THIRTY DOGS IN ONE TEAM, DRAWING A BOAT ON THE ICE, MACKENZIE DELTA. 



land and everything on it, over it and un- 

 der it ; the waters and all they contain, "the 

 sea and all that therein is." The products 

 of the country are natives, furs, meat and 

 fish. All these are the property of the com- 

 pany. They receive the furs from the na- 

 tives, fixing the price themselves, generally 

 a fair one. The natives are their hunters, 

 going whither they are sent, living on such 

 food as is supplied them, except for the 

 chance game they kill. The white traveler 

 in those solitudes must depend on the com- 

 pany for his guides and helpers. They are 

 furnished him at 2, 3, or 4 times the price 

 the company pays for the same service. 

 He is at their mercy and must accept or go 

 alone. These guides eat the traveler's im- 

 ported food, paid for at prices known no- 

 where else on earth, drink his tea and de- 

 ceive him in every way. 



The Peace and Athabasca combine to 

 form the Slave river, which discharges the 

 waters of Slave lake into the Mackenzie. 

 The confluents just named, with the Liard, 

 are the great river's greatest tributaries. 

 The Mackenzie basin is one great system 



of lakes. Great Slave and Great Bear 

 lakes are the largest 2, and there are hun- 

 dreds of smaller ones. The natives go 

 from lake to lake across the basin, carry- 

 ing their light one-man birch bark canoes. 

 At various points the river approaches close 

 to the mountains, washing their base, at 

 other times receding so far that the Rockies 

 are invisible. From the first of November 

 to the middle of May the river is closed 

 with ice, which usually freezes 4 feet thick. 

 Snow falls, on an average, 36 inches deep. 



The "Burning Banks" of t e Mackenzie, 

 just above Fort Norman, deserve a passing 

 note. Seams of lignite have been on fire 

 since the first exploration of the river. In- 

 dian tradition accounts for the fire as fol- 

 lows : A giant once killed a big beaver on 

 top of Bear Rock, went a few miles up 

 stream, kindled a fire and cooked his game. 

 The fire was not extinguished, and has been 

 burning ever since. Large quantities of 

 petrified wood and fossil leaves are found 

 there. Beds of excellent salt are found in 

 the mountains West of Norman. 



Spruce is the chief timber in all this re- 



SLAVl SNOW SHOES. 

 No. l, 72-inch hunting shoe. No. 2, 40-inch shoes for going ahead of dogs. No. 3, 36-inch shoe used by dog driver. 



