28 J GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Danbyand To the eastward ofCharleton lie two small islands; the southern, 



ary s an s ca ]i e( j D anD y, being two-thirds of a mile distant; the northern or 

 Cary, two miles from Charleton. 



Between these islands and Charleton is a deep channel, through which 

 the tide runs, with a current varying from three to five miles an hour. 

 At House Point the water is deep close along the shore, and it was 

 here that Captain James wintered his ship in 1631 ; heie, also, in 1675 

 the Hudson Bay Company's ships discharged their cargoes from Eng- 

 land, and took in the furs brought from the different forts on the Bay 

 in sloops. Iu 1695 this depot was abandoned, and the anchorage has 



Wintering since been used only by the Company's ships when obliged to winter 



place for ships- , ~ 



in the Bay, as it is the only moderately safe place in the southern part 

 of James Bay where a ship may winter and allow the crew to obtain 

 good water and fuel. The last ship wintered here in 1884; remains of 

 the low huts, partly built in the ground for the officers and crew, are to 

 be seen about one-quarter of a mile south of House Point on the first 

 plateau island, near a fine large spring of clear water, which never dries 

 or freezes, and is consequently available throughout the year. On the 

 point is the frame of a large shed, formerly covered with sails, in 

 which the ship's cargo was stored. The only drawback to this place 

 as a wintering ground is that the strong current setting up and down 

 the channel causes it to open early in the spring, and it then carries 

 large masses of ice forward and backward, which striking the ship are 

 a source of great damage and danger. 

 Trees. The soil of the high interior land being light and sandy, the rain 



readily soaks in, and consequently no lakes or streams are found on 

 the surface, which is partly covered with moss. The trees growing in 

 the interior are chiefly small white and black spruce, with a few aspen 

 and balsam poplar, growing much thicker to the northward than on 

 the southern parts, where they form open glades, the intervening 

 spaces supporting a growth of small birch (Betula pumila) from one 

 to two feet high. About one-half of the south-eastern portion of the 

 plateau has been burnt over, leaving nothing but the bare sandy plain 

 with small patches of moss growing on it, and presenting a very barren 

 appearance. Between the escarpment and the shore, also on the low 

 swampy lands on the west side, the trees are almost wholly made up of 

 black spruce, with a few tamarac and balsam poplar. Fringing the 

 shore are extensive areas of low willows, beyond which grasses and 

 sedges alone grow over these portions at or near high water mark, 

 where the shore is frequently overflowed by the tide. Cariboo and 

 black bears in small numbers are found on the island; white bears often 

 Rabbits and l an( 3 after heavy gales on its northern shores ; rabbits are very plenti- 

 other animals. ful) but the ig]and Lg chicfly noted fol . th(? beavers that abound iu all its 



