18G4.] MICHAUX AND HIS JOURNEY IN CANADA. 333 



the portase the following plants were met with : Vacciniiim coes- 

 ji:>itosum, Michx. ; E2'>igoe(i rejpens, Linn. ; Arhutus Uva-ursi, 

 Linn. ; Lycopodimn imindatum, Linn. ; L. Selaginoidcs, Linn. ; 

 Botrypus lunaroides^ Michx. 



The little river on which they now embarked was generally deep 

 enough for their canoes, but the navigation was often interrupted 

 by the dams constructed by the beavers, whose cabins were seen 

 on the shores. This stream led them to Swan Lake (Lac des 

 Oygnes), which they reached in the afternoon of the 29th August. 

 This picturesque little lake, which is about forty-five leagues from 

 Lake St. John, is very irregular in form, in some parts having a 

 breadth of two leagues, and at others being very narrow. The 

 shores are generally low, with occasional hills covered by stunted 

 trees. Around the shores of this lake Michaux found the following 

 plants : Avena striata^ Michx. ; Arundo Canadensis, Michx. ; 

 Xylosteum villosum, Michx.; Juncus 77ielano carpus, Michx. ; Vacci- 

 niiim Vttis-Idoea, Linn. ; Epigoea rejyens, Linn. ; Ep)iloJjium 

 ■oligantJium, Michx.; PotentiUa /ruticosa,ljmn. ', Aster unijior us, 

 Michx.; Carex lenticularis, Michx.; Ahieshalsamifera,^\\Q\ix..] 

 A. denticulata, Michx. ; JBetula glandulosa, Michx. 



He remarks that Avena striata is the only gramineous plant 

 observed by him in this vicinity, and also that Swan Lake appears 

 to be the most northern limit of Vaccinium Vitis-Idoea. 



Lake Mistassini is about 100 leao'ues from Lake St. John, and 

 Michaux had already traversed about half the distance, but the 

 most difl&cult part remained. He had to cross a dismal wilderness, 

 where the vegetation consists only of a small number of stunted 

 and depauperated species. " The trees which predominate in the 

 forests, a few degrees to the southward, have here almost entirely 

 disappeared, from the severity of the winters and the sterility of 

 the soil. All this region is traversed by thousands of lakes, and 

 covered with enormous rocks piled upon one another, and generally 

 covered with huge black lichens, w^hich add to the gloomy aspect 

 ■of this desert and almost uninhabitable country. Between these 

 rocks are seen here and there some specimens of a stunted pine 

 (Piuus rupestris), which at the height of three feet is seen 

 bearing fruit, and having all the marks of decrepid old age. 

 One hundred and fifty miles to the southward this pine attains a 

 height of eight or ten feet, and presents a much more vigorous 

 growth."* 



* Michaux fils, Arbres Forestiers, vol. i, page 49. 



