752 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The Kewagama-Opasatika Lake Country 
More New Territory Explored by us for the Big Game Hunter 
EW camping, canoeing, hunting 
and fishing possibilities are be¬ 
ing revealed constantly as offi¬ 
cial explorations of the country 
contiguous to the new Canadian 
Transcontinental line are com¬ 
pleted. In Forest and Stream 
of December 5, an outline and 
description of the Bell River region east of 
Cochrane in Quebec was given, the facts re¬ 
vealed as to the plentitude of game having as¬ 
tounded sportsmen who perhaps had concluded 
from previous experiences that the big game era 
of this continent was over. 
Equally interesting is the article published be¬ 
low, dealing with another section 
bounded mostly on the north by 
the Transcontinental line in Que¬ 
bec, and beginning at Abitibi 
lake. This region has been visit¬ 
ed only infrequently by trappers 
and Indians who have gone into 
it by canoe from Lac des Quinze 
and Timiskaming. Now that the 
new Canadian governmental line 
is being completed, it is accessible 
from Cochrane in Northern On¬ 
tario. The districts at a distance 
from the railway may be reached 
by canoe along the numerous 
waterways in its vicinity, the par¬ 
ticular route to be taken depend¬ 
ing on the destination desired. 
For the western part, the La 
Sarre river affords an uninter¬ 
rupted waterway to Lake Abitibi, 
from which the Abiti'bi-Timis- 
kaming canoe route may be fol¬ 
lowed southward. The Kinojevis 
river can also be reached from 
the La Sarre by way of Lake 
Afbitibi and a canoe route which 
leads across the height of land 
from the eastern extremity of 
Lake Agotawekami through Ka- 
kameonan and Dufresnoy lakes. 
This route, however, requires con¬ 
siderable portaging and follows 
small streams, the headwaters of 
which become impassable in time 
of drought. 
After the construction of the Timiskaming and 
Northern Ontario railway to Matheson, Ontario, 
a common means of access to Lake Abitibi was 
by canoe from that point along the Black and 
Abitibi rivers. A number of launches and steam¬ 
boats were maintained on this route by the 
Walsh Transportation Company during the sum¬ 
mers of 1908, 1909, and the early part of 1910, 
but were withdrawn as soon as the construction 
of the National Transcontinental railway to Lake 
Abitibi rendered them unnecessary. 
At the eastern border of the map, there is 
another line of communication transverse to the 
National Transcontinental railway, along the 
Harricanaw river which is navigable without in¬ 
terruption as far south as La Motte lake. Be¬ 
tween the Harricanaw and the La Sarre (White- 
fish), the streams lie adjacent to the height of 
land and are consequently small. The Ville- 
montel and Kewagama rivers, however, afford 
a tolerably good canoe route from the outlet of 
Fork creek—a point within a half mile of the 
railway—to Kewagama lake. The V'illemontel 
meanders greatly and is interrupted by a num¬ 
ber of rapids and a log jam, but the portages are 
short and the rapids can all be run when the 
water is high. 
Another canoe route has recently been cut out 
leading from the southeast corner of Lois lake 
to a series of lakes which occupy a north-south 
gorge-like valley in the Abijevis hills, and thence 
to Horsetail lake and the Kinojevis river. This 
route is, however, very rough and requires over 
4 miles of portaging and for this reason is not 
commonly used. 
The usual means of communication for the 
southern part of this region is by canoe through 
some of the waterways tributary to Lac des 
Quinze. There are two roads which may be 
followed from Lake Timiskaming to Lac des 
Quinze, one which leads from Ville Marie to 
Gillies farm at the south end of Lac des Quinze, 
and the other, from North Timiskaming to 
Klock’s farm 15 miles farther north on the same 
lake. The country adjacent to the Kinojevis 
river may be reached from Lac des Quinze 
either by way of the upper Ottawa and Lake 
Expanse, through Roger and Caron, or through 
Barriere, Albee, and Kekeko lakes. The region 
in the vicinity of Lake Opasatika is easily ac¬ 
cessible from Lac des Quinze along the Abitibi 
canoe route of which Opasatika forms a part; 
but it can also be reached from the Timiskaming 
and Northern Ontario railway by road from 
Dane to Larder lake and thence by the canoe 
route which leads from Larder through Raven 
lake to Opasatika. 
The earliest explorations in the region were 
those of the French who penetrated the northern 
wilderness of eastern Canada in quest of furs. 
From the days of the coureur du bois until re¬ 
cent years, however, the district has remained 
a wilderness practically unknown except to the 
Indian, the fur trader, and the missionary. The 
extension of lumbering operations to the upper 
Ottowa about 40 years ago, resulted in consid¬ 
erable activity in the southern 
part of the region for a time, but 
these operations had largely 
ceased when interest in the region 
was again revived by the con¬ 
struction of the National Trans¬ 
continental railway. 
The discovery of the silver- 
bearing veins at Cobalt in 1903 
was followed by much pros¬ 
pecting activity in adjacent re¬ 
gions, to which a further im¬ 
petus was given by the discov¬ 
ery of gold bearing quartz veins 
at Porcupine in 1909. Following 
the Cobalt discovery, a number 
of prospectors visited this region 
and in July 1906, Messrs. Al¬ 
phonse Ollier and Auguste Ren- 
auld made a discovery of gold 
on the south shore of For¬ 
tune lake, about 2 miles northeast 
of the north end of Lake Opasa¬ 
tika. Operations were com¬ 
menced on this property in 1907, 
but no progress was made until 
the past year when active devel¬ 
opment work was begun. 
The summer camper who visits 
the region therefore can excite 
his soul with the thought that 
perhaps he may discover a new 
Cobalt or Porcupine silver or 
gold district. It is quite likely 
nevertheless, that his discoveries 
will be of game and fish rather than valuable 
minerals. 
Some of the larger lakes of the region and 
areal extent are: 
Lake Abitibi 335 square miles, Lake Duparquet 
16 square miles, Lois 6 square miles, Makamik 
18 square miles, Lake Dufault 14 square miles, 
Dasserat 15 square miles, Opasitika 20 square 
miles, Kekeko 5 square miles, Kewagama 48 
square miles. 
The fauna of the Abitibi district includes the 
usual species found in northern Ontario and 
Quebec. Of the larger game, the moose is most 
abundant and although from 50 .to 60 of these 
are killed, each season, during the months of 
June and July by the Indians assembled at Abi- 
(Continued on page 770.) 
