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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different 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: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, ii est film6 A partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. f errata d to It 16 pelure, pon d 13 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 6 6 c> '. ; ui mniTM.m lYXTKliP 9 A !;i;i'(»i;'i' !'!;ksi:nti".i) 'I'o fir rjIK V/IX\IPK(; VAVrm]) OF TKTiDE iiK<;Ai{iiiM; Tii!': Hudson's M^j Strait, Hi'niij (I S/'i/^ m< i/f iiflh'ir /,'■ sourr, .< 'm .M'm, rt(l.<, Fi>lrr'f s, Timhtr, Furs, Cam III"/ iif/ii r iirinl m-'s. JJsn Xof' ■< on tin Xn i iry easy to follow the business of the Company since 1735, and I have possession of the names of the vessels, with the dates of the arriving at and sailing from Moo.so Factory since then and up to 1883. The same information is also pu1)lished, covering like data at York Factory between 1789 and 1883, and which furnishes an excel- lent account of how trade; has been carried on with perfect regularity. With the exception of one occasion (1779), Moose Factory lias been visited by a ship in every year since 1735. This shows a very surprising state of regular navigation, and the truth of it cannot be gainsaid, for the list was kindly furnished by the Hudson's Bay Company's officials in London. I 6 Our Xorthf.rn Wnterf. Dol)\/s Hook (1744) ('xteiuls this list of arrivals for some years further haek (paj^c 14). Ho f^ivos account of t'stiihlishineHt of Mo«)S(> Factory in M'M). It is aiiiusiii'j; to rejid soiiic of the woiulorful stories given us through some of the daily papers relating to the discovery of the Bay, and which appear to he ohtained from oncydopa'dias. We are informed positively tliat Sebastian Cahot discovered Hudson's 15ay, wluMi there is really no foundation for the statement, but on tho contrary, it is shown that it was impossible for him to liavc entered tlie Hav durin.'' the tinie he was on the coast of America. The last edition of the Eurijcfo/ioiliit /Irifannirn, I find, has made the error of stating that " Sir Thomas lUitler commanded the Dis- covert/ in 1612." It was Sir Thomas Iluffon, whom Vox knew, and wrote of twenty years after. I'utton named the islands at the east entrance of the Strait after himself, and they are known by that name to-day. A do/on of the old books speak of the knighting of Thornnn Button on account of his discoveries. HUDSON'S HAY. The Hudson's Day is a great inland sea extending between the 51st and G3rd degrees of north latitude, and is al>out 1,000 miles in length by 600 in width, having an area of about 500,000 scjuare miles. It drains an extent of country about 2,100 miles from east to west, and 1,500 miles from north to south, or an area of 3,000,000 S(juare miles. Its western feeders issue from the Rocky Mountains, its eastern from Labrador, and its southern from a point far within the boundaries of the Uniti^d States, where, indeed, from the .same lake source, water Hows .south to the (.Julf of Mexico. Even Lake Superior is nearly tapped to supply material for this great body of water, for the south-eastern watershed is close to Thunder Bay. The southern end of James' Bay is in the same latitude as the south of England, so that seven degrees length, at least, of the Bay is in like latitude as from the English Channel to the north of Scotland. The average depth of the Bay is about seventy fathoms according to Chappelle, who made extensive soundings ; this depth is evenly distributed, and there is a singular freedom from shoals or danger- ous reefs, and the approach to the west shore shows a level sandy bottom. lluvUoHS liny. On the east sitle of the Bay, and extending nearly the wliole way alonjr the coast at a distance of a lumdred miles from it, is a string of islaiuls. The Sleepers, which, however, prosfuit an «'asy approach* the Moose Factory ship track heiii;,' to the imnuHliate wtfst of these. The east coast lias hold high shores, while the west and south shores an; low, with nearly level land gradually rising as tliey extend inland. The tides on the west side decrease from twelve or fifteen feet at York to nine or ten at Moo.se Factory, at the s about coming out up to November 1st, and some seasons later. Nearly all the danger from ice at that time would be outside Reso- lution Island. There is about 30 feet rise and fall of the tide, and the currents are swift." Captain St. Clair, of New Bedford, was of the opinion " that a steamer could go in by July 1st, and come out as late as in 1878, in which year the ice did not make its appearance until November 12th." Capt. E. I>. Fisher, who whaled in Hudson's Bay for sixteen years, remarks : — ^"A steamship can enter and go through the Strait some ten days sooner than a sailing vessel, say by 1st July, and might, some s(!asons, sooner. Whalcsnien never had any trouble in coming out, as they leave as soon as the summer whaling is over, and are always out by November 1st. The only trouble is in Hud- son's Strait, and that is caused by the ice coming down from Fox Channel and lodging amongst the islands in the Straits, blocking up the narrowest part, which is midway of its length. A steamer could crawl out by keeping close to the rocks inside of the ice, as there is always open water more or less between the rocks and the great body of ice." Dr. Bell was a passenger on the Ocean N^ym/ih, which on her voyage to London was in the Strait from the 1 9th September to the 9th October. The weather was so fine during most of the time oc- cupied in passing from the Bay to the Atlantic, that the Bishop of Moosoneo, who was on board, held divine service on the open deck on each of the three successive Sundays. They saw some ice, but none of it would have hindei'ed a steamer in the slightest degree, the captain remarked, when about half way through the Strait, that if he liad had a steamer he would then have been in London. The vessel was delayed, principally by her bad sailing qualities, and yet she had been making regular voyages for many years. Her first voyage to York appears to have been in 1 S64. Soundings made at several places showed no bottom at 150 fathoms, and in the centre it often exceeds 300 fathoms. It is par- ticularly deep along the north shore, the land rising in places to at least 1,000 feet in height. " From all I could learn or observe, there appears reason to be- lieve that the Strait and Bay can be navigated and the land approached by steamships during an average of over four months each year, or from the middle of ^ une to the end of October. The Strait and Bay might, perpaps 1)6 navigated by steam vessels earlier Hudson^ s Strait and its Navigation. 11 than the middle of June, but nothing would be gainad, except by whalers, ingoing out before an open harbor could be reached."* Dr, Bell again refers to the established fact that the Hayes River, at York Factory, is open for an average of six months each year. Nelson River is open for a longer period, and the tidol portion can scarcely be said to set at any time. During the winter of 1880-1 the river did not freeze across at all for some forty miles above tide water. " It is probable that during the whole winter, from October to March, there is no ice in the Strait to obstruct their passage into or out of the Bay ; for a ship which chanced to be closed up with ice in an inlet, by the breaking of the ice got out, and came through the Strait at Christmas without finding any ice in the Strait to prevent her passage. The greatest danger and delay from the ice is in the entrance into the Strait for the first 40 leagues, from thence the quantity is less, and they pass on with less difficulty, and after get- ting into the Bay the northwest side is freest from ice. Since, therefore, the greatest danger from the ice is in passing the Strait, and so few accidents have happened in so many years, the naviga- tion, I think, cannot be called dangerous, though it has been gener- ally so apprehended."! Capt. Wm. Kennedy, of this Province, who conmianded an Arctic expedition in search of the remains of Sir John Franklin, in 1850, writes me as follows : — '' A residence of eight years on the shores of Ungova Bay and its vicinity enables me to state that for four months, viz. : July, August, Sertember and October, there is no difficulty in the navigation, and I believe that steamers might get through as early as June and as late as November. The Strait ice is never fast, and it keeps forming and breaking from .shore during the winter months, covering it with moving ice more or less com- pact. In 1825, I was about a week pa.ssing through the Strait, in Sef tember, on the Prince of Wales, and it was then perfectly free from ice." Capt. Bishop, now commanding the Hudson Bay Company's vessel, the Prince ot Wales, writes under date of 18th of March, 1881 : — " My average passage from the entrance of the Strait to the head of the same has been about fifteen days, and about twelve days from thence to Moose, or in going to York about nine days." * Dr. Bell's Report, 1880. t Dobbs, page 69. 'ii; 12 Our Northern Waters, ^fi 1 m One cannot have a very high opinion of the sailing qualities of the Prince of Wales, the distance from Mansfield Island to York be- ing 570 miles, and the time consumed in covering it averaging nine days, shews an average day's sail to be G3 miles, or about 2^ miles per hour, with deep water and no danger from shoals. Capt. Bisliop's average time home from York for the thirty-three voyages he has made was a little over four weeks. He is of opinion that tlie beginning of August is early enough for a vessel to attempt entering Hudson's Strait, wherein h(^ dillers from live American whaling captains whose opinions are (luoted, for they agree that vessels can enter by the 1st of July. Capt. St. Clair, of New Bed- ford, said he had entered the Bay on the 13th of June, 1877, and the captain of the Abbie I>r(i<(fonl left New Bedford, May 8th, 1878, and began whaling in Hudson's Bay on the 20th July, having that day " spoke with the bark Nile, boiling out their third whale of that season." Captain ^IcPherson, of the Hudson Bay Company's ship, Ocean NtjiiipJi, is of the same opinion as Capt. Bishop regarding tlie 1st of August being early enough for vessels to try to enter Hudson's Strait, and as he has made a great many voyages his opinion is wel^ worth noticing. Of course, both Captains Bishop and McPherson speak of sailing vessels, and their statements must be viewed in that light. Many of the log books of the Company's vessels have been placed in the hands of the Dominion Government, and it is likely that valuable information will be had from them, and it must be observed that the Company have certainly during late years placed every means available in the hands of the Covernmont ofticials to assist them in getting at the true position of affairs at the Bay. Tiiis is specially mentioned by Piof. Bell in the reports of his work about the Bay, and his voyage to London on their vessel. 11 * -x- * Pqj. ^Ijjj^^ j^ hath been aivvayes said that the north side was clerest from ice."* " I doe thinke that all this time of our imprisonment this north shore hath beene free, this fayre daycs west Avind blew cold and un- couth from out the passage, wee are all upon kinde tearmes, drinking one to another : God hold it."f "As the Straits, then, are never frozen over, nor always unnavig- able, even when there is much ice in the Bay, I imagine that a safe Fox, page 185. t Fox, page 100. Hudson's Strait and its Navigation. 13 passage may often be found in the beginning of June, for the ice en- ters the Straits at intervals, according as it breaks ofl, and as the wind and current drive it out of the Bay ; so the wind may keep the ice back at this season as well as any other. Besides, the ice at the bottom of the Bay, and the north and west ice, will not have had time to reach the Strait ; but after June all the bay ice, commonly reaches it. The beginning of June, therefore, seems to be the likeli- est time in which to expect a free passage,"* *' As to the dreams of the last age, about the danger and difficulty of the navigation through Hudson's Strait pnd Bay, it is now out of the ease ; we know that this navigation is far from being so perilous as it is represented."! *' This is the more manifest from a fact, the truth of which is in- disputable, and that is, the Hudson Bay Company ships, returning year after year without any disaster. "J Oapt. Ellis wrote the above in 1748, after returning from a voyage of two years to Hudson's Bay when he had acted as agent of the proprietors of the two vessels Dohbs Galley and California. Part of the instructions he had received was : " In your passage through the Strait, keep nearest the north shore, until you pass the Savage Islands." " At the entrance of the Bay is Salisbury Isle, and to the north- ward of it Nottingham Isle, northwest of which lie Mill Isles iu lat. 64°. 20', long. 80°. 30'. At the entrance of the Bay, fourteen leagues west from Cape Digges (which is on the south side of the Strait in lac. 62°.42', long. 77.°45') is Mansils Island (Mansfield), which is twenty leagues long." Mansils Island is called after Sir Robert Mansils.§ The course taken by the Ocean Nymph in 1880, from York, was north of Mansfield Island, then between Nottingham and Digges and north of Charles Island. Mr. Archibald, who lived seven . years about the Bay, says :— *' There is little doubt that the channel on the southeast side of Mansfield Island, is deep and safe enough for vessels, and alwr.ys free from the blocks of ice which the set of the tide carries into the north channel. But the Company's vessel save no rharts of the passage, and so they never attempt to go through it." There are several openings into Hudson's Bay besides Hudson's Strait, and they are described by Dr. Bell in the following words : — '* Robson. page 53. t Ellis, page xvii. } Ellia, page 282. § Fox, page 198. u Our Northern Waters. ji '* For example, Fox Channel is the main entrance from the north- ward. This channel divides into two at the Archipelago, formerly called Southampton Island, but proved to be a number of islands. The one in the west is called Rowe's Welcome, and that in the east Fox's Channel, which enters into Fury and Hecla Straits and others to tlie northward, and the Gulf of Boothia, still farther north." Sir Edward Parry, when on his second vo^'age in search of a northwest passage, says that on the 1st of December, in a bay of Fox Channel, where he wintered, while none of the "old ice" was visible, that part of the sea about them was covered with a very thin sheet of young ice, having spaces of clear water. In June of the following year the ice in their wintering bay, where they sawed it, was four feet, and that on that date a good deal of ice was still attached to the land. As i\w ice from Fox Channel affords the bulk of what passes through Hudson's Strait, it is important to know from an eminent authority like Parry that as late as June the ice still remained attacluid to the shore, for it is evident that if it is there, it cannot be at the same time bothering ships in the Strait, and it points out, what many men who have been tbi'ough the Strait early in June have insisted on, that the month of July is the worst of the whole year for entering the Strait, but the floe ice, being n^ore affected by winds than bergs, is acted on by the prevailing northern and north- western winds, as well as the southerly setting currc'iits, and we find in consequence, that in the words of Captain E. B. Fisher, who had sixteen years experience of whaling into the Bay since 18.50, "there is always open water between the rocks and the great body of ice," on the north side. The tides in Hudson's Strait rise from 30 feet to 40 feet, and run about six or seven miles an hour, and at every turn, where there is ice, many authorities say that much breaking up occurs, and that steamers could take advantage of this while sailing vessels are at a stand-still, if the wind is ahead and blew anyway fresh. As the willies are in July and August generally "ahead " to vessels entei'ing the Strait it is seen why sailing vessels are so delayed. Parry says the ice of one winter's formation was ascertained to be in June, about four feet thick, so that we can have some idea of the floe ice which passes through the Strait, but as Fox enters minutely into that question it is perhaps better to take his statement respect- ing it. He says that he saw a few bergs the size of " a church," lludson^a Strait and its Navigation. 15 which he had no trou\)le in evading, and that the floe ice was seen as thick as eight or ten feet. Robson gives us a very interesting account of a naval engagement in the Strait hetween five French men-of-war and //. M. S. Ifampshirt, convoying two Hudson's Bay Company's sliips, none of the vessels were destroyed, as they got into ice and were separated. They again met in the Bay and continued the fight, when //. M. S. Ilaiapshire " was by some unlucky accident overset," and her crew perished. During a storm tlie following night two of the French ships were driven on shore and lost. It is found on investigation that fully 7")0 vessels have passed through Hudson's Strait, and this does not cover, it is known, the whole number. The list includes British troop-ships, emigrant ships, war vessels of the English and French (some of them carrying 74 guns), as well as ships bound on voyages of discovery, trade and whaling. As early as 1619, Capt. John ]Munck was sent by the King of Denmark, and \w wint(;red at Churchill, a brass gun of his being taken out of the river some time about the date of the appear- ance of Fox in that harl)or. Dr. Bell obtained from the Company's offices, in London, a reiord, which, printed in his i^eport, shows the date of arriving and sailing of their vessels at York Factory for 93 years, and at ]Moose Fort for 147 years. These lists show that in some years several vessels were sent in charge of British men-of-war, and there has been, almost every year during the past two centuries, ships of various classes and sizes, navigating the Strait without loss, and it seems almost incredible tliat such a number of voyages could be made, e.xtending over 274 years without the loss of over one, or as is claimed by some writers, two small sailing vessels. It is said that the two vessels lost were chartered ships of the Hudson's Bay Company, and they met with mishaps in the ice. They were the bark Grahame, in 1852, and the bark Kitti/, about 1850. The latter foundered in the middle of the Strait otf Saddle Back Island. It is impossible to reconcile this record of 274 years with the wild and unfounded statements of interested persons or uninformed ter- rorists. It is but a comparatively short time since it was claimed that it would be impossible to navigate the St. Lawrence with steamships, and, indeed, several steamers were lost in proving that it would be possible for anirainense fleet to pass up to Montreal during each summer. I 1^ 16 Our Northern Waters. Many references might be made to the length of time vessels take in passing through tht! Strait in either direction, hut sailing ships, and they for the most part, from their build, very bad sailers, con- sume most of th(! time waiting for fair winds, which, in sailing west, are very few and far between. If they encounter ice that would not be taken any notice of by steamers, sailing ships must have fair wind!<, or they have to "ice-anchor" in the lee of a large "floe' and bide their time. I have copies of several log books of American whalers, which show that the out trij) was made in the autumn, as follows :— - Ship Xorlhvrn Lujht 1862 7 days Anav, llluflf Head may Ijo reached and a new departure taken, as sug;,'est(!d by tlu! authorities quoted. 4th. It is doubtful whether the northern portion of the Day ever freezes more than " several miles " from the shore, and it remains to be seen whether much, or indeed any ice does come out of Jlud- .son's Bay. It is probable that the ice spoken of as coming from the Bay, really comes down Fox Channel, as shown by the drift of //. M. S. Terror, represented on the accompanying admiralty chart. There are two reasons for supposing that very little ice comes from Hudson's Bay ; the first is, it would imply the constant occurence of strong southerly winds and a considerable space of time to carry the ice from so large a surface as Hudson's Bay through the confined channels leading into Hudson's Straits, and experience teaches that ice is rarely met with after passing Charles Island, except towards the centre of the Bay. Moreover, from the description of the ice met in Hudson's Strait, it is largely composed of hummocky, or heavy Arctic ice, which comes down Fox Channel from the north. It is more probable that the Hudson's Bay ice melts and disappears within the limits of the Bay itself. The second reason is that the early opening of the ice on the west coast of the Bay, admitting the salmon and caplin to the shores in the latter part of June, even so far north as Churchill, and six weeks before the northern Labrador is free from coast ice, appears to show that local dissolu- tion is the chief, if not the only cause of the disappearance of the bay ice, and its I'emnant is occasionally found in the eddy near the centre of the Bay in July. If the bay ice found its way into Hud- son's Strait these would bemostliable to bo blocked up betweenlNIansfied and Digges Islands, but thi§ part is represented to be always clear. It may, with great propriety be asked : Why should a patch be found near the centre of the Bay ! If the ice drifts out into the Strait, would not the ice under such circumstances b(i found near Mansfield Island instead of at the centre of the Bay ? Why does the central patch not follow the . tream 1 In a tideway, when the tides rise at neaps 30, and at springs 40 feet, and when the daily swing of the tides is from 12 to 20 miles, •2 ¥ 18 Our Northern W'titers. carrying,' ico Itai'kwanl and forward throu^di that spa<'0 twico every day,fr('.sli (ilianiicls aro constantly ojH'iiiii<,',wliifli a steamer can avail herself of, Imt wliich are useh^ss to a sailing vess(!l, except witli a fair wind. Hence the greater reason for adopting tlie suggestion of Lieut. Chappelle, and entering Hudson's Strait early in .lune, before the Arctic ice in Vo\ Channel com(>s down, as shown by the drift of //. JA S. Terror. TTmfreviile, who, whihi in (Ik! servic*^ of t]w Hudson's l>ay Com- pany from 1771 to 17S2, lived at tln^ ditP'rent forts about the l^ay, wrote :-" Tf it be objected to this, that the vast (juantities of ice in the Straits must impede a vessel ; I answer that many years tlie ice is so insignificant in quantity as not to obstruct tlie passage of the ships in the least, and in those seasons when it is thickest, it is dissolved and disperscnl in tli(^ ocean long before the return of the ships in Se])teniber."* I sent, through flavor Logan, to the Mayor of New Bedford, IVfass., a list of (juestions T desired answers to, and he kindly res- ponded and says that the following are given l>y reliubh? men, who have whaled in IFudson's Bay. " Ice is generally met with before reaching llesolution Island, at the eastern entrance to the Strait, and is seen at intervals from there to Mansfield Island, at the western end. Whalers are said to come from Fox Channel into the l^ay, but no one knows how many whalers winter in tln^ Bay. They lu ver e.\j)(>rience trouble from floating ice in the north of the Bay. The course in is on either side of Mansfield Island, after hugging the north side of the Strait. They do not know if the Strait ever freezes over, as they winter in latitude G5°.30' N. in the Bay. The ice on an average freezes for three and sometimes four miles from the shore. A steamer would have the advantage of being able to pass through ice that will hold a sailing .ship fast. SteanuTs could find open water on a passage through the Strait from July L^th to November 1st." "Ships do well, therefore, to keep to the north w\ard, until they reach the latitude of Cape Resolution ; and when that is attained, they may haul in N.W., and keep close in to the north shore ; thus making a semi-circle round the ice."f Sir Edward Parry states that, "the eflfects to be apprehended from exposure to the swell of the main ocean constitute the peculiar Umfreville, page !)!) t Chappelle, page 47 ffudsoyi'n Strait and its Navigation. 10 clangor of first entering the ioo about the mouth of Hudson's Strait, which is completely open to the whoh; Atlantic." Capt. J lackland says tlK^ns is a chopjjy sea at the eastern entrance of th(; Strait, caused l»y tlu* ti(U; and north-wcist winds meeting the swell of the ^Vtlantic. The ice is thrown into violent c )m motion. Capt. Middleton says :— " All along the coast of Hudson's Strait the land is very high and hold, and a liundred fathoms or more close to shore."* " In our passage from Resolution to the Upper Savage Islands, •we met with little ic(! to olistruct us.'"t Ca})t. Hacklantl, now living at lleadingly, Manitoba, who was si.xteen years in command of the Comi)any's vessels in the l»ay and Strait, says that the water is deep and sure along the north side of the Strait, tlu; ice there met with being small in (juantity and j)assable, the north winds and currents carrying it down to and along the south side. Tlusre is plenty of water for vessels in the entrance between Resolution Island and the North Mainland. Lieut. Chappelle states as a reason for selecting the noi'thern pa.ssage close to Resolution Islands :-" That entering Hudson's Strait, it is a necessary precaution to keep close in with the northern shore, as the currents out of the Hudson's and DavivS' Straits meet on the south side of the entrance, and carry the ice with great velocity to the southward, along the coast of Labrador."| Some very wild statements liave lately been made by enthusiastic persons who allow their enthusiasm to run away with their judgment about the perfect freedom from ic(! enjoyed by the Strait. They have, they say, been told by employees of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany that then; is v(^ry little ice to be seen there. Several of the Company's people, with whom I have conversed, and who ai*o well informed, say that as a rule the employees have but a limited and local knowledge regarding the Bay, and their experience in the Straits is confined to perhaps one passage thi-ough it. These wild statements show on their face that they are absurd, and I have taken great care in this report to give only the statements of good authorities, and none of the hearsay. Plenty of ice is met with in Hudson's Strait as a general thing during the month of July, though some years the quantity is small, and Capt. Bishop states that out of twenty-three voyages that h© Ellis, pajfe 127 ; t page 131. X Chapjielle, page 40. 20 Oar Xorthfrn Widern. iimdo only on six did \w find perfectly open water and clear sailing on his way into the Bay. It is unnecessary here ajjain to state that steamers would pass with ease througli the ;;eneral run of ice met with in the Strait, whicli ellectuuUy stops a sailinj,' vessel, for I have under difleront heii(lin;,'s shown that this is the deliheratf! statement of several whalin;,' and other captains, it is simply wasting hreath for people who have not actually seen the ice uf the Strait to say just what can be done in it l>y steamers. The value of an opinion on this suhject is to l)e measured hy the person it comes from, and that is why I simply state what practical sailors who have lieen then! have to say about it. IUDSON'S HAY OPEN. Rejj;ardin^' the season of open water in the T»ay, it is important to know that all the evidence advanced proves tliat it is, as might be expected, from its great size and position, open the whole year, and is in that re.spect so much superior to the lower part of the St. Lawrence River. We have very sati.sfactory statements on this point, and as a sam- ple of the number, T quote in full what was brought out by the Committee of the House of Commons, at Ottawa, in April, 1883. In answer to the (piestion, " Have you the dates of th(? opening and i-losing of navigation of Hudson's Bay?"' Dr. Bell, of the Geological survey of Canada, who has spent six seasons about the Hudson's Bay, testified as follows: — " In regard to the Bay itself there is no date for the opening or closing of navigation, because the Bay is open all the; year round, lik( the ocean in corresponding lati- tudes. It is strictly correct to .say that the Bay is open during the winter, because, although in the shallow water at the head of James' l>ay, a narrow margin of ice forms, it does not extend outwards, and is due to ihv. land-locked nature of the Bay and the shallowness and freshness of the water. Further north there is a margin of ice along the shallow water, but it never extends so far but a man on the beach can see the fog on the open water on a clear morning. On parts of the eastern coast, I am told, the sea washes against the rocks all the winter, just the same as on the coast of Nova Scotia or Newfoundland." //uifn(»i's Hay Open, 21 Dr. I'lll also says that tlu' fact that tlio ice forms aloiij,' tli«^slion>g would only iiit«'rf«'r«' with the navij,'atioii of th«' May, in that vossj-U could not ;;et into the harbors, longer than in the (lulf of St. Law- ronco. Till' rivtTH fulling into i\w V> \\ arc open for an av('rag(> of si.\ months. This is amply proved l»y tho records kept at tlw various l)0sts of the Ilud.son's I5ay Company, on tli(( Bay, and which, hcing kept I»y the otKcials for over fifty years, have been jtresented to the "Canadian (lovernment. \V(! have, therefore, undeniable data to substantiate this fact, and even further that the Nelson lliver i.s opon still loiigei-. Dobbs, writing in 1744, gives a number of datcis of the opening of Januvs' Hay, and T may mention one, given on page 13. Thei'(! was no frost on the 'J 1th October to free/c the fish they caught, and they had to stop lishing on that account. (Jn the '_'8th October ice sliowed in the river and tho geese began to leave. Nov- ember l.'Uh the river (Albany) was full of heavy ice, and on the 18tli November it froze over but the weather was "still moderate." In the following spring (1731) the ice was gone to sea May llith. Nov- ember 10th, 1731, tho Albany River was froz(;n over. Dobbs here closes with the remark, "So far goes this journal." From the stat(Mnent of Capt. Middhiton, who was in command of one of the Company's vessels in 1741, and wintered at (niurdiill, the weather was veiy severe, tliey had snow on tho 1st September, and crossed the river on the ice eight miles above the fort on October 9th. The river froze fast at the entrance on tlie Tith Novendjer. In the spring "the ice without the harbor is drove to sea ' on the 20th April. The tide rose 10 feet 3 inches, and a goos^ was killed 28th April.* Dobbs answered the ol)jection that there is dangerous navigation in the Bay in these words : — "The navigation is not so dangerous as it is apprehended to be, but appears to be more so by the insinua- tions and reports, given out in order to deter others from venturing and interfering in the trade. Captain Middleton made twenty voyages to different parts of tlu; Bay and never lost a ship nor had any accident in these voyages. Where captains are careful in the ice, there is not much danger. It is of great advantage to them that there is no night at that season they enter the Bay, when the quantity of ice is the greatest ; and when they return in September, or even in October, all the ice is dissolved or passed out. The ice * Dobbs, page 15. * =t; t 22 Our Korthern Waters. Il 1 that is formed in bays and rivers in winter (\oc% not break up until it begins to thaw upon ^he shores in Marcli and April. Yet even then good pilots know how-to avoid it, and get into the eddy tide, out of the current, where the ice is more open ; but these difficulties would lessen every day, if the trade were opened."* This was written in the year 1744, and Mr. Dobbs' statements have been followed by others of like tenor during the 140 years following. Dr. Bell informed the House of Commons Committee, in 1883, in answer to a question, that the temperature of Lake Superior,, bc.ow the immediate surface, is 39" Fahr. ; along the east shore of Hudson's Bay, it averaged 53° in the summer months, according to the observations he made in 1S77. He spoke of the summer alone, and it was so warm that they bathed in it with more comfort than they could in the water of the Gulf of St, Lawrence. Owing to the fact tliat it is land-locked and the summer warm, the water becomes heated, and at the same time is not carried off by cold ocean currents, as on the Atlantic coast. The Bay is very tranquil in the summer, and the sun shines longer there each day than in more southern latitudes in the summer months, and that has the effect of heating the water. The harbors are not closed by ice till the middle of November, and .sometimes not till near Christmas. There is no difficulty in a vessel leaving the coast of the Bay up to the latter part of Octol)er or the middle of November. Shore ice would not interfere with navigation for over six months of the year. The floating ice iu James' Bay in the spring is from the shores and rivers, and would offer little obstruction to a steamshij), being light and rotten after it floats. The following incident, related in Gunn's llistorij of Manitoba, serves to illustrate how many of the fears of the navigation of the Bay were propagated: — "In August, 1830, the annual ship from London to York Factory was driven from her mooring at the latter place by the storm, and the captain, instead of trying to re-enter the harbor, made sail, with all the supplies of that year for the Red River colony, back to England," — the reason given is that their anchor was lost. Dr. Rae, who was for some years in the Hudson's Bay Company's service, when before a committee of the British House of Commons, in 1857, gave it as his opinion that Uie water in the north end of the * Dobbs, page ( Ihidso7t's Bay Open. 23 Bay was only sufficiently free from ice to hunt whales for about two months. As Dr. Rae's opinions on the navigability of these north- ern waters have been quoted on several occasions, it may be of value to know how the above quoted statement of his compares with the experience of the whalers who were even at the time he testified, gathering a rich harvest from our fisheries in the Bay. I will give extracts from copies of the log books of some whalers from New Bedford, Mass., and New London, Conn. Ship Xorthern TAijht, Capt. Tabor, May loth, 1801 : getting ready for whaling, sawing out of harbor. September 19th : sighted Resolution Island on way out of Strait. This shows nearly four month? work instead oi the two supposed possible l)y Dr. Rae. IjOf^X^ook oi i\\b Ahhie Bradford, July 20tli, 1878. Spoke with bark Nile, of New London, boiling out their third ichale this season- Ship in the Bay and began whaling. The Ahhie went out tlu'ougli the Strait, August lOtli, 1879, and there is no mention of ice. The Ahhie Bradford again Avintercd in the northern part of the Bay 1880-81, and her log book chronicles on June 1st, 1881, "saw- ing out of harbor ; 4th, in clear water and bearing up for Depot Island." As most of the log books show that vessels in the northern part of the Bay begin to make preparations for wintering in the end of September, the Ahhie Bradford would have a clear four moiitlis whaling. Captain E B. Fisher, who made eight whaling voyages to the Bay, covering some IG years time, writes as follows : — "The Bay is open all winter, except a little ice that makes near the shore, and that breaks up iu every gale of wind. It was never very cold where I wintered, in a small harbor to the northwest. Whalesnun never have any trouble in coming out, as they leave as soon as their sum- mer whaling is over, and are always out by November 1st." It will be seen, therefore, that practical whalemen say they do work between the 15th of May and the Lst November, or during a period of five-and-a-half months if it is necessary, so that the opinion of Dr. Rae on this matter would seein to be xory far wide of the actual fact. Only one captain of a whaling vessel, Capt. Spicer, seemed to think that a whaling ship could not depend with certainty on getting out after October. The log books show that the vessels ti 24 Our Northern Waters, w v\\ tii have, as a rule, bogun to get ready for wintering about the end of September, Captain Tabor, of New Bedford, who whaled in tlie Bay in 18G2, and again in 18G3, remarks: — ^"Hudson's Bay is open all winter, and what little ice makes on the shore breaks up with every gale of wind. About thirty feet rise and fall of the tide in the Strait and northern part of the Bay, and the currents are- swift." The whalemen seem to winter at ^Marble Island and other places in the northo' n and northwestern part of the Bay, and as they agree in tlie main with the extracts I have given it is useless to quote the remarks of more of them, but there are many more to refer to if they are called for. IVIr. W. A. Archil lald, who lived at Moose Factory, on James" I'ay, writes under date of January 19th, 1884 : — "The. ice in Moose River breaks up in ^lay from the 10th to the 20tli as a rul?, and the river remains open till the middle of November. The Bay is open for navigation from 1st June to 1st Decei<»ber. On 1st June the trading sehooiicr starts on her trips along the coast to gather up the winter's catch of furs. If the English vessel is not too late in ar- riving, the schooner's work is done and she is laid up by the middle of Novembei-, Shore ice may begin to form any time after that datf\ I saw liut one storm of any violence while I was there, and the little coasting schooner, Avhich happened to be caught out in it, catiio safely through that. From what I know of Hudson's Bay and its eonnnction with the Atlantic, and I have coa!;ted about in those regions for many years, T should judge that steam vessels can navi- gate those waters from June to December in ordinary years without any danger or difhculty. Dr. Nevins, surgeon on the Prince Albert, a vessel of the Com- pany, trading to ]\[oo.se from London, relates his experience in a work entitled A Karnitive of 7\ro Voijnges to Hudson s IJai/ -.—"It is very common to meet with ice in James' Bay, but there is not generally much in Hudson's Bay." Robson informs us of the vaiious expeditions made in search of the Northwest passage by the Company's vessels, and gives the dates of their sailing from York and otlier ports.* One expedition in the rrosprrws- sloop, started from York Fac- tory, June 10th, 1711b and afto)' a visit to the north of the Bay, returned in August. * Rob ion, pajfe 53. Hudson's Bay Open, 25 " It is a settled and undisputed fact tliat the nortliern part of the Bay is perfectly free and open when the southern is much embar- rassed with ice."* " Danger is so far lessened by keeping a constant watch and proper discipline amongst the seamen, that one seldom hears of any melancholy accident. This is more manifest from a fact, the truth of which is indisputable, and that is, the Hudson's Bay Company's ships, returning year after year without any disastei-, from whence, perhaps, Ave may infer, that where constant and continual clang<^r excite perpetual attention, it thereby alters its nature, and becomes, if I may be allowed the expression, the course of safety."t- " I know that but a few years ago this voyage was thought very difficult and tedious, that the Company's ships almost always win- tered in the Bay, and that they were well satisfied with that captain who wintered safely, and returned the following year, allowing him a gratuity of fifty guineas. But of late this gratuity is withheld from him, and given only to those who go out and return the same year, so that what was once represented as absolutely impracticable, is now very easily and speedily performed. "| Lieut. Chappelle, of the Royal Navy, in 18 10, wrote the follow- ing: — " It is not to be expected that ships during our return to Europe will ever meet with loose ice ; therefore, as soon as our ship anchored on York Flats, we undid all the preparations which had been made for manceuvring while amongst the ice, such as re-stowing our anchors and jiutting below ice ropes, ice anchors, ice axes, etc., and we rejoiced in being rid of them." This strongly confirms Dr. Bell's statement regarding the state of the open harbors in the Bay during the autumn months. Fox says that the farther north he got in the Bay the warmer he found the weather durin-x the sunnner and "the more free from ice." Capt. IlacklancI, who has had 16 years experience in the Bay, states that the distance tlie ice forms from the shore is entirely de- pendent on the depth of the water. He says that at Churchill, where the water is deep, the ice does not form for more tliau half a mile from the shore, while at York it forms at times as far as three miles, on account of less depth of water, though the mouth of the Nelson River is never really closed. * * * " In lat. 62^ 30' there is no ice to obstruct the passage from the middle of June to October, for they may return any time * Ellis, page 320 ; t page 282. } Robson, 1748. i \\ 26 Our Northern Waters. m in September or October safe from any obstruction from the ice."* Capt. Ilacklaiid says a standing order with the Company's captains is " Never go south of latitude GO", until you are west of longitude 90°, in going to York or Churchill." * * * (1 There is a continual current setting to the east from Cape Henrietta Maria, towards the supposed opening ; the Bay ship> in her voyage to Moose, has frequently observed a large glut of loose ice off Cape Henrietta Maria, which, before lier return, has entirely disappeared ; and whither could it have drifted with a strong easterly current, unless some opening had admitted its escape froin the Bay ?"| This is the channel su}tposed to exist between Mostjuito Bay and Ungava Bay, and if there, most likely steamers could use it during those months tluit ice is met with in the Strait, though they would have to run across the ice stream in Unga\a Bay, which is generally heavy, even when there is little or none along the north coast of Hudson's Strait. The lower St. Lawrence (notwithstanding its comparative narrow- ness) is partly open, even in the middle of v/inter. But the ditliculty, as in the case of the ITudson's Bay, is the apparent inipossibility of getting into harbors. Harbors such as Churchill or York, on JIud- son's Bay, would have the advantage over Quebec or Montreal of connecting directly with the open sea, and hence in autumn vessels would not be liable to lie frozen in, as occasionally happens in the St. Lawrence, as, for example, in the autumn of 1880, also \\\ the autumn of 1870, when the outward-bound shipping got frozen in below (Quebec, occasioning a loss, it was said, of over a million of dollars. Again, in the spring, there might be no more uncertainty about entering from sea than in the CJulf of St. Lawrence, where vexatious delays are not uncommon after the open season is supposed to have arrived. | The Montreal harbor master, according to the United States re- port on commercial relations for 1878 (page G57), furnished a table showing the average opening and closing of that port for ocean- going vessels for twenty years to be : — Average opening 1858 to 1877, 1st TNIay ; average closing 25th November. Summary of the opening and closing of Hayes' Ptiver, opposite York Factory, for various years from 1830 to 1880, according to report of Mr. Wood, Government Meteorological Observer at York Factory : — - * Dobbs, page 8S. t Clmppelle, page 81. J Dr Bell. UudsorHs Bay Open 27 I>ate of Date of Openinij. Clonin!/, 1830 May 17 December 2 1835 " 24 November 18 1840 "12 " l(i 1845 "22 " 24 1850 "31 " 28 1855 "21 " 24 1860 "IS " 1<) 1865 "16 " 20 1870 "11 " 27 1875 "10 " 15 1880 " 26 " 20 The records of the Hudson's Bay Company^ as presented to the Government in 1 880, show that the Kayes' River, at York Factory, for an average of 53 years was open (in the 15th May. Only once in the 53 years did it remain closed till the end of May or first of June. Once (in 1878) the river closed as early as the 3rd of Nov- ember, but the average closing for 53 years was about the 20th of November. It must be borne in mind that the Hayes' is but a small river in comparison with its neighbor, the Nelson, which is distant from it at York about si.x; miles. The Nelson closes much later than does the Hayes', if indeed it can be said to close at all. It is interesting, then, to note the comparison between the open- ing of the harbors of York and Montreal, though a fortnight is here given against York to clear the river and again in the fall when ice first forms : — Montreal. York. Opening of harbor 1st May. 1st June. Closing of harbor 25th of Nov. 10th Nov. This proves conclusively that the harbor at York is open and clear of ice for five-and-a-half-months of the year, and that vessels could api^roach docks between those dates. At a port on Nelson River these dates would be extended. SAILING SHIPS vs, STEAMERS. It must be thoroughly understood that all the vessels spoken of in these pages are sailing ships, and that so far steamers have never gone into the Bay. The importance and value of many points brought out by m,y quotations will be appreciated when the addi- tional advantages that steamers would have had in the same situa- tion are kept in view. The vessels which were in use 274 years ago, when the Hudson's Bay was discovered, and first navigated, may be U' 28 Our Northern Waters, i I'll.. ^r,' better imagined than clescril)e(l, and a glance at a model, or sketch of one of them, which gives their dimensions, will afford some idea of what they might be expected to do in our northern waters. It is surprising to one who reads the books of two hundred years ago, and compares them with works of recent date, which bear on this subject, to find that in the earlier days there was scarcely any mention made of danger in the navigation of the route into Hud- son's Bay. It seems as if some forty or fifty years ago, it suddenly afflicted people as with a nightmare to hear the matter spoken of, and yet facts seem wanting to prove that any losses had occurred to alarm people in this manner. It is evident to anyone, who looks for the cause, that as people had been shut out of any trade in that direction, it was highly desirable to keep any adventurous persons from trying to gain a foothold in the future, and the best means to be adopted were those of magnifying the dangers of the navigation. I believe it is about thirty years since the American whalers with their vessels began to seek their cargoes if oil in the north of the Bay, and the trade has ])een carried on very (][uietly ever since. It is a fact that th(^ first vessel that ever floated on the waters of the Bay, after pushing through the Strait, was a little ship of 55 tons burden. Davis, the discoverer of the Htrait that bears his name, made his discoveries in 1585, with the Sunshine, oijiftij tons, and the Moon- shiiw of fhirlij-fire tons, and the following year he took with him in addition to these two vessels, the North Star, of ^.'Ji tons. Cartain Bylot, in 1615, sailed into the Bay with a vessel of 55 tons, and Ellis is careful to note that this was the fifth voyage of discovery into these northern waters, made by this little vessel. Capt. Fox, the discoverer of Fox Channel, sailed from London on the 8th of May, 16.31, in the Charles, a pinnace of only 20 tons burden, and entered Hudson's Strait on the 22nd of June, and pushed through what ice he saw without difliculty. All the vessels, it is seen, were small, and they must have been rudely constructed. It seems almost absurd to point out the difliculties encountered by sailing vessels as compared with steamers, but so many cases of ships becalmed in ice are met with throughout the authorities that I herein quote from, that it may be well to show some of them. Dr. Nevins, on a trip to Moose Factory, met with considerable float ice in the southern part of the Bay, near to James' Bay, and the Prince Albert had the experience that he says a great many of Sailing Ships vs. Steamers. 29 the Company's vessels have with contrary winds, and as an example of the ice that kept them floating helplessly with it for six weeks, I quote his words, "She would sail for a half a mile, or not even her own length, before she was again stopped, and this obstacle Avas re- moved only to make way for others which would detain us for hours." He explains that the sailors took poles and shoved aside the blocks of ice, and he describes it all as floe ice. Two weeks later the vessel passed through this same (luai'ter, and did not see a speck of ice, nor did they meet with any obstructions in the Straits, and yet they were over seven weeks in going to London. Chappelle made almost the same voyage with If. M. S. Rosamond, in nineteen days, and his opinion of the sailing (jualities of the Com- pany's ships is given in this very plain and distinct language on page 26 of his book. "It ought to be mentioned that we found ourselves much retarded by the bad sailing of the Northwest ships, but a Mora- vian brig with us sailed well." This was on the voyage to the Bay. He says : — " We got under sail with a fair wind, running a zig-zag course amongst the ice, at intervals striking hard, so that the ship was much shaken, as she had not been strengthened for the occasion. Ships passing through the ice of Hudson's Strait should have their bows doubled with oak plank and heavy blocks of wood bolted to each side of her cutwater."* Capt. Stirling, R.N., in the year 1813, had the same experience when convoying the ships into the bay. These vessels had not made the slightest preparation for ice. The German expedition to Greenland, which returned home in 1870, reported that their sailing vessel had been wrecked on the coast, her crew being saved by the steamer, which returned in good condition. " Steamers were believed to be the only form of vessels suited for research on the eastern coast of Greenland, anything like reaching the coast in a sailing vessel being entirely out of the ques- tion. The lowest tempei'ature experienced was about 58' fahr., this occurring on the 21st February, 1870."t Here is a case where the experiment of testing the ic(% and other resisting cjuantities of both descriptions of vessels was made by a thoroughly competent and scientific stafi' of chosen men. It has been said that steam vessels could not possibly stand the severity of the climate, and yet here is shown, on undoubted auth- ority, that the " steamer returned in good condition," after exper- • Chappellu. page 130. t Annual liecord of Science o»td Indiustry, 1872. 30 Our Northern Waters. si ': ■ ! ii::;, v.. Ml ^kh iencing ffty-''iys iiiiictci'ii days Ix-fon^ the other Hud- sou's IJay sliips arrived from York."* Tliey h'ft York together. To sliow liow quickly a sailirig vessel is caught in the ice v. hicli forms in the fall, Capt. Parry, in iSi'l, describes that the ico which " jjent like leather lieneath their feet and causfsd them sometimes to sink into the water," had fixed th(> Fnnj firndy, though the sea, a short distance otF was open. This was in a bay of Fox Channel. Ciipt. McClintock, on an Arctic voyage, say? : - -" After steaming out of our predicament (a matter w(^ could not accomplish under sail), w(! ran on to the south, hut found tlie pack edge still com- pos(id of light ice very closely pi-essed together. * * * An in- significant hummock then blocked up the narrow pas.sage ; as we could not push it before us, a two-pound blasting charge was ex- ploded, and the surface ice was shattered, but the ditKculty was in- creased instead of being removed. Tliis is ono of the many instances in which our small vessel labors under very great disadvantage in ice-navigation. We have neither sufhcient manual power, steam power, nor impetus to force the floes asunder. I am convinced that a steamer of moderate size and power, with a crew of forty oi- fifty men. would have got through 100 miles of such ice in less time than we ha\e been beset." Th(( Fo.r was a steam-yacht of 177 tons bur- den. '• rpon the 8th of July, 174G, we made tlie Island of Resolution, at the distance of about half a mile. '^ * '* The wind falling, and i\w .sea tumbling in on the shore, we were forced to have re- course to the ship's oars, and by the help of these, and the boats towing ahead, we made shift to deliver ourselves from this danger."t PREVAILING WINDS AND CURRENTS. It is with confidence tliat tlie assertion is made that tlie prevailing winds in the Htrfit come from the north-west, and that they are the chief cause of the trouble experienced by sailing ships. Parry, who wintered in Fox Channel, in lS,");3-,")4, informs us that there were, during the year, 145 north-westerly, and 81 north north- westerly winds, which would all be directly felt in Hudson's Strait. On only 34 occasions durii.g the year did the wind blow from the south-east, so that it will be seen that sailing vessels have, as a rule, ' Cliappellf, page 224. t Ellis, paife 126. Pri'vailiufj ]Vi)i(fH and Currents. :v.\ dead head winds as well as the ice to contend with in workin;; up the Strait towards the Bay, and thoy cannot take advantage of the good (h'('[) water under shelter of tho north shore owing to the danger of hoiiig drawn against tlie steep rocky hanks that generally rise straig!:t up from the water. Dr. N(*vins, surgeon on a Company's ship, in 184.'i, wrote : "Ships liave to sail amongst icebergs and rocks,which descend perpendicularly into one hundred fathoms of water, and against currents so strong that ships can hardly make head against them, and yet there has not been an accident of importance to one, of them for ai)ove fifty years, nor do I remember to have lieard of any of them having l)een lost at sea. There is always a strong current down the south side of Ilu'lson's Strait, which in some places runs as fast as seven or eight knots an hour." " The north- tvesterly winds prevail in these parts, it blows from the north-west cjuarter near nine months in twelve."* Capt. Kennedy, of St.' Andrew's, ]Manitoba, who, in 1850, com- manded an expedition for Lady Franklin, lived eight years on the south shore of Hudson's Strait, in a letter to me last week, says : - " It is chiefly from Fox Channel that ice comes in June and July ; the current moving south forces it into the Strait, passing Vngava Bay, into the Atlantic. "^ * * Every operation of winds and currents is favorable for the formation of a channel along tho north shore. The Hudson's Bay ships have always found the Strait ice- encumbered in the beginning of July, and, being sailing ships, have had to give the land a wide berth, more especially as the beginning of July is the season of cahns which render sailing ships very help- less." Capt. Kennedy also said, last summer : — " The north shore of Hudson's Strait is sheltered from northerly winds. Southerly setting currents open a channel along the northern coast." " If I was to give any directions for avoiding the thickest of the ice in Hudson's Strait, it would be to keep pretty near the north shore, for we always observed that side much the clearest, as not only the winds blow mostly from thence, but currents too come out of most of those large openings which are on that side.''f Chappelle states : — " Entering Hudson's Strait, it is a necessary precaution to keep close in with the northern shore, as the cur- rents out of the Hudson's and Davis' Straits meet on tlie south '♦ Ellis, pajfe 126 ; t page 144. u; 34 Our Xorthi'Di Wiitern. { 1 . m i' 1 side of the cntraiuM', and carry the i<'(' with ^'rcat velocity to the soutlnvanl, aloiij,' tho coast of liahrador." " ft is w(^ll kiiowii, however, that tho direction of the ice drift is nuu'li affected by winds, and that meteorolo^'ical conditions have much inrtuence in determining the position of the Hoe ice. Icebergs wliich can bo avoich'd by a stcjamer, are not much atl'ected by winds, being diri'cted by deep-seated currents, which, in Hudson's Strait, according to Sir Kdward Parry, cany the bergs to and fro twice as fast us the Hoe ice.* Tiie work of the Smithonian Institute, on winds, shows tlmt from all the records on fyle of tlie observations made by explorers in Hudson's Strait and Fox Channel, it is found that the prcivailing winds are from the nortli-west. f " In passing out through Hudson's Strait we could perceive none of the drift ice which was so plentiful in our voyage outwards ; it had been carried away to th(> ocean by the prevalence of the southerly currents."'! The log books of the Anierioun whalers also show that the currents from the north cany the ice to the south, where it lodges amongst the islands and blocks up towards the north, about midway up the Strait; where it is narrowest. Prof. Hind writes, concerning the ocean currents, which sweep past the entrance of Hudson's Strait, as follows : — "It appears cer- tain that some of the pfipular impressions respecting the icy character of Hudson's Strait and I'av have arisen from the accoun+s which have 1)oen published from time to time of the climate and '.Oixst line of noithern Labrador, which is not unfrequently neared \\\ entering the Strait. But the coast line of northern Labrador is the unfor- tunate recipient of the combined effects of no less than three separate arctic or sub-arctic ice streams. "These are the east (Ireenland ice stream, the BafHn's Bay and Davis' Strait ice streams, and the Hudson's Bay ice stream. All of these ice-encumbered currents meet in the summer on the coast of northern Labrador, and are the cause of its exceptionally cold climate. The reason why the entrance to Hudson's Strait is encum- bered in early summer, arises from the ice of the combined Greenland and Davis' Strait currents sweeping in a broad stream past its entrance towards the Labrador coast, on which it is pressed by the earth's rotation." * Hind's Report, page 7. t Suiithonian Instituto, 1854. t Chappelle, page 234. Pi'evaU'nig WintU uml Cnrr'utn. :\r> A •,')iuif«> at the map will hIiow that this ict; when it {)u.s8t'8 furthi'i- Kouth iv.flt'cts the ciitriuicc to th«' Straits of \M\v Isln Itct'om it reaches (he lliuiks ot' Newt'ouiidlaiul. At, h'ort Chiiiio, at the toot ot' rii;,Mvii l?ay, tlic eiirreiiis are very powerful, th(! tide risin;^, it is said, to over lU feet, and the iee from the Strait is earried into I'ni^ava IJay, sweeps round its shores, and is carried out of tlie Strait to join the L:ihrador ice stream. " Anotiier thinj^ worthy ay, it is desirable to i)reseuc some information that comes to hand, sd that this (lues- tiou may be understood. From the extracts supplied by tlu; log books of nine American whalers who liave been whaling in the ]>ay during recent years, I iind that there is only one mention made of fogs in the passage through the Strait, and that remark, as given, is: "Ship Ansil (libbs, J u\y oth, 18(50. Ice seems open, but weather too thick to run." The Candian ( Jovernnient have had for something like seven years meterological stations at York Factory and ^loose Factory, and as the observers are the oliicers of the lEudson's Bay Company,, we can take their returns without fear of their being eitliei- too favor- able or the reverse : — Chappulle, pa^e 173. 36 Our Northern Waters. YORK FACTOItY. I'-ogs observed 187(5, No returns 1877 Vogs observed 1 878, MOOSK FACTOEY. Fogs observed 1878, " " 1S7!», " " Jan. to Aug., return 1880, 18 6 17 It Avould !)(> very iiitoresting to compare tliis return witli one from tlie ]o\\'er St. Lawrence, and it certainly answers the absurd- ities of the nonsensical rejiJorts which have hecn disseminated either through ignorance of the true facts or a desire to conceal them. It is most likely that the former is the case. Cliappelle, in his passage through the Strait, mentions having seen fog about the end of July, and from the meterological reports it would appear that there is, as a rule, two or three days at that tiine when fogs may be expected there, as one year's returns show five cases of fog in July, and two other years there was one day each in July. Outside Hudson's Strait, in the Atlantic, ships come somewhat into the region of the Newfoundland fogs, but it is too far north to expect anything like the trouble caused by the meeting of the arctic waters with those of the Gulf Stream, and wliich is such a source of dangei-, Findlay says : — " TIk^ (!ulf Stream is completely destroyed near Newfoundland by the south-west polar current, and not to be trace- able any further.''* This matter is fully explained in Jfaxri/s Fhysical Ceoyraphy of ihe Sea, which is the standard authority on the subject. Plate :0 shows very distinctly that the cold waters from the Hudson and Davis' Straits reach down to latitude 45, and east to loniritude 40 west before meeting with the Gulf Stream. Mau.y speaking of this, says : -"By its discovery we have clearly ■unmasketl the very seat of that agent which produces the New- foundland fogs."f Now no such influences are at work in the Hudson's Strait or Bay, except possibly, where the warm summer water of the Bay mingles with that of the Strait, and it is fortunate that reports sliow that no trouble occurs at that point from fogs, and that one of tlie * Animal Record o/Sdence and Industnj, 1872. t Page 242. Fogs. 3; great advantages the Bay offers to navigators is the immunity from them as well as shoals and reefs, the islands and shores showing great depths of water close up, Capt. Middleton, who liad made twenty voyages into and ahout the Bay up to the year 1743, writes under date of that year. '"And then as to observing the latitude in foggy seasons, I have seldom missed two days togetlun-, if it be tolerable smooth water, as you will find in our journals." This is a particularly important statement coming from a man who was then accused by opponents of tJie Hudson's Bay Company as work- ingand writing entirely in its interests, and with suppressing anything favorable to the navigation of those waters. Dr. Bell was in Hudson's Strait on the Companys vessel from the 19th Sept. to the 9th Oct., and gives a detailed journal of events. They had spells of fog on two days. Mr. Archibald, who lived on the Bay for seven years, in a letter says : — " The amount of fog in Hudson's Bay is about the same as is experienced in Manitoba. The conditions for producing fog do not exist in that Bay. Capt. Hackland reports that fogs are very unconunon, as the gen- eral conditions for producing them are wanting in cither Bay or Strait. LIGHTHOUSES. Tlie freedom of Pludsou's **'+rait and Bay from rocks, shoals, and other impediments to navigation, will exonerate vessels, in that quarter, from the heavy expenses for pilots, lighthouses, etc., which burden shij)ping in many other American ports. " Both shores of Hudson's Bay are high and bold, and, if observa- tory stations were placed upon some of them, on elevated j'O'ntft 'mi either side, they would command a complete view oi" its ei.tire surface. By means of signals, of telegraphic communicat'on be- tween these stations, in case of the existence of drifting ico ; vessels could be directed what course to follow in order to pass through it at the easiest j^art, or to avoid it altogether."* The main eastern entrance of the Strait between Cape Best and Cape Chudleigh is al)Out fifty miles in width, and there are othi'r entrances which could be utilized to advantage if proper lighthouses Dr. Bell. 38 Our Northern Wnters. were establisliod on elevated points. At places where ice accumula- tions nro met vith, the channel, never exceeding forty-five miles in breadth, :r, sufficiently narrow for telegraphic communication by means of the magneto-electric lights, from one side to the other, so that instant advantage could ))e taken of information conveyed, respecting the condition of the ice. 1 a ( ;i r^ff ' t V SHIPS CHARTS. Dobbs sa;,-s that in his day (174i) the Company and their friends gave it out that navigation into the Bay was dangerous, in order to deter others from %entui'ing and interfering in their trade, and for that reason they obliged their captains, under a penalty, not to pub- lish any charts of the Bay and Strait.* This may have? be(>n the case in the olden time, but ''' certainly i:j not the case now, for the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company are placing all their records at the disposal of the Canadian Government, and Dr. Bell was supplied with e\ery facility for obtaining correct information, both in the London office and at the various posts about the Bay, during the six years he has been investigating and exploi'ing there. The following, taken from Chappelle^ an officer of //. J/. ,S'. Rosamond, who convoyed the ships of the Hudson's Bay Company into the Bay during +i'e war of 1S14, may better explain why we have such a difficulty in procuring correct and authentic charts of tli(!se waters. " Nothing can be more incorrect than the chart supplied me by the Admiialty for the guidance of a man-of-war in Hudson's Strait ; it absolutely bears no resemblance to the channel of which it is intended to be an exact delineation. During the time we continued in Hudson's Strait, the Rosamond was entirely piloted by a chart belonging to the chief mate of the Prince of Wales^ and one of his own making; yet he was so jealous of his performance, that he was highly ofTended at our master's having endeavoured to take a copy of it ; and from thence forward kept his charts carefully locked up. Wlien I questioned him, with some fr(>edom, on tliis mysterious conduct, the selfish motive stood at once confessed ; lie feared lest, *Dobb8, page 0). Shij/s Charts. 39 ■^ from others attaining the same knowledge as himself, they might b(- induced to enter into the service of the Company, and thereby possibly supplant him in his situation. And such I found to be the motives which induced the majority of these experienced seamen to keep their truly valuable information concealed within their own bosoms.' "* Capt. Sherard Osborn, R.N., brought under the notice of the Royal Geographical Society, of London, in 18G.3, a curious instance of the valuable information possessed by the captains of whalers in Davis' Straits and the northern seas generally. He was assured by one of these whaling captains, that every one of the so-called sounds in a certain pai't of Davis' Straits, wt!re bays, not sounds. Upon being asked why he did not make the truth known, Jiis answer waS) " My knowledge is money." An Admiralty chart of 18.");}, corrected up to liS7-, retains all the errors connected with the Metu Jiwoc/uifa of Queen Elizabeth ami the so-called Frobisher Strait, now known to be a bay. The chart publisluid in 187 "> has not expunged the mefa incoyidta, but it lias transformed Frobisher Strait into a bay. Capt. Be(;chei' presented a chart, with a paper, to the Royal Geographical Society, in 1842. Sir Edward Parry, Admiral McClintock, Lieut. Chappelle,and many others, have assisted in the production of the charts in present use. The old maps show a channel through from Ungava l.>ay, at the eastern entrance to Hudson's Strait, to ^losi^uito Lay on the east coast of Hudson's Bay — which has been dropped from the recent maps, though I do not think it is provetl not to exist. It was shown as a narrow channel, 200 miles in length, leading into Hud- son's Bay about 100 miles south of the Strait, f The southern shore of the Strait has, seemingly, never been pro- perly explored, i.nd islands mentioned by Chappelle as likely to afford shelter and many harbors, along a coast of 300 miles, are not yet recorded on any published map. The Ministry of Marine and War, of France, have large and extensive charts, maps, proliies, etc,, of the coasts of Labrador, Hudson's Strait, and Hudson's Bay. Some of these may now I j seen in the archives of the department in a building facing on the Place de la Concorde, Paris. The charts and profiles are on a very large scale, and are most comprehensive. 'Chappelle, pa^fe 175. t Dr. Bell, ISSi. 40 Our Northern Waters. In the chart room of Lloyd's, London, are also to be found numerous charts of the a1)0ve localities. Apparently, none of the French f rofiles, etc., have been published. FORT PRINCP: of WALE8. Fort Prince of Wales stands at the west side of the enti'ance to the harl)or at Churchill. It occupies a very commanding position, was built of stone, and at one time mounted forty cannon of large size for those times. It is stated that it is probably the largest ruin in Xorth America. Several years were consumed in building the fort, which was begun in 17.')'5, Joseph llobson, who was the sui'veyor and architect in charge at one time, shows in his book the plans, the length of each side being 300 feet. It has been said that when La Perouse, the French Admiral, cap- tured it in 1782, " it was surrendered, after a gallant resistance on the part of the garrison."' This is perfectly absurd, as various writers have given the true version of the surrender, and I have been favored with a copy of La Peron^es Voi/ar/es, published in Paris, 1798, wherein La Perouse says that he had with him the " Sceptre, carry- ing 7i guns; iXxeAstrce and the EngagearJo, carrying each 3G guns : with 2i)() infantry, 40 artillerymen, 4 field guns, 2 mortars, and 300 bombshells. Tliev sighted the fort on the evenincf of the 8th August, and anchored in eighteen fathoms of water. An officer sent to reconitre- the approaches to the fort reported that the vessels could be brought to bear ou it at a very short distance. La Perouse, thinking that the Scpptre would not easily subdue the enemy if they resisted, pre- pared to make a descent during the night, and without difficulty the boats landed about two miles from the fort. La Perouse, seeing no pi-eparations made for the defence, although the fort seemed to be in a good stote, summoned the enemy, the gates were opened, and the governor and garrison surrendered at discretion. Thus it will be seen by an account written by the French, that the Company's people surrendered without firing a shot. La Perouse, liaving destroyed tlie mountied guns and parts of the fort, sailed for York Fort within three days after the first sight of Prince of Wales was had, taking with him the Governor, Hearne. 41 ivi- the arcl ilt, knd lill ril, tly by Ml ^d •ed ill,, nd •ht le le es IS le I 40. 1 nur Frt tlif wa siz( in m v^ wi ar th to tb be th m tl fc Fori Prince of Wales. 41 It is very strange; that Ilearne, who had amply proved liis indivi- dual bravery during his arctic journeys, when ho discovered the Coppermine River, in 1772, should have proved such a coward before the French. Old Foi't Churchill, at the time Fort Prince of Wales was built, was about five miles up the river. It was established in lOSS, and rebuilt in 1721. Umfreville, who was taken prisoner by the French, wrote a full account of the taking of the fort to the English papers, in April, 1783, and I find by his letter that La Pcrouse's account is strictly accurate. l^mfreville was disgusted Avith tlu; cowardice shown by Hoarne, and says that the French w(3re weak and reduced in health after their long sea voyage, most of them being poorly clothed, and only half of them had shoes. • La Perouse sailed to York Fort, on the Hayes' River, and captured that fort with equal ease, the garrison surrendering at the first call, the French troops landing on the bank of the Nelson River and marching overland to York Fort, a distance of some six or eight miles. RIVERS. Over twenty-five large and many small rivers empty into Hud- son's Bay. Some of these are the Churchill, Seal, Nelson, Hayes, Severn, Albany, Moose, Ruperts, Eastmain, Big River, Great Whale and Little Whale. Some of them are navigable for a considerable distance from the sea for river steamers. Nelson Riveh and HAunoK. The Nelson is the great trunk river which discharges all the waters which have been gathered into Lake Winnipeg from every point of the compass, and has a volume e([ual to about four times that of the Ottawa at the Capital of the Dominion. Its length is about 400 miles, in which distance it has a descent of 710 feet from the surface of Lake Winnipeg. If we add the length of the Saskatchewan to that of the Nelson, we shall have a total of 1,300 miles from the source of the former in the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the latter at Hudson's Bay. {vide pamphlet.) The Nelson may be ascended by large river steamers to a distance of about eighty miles from the sea, according to soundings made by Prof. Bell. He also says in his report of 1879-80 : — I \ 42 Our Northi'm Wnterti. '* Most of its (istuary becomes dry at low tide, but a cliuimel runs tliroutrli it near tlie centre, as far as the head of tide water. I sounded tliis channel in a number of i)hxces, in 1878, 79 and '80, and although an average dei)th of about two fathoms at low water was found, continuous soundings throughout might have shown in- terruptions or shallower water in some ])laces. As stated in pre- vious reports, there is a section at the head of tide, or between th*? tidal })ortion and the regular inland channel of the river, ia which not more than ten feet of water was found. This may extend for about two miles above, above which an apparent continuous channel, with a depth of about twenty feet, according to our soundings, ex- tends to the lowest li'mestone rapid, which is the first break in the navigable part, and is between forty and fifty miles from the head of tide, or from seventy to eighty from the open sea. If the section referred to were deepened, steamers coming in from the sea might enter this part of the river and find perfect shelter, or even proceed up the stream to any point below the rapid referred to. In contin- uation of the channel running down the estuary, a " lead " of deeper water extends out into the l»ay, and forms the "North lliver," or " York Roads," with excellent anchorage. The tides at the mouth of the Nelson River amount to fifteen feet." Sir Thomas Button's Journal, 1G12 : — "After which time, came on the new winter, Avith much stormie weather, as he was con- strained to winter there, in a small rile or creeke on the north side of a river in lat .')7\ 10', which river he named Port Nelson, after the name of his master (whom he buried there), putting his small ship in the foremost and barracadoe both of them (with piles of firre and earth), from storme of snow, ice, raine, floods, or what else might fall.'"* Ellis states that the Nelson is six miles wide at the entranc(>, with a very good channel about a mile broad, and from five to fifteen fathoms deep. Robson made extensive soundings of the Nelson River, and pub- lished a plan of about forty miles length of it and the Hayes' River. He gives excellent depths up as far as Flamboro Head, a distance of twenty miles from the mouth. Above here are two islands, Gillam and Seal Island, where Robson says ships could lie in safety summer or winter. In 1782, LaPerouse, the French admiral, with a seventy-four-gun line-of-battle ship, and two frigates of thirty-six guns each, anchored * North-West Fox, or Fox from the North-W&it, 1635, page 117. Rivers- N^ehon. 43 at the mouth of Nelson llivor, not fiiKlin<,' sufficient water in ITayes' River. He landed 250 men, mortars, guns, and provisions for eight days.* Certainly these were large-sized vess(!ls to be in those waters, and it proves that the French considered the taking of the forts a matter of importance, and also that the wa^er at the mouth of the Nelson was of a good depth. IIayks' Rivku. Many peo})le lahor under tlie impression that York Factory is on the Nelson River. This is likely caused l»y the imperfect and in- correct maps current which do not show distinctly that it is on the Hayes' River, which Jlows into the J5ay, and whoire outlet is divided from that of the Nelson lated many dangerous shoals at the mouth of the river."* Rishop Taclu! says the Ray into which the Nelson and Hayes' rivers pours is called Port Nelson. The foit, Avhich has been called Rourbon, Nelson and York, was first built by the French in 167G, and rebuilt by. them in 1G82. TiiK Churchill and its Hahuoh. The Churchill, which lias its source between the Saskatchewan and the IMclvenzie, was described by Dobbs, in 1744, to be a noble river, with a deep bold entrance, the tide flowing from 10 to 14 feet. Middlctou (1742) says the Churchill is about .')00 paces Avide at the entrance for a (piarter of a league, and is very deep ; but within it is much broader. George A. Rayiie, C.E., who made a professional trip in the interests of the Nelson Valley Railway Company, to Churchill, says the harbor at Churchill is regarded as one of the finest in the world. The river at this point is half a mile or more in width, and two points of rock, some twenty feet above high water, one on each side, overlap, the one on the western shore being * Chappelle, page 182. Rirern — Ch-irr/t iff. 45 half a inilo further iiortli than tin* point on the rantorn, thus closinij the harlior from any stonn (liat inay Itc ra^'inj^ in the liay. 'Y\w depth of water is suHicient to lloat thi' hir;^ 'st ocean st/ the Xortli ire i of A meriea, 1868 ; } page 57. § Dobbs, page S2. Rivers — Se vern. 47 Fort Severn was built at the mouth of the river by the Hudson Bay Company in 1686 ; and Fort Neuve Savanne was erected by the French in 1702, they namin;i; the stream Riviere des Saintes Huiles. ARCHANGEL The City of Archangel, in Russia, is situated at the head of the delta of the Divina, in lat. 64 .32' N., and lonj,'. 40°. 33' E. It may be said to date its existence from a visit paid it by the English voy- ager Chancelor, in 1553, and, indeed, an English factory was estab- lished there by consent of the Russian Czar in 1584. The total value of exports, in 1874, amounted to £1,234,390 — in 472 ships, of which 62 were steamers and 220 coasting vessels — a large proportion being carried to Lii;'land. The harbor is open only from June to October. The best season, howin'or, is from the middle of Juue to the middle of August. After that period the nights become cold, and in September it is often stormy. Population in 1867, 19,936. The exports are flax, flax-tow and cordilla, oats, linseed, wheat, deals, tar, pitch, rosin, mats, beef and pork, calf and seal skins, train oil, cordage, feathers and linseed cakes. A ship starting from Archangel, at the south end of the White Sea, for England, must sail north full seven degrees to round North Cape, the most northerly cape in Norway, and this for five-and-a- half degrees within the Arctic Circle, or to a distance of over 500 miles farther north than the track followed by vessels sailing out of Hudson's Strait for English ports. It can be seen on the inspection of a chart which shows the bend of the Gulf Stream, that tlu; influence of that great current of warm water does not set east of Cape North, along the Lapland shore, between 25th and 45th dend strength, and therefore surrounded on all sides, witiiout any shelter, by frozen sea and river, exposed to all storms, being vastly colder than a few leagues up the river amongst the wo^ds, where the factory's men lived comfortably in huts and tents all the winter, hunting, shooting, and fishinu t. . wh-^le season. When the cold continued at York Fort, and there was ice in the river four leagues above, they had a fine spring, all the trees in bloom and very warm weather. At present the factories of Moose and Albany are situated very un- happily, being placed in the swamp, at the mouths of the rivers, for the Company's aim being trade, they don't regard the soil, aspect, or situation where they fix them, provided they are upon navigable rivers where their ships can approach them and the natives can come in their canoes.''* It is likely, for the above reasons, that report: generally herd give such a miserable account of the privation'^' and hardships men suffer ar.der when living at the trading posts about the Bay, whether of the French or English. Moose and York Factories are, however, not so much exposed but that they can grow plenty of vegetables for their own use, as is assured us by all who have visited these places. Dr. Bel) was tolrl at Moose, in 1875, that the prcxious year they cropped 1,700 bushels of good potatoes. He also saw oats, barley, beans, peas, turnips, beets, carrots, cabbages, and onions grown there. * Dobbs, page 55. Exposed Ponition of Fortu, Vpgetntion, Stock, etc. 55 » " The factories are situated at the mouths of the rivers upon a frozen sea ; whilst tiie inland countries are pleasant, fruitful and temperate."* " Most kinds of ".garden stuff grows here (York), coming to per- fection, particularly peas and beans, also good radishes, coleworts, turnips, carrots and lettuces, and other salading."t Hearne, in 1770, wrote that " Wish-a-capucca is the name given by the natives to a plant which is foynd all over the country bor- -dering on Hudson's Bay ; and an infusion of it is used as tea by all the Europeans settled in that country." " There is also a plant which is a very interesting one, although its history may be. probably net of very great importance just now ; that is tiie Labrador tea plant. It was formerly imported into this country (England) by the Hudson's Bay Company, under the name of Weesuckapuka ; that is the Indian name. It is a tradition that the East India Company interfered with its importation ; that the Chinese took such a great liking to it that they were somewhat jealous of it. It is only a tradition, but the foct is rather extraor- dinary, that at the time to w'-ich this Parliamentary Report refers, when the imports of the Company were so small, that they should have imported eight hogsheads of this article into this country in one year, and sold it in the London market. The import was sud- denly discontinued ; from what cause, nobody knows " j. Dr. Bell, in 1879, saw good potatoes and turnips growing in the garden at Churchill. Previous to the advent of the present othcial the possibility of growing them was ridiculed, but they have had a good rcop for seven consecutive years. He also, in the surveys of 1877 and 1879, found 237 specimens of various plants which grow in tlie vicinity of the Bay, most of which have been determined by Prof. Macoun. It is said that close to the Bay the frost never comes entirely out of the ground at any time of the year ; but even if that be the case it is well known now that that does not prevent vegetable growth, as is proved by the above, as well as the fact that trees grr)w in soil that overlies perpetually frozen ground. H. Jukes, C.E., who was at York Factory in charge of a party of engineers, says that 150 bushels of potatoes were grown within the walls of the fort that season (1882). His staff was kindly supplied with them from the fort. * Robson, page 82 ; tpage 4;i. J Isbister before British House of Commons, 1867. 56 Our Northern Waters. Mr. Archibald, wlio lat(!ly lived sevon years at Mooso Factory, add, to the list given l>y Dr. Bell, tomatoes and cucumbers. He also states that 20 to 30 cows and about r)0 head of steers and young cattle, 20 to 40 sheep, 4 horses (imported from Scotland), and any quantity of pigs and fowls are kept there. Iforses and cattle were kept at Churchill in 1733, and the small herd now kept there is recruited by raising the animals calved at the fort itself, though formerly ignorance prevented any attempt being made to breed stock on the spot. Robson states that the liorses thorc had been kept several years previous to 1733, and were constantly employed in drawing stones,, etc., for the building of the fort.* Dr. Bell reports that about 80 head of cattle are now kept at Moose Factory. While there is no probability that the districts immediately bordering on the Bay will ever be considered as agri- cultural localities, yet it is worthy of notice that vegetables, as well as some sorts uf grain, can be grown for local demand. Inland, a hundred miles or so, there is some fair agricultural land, which will be turned to good account when it is required. " According to Ballantyne, the brigade of boats for the interior usually leaves York Factory about the end of May, which shows that the rivers are open even in the cold border land within twenty miles of Hudson's Bay. Lake Winnipeg is some- times impassable at its northern extremity during the first week in June."t Umfreville mentions that many vegetables are raised at Moose, Albanv York and Churchill, thousrh the soil alonfj the rivers close to the sea is not very well fitted for growth. All writers speak of the cranberries, gooseberries, currants, strawberries, raspberries and cherries, as growing along several of the rivers. In giving evidence before the select Committee of the British House of Commons, in 1857, Mr. A. Isbister said : — " Sarsaparilla grows wild over the Hudson's Bay country, and of superior quality. We import 180,000 pounds of it a year fiom Russia and other parts. Why should we not take some of it from Hudson's Bay 1 " 40,000 gallons of cranberries are annually imports -d from Russia; they grow wild around the shores of Hudson's Bay." Dr. Bell, before the Colonization Committee, Ottawa, April, 1883, said : — " I have devoted about six whole seasons to examinins either * Robson, i>a,ge 43. t Hind't Report. 4s'' Exposed Position a/ Forts, Vegetation, Stock, etc. 57 tho immediate shores of Hudson's Bay, or the country surrounding it, at a greater or less distance back from the Bay. " The country immediately surrounding Hudson's Bay cannot be said to be an agricultural region, but to the southward of James' Bay, the southern prolongation of Hudson's Bay, and to the south- westward, there is a long tract of land which, sooner or later, will be, I believe, of value for agricultural purposes. It extends for a dis- tance of nearly 200 miles in a southerly and south-westerly direction. The immediate shore of James' Bay, towards the south end, is very low and level, and the country, for some distance back, is covered with sphagnum moss, but this does not exist far inland, the greatest extent is between the lower parts of the Albany and Moose llivers, but beyond that there is a level tract of excellent land, well wooded ; and southward and south-westward of that ag:dn, the country rises pretty rapidly for a short distance, and we come upon another pla- teau which extends inland for another 100 miles, and over the greater part of that, the land is excellent, as far as I could judge. I have surveyed all tho principal rivers and lakes, and canoe routes of that country, and made excursions inland to see the rocks and the soil, and it would be what we sliould consider, in western Cai/ada, good land. On the eastern side of James' Bay there is a narrow strip extendmg about 100 miles from thesouthfT.i extremity, which would be useful for cattle raising. It is already used by the Hudson's Bay Company for that purpose, and they have shown that sheep and cattle can be reared there successfully. Further north, on the west side, from York Factory or Churchill, to tho north end of Lake Win- nipeg, the first lialf of the distance, or that nearest to Hudson's Bay, is too cold, in a general way, and otherwise unfitted for agri- culture, but in the remaining half, a great deal of the land is good, and it is not too cold to become eventually of some value for agri- culture, "No grain would grow at York Factory -nothing but potatoes and vegetables, turnips and root crops. The innnediate influence of the sea there is unfavorable. The climate is bad at the very sea shore. It improves rapidly as you go inland, and very decidedly as you get hr.lfway to Lake Winnipeg. There is a very decided change in going to the south-westward. " The soil is very good at Moose and along the immediate bank of er, and, aft3r you get a certain distance inland, above the flat y, it seemed to be good everywhere, on this plateau, as far as the cou % I could judge. 08 Our Northern Waters. Prof. Macoun, hotanist to tho Cfcolo^'ical Survey of CuimUa, gavs : — Dr. \M\ tells me that down along the southern part of Jiiuies" Bay, and a few miles hack of Hudson's I Jay, ho eould see nothing in the clinmte to show that it was cold. He submitted all these plants to me, and not a plant, gathered two miles back from Jumes' IJay, indicated a cold climate, and away up a.s far as latitude 59' I n(!ver found, in the Peace River region, a plant that indicated a climate as cold as (,)u(!bec. Those within two miles of the coast did, and those within half a mile of Lake Superior are of the same character." Dr. King, who was attached to Captain Back's exptdition to the Arctic Ocean (l(S;{:5.;5r)), states that at the commencement of llill lliver, halfway between York Factory and Norway House, the ar- gillaceous clilFs are seen rising in some places 100 feet above the water level, capped with hills at least twice that height ; and at some parts of the stream, where it is expanded to a breadth of several miles, innumerable islands appear, stretching in long vistas, and well-wooded, producing scenery of extrenie beauty. The occurrence of such deep deposits of drift clay in this valley is of great import- ance. The same traveller states that Steel lliver — the name wliich Hill River takes after flowing fifty seven miles — serpentines through a well-wooded valley, presenting at every turn much beautiful scenery. The mouth of the Steel River is forty-eight miles from the sea by the winding course of Hayes' River, into which it falls.^ George Gladman was in the Company's service from 1814 to 1845, and he testifies that when he wintered at Eastman House, on the east side of the Bay : — ^" Though the climate is not so good as at Moose Factory, raised good potatoes, turnips and other vegetables, nevertheless ; soil sandy. Station much exposed to bleak north-west Avinds off the sea. A large herd of cattle kept there at that time, an abundant supply of hay being made in the salt marshes on the shores of the Bay. Vegetables grew wild on the point of the river, abundance of wild strawberries and currants. Resided at Moose Factory 15 years ; much sheltered from northerly winds ; climate and soil good ; raised potatoes and other vegetables there in great abund- ance ; barley ripened well ; small fruit's, as currants, gooseberries, and raspberries plentiful, grow wild ; n^verknew wheat tried, the season being too short ; horned cattle, horsos, sheep and pigs kept there; all housed in winter. Albany Fort, 100 miles further north, does not diflf'er from Moose in regard to soil and climate, being well > Journey to the Shoren of the Arctic Ocertn.— Richard King, M.R.C.S. !^ Ex/iost'(l I'nnitioH of Forts, Vef/fitation, Stock, etc. 59 slipltered, tho inarslios on the coast furiiisliiiig an nltuiidunt stock of fodder for douiestie cattle. Was at York for five years, and found the soil not ada[)te(l for cultivation, being for the most part mossy swamps. Was at Oxford House. J'^xperienced no ditHeulty what- ever in raising vegetables ; had potatoes to spare for York Factory and for the Indians."* RIVERS NAVIGABLE. Before the Committee on Colonization, Ottawa, Dr. Bell, when asked the fjuestion ; -"Could you give any particulars respecting the Nel- son and Churchill rivers as r(\;^n,rds their capability for alloi'ding commercial facilities ?" answered : — "The Churchill IlivcT would furnish no facilities. It is rapid down to the liead of tide, within eight miles of the sea. The Nelson River might bo navigable up- ward from the mouth, or downward from Lake Winnipeg for a cer- tain distance. Half the river is navigable. Except a chute of some fifteen feet, there is a stretch of about 180 miles in the central part of the Nelson River, which is navigable, but between this and the mouth on tin; one hand, and the head of the river oa the other, there is a considerable part broken by rapids. '* How far can the Nelson be navigated from its mouth up- wards? From the head of tide about forty or fifty miles, and downward from Lake Winnipeg about the same distance. Then there would be forty or fifty miles above the first and below the second of those stretches broken by rapids, and the central 1 SO miles would be navigable except for the one break referred to. The whole length of the river is 3G0 miles, one half in the central part is nav- igable, and the other half is divided into stretches of ninety miles each, half of these again being navigable, and half bioken as I have just stated." The falls are over solid rock, and the descent from Lake Winni- peg to tide water is about 710 feet. Nelson River, as a whole, can- not be counted on as of value for navigation, except temporarily, or for local purposes. The mouth of the Nelson is distant from the western entrance of the Strait about 550 or GOO miles. * British House of Commons Report, 1857, Appendix. 60 Our Northern Waters. It is said that the Moose River is navigable at high water for about 130 miles from its mouth. The heads of the principal rivers used for canoe routes, between Lake Superior and James' Bay are 1,200 or 1,300 feet above the sea. From the height of land between Lake Superior and James' Bay there is a plateau gradually sloping to the north, and, as you ap- proadi Hudson's Bay, there is a sudden drop at about 100 miles soutli of James' Bay. This descent turns round with a wide sort of sweep to the south-westward of the Bay. In crossing it you have a fall of 100 feet to 200 ff-et in a few miles. Then the character of the rivers change, and they run over silurian or devonian rocks, and through clay, and are quite navigable for steamers, at high water." WHALING. Before a Committee of the British House of Commons, Dr. Rae, in answer to the question : — •" Do you suppose there would be a suffi- cient quantity offish of that kind (whales) to support a settlement ?" testified : — "I think not. When I went in 184G-7, I saw a good many whales. When I went in 1853-4, I saw only one or two small ones." ' Before the same committee. Captain David Herd, who commanded coasting vessels, in answer to the question : — '' What are the capa- bilities of Hudson's Bay with regard to whaling, onsweicd: — "I have Ixvn going there for the last 22 years and have never seen a whale biit once, that was last year, I saw one whale." " Assuming that there are whales there, is the state of the sea, with regard to ice, such that whaling can be carried on in it 1 " " No, I do not be- lieve that it could. I do not believe myself that whales will ever go amongst ice." Mr. A. Isbister, witne:s before the same committee, stated : — " In Hudson's Bay itself, there are also very good facilities for the whale and seal fishery. It was stated the other day, I think, by one of the commanders of the coasting ships, that he had seen no whales ! I happen to have a book here containing an official report, laid before Parliament, of the imports from Hudson's Bay for ten yeurs, from 1738 to 1748, in which it is stated that the con'puny imported in the year 1747, as many as 1,314 whale fins, which of course repre- sented more than GOO whales. It does not say whether they were black or white whales." Whaling. Gl It would seem in the light of later evidence, that IMr. Isbister was correct in his statement, and that Capt. Rae and Capt. Herd did not seem to know much about the extent of the whale fishery, although the latter had sailed in those waters for 22 years. For half a century, at least, the north-western part of Hudson's Bay has been regularly frequented by a large number of American whalers, and, I am told, by whalers from Dundee and other Scotch ports. An inspection of the report of the United States Conimissiouer of fish and fisheries for 1875-76 fortunately gives us some information as to the extent of the whale fishing in Hudson's Bay. That report shows that between the years 1861 and 1874 American whalers made about 50 voyages, giving an average of rather more than four vessels for each year, and the average catch annually amounted in value to $124,000 worth of that fish. The total of the eleven years' catch amounting to ^1,371,023.26, there being 22,241 gallons sperm oil, 804,265 gallons whale oil, 399,729 pounds of whalebone. It is also to be remembered that the returns submitted are those of very re- cent date. In all the early histoi'y of American whale fishery, Davis' Strait was a favorite whaling ground, and vessels appear to have gone into Hudson's Bay, and out again into Davis' Strait, but the records of their catch are given as being generally made in Davis' Strait. The presence of so many whales in Hudson's Bay suggests con- clusions as to the supply of food for this enormous marine mam- mal."* The question has been asked. Where do the whales come from that are found in the noi'th-western part of the Bay ? I happened to meet with a rather peculiar passage in a scientific work lately pub- lished. During the years 1862-64-66-68-70-71 the bark Ansel Gibbs, sail- ing from New Bedford, Mass., whaled in Hudson's Bay, being lost there in the latter year. From the book referred to I copy the fol- lowing : — " The daily papers have lately referred in brief terms to ti.e recent capture of a whale in the Arctic Ocean, with a harpoon embedded in its fleah. The whale in ('Uestiou was takon by the ship Cornelius Iloivland, oflf Point Barrow, the northernmost cape of Alaska, and ofT the mainland of North America. The harpoon was marked "A. G." referring, as was supposed, to the ship Ansel Gibbs, •Hind's Report. 62 Our Northern Waters. of New Bedford, wliich has been engaged for ten or twelve years in the whale fishery. Cases have before occurred of whales being cap- tured at Cumberland Inlet with harpoons in them that must have been inserted in the Arctic Ocean, but this is said to be the lirst in- stance authenticated in which the movement of the whale was in the opposite direction."* Tliis would look as though whales entered Hudson's Bay by its several entrances, and went out again as in the other whaling grounds. In a letter to me received a few days ago from a whaling captain in New Bedford, it is stated that whalers come into the Bay from Fox Channel. Bobson, ITearne, Dobbs and Ellis, as well as other early writers on Hudson's Bay, constantly refer to the presence of black whales in the Bay as well as the swarms of " white whales " which abound all over the Bay proper. I have not on hand (though I have sent for them) the statistics showing the quantities and value of the oil, whalebone, etc., taken from tlie Bay to Great Britain by tlie whalers from r)undee and. other ports, but I am informed on good authority tliat the amount is vei'v large. An American whaling captain states that he saw a whaling vessel from Dundee. Ellis says that at one place in the northern part of the Bay: " Fox f^aw no less than forty whales at one time, y.nd it is a thing out of question, that all sorts of fish, but more especially the larger sorts, sea-unicorns and whales, are found in great numbers in these: northern parts." I i'ive several extracts from American whalers under another heading, which show the dates and length of the whaling season in the Bay proper. One captain reports, on the 15th May, that he got ready for whal- ing and cut the .ship out of the winter's ice. Several others say that they come out when the season is over, or up to November 1st. 8ir Edward Parry reports having seen black whales in Fox Chan- nel, and his crew killed one on the 1st August, 1882. Fox Channel has two connections with Hudson's Bay, on6 on each side of Southampton, and whales can range in and out through these as well as through Hudson's Strait. Annual Record of Science and Industry, 1872. Whaling. 63 " My comfort is, that the quantity of whales and soa-niors that place affordeth, will, when whale-oil comes into request, drive the merchant to send the mariner to visit the Isle of Brooke-Oobham."* Fox predicted exactly what has come to pass, for at Marble Is- land is the chief whaling ground of the Americans, who now have an average of at least four vessels, each year, at that place. It is t\ierefore positively proved that the whaling grounds of the Bay are exceedingly valuable, and a source of j)rofit to our American cousins. It may be interesting to some to know that the whalers wintering in Hudson's Bay are in size from the Ifiabel, of 95 tons, to the Northern Liyht, of 513 tons. The Pioneer, in 1.864, left home on the 4th June and returned 18th September, same year, with 1,391 barrels oil and 22,650 pounds of whalebone. Her cargo sold for $150,000. That same year the value of cargoes taken out of the Bay amounted to $427,638.86. The above figures are from the report of the United States Com- missioner of Fisheries, and are therefore accurate. I may say that several times I have heard the statement made that the value of the catch of the years 1861-74 was 610,000,000. This is Avildly absurd, the figures being, according to the reports for those years, $1,371,023.36. Inaccurate quotations are as impolitic as they are al-iiurd and misleading. COD FISH. Little seems to be known as to the extent of \vaters in Hudson's Bay, where the cod is to be found. Dr. Bell says the Bishop of Moosonee informed him that he had heard of a few " real " cod hav- inji been caught near Whale River on the east main, where the water is deep, and Dr. Bell himself has seen plenty of rock cod taken at various places on the east coast of James' Bay. He says : — " There appears to be no reason why the common cod should not be found in Hudson's Bay. The cot ditions as to temperature, depth of water, (."tc, are favorable, and its food, especially the caplin, is abundant. The latitudes of the prolific fishing-grounds of the Atlantic coast of Labrador are the same as those of Hudson's Bay. The question * e th(; most valuable min';ral region in the Dominion, perhaps on the Continent." Mr. Hoffman, Chemist of the Geological Survey of Canada, analyzed a specimen of anthracite, from Long Island, on the east coast, with the following result : * Fixed carbon .... Volatile combustible matter Water ..... Asli 100 00 Mr. HofTman reported also on the composition of the Moose River lignite, as follows : — " A piece of this lignite, immersed in water for over three days, rcimained apparently imaftected ; it had not disin- tegrated, nor imparted any coloration to the water. This specimen having been kept in the laboratory for months, may b(! regarded as having been thoroughly air-dri(;d. Two proximate analyses by slow and fast coking gave : — •)t9l 1-29 .■J -45 3.-) Sloio cokimj. Fast coking Fixed carbon - 45-82 44 03 Volatile combustible matter - 39-60 41-39 Water 11-74 11 74 Ash . . . . 2-84 2-84 100-00 100-00 * Geological Sur>ey, 1876, page 428. "Some of tho tiinltor found in tlio lountry which sends its waters into James' Bay may prove to be of valu«! for export. Anion^' the kinds wliich it produces may he mentioned white, red and pitcli pine, black and white spruce, balsam, larch, white cedar and white birch. The numerous rivers which converge towards the head of ifamcs" Bay ofler facilities for "driving" timber to points at which it may 1»(! . hipped by sea going vessels."* In additicii to the above list, in another report, Dr. Bell gives tho following kinds of trees : — White elm, mountain maple, pigeon . cherry, mountain ash or rowan, green willow, cotton-tree, cypress. On the; head waters of the ^NIoosc^ River, white pine is abundant and of good size. Red Pine also exists, and extends rather further north than the white. Then there is "Jack pine, or " Cypres," or more properly Banksian pine, which, though not a tindjer tree in its southern extension, liecomes so in the northern region, which is Its home. Fn the Albany region, I have seen large groves of this tree, ([uite (liderent from tlu^ ordinary scrubby variety, and from which one 01- two very good saw logs might be cut. Then there is tamarac of good growth, and white! spruce cedar in tho southern part, a great deal of white birch, and other trees, which will some day be valu- able. In the country, between the upper parts of the Nelson and Churchill, where the green woods, lik(r spruce or tamarac occur, the ground is covered with moss and is apt lo be wet. When that is. burnt oil", poplar grows up and the land is dry. " If the navigation of Hudson's Bay becomes practicable, it seems to me, if there is much timber in that locality, it AviU be a valuable item of export. Perhaps you can tell us what the extent of the tim- ber resources of these rivei-s that fall into Hudson's Bay are— Avhether there is likely to bo a large export of timber from that region ? The Moo.se River, which is perhajts the most valuable for timbe)', has some perhaps, twenty principal branches that spread out and cover a transverse area of more than 200 miles from the neigh- borhood of the Ottawa westward, to beyond Michipicoten Valley. These join together and form several fine large streams running north- ward parallel to each other, and they unite to form the Moose, which falls into the head of James' Bay. The southern parts of these streams are clothed with white and red pine, and, as you go north- * Geological Report, 1880. Timher, 71 ward, you luivo good cedar, spruce tind taiuarac tuul tlic I5uiiksiau piuo. Tlu* soutlicni l>rauch(>H of the Albany also all'ord valuable tiiu ber; but northward of that, T do not tliink you could say tlie timber would bo valuable for export conunercially, as loni,' as we have tlio other rivers to fall ba.'k upon. As to the limits of timber generally, I liave i)aid a good dcml of attention to the subject of scientific foresting, and have prepared nuips showing the northern limit of every tree that occurs in Canada. The mo.st northern species is the spruce, the limit of which runs from Seal River north of Churchill to tho mouth of the Mackenzie River, or in a north-westward direc- tion ; and on the other side of the Bay, from llichmond Culf up to ITngava Bay in Hudson's Straits, and down to the Straits of Belle Isle. The whole country to the southward of that line is wooded." "You speak of that being the northern limit. For a considerable distance south of that tho timber would not be merchantable I No. It is scrubby, but it becomes larger as you go south and westward. In my last report there is a map showing i\w. northern limits of thirty of the principal trees. NVe have about sixty species of timber trees east of the Rocky Mountains and thirty Avest." Sir Geo, Simpson testilied that the timber about James' Bay was "small stunted pines." Dr. Rae, at the same time, said that about ^Nlooso Factory, on James' Bay :—'' There are pine woods. It is well-wooded. There are extensive forests. About two, or two-and-a-half feet in diameter is about the largest I have seen."* FURS. The very name, Hudson's Bay, is so associated with the fur trade, that it is unneciessary to more than state that large (^uantitii.'^ of furs are e.'cported yearly by the Hudson's Bay Company in the two or three .sliips Avliich go to the Bay for the purpose of taking out goods for the trade and carrying back the " fur catch " of the pre- vious year. Besides York, Churchill, Moose, Albany, Martins Falls, East Main, Rupert's House, and Fort Chimo, many small winter posts are established for the fur trade, and in the spring the coasting schooners sail from post to post and collect the fur for ship- ment from Moose, York and Churchill, * British House of Commons Keport, 1857. Oi(r Northern Waters. A Htoaiiitr runs to Fort Chimo, at the foot of Unuava Hay, and takes out furs, fish, oil, etc. Aiuonj^st the skins of animals nxportrd arn ^'Ivon mooso, musk ox, various kinds of dcor, heaver, wolf, fox of various kinds, lynx, Polar Id'tir, Mack and lirown liear, otter, martin, fisher, ermine, wolverine, skuidc, etc. At one time the wliole fur trade of the Northwest was conducted tlirou,t,di the Hudson's Bay route, but of late y exist about the Bay, or along the rivers which (low into it from the Rocky Mountains. Of tiiese I give some of the species. HjiocluM. <4peclcn. Vultures and falcons, - 15 Curlew, snipe, etc., - 22 Owls, <> Coot, rail, etc., 6 Perchers, - G7 Divers, - 11 Climbers, 10 (Julls, tern, etc.. 19 Swallows, etc., - H Duck and swan, - 32 (irouse, pigeon, etc., • 11 Pelican and cormorant, 2 Waders, (5 (ieese, - r> Cranes, etc, 4 Archbishop Tache furnishes us with a description of the following animals found within the northern territories, wlioso waters are tributary to Hudson's Bay. Shrew, Species. Musk rat. Species. ■ 1 Shrew-mole, Meadow mouse, 5 Bear, 4 Field mouse, - 1 Badger, Racoon, - Jerboa, Marmot, - 1 - 6 Wolverine, Squirrel, 3 Weasel, - Stoat, or ermine. 1 Flying squirrel, - Sand rat, -J 1 Mink, Pine Martin, - 1 Porcupine, Hares and rabbits, - 1 4 Pekan, 1 Moose, - - 1 Otter, Skunk, Dog, - 1 Cariboo, Stag, - Deer, 1 - 1 2 Wolf, - Fox, - Lynx, Panther, Beaver, - - 6 Antelope, Wild goat, - Wild sheep. Musk ox. Bison, - 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 The hares aro so pknitiful about York Factory, tliat tlio Company liad to give up cultivating vegetables in a garden at Ten Shilling Creek, a short distance above ilie fort, as it was impossible to pre- serve anything fi'om the voracious little animals. TRADE AND COMMERCE. As long ago as 1748, this subject was dealt with so fully that I cannot do Ix-tter than simply ([uote the; words then written by a shiy)"s captain, after his return from a voyage to Iladson's Bay. " Discovery promotes trade more than anything, not only as it opens new branches, and thereby brings a clear accession to com- merce, without adding in one shape what may lie lost in another, but also of quickening, improving and "nlarging many old branches: since it is visible that there is 'i circulation in trade, and whatever creates an exportation on one side, must encourage manufactures, and lu ighten imp()rtation,s on the other But, above all, it contri- butes most cfTectuaby to tlu' f'VitoTKUnjj navigatif)n. A new trade iiir.uediately ■.•alls for iin ii'creasc of .--hipping, and this exactly in propo*';i(iu ? • thi- dei.xauds which tin- new trade creates, either for our jw, goods and mani' actu; K\i. r,: ioc tlu^ pioduce of the new discov,,"^^! Lovntry ; .v'j thoA *vhc b,-!ati:s received from thence, are clearly doiiblcd to us in tbis n spjict "Afte,- this shorr <.'\^ ''< ot .<. of ohe b'^netlts that arise from discovery, w(^ need no*- w: \-." .i.ixt the b;st itleadsi ''.o commerce, who at the sa.iie *im'., if re ilu; Ve^t •vsn'J'! to thei" country, have always considert.l L ■! so fa vox,. ■•»'.■ a ';"ghi Jt must be allowed, that they I |-y"0sitir>n, r.i \\hat truth is. there, tliat a;i. ji /», been d',nied ; %.' ^^ as^'tul design, that has not been oppo.sec'. ' V.'^j may f-oi. ho?-c; ryir i.dv, tliuv. no arguments can be iiow .jfleico ai,ntn-\ /iiscovery, uiA- v iiat are \milt upon another loundation wVich, w''pji examlv.eo, v'lVJ be f( und as sandy as the formci, viz ■- uoubti :,r^' ..--het/. •;''• mything ay, landed at York Factory, and proceeded by the usual water route to this city. In 184:6, a wing of the Gtii Foot, a detachment of Artillery, and a'detachment of Royal Engineers, iiumbering 383 persons, including 18 otlicers, 329 men, 17 women and 19 children, arrived at York Factory on the 7th August, and after a stay there of eleven days, proceeded on to Fort (Tarry, which place they reached in thirty days time, without any casualty. The troops carried with them one nine-pounder und three six- pounder guns, and left twenty-four guns at York, t^ |bo forwarded after them. These troops returned by the same route, in 1848, and a squad of 70 pensioners took their place that same fall, and these wei'c again followed by a like number in the summer of 1849. Some of thesfi soldiers and their descendants are amongst our most respected and worthy fellow-townsmen. IMMIGRATION, It must nr of Indians frequenting the different posts were compiled in 1857, and it is not likely that the numbers have been much changed, as they are now living in the same manner as then, and have not been brought in contact with the new population of whites, which has spread over the districts ■inland :— Oxford District. York Factory Churchill Severn - Trout Lake - Oxford House Albany District. Albany Factory Marten's Falls - Osnaburg Lac Seul 300 400 250 250 300—1,500 400 200 200 300—1,100 Carried forward 2,600 Population. 77 Brought fonvard - 2,600 Moose District. Moose T'actory .... 180 Hannah Bay .... . 50 Abitibi ..... 350 New Brunswick - 150- - 680 East Maix District. CIreat Whale River ... - 250 Little Whale River . 250 Fort George 200- - 700 Rupert's River District. Rupert's House - 250 Rupert's House Outposts - 735- - 985 Total 5,015 The Eskimo, or Esquimaux, are of an entirely different race from the Indians in their manner of living, their habits, customs, hunting and language. The name Esquimaux, according to Bishop Tacho, is derived from tlie Cree word Ayaskimew. The etymology and meaning of the name is found in the two roots "Aski " (raw flesh, or fish), a^id " Mowew " (he eats), implying, " He who eats raw flesh, or fish." The Esquimaux are found al)Out all the Straits, on numerous is- lands, avoiding coming south on the Hudson's Bay, past the 60th parallel of latitude, their mission, to guard the frozen ocean, brings them to the south of this latitude on the coast of Labrador. They at times come down as far as Churchill. They flock about a ship passing through Hudson's Strait, when it arrives in the vicinity of the Savage Islands, for the purpose of trade, offering oil, ivory, sealskin garr.ients, etc., in exchange for knives and other articles of metallic form. Seated in their skin " Kayiaks," which they manage with the greatest dexterity, they clamor for bar- ter. The number of Escjuimaux in the Hudson's Bay territories are said to nunibcr about 4,000, but they are scattered over a vast ex- tent of country. They are generally described as having gentle natures, but they are the most inveterate thieves imaginable, nothing comes amiss to ther.,and they make no pretence of concealing the fact. 78 Our Northern Waters. It is most amusing to read of the astonishment of the early navi- gu''ors into Hudson's Bay, at witnessing the feats of theft performed hy ti "SO simple and bland natives. Everything from an awl to a handsaN disappeared into the depths of their capacious sealskin bootlegs. The above comprise nearly all the population of the districts bor- dering on the Bay and Strait, except the American whalers who winter each year in the northern part of the Bay, an average of four vessels being there each season. CONCLUSION. We have, in the very heart of our Dominion, an immense inland sea which never freezes, it is connected with the Atlantic Ocean by a wide passage wliich never freezes over, and is open for navigation for at least five or six months, if not during the Avhole year. This great body of salt water has (emptying into it a large number of rivers, many of them navigal)lr for large river steamers for long dis- tances inland, they are well-stocked with the tinest e''i io fish, and in some places their banks are clotbed with timber, much of which is valuable for export. The islands of the Bay, and many localities on the mainland arc rich in mineral-bearing rocks and forms of coal. The northern waters are fre<][uented by schools of whales which are alx'eady affording a bountiful harvest to the enterprising whalers. At all points in the grccii- ^"*ay, porpoises abound, which supply hides and oil. Furs are obtained from the full list of fur-bearincr animals frequ(>nting the adjacent country. Large game supports, in a great measure, the Indian population. Feathered game is so plentiful, that at a single post, 30,000 geese arc killed in the autumn, as the year's supply. Vegetables are raised at all the forts in the southern part, and at some of those in the north. Horses, cattle, etc., are kept, and an abundance of fodder is found for them. At least three liarbors are fre(|uented by ships, and for 27 i years sailing vessels of all descriptiov' >, from the pinnace of 20 tons to the 74-gun man-of- war, have audio el ii rhem ffter passing through the Strait and across tlie Bay. E'if:;s>i regi,iar troops and immigrants have sailed through these w,\,tfir-. o:i'^ landed at these hsrbors. Should w» ii^.t, H Oanadians. anxiou? f<>r the full development of the great nn ir..' vt>so>jrces of our country, take what nature offers us so free .' ' i riake use of her bountiful sriftf. H CONTENTS,^- Discovery of the Bay - HudsonVj Bay . - - - • James' Bay - - - - - Hudson's Strait and its Navigation Hudson'i^ Bay open - - - - Sailing Ships vs. Steamers Prevailing Winds and Currents Fogs ------ Lighthouses - - - - - Ships' Charts - - - - - Fort Prince of Wales Rivers ----- " Nelson River and Harbor Hayes' River - - - - - The Churchill and its Harbor The Severn - - - - ■ Archangel - - - - ■ Climate of Hudson's Bay - Sun's Relative Intensity Exposed position of Forts, Vegetation, Stock, etc. Rivers Navigable - - - - Whaling ----■' CodHsh - - - - - Salmon Fisheries - - - - " General Fisheries - - • - Minerals ----"' Timber - - - - " Furs - - - - Game — Birds, Animals, etc. - Trade and Commerce - - - Military - - - - ' Immigration - - - ■ Population - - " * Conclusion - - - " Faoe. 3 6 7 8 20 27 32 35 37 38 40 41 41 43 44 40 47 48 ri3 .•)4 59 60 63 65 67 07 70 7 72 74 75 75 76 78 Put c /a ll Ma |>^M^•||H».'^'"^^'■ Puo CJ ■ \ Map C'oMPM en F^oM Surveys MI^deBWTh E GEOLOC;iC AL SI H\TYC)F ( Ai>.y)A II N IS 78 A\ndBW JIOSEPH IROL OnI'N July I74,S Published by Order of the I Map to accompany work on " Our Northern- Waters'' by Charles N\ Bell. rii«i.s3n rj^