The “Conny” or “Inconnu.”
The “Conny” or “Inconnu.”
Mr. Harrison mentions that in 1906 in the country between Point Separation on the Mackenzie delta and Liverpool bay on the Arctic coast, at the mouth of a small river, his Esquimaux caught several huge pike, one of which he weighed and found to scale forty-two pounds. They were excellent eating, but they tore the nets to pieces. This stream, Mr. Harrison says, is fifty yards wide, and is thickly timbered on both banks.
The Whaling Industry.
It is not proposed to discuss here the fisheries of Arctic ocean and of the islands which lie therein, but having come down to the mouth of the Mackenzie we might well devote a couple of paragraphs to a fishing industry actively prosecuted in the immediate vicinity.
In his annual report dated Fort Macpherson February 16, 1910, Inspector G. L. Jennings makes the following reference to the whaling industry in northern waters:“In August, 1909, the steamerKarlukarrived at Herschel island. She is an independent whaler, the stock of the venture amounting to thirty-two thousand dollars, being owned by the captain, the officers, and some merchants of San Francisco. TheKarlukcruised in the neighbourhood of Baillie island and Banks Land until the close of navigation. She returned to Herschel island on September 23, having killed eleven bowhead whales, eight of which I understand were taken in Canadian waters, north and east of Cape Parry. The value of this cargo of eleven head is, by an estimate at the present low price of bone, eighty-five thousand dollars. TheKarlukis wintering at Herschel island and will return to the eastward by first open water. As she will have the field to herself for at least six weeks before any other ships can arrive from the westward, the chances are that she will make another large catch, and will no doubt leave in the fall of this year for San Francisco with a cargo of bone valued from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars upwards. The value of the trade of theKarlukin pelts will also be several thousand dollars. I think it is greatly to be regretted that no Canadian whaling ships or traders from our Pacific coast come into this territory, instead of leaving everything to the Americans. With a good class of trade goods, no cheap trashy stuff, and having no duty on these goods, selling or trading at a reasonable profit, the whole trade of our Arctic coast could easily be secured. I think it is but a matter of a very few years before American trading concerns open stations at Herschel island, Kittigazuit and Baillie island. If a Canadian firm was established first there would be no opposition.”
In a later report the same year, Inspector Jennings states that theKarlukhad killed nine whales during July, making twenty in all for two seasons with an approximate value of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. He had also fur to the value of ten thousand dollars received in trade. On leaving Baillie island on August 14, theKarlukcruised along the south and west coast of Banks Land, north of Cape Kellett, to north latitude 72·31°. She left Herschel on August 26 and reached Nome, Alaska, on September 3.
THE ARCTIC PRAIRIE
THE ARCTIC PRAIRIE
CHAPTER XIX.
Explorers Declare The Term “Barren Lands” a Misnomer.—Some Notes About the Chief Rivers and Known Lakes—An Inland Waterway for Steamers via Chesterfield Inlet a distance of Five Hundred and Fifty Miles Into the Interior.—The Progression of the Seasons.—The Country Similar to the Tundra of Siberia.—A Limited Amount of Agriculture may be Possible in Places.—Natural Prairies in the Valley of the Thelon.
Most of the recent explorers and travellers who have visited the vast sub-arctic region extending from the present boundaries of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta to Arctic sea, and lying between Hudson bay and the heights of land defining the eastern limits of the watersheds of Mackenzie river and of the rivers flowing into the Arctic sea, north of Great Bear lake, have protested against the application to the country of the term “Barren Lands.” For instance we find Mr. David T. Hanbury (See p.21) in his well known volume “Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada” writing:—“I have always maintained that ‘Barren Ground’ is a misnomer for the northland of Canada. No land can be called ‘barren’ which bears wild flowers in profusion, numerous heaths, luxuriant grass, in places up to the knee, and a variety of moss and lichens. It is barren only in the sense that it is destitute of trees, hence the name ‘Dechin-u-le’ (no trees), which is the Indian name for it.”
In 1907, Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, the author and artist, made a trip into the barren lands via Athabaska river, Lake Athabaska, and Great Slave and Great Bear lakes. Describing his trip in a course of lectures, Mr. Seton declared that the barrens were not in reality barren in any sense of the word. Nature had seized every available cleft in the rock, and had massed it with anemones, Athabaska roses, and beautiful flowers of all hues. Between the vast flower stretches the bare rock was covered with rich mosses of varying colours. “In fact,” he said, “it seems that nature began at the barrens with a full palette, and when she got down to the tropical regions there was nothing left in her tubes but green. The scenery surpasses that of the central west in the beauty of the hills and the manifold variety of wild flowers.”
Term “Barren Lands” a Misnomer.
Mr. E. A. Preble gives us this sketch of the scenery of the Barren Lands eastward of the Coppermine:—“Thousands of lakes dot its surface, and they are often bordered by grassy plains and gentle slopes, on which, during the short summer, the bright flowers of a profusion of shrubby and herbaceous plants lend theirbeauty to the landscape, and prove the appellation “Barren Grounds” to be a misnomer, though in many parts, from the nature of the soil, there is little plant life. Alders (Aldus alnobetula) occur in a more or less dwarfed condition in favourable places well into the treeless area, and several species of willows, some of which here attain a height of five or six feet, border some of the streams as far north as Wollaston Land. These are the only trees which occur even in a dwarfed state on the barren grounds proper.”
Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in one of his reports, describes the Barren Lands as consisting “very largely of rolling plains, underlain by stony till and covered with short grass or sedge.” He adds:—“Doubtless the ground is permanently frozen a great distance below the surface, and the surface in summer is almost constantly wet, like the plains of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan in early spring. Rounded rocky hills rise here and there through the clay, and on these, as well as often on the more stony parts of the till, the surface is dotted with a thick growth of lichens, such asAlectoria ochroleuca,A. divergens, andCentraria Islandica. Many flowers brighten these plains during the short summer months.”
As the country has been so long known as the Barren Lands, it would at present scarcely be recognized by any other designation, although when the exploitation of its mineral wealth once attracts population, it will some day be known by some other and more suitable name—“Hearne,” for instance, after the cognomen of the first white man who undertook to explore its natural resources.
Authorities differ in their definitions of the limits of the Barren Lands. Some consider the territory coming under that designation as extending much farther south in the vicinity of Hudson bay; others include in the Barren Lands most of the area immediately north of Great Bear lake. Mr. Preble, the most recent scientific explorer to report officially upon the country, under the heading “The Barren Grounds”, includes the area lying to the northward and northwestward of Great Bear and Great Slave lakes. J. B. Tyrrell, M.A., B.Sc., F.G.S., in a paper read before the British Association at its Toronto meeting in 1897 entitled “Natural Resources of the Barren Lands,” confined himself to a roughly triangular area bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean, on the east by the west coast of Hudson bay and Fox channel, and on the southwest by a line extending from the vicinity of Churchill on Hudson bay, northwestward, roughly at right angles to the magnetic meridian, crossing Kazan river at Ennadai lake, Telzoa river at Boyd lake, passing south of Clinton-Colden and Aylmer lakes, across Point lake and down the east side of Coppermine river to within fifty miles of its mouth, and thence striking westward across Anderson river till it reaches the Arctic coast near the mouth of Mackenzie river.
Mr. Tyrrell’s Definition.
According to Mr. Tyrrell, this line follows very closely the line of the mean summer temperature of 50° Fahr. south of which some of the most hardy trees can grow and ripen their fruit, while north of it the summer is not sufficiently long or warm, to allow even the most hardy trees to bring their fruit to perfection.
This portion of the Barren Lands, according to Mr. Tyrrell, has a greatest length from the southeast to northwest of twelve hundred miles; a greatest breadth from southwest to northeast of seven hundred and fifty miles, and an area of four hundred thousand square miles, a region twice as large as the province of Ontario, or more than three times as large as the whole United Kingdom.
It will be observed that Mr. Tyrrell leaves out of consideration in this paper a couple of areas included in the term “Barren Lands” as used in this chapter, namely the country south and southeast of the eastern arm of Great Slave lake, and a triangular piece of country in the angle between the same sheet of water and Yellowknife river. Mr. Tyrrell also considers the Arctic strip of country north of Great Bear lake to the mouth of the Mackenzie as forming part of the Barren Lands.
In this paper, Mr. Tyrrell makes the following comprehensive reference to the physical geography of this extensive region:—He says:—“In general character the country is a vast undulating plain, underlain by a stony clay, and covered with a short grass or deciduous Arctic plants. In certain sections no rising ground can be seen for miles around, and in other sections rocky hills rise through the general covering of clay. The whole land reminds one forcibly of the great plains of Western Canada, the chief points of difference being caused by the differences in the underlying rocky-floor. The boulder-clay underlying the plains is deposited on a floor of soft Cretaceous shales and sandstones, and even where the soft rocks crop out at the surface they rarely form conspicuous hills; the boulder-clay underlying the Barren Lands is deposited largely on a floor of igneous, or hard, highly altered rocks, which, wherever they appear at the surface, form rocky knolls that stand up distinctly above the surrounding clay, while the boulder-clay itself, being formed out of material derived from the hard granitoid rocks, is much more stony than the clay of the more southern plains.
No High Altitudes.
“No part of the country rises to any great altitude above the sea, the highest point being probably the ridge of rocky hills called Stony mountains, which run along the east side of Coppermine river, and are said to rise about fifteen hundred feet above the sea. Ennadai lake lies eleven hundred feet above the sea, Dubawnt[24]lies five hundred feet, and the Yathkyed lake three hundred feet.
“The country may conveniently be divided into two distinct portions, namely, the Interior Upland and the Coastal Plain.
“The Interior Upland includes all those parts of the country lying above the highest ancient shore-line, either of Hudson bay or of Arctic ocean, and has a mean elevation of from nine hundred to one thousand feet above the sea. Its surface is composed largely of sandy boulder-clay, and rounded boulders or broken fragments of the underlying rock. Low ridges and rugged, irregular hills are common over the surface, while eskers, or long straight ridges of sand or gravel,extend in uninterrupted courses over hills and valleys alike. Here and there some ancient beaches mark the positions of small lakes which have long since disappeared.
The Coastal Plain.
“The Coastal Plain lies between the highest ancient post-glacial seabeach and the present seashore, sloping gradually from a height of five hundred to six hundred feet down to the sea-level. Much of this plain has a stony surface, like that of the Interior Upland, but it is diversified with sandy plains, and on all the steeper slopes gravel terraces or coast cliffs mark the lines of the old seashore. Many of the terraces fill narrow gaps between adjoining hills, and the lower ones are often strewn with shells such as are found in Hudson bay at the present time. The waves have reduced the surface irregularities of this portion of the country to some extent, but the more rocky districts, such as those in the vicinity of Chesterfield inlet are still, except for the presence of the little terraces, as rough and rugged as before they were covered by the sea, and the highest parts are probably barer, for any loose material that had been left on them by the ice-sheet of the glacial period has been washed by the waves into the depressions. The breadth of the plain in the vicinity of Churchill is about fifty miles. Farther north it becomes broader, until, in the latitude of Yathkyed lake, it has a breadth of one hundred and twenty-five miles, and at the north end of Dubawnt lake extends westward for three hundred miles. North of Dubawnt river its extent is not yet known, but many of the old sand plains and terraces reported from the banks of Backs river probably mark old shore-lines on this Coastal Plain, there sloping northward toward Arctic ocean.
“In a few places the coast-line is fairly high but as a rule it is low, and slopes gently down into a shallow sea. The whole country has a fairly general slope northeastward, and the three principal streams which drain it have a more or less parallel course in that direction, while other smaller streams flow more directly towards the coast, northward to Arctic ocean and eastward to Hudson bay.
The Three Principal Rivers.
“These three streams are Thlew-e-cho, Great Fish or Backs river, Telzoa or Dubawnt river and Kazan river.
“Backs river rises in Sussex lake about fifty miles within the edge of the Barren Lands, in a basin surrounded by sandy hills, at an elevation of about five hundred and fifty feet above the sea, and after a course of six hundred miles empties itself into Arctic ocean a short distance south of the magnetic pole. This stream will always possess a melancholy interest for every man or woman of British stock, for at its mouth the crews of the Erebus and Terror, the two ships taken out by Sir John Franklin on his last ill-fated expedition, dropped in their tracks and died as they attempted to reach a place of safety and plenty.
“Telzoa or Dubawnt river rises in Daly lake a short distance south of the Barren Lands, and flows northeastward, roughly parallel to Backs river, until it strikes the wide valley which extends inland from Chesterfield inlet, where it turns abruptlyeastward and flows into the west side of Hudson bay, its total length, including Chesterfield inlet, being eight hundred and seventy-five miles.
“Kazan river rises in Kasba lake, fifty miles east of Daly lake, and flows approximately parallel to Telzoa river for about four hundred and ninety miles to enter the south side of Baker lake though the exact position of its mouth has not yet been determined. Of the smaller streams the Anderson, Ferguson and Coppermine are the only three which have been explored.”
Dubawnt Lake.
In his official report of his trip of exploration in 1893, Mr. Tyrrell gave some particulars about Dubawnt lake, situated a little south of the middle of the Barren Lands. He writes:—“Dubawnt lake is a body of clear cold water of unknown extent, the southern and eastern shores indicated by dotted lines on the map, having been laid down from rude sketches made by the Eskimo. Its western and northern shores were surveyed for one hundred and seventeen miles, but from the summits of the highest hills the opposite shores were nowhere distinctly seen. Its approximate altitude above the sea level is five hundred feet. By the Chipewyan Indians it is called Tobatna or Water-shore lake, possibly from the fact that the main portion of the lake is always covered with ice, and that in summer there is a lane of water between this ice and the shore. Its Eskimo name is Tulemalugua. Judging from subsequent Eskimo reports, it has two principal affluents. One of them flows into its southern side, and has scattered groves of white spruce on its banks. The other is Dubawnt or Telzoa river which we had descended.
Before the Senate committee of 1907, Mr. Tyrrell explained that the outline of the lake as he sketched it still appears on the maps. He added that the most recent government maps of the Barren Lands do not pretend to be complete. They merely show the lakes that are known. There are thousands of others that we know nothing of, because nobody has been through there. Some of the larger ones are sketched in. Mr. Tyrrell sketched in many, from the reports of the Esquimaux, and they still appear as he so sketched them on the map. The whole country is studded with lakes.
Water Routes via Chesterfield Inlet.
From the reports of Messrs. Tyrrell and Hanbury and Inspector Pelletier, we have obtained a pretty good idea of the outstanding features of the great system of inland waterways which find their outlet at tidal water at Chesterfield inlet.
In his report, speaking of Thelon river, which he discovered during his trip in 1890, Mr. J. W. Tyrrell describes it as “one of the finest in Canada, navigable for river steamers and other boats of light draught all the way from Hudson bay to the forks of the Hanbury, a distance of five hundred and fifty miles, excepting perhaps at two rapids on the river above Baker lake, where some improvements to the channel may be made.”
He continues:—“Just what length of time this route may be open for navigation I am unable to say precisely, but would judge that the river portion mustbe open for at least five months, and the inlet and larger lakes about a month less, that is during the months of July, August, September and October.”
Mr. C. C. Fairchild, who was attached to Mr. Tyrrell’s expedition and surveyed the waters between Baker lake and Chesterfield inlet, writes in his report:—“I am unable, owing to the short time at my disposal, to make anything but a cursory examination of the general depths of the water traversed, but I took soundings enough to satisfy myself that vessels
Drawing Ten Feet of Water
would have no difficulty in travelling from Hudson bay to the west end of Baker lake. Here boat navigation must end as far as the river between Schultz and Baker lakes is concerned, owing to rapids at either end of the river that would in low water not permit of the passage of any craft larger than a York boat.”
“Chesterfield inlet in the main channel exceeded five fathoms in depth at all points tried, and soundings were only taken when I could see bottom, which was plainly visible at thirty feet and even more.”
Inspector Pelletier of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, who went down that river on his way from Great Slave lake in 1908, describes the lower reach of Thelon river just above Beverly lake as flowing through “low lying country with willows and grass. A high ridge of bare hills is seen in the distant north, running east and west. The river follows along the range, winding through what I would call foothills, until it opens on Beverly lake. The country there is low lying.”
Beverly lake to Hudson bay is a stretch of barrens. No wood grows on that stretch but a few small willows in some very scattered spots and far between. Beverly lake is surrounded by comparatively low lying sandy country. At the lower end the land is higher. Just entering into Aberdeen lake the shores are rocky and immediately give place to low sandy soil. This extends for about thirty miles, when the country again takes a rocky appearance and the ridges get higher and higher to the lower end where hills of from four hundred to five hundred feet in height are seen, with solid rock formation. The north shore of Schultz lake is of high rocky ridges, in places four hundred feet high. When getting to the lower end it alters to sand and gravel and becomes low lying. At the outlet of Schultz river it again becomes rocky. Below the last rapid, near Baker lake, the country immediately becomes low lying and sandy and gravelly. The north shore of Baker lake is high and rocky; in places the bare rocky ridges advance and run into the lake, forming rough, bare points. The lower end of Baker lake is high, the ridges being about four hundred feet. Baker river flows between high banks of solid rock. The formation of the country along Chesterfield inlet is mostly rocky, and is quite low lying, with here and there a prominent rocky point, but none above two hundred feet, except at the lower end, near Deer island, where there is a collection of fairly high ridges.
Upper Reaches of the Thelon.
As to the higher reaches of the Thelon, Mr. J. W. Tyrrell says in his report:—“About two miles below the junction of Hanbury river, where we made camp,some measurements of the Thelon were made, from which the volume of the flow at the time was found to be over fifty thousand cubic feet per second. The width of the stream measured one thousand two hundred and twenty-seven feet, depth of channel five feet, and velocity three and a third miles an hour. These measurements being taken near the forks, show a less depth but greater width than exists at most parts.
“Eight miles farther down the stream soundings were taken, showing a depth of fourteen feet in mid-channel. At this point well grown spruce trees were plentiful on both banks.
“About thirty or thirty-two miles below the forks, two slight rapids occur where ridges of rock project into the stream, but they are so slight as not to seriously interfere with the navigation of the river either by canoes or large river boats.”
Artillery Lake Region.
In the report of his 1908 patrol, Inspector Pelletier thus describes Artillery lake,[25]northeast of Great Slave lake, and the portages thereabout:—“The south end of Artillery lake is rocky, the ridges are of solid rock, and hills do not rise above three hundred to four hundred feet above the lake. Farther up the general character of the country changes into rolling plains of sand, with more or less vegetation. In places bare sand ridges are seen of fine yellow colour. This again changes at the upper end of the lake. There the formation is more broken, solid rock ridges are few, but large boulders are numerous, and sand gets coarser, I might say gravelly, a mixture of clay and gravel, with boulders more or less numerous. All the country is comparatively flat; there are no high hills anywhere more than two hundred to three hundred feet above water. At the northern end of Artillery lake are some sand ridges, also at the northern end of Kasba lake. At the portages the ground is clay, with gravel and boulders, and in places, if one walks over the same spot a while to and fro, he will find that the ground will move under his feet and become dangerous. In poking a stick through the crust, water, air and mud immediately rush out. The whole country is covered with these places; they are usually bare of vegetation, and level and free from stones, affording good camping ground, but one has to be careful not to bustle too much or he will find himself sinking into a mud hole.”
Mr. Pelletier, in his report, speaking of his route from Artillery lake to Hanbury river, says:—“The stretch from Height of Land to below Lac du Bois is not considered as a stream. It is only a succession of lakes separated by short, shallow and turbulent streams of no size. Hanbury river proper begins from below Lac du Bois, where it takes the appearance of a river. Above it can only be called the headwaters of Hanbury river. The general conformation of the country is low, and only ridges of gravel, or stones, not exceeding eighty feet in height, are seen. There are no cutbanks of any account. The slopes are gradual in most cases.
A few notes, as to the progression of the seasons in various parts of the Barren Lands, taken from the journals and reports of a number of explorers, will prove interesting.
A Smart Thaw Early in May.
Back records “a smart thaw” at Fort Reliance at the extreme eastern end of Great Slave lake, on May 6, 1834, and mentions that patches of green were daily becoming visible. He farther on states:—“On May 13, a single goose, the harbinger of summer, flew past the house, and during the day it was followed by five more, all of which took a northerly direction. This was six days later than they had been seen in 1836 at Fort Franklin, though a higher northern latitude. A fly and a flock of small birds appeared in the evening, and during the three succeeding days we had gulls, orioles, grosbeaks, yellow legs, robins and butterflies.
“On May 18, the catkins of the willows were half an inch long, and the snow was fast disappearing from the ground.
Sultry Towards the End of May.
“Towards the end of the month (May) the weather became sultry, the temperature in the sun being 106°—an extraordinary contrast to that of January 17, when it was 70° below zero. The snow was all gone, except that which had been drifted to a great depth in the narrow valleys, and under steep precipices, and the Al-hel-dessy, to the westward, had burst its icy fetters, and opened a clear channel to the portage opposite the house; loons, gulls, and ducks took possession of the water, and seemed to contend which should make the most noise; some small birds also, very prettily marked, hovered about a short time, and then both they and the ducks suddenly deserted us.”
Mr. Hanbury, writing specially of the region northeast of Chesterfield inlet, states:—“There is never much snow on the ‘Barren Grounds’, and a few warm days suffice to lay the country bare. If spring overtook us far inland on rough ground, we should have an almost impossible march over bare ground to the Arctic coast. I therefore decided to begin that long journey not later than February.”
Spring at Chesterfield Inlet.
Mr. Warburton Pike, writing of May 1, 1887, at a whaler’s camp on Hudson bay in the vicinity of Chesterfield inlet, states:—“Water was standing in pools over the ice in the bay; the snow had disappeared except in the drifts; a light rain was falling, and the first goose was killed from the door of the master’s house; small bands of wild-fowl were passing frequently, and cranes were calling in the swamps to the southward; daylight lingered in the sky all night, but there was always a sharp frost while the sun was down.”
Mr. Hanbury, after crossing from Chesterfield inlet to the Arctic coast, writes:—“June is the one perfect month in the northland. The temperature is just right; there is not a fly or mosquito to trouble one. The land is clear of snow, with theexception of a few deep drifts and banks, and the walking is good, for the land dries with wonderful rapidity. The ice is still good to travel over. Plenty of salmon are now running.”
Mr. Warburton Pike, on his canoe and overland trip in 1890, when north of the east end of Great Slave lake on June 16, wrote:—“A few warm days made a great difference in the appearance of the country. Leaves began to sprout on the little willows, and the grass showed green on the hillsides; sober hued flowers, growing close to the ground, came out in bloom, and a few butterflies flapped in the hot sunshine, while we were still walking on eight feet of solid ice. Mosquitoes appeared in myriads; in the daytime there was usually a breeze to blow them away, and the nights were too cold for them, but in the calm mornings and evenings they made the most of their chance to annoy us.”
On June 25, Mr. Pike’s party planted their lodges on a high ridge overlooking Lake Mackay.
Ice on Aylmer Lake June 25.
At that same date the ice on Aylmer lake was still solid.
In 1821, when Franklin’s party started to descend the Coppermine on July 1, the lakes on its upper course were still covered with ice. Apparently the river had opened only a short time before. In 1849, Doctor Rae noted the breaking up of the same river near its mouth on June 28. At this time the leaves of the dwarf birches were out, and the leaf buds of the willows had begun to develop. The lower part of the river remained blocked with ice until July 13.
Mr. Pike relates that about July 10 the weather in the neighbourhood of the headwaters of Backs river “was variable in the extreme; two or three hot days would be followed by a snowstorm and once we were visited by a hurricane that did much damage to lodge-poles, and caused us to shift camp hurriedly to the lee-side of a steep cliff hanging over the river. July 10 was exceptionally hot in the morning, with the mosquitoes at their worst; in the middle of the day there was a thunderstorm, and at five o’clock the ground was covered with snow. The ice now began to show signs of rotting, and the channel of open water round the weather edge of the lake grew rapidly broader.”
Sunset at Half Past Eleven.
On July 19, according to Franklin, the sun set at the mouth of Coppermine river at half past eleven.
From the official report of Inspector Pelletier we find that at Artillery lake on July 23 “the atmosphere was quite smoky and warm.” On the morning of August 12 on Thelon river the ground was white with frost, and the ice on a kettle of water was a quarter of an inch in thickness. The sun got up warm, and the weather during the day was perfect. August 13 (Beverly lake) was “a warm still day”. August 31 (Chesterfield inlet) was “a nice still day, very warm.”
While on their way from York to Lake Athabaska, and descending Cree river, Sir George Simpson’s party, in 1823, picked “a good many ripe raspberries, currants and gooseberries on the portages” on July 30.
Mr. Tyrrell reports snow banks on the hillsides and great piles of rafted ice on the shore at Markham lake on Dubawnt river, south of Dubawnt lake, on August 3, 1893.
As to the close of the Barren Lands summer, Back mentions that while ascending the river which has since been given his name, on September 4, 1834, “a hard gale from the northwest indicated the commencement of the fall weather, and, while we were travelling, many hundreds of geese flew high past us to the south.”
Mr. Hanbury mentions that one year during his travels two inches of snow fell during the night of September 18 and ice formed on the smaller lakes north of Baker lake. He remarks:—“On my journey in 1899 we travelled on the ice with dogs the last days of June, and were beset by ice on Schultz lake on July 31. Now in the middle of September we had ice again, and it looked as if it had come to stay. We had not gone far when we were obliged, by the state of the weather, to put ashore and camp. The rest of the day was spent in repairing our tent, which had suffered considerably during the recent storm.”
Warburton Pike states (“The Barren Ground of Northern Canada”) that the ice on Great Slave lake is usually not safe for travel till the middle of December.
Ultimate Development of the Country.
In his paper read before the British Association at Toronto, Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, referring to the temperature of the Barren Lands and its bearing upon the question of the ultimate development of the country, had this to say:—
“In this connection it may be stated that while the mean summer temperature (which is below 50¼° on the Barren Lands) determines the limit of the forest and the possibility of the growth of trees, the mean winter temperature would probably determine the habitability of the country by human beings.
“Now Churchill is the coldest inhabited place on this continent, with a mean winter temperature of -20.5° Fahr., and it is not likely that any part of the Barren Lands has a mean winter temperature of -30° Fahr., while Yakutsk, a town of about five thousand inhabitants in Siberia, has a mean winter temperature of -40.4° Fahr., and many other places in Northern Asia have a still lower mean, one place having a mean winter temperature of -50.2° Fahr. Most of these places have, however, a higher summer temperature than is found in the Canadian Barren Lands, and are therefore within the limit of woods.
“It can thus be seen that Europeans and Asiatics live and thrive in a much more rigorous climate than is found even in the most inhospitable parts of northern Canada, and that therefore the climate does not offer any insuperable objection to settlement in that country.”
Present Inhabitants Two Thousand Eskimos.
According to Mr. J. B. Tyrrell (paper before the British Association): “The permanent inhabitants of the Barren Lands are about two thousand Eskimos, who live either along the coast or on the banks of Kazan and Dubawnt rivers. They subsist entirely by hunting and fishing, and the animals on which they liveare chiefly the Barren Land caribou and several species of seals. Besides these, about five hundred Chipewyan Indians usually penetrate a short distance into the Barren Lands from the south during the summer in their annual deer-hunt, but they retire southward into the forest to spend the winter.”
Like the Tundra of Siberia.
Doctor (later Sir John) Richardson was one of the first explorers to draw attention to the resemblance of the Barren Lands to the tundra of Siberia. In one place the learned scientist writes:—“The general character of the tundra of the east of Siberia is like that of the American barren grounds.”
Again he writes:—“In character the Siberian tundra is very similar to the American ones. Thus Wrangell says,—‘When one coming from the naked, frozen moss-tundra reaches the valleys of the Aninuik, which are sheltered by mountains from the prevailing cold winds, and where birches, poplars, willows, and low creeping junipers (Juniperus prostratus) grow, he thinks himself transported to Italy.’ ”
All who have visited the Barren Grounds agree that the prospect of agriculture ever being successfully followed there on a large scale is very slight, unless it is proved possible to develop the breeding of the Lapland reindeer and make of it a profitable meat raising industry, or is found practicable to domesticate the native reindeer or caribou. Some of the scientific explorers, however, think there is a prospect of a certain amount of barley agricultural produce, even grain of hardy varieties being raised in one part—the valley of the Thelon.
Limited Agriculture Possible.
Mr. J. W. Tyrrell says in his report:—“The Thelon valley, though affording good grazing ground for musk-oxen and caribou, can scarcely be looked upon as a desirable agricultural district, although I judge from the growth and great variety of plants observed there, that some of our cereals and most of our hardy vegetables could be grown in the Thelon valley.”
Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, brother of Mr. J. W. Tyrrell, in his evidence before the Senate committee of 1907, stated that to the west of Hudson bay and north of the line of the forest which runs from Churchill northwestward through Ennadai lake, and a short distance south of Dubawnt lake, there is practically no agricultural land. Mr. Tyrrell would not consider that any of the land north of the limit of forest growth was of any value for agriculture. The tree line starts practically at Churchill and runs northwesterly. South of that there are trees, and north there are none. The country north of the tree line is partly rock, but the greater part broken rock and boulders, a rough stony country without any great elevation, and very little vegetation of any kind, except a great many Arctic plants and sedges. Mr. Tyrrell believes the country is permanently frozen. It did not appear to him that there would be any possibility whatever of growing anything on it. That, in Mr. Tyrrell’s opinion, eliminates from an agricultural standpoint that portion northeast of that line.
To the west of Hudson bay and south of the line of the treeless land which runs from Churchill northwestward through Ennadai lake, and a short distancesouth of Dubawnt lake, there is a belt from one to two hundred miles in width of country that is sparsely wooded. It is not a forest country, but it is wooded along the streams, and in the more protected places, but there is comparatively little wood of any value upon it.
In that country there are, Mr. Tyrrell said, some low lying areas along the streams and in odd places that would support a northern vegetation, but it is not eminently suited for agriculture. The ordinary plants that are grown in many northern countries could doubtless be cultivated in many places. There is very little humus, very little decomposed soil there, except just in the valleys.
Inspector Pelletier, speaking in the report of his 1908 patrol of his route from Artillery lake to Hanbury river, says:—“There are large stretches of arid country covered with boulders. Nevertheless all over is good feeding ground for deer.”
The country surrounding Hanbury river, Inspector Pelletier states, alternates from rocky ridges to sandy stretches and rocks broken up, with country scattered with boulders. Moss and grass grow very poorly down to Dickson canyon. From there on vegetation improves gradually until when, below the last fall, it becomes most luxuriant. The contrast is very noticeable.
Good Pasturage Along the Thelon.
August 9, while descending Thelon river, Inspector Pelletier’s party camped for the night on a big grassy flat with a clump of trees at the back of it on a little mound. The inspector says in his report:—“I got to the top of the mound, and with my glasses I could see an immense tract of prairie country growing good grass with a few little low trees in the far distance. This tract of land, if situated in a more accessible spot, would certainly make the very best ranching country, and there are many more stretches like this on Thelon river.” The day previous they had passed places where the banks of the river had washed away “showing very good and fertile soil.” Towards evening of August 10, the country, which had got quite barren about noon-time, resumed again a green and fertile appearance and became well-wooded.” The following day another section “barren in places” was passed, while later again quoting the inspector’s report:—“the country assumed a better appearance, and timber became larger and thicker, until it became a continuous forest alike on both banks, and as thick as on any river in the timbered belt. This kept on for about ten miles, and we camped near a bluff about eighty feet high, at the edge of the timber. The country then alters to low lying ground, and timber again grew, but very stunted, and only in bunches, which gradually became more scattered, and after fifteen miles disappeared totally to give place to long willows along the banks with large grassy flats farther in.”
Hardy Vegetables Might Grow There.
In his summary of observations on this section of his trip Inspector Pelletier states in his report:—“There are large stretches of prairie country (along the Thelon) growing grass profusely. The soil seems to be most fertile. I am told the river opens in May. If such is the case I would judge that some of the hardyvegetables would grow there. The days are very long in summer.” Accounting for the absence of native settlements from this valley, Inspector Pelletier says the Eskimos do not like timber on account of the flies in the summer and soft snow in the winter. They like the open barren coast, where the wind has full sweep, where the snow packs hard in winter and where game is permanent. The Indians, on the other hand do not inhabit this tract because it is far from trading posts, and because there is no birch for them to make their canoes.
Mr. J. W. Tyrrell, in his book “Through the Sub-Arctics of Canada,” says “Agricultural development is not to be expected anywhere in the northern parts of the district, but throughout the more southerly wooded portions there are great possibilities in this direction.”
The Midnight Sun.
The Midnight Sun.
The Natural Flora.
As to the natural flora of the country, Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in his expedition of 1893 across the Barren Lands, collected one hundred and twenty-four species of plants exclusively of algae and fungi. Reference has already been made to some observations made by explorers as to the flowers and other natural vegetable growths.
Inspector Pelletier, Royal Northwest Mounted Police, reports that between Beverly lake and Hudson bay “grass grows in favoured spots, but the balance of the country is bare.”
Describing the country at Bloody fall on the Coppermine, Franklin writes in his narrative:—“The ground is well clothed with grass and nourishes most of the shrubs and berry-bearing plants that we have seen north of Fort Enterprise,and the country altogether has a richer appearance than the barren lands of the Copper Indians.”
Mr. A. P. Low, of the Geological Survey, passed a winter in the far north near Cape Fullerton in the “Neptune”. He expressed the opinion before the Senate committee of 1907 that the whole northern region about Chesterfield inlet and Fullerton is unfit for agriculture. The tree line ceases on the coast close to Churchill and crosses off to the northwest towards the Mackenzie. The country on the mainland about Chesterfield inlet is quite low. The hills never extend more than three hundred or four hundred feet. There are no forests up there, and the only natural resources would be probably the minerals, the furs, and the sea and lake fisheries.
The Lure of the Barren Lands.
Mr. Hanbury, describing a view in the Barren Lands on July 23, writes in his book:—“Artillery lake looked very picturesque in the bright sunlight; the water, which was of a beautiful blue, was fanned into ripples by the gentle summer breeze. The ‘Barren Ground’ lay on either side beautifully green, and decked gay with a variety of wild flowers. Its charm, and the sense of freedom which it gives, are very impressive, but cannot be described.”
The following is a pretty descriptive bit from Mr. Warburton Pike’s book “The Barren Grounds of Northern Canada”:—“To the man who is not a lover of nature in all her moods the Barren Grounds must always be a howling, desolate wilderness, but for my part, I can understand the feeling that prompted Salatha’s answer to the worthy priest, who was explaining to him the beauties of Heaven. ‘My father, you have spoken well; you have told me that heaven is very beautiful; tell me now one thing more. Is it more beautiful than the country of the musk-ox in summer, when sometimes the mist blows over the lakes, and sometimes the water is blue, and the loons cry very often? That is beautiful, and if Heaven is still more beautiful, my heart will be glad, and I shall be content to rest there till I am very old.”