258 Out North Land. 



voyage (about 550 miles north of Moose on the east main coast), 

 which extended over the greater part of July, August and September, 

 and found it to average 53° Fah. I also noted the temperature of 

 the rivers we visited, and found that the average of five of them was 

 61° Fah. We bathed in the water almost daily, and found the 

 temperature agreeable. We saw no ice, with the exception of a little 

 "bay ice" at the commencement of our journey, which had been 

 driven into the neighbourhood of the mouth of Moose River, after 

 northerly winds had prevailed for many days. There was very 

 little rain, and only two or three days of fog. Average temperature 

 of the sea at three to four feet below surface for trials, during three 

 months, was 53°, and of the air 62|°. These observations were taken 

 at various hours between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m." 



As to the agricultural possibilities of the country round Hudson's 

 Bay and Strait there are none. There cannot be found on either 

 side of the Strait, arid for more than a distance of twenty miles 

 inland, a tree or bush of any sort. The country is wholly and com- 

 pletely barren, but the ravines and marshes are covered with 

 a sort of bog, composed of stunted grass, and sometimes of heather. 

 Properly speaking, there is no such thing as soil of any kind. In 

 these ravines, and nestled at the base of towering ledges of barren 

 rocks, a large variety of flowering plants is noticeable. The arctic 

 poppy is most abundant, but a species of sorrel, growing sometimes 

 quite luxuriantly, is often met with. These remarks will apply 

 also to the country round the northern portion of the Bay. 



There is considerable timber of a moderate size to be found on 

 the east main coast of the Bay, and on the west main coast also, 

 which improves as you advance from the sea-shore. This timber on 

 the east main shore does not, however, extend as far north as the 

 Strait. On the west shore its northern boundary is not much higher 

 than the Churchill, except inland, where it reaches a remarkably 

 high latitude. Indeed, the whole country west of Hudson's Bay to 

 the Athabaska is more or less wooded, some of it being of com- 

 mercial value. 



