﻿1848. GROWTH OF CORN. 165 



of their outlines and their relative position, that 

 they are escarpments of the sandstone and shale 

 of the Erie group, remaining after the excavation 

 of the valley of the river, such as has been already 

 noticed as existing in the Clear-water and Elk 

 Rivers, and as we shall afterwards have occasion 

 to mention, when describing the north-west side of 

 Great Bear Lake. 



The bank of the river at Fort Simpson is pre- 

 cipitous, and about thirty feet high ; but the river 

 sometimes flows over it in the spring floods, occa- 

 sioned by accumulations of drift ice. It is com- 

 posed of sand and loam, and the beach is lined 

 with boulders of granite, greenstone, limestone, and 

 sandstone. 



Barley is usually sown here from the 20th to 

 the 25th of May, and is expected to be ripe on the 

 20th of August, after an interval of ninety-two days. 

 In some seasons it has ripened on the 15th. Oats, 

 which take longer time, do not thrive quite so well, 

 and wheat does not come to maturity. Potatoes 

 yield well, and no disease has as yet afi'ected them, 

 though the early frosts sometimes hurt the crop. 

 Barley in favourable seasons gives a good return at 

 Fort Norman, which is further down the river; 

 and potatoes and various garden vegetables are also 

 raised there. The 65th parallel of latitude may, 

 therefore, be considered as the northern limit of 



M 3 



