1926 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 59 



"The lake is a tributary of the Kawashkagami River which enters at the 

 southeasterly end, then turns sharply to the east and flows southeasterly to 

 O'Sullivan Lake, a distance of eight miles. 



"The country about is of clay and sandy soil and fairly level, with occa- 

 sional outcrops of rock, timbered with chiefly poplar and birch to 12 inches, a 

 fair quantity of spruce to 20 inches, balsam and cedar and scattered areas of 

 jack pine to 12 inches." 



Appendix No. 25 



Extract from report by H. W. Sutclifi"e, O.L.S., survey of base and meridian 

 lines in vicinity of Opazatika and Missinaibi rivers, district of Cochrane. 



Timber 



"It will be observed on departmental maps that all the streams flowing to 

 James Bay drop several hundred feet in the course of a few miles and along a 

 line somewhat parallel to and about thirty or forty miles north of the Cochrane- 

 Winnipeg main line of the Canadian National Railway. A considerable portion 

 of my work lay in this area. It was very disappointing indeed to find that so 

 much of this country had been burned, presumably at the time of railway con- 

 struction. Fires evidently started at several points along the railway and ran 

 north until they reached the steep slope, which, being better drained, offered 

 less resistance to the fire, which seems to have pretty well spread over the 

 entire slope in this locality. The timber was naturally somewhat larger on 

 this better drained land, with the result that a very large amount of valuable 

 timber was destroyed. It would indeed be difficult to estimate the cost of the 

 railway in the loss of timber. 



"Meantime second growth timber has sprung up through the old slash. 

 On the high and sandy stretches this new timber is largely poplar and jack 

 pine, although there are some areas on which considerable young spruce is 

 coming along. I would, however, consider the spruce regeneration a little 

 disappointing. If fire overruns this area again the spruce will undoubtedly 

 practically disappear. 



"Above and below this slope there is some timber mostly in patches. Gen- 

 erally speaking, the area covered by this survey certainly cannot at the present 

 be considered a timber area of great importance. 



Soil 



"The soil is characteristic of the northern clay belt. On the steep slope 

 the soil is sandy, but much of it will be fit for agriculture. On the flat areas it 

 is mostly clay and will some day be considered good agricultural land. In this 

 area I believe that even the muskegs can be turned into agricultural land, as 

 they are on elevations high above the rivers and can be easily drained. 



Watercourses 



"There are a number of small streams between the Opazatika and Mis- 

 sinaibi Rivers which can be navigated by canoes. The streams will in the 

 future prove useful as drainage outlets. We saw no lakes of importance. 



