CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 9 



Itinerary ^. 11 



Expedition of 1901 11 



Continuation of investigations during 1903 and 1904 13 



Physical geography and climatology of the Mackenzie Basin 16 



The Athabaika Valley 17 



The basin of x\thabaska Lake •. 21 



The Peace River Valley 23 



The basin of Great Slave Lake 26 



The Liard River Valle v 30 



The Mackenzie River Valley 32 



Seasonal phenomena in Mackenzie Valley, 1903-4 37 



Seasonal phenomena at Fort Simpson, winter 1903-4 37 " 



Seasonal phenomena on Mackenzie below Fort Simpson, sum- 

 mer 1904 41 



The basin of Great Bear Lake 42 



The Barren Grounds 46 



Life zones of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 49 



Arctic zone 50 



Hudsonian zone , 51 



Canadian zone , 52 



Previous explorations and collections 54 



Earliest explorers, Hearne and Mackenzie, 1770-1793 54 



Franklin, 1819, to Simpson, 1839 57 



The Franklin search expeditions, 1845-1855 64 



Kennicott's expedition, 1859, and its results 70 



Later expeditions, 1862-1907 , 74 



General account of routes traversed by Biological Survey parties during 1901, 



1903, and 1904 85 



Route between Edmonton, Alberta, and mouth of Mackenzie 85 



Tables of distances 109 



Route between Great Slave and Great Bear lakes 110 



Note on boundaries of region treated 125 



Mammals of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 126 



Birds of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 251 



Reptiles and batrachians of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 500 



Fishes of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 502 



Trees and shrubs of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region 515 



Bibliography , 535 



Index 559 



5 



