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.” RUSSIAN PROVINCES IN THE SAME LATITUDE. Reference has already been made in this chapter to an interesting comparison made by Wm. Ogilvie, D.L.S., between the Mackenzie country and Finland and Scandinavia.