Forests About Great Slave Lake and Slave River.—Remarkable Extension of Forest Growth Northward Down the Mackenzie.—Wide Distribution of the Economically Important Canoe Birch.—Magnificent Forests of Spruce and Big Cottonwood Trees in Liard Valley.—Useful Birch and Large Spruce Grow Within the Arctic Circle.—Trees that are Centuries Old.—Northern Tree Growth May Be Hastened by Drainage. 261 CHAPTER XVII. MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Economic Minerals. The Territory Has Never Been Thoroughly Examined for Minerals.—Tar Springs on the North Shore of Great Slave Lake.—The Devonian Rocks Throughout Mackenzie Valley are Nearly Everywhere More or Less Petroliferous.—Lignite Discovered in Many Places, Also Gypsum.—Large Deposits of Excellent Salt.—Indications of Gold and Copper.—Indians Report Finding Mica. 281 CHAPTER XVIII. MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish. Over Forty Moose Killed in One Season Near Fort Simpson.—Caribou of Both Woodland and Barren Lands Varieties Plentiful.—Pass Great Slave lake in Countless Numbers.—Mountain Sheep Plentiful in the Mountainous Districts.—Incredible Numbers of Geese, Swan and Ducks in Season.—Inexhaustible Supplies of Fish.—The Speckled Trout, Lake Trout, Grayling, Herring, Inconnu, etc. 288 CHAPTER XIX. BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Topography, Soil, Climate and Flora. Explorers Declare The Term Barren Lands a Misnomer.—Some Notes about the Chief Rivers and Known Lakes.—An Inland Waterway for Steamers Via Chesterfield Inlet a Distance of Five Hundred and Fifty Miles Into the Interior.—The Progression of The Seasons.—The Country Similar to the Tundra of Siberia.—A Limited Amount of Agriculture May Be Possible in Places.—Natural Prairies in the Valley of the Thelon. 303 CHAPTER XX. BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Tree Growth and Timber Resources. Phenomenal Extensions of Tree Growth Within Barren Lands Along the Valley of Thelon River.—Black Spruce, Larch, White Spruce, Banksian Pine and Birch.—Valuable Timber Along the Thelon, About the East End of Great Slave Lake and Between Great Bear Lake and Coppermine River. 317 CHAPTER XXI. BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Economic Minerals.