Moss.
Moss of various sorts and colours is plentiful enough in most parts of this country, and is what the deer usually feed on.
Grass.
Grass of several kinds is also found in those parts, and some of it amazingly rapid of growth, particularly that which is there called Rye-grass, and which, in our short Summer at Churchill, frequently grows to the height {457} of three feet. Another species of Grass, which is produced in marshes, and on the margins of lakes, ponds, and rivers, is particularly adapted for the support of the multitudes of the feathered creation which resort to those parts in Summer. The Marsh Grass at Churchill is of that peculiar nature, that where it is mowed one year, no crop can be procured the next Summer; whereas at York Fort, though the climate is not very different, they can get two crops, or harvests, from the same spot in one Summer. Vetches are plentiful in some parts as far North as Churchill River; and Burrage, Sorrel, and Coltsfoot, may be ranked among the useful plants. Dandelion is also plentiful at Churchill, and makes an early salad, long before any thing can be produced in the gardens.
In fact, notwithstanding the length of the Winter, the severity of the cold, and the great scarcity of vegetables at this Northern settlement, by proper attention to cleanliness, and keeping the people at reasonable exercise, I never had one man under me who had the least symptoms of the scurvy; whereas at York Fort, Albany, and Moose River, there were almost annual complaints that one half of the people were rendered incapable of duty by that dreadful disorder.
I do not wish to lay claim to any merit on this occasion, but I cannot help observing that, during ten years I had {458} the command at Churchill River, only two men died of that distemper, though my complement at times amounted in number to fifty-three.
Trees.
The Forest Trees that grow on this inhospitable spot are very few indeed; Pine,[242] Juniper,[243] small scraggy Poplar,[244] Creeping Birch,[245] and Dwarf Willows,[246] compose the whole catalogue. Farther Westward the Birch Tree[247] is very plentiful; and in the Athapuscow country, the Pines, Larch, Poplar, and Birch, grow to a great size; the Alder[248] is also found there.