Omaha daily bee., 1894-02-25
SCALE OF MILES

Climbing they finally reached the height of
land 1900 feet. They made a portage OF a mile
and found another lake about fifty miles in
length, and traversed its western shore.
Their route was nearly due north. This sec
ond lake was entirely unconnected with the
height of land. The northern lake is forty
or fifty feet the lower, and is wooded. Tired,
sore, but enthusiastic, they reached the
height of land and resolved to commemorate
it. Climbing a tall tree, on the very top or
the continent, they trimmed off the limbs
and nailed a flag to this primitive Flagstaff,
and left 1t as a memorial of their enterprise.
Up to this time they had seen very little life.
They had seen one black bear and caught a
few fine fish, both lakes and rivers being full
OF them. One of the party caught a trout in
Black lake which weighed twenty-five pounds.
LAKES AND RAPIDS.
They found water flowing north from the
north end of lake, and followed 1t down,
passing through several large and some
smaller lakes, where rapids interrupted and
made difficult the navigation. Their Indians
were equal to the task and showed wonder
full skill in running these rapids. All around
them were woods. In fact, the barren lands
seem to be enclosed by a belt of woodland OF
100 miles in width, and, as they advanced,
they found it thinning off into a section
thinly clad with woods, then into Isolated
patches of timber and finally the woods dis
appeared altogether, and they were on the
borders of the -"great lone landE' Far as
the eye could see stretched a treeless waste,
| fat, covered here and there with scattered
granite boulders that protuded from the
ground, and dotted with a sort of stunted
| wire grass and with patches OF moss. Moth
ing more desolate was ever seen OUTSIDE Oh
| Sahara. They seemed the sole inhabitants
of this awful waste, the threshold TO the
polar regions. Away off in the distance low,
rocky hills were thrust through this prairie
like eXpanse.
Lay in that wild forbidding SOIL, 81.
No sign of travel, none OF tpll, the very an
was mute; 49,
And not an insects shrill small horn
OR matin birds new voice was borne,
| From herb nor thicket, many a rood
These rocky hills, as they approached.
| they found covered with moss, ana there
were also many boys or low places covered
with a bed of soft reindeer moss. In 'he
winter deer live on the moss in the woods.
and i'm the plains in the summer. The
weather had been execrable. Slow dragging
clouds, gloomy days, rain and general as
comfort, were the features OF nearly every
day. The progress through the woods had
been toilsome and slow, and now as they
launched their canoes they were happy again
to glide between the low banks ana look
across the frozen vastness, Tor all TINS pam
was a frozen waste and the dint OF the heei
struck on the ground hit the frozen SOIL be-
meath, Ii is a fact that most OF the north
never thaws out. except for a few inches
in depth. At York factory, on the south OF
Hudson's bay, II thaws in the summer 10
the depth of seven feet, and below that for
many fathoms lies the perpetual frost.
Strange to say there was a great abund-
ance of small wild flowers scattered over the
plain, sometimes in blooming clusters many
yards in extent, and again ringing some
hillock or dotting the edge or some niue
lake. j. w, Tyrrell made a collection OF 23O
/ different species OF flowers, which has been
sent to Prof. Macoun of ottawa to be classi-
fed. 1t is the only collection ever made
from the region between the Mackenzie river
and Hudson's bay, and the most interesting
since Sir John Franklin's collection. As
they advanced day after day through this
great plain the evidences OF glacial action
were everywhere apparent, Magnificent
"kames" or sand hills extended in
long strings and knobs OF most
fantastic shapes. At one place a
chain of these kames extended into a lake,
and formed a promontory beyond which II
extended a series of %islets, across the lake
far as the eye could reach. In other places
there were rocky ridges, plainly glaclated
and there is little doubt that this was one OF
the last places where the eternal glacier
raised its foot, ere 1t retreated forever to the
Arctics.
For a time they could find small quaint.
ties OF trees and bushes hid In ravines, In
isolated places, but most of the time they
could only gather black moss for fuel. The
reindeer moss on. which the deer fed II
rather u lichen than a moss. Their course
was north, 10 degrees east, and day after
day they glided along for 700 miles after
they had got out OF the thickets. Still th'
weather was weeping. and low clouds dragged
across the wet plain. Northwestwardiy laS
the great valley of the Mackenzie, and away
of east, somewhere, 1000 miles away. LAY
Hudson's bay. They found a curious feature
of the landscape, never described before
moss glaciers. from twenty to thirty fee
high, which consisted OF great masses o
moss. frozen together, and slopinl
down TO the edge OF the water. Tit
current would wear the bottom OF thes'
moss glaciers" away, and they would breal
on in huge cakes into the lakes and streams
where they soon hoated away. They climbed
some OF these glaciers aud found them no
only coated with moss. but that the mos