The Dillon tribune., 1886-06-12
HUDSON'S BAY REGION.
WHERE THE CLIMATE IS WARMER
AS ONE TRAVELS NORTHWARD.

Winds-How Latit,ldinsl Distances Di-
1ninish-Snowfall on the Low Table
Understandings Game and Grass.
a very important fact must be noticed
In travelling from Hudspn's bay to the
Rockies. One starts on land about fifty
feet above the sea level, and, gradually
rising, reaches all altitude of only 500 feet
ut the base Of the mountains This is
following the Goth parallel, or within
fifty miles north or south of it. Starting
on the 10th parallel, in the same longitude,
say in the neighborhood of the Lake of
the Woods, the height above the sea is
over 1000 feet, and at the base of the
mountains in that latitude it is over 5000
feet, or more than 5000 feet heigher than
it is I'm relative position as to the mount
aims 6OO or 700 miles north of it.
1t is generally but enormously supposed
that one travelling from the 4Sth parallel
OF latitude northward, say on the Tooth or
10th meridians Of longitude, would find the
climate colder each fifty or 100 miles,
while the facts are he will find it warmer
as he proceeds northward, and this rule
will hold good for 500 miles saon the Tooth
meridian, and for 900 miles ON the 10th
meridian, taking tho 4Sth parallel north az
a starting point. The writer has proven
this proposition from actual observation,
and 1t may easily be established from a
statement OF the simplest rules of natural
science. AS q general principle, in the
north temperate zone, as well as in the
sub-arctic regions, the further north one
proceeds the colder he will lind the atmos-
phee, but this rule will apply only when
the traveller is going from lower to
higher altitude above the sea- In the re.
gions just newfoundland let it be under
stood the rule applies until the Goth paral-
lei Is rcached-altitude has more to do
With the climate, SO far as heat and cold
are concerned-and, in fact, as far as all
meteorological phenomena gotham lati-
tude.
The writer has been upon the delta
shores.Of Lake Athabaska, which are only
seven hundred feet above the sea, and al
most at the foot of the Rockies, where
snow will scarcely remain on the ground
for twenty-four honrs at stretch during
a whole winter. This is more than 500
miles north of the north boundary of Da-
kota or Montana, where the mercury often
goes down to 10 degrees below zero (Fah.
renheit), and where the winters are long
and severe. At the former places the mer-
curry rarely touches zero, and in the grand
stretch Of park country on every hand,
and for 300 miles to the northwest, the
cattle belonging to the Hudson Bay posts
in that section have roamed at large
through more than fifty winters without
the need OF stable or cut hay. The latter.
cured upon the stalk, is plentiful, and as
rich fodder in midwinter rs the excellent
grass is in summer. Aside from the q,les-
ton OF altitude, the country last in ques-
ton Is favorably affected by the Chinook
winds, which find their way from the Pa
cific through the mountain passes. This
is why the thermal lines extend further
northward ON the 10th meridian and west
Of 1t than ON the Tooth, as before indi-
Gated
NORTH OF THE HEIGHT OF LAND.
important questions Of mathematical
geography present themselves to one ON
the western shore of Hudson's bay. Lon
gitudinally he is nearly in the center of
the continent; a little nearer to Liverpool
or Queenstown than the cities of New York
or Quebec; within l5O miles as near to San
Francisco as the city of Chicago; within
! 800 miles of the Pacific ocean; within 800
miles of the northeastern border, and 600
Of the center OF the great fertile prairie
country north of the height of land; in
short, harbor ON the western coast of
the bay, provided the latter and the strait
are navigable for il sufficient period, would
command the traffic of half the continent.
1t is curious to notice to what extent lat
itudinal distances diminish between any
two meridians as one travels northward.
The width Of the continent on the sixtieth
parallel-apparently its greatest width ON
most maps-is nearly 10 miles narrower
than it is l,aW miles farther to the
south. On the sixtieth parallel it is
scarcely :.aN miles in breadth. Over
l 900 miles OF this distance may be
traversed in steamship, through Hudson
strait and across HldsOn's bay: the re-
of the distance, about l 500 miles,
is across i low level country. ranging in