26 



south-west, with a perceptible curve between the ends, the concavity 

 of the curve being towards the south-east. It lies between N. 

 Lat. 50° and 50° 24', W. Long. 72° 45' to 74° 20', or 300 miles 

 directly north of Lachute. The length, in a straight line between 

 the extremities of the north-east and sout'.i-west bays, is nearly one 

 hundred miles, the average breadth of the main body being about 

 twelve miles. At either end of the lake, a long p >iiu stretches out, 

 dividing the ends into two deep bays. Between the points, and seem- 

 ingly a continuation of them is a long chain of rocky islands, which, 

 by overlapping each other, almost divide the lake into two parts, so 

 that a view of the opposite side is rarely obtained in going around the 

 shore. A slight decrease in the present level of the lake would result 

 in the production of two separate lakes, as the water between the 

 islands is quite shallow, and for us a contrast in this respect, with the 

 great depth between the islands and shore on either side. Here th e 

 lake is very deep, the isolated sounding, made in crossing, having given 

 374 feet, at a point which, I was informed, was not the deepest part of 

 the lake. 



The bay at the south-east end of the lake is called Abatagush. 

 This bay, sixteen miles from its mouth, is again divided by a long 

 point into two other bays. About four miles from the end of this 

 point, and on it, the Hudson Bay post is situated. 



The eastern part, called Cabistachgan Bay, runs slightly east of 

 south, in an irregular course, for about twelve miles, the Little Perch 

 River coming in at its head. The western part is much larger and 

 more irregular. It stretches south for sixteen miles, a small river from 

 Lake Wakiniche falling into it at that distance. A side branch of the 

 bay runs to the westward for upwards of ten miles. The general width 

 of Abatagush Bay is one and one-half miles. The south-west, or 

 Poonichaun Bay, for a distance of twenty miles from its entrance, has 

 an average breadth of about five miles. Its shores are broken by 

 smaller bays, and its surface is covered with islands, varying from six 

 miles long by one and one-half wide, to mere boulders After the first 

 twenty miles, the bay narrows to an average breadth of less than one- 

 half mile, and continues in a south-westerly course for a long distance, 

 as the end was not reached after ascending it fourteen miles The 



