26 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May- 



side of his route. The area between these Unes was measured, 

 and in this way he calculated that out of a total area of 3,729,665 

 square miles, there were about 1,000,000 square miles of 

 unexplored territory in Canada. About 600,000 of this lav in 

 western Canada, the rest being in what are now the provinces 

 of Ontario and Quebec. No area less than 7,500 square miles 

 was included. 



Recently I had occasion to revise this estimate, but believing 

 that the 50-mile strip was too wide, 1 took a strip 15 miles on 

 either side of the explorers' route and reduced the explored lines 

 to a width of 30 miles, which I think is quite enough. The 

 result is that I find in western Canada there are areas aggregating 

 600,000 square miles in extent which must still be considered as 

 unexplored. Of this area 240,000 square miles lie within the 

 drainage basin of the Mackenzie river, an area which is almost 

 equal to the area of the Province of Saskatchewan. 



In commenting upon the area of unexplored territory that 

 we have within the borders of the Dominion, Dawson remarked 

 that it might be considered a reproach upon Canadians as in- 

 dicating a lack of justifiable curiosity on what our country 

 contains. That reproach still remains on us, and will continue 

 so long as such a large proportion of our country remains un- 

 known. Expeditions into the iVrctic are useful in their way 

 and add much to our knowledge of those little known regions, 

 but it seems to me imperative that we should devote more of 

 our attention to the more accessible parts of our unexplored 

 region, on the chance of finding something on which to build 

 productive industries and open fresh outlets for our national 

 energy. 



Every explorer, even at the present time, going into the 

 north country, away from the regular lines of trail, takes a 

 certain amount of risk, though that risk is not as great as it 

 might appear to those who have no knowledge of that kind of 

 work. Life, even for the natives, is a constant struggle, and the 

 law of the survival of the fittest holds more rigidly in that region 

 than in southern latitudes. It is not so much the severity of 

 the climate and the intense cold of the winter season that take 

 their toll of human life, but the uncertainty of the food supply. 

 Game is very plentiful in certain parts and at certain seasons of 

 the year, but the habits of some of the animals are migratory, 

 especially the cariboo, on which such a large proportion of the 

 inhabitants depend for food, and it is absolutely necessary to 

 know those habits before one ventures without a sufficient food 

 supply into regions distant from the few scattered trading posts. 



