In the report of his explorations in 1899 Mr. D. B. Dowling of the Geological Survey states:—“In the southern part of the district, north of Lake Winnipeg, spruce of both the white and black species is found of fair diameter, but in going north the size materially decreases. Over the major portion of the rocky country Banksian pine is the principal tree, which, though not large enough in general for timber, might in the future be of use for pulp wood. “The hilly country to the south of Sisipuk lake and northwest of Loon lake is not well timbered but the lower land between the two and on the islands is fairly well covered by groves of small spruce.” Mr. Dowling, in his report of 1901 on Ekwan district (See p. 21), states:— “The timber along the coast gradually becomes smaller as we go northward and the tree-line recedes from the shore, leaving it finally at the Opinnagow so that the country behind that cape is more or less an open plain. The shore, where the trees are at a distance from the beach, is generally an even mud slope, covered above high tide with grass, followed by a wide belt of stunted willows (gray) which look somewhat like the sagebush of the western plains. Behind this, a few isolated spruces of small stature appear before the tree line is reached. In sailing along this coast, it is impossible to know which way to steer so as to run parallel with the land, as nothing can be seen ahead by which to shape one’s course.” As to the timber in the interior of Ekwan river district, Mr. Dowling reports:—“Along the streams there is a narrow fringe of timber, but in approaching the tree-limit this becomes very small. Back from the immediate slopes of the rivers the surface is nearly level, and moss-covered, with scattered groups of small spruce and tamarack. The greater part of the interior is reported to be muskeg (open bog). A small collection of about forty species of shore plants was made at the mouths of Ekwan and Albany rivers. “Mr. Dowling found the surface of the terrace of Ekwan river to be covered with a thick coating of moss, and the timber on it is mostly small spruce and tamarack. Some of the trees might be from six to eight inches in diameter, but the average is much less. At the edges of the bank a fringe of larger trees occasionally appears, but it does not extend far from the stream.” RED LAKE RIVER AND RED LAKE. In his report of his 1893 explorations Mr. Dowling says the timber on the banks of Red lake river “is mostly poplar of a fair size with a sprinkling of birch and black spruce. The birch average twelve inches in diameter, but only a few of the spruce trees were found over eighteen inches.”