296 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



period extending over two centuries and a half furnished 

 cargoes for two or more ships belonging to the Hudson's Bay 

 Company. At the present time two ships are engaged in this 

 trade for the Company, while Revillon Bros, employ two more. 

 The whale fishery now supports two ships. These four ships 

 represent the developed trade of the bay and strait at the 

 present time. 



The undeveloped natural resources of the regions surround- 

 ing these waters appertain to mining and fisheries, and to the 

 forestry of the territory surrounding the rivers flowing into 

 the southern parts of the bay. Iron ores have been found 

 on the islands and shores of the eastern side of Hudson bay, 

 where they cover large areas and where valuable deposits 

 corresponding to those of the hard ores of Lake Superior will 

 be discovered when sought for. On the western shores of the 

 bay between Chesterfield inlet and Churchill, extensive deposits 

 of copper-bearing rocks have been located, and there is every 

 prospect of valuable mines being discovered in that region when 

 the ground has been properly prospected. A valuable mica 

 mine is being worked at a profit on the north shore of Hudson 

 strait, and the condition and character of the rocks there point 

 to the discovery of ^similar deposits on that side of the strait. 

 Iron ores are known to occur along the west side of Ungava bay, 

 and the rocks of the southern side of the strait in many places 

 are favourable to the occurrence of valuable minerals. The 

 greater part of the coastal region has only been geologically 

 examined in a hurried manner, while large stretches are prac- 

 tically unknown inland. 



Nothing is at present known of the fisheries of the deeper 

 waters of the strait and bay, and the knowledge of the fisheries 

 of these waters is confined to the coasts and rivers. In the 

 southern part of the bay, large quantities of sea-run trout and 

 whitefish are taken by the natives. The Arctic salmon, a fish 



