The Barren Ground of Northern Canada Part 11

12. Area surrounded by Back's River, Great Slave Lake, Athabasca Lake, Hatchet and Reindeer Lakes, Churchill River, and the west coast of Hudson's Bay, 178,000 square miles. Much larger than Great Britain and Ireland, and somewhat larger than Sweden. The lakes and rivers shown in this great region depend entirely on the result of the three journeys made by Hearne in 1769-1772.[4]

Hearne really wandered through parts of this region in company with Indians whom he was unable to control, his ultimate object (which he at length accomplished) being to reach the Coppermine River, in order to ascertain for the Hudson's Bay Company whether it was possible to utilize the native copper found there. Not even roughly approximate accuracy can be a.s.signed to his geographical work. Referring to the position of the mouth of the Coppermine, he writes:--"The lat.i.tude may be depended upon to within 20 miles at the utmost." In reality it afterwards proved to be 200 miles too far north. This country includes the great "barren grounds" of the continent, and is the princ.i.p.al winter resort of the musk-ox as well as of great herds of caribou. Hearne's general characterization of it is not very encouraging, but certainly we shall know more about it. He writes:--"The land throughout the whole tract of country is scarcely anything but one solid ma.s.s of rocks and stones, and in most parts very hilly, particularly to the westward, among the woods." The north-eastern extremity of this region was also crossed by Lieut. Schwatka in the course of his remarkable journey to King-William Land, but his geographical results possess little value.[5]

13. Area between Severn and Attawapishkat Rivers and the coast of Hudson's Bay, 22,000 square miles, or larger than Nova Scotia. Several lakes and rivers are shown upon the maps in this region in practically identical form since Arrowsmith's map of 1850, but I have been unable to ascertain the origin of the information.

14. Area between Trout Lake, Lac Seul, and the Albany River, 15,000 square miles, or about half the size of Scotland.

15. Area to the south and east of James Bay, 35,000 square miles, which also may be compared to the area of Portugal. This region is the nearest of those which still remain unexplored to large centres of population. It is probable that much of it consists of low land which may afford merchantable timber.

16. Area comprising almost the entire interior of the Labrador peninsula or North-east Territory, 289,000 square miles. This is more than equal to twice the area of Great Britain and Ireland, with an added area equal to that of Newfoundland. Several lines of exploration and survey have been carried for a certain distance into the interior of this great peninsula, among which may be mentioned those of Professor Hind, Mr. A. P. Low, and Mr.

R. F. Holme.[6] The limits of the unexplored area have been drawn so as to exclude all these. The area regarded as still unexplored has, however, it is true, been traversed in several directions at different times by officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, particularly on routes leading from the vicinity of Mingan on the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the head of Hamilton Inlet, and thence to Ungava Bay. These routes have also, according to Mr. Holme, been travelled by a missionary, Pere Laca.s.se; but the only published information which I have been able to find is contained in a book written by J. McLean,[7] and in a brief account of a journey by Rev. E. J. Peck.[8] Mr.

McLean made several journeys and established trading-posts between Ungava and Hamilton Inlet in the years 1838-1841, while Mr. Peck crossed from Little Whale River, on Hudson Bay, to Ungava in 1884. Something may be gathered as to the general nature of the country along certain lines from the accounts given by these gentlemen, but there is little of a really satisfactory character, while neither has made any attempt to fix positions or delineate the features of the region on the map. In all probability this entire region consists of a rocky plateau or hilly tract of rounded archaean rocks, highest on the north-east side and to the south, and sloping gradually down to low land towards Ungava Bay. It is known to be more or less wooded, and in some places with timber of fair growth; but if it should be possessed of any real value, this may probably lie in its metalliferous deposits. In this tract of country particularly there is reason to hope that ores like those of Tilt Cove, in Newfoundland, or those of Sudbury, in Ontario, may occur.

To sum up briefly, in conclusion, what has been said as to the larger unexplored areas of Canada, it may be stated that, while the entire area of the Dominion as computed at 3,470,257 square miles, about 954,000 square miles of the continent alone, exclusive of the inhospitable detached Arctic portions, is for all practical purposes entirely unknown. In this estimate the area of the unexplored country is reduced to a minimum by the mode of definition employed. Probably we should be much nearer the mark in a.s.suming it as about one million square miles, or between one-third and one-fourth of the whole. Till this great aggregate of unknown territory shall have been subjected to examination, or at least till it has been broken up and traversed in many directions by exploratory and survey lines, we must all feel that it stands as a certain reproach to our want of enterprise and of a justifiable curiosity. In order, however, to properly ascertain and make known the natural resources of the great tracts lying beyond the borders of civilization, such explorations and surveys as are undertaken must be of a truly scientific character. The explorer or surveyor must possess some knowledge of geology and botany, as well as such scientific training as may enable him to make intelligent and accurate observations of any natural features or phenomena with which he may come in contact. He must not consider that his duty consists merely in the perfunctory measuring of lines and the delineation of rivers, lakes, and mountains. An explorer or surveyor properly equipped for his work need never return empty-handed.

Should he be obliged to report that some particular district possesses no economic value whatever, besides that of serving as a receiver of rain and a reservoir to feed certain river-systems, his notes should contain scientific observations on geology, botany, climatology, and similar subjects, which may alone be sufficient to justify the expenditure incurred.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Some account of Peel River, North America_, by A. K. Isbister, Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. xv, 1845, p. 332.

[2] _Canadian Record of Science_, Jan., 1890.

[3] _Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie_, Tom. x, 1875.

[4] _A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort, in Hudson's Bay, to the Northern Ocean_, 1796.

[5] _Schwatka's Search_, by H. W. Gilder.

[6] _Explorations in Labrador_, 1863; Annual Report Geol. Surv. Can., 1887-88, Part. J; Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., 1888; Ott. Nat., Vol. iv.

[7] _Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory_. London, 1849.

[8] _Church Missionary Intelligencer_, June, 1886; Proc. Roy. Geog.

Soc., 1887, p. 192.

APPENDIX II

I have to thank the authorities at Kew for the following list of a small collection of flowering plants that I found growing in the Barren Ground, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the head-waters of the Great Fish River.

_Draba nivalis_, Liljebl.?

_Oxytropis campestris_, L. (yellow and purple varieties).

_Potentilla nivea_, L.

_Dryas integrifolia_, L.

_Saxifraga tricuspidata_, Retz.

_Epilobium latifolium_, L.

_Arnica angustifolia_, Vahl.

_Taraxac.u.m pal.u.s.tre_, DC.

_Vaccinium uliginosum_, L.

_Ca.s.siope tetragona_, L.

_Andromeda polifolia_, L.

_Phyllodoce taxifolia_, Salisb. (_Menziesia caerulea_, Wahl.).

_Ledum pal.u.s.tre_, L.

_Loiseleuria proc.u.mbens_, Desv.

_Rhododendron lapponic.u.m_, L.

_Kalmia glauca_, L.

_Diapensia lapponica_, L.

_Pedicularis hirsuta_, L.

_Pedicularis lapponica_, L.