70 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



usually ending in fairly extensive marshes and low areas. There are numerous 

 islands of all sizes from mere dots to one near the outlet of Lount Lake of 387 

 acres. In some places there are small areas of clay land similar to that around 

 Grassy Narrows Indian Reserve, but on the whole these are not of great import- 

 ance. 



"Froxn the south side of Separation Lake a short distance east of Separation 

 Rapids, Fiord Bay extends in a southwesterly direction for about four miles. 

 Here a small stream drops into the bay over a rocky ledge about twenty-five 

 feet high. From this point a canoe route runs to Minaki via Sand Lake. 



"From the Hudson's Bay Company's post at Grassy Narrows Lake to 

 Separation Rapids is twenty-two and a half miles by the canoe route, usually 

 followed. 



"At Separation Rapids, the river drops about three feet in a distance of ten 

 chains. There are two channels, the water nearly all flowing through the 

 northerly one. In fact in exceptionally dry seasons the southerly channel is 

 dry. At the time of the survey there was not sufficient water in this channel 

 to float a canoe. Geodetic survey bench mark No. 38 K is located on the south 

 shore of the southerly channel a few yards from the head of the rapids. A 

 portage runs over the island between the two channels. 



"It is not considered likely that there will ever be any water power develop- 

 ment at this point. The fall is small and the banks are of such a nature that it 

 would be a very expensive matter to concentrate any of the other falls on the 

 river at this point. The most feasible plan would appear to be to flood this 

 rapids and add the fall to one of the larger falls down stream. For this reason 

 no water power reserve was laid out at this point. 



"From Separation Rapids to Upper Kettle Falls is six miles. The river 

 flows northwesterly and widens out so as to resemble a long narrow lake, and 

 for the first three miles the canoe route leads through a labyrinth of islands where 

 one is constantly in d/bubt where to head next. In some places the current is 

 fairly strong and about a mile above Kettle Falls there is a drop of about four 

 inches, which results in a current up which it is difficult to paddle. 



"The general characteristics along this stretch are about the same as farther 

 up stream. There are a few small groves of red and white pine scattered here 

 and there, and these are particularly noticeable on some of the islands. The 

 red and white pine is, generally speaking, of an inferior quality, and the quantity 

 is small. Several long narrow bays lead off" from the main river, each one ending 

 in a fairly extensive marsh. 



"These marshy bays all along the river are very much alike in many respects. 

 The bay usually terminates in a small creek which dwindles to a mere trickle in a 

 short distance. There is usually a considerable area of low grassy land where 

 the shore line is of a most indefinite character, and where it is usually impossible 

 to determine with any degree of exactness where the lake ends and the shore 

 begins. In most cases, a foot or so of a raise in the water level would submerge 

 large areas which are ordinarily quite dry. These low areas sometimes extend 

 back for considerable distances, and if it is ever considered advisable to utilize 

 these lakes as storage reservoirs, considerable contouring would be necessary, 

 particularly around the ends of these bays. 



"Upper, Middle and Lower Kettle Falls, with drops of 7.05, 18.60 and 13.35 

 feet respectively, amounting to thirty-nine feet in all, occur within a distance of 

 about a mile and a half. Lower Kettle Falls is only a 110 feet wide at the crest 

 and there are high rocky banks on each side. By building a dam at this point 

 and flooding out Upper and Middle Kettle Falls, and Separation Rapids, with the 



