170 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
hundred feet in depth. The shores, especially those to. the north, are 
bold and rocky, and towards the western end many beautiful rocky islands 
dot its surface. It is eight and a half miles in length and the greatest 
breadth near the upper end is about two miles. At this place, however, 
the lake is divided into two portions by a bold rocky peninsula about four 
miles long, extending in an east and west direction, so that a large part of 
the lake is thus concealed from view. Towards the eastern end, the lake 
gradually tapers till the outlet is reached. To the north, a range of hills, 
from three hundred to four hundred feet high, runs with unbroken con- 
tinuity to the mouth of the Mattawa River. The extreme west end of 
Trout Lake is only about three miles distant from the eastern shores of 
Lake Nipissing, and the neck of land separating the two lakes is in 
general very level, though bouldery, with numerous small lakes and ponds 
which apparently have the same elevation as Trout Lake, and which 
empty their waters into Lake Nipissing through Otchipwé Creek, and 
one or two other small creeks. Indeed, it is reported that a line can be 
chosen with one of the branches of Otchipwé Creek, which would show 
a summit level of less than three feet above the waters of Trout Lake- 
The canoe route usually followed however leaves the lake in a bay run- 
ning to the south near the western end of the lake. The first portage 
runs over a ridge of sand, through which the solid rock may be seen pro- 
truding, about twenty-five feet above Trout Lake. The Riviére de la 
Vase is then utilized all the way to Lake Nipissing, a distance of a little 
over six and a half miles. This river or rather creek, for it is very small, 
runs through low and often marshy ground the most of the way, entering 
Lake Nipissing about six miles southeast of North Bay. Two alternative 
routes have been proposed for the canal through this isthmus. viz., lst, that 
by way of the valley of Rivière de la Vase, and, 2nd, that by way of the 
Otchipwé Creek. The latter route seems to have a decided advantage 
both in regard to distance and cost, as it is only about four miles by this 
line. The canal would also have its entrance on a fine deep and unob- 
structed bay on Trout Lake, while it would reach Lake Nipissing in the 
immediate vicinity of North Bay, the most important town in the district. 
The land in the immediate neighbourhood of the Mattawa River, with 
few exceptions, is rocky and barren, and generally unfit for agricultural 
purposes.. At the mouth of the Mattawa, and at several places imme- 
diately adjoining Lake Talon, a few isolated areas are under cultivation. 
A short distance from the river, however, in the townships of Papineau, 
Calvin, Bonfield and Ferris, considerable areas have been cleared, and 
good progress has already been made in the settlement of these town- 
ships. The townships to the north of the river are still uncleared, with 
the exception of portions of Widdifield, to the northwest of Trout Lake, 
where a considerable number of farmers have started to make homes for 
themselves. The country rises rapidly to the north of the Mattawa River, 
