MacDonell, John. Description of Lake Athabasca and the Chipweans, ca. 1805 and Journal of a Voyage from Lachine to Fort River Qu'Appelle, 1793. An electronic transcription. MFTP #0005

and one in breadth. This lake is the main source of the Little River the whole of which from Matawin is computed by the men to be thirty leagues to the first portage of the vases[.] Lac La Tortue is much clearer water than the little River. Leaving this lake we have three portages running called the vases. The men will have the first vase to be some perches longer than the Grand Callumet and is the hight of land dividing the waters which fall into the Ottawa from those which fall into Lake Huron. After passing le grand des vases we found a small rivulet which brought us to Lake Nipising[.] It is curious to see the North West and Mackinac trade carried on through a small creek that a man can in many places jump over, after following this brook for half a league we came to the second Portage of the vases, after which the brook is joined by another about as big, which made it sufficiently deep to float a loaded Canoe until you came to the third or last vase; at the entrance

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