IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

i.O

IIM IIIII2J_

IIIIU 11^

2.0

1.8

1.25 1.4

1.6

^ 6" _

►

/}.

<-/.

^^^>

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

^\^

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-45CJ

C/j

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques

'4^-

Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.

Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

I I Covers damaged/

Couverture endommagde

Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul^e

Cover title missing/

Lo titre de couverture manque

Coloured maps/

Cartes g6ographiques en couleur

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/

Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

La reliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge int^rieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6t^ filmdes.

L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a dt6 possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont pcut-dtre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage
sont indiqu6s ci-dessous.

D
D
D

Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur

Pages damaged/
Pages endommagdes

Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul^es

Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu6es

Pages detached/
Pages d<§tach6es

ShowttT'ough/
Transparence

Quality of print varies/
Quality in6gale de I'impression

Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du materiel supplementaire

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont 6td filmdcs d nouveau de fapon d
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

rri Additional comments:/

IXJ Commentaires suppldmentair^s:

Pagination as follows : 516 - 532, [671-84 p.

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous.

10X 14X 18X 22X

26X

SOX

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

tails
II du
odifier
une
mage

The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:

Library of the Public
Archives of Canada

The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol —^-(meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

IVIaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
dif 'erent reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

L'exemplaire film6 f ut reproduit grdce d la
g6n6rosit6 de:

La bibliothdque des Archives
publiques du Canada

Les im&t^!es suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de l'exemplaire filmd, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimde sont film6s en commen^ant
par le premier plat et an terminant soit par la
dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont filmds en commengant par la
premidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le
symbols V signifie "FIN".

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre
filmds d des taux de induction diff6rents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul clich6. il est film6 d partir
de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche it droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la m^thode.

rrata
o

lelure.

32X

: ■ - 1 ■

r »■: ;

IN NORTH-WESTERN WlisDS.

The Narrative of a 2,600 Mile Journey of Explfrration in the great Mackenzie River hadn.
' BY WILLIAM OGILVIE, D.L.S., F.R.G.S.

By the terms of Union with the Do-
minion, British Columbia, in May,
1871, conveyed to Canada, in trust,
a belt of land, not to exceed twenty

three men who had left that city to
hunt buffalo in the so-called frozen
north. These men had not been heard
of for some time, and the paper pro-
ceeded to give a sensational account

miles, on each side of the projected of their presumed wanderings, pictur-

Canadian Pacific Railway line. It was
found that much of the land in such a
belt had already been conveyed by the
Province to settlers and others, and to
compensate for this, 3,500,000 acres in
the northern corner of this Province,
adjacent to Peace River, was granted
to the Dominion.

Some material changes in this ar-

ing them as Arctic travellers, and
wound up by the expression — " When
last heard from they were at Edmon-
ton." Altogethei', the item sought to
convey the impression that these men
were attempting something almost un-
precedented for hardship and cold.
Now, I can safely venture the asser-
tion that any ordinary civilized being

rangement were proposed by the Gov- could spend his life about as happily

ernment of British Columbia ; in view
of which, and to gather some informa-
tion required for the proper selection
of the 3,500,000 acres in question, the
Dominion Government determined to
make an examination of this part of
the Province lying between the Liard
and Peace Rivers.

To make this examination, the
writer was selected, and received his
instructions therefor on the 5th of
June, 1891. A special canoe had to
be made for the purpose, and shipped
to Calgary by the Canadian Pacific
Railway. This delayed his departure
from Ottawa until the night of the
30th of June, or the morning of the 1st
of July.

As the thriving little town of Ed-
monton has now, and had very nearly
then, railway connection with the
rest of the wor^l, I will begin with it
the account of the journey.

The name of this place recalls a
ridiculous item copied by an Ottawa
paper some weeks ago, fropi, if I re-
collect aright, a Minneapolis paper,
giving an account of the travels of

and comfortably in Edmonton as in
Minneapolis — any way, as much so as
in any town of the same size in the
State of Minnesota. Edmonton is a
town of several hundred inhabitants,
and four or five churches, good schools,
two lines of telegraph connecting it
with both the east and west, several
doctors, lawyers, and surveyors, and
members of other professions. With
several grist and saw mills, numer-
ous stores and hotels, and lighted by
electricity ; with a large coal mine
just outside the limits, and railway
communication putting it within three
days of Minneapolis, it was not a bad
place in which to be "last heard from."
Edmonton is, to use a stereotyped
phrase, " beautifully situated " on the
north bank of the North Saskatche-
wan River ; though, since the rail-
way reached it, in 1891, quite a town
has started on the south bank. The
river here is about 300 yards wide,
and, except at very low water, permits
the ascent 'of the ordinarv flat-bot-
tomed stern-wheeled steamers, such
as navigate the Missouri and other

(\a5)

^/^

<?^

/N NOR T//- IVES TERN IVJLDS.

Si?

rivers iii tlio western United States.

Before the days of the C.P.R , sev-
eral fine steamers of this kind pHed in
this river from its mouth to Edmonton.
They could ^o farther up if necessary.

The ascent of upwards of a thousand
miles, against a current of four to six
miles an hour, put competition with
ahout a thousand miles of railway out
of the Held, more especially as the
navigability of the river was uncer-
tain, owing to the irregular and great
fluctuations in the depth of the water.

Just here I will warn the reader

he is known wherever he has lived,
and certainly if originality of charac-
ter can give a man a claim to the title,
then he is a Professor among ten thou-
sand. The Professor, by the way, was
our chef de cuisine, but, in addition to
his duties as such, he took much de-
light in instructing (Jladman and my-
self in the due performance of our
duties, from cutting a stick of firewood
to the reduction of a lunar distance.
All this gave him such infinite satis-
faction, that I very seldom interfered
with him, and, even if I had, he was

EDMONTON, 18!t<l.

that he is not to be regaled with un-
canny tales of adventure, still less
with grand iloijuent accounts of hero-
ism. He will simply get as plain a
history of the journey as I can place
before him.

First, then, as to i\\e personnel of the
])arty. With myself the readers of
this magazine are more or less fami-
liar, as they are also with ( Jladman,
who accompanied me on this journey,
as he did on my journey down the
Yukon and up the Mackenzie. Let
me introduce the other member of the
party as " The Pi'ofessor," for as such

NoTK. Sfx fi'iil of the views (fiveii in this niticle are by
(lovei'iior Si'hultz of Mnniloba.

invulnerable to reproach oi- persuasion.
His various dissertations on geology,
cosmogony, botany, astronomy, and
ethnology during the time we were
together would immortalize me, could
I re})eat them here. They certainly
were original, but that they were logi-
cal is open to dispute in his case as
well as in the case of every other cele-
brity. He always had a theory to ac-
count for anything and everything we
saw or heard of, and the theories wore
just as satisfactory to himself as if
the wisest and most leai'ned man in
the worlJ had propounded them.

Cmmt rle .SniiiviUe, and nie louiieii hy His Honor, Ueiif.

5i8

THE CA NA DIA N MA GA ZINE.

On the inoi'nint);ot" tlie lOtli of July
wo left Eflmontoii witli one canoe, the
kelson, fixed on top of a warfjron-box,
and part of our supplies for the trip
in the box beneath : the remainder of
them were in a cart. We had a team
and buckboard.

The distance between Edmonton
and " Athabasca Landing," on the Ath-
basca River, is, bj' the road, about 9o
miles. In an air line it would be about
82 miles. The first forty miles from
Edmonton passes through good coun-
try, it being prairie and woods mixed.
The soil is good everywhere, and much
of the timber is fair, but there is not
enough of it of marketable quality
to justify thought of export, although,
no doubt, it will yet be in demand in
the more open country to the south
and east. The surface here is undu-
lating, sometimes rising into high
knolls and ridges.

At the end of this distance, the con-
iiitions change ; the prairie merges into
the great northern forest that stretches
to the Arctic Ocean, but the forest
lires have in recent years destroyed
much of the wood. In 1883 and 1884,
when I first passed over this road, for
more than fifty miles south from Ath-
abasca Landing there was a continu-
ous forest, with much fine spruce tim-
ber in it. In 1801 much of the best of
it had been destroyed. As there are
only two or three settlers in the north-
ern half of the distance, it is impi.>ssi-
ble to prevent the spread of fii'es when
they are once started.

The supplies for all the Missions
and the Hudson's Bay Company's
po.sts in the vast Mackenzie River
basin pass over this route in carts,
w^aggons and sleighs. Besides this,
all the hunters and traders going north
go this way, so that several hundred
tons are yearly carried over it. The
Hudson's Bay Company had to cut the
road out wherever necessary, and
bridge or ferry all the streams, and I
believe they have liad to bet,r the
brunt of keeping it in repair ever since
it was first used. Whenever the push-

ing of our railway system i)ast Ed-
monton to the I.dinding is needed, no
serious diflficulty in construction will
be met. About midway of the dis-
tance, some knoUy country will be
pa.ssed over, but I think no more diffi-
culty will be found here than in some
parts of the prairie. The descent to
the river level near the Landing — som^
300 feet — will be easily made down
the valley of the Tawatana.

This stream rises near the height of
land between the Athabasca and Sas-
katchewan River systems. The name
Tawatana is Indian for " the rivei- be-
tween two hills." It got this name
from the Indians, because one coming
down the Athabasca River sees the
points formed by the intersections of
its valley with that of the Ath.abasca
valley, projected against the sky, and
they appear like two liigh knolls,
though in reality they are not knoll-
shaped.

We reached Athabasca Landing on
the morning of the 13th, just in time
to see the steamer Athabasca take her
departure.

The day was spent arranging mat-
ters for our early departure next
morning, and, as there was little prob-
ability of our being able to send any
letters out until our return here, we
all wrote several letters to friends at
home. In the evening Gladman and
I launched our good ca.ioe and had a
trial spin on the river. We encounter-
ed an Indian family going up the
river in a great, ugly hulk of a " dug-
out," made out of a very large balsam-
poplar tree ; and we amu.sed them
highly by paddling ai'ound them in a
circle and still ascending the river as
fast as they. Of coui-se, our canoe was
very light and theirs was very heavy,
but they had half a dozen paddles to
our two.

The river here is about 300 yards
wide, with a sweeping current, and at
mean height has an ample depth of
water for the steamer Athabasca. This
steamer was built here by the Hud-
son's Bay Company, in 1887. She is

♦

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

519

n stern-wheeled; flat-bottomed boat,*
capable of carrying 150 tons, and with
this load will draw about three feet.
It was originally intended that she
should ascend as far as the mouth of
the Lesser Slave River and go up it to
Lesser Slave Lake, thence along the
lake about ()5 miles to the Company's
post at the west end, but so far she
has not succeeded in doing this. The
lower part of Lesser Slave River is
generally shallow and rapid. Some
people say there are 19 rapids, some
say 21, but, though I have been over
the river hree times in summer and
once in winter, I have been and still
am under the impression that there is
only one. However, there is no use
in arguing over trifles : suflice it to say,
the steamer has no'; yet been able to
pass this one or those many rapids.
She has got so far as to have the end
of the last in sight, but, after many
days' trying to get over, and after
waiting for a i-ise in the water, fhe
had literally to turn round and w ilk
back.

For many years past the Company
took all its goods for the Peace River
<iistriet in by this route. They were
brought from Edmonton, or Fort Ed-
monton, as it was originally called, in
carts I Then they were stored in a
small building erected by the Company
for the purpose. York boats took
them from the storehou.se up the Ath-
abasca and Le.sser Slave Rivers to
Lesser Slave Lake, and over it to
Lesser Slave Lake post, where they
were landed and taken bj^ ox-trains
8(5 miles overland to Peace River
Crossing, and thence connnonly over-
land by carts, to Fort Dunvegan, and
soine down to Vermillion in scows.

York boats are usually constructed
to carrj'^ about six tons. The keel is
2.5 to 28 feet long, bow and stern
are made alike in shape, and the end
posts are given great sheer, to ofl'er as
little resistance as possible to strong
currents. These boats are generally
about 40 feet over all ; the width is
from 9 to 1 1 feet. They are common-

ly manned by a crew of ten men The
steersman's duty is obvious. The
bowsuian's is to stand on the bow with
a pole and sound as it goes along — for
in the swift, turbid water, bottom can-
not be seen — to help to get the boat
around sharp points, fallen trees, and
other obstruction.s. and see that the
hauling line does not get fouled on the
bottom or along the bank. The re-
maining eight, man the hauling line
by turns, four at a time, taking 'spells,"
as they are termed, of half an hour or
more. As soon as the pilot calls time,
the half on the boat jump overboard,
it may be up to their necks in water,
scramble ashore, run to the end of the
line, seize it and start, while those re-
lieved get into the boat as best they
can. In this way the boat is kept on
the move from L5 to 18 hours a day,
and so difficult is the pi-ogress tiiat,
on this route, the general rate of travel
is a little over a mile an hour. The
line used to haul with is not much, if
any, thicker than an ordinary pen-
holder, and is hard spun and strong.
Its chief requisites are lightness and
strength, for usually there is about
U)0 feet of it out — often more — and a
heavy line of that length would in
slack water and eddies give great
trouble to keep it taut, which, if it is
not, would cause great delay by allow-
ing the line to be caught in brush, logs,
or rocks in the river. A great deal of
the work formerly done by these boats
is now done by steamers, but there
are some parts of the river where
steamers cannot run, and the old stj'le
of navigation described still has to be
kept up.

Early in the niorning of the 14th
we loaded our outfit (in all about
1400 pounds) on our canoe, and with
Gladman in the bow, tl:e Professor in
the middle, and myself in the stern,
we started on what we expected to be
a 2,500 mile voyage in that caneo.

The Profes.sor was jubilant and look-
ed forward to immorts-lizing himself,
as he fully intended writing a glorious
account of his wanderings and heroism

520

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

ii
\\

for the Ktlinouton BnUefin. He
was full of (liscoveiy and .speculation,
and aniUKod uh by his droll fancies and
droller way of expressing them. His
vocabulary was not limited to Webster
or Woi'cester, and his pronunciation
wjis not confined b}^ orthoepy A pe-
culiarity of his speech, which would
attract attenticjn anywhere, was the
prolongation of vowel sounds. Being
full of geogra])hical knowledge and
the annals of discovery, he could not
refrain from talking about them.

Once he addressed nie as follows :

'• Say, Mr. Ogilvie ; do you think
tliey'U discover any continents or great
islands in the world yet ? "

" No, Professor, I don't think so : in
fact, I am sure we wont. Tlic world
has been travelled over enough now to
as.sure us there is nothing extensive to
be discovered."

'• Wall, that's what I say, but J had
an argument with a fellow not long
ago, an' he said they'd discover con-
tinents yet."

" What did you .say to him :' "

" Wall, I said, tor a man of his know-
ledge and education, 1 thouglit it was
a hderogonus kind of an idt-a."

" A what ? "

" A heterogonus idea."

" What's that '. "

" Don't you know '. "

" No, what is it f "

" Never heard the word before ! "

" No, what does it mean :" '

'• Never saw it in the dictionary ■ "

" Not to my knowledge. How il<>
you spell it ? "

" Wall, I don't I'emember, liut its
there."

" Well, what does it signify ? "

" Come now— honor bi'ight — bcjss,
yoii know what it means ? "

" I tell you nil. I never heard the
word before, and don't think I evei-
saw it. What do you mean by it s* "

" Wall it means, ah-ah kin' of-ah,
— oh, come now, — lionest— you know
what it means."

" No, 1 don't, I tell you. Cun't you
believe what I say ? "

" Why, that's curiou.s. Wall, it
means — ah — ah — wall, it meaas — a
kin' of a d d fool idea like."

" Yes, I gue.ss it does I "

" J)on't you think I hit him right?"

" Certainly you did : couldn't do it
better."

Were I to commit all th(.' Pi'ofeHsor'.s
(|UtH,'r remarks to paper, they would
till a large vohnne, and all just as or-
iginal as the one given. He knew all
science, but theology was his favoiite
subject, and he several times averred
tliat there were many souls in Meeker
County, Minnesota, who daily thanked
the Loixl for his ministrations there in
his early days. Nothing escaped his
attention, and everything was des-
cribed and explained, .sometimes to
his and our satisfaction, but often to
his satisfaction and our annoyance
or mere amusement. He cei'tainiy
never let us weary thinking.

Early in the afternoon we passed
.some families of Indians camped ou
the bank. Now, Indians expect all
passers to call, aiul at least treat them
to a smoke ; but, as we wei'e in a hurry,
I was not inclined to stop at all. They
hailed us with the usual salute ; " Ho,
bo joo" {ho)i jour). I tired back at
them some phrases in the Chinook jar-
gon which they never heard before.
It so dumbfounded them to hear
white men speaking in such a sti'ange
tongue, that without a word they
meekly watched us drifting by.

The Professor too, v/as amazed. He
prof(!ssed to know something of every
language under the sun except this,
and he vainly besought me to tell him
what it was and translate for him. I
felt so elated at knowing something
he did not know, that I would give
him no .satisfaction, and Gladman, who
knew what I .said, was eipially heart-
less: whereat the Pro fe.ssor vowed in
wrath that he would " learn that yet,
if it cost a farm. "

I would simply weary the i'ea(Jer
were I to only attempt to relate the
many original and ridiculous discus-
sions we had on our way. The reader

IN XL )A' 77/- ir/uS TURN 117/. DS.

521

GRAND RAl'ins, ATMAllASOA RIVER, KROH I'OINT ON EAST IIEACH, llELDW ISLAND.

iu;iy think me very foolish for indul}^-
ing in such fai'cical discussions : per-
haps I was, l)ut our lonoly position and
the stroncr temptation to which we
were exposed must be remembered.

I will give now some notes on the
Athabasca Riviu-.

From Athabasca Landiufj down
stream tlie river is free of hindrance
to navigation for about 120 miles,
when we reach Pelican Rapids. Tiiese
are not difficult to navigate ; the only
trouble in them arises from low water
and some rocks in the ciiannel. When
the water is high there is no danger
at all, as tlie steamer can easily ascend
under a good head of steam. It ap-
pears they take their name from the
presence of pelican in or about them
nearly all summer. Both times I
went down the river 1 saw some there.
A fair-sized canoe can be run down
these rapids with safety.

One hundred and sixty-five miles
below the Landing, Gi-and Rapids are
reached. This is the rapid of the
river, and partakes more of the nature
of a cataract than of a rapid. In the
middle of the channel there is an
island, over which ♦^hc Hudson's Bay

Company have constructed a ti'amway
on wliich to transport the outfits for
all the northern posts. The steamboat
landing is about oni; and a half miles
above the island, and the intervening
water is very shallow, with many
rocks and a very rapid current.
Thi'ough this the company has made a
channel by removing rocks. Between
this steamboat landin^c and Fort Me-
Murray the company does all its trans-
port with large boats, locally known as
sturgeon -nosed or sturgeon boats, from
tlie fact that both bow and stern are
spoon-shaped and somewhat reseml)le
a sturgeon's nose. These boats are cap-
able of floating about ten tons, and are
eaclunamied with acrew often or twelve
men, and when loaded draw upwards
of two feet of water. The time of
their ascent and descent varies much
with the height of the water.as in soine
of the rapids more or less portaging has
to be done, which varies with tlie
depth of water. Below the island in
Grand Rapids there are nearly two
miles of rough water, which in low
water requires much care in navigat-
ing to avoid rocks and shallows.
Grand Rapids are about two miles

I'il

52;

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE

loiiff, i\\v\ I cstiinntc n I'fill ol' iil)0\it
sixty-Hv(! t'uet for tliciii, ino.st of
which occurs in ah.iiit "iOOO feet. The
river licrc has, tlirou^fji past a^cs,
worn for itself ii ln-il in the soft saiul-
stoiic, alioiit three huiKh'cd feet deej).
Thickly scattered over the fiice of the
rapid may Ijo seen spheroidal, concre-
tionary masses of sandvitone, varyinf^'
ill size from a foot or two to 10 or 12
feet in diameter. These, harder than
the surrounding mass, have otl'ered
(greater resistance to the action of tiie
water, and have remained standing- on
the slope of the rapid in incalculable
numhers, addinif j^n-eatly to its rough-
ness. Midway in the rapid is a lar^e
timliered island, aiound which the
waters sweep, and, conver^ini;' below,
I'ush through a channel not more than
100 yards wide, while aliove the
island the river is from 500 to (iOO
yards in width. Tlie rush of water
through this channel is tremendous,
and reminds one forcibly of the rapids
below Niagara Falls. Standin<r on
the east bank of the river,justat the jiar-
rowest part of the channel, and look-
ing up at the wildly-tumbling white
waters dashing from rock to rock as
they sweep around the Hr-clad island,
while on either hand stand the tower-
ing and almost perpendicular sand-
stone clifis with their fringe of dark
green fir apparently brushing the
clouds, one sees a spectacle that in-
spires with aw^e and wonder, and one
that an artist would love to look upon
and feel to be worthy of the best
touches of his brush.

The greater volume of water flows
down on the west side of the island.
The channel on the east side is gener-
ally shallow. The descent in it is less
abrupt than on the west side. At cer-
tain stages of water the channel on the
east side can be run down in a good
canoe or small boat, if the voyager
does not mind running the risk of
getting his "stuff" wet.

In 1884, I passed my stuff down the
east channel in a boat manned by tw^o
men, and managed by a line held by

three nicii on shore. ( )n(' of the party
ran most of the way dovii in a heavy
dug-out canoe. On my last visit 1
was told (if a man niiiiiiiig down thf
east channel in a very small bark
canoe. It was a risky thing to do.
and had he been drowned W(.' would
say " served him right."

We reached the I'apids at noon on
the Kith. Here we found the steamer
ticid u]) at the landing-iilaee, discharg-
ing cai'go, and waiting foi- the boats
from McMurray. Astlieca])taintoldm»^
he was "oino; down to the island in the
mornin'jr, and he would put my cann(^
and outfit ovei- the tramway if I would
wait, I decided to remain. On board
I found my old friend .Jimmy Flett,
whom my I'eaders may recollect had
the great dance with Mother C'owly at
Fort (Miipewyan. We had a pleasant
chat togethei', and Jimmy gave me an
account of all that happened in hi."*
hori/on since I saw him nearly three
vears befoie. In honor of my visit,
some (jf the steamer's crew crossed to
the west side of the river, and painted
my name in huge white letters on the
sandstone cliff. A lob-stick was also
made to commemorate the event. A
lob-st'ck is formed by cutting all the
branches of a good-sized tree, except
a few near the top. The tree, after
the operation, presents adocked appear-
ance, and many such trees can be dis-
tinguished at a longdistance. Origin-
ally and generally, these lob-sticks
were made to commemorate the meet-
ing or parting of friends and parties,
but some times they were made in
I'ecognition of the gift of a pound of
tobacco, or a little tea. To many of
the old inhabitants, thev ax'e historical
land-marks, and with them in actual
or in mental view they could give a
fair history of the district.

]n the evening, part of the forward
deck was cleared, Jimmy brought out
his flddle, and the Red River jig was
indulged in. 1 have sometimes thought
that Burns must have witnessed some
such dance as this before he wi'ote
the immortal " Tarn O'Shanter." Cer-

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

523

taiiily till' uitclu'H rouM not liavc |iut
any iiiorr vi^Di'oiis cd'oi't into tlii'ii'
• liinciii^ tluin 'li> tlio patrons of tliis
jig, even if

"'I hey reeled, tiny set, they orosseil, tliry
cleekit,
Till ilka carline Hwat and reekit."

Tilt' Niuiiiit' on tilis ocritsion was
" Scliott, " the jtilot oi' the lioat, a liio-
lialt'-lirt'JMl. lit' is the t'asttst ilant'cp I
t'vcr saw. .lininiy was pi.t to it tt)
jilay as fast as Scliott ctiulii ilancf, antl

on tilt' li.'lt bank of the rivci-. This
wt'll is aliont sfvi'iitt'i'ii niili's liclow
(iranil Hapids, ami is sitnatctl in a
sharp lit'ml of the rivi'i'. Tlu> j^as
liulililis np all oviT tlu' bay in the
beml, but tilt' jiiiiicipal laitllow is
through a rift in the bank, flosf to the
water's t-ilgf — so c'lt)se, in tact, that at
high water it is covereil. Tho crews
of the boats often u.sc it to boil their
kettles, antl, when o:ice light(!il, it
burns until a strong gust of wintl puts
it out, or the water t)Vertlow!* it.

t\i^'^\H*

Si*'' '

■l-

"®T^""'' ■

''^•^H

■>^^^^--

.„.

■ •'"■^"^

HrV

. .^:^^l

i^ .

\tm^

^^H

I,0,VERINC! A SCOW OVER THE CASCADE RAl>n>S, ATHABASCA RIVER.

I am not sure but that at the finish
Jimmy was half a bar behinil. How-
ever, they ilivitletil between them the
admiration of all on boanl, anil as it
was dark we could not tell which was
in the greater state of collap.se.

Early in the morning, Schott and
part of the steamer's crew, dropped
down t"* this island in a .small boat.
We followed in our canoe. After some
delay a tram-car was procured, our
outfit and canoe were run to the other
end of the island, and from there we
re-embarked. The run over the rough
water below the rapids was .safely made,
and in about two and a half hours
we were down to the natural gas v/ell

Could all the gas flow be gathered
into one outHow, it would make a
large volume. Incautiouslj'', I applied
a lighted match to the rift, and paid
the penalty of having my face scorch-
ed, though not .seriously. The flame
fluctuated much in volume, dancing
up and down from two to five feet in
height. The gasburns with apale, bluish
flame, so far as I could judge, of much
heat, but little illuminating power.
The Professoi' hail many theories to
account for this gas flow, but as he
settled on none of them as satisfac-
tory, in justice to him I refrain from
giving any of his speculation.s.

Shortly after passing this, we me<>

524

THE CA AVI DIA N MA CAZINE.

the Meet ()l'ntur^oon-n(>H('d boats on its
way up to (irand Rapids for the
" stiitt'" lirouj^ht down by tlu' stcani-
or. It was several days overdue, and
we leai'ued that the eausfi ol" the de-
hiy was an epidi niie ot" Ui yrippr,
which seized on the majority of the
ercws at the same time, and n-ndered
the boats ,so short-iiandtMl tiiat tliey
liad to tie up for some days, and a
mes.scnffer was .sent back to McMur-
I'ay for lielj*. 'I'wo of the boats were
h'ft at the next rapids until th<( crews
left with theiM, consisting of all th(!
sickest men, should recover sulKciently
to come on. Many of tho.se we met
were not feelin<j fit for work, and some
of tiiem were prostrate in the boats.

This was the first time that the
malady had visited this part of the
eountiy,and these simple, superstitious
people looked on it with much con-
('(.'rn. Stranj(t! to say, it kept ahead
of us all the way to Simpson, arriving
one or two days befoi'c we did at every
post. I was {.jlad of this, for, had we
])receded it, on us would have been
laid all the responsibility of bringing
it in; even as it was, some of the
natives thought we sent it ahead of
us.

Most of the natives are very sus-
picious. They cannot understand what
sti'angera, who are not tradei's oi" mis-
sionaries, want in their countrj', and
they attribute ill-luck of anj' kind to
the baleful influence of the stranger.

Between Grand Rapids and Fort
McMnrray there are ten rapids. I ob-
tained from the pilot of the steamboat
(a man who was acknowledged by nil
1 inquireu of, to possess as complete
and reliable knowledge of the river
from the Landing to Lake Athabasca
as any man in the country), the names
of these rapids, and the best way to
run down them.

The first in the order of descent is
named " Bruld Rapids." It is about 25
miles below Grand Rapids. In it the
river spreads out from 250 or 300
yards in width to upwards of 400. In
mid-stream the water is shallow, so

nnicli so that largo trees straml on
the way down. 'PIk! channel is on the
left side of the river, and (piite elosi'
to the shore. It is not more than oni'-
foiu'th of II mile long, and by kefj)ing
not more than twenty or thirty yanls
from shore, tlu^re is no danger in
its descent. It aj)p((nrs the rapid
takes it name from the presence of an
extensive bi-ule. -Aboiit sixteen nules
bolow it comes " Boiler Hapids." This
is' quite Hu ("xtensive rapid, though
only the lower ]»artof it is very I'ough.
In high water the left side affords the
safest channel to run in, and in low
water the i-ight side. It takes its
nauK^ from the fact that tlie boiler in-
tended for the Hud.son Bay Company's
steamer on the lower river was lost in
the rapid, through the wrecking of the
scow which contained it, on its way
through in 18.S2. At the foot of this
ra])iil there is nuich rt)Ugh water,
which re(]uires a good-sized canoe for
its safe descent.

In sight of the lower end of the
last comes "Drowned Rapids." The
channel here is en the left .side, (juite
close to the shore, and were it not
for three or four large swells caused
by rock.s, it might be run down by
anyone, without any apprehension of
danger. It takes its name from the
fact that a man named Thompson
was drowned some yeai's ago by the
swamping of his canoe in running
through it. I had the misfortune, in
1884, to lose a member of my party in
a similar manner, though 1 have gone
through it myself twice, and ran
no risk that I was aware of. Less
than a mile from this rapid we enter
" Middle Rapid." This is not very
rough, but is somewhat shallow and
stony. The channel in this is on the
right side.

The next rapid is known as " Long-
Rapid," and the channel here is also
on the right side. The water in it is
not very rough.

Next in succession is " Crooked
Rapid," so-called from the fact that in
it the river makes a very short turn

IN NOR TH- WES TERS / \ '//. DS.

5-'5

round II liiiu-stnii<> point. TIm' cliaiinfl
is on the fipflit Hide, und is not ron^li,
witli till! exception ol'ii sninil ' elmte "
juHt lit the lieiid : this reipiii-e.s ciue in
a C'lnoe.

"Stony Kiipids " come next. In
tluini the chunnel i.s on tlie rif;rlit side,
and i.s not very ron<,di.

Tlie next i.s a|)propriately l\nown us
the " ('uHciidi!," the river t'allini^- oveia
ledge oi" rock al)out tiiree Fec^t lii^^'h.
Tlie channel is on the left sid", and
certain .stages of water permit lair-
.si/,ed canoos to descend it without
much risk.

'i'lie lust rapiil worthy ot" note is
known as " Mountain liapid," l»y rea-
son of the high hunks in its vicinity.
It is rather rough, hut there is a good
channel, which at the head is on the
left side, and in the niiildle there is a
piece of smooth water, through which
a crossing is made to ii.e right side,
which is ipiite smooth, whihs the left
side is very ) "gli.

The last of the series is known as
•' Moberly Rapid." It is only a ripple
caused by some rocks on the left side
of the river, in the midst of a swift
current. On the risjlit side, the water

is smooth enough for the pa*.sago of the
smallestcraft. Kioni the liead of (Irand
Kapids to Kort McMurray is upwards
of M.'j miles of river altogether too
hat! ftir the jiresent steamer to ascend,
it is the opinion of some, that with
proper appliances the prci.seiit steaniei"
might succeed in doing so, but it ap-

pears to me that such a project woul.l

^en.sivelab
sidei'able risk.

involve much expen.sive labor and con-

Tlie first cmtcrop of petroliferous
.sand is just at the head of Jioilei'
Kapids, and from here it is found nny-
where along the river for a distance
of 150 miles. In situ it pri seiits a
stratified appearance, and looks like a
dark grayish ruck, imt wle n exposed
to heat for a few minutes, it becomes
viscid ; hence on hot .sumiteii days the
clitl's exhibit loni; str ;. us of the sand
and tar crawling do.ui their s!( ,)es.
Ah the clitlis be(!ome weatl red, the
mixturi rolls to the bott<in, iU many
places forming a beach of tar-sand
along the river. When this is exposed
to the sun on hot days, if one stands
for some time on it, he will find him-
self slowly sinking into it.

The tar .sand is several hundred

if .

lin\Sr> KAl'IDS, ATI1AII.\S('.\ UlVER, KKOM THE FOOT OK THE ISLAND.

526

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

1 1

oozinj^ down the
into u basin and

feet in (le])tli, and ovorlios a Devo-
nian limestone, the first extensive ex-
posure of which is seen at Crooked
Rapids, and continues as exposed at
every point and rapid until we get
some forty miles bi'low McMurray.

Mr. G. C. Hotl'man, Chemist of the
Canadian Geological Sui'vey, reports
that " the tar or maltha, a« at present
found on the surface throughout a
large district on the lower Athabasca,
could be utilized for a bituminous con-
crete for the paving of roads, court-
yards, basements, and warehouses, and
for roofing. The tar is found cond)in-
ed with fine, colorless siliceous .sand,
which con.stitutes 81.73 per cent, of
the mixture.

At one or two points along the
river the tar collects in hollows which
are called tar springs, but there is
nothing subterraneous about these
springs. They are due to the action
of gravity, the tar
surrounding slopes
accumulating there.

The tar from these springs was
formerly used to pitch the outsides of
the boats used on the river. For this
pui'pose it was cooked as in the case
of ordinary boat pitch. On hot days
the odor from these tar sands is very
similar to what we notice when walk-
ing through a railway yard when the
sun has heated the oil-smeared ties.

The Professor was amazed at the
enormous exposures of this sand, and
racked his brain in vain to account
for its existence. He was not sure
but that it was due to the glacial
period. Generally, he believed, we
owe most of the North-West to that
time.

From Athabasca Landing to Mc-
Murray the ri *'er banks ai-e never less
than 300 feet high ; in the rapids they
are sometimes oOO. They are often
bold and bluff, forming picturesque
scenes. At McMurray there is a mark-
ed change in the surface features ; the
banks are seldom more than 30 or 40
feet high, and the river valley slopes
easily back to the general level of the

country. At many points along the
lower river extensive and beautiful
views {'."e seen from some of the river
reaches.

All the surrounding country ia
timbered with spruce and poplar,
much of which is merchantable, but
unfortunately the river system flows
awa}'^ from the settled parts of tiie
country, and as we have homes for
millions on the pr liries and semi-prair-
ies .south of this, which will take de-
cades to even partially occupy, this
timber is practically a sealed treasure
to us now. On some of the upland
swamps, tamarac and white birch of
small size are found, but they will
never figure in the country's assets.

We arrived at McMurray in the
afternoon of Sunday, the 10th of July,
and spent the remainder of the day
there. At this point the sturgeon-
nosed boats discharge their cargo,
whence it is taken down to Chipe-
wyan by the steamer Grahame, a sis-
ter boat to the Athahai^ca, but not
quite so long. The Grahame was built
at Chipewyan in 1882-3. Though not
a large boat, it is hard for a resident
of the civilized parts of Canada to
realize the innnensity of the task of
building her. Every inch of timber
used in her construction had to be
shaped by hand with axe or saw.
Every ounce of iron and machinery
used in connection with her had to be
hauled hundreds of miles in carts and
waggons, then taken down the Atha-
basca river 430 miles to Chipewyan,
and past several of the rapids in the
river some of it liad to be carried on
men's backs. Notwithstanding this,
and the fact that only wood native to
the country she was built in was used
in iier, she presents a good appearance,
and though now running ten years, is
a fair boat, and with some patching
is good for several year's yet. This
steamer also runs from Chipewyan
down Great Slave or Peace River to
Smith's Landing, the head of the
rapids in that stream. She also runs
up Peace River proper to the falls —

IN NORTH-WESTERN WfLDS.

5-V

A CR08SIS(! ON THE ATIIAIiASCA.

2.i0 miles — with the supplit8 for Fort
Venuillion on that river. .

The only hindrance to easy naviga-
tion this steamer finds between Chipe-
wyan and the falls is the Little Rapids.
This is about one hundred miles from
Chipevvyan, is 3| miles long, and really
is not a rapid at all. The river in its
lower reaches varies from one-half to
three-quarters of a mile in width, but
here it widens to a mile and a quarter
or more. The incline of the river bed
is somewhat steeper than the avei-age,
and the current is stronger, but there
is nothing to prevent its descent in the
smallest canoe. It is said that there
is a pretty deep channel near the
middle, but it is crooked and fringed
with rocks which constitute the only
ilanger. Even as it is, I never heard
of the Graliame touching anything
but the bank in this magniHcent river,
though she yearly makes one or two
trips to the falls. Jt will be found
that a good channel for nnich larger
boats than the Grahame can easily be
made through this rapid whenever it
is necessary to do so.

The falls are a perpendicular drop
of Oi feet, and have a width of a mile.
Above them is u rapid about a third

of a mile in length, and a full of about
eight feet. These falls are not a very
imprtssive sight, as the banks are low,
the timber scrubby, and, on account of
the width, tiie water is smooth. About
a mile and a half above the falls is
another rapid which, in time past,
has been a cascade : but the water has
worn channels through the rock over
which it fell, leaving large masses of
rock standing in the bed of the river.
The fall in this rapid is about eight
feet and is not more than 300 yards
long. This makes a total fall from
the foot of the falls to the head of this
i-apid of about twenty-five feet. Mr.
McKenzie, at Red Rivi r post, near
the falls, told me that there is a natu-
r;il channel on the north .side of the
river, from a point a little below the
falls to a point above the U])per rapid,
which could easily be converted into
a canal. Through it the waters of an
extensive swamp enter the river, and
the only rock-cutting on it would be
at the upper end to connect wiih the
river. Thif^ opinion is oidy given
from ordinary observation, and might
be modified by actual survey. I did
not see the place referred to, but think
Mr. Mackenzie's judgment can be re-

i M

;28

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

lied on. The falls and rapids do not
<;ause much trouble to the passage of
the empty York boats or scows, for on
the south side of the falls the waters
have woi-n the rock away, so that in-
stead of one perpendicular drop there
ai'e three or four of a foot or two each,
forming a channel some 60 or 80 feet
wide, down which the boats run quite
•easily, their impetus being restrained
with ropes from the shore. A natural
wharf is found at the foot of the falls
for loading and unloading boats.

Once above the falls, the (irnharac,
or a larger boat, would in ordinary
stages of water find no difficulty in
ascending to the Rocky Mountains,
about G40 miles. In very low water
there are three places where she
might, with a heavy load, touch bot-
tom, but she would not be completely
stopped. 'i\vo of these shallows are
near the mouth of Smoky River,
where the Peace spreads out over
gravel flats. The (ithor is near the
l)Oundary line of British Columbia.

Early on Monday morning we took
our departure from McMurray. It
was a beautiful day, delightfully clear
and breezy. The river liere runs in
long, straight reaches, which v/ere
ever opening some new scene of
beauty. Now it would be a far away
vista of dark-green spruce, set in a
field of emerald poplars, whose snowy
white trunks reflected the sunbeams
in showers of beauty : again, a dark
ridge sharply outlined against the
azure sky, with its dusky sides dotted
with the yellow foliage of the no" jh-
ern birch, and all bathed in that in-
describable crystal atmosphere one
seldom sees in our smoke-laden, vapor-
saturated ail'. All day we felt the
impress of this scene, and were hushed
in silent admiration.

By sundown we had ]>ut seventy
good miles between us and McMurray,
and were looking forward to making
one of the (]uickest trips to Chipe-
wyan on record — but record in that
region is traditional. Alas ! we were
< loomed to disappointment, for on the

morrow rude Boreas was up betimes,
and angrily forbade further trespass
on his territory. We impertinently
disregarded his command, andstai'ted
to make further invasion in his do-
main. He, however, was not to be
contemned with impunity, .so rose up
in his might and smote us, so that a
four-mile-an-hour curi'ent and three
lusty paddlers could make no progress
against him. He raised the water into
respectable billows, which covered us
with spray, and ignominiously we had
to retreat to the shore, and — before we
could get comfortably' fixed — to pun-
ish us for our temerity, he deluged us
with a cold rain, which kept us under
canvas, shivering all the rest of the
day. To appease him we fasted initil
morning — that is, we ate nothing
warm, for fire was out of the (juestitni.
Next morning he relented somewhat,
but kept a tight hand on us, and we
could make only four miles in an hour
and a half : so we landed on a point
where some Indian huts were erected,
and a few potatoes had been planted.
The Indians were absent. We made
a thorough exploration of the place.
The Prof essor found several varietie s- ^
of CorfaTyne, which he defined to be
" a very precious stone." ^i» also f^^
found different specimens of iron
" prT-iltes," which he informed me was
" a kin of iron ore," and when I re-
marked : " Oh, then, it is valuable."
he advised me to have nothing to do
with it, as a " hull county of it ain't
worth a — - — I " As no two of his
specimens agreed in appearance, nor
any of them possessed the essentials
of those minerals, I doubted his min-
eralogy ; but contradicting him in-
volve(l a useless argument, and 1
meekly accepted his information.

About noon, Boreas blustered him-
self into collapse, and we proceeded at
such speed that we were in the al-
luvial flats near the lake at sundown.
These flats undoubtedly occupy a part
of the original Athabasca Lake, and,
geologically speaking, not veiy long
either. The soil in them along the

IN NOR TH- \ VES TERN 1 1 'JL DS.

529

'Me

river is a ricli, Mack loam, and tlic
surface is covered with tine, large
spruce tr^es, collectively the best tim-
ber I have seen anywhere in the terri-
tories. Close to the lake, some of the
Hats are not yet timbered, and some
of them only partially so. On some
of the last there are great accumula-
tions of drift-wood, brought down by
Hoods from fhe shores of the i-iver.
From Athabasca Landing to the lake
is about 415 miles, but as this is only
a little more than half the course of
the Athabasca — all of which is heav-
ily timbered — we can well imagine
the largeness ol the source of supply
of the firift-wood.

I.OOKINC) UP TIIK ATIIAIIASCA, " AT DROWNKI) KAl'IDS

As this x'iver rises in the Rocky
Mountains, in sunnner it is fed by
melted snows ; consequentl}', like all
such streams, it is sul)ject to groat
Huctuations in height. It is not un-
usual for it to rise several feet in the
course of a few hours. While 1 was
at Grand Rapids in liS(S4, it rose four
feet in onenight, but fell almost as
rapidly. These Huctuations are gov-
erned by the weather in the mountains.
A warm day or two turns so much of
the snow into water that the narrow
valleys are gorged. A cold day lowers
the river below its usual level. The
only time the watei" maintains its
usual height is the autumn, when the
snows are nearly all melted, and the
weather in the mountains is colder.

Near the lake we pv^ssed some Chip-
ewj'an Indians camped on one of the
arms of the delta. They were all sick
with la grippe. Old and young, all
came and stood on the bank, and
raised their united voices into a heart-
rending wail, while pronouncing the
word of such import to Indians —
" Medicine ! " I was soi-ry for them,
but had nothing to give them, nor
could I help them, so I fired at them a
concentrated volley of Chinook, before
which they retired in confusion, and
we passed in peace.

By nooi' we were in sight of the
lake, but one of the channels we pass-
ed through was so choked with drift
timber, that it
was near sun-
down before we
emerged from it.
I passed through
this channel in
1884, when it was
perfectly clear.

Across the lake,
eight miles to Fort
Chipewyan, we
(|uickly went, and
made ourselves at.
home for a few
days. We fountl
nearly all the peo-
ple of the place
were away on the steamer Grd/nimt',
which was down Great Slave River
at Smith's Landing, one hundred miles
from here.

Before many of the cities of Canada
were thcightof, this was a Houri.shing
trading ],-xst. In the last years of the
18th century, it stood on t'.e south
shore of the hake, some twenty or
more miles south-east from its present
site. From there in June, 1789, Alex-
ander Mackenzie — afterwards Sir
Alexander — started witli some Indians
on his voyage down the great river
which bears his name, 1500 miles to
the Arctic ocean, and thi'ee years later
he started on his celebrated journey
up the Peace, and across what is now
British Columbia, to the waters of the

III

530

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

Pacific. He wintered on the bank of
the Peace, nearly opposite the mouth
of Smoky River. The crumbling re-
mains of the houses he erected then
were pointed out to me in 18(S3. In
the sunnner of 1793 he crossed to the
sea and returned.

Early in the present century the
post was moved to its present site,
where it will probably remain while
it exists. It is situated on a rocky
point at the west end of Lake Atha-
basca, from which there is a beautiful
outlook. The lake here is dotted with
rocky islands, some of them rising
([uite high. Four miles from the post
a channel known as the " Quatre
Fourche," leaves the lake, and connects
its waters with Peace Rivei*. This
channel is the highway from the Foi-t
to Peace River, yet it can not be call-
ed a part of that river, for, when the
lake is high and the river low, the
waters flow through it into the river,
and vice vav^a. It is narrow but deep,
and resembles a canal cut through the
alluvial flats, which now, as at the
mouth of the Athabasca, occupy' a
part of the original lake. This canal
is nearly thirty miles long. Tlie
passage to Great Slave River, locally
known as River de Rocher, and the
distance from the post to "Great Slave "
or " Peace" River, is about thirty miles
long. A few miles down this stream,
a ledge of rock crosses it which causes
a ripple in low water. The Grahame
has sometimes touched when cro.ssing,
but lias never been seriously delayed.
In ordinaiy water, however, she has
no trouble.

I remained several days at Chipew-
yan getting observations to determine
its position, from which I deduced its
latitude oH' 43' 02" and longtitude
111 10' 24".

The lake here lies between two
widel}' separated geological forma-
tions. The last rock expo.suros on the
south side are cretaceous sandstones ;
the noi'th shoi-e is formed of Lauren-
tion gnei.ssoids.

Generally there is very little soil

near the post on the north shore. At
the po.st there is aconiparatively large
area of sandy soil, which is utilized as
gardens by the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, the Anglican Mi.ssion and a few
of the Company's servants. The Ro-
man Catholic Mission is across a bay
about a mile west of the post. This
mission, some years ago, drained a
small lake and swamp into the lake
and a portion of this drained area
they still cultivate. On this was
grown wheat which won a gold inedal
at the Centennial Exhibition in 187().
The fact that such grain was grown
upwards of 1,000 miles farther north
than Toronto helps us to realize the
importance of our great North. We
may <iualify this fact with as many
failures as we may ; it is still a fact —
such wheat has several times been
grown in the past, and can be again.
1 have seen potatoes grown at this
post which in yield, size and quality,
would compare very well with the
same tuber in any part of Ontario.

Several head of cattle are kept at
the post and mission. The hay for
their sustenance is generally' cut on
the alluvial flats along the south and
west shores of the lake, and hauled
across in winter. In sunnner they
graze on the flats between the granite
hills back of the post. There are
numerous ]daces around the post where
the rocks have been worn by glacial
action.

Great numbers of fish, principally
white fish, are caught in the lake near
the post, and generally near Goose
Island, about fifteen miles south-ea.st
from the post, but sometimes the fish-
eries have to l)e moved to other places.
In the fall of 1888, the Hudson's Bay
Compan}' ie(|uired thirty six thousand,
the Roman Catholic Mission twelve
thousand, and the rest of the people at
least tliirty thousand fish. These fish
would probably average three pounds
each; tlius we have one hundred and
seventeen tons for less than two hun-
dred people. But it nuist be boi-ne in
mind that fish, here, is the principal

J I i 'i .MT' »'T - >^

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

53'

ai'ticlo of food for man, and the only to call the Peace below its junction

one for the do^s.

This is the See of tho Ron)an Catho-
lic Diocese of Athabasca-Mackenzie.
The mission comprises a church, nun-
nery, residence for the clergy, aiid
schools.

with the Athabasca by any other name
than the " Peace."

Just before entering the Peace River,
we passed a large camp of Chipewyan
Indians. They, along with those I
have mentioned on the south side of

explain myself. There is really no
reason why it should not be called the
Peace down to Great Slave Lake, as it

The post was for a time the See of the lake, had just returned from a trip
the Anglican Diocese of Athabasca, to Athabasca Landing, where they
but the seat of this diocese was some went in the spring with their furs.
3'^ear.-i ago moved to Vermillion on They had heard that furs sold nmch
Peace River, two hundred and seventy higher at Edmonton, and determined
miles from here. to test the matter. So in the early

On Monday morning, July 27th, we spring, they had a small scow built i'or
started for Smith's Landing on the themselves, and hired a guide, and
Great Slave or Peace River. A word with their families and dogs, they
here in explanation. On all the maps started to make the ascent of the
of this region published, the river Athabasca to Athabasca Landing, and
formed by the confluence of the Peace thence to make their way to Ednion-
and Athabasca is named the Great ton. This incident shows how chang-
Slave, but by the people in the dis- ed they are becoming. A generation
trictit is generally known as the Peace, ago the}' would hardly have ventured
(Jften when speaking of the Great so far out of tlieir country, in such
Slave to people there, I have had to numbers, on such an errand.

Like all the other people in the
country, they were down with la
grip])(\ We endeavored to pass quiet-
ly by; but one old
woman saw us an( I
gave the alarm,
when out they all
came, wailing
forth the word
'' Medicine 1 " in
most dismal tones,
and at the same
time keeping up
the most violent
cou£fliiii£f, all vie-
ing with each
other who would
produce the best,
oi" rather worst,
cough. They kc^pt
it up as long as we
were within hear-

is principally formed of the waters of ing, and, no doubt, thought us very un-
that liver, which discharges, I would unfeeling for ])assing without calling,
say, at last twice as much water as the Had we stopped we would have had to
Athabasca does, at the junction. It I'efuse a request from everyone in the
would be just as reasonable to call the camp for tea and tobacco. That one or
St. Lawrence liclow its juu'^tion with two met with refusal would not deter
tl" Ottawa by some other name, as every one, in his turn, from repeating

R. C. MISSION FAKM, CIllCKW V.\N,

(III irliich the Oold Medal Centennial Kxliibition wheat

»'((» ijroivn.

\\"\

53-

7H/i CANAD/A:/ MAGAZINE.

the solicitation. All Imlians appear to
tliii.'k white men ou^ht to ])avt with
any, or all, of their goods at their re-
quest, but very few of them will give
anything to a white man vuitil they
are well paid for it ; not even after
they have been most generously treat-
ed. In fact, generosity, generally, has
a negative etl'ect on them, and to be
grateful is, as a rule, something foreign
to their nature. I know there are
some exceptions to this rule, and I
know also that many people who
have had no experience with these
Indians will shake their heads and
mutter : " Absurd ! " just as a few who
have had experience will exclaim —
"Prejudice!" Well, the prejudice is
not on my side, as the vast majority
of people who have lived near them
or have had occasion to depen<l on
them can testify.

I can illustrate this trait by refer-
ring to the journey these people irtade
to Athabasca Landing. Tliey and their
fathers had traded with the Hudson's
Bay Cou'.pany for generations, and,
whatever faults the Company ma}'
have, it certain I3' always treated the
Indians kindly — yes, mom than kind-
ly — fatherly. It made money by them,
it is true, but it has also lost much ex-
tending help to them when others
would not, or, anyway, did not. I
have myself often known the Companj-
to go to much expense and trouble to
relieve starving and helpless Indians.

And at every post there are always
several old and helpless people entire-
ly dependent on the Company's boun-
ty, which may not be very munificent,
but it keeps them alive, and in comfort
compared with what they would ex-
perience if with their own people.
Now tho.se Indians who had gone to
Edmonton to sell their furs had real-
ized all this; yet, becau.se tiie Com-
pany's |>eople at (Jhipewyan would
not pay them wliat they were told
they would get five hundred miles
nearer the civilized world, they under-
took a journey which most men would
without hesitation .say would not cover
the extra trouble and ex]iense by the
difference in prices between the local
post and Edmonton. Their own time
is valueless to them — at least they look
at il in that way — iinlil yoit, cnitjiKjc
one of them. And they cannot, or will
not, understand why goods should cost
more at one point than at any other ;
so they considered that any extra
])rice they got at Edmonton was clear
gain, notwithstanding that they built
a scow and travelled continuously for
two months to get there and return to
their home mai'ket, where jireat ex-
pense had been incuired to get in pro-
duce specially for them ; which pro-
duce I have no doubt they went beg-
ging for as soon as what they got at
Edmonton was done.

{To he covtivued.)

IN NORTH-WBSTBRN WlbDS.

(The narrafire of a .',J(Hi mik journey of Exploration hi the great Mwk(n:ie Rinr lia><iit* }

1!V WILLIAM OGILVIE, D.L.S., K.H.O.S.

II.

Betwkex Chiju'wyan and Smith's
Laudiiif;', about one hundred miles,
there are two or three ripples caused
by ledges of rock, but there is nothing
to interfere seriously with the passage
of the (irahame. Evciy Hcasf)n she
makes two or three runs from Chip-
ewyan to McMurray, anil as many
down to Smith's Landing. The com-
bined distance is about .SOO miles by
the route tiie steamer takes — though
a few miles less by the canoe route.
As two round trips make 1200 miles,
and three make 1800, and there is a
run of 500 miles up Peace River,
(sometimes there are two I'uns), she
covers 2000 to ."{OOO miles each season.

Snuth's Landing is at the head of a
series of rapids in (jreat Slave River.
The aggregate fall in all is about 240
feet,in a distn.nce, by the river, of about
sixteen miles. Tiie iLidson's Bay Com-
pany some years ago constructed on
the west side of the river, ])ast these
rapids a waggon road, over which
all their .supplies for the Mackenzie
River District are handled in carts
and waggons. By this road, the
distance from tlie Landing to Fort
Smith, at the foot of the rapids, is about
fourteen miles, of which only a shin-t
part, near the south end, can be called
bad. A great part of it winds among
sand hills which are thinly covered
with Banksian pine, oi', as it is known
in the country, pitch ])nie, This is
said to be the wor'^t or best place in
all the North-West for tties, which, in
somi' years, reduce the oxen used for
transi)ort to skeletons. It is even said
that oxen have been killed by them.

Fort Smith is on the west bank of

the river, at the lower end of the
I'apids. The soil around the fort is
generally sandy ; the surface knolly,
and pretty well wooded with small
jioplar, some fair spruce anti nmch
Banksian pine. As the Hudson's Bay
Compan3''s steamer Wru/lri/ can get
no farther uj) than hei e, the company
has (|uite a large store-house on the
bank, in which the goods brought over
the portage are stoiivl until the Wi-ig-
ley comes for them.

The rapids are cau.sed by a spur of
the Laurentian rocks which extend
northward from Lake Athal)asca to
and Ix-yond (Jreat Slave Lake. It is
curious to note that Cireat Slave River
is, from the lake down to the foot of
the rapids, a pretty sharp boundary
between the Laurentian and sediment-
aiy I'ocks in this <listrict. Very sel-
dom are Laurentian I'ocks seen on the
west bank of the river, and just as
seldom are sedimentary rocks seen on
the east bank. At the head of the
rapids, Laurentian rocks are seen (ju
l)oth banks, but about two miles be-
low, the oldei" rock gives place; on
the west bank to a thinly bed-
ded rock which in places holds small
nodules of gypsum. This rock is
very similar in a])pearance to the
rock associated with the extensive
gypsum beds on Peace River near
Peace Point, and \ery ])robably the
same formation includes all the inter-
vening countr3\

Below the rapids, the Laurentian
rocks appear to treml eastward, while
the river l)ears westwaivl, and between
these and (Jreat Slave Lake, with the
exception of a clitt" called '' Bell's
Rock," on the left bank, about seven

The ilhistnitioiiK iiie fidiii pliotdm-iiiihs liv (.'oiiiil dc Saiiivillc and ntlicrs.

■•%Si

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE

Irfff!

^■::

^■'

^Sg!:lj

^4^r;f^-v^ ■

(IN THK ATHABASCA Kl\ KK.

miles below Fort Smith, no roeks are

seen filoii<f the river.

About twenty miles west from Fort
Smith, the suit sprinos of Salt lliver
are situated. 'J'hey are about fifteen
miles in an air line from the mouth of
Salt River, which is about twenty
miles down (Jreat Slave River from
Fort Smith.

The eva])oration of the waters of
the.se spriiiffs leaves little mounds of
salt around them. From this source
is supplied nearly all the salt used in
the Mackenzie Valley. C'apt. Hack,
in his Narrative of the Arctic Laml
Expedition to the Mouth of Great
Fish River, tells of visiting them on
the 5th of August, ls;i3, and .says :
" And on arriving at the pro])er spot
we filled our five large bags with piu'e
white salt in the short space of half
an hour. There Avere iio mounds like
these seen in 1820, but just at the
foot of the hill which bounds the
prairie in that ipiarter, there were
these springs, varying in diameter
from four to twelve feet, and produc-
ing hillocks of salt from fourteen to
thiit^^ inches in height. The streams
were dry, but the surface of the clayey

soil was covered, to the extent of a few
hundred yards towards the plain, with
a white crust of .saline ])articles. The
plain itself had Ijeen trodden into
paths by the footsteps of buffalo
f nd other herbivorous animals." Mr.
R. (». McConnell, of the (Jeological
Survey Staff", visited these springs
in August, IcSlST, and his description
of them corresponds generally with
('apt. Back's.

The Hudson's Bay Company has
a garden at Fort Smith in which
good potatoes and other vegetables
are grown. There are also, on the
east bank of the river and (opposite
to the post, many Indian houses, the in-
habitants of which cultivate patches of
grouml, rai.sing good ])otatoes there-
from, and this helps out their fish and
meat stores.

On both occasions of my pa,ssing
Fort Smith, I was too mucli hurried
to converse with any of these Indians,
liTit have learned from the whites
around that some of them make ex-
tended hunting excursions eastward
fi'om here, following .some stream to
the vicinity of the waters of Hudson
Bay, presumably at Chesterfield Inlet.

/X iXORT/f-W/iST/iRN WILDS.

springs
•iption
• with

|iy 1ms
wliicli

tetables
)ii the
l)p().sito
tlie in-

tliero-
ish and

)assiii^'
liurvied
iidians,
I whites
Ike ox-
Istwaril
i>ain to
[ikIhou
Inlet.

On my airivai at Kort Smith, I
I'Duiid tlin HudsoMH Bay ('((mpany's
Mti-amei- Wriylri/ there, ioadin^f for hei-
down trip. 1 arrived there on the ai'ter-
ncK)n of the 'M)t\\ -Inly, and spent the
greatei |»art oF that nij^htf^ettin^ ohsei-
vations to determine the ^eo<fraphical
position. Th(^ resnltant latitude was
(iO ()r.5l"andlon^ntudell2 ()0'()5"\V.
'riie t'ollowin;^ eveniiifj the Wrv/hi/
started for Fort Resolution, on (Jreat
Slav*' Lake, and on the way <lown I
ol)tained much information of value
from (.'ai)tain Bell, connnander of the
steamer, concerning the depth (jf
water and the obstacles in the route.
To i-ender this int'ormation more in-
telligilile, I will
j^'ive a short
description of
the Wriglei/iind
the route she
travels over.
'Phis steamer
wasltuiltatFort
Smith by the
Hudson's Bay
Company, in
18s(i, and made
her tirst trip in
IHSI. As in the
case of the (ini-
Jtamc, previous-
ly mentioned,
the magnitude
of such an un-
dertaking, .small as she is,can be ai)])re-
ciatetl when we know that every pieci'
of hunber u.sed in her consti'uction had
to 1)e .sawn by hand. All her machinery
had to be transported upwards of 100
miles by horses, over somewhat ])ad
I'oads, and then taken nearly 240 miles
in .scow.s, and 800 on the Com])any's
steamer Grahnme. Her dimen.sions,
as given to me by C 'aptaiu Bell, are
eighty feet keel, fourteen feet beam,
five to six feet draught at stern when
loaded, and four to five at bow. Her
propeller is a four and a half foot four-
bladed screw, with adjustable blades.
Hei' engine, manufactured by the John
Doty Engine Co., of Toronto, with

about (JO pounds pressure will ilrive
her al)out eight miles an hour, Imt she
can be driven ttni. In the cuur.se of a
season, the recjuirements of the
Company's service neci'.ssitated her
travelling about (i.SOO miles. Hei'
maximum load is about thirty tons.

(ioinfj down the (Jreat Slave River,
Capt. B(;ll kindly pointed out to me
the shallow |)laces and gave me the
de|)ths of water in each of them.
.Just l)elow Fort Smith there is an ex-
tensive bar, but there is a chamiel
thnjugh it which always afibrds plenty
of water for the passage of the Wru/-
Ici/. The shallowest place in the rivei'
is beside an island known as Big

LKS.S

KK SL.WK LAKK I'OST,
end iif Li'SfCr SUivv l.nkf.

Island. The lowest water Capt. I»ell
ever experienced in the country, and
the lowest he recorded, (by the way,
it is generally adnutted to have been
unusually low), was six feet here : at
average height there is nine feet, and
at the date of my passage ( 1st August)
there was thirteen feet. This shoal is
about 200 yards acro,ss, and is on the
left side of the island. The other
channel is nmch the wider, but is full
of sand bars, and, unless in very high
water, the Wrij/lei/ could not get
through it. Capt. Bell found in all
the other parts of the river from
twelve to thirty-six feet of water at
average height. As is usual in all

Tllli CA NA PI A N MA GA ZINE.

MUfh ])liic('N. there iiro liars acrosH all
tlif mouths whrro they (riiipty into thf
lak(i. On the out' through which the
steamer enters the lake, there is at
very low water a depth of five an<l a
half f»>et, and at hi^'h water, ei^dit:
the usual (l(']»th is six to seven, hut this
varies a j^ood deal with the foi'ce and
direction of the wind, a south-westei-ly
wiiul les.s(Miiny' it and a north-easterly
inereasinjf it.

Owiuf,' to the dis])lae(!nient of the
ehannid marks by a violent storm a
few days ht^fore our arrival, the boat
ran airround on the l)ar, with no other
result than a eouple of hours' deten-
tion.

SKI'IAKIAN N(il)l I,E, KKOM MACKHN/IE MKl.TA

This mive the Professor a much
desired opjiortunity to an* his experi-
ence as a steamboat-man. He im-
mediately took the captain into his
contidence, told him of his long experi-
ieiice on Red River and Lake Winnipeg
•steamers, and advised him how to get
the Wriglci/ ott' the bar. "You see
Captain," he said, "whenever our boat
ran on a bar, the fir.st thing the cap-
tain dill, wtus to ask, ' How is she head-
ing :■ " Then the wheelsman sung out
her course: the captain then said,
' Hold her there ; ' the bells were then
rung to back her hard: the wheels
were then backe<l until she came ott'."
The Cajitain was inclined to resist this

interference, but .seeing nie smiling at
him, he gave his orders and came over
and asked me what kind of a fellow
that was. We had a hearty laugh at
this idea of holding a boat to her
course when aground and when the
oidy object was to yet her oH" in
the easiest way possible. Though the
crew of the boat consisted, with the
exception of the t'aptain, engineer and
his assistant, of half-breeds and In-
dians, they greatly enjoyed the Pro-
fessor's display nf nautical skill, and
soon began to mimic his voice ami

We expected to reach Kort Resolu-
tion before night, but this detention
make it(|uite dark when we I'ounded
Mi.ssion Island and came in sight of
the Fort, which, with its houses all
lighted up for the night, looked
ipiite pretty. This post is situated
on a sandy point Hve or six miles
from the main mouth of (Ireat
Slave Hivei-.

'J he country all aicajiid it is Hat

and alluvial, and no doulit the land

immediately ailjaceiit was at one

time a part of the lake. As the

river combines the waters of the

Peace, Athabasca and all thestifums

(lowing into Lake Athabasca, it

is of considerable volume, and, as

the country along its course fi-ian

Fort Smith to the lake is all claj' and

sand, it is continually bearing to the

lake a great quantity of sediment,

which is slowly tilling up that part

of the lak(! in the vicinity of its

mouth.

Capt. Bell informed me that in hi.s
passages around and acro.ss the (Jreat
SlaveLake,he had done much sounding
and found the depth to be, generally,
at two miles from shore four fathoms,
at six miles twenty fathoms. In miil-
lake, on the way from the mouth of
the («reat Slave River to the head of
Mackenzie River, he generally found
upwards of forty fathoms, and in
places sixty fathoms gave no bottom.
In the arm of the lake on which Fort
Rae is situated, he found, fifty miles

/.V NOR TH. WES THRX WIL PS.

licliiw Khc, twfiity t'ntlioiii.s, thirty

IllilfS I'rt)!!! KllC, tlllTl' flltllOlllH.t'iglltfCll

miles two fiitlioiiis, and sifV(!ii niilo.s
st'Vcii tVet, II (li'ptli wliicli coiitinui'd
up ti) Rjie. 'I'lii- liottom ill tliis uiiii
liu Fouiul iiiii'My, witli iimny l)()ul(i<'»'s
in it.

Tliis lake, as laid ddWii on oui" iiia]is,
is alioiit -'i^f) iiiiirs in hi> air lint' IVoni
end to end, and, cxflnsivc of liays, is,
in its widest i)Mrt, aliout sixty miles
acTdss, Its l(iiij;oi' axis lies in a
iKnth-easteily direction From its
West end. No eompletu survey has
yet lieen nuuh? of its shta-es; con.se-
(pi'Mitly oui" <jeoo;ia|»hieal knowled^'c
of it is, in ))Uit, vaoue. Hetween the
mouth of tlie <,'n'at Slave River and
the head of the .Mackenzie, the adja-
cent country is mostly low and llat,aud
covei'ed with the tindier peculiar to
the noi'th, that is, spruce and poplai'
on the Hats and hill-sides, with, on the
hi'ii4'lits, Banksian pine,oi",asit is {.gener-
ally known m the country, "jack " or
'pitch" pine. In .some of tln^ swamps
some tamarac is found, hut is seldom
larfife enough to he of much .service.
The soil aloni^ the lake-shore i.s gener-
ally sandy.

About thirty miles west from Re-
solution, hituminous lime-stone crops
out on the shore. This seldom rises
more than twenty-five or thirty feet
aliove the water, and it extends many
miles. In some ])laces it is so saturated
with bitumen that it is ipiite black
on a freshly Isroken face, ami svhen
put into a tire, soon gives (jft' strong
fumes of petroleum and a black smoke.
No other rock is visilile until we
come to the head of the Mackenzie,
where, on the south side, a low outci-op
of apparently the same foi-mation
occurs.

Between the Great Slave and Mac-
kenzie Rivers four streams entitled to
the appellation of rivers enter the
lake, but only one of them, — Hay
River — is noteworthy as a stream.
At its mouth it is about 20(> yards
wide, but I understand from accounts
1 have heard of it, that it is not much

over half this wi<lth in general, it is
al.so reported genei'iilly unnav igablo
for anything but canoes.

About thirty miles in an air line
from the mouth— prol)ali|y fifty or

^Hbw

«4 z^J^

V^ '

"^i^^m

■^

SKI'I'ARIAN NODI l.K, FUoM MAC'KKN/.IE DKI.TA.

more by the river — are situated the
Falls, named by Bi.shop Bomi)as,
Alexandria Falls, in honor of the
Princess of Wales, 'i'hese falls are
two in numbei-. and about a mile apart.
The upper one is a sheer dro]^ of al)out
eighty feet; the lower one, not so precipi-
tous, has a drop of about fifty feet.
It is said that when the water ui the
river is high, they are tine sights.

From credible accounts which 1 got
of this river later on, it rises in a ridge
of hills sixty or seventy miles north
from Fort St. John, on Peace River,
in about latitude 57 and longitude
120" 30'. By m}' (observations its
mouth is in latitude 00 52' and longi-
tude 115 58'. Its length, as the crow
flies, is thus upwards of 800 miles, l)ut
its actual course must be nearly double
that distance. In one part of the
course it runs parallel with Peace
River: and from Vermillion, on the
latter river, it is said to be onh- about
forty miles across to Hay River.

Several rivers of considerable size
discharge into the eastern half of the
lake, but of only two is anything very
definite known. One is Hoar Fi'ost

Till'. CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

Hi\<'r. wliicli ('ii|>t)iiii hark hsccikIcI
in Jm:};{, and wlncli t;niilth'H into the
lak(» ovi'c H pfii'inict' sixty I't'ot hij,'li,
t'oi'niiiij; a .s|)l('iiiliil tall. Tlic '>tlii'f,
Captain liack calls tlif Ali-nt'c-dcHHy
liivi'i'. Hf (It'scrilifs it iik almost
one t'ontitnioiis raiiitl, witli two catai-
acts oji it ([uitc close totiic lake : these
\w nauieil respectively I'arry untl
Amleison Kails. Tlie i'oinier appears,
from liis (lescii|)tion, to l»e lietween
lour and five Innidied feet hif^li, and,
for "splendor of tifl'cct," ho says it
was the most im|)i'essivc spectacle he
luul ever witnesseci. Of Anderson
Falls he (ady says. " it is deep and
]ierpendieidar." The lake has an area
of almut 10,400 .s(|uarc miles, and ranks
aliont tifth in si/e on tliis continent.
There is u place in the narrows ,l)c-
foro we come to Chiistie's Hay. wdiich
never freezes. I^ack mentit)ns this,
an<l says it is called Tal-thel-leh, and
reports that the ohservations of two
writers contirni his account. The
fact was mentioned to me at He-
solution l)y several, hut I could learn
no cau.se for it. No up-tlo\v from the
hottom was ohserv<'d hy any of my

of ice is caused liy dee)t-seate(l spring's.
Thei'e are several tar or liitinneii
splines on the north side of the lake,
near INtinte aux Ksclaves, from which
tar has het n collected in the past for
hoat-huildinu'.

man to visit it was
who reached it in
lie crossed it and
Slave Kiver aliout
leavino' it, ti'avelled
called the lak»(

SEITAKIA.N NOUri.K, KltO.M MAL'KENZJK DKLTA.

infoiiiiants, hut 1 do not think they
looked for any s\ich. As the lake is
deep h' re, it is possible that no eHect
of sprit gs could be observed, though
it is vciy probable that the absence

The first white
Samuel lleiirne,
December, 1771.
ascended (Ireat
forty nnles. and
eastwaid. Mearue
" Athapuscou Lake. '

At Koit Kesolution I took observa-
tions tti determine its position, which
I found to be in latitude C.l ]()' :{.'>"
longitude Ii;i .') i' .')!".

Trading has been done hei'c for over
a century, houses having been erect-
ed at the mouth of the river in I 7iS').
At the present site of the Fort are
situated the Anglican and Hoiiian
Catholic Missions. The ( 'omjiany uml
th(^ nnssions, also souie of the people
employed at the Kort, have gardens in
which they raise ))otatoes and other
vegetables of good si;'.e and (jUulity.
The Company generally grows a little
barley, which usually develops well.
Wheat has also been tried with sue-
ce.ss. At Hay Hiver, where the Com-
pany some yeai's ago had a trading
post, some Indians now reside most of
the year. They have several lots of
ground inider cultivation, in which
they grow potatoesof veiygood i|uality
and size. An aged Indian, who may
be considered a ])ernuinent resident
here, some years ago Ijought from the
Comjiany two calves, whicli he ,so cared
for that at the time of my visit in I N!( 1
he had seven or eight head. Some
weeks lu-fore my arrival he hail sold a
heifer to the Roman Catholic Mi.ssion
at Resolution. At the time of sale, pay-
ment was not completed, the Fatheis
being short of goods. They took ad-
vantage of my i)assing the jjoint to
send the balance in the form of to-
bacco, cloth, twine, and other articles,
I in(|uired for the old man by name,
found him and delivered my charge.
He opened the package then and there.

i?;i|

IX NOK TH- 1 1' /is riiRN 1 1 'IL DS.

uiii|ilt', ill t

oxaiiiincil tin' ^^oods ninl niiiioiiiict'il
liiiiiscir satiHticil. Ill- iiiailc ii iliHti'i-
liutiiiii of s()im> ut' tilt' toliacco to
till' utlifp Imliaiis, Milt iliiwii liy my
caiii[i-Hrt', ami ciijnyeil a siiiuki' piir-
cliasi'ij with his first snii' ot" cattlf.
Till' oM man s luci wii.s u pictiiri' ot"

H'l'l'l'lt fillltt'tltllKMlt ; lillt tilt! ntluTM

'liiii with t'livy. iiml his cx-
II jiru-
lialiility, wiis
wastfil on most
of tht'iii, i'or if
till' cattli- 111'
lonui'il to thi'iii
they would liiiNc
killi'd and eatiii
tlu'iii tlu' tiist
time tlii'y Will'
short of piovis-
ioiis. and thi' tact
of owning' siirh
a supjily would \m;w kkom kkkt simi'sus
l»e a pi'iiiii' mo- n^knuie .m t,

tivc for tlit'ir id-

linjf and thus crcatiii;^' want, 'riic old
man cut hay for winter us(> on llats
around tlu' mouth of the river. Thouj^h
tlu'V niilki'd the cows, no attempt was
made at hutter-niakin^. I fancy the
old man had ahout reached the limit
of accumulation with his herd, as he
found it ciuisiderable trouble to cut
and save suthcieiit hay for the lunn-
ber he had.

On my way from Resolution to Hay
River, we were wind-bound at ])ead
Man's Island, thirty-three miles from
Resolution. This island is named
from the occurrence then' of what was
said to be a tif,dit between Indians
from the south, and the native Indians,
but I could learn iiotliin<i' po.sitive or
tletinite alioutit. The suppo.sed num-
ber of killed, as stated to me by diti'er-
eiit ]iarties, varied from fourteen to two
hundred. A half lireed who was with
me on the island told me that years ago
its surface was .strewn with human
bones, but, though I made much search,
I coukl not find a trace of any bones.
This fight is said to have (jccui-red
about sixty-three years ago : and from

some accounts I got of it, it seemed

more like a Nei'les uf mui'ders than a
tight.

We left Hay HiM'r in the early
iiiorning of the Kith of August, and
as we had a fair sailing breeze we
proceeded gaily with .sail and paddle,
ami had high hopes of getting well
into the Mackenzie that evening, but

,\V .11 NtTliiN ItK MAI'KBN/.IK AM> I.AIUli lil\ Kli.S.
i'l, hiaid tin riijlil, i/iiw tV/yi in niitrf.

the breez(! increased until aft( r we
rounded Stony point, .some fifteen
miles from Hay Hiver, it was a gale,
and w(! fain would have landed, hut
we could not, as we certainly would
have been swamped in the attempt.
Several times we were nearly swamiied
by breakers, but we fortunately es-
caped. With fair sail all sjuead, we flew
from wave to wave at a lively rate, and
just as I was wondering whether or
not we wouki weather it to the Mac-
kenzie, which was yet some eightctni
mill's away, I saw breakers between
me and shore, and recollected passing
two low reefs at this jioint in IHHH.
They were half a mile or more to lee-
ward : the canoi' was headed for them,
and in a few minutes we were in their
sheltei'. As they were less than a
ipiarter of a mile from slna-e, the
waves were sufficiently subdued by
them to enable us to land, but not
without some risk of swamping.

High winds were now the rule for
some daj's, and we did not get into
the great Mackenzie until the 19th.

The Professor having never seen a

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

(lw/v<.

lai'f^*' river, was \,ny anxious to have
liis Hrst view ot' tlie river and con-
template its vast projioitions. His
anxiety was nianit'esteil in such origin-
al ex[)ressi()ns that it was a source (»f
annisi'Uient to us, and, at last, \\ hen
on tlu^ afternoon of the 2()th, we pjiss-
ed the mouth of Heaver River and
were fairly out of the lake, I said,
" Professoi' we are in the river now,"
he was spell-hound. He gazed around,
with distended eyes, for some time,
then turned tome and said, " Why the
►Saskatcheuan a'int in it ; this is an
ocean : there nnist be barrels of water,
jnwg' k ! How dee]i is it '. Sound and
see." We found seventeen feet. As
the river here and down to Fort Pro-
vidence is from two to three miles
M'ide, he was in a hiyh state of adnur-
j-tion all tile way down.

We now had a current of two-and-
half to three ndles per hour in our
favor, and made fine time.

thought it would he late when we
would reach the post, we concluded to
have a lunch here, too ; so we landed.
A few ujinutes afterwartls the good
pi'iest bade us good bye, telling me
that he would inform the people at
the po,st of our ap])roach. 1 thanked
him, but nt the same time thought
" Ma^'-be you will."- For he had two
Indians to row his lioat, and I knew
they would do their utmo.st to lieat us
into the post, and pi'oposed to Chaidie
and the Pi'ofessor that we try them a
race. To this they at once as.s»'nted.
We huiriedly ate our liite, packed u]),
and .shot out into the rivi'r : Imt by
this time the othei* boat was only a
speck in the distance. In a .'•hoi-t time
it began to show plainly, and we imt
our best strokes forth. Tlii' other
party, too, were pulling their best, as
I could see with mv Ha.ss, vet we
were hauling up to them in grand
style, when up came a fair breeze and

up went their
sail, which
all read}-,
alas ! oui's

was

but,

was

the

FORT I,IAK1>.

Near a place known as " Bi/point,"
we "iw a sn\oke, went to it and found
a Roman Catholic priest and two
Indians, wlio were on their wa}?^ from
the fisheries at the head of the ri\er,
to Providence, some fifteen or sixteen
miles from here, and had stopjted to
make t^a and have a smoke. As we

sto "•' in
bottimi of
canoe, and would
cost us more time
than it would
i>nin us to get it
out. We phed
our paddles with
all our power,
but the Indians
rowed with equal
vigor, and, with
the aid of their
sail, for four or
five miles almost
held their own.
Then the wind
fell awaj', and we made up to them
and passed them with ease, 'i'he
look of utter disappointment and
chagrin on the faces of the Indians
was such as we seldom see: but the
good priest congratulated us on our
prowess and on the sailing <iualities of
our canoe. I had not the heart to chafe

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

te wbi'ii we
concluded to

wo landed,
rds the ji^ood
', telling nie
be peoj-.le at

1 thanked
line thought
• he had two
and I knew
).st to 1 leat us
■d to Chai-lie
„' try them a
ice assented.
.', packed u]),
i'er : hut by

was only a
a short time
and we ])ut

I'he other
heir hest, as
ass, yet we
!m in orand
r bree/.e and
went their

which was
read}', })nt,

1 ours
-1 in

)m of

,and would

us more time

it would
us to (i-et it

We plied
addles with
)ur power,
;he Indians

with equal

and, with

lid of their

for foui- or

niles almost

their own.

the wind
ip to theuj
ease. The
;ment and
lie Indians
;: Itut the
us on our
i|ualit;es of
irt to chafe

was
the
the

him about carryinj}^ the intelligence of
our approach, or to leave him : so we
continued together and arrived at the
post at dark on the evening of the
2()th.

At Providence, I took the necessary
observations to determine Its position,
which I found to •- in latitude GO 20'
as", and h^ngitude 117 5<S'48".

The usual Hud-
son's Bay Com-
pany's buildings
are here, also a
Roman Catholic
church and nun-
nery and the ne-
cessary residence
for the clergy.
It is situated on
the north bank
of *l.i river,
about fortymiles
from Great Slave
Lake, and fif-
teen miles above
Little Lake. The
counti-y around
it is all denseh'
wooded, but
quite an exten-
sive clearing has been made around
the post, and both the Company and
the Mission cultivate several acres of
ground. Potatoes and other vegeta-
bles ai'e grown with much tiuccess, and
barley is equally successful.

The Company almost every spring
sows some wheat, which neai-ly always
gives a good return of a tine samjjle.
There is a hand mill here with which
the}" grind the wheat and make a
coarse flour, which is made into good
and wdiolesome bread. While here
in September, 1S88, J ground enough of
the previous year's crop to make a
sjnall loaf, which I had my cook bake
for me. The flour was not as white as
our patent-process flour, but the loaf
was very palatable nevertheless. I will
now state what may seem incredible.
The entire crop plan'ed at Fort Provi-
<lence in I. SOI, was devoured bygvass-
Jiopjiers. 1 went over the Company's

wheat fleld, but could see only the butts
of the stalks half an incli or so above
grounil. That sach a thing should
occur 1,150 miles nearer the [)ole than
Toronto, gives one a truer conception
of our frozen north than many of our
people entertain. The season was ex-
ceptionally dry, and therefore favor-
able to the propagation of the locust.

I' 1

VIEW ON LIAKIi RIVER.

The Roman Catholic Mission suttercd
in the same way. The soil here is a
dark clay which, when mixed with the
vegetable mould of the forest, makes a
nice compound for farming on.

It is proper, here, to in.sert some in-
formation I got from Capt. Bell rela-
tive to the navigability of the Macken-
zie River. Many of the facts stated
take me far beyoml the lin;'*^>! of my
journey, but their general niterest
will justify the ramble.

As the head of the river, as before
remarked, is very wide, several n.iiles
consequently maj' be expected to be,
and are, shallow. Search was made
hei'e for a suitable channel for the
steamer, and of course the notes fur-
nished refer exclusively to this chan-
nel. In oi'dinary low water this chan-
nel aflbrds a depth of about six feet,
in very low water only five feet. In
ordinary high water, such as there

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

WHS wIk'11 I passefl, there would b((
a depth of ahout nine iVct, hut in ISJScS
the depth must have beeti thirteen
or fourteen feet. ('a|)t. Bell thinks
this shoal is the result of shoves
1)}' the ice on the lake, as quite close
to it on both sides there is twelve to
fourteen feet of water. It consists of
gi'avei, and is, he says, only about two
Innidntd yards across, so that iuiprov-
ini;' it would not be a ditHcult inider-
takino'.

Five miles below this there is an-
other shoal known as "Trout Island
Slioal. " On tins in Idw water there
is six feet of water, l»ut it appears
that the depth is very ii'regular. This
irrejfularity Ca])t. Bell thinks is due
to tile gravel at the liottom being
sci'aped by ice and dei)Osited in hea])s.
He thinks a ])roper search would show
a dee]) channel all through here, but it
w(juld be very ci'ooketl, for it would
wind about these gravel heaps. This
shoal extends about a mile and a half.
Through " Beaver Lak(^ " in low water
there is a de])th of ten feet, in ordinary

K. C. eilURCH AM) RKSn)EN(E AT FOKT LIABI)

water twelve, and in high water four-
teen. Of course this refers to the
shallowest places in Beaver Lake.

Providence Hopid, situated a little
above Fort i'l•ovidenct^ has five feet
in the shallowest places in low water,

and in ordinarx'stages six to seven feet.
This extends for about two miles.
Here, as in the before-mentioned places,
a good channel could V)e tound, but it
woidd be veiy crooked, so much so
that a steamer descending could not
keep in it. From this rapid down to
Rapiil Sans Sault, the least depth in
the lowest water was found to be
twelve feet.

Rapid Sans Sault is caused by a
ledge of rock extending aci'oss the
river. Near the easterly shore the
water drops over this a few inches
and causes (piite a connnotion across
the ea.sterly half of the river. In the
westerly half there appears to be a '
greater depth of water, and smoother
current. It need hardly be .said that
the steai.i-boat channel is on the west-
erly side in the smooth water. ( )ver
the ledge, the lowest wa*-ei- found l)y
Capt. Bell '\\\ a year remarkable for
the low state of all the rivers in the
countr}^ was six feet.

Over the ledge of the Cascade
Rapids, wdiich are cau.sed by an ob-
struction siiinlar
to that at Rapid
Sans Sault. ('apt.
Bell tVnuid a
depth of nine
feet in hiw, and
eleven in good
watei". Thisrajiid
is near the head
of tlie '■ Ramji-
arts."

(lo.se to the
Ramparts there
is another rapid
known as 'Rani-
part Rapids : "
this, also, is
caused by rock
bottom in the
I'iver. In it in
lowest waterl ('apt. Bell gives the
depth as eleven feet and in high watei'
fifteen. It extends for about half a
mile.

In his various passages of the Ram-
parts, Capt. Bell has sounded, without

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

iiudinif bottom, witli forty f'athoins,
whica was tlie lenfrth of his soundirijj
line. I liave mentioned in my report
for 18<S9 thrt Si • Alexander Macken-
zie found fifty fathoms liere.

Between the
Ramjjarts and
the delta, where
the steamer
leav -s the main
cliannel, less
than twelve feet
depth was never
found, but Capt.
Bell sa3^s that
less nii^'ht 1)e
found. Tlirough
the channels of
the delta to Peel
River no diffi-
culty was evei"
ex pe r i e need
with the .stt'am-
er.

In Peel River
up to the bar, five miles below Fort
McPherson, the average dei)th of water
is about fifteen feet. On the bar in
low water the dej)th is about six feet,
and with mediimi water .seven feet.

Count de Sainville,a Fivnch rrentle-
man who went down the Mackenzie
in bSSf) and spent much time in mak-
ing an examination and rough survey
of the delta of the Mackenzie Mud Peel
River.s and the coast line in tiie estu-
ary of tho.se streams, was good enough
to give me all the information in his
power. He assured me that the most
ea.';terly channel of the delta is the
main one, and he never found less than
a twelve feet depth in it down to tide
water. The tides do not come up
more than ten or twelve miles above
the ocean, and the rise is not more
than about two- feet. What depth
might be found beyond the mouth of
the river he is not prepared to sHy,
but bars there may naturally be look-
ed for. This gentleman purposes
making further and more complete
examinations which will, no doul)t, be
of much inttsrest and value.

Before resuming the narrative of
my journey, 1 will give .some notes
I obtained from ("apt. Segur, of the
steamer At/iahas^a, and ('apt. Bell, of
the .steamer ITr/gr/r//, giving the times

LOOKIN(i 11' I.IARU KIVER FROM FOKT J.IAU1>.

over the various jiarts of their runs.

Steamer A fliahawn, 2nd June, 1 8!) I ,
lan from Athabasca Landing, down to
landing of (Jrand Rapid.s, in eighteen
hours, with six large Ijoats in tow. Up
trip, started on (Jth June, miming time
to Athaba.sca Landing, forty-eight
hours. Second trip down, 18th July,
running timi- down, fifteen hours and
forty-five minutes. In \H[)Q, her first
down trip, made the .second of June,
was done in twenty hours and fifty
minutes, and the return, lOth June, in
fifty hours. This run was made in
very low water.

The Wriglr/fs log shows the follow-
ing averages between Fort Smith, the
most .southerly part of her run, and
Fort MePher.son, the n)o.st northerly :
the distance between them is about
1,270 miles. From Smith to Resolu-
tion, avei'age running time about eigh-
teen hours; between ^ Resolution and
Providence, about seventeen hours, of
which twelve and a half is in Great
Slave Lake : between Providence and
Siinp.son, about fourteen hours ; Simp-
stjn to Wrigley, about ten and a half

>:l

78 ■ THE CA NA DIA N MA GA ZINE.

hours; Wri^ley to Normun, about four- the north shore, wliich enabled us to
teen hours: Norman to (lood Hope, make sucli good headway that the
about thirteen hours: Oood Hope to last thrc hoin-s we were paddling put
McPhei'son, aliout twenty-Four and a us as far on our journey as all the
half hours. The total running time is previous [lart of the day.
123.', hours, a tritie over ten and a The ne.\t dav we were amiin unfor-
(juarter miles per hour. tunate in tiucountering a strong head-
On her "up" runs, the following wind and heavy rain storm which de-
averages have been made: McPherson layed us considerably,
to (Jood Hope, forty hours: Good Hope On the way I was sui'prised to note
to Norman, thirty-four hours: Norman the difference in the level of the water
to Wrigky, thirty-nine hours: Wrigley as it was then and in 18cS8. In the
to Simpson, nineteen hours : Simpson latter year, from the head of the Line
to Pi'ovidence, about twenty-eight and to Little Lake all the banks were sub-
a half hours: Pi-ovidence to Fort Rae, merged, in manj- places the water ex-
uncertain, but appears to be about thir- tencling hundreds of yards into the
teen hours : Providence to Resolution, forest. Theiv must have been a dif-
aliout twenty hours : Resolution to ference of at least twelve feet in the
Smith,ab()ut thirty-five hours: Resolu- level of the watei' in those years,
tion to Rae, about fifteen hours, and Just fancy the diffei'ence in volume of
return about the same, as it is all lake discharge in a river a mile to a mile
water. The dui-ation of these runs and a half wide, with a three mile or
was varied somewhat by the force and moi'e current, and twelve feet of a
flirection of the wind. The total run- difference in depth,
ning time from McPherson to Smith, The evening found us well down the
us shown above, is 21 5i hours, which " Line," with every prospect of making
gives a rate of 59 miles per hour. Simpson on the morrow. For conven-
The mean of the .up and down rates ience I will recapitulate what I said
is a fraction over eight miles per hour, of this part of the river in my former
Avhich is said to be her normal speed, article in this magazine. " A short
For convenience of reference, I distance above the confluence of the
insert the following table of <lis- Mackenzie and Liard, the Mackenzie
tances on the Mackenzie : — narrows to an average width of a

^^''es. little over half a mile, with a generally

Smith to Resolution 190') swift current. This continues for

Resolution to Providence . 1()7() seventy-five miles above Fort Simpson,

Providence to Simpson.. . . \hl'> and causes that part of the river to be

Simpson to Wriglej^ 1340 called the "Line," from the fact that

Wrigley to Norman ISO'S large l)oats cannot be rowed against

Norman to Oood Hope.. I(i9'.5 the current, but have to be hauled by

Good Hope to McPherson. 274*7 line, as has been previously described

in this article."

Total 1,2735 We reached Fort Simpson early in

the evening of the 25th August, and

We started from Pi'ovidence on the remained there until the forenoon of

morning of the 22nd August, and had the 28th. The nights of the 25th an<l

to make waj* in the teeth of a tierce 2()th being beautifully clear, I spent

wind which more than neutralized the many hours taking observations. To

advantage the current gave us. On most of the people around the fort

Little Lake we had to go ashore for it was most unusual to see a man

some time, being unable to make head- gazing into the depths of a disl» of

way. By dint of \ lirj' hard work we mercury and then up at the sky. Not

got out of the lake and into the lee of understanding it, thej' applied their

IN NORTH-WESTERN WILDS.

term for all forms of occultism and
magic to it — " Medicine" — and I was
dubbed a conjurer at (mcc : but unfor-
tunately for me the Professor came on
the iield, and my reputation was ex-
plained awtty in the most pi'ofoundly
scientific manner. Those benighted
people heard more about latitude and
longitude, stars, astronomy and the
glacial period that night than ever
they luul heard before, or, in all pro-
bability, ever will hear again.

The result of my " medicine " Ijoth
nights put Simpson in latitude 01
•H' 48", and longitude 121 42' .52".
This is about nine and a half miles
farther west than Thomas Sim])S()n
placed it in 1(S87, ami about five fur-
ther than Sir John Franklin put it.

The garden and fieM produce did
not present the same fine ai)pearance
here that it did in l.SJSS, as the season
was unusually <by : yet, were it placed
anywhere in Ontario, the people would
never siispect from its appearance
that it had developid outside of that
province. Altliough a few grass-
hoppers were seen here, they were not
in numbers sntticient to injure the
crop.s. While at this post, we enjoyed
the fine potatoes, caiTots, jiarsnips.
cabbage and peas grown in the Com-
pany's garden. They were as large
and as fine-fiavoredas the best in any
part of the country. Barley is yearly
grown here, and, it ma}' be .saiil, al-
ways successfully, for any failures
have been due to drought or too nnich
rain oftener than io frost. Wheat
has been ti*ied several times, often suc-
cessfully, but, as it cannot be utilized
except through grinding with a hand-
mill, it is not considered desii'able to
grow much of it.

The Company keeps a large number
of cattle here. The hay for their
winter food is cut on the uplands
south of the post. To give an itlea of
the length of time they re(|uire stable
fodder, I will insert an extract matle
from the Compatiy's journals at the
post. It shows, for a number of years
the date of the breaking up of the

ice, the date of the first appearance of
ice in the river, and the time of the
closing of the river :

Yiar. jve broke up. FirM drill ire. Hii'er r/oseil.
1S76 May 14th Nov. Uth Nov. 17th

IS77

8th

lat

«(

28th

187S

8tli

Oct.

Kith

1 1

26th

187!)

3rd

Nov.

12th

2()th

1880

7ih

2nd

((

2tttb

1881

13th .

Oct.

12t,h

18th

1882

7 th

Nov.

Ist

3()th

188.S

Ist

Oct.

2Stli

2(ith

1884

12th

• t

11th

(I.

18th

IS8,-)

2nd

((

2Hth

2(lth

l8S<i

13th

((

3(»th

»(

2.-)tli

I may remai'k that the thickness of
the ice (it being over four feet) help.s^
to keep it in place in the .spi-ing, and
the breaking up cannot be considered
the same indication of the progress
of the season as the same occurrence
would be at Ottawa. The snow is gen-
erally all gone by this time, and often
seeding is done before the ice leaves.

While at Fort Norman in the same
year 1 made extracts from the Com-
pany's journals there, which, as that
po.st is 318 miles fuither down the
river and is in aliout vhe latitude of
Go , will be ot interest l;ere :

)>"/■.

Ji't' broke I'j).

First .Aoir.

First ice.

Rirer cluxnl.

1S72

Not Kiveii.

Sejit. 2.Stli

Oct. 7th

Nov. 8th

ISTA

Mav 17tli

SL'|)t. isth

" 21.it

" 12th

1874

" -.iSth

Oft. IBth

Nov. -.'lid

" ISth

187.^1

" 24th

Not (,'iveii.

Oct, 2h(l

9th

1x76

" 19th

Oct. 10th

" 13th

9th

1877

'• 12th

.Sept. 2otli

" 18th

Not given

1878

Not Kivin.

" 23th

" 22miI

Nov. 7th

1879

Mav 9th

Oct. 3r<l

" Sdih

" 211(1

1881)

••' 2.'nd

7th

" liL'iid

■• 12th

1881

Not ;;ivfii.

2n(l

" 7th

" 12th

1882

May 14th

9th

" 14th

1883

"■ nth

lltli

" -Jlth

" loth

1884

'• 2sth

l-l>t l)f llTOl-ll lost.

1886

No ri'coid.

No l'('i-<n'(l.

No ivcon

. No record

188(i

•'

Oct- ISIh

Nov. 18th

1887

.Mii.v 24th

Sept. -iird

0<'t. 5tli

Stii

In the above, the dtite of the first
snow does not mean the pei'iiianent
snow for the winter, wliich nuij not
have come for a month afterwards.

The Liard Rivei', up Vihich we had
to go, joins the Mackeii/.ie just above
Simpson. The point between them is
scarped, and rises about 200 feet
above the level of the water ; it is
locally known as tht^ (iron Gap.

The Hudson's Bay Company orticers
aii;l employees at Simpson, in 18M7,or
ganizetl a nuisemn, which they en-
titled .the Mackenzie Hiver Mu.seum

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

in which they ]in'si'ivf .spfcinieiis of
all thf bii-dsaiiil lieasts peculinr to the
country. 'I'lify also collect specimens
of fossils.Indian work and curiosities —
in fact, any article of note oi' interest,
found in the basin, finds a home here.
C'apt. Bell of the steamer Wrighji,
proved himself (piite a skilful taxider-
mist, and must necessarily, from the
number of sjiecimens fixed when I was
there, liave devoted a great deal of
time to this work.

(Jount E. de Sainville, a French gen-
tlemen, who has spent several seasons
around the delta of the Mackenzie,
found a curious specimen in that
vicinity, which he presented to the
museum. As it appeared to me to be
very curious and interesting, I took
the liberty of bringing it away for the
purpose of identification or classifica-
tion. It is now in the Geological
Museum in Ottawa, whei'e it will re-
main forsonu' time, if not always. On
looking at it, most persons would at
once pronounce it organic, but our
geologists ])ronounce it a Se])tarian
nodule, consequently inorganic: but it
is very interesting and curious, never-
theless. As it is a very rare specimen,
the pictures of it, which are here |)re-
sented, will no doid)t be interesting to
many.

As this was the turning point on my
journey, it will be interesting, before
I start back, to present to m}' readers
an idea of the facility with which
one so mindinjx mav visit the Arctic
Ocean by this route. We will presume
we are in Ottawa or Toi'onto, and
wirh to visit the land of the midnight
sun. Four days from our start, flu
the Canadian Pacific Railway, we ar-
rive at Calgary: one day from Cal-
gary w^e arrive at Kdnionton, via the

Calgary ".M * •

Eilmct,'' . ■ •
recpi ' ^* c
this j. ' i

hundred !..•'.
the aid ot iiorses,

ii ton Hai 1 way. From
• four days will be
iiiibasca Landing:
"'■ce (about one
- - '\ be made with
L>) timing ourselves
to reach AthaV)asca Landing about the
first days of June, we shall likely catch

the steamer Alliahaurd at the Landing,
and go down to Grand Rapids on her.
From Gland Rapids it will take us
three or four rlays to reach McMurray,
and if we are fortunate enough to
catch the steamer dvahaiae there, we
shall reach Chipewyan in a day. An-
other day will take us to Smith's
l^anding, and another to Smith : if we
are fortunate at Smith's Lan<ling, we
can get to Sinitli* tlie same evening.
If we meet the steamer Wrigley at
Smith, and she is bound for McPherson,
for which she generally starts about
the last days in June or the first days
in July, we shall likely reach Mc-
Pherson in seven or eight days. The
steamer has not heretofoiv gone farther
down than the delta, but it is jiossiblc
.she may in the future go down to the
Arctic coast and along it a. short
distance

From the foregoing we see that even
with t'iie present facilities we can
reach the Arctic Ocean from Ottawa
in about twent}'-three days— let us say,
to cover possible contingencies, thirt}'
days — and return in about forty. On
the way we shall pass through about
l,200miles of beautiful prairie country,
whkh extends almost to Athabasca
Landing: and from Athal)asca Land-
ing to the Arctic ( )cean, upwards of
l,!SOO miles, we have only ordinary
river navigation, with the exception
of a few miles on Lake Athabasca,
and about 120 on (ireat Slave Lake.
])uring the whole of the journey, we
are likely to ex[)erienee as plea.sant
weather as if we had remained at
home, and it ma}' be more plea.sant.
We are likel}'^ to see much that will
interest and surprise us, and we shall
certainly have a nuich clearer concep-
tion of the extent and value of our
country. All the way to the Arctic
coast we shall see timber and plants
similar to much of what we see at
Ottawa, and were it not for the
absence of many of our trees, and
the increased duration of daylight
(which 'we would find at the coast
to be of twenty-four hours' duration

autumn, (1898). In the light of actual occurrences these reports are pathetic.
Two years before the war with the U. S., Admiral Cervera shows that he poin-
ted out to his Government, through the proper channels, that the Spanish fleet
was in nocohdition for service, owing to the lack of actual necessities on board
the ships, brought about by the indifference of the superior authorities and the
neglect of the Cortes or Parliament to note the requisite funds . When war was
upon them the votes were hastily granted, but it was then too late, because
modern war material cannot be manufactured in a day, and even if it could,
the neutrality laws, after war is once declared, very much restrict its purchase.
When ordered to sail to meet the enemy Admiral Cervera wrote that the con-
ditions of his ships was even worse than at the earlier period first mentioned,
while the U. S. fleet had been much augmented and strengthened. Some of
his ships were without even the guns intended for their armament, and all
were short in ammunition supply (30 rounds per gun on ships going to war
whilst on ours even in peace time 300-500 are carried), and the crews had had
practically no target practice whatever. Before sailing the Admiral was able
to obtain neither coal, nor charts of the American seas, and only half the quan-
tity of biscuit required for the sustenance of his crews. His last letter before
the final catastrophe out'^'de Santiago ends with •' the final result is not doubtful
— God be with us — Good bye."

Is this not a pathetic story of brave men compelled to make themselves
the victims of deficiencies they sought in vain to have corrected ? — but in the
face of these figures for the military expenditure of our country — low even
when contrasted with our neighbours of the U. S., even before they undertook
expansion, can it be wondered that Canadian Officers are anxious to obviate a
similar fate? No Minister, no Member of Parliament, no citizen of Canada,
would like to think his National Militia would suffer from a like cause were it
suddenly mobilized for actual service — but in truth can we assert there is very
much dissimilarity?

On the other hand as an instance of the most thorough preparation and
every day readiness for service to be found among the armies of the world to-
day, I might quote for your information an English writer, one who is an
authority on such matters, and who selects as his example the German Army
Corps stationed upon the P'rench frontier at Metz : —

" Between Mefz and France is one long glacis unassailable by
the invader, and when you have walked through one street of the
old P>cnch city you can see that you are in the entrenchment of
an army on a war footing. Infantry, artillery, cavalry, and the
rest are all equiped as if for instant active service; the stores are
all to hand ; harness and carts lie ready by the side of the transport
animals. Not a gaiter button is wanting ! In half an hour 30,000
men can be marching out of Metz with all the machinery and
munitions of modern war • with all the stores and equipment
needed for a campaign."

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

8l)(»rc vvatrr. I cniiiiot speak From pfr-
soiml ohsi'i'vation on this jioint, Imt I
have been told that in vtoy low water
many oF the leflf^es wouM not permit
a st(!amer t(j pass over them. Then^
\V(Jul(l, however, he water enouj^di dur-
in^f a ^ il part of tht; summer, or 1
am ^freatly deceivod in tlus appearance
oF the ])laee. This rapid. From head
to Foot, is ahout six and a halF miles
fonfj. Abont ten miles above this
there is a ri[)])le over a fjravel bai",
where there is a larj^e island in the
river, but this would not hinder the
ascent oF a steamer such as 1 have
spoken oF. Between hei'e and Fort
Liard, there are two or three places
where the current is very swilt, but a
steumcr which woidil work her way
up to them could easily ascend them.

Between Simpson and Liard no
streams oF any importance enter the
Liard. About one hundi-ed and tive
nules above Simpson the Xahanni en-
ters From the west; it is about two
hundred yards wide at the mouth. I
did nut learn anvthiui; concerninji' it,
but as it comes From the mountains it
is not ])robabl(' that any extent oF it
is uavin-able. AViout HFteen miles
above this another small river enters
From the west. About one hundred
and .seventy-six miles above Simpson,
Muskeg- River enters From the east.
It is an unimportant stream, little lar-
o;er than a ci'i-ek. It Hows out oF a
small lake called Lake Bovie, which is
tiFteen or twenty miles From the Liard
Kiver.

Friday had been U]i the Nahanni
" many days " as he cxi)ressed it, but
he appeareil to know very little oF it.
He de,scril)ed the countiy as all bi^'
mountains.

" Much oame up there, Friday '. "

" Wouu'h, plenty."

" Any liears :' '

" You bet your liFe, plenty bears ! "

" Bio- ^ •'

" \l's, bio-, plenty."^

" You shoot him i "

" jS'o, rap. no sliouf, me look ! "

This answer was acciMupanied by a,

" well, -you - must-be-a-born - Fool - to-
think-l-would-tackle-a-jfriz/ly - bear -
alone" look,w}iich aimised me.

All the way From Simpson to Fort
Liard it was a daily or bi-dail}^ event
to see Fresh tracks oF moose. OFten
the drippings From their wet sides,
aFter swimming the I'iver, had not yet
been absorlied by the dry sands on
the beach, which indicated that they
had just passed. But we never saw
any. It was annoying to us that we
could not <;et sight oF nny, when we
nnist have been so close to them. Not
s(j with Friday. He " knew his man
1 letter," so to speak, ami would (piiet-
ly laugh at our expressions oF annoy-
ance at not seiiing the animal, and re-
mark, with the proud air oF a pro-
fessional to an amateur, "Umph, you
no ketch Isim I "

Onc(N just as we rounded a long
sand\' point, one had passed so recent-
ly that the water From its body yet
lay in drops and pools on the dry
sand.

This excited even Friday a little,
and he remarked, with flashing eyes,
" No Far I '

I took my riHe and walked u]) into
the woods a short distance, more
through a desire to stretch my legs
than from expectation of seeing the
moose ; but Friday tliought the latter
was my object, and followed me, smil-
ing in derision.

When well into the wo(jds I ga/ed
around me intently as though exjtect-
ing to see the moose, and remarked
mito voce " Well ; I wish I could see
that moose ! "

P"'riday could stand no more, broke
into a loud laugh, and exclaimed,
" You no kill him. '

I determined to break up Mr. Fri-
days contempt, and steridy looking at
him, asked, " No " What for me no kill
him '. "

He (|uit laughing at once, and civilly
replied, " Too much stick (trees),"
but I I'eplied, " Me kill him through
the .stick I " making him understand
by signs that I would shoot through

IN Xc Vv' 777- IVES TERN 1 1 'IL DS.

Heverul .sticks or trt't's; luitl, jjoiiitiiiy to
a Mprucc, Mi iiichijs in iliaiiiuter, stand-
iiit^cloHif to a lialsani ))oplar, oi- cotton-
wood an it is called in this couiitiy,
twcnty-Hix inches in dianictc'f, I placed
niyselt' in line with them and tinsil at
them.

Jt vvonld lie dithcult to picttnc Fri-
day's surprise when I showed him thiit
th(! hnllet hail jiasseil throuj^h the
spruce, hut when I showed him that
it had also passed through the poplar,
he .stood speeehle.ss. After a little
search, 1 found where it had <;razed
aiKjther spruce, pa.ssin<f thri)Uf,di aliout
tlu't!*' inches of it, and then |)a,ssed in-
to tilt! ni-()inid a foot or moi-e, whence
1 du^- it out in Kriday's piv.se\ice.
From that time until I parted with
him, he was tirndy of the opinion that
] coulil kill .■un'thiuii anvwhere, and
he never s[toke to me of not beinjjf able
to shoot. Hr had seen me shoot ficro.ss
the -Macken/ie IJiver at Simp.son, ISOO
yards, and make ])retty fair shootinjr,
a)\d did not express nnich a.stoiiish-
ment : but .seeing a bullet pass through
forty-tive inches of wood, and then a
foot into the earth. ind)Ued him with
a very gi'eat respect for my gun. He
ilid not fail to tell of this wonderful
gun at Liard, and the nativts there
were all expectancy to .see some won-
derful things wlienevei- they saw it in
my hands. I made them understand
that it was the gun the Great Mother's
.soldiers .shot with, and how n.seless it
would be foi' any one to seek sheltei-
from it behind trt'es, or yet awav from
it if they were in sight at all. I may
.say the litle in ipiestion was the new
magazine rifle adojited by the H<jme
(loverimient for the Imperial army, a
moilitication of which rille is now be-
ing })repare(l for the Canadian Militia.

VV'e reached Fort Liard River. 1 N2
miles from Simps</n by the conr.se of
the Liard, in the evening of Sep-
teml)er 4th. Fiere I remained until
noon of the 7th, getting the necessary
oKservations io enab'i' me to deter-
mine its position, which 1 found to
be in latitude (10 !4' bS", haigitude

12:i 67' 01". This post has hitherto
been marked on our nia{)s as being
in British Cohunbia, but it is sixteen
miles north of the northern bountlary
of that province.

The Hudson's l»ay ( "ompany forinany
years did a good trade here, but it is
now run down tt)a very small amount.
The Roman Catholic ( 'hurch has a
mission about a mile up the river from
the Company's post, and both Com-
pany and Mission have a few aci'es
under cultivati<ai, on whidithey raise
very good potatoes and garden stuM'.
The di'ought which prevailed t'Lse-
wliere in the north, here, also, pi'eveuted
the usual development of crops. At
the date of my ani\al the barhy
hiiil been harvested s(!veral ilays, nnd
though the str;iw was short, the grain
was plump, hard and of fail- yield.

wheat has often been grown liei'c
successfully, but as itcanoidybe used
whole, it is considered biitter to grow
l^irley, which can be and is much
u.sed as cattle b)od. Cattle are kept
here, and .seem to thrive as well as at
other |)laces in the country. At this
post th(! soil is arich black loamy clay,
and the surface is thickly wooded all
ai'ianid. As .seen from the highgnnnid
on the opposite side of the river, the
country to the south ami east a|)]>ears
undulating, rising into extensive
i-idges all heavily tindjere<l. This con-
dition is .said to continue through to
Hay Hivei'. In the valleys are many
lakes, some of considerable extent,
and many large swamps I could not
learn anything of the clwiracter of the
.soil, but it is fair to a,s,snme from the
geueiul character of the woods that it
is of fail' (piality. While at this fort,
1 examined the ilaily journal of events
kept at every ])ost, for the purjiose of
getting some information as tf) the
times of the general run of farming
events, opening and closing of the
river, or any othei' fact of agricultural,
meteorological or general interest.

I will hei-e make a few explanatory
remarks with regard to the.se joui-nals.
It is a standing i-ule of the Company's

THE CANADIAN MAGAZINE.

service that a Journal oF daily cvt'iitH
be kept at every pfjst, hut each officer
seeniH to have a diftereiit idea of what
a daily event is, and there .seeiiiH to be
a want of continuity, ho to Hpeak, in
the records, when there is a chanjje of
writers or officers ; some officers aim-
infj at niakint; it what it was intended
or ouj^fht to be, a chronicle, which could
at any time iiei-eafter be consulted with
conHdenee re^ai'dinj; historical, me-
teoroloffieal and agricultural events in
particular, and information jj^enerally.

Unfortunatel}' many seem to have
considered it an unpleasant <luty, and
])ut it otl" from day to day, until a long
interval had elapsed, then gone at it
in desperation and made the l)est re-
coi'd they could fi-om memory', of
course often omittiny; nianv items of
interest and general importance. In
many of the journals I have seen,
there are great gaps, the officer at the
place being absent on a journey, or
sick, or otherwise unable to write tl|(i!
journal at the post.

Each ri'coi'dcr stamped his character
in his entries as plainly as if it were a
])art of hii.nself, which, after all, it
i-eally is. Some apjjearod to have en-
joyed a ipiiet sit-down with a pipe
and pen, and had a plea,sant confiden-
tial chat with a fi'iend, narrating their
own doings, and hopes and fears in
connection with them. Others seem-
ed to have considere<l it an audience
to whom they grandilo(juently com-
municated their estimate of their own
])Owers and ability- Others have been
moralists, reflecting, with a sad smile
and a shake of the head, on the short-
comings of those around them. Many
have been witty, entering with much

detail any ludicrous event that may
have occuiTed,and embellishing it with
annising rettections and renuirk.s. It
is unfortunate that some common
motive did not actuate every recorder,
for the lack of system has made valu-
able references, in some cases, of little
use.

The journaU at Liard gave me the following
dates and facts :

1X78. Plaated seed May !lth ; reaped Idirlf
omitted ; tirat ice drifting in river October IMth ;
ico set in river October 29th.

I S7!l. Planted seed April 'i'ind ; reaped barley,
August 14th ; first ice in river, October 1.') ; ice
set fast, November 7th.

1880. Planted seed May 7th; reaped barley,
August 14 ; first ice in river, October 2.'>tli : ice
set fast, November !>th .

1H81. Planted seed, May 5th ; reaped barley,
August 12th ; first ice in river, October 10th ;
ice set fast, November 13th.

1882. Planted seed. May Oth ; reaped barley,
August 22 ; first iue in river, October ItitL ; ice
set fast, November 7th.

I8H,S Planted seed, May .Srd ; reaped barley.
August 10th ; first ice in river, October 29th ;
ice set fasf, November 9th.

1884. Planted seed, May 1st ; reaped barley,
omitted; first ice in river, October 10 ; ice set
fast, October 29th.

188."). Planted seed. May 22nd ; reaped barley,
August 1 1th; first ice in river, October 2.'}rci ;
ice set fast, omitted.

188(i. Planted seed. May 7th ; reaped barley,
August 19th; first ice set in river, November
9th ; ice set fast, November 2((th.

1887. Planted seed, .May .Srd ; reaped barley,
omitted ; first ice in river, October 22nd ; ice set
fast, November 9th.

18S8. Planted seed. May 9th ; reaped barley,
omitted ; first ice in river, October 20th ; ice set
fast, November 5th.

1889. Planted seed, April Kith : reaped barley,
omitted ; Hrst ice in river, October 28th ; ice set
fast, November 14th.

1890. Planted seed, April 30th : reaped barley,
omitted ; first ice in river October l.")th ; ice set
fast, November 14th.

Potatoes are generally harvested about the
20tli of September. The ice generally lireaks
up in the river about the Ist of .May.

{To he confiiiucd.)