68 EED EIVEE EXPLOEING EXPEDITION. 



Savanne Eiver. The canoes here were forced through a 

 profusion of aquatic plants, among which the beautiful 

 white water lily, with its golden-hued companion, fre- 

 quently occurred. Willows, small aspen and alder, grew 

 on the banks, but no hill or elevated tableland was visible 

 from the shallow but tortuous river. Once on the open 

 lake, hills about 200 feet high rose into view at some 

 distance on the eastern side. The bushy tops of what 

 appeared to be a grove of elms, were seen near the head 

 of this large and beautiful sheet of water ; again wide 

 tracts of burnt land attracted attention, with a few white 

 pines, remains of a forest long since destroyed. The north- 

 eastern termini of hill ranges slope to the water's edge, 

 and, when bare, are found to be evenly smoothed and 

 ground down. Everywhere on the shores of the first 

 large expansion of the lake, remains of an ancient forest 

 lay black and branchless, or still nourished green and 

 erect amidst a vigorous undergrowth of spruce and aspen. 



Sturgeon Lake and Eiver, or rather a succession of 

 lakes and rivers bearing the above names, extend for 

 thirty-six miles from the Portage des Deux Eivieres to 

 Island Portage, which leads into Pine Lake, a small 

 sheet of water connected by means of a broad river 

 about three and a half miles long, with the great Ne- 

 quauquon Lake or Lac la Croix. 



Mne miles from its head, Sturgeon Lake was found to 

 have forty-five feet depth of water, with a muddy bottom. 

 The temperature of the lake was 68° at six p.m. ; the pines 

 and balsams growing near the shore were seen to be 

 scraped or barked for about a foot near the ground by 

 Indians, for the purpose of procuring gum or resin. 



No lake yet seen on the route can bear comparison 

 for picturesque scenery with Sturgeon Lake. The nu- 

 merous deep bays, backed by high- wooded hills or rocks, 



