114 



Land Magnetic Observations, 1905-10 



The additional articles required, almost without exception, were purchased through the 

 Hudson's Bay Company at North Bay and sent directly to Matheson; two Indians were also en- 

 gaged through the company for the entire trip. 



All preliminaries having been finally arranged, we left Matheson by canoe early in the after- 

 noon of July 10, and from then till October i6 the following route was covered: to Abitibi by way 

 of the Black and Abitibi rivers and the Abitibi Lake; to Moose Factory by way of the Abitibi 

 Lake and River and the Moose River, a stop being made at Abitibi Crossing in order to send 

 observation-records from Cochrane to the office at Washington; to Rupert's House by a York 

 boat across James Bay, it being inadvisable to make the trip by canoe on account of probable 

 rough water and because of the great mud flats during low tide ; the Rupert River by way of Nemaska 

 to the Marten River; by Marten River and various lakes and again by the Rupert River to Lake 

 Mistassini and the Hudson's Bay Company's post called Misstassinny, this route being locally 

 known as the "Lakes Route" from Nemaska to Misstassinny; thence to Lac St. Jean by various 

 lakes and rivers, the route being again locally known as the "Lakes Route." On reaching Pointe 

 Bleue on October i6, I immediately closed my business with the Hudson's Bay Company, sent 

 my two Indians back to their homes and returned to Washington October 28. 



During the trip the following stations were occupied : 



4. Matheson, Ontario, secondary station 

 to that formerly occupied. 



6. Twin Falls, Ontario, new station. 



7. The Narrows, Ontario, new station. 



8. Abitibi Lake, Hudson's Bay Company 



Post, Quebec, new station. 



9. Abitibi Crossing, Hudson's Bay Com- 



pany Post, Ontario, new station. 



10. Singed Marten Creek, Ontario, new 



station. 



11. Little Lakes Portage, Ontario, new 



station. 



12. New Post, Hudson's Bay Company 



Post, Ontario, new station. 



13. Island Rapids, Ontario, new station. 



14. Red Rock, Ontario, new station. 



15. Moose Factory, Hudson's Bay Company 



Post, Ontario, repeat, new location. 



1 6. Rupert'sHouse, H udson'sBay Company 



Post, Quebec, repeat, new location. 



17. Ka-ba-she Bowstck, Quebec, new sta- 



tion. 



18. Sandy Island, Quebec, new station. 



19. Nemaska, Hudson's Bay Company 



Post, Quebec, new station. 



20. Marten Creek, Quebec, new station. 



21. Portage Lake, Quebec, new station. 



22. Netting Place, Quebec, new station. 



23. Little Loon Lake, Quebec, new station. 



24. Junction, Quebec, new station. 



25. Mistassini Lake, Quebec, new station. 



26. Misstassinny, Hudson's Bay Company 



Post, Quebec, new station. 



27. Chibougaman, Quebec, new station. 



28. Height of Land, Quebec, new station. 



29. Swobmooswan, Quebec, new station. 



30. Long Falls, Quebec, new station. 



31. Mistassini, Quebec, repeat station. 



32. Quebec, Quebec, repeat station. 



Many delays as well as inconveniences were caused by the extremely bad weather; rain was 

 encountered during almost the entire trip, especially from August 15 till October 3, during which 

 time there was but one pleasant day. This was detrimental to the instruments and outfit, and 

 a great deal of care was necessary to keep the instruments in even a fair condition. My men, 

 in spite of assurances given, were found to be unfamiliar with the routes east of Rupert's House; 

 it accordingly became necessary to secure additional guides and canoemen, but this was not easy, 

 since the Indians were soon to return to the woods for their winter's hunt. At Nemaska it was 

 possible to secure only one man, so the observer had to help in paddling the canoe in addition 

 to looking after the scientific work; the computing had to be done in the evening by candle light. 

 At Misstassinny, it was impossible to secure any guides at all, so the route through the lakes 

 had to be found by means of a rougli Indian map; about three days were lost between Misstas- 

 sinny and Lac St. Jean, owing to the difliculty in following this map. 



All computations were made in the field and kept up to date as nearly as possible. Diurnal 

 variation observations in declination were made at five stations as follows: Abitibi Lake, Moose 

 Factory, Sandy Island, Little Loon Lake, and Misstassinny, the interval, according to circum- 

 stances, being from 10 to 19 hours. 



The only magnetic storm noted was on September 25, when it was almost impossible to make 

 observations even with the dip circle. The observations on this day gave values of the magnetic 

 elements quite different from the days before and after, which were reasonably quiet. Rain 

 was falling for several days, both previous to and following this disturbance, so no northern 

 lights were seen. 



Especial mention must be made of the courtesies e.xtended by the commissioner of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, Mr. C. C. Chipman, and, through his kind offices, by the various officials of the 



