Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/516

 502 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES is about 2,500 m. ; breadth of the mainland N. and S., 1,500 m. ; estimated area, including the islands in the Arctic ocean, about 2,750,000 sq. m. The southwestern portion is generally level or rolling; further E. the surface is ex- tremely uneven, with mountains in places 1,000 ft. high, and is interspersed with extensive marshes. For 600 m. W. of Hudson bay there is generally a rise of 2 ft. to the mile. N. of about lat. 56 there is a descent for a distance of upward of 1,200 m. to the Arctic ocean. The numerous great lakes which succeed each other in a N. N. W. and S. S. E. direction are a prominent feature of the country. The largest of these, commencing at the south, are Winnipeg (with Manitoba and Winnipegosis), Deer, Wollaston, Athabasca, Great Slave, and Great Bear. There are two great river sys- tems, the one discharging its waters directly into the Arctic ocean and the other into Hud- son bay. The great arctic river is the Mac- kenzie, which with its upper portion, the Slave and Athabasca, and its tributaries, Peace and Mountain rivers, drains the W. portion of the Northwest territories, and discharges the waters of Athabasca, Great Slave, and Great Bear lakes. E. of the Mackenzie the Arctic ocean receives Coppermine river and Back or Great Fish river. The chief tributaries of Hudson bay, besides several from the east, are the Abbitibbe from the south, and the Alba- ny, Severn, Nelson, and English or Churchill from the west. Nelson river is the outlet of Lake Winnipeg, and the Churchill discharges the waters of Deer lake and a part of those of Wollaston lake, the rest flowing into Atha- basca lake. Lake Winnipeg receives at its S. E. extremity Winnipeg river, which dis- charges the waters of the lake of the Woods, and through Rainy river those of Rainy lake on the United States border. From the west Lake Winnipeg receives through Dauphin river the waters of Manitoba and Winnipego- sis lakes, and at the N. W. extremity the Sas- katchewan river, which, rising by several branches in the Rocky mountains, drains the S. W. portion of the Northwest territories. The Assiniboin river rises W. of Lake Winni- pegosis, and flowing S. E. and E. joins the Red river in Manitoba. The geology of this region is not accurately known. A belt of azoic rocks, 150 or 200 m. wide, and apparently of the Huronian and Laurentian formations, stretches N. W. from the shore of Lake Supe- rior to the Arctic ocean, between the 'mouth of the Coppermine river and Ion. 95. This belt is bordered on the west for the most part by a margin of Silurian and Devonian rocks. The extensive region W. of this consists of different formations, the cretaceous being ex- tensively developed in the south. There are extensive beds of lignite on the Mackenzie river. The Athabasca flows through beds of limestone, broken occasionally by cliffs of clay slate, while in the vicinity are found sulphur, iron, bitumen, and plumbago. The Peace river region has plaster quarries and carbon- iferous deposits, and there are deposits of coal on the upper Saskatchewan. N. of the lower Saskatchewan there is an extensive belt of primary rocks, with limestone strata of Silurian formation in the vicinity. In the Devonian formation on the W. shore of Lakes Manitoba and Winnipegosis there are numerous salt springs. The region E. of Hudson bay is com- posed chiefly of the Laurentian formation. From James bay around the W. side of Hud- son bay there is a broad margin of Silurian and Devonian rocks, extending to the Arctic ocean. About 30 m. from the sea copper has been found on the Coppermine river, but not in large quantities. Before the use of iron was known to them, the northern or Copper- mine Indians used the copper for hatchets, ice chisels, and arrow heads. The climate of the Northwest territories is severe, and in the greater portion of the country agriculture is not practicable. In the north permanent frost is found a few feet below the surface, the ground thawing to a slight depth only in the brief summer. The western portion has a higher temperature than the eastern, the iso- thermal line tending N. as we proceed W. from Hudson bay. In the S. part, W. of the 100th meridian, there is a considerable tract that suf- fers from lack of moisture. The entire region N. E. of the chain of lakes and the Mackenzie river, with small exceptions, is a barren waste, valuable only for its furs. The climate is inhospitable, pasturage is wanting, and the sur- face is clothed only with a scanty growth of stunted trees. The region W. of this may be subdivided into the desert, the prairie, and the forest. The desert, the N. extremity of what was formerly called the great American desert, occupies the S. W. portion, bounded N. E. by a somewhat irregular line commencing at the 100th meridian and 49th parallel, and extend- ing N. W., crossing the 52d parallel at the 113th meridian, and reaching as far N. as the 55th parallel. This section embraces about 50,000 sq. m. It is too arid for agriculture, its principal production being prairie hay (sys- teria dactyloides), which preserves its flavor and nutritive properties through the winter, and is eagerly sought for by the bison (buffalo) and by domestic animals. N. and N. E. of the desert is the prairie section, comprising about 50,000 sq. m., covered in summer with rich verdure, which affords excellent pasturage, and diversified with occasional clumps of poplars, aspens, and birches. The soil is generally fer- tile, but the climate, often hot in summer, is very cold in winter, and late and early frosts are common. Storms of wind and hail are frequent in this region. N. of the prairie is the forest section, comprising about 480,000 sq. m., and containing within its limits occasional prairies, as in the valleys of Peace and Moun- tain rivers. It embraces tracts capable of cultivation, particularly along the principal streams and around the larger lakes, which