ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



varieties of plants ■vsi;ere found, and some others which had 

 been collected farther south were here seen for the last time 

 on the journey. Notable among the latter was the aspen, of 

 which several stunted, gnarled specimens were observed. 

 When the storm had abated sufficiently the traverse of the 

 lake shore was resumed, when other notable features 

 appeared. 



A large part of the country was now composed of frozen 

 mossy bogs, sloping gently down towards the lake. In the 

 higher portions of the bogs the moss was still growing, but 

 elsewhere it was dead, and, excepting the upper few inches, 

 was imbedded in solid glaciers. In many instances these 

 frozen bogs or glaciers were found to be breaking off into the 

 lake, and in such places they presented brown, mossy, vertical 

 faces, from ten to twenty feet above the water. In examining 

 these vertical sections they were observed, as on top, to con- 

 sist of frozen moss to within about a foot of the surface. 

 The first of the moss glaciers, if I may call them such, were 

 observed near the Height of Land, but towards the north end 

 of Daly Lake they composed a large part of the country, and 

 timber occurred only in scattered, isolated patches. 



According to our Indian information we should now be 

 close to the outlet of the lake. During the morning of the 

 22nd, after a good deal of searching in many deep bays, the 

 •entrance to the Dubawnt (broad, shallow river)was discovered. 

 It was indeed a great, broad and rapid river, broken up into 

 many shallow channels, whose waters seemed to have been, as 

 it were, spilled over the edge of the lake in the lowest places. 

 This was the river we had set out to explore, and with noth- 

 ing more than conjectures as to where it would lead us, we 

 -pushed our canoes into the stream and sped away to the north- 

 ward. Landings were made when necessary to carry on the 

 survey and examination of the country, but at other times 

 the canoes were kept in the stream and the men at the 

 -paddles. Many rapids were run, but our veteran steersman 



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