MAMMALS OF NORTHERN CANADA 239 



by their companions, or whether the severe stretch to •which his 

 mental faculties had been subjected for several years brought on a 

 temporary aberration of mind, under which the melancholy tragedy 

 took place, is known only to God and the surviving actors therein. 



" Man is a harp, whose chords elude the sight, 

 Bach yielding harmony disposed aright; 

 The screws reversed (a task which, if He please, 

 God in a moment executes with ease), 

 Ten thousand thousand strings at once go loose,. 

 Lost, till He tune them, all their power and use." 



" Thus perished, before he had completed his thirty-second year, 

 Thomas Simpson, a man of great ardor, resolution and persever- 

 ance, one who had already achieved much, and has left a name 

 which will be classed by posterity with that of Cook, Parry, Lander, 

 Franklin, Rae, Ross, McClintock and others of a later date. The 

 Royal Geographical Society presented to him in 1839 their founder's 

 gold medal, which, however, never reached him. It was not until 

 October, 1841, that the remains of Simpson were sent for from 

 where he fell and brought to Fort Garry for interment." 



RODENTIA. 



BtrsHT-TAiLED WooD Rat — Neotoma drummondi 

 (Richardson) . 



Chief Trader "W. J. McLean informs me that Fort Liard, 

 Mackenzie River District, where he was post manager from 

 1863 to 1872, is the only place in the northern department 

 of the Company where he has seen a few examples of this 

 rat. This post is situated in latitude (about) 60° north and 

 longitude 124° west. In New Caledonia District, British 

 Columbia, however, it is quite common, and individuals are 

 sometimes secured in native and other buildings. At present, 

 Fort Liard may ibe considered the eastern, range limit and 

 the northern as well; but it is probably a more northerly 

 resident on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. 

 Moberly states that a wood mouse or rat, colour light brown 



16 



