first towards the north-east until mid-segment, then towards the north passing in front of the hamlet "La Martine" and bypassing Île à Ringuette, to the confluence of the Grande Rivière Désir (coming from the west); to the east by crossing a dike, then a few rapids, to a bend in the river; to the north in a deep valley crossing Martine Falls, forming a detour west to go around a mountain, passing on the east side of the Twin Mountains and crossing on the bay of Villa-des-Érables, passing under the bridge of route 169 and under the railway bridge of Canadian National, up to at its mouth. Note: The MacDonald River flows onto the east shore of this bay. At its mouth on the south shore of lac Saint-Jean, the Métabetchouane river forms a small lake, between the village of Chambord to the west and Desbiens to the east. From the mouth of the Métabetchouane river on the south shore of lac Saint-Jean, the current crosses the latter on towards the northeast, then follows the course of the Saguenay River via La Petite Décharge on until Tadoussac where it merges with the Saint Lawrence estuary. Toponymy Its name is of Innu origin, but cognates exist in other Cree and Anishinabe dialects. From the roots matabi and djiwan (spelled matapetshuan in the modern Innu orthography), it can be translated as "river that empties into a lake". History The mouth of the river may have been a seasonal Innu camp for thousands of years and the river itself was used as a route between Lake Saint-Jean and the Quebec City region. Important archaeological excavations on the banks of the river led, in the 1960s, to the discovery of a site frequented by the Amerindians since approximately 5000 years. In 1647, Jean de Quen was the first European to visit the place but his report did not make mention of the river. Some two decades later in 1676, the first reference was made of this river as Metabeki8an in the second register of Tadoussac. A French trading post was erected at its mouth in 1676. That same year, Jesuits established the Saint-Charles Mission at the river's mouth. In the mid 19th century, William Price began logging along the length of the river and it was used for a long time for log driving. See also List of rivers of Quebec References Rivers of