160 General Notes. [February; 
some coarse grass on the hummocks and along the seashore, 
and a dense growth of moss is all the vegetation. Lieut. Ray is 
satisfied that there is no open Polar sea from the fact that the 
temperature of the water does not alter between October and 
July, as it must do if a large body of warmer water existed 
round the pole. 
Lake Mistassinti—Little that is definite appears to be as yet 
known respecting the actual dimensions of Lake Mistassini and 
other bodies of water reported to exist in the north-eastern part 
of the Province of Quebec and in Labrador. A French mission- 
ary, writing in 1672, says that Lake Mistassini is “ believed to be 
so large that it took twenty days to walk around it.” Mr. 
Burgess affirms that it is 150 miles in length, and abounds in 
dep bogs. An old trader of the “Compagnie des Postes du 
oi,” who was stationed on it for several years, estimated its least 
width at ninety miles. The account of 1672 mentions another 
lake “ten days round, and surrounded by lofty mountains.” 
These lakesappear to occupy a depression similar to that occu- 
pied by Lakes St. John, Temiscaming, and many smaller lakes to 
the south ward, and Silurian limestone has been observed on 
Lake Mistassini as well as at Lake St. John. The former lake is 
supposed to be about 1300 feet above the sea, and the land 
between it and Lake St. John to the south of it, does not rise 
above 1500 feet, while Lake St. John is only 300 feet above the 
sea. The plain around Lake Mistassini is said to be very fertile. 
and attention has recently been called to the magnificent forests 
and fertile soil of the country around Hudson’s bay, to the north 
of it. Three expeditions have been dispatched during the past 
summer to explore the lake region; one by way of Lake St. 
John, another by the River Betsiamits, and a third from New- 
foundland. The last expedition has orders to land scientific 
observers at various points upon the coast of Labrador, where they 
will spend the winter. The vast plain stretching north and west 
of Lake St. John has a clayey soil of great fertility, and a climate 
equal to that of Montreal. Thousands of settlers are already 
there, and the dense forest is disappearing. The explorations in 
progress will doubtless open up extensive areas for colonization, 
besides adding largely to our geographical knowledge. 
American Notes—The articles found by an Eskimo upon a 
floe in Julianshaab bay appear to have been those left on the 
occasion when, according to the’ rt of Messrs. Danenhower 
and Melville, the escaping crew of the ¥eanette camped for a few 
days on some ice-floes. Among them are the lower part of a 
tent, the sides of a wooden chest, with some words in pencil 
written upon them, a bill of lading, a torn book of cheques, a pair 
of oil-skin trousers marked “ Louis Noros,” and a bear skin. The 
ice-floe must have drifted about 2500 miles, and as this occupied 
