REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY. Oo 



cated in the reports of 1859, 1860, and 1861. By the arrival of all his collec- 

 tions, and those of gentlemen connected with the Hudson's Bay Company, who 

 have so liberally aided him and the Institution in the effort to develop a 

 knowledge of the natural and physical history of the north, we are now enabled 

 better to realize the magnitude of the results of these operations. The collec- 

 tions received in 1863 (which include some which should have arrived in the 

 end of 1862) filled forty boxes and packages, many of them of large size, and 

 weighing, in the aggregate, about 3,000 pounds. They embraced thousands of 

 kins of birds and mammals, eggs of nearly all the birds nesting in the north, 

 numerous skulls and skeletons of animals, fishes in alcohol and preserved dry, 

 insects, fossils, plants, &c. 



Not in any way inferior in interest and importance to the natural history 

 collections were those relating to the ethnological peculiarities of the Esquimaux 

 and different tribes of Indians inhabiting the Arctic regions. It is believed that 

 no such series is elsewhere to be found of the dresses, weapons, implements, 

 utensils, instruments of war and of the chase, &c, &c, of the aborigines of 

 Northern America. 



The cataloguing and labelling of the specimens last received is now nearly 

 completed, and Mr. Kennicott will then proceed to make a detailed report of the 

 scientific results of his operations, as well as those of the various gentlemen of 

 the Hudson's Bay service who co-operated in the work. The materials at his 

 command will serve to fix with precision the relationships of the arctic animals 

 to those of more southern regions, their geographical distribution, their habits 

 and manners, and other particulars of interest, and to extend very largely the 

 admirable records presented by Sir John Richardson relative to arctic zoology. 

 The Institution has already acknowledged, in many ways, its indebtedness 

 to the Hudson's Bay Company, as well as to its officers, for their numerous 

 favors — the company itself, through its secretary, Mr. Thos. Fraser, of London ; 

 the governors, Sir George Simpson and Mr. Dallas ; Mr. E. M. Hopkins, the 

 secretary at Montreal ; the chief factors, Governor Wm. McTavish, Mr. George 

 Barnston, Mr. John McKenzie, Mr. J. A. Grahame, Mr. Wm. Sinclair; the 

 chief traders, Mr. B. R. Ross, Mr. W. L. Hardisty, Mr. R. Campbell, Mr. Jas. 

 Lockhart, and others, together with Mr. R. W. MacFarlane, Mr. L. Clarke, Mr. 

 S. Jones, Mr. J. S. Onion, the Rev. W. W. Kirkby, Messrs. Andrew and 

 James Flett, Mr. C. P. Gaudet, Mr. John Reid, Mr. Harriot, and others — all 

 have lent their aid towards the accomplishment of the work — every possible 

 facility was given to Mr. Kennicott, every privilege granted within the rules of 

 the company. At all the posts he was an honored guest, and he and his col- 

 lections and outfit were transported from point to point in the company's boats 

 and sledges without charge. 



In addition to collections from the region traversed by Mr. Kennicott in his 

 four years' exploration, some valuable specimens have been received from other 

 points of British North America. Conspicuous among these is a series of birds 

 and eggs from Rigolette, in Labrador, gathered by Mr. Henry Conolly, of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company's service, and brought to Boston, without charge, by 

 Mr. J. W. Dodge. This collection embraced specimens of the rare Labrador 

 falcon, and others of much interest. A collection of birds and other objects 

 of natural history, made at Moose Factory, for the Institution, by Mr. John 

 McKenzie, has reached London by ship from Hudson's Bay, and may shortly 

 be expected in Washington. 



Exploration of Western Mexico by Mr. Xantus. — In my last report I men- 

 tioned that Mr. John Xantus, so long and so well known in connexion with 

 explorations about Fort Riley, Kansas, Fort Tejon, California, and Cape St. 

 Lucas, was about proceeding to a new field of operations. He left New Tork 

 on the 11th of December, 1862, for Manzanillo, Mexico, the Panama Railroad 



