Specially referring to waterpowers, Mr. McInnes, in the report of his explorations in 1906 (See p. 23), says:—“Between Lake Winnipeg and Split lake, a distance of about two hundred and twenty-five miles, the Nelson river has a descent of approximately two hundred and seventy-five feet. The current between the numerous lake expansions is generally swift, and upwards of a dozen falls and rapids occur, some of the former offering magnificent sites for water powers. The aggregate power that could be generated along the river is enormous, as the amount of water passing over the various falls is very great. The volume of the river can be appreciated by a consideration of the extent of its drainage area, which embraces all the country westward to the mountains between the watershed of the Churchill and Athabaska on the north, and the Missouri on the south, and eastward to the head waters of Albany river, and within fifty miles of Lake Superior.” Mr. Owen O’Sullivan, in his 1906 report (See p. 23), states that the shores of Assean lake, which is about twelve miles long and a mile wide, are “well wooded with black spruce, tamarack, and white birch.” The forest growth at Waskaiowaka lake is chiefly black spruce and white birch of from four to fourteen inches in diameter. Mr. O’Sullivan describes a hill of drift “covered mostly with black spruce averaging eight inches in diameter” as rising for two hundred feet above the level of the water on the east side of the expansion of the Little Churchill below Waskaiowaka lake. As far down as the junction of Switching river the country on both sides of the Little Churchill produces black spruce, white birch and tamarack of small size. From a point eighty miles down the Little Churchill northward, the country, which was overrun by a fire that occurred some forty years ago, is now partly covered with bunches of second-growth black spruce, tamarack and white birch. Bunches of spruce and tamarack that escaped the fires were frequently met close to the water’s edge. In his evidence before the Senate committee of 1907, Mr. O’Sullivan stated that in his trip in 1906, the only timber he saw was at Split lake—spruce, poplar and white birch, from four to eighteen inches in diameter. The country between there and Big lake is swampy and bears black spruce with small spruce averaging four to six inches in diameter, which would make good pulpwood. Then around Wabishkok there are birch and white spruce, and so on. They are a little larger, as large as six to eighteen inches in some places, occurring in isolated groves. The black spruce would average in the nice terraces and level clay slopes from the lake about eighteen inches. They grow that size and more. North of that, between there and the tree limit or the open barren ground, the country was RUN OVER BY FIRE