76 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



Ship Sands Island 

 The island comprises an area of about 2,000 acres, the Northerly portion 

 has about 700 acres of low lying clay land, covered with a growth of wild grass 

 and interspersed with many pools of water and ordinary High Tide channels 

 and wholly covered with water during Highest Tide periods. 



The Southerly portion rises to an elevation of about 10 feet above ordinary 

 High Tide and consists of clay soil and some sand, covered with small poplar 

 and heavy growth of willow brush. The Easterly shore of this portion, gener- 

 ally rises sharply to a height of six feet and affords shelter for boats in case 

 of adverse weather conditions on the Bay. The Westerly shore is flat and 

 muddy which gradually rises to the interior. 



James Bay Coast Line 



In order to show the effects of tide conditions which prevail along this 

 part of the coast, it was found necessary in many places to traverse both 

 ordinary High tide line and Highest tide line. From a traverse of Ordinary 

 High Tide, an approximate location of low tide was obtained and from a tra- 

 verse of highest tide line the posting was usually done and an approximate 

 location of the timber line was obtained. 



Ordinary High Tide line is the point where the water line of the coast 

 comes for the greater part of the year. This line is usually quite easily dis- 

 tinguished from the bare ocean bottom and the edge of the low grass land 

 adjacent to it. 



Highest tide is the point where water comes during the latter part of 

 November and floods the low lying grass lands to a depth of from two to three 

 feet and this remains throughout the winter periods a frozen layer of ice. 

 Highest tide line is sometimes called the log line and also the brush line. The 

 collection of logs or driftwood which during the open season floats to ordinary 

 High tide line, is agin floated back during Highest tide period to the brush line, 

 where it remains piled from two to four feet high. The same log and driftwood 

 condition exists at highest tide line along the banks of rivers and creeks which 

 flow into the Bay. This great supply of wood, which in time becomes sound 

 and dry, is a fortunate result, as without this, fuel would be very difficult to 

 obtain on account of the long distance between the thick willow brush line and 

 timber. 



The wide stretches of flat clay land which lies between the ordinary high 

 tide line and highest tide line, is usually wet and muddy and covered with a 

 thick growth of wild grass. Many pools of water are to be found, caused by 

 the slow melting of ice from highest tide conditions. There are also numerous 

 channels of water from three to fifty feet wide and having a depth to eight feet. 

 These channels are caused by the constant wear and tear of incoming and 

 outgoing tides and many of them reach to about midway on these flats and 

 others extend to the brush line. The latter are mostly creeks coming from the 

 interior. 



Surveying the line of ordinary high tide was not altogether a difficult task, 

 but to do this the work had to be planned in most cases when tide was out, 

 in order to conveniently travel and measure across the many deep and wide 

 channels, although at this period the clay mud in them was almost knee deep. 

 When on the other hand while working this tide line and caught when it was 



