[BLLS & BARLOW] PROPOSED OTTAWA CANAL rl 
the latter occupying a deep valley similar in character to that which con- 
tains the Ottawa, and the high steep hills which border both streams 
represent the edge of a large and comparatively level plateau, from three 
hundred to four hundred feet above the general level of the water of both 
streams. There seems to be no doubt that good sized tracts exist to the 
north of the Mattawa, which are well suited for farming purposes, but at 
present they are too inaccessible to be of much value. 
Lake Nipissing is a large and important sheet of water having in 
general an east and west direction. The greatest length from the shore 
at East Bay, near Callendar station, on the northern division of the 
Grand Trunk Railway, to the western end of Bear Bay (West Arm) 
is sixty miles, while the greatest width from Beaucage Bay on the 
north to the mouth of the South River is sixteen miles. The northern 
and eastern shores of the lake are in general low, and, for the most par t, 
present beautifully curving beaches of yellow sand separated by low 
rounded points of rock. The water for a considerable distance from the 
shore is shallow, and its approach is thus rendered more or less difficult 
and dangerous, especially during stormy weather. The western end of 
the lake possesses a most irregularly indented coast line ; and many large 
arms or bays extend for miles to the westward filled with rocky islands. 
A great number of these islands stud the surface of the more open water 
outside, running in long lines more or less parallel, and usually in contin- 
uation of the peninsulas or points which divide the bays from one another. 
The islands vary in size from the small rounded rock, destitute of vegeta- 
tion and often only exposed at low water, to some which are several miles 
in extent. The southern shores are bold and rocky, and the water very 
deep, even in their immediate vicinity. Occasional small coves between 
these rocks exhibit beaches of yellow sand or fine gravel. The whole of 
the eastern end of the lake is wide and exposed, containing only two small 
groups of islands, called respectively the “ Manitou” and ‘ Goose ” Islands. 
The route from the mouths of either the Riviére de la Vase or Otchipwé 
Creek passes in the vicinity of the first-named group, the distance across 
to the mouth of the Southwest Arm, out of which the French River flows, 
is eighteen miles, which is unobstructed by rock or shoal of any kind. 
This Southwest Arm is about twelve miles in length and from one to two 
miles wide. It is filled with numerous islands and large and intricate 
bays extend to the west and northwest. From the most southerly of 
these bays the water finds its way into the lake-like expansion of the 
main river, about two miles northeast of the ‘ Rapide du Pin.” 
The French River from the head of the Chaudiére Falls. which mark 
the first obstruction in navigation to its mouth on Lake Huron, is forty- 
eight miles in length. It may best be described as a series of very long 
and comparatively narrow, though deep, lakes separated by rocky dams or 
bars, which impede the course of the water, thus giving rise to the 
