FOREST AND STREAM 
173 
along the low grassy banks of the Thelon. They 
were of small gray species, with black necks and 
heads and white bands around the latter. Later 
in the season great numbers of moulting geese 
were met with, and thirty of forty of them 
knocked over with sticks for supplying our 
kettles. 
Ducks and ptarmigan were also met with, 
though not in great numbers, whilst the spruce 
woods were enlivened by the songs of singing 
birds, notably American robins. 
Bear tracks were twice observed on the banks 
of the Thelon, and on the return journey Mr. 
Fairchild was fortunate enough to fall in with 
and slay Mr. Bruin, after an interesting scrim¬ 
mage. It was not a black bear, but a small 
silver gray, or doubtless the barren land grizzly, 
as reported by Sir John Franklin to have been 
tound by him north of Great Slave lake. Un- 
xortunately, the interesting hide was lost in a 
canoe accident the day after it was procured. 
Upon two occasions moose antlers were found 
imbedded in the sand of the river bank, and this 
is an interesting fact, proving the existence of 
the animals somewhere on the river, . possibly 
higher up, as the antlers might have been carried 
down by the spring ice. This discovery proves 
the truth of the report made by the Indians to 
Sir George Back in 1834, regarding the game on 
the Thelon, as well as assisting in identifying this 
river valley as the site of the early and remote 
but highly-favored Indian settlement so well de¬ 
scribed but vaguely located by Samuel Hearne. 
In support of Hearne’s story, and my belief 
that bis reference was to the valley of the Thelon, 
it may be noted that some very old choppings 
were observed, as well as the decayed moss- 
grown remains of some very old camps, whilst 
scarcely any recent signs of habitation exist. 
The wooded, or partially wooded, banks of the 
Thelon, extend for a distance of about one hun¬ 
dred and seventy miles below the forks of 
the Hanbury. This distance is not to be under¬ 
stood as a continuous stretch of timber, but 
over that distance many fine spruce groves, as 
well as more or less continuous thinly-scattered 
trees are found. The largest trees measured 
from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, but 
the average diameter would be about six inches. 
The dimensions of the Thelon are noted from 
place to place where taken upon the map, but the 
following may be assumed as approximate 
averages for the measurements of the river from 
the confluence of the Hanbury to that of the 
Doobaunt, a distance of two hundred and twenty- 
four miles:—Width 250 yards, depth 6 feet, cur¬ 
rent 3 miles per hour. 
The depth of channel in most places measured 
from 10 to 14 feet, but in a few places sand bars 
were bbserved where there were not over three 
feet of water. Over the entire length of the 
above stretch of river not a single rapid, worthy 
of the name, exists. At several points very swift 
currents were met with, but nothing too heavy 
to run either down or up with our canoes, for in 
ascending the river—having a strong, fair breeze 
—we sailed up through the worst places. 
Great Herds of Caribou. 
Here is another story of caribou herds that is 
well worth digging from the oblivion of an offi¬ 
cial geological report by Mr. Tyrrell and putting 
before your readers: 
All day the caribou have been around us in 
vast numbers, many thousands being collected to¬ 
gether in single herds. One herd collected on the 
hill behind our camp, and another remained for 
hours in the wet bog on the point in front of us. 
The little fawns were running about everywhere, 
often coming up to within a yard of two of us, 
uttering their sharp grunts as they stood and 
looked up at us, or as they turned and ran back 
to the does. About noon a large herd had collected 
on the sides and summit of the hill behind us. 
Taking the small hand-camera with which we 
were supplied, we walked quietly among them. 
As' we approached to within a 'few yards of the 
dense herd, it opened to let us in and then 
formed a circle around us, so that we were able 
to stand for a couple of hours and watch the deer 
as they stood in the light breeze, or rubbed 
slowly past each other to keep off the black flies. 
The bucks, with their beautiful branching antlers, 
kept well to the background. We obtained a 
number of photographs, which show the animals 
in many positions. Later in the afternoon a 
herd of bucks trotted up to us, and stood at 
about forty yards distance. This was a most 
beautiful sight, for their horns are now full 
grown, though still soft at the tips. We did not 
shoot any to-day. 
Musk-Ox Bands Photographed. 
Mr. Hanbury is equally enthusiastic about the 
misnamed Barren Lands. What does the aver¬ 
age reader of Forest and Stream think of this, a 
truthful account given by Mr. Hanbury of his trip 
up the Thelon before Tyrrell had descended it: 
On the main Ark-i-linik River there is a 
stretch of country about eighty miles in length 
into which no human being enters. The Eskimo 
do not hunt so far west, and Yellow Knives and 
Dog Ribs from Slave Lake do not go so far 
east. To penetrate this country in the dead of 
winter would be simply to court starvation. Then 
the deer have all departed, and to depend on 
finding musk-oxen at the end of the journey 
would be risky indeed. Thus here still remains 
one spot in this Great Barren Northland 
which is sacred to the musk-ox. Here the ani¬ 
mals remain in their primeval state, exhibiting 
no fear, only curiosity. I approached several 
herds wihin thirty yards, photographed them at 
my leisure, moving them round as I wished, 
and then retired, leaving them still stupidly star¬ 
ing at me as if in wonder. When deer were 
not procurable, a musk-ox was killed. Fish were 
plentiful all along the Ark-i-linik; in fact, I never 
saw such a grand river for fish. The nets are 
rarely set, however, when meat was procurable, 
as it caused considerable delay in the morning, 
and the nets had to be dried. Moose are to be 
found on the main Ark-i-linik, also black bears. 
On the western branch the woods decreased in ex¬ 
tent and in size of timber as we ascended until 
at the height of land there were none, and we 
had to fall back on moss and heaths for fuel. 
Deer were then very scarce, and the musk-ox we 
had long since left behind; but something al¬ 
ways turned up to keep the pot boiling. One 
day it would be a wolverine or glutton, another 
time a fat wolf. All animals appear to be good 
on the Barren Lands; or is it that one’s appetite 
is good? An occasional goose was shot, or duck, 
or ptarmigan, or an arctic hare; we always had 
enough, being indifferent as to the exact kind of 
animal which satisfied our hunger. 
Eskimos Had Never Seen White Men. 
We had the good luck to meet the Eskimo from 
the Arctic coast, who resort to this river to ob¬ 
tain wood for their sleighs. These natives 
had never set eyes on a white man before, and 
had no articles of civilization whatever. They 
were all dressed in deerskins, and armed with 
long bows, arrows, and spears, beaten out of 
native copper. The use of tobacco was quite un¬ 
known to them, and firearms they had only 
heard about. They gave me a good deal of in¬ 
formation about their country and the upper de¬ 
posits along the Arctic coast, and I obtained from 
them several copper implements, such as dags, 
spear and arrow heads, needles, etc., all beaten out 
of native copper, giving them in exchange knives, 
files, and needles, which last appeared to have by 
far the most value in their eyes. They exhibited 
no signs of fear at our approach. They were 
a jovial lot, and camped with us that night. In 
the evening they sang together, rather nicely, I 
thought, and next morning we separated, with 
many signs of friendship on their part- 
continued on page 1 97 -) 
Photo by Hanbury. 
Interior of Fort Churchill. Musk-Ox Robes Drying. 
