Current Literature. 57 



etc., but the Mackenzie region remained the most neglected large 

 area in North America. 



An important part of the report relates to climate and physio- 

 graphy. Temperature summaries are expressed in tabular 

 fashion ; likewise the dates of seasonal events at various stations. 

 Such events include the first thaw, and the appearance of the 

 first migratory birds from the south in the spring, and that of 

 the migratory northern animals like the Barren Ground caribou 

 from the north in the autumn. Some instructive generalizations 

 are made regarding climate in general. The Peace River valley, 

 of importance on account of its wheat-growing possibilities, ex- 

 hibits the peculiarity of having an upper trans-mountain section 

 protected from the northerly and easterly cold winds, with a mild 

 winter climate ; and a low plains section with almost Arctic 

 conditions in winter. The middle section is favorable to plant 

 growth, the powerful warm though irregular chinook winds mak- 

 ing the section one of considerable agricultural promise. The 

 limit of the distribution of Balsam Fir seems to limit this favor- 

 able region. From the mouth of the Churchill River, Hudson 

 Bay, the northern boundary of the great transcontinental spruce 

 forest follows the shore closely for a few miles, then curves gently 

 inland. Thence it extends northwesterly, crossing Island Lake, 

 Ennadai Lake on Kansan River, and Boyd Lake on the Dubawnt. 

 The next dividing point is just north of 6o° on Artillery Lake. 

 From this point the line curves southwesterly crossing Lake 

 Mackay south of latitude 64°. The banks of the Coppermine are 

 the boundary to 67 °. Tongues of timber follow the northward 

 flowing streams, with their warmer water, well into the Barren 

 Grounds. The most remarkable case of this kind is that of the 

 Ark-i-linik, a stream tributary to Hudson Bay. From a point 

 near latitudes 62^° north, within the main area of the Barren 

 Grounds, a more or less continuous belt of spruce borders the 

 river to latitude 64^°, a distance of over 200 miles by river. A 

 few species of woodland-breeding birds follow these extensions 

 of the forest to their limits. Alders occur in more or less dwarfed 

 conditions in favorable places well within the treeless area, and 

 several species of willows, some of which here attain a height 

 of 5 or 6 feet, border some of the streams as far north as Wollas- 

 ton Land. These are the only trees which occur even in a 

 dwarfed state in the Barren Grounds proper. The principal trees 



