low.] LAKE MISTASSINI. 17 1> 



Covering the higher ground, at the southern end, white spruce, pop- TreeJ: 

 lar, balsam-spruce and white birch trees were found, some of which 

 had a diameter of eighteen inches, three feet from the ground. The 

 swamps are covered with a thick growth of small-sized black spruce 

 and tamarac, and the small areas of burned land are generally clad 

 with a second-growth of banksian pine. 



Mr. Macoun, in his report, also gives a list of the birds found about 

 the lake. The waters of Mistassini and all the adjoining large lakes 

 are full of fish. The principal kinds are lake-trout, river-trout, white- Fish. 

 fish, pike, pickerel, and sucker, all of large size and fine quality. These 

 fisheries would be of considerable commercial value if access could be 

 bad to them by railway. 



Fish is the chief article of food of the Indians around the lake. 

 During the spawning season in the autumn, when the fish come into 

 (he shallow water, large numbers are caught in nets, then cleaned and 

 smoked for the winter supply. In the winter, the fish are caught on 

 bunks through boles in the ice. The Hudson Bay Company's people 

 also catch and salt a large quantity. 



There are twenty-six families of Indians, about one hundred and In]ian ^ 

 twenty-live persons in all. living around the lake and trading with the 

 Hudson Bay Company there. These Indians speak a dialect of the 

 Algonkin language, and belong to the Mistassini tribe of that great 

 family. They are mostly short, and of poor physique, although there 

 are exceptions to the rule. Very few of them are now of pure Indian 

 blood. They live by hunting fur-bearing animals during the winter, 

 the skins of which they barter with the Hudson Bay Company for 

 flour and other provisions, and articles of clothing. 



As there are no longer any deer in the country, and small game, 

 such as rabbits and partridges, are scarce ; if it were not for the pro- 

 visions supplied by the Company, these Indians would be unable to live. 

 As it is, cases of death by starvation are by no means uncommon 

 during the winter. In the summer, all the able-bodied men descend 

 the Bupert Biver in large canoes to Bupert House, with the furs taken 

 during the winter, and return with supplies for the ensuing year. 



The greater part of these Indians can read and write in the Cree 

 characters, and have several books printed in that form. They all 

 profess Christianity, . although it is mingled with their old beliefs, 

 as they still have their sorcerers, who profess to be able to do many 

 things by the aid of evil spirits. A missionary, under the Church 

 Missionary Society of England, comes inland from Hudson Bay once 

 in two or three years, and performs the ceremonies of marriage 

 and christening as required. During his absence, one of the Indians 

 conducts the church service at all gatherings. 



