77 



elsewhere in the city 40° below zero was recorded, that is 72° of 

 frost. From my charts I also note that the temperature from the 

 end of October to the first week in April, with the exception of two 

 days in this period of five months, never once rose above freezing 

 point. 



Every winter cold " snaps " occur, of duration from one to ten 

 days, or even longer, the average temperature being about 15° below 

 freezing point. 



After remaining a few weeks in Winnipeg I continued my 

 journey, on the Canadian Northern Railway, to the little town 

 of Ethelbert, situated about two hundred miles north-west of 

 the city ; twenty miles north-west of Lake Dauphin, and about the 

 same distance south-west of Lake Winnipegosis. For the first forty 

 miles along this route across the prairie, the course of the Assini- 

 boine River could occasionally be detected by the line of low trees 

 bordering its banks. Elsewhere few objects of any kind were visible 

 over the apparently boundless tracts of snow. From the middle of 

 April to the end of July I dwelt in this part of the Gilbert Plains. 

 The township consisted of about a score of frame-built houses, the 

 majority of them situated in a single row parallel with the railroad 

 track. The few scattered homesteads in the near neighbourhood 

 were occupied by Galicians. The subsequent year was spent in 

 Winnipeg, whose rapidly growing suburbs, however, offered fewer 

 facilities for the collecting of plants and insects. The following 

 notes and observations refer mostly to the natural history of this 

 northern district. 



The thaw was just commencing on my arrival in this little 

 settlement. Before the ground was visible it was reported to me 

 that the " crocus " had already made its appearance. On investiga- 

 tion, this, my first Canadian flower, proved to be the Pasque Flower, 

 Anemone patens var. nuttalUana, a species verj^ similar to our very 

 local A. jiuhatiUa. 



From that time the snow rapidly melted, and every day brought 

 to light fresh forms in increasing variety. Later on, as the wilder- 

 ness began to rejoice and blossom as the rose, there appeared such 

 a wealth of beautiful things in this immense wild garden of Nature 

 that it became impossible to collect more than a comparatively few 

 of them. Accordingly I endeavoured to select chiefly such as were 

 not included in the British flora and fauna. 



Only a small proportion of the land in this swampy district had 

 been cleared by settlers, who were, with but few exceptions. 



