupert's Land.  It is the Nipi-minan (water-berry)
of the Crees. Michaux, Dr. Asa Gray, and other authors consider it to be
scarcely a variety of V. opulus. I have found, however, its foliage retaining pretty constantly its peculiar character. In V. oxycoccus the lobes of
the leaves are separated by acute sinuses, and have long, tapering, jagged,
or deeply serrated points. In V. edule the sinuses between the lobes are
rounded, and the lobes themselves are shorter, though the lamina of the
leaf is cut to within a short distance of its base. The European V. opulzus
has generally obtuse sinuses, and a less deeply cut lamina, but the lobes
also short. Pursh, who separated V. oxycoccus from edule, described the bases
of the leaves of the one as acute and of the other obtuse; but, as there seems
to be no difference in that respect, it is probable that he meant the sinuses.
Diervilla trifida vel canadensis, bush honeysuckle, has a herbaceous- aspect, and is one of the most common underwoods on the portages.  It oc




LIST OF TREES AND SHIRUBS.                 431
curs in all the woody districts of the Saskatchewan basin up to the acclivities of the Rocky Mountains, but is rare to the North of Cumberland House.
It grows also on Lake Superior, in Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, and the Northern States. Lonicera parviflora, small honeysuckle, has a conterminous
range with the preceding. L. douglasii gathered on Saskatchewan is considered by Dr. A. Gray to be merely a variety produced by cultivation.
L. hirsuta, hairy honeysuckle. is a coarse-leaved climber, common in moist
rocky woods of the Northern States and Canada as far as Lake Huron.  L.
ciliati, fly honeysuckle, grows at Pictou, on the Catskill Mountains, in
Ohio, Wisconsin. generally throughout the rocky woods of the Northern
States; also on Lake Superior, and northward along the whole Saskatchewoan basin. L. ccerulea, the mountain fly honeysuckle, extends northward
to the arctic circle; it likewise ranges from the Labrador coast and Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains, and we should suppose also to the Pacific coast, since it is both a European and a Siberian species; but it is
not named by Mertens or Bongard among the Sitka plants, nor does it appear to have been found by Douglas, Tolmie, or Scouler in Oregon. It
grows in Wisconsin, New Hampshire. Massachusetts, and New York.
Symphoricarpus racemosus, snow-berry, and S. occidentalis, wolf-berry,
range from Vermont, Michigan, and Wisconsin, over the St. Lawrence and
Saskatchewan basins, to the 60th parallel on the Mackenzie. They also
occur in the Oregon valley, Vancouver's Island, and doubtless much further along that coast.
RUBIACEM.-Cephalanthus occidentalis, button bush.  This shrub, which
belongs to the sub-family of Cinchonece, occurs in thickets of the Northern
States and Canada, but does not extend to Lake Superior.
COMPOSITE. —Of this large family no shrub has been detected in the canoe route north of Lake Superior; though the Crinitaria viscidiflora grows
as high as the 55th parallel on the banks of the Salmon River, west of the
Rocky Mountains, and on the upper branches of the Columbia above the
Kettle Falls. A small annual herb was found on the Saskatchewan, which
Sir William Hooker placed next this species; but, from the imperfect specimens, he could not ascertain its genus satisfactorily.
VACCINEE. —Gaylussacia resinosa, black huckleberry, is common in the
Northern States westward to Wisconsin, and extends northward to the Saskatchewan.  Vaccinium corymbosum, common swamp blueberry, extends
from the Northern States to Newfoundland and Canada, as far north as
Quebec, but has not been gathered to the westward of Lake Superior.  V.
pennsylvanicum, low shining-leaved blueberry, is very common in the dry
rocky woods of the Northern States, Canada, and the country between Lakes
Superior and Winipeg.  V. canadense, downy-leaved blueberry, is the most
abundant species by the sides of streams and in thickets, from Maine and
Michigan to the shores of Hudson's Bay, and northward in the woody districts to the arctic circle. It extends also westward across the mountains
to the upper feeders of the Columbia.  V. uliginosum, bog bilberry. occurs
on the summits of the New Hampshire Alps; on the Green Mountains of
Vermont, and on Essex county mountains of New York; on the Newfoundland. Labrador, and Greenland coasts; also from Lake Superior northward
to the Arctic Sea. On the west side of the Rocky Mountains it has been
gathered on Sitka, Unalashka, and Kotzebue Sound. In Europe it grows
in the forests of the higher Jura, in England, and the Scandinavian penin



432         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
sula. Beyond the arctic circle its fruit is not abundant every year; but
in good seasons it is plentiful to an extraordinary degree, and is of a finer
quality than in more southern localities. It then affords food to the bears
and large flocks of geese, which fatten on it, and acquire a fine flavor. The
berries, when frozen by the autumnal frosts, remain hanging on the bushes
until the snow melts in the following June, and may be then gathered in a
very juicy but tender condition.  V. salicinum, willow-leaved bilberry, is
an inhabitant of Unalashka.  V. myrtillus, myrtle-leaved bilberry, was
gathered by Mr. Drummond on the summit of the pass between the head
waters of the Saskatchewan and Columbia, but has not been detected further to the east, though it is a European plant.  Chamisso found a Vaccinium on Unalashka, which he was inclined to refer to this species; but
his specimens were imperfect. Bongard, however, enumerates it as existing among the plants gathered by Mertens on Sitka.  V. myrtilloides vel
angustifolium is found in Canada, and from Hudson's Bay to the woody
declivities of the Rocky Mountains, between the 52d and 54th parallels.
It crosses the dividing ridge also to the alpine valleys of Oregon, and to the
sea-coast further north, where the purplish-brown fruit is eaten with relish
by the natives. V. ccespitosum, dwarf bilberry, grows on the Alps of New
Hampshire, the shores of Lake Superior near James's Bay, and northward
to the valley of the Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains, between 520
and 570 north; also in the Oregon valley. V. ovalifolium grows in Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia up to the Portage River, near the crest
of the Rocky Mountains, on the 50th parallel, and also on the island of
Sitka at lat. 570 north. V. vitis-idea, cow-berry, or alpine cranberry, is the
Wi-s4-gU'-mTnd of the Crees, and the cranberry most plentiful and most
used throughout Rupert s Land. This berry is excellent for every purpose
to which a cranberry can be applied; and though inferior to the V. oxycoccus in flavor in autumn, is far superior to it after the frosts; and, as it may
be gathered in abundance in a most juicy condition when the snow melts
in June, it is then a great resource to the' Dog-ribs and Hare Indians, as
well as to the immense flocks of water-fowl that are migrating to their
breeding places at that date. It grows in perfection, in the most exposed
situations, round a boulder or granite rock, over whose face its branches may
spread, and where it can have at one time both moisture and the reflected
heat of the sun's rays.  It is found at Danvers, in Massachusetts, in Maine,
and the higher mountains of New England, where its fruit is reported by
Dr. Asa Gray to be barely edible, bitter, and mealy. In the parallel of
Lake Superior it spreads from the Atlantic to the Pacific (being absent,
however, on the prairies.) In a higher latitude it crosses the continent
also from Churchill Fort to Sitka and Kotzebue Sound, and it extends in the
middle districts to the Arctic Sea in latitude 71~.  In Sitka its leaves are
said to be small. In Rupert's Land they vary in size, according as the
plant is exposed or under shade.  V. ovatum is common in Oregon and
rocky places of the west coast northward to the 49th parallel.  V. oxycoccus, dotted cranberry, is, like the preceding, common to the New and Old
World. It grows in peat bogs from New England and Wisconsin, northward to the arctic circle, and from Newfoundland and Labrador to the Rocky
Mountains, between 52~ and 570 north lat:; in Sitka on the latter parallei, and in Kotzebue Sound.  V. macrocarpum, American cranberry, is common in the peat bogs of the Northern States, and has its limit in the Sas



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                  433
katchewan basin. It crosses the continent from Newfoundland to Oregon;
and the natives near the mouth of the Columbia eat its fruit. when boiled,
under the name of Su-labich.  Chiogenes hispidula, creeping snowberry, is
common in the Northern States, where it grows under evergreens in turfy
places. It extends across the continent from Newfoundland to the sources
of the Columbia, and northward along the Rocky Mountains to the 55th
parallel.
ERICE?..-Gaultheriaprocumbens, creeping winter-green tea-berry, checker-berry, partridge-berry, or box-berry. This fragrant creeping shrub is a
great ornament of the woods north of Lake Superior. It inhabits moist
woods in the Northern States, grows at Pictou and on Lakes Huron and
Superior, and was traced by us northward to the Lake of the Woods, or
near the 50th parallel. G.? myrsinites has hitherto been found on the declivities of the Rocky Mountains only between the 52d and 57th parallels.
Mr. Drummond says that its small berries have a delicious pine-apple flavor. The plant was cultivated in the Botanic Garden at Glasgow, but I
have not heard that it produced fruit there.  G. shallon is an Oregon plant
growing between Cape Mendocino and Puget Sound, but not extending inland more than a hundred miles from the sea-coast. Epigcea repens, ground
laurel, or trailing.Arbutus, inhabits sandy and rocky woods in the Northern
States, Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Rupert's Land, as far
north as the Saskatchewan..Arbutus menziesii and J. tomentosa inhabit
Oregon northward to Puget Sound; but no true.Arbutus has been detected
on the east side of the Rocky Mountains..lrctostaphylos uva-ursi, bearberry, is common to Europe and America, and descends from the Arctic
Sea coast to Rainy Lake and the rocks and hills of the Northern States.
It crosses the continent to the valley of Oregon, where the Chenook Indians
mix its dried leaves with tobacco. It is used for the same purpose by the
Crees, who call it Tchakashe-pukk; by the Chepewyans, who name it
Kleh; and by the Eskimos north of Churchill, by whom it is termed Attwng-a-wi-at.  On account of the Hudson's Bay officers carrying it in bags
for a like use, the voyagers gave it the appellation of Sac-a-commis. On
the northwest coast, Mertens found it at Sitka, and it doubtless extends
along the whole coast. Its dry farinaceous berry is utterly inedible. A.
alpina, alpine bear-berry, though a herbaceous plant, may be mentioned with
the others: it is also European. In the United States the only habitat
given is the Alps of New Hampshire; but it grows at a much lower altitude in Newfoundland and Canada. It was found by Drummond on the
Rocky Mountain ridge, and is very common on the barren grounds beyond
the woody district, and along the whole arctic coast to Kotzebue Sound.
There are two varieties, one with bright red and more juicy fruit; the other, having a dark purplish-black berry, of more fleshy consistence, and a
stronger peculiar flavor. Both are eaten in the autumn; and, though not
equal to some of the other native fruits, are not unpleasant. The two
kinds are exactly alike in foliage. Andromeda hypnoides, moss-like andromeda, an inhabitant of the Alps of New Hampshire, Mount Marcy in New
York, Labrador, and the northwest coast, was not detected by us on the
interior canoe route..A. lycopodioides, a Kamtschatka plant, was found by
Chamisso on Unalashka.  A. cupressina inhabits the Rocky Mountains in
lat. 560 north. JA. mertensiana and A. stelleriana, so named by Bongard,
were discovered on Sitka by Mertens.  A. tctragona is one of the most
T




434         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
northern plants, being an inhabitant of the north end of Spitzbergen. It
occurs on all the islands and coasts of the Arctic Sea, from. Greenland to
Kotzebue Sound, at Sitka, and as far south as Mount Hood on the 45th
parallel. It is also a Lapland and Siberian plant. Like the two preceding species, it is rather a wiry herb than a shrub. The withered leaves of
past years remain attached to the thread-like stem, and may be used as
fuel, a fact which Mr. Rae so fully demonstrated, as we have mentioned,
in a preceding page. S/. polifolia, rosemary andromeda, inhabits the Alps
of New Hampshire and New York, Wisconsin, Lake Superior, and the country northward to the Arctic Sea; also the whole breadth of the continent
from Newfoundland and Labrador to Sitka and Kotzebue Sound, with the
exception of the prairies. It is an' inhabitant also of the higher Jura.
A.. calyculata, rusty-leaved andromeda, grows in sphagnous bogs and on
the flooded strands of clear streams in the Northern States and Rupert's
Land as far as the upper part of the Mackenzie, and also on the shores of
B1eering's Sea.  A. racemosa, cluster-bearing andromeda. grows in the moist
copses of Canada, Massachusetts, and New Jersey near the coast, extending from thence southward.  A. ligustrina, privet andromeda. a common
shrub of the Northern States, extends northward to the Saskatchewan basin.  In this genus and in.rbutus it may be noticed, that the more herbaceous species have generally the highest range.
Phyllodoce taxifolia, or Menziesia c&erulea. This English plant grows
on the New Hampshire Alps, and has been found on the Labrador coast.
Steller is also said to have gathered it on the American coast and islands
opposite Kamtschatka.  M. ferruginea and M. aleutica were found by
Mertens at Sitka; the former, which is one of Menzies's discoveries, has
since been gathered by Seeman on the coast of Beering's Sea, and the latter was previously found by Chamisso on Unalashka.  Menziesia glandulifora is one of Mr. Drummond's discoveries on the Smoking River, an
elevated tributary of Peace River, on the 55th parallel. It is remarkable
for its gracefully drooping yellow flowers. M. empetriformis inhabits Vancouver's Island and the Alpine districts of Oregon. M. grahamii and M.
intermedia grow on the Rocky Mountains, in lat. 550 eastward of their
crest.  M. globularis inhabits the same districts on the Smoking River
northward to 56~; and, according to Pursh, it occurs also on the high
mountains of Carolina, and on the Cacapon Mountains, near Winchester,
in Virginia.  None of the Menziesice are mentioned by Dr. Asa Gray as
existing in the Northern States; and it would appear that many of the
species are very local, particularly the alpine ones.
Kalmia latifolia, calico bush,mountain laurel, or spoon-wood, forms
dense thickets on the mountains of Carolina and Pennsylvania, and is
common northward from Maine to Ohio and Canada, where it is a much
humbler shrub. It was not observed by us on the north side of the St.
Lawrence basin. K. glauca inhabits moorish places from the Northern
States to the Arctic Sea, and crosses the continent to Sitka.  K. angustifolia, sheep laurel, is common in the Northern States and Canada, to
James's Bay and Newfoundland. We did not observe it on the canoe
route north of Lake Superior. Azalea viscosa inhabits the Northern and
Eastern States and Canada, but was not seen by us beyond the St. Lawrence basin.  A. nudiflora, purple azalea, or pinxter flower, a common
shrub in the Northern States. extends to Canada. The Rhododendron




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                  435
maximum, which is common on the mountains of Carolina and Pennsylvania, and is more rare in the Northern States and Canada, grows also in
Oregon, on the subalpine range of Mount Hood, and more to the north on
the high mountains near the "Rapids" of the Columbia. R. lapponicum, Lapland rose-bay, is another arctic plant which is foun~d isolated on
the peaks of the White Mountains of New Hampshire,. and on Mount
Ma.rcy in ithe north corner of New York. It has been gathered as far squth
on the,coast as the Labrador peninsula and' the shore between York Factory and Churchill River, and grows on the summits of the Rocky Mountains on. the 56th parallel, and throughout the whole extent of the barren
grounds from Repulse Bay to Norton Sound, and northward to the Arctic
Sea. An infusion of the leaves and flowering tops was drunk by us instead of tea, but it makes a less grateful beverage than the Ledumnpalustre.
It is a Scandinavian plant.  R. kamtschaticuzm is an inhabitant of the
northwest coast in lat. 530, and of Unalashka, as well as of the Asiatic
shore. R. albiflorum, an elegant and ornamental plant,. was discovered by
D'rusnond on the Rocky Mountains between 520 and 570 of north latitude, where alone it has been found.
Loiseleuiria vel azalea procumbens inhabits the Alps of New Hampshire,,and the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, Hudson's Bay, and the Arctic
Sea; also the northwest coast at Mount Edgecumbe, Sitka, and Kotzebue
Sound.  Ledum palustre, narrow-leaved Labrador tea, the Kd-ki-ki-pukuad
(pereunilleaves), or the maskego-pukwd (medicine leaves), of the Crees,
is an inhabitant of the colder parts of Canada, the coasts of Newfoundland
and, Labrador, and the whole of Rupert's Land to the Arctic Sea, on whose
shores it grows from Repulse Bay and the mouth of the Thlewee-choh to
Kotzebue Sound. It is also found at Sitka; but Dr. Asa Gray has seen
no specimens gathered south of the United States boundary line. It is
frequently used as a substitute for tea. L. latifolhum grows in the woody
districts of Rupert's Land, often in the immediate vicinity of the other
species; but extends further south, being common in cold boggy grounds
in the Northern States.
MONOTROPEX. - Cladothamus pyrolifolius (Tolmiea, Hook.) inhabits
Norfolk Sound on the Pacific coast in lat. 57~, and the country southward
to Puget Sound.  Chimaphila umbellata, Prince's pine, Pipsissewa, goes
northward to 530 on the Rocky Mountains, but does not pass the 50th
parallel in the much lower country through which the canoe route lies. It
crosses the dividing range, descends to the mouth of the Columbia, and is
common in the Northern States. The Chippeways, in whose country it
grows abundantly, do not appear to have discovered its admirable diuretic
qualities.  C. maculata is a more southern species: it was gathered by us
on the great lakes, but is not common north of the Middle States.
JAsMINAE.-Fraxinus sambucifolia, black ash, is said to grow in Virginia,
and by Dr. Asa Gray to range from Maine to Wisconsin. It also inhabits
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada.  F. americana, white ash,
was found by Lieut. Abert on the Arkansas, high up on the western slope
of the Mississippi valley. It is a large forest tree in the Northern States.
It grows at Pictou, also on Lake Superior, Rainy Lake, the River Winipeg,
and the banks of the Saskatchewan, to latitude 540 north, where it is
still a tree. F. ptubescens, red ash, does not grow thicker than a man's
thigh on Rainy River, where it terminates near the 49th parallel. It




436          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
extends southward to the Middle States, and also across the mountains to
Oregon.
ELEAGNACErE.-Eleagnus argentea, silver-berry, is a very common shrub
on the banks of rivers throughout the basins of the Saskatchewan and
Mackenzie, up to the 68th parallel of latitude. Its dry husky berries are
covered with the same silvery epidermis that gives the hoary appearance to
the leaves, and are used by the Kutchin to ornament their dresses. This
apparently sapless fruit is often found in the stomachs of geese on their
northerly migrations.  It is the wapow-muskwa-minan, or "white-bear
berry," of the Crees; and the branches, which harden in drying, are used
by the natives for making pipe-stems.  It ascends the Saskatchewan, and
occurs in Canada, but does not find a place an Gray's "' Flora of the Northern States."  Shepherdia canadensis grows from Vermont and Wisconsin
northward to beyond the arctic circle, and is very common on the Mackenzie.
Its small, red, juicy, very bitter, and slightly acid berry is useful for making an extempore beer, which ferments in twenty-four hours, and is an
agreeable beverage in hot weather.  S. argentea is a prairie shrub comn
mon to the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchewan, but which does not
grow in the eastern districts.  It is the Mith-yii-min  or blood-red berry
of the Crees.
THYMELEE. —Dirca palustris, leather-wood, is common in the Northern
States, and extends to the north side of Lake Superior. disappearing about
the Lake of the Woods.
EMPETREXE.-Empetrum nigrum occurs on the Alps of New Hampshire
and New York, and is found throughout the whole extent of Rupert's Land
up to the Arctic Sea, along which it ranges to Kotzebue Sound, descending
the western coast to Sitka, and perhaps lower. It is absent only on the
prairies.  In the more sandy tracts of the barren grounds it covers the
surface with its prostrate branches, that are loaded with fruit in favorable
seasons. The snow-geese feed and fatten on the berries, which, after the
fresh frosts, become very juicy, and are highly refreshing to the weary and
thirsty traveler.
ULMACEE. —Ulmus americana, white elm, was found by Lieut. Abert
on the Pawnee Fork in latitude 380 10' N., at an elevation of 1658 feet;
and Dr. Asa Gray informs me that it descends to Texas. It is a majestic
tree in the Northern States, much prized for its rapid growth and the
beauty of its form. Its wood is in requisition there for the use of wheelwrights.  On the north banks of the Saskatchewan, in about latitude 540~,
which is its polar limit, it grows only in rich alluvial soil, and, being
crowded among balsam poplars and other trees which inhabit such places,
does not exhibit its handsome outline so as to strike the eye. Its timber
there is often decayed at heart, and, even when sound, is so porous that
we found it to be unfit for planking boats. It is probable that the U. fulva,
slippery or red elm, known by the corky and angled bark of its branches,
has an equal northerly range; but we did not trace it, though two kinds
extend to the Saskatchewan, and we gathered their flowers.  It is perhaps
an elm of which I heard, but did not see in leaf, which inabits wet places
on the banks of Rainy River, and produces a wood that is considered there
to be of no value. Dr. Asa Gray has not traced U. fulva on the Atlantic
side of the Alleghanies further south than Maryland.  Celtis occidentalis,
sugar-berry or hackberry, is common in the Northern States, and extends to




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                   437
Wisconsin and to the Oregon, but was not seen by us on the north side of
Lake Superior.
JUGLANDINE. —Juglans cinerea, butter-nut; J. nigra, black walnut;
Carya alba, shell-bark or shag-bark hickory; C. amara, bitter-nut or swamp
hickory; and C. glabra, pig nut or broom hickory, reach Wisconsin, and the
basin of the St. Lawrence, but were not seen by us north of Lake Superior.
CUPULIFERR.-Quercus obtusiloba vel stellata, post oak, abounds in Texas
as far as San Antonio de Bexar, wherever any hard wood grows. It was
traced with Q. rubra, red oak, as far as the River Winipeg. Of the latter,
Dr. Asa Gray says that he does not know whether it extends to Texas or
not. It is a good-sized tree in the Northern States, and common in rocky
woods.  Q. alba, white oak.  This, a most valuable forest tree in the
Northern States, ranges northward to Lake Winipeg, where it has a crooked
and rather unsightly growth of 20 feet. Michaux states that its southern
limit is in Florida; but I do not find it in the lists of plants gathered by
Messrs. Emory and Abert in their journeys from Fort Leavenworth on the
Missouri to North Mexico and California.  Q. bannisteri; Q. tinctoria,
quercitron or black oak; Q. macrocarpa, burr oak; Q. bicolor, swamp oak;
Q. prinos, swamp chestnut oak; and Q. palustris, pin oak, grow in Canada
or Wisconsin, but were not detected by us to the north of the great lakes,
with the exception perhaps of Q. macrocarpa, since I gathered the immature acorns of an oak resembling this on Rainy River.  Q. garryana, inhabits Oregon, northward to Puget Sound, is a tree which reaches 80 feet
in height, and is well adapted for shipbuilding.
Fagus ferruginea et sylvestris, American beech: is said by Pursh to
range southward to Florida; it ceases at Mackinac on Lake Huron, and
does not grow on Lake Superior, but reappears further to the northwest on
the Red River of Lake Winipeg, beyond which it was not seen. Carpinus
americana, hornbeam, blue or water beach, called also iron-wood, inhabits
Canada, Wisconsin, and the other Northern States, but was not seen by
us on the canoe route. Ostrya virginica, hop hornbeam. This tree, which
has also the trivial name of iron-wood, grows as far north as the River
Winipeg, and is plentiful on Rainy and Red Rivers.  Its southern range,
according to authors, is to Carolina and Georgia.
Corylus americana, hazel nut, and C. rostrata, beaked hazel nut, range
northward to the Saskatchewan, the former also crossing the continent to
the Pacific coast.
MYRICACEmE.-Myrica gale, sweet gale or Dutch myrtle, is also a European shrub. It is common in North America, on the stony margins of
lakes, and in peat bogs, from Virginia to the arctic circle, and in the
island of Sitka.  The native population of Rupert's Land use the buds as
a material for dyeing.  Comptonia asplenifolia, sweet fern, is common in
the Northern States, and terminates on the northern slope of the Saskatchewan basin; it ranges southward along the mountains of Carolina and
Georgia.
BETULACEXE. —Betula papyracea, paper or canoe birch, is an invaluable
tree to the population of Rupert's Land. Its bark is indispensable for the
construction of their canoes, and also serves for the covering of tents, in
localities where the skins of large animals are scarce. Neatly sewed and
ornamented with porcupine quills, it is moulded into baskets, bags, dishes,
plates, and drinking vessels; in short it is the material of which most of




438          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
the light and easily transported household furniture of the Crees is formed.
The ruder'Tinne use it, but dispense with many of the forms into which
it is worked by their southern neighbors. The wood serves for paddles,
the framework of snow-shoes, sledges, hatchet helves, and occasionally for
gun-stocks; and in spring the sap forms a pleasant sweet drink, from
which a syrup may be manufactured by boiling. Beyond the arctic circle
it is a scarce and crooked tree, but occurs of a small size as high as the
69th parallel. It grows in perfection on the north shore of Lake'Superior,
in the neighborhood of Fort William, where, owing to the ample supply
of good bark, a manufactory of canoes for the use of the Hudson's Bay
Company has been established. As the Kolushes north of Sitka use birchbark canoes, I infer that this tree extends to the Pacific; but I have not
seen it in the lists of plants of that coast. Pursh mentions Hudson River
as its southern limit; and Gray states its range as extending from New
England to Wisconsin, but chiefly through the northern parts of that district. It grows in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. B. orcidentalis occurs in Oregon, along the Rocky Mountains, northward to the
straits of Da Fuca, and crosses the ridge to the vicinity of Edmonton
House, on the 54th parallel. B. excelsa, yellow birch, was not traced by
us beyond the banks of the Kamenistikwoya, which falls into Lake Superior.
In the Northern States it is a stately tree, 60 feet in height.  B. lenta.
cherry or sweet birch, is a rather large tree, which is common in the Northern States, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Newfoundland; but does not appear
to go far westward, as it was not found by us nor by Agassiz on Lake
Superior.  B. pumila vel glanduzlosa, little birch, is rare in New England,
but grows in bogs of the northern parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan,
and Wisconsin; also in Nova Scotia, Canada, Newfoundland, and Labrador.
It goes considerably beyond the arctic circle, being found on the banks of
the Thlewee-chow, the Coppermine River, and other arctic streams, and
also on the Mackenzie to about the 68th parallel. It is very like the following, but has a more erect and slender growth, which may be perhaps
owing to locality.  The leaves are generally longer.  B. nana, dwarf
birch, exists on the summits of the White Mountains of New Hampshire,
and of the Essex Mountains of New York. It grows also in the higher
parts of Labrador and Canada, along the shores of the Arctic Sea, from
Davies' Straits to Kotzebue Sound; and generally throughout the Barren
Grounds. dAlnus viridis, green or mountain alder, and A. incana, speckled
or hoary alder, range northward to the delta of the Mackenzie on the 68th
parallel, and from Newfoundland and Labrador to Kotzebue Sound; the
first species being also found on Sitka.  They are common bushes in New
England and Wisconsin; but I have not seen their southern limits mentioned.  A. rubra, red alder, is an inhabitant of Sitka and Norfolk Sound,
and extends southward to Oregon. It seems to be the western representative of the A. serrulata of the southern parts of New England.
SALICACEr. —Willows are numerous on the east side of the Rocky
Mountains, and seem to attain the maximum development of species in the
southern parts of Rupert's Land, but to be less abundant on the Pacific
coast, except to the north of the peninsula of Alashka. From Lake Superior
to the Arctic Sea they form dense thickets on' the shores of every river and
lake. It is scarcely possible to note the range of willows, or to collect
satisfactory specimens of the species on a rapid journey, as many of them




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                    439
which perfect their catkins before the evolution of their leaves, remain undetermined in the herbarium. Of twenty-two species described by Dr.
Asa Gray as inhabitants of the Northern States, only S. tristis, Aiton;
S. humilis, Marshall; S. sericea, Marshall; S. alba, L.; and S. angustata,
Pursh. were not collected by us on our northern voyages.  S. uva ursi,
S. repens vel fusca, and S. herbacea, which grow on the Alps of New
Hampshire, extend beyond the arctic circle on both sides of the continent,
the latter being one of the most northern plants, as it grows on the north
end of Spitzbergen. The other fourteen named by Dr. Gray reach one or
more of the northern basins.
The following were traced from Lake Superior to the arctic circle, or
beyond it: S. villosa, S. rostrata, S. discolor, S. viminalis, S. lucida, S.
longifolia, S. cordata, S. rigida, S. planifolia, and S. pedicellaris.  Some
others were not gathered higher than the valley of the Saskatchewan, but
their southward range included the St. Lawrence basin: as S. candida;
S. petiolaris, S. rosmarinifolia, S. purpurea, and S. fragilis.
S. drummondii, S. barattiana, and S. cordifolia were gathered near the
elevated sources of the Saskatchewan only, though the last named has
been detected by other collectors on the Labrador coast.  Salix sitchensis
is known only as an inhabitant of the island from whence it derives its
name.  Salix richardsonii and S. acutifolia are common to the Saskatchewan and Mackenzie River basins, the former being also an inhabitant of
the coast between York Factory and Churchill.
The following are specially arctic in their habitats: S. myrsinites, S.
vestita, S. speciosa, S. reticulata, and S. nivalis, which grow on the peaks
of the Rocky Mountains between 520 and 570 north, and within the arctic
circle, some of them reaching very high latitudes.  S. reticulata grows on
the coast between York Factory and Churchill.  S. speciosa inhabits the
Arctic Sea coasts from Coronation Gulf to Kotzebue Sound, and ranges
southward on the Mackenzie to about the 60th or 61st parallel. It is
perhaps the handsomest of the genus, having an agreeable growth, and
very large leaves, which are of a silvery whiteness beneath, and when
bruised have a- rather pleasant odor. On the Mackenzie it grows to the
height of 15 feet, in form of a bush, with very stout and long yearly
shoots, which distinguish it from all the other willows of the same looalities. On the coasts of the Arctic Sea, wherever the rivers afford a suitable
point of alluvial soil, a thicket of this willow may be expected, as tall as a
man. Mr. Seeman observed it in the tree form on the northwest coast,
where it is from 18 to 20 feet in height, and having a stem five inches in
diameter.  It resembles S. lapponum in its habit.  S. stuartiana and S.
retusa grow on the more northern banks of the Mackenzie and in Kotzebue
Sound, and have not as yet been detected south of the arctic circle.  S
rostrata, S. speciosa, S. lucida, S. longifolia, S. depressa, S. reticulata, S.
arctica, and S. polaris, have been enumerated by authors as crossing to the
Pacific side of the Rocky Mountains in their respective zones.  Salix glauca
was found by Seeman on the shores of Beering's Sea.
The following are not confined to the American continent, but range to
either Europe or Asia,, as well as to Rupert's Land, or the arctic coasts:
S. petiolaris, S. rosmarinifolia, S. viminalis, S. purpurea, S. fragilis, S.
acutifolia, S. fusca, S. myrsinites, S. stuartiana, S. reticulata, S. herbacea,
S. polaris and S. ammaniana.




440          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
The most common in Rupert's Land are the S. rostrata, which extends
southward to New England, and in the north forms almost impenetrable
thickets 20 feet or more in height, in which the old twisted and sordid gray
stems spread in all directions. S. longifolia, which has the growth of an
osier, covers the new-formed sandbanks of the rivers up to the 68th parallel, its flexible, densely growing young stems serving to arrest the mud,
and speedily to raise the bank above the ordinary level of the water. In
drier spots, by river banks in the Saskatchewan basin, it forms bushes from
20 to 25 feet in height. Even in the passes of the Rocky Mountains, as
at Jasper Lake, it grows freely on drifting sands. Lieut. Abert found it
growing at Council Grove, and HUndred-and-ten-mile Creek, at the height
of 1200 feet above the sea, between.the 38th and 39th parallels. It inhabits also the banks of the Susquehanna, and all the Northern States.
The soft pliable twigs are a favorite food of the moose-deer, and might, indeed, as they grow on the flooded sandbanks, be mowed like hay. Populus
balsamifera, balsam poplar, or tacamahac, was found growing on the banks
of the Mackenzie up to lat. 590, where it makes a very slender tree. In
the southern part of the delta of that river it forms groups of healthy young
trees, and from thence to the United States it flourishes on rich alluvial
and occasionally flooded banks of rivers to the exclusion, on such spots, of
most other trees: its trunk attains a greater circumference than any other
member of the northern forest, but its wood is of no value, except for fuel;
and, when old, the tree is unsightly from having very generally lost its
top. Its growth is rapid, and its decay apparently equally so. I measured
some drift logs of this tree which were floating down the Mackenzie, and
found them to be about 15 feet in circumference, with a very moderate
tapering upward.  The Crees name it lMatheh-metus, or ugly poplar.  Dr.
Asa Gray gives as its southern limit New England, Wisconsin, and perhaps
Pennsylvania, but not further.  It crosses Beering's Sea to Kamtschatka;
and on the rivers of Oregon it grows, according to Douglas, to the height
of 140 feet, and 20 feet in diameter.  P. candicans, balm of Gilead, which
greatly resembles the preceding, has not been detected north of Wisconsin:
it is the common balsam poplar of Pennsylvania, New York, and New England.  P. monilifera, lvEvigata vel canadensis (Mx.), is a more southern
species, being rare in New England, but taking the place of P. candicans
in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky. It grows on the banks of
the Arkansas and other southern tributaries of the Missouri. P. tremuloides, aspen. Dr. Gray believes that, south of Pennsylvania and Kentucky,
this tree is confined to the Alleghanies, and even on these mountains it is
rare. In the Northern States it is common, and varies in height from 20
to 50 feet. It abounds in Rupert's Land in the more fertile soils, and very
generally springs up in place of the white spruce, when that tree has been
destroyed by fire. Its range is co-extensive with the forest land; but
toward the Arctic Sea, and in lat. 690 on the Mackenzie, it is a slender
willow-like tree. It is the best fire-wood in the country, but is applied to
no other economical purpose, except that its ashes are collected on account
of the abundance of potash they contain. I do not know whether it inhabits the Pacific coasts or not.  P. grandidenta, big-toothed aspen, is
common in the Northern States, and reaches New Brunswick and Canada,
but did not come under our notice on the canoe route.
PLATANACEJE.-Platanus occidentalis, American plane-tree, resembles




,~i or TREES AND SHRUBS.                     441
the well-known P. orientalis in the way that its exterior bark falls off in
thin plates. It extends northward to Canada, but does not appear north
tf Lake Superior.
CONIFERAE.-Pin$US banksiana, gray pine, the Cypres of the voyagers,
grows from the arctic circle on the Mackenzie, down to the great Canada
lakes, south of which, Dr. Gray has scarcely seen it, but has heard that it
is found in the northern districts of Maine; and it occurs in the list of
Wisconsin plants published by the American Association. It crosses the
Rocky Mountains to the Spokan-River in latitude 470 north. This would
be an ornamental tree on many sandy and otherwise unproductive wastes.
P. resinosa, red pine, has its southern limit, according to Emerson, at
Wilkesbarre, in Pennsylvania (latitude 41-~ north). I have traced it to
5610 of latitude on Methy River, and it crosses the Rocky Mountains to
latitude 430 in Oregon. Dr. Gray says that its height in the Northern
States is from 60 to 80 feet, and Emerson relates that a few years ago it
was not uncommon to find trees of this species in the southern parts of
Maine exceeding 100 feet in height, with a stem four feet in diameter.
P. inops, which was not seen by us on the canoe route to the north of the
United States boundary, extends on the northwest coast from Oregon to
Sitka, and ascends Mount Rainier to near the snow limit. P. strobus.
white or Weymouth pine, has its equatorial limit on the Alleghanies of
Virginia or North Carolina, and it ranges northward to the south end of
Lake Winipeg. In the Middle States this tree has a shaft of 100 feet; and
Emerson has collected instances of trees formerly existing which had the
extraordinary length of from 220 to 260 feet. Even near its northern
termination it is still a stately tree..Abies balsamea, balsam fir, was not traced beyond the 62d parallel on
the canoe route.  It is Le Sapin of the voyagers, who prefer its spray to
that of any other tree for laying the floor of a tent or winter bivouac.
Dr. Gray traced it on the Alleghanies only to Pennsylvania.  In the latitude of Norfolk Sound (570) it crosses the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific.
In Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, Pinus fraseri, or the small
fruited balsam fir, occupies the Alleghanies to the exclusion of the preceding.
It does not reach the great lakes..A. canadensis, hemlock spruce, was
observed on the Kamenistikwoya, but not further north than the 49th parallel; though Mr. Tolmie traced it up to the 57th degree of latitude on the
shores of the Pacific, and it was observed by Mertens on Sitka. In Maryland this species is found on the Alleghanies only; and Dr. Gray thinks
that it ceases to grow in North Carolina and Tennessee. A. alba, white
spruce. Of this species we have had frequent occasion to speak in the preceding pages, as it is especially the forest tree in Rupert's Land. It is
L'epinette blanche of the voyagers, and the Mina-hik of the Crees.  Within
the arctic circle it seldom exceeds 40 or 50 feet in height; though in
ravines, where it is well-sheltered, and has a suitable soil, it attains twice
that altitude. Its age in these high latitudes exceeds 400 years before it
shows signs of decay. It most probably has a range from one side of the
continent to the other, but has not yet been detected on the west coast.
From the 69th parallel on the Mackenzie, it crosses obliquely to the 61st
or 60th on the coast of Hudson's Bay; and it is the common spruce in
Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England, but its southern
limits are unknown to Dr. Gray.  In Canada the sweet cedar is much used
TV




442          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
for the thin hoops (varandes) and lining of the bark canoes, being a straightgrained light wood; but in more northern districts the white spruce supplies its place. It is also exclusively used north of Lake Winipeg, for
building purposes, sawing into deals, and boat-building. With its tough
roots split to a convenient thickness, and used under the Cree appellation
of Watap, the pieces of canoe bark are sewn together; and, in districts
where birch bark is scarce, a rude canoe is formed of the bark of a spruce
fir. A well grown tree, with 30 feet or so free from branches, is chosen;
an incision made down to the wood along one side; and the bark, being
skillfully raised in one piece, receives the canoe shape by the two ends being
skewered together and stuffed with a few branches to add stiffness. The
cargo is then placed in the middle, and two or three Indians will descend
a rapid river in this extempore vessel. Before many days, however, it becomes water-logged, and, losing its stiffness, spreads out flatly almost to
the level of the water, so as to be nearly useless as well as dangerous.
Pieces of the bark are sometimes used for covering the roofs of houses.
A. nigra, black spruce, falls little short in its northern range of the preceding, but in the higher latitudes it is a much inferior tree in numbers,
beauty, and utility, and is almost confined to swamps and bogs. According to Emerson, it is in perfection in the northern parts of Maine, or about
the 46th parallel, and is less flourishing in more southern localities. It id
found on the higher mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Up to
the Saskatchewan it retains a vigorous growth, beyond which it becomes
visibly inferior to the white spruce, its branches being short, irregular, and
overgrown with usnees and other parasitic lichens.  A. mertensiana and
A. sitchensis grow in the forests of Norfolk Sound on the northwest coast
in lat. 570; Mr. Seeman found the latter extending northward to the coasts
of Beering's Sea; and a spruce which grows on the banks of the Niatok or
Buckland River is thought by Sir William J. Hooker to be one of these
Sitka species, and decidedly different from A. alba, to which Mr. Seeman
at first referred it.
Larix americana, American larch, tamarack or hackmatack, L'epinette
rouge of the voyagers, and the Waggin&-gan or " tree that bends" of the
Crees, ranges northward to the arctic circle, and from Newfoundland and
Labrador across the continent to the Pacific. It grows in the swamps of
the Northern States, and extends southward to Virginia, where it is confined to the mountains. In high latitudes this tree yields a very heavy
wood, so much twisted in the grain as not to be readily worked, but it is
tough and very durable. It is a tree of no great importance, and is generally thinly scattered through the forest, and if it is any where grouped in
numbers it is on the borders of swamps, where it never attains much
height.
Cupressus thyoides, white or sweet cedar, extends from North Carolina to
the south side of the Saskatchewan basin. Clumps of it grow on the west
side of Rainy Lake, and solitary trees range northward to the vicinity of
Cumberland House in latitude 540, where a specimen was gathered by Mr.
Drummond.  C. nutkatensis vel Thuja excelsa inhabits the Pacific coast
from Norfolk Sound down to Observatory Inlet and Vancouver's Island.
Thuja occidentalis, American arbor vitm, also called white cedar, has its
northern limit on the east side of the Rocky Mountains at Lac Bourbon or
Cedar Lake, a dilatation of the Saskatchewan lying between the 53d and




LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS.                  443
54th parallels. Michaux mentions the mountains of Virginia as its southern limit. It is a handsome ornament to the banks of Rainy River and
the River Winipeg, where it overhangs the water in a picturesque manner;
but, as it commonly grows on the occasionally inundated points of lakes
and in swamps unmixed with other trees, it has a sombre aspect; and its
stems are generally inclined, crooked, and even contracted.  T. gigantea,
the Wyeth of the Wallamet Indians, grows in the valley of Oregon from
the Rocky Mountains to the sea, and northward to Vancouver's Island.
Mr. Douglas found it growing to the height of 170 feet, with a trunk 40
feet in circumference.
Juniperus commwnis extends from the vicinity of the Arctic Sea to the
New England States and Newfoundland. It produces berries freely on
elevated grounds within the arctic circle.  J. prostrata (Persoon), repens,
vet humilis aliorum, is considered by Sir William Hooker to be a variety of
J. sabina, which includes the J. virginiana.  It has always the prostrate
form in Rupert's Land, and was observed within the arctic circle, 1000 feet
above the sea, associated with the preceding, and bearing fruit. Dr. Gray
informs me, that it is not found in this prostrate flagelliform condition south
of New York and Northern Pennsylvania. The ordinary J. virginiana, red
cedar or savin, ranges to the furthest limits of Texas, and to the country
about Santa Fe and Tampas Creek, which is elevated from 3000 to 5000
feet above the sea. Col. Emory found it on the 35th parallel, at an altitude
of from 6000 to 7000 feet, in form of a large tree. Taxus canadensis,
American yew or ground hemlock, grows in Massachusetts and Newfoundland, and on the borders of the great lakes northward to the southern slope
of the Saskatchewan basin. It is a very pleasing underwood, with an
almost herbaceous aspect, which grows thickly under the shade of many
kinds of trees. On the canoe route it never assumes the tree form; but in
the valley of Oregon Mr. Douglas found yew trees as large as those of
Europe.
The following table is founded on Sir William J. Hooker's Flora
Boreali-Americana.   Since the publication  of that work, Sir
George Back's voyage down the Thlewee-choh, Messrs. Dease
and Simpson's through the Arctic Sea, Mr. Rae's from York factory to Repulse Bay, the voyage detailed in the preceding pages, a
list of Nova Scotia plants contributed by Mr. Dawson of Pictou, a
collection of plants gathered by Mr. Campbell at Pelly Banks, and
Dr. Asa Gray's important Botany of the Northern States, have
contributed to our knowledge of the distribution of species, and
have been severally had recourse to.
The first zone extends on the eastern side of the continent from
latitude 450 to 550, or it comprehends the St. Lawrence and Saskatchewan basins: it rises obliquely, in accordance with the course
of the isothermal lines, in going westward, and on the Pacific coast
it includes the 49th and 58th parallels, or Vancouver's and Sitka Is'



444         GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
ands. It is subdivided into three districts; viz., the eastern forest
country the eastern prairies, and the country west of the crest of the
Rocky Mountains.
The second zone comprehends all the country lying between the
arctic circle and the extremities of the continent in latitude 720~.
It was not found practicable, owing to the way in which the herbaria were formed, to separate the barren ground species from those
growing in the woody country, and the zone has been made to include three districts, one of which is Kotzebue Sound, where 273
species have been collected by Chamisso and others.*
The Rocky Mountain ridge, between the 52d and 57th parallels,
has been made a second district of this zone, as many arctic species
go southward along the elevated crest of the ridge. I have not
been able, however, to separate the species collected by Drummond
in the lower valleys of the ridge from those gathered high up on
the peaks. From the untiring diligence and unrivaled quickness of
eye of this celebrated collector, we may consider the district as
well explored; and had the vertical ranges of the species been
noted, there would be nothing more required for the present investigation.
The third district of the zone comprises the entire arctic country
from Barrow's Point to Davis' Straits.
The third zone lies to the north of the 73d parallel, and extends
from Melville Island to Spitzbergen, including a few species gathered above that parallel in Baffin's Bay, and some collected by Dr.
Scoresby on the east coast of Greenland. No American land to
the westward of Melville Island in so high a latitude has been discovered; and I have met with no flora of the polar Asiatic islands;
but it is probable that, so far north, a nearly uniform vegetation encircles the earth.
* Mr. Seeman, who was employed as botanist, in the Herald's late voyages to that quarter, has made a much more ample herbarium of the
northwest coast; but as he has just arrived in England as these pages
are passing through the press, I can avail myself only partially of his researches for the improvement of the table.




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                     445
STATISTICAL ENUMERATION OF THE NUMBERS OF SPECIES BY THEIR
FAMILIES AND GENERA IN DIFFERENT ZONES.
[For tle plants marked * see corrections on p. 462.]
Firnt Zone.       Second Zone.      Third or
Between Lat. 450     From Arctic      Polar Zone.
tn 55| on Eant aide,  Circle northward   Lying North
and Lat. 498 to 58     to 720 N.       of 730 Lat.
West side.
at.         ~0   r.
42(N
Hepatica................   7  5 2            4  1 1   1   1   1                    1
Hydrastis.................      3     33.  1             1   1
Adonis.................. 9 1    1 
Ranunculus................           23   6             2 1            3             1 1
Hydrastis................       1    1               1
Adonis. 1~ 171 1
Trollius..................                 1             1        1
Ranucul..s..............                                 1                          1  1
Coatis...................       42 1   1                               1
Aoluiiabw..................    I                         I        I
niopyrum................                                   1
Coptis...................      2    2   2           1
Aqailegis................       2    2   1          2   2             2
Aconium..........               2    2   1           1   1   1   1
Acea...................         2           1    2
Cimt:icifuga................          1              1 I
iHydrastis............                                                      1 I   1
Paonia browni..........               1                                 1
II. MZnISPItMACYCzl........       I                   1
Menispermum...........               1              1
III. BzRBERIDEa z............    5    5   3   1    2
Berberis.................       3    3         1    1
Leontice u................ 1  I                                       I
Epimedium..............          1    1 
IV. PODOPHYLaLE...........          3    3              3
Jeffersonia..............             1             1
Podophyllum...........
Hydropeltis......... 1.... 
V. NYMPHEACEz...........                2              2       1                      1      1
Nymphap...............         1         I         I
Nuphar..................              2   1          2
VLSARRACEni     EE...........      1      1      1       1   1           1
Sarracenia...............             1 1                    1         1
VII.PaPiVRACZ...........           3                       1                     1        1
Papaver..............                    1  I 
Stylophorum............1                1
Sanguinaria..............             1 
E~imedum...... 1II[!/




44 6               GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
First Zone.
Between Lt. 45   Second Zone.      Third or
to 55~ on East side.    From Arctic  PolarZone.
and Lat. 490 to 581   Circle northward   Lyino North
*  West aide.      to 723 N.      of 730 Lat.
-b    0
FCoryIIES.   3. N    2                          o.... 3L2   1
I.3                    I 0      2
o   f~ n~ n        c..x   e       "o  A v.O Z
VI.FuMAraACE........                  731   542 12                                     2
Corydala................ 3    2                    2   3   1   1   2                  1
IX. CRUCR.............. 104   65  31  21   48  66  16  34  53  16 14  7  5 50
Cheiranthus.............    1    1   1
Nasturtium..............   4    4   2   1    3   1   1 ]            1                3
Barbarea................   3    3   2   2    2   1             1   1                 2
Turritis..................    7    5   2   3    4   6          5   5                 1
Arabis...................   7    7   3   2    6   2   1   2   2                      4
Cardamine...............7  5 2  2    5  6 4 3 5 1 1 1 1 4
Dentaria.............         2    2              2
Parrya.............           2                       2            2   1  1      1  1
Vesicaria................   3    3   1   3    1   2            2   1
Draba...................         5    1    5  22   5  9 16  7   6 2 2   15
Erophila................ 1 I          1           1                                  1
Cochlearia...............     8    4   3          1   3   1         3 1    3  3      4
Thlaspi................            3             3   1             1                3
Hutchinsia.......1                                    1   1   1                      1
Cakile.1.................  I1    1                 1
Hesperis.................                  1             I   I  1 
Sisymbrium.............   0    9   6   5    7   7   1   5   7                        3
Caelina..............         2    1              1   1                              2
Braya...................    4                         4        1   4
Platypetalum............    2                         1        1   1  2  2  1  1
Eurema.................                2              2             2   1  1
Oreas...................          1 
Sinapis..................   2    2                  2                                2 2
Lepidium................    3    3   2   2    2   2            2   1                 1
Capsella.................   I    I                1   1        1   1                 1
X. CAPPA RIDEE...........         2    2   2
Cleome..................   1    1I 
Polanisia................    I    1   1
XI. CISTINES............... 5    5                    5
Helianthemum...........           I   I           1
Lechea..................            3             3
Hudsonia...............       1    1              1
XII. VIOLAR......             18   4   5   15   2          2   2                 1
Viola                         18   18   4   5   15   2          2   2                 1
XIII. D     RACE..........   9    7   3   3    6   6   3   6   3                          4
Drosera................       4    4   2   2    4   2   1   2   1                    3
Parnassia................   5    3   1   1 1      2   4        4   2                 1
XIV. POLYGAL............          7    7             7   1 1
Polyg      ala................ 7    7             7   1 1
XV. CARYOPHYLLE*.......    66   48   6  13   33  35  15  19   5                7  7  7 29
Dianthu................       1                        1   1




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                         447
First Zone.
Between Lat. 4,5~     Second Zone.       Third or
BetweenPlat..I
to 550 an East side,   From Arctic       Polar Zone.
and Lat. 490 to 580   Circle northward.   Lying North
West side.           to 72 N.        of'73 Lat.
i             a
_    s.. N..    C 
N0 01     0          01       8   N   01rI-ar   N
CARYOPHYLLEE-(continued.)
Saponaria...............              1               1                                      1
Silene...................       10   10   3   1    7   2   1              2   1  I  1         3
Lychnis..................        3     22 1 2 2   1 1 1                   12         2        2
AgroStemlla......... 1....             1               1                                     1
Mllg.................           1     1   1           1
Spergula................    4          3   2   2       2   3   1           1    I         1   4
Larbra.................          1     1   1                1         1   1                   1
Stellaria................. 14 10 7 3   5 9 4 5 8 3 1 2 2 3
Arenaris................   19   11   7   5            9  13   4   6  11   3  3   1  1   9
Mercka.................          1                          1   1
Cerastium.................   10.l     8   5   2       5   4   2   3   1   1  1  1  1   4
XVI. LiNz................           3     3         2     3     I  1   1   I                     1
Linum..................    3          3   1   2       3    1   1   ]   1                     1
XVI. MALVACE&...........    5               5   1   2       3                                      1
Malva........3.........               3   1   1    2                                         1
Hibiscus................         1     1               1
Sida....................    1          1         1
XV[II.   Ia.T..................     2     2               2
Tilia.................    2       2               2
XIX. HYPE RI CIN IEY E E..........    8      8               8                                      1
Hypericum...........            8     8               8                                      1
XX. ACERIXNE................         8     8'2   1      6
Acer....................         7     7   2           5
Negundo................                           I    I  11 
XXI. AMPELIDEA.........1...    4           4               4
Ampelopsis.           1 1..........1.....  1   1
Vitis.................         3     3               3
XXII. GERANIACE.........                   6 63   1    3                                          4
Geraniulm.......                5  5  2               3                                      3
Erodium.................         1     1   1                                                  1
XXIII. BALSAMINEZ.........    2             2   1           2  1          1   1
Impatiens.............             2..      1       2       1   1         1
XXIV. LIMNANTHACES.........    1            1               1
Florkia.................    I               1          1
XXV. OXALIDE.............  5              5   3    1    3                                        1
Oxalis.................... 13    1                     3                                      1
XXVI. RUTAXCEiE..........    4      4               4
Xanthoxylum...............       3     3               3
Ptelea..................... 1                           I
XXVI. C LASTRINE.................    8     8         1     7    1 
Staphylea.................... j 




14S                 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
First Zone.        Second Zone.       Trd or
o 55 on East side      From Arctic       Polar Zone.
and Lat. 49 at aide,58 Circle northward I Lying North
West aide.           to 720 N.         73 Lat.
N                                                            d -   o  c. r   
FAMILIES.                  A     a         d.| N 
_, X    ^ R; X     E0   0  -N
c         C                                r 
-, 1   0.0. 3                   0;oO   1   A    -
CZ, LASTRINEx-(continued.)
Euonyms...............      2   2   1        2
Celastrus................       1     1               1
Myginda.................'             1 1
Prinos...................                  1      
Nemopanthes............          I     I               I
XXV[II. RHAMNE2X.........I 6               6   3           3     
Rhamnus................          2     2   1           2
Ceanothus...............    4          4   2           2
Myxx  inda.             1 T 3 H...........   i  6   1  61    1
Rhusex....................    6        6 1 
XXX. LEMI *........                  98  88 27 34  51 19 11 11 1  1
Thermopsis.............. 2            2 1    
Baptisia.................    4         4               4
Medicago................         2     2   1           1
Trifolium..............        7     7   6 2         3                                      3
Psoralea.................    5         5   3   3
Glycirrhiza..............       6     6   1           6
Tephrosia...............    1               1       1
Atnorpha................         3     3         3     2
Robinia..................1            
Phcago...................   1 2 10   2   7              2                          2 4   1  1  2
Desrodium..............                7   6   2       3                                      3
Hedysrum a.............       2     1   3           1   2   1   1
espedeza loemum.............            2         2     2
Vicia....................    5       5   3           4 1     1   1
Ervum.................1                  1
Amorphicarpea...............          3         3     2
Apios...................    I          1               1
Phaseolus...............        12   10   2   7        2
Lupinus.................         6     6   5    1      1   2   2                 1
Gymnocladus........... 1.                              2   2          1   1                   2
Desmodium...................
Cercis rum...................     1     1               1
XXXI. RosAz*........... 124 10   3 33                      4        20     2         5  4 1      19
Ceravms.................    8          1                  1
Lthyrunus                               7 2             6 2       11................   1    1  2
murshicarpea.1.... I I 1                               1
LAtkea..................    I          1               1
Spirtea..................        8     8   6    3      3   2    1   1
Gilleniu................6   5    1                    1              1   1
Dryas...................         3     2 1             1
Cera~nus.,,,..                       28    l 8   1   4  81        l         1
Prunus..................     4         4 1   2         3  1
Leversia.................       5     2 1     1
CoGemroi..............              4   1   2       3   1          1                       1
Comaropsis............. 2   2                      1 i  1  /




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                         449
First Zone.
Between Let. 450     Second Zone.        Third or
to 556 on East side.    From Arctic     Polar Zone.
and Lat. 49. to 589   Circle northward   Lying North
West side.           to 729 N.       of73 Lot.
N6                                    Io
1...
FAMILIES                                                              a | n    _    |    *|
Cd    d  N    N 
RosAcE&-(continued.)
Rubus...................  18    16   8   3   12   5   3   3   4
Dalibarda.c...............          I                  1 
Fragaria.................    3         3   1           2   1         1   1
Potentilla................   36   24   6 14    16  19  10  13  12  3   2   3                 7
Chanmarhodos............ 1             1         1          1        1                       1
Agrimonia...............                              1                                     1
Alcheirnlla.........   1.....       1                  1                                     I
Sanguisorba.......    2     2   2           2        1         1
Poterium................        1     1               1                                     1
Rosa....................         9     9   1   2       8   3         1   3                   2
Cratwegus................    8    8   1   2            8   1         1
Amelanchier............    2    2   1                 2   1              1
Pyrus......................    6       6   4                             i 3
XXXII. ONAGRARI.........   28   25   9  11   11   7   5   6   4   21 2                          10
Epilobium...............   12        9   5   2       4   7   5  6       4   2   1   2      6
GRaura...................        4     4         4
(Enothera..............    7         7   2    5      3                                     1
Clarkia..................        1     1   1 
Isnardia.................        2     2               2                                     1
Cirea..................          2     2   1           2                                     2
XXXIII. HALORAGIZ........  10               8   2   4       7   5   3   2   4                     5
Proserpinaca.............              1 1 
Myriophyllm................     3     3         1     3   2         1   2                   2
Callitriche...............       3     3   1   2       2                                     2
Hippuris           o.................   3  1   1   1   1   3   3   1   2                    1
XXXIV. CERATOPHYLLEX...                1 1                1  I 1        1   1
Ceratohyllum................     1     1         1     1      I       1   1                  1
XXXV. LYTHRARIE.........  3   3                            3                                      1
Lythrum.....2  2                                      2                                     1
Decodon................             1                  1                                     1
XXXVI. CUCURBITACZ.....    2    2         1    2
Sicyos...................              1               1
Echinocistus...................        1         1 
XXXVII. PORTULACE*.....1...           3       91       1    3 7    5   6   41                     1
Montia..................               1 1                                                   1
Portulaca................1   5 1                             1 7
Lewisia.................         1     1 
Talinum.................1            1 
Claytonia.................9   7  7  1   1  3  3  1
XXXVIII. PARONYCHIEZ........          2    2          1     1
Anychia................         1      1               1
Paronychia.............          1     1         1
XXXIX. CRA ULACE............          3    3          1         1   1          1                  1
Seduin......2..........2   2                           1                  1                  1
Penthorun.................  I         1               1




450                  GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
First Zone.       Second Zone.       Third or
Between Lat. 4I0      From Arctic      Polar Zone.
to 560 on East oide,  Circle northward   Lying North
and Lat. 49~ to o58    to 720 N.        of 73 Lat
West side.
FAMILIES.                           8            u3          0 4  I      2   
Tiareera.............6.6.3.1.3    1   1a1
Tr.                        3 2  1
oi..a...a...N......                                       N
ibos.1   1  1
Nitella.........                 4  3           1  2  3             3  1
Saxifraga................        3         7   2    11  28  20  15  15110    7 17
Eriogyna................              1               1   1         1
XLIII. U..............            39 316   16  13 6     10      6   2   5                   1
Hydrootyle.............        56   32  213   4   1935  23  21                            1
Eryngiu m............          6     6   3   1    3               1 1
Sanicuarella.................. 1   3   2            1
Cicuta.................          3   3 1 3   2 1                       2                  1
Zizia..................               3        1       3  1             1
AmmChrysospleniu..........           1              1.........1   1   1   1   1
Saxifragam.....               38   17 7...........  2   11   8  20  15   5  1110  7  7  1
Buplettrum2 21 1                                         1   1       1                      1
Cnidiumogyna................     1       1          1
Thaspiurrhena..........         1                       1
XLigusticum.FER.......        1   13  6  291  16  2    1 
C onioelinum............        2    2                                   1                 1
Angelica.................        2   2               2
Archangelic..                 3    3.....  1             2        1   2                   1
Pleurosprmuia...................              1     1   1
FAmmierula..................     2   2 1 
Imperum  toria............1                          1                                     1
Pastinacn.........              1    1          1    1                                     1
Heracleum......1  1.                                 1 1                                   1
Laserpitiuln.............         1                      1   1
Polyteni a...................              1         1 
Daucus.................         I     1    1
Osmorrhiza..............           2  2   2          2
Conioselinum............        2    2.....  1 
Erigeneia................          1  1               1
XLIV. A RLCngel..........        7   7   1   1                          1                  1
Adoxa..................         2    2 1 
Panaxa................    1    1    1             1  2
Arali...............              1....              1
XLV. IIA,.A.EL.......    1    1             1
Hamamelis...  I  1  1               1
Haniamelis..........         I  I1  I    I   i I




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                 451
First Zone.      Second Zone.      Third or
Between Lot. 455    From Arctic    Polar Zone.
to 550 on East side,  Circle northward   Lying North
and Lat. 490 to 58    to 72 N.       of 730 Lat.
West side.
FAMILIES.    - 5 
Arceuthobiun...........11
xLv,, I.I. C-PRIFO N.. A. 24I 7               4.23.......
Viburn  2
Diervilla  1     1 1 1 1
lJo~ni~c~era.8                                      I 7 3   1. 1
Hned ia..................     3        I 1
In   55  0   0  a  tnt  act- dt 
XLVI.  CORNE.............. 7    7   4   2    7   2              1 
CoSpigeliaus..................    7    7   4   2    7 2   2   1   1                 1
XLVII. LORANTHACESE......         I   I    1I                    I  I  I  I              I1
Arceuthobiun...........    1    1   1             1   1   1   1                     1
XLVIII. CAPRIFOLIACEME....  24   24   7   4   23   6   2   6   3                        2
S.ambucus..............   2    2   1   1    2
Viburnum...............       9    9   2   2    9   1          1   1
Diervilla...................     I               I   1         1
Lo. CniceraT *....5....    8531 8   1          7   3   1   3   1 41
Tr1. Cicosteum............         1             1
Syphoricarpus.........             3 2   2       2
Linnesa..................          1   1   1    1   1   1       I  I  I 
XLeoIX. ntodonE...........        15   15   5   2   14   3   3   2   2         I    1 12
A pargedyotisa........       3    3              3
Mitchelorium..............         1              1
Cephlanthus............3 3 1                     1
Galium.................. 9    9   5   2    8   3   3   2   2                        2
Spigelia.................  I.. 1                  1 I
L. VLERINE.............. 6    5   2   1    3   3   1   2   1                      1
Valerian..............       5    4   2   1    2   3   1   2   1                    1
Fedia..........  I      1             1
LI. COMPOSITE*....  321  285  66  80  218  85  31  60  57  7  6  3  1 46
1.Cicoracrduu             s.............. 41   36   7   9   3111   210   611      1  1112
Sonchusium...............     7    6   3   2    5   1          1   1                4
Nabalussurea........          6    6   1         5
Lygodesrnonia  c........       2                    1          1
Leontodon...............   2    2   2   2    2   2   2   2   211   11  1  2
Aepargia                       2    2   1         1                                  1
Cynthia.................     1    1              1
Lapsana................       1    1             1                                  1
Cichorium.......1     1......                                                       1
Crepis.3  3    1  2 2    2 1                                                        1
Hieracium...............   12   10           3   10   3        2   1                 2
Troximon...............    3    2           1    1   2         2   1
Krigia.................1.   I       1              1
2. Cynarex.13  10  1  1 10 5  1 4 2                                                    5
Centaurea.1 1                                      1                                 1
Arctium.1.                           1            1                                  1
Carduus.................    6       5   1   1    5   3          3                    2
Cirsium............   3    3                  3
Sausourea............   2                             2   1   1   2                 1
3. Vernoniaccem.2........   2    2            -1    2
Vernonia.2............    2    2           1    2
4. Eupatoriacec.15   14   2   4   14   4   2   2   3  2    2,                        2
Kuhnia...        1    1             1
Eu lsatorium.              4  4               4                                  1




452                   GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUT ON OF PLANTS.
First Zone.
Beteen  at 45    Second Zone.         Third or
From Arctic   I Polar Zone.. o 55~ on East side.
and Lat 49 t 58    Circle northward I Lying North
a                                                                f5. a    t d 0 0
I   _      0    3'^               a    catl.   Ai
0  ao a.a
COMPOIT,   EupatoriaceS.           
(continued.)
M ikania.................                 1                1
Liatris.................            5     5         2      5
Nardosmnia..............            3  3  23 2                                                       1
Adenocaulon...........             I          1                1 1        1 
5. Senecionidet.............  116  104  36  29    74  35  21  24   25   4  3  2                       23
Silphium................           6     6         1      6
Xanthimn...............             2     2                2
Ambrosia................            5     5   2    1       4
Partheniun..............            1I    1                1
Iva.....................            1     1    1    1
Heliopsis................           1     1          1     1
Echinacea...............            1     1                1
Rudbeckia...............    3             3         2      2
ILepachys...........                     1.....    I     1
Coreopsis................           3     3                3
Helianthus..............          12    12   2    3        9
Bidens..................            6     6    1           6
Gaillardia................    2    2         2     1
Trichophyllum........... 2      2    2
Hymenopappus..........              1     1    1
Picradenia.......                      1             1
Helenium..........                    1       1    1      1    1    1    1    1
Anthemis................            1     1                1                                        1
Marruta.................            1     1                1
Achillea................            3     3    2    1      2    2    1    2    2                    1
Chrysanthemum.........            4      3    2           1   3    3    1    2   1  1              2
Pyrethrum...............           1     1                1    1    1    1    1                     1
Cotula....1...........   I.             1  1                            1
Omalanthus..............    1                  1           1    1               1
Tanacetum..............            3      3    1           2                                        1
Artemisia..........    7    12   6    8           5 11    7    7    8                      5
Gnaphalium.........      6     6    1           5                                        4
Antennaria..............            6     5    3    3      5   4    1    4    2           1    1    4
Arnica..............              5     4   4                 3    i   3   1   1          I  1
Senecio.................     16    12   3    3    10   9    6    5    7                             2
Cacalia..................              2  2          1     2
6. Asteroidea..............  134   119  20  36    87  30    5  20    1                                4
Solidago.......3..........        31   31    4    5    3        3    1    3    2                     1
Aster....................           59    49    7   10    37  11    3    5    9                      1
Eurybia................            2     2                2
Senriocarpus................   1           1               1
Tripolium...............           2     2          2          1
Galatella................           2     2                2
Townsendia.............             1     1          1          1          1
Erigeron.................         17    12     6  6        9  12    1   10 8                        2
Dipplopappus............                 9    1    6      4
Boltonia................                 1 
Brachyris................I  1   1                 1
Polynmnia.....                            1...........
Aladia...................    1            1  1 




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                       4-173
___ First Zone.   Second Zone.       Third or
Between Lat. 450
to 650 on East  e ide  From.Arctic      Polar Zone.
and Lat. 4I  to 58sc s  Circle nortnward    Lying North
Went'Side,         to 720 N.       ol'730 Lot.
tinue..
La.,.. 6. 6 1
0. 0 
o                 0 N                                      I 2 
COMPOSITZ,.isteroidew —(continued.)
Crinitaria................      2     2   1   1
Donia...................        4     4   1   3           2         1   1
LII. CAMPANULAC~EZ.........   14  11   3   1    9   4    3   2   2  1                      11  3
Campanula.............    8           4         3         4    3   2   21           1  12
Lobelia..................       6    6                6  1                                  1   
LIII.    V............. 16   16  13   5    10   6   2   5   4                           4
Vaccinium.............. 16   16  13   5    10   6   2   5   4                              4
LIV. ERCE*..............   40 33193    23 118   8  13  102   1                                210
Gaultheria...............       4    3   2   1    2   2             2
Arbutus.................    4    4   3   1    2   2   2   2   2                             2
Andromeda..............  10           9   6   1    64    2   2   32    1   1   2   2
Menziesia...............    8    4   3                1   4         4                       1
Kahnia..................    3    3   1                3   1         1   1
Epigea..................                            1 1
Rhodora................. I            I
Rhododendron...........    6    5   1                4   2   1   2    1                     2
Azalea.1 1.1.1.1.1.............   I         1                                
Ledurn............... 2      2   2   2 2   2            21   1  I 
LV. MONOTROPE-...........   16   15   8   4   10   6   2                     5             1 
Cladothamnus...........  I            1   1
Pyrola................... 10    9   6   3             5   6   2   5   5   
Pterospora...............    I        1               1
Monotropa...............    2    2                   2
Chimaphila..............    2    2   1   1    2
LVI. JAMINEZ.........                        1...   3   1   1    3
Fraxinus............... 1    3   1   1    3
LVII. APOCYNE............   14    4                 1      1                                    1
Apocynum..............         4    4          1    31    1 
LVIII.  AscLPIADEc........        I1    11         2   1                                      1
Asclepias................ 11    11              2   11 
LIX.GENTIANE...........   34   2710 2    1913   8   9   8                              I      5
Gentiana................23   16   6                  11  10   6   7   6        I            2
Pleurogyne              1.....  I    I                      1   1         1        I        I
Swertia..................             1                        I 
Halenia.................        3    3          1    3   1          1
Sabattia...............           1   2               2
Menyanthes.1                          1   1   1............    1   1   1   1   I  I 
Villarsia................    2    2   2
Limnanthemunm........   I             1               1
LX. POLEMONIACIE.       13   11   4   2    8   4   2   2   2   1                 1  2
Polenmonium......                    2         1    21 1               1   1   1  I        ] 
Phlox...................    9         7   2           5   3   1   1   1                     1
Collomia................        2    2   2    1    1




454                GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
Wet side           to 72 N.       of 73 Lat.
Tls       a roris
Convolvulus                          55~   on    East   side, Polar z....   2  2    1
HYdrOPhYIIUnl ~.3.........From Arctic 3 3  3
Eutoca.......................    2    1     1    1   2   1   2   1
LXIV.BORAGNZ*7                  West side.2  7   6   20   9   4   5   6        6
Echinospermum.7....................t   7   1    7   2         1   1                 2
FAMIIES.                  8  8 4 2  3
LX[. DturNSACE                            1             1*........  1 
Nicandrsia...............  1            1 
Niotianavolvulus..............2  2 2
CaPhystegalis...............  2    2   2   1
LXVI. OROBANCHKZ5........         6    6   3   3    4   1   1           1                1
Orobanche.                  4 3 3 2 1 1   1                                   1
Conophiluscuta................          1  
LXVII.  CANTHYDROPHYLLACE......   2    2              2
HyDteracanophyllu...........       1  
Diantheroca..................  1    1            1
LXVIIIV SR        U RN... oa74   69 27  2     2   46 20     0  13   4   2  2      1 21
Verbascum.........3  3.         2
Linathospermua........                          I                                1
isOnosmodi.............      4    4        1    3
Chelone                 1.................                       1 
LXV. SoLtem.............    8    8   54 2 
Solanulus............   2    2                     1  I   I
Datlura.................    1  1    1    I
Nicandra..............                       1  1
Niotianlla........             1           1........  1
Physaliseoc.................    2      1   1    1  1  1
LXVI. OaaNCHIC.........          61   2 1                     41   1          1         1I
robanochei...............      1 2             2     2    1               1         1
Conophilus..............   I    Jr                I
Epiphegus...............    II                    I
IXVII.  AC.NTHkCEX.......           1       4 2       3
Dipteracanthus...........      I   I              I
Dianthera...............    I 1                   1
Verbascurn..............      3    3              3]2
Linaria................       2.2           2                   1
ColIinsia................   4    4              1 3
C     helone...............                       I   I        I
Pensteaon............          1 1..1  I  1
inmulus................    4               1   1
Gratiola......................... I
Synthyris.................   I   I.
Veronica................                   41   3                                   6
Gymnandra..............         2  1                     I      I     I.erardia................
Orthocarpus.............    3    3   3   1    1
Castilleja................              3         4 3   2 3 
Euphrasia...............           1 
Bartsia..................
Rhi, nthus..............   I                 l                                         i




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                           455
FirSo Zone.
Beteen Lot 450        Second Zone.       Third or
1to O5oen East ide,    From Arctic       Polar Zone
and Lat. 4  to 58    Circle northward    Lying NorthI
to 73~0 N.        fVLt
West 6ide.           to 720 N.        u7  Lat
~ r..... a   nI.
FAMILIES.                                                                = D g~.   O     0    -    at:               N na-s 
E~~~~~~~~~~- -s =' 
I'/t,...,,
loto 
SCROPH ULARONE/, (continued.) 
Melampyrum.          1    1          1     1                                       1..
u~  r    U   E    g       d                        Q~~~E'2(.
~~s0Pedicularis.....112                       11 56   22 116
cr  ~~~E            at 
LXIX. LABaTZ.          4   4.....0   37  24   2 
SCR0PHULAR1N1C&, (continued.)
Melampyrtim............     I   1                1     1                 I  I   1
Pedicularis..............   16    PZ1    3    4         8   11 5i5    6   8   2  21     1       6 
LIXIX. L&BIATYe.............   40    40   8  10    37 12                    2   2                    8  i1
Mentha.................    I            1    1   I      1
Lycopus.................    4            4    1   2      2
Slvia..................           1     1               1
Monarda................           3     3               3
Blephila.................          1     1               1
Pycnanthemum..........    3             3               3
Collinsonia..............         1    1                1
Cunila..................    I              I            I 
Hedeoma...............            1     1               1
Micromeria..............                1               1
Melissa.................                        1                      I
Prunella.              1    1   1    1       1 
Pruneila.................                                                                       1
Scutellaria...............        6     6   3    2      5
Lophanthus.............           3     3         1     3
Nepeta..................          1    1                1                                       1
Dracocephalum..........                1         1     1   1          1   1
Physostegia..............   I           I            1                      1
Lamium.................                   I
Leoniurus                                1               1                                       1...............
Galeopsis................                                1                                       1
Stachys.................          3     3 1    1        3    1         1   1                    1
Marrubiunm..............         1    1                1                                       1
Teucrium...............                1                1
Trichostema.............    1           I
LXX. VERBENAC,*........   15    15   5    5   13    4                      4   2                    6
Verbena...............            6     6 2             5                                       1
Phrymna.................                                 1
Utricularia..............         6     6    1    1     6   2          2    1                   3
Pinguicula...............          2          2   2      1   2          2    1                   2
LXXI. PRIMULACER....                  23   17   9    7    13  11    7   4   8                        10
Dodecatheon.............           2    2   2    1       1   2   2           1
Androsace...............    2                                2   2    2   2                     2
Douglasia...............          2     1         1          1              1
Pritnula.................         6     3    1    1     3   5    3   2   3                      4
Trientalis...............         3     3   2           1                                       1
Lysimachia.............    6            6   2    2      6    1              1                   1
Glaux...................                   1   1    1 
Samolus.................                 1         1     1                                       1
LXXII. PLUMBAGINEA......             2     2    1          2    1   1          1                   1
Statice..................         2     2    1          2    1   1          1                   1
LXXIII. PLANTAGINEZ...    5                   5   3    1      4    2              2                   3
Plantago................          5     5   3    1      4   2               2                   3
LXXIV. NYCTAGINEE....                   3     3    1          2
Oxybaphus..............    I            1   1
Allionia.............             2     2               2




456                GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
First Zone.      Second Zone.      Tlird or
Between Lat 45  From Arctic    Polar Zone.
to 55Q on East aide,  Circle nortllward   Lying North
and Lat. 490 to 580   to 720 N       of 730 Lat.
West aide.
o                           i
FAMILIES..I                         o      2 
asoa so. a            1
I 1    1
I 1    1M 1
tO.   Na
a    CO   OO           no  N 
LXXV. AMARANTHo Ci.   6    6   1   2    6
Arinaranthus.6  6 1 2  6
LXXVI. CHENOPODE.....             3 20   19  6  i    12   4   3          1               14
Salicornia............... 2    2   1   1    1                                       2
CoXriaspernum.....          1    1           1        1                              1
Eurotia.........                  10  1                                             1
Chenopodium.......           18   17 7       6       4             1       1         5
Ambrina...............   1                        1I                           1
Atriplex...............       4    4   1   1    3   3   3                           3
LXXV1iI. POLYGONE.                3    3..   3     2   2 11   6   6   9  2  2 I   I  I   17
I    Konigia...........      1          I       1 1         1                     1 
|xyria,.1he      r             2  2 11   111111111
I   oXri.................. I,/, 1   1         I    I,/ I   1I I    I    IlI
I LX   mex..................  1  10   5   4    9   5   1   2   4 
Polygonum.                    1    17   7   2   13   4   3   1   4   1  1 1  1    7
Eriogonum.............. 4    4   3   2
LXXIX. LURINI.......   2    2              2
Benzoin.................  I  1            1
Sassafras..............             1             1 
LXXX. ELEAGNE.a..........   3    3             2    2   2        2   2
Eleagnus................            1       1          1       1
Shepherdia......2    2 1                          1   1        1   1
LXXXI. THYMELS.........           I    I 1
Dirca...................    1    1                1
LXXXII. SANTALACKaE......         2    2        2    2   1         1   1
Comandra...............    2                2    2   1         1   1
LXXXIII. AISToLOCHaL...    II  II
Asarum.................  I      1
LXXXIV. EMPTR            I......    1    1                  1         I  I  
Etupetrum......1......               1             1   1   1   1 
LXXXV. EUPHORBIAC                        8   2   2    8..
Euphorbia..............         17    7   2   2    7
Acalypha...............          1                1
LXXXVI.  RTICE........    10   10   1   1                1             1                4
UJrtica..................    5    5   1   1    5   1            1                2
Pilen..................  I 
Parietaria...............     I    1              1
Boehmeria.............         1 I    I           1
Humulus................    I                            I       I 1
Cannabis................  I                       1




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                      457
First Zone.       Second Zone.       Third or
Between Lat. 45~     Seconlle.         Tir  r
to 55o  Eaot side     From Arctic      Polar Zone.
nod Lat. 491 to 500'  Circle northvward   Lying North
West side.          to 720 N.        ot'70 Lot.
to              0 N.
oo   VI               0          o. 
A. pa    N          u            15050 
LXXXVI. ULMACEE.......               3    3    1          3
Ulmus..................          2    2               2
Celtis...................        1    1    1 11
LXXXVIII. SAIURUREXE......            1    1              1
Saururus................         1    1              1
LXXXIX. JUGLANDINE E.....            4    4               4
Juglans.................        2    2               2
Carya...................    2         2              2
XC. SALICACE............... 48  39  8 6  36 27 8 1424 3 1 3 1 14
Salix....................  44   35 7 5 32  25 7  12 22 3 1 3    1 13
PopulIs.................        4    4    1   1    4    2   1   2   2                       1
XCI. BETLACE............   11   11    4   4    9    6   3   6   5
Betula..................        8    8    2   2    7    4   1   4   3                       1
Alnus...................        3    3    2   2    2    2   2   2   2                       1
XC. PLATANACEE..........              1    1              1
Platanus..............          1    1                1
XCIII. CUPULIFERE.........          1.5  15    2   2   14
Quercus.................             10 10           9
Fagus..1   1                                          1..............
Carpinus................           1  1
Ostrya...................        1    1               1
Corylus.................    2    2    1   2    2
XCIV. MYRICACE..............    3    3    2   1    2    1                1   1 
Myrica..................         2    2    2   1    1    1          1                    1
Comptonia.................   1        I 
XCV. CONIFER:E.............           20   20    9   6   14    7   1   4   6                     2
Pinus...................        5    5    2   1    4    1                1
Abies...................          6   6    3   2    4    3   1   2   2
Larix..............  I          I.             I    I
Lalix.1    1                             1
Cupressus...............    2    2    1              1
Thuja...................        2    2    1   1    1
Juniperus................     3         2    2    2         2   2                   2
Taxus....... I   1                    1
MONOCOTYLEDONES.... 554  493  162 122 399  198  53 120 146  1 20  9  9 188
XCVI. COMELINE..........            1   1               1
Tradescantia.............              1 1            1
XCVII. ALISamCEm.........    3    3    2            2 3                                       3
aglttaria.1.........                           1     1  1 1
Alismto..................     2   1   1    2                                      2
XCVIII. JUNCAGINER........          4    4    1   3    4    2          2   1                   3
heuehzerla............            1             1          1          1
Triglochin...............        3   3        1  2    3    1        1   1                   2
Thuja.... 2 2 1 1 1I




458                GEOGRAPII ICAL DISTRIBUTI ON OF PLANTS.
First Zone.      Second Zone.      Third or
Between Lat. 45n    From Arctic    Polar Zone.
to 55Q on East side,  Circle northward   Lying North
and Lat. 490 to 583   to 720 N.      of 730 Lat.
Vest side.
j~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAMILIES..
Os    v
o   50           0           04
XCIX, AROIDEE.          13a12   2   3.11.              3.2.        10
Acorus.......... 1   1 
Orontium.1....... 1
Calla.1......... 1}  
Symploctarpus.             2.....2.
Lemna.             3 ~                    2   1   2.2
Sparganiufl.              2...1...         3.
Typha.                  1......1. 1..1.        1
C.NAxADES.14143..... 1                              4 1,          1. 
Zannichellia1   1..1....1.1
Naissa.1..                            1                                 1.....
Ruppi            a.  1..  1 s........
~PotaigeOtaoge.n 11   1... 1. 1.           7
CI. SMRoILDra:............. 13   19                  1   3   1   3   2                 10
Acorus..................t I        1
Streptopu..........         3   2 
Art.............             6      61....1      5
Ua    ria.................     6 1                                    
Symplocarpus............   2       22 2           1                                 2
Lemicina................      3                  3                                  3
Polygonatnium.. 3                 1  1               2                 3
Typha..................     I      I             1            1   1                 1
CII. NAIDMET............  14   16             13                1 2
Limnantnichellmuia........1                1                       1
NaZigadenus................                 1   1         1
Xerophyllupia.........      1             1                                  1
PoHelnogetonias.............    1    1           1                                7
C1. SMILAXIC&...............  19   19 68             16   3 1!     3   0.      4111
SinilVeratrum...............   3             1 
Tofieldiaptopus..............   3  3       2 2                                       2
UvuMedeola.................   61    5
Trillium................4    5   3                            3   2
CIPo. LILcygonatum.............                  1 
CLI u M rNTHACEA..... 3...  16   16 7 2             13  I4   2   3   3
Limnantbemum............. I I
Fritillaria denus.........            
Erythroniphyllum............     
HeCalonichortus.............    1     
CIV. A SPHSODELE~E......1 11734                         
Antheraticum.                                         1 1....1. 1
ToAiudin................   3                     3       1       1                   1
Camasia...........        1   1
Brodilliam................   7         1         6 
CVI.   LIACPONTEDRIACE........   9               1 
Lillum......~.   ~~~~    3 3 2   1    3
FriPontedeillaria.............. 1    
Erythronium.............~   3      33 1          2
Lepta nthortus.............     1  1 
CIV. ASPHODELEX..........~  12   11 77 3    4   2   1                  2                 1ii
CVI RSTAC~E.             11                   1  
AnthEriocaulon.............                                                         1
Luzulaum..................             4         4   1             1
Camussia....14..6...1..2I I4
Brodima,.................   2           2
CV. PONTEDERIACEA:........   2    2            
Leptanthus..............   1    1    7
CV1. RESTIACIY.........   I
Eriocaulon...........         I     I~~ 1    
CV11. JUNCE&..............  23   20  10   9   15  17   8  14  13  3   t 2  02 14
Luzula..................   7       66 4   2    4   5   4   5   3  2 1' 1 1 2  4o 
Juncus..................  16   14 6 7  11  1 2   4   0  10   1,, 1




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                     459
First Zone.
Between Lat 450     Second Zone.       Third or
to 55e on East side,    From Arctic    Polar Zone.
and Lat. 490 to 58'  Circle northward   Lying North
Went side.         to 720 N.       of 730 Lat.
FAMILIES.                               o.               
-                                          0  0.
i             W n                  W i  
0. 0                                          5
Valisneria...............                                    1 1                         1
Udora...................          I   I
IX   ORCH E............             54   52  17   9   43   10  3            8
Microstylis.............3    3   1                  2
Liparis..................      2    2               22
Corallorrhiza............      3    3   2   1    2            1
Armplectrum.............       1 1          1
Calypso................. 1          1   1    1    1         1   1
Orchis........2 2 1   1
Gyinadenia.............        I             1 
Platanthera..............   20   20   7   5   15    3   1   3   3
Peristylus................ 2    2   1   1    1
Arethusa................            I               1
Pogonia.................  2    2              2
Calopogon...............    ]    1                  1
Spiranthes................           3        1    3    2         2   1
Goodyera.................... 2      1              1    1        1   1
Listera..................      2    2   2           2
Cypripedium.............       8    7               7    2   1   1   2
CX. IRIDE.................         8     7   2   1    7    3  2           1
Iris.....................   7    6  11  61              2 62
Sisyrichiun...............    1    1                1 1  1
CXI. HYPOXID............                               1 I
Hypoxis.................         1                  1 
CXII. DoSCORRzS...........                1              1
Dioscorea................   I   1           1
CXIII. CYPRACE.......... 218  184  51  33  160  102 12  54  77   5  5  1 2 81
Carex.................. 183  153  39  24  131  91  9  4568   3  3  1  2 65
Elyna...................    2                            2       2   1
Eleocharis...............             6   4   3    5    3          2   2                 5
Scirpus..................     10    0   3   5   10                                      4
Eriophorum.............    8    7   4              7    6   3   5   6   2  2           6
Dulichium...............        1    1  1 
Cyperus..................      5    5         1 
Rhynchospora...........                  1          2                                   1
CXIV. GRAMINEA:...........  153  134  48  46   96   51 24  32  36  13 13                  6 56
Leersia..................    2    2 
Hydropyrum.............  I           1              1
Alopecurus..............       4    3 21                2  1 21    1   3
Phleum................         2    2   2   1    1    1           1   1                 2
Phalaris...............       I         1   1    1    1                               11
Hierochloe...3.........        3    2         1  23                       2  2       1  2
Anthoxanthum..........              1                1                                  1
Milium..........1......    1                  1                                   1
Panicum...............     8    8   1   3    8
Ilolcus......                                     1   1       1 
Opliuenus..............                      1       1          1  I                   1  




460                 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
First Zone.
Between Lat. 4Z 0    Second Zone.      Third or
etwen Last. i   From Arctic      Polar Zone.
to 55i0 on East side,
and Lat. 490 to 58s   Circle northward    Lying North
West side.
Weot side.          to 720 N.       of 730 Lat.
N                             (ed
V~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setaria..................~so..
FAMILsES.                       o 
0 ~  ~ ~ 0               n r
Sli p a ~ ~~....:i~::i; 43              ]3Ch
Phipps             a.....5    0         08 ~n Z,  i!    g   c 
6o~ ~ 0    0
I                  no oo                0soa
olu..-. 3
W   P4  PQ~             v
a-                       a      a I1
GRAMrINE X -(contiosued.)
Setaria..................    I        1               1
Cenchrus.............    I    1 
ryzopois................           1 3           2     3
Stipas..4..............     4          4         3     1
Muhienbergia..... 6....         6     6   2   1    5
Phippsia..............    2                               22                 11           1
Colpodium............          3     1               1   2   2   1   2   1  1
Vilfa....1..............    I         1         1
Agrostis................    6    6   6   2            3   3         3   1                   4
Calamagrostis......... 10    9   3   2                7   3   2   3   3                     2
Ammophila...........1.                           I    I         I                    1
Graphephorum...........         1    1                1
Phragmites...........    I    1   1   I    1                                               1
Spartina               1..1...........  1                   1             1
Eutriana....1.........                1         1I       I          1
Deschampsia............    2          1 1       1    1 11                111                1
Dupontia...............    I                              1                                 1
Boutelouia...............    2        2               2
Aira....................             3    2 1        2   1          1           3           1
Trisetum............    2           2   1            I  1   1   1        1    1           1
Avena..................         2     1        1     1   2          1   1       1           1
Dantlhonia............                1               I
Poa...................   26   2310   6   1511   7   5   93                          2  213
~~~1~ 1         1
Eragrostis...............  I    I                    I
Glyceria.................       9     8   3   3    5   1                 1       I          2
Pleuropogon...........                                                        1
Reboulea....2........    2    2                 1    2   1          1
Catabrosa...............              1               I                                     1
Koeleria..1                           1 1 11........1. I I   1    1
Festuca...........    9      6   2   3    2 5    3   3 411                     1 4
Bromus..................    3          3   1          2   1   1   1   1
Ceratochloa.............         1    1   1
Brizopyrum.............         I     1         1
Triticum............     3     3   2   2       1   2         2   1                   3
Elymus.................         8    8   3   2       6   3   1   3   2                      5
Asprella.................    I         1               1
Hordeum................        2     2   2   1    1   1                 1                  1
Andropogon..........    4            3        3      1   1         1
ACROGENES...............   71   67  26  18   57  30   6  21  24                                26
CXV. EQurisETACE....                  9     9   3   2    8   6   2   4   5                       8..
Equisetum..............        9     9   3   2    8   6   2   4   5                       8
CXVI. FILICES..............   47   43  16  11   35  20   3  13  16                            20
Polypodium..............    3    33                   33             1 3                     3
Woodsia...............                3         1    3   2          1   2                   2
Cistopteris...............      3    2          1    2   2   1   2   1                     2
Aspidium................ 11   10   5   2    9   4   2   3   4                              6
Onoclea.................    I                         1
Struthiopteris.1 1....... I.          1
Athyrium.                              1   1   1      1   1          1   1
Asplenium..........            7    5               5   2          1   13
Blechnunm.............          1    1   1                1             1         1 




NUMBERS OF SPECIES IN DIFFERENT ZONES.                                461
Between Lat. 45Z
- Between Lot. 4,5o | Second Zone. Third or
to 55~ on East side,    From Arctic  oiar Zone.ort
and Lot. 490 to 58   Circle northward   Lyint North
West side.        to 720 N       of73 Lat.
FAMILIES.                                            0  
F LZ C E. — (continued. )
Cryp   o a ma        0............
Cheilanthes.............
Dicksonia...............   
Pterisunda............... 3    3   1   1    3   11
Schizrytoga   ma...........    I    I        1......I
AdBotryhintum.............    I                      1            1
CXVheI. LYCOPOEanthes.............     I      I        I
DiLycopodi...............                               1 1  1
Selaginundea................  1        1         1
Schizees.................        1               1
Botrychiumii............    5    5   2   4    1  2            C2   1               1
CXVII. LYCOPODINEIE.......   12   12   7   5   11   4   2   4   3                       7
Lycopodiuin........... 11   11   7   5   10   4   2   4   3                        7
Selaginella..............    I    1              1
CXVIII. HYDROPTERIDES....    3    3                  3                                 1
Isidetes..................    1    1            1                                 1
Salvinia................           1             1
Azolla..................    1    1               1
DICOTYLEDONES...... 1725 1499 498 391 1130 568 271 340 377 69 57 40 29 403
MONOCOTYEDONES....  554  493 162 122  399 198  53 120 146 21 20  9  9 188
2279 1992 660 513  1529 766 324 460 523  0 77 49 38 591
ACROGENES..........   71   67  26  18   57  30   6  21  24                     26
Obs. In the preceding table, and in that which follows, species that range to several zones
are enumerated in each. The proportionate numbers of the second table are found by dividing
the whole Phanerogame of a district by the numbers of each family in that district, and they
may.v therefore, be considered as denominators of fractions having 1 for a numerator.
The proportions vary remarkably in different districts. The predominance of Compound
Flowers, Leguminous and Rosaceons plants in the Prairies, combined with the paucity of Saxifrages, Gentians, and Ericaceous plants, affect the proportions of the other families materially.
The Grasses, as might be expected, are more numerous in the Prairies than elsewhere, with
the remarkable exception of the Polar Zone, in which the Gramineev form one-seventh of the
species, and in conjunction with the Cruciferre, Caryophyllere, and Sazifragetv, constitute more
than half the Phanerogam&e. The small numbers of Asters, Willows, and Carices on the
Pacific coast, modify the sumbers of that district.




462               GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
PROPORTIONATE NUMBERS OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL FAMILIES TO THE
WHOLE PHANEROGAMOUS VEGETATION OF THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS OF
THE THREE ZONES.
First Zone.             Second Zone.
Monocotyledones.-........ 4'1 4'2'3' 6'1 3'8 3'6 4'3
FAMI..............LIES. 100 0 77 25 1 
Cyperacete................12'                15'9 9'5 27'0 8'5 6'         8 18 2
Ic. W   I   W   P:   Q I0
Monocotyledones......... 4' 1      42       38       6.1    3418       336    45Corineoeitx...............   24       4 233  32 27      0     357      25371    1245
Cyperacee............... 29    159  95 463   18270            245       68 19 83
Grannineu...............  275    27112     1539      1231    1484    1425 170
Roncea.................  34178    15716    19665    36120    184      192 4     5 80
Crucifer     age.......................213    244  31950  1  1  139    298      67
Leguminosfe.............  240 5    15. 1  30'0 231          4148     3743     4555
ScrophGe ntlarine...............  6624  23563  322  270 340    4     3751 1   455
Caryophyller................  7 33 85 5    10464 3 240 1    252      2         870 3
Ranuculace.........   275    275103        4 325    231      14       227      182
icacee..................34 82         0     665 85                     522      45 405 32
Orchidete.............     3*..  38    5,7.  356    1080      57-6    65-3
Saxifrage...............   50-8   128-2    80.5    12.5       21.9    29-0       7.5
Utrhelliferre.............  50-8    85.5    54-5    54*0    230-0   104-4
Gentianexe...............66-0   256-5    80.5    40J.5    51.          65-2
Conifere................  73-3    85-5   106-4   324-0   125-0    87-0
Labiale.................  82-5    51*3      41-3              23-0    26-2
Salicce............             425      405      329      217      30-3
Boraginee...............  94-3   85'5       76' 4    64' 8    11'5     87'0
A list of the plants collected by Mr. Seeman on the coasts of Beering's Sea having been
received subseqesnt to the first part of the preceding tables having passed through the press,
some emendations are requisite. The numbers of L)ycotyledones, in p. 461. are to be substituted for those in p. 445, and the following changes made in the column headed Kotzebue
Sound: viz. Ranunculacetv, 14; Crucifert, 19; Caryophyllce, 18; Leguminosae, 14; Rosacee,
27; Portulacee, 5; Saxifragetv, 26; Composita, 36; Ericeea, 9: Boragince, 5; Scrophularines, 12; Verhenacee, 1; Diapensiaces, 1.'These occasion some slight alterations in the
first column of the second zone, and in the total number of plants.




TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF CARICES.               463
The following Table of the Distribution of the Carices was drawn
up by Dr. Boott, whose intimate acquaintance with that genus of
Cyperacete renders it of the highest value to the student of the
Geography of Plants.
London, May 6, 1850.
MY DEAR SIR JOHN,
I have examined the Carices you brought from your last excursion-to
America. They are-'. scirpoidea Michx. Arctic Sea coast.
ursina Dewey. Arctic Sea coast.
glareosa Wahlg. Arctic Sea coast.
stans Drejer. Arctic Sea coast.
saxatilis L. Arctic Sea coast.
compacta Brown.  Arctic Sea coast.
fuliginosa St. 4. Hoppe.  Arctic Sea coast.
livida Willd. Arctic Sea coast.
Nova Angliae Schwz. Arctic Sea coast and Methy Portage.
canescens L. (4. b.) Arctic Sea Coast and Methy Portage.'c   var. polystachya.  Lakes Superior, Rainy and of the Woods.
adjusta Boott. Methy Portage.
siccata Dewey. Methy Portage, Saskatchewan.
lanuginosa Michx. MIethy Portage, Saskatchewan.
lenticularis Michx. Methy Portage.
Houghtonii Torrey. Methy Portage.
Raeana Boott. Methy Portage.
utriculata Boott.  Methy Portage. Lakes Superior, Huron.
aquatilis Wahlg.  Methy Portage, Lakes Superior, Huron, Fort Simpson and Chepewyan.
oligosperma Michx. Lake Superior.
aristat. Br.  Lakes Snperior and Huron.
scopria, Srhk. (4. h.)  Lakes Superior and Huron, Winipeg, Athabasca.
vuligris Fries. Lakes Superior and Huron, Winipeg.
retrorsa Schwz  Winipeg River, Lake of Woods.
pedunculata Muhlg.  Winipeg River, Rainy Lake.
intumescens Rudge. Lake of Woods, Rainy Lake.
(Ederi l9hrh.  Rainy River and Lake.
Pennsylvanica  Lam.  Saskatschewan, Winipeg, and  Cumberland
Lakes.
incurva Light. Valleys of the Sask. and Mack.
Of the above, C. Raeana is new, and C. stans new to British America.
I find from my notes that the number of Carices in North America is
250; of which 178 are found in all Arctic America, including 97 common
to Arctic America and the States, leaving 81 Arctic species.
Of these 81, there are 36 common to Europe, leaving 45 peculiar to
Arctic America.
Of the 97 found in Arctic America and the States, 28 are common to
Europe, leaving 69 exclusively American.
There are in the States, besides, 72, of which 4 only are European,
leaving 68 exclusively American.




4C, 1          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
The exclusively American species are therefore 182, and 68 common to
America and Europe.
American species in Arctic America..................4......  45..
European do.36 4 
American species in Arctic America and the States..............  69
Enropean            do.             do...............       28
American species in the States................................  68    72
European       do.................................     4
182   68   250
You will find that the large proportion of Carices in the Northern part
of America, common to it and to Europe, is in accordance with the observations of Agassiz, made in his late interesting excursion to Lake Superior.
He remarks that the farther north we proceed the greater is the uniformity
of the plants common to the two continents; and it is remarkable that
Leconte, in his list of the Coleoptera of Lake Superior, was struck with
the absence of all the groups peculiar to the American continent, the large
increase of the species of genera feebly represented in the more temperate
regions, and the existence of many genera heretofore regarded as confined
to the southern parts of Europe and Asia.
Yours sincerely.
F. BOOTT.
The 97 species found in Arctic America and in the States areC. anceps Muhlg.        C. digitalis Willd.      C. monile Tuckn.
arida Tor.              eburnea Boott.           muricata L.
aristata Brown.         Ehrhartiana Hoppe.    Novwe Anglia- Schwz.
aurea Nutt.             festucacea Schk.         oligosperma Michx.
angustata Boott.        flexilis Rudge.          (Ederi Ehrh.
arctata Boott.          filiformis L.            polytrichoides Muhl.
adusta Boott.           flava L.                 pubescens Muhlg.
aperta Boott.           fulva Good.              Pennsylvanica Lam.
aquatilis Wahl.         grisea Wahlg.            pedunculata Muhlg.
atrata L.               gracillima Schwz.        plantaginea Lam.
blanda Dewey.           granularis Muhlg.        pseudocyperus L.
bromoides Schk.         gynocrates Worm.         pallescens L.
Backii Boott.           hystericina Muhlg.       pauciflora Light.
bullata Schk.           intumescens Rudge.    rosca Schk.
iBuxbaumii Wahl.        irrigua Willd.           Richardsoni Browr
cephalophora Muhl.    lupulina Muhlg.           retrorsa Schwz.
conoidea Schk.          lagopodioides Schk.      rostrata Michx.
cristata Schwz.         Liddoni Boott.           retroflexa Mu/lf
crinita Lamn.           longirostris Tor.        rigida Good.
commutata Gay.          lanuginosa Michx.        subulata Mich.
capillaris L.           lacustris Willd.         squarrosa L.
canescens L.            lenticularis Michx.      striata Michx.
chordorrhiza Ehrh.      limosa L.                stipata Muhlg
capitata L.             livida Willd.            scoparia Schk.
debilis Michx.          Muhlenbergii Schk.       straminea Schia
Deweyana Schwz.         miliacea Muhlg.          scabrata 5chwz.




TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF CARICES.                 465
C. Schweinitzii Dewey.  C. teretiuscula Good.   C. vulpinoidea Michx.
siccata Dewey.         tenuiflora Wahl.        vesicaria L.
scirpoidea Michx.      tenella Schk.           vulgaris Fries.
stellulata Good.       umbellata Schk.         vitilis Fries.
triceps Michx.         utriculata Boott.       Willdenowii Schk.
tentaculata Muhlg.     varia Muhlg.
trisperma Dewey.       verticillata Boott.
Of the 97 in Arctic America and the States, 28 are European.
In England.            In Scotland.         In North of Europe.
C. Buxbaumnii Wg.      C. capilaris L.         C. chordorrhiza Ehrh.
canescens L.            aquatilis Wahl.        capitata L.
filiformis L.           atrata L.              gynocrates WTorm.
flava L.               pauciflora Light.       tenuiflora Wahlg.
fulva Good.            rigida Good.            livida Willd.
irrigua Willd.                                 tenella Schk.
limosa L.                                      vitilis Fries.
muricata L.                                    Ehrhartiana Hoppe.
(Ederi Ehrh.
pseudocyperus L.
pallescens L.
stellulata Good.
teretiuscula Good.
vesicaria L.
vulgaris Fries.
Of these 28 species of Europe, 12 are Alpine, or found in high northern
latitudes.
C. Ehrhartiana is found in Germany, and is probably a form of C. teretiuscula Good.
C. fulva was originally established upon a Newfoundland specimen, and
has only been found once near Boston, U.S.A.
The 72 found in the United States areC. alopecoidea Tuckn.  |C. exilis Dewey.       C. lucorum Willd.
aestivalis Curtis.     Elliottii Tor.         lupuliformis Sartw.
alveata Boott.         Floridana Tor.         lkevigata Smith.
Boottiana Benth.       Fraseri Sims.           mirabilis Dewey.
Barrattii Tor.         foenea Willd.           Mitchelliana Curtis.
Baltzellii Chapman.    formosa Dewey.          microdonta Tor.
Buckleyi Dewey.        flaccosperma Dewey.    Meadii Dewey.
crus-corvi Shutt.      folliculata L.          mirata Dewey.
Careyana Dewey.        glaucescens Eh.        oligocarpa Schk.
Cherokeensis Schwz.    Grayii Carey.           oxylepis Tor.
Crawei Dewey.          gigantea Rudge.         prmcox Jacq.
Cooleyi Dewey.         hyalina Boott.          panicea L.
Caroliniana Buckley.   Halseyana Dewey.       platyphylla Carey.
comosa Baott.          Hitchcockiana Dew.    polymorpha Muhlg.
decomposita Dewey.    imbricata Boott.         planostachys Kutnz
Davisii Schwz.        juncea Willd.           refracta Schk.
dasycarpa Muhlg.       Knieskernii Dewey.      retrocurva Dewey.
TTu




466          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
C. sterilis Willd.    C. stenolepis Tor.    i C. turgescens Tor.
sparganioides Muhl.    Sullivantii Boott.    Tuckermani Boott.
Sartwellii Dewey.     sychnocephala Car.    vestita Willd.
setacea Dewey.        strictior Dewey.       venusta Dewey.
Shortii Tor.          tenax Chapman.         virescens Muhl.
Steudelii Kunth.      tetanica Schk.         vulpina L.
styloflexa Buckley.   torta Boott.           Woodii Dewey
Of these 72 species, 4 only are common to Europe (England).
C. praecox Jacq. (introduced), found only in Salem, Massachusetts.
laevigata Smith (introduced), found once near Boston, Massachusetts.
panicea L.
vulpina L.  Doubtful, probably a form  of C. stipata.  (Ohio,
Illinois).
I can offer you little that is satisfactory to myself as to the geographical range of the 97 species that are common to Arctic America and the
States, for want of precise data as to the Carices of the Southern and
Western States.
A.-I find, from such data as I have, that from lat. 300 to 350, that is,
from N. Orleans through the Carolinas, there are 33 species extending into Arctic America, one of which, C. Novae Angliae Schwz.,
ranging from N. Orleans to the Arctic Sea, maintains an equally
vigorous development through 400 of latitude.
B.-From lat. 370 to 41~, Kentucky to Rhode Island, there are 21 species
extending northward.
C.-From  lat. 420 to 450, Massachusetts to Wisconsin, there are 43
species extending northward.
Of the 72 species found in the States, 27 are southern species, ranging
from Florida to Kentucky.
Of the 81 in Arctic America, there is, in
Newfoundland,                     1. C. remota, L.
Labrador,                         3. C. recta B., nigra.11., ustulata
Wg.
Greenland,                       9. C. duriuscula  Mr.  haematolepis
Dr., reducta Dr., rufina Dr.,
holostoma Dr., hyperborea Dr.,
microglochin Wg., pedata Wg.,
microstachya Ehrh.
Canada,                           1. C. miliaris Mx.
Rocky Mountains,                 8. C. petasata Dy., petricosa Dy.,
filifolia Nutt., Geyeri B., Lyoni
B., Jamesii T., dioica L., Py.
renaica Wg.
Rocky Mountains and Altai,        1. C. Franklinii B. (C. macrogyna
Turczon).
Northwest coast,                  18. C. anthoxantha Pr., anthericoides
Pr., Hoodii B., amplifolia B.,
Gmelini H., circinnata Mr.,
leiocarpa Mr., marcida B., mi



TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF CARICES.                467
cropoda Mr., macrocephala W.,
Mertensii Pres., nigella B.,
Sitchensis Pres., Tolmiei B.,
elongata L., leporina L., stricta
G., physocarpa Presl.
Newfoundland to Rocky Mts.,       1. C. ovata Rudge.
Greenland to Lake Superior,       1. C. bicolor 11ll.
"    and Newfoundland to    1. C. glareosa Wg.
Arctic Sea,
to Cumberland House,   1. C. subspathacea Worm.':  to Arctic Sea,           3. C. stans Dr., vahlii S., ursina Dy.
"    Slave Lake and Ft. En-  1. C. rotundata Wg.
terprise,
"    and Mackenzie River,    1. C. rariflora Sm.
"    Bear Lake and Rocky  2. C. supina Wg. vaginata Tausch.
Mountains,
"    Bear Lake, Church R.  1. C. ainpullacea G.
and Sask.,
"    and Repulse Bay,        1. C. fuliginosa St. 4. Hop.
"    Arctic Sea, Rocky Mts.,  1. C. compacta Br.
and Northwest coast,
"    to Rocky Mountains,     7. C. festiva  Dy., incurva  Light.,
lagopina Wg., nardina Fr.,
obtusata Lil., rupestris U11.,
saxatilis L.
t"    o Northwest coast (not  3. C. salina Wg., cryptocarpa Mr.,
Rocky Mts.),              stylosa Mr.
Arctic Sea,                       1. C. marina Dy.
Hudson's Bay to Methy Portage,   1. C. Houghtonii Tor.;"    to Cumberland H.   2. C. heleonastes Eh., maritima Mull.
Cumberland House, Mackenzie Riv-  1. C. concinna Br.
er, and Rocky Mts.,
Carlton House,                   2. C. Torreyi Tuck., Hookeriana Dy.
c"    to Northwest coast,  1. C. Parryana Dy.
Methy Portage,                    1. C. Raeana B.
Wooded Country,                  2. C. affinis Br., podocarpa Br.
Rocky Mountains  l,, Northwest  5. C. Douglassii B., Rossii B., nigricoast,                              cans Mr., macrochceta  Mr.,
stenophylla Wg.
Of the above 81 species, 36 are European!
England!             Scotland!          North of Europe!
C. reinota L.         C. ustulata Wg.        C. bicolor All.
dioica L.             vahlii Schk.           subspathacea Worm.
elongata L.           rariflora Sm.          fuliginosa S. -. Hop.
leporina L.           vaginata Tausch.       nigra All.
stricta G.            incurva Light.         microglochin Wg.
ampullacea G.         lagopina Wg.           microstachya Ehrh.
rupestris.All.       rufina Dr.
saxatilis L.          Pyrenaica Wg. (Pyrences!)




468          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
England!             Scotland!          North of Europe!
C. obtusata Lil.
supina Wahl.
salina Wahl.
maritima, Muller.
stenophylla Wahlg.
heleonastes Ehrh.
glareosa Wahl.
festiva Dy.
nardina Fries.
pedata Wahlg.
rotundata Wahlg.
hyperborea Dr. (Lapland).
holostoma Dr. (Lapland).
cryptocarpa Mr. (Iceland).
Of these 36 European species found in Arctic America, 30 are Alpine
or belonging to high northern latitudes.
C. Pyrenaica Wahlg. is confined in Europe to the Pyreraes!
C. remota L., common in England, has been found only in Newfoundland.  Royle has found it also on the Himalayas and at Kunawur in the
East Indies!
C. festiva Dewey, found in Norway, Finmark and Lapland, extends in
America from Greenland to Unalashka, and along the Rocky Mountains to
the Straits of Magellan!
The 45 American species in Arctic America are:
C. duriuscula Meyer.   C. Houghtonii Terrey.  C. podocarpa Brown.
circinnata Meyer.     reducta Drejer.        compacta Brown.
leiocarpa Meyer.       hzematolepis Drejer.   concinna Broun.
micropoda Meyer.      stans Drejer.          Geyeri Boott.
stylosa Meyer.        petasata Dewey         Lyoni Boott.
nigricans Meyer.      petricosa Dewey.       Hoodii Boott.
macrochueta Meyer.    Hookeriana Dewey.      Rossii Boott.
anthoxantha Presl.    marina Dewey.          Tolmiei Boott.
anthericoides Presl.    ursina Dewey.        marcida Boott.
physocarpa Presl.     Parryana Dewey.        nigella Boott.
Mertensii Prescott.   Torreyi Tuckerman.    Douglassii Boott.
Sitchensis Prescott.  ovata Rudge.           Franklinii Boott.
miliaris Michaux.     Gmelini Hooker.        Raeana Boott.
filifolia Nuttall.    macrocephala Willd.    amplifolia Boott.
Jamesii Terrey.       affinis Brown.         recta. Boott.
A.-New Orleans, Cumberland House, Rocky Mountains, C. unmbellata,
debilis.
"c       Greenland, Rocky Mountains, Arctic Sea,, C. N2ova.dngli&c.
Texas to Canada, C. retroflexa, grisea, blanda, triceps.




TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF CARICES.                 469
Texas to Hudson's Bay, C. Muhlenbergii.'"   Carlton House, Northwest coast, C. anceps.
Georgia to Canada, C. lupulina, commutata, squarrosa, tentaculata,
striata, hystericina, miliacea.
South Carolina to Canada, C. cephalophora, varia, granularis,
vulpinoidea.
cc"     "       ":       and Rocky Mountains, C. bromoides.
"    Cumberland House, C. crinita, inuniescens.
"       "       ".          "    Rocky Mountains, Northwest
coast, C. stellulata.
"       "       ":"       Northwest coast, C. stipata,
scoparia, lagopodioides.
cc"     "    Hudson s Bay, Norway House, C. polytrichoides.
South Carolina to Lake Winipeg, C. lacustris.
"'    "        Northwest coast, C. rosea.
North Carolina Mountains of, Observatory Inlet, Curnberland House,
Northwest coast, C. Buxbaumii.
":~          "            to Canada, C. conoidea.
"'          "c             Cumberland House, Rocky Mountains.
C. Pennsylvanica.
B. —Kentucky to Canada, C. puzbescens, digitalis.
"       Mackenzie River, Rocky Mountains, C. eburnea.
Illinois, Cumberland House, Rocky Mountains, Northwest coast, C.
Richardsonii.
New Jersey to Canada, C. Schweinitzii.
"'               Northwest coast, C. aperta.
"     to Hudson's Bay, Arctic Sea, Rocky Monntains, Northwest coast, C. livida.
Ohio to Cumberland House, C. arida.
"    Carlton House and Rocky Mountains, C. Backii.
Pennsylvania to Canada, C. subulata, scabrata, bullata.
"'    Cumberland House, C. gracillima, cristata, plantaginea.
":':'"    Rocky Mountains, C. pedunculata, utriculata.
"A        Greenland, Northwest coast, C. vesicaria.
("         Northwest coast, C. angustata.
Rhode Island to Bear Lake, C. monile.
Greenland, Cumberland House, Rocky Mountains,
Northwest coast, C. adusta.
C.-Massachusetts and Newfoundland, C. fulva.
cc"          Northwest coast, C. muricata, verticillata.
Michigan to Canada, C. festecacea.
Cumberland House, C. Ehrhartiana.
Carlton House, Rocky Mountains, C. teretiuscula, tri.
sperma.
"     Canada, Northwest coast, C. straminea.:' and Northwest coast, C. Liddoni.
New York to Canada, C. arctata.




470          GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.
New York to Canada, Rocky Mountains, C. Willdenowii.
"     Cumberland House, C. pallescens, pseudocyperus, tensuiflora, vitilis, flava, dristata, filiformis, irrigua.
"a      "';  ~Rocky Mountains, C. siccata, longirostris.
c  ("(   "    Northwest coast, C. retrorsa.
cc        " "':   Greenland, Hudson's B]ay, C.
(Ederi.
Mackenzie River, Rocky Mountains, C. aquatilis.
9"           cc        Northwest coast, C. lansuginosa.
"     Bear Lake, Rocky Mountains, Northwest coast, C.
limosa.'"    Hudson's Bay, Carlton House, Rocky Mountains, Northwest coast, C. aurea.
"     Newfoundland, C. flexilis.
"'      " r     Greenland, Arctic Sea, Rocky Mountains,
Northwest coast, C. vulgaris, canescens.
cc"          "       Rocky Mountains, Northwest coast, C.
pauciflora.
"     Greenland, C. gynocrates.
New York Mountains of, to Mackenzie River, C. lenticularis.
"~'       ";    Greenland, Arctic Sea, Rocky Mountains,
C. scirpoidea.
44"       "         Labrador, Arctic Sea, C. rigida.
" White Mts. of New Hampshire, Bear Lake, C. oligosperma.
C "         "        "   "      Northwest coast, C. rostrata.
New Hampshire, White Mts. of, Canada, Greenland, Rocky Mountains,
C. atrata.
it      (C"      "       Greenland, Hudson's  Bay,  Rocky
Mountains, C. capitata.
("           "         "        "    Bear Lake, Rocky Mountains, C. capillaris.
Wisconsin to Canada, C. tenella.
Cumberland House, Hudson's Bay, C. chordorrhiza.
R" Rocky Mountains. C. Deweyana.
The geographical range, as far as I know it, of the 72 species found in
the United States is as follows:
Florida, C. tenax, Baltzellii, oxylepis.
"   to New Orleans, C. gigantea, Floridana.
Georgia, C. dasycarpa, turgescens.
("     Carolinas, C. glaucescens, venusta, Elliottii.
":     New England, C. folliculata, polymorpha.
Texas, C. alveata, hyalina, imbricata, microdonta, planostachys.
"   to Alabama, C. Cherokeensis.
i"     Kentucky, C. stenolepis.
4"     New Jersey, C. flaccosperma.
"      Rhode Island, C. fenea.




INSECTS OF ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA                  471
New Orleans, C. Boottiana.
to Wisconsin. C. Meadii.
Carolina, South, C. Buckleyi, Caroliniana, Mitchelliana, Fraseri, juncea,
styloplexa, lucorum.
to Virginia, C. testivalis.
("         Massachusetts, C. comosa.
Carolina, North, to Ohio, C. Sullivantii.
Virginia to Kentucky, C. Shortii.
Kentucky to New York, C. oligocarpa, Hitchcockiana
c"    Connecticut, C. Davisii, virescens.
Ohio, C. tetanica, crus-corvi.' to Pennsylvania, C. strictior.
"     New Jersey, C. Tuckermani.
"     New York, C. Careyana.
Illinois, C. vulpina.
Pennsylvania, C. refracta.
c"    to Cherokee, C. sterilis.
94        Connecticut, C. torta.
New Jersey, C. Barrattii, Kneiskernii.
"     to Rhode Island, C. Halseyana, platyphylla.
":      Connecticut, C. vestita.
New York, C. alopecoidea, formosa, lupuliformis, mirata, sychnocephala,
Woodii.
Michigan, C. crawei, Sartwellii, decomposita, Steudelii.
" Rhode Island, C. retrocurva.'    Massachusetts, C. exilis.
"    Connecticut, C. Grayii.
Massachusetts, C. setacea, precox, panicea, lcxvigata.
4"    to Michigan, C. mirabilis.
Michigan, C. Cooleyi.
Wisconsin to New England, C. sparganioides.
For the following notice and list of insects collected on the Expedition, I am indebted to Adam White, Esq., F.L.S., &c., of the
British Museum.  With respect to the extent of the collection, it
is to be observed that no time was devoted to the capture of insects.
Such as presented themselves at convenient times were taken, but
none were sought for; and the numbers of the list are not, therefore, to be considered as a criterion of the richness of the country
in that division of the animal kingdom.
NOTE ON HYMENOPTERA IN ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA.
"Otho Fabricius first, perhaps, recorded any of the Hymenoptera of
Arctic North America. Doubtless Baffin, Frobisher, and other manly
navigators recognized humble bees and other bees during their summer
voyages, and may have, in print or in manuscript, with sailor-like earnest



472           INSECTS OF ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA.
ness, made mention of every such occurrence in their journals.  It is delightful to read the notices of flowers and verdure in their accounts of the
hurried spring, summer, and autumn two months of a Greenland year, of
five-sixths winter.  Where flowers and verdure abound, even for six weeks
or a shorter time, there insects must be found;-there insects of the order
Hymenoptera, the order to which this notice is limited, must occur. Flowers and Hymenoptera must be together.
" O. Fabricius records two species of Hymenoptera as being brought by
him from Greenland. His book, so admirable a model of a local fauna as
to be even now one of the standards of excellence, was published in 1780.
The next considerable accession to our acquaintance with the Hymenoptera
of British America was made by Redman, who collected in Nova Scotia
many fine species now in the British Museum. Some of these, such as
Pelecinus, Sirices, Ichneumonidce, &c., were very prominent species, and
are now being worked out in the vast collections of the National Museum.
" Sir John.Richardson and his brave comrades collected many species,
which were lost during their disastrous journey.  They still, however,
brought many insects to England, and in the' Fauna Boreali-A.mericana'
these insects are described by the venerable Kirby. The species of Hymenoptera are very few; there are only thirty-two altogether; the circumstances
attending the journey not admitting of their collection and preservation.
" An eminent man, reasoning on such data as he had, has recorded his
belief that it will be found that Hymenoptera do not abound in British
North America; now it may be remarked in making generalizations on
the distribution of animals, especially those of the lower orders,'that,
before generalizing on a collection from any place not often visited or not
often explored, attention be paid to the taste or tastes, or, in other words,
to the bias or direction of the eye, hand, and mind of the person or persons
who collect, supposing such reasoning is recorded as on authentic data.'
" Mr. George Barnston, to whose researches Sir John Richardson directed
public attention in the'Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal' for April,
1841, has published a very admirable summary of the Progress of the
Seasons as affecting Animals and Vegetables at Martin's Falls, Albany
River, James's Bay, about lat. 51~ 30' N., and in long. 86o 20' W.  In
this fresh and refreshing journal, there are more than indications that
Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Neuroptera abound.  In a year or two afterward Mr. Barnston came to London and presented his collection to the
British Museum.
"As one instance of his excellence as a collector, I may mention that
Mr. Walker, who named and described the species of Diptera in the Cabinet
of the British Museum, has alluded to or has described nearly 250 species
of his dipterous insects from the single station mentioned above; there
being only 14 species of these insects recorded in the'Fauna Boreali-.dmericana' of the Rev. Wm. Kirby.  Mr. Barnston's researches among
the Neuroptera also were considerable and very valuable.  One insect
brought by him, the Pteronarcys regalis (although previously found in
Canada), afforded Mr. Newport a fit subject for his genius as an accurate
anatomist and recorder of facts and reasonings on the insect economy.
This gentleman discovered persistent branchice in the imago or perfect
state of the Pteronarcys, and has recorded his discovery and quoted some
observations of Mr. Barnston's in a paper read at the Linnaean Society.




COLEOPTERA.                           473
As Mr. Gray's Catalogues of the collections in the British Museum (mines
of information to the reasoner and writer on geographical distribution), are
published, it will be seen how valuable are Mr. Barnston's and Sir John
Richardson's collections to our acquaintance with the articulated animals
of British North America, especially in its more northerly parts.
"I have mentioned that Kirby describes or alludes to only thirty-two
species of Hymenoptera in his'Insects of North America;' while Mr.
Barnston in one spot found 192 distinct species, exclusive of Chalcidilke.
I subjoin a comparative list of the families of Hymenoptera, the comparison
being made with the British species existing in the Museum collection at
the time of this record. Mr. B. and myself worked out the Tenthredinide;
my friend and coadjutor Mr. Frederick Smith, an able hymenopterist, determined the other species; so the list may be deemed as correct as the
circumstances will admit.
" It must be borne in mind that our British collection of Hymenoptera
has been accumulating for at least thirty years, was a favorite part of Dr.
Leach's collection, and has been made over a wide and variegated country;
while Mr. Barnston's was formed in three months, on one spot and under
almost unheard-of disadvantages, counterbalanced, however, by an enthusiasm not easily deterred by difficulties.
British Collection       Collected at
in British Museum.      Martin's Falls.
Cimbicidae..................  10..................  4
Tenthredinidne............... 157.................. 76
Siricidae, &c.................  7..................  2
Ichneumonidae...............  200..................47
Chalcididae.................??
Chrysidide..................  22..................  1
Formicidne.................. 11.................. 7
Mutillidae...............  5.................. 0
Sapygide...................  2.................  0
Pompilidae, &c............... 38..................  2
Crabronidee.................  57.................. 16
Vespidue....................  17..................  4
Apida...................... 170.................33
"'A striking proof that the time has not yet come to reason correctly
on the distribution of Hymendpterous insects-at least in British North
America."
LIST OF INSECTS
TAKEN  BY  SIR  JOHN  RICHARDSON  AND JOHN  RAE, ESQ., IN
ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA, DRAWN UP BY ADAM WHITE, ESQ.,
F.L.S., ETC.
COLEOPTERA.
Cicindela longilabris, Say. (C. albilabris, Kirby).  Shores of Arctic Sea,
lat. 700 N.; and at Fort Simpson, lat. 620 N.
Cicindela hirticollis, Say. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers, lat.
59~-62~ N.




474           INSECTS OF ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA.
Dromius nigrinus, Eschsch.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 66~ —67~ N.
Carabus -? n. s. (C. gladiator, Barnston MS.). Borders of Mackenzie
and Slave Rivers, lat. 500-650~ N.
Carabus Chamissonis, Eschsch. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers:
and Cape Krusenstern, lat. 58 —68~ N.
Carabus -? n. s. (C. Hudsonicus?)  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers, lat. 580-65~ N.
Calosoma calidum,`uct.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers, lat.
580-650 N.
Loricera pilicornis, Auct.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 660-67~ N.
Elaphrus intermedius, Kirby.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 66 —67~ N.
Notiophilus sibiricus, Motchoulsky.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 66 —67~ N.
Dicelus-? n. s. (D. sculptilis?)  Borders of the Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers, lat. 58~ —65~ N.
Agonum melanarium, Dej. Great Bear Lake, and district to the south of
Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 —680 N.
Argutor brevicornis, Kirby. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Omaseus orinomum, Leach.  District south of Lake Winipeg, lat. 50~540 N.
Platysma vitrea, Eschsch. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Pecilus lucublandus, Say. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Harpalus -? n. s. (near I{. obtusus).  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers.
Stenolophus -? n. s. Great Bear Lake, lat. 660 —67~ N.
Amara-? sp. (near A. trivialis).  South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Amara-? sp. Great Bear Lake.
Bembidium conicolle, Motchoulsky (B. impressum, Kirby).  Great Bear
Lake, and north of Lake Winipeg, lat. 49 —67~ N.
Acupalpus -? n. s.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 660-67~ N.
Peryphus -? sp. Great Bear Lake.
Platytrachelus -? n. s. Great Bear Lake.
Notaphus nigripes, Kirby.  Great Bear Lake.
Notaphus variegatus, Kirby. South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Dytiscus Harrisii, Kirby.  South of Lake Winipeg.
Agabus -? n. s. (near A. arcticus).  Cape Krusenstern, lat. 680 N.
Colymbetes -? sp.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Hydrophilus picipes, F.uct.  South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Heterocerus -? n. s. (near H. fossor). Great Bear Lake.
Staphylinus villosus, Grav. South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Quedius, n. s. (near Q. molochinus). Great Bear Lake, lat. 660 —670 N.
Omalium, n. s. (near 0. rivulare). Shore of Arctic Sea, near mouth of
Mackenzie River, lat. 70~ N.
Anthophagus, sp. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Silpha Lapponica,`Auct.  Fort Simpson; borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers.
Silpha opaca,.Auct.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Silpha, n. s. (near S. Baikalica), Motchoulsky.  Borders of Mackenzie and
Slave Rivers.
Ptinus fiur,`duct. South of Lake Winipeg. Throughout Rupert's Land.
Byrrhus -? n. s. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers, lat. 58 —65~
N.




COLEOPTERA.                         475
Byrrhus -? n. s. South of Lake Winipeg.
Rhisotrogus fervens, Gyll. South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Platycerus piceus, Web.  Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River, lat. 620 N.
Cyphon fuscipes, Kirby. Great Bear Lake.
E4ater aeripennis, Kirby.  Shore of Arctic Sea, near Mackenzie River, lat.
700 N.
Elater seneus?  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Elater, n. s. (near E. melancholicus).  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers.
Elater, n. s. (near E. sanguineus). Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers.
Ludius, n. s. (near L. sibiricus).  Great Bear Lake, lat. 650-67~ N.
Ampedus, n. s. Great Bear Lake.
Buprestis tenebrica, Kirby.  Borders of Maclknzie and Slave Rivers.
Chrysobothris, n. s. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River, lat. 62~ N.
Trachypteris Drummondi, Kirby, var.  Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River,
lat. 62~ N.
Trachypteris decolorata (Bupr. appendiculata, Kirby).  Fort Simpson, on
Mackenzie River, lat. 62~ N.
Ellychnia corrusca,.Iuct. South of Lake Winipeg.
Ragonycha cembricola, Eschsch.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 60 —67~ N.
Thanasimus abdominalis, Kirby.  Great Bear Lake.
Hydnocera, n. s. Great Bear Lake.
Blapstinus seneus, Deg. South of Lake Winipeg.
Upis ceramboides, D.uct. Fort Simpson, and Borders of Mackenzie and
Slave Rivers.
A.nthicus -? n. s. Great Bear Lake.
Formicoma -? n. s. Great Bear Lake.
Stenotrachelus Roulieri, Motch. var.  Shores of Arctic Sea, near Macken
zie River, lat. 700 N'
Serropalpus-? sp.  Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River.
Hylobius -? sp.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Alophus -? sp. South of Lake Winipeg.
Alophus-? sp.  Cape Krusenstern, lat. 68~ N.
Erirhinus, sp. (near E. tremulia).  South of Lake Winipeg.
Tomicus -? sp. South of Lake Winipeg.
Asemum striatum,.Auct. Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River.
Callidium bifoveolatum. Cape Krusenstern and Arctic Coast, between
67"~ and 68~.
Callidium Proteus, Kirby; and C. simile, Kirby, var. Arctic Coast, between 67~~ and 68~; Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River, lat. 620 N.
Clytus undulatus, Say.  Shore of Arctic Sea; Mouth of Mackenzie River.
Clytus-? sp.  Shore of Arctic Sea; M'outh of Mackenzie River, lat.
70O N.
Acanthocinus pusillus, Kirby. Great Bear Lake, lat. 660 —67~ N.
Monochamus resutor, Kirby.  Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River.
Monochamus confusor, Kirby.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Acmaeops Proteus (Kirby), Leconte; Leptura strigilata, var.?  Fort
Simpson, on the Mackenzie River.
Acmaeops strigilata (Fabr.), Lec.  Shore of Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenzie).




476           INSECTS OF ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA.
Pachyta liturata, Kirby. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie.
Pachyta, n. s. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie.
Rhagium lineatum,.Aeuct. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie.
Syneta carinata, Eschsch. About Great Bear Lake.
Galleruca marginella, Kirby.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers,
and about Great Bear Lake.
Chrysomela multipunctata, Say. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Phuedon Adonidis, Pall. Shore of Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenizie); Fort
Simpson.
Adoxus vitis, Fabr. District about Great Bear Lake, and Borders of
Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Coccinella 13-punctata,.duct.  Great Bear Lake, lat. 650-67~ N.
Coccinella 5i-notata, Kirby. Shore of the Arctic Sea; Mouth of Mackenzie, lat. 70~ N.
Coccinella ocellata, A.uct. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
ORTHOPTERA.
Locusta tuberculata, Pal de Beauv.?  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers; Fort Simpson.
Locusta, four species. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Acrydium granulatum, Kirby.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers;
Fort Simpson.
NEUROPTERA.
ZEschna borealis, Zetterst.? Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Libellula-? sp. Fort Simpson on Mackenzie.
Libellula scotica, Donov.? Between Lake Winipeg and Lake Superior.
Agrion cyathigerum, Charp. var. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Ephemera viridescens -? n. s., Barnston.  Between Lake Winipeg and
Lake Superior, lat. 470 —52~.
Ephemera-? n. s. South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 N.
Pteronarcys regalis, Newman. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Pteronarcys Proteus, Newman?  Shores of Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenzie River), lat. 70~.
Perla —? (sp. near P. abnormalis, Newman). Borders of Mackenzie and
Slave Rivers.
Perla —? (sp. near P. sonans, Barnston). Borders of Mackenzie and
Slave Rivers.
Semblis -? n. s. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Phryganea striata, n. s., Barnston.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave
Rivers.
Phryganea variegata, n. s., Barnston, and two or three other species.
Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
HYMENOPTERA.
Trichiosoma lucorum,`duct. Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River.
Tenthredo (Nematus).  Great Bear Lake.
Tenthredo (Nematus)-? n. s. South of Lake Winipeg.




HYMENOPTERA.-HEMIPTERA.-LEPIDOPTERA.              477
Tenthredo integra? About Great Bear Lake.
Tenthredo (Dolerus). South of Lake Winipeg.
Sirex flavicornis, Fabr. Cape Krusenstern; Fort Simpson on Mackenzie,
and country south of Lake Winipeg.
Ephialtes -? sp. Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River.
Aspizonus -? sp. Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenzie River).
Ichneumon -? sp. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River.
Ichneumon-? sp. Cape Krusenstern, and Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River.
Cryptus -? sp. South of Lake Winipeg.
Chrysis -? sp. Cape Krusenstern.
Mutilla -? sp. About Great Bear Lake.
Formica herculeana. About Great Bear Lake; borders of Mackenzie and
Slave Rivers; Fort Simpson.
Formica sanguinea. South of Lake Winipeg, and Fort Simpson.
Pompilus -? n. s. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Odynerus -?n. s. Shore of Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenzie River.)
Vespa maculata, var. Borders of Mackenzie.
Vespa vulgaris,.uct.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers and Fort
Simpson.
Vespa marginata, Kirby. Cape Krusenstern.
Halictus -? (n. s. near H. quadricinctus).  South of Lake Winipeg.
Halictus, three black species. South of Lake Winipeg.
Megachile Willughbiella?  Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River.
Bombus arcticus? Arctic Coast between 67~0 and 68~; borders of the
Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
B3ombus (sp. near B. lapponicus). Arctic Coast between 671e and 68~.
Bombus —? sp. Shore of Arctic Sea (Mouth of Mackenzie River).
Bombus pratorum.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Bombus, n. s. (near B. lucorum). Arctic Coast between 67I~ and 68~.
Bombus, n. s. Arctic Coast.
HEMIPTERA.
Acanthosoma boreale, Hope. Great Bear Lake.
Acanthosoma nebulosum, Kirby. South of Lake Winipeg.
Miris —? sp. Great Bear Lake.
Rhyparochromus, two species. South of Lake Winipeg.
Salda -? sp. (near S. riparia).  Cape Krusenstern, lat. 680 N.
HOMOPTE RA.
Aphrophora, sp. Great Bear Lake, and to the south of Lake Winipeg.
LEPIDOPTERA.
Papilio Turnus, L. Fort Simpson, on Mackenzie River.
Pontia casta, Kirby. Arctic Coast between 67~0 and 68~.
Pontia, sp. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie.
Anthocharis —? n. s. (near A. Simplonia). Arctic Coast between 671~
and 680




478           INSECTS OF ARCTIC NORTH AMERICA.
Colias Palmno, L. Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River.
Colias Boothii, Curtis. Arctic Coast between 6710 and 68~.
Colias Chione, var.? C. Arctic Coast; Cape Krusenstern.
Argynnis Freija (Thunb.), var.  Melitmea Tarouinius, Curtis.  Arctic
Coast between 67'~ and 68~.
Argynnis-? n. s. Arctic Coast.
Vanessa Milberti, Godart. (V. furcillata, Say). Fort Simpson, on the
Mackenzie River.
Vanessa Progne, Godart. (V. C. argenteum, Kirby).  Fort Simpson, on
the Mackenzie River; Arctic Coast between 67-0  and 680.
Nymphalis Artemis,.duct.  Fort Simpson on Mackenzie River, and
Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Chionobas Bore, Boisd.? Arctic- Coast between 67 ~ and 680.
Hipparchia, n. s.? (near H. discoidalis), Kirby. Arctic Coast between
67~0 and 680~.
Hipparchia Rossii, Curtis. Arctic Coast between 67'0 and 680.
Polyommatus Frank]inii, Curtis.  Arctic Coast.
Arctia Americana, Harris, var. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Hadena Richardsonii, Curtis. Arctic Coast between 67"~ and 680.
Anarta-? sp. Arctic Coast between 67~0 and 68~.
Geometridae: two species.  Arctic Coast between 67-0 and 680.
Tineidee, three species. Arctic Coast between 670 and 68~.
DIPTERA.
Culex-? sp. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Chironomus, sp. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Tipula, sp. Arctic Coast between 6710 and 68~.
Tabanus, three species. Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Tabanus, two species. Arctic Sea, Mouth of Mackenzie River.
Eristalis flavipes, Walker.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers, and
district to the South of Lake Winipeg, lat. 490 —650 N.
Syrphus, sp.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Musca, five species.  Borders of Mackenzie and Slave Rivers.
Musca —? sp.  South of Lake Winipeg.
(Estrus Tarandi?  Arctic Coast between 671o and 680.




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                     479
No. V.
VOCABULARIES.
A. Eskimo Vocabulary.
THE Kuskutchewak column of the following vocabulary is extracted from Baier's work.* To draw up an effective comparative
table would require a thorough acquaintance with both dialects,
since the names of articles of dress, and implements of art, change
with the materials of which they are formed; natural objects are
differently designated, according to the circumstances under which
they are viewed; and the terms for actions are altered, as the
agents, time, place, and other circumstances, vary.  Unless, therefore, these facts be known and attended to by one who forms a vocabulary, there may appear to be no resemblance between the dialects of two tribes who mutually understand each other, and converse together with ease.  The introduction of the syllabic characters used by the late Rev. Mr. Evans in teaching the Cree Indians
would, I believe, remove the difficulties which orthography throws
in the way of a European, who endeavors to reduce the native languages of North America to writing.
The column containing Eskimo spoken on the Labrador coast,
is extracted fiom a pretty large vocabulary and grammar, which
the Rev. Peter Latrobe had the kindness to procure for my use
on the expedition. I have reason to believe that some errors may
have crept into this vocabulary, from the similarity of the German
written h to s not being always adverted to by the transcriber, and
also from the uncertainty of the proper English equivalent of the
German v. These are not, however, I trust numerous among the
examples I have used. Where the Labrador dictionary was
defective, the excellent English and Eskimo vocabulary, drawn up
* BAER, Statische und ethnographische Nachrichten iiber die Russzschcm
Besitzungen an der Nordwestkuste von Amerika.  St. Petersburg, 1839. p.
259. The Kuskutchewak words being written in this work in Russian
characters, with which I am unacquainted, J. F. von Bach, Esq., of the
British Museum, had the kindness to furnish me with a translation. This
gentleman drew up carefully columns representing the conventional English equivalents of the Russian characters for each word, and added also
the French pronunciation, which want of space compels me reluctantly to
omit. I have made some small alterations in words written by him according to the English pronunciation, to suit the plan of orthography
which I have followed in the other vocabularies.




480           VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
by Captain Washington, and published by the Admiralty for the
use of the Searching Expeditions, has been referred to. The dialects spoken by the intermediate Eskimo tribes inhabiting the north
shores of the continent are seldom quoted, my object having been
to identify the language spoken by members of the nation occupying geographical positions the most remote from each other.
In writing out'the table it was obvious to me that the Labrador
dialect is in general the softer of the two. Instead of the hard tch
so frequent in the Kuskutchewak tongue, the east coast tribes generally use s, and in Coronation Gulf h is substituted. The strongly aspirated sound which is heard in the Scottish word, loch" is of
frequent occurrence in the Kuskutchewak column of the vocabulary,
where it is denoted by kh. An Englishman in attempting this
sound lets the k be heard, which he ought not to do. The difficulty of constructing a correct Eskimo vocabulary is increased by the
necessity of previously mastering the exceedingly numerous inflections of the nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs, which supply
the place occupied by auxiliary verbs, possessive pronouns, prepositions, and adverbs in the European languages. These inflections are
briefly noticed in the introduction to Capt. Washington's vocabulary, and I shall merely add here, that in the Labrador grammar,
obtained for us by Mr. Latrobe, there are examples of thirty different terminations of the dual and plural numbers of nouns, which
have evidently had their origin in euphuism.
Each noun has six cases in each number, distinguished by their
terminations, the vocative being, however, absent in some. The
cases are formed by affixes having the power of prepositions, as
mut, mik, mit, me, and kut in the singular, and nut, nik, nit, ne, and
gut in the plural. The nominative is also varied by affixes which
perform the functions of possessive pronouns, as ga, go, ne, ait,
anga, ara, &c.; as kivgah, a servant, kivganga, my servant, kivgane, his servant; nuna, land, nunaga, my land; nelegah, a master
nelegara, my master; tunnusuga, my nation, &c. Pagit, panga,
or parma are affixes employed when the noun is connected with a
verb, signifying action or suffering. The noun, when changed by
a qualifying affix, is declined in its new form, in the usual way.
Besides the ordinary active nominative, each noun has also an intransitive one, which ends in b, and is differently declined. Examples are subjoined. The power of the affixes varies according
as the noun is used with a transitive or intransitive verb. Nouns
may also be varied by affixes expressive of augmentation, diminution,
affection, ridicule, humility, or multitude. Some of these terminations are arsuk, arsuit, diminutives; and soak, sudset, sudsek, augmentatives; yak placed before any of them increases their power;
and the adverbial aluk denoting ", very" may be put after them,




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                    431
and is applicable to either good or bad.  Vavak, signifying an extraordinary number, is placed before s6areluit.*
Adjectives have also their declensions; and likewise comparisons
made by the addition of the syllable nek, or by verbs. The adjective generally follows the noun, and must agree with it in case and
number. If the substantive have an affix, so must the adjective.
Nouns may be changed into verbs by the affix evok or ovok, and the
adjective then must take the same termination.
Pronouns are declined like the nouns by affixes, which require
much nicety in their due employment. Affixes supply the place
of possessive pronouns.
The third person singular of the indicative is considered to he
the root of the verb, and may be used as a noun with a change in
the termination,, a hunter" being equivalent to, he hunts."
The inflections of the verb are extremely numerous, and are expressive of affirmation, negation, interrogation, and of the various
circumstances in which the agent or object can be placed with respect to time, place, mood, or possession. The infinitive, formed
by the termination nek, is used when things are spoken of indefinitely, or when two verbs come together, and is conjugated in the
same way as the other moods and tenses, there being a past and
future infinitive. Generally the verb in the Labrador Eskimo agrees
in its inflections with the Greenland dialect; but there are some
special differences, and particularly with regard to the future, which
has a threefold construction in the Greenland tongue, but is more
simple in the Labrador speech. With the ample means which the
regular verb possesses of expressing every mood and tense, the Eskimo has little occasion for auxiliaries, and in fact the structure of
the language is very regular and exact.
There are, however, one or two auxiliaries which have an affinity to adverbs-such as pi-wok, which is used in a variety of ways,
sometimes in immediate relation to a noun, sometimes only as an
adjunct to a verb: it occasionally seems to be equivalent to the English, get" or ",do."  When placed after participles, which is
its most common position, it signifies the action of a thing. Ipsok,
another auxiliary, seems to be equivalent to the Latin est; it often
increases the meaning of the verb with which it is connected.,, To be," or,ito have," is denoted by the syllables gi or vi in composition, as nunagiva, ", it is his land."
The adverbs are numerous, and have relation to time, place,
equality, size, number, order, union, separation, &c.; and also to
questioning, denying, affirming, negativing, including, excluding, desiring, admonishing, and distinguishing.
* 4kkatz is employed by the Eskimo of Churchill in the same way as
s6areluit.
X




482            VOCABULARIES OF NORTHI AMERICA.
An example of the inflections of a single verb would occupy
many pages, and can not be given here; but the preceding short
notices will suffice to show that vocabularies of the same language,
formed by different people, may have little similarity, and that
much care is requisite before we can venture to affirm the distinct
origin of two tribes upon such evidence. In a language which is
transmitted orally alone, and which is not preserved in its integrity
by an appeal to the eye, alterations for the sake of euphony are
frequent, and these, which are not uncommon with the Eskimo,
vary with the delicacy of the ear of the speaker. Thus when the
termination wangha does not blend pleasingly with the preceding
syllable, langha is substituted, and the general pronunciation is
more nasal with some small communities, more guttural with
others.
EXAMPLES OF NOUNS DECLINED TRANSITIVELY AND INTRANSITIVELY.
TulPEK, a tent.
Sing.                   Dual.                Plural.
Nrom. tr. Tupek                                turket
intr. turkib i *** tuppak...............   turket.
Gen.    turkib...... tuppak...............  turket.
Dat.    tuppek..... tuppak............... turket.
tuppermut.. tuppangnut.......... tuppernut.
4cc.    tuppak.....  tuppak............... turkinut.
tuppernik... tuppangnit..        turkit.
Voc.     caret..abl.    tuppermit... tuppangnit............   tuppermit.
tuppermut.. tuppangnut...........  turkinnut.
NELEGARA, my master.
Nom. tr. Nelagara... nelegakka.............  nelekakka.
intr. nelekama... nelekang-ma......... nelekama.
Gen.    nelekama... nelekangma..........  nelekama.
Dat.     nelegara.... nelegakka............. nelekakka.
nelekamnut. nelegamnut........... nelekamnut.
Acc.     nelegara.... nelegakka...........  nelekakka.
nelekamnik.. nelegamnik........... nelekamnik.
Voc.     nelegara.... nelegakka....... nelekakka.
abl.     nelekamnit.. nelegamnit....'... nelekamnit.
nelekamnut. nelegamnut......,. nolekamnut.
Nelegane, his master; neleganga, another person's master; and similar
variations of the noun, have, in lile manner, their vorioiis inflections,




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                          483
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF TTIE DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE BEERING'S
SEA AND LABRADOR ESKIMOS.
Obs. S. denotes "singular;" D. "dual;" P. " plural."  W. points out
words taken from Captain Washington's vocabulary. A is sounded as in
"father;:" a as in' law;" e as in " there;" i as ee in'' see;"' ~ as in " ink,'''"pin;" u as oo in " good;" kh as ch in the Scottish word "loch," or Irish
" lough;" h after g signifies that the latter has the soft pronunciation as
in "give;" the hyphen following g, gives nearly the same sound.
English.              Kuskutchewak.          Labrador Eskimo.
The only Creator.....................   Ping-ortitsi-o-wok.
God (the Creator)....  nuna-lishta......  Nuna, country.
Heaven; the firmament  ki-il-yak..........  killek.
Earth, land, a country  nuni.............  nuna.
Air............   u-i-uchu-yughi-ak..  u-i-a-wak, west wind.
Air, wind, also  the...............   silla (sillata, in the open
world and reason                                air).
Wind..............................  anorre; sullu-ar-nek, also
breath.
The sun............................   sekkinek (P.-erngit); nai.
i-a.
Sun..............  akkta; pukli-anok..  akki-suk-pok,  the  sun
breaks forth.
Moon.............  tang-ek........... takkek.
Month............  tang-ak; igal-i-uk.
Stars.............  mittit............   ubluri-ak; ubloriak (D.
ubloritsek).
Comet.............. ag-i-akhn-akhtak.
A star surrounded by a............   agsuk (P. aguthet).
halo
Water...........        mu-ek............  immek, fresh water.
River.............  kvak.............  ku; kok; kogguk; koggut
A large river.................   kokso-ak.
Sea................  immakh-pik.......  immak.
The wide ocean............... immarbikso-ak.
lake.............  nanvik...........  akker-oktok, a lake where
deer are speared.
A pond, fresh.......................   tessek (P. tessit).
Brook.............  kitchikli-ak........  k6gak.
A tear..............................   kogve (P. kogvit).
Straits...........   u-ikakh...........  ikkarasak, W.
Cliff............................   ikkargok (P. ikkarut).
Deeply cleft.......k.......  korok (P. korkut).
A long inlet.........................  kang-erdluk.




484                VOCABULARIES OF NORTHI AMERICA.
English.                 Kuskutchewak.              Labrador Eskimo.
Gulf or creek........   nang-vagnak.....   (kang-ui-agnak? u-agnak
the west).
Current.............  tchag-vak.........  sag-vak; sarvak.
Current in the sea....................  ingerarnek.
Current in fresh water.................   aksarnak.
Bottom  of waters....  notu-ik........   tung-a-wik, W.
He treads his boot down................   tung-mark-pok. 
at the heel
Shore.............  chna; agavnu-ik....  slg-sak.
Mouth or source of riv-  pa-i..............   (pe, a court-yard; pa, the
ers, a well                                            round opening in a kaiyak).
A  bank in the sea, a   ithalh-nuk..                 siorak-so-ak-nuk,   much
sunken rock                                            sand; ipek-so-ak-nuk,
much mud.
Stone.............   tkalhk-uk.........   ka-ertok, a rock.
Deep..............   tuli.
A sea bird..........................  tullik.
It is  deep  (valley  or.................   ittiwok.
river)
Day.........              ignu-ik.........         uvlok, or fiblok, a day.
In the morning................  uvlakut; ublo-tilugo.
The day closes.......................   uvlokliwok.
The morning, or the day................   kau; kauk; kaut.
The front or forehead..................   ke-uk; kauk (P. karrut).
It is daylight..................   kau-ma-wok.
To-day............................  uvlut; ubluk; ovetsi-ak.
Night................  u-ni-ak (P. unu-et), unuame.
Marsh.............    mag-ik.........   (mannhk, moss, W.)
Dry summer........   ki-nu-ig-nu-ik.
Summer.......................   au-i-ak.
Mountain..........  ing-ik........  kakkak (P. kakket).
Lowland..........  tchu-iv-nu-ik......   (su-yuk, wet, dirty.)
Shell..............    ammokt........   amomio-yok, an oyster (P.
amomnio-yut).
White shell fish................   ay6arnet.
Mussel............................    uvi-lok.
Snail shell..........................  si-ut-terok, W.
The ear............................  si-ut.
A  grain of sand................    si-orak (D. -kek, P. -ket).
Sand..............   kag-u-i-ak.
Clay (loam, chalk)... magai-ak........  machak.
Fire..............   knu-ak...........   ikoma, ignis.
One who fires a gun...................   kukni-wok.
Wind............    a-nuka...........   annore, W.; an-o-i, W.
Thunder...........   kalik.
It thunders..........................  kalukpok; kalludlarpok.
Lightning........................... kaumarlok (vide bright).
Rain..............          tchli-ali-ak; kitok.    silla-luk (silla, air).




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                           4S5
English.               Kuskutchewak.           Labrador Eskimo.
Hailstone..........   kakhulat..........   (kakkulak, it is round,W.)
Any thing sharp..................  kakilaut; P. lautit.
It is round........g.................  angma-la-rik-pok.
Snow.............   kanikh-chak.......   kannek, falling snow (P.
kang-it.
Ice...............   tchiko............  siko.
Storm.............  anu-gavak........  ani-gavak, an extraordinary quantity of snow
(anio, a snow-storm).
Strong wind........  (anug-wei,Kotz.S.W.)  akkunak; akkunak-so-ak.
Wind or air.........................  annorre;  annorer-ho-ak,
great wind.
The wind is still.....................  annorre-karung-napok.
Calm.............   ku-nu-ik..........  kunigok (D. kunikuk).
Clear.............  tankikh-tchuk......  alla-kak-pok.
A bright sky.........................  alla-ki-wok.
Dark..............  telkh.............  tek, darkness.
Fog................................  tek-tuk; tar-tuk (P. tartu-it).
It is foggy........................  niptai-pok, W.
The weather clears................   nipter-pok.
Vapor or fog........................  iseriak (isse, severe cold).
A cold.............................  ikke.
Clouded...........  tali-guk..........  tali-pok, it is hidden (P.
-pot).
A cloud............................  nu-vu-i-a.
Bright, or light......  ugakhtok........  kauma-wok, it is bright.
Coals............   khumavit.........  P. aumakut (S. aumako).
Ashes.............   agak.............   arsek, W.
Blue.............  vitok; minukh-kat..  (minnu, a sea weed, W.)
Bluish.............................  tungo-i-uktak.
Berry juice..........................  tungo.
Red.............   kivagok...........  aupa-luk-tok, it is red.
Blood......................... auk; aggut.
White.............  ugolh-kak........  kaggark-pok, it is white.
Night............  unuk...........  u-nu-ak (D. iu-nu-ek; P.
unu-et).
Smoke.............  punk...........  pu-i-ok,  damp   smoke,
steam.
It smokes..........................  pu-i-ok-pok.
Smell............. nagnak...........  naimawa, or nai-wok, he
smells something.
Man (homo)........  tatchu.
A shadow.......................  tatchak.
A looking-glass.......................  tatchartut.
Man..............   nukalhni-ak.......  (nukak, a brother.)
Man (relation) stock...................   ang-ut (D. ang-u-tek; P.
ang-ulit).
His father.......................     ang-uta.
A helm......................   ang-ut.




486               VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.                Kuskutchewak.             Labrador Eskimo.
An adult.......................   ang-uti-marik.
People (Eskimnos)....   tagut; yugut......  inu-it (S. i-nuk).
A naine.................... taggisek.
My nation........................... tunnisuga.
Life..............................   inusek.
A portrait of a man.,...............   inu-i-ak.
White man, European.................   kablunak (P. kablunet).
Eyebrows..........................  kablo (D. kabluk; P. -t).
Inland Indian, stranger  alli-a-guk........   allani-a-wok (S. allak).
A man's footmark....................  allok (D. alluk).
Stranger Eskimos................... si-ad-ler-mi-u; ihe-ad-lermi-u.
An unprotected man..................  sek-sariak.
Husband...........  vi-na.............  wi, a married man  (P.
wi-nit).
One is with another................ una.
She has a husband....................   wi-ghi-wok.
Wife.............. nuli-ga...........  nuli-a  (nuli-ang-a, my
wife).
She or he has a broth-.................  nu-a-karpok.
er's son or daughter.
An unmarried woman.................    wi-ga-sok.
A bachelor.................   nule-tok.
Widower..........................  nuler-tok.
Old man.........    utchi-nuk; anuli-uvak.
Male of man or beast...............  ussuk.
He is old............................  itta-wok (itok, W.)
Hindmost...........................   ittik.
roman...........  aganak...........   ning-i-yok (ak6a, D. akoak, a mother).
Old woman.........  aganukli-uvak.....   ning-i-vok.
The oldest of a family................   ang-ai-i-uklek.
Brother's or son's wife................. uk-ang-a.
Grandfather........  apnugli-uk.
Grandmother.......   annugli-u.........  anenak-si-ak.
They have a mother..    ~...............  mikli-ak-attig-eicaut.
Mother............   ani..............   anenak; akko-a.
Mother's milk........................  ammak.
She is beautiful...................   enanau-wok.
A relative.........  tunka.
Father............   atti..............  attatak (P. attatet).
The father..........................  attatu.
An adopted father..................  attatak-sak.
Son................igni-ak...........  ergnek (P. ergnerit).
Daughter..........        panaga; panik.....  panik (P. paniknit).
Brother.......... annak............   (anenak, mother, beauty.)
Ilis elder brother.....................  anningna.
Elder brother or sister.................  ango-i-uma.
Younger brother................         nukak; nukka, my bro.
ther.




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                                  487
English.                  Kuskutchewak.               Labrador Eskimo.
Sister.............    agna-vu-ik........   neya; neyango, his sister;
neyara, my sister.
Two uterine brothers..................   angu-tauk-attigekpuk.
A twin.............................    ikking-ut;    karrisarek,
twins.
A boy.............    tangoy-ali-uvak....   nuka-pi-ak (P. nuka.-pitset).
A  young woman...............   ni-wi-ark-si-ak.
A  girl............  nozi-atchak........   ni-wi-azi-ak.
Grandchild.........   tut-khih.
A  child  belonging  to.................   kittorng-ak.
the parents
A  mother's only child..................   attung-ektak.
A  woman's last child..................   mikki-erngo-a.
It is my child.......................   kittom-yarivara.
An orphan..........................  ananak-ang-ilak.
A fatherless child..............   atatai-tok.
An orphan deprived of.................  illi-arksuk (P. illi-arksuboth parents......                                      it).
His sister's child...............   u-i-orva.
A  child.............................   kittorng-ak; sorusek.
A  little, or new  born,.................   nutarak.
child
Uncle.............   anahkli-uvan.
Aunt.............   annomak.
His mother's sister...   (root?  aganak, a wo-  ai-ang-a.
man.)
His father's sister..............   at-sang-a.
Sister-in-law.........................                 sak-i-a, W.
A  prudent woman....................   arnanda.
A  robust man................   atsu-illik.
A countryman................   nuna-kat (P. nuna-kattiget).
A friend, one of two in.................   illek-sak.
company
A  walking  companion............   tupperkat (P. tupperkatiget).
A  traveling companion............  ing-i-a-ket (D. ingi-akattek; P. ingi-akattiget).
A comrade (housemate)............   iglo-mokat (P. iglo-mokat-tiget).
I................    khvana...........   u-wang-a.
Thou..............   lhpu-it...........    ig-vit.
Thee, acc........................    illing-nik.
He...............   ikum.............  taim-na.
We..............................   u-vag-utP. (u-va-guk,D.)
Ye, you............ ilhli-te-pik........   ilipse, P. (illiptik, D.; ilo-wit, Church. Esk.)
They...............................    okkoa.
He, dcmonstr................   taimna; taipsoma




488              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.               Kuskutchewak.           Labrador Eskimo.
This............................... tamanno.
He, or she, intransitive  una..............  una; tamna.
He, or she, transitive..............  oma; tapsoma.
They..............  unut.............  okkia; tapk6a.
Of mine............................  uvango; uwango.
To me.............  kvinum...........  uvamnut.
To thee...........  lhpinumn..........  iling-nut.
To us......................    uvapting-nut.
To you...................  illipting-nut.
To him............  umu-in; ikumin....   omunga; tapsomunga.
To them............................  okkomunga; tapsomunga.
Of himself...........................  ing-me.
To themselves.......................  ingming-nut.
Whose? what? what  kai-a; tchambi-a...   kina? ki-a, who (P. kikind? of whom?                                   kut).
Who? what thing?................   suna? su-ub (P. su-unt)?
What do you say?....................  suva.
Of or by whom................  ki-mit; kikkunit.
With what thing?.........  sumik?
What company?.....................  kikkut?
Which...........   ke...............  kiput.
His...............  umnia............  (vide of his)
Of his..............................  oma; tapsoma.
Mine.............   kho-in-tchati-ka;      u-wanga.
khvona.
Thine.............  ilh-pu-it; lhpu-it-ik. igvit, of thine.
This, masc..........    unalkh-wina.......  una(inung-una,this man).
This thing........................ oma  (oma-pung-a,  his
thing).
That......................... imna.
Self................................  nang-ninek  (P.  nangmerngit).
How? what?......  tcha-itun.........  kannak.
The same......................... ingna.
Thus............................  tava.
Who are these people?.................  kik-ut?
who is the head of
the family?
Head...a..........     kaniuk; uksi-u; ni-  ni-akko (P. ni-akkut).
ba-gun
Crown of the head.................... kausek.
Forehead..........  tehughi-uk........  ke-uk; ka-uk (P. karrut).
Eyes............   vi-tatu-ik.........  i-ye  (ai-i-ga, W.); isse
(P. issit).
Eyebrow...........   ka-i-ag-mi-ut......  kablo, S. (P. kablut.)
Eyelashes.........................  kemerit-set.
Ears..............  na-i-utu-ik;  tchu-u-  si-ut (P. si-utik).
tu-ik
Mouth............   kanik...........   kannerk; kaurngit.
Face...............................  kenak.




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                            489
English.               Kuskutchewak.           Labrador Eskimo.
Nose..........   nikh............    king-ak (P. king-et).
A horn.............................   naksuk (P. naksu-it).
Cheek.............................  ulu-ak.
Muzzle.............................  katang-ak.
Teeth...........  khu-u-tu-ik........  ki-u-tit (S. kig-ut).
Beard............. unik.............  umik (P. urngit), also a
curtain.
Neck.............. u-i-anut..........  u-i-ak (P. u-i-ait), fore
quarter of an animal;
konge-sek.
Hair (human) on the  nu-i-at...........  nu-i-ak (P. nutset).
head
Hair, fur.......... mu-ilh-kut........   nerserpok, also a feather
(merkut, W.)
A needle..............  merkut.
A skin, general name.................   amek (D. amok; P. armgit).
Hands.............  yagatchu-tu-lk.....    aggait, hands and fingers.
Two, numer....................  aggait.
My hands..........        aggakka; aggaktit, your
hands.
Foot..                 ig-uk.............      ittigak (P. ittiket).
Finger............. si-evogat.
Thumb........................  kublo (P. kublut).
Forefinger..........................   tikkek (P. tikkerit), also
a thimble.
A sign to indicate any............  tikkorut.
thing (finger post)
Middle finger........................  kettert-lek, W.
The middle..........................  kerka.
He is in the middle...................  ketterpok.
Third finger................           mikilirak, W.
Smallest...........................  mikke   (mikkinek,  the
least).
It decreases.................  mikki-orpok.
The first............................         mikkledklek.
Little finger.................   erkekok, W.; mikkillerak
(P. mikkillaket).
Hands and feet together.............  igluktuk.
Belly..............  aksi-ak...........  nek, also the body.
Tongue............  ali.anuk..........   okak (P. oket).
He licks with his tongue............   alluktorpok.
My tongue.......................... okara.
A member of the body............  nabgo-ak.
A leg..............................  nabguk-pa (ni-o, leg or
thigh).
The trunk or body....................  mimmernet;  time  (P.
timet).
A headless body....................... kattik.
The back bone............. u....  ku-i-a-pigak.




490              VOCABULARIES OF NOITH AMERICA.
English.              Kuskutchewak.          Labrador Eskimo,
The rump...................  nullok.
Blood............  ka-i-unkak........  auk; aggut.
To speak..........   kalkhtu-ik..........o-karlune.
He is spoken of......................  kalle-mavok.
To cry.............   vikhpa-ga-ga.
The waves roar...............  kadlarpok.
He weeps much......................  kai-u-mni-wok-nudlarpok.
He distorts his face in.................  kakkerlu-arpok.
crying
To laugh.........   nu-inhli-akhta.
He laughs in mockery..................  i-yorkpork.
He is in a laughing or.................  illapsukpok.
weeping mood.
To kill............  tchikaliz-gi-u.
Dead (he is)........  tukumak..........  tokkowok,
A corpse..................   time (body) -tokkung-ayok.
Alive............  u-nung-vak.......   innu-wok.
Life...............................  innusek.
A living man.............       innuk.
Bad..............  tchakli-uk.........   (seg-lu-wok, he lies.)
He is very bad..................   a-yorpok; yudlarpok.
He becomes bad.................  assile-wok.
Not good.......  nama-lung-ilak.
Good..............  knu-ignag-kuk.....  ai-ung-itok..
Very good, or great...............   ang-i-yok.
He is a good man.....................  pillorik-pok; ridlarpok.
Brave............. tuvgak...........  aksut, also -strong.
Very brave or strong................ aksorso-ak.
Cowrard............  alantak..........  erksinadlarpok, afraid.
He is terror-struck....................  sakko-arpok.
He is timid.........................  innimi-wok.
He loses courage.................kotso-alavok.
Thick.............   ukughelghi-a.
Lean, not stout.....  kui-migu-ilhnagak.
He is stout...............  kuini-wok.
Thin, or lean (he is).....................sallukpok; ludlarpok.
High..............  yukhtuli.......,  portovok.
Low..............  yukh-kalhna-gak.
Warm.............  kikh-tchatuk....... ki-ek-pok; onatomik.
Heat...............  kalhtok..........  kivek; onarsivok.
It boils..............................kallapok.
To smell...........    nagne-chuk........   nawok, he smells.
To spit..........  kchigu...........  (sigguk, the beak.)
He spits out........................  oviakpok.
To cough..........  kuzgh-ga..               ko-erlorpok, he coughs.
Pain.............. aknakhtu-a.
Health.......,...  yuguntu-a.
He is healthy................ atau-ili-wok, W.
Angry.......           wik-nm-i-chuk...      ning-akpok; gadlarpok.




ESKIMO VOCABULARY.                          491
English.              Kuskutchewak.          Labrador Eskimo
Quarrel............   agu-i-a-uk........  akgiwok, he retaliates.
Terrible............ alu-innakh-kuk...   adhei! (interjection).
Buy.............. kupuzg-u.........  akpang-erpok, hebbuys,W.;
pussi-wok, he buys it.
Taken.............  tkhwaka.
Take..............  tkhu.............  pi-uk, W.; pivok, or piwok (auxiliary). -
Give..............  ta-iz-ghu.........  ta-ug-si-lugo, let us barter, W.; pillata-wok, he
gives in reward; pittipa,
he gives it to him to hold.
Sell...............   kiputna-waka.....      ni-u-werpok, he trades.
Lively, joyous................  pio-ri-wok; ku-wi-a-sikpok, W.
Merry.............  nuna-nikh-kuk.....  nunan-ghi-a-suk-pok,
brisk.
Tedious............  nuna-ni-tu.
He is weak..........................  nunenepok; sanghe-pok.
Song..............  i-vagun..........  iming-arpok.
A song, hymn, or psalm................. iming-erut-set.
Dance.............   kazi-i-achi-kut..         okkigenek, W.
Truth.............   pachikh-pi-ak......  (padsitik-sak, an excuse.)
Lie...............  ikli-uk...........  seglu-wok, he lies.
Thief..............  tu-igli-nak.......  tiglik-pok, he steals.
Forest............  nu-i-ku-ig-vakhtut..  nappartok,trees,something
erect.
Place having no trees....................  nappartu-itok.
Grass.............  tchangu-it.
Straw or grass on the.................  i-wik; ibgit.
sea shore
Berries............  nangat...........  paung-at.
Moss..............  kumagu-i-tu-it.....  ting-ang-yak,  a  bluish
moss; marnek, W.; nekagasek, W.
Sphagnum palustre..............  orkso (P. orksut).
Fir tree............  nu-ikvag-vakh-tugvak
Firewood............................  ikko-maksak, W. (ikko.
ma, fire.)
Birch.............  ilhgnuk...........  okpit; kai- olLk (P. kaivogit).
Alder.............  tchugvagvat.
Poplar......            avgnut.
Willow............  tchagatu-it........  okau-jak.
Rock..............  u-ipnat...........  u-i-arak, a stone; kaiertok, W.
Vessel, a bark......  shunnak..........  umi-akso-ak.
A small boat of wood.................  umi-arak.
Baidare (skin boat)..  anh-i-ak..........    umi-avik.
Baidarka..........  pukhtan; kai-ak....    kai-ak (for one person)
(P. kai-net).




492              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.              Kuskutchewak.           Labrador Eskimo.
Flat-bottomed boat..  anhi-akh-li-uk.
Dog..............  anna-kukta........  kemmek; king-mek  (P.
king-mit).
Dog-sled...........  i-kam-chak........  kam-utik, W.
Calls the dogs together................  kang-marpok.
Tanned sea-cow hide.  arnakh-kak.
Arch..............  ugli-vu-ik......... korok, W., hollow.
A valley...........................  korkinek.
A bird arrow....................  nugit.
Arrow.............   ikkh-uk;   pickh-    karksok (P. karksut).
tchagak
Fish-hook........................       karsuk-sok.
Strap.............  nuk-tchaklik.
Hand drum, tambourine  tcha-ul.
Shaman, sorcerer....  tungalhkh; analhkh-  anghe-kok.
tuk
HIouse............................. iglo (P. iglut).
Hut (abode of married  u-ina.
people).
Tent..............................  tuppek (P. turkit).
Snow-house.........................  iglorigak.
Indian tavern.......   akumgavak.
To take a vapor bath.  mu-ichtak.
He bathes, he dips it.................  missukpok.
Armor.............  annu-i-akh-chutu -it.
Guest.............  ali-anik...........  allak; allanl-a-wok.
Give for a treat......  tchaktchu.
He gives a feast......................  nerri-marpok.
E at...............   nuiga............  nerri-wok, W., he eats.
Dining-hall................   nerriving-me.
To make a present of.  yaguzhgh-ghi;  pi-   pilli-ta-wok.
kazhzgh-ghi
To sew............ inka............  nersorpok, he sews.
A needle............................  nerkut (P. merkutit).
To beat............   pilli-akhku........  anauwok, W.
He cuts it in pieces................  pillakpok.
Red fish...........  nu-i-ku-it.
Salmo orientalis.....   taghi-akvak.
Salmo sanguineus....  kak-ki-a.
Salmo muksun......  ka-ukh-tut........  ekalluk (P. ekalluktut),
salmon trout.
Salmo alpinus.......   ankhli-u-gat.......  ekalli-et, trout.
Sanlmo proteus.......  atakak,
Chaiko?...........  nu-ik-ni-at.
Syrka............. inakh-ping-at.
Smelt.............  kpuka-chat.
Eel pout...........  managnat.
Pike..............  tchukvak.
Fishing-net.........  kughya.
A bag, a poke......................  pok.




ESKIMO VOCABULARY                               493
English.                Kuskutchewak.             Labrador Eskimao
Spawn............   mass-i-uk.
Cup..............   val-i-uk..........   korkok, wide-mouthed cup;
erngusok,drinking-cup.
Spoon..............................   alu-pa-ut.
Pot...............  gant.
Earthern pot, native.............   illuterkut, W. (illuli-wok,
he hollows it out).Bladder............  imangvik.
Oar (boat's)........  anvagun..........   (pa-ut; P. pa-utit) epat.
Entrails....................                erchavit P. (S. erchavik.)
Gut...............  iggzh-u-igli-uk.....   inelo (P. inelu-it).
Kamlaika (cloth)....  iggmagna-tu-ik.
Woolen cloth........................   ateg-ek-sai-ah, W.
Parka.............   atkuk.
Fur-boots..........  kamu-ik-si-ak......  kamikso-ak.
Breeches...........  khulik............  karlik (P. karlit).
Cap..............  nachak...........   ketsivak, akkordlek, also
a jacket.
Castor oil..........   alli-ukit-khak.
Beaver............  kini-i-uli..........   kig-i-ak (P. kig-ilset).
Otter..............   chvignil'nuk.
Sable.............  kakhchichvak......  karvi-ait-si-ak.
Gray fox...........  u-ikh-pu-ikhtuk....   arvngasek.
Red fox............  kavhiatchak.......  ka-i-ok.
White fox........   ulhi-gu-ik.........    teri-enniak; P. teriennitsek.
Young fox........... pi-i-a-gak.........   pei-a-raka, a young quadruped or bird.
Female bear.......................... akbik.
Bear..............   unu-valh-iakh......    akhlak.
Polar bear........................... nennok (P. nennut).
Wolf.............   ku-isli-unu-ik......   amarrok  (P. amarkut);
ammarwok.
Hare..............   ka-i-ukh-li........  ukalek (P. -lit); ikkingna.
Wolverene.........   kab-tchak.........  kablia-ri-u.
Marmot...........  kalh-ganakh-tuli....   sik-sik; ullick.
Muskrat...........  sig-vak...........  kiv-galuk, W.
Casan marmot (Citil-  kaninik...........  ik-ik; sik-sik.
lus).
Ermine............  nagulhkk-ak.......  terri-i-a, W.
Lesser otter........   amagmi-utak......  pammi-oktok.
Tail of an animal.....................    pammi-ok.
Mouse.............   avilh-nat..........   awing-ak, W.
Fly...............   chuvat.........  nivu-i-wok, a large fly.
A spider............................   assi-wak (P. assi-vait).
Gnat, musquito.....   ig-tughi-ak;   miku-  kiktoriak (P. kiktoritset).
ghi-ak
Walrus tusk........   tul-i-ak..........    t6gak, W. (tok, a point.)
Walrus.......        azgh-vu-ik......   ai-wek (P. ai-werit).
Mammoth tooth.....    chagu-nu-ek.




494              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.               Kuskutchewak.           Labrador Ebkimo.
Black-fat of deer.....................  tunnuk (tunno, the back).
Tallow...        -.....   anu-ignak........  kui-ni-wok, fat he is.
Fat...............  u-ig-nu-ik.
Reindeer...........  tun-tu.............  tuktu (P.tuktut).
A large whale.................  korchak (P. korchetset).
Delphinus leucas.....   chtvak........   (sav-gak,a water-serpent.)
A seal, general name..................      puese (P. pue-sit).
Seal, largest kind....  izli-ugvak..            uksuk; oguk.
Small seal..........................  netsi-arksuk; netsek.
Middle seal.............................. kai-rolik.
Young ditto.......................        pai-yarak.
Seal lying on ice.....................   otok.
Spotted seal........................... kassigi-ak.
A  seal with a pointed.................   abba (P. abbit).
nose
Unborn seal.........................   iblau,
The seal comes up to..........   pu-i-rook.
breathe
I will...........  piyukh-tu-a.....  pivok.
I will not..........  piyuk-nak-tu-a.....    piwak.
Go!..............   ai-i; ai-aghi.....    ailer-it, W.
Come!............  ikh-tchika.......  kai-it!
He comes.................  kai-wok.
I come............  ta-i-tchika.
Bring.............  ta-iski-u.........  kaitsi-wok, to bring.
It is..............   pitankh-tok.
Verily.............................  ahammarik   (emphatic
affir.)
Yes..............................             katz; kassak; kaitsok;
aheila; ang-erpok.
Certainly not!......   tchata-i-tok.......  se-i-ovut, aukai-lo.
He says no............ ang-ing-ilak.
Not................................  naukak, aukok.
Yet............... tchali..........  sulle.
It is so (as you say)...................   ahale.
Where?...........  na-ni?...........  nane?
Where is it?......................;....  nauk?
Whither?..........   nairt?.....namut?
Which way? whereby?..............  naukut?
Here..............   khlonikho.........   ovane mane; tamane.
Here about, around...................   ovona.
There.............   yani; ung-napi             mane; tamane.
Thither............  yavu-it.
Hither............   akavu-it..........   ma-ungo; owunga.
There.............  khavana........   ikkane.
Throw...........  igazhghi-u.........   millorpok, he throws; egipok, he throws away.
So................      khwatum.........  taimak; sorlo, as.
Now..       khwtu...............  mana.
In the present time...................  manakut.




_ESKIMO VOCABULARY                        495
English.            Kuskutchewak.        Labrador Eskimo.
Later, afterward......   atakh............ king-urgane.
Aforetime...........................  itsak.
Before............. tchu-nu-irntpu.....   sivurnga-gat.
Straight before...................  miksane.
Before another.................. ane-taima,alsosouthward.
Behind............  kanulhklimtiv.Backward.......................... knig-o-mut.
Above, upward...... kulhma...........  kollanut; pa-ungo.
Below, beneath......  ochi-mi...........   kanna; sammand.
Num. 1...........  atu-u-chik........  atou-sek.
"    2...........  a-i-nak; malhkhok..  marruk; maggok, W.
(agga, hands).
3.........  pa-i-na-i-vak......  ping-a-sut;  ping-ahuk,
W.; ping-a-nuk, W.
4........  tchamik..........  sittamut.
5........... tali-mik..........  (tallek, the hand) tedlima;
tellimet.
6...........  akhvinok..........  arvanget; ping-a-su-yoktut, twice three.
"    7..,........ a-i-na-akh-vanam..  ping-a-sullo sitta-mello,
W., three andfour.
"    8.........  pi-na-i-vi-akh-vanam   pina-i-u-ik, W.; ping-anuk, W.
"    9........  chtami-akh-vanam..  tellimella sitta-mello,W.,
five and four.
L   10........ tamimi-akh-vanam..  tellima-yoktut, W.
1.......................arkang-et.
"   16..........................   arvertanget.
"  20........ tzvinnak..........  igluktut, hands and feet
together.
" 21.............. ungna.
Whale........  akh-vu-ik.........  ar-wek.
Bird, in general...... tu-in-mi-ak........  ting-mi-ak (D. ting-mitsek).
Eagle..............  nu-itu-i-gavi-ak....  nektoralik.
Raven........  kolh-ka-guk.......  kallu-gak.
Magpie........  kalh-ka-gai-ak.
Hawk....   naptak...........  kiga-wik, W.
Owl..............  iggi-akhtu-gali.....  upik, W.; upigu-ak, great
owl, W.
Goose........  nu-ikli-uk.........  nerlek (P. nerlit).
Swan........ kughi-uk..........  kog-uk, W.
Crane............. ghi-na-tuli.
Duck..............  tu-in-mu-ik........ ting-mi-ak (P. ting-midget), a bird, in general.
Sinew........  ulhi-un; ivali-ut....  uli-yut, W.
Glass bead.........  tu-ikh-lit..........  (tue, the shoulder); sang.
pang-ak, beads.
Blue..............  tchunaizi; tchu-a-gat  tung-a-yuktak  (tungo,
berry juice).




496             VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.             Kuskutchewak.         Labrador Eskimo.
White............ katu-ighi-agvak....  kaud-luk-pok, W. (kau,
day.)
It is white..........................  kaggarpok, W.
Red............... kivikh-tchitkkhlat,..  auk-palliki-tak (auk, aggut, blood).
Black............. tunulhgat.........  kerngut; kernerpok; kernian-garvok.
Krelle.............  tchunaglat; anat...  (sunak, W., polar-bear)
(annak, refuse of animals).
Ax...............   kalhk-anak........  tukkingai-ok (P. -ut; kuksau-tok).
Adze...............................  nella-yok.
Pickax.............                         tik-lak.
Knife.............  ulhvak.                  ulima-ut (P. ulima-utit,
a hatchet).
Aleutian ax.......  knun.
Scissors............  ku-ipli-a-unu-ik.... kipsaut, W.
He cuts something off.................  kippiwok.
Needle.........  minkuk; tchikuk...   merkut (sig-uk, a beak).
Button............ nikht-ku-tu-it...... sennero-ak (P. sennerutset).
Mirror............. tangh-i-u-guk......  takh-artut.
He sees him, or it.....................  takko-wok.
Iron..........  nu-ilhkh-agak......  kikki-ek, general name,
also a wooden or ivory
pin.
Copper........... kanukh........... kanu-yak, W.
Lead.............. khu-i-akak........  aggiktok, W.
Shirt.............. tulhpakhak.......  uvinerok   (uvinite  the
flesh).
Linen waistcoat.....  alkuk..a........      altighigha, under jacket,
W.
Worsted ditto.......  tunulhkh-u-i-alkuk.
Kettle............. gantchavak.......  uk-ku-sik, stone kettle.
IDentalium shell.....  nuinhi-vaghi-ut.
E ar-rings..........  aklatu-it..........  ukla.
Long.............. tatkhli.
Short............. nanilh-nuk........  nai-pok.
]Broad..........  yu-gu-tuli.........  silikpok, it is broad and
thin.
Narrow............  igu-kink-nuk.......  nerikipok,W.; amitok,W.
Fresh............  milukapak.......
Sweet............   mi-iknik-kuk.......  mamakpok, it tastes nice.
Sugar.............................. mamamak-sauk.




KUTCH1N VOCABULARY.                          497
VOCABULARY OF THE KUTCHIN OF THE YUKON, OR KUTCHI-KUT
CHI, DRAWN UP BY MR. M'MURRAY; TO WHICH  THE CHEPE
WYAN SYNONYMS WERE ADDED BY MR. M'PHERSON.
English.              Kutchin.               Chepewyan.
JAnimals.
A bear............     so...............   sasz.
grizzly bear......  si-i..............   tlize.
beaver..........  se..........  tza; tsha.
red fox..........   na-kath...........  na-ghirh6-gosse.
black fox........  nakath-barhata-nil-    na-ghirhe-sin.
iz-ze
cross fox.........    nakath-so.........  na-ghirhe-netlizzc.
white fox (Arctic)..  etchi-a-thwi.......  na-ghirhe-gai.
Canada lynx......   ni-itchi..........  ghise.
marten..........   tsu-ko............      tha.
mink...........  tchith-ei..   til-chuse; tekh-tuse.
otter............   tsu-e.............   na-pi-ekh.
musquash........  tzinn............  tzen;  tshen.
wolf............   zo...............  yess; nuni-e.
hare (American)...  k...............        ka.
wolverene........  lekh-ethu-e........  nakh-ei.
seal............. nat-tchuk.........  (netsk; netsi-arksuk,
Esk)
moose-deer....... tin-djuke.........   dunikh.
rein-deer.........   bet-zey...........   bedzi.
goose...........  kr..............    tcha.
swan............  ta-arr-zyne........  kha-goss.
crane..........   che-a............  dhell.
duck............  tet-sun...........  yurrth-tcho.
grouse...........  akh-tail.......... dikh (pintailed gr.); kas
ba (white gr.)
fish, a salmon.....  tleukh-ko.........    tlu-e-tcho; tlu-e-zane,
trout.
white fish (Corego-  tleukh-ko-tak. hei... thlu.
nuts)
pike............   alle-ti-in.......... uldai.
bltue-fish (grayling)   rsi-tcha...........  thlu-e-detla.
methy (Lota).....  che-tlukh.........  tin-tellei.
Trading Goods.
An awl............  tha..............  thuth, a spear.
An ax............. ta-.............. thll; thelth.
Beads.............      nak-kai-e.
A belt............. tho.
A blanket.......... tselta............ tsurai.
A tobacco-box......   tseltrow-ti-ak.
Buttons...........   yei-kai-thit-le......  bun-eil-lay; pa-il-lay.
A cap............. tsa-kol-u..........  tsa-kdl ay.
A bonnet..........     tsa-til-ek-ha.




498              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.                 Kutchin.               Chepewyan.
A capot or coat.....  ik...............  ekh.
A duffle coat........  chai-ik.
A chisel...........  so-itt-se.
A comb...........  tcheir-zug.
A dagger.......... nil-ei-sho........ la-thuth.
A file............ kuk-i............. hogulth; hok-kelth.
Tape gartering.....  lekath-at-hai-e....
A looking-glass......  mutchai-e-i-a.
A gun.............  te-egga...........  tel-guirthe.
A gun-flint.........   bech-tsi..........  tle-tell.
A gun-worm........   koggo-te.........  ko-edeh.
Gunpowder.........  tegga-kon......... telgrre-koun-n.
A powder-horn......  a-ki-itche.
A kettle....., thi-a....  tille.
A knife............ r' si.............   bess.
A ring............   ilat-thekk.
A shirt............   azu-e-i-ek.........  tse-tsi-eh; thisitei.
A small shot........  tegga-atsil........  teli-thai-e.
A ball............. tegga-atcho.......  tell-gith-tcho.
A fire-steel.........  il-i-a.
Cloth............   athit-li.
Thread............   athit-li-itchi.
Tobacco...........  se' ei-i-ti-i*........   sel-tu-i.
Trowsers...........  illei-ik............  (karlik, Eskimo).
Vermilion..........  tingi-ta-tseikh..lMiscellaneous.
A tree.............  tetch-hau........  tsu.
A willow..........    kai-i.............   kai-thsinne.
Grass...........         tlo...............  tlo.
The ground........ nunn.............  nih.
Water.............  tchu.............  ta; to.
A river............  han..............  dessh.
A lake............  van..............  theu-tu-L.
Rain..............   akh-tsin..........          dsha.
Warm.............  konni-etha........  etu.
Cold.............  konni-eka.........  etdza.
Hungry............  sei-ze-kwetsik......  seth-ithu.
Fatigued...........  kei-a-sethelth-krei..  ni-nitsau.
Sick..............   th-ill-seyk.. a.....  ai-a'.
A mountain........  tha..............  sheth.
A valley...........  kra-tanne.........  shegusse.
The sun.r' sey-e...........                    sakh.
The stars..........    thun.............   thun.
A rock............  tchi..............  thi'tsunne-cho.
A house or fort......  izze.
A lodge or tent......  ni-ti-a............   neballe; nepalle.
A bow............  alt-heikh..........           elthi.
An arrow..........  ki-e..............   kah.
A canoe...........  tri...............  tsi.




KUTCHIN VOCABULARY.                        499
English.               Kutchin.              Chepewyan.
Good............. neir-zi............      nesu; neso; nazu.
Bad..............   bets-h-t.........  neso-ulla.
Day............. tzin..............  tzinna.
Night.............  tatha............  hetleghe.
Sleep.............  nokh-tchi.........  belkh.
Rest..............  tuggath-llla-e.         thilleh.
To sit............. tchith-u-etcha..        theda.
To walk...........  ka-whot-el....          nathall.
To rtun............  sha-tocha.........  thebakall.
To shoot...........  at-el-ke...........   thelguth.
To kill............  beshei-en-i-echa....  thega-thul.
A man............  tenghi.......'diinne; duneh;'tinna.
A woman.......... tren-djo.........   tshekwe.
A boy.............  tse-a............  dunne-yaze.
A girl.............  mitchet-ei.........  tsekwe-aze.
A dog.......  tleine............   thling; thline.
A sled.............  latchan-vultl......  bet-tchinnai.
Numerals.
i............... tih-lagga..........  nthlare, D. (en-clai, L.),
(sthlagi, C.)
2............... nak-hei...              nakkhe, D. (nakka, L.),
(nakke, C.)
3...............  thi-eka............  khtare, D. (ita-rgha, L.),
(takke, C.)
4............  ten-na............    tinghe, D. (iting, L.),
(tingee, C.)
5...............  illa-kon-elei            zazunlare, D. (sa-soo-la,
L.), (sasulagi, C.)
6...............  neckhki-et-hei......  elcathare, D. (ut-ke-tlai,
L.), (alkitakhe, C.)
7...............  ataitsa-newk-he..... nthlazuntinghe, D. (kkosing-ting, L.), (sthlasitingie, C.).
8................  nak-hei-etan-na.....  alcatinghe, D. (elzenting,
L.), (alketingie, C.)
9...............  nuntcha-niko.            nthla-otta, D. (kkahooli,
L.), (katchine-onnuna,
C.)
10...........  tikh-lagga-chow-et-'nthla-una, D. (ito-nanhi-en                  na, L.), (onnuna, C.)
11..........         tikh-lagga-mik-ki-     (sthlagi-juthet, C.)
tagga
12...............  nak-hei-mikki-tagga.  (nacke-juthet, C.)
13...............  thi-eka-mikki-tagga.  (takhe-juthet, C.)
14............... tanna-mikki-tagga..  (tingee-juthet, C.)
15...............  ilakon-elei-mikki-tagga.
20...............  nak how-chow-ethi-en  (non-nanna, L.), (nackhe.
onnuma, C.)




500            VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.            Kutchin.             Chepewyan.
21.............. nak-how-chow-ithi-en-  (nacke-onnuna, nathetsin
unsla-tikh-lagga.     sthlage, C.)
30............... thi-eka-chow-ethi-en.   (tacke-onnuna, C.)
40............... tanna-ha-chow-ethi-en  (tingie-onnuna, C.)
50...............  atla-konelei-chow-ethi-  (sasulagi-onnuna, C.)
en.
60............... nikh-ki-at-hei-chow-   (allkitakhe-onnuna, C.)
ethi-en.
70...............  atait-sa.
80...............  nich-ki-etanna-chowethi-en.
~90..............   muntcha-niko-chowethi-en.
100...............  tikh-lagga, chow-ethi-  (onnuna-onnuna, C.), ten
en-chow-ethi-en.     tens.
200...............  nak-kaggo-chow-ethi-  (nacki-onnuna-onnuna,
en-chow-ethi-en.     C.)
300...............  thi-eka-chow-ethi-en-  (takhi-onnuna-onnuna,
chow-ethi-en.        C.)
Note.-The orthography of the names of numerals inclosed by parentheses is different from that of the other parts of the vocabulary. D. denotes Dog-rib words
obtained by myself. L. is Dog-rib recorded by Captain Lefroy. C. denotes
Chepewyan words extracted from a list furnished by Mr. M'Pherson, who has
adopted the French orthography in part.
The fiagment of a vocabulary of the Chepewyan dialect, which
follows, was formed entirely from the diction of Mrs. MPherson,
to whom the language has been familiar from her infancy. It was
written in the following manner: Having at hand a pretty full
vocabulary of the Cree, drawn up at Carlton House in 1820, in
which the words were arranged in alphabetical order, I propounded
the Cree expressions to her in succession, assisting her with a
French translation when she had any doubt of their meaning.
The Chepewyan equivalent was pronounced by her again and
again, until my ear caught the sound, and I was able to repeat it
after her. I then wrote it down, and read it to her from the
manuscript. Such words as I was unable to pronounce to her
satisfaction, and they were not few, were left out. The nasal
sounds resembling the French final n were the most difficult, and
they are of frequent occurrence in the language. The Chepewyan
tongue also abounds in the burring sound of the letter r combined
with an aspirate, which I know not how to express in English; and
such words have consequently been left out of the vocabulary. The
ordinary aspirate, similar to the och of the Scottish or Irish, is denoted in the vocabulary by kh. The vocabulary, short as it is, took




CREPEWYAN VOCABULARY.                         501
some weeks to produce.  It was interrupted by a change in our
arrangements in traveling, canoes having been substituted for boats,
which made it less convenient for me to receive lessons in Chepewyan. This difficulty would not, however, have prevented the
prosecution of the task, especially as Mrs. MPherson with much
kindness expressed her willingness to proceed until we had gone
through the whole Cree vocabulary, of which about nine-tenths
remained; but knowing that the language was becoming a writien
one, under the active superintendence of the Roman Catholic missionaries at Isle i la Crosse, I gave up my intention of endeavoring
to ascertain its structure, and contented myself with the following
specimen.
VOCABULARY OF THE CHEPEWYAN TONGUE, WITH CREE AND
ENGLISH  TRANSLATIONS.
J as in "'father; a as in " awe" " law;:" e as in "'theme;" e as ih.
" dell'" "bed;" i as in " ravine," or as ee in "see;" Y as in "' ill"' "ink'"
o as in "or" "for;" u as in "us" "husk;" ai as in "aim" 4"maim;"
au as ow in "how;" oy as in " hoy;" yu as "you;" eu as ew in "dew"
or eaus in "beauty;" kw as in "awkward;" ng as the French nasal n;
kh as ch in "loch," Scottice.
Cree, of Carlton House.  Chepewyan, of Athabasca   English.
A.
Abu-ye.............  tu-a-wlll..........  liquor, soup, or drink.
Agatha-shu, or aggai-  the-ut-'tinne.......   an Englishman.
a-shu
Aggiskow, or akklskow   el-ka-ti............  pin-tailed grouse.
Agguisk.............  sis-there........... a blunt arrow.
Atchak, or akhchak..  i-yu-ne............  the soul.
Ai-ammi-he-u.......  yu-aldne-palle......   a flag.
Akop...............  tsirre, or tchirre.....  a blanket or covering.
Tsirre-kai-cho......  a large blanket.
Ai-u-wannis.........  yu................  all kinds of goods.
Akwa-napoy-igan-as-   tille-arakai-'nka....  a covered kettle.
kek
Akwatin............ htkin............  frost.
Amlsk..............  tza...............  a beaver.
Amis-kwa-wiste.....   ekhke; tza bekong..   a beaver-house.
minu; amo.........   klize; ti-ranna.....  a bee.
Annek-kutchass......  tli-i; tchilla........   a squirrel.
Annek-kutchassis.....  tillel-kuze..........  small or ground-squirrel.
Apikh-tow-kishi-kow..'tchi-en-tize; tchinne-  mid-day, or half a day.
tan-ni-se.
Apikh-tow-tlpp'skow    thir-nize...........  midnight.




502              VOCABULARIRES OF NORTH AMERICA.
Cree, of Carlton HIouse    Chepewyan, of Athabasca.    English.
Aplsi-mongsus.................  jumping deer.
Apiste-shipis.........  el-kurre; tchikhth-i-  a teal, or small duck.
a-se-akhth,
Apistat-tchekus........................   prong-horned antelope.
Appakwa-sun..    n..... i-palle.............  a leabhern tent-cover.
Appek-kusis.........     kleune............. a mouse.
Appisk.............  tannone-tcho, big bird  black  or  white-headed
eagle.
Appistis-kis.             kai-yaze; kai-gus..      a Hutchins's goose.
Appoye..............   toth ~ to-a.........  paddle or oar.
Appoy-nask......... kes...............   a spit.
Appiissuk, (P1. appiiss-  thai-ye; nepalli-tetch-. tent poles.
ye-akhtik, or appussu-     un (tent legs).
yuk).
Miskahtuk..........  nepalli............       a man's legs.
Akhtai-ye (P. -wuk)..  the...............  a fur skin.
Ammiskwa-tai-ye....   tza-the............   beaver skin.
Askik..............  tille..............   a kettle.
Aski; assiski........  kwotles............   land.
Int'aski.............  ni-tannillnn........   my native land.
Kit'aski............  na-hinne...........   your native land.
Int'askinan................        our native land.
Be-anninn........  his land.
Aski-tin-we-as; aski-  bet; per-eline......   raw or fresh meat; flesh.
we-as.
Askow-i............    ten-de-ila  (ice, hard,  holes in the ice.
not); ten-nailer.
Kin-the leuk........  ice breaking up.
Assfm  (P. assam-uk)  akhe; akh; akhi...  a snow-shoe.
Ahkik..............  tille..............  a kettle, or copper kettle.
Sampas-tille.....  a tin kettle.
Assini..............'thekh.
Assini-uspogan......    seltu-ye-thekh; tche-  stone pipe, or calumet.
tut-thekh
Assini-watche-a.....   sheth; the-she......   Rocky Mountains.
Assini-poyt,or,E-askab............  a Stone Indian.
Assiske..............   otls.             mud or earth.
Assiske-pakwe-sigan.. thles..............  wheaten flour.
Assiggan  (P. assiga-  tel...............  a sock, foot stocking.
nuk).
Assiss-wi...........   tle...............   an ice chisel (lit. a horn).
Astu-theggum-ik.....  tsi-ye.............   a shed in which canoes
are built.
Astu-tin..........  tsi...............  ladies' cap  or  bonnet
(beaver).'Tsa-kall.........     man's hat.
Astum-astaik........  tsa-ne-tum.........   sunshine.
Atchakht, or atchak..   thin............... a star.
Atchappi...........  elte...............   a bow.
Atchappe-kan.......  klewlghe-elting.....  a fiddle.




CHEPEWYAN VOCABULARY.                                  503
Cree, of Carlton House.   Chepewyan, of Athabasca.           English.
Atchimmosis........  thling-yaze.........  a puppy.
Atekh, or attek......  et-thin............  reindeer.
Athappi............        ta-bith............   a net.
Athabiskow.........  the-minne-u-ye.....   a rocky country.
Atha-wak-kiska-mat-    hokar-ritha.........   a very steep bank.
tinow
Atha-wastin........  tethi-el...........             a calm.
Athik............          tsai e11...........   a frog (grenouille).
Tsai-el-cho.........   large frog (crapaud),
Athuskan...........  ta-kalle-chi-a.......  a raspberry.
Atchak-ash.........   til-chus...........   a mink (mustela lutreola).
Attei-gan                   yu.................  trading stock.
Attikh-hameg.......  thlew.............   white fish (coregonus).
Attim.............. thling.............   a dog.
Atuspi............   kaithlin-sinne......  alder.
aku-puse-wln........   thai-i.............   a platter.!pette-ka-higgan.....  denti-lita-thil-tille...   a chest-lock key (properly,
but used for keys in
general).
Akhakhk  (a  guttural  hekh.............    yes.
grunt)
Aka-mik............        nanne..............   across.
Aka-mik.......   yanna.............   on the other side.
Akwa-kukhtin.......  tit-sa.............   it is mouldy.
Annutch; atte......  tu.hu.............   now; at the present time.
Atte.............   kaltune.............    already.
Annutch-kak-ke-sikak    ti-dzinne...........  this very day.
Annutch ka-tippiskak    terri-kitha.........   this night.
Annu-watch-gai-as...................  rather long ago.
Apikh-tow..........   tanize............   in the middle.
Apatishew..........   bet-arutha.........  it is useful.
Appatun............    bet-taritha.........   useful.
Apputchiga..................   once on a time.
Askow.............   athke.............   sometimes.
Astum-uspi.........   ekku-aze.......   since such a time.
Athi-mun...........        sutu-ye..........  it is difficult.
Athe-wak.......... ona-hadzin........  more.
Athe-wak kishe-wak..   edzun-kuthe.........   nearer; very near.
Athe-wak-petsow....   hona-hedza-nitha...  further; very far.
Eshunila...........  hule-ho............   he is troublesome; badly
disposed.
Ai-a...............   nista-ula...........   keep it; have thou it.
Int'ai-an; or int'ai-a-   se-itza-heila;   hune-  I possess it; it is mine,
wa-u                        zoni
Kit'ai-an..........  netze..........    it is yours.
Ai-akuski-te-u.......  petothe-karth.......            it has a broad bill.
Ai-ami..........   yan-ilti.........   speak thou.
Ai-amew;    ai-atchi-  yalti........  he talks.
me-u.
Ai-amihin..........  zedzun-yar-ilti..... speak to me.




50-4              VOCABULARIES L(F NORTH AMERICA.
Cree, of Carlton House.   Chepewyan, of Athabasca.      English.
Ai-ami-hi-tu-tak....  althlai-yalthi (together  let us talk together.
let us speak).
Ai-ami-hi-tu-wuk....  elthney-alti........  they talk to one another.
Ai-ami-he-u.........   yedzonne-alti......   he spoke to him.
Int'ai-amin.........  e-sti.............  I talk.
Int'ai-ami-ha-u......  bedze-asti..........  I talk to him.
Int'ai-ami-hik.......  zedzun-alti.........  he spoke to me.
Kit'ai-ami-hik....... nedzune-alta.......  he talks to you.
Ekau-witha-atche-         zedzun-ye-inne-alti-    do not tell it.
mow                       hila-kula
Ai-atchemow-akwa...    nu-hei-lune........ tell us the news; relate
thou now.
Ai-ape-tika-u........  peye-onla-honne.... it is full of partitions.
Aikh-tu-ka-mik......    nu-anku...........    another house.
Waska-iggan........  ye................   a house.
Wiggi................................   a tent or dwelling.
Ai-ish-ku-shu; ai-ish-  kalye-ni-nan-idza...   he is tired (with walking).
ku-te-u
Ai-ish-kutan-ne-wu.. kalye-ni-tan-idza....  they are tired (ditto).
Int'ai ish-kuzin.....   kalye-ne ninna-cha..  I am tired (ditto).
Int'ai-iskutche-man..  toth-ne-zin-alnilza...  I am tired with paddling.
Kitai-iskutche-man-       teth-ne-ni-nan-ilza-      are you tired with padnMt?                     uza?                     dling?
Ai-u.............   nu-a-edzon-illa..... he is there.
Akkushew..........  ey-a-hilla..........  he is sick or ill.
Int'akushin.........  ey-a-hezle.........        I am sick.
Akkustemmu........       edzil..............  he is wet.
lnt'akkusktemmun d...  izedzil............  I am wet.
Anniskutapan.......  chas-inninne-ai.....  a knot.
Anniskutape!.......  chas-nos-al!........  tie a knot!
Ing'annisku-tapan.....................  I will tie a knot.
Ge-annisku-ta-pe-u...  chas-ninne-al...  he has tied a knot.
Apikh-ku-pai-u...... tey-kunne-takh.....   it has become loose; it
is loose.
Ge-appaha..........    tey-kunne-arlth; ney-  he has untied it.
ke-urth.
Apith-kuna; appaha.,  pey-ke-urth........  loose it (a knot); open it.
Ne-ge-apith-kunain..,   kalthonna-pey-ke-urth   I have loosened it.
Ne-ge-apa-hain......  ey-ke-urrth.........  I have untied it.
Int'apikh-ta-pA-h,'-u     peino-harre-kluk....  I gave him  a blue eye.
Int'apikh-ta-p&-huk       zunno-arre-kluck....  he gave me a blue eye.
Apisa!.............  per-il-thilth!.......  warm it (as a garment at
the fire).
Apisum............    yi-ar-il-thilth.......  he warms it.
Sa-sey-int'apisain....   kuda-ber-il-thilth...   I have already warmed it.
Appi!..............   thein-'tii!..........  sit down!
Utg-appi!...........  ey-er-thein-ta!...... sit here! (here sit!)
Appew.........          neltA..............   he sits,
Appe-we-ik.........  hed-nilthi..........  they sit.
Int'appin...........  thi-ta............    I sit.




CHtPEWYAN VOCABULARY.                               505
Crec, of Carlton House.   Chepewyan of Athabasca.          English.
Kit'appin-n.?.......  thin-ta-uzang?.....  are you sitting?
Ki-wi-appin-ns?.....    unta-uzang........       do you wish to eat?
Ashamin!..........  bega-van-ilchu!...    give me food to eat I
Kiga-ashami-tln.....  ne-a-urchu.......          I will give you food to eat.
Michema; hughes....   bet-ho............. meat and  drink;  food;
victuals.
Aspun-ishew........   d-I-ontzun.........  he is niggardly  (of his
victuals).
Assitlng............    ltan-nile..........   mingle them; add one to
another.
A-sustatin................   it is hidden.
Kiga-kasustatin......     necha-itus-'i........  I will hide myself from
you.
As-swe-te-u.........  te-ye-thella........  it is in (a bag).
As-swe-td-u......... te-ye-yella.........  he puts it in.
Int'aswetan.........   te-ye-ila...........    I put it in.
Aswethim..........   bega-etu-u-elne.....          be on your guard against
him.
Aswithi-min........  zethe-sekor-u-elne...   be on your guard against
me.
Ing'aswithi-mow....       pa-us-o-lne........   I will be on  my guard
against him.
Atchis-chapum-we-u.  na-seil-hitche......   he gives a side glance to
a girl.
Athtig-uskow......  ne-etel...........  it is broad.
Athin-isew; eythiniseu   hung-ya; huya.             he is wise or knowing.
Int'sip-gathi-nisin...   hong-she-a........   he is wise or prudent.
Athinew..........  I...... he is abstemious.
Atuske-u..........   e-hul-ana........   he labors.
Int'atuskaim........  e-walasna.........            I labor. -
Atta-wanna! (imp.)..   na-inni!..........  barter! trade I
Ki-wi-atta-wanna?..   na-ukhb-uneuza?....  will you barter?
Atta-wa-gun........   yu...............   goods for trade.
Atta-thow-ki I......   sel-honninn!......    tell a story or fable.
Honne............    a story.
Atte-mishi-kg-te-u...  necha-ladi-nelthun..  he grows bigger.
Atte-mi-she-u.............  it grows bigger.
Atikh-te-u.........  neuth-lurth........  it is ripe or mellow.
Artisum...........       udedza...........         she dyes or tinges it.
Int'atisain.........  uridza............   I dye it.
Atima-ow...........................   he overtakes.
Int'atima-ow.......      ne-ni-esha.........  I overtook him.
Ing'atima-ow.......   ben-nisha-lille......  I will overtake him.
Int'atimik...........................   he overtook me.
Int'atimahuk........................ he overtook me (by water).
Atimi-thowuk.......   nar-helteth........  they fly from  us (birds).
Attohu............  tchirr-ilte.........   he is choking.
Int'attohun.........   tchirr-este.........   I am choking.
Ki-wi-au-tote mbmitin   et-te-to-tin-incuste..  I wish to be your friend.
A-wuss; a-wussete!.  nuse!.........!..    keep off! let me alone!




506              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
Cree, of Carlton Ilouse.    Chepewyan of Athaoasca.    English.
e-atchi-inyu-wukk...   et-dunni-'tinne..... Indians of a strange nation.
Ek-kw/...........  yah.............   a louse.
epetch-kishi-wukk...  yelkon............  dawn of day.
Eskann-shi-ka-un....   edte-thidzi........  a horn comb.
Eskwai-atch-tchi-         tinne-la-dthaille-dzilla  the last or little finger.
tchan
Esputtinow........  kokkarritha........  high ground; a bank (une
cote).
Ethik-kwatin.......    ne-edja...........   hoar frost-hoar frost.
Ethiko-pew................   hoar frost-rimy.
Ethikwuk..........       tchanti...........  ants.
Etiskew...........    kei-ghe..........  foot-mark or track of an
animal.
6-a-ha-u; or, ya-ha-u!  ey!..............   ha! (inteij.)
E-a-kusin; thah-kusin   nedtha.light.
Ned-tarrilla.......  not heavy.
E-apitch............................  still; quiet.
Na teille..........   it stirs not.
eka...............       hila..............  not.
ep.tch.-kishikak................  as the day was coming.
Ekushi-kak.........  dzithe............   by day.
Kishi-kow; kisgow...  dzine.............   the day.
ekospi; eg-guspi....    klasing-tinge-vaiye.. at that time.
e-okwo-puikku.......  ashmoh..........  only that.
Eskwai-atch........  no-onte............   last.
Espimmi-sik........   i-yaze-bekd........  a little above.
Espimmik..........  beke.............            above.
etakkusik..........   the-dzini-ghe.......      yesterday.
Ethipinne-ok-tapo-an.  oti-a-elthb........  truly.
Etippiskak.........  hedklegh..........  by night.
Dza-kin..........  beaver lodge.
e-aske-u...........    dza-kin-nannelya...  he breaks up a beaver
lodge.
Int'e-askann.................   I break up a beaver lodge.
Ekau-witha!........................  do not!
Entau-wi...............   go and open it.
E-ukh-tinne-gate-u..  peta-harelta; peta-ha-  it is opened.
elta
E-ukhte-nammuk....    peta-klell........  open ye it.
E-ukhte-num........................  he opened it.
Ne-ukhte-nain..................    I opened it.
etapoy-ikhta........    bethna-ilkis.......  mix it;. stir it.
Ethepo-akwow; nepo-  huya............  he is wise-knowing.
akwow;   athin-nisew
Ey-thin-akhtgk.,.. eln..............   small spruce  fir (Abies
balsarnea).




CHEPEWYAN VOCABULARY.                               307
Cree, of Carlton House.   Chepewyan, of Athabasca.        English.
Ey-thin-attu-shiship..  tchith-tcho........   stock duck (Anas boschas).
Ey-thinni-kannu-she-u   ultai-ye...........   a pike or jack.
Ey-thinni-mina..............  bilberries.
Ey-thinni-pithey-u................... Canada grouse.
Ey-thin-yu (P. eythin-'dtinne...........   an Indian of the speakyu-wuikk).                                           er's nation.
Int'ey-apa-huk..................  he made my eye ache by
a blow.
Tans-ey-sinikassort?.  etla-hulye?........  what is his name?
Tans-ey-sini-kassu-        ey-la-hunlye?......   what is your name?
yiin?
Tanna-si-te-kateg-.................  how do you call this?
oma?
Init. I. sounded as EE.
I-a-pit............
Kah-nup-ate-i-a-pit..   nakith............  he has an eye on one side.
Tann-ike?..........  etla-djah?.........   what is the matter?
Tann-ikh-te-an?.......................  what is the matter with
you?
Iste-kwa-nan;   uste-  edthi..............   the head.
kwan; mistekwan
Int'istekwanan......  zedthi-ey-a.........   my head aches.
Niste-kwan.........  zedthi.............   my head.
Uta-petchel-itote!....   e-o-kui-si!..........  come hither!
Nete-itote!..........  e-o-kui-si-nek-iltkh!..   go there or thither!
Tanti-wy-i-tukh-te-an?   etla-se-nek-{ltkh?...   where are you going?
TCH.
Tchakkatinow......   shethi-aze........  a knoll; small hill.
Tchi-ke-kum........      shith..............   a wart.
Tchi-tche...........'tinnila-theyl le6     a finger.
(man's toe)
Tchi-ka-egan.......   thell; kong-kwi.....  a hatchet.
Tchi-ka-egan-akthik..  thell-tchinne'....... a hatchet helve.
Tcheiik-sa-egan......  klell-thelth; thleh-         a gun flint.
kon
Tche-rngn...........      tsi; alle...........  a canoe.
Tchi-pai (P. -pa-iikk)    ethi-a.............   a dead body; the deceased.
Tchi-pai-iiktim.......................   you dead dog! an opprobrious epithet.
Tchi-pai-uikk (dance of   ne-elkai...........        Aurora borealis.
the dead)
Petapan............  yel-kon..........  dawn of day.
O-wanni-wagan........................   dusk of the evening.
Tchis-a-wan........  pernatal...........   a hash, or haggis.
Tchis-ke-pi-son......  dza-thulth.........   a garter.
Tchis-ta-ba-sun..   panoneyla; luneyle..   a button; an anchor.
Tchista-s8-pwin.....   pa-o-koyl........   a fork.




5A8              VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
Cree, of Carlton House.   Chepewyan, of Athabasca.        English.
Tchista-ka-we-sew... ther-onna..........  a wasp.
Tchista-ka-nan-wi-        el-karre (pine-leaf      a teal (Anas discors).
ship                      duck)
Tchistem-ow........  sel-tu-ye...........  tobacco.
Tchimm-ashen......  ned-tu-a...........    it is short.
Tchuk-tchuk-athu;        tadzon-zelle...   ablackbird (Scolephagus).
tchuk-tchuk-ai-u
Tchika-wa-sis.......    yaze (few).........  not many.
Tchi-kima..........  ta-tu-ahadde.......  true, truly; verily.
Tchi-kima-numma?..  ta-tu?..........  do you doubt it?  it is
true.
Tchi-ka-ka-win......    ne-o-ka............  close to the shore.'Tchist! tchiste!.....'tchu!.............   hist! listen! look!
Tchuippasis..........  pei-ya-thi..........  below; underneath.
N'tch&-ka-p6i-huk....  dzenoy-inke........  he poked it (a finger or
stick) into my eye.
N'tcha-k.-pi-chi-nin..  dze-noy-eke........  it has run into my eye (a
stick).
Tchep-wow.........   kai-intchuthe.......  it tapers.
Tches-kwa; tches-         karre!..............   wait! wait a little!
kwa-pitta!
Tchitchei-mi-kiiskwe-    pe-'kunne-neltu-ye..  he or it has short nails.
su
Tchika-ai-ge-u.......  thelth-ta-nai-ilkh-       he hews with a hatchet.
thelth
Ne-tchika-iggan......  thelth-ta-nai-ilkh-        I hew with a hatchet.
thell
Tchi-ke-si-se-u.......  dzere-hai-elle..        he plays at draughts.
Tchi-ke-si-se- A-wukk..................  they play at draughts.
Tchi-kwa-ha-me-u...  belekh-hered-ye..   he crumbles the  leaves
(rubs them to powder).
Inga-tchi-kwa-hain.....................   Iwill crumble the leaves.
Tchi-pe-tuikk-wow....  tel-klukk.........  it is light blue.
Ni-ghe-tchi-pusti-ha-u   thilk-tas...........   I put it with my arrow.
Wa-was-ki-shu......  tse-thil.........  the wapiti.
Oya-peyu-mus-tus.... ettirre-ya-ne.......   bison bull.
Nosia-mustus........  ettirre-su-ta-ha.....  bison cow.
Wa-pis-tAnn........    tha...............   a marten.
Si-kak..............  nult-si-ai..........  a skunk.
Si-ku-sew; sigus......  del-kathlei........  an ermine.
Winusk.............   tel-leh.............  a marmot or spermophile.
Winuste-key......................   a Quebec marmot.
Wrapusk............    sass-del-gai........  white bear.
Apek-ku-sis.........   tlunne.............   a mouse.
Shi-shi-pise.........   elgarr..a teal.
Key-ask; kai-ask....  bess-gai-........... a gull.
Kallei.............   a plover.
Bekhu-hulla........  Salmo mackenzii.
Okkau; uka.........  ettchu-g............  Dore.
Miki-sew...........  ded-donnd-tcho....  an eagle.




DOG-RIB VOCABULARY.                           509
Cree, of Carlton House.  Chepewyan, of Athabasca.       English.
Aha-sew............   dadsang...........  an American crow.
Ottoni-bis...........  the-chuthe....... Coregonus artedi (Tullibee).
Namay-pith.........  till-tulei........... Catastomus.
O-wi-pi-tchi-sis......  thlui-dathe.........  Hiodon.
Nipe; nipi..........  tu; to.............  water.
The-kwusklwun................   it is cloudy.
Kisku-wiinisk.......  kothe..............   clouds.
Kishi-kau; kis-gau;................   day; day-light.
wa-pan
Ki-ki-ship...........   kambi.............   morning.
Apikh-tow-kishi-kau      tsindessai:........    noon.
(middle-day)
Pakkisimu (sun-set)..  tchilsin............  evening.
Tippis-kak; tippiskau..................  night.
Mistiko-tcheman.....   tetsin-tsi..........   a boat.
Wini-pegh..........  tu-tcho...........  the sea.
Thaka-stimnmun-aigan   tsini-ball.........  a sail.
Paske-seggiin-nis.....   telgurthe-yaze......   a pistol.
Kitche-kuman......      bess-tcho..........   a sword (big knife).
Tappis-ka-gan.          kothi-ghirre.......  a handkerchief.
Mokasin; muskesin..   ke.............   a shoe.
TippiskR-wi'peshim..   eltsi.............  the moon.
Kesik; kishik.......  yaha..........  the sky.
Pin asi-wuk.........  edihi..........  thunder.
Wa-waskhsta-punu;        tsinago-thethi...... lightning.
owa-srniusk
Kunu; konK........  yath...   snow.
Miskwumi..........  ti-enn.........  ice.
Piki-se-u (it isfoggy).  etzil.............   fog.
Hothin..........  frost.
Nahalgi..........  thaw.
Utin; thaw-tin.....    niltsi...........  wind.
Atchimow.........  yalthi.........  to speak.
Netghin..........  to sing.
Ni-ku-mun...........................  a song.
Mitzu..........  tcheli............    to eat.
Wappaimow........  etethi............  to see.
Ureltha-nelsi.......  to hear from you.
Su-sinne..........   a great happiness.
The following words of Dog-rib were collected by myself at
Fort Confidence.  The want of a good interpreter caused me to
discontinue the formation of a vocabulary of this dialect.
DOG-RIB VOCABULARY.
English.    Dog-Rib of Fort                        Dog-Rib, of Foit
English.           Confidence.        English.         Dofidence. of Fo
A kettle.......  tille.              Little kettle...  tille-yaze.
Large ditto....  tille-tcho.           Fire..........  kun.




510             VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.       Dog-Rib, of Fort     English.       Dog-Rib, of Fort
Confidence.                        Confidence.
Fire-wood.....    sus.            A spark from the  kantida.
Gunpowder....  tel-kithe-kuin.      fire
Shot.........  tel-kithe-ka.    e Reindeer tongue  et-thu.
Shot-pouch....  tel-ketha.        Deer-skin hose..  et-thidda.
Ball..........  tel-kethi-'tcho.   Breeches......  thlai-i.
No meat!......  par-ulla!          Deer head.....  et-thi.
Dried ribs of rein-  6tcharna;   et- A shoe........  ku.
deer              chanka.        Cloth  worn  by  than.
Water........   to.                  men round the
A tin pan.....  thai.                middle
A coat, or capot.  i.               A bag........   naltchg; klethe.
A blanket.....   zidda (tzud-di-e, A hatchet.....  thelth.
(Mr. O'Brian). A spoon.......  thlns, or slus.
Indian hose....  thelth.          A file........   koketha.
Hair.........  theo-ya.            Pole for hanging  telle-kaiza.
The beard.....  tarra.              a kettle npon
A crooked knife.  bess-ha.          Buttons.......  pai-illa.
A knife.......   bess.             Mittens.......  gis.
A knife sheath.  bess-the.         The head......  ta.
A fork........  pakwa.             The nose......  tinnetze.
Snow.             tzill; tchill.    The knee......  et-thetha.
Smoke.......  thlet.              An encampment  zutes.
A stone.......  thai.              The encampment  in-tu-e-zutes.
A brisket......  ana-rine; ei yid-   is distant
da.            The encampment  thi-si-te-zutes.
The shoulder...  akkanna.           is near
Leg  bone  or   ak-kai-tchinna.   A warm  woolen  kow-i-tchitha.
knuckle                             collar; a comA firebrand....    halai-kun.        forter
A tent........  nepalle.            One..........'nthlare.
Tent poles.....  thai-e.           Two.........  nakhke.
Transverse poles  tane-ai.         Three.........  khtarre.
to hang meat                     Four.........'tinge.
upon                             Five.........  zazunlarre.
Tent door.....    ku-latche.      Six..........   elkatharre.
Leathern door for  thidai-nepalle.   Seven...;..     nthlazintinge.
tent                             Eight.alkatinge.
Dressed leathern  tel.             Nine.........'nthla-otta.
blanket                          Ten..........'nthla-una.
The vocabularies which follow were made by gentlemen whose
system of orthography varies more or less from that adopted in the
preceding pages. The dialects of the Dog-ribs who resort to Great
Bear Lake, and of those who hunt on Marten Lake and visit Fort
Simpson, differ little when spoken, and offer no difficulty to an interpreter who is acquainted with either; but many of the words
have a very different aspect when written in English characters;
and these tables may serve to illustrate a remark made in a pre



DOG-RIB VOCABULARY.                         511
ceding page respecting the difficulty which an English ear experiences in apprehending the sounds of the Tinne languages. The
Kutchin words collected by Mr. MMurray, though not numerous,
show a close affinity between the language spoken by that people
and the Tinne, and will perhaps be considered as a proof of the
common origin of the Tinne and the Kolush tribes down to the
54th parallel of latitude.
English.          Dog-Rib.          English.           Dog-Rib.
Head.........  bet-thi.             Go!........   aga!
Neck.......,   bdi-korh.            Come!.......  ya-kusi!
Tongue.......  eth-thadu.          Take!.......  hi-tcho!
Eyes.........  mendi.               Cut!......... bekan-nethu l
Ears.........  bed-ze-gai.          Bring!.......  si-nekai.
Nose.........   mi-gou.             Hunt!........  no-sai.
Cheeks, chin... mi-ta.      Large.......  nai-tcha.
Shoulders.....  ai-kon-nai.       Small........  ti-ula.
Thighs........  ed-zaddai.          Long.........  nundeth.
Brisket.......  a-ethin.            Short......... nundeth-helai.
Rump........  etchin-nai.           Far........   nitha.
Belly.........  be-tchuki.           Near........  wha-yai.
Hands........ mila.           Cry!.........  azel!
Feet.........  ak-kai.              Laugh!.......  mena-thi-ukla I
Fingers....... mila-tchinnai.    Speak! or talk!  betha!
Nails.........   mila-konnai.        How many?... tanna-itai?
Teeth........  baighu.             What  do  you  addow-adlis?
Brain........  bet-the-ghu.           want?
Liver........   et-hut.           Heavy.......  tai-it.
Heart........  ed-zai.             Light......... naikel-helai.
Blood........  et-tillai.           High.........  yu-te-gai.
Skull.........  et-thi-thu-ine.    Low.........  u-ai.
Entrails.......  et-si-si.          Good.........  naisou.
Udder; milk...  et-tuzai.           B ad........   tlenai.
Butter.......  edgiddai-thlissai. Fat.......... tlaika.
Flour........  hatai-kotliss.       Lean........  tlaika-helai.
Sugar.......,  suka.                at!.........  shanai-tai!
Tea..........  suka-tu  (sugar  Drink!.......  ath-uluston!I
water).        Smoke.......  ustud!
Pepper........  tenni-tsi.          Sleep!........  notai I
Medicine......  na-diddu.          Give!........  mi-ne-kai!
Paper........  eddithi.             Tell!.........     adin-dai!
The above vocabulary was formed, I believe, at Fort Simpson,
by one of the Hudson's Bay officers for his own use; but, having
forgotten to note the circumstances under which it was drawn up,
I can give no further information regarding it.




512             VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
A VOCABULARY OF FORT SIMPSON DOG-RIB, BY MR. O'BRIAN OF
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Dog-lib.          English.           Dog-Rib.           English
Edza-zinne....    Tetrao umbellus.  Noga.........  wolverene.
Tih..........   Tetrao canadensis Kling........  dog.
Bet-theu......  owl.               Tzus.........  wood fire.
Thlu-ai.......   Coregonus albus. Tai-tchin......  trees.
Samba........  trout.               Tzu........  pine-tree.
Kaze......... salmon.          Ki.........   birch.
Tsai-teu....    Back's grayling.  Sinnai.......  I.
Tai-tellai......  Catastomus.       Tlinnai.......  thou.
Klogai........ squirrel.      Ottinai.......  he.
Emmu-i-u-ai...  Columba  migra- Ige.....  it.
toria.         Edetata.......  yes.
Khun.........  fire.                Helai; odelis      no.
Tu...........  water.               Id-zeunai....   to-day.
Tchon........  rain.                Kambai.......    to-morrow.
Yah..........  snow.                Zeunai.......  day.
Teu..........  ice.                 Tethi.......  night.
Sa..........  sun                   Yakh-kai......  winter.
Tethi-sa......  moon.               Klukai........   spring.
Thi-u........  stars.              Senai.........  summer.
Kose........  clouds.              Ai-tonkai...    autumn.
E-tu-ai.......  girl.               Tai-chin-ala.   boat.
Ah..........  snow-shoes.           Ki-ala.......  canoe.
Kai..........   shoes.              Tami.........  net.
Whoghi.......  snare.               Tau-ai-on.        full.
Thai.........  sinew.               Tu-tai.......  empty.
Do..........  now.                  Tlon........  plenty.
Ye-won.......  then.                Hulai........  none.
Tau-dezzei.....  half.              Tzuddi-d......  a blanket.
Mal-lionai.....  rings.             Tai-si-ai......   a shirt.
Hai-ai........  trowsers.           Ed-geid-dai...   a powder-horn.
Memba-ulai....   waistcoat.          Mad-deli.....  buttons.
Tsi..........   vermilion.          Thai-on-tithei..  thread.
Sat-su-wai....  wire snare.         Et-thai-ai.....  scissors.
Sas..........  black bear.          Meni-di-e-dai...  looking-glass.
Sa-tai-kuze....  brown bear.        Ai-tchusai......  beads.
Tsa..........  beaver.           Ai-tai.......  ice-chisel.
Tsa-thu-ai..... castoreum.         Bai-huch......  crooked knife.
Tai-tchesi.....  mink.              Bai-chin-ai-i..   clasp.
Tzin.........  musk-rat.            Bed-do-ai-du..   pot.
Teki.........  wolf.                Tha........  pan.
The following vocabulary of the language of a tribe dwelling
near the sources of the River of the Mountains, and known to the
voyagers by the name of,, Mauvais Monde," and of the Dog-rib
dialect, was drawn up by Mr. O'Brian, of the Hudson's Bay Company's service.




"MAUVAIS MONDE" VOCABULARY.                         513
Mauvais Monde.          Dog-Rib, or Slave.         English
Thelgai............    thlie............   one.
Olki-e.............   olki-e............  two.
Ta-dette...........  ti-e..............  three.
Tinghi.....             tinghe.........  four.
Sazelli.............    sazelli;  lakithe, the  five.
hand.
Et-seu-ti...........  et-seu-ti..........   six.
Thlad za-di-e.......  han-die.........   seven.
Et-zan-di-e.........  et-zan-di-e........   eight.
E t-thlei-hu-lai......    ethli-e-houlai......  nine.
Ken-na-tai.........  o-nai-u-non........  ten.
El-lai-zai*........  tel-kithi-kun.......  gunpowder
Bai-ka............  tel-kithi-tcho......  ball.
Ni-tai-ton..........  thai-thi...........  shot.
Ai-tai-kai..........  sel-tu-e........  tobacco.
Et-ton-nai.........  tel-kithe..........  gun.
E-tha-thai-on.......  hai-ko............  gun-flint.
Utha..............  tiu-ni-e...........  kettle.
Thei..............  thei..............          ax.
Ai-tchut...........  ai-tchut..........   awl.
Bess..............   bess.............        knife.
Ta-chill-ai.........  et-ley-nai.........  cloth (strcuds).
Kestu-ai...........  ai..............  coat (capot).
Theth.............   theth.........  leggings; also a belt.
Edgiddai..........  powder-horn.
Kothegettai........      ko-the-gat.......  handkerchief.
Set-tsa-tai.........  tsa..............   bonnet-cap.
Hai...............  kun..............  fire-steel.
A-tai-kai-tenney.....   seltu-tenne........  tobacco-box.
Ta-ti-e...........       ta-ti.............  needle.
Thai-ka...........  ko-kasse.........    file.
Et-hai-ai..........    baith-laika........ scissors.
E-kadzi...........  kud-dai...........  gun-worm.
Ai-kathai-tai.......  sa-kathai-tai....... garters.
Klai-si............  sa-tai-kai.........  gray bear.
U-thai.......           no-githi........    fox.
Ustaidge...........  no-ta.........   lynx.
Ustai.............  no-thai...........  marten.
Kasho.............  nom-be-ai........   otter
Wollon............  teu-di-e...........  male moose-deer.
Intsei.............    teu-di-etse........  female moose-deer.
Wod-su-tchu........  bed-su............  male reindeer.
Wod-su-mon-bed-sai.. bed-su-tsi.........  female reindeer.
Kag-kalai..........    kam'ba..........  ptarmigan.
Ogha-tchai.........  ogha.............  goose.
E a-sai............  tai-tonna-tcho......  eagle.
U-ta-dja..........    uti..........   pike-fish.
Niton.............      monalla..........    white man.
Setsa-on...........  tchikwe...........         woman.
* This word is used also by the Beaver and Theksnn6 Indians.
y#




514             VOCABULARIES OF /NORTH AMERICA.
Mauvais Monde.         Dog-Rib, or Slave.        English.
Te-sonnai..........    tchillawe........  boy.
Klu-chu-i-nai.......  bai-tchinai......    sled.
Sunbaddei..........  dsheth...........  mittens.
A VOCABULARY OF CHEPEWYAN AND DOG-RIB WORDS.
The Chepewyan was taken down from the mouth of thfe interpreter at Great Slave Lake. The Dog-rib from that of the female
interpreter (Nanette) at Fort Simpson.  The whole in 1844.
J. H. LEFROY.
Toronto, March, 1850.
Broad,'nasal,' guttural, " nasal and guttural.
English.             Chepewyan.              Dog-Rib.
Yes!..............  e-h!
No!..............   he-li.............  he-li.
A man............  denne............   tchel-a-qui.
A woman..........  tza-qui-ie.........  tzek-qui.
A little girl.........  ett-er-e-ka.........  tzek-qui-azze.
A boy.............  tchilla-qui-ie.......  tenai-u.
A little boy........  tza-qui-the........   tenai-u-azze.
Father............  tza-tah...........  tza-tah.
Mother............  en-ne............  en-ne.
Brother, elder.......  tzoon-noi.........  tzoon-noi.
" younger..                  tzachilli.
Sister, elder........  ssa-ra............    sa-rah, or tza-rah.:'  younger................  sa-tez-zah, or tza-tazze.
To-morrow.........  kom pee..........  koume.
Yesterday.......... ou-ah-ta-tzenke....   ye-hho-a.
Tobacco..........  tza-twe...........  tza-twe.
A knife............   pa-as............  pa-as.
A gun.............  thel-ki-the........  qua-ka-he.
An ax.............  than-thye.........  qua-a-qui.
Gunpowder.........  thel-ki-the-conne....  thi-ke-e-conne.
Ball..............  thel-ke-the-chou.... the-ke-e-chQu.
Air...............   nutze........  e-at-ti-ge.
Fire..............  kkon.............  kkon.
Water............ tto.                        two.
Earth.............  wa-kklas..........  ko-eccla.
A fish.............    clou-a............  clol-a.
A dog.............  cling.............  cle.
A fox.............  no-ki-ki-the........  e-et-tha-tha.
A buffalo, masculine..  et-cherre..........  et-cherri.
"    feminine............        "    ettzae.
Reindeer...........  eet-than..........  et-thun (ettzae, f.)
A moose..........  den-nee...........  denne-a.
Snow-shoes.........  ah-he............  a-e.
A sled............   betch-chin-ne......  ba-chen-ne.
A kettle...........  till........ than-ne.




CHEPEWYAN  AND DOG-RIB VOCABULARIES.                         015
English.                  Chepewyan.                 Dog-Rib.
Evening...........   eetzson...........   eya-kka-ezza.
Morning...........   kompe..........   sa-tcho.
Colors-black.......   tel-zonne..........           ta-zun.
white......  tel-ka-ye..........  tel-ka.
red........   tel kkosse.........   et-tel-kkos.
green.......  ta-ecloze..........  ta-eck-cles.
blue......  not distinguished from   ten —cle'.
black
yellow......  tel-thoi...........   tel-thoi.
The sun...........   ssa..............   ssa.
The moon..........  et-cha-aza.........  tthe-tha-za.
A star.............    thun.............   thln.
(The Great Bear)....      (ya-ee-telli).......     (ya-tha.)
English.            Dog-Rib.             English.            Dog-Rib.
Snow......... yya.                      Old.                 e-e-ranna.
Ice.........   t-than.               Dear (beloved).  The  word   unNumerals-1           en-clai.                                    known to the
2..   na-kka.                                      language.*
3..  tta-rgha.             Wise.........   koo-rac-yon.
4.. tting.                 Foolish.......  na-a-ghal.
5..   sa-soo-la.           Strong.......    na-tz-ap.
6      ut-ke-ttai.          Weak........  pa-a-ttha-to7..   kkosing-ting.                                 rghelli.
8..   etzenting.           Right.......   nochnesse.
9.   kka-hooli.           Left.........  intzesse.
10.. ho-nanna.              My friend...    tza-teleg-ga.
20.    nou-nanna.           My companion..  tza-onenya.
Good.........   naa-zo.                  Head........  tzat-the.
Bad..........  naa-zo-heli;            Eyes.........   tzen-nhae.
dzoun-de.        Nose........   tze-etze.
Beautiful.....   bur-a-oonde;           Mouth.......   tze-th.
tzoo-na-e-ti.    Ears........   setz-r-rgha.
Ugly........  pa-chi-ri.             Hair........   setz-the-rgha.
Large........  natza-konde; in- Tongue.......  tze-tthou.
cha.             Teeth........  tze-w-who?
Small........   tzoo-ta.               Neck........   tze-e-e-cottle.
Heavy........ net-ta; hinka.    Arm.....   tze-int-chinne.
Light........   hin-ka-he-li.          Hand.......   ssa-la.
Dark.........  tel-zen.                Foot........  tze-ka.
Bright.......  atz-za.                 Legs........   tze-thunna.
Low.........   ne-otzin-ik.           Canoe paddle..  ola; tho.
High.........  tan-ne-e-tha.          Here........   d-jahn.
Hard.........  tan-y-eet.              There........   a-c-ya.
Soft..........  taa-yeet-heli.         Where?.......   djhan-tin?
New.........  e-e-yes-e.                When.......   kkonde.
* I endeavored to put this intelligibly to Nanette, by supposing such an expression as
ma chore femme, ma chore flle. When at length she understood it, her reply was (with
great emphasis):' I' dit jamais ca. I' dit ma femme, ma file."




516             VOCABULARIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
English.         Dog-Rib.          English.          Dog-Rib.
Which........  mee.                Take care'.....    ca-re.
What?.......  et-cloy?           Make haste....   aga-annite.
To me........  tzen-ez-etze.      Get out (va t'en)  or-rhink-la.
To him.......  ne-ghon-ern-etze. Where is it?...  ye-in-kon-ecla?
To you.......  ne-nin-etze.       Carry this for me  sse-ragh-di-ach.
To us........  e-e-cla-toon-nim- Don't touch that  perrone-te-sonna.
etze.          What  do  you  na-nu-at-cloy?
I don't under-  ne-ad-'hear-des-    want?
stand             tha-helili.    What  do  you  etcha-nette-ousaI don't speak   (same  sentence    want for this?    nousa-ou-sinCree             taken down.)                        ne?
I won't give it  na'rha tchou-  Give me a piece  tza-twe-tza-ganyou               heli.            of tobacco        a-two.
I will give it to  na'rha ochou-  I have no tobacco  tza-twe-ta-ooyou               eze.                               twe.
What shall I give  than-etcha-na-   Hold this.....  Ou-net-ton.
you for this?    rha-ocla-hdze? Whose is this?.  me-etze-hande?
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