12 KOETH AMERICAN FAUNA. [*^°-^' 



americana), ash-leaved maple {Acer negundo), and other species,, with 

 an undergrowth composed principally of viburnums, hazel ((7ory^t<« 

 (uiieriaina and rostrata), wolfberry {Synqjlioric-arpos occidentalis), 

 hawthorn {Crataegus aiccinea), etc. 



The Red Ri^•er below (to the north of) Winnipeg is very winding 

 and is inclosed between banks of clay and limestone which at first are 

 rather high and steep and are fairly well wooded, though the woods 

 seldom extend far back from the river. But just beyond West Sel- 

 kirk (a village about 20 miles below Winnipeg, near the site of the 

 historic Selkirk Settlement) the banks become lower and the woods 

 gradually yield to willow thickets. Farther down, a few miles from 

 the mouth of the river, these willow thickets in turn disappear, and 

 Lake Winnipeg is approached through a marsh which extends as far 

 as the eye can reach, and where numberless coots and other marsh- 

 loving birds find a congenial home. 



Soon after we entered the waters of Lake Winnipeg, about 42 miles 

 from our stai'ting point, our course carried us too far from shore to 

 permit observations as to forest conditions, and such was the case 

 throughout much of our voyage up the lake, though a few oppor- 

 tunities for notes were offered. At The Narrows we could see that 

 the western shore was well wooded with birch and conifers, a charac- 

 ter of forest which, we were told, continues south nearly to the mouth 

 of Red River. 



At Bull Head, off which we anchored earlj' on the morning of June 

 16, the forest consisted mainly of spruce, tamarack, a species of pine 

 (probably Pinus divaricata). birch (Betida papyrlfera), and poplar 

 {Pojndim Ijcdminiferd), the deciduous species predominating. The 

 shores of the northern part of the lake are low and sandv with numer- 

 ous outcrops of gneiss, and many low islands of the same rock occur. 

 Great Playgreen Lake, the hoAj of water next traversed, lies just east 

 of the northern part of Lake Winnipeg, with which it is connected at 

 its southern end by a rocky channel. This channel is entered at INIossy 

 Point, the southern extremity of a slender strip of land separating the 

 two lakes, on which Norway House was originally situated. Nelson 

 River issues from Great Playgreen Lake by two main channels, known 

 as East and West rivers, which, coming together at Cross Lake, inclose 

 Ross Island, 50 miles in length. East River, on leaving Great Play- 

 green Lake, divides into several minor channels encircling small islands, 

 then expanding forms Little Playgreen Lake, about 25 miles from the 

 outlet of Lake Winnipeg, and 300 miles from the southern end. On 

 one of these islands, at the southern margin of Little Playgreen Lake, 

 stands Norwaj' House (PI. 11, fig. 1). Two miles distant, on the east- 

 ern shore of the lake, is Rossville Mission. 



Like most of the region between Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay, 

 the country about Norway House consists largely of swamps, mainly 



