The climate around the Bay is extremely severe, espe cially at Churchhill Fort. From the middle of October to the middle of May, the country is buried under frost and snow. In the year 1775, one of the severest seasons re membered by the oldest residents, the snow at the latter end of May lay level with the wall of the west curtain of the fort ; and the ice in the river and bay did not break up till the end of June. Even at York Fort, though two de grees farther south, Fahrenheit's thermometer has fre quently stood at 50' below zero in the month of January ; and brandy, or strong brine, exposed to the air for a few hours, will freeze to solid ice. In the cellars, eight or ten feet deep, and below the guard rooms, where a daily and almost perpetual fire is kept up, London porter has been so frozen, that only a few gallons could be got out of a whole hogshead ; and the remainder, converted to ice; was found, upon being thawed, to have no strength remaining. The lakes and rivers, which are not above 10 or 12 feet deep, are frozen to the ground ; and the springs are uni formly bound by the frost to the ;neatest depth that has been dug. The most piercing cold is felt at sun-rising ; and is particularly intolerable during the prevalence of the north wind. The air is frequently filled with particles of ice, sharp and angular, and sufficiently perceptible to the eye, which, in blowing weather, occasion a most painful sensation of cold ; and, if driven upon the face or hands, raise the skin in little, hard, white blisters, which, if not immediately rubbed, or warmed, are apt to break out into hot watery issues. The utmost precautions against the effects of the cold are necessarily employed by the Euro pean residents. The windows of the factories are very small, and provided with thick wooden shutters, which are closely shut 18 hours of the day in winter. As soon as the wood in their large fires is burnt down to a coal, the tops of the chimnies are stopped with an iron cover to keep the heat within the house ; and, three or four times a day, red hot iron shot of 24 pounds are suspended in the win dows of the apartments. Yet all this will not preserve the beer, wine, and ink, from freezing; and after the fires go out, the insides of the walls and bed-places are found co vered with ice two or three incites thick, which is every morning cut away with a hatchet. For a winter dress, they use three pair of socks of coarse blanketing or Duffield for the feet, with a pair of deer-skin shoes over them ; two pair of thick English stockings, and a pair of cloth stock ings over them ; breeches lined with flannel ; two or three English jackets, and a fur or leather gown ; a large beaver cap, double, to come over the face and shoulders, and a cloth of blanketing under the chin ; yarn gloves, and a large pair of beaver mittens, hanging down from the shoul der, ready to receive the hands as high as the elbows. Yet, with all this covering, they frequently severely frost bitten, when they stir abroad during the prevalence of the northerly winds ; and many of the natives even fall victims to the severity of the climate. Watery vapours, ascending from the open sea-water, and condensed by the cold, occa sion thick fogs, which are carried to a considerable distance along the coast, and which obscure the sun completely for several weeks together. But, during the intense cold of winter, the atmosphere is commonly remarkably clear and serene ; and the stars shine during the night with extraor dinary lustre. The aurora borealis particularly is seen al most every night during winter, darting with inconceivable velocity over the whole hemisphere, exhibiting the great est variety of colours, and often completely eclipsing the stars and planets by its brightness. Parhelia and parasele na, or mock suns and moons, as they are commonly called, appear very frequently during the colder months ; and, at the same time, corona of different diameters and various colours are seen around the sun for several days together, from his rising to his setting.t The frost is never out of the ground ; and even in summer, when the heat is op pressive, and the thermometer frequently at 90 degrees of Fahrenheit, the earth is thawed only to the depth of three or four feet below the surface. The climate, nevertheless, is extremely salubrious throughout the whole year ; and Europeans, with the exception of accidental injuries from exposure to the cold, enjoy in general an excellent state of health in the country.
On the eastern coast of Hudson's Bay, the soil is com pletely barren ; and about Lat. 60° vegetation entirely ceases. The surface of the country is extremely rugged, covered with enormous masses of stone ; and in many places are seen the most frightful mountains of an asto nishing height. Its barren vallies are watered by a chain of lakes, which are supposed to be formed merely by rain and snow, and of which the water is so cold, as to be pro ductive only of a few small trout. A little moss, or a blighted shrub, may be seen here and there on the moun tains, and a few stunted trees in the lower grounds. The soil about Churchhill Fort is extremely rocky and barren, and bare of vegetable productions. There arc no woods
within seven miles of the shore ; and those which are found at that distance consist only of a few stunted juni pers, pines, and poplars, scarcely capable of affording a sufficiency of winter's fuel to the Factory. Upon ad vancing northward from that settlement, the earth becomes gradually more unproductive and desolate, till at length not the least herb is to be seen, nor any trace of human step observed in the.frigid waste. The produce of a few gar den seeds, put into the ground about the middle of June, and shooting up with surprising rapidity, is all that the re sidents are able to gather from the adjoining soil. At York Fort, the soil, which is of a very loose and clayey nature, is nearly equally unfit for agriculture, even though the cli mate were favourable. Cresses, radishes, lettuce, and cab bage, are raised by careful culture, and, in some propi tious seasons, peas and beans have been produced, but they rarely come to perfection. The face of the country is low and marshy ; and the trees, though superior to those at Churchhill Fort, are still very knotty and diminutive ; but, after proceeding inland towards the south, about Moose and Albany Forts, the climate is more temperate, and the trees of considerable size ; potatoes, turnips, and almost every species of kitchen garden produce, are reared with out difficulty ; and it is supposed that corn also might be cultivated by proper attention. Upon advancing inland to wards the west, the climate becomes still milder, and the soil more productive. Wild rice and Indian corn are pro duced in considerable quantities in the plains ; various kinds of animals abound in the woods; the rivers and lakes are stored with the most delicious kinds of fish ; and iron, lead, copper, and marble, have been found in the mountain ous parts. In the woods of the more northern tracts, the only trees are, pines, junipers, small scraggy poplars, creeping birch, and dwarf willows. The ground is covered with moss of various sorts and colours, upon which the deer principally feed. Grass is not uncommon ; and some kinds, especially rye-grass, are so rapid in growth, as fre quently to rise, during the short summer at Churchhill Fort, to the height of three feet. Another species of grass, adapted for the support of the feathered tribes, is very abundant on the marshes and banks of lakes and rivers. Vetches, burrage, sorrel, coltsfoot, and dandelion, one of the earliest salads, are plentiful in some parts around Churchhill river. A herb called Wee-suc-a-pucka grows abundantly in most parts of the country, of which the leaves, and especially the flowers, make a very agreeable kind of tea, much used both by the Indians and Europeans, not only for its pleasant flavour, but also for its salutary ef fects. It is of an aromatic nature, and considered as ser viceable in rheumatism, for strengthening the stomach, and promoting perspiration. It is likewise applied outwardly in powder to contusions, excoriations, and gangrenes ; but in this view does not appear to possess any medicinal qua lity. Another herb, named by the natives jack-ashey-puck, resembling the creeping boxwood, is mixed with tobacco, to make it milder and pleasanter in smoking. Several small shrubs are found in the country, which bear fruit ; of which the chief are, gooseberries of the small red species, which thrive best in rocky ground, and spread along the ground like the vine ; currants, both red and black, are plentiful around Churchhill river, and grow best in moist swampy soils. The blackberries particularly are large and excellent ; but in some persons both kinds occasion severe purging, unless when mixed with cranberries, which coin plctely correct that tendency. Hips of a small size are found on the coast, but large and abundant in the interior of the country. Upon a bush, resembling the creeping willow, grows a berry similar in size and colour to the red currant, but of very unpleasant taste and smell. Cranber ries arc very abundant every where ; and, when gathered in dry weather, and carefully packed with moist sugar, may be preserved for years. Heath-berries arc also pro duced in great quantities, and their juice makes a pleasant beverage. Juniper berries are frequently seen, chiefly to wards the south, but are little esteemed, either by the na tives or the Europeans, except for infusion in brandy. Strawberries and raspberries, of considerable size and ex cellent flavour, are found as far north as Churchhill river, and are often most plentiful its those places where the un dcrwood has been set on fire. The eye-herry, resembling a small strawberry, but far superior in flavour, grows in small hollows among the rocks, at some distance from the woods. There are also the blue-berry, which grows on small bushes, and resembles the finest plum in flavour ; the partridge-berry, growing like the cranberry, but of a disa greeable taste ; and the bethagotominick, or dewater-berry, which grows abundantly in swamps on a plant like the strawberry, with a high stalk, each bearing only one berry, and is accounted an excellent antiscorbutic.