94 



NORTH AMEEICAX FAUNA. 



[NO. 27. 



their existence. The soil-laden waters of the Peace and Athabaska', 

 meeting at this point, are responsible for the change. Gradually the 

 sediment and the immense c[uantities of driftwood carried by these 

 streams have filled in the lake at their mouths, until now their waters 

 flow in channels carved from the muddy plain of their own making, 

 and finalh^ enter the lake many miles below their original place of 

 outlet. This applies more strictly to the Athabaska, since the bulk 

 of the water of the Peace flows on northward without touching the 

 lake. A part of its water, however, regularly enters Athabaska Lake 

 by way of the Quatre Fourches River, and during certain stages of 

 flood the water of Peace River, meeting that of Rocher River, the out- 

 let of Athabaska Lake, reverses for a time the current of that stream, 

 and raises the level of the lake until its water again asserts itself and 

 the original conditions are restored. 



Proceeding northward from Athabaska Lake we enter Rocher 

 River, before referred to. The course of this stream is at first north- 

 erly, then northeasterly. It varies from 20 to 50 yards in width and 

 is mostly bordered by low willow-covered shores, flanked by exten- 

 sive marshes. Here and there outcrops of gneiss occur, and on these 

 slight elevations a few Banksian pines are seen : otherwise the trees 

 on its banks are deciduous. Thirty-two miles from Fort Chipewyan 

 it unites witli the main channel of Peace River, here upward of half 

 a mile in width, and the resulting stream is called Slave River. 

 (See PI. VII, fig. 1.) Here the willows and poplars which border 

 the stream alternate with stretches of fine white spruces {Picea 

 canadensis) ^ some of which attain a diameter of 3 feet and rear their 

 summits to a height of 150 feet. 



A few miles below the main mouth of the Peace a high gravelly 

 knoll on the right, on the slopes of which are one or two lobsticks,^ 

 is a conspicuous landmark. On the opposite bank there is a \ovs 

 cliff of limestone, and at this point there is a slight quickening of the 

 current. The banks are mainly low. and many outlying marshes are 

 observed. Continuing, the banks of the river become higher, with 

 more rock exposures, and several rocky islands are passed. A few 

 miles below, on the left bank of the river. Smith Landing, 100 miles 

 from Fort Chipewyan, is reached. 



Smith Landing is an inconsiderable post of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, and owes its existence to the fact that this point is at the 

 head of the formidable Smith Rapids, which form the only obstacle 

 to steamboat navigation between Fort McMurray and the Arctic 

 Ocean, a distance of 1,600 miles, and here the Graliame discharges 



^ A lobstick is a sort of memorial usually dedicated, to some traveler or 

 official. It consists of a tree, usualh- a large sprilce occupying a conspicuous 

 position, wliicli lias been trimmed in a more or less fanciful manner, by being 

 stripped of its limbs witb the exception of tbe top and a few lateral branches. 



