78 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



of the points to be marked fell in muskeg and soft ground. Where it was 

 thought that the ground was not solid enough to form durable pits and mounds, 

 a wooden post was planted at the true point and the iron post was planted as a 

 witness post on the nearest solid ground with the required trench and mound. 

 No short iron posts were used. In two cases, the regulation iron posts could 

 not be sunk flush with the ground, and substantial stone cairns ^were built 

 around them. Stone was not available for mounding posts at more than a 

 few points. The posts so mounded are indicated on the notes. 



On account of the extent of old brule crossed, suitable trees for use as 

 bearing- trees did not exist near a considerable number of the posts planted. 

 In most cases, however, the notes show that two trees of some sort were marked. 



General Features 



The larger part of the area traversed by our lines is drained by the Matta- 

 gami River and its tributary, the Pike River. The remainder, or western 

 part, is drained by the Opazatika River. 



Our meridian east of the Mattagami River followed somewhat closely 

 the course of the Pike River. The Pike River originates in a number of small 

 streams rising in the northern portion of the townships of Howells and Sheldon. 

 These streams have dug ravines, sixty to seventy feet deep, in the sandy ground, 

 and as a consequence the northern portion of' these townships, especially near 

 our meridian between them, is very broken. The streams themselves are clear 

 and cold, and are well stocked with speckled trout. 



In the next tier of townships, the river flows swiftly between clay or sand 

 banks, twenty to forty-five feet high, through gently rolling or flat land. Ap- 

 proximately two miles below the south boundary of the township of Hamlet 

 it enters a rocky gorge about two miles long, emerging at the level of the coastal 

 plain where it is bounded by low lands, muskeg and swamp. 



In general, the land along the meridian seems to fall to the north in two 

 main steps; the first at about the north boundary of the townships of Howells 

 and Sheldon, and the second opposite the gorge mentioned above. 



The last four miles of the east boundary and the north boundary of the 

 township of Emerson were run through country eighty-five per cent, swamp 

 and muskeg. 



West of the Mattagami River the axes of the ridges seemed to lie approxi- 

 mately east and west. Our line along the south limits of the townships of 

 Boyle and Mowbray followed one ridge, and the line along the north boundary 

 of these townships followed another. Most of the valley between these ridges 

 drains to the Opazatika. 



Soil 



The soil over the larger part of the area surveyed is a light sandy loam 

 or straight sand. Perhaps twenty per cent, of the soil examined was clay. 

 Probably, however, the proportion of clay is greater than would appear from 

 such examination as we were able to make. The lower lands were deeply 

 covered with moss, and the soil could not be so readily identified. The best 

 soil seen from an agricultural standpoint was along the south boundaries of 

 the townships of Boyle and Mowbray. 



Timber 



The major portion of the land traversed by our lines was swept by fire 

 twenty to twenty-five years ago, and a strip about six miles in length along 

 our east meridian was burnt over two years ago. This latter burn seems to 

 extend for a considerable distance toward the Abitibi River on the east, and 



