38 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Place-nomenclature. 



New Brunswick. — The earliest use I have found of this name is of date 

 May 29, 1784, a document in Archives Report for 1894, 419. On other 

 proposed names see Raymond in N.B. Magazine, III, 44; Canadian 

 History Readings, II, 52; Canadian Archives, 1894, 418; Winslow Pa- 

 pers, 174. In earlier records and maps it appears very frequently as 

 New-Brunswick. A frequent local pronunciation is Noo-Brumsick. 



New Horton. — Settled by people from Horton, in Nova Scotia, whence the 

 name, as I am informed by Hon. A. R. McClelan. This is confirmed 

 by a statement in Johnston's North America, II, 112. 



New Mills. — The former name, Malagash, occurs in the Land Memorials of 

 1789; and in 1814 in Winslow Papers, 6S9. 



New River. — On Sproule's map of 1786. 



Nictor Lake. — The origin of this name, and of the other local names, includ- 

 ing mountains, of the vicinity is discussed in Bull. N. H. S., IV, 240. 

 Nigadoo. — In this form in 1807 in the Land Memorials. 



Northumberland Strait. — The name Red Sea applied to its southern end on 

 some maps was given, according to MS. Owen Journal of 1767 (which 

 I have seen), "called by the French La Mer Rouge or Red Sea, probably 

 because of the colour given by the soil of St. John's Island to the 

 water." 



North Pole Branch. — Its nomenclature is fully described in Bull. N. H. S., 

 V, 468. 



Northwest Miramichi. — Locally always pronounced Xortrest. The Indian 

 name of this river is Elmunakun, (.Atlce-ma-nagan, M'Gregor, British 

 America, II, 260, and Menail-mcnaagun, E. Jack in MS.). Rand gives 

 the form ElmunaJcuncheech, meaning a "beaver's hole," for the Little 

 Sevogle, though I think it likely he was misled by the diminutive 

 cheech, and that really it applies to the Big Sevogle (see Sevogle). 

 In his dictionary (133) he gives Elmunakun as a beaver's or musk- 

 rat's hole. As to why such a name is applied to the Northwest I 

 think it very probable that it was descriptive of the occurrence at 

 the place now called Big Hole of a remarkable cave (suggesting a 

 beaver's or muskrat's hole), mentioned by Professor Bailey in Bulletin 

 of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, V, 158. The very 

 name. Big Hole, is some confirmation of this supposition. Rev Father 

 Pacifique, however, derives it from a word ineaning silent, which is 

 not appropriate. 



For this river the French maps used the contraction Minaqiia; 

 and I have proposed recently (Bulletin of the Natural History Society 

 of New Brunswick, Vol. V, page 431) to restore this name as a con- 

 venient designation for scientific purposes for the north and south 

 part of the valley of the Northwest. The Indian name occurs first 

 in a document of 1686 (mentioned later under " Settlement of Richard 

 Denys"), as Mumunagan. 



The local nomenclature of the headwaters of this river is discussed 

 in Bull. N. H. S., V, 227. 



