According to Mr. R. G. McConnell’s report:—“From the head of the delta of the Mackenzie the coast is low and sandy, and is exposed to the full rigour of the arctic storms, and the general vegetation of the bordering plains is stunted and diminutive in appearance, but is relieved by the presence of a few large spruce trees, which look like survivors from an ancient and more luxuriant forest. Some of these trees have a girth of over six feet, and are tall and well shaped, while the average spruce in this latitude does not exceed six or seven inches in diameter.”
Spruce Timber on Peel river inside the Arctic Circle.
Timber of the Delta.
Sir John Richardson descended the delta to the ocean in 1848, and the following is his account of the timber:—
“Most of the islands constituting the delta of the Mackenzie are alluvial and many of the smaller ones are merely a ring of white spruce trees and willows on a sand or mud bank. Twenty-two miles below Point Separation the banks of the river and the numerous islands are well wooded. The balsam poplars rise to the height of twenty feet and the white spruce to forty or fifty feet. At the creek which bounds Harrison island on the north, the valleys and borders of the river are well wooded, but the summits of the eminence present only scattered spruce firs, with stunted tips and widely spreading depressed lower branches. The canoe-birch is frequent, and the trees we measured were about five inches in diameter. The balsam poplar grows to the height of twenty feet. In latitude 68° 55′ north, the trees disappeared so suddenly that I could not but attribute their cessation to the influence of the sea-air. Beyond this line a few stunted spruces only were seen struggling for existence and some scrubby canoe-birches clinging to the bases of the hills.”
According to Mr. Elihu Stewart’s official report “At Point Separation, which lies between the junction of Mackenzie and Peel rivers, and where Franklin and Richardson were camped, are two spruce trees, which were marked as lob-sticks at the time of their separation and in commemoration of that event. Both are still standing (1906), though one of them is dead. Judging from their appearance at a distance, I would say that they are about sixteen inches in diameter and seventy feet in height, and this nearly one hundred miles beyond the Arctic circle. I have been very much interested in the tenacity of life shown in the growth of trees under the adverse conditions prevailing in this north country. Since crossing the Arctic circle we have seen no vegetation, but trees such as the spruce, birch, tamarack and willow are seen all the way.” Mr. Stewart adds that as his boat rounded Point Separation and ascended Peel river he noticed that spruce lined the banks.
Mr. Alfred H. Harrison, in his book “In Search of a Polar Continent,” describes a visit to these lob-sticks in September 1906:—“After leaving Point Separation, we came to a very shallow place about half-way between this point and what are called the Lob-Sticks. At the last-named spot the river turns sharply to the east. These Lob-Sticks, which are supposed to have been trimmed by Commander Pullen some sixty years ago, are two pine trees. The branches have all been cut off, but the tops remain. One of them is a very fine old tree, and the other, which is much younger and smaller, stands directly in front of its nobler brother.”
Arctic Grown Birch.
Mr. Preble points out that along the Mackenzie the canoe birch occurs as an economically important species even north of the delta.