1864.] MICHAUX AND HIS JOURNEY IN CANADA. 335 



Indians, like myself, were most anxious to reach Lake Mistassini 

 before the snow and cold should augment. "We crossed three lakes? 

 and travelled about ten leagues. 



" September 3rd. Ice formed about a line in thickness. After 

 midnight a white frost was seen on the vegetation around our 

 camp, and there was promise of a fine day ; but about seven in 

 the morning the air became thick, and we had alternations of 

 snow, rain, hail, and sunshine. ^ >l< >!< At eleven o'clock we 

 reached a great river flowing northward, and with a favoring 

 current we made eighteen or twenty leagues to-day. The soil 

 appeared to grow better. 



" September 4th. We were obliged to make three portages, on 

 account of rocky rapids, and at a quarter past ten reached Lake 

 Mistassini." 



The following plants, in addition to these already mentioned^ 

 were met with in crossing the height of land: Scirjms erio- 

 2)hojmm, Michx. ; Cinna ariindinacea, Linn. ; Avena striata, 

 Michx. ; Symplwricaiyos racemosus, Michx, ; Gentiana j^neu- 

 monanthe, Linn.; Juncus melanocarpus, Michx.; Triglocliin 

 maritimum, Linn.; Alisma plantago, Linn.; Vaccinium 

 oxycoccus, Michx. ; V. ccesjpitosum, Michx. ; V. myrtiUoides, 

 Michx. (T^. Pennsylvanicum, Lam.) ; Mentha horecdis, Michx.; 

 Pinus inops ? Ait. ; Lycopodluni Selaginoides, Linn. 



Of the great Mistassin Lake but little is known ; the sketch of it 

 given in the accompanying map represents its size and shape as far 

 as can be gathered from the missionaries and Indian traders, 

 Ptupert's Eiver, by which it empties into James's Bay, is described 

 as being from fifty to sixty leagues in length, and larger than the 

 Saguenay. Its name, and that of the natives of its shores, is 

 derived from the Indian word mistassini, by which they designate 

 a huge rock which hangs over the lake near its ou.tlet, and is 

 regarded as the abode of a Manitou or Great Spirit, who is an object 

 of religious worship. When crossing the lake they are said to 

 keep their eyes turned away from this rock lest he in his ire 

 should excite a tempest. Near the lake, on a small river which flows 

 into it, is said to be a rude cavern in marble, which the Indians 

 call the house of the Great Spirit. The notes of Michaux add 

 but little to our knowledge of this lake. He tells us, however, that 

 the shores are low, and the hills remote, and adds that '' the wa- 

 ters of the lake are discharged by rivers to the north and northwest^ 

 which fall into Hudson's Bay, the journey to which, from the 



