B8C Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 
ridges. These contain lakes and ponds and consist of the same material as the 
land behind, but have a larger amount of boulders and dolomite fragments, and 
terminate in stony points or reefs at the sea shore. In a few cases the ridges are 
not connected with the high land behind but are separated from it by low land 
with lakes and ponds. Particularly where the dolomite crops out inland as 
flat, low beds covered with debris and with ponds in the depressions, a kind of 
table land occurs which usually, however, has a very limited extent. Between 
the ridges are valleys which often are extensive and here and there have ponds 
and larger lakes. They are often bordered by small bluffs of gravel or tundra 
and come out to the sea at the heads of bays. The mouth of the valley generally 
contains a smaller creek, and presents a gently sloping tundra swamp going over 
into sand dunes that are sometimes conspicuous, or into gravel plains which in 
turn merge into the sandy beach. 
One gets perhaps the best idea of the variety of the ground in the vicinity 
of Bernard harbour by following the large fishing creek, Nulahugyuk creek, 
from inland down to the sea. Inland it runs sometimes through stony and 
barren ground, at other places through stony and sandy tundra, or through 
swamps with a rich vegetation; again for a stretch it cuts through the out-cropping 
bedrock. Its bed therefore contains many boulders, grassy bogs, or small 
islands of sand; or it has a floor of smooth rock, according to the nature of the 
surrounding ground. Particularly in its lower part, it is divided into channels, 
or has bights or pools, quite apart from the artificial stone weirs constructed for 
salmon fishing by the Eskimos; in its lower part it also cuts through gravel 
ridges. 
The two lakes inland at Bernard harbour have already been described.? 
The most southerly lies mostly deep down among the surrounding tundra bluffs 
or higher gravel ridges. Its east side is formed by a gravelly shore which goes 
over into tundra.’ Nearer the large creek the latter forms a slope with swamps, 
surrounding the course formed by melt-water draining off during the early 
summer. The elevation of the lake is about 65 feet above the sea. At its 
northwest end a partial outlet is formed by ponds and tundra swamps which 
eventually unite into a short but wide creek which has its mouth in a broad bight 
of the other large lake in the valley. The upper part of the creek is deeper and 
has a muddy bottom; it runs through a grassy and swampy valley bordered by 
gravel ridges. The lower part is shallow and has a stony bed, and cuts through 
ee dd or clayey higher tundra surrounding the large, shallow lake which it 
eeds. 
This lake is situated at an elevation of about 25 feet above sea level. It 
lies in an extensive valley and is practically surrounded by low tundra swamps, 
forming shallow bights or small inlets with abrupt mossy brinks along the 
shore. On the south side, where the above mentioned creek comes out, and at 
some distance from the present shore of the lake, the low, swampy tundra is 
replaced by drier, higher tundra composed of “nigger heads” or more stony or 
clayey soil; it goes over into gravel slopes farther away. There are some out- 
crops of dolomite back of the south side of the lake where tributary streams 
come down from the slopes. The whole lake is exceedingly shallow, less than 
three feet deep, with a few large protruding boulders and with a stony bottom 
except in its deepest part, while the other large lake mentioned above is up to 
15 feet deep. 
Vegetation. In describing the vegetation, it must be explained that more 
or less definite zones like those found west of the Mackenzie delta do not exist 
on the mainland at Bernard harbour. Under the circumstances an account 
will be given of the various, more or less intergrading types of vegetation which 
are found under different edaphic conditions, without any attempt to arrange 
1 See Vol. XII, Pt. A, p. 16, of these reports. 
Report. of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, Vol. VII, Part N., Ottawa, 1923. 
See Plate III, fig. 1,in Vol. VII, Pt. N, of these reports. 
