From Lake Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay. 359 



of about six feet. The marsh referred to opens by a narrow strait 

 into the south-western arm of Oxford Lake. 



Oxford Lake runs north-east and south-west, and has a length 

 of about thirty miles, with a maximum breadth of eight or nine 

 miles. It contains many islands, and is much subdivided by long 

 points. With the exception of the south-western arm, it is situated 

 entirely within the Huronian trough, and the rocks around it may 

 be described in connection with this basin. Oxford House, a post 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company, is situated on a rising peninsula 

 formed of light grey clay, at the north-eastern extremity of the 

 lake. This lake is also called Holey Lake, or, more properly, Deep- 

 Hole Lake, from a small conical hole on the north side, one mile 

 west of Oxford House, which, according to the Indian belief, has no 

 bottom, but is in reality only sixty feet deep. The extension of the 

 lake beyond Oxford House is called Back Lake.* 



From Back Lake the water passes by Trout River, which runs 

 south-east to the head of Knee Lake ; the distance, in a straight 

 line, being eleven miles. 



Knee Lake has a total length of forty miles. It consists of two 

 principal expansions, each running north-east and south-west, con- 

 nected together about midway between the inlet and outlet by a 

 narrower portion, about nine miles in length, running north and 

 south. The lower part is the widest, and has a maximum breadth 

 of about six miles. The whole lake is studded with islands, but 

 they are particularly numerous in the central part, which is a 

 closely-crowded archipelago. A few small hills are seen at the 

 head of the lake and at some other localities near its shores, but, 

 with these exceptions, the country presents all around a low and 

 horizontal outline. The soil consists principally of light grey clay 

 and brown gravelly loam, but near the lake, on the north-west side 

 of the lower expansion, much of it is sandy. The timber on this 

 shore has been burnt within a recent period, but elsewhere it is 

 green and of vigorous growth. Wolverine River, which forms part 

 of the canoe-route to God's Lake, enters the north-eastern extremity 

 of the upper expansion. 



* Dr. Bell's Report. 



