﻿1848. SLAVE RIVER. 137 



the underwood on the margins of the forest ; but 

 there is no substitute for the heath, gorse, and 

 broom, which render the English wild grounds so 

 gay. On the barren lands, indeed, the heath has 

 rej)resentatives in the Lapland rhododendron, the 

 Azalea, Kalmia, and Androineda tetragona, but 

 these are almost buried among the Cornicularice 

 and Cetraria nivalis of the drier spots, or the Ce- 

 traria islandica and mosses of the moister j)laces, 

 and scarcely enrich the colours of the distant hills. 

 The granite knolls show themselves at frequent 

 intervals on the banks of Slave River, which is the 

 appellation of the stream formed by the junction 

 of the Peace and Stony Rivers; and in several 

 places, ledges of the rock crossing the river form 

 rapids. One of these is named the Lightening 

 Place of the Hummock, because it occurs at the 

 beginning of a reach two miles long, which is 

 terminated by a sandy bluff on the right bank, 

 twenty or thirty feet high, and covered with 

 Banksian pine. This Bute, as it is termed by the 

 Canadian voyagers, is about thirty miles from Fort 

 Chepewyan, and opposite to it there is a limestone 

 cliff, constructed of thin undulated layers. The 

 lower beds of the limestone have a compact struc- 

 ture, a flat conchoidal fracture, and a yellowish 

 grey colour. Some of the upper beds contain 

 mineral pitch in fissures, and shells, which Mr. 



