86 B Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



tree was five feet in circumference three feet above the ground. Dr. Anderson 

 furthermore states that none of these trees were very high, but were mostly 

 straight-grained, and not twisted spirally as are most of the spruce in this 

 region. 



These northern groves of spruce have been mentioned already by the earliest 

 expeditions which visited the lower Coppermine river, notably by Samuel 

 Hearne (1769-1772), Captain John Franklin (1819-1822), and Dr. John Richard- 

 son (1825-1827). In his "Arctic Searching-Expedition, 1848-1849," Dr. John, 

 Richardson gives an interesting description of the spruce, as he found it above 

 "Bloody Falls" on the Coppermine river, which may be quoted as follows: 

 "(Crossing overland from west of the mouth of Coppermine river to above 

 Bloody Falls) we encamped on the 7th September on coming to a clump of 

 stunted white spruce .... In the existence of many scattered stumps of 

 decayed spruce fir trees, and the total absence of young plants one might be led 

 to infer that of late years the climate had deteriorated and that the country 

 was no longer capable of supporting trees so near the sea coast as it had formerly 

 done. The largest trees in the clump in which we bivouacked had a circumfer- 

 ence of 37 inches at the height of four feet from the ground. Jts annual layers 

 were very numerous and fine, and indicated centuries of growth, but I was 

 unable to reckon them. This place lies in Lat. 67° 22' N One circum- 

 stance which came under my observation, and has been cursorily alluded to, is 

 the existence of very ancient stumps of trees, either solitarily or grouped in various 

 places of the barren grounds, seemingly the vestiges of the forest which had 

 spread more widely over the country some centuries ago than in the present 

 day. . . . On the sheltered banks of rivers, even in the barren grounds, 

 clumps of living trees occasionally occur, but the stumps I speak of stand often 

 on the exposed side of a hill, and indicate a deterioration of the chmate, however 

 that may have been produced. We saw no young firs growing up in such situa- 

 tions to leave similar vestiges in a future age Within the Arctic circle 



it (the white spruce) seldom exceeds 40 or 50 feet in height, though in ravines 

 where it is well sheltered, and has a suitable soil it attains twice that altitude. 

 Its age in these high latitudes exceeds 400 years before it shows signs of decay." 

 Similar observations were made by Mr. Frits Johansen, who has published an 

 interesting arcticle on "The Forest's Losing Fight in Arctic Canada,"^ in which 

 the author calls attention to the scarcity of very young spruce trees in this 

 northern limit of their growth. Mr. Johansen attributes this to the intense cold 

 and the sweeping winds in the winter killing off most of the small seedlings which 

 may have developed during the summer. This explanation seems well founded 

 by the fact that even the small and stunted trees were found to be about 

 half a century old, while the largest trees would reach an age of almost 

 500 years. Furthermore, Mr. Johansen made the interesting observation that 

 forest insects are principally responsible for the killing of the trees or tree parts 

 in the lower Coppermine river, a fact which has, so far, escaped the attention ojf 

 the various explorers who have visited the region from time to time. As a matter 

 of fact, the very isolation and exposure of the individual trees here makes them 

 an easy mark for attacks by forest insects, which by living under the bark are 

 less influenced by the shortness of the summer season. 



As to the occurrence of spruce on the arctic side of the mountains west of 

 the Mackenzie delta. Dr. R. M. Anderson writes: "Information which I have 

 obtained from natives and reliable white hunters and prospectors agrees that 

 west of the Mackenzie delta there are spruce trees on Babbage river (back of 

 Kay point, Y.T.), and on Firth river (the so-called 'Herschel Island river,' on 

 both sides of the International Boundary), but none on rivers west of these. 



I Canadian Foresty Journal. Ottawa, July, 1919, p. 303. 



