BOOK LXXVII. THE DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA CONTINued. 73 Regions of the North, and North-East; or the Country on Mackenzie's River, and the Country round Hudson's Bay; Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, and Spitzbergen. view. WHEN we quit the north-west region, cross the Rocky BOOK Mountains, and approach towards Hudson's Bay and the LXXVII. unknown frozen seas, we perceive an immense country, intersected with lakes, marshes, and rivers, to a greater General extent than any other part of the globe with which we are acquainted. Few mountains rise above this savage and icy plain. The numerous waters of these countries may be reduced to two classes; some flow towards the unknown seas of the north, others roll their tributary streams to Hudson's Bay. Among the former, we observe the river Athapescow, or the Rein-Deer; and the Oungigah, or the River of Peace. The first of these comes from the south, and loses itself in the lake of the mountains, or lake Athapescow; the second descends from the plateau of the north-west. When high, it flows over into the lake Slave lake. zie's river. BOOK Athapescow; but when it is low, it receives the waters of LXXVII. that lake. The united river bears the name of the Slave River, and empties itself into the Slave Lake, from which Macken- issues Mackenzie's River, that runs towards northern sea, or gulf, hitherto little explored. Lately, indeed, as was noticed in the former Book,* the adventurous Franklin surveyed 600 miles of its coast, proceeding from the mouth of Copper-Mine River, almost directly to the eastward, in the parallel of 67° 30′ north. At the warmest season of the polar year, the greater part of it was girt with ice, and the land almost constantly covered with snow. The water approached so much to the saltness of the sea, that this experienced mariner does not seem to have been able to remark any appreciable difference. Tides were also observed. It abounds in islands, and no coast known affords more numerous or deeper indentations into the surrounding land. To these dreary regions, even the hardiest Indian hunters refused to accompany the English, who, nevertheless, met with frequent traces of Esquimaux, a race which, diminutive in stature and deficient in courage, every where seeks shelter amid the desolation of the pole. Slave lake, which is more than a hundred leagues in length, is sprinkled with islands that are covered with trees resembling the mulberry. Mackenzie found them loaded with ice in the middle of June. All the lakes and rivers in this district unite to form one uninterrupted current of water, extending above 600 leagues in length, and have a remarkable resemblance to the magnificent rivers of Siberia. One is tempted to inquire, why do such superb streams waste their fertilising waters upon these frozen deserts ? They manifest the power, and, we cannot doubt, the wisdom of their Creator. Hearne's river. The Copper-Mine river, discovered by Hearne, likewise flows towards the north, but is only of a moderate size, and from frequent falls and narrows, is scarcely navigable, • Page 45. + Franklin's Journey to Polar Sea, 189-361, passim. even by canoes, near its opening into the Polar sea. Among BOOK the crowd of lakes that lie in the immediate vicinity of LXXVII. Hudson's Bay, but which, nevertheless, have no outlet, lake Dobaunt is particularly noticed. Hudson's Bay. Mississippi, or Churchill river, empties itself into Hudson's Rivers of Bay, but is connected, by means of lakes, with the river Athapeskow, an invaluable communication, if it had taken place in a more temperate climate. The hydrographical system of Hudson's Bay extends very far to the southwest, which obliges us to include within our northern zone, those regions that were formerly comprised under the vague denomination of Canada. Two considerable rivers that come from the foot of the western mountains, form the river Saschaschawan, which, after being interrupted by a great rapid, (it is thus that the Canadians name a long fall of water, with a gentle slope,) descends into the lake Winipeg, a lake of more than sixty leagues in length, by thirty or forty broad. Its banks are shaded by the sugar-maple, and poplar; and it is surrounded by fertile plains, which produce the rice of Canada.* This lake, Winipeg, which likewise receives the great river Assiniboins, or As- Lake. sinibonis, united to the Red River, discharges itself into Hudson's Bay, by the rivers Nelson and Severn. The lake Winipeg is the lake Bourbon of the French; and the river Bourbon is composed of the Saschaschawan and the Nelson. or Bourbon mate. The extreme severity of the winter is felt even under Rigour of the 57th parallel of latitude; the ice on the rivers is eight the clifeet thick; brandy freezes, and, in consequence of the cold, the rocks split with a tremendous noise, fully equal to that of heavy artillery, and the shattered fragments fly to an astonishing distance. The temperature of Atmosphe the air is subject to the most capricious variations. Rain rical phesuddenly overtakes you, at the very moment when you are admiring the serenity of a cloudless sky; while, on the other hand, the sun will sometimes suddenly burst forth in the Zizania aquatica, nomena. BOOK midst of the heaviest showers; and at its rising and setting, LXXVII. is preceded, or followed, by a cone of yellowish light. Barrenness of the soil. Fisheries. The aurora borealis sheds in this climate a light which, sometimes mild and serene, sometimes dazzling and agitated, equals that of the full moon, and in both cases is contrasted, by its bluish reflection, with the colour of fire which sparkles in the stars. These imposing scenes, however, serve only to augment the solemn melancholy of the desert. Nothing can be more frightful than the environs of Hudson's Bay. To whichsoever side we direct our view, we perceive nothing but land incapable of receiving any sort of cultivation, and precipitous rocks that rise to the very clouds, and yawn into deep ravines and barren valleys, into which the sun never penetrates, and are rendered inaccessible by masses of ice and snow that seem never to melt. The sea in this bay is open only from the commencement of July to the end of September, and even then, the navigator very often encounters ice-bergs, which expose him to considerable embarrassment. At the very time that he imagines himself at a distance from these floating rocks, a sudden squall, or a tide, or current, strong enough to carry away the vessel, and render it unmanageable, all at once hurries him amongst an infinite number of masses of ice, which appear to cover the whole bay.* Hudson's Bay affords only a small quantity of fish, and all attempts at the whale-fishery have been unsuccessful. Shell fish are likewise scarce. But the lakes, even those farthest to the north, abound in excellent fish, such as the pike, sturgeon, and trout; and their banks are inhabited by aquatic birds, among which are observed several species of swans, geese, and ducks. The English, under Franklin, in 1819, found abundance of fish in Copper-Mine river, at its opening into the Voyages of Ellis, Middleton, Robson, Hearne, Ross, Parry, &c. &c. Polar sea, though that sea itself scarcely afforded them any BOOK supplies. Of the fish and fowls which frequented these lakes, LXXVII. an interesting account has been given by Dr. Richardson, the surgeon and naturalist to the expedition.* peds. The principal quadrupeds are the buffalo, rein-deer, musk- Quadruox, fallow-deer, castor, wolf, foxes of different colours, the lynx or wild cat, white, black, and brown bears, the wolverine, otter, jackash, ouejack, pine-martin, ermine, or stinking-ferret, musk-rat, porcupine, hare, wood-squirrel, climbing-squirrel, and different species of mice. Winipeg flourish almost other vege The banks of the river Churchill principally produce Trees, and some berry-bearing shrubs, the gooseberry bush, three tables. species of vaccinium, the black currant, strawberry, and a small species of woodbine, the burdock, wood-sorrel, dandelion, a species of cistus, a species of box, different kinds of moss, several descriptions of grasses, and peas. The trees which compose the forests of this savage country, present very few species; namely, the pine, dwarf larch, poplar, willow, and dwarf birch. Farther to the west, the latter is very numerous. In the country of the Athapescow, the pine, larch, poplar, birch, and alder, acquire a greater height; but round lake all the trees of Canada Proper. a very extraordinary observation. cleared by means of fire, those places that had been formerly covered with pine and birch trees, no longer produce any thing but poplars, although not a single tree of the kind had ever grown there before. The banks of the Red River, the Assiniboin, and the Saschaschawan, appear to be susceptible of several kinds of cultivation. Barley and rye have ripened there, and hemp becomes very fine; but their great distance from the ports of Canada, and the little advantage to be derived from those of Hudson's Bay, obstructed as they are with ice during two-thirds of the year, would greatly embarrass an infant colony, both in Franklin's Journey to the Polar Sea. Appendix. |