XV111
of plants for the Horticultural Society, for three years, on the banks of
the Columbia and in North California, crossed the Rocky Mountains,
at the head of the Elk River, by the same portage-road that Mr.,
Drummond had previously travelled, and having
Visiting the Red River of Lake Wimpeg, returned to England w
that gentleman by way of Hudson’s Bay. Thus, a zone of at least
two degrees of latitude in width, and reaching entirely across the continent,
from the mouth of the Columbia to that of the Nelson River
of Hudson’s Bay, has been explored by two of the ablest and most
zealous collectors that England has ever sent forth; whde a zone of
similar width, extending at right angles with the other from Canada to
the Polar Sea, has been more cursorily examined by the Expedition .
Through the liberality of the Horticultural Society, and the influence
of their learned Secretary, Joseph Sabine, Esq., ever read y
exerted for the advancement of science, 1 have been/ er^ ed ^
examine and describe the specimens of quadrupeds collected by M .
Douglas, and this gentleman, with a readiness to com” c „
information he has acquired, that does him great credit, has kindly
furnished me with some valuable notices of the habits of the anima s
Which have been incorporated in this work. I have also had a
opportunity of inspecting the specimens of quadrupeds obtained o
a American coaat of Behring’s Straits, by C.ptam * » > * * * »
late voyage in the Blossom; and the notes respecting them, made on
the spot by Mr. Collie, Surgeon of that ship, by whom pnncipa y y
S E i S been E m .*» * « £ * * * « *
setting out on the Second Expedition, Snr John Frankhn addressed
letters- to many of the resident chief factors and traders of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, requesting their co-operation with our endeavours
to procure rpmimens of Natuml Histoty, and them re a d ,,
frith his desire ™ productive of mndr advmitage to
were great facilities for the advancement t o f » » * * * * ^
bv Mr John Haldane, Mr. James Leith, Mr. Alexander Stewart, Mr,
John Prudens, Mr. Robert M'Vicor, and other gentlemen, whose posts
“ L o T S , of r e » « , but a eoHeeti„n of birds and quadruped*
of much interest, made at Fort Nelson on the River of the Mountains,
a branch of the Mackenzie, was forwarded to us by Mr. Macpherson,
together with some valuable specimens obtained in the same quarter
by Mr. Smith, chief factor of that district. Mr. Isbister also had the
kindness to prepare for us a copious collection of birds at Cumberland-
house. These were not, however, the only channels through which the
specimens described in the following pages were obtained. I have had
ample opportunities for studying the specimens brought home by Sir
Edward Parry, on his several expeditions; and much information was
likewise derived from frequent visits to the museum of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, and from repeated examinations of the specimens imported
by that Company from their posts on James’s Bay, on the
Columbia, and in New Caledonia, and presented by them to the
Zoological Society and British Museum.
After this brief exposition of the various sources from whence the
specimens were derived, I proceed to give a concise general view of the
nature of the different tracts of the country, whose ferine inhabitants
form the subject of the following pages. The most remarkable physical
feature of the northern parts of America, is the great Mountain
Ridge, which is continued under the appellation of the Rocky Mountains*,
in a north-north-west direction from New Mexico, to the 70 th
degree of latitude, where it terminates within view of the Arctic Sea,
to the westward of the mouth of the Mackenzie River. The course of
this chain is tolerably straight, and its altitude, though various in
different places, is everywhere far superior to that of any other mountains
existing in the same parallel of the American continent. Like
the Andes, of which they seem to be a prolongation, the Rocky Mountains
lie much nearer to the Pacific coast than to the eastern shore of
America, and they give rise to several very large rivers. Over an
elevated portion of the chain, extending from the 40th to the 55th
degree of latitude, are spread the upper branches and sources of the
Columbia, which falls into the Pacific in the 46th parallel. I f the
principal arms of this river had not a very circuitous course, the nar-
* Pennant names them the “ Shining Mountains.”