CHURCHILL AND NELSON RIVERS. 15 P 



of tho lake waslu^s Uio l>aso of a i-idno of di-ift, wliicli cxIcmkIs for sonic 

 miles to the nortli-east and soutli-wost, and presents a hiirv bunk of 

 clay rising about sixty feet alH)vo the wiitcr, from wliicb tbc lake 

 derives its name. The water is clear, and on the 26th of July il had a 

 temperature of ()7° Fah. It abounds with tish, ineiudiiii^ K»'<^,y li'oiiU Kish. 

 some of which are very large, whitetish, j)ike, pickerel, dog-tish and 

 suckers. Its elevation above the soa a|)poars from my barometi-ical ].jij.v„ti..ii. 

 observations to bo 9:>() feet. The country around is green, the timber 

 consisting of si)ruce, white birch, a^spen, balsam-poplar and tamarac. "'uer. 



The creneral course of the Little Churchill River, all the way fi'omLittic 



=> . . . , Churchill Kiver 



the southern extremity of Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake to its junction with 



the (Jreat rimrchill, is nearly north-east, and the distance between the 



points about ninety miles in a straight line. For three miles below (he 



(uitlet the river has a tranquil course, and then expands into a small 



lake, but below this, for some seventeen miles, it is broken, here and 



there, by ra])ids, past some of which short portages require to be Kai.id.<. 



made. Solid gneiss i-ock occurs at the rapids, but elsewhere the banks 



ctmsist of clay, gravel or sand. Further on the river flows for a few 



miles with a gentle current, among islands and lagoons, with occasional 



banks of clay, covered in some places with peat four feet thick. The 



• . . ,. , , , , . ] Wood-cut. 



accompanying w'ood-cut is from a photograph taken at the lower end 

 of this stretch, looking up-stream. At thirty-eight miles from the 

 southern extremity of Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake, the Switching River 

 falls in from the left side, and at five miles further we enter the Recluse Reoiuso Lakes. 

 Lakes, which are of small size and coniiected by a short sluggish por- 

 tion of the river. So far the woods along the river have been gencrall}^ 

 green, but below these lakes the timber is mostly burnt ail (he way to ^"'"^ country. 

 the Great Churchill. 



The rock of the east side of Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake is a coarsely^ .^. 



•^ Syenitic gneisa, 

 crj'stalline, massive, greyish-red syenitic gneiss, but along the river, 



especially in the tirst twenty miles below the lake, other varities of 

 gneiss are exposed at the rapids. The strike is not uniform, but in most 

 cases it approaches a south-westward direction. The Recluse Lakes lie 

 in the north-eastern part of a valley four miles wide, excavated in the 

 great clay deposit which is everywhere spread over this region. Along 

 the north-west side the banks are from 100 to 150 feet high. On leaving 

 the lakes a few rapids occur, but below these, the river, for a long dis- 

 tance, flows in a crooked channel of uniibrm breadth with a tolerably 

 swift current, between banks of clay, var3'ing fnmi twenty to one 

 hundred and tifty feet in height, but averaging from forty to fifty feet. 

 The upper part of this deposit ai)pcars to be a modiflcd clay, with 

 occasional layers of gravel, and sometimes a ridge of gravel and sand 



