OF THE POLAR SEA. 171 



tion of its inner bark is used as an emetic 

 by the Indians, who also extract from it a 

 yellow dye. A great variety of willows 

 occur on the banks of the streams ; and the 

 hazel is met with sparingly in the woods. 

 The sugar maple, elm, ash, and the arbor 

 vitce 9 * termed by the Canadian voyagers 

 cedar, grow on various parts of the Sas- 

 katchewan; but that river seems to form 

 their northern boundary. Two kinds of 

 prunus also grow here, one of which,^ a 

 handsome small tree, produces a black fruit, 

 having a very astringent taste, whence the 

 term choke-cherry applied to it. The Crees 

 call it tawquoy-meena, and esteemed it to be 

 when dried and bruised a good addition to 

 pemmican. The other species J is a less 

 elegant shrub, but is said to bear a bright 

 red cherry, of a pleasant sweet taste. Its 

 Cree name is passee-awey-meenan, and it is 

 known to occur as far north as Great Slave 

 Lake. 



The most esteemed fruit of the country, 



* Thuya occidentals. t Prunus Virginiana. 



$ Prunus Pensylvanica. 



