52 Canadian Record of Science. 



myriads, and proved very annoying. Vegetation had made 

 considerable progress during our journey. 



The natural history of the tract of country examined 

 resembles that of the Mackenzie. "We observed moose and 

 reindeer, black bears, otters, wolves, wolverines, siffleurs, 

 beaver, musquash, marten, mink, squirrels, rabbits and 

 foxes ; also frogs and mice ; Canada, laughing, snow and 

 Esquimaux geese, stock, king, teal and long- tailed ducks, 

 divers, loons, swans, hawks, owls, swallows, gulls, plovers, 

 robins, snow buntings, willow grouse and white partridges, 

 or ptarmigan ; white, jack and blue fish, grayling, inconnu, 

 carp and loche. 



The Barren Grounds to the East of Anderson River. 



The belt of timber which at Fort Anderson 1 extends for 

 over thirty miles to the eastward, rapidly narrows and be- 

 comes a mere fringe along the Anderson River and dis- 

 appears to the northward of the 69th parallel of latitude. 

 The country is thickly interspersed with sheets of water 

 varying in size from mere ponds to small and fair-sized 

 lakes. In travelling north-eastward toward Franklin Bay, 

 on the Arctic coast, several dry, swampy, mossy and peaty 

 plains were passed before reaching the Barren Grounds 

 proper. The country thence to the height- of-land between 

 the Anderson and the deep gorge-like valley through which 

 the Wilmot Horton River (MacFarlane River of Petitot's 

 map) flows, as well as from the " crossing" of the latter to 

 the high plateau which forms the western sea-bank of 

 Franklin Bay, consists of vast plains or steppes of a flat or 

 undulating character, diversified by some small lakes and 

 gently sloping eminences, not dissimilar in appearance to 

 portions of the north-west prairies. In the region here 

 spoken of, however, the ridges occasionally assume a 

 mound-like, hilly character, while one or two intersecting 



1 Established on Anderson Eiver in 1861 and abandoned 1866. 

 Approx. Lat. 68° 35'. 



