FOREST AND STREAM. 
891 
)EC. 5, 1908.] 
— 
»! 
many other days, for soon all hands were 
•re or less busy on their own account. It 
lied out to be one of the best day’s fishing 
party ever had together. However, like all 
i/s, it furnished its own little incidents. Jim’s 
;ket, nearly full, the cover came unfastened, 
1 he only learned the fact when he saw a good 
ut go floating off down the current in front 
him. 
The worst mis-quilt of all was reserved for 
bert in the early evening. Being rather tired 
1 heavily laden, he slipped and was unable 
to recover himself, so he went entirely under. 
There would have been nothing serious about 
the soaking had it not included all the shirts 
he had with him. He was alone at the time, 
so it was a matter of surprise to the others when 
they found him in Mrs. Turner’s kitchen hover¬ 
ing over the cook stove a half hour before dark¬ 
ness would have driven him from the stream. 
The foundation of his costume was a cotton 
flannel night shirt which was covered by his 
traveling suit. Kind hearted friends offered 
shirts and suggestions, but he would have none 
of them, and argued the correctness of his posi¬ 
tion until bed time. It rained nearly all night, 
so that in the damp air Robert’s underclothing 
made little progress toward drying. He ap¬ 
peared at breakfast wearing the same garments 
he disappeared with the night before. Again a 
liberal tender of shirts was made, but Robert’s 
mind was firmly fixed, and he went to what 
seemed about the limit in light equipment. He 
took the two-hundred-mile ride to Oswenango, 
with its attendant changes, while a pink cotton 
flannel night shirt masqueraded as a negligee. 
down the Mackenzie, and returning, reached 
Athabaska Landing the last of August. In the 
spring of 1903, a somewhat later start was made; 
the party divided, the summer was spent in col¬ 
lecting, and Mr. Preble wintered at Fort Simp¬ 
son, remaining there from Oct. 20 to June 1, 
1904. From there he went north to Ft. Mc¬ 
Pherson and the Lower Peel River, and return¬ 
ing by steamboat, reached Edmonton Sept. 4. 
This large volume of nearly 600 pages gives 
the results of Mr. Preble’s investigations. It is 
provided with many maps, is fully illustrated and 
abounds in information most interesting to the 
biologist, the traveler and the sportsman. It 
contains a full annotated list of the mammals, 
birds, fishes and plants of the region and thus 
appeals to a very wide public. It contains also 
a full bibliography of the work in the North 
in exploration and biology, and is on the whole 
a masterly review of a fascinating subject. 
Although the Mackenzie River is only about 
900 miles long, it drains a vast area and one 
which abounds in great rivers and great lakes, 
among them such inland seas as Athabaska, 
Great Slave and Great Bear lakes. By compari¬ 
son with the surrounding higher country, the 
valley of the Mackenzie is warm, and the river 
there does not close until much later than other 
neighboring streams; this, no doubt, partly due 
to the swift flow of the river which is sometimes 
six miles an hour. During the winter that Mr. 
Preble spent at Fort Simpson, 
the river did not actually freeze 
up until Nov. 18, and the freez¬ 
ing was caused by the choking 
of the drifting ice in the river, 
which as soon as it was piled 
above the water’s surface, in¬ 
stantly froze. This process con¬ 
tinued constantly, backing up 
the river. It was not until 
March 26 that the temperature 
rose above the freezing point, 
and from that date it did not 
again fall below zero. The 
lowest temperature recorded for 
the winter was 54 degrees below 
zero. During the 3d and 18th 
of January the average daily 
maximum was 30 degrees below 
zero. Nevertheless an excava¬ 
tion made during the winter, 
under three feet of snow, show¬ 
ed that the frost had penetrated 
the ground only twenty inches. 
Toward the end of March some 
migrating birds were seen, while 
at the end of April frogs were observed. Now, 
too, the rivers began to break up with stupend¬ 
ous exhibitions of force, and then a few ducks 
began to appear. 
The life zones of the Athabaska-Mackenzie 
region are the Arctic, Hudsonian and Canadian 
in parts. The first of these, which includes the 
barren grounds, is treeless and is characterized 
by certain small mammals, the Arctic fox, musk¬ 
ox, barren ground caribou and polar hare. Its 
birds are migratory, those which breed there 
being the white geese, and some maritime ducks; 
together with many shore birds, ptarmigan of 
two sorts, and the gyrfalcons. South of this 
belt lies the Hudsonian zone, a country of 
stunted trees, where are found the woodland 
caribou, moose, beaver, muskrat, porcupine, the 
great gray owl, hawk owl and pine grosbeak. 
The Canadian zone includes all the country to 
LYNX CANADENSIS CAPTURED IN A SNARE. 
he Athabaska-Mackenzie Region. 
i The Bureau of Biological Survey of the Agri- 
tural Department has just issued a report of 
raordinary interest and value. It is North 
'lerican Fauna No. 27 and is entitled, “A Bio- 
;ical Investigation of the 
habaska-Mackenzie Region.” 
Edward A. Preble, one of 
* assistants of the Survey, and 
is prepared under the direc- 
n of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 
|'. 1 Chief of the Bureau. The 
iort is based mainly on the 
i suit of two expeditions con- 
cted by j\Ir. Preble in the in- 
1 est of the Biological Survey, 
, ? first made in 1901, and the 
:ond in 1903-04. Neverthe- 
s, owing to unavoidable de- 
s in printing, it has been pos- 
| ile to insert in the reports 
! tes made up to last spring, so 
| it the report actually repre¬ 
ss our knowledge of the re¬ 
in in the spring of 1908. Dr. 
1 ;rriam well says that the facts 
re published fill a broad gap 
our knowledge of Northern 
! irth America, and connect the 
>rk previously done by the 
; rvey in the Hudson’s Bay re- 
11 on the east, with that of Alaska on the west, 
'he greater part of that Northern land which 
term Boreal America may be divided into 
ee regions, that of Hudson’s Bay, that of the 
ckenzie Basin, and that of Alaska. In No. 
of North American Fauna, Mr. Preble pub- 
ied a report on the PTudson’s Bay region and 
deals now with the central territory which 
drained by the Mackenzie and its tributary 
; :-rs. In connection with these reports, the 
rk now being done in Alaska, when made 
j die, will give us a very clear idea of the 
Is, mammals and fishes of the Northern part 
the continent. 
t was in April, 1901, that Mr. Preble and his 
ty left Edmonton for Athabaska Landing, 
■ ere their canoe journey was to begin. It was 
1 winter in the Northland; nevertheless they 
1 ted, and following the ordinary route, went 
