72 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



Iron posts were planted at the points indicated in your instructions and 

 it was found necessary to erect nine witness monuments. One short iron post 

 was planted and another should have been placed at the intersection of our 

 base line with the district boundary, but our cement had become dampened and 

 useless. 



Observations were taken frequently and these will be found recorded in 

 the field notes on the proper pages. Owing to smoke and cloudy weather we 

 were not able to get an observation at the point of commencement until four 

 days after we were in the field and about four miles of line had been completed. 



Topography 



The land along the meridian slopes gradually to the north and few hills 

 about fifty feet in height were found along it. In various places the rivers 

 divide into two or three channels to reunite several miles farther down. The 

 Flint River was the most erratic in this peculiarity. The section for many 

 miles south of Lake St. Joseph and the Albany River is filled with a network of 

 lakes and rivers so that it is possible to travel in almost any direction by water- 

 ways. Pine Lake was the largest lake seen which was not previously shown 

 on any maps we have seen. The width of this lake east and west may be fifteen 

 miles. 



As the base line crosses the general run of the waterways it was found to 

 be considerably rougher than the meridian. Lake Savant is the most im- 

 portant topographical feature along this line. The shore line of the lake is 

 nearly all of a rocky nature and a considerable amount of the timber along 

 the shores has been destroyed by forest fires but the islands, which are very 

 numerous, are mostly green and some afford excellent camping places. One 

 of the survey trial lines of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway follows closely 

 along the course of the base line but this appears to have been run merely as an 

 exploration line. 



Soil 



The agricultural possibilities are negligible. Along the Canadian National 

 Railway and for thirty or more miles north of it the whole surface is covered 

 with rounded boulders some being twenty feet in height. Towards the northerly 

 end of the meridian areas of sandy soil of considerable extent occur but none 

 seems to furnish any promise as farm lands. 



Rock Formation 



The Department of Mines attached Mr. J. P. Johnson as geologist to 

 our party and his report will cover in detail the various formations. The only 

 favourable locations for prospecting noted were on the north end of Lake Savant 

 where areas of quartz bearing schists may disclose gold and just south of the 

 120th mile post on the meridian where a considerable outcrop of magnetic ore 

 was noticed. 



Timber 



A timber plan accompanies this report. This will show the areas of green 

 timber and of burned. We would say that fifty per cent, of the territory covered 

 this season is still green and of sufficient size for cutting now. Along the meri- 

 dian from the point of commencement as far north as the 90th mile there is as 

 good an average stand of spruce and jack pine, of suitable size for pulp, as we 

 have seen at any place in this district. This area also extends west along the 

 base line to about the 13th mile. 



