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Liverpool to Quebec PORTLAND OR HALIFAX, N.S — BY THE — Trans-Atlantic Ocean Steamship Lines Forming Pirect Communications by Kail with the GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY OF CANADA. The Direct Throngh Line. SHORTEST SEA PASSAGE TO AMERICA. Uverpool toQuebeo ,. 9,600 mllrs. lilrerpool to Portland 3,700 •* 514— N.-'79. '<<>nd, McNslly (k Co., Pr\nt«r*, Chicago. mND TRUNK R't TratiS'Continental Jioute. Over 1300 HilesDier Die ma Wit TO MANITOBA AND THB- Kmlgranls from Karope to the rich wheat-prodacing Itinda of Manitoba, and the Ai^loultural and Mining DU- tricta of British Columbia, will find the cheapest and best route via Quebec or Portland and the Grand Trunk Ball- way of Canitda. This is the lecritimate route to the Northwest, alTord- Ingr a continuous trip and maklnK direct connections with the Steamer lines from Point Edward and Collinewood, and by rail thronKh to Fort Garry, WInnlpegr, and all points In the Northwest Territories. PassenKers arrlvlnic at Quebec or Portland <^re trans- ferred with their haggage fiee to the railroad trains, which run alongside the vessel at the wharf. DepotM nr Stations for the reception of emigrants are provided at Quebec, Sherbroohe, Montreal, Ottawa, Kings- ton, Toronto, Hamilton, liOndon (OntO i^nd Winnipeg, where full Information will be afforded and pronapt assis- tance rendered to Intending settlers bj the Kmigratlon Agents, Information as to passage tickets and rates of passage by the various lines, can be obtained upon application at the Office of the Grand Trunk Railway, 21 Old Broad Street, London, E. C, and the offices of the Canadian Steam- ship Lines In Liverpool, and throughout Europe. To Sportsmen and Excursionists. Tickets will be Issued by all rail, or by rail and the Lakes, to the various points in the Northwest during the sporting season. Apply for full information to steamship agents at Liverpool and In Europe, and at the Office of the Grand Trunk Railway, 91 Old Broad Street, London, E. O. JOSEPH HICK80N, General Manager Grand Trunk Bailway. -^anh le Noftbest The finest Prairie Lands i to be found in Manitoba a western Territories, capable rapid cultivation, producing food for cattle, and affording for agricultural productions The total area of lands fit in this region is estimated acres, of which 10,660,369 ac surveyed. The emigration and immigration from the po] America to this country is r ing, owing to the great ad^ prairie land, Easily Cultivated! Rapid Has over any other class of h purposes and agricultural la ANU oftbestTeffitoff it Prairie Lands in America are id in Manitoba and the North- ^rritories, capable of easy and vation, producing abundance of ittle, and affording every facility tuial productions of all kinds, irea of lands fit for cultivation ^ion is estimated at 375,184,000 hich 10,660,369 acres are already The emigration from Europe, ration from the populated parts of ) this country is rapidly increas- to the great advantages which J. Itivated | Rapidly Productive ny other class of land for farming nd agricultural labor. LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN COLONY Northwest Territory, British Dominions, Domini Steamsi Coiaiy's imm The Little SackatcUewttn Colony was started into existence in ISI '. The land U undulating, well watered. it« surface soil being a black loam from five to eii;ht feet deep, with clay cubsoil. It produces the finest of Mangolds, Swedes, Dutch Turnips, Potatoes, Beets, Beans, Peas, Wheat, Oats, Barley, Hops, etc. There is already founded a town called Rapid City; Flour Mill, Saw Mill, Blacksmith's Shop, General Store, and many other buildings are being erected. At the Little Saskatchewan are the Postofllce and Qoveniment Land Office. From the Little Saskatchewan River Steamboats can go to Winnipeg. It is proposed to have a Railway to the Little Saskatchewan built within three years. Nearly six square miles ot the Reserve hnve been taken up this year by Emigrants from Scotland, North of Ireland, the Counties Durham, Devon, Essex, Glgucester and Kent. Thousands of farmers have settled this year on the banks of the river, over an area of fifty miles. The farms are in grass, bluffs of trees being picturesquely scattered over them, providing the settlers with timber for fuel, fencing and building purposes. The land does not require years of toil to cut away the timi)er, neither stumps grubbed out before planting; the sod can be ploughed in the spring, seed sown and roots planted, and a crop gatK ncoting witli Graud Trunk Railway at Quebec. Steerage Passage and Tliird Class Fare» via Rail, Lake and Rail to Winnipeg, will be about (probably less) . . - - 10 Cabin and First Class Fare, via Rail, Lake and Riil to WIN!)IP£G, will be about (probably less) 21 To Famlliis by Steerage a slight reduction is made per Adult. To make the Farm a fair size not less than 320 acres are allotted. 19 6 rrA-BLiz: a. A m-kn Freehold Farm for £200 Cash. 3SS0 Acres of Land. 1 7oke of Ozen. 1 Oow with Oalf. 1 Sow and Boar. 2 Sheep. _ . 12 Duoks. 12 O'eese. 12 Chiokens. 50 Fruit Trees. 1 Plough. 1 Wagon. Bake. Pork. Hoe. A NEW WOOD HOUSE, 20 hy 24, ONE ST0B7 HIGH. Seed Com for 10 Aores. Uangold, Swede, Turnip Seeds, for four Aores. Potato Sets for two Acres. A Cahin Passage and First Olass Bail Fare to Winnipeg. The Title to the Land is direct from the Crown. A Deposit of £50 must be forwarded a few weeks before leaving, to allow the house being completed. For Map of Reserve Lands and full particulars, apply to FLINN, MAIN & MONTOO^fERY, 24 James Street, Liverpool. Ojp Local Agents throughout Great Britain. Routes for LIVE Via Qiiel>ec, F By Ocean Steamer— Ijlverpool to Quebec Liverpool to Portia The best and geograph the Atlantic to the Cont By Grand Trnnk Raili Quebec or Portland 800 mllea). By Michigan Central 1 Detroit to Chicago. By Chicago, St. Paul & Chicago, Milwaukee Chlrago to St. Paul And St. Paul & PaciflC; Canada Pacific Rai St. Panl to Wlnnipei GREAT ^ of the Northwest Te sions, througrh whic Paoiflo Railway, O] lands of the Norths veyed. I Routes for British Settlers TO IH-E-OX/E- LIVERPOOL, Via, Quel>eo, Portlaud oi* Halifax. Jy Ocean Steamer— lilverpool to Quebec (In Sammer). Liverpool to Portland (in 'Winter). Tlie best and geographically the shortest rente acrogs he Atlantic to the Continent of America. Sy Grand Trnnk Railnray— Quebec or Portland to Detroit (one through line for 800 miles). 3y Michigan Central Railway- Detroit to Chicago. 3y Cliicago, St. Paijl k Minneapolis (Chicago & Noith-iestem), or Cliicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railways- Chicago to St. Paul. Lnd St. Paul & Paciilc, and Canada Pacific Railways— St. Panlto Winnipeg and points in manitoba and thn GBEAT WHEAT LANDS )f the Northwest Territories and British Posses- sions, through which the route for the Canada Paciflo Railway, opening up the rich prairie ands of the Northwest, has already been sur- B^eyed. ROUTES TO 1£ANIT0B A- Continued. By Ocean Steamer— Iilverpool to Quebec, Portland or HallCnx. By Grand Trunk Railway— '* Quebec, Portland or Halifax to Point Edward. By Way of the Great Lakes to Dnluth. STEAMEBS SAIL REGULARLY FROM Collingwood and Point Edward via Lakes Huron and Superior, to DULUTH The Junction with the Northern Pacific Railway, Thence from Dnluth to Olyndon— By the Northern Paciflo and St. Paul & Padfle Rail- ways, and to Crooktton and Fisber's Landinf* and St. Vincent or Pembina by the St. Vincent Extension Line. Connecting with the Canada Pacific B'y— (Running parallel with the Red River), for Eaaerson, DuflTerin, West Iena m uMK Zudington ^ CEN. IVCH. ^"^^-^^ C^\0^^ 'C4>. (?rea< Bend B urlin gton^ Springfield, Bloomington "^^ f J^" [ndianai)^|lB. ToTe? J't.Wflyne Sidney! Toj)Jk^ ^Dayton/ T vcennes^ Cincinnati j as (},n(idian ^iv. '«>' JFt.Scott Poplar muff j2iij«xi,ouiByille Yinita ^Nashville/ Danville Huntsvillc tr \ume o JFt.Afhuckle -;;Riv€r TorfWorfh o- Little Hoclc lJ)enison ^ Decatrlr) Li«*r 'AUl SJireveport/;^ Grenada iVicksburi ] Xirmirufham Chattanooga^T"'''A Chafl( Atlanta \ % IVaco Camp Xancaster Anstin San Antonio Indinola '"''"U "'"'•* CHuntsville [Housto. [oljile Jlontgimery ^"{/"^^a ^u/aula Savannah TallaliasBce ?^ fey ncos*] LUTSBPOOL V I JL §EAND ^] 1 •THE -Z'XtOXA EfiPOOL to the &B1AT VOBTHWIST, AND THB ^1 'MANITOBA AND THB J?i|wjriitorL. route »laQu"b«««-5'**'*'''"» And th« ^t"** Mining di«- |wheref„in„,' '•*«»»'ton, l^ndon (^Oll♦^» *!*''*• KIom. JOSEPH HICK80N Tlio iii<,' soiiio wiiii-h L( uiid has t viz., ":>I;l It nij of one wl party bin jotting- do Ji;is made interoMtiii Om- ' ni:j;lit last AVc tbinid comfort o; the smoot ■scaix'oly I I'cachod tl the samo almost a« in Chicagc can rci'om })rietoi'j to liold ill ihi ovoiyiliiii.. arc emjilo tiii'tiiiig 01 l''air i.s cx] since it o] ^ ^ T II E WEST AND NORTH- WPJST. NOTES OF A HOLIDAY TRIP. 23r(? Si'ptnnhcr, 1870. The wiitoi-of tlicsc Icttoi-B.ivailod himself of Iho opjwrtunityof Jf)in ntf some friends in ti holiilay visit to that land ',of Canadian pi-omis viiieh Lord Jieaconsfield's recent speech has drawn so much attention to, uid has thus aroused the severe ciiticism of our American neighbours, iz., "r>Ianitol)a and the i^reat North-Wcst of Canada." It may not bo uninloresting to your readers to have the observatioris f one who will spealc of matters and things as- he finds them, free from tarty bias, as I trust I shall bo ahlc to do, i have the more confidence in tinir down mv notes bv the way, as our fellow-townsnuin, Mr. White, ^cnt there tlie rooms of the Board of Trado were the scene of one of those periodical displays which beggar descriji tion. Wheat, the great feature in a western market, went up six cents a bushel on that day, and the following da}- f(nu' cents more, and fortunes were made und, perhaps, lost in a few liours. Very lai-go quantities changed hands, and the excitement was ir.imenso. Just imjigine a room thieo times as largo as the Mechanics' Hall of your city with about a thousand people in it, each one of whom was trying to buy or sell wheat, and all crying out at the top of their voices the prices they would tako or give — it seemed to me like the effect of the whistle of a liundred loco- motives, with a dozen of (iilmour's band thrown in, togethc" with a. mnnngorie or two dui-ing feeding time, the whole heighten* I by the whispers of Niagara beard in the immediate vicinity. Even this givers you but a faint description of tho babel in the Corn Exchange on Friday kst. As I have already said, tho business of this city is said to be, and doubtless is, growing fast, but while it must increase, with tbo rapidly increasing growth of the West, there are those who believe thai it will not increase in tho future, in the same ratio, as it has done in the ))ast. It has heretofore had a monopoly of the liade of the West St, Louis, ono of its principal competitors, towards which city thc> Mississippi naturally draws tho products of the country which it waters,, has not I'oon able to keep pace with Chicago ; tho latter city having forced her raihoads in to tho West and North-Wcot country and acro^A. the great river, and thus tapped the fertile fields of the further West, and drawn over these railroads what would otherwise naturally have gone downUhe river to St. Louis. Chicago, in her turn, Avill bo .somewhat attected by tho same enter- prize 'i which (»thor Westein cities are developing, and she will not have in tho futuio that exclusive monopoly of trade which she has hitherto controlod. The City of Milwaukee, and nho the cities of St. Paul an the Sault Ste. Mario and given a complete connection from St. Paul to Montreal or any other Atlantic port 400 miles shorter than by Chicago or any other route. St. Paul will thus command the carrying trade of these fertile Prairies of Dacotah and other Western Territories, as well as that which she now possesses. The future of this city and her sister city of Minneapolis is bright, indeed, if the railway projects they have in view are carried out. In this project we Canadians should feel a deep interest. Wo are building a railway, at a great outlay of capital, to connect the Wetit with the East and to mako our seaports of Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, and St. John the seaports for the produce of that great western country of our own, which we desire to open; and surely, it is the interest of our states- men, as it is their duty, to endeavour to supplement the stream of trade which should flow over it, in everyway in their power. Our own Pacific road will take the traffic of Manitoba and the nearer portions of the North-West, and will always retain that trade ; but, as the American railways through Dacotah and Minnesota are coming up and extending into our farther North- West, they will draw off a certain portion of that traflGo to the markets of Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, and Boston, and us to these will compete for its shipment with the port of 3Iontreal. This competition the construction of the Sault Ste. Marie connection will avert. Let any one look at the map and ho will see that it is almost a direct air lino by tho Sault from St. PauTn to Montreal, and its constiuc- ^ THE WE9T AND NORTll-WEST. tion, without at all iptcrforiniij with tlie trade of our owi^. road in Canada, would largely augraont the voluino ofti-atfic whore it jcjincii the Canadian systom at the Sault. But more of this in future. VVhat 1 have Btatod are the conclusions at which J have arrived from the information which 1 gained on the train and in Cliicago. I had the pleasure of meeting several of the leading merchants of the latter city, and they described the busiiiess as in a most prosperous condiiion. In the di'y goods ti-ade the great trouble witli them was to obtain the goods fj'om the manufacturers as fast as tlioy were required, and the space in their establishments, used in ordinary times for packing ])urposos, was entirely too limited for the present state of the trade. The same complaint was made in reference to the whole^^ale grocery business. They also informed me that tlieir trade was all carried on for cash or on a credit of 30 or 60 days. In this there is ground for serious reflection ior our Canadian merchants, who, with their largo stocks of goods on hand, are unable to do business in a similar manner. They give six months, and often have to renew for three more, and, as a necGssary consequence, have themselves to get excessive banking accommodation to carry on their business, whilst the Chicago merchant prosecutes his without any such aid. The adoption of the Chicago system would keep many men out of business who have no right to be in it, and who inter- fere seriously with the honest dealer who trades Avithin his means. Were thit4 policy adopted by our wholesale merchants there would be less necessity for a Bankrupt Law, either for themselves or their customers. Wo left Chicago at 9 p. m. on Fridaj-, and ari-ived at St. Paul at noon next day. The route which we came by was that known as the Mil- waukee and St, Paul, of which that enterprising merchant and banker of MUwaukee, the Hon. Alexander Mitchell, is President. I cannot say anything of the appearance of the country for the fust eight hours, as night supervened; but, from daylight, I had a good ojipor- tunity of judging of the character of the country through which the rail- road passed, and it certainly is not one to attract the attention of settlers, otherwise than to get out of it as fast as possible. Until we reached a town called Sparta, at about 8 a. m., 1 did not see a single farm that would have ottered any great attraction to one of our Caruidian farmers ; iu)r did 1 sec any traffic on the highways which were in sight. It may be that from the conformation of the country — like that of our own Intercolonial — the road passes through the least desirable lands of the State, and I am told that that is the fact, I have, therefore, little else to remark about it, except the peculiarity of its formation. A great portion of it was sand interspersed with morass, and, hero and there, scattered like tiio Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence, were mounds and j^eaks of rocks, ranging from 30 to 200 feet in height. These extended for miles in length on both sides of the line of road, presenting, in many in- stances, abrupt rocky faces, without any ve»dure, and nearly perpendicu- lar. Such a landscape was apt to induce reflection as to the means by which this peculiar formation was brought about, and the probability that the valley through which we were passing, miles in width, might, atone tiinc, hav'j been the bed of a mighty river. There was nothing very in- viting at Sparta — not even the breakfast. The chief attraction of this plaoe iu a mineral spring, which gives it some noto- NOTES OF A HOLIDAY TIIII'. as could bo scon, it is n»)t Shortly aftor passing that ili^siiablc as an })oint, howovor, I'ioty ; but, so far agricultural region. tho country began to improve; I saw that the larnis increased in size ; and, by the time wo reached Winona, tho country was vastlj' better, yet 1 saw nothing adapted for wheat growing. Tho crop was almost entirely Indian corn, with but few vegetable oi' root crops ; and this remark also applies to the country up to within 35 miles of St. Paul. At Eed Wing, the next stopping j)lace, however, which is a great milling depot, I discovered signs of that agricultural wealth for which Miimesota is so celebrated, and while tho train stopped I saw strings of teams loaded with bags of grain, which were said to be chiefly filled with coi-n or rye, and sometimes wheat. Tho same scene was again jjresented at the next two stopping places, viz., Eed Wing and LaUo City, at ouch of which I counted, waiting at the elevator for their tui-n to unload, or coming in on tho country roads, from thirty to forty double teains with loaded waggons. I was told that this sight was of daily occuri-ence during tho season. How many would make up tho probable average during tho day I could not learn, but tho quantity must bo very consider- able. At several of the smaller places I saw elevators for tho receipt of gi-ain, and occasionally witnessed tho arrival of tho farmers with their loads. From Sparta tho character of tho country changed, and I there got sight of those immense heights of land, which, as they near tho Great Hiver, dovelopo into what are called the Blulls of iho Mississippi ; tho land suddenly rises to a groat height, from 80 to 150 foot, more or less abrupt; and the top consists, I was informed, of e:!itendcdand fertile plains, capable of cultivation, while along tho face of the Bluffs, hero and there, at irregular distances, iinmenso projections of rock crop out in all sorts of fantastic shapes. One of these which appears like a bird with extended wings, and a red color, is said to have given the name to lied Wing City in its vicinity. Wo first got sight of tho Father of Waters at La Crosse, an enterprising and busy city with a population of about fourteen thousand. 1 must confess to a feeling of disappointment at its size and appearance, until I reflected that 1 was viewing it at a distance of nearly 2,000 miles from its mouth. Tho water was very low, tho sand bars were bare, and the volume of water shrunk under the drving heats of summer to within very narrow limits, compared to tliof^o of tl e spring, and later on of the fall. Wc saw but one of tho floating Mississippi River palaces, which wo heard so much of in former years and which did tho business of this part of tho country; and she was Ij'ing aground across the stream, while a gang of men seemed to be at work with sampson jiosts at her bow attempting to lift her oif the bar. With this exception and a half-dozen tugs and a few rafts of logs, which looked to me, from the appearance of the bark, as if they luid been hiid up waiting for a rise cither in the water or the market, 1 saw no traffic on this mighty river. Its influence as a promoter of civilization and com- merce, which was so important in the past, is gone, never to retul-n, and the steel rail and the locomotive have taken its place. So far as 1 could judge from a casual visit and a bird's-eye view ns we passed along, tlieio is not one-tenth part of the traffic upon the river Jiere that there is on our own Ottawa ; but when wo spe«k of tho railroad tiafiic the picture is fo«rfully reversed against us. When 1 got within about 25 10 TlIK WEST AND NORTH-WEST. miles of St, Paul'!* I luul the first H\; as far as the eye could reach, and covered with a most luxuriant growth of corn. The season was rather too late to see the wheat and rye, but doubtless had [ seen it, it would have ecjually im- pressed me, as did the corn crop. The character of the soil ajjpcarcd to be entirely charu^ed, from a litcht, thin, sandy soil, as described above, to a rich, black, samly loan; the very sight of which would inspire the idea of abundant crops. This landscape, in greater or less extent, continued till wo reache.l St. Paul, the capital of the State, one of the l)usiost anci most enterprising cities of its size that I have seen since I loft Montreal. It is beautifully located on the east baidc of the Mississippi, and stretches from along the tiats of the river, up to and along the heights. From the elevated plateau of the Mississippi banks the view is niagniticent. The river can bo seen for a very considerable distance both up and down its couise. Navigation terminates hei'e — indeed, at seasons of low water, as at present, the lai-ge steamers cannot approach within five or six miles of it, and the t'reigbt, to leach its destination heir, has to bo transferred to smaller boats. Tiiis, however, is not of much consecpience to the pros- perity ot the place, as the railway facilities abundantly supply the wants of conimorce, and they are not small. The population of the city is about 50,000 soul:*. Tlie private residences are numerous and magnifi- cent, while the shop-i and warehouses, in many instances, surpass in size, equipment and oiegjince, anything I have seen in Canada. 1. have been told, on good authority, that there are houses hero, l)0th in dry goods and groceries', whose sales are over three millions of dollars per annum, and that one drug house sold last year over a million of dollars worth. Two of the most extensive and enterprising merchants in the grocery business in the city are Canadians, '' and it is greatly to their credit." The business of the city is rapidly increasing every year, and its import- ance as a railway centre will be estimated by the tact that it is the centre of eight distinct lines, or systems of j-ailways, radiating in all directions, more than one of them being over 2,000 miles in length. I will now close, and, should I find that you thiidc this woi-th inserting, may send you another letter or two when I get as far as Manitoba, and learn something by my own personal observation of that countly. P. M. SECOND LETTER. lit." porl- tho all I M. 3i)(h Srpt ember, 1B7J). Oil ili(! orior flouriiif^ mills, the i)rodiiC' •; of which are so well Unowii in our city as Pilsbury's aud Washhiini's '-t vcelsior." •' choice "' :)iid best biaiKls. Tt is claimed that the lar«^e.st mid-, of the kind in America are there, and that they manufacture the tinest flour, it being entirely mado from northern flint wheat, which in Chicago nuirkot brings four to five cents more than the wheat grown in the more southerly regions. The city owes the fact of its being n great manufacturing ceniro mainly to the Falls of St. Anthony, over which the Mississij)pi rolled uninterrupted by any obstructions up to less than a qmirtor of a century ago, and doid)t- less then presented a grand and picturesque a}»pearance These Falls have receded more than ont^ mile towards the source of the river, within the memory of men now living. The soft sandstone rcx-lc wiiich formed the bed of the river has in many ]ilaces little more consistency than a hard pressed yellowish white sand, and by the abrasure of the water, it has gradually but rapidly worn away. This point was seized upon bj' the practical and enterprising American mind as the location of a city and a great manufacturing centre. A company was formed to dam the river, which was done from side to side, and sluices and watei - ways, as on the Ottawa at ilie Chaudierc, were erected on either side. Saw mills, flouring mills, cott(^n and woollen mills, and various kinds of manufacturios were built, and the ])owor to drive them was derived from these sluiceways, and so much has this powci* been utilized that it has left the apron or face of the dam, which tills the river bed, and ovei- which the Mississippi is supposed to (low, almost entirely , from three to ten feet v^ide, and of various depths from two to six fc«i, which have drawn the water off from what, :d:»ovo the Falls, is still the Mississippi. Without .^uch facilities there would jtrobably never have been a, city hero, and these are the cause of its great prosperity, wealth and rapidly increasing population. The friable nature of the rock which causes the annual receding of the Falls is a source of great anxiety to the citizens, and not many years since, on the occasion of a great flood, which swept away a hnrge portion of the dam, it was discovered that, although the top of the Fall was protected from abrasion, the back current at the bottom of the bed, or at the ordinary water l^each, had worn away the mrfaco of the ir.ck. This was the caiiFe of the waf-h-i lit of the dm), i.nd iho j:.nrtiv8 NOTES OK A HOLFDAV TRIP. 18 intci'CsttHl woro compolkMl t<> ro^oi't to artilU-ial means to protoet it. Tliey cemontocl tlio i'lH'n of tho rook hy moans of u tiuiiio! from the \mI of tli(^ I'ivor upwanls, and liopo thus to arrost tho ])roi^rosH of tlio ahi-a.sion and dofay which has l)ocn i?oin<^ on for conturios. IMhh far it isot-ms to ho .satisfactory. Vou will hear in mind that I am doscrihintj tho Mi.ssissip])i as I saw it — in M'liat 1 am told has hcen an oxcci)tionall\- dry year, and at tho driest season of timt year hut it, no douht, presents a very ditl'erent appearance in spring and fall. Coini)aiin<^ this jjoini with what corresponds to it on our own Ottawa, at tho Chaudiero Falls, 1 should ho witliin tho mark in estimating tho power of tlio Chaudioro hs ten times greater than tiiat so-classed Falls of St. Atithony on the /^•reat Father of Waters. IJut wo do not iiso our natural i-osoure«.'s to tho samo extent, nor in the varied manufactures they huvo at Minneapolis. Jn tho lumher mills, our Ottawa manufacturers are, Ikav- ever, ahead of those of the city I am descrihing, both in extent and e(piipmont, and llu' Chaudiero jieoplo will learn lltllo hy coming"^ to this ]»laco to got tly susceptUblo of easy handling; but for twenty miles still uncompleted, aver three of which I walked, the country is peculiarly picturesque, with rolling hills, covered with oak timber of a small size, while the valleys run in all directions. The contractor informed me that they had not been able to got a lino that would not involve scoral pretty large cuttin";s. Ono I saw about half-a-milo in length, and several others many hundreds of feet in length, ono of them about sixty feet high. Several small lakolets had to be filled, and in some cases piled. Some of the^ j^l€« I saw driven, and thoy WQve over fifty feet long, and had all : Co. to hoy ai'o :h. AVo it 2 a.m., V of that 96 miles ipi to St. osing at •ty miles h on tl.o ■growini^ , thoiiijjli iratively Jcsimblo n of tlio 3 soil in , with ii I. I Haw car, one in corn, terabovo ho wost- assumod lis is the The line , Minnea- or ])hi(.'t', II, AVilC'l It is ;}() of the oroui«;hlv 1 of i ur no beini;" et in the 1) tractor, )lacod in )ecembei' t may Ix- ho siec])- no rock ould t^eo, leculiaily jmpicted, quo, with 10 valleys • had not tty lai-go al others ■oot hii;;li. Some of Id had all N0TE8 OF A HOLIDAT TRIP. 17 to be cairie 1 to the work, a distance of 160 miles, and yet ho speaka wilh confidence of completing it by the first of December. I walked with lh« party over three miles of consti'uctlon of the character I have described. Why is it that our railway system in Canada is not pushed on in ih« • 'mo way? At the timo in which the above works were let in Jun« list, one hundred miles of road from Winnipeg was let to bo constructed ©u'ly ne,\t stimmer, and up to this time, with all the best of the season g >no, the v.'oi'k has not been practically commenced till wiihin a fevr days — if it is practically commenced even now. When asked the reason, ouG gentiomaii from .Vinnipeg, who had just arrived from thence and who gave me my information, said that the engineers had not fixed upon the exact location where the lino was to run. Bat more of this hereafter. V/hen wo awoke on the morning of our ai-rival at Pomnie do rorro River, 1 found wo wore alongside a ear of the Kansas Pacific IJailroj'd, occupied by a party of gcnllemcn from Kansas, composed of army offieoi's and others, who were out for sport. I perceived several hundred , birds slung under the car on the longitudinal bars. Those birds wore drawn and prej)ared for transportation, and it was hoped to bo able to pi-eservo and take them homo as trophies of their success as sportsmen These gentlemen said thoy had not had much sport, as tl 'y were I'athor early for ducks, the weather being too \vaim and fine for good shooting, and too late ibr the praii'io chickens. I will not attempt to describe tiio actual trip over the line by daylight in detivil. That is unnecessary, as the whole country presents one of two pictures — either the level jirairio stretching as far as the eye can reach, apparently adead level, or else tho broken or rolling prairie, on tho sides of which tho braes, as they would bo called in Scotland, are covered to their tops, with a small-sized growth of oak. I saw no lai-go timber on tho route. Tho upper end of this lino, for ab )iii thirty miles, is lai'gcly of this character, and it is not tho least desiraldo for setilemont, mucii less is it tho least charming and atti-active portion of the country. Tliese hills or mounds, for most ot them aie only of the latter character, are composed of a rich black loam or mould clear to the toj); and the residences of tho settlers, who are chiefly Nor- wegian small holders, are generally ])laced in a picturesque po.sition on the side ot the elevation with a southerly as| oct. Wo did not see on tho u]ipor portion of (he road a great number of houses in proportion to tho exieiit of terj'itory ; but I ])resumc that, in tho broken country, tho rail- road was not located so much with a view to find tho line which would suit tho settlors, as to find that which would bo easiest to build. I may add that in the vicinity of, and interspersed throughout those brolccn sections, were largo tracts of prairie land, and 1 should judge that such portions were tho most desirable for a ])orson who wished to settle in the country — as it is more sheltered— with fuel handy, and a better location ft)r health and water. As to tho water, 1 had always understood that it was one of the groat drawbacks of tho prairie country, but yostorda}', I tasted iho water from several of tho streams, and T found it in tho broken country very good, while it is not unpalatable in tho more level country. I am told that in tho pools where tliero is no *-tream as an outlet, and tho decay vegetable matter drains into them, it is brackish and not either pleasant or healthy, and i should think that very probable, aUhou|;h I did not happen to Hlriko any inch wat«i% With rogmti W 18 THK WEST AND NORTH WEST. 1 ■ '<'.'■ 1' I :ll the prairio sections, they present a, groat cxpfinso; in some places like ft vast ocean, with only hei'e and there a house, or in a great majority of canes a hut or hovel for cattle — with Klacks of corn and hay, occasionally a fence — tlie .latter a niatter of rare oeciirrenco. The soil i.s a magnificent loam, as black as a black silk hat, and in other cases of the colour of burnt umber, and capable of beiiig cropped with wheat, year after year, without manure. The ci'ops, save the corn, some potatoes, and a few turnips, were housed, or rather taken off the ground before my arrival. I had not an opportanity of seeing what they were like, but they seemed to have been luxuriant from the appearance of the stubble, and I was informed that upwards of one million bushels of wheat will be taken out l>y the i-ailway from that section this season. I was rather surprised at not seeing larger herds of otittle and greater numbers of herds. One can only conjecture why this was so, in a countiy were grass grows spontaneously, and I presume that hitherto corn and wheat have paid better and required less outlay of capital and care. TJio threshing mills were going in several of the fields as we passed, where the grain had been stacked, but this, too, was of rare occurrence, as in this western country they generally 'hresh from the cutter. On almost every farm wo saw immense heaps of straw allowed to lie and rot — or eventually bo burned — just as it came from the thresher. The ploughs in general use are, however, worthy of n moi'o lengthy dcscrij)tion, and their use is an evidence of the facility with Avhieh American invention combines business with comfort. The sulky plough the only one 1 saw in use, to which I refer, is mounted on wheels, with a seat very much like a reaper. The driver sits on the seat and guides both horses and plough, the latter with a lover, and when he ha^ a plough that turns tw^o furrows at a time, he drives three horses abreast. When only one furrow is turned, two horses. The driver, and ho may be an active lad of fifteen who can manage horses, guides the plow with the greatest ease, and w^ill do nearly twice the work that can be done with an ordinary plough. I saw no ploughs other than these at M^ork in the whole day's journey. The reaper and self-binder is now in almost universal use iu this western country — a machine which not only cuts the grain, but binds it into sheaves; the material used for binding being thin wire. In describing the operation to me as he saw it on one of the largo farms in the northern part of this State, a prominent gentleman of this city, Colonel , said that when he lately visited one of the mammoth farms, he saw ihirty-six of these reapers and binders in a string, one after the other, going round the eight thousand acre farm, each machiiic cutting and binding and throwing off the bound sheaves with great accuracy, leaving the latter in a straight row upon the ground. 1 asked if they did the work clean, he said, "Yes, as clean as that floor, and while I was there "one of the teams ran away, and took right through the wheat and three **or foui' sheaves all the time in the air, just like the balls that a juggler " tosses keeping three or four going all the time." I smiled at the simile, and I sujiposo aj)poarcd tw doubt the accuracy of the information, for he added, "Jf any one doubts the "accuiacy of this slalement you can give mo as the authority "and if you como back next season, wlien the crop is fit to cut, 1 have a "small farm myself of 2,500 acres under crop, and, in addition to show- NOTEa OP A HOLIDAY TRIP. 19 aces like a lajority of •casionally lagniticent colour of after yeai', and a few ny arrival, icy bcemed iiid I was I taken out surprised of hoi'ds. ra8S grows have paid hing mills grain had in western very farm iitually bo oneral use • use is an OS business which I per. The alter with 1 lime, he [•ned, two I who can 1 do nearly I saw no \oy. The is western is it into describing 3 northern el , s, ho saw ho other, tting and y, leaving ey did the was there and three a juggler smiled at accuracy •ubts the authority , 1 have a to show- " ing you some of the finest horse and cattle stock in the State, I will "start one of tiio teams to a selt-binder, and make them run, and you " will be able to confirm l)y personal observation the correctness of my "statement." I learned that my friend tlie Colonel had one of the best bi-eeding farms in the State, and 1 give your readers the informatton as I got it, although it may cnuso a laugh at my expense. While on the subject of the self-binders, I may state that a serious difficulty resulted from the use of wire as a binder, as in process of threshing the wire would get broken, and small pieces find their way into the mills among the wheat. This caused for a while great distiaclion to the webs of the bolts, but the inventive American mind got over that diffieulty by insert- ing a bar to which is attached a double set of magnets, and which is placed whe\'e the wheat has to drop over it, and these magnets, while letting the wheat drop through, attract the wire and thus remove it. A miller kindly took out a bar of magnets and exhibited it to mo, with about 80 or 90 pieces of wire from a quarter to three inches in length sticking to it. This season they have tried hemp strings for binding, l)ut as yet no one seemed to bo quite satisfied of their success. I have already stated that I saw but few houses, and scarcely any barns along tiie upper hundred miles of the journey, though thei-o were immense fields of cultivated land, and very considerable preparations were niaking for next year's crop. They generally plough in the fall here to make sure of a crop, which is much less certain when the ploughing is done in the spring. I assumed this was because of the flat character of the land and the spring floods which kept it wet late in the spring ; but I was in- formed that the principal reason was, that they generally sowed before all the frost was out of the groifcid, in order that the crop might cover the ground well before the hot June weather came on and thus save the young plant from being root-83orched. These remarks apply to land that has been already cropped. When it is unbroken prairie, the land requires to be broken up before the end of July and should be allowed to lie fallow to rot the sod. It must then be re-ploughed or back set in the fall for the next season's croj). Thus they effectually prepare the ground for the spring sowing. I noticed a number of elevators and a few traders' shops in process of erection along the lino. We got back to our hotel about ten o'clock, after a most agreeable trip, and I propose to leave to-morrow for ^lanitoba, from whence I may probably write you again. What one hoars here of our JVIanitoba and North-West country is very gratifying — almost every one who had boon there spoke of the fertility of its soil, and of its crops in the highest terms — and it is hero generally admitted, if there is any difference in quality of soil or weight of crops, that the bahmco i.s in favour of the Canadian lands. One American gentleman hero, with whom I spoke on this subject, told mo that he was in Vl'^innipeg last summer, and he said to the Consul : " I hear a great deal " about your 50 and GO bushels to the acre lands and I just want you to " put your horse in the buggy and drive me to one of those farm* th.\t " can lick Minnesota; and by George he did, within three hours' drive " from the g trough for cattle, in which the seed is placed to drop through holes made for that purpose in the bottom, as the machine progresses. The disks, as they go over the ground, cut the sod whore it is new ground, and at the same time, by means of the convex shape, cover the seed. It must not be understood that the above process can be earned on until after the ground is plouglwd, for the cutting I have referred to applies to the treatment after the ground is prepared for its first crop, as, after that, none is required, the tough sod having all been rotted. On the farm referred to, 1 saw ten of the double mould-board ploughs at work, each with three horses abreast, and I was informed that when the condi- tion of the land is not unfavourable, they will break up about four or live acres per day each. The teams, both horses and oxen, are apparently trained to walk much faster than our farm horses, and the plough turns the sod about sixteen to eighteen inches wide, and about two and a-half to three inches deep. This, with new land on its first breaking, it is desirable to do in May or June, but it may be done up to August, the earlier the better, so that it may have more of the hot season to rot. Then, again, in the fall it is what is called " back sett," or returned to its original position by ploughing longitudinally as at first, so as to bring the rotted sod to the top. The furrow is laid flat, and not as with us set iij) on its edge, and, in the second ploughing, a couple of inches deeper is taken than in the first, which gives about four or five inches of cultivated soil. We passed, but not so nearly as to enable me to give a description of it, a fiirm of Mr. Dahymple, one of the show farms of the State, contain- ing 40,000 acres. He had, I was informed, 11,000 acres under grain last Boason, and which averaged twenty bushels to the acre, and expects to have 15,000 acres prepared this fall for the spring crop. A gentleman who saw the farm informed me that there were 126 ploughs of all kinds upon this magnificent farm, besides a cori'esponding number of sowers and harrows, cutters, self-binders and threshers. The plant alone of such a farm costs an enormous fortune. I understand that the produce of this farm was sold at Chicago at over eighty cents a bushel. It would be useless to attempt to describe the journey in detail ; what it was, as above described, it continued to be until avo got within about twenty miles of St. Vincent, on the border of the Province of Manitoba. Then, having approached nearer to the Ked River, we came into a country somewhat rolling in character, interspersed with clumps of oak, with the land of much the same consistency as on the open praii'ie. During the whole day we travelled over what is known as the Eod liiver Valley, which is said to average about 50 miles in width. The railroad runs i)uraliel to tho general direction of the river, at times twenty miles away from it and sometimes approaching as near to it as eight or ten miles. This valley has been the bed of some great inland sea, and it is generally believed that tho watei's of LaUe Winnipeg were discharged through it at some very remote period, before the Nelson River, which now performs u VEM WIST AND NORTH-VrEST. ililiil ll!i!;; .1 that function, Tras invented. Its banks wore indicated to us daiing the day by the lines of trees which wo saw in the distance, frowning from them. AlmoHt the whole way from Brcckenridgo we saw, at intervals, either prairie fires or the ficsh ashes where fiio had just parsed. 1 did not learn whether or no they were purposely set on fire, but 1 suspect in some cases the}' wore aw the ground is thus moie easily broken up ; besides, a fine covering of ashes tends to cniich the alieady fertile prairie soil. The valley hus abundance of gnme, such as prairie-chicken, pheasants, and we saw flocks of ducks and geese flying past ; but it does not exhibit the innumorable lakes and lakelets of the more eastern portion of the State described in my last letter. Occasionally during the day we saw embiyo cities containing from three to fift}' or more houses. The la.gcst of them are BiecUen- ridge, Glyndon, Crookstown and St. Vincent, besides the towns of Fisher's Landing and Grand Forks, both prospeious on the branch lino, fiora Crookstown to the Eed River. I was informed by a gentleman wlio was upon the train and appeared to be conversant with that part of tlie coun- try, that, north of Glyndon, two ycai-s ago, scarcely a bushel of wheat was carried between that point and St. Vincent, and it is not too much to say, judging from the preparations tliat are going on in the breaking of land, that very shortly m llions will bo raised npon it. In conversation with the Commissioner of the Lortdon Tinies whom I met at St. Paul's, 1 found he had estimated the wheat-ijrowing ca])acity of the JJed Kiver Valley at very many millions of bushels, and h< seemed to bo much im)n•e8^ed with its great fertilitj'and enoiniouH extent. He is a very woll-inlormed, intelligent Scotchman, and endeavours to get information from any and every source. I soon learned that ho was a thorough fiee-trader, and condemned our Canadian policy, in no uncertain' terms; but he learned that there was two sides to the question, when he talked with Americans or Canadians who understood the application of it to our country. In the group of hall-a-dozen people with whom he was conversing, mostly Americans, ho found that his tree-trade theories were not concurred in, either by his American or Canadian hearers, and that they quite under- stood, and realized that a policy suited to a wealthy overpopulated country like England, does not suit the condition either of Canada or the States. One of the companj'-, a very intelligent American, in dealing with the object of the Commissioner's mission to this countiy, viz.. to endeavour to tee its resources as a good grain country and whether it was likely to continue to supply England uith bread and wheat, to the detriment of the English farmer informed the Commissionei-, in speaking of the progress of the States, that the foreign market was a matter of small im- porlanee, in comparison to iho home market, and that not more than 10 per cent, of the bieadstuft's grown in the United States was exported ; that the enormous productive capacity of the country, he said, was simply limited by the demand, and that the extension of railroads westward, into the farther wheat and cattle regions, would continue to supply the markets of England in the future; that the main factor in the matter wjis the question of fidight; that a farme" in this country with a fair climate, improved machinery, eipciially adapted tor the cultivation of largo tracts of prairie land and no rents, must raise wheat and cattle cheaiDor than oould be done in England, whore the farmer was handicapped with an ROTES OF A HOLIDAT TRIP. S5 dniing the ning from ; intervals, 3cd. I did suspect in ily broken he already imo, such ucks and hikes and in my ]a^t containing Biecken- ot'Fi>her'» lino, fiom n who was ft lie coun- wjjcat was ich to say, ig of huid, alien with 's, I found rev Valley iinpies'od ■inioimed, » any and iader, and e learned mericans ntry. In g, mostly uried in, to under- iopnlated da or the dealing y, viz.. to er it was detrivient of the ^mall im- than 10 xported ; 18 simply eat ward, pply the liter wjia climate, ^'0 tracts )er than with an average of $10 per acre of rental, and tied up with conditions, which em- barrassed his freedom of action in its cultivation ; and all this with a climate that, even in the best of seasons, was much less favournblo than this. The result, he said, could easily bo foiesecn. The aristociatic landholders have to lealizo these facts, and the sooner they do it the better, and the remedy is at once to throw otf half their rents ; for if they do not, the farmers will abandon their h(»ldings, como to this country, where they can get land free, and tlio larnllords will have to work their properties themselves, which will mean moio than the lo-s of half the lonts. lie went on to say that if the Etiglihh landed nobility desired to keep up the present expensive stylo of their o>tablishments, the best thing they could do would bo to fiedtje, as ho called it, and invest a por- tion of their means in this country, so that when the cia.»h came, they might have in America estates as large, though perhaps not so valuable, as in England, and for one-tilitcnth j>ai't of tho cost. The whole question, no doubt, does lesolve ittclf into ono of transit, and we have now, both on the ocean and on tho land, rates that doty competition on the part of tho Engli^h larmer. The gentleman already meniioned, also referred to tho progioss that lailroads had made in tliat State, and were still making, and inioimed us that a convention repre^ent- ing eight railroad interests had cat that day at St. Paul, and decided to put up a Union Station of very large dimensions, at an estimated cost of 8750,000. In order to do so, tluy had purcba.-ed fiom the Itailroad Coiporation, owned by Messrs. Hill, Stephen & Co , a portinn of their pie.^ent station of the St. Paul and 'Janitoba road, at a coht of a quarter of a million dollars. But, to re>umo tho journey. We loft St. Vincent at a quarter to seven, and, after getting our baggage examined at Emerson, on tho boundaiy line, by tho customs ofRii.-ds, who. by tho wa^-, are notneailyso obtrusive or trouble>()mo as American customs otficers, we pioco^dod slowly on our way, and arrived at St. Boniface at a quarter to two in tho morning, having averaged ahout eleven miles an hour including stoppages. Before leaving tinally the St. Paul, M'-inesota and Manitoba llail- way, le: mo say that the people of the Canadian North-West owe the enterprising proprielois of it a debt of gratitude for having so promptly and in so short a time built the connection from Crookstown to St. Vincent — upwaids of ono hundred miles — and thus given access immediatoly to our Canadian North-West. Had it not been for this, not one out of ten of the emigrants who have gone there would have been there to-day. It is said ot these ibur gentlemen, who are tho solo proprietors of this road, that ttey are monopolists and I'un the railway to suit their own interests; that, in place of lunning an average of 18 oi* 20 miles, including stop- pages, tliey could run at the rate of 25 to 28 miles an hour, and that the reason of tho slowness of their ti-ains is that tho boats at Fisher's Landing may get tho tralfic These statements may have somo founda- tion, in fact, and occasionally srmo feeling is worked up about ir, but assuming it bo all true, these gentlemen owe no special obligation to tho people of Canada in connection with this road. They weni into it as a commercial speculation, for the purpose of making money out of it, and they alono are tho judges of how they should i-un iheir road. If they do not run as last as the Canadian public think, they should run to suit the 26 TUK WEHT AND NORTH-WEST. ( I ; I M"! 11 intorosts of the boats which they iiro said to own, it Hhould bo remomborwl that thoy owe tlio Canadian public no consideration, as the connection from St. Vincent to Winnipeg has been given to other interests, and thoy had to fall back on what was best for themselves, and the vessels they had on the lied River. Business is business — men do not use tlieir capital, as a rule, for merely sentimental considerations, and in the absence of any practical obligation on the part of these gentlemen to Canada, and there is none so far as I can see, they have the right to run their road in the way they think bcht fitted for their own inloi-ests. They have a road fitted in every way for the business of the country, and when they get it all ballasted, which it is not at present, they will mn at a rate of 30 miles an hour, and place us in St. Vincent in at least one-third less time from St. Pauls, than it takes now ; but they are quite right not to run over a half ballasted road at a higher rate of speed than thoy are now doing. They have a magnificent property, which, by its earnings, is self-sustaining, and, in addition thereto, they have three millions of aci'cs of land, which is being readily sold at five dollars per acre. If they have been thus fortunate, it is no ground for excuiiming against them as monopolists, when they are simply making the best they can out of their investments. One thing they have done for the farmers of Manitoba — in place of getting fifty cents a bushel for their grain, the latter mainly through the construction of the St. Paul road, get 8event3'-tive cents a bushel to- day. Without their road, the former price would, probably, have continued until the connection with Thunder Bay was carried through, which will probably not be for two or three years yet. What should have been done was, and what should now be done is, to give the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Company the lease of the Canadian road from St. Vincent to Winnipeg. They state that they would have deliverpd fi'cight and passengers at Winnipeg, and are still willing to do it, for the same sum that they now deliver them at St. Vincent. It is clear that the state of things existing on the Pembina Branch, cannot be permitted to continue. Strangers take their ideas from the only Canaaian road by which they enter the country, or which thoy see, and the first im- pression, which is important, is necessarily an unfavourable one. Six hours from St. Vincent to Winnipeg, a rate of less than eleven miles an hour, is moi-e than we can stand. Life is too short to fritter it away thus, and a delay of three-quarters of an hour, while we water the engine out of a roadside ditch — the culy moans of doing it — is rather trying to the patience of nassengcrs. vV lo is to blame for this state of things I cannot say, but Ihe facts arc as stated ? The Winnipeg road. (Jli miles long, runs through an uncommonly favourable section of the country, very much of the same character as that ft'om Glyndon to St. Vincent, and with no obstructions of a serious character, unless a couple of bridges over small streams may bo called so. Its construction was commenced over four years ago, and it is very far from being yet in a completed state. I do not know that I would go so far as the Imperial Commissiquors, whose views I referred to in my last letter, when they stated thatit was like being on the Atlantic in a hurricane, but there is no doubt of this, that it is not in a condition that a railway should be in, especially a Government railway. The cars rock N0TK8 OF A HOLIDAY TKII'. 2T •emomborod coniioc'lioii toi'ctjtH, and tho vessels a rule, for ny practical icro is none le way they ted in every ill ballasted, los an hour, m St. Pauls, over a half nng. Tiiey f-sustainini^, land, which ) been thus monopolists, nvestments. -in place of nly through a bushel to- I'e continued , which will have been St. Paul, 1 road from '0 delivered lo it, for tho 1 clear that >o permitted ladian road le first im- ono. Six m miles an er it away the engine r trying to )f things I icommonly laracter as a serious be called d it is very I would go to in my lantic in a dition that e cars rock juid tumble about more than is doairablo i'or the safety of passengers, ovcn when they only ti'avol eleven or twelve miles an hour, and 1 tcel that it would be urisnfe to travel at tho ordinary rate of railway s])eed. The road-bed of this branch is some six or seven feet wider than on the American roads. Jt has apparently flattened down in tlio centre, and has had but little ballast upon it, while tho steel rails seem to bo very much bent, and I fear from what 1 have heard that, unlike iron, .steel rails cannot be straightened without re-rolling. However this may bo, the fact is clear that we have a Government road, the only way ot entrance to our oople, and I noticed immediately on the outskirts of the town about a dozen new bright tents — wiih uniform blue pok's — which I was intbrmod were occupied by a number of well-to-do Engli.sh families who woic thus domiciled until their arrangements and destination could Lo ultimately fixed. Some of these people were pointed out to me on the main street and they seemed to be well dressed and apparently of a much better class than the usual run of emigrants. Let me heio add that what is requited for the healthy development of this country is a class of cmigi-ants who can afford at once to get a location of sufficient extent to enable them to ciwry on the business of farming on a sc;de so largo as to make it au object to a man of intelligence and energy, and at the same lime with means to provide ihe most improved machinery and stock. The poor or hibouring classes of agi-ieulinralista are, of course, also desirable and necessary to a new count ly ; but the misfortune is that they over ■, le- pon lerate, and their poverty throws them in'o a groove which lo.vor*" the tone of the ciicle in which they settle. Then, before they acquire means, they get confirmed in haliits and st>le of living, which is without neat- ne>s on the farm, or personal culture — habits into which aa a rule the wealthier class of emigrants do not fall. With regard to the citj- itself I may say that it presents a busy and healthy aspect. Here, as in all now and western cities, wc see grou]K>d togethei" the past and the present, the temporaiy wooden shanty run up in a week, and a nioi-e shell at that, alongside of the nioro pretentious ami sut)staiUi;il brick buildings of which this city can boast many, which would not disgrace, and indeed in many cases wouUl rival, the best Toi-onto or Montreal shops. Uf this class the materials of construction ai-o chiefl\- a, very handsome dai'k cream-yellow brick, very much like what is known with us as the Prescott biick, but darker in the colour. As these brii;ks are made from the clay of the vicinity, the city of the future is bound to be built of them, and when so built, with the wide streets into which the town is laid ofT running ;it right angles to each ofliei', it will present a very handsome appearr.nce. Besides the brick, 'lowever, theie is on the ])rojected western l.ne of the Pacific Railway, .vithin live miles of the city, fine limestone quarries of good building stone, which are now being opei-ated. At present the cost of lumber is very high, $25 to $30 per M. being chai'ged for very ordinaiy quality, and the most of it comes from the Woods within the boundaries of tlie United States ; but as soon as the railway connection is completed to Hat Portage immense forests of the l)esl pine lumber will be i-eached. The-e are situatetl on Jiainy River and Lal)rt of the citizens. J)uring dry weather the streets jU'e hard, and there is an entire absence of the dust which iu windy days is the curse of m;uiy Western cities; but three or Ibiir houi-s' rain changes the whole aspect of affairs, and the surface of the street is covered then with a black slimy substance which adheres to the boots i nd which it is impossible to get rid ol or avoid. I am told and can well imiigiiie th:it, in the months of April and .May, the condition of the streets is something horrible, and in the main street it is during such seasons almost impossdjle to trot n horse in a light buggy, so that it is not an untVequenl occurrence to see loadel tciim.-i mired in the most public, thoi'oughfares. 1 c;ni easily believe this aller the exiierieiico of one weL day which 1 have had since my arrival hcr(\ There are two ends to this town as thi'i'e are in n»ost new or small cities, and some rivalry exists as to the location of the bridge which must be built across the Re i Kiver for public travel. At the upper or west end is the old Hudson Bay Fort, which is still occuj)iod as it has been for the past 1(M) 3'ears or more as one of the chief — if not absolutely the chief — t ading po-.t which the (Jomj)any possesses. The old buildings ))res«nta ma ked contrast to the more modern and complete establishments which have recently sprung up; Init, though widiout this impioved style, they still possess, li)r the traifer of the North-West, an inlciestand attraction which' their newer rivals have not. Tliero is much about one of these old lIu(|sou Buy Forts which give food for reflection, and when wo conjider that over two hundred years a^fo these pobtw, and in many place$ 30 THE WEST AND NORffll-WEST. forts, wore cstiiMisliod iVom Laln-ador to Britisli Columbia, across a continent ovoi- tliicc thousand miles in extent, throu>t and west, the wooded fringe seemed to bo much heavier than on the north side. This district is chielly occupied by French half-breeds, who, I must say, did not strike mo as taking, as a class, very much to tho cultivation of the soil. Therefore, tho im- ])rovements which I saw on the first jiortion of my journey did not im- ])ress mo greatly, though one could not help being struck by tho evi- dences of immense natural fei-lility. Shortly beibre, and when wo arrived at Poplar Point, tho appearance of the country so far as cultivi- tion was concerned Avas changed. Tho soil was no bettor, except, })erhaps, that there existed le-. antl I am inlormed that from l^oplar Point to tbe Portage and beyond it the country is settle 1 right over to Lake xMaiiitoba, a distance of tVom L> to ;j() miles, except where it is held by s])eculators. The Portage la Prairie is a nice little settlement, with its small steam mills and factories, and eviilently a growing poj)ulation — and also, by the way, with its E;ust and West end — its lawyers, dentist, doctors and tavern- keepers, showing evidence of a very advance I state of civilization. It ia distant about one milu i'roiu the Assiniboine on the south, and about ten miles from Lake Manitoba on the north. A good deal of uncertainly peems to exist at present about its futU'O and a great deal of interest as to where the railroad will pass it, and whoiher it will go through it or not. It seems now pi'ctty well settled that the Canada Pacitic liailroad Bhall go south of Lake Manitoba, and not as settled by J\'r. Mackcnzie'H Clovernment by crossing the Lak'o at the Narrows, and going north through an unsettled portion of the country. This decision practically brings the line in any case in close proximit_y — say about six or eight miles — to the Portage Tillage, and will in the future make it a place of importance, unless, as is not improbable, it is moved bodily over to the liailway. We drove about ten miles west of the Portage, and put up for the night at the residence of Mr. Kennedi Mcivenzie, a Scotchman from the vicinity "of Gait, Ontario, and one of the largest landed proprietors in this re^jion. Mr. Melk«nzie, who is u morabor of tho Local Legiislaturo, NOTES OP A HOLIDAY TRIP. 83 k thMt I •th-Wcst, person J 1 )ut truly 1 have ) had :m •opo and )lit)n, tho iraiice of he straw 'ith from )p which !i-y farm, iS 1:1 rge ishcd out immen:?e ;oo late to Uh. Ton jr west of C.)mpany 1 milo.s to io. Now, at, that in heat from ty cents a )st in tho )ne-fourth skirt tho l';ii'ms arc I age and I (listanco ors. Tho :am mills ,- the way, tavern- on. It ia at)out ten icertainty iterest as .vj^h it or Railroad aekonzie's ni^ noi'th ivactically or eiglit , place of or to tho )ut up for nan from )rietor8 in i^ibiaturo, 1ms some 5,000 acres of land, of whicli lie farms about 800 acres himself and rcnta out several farms to others on tliird shares, ho finding one-third the seed and getting one-thirU Ihe crop, while tho tenant gets two-thirds. Our l>arly was treated most hospitahls', and he put us up very com- fortably for the night. AVo walked over ])a!'t of his farni and through his stack vards and examined his stock, lie informed me that his whetit croj) gave liim, as far as ho has threshed it, 39 busliels to tho acre, but that he has not yet threshed over half of it as lie generally gets his own wheat ground, and therefore threshes it a* he requires it so as to obtain a better price for it. He hays that it is useless fc^r ])eoplo to grow more wheat than can be used for local consumittion until the railway is built, as outside of the local market, chiefly created by tho fur trade and new settlers, ihere is no sale for it except at about oOc to GOc per bushel. To get ovei* 50c they must send it to AVinnipeg, and the carriage there, untler tlie most iavourable circumstances, takes one bushel to carry another. From this state of things, one can see how important it is for the immediate future of this country to have the railway pushed on at once over these Westei-n ])rairies. Fertile lands are all very well, but without a population they are really valueless, and without railways po])ulation will not settle, as without railroads the crops, be they ever so abundant, are not susceptible of being utilizeil. Common roads for transport are an imjiossibility, for a mo;terate shower of rain, sa}' for two or three hours, renders transit upon theni with loads all but an im])Ossi- bility. In passing over one of the wheat fields of Mr. McKenzio, in which a team was at work ploughing for s])ring sowing, 1 noticed a quantity of wheat upon the ground in heads aiul grains, moro than enough to seed it; indeed, 1 should say that there was from three to four bushels to the acre wasted, and I asked what it meant? Mr. ^IcKenzio said it did not jiay hini to be careful, as labour was moro valuable than the scattered wheat, and ho had so much of it that tho men did not seem to value it. One of his teams was driven by a Hioux Indian who could not speak a wonl of English, but who, as Mr. McKonzio informed me, for $15 a month and I'ations, could ])ut through with the ordinary plough of the country (not Ihe improved sulky plough) two acres a tlay, and it was well done. I could not but admire the stalwart figure of the man as lie walked erect between tho plough handles, and did his work without any mistake. I am informed that it is tho desire of the pcojjle to en- courage the Sioux to settle, and that, for labouring and agricidtui-al pursuits,'' they are most valuable neighbouis — a commentary U2)on tho l)olicy of extermination which our American neighbours ])ursue. liefbro wo started in the morning, and while looking round the barnyard, a flock of Prairie pheasants flew into it, and one of our party got a cou))lo offino birds out of it. Tho shooting in this region, both of ducks and Prairio birds, is very good. As a contrast to the wealth of land and crop that Mr. McKonzio jiossessed, his buildings, like almost all that 1 saw ui)on the larms, are of the poorest description. .Stables and house are lit only to be torn down. In fact stables are not much wanted, for most of tho horses, at least such as are not worked in winter, run loose, and scratch their own food from tho snow-covorod field, while tho cattle also are allowed to lun round, except tho milch cows, and supplement what the}' gather from tho fields 3 iMHM 84 TIIE WEST AND NORTH-WEST, •■ by picking: from the straw piles, the i-emaina of which arc i^ot rid of in the Hpi'ing by burning. A few lo:(s laid along with some loose poles on the top and some ntraw thrown over it is all the protection considered necessary for wintering the cattle. Mv. JMcKenzio'w position is an illustration of that of many others. Ho desires to build, but informed me that he d' I no wish to go to the expense of putting up a brick liouse and make considerable outlay on barns, itc, until he knew where the railroad was going, and that he would be guided in his building by the locality of the railway. Doubt- less there are dozens of others in the same state of uncertainty. Ho has several sons, all of whom are on farms of their own; one on a cattle farm in Montana and the others' on wheat farms. On our retni'n wo wen„ to an Agricultural Show at the Portage; but as the grain and roots wore just coming in and the preparations not complete we did not see as large a show as might have been expected. The cattle were not lo be brought in until next day. Mr. McKenzie is under the im|)rossiun that this country is to bo a great cattle and pork country, notwithstandir'g that they do not raise corn. Where only 50 to GO cents can be got by sale for wheat, it will pay better, he said, to fee J it t' '.'\e hogs. V for VVinnipeg jii.-^t as it was commencing to rain, and before night H ■ storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, came on. The night became so dai-k and the i-oads so heavy that it was impossible to r^:) 'li our dosiinution before night, and we had to take a shake-down on tlic llo< . '^f J ; antry tavern; the house being filled by emigrants. On our return \v.> vutt o ich day on the roud from two to three hundred teams, consisting of four wlioeled waggons and Red River carts, piled with tools, implements, furniture, trunks, and hosts of children with their pai'cnts, and all along the route innumerable camps of travellei'S and emigrants. Isliall remain a couple of days in "Winnipeg, and may write you another letter before I return. P. M. FIFTH LETTKPv. Winnipeg, lC>l.h October, 1879. Tn my last T gave an account of my trip to the Portage la Prairio, and to-day went (lown the river towards Selkirk, first taking a look at the river at l^oint J)ouglus, one of the pi-oposed railway croshings of the lied River. Point Douglas is immediately below the town of Winnipeg, at a point where the turns of the river foi-m an S. This place from the height of the banks, iiai-rownoss of the stream, which is hero apparently about GOO feet, corresponding grades upon either side, immediate proximity to the town, and suitable vacant grounds for stations, would seem to present a most favourable site for the pnrpoee. NOTES OP A HOLIDAY TRIP, M ■id of in poles on nsidered y others, o to the >utlay on that he Doubt- He has ,ttle farm ago; but tions not 3xpected. Cenzie in and pork 3 only 50 3 said, to nd before camo on. rnpossiblo ake-down migrants. hundred jirts, piled ron with travellers rrite you P. M. I-, 1879. a Prairie, a look at igs of the Vinnipeg, from the iparontl}^ m mediate ns, would Those who are opposed to its selection *'or a crossing allege that th« ice of the Red Rivor would endanger the permanence of any bridg* placed there ; that the ice when it moves in the spring does not, as in th« St. Lawrence at Montreal, float pa^^t in broken fragments, but in large masses ; that the rise of the water in the river loosens the ice from th« shore, or the anchor ico as it is called, and is lifted bodily with the rise of the flood ; that sometimes, when the spring rains are unusually heavy or the weather unusually warm in the spring, the water rises and floods the surface of the ico before it is sufficiently decayed to get loose from the anchor ice or shore fastenings, and when it does go it is with a rush. In the latter case it is alleged that it occasionally jams at one or other of the numerous bends of the I'iver and floods back the stream to such an extent that the surrounding country is submerged, and there are those who believe that the safely of the city itself would bo endangered b}' a bridge placed here. TJie river takes its rise in the State of Minnesota and the territory of Dacotah, some hundreds of miles to the south of its confluence with Lake Winnipeg. It therefore opens much earlier in the upper reaches, and navigation by steamboats is often available there before the ice has disappeai-ed below Winnipeg. Another site which is proposed, and which has its advocates, is at the upper end of the town, immediately opposite to the Hudson Bay Fort, which also seems to present many of the advantages of the Point Douglas site. Indeed, it would be ditticult to see why the people of the town should diff'er much about it, except beoauso the town has two ends, and the residents of the northwesterly end desire the Point Douglas site, because it would be handier to them, while for the very same reason the people at the other end are anxious that the crossing should be at the Fort. To this latter crossing the river jams are also alleged as a probable objection, though the land is higher than at Point Douglas. It is said that twice, within the memory of living men, ice jams have occurred which have had the otfect of throwing back the waters of the Red River miles beyond the boundary lino to the south and a long way into American territory, while it also submerged hundreds of thousands of acres of Canadian soil. One gentleman with whom I conversed about this matter, and who has travelled into almost every section of this westein count'-y, said that ho liad seen evidence of this on one of the western sections, at least 20 miles awa}' from any river which could have carried it there, in the existence of an enormous elm ti'co, at least 24 inches in diameter, with its roots extending many iect, lying prostrate on the prairie where no trees grew, and exhibiting no evidence about its roots, or on the soil, to indicate that it had grown there. Its ])08ition was a mystery to him until he had it cxj)lained by an eld habitant or trapper who informed him that lie re- collected the flood that brought it there, and which had submerged the country for hundreds of miles, not only in the Valley of the Rod Rivor, but in the Assiniboine Valley also. If this information is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, a vei-y serious international question may arise with the United States out of our bridge building and on two different grounds. If the erection of a bridge at Winnipeg should cause ice jams, the question arises whether the United States might not fairly ask the Dominion to indemnify her citizens whose pioperty was damaged or destroyed by flooding, caused by oar ootion, Again, the river rinon il! ! II ' iir III ^. m M m NOTES OF A HOLIDAY TUIP. 37 u P4 many hundreds of miles to tho bouth in American territory and ia navigable lor hundreds of miles in that territory, and it may he doubtful how tar we are at liberty to impede the nuvi<,fation of an international river of this character, as it certafnly woukl be im])eded by the erection of buch a bridge as is ])roposed at Winnipeg. " Prevention is certainly better than cure," and I would suggest to those who are roponsible tho propriety of extending their enquiries in relation to tho site to tho chances of international complications which may theiue occur. There ai"o tho.se also who say a bridge at either site proposed at Winnipeg could not be so built as to resist tho spring floods and ice jams. This, of course, is an engineering question, and one upon ^.hich it would bo presumption lor a civilian — who in relation to such a question can only claim to possess some common sense — to pretend to give an opinion, but 1 should have no fears of its being swept away if reasonable precautions were taken in its location and construction. Another crossing is spoken of, which, from tho descri])tion, appears to have some advantages not possessed by either of the others, viis , the crossing at or near the vicinity of the Stone Fort. Tho foundations on cither side are rock, and the materials for the bridge may be got out ot quarries on the banks, as I am informed, at a comparatively unall ex- pense. The crossing of the river here is stated to be even less in distance than at Winnipeg, the tanks are rather higher, but with good approaches on either side. This crossing is about eighteen miles further down the river than Winnipeg, and four or live miles further up than Selkirk. It what one hears of it is true, it would seem to bo the best crossing of them all in point of economy, and, now that the lino south of Lake Majiitoba is said to have been adopted, would not make tho length of route mateiially exceed that by Selkirk. This route, nevertheless, may bo said to be '' no maris friend y Jt has not the inhabitants of a town who want tho railway past their doors to advocate its adoption. The land about it is owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, and a prejudice exists against that association because of the old so-called monopoly, and in such a case it is doubtful if the site would get fair play in considering advantages it oilers. ]^ut there is another adverse reason, for as the land is owned bj' the Company, there are no speculations on the part of ir.- dividuals as is the case boih in Winnipeg and Selkirk; and in relation lo these speculations it is said that even some engineers now in Government employ are not exempt from suspicion. Altogether 1 rejicat this site has no friends to advocate its adoption, and it is so far away from home that " merits " go for very little against substantial local interests. The projected site at Selkirk is situated about twenty-ii\e miles to the north of Winnij)eg and within about IG miles of the junction with the lake of that name. Personally, I have not seen this location, as tho badness of the roads prevented my visiting it, but it is only fair to present, as I have heard them, tho argumenis for and against its adop- tion. Against it I am bound to say I have heard but one objection that 1 considered of any importance, and that is its great length and cost. I am intbrmed that a lew miles above Selkirk the river assumes a more rapid character for several miles, and the ice which floats in largo masses to this point gets broken up and lessons the chances of ico jams. From that reason as well as from the widening of tho fatroam, to croes hero ^ 88 TBI WEST AND MOBTH-WEST. would involve a bridge of between 1,400 and 1,500 feet long. This presents arnther Bcrious objection, but, except on tliiaiiccount, ihat loca- tion to parties who are unbiMssod, and who are not speculating in lands in the vicinity of the several sites — and their names aie said '* to bo legion" — the Selkirk crossing would seem to have had the call before the line from Winnipeg to Selkirk crossing on the soutll-ea^t side of tho river had been built — a distance, as I before stated, of 25 miles. But it it ever was seriously intended to make the crossing at Selkirk, and in my opinion, on gi-ounds of policy, it should have been there or at iho Stone Fort, why was the country put to the expense of constructing 25 miles of railway from Selkirk to Winnipeg on tho south-oast side of tho river? If it should still be thought desirable to locate tho crossing at Selkirk, we shall find that the country will have been put to tho expense of the construction of two bridges, one on the dii oct lino of the Canadian Pacific at t^elkirk, and the other at Winnipeg; for, after building 25 miles of railway on the south-east side, the Government can never permit it to remain comparatively useless, as it will do, unless a bridge is built to connect it with the town. But, again, should one of tho Winnipeg fcites bo chosen, it will lengthen the Canadian Paeitic Railway by 25 miles for all time, a very serious objection indeed. What Mr. Mackenzie, and those who advised him, could have been thinking about, I cannot imagine, in their policy respecting crossings and railway con- structions in this locality. On Section 15 it is said that if tho line had boon lengthened about three and a-half miles by a divergence either to the south or north of the present lino, it would have saved the country the enormous cost of many miles of rock cutting and tilling, which has called for an outlay on the part of tho contractor of plant to tho extent of a quarter of million of dollars, and has cost the country a fabulous sum over what it ought to have done. 1 do not undervalue the importance of shortening the distance on a national through line like the Canadian Pacific. Yet there is a limitation to this as a matter of sound policy, and if it be a policy to shorten the line, whj' should tho same Govern- ment who, to save three and a-half miles in Section 15, have incuired enormous expenditures go 25 miles out of their way to lengthen ihe road by extending the railway to Winnipeg ? What Mr. Mackenzie was thinking of then I cannot imagine when he consented to the branch to Winnipeg on the oast side of the river. He decided to take the road — after the Red River was crossed — to the north of Liike Manitoba, cross- ing at the Narrows, as opposed to tho line south of the Lake through the fertile and settled country by the Portage, as had been previously thought advisable. It is alleged that this plan shortened tho through line, and 1 believe it would shorten it, though it would give the go-by to the settlement on the south and pass to the north, whire there aie no settlements. It is also alleged, though I have heard this contradicted by men who had travelled the country, and who have gieat experience, that the northern line goes through a country ot immense savans and muskeags unfit for settlement. If the latter is tho chaiacter of the land, then the road should not on any account have gone to the north ; but if otherwise there is justification for it, as in such a country as this, with its fertile soil prepared to receive a plough without a dollar of outlay to prepare it, the question of settlement is merely a question of whore the NOTES OK A HOLIDAY TRIP. 39 \g. This that loca- in hinds i "to bo xil boforo do of iho . But it k, and in 01" at iho ictinct 25 ,io of tho ossinc; at expenso Cuiiadiau ilding 25 an never a bridge 110 of tho 1 Railway iVhat Mr. ng about, Ivvay con- line had either to 3 country k'hich has ho extent ilous 8um jrtanee of Canadian id policy, Guvein- ( incuired 1 the road enzie was )ranch to 10 road — )ba, croati- ) through )i'ovioubly ) through he go-by are are no idicted by xpericnce, ivans and t' the land, h ; but if this, with outlay to vhcre tho railway will bo built. Locate tho line, and, before it is completed, over halt of its length will have been taken up and n-ottlcd, no matter where it may be put. If shortness and economy wa« Mr. MMckenzio's policy, he should have at once adopted the Selkirk or Stone Fort cro> any case nortli or south ; and if he desired to give \Vinni|)eg connection, though that seems really to be more of a local than a Dominion dut}-, why not have given it on the west side of tho Red l?iver, and thus have avoided the second bridge? Sir John Macdonald's (lOvenimcnL have now to adopt one of two alternatives, either to build two bridges at a great expense across the ^-ed River, or else, by adopting one of the Winnipoir crossings, lengthen thv. line twenty-live miles for all time. In these remarks J must not be supposed to be influenced by my political associations or friendships. I have endeavoured to avoid that, and, in treating of the policy or the acts of tho one Government oi- the other, have tried to be impartial. 1 have heard it said, as a justitication for placing the line on the east side of Red Uiver, that, for the prosecution ot the work between Winnipeg and Lake Superior, it was necessaiy to get conneciion with the Pembina Branch. But why was it so necessary? The Pembina Branch has only been running a few months, though it was started over four 3'ears since, and if thnt were the reason it could have been aceoin- 1)lished by building the bridge at Selkirk or at the Stone Foit, and tlio )ranch on the west side from Winnipeg thence. Tho lacilities for getting to and from the station at St. Boniface aie as bad as well can be. The road is wretched and the river, tho batdvs of which are steep and the current pretty rapid, has to bo crosseil in a stoum ferry boat which, though suited to the work, is at nil times hazardous, and the more so be- cause the train leaves in tho morning before daylight, and generally arrives between about midnight and two or three in the morning. This arrangement, so far as the comfort of passengers is concoruotl, ia about as bad as can possibly bo, for the darkness in this region, is more dense than in our eastern country, and during the night, including tho houiM arranged for the arrival and departure of the train, the ferry charges are doubled, being one dollar for the double journey fof a cah or teani to and from the city. This, added to the ordin.uy cab faro, makes the Journey lor the mile to the station a most expensive one. Why do not the City Government or tho Local, if the ferries are within their control, see to this and have the inconvenience lemedied ? It seems to mo that they are blind to their own interest in not doing so. The city has appropri- ated $200,000 for the construction of a roadway bridge across the Uod River at Winnipeg, which 1 suppose might bo so coiistiuettMi as to be used in connection with the pio])ose(i South-Wi < rn Railway, a contem- plated Colonization Road of about 100 miles in .v;i.i;lh. moving southerly to the southern point of the Pembina Mountains, which, when built, will open u)) a fine section of country for settlement, and taj) extensive coal deposits on the spurs of the Pembina Mountain. Should the expectation about the coal be realized, it will prove a great boon to this section of the country by sunj)lying one of its greatest wants — cheap fuel — and tho working the coal will doubtless prove a prohtable speculation to its owners. I savr at Point Douglas a gang of men and horses on eaoh side of the 40 TUB WEST AND NORTH-WEST. !i! II river, loadini? up from the wivtcr's edge, mnkini^ two very heavy cuttings, by which it is propoKod to run u teniponiry track down on ono side, upon and over tlio ico when it is formed, and up the other side, for the puipo,-!0 of transporting rails and materials for the contract now let from Winni- peg westwai'd. Ii\it beyond this and numerous surveys I cannot see that any actual progress has been made with this important work. Humour says divided autliority and differences of opinion amongst the engineers are the causes of delay, and another season drifts away and no actual progress is made. I drove with the Mayor of the city and some other friends down to Kildonan Parish, some seven or eight miles north of Winr - This is the oldest and best settled part ot the country, having 1 the place where the party who came under llie patronage or control of Lord Selkii'k lirst took up their abode. Our party called upon (me old gentleman about 80 years of ago, though he does not look more than 68 years, and ho told mo that ho had arrived with Loid Selkirk in 1815, and shortly afterwards settled upon the farm which ho now occupies, and that for Over 50 years he had uninterruptedly cropped the same land with wheat without putting any manure on the ground, liaving an average crop of about 40 or 50 bushels to tho acre ; but lattei'ly ho has found it to his advantage to use manure. I learned from him that ho generally has from 60 to 80 ])ead of cattlo besides sheep ; that he never sows grass seed for haj', as ho keeps his cultivated land constantly under grain, and tho htiy ho uses he gets from tho Prairie, on which both horses and cattle thrive. Immense stacks of this stood around tho bai-ns. I found generally, throughout this Noi-th-Western country, a greji'' absence of sheep and pigs, except in tho oldsottlement of which I am peaki n i. . The buildings, loo, both houses and barns, are lai-ger v itter and closer together than in any other part of tho counti-y. The cause for the latter fact is that, when Lord Selkirk laid out tho l.-md, ho got Fi'ench sui'voj'ors from tho then Province of Lower Canada to do tho work, and they laid them out like the seigniories in their own country, very narrow and very deep, stretching with but a few rods of frontage back into the country foi four miles — and in many cases even a greater distance. The inconvenience of this arrangement is now very much felt. I learned yesterday morning of tho arrival of two Ministers of the Crown, Hon. i\[essrs. Aikens and Bowell, accompanied by some of tho agricultural (Iclegales from England. I have been told that their experience of the ti'uvelling on tho Pembina Branch, was even worse than my own, and that while they started between 6 and 7 p. m. from St. Vincent they did not arrive at Winnipeg until about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. They left for the West tho eamo day. It is to bo hoped that their visit will be ot service to the country, and it is much to bo regretted that the whole Cabinet could not pay a visit of a couple of weeks here to learn what the cou'itry needs in order to develope it. Now that they are about to carry a system of railwaj' construction over a prairie country, the conditions and requirements of which are so diflbrcnt fiom anything that we have in Canada, it is important that they should see what our neighbours do and how they do it, and how well their cheaply constructed roads work, in order to avoid tho mistakes and useless expenditures which have been too prevalent in our Canadian construction of railways in the past. H0TB8 or A HOLIDAY TRIP. 41 y cuttings, Hiilc, upon he pin po,>o oni Winni- lot SCO that Humour engineers no actual ds down to ' Thin is the place 3rdSelki]'k gentleman years, and nd shortly d that for ivith wheat Tc crop of I it to his lerally has grass seed n, and the and cattle I found djsenco of pcaki i\ •^. Iter and ise for the fot Fi-encli work, and ly narrow into the mco. The I learned invn, lion, ^riculttiral ce of the own, and t they did :• They sit M'ill bo the whole I what the tt to cai-r}' conditions we have h hours do lads work, h.ive been the past. There in no refison why in three years or less wo should not have ;i con- tinuous Prairie liailway to the foot of the Rocky Mountiiins ; aiM, it the Government go to work at it in earnest, they can yet have the tliousand miles that lies botween this and the point named before it is possible eo|iIe of Winnipeg that, while in their | ublic buildings the}' have done themselves great credit, it would, in a pecuniary and every other sense, have been belter if they had placed the amount thus expended in water woi-ks, and had bnill them only after they had provided tlie means of protection. 1 ho)>e no person will find fault with my j'cmarks on this suliject, which may be thought a matter that 1 have little to do with ; but 1 have wriiton all through, with the utmost frankness, a truthlul account of my ob^el■vations and conclusions. Of tlio climate oi" Manitoba and the North-West I have not as yet made many remarks, my opportunities of judging of it having been but limited ; but 1 visited it at a period which, in the eastein portion of Canada, would lead to the cx])octation of broken or disigieeablo weather. I was in the Province eight days, and during that period every day, save one, was as pleasant as could bo desired. The weather was delightful, and where I staid, at Silver Heights, five miles out of town, on the second and thiid day of my visit, the thermometer during the day was respectively 80 and 85 in the shade; the evenings and nights always being delightfully cool. I had not an opportunity' of ascertaining what tlie average rainfall is for the year, but if the state- ment of the people wiih whom I cor.versed on that subject is correct, it must bo very light. Mr. Kenneth McKenzie, of Portage la Prairie, to whom I have roferrod before in these letters, iidormcd me that it wa^ not customary to have rain to any extent after that period of the year before the Queen's Birthday, when they generally had the commence- ment of their rains for the season. The day, however, looked very lowering and cloudy, and similar signs in the Province of (Quebec would have indicated certain rain, but he felt contldenl that there would be none. In this, however, ho was mistaken. We had to travel that day about 75 miles after attending the Agricultural Kxh'biiion at the Portage, and when wo got within leu miles of S Iver II(Mghts the lain and dark- ness sot in, and I will back both of them for iiiicMsity against anything that I have ever witnessed. We thought we could roach our liet^iiiiation and passed '.iio last inn or place where we could j)ut up lor the niglii, about an hour after darl- .ess set \u. Hiiherto, the burning pdes of straw which 1 before referied to served as beacons to light us on our wa}', and when llieeo cea.>-cd our task was not only dillicult but danger- ous, and the gentleman to whom 1 was indebted for the pleasure ot his company on the journey, Hon. Mr. Howard, said it would bo almost im- possible, and ])ositivoly dangei'ous, to attempt to cross the Prairie that night; as ho leared that we were going to have a stoim of rain, with thunder and lightning such as in this place are exceedingly severe. We, therefore, turned back about u mile, and put up with very indilleient accommoUatiouu ab the iuu refurred to, and wo hud bcarcely got iu bul'ure iriii' ' !/'. t-d ,/>/ ''.■vUi'l>{i I ill i-., III'!:,- iiiii'''-'' fi^'ii!iiiilllil;N.K^ ''MM mm NOTES OP A HOLIDAY TRIP. 45 it rained with a. vengeance and for all night. In the morning the out- look was not pleasant, for the roads wei-o pei-fectly flooded, and the wheels of the waggons carried along with theni the grass of the Prairie roads, which in its turn gathered and retained the mud like the hair that plasterers use to make the mortar htick. It was no uncommon oc- currence to find from 50 to 100 pounds of this mixture on the felloes and spokes and shoeing of the wheels. 'I'j-avelling under such circum- stances was simply hoi-rible. In that counti-y, the people are much afraid of these storms, and, as many fatal accidents have occurred from lightning, it has proved a poifect Golconda to ihe lightning-rod man, for on almost every building 1 saw, more ])articularly in country places, there were generally more than one lightning-rod. Indeed, on some buildings not exceeding forty feet in length, I liave frequently coutited four or five. I^otwithstanding this riiiu-storm, on the second day afier the roads were again passable. I was told that it was a rare occurrence to find even one day in a month on which the sun could not be seen. When winter sets in it continues unbroken by thaws or rain, as is usual in our Eastern Provinces, and is of about the same duration as at Mont- leal. The snow, which falls not more, I was told, than an average of about 18 inches in depth, remains till spring. It is not damp like that of countries in proximity to the sea, but is dry and crisp, and docs not drift to the same extent as in (Quebec or othei* seaboard Provinces. In the summer the absence of rain is fully compensated by the heavy dews which fall at night, and 1 heard of no complaint from the farmers whom I met of any want of moisture for their croj)s. In the winter occasion- ally ti'c thermometer goes to -10 degrees below zero, but not fi'cquently ; and I was told that, unles-^ accompanied by wind, the cold was not very inconvenient, and owing to the dryness of the atmosphere would not cause so much suffering as in the East is caused by thirty-fi.e degrees of cold. The people generally feel satisfied with the climate. I should judge that it would be invigoi-ating, and for certain pulmonary com- plaints it is said to bo beneficial. It is a wonderful place for growing roots and cabbages. I saw a cai-t load of the latter in the mai-ket, brought b}* a half-breed, and I should thinlv that^four of them would fill u barrel, and heaped measui'e at that. To conclude, I thiidc the climate of this Province is not an midesirable one, and may, in a word, be de- scribed in the language of a very intelligent Pailroad American who spoke highly of it to me, and said that iManitoba had all i\\Q fertility of the Vdlley with the salnbyiti/ of the Mountain country. OiiO word more on the Winnipeg district befoi-e I leave it. I have already stated that the land is \cry fine, and suitable for cultivation of a very high eharacter, if the projicr moans bo taken to develope ith re- sources; Iri the city, however, the land in its natural state is not suited for what it ought to be, n great Chicago of a great British North- West. It is too wet and retains the rains and snow waters too long to bo healthy; and while it continues to have swam])s undrainel at its rear it will always bo objectionable as a place of lesidence. Let mo suggest that they should at once go in for a systematic policy of drainage, midor the control of the City Corporation, or what might be still better of the Pro- vincial Government, and in the latter case the j)lan might include, what is also much needed, the drainage of th« district for 40 miles to the west- THE WEST AND NORTH-WEST. wai'd of the city. Let the expense be a ppecial tax upon the properties benefited, and no one could justly objocr. It will never do to leave this worU to a fVagmonlary or individual ettort, us that must prove a failure. It would be well if the people of Winnipe,!^ would think of these sugges- tions and accept thcin, as they are given, in a friendlj' s])ii'it. We left St. Eoniiace at 4 a. m. and arrived at St. Vincent at 10 a. m. I need not ;igain go over the condition of ihis roiul. To speak moderate- ly and within bounds, it is not Avhat it ought to be, and is anything but creditable to the Goveriiincnt of Canada. A large amount of money has been spent upon it, and many years have been sjient in its construction, though it should only have taken months, and yet it is very incomplete. 'J'lie bi'idges look very dangerous, the rocking and pitching of the ears nhould not occur, and in man}- ])l!ices the mud is squashed over the tops of the sleepers. I find no fault with the slowness of the i-iinning. In that 1 think the parties who control the I'oad are quite right, as any greater speed than that inn at ])resent, sf)me 12 to i;{ miles .•m hour, would be danierous. But what about the winter? The rond is not ballasted, though a small ])arty, I was informed, were at work upon ballasting ; but, judging from the past, they will not gel it done, or even half done, bol'oro the frost sets in, when the work must cease, and the chances are that running on the Pembina Bi'anch will have to cease also, if safety is to be considered. Again, let me say that if the Government did a wise thing, and a prudent thing, they would ari-ange to have the management ot that j-oad in the hands of the peo])le who control the St. Paul and Manitoba Line, and the ])ublic would then get through from St. Paul's to St. Boniface in seven houis less lime than now. The departure and arrival could be so timed that it would not hajipen, as now, in the darkness of the night, and 1 am informed that the t'ompaiu' are prepared to deliver i'reight and ])assengers at St. Jioniface at the i>ame freight and faro as they now get for their delivery at St. Vincent. If this is so the people of the North- West are out of ])0cket all it now costs for transport over the branch. At ])rescnt the St. Paul and Pacific people ai-i-ange the starling and i-unning of their trains to and irom St. Paul to suit the Ked liiver steamers of the Winnipeg and Western Transportation Company, which are now in connection with their line; bat they are prci'.ared to make satisfactory terms if a reasonable arrangement can be ari'ivod at with the Government of Canada. 1 am quite aware that it will be ob- jected to that this suggestion would be placing the road which forma the entrance to our magniticent Noitb-West heritage under the control of an American Company. Jf there is any practical foundation f )r this objection the thing cannot be made worse than it is at ])resent, as that Coinjiany possesses the oidy lino which approaches or connects with Manitoba. Tlieie is no grounds for tear in this objection, as the four gentlemen who own the St. l^aul and Pacific are all Canadians, and are interested in seeing our great North-West filled up, as the more that pass over their road the more their railway earns and the more money they make, whether the route be by the Lake or by St. Paul. But it may bo thought to be their interest, as they are owners of three million acres of land in Minnesota to direct emigrants intemied for Manitoba to soltlo in Minnesota on ihoir lands. As a matter of fact, however, their interest iu duin^ this in very trifiinj>;, as iboir lunds are settlini; up hb fust im the/ NOTES OF A HOLIDAY TRIP. 4t properties leave this a failure. so sugges- it 10 a. m. moclei-ate- thing but noney has istruetion, icomplete. tlie cars • the tops nini;. In it, as any an hour, ad is not orlv upon e, or even }, and the cea.se also, )vornment have the I'ol the St. li fi-oni St. dopartui-o )\v, in the proj • i-cd eight and s is so the ti-ansport range the t the Red Company, ci-aicd to irrivcd at bo ob- ieh forms control n f )r tliis t, as that ects with the four 1, and are that pass mcy they it may bo n acres of tiottio in interest It tm th«/ can, and the more the lands of Manitoba are absorbed the more valunbU it makes what they still retain in their own State. Should ihe Government not do as above suggested, they should at once take the Pembina Branch into their own hands to tinish and run it in a way that will enable the public to get the accommodation to which they are entitled. This ought to bo attended to in the interests of our great North-West, We started at five o'clock a. m.. and, as it was scarcely daylight, I could not see much of the country for the first hour, but when it got sutficienily light 1 perceived we were travelling over a country rather liigher in elevation thtm that which we had seen, either at Winnipeg or Portage hi Prairie, and more like some portions of the Hod River south of lireckenridge— fine fertile pi-airie lands, but covered with n sort of scrubby brush in many places. As wo went on I observed that the bi-ush disappeared, and we opened out into fine prnii-ie lands, such as are Ibund on the upper district of the Stale of Minnesota; but they did not impi-ess mo as being so desirable fbi* settlement as either tlie latter, or the lands to the west, which I have before described. As we api)roached Emerson, which is on the boundary between the States and Canada, the land be- came more attractive, and the latter, which is a town of a conj)le of years growth, showed striking evidence of progress. The streets were broad, bcautil'ully hud out at right angles, with here and there nice houses, groceries anil stoi-es, showing the entei'prising and progressive character of this youthfid town. The lands in this vicinity, and for 30 miles befoiC reaching it, present great attractions. for settlers, 1 was told that in this region theie was an extensive Mennonite settlement some distance to the west of the lied River, which was ])iogressing very favourably, but time would not pertnit mo to stop to see it. Two days before we ])ass(3d, the prairie for thirty miles was on fire, and the wind being very high swept the flames along at a horse's speed, and left the countiy thorough- ly denuded of grass and ono immense extent of blackness, which was not at all inviting in appearance. I noticed that where the lino of lire struck the railway, in many cases the track stopped the crossing of the flames. I was struck with the realization in this instance of what Cooper do- scribed in his " Pathtinder," and I find that, in fact, it is not an un- common occurrence, when a person is caught on a prairie Avith a fire approaching, to start a smaller fii-o on his own account, and thus clear a 8j)ace in which ho stands, so that ho has a s^^^aco that will not burn cleared before the prairie firo sweeps down about him. The i-ailway thus acts as a guard — tlin vacant space of the embankments, ditches, and distance I>otwcen the rails, serving as a break" in the continuity ol" the food for the fire. The settlers who ai'e prudent generally guard their stacks of corn and hay against a prairie lire on the same principle, by usi"g the plough and tuining seven or eight fui'i-ows i-oiind their stock yards, and when the tire reaches the fivsh turned soil it can Imr-n no farther, so that the property is saved. In the district near Emcr>on a good deal of pi-operi^- was destroj'od, to the value of many thousands of dollars, just for wfuitof the very simple means to which 1 have referied not having been used. The neighbouring town of St. Vincent, a very stirring place, is on the bouudary line, and in the United States, and here the Pombiua 4S TUB WEST AND NOnTH-WEST. Branch terminates. We got on to the St. Paul, Minnesota and Manitoba lioad, moi-e generally known as the St. Paul and Pacific, on our way home. 1 had an opportunity of seeing on my return a portion of the lino that I had traversed in the night on my upward journey, and it fully sustained by comparison the character I gave of the portions of the lino that daylight permitted me to see on that trip, and that I have alread}- described. A considerable portion of this I'oad is only partiall}^ ballasted as yet, but they are busy completing it, and it certainly ran very smoothly for a line part!all3'^ incomplete and is very different from the Pembina Branch. Tlio rojid bed is much narrower than the Pembina and well thrown up and the ditches clean and altogether a very credit- able road ; indeed, it seems to me just such a road as we require over our own Western Prairies; it is inexpensive, and quite good enough to suit the country it traverses. The bridges, which are mostly small, are all built of oak piles, and as we passed i could not help remarking how little apparent denection or vibration they displayed. At Crookstown which wo passed, and which is situated on Eed Lake liiver, a tributaiy of the Hed iliver, we saw a verj'^ thi-iving town of two years growth, with, I should suppose, about one thousand inhabitants, with five largo grain stores, and every house and building in it apparently new. It is evidently in- tended by its founders to be one of the centres of the Western grain markets, and I should fancy it would become so, for about 50 miles on each side of it the fine Prairie lands are being broken up by thousands of acres preparatory to next spring's sowing — it was not at all an un- common thing to see 16 to 20 horses at work at this business on a single farm. I was told by a gentleman on the train, who was present when the l.Tiperial Commissioners, Messis. Pell and Head, passed here last week, and went to see the Dalrymple Faim, that they saw on that farm sixt3M'our sulky ploughs at work, most of them with double mould- boards, with from three to four horses abreast in each, all moving, one after the other, along the furrows in the same field, like several batteries of artillery making a movement in echelon formation. Such a sight could scarcely have been witnessed in any other country in the world. There are two other nearly as extensive farms, one owned by Mr. Casa, and another by Mr. Grandor, alongside of the Dalrymple Farm. These farms are from forty to fifty thousand acres each, one-third under crop. Not far from this, at Stevens' Station, your townsman, Mr. William Stevens, has taken up about 4,000 acres of land, and expects to have next spring 25 to 40 horses and oxen at work breaking it up. The location he has selected is an excessively fine ono — a fine clear prairie, which grows, spontaneously, hay suitable for his horses and cattle, which he gets cut, made, and put in stacks, for about one dollar and a-half a ton. His lands front on the Tamarac Eiver, a very nice stream, about forty feet wide, but not deep, and which is skirted with a growth of oak timbei', for about 60 to 100 feet along each of its banks. I was informed that most of the lands along this section, bordering on the railroad, were al- ready taken up, although the line has only been open about a year. The railroad and tho United States Government have each alternate sections, and settlers generally locate on 160 acres of Government land as a home- stead, and pre-empt another 160 acres, and then buy from the railroad whatever additional quantity they require. Yery liberal terms are NOTES OP A HOLIDAY TRIP. 49 sight . Cuss, Those given them, the price heing $5 per aci-o in five years, with a reduction of one-third if within three years they break up one-third of the hvnd. In the State of Dacota the (rovornnient gives 20 years to pay for the land, and charge $1.20 an acre, and (] pei" cent, interest till paid, and if the settlers plant ten acres of trees on their quarter section, the State exempts them from taxation tor ten years. Should they pay cash and break up one-third of their allotment, JJoj^ per cent, deduction is made in the price of their ])urchase. This is a more lilxu-al policy than that laid down by the (iovernment of Canada, wlio only give SO acres of a Iwme- stead, and a right to pre-empt a like additional quantity, but none of it within a certain distance of the railway called the six luile belt. Yet I think the policy of our Governmont is not illiberal, and if they push on the railroad the people who settle ought not to gi-owl, as they are doing, when they get 80 acres ot such land free with a chance to get as nmch more as they can pay for. Still 1 must say that great dissatisfaction is expressed on all sides in that country about these regulations. The people of Manitoba must not forget that the Parliament of Canada have been at a great outlay, and have voted large sums of money towards opening up the North- West, and that they have held forth to the public creditors that the lands through which the railroad passed should repay the monies which were borrowed for tlieir construction. The land outside the six mile belt is as good as that within it, and should satisfy settlers who want it for nothing. They really have little reason to tind fault, though, I admit, that the present arrangement is not as attractive to settlers in our country as the terms otVeretl by our neighln^urs of the States, and the Government of Caiuula have to face that difticulty. What they have now to consider is not whether they have been suffi- ciently liberal, or whether 80 acres is enough to give for nothing as a homestead, but they have to look and be guided in this question of land regulations exactly as they are in matters of trade. They must bo governed by the ])olicy of our American neighbours, and if the States upon our border, with lands illimitable almost in their extent, and an attractive in their fertility as our own, otlcr KJO acres where we only give 80, and pre-emption in the same propoi-tion, with railroad facilities far beyond ours, our lands will ivinain unoccupied, while theirs get settled. I think, therefore, that the true policy of our (Jovernment is at once to revise the land regulations, and to make them as liberal as those of our neighbours — allow a honle>tead to be taken anywhere, either within or without the nix-mile belt, and while acting thus lil)erally reserve within that belt each alternate lot as a f^ource from the sale of which a railway fund can be raised. The very settlement anil improvement of the home- stead will eidiance the ^ alue of the lands adjoining, and as the belt gets settled, those outside of it will acquire a value eipial to that originally possessed by those within the limil. What we have to lear in relation to our Government lands is the tendency of sj)eculatoi's who go in and buy them up in lai-ge (piMUtities and let them lie idle until, by the settle- ment of the adjacent lar.ds, their own have increased tenfold in value. Some remedy siicndd be provided for this by an absentee tax or a tax on wild lands, which would be only just. It was attempted to apply* a remedy of this kind; but it was exceptionable in its character, and was held to bo ^^ ultra vires" and set aside by the Courts. Nevertheless, there 60 'IHE WEST AND NORTH-WEST. is no griovanco without a cure, and tho sooner this one is applied the bettor. But, to resume my journey; we proceeded for some hours from Crookstown southward, and reached Glyndon, where we saw Mr. Sanford Fleming on his way to Manitoba, as it is said, to settle the points of difl'ercnce which have arisen among his statF there, as to roads, bridges, &c., &c., &c. It is a great pity that Mr. Fleming's duties could not have permitted his visit in the spring, as in that case I believe the country would have had a railway well advanced for forty miles beyond tho Portage. It is none of my duty to advise, but, were I in his place, I should lose no time in taking the Clovernment team of hoi'sos and waggon und driving over the country from Winnipeg, nearly as straiglit as tho crow flies, taking with me a gang of men to drive tho guide ])icU'ets foi* tho road at once, and setting the contractor to work as each mile was staked ofl^. There may be a few points requiring engineering skill, but they must be few indeed, and in these cases the numerous statf might bo put to work. If this course is adopted we may j'et liave some miles of railway west of Winnipeg ijcfore tlie winter sots in. In a prairie coun- try, such as Manitoba, outside the crossing of the rivers, there is little to engineer about. Mr. Fleming is u man of judgment and good sense, ami now that he has an opportunity to distinguish himself by r:i])id railwuy building, 1 hope he will do it. (Ilyndon is an enibr3'o city of the ])l:iins, .situates of AiiKTifa, must all pass this point as must also that which goes north from Cliicago, and as there is now little doubt that the new organization which has corJi'ol of the Northern Pacilic will build that lino tlu-ough, wo shall tii. ; in il a severe competitor for oui' own Canadian Pacitic, in the tians])oi't IVom ocean to o{(>an. Sixteen miles iurthor we roach tho junction of the bi'anch of the Si. Paul and Pacific, which I have described in a formor letter as in jn'ocoss of constfuction ami to bo com]»leleil by l)ecembor next. This, ihoui^h callod a branch, is ultimately to becomo tho m:iin lino, and will shni'tiMi tho distance about. 2'.] miles from St. J'.aul to 3I;initol)a. While jtroceeding IT miles fui'ther on, we i-ea'-hed lireckenridge. a |)laco (d some importance, and the poii\t selecled in the new route of the cattle drovers from the south fir the transport (d' catthi for shipment by rail eastward. From this ])oint to within So mih^s ol'Sl. Paul tho counir_\- is veiy much of the character alrt-ady deserilied ; but the n.-mainder of (he district gradually loses its jnairie aspect and assumes more that of a wooded country, much liico jiortions of the territory west of Milwaukei-, which [ will hereafter refer to. Wo reached St. Paul at 10 a. m. on the Bccond day after we left Winnipeg arul performed the distance, about 484 miles, in HO hours. When the St. Paul a.nd Pacific J{oad i.s thoroughly ballasted and the Government takes the Pembina Branf tho great wheat-growing regions of the world. This I am informed was tho conclusion at which the Imperial Commissioners arrived, and it is reported by the press that their calculation of its wheat-growing capacity was 200,000,000 of bushels per year. I remained in St. Paul eleven hours, taking the evening train for Chicago at 9 p. m., and in tho meantime availed myself of the oppor- tunity of giving you another letter of " Notes by the Way." P. M. SEVENTH LETTER. Montreal, October 2i)th, IS^f). in my last letter I described )ny journey to St. Paul, at which place Ave ai-rived at about 10 a. m. and left at p. m. We traversed that portion of the State of Wisconsiiiihy the Northern Road to Minneapolis and thence by the Lake Shore to Chicago, at which latter place wo arrived at 4 the next afternoon, Tuesday, and leaving there at p.m , via Michigan Southern and Grand Trunk, arrived at Montreal at 8 a.m. on the morning of the following Friday, having made the trip from Winnipeg to Montreal in four days and four hours, including more than nineteen liours in St. Paul, Chicago and Toronto. 1 have already described the portion of the journey from Chicago towards St. Paul, which was made during daylight and which, as 1 before stated, did not im])ross mo favourably. The portion travelled in tho night on the upward journey we passed over during t'iO day on our downward one, and while it was less striking and majestic as a ))tiro question of scenery, it was in everything that pertains to practical j»r(»tit a much more desirable country, and still not at all wanting in pictures- <|ue scenoiy. Froni the time that daylight enabled me to see the gi-ound we were travelling over, until we reached Milwaukee, the character of the country gradually improved, and, though wanting in the fertile stretches of })rairie land which I luivo heretofore described, showed in the appearance of the farms a degree of cultivation, improvement and care in the Avorking of the land, with a style and neatness in the build- ings, of which there is a great absence m the north-westerly regions heretofore described. The land was generally undulating, lighter in colour, and, as 1 should suppose, poorer in quality, than the prairie land of tho west, with here and there rocky houldors (limited in extent), scattered over tho face of tho country. Tho land, as avo progressed, had not that uniform character which the valley of tho Red River posBesses, It 62 TFIE AVEHT AM> NOllTII-WEST. but was in some places li^ht and ulmofit sandy in its composition. Yet all aloni^ the route it wa.s continuou.sly settled and gave evidence of a degree of careful cultivation, though upon limited areas which, if em- ployed on the western prairie lanil.-^ of Minnesota, would surely result in increased wealth to the possessors. The i-aihvay over which we travelled was in excellent condition, though it must have cost much lesH than our railways in the Dominion ; hut, as I learned from ex])crience, was capable of a vei-y high rale of sjtced. In all tin; counties to the west of Chicago, the road-beds are much luirrower than they are in (,'anadji, and must hav(f cost, ill their construction very much less money. 1 repeat, thei'efore, that we in Canada would do well to jidojtt a, system which has proved so successful in the States, and which would eruihle us to build a greater extent (d'railwa}'' than we have hitherto done for the same outlay. The bridges, under a certain limit, and except over lai-ge rivei's, are all built, as they are in the west, on )»ilcs, chictl}' (»f oak, and seem to answer the pui'pose of the immense trailic and trade which they carry. As de- sciibed in my last letter, they have scarcely an}' vibiation when the train pa:ars, while Chicago continued to increa.se in the volume of her trade and the numbei-s of her peo))Ie, Milwaukee was almost at a standstill; but in the last eight or ten years a change has come over her, and, though our stay was so short that 1 had not much time to form ojiinions fi-om personal observations, I could not help being struck, on my approaching the city, with the boominy character which it displayed for tWM) miles belbre wo leached its boundary. We found great j'anges of cattle and hog-pens all along the lino of railway, giving evi- dence of the extent to which the trade is prosecuted; while in sight was one of the most extensive hog and cattle-curing establishments that I have seen on the whole route. The ice-house alone of this establishment seemed to me to be half as large as the Windsoi- Hotel, while the build- ings appeared, in the hurried glance which 1 had ot them, to cover several acres of ground. As wo entered the city, we seemed to pass, on cither side o' the road, between immense Uunber yards, while extending up and through them, and parallel with the railway, was a canal oi" aim of the lake, on which were many vessels, almost all of which were discharging lumber. This city seemed to be a centre of a large wood trade; the hnnber cut into all tlimensions, a. id for this commodity it seemed to bo H great distributing point. Jn view were numerous elevators for the storage and movement of grain, which is the great staple trade of this city. These elevators wore moio numerous, so far as my personal t)b- servations went, than any that 1 saw on my journey, although they must be less so, in fact, than in Chicago, judging from the relative trade of the two cities. The residence part of the city is situated very much like that of yt. Paul on a high blulf — a position I should imagine of a very NOTES OF A IIOLIDAV TRU'. 63 .n. Yet ice of a J, if em- •cwult in ravelled hiin our . fiipablo Chicago, nd must herefoie, roved «o I greater iiy. The all built, tswer the As de- kvhen the I hotel at and best )iiduce to Y gavi' as nd at this s the only ade of the ^o in the uUce was lango has not much lelp being which it )und great iving evi- sight was tits that I iblishment the build- ^er several on cither ng up and iin of the ischarging trade ; the nied to bo •rs for the xlii of this .'rsonal ob- tney must rade of the much like of a very healthy city and superior in tliat respect to Chicago, The buildings are handsome — chiefly of cream-coloiu-cd brick matlo in the vicinity, and tho streets are generally well laid out and beautifully gi-adcil. Tlie people, Jis well as the city, strikes one as ))()ssessing a gfxxl deal of "jump " ab<>ut them, as these western men oxpi'esH it — we might call it progress — and, beyond peradventure, it is bound to be one of tho great centres of Western trade. Its i-aihvay coiniections west and south may be stated in thousands of miles; and it is extending them northwards, in such a way as to tap the trade of Lake Superior and of Noi'th Michigan. One line runs to iJaytiehT, through the centre of the .Stat<', and tai)s Lake Superior at that town, op|)osite Duliith, while half a dozen others e.vtend from the city, towards trreen Bay, from whence a road extends to the shores of 8ui)erior at L'Anse and Marquette, We left Milwaukee, and in '.l^ hours reached Chieago, skirting the shores of the lake. The land on this jjortion ol' our trip continued to improve, as did the appeai-ance of the farms and the buildings of the settlers. I do not pro])ose to i-emark upon the portion of the journey east of Chicago, but will now conclude these my " JVotes by the IVay " with a synopsis of my observaticms and conclusions on the States and Pi-o- vinces through which I passed, and on those adjacent. So far as regards " Wisconsin," while a considerable ]»ortion of it was toleraI>ly attractive, I cannot say, from what 1 saw of it, that it impressed me as a State which would present very great attractions f«»r agricultural settlers when com- pared with ]\[iimesota, Iowa and the Territoi-ies of Dacota and Montana, or the Province of Manitoba or the Canadian North-West. Of coiu'se, my opportunities for observation were limited and conlined mainly to the passing glance obtained from a railway train; but I was infoi-nied that a great portion of the northern section of it was covered with very valua- ble forests, and that with the foi-ests of Michigan, it furnishes the lumber required for the consuni])tion as well of the Atlantic as of the Miiidle and Western States. Through its northern section, and that pf>rtion of the State of Michigan which forms the peninsula, which stietdics from east of Dulutli towards Sanlt Ste. Marie, and which is said to be well wooded, but not desirable for settlement, is the ])roposed route of the railway from St. Paul to the Sault, intemled to connect, as 1 before mentioned, with our Canadian Pacific. 1 have already- referred to the importance of this route for the promotion of the trade of Canada, increasing the volume of traffic over our ('anndian I'acitic Koad, and making Montreal the point of export for. the corn and cattle of tin- west. Should the project now actively agitated in the North-West. and which has recently occupied the attention of our Montreal lioard of Trade, of a direct line from St. Paul to the Sault be carried out, it will bo of vast ijnportance to the trade of the lakes and tho i-aiiways of Canada, ft re(|uii-es but 224 miles to be constructed on the Canadian side and about KM) tVoni the Sault to Marquette, to give through connection now, which would tide over the period until the better project of the direct line was completed. I do not require again to go over the reasons why wheat would be trans- ported from Minnesota, Dacota and other North- Western districts over this route, the fact of it being 500 miles shorter to the seaboard and to Liverpool by this than by any other route would command the trade, especially the ei?ormou8 cattle trade, which, though yet in its infancy, 64 THE WEST AND NOIITII-AVEST. hiw bocomo a i^rcat soui'co of wealth to tlio western country. I have haid it is yet in id-t infancy, and it is ho, though the figures and statistics ol' the stocks and exjiorts startle one even now; and the inducements as an investment which tli;it trade oilers are so great, that it only requires lo be ])resented to attract attention. The exports of cattle from the State of Texas alone, during the past twelve nionbhs, numbers about ;iOO,000, while the stock-raising in Kansas and Montana lias more than quadruj)led itself in less than three years; ' \d then wo have Nebraska and Dacota, and the still more western regions, which will swell and enormously intensify the volume of that trade. In a former letter, 1 stated that the line of transit for this cattle trade had, during the present season, changed, and that, instead of shipping them from the nearest point ot railway in the south, that they had tried the system of driving them by easy h'age north, through the ])rairies oi" the west, feeding and fatting as they go, until tlioy reach the vicinity of liismaick, on the Northern Pacific, wlience they are shipped by rail to Minneaj)olis or St. Paul, If the dii-ect road to the Sault were built that immense trade would be r AND NORTH WEST. the average ])rofit of raising oiittlo in these western tei i-itories, would average at h'ust 30 per cent, ji -i- r.nnuin, and he saiil some well-informed men placed it at 40 oi" 45 per (cut. The raising oi' sheep is not, :is a rule, carrie*! on in the sani<> disti-icts as cattle. The}- may he bought this year at from 63 t<> ^'M)0 a head. They are generally, as a rule, in herds of from 2,(H»0 to .■5,000 each, and have to be C(U'!dle, which he put in charge of a man, Avho agreed to select a range or raiu-h, jciy all exj»enses, and accept therefor one half the wool produced and one half of the jnerease of the flock. On the expiration of the ll)ur years a settlement was nuule. and Mr. G received ItacU one thousand of the best ewes that the Hock contained, lie had also in {he meantime received tor his shai'c of the piocee, ;md for his share of the sale of the increase of sheep, $S,000. The result of his investment was a profit of SU.fHK) for the four years ou $.'>,62i"), or 121jf per cent, a year. Of course, added my informars', every one is not as successful in the selection of a good man, nor are such jjivourable ciiciimstan cents per ll>. Of hmses and mu.es. of whiih thei- are largo droses, the Nlatislies were not given, but it was stated that their numbers •were very large ap'l the pi ./fits there(Ui miieh lar'.^er than those made either on caltlu or sheep 1 e Jiikl pot gel in my hurried visit the stat- istics of the stocks in ihe r>th«r Wt-stern, South, and North-Western States and Ti-rrittuies, but as .Montana is a much moi'e recently settled Tcrj'itoiy than many otheis, it may iairly bo assumed that an equally NOTKS Of A Hol.inAV l-IUP. 57 s, would n formed districts a head. ;atli, and )redation as to be shelter oui!;h the re hirger, ii'c years •r that a 1 western )niia and try, espe- '(»j)le who (' written ' pui'pose ;ihie tha-t, vcss some ^)arohased of a man, id aecept ise of the n:i(U'. and the flock re of the e increase if SI 4,500 I'se, adde(i )f a ^ood 1)11 1 a fair in case of id, I httve man was in an un- iiit at the lant of liis I lie to pay and Land lumhe" of V . ,t elip r ii it sold are largo • numbers Ktse made tlie stat- h-VVestern tly settled m equally largo wealth in stock exists in the latter. T learned that the export of cattle alone from Texas was over 800,0t)() lor the past year. When, therefore, wo consider the stretch of torrit<^)ry from Texas through Kansas, Nebraska, Dacota and Minnesota, to say nothing of States where cattle and stock is raised, but not made a staple, the production must be simply immense. In some of these States the i-hief staple is cattle, such as Texas, Kansas and Minnesota and Dac(jta, wliile in Nebraska the staple is sheep. In luuie of these Territoi-ies, so far as I coiild learn, was hog a staple crop. That stock is more imme the "••.' -gia in these words : " You bet a man is a long uHiy from home in a State where com (hnt (/row." 1 have thus taken up a considerable — by some it may be thought too much — spac<' with a description of the meal ])r(»duction of the Western Territories of the United States. Indeed, I was yestei'day told by a gentleman who had read my letters, that iiwas unjiati-iotic to nuiko such statements in favour of a foreign country, as they might j)Ossibly have the ettect of checking the stream of emigration to our own North- West. '•13ut" said J, '• it is all true." " Truth," said he, " should not be told at all times, especially if it injures our own country." My answer was, " Y(ju make a mistake." 1 have written the truth about these States and Territories for the information and guidance of settlers, because every coridition which exists in the Territories I have de- scribed can be found under quite as favourable circuinstances, and . to a much gi-eater extent, in our own great North-West. If this iuuneiise cattle trjide is being developed in siu-h great vigoiii- and extent in foreign States, is it unpati'iotic to call attention to its aj>plicability to our coun- tr}' ? Ignorance of our resources and a want of pi-ogivss is what is kill- ing the atlvancement of Canada, fjct any one take u|) one of the old maps aiid he will find that in the centre of the Anu;ri<'an continent is laid down a desert where those fertile, wealth producing Slates are now constituted. Does one out of a thousand know that even greater fertility exists in our country to the north of these States .? We have none of those immense flocks anil herds, nor have we the projected comj)anies of capitalists for supplying the means to place them there, though we have ever}'^ advatitnge of soil, position and climate, that any of the Territ(»ries which 1 have described ]iosses><. There is on our boundless prairies annually growing the f(»od for millions of stock, and annually fading away for ws.nt of the stock, to make it convertible into money. U.S. Consul Taylor, . ■ many years a resident at Winnipeg, within a couplo of weeks, thus s])oke at a dinner given at that city to Messrs. Pell and Reed, the British (.■oinmi.ssioners, who visited oiirc()untry lo report upon the food supply of this continent. Speaking of the three 7,(»nes of the th)'ee great staples, cotton, corn and wheat: — He fixed the wheat z >ne ns conipiised in Caiiuda, WlHcotisin, Minnesota- and Michigan piirtiaily ; but t!'ree-fourtiis of tfio great wheat-priMlnciiig tieit, he said, lay north of the boundary. There the future breuci Biinply of America and tlje old world too would be raised. • • • The area of this zone waa etiual in capacity to four 58 THE WEST AND NORTH-WEST. States ns large as Pennsylvania; as a granary for the world, this zone could only find its rival in the wheat districts of Southern Russia. •••••♦ lie had spoken of the all-important bread supply; he now wished to allude to that which was also of very great moment, viz., the meat supply. In his opinion the liecf raised in the northern district to which he had referred would he found to he superior in qualify and superior in quantity to any that could l)e raised tven on the plains of Texas and the atljoining States. Already he had been t-h farmers remained to be seen. (Hear.) His co!lea,mio Mr. Iload spoko thus : — He had scon land in this district which his limited experience led him to believe thf) very best land for cultivation that the world ever produced. Everything seemed to favimr the production of wheat — a favourable climate and a soil which was one large m.iss of rich alluvial, ready, aj)partaitly, to give the richest returnn with the easiest wo.k. (Cheers.) Ho did not know what soil they could have better, or with more advnr tago. Dacota, the territory lying ifumediately lo the south of our own C'oimtry, s fast dcvolojiin,^ into a great cattle-])roducing Stale, and why Bhould not Manilolia and the Nortli-West do so al.so i The reason S8 very clear and so is tl>o remedy. Tho public have NOTES OP A HOLIDAY TRIP. 59 only find • • ivlluclo to in ion tho nd to 111! n on tho le owners past 11 10, iwstono, n C8C groat tliat tho now must losts. IIo pooplo of ritli (lie idoiil Jit r's slate- port ; and wliicii an born vory Contlcinan ar. I Tho I Mr. Poll) Id bo with or by tho oxctllont f(ot boof. t it nioro re HO far subjoot — untry had inipliK of Dominion Kin oarly Ho was I into tho 1 titif for 1 farniors to believe g Roomed 1 was one with tiio ir, or with oni' own ;ui(l why lie huvo had no means of ^etlini^ into our country, except at times by an eit^ht or ten dayw' journey from St. Paul's on wheels or sleii^hs. Ilenee tlie^' (lid not go there, and therefore remained ignorant of its resources, Tho remedy is speedy construction of railways from Winnipeg west to tho foot of tho Rocky Mountains, and then we shall see capitalists gladly seize the opportunity to establish flocks and hei-ds upon our Ixjundloss ])rairics as an interest-paying investment, as they liave so succossfully done in Montana and other Territoi'ies. The time is propitious for it in this eraof Jiank failures. Tho Banks of tho Saskatchewan, the Assinil)oine, Hod and Peace JJivers never fail, at least to give a good return, when oivlinary industry ami judgment is exercised. In speaking with a prominent Pail way and Land Company re])rosentativo <»n tho above subject ol' the North-West as a region for settlement, ho gave me an instance, which came under his notice, of a man who came to him u. ;t spring and told him he had SOOO and wished him to tell him how he could best use it to su])port himself, wile and three sons. M}- informant advised him to buy a y the United States Government and the railways in Minnesota and Northern Dakotroduces forty and fifty bushels to tfie aire, while in Sout'iern Minnesota twenty bushels is the average ciop, in Wisconsin oidy fourteen, in Pennsylvania and Uhio tiftceii. Cultivated i)l(ints yield the greatest products near the northerniost limits at which they grow. In Prince Albert and other mnv settle- ments on the Saskatchewan foity bushels of spring wheat, averaging sixty-three pounds to the bushel, have been raised. In tlie Southern latitudes the warm spring devclopes the juices of the i>lant too rapidly. They run into stalk and leaf, to the detriment of the seed. The extent of this enormous and rich l>ritisli territory is com- paratively unknown in the United States. It is estimated at 2,084,000 s(piare miles, whilst the whob' of fhe United States south of the international lioundary contains ■2,9!H;{,000 s(piare miles, In its centre is Lake Winnipeg, threes hinidred miles long, fifty to sixty miles wi(h' the future Black Sea of Canada. At three of its four corners it receives the waters of a large rivt^r, the main trurdv of a hundred smaller ones; at the remaining north-east angle a fourth and larger river, the Dardanelles of the system, conveys the aciumiilaled waters ot nearly a million square miles into Hudson's Bay. Tliis Lal;e Winnipeg receives the diainage of the future wheat field uf the world. Tlie Saskatchewiin froni its deboucher into the lake eastward from the Rocky Mountains by one luanch runs over a course of 1,054 miles and by the fither l,oy2. One of the branches has lieeii navigated by steam ovir 1,000 miles, and the other nearly the same distance. The two Saskatcbewans drain what is specially known as the " fertile belt," containing not less than ".tO,(KiO,(iOO acres of as fine wheat land as tan b« found in any 1 oiintry. rhroiigh their wliole length they run through prairie land. The united length of the three main rivers, with their most important aflluents that jiour their accumulated waters into Lake Winnipeg is not less than 10.000 miles. The outlet of this maffnitiiint water system is the large river Nelson, which discbarges the sur])liis wabr ot tin- lake into Hudson's Bay, and which can be rendered navigable for steamers to Port Nelson, a point eighty miles iieartM" to Liver- pool than New Vork is. All this magnificent region of prairie, river and lake is British territory. Within five years it is calculated that 4,000,000 a( res of this fertile prairie land will hn under wheat cultivation. This means an addition to tlu wheat products of the world of 100,ooo,ooo bushels. The exports of all America to the United Kingdom from the llth of September, 1877, to Mi v 11th, 1878- the eight shipping months — was about 100,000,000 bushels. This nmoui.t, large as it is, is not more than may be expected within the ne.xt few years to bi' tlio annual production of this new wheat field of the Winnipeg wat( i-slied. The iidluences of the opening up of this new district cannot but have a most important eft'ect on the supply of the Engish market. " It will make the Mother country rntirely independent of foreign supply." It !.'. e'/ident that our superiority as a grain-growing country is likely to be seriously tureatened by the rich prairie wheat lands in North-Western British America. P.M. CONCLUSION. Montreal, November 3()th, 1870. Since the conclusion of my letters an above, it has been suggested to me that they should be [tublished in pam{)hlel form, as containing general intbrmalion of the Western country trom an indeptMident source. In consentinij to this |tro)»ositi(»n I havt* tliou,:L^ht it only riLcht, not alone to intending- emigrants from Kurope, but in justice to I he older Pro- vinces of the Doniinion, to make a few observations on the rcsourcoH of the latter. Ontario, the lari^est both in area and j)opulation, is so well known both in Europe and America for its valuable restiurccs in lands, and the high state of cultivation which agriculture has reached within its borders, the ])o,sscssion of the immense irdand seas, and its rxtensivc water com- munication, that but little need be said about it; of it we may fairly say that both in agriculture, in fertility of soil, in salubrity of climate, in facilities of li-ansit t)oth by rail and water, as well as in iis municipal oiganization and Government, and its developed inanutacturcs, it is in advance of the other Provinces to the east of it, and must always be a point of aUraction to intending emigrants. Of the Province ot (Quebec, the next in :\\v.\ and po]»ulation, un general remai'k such as I have made above can ajiply; ilu^ character of its soil, climate and resources vary very much, and while a huge pi"o- portion of it is unsui'passed in tei'tility, such as the Mixy that, " history viU rfj>e.at itself ^ What has been going on in tlu^ New Kngland States lur h.alf a ceiitwiy will ])robably go on in the Dominion of (^'anada. TiieoM settlers of , Maine, M;issa(diuselis, New Ilanipsliire, V'ermont and other New Kngl;tnd States, alter jiartially clearing their land, st'll out, and leave tlieii- old farms and go t) the frontiers of civili/.ation and seltlement, and themselves again commenei; life anew in a western and nusettled countiy. Tlieii* places are tilled '.»y the \\v\v comei'.-. Sueh as lias been the history of the United Stati-s will be the experience of the L)omii'ion. J'^migrants to our eountrv from JOurope have not the same knowledg"e of, no!- tii(^ love for, the new couniries of the west as oui- own j)eople have, and many of the farmers of the I'iitish isles in many cases would ]>ref'er to take up tlie ]>artially ckai'cd and cultivated lands of our (iwn >(•! tiers who may desiic- to move v/estward. 1 would not Ik^ sur|)ri.-ed to find that this would tie experi- enced to a eon>iderab!e extent in the next iive \'<':iis, and (;ui' able and ])ractical Minister of Agriculture would do well to get up stati-tieal in- formation of the availahle farms that ]iarlii's desire to !-ell in the older Provinci^s of Ihe J)ominion, ami thus ]»romote the lilling u|) of tlm vacancies which may be erealet((!n tendencies of oui' own pe;»ple. 'I'luih compels im* to say that oiu" llaslern eoinitiy is not as universally fertile ;is in the West, iKU'duc. ji pre-en!, in an agri- cullufal ])oinl of' view, .as many ad\aiitages, liiit \cl it has points df attraction which will ;llway.■^ hll up Ihe vaeaneies wiiicli tiie inigrati?ig tendency of our j)i'(iple m:iy le:ive in our mid-^t, .as v.ell as oxl»Mid the area of si'itlciiH'nl. It i> true that, here wi' have not the bninnllrs^ pastures of the west on wliiidi the juenibers of ihe herds are counted by thousands, but yet we have in the ri(di rolling country of the ICastorn Town>hips, and in the mai'shes and valleys ol the Jjower Provinces, the means of' cattle growing especially second only to the western pi-aii-ies which 1 have described. In the lltistern 'fownships of <^Miebee is the liirm of the Hon. Sen;ilor Cochrane, which has given a reputation to Caiuida, and added to iIh^ records (if the Herd l}ook of Aincric.i some of the most remarkabli! instances of the pi'ize cattle of the world. P. M. LIVE STOCK SHIPMENTS. From the books <KKNTI«E KEHiTOUED. It iH but in k"i'|)ing with th« hi^'h < oinmcrcidl standinjj of thin proud mctrop- oliii of Cniiiiiliau wt-alUi und i'cfliiiMiu;iit tlmt nil her institutions wliich influeiicu her caste or givt! her cliaractcr in thi' opinion of stran^ccrs shouhl be of the most modern progressive type, as n>,'aids ii|>pointnn!nts and management. This is eminently iho case with regard to the standard of her iiot<'ls. In this latter respect Montreal now takes rank with ti»e finest cities on tiiis eontini.'nt, anil has, more especially duriag the last two years, made KHili strides of progress in this direction as even to have Burpasscd tht! expectations of tiiose who, previous to the title of progress, complained of her deficiencies, and charged tlie capitalists of the city with wunt of enterprise in allowing such a condition of tilings to exist, as to leave Canada's leading city open to the unfavorable criticism of strangers in this respect. First, the Windsor came into existence, and tlu! style of its opming and subsequent success created a stir and gossip favorable to Montreal in hotel circles all over the Continent. But this filled only one side of the want ; it is viitiialiy an up town hotel, specially adaiited by ita location and surroundings for a class of pleasure tourists, to whom quietness is the first consideration. Our great thoroughfares down town, in the centre of trade and fashionable promenades, drives, etc., were deficient, the closing of the old and popular 8T. LAWllENCfci HALL on St. .lames Street having h ft a gap which, in the estima- tion of strangers, was a serious drawback to the pleasure of u sojourn in Montreal. This old favorite hotel is now opeiu^d again, and such liav*; been the efforts put forward by the proprietor, the well-known hotel man, Mii. Hknrv Hogan, that a visit of inspection to the adniiral)ly arranged interior, and a test of the scale upon which it can provide for the comfort of its guests, convinces on*; that not only has it revived under the present management all its former caste and popularity, but as a fashionable liotid of tlie liigliest onler, in point of convenieme and management, the ST. LAWUENCK HALL is eclipHcd by no hotel on this Continent. This strHcturo scarcely needs description, its old familiar solid cut-stone front, facing on St. James Street, with its five stories, is familar to the great majority of bun virant» who have visited Montreal from the United States and Europe during the last thirty years. It runs rearward through tlie two blo( ks intervening between its front entrance and Craig Street, on the latter of which a portico, supported by four massive stone pillars, marks out the private entrance for ladies and guests. It contains about three hun- dred guest rooms, grand dining hall, with a seating capacity of five hundred at once, besides parlors, billiard rooms and elegant ollice, reading and sami>le rooms for com- mercial travellei.s. It is si arc>i noi'cl III l-piiwi ivd, Uuulilo-EnKlnfcl TOSS. PariHlaii 550O Sardinian 4100. PohiiPhiian 4100: Sarnitititin 3600. Circaaslan 3700 Hibernian 3434 Nova Scotian 330O Scandinavian. 3000 Caspian 3200 PniBsiun 3000 Austrian 270O (BiUldinc\i .t:;apt. J. E. uutton. Cupt. R. Brown. .Capt. A. Aird. .Capt. J. Wylie. .Lt. Arch«>r, R.N.R. Capt. RicliurciBon. Capt. H. Wylie. Ciipt.Trockrf. Ciipt. ii1t<^-hle. Capt. R S. Watts. Til v. Biunios Avnan 4200 Noi toriiii ;i7UO Moravian ;iOOO >'klv h>'t\MMMt r.ht-rpool aiut Oiicbon and Moilll'rii'. Iliniu;;lloilI, lllf Sf;is.iii nl S'l.iiiiic' N:i'. I',' itloii ; ;'H(| Irniii Llvcrpniil fo!' II;|I|I;I\ and IViltlmori' rvcry 'I'liui-Hda.v. and fp'iii ilalliax afH-r iliiir ri'tiirn irniu imii jniorr, (•\>'r,v .'^aliirda.v diirlMi; llio si'ason of Wlnf-i'i Navjiratlnii ;— lin- vi-ss' '. < >>( tlio x.-dn ijnc caliin'.,' at Movllle to rcci'ivi' and land I'ussonjrcrs and .Malls (o and inmi lifl mil aiiil -rtitlaml. 'I'lif si<' iiuiis of ilif lialifa.x I.Inc sail torliil^'lulv iwiwr. n I.l' ••rpnul mid (MipIht. or Italll- m'>rc '•(■'/ Halifax, N.S.. anil St. ■lolins. .\.l''.. dnrln: tli'- -ifsion of ^imiiiitT .Nav||,'ailon ; and lifl.wfi'ii I.lvrrpool and Hulllinoio, via Halifax, diiil",' ilif ^-im.vih or Wlnii-r Navli;at,loii. Tlif SicaiiiiTs of lilt' Cilasirow 1,1 nc sail vvn-klv hrnv. I'P flic ( lydi- and (.iiiflirc, diiiliiK: Siiin- Siior, and pi'ilodlcall.v lift with (ilas^josv and Ijosnm cia Halifax durlii;; V\ liiior. RATES OF SEA PASSAGE. From Liverpool or Londonderry to Quebec, Halifas or Baltimore. Tallin, £l,'> Sitr,, orlT.i. and i'ls St?,, or t'M>; Clilldirii iiom i !■) U ycii-s. Half K.nt' : iiikUt 1 .vilul(s ovtr s years. j"ii li,-; Si.--., or t'T.iio II paid 111 (i-iiada : rlilldion from 1 to 8 years. Ilalf F^iv; midi-r I yi'ar, Xl Is. sip., or t:t,'il>. Survanis III «.alili» tU.or^Tii. FROM QLASaOW TO QUEBEC. Tallin. jCI:! Ills, stj,',, nr fns.'^.". • Ciilldrcn undtr ij years of a^jo. lalf Tavp. Inloriiiodlate, £H ss. .si;^., ill .si'_'.(Mi ; (hildri'ii fiom 1 to H years, Half I'are : under 1 year, i.M is, sit'., or $.'>,!!:". SI'-oi-;i);:e, A'li <>s siu. or If prepaid m Canada. f'.'T ; ciilldreii .iiid oiliers noi provided for In tho Certltlealeof I he Hhnds whom they are a >mpaii>lii>f. miisi pay III'.- usual easli rales at vort ol' eiiiltaiUallon. Intermediate PaB'jenRert^ are furnished by the Company with Beds. Bedding, and other requisites. Steerage Paesengrers require to provide their own Beds and Bedding, nuA Eating and DnuKini; Utensils. 1)111 iliese arihles, wiih iiie ex-epiionof l>e.| ,iotlii's, can he hired ou hoard al .i iliaiire of $i,,'i(i per adult and f>.'. fur > hlldreii heiween I ,and -^ years of ii>;e. I'Irsi I ahlii I'asspnir'Ts are allowed 'i ■ uhle feci; Inieriiiedl.iie J'lisseiif.ers, ',5 ciihle fpflt, and Steeravre l'ass«Mii(ers, toeiible feel of ilakfi^jiKt', KKKK. All e\ ess will Ik- charKed at. l\w rnt^f of Is. tid. stu'.. per foot for Orora Frelplu, and the customary rare per Kail. AGENTS; Liverpool Messrs. ALLAN BROTHERS & CO.. Alexandra Btilldinffs, JafnoH St. Ola&irow " .JAMBS & ALEXANDER ALLAN, 70 Qroat Clyde StrfOt. LoncTonden-y " ALLAN BROTHERS & CO., .S5 Foyle Street. London " MONTGOMERY & WORKMAN, Grace Church Street. Allan*, U.\K fl Co., ('h:oii|)|ftin Stirit, <,lii('jic ; H. llm iii.iK.t;. Ci.inci Kiiij; niid Voiiko SIri'oU, Tunuite; J. II. K.\lU()KiKVK. — . Haiinlliiti , iJitiRiiK I'. Tiii)mi'>..\. SpaikH Street, Ottnwti ; K. CisMtn ts Co,, Hiillfiix. N. S. ; W, Tiio.mh.in .V c. . SI. .I..|in, N.H. : Hon. A. Siik^, st, ,l..hnH, N. F, ; J^MKsl, Fakmfii. India street, Portland ; Col W I.a.mk, Norfiilk. \ Irifiii'n ; .\ ,'<(||imai iikh A Co., P.jtltiiiioic. Md. . K Ukipn, .\>ft, (J "I". l«. Co., iH'tn.it ; Allan .\i <'■■ , 7,i Iji Sail.' Slieot, CliicuKo ; K. H. CoLK, Aniiit a. 'r. i;'y Co,, Sail Fralicisro. B. & A. ALLAZT, Agents, Comet' YouviHe and Common Streets, MonlreH. iisrsi^EioTioisr — or — WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Tho Act Jimendinff and consolidutiiii.'- (he laws rclntinnj to WoiijhtH and Measure.-*, asscntod to 15th May, 1H7!», conu's into operation 1st July, 187II, and among other thini^H, proviilos that : — "Tho unit or standard measure of capacity, from which all other measures ot capacity, as well lor liquids as for dry goods, shall bo derived, shall bo the gallon containing ten Dominion Standard pounds weight ot'distilled water weighed in air against brass weights, with the wat M- and the air at a temperature of (;2° of rahreidieit's thermometer, and with the barometei* at thirty inches." " I*rovi, and that the use of th«' wine nu-asui-e is permitted for liquids only until tho 1st of Ma}', 1880, t'rom which date its use becoaies illegal. With refcrencj^ to unstamped weights, mea.-ures and weighing machines being fn the possession of manufacturers of or dealers in such articles, \t is enacted: — "That tho raanut'acturers of or dealers in weights, measuj-es or weigh- ing machines, \\ho has in Iiis jKts^ession for sale, any weight, measure or weighing machine, shall not be bound to have the same iris])eoted and stamped accoiding to this Act so long as the same remain in his manu- factory or waiehouse, but no such weight, measiii-e or weighiiig machine shall be removed from his premises. soM or taken into u-e for trade, without having beer. insjK-cted and st:iin|)e(|. Hut by a regulation made by the Governor in Council, weights, tncasurcs and weighing nuu'hines may be moved from one place to another without having been stamped, provided they arc not 'taken into u^f tor traile,' " For the avoidance^ of inconvenience, therefore, it might be well that mamifacturers and tra on hand a sutHcieiit stoeU ot' stamped weights, nu-asiu'cs, scales, itc, for sujq)lying the wants ot their customei'S. Instead of annual inspection as heretofore provided for, this Act pro- vides for a bi ennial inspection of weights and measuif-. Mut this provision is not intended to pievent Inspt-ctors of weights and measures from testing the accuracy of weights, measures and weighing machines at an}' intervening perioOL, iHRHUHi ed, Clyde- 284 Tons. 284 " 300 " roo " 30O " OBA. ect, com- aiul have ngers MONT- 'S Street, REAL. POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK, CANADA. I. Tliiet! hniidnd Post Offico Savings Hanks in Ontario and Qupbcr aro open daily for the receipt and repayment of (Icposits, during tlie ordinary hours of Post Ottice buKinesH. '.'. The dirert security of the Dum'uion is f^iven by tiu' 8tntute for all deposits nuwle. .'! Any person may have a depos t iucount, ari( the Sa» in;;s Hank I'ost UlHci's may < ontinue his deposits at any other of such othces, without noiie,; or ehanp- of Pass IJook, and can witlidraw inoiu y at that t^avinur 'i!h d< Oftiei' which is most convenient to hmi For instance, if he makes his tiist de|jusjt at the Savin^rs Hank at (^ihourj;, he may niak • t" ther fleposits at. Ml witlidraw his money throu^di, the Post OlHi e Itunk at ' •'ijin^we .d or •jueliec, Sariiia, Brockville. or any other plaie whu h may be > onvenient t< him, whether ho coni'rue (o reside at Cobonr;; or remo\e to some other place. 7. Each dep sifor is supplied with a Pass Honk, which is to he produi ei| to the Postmaster every jme the depositor pavs in or «illidraws money, and tin sum- ,>ii"i in or withdrawn are entered therein by the Postmasti-r receiving or paying the >.ime. 8 Kiioh doi)osltor-M nieoiiiii. tti kopt In tile I'oatniuster-Ooiioral's OfHt»*. in Ottuwn, uisd In addition to tho ['oBtimuitcn h recotpt In lie Hiimh lluolc, u direct ucknowledgniotit IVom the Post - maatnrO«n« dpiionito? U" this iicknowlodifrnent doc« no* reaoli ilio riupimltor within ton diiyn from t'.ie dutt> of lii« (Inposit, he niuat applv imni<'dl«l«ly ««' the Poatnitu»tcr-(ieneral, by lottur, buiuij: eari'ful to ffn-.> hm luldresB. uiul, If noe '.-laary, wnle »tl&ln, becautt) Ihn l'o«tmii«t»i s rocelpt or entry In tliM Piihb Buuk la not BuHIclent without the furtlii r receipt for the nioiHiy from Ottawa O. Every d'ipo>*lt<)r must eend his book '>iu!e a year— viz.. on the anniversary of hla lint deposit— for comparison wltn tha Books of the Oepartment. and for Insertion of IntertMt. Tt • Book Will tie returned to hini by flr«t '...nil. At no utliMi- time should a depositor sufler his Book tu be out of his own >)osaesiilon. 10. Wheii a <|e|iositor wishes to 'vitodraw money, he can do so liv applyiiiu' to the Postmasler-(ien< lal, who will sei.d hin Kv return mail a r'hetpie lor the amount, payable at whavt ready u> r-cfive ami attend tn all appli- cations, complaints, or other < ommunicntions inldressed to him by depositors or others, relative to Post Ollice Savinus Hank business. I,"). A full stHteinentof the lle^rulations of the Post Office Savinj^s Bank may be seen at any Post »)th< e in Oanada, and in th'- Official Postal tluide. Post OrpicB I »ici'AnTiiKNT, Ottawa, JOHN O'CONNOR. ""^ Febniarif, IHSO. Pottmaster'OeMntl, I TORONTO. MI ^M»» «|iilll »C*UiC. This magnificont Rote) in situated on Front Street, is within three minutes' wulk of the frrand Trunk, Union iin>t American Hotels. The Omnibus arrangements are complete, and they attend at the ariival and departure of all the Trains. The Table is unsurpassed, and the comforts which it offers to families, us u temporary or pcrtuaneni rosideuce, are uq- ©qualled. In connection with the above Hotel is the QUEEN'S ROYAL HOTEL At the mouth of the Niagara Eiver, whieh offers a most pleasing temporary Summer KeHidenee, and good tatilities for Sportsmen and Fishing. Several Steamers run daily beiwern these Hotels, the trip occupying only two and a-half hours. In each Hotel are T<-lrfirraphi(' Offices, Telephones, tc. Tickets can be obtained ut either ILoioi u> any part of the Domiaion. McGAW & WINNETT. fj< vithin three ■n Railway and Custom }8 men who ant gi'oundii ngs. di the modern he Omnibus I departure rts which it CO, are un- L, >Ht pleasing )rt8men and ila, the trip Tickets can INETT. MMOM i iBTH-ffi FARMING LANDS ttw HMsoa's Bay Co. Have very Large Tracts of Land in THE GREAT FERTILE BELT FOK; SA.Ij£I, AND NOW OFFER 500.000 ACRES IN THE TOWNSHIPS ALREADY SURVEYED. They own TWO SECTIONS IN EACH TOWNSHIP, and have, in addition, LARGE NUMBEUS OF FAIIMS FOIl SALE on the RED and AS8INIB0IMK RIVERS. Splendid Prairie Farms, Grazing Land and Wood Lots. PRICES range from $3 to $6 per acre, according to location, ice. TERMS OF PAYMENT remarkably easy. PAMPHLETS, giving full information about the country and the lands fur aalei can be had on application at the Company '8 Ofhces in Winnipeg, and at Montreal. C. J. BRYDGES, La„d Commit$ioner Httdtorit B*y C9* Ottawa, 10 til December, IB 79. SCHEDULE or CLOSE SEASONS FOR FISH IN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC. KiMDS or Fish. SALMON [ T'"!"^ \ AnijUny WHITE FISH SALMON Ti^OUT. SPECKLED or BROOK TROUT BASS, PICKEREL, \ ( Ihre) and > MASKINONGEJ ONTARIO. From 3l8t July to 1st May. . From 1st Sept. to Ist May.. . From Ist Nov. to 10th Nov. From 15th Sept. to Ist May From 15th April to 15th May, QUEBEC. From 31st July to 1st May. From 1st Sept. to Ist May. From 10th Nov. to Ist Dec. From 15th Oct. to Ist Doc. From Ist Oct. to Slst Dec, From 15th April to 15th May. Not or Seine FiHliing witliout LiceuKCH is prohibiieil. NoIh must bo raised IVom Snlurday night until Monday morning of each weeU. Nets cannot be sot or Seines used so as to bar ciianiiels or bays. Intlians as well as Whitemcn are forbidden to fish illegally. Each person gailtj' of violating those Regulations is liable to fine and <;osts, and in default of paj'ment, is subject to impiisonment. No jierson shall, during the above prohibited times, fish for, catch, kil!, buy, sell or have in pos- Bossion, any of the aforesaid kinds of Fish. {By order,) W. F. WHITCHER, Committi0ner q/ Fiihirtei. f. h ', 1879. lEBEC. C. o iHt May. > l8t May. to 1st Dec. > Ist Dec. 3l8t Dec. olStbMay. i must bo elv. Nets mliariM as guilty of default of iring the e in po8- }f Fishtnet. f am \ mmm- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 m Ilia :" IIIIIM :." iiiAo IM 1.4 IIIIII.6 Vi w Pi? ^. Va -J •>- ^^9 V r'S^ ^PARTOF THE UNITED STATES'^-' routpiU'd fiom Ihc Latest Aiithoritips ^ ^^ ReiVrmos 1880. '^iA'^ Rdiluaifs; 1)1 ■■ » ■<.,...»• SW , ,^ • ^ J D I ... JCAtr OF MILES \ hvjfrtpif Rmhinif'i,* ^^♦^♦.♦♦^» „ ... .p.. .«.. .«. ■♦ q *^ Btiumlfinrs of Ctnuida- _- . Vtt-t -^,^mmtsi..ia-=a^mmm ^tM0f' ,, of thr PfminfT'Jf : ■rueHnil^>ii-iB>.J?.-»pVuc UaMu«)lreel. ij(»|«rti 'to i? '"fvrTTv^wKtfrw^'m wasgmvBumwtsK ,_ "V 'fe* l— ^»l« .^' '" !* 726^lf (w 'I 'I :j^^