﻿166 HAYMAKING. Jotr, 



the Cerealia in this meridian ; for though in good 

 seasons, and in warm sheltered spots, a little barley 

 might possibly be reared at Fort Good Hope, the 

 attempts hitherto made there have failed. In Si- 

 beria it is said that none of the corn tribe are 

 found north of 60°. But in Norway barley is 

 reported to be cultivated, in certain districts, under 

 the 70th parallel. It takes three months usually 

 to ripen on the Mackenzie, and on our arrival at 

 Fort Simpson we found it in full ear, having been 

 sown seventy-five days previously. In October 

 1836, a pit sunk by Mr. M'Pherson, in a heavy 

 mixture of sand and clay, to the depth of 16 feet 

 10 inclies, revealed 10 feet 7 inches of thawed soil 

 on the surface, and 6 feet 3 inches of a permanently 

 frozen layer, beneath which the ground was not 

 frozen. 



A number of milch cows are kept at Fort 

 Simpson, and one or two fat oxen are killed an- 

 nually. Hay for the winter provender of the 

 stock is made about one hundred miles up the 

 river, where there are good meadows or marshes, 

 and whence it is rafted down in boats. We met 

 the haymakers, being three men, some hours before 

 we reached the fort, on their way to cut the grass, 

 which is a bent that grows in water. The hay 

 will be brought down in September. 



The fort stands on an island at the junction of 



