OF THE POLAR SEA. 



169 



be noticed, as showing the state of moral 

 feeling on these subjects amongst the white 

 residents of the fur countries. It was not 

 very uncommon, amongst the Canadian 

 voyagers, for one woman to be common to, 

 and maintained at the joint expense of, two 

 men; nor for a voyager to sell his wife, 

 either for a season or altogether, for a sum 

 of money, proportioned to her beauty and 

 good qualities, but always inferior to the 

 price of a team of dogs. 



The country around Cumberland House 

 is flat and swampy, and is much intersected 

 by small lakes. Limestone is found every 

 where under a thin stratum of soil, and it 

 not unfrequently shows itself above the 

 surface. It lies in strata generally hori- 

 zontal, but in one spot near the fort dip- 

 ping to the northward at an angle of 40°. 

 Some portions of this rock contain very 

 perfect shells. With respect to the vegetable 

 productions of the district, the populus tre- 

 pida, or aspen, which thrives in moist situ- 

 ations, is perhaps the most abundant tree on 

 the banks of the Saskatchawan, and is much 



