426 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



SOOLACADIE. The Micmac name for Mira, in the eastern part of Cape 

 Breton, according to Rand, who gives the word as SOOLÂ'KÀDE, with the sug- 

 gestion that it may be SOONÂ'KÀDE, meaning CRANBERRY-FIELD {First 

 Reading Book, 93). In another place, however, he gives it as SOOLAKADE, with 

 the meaning THE SILVER PLACE {Micmac- English Dictionary, 189.) Chief 

 Denys, of Eskasoni, interviewed for me by Father MacPherson, reports that 

 he knows the name well, in the form SOOLAGATIG, applied to the Lake, but 

 he has no knowledge of its meaning. The name goes far back in the records, for it 

 occurs in a document of 1713 as CHOULACADIE, applied to a lake, evidently that 

 now called Lake Mira (Murdoch, History of Nova Scotia, I, 338). The latter part 

 of the name is perfectly clear, for evidently it is our familiar combination -A-KA'DI- 

 (K) already explained (page 380), which implies that SOOL or CHOUL is the name, 

 or its abbreviation, for some common object that occurs there. Seeking such, we 

 find at once the word SOOLAS the name of a large MUSSEL (Rand, Micmac- 

 English Dictionary, 152); and seeking further for information as to the occurrence 

 thereof at Mira, I find the following passage in Vernon's Cape Breton (Toronto, 1903, 

 285), speaking of Mira River, — "The water of the river is beautifully clear, and the 

 bottom of the channel is definable for a long distance. As the steamer leaves the 

 Gut, great mussel beds will be seen in the river bottom. Their growth is so rapid 

 that it is sometimes necessary to drag them out with an improvised harrow in order 

 to clear the channel." The Gut is the very narrow rocky channel connecting the 

 Bay and River, and therefore a prominent place. Accordingly it seems to me, 

 probable almost to certainty that this name SOOLACADIE describe the prominence 

 in the River of the Mussel, a conspicuous mollusc of the coast even though one the 

 Indians seem to have used but little; and this name for the River was naturally 

 extended by the French to include the Lake. Thus the word would be SOOL-A- 

 KA'DI-(K), meaning literally MUSSEL-THEIR-OCCURRENCE-(PLACE). 



There is possibly some connection (though probably not) between this name 

 and the SOOLEAwAGITK, name of a Lake on Lahave River, meaning FLOATING 

 SILVER, given by Rand {Micmac- English Dictionary, 189); but I have as yet no 

 further data on this matter. 



There is also possibly a connection between this name and that for Cocagne; see 

 page 430. Upon the origin of Mira see earlier, page 405. 



SOOLEAWACADIE. The Micmac name, in somewhat simplified form» 

 of Sellarsville, on the north, or Quebec, side of the Restigouche River, about eight 

 miles above Campbellton. Father Pacifique, of the Indian Mission at Restigouche, 

 whose kind aid in these studies has been invaluable, gives me the word as SOLIEO- 

 EIEGATIG, with the meaning MONEY SETTLEMENT or SILVER LAND 

 which he takes for a modern name, and thinks derived from the current belief that 

 large sums of money, for which much digging has been done, were buried by the 

 French on an Island near by. Mrs. W. D. Duncan, of Campbellton and Flatlands, 

 who is deeply interested in local matters, writes me a somewhat different inter- 

 pretation, saying that just at Sellarsville is a creek which runs west about a mile, 

 the water of which is of a peculiar and very beautiful green color, such as is said by 

 miners to indicate silver ore. She adds that "some of the silver was taken out of the 

 creek years ago, about 1840, but not in any quantity"; while lately some ore has been 

 dug from the Sellarsville Hill. The details need further local investigation, but 

 there seems no doubt as to the general form and meaning of the name, which would 

 involve our familiar combination -WA-KA'DI-K, earlier considered (page 380), 

 with a prefix SOOLEAWA', meaning SILVER, and also MONEY (Rand, English- 

 Micmac Dictionary, 236,172), thus making the name in full SOOLEA-WA-KA'DI-K, 



