NORTHERN OCEAN 411 



Cranberries^ grow in great abundance near Churchill, Cranberries, 

 and are not confined to any particular situation, for they [450] 

 are as common on open bleak plains and high rocks as among 

 the woods. When carefully gathered in the Fall, in dry 

 weather, and as carefully packed in casks with moist sugar, 

 they will keep for years, and are annually sent to England 

 in considerable quantities as presents, where they are much 

 esteemed. When the ships have remained in the Bay so late 

 that the Cranberries are ripe, some of the Captains have carried 

 them home in water with great success. 



The Heathberries " are in some years so plentiful near Heathberries. 

 Churchill, that it is impossible to walk in many places without 

 treading on thousands and millions of them. They grow close 

 to the ground, and are a favourite repast of many birds that 

 migrate to those parts in Summer, particularly the Grey 

 Goose ; on which account the Indians distinguish them by 

 the name of Nishca-minnick, or the Grey Gooseberry. The 

 juice of this berry makes an exceeding pleasant beverage, and 

 the fruit itself would be more pleasing were it not for the 

 number of small seeds it contains. 



Bethago-tominick,^ as it is called by the Indians, or the Bethago- 

 Dewater-berry of Mr. Dragge. I have seen this berry as far 

 North as Marble Island, and that in great abundance. It 

 flourishes best, and is most productive, in swampy boggy 

 ground covered with moss, and is seldom found [451] 

 among grass. The plant itself is not very unlike that of 

 a Strawberry, but the leaves are larger. Out of the center 

 of the plant shoots a single stalk, sometimes to the height 

 of seven or eight inches, and each plant only produces one 

 berry, which at some distance resembles a Strawberry ; but 



[} Vaccinium vitisidcea Linn. An abundant species ; reaches its greatest 

 perfection near the northern border of the forest.] 



]J' Empetrujn nigrum Linn. The crowberry is very abundant about Fort 

 Churchill and northward.] 



[2 Rubus chamcemorus Linn. The cloudberry or baked-apple berry is 

 abundant throughout the country treated by Hearne.] 



