MAMMALS 



THE primary object of the expedition was to collect mam- 

 mals, especially the larger ones, and birds. There was 

 little time to follow other lines of investigation, which would 

 have received attention by a better equipped and larger party. 

 Previous experience had taught me that " the only way to col- 

 lect is to collect," which induced me to spend every available 

 hour in the field. 



A great deal of labor was required which did not directly 

 advance the scientific purposes of the expedition; a month's 

 time was lost in Winnipeg, weeks and months were spent in 

 traveling. 



The region traversed extends from the Saskatchewan River 

 to the mouth of the Mackenzie, and from Lake Winnipeg and 

 Bathurst Inlet to the Rocky Mountains, embracing an area of 

 nearly a million square miles. 



The Indians and Eskimos that inhabit this vast territory are 

 carnivorous beings. They are provided with firearms, with 

 which they kill nearly every living thing which it is in their 

 power to destroy, without mercy or discrimination. Most of 

 the mammals here considered have a commercial value at the 

 trading stations, either for their flesh or skins, or both. There 

 are about fifteen species of the order carnivora, also preying 

 upon the animal life of the region. "It is a country of death." 



Throughout the valleys of the Peace and Saskatchewan Riv- 

 ers there are more or less extensive prairies. But the country 

 in general is wooded, except the Barren Ground, which occu- 

 pies the northeastern portion of the continent, beyond the line 

 drawn between the mouth of the Churchill River, and Richards 

 Island at the mouth of the Mackenzie. 1 This limit of forest 

 growth corresponds closely to the summer isotherm of 50 F. 2 



1 See Report on the Forests of North America, by Chas. S. Sargent, 

 Tenth Census of the United States. 



* Seebohm, Henry, in the Geographical Journal, London, Vol. II, p. 337. 



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