Doctor Richardson (See p. [13]), commenting upon the observations made by himself and colleagues of the Franklin expedition at Fort Franklin at the southwest corner of Great Bear lake, gives the following notes regarding the progression of the seasons:—“The relative temperatures of December, January, and February differ considerably; any one of these months may be the coldest in different years. In some years snow exposed to the sun thaws very slightly during these months; in other winters there is no thaw whatever. The snow attains its greatest depth, about three feet, in March. By April 10, the snow begins to thaw decidedly in the sunshine. From May 1 to May 6, the earlier waterfowl arrive. The small streams break up about May 10 or 12. Between the middle and the end of May, most of the small birds arrive. At the end of May or early in June, the earlier shrubs and herbaceous plants flower and sprout their leaves. Frogs are heard at the same time. By the last week of May there is
Bright Light at Midnight.
No snow, excepting the remains of deep drifts, is left. On June 8 (1826), the small lake was clear of ice, having been frozen for two hundred and forty days. By the middle of June the summer is fairly established. Great Bear lake begins to break up about June 20, and drift ice sometimes obstructs navigation until the first or second week in August. By July 25 blueberries (vaccinium uliginosum) are ripe. At the beginning of August or first of September snow falls. Several frosts set in by the last of September. In October, when the soil begins to freeze, the summer thaw has penetrated about twenty-one inches, beneath which the ground is perpetually frozen. The small lakes are frozen over by October 10 or 12, and the last of the waterfowl depart. The bays of Great Bear lake are filled with new ice by the end of October or early in November, but the centre of the lake does not freeze over until December. The ice attains a thickness of about eight feet.”
Bear river opens at its head early in May, the result (according to Richardson) of its being fed by warm water from the depths of the lake. Probably from the same cause the lake remains open at the outlet until very late in the autumn, or throughout the winter. At the rapid of Bear river the ice forms from the bottom and sides and finally completely blocks the stream. The resulting overflow continually adds to the volume of ice, which reaches an enormous thickness. The heat of an ordinary summer is insufficient to melt this mass entirely, and great quantities of it usually exist on the south or sheltered bank throughout the season. This vast accumulation of ice probably prevents the lower part of the river from opening as soon as the early disruption of its upper part would seem to justify. Richardson states that the lower part usually opens in June, while Petitot gives the usual time as the last of May. In 1904 it was already open when the Mackenzie broke up at Fort Norman on May 21.
Great Bear lake, according to the Geological Survey, has an area of approximately eleven thousand four hundred square miles and lies three hundred and ninety-one feet above the level of the sea. Its shores, with the exception of parts of MacTavish bay, are rather low.
The area between Great Bear lake and the Arctic coast is said to be fifty thousand square miles, or about equal to England in size. It is nearly all to the north of the Arctic circle, and it is doubtful if it has any agricultural value, unless Doctor Grenfell’s idea of introducing reindeer ranching as a commercial enterprise develops.
Anderson River Country.
According to Mr. MacFarlane’s description of Anderson river region, north of Great Bear lake, the greater part of the ground is every season covered with short grasses, mosses, and small flowering plants, while patches of sedgy or peaty soil occur at longer or shorter distances. On these, as well as along the smaller rivulets and river and lake banks, Labrador tea, crow-berries, and a few other kinds of berries, dwarf birch, willows, etc., grow. Large flat spaces had the honeycombed appearance usually presented in early spring by land which has been turned over in the autumn. There were few signs of vegetation on these, while some sandy and many other spots were virtually sterile.
The area between Great Bear lake, the Mackenzie and the western part of Great Slave lake, represents some thirty-five thousand square miles. With respect to this region, the indefatigable missionary, Abbé Petitot, made numerous journeys through it, of which he subsequently published an account. They are, however, merely valuable on geographical and geological grounds. References to these reports will be found elsewhere.
Mr. Preble states in his report:—“To the westward of the northern arm, and north of the main body of Great Slave lake, lies a low, broad plateau, dotted with many lakes and muskegs. It contains no rivers of consequence and is mainly rather thinly wooded, though a number of large prairies occur in the western part, north of the outlet of Great Slave lake.”