ordinarily reliable sources, including the local agent for the collection of Ontario's vital statistics and the town's two newspapers, estimate that the population is as high as nearly ten thousand. The ethnic origins of most residents are from the British Isles, the descendants of whom have overwhelmed the indigenous Missinabi population. Major sources of in migration are the Maritime provinces, northern Ontario and Massachusetts. Major destinations of out migration, especially for educational and economic reasons, are the nearby provincial metropolis. Mariposans follow diverse Christian denominations according to their ethnic origins, but the Anglicans are clearly most dominant, followed in no particular order by Presbyterians, Salvationists, Methodists and Roman Catholics. Mallory Thomkins of the Times-Herald newspaper is the only outspoken agnostic or atheist. Economy There are several sectors of the economy, and each will be discussed in turn. Primary industry and agriculture Mariposa was attractive to its first inhabitants as a source of primary industries. Swampy areas near the Ossawippi River and nearby shallow reedy areas on Lake Wissanotti itself provided excellent homes for waterfowl and excellent killing grounds for duck hunters. Both fowl and human feasted on abundant bass, chub and the native maskinonge (piscis mariposis) fish. The townsite was occupied by pine and hemlock woods and its reduced remains still ring the town. Choice hardwoods like elm and maple are south of Mariposa, while north of town are tamarack and willow. Although Mariposa is south of Spanish River lumber country, it still maintains a planing factory or sawmill on the lakeshore near the railway siding and every spring there is a huge influx of rough lumbermen. In the immediate vicinity of Mariposa, there are some fair crop farms, but in the extremities of Tecumseh Township and Missinaba County, forbidding rocks, fetid swamps and dense forests of the north country of the Canadian or Laurentian Shield make the soil large scale cultivation of grains or fruits impractical. Livestock farming is somewhat more successful, and the Mariposa Packing Company is always kept busy. Secondary industry, commerce and finance Excluding the sawmill, there is very little industry in town, notably only the Mariposa Carriage Co. This may be partly explained by the erratic nature of the distribution of hydro-electric power generated by the dam on the Lower Ossiwipi River nineteen miles (30 km) north at the rapids. Only on official occasions is the forty or so foot wide bustling downtown thoroughfare of