Januaky 2, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



9 



map of the region as heing the head and reservoir of 

 Rupert's River. Its existence was first made known 

 in the Jesuit relations for the year 1671-72. The ac- 

 count there given consists mainly of the journal of 

 Father Charles Albanel, who was associated with 

 Monsieur Denys de Saint Simon and ' another French- 

 man ' in the exploration of the line of communica- 

 tion (apparently well known to the Indians, but 

 which had never before been traversed by white men) 

 between Lake St. John and Hudson Bay. The 

 geographical details given in this account are exceed- 

 ingly meagre; the chief items in regard to Lake Mis- 

 tassini being that it is said to be so large that the 

 circuit of it could not be made in less than twenty 

 days of fine weather; that it is full of rocks, from 

 which circumstance its name is derived; and that 

 there was an abundance of fish and game in the 

 vicinity. It does not appear that Father Albanel' s 

 party did more than traverse a small arm of this lake, 

 as they were not on it more than one, or possibly two 

 days. 



So far as known to the writer, the first delineation 

 of Lake Mistassini is on a map published by Jaillot 

 in 1685, of which a manuscript copy belonging to the 

 Kohl collection is in the State department in Wash- 

 ington, and temporarily, at the present time, in the 

 possession of Mr. Winsor, librarian of Harvard uni- 

 versity. It does not appear, however, from Mr. Kohl's 

 notes attached to this map, whether the original 

 was engraved or printed; but it is said to have been 

 almost entirely compiled from original Canadian 

 authorities. On it the lake in question bears the name 

 of 'Ticmagaming.' That it is really the lake now 

 known as Mistassini will be evident from what is said 

 farther on. 



This lake also appears under the name of ' Mistasin ' 

 on two maps published by H. Moll in 1715 and 1720. 

 Its shape, however, as indicated on these two maps, 

 is not at all like that given on the Jaillot map; neither 

 is it the same on Moll's two maps. It is clear from 

 the way in which it is represented by the latter, and 

 especially from the manner in which the islands are 

 scattered over its surface, promiscuously and very 

 differently in the two maps, that nothing more was 

 known about it by Moll than that there was a large 

 lake in that position in which were several islands. 



In Bellin's map (1744), which is found in Charle- 

 voix, the same lake is given with a very different form 

 from that which had been previously indicated. It is 

 represented as forming three nearly parallel bodies of 

 water with a general north-east south-west trend, and 

 connected with each other by comparatively narrow 

 channels. To the most north-western of these bodies 

 of water the name of 'Lac des Mistassins ' is given; 

 to the middle one, that of ' Pere Albanel; ' and to the 

 more easterly one, that of ' Lac Dauphin.' 



In the map which forms the geographical basis of 

 the Canada survey (geological) map (1866), this lake 

 (here called 'Mistiashini') appears with a very dif- 

 ferent shape from that given on the Bellin map, and 

 has the appearance of being in part laid down from 

 surveys. The north-eastern and eastern portions, how- 

 ever, are indicated bv a dotted line, from which the 



inference may be drawn that this part of the lake wa- 

 unknown. It is a remarkable fact, however, that the 

 form of the lake, as given on the Geological survey 

 map, resembles quite closely that which it has on the 

 Jaillot map, showing pretty clearly that the western 

 side of the lake was laid down by the last-mentioned 

 compiler from actual exploration. 



This same outline, given on the Geological survey 

 map in 1866, is repeated without variation on the 

 latest general map of Canada, — that published by 

 Stanford, and said to be Arrowsmith's, with additions 

 and corrections bringing it down to 1880. This would 

 indicate that no additions had been made to our 

 knowledge of the geography of that region during 

 the past twenty years. It is a curious fact, how- 

 ever, that on the Arrowsmith-Stanford map. this 

 lake, called ' Mistassinnie,' is moved just one degree 

 farther to the east than it is on the Geological sur- 

 vey map. 



On most of the maps on which the lake is given, it 

 is represented as being some sixty or seventy miles 

 in length, or about half the size of Lake Ontario: 

 although it is clearly evident that its eastern side is 

 unknown, both as to form and position. All that is 

 known about its size, beyond this, is the statement 

 of Pere Albanel, that it was reported to be so large 

 that it would require twenty days of pleasant weather 

 to circumnavigate it; and the opinions of certain per- 

 sons, reported by the Rev. Abbe Laflamme, giving it 

 various dimensions, no clew being given to enable one 

 to decide on the relative weight to be allowed to each 

 person's opinion. The Rev. Abbe Laflamme gives 

 his own statement, that there can be no doubt that 

 Lake Mistassini is larger than Lake Ontario; while 

 the ' old trader,' as already mentioned, says that 

 there is no reason to doubt that it is ' but little inferior 

 in size to Lake Superior.' The positive statement of 

 i Mr. Burgess ' is also added, that the lake is a hun- 

 dred and fifty miles in length : this would be about 

 fifty miles less than Ontario. 



After all, we have, in reference to the dimension of 

 Lake Mistassini, no better evidence to fall back on 

 than that of Father Albanel. What number of miles 

 can be allowed as the equivalent of a tour of twenty 

 days of fine weather, the writer, with the experience 

 of seven summers spent in boating and canoeing on 

 Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, with crews of 

 Indians, half-breeds, and voyagews, is unable to say. 

 An ordinary journey of twenty days in a canoe 

 would, perhaps, carry a traveller around a lake half or 

 two-thirds the size of Ontario, which would coincide 

 with Mr. Burgess's statement. 



While it is possible that Lake Mistassini may be 

 considerably larger than Lake Ontario, the probabili- 

 ties are decidedly in favor of its being somewhat 

 smaller. At all events, geographical information in 

 regard to that region, which does not seem difficult 

 of access, is greatly needed. 



It is easy to see from the above that the name of 

 the lake about which this note is written has been 

 spelled in as many different ways as there are authors 

 or cartographers who have had to do with it. The 

 spelling ' Mistassini ' is here adopted because it is the 



