1906-7. TRANSACTIONS. 41 



A run of 161 miles brings us to Fort Simpson. It is prettily 

 situated on the left bank of the Mackenzie, just below the mouth 

 of the Liard. The water of the latter is muddy, and for miles 

 below the junction, the clear waters of the larger stream refuse to 

 mingle with those of its tributary. Finally, however, they are 

 united, and from here on the waters of the great river resemble jj.o 

 longer those of the St. Lawrence, but rather of the Saskatchewan 

 and the Mississipi. It is one of the characteristics of those western 

 rivers that they have no lake expansions, which would serve as 

 settling basins and render the water clear. The Athabaska has 

 none, neither has the Peace or the Liard, nor either of the Sas- 

 katchewans, or the Missouri, or the Mississippi, and the conse- 

 quence is that in each case the water is muddy. 



Fort Simpson in Lat. 61° 52' N, though it has lost some of its 

 importance in recent years may still be regarded as the emporium 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company for the Mackenzie District. It 

 was here that the supplies were distributed, not only for the out- 

 lying posts farther down the river, but also for those up the Liard, 

 and to numerous inland stations. From here too the Coureur Du 

 Bois or "trippers," were sent out in winter to the Indian hunting 

 grounds carrying with them by dog trains ammunition and blank- 

 ets, and bringing back the furs of the country. It is the last point 

 we visit as we go north that contains certain of the vestiges of 

 modern civilized life. The village can boast of a system of electric 

 lighting, a needless luxury for a considerable part of the year 

 when there is no darkness, but later when the sun declines so low 

 in the heavens as to almost refuse to dispel the darkness, it serves 

 to somewhat lessen the gloom of the winter night. It also poss- 

 esses a museum containing stuffed specimens of the animals and 

 birds of the arctic and sub-arctic forest. In the factor's residence 

 is also to be seen a billiard table, and other articles nowhere else 

 found in the country. A saw-mill cuts timber for home use from 

 spruce trees growing in the vicinity. 



Wheat is sometimes grown in a primitive way for home use, 

 probably the most northerly point that it has ever ripened in 

 America. We are now nine' hundred miles north of the interna- 

 tional boundary, and though I do not desire to seem too optimistic, 

 it is certainly some encouragement to those who have sangu'ne 

 hopes of our country's future to know that the fertile soil of the 

 Mackenzie valley, at least this far north, is not rendered unpro- 

 ductive owing to the high latitude. 



