94 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



Early in the survey I was obliged to bring two men out, one who cut himself 

 quite seriously and another who was poisoned from fly-bites, and apart from 

 these, I am glad to report there were no serious accidents. 



From the point of commencement of the survey for about forty miles the 

 country passed through consists of areas of good clay land and areas of muskeg, 

 probably fifty per cent, of each. Along the streams where there is good drainage 

 the land is quite fertile. I was surprised at the varieties of wild fruits that were 

 found among which were strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, red currants like 

 cultivated ones, gooseberries and cherries, and at New Post on the Abitibi River 

 near the end of July, I saw a very fine garden out of which among other things 

 new potatoes were being used, and I cannot help but feel that this country has 

 a good future for agricultural purposes. It is true that under present conditions 

 most of it is too wet due to the close texture of the soil, but it could be drained 

 without much difficulty as all the streams have a good fall and the whole area 

 while apparently level has a gradual slope to the north. The last fifty miles 

 of the line traverses an area in which muskeg is the predominant feature with 

 strips of clay land from five to twenty chains in width along the streams. The 

 252nd mile of the line passes through a rough, rocky piece of country and this 

 kind of country could be seen again from the 267th mile, and I am of the opinion 

 that a large area of such country lies east of the line. Again the 276th and 

 277th miles of the line passes through an area that is not common to the country 

 generally, here the soil is of a coarse sand filled with small shells and under laid 

 with a bed of gypsum which shows in many places on the surface. In this area 

 there is a peculiar formation of the ground, round holes are everywhere, some 

 of them twenty or thirty feet deep. In this area and for several miles north the 

 water tastes strong of sulphur. 



Spruce is the predominant timber throughout but poplar, balm of gilead 

 and white birch appears as far north as the work took me. The only jack pine 

 of commercial size was in the 276th and 277th miles and again in the 279th mile. 

 Cedar is very scarce. Most of the tamarac in this part of the country as is 

 general in Northern Ontario was killed by a blight which swept over the country 

 about thirty years ago and much of the dry timber is still standing, however, a 

 second growth of this timber is making good progress in many places. Fire 

 has swept over much of the country as can best be seen hatched in brown on 

 the plans which accompany this report. The timber of commercial size usually 

 along streams and the large areas of muskeg are wooded only with a scrubby 

 growth of spruce or tamarac not generally over five inches in diameter. 



The only mineral encountered was the gypsum deposit in the 276th and 

 277th miles. Rock outcrops were not numerous and any that were seen were of 

 a granite-gneiss formation. 



No water powers of any size were seen but the French River has such a 

 large general fall and in places high banks, that I have no doubt small units could 

 be developed. 



Game is not plentiful, there were some moose and bear throughout the 

 whole area covered. Occasional signs of red deer were seen and a few flocks of 

 partridge and prairie chickens were also seen. Beaver which. once inhabited 

 so many of the lakes and streams are now extinct. Signs of otter were seen in 

 a few of the lakes. Fish do not seem to be plentiful in any of the streams, a 

 few nice pickerel were caught in the Little Abitibi. 



In all respects I have endeavoured to make this survey in close conformity 

 with your instructions. I was able to locate and renew all of the original posts, 

 many of which were in exceptionally good condition while others were almost 



