112 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
two little Indians, not 10 Years of Age, brought a large Canoe full of 
Fish, at least a hundred which they had caught in the Evening with 
their Scoop Nets. A small Quantity of Rum purchased the whole. 
The manner of Fishing is :—'l'he Fishermen merely place their Canoe 
in the Rapid where the water is so clear that the Fish are seen at the 
Bottom and it is only necessary to put down the Net as often as they 
choose and take as much as they want. They likewise spear them. The 
White Fish is beautifully formed, particularly small Head, and weighs 
from 4 to 10 Ibs. The Americans are making the salting of the White 
Fish a great Article of Trade and ship them in this State to the West 
Indies. The White Fish is of tne Genus Salmo. The Heat here has 
been excessive 96° in the Shade. In Winter it was at 60° under the 
Freezing Point of Fahrenheit of 32°. We were here dreadfully annoyed 
by the Musquitoes. 
Tuesday the 26th [June]. At 5 o’clock we again found ourselves 
in the Canoe. The Sault is so full of Fish that the Air is quite impreg- 
nated with a Fishy Smell. The Morning was miserably wet and so 
foggy that we could not see the Head of the Canoe. It was very unfor- 
tunate as the Entrance into Lake Superior is described as being one of 
the finest Things in the World. Carver an American Traveller writes :— 
“The Entrance into Lake Superior affords one of the most pleasing 
Prospects in the World.” However all this we lost and it was only in 
Imagination that we could picture to ourselves the Beauty of the Scene. 
After running 15 Miles we landed on one of those [illegible] Coves which 
abound in Lake Superior at a Point called the Grand Cape! This may 
be considered with Point Iroquois on the South Side as the Entrance 
into Lake Superior. Mackenzie in describing this Lake says:—“ Lake 
“Superior is the largest and most magnificent Body of fresh water in 
“the World. It is clear and pellucid of great Depth and abounding in 
“a Variety of Fish which are the most excellent of their kind. There 
“are Trouts of 3 kinds,—Sturgeon (200 lbs.), Pickerel, Pike, red and 
“white Carp, black Bass, Herrings, &c.”* “This Lake may be denomi- 
“nated the great Reservoir of the River St. Lawrence.”? Few Rivers 
run into it, the St. Louis, the Nipigon, Pic, and Michicopotin are the 
principal. Its Circumference is considered to be 1500 Miles, the 
Extreme Length, taking the Longitude from 84° to 91° and the Degree 
(in the Latitude of 47°) to be 41 Miles, that is from the Grand Cap to 
the Fond du Lac, would make it under 300 Miles in Length and the 


1 Or Gros Cap. 
2 The following names are added by the writer of the Diary ‘ White Fish, 
Mackenongi, Poisson Doré”. 
3 Voyage from Montreal, etc., Alex. Mackenzie (1801), p. xli. 
