CHAP. XXIX. THE VALLEY OF THE ASHWANIPI. 139 



country on the north of Hamilton Inlet is thus described 

 by one of the Hudson's Bay Company's officers, who was 

 sent to explore it : — 



From North-west River House, the Nasquapee Eiver is as- 

 cended for about sixty-five miles, when it is left at Mont a Reine 

 Portage. The country from. Mont a Reine Portage to Little 

 Seal Lake is as barren and as miserable as can be seen any- 

 where ; the trees all burnt, and nothing but stones and dry 

 stumps to be seen. On the 1st of July, 1839, the ice was still 

 firm on Meshikumau or Great Lake. There is no wood to 

 build on the shores of that extensive sheet of water ; it is only 

 at Grull Nest Lake that wood remains in that direction. The 

 borders of Nasquapee River, when the expedition ascended it in 

 June, were still Hned with ice, some of it ten feet thick. 



To the south of Hamilton Inlet the country is more 

 level than on the opposite shore, and more clothed with 

 trees. After passing the first range of mountains on 

 leaving the bay, an elevated plateau is gained, which con- 

 tinues until the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are 

 approached, when the country becomes more mountainous 

 and slopes rapidly to the sea- side. The breadth of the 

 plateau exceeds 100 miles ; it abounds in lakes, some of 

 large size, but so shallow that they might be termed 

 swamps rather than lakes. The rivers in this part of the 

 country are also shallow and broad. The whole of the 

 interior is covered with forest, though the trees are very 

 stunted and thin in some places ; but on approaching the 

 Gulf, the forest diminishes, until it disappears altogether 

 on the coast. 



The valley of the Ashwanipi or Hamilton Ptiver, for 

 about 100 miles from its entrance, presents a pleasing 

 contrast to the barrenness of every other part of the 



