66 REPORT OF THE No. 7 



Appendix No. 21 



Extract from report and field notes of part of Seventh Base Line, Districts of 

 Thunder Bay and Cochrane, by Beatty and Beatty, O.L.S., 1928. 



Soil 



There was no land suitable for agricultural purposes a'ong this line. The 

 greater portion of the soil was sandy with boulders and gravel ridges with out- 

 crops of granite. A patch of sandy clay soil in the swamps with gravel ridges 

 was crossed near the Esnagami River. East of Squaw Lake the soil is again 

 sandy clay in the swamps, with low granite ridges. This portion of the country is 

 undulating and flat. The western portion of the line is rough, broken country 

 with many hills but from Marshal Lake east it is rolling with very few prominent 

 ridges. From information gathered from the District Forester, there is not 

 much information to the country east as there are very few Lakes, only large 

 rivers, showing that the country is flat and low. 



Timber 



Several small patches of good timber suitable for pulpwood were passed 

 through and these are shown green on the accompanying Timber Plan. The 

 better patches being miles 137 and 145 in the vicinity of Summit Lake, the 154th 

 mile south of Marshal Lake, miles 156 to 162 east of Marshal Lake, miles 184 

 and 185, miles 187 to 190 along the Esnagami River in the District of Thunder 

 Bay, also from mile 3 to Squaw Lake and mile 8 to 16 in the District of Cochrane. 

 The timber in these patches is mostly black spruce, averaging from 3 to 10 inches, 

 with jack-pine, poplar, birch and white spruce on the ridges, 6 to 18 inches in 

 diameter, near mile 120, we left the old brule on the western portion of our line 

 the previous season, and crossed a section of country covered with a thick growth 

 of spruce, jack-pine, poplar and birch, 3 to 8 inches in diameter, intercepted with 

 a patch of heavier timber. This continued to mile 146, where we crossed a 

 section apparently burnt over about two or three years ago. This had been a 

 good strip of timber, consisting of spruce, jack-pine, poplar and birch, from 6 to 

 18 inches. The timber is mostly still standing and the dry cutting greatly 

 retarded our progress. This continued to mile 167. Had this section not been 

 burnt, it would have been one of the best sections of bush we have seen. There 

 are patches of green timber through it and other patches where about 50% of 

 trees are dead. From mile 167 east to mile 3 in the District of Cochrane, we 

 crossed through thick spruce, jack-pine, birch and poplar, 3 to 8 inches in dia- 

 meter, with patches of good timber as mentioned above. From mile 8 east to 

 the end of the line it is mostly swamp with black spruce from 3 to 10 inches with 

 patches of stunted cedars 3 to 12 inches in diameter. 



There were no fires in the district this year, but during the month of July, 

 we were bothered with smoke from fires to the north-west of us. 



Minerals 



There were no indications of minerals in this district. All the outcrops of 

 rock were granite and very few quartz veins through it. 



Streams and Lakes 



There were very few large lakes crossed by our line, the largest ones were 

 Summit Lake, Marshal Lake, O'Sullivan Lake, Storm Lake and Squaw Lake. 

 The Little Jackfish River, Lily River, Kawashkagama River and Esnagami River, 



