Polar Canada 
T= 
extent, their powers were not materially changed 
until the middle of the nineteenth century. In 
1869 the Company transferred its rights to the 
Dominion of Canada for the sum of £300,000, re- 
taining a large area of land, which in 1927 
amounted to 2,872,000 acres. The Hudson’s Bay 
Company still profits largely from its lands and 
the fur trade, the net income for all Canada in 
1926-1927 being £151,909. It yet maintains more 
than forty trading stations and sub-stations in 
Arctic Canada. 
The northern territory is divided into two prov- 
inces, the Yukon Territory and Northwest Ter- 
ritories. The Canadian arctic islands are treated 
in Chapter VII. 
” _—e— ~~ or ~~ 
YUKON TERRITORY 
This district lies in the main between Alaska to 
the west, and the watershed of the Mackenzie to 
the east; however, it includes the upper basin of 
Peel River. Its area slightly exceeds 200,000 
square miles. Except along the coast of Beaufort 
Sea, it is a wooded country, containing aspen, 
birch, fir, pine, poplar and spruce. The upper 
tributaries of the Yukon and the Porcupine furnish 
cheap and extensive water transportation during 
the summer season. 
The earliest explorations were made by the ac- 
tive agents of the Hudson’s Bay Company between 
1840 and 1850. Occupation began with the estab- 
[59]