84 Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-13 



after observing there I left for Coen, about 70 miles away. The journey took two long 

 days, I arriving at 10 o'clock one night. 



As the boat between Port Stewart and Cooktown was not due till Christmas Day, I 

 again had to hire horses to take me to Laura, the head of the railway from Cooktown. It 

 being the end of the dry season, feed was very scarce, and the early storms had only just 

 started the grass, so that the Coen horses were kept some distance away in the bush, where 

 feed was more plentiful. While the horses were being brought in, I made my observations 

 and then left, hiring 4 horses and gear, with a black boy, to take me to Laura, 170 miles 

 distant. After 2 days' traveling, I reached Musgrave telegraph station and, after observing 

 there, went on with the mailman, getting a change of horses at the mail-change on the 

 Morehead River, where I sent my boy back with the old horses. Reaching Laura 2| days 

 afterwards, I went on to Cooktown and reoccupied our station there the following day. I 

 left Cooktown on Christmas Eve for Melbourne and from there crossed to Hobart and 

 rejoined my chief of party. 



At the mission stations Mapoon (Reverend Hey) and Weipa (Reverend Brown) every 

 possible assistance was rendered. The country traversed is throughout covered with thin 

 gums and other eucalypts, and near Coen the tracks lead over the ranges, which are of no 

 great height. Crocodiles are found in the rivers flowing into the gulf, and there are plenty 

 of kangaroos and wallabies in the bush. The thunderstorms, which herald the approach 

 of the wet season, started while I was at Mapoon, and were very frequent afterwards. 

 After leaving Coen I found the creeks and rivers beginning to run and the last one, the Laura 

 River, was running quite strongly, the water reaching to the saddle-flaps. The weather was 

 very hot and the sun made the waterholes so warm that, at some places, the horses would 

 not touch the water. I kept in good health and in the fever country occasionally took 

 quinine. Though snakes are said to be plentiful in the bush, I saw only two, neither of 

 which was poisonous; in some places the mosquitoes, flies, and sand flies were in swarms, 

 and very troublesome, but my net protected me in the night. 



H. M. W. Edmonds, on a Magnetic Exploratory Trip in Patricia, Canada, 

 AND to Hudson Bay, May to October 1913. 



Acting in accordance with the preliminary instructions of April 3, 1913, and the final 

 instructions of May 16, 1913, I left Washington on the latter date, accompanied by Daniel 

 M. Wise as assistant observer, en route to Fort William, Ontario, to undertake a magnetic 

 survey of a portion of the District of Patricia. The following instrumental outfit was 

 assigned to the party: magnetometer No. 16; dip circle No. 222, with dip needles Nos. 1, 

 2, 5, and 6, and intensity needles Nos. 3 and 4; telescoping tripod No. 12; observing tent 

 No. 22; pocket chronometer Kittel No. 226; watches Hamilton No. 70, Elgin No. 102, 

 South Bend No. 568, and Mr. Wise's watch; pocket kodak No. 15; extra thermometers 

 Nos. 8189 and 8187; pocket compasses Nos. 17 and 18; tape No. 22; tool kit No. 11; 

 miscellaneous accessories. 



The route followed was by rail from Washington, D. C, to Fort William, Graham, and 

 Hudson, thence by water to Lac Seul (Hudson's Bay Company's post), thence by canoe by 

 way of Root River and Lake St. Joseph to Osnaburgh and Fawcett's Post. From the last 

 point we proceeded back on Lake St. Joseph to Cat River and Cat Lake. From there a 

 side trip was made westward to Birch or Wigwasikak Lake and back. The trip was then 

 continued by the Cedar River to Pakhoan Lake, then by various streams and lakes to 

 Windigo and Trout (Fawn) Lakes. The Fawn River was then followed to Fort Severn, 

 near the mouth of the Severn River. From there the shores of the Hudson and James 

 Bays were followed to Fort Albany, at the mouth of the .\lbany River. We then proceeded 



