52 TRANSACTIONS. 1897-8. 



SECOND DIVISION. 



Passing to the other great division of place-names, tech- 

 nically the enchorial^ they are of Indian and Canadian origin — 

 using the word Canadian to include Nova Scotians, New 

 Brunswickers, and all others, as well as the inhabitants of Old 

 Canada. 



They include (i) names derived from physical character- 

 istics ; (2) names derived from individuals of local fame. 



The first class includes the Indian names of the country. 

 These have the full, imadulterated flavour of the soil about 

 them. They are aboriginal in their bouquet. Long before 

 the coming of the White Man — long before De Monts sailed 

 from Port Royal (now Annapolis) along the coast to Florida 

 without finding a trace of the White Man — the Indian tribes 

 had mapped out this continent and divided it among them- 

 seves. With their keen eyes and practical habits they applied 

 place-names which embalm physical characteristics whose apt- 

 ness, we, of these times, have no difficulty in recognizing. 

 Most of the orographic place-names of to-day are of their coin- 

 ing. Thus, Massachusetts — "the great blue hill." 



Many of the rivers owe their names to the Indians : — 

 Mississippi, Saskatchewan, Assiniboine. Many of the portages 

 over which the canoes were carried from one water-stretch to 

 another still bear Indian names. 



In the case of the imported place-names, those formed of 

 material from outside, I used the Provinces of British Columbia 

 and New Brunswick as repositories from which to draw illus- 

 trations. In the case of the Indians the other provinces may 

 be drawn upon. 



Manitoba is an Indian word meaning Strait of the 

 Spirit^ the Indian legend being that in the narrower 

 portions of Lake Manitoba strange noises were heard by the 

 Indians. These noises, not accounted for by any experience 

 of the Indians, were considered supernatural, and, therefore, 

 caused by the Manitou — the Great Spirit. Pere Lacombe 

 says the word should be Manitoivapan^ supernatural or god- 

 like — the Indian dwellers on the shores of Lake Manitoba 

 deeming it to possess supernatural qualities ; whether in the 

 way of noisemaking or in the line of healing or what else, 

 not specified. 



Assiniboia^ perpetuates the Assiniboins — a tribe of Indians 

 "whose name is thought by some to mean Stone boilers and 



