118 Dr Richardson on the Frozen Soil of North America. 



No. 1. — Extract of a Letter from George Keith, Esq. chief factor, dated 

 Moose Factory, August 8. 1836. 



" Early in the morning of September 13. 1835, two labourers com- 

 menced digging a pit on the island of Moose-factory, in an open, dry si- 

 tuation, 170 paces from the bank of the river. The pit was seven feet 

 long by six wide, and the operators penetrated to the depth of ten feet 

 perpendicular without discovering anything remarkable, the soil being a 

 fine, light, sandy-coloured marl throughout. At this stage, however, wa- 

 ter began to make its appearance at the bottom of the pit, and, on digging 

 two feet lower, it increased so much as to put a stop to further excava- 

 tion. During the progress of digging the last two feet, the soil became 

 rapidly mixed with sand and gravel, and, latterly, almost pure gravel 

 without a sign of frost anywhere. In fact, it has been clearly ascertained 

 that the winter frosts, in dry and exposed situations, do not penetrate 

 beyond five and a half feet ; and about the skirts of the forest, which is 

 a wet and marshy soil, the depth of the frost does not exceed three feet. 

 Last winter, which was esteemed severe, the thermometer in the shade 

 fell only once to 35° below zero, namely, on the 30th November, the 

 coldest weather we experienced, which was rather singular, as the colds 

 of January, February, or March, are generally felt to be the most intense."* 



No. 2. — Extract of a Letter from chief trader Robert Miles, Esq., dated 

 Ruperts' House, East Maine, June 25. 183(3. 



" From the 16th of October to the 7th of November last, several pits 

 were dug from six to eight feet deep, in all of which much water was 

 found. Indeed, in every part of the vicinity of this establishment, which 

 is situated on banks from fifty to sixty feet high, the earth, being of a 

 sand} 7 nature, over beds of gravel, shingle, and clay, is full of water 

 springs. 



" On the 28th and 29th of April last, I caused a pit to be dug in a clear 

 piece of ground in the most exposed situation here, being open to the 

 north-west winds from Rupert's Bay, and in this we did not get through 

 the frost until we penetrated exactly seven feet. This pit was distant 

 fifty feet from the face of the bank. 



" One hundred and forty-five yards from the above-mentioned pit, I 

 caused a snow-drift within the stockades of the establishment, eight feet 

 deep, to be cut through, and the earth beneath was found to be frozen to 

 the depth of thirteen inches only." 



No. 3. — Extract of a Letter from Mr Thomas Corcoran, clerk, dated East 



Maine-post, Rupert's River District, September 30. 1835. 



" On the 19th September 1835, a pit was dug in the plantation in a 



spot not sheltered with wood, willows, or anything else, and where 



the snow does not lodge at any time to a greater depth than eight or ten 



» " Halley's comet seen from the 1:2th to the 18th of October 183.0, after which 

 it was lost sight of during n succession of snowy weather." — Gr. K. 



