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beavers, any holes in the bank similarly stopped ; attention was then 

 turned to the house, a trough was first cut in the ice around it, when 

 the outlets were found, a small stick was hung in front ot each, and a 

 man put on guard. The rest then broke into the house with axes and 

 ice chisels and so routed out the inhabitants, when one started out he 

 disturbed the stick and the man on watch plunged his arm into the 

 water and in an instant had it on the ice where it was immediately dis- 

 patched with a club. If luck was good, two or three beavers would 

 reward a day's work of this kind, but several times blanks were drawn. 



In this manner the journey was continued and the height of land 

 reached December 9th. 



Here an escarpment running N. E. and S. W. was descended 300ft. 

 to a comparatively level country stretching away to the northward. Just 

 beyond the height of land is a large lake called Temiscamie ; this was 

 crossed and the river flowing out followed 16 miles, wnen a portage of 2 

 miles was crossed into the head of Lake Mistassinis or Little Mistassini. 



This lake lies parallel to the big lake on its East side, and its level 

 is some 40 or 50ft. above the latter. On its east shore, perpendicular 

 cliffs of limestone rise in places 50 or 60ft. above the water ; this lime- 

 stone is of a greyish blue colour and is often quite cherty, a similar rock 

 is seen on the shores of the larger lake, both in fact resting in great 

 basins scooped out of these rocks, which seem to be an outlier of Cam- 

 brian rock, similar to those of the east coast of Hudson Bay, which here 

 rest in an old depression in the Archean. 



Little Mistassini was tollowed to its southern end, where a portage 

 of six miles was made to the great lake and its shore followed some 35 

 miles to the Hudson Bay Post which was reached December 23rd. The 

 last ten days journey was very hard as provisions ran out, first the pork 

 and then the flour, and starvation was kept off partly by a generous 

 contribution of fish from an indian encampment which we happened 

 upon near the end of Mistassinis and by a small supply of provisions 

 from the post, also by finding on lines set through the ice a few 

 large turbots {Lota maculosa) called Maria by the Hudson Bay people 

 and common to all the great lakes of the north. The post was reached 

 in a blizzard, from the effects of which everybody suffered for several 

 days, black patches of skin showing where the frost had done its work. 



