viii PREFACE 



A new edition has long been needed. Yet to secure com- 

 petent editing was a difficult task, since few knew the remote 

 country which Hearne explored. It may be regarded as 

 fortunate that the new edition has been delayed, for only 

 now are we able to present Hearne's story with the annota- 

 tions necessary to give it the last possible elucidation. The 

 needed knowledge is supplied by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell and 

 Mr. E. A. Preble, two writers pre-eminently suited for their 

 task by journeys in the regions described by Hearne, on parts 

 of which so few white men have set eyes. 



Mr. J. B. Tyrrell began his work of exploring in North 

 Western Canada in 1883, and during the ensuing fifteen 

 years he made many important additions to our knowledge 

 of the geology and geography of what is still the least 

 known part of Canada. In 1893, accompanied by his brother, 

 Mr. J. W. Tyrrell, as his assistant, he traversed the so-called 

 Barren Grounds from Lake Athabasca eastward to Chester- 

 field Inlet, and from there his party paddled in canoes down 

 the west shore of Hudson Bay to Fort Churchill. Of the 

 3200 miles thus traversed, 1650 were previously unsurveyed 

 and unmapped. From Fort Churchill Mr. Tyrrell walked 

 eight or nine hundred miles on snowshoes to the southern 

 end of Lake Winnipeg. In 1894 he again crossed the Barren 

 Grounds, this time travelling from the north end of Reindeer 

 Lake to a point on Hudson Bay, about 200 miles south-west of 

 Chesterfield Inlet. Thence he went to Churchill as before in 

 canoes along the open coast. From Churchill Mr. Tyrrell 

 again, but by another route, walked on showshoes to the 

 southern end of Lake Winnipeg. On this journey he travelled 

 about 2900 miles, of which 1750 were by canoe and 750 on 

 snowshoes. Almost the whole journey was through pre- 

 viously unexplored country. For the geographical work done 

 in these two years he was awarded the Back Premium by the 

 Royal Geographical Society of London. 



In response to an enquiry whether any other white man 



