OCTOBEK,1902.] ACCOUNT OF EEGION TKAVER8ED. 13 



g" jwn up to willows and tamaracks. Numerous elevated places occur, 

 rocky 'islands' on which has accumulated a rather thin covering of 

 soil, supporting a moderately heavy growth of black and white spruce 

 {Picea nigra and P. alba, PI. Ill, fig. 1), balsam fir {Abies halsamea), 

 Banksian pine {Pinus divaricata), aspen poplar [Pojmlns treinuloides, 

 PI. Ill, fig. 2), balsam poplar {Populun halsamifera), canoe birch 

 {Betula papy7'i.fera), and tamarack [Larix laricina). These species 

 form the bulk of the forest between Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. 



From the vicinity of Norway House to the Sea River Falls {PI. IV, 

 fig. 2), about 20 miles below, the shores are rather low (see PL II, 

 fig. 2; PI. IV, fig. 1). Then for the few remaining miles before the 

 mouth of the Echimamish is reached the route lies through a channel 

 bordered by rather high banks and forested with birch and poplar. 

 The water of the Echimamish, which flows into Nelson River from the 

 eastward, is very dark and contrasts markedly with that of the Nelson, 

 which carries the whitish waters of Lake Winnipeg. The course here 

 leaves East River and ascends the Echimamish, a short distance from 

 the mouth of which it passes through Hairy Lake, a broad, shallow 

 sheet of water a few miles in length, in which grow extensive patches 

 of bulrush {Scirpus laousti'is). Above this lake for more than 20 miles 

 the Echimamish is a winding, sluggish stream, with an east and west 

 trend, and averages about 60 feet in width. Its banks are low and 

 marshy, and on the lower part extensive swamps border it on 

 either side. Occasional outcrops of gneiss occur, dry ' islands,' 

 which form the only available camping places. The forest consists 

 mainly of spruce, tamarack, and willow, the latter usually predomi- 

 nating. Mosquitos, which swarm over the entire region, are here 

 almost unbearable, and as the shallowness of the water, which is barely 

 deep enough to float a canoe, makes paddling very diflicult, the ascent 

 of this river was perhaps the least pleasant part of our journey. Three 

 dams, at one of which — the second — we did some collecting, are kept 

 up for the purpose of holding back a sufficient amount of water to 

 permit the passage of boats. The stream flows through a flat country 

 and in several places in the upper part of its course, broadens and 

 forms small ponds. In its comparatively still waters the yellow pond 

 lily {Nymphaea) grows abundantly. 



At the Painted Stone, about 36 miles from Norway House, the 

 stream comes to an abrupt termination, and boats are carried across a 

 rock and launched in a small lake with high, rocky shores. From this 

 lake issues a stream generally considered a part of the Echimamish, 

 which in the Cree language signifies ' the river that flows each way.' 

 It would appear that the small lake is fed from some underground 

 source, and that some of its waters escape into the western part of 

 the Echimamish. The vicinity of Painted Stone Portage proved a 

 very good collecting ground. The eastern part of the Echimamish is 



