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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



Slave lakes. It is watered by the 

 Anderson, Coppermine, Great Fish, 

 Thelon or Ark-i-linik, and many smaller 

 rivers. With the exception of Great 

 Fish River all those named are wooded 

 to some extent on their upper portions, 

 but by far the greater part of the area 

 drained by them is treeless. It may be 

 well to trace the northern boundary of 

 the great transcontinental forest from 

 the western shore of Hudson Bay to the 

 mouth of the Mackenzie. 



Starting from the mouth of Churchill 

 River, Hudson Bay, the tree line follows 

 the shore closely for a few miles and 

 then curves gently inland. Thence it 

 extends northwesterly, crossing Nueltin, 

 or Island Lake; Ennadai Lake on Kazan 

 River; and Boyd Lake on the Dubawnt. 

 Just north of 60 on Artillery Lake is 

 the next point where we have a definite 

 dividing line. Between the Dubawnt 

 and Artillery Lake is the valley of the 

 upper Thelon, or Ark-i-linik, along 

 whose banks the forest extends in a 

 narrow line far into the general treeless 

 area. This northward extending tongue 

 of forest will be more fully described 

 beyond. 



From Artillery Lake the line extends 

 northwestward to Point Lake, curving 

 toward the southwest in the interval 

 and crossing Lake Mackay south of 

 latitude 64. From Point Lake, whose 

 shores are practically devoid of trees, 

 nearly to latitude 67, the banks of the 

 Coppermine are so thinly wooded that 

 the river may be taken as the approxi- 

 mate boundary of the woods. Spruces 

 occur on the Coppermine as far north 

 as the mouth of Kendall River, but are 

 absent from the summit of the divide 

 between there and Great Bear Lake and 

 reappear on lower Dease River. The 

 north shore of Great Bear Lake is thinly 

 wooded and tongues of timber follow 

 the northward-flowing rivers well into 

 the Barren Grounds, on the Wilmot 

 Horton to latitude 69. The tree line 

 crosses the Anderson north of the same 

 parallel, and thence extends northwest 

 to the mouth of the Mackenzie, probably 

 dipping to the south in the interval, as 



is usually the case in the areas between 

 rivers. West of the timbered delta of 

 the Mackenzie a considerable area ot 

 treeless country occurs. 



In general the surface of the Barren 

 Grounds may be described as rolling. 

 The greater part of its area lies within 

 the region of the primitive rocks, and 

 many low granitic hills, some of them 

 with precipitous cliffs, are found. 

 Thousand of lakes, many of consider- 

 able extent, and abounding in lake 

 trout, dot its surface. There are vast 

 areas of grassy plains and gentle slopes, 

 on which, during the short summer, the 

 bright flowers of a profusion of shrubby 

 and herbaceous plants lend their beauty 

 to the landscape, and prove the appella- 

 tion "Barren Grounds" to be a mis- 

 nomer, though in many parts, from the 

 nature of the soil, there is little plant 

 life. Alders (Alnus alnobetula) occur 

 in a more or less dwarfed condition in 

 favorable places well into the treeless 

 area, and several species of willows, 

 some of which here attain a height of 

 5 or 6 ft., border some of the streams 

 as far north as the Arctic Ocean. These 

 are the only trees which occur even in a 

 dwarfed state on the Barren Grounds 

 proper. 



The northward extension of the coni- 

 ferous forest along the banks of north- 

 ward-flowing rivers has already been 

 referred to. The most remarkable ex- 

 ample of this phenomenon is found on 

 the Thelon, or Ark-i-linik, a stream 

 tributary to Hudson Bay. From a 

 point near latitude 62|, which is as far 

 south as the river has been explored, 

 and is within the main area of the Bar- 

 ren Grounds, a more or less continuous 

 belt of spruce borders the river as far 

 north as latitude 64|, a distance of 

 over 200 mi. by the river. A few species 

 of woodland-breeding birds follow these 

 extensions of the forest to their limits. 



Climatology: No tables of tempera- 

 ture taken throughout the year at any 

 point in the Barren Grounds are avail- 

 able. The winters are, of course, very 

 long and the summers short, with the 

 intervening seasons practically wanting. 



