Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library 11 !j O i J L161 — H41 Digitized by the internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of iiiinois Urbana-Champaign Aiternates https://archive.org/details/redrivercountryh00russ_1 THE RED RIVER COUNTRY, HUDSON’S BAY & NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES, CONSIDEEED IN RELATION TO CANADA. FORT GARRY. THE RED RIVER COUNTRY, nnn biv Jt iorth-wr TERRITORIES, CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO CANADA, WITH THE LAST TWO REPORTS OP S. J. DAWSON, ESQUIRE, C. E,, ON THE LINE OF ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. ACCOMPANIED BY A MAP. Third Edition, Illustrated. BY A1.EX. i; itUSSlElil., C. E., INSPECTOR OP CROWN TIMBER AGENCIES, CANADA EAST AND WEST. MONTREAL: PUBLISHED BY G. E. DESBARATS- 1870 . Entered, according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the ^ ear One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-nine, BY GEORGE E. DESBARATS, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE CANADIAN ILLUSTRATED NEWS, MONTREAL. /3 ro ir< K ^ !‘ R E F ACE. ^ This Pamphlet is intended to present such a summary of the information, giA^eii by diHerent AA^riters, respecting the Ived Rh^ei’, Hudson’s Bay and North-West Territories, arranged under their natural geographical diAUsions, as may be sufficient to giA^e a general aTcaa' of their character and comparatiA^e A’alue to Canada. It Avill be seen by the Table of Contents that I liaA^e endea- A'oured to present a practical aTcaa^ of the reasons AAffiy AA"e require these Territories, or part of them ; also, of our means of maintaining communication wnth them, and of the comparatHe superiority of the routes through our oaaui Territory as high- AA^ays for the future commerce of the interior, and for commu- nication AAuth the Pacific ProAunces. Ottaaa^a, 18 fi 8 . A. J. BUSSELL. 94 f 426 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Subjects to be considered, indicated. — Total extent of Hudson’s Bay and North- West Territories. — They resemble Russia in Europe. — Canada, with them added to it, will much exceed European Russia in extent, equal it in fertil- ity, and much exceed it in maritime advantages — which have been greatly increased by Confederation, with the Eastern Provinces. — Great increase of shipping and seamen thereby. — Importance of adjoining territories to Canada. — Evil of undervaluing even inferior territories. — Territories to be con- sidered, classified 1 CHAPTER II. EAST MAIN, OR THE PENINSULA OF LABRADOR. Extent. — Parts appertaining to Canada, Newfoundland, and Hudson’s Bay Company. — Early discovery of it. — Physical Character. — Wooded and baiTen parts. — Resembles Lapland. — Vegetables grow in south parts only. — Main Factory. — Hamilton Inlet ; farm there, — Valuable fisheries on Atlantic coast. — Less so on west coast, except for seals 5 CHAPTER III. SOUTH HUDSON’S BAY TERRITORY. Extent. — Physical character. — Broad Silurian Plain around Hudson’s Bay with clay soil. — Rocky Laurentian formation covers southern and western half after passing through Canada. — Laurentide Range described. — Declines in height northward. — Favorable passage through it for Railway to Red River. — Climate at York Factory. — Cultivation at Albany and Moose Forts, barley, potatoes and vegetables ; also, at Ports of Henly, Martin’s Falls, Osnaburg, on Albany River and Lac Seule, with oats and wheat at New Brunswick House, on Moose River. — Seasons at Martin’s Falls. — Cultivation at Norway House, Lake Winnipeg, and of wheat and Indian corn at Fort Alexander and Lake of the Woods. — Boundary of Silurian Basin of Hudson’s Bay. — Fertile Belt and good climate for wheat on Eainy River.— Wheat and In- dian corn at Islington. — Climate of south part equal to Lower Canada for cultivation, — South half of this section equal to Finland for cultivation, and twice as large. — Has timber of value and rich fisheries. — Water com- munication to Hudson’s Bay. — Ultimate value of this territory. — Errors through prejudice in such matters 9 CHAPTER IV. NORTH Hudson’s bay territory, or barren groUxNd. Boundaries and extent, — Valueless. — Extreme barenness. — Arctic vegetation. — Reindeer and Musk Ox. — Possible metallic wealth 20 • CHAPTER V. NORTH m’kENZIE RIA^ER COUNTRY, Extent. — Physical character. — Severe climate. — Fertile soil. — Coal and tim- ber. — Crops and temperature at Fort Simpson. — Barley, &c. — South half equal to Vologda, in Russia, in extent and for cultivation. — River McKen- zie. — Possible value of its navigation to Arctic whale fisheries. — Sir Alex. McKenzie’s voyage in discovery of it. — Great abundance of lignite coal. — Probable future value of this territory. — Products and exports of Vologda and Archangel 22 CHAPTER VI. PELLY RIA'ER AND MOUNTAIN COUNTRY. Extent and physical character resemble Sweden and Norway, but United States own the coast. — Alpine character. Rocky Mountains and other ranges impregnable as a barrier. — Great elevation of interior and extreme cold of winter, but summer sufficient for growth of barley throughout. — Temperatures at Fort Youcan, Pelly’s banks, and Sitka compared, and Sitka with Mon- treal. — Humid and temperate climate of coast. — Better a little inland and in south part. — Explorations there, — Tracts of good land. — Indian cultiva- tion. — Immense coal bed, — Abundance of salmon. — Rich gold fields, and valuable timber forests 26 CHxVPTER VII. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY, OR RED RIVER, SASKATCHEWAN AND PEACE RIVER TERRITORY. Position and extent. — Suitableness for cultivation equal to Canada. — Import- ance of it to Canada. — Topographical character. — Is part of great central plain of Silurian and more recent formations. — Prevalence of limestone along IX. past side and in Rocky Mountains. — Sir Rodk. Murcliison’s opinion, — Vast beds of lignite coal extending along the base of the mountains. — Form and natural divisions by river systems, and their areas, — General features as to elevation. — Gradual ascent of plain to Rocky Mountains. — Character and elevation of them. — Glacier nucleus at sources of Saskatchewan, Athabasca and River Columbia. — Height of the interior, — Is an elevated basin, bounded on three sides by higher grounds, — Is a thousand feet lower than U. S. ter- ritory adjoining. — Prairie lands prevail over woods in south parts, and woods over prairie in north 30 CHAPTER VIII. CENTUAL prairie country continued — LAKE AND RIVER WINNIPEG, LAKE OF THE WOODS, RED RIVER, AND COUNTRY BETWEEN THEM. Lake Winnipeg, position, dimensions and elevation. — Divides Silurian and Laurentian formations — Character of its navigation and navigable extent of tributaries connected with it. — River Winnipeg, extent. — Equal to the Rhine in volume. — Lake of the Woods. — Rough country below it on River Winnipeg. — Fertile patches. — Fort Alexander in large fertile tract at mouth. — Flat country between Lake of the Woods and Red River. — Extensive shal- low marshes near the lake ; are undrained prairies. — Descent to Red River. — Country generally marshy. — Wooded till near it. — Red River. — Length. — Navigation. — Rich alluvial prairie — far on each side. — Timber along its banks 37 CHAPTER IX. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY CONTINUED — RIVER ASSINIBOINE — INFERTILE REGION ON ITS BRANCHES, THE SOURIS AND QU’aPPELLE. River Assiniboine — Description of its course. — Small volume of it and its tributaries, Souris and Qu’Appelle, and the cause. Great Infertile Region on Souris and Qu’Appelle, generally destitute of wood. Has apparently ex- tensive, partly wooded, and fertile tracts in it. — Description of them. ... 41 CHAPTER X. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY CONTINUED — FERTILE REGION ON THE ASSINIBOINE. Rich alluvial prairie of Red River, extends 70 miles up the Assiniboine to Sand Hills. — Fertile land above them on right hand, and infertile on left, for 150 miles up. — Then rich and beautiful country on both sides of vast extent and partially wooded, reaching north to wooded country near Main Saskatchewan, and from Riding and Duck Mountains westward, to and over the Touchwood Hills, described in detail, — It joins great fertile region on Main and North Branch of Saskatchewan 46 X. CHAPTER XI. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY CONTINUED — LAKES MANITOBAII AND WINEPEGOOS, RED DEER AND SWAN RIVER, RIDING, DUCK, AND PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS. Lakes Manitobah and Winepegoos. — Position and extent. — Outlet of little Sas- katchewan. — Peninsula between them and Lake Winnipeg. — Wooded, Marshy, little known. — Country around the lakes, chiefly wooded. — Red Deer River, — Fertile wooded country. — Swan River. — Rich prairie land on it de- scribed, — Riding, Duck and Porcupine Mountains. — Position. — Extent. — Ele- vation and soil. — Extensive inland navigation through Lakes Manitobah and Winepegoos 48 CHAPTER XII. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY CONTINUED. — RIVER SASKATCHEWAN AND ITS COUNTRY. River Saskatchewan. — Course. — Length. — Area drained. — Volume, compared with European rivers. — River, and country on it, described in detail up- wards. — Mouth. — Grand Rapids. — Cedar Lake. — Low marshy country. — Pasquia, Pas Mission. — Cumberland House. — Excellent land to great extent. — Fort h la Come. — Rich, mixed and wooded and prairie country southward to the Assiniboine of vast extent. — Carrot River 52 CHAPTER XIII. SOUTH BRANCH OP THE SASKATCHEWAN. Dimensions and current at Forks. — Rich land and abundent woods continue, — Changes to light treeless prairie at 130 miles up from Forks. — At 210 miles the Elbow in Great Infertile Region. — Rich tract at Moose Woods. — Thunder Breeding Mountain. — Eyebrow Mountains and Cypress Hills. — Infertile for 500 miles, with some exceptions. — Description by Captain Palliser. — Red Deer Fork, extent. — Fertile country on upper half ; coal on it. — South Sas- katchewan, navigable up to this by steamers. — Fertile and generally wooded country towards Rocky Mountains, described. — Rich winter pasturage on great extent of Saskatchewan, and little snow 57 CHAPTER XIV. NORTH BRANCH OP THE SASKATCHEWAN. Superior fertility of country on North Branch of Saskatchewan and the Battle River throughout. — Rich prairie, interspersed with wood. Thick wood country towards Rocky Mountains, and coal. — Detailed description 61 XI, CHAPTER XV. NAVIGATION OF TUE SASKATCHEWAN. Navigable from head of Grand Rapids, near Lake Winnipeg, to Tobern’e Falls. — Above them to Cole’s Falls for steamers. — No interruption thence to Edmonton, and probably thence to near Rocky Mountains. — Compared with the Rhone and Rhine and Ohio 62 CHAPTER XVI. PROPORTION OF FERTILE LANDS ON SOUTH HALF OF CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY. Captain Palliser’s estimate of proportion of fertile and arable and infertile lands explored, and description. — Is limited to country south of line of strong woods. — Does not include north half of central prairie country- — Finds fer- tile land equal to three times the size of Upper Canada from Kingston to Sarnia. — Great infertile region — Difference of opinion as to its value. — Com- pared with “ Perpetual Steppes” of Russia 64 ('HAPTER XVII. CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY — NORTH HALF, BEAVER RIVER. Beaver River, length of course. — Part only in this territory, — Drains part of the same Silurian plain as the Saskatchewan — Same formation and soil, but w'ith little prairie. — Cultivation, — Rich fisheries 67 CHAPTER XVIII. RIVER ATHABASCA AND COUNTRY. River Athabasca. — Source in mountains. — Course, length. — Majestic stream. — Fluid Bitumen. — Mr. Pond’s garden. — Limestone prevalent and bitumen. — Lignite coal. — Prairies interspersed continuously. — Extracts of D. Thompson’s journal describing country and climate. — River Athabasca and Pembina. — Rich soil. — Rich coal bed on Pembina. — Beautiful scene and prairie ground at Methy Portage 68 CHAPTER XIX. PEACE RIVER. Peace River source beyond the Rocky Mountains. — Course, length. — Is main branch of McKenzie. — Delta and country up to falls generally wooded and low. — Extensive prairies each side. — Higher above the falls, good xii soil. — Character of river, deep. — And high plain country. — Beautiful meadows. — Early spring. — Animals and woods described by McKenzie in 1792. — D. Thompson’s meteorological observations, 1803. — Favorable cli- mate. — Prairies and rich soil towards Rocky Mountains. — Limestone prevalent in river bed and mountains. — Heavy woods. — Description of trees 72 CHAPTER XX. SLAVK RIVER, HAY RIVER, AND RIVER OF THE MOUNTAINS. Slave River is main McKenzie R. — Touches N. E. corner of central Prairie country. — Rich black mould with heavy woods towards river. — Rich pasture plains behind. — Country said to be suitable for farming, but cold. — Hay River on north boundary assumed for Central Prairie country. — Its branches. — Agreeable mixture of prairie and woodlands frequented by vast bands of Buffaloes. — River of the Mountains. — Traverses Rocky Mountains and N. W. corner of this section. — Limestone country. — Cultivated crops at Fort Liard, lat. 60® X., barley, oats, wheat and potatoes 76 CHAPTER XXI. CLIMATE OF CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY FITNESS FOR CULTIVATION — CROPS RAISED. General observations. — Increase of heat towards Pacific. — Great extremes in interior. — Absence of extremes on Pacific. — Temperature at various points compared. — Comparative Table of monthly means of several places in cen- tral Prairie country and Canada and Maritime provinces, for seven summer and five winter months. — Climate of north and south Saskatchewan. — Depth of snow, various parts. — Valuable summer heat and favorable surface and soil for cultivation. — Extraordinary wheat crops of Red River and Assini- boine. — Other crops there • • • • 78 CHAPTER XXII. COAL, PETROLEUM, AND BUILDING MATERIAL. Future supply of building timber considered — Wood abundant in north parts. — Less so in south. — Forests on Lake and River Winnipeg, Riding Mountain range and on head waters of Saskatchewan. — Wood sulficient at present in valleys of streams, &c. — Kinds and quality of it considered. — Peat. — Lignite coal and bitumen. — Various localities where they abound. — Comparative table of caloric values of European lignite, peat, woods and Newcastle coal 87 CHAPTER XXIII. l.NDUCK-MKNTS OFFKIIKD BY PRAIRIE LANDS TO SETTLERS. Saving of the time and labor lost in clearing land of timber stumps and stones. — Cost of that estimated. — Great scope for cultivation, and unlimited hay and pasture at commencement to settlers. — Open for extension of settle- ment everywhere without the heavy cost of grubbing roads through woods necessary in Canada CHAPTER XXI Y. WHY WE REQUIRE THE NORTH-WEST TERTITORIES. Because our own vacant lands are inadequate in quantity and quality to receive continued immigration on a large scale — To give us prairie lands for those who prefer them. — To save our timber forests from unnecessary rapid destruction. — To extend our commerce and manufactures, and give increased employment for shipping. — Interest of the Maritime Provinces in this 98 CHAPTER XXV. OUR VACANT TERRITORIES AND SETTLING REGIONS IN CANADA, CONSIDERED. 1 . The OttaAva Country and Ottawa and Huron Territory, considered in detail. 2. The North Shore of Lake Huron. 3. St. Maurice Territory. 4. Saguenay Territory. 5. Eastern Townships. 6. South Shore below Quebec. 7. Bona- venture, Gaspe and Restigouche, including part in New Brunswick — Unsuit- able to attract and receive extensive immigration. — Value for native enter- prise, from mineral and other resources 99 CHAPTER XXVI. VALUE OF TIMBER FORESTS AND LUMBER TRADE TO THE PROVINCES, CON- SIDERED. Estimated annual outlay in lumber trade in Upper and Lower Canada. — Great expenditure for farm produce and labor. — Encourages settlement by great demand and high prices. — Gives employment and trade in shipping ports, and much freight for shipping. — Forms chief remittance to Europe. — Exceeds in value all other real products of Canada exported Ill CHAPTER XXVII. ROUTES TO THE RED RIVER COUNTRY CONSIDERED AND COMPARED. Route by Sea and Hudson's Bay. — Dog Lake and Hudson’s Bay Company. — Canoe Route noAv being opened and improved described in detail 117 XIV. CHAPTER XXVIJL ULTIMATE CANAL AND RAILROAD COMBINED ROUTES TO RAINY LAKE AND RED RIVER BY STURGEON LAKE AND BY RIVIERE LA SEINE. Description in detail. — Superior character of water communication. — Cost of canalling lakes and rivers compared with that of railways 123 CHAPTER XXIX. COMPARISON OF SEVERAL KNOWN AND PROPOSED ROUTES TO RED RIVER, INCLUDING THE FOREGOING. Synoptic Table of lengths and description. — Estimated cost of movement of freight hy each 133 CHAPTER XXX. DIRECT INTERIOR RAILWAY ROUTE BY THE OTTAWA FROM MONTREAL TO RED RIVER. Ultimate utility of it to interior. — Habitable country in connection with Ottawa Canal 137 CHAPTER XXXI. ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC BY RED RIVER AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. Described and compared with other routes 143 CHAPTER XXXII. MUTUAL IMPORTANCE OF UNION OF CANADA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND OPENING OF INTERIOR ROUTE OF COMMUNICATION. Command of the traffic of the interior would be secured to the Pacific and Atlantic Provinces. — Distance from Liverpool to Chinese ports shorter than by American Pacific Railway, and transport cheaper, being more by water. — Importance of Ottawa Canal in reducing distance and cost of transport to British and American States and Territories and the Pacific 147 XV. ('UAPTER XXXIII. INTEllKSTS OK CANADA, THE HUDSON'S RAY COMDANV AND THE INDIANS, COULD. RE COMRINED. Charter of the Hudson’s Pay Company docs not validly cover the territory we desire, though their lease of Indian Territories does, while it lasts. — That Territory is still the property of the Crown and the Indians. — Company’s occupation creditable to them and beneficial generally. — Final advantage of liberal arrangement with them and with the Indians, especially for the care and protection of the latter 150 CHAPTER XXXIV. COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE SEVERAL SECTIONS OF TERRITORY TO CANADA ; AND CONCLUSION 155 INDEX OF SUBJECTS IN REPORT ON THE LINE OF ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. Report of 1868. PAGE. Red River Expedition (reference to) 161 Lake Superior Section 164 Indian Element 194 Report of 1869. Report on Exploration of 1868 I7l The Country between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement 174 The Plan of opening the Communication 175 A continuous Railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement.. . 176 Route to the Pacific 177 By Railroad 177 By Rail and Water Communication combined 179 Estimate Cost of Opening the Preliminary Communication proposed 180 Probable Ultimate Cost of Carrying out the Project 186 Reserves of Land for Public Purposes 190 The Indians on the Line of Route 191 The Manner of Progressing with the Work 193 Scheme of a Railroad to Rainy Lake 193 Further Surveys and Explorations 194 Mr. Russell’s Works on the N. W. Territories 195 The Great North-West 195 ■' -5 THE RED RIVER COUNTRY, HUDSON’S BAY & NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES, CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO CANADA. CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION. About two years ago an eminent Canadian statesman told ns that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to express her willingness to consent to the acquisition, by Canada, of all the great northern and north-west territories of British North Ame- rica. Since then the “British North America Act” has been passed, erecting the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the “ Dominion of Canada,” and providing for the union of these territories with it, by Her Majesty, on an Address from the Parliament of Canada expressing conditions she may approve of; and both Houses of Parliament of the Dominion have addressed Her Majesty praying her action ac- cordingly. As paying any just claim of the Hudson’s Bay Company for any interest or right of property, that may be acquired from them, will be a condition in the transaction, it is desirable that we should endeavour to form a correct estimate of the value of these territories to us. In doing so we have to consider their extent and character — and what use we can make of them : — to inquire if we need them or any part of them, and for what purposes ; and of what importance ultimately they may be to us as respects the great objects aimed at by the Confederation we have entered into. We have also to consider what is the best way of getting in to them ; if we can have such a way on our own ground and at all seasons of the year, and if the ways of communication through our own ground will be the best for the freight and travel of these territories. These heads cover a wide range of matter. Without pro- fessmg to enter fully into them, we may take a brief glance at the subjects of them, and endeavor to put a few facts together as to what is known of the great northern part of the continent of America, of which it seems destined that we are to have the control. If we include all the vast region heretofore held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, alike under its charter and its lease of Indian territory, which has not been renewed since its expira- 1 tioii ill 1859, the extent is very great indeed. It embraces all the northern part of the contment, from the boundary of Labra- dor to that of Kussian America, lying north of Canada, the United States and British Columbia. It is three thousand miles in length from East to West, and fourteen hundred miles in breadth from North to South ; and has an area of about two mil- lions, two hundred and ten thousand superficial miles. If its value could be measured by its magnitude it would be enormous ; — but such as it is, it is not much inferior in natural value to Eussia m Europe, which it more than equals in extent and in many respects resembles in character. Eussia in Europe sustams a population of sixty-nme milhons of souls. If this territory of ours be only half as good, it may sustain a population somewhat over the thirty miUions Lord Selkirk estimated it as capable of supporting. If this great territory be added to our Confederation, to- gether with Vancouver’s Island, British Columbia, Prince Ed- ward’s Island and Newfoundland, with Labrador, the Domuiion of Canada will then include an area of upwards of three mil- hons of superficial miles. That is more than three-quarters of the area of the European continent, — or one-half greater than Eussia m Europe in extent. Besides much exceeding Eussia in Europe in extent of ter- ritory, Canada, when so augmented, will possess immensely greater marithne advantages. Instead of being almost exclud- ed from the ocean, like that great country, she will have, on the Pacific, twelve hundred and fifty miles of the coast line of British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island, open to navigation at all seasons; besides three thousand seven hundred and fifty miles of coast, south of Latitude 60 , on the Atlantic and Grulf of St. Lawrence, (a great part of it open to nawgation in win- ter,) exclusive of bays and inlets, and the estuary of the St. Lawrence; possessing also that mighty river, and eighteen hundred miles of coast on its great lakes ; far surpassing any river m European Eussia in importance as a commercial outlet. Without the St. Lawrence the Saskatchewan is equivalent to the Volga, and the ports of York and Moose Factory, and others in Hudson’s and James’ Bay, are naturally about equal to Arch- angel in value as means of access to the ocean, though as yet used only for the traffic of the Hudson’s Bay Company. To avoid seeming to base our comparison merely on ter- ritorial extent we may carry it a little further : — , Of the four hundred and two millions of “ decatines,” (of about two and one-seventh English acres each,) forming the total area of Eussia in Europe, M. Schnitzler, in his“Essai Statistique de la Eussie,” estimates that the whole of the cul- tivated lands and the meadows taken together, does not exceed sixty-seven and a half milhons, or about one-sixth part of' thi^ suriace ; and by the Dificial returns made about the time he wrote, the average yield was four and a half fold to one of rye sown, and nearly four to one of wheat. No doubt an equal proportion, at least, of the total area of our Ihovinces and Territories taken together is fit for cultiva- tion, if returns like these be taken as the lowest standard ; but if even one-twelfth part, instead of one-sixth of it, be capable of yielding the general average returns of Lower and Upper Canada, which by the last census are from two and a half to three and a half times as great as these rates, the ultimate pro- ductive capacity of our Dominion and territories will probably he one-half greater than that of Eussia in Europe, even if fifty per cent, were added to her rates of produce mentioned. We have good grounds, therefore, for assuming that the comparison as to extent of territory and its capacity to sustain population is rather in our favor. As to the value of our maritime advantages, we have no need to rest on calculations of what may be, or estimates of future progress for the result. The Dominion has afloat to-day a commercial navy, that, in tonnage and number of men fai’ surpasses that of the Eussian Empire, exceeding that of any other continental power of the old world, excepting France, which it nearly equals.^ In respect to this it is proper to remember that the Mari- time Provinces, in confederating with Canada, have augmented her importance and" power in a degree immensely exceeding the mere proportion of their population or extent of their ter- ritory. They have given her an ample sea-board, thickly stud- ded with excellent harbours, — coal fields nearly as extensive as those of Gireat Britain, — and many thousands of hardy, skilful sea-faring men, who, to use the language of Grovernor Andrews in his report to Congress on the British Provinces, from their superior intelhgence and bodily vigour, and their experience in the navigation of cold and stormy coasts, are the best of seamen, and well qualified to maintain the honor of their flag on every sea. The Dominion, though but in the beginning of her power, • Note, since the ABO^*E was written. — Merchant Navies of Europe from “ The Statesman’s Year Book for 1868.” — Great Britain, 5,452,862 tons ; France, 1,008,084 tons; Italy, 660,662 tons; Russia, including Finland, 365,000 tons in 1866 ; Dominion of Canada, by Canaan Parliamentary return on let July, 1867, — 776,343 tons. Add for Guysboro, &€., not in return 36,000 813,343 ‘‘ Newfoundland in 1866, by Canadian Year Book 83,204 Prince Edward’s Island in 1865 do 30,549 “ 926,096 tons. 4 owns already about 800,000 of tons of shipping' ; — bearing a pro- portion of about twenty per cent, to her population, while that of Grreat Britain, the greatest maritime power in the world,, without her colonies, is only about eighteen per cent, per head. We see, therefore, that we have before us a greater and more advantageous field, as a basis of future national pros- perity and power, than that on which has risen that empire whose greatness has not a httle intimidated Europe, and has been supposed to threaten her independence. In view of this fact, — with superior civilization and institutions in our favor — we may surely hope to develop at least equally advantageous results from the territories at our command and their resources, though less arrogant in our pretensions. This comparison is made for the purpose of showing that we have now no longer to look on outlying territories with that indifference with which they might have been regarded when our autonomy was limited to that of a single province, to which they might stand in little or no closer relation than a foreign land, but as integers, the utmost value of which will ultimately go to swell the balance in favor of our national strength and prosperity. In that view, while drawing the distinction broadly between what is immediately of high value to us, for the extension of settlement, by our present standard of the value of lands for that purpose, we must also take into account not only the inferior portions capable of any degree of agricultural occupation, in future time, under the influence of increasing demand and improved means of communication, but also regions which have no other value than that which their fisheries, their metals and other mineral resources may be found to present. W e have already had a little experience of the error of under- valuing territory, under the idea that we had enough without it. Many were indifferent to the loss, some years ago, of what was called the disputed territory, on the head waters of the Eiver St. John of New Brunswick; but now we find that our railroad to Halifax, in order to avoid going straight through that territory, has to be made a hundred miles longer than it otherwise would have been ; adding about six millions of dollars to the cost of making it, and about a dollar and a half for ever to the freight of every ton of goods passing over it, W e are now making coloni- zation roads to let settlers into the scraps left us of that territory, and the loss of it has seriously weakened our frontier. Our experience in this instance should be a warning to us against under-valuing our opportunity of acquiring useful territory now. In briefly describing the great Northern Territory of British America, it may be divided into the following sections, partly on account of their distinct natural character or geographical position, and partly for convenience in speaking of them. 1st. East Main or the Peninsula of Labrador. 2nd. South Hudson’s Bay Territory, — between that Bay and Lakes AYinnipe^ and Athabasca, from the northern water-shed of the St. Lawrence to lat. 60 ^ N. 3rd. North Hudson’s Bay Territory or Barren Ground, ex- tending from the preceding to the Arctic Ocean. 4th. The McKenzie Kiver country, from lat. 60® N., to the Arctic Ocean. 5th. The Pelly Kiver or Mountain Territory, embracing all north of British Columbia from the crest of the Kocky Mountains to Kussian America. 6th. The Red River, Saskatchewan and Peace River Coun- try, or Central Prairie Land, extending from the Lake of the Woods and Lakes Winnipeg and Atha- basca to the Rocky Mountains, and from the United States boundary, lat. 49® N. up to lat. 60® N. The last of these divisions only is of great and immediate importance to us, for the extension of settlement and commerce, and for the command of communication to the Pacific Ocean ; — objects alike eminently important for the expansion and con- solidation of national power. Before proceeding to consider its value in relation to Canada, and the means of communicating with it, the other sections mentioned may be briefly noticed. Though now only of value for their fur trade, and of little or no interest beyond that, at present, excepting to naturalists and other men of science, — we are unable to say that they may'not, in future, become of some importance for their mineral wealth or other natural re- sources, now mdniown or unavailable.* CHAPTER IL EAST MAIN, OR THE PENINSULA OF LABRADOFc. This great peninsula, lying between Hudson’s Bay and the Atlantic ocean, extends a thousand miles from east to west, between Cape St. Charles, at the entrance of the Straits of Belle-Isle, and James’ Bay, and eight hundred miles from north to south, from Cape Wolstenholme, its northern extremity, to * Note. — Since the above was written, British Columbia has decided in favor of union with Canada ; and it has been agreed between the Imperial Government and the Hudson’s Bay Company, that Canada is to have all the territories held or owned by the latter for £300,000 Stg., (which Great Britain guarantees), the Company retaining their trading posts, with an allow- ance of land around them, and one-twentieth of the land, as sales to settlers take place, for fifty years ; which unites their powerful interest to ours in the tran- quillity and speedy settlement of the country. i) the height of land dividing the waters of Enpert’s Eiver from those of the Saguenay. G-eographically it might he described as bounded on the south-west between James’ Bay and the mouth of the St. Law^- rence, by Rupert’s River, up to its source, and thence eastward by a line to the Bay of Seven Islands ; which would give it an area of about four hundred and eighty thousand superficial miles. But the southern part of the peninsula of Labrador, facing the GruLf, as far eastward as Alice Blanc Sablon, and back to the sources of the rivers falling into the G-ulf, belongs to Canada. (Blanc Sablon is ninety miles within the eastern entrance of the straits of Belle-Isle.) Deducting this part, the remainder of the Peninsula has an area of about four hundred and twenty thousand superhcial miles, or a little more than Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Lapland, taken together. The eastern part of it, facing the straits of Belle-Isle, and the Atlantic, as far northward as the entrance ofLngava Bay, called Labrador in the strictest sense, is under the jurisdiction of New- foundland. The remainder, which is much the larger part, is held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and is commonly knovni by the name of East Main. Labrador was first discovered in A.D. 986, by the Northman Bearne, the son of Heriulf, who called it “ Helluland it Mikla” or “ G-reat slate land,” from the stratified rocks (secondary lime- stone) seen on its coast. It was re-discovered by Sebastian Cabot, and five years afterwards, in A.D. 1501, it was visited by Corte Real, who, with less accuracy, called it “Terra Labrador” “Cultivable or laborers’ land,” believing it to be so from the growth of trees he saw upon it. It is remarkable of this great peninsula, that though it lies next to Europe, and is the first discovered part of the American conti- nent, very little is known of its interior ; and that but lately. What is known of it, is such as to impress the mind powerfully with a sense of its vast and stern desolation. From the coldness of its climate and its general sterility, it seems utterly unfit for occupation by civilized men ; except where a scattered population might live by the fisheries of some parts of its coast ; or where its mineral resources may give profitable employment to industry. As might be expected in so great an extent, it presents con- siderable variety of character. The interior of the eastern part of it, where traversed, is found to be a high table land upwards of 2,000 feet above the level of the sea ; with occasional moun- tains, rising to 3,000 feet, and some nearly to 4,000 feet. The valleys and lower slopes are covered with spruce, fir, and birch woods, of a moderate growth, in favorable positions ; the spruce trees in some places averaging eighteen inches in diameter and fifty feet in height ; in rare instances they have been found twO' 7 ieet ill diameter, even as far north as the Moravian missionary station of Nain, on the Atlantic. ^Inch of the coast on the Atlantic and the Griilf is utterly barren of timber for many miles inland, and often destitute of soil ; and mnch of the interior is bnrned bare to the rock by running fires more or less recent. Advancing northward, the trees become more scattered, m 2 :ronps, and stunted, till towards its northern extremity, and Hudson’s Straits, it assumes the character of the Arctic “Barren G-rounds” and the “ Tundrens” of Siberia, and is like them the abode of the reindeer, that feed on the hchens and other Arctic vegetation its rocky surface affords. As to surface, the western part of the peninsula seemingly con- trasts with the eastern part. It is represented by physical geographers as being chiefly a plain country, for two hundred miles or more back from Hudson’s Bay. From ^what is known, its geological character seems consider- ably varied. The formation of the great Silurian basin of Hud- son’ s Bay extends in a broad band mr into the southern part of the Peninsula, and has even been represented, though doubtless on imperfect data, as connecting with the Ihnestone formation of the east coast. Though lying in the same latitude as the British Islands, the climate of this immense peninsula, taken as a whole, is no better than that of Lapland ; in the northern parts it is even colder. But like that country, in the most southerly parts, it is such as to admit of the cultivation of Angetables, in favorable situations,. Mr. Gladman had a good opirortunity of observing, durmg his thirty-one years’ service in the Hudson’s Bay Company. He states in his evidence given to a committee of the Canadian Legislature, that at East Main Old Factory he raised good potatoes, turnips and other vegetables. East Main Factory is sixty miles north of Eupert’s Kiver. He says further, that a large herd of cattle was kept there, at that time, as a resource m case of the company’s ships wintering in the bay, an abundant supply of hay being made in the salt marshes on the shores of the bay : that vetches grow wild on the point of the river, and abundance of strawberries and currants. He says that at Big Eiver, a hundred and eighty miles north of Eupert’s Eiver, potatoes and other vegetables are grown. The cold in winter is ewdently intense. He states the lowest degree of temperature registered by him was 50 ^ below zero at East ^lain. He says that at Eupert House the soil is much better and the station more sheltered than East Mam Factory, or Big Eiver, and more favorable for garden cultivation. The Fmisn colonists who raised barley at Alten, (lat 70^) in Lapland, would no doubt be quite successful in doing so on the warm rich soil of the Silurian basin at Eupert’s Eiver. 8 The climate of Hamilton River, in the south-eastern angle of the peninsula, is apparently similar. Notwithstanding the lofty, rugged and extremely barren character of the shores of Hamilton inlet, into which the river falls, Mr. Davis, in an article read before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, speaks of the pleasing aspect of the valley of Hamilton River, of its being well timbered and having a loamy soil in parts, with some advantage in climate, and mentions the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany’s farm, where cows, pigs and sheep were kept. In respect to the growing of garden vegetables, and having forests, such as they are, the southern parts of the peninsula of Labrador much resemble the more favorable part of Lapland. These facts are not altogether unimportant in connection with the probable ultimate extension of fishing settlements, or the formation of mining establishments, should minerals of value be found in the confines of the Silurian and Laurentian formations. That part of the peninsula under the jurisdiction of N ewfound- land is evidently very valuable for its fisheries. As early as 1832, the value of its yearly exports are stated by Mr. McGregor to have amounted to upwards of three hundred thousand pounds sterling. The west coast of the peninsula, within Hudson’s Bay, forming part of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s territory, is much less valuable in that respect. The entrance to the Bay is much obstructed by ice late in spring, and early in the fall; the Com- pany’s ships, which make but a single voyage into the Bay each summer, being sometimes, though rarely, prevented from re- turning to Europe, till the following season. To fishing for foreign markets this would be a very great disad- vantage. The absence of salmon on that coast, and the streams falhng into it, is another. A salmon, not of the ordinary kind, — probably the “Salmo Rossii” of the Arctic, is occasionally, though rarely seen, in some of the rivers falling into Hudson’ s Bay. Though Codfish are well known to be exceedingly abundant at Davis’ Straits, (see Report of Commissioners of British Fisheries for 1846,) they are not generally noticed in such a way as to indicate that they are so in Hudson’s Bay; nor are they mentioned as forming part of the food of the native or other residents. Seals and porpoises, however, are abundant. Some are of opinion that the absence of salmon is due to the seals being so numerous. Umfraville, in 1790, says that whales, white and black, sea horses, bears and seals, are killed in great numbers by the Esquimaux; and Lieut. Chappel, in 1817, proposes the opening of a free intercourse with Canada as likely to animate the exertions of the Esquimaux in their seal and whale fishing. The natural facilities for opening a direct interior communi- THE TOWN OF WINNIPEG. 9 cation ^vith Hudson’s Bay will be briefly noticed in the follow- ing section. As, apart from whaling, “ Seal Fishing ” would seem to be the only profitable industry that the west coast of the peninsula admits of, it becomes natural to inquire what the importance of Seal Fishing is, as a branch of trade, where it can be carried on successfully, and what employment it would afford. The Seal Fishery of Newfoundland may serve to explain this. Mr. M. H. Perley, in his “ Eeport on the sea and river fisheries of New Brunswick,” says that the outfit for the seal fisheries of Newfoundland, for 1847, consisted of 3*21 vessels, making in all 29,800 tons, with 9,751 men. The average yield for ten years was about half a milhon of seal skins, and three millions of gallons of oil. It is roughly estimated that about a million of seals are killed annually on the coast of Labrador proper, by the Esquimaux and other seal fishers. "What may be the comparative value of Hudson’s Bay as a site of seal and other fisheries remains to be known. It would seem desirable that it should be ascertained by one or more practical men of business, engaged in the trade of Labrador, commis- sioned for that purpose. CHAPTEP III. SOUTH HUDSON’S BAY TERRITORY. W e may next turn to the adjacent section of country, held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, lying between Hudson’s Bay and the Lakes Winnipeg and Athabasca ; exceeding from the northern water-shed of the St. Lawrence and tributaries — the reputed boundary of Canada, to the parallel of lat. 60 ^ N., — including with it the Abbitibbi District, between the water- shed and Eupert’s Eiver : — containmg in all an area of about four hundred and thirty thousand superficial miles. For the convenience of description it may be called the South Hudson’s Bay Territory. Though this territory has a very cold climate, exceedingly so in wdnter, (the greater part of it is too cold to admit of agricultural occupation of any kind,) it is nevertheless far more valuable than East Main, besides being especially so in relation to Canada. It is the coldness of the climate alone that prevents this terri- tory from being very valuable as an agricultural country. One- half of it lies in the great northern Silurian basin, in which Hudson’s Bay is situated. That formation besides underlying the greater part of the district of Abbitibbi (which is a little lu larger than New Brunswick,) is represented by Sir John Richardson as extending from two hundred miles in the north part to four hundred miles in the south, due westward from Hudson’s and James Bay. It is shown as extending also to the distance of two hundred miles southward from the south end of James’ Bay, and comes to the boundary of Canada at the sources of the northern tributaries of Lake Temiscammg of the Ottawa where it is called the level clay country by the Hudson’s Bay Company’s people. It is so called in contra- distmction to the rugged Laurentian Country formhig the height of land, w^here the waters of the Ottawa and northern tributaries of the Oreat Lakes, and those of Hudson’s Bay interlace, and which extends over the Ottawa Y alley and the country north of the Lakes Huron and Superior, rendering so much of them unfit for settlement. The boundary of this Silurian plain country is probably quite irregular, and may in many parts not be accurately known. Mr. Ballantyne, who resided there, places it aboiu Martin’s Falls, on the Albany River, two hundred and fifty miles due west of James’ Bay ; and says the river flows through a limestone and clay country to the Bay. Lieut. Blackiston, m ascending Hayes’ River from York Factory, described the country on it as alluvial, without any rock being visible, for a hundred and twenty-four miles, to the first portage, where he says the primitive formation commences, and that is two hundred miles due west from the coast of the Bay. It wull be seen by the accompanying map, that this broad band of Silurian formation, which sweeps round Hudson’s Bay. in a north-westerly direction, attains a width of five hun- dred miles about Lat. 63 N. ; then turning north-eastward continues to the Arctic Sea, w^hich its western outline inter- sects about Long. 97 ^ W. It will be seen also that it, again, is encircled by that broad band of primary formation, known in Canada as the Lauren- tian Range, which skirts the lower St.^ Lawrence, and forms the northern boundary of the great plain of Lower Canada. Grradually declining in height, and increasing in breadth, to two hundred miles, it crosses the Ottawa above the mouth of the Bonnechere, and sweeps round the north shore of Lakes Huron and Superior. Curvmg north-westward with a breadth of two hundred miles, this Laurentian Belt continues along the rear of the Silurian country of Hudson’s Bay, with varying breadth, increasing to four hundred miles where it joins the drctic. Its western boundary, commencing at Rainy Lake, * Note. — By an extensive survey, just completed by Provincial Surveyor L. Russell, it has been ascertained that though the clay land of Hudson’s Bay extends south of Lake Abbitibbi to the northern waters of the Ottawa, the under- lying rocks are there Laurentian. 11 I)asses nonh-wostward, through the Lake of the Woods, and along the east shore of Lake Winnipeg ; then curving more westerly, through Cedar Lake, on the tSaskatchewan, to Methy Portage, and thence on a more northerly course, through the west end of Lake Athabasca, and near the middle of ISlave l^ake, it passes to the east end of Bear Lake, and thence north- eastward to the Arctic Sea, at the west end of Coronation Crulf. This broad range of primary formation divides the great Silu- rian basin of Hudson’s Bay from the still greater central basin, or sloping plateau, of Silurian and more recent formations ; lying between it and the Kocky Mountains, and extending from the Arctic Sea to the (fulf of Mexico ; it also divides both of them from Canada. Though east and north of Quebec the summits of the range rise from two to three thousand feet, fronting the Elver St. Lawrence, — and four and five thousand feet in the interior — it declines so in height as it goes westw^ard, that wEere it tra- verses the Ottaw^a, its summits rise only from five to thirteen hundred feet, — and very rarely the latter, over that river. After ascending through the Laurentide Eange, by the valley of the (Jttaw^a, the w^ater-shed between its waters and those of Hudson’s Bay, has, in parts, scarcely any perceptible elevation, and it passes unnoticed. Though presenting a lofty and very rugged barrier along the north side of Lake Superior, especially where it goes westward towards the frontier of the United States, — and the same north of Lake Huron — it becomes lower further nortlwvard, rising but little over the adjoining country. Where it divides the two great Silurian basins, and forms the w^est half of the territory w^e have now^ under considera- tion, Sir John Eichardson says “ its altitude nowhere entitles it to the appellation of mountain chain. Its hypogenous rocks, which are chiefly granite and gneiss, scarcely rise above the mean eastern slope, and in no case present continuous ridges or acute peaks. They exhibit generally rounded or dome-shaped summits, or form oblong eminences, separated by narrow^^ in- clined valleys, the larger ones occupied, wnthout exception, by deep lakes ; and the proportion of w^ater is very great.” This decimation in height and peculiar character of the range, are mentioned, not only as meriting notice as descriptive of a large part of this section of territory, but especially because they are of importance to us, and admitting of a most direct line of Eailw^ay from IMontreal to the Eed Elver settlement, (and the Pacific,) about four hundred miles shorter than the route through Minnesota, noAV used ; as favorable as to the character of the ground as much of wEat is to be made of the Intercolonial Eailway, in the country between the St. 12 Lawrence and New Brunswick, and the passing through much land as fit for settlement, and with as good a climate ; but with less depth of snow in winter. The probability of this fact as to a direct route to Eed lliver, was stated in evidence given before the last Canadian Parlia- mentary Committee on the North-west Territory. It has since been to an important extent confirmed by the results of surveys of the Montreal Eiver, a north-western tributary of the Ottawa, and of a line, from it, a hundred and five miles westward, per- formed last winter by Provincial Surveyors A. Gr. Forrest and D. Sinclair. The valley of the river for a hundred miles was found to present a good site for a railroad, while it was learned that the line of a hundred and five miles was, at its commence- ment, only about fourteen miles south of the continuous level clay country, and about twenty miles from it at its termina- tion ; the intervening distance, at the commencement, to the clay country, being traversed by an arm of the river. These surveys have on that account a peculiar value. CLIMATE OF SOUTH HUDSON’S BAY TERRITORY. In order to see what reason there is for speaking so favorably of the climate of this part of the south Hudson’s Bay Terri- tory, let us consider a little more closely what is known of it as a whole. The north-east part of it is extremely cold. The Barren G-round of the north, where trees of every kind almost entirely •cease to exist, sweeps down into the north-eastern part of it, as much as a hundred and fifty miles southward of the sixtieth parallel of latitude ; closely approaching Churchill Eiver, towards its mouth. Even at York Factory, nothing but the hardiest vegetables can be raised. In summer there is a thick- ness of seven feet of perpetually frozen ground, at ten feet below the surface, and spruce trees, the prevailing wood, are almost uselessly small. But the climate improves equally southward and westward ; the western side of it, even to its north-west angle, is wooded thickly, and flanks the great central region suitable for cul- tivation. Umfraville, writing in 1790, says that the pine trees (spruce probably) on the coast of Hudson’s Bay, near York Fort, are too small and knotty to be used for good building ; but on leaving the marshy country and going inland to the southward, trees are of a more stately growth ; and about Albany and Moose Forts they are found of all diameters;” and add further that “ potatoes, turnips, and almost all kitchen garden stuff, are raised with facility, and no doubt corn could be raised,” but the Company, he says, discourage anything like cultivation. 13 ]\lr. Gladman, whose evidence has been already quoted,, resided lil'teen years at Moose Factory ; he says its climate and soil are good, that he raised potatoes and other vegetables, there in great abundance, that barley ripened well, and that horned cattle, horses, sheep and pigs were kept there. It is to be observed that Moose Factory is upwards of two hundred and thirty miles north of the boundary between the territory and Canada. He adds that the soil and climate of Albany,, which is a hundred miles further north, does not differ much from Moose, that it is well sheltered, and that the extensive marshes on the coast furnish abundant fodder for domestic cattle. He also says that the soil around the posts of Heiily,,. l\Iartin’s Falls, Osnaburg and Lac Seul, is of a quality that enable the servants of the company to raise fair crops of pota* toes. At New Brunswick House, which is a hundred miles further south, he says the soil is very good, that excellent potatoes are raised there, also every description of vegetables. Oats ripened well, and made good oatmeal, ground with a hand mill ; wheat \vas tried afterwards, he was informed, with good success. He says further, “ that he does not know anything to prevent a good settlement from being made there, hut it being rather distant from market r South of Lake Abbitibbi, near the southern boundary of this territory, the mean summer temperature probably exceeds that of Halifax, Nova Scotia, as it well may, seeing the mean tem- perature on Lake Temiscaming, about one degree further south, so nearly resembles that of Montreal ; the mean of the summer of the former bemg 65 20, and of the year 39 49, and the cor- respondmg mean temperature of the latter 65 ^ 55 and 42 86, by the tables given by Sir John Kichardson in his “ Arctic Kesearches.” ^ Lake Abbitibbi lies nearly in the same latitude as the west coast of Lake St. John, on the Upper Saguenay, which has the climate of Three Fivers, and yields excellent wheat. Speaking of Martin’s Falls, a post on the Albany Fiver, upwards of two hundred miles north from Lake Superior, Mr. Barnston, who resided there, says that “ it has the winter of Fussia and the July and August of Germany and France ; that in the usual course of seasons the buds of the trees begin to swell about the 12th of May, and leaves expand about 28th jMay,” (which is as early as they did in Ottawa this last Spring.) He says that “ a night’s frost will sometimes intervene as late as the 10th June,” (which is the case in central Canada, occa- sionally about the 15th June,) that “ by the 1st October foliage is yellow and falling. Usually there is a little snow by 20th * His published tables differ slightly in fractions from the above, owing to typographical errors. u October, and it covers the ground by Ist November. In Johnson’s Physical Atlas the line of wheat cultivation is repre- sented as passuig here. It is quite possible that it may. At the north end of Lake Winnipeg, on the western side oi this section, three hundred and fifty miles north of Eauiy Kiver, its southern boundary. Captain Blackiston, of the Imperial Exploring Expedition, states that barley, potatoes, onions, car- rots, peas and pumpkins, flourish in the open air, and melons can be forced ; but he adds that at Holy Lake, a hundred and sixty miles north-eastward, near the centre of this section, po- tatoes do not always attam full size. Towards the south end of Lake Winnipeg, at Fort Alexander, on the mouth of the Liver Winnipeg, at a hundred and fifty miles north of Eamy Eiver, spring wheat grows well. Mr. Dawson, in his report of his Eed Eiver exploration, states that the Indians have always raised Indian corn with success on the islands of the Lake of the Woods. The south-western part of this territory is quite fit for cultiva- tion, as regards climate ; but unfortunately, instead of being a fertile Silurian plain, like the north-east side bordering on Hudson’s Bay, it is chiefly of the Laurentian formation, and is generally very rocky ; more so, as far as known, than the Lau- rentian, or greater part of the Ottawa country, but X)resenting, like it, exceptional tracts of good land. BOUNDARY OF THE GREAT SILURIAN BASIN OF HUDSON’S BAY. Excepting on the canoe route from Lake Superior to Eed Eiver very little information is before the public respectmg this section of territory. Its character and value may be found to be in a considerable degree affected by the extent to which the Silurian basin of Hudson’s Bay may reach into it. Authorities differ widely as to the position of the boundary of that forma- tion. Mr. Ballantyne would seemingly place it at little above Martin’s Falls, on the Albany Eiver ; Sir John Eichardson carries it two hundred miles further west, on that river, to the Head of Lake Joseph, near longitude 91 W. ; but not beyond the south side of that lake. In the geological chart of Johnson’s Physical Atlas, it is shown as curving downwards there, fully a hundred miles south of Lake Joseph. We would naturally suppose there must have been some basis of fact for such a representation, perhaps the existence of a considerable outlier of Silurian formation, like the limestone at the head of Lake Temiscaming, which in that chart is erroneously represented as an arm of the Silurian basin of Hudson’s Bay. Perhaps the diluvial clay of that basin which overlaps the Laurentian for- mation to and over the water-shed of the Ottawa, north of Lake Temiscaming, and appears to have led to mistalve as to th(‘ 15 boundary of the Silurian basin there,, may have obscured its [)osition elsewhere. As outliers of Silurian limestone and tracts of level clay soil, within the limits of possible ay^ricultural occupation, in the great region between us and the lied liiver country, may ultimately prove of some importance, from their soil being more suitable for cultivation than the rock Laurmitian ground pri'vailing nearer, further and more accurate information as to the geological and topographical character of the country upon and immediately beyond the northern water-shed of Lakes Huron and Superior, is most desirable. The highly interesting hiformation respecting Lake Nipigon, furnished last summer to the Crown Lands Department by the private entreprise of M. AT. Armstrong, C. E., is an instance of what may be ob- tained even by cursory exploration. FERTILE TRACT ON RAINY RIVER. As an exception to the generally rough, rocky, marshy and poor character of the country, between the water-shed of Lake Superior and Lake W innipeg, forming the south-west angle of the section under consideration, the fertile tract along the north side of Kamy Eiver is of much importance, from its lying on the line of communication with the Eed Eiver country. ‘ This tra; npparentiy to their elevation, is not to lie overlooked. xVs there is c'^'ident scope for the liranches of industry men- tioned, even the isolated tracts will, after the opening; of a line of communication, be proiitalily occupied, but slowly, in the face of the greater inducement westward ; while the good lands on the route will be more speedily taken up where the climate is favorable, as on Itainy liiver. It may seem difficult to reconcile what is stated \yith regard to the growth of wheat at the places mentioned, with the fact that it seldom ripens well at Fort William ; but not so when we consider that, owmg to its vast extent, the very low tempe- rature of Lake Superior, (excepting near the shore,) scarcely 40 ^ on the last day of July, necessarily reduces the summer heat on its northern coast, while the temperature of the heights of land which are comparatively near it is reduced by their elevation. Thus, decidedly greater warmth of climate, after crossing the height of land and approaching Rainy Lake, is noticed alike by Sir John Richardson and other explorers. At Fort Francis on Rainy River, where this tract of rich allu- vial land commences. Sir John Richardson and others say that wheat is sown from the 1st to the 23rd of May, and reaped in the latter end of August. To army officers, gentlemen from England, who have ex- plored this region, the climate at Fort Francis might seem by no means favorable ; and men even from the western peninsula of Canada might look upon it as much inferior to that of their own country; but those accustomed to the north-eastern settle- ments o'f Lower Canada see it in a different light. When I was a backwoodsman engaged in farming and as- sistuig to locate settlers, from thirty-seven to forty-live years ago, in the county of Megantic, fifty miles south-west- ward of Quebec, we sowed our wheat rather later than it is done at Fort Francis, and instead of reaping it in August, we were glad to get it all secured in September — were lucky if early frosts did not damage it, and if we got our other crops secured in October. Superior cultivation may have mended matters somewhat now, but many of the north and east parts of Lower Canada are inferior to Megantic in climate. I hav^e seen rather green rye carted home in the beginning of Nov^ember, with a snow storm coming on, in the parish of Les Eboulements, from rich clay soil, generally well worth cultivation, nevertheless. But as to the soil and climate, at least, practical men would prefer the rich alluvial lands of Rainy River and its August harvest, with its broad navigable stream, and exceedingly rich fisheries, to either Megantic or Les Eboulements. W e see, therefore, that the south side of this territory, for a o 18 breadth of upwards of a hundred miles in some parts, (as at Fort Alexander and New Brunswick House,) is as suitable in climate for raising wheat as parts of Lower Canada, where settlements have long existed, or are now being formed ; and no doubt much of the remainder which we class as suitable for the growth of barley only, may, on account of the soil, which its level Silurian character indicates, be quite as profitably culti- vated as the tracts on the north-east parts of the Tache Hoad in Himouski, now being opened for settlement. The Intercolonial Ilailroad has to pass through such a region as the latter, in soil and climate, on leaving the St. Law^rence. From the preceding facts, it will be seen, that if a line be drawn north-w^estw^ard, from Hupert’s Hiver to Oxford House, and continued a little beyond the head of Lake "Winnipeg, it roughly divides this territory into halves, and, with slight curves, may be taken as representing the limit of the cultivation of barley ; while a similar line from the north side of Lake Abbittibbi, passing more westerly, a little north of New^ Brunswick House, and a hundred and twenty miles north of Eainy Lake, striking Lake Winnipeg north of Fort Alex- ander, may be taken as the northern line of the cultivation of wheat. The southern half, or about 230,000 square miles of this ter- ritory, therefore presents an area nearly twice as large, and quite as favorable for cultivation, as Finland, which was for- merly called the Grranary of Sweden. European w^orks on Physical Greography, scarcely include any of Finland within the limits of wheat cultivation ; but all of it within the line of barley. But Finland is all of primitive rock formation, and is therefore inferior in soil to this territory, which has 50,000 square miles of Silurian formation within the limits of cul- tivation ; yet Finland maintains upwards of a million and a half of people. It is worth mention further that this territory offers a great extent of timber lands on the eastern tributaries of Lake Win- nipeg, especially the upper part of the water system, w^hich forms part of the proposed communication with lied Kiver. This fact is given by S. J. Dawson, Esquire, in his lleport of Exploration, who, from great experience in the lumber trade, is an excellent judge. The pine, though much smaller than (Ittawa timber, is with other woods, on these streams, the best that can be had for the adjoining parts of the great prairie land westward to which the streams will carry it. The south-western part of this territory will therefore become the site of an important lumber trade, while its rivers and nu- merous lakes ofier more abundant fisheries than those of the great lakes of the St. Lawrence, where so many thousand bar- rels of wFite-fish are taken annually lor use and sale. Tin' 19 Avhite-lLsh is really much superior, as an article ol' food, to that much boasted lish the salmon. Belbre leaving this territory we may observe, that the coun- try between Hudson’s Bay and Canada is intersected by va- rious large rivers, falling into Hudson’s Bay, that interlace the tributary waters of the Ottawa and the Lakes Huron and ^Superior, on the summit plateau, in long, deep lake-like chan- nels. They present natural highways that with tow-paths and waggon i:)ortage roads, and occasional slight dams in their further courses, would form excellent inland routes of transport to Hudson’s Bay, should fishing settlements be established there, or for communication in the future with the cultivable part of the Silurian basin. To carry provisions by sea from the G-reat Lakes, where they are so cheap, to fisheries on Hudson’s Bay, would take a voy- age of four thousand miles, which from the difficulty of its entrance and navigation, could be performed but once in a season. From Lake Superior the direct distance to Hudson’s Bay is only three hundred miles, and from Lake Temiscaming, on the Ottawa, only two hundred and forty-nine. By the rivers this distance would be of course increased considerably. There is a route heretofore used by the Hudson’s Bay boats through from Michipicoten, and there are good canoe routes through from Lake Temiscaming. These routes would well merit the cost of a cursory explora- tion of them by a competent practical man, accustomed to road and river works in new countries, with a view to ascertain their capacity and the facilities they offer of improvement on an economical scale. In exhibiting these facts I by no means pretend to say that this section of territory is of importance to Canada for imme- diate settlement. It may be lono- before any biit a few enter- prising adventurers, on routes of communication, will occupy it, from the simple reason that the prairie land beyond it is so much preferable.^ But it seems quite within the bounds of cautious moderation to say, that a country quite equal to Fin- land, and about double its extent, with forests of considerable importance, and rich fisheries, and that commands a line of com- munication of great importance to us, may at least ultimately be of much value to Canada. As the opinions here given may differ widely from the views of gentlemen in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, it is necessary to explain that there is such a thing as prejudice of occupation and upbringing, of which we have povrerful instances. When the question^ of the division of Canada into two provinces was discussed, in the end of last century, Mr. Lymburner, a most experienced and intelligent Member of Assembly, argued against the measure, on the ground that it 20 was an indisputable iact that the country above the Falls of Niagara would never be inhabited by civilized men. When the lirst township of what is now the South Eiding of Eenfrew was surveyed, the earliest lumberers laughed at the idea that settlement would extend there ; not from opposition to it, I'or they desired settlement to aid them, but from the stereo- typed idea then in force, that the country was too remote and rough to be inhabited. Even in the year 1839, a gentleman of unquestionable honour and experience, who had been engaged in the fur trade in the Upper Saguenay country, informed an officer of long and high standing in the Crown Land Department, that the Saguenay country was so utterly valueless for occupation that no man need ever take a mill stone or a mill saw into it. Twelve years afterwards, when sent by Grovernment to project colonization roads there, I traversed, in a short time, unoccupied good land enough to make seven parishes, besides thriving settlements well advanced, where excellent wheat was raised ; and many ships were even then employed in exporting its sawn lumber. Now there are twenty thousand people living there on the local produce of the mill-stone and the employment the saw mills afford them. I must apologize for stating these facts so fully ; but they are important as regards the question of set- tlement. CTIArTEli lY. north; Hudson’s bay territory,, or barren ground. Little need be said of this section of territory ; is is here noticed separately to distinguish its valueless character as a whole. It may be described as the country lying' north and west of Hudson’s Bay, from latitude 60 ^ to the Arctic sea, back to G-reat Bear Lake and Slave Lake, assuming for its western boundary the dividing line between the primary formation and the Silurian basin of the Eiver McKenzie, from the middle of Slave Lake to the east end of Bear Lake and to Coronation G-ulf ; corresponding roughly with the line of longitude 117“^ West. Its extreme length from east to west is nine hundred and fifty miles, and its breadth from north to south six hundred. It in- cludes an area of about four hundred and twelve thousand five hundred square miles. Only one-sixth part of this section of territory, forming its south-west angle, from Bear Lake to a little east of the east end of Slave Lake, and nearly on that course to latitude 60^ is wooded. 21 The remainder, forming five-sixths of its area, is the treeless Arctic desert of the Barren Ground. Its surface is varied with rocky hills of moderate altitude ; some, however, as at Cape Barrow, rising to an elevation of lilteen hundred feet. It is watered by one large river, the Great Fish or Back river, and many smaller streams, and lakes. Its vegetation consists of a close covering of lichens where it is dry, mixed with reindeer moss in moister spots. Other plants flourish where the soil is suitable, with depressed willows, blue berries, bear berries, &c. In favorable sheltered meadows grass and bents flourish, and many flowermg plants. Notwithstanding the generally desolate character of the country, it, in parts, affords sustenance for herds of hundred of reindeer and of the musk-ox, as described by Capt. Back, on the river to which his name has been given. The Indian cannot live in it in winter on accoinit of the want of fuel. "What little is used by the Esquimaux, who inhabit the coast, is the oil and blubber their fisheries afford ; their fuel is got in the deep. Even the reindeer retire from it to the bordering woods in winter, to shelter them from the season’s storms. They go in numerous bands by certain passes among the lakes and hills, where the Esquimaux and Northern Indians Avaylay and slaughter them for Avinter use. sometimes with the most waste- ful recklessness. If the natiA'es could be taught to tame the rehideer, which is said to be easily done, and use them as domestic herds, as the Laplanders do, the^" might live in greater comfort and security. The chief permanent inhabitant of this A'ast desolate region is the Musk Ox, the cotemporary of the mammoth and other extinct animals. He feeds in* AAnnter on the high spots where the A^egetation, preserA'ed AAnth all its juice by the sudden seA^erity of the Avinter’s frost, is bared of siioaa^ by the AAunds. His extinct cotemporaries are gone, and the buffalo and the moose deer are rapidly folloAving ; even the lion of Africa is hunted in his home ; but the inhospitable desolation of this, the only abode of the musk ox, aaTII be his security. In connection Avith this section, its probable mineral Avealth may be noticed. Speaking of the country north of Lake Win- nipeg, Sir John Richardson says that G OAy rumen t, or the Hudson’s Bay Company, should ascertain, Avithout delay, the “ mineral treasures it contains,” and adds, “ I haA^e little doubt of many of the accessible districts abounding in metallic AA^ealth of far s^r eater value than all the returns cf the Fur trade can ever yield y This obserAwtion AA^ould see m to apply not only to the AA^estern skirts of the band of primary formation imme- diately north of Lake Winnipeg, but also to this section as far north as Copper Mine Eiver. CHAPTER Y. THE NORTH MCRENZIE RIVER COUNTRY. That part of the great central Silurian plain, west of the foregoing section, extending from latitude 60 ^ N. to the Arctic Sea, and from the west edge of the primary belt to the Rocky Mountains, may be designated as the North McKenzie River Country. It is about seven hundred and forty miles in length from north to south, with a breadth of four hundred miles at latitude 60 ^ , varying to over six hundred miles, where it meets the Arctic Sea ; and contains an area of two hundred and seventy- four thousand square miles. » Though lying in precisely the same latitude, its climate is not so intensely severe as that of the foregoing section ; from which it differs much in other respects, that render it of more value comparatively. Instead of being a rocky, barren, treeless waste, chiefly of infertile primary formation, like the preceding, it is, as men- tioned, a Silurian plain, more or less wooded throughout, almost to the shore of the Arctic. In the southern half of it barley and garden vegetables can be raised. It is traversed by the Mc- Kenzie, a first class navigable river, and it abounds in rich beds of lignite coal, with, in parts, liquid bitumen, which may ultimately prove of some value commercially. The effect of its rich alluvial soil, and some superiority in climate, due perhaps in part to the prevalence of limestone, is such as to admit of the growth of trees, as far as the mouth of the McKenzie ; stunted generally in the most northerly parts, and of the hardiest kind — white spruce— but in sheltered posi- tions, sometimes attaining a useful size. Even at the north- eastern extremity of this section, at the mouth of the Copper Mine River, in a sheltered grove, one is noticed as being thirty-seven inches in girth, and on Kendal River, near the same locality in a fine grove of white spruce, one was found ^ sixty-three inches in girth, twenty feet without taper, and fifty feet in height ; but such trees are exceedingly rare in the north end of this section. Being of Silurian and more recent formation, and generally a plain, it would have been a good agricultural country had its climate admitted. Such as it is, though its southern boundary is the limit o:’ profitable wheat cultivation. Col. Lefroy and Sir THE RIVER [) fort SIMPSON John Kichardson say, that at Fort Simpson, a hundred and liity miles further north, with a mean summer temperature of 59^ ® Fah., barley grows well, and the latter says that at Fort Norman, three hundred and forty miles north of lat. 60 , (the assumed southern boundary of this section,) potatoes are raised, and in good seasons barley ripens well, and that lat. 65 may be con- sidered as the northern limit of the growth of barley. He adds, that at Fort Grood Hope, a hundred and eighty miles north ol‘ F'ort Norman, that is fifty north of the Arctic Circle, turnips attain the weight of two or three pounds in favourable seasons, but barley has failed there when tried. Fort Simpson is evi- dently far within the limit of barley cultivation, for which, on the authority of Ernan, quoted by Sir John Ilichardson, it is necessary only that the mean temperature of any one of the three summer months shall not fall below 47 '^75’ Fahr. At Fort Simpson, the mean of each of five months is above that, being for May, 48 ^ 16’ ; June 63 *^64’ ; July, 60 97’ ; August, 53^84’ ; September, 49 '^10’. The three winter months, how- ever, are there extremely cold, the mean being 10 below zero , that of the spring months, 26 ^ 66’ above zero, and of au- tumn, 27 ^34’. If, therefore, we draw a line across this territory at lat. 65 N., we find that we have in the south part of it, an area of a hundred and twenty thousand square miles, which, with the necessary allowance for waste lands and positions unfavourable in elevation or aspect, nearly all admits of the growth of barley" as well as vegetables, and that must admit of the growth of rye in the part of it adjoining the limit of profitable wlieat culti- vation. That is to say', we have there a country resembling in extent, and in partial fitness for cultivation, the Hussian Province of V ologda , which lies in a similar Silurian formation, and is em- braced in the same manner between the northern limits of wheat and barley cultivation. Of Vologda a great part is unoccupied, but for the chase or fur trade ; yet such as it is, with much marshy, and sandy land, it sustains about eight hundred thousand inhabitants. But it is to be observed, that Vologda lies on the northern Dwina, which, though insignificant compared with the Mc- Kenzie, leads to a seaport open during a short season, an advantage greatly' in its favour, in giving value to its pro- ducts. The Fiver McKenzie, though not giving that advantage, pre- sents some others that may in some degree makeup for the want of it. It traverses this section of territory diagonally, present- ing a course of a thousand miles of deep, uninterrupted navi- gation, (besides Slave Lake, three hundred miles in length, which connects with the Arctic Sea.) Sir Alexander McKenzie 24 states its depth to be from four to hfty fathoms, and its breadth from two miles to a half mile, running six miles an hour at the latter breadth, and twelve fathoms deep. This, with the usual large deductions necessary in such calculations, gives a passing volume of upwards of a milhon of cubic yards of water per mi- nute, double Niagara or the Eiver Missouri, which it well might be, as it drains both sides of the Eocky Mountains. The Mis- souri drains but one. The McKenzie offers a great navigable communication for large vessels, with coals on its banks, connecting the vast in- terior region south of it, suitable for cultivation, with the rich fisheries of the Arctic Sea. The whale fisheries it leads to, inside of Behring’s Straits, are the richest known, and are fished extensively by American whale fishers, who have to sail sixteen thousand miles to ^et there. When our great central prairie country is occupied hy milhons of people, they will have but one-tenth of the distance to reach these fisheries by the McKenzie, to obtain the pro- ducts of the sea ; it will no doubt then be a highway of some importance. Sir Alexander McKenzie’s journal of liis exploration of this river is simple but very mteresting. The heroic age of disco- very lasts long — we are scarcely through it yet. Ithasbts heroes, and he was one of them. His voyages through this continent to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans may be said to have first lifted the veil that till then shrouded the vast intervening; regions in obscurity. On the 3rd of June, 1789, lie left Fort Chipeweyan on the Lake of the Hills, on his voyage to the Arctic, with all the diffi- culties and hardships before him of first exploration in un- known, inhospitable regions, inhabited by savage tribes. Even his Indian guides had no experience of the way before them, deserting him through fear of the unknown, like that felt by the sailors of Columbus. He had but limited supplies, for his small force depended chiefly on what they killed. His narrative is simple, but the incidents are grand. They passed great plains of unknown extent, great tributaries like the lliver of the Mountains, half a mile in width,— lofty mountains with their summits clad in snow or veiled in clouds and mist. They looked upon the vast panorama that took day after day and week after week to unfold, for the first time since creation, to civilized man. Then comes the region of eternal frost under the surface, and stunted trees ; — the increasing terror of his men, — the alarming stories of the Indians, that they would be old men and grey before they returned, if they ever did, from the regions Avhere there was no gam(' to kill, iidiabited by terrible and cruel na- 25 tions— the Island oi‘ the Evil Maniton, who swallowed every man that came his way — and beyond that the land of gigantic men who could kill other men with their eyes. Then the arrival at the klsquimaux country, and the astonish- ment of his men at the sun that did not set, and the tide. 8till singularly vigorous vegetation for the high latitude, 63 to 68^ N. — and abundance of berries — innumerable islands in the river approaching its mouth, covered with trees of a small growth, and in places spruce and fir of a larger size. The banks, where high, wooded partly with birch and fir ; and tire ground in places covered with short grass and flowers, though the frost was only four inches out of the earth on the 12th of July. McKenzie was then two thousand miles beyond the Lake of the Woods, in direct distance north-westward, and three thou- sand miles in direct distance from Montreal — or as far from that city as it is from the mouth of the Elver Orinoco in South America. This comparison is given to assist in realizing the extent of country that we may now accpiire, — and of that extent three- quarters of the distance is through territory which, by way of Eed Elver, is fit for agricultural occupation. McKenzie returned to Fort Chipeweyan on the 12th Sep- tember, having performed his voyage of three thousand miles in a hundred days, showing that so long, at least, annually this great Arctic Eiver is open for navigation. In returning, the air for some part of the way was laden with a heavy smell of sulphur, which is found to be caused by the burning of coal in the banks of the river, — it was the lignite coal that is so abun- dant in this territory. Lignite varies much in qualit^^ Its average heating power may be taken as equal to that of five-sevenths of an equal weight of good Newcastle coal, though it often exceeds that propor- tion. The lignite coal of Nanaimo in Vancouver’s Island is only ten per cent, less valuable than the true coal of the Carbo- niferous epoch, according to Dr. Hector. Its prevalence in immense quantities and in positions where it can be most easily made available, in a climate where fuel will be so much needed, the comparative fertility of the soil of this section, and its great navigable river and the fisheries con- nected with it, will no doubt ultimately lead to the partial oc- cupation of the southern half of it, where hardly grains and vegetables can be cultivated. Therefore, though, owing to its remoteness and the exceeding coldness of its climate, it is utterly useless now, excepting for its fur trade, we should not consider it altogether valueless with reference to the future. Speaking of the possible future occupation of the south half of this section of territory, notwithstajiding the severity of its 26 climate, it is worthy of remark, that in the province of Vologda, to which we have compared it, hemp and flax are cultivated with success. Even in the province of Archangel, north of it, with a climate much more unfavorable, considerable quantities of hemp and flax are raised, and coarse linen cordage and mats are manufactured. Hemp and flax, with cordage and linseed from these provinces, are the principle articles of export at Archangel. It is reasonable to think that in the future they may be cultivated and manufactured in this territory. Tliis observation, however, applies with much more force and more immediately to the country south of Hudson’s Bay, already noticed, as well as to the great Central Prairie Country, the chief subiect of this pamphlet. As they are remote from markets, the cost for transport of flax exported, especially if manufactured, will be insignificant compared with that of ordi- nary agricultural exports ; an important advantage, even with improved means of communication. CHAPTER VI. THE PELIA* EIVER AND MOUNTAIN COUNTRY. C’ on tinning to notice the less important or comparatively valueless sections of territory before directing attention to the great central prairie land, the last of these inferior territories may be designated the Pelly Elver and Mountain Country. It is a little more than a thousand miles in length, northward from Simpson’s Eiver, the northern boundary of British Co- lumbia, to the Arctic sea at Point Demarcation, where it termi- nates in an acute angle ; and five hundred in breadth, from the eastern crest of the Eocky Mountains to Mount Saint Elias, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It contains an area of about two hundred and eighty-five thousand superficial miles. This section of territory merits separate description, inasmuch as it difiers as widely in its general character Irom those pre- viously noticed as they do from each other. It difiers especially from the last described, which is generally a idain country, while this, with little exception, is a vast mountain region, equal in extent to the Kingdoms of Norway and Sweden taken together. In its mountainous character it chiefly resembles Norway. Had it embraced the coast of the Pacific and the islands along it, the resemblance would have been greater, for it then would have possessed a seaboard rendered temperate by the warm winds ol the Pacific ; but from Mount St. Elias down to the boundary of British Columbia, a narrow strip of American, formerly Eus- 27 siaii territory, intervenes, alon^ the hacilic coast, reaching back to the summit of the nearest mountain range, ])ut nowhere ex- ceeding thirty-live miles from the shore. Though possessing a less genial climate than Norway and Sweden, the resemblance to them may be traced a little further. As little more than one-sixteenth part of the surface of Sweden is classed as arable land in cultivation, including meadows, and only about one-hundredth part of Norway, this territory is pro- bably not much inferio.- to them in extent of land fit for such cultivation as the chmate may admit of. The Rocky Mountains on the east side, the Blue Range or Peak Mountains and the Cascade Mountains and Coast Range run nearly parallel to each other, north-westwardly through this territory, with many intermediate ranges and groups. The Rocky Mountains, whose highest peak rises to sixteen thousand feet, at the sources of the Athabasca, gradually de- cline in height northward, to four and five thousand feet above the sea. The Coast Range, on the contrary, attams its greatest height at Mount St. Elias, which is stated to be 17,970 feet in altitude. These ranges cover much of this territory ; but there are valleys between and among them, of considerable extent : — not much known as yet, as might be expected of a country so re- mote ; — as Alpine in character as Switzerland and Tyrol and eleven times as large as both together ; presenting incomparably greater obstacles to exploration, in the coldness of its climate, and from its being uninhabited except by savages. It offers a far more interesting field of study for the geo- logist and the naturalist than the regions east of it already noticed. It is a country that presents the greatest possible obstacles of climate and surface to military operations ; a country utterly impregnable from its character and extent, should it ever become inhabited, as it no doubt ultimately will, where it admits of being so, as similar countries in the old w^orld have. It is therefore a great natural bulwark to the plain country east of it. The cold climate of much of the southern part of this section of territory is due in a great degree to its elevation . Col. Lefroy argues that the part of it in which the sources of the Peace River lie, must be nearly six thousand feet above the sea. At Pelly’s Banks, lat. 61 ‘^30’, the valley of Pelly River is fourteen hundred feet above the sea ; and there the mean temperature of the month of January is nearly 22 ^ below zero, or nine and a half degrees colder than at Fort Simpson, on the McKenzie, nearly in the same latitude (61 51’ N.,) three’ hundred miles eastward, but wKich is only four hundred feet above the sea. In April the difference is only five and a quarter degrees, and ■28 their summers are probably equal ; a temperature which v/ill admit of the cultivation of barley and vegetables at Felly’s Banks. Felly Fiver is a branch of the ^reat Fiver Youcan, that dis- charges at the entrance of Behring’s Straits, after a course of eighteen hundred miles, from the source of the Lewis Branch of the river Felly, which Hows for seven hundred miles through this territory. The temperature of Fort Youcan, Lat. 66 N., at the jiuiction of the Felly and Youcan, in late Fussian American, may be taken as that of the north end of this territory near it in the same latitude. The mean temperatures of its seasons are, spring 14*^04’, summer 59^71’— autumn 17^33’ above, and winter 23 80’ below zero ; — showing its summer to be warmer than that of Fort Simpson, which is only 59^48’. From which it would certainly appear, that barley and vegetables might be culti- vated there and all along the valley of the Felly Fiver, within this territory, as well as at Fort Simpson. The temperature of Youcan is more than sufficient for the growing of barley, by Ernan’s rule before quoted, that the mean of none of the three summer months shall fall below 47*^75, — for the mean temperature at Youcan for .Time is 53^49’, .Tuly 65^^75’, and August 59 ^ 90’, though the mean for the whole year is only 16^85.’ “Felly’s Banks” is in the middle of this territory, with the disadvantage of great elevation ; and Youcan is nearly at the Arctic Circle, — towards the south-west, near the coast of the Facific, and at lower levels, the climate must necessarily be widely different. To judge of the climate of these more favo- rable parts we may take, for data, the temperature of the seasons at Sitka, on the Facific, about a degree further north than the south end of this territory, and about a hundred miles westward of it. Here we have a striking contrast to the preceding ; Sitka has a warm wdnter and a cool summer ; the mean of the former being 34 ^ 70’ and the latter only 56 24’ ; that of spring 42 ^ 28’, and autumn 48 49’ — with a mean annual temperature of 45 ^ 44’ — much the same as that of Buffalo or Toronto ; or 24 warmer than that of Montreal, and sixteen degrees warmer than that city in winter ; but yet with a summer inferior to tjiat of Youcan or Fort Simpson for ripening grain. We have here, therefore, between these points an extreme contrast of climates, extreme difference between the heat of summer and the cold of winter on the one hand, and extreme want of difference betw^een the temperature of the seasons on the other, to such a degree as to prevent the ripening of the grain at Sitka, notwithstanding the high mean temperature of the year. Consequently, somewhere between these points, a little removed IVom the too equalizing inilueiice of the Pacilic, and its humidity, in the valleys on the south-west side of this territory, we should find, with a gi'adually diminishing annual tempera- ture, and an increasing ditlerence between summer and winter, and less humidity, localities with climates resembling those of Montreal and Quebec. Consistently with the facts mentioned, physical geographers have drawn the line of New York mean winter temperature from twenty to one hundred and twenty miles within this ter- ritory, running north-westwardly through it, for six hundred and lifty miles. But this line must only be taken as appli- cable to low lands and valleys : — it will generally be ex- ceedingly dellected and often largely interrupted by ridges and highlands. When this peculiarity of temperature of the south-west side of this territory is taken into consideration, together with what is known of it from exploration, it would appear that there are some favorable parts of it, of considerable value from their posi- tion and mineral resources, and their fitness for cultivation, owing to the quality of the land. By Mr. Downie’s report of exploration of Skeena or Simpson river, which forms the boundary between this territory and the Province of British Columbia, it appears that after passing the coast range the valleys present extensive tracts of good land well suited for settlement. He took two days to traverse one of them, which he says is as fine a farming country as one could wish to see. On a large tributary on the north side, within this territory, the land is described as good and well adapted for farm ing ; and there the Indians grow plenty of potatoes. He describes fine flats running back to the mountains, which recede four or five miles from the river ; speaks of the Skeena country bein^ in parts the best looking mineral country he had seen in British Columbia ; alludes to gold which he finds there ; mentions that the river Skeena passes through an exten- sive coal country, the seams cut through by the river varying from three to thirty-five feet in thickness ; superior to any that he had seen in Yancouver’s Island, (where the mines of Na- iiaiiio are already of value commercially,) or in British Colum- bia ; and in other reports he says, salmon and other fish are in inconceivable abundance. Such advantages may not be common, and may be limited to a small part of this territory ; but good lands with a mode- rate climate, on fine salmon rivers, with, valuable timber forests and beds of coal, situated within a hundred miles of the continually open navigation of the Pacific and its com- merce, taken together with the gold-bearing character of the country, (for which the river Stikene to the northward of the Simpson is already famous,) render the southern part 30 of this territory of considerable immediate, and still greater luture value. CHAPTER YIL THE llED RIVER, SASKATCHEWAN AND PEACE RIVER COUNTRY, OR CENTRAL PRAIRIE LAND— POSITION AND EXTENT. The remaining section of the great north-west territory — that which is of by far the greatest intrinsic value, and of the greatest relative importance to the Dominion of Canada — may, HI the absence of any general name, be designated as the Red River, Saskatchewan and Peace River country, or Central Prairie Land ; using the latter term merely to signify that prairie land is more or less prevalent throughout t& greater part of it. It may be described as bounded on the south by the line of latitude 49 N., the Northern boundary of the United States, on the west by the crest of the Rocky Mountains, which divide it from the Province of British Columbia, as lar northward as Peace River ; on the north by the parallel of latitude 60 ^ N., and on the east by Lake Winnipeg with its tributary waters, the River Winnipeg and the Lake of the Woods ; and from the north end of Lake Winnipeg by a line drawn north- westward through the west end of Lake Athabasca to the line of lat. 60 ^ N. Its length, from the outlet of the Lake of the Woods westward to the sources of the Saskatchewan, is eight hundred and eighty miles. Its breadth northward from lat. 49 ^ to 60 N., is seven hundred and sixty miles. It contains an area of about lour hundred and eighty thousand square miles ; that is to say, an area equal to that of France and G-ermany with Belgium and Switzerland added together, — or about ten times that of the State of New York. SUITABLENESS FOR SETTIiEISIENT, AND ITS IMPORTANCE. It is highlv important to observe that nearly the whole of this section of territory, within the boundaries stated, excepting where cold, arising from great elevation, renders it otherwise, is as suitable in climate for agricultural occupation as the parts of Canada and the Alaritime Provinces already settled or now being settled, taken together. That is to say that the best parts of this section of territory are I'ully as rich in soil, and where cultivated, yield fully as heavy returiis of wheat as the best parts of Upper Canada ; and that with little exception the most 31 northerly parts of it admit of as good crops of wheat or other grain being raised as the least favourable parts of Lower Ca- nada already settled or being now opened for settlement. Besides which, a great portion of it presents the very great advantage of being ready for the plough, without the trouble of clearing and taking out stumps and stones. The acquisition of this territory, or the elfective opening of it as a Crown colony with a view to federation wdth us, which is much the same, is therefore of the utmost importance to Canada, alike for immediate use for the extension of native set- tlement and as a receptacle for many immigrants who go to a foreign country to obtain such prairie land ; and also, and chiehy, as a necessary basis for that degree of strength of population essential for the maintenance of our national secu- rity in the future. TOPOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER. This section of territory forms parts of the great plain that lies along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, already spoken of in describing the McKenzie River country. This great interior plain extends from the Glulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, with but little interruption from lesser ranges and occasional groups of hills of msignificant elevation com- pared with the great range that bounds it to the westward. The water-sheds of its greatest river basms are but elevations of the same great sloping plain. Even the great parallel Azoic belt, the continuation of the Laurentides, that divides it from that other great Silurian plain which encircles Hudson’s Bay, presents but little interruption to the gradually descending slope of the continent from the Rocky Mountains east- ward. It is described as presenting a general similarity of geolo- gical character, varying as the diherent formations, from the Silurian upwards, exhibit themselves in greater or lesser breadth. Within the section of territory under our consideration, the Silurian formation, that prevails along the eastern side of the plain, dips westward under the Devonian, Cretaceous and Tertiaries, to rise again in the ridges of the Rocky Mountains. The absence of granite or other primitive rock, in the Rocky Mountains, from lat. 49 as far as 52 N., is noted as remark- able by Sir John Richardson. By the exploration of Capt. Palliser and Dr. Hector, they are shown to consist of Silurian and carboniferous rocks. Far beyond the scope of their exa- mination, these mountains appear to be the same in geological character. Where traversed by the Peace River about lat. 56 N., Sir Alexander McKenzie describes the bed of that river to be of limestone, and the mountains as solid masses of the same. This formation of the Eocky Mountains is important. The prevalence of limestone has no doubt contributed fertility to the alluvial lands and low prairies of the plain country below ; and the presence of the carboniferous rocks is a favorable fea- ture. Sir Eoderick Murchison, in passmg a well-merited enco- mium on the valuable exploratory operations of Dr. Hector, observes that he shows the “ structure of the chain, with its axis of slaty subscrystalline rocks overlaid by limestone of Devonian and carboniferous age, and flanked on the eastern side by carboniferous sandstone, representing probably our own coal fields, the whole followed by those Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits which constitute the subsoil of the vast and rich prairies watered by the north and south Saskatchewan and their abluents.” This encomium was justly due to the Doctor, but hardly so to the South Branch of the Saskatchewan ; the dry prairies that prevail on much of it resemble the steppes of Eussia in Europe, of which, as Mr. Hauxhausen says, “ some consider the larger portion as unfertilizible deserts;” while others think they re- quire “nothing but hands and judicious culture to convert them into rich and fertile places,” but adds that he thinks the truth lies between these extremes. However gratifying the prospect may be of discovering true coal in the carboniferous formation of the Eocky Mountains, it has not yet been realized, either from the explorations yet made being very limited and imperfect, or from there being no true coal measures there : for it is to be borne in mind that the pre- sence of the carboniferous formation merely indicates that it is there, and there only, that true coal will be found if it exists at all, or in useful quantities. Thus we have the carboniferous formation on the south coast of the district of G-aspe ; its pre- sence led to extensive speculation and the formation of a mining company ; but though it, the carboniferous formation, exists to a total thickness of three hundred feet, no coal to warrant mining was ever discovered. Along the eastern base of the Eocky Mountains there extends a broad belt of geological formation, throughout the entire length, northward of this section of territory, (nearly a thou- sand miles,) and beyond it to the Arctic Ocean, as already mentioned, contaming an inexhaustible amount of lignite coal ; it has been seen in many places in beds from two to eight feet thick, and in some parts over a breadth of nearly two hun- dred miles. As this immense region of lignite coal lies on the upper courses of great navigable rivers, which How through vast fertile prairie countries on their lower courses, containing much of the richest wheat-growing ground in this continent, the value of it as a perpetual supply of fuel for them is incalculable ; it evidently much more than compensates for the infertile cha- racter of a large part of the dry inairie lands adjoining the boundary of the United States. FORM AND NATURAL SUBDIVISIONS. On the map of the section of territory now before us, this Central Prairie Land, bounded as mentioned, is an irregular diamond-shaped figure inclining westward. It is eight hun- dred and eighty miles broad at its base, on lat. 49 ^ N., dimi- nishing northward to three hundred miles in width on lat. 60 N. The length of its eastern boundary is a thousand and fifty miles, and its western one, by the curve of the Kocky Mountains, is nine hundred and fifty miles. Its south-east angle, in the Lake of the "Woods, is two hun- dred and fifty miles west with a little northing, from Fort William, on Lake Superior. Its north-east angle is six hun- dred miles due west from Hudson’s Bay, and its north-west angle is at the same distance due east from the Pacific. Its east and west outlines are, at their middle parts, about four hundred miles in direct distance from Hudson’s Bay and the Pacific, respectively. It therefore occupies a central position in the continent. The south part of it, two hundred and eighty thousand square miles in area, or considerably more than the half of it, lies upon the waters of the Eiver Saskatchewan, and the Ked Eiver and Assiniboine, and other tributaries of Lake Winnipeg. Next northward, the head waters of the Churchill or Beaver Eiver, occupy a triangular area of fifty thousand miles on the east side. Of the remaining part, north-westward, a hundred and twenty thousand miles lie on the Athabasca, and on the Peace Eiver north of it ; and about thirty thousand square miles of the north-west corner lie on the waters of the Eiver of the Mountains, and Hay Eiver ; the last four rivers are branches of the Eiver McKenzie. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. Before going into details as to the character of these subdivi- sions, it may be well to make a few observations of a general nature, on this section of territory. Its elevation, though considerable, is not so great as might be supposed from its central position in the continent. Its lowest levels are the two great lakes, Winnipeg and Atha- basca, nearly at its south-east and north-east ends, which re- ceive the waters of five-sixths of its area, and the Eiver of the Mountains at Fort Liard, which is estimated to be only four or 3 34 live hundred feet in height. Lake AY innipeg, which receives the waters of the Kiyer VYinnipeg and others on the east side, besides the Eed River and Assinibome, and the River Saskat- chewan, on the west, is six hundred and twenty feet above the level of the sea. Lake Athabasca, which receives the River Athabasca from the south, and other rivers from the east, and connects at its discharge with Peace River, from the west, is six hundred feet above the sea. Havmg these for the lowest levels, the general fall of the sur- face towards them will be better understood by tracing the elevation of the circuit of this section of territory. The lake of the AYoods is three hundred and sixty-one feet above Lake YYmnipeg, or nine hundred and eighty-nine feet above the sea. It is in a country of lake-like marshes of great extent, on the same level as itself, or nearly so. The elevation of Pembina near long. 97 AY., where the Red River intersects the boundary of TJ. S., lat. 49 N., is estimated at nine hundred feet. Halfway between Pembina and the Rocky Mountains, the boundary line rises on the “G-rand Coteau Missouri,” the high arid plateau dividing the valley of the latter from that of the Saskatchewan, upwards of fifteen hundred feet in height, and gradually as- cending till, at the entrance of Ivootanee pass, the plain termi- nates with an elevation of four thousand feet, and the further ascent to the summit of the pass is two thousand feet. This elevation of the plain at the foot of the mountains continues northward ; the summits of the passes varying between five and six thousand feet, and the peaks of the mountains rising from seven or eight thousand to fifteen, and the highest to sixteen thousand feet above the sea. Speaking of this elevated country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, between Saskat- chewan and Peace River, Col. Lefroy observes that “ it is a dis- trict remarkable for its gradual and regular ascent, preserving much of the character of a plain country.” Near the boundary of the United States and south of lat. 51 N., the base of the Rocky Mountains is not more than forty miles in width. They attain their greatest height about lat. 52 N., and also their greatest width, which is about a hundred miles. Only between lat. 51 and 52 ^ N., and a little above the latter parallel, are glaciers to be found. There close together, by Dr. Hector’s valuable map, about lat. 51 ^ 40’ N., long. 117 ^ AY., in a grand nucleus of lofty summit glaciers, where the range is a hundred miles in breadth, the North and South Branches of the Saskatchewan have their sources, ])ut a few miles apart ; dwerging to meet again, on their way to the Atlantic, after following their separate coursesof eight hundred miles. Close between them rises one of the sources of the Columbia, flowing to the Pacific ; and in glaciers near them, 35 iibout lat. 52^17' N., is tho source of the Athabasca — the remo- test source of the Itiver McKenzie, which takes it course of two thousand miles to the Arctic sea. Elsewhere, Captain Blackiston and others describe the Kocky INIountains as being well-wooded, excepting their summits ; the timber on the eastern side inferior to that of the western and add, that perpetual snow is only seen on some of the higher peaks. This peculiarity, we may observe, is the natural result of the high level of the plain ; the line of perpetual snow de- pending more on the height above the mean elevation of the earth’s surface, m the region adjoinmg, than its height over the level of the sea. Eeturnuig to the elevation of the circuit of outline, on attain- ing latitude 60 ^ N., the elevation of the mountains and the plain diminishes rapidly. Fort Liard, on the Eiver of the Mountains, near that parallel, though only fifty miles east from the mountains, is only four or five hundred feet above the sea. This depression of level in northing is favorable to cultivation. Had the elevation risen with the latitude, or even continued unabated, the climate would _ have been less suitable for the growth of grain. Fort Liard is the lowest point in this section of territory ; and the altitude can be but little greater where the parallel of latitude 60 ^ N. crosses Hay Eiver, and meets the assumed east outline of this section. The country traversed by this east outline, rises but little above the height of Lake Whinipeg, excepting the northerly part between Beaver Eiver and Lake Athabasca. There this assumed boundary passes over a great bend of the Laurentian formation. Even a hundred miles westward, where that for- mation joins the Silurian, Methy Lake is fourteen hundred and and ninety feet ^ above the sea. This tract of Laurentian country will be valueless unless it be for such minerals as it may be found to offer, near the junction of these formations. Turning to the interior, we find at Fort Dunvegan, on Peace Eiver, a hundred and fifty miles east from the Eocky Moun- tains, the plateau sloping from their base has declined to sixteen hundred feet, while the river is only nine hundred and ten feet above the sea, or three hundred and ten above its mouth at Lake Athabasca, from which it is three hundred miles dis- tant in a direct line, though double that by the wmdmg course of the river. The elevation of Fort Edmonton, on the North Saskatchewan, two hundred miles east from the mountains, is eighteen hundred feet ; that of Carleton House, near the Forks, at three hundred miles in direct distance eastward, is eleven 1,540 feet by Col. Lefrov. 36 hundred feet ; and Cumberland House, two hundred miles further east, and a hundred miles in direct distance from Lake Winnipeg, is nine hundred feet above the sea, or two hundred and seventy above the mouth of the Saskatchewan at the Lake. These points being on the banks of rivers, are the lower levels, and indicate the general inclination of the plain. It is only a comparative plain, however, varied in surface by scattering groups of hills, rising to six hundred, and occasionally a thou- sand feet and upwards over the plains below them ; or the equally lofty edges of high plateaus, forming long ranges of highlands towards the lower levels. Of the former, the Hiding Mountains, west of Lake Mani- tobah, have an altitude of a thousand and thirty feet above that Lake, or seventeen hundred feet over the sea. The north-east face of the Missouri Plateau advances towards the south Branch of the Sasketchewan and Eiver Qu’ Appelle, with an elevation of six hundred feet above the plains ; showing a tertiary forma- tion, with brown coal and silicified wood. Its north-west face, under the name of the Cypress Hills,|rises to the height of four thousand two hundred feet above the sea. Its southern slope is watered by tributaries of the Missouri, that here extend into this territory. The Hand Hills, north of Bed Deer Hiver, long. IIIJ'^ W., rise to the height of three thousand eight hundred feet above the sea ; presenting the same formation, capped with tertiary shingle beds of the highest plains. It is interesting to observe that while the Hocky Mountains present everywhere evidence of disruption and upheaval in their origin, these hills and high ranges of the plain exhibit with equal uniformity, in their abraded strata, that they were formed by denudation by water ; by the scooping out of the plains around them. By the elevations given it will be seen that the height of the sloping plateau, forming the chief part of this section of terri- tory, is considerable ; but it is worthy of remark that it never- theless has in some degree the character of a basin. We have noticed the great elevation of its western edge. That of its eastern Laurentian boundary is in parts considerable. The Branch of that range which bounds it at its south-east angle, dividing it from the basin of Lake Superior, is from fifteen to eighteen hundred feet in hight over the sea. at the lowest parts. The Lake of the Woods is five hundred feet lower than Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi, immediately south of it. Fort Garry, on Eed Fiver, is twelve hundred feet lower than Fort Clarke, on the Missouri, which lies south-west of it. Car- leton House, on the Saskatchewan, is about a thousand feet lower than Fort Union on the Missouri, which lies south by east from it ; and we have already seen that the ridge ot the 37 Coteau clu Missouri, dividing its waters from the basin of the Saskatchewan, rises to the height of four thousand two hundred feet above the sea. The basin forming the chief part of this section of territory is therefore about a thousand feet lower, generally, than the northern parts of Minnesota and Dakota adjoining it. The term Central Prairie Land as applied to it, is, as before mentioned, merely intended to indicate that in it prairie land is to be found more or less prevalent ; with this distinction, that in the southern half of it, the extent of prairie land very much exceeds that of wood land ; while in the northern part of it, say from about lat. 54 ^ to lat. 60 , the country is generally wooded, though prairies are interspersed through it, some of great extent. Prairies extend as far north as the east branch of Hay Diver, on which they terminate near lat' 60 ^ , and as far east as Methy Portage, between the waters of the Churchill and Athabasca Rivers, near the eastern boundary assumed for this section. Prairie land between these points, occurs so continuously as to admit of herds of horses being sent through, as mentioned by Sir John Richardson, and feeding by the way ; a condition evidently favorable to the extension of set- tlement, as well as indicative of land suitable for agricultural occupation. In so great an extent of country there is naturally much variety in character and quality of soil. To assist in describing it, it may be suitable to do so by its rivers, commencing with the southern part of it watered by the Saskatchewan ajid other tributaries of Lake Winnipeg. CHAPTER VIII. LAKE WINNIPEG AND ITS TKIEUTARIES. Looking at the map, we have lake Winnipeg, in the south- east part of this section, forming there part of its boundary. Lake Winnipeg is two hundred and eighty miles in length, and fifty-seven in greatest breadth. Its southern extremity is three hundred and fifty miles west-north-west from F ort W illiam on Lake Superior. Its elevation above the sea is about six hundred and twenty-eight feet. F rom the mouth of the River Winnipeg, near its south end, to its northern extremity, it is the boundary between the generally rocky Laurentian country and the Silurian lime-stone formation of the east side of the great central plain. It is very shallow at its southern extremity. Its shores are low and marshy at the entrance of Red River, and subject to 38 inundations. By the report of Captain Munn, at low water^ depth on the bar at the entrance of that river, in the shallowest part of the channel, is only four feet. The narrows and islands in the south half of the lake afford good protection in the navi- gation of it from Big Island, as far as the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan ; in the expansion below Big Island the soundings are from three to five fathoms with good anchorage. From oppo- site the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan, he says, a vessel would have to depend on steam and an anchor, in the event of a storm, as far as the mouth of the Great Saskatchewan, where there is an excellent harbour and good anchorage. The navigation of Lake Winnipeg derives an additional im- portance from that of its tributaries, the Great and the Little Saskatchewan ; the former being navigable for steamers, with but three interruptions, to Edmonton, on the North Branch, seven hundred and seventy-two miles, and probably farther, to- the base of the Eocky Mountains ; while the Little Saskatchewan and its lakes present a navigation of upwards of three hundred miles from its mouth, or hve hundred from Fort Garry, without interruption. THE RIVEE V/INNIPEG. The Fiver Winnipeg enters Lake Winnipeg, in a bay on the east side, at forty-one miles by the shore, from the mouth of Fed Fiver, the southern extremity of the lake ; it has a course of about five hundred miles, measuring from the head of the Sa- vanne Fiver, at the height of land, on the canoe route from F ort William to Fed Fiver. Ha\nng large tributaries, and its sources being in a rainy region, it is a very large river ; — it is considered by Mr. Dawson, and Mr. Hind, of the Canadian Exploring Expedition, as resembhng the Upper Ottawa in volume, say equal to the Fhine. On its lower course the Ottawa, by the report of the Canal Survey, was found to have a mean discharge of 85,000 cubic feet per second, while the Fhine, as quoted, in the same report,, from D’Aubuisson, has a mean discharge of 33, 7(H) cubic feet per second. The upper waters of the Winnipeg, Lac des Mille Lacs, the Fiver Seine, Fainy Lake and Fainy Fiver, with the Lake of the Woods, into which they flow, form the chief part of the proposed line of communication from Lake Superior to Fed Fiver. The Lake of the Woods, seventy miles in length, and the Fiver Winnipeg below it, a hundred and sixty-three miles long, by its crooked, turbulent and obstructed course, to Lake Win- nij'»eg, form togethf'r part of the assumed easterly boundary of 39 the <^reat central section of territory under consideration. The strip of rich alluvial land, eighty miles in length, on Rainy River, and its favorable climate, and the importance of the I’ine forest on the upper vsuxters of the Winnipeg, for the supply of the prairie lands adjoining, have already been men- tioned. From the Lake of the Woods to its mouth, the River Win- nipeg, as described by our CanacRan explorers, tlows through the disk of the Lauren tian formation : both banks are generally rocky and sterile. Between Ishngton Mission (thirty-hve miles below the Lake of the Woods, where it begins) and Silver Falls, good soil occurs m the form of drift clay, m small patches of from fifty to three hundred acres. From Silver Falls, eighteen miles from Lake Winnipeg, well-wooded, fertile alluvial land prevails, on both banks, down to Lake Winnipeg ; forming on the south side the large fertile tract in which Fort Alexander is situated. The Laurentian country, on the River Winnipeg, rises in dome-shaped hills, from a hundred to two hundred feet in height, that sink, irregularly, to the southward, into the plam country, which extends from the Lake of the Woods to Red River, a distance of about nmety miles. COUNTRY BETWEEN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS AND RED RIVER. This plain counRy is at first very level, and then falls gra- dually to the Red River. It is, more or less, tliinly wooded, where not covered with water, for sixty miles westward from the Lake of the Woods. In this distance swamps and “mus- keags,” vast lake-like marshes, prevail. Some of the latter are many miles in extent ; they cover greater part of the country. They are undrained prairies, covered with two or three feet of water, tliickly charged with vegetable matter, over a firm marly or clay bottom. (This shallowness xvith firmness of bottom is singularly uni- form ; it was found so by Mr. Dawson’s assistants m dragging their canoe through the muskeag, between the Lake of the W oods and White Mouth River ; and it is the same forty miles further south in the muskeag between the Lake of the W oods and the River Roseau.) As they are so shallow, and the fall from the Lake of the Woods to Red River is three hundred and sixty feet, they could, no doubt, to a gTeat extent be drained, and would form vast fer- tile fields or valuable meadows, hive the salt marshes on the Bay of Fundy, which have been reclaimed with great labor, in the construction of extensive dikes to exclude the tide. As the summer is equal to that of the district of Montreal, the marshes of the Lake of the Woods may yet be found as well worth 40 reclaiming as the W estmorelaiid marshes referred to. Where there is much superfluous vegetable matter — or even three feet in depth of it, as it is stated there is in the swamps — it might be compressed for fuel. The manufacture of Canadian peat is already yielding cheap fuel in Montreal, where it can be delivered at $3.20 per ton. It would be satisfactory if the bogs and syv^amps near the Red River settlements were found to contain sufficient material to supply the future demand for fuel there when the woods, which have hitherto met their requirements, fail. With a canal or a railroad passing through this tract, as part of the proposed route to Red River, such a supply would be made easily available, even from the great peaty morass behind the fertile strip on Rainy River. A range of slightly elevated ridges, which traverses this marshy country, commencing near the north-west end of the Lake of the Woods, was found to afford a good site for a road through to Fort Grarry. From its being extremely even and free from obstacles, it is a most favorable site for a railroad. Immediately north of it there seems to be a favorable site for a canal ; to both of which we shall have occasion to refer. RED RIVER. At its south end Lake Winnipeg receives the Red River — exceeding the Winnipeg in length of course, but far inferior to it in magnitude ; yet a flue river, resembling the Richelieu in volume. By its vdndings it is nearly six hundred miles in length. For the last three hundred miles of its course its general direc- tion is due north. It crosses the United States boundary about ninety miles west of the Lake of the Woods, a httle over a hundred miles from its mouth ; and for that distance flows through this territory in a nearly level prairie plain of the richest alluvial soil. Captain Palliser describes the soil as being that of an ancient Lake bottom, consisting of variously proportioned mixtures of clay, loam and marl, with a remarkable deficiency of sand, over- laid with a great depth of vegetable mould, varying from two to five feet in thickness. Mr. Dawson and Mr. Hind speak of it as being generally from ten to twenty inches of black mould on a thick bed of alluvial clay. This description of prairie country is described as extending back, on the east side of Red River, from four to about thirty miles ; and on the west side about forty, to the ridge or hilly ground called the Pembina Mountains, the high disk of the unfertile dry prairie lands south of the Assiniboin(\ Parts of it are marshy, as might be expected of an alluvial nearly level FOIM' GAllUY AND THE STEAMED “INTERNATIONAL.’ 41 plain, ill a state ol‘ nature ; liut they are clescribed as admitting of being drained with little trouble. The big swamp in rear of the Ived Eiver settlement is twenty-seven feet above the sur- face of the river ; and the nine mile swamp on Hat Hiver, a small tributary on the east side above the settlement, is des- cribed as capable of being drained with comparative trifling labour, and would form the richest of prairie land. Marshes, great and small, and swampy spots requiring improvement — and capable of it, thougli of the richest soil— encroach largely on the area immediately available for cultivation ; which is natu- rally less in proportion than in some of the higher prairie grounds of rich sandy loam. From its lowness — (to which it owes its extraordinary ferti- lity,) like many other alluvial valleys — parts of it are sometimes subject to inundations, but very rarely. About forty miles from its mouth the Eed Hiver receives its chief tributary, the Assi- niboine. At their confluence is situated Upper Fort (Tarry, the chief commercial emporium and seat of government of the Hed Elver settlement, (which extends from twenty miles above to thirty miles below it on the Eed Eiver, and about seventy miles up the Assiniboine.) Eed Eiver is 480 feet wide and twelve feet deep at the middle settlement. It is navigable to the United States boundary and far to the south of it by boats of light draft ; but the navigation of it is subject to interruption by drought in the dry season of the year. From the settlement up to the United States boundary, about fifty-seven miles, its banks are fringed with wood, from a few yards to half a mile in breadth, and the peninsulas it forms are well wooded. The woods of elm, poplar, oak and ash towards its mouth, have supplied the wants of the settlement for upwards of twenty years. The alluvial clay of the Eed Eiver and the Assiniboine is reported to be well fitted for the manufacture of bricks and common pottery, in patches ; which may be of importance for building in parts where stone cannot be had near. The preva- lence of fimestone, however, will leave little occasion for the use of brick. CTIArTEE IX. THE mVEE ASSINIBOINE. By its very winding course the river Assiniboine is over six hundred miles in length. For two hundred and twenty miles, in direct distance upwards from its mouth, its course is nearly west ; above that, its course, for upwards of two hundred miles 42 in direct distance, is north-westerly, lying nearly parallel to Lake Winnipeg, at a mean distance of two hmidred and forty miles west of it. At two hmidred and twenty miles west from its month, where it returns northward, it receives its tributary, the river Qu’Ap- pelle, which continues directly westward two hundred and fifty miles further, hawng its source near the elbow of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, four hundred and seventy miles directly westward from the mouth of the Assiniboine. Though it and its tributaries drain a larger area than Eed Eiver, the Assiniboine, owing to the dryness of the country southwest of it, drained by its principal feeders, and the loss of water in its lower course, is scarcely equal to the one-third of Eed Eiver a,t their junction. By Professor Hind’s measurements the volume of the Assiniboine, at a hundred and forty miles from its mouth, where it is two hundred and thirty feet wide and eight feet in mean depth, diminishes to half before its junc- tion with the Eed Eiver. The difference is seemingly lost in the sandy tract, of about fifty miles in breadth, which it enters about a hundred and twenty miles west of Fort G-arry, a httle above the mouth of its tributary, the Souris or Mouse Eiver. The Souris is apparently upwards of three hundred miles in length. Its source is a little north of the U. S. boundary, and three hundred and fifty miles west of Eed Eiver. A great bend of it at its middle course crosses that boundary. By Mr. Hind’s measurement the volume of water discharged by the Souris, though much broader at its mouth, seems to be about half of that of the Qu’Appelle. The latter near its mouth is sixty-six feet wide, llowing a mile and a half an hour, with a mean depth of six and a half feet. The small discharge of water by these rivers, compared with their length of course and the extent of their tributaries, indi- cates the generally arid nature of the light prairie country drained by them ; the greater volume of the Qu’Appelle being apparently due to the generally better description of country on its north bank. The main Assiniboine, above the Qu’Appelle, discharges twice as much water as the latter river, the area drained by it, though only half as extensive as that of the Qu’Ap- pelle, being a very fertile country. THE INFERTILE LANDS OF THE SOURIS AND QU’APPELLE. Much the greater part of the country drained by the Eiver Qu’Appelle, and very nearly all that drained by the Eiver tSouris, is classed as light prairie land on Professor Hind’s shaded maps, distinguishing the quality of the land, published with his report in Parliamentary Papers on the Colonies of 1800. 43 In the body of his report, however, he estimates nearly a mil- lion of acres as fertile arable land ; that is, only one-fortieth part of its area. This rej^ion lies south of the great belt of fertile country de- scribed by Capt. Palliser as suitable for cultivation. Much of its surface, especially south of an imaginary line from the great bend of the Souris across the middle course of the Qu’Appelle, is described as bare and treeless prairie, covered only with short grass, and very deficient of water; and in parts the soil is so light and sandy that it drifts with the wind, and in others the ground is strewed with fragments of shale and granite boidders. A great obstacle to settlement in these treeless plains is the want of wood for fuel. Were they otherwise suitable, that might probably be, in parts, overcome. Dr. Hector’s admirable geological section from Lake Winnipeg to Yancouver’s Island shows brown coal in the Coteau du Prairie wliich extends from above the Pllbow of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan y, along the sources of the Qu’Appelle and the Souris, to the bomidary line, with a height of six hundred feet above the plain. Above the Blue Hills up the Souris, a httle more than twenty nnles from its mouth, Mr. Hind found beds of lignite boulders in its banks ; the ^Abater-borne debris of beds of hgnite coal. ^ As so much has been seen in the course of the limited explora- tioii yet made, more may probably be discovered on further ex- amination of the country. This region, described as generally infertile, lying on the waters of the Souris and the Qu’Appelle, and southward to the U. S, bomidary, is equal to England in area; and continues westward^ to a still greater extent. But it is proper to notice that there are apparently consi- derable exceptions to this generally A^alueless character. Mr, Hmd speaks of the bend of the Souris, near the Blue Hills, being “ in the midst of a very lovely undulating country.” A little further on he speaks of a A^ast prairie of a rich dark green, “ a beautiful level waste,” afterwards of “ an extensive deposit of bog iron ore capped AAdth shell marl.” Speaking of the Souris, further up, he says that its A^aUey, “ along which we travelled to day, A'aries from a quarter to a mile broad. It Hows through a rich open meadow 20 to 25 feet below the general leA^el of the prairie, which on either hand is undulating, hght, and covered with short stmited grass.” He speaks of the valley of the Pipestone creek as being “ narrow, but rich and beautiful. In the same manner, beyond the region designated as the great fertile belt, ascending the south bank of the Qu’Appelle from its mouth, he says “ we left Fort Elice and travelled due u west through a pretty country, and the following day arrived at the cross woods. They consist of aspen with a splendid under- growth. The pasturage is excellent and the road good, passing through a fair rolling country, the soil consisting of a sandy loam with much vegetable matter in the valleys. Aspen groves are numerous, and many little lakes.” Again, “ trail continued through good land for nine miles, with aspen groves on the crown of each undulation.” “ Then came a prairie, three miles across.” “ Ponds were numerous, abounding with ducks and ducklings.” Speaking of the Indian Head Hills, near the middle course of the Qu’Appelle, he calls them “ a hilly country for some miles : it contains many beautiful lakes and is well wooded.” Further on he speaks of an “ exceedingly beautiful view, embracing an extensive area of level prairie to the north, bounded by the Aspen Woods on the borders of the Qu’Appelle Yalley. A porlion of the old forest still exists, of a large growth and very thickly set.” Continuing, he says, “ on the 17th we entered a very beautiful fertile prairie at the foot of the Indian Head range ; ” and further, “ we reached the Qu’Ap- pelle Lakes after passing through a magnificent prairie the whole day. In fact, the country north of the Indian Head and Chalk Hill ranges is Huly beautiful, and will one day become a very important tract.” Speaking of the Qu’Appelle Mission, he says : “ the situation is beautiful. Here the Qu’Appelle Yalley is one mile and a quarter broad and 250 feet deep. Both north and south a vast prairie extends, fertile, inviting, but treeless on the south, and dotted with groves of aspen over a light and somewhat gravelly soil on the north. Most beautiful and attractive, however, are the lakes, four in number, and from the rich store of fish they contain, are well-named Fishing Lakes. A belt of timber fringes their sides at the foot of the steep hills they wash, for they fill the entire breadth of the valley. Ancient elm trees, with long and drooping branches, bend over the water, the ash- leaved maple acquires dimensions not seen since leaving Fed Fiver, and the Mi-sas-ka-to-mi-na is no longer a bush, but a tree eighteen to twenty feet high, and loaded with most luscious fruit.” All this, and no doubt much more like it, is excluded from the belt generally spoken of as suitable for settlement ; but though certainly inferior to the rich alluvial plains on the Fed Fiver, such lands are ewdently better suited for cultivation than much of the poor and scarcely arable lands we have been endea- voring to bring under settlement in the Ottawa and Huron ter- ritory. Infertile prairie lands, even of the worst description, are easily travelled over. They present no obstruction to com- munication, such as our rugged woodlands do. The hunting bands drive their carts over them on natural roads, as good as our colonization roads, which, imperfect as they are, cost a hun- dred pounds a mile, and upwards. Even the poor prairies, if they be little worth, at least cost nothing for clearing ; and as their surface shows that they afford pasturage for numerous herds of buffaloes, it is ewdent they may do the same for domestic cattle and sheep. When we read such descriptions, and turn to Mr. Hind’s lar^e map of exploration that accompanies his report, as publish- ed oy the Canadian Government, and see large tracts, watered by fine streams, designated as “ rolling prairie, ^ good clay soil;’" “ level plain, dark rich loam; ” “ open level prairie of light sandy loam, with clumps of willows ; ” “ rolling prairie of light clay loam, marshy in many places,” (thirty miles of this in one tract apparently) ; “ rich black soil ; ” “ rolling prairie of sandy clay f ’ level open prairie, full of marshy ponds ; ” and in the first great bend of the Souris, a tract of twenty miles, by ten apparently, with several streams issuing from it, of “ slightly undulating prairie of rich sandy loam, with clumps of young poplar ; ” and when we consider that these tracts, with the exception of marshy spots in them, are generally ready to receive the plough,, without the trouble and cost we have in Canada in clearing and in taking out stumps and stones, we are led to believe, that if these expressions have been used wdth accuracy, which there is no room to doubt, considerable tracts of this region, not included in the fertile belt, commonly spoken of, are really far from bemg quite unfit for settlement. These particulars are noticed here because, from the circum- stances of the large region in which they occur, being naturally in generalizing excluded from the fertile country, the value of much of it might be underrated. They tend to show that the estimates referred to do not exag- gerate the extent of fertile lands, and are not the less valuable on that account. These remarks will be apphcable to the large proportion of &e prairie lands on the south branch of the Saskatchewan, ad- joining to the -westward, which has also been classed as valueless and unfit for settlement. With the vast extent of far superior land which this territory offers, even the exceptional good tracts, such as those described, w^hich are to be found in the infertile regions, may well de disre- garded for the present. CHAPTER X. FERTILE LAND ON THE ASSINIBOINE. Ascending the Assiniboine from its month for upwards of .seventy miles to the Sand Hill, the country through which it hows is described as being of the same rich alluvial character as on the Red River ; with the advantage of never being sub- ject to mundation. Beyond that is the sandy tract, hfty miles in length westward ; south of the river it connects with the dry prairie lands already mentioned ; on the north side it extends twenty miles back from the river, to the great fertile region north of it. Then, for about a hundred miles further west, to where it turns northward at the mouth of the Qu’Appelle, and for nearly fifty miles north of that, the Assiniboine may be con- sidered as the boundary between the great fertile prairie region and the equally great region of light prairie land south and west of it. Between the Sand Hills and the Qu’Appelle the Assiniboine receives, on the north side, five considerable tributaries, from fifty to a hundred and fifty miles in length. Their courses are hi the fertile region. The land on their head waters is described .as good sandy loam. The description of one of them, the Rapid River, indicates their general character. Of it Mr. Dickinson of the Canadian exploring party says : “ The valley is about eighty feet below the general level of the country ; the bottom of it is from half a mile to a mile in width, through which the river winds its way, flowing rapidly and uniformly ; it is about fifty feet wide, and at this time (August) five feet deep. There is no appearance of the valley being flooded. There are large open fiats occurring frequently, on both sides of the river, where the richness of the grass and the beauty of the various liowers prove the great fertility of the soil, places marked out by nature to be cultivated and inhabited by man. There is abundance of good sized poplar and balsam, spruce sufficiently large for build- ing and farming purposes. I followed the course of the valley down to its junction with the valley of the Assiniboine, (a hundred miles,) and for the greater part of the way it is rich and fertile, as is also the land adjoining Within a few miles of the Assiniboine the country changes considerably, the soil is much lighter, and the trees fewer and smaller.” A strip of sandy ground extends for eighty miles above the Rapid River along the north bank of the Assiniboine. Rapid River is navigable for a hundred miles for canoes and bateaux. Speaking of the northerly part of the Assinil)oine above the Qu’Appelle, S. J. Dawson, Esquire, who was in charge of the 47 Exploralory Expedition oF 1858, after describing tln^ river as crooked and rapid for eighteen miles below Fort I’elly, says : “ it is then joined by the AVhite Mud Ifiver from the west, which drains a considerable portion of the great alluvial praiiies which travellers pass on their way to Carleton House, and which have excited such general admiration on account of their great fer- tility.” He describes the river as winding in a deep valley, from a mile to two miles in width, for a hundred miles, from AVhite Mud Fiver to Fort Elice ; the banks increasing in height from a moderate elevation at the former to two hundred and Fifty feet at the latter place. He says : “ With regard to the quality of the soil ; on going inland a httle we found it to be of an alluvial character, differing in no respect from the soil in the prairie lands at Fed Fiver.” He speaks of its tributary brooks as liowing in “ glens stretching far inland ; with winding banks, covered in some cases with green herbage and in others with forests that ascend to the level of the plain above.” He describes the course of the Assiniboine as being remarkably crooked, occasionally crossing its valley as much as three times in the direct distance of a mile, — (very unfavorable for navigation were it otherwise suitable.) He says : “ The margm of the stream is in general wooded ; sometimes the woods extend across the wFole valley ; in other cases the green banks slope downi from the prairie level to the water’s edge.” Such is the character of the northerly part or upper half of the Assiniboine and its valley. North-eastward of it the prairie plateau extends to the base of the Fiding, Duck and Porcupine Mountains, a distance v'arying from sixty to thirty miles. It is described as a fertile country, often exceedingly beautiful, inter- spersed with forests and clumps of wood, generally of young trees and of a small growth ; marshy in spots and abounding in lakelets or ponds, with wild fowl exceedingly abundant. Its soil is a rich sandy loam ; limestone boulders and gravelly spots occurring but rarely. AVestward of the Assiniboine, above the light prairie tract already mentioned, this same description of fertile country, in- terspersed with woods, and abundantly watered by ponds and streams, extends a hundred and thirty miles to and beyond the base of the great and httle Touchwood Hills. These ranges of hills extend in a south-west direction, about twenty miles from each other. The greater is about eighty miles, and the lesser about sixty miles in length. They lie bet- ween the upper courses of the Assiniboine and the Qu’Appelle. The transverse breadth of country occupied by them, and their gently ascending bases, measuring north-westw^ard, is about Fifty miles. Speaking of them. Professor Hind says : “ AVe reached the summit plateau, and then passed through a very beautiful un- 48 (lulating country, diversified by many picturesque lakes and aspen groves, possessing land of the best quality, and covered with most luxuriant herbage ; ” further he says : “ The country between the two ranges is dotted with lakes and groves of aspen. From a small hill near the Fort, I counted forty-seven lakes ; ” and further, “ so rich and abundant is the vegetation here, that the horses remain in the open glades all the whiter, and always finds plenty of forage to keep them in good con- dition. Buffaloes congregate in the beautiful prairie south of the Fort every winter, sometimes in vast numbers. ’ ’ A little further he says : “Not only are lakes very abundant and well supplied with water, but there are several hvmg streams flowing from the range. Indeed, the whole country from Touchwood Hills to Eiduig Mountain,” (upwards of two hundred miles,) in- cluding the country about the head waters of the Assiniboine, is dotted with innumerable lakes annually replenished by summer rains. North of the Touchwood Hills, the fertile prairie plateau, with an mcreasing proportion of woods in its northern and eastern parts, extends from the Duck Mountams, westward to the south Branch of the Saskatchewan, two hundred and twenty miles, and beyond it, up the valley of the North Branch, four hun- dred miles further. In a northerly direction it extends to the mam Saskatchewan below the junction of the two branches, upwards of a hundred miles north of Fort Felly, on the Assmi- boine, and the wooded country on Boot Kiver, which projects from the north-east into the prairie country. Fertile gromid conti.nues through the wooded country for some distance north of Root River, till it merges in the poor marshy grounds towards the main Saskatchewan. CHAPTER XI. LAKES MANITOBAH AND WINNIPEGOOS. A little east of the middle of the tract of two hundred and forty miles in width, between Lake Winnipeg and the Assini- boine, and roughly parallel to them, extend Lake Winnipegoos in the north and Lake Manitobah in the south ; the latter re- ceives the waters of the former by an elbow-shaped stream, and discharges its own into Lake Winnipeg, from a bay on its east side, by a river called the Little Saskatchewan, which is fifty miles in direct length to its mouth. These lakes are each a hundred and twenty miles in length. The greatest breadth of Manitobah is tweiity-four miles, aiid of 40 Winuipt'^oos twoniy-soven. Takeii together, they extend two liundred and twenty miles trom north to south. They enclose between them and Lake Winnipeg a peninsula of two hundred and lifty miles in length by a hundred miles in greatest breadth, which is cut across at the middle by the Little Saskatchew^an. This peninsula, though as large as the Kingdom of Denmark, counts for little in the Nor ’-West. Its interior has not been examined by our explorers. It is reported to be a low Hat country, abounding in lakes and marshes. ( )ii its coast, on the north-east shore of Lake Manitobah, Mr. Dawson states that from the marsh which hes behind its high shingle beach, a rich alluvial soil rises gradually to a moderate height, not subject to be flooded. The section it show's, where traversed by the Little Saskatchewan, is less faA'orable, having much very low^ groimd ; Avhich is natural, as the rwer would seek its w^ay over the low^est part. As it is a limestone country and thickly wooded, the soil must necessary be very fertile, where there is depth enough of it ; which should at least frequently be the case in a low level counti’y. We may expect that it will be found so wdien (wplored ; but it is of little present importance. Eound the south end of Lake Manitobah, for a circuit of about lihy miles, the soil is that of the richest description of prairie land. The few settlers consider it even superior to that of Red River. It is an undulating country of mingled woods and open prairie. The ^Yhite Mud River, a stream of about eighty miles in length by its course, wRich has its sources in the southern sldrts of the Riding Mountains, and llow's eastw^ard to the south end of Lake Manitobah, is described as passing through an exceed- ingly beautiful and fertile country of prairies, thickly inters- persed wdth woods, the soil of wRich is a rich sandy loam. This very rich prairie land extends southward to the kSand Hills on the Asshiiboine, and eashvard to Red River. Betw^een the upper end of Lake Manitobah and the Riding Mountains, and around Lake DauiRin, there is much rich ground, and much of it very marshy. Mr. Daw'son and Mr. Hind agree in thuiking these marshes could generally be drain- ed, and w^ould form rich meadow^s. But Mr. Hind does not con- sider the country on the shores of these lakes, and between them and the Riding and Duck Mountams, as generally suitable for settlement, excepting the south end of Lake Manitobah. Mr. Dawson’s opmion is more favorable, owing probably to his greater experience of rugged countries like the Ottawa and eastern districts, where the standard by which land is estimated is not so high as in the western parts of Canada. Mr. Dawson states that “the coimtrv bordering on the w^estern 4 50 extremity of Lake Wimiipegoos is, in general, of a fair elevation, and the land appears to be remarkably fertile ; between the Eed Deer Eiver and Swan Eiver,” (a distance of seventy-five miles), “ a level country extends to the base of the Porcupine Hills. It is well wooded, and upon the whole, I consider this tract well adapted for settlement.” THE DAUPHIN KIVEH. Eeporting on the Eiver Dauphin, Mr. A. Wells says, “that is a tine stream, forty yards broad, havmg five feet of water in the shallowest parts. Its banks are of a strong gray clay, covered with black mould and timbered with oak, elm and poplar,” and adds, “there are several places on the Dauphin Eiver where the Indians grow potatoes, indian corn and melons.” THE EED DEEP RIVER. The Eed Deer Eiver, which falls into the north-west end of Lake Wimiipegoos, is said to flow through a country that is very fertile. The fact that maple is to be found there in consi- derable quantities (as noticed by Sir Alexander McKenzie) is a favorable indication alike as to soil and climate. It is a stream of about two hundred miles in length by its course. THE SWAN RIVER. The Swan Eiver, which enters a bay of the north end of Lake Wimiipegoos, after passing northward through Swan Lake, is about two hundred miles in length by its course. Speaking of it Mr. Dawson says : “ Ascending from Swan Lake for two miles or so, the banks are rather low, in the succeeding ten miles they gradually attain a height of nearly a hundred feet, landslips occur in many places, where the banks are high, ex- posing an alluvial soil of great depth resting on drift clay, or shale of a slightly bituminous appearance.” “ About thirty miles above Swan Lake, the prairie region fairly commences. There the river winds about in a fine valley, the banks of which rise to the height of eighty or a hundred feet. Beyond these an apparently unbroken level extends, on one side, for a distance of fifteen or twenty miles to the Porcu- pine Hills, and for an equal distance on the other, to the high table-land called the Duck Mountain. From this south-west- ward to Thunder Mountain, the country is the finest I have ever seen in a state of nature. This prospect is bounded by the blue outline of the hills named, while, in the plain, alter- nate wood and prairie present an appearance more pleasing 51 than if either entirely prevailed.” Leaving JSwan liiver to cross Fort Felly, he says, “ the road then follows for some distance a tributary of Swam Fiver, which runs in a beautiful valley with alternate slopes of woodland and prairie. Numbers of horses were quietly feeding on the rich pasture of the valley as we passed, and what with the clumps of trees on the rising grounds and the stream winding among green meadows, it seemed as if it wanted but the presence of human habitations to give it the appearance of a highly culti- vated country.” This description carries us round again into the rich prairie country, already described, on the upper course of the Assini- boine, which, as before observed, is bounded on the east by the Porcupine, the Duck and the Eiding Mountains. It is in a broad valley between the two latter that the Swan Fiver finds its way eastward. THE POECUPINE, DUCK AND HIDING MOUNTAINS. These mountains are thickly covered with wood of a large growth ; they rise gently, is successive plateaus, from the prairie plain, which is much higher than the low country on the shores of the lakes east of them. Taken together, they extend in a curved line of two hun- dred miles in length, nearly parallel to the Assiniboine, about half way between it and the Lakes Manitobah and 'VYinni- pegoos. Mr. Hind gives the Fiding Mountains an elevation of a thou- sand feet above the land on the shore of Lake Manitobah ; and Mr. Dawson estimates the Porcupine Mountains as rising to about fifteen hundred feet over the plain at their eastern base. The Fiding and Duck Mountains are more properly described as portions of the elevated disk of the high plain country on the Upper Assiniboine, which rises gently from the prairie in suc- cessive plateaus, thickly wooded, to the summit, falling east- ward in abrupt descents to the much lower country along the west shores of Lakes Manitobah and Winnipegoos ; presenting towards them a mountainous and lofty aspect. Fismg from the prairie they are covered with a thick growth of wood, chiefly poplar. The table land of the summit of the Fiding Mountain is described by Professor Hmd as fine land, heavy clay soil supportmg a forest of very large white spruce, poplar, birch, aspen, &c. ; the white spruce girthing from five feet six inches to seven feet three inches. In Mr. Dawson’s report, the table land forming the summit of Duck Mountain is described, from information obtained, to be of rich soil and heavily wooded. Porcupine Mountaui, besides bemg higher, rises in a more definite form from the plains at its base. 52 NAVIGATION OF LAKES MANITOBAH AND WINNIPEGOOS AND BIVER LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN. As the Little Saskatchewan, the outlet of Lake Maiiitobah, is a line navigable stream of sev'en hundred and fifty feet in breadth, and the Waterhen Kiver or Sangisipi, w^hich connects Lakes Manitobah and Winnipegoos, has a broad channel not less than three feet deep at low water, they present together with these lalves an unbroken line of water communication from Fort Garry to Mossy Portage, at the head of Lake Winnipegoos, a distance of about five hundred miles. Mossy Portage, which is only about four miles and a quarter in length, through low ground, connects the head of Lake Win- nipegoos with Cedar Lake on the Piver Saskatchewan, above its great rapids. A short canal there would unite the nawga- tion by these lakes from Port Garry with that of the Eiver Saskatchewan, (from Cedar Lake upwards) which for nearly a thousand miles presents no greater obstructions to navigation than are to be found in the Eiver Ohio. This would form a line of water communication of about fifteen hundred miles in length from Port Garry to the foot of the Eocky Mountains. By ascending the Assiniboine seventy miles to Prairie Portage, and canaUing by the Eat Eiver and White Mud Eiver, about twenty-five miles, to the south end of Lake Manitobah, the distance to the Saskatchewan would be shortened by a hundred miles. A cheaply constructed shallow canal, with a good length and breadth of lock-pit, would be sufficient there for large business. The character of the Saskatchewan, as a navi- gable river, wdll be further noticed. CHAPTEE XIl. THE HIVEll SASKATCHEWAN AND ITS COUNTRY. The term country is more properly applicable than valley to the region drained by the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. The country through which the two great arms of the Saskat- chewan fiave their courses, being a portion of the great interior plateau that slopes down eastward from the Eocky Mountains, it does not present the aspect of a valley. The term valley is more appropriately apphcable to the deep hollows, in the gene- iMly plain country, in which its rivers flow. The north and south branches of the Saskatchew^an, as before mentioned, have their sources in the l^ocky Mountains but a, few miles apart, about latitude 51 40’ N. ; that is about a hun- dred and eighty-five rnih'S north of the United States })oundary. From tlil'ir nearly common source tlic North Jh aiich diverges north-eastward, and the South J^ranch or ]h)\v J^iver south- eastward, till at two huiidr(!d and iiity miles due eastward they attain a distance of three hundred miles irom each other ; the South Branch being there within forty-live miles of the frontier. Then gradually approaching, they meet at live hundred and lifty miles eastward from their source. The length of the North Branch, by the manuscript field notes of the survey of it by the North-AYest Company’s astronomer, David Thompson, is seven hundred and seventy-two and a half miles, and that of the South or Main Branch, by the latest maps, is about eight hundred and ten miles. From their junction, the course of the Main Saskatchewan to Lake AYinniiieg is, by Thompson’s field notes, two hundred and eighty-two miles. This makes the whole length of the Saskatchew^an, from the source of the South Branch, (which is the main stream, ) to Ijake AYinnipeg, a thousand and ninety- two miles. Following the North Branch, as measured by Thompson, the total length to Lake AV innipeg is a thousand and fifty-four and a half miles. This gives occasion to remark that the length of rivers, and distances generalN^, are much exaggerated in new countries ; and even scientific men are led into error by hearing them so spoken of by the people of the country. In this manner Capt. Blackiston gives the distance from Lake AA^innipeg to Edmonton, on the North Branch, as a thousand miles; but by Thompson’s held -book the measured distance is only seven hundred and seventy -two miles. Much of the extraordinary length and size attributed to rivers in the United States is due to this ; and errors respecting them from this source have found their way into standard works, such as Johnson’s Physical Atlas. Passing through the north end of Lake AYinnipeg, at four hundred and twenty-three miles further, the Saskatchew^an falls into Hudson’s Bay, making its entire length from its source to the sea, hfteen hundred and fifteen miles. In this last distance its waters are more than doubled in volume from the large tributaries that feed Lake AA^ innipeg ; and as it descends six hundred and twenty-eight feet, its course is exceedingly obstructed by rapids and falls. The total area drained by it is five hundred thousand miles, or one-seventh more than the Ganges unw^aters. By the careful measurements of Mr. Fleming, of the Cana- dian Exploring Expedition, the volume of water passing m the North Branch, in the month of August, w^as 25,264 cubic feet per second, or one-fifth more than the mean volume of the Phone, by D’Aubuisson ; and that of the South Branch wuis 34,285, or 585 feet more than the mean of the Ehine, by the same authority. Measured below the forks, where it is 980 feet 54 wide and 20 feet in average depth, that of the main Saskat- chewan was 59,667 cubic feet per second, or nearly three* quarters of the mean discharge of the Ottawa at Grrenville. ^ The area drained by the South Saskatchewan is greater than that of the Rhine, and the w^ater-shed of the Rocky Mountains drained by it is greater than that of the Alps drained by the Rhine, and the excess of its volume would be much greater were it not for the extent of dry prairie land it passes through. The River Missouri, which flows through the same description of country, is similarly affected. Though draining an equal area to that of the St. Lawrence, and nearly as long in direct distance from its source to its mouth, it throws into the Mississppi only about one-fourth of the water the St. Lawrence discharges into the Gulf , and its general width is only five hundred yards. In considering the character of the Saskatchewan and its country, as described by the Canadian Exploring Party and others, let us ascend it from Lake Winnipeg. From its mouth there are over two miles of strong current up to the Grand Rapids, which are nearly three miles in lengthy with a descent of forty-three and a half feet. The river has there worn its channel, varying from six hundred and sixty to two hundred and twenty yards in width, down through the lips of the horizontal beds of limestone, which form the basis of the level and generally marshy plateau behind. As to the country in the vicinity of the Grand Rapids, Pro- fessor Hind says it is “ very favorable for a road, and even for a settlement, as the banks of the river are high, with a consi- derable depth of good soil, from the second rapid east of Cross Lake to near Lake Winnipeg,” about eight miles, and adds, there is also abundance of timber for fuel and building. The second rapid referred to is at four miles above the head of the Grand Rapid. It is fully a mile long, wdth a fall of seven and a half feet. From this up to Cedar Lake, which is twenty miles from Lake W innipeg, there is a succession of rapids and swift currents, which, with the rapids already mentioned, make a total descent of upwards of sixty feet. Cedar Lake is thirty miles long, and twenty-five miles in greatest width. From the foot of it the river is navigable for steamers, without interruption, up a hundred and eighty miles to Tobern’s Rapids. North of Cedar Lake the country is described as low and flat for a long distance back ; the main land and islands well wooded with balsam, spruce, birch, poplar, tamarack, cedar, * When it is considered that the Ottawa draws its waters from a cold, high and densely-wooded region with innumerable deep lakes, the cause of its great vo- lume will be at once apparent. and i^aiikseaii pine. Low beds of horizontal limestoiu* appear in the islands, and “ a considerable portion of the land is rc^ported to be swampy and unavailable for agricultural purposes.” From Cedar Lake up to Marshy Lake, about forty miles, the country on each side of the river is not more than (‘i<^hteen inches over the water, which is skirted by a belt of willows, alders and long grass ; in the rear an extensive marsh, with occasional islands of small poplar and spruce. The Hoods cover these Hats every spring, depositing a very rich mud, which is raising and extending them. Much land has been so formed within the memory of the natives. No high ground is to be seen on either side, and the Indians report that there is nothing but boggy swamps behind for many miles. Up to near the mouth of the Pasquia River, which is about eighty-Hve miles in direct distance from Lake Winnipeg, the banks continue only from two to three feet above the river, with a nearly similar low marshy country behind. The Pas Mission is situated at the mouth of the Pasquia, a considerable tributary. The river banks are there ten or twelve feet high, the soil a dark mould over drift clay. Here the exploring party found farm houses and fields of grain. The banks, however, continue low alluvial, with a rather low country behind. Around Cumberland House (about 116 miles further), the country is low and Hat ; ‘‘ the soil in some places is a stiff clay, but in general it consist of a gravelly loam a few feet in thick- ness, covering a bed of white hmestone, supporting a light growth of poplar and birch,’ ’ with occasional groves of spruce : much of it is submerged in spring Hoods ; many of the marshes could be drained and improved without much difficulty. Here we have reached a very favorable country for agricul- ture. Speaking of the twenty-nine miles above this, Mr. Fleming says : — “ The general character of the country we have passed through to-day is excellent, the soil being rich, and the timber of a fair quality.’ ’ Of the forty-seven miles succeed- ing, upwards, he says he “ passed through an excellent tract of country all day, the soil on both sides of the river consisting of a very rich alluvial deposit, ten feet in thickness above the water, well wooded with large poplar, balsam, spruce and birch; some of the poplars measuring two and a half feet in diameter ; and, as far as I was enabled to ascertain, the land continues good for a great distance on either side, but more especially on the south side of the river.” Of the fifty-three miles next above that he says that it is “ well adapted for agricultural purposes and settlement, the soil being a rich alluvial loam, of considerable depth, well watered and drained by many fine creeks, and clothed with abundance of timber for fuel, fencing and building. 56 The country on the banks of the river continues the same for a few miles further, till, approaching: Fort a la Come, the immediate banks become gradually higher, and the bluffs that form the edge of the high plateau behind on each side gradually approach nearer to the river. From Fort a la Come, which is a hundred and fifty miles above Cumberland House, up to the forks of the north and south branches, a distance of sixteen miles, the river is de- scribed as sweeping, in magnihcent curves, in a valley oi about a mile in width, and from a hundred and tilty to two hundred feet lower than tire general level of the country on each side. Describing the country on the south side of the Saskatchewan here. Professor Hind says : “ The trail from Fort a la Come to the old track leading from Fort Ellice to Carleton House ascends the hills, forming the banks of the deep eroded valley of the Saskatchewan, in rear of the Fort. It passes through a thick forest of small aspens, until near the summit, when a sandy soil begins, covered with Banksean pine and a few small oak. The sandy soil occupies a narrow strip on the banks of the river varying from half a mile to four miles broad. South of the sandy strip the soil changes to a rich black mould, distributed over a gently undulating country. The pine gives way to aspen and willows, in groves, the aspen oc - cupying the crest of the undulations, and the willows the lowest portion of the intervening valleys. On the slopes the grass is long and luxuriant, affording fine pasturage. The general aspect of the country is highly favorable for agriculture, the soil deep and uniformly rich, rivalling the low prairies of Red River and the Assiniboine.” Beyond this he speaks of the wooded country that extends southwards to the head of the Assiniboine, which is gradually being converted into open prairie, by the great fires that have- done so already over great extents. He explains that by the term wooded country is to be understood a region in which prairie or grassy areas predominate over the aspen woods. This favorable country of mixed woodland and prairie, ex- tends southward from the forks of the Saskatchewan, eighty miles, to the treeless prairie region on the northerly waters of the River Qu’Appelle. South-easterly it extends, including the wooded region on Root River, through to the fertile country on the Assiniboine already described ; making together in that direction a breadth of three hundred and twenty miles of fer- tile country, interspersed with woodlands, between the forks of tlie Saskatchewan and the Assiniboine opposite the mouth of the Souris. 57 ROOT OR CARROT RIVKR. Ivises ill rich kiiicls on ilio south iiank of tJie J^uiiipy Jlill of the woods, sixty miles south-west from the ibrks of the Saskat- chewan, and thirtei'ii miles from the South llranch, and flows chielly throu«di what is described as wooded country with many lakes, o-enorally from thirty to forty-live miles south of the Saskatchewan, into which it falls after a course of about two hundred and Ibrty miles. Professor Hind estimates that there are three millioi-.s of acres of land of the first quality behveen it and the Saskatchewan. CHAPTEP Xlll. THE SOUTH EUANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAIsV Immediately above the Forks the South Branch of the Saskat chewan is only a hundred and eighty yards in width, but the current is swift, miles an hour, and the average depth seven and a half feet. Professor Hind states it as being less in volume, and not half the width that it is two hundred and twenty miles further up. For about a hundred and thirty miles up its course, or a hun- dred miles in direct distance, its valley preserves the same character as that of the main river between the Forks and Fort a la Come, but the banks, which the prairie plateaus on each side present to the narrow valley of the river, are generally lower, varying from a hundred, to forty feet in height, exposing sand-stone cliffs where cut by the bends of the river. The country on each side is described as having a rich soil, with abundant woods, in clumps and groves, for a great part of the way. It then becomes gradually less wooded and more sandy in parts, especially on the west side, till, after passing the distance last mentioned, it assumes the character of light treeless prairie land. The river in this distance varies from 180 to 440 yards in breadth, increasing in width in ascending, generally from 10 to 14 feet in depth, the current three and three and a half miles an hour, with a swifter current and vfhirlpools in a few places. The generally treeless prairie country, reached at a hundred and thirty miles from the Forks, is the commencement of the great infertile region which has been already described as co- vering the greater part of the River Qu’Appelle and its tribu- taries, and which, with some considerable exception, is de- scribed by Dr. Hector and Capt. Palliser, as extending westward 58 oyer the South Saskatchewan and its tributaries, nearly to the hilly country at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Continuiiii^ about seventy miles further in the same south- southwest direction, or nearly a hundred miles by its course, the Elbow of the South Branch is reached at two hundred and ten, or what is usually called two hundred and fifty miles from the Forks. In the commencement of this distance is the “ Moose Moods,” a rich alluvial expansion of the low valley of the rivev, partly wooded, with rich glades between : it is twenty-five miles in length, and six or eight miles in breadth, and bounded on each side by sandy crested bluffs. From this to the Elbow the river again assumes its narrow valley, the banks of which gradually ascend to two hundred feet in height. About thirty-five miles above the Elbow the South Branch approaches the Eyebrow and Thunder-breeding Mountains, and there skirts the salient angle of the Coteau de Missouri, which springs like a vast bastion from the United States boundary ; its east face, which rises six hundred feet above the elevated plain at its foot, is two hundred miles in length, and its western face, called the Cypree Hills, extends a hun- dred and sixty miles with much greater elevation, being, ac- cording to Dr. Hector, four thousand two hundred feet above the sea, and sixteen hundred above the plains, according to Capt. Palliser. For nearly five hundred miles above the Elbow of the South Saskatchewan, its uj^ward course passes through the great infertile region of light prairie land, the greater part of which is described as consisting of arid wastes ; from which, how- ever, there are apparently some large exceptions, for instance, the Cypree Hills, just mentioned, are stated by Capt. Palliser to be “ covered in fine timber, abounding in excellent grass, and well watered, and fairly, though not abundantly stocked with game.” The following further extracts from Capt. Palliser’ s report, together with the above, give a very clear general view of the chpacter of the country on the South Saskatchewan and its chief tributary, the Red Deer River. He says, “ the Machee or Hand Hills, in Lat. 51 ^32’ N., Long. Ill ‘^20’, are a plateari ele- vated about 450 feet above the level of the surrounding prairies. The grass and land were very good, but the timber not of any value, being chiefly willow and poplar. With the exception of very few similar spots, the whole prairie over which we passed, to our crossing place on the Red Deer river, (about forty miles above the forks of Red Deer and Bow rivers,) is a sandy country, the grass very scanty, and no wood.” He proceeds to say, “ we crossed Red Deer river, and fol- lowed along its south ])ank, until we arrived opposite the 59 site where the old Fort called Chesterlield House once stood ; with the exception of the bed of Ked Deer Kiver, the whole of that reo;ion is valueless, the grass bemg very scanty and timber very scarce.” He does not say how wide the bed or valley of Ked Deer river is. He says further, “ there is throughout the whole of this region a great scarcity of rain ; but in a few places here and there, where the land rises above the plain to the height of three or four hundred feet, good grass and some timber, as rough bark poplar and willow, appear.” Speaking of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, he says : “ ha’vdng now examined all that river, we find the whole region from the Elbow, in longitude 107 37’ W., up to the point where the meridian 112'^ W. strikes the “ line of the woods,” by no means a desirable district for settlement.” Ked Deer Kiver enters the South Branch about a hundred and thirty miles above the Elbow. It is nearly five hundred miles in length, and is two hundred and fifty yards wide fifty miles above its mouth. The lower half of its course is in the infertile region. Above that, a hundred and thirty miles of its course lies in the fertile region towards the North Branch of the Saskatchewan ; and the remainder in the wooded region at the base of the Kocky Mountains, and its sources are in their valleys. Coal is noted by Dr. Hector about a hundred and seventy miles up from its mouth, and again a hundred miles further up. Capt. Blackiston estimates the average descent of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, from Chesterfield House at the mouth of Ked Deer Kiver, down to the Forks, at two feet a mile, but says that those who are acquainted with the river from boating upon it consider it navigable for steamers. The distance is about 340 miles. FERTILE GROUNDS NEAR SOURCES ON SKIRT OF ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Beyond the infertile region the upper course of the South Branch to its source, about a hundred and sixty miles, is among the Kocky Mountains and their lower outliers, where the country is generally wooded, and the valleys fertile ; but very elevated. Capt. Blackiston’s journal of exploration of a line, of about ninety miles S. S. E. from Bow Fort, on the Bow Kiver, or South Branch, gives a good description of the country on the skirts of the lower mountain ranges. He speaks of woods of spruce, poplar, aspen, and large rough barked pine ; of the track being blocked with fallen timber in parts ; of line prairie bottoms, and others partially covered with scrub and willow, and line streams ; of passing for three days in valleys within the outlying parallel ridges, “less wooded than previously passed, being for considerable part through line prairie slopes,” the main range visible occasionally at a distance of thirty miles, through gaps in the nearer moun- tains, of undulating prairie ; of the trail passing between nu- merous wooded ridges, and says “the soil of the valleys was usually a deep dark mould, supporting a luxuriant vegetation, of the smaller plants. This was the nature of most of these inountain valleys. "Where the strata is upheaved the ground is of course rocky ; such, however, is not often the case in the A'alleys.” Continues to say “ soon after we gained the height of land between the Speechee and Belly liivers, and the Avide prairie Audley of the latter burst upon our view.” He then descended a short distance and camped at an eleA^ation of four thousand feet aboA^e the sea. This eleA^ation, which is the same as that of Boav Fort, is doubtless too great to admit of the cultiA^ation of W^heat. Coarse grains and A^egetables, hoAA^er^er, might seemingly be cultwated. Dr. Hector mentions that some of the Indians who haA^e been coiiA^erted to Christianity cultivate little plots of ground at Bow Fort, and that their principal crops are turnips and potatoes. This speaks little in favor of the climate of this locality, but on the other hand it is to be remarked that eA'cn this cold ele- A^ated region presents an adA^antage for cattle feeding that Ave do not enjoy in Canada, which Dr. Hector especially notices, and describes as extending to this locality. He says “ the most A’^aluable feature of this belt of country, which also stretches from ToucliAvood Hills, Caiieton and Fort Pitt south of Edmonton to the old Boav iB'ort at the Kocky Mountains ” (he had previously mentioned also the head waters of Bed Deer Ewers) “ is the immense extent of Avhat I shall term AAdnter pasturage.” “ This winter pasturage consists of tracts of country partially Avooded AAuth poplar and AvilloAA^ clumps, and bearing a most luxuriant growth of A^etches and nutritious grasses. The clumps of wood afford shelter to animals, while the scrubby bush keeps the snoAV in such a loose state that they find no dilliculty in feeding ; the large tracts of SAvampy country, when frozen, also afford admirable feeding grounds ; and it is only towards spring in A^ery sex^ere winters, that horses and cattle cannot be left to feed in well chosen localities throughout this region of country.” Any practical man will see that such adA^antages, lor unlimited cattle feeding, without the labor of clearhig land and raising hay crops, combined with the extreme ricliness ol* soil in the valleys, are \veifj:hty oll'sets against the eoolness of the sum- mer climate. As for the winter 13r. Hector says, with reference to the whole region from Ijow Fort, along the skirt of tin? Ivocky Mountains, as far north as the lliver Athabasca, “ having travelled the Hocky Mountains at the most unfavorable period of an unusually severe winter, 1 am enabled to stah^ that whatever may be the amount of snow on the heights of land and their western Hank, the valleys of the eastern rang-es are actually less encumbered by snow than much of the prairi(^ country.” It is to be observed that these remarks apply to the country on the east Hank of the Kocky Mountains for at least three hun- dred and fifty miles northward from the TJnited States bound- ary, including the head waters of the North Branch of the Sas- katchewan, and the Athabasca. CHAPTEE XIV. THE NOETH HllANCH OF THE SASKATCHEWAN. The country drained by the North Branch of the Saskat- chewan, and its extensive tributary the Battle Eiver, though incomparably more valuable than the country traversed by the South Branch, does not recj^uire to be described so much at length, owmg to its more uniform character. The North Branch, for the greater part of its course, and the Battle Eiver, lie in the great belt of country which the Cana- dian and the Imperial exploring i:>arties describe as generally fertile land of the first quality. The North Branch, for five hundred and twenty inHes up from the Forks, and the Battle Fiver, for its whole course of four hundred and fifty miles, (excepting a short elbow of it,) traverse a rich prairie country more or less interspersed with woods. The remaining two hundred and eighty-two miles of the upper course of the North Branch lie in the thick wood country, which, to the commencement of the mountains, about two hun- dred mdes, is represented as abounding in marshes with pat- ches of fine land in parts. In this distance the banks of the river display beds of lignite coal. Beyond it the remaining course of the river lies in the valleys of the mountains, to the glaciers at its source. The Battle Elver enters the North Branch about a hundred and seventy mHes above the main Forks. It drains a large part of the country between the North and South Branches. It has its source about ten miles from the North Branche, thirty 62 miles above Edmonton, but they are a hundred and thirty miles apart at the middle of its course, and between them the pasturage is described as very rich. Coal presents itself there, in the banks of the stream, two hundred and hfty miles from its mouth. The rich prairie country which covers the course of the Battle Eiver and the northerly part of Eed Deer Eiver, and includes the North Branch from the forks, up to thirty miles above Ed- monton, has a breadth of about a hundred miles, at the forks, seventy miles at the mouth of Battle Eiver, a hundred and fifty miles at its middle course, and about seventy at its source ; beyond which the belt of fertile prairie country becomes gradually nar- rower, and turning to the southward, up the course of the Eed Deer Eiver, becomes merged iti the fertile region on the skirt of the mountains below Bow Fort on the South Branch. It is bounded on the north by the line of the Thick Woods, which sweeps northerly parallel to the course of the North Branch at the distance of forty to twenty miles beyond it, then curving to the southward crosses it about thirty miles above Edmonton, and continuing in that direction strikes the mountains near Bow Fort, making a circuit from the forks of about seven hundred miles. This circuit of the Thick Woods is the present boundary of the progress of successive tires which are gradually encroaching on the forest, or partly wooded country, and converting it into treeless prairie, unless where clumps of young aspen and poplar, growing up, escape the ravages of succeeding fires. Without entering into particulars here as to climate, we may observe that Capt. Palliser, who with Dr. Hector explored a greater extent of the valley of the Saskatchewan than had been previously visited by any other scientific men, says that the cli- mate of the southern and western parts of it is decidedly milder than that of Eed Eiver. CHAETEE XV. NAVIGATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN. There is a good harbour at the mouth of the Saskatchewan, from which the current is swift up to the foot of the (Glrand Eapids, which are three miles in length, with a fall of forty- three and a half feet. Above them the current is moderate for four miles to a rapid of one mile in length with a fall of seven feet. The ascent of this by a powerful steamer is said to be practicable ; but the advantag(' of it might ])e questionable. ryl] From it to Cedar Lake, ten miles, the current is strong witli several rapids. Captain Munn, ol* the ^Steamer “ International,” and Mr. Hutchison, the pilot of that vessel, who examined the river up to Carleton 1 louse, state that a steamer could as- cend this distance, with the single improvement of a x>ier at Cross Lake. To connect the foot of this reach with Lake Winnipeg, a tram- road or railway would be sulhcient. There would be no object in canalling past the Grand llapids, for the vessels employed on Lake Winnipeg would have to be much stronger than what would be suitable on the Saskatchewan, so transhipment would be necessary at any rate. From the foot of Cedar Lake to “ Tobern’s Falls,” Captain Muim says, the river is uninterrupted by anything to imx:>ede navigation : the distance is said to be a hundred and eighty miles, — probably not over a hundred and sixty. Tobern’s llapid. Captain Blackiston says, is certainly not navigable at low, and he doubts much if it be so at high water, but adds that the difference is so great that it is hardly safe to say. Damming, with lockage, to gorge the rapid would seem ne- cessary there, or a tram-road past it. Above Tobern’s Falls, Captain Munn says, that for eight or ten miles the river is wide and shoal, with intermediate rapids, not navigable at low water. Captain Blackiston, II. E., who ascended the river to Edmonton, is of opinion that there are no obstructions from Tobern’s Rapids up to Coles’ Falls or Rapids above the forks, (a distance of about a hundred miles,) which could not be surmounted by a steamer at high water. Captaiii Munn, of the steamer “ International,” in his report to the Hud- son’s Bay Company says, in summing up, that the Saskat- chewan is a good navigable stream from the Grand Rapids up as far as Tobern’s Falls, with the improvement suggested by him at Cross Lake. From Tobern’s Falls to Carleton House, he did not find the river navigable, the water being low when he exa- mined it, but he was informed by Mr. Pruden, at the latter place, that the water in the river is three and a haK feet higher from the first of June to the middle of September than it then was. He adds, “ with this additional water, I am of opinion that light draught steamers could be sent as far as I explored it, without any serious difficulty.” He found the river well wooded, affording abundance for steam purposes.” In this report his pilot fully concurred. Coles’ Falls, immediately above the Forks, are a succession of rapids, twenty-six in number, from a hundred and fifty to three hundred feet in length each, with slack water between. Captain Munn includes them in the extent passable in the high water period mentioned. twenty-two miles above the Forks the ascent per mile is j*Teat, and the rapids continue for eighteen miles of that dis- tance ; the current is six to seven miles an hour when the water is high, by Professor Hind’s observation, a rate of current by no means insurmountable by a steamer of fair power, but for safety to vessels the boulders should be remov^ed from a sufficient width of the channel. Above this, for the distance of two hundred and eighty miles, the ascent irer mile is very much less than in the lower part of the river. It is esthnated by Mr. Thompson, who surveyed it, as being from six to nine inches per mile, and for a hundred and eighty miles further, up to Edmonton, at two feet a mile, less than half the rate of descent of the Ehone from Avignon to the sea. From Edmonton to within forty-three miles of Eoclr^' Mountain House, Thompson states the ascent to be four feet to the mile. Captain Plackiston gi\'es the average descent of the Saskat- chewan from Edmonton to Lalve Winnipeg as one foot four inches to the mile. To the foot of Cedar Lake it would be one foot three inches to the mile, the same as the descent of the Ehme from Strasbourg to the Sea. As the Ehine is navigated throughout that distance by steamers and A^essels of considerable tonnage, the current of the Saskatchewan, excepting at parti- cular points, cannot be such as to present any great obstruc- tion to steamboats. Powerful steamers of two feet draught, such as are used on the Ehhie, would navigate it very freely . From the 1st of June to the end of September, and probably for a longer period, such vessels could ply. The navigation of the Saskatchewan will probably pro^’^e to be nearly as useful as that of the Ohio, but less liable, on ac- count of its greater volume, to interruption from low water, to which the navigation of the Ohio is very subject in the dry months of summer. CHAPTEE XVI. PROPOllTION OF APtABLE LANDS IN SOUTH HALF OF CENTRAL PRAIRIE COUNTRY. W e have now gone over that part of the great territory under consideration, drained by the Saskatchewan and other tribu- taries of Lake 'Wmnipeg, the area of which, as before stated, is about two hundred and eighty thousand square miles. Speaking of part of this area. Captain Palliser says : ‘‘ The extent of surface drained by the Saskatchewan and other tri- butaries to Lake Winnipeg which we had the opportunity of 05 oxamining:, amounts in round numbers to 150,000 square miles. This region is bounded to the north by what is called the ‘ strong woods,’ or the southern limit of the great ch’cum-arctic zone of forest which occupies these latitudes in the northern hemisphere. This line, which is indicated in the map, sweeps to the north-west from the shore ot Lake Winnipeg, and reaches its most northerly limit about 54^30’ N. and long. 109*^ W., Irom whence it again passes to south-west, meeting the Ilocky Mountains in lat 51 ® N., long. 115 ^ W. Between this line of the ‘ strong woods ’ and the northerly limit of the true prairie country, there is a belt of land varying in width, which at one period must have been covered by an extension of the northern forests, but which has been gradually cleared by suc- cessive fires. “ It is now a partially wooded country, abounding in lakes, and rich m natural pasturage, in some parts rivalling the finest park scenery of our own country. Throughout this region of country the climate seems to preserve the same character, although it passes through very different latitudes — its form being doubtless determined by the curves of the isothermal line. Its superficial extent embraces about 65,000 square miles (query — geographical or statute ? If the former, it would be about 85,000 statute, which would agree with the area shown on Professor Hind’s map), of which more than one-third may be considered as at once available for the purposes of the agri- culturist. Its elevation mcreases from 700 to 4,000 feet as we approach the Pocky Mountains, consequently it is not equally adapted throughout to the cultivation of any one crop ; never- theless, at Fort Edmonton, which has an altitude of 3,000 feet, even wheat is sometimes cultivated with success. “ The least valuable portion of the prairie country has an ex- tent of above 80,000 square miles, and is that lying along the southern branch of the Saskatchewan, and southward from thence to the boundary Hue ; while its northern limit is design- ated in the Indian languages as the ‘ edge of the woods,’ the original line of the woods before invaded by the fire.” The fertile belt thus described by Captain Palliser contains, as represented on Dr. Hector’s and Professor Hurd’s map, an area of about 85,000 statote miles, the equivalent nearly of 65,000 geographical square miles. We have here, then, in the portion of this territory explored by Captain Palhser and his party, an extent of very fertile, mixed prairie and woodlands, three times the size of that part of Upper Canada from Kingston to Sarnia ; of which more than one-third is at once ready to receive the plough. This, however, does not include the very considerable portion of really good prairie land, already described as interspersed in the region classed as infertile country ; nor the Cypree Mountains 5 06 south of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan above the Elbow, described as a range elevated 1,600 feet above the plain, covered with line timber, abounding in excellent grass and well watered ; nor does it include the parts described as good of the wooded country on the west side of Lakes Manitoban and 'VYin- nipegoos. If these were included, to say nothing of ground north of the line of “ thick woods,” not yet converted by fires into prairie, the total would probably amount to one hundred thousand square miles estimated by Mr. Dawson, in his report, as suitable for settlement. It would be absurd to expect any country in a state of nature to be all equally fit to receive the plough at once. The one-third of the fertile region, estimated by Captain Palliser as being so, is a very fair proportion ; the other two-thirds, no doubt, are parts requiring draining or partial clearmg. It would also be absurd to suppose it to be all equally fertile. There is a consi- derable difference between the deep beds of black vegetable mould which prevail chiefly in the Ked River valley, and the rich sandy loam spoken of in some other parts ; and there are the occasional bad spots and poor sandy ground, which we expect to find in all countries, though there are, apparently, tracts of great extent unusually free from them. As for the 80,000 square miles (about a hundred thousand statute square miles) which Captain Palliser designates as the least valuable part of the Prairie Country, it will no doubt, as he says, “ be for ever comparatively useless,” with the excep- tion of such tracts as the Cypree Mountains, and others where there is good grass with wood and water. These, with the richer parts of the vast green treeless plains, will afford great scope for cattle feeding after the great fertile region has become occupied. Messrs. Coper and Sucklay, the Naturalists of the U. S. Pacific Railway Exploration, identify the same kind of dry prairie country of Nebraska, (of which this is a continuation) with the “ perpetual steppes ” of Russia in Europe There the pasturage or green sward is not even continuous, except in very low val- leys, as stated by Mr. Haxhausen, and it is not uncommon for twenty months to pass without rain. Yet these grounds, he says, afford excellent pasture, especially for sheep, and yield, where cultivated, sixfold to one sown of wheat and rye, which he observes is greater than the average yield of Russia in Europe. The steppes are stated to be increasing in population by im- migration from the northern parts of the Empire, now attracted to them. Buckwheat, Indian Corn, Oats, Barley and Beets grow there abundantly. We have now taken a general view of the south part of the section under consideration, or that part of it which is com- G7 monly called liupert’s Land. It is not usual to include more than this in speaking' of the capacity of the country for settle- ment. But it is far from being all that is lit for agricultural occupation. We have still the countries lying on the Athabasca and Peace Ivivers, the Liver of the Mountains, Hay’s Liver and the upper part of Beaver Liver, suitalde lor settlement, to go over, to comidete the great section of available country under consideration. In beginning to treat of tliis great section of territory, it was stated, that in applying the term Central Prairie Land to it, that expression was meant merely to indicate this section as one containing prairie land, with the distinction, that prairies pre- vailed in the southern half, and woods in the northern half, with occasional prairie tracts. It is the latter which we have now to consider, under the divisions indicated by its rivers. It contams an area of about two hundred thousand superficial miles. CHAPTEL XYII. THE BEAVER OR UPPER CHURCHILL RIVER. The Beaver Liver has its source about forty miles only from the North Saskatchewan at Edmonton, beyond the line of the “ strong woods.” Its course to Hudson’s Bay is about eleven hundred miles in length, of which five hundred miles lie within the section under consideration. For two hundred and fifty miles from its source, its course is in the plain country of Silurian or more recent formations. It then, below Isle a la Crosse, enters the great primary or azoic belt, which covers the remainder of its course within this sec- tion. It may be considered as draining part of the same plain as the Saskatchewan, their basins being divided only by rocks a few feet in height. At Frog Portage, two hundred and thirty mdes lower, crossmg to a tributary of the Saskatchewan, the waters of the Beaver or Churchill flow over into it at high flood. Sir John Lichardson says that the Beaver Liver dramsa com- paratively small extent of prairie land, and Capt. Palliser de- scribes the country between it and the forks of the Saskatchewan as a thick wood country, with many lakes abounding in fish. Lying on the same formations, it no doubt resembles the fertile belt on the North Branch of the Saskatchewan before its prairies were cleared ofJ:imber by devastating fires. Sir Alex. McKenzie speaks favorably of the soil on the upper part of the Beaver River, of the Butt'aloes ranging the partial patches of prairie along it, and of a garden at Isle a la Crosse, that well repaid the labor bestowed on it. He speaks of Lake^ a la Crosse abonnding in “ the finest fish in the world,” and of the richness of its surrounding banks and forests in moose and fallow deer, with the vast number of the smaller tribes of ani- mals, and the numerous flocks of wild fowl.” As its Indian name Missinipi, wwc/i water, implies, the Beaver, or Churchil as it is called in its lower course, is a river of great volume. At Island Portage, above Frog Portage, Sir J. Richardson speaks of its being five or six hundred yards wide, where pent up and narrow, with a strong current. Eastward of Lake a la Crosse, where it passes through the primary or azoic formation, the soil of the country is poor, sandy, stony and rocky. Describing part of it, Sir John Richardson says the ge- neral aspect of it is like the country on the north shores of Lake Superior, though the water basin is not so deeply ex- cavated. CHAPTER XVIII. THE RIVER ATHABASCA. Westward and northward of the Beaver River country lies the greater region drained by the River Athabasca and its tri- butaries. The River Athabasca, though not the largest, is the most southerly and far extending branch of the River McKenzie. It has its source between glaciers, among mountains whose highest peaks rise to 15,000 feet, inlat. 52 “^20’ N., and long. 118 *^25’ W., near the north bend of the Columbia River. It reaches almost across the Rocky Mountains towards the Boat encampment, on a feeder of the Columbia ; the narrow valley of its main stream forming there the Athabasca Pass, while that of a more northerly arm is the site of the Leather Pass known as the Tete Jaune or Yellow-Head Pass. At Jasper House, which stands in a wide valley within the second range, about ninety miles below the source of the river. Dr. Hector describes the momitains as rising magnificently to the height of 5,400 feet above its bed, or 7,300 above the sea. Changing froni north to north-east, its general direction, at a hundred and eighty miles further, (the greater part of the way among the mountains and their lower ranges,) it receives, on the south, McLeod’s River. At Fort Assiniboine, about three hundred and sixty miles from its source. Dr. Hector describes it as a stream 300 yards in (50 wklih, llowiiig- in a valley from one to two miles wide, and *250 feet l^elow the level of the surrounding plain. At about forty miles lower, it receives, on the south, the Peml)ina, a river about two hundred and iifty miles in length ; at thirty miles lower the Lesser Slave Lake River from the North : — the lake is a hundred miles in length, the river from it about forty. From this it makes an elbow south-eastward, and then turns nearly north, which general direction it maintains, to its mouth at Lake Athabasca, receiving midway, at a hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, Clear Water River, on the south-east, from Methy Portage. The whole length of the Athabasca is nearly nine hundred miles. Sir John Richardson describes the Athabasca, at its junction with the Clear Lake River, as a majestic stream, between a quarter and a half mile wide, with a considerable current but without rapids. Sir Alex. McKenzie says it is about three quarters of a mile wide, and runs with a steady current, some- times contracting but never increasing its channel, till, after receiving several small streams, it discharges itself into the Lake of the Hills (Lake Athabasca.) He mentions that, about twenty- four miles below the mouth of Clep Water River, there are- some bituminous fountains, into which a pole may be inserted without the least resistance. He mentions that, in 1787, he found Mr. Fond, one of the north-west Traders, residing on the Elk River, (the Athabasca) forty miles from its mouth, where he remained for three years, and had formed as fine a kitchen garden as he (McKenzie) had ever seen in Canada — which is not surprising, as the line of mean summer temperature of Halifax, Nova Scotia, passes through that vicinity. The bed of the Athabasca is described as being in many places deeply cut below the level of the prairie plateau, which is not separated, by any marked ridge, from the prairie country of the Saskatchewan. Near Lake Athabasca, the high banks of the river’s bed sink into the alluvial lands of the delta at its mouth. From the west end of that lake the combined waters of the Athabasca and the Peace River, under the name of Slave River, flow northward to G-reat Slave Lake, in what is de- scribed as the fracture between the Silurian and primitive rocks. ^ Mr. David Thompson and Sir John Richardson describe limestone as prevailing throughout the lower course of the Athabasca, generally under beds of sandy soil saturated with bitumen, sometimes of great depth. Thirty miles below Clear AV ater River the limestone beds are covered with bituminous deposit, upwards of a hundred feet thick. The roots of living trees and herbaceous plants push themseWes deep into beds highly impregnated with bitumen, and, Sir John adds, the 70 forest where that mineral is most abundant does not suffer in its growth. He states that below Riviere Rouge, a tributary, a copious spring of mineral pitch issues from a cre^dce in a cliff, composed of sand and bitumen, in the middle of a thick wood. It seems rather to increase than impair the fertility of the soil. Below Pierre an Calumet, he says : “ the whole country, for many miles, is so full of bitumen, that it flows readily into a pit dug a few feet below the surface. Below Clear "Water River, he speaks of pretty thick layers of lignite coal appearing in one of the cliffs. On the upper part of the river, above Fort Assini* boine. Dr. Hector states that lignite coal appears in the banks, though not so much as in the Saskatchewan. The Athabasca country, “ from ;Methy Portage, westward,” Sir John Richardson says, “ though deeply furrowed by river courses and ravines, and more or less thickly wooded, partakes so much of a prairie character that horsemen may travel over it to Lesser Slave Lake and the Saskatchewan,” (three hundred and fifty miles,) and adds that in 1849 a fine "body of upwards of forty horses came through early in the season, and in good condition. The following extracts from Mr. Thompson’s journal indi- cate the nature of the soil and climate of the upper Athabasca, en route from Edmonton to the Forks of the Athabasca. He says “ he set off with three men and five horses on 19th April, 1799, rivers open ; 20th, white frost in the morning, but fine warm day. “ 21st. Very fine day, through thick woods, much wet ground and deep mud, small prairies occasionally — reached the Pem- bina River in the afternoon in a fine meadow. “ The soil for these three days has been in general a very fine black vegetable mould, with very little sand. It is also the same from Fort Greorge to Fort Augustus in the interior country, though intermixed with more sand, and in a few places ridges of sand hills.” This description, it is to be observed, refers to a hundred and fifty miles of country. He then descends the River Pembina for three days : “ banks well wooded, with small meadows ; soil, sandy earth — woods, birch, aspen, pine and poplar.” His Journal continues to say : “ April 25th — Sandy earth, in banks ; they are high near the Athabasca. Enter Athabasca River, 250 to 350 yards wide ; banks, including inner bank, 80 to 120 feet high. White sandy earth, woods mostly pine ; there is also birch, aspen and poplar. 26th. “ Always fine weather,” Ascends Little Slave River 27th. “No portaging yet;” is on west branch of Little Slave River, then on right branch ; high hills in sight — wet grassy meadows, Buffalo and Moose abundant, by iracks. 28th. “ Cold blustry frosty morning ; came to Slave L-ake ; 71 Lake partly open and part sound ice ; ” hills round lake 800 feet high. 29th. “ On Main Athabasca, very deep strong current, 220 to 250 yards wide ; banks, 240 to 360 feet over river ; mild cloudy day.” 1st May “ Clear sharp frosty morning — banks, sinking to low ones, or valleys, then swelling to hills 200 to 240 feet high with small pines, mossy surface, the soil is now mostly a bluish clay mixed with marl.” 2nd. “ Canoe birch trees, many of them 2J to 4 feet round ; found a poplar two fathoms round.” Here we have evidence of a country of varied character, but presenting in its sandy earth, blue clay, and a hundred and fifty miles of generally rich black mould, a great deal of fair arable land, much of it of the best quality imaginable ; and with a spring quite as early as Lower Canada generally. But it is important to notice that it presents something, of much value, that we have not in Canada. Dr. Hector mentions that where he crossed the Eiver Pembina “ a bed of coal is ex- posed in its banks eight feet thick, and at one point has pre- viously been on fire.” As the Pembina is a large stream from 90 to 110 yards wide, with a moderately strong current, it may affords the means of transport ; and as there is much good land in the vicinity, as we have seen, this coal, which extends to the main Athabasca, may be useful fuel for future settlements, even before the wood, which is not of the best quality, becomes ex- hausted. The country on the upper waters of the Athabasca, like that around Edmonton on the Saskatchewan, adjoining, is no doubt too elevated to be favorable for the growth of wheat. This is gTeatly balanced by the extreme fertility of much of the land, and the advantages it offers for cattle feeding. The objection of over-elevation does not lie against the remainder of the Athabasca country. Mr. McLean, a gentleman who had resided twenty-five years in the Nort^h-west Territory, speaks of the banks of the Atha- basca and Slave Eiver as presenting many localities fit for farm- ing, and Eoss Cox says of the Athabasca : “ It is here a noble river, flowing through a rich pasture country, thinly wooded.” A little further on he adds, “For the last one hundred and twenty miles its navigation was uninterrupted by rapids, with a smooth steady current, and the soil on each bank was of the richest description.” Speaking of the valley of Clear M ater Eiver, one of its tribu- butaries, towards the eastern side of the section of territory we have under consideration, looking on it from an eminence. Sir Alexander McKenzie says : “ From thence the eye looks down on the course of the little river, by some called the Swan Eiver, and by others the Clear Water and Pelican Eiyer, beautifully meandering for thirty miles. The valley, which is at once refreshed and adorned by it, is about three miles in breadth, and is confined by twm lofty ridges of equal height, displaying a most delightful in- termixture of wood and lawn, and stretching on till the blue mists obscure the prospect ; some parts of the inclining heights are clothed with stately forests, relieved by promontories of the finest verdure, where the elk and buffalo find pasture.” Sir John Eichardson describes the scenery as unequalled, the soil as sandy, but on a limestone basis, which is favorable to its warmth as well as to its fertility. CHAPTEE XIX. THE PEACE RIVER. The Peace Eiver is the largest branch of the Eiver McKenzie. Its head waters lie beyond the Eocky Mountains, where its north and south branches drain the great valley to the west- ward, between the Eocky Mountains and the Peak Eange. Its south branch is about two hundred miles long, and its north branch, the Findlay Eiver, is nearly three hundred. The Findlay, or Main Peace Elver, is represented as having its remotest source in a lake beyond the Peak Eange, about lat. 56 30’ N., long. 126 ^ W., about two hundred miles from the Pacific. A little eastward from the .lunction of its branches, the Peace Eiver traverses the Eocky Mountains, and enters the section of territory under consideration, thi’ough a gap, which forms one of the passes leading to the coast of the Pacific — it was through it that Sir Alex. McKenzie first penetrated to that ocean. From the Forks the course of the Peace Eiver is nearly due east for two hundred and forty miles, to Fort Dunvegan ; pas- sing Eocky Mountain House nearly at half way. Fron Dun- vegan its course is northward for a hundred and forty miles, then nearly east-north-east for about three hundred and thirty- five miles, to its mouth. Fort Vermilion is about two hundred and fifty-five miles from its mouth, and the Falls, of about twenty feet in height, are about forty-five miles below it. The whole length of Peace Eiver, rejecting lesser sinuosities inappreciable on a good map, is al^out a thousand and fifteen miles ; which when added to the remaining course of the Mc- Kenzie, makes the length of that river two thousand four hun- dred and seventy miles. The delta of the mouth of Peace Eiver, and the country Ixd- ween it and the month of the Atha})asca, is a low alluvial Hat, formed by the sediment brought down by the high lloods, which at some seasons entirely overflow it. McKenzie says further, “ The country in general is low from the entrance of the river to the Falls, and with the exception of a few open parts covered with grass, it is clothed with wood. Where the banks are very low, the soil is good, being composed of the sediment of the river and putriiied leaves and vegetables.” AVhere they are more elevated, they display a face of yellowish clay, mixed with small stones. On a line with the Falls, and on either side of the river, there are said to be very exten- sive plains which aftbrd pasture to numerous herds of buffa- loes.” He says, “ The banks of the river from the Falls are in general lofty, except at low woody points, accidently formed in the manner I have mentioned ; they also displayed in all their broken parts a face of clay, intermixed with stones ; in some places there likewise appeared a black mould.” Speaking of cultivation, he says, “ There is not the least doubt but the soil would be very productive, if proper attention was given to its preparation. At low water the Peace Eiver does not exceed a quarter of a mile in breadth below the falls ; at the falls it is four hundred yards. Its width up to the Eocky Mountains continues much the same, sometimes attainino* eight hundred yards. It has much less descent than the Saskatchewan. From Dunvegan to its mouth, about four hundred and seventy-five miles appa- rently, but which C apt. Lefroy, probably quoting the reputed distance, called six hundred and fifty miles, there occur, he says, but the falls mentioned and a few rapids ; the bed of the stream preserves a nearly uniform inclination, rising only three hundred and ten feet. He says the stream is more rapid above Fort Yermilion than below it, and that the depth of the bed of the river, below the surrounding country, increases with great uniformity upwards. About sixty miles above Fort Yermilion, where it has cut through alternating sandstone and limestone cliffs to a bed of shale, it flows at a depth of two hundred feet below their summits. He adds : “The general elevation of the country, however, still continues to increase, and at Dunvegan it is six hundred feet above the bed of the stream ; yet even at this point, except in approaching the deep gorges, through which the tributaries of Peace Eiver join its waters, there is little indication of an elevated country ; the Eocky Mountains are not visible, and no range of hills meets the eye.” Captain Lefroy gives 1,600 feet as the elevation of the country about Dunvegan above the sea ; and the region in which the 74 river has its sources is probably four times as high, according to Sir J. Eichardson. In latitude and longitude corresponding with Dunvegan. howeyer, McKenzie speaks of the Deer Mountains bein^ seen, at a distance to the westward, as “ an immense ridge of high- land or mountains which take an oblique direction from below the falls.” He adds, under date December, 1792 : “ Opposite our present situation are beautiful meadows, with various animals grazing on them, and groves of poplar irregularly scat- tered over them.” Describing the country immediately above that, on resuming his journey the following spring, on the 10th of May he says : — “ From the place which we quitted this morning, the west side of the river displayed a succession of the most beautiful scenery I had ever beheld. The ground rises at intervals to a consi- derable height, and stretches inwards to a considerable distance ; at every interval or pause in the rise there is a gentle ascending space or lawn, which is alternate with abrupt precipices to the summit of the whole, or at least as far as the eye could distin- guish. This magniticent theatre of nature has all the decora- tions which the trees and animals of the country can afford it ; groves of poplars in every shape enliven the scene ; and their intervals are enlivened with vast herds of elks and buffaloes ; the former choosing the steep uplands, and the latter preferring the plains. At this time the buffaloes were attended with their young ones, and it appeared that the elks would soon exhibit the same enlivening circumstances. The whole country exhi- bited an exuberant verdure ; the trees that bear a blossom were advancing fast to that delightful appearance.” He adds, “ the east side of the river consists of a range of highland covered with spruce and soft birch, while the banks abound with the alder and willow.” As it was on the 10th of May that McKenzie found things in this condition, it is ewdent, not only that it is a fine country, but also that the spring is earher than in the most favorable parts of Lower Canada. We might suppose that this was an unusually early spring, were it not that the meteorological observations of _Mr. Dawd Thompson, at the same place, give quite as favorable indications as to the climate. Only twice in the month of May, 1803, on the 2nd and 14th, did the thermometer at 5 o’clock A. M. fall to 30 ^ , and only twice was it as low as 36 at that hour, and that never after the 14th of that month. Frost did }iot occur in the fall till the 27th September. It freezes much later in May in Canada ; and at Montreal, for seven years out of the last nine, the first frost occurred between 24th August and IGtli Sep- tember. li]levated as Dunvegan on Peace Eiver is, nine hundred and 75 ten feet above tlie sea by Lefroy, seven hundred and seventy- eight by Ivichardson, and under the high latitude of 56 ^ 6’ N., it may be interesting to compare the mean temperature of the seven months from April to October, inclusively, of the year 1803, vith the mean temperature of Halifax, Nova Scotia, lat. 44^30’ N., as giv^en in the table of temperatures a few pagss forward. It shows the monthly mean temperature at Dunvegan to be fully a degree, and that of the three summer months to be about two degrees, warmer than at Halifax. The three coldest months in winter are, on the other hand, intensely cold compared with Hahfax — an admirable arrange- ment for utility. The milder winter of Halifax would be comparatively valueless at Dunvegan, but it is of the utmost importance at Halifax, which owes its open winter navigation to it. Nothing conclusive con be based on one year’s observations ; but combined vdth other indications of climate, they afford fa- vorable evidence. From what McKenzie says of the country about a hundred miles above Dunvegan, it would seem, very favorable for cattle- feeding, and for the raising of at least the coarser grains. “ Some parts,” he says,” “ offer beautiful scenery in some degree similar to that which we passed on the second day of our voyage, and equally enlivened with elk and buffalo, which were feeding in great numbers.” A little further, twelve miles above Sinew Diver, he says : “ The land above where we camped spreads into an extensive plain, and stretches on to a very high ridge, which in some parts presents a face of rock, but is principally covered with verdure, and varied with the poplar and white birch tree. The country is so crowded with animals as to have the appearance in some places of a stallyard, from the state of the ground and the quantity of dung that is scattered over it. The soil is black and light.” Two days’ journey, by the river, above this, where the country is wooded heawly, McKenzie speaks, in crossing a portage, of the forest being of spruce and birch, and the largest poplars he had ever seen. Further on he speaks of travelling through hea^^’ woods of spruce, red pine, cypress, poplar, white birch and willow, and of travelling through tall pine woods. Soil light, and of a dusty colour over gravelly clay. The river still from 400 to 800 yards wide, diminishing to 2(>0 where confined. It is here passing through the Eocky Mountains, which do not rise apparently more than 1,500 feet above their base — bare of wood in the upper parts, wooded at the base. The bed of the river is limestone, and the mountains solid masses of the same. On the 27th of May the trees towards the bases of the moun- tains were, he says, putting forth their leaves. It is worthy of remark, as indicating earliness of spring in these mountain val- leys, notwithstanding their great elevation and consequent cold- ness, that the putting forth of the leaves here spoken of is a day or two earlier than it was with us in the neighbourhood of Ottawa this season, (1867.) Towards the Forks of the Findlay and South Branch he speaks of the mountains being covered with wood. These wooded slopes and valleys of the momitains may be iioticed as presenting a supply of timber which may, in future times, be valuable for the use of the prairie regions below. Speaking of the Peace Eiver country. Sir John Eichardson says, “ The oaks, the elms, the ashes, the Weymouth pine and the pitch pine, which reach the Saskatchewan basin, are want- ing here ; the balsam fir is rare ; but as these trees form no pro- minent feature of the landscape in the former quarter, no marked change in the woodland scenery takes place, in any part of the McKenzie Elver District, until we approach the shores of the Arctic Sea.” The white spruce continues to be the prominent tree in dry soils, whether rich or poor ; the Bank- sean pine occupies a few sandy spots ; the black spruce skirts the marshes ; and the balsam, poplar and aspen, fringe the streams. The white birch attains a good size, even up to lati- tude 65 in sheltered positions, that is, nearly to six hundred and fifty miles north of Dunvegan. CHAPTEE XX. SLAVE RIVER. tSlave Eiver, which carries the united waters of the Athabasca and the Peace Eiver, and of Lake Athabasca, from that Lake to Slave Lake, is about two hundred miles in length. It is, pro- perly speaking, a portion of the main Elver McKenzie. It lies beyond the section of territory we have under consideration, and north-eastward from it. McKenzie describes the country on its west bank as having a soil of rich black moidd, covered with a growth of heavy wood towards the river, with extensive plains, immediately behind, frequented by nmnerous herds of buffalo. Though stated by Mr. McLean as suitalde for farming pur- poses, the country on Slave Eiver is not included within the limits roughly assumed for the section under consideration, on account of the apparent severity of the climate. Before reaching Slave Lake on the 9th of June, McKenzie found the ground K'-' .,‘^'-^'f"^.] MIM: THE SALT SPRINGS AND BUFFALO PRAIRIE, NEAR SLAVE RIVER, N. W. T. 77 was not thawed beyond the depth of fourteen inches ; yet the leaves of the trees had attained their full growth, which is but little if anything later than in Lower Canada. THE HAY KIVER. 1 lay Liver, a tributary of Slave Lake, is nearly four hundred miles in length. Three-quarters of its course lie within the section before us, of which it unwaters the north-eastern corner. It has two branches ; the west one rises in Hay Lake ; the other rises not far from the banks of Peace Liver, and flows at no great distance from Fprt Yermilion. The country on this branch is described by Sir J. Lichardson as an agreeable mix- ture of prairie and woodland, and frequented by vast bands of buffaloes. This, he says, is the limit of those vast prairies which extend li’om New Mexico. Below the forks of Hay Liver the country on it is covered with forests, and intersected with swamps. THE RIVER OF THE MOUNTAINS. This large tributary of the McKenzie is formed of two gveat branches beyond the Locky Mountains, which it traverses about seventy miles below their junction, or nearly four hundred miles from the source of either. It flows for about a hundred and seventy miles through this section, first due east and then due north, to latitude 60 ^ N., and at a hundred and ninety miles further, on the same course, enters the McKenzie, at Fort Simpson, after a course of about seven hundred and fifty miles. It is half a mile wide at its mouth. Its lower course is through a country of limestone formation ; the mountains are composed of it and it appears in the rapids of the river. Fort Liard is situated on it near latitude 60 ^ N., below the sharp turn it takes to the noHh. Speaking of it, Lichardson says : “ Though this post is more elevated than Fort Simpson, by at least a hundred and fifty feet, and is only two degrees of latitude to the southw^ard, its climate is said to be very superior, and its vegetable productions of better growth and quality. Barley and oats yield good crops, and in favorable seasons wheat ripens well.” This place, then he adds, “ on the 60th parallel may be considered as the northern limit of the econo- mical culture of wheat.” A little further he says, “ Mr. Mc- Pherson had most kindly set aside for me a cask of excellent corned beef, cured at the fort, and some bags of very fine pota- toes raised at Fort Liard, with several other things.” The great elbow of this river, with its eastern branch, which 78 has a course of about a hundred and seventy miles, together with Smith’s branch which enters above it, on the north- west side, drain the north-west angle of the section under con- sideration. As the outlines of this section were assumed to include, in a general way, the extent of country lit for agricultural occupation, the parallel of latitude 60^ was adopted as its northern boun- dary, from its being apparently the northern limit of the pro- fitable cultivation of wheat. Such bein^ the climate at that latitude on the Eiver of the Mountains, it may reasonably be assumed to be fully as favo- rable in the country extending two hundred miles further south, on its eastern branch and on Hay River. CHAPTER XXI. CLIMATE AND FITNESS FOE, AGEICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS. We have already noticed, in some degree, the climate of the northern and less favorably situated parts of this great central section, containing more or less prairie laiid. We have noted the indications of it at Mr. Pond’s settlement, near Lake Athabasca, towards its north-eastern angle, Mc- Kenzie’s description of the earliness of the spring at Hunvegan, and above it towards the Rocky Mountains, on Peace River, with Mr. David Thompson’s highly favorable thermometrical record of that region, though so elevated, and lastly what Ri- chardson has recorded as to the climate and cultivation at Fort Liard, in the north-west corner of this section. We have next to consider the climate of the middle and southern, or more favorable parts of it. As bearing on the climate of this section, and the other north- west territories, it may be well to repeat a few general obser- vations. The warm current of the Pacific Ocean, flowmg up along the western coast of North America, gives it a comparatively warm and temperate climate, as the Oulf Stream does to the north- western coasts of the old world, accompanied with humidity, in both cases, giving much rain. The temperature of the east coast is, on the contrary, much reduced by the cold current from the Arctic Sea, with its icebergs llowing southward along it. Thus, Sitka on the Pacific coast, in lat. 57^03’ N., has an annual mean temperature (45 ^ by Baer) fully higher than that of Halifax, N. S., in lat. 44 ^ 39’, (which is about 43 ^ ). Nor is the difference from this cause confined to the immediate 70 seaboard ; Montreal, two hundred miles froni the Atlantic, hit. 45 ^31’ N., has a mean annual temperature ot about 43 , w^hile Fort Dallas in Oregon, lat. 45 ^30’ N., two hundred miles from the PacilLC, has an annual mean of about 52 ^ . Hudson’s Bay being an expansion of the same cold ice-bear- ing Arctic waters, has the same cooling etfect, not only on the regions adjoining, but also in some degree on the country lying more remotely between it and the liiver St. Lawrence and its Lakes. Accordingly, it is not till we pass westward of the pa- rallel to wdiich Hudson’s Bay extends — and that is hall-way betw^een the Straits of Belle Isle and the Pacific — that we find any great change in the direction of the lines of equal mean aimual temperature. A'et, though the mean annual temperature remains nearly the same in going due westward so far, the chmate for agricultural purposes improves very much after leaving the sea coast. Thus, Montreal has a mean temperature for three summer months of 68 ^ , while that of Halifax is only 61 , and Grreen Bay, Lake Michigan, in the same latitude as Halifax, has a summer mean of 69 ^ , though its annual mean is only 44 ^ West of Lake Superior, about long. 94 W., the lines of equal mean annual temperature curve to a north-west direction, and mamtain it diagonally, though this section, till deflected again to the southward at the high grounds at the base of the Pocky Mountains, where the rapidly increasing elevation reduces the temperature. The result of this rapid increase of heat westward towards the Pacific, except wPere interrupted by the elevation and con- sequent cold temperature of the Pocky Mountain ranges, is, as would appear from the observations of Mr. David Thompson, that Dun vegan, on Peace Piver, lat. 56 ^ 17’ N., has a mean an- nual temperature of 35 ‘^51’, equal to that of Fort William on Lake Superior, lat. 48 ^ 23’ N., with a mean temperature for four summer months. May to August inclusive, of 62^9’, while that of Fort William for the same months is only 57^^13’, or 59 ^ 9’ for the warmest three of them ; yet Dunvegan is about five hundred and forty miles further north than Fort William. Even Fort Simpson, hi lat. 61^41’ N., on the river of the Mountahis, about a hundred and fifteen miles north of the assumed outline of the section now before us, has a mean ♦ It is proper to observe that authorities differ materially as to temperatures, from various causes ; partly through actual variety in the years observed, and partly, probably, owing to errors in instruments and oversight as to the posi- tion of them. 80 summer temperature for three mouths, oi' 59^48’, and for live months, from May to September, inclusive, a mean of 55 ^ 15’, nearly the same as that of Fort William, which for the same months is 55 *^32’. Fort Simpson is about nine hundred and fil'ty miles further north than Fort William. The following table will afford the means of further com* parisons : 81 Table of Mean Te.mfeuatl’kes in the North-West Territory and Canadian Provinces Compared. Months. '^Fort William, Lake Superior. Altitude 600 feet above the sea. Lat. 48023^’ N. Long. 89''22’ W. Cumberland House. Altitude 900 feet above the sea. Lat. 53 '57’ N. Long. 102'] 3’ W. St. John’s, N. B. Altitude 40 feet above the sea. Lat. 45 15’ N. Halifax, Nova 8cotia. Altitude 15 feet above the sea. Lat. 44039 ’ N. Long. 63 ’.38’ W. Dunvegan, on Peace Kiver. Altitude 1000 feet above the sea. Lat. 56080 N. Long. 117013’ W. t Quebec. Altitude 350 feet above the sea. Lat. 46049’ N. Fort Garry, Red River. Altitude 680 feet above the sea. Lat. 490 . 53 ’ N. Toronto. Altitude 340 feet above the sea. Lat. 430 . 4 O’ N. Long. 220.32’ W. a c d e / 9 h April 3P.42 250 370.5 330 370.6 370.9 390.83 4P.2 May 48«.8T 50 > 470.3 480 640 5P.6 580.46 5P.5 June 530.73 59’ 540.5 560.3 640.5 630.1 690.10 6P July 620.19 700 590.7 620.3 630 670.5 7P.16 660.3 August 580.84 600 600 630.7 600 650.9 630.3 650.7 September 480.16 480 550 570 550 570.6 590.26 570.4 October 410.88 390 450.7 470 400 440.6 420.20 450 Mean 500.01 500.14 5P.38 530 .I 8 540.87 550.45 570.58 550.44 Do. of three sum- mer months. . . . 590.92 630 580.06 600.76 620.50 650.50 670.76 640.33 November 230.43 IP 370.5 390.3 140.6 340.1 2P.19 360.1 December 180.16 50 250.5 250.7 -40 170.7 -80.31 270 January 50.70 50 180.6 250.0 1P.7 100.55 240.8 February 80.22 2 ’ 2P.6 240.3 20 140.8 -P.71 23 o ;7 March 220.72 60 280.0 290.0 220.5 250.1 t* 9 o .09 300.2 • Mean 150.64 50 . 8 O 260.24 280.66 80.42 200.68 tP.94 280-36 Do. of the year. . . 350.69 3P.66 400.90 420.69 350.51 400.99 340.39 440.16 * More correctly about 600 feet, t Citadel Cape i) iamond. a Sir John Kichardson. b David Thompson, 1789-90. e “ “ 1803. c Tables by Mr. J. Murdock, of St. John’s. d From a paper read by Col. Byers at the Nova Scotia Institute of Science. fh. Lieutenant Ashe. g Professor Hind. 6 82 It must be observed that Capt. Blackiston gives the mean summer temperature at Fort Grarry at nearly four degrees less than Mr. Hind, who admits that necessary corrections had not been applied to the above observations used by him, but says that he thinks the winter observations too low through probable error in the particular instrument used by the observer who made them ; but as Capt. Blackiston made use in part of obser- vations by the same person, the inferiority of the instrument might possibly slightly affect Capt. Blackiston’s conclusions. Lorin Blodget, in his climatology, gives Fort Grarry a mean summer temperature of 65 ^ , which corresponds with that as- signed to it by Gfovernor Stevens in his report of Pacific Kail- way Surveys. Blackiston and Hind, however, agree hi the mean annual temperature. Climatologists, according to the European practice, divide the year into four seasons of three months each, in their tables. Such division is unsuitable in our northern countries for the consideration of the climate with a 'vdew to the practical pur- poses of agriculture. As it is more natural, owing to the sudden- ness of the transitions from one to the other in Canada, to con- sider the year under two great divisions — the frozen and the warm seasons — the mean of seven months for the latter and five for the former, are shown in the foregoing table. Admitting an error of four degrees in Professor Hind’s sum- mer temperature, which the corrections would chielly affect, and deducting one-half of it, as its mean, from the temperature of the seven warm months at Fort Gfarry, the mean of them would be 55 ^ 58’, or fully half a degree warmer than the mean of the corresponding seven months at Toronto. As the result of careful observations by Capt. Palliser’s assis- tants, Capt. Blackiston assigns the same temperature as that of Fort Grarry to Fort Carleton, on the North Branch of the Sas- katchewan, above the forks. This agrees with the isotherm of mean summer of 65 , as represented by Grovernor Stevens. He carries it from Grreen Bay, in Wisconsin, to the Little Falls, between St. Paul’s and Fort Ripley, in Minnesota, by Fort Grarry, and crossing Lake Manitobah, by Fort Pelly, on the Assiniboine, to the Forks of the Saskatchewan, and thence north-westward to the sources of the Beaver River. He gives the middle course of the North Saskatchewan and of the Atha- basca, the mean winter temperature of Fort Ripley, or 10 Capt. Palliser, who explored the Saskatchewan country person- ally, says its climate is somewhat similar to that of Red River, but decidedly milder in the southern and western parts. There is besides conclusive evidence of such a difference. Professor Hind observed the temperature of the waters of the North and South Branches of the Saskatchewan, just above their junction, on the 5th of August, and found the latter five 83 degrees warmer than the Ibrmer. As large rivers change tem- perature very slowly, this may [)e taken as th(‘. mean result of having Ho wed for ten or twelve days through a warmer climate than that of the northern branch. But the ditierence would necessarily be diminished as the rivers approach their junction in a common climate, and consecprently must have been origin- ally much greater. The south-western parts may, therefore, be taken to be 5 ^ to 7 ^ warmer in summer than the country traversed by the North Branch, or that around Fort Garry. This corresponds with what is reported by the Blackfeet In- dians. Professor Hind found a considerable diflerence in favor of the lower part of the South Branch as to the ripening of wild fruit. A hundred and fifty miles further west, at Chesterfield House, though the elevation there is about two thousand feet above the sea, the mean annual temperature is stated as 39 , or nearly 5 warmer than that of Fort Garry. DEPTH OF S]S^OW. In considering the climate it is proper to notice that the snow does not fall so deep in this section of territory as it does in Ca- nada, which is of considerable importance, as regards the feed- ing of cattle in winter and tacility of travelling, and will be still more so in the use of railways, for which this country is, in other respects, so unusually well adapted. The ordinary greatest depth of snow in the Eed Eiver settle- ment is about eighteen inches, and people ride freely every- where through it all winter. Eastward towards the thick w* ooded country the depth increases, but it decreases in the plains to the w^estward, though where there are wooded tracts it accumulates to a greater depth. It is an ordinary well-knowni fact that dealers in stock, resid- ing in the Eed Eiver settlement, who j^urchase horses trom the prairie Indians, for the purpose of selling them in the American markets,w’inter them at large, in droves of a hundred and upward s, in charge of herdsmen, in the prairies where there are clumps of wood, from ten to forty miles west of Fort Garry. The horses find abundant food there, under the shallow snow, to keep themselves in good condition. Their other cattle the settlers feed at home on hay, which is very abundant. The winter of 1867, from the date of its commencement and the suddenness of transition from mild weather to hard frost, resembles a Eed Eiver winter. At the Touchwood Hills, w^est of the Tipper Assiniboine, Pro- fessor blind says that the snow falls two and a half feet deep in the woods, and not unfrequently eighteen inches in the plains where aspen groves are numerous. He says, so rich and 84 abundant is the vegetation here that horses remain in the open glades all winter, and always find plenty of forage to keep themselves in good condition. Speaking of the country from two hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty miles westward, Dr. Hector says, the winter of 1858-9 had been unusually severe, as far as the quantity of snow is concerned, and yet the average depth of snow, when undisturbed, as in the woods, was only about eight to twelve inches, throughout a large district between Battle Eiver and North Saskatchewan at Edmonton. Towards the Mountains, in a south-west direction, the quantity is still less ; but during the early part of April, after the snow had nearly disappeared from Edmonton, a series of storms from the North visited the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, so that in the middle of April there were from three to four feet of snow on the ground. The great quantity of snow at that time, and at that parti- cular point, was no loubt as unusual as the severity of the season. Speaking of the whole region to the Eocky Moun- tains, and of vdiat he calls the immense extent of winter pastu- rage that it affords, as being a most valuable feature, he states, as before quoted, that “it is only towards spring, in very severe winters, that cattle and horses connot be left to feed in well chosen localities throughout this region of country.” From these facts as to climate, it evidently appears that we have, in a very great part of this central prairie country, an open or summer season of seven months, the mean temperature of which is fully as warm as that of Toronto for the same period, with a winter season of five very cold months, but clear and dry — as cold as the northern parts of Minnesota — a winter fully colder than that of Quebec, but without its obstructively deep snow, or the drawback it presents in the difficulty of feeding cattle through it. Now, in a cold country like ours (where the frost of winter interrupts agricultural labor at any rate), if the seven open summer months be warm enough, it matters little to the profit of agriculture whether the cold of winter be a few degrees more or less, provided it does not increase the cost and diffi- culty of feeding cattle. But we see that in a great part of this section, that condition at least is highly favorable, and even in the remainder, owing to the great abundance of natural hay ground not requiring the labor of clearing usual with us, it is more favorable than in Canada generally, but especially so to the poor settler, who has, with us, to clear off* heavy woods, at much cost or labor, before he can raise hay for his cattle. It is true that with increasing settlement and density of po- pulation, these most valuable winter pastures may cease to be used as such, but that will be only when they have become still more valuable for cultivation, and that condition cannot arise without the settlement of the country heinp: accomplished, which above all things is the object desired. But even then it does not appear that the advantage of winter feeding, which the very shallow" snow admits ol’, need be lost in the country tow^ards the mountains, for there the cattle could teed on clover and turnips on the ground, as they now do on the natural her- bage • or the w"ild vetch, to w^hich it owes its richness, might even oe improved by careful cultivation. While considering the climate of this section of territory, we have to bear in mind that it is not on climate alone that the fitness of a country for the profitable prosecution of agriculture depends. Within certain limits, quality of soil and character of surface have even more to do with it. Abundant crops of ooarse grains and hay are more profitable than scanty crops of wheat. But in the rich lands of this central prairie country, the farmer can get w"heat crops far heavier than in these pro- vinces. It is no exaggeration to say that there are vast tracts there, now vacant, w"here he could have wheat crops more than double the average returns of Low^er Canada, and keep a far larger stock of cattle, wdth far less labor. The character of the surface is also to be taken into account. When we consider how" much the use of machinery is in future to reduce the labor and increase the profit of agriculture, and the favorable nature of the soil and surface of this prairie country for its application, together with its great facility of internal communication, wdthout the heavy expense of opening roads that w-e have in Canada, and its inexhaustible supply of coal on navigable rivers, wdth its valuable metals and other minerals w"e have every reason to believe that settlement, and the profitable prosecution of agriculture, will be carried north- ward, to an extent it w"ould never attain in a rugged and less favorable country. CULTIVATED CROPS AND GREAT RETURNS OF WHEAT. Little can be said of cultivated crops in the section of terri- tory we have designated as the Central Prairie Country, except in the Ked Biver settlement. As already stated. Sir John Bichardson has given the line of latitude 60 ^ N., (the assumed northern boundary of this sec- tion,) as the limit of the economic culture of wBeat, and says that at Fort Liard, on the Biver of the Mountains in that lati- tude, barley and oats yield good crops, and potatoes are of an excellent quality, and in favorable seasons w’heat ripens well, and gives good returns, but that it does not ripen perfectly -every year, owdng to summer frosts. This is ten degrees, or nearly seven hundred miles, further north than the Bed Biver 86 Settlement; failures of wheat crops from frost might be ex- pected there, as we have them in some of the settlements of Canada. Sir John says further, that wheat grows freely on the banks of the Saskatchewan, excepting near Hudson’s Bay, that is, beyond the limits of this section of territory ; and David Thom- son, many years ago, the Astronomer of the Hudson’s Bay Company, states in his manuscript journal that “wheat comes to perfection ’ ’ even as far north-eastward as Cumberland House ; but from its position so far to the eastward, and the prevalence of marshy ground near it, the climate is much less favorable than further up the Saskatchewan. As might be expected from the richness of the soil, where settlement has taken place in this territory, on the Bed Kiver and the Assiniboine, the cultivation of wheat has been very successful, and the returns very great. Sir John Richardson, Capt. Blackiston, and our Canadian ex- plorers, and others, inform us that wheat, in these settlements, is sown early in May and reaped in the end of August, and the re^rns vary from thirty to forty fold, or bushels to the acre, as it is indifferently expressed. They inform us, that in some parts thirty bushels to the acre is an average crop of wheat, and that in others “ forty bushels is not only common, but generally ex- pected ; and Professor Hind mentions a settler who had ob- tained fifty-six bushels of wheat to the acre, simply by judicious ploughing. If the average were thirty-two and a half, it would be double that of Upper Canada by the census of 1851, and Upper Canada is one of the best wheat-growing countries in the world. Even if a large deduction were made from them for error and exag- geration, as is generally necessary in such cases, the Red River returns would still far exceed those of Upper Canada. But this sui^eriority is not without apparent causes in the richest of soils and the best of summers for the growth of wheat, which affect, also, the quality of it. The acknowledged superiority in quality of the wheat of Minnesota, adjoining, is attributed to the powerful midsummer heat common to this region. It has been already mentioned that the climate at Carleton House, on the North Branch of the Saskatchewan, though three degrees further north, is stated by the officers of the Imperial exploring party, from careful thermometrical observatio]i, to be at least equal to that of the Red River Settlement, and they and others agree in stating that the warmth of climate of the valley of the Saskatchewan, southward and westward from Carleton House, is still greater, till neutralized by elevation in approaching the Mountains. It is proper to observe, that in the colder parts of this Central 87 Prairie Country, where from elevation or extreme northerly position failures of crop from frost may occur, the deficiency may be more than balanced by the extraordinary returns, in all other years, which the richness of the soil may yield. To return to the Eed Eiver Settlement, the richness of the soil is equalled by its durability, crops of wheat for upwards of twenty years being obtained, from the same ground, nearly equal to the first. Indian corn is sometimes prevented from ripening on rich but vioist prairie lands, which is atti’ibuted by Mr. Lane, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, to careless cultivation. On dry grounds it is said to be a sure crop. Professor Hind and others speak of melons growing luxu- riantly and ripening in the open air, in great perfection, and also of the abundance, size and good quality of the potatoes as remarkable ; that beets, turnips, and all other root crops grow well and attain large dimensions ; and that all common garden vegetables cultivated in Canada are equalled, if not surpassed, by those raised in the settlements of the Ked River and the Assiniboine. When we take into consideration the extreme richness of the soil and warmth of the summer, it will be apparent that it could not well be otherwise as to these productions. The beet may prove a very important one for the manufac- ture of sugar, which should be more profitable than the impor- tation of it, so far inland, where the transport in, of it, and out of the produce in payment for it, will be expensive. The cultivation of hemp and flax, which grow of an excellent quality, may be of considerable importance, especially the lattep for domestic use, as well as for exportation, on the intro- duction of machinery for the preparation of it, and the opening of any even moderately avantageous outlet for such products. 'Woollen, linen, leather, and other light goods, would be the most advantageous to export from a country situated so far inland. CHAPTER XXII. COAL, PETEOLEUM, AND BUILDING MATEEIALS. In describing the great Central Prairie Country, or region generally suitable for cultivation, in which prairie land is more or less prevalent, it has been noticed that wood lands more generally prevail in the north half of it, while in the south half of it, on the waters of the Saskatchewan and the Red River and their tributaries, the extent of prairie lands is very much 88 greater than that of wood lands. The eastern parts of the latter, on the lakes W innipeg, Manitobah and W innipegoos, and on the Sas- katchewan below its forks, and the broad parallel belt of high- lands lying to the west of the two last named lakes, known as the Eiding Mountains, Duck Mountain, Porcupine Hills, and Thunder Mountain, are described as densely and heavily wooded on the highlands, while the valleys present about an equal extent of prairie and wood lands ; and it is said that the forests of this region are sufficient to supply the inhabitants who may occupy it and the adjoining country, with wood for all purposes, for generations to come. Towards the Eocky Mountains also, and on the skirts of them, on the head waters of the Saskatchewan, there is a broad belt of wooded country, where there is pine and other useful timber of a good growth, from which supplies of building timber may be brought down by the rivers, for the use of the prairie regions, on their lower courses, when the supply from the limited growth of wood there has become exhausted. When the same necessity arises, the prairie lands on the Assiniboine may be supplied by its eastern tributaries, from the forests of the highlands mentioned, and the prairies of the Eed Eiver from the wood lands on its upper course, and when these fail, from the wooded country on the eastern tributaries of Lake Winnipeg. The Eiver Winnipeg, which unwaters a wooded region pro- bably little inferior to the valley of the Ottawa in area, has timber enough of a useful description to form the staple of an extensive lumber trade, for the supply of the prairie country to the westward. The timber from it will be much smaller, and inferior in kind as well as quality to that from the Ottawa. Considerable quantities of red and white pine are said by our explorers to be found on some of its waters, though of an inferior size. The greater size of wood, though much in its favor in foreign markets, is really of little importance for home use ; and poplar and spruce yield very useful lumber, and are much to be valued in the absence of pine timber. In the eastern or nearer part of the prairie region lying on the Assiniboine and its tributaries, and on the head waters of lesser western tributaries of Lake Winnipeg, there seems to be a fair proportion of woods, and advancing northward they predomi- nate. Speaking of this region, Mr. Dawson says : ‘‘ The streams that flow through the prairie are bordered more or less with forests in which oak and elm of a fair size are to be met with, although not in great quantities, in the wooded section, of which^ however, less is known, poplar predominates ; but on the borders of the lakes and streams, larch, spruce, birch and 89 oak are to be foiiiid of a size and quality available for economic purposes.” Mr. Dawson is unquestionably a good judge of the subject, from his extensive previous experience in the lumber trade. Professor Hind speaks of forests in the valley of the Assini- boine, one of which he describes as four miles in width and thirty miles in length, wooded with oak, elm, ash, maple, poplar and aspen, and speaks of the flats and hill-sides of its valley elsewhere being clothed with fine forests, which he describes as extending also from thirty to seventy miles up its western tributaries ; and at intervals beyond, on the Qu’Ap- pelle, he says, good timber is found as far as the Mission. In prairie lands, the abundant supply of timber, which enti- rely wooded countries afford, does not exist ; and in the absence of pine, poplar and spruce have to be used for building pur- poses. They are both inferior to pine in value ; but in a great part of Lower Canada spruce only is to be had, and much of it is exported as sawn lumber to Europe. Poplar is under- valued through prejudice in a great degree. Of all the deci- duous trees it is one of the best suited to take the place of pine in flooring and finishing houses ; and for building the walls of dwellings it is very durable. I have seen a house built of poplar logs, that stood upwards of a hundred years, perfectly sound to the foundation, when cut open. It may not accord with present ideas to say so, but before the pine of the Ottawa becomes ex- hausted our extensive forests of poplar will be valued for lum- bering purposes and brought into use. In our interior territories spruce timber, on account of its lightness, its straightness and its strength, will take the place of pine, for engineering purposes ; and birch, on account of the fineness of its grain and its strength will be serviable for fur- niture and fine w^ood-work, especially in the northern regions, where oak and maple are not to be found. The timber of the interior is of a smaller growth than with us, probably owing to the greater dryness of the summer and cold in winter ; it is therefore probably stronger and perhaps more durable. In these respects woods of the same kind differ much with the soil and climate. The oak of the Ottawa ave- rages only half the size of that of the western parts of Upper Canada, but is far superior to it in strength ; and the timber that grows in parts of Canada near the sea is more durable than timber, of the same kind, of the interior. In bridge building I have found it to last nearly twice as long. We have no data on which to determine the comparative durability and integral strength of the timber of our interior territory for engineering purposes. G-reat size gives squared timber an increased value in Euro- pean markets, but the small dimension into wUich our large 90 Ottawa timber in invariably cut, in preparing sawn lumber for home use and exportation, shows that great size is of no impor- tance generally for home use, excepting for the greater quantity it gives. White spruce is harder to saw and work up than pine, and with us it is less durable when exposed, but it is stronger, and its length and straightness make it very -suitable for building timbers. According to Sir John Eichardson, oak, ash, white pine and pitch pine, are not to be found north of the valley of the Sas- katchewan, and are not prominent there, and white spruce con- tinues to be the predominant tree alike on rich and poor soil. Though of a small growth near the Arctic Sea, it was found in some instances, in sheltered positions, to attain the size of from three to five feet in girth, even there. Balsam, poplar and aspen skirt the streams, and white birch is found chiefly, though not exclusively, in rocky districts. It attains a fair size as far north as latitude 65 N. From the foregoing, and the descriptions in detail given of the different parts of the south half of the central prairie country, it will be seen, that for prairie land, the supply of wood, distributed through it, such as it is, seems sufficient for the supply of settlements in it for a long time to come, if carefully used. As for the north half of it, lying beyond the Saskatchewan, and the line of the strong woods, the abundance of the supply of timber in it is not questioned. But in Anew of the time when the forests and scattered woods, especially of the south half of this central prairie country, may become inadequate for the supplying of fuel for an increasing population, the great deposits of lignite coal in the western and northern parts of this territory are of the greatest impor- tance. Nor is the supply of peat fuel that may be obtained, by im- proAmd methods of preparation, from the bogs in the easterii parts of it, in and near the Eed Ewer Settlement, unworthy of consideration. As it has already become more economical to use it than wood as fuel, in the Aucinity of Montreal, it is natural to think that it might before long become adAnmtageous to use it as fuel in prairie country. In his report upon the Grand Trunk Eailway, Capt. Tyler, E. E., says that peat fuel can uoav be furnished on the cars of the company at $3 20 a ton, which is more serAdceable than a cord of wood for use in locomotiA^e engines ; that it can be more conA^eniently stored and used than AAmod, and computes that the company Avill saA^e c£40,()00 a year by using it. It is to be borne in mind that this is in Canada, possessing the boasted adA^niitage OA^er jnairie countries of a})uiulance of wood ; and not by a manufacturing establishment located in a city and obliged to pay 91 the high prices current there, but by a company owning a rail- way traversing nearly the whole of Canada x^roper, enabling it to supply itself wherever it could do so with most advantage, and the cost of wood fuel to them must necessarily be not the price of it in towns and cities, but the average cost of it in the country places along the line. Apart from the shallow but ex- tensive muskegs or marshes, the deeper bogs, near the Red River Settlement, would seem to present the vegetable matter necessary for the manufacture of this fuel. LOCALITIES WHERE LIGNITE AND BITUMEN HAVE BEEN OBSERVED. Proceeding northward from the United States boundary, (lat. 49^ N.,) brown coal is shown by Dr. Hector’s geological sec- tion at La Roche Perce, Coteau du Prairie, about long. 103 ^,V., lat. 49 ® 30’ N. on the Souris or Mouse River, a tributary of the Assiniboine ; and in that direction a bed two feet thick w^as seen by a Mr. Pratt. Brown coal is also shown by Dr. Hector’s section, in the Hand Hills. On the Red Deer branch of the South Saskatchewan, which it enters a hundred and thirty miles above the Elbow, an ex- tensive dei^osit of coal is noted by Dr. Hector at a hundred and seventy miles from its mouth, and also at a hundred miles further ux^. Caxh. Blackiston says it is there in bed so close, that of twenty feet of strata exposed, twelve feet were of coal. It is also noted on the Battle River adjacent, to the northward, at two hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. The Battle River enters the North Saskatchewan a hundred and seventy miles above the forks of the latter and the South Branch. On the North Saskatchewan Capt. Blackiston described coal as prevailing, with little interruption, in beds two and two and a half feet thick, from a little below Edmonton, upwards, for two hrindred miles. Passing northward to the next stream, the Pembina, a fine navigable tributary of the Athabasca, Dr. Hector found, where he crossed it, a bed of lignite coal exposed, eight feet thick. On the Athabasca, above their junction, he says coal appears in the banks, but not so much as on the Saskatchewan. The lower course of the Athabasca is described by Thom- son, in his manuscript journal of the year 1799, as abounding in bitumen, x^resenting strata in parts six to twelve feet thick. Sir John Richardson speaks of deposits of sand on it a hundred feet thick, charged with slaggy mineral pitch. As already men- tioned, in the description of the Athabasca, he says that at Pierre au Calumet, and a few miles further down the river, the whole country, for many miles, is so full of bitumen, that if you dig a pit a few feet below the surface it flows readily 92 into it ; and that below Eiviere Eonge there is a copious spring of mineral pitch (fluid bitumen or petroleum) that issues from a crevice in a cliff composed of sand and bitumen. Sir Alexander McKenzie mentions that twenty-four miles below the forks of the Athabasca there are some fountains of bitumen in a fluid state, in which a pole of twenty feet may be inserted without resistance. It was used along with gum from the spruce and fir for gumming canoes. Such abundant deposits of petroleum, for the supply of coal oil for the use of these interior countries, and for other eco- nomic uses, are of much importance, and enhance the value of this territory. Below the mouth of Clear "Water Eiver, Sir John Eichardson notes lignite coal as appearing, in pretty thick layers, in the bank of the Athabasca. Proceeding to the next stream to the northward, the Peace Eiver, Sir Alexander McKenzie found coal on it at Edge Goal Creek, and Chief Factor Stewart informed Sir John Eichardson that there were beds of coal on fire on Smoky Eiver, a Southern affluent, which joins the Peace Eiver opposite Dunvegan, a hundred and fifty miles further south, and that there were beds of coal on Lesser Slave Lake, a northern tributary of the Upper Athabasca. As these points are about two hundred miles west from the lower course of the Athabasca, that, at least, may be taken as the breadth of country in which coal may be found. Sir Alexander McKenzie mentions that there is bitumen on the shore of Gfreat Slave Lake, near its discharge ; and, as al- ready mentioned, he found coal beds on fire on the banks of the McKenzie. Sir John Eichardson says, that where the Bear Lake Eiver joins it, there is a tertiary coal deposit of conside- rable extent, and that the Garry Islands, lying off the mouth of the McKenzie, contain beds of a tertiary coal that takes fire spontaneously. From the description given by Sir John Eichardson and others, there is much variety in the character, (juality and con- dition of lignite. Some is of very recent formation or yet being formed, like that of the vast deposits of drift wood in the co- nical hills at the mouth of the McKenzie. In some of the beds of lignite the forms of the trunks of trees are preserved. In others, composed of glance coal, the wood-like structure is lost, and pieces taken from the beds split into small rhomboidal fragments, no longer presenting the grain or layers of wood. Specimens of pitch coal are spoken of by Sir John Eichardson as resembling Spanish liquorice, and also of slaty coal from Edmonton on the Saskatchewan, like that gathered from the shale cliffs of the Athabasca. This coal of Edmonton, Captain Blackiston says, is preferred to charcoal for smith’s work, 93 though it is said to require rather a strong draught, an objection that would not seem to lie against the lignites, subject to spon- taneous combustion. In some cases the lignites were found heavily charged with bitumen, while others are much sili- cilied. The following table, extracted from a good work on metal- lurgy, sho\vs the ditference in calorilic value of several kinds of European lignite and of varieties of peat, compared with some descriptions of wood and Newcastle coals. It is proper to notice that the lignite coal of the Namaino mines of Yancouver’s Island is stated by Dr. Hector to be only ten per cent, inferior to the true coal of the carboniferous epoch. It would seem, therefore, to be much superior to the European lignites given in this table, which, therefore, does not show the highest value of lignite. By the rates in the table, we might safely estimate the lignites of our interior territories as equal in heating power to five-sevenths of the same weight of good Newcastle coal. 91 TAELE OF TIIE CALORIFIC VALUES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF FUEL. NA]ME AND LOCALITY. averages. Varieties of Peat. Peat from Troj^es . Ham, Dep. de la Somme.. . . Bassy, Dep. de la Morne.. . . Konigsbrunn Wurtemberg. . Framont, Dep. des Vosges. . From Allan in Ireland, Upper. Lower. o o o ;:3 S 9 ! 16.52 8 . 0 12. 3 13. 0 14. 3 15. 4 27. 7 25. 0 .2 ^ o P 'M w rO O CO 37.40 18 . 1 27. 9 *^<1 2 32. 4 34! 9 62. 7 56. 6 Berthier. Griffiths. Browm Coal, Lignite. averages. Saint Martin de Vaud (Canton de Vaud). Minerme, Dep. de FAude Faveau Keep Fuarch, Lake of Zurich Val, Dep. de la Sarthe Common German 20.79 22. 6 22 . 8 21. 0 20. 7 19.25 18.40 47.10 51.20 51.60 47.60 46.90 43.60 41.70 1 I )> Berthier. Sinter Coals. averages. f Newcastle Hartley Newcastle! Carr’s Hartley Coals ' Hedley’s Hartley Steamboat Wallsend 30.48 31.86 30.90 30.36 28.80 68.88 72.00 69.83 68.61 65.08 1 Philips. Wood. averages. Oak Wood Ash Sycamore Wood Beech ‘‘ Elm “ Poplar 13.63 12.50 14.96 13.10 13.70 14.50 13.04 30.57 28.30 32.07 29.70 31.00 32.84 29.54 Berthier. Winkler. Berthier. u Winkler. CHAPTER XXIll. INDUCEMENTS OFFEEED DY PEAIUIE TANDS TO SETTLERS. The chief peculiar advantage of our Central Prairie Country as a held for settlement, lies in the combination it oilers of prairie and wood lands ; the full advantage of which can be appreciated only by those who haA^e had practical experience of the great and continued labour required to clear off and cul- thTxte a new farm in a AA^ooded country, and the obstruction it presents to the making of the roads necessary for the formation of neAV settlements. Much is said of the adA'antage of the superior supply of wood for fuel and fencing, atlbrded by Avooded countries ; but these are indetinitely OA'er-estimated by many in comparing the facilities for settlement ottered by prairie lands and wooded countries respectwely. 8uch a comparison can be best ap- proximated by reducing the matter to hgures as far as pos- sible. For the beneht of those who are not acquainted with the labour of making a farm in the backAAmods, I may go into par- ticulars. The hrst and most obAUOus cause of expense, in money or labour, is the necessity of clearing off the Avood before the land can be eA^en imperfectly cultivated, the aA^erage cost of which is three pounds fiA^e shillings an acre ; but as the stumps still remain, an outlay of twenty-fiA^e shillings an acre may be set doAAUi as to be incurred afterwards in getting rid of them. Where the stumps are of pine or the land stony, the cost Avill be much greater. In general, pine stumps, if removed at all, will cost at least tiA^e shillings a piece, and some will cost tAventy-fiA^e sliil- lings. We haA^e here as one item, at least four pounds ten shillings an acre, of expense, to be incurred, on account of the wood, before the land can be brought thoroughly under the plough. This is the cost to those who can pay for the labour of skilled backwoodsmen, accustomed to the use of the axe, who can do twice as much of that kind of Avork as the emigrants from Europe, eA' en though accustomed to other kinds of hard labour. To the farm labourer from Great Britain, Avhose time and industry, if applied to the cultwation of prairie land, Avould be eA^en more valuable than that of the backwoodsman, the cost of clearing AVOod land, in money’s worth of his labour, Avill be twice as much. If he be A^ery young he may learn the use of the axe perfectly ; if not, he aaTII neA^er learn to use it so as 96 to be able to do as much work with it as the native backwoods- man. As by far the greater part of the emigrants who settle in the woods have to clear their farms by their own unskilled labour, admitting even that they become gradually more proficient, the cost to them in their own labour, of clearing their farms and removing the stumps, may, on a low estimate, be set down at five pounds ten shillings an acre. I do not here speak ol‘ the value which their labour in clear- ing would command. No one would give them such a price for it. I am si)eaking of the value of the labour unavoidably lost by them on account of the woods. Here we have, then, to a family clearing a farm of a hundred acres in ten or fifteen years, a loss of five hundred and fifty pounds on account of the woods. The settler expends all this, and ten or fifteen years of the best of his life, in toilsome struggles to convert his farm into such proportions of open and vvooded land as the settler on the partly wooded prairie lands finds his when first he goes to it. The latter can adopt a regular system of cultivation ten years sooner than the other He can put as much land under the plough, and reap the fruit of it, soon after commencing, as the former can do after ten or fifteen years of crushing toil in clear- ing land, which necessarily consumes much time which he would gladly devote to more extensive cultivation and rai- sing larger crops, were the woods not an obstruction to his doing so. Besides this relief from heavy toil and time lost in clearing, there is another advantage of prairie land that would operate strongly in the settler’s favor, the full value of which can only be appreciated by a man who has made a beginning in the unbroken forest, — an advantage that would tell immediately to the personal comfort and benefit of the settler and his family — that is, the infinite abundance of the rich grass for summer and winter food of cattle, with which he would be sur- rounded. The new settler on prairie land can keep as many cows, for the supply of his family with milk and butter and cheese, as it may suit his means to purchase, from the first day of his settle- ment ; for his pasture and meadows are already in abundance before him, and in favourable places the cattle can ev^eii fmd the chief part of their winter food for themselves. But it may be said all this is far from market, and no money can be made there. That is true of all remote territories, newly opened for settlement, like the United States territory of Ne- braska and the remote parts of Minnesota, to which we assu- redly know that settlement will flow nevertheless, and create its own outlets. We have also to remember that of the myriads oi' lh(‘ iiulustrious i)oor luul uiK^iiiployt^d il is **vide]illy tlif' destiny of lew only to make money. T]i(‘ niillion want inde- l)endence and abundance of food and clotlihnj: ; and to obtain them easily is much to them ; all which, this tenitory, even in the meantime, oilers them, with much less toil than they can be had in the backwoods ol* Canada. It is not surprising, therelbre, that so many European emi- grants pass through Canada to seek the prairie lands of the United States. Even old and successful settlers in Canada ha,Ye Ibund it much to their advantage to do so. But there is another heavy charge against settlement in wooded countries. That is, the obstruction our dense forests present to the si)read of settlement, and the expense that has to be incurred in making roads through them. It takes an expen- diture of more then a hundred pounds a mile to make a road through the woods as passable as the natural surface of the prairie, by the innumerable routes it oilers ; and when a road through our forests is made, it gives access only to the land immediately on the sides of it. When the settlers strike from it to reach the lands in the back concessions the obstacle is again encountered, and the expense of opening the roads com- mences anew. It is a moderate calculation to say that for every square mile of forest country settled, an expense in money or labour of .€100 has to be incurred ultimately in making roads, or, what is worse, the settlers have to endure in hardship and diffi- culty of communication a much greater loss from the want of them. Here again the practical man only can duly appreciate the magnitude of the obstacle and the expense it entails ; I speak from experience, having superintended the making of upwards of three hundred and fifty miles of roads through wooded coun- tries in Canada, within the last thirty-seven years. The facts mentioned may assist in showing more definitely the loss, or cost of the obstruction, which the forests, in wooded countries, entail upon the settler. They will help to explain why many of our own people as well as European emigrants prefer going to the prairie lands of the West to settling in our wooded country, especially since the western peninsula of Upper Canada has been all taken up, and we are obliged to fall back on rugged and partially arable territories, inferior in climate, and generally so in soil. Our forest lands have the advantage in the more abundant supply of timber for fencing and fuel, to a certain degree, over the mixed prairie and wood lands ; but it is to be borne in mind that great districts of our Central Prairie Country have, in their immense beds of hgnite coal, a supply of fuel, for ever, which places them in a fair better position than some of the old 7 98 ^settlements of Canada, where wood for fuel is already delicieiit, and is rapidly becoming more so. CHAPTEE XXIY. WHY WE REQUIRE THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES. Apart from the general reasons which make the acquisition of valuable territory desirable, there are some of a special na- ture which render the acquisition of this North-West Territory, or the great part of it suitable for settlement, of great hnpor- tance to us. We are in present need of it as a field for settlement ; because our best and most favorably situated lands hi Canada are now all surveyed and disposed of ; and we have no vacant settling regions left, ht to attract and receive immigration on a large scale, as we formerly had. We require it because there -our young men, and immigrants from Europe, may find the rich prairie lands, ready for cultivation, wdiich they have now to seek in a foreign country. The acquisition of it for that purpose^ is desirable, also, as a means of preserving our chief staple of trade— our timber, by relieving us from the necessity of conirerting our most valuable timber forests into comparatively worthless fields, through want ol‘ a sufficiency of better lands to place our settlers upon. The acquisition ot it is very desirable in order that the settle- ment of it, and the deYelopment of its resources, in connection with the present Provinces of the Dominion, may give a wider market and a greater demand for our manufactures, and exten- sion to our commerce in the manufactures of Great Britain, and in the products of her Colonies and of other countries ; and give increased employment to our sea-going shipping and in- ternal carrying trade, and to our canals existing and to be made. We want it that the Maritime Proffinces of the East may prosper by the trade of the West. We want all the strength its future population and trade can ‘dve in addition to all that which the extension of settlement in our remaining vacant lands, and the development of their resources, may afford us, to render it possible for us to maintain that degree of self-sustaining independence or future nationality which the Mother Country contemplates. To see our way to part of these conclusions it will be neces- sary for us briefly to consider the character of the chief regions of country that we now have left for the reception of settlers, and their comparative value. It will also be necessary to 99 consider in a general way the value ol'the lumber trade to tln^ Provinces. As regards the commercial and manufacturing advantag(‘s, in which the Maritime Provinces may be largely interested, it would seem only to be necessary to look to the United ^States adjoining us, and to consider how much the settlement of their western states and territories has contributed to the develop- ment of the manufactures of New England and the commerce of New York. ^ As the i)eople of the Maritime Provinces can build vessels so very much cheaper than the American ship builders can afford to do, and can also undoubtedly compete adyantageously in na- vigating them, they are evidently in a position to reap wealth from the development of the agricultural regions of the W est, from the large share they wdll command of the carrying trade and the commerce of these regions. Their interest therefore is concerned in the development of the resources of these territories, and in every imxjrovement that will tend to draw the trade of them down the St. Law- rence instead of to the American ports, where Canadian shipping would compete for the freight of it with less advantage. CHAPTER XXV. OUR VACANT TERRITOllIES AND SETTLING REGIONS IN CANADA CONSIDERED. About forty years ago, when the population of Upper Canada was but one-tenth of what it now is, the western half of that Province, between the Grreat Lakes, presented an almost un- broken field for settlement, of wheat-growing land of the best quality, comparatively even, and arable throughout as a garden . The stream of immigration flowed strongly to it for many years. Little or no selection was necessary. There was good land in abundance everywhere for all comers. The settlers prospered, and Upper Canada was a favorite colony for the destination of immigrants from Great Britain, including what is called the better class, with considerable capital. Even the high prices at which lands were sold tended to ensure a greater proportion of the latter. This lasted till all the vacaant pubhc lands of the western peninsula and other parts of Upper Canada, south of the Lau- rentian formation, were surveyed and sold, or very nearly so. * I here quote, as most appropriate, the expression of an Honorable Senator of New Brunswick. 100 At the same time,, idler partially siiceessilil attempts to attract immigration into the more favorable of the townships of Lower Ckinada, the French Canadian population, straitened for room in their old seigniories, and having exhausted much of the rich lands of the great plain country of the St. Lawrence, by a bad system of farming and by over cropping, into which the ori- ginal richness of their lands had betrayed them, wisely turned their attention to these townships, which they have since been rapidly occupying. Having no other of a better quality, or more suitable to open for the expansion of settlement, it became necessary to turn to the inferior lands of the Huron and Ottawa Territory^, which are in a region of Tjaurentian formation, at the outline of which settlement hod long before, as it wmre instinctively stopped. Of these lands, the best parts will not bear comparison with the peninsula of Canada West or the older settlements of that Province, nor with the rich alluvial lands of the 8t. Lawu*ence and its tributaries on wdiich the old seio*neurial settlements of Low^er Canada were formed ; a proportion of theni, unequally prevalent, of about three-quarters on an average of the whole, or one-half in the better regions, is rocky and unarable, or poor sandy land unht for profitable cultivation. Notwithstanding the opening of several colonisation roads to give access to them, the pow^erful efforts of Grovermnent to direct settlers to them by agencies to Europe and other means, and the far more powerful inducement presented in the very high prices given, in that territory, by lumberers, for farm pro- duce, these lands have failed to attract immigration in any considerable degree, especially of the class of settlers possessing capital. As w^e have now nothing better to offm*, Canada does not attract immigrants from Grreat Britain, as formerly, nor retain those from other European countries arriving at her ports. Nor will she ever do so till she has again abundance of the best lands to give them ; not scattered through a rough and rather forbidding country, of Laurentian formation, but in unbroken continuity or vast tracts, which can only be obtained in the ter- ritory we claim. Elsew^here, in Canada, even including the Maritime Pro- vinces, it is vain to look for any field for settlement at all ap- proaching in extent and value that which Canada West pre- sented in its infancy as a province ; incomparably less, there- fore, do we possess any such field for expansion as is required to meet our greatly increased native demand, or to admit of that increase by immigration so essential to our prosperity and security in the important and responsible national position in which Federation has placed us. 101 THE OTTAWA COUNTKV AND UUIION AND OTTAWA TERIMTORY. The valley of the Iviver Ottawa, and the country lyini^ bet- ween it and the (leori>;ian Hay or J^ake Huron, Ibrin together the largest and best lield for settleinent remaining in Canada. The valley of the liiver Ottawa is reputed to have an area of eighty thousand superlicial miles, ])ut it may prove to be scar- cely seventy-seven thousand. The area of the country lying between thii sources of the western tril)utaries of the Ottawa and the Georgian Bay is about nine thousand scpiare miles. It is of the same Laurentian formation, and being similiar in character generally to the adjoining part of the Ottawa country, may be classed with it — making together probably an area ol' about eighty-six thousand superlicial miles ; of which the part lying between the old townships, on the Ottawa and the Geor- gian Bay, is called the Huron and OttawTi Territory. The uncertainty as to the extent of the valley of the Ottawa is owing to that river not having been, till now, surveyed beyond four hundred and thirty miles from its mouth ; that is, to the head of Lake Temiscaming. When the surveys of its upper course, at present in progress, are completed, its entire length may prove to be about eight hundred miles. Lighty-six thousand superficial miles is a great extent of country — but unfortunately the greater part of it is ground imlit for cultivation, which, in proportion to its prevalence in a greater or less degree, obstructs the settlement of the remainder. The Liver Ottawa from its tributary, the Bonnechere, down to its mouth, at the foot of the Island of Montreal, a distance of a hundred and eighty miles by its course‘ — flow^s through the northern margin of a plain country of Silurian formation, of limestone and calciferous rocks. These with Postdam sand- stone extend with an irregular outline from two to ten miles west of the Brockville and Ottawa Kailroad. This Silurian plain includes about seven thousand square miles of the country watered by the Otta\va and its tributaries. It is generally good arable land, much of it equal to the best in the Provinces. It is all organized into old settled seigniories, (including those north of Montreal,) and old townships, in which there are no vacant Crown Lands of any considerable extent remaining. The remainder of the valley of the Ottawa, with little ex- ception, together with the country between it and Lake Huron, is of the Laurentian formation If the assumed extent of the Ottawa country be correct, their joint area will be about se- venty-nine thousand square miles, apart from the Silurian tract already mentioned. Of this area about one-sixth part has been surveyed into town- m ships. A further, and considerably larger portion, has been more or less surveyed or explored, and partially occupied as. timber locations. With the exception of surveys just completed on the Montreal Eiver and the Upper Ottawa, but little is. known of the interior of the remainder, or about one-half of the entire area, even by the agents of the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany ; and that little is unfavorable. From the returns of surveys made of townships and timber berths, and of the courses of rivers, and from what is reported of the unsurveyed parts by the few who have traversed them it would be unsafe to estimate, at the utmost, more than an average of one quarter of the whole area of this Laurentian country as arable land, fit for cultivation. It is unequally distributed, in small spots, veins and larger blocks — sometimes in tracts of considerable extent. In some parts the proportion of arable land of a good quality may be one-half, and in less favorable regions, not one-twentieth part,, and that in spots too small to be available. The other three-fourths of the entire area consist of rugged and unarable or poor sandy land, and worthless swamps. Of these three-fourths, a considerable proportion may, and no doubt will, ultimately be occupied and brought under cultiva- tion, w"hen the pressure of population and scarcity of land cause such an increase in its value, as to render it profitable to incur the expense of removing stones from ground that is now quite unarable. Such lands are in part occupied now, under w’^hat is called hoe and harrow cultivation, where the demand of the lumber trade gives very high prices for produce, or where poor settlers are led to take them, from the good first crops to be had from a rich surface soil, to be afterw^ards abandoned from being unarable. It is scarcely necessary to say that it w^ould be heartless ini- quity to induce settlers, in search of permanent homesteads, to sink their labor on such lands, w^hen better can be had. On the other hand, much may be said in favor of the pro- portion of good arable land mentioned as occurring in the Laurentian Country of the Ottawa, and Huron and Ottaw^a Territory. Notwithstanding the repulsive character of the gneiss ridges, stony swamps, and coarse sandy ground, wdth which it is more or less associated, and the too frequent presence of boulders, a great part of it has a rich warm loamy soil, though frequently light and sandy, or rather stony, and often uneven. Some of it is (.‘qual to the best lands in the Eastern Townships, wdth a better (climate, — though inferior in quality and in character of surface to the rich even lands of the western part of the Province, Over a g^’eat extent of it durable clay loam or rich alluvial Hats arc oT rare occurrence. The largest and most favorable tract of country to which this description would generally apply, is in the heart of the Huron and Ottawa Territory, on the head waters of the western tribu- taries of the Ottawa and rivers falling into Lake Huron and Lake Nipissing. It embraces an area of about seven thousand square miles. By the returns of surveys about one-half of it, irregularly distri- buted, is good land fit for settlement. A belt of inferior rocky country intervenes between it and Lake Huron, about thirty miles in breadth, and a band of rugged bad land, about twenty miles in breadth, lying along the height of land dividing the basin of the Ottawa from that of the St. Lawrence, separates it from the old townships in front of it. To the eastward of it lie the more thickly pine timbered lumbering regions of the Ot- tawa. Hard wood is its predominant timber. Like all coun- tries of primitive or azoic formation, it is thickly interspersed with lakes abounding in hsh, and presenting many desirable positions of great beauty and fertility. The Gratineau, the chief tributary of the Ottawa, drains nearly ten thousand miles, with a course of about four hundred. There is a good deal of rich alluvial land, but already occupied, along its banks, and also in the narrow valleys of its lower tributaries. Lofty precipitous hills of gneiss and crystalline limestone over- hang its east bank for nearly a hundred miles up. Crystalline limestone abounds a hundred miles further up, to, and sixty miles up its eastern tributary, the Piscatong. The romantic character of the lower valley of the Gatineau is A^ery much against its agricultural capacity ; and though there is much land fit for cultwation in so considerable an extent even of rugged hilly country — as more than the upper half of the A^alley is in a very unfaA^orable sterile region— it is probable the arable land fit for cultwation on the Gatineau will, by our present standard of fitness, be considerably less than a quarter of the area it unwaters. On the other large northern tributaries of the Ottawa, it would be unsafe to estimate that a greater portion of arable land, fit for settlement, will be found, than on the Gatineau. If the pro- portion of such land be less on the northern tributaries of the Ottawa than in the Huron and Ottawa territory, rich allmdal ground and deep clay loam may, as on the Gatineau, be more frequently found. Cominencing gradually, about a hundred and forty miles up the Gatineau, a change occurs in the character of the country and its forests. Poplar, fir, birch and pitch pine, become the preA^alent woods ; white pines become small and scarce, and, at two hundred and nine miles from the mouth of the Gatineau, 104 cease to })e louiicl. liugged hills of gneiss, occasionally bare and precipitous, with a soil of sand or poor sandy loam in the flats and valleys, in parts burned to utter barrenness, are the preva- lent characteristics of the upper half of the valley of the Grati- neau, as far as it has been explored. This description of country, interspersed with innumerable lakes, extends over the upper courses of the other large northern tributaries of the Ottawa generally. Such also, with little exception, as far as yet known, is the character of the country and its forests in the upper valley of the main Ottavya, for about three hundred miles of its course above Lake Temiscaming, and extending north-eastwardly from it. But by far the greater part of it is quite unknown. It is varied by the circumstance that, in part of this upper course of the Ottawa, the elevation between its waters and those of Hudson’s Bay is very slight, and the clay land of Lake Abbitibbi overlaps the northern tributaries of the Ottawa, and approaches it through their valleys ; but the rock formation it overlies is Laurentian, not Silurian, as shown by the ridges of gneiss prevailing throughout, on the routes traversed. This clay, which here presents itself, is white and hard, but very soluble, and destitute of any grit, and seemingly poor and hard to cultivate. But white clay soil admits of much impro- vement. A gentleman of my acquaintance in Pembroke, on the Upper Ottawa., obtained thirty bushels of wheat to the acre, from a piece of white clay ground, by proper cultivation and manuring. This clay occurs on the Piver Blanche, a northern tvibutai'y^ of Lake Temiscaming. On the lower course of that river there is much very rich alluvial land, but it seems to be occasionally flooded. A blue clay soil extends for fifty miles along the banks of the Montreal Elver (a large western tributary of that Lake), occu- pying its immediate valley, which is from one mile to four miles in width. Some blue clay soils in Lower Canada have been croi)ped fgr upwards of sixty years, without manure, owing to their durable fertility. The upper course of the Montreal Eiver is in a poor, rough country, unfit for settlement (as as- certained by recent surveys), which extends, with increasing ruggedness, through to the vicinity of Michipicoten, on Lak(‘ Superior. At the upper eiid of Lake Temiscaming on both sides, and in the interior between the south end of that lake and Lake Nipis- * I am of opinion that a larger proportion than is now estimated of the plain country, on tlie upper course of the Ottawa, north of the Laurentian highlands, will prove to be arable lands, and much of it of a clay soil ; and that tliough remote and valueless now, it will ultimately become occu})ied ; but 1 have not yet sufficient data to enable me to speak decidedly. TIDES, ON THE OA'l'JNEAU.— NEAR THE PUAGAN, IN THE LAURENTIDES. sing, and north of the latter, there are considerable, tracts ol‘ land like the better part of the Huron and Ottawa territory. There is a line tract in the interior of the north side, extending westward from the Kiver dn Moine, in the ihovince ol Quebec. There are scattering lands of a middling quality on Black River, and less on the River Coulogne. The valley of the l)u Lievre, a northern tributary of three hundred miles in length, below the G-atineau, is b ss favorable for settlement than that of the latter river. Further down on the north side, the lower part, of the valley of the River Rouge is more favorable, and the country between it and the River Retite Nation above it is generally lit for settlement, back to the distance of fifty or sixty miles I'rom the Ottawa, having much good, though light loamy soil, well suited for cultivation. This tract is most advanta- geously situated to meet the wants of the surplus population of Vaudreuil, which has no vacant lands in rear of it. It may be necessary to explain, in using the expression “ land fit for settlement,” I do not mean land of the best or of a supe- rior quality only, but also land of a second or tliird-rate quality or value, from being more or less stony or broken — arable, or such as in other parts of Canada is commonly made so, with moderate outlay or labor, and on which settlers, with industry and good management, make a comfortable Imng. I may also add, that any estimate of what quantity of such land there is in a country, much of which is but little known, is necessarily very vague, and that the proportion of one-fourth which I have here given, is merely an approximation I have ventured to make, from having had charge of the public forests of the upper sixty thousand square miles of the valley of the Ottawa for many years past. It is based on personal observa- tion, returns of surveys made under my direction, and other sources of information. One-fourth of eighty thousand square miles of aiable land, good enough for cultivation, is a great quantity, but unfortu- nately all of it is more or less depreciated by intervening bad gTound, and a great part of it, from being remotely scattered in small pieces, has to be deducted as valueless for ordinary set- tlement, because the cost of getting at it would be greater than its worth. Forty years ago the inhabitants of Canada complained that the Crown and Clergy Reserves, amounting to two-sevenths of the land granted, obstructed the progress of settlement and maintenance of roads ; but where one-third or a fourth only of a country can be occuihed, and especially where the inter- vening lands are rugged and unfavorable to road making, the case is very much worse ; for there the inhabitants, in addition to maiiitaining the roads through their own lands, will have to maintain and travel over twice or three times as much more extent of roads, vvhicli the ruggedness of the ground will render twice or even six times as expensive to make good, or even pas- sable, as in a more favorable country. These roads have either to be made or struggled through un- made ; and where such imoccupied lands prevent the consoli- dation of settlement, there is difficulty in maintaining schools and churches, and the necessary intercourse of society. Zealous as we Ottawa people are for our locality, we would deceive ourselves and others were we to deny these facts ; and we cannot reasonably exi:)ect to attract any great stream of im- migration to our country, while the vast extents of better soil, unbroken by such objectionable characteristics, are to be found elsewhere. I go into particulars as to this part of public domain, as a set- tling district, because, as it is the largest and the best, if its un- litness to attract immigration, in the degree that we require for the increase of our national strength and prosperity, be consi- dered, that of our inferior territories will be evident. In this, it is not the desirableness of settling the Ottawa country, but the fact that it fails to attract immigration, that we have to consider. But though it does not attract immigration,— and settlement, owing to the same cause, will advance more slowly in it than on more even ground, we should not undervalue the Ottawa country as a field for the industry and enterx)rise of our native laopulation, who are more capable of developing its resources. It presLUits many im})ortant advantages. Its climate is agree- able, and the most healthful of any in the interior of Canada. Its winter is more dry and bracing than that of Toronto, and much milder than that of Lower Canada, eastward of it. The summer of the middle parts of the Ottawa country is iqnvards of one month longer than that of Quebec. Tall wheat can be * It is here proper to notice an important and very gross error, in a work on “ The Influence of Climate in North and South America,” by Mr. J. Disturnell, of New York. In a climatic map showing the limits of the cultivation of grains and vegetables, he places the entire valley of the Ottawa beyond the limits of wheat cultivation, and the north half beyond the limits of the cultivation of ve- getables. If Mr. Disturnell had used the simple j)recaution of referring to the Census of Canada for 1861, he would have found that the counties of Carleton, Lanark and Renfrew, altogether north of his limit of wheat cultivation, yielded an average of 1 7 7-10 bushels of wheat to the acre ; that their total yield of wheat for that year was upward of a millon of bushels, or 11 7-10 bushels to each inhabitant. That is fully fifty per cent, more to each person than the State of Ohio yielded per head of its population by the census of 1850, or nearly three times as much as the rate of wheat raised per head in the United States. He would have seen also, that in the township of Pembroke, on the Ottawa, a hun- dred miles north of his limit of the growth of wheat, the average yield of wheat was the highest, being twenty-four bushels to the acre. A little enquiry would have enabled him to know that the temperature required for the growth of wheat prevails, as ascertained, a hundred miles still further north, and beyond that to a distance not yet determined. NAY. FORT MFTABETCHOUAN OX LAKE ST. JOHN, UPFER SAGFEXAV. 107 ^rowii with adviintii^e, and yields heavy returns, and unusually high prices are paid lor I'arin product'- by the lumber trade. Its minerals, lead, plumbage and iron are commencing to attract attention Irom their abundance. It has unlimited water power, which is being largely applied to various manufactures ; and above all, its lumber trade, which contributes so much to the wealth and commerce of the Province, and under careful ma> nagement may do so for ever. TERRITOIIY NORTH OF LAKE HURON. AV hat is here stated as to the comparative inferiority of the. Ottawa country, as a settling region, is applicable even in a greater degree to nearly all the vacant territories of Canada, east and west. The territory north of Lake Huron possesses some valuable sites for settlement and mining enterprise in the front i^arts of it, much enhanced by their favorable position on the navigation of the great lakes ; but it is generally inferior to the Ottawa country for agricultural purposes, and in its timber. The surveys on the line from the Montreal River of the Ottawa, towards Michipicoten on Lake Superior, show the in- terior to be a very inlertile rough country, increasing in rugged- ness westward. THE ST. MAURICE TERRITORY. l^lssing eastward we have the St. Maurice territory, upwards of twenty-one thousand square miles in area. It is of the same Laurentian formation as the Upper Ottawa country, but rather more rugged and inferior to it in fitness lor cultivation as well as climate — inferior also in its timber, for which, nevertheless, it is chiefly valuable ; its great river, the St. Maurice and its tributaries, presenting everywhere the means of getting that to the market. As very much less of it has been surveyed into townships, it is more difficult to estimate the quantity of arable land fit for cultivation it contains. It has been roughly esti- inated at upwards of five thousand square miles, unequally distributed. Its value will be enhanced and the settlement of it powerfully encouraged by the manufacture of its timber. The industrious population of seigniories in front of it, will need the best of it with every advantage it may offer for their own expansion. It will never attract any considerable amount of kluropean immigration. THE SAGUENAY TERRITORY. Of the twenty-seven thousand square miles drained by the great River Saguenay and its branches, about four thousand 108 seven hundred square miles is the utmost that has been esti- mated as fit for cultivation, chiefly in the basin of Lake St. John, between the stern barrier of the Laurentide mountains and the still higher range fifty miles to the north of it, and enjoying from its sheltered position a better climate than Quebec. Though much of it is of the richest description of deep clay loam, a great part of the northward of the lake consists of sandy flats. What is fit for settlement is required for the surplus French Canadian population of the old settlements on the lower St. Lawrence. It oilers no important scope for European immigration. THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS. And those opposite Quebec are, as already stated, being well filled up. THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE ST. LAWRENCE BELOW QUEBEC. Behind the old settlements, the slopes and valleys of the Notre Dame Mountains, with much uneven though good land, have a cold climate, from latitude and elevation. (I have seen white frost on the Temiscouata Portage Eoad in the month of' July). They present little or notliing to attract European immigration. BONAVENTURE, GASPE AND RESTIGOUCHE. The County of Bonaventure, oil the Bale des Chaleurs, and the Eestigouche country lying chiefly in the Province of New Brunswick, from their superior soil and climate, but especiahy on account of their admirable position for communication with Europe, are as advantageous for settlement as the Eastern Townships, and nearly equal to the better parts of the Ottawa Country. The soil of the County of Bonaventure, and of the north part of New Brunswick on the Eiver Ecstigouche, is a rich warm loam, free from stones, even on the table lands on the moun- tains ; and is unarable only where too steep to be ploughed. It yields heavy crops of spring wheat, and of oats and. baa’ley, much superior in quantity to the acre, and in quality, to those raised in counties on the St. Lawrence. The coast of Gaspe is similar in soil, but the summer is often too cold for the profitable growing of wheat. Its lisheries arc^ very valuable. If a direct trade were opened, in coarse grains, with Great Britain, these countries might, to some extent, be occupied by European immigrants. ON THE EESTIOOUCHE LUOKINU TOWARDS THE BAY CHALELTIS. 109 I round tlio interior, throue:li to the St. J^awreiiee, on the route afterwards adopted by Major Ivobinson, as a line for the Intercolonial Itailroad, to be jj:enerally an arable; fertile country ; judging from having had a hundred miles of it dug over in road making. This is the most healthlul and romantic land within the com- pass of the Dominion. It has a winter temperature ten to filteen degrees warmer than that of Quebec ; and in summer its rich \'alleys and high swelling hills are tanned by the fresh breezes of the sea. — A land of interestmg historical associations, where, three hiuidred and lifty years ago, the flag of France was first luifurled on this continent, and the cross first planted, and knelt to, by Christian men — grim, armed men, — forefathers pos- sibly of men who fought at “ Montcontour ” and “Ivry,” — before the astonished gaze of the ancient masters of the land, now extinct, who then ruled from Lachine to the Gulf, and to whom the Dominion of Canada owes its name. Further up the banks of the Restigouche, the high trees yave over the graves and ruined hearths of the defenders of La Petite Ro- chelle. It was bombarded and burned by Admiral Byron a year before the capture of Quebec by Wolfe. Returning from romance to practical fact — While the stream of immigration continued to find scope in Western Canada, it was natural that countries like this should be passed by ; but now that it classes with the best that there is left in Canada, it is difficult to see why it should be longer disregarded, especially in Yiew of the Intercolonial Railroad, now to be made, being carried through part of it. Its rivers are uninterruptedly navigable by large scows drawn l)y horses, from their mouths nearly to their sources ; and freight from its ports to Europe costs about a dollars a ton less even than from Quebec ; and every enterprise of sea and land is open to the settler on its shores. These advantages belong also, more or less, to the north-east part of New Brunswick. In the County of Restigouche, the proportion of good arable land will be found about equal to that of the Ottaw^a Country. The southern part of New Brunswick contains much land as valuable as the best parts of Upper Ca- nada, but it is generally already owned and occupied. INSUFFICIENCY OF OUR REMAINING LANDS TO SECURE IMMI- GRATION ON A LARGE SCALE. This summary view of our remaining public lands shows us that while w^e have territories, presenting many excellent sites for the industry and enterprise of our native population, and necessary for their use, the best field that we have to offer for the reception of immigration on a large scale, such as flows to no the Western States, or even such as formerly flowed to Upper Canada, is the Huron and Ottawa Country, which already, under the most favorable trial, signally failed to attract such immigration ; and that the next best is a small territory on the Baie des Chaleurs and Eestigouche, where immigration on a small scale might be successful, provided an export trade in oats and barley could be established with Oreat Britain, or any adequate market. Now, it is evident that we cannot attract the immigration we desire to make us a strong people, while we have nothing better than that to offer. If, when all Canada numbered less than a million of souls, the great and almost unbroken extent of rich lands wliich Upper Canada presented, was no more than sufficient for our expansion of settlement hy native increase and immigration, it is surely absurd to suppose that these inferior lands, in extent, soil and climate, isolated, or broken up by a much greater pro- portion of rugged unarable land, can be sufficient for our ex- pansion, now that we number four millions, and are called upon, by the position we have attained, to look chiefly to our own strength for the defence by land of our country, and the maintenance of that constitutional iiidependence that has been awarded us. VALUE OF REMAINING VACANT LANDS AND THEIR RESOURCES. In speaking of the rugged and hilly regions of our country, as little suited for the reception of European immigration, it is by no means meant to undervalue them. What good lands they contain, especially in lumber yielding countries, will have an increased value from the ready market and enhanced prices which lumbering operations, mining and other local industries, may give for their produce. The sons of the “ habitants,” and the surplus population of the old settlements adjoining, can select at leisure the good lands in our hilly regions, behind the seigniories ; and from their being near their homes, with their knowledge of the labor and cli- mate of the country, can settle up these lands with advantage to themselves, while to European immigrants they would be inaccessible and unavailable. The value of their minerals, which are now but beginning to be worked, can hardly be suffi- ciently estimated. The prosperity which mere fertility of soil gives a new country, soon attains its maximum, and is ultima- tely checked by imprudent over-croping. W e see that it has been so, and that mere fertiHty of soil never made a country great in history. But the prosperity that arises from mineral resources, manufactures and maritime advantages, though slow of being developed, may raise a country to a pre-eminence Ill which mere fertility of soil ciiii never bestow ; while the occu- pations they allbrd cultivate and develope the ijitellect and en- terprise of a people to a dey^ree that mere agricultural occui)a- tions fail ever to do. Nevertheless, it is rich agricultural countries only that are suitable for the reception of immigration on a large scale, and that become populous with the greatest rapidity. It is as such a receptacle for immigration, in order to obtain that increase of population, that we want the great prairie land of the North-West. Our good lands in the Provinces are far from being lilled up, but the nearest and best being held by private o\yners, requiring high prices, they repel instead of attracting immi- grants. (dIAPTEE XXVI. THE PRESERVATION OF OUR TIMBER FORESTS AND LUMBER TRADE A REASON FOR ACQUIRING THE NORTH- WEST PRAIRIE LAND. Having assigned the preservation of our Timber Forests, which yield our chief staple of trade, from unnecessary and hasty destruction, as a reason for acquiring the North-West Prairie Land, it seems necessary to consider the value of the lumber trade to the country. In doing so it may be sufficient to take a general view of the value of that of Canada before Confederation. To judge correctly of the importance of the Lumber Trade, it is necessary to consider carefully the benefits arising from the expenditure attending it, and the employment it gives in the country ; besides that which it presents in furnishing the chief export of the Province, and the employment it gives in freight to British and Colonial Shipping. In considering the benefits arising from the expenditure attending it where the timber is manufactured, it will be sui- table to commence by estimating the cost of manufacturing the timber produced by the lumber trade of the Ottawa country for one year. For this purpose it will be sufficient to take the average of the production of square timber on the Ottawa for the five years from 1861 to 1865, and the produce of the saw-logs of last year (1866), in sawn timber, wffiich, owing to the rapid increase of the latter, recently, will go nearer a fair view of the trade than the five years’ average would. Taken together these will show a total yield of about hvo liuiidred and sixty-liye millions ol' foet, board measure, of sawn lumber, and very nearly twenty-four millions of cubic feet of square timber ; representing* nearly eight hundred and seventy thousand trees. ^ 111 the manufacture of these quantities of sawn and squared timber, there would be employed about 17,000 men for nine months of the year ; the costs attending the manufacture and taking of the timber to ports of shipment would be : F or men’s wages $2,596,747 Teams 346,760 Hay and Oats 544,907 Pork and Flour 990,740 Duty on Crown Timber and price to owners of private timber 325,938 Slide Dues and Doomage to the Crown or owners of private works, and interest on expenditure on Diver Improvements. . . . 134,1 1 2 Interest on cost of Saw Mills and their equipments, insurance, &c 269,062 Interest on cost of shanty stock and equip- ments, tear, wear and casualities. 149,052 4’otal cost incurred by Ottawa Lumberers for one year, apart from further costs before shipment $5,357,318 Nearly all this large amount, it will be seen, represents em- ployment and profit given in the country to labourers, me- chanics and others, in current or original expenditure made. Of this it will be observed that the second, third and fourth items, amounting to the large sum of $1,882,407 are for iiirin produce. It is true that part of the provisions is not produced in the locality, which shows that the trade offers a market foi- more farm produce than the locality as yet furnishes. About $100,000 is paid or realized to the owners, for private timber, in the locality, and a large part of the expenditure lor wages also is local, though much of it is paid to labourers from other parts of the Province, chiefly Lower Canada,. These items of cost are given from the application of known rates of necessary expenditure to known quantities of timber, ;ind show the cost with ordinary good management. From its operations being remote, the lumber trade gives very high prices for farm produce in remote localities, near its works, to save transport of produce into them. The more remote therefore, the higher are the prices given. It thereby creates a highly favourable market for new settlements, where, from the distance and want of good roads, the value of the produce would be consumed in taking it to any other market, if it could 113 be taken out at all. It thus gives encouragement and assistance where they are most wanted ; and that on a scale much ex- ceeding what the most liberal arrangements of Crovernment could ever alford. It is proper to dwell upon these facts, and to look well to the magnitude of the amounts, l)ecause through ignorance of this peculiar subject, and preiudice acquired from others, or from limited and unfavorable knowledge, many think that the lumber trade impedes settlement, and is in its nature injurious to the progress and prosperity of the country. Experience throughout British America shows that it is so to the man who divides his attention between lumbering and his farm, to the injury of the latter. It is still more injurious to the man who has been tempted to settle on bad land by the duty on the timber given him as a bounty for doing so, by the Settlers’ License system recently in force But we know well that it is absurdly untrue, that the settler on suitable land, who confines his industry to his proper business, farming, is injured by the trade which gives him higher prices for his produce than he could other- wise obtain. These remarks are more or less applicable to all regions of the then Province of Canada, where lumbering is carried on, but especially to the Ottawa country. From the remainder of the Province, the yield of sawn and squared timber, with the addition of staves, estimated in the same manner, may be about one-fifth less than that from the Ottawa and all its tributaries. 'When both are added together, they give a total for the whole Province for one year, of upwards of five hundred millions of feet board nieasure of sawn lumber, and about thirty-nine mil- lions of cubic feet of squared timber, besides staves and other miscellaneous wood goods, in all the produce of upwards of a million and a half of trees, and giving employment for nine months to about 30,600 men, costing in manufacture and trans- port to ports of shipment : — For wages of men. $4,661,960 Teams. 618,057 Hay and oats 975,915 Pork and flour 1,763,660 Interest on cost of shanty stock, tear and wear, and casualties... 274,794 Interest on cost of saw-mills and equipments, repairs and insurance 538,124 Duty to Crown, or price to owners of q)ri- vate timber 571,824 Interest on cost of river improvements, ground rents, booma^e and slidage to Crown, and o^vners of private works 186,688 8 • 114 Total Cost to the Lumberers for one year’s operations, for the whole Province, apart from further charges before shipment..... $9,591,022 In this estimate, provisions and labour are calculated below the present high rates. But this total is far from representing the final amount or value of the timber. Wood goods in the form of lath wood, sleepers, knees, oars, &c., to the value of nearly of $1,000,000, besides, got out by country people chiefly, have to be added to the quantity and value. This would increase the amount to $10,591,022, which, com- pared with $13,009,207, the total value of exports of the forest, shown by the Trade and Navigation Eeturns for 1865, (less Pot and Pearl Ashes) which the above approximation most nearly represents, leaves a difference of $2,418,185 to cover charges at shipping ports, almost entirely at Quebec, consisting of costs for culling, boomage, putting into shipping order, com- missions on sales, &c. Having shown an annual expenditure by the Lumber Trade of over nine and a half millions of dollars, of which upwards of eight millions is for fm’m produce and men’s wages, we come to another important item to be considered in the worth of the Lumber Trade to the Province, that is, what it contributes to the city of Quebec. It is almost unnecessary to say that it forms the chief trade of that city. The wealth of its merchants is chiefly made by it, directly or indirectly, and a large portion of its inhabitants are maintained by their labour, in receiving and shipping the lumber in summer, and in the ship building, connected with and dependent on it, in winter. Besides the greater part of the amount before mentioned for charges and commissions on the timber, which Quebec receives, her merchants benefit largely by the freight of the vessels owned and built by them. The average amount of freight of timber, shared by them and the shipowners in Britain, for the four years from 1860 to 1863, at 30s. a ton, would amount to jei, 258,221 sterling, or nearly six and a half millions of dollars. In 1865 the value of fifty-one ships built and exported, was $1,923,594 ; their tonnage 47,262. That this trade is dependent for its prohts, which are derived chiefly fpm the freight of the first cargo they take on being sent home for sale, will be at once seen, when it is considered that a ship of 1,000 tons, worth, say $40,000, will make about $7,000 in freight of her cargo, when sent home for sale. The greater consumption of articles paying duty by men em- ployed in lumbering, over those remaining in their parishes, is not to be overlooked. 115 As the mother country is largely engaged in this trade with us, it would be decorous to consider her ijiterests in the matter. Upwards of a thousand ships come annually to Qu(d)ec lor car- goes of timber, earning prolit by their freights for their owners, who are chielly in Britain ; the aainual value has been already stated. The cost of the timber when taken home is a little grectter than that from the Baltic, but of that cost, the greater part is freight earned by the British shipping ; and Britain obtains a description of timber here which she requires, and cannot obtain from the Baltic. It is next necessary to consider the value of the Lumber Trade to the Province in furnishing our chief means of remittance to Europe, in return for our imports. The value of the timber imported from Canada into G-reat Britain, by the Imperial Trade and Navigation Eeturns, for the six years, from 1858 to 1863, gives an annual average of X2,750,731, while that of all our other goods is only >£1,965,891 sterling, showing the value of our timber exported to Great Britain to be upw^ards of a third greater than that of all our other exports there ; showing also that the thirty thousand men, then employed in lumbering, furnished more to her, than all the five hundred thousand other men in Canada did in the same time. In the same manner, on comparing the total exports, for the year to 30th June, 1865, by our own Trade and Navigation Eeturns, after deducting the ashes, the total value of Timber Exports is $13,009,207, all produced in Canada, and by the labour of only 30,600 men ; while all the other exports, without deducting anything for part of them imported, amount in value to $29,471,944, including all the exports produced by 600,000 other men engaged in agriculture and all other pursuits ; being only about two and a quarter times the value of the timber exported. This shows that each man engaged in lumbering contributes about ten times as much to the commerce of the country as other men do, besides contributing twice as much as they do to Internal Trade ; for all that he eats, as well as wears, gives employment to others, besides what he produces. A pauper settler on bad land contributes nothing to the country compared with him. This view is fully sustained by a statement carefully compiled by Allan Gilmour, Esq., from the Eeturns of Trade and Naviga- tion, showing that, after deducting from the value of agricul- tural exports the equivalents of quantities of the same articles imported, the average annual value of farm produce of Canada, exported from 1857 to 1863, was only $7,639,173, while the average annual value of products of the forest, after deducting 116 ashes, was $9,558,962 ; from $6,000,000 to $14,000,000 worth of farm produce being annually imported for exportation, or to take the place of that exported — the returns in that respect making it seem that the siu’plus agricultural produce of the Province was double what it really was. On our imports we depend largely for the comforts and ne- cessaries of life ; if our exports, the remittance in payment for them, were diminished, our imports also would have to be diminished. It is vain to say that they could be made up for in agricultural exports, for we see that to make them what they are, we have generally to import much from the United States. Nor could the labour now employed in lumbering produce equivalent farm produce ; we have already seen that it would hardly pro- duce one-tenth of it. It is also vain to say, as some do, that a great part of the com- puted value of lumber exported is properly due to agriculture, as merely representing in another form the agricultural pro- duce consumed in the manufacture of it. On the contrary, it is evident that it is the lumber trade which gives a value to the agricultural produce which it consumes ; for we know abso- lutely that if there were no manufactures, or other branches of industry, to purchase and consume the farmers’ surplus produce beyond what he can use, it would be as valueless as heaps of sand. Such being the importance of the lumber trade to the internal industry and external commerce of the Province, it is to the general interest of the Dominion that the public forests, on lands unsuitable for cultivation, should be preserved for economic use for ever, if possible. It is evident also that the destruction of valuable timber yield- ing forests, by extraordinary efforts to force settlement upon them, while we have, or can have lands more suitable for cul- tivation, is undesirable, as injurious to the real interest alike of the country and the settlers themselves. While every facility should be given for the settlement of the lands really fit for cultivation, to be found in our lumbering regions, no inducement should be held out to settlers to take pine timbered lands in preference to others more suitable for successful settlement. In lumbering territories some lands, most frequently the best for settlement, have very little or no timber of commercial value upon them, and others have a great deal ; some have so much of such timber that the value of it is equal to ten times the ordinary value of land. The latter are generally unfit for settlement. The holding out of the pine timber as an inducement to set- tlers leads to pretended settlement, or temporary settlement 117 for the purpose of lumbering on such lands, causing destruction of the forests by extensive running lires, and also over-manu- facture. By withdrawing that inducement, and leaving settlement on the lands lit for it, in our lumbering territories, to be en- couraged by the far more wholesome stimulus of the high prices for farm produce given by lumberers, and especially by open- ing our Central Prairie Country for settlement, our timber forests, which yield our chief staple of export trade, may be preserved from the ]necipitate destruction to which they would otherwise be exposed. It is important to the prosperity of settlements in our lumber- ing territories that the lumber trade should steadily continue in them, lor were the local market it offers to fail, the produce of the remote settlements could not be taken to any other market with profit, especially as the intervening rugged grounds would prevent the maintenance of good roads, and greatly increase the cost of transport. The simplest way of withdrawing to a great extent the indu- cements to take up pine timbered lands would be to give the land for nothing to actual settlers, or sell it to them at a much reduced price, under the condition that the timber on it should not be exempt from the usual Crown duties, on being cut and taken to market, by the settler or other. This would also stop the abuse of taking up lands under the pretence of settlement in order to evade the payment of duties on the timber, and the duties saved to the revenue by it would soon amount to an important sum annually. CHAPTEB XXVII. ROUTES TO RED RIVER COMPARED. W e have now to consider what way we have of getting into this Central Prairie Country ; the character and comparative A^alue of the different routes known, by land and water, and what can be made of them, as means of traA^el and heaA^y transport ; especially those which the nature of the iiiterA^ening country affords through our own territory. HUDSON’S BAY ROUTE. The route by Hudson’s Bay to York Factory by sea, and thence by Hill KiA^er and its many portages, to Lake Winnipeg and Red Rwer, may be dismissed without further considera- tion. As only one A^oyage can be made in a season into Hud- 118 son’s Bay and that difficnlty and danger — with a rough pDrtage navigation of nearly • four hundred miles from York Factory to Lake Winnipeg, ascending upwards of six hundred feet — this route can never be an avantageous outlet for the pro- duce of the interior fertile region, and much less can it be an inlet for us. The cost of transport by it from York Factory to Bed Biver is four dollars a hundred pounds. FOE-T WILLIAM AND DOG LAKE ROUTE. We may now turn to the route from Fort William, on Lake Superior, which is being opened by Grovernment. Commencing near Fort William, the first part of this route is the Dog Portage Boad, leading north-westward twenty-five miles to the foot of Dog Lake. This road was projected in the field by the Canadian Exploring Expedition. It is to be a thoroughly made turnpike road, well crowned and graded ; six miles of it have been made this last season ; and in further Xmrsuance of Mr. Dawson’s original project of improvement, material has been prepared for the building of a dam at the outlet of Dog Lake. This dam, by raising the lake, will gorge Dog Biver, that feeds it, so as to give a navigable reach of about thirty miles to Jourdain’s Bapids. The elevation of Jourdain’s Bapids above Lake Superior is seven hundred and twenty feet. At three and a quarter miles further, is the height of land. Prairie Portage, two and a half miles in length, between the w^aters of Lake Superior and those of Lake Winnipeg. It is eight hundred and eighty-seven feet above the level of Lake Superior. A good road is to be made over it, eleven miles in length from Jourdain’s Bapids to Savanne Biver, which is eight hundred and thirty-tw’o feet above Lake Superior. Savanne Biver is about sixty-six feet wide and flows slug- gishly, with a depth of four feet, for twenty-two miles, to Lac des Mille Lacs, which is thirty-four miles in length, forming, with it, a navigable reach of fifty-six miles, which, by construct- ing a dam below the outlet oi* the lake, might be increased in depth, and to about sixty miles in length. Savanne Biver is the head of the Biver Seine, which flows westward from Lac des Mille Lacs, by a course of about a hun- dred miles to the foot of the Twelve Portages, where its waters reach the level of Bainy Lake ; to this Biver, as a route of com- municfition, we shall have occasion further to refer. After going forty-two miles by Savanne Biver and Mille Lacs,, the route we are describing leaves the latter at twenty miles from the head of it, on the south side, and passes by a portage of less than a quarter of a mile (seventeen chains) to Baril Lake, 119 which is seven and a half miles in length, and nearly two feet higher than Mille Lacs. hh-om Baril Lake, Brule Portage, about a quarter of a mile (twenty-uvo chains) in length, descends forty-seven feet to Lake Windogoostogoon, seven and three-quarter miles long, and lesser lakes connected with it, which, by a dam at the head of French Portage below them, will give a navigable reach of about eleven and a half miles, in which there is a fall of seven feet now. From it, a portage of a mile and three-quarters descends a hundred feet to Lac Fran^ais, which, wdth Lake Kaogasica, or Pickerel Lake, makes a slack water navigation of nearly eleven miles and three-quarters. Then there are two short portages, with a pond of a mile and a half betw'een them, to be passed, by a road of two miles in length, with a descent of a hundred and twenty-four feet, to a fine, deep creek, sixty-six feet wide, which, at a mile and a half further, enters Sturgeon Lake, forming with it a deep navigable reach of sixteen miles. This reach Mr. Dawson proposes to extend downiwards to tw^enty-eight miles, by damming the river at Island Portage, to flood out the rajuds below Sturgeon Lake. The head of Sturg^eon Lake is three hundred and thirty-three feet lower than the height of land at Prairie Portage, and only a huiidred and twenty-five feet above the level of Rainy Lake, and is about forty-eight miles due east of it. By the course of the waters forming the route w^e are describing, the dis- tance from the head of Sturgeon Lake to Rainy La£e is sixty- five miles. These facts regarding Sturgeon Lake are worthy of attention, for in view of the proposal to construct a railroad from Fort William, or rather from Point de Meuron to Rainy Lake, w^hich would touch the head of Sturgeon Lake, it is important to con- sider w^hether it would not be better to terminate the railroad and adopt the w^ater route there. As the forty-eight or fifty miles of direct distance from Stur- geon Lake to Rainy Lake would probably, in a rough country full of lakes, require one-fifth more, or sixty miles of railroad, costing, owing to the rocky unevenness of the surface, at least X600,000, the improvement of the river by locks and dams, to overcome a rise which is little more than one-third of that of the Welland Canal, w^ould cost much less ; and we know that the line of water so improved could do more than four times as much business, and carry heavy freight at half the cost per ton. It would be more likely to give us command of the traffic, as it would bring the continuous navigation of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake about fifty miles in direct distance nearer us. The supply of w^ater is sufficient, as Sturgeon River is from three to six chains in width, with abundant lake reser- 120 voirs on its course and connected with it. If done on the same scale of dimensions and quality of work, and at the same ex- pensive rate as the Eideau Canal, it would cost only ^£ 280 , 000 , or less than half the cost of a railroad, — the lockage being little more than a quarter that of the Eideau. If this were done, the remainder of the route we are describ- ing would continue permanently to be the line of communi- cation. But the same arguments, besides other reasons, point forcibly to the advantage of canalling the whole route, or that by the Eiver Seine to Lac des Mille Lacs and Dog Lake, so as to reduce the use of railway to the least possible extent. At Island Eapids, by which Sturgeon Eiver descends ten feet into Pine Lake, a portage road of thirteen chains in length is required, or, in case of canalling, lockage of forty-five feet to overcome that fall, and flood out the small rapids on the twenty- ei^t and a half miles above it. Pine Lake is an expansion of the Eiver Nameaukan, or Macan, a deep and powerful stream, the main branch of the Eainy Eiver or Winnipeg. This lake presents a navigable reach of ten miles to its outlet, the Macan Eiver, and extends further westward. Then there are two miles of strong current terminating in Snake Falls, which may render a portage road of that length necessary ; or in case of canalling a dam and double lock making seventeen feet lift, besides the additional height required in this and all other lockages mentioned, to meet the difference bet- ween high and low water Then after three miles of slack water. Crow Portage requires a road of nine chains in length, or a lock of ten feet lift. Then follows a reach of eight and a half miles to the Grreat Falls, with shoals and two small rapids, which should be flooded out by damming up the water a few feet at the head of the falls, in case of canalling. The Grreat Falls, sixteen feet in height, are now passed by a portage six chains in length. In the distance of four and a half miles from the Falls to Cross Lake, there is one rapid which descends ten feet, and another of seven feet fall, run by canoes. These, with the falls, would require thirty-six feet lockage, or a good portage road of four and a half miles. By following the south channel (the U. S. boundary), or the portage of two miles from the west extremity of Pine Lake to the level of Cross Lake, the difficulty here would be less, or the portages be re- duced to one. Then follows the navigable reach of Cross Lake, eight and a half miles long to Bare Portage, where a portage road of nearly a quarter of a mile in length is required, to the entrance of Eainy Lake, or a lock of eight and a half feet lift. We have then thirty-six and three-quarter miles of deep navi- 121 gation along Eainy J^ake and Rainy River to its Grreat Falls, two miles beyond the lake. They are twenty-three feet in height, requiring a doul)le lock at least. Professor Hind says that Rainy Lake freezes over about 1st of December, and is open about 1st May. The boundary line of the United States passes through Pine Lake, Cross Lake, Rainy Lake and River, and the Lake of the Woods. Rainy River, which the route now follows, is a large, deep, navigable stream, averaging six hundred feet in width. Its course, from the Great Falls to the Lake of the Woods, is about seventy-four and a half miles. In this distance there are two small rapids ; the Manitou, at thirty-one and a half miles down, falls two and a half feet in three chains of length, and the Long Rapid, at seven and a half miles further, falls three feet in five chains. It is said that as they are so short, a good steamer by getting under strong headway could ascend them. They have a fair depth of water, but may require improvement. Leaving Rainy River, the route originally proposed traverses the Lake of the Woods and Lac Platte, connected with it, to its western extremity, a distance of eighty-tour miles, forming, with Rainy River, an unbroken reach of navigation a hundred and fifty-eight and a half miles in length. From the west end of Lac Platte the distance to the Red River at Fort Garry, by the exploring line measured, is ninety-one and a half miles. But on further examination, it was found that the best site for a road was to be had by leaving the Lake of the Woods at the extremity of its north-west arm, a long inlet extending south of Lac Platte. By doing so the route over the Lake of the Woods is reduced to fifty miles, and the land route from it to Fort Garry is nearly a hundred miles in length. This land route was traversed on horseback, and is an exceedingly favorable site for a railroad. We may here make a few general remarks on the route from Lake Superior to Red River, which we have been describing. It naturally presents itself for consideration in two great divi- sions. The first part, from Fort William on Lake Superior to Rainy Lak'e,Two hundred and six and a half miles in length by computation, consisting of eleven portage roads, varying from the ninth part of a mile to twenty-five miles in length — amount- ing together to forty-seven and a quarter miles of land road — and ten reaches of slack water, which, with the exception of one short piece of three miles, vary from seven and a half to forty miles in length, making together a hundred and fifty -nine and a quarter miles of water conveyance. The second part, from the east end of Rainy Lake to Fort Garry on Red River, two hundred and sixty-one and a quarter miles in length by computation, consisting of a hundred 122 and sixty-one and a quarter miles of unbroken navigation, excepting at Eainy K-iver Falls, and a hundred miles of land road, from the north-west arm of the Lake of the Woods to Fort Grarry. Making a total distance by this route of four hundred and sixty-seven and three-quarter miles from Fort William to Fort Garry, of which there are a hundred and forty-seven and a quarter miles of land route, and three hundred and twenty and a half miles of water communication ; the latter in twelve divi- sions, if no canalling be done. Such is the line of boat and waggon communication withKed River which this route would afford, on the simple scale of im- provement already commenced — by making the hundred and forty-seven miles of road required, one hundred of which is over an even and inexpensive site, partly prairie ground — and constructing three or perhaps four wooden dams, which would cost less than what some Ottawa lumberers would spend in improvements on a single river. As to the character of the roads and navigable reaches so obtained, the roads, though costly to make, from their remo- teness, and the frequently rocky or swampy character of the ground, would be as favorable for transport as good roads in Canada usually are ; for the ascents and descents are not such as to render them otherwise. The navigable reaches, though sometimes short, being deep lakes, flooded streams and large rivers, would, even witliout canalling, admit of boats drawing upwards of three feet of water in the shallowest portions of the line. The tonnage of such boats might be considerable ; and in the greater waters, others of a large size might be used as preferable. Large row- boats and barges with sails might be used on the short reaches, and steamboats on the longer ones. At first, no doubt, boats like those of the Hudson’s Bay Company, that could be drawn over the portages, would be used, till suitable boats were established on each reach. It is to be observed that this navigation vmuld not be subject to interruption from droughts, or obstruction from sand bars, like that of the shallow and swift tributaries of the Missouri, or even the Red River in Minnesota. As soon as the portage roads were opened, there are plenty of enterprising men who would settle on them at the landings, and keep teams and waggons to do the transport on them, as on the Ottawa portages. Such is the communication this route would afford if opened ill an economical way for immediate use. 123 In the foregoing, by following the Macan lliver between Pine Lake and Cross Lake, for the purpose of eonneeted description of the main stream, instead of the t\vo mile portage between them adopted by Mr. Dawson, two portages are unnecessarily added, making togetlr r nearly five miles over- estimated as land carriage in all my calculations of this route, wherever they occur, in tables or otherwise. CHAPTEll XXYIII. DESCRIPTION OF ROUTES CONTINUED.— CAPACITY OF ROUTE BY STURGEON LAKE COMBINED WITH RAILROAD. Before proceeding further, it is well to consider the ultimate capacity of this route, if improved by lockage past the portages,, from the Head of Sturgeon Lake westward, with a railroad from that point to Fort William, as already mentioned, and another from the north-west arm of the Lake of the Woods to Fort Grarry. This route, so modified, presents three naturally distinct parts: First, — a line of a railroad from Point de Meuron, on the Kammistiquoia, eight miles west of Fort William, to the head of Sturgeon Lake, which vdth one-fifth added to the direct distance for unavoidable sinuosities, due to the nature of the country, would be one hundred and twenty-two miles in length. Second — a water communication of two hundred and twenty- six miles in length from the head of Sturgeon Lake to the ex« tremity of the north-west arm of the Lake of the W oods, to be rendered continuously navigable throughout, on a scale much exceeding that of the original Erie Canal, by the construction of sixteen locks, equal to about a hundred and forty feet of lockage. Third, — a railroad of a hundred miles in length from the Lake of the Woods to Fort Grarry, including only one-tenth additional on the direct distance for sinuosities — the ground being highly favorable. Making a total distance to Fort Grarry, of four hundred and forty-eight miles, of which nearly one-half would be unbroken nawgation. To assist in judging of the natural advantages and capacity of this water system, it is to be observed that Sturgeon River, a strong stream from three to six chains wdde, would, with its lakes, be converted into a level sheet of water twenty-eight miles in length ; and that the Nameaukan, next, followed through its expansions to Rainy Lake, is equal to fully twice 1*^4 the River Rideau in passing volume of water. At and below its great falls, where the principal works on it are required, its waters can be turned off by the south side of the island and the bed laid nearly bare for the construction of the locks, if the river be followed. As Mr. Dawson’s and Mr. Napier’s separate levellings very nearly agree, though depending on estimation in parts, in making the Head of Sturgeon Lake a hundred and twenty-five feet higher than Rainy Lake, if we allow for the descent of the river in parts on the sixty-five miles of distance, a lockage downwards of a hundred and seventeen feet in fourteen locks, as described, would seem sufficient. The remaining two locks would be required at the Falls of Rainy River, as already men- tioned. As Rainy Lake is said to open about the first of May, we may assume that the waters of Sturgeon River, wdthin fifty miles of it, and not much higher, will be open for navigation nearly as soon as it, though they may not remain open, like it, so late as the first of December. Wooden dams would be by far the most economical and most suitable on such a route. The tenacity and strength of wood work is much greater than stone, and under water it never decays. It would do well enough also for the lock walls if well secured, backed solidly with stones, earth and brush- wood, in broken layers. The parts that could not be kept generally wet or under water could be easily repaired. LINE OF RAILKOAD FROM FORT WILLIAM TO STURGEON LAKE Of the character of the country between Fort William, on Lake Superior, and Sturgeon Lake, we are not entirely ignorant. An exploration was made through it sixty miles w^estward, though not with a view to a railway. Though rough and rocky, it was found to be lower and less rugged than the country towards Lake Superior, which is mountainous, very rough and precipitous. As the height of the water-shed to be traversed is probably about a thousand feet, its elevation is not such as necessarily to present an insurmountable obstacle in a distance of a hundred and twenty -two miles. Without an adequate exploration for the purpose, nothing can be said with certainty as to the qua- lity of the railw'ay line it might afford. It is believed that a practicable railway could be made by sufficient expenditure. On such terms it would be well worth making, if we could do no better. But even if a line of favorable general grade be found, yet, owing to the unarable character of the country gene- rally, the frequent out-cropping of beds of primitive rock, and 125 unevenness of surface, the cost will probably be at least thirty per cent, greater than in an even arable country. The conditions presented by the country to be traversed are all unfavorable to a railway, which would besides be destitute of the usual advantage of being useful in winter, being subsi- diary to a water communication. For water communication, on the other hand, the conditions are unusually favorable — abundant summit supply — rivers and chains of deep lakes nearly in the line desired, offering ex- tensive sheets of slack waters, with the difference of level, accumulated so as to be most advantageously dealt with by lockage. LINE OF KAILEOAD FEOM THE LAKE OF THE WOODS TO RED RIVER. For the line of Failroad from the Lake of the Woods to Fed Fiver, on the other hand, the conditions are in the highest degree favorable — an alluvial plain country, where the bridging and grading required will be unusually little. Some low em- bankments, in shallow swamps with hard bottoms, will, how- ever, be required. The road will not be useless in winter ; there will be sawn lumber to be carried to the prairie settlements from the forests on the Lake of the Woods and its tributaries, and fuel from the extensive beds of excellent peat that abound ; and the line will be in the proper position to form part of a direct interior rail- road to Montreal. These details are given so fully respecting this route, invol- ving the construction of a railway to Sturgeon Lake, not for the purpose of setting it forth as the best we have, w^hich is very questionable, but because we are already in possession of sufficient information respecting it to give us reason to believe that, such as it is, if we had no better, its natural capacity and advantages p’e such, notwithstanding the disadvantage of a very expensive piece of railway, as to give us, through our own territory, a highway for the heavy traffic of our north- west prairie lands, decidedly superior to any other known, not within our territory, as will immediately more clearly appear. SUPERIOR CHARACTER OF THE WATER COMMUNICATION. Continuing to speak of the water communication, as it would be, if improved by lockage, from the head of Sturgeon Lake west- ward, it divides itself into two parts, distinctly different in character and condition. First, the waters of the Sturgeon Fiver and the Nameaukan 126 to Rainy Lake, sixty-live miles, where nearly all the lockage is required ; secondly, the remaining hundred and sixty-one miles, from the east end of Rainy Lake to the end of the north-west arm of the Lake of the Woods. As the latter is already a magnificent stretch of inland navigation, of great capacity, requiring lockage only at Rainy Falls, it is to the kSturgeon and Nameaukan part only that the term canalling can properly be applied. To engineers, the favorable character of the navigation it would seemingly alibrd, will be sufficiently apparent from what has been already stated respecting it. To enable those who are not famihar with such subjects, to judge of it, and of the eco- nomy ill rendering it available, and in the after use of it, it may be necessary to explain that the comparative value of such a navigation depends on the length of it, compared with the amount of lockage, alike as regards the cost of making the locks and works connected with them, and the maintaining and working of them ; and on account of the delay to vessels in passing through them ; and also upon the capacity of the navi- gation obtained, as the economy of transport by it will be in ' proportion to the size of the vessels that can use it. The least favorable, the Sturgeon and Nameaukan section, compares very advantageously with other river and canal na- vigations of the best description. The Erie Canal, which has been so exceedingly useful and beneficial, has a total lockage of 692 feet in 363 miles of length, or about 1 91-100 feet of average lockage to the mile. The Rideau Canal, which was exceedingly useful till super- seded by the St. Lawrence Canals, has a total lockage of 446J- feet, (or by adding the lift of the locks in detail 454 feet 11 in- ches,) in its lengtii of 126f miles or 3 51-100 feet per mile. The Sturgeon and Nameaukan section of this route, with 117 feet of lockage on its length of 65 miles, would have an average lockage of only 1 80-100 feet per mile. As to its capacity, it would be, as stated, much greater than that of the Erie Canal as originally made, the depth of which was four feet, its locks ninety f^et in length and fifteen feet in width. The Sturgeon and Nameaukan section, according to published and unpublished information, apparently will alibrd, when im- proved by lockage, a depth of at least five feet, which is that of the Rideau Canal ; and were it desirable, the locks might be a hundred and eighty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, that is to say, equal to five times the original capacity ot the Erie Canal ; or greater if required. Besides the greater capacity, this navigation would admit of the use of steamboats, and of their going at full speed, as there 1-27 would be no artilicial hanks to be injured by the swell they occasioned. Mr. McAlpine, a high authority, in his report of the Erie Canal, states that from 1848 to 1852, the proi)ortion of tonnage transported on the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad, was as 32 on tlie Canal to 1 on the Railroad, and still more favorable to the Canal as to heavy articles. Now, as a Canal of greater capacity admits of freight being carried at a lower rate, it seems grossly evident, that even the Sturgeon and Nameaukan section of our route, with less lock- age and live times the capacity — and obtained at no cost for canalling, excepting the locks — would have a much greater advantage over railroads for transport than the Erie Canal possessed. It is ecpially evident, that if we apply the comparison to the whole line of 226 miles of water communication on this route, when so improved, with only 140 feet of lockage, or only 62-100 of a foot to the mile, the superiority over any railroad of equal length will be much greater still. These details and comparative views are gone over for the purpose of establishing a basis of comparison, in considering what advantage we possess as to routes of access to our in- terior territory, a question of much importance to us in rela- tion to it, and one on which conclusions against the practica- bility of our maintaining communication advantageously with that territory have been drawn hastily, and I would venture to say, in error. The details given may seem prolix, but no opinion of value on this important question can be formed without some refe- rence to them ; and I beg to remark, generally, that these and other details on the subject of communication are quoted from the reports of our explorers, with no pretention in using them beyond that of roughly approaching such an opinion or suggest- ing investigation As the information we have of the Baril Portage and Sturgeon Lake route is a great deal more ainple than that before the public respecting the route by the River Seine, the opportunity is taken of using it to show the character of the navigation that would be afforded by either of these routes. It is necessary to explain, that in settmg forth a line of rail- road to Sturgeon Lake, as more advantageous than one to Rainy Lake, it is by no means meant to show that to be the best means of communication we can have. On the contrary, the Sturgeon Lake route admits of being canalled throughout, with facility from Lac des Mille Lacs ; its deep lakes being highly favorable, and Lac des Mille Lacs affording an abundant summit supply of water. It would admit of the water commu- nication behig carried through even to Dog Lake, corresponding 128 in that respect with the Seine route, presenting, like it, the ad- vantage of greater economy, alike in the construction of neces- sary works and in the cost of transport on it. ROUTE BY THE RIVER SEINE. The Seine route corresponds with that now under improve- ment, as far as Lac des Mille Lacs, which is common to both, together with the slack water reach of Dog Lake, already described. The distances here given do not exactly agree Avith Mr. Dawson's tables*. I have used those stated in Mr. Napier’s tables, — not as being more correct, but because they are least favorable, in order to avoid seeming to desire to over' estimate the comparative value of our interior route of water communication. The difference arises from the length of most of the slack water reaches- having been necessarily determined merely by estimation or cursory survey. On this route, Savanne River and Lac des Mille Lacs form together fifty-six miles of navigable water, which might be in- creased in length and depth by damming. Lac des Mille Lacs is about eight hundred and thirty-two feet above Lake Superior — lifty-hve teet lower than the height of land, and four hundred and three feet higher than Rainy Lake, the level of which is attained by the Seine about a hun- dred miles, by its course, below Lac des Mille Lacs. In that distance the Seine presents thirteen short reaches of navigable water, of from about three to twelve miles in length, separated by rapids or falls ; the last and greatest being at the Twelve Portages, where it falls seventy-two feet in twelve miles, to the level of Rainy Lake. To render this river navigable from Rainy Lake to the head of Savanne River, near the height of land, say a hundred and sixty miles, with a small allowance for the descent of the stream, about three hundred and eighty feet of lockage would be re- quired ; making an average of about 2 37-100 feet per mile, or less than two-thirds of the rate of lockage per mile on the Rideau Canal. To state the matter more simply, a navigation thirty-four miles longer than the Rideau Canal would be ob- tained, with sixty feet less of lockage than it has. As the head of this navigation is, by the route now being opened, only sixty-six miles from Thunder Bay, near Fort Wil- liam, it might be connected by a railroad of about that length. Or, (though a better way could most probably be found by the water courses,) as the height of land is only fifty-live feet higher than Lac des Mille Lacs, and is described as a sandy fiat, — by a dam of thirty-five feet in height at the outlet of Mille Lacs, and a culling of Ironi thirteen to twenty-live lectin deptli, over a length ot Ihu* miles, the waters ol' that lake would be carried ovtu* the height of land, with a di^pth ol live leet, by a downward lockage of a hundred and ninetecai I'eet in that distance, to the head ol‘ the slack tvater of ])og l.ako, which a dam of thirty-four feet in height at its outlet Avould obtain ; using Mr. Mapier’s levels as least favora])le. This would extend the navigation thirty-seven miles further, and bring it within twenty-liA'e miles of the landing of Thunder Bay, on Lake ^Superior. ^ On the distance of a hundred and ninety-seven miles, from th’e foot of Log Lake to Eaiiiy Lake, the amount of ascent and descent to be overcome l)y lockage would be five hundred and twenty-nine feet, (that is a hundred and sixty-three feet less than the Erie Canal,) making an average of 2 69-100 feet per mile, or about one quarter less per mile than the Eideau Canal. As the Seine drains an area of about three tliousand superfi- cial miles, or more than double what the Elver Eideau does, and Lac des Mille Lacs, which would be the summit reservoir of this route, receives the waters of upwards of seven hundred superficial miles of a proverbially rainy country, or more than double the area that the Eideau has to furnish its summit supply, there is little reason to doubt the sufficiency of it. The capacity of the route to afford a sufficient depth of channel seems rmquestioiiable, as twenty-four feet additional lockage would apparently hood the river to levels throughout. The practicability of this route, therefore, resolves itself into a mere question of cost. The works required on it are not of a nature to render the exi)enses extraordinary, and the com- merce of the interior may, at no very remote period, be such as to render the opening of the route in this manner pro- li table. • Since tlie above -vvas written, Mr. Dawson, by furtlier survey tbis summer, ( 1868 ), has found a new and more favorable route by which the navigable water of Lac des Mille Lacs can be carried through the height of land and brought within about forty miles of Lake Superior, at a cost so small as to admit of the route being made immediately available in connection -with the greater part of the Dog Portage Koad already commenced. This important improvement dispenses with the interruption of the ten or eleven miles of portage road at the height of land, which is crossed at a thirty feet lower level, through a ravine, by which the waters of Lake Shebandowan, on the River Matawin, a branch of the Kaministiquoia, can be flooded through, in an unbroken reach of thirty miles, to Lac des Mille Lacs. It shortens the route to Rainy Lake twenty-five miles — reduces the obstructions on it to a few short portages, amounting in all to about six and a-half miles ; and in case of future canalling will not require the five miles of deep cutting and about a hun- dred and fifty feet of lockage necessary in crossing the height of land from Lac des Mille Lacs to Dog Lake by the old route. 9 130 It would then consist of three hundred and fifty-eight mdes of continuous navigation, from the lower end of Dog Lake to the extremity of the north-west arm of the Lake of the Woods, the avemge lockage on which would be only 1 57-100 feet per mile, and a hundred and twenty-fiYe miles of railroad, that is, twenty-five from Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior, to Dog Lake, and a hundred from the Lake of the Woods to Fort Gtarry, on the lied River, — making the total length of the route four hun- dred and eighty-three miles. The continuous navigation would be nine miles longer than the main trunk of the Erie Canal, but would have forty feet less lockage, the average of which would be only 1 57-100 per mile on the whole. As steamers of a good size could be used on it, and often at full speed, it would be superior to a canal. Possessing ei^en more than the usual advantage that a canal has, in capacity and economy of transport, over a railroad, and reducing the extent of the latter necessary to a minimum, it would render this route better than any other known for heavy freight, and therefore for that of the interior generally. ^ In relation to our routes of water communication to Red River, the following remarks on the neglect of canal and slack water navigation, contained in an article in the “ Scientific American ” for January, 1868, may not be out of place. The writer says “ this neglect is in a great measure due to the mania for building railroads, which has for many years past absorbed the attention and capital of the American people, without yielding a return at all proportionate to the outlay.” After speaking of the disproportionately small outlay, in ren- dering streams completely nawgable that are already partly so, he says, “ It is not at all essential that streams should be large or deep to obtain sutficimit depth of channel for barges or small steam-boats, as a few leet of w^ater would amply suffice for vessels of the requisite tonnage for inland trade, steam propul- sion being perfectly admissible (there being no artificial banks to be washed as with canals) ; the cost of transport would be so low as to permit the carrying of all available freights, and the employment of fast steam-packets would provide a means of travel more pleasant, and quite as rapid, as the accommodation trains on many railroads.” ♦ I have obtained much valuable information on this and other subjects of this pamphlet, verbally, beyond what appears in his Kejiort, from Mr. Dawson, whose opinion on such matters is of great value, from his ability as a Engineer and his experience in River Work in new countries. As such information, though exceedingly copious and valuable, cannot be quoted in detail, being unpublished, it is only in this manner that it can be adequately acknowledged. Mr. Dawson, however, is not committed to any error in fact or in judgment I may have made in using it. A. J. R. Those roiuarks would seem to be appliecil)le, with muelimore toroo, to the generally large and deep waters of our route to lied Jtiver. We may approi)riately add to them the opinion of Mr. Jarvis, an Engineer of great expmience in such matters, ex- ])ressed in his report to the Canadian Government, on the i)ro- posed Caughnawaga canal, lie says that many i)ersons suppos(^ that Railroads will in a great measure supersede Canals, but that it is evident that this conclusion has been reached without consideration, especially whe)L applied lo channels of great trade. Speaking of the trade of the West, he says, “ In regard to the trade under consideration, it may be remarked, that the great mass is composed of bulky and heavy articles, of such general value as materially feels the weight of transport charges, espe- cially if the distance moved be great, and cannot under the general condition of the market afford to pay much additional, to save a few days’ time in transit.” Now, as a remoteness which will place even lighter articles of commerce at the disadvantage spoken of by Mr. J arvis is unquestionably the greatest drawback which the prosperity of our interior prairie land will be subject to, and as there will be many articles, products of agricultural and other hidustry, the bare possibility of exporting which will depend on even the slightest dillerence in cost of freight, it is evident that we should avail ourselves to the utmost degree of water commu- nication, wherever cheaper transport can be obtained by it, even, if at greater original cost in utilizhig it ; much more therefore should we do so where it can be made available at less expense. It cannot be argued that water communication being shut for a long winter is a reason for not doing so ; for as long as water communication is to form a great part of the route to lied River, not only beyond Fort William, but also in getting there, it will necessarily govern the utility of the Railways depending upon it ; and the great depth of snow that falls in the slope towards Lake Superior is somewhat against the utility of any Railroad there m winter. COST OF IWPllOVIXO OK CAXALLINO EIVEKS. Having assumed $40,000 a mile, ^ or say thirty i3er cent, over the cost of our cheapest railways in Canada, as the least possible cost of a railroad from Lake Superior to the Rainy Lake waters, $30,000 would be in proportion a very ample rate at which to estimate the railroad from the Lake of the Woods to Red River. Together with these rates it is necessary to form some idea of * The average cost of Railways already made in Upper and Lower Canada is ^66,222 71-100 per mile. the cost of imi)roviii^ or canalling rivers, in order to form any opinion of the comi^arative economy of each as available means of communication. Difficult as it may at first si^t appear, we have the means of approximatmg the probable limit of cost of such improvement, in a general way it is true, but in such a way as may be accepted as reliable. Such river work is widely different from ordinary canalling. The length of the navigation throws no light whatever on the cost ; it is the difference of level — the dams and locks required to overcome it — that determine the cost. W e have for data as to that, a case of the same kind, the Eideau Canal, on which the lockage is 455 feet, or only one-sixth less than that required to make a continuous iiaAdgation like that of the Eideau, from Dog Lake, twenty-live miles from Lake Su- perior, through to Eainy Lake. The Eideau Canal is also a system of rivers and lakes. Its locks are 134 feet long, 33 wide, and 5 feet depth of water. The ordinary width of canal exca- vated is seventy- five feet. There are forty-seven locks. Twenty- four dams, varying from 5 to 60 feet in height, amounting in total length to 15,47*2 feet ; and of excavated canal the total length is 16^ miles. By an official synopsis of the Eoyal En- gineer Department, for it, the total expenditure for works, (in- cluding <£*23,141 6s. lOfd. for gates), was <£648,686 13s. 3Jd. stg. ; for establishment, i. e., management <£110,279 19s. 8d. ; total for works, not including land damages, ^ £758,966 T2s. llfd. stg. ; equal to currency, <£9*23,409 Is. 8id. As the cost of management was rather greater than we would feel necessary, we may put the ’vvorth of the work for our pur- pose at X900,000 currency. Those who have seen the stupendous stone dam, sixty feet in height, that was built at Jones’ Falls, — the bridge and locks at ()ttawa, and the 6,0*24 feet of dam built at Kingston Mills, will be satisfied that the magnitude and style of the works are more than the utmost we require for our Eed Eiver Eoute. Speaking from haTOig served on the Eideau at ilie time, some of the work, at least, was extravagantly paid for ; yet even at that high rate and style of Avork, water communication Avould cost less in construction than a railroad. Thus, canalling from Dog Lake to Eainy Lake, requiring one-sixth more lockage than the Eideau C^anal, would cost one-sixth more, or. £1 ,050,000 cy. Add Eailroad from Lake Superior to Dog l^ake, 25 miles, at £10,000 a more 250,000 cy. £1,300,000 cy. ♦ I am indebted to Wm. Clegg, Esquire, late of that Depart meiit, who eour- jiiled it, for correct information as to these details. Railroad from Fort William to Rainy Lake at i.'l 0,000 a mile, 180 miles ^1,800,000 ey. Diflereuce gained by canalling rivers. £500,000 cy. But as canalbng on the scale of the Rideau, with a capacity of transport equal to many railroads taken together, would be out of all proportion with the one railroad, to be worked in conjunction with it, canalling on the small scale of the Erie Canal as first made would be quite sufficient for many years. But if the locks were made nearly equal to those of the Rideau, say with four feet depth of water, and their walls and the dams built of Avood, of Avhich the supply is said by Mr. Dawson to be abundant, the rate of cost might be much under two-thirds of that of the Rideau, making the whole cost of the route about ii9()0,000 cy., from Fort William on Lake Superior to Rainy Lake, or half the cost of a railway between the same points. The top timber over water only, would, say after ten years, require repair, those under water would not decay. A railroad would be useless until completed through. The water com- munication would be sendceable in the meantime, with the improvements already commenced ; and its usefulness would be increased as the Avorks adA^anced. CHAPTER XXIX. COAIPARISON OF KNOWN ROUTES TO RED RIVER. HaAdng considered the character of the Dog Lake Route, now under improA^ement, and the capacity of that part of it from Sturgeon Lake AA^estward, as a separate route, in connexion A\dth a railroad from Fort William to it, and also the Seine route, AA^e can now compare them with other known or pro- posed routes to Red Rwer Settlement. F'or that purpose, the routes described are exhibited m the folloAAdng table, together with the route by Chicago and St. Paul’s, and a proposed route by Superior City and Crow Wing, in Minnesota, and also a practicable direct railroad line, by the A^alley of the Ottawa and Montreal RiA^er, and thence AvestAA’-ard through the interior. ArpRoxiMATiTfl CoMpARATiTB Table of kiiOTv'n aiicl proposed routes from Montreal to lied Eiver Settlement. 134 ^ ^ ^ ^ n 03 . M ^ O > prt g c ** ^ G ©-J c c|| __W ce apH egj 3 ': 5 !» © l^n P h ppq cs a l >0 ^ a ©^^-J 2^0 CQ a aPn • a >. 6c ■ •5 o-.S.S 'TJ® ^ "g.sl-ge ft-a .h o s >>.a ® ^ a © ec sc c- S S .-S s- © d C © • ' * >> I © CO • - ce-^ - fcc-r! fl^'2 a!^C5 orj.i3fe ©S °*ti3 ® *e_^ ^ ljSO ® 0 D 0 Qi *»c 3 ^ >> ® -^e 8 © St ^^O««-iC fin^oNCQ c bcB © 1 -^ ^ O-S Isgagl's-E? -Ep^ “* ® ft 2 © K S . O:^ ag, '«'S^© Riot's Q a ©tfc^p^pj ? a ts > ® __ -T© ...S c '^’3 ® § >. ■>‘^a ^ a ©1^ ; © O S 25 § ‘S >,'©S a ‘^.a's-E'g’S'S a’^ >>j 3 ® >> O e! © ® V, ' PPOfti^pM ftft'-g © • ft-a ' J 2 O rp: a c > sc'^ ej ce^ a £.2& £2|2^|| ►» «e © o .^ © o e?T-Hii IC<>C: eo^ .•^ sciXl « 2 “ ® if c:S a «’a ' g r. ^ ® E a s^® '3.a ‘*o . . ftcs o g ■ o o a ■£ s E a-a.g o a.-a -^'S.Stl'a'S.S fe S.^ aC^ a ** a c c o^ O O OOO OPP 3^ a as O o O ■3 oT o§ iTt^- 8^1 fe'So tjo a - rC C13 o- vT P « ? §« g a a c pp -g j c o § ft . .';: c S - ft Sft o O .p pp . ^ p, ft tc « .a po ' - pp a o bO • O O o2„- O I at r-i d A S aP CO r-l ^ - -- 5 ® &ITJ< o'es '®'S §>.■0 l-I.S g’g’S ^p2a^ft^p«jp»jc ft'p'^S^aggp^ E (© -pp o S ^ o i3 •--M ft--a . eS'^'^ . ac5oo^sca 1 o S'-S s'i ^ “ P liipSiii 2 ^ Vh i-« ^ d ’3 d ^ ce .2 -2 ^ ^ a O r^ a PC o 1-5 S -< Q o C 5 <5 ft To fonii 11 comparative estimate ot* the value ot‘ thesi? routes, tor the transport of heavy freight, we may apply to them the following rates of transport, per ton, per mile, given by Mr. Me Alpine in his report on the canals of the State of New York which are considered of high authority by Engineers : On the Lakes, long voyage 2 mills. J)o. short do 3 to 4 mills. St. Lawrence and Mississippi 3 “ Tributaries, Mississippi 5 to 10 mills. Canals, Erie enlargement 4 “ Other canals but shorter 5toG “ Erie Canal, ordinary size 5 “ Canals with great lockage 6 to 8 “ Railroads transporting coal G to 10 “ Do. not for coal, favorable grades and lines 12^ “ Do. steep grades 15 to 25 “ These rates include nothing for tolls on canals, or to cover cost of construction of railroads. Mr. Jervis, in his report on the proposed Caughnawaga Canal, says the actual cost of trans- porting a ton of freight from Ogdensburg to Rouse’s Point, on the railroad, by the report of the State Engineer, was 11 and 7-10 mills a mile, allowing no profit on capital expended in construction. How much more would have to be added, in the form of tolls on the canalled rivers, or additional rates on railroads, to cover the costs of construction, no practical man would lilve to say, without deliberate estimation, based on specific survey. But we may safely assume, that on the improved river reaches, where there was little lockage, it would be small, compared with what it w'ould be on a railroad, especially if wooden dams and locks were used, and that on the great central reach of Rainy Lake and River, and the Lake of the Woods, it would be next to nothing. W e have to bear in mind also, in judging of the comparative value of these routes, that where railroads are proposed to be used, in connexion with reaches of water communication, their usefulness, in that way, will be limited to the period of open na'vdgation, and that therefore their usefulness in winter, which under ordinary circumstances gives them a great advantage over canals, cannot be reckoned in their favor in this com- parison. Applying the foregomg rates to the approximate table of lengths, we have the bare cost of moving a ton of goods from Montreal to Red River Settlement, by the respectives routes, as follows : By the GTrand Trunk and other railways, via Chicago and St. Paul’s, if railway communication were completed from St. Paul’s 530 miles to Fort Harry : 1,767 miles of railway transport at 12^ mills a ton, per mile T $22 . 09 By proposed direct route up the Ottawa and Montreal Elver Valleys and through the interior to Fort Garry : 1,110 miles, at 12J mills a ton, per mile $13.87 257 at 15 “ on account of probable steeper grades 3.86 1,367 $17.73 By proposed route of railway from Fort Wil- liam to Sturgeon Lake, canalling Sturgeon and Nameaukan Elvers to Eainy Lake, and railroad from the Lake of the W oods to Fort Garry : 442 miles by rail from Montreal to Colhng- wood, at 12| mills a ton, per mile..... $ 5.52 534 miles by the Lakes to Fort William, at 2 mills a ton, per mile 1.07 122 miles by rail to Sturgeon Lake, at 15 mills a ton, per mile 1.83 226 miles Eiver and Lake navigation, at 4 mills a ton, per mile 0.90 100 miles railway, Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry, at 124^ mills a ton per mile 1.25 1,424 $10.57 It will be at once seen that as there is so much Lake and other natural na^dgation on this last route, the additional charges to cover “ costs of construction ” on it must be small, compared with either of the preceding. By proposed Eailway route from Superior City to Crow Wing, through Minnesota, and thence to Fort Garry if con- structed : 442 miles by rail to Colling wood, 548 miles Superior City to Fort Garry. 990 miles at 12^ mills - $12.37 654 miles by Lakes from Collingwood to Superior City, at 2 mills 1.31 1,644 $13.68 By proposed route by Dog J^ake and Eiver Seine, if canalled through from Dog- Lake to Eainy Lake. — 442 miles rail to Collingwood. $ 5.52 534 miles Lakes to Fort William 1 . 07 25 miles rail to Dog Lake, at < account of steeper grades. 0.50 137 358 miles River and Ijakes from Dog- Lake to end of north-west arm of Lake ot' the AVoods, at 4 mills 1 -43 1ly be encountered betvA^een the Ewer Ni- pigon and Lac Seul, in the rise to the water-shed ; but that is necessarily less than fiA^e hundred feet, or not more than Avill be met on the Intercolonial Eaihvay before getting tAventy miles from the St. Lav^rence. These details are gone into so fully because it is not generally knoAvn that Ave haA^e a Iworable and most direct route to Eed EiA'er, shorter than any other possibly can be. It is in a posi- tion that is 1‘endered exceedingly unassailable by the rugged mountainous country in front of it, and by the lakes, forests and extenswe marshes, to the AA^esWard, between it and the frontier ; so much so that an im^ading force, of any considerable strength, AA^ould take more time to moA^e twenty miles in the interA^ening country than to adA^ance tAA^o hundred in the prairies beyond it. Therefore, if AA^e do not have a railAvay through our own ter- ritory to Eed Ewer, it certainly will not be because we haA^e not a faA'orable route for it, but for want of sufficient induce- ment or necessity for making it. This is of some importance ; and it is desirable that the fact U:2 iSliould be known, that when the making- of it becomes a national requirement, for the purposes of defence or commerce, we com- mand the best and shortest railway route to the interior and to the Pacific. The level clay country of the north, through which this route passes, seemingly for four hundred miles, presents, as yet, no inducement whatever for opening it up. But when the navi- gation of the Ottawa is inipro v^ed as far as the Matawin, two hundred miles above the cajutal, a comparative small expen- diture will carry it a hundred miles further, to the head of Lake Temiscaming. This will entirely change the prospect of settlement, not only of the good lands there, but also eventually of the clay country beyond it, should the soil of that great extent, of entirely arable land, prove as capable of improvement by cultivation as other clay soils are. To be safe, we must reserve our judgment on the subject till more ample information, carefully collected, is before us. But this much we know, that clay soils, though stubborn and hard to cultivate in extremely dry or wet weather, are in the end the most rich and durable ; and that tracts where grain can be raised, if well wntered, generally become occupied, when land becomes valuable by the increase of population and the progress of improvement. The period may be remote when such causes will operate in this particular region, but when we consider that, apart from its own requirements under such advanced circumstances, it offers a railway route to Bed Biver and the Pacific four hun- dred miles shorter for winter travel than any other yet known to be practicable, in view of the vast development of improve- ments during the term of the past generation, it would really not be irrational to suppose that this route may be opened before the lapse of another. This will appear the more reasonable when we consider that this route would traA^erse the most habitable part of this Ter- ritory south of Hudson’s Bay, which, as before stated, is larger, and apparently fully as suitable for cultivation as Phnland, that sustains nearly two millions of inhabitants ; and that Lake Superior, and Lake Temiscaming on the Ottawa, are the only possible outlets for the best part of this territory, which would be opened up in the most faA'orable manner by this pro- posed route, and placed by it in immediate connection with Lake Temiscaming. It is difficult to conceiA^e that a country fully equal to Finland, with the great water system of the Ottawa leading directly to it, should remain for ever A^alueless and uninhabited. (IIAPTER XXXJ. ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC THROUGll BRITISH COLUMBIA. The subject of communication with the racitic, through British Columbia, is more immediately and urgently important than the preceding. It is the opinion of many, that if it be of any importance that Grreat Britain, the greatest commercial power in the world, should have a highway to the Pacific, for commercial and other purposes, through her own territory, one that could not be barred against her by any other power ; if it be desirable that the solid freedom of British institutions should be maintained on this continent ; and if the fair programme of national life, in close connexion with the mother country, set forth in the British North America Act, is to be realized, and this edifice of Confederated British Dominion is to be anything more than a temporary expedient, the Confederation should be completed by the addition of Vancouver’s Island and British Columbia, and the opening of a hue of communication with them, without delay. Looking to the interest of the Central Prairie Country alone, as British territory, when inhabited, it is as important for it to have a xvay to the Pacific without being exposed to all the con- ceivable disadvantages of having its means of communication controlled by a foreign power, and, under very possible circum- stances, a hostile one, as it is for us to have communication through our own territory with the Atlantic. To render the comparison a fair one, we must conceive what it would be if* there were no St. Lawrence, and we were depen- dent on land transport alone. It is unnecessary to follow the line of evidence adopted by philosophical writers, showing that the importance and pros- perity of civilized countries is limited by their extent of front- age on seas open to commerce ; it is demonstrated in the history of nations, and the importance of that advantage is aclmowledged in their struggles to attain it. But whatever power may in future hold British Columbia, a free outlet through it is of the greatest importance to the prosperity of our interior territory adjoining it ; and would have a powerful influence in encouraging settlement there, and in ensuring its success. It would be to our advantage, as well as to its own, and also greatly to the advantage of British Columbia, that the interior prairie country should be a prosperous one ; and its prosperity would be very much restricted if its commerce were limited to the St. Lawrence and Mississippi. It would be a great draw- i44 back for it to have its teas and other ]jroduct.s of hkvsterii Asia and the JAicihe imported ]>y routes so circuitous, or to be ob- structed in exporting its own products to that ocean. It will assist us in judgino* of the imi)ortance of a route through British Columbia, if we comi^are the distance by it from the Ilpi^er Saskatchewan to the Pacilic, Avith what it would be by the Bed lliver and Mississippi to St. Louis, and thence by the Pacilic railroad to St. Francisco, now in progress, and which might )>e supposed to ])e in sonn^ degree useful to our territory. By the practically good route, though necessarily tortuous one, through a mountainous country, desciibed by Mr. AYad- dington, (from ijersonal exploration,) in his valuable pamphlet on the subject, the distance, from Edmonton on the north Sas- katchetvan, to the head of Bute Inlet, a port on the waters of the Pacilic, is 841 miles, of which 389 are navigable waters. By substituting his shorter railway route for the navigable water, the distance would be Col miles. By St. Louis and the Pacilic Ivailroad the distance would be 1,0G0 miles from Edmonton to Fort ( tarry, 53-2 to St. Paul’s, 817 to Omaha, thence to St. hb-ancisco 2,032 miles, (by IT. S. Sec. at lYar’s Ileport) ; in all 4,442 miles, or 3,601 miles longer to the Pacific than the route througti British Columliia, or pos- sibly 3,788. Supposing even that do V. Stevens’ northern route, by the Mis- souri in lat. 47 N., \vere opened mid 600 miles of roads were made to join it at the Itocky Mountains, that is at 750 miles from the Pacific, the total distance would be 1 ,350 miles against 654 through British Columbia by rail. Even from Fort Carry on Bed Biver, Ihe s to the upper In-asev River, and descending it to its tributary, the Quesnelle liiver, and 1‘roni it across to Bute Inlet, is unquestionably by tar the best as regards this side of the Rocky Mountains, and the passage through them ; and there is no room to doubt its being so also to the westward through British Columbia. The Leather Pass was long known and used by the Hudson’s Bay Company. It is singular that Capt. Palliser, Dr. Hector and Capt. Blackiston, were never informed of it. The advanta- geous nature of it, however, was made apparent in 1862 by the passage of a party of a hundred and fifty Canadian emigrants, including a woman and three children. They gathered at Fort (xarry in June, and got through to the settlements on the Fraser River in good time. They took through with them about seventy horses and a hundred and thirty oxen, excepting such of the latter as they killed or sold by the way. So gentle was the ascent, that they did not know that they had passed the ridge of the Rocky Mountains ,till they found the water showing westward. Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle, also, in their journal say, of this pass, that they had unconsciously passed the height of land, and that until they had the evidence of the water How, they had no suspicion that they were even near the dividing ridge. The height of the summit of this pass, which is in lat. 52 54’ N., is given by Mr. Waddington as 3,760 feet over the sea, being nearly the same level as the elevated sloping plain, on the east side, from which the Rocky Mountains rise. The elevation of the other generally known passes are as fol- lows : — Howse Pass, 6,347 ; Kicking Horse Pass, 5,420; Yermi- lion, 4,944 ; Kanauski Pass, (recommended by Captain Palliser, but requiring a tunnel,) 4,600 ; British Kootanie Pass, near TJ. S. Boundary, 5,960 feet above the sea. This last is recommended by Captain Blackiston, who thought he was the first white man that had entered it. Mr. David Thompson, Astronomer of the North-West Company, in his manuscript journal, now before me, gives interesting accounts of his exploratory journeys through this and other passes of the Rocky Mountains, occa- sionally with horses, about the beginning of this century. In the IT. S. Secretary at War’s Report on the Pacific Railway lines, the elevation of the passes through the Rocky Mountains in the United States are given as follow : Route near lat. 47 and 49 ^ N., 6,044 feet ; at lat. 41 ^ and 42 N., 8,373 feet ; at lat. 38 and 39 ^ N., 10,032 feet ; lat. 35 ^ N., 7,472 feet ; at lat. 32 N., 5,717 feet above the sea ; and the extent of land ge- nerally unfit for cultivation on those routes, is given, in the above succession, as 1,490, 1,400, 1,460, 1,476 and 1,210 miles res- pectively, or about two thirds of their length. On our route by the North Saskatchewan and Yellow Head Pass, we have a continuously and pre-eminently fertile country 14G for 1,300, from the commencement of the Eed Eiver prairies to the base of the Eocky Mountains at Jasper House ; and of the remaining 761 miles to the head of Bute Inlet, nearly one-half apparently is cultivable land. Mr. Waddington’s description of the country, between the mouth of the Quesnelle Eiver and coast range, agrees with the favorable account of that plateau quoted from Mr. Barnston’s report in Commander Mayne’s work on British Columbia ; and the unusual favorable character, in that very mountainous country, which he gives of the great region extending northward to the Eiver Skeena, the boundary of British Columbia, corresponds with the description given of parts of it intersected, in reports of extensive explorations re- ferred to in the same work, and published in Imperial Parha- mentary papers. We see, therefore, that we possess a route to the Pacific, through our central prairie country and British Columbia, that besides traversing the Eocky Mountains far more favorably, at half the elevation of the lines through the United States, is as remarkable for passing through a great extent of well watered fertile country, as they are for the general aridity and uninha- bitable barrenness of a great part of the country they tra- verse. The superiority of our route across to the Pacific, over any other on the continent, is still more evident, when we consider that it has, in addition to the foregoing, the further advantage of consisting chiefly of nawgable waters. This advantage is, in its nature, a double one. First, the much lower rate of cost of transport by the navigable waters, where on a large scale, like the St. Lawrence and its lakes, and even much of the interior lake and river navigation ; secondly, what to us is of great importance, especially in the commencement, that in the navigable waters we have the greater part of the route ready, without cost of construction, except on a very small proportion of it. Taking the route. No. 4, in the foregoing table, in connexion with that advocated by Mr. Waddington, we would have, with the improvements mentioned, between Lake Superior and Eed Eiver, 226 miles (out of 448^) of continuous navigation, on a large scale for inland waters, and 1,060 from Fort GTarry to Edmonton of a similar class, by Lake Winnipeg and the Sas- katchewan, requiring lockage, or short portages, only at three places on the latter. Between Edmonton and Port Waddington, on Bute inlet, a harbour of the Pacific, Mr. W addington counts 309 miles of steamboat navigation ; making in all 1,595 miles of steamboat navigation, and only 754J miles of land travel or rail- road, in the whole distance of 2,349 J miles by this route from Lake Superior to the Pacific. If the railway route proposed by Mr. Waddington were 147 adopted instead oi’ tln^ iiavi<^atioii of I'raser Jviver, in part re- duciin^ the distance IVoin ])iit(‘. inlet to Edmonton to G54 miles, and it 825 miles ot railway were mad(‘ Iroiii Edmonton to 1^'ort (iarry, the total distance I'rom the raciiic to Lake Superior would be reduced to 1,927^ miles ; which with 970 miles to Montreal, via Collingwood, and 843 to Halilax, would give a total distance from that city to the Pacilic of 3,746J miles. If a line of railroad throughout were ultimately required to ensure rapid communication at ail seasons, we could have Irom Bute Inlet to hldmonton, 054 miles, and to Fort Grarry, 825 more, and then the direct route. No 1, of the table, from Fort G-arry to Montreal, by the Ottawa, 1,307 miles, making 2,846 from the Pacilic to Montreal ; which, with 843 to Halifax, would make a total from the Pacitic of 3,089 miles, to which adding the distance to Liverpool, 2,407, would give a total from the Pacilic to Liverpool of 6,150 miles. By the Eeport of United States Secretary at War, already referred to, the distances from New York to the Pacilic, are, to Council Bluffs, at the mouth of the Fiver Platte, 1,252 miles ; thence, to the Pacilic by the railroad now in progress on both sides of the Focky Mountains, and nearly made to them, 2,032 miles, making together 3,284 miles, to which add, from Liver- pool to New York, 3,073, gives a total by this line of 6,357 miles, or 201 more than the route through British America. CHAPTEF XXXII. IMPOI^TANCE TO BllITISH COLUMBIA OF UNION AND INTERIOIl COMMUNICATION WITH THE DOMINION. Were British Columbia united to the Dominion, and an ade- quate line of communication opened through that Province from Lake Superior to the Pacific, all the commerce of the vast interior of British America, with the Pacific and Eastern Asia, and the carrying trade of it on the high seas, would be drawn to her ports ; and her route across the continent would be a successful rival of the Pacific Failway from San Francisco, not only for traffic and communication between the Pacific and the present Provinces of Canada, and parts of the United States adjoining, but also for that of European countries through this continent. The great proportion of water conveyance on our route, would render transport by it so much more economical, as to admit of freight being carried of kinds that could not be sent by the San Francisco route, on account of the greater ex- pense of transport entirely by railroad. Our route through British Columbia would have the advan- • 148 tage also of being shorter to China and Japan ; the distance- from any port in these countries to Bute Inlet being upwards of 550 miles less than to San Francisco. This is best seen by measurement on a terrestrial globe ; for the ordinary projec-^ tions of the hemispheres in charts and atlases give rise to a very erroneous idea as to distances between the continents. Taking this 550 miles into account, the distance from any })ort in China or Japan to Liverpool would be 751 miles shorter by our route, through British Columbia, than by the American Pacific Bailroad. United to the Dominion, British Columbia would enjoy these advantages in relation to the interior, and communication through it, which would be lost to her by annexation to the United States. If the Americans held British Columbia, they would be little disposed to use it for the purpose of establishing a line of communication, nearly altogether through British ter- ritory, to rival their own Pacific Kailroad, and carry trade to Canadian ports. In this respect, British Columbia, including Vancouver’s Island with it, and Nova Scotia, are in a great degree similarly situated, in relation to the interior of British America and its development ; and the similarity goes further, for they are much alike in some other respects. They are both comparati- vely rather unfavorable generally for cultivation, but on the other hand possess alike extraordinary advantages for commerce and manufactures, in their favorable maritime position and nu- merous harbours, their metals and their coal beds. With these advantages, and situated on the eastern and western outlets of the great fertile interior of British America, it seems reasonable to say that they are in a position to enjoy, in the greatest degree, every advantage in the extension of their commerce and increased employment for their shipping and manufactures, to be derived from the development of the resources of the interior, and the opening of a line of commu- nication through it from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In position with relation to the interior, however, it must be admitted, that British Columbia surpasses Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the coast of the continent, southward from it, not being studded v^ith rival ports and harbours, reaching close in towards the interior like the Atlantic coast. In the command of communication from the Pacific to the interior, British Co- lumbia has no competitor. IMPORTANCE OF THE OTTAWA SHIP CANAL TO THESE NORTH- WEST TERRITORIES, &C. To judge correctly of the ultimate advantage which a route through our own territories presents, alike as a means of com- 140 municatioii ^vitll them and througli them to the Pacific, and in \dew of the superiority which the greater economy of water transport gives us in the comparison, we should take into ac- count the reduction of distance and of cost which the improve- ment of our inland navigation may afford. As presenting the greatest prospective advantage in that re- spect, the proposed improvement of the Ottawa and French .Rivers, or what is called the Construction of the Ottawa Ship •Canal, may be referred to. It may be sufficient to remind the reader, that in the distance by this route of four hundred and thirty miles from Montreal to Lake Pluron, canalling for 21^ miles only is required, in ad- dition to the Lachine Canal already constructed, according to the report of Mr. Thos. C. Clarke, who completed the survey of it for G-overnment ; and that according to the report of Mr. W. Shanly, his predecessor in charge, the cost of movement of freight per ton, from Chicago to Montreal, by the Ottawa Ship 'Canal, would be $2.89, while by the St. Lawrence and 'VYelland Canal route, and by the Toronto and Georgian Bay Canal, it would be $3.26 and $3.27 respectively ; that the distances by the two latter routes would be 1,348 and 1,050 miles, but by the Ottawa only 973, that is, 375 miles shorter than the St. Lawrence and Welland route now used. It is proper to observe that the reduction of distance by it to Lake Superior, and consequently to the interior and the Pacific, is 40 miles greater than to Lake Michigan, or 415 miles. Apart from the advantages claimed for it of bein^ the most favorable route for the trade of what has hitherto being design- ated the “ Great West,” and for attracting it to Canadian ports, and as vastly increasing the strength of the Proffinces as a work •of defence, the Ottawa Ship Canal, inasmuch as it would diminish the distance and the cost of transport, especially of heavy freight, to and from our interior territories, would tend to remove the greatest drawback to the successful settlement of them. It would benefit Lower Canada, now the Proffince •of Quebec, in a manner that no other work would do, for it would, in connexion with Lake Temiscaming, and the navi- gable waters of its tributary, the River Blanche, develope the south-western frontier of that province for four hundred and fifty miles, and render available the considerable extent of country fit for settlement at the head of that lake, which is now too remote ; and it would facilitate communication with Hud- son’s Bay, and through the country south of it to Red River as ralready mentioned, were that ultimately found desirable. 150 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE INTERESTS OE CANADA, THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY AND THE INDIANS. We are at issue with the Hudson’s Bay Company. We deny the justice and validity of their 'title to the territory most va- luable to us— the Central Prairie Country — claimed by them under their Charter from King Charles the Second, in 1670,, granting them the exclusive right of trade in Hudson’s Bay and its waters, and all the lands and territories on their “ Confines,'' not “ possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince or State.” Far from giving the Hudson’s Bay Company the interior country on the Bed Biver and the Saskatchewan, their Charter, restricted by this exception, did not even give them that part of the coast of Hudson’s Bay in front of it. These regions were commonly known as French territory,, and were virtually recognized as such by the Treaty of St. Grer- mains en Laye, of 1632, which restored to the King of France Canada or “ La Nouvelle France,’* of which they formed part; — and they had already, in 1627, been chartered to “ La Com- pagnie de la Nouvelle France.” The occupation of Hudson’s Bay by the French before the date of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Charter is unquestionable, for not only had their trade been established there in 1656 and 1663, by Jean Bourbon and La Couture, and Missions been planted in the interior, but it is also historically notorious that the Hudson’s Bay Company originated in two disaffected Ca- nadians, who had been engaged in the trade of the Bay (De Crrozelier and Badison), inducing English adventurers to join them in a trading voyage there, ^ the success of which led to the formation of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the granting of its Charter in 1670. After a protracted struggle the Hudson’s Bay Company’s people were, in 1686, expelled as trespassers from the posts they had established in the Bay. The justice of this expulsion and the prior rightful possession of France is acknowledged in the treaty of Byswick, of 1697, which provides for the restitution to France of these posts in particular, as well as of all others taken in the war then terminated, that had formerly belonged to France. Therefore, without entering into the seemingly well gropided objections made, by able legists, to the fundamentally illegal character of that Charter, we see that in simple equity, (though See Charlevoix, Vol. 1, p. 476. 151 that may probably Ije disregarded) King Charles could not give — and by the exception evidently did not intend to give— the Company all the territory they now claim, simply because it was not his to give. We see also that the completeness of the title given by the Charter is vitiated by an exception well grounded on knowii fact, — a fact affirmed and sustained by the high authority of international treaty ; and that, therefore, the Hudson’s Bay Company Avould probably, under it, be unable, in a Court of Law, to prove perfect title, as required, for the ejectment of adverse j)ossessors. Previous to the cession of Canada, Canadian traders had long been in undisputed possession of the interior country now in dispute — holding there the forts of Maurepas on Lake Winni- peg, Fort Eouge on Bed Elver, De la Eeine on Lake Manitoba, and Forts Bourbon, Pasquise and Nippeween on the Saskat- chewan. Under the articles of capitulation of Canada their occupation and property there would be secured to them. After the cession of the country, British and Canadians, following in their track, maintained the right, by ti*ading there, before and after the Hudson’s Bay Company entered the same grounds; — and they continued to do so for upwards of forty years before the Hudson’s Bay Company asserted — and in i814 first at- tempted to enforce their exclusive claim. ^ Then, after the protracted and sanguinary struggle between them and the Canadian North-West Company, during which the exclusive pretentions of either were expressly and carefully ignored by the Imperial and Provincial authorities t — the Hud- son’s Bay Company, finding that they could not enforce their Charter, united with the North-West Company, so that they might jointly secure the exclusion of all other traders. As to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s claim to the right of soil — how can Canada be asked to entertain it ? The soil, with most insignificant exceptions, is still the unalienated property of the native Indians. In Canada, the Mother Country recognized their right by purchasing their lands and paying annuities for them. Before ♦ The great explorations of Sir Alexander McKenzie, np to the Arctic Sea and through to the Pacific Ocean, and the scarcely less important exploratory sur- veys of David Thompson, after May, 1797, including the discovery and survey of the Kiver Columbia and Thompson’s River and the surveys of the Athabasca and Peace Rivers, Beaver River and Upper Saskatchewan, and of several pas- sages through the Rocky Mountains, were operations of the Canadian North- West Company, of whom McKenzie was a leader, and to whom Thompson transferred his services, in 1799, as stated in his manuscript Journal, after ser- ving the Hudson’s Bay Company from October, 1789. t See Earl Bathurst’s despatch of 6th February, 1817, enjoining the mainten- ance of “ the full and free permission for all persons to pursue their usual and accustomed trade without hindrance or molestation.” 152 the Union these pa;^anents had to be refunded to the Imperial Grovernment by Upper Canada. These annuities are now paid directly by the Canadian G-overnment. Seeing, therefore, that we hare to pay for all lands acquired for us, or by us, from Indians, are we to be compelled to re- cognize the right of the Hudson’s Bay Company to lands they never purchased or paid for ? And is it consistent with that justice to the Aborigines, which we hear so much spoken about in England, that, in acquiring their lands, instead of paying them the whole price, we are to give part of it to the Hudson’s Bay Company, — who never acquired any right to it from the owners ? ^ The grounds of claim to the territory in dispute are too ob- scure, hypothetical and conflicting, to be conclusive in favor of either Canada or the Company : it is for the Crown, in whom the absolute right still remains, to deal with it as it sees fit. Besides that of the native Indians, the only indefeasible right is that of mankind to have the obstruction to its lawful occupa- tion by settlers remoyed. All that the Company can justly be entitled to is indemnity for any injury to their trade which set- tlement may occasion, when it takes place. That, in the large portion of prairie land nearest to us, which is exhausted as a fur-bearing country, must be comparatively 4 little. In considering this question, we have to bear in mind that it is only such part of the territory, sending waters to Hudson’s Bay, as their Charter may, under the restricting exception, be found to cover, that the Company can have any permanent right to : — the remainder of the territory their occupy, they hold merely temporarily by lease, on the termination of which their rights become extinct, without claim to indemnity. *We claim that the Bed Biver and Saskatchewan country comes under the latter description We should therefore avoid being led into calling it Bupert’s Land, for as that was the name given by King Charles to the land he gave the Company, we in a manner admit the Bed Biver and Saskatchewan Country to be the property of the Company if we call it Bupert’s Land. But though our interests are opposed to theirs as to territorial right, we should be careful to be just to the Company, and con- sider well the particulars in which their interests and ours may agree. We must acknowledge that their admirable systeni, good management and good faith in dealing with the Indians, are * I am led to make these remarks from its having been my duty, for seven years, to keep the accounts of these transactions, between the Imperial Com- missariat, the Local Government, and the Indian Department. highly credi^l^le to them, and have maintained tranquillity in the vast territories under their sway, and peace on our borders, and respect for the llritish name and power in the minds of the natives ; and that their officers and agents are proverbially honourable men. If the Company were broken up and their officers withdrawn froin these territories, and the trade of them thrown open to all, it might, no doubt, give a few enterprising men in Canada the opportunity of se(‘king, probably with some success, to amass wealth like that of the old North-West Company of Montreal. But when the irregular, and too often unscrupulous trading of the adventurers was substituted for the well regu- lated and reliable system of the Hudson’s Bay Company, it would probably have, with the free use of spirits that would no doubt attend it, a most injurious and demoralizing effect upon the Indians ; and coupled with the many causes of pro- vocation accompanying the advance of settlement, would, almost certainly, lead to difficulties and border warfare with them, as in the adjoining States. It would therefore probably be better, on the whole, that the fur trade of these territories should remain in the hands of the Hudson’s Bay Company, under lease from the Dominion, espe- cially if such an arrangement gave Canada more favourable terms in settlement with the Company. The importance of economy effected in this way will be seen when it is con- sidered that it might be sufficient to defray the expense of opening a serviceable line of communication for the ingress of settlers. Or it might be better for the Government of the Dominion to step into the shoes of the Company, and continue the trade, through the agents and others now employed, retaining their services by giving them the same interest in the trade as they now hold, or equivalent advantage. By doing so. Government would have thoroughly competent Indian agents throughout the whole of these territories, and by maintaining the same policy of management as heretofore, would prevent an important influence over the native tribes froni being impaired or falling into foreign hands and could use it for the preservation of that tranquillity which would be doubly necessary in the face of advancing settlement. If we have to buy the improvements or business stands of the Company, it would be reasonable to turn them to some account ; and the abrupt withdrawal of that trade on which the natives now depend for ammunition and other things, now become necessaries to them, would be a calamity to the Indians, which it would be the duty of Canada, in extending her do- minion over them, to avert. The exclusive reservation of the fur trade in the hands of 154 Goveniment, for the good of all, would be less obnoxious than its being held by a company. It would enable Government to check the use of spirits in the trade. The agents might be useful in allaying dithculties and watching over the feelings of the natives and their movements, as well as their interests and wants ; but there are, no doubt, some obvious objections to the trade being carried on by Government. But whatever the arrangements as to trade may be, the se- curity of settlement will lie in good faith with the Indians, in all arrangements with them being honorably and liberally maintained. With ultimate advantage to ourselves we might even exceed that. Were the Government of the Dominion, on acquiring these territories, or any part of them, to establish in the settlements, asylums, at a few pomts, for the helpless and infirm, and orphans of such tribes as any arrangement as to territory or otherwise was made with ; and were it also pro- vided that any Indian of any such tribe might, at any time for- ever thereafter and anywhere, obtain a free grant of two hun- dred acres of land, on his choosing to become a settler, as an inalienable homestead, and be entitled to admission into any hospiM, or to medical assistance in case of illness or injiiry, to be paid for by Government on the certificate of any magistrate, a strong and favorable impression would be made on the feel- ings of the Indians. The Indian would have it constantly before him that if he became helpless there was a home ever ready for him under the roof of the Dominion. The liability to expense which this would entail may be ob- jected to, but when it is considered how little this exceeds what Christian charity would dictate, under such circumstances, and the small number of the Indians, — the benefit to them and the moral influence in our favor, — the liability of cost may be found moderate compared with the general advantage obtained. By adopting such a system of attaching the Indiaiis, and either obtaining the cordial co-operation of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by duly considering their interest, or otherwise by occupying their place, which w^ould be still more efiective, the security of orderly settlement, on just principles, vrould be provided for, and the strength of the Indian nations would be knit to ours for common defence if necessary, at less cost in the end than by bad faith and aggression and bloody wars with them. CHAPTER XXXIV. COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE SEVERAL TERRITORIES TO CANADA, AND CONCLUSION. Having passed in review the Hudson’s Bay and North-West Territories, in naturally distinct sections, we may now consider which, or how many of them we may require ; and in what ' degree they are respectively of value to us. First and chiefly, as generally admitted, and for reasons al- ready shown, we want the central prairie country on the Red River, Saskatchewan, Athabasca and Peace Rivers, as a favo- rable site for the immediate extension of settlement and recep- tion of European immioTation. We see that it much exceeds Canada in extent, that it has on an average as suitable a climate for agricultural occupation; while it greatly exceeds Canada in^ the proportion of arable land it contains ; much of which is of the richest quality known. The next in value to us, though very much inferior to the^ preceding, is that here described as the South Hudson’s Bay Territory, or that part of it, at least, up to the hne of latitude 52 ^ 30’ N. from a little above the mouth of the Albany River, on Hudson’s Bay, across to Lake Winnipeg. It is a habitable country, with much fertile arable land, admitting of the culti- vation of coarse grains hi the north, and, as we have seen, is as suitable, in some of the south parts of it, for the growth of wheat, as Lower Canada. We require it in connection with the preceding, because the southern part of it contains the best lines of communication with Red River, and which being chiefly by water, are the most advantageous for the heavy freight of the interior ; and also because through it w’^e can have a most direct and favorable line of railroad to Red River and the Pacific. Next, but in a lesser degree, the Pelly River or Mountain Country would be valuable to us ; chiefly as a defence. Were it in the hands of a power owning the seaboard, with strong- holds in commanding positions, at the eastern outlets of the passes through it, our central prairie country would be exposed to being, at any time, suddenly overrun. But with that three hundred and fifty miles in breadth of Alpine country occupied by our fur traders, with posts on all the leading passes, and “ cou- riers du bois ” and trappers scattered over it, in friendly com- munication with the natives, an enemy, without foothold, on attempting to pass, in such insignificant force as it w^ould under such circumstances be practicable to lead, would easily be^ detected and destroyed before having made much way ; or if by extraordinary fortune they did pass ruinoticed, the result to 156 small force as could so pass, would be as disastrous as Arnold’s attempt on Canada by the valley of the Chaudiere. The valleys of the Felly Fiver and Mountain Country will seenaingly admit of the cultivation of coarse grains, and cattle- feeding, throughout its whole extent, and it is a valuable fish and fur yielding country. East Main and the remainder of what is here designated as South Hudson’s Bay Territory, might be valuable to us for their seal fisheries and fur trade ; and the McKenzie Fiver country for its furs and minerals, and for the navigable highway to the most valuable of Arctic whale fisheries, which that river offers ; but these territories are of little value to us com- pared with the first three mentioned — all of which are habit- able countries, the first eminently so. As to the North Hudson’s Bay, or Barren Ground Territory, it seems to have no con- ceivable value. South Hudson’s Bay Territory and the Felly Fiver or Moun- tain Country, though unsuitable for occupation by our present standard of estimation, will undoubtedly become inhabited. Eu- ropean countries, not more suitable, are occupied by civilized and enhghtened nations, and have accpiired considerable po- litical and commercial importance. 157 CONCLUSION. Some Avill ar^aie lhat, in desiring to acquire the North-West Territory, we allow our ambition to override our judgment ; that the organizing ot it, and the maintenance of jurisdiction over it, aie a task beyond the ability of Canada ; that it is ab- surd to incur expense in the development of remote territories,, while we have already so much waste land, requiring the making of more roads than we are able to accomplish for the' opening of it, to say nothing of the canals and railroads nearer home, which all admit to be desirable for the prosperity of the^ coimtry. One might argue interminably in this manner, but there is a shorter and a surer way to a conclusion in this matter. We have* only to look south of us, and see what has been done by the* people there. W e see that they acquired territory after territory, in the face^ of obstacles that we have not to encounter. When they were far weaker than we are, instead of acquir-- ing territories in the easy way that we may do, they had to* light for them. They had to combat fierce and powerful tribes,, l)acked by the power of France ; but still they extended their frontier. When they entered on the career of national existence, they were but three millions ; but we are four. And then, in addi- tion to continual wars with the Indians, they had to fight with the mother country, once and again, in wars rumously expensive* to them. But that did not prevent their continuing to extend their jurisdiction over vast territories, which they acquired from European Powers, and had to fight for afterwards. They had indeed vast regions nearer home of unsettled lands,, requiring roads and other improvements to open them up, while we in fact have comparatively none of great value ; but instead of the extension of their dominion leading them to neglect improvements in their older states, the very reverse seems to be the case. Who will say that the acquisition and development of their western territories, which one after the other have grown into thriving and populous states, has retarded the prosperity to their older eastern states and cities ? On the contrary, we find them remarkable for their works and improvements ; and what is more, we find them enriched by their manufactures for the markets of the western territories, which they acquired and developed into powerful states, and that their chief seaports are swollen with the commerce arising from them. Now, we are not only greater than they were in population, but also exceed them in a much greater degree in wealth, and in the command of wealth unknown to them, in their begin- nings. W e have no Indian wars ; and instead of their expen- sive wars with the mother country, we enjoy her powerful protection and pecuniary assistance, and have the immense additional advantage of steam and railroads in our favor. With all these advantages, it is evidently preposterous to say, that it is beyond our power to do what they did, unless we adopt the plea that we are intrinsically so inferior to the people of the United States, in capacity, energy and patriotism, that with every advantage in our favor, and obstacles removed which they had to encounter, we have neither the courage nor ability to imitate their successful example. But some will say, what is the real good of aspiring to na- tional power and greatness ? The answer is a simple one. Men in general are what the institutions of their country made them. The security of these institutions depends on the power of the people to defend them. Civil liberty depends upon poli- tical independence, and that, it is needless to say, depends on the power to maintain it. Where would have been the civil liberty of England had she succumbed to the Armada, or the stability of her mstitutions had she been conquered by France under Napoleon ? The mother country has placed in our hands the national banner, and the institutions of which it is the symbol, under which she has attained her pre-eminent, moral and material greatness ; the standard of responsible constitutional govern- ment and law-abiding liberty ; and she expects us, with her assistance, and for our own good, to maintain it, and them, honorably, over these broad dominions of which she endows us with the inheritance. May there be no failure on our part through short-sighted unpatriotic pusillanimity. IV O T E S . Noth No. 1. — Ou the “ Value of our Timber Forests" page 112. Since this pamphlet was written the manufacture of sawed Lumber in Ca- nada has very much increased. On the Ottawa it has nearly doubled, having amounted in 18G9 to upwards of four hundred millions of feet board measure. Note No. 2. — On winter pasture on prairie lands, page 96. Some are at a loss to reconcile the coldness of Red River winters with the fact of horses finding food for themselves out of doors all winter. Their being able to do so arises from there being a heavy crop of rich grass and highly nutritious wild vetches on the ground. The shallow covering of snow that falls there admits of the animals getting easily at it and feeding abundantly in favorable localities, the snow they eat with it serving as water. Note. No. 3. — On Direct Railroad route to Red River, page 139. I was informed by that experienced explorer. Provincial Surveyor Salter, that on making an examination northward beyond the end of his line of survey near lat. 48 N., he entered the level clay country of the north, at about twenty- four miles north of his line of survey, and found the surface very gently un- dulating and covered with a fair growth of tall maple, birch and spruce trees — the upturned roots shewing a soil entirely free from stones. From an eminence, before entering it, there were no hills visible northward, as far as he could scan the horizon with his telescope ; and the change from the rugged sterile country, and poor growth of wood traversed by the exploring lines run by him and Mr. Sinclair nearly on the parallel of lat. 48 ® N., to the luxuriant woods of level country was very striking. This actual verification of the position and character of the level clay country of the north midway between the Montreal R, or west branch of the Ottawa, and Lake Superior is, so far, very important, confirming by connexion with definite survey, the fact that we have there a good country for a railway line and also for settlement. Note. No. 4. — Lake Nipigon, page 140. The geological survey of Lake Nipigon confirms and corrects the report of its great extent, given by Mr. Armstrong. The area of its surface is equal to two thirds of Lake Ontario. As far as known by the survey of its shore, about five hundred miles in circuit, nearly half of the land on it seems arable ; and the presence of trap rock indicates rich soil — adding much to the extent of land known to be fit for settlement on the proposed direct line of Railroad to Red River. A. J. R. w"'-'":'-'" ' V'*',. ' " ^ , , • ' ' ', . REPORT ON THE LINE OF ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE SUPEIUOK AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT of* Ifcoport; of* XSOS. In reporting as to the best means of opening a line of communication bet- ween Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, I beg to be permitted, in. the first place, to refer briefly to the operations of the Red River Expedition, tarried on for several years under my direction, as it will, I doubt not, be satis- factory to the Government to know that the suggestions which I have the honor to submit are not the expression of mere theoretical views, but the result of long-continued investigation, under ofiicial instructions from the Ca- nadian Government. The earlier Reports of the Expedition were printed by order of the Legisla- ture, but those sent in during the last year of its operations have never been published. The present Report will contain all that is believed te be of imme- diate importance in these documents ; that is, in regard to the subject under consideration. The following Maps are annexed for convenience of reference : — 1. A plan, on a scale of two miles to one inch, showing the country bet- ween Thunder Bay and Lac des Mille Lacs, Dog Lake, line of road, position of dam, &c. 2. A Plan of the Lake Region, on a scale of four miles to one inch, showing the country between the Height of Land and Fort Frances. 3. A plan on a scale of ten miles to one inch, showing the country between Fort Frances and Fort Garry. 4. A Map, in profile, showing the relative altitude of the Routes by Pigeon River and the Kaministiquia. Plan No. 3 might be lithographed at small cost, and I think it would be advisable to have it published, as it is the only correct one of the section which it exhibits. The Red River Expedition consisted at its outset of three distinct parties, receiving their instructions from three different Departments of Government. One of these was under my direction, one under Mr. Napier’s, while Mr. Gladman, a retired officer of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who had the guidance of the Expedition on the journey te Red River, had a separate party of his own. The parties thus organized set out in Juiy, 1857, and proceeding by the usual canoe route from Fort William, made numerous explorations, determined the 11 162 levels as they went, and eventually arrived at the Red River Settlement in the fall of the same year. Mr. Gladman, after a short stay, returned by the way he had come to Toronto, where his connection with the Expedition soon afterwards ceased, while Pro- fessor Hind, who, I should have mentioned, had been attached to the party as geologist, proceeded by way of the Red River over the prairies to St. Paul. My assistants at this time were Mr. Lindsay A. Russell, Mr. J. F. Gaudet, Mr. Alex. \V. Wells and Col. C. de Salaberry. The three first-named gentlemen were surveyors, all of whom are of high standing in their profession, while Col. de Salaberry acted chiefly as Commissary — an important office in a region where provisions were not always very abundant. The Winter of 1857-58 was chiefly occupied in exploring the country between the Lake of the Woods and Red River, a region at that time but little known, and reported to be impassable in summer, on account of swamps which were said to cover the greater portion of its area. At the same time, an instrumental survey was made, so as to connect Fort Garry with the survey made many years previously by the Boundary Commissioners, under the treaty of Ghent. This enabled us to establish with accuracy the longitude of Fort Garry, which, on the maps then in use, was set down as much as twenty-one minutes too far to the west. The party were also able, before the opening of navigation, to explore the Rosseau River and make an instrumental survey of the Red River and Lake Win- nipeg, between Fort Alexander, at the mouth of the Winnipeg River, and the Boundary Line at Pembina. Immediately after the opening of the navigation, having organized a party of half-breed Indians and procured canoes, we proceeded by way of the Manitoba and Winnepegoos Lakes to the great Saskatchewan River, and examined the rapids and impediments to the navigation between Lac Bourbon and Lake Winnipeg. The levels were determined with care, and the “ Track Survey ” which we had made of the Lake Coasts, as we proceeded, was corrected as often as possible by observations for latitude and longitude. Separating our party at the Mossy Portage, the name by which the path bet- ween Lake Winnipegoos and Lac Bourbon is called, I sent Mr. Wells to explore Lac Dauphin and survey the route by way of the Little Saskatchewan and Lake Winnipeg to the mouth of the Red River, appointing the 1st of July following to meet him at the settlement. Taking with me my assistants, Mr. Gaudet, and Mr. de Salaberry, and a few Indians, I ascended Swan River, crossed from thence to Fort Pelly, and descended by the Assiniboine to Fort Garry, having on this excursion obtained much in- formation as to the -soil and climate of a very extensive district, and made such observations as enabled us to delineate its geography with tolerable accuracy. Throughout the entire period during which our head quarters were at the Red River Settlement, a Meteorological Register was kept, regularly, under the supervision of Mr. Russell, and it has since been of considerable value, as, taken in connection with some reliable observations made by others, it has served not a little to dispel the absurd ideas which at one time prevailed in regard to the severity of the climate and the duration of the winters. On the 4th of July, 1858, our party was once more assembled at the Red River Settlement, and having with some difficulty procured supplies, we set out, with all possible dispatch, for a more thorough exploration of the country between Rainy Lake and Lake Superior. Among the instructions received from the Government at this time were the following : — “ Secretary’s Office, “ Toronto, 16th April, 1858. “ Sir, — A dverting to the last paragraph in my letter to you this day, I have the honor to inform you, that it is not thought necessary to make any alterations 163 in the instructions for your future operations, contained in the Order in Council of 29th January last. “ You will therefore consider these instructions, so far as your exploration.^ are concerned, still in force. « I am to add, however, that if time allows it, your will endeavor to survey the road between Gun Flint Lake and Pointe de Meuron, and when returning from the North-West Corner ot the Lake of the Woods and passing through Rainy Lake, make occasional traverses when practicable, with a view to ascer- tain the extent of arable land in that locality. “ I am further to state that His Excellency, having every confidence in your Judgment, does not think it right to trammel your movements by detailed instructions, and that you are therefore at liberty to make any other explora- tions in addition to those particularly mentioned in the instructions already conveyed to you, should you, upon the information obtained in the locality, deem it desirable you should do so. , “I have the honor to be. Sir, “ Your obedient servant, (Signed,) “ T. J. J. Loranger, “ Secretary S. J. Dawson, Esq., “ Civil Engineer in command, “ of the Red River Expedition.” From that time forward, for the remainder of the season, and during the winter •of 1858-59, our explorations were confined chiefly, I may say exclusively, to the country between Rainy Lake and Lake Superior. Two well appointed par- ties were kept constantly at work, and semetimes three. Instrumental surveys were carried from Lake Superior, westward, through Dog Lake, Dog River, Lac des Mille Lacs and the Seine, to within a short distance of Rainy Lake. The levels were taken from Jourdain’s Rapid to Dog Lake, and from that Lake across, by the line laid out as a road, to Lake Superior. In the spring of 1859, having learned that a party fitted out by the people of Red River, who at that time took a great deal of interest in promoting the de- velopment of the country, had been baffled in an attempt to take horses through to the Lake of the Woods, had in fact got bewildered in swamps, from which they had experienced much difflculty in extricating themselves, and as the im- pressions as to that section ot the country being impracticable for roads was thus gaining confirmation, I hastened to the Lake of the Woods, with the most u-ctive of my assistants, and proceeding to its western extremity had the good fortune to secure the services of an Indian Chief, who undertook to show us ground on which the country could be crossed. Leaving my assistants to find their way across with the Chief, I proceeded by way of the Winnipeg to Red River Settlement, where I had not long to wait for their arrival. They reported that the Chief had led them to a gravelly ridge which extended, with but few breaks, for a long distance across the most «wampy parts of the country, and that the remains of Indian encampments •showed that it had been much used as a pathway, in times long past. A number of men were immediately engaged in the Settlement, and sent to open the line which had been traced, in such a way as to render it passable for horses ; and over this line our party rode clear through to the Lake of the Woods on horseback. The line thus opened was used afterwards as a Post road for the conveyance of Mails on horseback, and it requires but slight knowledge of engineering to understand that ground, over which horses can be ridden, is not so swampy as to be impracticable for roads. Returning again to Rainy Lake, we made a more thorough examination of the Lakes, by the old canoe route, than we had previously had an opportunity of doing, and the result led me to the conclusion that, considering the long reaches 164 of navigable water on that route, il could be rendered available, in the first in- stance, to greater advantage and at less outlay than the line by the ikjine, which had been examined and reported on the previous year. Arriving at Lake Superior, I was joined by my assistant, Mr. Wells, who had spent the whole summer in examining the country about the Height of Land and Lac des Mille Lacs. The fall being now far advanced, the parties were gradually withdrawn, such of them as we had left at the Lake of the Woods returning only in the beginning of November. To sum up, the explorations and surveys were thus continued, uninterrupt- edly, for three summers and two winters. There were generally three well- appointed parties simultaneously at work, in different sections, and, whether at Lake Superior or the Lake of the Woods — the one a swampy and the other a hilly region — they always availed themselves of the aid of the natives, whose occupation of hunting, pursued from youth to age, within particular areas, rendered their local knowledge of the greatest value. A considerable period of time has now elapsed since the operations of the Red River expedition were brought to a close, and since that time there has been no further exploration whatever in the country between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, so that such of our preliminary Reports as have been published are the only sources of information generally available. Having thus briefly alluded to the surveys and explorations made by me, or under my direction, I proceed to describe the different sections of the country in detail, pointing out, as concisely as possible, the works and improvements required, and the reasons for adopting particular lines of route or starting points. For the sake of convenience, in description, the country between Lake Su- perior and the Red River Settlement may properly be regarded as forming four divisions. The first, embracing the region to the east of the water-shed, or Height of Land, will be referred to as the “ Lake Superior Section.” The next, extending from the Height of Land to Fort Frances, I propose to designate as the “ Lake Region.” The navigable reach, extending from Fort Frances to the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, will be called the “ Lake of the Woods Divi- sion. While that between the north-west angle and the Red River Settlement may not inappropriately be known as the “ Fort Garry Section.” LAKE SUPERIOR SECTION. The country between the Boundary Line, at Pigeon River, and the head or eastern end of Thunder Bay, was carefully examined with the view of finding a practical route from Lake Superior to some one of the water systems leading Jrom the Height of Land, westward, to Rainy Lake. On all the routes, proposed or suggested, I had at various times during the progress of the expedition, reported to the Government, so that, here, I need only state the leading advantages or objections which attach, respectively, to each. TUB PIGBOK KIVBR ROUTB. The nature of this route, and the objections to it, will be found pretty fully stated in my preliminary reports, printed by order of the Legislature — Pagss 7 and 27. 165 The Ktarting point is entirely within the United States territory, and, for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, the canoe route forms the Boundary Line. But this is far from being the only objection. The ascent from Lake Superior is very rapid and steep, and at the Height of Land, and far to the westward thereof, the route leads over a very high and broken region. The lakes at the summit of the water-shed are 1,058 feet above the level of Lake Superior, and, even at that elevation, are embosomed in rocky hills which rise to the height of several hundreds of feet around them. Moreover, the supply of water is so inadequate as to forbid the idea of improving the navigation, and there is no source from whence a supply can be obtained. The route itself is at the summit of supply, and touches in its course on the head waters of no less than four different rivers. Between Pigeon River and the Kaministiquia, there are several good harbours on the coast, but from these access to the interior would be exceedingly difficult, and could only be provided at enormous outlay. It was at one time suggested that a practical line might be found by which to cross the country from Pointe de Meuron, so as to join the Pigeon River Route, to the westward of the Height of Land. This point I was instructed to investigate, and accordingly despatched Mr. L. A. Russell, with a well-appointed party, to explore in the direction which had been indicated. He ran a line from Pointe de Meuron to Gun Flint Lake, a distance of some fifty-four miles, and exa- mined the ground on either side thereof, but his report and field notes show that the country which he traversed was too rough and impracticable to admit of an available line of communication. In concluding my notice of this route, I may say that, for a distance of one hundred and thirty miles from Lake Superior, westward, it cannot be made in any way available as a line of water communication, except for small canoes ; that the country being for a great part of the distance rugged, mountainous and cut up with lakes, it is next to impracticable for roads, and, finally, that there being a much better route to the eastward, entirely within British territory, there would be no object in attempting to open this line, or spending further sums in its exploration. KAMINISTIQUIA ROUTB. This is the old canoe route of the North-West and Hudson’s Bay Companies. On this line the supply of water is ample, and the elevation of the country at the summit of the water-shed less, by some two hundred teet, than on the Pigeon River Route, while it is at the same time, that is, at the turn of the water-shed, comparatively level and practicable for roads. Dog Lake, a large sheet of water on the Kaministiquia, twenty-four miles inland from Lake Superior, extends for a distance of some tw’enty miles in a direction nearly parallel to the western coast of Thunder Bay. To the westward of this lake, the principal stream which supplies it with water — Dog River — can be made navigable nearly to the Height of Land (and it will be so when a dam now in progress of construction is completed), so that, between river and lake, an available reach of some thirty- five miles could be commanded. It became, therefore, a matter of importance to find access to this navigable reach, and with this end in view, the levels ot the Kaministiquia were determined, and the country between Dog Lake and Lake Superior explored. Dog Lake was found to be at an elevation of 718 feet above the level of Lake Superior, and the intervening country proved to be extremely mountainous and rough, while the difficulties by water were of a still more formidable character. The Kaministiquia, after leaving Dog Lake, runs nearly south to its con- fluence with Fish River, then eastwardly to Pointe de Meuron, and thence north-east to its discharge, making a sweep of sixty miles before it reaches Lake 166 Superior ; and as it has in that distance to get down a declivity of 718 feet, its character, in regard to its capacity for navigation, may be easily imagined. It affords, however, an available, although a difficult route for canoes ; but, for large craft, it could only be made navigable at an outlay which no circumstances likely to arise would warrant. A land road to Dog Lake, therefore, became indispensable, and, after much careful investigation and exploration, an available pass was found and a line laid out, and on this line during the past summer a fair commencement was made, and six miles of road, reckoning from Thunder Bay, completed. The starting point is at a place called the Depot, on Thunder Bay, about three miles to the eastward of the mouth of the Kaministiquia, and at this point there is, in my opinion, every facility for constructing wharves and forming a perfectly safe harbour. The Kaministiquia, itself, has been strongly recommended as a harbour, but^ in its present state, it is inaccessible to vessels drawing more than five and a half feet of water, on account of a bar or shoal of great extent at its mouth. Its adoption would involve the dredging of a channel, and the construction of ex- tensive piers or walls of heavy crib work, on either side thereof, to prevent it from being filled up by the action of the ice which, at certain seasons, ploughs over the bar. Another consideration, which should not be lost sight of, is that the causes which produced the shoal are still in operation. Quantities of sedinient are brought down with every freshet, more especially in the spring, and the dredging would have to be repeated at intervals to keep the channel, once formed, open. Everything considered, therefore, I would not for the present recommend the Government to undertake the dredging of the Kaministiquia, and the construc- tion of extensive works to keep the channel so formed from filling up. The first great object is to open the communication with Fort Garry ; and, when that is accomplished, there will be no lack of means, from private sources, or of en- terprise, to render the Kaministiquia an accessible harbour. In the meantime^ it might seriously affect the enterprise if large sums were to be expended at its very outset on merely local ^oorks, Fort William is, however, even at present, accessible to the smaller class ot schooners or fishing vessels which navigate Lake Superior. It is, besides, a place ot importance as being the centre of such trade as is carried on, and it will gradually become of increased consequence, as the mines in the vicinity are developed, and the fertile portion of the valley of the Kaministiquia fills up with settlement. For these reasons, it is expedient to connect it by a branch line with the Dog Lake Road, as shown on the accompanying plan, and for thia purpose I have included a sum of seven thousand dollars ($7,000) in the esti- mate, which I have now the honor to submit. Before concluding this subject, I would call attention to the fact that many persons who take a deep interest in that part of the country are under the im- pression that by going up the Kaministiquia to Pointe de Meuron, or as far as the navigable water extends — a distance of some ten or twelve miles — the length of land road, which would then be required to reach Dog Lake, would be by so much shortened. But this is a mistake. Pointe de Meuron is, in an air line, somewhat further than either Fort William or the Depot from Dog Lake, and there would, consequently, be no object in taking cargoes up a narrow channel to a point which brought them no nearer to their destination. The branch line should, therefore, start from Fort William and not from Pointe de Meuron. From the former place the Dog Lake Road can be reached in six or seven miles, while, from the latter, ten at least would be required, with corres- ponding increase in the outlay. A glance at the map will show clearly what I have endeavored to explain. It has been objected to the Depot as a starting point, that it is shelterless, and that the ice will tear away any wharves that can be built. 167 Now, on reference to tlic map, it will be seen that Thumder Bay is itself a har- bour, althoiijxh of somewhat large dimensions, completely land-locked and shel- tered from every wind ; any swell therefore, which can be felt must arise within the Bay itself. The huge surges of Lake Superior do not roll into it at all, and it may be regarded for all practical purposes, in relation to the subject under consideration, as an inland lake. Looking upon it in this light, the starting point at the Depot is in a Bay of moderate depth, completely sheltered from the prevailing winds, which are westerly. A glance at the map will show that it is safe from winds blowing from the west, south-west, north and north-west ; and I may add that a wind blowing from a direction fifteen or twenty points to the east of north, would not affect it. East, or south-easterly winds, alone, would blow in upon the harbour, but the extent of their sweep would be limited to the width of Thunde^, Bay, and the surge which could arise in that distance may easily be guarded against. That the swell has no great effect in Thunder Bay, at any time, is demonstrated by the fact, that the trees grow clear down almost to the level of the water, indeed, in some places, dipping their branches into it ; whereas, in exposed parts of Lake Superior, the wave-lashed shores are de- stitute of vegetation. It has been said, moreover, that the ice would carry wharves away, and, as convincing proof of this, a boulder was pointed out to me which had been shoved ashore by the ice. I merely notice this to show the sort of arguments which have been advanced to disparage Thunder Bay and promote the Kami- nistiquia. If wharves cannot stand in the tranquil waters of a land-locked bay they can stand nowhere, and those who object to them in Thunder Bay, on the score of ice, can have had but little experience of such a river as the St. Law- rence, where wharves are built to resist ice rushing against them in immense fields, with the full force of the spring floods, as is the case at Three Rivers when Lake St. Peter is breaking up. Among the advantages which the Depot at Thunder Bay possess, may be men- tioned the facility of approach or departure to sailing vessels, as they would have ample sea-room to beat in or out, which they could not have in a narrow river like the Kaministiquia, with a shoal at its mouth extending a full mile from the coast ; and a very important point to be considered is that Thunder Bay, as compared to the Kaministiquia, opens earlier in the spring and remains open later in the fall. As an instance of this, it may be remarked that, in the fall of 1866, when the steamer Algoma made her last trip, the Kaministiquia is said to have been frozen over, and that so strongly that the people of Fort Wil. liam were skating on the ice. From the Depot, eastward along the shore of Thunder Bay, the ground for a distance of several miles is practicable for a road, and there are facilities for the construction of wharves, in various places, more especially at a point a little to the eastward of Current River, where there is a small natural harbour, which, by means of piers, might be sufficiently extended. It was at one time believed that the upper or eastern end of Thunder Bay, affording as it does an excellent natural harbor, would have been a favorable point from which to run a line of road to Dog Lake, but a cai-eful examination showed such a line to be impracticable, within any reasonable limit of expen- diture, on account of the rugged nature of the country over which it would have had to pass. Moreover, to have adopted the head of the bay would have increased the distance to be navigated by some forty miles, that is, including the addition both in Dog Lake and the bay. Referring again to the locality which has been chosen as the starting point at Thunder Bay, it is admirably adopted for the construction of wharves. The water deepens uniformly and gradually from the shore, until, at a distance of five hundred feet, it has a depth of three fathoms and a half. Timber suit- able for the work is very abundant on the Kaministiquia, whence it could be easily floaded down, and on various parts of the shores there is abundance of 168 loose stone for filling the piers, and the fixed rock, close at hand, is of a nature to be easily blasted. At present, it is proposed merely to sink an isolated pier or breakwater, at which vessels can discharge their loads, doing in fact no more than is necessary to facilitate the landing of material and supplies for the works, leaving it to a future consideration whether the wharves shall be extended at the public cost, or left to private enterprise (See Mr. Dawson's Report of \st of May, 1869, page 171, de- scribing the route as finally adopted and opened by Lake Sheband- owan.) THE INDIAN ELEMENT. In opening the communication to Bed River, the country will be brought, to some extent, into contact with the Indians, who have their hunting grounds on the line of route. Hitherto, Canada has been fortunate in dealing with the Indian element ; and, in the present case, I see no reason for anticipating greater difficulty than has arisen in the past. The only localities where the Indians are at all numerous, are at the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River, but the entire population does not greatly exceed three thousand. They can, however, collect in summer in larger numbers than Indians usually do, from the fact that they have abundance of food. This is afforded by the wild rice of the country which they collect, and by the fish which literally swarm in the lakes and rivers ; some industry practised on their own part, too, in raising Indian corn, serves to supply them to a small extent. I have seen as many as five or six hundred of them collected at one time, at the rapids on Rainy River, engaged in catching sturgeon, the flesh of which they preserve by drying it like Pemican and then pounding it up and putting it, with a due mixture of oil, into bags made of sturgeon’s skin. They have a rude sort of Government, and the regulations made by their Chiefs are observed, it is said, better than laws usually are where there are no great means of enforcing them. They are very intelligent, and are extremely jealous as to their right of soil and authority over the country which they occupy. When the Red River Expedition first came in contact with them, they mani- fested some displeasure, and were not slow to express it, at parties being sent through their country, to explore and examine it, without their consent being first asked and obtained. On becoming better acquainted with them, we found it to our advantage to keep up a little friendly intercourse with the Chiefs, cal- ling upon them as we passed, and interchanging a few presents of no great value. When we had adopted this course, all difficulties vanished, and, ere the explorations were brought to a close, they manifested and expressed an earnest wish to see the communication opened. The chief danger which could arise of coming into unfriendly relations with the Indians, would be from having largo parties of workmen in the vicinity of their encampments. Now, this is a contingency not likely to arise, from the fact that where the Indians are numerous the navigation is unimpeded and but little work required ; but, as a rule, extreme prudence will always have to bo observed by the officers in charge of men to keep them from coming in contact with the Indians. These Indians are all heathens, and never seem to have been in the slightest degree impressed by the Missionaries who have attempted their conversion. They are, however, very pious in their own way, and much of their time seems 169 to be occnpicci in religious obserrances, which have their manifestations in long fhsts and nights of watching, when they pretend to hold familiar intercourse with Spirits, whose presence, in the secret recesses of their lodges, is indicated by drum-beating, chanting, incantations and many unearthly noises besides. At stated intervals, the greatest and most solemn ceremony of the tribe, the Mys- tical Feast of the White Dog, is held at Fort Frances, and, at such times, the gravity and terrible earnestness of their demeanor would do no discredit to more civilized congregations. In appearance these Indians are tall and well formed, and in bearing independent ; sometimes, even a little saucy, but in their intercourse with strangers they are hospitable niid hind. Their morality is said to be of a high order, as compared to that of the Indians of the Plains. They are, in general, keen traders, and seem to know the value of what they get and give, as well as any people in the world. Some of those who assemble at Rainy River for the sturgeon fishing, in summer, come from Red Lake, in the neighboring State of Minnesota, where they possess hunting grounds ; and, among these latter, are some who have being parties to treaties with the United States for relinquishing certain tracts for settlement, for which they are now in receipt of annual payments. The experience they have thus gained has rendered them expert diplomatists, as compared to Indians who have never had such advantages, and they have not failed to impress on their kindred and tribe, on Rainy River, the value of the lands which they hold on the line of route to Red River. Any one who, in negociating with these Indians, should suppose he had mere children to deal with, would find himself mistaken. In their manner of expres- sing themselves, indeed, they make use of a great deal of allegory, and their illustrations may at time appear childish enough, but, in their actual dealings, they are shrewd and sufficiently awake to their own interests, and, if the matter should be one of importance, affecting the general interests of the tribe, they neither reply to a proposition, nor make one themselves, until it is fully discussed and deliberated upon in Council of all the Chiefs. The Chiefs are fond of asking any travellers whom they believe to be of im~ portance, to attend a Grand Council, as it aftords them an opportunity of making speeches, which are meant quite as much to swell their importance in the eyes of their own people as to impress the stranger ; and with their people these meetings are popular, as it affords them an excuse for making a holiday, and coming out in all the varieties of colour which paint, unsparingly applied, can produce. At these gatherings it is necessary to observe extreme caution in what is said, as, although they have no means of writing, there are always those present who are charged to keep every word in mind. As an instance of the manner in which records are in this way kept, without writing, I may mention, on one occasion, at Fort Frances, the principal Chief of the tribe commenced an oration by re- peating, almost verbatim, what I had said to him tw^o years previously. All this goes to show a certain stability of character, and a degree of impor- tance attached to what they say, on such occasions, themselves, as well as to what they hear from others. The word of the Chiefs once passed, too, seems to be quite reliable, and this augurs well for the observance of any treaty that may be made with them. For my own part, I should have the fullest reliance as to these Indians ob- serving a treaty and adhering most strictly to all its provisions, if, in the first place, it where concluded after full discussion, and after all its provisions xoere thoroughly understood by the Indians, and if, in the next, it were never infringed upon by the whites, who are generally the fir.^t to break through Indian treaties. 170 THE TREATY. Prom what I have said, I trust it will be seen that some sort of a treaty should be arrived at with the Indians. They are, as I have stated, desirous of seeing the communication opened, believing that it will conduce to their advan- tage, and I think a treaty with them should, in the first instance, be confined to this one point, namely, right op way. This they expressed their willingness to accord many years ago, but the question of relinquishing land for settlement was always taken by them en delibere. In this latter respect, what they are afraid of is, that settlers would interfere with the fisheries, from which they de- rive their chief means of subsistence, and I think it would, in the first instance, be imprudent to introduce settlement in the particular section which they oc- cupy. The first great point is to get communication opened, and the first treaty should be confined, as I have said, simply to right of way. By combining it with the land question, surveys of townships for settlement, reserves for the Indians, and so forth, complications might arise which would prove embar- rassing. There is but one point more, in relation to this subject, to which I would in- vite attention ; it is the necessity of adopting the most rigorous and strict mea- sures to prevent the conveyance of ardent liquors to the Indian country. This the officer in charge of the works can easily see to, if he is armed with the proper authority. There is no likelihood of any of the employes of the works taking spirits, in any quantity, with them, unless contractors are employed ; but there are private traders who would follow in their wake, and would not be slow to bring liquor, if through it they could drive a trade for furs ; and such persons should, if they made the attempt, be at once arrested. The Indians at Kainy River and the Lake of the Woods are, as a general rule, in happy ignorance of what ardent liquor is. On the American side, the pe- nalties against its introduction are so severe that it rarely makes its appear- ance, while on the British side its use is prohibited by the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany. To these fortunate circumstances, I believe, are due the well-being and orderly demeanor of the Indians, and the rapid increase in the population which, in this section, is, in contrast to the general rule, said to be taking place. The precautions which I have recommended will appear not to be unneces- sary, when it is considered that these Indians, notwithstanding their many good qualities, are still but savages ; that they, in common with all the untutored tribes of their race, are keen to resent an injury, real or supposed ; that a quarrel with one prominent individual would be a quarrel with the tribe, and that the sole arbiters of a dispute with them are the scalping knife and tomahawk, to the use of which they are well practised in their unceasing wars with the Sioux ; and when, along with all this, it is considered that they can muster five hun- dred fighting men, accustomed to the woods, the rivers, and every defile in the country, the expediency as well as the justice of keeping from them that first prolific source of Indian quarrels and Indian demoralization, “ Fire Water,” will be apparent. I have only further to say, that, with ordinary prudence, there need be no risk of getting into difficulty with the Indians. They will extend a warm wel- come, in the first instance, to the parties sent in by the Government, and it will be for the latter to see that nothing occurs to interrupt a continuance of friendly intercourse. (See Notices of Indians, in my printed Report, pages 14 et 26.) Respectfully submitted, S. J. Dawson. REPORT Of 1st May, 1860. ON THE LINE OF ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. EXPLOEATION OF 1869. My report of last year contained a brief description of the country between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, with an estimate of the cost of opening the communication in such a manner as I believed would involve the least possible outlay, while it would, at the same time, have the effect of attracting the trade of the North-West Territories to Canada, and serve as a preliminary step to works of a more comprehensive character in the future. I have now the honor to report on the operations of last summer, undertaken and carried on under the direction of the Department of Public Works, with the view of ascertaining whether an improvement might not be made in the Eastern section of the route, by deviating from the projected Dog Lake road and adopt- ing the West instead of the North branch of the Kaministiquia, as the basis of a line which should embrace all the navigable water which could be rendered available. It was known, from the reports of the Red River Expedition, that a series of large lakes existed at the source of this branch and it appeared probable that the navigable water which they afforded might admit of being utilised as a link in the line of communication ; and as their value in this respect depended, in the first place, on their level relative to each other and to the lakes on the opposite side of the water-shed, and, in the next, on the practicability of rendering them accessible from Lake Superior, the first step taken was to determine the levels and the next to look for ground practicable for a road through the broken and mountainous region which lies between them and Thunder Bay. In describing the result of these operations, I would invite notice to the maps which are hereunto annexed for convenience of reference. These are : 1 . A plan on a scale of two miles to one inch, exhibiting the position of the lakes at the summit of the water-shed and the deviation from the Dog Lake road. 2. A map on a scale of ten miles to one inch, shewing the entire route be- tween Thunder Bay and the Red River Settlement. 3. A map on a scale of twelve miles to one inch, shewing the relative position 172 and length of the Canadian and United States routes to the Red Rirer Settle- ment. 4. A plan, in profile, shewing the relative altitude of the lakes between Lake Superior and Fort Frances on the line of route. 5. A plan, in profile, shewing the routes by Pigeon River and Riviere la Seine. On reference to plan No. 1, it will be seen that at the head of the Matawin, or West branch of the Kaministiquia, there are two large lakes named, respect- ively, Shebandowan and Kashaboiwe. These are on the Eastern slope, and im- mediately opposite to them, on the West side, is the large basin of Lac des Mille Lacs, which sends its waters to Rainy Lake. The distance between Kashaboiwe Lac and Lake des Mille Lacs is one mile and sixty chains, including an intervening lakelet or pond. This pond is distant from Lac des Mille Lacs 50 chains and on a higher level by 14 13-100 feet. Be- tween the two runs a gully, the highest point in which is 25 feet over the level of Lac des Mille Lacs and 10 87-100 feet higher than the pond. This is the lowest pass existing between the waters flowing Westward to Rainy Lake and those running Eastward to Lake Superior. That is, between the boundary line and Nipigon Bay. The pond just referred to is the source of the Matawin, and it sends its waters by a small rivulet, making a descent of 4 99-100 feet in a distance of 9 chains to Kashaboiwe Lake, which latter is 9 14-100 feet above the level of Lac des Mille Lacs. The stream by which Kashaboiwe Lake discharges its waters is of considerable volume, and descends 29 33-100 feet in its course of 70 chains to Shebandowan Lake, making the latter 20 19-100 feet below the level of Lac des Mille Lacs. Forty miles Westward of the pass above referred to, that is, by way of the Baril and Windegoostegon Lakes, the water level at the head of the French Por- tage is 55 feet below that of Lac des Mille Lacs. Such diflferences of level are not very formidable, and might in this case be easily overcome, as will be explained further on. In the meantime, I may remark, that these Lakes differ so little in level as to afford the means of ob- taining, at a moderate outlay, seventy miles of unbroken navigation, through the high region which separates the two great river systems of the Winnipeg and St. Lawrence, and that not by narrow and tortuous channels, but through Lakes affording ample room for navigation. This navigable section might be extended and rendered continuous to the Westward, by means of lock and dam. Its Eastern extremity would be within forty miles of the Dep&t at Thunder Bay, with which point it can be connected by a land road for the present and a Rail Road in the future. The pass, as stated, is the lowest which can exist on the British side, as determined by the explora- tions, and yet these waters are at an elevation of 839 feet over the level of Lake Superior, or 1,479 feet higher than the surface of the sea. It is a matter of no small importance to have such an extent of navigation in the highest part of the route to Red River, and in a region very difficult for roads. In regard to the country intervening between these waters and Thunder Bay, it is rough and mountainous ; but, with the aid of the Indians, who have their hunting grounds in that region, after a good deal of exploration, a line prac- ticable for a road was discovered. The different routes examined may be briefly noticed as follows : — On the recommendation of the Indians, a line was first run from the 18th mile of the Dog Lake Road quite through to the Shebandowan Lake. This line crosses the North branch of the Kaministiquia, about two miles and a half above the mouth of the Matawin, and from thence winds to the West- ward among the high table lands and mountains to the North of the latter stream. The Indians professed to have followed the best ground, and no doubt 173 (iid 80 , but thti routo, althougU not absolutely impracticable, was found to be Tcry rough. Another line was then laid out, from the eighth mile of the Dog Lake Road to the mouth of the Matawin, and the valley of that river itself adopted from thence to the Shebandowan Lake. It was found to be a great improvement on the first, but the route by the Kaministiquia had been recommended, and before coming to any conclusion it also was examined. Taking as a starting point, lot. 18, in the first concession of Nee-bing, a line was run to Island Portage on the Kaministiquia, with the view of continuing it on a North-West course to the valley of the Matawin. It came, however, upon very rugged and mountainous ground on the borders of the Kaministiquia, and had to be abandoned, notwithstanding that no serious difiiculty was encountered in the first ten miles of its course. In view, therefore, of all the circumstances, the line which has been adopted as the best is that already referred to as leaving the Dog Lake line at the eighth mile, striking from thence to the mouth of the Matawin and following the valley of that river to the Shebandowan Lake, or rather to the first chute below it, where it is proposed to construct a dam. In further reference to the waters of the summit region, Shebandowan Lake on the Eastern side of the water-shed and Lac des Mille Lacs on the West, are both fed by the drainage of areas sufficiently extensive to afford a supply of water for a canal, but Kashaboiwe Lake, which intervenes between then, is on a higher level, being 9 14-100 feet over Lac des Milles Lacs and 29 33-100, above Shebandowan Lake, and it is doubtful if it could afford a supply for a canal both ways. It is quite practicable, however, to bring either Lac des Mille Lacs or She- bandowan Lake, or both of them, to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake, but there would be an evident advantage in raising Shebandowan Lake and making it the summit level and source of supply, as a considerable amount of lockage would thereby be saved and the road from Lake Superior would at once strike the highest water level on the whole route. If, on the other hand, Lac des Mille Lacs were raised to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake and made the source of supply, there would be an ascent of 30 feet from Shebandowan Lake, which would have to be overcome by locks. It is possible, as stated, to raise both Shebandowan Lake and Lac des Mille Lacs to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake, and if this were done and a cut made through the dividing ridge, there would be a canal without locks extending across the summit of the water-shed. The raising of Lac des Mille Lacs, however, would not eventually save lock- age, and although the level is in its favor, as compared to Shebandowan Lake, it is doubtful if it could be more economically brought to the necessary height. On some parts of its Western coast the country is low and the height and na- ture of the dividing ground between its waters and the streams running off from its borders, on that side, would require to be ascertained before attempting to raise it beyond the extent of three or four feet, which, in any case, will be ne- cessary, in order to give a sufficiency of water in the direction of Baril Lake and the French Portage, and so small a difference would be unattended with any risk of sending the water in other directions. As regards Shebandowan Lake, the country around it is moderately high, and it receives the drainage of a considerable area on either side, so that, in all pro- bability, its surface could be raised to the necessary level by damming its pre- sent outlet only. It will occur, however, that Kashaboiwe Lake, which is already on the high- est level, might be so arranged as to afford a supply of water for a canal both ways. It has a surface area of about eight square miles and it receives the drainage of a considerable tract on both sides, besides which there are lakes on its tributary streams, which could be converted into reservoirs to afford a supply in periods of extreme drought. But, even if the supply were so ample as to 174 preclude all doubt as to its sufficiency, there would be nothing gained by adopt- ing Kashaboiwe Lake, for both Lacs des Mille Lacs and Shebandowan can bo raised to its level at less outlay than would be involve^ in connecting the latter with it by means of locks. A dam which should raise the surface level of Hhebandowan Lake to the extent of 30 feet over what it is at present, would be equivalent to 30 feet of lockage and would be far less costly. In respect to the Summit Pond, it may be regarded, to all practical purposes, as a part of Kashaboiwe Lake, for it can, at small outlay, be reduced to the same level and still have a sufficient depth of water. The dividing ridge is, as stated, 50 chains in width and 25 feet over Lac des Mille Lacs at its highest part ; through the ridge runs a gully which, apparently, is filled with boulders and fragments of rock, and it could be easily excayated to a sufficient depth. Such, in a brief view, is the route by the Matawin or West branch of the Kaministiquia. As compared to the Dog Lake route its principal advantages are, first, that the navigable waters of the summit plateau can be reached in an unbroken line of road from Lake Superior ; whereas, by the Dog Lake line, the land carriage would be in two sections, one of twenty-five miles from Lake Superior to Dog Lake, and another of ten or twelve miles across the Height of Land. In the next place, the navigation of the upper waters of Dog Kiver and the Savanne would be tedious, on account of the narrowness and tortuosity of the channels, whereas, by the Western route, once the Lakes were attained, there would be ample room for navigation ; and, lastly, by adopting the Shebandowan line, a saving in distance of about twenty miles will be effected, as will at once appear on reference to the plan. Both routes are practicable, and the Dog Lake line would be attended with the least outlay in the first instance, but would be more expensive to keep in operation, on account of the difficulties of the navigation, the additional trans- shipment, and the long land carriage, in such an isolated situation as the height of land on that route. By adopting the West, instead of the North branch of the Kaministiquia, there will be no change in the starting point, and as the divergence occurs beyond the point to which the work on the Dog Lake road has, as yet, reached, the outlay so far made, on that line, will not be lost, and some timber prepared for a dam at Dog Lake can be floated down and used in the construction of a bridge over the Kaministiquia. Apart from the deviation proposed in the Eastern section, as above set forth, I believe the scheme suggested in my report of last year embodies the principle which should be adopted in opening the communication, as a first step towards works of a more extensive character, in the future. I would remark, however, that the information which has been obtained since that report was written, as to the Traffic likely to arise, would seem to warrant additional expenditure over what was then proposed, so as to diminish the number of transhipments, and this can be done without greatly increasing the outlay. Before proceeding to details, however, I would invite attention, for a moment, to the more striking features of the country which has to be traversed. THE COUNTRY BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. Between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, the face of the country, as a gen- •cral rule, is rugged and cut up with Lakes. The summit of the water-shed or 175 dividing ridge, is quite near Lake Superior, being forty-five miles distant at Pigeon River, and, measuring in a direct North-East course to the source of the Kaininistiquia, about seventy at the bottom of Thunder Bay. The passes in the dividing region vary in height from 840 feet to 1,100 feet above the level of Lake Superior — that is bv following the water courses, but the general elevation of the country is considerably higher. As may be supposed, the streams running down trom such a height, in so short a distance, have a very rapid course, and, as a consequence, could only be rendered navigable at an ex- penditure which, whatever the future may require, is quite out of the question for the present. Proceeding from the head of the water-shed to the Westward, the descent is much more gradual, the difference of level between Lac des Mille Lacs, which is close to the summit, and the Western extremity of the Lake of the Woods, being only 4^50 feet in a distance of 300 miles. Between the height of land and Rainy Lake, the lake, are so numerous and so large, that it would be difficult “ to say whether land or water predominates. The lakes, however, afford the means of making a very good water communication, at a moderate outlay. From Fort Frances, at the foot of Rainy Lake, to the North-West angle of the Lake of the Woods, the navigation is uninterrupted save by two little rapids, easily overcome. From the Lake of the Woods Westwards to Fort Garry, the country is low and level, but although swampy, quite practicable for a road by a line which has been explored and on which a good deal of work has been already done in the Western section. There is thus, between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, a coun- try presenting very different characteristics in different sections. First, a rugged and broken region, extending from Lake Superior to the summit of the watershed, in which the rivers are not navigable and the ground is difficult for roads. Next, a country extending Westward from the water-shed, still very rough and broken, but intersected in every direction by deep lakes, which occupy a very considerable portion of its area, and which, on one of the lines ex- plored, can easily be connected so as to render the navigation through it uninterrupted. This section ends at Fort Frances, where there is a complete and sudden change in the character of the country, and from this point the navigation be- comes continuous to the North-West angle of the Lake of the Woods. From the latter point to Fort Garry the distance is 90 miles over ground which the explorations have proved to be practicable for a road. The entire distance between Fort William and Fort Garry, by the route which it is proposed to open, is 441 miles, as follows : From Lake Superior to the navigable waters of the Summit region . . 40 miles. From the terminus of the Lake Superior Road to the North-West angle of the Lake of the Woods 311 miles. North-West angle to Fort Garry 90 miles. 441 miles. OPENING OF THE COMMUNICATION. The scheme proposed has for its ultimate object, a railroad from Lake Su. perior to the navigable waters of the Summit region, navigation rendered con- tinuous, by means of lock and dam, from the terminus of the same to the North- West angle of the Lake of the Woods, and a railroad from the latter point to the Red River Settlement. The railroad at Lake Superior would be forty mileu in length, «ucceeding which would be navigation of three hundred and eleven miles, which latter would bo connected by a railroad of ninety miles with Fort Garry. These are works which, to carry them out completely, would occupy some years, and in the meantime, as a preliminary step, it is proposed to make a good waggon road from Lake Superior to the waters of the dividing plateau, improve the navigation from thence Westward in as far as it can be rapidly done, in the first instance, and make a good waggon road from the Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry. This I conceive to be an absolutely necessary and essential step towards making the country accessible, whatever scale of improvement may be adopted in the future, and it would have the immediate effect of opening a channel by which immigration could reach the country, while it would, at the same time, draw the trade of the North-West Territories to Canada. Before specifying in detail the various works necessary to give effect to thi* plan, I may notice the scheme of — A CONTJNLUUb HAILIIOAD FKOM LAKE SLT’EKIOK TO THE BED lUVER SETTLEMENT. Such a work will, doubtless, become necessary as the regions of the North- West till up with settlement, and it should be placed in such position as to be available as a link in the railway system which will, no doubt, at some fu- ture day span the continent from the Atlantic to Pacific, within British ter- ritory. On reference to the map it will be seen that a railroad, to be continuous, must pass to the North of the I.ake of the Woods, and it will also be observed that a line from Canada, after passing over the high plateau which is said to exist to the North of Lakes Huron and Superior, would first come upon Lake Superior at Nipigon Bay, and that its direct course from thence to Fort Garry would be by Lac Seul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods. These are facts which should always be kept in view in considering the project of a con- tinuous railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement. A railroad made on the line indicated would be the most direct possible, and it would, at some future period, serve as a link in the extension of Canadian liailways to the prairies of the Saskatchewan. Now, a railway starting from any point West of Nipigon Bay would not meet these conditions ; and all that is claimed for the comparatively short line of 40 miles which I have recommended, at Fort William, is that it will serve as a connecting link between Lake Superior and the navigable waters of the interior. In regard to the practicability of a line of railroad between Nipigon Bay and the North end of the Lake of the Woods, no decided opinion can be offered until the country is explored. It is probable that, by keeping up the Valley of the Nipigon for some distance, so as to get clear of the rugged country on the immediate borders of Lake Superior, and then striking North-West to the vicinity of Lac Seul, a practicable line might be found. From Lac Seul to the North end of the Lake of the Woods, I apprehend there would be little diffi- culty if, as is reported, the flat Silurian strata of Hudson’s Bay send a spur in that direction. It might, however, be better to keep down the valley of the English River to its junction with the Winnipeg and strike direct from thence to the Red River. In view of the importance which must soon attach to the project of a con- tinuous railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement, I would sug- 177 gest the expediency of sending an exploring party to examine the route above indicated, during the ensuing summer. It would, also, be advisable to have a thorough examination made of the country to the North of Lakes Huron and Superior. A line was at one time run conforming to the line of coast, about twenty miles back, from Lake Superior, but the country over which it passed, as shewn by the very interesting report written by Mr. Herrick, who conducted the survey, is rough and broken. The line w'as entirely too near the coast, and I am of opinion that the best ground will be found in the high region where the waters running to Hudson’s Bay and the tributaries of the St Lawrence have their common source. Mr. A. J. Russell, of Ottawa, in a work which will soon make its appearance, gives an epitome of all the information which has been obtained of the high plateau at the sources of the streams flowing to Lake Huron, but the country North of Lake Superior and East of Lake Nipigon is unknown, except from the reports of voyageurs, beyond the extent of Mr. Herrick’s survey, which, as stated, was confined to a limit of about twenty miles from the coast. ROUTE TO THE PACTFia It must, in course of time, become a matter of great importance to open a line of communication completely across the continent within British ter- ritory, but whether this should b6 effected solely by railroads, or partly by rail and partly by taking advantage of the navigable water which is so plentifully distributed, at least to the East of .the Rocky Mountains, is a question for the future. JJg Railroads. The country is well adapted for railroads between the Red River Settlement and the sources of the Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers. Practicable passes have been found, too, in the Rocky Mountains, and in these the ascent is ge- nerally easy from the East. It is only when the summit has been crossed that serious difficulties present themselves. Between the Fraser River and the forty- ninth parallel, British Columbia is one sea of mountains, but through these the persevering efforts of explorers have led to the discovery of lines said to be practicable for railroads. In regard to the passes in the Rocky Mountains, Captain Palliser, who was sent out by the Imperial Government, speaks favorably of the British Kootanie Pass, near the boundary line, where explorers from Montana are now said to be mining for silver and gold. Dr. Hector, a gentle- man whose researches are of great practical value, was favorably impressed wdth the Kicking Horse Pass, somewhat further to the North, but probably the best of all would be the Athabasca Pass, which has been the longest used and is the best known. Mr. Waddington gives the latitude of this Pass as 52 ^ 54’ North and its height at 3,760 feet above the sea level, and describes several routes by which it may be reached from the Pacific. * He says, also, the upper Fraser is navigable for 280 miles of its course. The same authority maintains that by adopting the Athabasca and Tete Jaune^ or, as it is sometimes called, the Leather Head Pass, a railroad from Ed- monton House, on the Saskatchewan, to Bute Inlet on the Pacific, would only be 654 miles in length. * The elevation of the best knowm passes at the sources of the Saskatchewan is as follows : — British Kootanie Pass, 5,960 feet ; Kananski Pass, 4,600 feet ; Vermillion Pass, 4,944 feet : Kicking Horse Pass, 5,420 feet ; and Howse Pass, 6,347 feet above the level of the sea. 12 178 Until the country becomes better known, all that can be done is to indicate the probable position of an inter-oceanic railroad, and, if one should even be built, as it doubtless will, in British territory, the following will likely be its general course. The valley of the Ottawa, and its tributary the Montreal Kiver, might be followed to the meridian of 82® West longitude, from thence the direction would be North-West to the outlet of Lake Nipigon, where it would join the line above suggested, for a railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settle- ment, passing by Lac Seul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods. From the Red River Settlement the ground would be very favourable to Edmonton House, on the Saskatchewan, and from thence the route indicated by Mr. Wad- dington might be followed to the Pacific. By this route the distance from Montreal to the Pacific, as computed by Mr. Russell, would be as follows : Montreal to Fort Garry 1,367 Fort Garry to Edmonton House, over the prairies 825 Edmonton House to Bute Inlet 654 Total 2,846 If this line — the practicability of which has yet to be ascertained — were car- ried out, it might be tapped by an extension of the projected Toronto and Nipis- sing railroad, and it would thus be in connection with the Railway system of the Dominion at its most important points. There is no doubt a great deal that is grand and imposing in the idea of a railroad which should span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and grasp in its embrace the united Colonies of British America — which should become an avenue for the trade of the Indies, China and Japan, and a highway for the nations of the world. But, in considering schemes so vast, it is well, at the same time, to calculate their cost, and in drawing attention to this unavoidable phase of such pro- jects, I cannot do better than avail myself of a calculation made by Mr. Fleming, the eminent engineer, under whose able direction the Intercolonial Railroad is now being built. In a very interesting pamphlet, written by him some years ago on the North-West Territories and the best means of their development, speaking of a railway of 2,000 miles in length and its accompanying telegraph line, he remarks : » That a just conception may be formed of the real magnitude of the project “ under discussion and the means necessary to its attainment, attention may for “ a moment be drawn to a few leading details. The construction of 2,000 miles “ of railway, measured by the average standard of similar works existing in this “ country, implies the performance of laborers’ work sufficient to give employ- “ ment to 10,000 men for five or six years. It involves the delivery of 5,000,000 “ cross ties or sleepers and over 200,000 tons of iron rails for the permanent way. “ It comprises the erection of 60,000 poles hung with 1,000 tons of wire for the “ telegraph. It necessitates the creation of motive power equivalent to over “ 50,000 horses, which power would be concentrated in 400 locomotives. It in- “ volves the production of from 5,000 to 6,000 cars of all kinds, which, coupled » with the locomotives, would make a single train over 30 miles in length. And “ lastly, it implies gross expenditure on construction and equipment of not less than $100,000,000. “ It will likewise serve as a salutary check on hasty conclusions to weigh, be- “ forehand, the cost of operating a truly gigantic establishment of the kind after its perfect completion ; a few figures derived from actual results will shew that “ the first construction of a railway through British North America is even a “ less formidable undertaking than that of keeping it afterwards open in the prc- “ sent condition of the country. For operating the line successfully, the fuel 179 “ alone rociuircd in each year and estimated as wood, would considerably exceed “ 200,000 cords. For keeping the road in repair, a regiment of 2,000 trackmen “ wouhi constantly be employed in small gangs throughout its entire length ; “ for the same purpose there w^ould, on an aveiage, be annually required G00,000 new cross ties, as well as nearly 30,000 tons of new or re-rolled iron rails. The “annual repairs of rolling stock would not cost less than one million of dollars. “ Over 5,000 employees of all kinds would constantly be under pay, and as these “ men would usually represent each a family, there would not be far short of “ 20,000 souls subsisting by the operation of the road. The aggregate amount “ of wages in each year, after the road was in operation, would swell out to “ nearly $2,000,000, while the gross expenditure for operating and maintaining “ works would annually exceed $8,000,000. “ Again, if to the last sum he added the interest on first cost, it becomes evi- “ dent that until the gross earnings of the railway in each year come up to “ the enormous sum of $14,000,000, it could not pay interest on the capital in- “ vested.” Railway and Water Communication Combined. Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, is already accessible to any class of vessels which can navigate the great lakes. From thence w^estward to Red River, the route is, as already described, forty miles of land road, succeeded by three hun- dred and eleven miles of navigation now broken, but susceptible of being rendered continuous, and which, again, is follow’ed by ninety miles of land road, ending at Fort Garry. Commencing at Fort Garry, the navigation might be rendered continuous, at small outlay, by way of Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan to Edmonton House, a distance of 1,060 miles. Edmonton House is within 500 miles of the Pacific Ocean, and the distance might be surrounded, according to the best information which can be obtained, by a railroad of 654 miles, or by taking advantage of the navigable waters of the upper Fraser and following a more tortuous route, the distance would be 841 miles, of which 309 would be by w'ater and 532 by rail. So small an amount of navigation would not compen- sate for such an increase in distance, and in this instance the continuous railway would be the best. By this route the total distance from Thunder Bay to the Pacific would be as follows : MILES. Land. Water. Thunder Bay to the inland water at Shebandowan Lake 40 From terminus Lake Superior road to North-West angle Lake of the Woods 311 North-West angle to Fort Garry 90 Fort Garry to Edmonton House 1060 Edmonton House to Gulf of Georgia 654 784 1371 784 2155 It is quite practicable to make the navigation continuous from a point within 40 miles of Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg ; and, if this were done and the few impediments in the Saskatchewan removed, there would be continuous navigation from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the ocean, with one break of only 40 miles at Lake Superior, and this break might in time be overcome by lockage. So great an extent of navigable water, or water susceptible of being made 180 navigable, rimning through British America, traversing the vast prairies ol the West and ending at the seaports of the Atlantic, is a feature in connection with the Western Territories the importance of which it would be difficult to overrate. It IS well known that railroads cannot compete with water in the transport of bulky and heavy freight, and if ever a line of communication should be estab- lished across the continent in British territory, and, providing it combined with the necessary amount of railway, all the navigable water which could be rend- ered available, I believe that no other trans-continental line which can be put in operation, north of the Gulf of Mexico, would be in a position to compete with it. Everything in this regard, however, must be the merest conjecture until the country is opened up and becomes better known. The first grand step is to open the communication between Lake Superior and the Bed Kiver Settlement in the manner in which it can be most rapidly done, to be at the same time effective *, and if the barrier is thus broken through, even in a moderate way at first, many additional influences will be brought into play and improvement urged on until a first class line of communication has been obtained. Before concluding this subject, I may state what is known of the Saskatchewan in regard to its capa- city for navigation The Saskatcheivan. is not a river of such great volume as might be supposed from the immense area which it drains. It gathers its waters from a country larger than Canada, and yet it is not equal in size to the St. Lawrence. The precipitation is less in the prairies of the West than in Canada — less snow in winter and less rain in summer, but yet enough of both to make the Saskatchewan a very large river. There is a fine harbour on Lake Winnipeg, just at the mouth of the Saskatch- ewan. Ascending from thence for a mile or so, the first and greatest impedi- ment presents itself. This is called the “ Grand Eapids,” and here the river makes a descent of about 43 feet, rushing with great impetuosity over flat ledges of limestone rock. Between the Grand Eapid and Lac Bourbon there are several little rapids, having an aggregate fall of about 20 feet. Lac Bourbon is distant from Lake Winnipeg about twenty miles, and from thence Westward to the Eocky Mountains, or at least to a distance of eighty miles beyond Edmonton House, the navigation is rej)orted to be uninter- rupted except at two points, where there are impediments, it is said, easily overcome. The first is at a rapid called Tobern’s Falls, about 140 miles above Lac Bour- bon, where, from all that can be learned, a lock of moderate lift might be required The next is at Coles’ Eapids, on the North Branch, just above its junction with the South Branch. Here a series of swift runs and little rapids, extending over a distance of eighteen miles, would require in some places to be cleared of boulders, and probably a few glance dams might be necessary. These impediments cannot be considered serious in a navigation of eight hun- dred miles, otherwise uninterrupted. ESTIMATE OF THE COST OF BEELIMINAEY LINE OF COMMUNICATION. In estimating the cost of work in a distant region, where labour is not to be obtained, regard must be had to the expense of taking men to and from the ground, and the time lost on the way, for which there is no return in labour. IBl In the Lake Superior Section, it wouM be a safe estimate to allow about twenty days for the journeys to and from the localities in Canada where labour is cheapest and w'orkmen of the class required can be engaf^cd. For passage, going and coming and time on the way, each man would cost, at an average, $40, which, allowing that 250 men were employed during summer, would reach the serious item of Ten Thousand Dollars. In the Lake Uegion, west of the height of land, a still larger allowance would have to be made. I draw attention to these circumstances, inasmuch as my estimates for roads, more especially, may appear to bo high ; whereas, when the expenses above referred to, as well as the cost of transport for supplies are taken into account, they will be found to be as Ioav it would be safe to make them. Moreover, the experience of the section of road already partially made, although it passes over comparatively easy ground, affords a criterion as to what the cost will be in more difficult sections, and with this in view the estimate has been framed. Roa^fs Lake Superior Section. The main road which it is proposed to open through this section, as shewn on the accompanying plan. No. 1, has its starting point at the depot on Thunder Bay, from whence it strikes in a tolerably direct course to the mouth of the Matawin, following from thence the valley of that river to the first chute below Shebandowan Lake, where it is proposed to construct a dam. The extent of road remaining to be opened is 36 miles, and a specification marked No. 1, shewing the manner in which it is to be constructed, is hereunto annexed. Its probable average cost is set down in the accompanying estimate at $1,800 per mile. Some further expenditure will be required, too, on the section of road already partially made, more especially at a hill near Thunder Bay, where a detour has to be made, and for this purpose I have set down $2,000* In my report of last year, for reasons therein stated, it w^as proposed to run a branch line of road from Fort William, to connect that very important poi with the main road, and for this purpose a sum of $7,000 was included in the estimate then submitted. During the past summer this branch line was very carefully surveyed. The country through which it runs is somewhat low and swampy, and two small rivers have to be bridged, but a very good line, made in conformity with Specification No. 2, can be obtained at an outlay, as above stated, of $7,000. The length of this line would be 7 miles. Pier at Thunder Bay. In last year’s report, it was proposed to sink an isolated pier in front of the depot at Thunder Bay, at which vessels could discharge their loads. It would be placed in a depth of 16 feet of w'ater. Its dimensions would be 150 feet in length by 20 feet in breadth at top, and its cost $2,500.00. This work may be said to be indispensable, for at present there is great difficulty, not to speak of expense, in getting articles landed at that place. Bridge over the ILaministaquia. This would be a rough but substantial structure, supported by piers of crib work, filled solidly with stone, of which there is great abundance in close proximity. The stream is 300 feet in width, shallow, and running on a bottom paved with boulders. Wood is scarce in the vicinity, the country having been swept by fire, but the timber got out for a dam at Dog Lake, can be taken down and used in the wwk. Its cost w^ould be about $4,500.00 182 In the Lake Superior Section the total proposed outlay would thus stand as- follows : 36 miles main road $1,800 00 $64,800 00 7 miles Fort William Branch Road 1,000 00 7,000 00 Grading Hills, Lake Superior, and completing road partially made 2,000 00 Pier at Thunder Ray 2,500 00 Bridge over Kaministaquia 4,500 00 $80,000 00 A specification for the road and estimate of material are hereunto annexed. Lake Region. In former reports the designation Lake Region ” was applied to the section^ between the summit of the water-shed and Fort Frances, hut Shebandowan and Kashaboiwe Lakes, immediately to the east of the water-shed, as they are on the line now proposed to he followed, may properly come under the same head. In the estimate submitted last year will be found a statement of the sums required for each work then proposed as follows : — Dam at French Portage $1,600 00 Dam across Sturgeon River at Island Portage 18,000 00 Dam at Nequaquon 4,000 00 Dam at Two Falls Portage on River Seine 20,000 00 6J miles road and Tramway, on portages between Lac des Mille Lacs and Rainy Lake 10,400 00 , $54,000 00 Since the estimate on which the above is founded was made, the circumstan- ces have so far altered, that companies are already being organised for the pur- pose of providing the means of transport, and have it in contemplation to place steamers on such of the navigable reaches as may be of sufficient extent to render their employment profitable. It will, therefore, be a matter of im- portance, even at the outset of opening the communication, to lengthen the navigable reaches where practicable, and lessen the number of transshipments, and with this end in view it will be advisable to extend the works in certain sections. Shebandowan Jjake. At the first chute on tne Matawin, two miles and a half from Shebandowan Lake, and 16 feet under its level, there is a favourable situation for a dam, and one of small dimensions would extend the navigation of the Lake to that point, and save the cost of three miles of roadway, which would otherwise have to be made over very rough and broken ground. It is, however, proposed to raise the level of Shebandowan Lake to the extent of 30 feet, so as to give uninter- rupted navigation to the height of land, and it would be better, at once, to put up a dam of dimensions sufficient to produce this result. Before a precise es- timate of the cost can be given it will be necessary to examine the ground about the Lake in order to ascertain whether on raising its surface level the water might not find outlets besides the present one. The country is so higli that I believe it would not, and if this should prove to be the case $12,000 would pro- vide for the dam. Material for the work is in unlimited abundance. Timber can be cut on the sliore of the Lake, and floated off without any expense in. liauling, and stone can be easily obtained eitlier in the bed of the river, or by- blasting from the high rock on the banks. 183 The Summit Pond. This little lake has to be reduced in level to the extent of five feet, and the channel between it and Kashaboiwe Lake deepened so as to admit of vessels passing from one to the other. The rivulet which connects the two is 600 feet in length, and the fall in that distance 4.99 feet. The bed of the stream is of loose stone, earth and decaying timber, without any apparent solid rock. To form a channel for such vessels as would be used, in the first instance, say 30 feet in width, the excavation would amount to 5,000 cubic yards, and the cost, always supposing no solid rock to be met with, about $3,000 00. The Dividing Ridge. This ridge is 50 chains in width, and the gully, already referred to as running through it, affords an easy means of making a cut so as to connect the waters of the western with those of the eastern side. Eventually, when the communi- cation comes to be opened on a large scale, a lock of 7 feet will be required. At present it is proposed to place in the gully a wooden tramway at a cost of about $2,500. Lac des Mille Lacs to French Portage. In this section last year it was proposed to raise the water of Lac des Mille Lacs, by means of a dam at the Two Falls Portage, and to deepen the water in the Windegoostegon Lakes by means of a dam at French Portage. It is, how- ever, a matter of such paramount importance to avoid transshipments, in the conveyance of freight, that I believe it will be better to incur a little additional expenditure, and do away at once witK the Baril and Brule Portages. This can be effected by a dam at the outlet of Lac des Mille Lacs, which will raise the level of that lake to the extent of say 4 feet, a cut between Lac des Mille Lacs and Baril Lake and a dam, of 55 feet in height, at French Portage. It was proposed (see report of last year) to raise the level of Lac des Mille Lacs by a dam at the Two Falls — sometimes called the Little Falls — Portage, a point on the Seine, about ten miles below its outlet, where there is an excellent natural position for a work of the kind. The situation at the immediate outlet is not very favorable ; nevertheless, as explained in my report of last year, I believe a dam could be constructed there to raise the water to the extent con- templated (only four feet over its present level), at less cost than at the Two Falls ; and this would leave a portion of the estimate for that work to be applied to making the navigation continuous to French Portage, where it is now pro- posed to construct a dam, of height sufiicient, to raise the water to the level of Baril Lake. In regard to the excavation necessary between Lac des Mille Lacs and Baril Lake, only an approximative estimate can be made, as the ground has not been measured with sufficient minuteness to admit of a statement in detail ; but for this section, and having in view the doing away with no less than two transshipments, I would propose increasing the estimate of last year, which wat $21,600, by $9,400, making the total $30,000. Other Works^ Ijoke Region. For the other works required in the Lake Kegion, I would respectfully' refer to my report of last year. They may be briefly stated as follows : At the French and Deux Eivieres Portages, it is proposed to make good wag- gon roads or place tramways. They are each about two miles in length, and, in- tervening between them is Kaogassikok Lake, 15 miles in length. Succeeding Deux Rivieres is the Sturgeon Lake Section, Vs^hich can be ren- dered navigable, in one unbroken reach of 27 miles, by means of a dam at Island 184 Portage. This dam, measured by the immediate effect it would produce, is the most important work in the whole region of the lakes. Following Island Portage is a navigable reach of 17 miles, through Nequa- quon Lake, ending at Nequaquon Portage, which leads to Nameukan Lake. This Portage is two miles in length, and until locks can be constructed to connect the navigation of the two lakes, it must be used and a tramway placed upon it. Besides the Portage, there are two other ways of reaching Nameukan Lake. One by the high water channel, which passes off on the South side, and the other by the main channel, known as the Rivilre Maligne^ breaking off" about the middle of the lake, on the North side. In these two channels there is an admirable natural arrangement for commanding the water, when locks come to be constructed in either one or the other. From the Nequaquon Portage to Fort Frances the distance is 56 miles, and the navigation uninterrupted, except by a fall of 8.55 feet, at the head of Kainy Lake, and at this point a lock should be made as soon as possible. At Fort Frances there is another carrying place, but it is the last and its length only ten chains. Lake of the Woods Division. In regard to this section, I would also refer to my report of last year. The navigation is uninterrupted except by two little rapids, easily stemmed by a steamer of moderate power, between Fort Frances and the North-West angle of the Lake of the AVoods, a distance of 120 miles. Lockage to the extent of only 35 feet lift, would add to this section the navi- gable waters of Eainy and Nameukan Lakes, giving 56 miles additional ; but, to carry the scheme out a little farther, lockage amounting in all to 151 feet lift, would render the navigation uninterrupted between Deux Eiyieres Portage and the North-west angle, a distance of 222 miles. This would be half the en- tire distance between Lake Superior and the Eed Eiver Settlement. Mr. Eussell in his work, from which I have already quoted, suggests the ex- pediency of perfecting the navigation at once to the head of Sturgeon Lake (Deux Eivi^res), and connecting it by a railroad of 122 miles with Lake Supe- rior. He did not, however, know at that time that the navigation could be so easily rendered continuous, as determined by the explorations of last summer, to within 40 miles of Lake Superior ; and the difference in cost of a railroad of 40 miles and one of 122 miles would be several times greater than that of the lockage, necessary to overcome the difference in distance. If the navigation were rendered continuous between the Deux Eivieres Por- tage (head of Sturgeon Lake) and the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, and a lock made at the Summit Pass, the following would be the distances by land and water respectively : Thunder Bay to navigable water of Summit Section Terminus of Eoad to the French Portage * French Portage Kaogassikok Lake Deux Eivieres Portage Deux Eivieres Portage to North-west angle of Lake of Woods North-west angle to Fort Garry. 222 90 134 307 134 441 Total 185 There would thus be two transshipments only, between the terminus of the Thunder Bay Road and the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, in a distance of 311 miles, and between these two there would be an interval of 15 miles of navigable water, afforded by the Kaogassikok Lake. Improvements to this extent might very rapidly be carried out, and there would then remain the French and the Deux Rivi6res Portages, where the works would be extensive, requiring a little further time to carry them to completion. The total amount of lockage — as will be explained further on, required to render the whole distance between the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods and the Thunder Bay road navigable, without a break, amounts only to dbont 430 feet in a distance of 311 miles, or about 1.35 feet to the mile, whereas the Rideau has 457 feet of lockage, in a distance of 126 miles, equal to about 3.63 feet per mile, so that, as compared to the distance, the section under consideration requires but a little over one third part of the lockage of the Rideau canal. Fort Garry Section. This embraces the country between the noith-west angle of the Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry. Much fruitless exploration had been made in this section, both by the Red River Settlers and parties sent out by the government, without finding a line practicable for a road through the swamps, which cover a great portion of its area. Towards the close of the explorations, a rapid reconnois- sance made by the Red River Expedition party resulted in establishing a line on which the country could be crossed, and on this line, during the past winter, a good deal of work has been performed as reported on by Mr. Snow. The sum set down in the estimate of last year should be ample for a road, as regards the wooded section, but it is likely that to make a good road on the prairie an in- crease would be necessary, when it comes to be greatly travelled. All that can be done for a prairie road, withont going to very great expense, is to drain it thoroughly and fascine it in the wet parts. Specification No. 1, hereunto an- nexed, should be adhered to as closely as possible in making the road through the wooded section. To sum up the amount required for the preliminary works, now proposed, would be as follows : Lake Superior Section. Thirty-six miles main road, at $1,800 per mile $64,800 00 Seven miles, Fort William, at $1,000 per mile. • 7,000 00 Grading hill. Lake Superior 2,000 00 Pier at Thunder Bay 2,500 00 Bridge over Kaministaquia 4,500 00 $80,300 00 Lake Region. Dam at first chute below Shebandowan Lake. . 12,000 00 Excavation at Summit Pond, to reduce it to level of Kashaboiwe Lake, and for channel for vessels 3,000 00 Dividing Ridge tramway 2,500 00 Lac des Mille Lacs works, and thence to French Portage 30,000 00 186 Dam at Island Portage, per estimate of last year 18,000 00 Dams at Nequaquon 4,000 00 Six and a-half miles road and tramway over portages between Lac des Mille Lacs and Kainy Lake 10,400 00 79,900 00 Fori Garry Section. Twenty-five miles Eastern portion, at ^1,600 per mile 40,000 00 Thirty-five miles Middle section, at $1,000 per mile 35,000 00 Thirty miles Western section, over low prairie, at $400 per mile 12,000 00 87,000 00 $247,700 00 The sum required for the preliminary communication, which it is proposed to open, would thus stand at $247,200.00, or say, in round numbers, $250,000.00. This may, at first sight, appear to be a small sum with which to undertake the opening of the territories of the North-West, amounting as it does to little more than the cost of eight or ten miles of railway. These preliminary works will, nevertheless, be of a permanent and substan- tial character, and will form a step in the general plan. Improvements in new regions should be progressive, and in the present case, works of great extent can not be advantageously undertaken, until the country shall have been so far opened as to admit of the introduction of material and supplies for large parties of workmen. The region between Lake Superior and the Eed Eiver Settlement is as yet but a wilderness, utterly uninhabited except by the red men of the forest. It produces nothing to sustain human life, except game, fish, berries and wild rice, and the birchen skiff of the natives, stitched with fibres of roots, affords the only means of locomotion. In the heart of this wide region, is a tract of navigable water, which will greatly facilitate operations, but it is cut off' from Lake Superior on one side by a formidable barrier of mountain and rock, and from the Eed Eiver Settlement, on the other, by a region of quagmire and sw^amp. The first step taken, must be to render these waters accessible from either end, and, when this is accomplished, the communication will be in a measure open, and any number of workmen can be employed to carry further works to completion, with all the speed w^hich the means of the country may render advisable. PEOBABLE ULTIMATE COST, COMBINED EAILEOADS AND CANAL BETWEEN LAKE SUPEEIOE AND FOET GAEEY. During the progress of the preliminary works, set forth in the foregoing, measurements can be taken on which to base detailed estimates, both for the railroads at either end of the route, and the locks necessary to connect the inter- mediate navigable sections. Until this is done any estimate, founded on the 187 general measurements .already made, must be t.aken with considerable latitude, and the safest criterion to go by, making due allowance for the difference in circumst.ances, will be the known cost of similar works now in operation in North America. In respect to r.ailro.ads, it is easy in this way to arrive .at an approximative es- tim.ate ; but, as regards a canal, mucli will depend upon the scale of navigation to be provided for. Locks of very limited dimensions would be equal to one line of r.ailro.ad ; .and a canal of the size of the Kideau, for example, would be equal in its capacity for the conveyance of freight to m.any railroads. In the present undeveloped of the North-West Territories, it would perhaps be better to commence on a moderate scale, adopting wooden locks, for which substanti.al structures of stone might be gradually substituted. Mr. Stevenson, in his very valuable work on American Canals, says : “ One of the most important advantages of constructing the locks of canals, “ in new countries, such as America, of wood, unquestionably is that in propor- “ tion as improvement advances and greater dimensions or other changes are “ required, they can be introduced at little cost, and without the mortification “ of destroying expensive and substantial works of masonry. Some of the works “ on the great Erie Canal are formed of stone, but had they all been of wood it “ would, in all probability, h.ave been converted into a Ship Canal, long ago.” He says further, that “ At the time when canals were introduced in America, the trade of the coun- “ try was small and did not warrant the expenditure of large sums of money in “ their construction, the chief object being to form a communication with as “ little loss of time or outlay of capital as might be consistent with a due regard » to the stability and safety of the work.” These remarks are quite applicable to the present condition of the North- West Territories. Canal. The navig.ation which it is proposed to open would be of that description, which is called in the United States “ Slack Water Navigation.” There would be but very little canal, properly so called, for the cutting would not amount to a mile in the entire distance of 311 miles. The accompanying map, on a scale of two miles to one inch, and the plan in profile, shew the position and relative altitude of the lakes on the line of route. Shebandowan Lake, for reasons already explained, would be adopted, as the summit level, and it is, of itself, fed by drainage of an area sufficiently exten- sive to ensure an ample supply of water. Between it and Lac des Mille Lacs, however, there would only be a lock of seven feet lift, and the latter lake re- eceives the waters of an area of no less than seven hundred square miles, sa that from thence westward, with Sheb.andowan Lake, Lac des Mille Lacs and the areas which pour their drainage into them, combined, there would be water at command, at the very source of supply, more than sufficient for a canal of any dimensions, and any traffic that can arise. By means of dams and sluices at Lac des Mille Lacs, the supply of water could very easily be regulated along the route proposed to be followed as far as Sturgeon Lake, which receives a large river from the South. Throughout the entire distance from Lac des Mille Lacs to Eainy Lake, the river channels are everywhere of rock, and the water tumbles step by step from the higher levels to the lower, so that the natural facilities for producing slack water navigation — or rather for connecting the slack water sections which already exist — are all that could be desired, and the question in the first instance to be decided would be whether the locks should be of stone or wood. In either case material is abundant. The hard Laurentian gneiss of the 188 country, altliough somewhat difficult to work, would answer well for the rougher portions of the stone struetui'es, and limestone, which could he made available for the portions requiring to be highly dressed, is abundant on Rainy River and at the Lake of the Woods. Timber, such as Red Pine, White Pire and Tamarac, is in unlimited quantity all along the route, and him and a species of Oak can be had on Rainy River. Wooden Locks, in the first instance, would cost greatly less than stone struc- tures, however small the dimensions of the lattf^r might be, and even by adopt- ing wood for the locks, the greater part of the work in forming a canal would be of a permanent character, and necessary for stone locks afterwards, as, for ex- ample, the dams and the excavation. As regards dimensions, the locks, to accommodate the largest class of vessels adapted to the navigation, should be about 130 feet in length by, say, 30 in breadth, with five feet of water on the sills. In the Lake Region, vessels of a large class might be employed, but Rainy River is not adapted to a greater draught than five feet. The locks on the Rideau Canal are thirty-three feet in width by one himdred and thirty-three feet in length, with five feet of water on the sills. The Rideau has been a very expensive work on account of the excavation which, in length of cutting, exceeds sixteen miles, and the enormous stone dams of Jones’ Falls, Hartwell’s, Long Island, &c. Apart from these, and the land claims, which also added considerably to the expenditure, the cost per foot lift of the lockage has been about $4,300. The magnificent locks at the entrance to the Canal at Ottawa, eight in number, and overcoming a fall of eighty-two feet, cost $4,296 per foot lift. Work of such a costly description would, of course, be unnecessary on Inland navigation, which, in the first instance, would only be used to the extent of the capacity of the railroads at either end. I find in looking over the statistics of some of the cheaper canals in the United States, the following approximate cost per foot lift of lockage, including dams and all expenses connected with the original construction : New Hampshire and Merrimac $1,173 Delaware and Hudson 1,827 Morris Canal (New Jersey) 1,930 Cincinnati and Dayton 2,485 Philadelphia and Reading 4,098 On the Morris Canal the rise and fall amounts to 1,557 feet, of which 223 feet are overcome by locks, and 1,334 feet by inclined planes, over which ves- sels are moved from one level to another by means of machinery driven by water wheels. The Erie Canal, the work on which consists in great part of excavation and embankment, affords no criterion by which to judge of the cost of lockage on such a route as that under consideration. I have adduced the above instances to show what the cost of some of the best known canals of moderate dimensions has been. Ship canals would, of course, be vastly more expensive, and need not be considered in connection with an inland navigation west of Lake Superior. Locks of the dimensions I have suggested, would accommodate vessels of a class sufficiently capacious to meet the wants of the country for a long period, and they would be more than equal to the capacity of a single railroad for the conveyance of freight. From the east end of Shebandowan Lake to the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, the distance is 311 miles, and the total fall about 450 feet, of which 430 feet has to be provided for by lockage, the balance being accounted for in the current of Rainy River and other parts. Supposing the locks to be of wood, I make very amyle allowance in setting 189 the cost at J 52 , 500.00 per foot lift, which should cover the excavutiou necessary for the lock beds, crib w'ork approaches, dams, < 810 . This would give the entire cost of the lockage at J5>1,290,000 The excavation, other than that included in the above, will not exceed 120,000 cubic yards, and reckon- ing the whole of this as rock, at i$1.75 per cubic yard, Ave have 210,000 Making the total cost $1,500,000 Or, reckoning by distance, about $4,823.15 per mile, equal to about one sixth part of the average cost of the cheapest railways. * Railroads. Of these there will be two, one of about 40 miles between Lake Superior and Shebandowan Lake, and one of 90 miles between the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry. The former will be over very rough ground, with difficult grades, and its least, average cost may be set at that of the general cost of railroads in this country, say $40,000 per mile, making its entire probable cost $1,600,000.00. In regard to the line between the Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry, it will pass over level ground, and its cost may be safely set at $30,000.00 per mile, equal to $2,700,000.00 for the entire distance of ninety miles. The two Kail ways at either end of the navigation would thus in- volve an outlay of $4,300,000.00. 'Ratal cost. 40 miles llailroad, Lake Superior to navigable w-aters of interior $1,600,000.00 311 miles of continuous navigation, improved by locks and dams 1,500,000.00 90 miles Railroad, North-west angle Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry 2,700,000.00 Total $5,800,000.00 Cost of Transport. Supposing a scheme of railroad and canal, as above indicated, to be carried out between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, the transport of heavy freight, according to McAlpine’s scale, which is generally adopted, would be nearly as follows, from Toronto to Fort Garry. 94 miles railroad, Toronto to Collingwood, at 12 ^- mills a ton per mile $1,18 534 miles by lakes, from Collingwood to Fort William, at 2 mills per ton a mile 1.07 40 miles by rail, from Fort William to navigable waters of interior section, at 17 mills per ton a mile 0.68 311 miles lake and river navigation, from terminus of Lake Superior Railroad to North-west angle Lake of the Woods, at 4 mills per ton a mile 1.25 =* The above is given merely to convey a general idea of the probable ultimate cost of ren- dering the navigation continuous between Shebandowan Lake and the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, The measurements to be taken during the present stinuner win supply material for estimates in detail. 190 90 miles rail, North-west angle to Fort Garry, at 15 mills per ton a mile 1.35 1069 miles. Total cost $5.35 The distance from Toronto to Fort Garry, hy way of Detroit, Chicago and St. Paul, is 1572 miles, and supposing the railway communication to he complete, the cost per ton, reckoned at 12J mills per mile, would be $19.65. Nothing could show more clearly the vast superiority of the Canadian line in point of natural advantages. KESEPVES OF LAND. Wherever Public Works are likely to be required it will be necessary to re- serve a certain quantity of land, not very extensive, but enough to cover the works and the approaches thereto, as, for example, at all localities where locks or dams have to be constructed. It would be well, also, to reserve an ample area at every point where villages or cities were likely to arise, so as prevent the land from falling into the hands of individuals, who are always ready to purchase in such situations for purposes of speculation. Between Lake Superior and Bed Eiver Settlement, the localities which strike me as being the most likely to become the sites of villages are Fort Frances, on Kainy Kiver, the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, and Oak Point Settlement. Fort Frances. This point is at the outlet of a spacious lake, into which several rivers of great volume discharge themselves, after draining an area in which timber fi t for commercial purposes is very abundant. The Falls just in front of the Fort present unlimited water power, which is all the more valuable from the fact that there is none to compete with it within a distance of 150 miles, on the course of the river to the westward. Fort Fran- ces is, moreover, at the commencement of a fine tract of land, which extends along the winding course of the Kainy River to the Lake of the Woods, and which, being on the high road to the West, will rapidly fill up with settlement. ♦ It is likely also to become the centre of a mining district. Schists of Silu- rian age, trayersed by lodes of quartz, are plentifully distributed at Kainy Lake and gold has been already reported. Already, too. Gold mines are being worked at Vermillion Lake, which is on the United States side, but sends its waters to Kainy Lake. With a vast district covered with groves of pine timber to the east, a large tract of the finest conceivable land to the west, and a region likely to prove rich in minerals in close proximity. Fort Frances must soon become a place of im. portance. Land should in consequence be reserved, not only for the public works necessary to surmount the Falls, but also for the site of a town. * This is the country of which Sir George Simpson wrote as follows “ nor are the banks ^‘less favourable to agriculture than the waters themselves to navigation, resembling in “ some measure those of the Thames near Richmond, ifec., and proceeds. “ Is it too much “ for the eye of philanthropy to discern through the vista of futurity, this noble stream con- ‘‘nectingas it does the fertile shores of two spacious lakes with crowded steamboats on ■“its bosom and populous towns on its borders. 191 JV'o/-^/i- 11 Angle of I he Lake of the Wooih. This point has nothing very attractive about it, further than that, being at the terminus of the navigation, and the commencement of the land roads, it must become a place of considerable resort and, therefore, a town plot should be laid olT, and the lots sold or granted free, under condition of building and permanent residence. Oak Point Settlement. It would seem as if people sometimes gathered by instinct, to points which were destined to become of importance from causes of which they could have had no conception, and Oak Point settlement is one of these. The first settlers could have had no idea that a line from the dreary swamps which lay between them and the Lake of the Woods, and of which they knew nothing, would emerge at that point. A few explorers attached to the Red River Expe- dition, following the best ground from the North-west Angle, came upon the settlement, and, as the track they laid out is to be a highway, there is every indication that it will become a place of importance. Forty families have already established themselves and a church has sprung up in their midst. The land is of unsurpassed fertility, and being where the prairies and forest meet, it has the advantages of a w'ooded and cleared country combined. Wood for fuel, building and fencing, on one side, and fields, for hay and pasture, bounded only by the dim horizon, on the other, A Town Plot should be laid off, and not a lot granted except to an actual settler. Fort Garry ^ Situated, as it is, on navigable waters, which have their sweep across half a continent, and with land of unequalled fertility surrounding it in every direction, must become a very important place. It is a point at which water lines, rail- roads, and telegraphs will converge. Hundreds of miles away to the South, the valley in which it stands blends imperceptibly with that of the Mississippi, affording easy means of communication. In the opposite direction are vast tracts of navigable water, which afford ready access to the McKenzie River and the fur-producing regions of the North. To the West, the broad Saskatchewan gives a route to the Rocky Mountains, with the gold fields of British Co- lumbia just beyond, and to the East lies the projected road to Canada, which will yet bring its stream of traffic and immigration to the Prairies of the West. Nearly sixty years have passed since Lord Selkirk planted his little colony of Scotch Highlanders atFort Garry, and even then he must have seen the advantages of the situation in which he placed his countrymen, and the future which awaited their descendants, who are now among the lords of the soil, and must continue to grow in wealth as the country increases in prosperity. The lands at Fort Garry are in private hands, so that no reserves can be made ; but, as a general rule, Town Plots should be laid off and reserves wherever there is any likelihood of villages arising, and in such situations lots should be sold, or granted free, only to actual settlers. THE INDIANS ON THE LINE ROUTE. In my report of last year, printed by order of the House of Commons, I re- ferred to the Indians inhabiting the Country about Rainy River and the Lake of 192 the Woods, as being the only tribe with which the country would come in con- tract, in opening the communication between Lake Superior and the lied Liver Settlement. These Indians occupy a peculiar and somewhat exceptional position. They are a community by themselves, and are essentially wood 'Indians, although going on hunting or lighting expeditions to the prairies. They are of the same tribe as the Indians at Red River, speak the same language, and regard them as their kindred ; but they seldom see them, and have but little intercom'se with theni. Although the principal line of traffic at one time passed through their terri- tory, they have for half a century had but little intercourse with the white man, Missionaries have made no impressions upon them and, in many respects, they have shewm themselves to be less amenable to the influences of civilization, than Indians usually are. They, in fact, take pride in maintaining their distinctive Indian character, are deeply imbued with traditions of what they believe to be an honorable past history, and w ould look with disdain on any of the community becoming Christian. They have a sort of government, consider themselves great braves, and occa- sionally send war parties to fight the Sioux on the plains. The International boundary line passes through their territory, and some of them live on the United States side and some on the British. The permanent residents, how- ever, are almost entirely on the British side, those from the United States making their appearance in considerable numbers only in summer, during the fishing season. The country on either side is in a state of nature, wild and unsettled. They arc sufficiently organized, numerous and warlike, to be dangerous if disposed to hostility ; and, standing as they do in the gateway to the territories of the North-West, it is of the highest importance to cultivate amicable relations with them. One of the first necessary steps to be taken, will be to arrive at a distinct understanding as to right of way, and have the same embodied in a formal treaty. This treaty, if confined solely to that one point — right of way — as it should be, wdthout reference to lands for settlement, and other questions, which could be arranged after the communication was opened, would occasion no further outlay than would be involved in a few presents of blankets and such articles as they require, which an officer sent for the purpose might judiciously distribute, with the aid of the Agents of the Hudson’s Bay Company. On the opening of the communication, last year, the chiefs of the tribe sent one of their number, attended bv a party of his followers, to Fort William, to ascertain what was being done, and to learn the intentions of the Government in regard to opening the communication. No information, on the subject of his enquiries, could at that time be given to him, but the fact of the tribe having sent such a messenger, and for such a purpose, shews the deep interest which they take in the present movement. They would be keenly alive to any imagined slight in opening a highway, without regard to them, through a territory of which they believe themselves to be sole lords and masters, and to which, if a lengthened period of occupation can give a claim, they have un- questionably some title. As stated in my report of last year, working parties must be kept as much as possible aloof from the Indians, and the officers in charge should always see that they are treated with proper respect. They are very difterent from the timid and cringing creatures who are now the sole representatives of the Indian Race in the back settlements of Canada, and the bearing I have sometimes seen adopted towards the latter would not be relished. Never having come in contact with what they believe to be a superior race, they are conscious of no inferiority ; but, while this is manifest in their bearing, they are, at the same time, inoflensive and obliging. 193 The maintenance of order and amicable relationfi will be much facilitated by the utter and complete exclusion of intoxicating liquors. The penalty for the introduction of such on the Afherican side is the States Prison. Pity that wo have not so salutary a law on the British side. For further notice of the Indians, see last year’s report, page 2G. MANNER OF PROGRESSING WITH THE WORK. As explained in my report of last year, the preliminary works proposed are of that nature which can be better performed by engaging good workmen and competent overseers, than by contract. As many men as could be advantageously employed, should be at once placed on the land roads at either end of the route, so as to render the navigable waters of the interior sections accessible as speedily as possible. The Lake Superior road can easily be supplied with workmen and material from Canada. For the road between the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry, workmen can readily be engaged in the Red River Settlement, but the dearth now prevailing at that place, and which must continue to prevail until harvest, would render it necessary, in the early part of the season, to pro- cure supplies in the northern settlements of Minnesota. In regard to the Lake Region, timber can be prepared for the dams and floated, during summer, to the respective positions where it is required, and the work of excavation and construction could, in several instances, go on imme- diately and be continued during winter, when supplies can be sent in more cheaply by sleighs, than with canoes in summer. When the road between Thunder Bay and Shebandowan Lake is completed, there will be no difficulty in conveying supplies to the works in the interior, and this is one of the reasons why it should be pushed through as rapidly as possible. Operations in such distant localities as Nameukan and Nequaquon, would be expensive and cannot well be undertaken until this road is completed. SCHEME OF A RAILROAD TO RAINY LAKE. In one of my preliminary reports, printed soon after the explorations had commenced in the North-West Territories, occurs the following passage : — “ When the circumstances of the country would admit of the outlay, a con- “tinuous railroad — 195 miles in length — might be made between Lake Superior “and Rainy Lake, and another of 91 J miles between Lac Plat and Fort Garry. “ If this were done, and two locks constructed at Fort Frances, the Red River “ Settlement would be within less than two days’ journey of Lake Superior, &c.” (Journal Reports of 1860, N. W. Territories, page 29.) Since the report containing the above was written, there has been much ad- ditional exploration, and the result has been to show that a railroad of 40 miles, between Thunder Bay and the navigable waters of the interior section, combined with the lockage suggested, would be of greater advantage and vastly more eco- nomical, both in construction, in the first instance, and in working it after- wards, than a continuous line to Rainy Lake. The latter, although the distance, in an air line, is only one hundred and seventy miles, allowing for neces- sary curvature, in such a region, would run up to about two hundred miles, and there are certain very important conditions which it would not meet. 13 194 It could not be extended at a future period to the Red River Settlement, except through United States Territory, on accoi^it of the Lake of the Woods, which spreads its waters for a hundred miles directly across its course ; and it could form no part of a line from Canada to Fort Garry, as it would be over sixty miles distant from such a line at its starting point, on Lake Superior, and about a hundred at its terminus on Rainy Lake. It would only be a “ Portage Railroad,” available during the season of navi- gation, for connecting one tract of navigable waters with another. In this respect it would, no doubt, be highly useful, but the same object can be effected, in this case, by the shorter line of 40 miles now suggested, combined, as it would be, with the lockage necessary to render the navigation continuous, between its terminus and the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods. The idea of a continuous line to Rainy Lake, was merely thrown out as a sug- gestion in a preliminary report, in which were discussed the various ways of reaching the Red River Settlement and their advantages, as compared to the longer route through the United States. It has, however, had a great deal of importance attached to it, and been adopted by many warm advocates of open- ing communication with the North-West Territories, and I trust they will per- ceive that I am not now arguing so much against their views as explaining why a suggestion made by myself, before the explorations had proceeded far, might now be improved upon, by extending the navigable section and adopting a greatly shorter and less expensive railroad. The principle in both cases is the same, — a railroad from Thunder Bay to the navigable waters of the interior — only that, as now proposed, the navigation would be extended to within a shorter distance of Lake Superior. FURTHER SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS. Between Niingon Bay and Fort Garry. As already explained, in projecting a line of railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement, Nipigon Bay should be adopted as the starting point. Running from thence in the most direct course possible, the line would come upon Lac Seul — a large sheet of water tributary to the Winnipeg. From thence it is likely that practicable ground would be found by keeping in a course nearly direct to the north end of the Lake of the Woods. From the latter point to Fort Garry, the country is better known, and no great difficulty need be appre- hended, except in the vicinity of Rat Portage, where a considerable area is oc- cupied by low rocky hills. Should the ground prove to be of a very difficult character between Lac Seul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods, it is probable that a better line might be found by following the valley of the English River — the discharge of Lac Seul — to the Winnipeg, crossing the latter above the confluence of the two, and continuing along its valley to the Seven Portages, from which point a line could be carried to the Red River Settlement, in a distance of about forty miles, over a level but somewhat swampy 'country. By adopting the valley of the English River the distance would not be greatly lengthened, and according to the most reliable accounts a fair country would be thrown open for settlement. Fine crops are raised at the Hudson’s Bay Company farm at Lac Seul, and, as limestone underlies a portion of the country, it is reasonable to suppose that where it prevails, the soil, as is generally the case, must be good, and the ground at the same time favourable for railways. The principal difficulties will doubtless be found in this case, as elsewhere 195 with lines starting from Lake Superior, in getting to the waters of the western slope. A survey should he made of^tlie entire route and, in carrying it out, the levels along the water courses should he determined hy actual measurement, with the spirit level, and the elevation of the adjoining country ascertained, approxima- tely, hy the barometer. The region is intersected hy rivers and lakes, navigable to birch canoes, so that no great time need be occupied in making a cursory survey, such as would be necessary to ascertain the general character of the country. This survey might be combined with operations at Fort William, so that no separate organisation would be required. Between Thunder Bay and Rainy Lake. Measurements require to be taken, on which to base estimates for the work required to render the navigation continuous between Shebandowan Lake and Fort Frances, and in view of the importance which must now attach to the country on the line of route, cursory surveys should be made of all the lakes and tributary streams for a considerable distance on either side thereof. These sur- veys might, without greatly increasing the outlay, be carried on in connection with the work on the projected roads and dams already reported on. Mr. EUSSELL’S WOEK ON THE NOETH-WEST TEEEITOEIES. In concluding this report I feel it incumbent upon me, in the interest of public information, on the subject of the North-West Territories, to draw atten- tion to a work by A. J. Eusseli, Esq., of this city, about to issue from the press of Geo. E. Desbarats, Esq., an advance copy of which I have had the privilege of perusing. A lack of proper knowledge of these immense regions, so widely different in their climatic influences — though heretofore so generally referred to under the somewhat chilly name of Hudson^ s Bay^ to which vast territories, thus classed, bear not the slightest affinity — and the utter want of any available means of acquiring such knowledge, has heretofore precluded the possibility of any general practical discussion of the results to be attained by the development of the country. The information about to be laid before the public in Mr. Eussell’s work, will, therefore, be of the very greatest importance, drawing, as it does, from every source that patient investigation could render available such stores of knowledge as have yet accumulated, and presenting the whole, illustrated by maps shewing the fertile and the barren, the genial clime which invites millions of settlers to till the virgin soil, and the hyperborean regions where the hunter and the fur trader will still have unmolested sway, in a manner that will enable every one to judge for himself of the future that awaits the Dominion that now presents so vast a field for enterprise and pro- gress. Mr. EusselPs work is deserving of a more extended notice than comes within the scope of this report. THE GEEAT NOETH-WEST. Although it may seem to be stepping aside a little from the direct matter of this report — properly confined to the subject of opening the communication — yet, inasmuch as I have, heretofore, under the orders of the Government, visited 196 the great region farther to the west, to which the opening of the first link is hut the unbarring of the gateway, I cannot close without'congratulating the country and the honorable gentlemen themselves, on the success achieved by the depu- tation in settling a question that lays open to the enterprise of the Dominion a region which forms no inconsiderable portion of the American Continent, and which is probably unsurpassed, in the variety and extent of its natural resources, by any other area of equal dimensions on the earth’s surface. To those who believe that the North-West country, including the Eed River and Saskatchewan valleys, were properly a part of Canada, when they consider the formidable array which stood in the way of establishing our rights, and the vastness of the stake, the sum to be paid will appear insignificant ; and when, in addition to all that could have been fairly claimed, we acquire an immense territory, rich in the products of the chase, in fisheries and probably in mines, to which the right of the Hudson’s Bay Company was not even in dispute, and extinguish thereby the last vestige of a sway which, however mildly exercised, is not conformable to constitutional usage, over any part of British North America, a result has been accomplished of which the country at large and the delegates themselves may justly feel proud. There is but one point in the transaction to which some seem disposed to take exception, and that is the appropriation to the Company of a small propor- tion of the land within the district known as the Fertile Belt, and which is not the only fertile belt in the wide regions of the North-West. I would scarcely feel justified in touching on this subject did I not believe, from long personal intercourse with the resident members of the Company, that the arrangement will work well and conduce to the general advantage. No one will dispute the wisdom and ability with which the Hudson’s Bay Company have conducted their aflairs, and if in the past they have sought to ex- clude settlement, as opposed to their interests, is it not reasonable to believe that the same ability will now be directed to its promotion, both because they will have other dealings with Canada, which will make it their interest to act in concert with her, and because their lands in the fertile belt will thereby in- crease in value ? Assuming this as the natural result, I can speak of the resident partners and officers of the Company as having it in their power to render the most important services, both in aid of settlement and in the control of the Indian element. They are wedded to the soil ; they know every part of the country, and under the new regime they will feel that their interests are identical with its progress. Moreover, the influence of the partners in England — many of whom are in posi- tions which will render their aid of the greatest importance — in directing emigration to the Prairies of the West, will probably be of more avail than any other effort likely to be made in the same direction. To conclude, there is a beautiful and fertile land of vast proportions, inviting the husbandman to its virgin soil. If we, in turn, invite and interest all influ- ences in the Dominion, the Hudson’s Bay Company included, to unite in its development and in directing emigration and settlement to it, the day is not distant when a teeming population of millions will find there the means of prosperity and plenty ; and it would be a fitting sequel to the work now being accomplished if, within a few short years from this date — which is quite pos- sible — the delegates of last winter. Sir George E. Cartier, Bart., and Hon. Wm. McDougall, C. B., with the best appliances of modern travel, could visit the fer- tile belt, and see its broad navigable rivers, cutting through great coal fields near their sources, to wind for many hundreds of miles through grassy prairies of unsurpassed fertility or, passing from this fertile belt, to view still another belt as vast, — farther to the north, but farther also to the West, and under the cli- matic influence of a lower level — where another navigable river, the great Unjiga, taking its rise in the plains of British Columbia, cuts through the Rocky Mountains, in its course of a thousand miles, and winds eastward 197 through woodland and prairie, across ten degrees of longitude. This is the region which so impressed Sir Alexander McKenzie, the lirst civilized man who had ever beheld it. Early in May he saw the country green with exuberant verdure, its gently undulating hills and valleys covered, far as the eye could reach, with vast herds of Buffalo and Elk, with their young frisking about them. He speaks of its soft and beautiful scenery, its trees in full blossom, and indeed, to judge from his account, as well as from the narratives of other travellei’s, it would seem as if this remote country of the Unjiga, with its winding streams, its clumps of trees, and beautiful green sward, and its herds of untamed cattle, rivals, if it does not surpass, in many places, all the groves, lawns and plantations Avith Avhich genius and art seek to adorn the habitations of civilized life. Ilespectfully submitted, S. J. Dawson. KOByH-WEST & HU»80Jff'g BAIT 'S'ES.SXS’OSSSa, V- * ■ ' . j. ; ■( Canadian Illustrated News,” A WE EKT.Y J( )XTKNAL Of current events, Literature, Science and Art, Agriculture and Mechanics, Fashion and Amusement. 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