134 Ross on the Botanical and Mineral Products 



and stunted, though it is found as high as 10° N. The largest 

 and finest trees in the district, grow on the banks of the Lrards, 

 or river of the Mountains. Since the advent of missionaries into 

 these wilds, the natives who are Christianized, use the bark for 

 paper on which to engrave their syllabic literature, as well as for 

 letter- writing. 



The White Spruce (Abies alba). — This is pre-eminently the 

 forest tree of McKenzie's River District, and grows a considerable 

 distance within the arctic circle, as high as the 69th paral- 

 lel. It is used for the thin hoops or verrandis and lining of 

 bark canoes. With its tough roots split to a convenient thick- 

 ness, and used under the cree name of mattape the pieces of 

 canoe bark are sewed together. Tasteful baskets and dishes are 

 also manufactured from it, as well as kettles capable of containing 

 water. Before the arrival of traders the Indians used these for 

 cooking their food, which was done by dropping heated stones 

 into the water until it boiled. In districts where the birch is 

 scarce, or for temporary use, a rade canoe is made from the 

 spruce. For this purpose, a well grown tree, with thirty feet or so 

 clear of branches, is chosen ; an incision is made down to the 

 wood along one side, and the bark being skillfully raised in one 

 piece, receives the canoe shape by being skewered together, and 

 having a few willows inserted for verrandis to add to its stiffness. 

 It is serviceable for a short period only, heat and cold being alike 

 destructive to this species of craft, by rendering the spruce bark 

 dangerously brittle. Pieces of the bark are used for cover- 

 ing houses of the white residents, and also by the natives for roof- 

 ing temporary sheds or cabins. The gum is used for paying the 

 seams of canoes and is chewed by the female aborigines, 

 to the whiteness of whose teeth the habit contributes in no small 

 degree. 



From the fibrous bark of the willow a species of twine is made 

 which the natives manufacture into nets of great durability. Sleds 

 are made of the larch and the Banksian pine. The Loucheux In- 

 dians use the black seed of the bear-berry for beads, to ornament 

 their dresses with. Alder bark, the wild sorrel, and other shrubs 

 and plants are used for dyes and medicines. While the straw- 

 berry, raspberry, gooseberry, mossberry, cranberry, crowberry> 

 mooseberry, red bearberry, the fruit of the rose, and various roots 

 contribute an important item to their summer larder. 



