The extreme rise and fall of the tide at the mouth of the river is 62
feet 3 inches. The usual rise and fall is from 8 to 12 feet less,
depending on the stage of the river. At Fort Chimo the tide rises as
much as 31 feet. The backwater is held in check as far as the upper
rapids in a common stage of water, and during a high rise in the month
of June the water is "backed" some 3 miles beyond the upper rapids.
The branches of the Koksoak river are few and unimportant. The larger
tributary is the Larch river. It is a rapid and almost unnavigable
stream of variable depth, mostly shallow, and 100 to nearly 400 yards
wide.
At about 40 miles from its mouth the Larch forks, the lower or southwest
fork draining the eastern sides of the same mountains whose western
slopes are drained by the Little Whale river. This southwest fork of the
Larch river is quite small and scarcely capable of being ascended,
although it may, with great caution, be descended. This is the course
followed by the Little Whale river Indians when they traverse the
country to join the Naskopies of the Koksoak valley. The northwest
branch of the Larch is still smaller and is reported to issue from the
swampy tract of land in about latitude 58° 30´.
The next large river is the Leaf. Its mouth is about 34 miles northwest
of Fort Chimo, and it flows into a peculiarly shaped bay named
Tass´iyak, or "like a lake." The length of the river proper is estimated
to be but 40 miles, flowing from a very long and narrow lake, having its
longer axis extending southwestward and draining the greater part of the
swampy tract lying in latitude 58° 30´. The southwestern portion of this
tract is merely an area covered with innumerable small lakes so
intimately connected by short water courses that it is difficult to
determine whether water or land constitutes the greater part of the
area. The rivers to the west are of less importance and drain the rugged
area forming the northwestern portion of the district, or that part
lying under the western third of Hudson strait.
The principal portion of Hudson strait that came under my observation is
Ungava bay. This bay is a pocket-shaped body of water lying south of the
strait and toward its eastern end. Soundings in various portions of this
bay indicate a depth of 28 to 70 fathoms for the central area. The
bottom appears to be uniformly the washings from the freshwater streams.
The extreme tides of Hudson strait tend to produce the most violent
currents in this bay. Opposite the entrance of Leaf river bay is a
whirlpool of considerable size, which causes much trouble to navigation.
It is safe enough at high water but very dangerous at half-tide.
The large island known as Akpatok lies in such a position as to break
much of the current along the south side of the middle of the strait,
but to give additional force to the currents at either end. This island
is about 100 miles long and has an average width of 18 miles. It is the
largest island in the strait proper.
The coast line of the northwest portion of the mainland is imperfectly
known, as is the western coast forming the eastern shore of Hudson bay.
Navigation in any portion of Hudson strait is attended with much danger,
not alone from the tremendous energy of the tides but also from the
quantity of ice to be found at all times. During the months of August
and September the strait is comparatively free from large fields of ice,
but after that date the harbors, coves, and other anchorages are apt to
be frozen up in a single night.