remonstrated with on the subject these Indians express their willingness to cultivate the soil as soon as a reserve is definitely given to them, but they hesitate to clear land that may not be within the bounds of such reserve.

Tribe or Nation. - The Indians of this band are pure Ojibbewas.

Vital Statistics. - The population of this band is seventy-eight: twenty-one men, thirty women, and twenty-seven children. During the year there were three deaths and one birth, and marriage and the adoption of an orphan have caused three immigrations and two emigrations.

Health. - The health of the band has been good during the year, for though three deaths are reported, one of them occurred during the previous year in a family that was absent in 1895, and consequently not then reported or known to me.

Buildings. - A few houses belonging to this band have been erected on Bear Island. Some are very good, others are very poor, and from observation and information I judge that the bulk of this band lives in tents all the year round.

Education. - There are no facilities for education. These Indians would willingly erect a school-house and appropriate a portion of their annuity money towards the salary of a teacher if they could have a school built on land that was part of their reserve. The want of the reserve is the impediment in educational as well as other matters. I am glad to know that this matter is receiving the attention of the department.

Religion. - This band is composed entirely of Roman Catholics. A church is in course of creation near the Hudson's Bay post, but though it will be used by the members of this, band, it cannot strictly be said to belong to them. As my intercourse with them is restricted to a few hours each year, I cannot report on their religious characteristics. They seem, however, to be a class usual among other bands of Indians.

Characteristics. - This band is of an unusually hardy character. Of all the Indians I know, they excel in their ability for long and severe labour with the paddle and in portaging.

Temperance and Morality. - Their character in these respects is altogether satisfactory.

WATHA RESERVE, FORMERLY CALLED "GIBSON RESERVE."

Location. - This reserve is situated between the southern end of Lake Muskoka and Georgian Bay, Lake Huron.

Area. - It contains an area of twenty-five thousand acres.

Resources. - The resources of this reserve are agriculture and labour in the lumber woods.

Tribe or Nation. - These Indians are Mohawks, or as they are more generally known, Iroquois. They were originally residents of Oka, P.Q.

Vital Statistics. - This band has a population of one hundred and twenty-four, consisting of twenty-six men, twenty-four women, and seventy-four children. The number of births during the year was six; number of deaths, one; cause, consumption. Several families have emigrated back to Oka to the extent of seventeen individuals. Consequently there is a total decrease in the band of twelve persons. No reason can be given for such emigration beyond the natural restlessness of this band.

Health. - The health of this band has been exceptionally good during the past year.

Occupation. - The band relies chiefly on farming. In winter and early spring the young men find employment in the lumber camps and on drives, and later they act as guides to pleasure and hunting parties.

Buildings. - There have not been any additional buildings erected during the past year.

Education. - One school, taught by a white teacher, under the auspices of the Methodist Missionary Society, is in operation in this band, in which there is a school population of forty-seven children, of whom thirty-nine are entered on the school register