268 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



wrote it, obviously, according to the sound. But of course the complete prevalence 

 of a standard spelling makes any attempt at change wholly undesirable. 



Analysis of the Word. — The Micmac Indians, still living in considerable 

 numbers upon the Miramichi, all recognize the word as belonging to their language, 

 and give its pronunciation as SWÔ'-GUL, or SË-WÔ'-GUL, the E being so short as 

 hardly to be distinguishable, and the W not prominent. As one of the best-informed 

 of the Micmacs at Eelground, at the mouth of the Northwest Miramichi, once told 

 me (in the language of my notes) the Indians "pronounce the word shorter than in 

 English." Obviously it is this shorter pronunciation which is expressed in the 

 earliest known use of the word, as recorded above, viz., SOUGLE. We may there- 

 fore accept the form SË-WÔ'-GUL, or better, for a reason given below, SË-WÔ'- 

 KUL, with a very short E, as expressing best the aboriginal form of the name. 



As to its meaning, however, the Indians that I have interviewed declared that 

 they did not know it. In the absence of any direct testimony we have only one 

 resource, and that is an examination of the physical features of the place to find 

 whether it presents any character so striking and unusual as to form a natural dis- 

 tinctive name. Such a feature does, in fact, present itself for this river. As I re- 

 flect upon its characteristics since I traversed the length of both of its two branches 

 several years ago, the one feature which stands out most prominently in my mind is 

 the great series it displays of interglacial and postglacial gorges with vertical cliff 

 walls. These gorges exceed in number and length those displayed by any other New 

 Brunswick Stream, and at the junction of the North and South Branches of the 

 River they form a natural T-shaped gorge, known to lumbermen as The Square Forks, 

 and to local geologists as a unique feature in river-characters for this part of America. 

 The details of these gorges, with a full description of the Square Forks, are given in 

 the articles above cited in the Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Bruns- 

 wick. In these striking cliff-walled gorges, especially those at the Square Forks, 

 accordingly, we have a natural, or in the light of the genius of Indian name-giving, 

 one may say inevitable, basis for a distinctive place-name for the river. Now, with 

 the idea of the cliffs in mind, it is not difficult to find the roots in the word SË-WÔ'- 

 GUL or SWÔ'-GUL, for the resemblance of SË-WÔG or SWÔG to the SÔK of 

 KAMSOK, the original of CANSO, above considered, will at once strike the 

 attention. The sounds of G and K are practically indistinguishable in Micmac, the 

 actual sound, indeed, lying between the two, but as a choice between the two letters 

 must be made, I follow Rand's usage and adopt the K. As to the difference between 

 SE-WÔK or SWÔK, and SÔK, that, I think, is not material, especially in view of the 

 fact, of which I have a good many examples, that Rand, whether through lack of a 

 keenly-sensitive ear, or with a desire for the greatest simplicity of expression, did 

 not distinguish the double vowel sound that occurs in many roots, but always ran 

 them together. Accordingly, I am strongly inclined to think that SË-WÔK, or at 

 least SWÔK, rather than the more condensed root SÔK is the real original form of the 

 root meaning CLIFF. Of course the difference in the sounds may be dialectical, or 

 may involve some special shade of meaning, which I have not caught, or may contain 

 a modification applying to the Square Forks; but as to the essential identity of the 

 two roots, in view of the similar features explained thereby, I think there is no reason- 

 able doubt. As to the termination UL of SË-WÔK'-UL, that is, I think, unmistak- 

 able; it is simply the usual suffix, expressing the plural for inanimate objects, thus 

 making the root mean not simply CLIFF but CLIFFS. Thus Rand gives for 

 'MTASOK, meaning BLUFF, the plural 'MTÂSOK-OOL (First Reading Book, 60). 

 Hence it seems to be reasonably certain that the Micmac word SË-WÔK'-UL, applied 

 to this river signifies CLIFFS, in allusion (o the vertical rock walls of its many gorges. 



