THE HOME OF THE REINDEER. 81 



might well be taken to be the remains of the embank- 

 ments of ancient railways. Geologists, however, have 

 another theory accounting for their origin, namely, that 

 they were formed by fissures or splits in the ancient 

 glaciers. 



On the sheltered southerly slopes of these ridges 

 many new varieties of plants were found, and some 

 others which had been collected farther south were 

 here seen for the last time on the journey. Notable 

 among the latter was the aspen, of which several stunted, 

 gnarled specimens were observed. When the storm had 

 abated sufficiently the traverse of the lake shore was 

 resumed, when other notable features appeared. 



A large part of the country was now composed of 

 frozen mossy bogs, sloping gently down towards the 

 lake. In the higher portions of the bogs the moss was 

 still growing, but elsewhere it was dead, and excepting 

 a few inches, was imbedded in solid glaciers. In many 

 instances these frozen bogs or glaciers were found to be 

 breaking off into the lake, and in such places they pre- 

 sented brown mossy vertical faces, from ten to twenty 

 feet above the water. In examining these vertical sec- 

 tions they were observed, as on top, to consist of frozen 

 moss to within about a foot of the surface. The first 

 of the moss glaciers, if I may call them such, were ob- 

 served near the Height of Land, but towards the north 

 end of Daly Lake they composed a large part of the 

 country, and timber occurred only in scattered, isolated 

 patches. 



According to our Indian information we should now 

 be near the outlet of the lake. During the morning of 

 the 22nd, after a good deal of searching in many deep 



