96 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



breed families, besides occasional bands of Indians and Eskimos, 

 form the whole population of the place. They are domiciled in 

 in three or four small, and some of them very old frame dwellings, 

 and in addition to these residential buildings there is the Company's 

 little store (at the time of our visit conspicuous for its emptiness), 

 a very neat and highh^ creditable corrugated iron church, built by 

 my old friend Bishop Lofthouse in 1885-86, and lastly a " blubber 

 house," which does not appear in my photos, as without a tel- 

 escopic lens one could scarcely approach sufficiently near to obtain 

 its picture. Besides, in one respect, it is much like some of our 

 automobiles, the most conspicuous part of which is not capable of 

 being photographed and when not realized can only be imagined. 



Porpoise fishing, from which the " blubber " is derived, salmon 

 fishing and fur trading constitute tlie entire industries of the town, 

 and these are still prosecuted as they have been for the past two 

 hundred years. The most striking and valuable feature about 

 Fort Churchill to-day is its very fine natural harbor just within the 

 mouth of the Churchill River, and it is almost entirelj^ upon this 

 that its future destiny must depend. 



There is little doubt but that within a very few years Canadian 

 enterprise will make of Fort Churchill an important railway ter- 

 minus as it is a fine sea-port, and with such a connection I believe 

 it is likely to play an important part in the development of the 

 grain, cattle and other industries of Western Canada. 



The accompanying photograph of map made from my own 

 recent surveys is the first and only correct chart of the harbor and 

 may therefore prove of interest. 



