UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 183 



neither of which he has seen anywhere 

 else in such beauty. The acorns of the former, 

 Avhen roasted, form a large part of the food of the 

 poor peasantry. 



7th. Mr. Lumley and my uncle have been 

 studying Dr. Richardson's remarks on the cli- 

 mate of the Hudson's Bay countries, and I have 

 noted for you all I could understand. 



In the neighbourhood of Fort Enterprise, 

 lat. 64 N. the white spruce advances nearer 

 the northern limit than any other pine. The 

 largest of those trees were between eight and 

 nine feet in circumference. The elm, ash, sugar- 

 maple, and arbor-vitae extend to nearly the same 

 latitude. 



Oak and beech terminate about lat. 50. The 

 balsam poplar sends straggling trees as far north 

 as lat. 63, and the aspen grows in pretty large 

 clumps a degree farther north, beyond which 

 it was not seen. The balsam poplar forms a 

 large proportion of the drift timber observed on 

 the shores of the Arctic Sea, and is supposed to 

 come principally from M'Kenzie river. 



Fort Enterprise was supposed to be elevated 

 about 800 feet above the Arctic Sea, and the 

 banks of the river on which it was built are 

 ornamented with groves of the white spruce tree. 

 On each side of the river, an irregular marshy 

 plain extends to ranges of unconnected hills, at 



R2 



