Arctic searching expedition : a journal of a boat-voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea : in search of the discovery ships under command of Sir John Franklin / by Sir John Richardson.
- John Richardson
- Date:
- 1852
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Arctic searching expedition : a journal of a boat-voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea : in search of the discovery ships under command of Sir John Franklin / by Sir John Richardson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![Crees Wapuskeoiv-ivatchi,* and by the Canadians Basquiau. It separates Winepegoos Lake, and Red-Deer Lake and River from the bed of the Saskatchewan. I am ignorant of its geolog- ical structure, not having visited it. With respect to the forests : The white or sweet cedar (Cu- pressus thy aides) disappears on the south side of Rainy Lake, within the American boundary line. The Weymouth pine, va- rious maples, cockspur thorns, and the fern-leaved Comptonia, reach the southern slope of the Winipeg basin. Oaks extend to the islands and narrows of that lake. The elm, ash, arbor vitse. and ash-leaved maple terminate on the banks, of the Saskatche- wan. The wild rice, or Folle avoine] of the voyagers and traders, grows abundantly in the district between Lakes Superior and Winipeg. This grain resembles rice in its qualities, but has a sweeter taste. Though small, it swells much in cooking, and is nourishing, but its black husk renders it uninviting in its natu- ral state. In favorable seasons it affords sustenance to a populous tribe of Indians, but the supply is uncertain, depending greatly on the height of the waters. In harvest time the natives row their canoes among the grass, and, bending its ears over the gun- wale, thresh out the grain, which separates readily. They then lay it by for use in neatly-woven rush baskets. This grass finds its northern limit on Lake Winipeg, and it is common in the western waters of the more northern of the United States ; but how far south it extends, I have not been able to learn. Stra- chey, in his Historie of Travaille in Virginia, speaks of a graine called Nattoivine, which groweth as bents do in mead- owes. The seeds are not much unlike rice, though much small- er; these they use for a deyntie bread, buttered with deere's suet. (p. 118). It is possible that he may refer to a smaller species (H. fluitans) of the same genus, which is known to abound in Georgia; but the seed of that could scarcely be collected in suffi- cient quantity. The hop-plant {Humulus lupulus) reaches the south end of Lake Winipeg, and, according to Mr. Simpson, yields flowers plentifully in the Red River colony. We observed it in the autumn of 1849, growing luxuriantly on the banks of the Kamenistikwoya, and connecting the lower branches of the trees * Wapus, strait; Ke-ow, woods; Watchi, hill : the signification being, a pass through woods on a hill. t Zizania aquatica L., or Hydrnpyrwtn escvlenium of Link.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21074458_0058.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
