56 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



swamp or muskeg. There are very few prominent hills as the country as a whole 

 is gently rolling. West of Shabumeni Lake it is flat or undulating, and east of 

 this lake it becomes more rolling but is not really rough excepting between 

 Little Shabumeni Lake and Shabumeni River, and south of Springpole Lake. 



Timber 



"There is very little merchantable timber in the district at present. The 

 greater portion being covered with a thick growth of black spruce and jack 

 pine to six inches with patches of black spruce to eight inches. There is some 

 fair black spruce and jack pine along the 3rd meridian between the 4th and 10th 

 miles and along the 2nd meridian between the 6th and 12th miles, but these 

 are the only areas and these are broken by numerous patches of swamp with 

 black spruce to six inches. There are patches of young birch, poplar and jack 

 pine to eight inches along the Shabumeni and Birch Lakes, but these do not, as 

 a rule, extend back far from the lake. Young tamarack is growing up in some of 

 the muskegs. Several of the large islands in Birch Lake have been burned over. 



"The young spruce and jack pine are growing up very thickly on the ridges, 

 and if fires are kept out there should be some very good timber before long. There 

 were no fires in this district this summer, but we were bothered by smoke from 

 fires to the south and southwest of us. 



Minerals 



"There were no indications of minerals west of Shabumeni Lakes. There 

 were good indications of minerals along the east side of these lakes where several 

 claims have already been staked, also along the north shore of Shabumeni 

 River. Several claims have been staked along the southwest bay of Birch 

 Lake, some of which were staked several years ago. The country along the 

 3rd meridian and to the north of Springpole Lake, looked promising. Quite a 

 lot of work has been done on several of the claims but we did not see or hear of 

 any spectacular finds being made in this district up to the time we left. 



Streams and Lakes 



"Fully 30 per cent, of the district is covered by water. Birch Lake is 

 the largest lake. It is about eighteen miles long and its shore line is very irregular 

 with many large bays, with islands over two miles in length. The water is very 

 deep and clear. Shabumeni Lake is about ten miles long, average width about 

 one mile, the water is deep and clear. Litte Shabumeni Lake, to the north, 

 is about five miles long and it empties into the former. Springpole Lake which 

 was crossed by the 3rd meridian on the 8th mile, is over ten miles long, lying 

 nearly east and west with a large bay to the north at the west end of it. Its 

 water is deep and clear and the water from Birch Lake empties into it. We were 

 not able to find the outlet to it but presume it flows into Gull Lake, an expansion 

 of Cat River. There are several other large lakes in the district and the shore 

 lines have been sketched on the accompanying plan from information gathered 

 from the aerial photographs. There are very few large rivers in the district. 

 What is called Shabumeni River is really a narrow bay of Birch Lake. The 

 largest river is the Serpent River and it is navigable by canoes, but is seldom 

 used. It has an average width of one and one-half chains and is about ten feet 

 deep. It is navigable by canoes. The next largest river is the one which 

 enters Shabumeni Lake from the west, referred to earlier in our report. 

 Average width is about one chain and it is about six feet deep. 



