34K Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



September 11-20, 1914 and 1915 



The few insects collected were mostly caterpillars, beetles, spiders, and 

 tipulid larvae. No flying insects were seen. 



September 21-30, 1914 



No flying insects were seen. Under loose stones various beetles and caterpillars 

 were found. The small staphylinids were more lively than the carabids (Amara 

 brunnipennis, etc.). The weevils lay motionless until touched, when they moved, 

 but slowly. Small spiders, mites, and collembola showed few signs of hibernating 

 Larger spiders had made globular webs between the sand and gravel; the size of 

 the web in proportion to its builder, but never larger than a walnut. 



September 21-30, 1915 



The brackish pond was frozen over. The depth below the ice was about 3 

 feet, and the mud from the bottom gave a strong odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. 

 In the water were many dead midge larvae, "winter eggs" of Daphnia pulex, 

 and rose-purple copepods (Eurytemora canadensis) often carrying their eggs. 



The large lake southwest of the harbour was covered with ice over which 

 hundreds of imagines of a big caddis-fly (Chilostigma praeterita] were crawling. 

 They must have just emerged or perhaps been tempted from their hibernating 

 places by the mild weather. The occurrence of these rather frail imagines in 

 such numbers is surprising; they probably belong to the same species as the large 

 larvae found in this and other nearby lakes. A male spider, also, was seen crawl- 

 ing over the ice; the same two kinds of arthropods were noticed, a week later, 

 crawling over freshwater ice at Cockburn point, a few miles away, and, the 

 next day, upon lake ice at the harbour. 



The big lake of the harbour was found to have a maximum depth of 20 feet; 

 it was frozen over by the 28th. Two days later a sample of sand from the 

 bottom showed a crust of green algae and detritus and contained red-brown 

 midge larvae in their sand-covered tubes, besides worms (Lumbriculus varie- 

 gatus), etc. 



WEST SIDE OF CORONATION GULF (INCLUDING THE LOWER COPPERMINE RIVER) 



East of Bernard harbour the coast shows little change, consisting of gravel 

 or sand, with boulders and outcrops of limestone beds. Liston, Sutton, Lambert, 

 and Douglas islands in Dolphin and Union strait have the same composition, 

 though the limestone (dolomite) is more prevalent than on the mainland. 



The east side of the mouth of Coppermine river is a sandpit projecting from 

 a low, gravelly tundra-plain lying at the foot of the clay hills and the west side 

 is formed by an extension of the gravelly clay banks about 100 feet high which, 

 farther inland, form both sides of the river. 



The east side of the Bloody fall gorge is formed by very steep and high 

 cliffs, practically without vegetation; on the west side, the vegetation (scrub- 

 willows, etc.) is best developed upon the lower cliffs. 



Above Bloody fall the rivet- widens and both sides have high, gravelly, and 

 sandy cliffs, generally steep and barren but sometimes supporting good vegeta- 

 tion including scrub-willows up to 6 feet high. Inland from Escape rapids the 

 hills attain their highest point. Along the river the slopes support the tundra 

 plants, and "niggerheads" are common. 



South of Escape rapids the northern limit of trees is represented by a few 

 diminutive white spruce which from this point increase in number and size, 

 especially in small creek valleys joining the river, where some of the trees are 

 about 12 feet high. They gradually decrease in size and number as the valley 

 is ascended, until they disappear altogether. 



