92 



collectiou of white houses, with the deep, old-fashioned Hudson Bay 

 Company i-oof, showing up in a most striking manner against the dark 

 back-ground of a pine grove. 



The hirgest })ortion of A.llainette Lake is taken up by Allumette 

 Island the island of the Algonquins, for it was here that in olden 

 days Champlain found severtil tribes of that nation, who had come 

 there to be safe from their enemies, as here they were protected by the 

 dangers and difficulties of the Calumet rapids further on. This island 

 was the furthest point reached by Champlain in his first voyage up the 

 Ottawa in 1613. He was induced to make the trip by the representa- 

 tions of one Nicholas de Vignan, who had s|)ent the winter of 1611 

 with the tribes on Allumette Island. At the foot of Allumette Lake 

 are the Allumette Rapids. 



The Pauquette Rapids, at the foot of Allumette Island and the 

 entrance to Lake Coulonge, are over a very curious formation. The 

 river here rushes over an immense limestone slab full of deep holes 

 and crevices. The surface of the rock has been worn by erosion to a 

 state very much resembling brain coral, and is vei-y uncomfortable to 

 walk on in bare feet as we found to our cost. I .should say that this 

 was a very paradise for fos.sil hunters, but Messrs. Stewart and Sowter 

 can tell you more about that than I can, as I understand they were in 

 that neighbourhood last summer. 



Coulonge Lake, in fact, I may say the remaining distance to Chats 

 Rapids, was made in a thick shroud of fog and wood smoke combined, 

 and the greater pare of the way, as far as scenery was concerned, was a 

 blank, progress being made by groping along the shores. 



The Chats I'apids, or rather Falls, divide Chats Lake from Lake 

 Deschenes. They are so called on account of the abundance of wild 

 cats that in d;iys gone by frequented the Falls and vicinity. 



To my mind, with the exception of the " Big Kettle," the Chats is 

 the grandest fall on the river. The main body of water pours into 

 Deschenes Lake with a drop of some 37 feet, which may be seen from 

 a distance of several miles down the lake like a white wall. 



The most interesting part of the fall, however, is the left near the 

 portage. Here the Ottawa River Improvement Company have blasted 

 out a channel sixty feet in width, through which the water rushes with 

 tremendous force. The whole is a seething, boiling, bubbling mass, 

 and woe betide the unlucky one who should ever get into it. It is 

 very grand to look at, and as the surroundings are jagged rocks, capped 

 with cedar v.nc\ spruce, the whole has a wildly picturesque look that is 

 very fascinating. Looking at this raging torrent one can quite realize 

 how the big logs seen on the quiet river below the Chaudiere come by 

 their bruises. 



As the tract between Deschenes Falls and Ottawa lies within the 

 jurisdiction of the Field Naturalist Club, I do not intend to speak of 

 it. Suffice it to say that, having combated rain, wind, and rough weather 

 for two days, we found ourselves at last camped in the Grove at Britannia. 



