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'>yj*\ ■•'^--*'-^,■■-:T>^' ■-:4^ ncsir u-^ c-<^ 7 r- - SOME STARTLING FACTS -RBLATINO TO THE-< CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY -AND THE- NORTH-WEST LANDS, -ALSO- A BRIEF DISCUSSION REOABDINO THE ROUTE, THE WESTERN TERMINUS -AND- THE LANDS AVAILABLE FOR SETTLEMENT, — BT — ' r ■ ■ ■■ - - ■ V c. hioiretzk:"^-. W: '■ ' ■ ^ ' ■ ^' ' ■, ^iawa ; *. ■ ■ PHINTKD AT THE OFFICK OK THE " FKKK PRESS," ELGIN STREKT ,' , - * 1880. -■ ^ -^ ■%■ * - ; y_ ■ . ■'" ?'*• ' ;;^^y.- •. r.'-; • ^^ -31^ ^ »fv 195718 ' i '"^ i^^ //(5 /^E T2 K-i, C it » I BiittrtX cccordhvj to Act of ParUament of Canada, in the tmr ISSO, hy ('. Ilorttihj, ill ('"' kthct of th-: Miimter of A'trkuHure. gufel0ts Mtm^tkB^ Various indications point to tlie existence of fi wide spread and rapidly growing feeling of dissatisfaction and distrust throughout the older provinces of the Dominion, with regard to the adopted route and construction of that portion of the Canadian Pacific Railway which traverses the "Rocky 3Iountain " and " Cascade " Zones, and terminates at Burrard Inlet. The main difficulty in the construction of the Pacific Railway is encountered in the " Cascade " or Coast range, through which any line from the interior of the Continent must pass in order to reach the coast. All surveys made hitherto have been met Ijy tliis grave obstacle. Tlie "Yale," "Bute Inlet," " Kemsquit,"" and " Skeena " routes arc all, owing to this impediment, well nigh impracticable, and the adoption of any one of them could only be justified, were it to lead to tangible advantages beyond. No such advantages exist, the entire seaboard being but the adamantine buttress of a mountain range, one hundred miles in width. The seaboard again, although pierced by countless Inlets, and presenting on the map a most favourable appearance, offers in reality very grave obstacles to the mariner, because of the nearly universal dearth of good anchorages. On the whole mainland coast there is but one really good natural harbour — Port Simpson. All others have draw- backs in a more or less degree. The writer claims to be able to pomt out a solution of the coast range diflficulty, besides certain other advantages of paramount impor- *^"**'*''^**<^«"**iB^KMa^.^ ' -. • M- ^ . tauce. Tlic matter in the following pages is, to some extent, a mere index of facts culled from various railway reports, iii order to elucidate the writer's arguments, in favour of a Northern route for the Pacific Kailway through the " Pine River Pass " of the Rocky Mountains, preferably to that of the " Yellow Head Pass," as advanced in 1874 in a littl* w^ork entitled " Canada on the Pacific." The writer has been connected with the Pacific Railway surveys since the inception of the project, and during the past nine years has seen and examined much more of the North- Western country and of British Columbia, than perhaps any Engineer of Mr. Fleming's staff. Besides having originated the northern route eta the Pine River Pass, in opposition to the sneers of certain individuals identified with the Frazer River Line, the writer claims a special practical knowledge of the British Columbian coast, from the Alaskan boundary line, south- wards, and has, therefore, no hesitation in giving his views to the public, he merely asks the reader to ex imino carefully the written testimony, and to trust to his own common sease for his deductions. 1 ■A \ ■'•! CHAS. HORETZKY, Late of tht C. P. H. Surveys. Ottawa, May 31st, 1880. i), . ,1 • iy r.-» i 8¥|j5lIE obji^ct of the present pamphlet is to place prominently before ^jjl^ tho tlmikiuj,' portion of the Canadian public certain facts bearing materially, not only upon the futUro prospects of tho country at largo, but also and by no means in a small degree, upon British Imperial interests, in so far at least as thcso interests may bo vested in the Canadian Pacific llnihvay. Actnif? upon tiio advice — pi'esumably at least — of tho Chief Engineer of the railway in ([uostion, tho Government of Sir John A. Macdonald has taken the initiatory step towards carrying out tho compact of 1871 with British Columbia. Construction has been commoncod on the Yale- Kamloops Section — a length of 125 miles. The Toronto Mail of tho Gth May, in commenting upon the very serious question of routes, betrayed its misgivings by tlio utterauco of tho following apologotical remark : — '* It must 1)0 said that if a misfcako should have boon niaJo in the " choice of the liuvrard Inlet route, that mistake will hiivo boon mad" " without shame or blame to any one." Exception may, perhaps, bo taken to tho above allegation. It is scarcely a matter of doubt that a mistake, and a very serious one, has been made. The article in question speaks of throe seriously competing routes: the " ]5urrard," tho " l>uto " and the "Port Simpson " routes. " After eight years of surveys pushed forward at great cost, and " with infinito labour to all concerned," the question ha;-5 not been exhausted, and the testimony given hi tho following pages establishes beyond doubt that the true trans-continental route, and the true "Pacific" terminus of that route, have been most unaccountably lost sight of. Six years ago. during an examination of tho nortli-wcst coast of British Columbia, I discovered at tho head of tho "Kitimat" Inlet, or Douglas Channel, a small land-locked harbour, north from whick stretched a beautiful valley leading directly to, and touching, tho River Skeena at a point 75 miles above Port Essington. So much im- pressed wero my little party and myself with tho nflturnl facilities of this locality towards tho formation of a good harbour, and its adapta- bility for a terminus, that I made two attempts to discover access 1*1 from this point to tlio oastoi'ii iutorior plntoiiu. My ofTorts were fruitloss, and afU'i- ii fivn woeks' iloluy ut tho hcuil of thi.n Inlot, our bloop, tho " Triuuiiili," left for tho Deivu Ciiniil. All tho above facts wero duly set forth ui my OHicial Report, dated from '• nrlhibclhi, Novth-Wost Coast B.C., Novcinhor V), 1871," but for reasons unknown to myself, that lloport wasmuti!tit(Ml most unmercifully, and tho last portion of it, doscriptivo of the coast from I)ou;,'las Channel to Quoon Cliarlotto Sound, cnliii'ly suppressed. Picfcronco to pages 187, 141, of Mr. S. l'"l(niiM^''s licport of 1877, vill nfl'ord tho most convincing proofs of this stutcmont. A foot note at bottom of page 14J, s-tatt's that tho matter omitted is treated of in another appendix. I can only say that such is not the case. The only referenet* made elsewhere to tho valley of the Kitimat -none is made to tho har- bour or head of tho Inlet— is at piigo HI of Mr. Fleming's Report for iy77, v.here Mr. ^Marcus ymith alludes to "M^ iviile aiidlow I'aUcijxt retch - iiuj to the north afl'oriliiKf (tn easi/ ri'iite to tlie Shrcna lUtrr.^' Ilis visit to that locality was made a few days previous to mine, but ho did not go far Gnou','h up tho Inlet to sec tlio bay at tho northern extremity.* Now, this place being but 110 nautical miles from Port Simpson, or, say ten hours sti;aming througli the safest and finest clkiinnels in tho world, /.<■., tho "dronvillo" and "Douglas" Channels, tho former of which has been used for years, and safely navigated during tho darkest and most stormy nights of winter by both Rritish and American steam- ships bound up and down between Sitica and southern ports, being also accessible from tlu ocean by " Nopean " and " Wright" Sounds, having also tho advanta.jo of havens of refuge at two places in tho Clrenvillo Canal, viz : Ivlewuuggot Inlet and Lowe inlet, besides Kitkatlah Ray ou the west si^o of tho Douglas Criannel, and " Coghlin Anchorage " under the lee of Promise Island, not to speak of Clio Ray situated five or six miles south from the mouth of the rivor Kitimat, which not only affords anchorage, but also facilities for the construction of a dry dock, I dare atlirm that it is extremelv well situated for a terminus, being as near to Yokahama , .Japan, as Port Simpson, viz : 4,000 geographical miles, and 400 miles shorter than tho southern passage from Rurrard Inlet. I shall refer further on, to the marine engineering works required to tiansConn tho tipper end of the Douglas Arm into a good harbour, and shall now proceed to describe the features of tho railway route from "NoTK.— Mr, -Marcus Smith was the otHccr in cliargc 'if the w.stoni suitiju until 1877. Hu lias an intiniat-j IcuuNvled^je of Uriiish C'ulun)bu<. ( " \ Kitiiuat, oastwaul to a point on the now locatotl southoni lino " own an "Livingston," distant 0H2 milns from Thunder Bay, on Lako Superior, A circumstanco which, more perhaps than anything' olso, coiuinendH this route to our consideration, is the extraordinary fact that tlio ioruii- dahlo coast range of mountains which necessitates such friglitl'nl expen- diture on tlio " Yalo Kamloops," " ITomathco," '• lu-msquit," and Port Simpson routes, can ho passed upon tliis one, with n«Mirly as little trouble, danger or cost, .ts upon an average prairie section, tho valley of the Kitiniat being several mih;s in width, of a nearly level clmraeter, and clothed witli a nui^'nilicrnt forest of heavy spruce, hemlock, cedar, and otlier trees, amongst which crab-applo and maple may occaisionally bo HQCU, From tide water at the head of Douglas Arm, the valley rises almost imperce]itibly for about 20 or 25 miles, at the rate of four- tonths per hundred to the " Divide," near Lake " Killoosah " or " Lakclse," thonco the descent to the Skecna, or to Home point upon that river nearly opposite the " Kitsumkalium " llivor, is very gradual, the entire distance probably not exceeding forty (40) miles. The mouth of the " Kitsuni- kallum" llivor is, by Mr. Kcofer's estimate, about seventy-live mile?? above Tort Essington, or rather more than 100 miles from Port Siuipson, within which distance the work of railway construction nloug the Skeena would bo extremely heavy, the line proposed being carried in the river bod in many places where the mountain bases afford little chance for a road-bcLl. In more than a dozen places the ))recipitous slopes are swept l>y avalanches of the most dangerous characl 'r. The shores of Wark Inlet are but little better. The contrast between those routes is very striking, and, as has been shown, the distance between Kitsunikallum and the sea is very much more than doubled on tlie dilHcult and expen- sive Skeena line, lloughly cstimathig, for the sake of comparison, tho cost of construction on that portion of the Skecna route at six million dollars, and that of the Kitimat at ono-and-a-half million dollars, we iiave a difference in the first section from tide water of four-and-a-half millions dollars, not to speak of extra cost for maintenance and repau's, which would, of course, bo very much greater on the Port Simpson, Skeena route. One-fourth of that difference would go far towards tho formation of an excellent terminal harbour at the head of the Douglas Arm. From a point opposite Kitsumkallum River, on tho left bank of tho ♦Skeena, the distance, to Hazelton, or the "Forks," is little more than seventy .8 (70) miles. In this distance, according to the careful estimate of Mr. H. MacLeod, the grades would be very moderate, and the proportion of heavy work small, say about one-seventh, or ten miles, the balance moderate and light. Vide page 59, Mr. S. Fleming's Report of 1880. At the 110th mile the line would attain, with very moderate grades tluroughout, an elevation above sea of nea.ily one thousand feet, upon the high terraces at the base of the Rocher Debould Mountain. Here it leaves the Skeenato follow the valley of the ""Wotsonqua" for 117 miles, to the summit between the waters of the latter and those of the " Intaquah." Mr. H. J. Cambie, thus describes this section, at page 39, Appendix C. of Mr. 8. Fleming's Report for 1878 :— " The River Wotsonqua, from its mouth at the ' Forks,' up to the " Indian Village of • Awkclget,' 27 miles, runs tbrough a deep Canon. '* The works would be generally heavy, but some exceedingly so, with " stiff gradients and sharp curves. From ' Awkelget ' upwards, the " valley is favorable for railway construction, works would be moderate, " with easy grades for about 90 miles, to the summit between the waters " of the Wotsonqua and Intaquah, distant 800 miles from Port Simpson, ** and about 2,400 feet above sea level. Thence to the valley of the " ' Nechaco,' the works would be moderate, with easy grades." One would infer fro:'ji the foregoing description that in the 27 miles between the *' Forks " and Awkelget, the line would follow tho Canon of the Wotsonqua. This would not be the case, the line would take higher ground upon terraces several hundred feet above the river level, and no great difficulty would be encountered in a large proportion of the 27 miles below Awkelget. Moreover, between the village of " Ivitsigeuchi^ " — situated 15 miles below tho Forks of Skeena — and the latter, there is f iuiy level ground along the mountain bases, where the works would be quite moderate, and upon wbich a line can be carried with easy gradients up to a level entirely above the rough Canon of the Wotsonqua. I have been over the ground, above uad below the " Forks," and know this to be the case, so we must not assume the whole distance Mr. Cambie refers to — 27 miles — nor anything like it, to involve heavy work. However, ac- cepting his estimate, the balance of the distance to tho Wotsonqua Sum- mit, consists of moderate work with light gradients, for 90 miles. From tho Wotsonqua Summit, at the 227th mile from Kitimat, there is no diiKcnlty as to works or grades, as far as the Stewart River (distance 95 miles.) Vide page 53, Mr. S. Fleming's Report for 1880. From Stewart River to MacLeod Lake (distance, 75 miles) there J- ■will be about twenty (20) miles of heavy work, with grades in some places exceeding one per hundred, the balan«e will be moderate to light. {Vide pages 68 and 61, Mr. S. Fleming's Keport, 1880.) From MacLeod Lake to " Pine Pass " Summit, the distance is forty (40) miles, of which about one-fifth involves heavy work, in addition to some deep cutting at the approaches to the River "Parsnip," the balance will be of medium character, and grades not in excess ef one per hun- dred. {Vide pages 52 and 53, Railway Report, 1880.) The "Pine Pass Summit is at the 437th mile from " Kitimat." Mr. Cambie travelled from Hudson's Hope to Pine River, which ho came upon 35 miles east from the summit. Of the portion ho saw, seven miles are described as heavy. He also refers to the necessity for some protective works at a few precipitous points upon the river, but apart from these, he saw no serious obstructions, and anticipates none as far as the " Lower Forks," 75 miles east from Pine Pass Summit. Mr. MacLeod describes the next section, i. e., from the "Lower Forks " of Pine River, eastward to Smoky River, a distance of 139 miles. He estimates that in this portion there may be, perhaps, 20 miles of heavy work, the balance light and moderate. ( Vide pages G4 and 06, Mr. S. Fleming's Report, 1880.) Between Smoky River and Lesser Slave Lake, no member of the Peace River Expedition took the direct line, Mr. H, Cambie liaving strayed to the south-east, while Mr. MacLeod diverged purj)Osely towards the Athabasca River. The former, however, travelled over the trail between Slave Lake and Peace River, a distance, he esti- mates to be 55 miles. Mr. Caml)io anticipates however no difficulties whatever, between the points in question. The estimated distance is GO miles. From the western end of Lesser Slave Lake, the line would follow the south shore to its outlet, descend Slave River, and cross the Atha- basca, on a direct line for Lac lia Biche, or some point slishtly south of it. Mr. Cambie saw notbing of this section. I did however, in 1872, and from Mr. Gordon's cursory observations rogarding the low liat land adjacent to Little Slave River, and his account of the country from the Athabasca Landing eastward, it is certain that the works throughout will be of very moderate character. Between the Athabasca and the meridian of Lac La Bichc, there 10 are, acconliug to Mr. Gortlou, sotiiie 21 miles of rather poor soil, but the country becomes very rich on going east. The esitimatocl distance from Lesser Slave Lake's western extremity to Lac La Biche is about 200 miles, nearly all remarkably fav(n*able for railway construction. A crossing of the Athabasca can be effected anywhere, the waterway would not exceed (500 feet. A very largo proportion of the land in this section is fit for agriculture and the growth of wheat. Between Lac La Biche aud Livingston, the distance, with a hand- some allov.auce for deviations, is 470 miles, over a gently undulating country, of which by far the greater portion is better adapted for agricultural purposes than any on tho Saskatchewan. In this connec- tion, the reports of Messrs. 'M Smith, O'Keefe, Eberts, !Macoun and King, in regard to its agricultural capabilities, may be of interest. The tirst named gentleman, in speaking of this large section, says, at page 47, Picport of 187H : — "Followmg up tho valley of the Swan River '• about 80 miles, the line would take a direct courae for the Saskatchewan, " near Fort ;i la Corne." " The land m the Valky of Swan Itiver " IS reportetl by the Surveyors to be very rich and of considerable ex- " tent ; the soil on the Basquia Hills is also reported good ; while the " belt between these hills aud tho Saskatchewan, extending from the " Prince Albert settlement, above the Grand Forks, down to the Old '* Fort, a distance of over 90 miles, is exceedingly rich laud." " From the Saskatchewan, the lino would be nearly direct to the " foot of the Lesser Slave Lake, skirting the north side of tho Moose " Hills, on the water shed of tho Ikaver River and passing the south " end of Lac La Biche or Red Deer Lake. Low ranges of lulls skirt the " north bank of the Saskatchewan from a point a few miles above Fort " Carii'ton nearly to Victoria ; these are partially covered with groves of " aspen and vallow ; the soil is generally light, but is well supplied with " streams of clear water ; the i)asturago is good, especially in tho " neighbourhood of Fort Pitt." " Between these hills and tho River the soil is generally sandy, " and theri^ are numerous salt or alkaline lakes : but immediately north " of tho hills, the soil is stated by the officers of the Hudson's Bay " Compajiy, to bo very good. There are numerous fresh water lakes, *' abounding in white tiah." " The writer drove out 10 miles north-west of Carleton, and found " the character of the country gradually improvmg, as he had boon led " to expect from the description of it given by Mr. Clarke, the Chief 11 Factor at the Fort, who has spent many years in this district. Au Ex- cursion whs also made from Fort Pitt to Lac La Biche. The south slope of the Moose Hills, where the trail ruis, is covered with a dense grove of aspen ; but in crossing the west tad of those hills, a mag- uiliccnt prospect opened out. Stretching away to the east, north and west, as far as the eye could reach, there ajipcared a vast, u»dnlating, grassy plain, rising in places into softly rounded hills, dotted and in- tersected with groves and belts of aspen mixed with spruce and tama- rac and clumps of willows. This appears to have been formerly forest, which has probably been destroyed by hre, decayed trunks of largo trees being' found on the hill sides. In the hollows, howtvor, there is sufiu-ient timber left for railway and domestic purposes. The altitude, taktn at several points, averages about 1,700 feet above the sea level." " During three days, whenever the trail was left, great difiiculty was found in forcing a way through thick masses of grass and pea-vine, three to four feet in height, and sometimes reaching nearly to the horses' backs. As Lac La Biche was ncared, the country became more wooded, and the track lay through lontj glades between belts of poplar and willows, passing a number of small fresh water lakes." " There is a Roman Catholic Mission at Lac la Biche, wliere they produce excellent wheat, barley, oats and all kinds of vegetables ; there are about 40 families settled round the Lake, chiefly half-breeds, en- gaged in the fur trade, antl only cultivating enough of cereals and vegetables for their own use. Between this point and the Lesser Slave Lake, the Line crosses the River Athabasca. This country has not been explored for the Railway." " The line would follow cither the south or north shore of Lesser Slave L;iko, as might bo determined by the Surveys. After passing that lake, it ewters on a vast region of great fertility, extending far nortli- ward on both sides of the Peace River, and westward to Pine River, which falls into the Peace near Fort St. John." " By this route, what is termed the fertile belt, or wheat-producing country, extends nearly three hundred miles farther to the vy-est before the Rocky Mountains are reached than by the route over the Yellow- head Pass ; a corresponding reduction being made in the breadth of sterile country to be crossed in the Rocky Mountain district." Tlin tc)t«l length of line just described, from Kitimat to Livingston, is 1,881 miles. Fioni I'^nglish Bay, Burrard Lilet, to the same point (Livingston), the measured distance is 1,281 miles. Thus, there is a difference of 100 miles in favour of the southern route.* • Note.— Tlio reader should read furufully the reports of Messrs. MuLcod and Canibiu. Uaiiway Keiwrt of lSo:0. 12 A line from Kitimat, via Hazolton, Babine, the Kotsiuo Pass, and the rivers Omenica and Peace, would only be some 80 miles longer than the Burrard Inlet line. The " Pine Pass " route is, notwithstanding its greater length, preterable. Although being 70 miles longer than the line via the ** Peace River Pass," its construction would be less costly, the gradients throughout much more moderate, and it would open up a greater extent of cultivable and pastoral land. We shall, therefore, confine the discussion to the " Pine Pass " route, and for a description of the " Kotsinc Pass " and Peace River Line, the reader can, if desir- ous, find one at page 75, Appendix No. 5, of Mr. Fleming's Report for 1880, where an account of the writers examination, during the season of 1879, is given, in extenso. At page 8 of the last Railway Report, Mr. Fleming institutes a comparison of the Port Simpson, Peace River ; Port Simpson, Pine River ; and Port Simpson, Yellow Head routes. They are represented there as being, respectively, 190 miles, 255 miles, and 225 miles, longer than the Burrard Line. With all duo deference to that gcntU'iUiin, I am obliged to differ from him in this matter. The comparison is unfair. Fort Saskatchewan, the point to which those lines are referred, not being properly common to all, and certainly not being on tlu " Pine " or '* Peace " River lines. Taking Livingston as the common pomt for all, the real difference between Port Simpson lines, via Peace and Pine Rivers, and the Bur- rard route, is, respectively, 100 miles and 170 miles, while from the " Ivitimat," the actual difference is further reduced to 30 miles and 100 miles, in the respective cases, as before shown. Giving to the southern, Burrard Line, then, its undoubted advantage in distrtuce (100 miles) ovea the Pine River route, we shall institute a rough comparison of the engineering features pertaining to each of the two lines now in discussion. Between Livingston and the Yellow Head Pass, a distance of 771 miles, there are 75 or 80 bridge structures over streams and dry ravines, some of which are of very groat mngnitudo. Nofe;ibly, two crossings of the Saskatchewan, and those of Eagle Creek, the Pembina, MacLeod, Atliabasca and Assinibohio Rivtv'-^, the width of waterways varying from 40 feet to IGOO feet. The approaches to those are also very difficult, in some cases involving excessive excavations. < 18 There are also 2425 feet of tunnelling near the Yellow Head Pass. Between the Yellow Head Pass and Fort Moody (492 miles), there is an ag- gregate of 2^ miles of tunnelling, and there are also 174 bridges with spans varying from 40 to 275 feet. The gradients are, however, kept within the maximum of one per hundred. Between Yellow Head and the village of Yale (403 miles), fully 70 per cent, of the distance will entail very heavy work, and in the portion now under contract (125 miles), the work throughout is . excessively heavy, and will cost at least $100,000 per mile, equal, for that insignificant distance, to $12,000,000. For half the distance between Yale and Port Moody, the work it classed as heavy. In the whole distance between the Yellow Head and Port Moody (492 miles), there will be more than 320 miles of heavy work. The cost of this British Columbian section, from Bocky Mountain Summit (Yellow Head Pass), to the sea, is estimated, or rather underestimated, at thirty-two million dollars. Taking up the latest Beports of Messrs. Gamble and MacLeod, we gather that upon the " Eitimat, Pine Pass " route, from a point on the Skeena, opposite the Kitsumkallum Biver, via Hazelton, the Wotsonqua Valley, and the Pine Biver Pass, to the last named summit of the Bocky Mountains, those gentleman estimate that there are about seventy-five (75) miles of heavy work. The corresponding section upon the southern line, as already shown, gives 820 miles of heavy work. Between the Pine Biver Pass and the Smoky Biver, they report 80 miles of heavy work, including three miles of heavy excavation on each side of the last named stream. From Smoky Biver, eastward, to the meridian of Lac La Biche, a distance of 260 miles, the country is generally so favorable, that the proportion of heavy work upon that section is but trifling. The streams to be crossed upon this route, are fewer than upon the southern line, and far less difficult to bridge, the principal among them being the Athabasca (600 to 700 feet), the Smoky Biver (750 feet), the accent JEchaland (800 feet), the Mud (400 feet), the Pine (500 feet), the Parsnip (600 feet)» the Stewart, (600 feet). Between Lao La Biche and Livingston, (470 miles.) the country is, according to the best authority, quite as favorable, probably more so, than tlie cor- responding portion west from Livingston, upon the southern line. Taking the mileage upon the respective routes, from Bocky Moun- u ^■•1 tain Summit to Pacific tide water, and calculating the heavy work given in the reports at $75,000 per mile, we find that upon the Burrard Inlet line there are : — 820 Miles of Heavy Work @ $75,000. 173 '* Moderate '♦ 50,000. 493 And upon the " Kitimat Pino Pass " line, 75 Miles of Heavy Work (? $75,000. 302 " Moderate " 50,000. 437 824,000,000 8,050,000 ^32,660,000 $5,625,000 18,100,000 !ii23,725,000 Giving a difference in cost of $8,925,000, in favour of the northern Pine Pass Line. But on the latter, there are, at the lowest calculation, 20 miles in the valley of the Kitimat, and 90 miles in that of the Wot- sonqua, 110 miles in all, far easier to construct than the lightest i)ortion of the Frazer Biver line, so that we may safely assume the total cost of the northern, British Columbian section (437 miles) at twenty-two millions, or say a difi'erence of ten millions dollars, between the two lines. The reader can here turn to page 57, Appendix E, Railway Report of 1878, for Mr. Cambie's estimates of cost It is not so easy to form comparisons of cost from Rocky Mountain Summit, easticard to the common point, Livingston, as no systematic examinations have yet been made east from Lesser Slave Lake. It is, however, certain that the northern line will be found quite as easy of construction, probably far more so, than the southern, owing to the fact ih&t.east from the Smoky River to Livingston, the general profile of the country is more uniform than on tlie southern line, and that there are fewer streams to cross, and only otie crossing of the Saskatchewan necessary < At page 48, Report of 1878, Mr. Marcus Smith says of the engin- eering featiures of the Northern line, via Pine Pass : — " It is difficult to form even an approximate estimate of the cost of " construction without surveys, but the explorations across the Rocky •* Mountains show that a very great reduction can be made on the rock " and earth excavations by the line through Pine River Pass as compared " with the line by the Yellow Head Pass. On the Summit there will 15 " be about eight miles of heavy work. On the West side of the pass to " the point of junction of the two lines the works will be very light, and " llie cost prohaliUj not more than half th'.it on the other line, mile fur mile, " The bridging on both lines will be rather heavy in the centralor " prairie region and on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, but " the number of very large structures will bo much greater on the " southern than on the northern route. •' On the ivhole, the cost of the wot'hs of construction on this route may " he aafehj extimated, so fur as our examination extends, us venj considerahhj " below that on the other route..'' An examination of the latest reports shows that, with the exception of a few miles on the section between " Stewart" and -'MacLeod" Lakes, and at the approaches to the Smoky River, (he grades can be kept within a maximum of one per hundred, while the featitres of the country passed by the northern line are so favorable, compared with the southern route, that curvature will probably be far less, at least within the Rocky Mountain and Cascade Zone, t. ^,upon the Pacific Slope. From tide water, at the head of Douglas Arm, to Livingston, the general profile of the northern line is the most remarkable upon the North American continent. In the G25 miles west from the Smoky River, there are only four summits, ranging, in altitude, from 2,400 feet to 2,750 feet above sea level. The " Pine Pass " summit is placed at an elevation of 2,800 feet, an estimate which I have reason to think slightly in excess of the reality. Having now compared to some extent the engineering features of the two lines, the capabilities for settlement — a matter of exceeding im- portance — of the regions traversed by the rival routes, demand investiga- tion. On the southern line, from liivingston to the River Pembina — some fifty miles west from Edmonton — which may be set down as the western limit of the good, agricultural land on that parallel, there is a fair proportion of land fit for settlement and pastoral purposes. On the northern route, between Livingston and the meridian of the Pembina River, the whole country, with the exception of a small portion near the Athabasca, is well adapted for settlement. [ Vide reports of Messrs. Marcus Smith, Keefe, Eberts, Macoun Iving and others.] At Lac La Bicbe, wheat has been for many years an unfailing crop ; tobacco has also been very successfully raised. Indeed, an inspection of the reports of the above named gentlemen, 16 and our previous knowledge of that region, leada to the inevitable conclu- sion that the northern line, as proposed in 1874, passes through a country, equal for purposes of settlement, to that south of the North Saskatchewan. The proportion of good land is as great, while wood for fuel and other purposes is more abundant, fresh water lakes of more frequent occurrence, the aspect of the country more prepossessing, and its altitude less, than on the southern line. Of the country upon the southern hue, between Lake St. Ann (a few miles cast from the Pembina,) and the Bocky Mountains, Mr. H. MacLeod, C.E., speaks in the following strain. [See page 202, Report 1877J:— •' The soil is principally heavy clay, and in places, sand. Frequent " rains, not being permitted to sink into the ground, by the compactness " of the clay, form large areas of muskeg. There are a few places where " the soil in the valleys is fair." Ice has been seen in those muskegs referred to by Mr. MacLeod, during the month of August The Beverend George Grant, author of *' Ocean to Ocean," remarks of this region, at page 193 : — •• Poor, scrubby timber, the land cold and hungry." Idem at page 200: "Brush has decided autumnal tints," August 81 , 72. " Country of a decided poverty- stricken look. " *' Miles of muskeg. " The reverend gentleman was decidedly right. The whole region between the Pembina Biver and Jasper House is cold and clayey, and covered with muskeg for long stretches. Its altitude varies from 2,500 feet to 8,400 feet above sea. It is, as expressed years ago in ''Canada on the Pacific," " cold, swampy, and unfitted for settlement." The distance from Lake St. Ann, the western limit of the good land or fertile belt upon the southern line, to Jasper House, is about 160 miles. From .Jasper House to a point near Kamloops — nearly 800 miles — the country is totally unfit for settlement. I have never passed over this section, but shall quote from authentic sources. Mr. George Keefer, one of Mr. Fleming's engineers, says at page 355, Pacific Railway Beport of 1877: — In the Fraser River Valley, "but of the 12 months, two and " even less would be all that could be relied upon as exempt from frosts, *' but few cereals could be raised in this locality. The amount of arable " land in the valley of the Frazer is so small that it is hardly ever likely " to be taken into consideration. " * ' 17 4< t( it <( t( tt Mr. Marcus Smith says at page 45, Report of 1878: — " From the Pembuia River across the Rocky Mountains' to a point near Kamh)ops — 420 miles — is totally unfit for settlement. There is another longth of 100 miles in the canyons of the Thompson and Frazer in a similar condition. So that from the River Pembina, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, to the proposed terminus at Port Moody, a distance of G79 miles, there are 520 miles on which there is no laud fit for settlement, and on the balance most of the land of any value is taken up ; in all this distance, therefore, there will scarcely be an aero within GO to 100 miles of the hue at the disposal of the Govern- ment for Railway purposes. The works, moreover, will be generally heavy and costly." Th. Reverend George Grant says at pagoK 292 and 321 of " Ocean to Ocean : " — •• Were wo to judge from what we have soon of the country along •' the Frazor and Thompson Rivers, the conclusion would bo forced on ** us that ]3iitish Columbia can never be an agricultural country." *' But the greater i)iut of the mainland is a Sf.a of Monntains, and ** the province will have to depend on its other resources for any large " uicreaso of population." [Idem at page 321.) " The little that we ** saw of the mainland of British Columbia, does not warrant us to say ♦' much about it as a field for emigrants." The discussion of the agricultural capabilities of British Columbia, will be resumed i'uithn- on. We shall at present return to the Eastern side of the Rocky jMountains. Between Lac la Biche and the western extremity of Lesser Slave Lake, there may be, perhaps, 25% of poor soil, but from the latter, westward to the " Middle Forks" ©f Pine River, a distance of 225 miles, the northern line will pass through a highly favoured portion of the North- West. Some years ago, when I mooted the project of the Pme River Pass route, I was, to a certain extent, aware of the great dissimilarity between the lands on each route. Now, I am able to quote from other reliable sources, from en- tirely disinterested persons, and from Mr. Macoun, a strong partisan of the southern line, who, des})ite his predilection cannot speak otherwise than in the most extravagant terms of the Peace River region. At page 113 of Mr. S. Fleming's Report for 1880, Doctor Dawson thus defines the boundaries of the southern portion of the Peace River country : — " With the * Middle Forks' of the Pine River (only fifty miles ** east from the summit of the Rocky Mountains, in latitude b^h" N.), as a " western limit, the region now to be described may be considered as *• bounded to the north by the 57tL parallel to its intersection eastward 18 '• •with the Poaco Pavci'. Thenco tho boundary nviv bo assumed to " follow tho Poi'.cc Kiver southwai.'d to tho mouth of ' ijoart lirook,' near " tho conlluemjo of tho Smoky Uivor. Thonco to run south-oaatward to " tho extremity of Ijcsscr Slaves Lake, to follow tho western border of tho " hilly re^'iou lyinj,' to tho south of tiio lake, io tho Athabasea Uivor ; *' thonco to follow tho Athabasca westward to tho foot-hills, and skirting ** tho foot-hills to run north-westward to tho first mentioned point on •• Pino Kivi'i-, Tho tract included in tho above liujits has an area of ** about iJl.T),')!) square miles, uml by far the greater portion of this area ** may bo classed as. fertile." The above dt tinition of bonndaries af^frees, so far as it pfoos, with- those given by myself at page 2L'S, " Canada on tlio Paeitic." Doctor Dawson goes on to say : — "The soil of this district may be described " as a hne silt, and not dissimilar from tho loess-like material con- " stituting tho sub-soil of the IJed liiver ^'alley in Manitol)a. As evi- '* denced by its natural vcgttation, its IV'rtility is great. The total area " of prairie land west of the tSmoky Iviver may be about 8,000 square •* miles. The total area of land with soil suitable tor agriculture, may '• be estimated as, at least, 23,500 square miles. The luxuriance of the " natural vegetation in these Peace Kiver prairies is truly wonderful, " and indicates not only fertility, but also sufllcient rainfall. It " may bo stated at once that the ascertained facts leave no doubt *' on the subject of the suilicient length and warmth of the season to " ripen wheat, oats and barley, the only point which may admit of ques- ** tion being : to what extent the occurrence of late and early frosts may " interfere with growth." Professor Selwyu says, at page G2, Geological Repcrt of 1875 : — " I consider it a region (the Peace Paver country above Fort St.. *' John,) far litter for settlement than much of the Saskatchewan *• country." "We are now in the midst of September( 1875). The ther- *' mometer has only once reached 82' Fahrenheit. As a contrast to this, it •' will bo seen in my Keport upon the Saskatchewan country in 1878, that '* in the region about Edmonton and Victoria, two degrees further south, " and about the same elevation, the thermometer fell, on the 4th Sep- " tember, to 28' ; on the Gth, to 24" ; on the 11th, to 20'^, and again to " 20° on the night of the 23rd. At page 61, Professor Selwyn says : — " We came upon a fine level country covered with the richest herbage, " of astonishing luxuriance. 1 have seen nothing in the Saskatchewan " country that at all equals it, both soil and climate are better here. At page 08, he remarks : — " I have no hesitation in saying that " the Pine liivcr lioute is prohabhi in every respect the best in the interest of " the Railwai/ and of the country at lanje. It will be found that by ♦ Pine " River Pass,' the line could be carried almost the whole distance, " through a magnificent, agricultural and pastoral country. Mr. John Macoun, botanist, says at page 154 of the Geological 19 Report of 1875. IIo is spoakinp: of the country near St. Jolin's on the Peace Ilivor. " ,/"/// Jnhj, /.v;V7. The oats stood live foct liij^'li. For *' niiio inilos tUo ilistanoo tnivollod, the country was covered with the •' most liiMiriiuit vc,<,'etiition. It would be folly to attempt to dc[iict the " appi'iirauci! of the country, it was so much beyond what I ever saw " before. The soil must bo exceedingly rich to support such a giowth " year after year, aud the early summer temperature must bo lii,'-,'h, " for tbc VL'gctation to bo ^;o far advanced at this period. All the cul- '• livation at 8t. John is on the torrace, immediately above the spring " Hood level, hut thf.rc. is it/) r'lly more subject to frost than higher land. The diU'orenco of altitude in tUifl case is not sutiiciontly great to hritig into operation tho general law, '* that air temperature! deeroases in invcrs'' ratio to the iiicreiiso of •* altitude. In lact, frosts rarely injure Vi'gctation, unless both air and soil are saturate I with moisture, and the IV-ace Uiver country is proverb- ially dry. It is known that, in tho St ite of Miiniesota, the mercury some- times falls to 20° Fahrenheit without doing mjury. Spoakin^' of Hudson's Hope, Mr. C.imbio says of tho May frosts: — '• It was said by tho people ther.', that tho fro.ii was conlined to tho '• valley, and did no . extend to th > plateau." Mr. Gordon, who novov lol't the l)eatt.n tr.iil, romarks at page 103, Bailway Report, 1880:— " It might, therefore, lo premature to pronounce even tho most ** fertile portions of this })lateau suitable for the growth of grain. Yet, " various considerations seem to warrant the conclusion tlmt climatic " conditions are not less fuvourable on the ]tlatuau than in the valley. *' Frost sometimes occurs in the valley, when not felt on the plateau." Doctor Dawson, an unprejudiced person, and a better authority, remarks at page 117, Itailway Ue[)()rt, 18'J() : — " Ju'my diary of Septem- ber 5th, I lind tho following entry : " — " Aspeii" iiiil berry bushes about " the Peace lliver Valley now looking (piite autumnal ; on the plateau, *' 8C0 ft. higher, not nearly so iiiiifh so. This difkience app( iirs to bo " actual." In October, 1S7'2, Mr. Horel/ky remarked the same circiuu- " stance." At i>ni c 9 of his last Hi'povt, Mr. S. Fleming reniiirlcs, with refer- ence to the Peace liivor country : — " The cxploroi'nDiti ih> )n>l cxtuhlitih *' l>e,y(>}tj qiirntxni il:< (i(htjt(ti/)ifit;/Jor (lie f.s;>li(;ro. 22 neath the weight of testimony quoted above, and when they advance the ridiculous argument of a warmer climate in the bottom of the Peace lliver Valley, than on the plateau above, one is inclined to doubt, if the selection of those gentlemen to investigate a subject of such grave import to the country at large, and to the taxpayers in particular were altogether, wise aaid propoi-. SulHciont evidence has now been adduced to convince even the most sceptical that a mistake in the selection of the trans-continental route has been made. It may be added, that the northern line will open up an imincnse syat^m of navigation, from its crossing point upon the Athabasca Eiver, down to the " Mackenzie," the great lakes, the Arctic Fisheries, and to the immense mmer.il regions of the Lower Athabasca and other streams. Doctor Dawson tells us at page 112 of the last Railway Report, 1880, that the greatest connected region sn^sceptible of citltirafion in Britisit Co/n.nihia, is in the tlat country of the lower " Nechaco " basin. This region lies immediately i:Outh from, and adjacent to, the Pine Pass line. Mr. ]Macoun speak highly of diis region, also, and I shall liert; quote what he says of its soil and climate : — ( Vide pages liU, I'do, Geo- logicari-ieport of 1875.) " Looking l)ack over the 110 miles which lie between Fort St. James " and Quesnel, I am struck with the resembbuice of the ilora to that of " the forest ri'giou W(>st i)f Lake Superior. There is not a species in the '.' whok' di.itaiU'e whicli in any way indicates either an alpine or a boreal " climate, exc('])t i'ocriitii'/n nii/rti/loides and Enipetnnn nigriint, and " these were o]ily observed once. The valley of the Nechaco has an " exceedingly rieji soil on both sides Avhere the trail crosses, and possibly " this extontls for many miles both above and below. The valley of " Steward's lliver is not wide where we crossed it, but it is very rich, " and there is no douiit whatevt'r, in niy mind, but that after the two " rivers unite, the valley all the way to Fort (ieorgo is rich and fertile, " and well suited for settlement. From the crossing of Stewart's River " to Fort St. James, the country was almost impassible, owing to the " constant rains, but the soil is rich, and grass and weeds were very " luxuriant. The country aroinid Lakes Tsin-kut, Ta-chick and Nool-ki " is very fertile, and from the occurrence of so much prairie, together " with the similarity of the tiora to that around Edmonton, I consider " the climate of tiie two r^'gions to be nnich alike. The former, though " further north, is less elevated, and this, together with the well-known " northern trend of the isothermal lines in N. W. America, more than " compensate for the diiference in latitude. The dry summer climate, " which is indicated by the tlora, proves the rainfall to be inconsiderable, 23 '" aiul, ilierefore, the prospects arc good for the successful cultivation of " gram. Westward from that fertile piece of countiy, the northern line will open up 00 a.iles of the Wotsouqua Valley, which Mr, H. Cambie describes as such a line pastoral region, and even lit for agriculture, but for the " bii(/-l)ear," the summer frosts, so that it can be claimed for the northern route, that it will open up as much fertile country on the Pacific slope, as its southern rival — which is not much to boast of. It has been shown by the evidence of Mr. Fleming's engineers, that the Frazer and Thompson river valleys offer but a trilling quantity of agri- 'Cultural land. The lievercnd George Grant — Mr. Fleming's Secretary on his overland journey in 1872— ^tells us very plainly that British Columbia is not an agricultural country, that it is a Sea of Mi)uiitaius, and ill-calculated to attract immigration, in fact, the exodus of whites during the last liftcen years, has greatly exceeded immigration during the same period. Let us now examine some further testimony bearing par- ticularly upon the " rich lands," recently alleged by the Mail and irloha newspapers, to be available for settlement upon the Burrard Inlet route. In the leading article of the Jfcdl of 0th May last, an extract from which has already been given on the first page of this paper, wc are told :~ '' The main advantiige in adopthig the Burrard Inlet route, par- " ticularly as opposed to the northern or Port Simpson route, has been, " and will still further be found to be, in the expediency of the *' present route for colonization ]»urposos, for opening up the best " western lauds, and for facilitating progress into the prairie country. *' The opening up of the Canons of the Fraser to which Mr. Blake " so strongly (»l)jc'cts, will, it is alleged, on the fullest and best evidence, " give up a large area of fine wheat lands to prospecting settlers, ''''- * * " There can be no doubt that the adoption of the Burrard " Inlet route, for all the purposes of settlement, agriculture, trade, and ** the peaceful growth of a great region, has been wise." The Chhe ranted even more wildly during the last Session of Parlia- ment, much to the delight and astonishment of the Frazer Rivfif partisans. Now, every sensible man felt at the time that those organs spoke rashly, and with but a glimmermg of truth to bear out their asser- tions. "Where are those fertile areas ? Whose evidence is the fullest and best? It must have been highly interesting to hear honorable members from the Mainland of the " Sea of Mountains," descant, no doubt most 24 ! < t( i( << 1 ' l( (t 1 " 1 <( h ! ' << i( (1 i( 1 1" eloquently, opon the prospects of intending settlers. "Wliy , upon the lower 85 miles of the sections now let to contract, i.e. between Yale anJ Spence's Bridge, there are not five hundred acres of arable, cultivable land upon which to put a plough or harrow. I shall here quote from Professor Macoun's Report of 1875-76, pages 114, 116, 120, 121, of the Geological Report of that date: — ♦' The valley of the lower Frazer, for agricultural purposes, may be " said to end at Sumass; but there are numbers of small locations where " farming could be done on a limited scale as far up as Fort Hope. Be- " yond this point the valley becomes confined between the mountains, " and these press so upon the river, that, before reaching Yale, the " traveller realizes what a canon is, and the mind is tortured with the " thought of what might happen if anything wont wrong with the boat " or its machmcry." " The Lower Frazer valley has along its left or south bank a range " of low rocky hills, extending from Langly to the mouth of the Sumass River; and to the southward of these, between them and the spur of the Cascades before mentioned, lies the Sumass prairie. Nearly in the middle of this prairie lies the lake of the same name, about ten miles long and four broad in its widest part. During the season of flood it extends from hill-foot to hill-foot, and even after the subsidence of the waters its mud banks or beaches reach certain points on both sides. The larger half of the ])rairie is at the south-west end of the lake, and is about four miles square." " The prairie gi'ound at -the north-east end of the lake is bounded by a belt of trees, separating it from the clear or prairie ground on the banks of the Cliilukweyuk River. The clear ground on both sides of this river has been apparently formed, partly by the repeated action of fires destroying the trees, which at one time grew on tlie higher banks,, and partly by tlie action of the lioods which annually submerge a large portion of it. These prairies have, during the season of flood, very much the appearance ot immense lakes, being, with the exception of a higher ridge here and there, almost entirely covered by water. When the water su])sides the growtli on tlioso low grounds and prairies is most astonishing, reminding one of the luxuriance of the tropics with- out its peculiar vegetation." " On the afternoon of the 18th, I started on foot, expecting a con- '* veyance to overtake mo and carry mo to Boston Bar that evening. As •' I wended my way along the river, now examining a stoop cliff or peer- '• ing down a chasm in search of cryptogams, the Indians would leave " their fishing to look at mo, but never addressing a word would gaze for " a short tune and disappear. On the dripping rocks along the road I •* obtained fine fruiting specimens of many mosses, prominent amongst 25 " which were Br yum crudum and albicann, and another iinknown to me, " PoUjtrichum strictum was in fiiio fruit, and various species of Grimmia. " Racomitrinm, Mniuin, Orthotrirhuni, Ui/pnum and many others well re- " paid me for my trouble. The Alsia ahietina was very abundant at " times, and the damp faces of many rocks were covered with beautiful " Hepatire. Tlie only fiowerhig plants of any note were Aruica rordit'olia " and Smilacina unijlora, which were not uncommon. A few miles on '* the Yale side of Boston Bar we turned the point of the mountain, and •' almost immediately the plants showed a change in the quantity of " moisture, an(>, on looking back, the eye at once detected the cause, in *' the mountains acting as a barrier to keep out the superabundant " moisture of the Lower Frazer." " Lytton is a poor, miserable place, only having three gardens in " the whole village. By utilizing the small brook which comes from the " mountains behind it, many fine vegetables could be raised, as the soil, " where not too much encumbered with stones, is good. Between " Jackass Mountain and Spence's Bridge there is venj little cnltirahlelaiid, " and this requires to be irrigated before good crops can be raised." Doctor Dawson, at page 210, Appendix S, (Mr. S. Fleming's Eeport of 1877) says of the extent of cultivable land in British Columbia : — " It is very difficult, with the information now accessible, to form " even an estimate of the quantity of arable land in the interior of British " Columbia. I have only seen a few parts of the southern portion of the " interior plateau, but judging from these, and facts obtained in other " ways, I am inclined to believe that t/m cultivable land e'lst of the Frazer is " prohabh/ in area less than 1,000 stfuare miles. It is to be remarked, how- ever, that this area doo> not at all adequately represent the capacity of the country to support a population, as a comparatively small patch of " arable land serves the stock-fari.ier, whose cattle roam over the *' surrounding country. West of ihe Frazer, as far north as the Black- " water, the cultivable areas art very small. The so-called Chilicotin " Plains lie too hii/hjor fanuin;/ and .he available area in the valley of the " Chilicotin was roughly estimated by me in my report for 1875, at 7,000 " acres onhj. An area of 800 square miles might be perhaps taken as an " estimate of the farming land of this region. Nortli of the Blackwater " is the Lower Xechavo Ixisin, alreadij more than once referred to. Tlie area ** of this is prohohhf about 1,000 sfitiare miles. IJordering on Francois *' Lake are considerable stretches of country not raised so much as 300 " feet above it, and, therefore, considerably below the 3,000 foot contour. " The soil is very fertile, and the vegetation much resembles that of the " white, silt basin. Supposing this country to be suited to the growth of *' barley, oats and the hardier root crops, which appears highly probable, " though no trials have of course been made, an area roughly computed " at about 200 square miles will be added." The " cultivable land east of the Frazer," referred to in the above (( 2G quotation, as being, "in area loss than 1,000 square miles," (about equal in extent to an average county in Ontario,) ia the only laud which will be opened for settlement, by the construction of the entire length of the British Columbian section, which is, by Mr. S. Fleming's estimate, to cost $32,000,000. From, the summit of Yellow Head Pass to the confluence of the Clearwater and North Thompson — 180 miles — the railway lino is within the Rocky Mountain ranges, and tiiere is no land fit for cultivation. Thence down to the meeting of the two branches of the Thompson, the slopes of the hills are covered with "bunch" grass and groves of fir and aspen, lut the valley in many places still partakes of the canon character, and, until witJiin IT) miles of the junction at Kamloops, there is scarcely, if any, land fit for settlement, a total of 240 miles of per- fectly barren country, devoid even of minerals, for gold prospectors have, from time to time, thoroughly examined it. The largest tract of arable laud in the valloj' is contained within the angle formed by the two rivers, and is occupied by an Indian ]\Iission. At Kamloops the line may fairly be said to have reached the fertile zone lying between the Eocky and Cascade ISIouutains. This fertile zone is exceedingly limited as to extent, consisting principally of the interval land in the narrow valleys of the Thompson, Grand Prairie, Similkameen, Tulamene, Nicola, Buonaparte, Frazer, and lateral connecting valleys. Nearly all the good lands are taken up by speculators, and but a small proportion is yet under cultivation. Nearly all those lands require irrigation, which, when obtainable, conduces to the in-oduction of abundant crops, as in the Utah Valley. Although, those arable lands vary in altitude from 1,000 feet to 2,000 feet above the sea, they do not suffer materially from summer frosts. Such, in brief are the " fine wheat lands " which the construction of the most formidable 125 miles of railway in the world is to " open out for prospecting settlers." And here, let it be understood, that the localities just named by no means embrace the area of 1,000 square miles alluded to by Doctor Dawson ; they only form a portion of that area, the balance being in the vicinity of Lac La Hache, Quesnelle, and along the upper portion of the waggon-road, and along the Frazer Elver, fi-om Soda Creek upwards. The grazing lands in the Kamloops section are, however, excel- lent, but not inexhaustible, for bunch grass when closely cropped gives place to sage and wormwood. Mr. Bproat, a provincial authority, estimated the live stock in the Province in 1875 as follows :— 35,000 horned cattle ; 6,000 to 7,000 horses ; 12,000 to 15,000 sheep ; 10,000 hogs. The total white population within this district, i.e., from Yale upwards and eastward, that is to say, as far as Cariboo to the north, and Kootenay to the east, according to the Directory of 187-4, was about 1 ,400, distributed as follows : — Yale ^ 60 On waggon-road between Y''ale and Lytton 25 Lytton 42 On waggon-road, Lytton to Ashcroft 20 Ashcroft 6 Cache Crook and vicinity 40 Clinton, see Lilloet Clhiton District 00 On road, Cliiitoii to Lac la Hache 10 LiiclaHaclio 20 "Williams .Lake and St. Josoph ]\Iission 11 Deep Creek, Hoda Creek and Alexandria 2") QuesncUe 60 llivcr Trail, Williams Lake to Lilloet 22 Cariboo 524 Lilloet, Clinton District 250 Thomps(Mi lliver, Nicola Valley, Kamloops 170 Kootenay lOH bimilkumeen and Okanagan - — ^^0 Total 1,423 On the line of railway under contract, Y''ale to Kamloops (125 miles) (Directory, 1874), the white population is as under :— Yale 60 On waggon-road, Yale to Lytton, 56 miles ' 25 Overesthnalecl. Lytton 42 On waggon-road, Lytton to Ashcroft... 20 " Ashcroft 6 Cii die Crock and vicinity 40 " Thompson Biver and. tributaries, in- cluding Kamloops 150 Total 843 28 p It will be said that since 1B74 the population has increased. It is true that since that period a few individuals have found their way into the interior of the Province, but the number has been so limited as to scarcely merit consideration, and, as the population given in the foregoing lists actually exceeds by several dozens the figures in the Directory, we may assume, with tolerable certainty, the actual present population to be but slightly in excess of the number given. There has been a slight increase of population in the New Westminster District during late years. The population of the Frazer Valley belon- Yale will be considered further on. A railroad built upon tlie verge of a precipice for a distance ot 75 miles, through raountniu gorges in which no settlement can ever take place, is not what is required to open communication between the excessively sparse population of the interior of British Columbia and tlie seaboard. Such a road, once built, would do no business. One passenger train and half a dozen freight trains would transport the entire population, bag and baggage, farm produce and all, iiiid then, what would remain ? Two streaks of rust and the right of way — a monument to Canadian folly. Already there is in those canons as good a waggon-road as need be. A foot passenger upon that road may walk mile after mile without meeting a team. In fact, the present traffic could be increased fifty - fold without sensible inconvenience, therefore, the construction of a railway betwoen Yale and Kamloops is such an absurdity, that one may well pause to wonder at such a proposed waste of money. In justice, however, let it be said that this matter has never yet been brought home to the full understanding of the masses directly interested. The people of Canada have been obliged to glean the little they know of this subject from unreliable newspaper articles, and from the official reports of the Railway Dopartmcnt, neither unim- peachable sources ; and there are so many private interests involved, so many speculations depending for success upon the inauguration (though not necessarily upon the consummation) of this project, that it has well nigh become impossible to arrive at the truth ; in fine, no subject has been more discussed, less understood, and more impudently mis- stated than this. But the warning may be too late, and Canadians, as each year of woeful waste rolls on, with ever increasing taxes, and an unbearable public debt, must resign themselves to tlie inevitable and It is into as to the the ?sent has ;rict will as 29 calmly await the financial ruin and political disintegration, which must result from such a railway policy. Below Yale, the head of navigation on the Frazer River, and west of the Cascade Mountains, the total quantity of land fit for settlement eventually, has been estimated at 520,000 acres. How much there is of good land worth cultivating has not been yet ascertained with certainty, but it is estimated that about 10,000 acres are under cultivation, or more strictly speaking, under occupation, at the present time. Those lands are favourably situated, being pierced and partially surrounded by navigable waters. They are accessible all the year round from Victoria, or the coal mines of the Nanaimo District, where farm pro- duce is in constant demand. Notwithstanding all those natural advan- tages, it is a strange fact that scarcely a bag of fiour has ever been exported from the Frazer Valley. On the contrary, Hour from San Francisco or Portland in Oregon, and bacon from Chicago is, or has until very recently, been imported for use in the interior. The cause of this is, doubtless, to be ascribed to the almost periodical inundation of this tine land by the high Hoods of the Frazer in Spring. Mr. Marcus Smith in speaking of this District, at page 45, lleport of 1878, says : — " Below Hope the valley begins to open up, and it becomes several '* miles wide, in pliices, before New Westminster is reached. The bottom ^' flats are generally low and partly prairie land ; the river meandering " through them is occasionally tlivided into channels or sloughs, forming ■" numerous islands ; these are thickly clothed with cotton-wood, vine, ■" maple, willow and other woods. Tliere is good land on the higher ^' benches, though but little wheat is grown in the district. The reasons '* for this, as given by the farmers, are : — The uncertainty of the weather ^' during tlie harvest season, the alternate rains and hot sunshine causing ^' the grain to grow in the ear before it can be housed ; and, further, *' that they find it more proiitable to raise stock, coarse grains, hay, and " fruit, and import their Hour than to spend money in producing wheat, " which, at best, would prove to be but an inferior article. The cattle " are reared for the markets of New Westminster and Victoria ; the hay *' and oats are sent to the logghig camps, and the fruit to the i.pper " couJitry. " The total area of land in the valley is estimated at a little over " 500,000 acres : of this but a very small part is under cultivation, and it will require nuich labour and expense before any extensive increase (( <( can be obtained. The great bulk of the laud that could be most *• easily brought under cultivation, lies on the estuary of the river below 30 ' tlio point ^^'llel■o the lino leaves the valley for Burrard Inlet ; and most ' of tlie baliinco is on tlio o]iposite side of the river to that on which the ' lino is locatod. Much of this land is suhjoct to ovcrtlow iVoin the ' floods of tlie river and froni high tides in the Strait. " Taken altogether, this is a very fine district, and in course of time * will have a considerable population ; but it is obvious that the recla- ' luation of the low lying binds is not to bo brought about by a railway, ' but by means of dykes, eiubiinknunits, pumping machmery and such ' other works and appliances "s have been successfully used on lands in ' a similar condition. " Steamboats already ply between New Westminster and Yale ( OO ' miles) twice a week eacli way, and would do so daily if there wero ' sufficient traftlc. These steamers stop at any point on tjio river where ' desired for the collection of passengers or freight, however limited in * number or quantity ; a degree of accommodation greater than could be ' afforded by any railway. The amount of traffic which the valley would ' supply to a railway would be but limited, as its main products go sea- * wards, and four-fifths of the traffic, both of passengers and freight, * which passes up into the interior is in connection with the Cariboo ' Gold Mines, for the necessities of whose development there must, and ' will ultimately, be found a shorter and better route from some point ' on the coast further north. On the whole, it does not appear that the ' prospects of a railway on this route are encouraging." According to the certified list of 1876, the number of voters in this district was 5S1. From the Victoria Directory of 1874 we gather that there were at — Burrard Inlet 156 Whites. New Westminster; 164 " North Arm Frazer River 21 ** South Arm " " 80 " Matsqui 22 " Sumass , 89 " Chiiliwack 64. On Frazer above New Westminster. 29 Langley 46 Boundary Bay and Semiahoo 21 Hope 29 t( Total 621 A Memorandum taken from the Census ot 1871 states : — " The District of New Westminster (see also Burrard Inlet and " Frazer Mouth lists,) returns a population of 1,292 whites, 27 Chinese, '* 37 coloured ; natives, no returns, say 300. Total, with natives, " 1,650." 81 most h tho tlio It thus appenrs that the popuhitinn of 1871 oxcpoclcd that of 1874. Tho hsts may bo erroneous, in any caso, the population is oxcccilingly scanty. As ^[r. Smith Ivuly says, it is not a railway that is roqu'roil to hrinfj about prosperity to tiiis district, but dykos, pumping machinery, etc., and, ni tlio central ]>liiteau, l)ranch roads, the improvement of tlie waggon road, and such, public works as are, in actual justice, retpiired for such a sparse poj)uhition and limited area of agricultural lands. To this end it is not necessary to luild a railway 125 miles in len^jth, cost- ing !i?lli,0(K),000. As has been remarked, on a preceding page, half tho mileage between Yale and Port Moody is elassilied by the Engineers as heavy. Tho dis- tance is DO miles, alongside the navigable waters of the Frazer ; of course, the intention is ultimately to carry tiie railway to Ihirrard Inlet, so to complete the grand trans-continental route, and build up a great city at liurrard Inlet, if possible. From a point on tho Frazer River in the vicinity of Sumass, the distance to Coal Harbour, Burrard Inlet, is about 40 miles. Tho works will be very lieavy along some portions of this piece of road. From Coal Harbour to Cape Flattery the distance is 150 miles, including some very intricate and dangerous navigation -according to the authority of Commander Pender, who, at page 300 of 8, Fleming's Eeport for 1877, says: — "For reasons given in No. 27, Burrard Inlet is, in my opinion, preferable to either of the other places named ; but even here the risks attending the navigation of large steam- ships, against time, amongst the islands lying between Fuca Straits and the Strait of Georgia, are, to me, very great." Other naval authorities admit that the approaches to Burrard Inlet from the Straits of Fuca involve more or less intricate navigation, and that the San Juan group of islands, commands those approaches. Admiral DeHorsey says : — " The tortuous channel from Burrard " Inlet to sea, through Haro Strait, will frequently be unsafe on account " of the strength of the tide, great prevalence of fog and absence of " anchormg de;)th. Burrard Inlet itself also, although possessing a safe " port in Coal Harbour, and a good anchorage in English Bay has these •' objections, viz. : — that the narrow entrance to Coal Harbour through " the First Narrows is hardly safe for large steamers, in consequence of *' the rapidity of the tide, and that English Bay, although affording " good anchorage, would not, in my opinion, be smooth enough during 83 " north -westerly gales for ships to lie at wharves, there being a drift of " forty miles from the North-West." And with regard to fogs, many navigators have stated their belief, that there is a greater frequency of dense fogs in the Georgian Gulf than on the northern coast ; in this connection, I may not inaptly quote from page 108 of S. Fleming's latest report, in which Doctor Dawson writes: — " I have elsewhere stated that fogs do not seem to occur with such ' frequency in the vicinity of tha (^ueen Charlotte Islands as in the ' southern part of the Strait of (Jeorgia. La Perouso, the groat, but ' unfortunate navigator, wrote : ' I iirst thought tlieso seas more foggy ' ' than those whicli separate Europe and America, but I should have ' • been greatly mistaken to have h-revocably embraced this opinion. ' * The fogs of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Hudson's Day have an ' • incontestable claim to pre-cniintuce from their constant density.' " Captain John Devereux says, at psige 30B, Railway Dieport of 1H77: — " Duvrard Inlet has a safe and coninu)dious anchorage, two (2) *• miles inside the lii'bt narrows at Coal Harbour, also another seven (7) " miles inside the second narrows at Port Moody ; but, there is one " great objection to either of these places, viz.: both the first and the *' second narrows, respectively, are, but about a cable and a-half wide, '* througii which the tide runs abort nine knots an hour, creating whirls " and eddies, rendering it unsafe lor largo steamers to enter or leave port " at night, or at certain stages of the tide, leavi'ig out all interruption •' by fugs und thick weather, which occur more frequently inside than *' oiit." '•At English Day, at a place marked on the chart as CxDvernment " reserve, is a good anchorage, with every facility to construct a hi-eak- " water and wharves, and by erecting a light-house on Passage " Island, one on East Point, one on Twin Point and another on " Discovery Island, the largest ships might be conducted thither in " safety ; l)ut there are three months in the year, viz.: from part of *' August to part of November, when this coast is subject to dense fogs, " rendering it unsafe, if not utterly impossible, to navigate llaro Strait " and the (iulf of Georgia with large steamers, such as the Doyal Mail, " Cunard and Pacific Mail Co.'s ships." " This ^vill, I thmk, be conceded by all who know anything about " such shii)s and the straits in question, where the tide runs from four " to six knots per hour, with boiling rips and overfalls, narrow channels " and outiyirg reefs. * ■■'■ '■■■ The fogs are so dens , here " that land cannot be seen one hundred yards off." From the same point on the Frazer, near Sumass, a railway can be built without much trouble and at little cost, through a flat region, to a 88 point on Puget Sound known as "Holme's Harbour." The length of this line wouUl bo about GO miles. It would cost very much less than that portion of the Canadian road terminating at Coal Harbour, and the terminus would bo at a magnificent harbour within easy distance of Capo Flattery, say 85 miles. Tho navigation is unparalleled, being perfectly free from danger, and ships can reach this point without towage. Thin harbour is situated under the lee of Whidby Island, U. B. Territory, and the intention is to cut a cdnal two miles in length across tho necJc of land Beparatiug this port from tho waters of Admiralty Inlet. Tho citizens of the United States are quite alive to tho importance of tho matter, and regard this place as tho natural outlet of Canadian Pacific tratlio, via, the Frazer liivcr. And they are perfectly right. Freight will follow the most economical route. From Sumass to Capo Flattery, via Holme's Harbour, the distance wDl be 151 miles. Between tho same points, via tho Burrard route, tho distance is 190 miles. In the former case, rai freights will bo lower than on the expensive road to Coal Harbour, wlxilo rates of insurance, towage and pilotage will be very much less than on Canadian waters. Tho fact is undeniable, dispute it who may. Mr. Marcus Smith has already pointed it out in his Report of 1878. But if further testimony bo desirable, we have but to glance over Mr. S. Fleming's Report of April, 1880, wherein, at page 116, Major- Goneral Moody, formerly Commander of the Royal Engineers in British Columbia, gives his. Ho is a strong partizan of the Frazer River line, and in a lengthy paper upon tho railway question shows his clear perception of the inevitable tendency British and American commercia.1 relations will have to co-minglo, and trade to gravitate towards the most favourable outlet. " One must keep in mind that if Route III did not exist, the " material interests, present and future, of this valuable south portion of «' British Columbia, from the seaboard to tho Rocky Mountain range, " would gravitate inevitably to the foreign braucli lines of tho United " States' North Pacific Railway ; such branches coming up from south «' to dilferent points along the frontier, east and west of Cascade Range." " Tho coast branch up from the future great and hnportant port of " ' Holme s llarhour,' (U.S.,) in the Straits of Georgia, to Semiahmoo " Port (U.S.,) 45 to 50 miles, will reach to about 15 miles from New " Westminster, and, as a matter of course, iu the progressive inter- " change of trade and communications between the t^Y0 nations, will " extend to New Westminster. .34 '• Anotliov branch will alao probably roach n }> former, to 50 feet and less at the latter place. It was consequently impossible to see anything of the surrounding country from a canoe. How then, in the name of common sense, can he justify his sweep- ing assertion that there are sixteen millions acres of arable land within the section of country drained by the Peace River, east of the Rocky Mountains ] Does he think that British capitalists will swallow such an un- founded statement '? To take a map and measurj off certain unknown and unseen areas finished this -remarkably easy method of "doing" the country. That there are vast areas suitable ^or settlement there is every reason to believe, but there is no justification for deliberately misleading the public with an array of imaginary figures. Facts, not fancies, are wanted. Similar wild estimates have, perhaps, been made in other parts of the North-West, and the writer is not alone in decrying such a wholesale method of survey, for, in the e:»rly part of 1879, when ho brought the impropriety and absurdity of jumping areas in this; manner, iuider the notice of the Minister of Railways, and of the Chief Engineer, Mr, Fleming, the latter quite concurred. Doctor Dawson's examination of the southcrix portion oi the Peace River country during the season of 1879 has however removed in greai measure, any doubts as to its value and extent. In 1872, the writer hazarded the opinion (sec " Canada on the Pacific ") that, in the southern Peace River country there would pruballif be found available for settlement, agricultural land equal in extent to the original Province of Itlanitoba. This view has been more than justified by Doctor Dawson. - '. In the last report issued, Mr. Macoun exhibits a map " indicating the limits within which good lands are kuown to exist, west of the 101st meridian." 40 On the western portion of that map there is a tract or triangular area of a1»out 10,000 square miles, shown as prairie and good land, which is well known to be forest and worthless for agriculture, i.e., that piece of country extending from Rocky Mountain House northward to the River Pembina, and thence west and north to the Rocky Mountains. The Southern (Burrard Inlet) line is projected through this worthless country, which Mr. Macoun speaks of in his Report of 1877, page 328, as '• seemingly the ivorst part of the swampy region near the Rocky Moun- tains." Mr. Macoun's instructions were : To explore 60,000 square miles of the country west of Livingston and north of the Slst parallel of latitude. He was probably five months in the field. Admitting that he travelled continuously during the whole of that period, at the average rate of 20 miles per day and that ha was able to determine the quality of the soil for two miles on each side of his track as he went along, he would be in a position to report upon 12,000 square miles == 7,680,000 acres. He, however, affirms that there are 134,000,000 acres of good land between Manitoba and the Rocky Mountains, exclusive of the Peace River country. How docs he know this ? He did not see one-twentieth part of this enormous area. His map is divided into sections represented by the parallelograms contained between adjacent parallels and meridians. He rode across (directly or diagonally) some 23 of those sections. Each of these sections represents an area equal to two counties of the Pro- vince of Ontario. Is it reasonable to believe that a hasty ride across an Ontario county would enable anyone to state its agricultural value ? Mr. Macoun states that much of the prairie country south of the 52nd parallel is better than has been reported by Palliser's expedition. It may be interesting to quote from M. Bourgeau's botanical report to Sir WiUiam Hooker in 1858. This was a French gentleman of high scientific attainments, who passed two or three consecutive y(!ars in the Saskatchewan and prairie country of the Canadian North-West. Page 246, Capt. Palliser's Expedition : "On the prairies. . . . ** As the country towards the south merges more into open prairie, the *' clumps of young poplars are found only nestling on northern exposures." •' The last outUers of the woods to the south generally consist of ' islands ' as 41 " they are called, which make a show from a distance, but when " approached are found to consist of a small species of willow." *' The true arid district, which occupies much of the country along " the South Saskatchewan, and reaches as far north as latitude 52°, has, " even early in the season, a dry, parched look. In the northern district '* the accumulation of Amw MS and the distribution of the pleistocene deposits " has given rise to a variety in the nature of the soil ; but to the south the •' cretaceous and tertiary strata almost everywhere come to the surface, " so that the stiff clay, highly impregnated with sulphates, bakes under " the influence of the clear sun of early spring, into a hard and cracked ■• surface, that resists the germination of seeds. This must be the " principal reason for the arid plains ranging to such a high latitude, as " there is quite a sufficient quantity of moisture in the atmosphere " during the summer months, to support a more vigorous vegetation, as '* is shown as far south as latitude 49° 30' N. when at the Cypress Hills, '• south sides of deep river valleys, and other expanses sheltered from the •• sun's rays until he acquires a considerable altitude, are found to be " covered with pines, spruce firs, poplars, and abundant varieties of the *' vegetation found further to the north." *• In the arid plains, the plants, most evidently different from those " regions to the north, are small opuntias, also the sage of the Americans.' '* Much of the arid country is occupied by tracts of loose sand, " which is constantly on the move before the prevailing winds." " This district, although there are fertile spots throughout its extent '* can never be of much advantage to us as a possession." *' Along the base of the Roc'.cy Mountains there is much fine land, •' with very rich pasturage." Mr. Bourgeau, a most able botanist, pissed a very much longer period in the North- West ihin Mr. Macoun, but a glaace at his report will show that he never wait so far as to classify areas. He quite admits the existence of va«t tracts of excellent land south of the North Saskatchewan. He speaks highly of the agricultural capabihties ot the country between Carltoa and Edmonton, mentions the navigability of the two Saskatchewans and their largest tributaries, and in fine, gives a report which, from an economic and scientific point of view, would be difficult to subvert. It is, however, quite apparent that the botanical testimony clashes in some important particulars. The public may judge from the state- ments made, which of the two is better entitled to credence. The brown line dra-vsn from Cumberland House to lesser Slave Lake, i2 upon Mr. Macoun's map, paj^e 245 of report, shows the northern limit of the area within wliich good land abounds. Does he retract his statements of 1875, regarding the lower Atha- basca? ]7(/6' Geological Ecport 1875- 7G, page 170. In Appendix 14, Mr. Macoun, speaking ot the aridity characteristic of large tracts of country north of the 49th parallel, and south of tne nortn baskatchewan, rclers to tlie cretaceous clays as the cause. He also mentions that the breaking up of the soil assists growth, besides some otlier well-known facts. This is quite true, but he should have mentioned that those facts and theories have been long well-known. He has culled his information from Doctor Dawson's report in connection with tlie Boundary Commission, and from other well-known works published some years ago. This cretaceous formation, wliich Mr. Macoun admits to bo the cause of sterility, is fully discussed iu Doctor Dawson's Iiq)ort of 1875. " 847. Fort Pierre Croupe. This group appears to occupy a very " great e'xtent of country in the region north of the 4Uth parallel." '• 852. Dr. Jiayden Avritos : ' This formation is the most important " one in the cretaceous system of the North-Wcst.' " • * * * " Wherever this deposit prevails, it renders the country more com- *' pletelv sterile than any other geological formation I have seen in the " North- West," " The contrast between the country resting on this formation and " that based on the Lignite Tertiary, is very striking, and whore the " dry uplands of the Tertiary would seem, at first, less favourable than *' tlie low-lying plains of Is'o. 4 ; the former can support a short thick ♦♦ growth of nutritious grasses, where the latter has the cliaracter above " described." Doctor Dawson defines the boundaries of the cretaceous subdivision No. 4, within British territory, at page 149 of his Report in connection with the Boundary Commission, and further on supplies abundance of information in regard i > water supply, the climate, tree-growth and areas fit for settlement m the North- West. Mr. Macoun has dipped into all this, hides the faot, and presents his borrowed knowledge to the public as his own. This is not fair, either to the authors quoted or to the public, and will but serve to throw discredit upon himself. 43 Since writing the above, Mr. Macouu has gone forth in search of more acres. Upon this occasion his mission is to the south-west. It will be interesting to hear the result of this year's expedition. It cannot, however, be doubted that the Dominion will be further enriched by many more millions of acres. It may be taken for granted that another scien- tific adjustment of the map will be in order, and that much of the arid, cactus region north of the boundary line will be forever obliterated to make room for countless prosjjective homesteads. Plethoric capitalists will look forward with anxiety for the next Report. In the summer of 1871 the first engineering parties from Ottawa were sent out, cast and west, north and south. The writer accompanied the first prairie expedition luider Mr. F. Mobcrly, and travelled from Fort Garry to Edmonton, Ilocky Mountain House, the Kootenay plains, near Howe's Pass, back to Edmonton, thence to Jasper House, and back to Ottawa, during the period between August, 1871, and March, 1872. In Augu'it, 1H72, iMr. S. Fleming started from Fort Garry, Eed Ivivor, with the avowed purpose of going over the line of route examined in the preceding year, to Victoria, B. C. The writer's services, as one of the menibors of tlie expedition of 1871, were called for to guide the Chief Engineer across the prairie section. The proceedings of the Chief Engineer's party upon that occasion have been duly chronicled in " Ocean to Ocean," a publication which, as its reverend writer remarks incidentally, purports to be " a truthful narrative." At page 3 of the lleport of the Engiueer-iu-Chief, dated 8th April, 1880, Mr. Fleming says : — " The first examiuation imder my direction " was made in 1872, when I passed over the line from Lake Superior tQ " the Pacific." This sentence is scarcely correct, the last postulat« being positively misleading. Mr. Fleming's exi)cdition, consisting ol himself, a clovgyni'in, a doctor, ]\lr. Fleming's son, Mr. Macoun and the writer, travt'lied at llio rate of -10 miles per day, between Fort Garry and Edmonton, over one of the many cart trails which intersect the country, but, far fro,!i following the then proposed, and now located, railway line, saw actually nothing of it, being at times from 70 to 100 miles to the north or south, according to the sinuosities of the trail. The expedition was, in fact, to all intents and purposes, under the control of the Reverend 44 Geo. Grant, who, from the very Loginning, maclo strenuous efforts to " run " the whole affair, as fast as j/ossiblo, being, as he said himself, excessively anxious to rejoin his parishioners at Halifax, by the 16th November following. Accordingly, the examination of the prairie section was to this end sacrificed. At Edmonton, the party was broken up, the botanist and writer going towards the Peace River, the others continuing on via the Hudson Bay trail to Jasper House, and ultimately to Victoria, which thoy reached early in tlie autumn. For particulars of what they did and saw, during that memorable journey, the reader must refer to the volume alhided to, " Ocean to Ocean." The writer of this paper, after passing the Rocky Mountains, by the Peace River Pass, and sending the botanist home via the Fraser River, finally crossed British Columbia, on snowshoes from Fort McLeod to the Skeena and Naas Rivers, and reached the coast at Fort Simpson in January, 73. During the journey from Edmonton to McLeod Ijake, via the Peace River country, the writer being, from his experience of tiio country between Edmonton and Jasper House in the previous year, woll qualified to institute comparisons, saw the probable advantages of the Peace River route, or, more correctly speaking, of the Pliir Hirer route, over the southern line, as means of access to Bute Inlet, that place being then one of the termini most highly thought of. He accordingly reported in favour of the Pine River route, in preference to that of the Peace River, a proposition which ci'eated some disgust, and caused much obloquy to be cast upon his judgment. It has since been admitted by some of Mr. Fleming's engineers, who are still staunch adherents to the "Yellow Head" route, that, had Bute Inlet been finally adopted as the western terminus, the Pine Pass would have offered the best route to it. , * ' It has however, required many years to fully realize this, but the final rejection of tiute Inlet a couple of years ago, paved the way for the admission. Until 1875, the writer favoured Bute Inlet as a terminus, but, having since seen it, and the line leading to it for at least 150 miles, he has been gradually convinced of its unsuitableness, especially within the last year. In 1874, the writer was commissioned by the Government to examine the Cascade Range from sea level to summit, between the I6th 3tion 45 parallels of 52' anil 54° north latitude. Tho sloop *• Triumpli " of tlio' Geological Survey was, for this purpose, placed at his disposal, au examination of tho various inlets made, and tho result duly reported to the Chief Engineer. ( Vide lloport of 1877, page 137.) This report, heforo its incorporation with Mr. Fleming's general report was, however strangely mutilated, and the portion treating of the coast from Douglas Channel southward to Queen Charlotte Sound, entirely suppressed. This has lately proved to bo a very unfortunate ciroumstauce, as tho matter of the suppressed portion entirely escaped tho writer's memory until last winter, when an examination of Mr. Koefer's work on the Skeena between Fort Simpson and Kitsumkallum River led to a retrospect of the work of 1874. Upon referring to the partially suppressed report of 1874, the writer found, at page 31 of his original MSS., tho following passage : — "It is needless to lengthen this report by mon than a passmg " allusion to tho Kitimat Inlet, a huge water-filled ini.entation like the " others of ttie coast ; and, as there appears to be no passage from it to " the interior plateau, further reference to it here would be supertiuous."* But appended to this report, and marked for intorpolation after the last passage, appeared the following remark : — " At tho north-east corner of this arm of the sea, there is a long " and narrow bay, wliich, were it dredged, would form au cxeellout *' harbour. There is ample room for wharfage, but to deepen this bay, " the Kitimat, or at least oue of its outlets, would require to bo diverted " to tho west side of the Inlet. A micrometrical survey has been made '* by Mr. Hichardson, during my absence in tho interior while searching " for passes. Had I been successful in this respect, soundhigs of the " upper end of the Inlet would have been taken, and, in fact, a liydro- " graphical examination would have been made. As au outlet from the " u])per Skeena, through the Cascades, tho Kitimat Valley, apparently, " offers facilities unparalleled elsewhere on the coast." Tho report was mutilated in four other places besides. The writer objected, but was told that the document was already too lengthy. In the year 1877, Mr. H. J. Gamble was sent by Mr. Fleming to examine the Skeena and Wotsonqua Valleys, in connection wit'' a line from Port Simpson to the interior. When at Kitsumkalluni river, he NoTK.— By " interior plateau" was meant the lake re^'ion iiuiuediatuly east from tlie Valley of tlie Kitimat and behind tho " (Jasciuleii." The writer' :J instrin'tioiis were to seareh for i)asse.s leadtn!> direetly from the sea to this iilateaii. A route by the SUeeiia river was not then thought of. [Vide page 13S, S. Fleminif'a report of 1377. J 46 Ascontlcd tlio stream issuing from Lnko Killoosali, antl saw a portion of tlio fine Valley of tho Kitimnt. This has iwt boon roforrod to in Mr. Cambic's Report. — [At page 88, Appendix C, Report 1878.] Noitlicr ha« any allusion to tho Kitiniat been miulo by Mr. Fleming's engineers, until last March, when Mr. Fleming received tho following letter from tho writer : — " Ottawa, 9th March, 1880. " Samlfonl Flcminj, Esq., " Knijiucer-i)i-Chiet\ CanaiUa)i racific Uailwdy. •• Sir, — Having in view ^Ir. Koofor's recent survey from tho head of " Wark Canal, up tlio Skoona, through tho Cascade Mountains, with tho *' object of making rail communication between tho Forks of Skoena and " Port Simpson, it has occurred to me to make tho following suggestions, " which, although rather late in tho season, may prove interesting : — " An inspection of Mr, Kecfer's plan shows, as indeed might have " been expected, more than fifty miles of extremely ditlicult location, '' through tho very core of tho coast range, which added to the distance " from the Head of Wark Canal to Port Simpson, aggregates at least *' one hundred miles of tho most expensive railway work, between the " Kitsumkallum River and tho suggested terminal point, Port Simpson." " Now, I think it is possible to avoid this difficulty, simply by " diverging from some point on tho Bkeena below Kitsellasso Canon, " southward towards Lake Killoosali, and thence following the wide, '= open valley of the Kitimat to tho Head of Douglas Channel, where I " have no doubt whatever that it is possible, at an expense very much " less than the difference in cost of construction between the Lower *' Skeena and Port Simpson route, and that now suggested, to form a " good terminal harbour." " In 1874, I examined the Kitimat Valley, for the purpose of finding " an outlet in that quarter from the interior plateau. I was unsuccess- " ful, although I pointed out the favourable features of this valley. In " my report (see your own report for 1877), I gave a description of tho " Douglas Channel, but by some mischance that portion was omitted." " In viev/ of this circumstance, I deem it not out of place to again " bring before you the above facts, which, it must be confessed, were ♦' not very clearly put forward in my report of 1874." " I would add that tho valley of the Kitimat is one of the most " extensive on the coast, and I am confident that the summit between " the Kitimat and the Skeena does not exceed 1,000 feet above sea level. *' Moreover, by this route, the formidable ' Cascades ' will be avoided " altogether, and the distance between the Forks of Skeena and the sea " shortened at least 60 miles." if •' At tlio nortli-cnst corner of ihn Inlet, tlicro is a nntural Imvbcnr " two miles in lenf,'tli, jiorfectly sheltered, init sliallow. 'J'liis could bo " easily dredf^ed, were the main volume of the Kitimat diverted to tlio " west side of the canal. The head of the canal is, of com-sp, only a " roadstead, hut I tliink there is tolerably fair anchorage, and the otluig *• can be reached by a magniticent channel and Nepeau Hound." " For steamships this liarbour is as ensily accessible as any on tho " coast. It seems to me that a proper hydro^raphical survey should bo " made, as also a survey from the head of iho Inlet to some ])oint on '* the S]r, cross the Pine River Pass, and examine the Peace River country. Y»''ith a view of meet- ing the Rev. l\rr. Gordon on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, another expeditionary party was dispatched from Winnipeg to meet him as he emerged from the fastnesses of the Athabasca region. Their outfit from Fort St. James was, in Mr. Cam^ie's own words [Vide page 42, Report 1880) :— " Our party, for the exploration of the Peace River country, then " consisted of six on the staff (Mr. Cambie was ii\:io accompanied by a " Secretary), 14 packers, l)esides fwo men and 5 Indians, 27 in all, and •' our train consistr>d of 72 pack-mules, with 23 riding animals ; a total " of 95 animals." It would be very int'>restiug to the public to know the result of this grand expedition, but, as space will not parmit us to fol'Dw each individual member of this party in his peregrinations, it will suflico for present purposes, to know what the chief of the expedition did during the long summer of 1879. With the exception of Doctor Dawson, who crossed the Rocky Mountains, by the Pine Pass, the whole party dos>.'ended the Peace River from Fort McLeod to Dunvegan, by bjat and raft. Mr. Cambie thence rode on horseback to Smoky River, (45 miles), from Smoky River to Sturgeon Lake, (41 miles), from Sturgeon Lake to Little Smoky River, (30 miles), from Little Smoky River to Lesser Slave Lake, (28 miles), from Lesser Slave to Peace River, (55 miles), from the crossing' of Peace River along the left bank to Dunvegan, (50 miles), 52 from Dunvegan to Fort St. JoLti, (120 miles), and from Fort St. John to Hudson Hope, (40 miles). In all this distance but a shlall portion was seen of the route pro- jioaed by the writer in 1872, i.e.^ in the distance, between Dunvegan and Lesser Slave Lake going east. Mr. MacLeod performed the greater part of tfie examination. From Hudson Hope, Mr. Cambie travelled to Moberly Lake, and thence to the Pine River (26 miles), up the Pine River (previously examined and favourably reported upon by Mr. Hunter) (35 miles), and from the Pine Pass Summit to Stewart Lake, (108 miles). Much of this distance was over ground travelled by the writer in 1872, and the result of this expedition has been (apart froin the valuable information obtained by Doctor Dawson, and the minute inspection of the engineering features of the country south of the Peace Rive ;, by Mr. MacLeod) , but to confirm the writer's views expressed in 187.-. In verification of this statement, I shall here quote some extracts from a Memorandum by the writer to the Minister of Railways, dated, " 20th January, 1879," at the request of the latter. " In point of fact, the Peace River Pass is not so formidable as that, " nor m any portion does it bear any resemblance to a canon, excepting " between the head and foot of the Rocky Mountain canon, or portage, " which is entirely beyond, and east of the main range, and is on a very '' much reduced scale, as compared with the steep, rocky slopes of the *' main range." • " In reality, the passage of the Peace River, through the Rocky " Mountains, is an easier problem to solve than the continuation of a line " immediately to the eastward, in its low trough 700 feet beneath the " plateau, or in close proximity to the river along the adjacent heights, " the last alternative, all but impracticable, on the lino indico^id in Mr. " Fleming's Eeport." " Indeed, were it possible to carry that line at the high level of the plateau (1,700 or 1,800 feet above sea), there might be some reason for taking advantage of the Peace River Pass, were it advantageously situated with regard to western termini ; but, as any line through that pass must either descend to the low level of the Peace Pdver, when east of the Rocky Mountains, and maintain that Jevel as far as the Smoky River, or must diverge from the eastern j)ortal of the Pass southward, in order to avoid the prodigious valleys of the Whitefish, Pine, Mud, :6chafaud and other streams, the objection to the Peace Kiver Pass may be readily understood." 53 John to )ute pro- igan and greater iake, and reviously iles), and ch of this he result obtained g features o confirm J extracts ys, dated, )le as that, exceptin g r portage, on a very aes of the the Rocky )n of a line ;ueath the it heights, -^d in Mr. ivel of the aie reason utageously le through the Peace itain that the eastern i valleys of e objection '• The line in discussion is traced across the portage, from the head " of the Rocky Mountain Canon, and easterly along the Peace River, to •* the Forks of the Smoky River." ** It is impossible to carry a line as projected across the portage " without miles of tunnelling, for the simple reason that the lowest part " of the ridge across which the portage trail is made, is 1,000 feet higher " than the water level at Hudson's Hope, while to follow the semi-cir- " cular course of the canon (25 miles in length), will, in all probability, " entail heavy works in rock, however, I do not question the practicabi- " lity of the latter alternative along the right bank, but I am of the " opinion, that from Hudson's Hope to the Smoky River, a line following " the low level of the Peace River, will be objectionable, in cou.sequenoe " of unavoidably bad alignment, its length and heavy works occasionally, " with frequency of bridge structures across the mouths of the southern *' tributaries and numerous dry ravines, not to mention the difficulty of " gahiiug the high level again beyond the Smoky River." " In all the distance from Hudson's Hope to the Smoky River, the " Peace River Hows at the bottom of a trough, 600 to 800 feet, beneath " the surrounding plateau. Alluvial flats, terraces of varying altitudes " alternating witli rocky exposures, clay and gravel slides occupy tlio " slopes of this trough, whicli are intersected by numerous rivert^, count- " less creeks, and dry coulees, all of which debouch on the main stream " through immense gorges, sliowing vertical sections as deep as that " of the Peace River Valley itself." " The immense ravines and river valleys above mentioned, place " road construction along the heights in proximity to the river eutirehj " out of the (jue.itiuh.'" " For the above reasons, I have always favoured a lino from the " Pine Pass, parallel to tlu* Peace River, but thirty or more miles to the " southward, where the valleys of the rivers are of deLi-easod depth, and " where they might bo crossed to better advantage." *• Mr. Hunter's exploration of 1877 has, so far, proved the souud- *' ness of my views and has even exceeded my expectations." Messrs. Cambic and MacLeod have amply verified the viewd expres- sed in the above extracts (see Mr. Fleming's Report, 1880, pages -ll, 45, 56) but it is diflicult to understand why such an extravagantly equipped party was needed, especially with the whole summer before them. The writer's party of 1872 was but a toy affair compared with the expedition of 1879, which, in addition, was met from Winnipeg by another outfit of no mean proportions. In September, 1872, the i^riter and his associate, Mr. Macoun, left 64 Edmonton with ten horses and two men en route for TtiacLeod Lake via the Peace Iliver. Nothing was then known of the country excepting by the Hudson Bay people, but the little expedition made its way, and passed through the Peace River Pass at the most inclement season of the year, reaching ^lacLeod Lake in November. The whole cost of that examhiation did not exceed $1,000, and the results were highly im- portant. Note. — Cost of Horetzki's Expedition from Edmonton to McLeod Lake : — Hire of 10 horses from tho Hudson's Bay Company. . $450 " " 2 men, Edmonton to Ilocky Mountain Canun 100 " " 4 Indians and 1 half-caste. Rocky Moun- tain Canon to McLeod Lake 207 " " Boat, (cash left with Hudson's Bay Company to reimburse owners) 20 Provisions and sundries 200 $977 Mr. Cambie had also a Secretary at a high salary, besides a Major- domo at S70 per month. The duties of this person were to talk to the Indians, to see to the putting up of the tents, etc., etc. Four or five of Mr. Cambie's men were sent homo from the east side via U. P. and C. I*. Railroads and steamer to Victoria, at a very groat cost to the Gov- ernment. Let there bo no misunderstanding ; Messrs. Dawson and MacLeod did excellent work, the former, by examining the country as to soil, geology and climate ; the latter, in surveying minutely the engineering features of the lino i roposed in 1872. Mr. Cambie takes exception to Professor Selwyn's description of the country about Hudson's Hope. The latter says at page 02, Geological Report of 1875: — " 1 1th September. — A little white frost ; thermometer : 32" at 6 a.m. " Chaiieite lent us two horses, and, at 7.30 a. m., Mr. Webster and I •' started for Moborly's Lake. Tlio trail runs two or three miles up the " river, and tlion turns to the left and ascends by several steps or " benches to the plateau ; an undulating country of alternating low, " sandy or gravelly ridges, covered with forest of small pine, and swampy ' depressions, with spruce and tamarac and well-grassed flats, thinly- 06 ** wooded with aspen, aider and willow. In places tlio woods were all *• burnt, and in tliese bridh we lost a good deal of time searching for the " trail. At 6 p. m., however, we reached tlie top of a hill, from which a " small piece of the Lake was visible, about three miles distant down a " narrow valley. We camped hero, an operation which consisted in " lighting a fire, putting up a few boughs for a break-wind, and eating " our supper of bread and dried moose meat. Starting at 7 a. ni. on " the folluwiug morning, we reached a rocky hill immediately above the " south-west end of tlie lake at 9.30. The trail wound round the flank " of it and descended towards the lake shore. As there was nothing to ** be gained by followiLg it further we diamounted, and, leaving our ** horses on the trail, climbed to the summit, where an extensive view of ** the HuiTounding country was obtained and a series of bearings taken. " The barometer reading was 20.59, indicating about 2,000 feet above " Hudson's Hope, and only a little less elevated than Table Mountain *' on Pine lUver, which I think I recognised, bearing 97". The strata ** here are quite similar to those of Table Mountain— horizontal, thick- " bedded, reddish-brown and grey sandstones — but no "ossils were seen *• in them. The hills around the lake, especially the lower slopes and " the intervening valleys, are richly grassed. Pea- vine, Aitni;iatus and " various nutritious grasses standing above one's knees on horseback. " There are lavje areas of open prairie land, and more which is only " wooded with willow, aspen and alder copices. On the higher slopes " pine prevails, and, in the low grounds, spruce, tamarac and poplar. '* A i^nvylc-vcil Upilobium is very abundant, also service-berry, ' poii-e' " and a species of Viburnum — high-bush cranberry. I never saw the " berries on the latter so fine or so abundant. On some of the open, '• sandy ridges, blueberries and cranberries were also plentiful. Charlettc *' tells mo tliat the snow fall is comparatively light, and that horses do ** well through winter amongst these hills. / consider it a region far " Jitter for settlement than much of the Saskatcheivan country. We are now " in the middle of September, the thermometer has only once reached ♦* 32% and potatoe tops at Hudson Hope are still green." At page 51, Pacific Ptailway Eeport, 1880, Mr. Gamble thus describes the same locality : — it << (( (( << U " We reached Hudson's Hope September 15th, and tried to obtain a guide to take us to Pine River, but failed, as the Indians \vere all absent; accordingly wo left next morning and followed a huutmg trail to Moberly's Lake. The trail ascends from Peace River by a series of benches, and at one and a-half miles reaches the plateau, which is here about 2,000 feet above sea level, and continues at the same elevation to the fifth mile ; it then passes over a ridge 900 feet above the plateau and along a steep hill side to the south-western end of Moberly's Lake, at an estimated elevation of 2,050 feet above sea level." 56 " According to the best sources of information at my disposal, (Mr. Selwyn's Report) "Moberly's Lake should have been situated two-thirds ** of the way across from the Peace to Pine River, and in a country " fitted for settlement, though somewhat hilly and with large areas oi • prairie land." •• Great was my surprise, therefore, to find myself only nine miles ** ftom Hudson's Hope, and hemmed in by hills, rising from 3,000 to •• 4,600 feet above sea level, the only level land visible, being in the •• valley of Moberly's River, which empties into the lake from the west ; " and further, that between me and Pine River lay a range of mountains '* at least sixteen miles broad, rendered almost impassible by fallen *• timber, the only prairies being on the slopes of steep hills facing the " south." " There was no possibility of retreat ; the party on Pine River was '• waiting for us ; and, having only a limited supply of provisions, delay " might prove disastrous to both parties." ♦' Fortunately, I was able to reinforce my little band by engaging " the services of an Irishman named Armstrong, whom we found build- " ing a shanty for himself in order to hunt during the winter ; he had " spent part of the summer at the lake, hunting, prospecting for gold, *• and catching fish for the support of a number of sleigh dogs belonging ** to the Hudson Bay Company." " White fish were then, [September 17th,] very abundant, and he •* gave us all we could carry. They varied from 4 to lbs. in weight, •• were very fat and seemed to me quite equal to the far-famed white fish " of Lake Huron." " We followed the valley of Moberly's River, south-westwards, for eight miles and then turi^ed southwards up a small tributary. After four days, during which we had chopped our way through fallen timber from day-light to dark, I found myself in a small basin with hills rising steeply 1,000 to 1,200 feet on both sides and in front, and these, where not actually precipitous, were so strewn with fallen timber of large size, that it seemed a hopeless task to attempt to cut our way through without help. I therefore sent two men ahead to find Mr. Major and get some of his party to come to our assistance, while I remained behind to take care of the mules, assisted by Arm- strong, who had cut his foot with an axe." " My messengers returned three days afterwards with six men, and *• on September 24th, we reached Pine River and joined the main party." •' I estimated that we were only 17 miles from Moberly's Lake, but " had travelled nearly 30, and in the last four miles had passed over a *' mountain 4,200 feet above sea-level. We were also 21 miles west of *♦ the point where I expected to find myself." <* 41 tt 41 ( i( CI it K have never yet been traversed by scientific travellers, bo explored, and accurate data obtained respecting the feasibility of a railway through that region to the Pacific Coast." He then proceeds to any in the Report of 1880 : — '* The Burrard Inlet route was known to bo marked by many dilH- culties, and to involve an enormous outlay, but with all the disadvan- tages which it pi'esonts, I (ionsidered that it was entitled to the pre- ference. *• For six consecutive years, and at an exceptionally groat cost, unremitting and systematic efforts had been made without success to find a better and less expensive line. Indeed, there stemed no alter- native but the adoption of that rou<'0, unless further examination of the northern country made it apparent that a hotter and more eligible location could be found under conditions so favourable that it would command ready acceptance. " Owing, in some degree, to the fact that the northern districts of British Columbia are remote from the areas of population, a northern route obtamed but little attention during the eai y stages of tho survey. It was only when it was found that no line could bo secured in the more southern latitude, except at great outlay, that a northern route came prominently into notice, and that more extended examinations became desirable." . " It was a serious responsibility for any engineer to assume to recommend that constrtiction should be commenced on the line to Burrard Inlet, without first having exhaustiul all the sources of enquiiy open to us. I felt that we should clearly and unmistakeably under- stand the capabilities and possibilities of the northern region, that we should obtain data, to dct'n-mine if a railway line could be obtained through it, that we should know the character of the route, and that we should possess full information with regard to tho climate, soil and capability for settlement, before the Government became irrevocably committed to the large expenditure attendant upon the adoption of any route." " It is easy to be understood that, if, subsequent to the amstruction of the raihoay on the southern route, it was discovered that a northern line could hare been undertaJan at a greatly reduced cost, through a country, in respect of soil and climate, suitable for prosperous settlement, a gross and irremediable error would hate been committed, possibly ever to be deplored."* " Additional northern exploiations, therefore, seemed to be advisable whatever ihe result obtained. Under any circumstances, it was evident that tho information gained, even if of negative value, would be important in adding to our positive knowledge of the territory." NoTU— Ihe reader's attentiun is particularly requested to this paragraph. 60 '* In April last, I was notifiotl that tho Governmont had decided, * previous to tho dotormination of any route, to make additional examin- * atiou of the northern passes and of tho country v.hich ilanks both sides ' of tho mountains." •' These examinations it was proposed so to carry on that tho * information would bo systematically and rapidly gained, that it could ' at once be acted on and the choice of the location, and the commencc- * ment of couottuction, no longer delayed." *' The extent of ttirritory embraced was tho country between the ' longtitude of Edmonton, east of the Eocky Mountains, and Port Simp- ' son, on the Pacific. Port Simpson had already been reported to be an * excellent harbour. It was known that a deep-water arm of the sea, ' named Wark Inlet, some 3;") miles in length, extended to the east of ' Port Simpson, in the direction of the Elver Skeena ; Wark Inlet being ' separated from the Skeena by a narrow isthmus of no groat elevation.' " The objects of tho examination were to discover the most favour- able route from the coast to the Peace Eiver District, ou the eastern side of the mountains, and thence to the lino already located near Edmonton ; to gain full information with regard to Port Simpson, to \erify the reports as to Wark Canal being nuvigablo l-v ocfun-sailing sliips, to ascertain how far the country lying between tiie head of that sheet of water and the Eiver Skeena, and the Valley of the Skeena itself, were suitable for a railway line, and to obtain such definite informa- tion respecting the nature of a portion of the line accessible to steam- ers from the ocean, as would admit of a contract for construction being at once let, in the event of. a northern route being ciioseu." " The examination really involved the determination of the problem ' whether the choice of tho 13urrard Inlet route should be sustained or ' abandoned, and if construction should be immediately commenced on * the northern or on the southern lino." '* The service was, consequently, one of importance. The instruc- ' tions to the officers selected, together with their Ecports, are given in * full in the Appendix. As tune was an element in the problem, it was * arranged that tho examinations should be energetically carried out, ' and that so soon as the information was obtained, a synopsis of it ' should be sent by telegraph from Edmonton to Ottawa. Before the * end of September the information was received and laid before the ' Government." The writer was one of the '* officers selected " to carry out these examinations. His duty was the most arduous, and involved the exploration of a route through three distinct mountain ranges, across a hitherto unknown portion of the country, entirely on foot, and by canoe 61 where possible. The section he hid to f.xamine vhu in fact the key to th$ whole question of a rout". /ro7n Port Simpsoii to the eastern prairie rer/ion, as Ma objective point \oas the Pence River Puss, the Pino River route having been counted out. {Vide pages U and 10 Pacific liailway Report of 1878, whereon Mr. Fleming says) : — '* I do not attach the same importance to the ' Pir.e River Pass ' as " Mr. Smith. * * -x- Although favourably situated for a line to a '* Northern Terminus, its importance) is not enhanced by the fact that " 11, still lower i)ass — Peace River — exists, oidy a few miles further north. " I have accordhigly projected a northern lino of railway through Peace " River Pass, which I consider preferable."* On the 25th July, 1879, the writer indited the following letter to Mr. II. J. Cambie : — '• Hazeltom, Foeks of Skkena, 25th July, 1879. " //. ./. Cambie, Esq., " Stewart^ Lake, or elsewhere, •' Dear Sir, — I have just returned from a preliminary reconnais- ance, via the Atnah Pass, Bear Lake, Driftwood River, Lake Tatla, and the ' Frying Pan Pass.' " I have reached the following conclusions : that, if the Babine River prove as favourable as I suppose it will, a direct and generally easy line will be found from its upper portion, easterly through a fairly level country, to the Kotsine River, thence across the Driftwood River Valley, and from Tatla Lake to tlie Omenica, by one of several low passes, either touching the Omenica-Sitlica, or through the present pass, used by miners, which I believe available for a railway. " I have reason to think that the lower Omenica will prove favour- " able. My preconceived ideas regarding tliis northern country and the " central range through which the Frying Pan Pass leads, have been ** considerably inoditied since my recent journey, and I believe that the " profile of this proposed line will prove better than any yet found, ex- " ceptiug that of the Wotsonqua valley. " There is quite a break in the central range in latitude 55° 40', and " through this gap flows the Kotsine River, which I believe will afford a " good pass (probably not higher than 8,000 feet above the sea) from a '* level valley which I have seen from mountain heights to the north- " ward, and which communicates with the upper portion of the Babine " River. " Eastward from the Driftwood River I anticipate no difficulty in " getting over into the Omenica, as I have already stated. • NoTK.-Thu writer always attached more imnortauue to tlie Pine River Vass than to tliat of the P«ai-o River, and Mr. Cambie lias been obliged to admit tliat the former is tlie better of the two. 62 " The only ol)jootion J yet sco to tliis routo is tho circuitous couvho " of tho Jial)ii)o llivor, l)ut that drawbivck would bo comiuou to all other " Hut's ri(t tho southoru cud of Lake Talta. •' Tlio month "f tho T^ahiiic Rivor is at least forty miles duo north " from this point, and Fort C'onnolly is in a hi^'her latitude than is •" shown on tlic map. On my return I have carefully examined tho '• Susqiui Valley, and have taken more preciso hei<;hts of its summit, " which r now place at 1,400 feet above Lake liahino, and H,100 feet " above Hazelton. *****[ have, however, such " good hoi)es of getting up tho Ihibine Iiivcr, between tho mouth of whicli " and the Lake outlet, tho ascent will probaldy not exceed l.'20() feet, '• that lurther roiVrentfo to tho Susqua valley routo need bcarcoly now be " made. " I expect, D.V., to reach "nogem"-on the Omenica, about the " end of September. " I am, dear sir, yours, (Signed) " C. IIOBETZKY." Tho substance of this letter was forthwith transmitted to Mr. Flemhig at Ottawa, aiul must have reached him some time in A.ugust. Meanwhile, the Peace llivcr party descended tho Peace lliver, and telegraphed the results of their examination as follows : — " TELEGRAPHIC REPORT ON EXPLORATIONS FROM FORT " SIMPSON, ON THE PACIFIC COAST, TO EDMONTON, VIA «' THE PEACE RIVER VALLEY AND PINE RIVER PASS, " BY MESSRS. CAMBIE, MacLEOD, DAWSON AND GORDON. " To Sandford Fleming, " Ottawa. " From Hay Lake, 24th September, 1879. [ , " (Near Edmonton.) *• Arrived last night. Reached Dun vegan lat August; left there " 2nd September. Party spent month in exploring country. Tupper " left Edmonton 8th August. I came by Slave Lake and Athabasca " Landing. Country from ten miles south of landing to Edmonton *' excellent on both sides of road, improving towards Edmonton ; chiefly " prairie with aspen copse and occasional pine and spruce. Distances : " Dunvegan to Smoky River Post, 60 liiiles ; Smoky River to Slave " Lake Post, 02 ; Slave Lake, 70; east end Slave Lake to Athabasca " Landing, by river, about 120 ; Landing to Edmonton, 96. My letters " all forwarded, by mistake, to Tapper's care ; none received ; anxious " to return homewards, without further special examinations. Country 65 " aroiuul how, ap) cars superior to Voaco Kivor country for raising grain. " Before leaving' l)iinve^au all agrecil on the following' tolc;,'i0 feet wide ; bridge 100 feet high. Valley about '* GOO feet deep at crossing ; gradients, slightly exceeding 1 per 100. " "Works very heavy for throe miles on each side. " Ciooso Iliver, 100 fret wide ; valley, L'OO feet deep ; bridge, GO foct " high. (Jradients on each side easy. " Whole country, from Pino Piver to Slave Lake, with those excop- *' tions, veiy favourable. ** Pin(> Piiver and Slave Lake appear to bo approximately correct on *' plan of l(S7' 10', longtitudc llH' 40' on the map of 1870. '* Blue and red liiu's, c()nnn(m to Kiver Dcchafaud, 50 miles east of Pino " Piver ; thence to Smoky River, generally vo\*y easy, except about four •' miles following up the south liank of the Kduifaud Kiver, where " work would bu heavy. No important streams crossed between Pine " River and Smoky River. Approach to Smoky River by valley of large " stream on each side ; bridge, 500 feet long, GO feet high. Cannot '* report on remainder of line, not having heard from Tuppci*. Have " ascertained that he was still at Edmonton, on 2nd August." •' Line from Fort St. Jamos to Fort McLeod, undulating, but pre- " senting no great ditticulties as far as Long Lake, thence to McLeod's, " following valley of Long Lake Iliver. Crradients, long, 1 per 100 ; " works very heavy, chiefly in gravel and stony ridge?. A moderately '• direct line can be had from Fort Frazer to Fort St. James." " Assuming direct line from Southesk to crossing of Smoky River, " the route by letter A to Fort Frazer would be about 55 miles longer .*• than tho located route." " Country pretty thoroughly explored as to general features from " Pine River to Lesser Slave Lake, between 55th and 56th parallels of 64 «< (( (( latitude, also for 70 miles north of Dunvegan. Elevation of plateau, generally below 2,000 feet. West of Smoky River, soil almost every- where very fertile. Extensive areas of prairie and lightly wooded country south of Peace River to near 55th parallel, also 50 miles or more northward. East of Smoky River, also fertile, but with very little prairie, and with many swanips and beaver dams, which could be generally easily drained." " From information received, summer, frosts occur occasionally in June, very seldom in July, We have experienced several in August, botk in the valley and on the plateau. Wheat thrives and ripens at Hudson's Hope, Dunvegau and Lesser Slave Lake, the latter locality being on the level of the plateau." " The party regard this statement as approximately accurate, but repret that pressure of time prevents the preparation of fuller and more satisfactory details as a special opportunity has arisen for forwarding this message from Dunvegan to Edmonton." " At date of this Memorandum, 2ud September, all members of the party were well. Gamble returns with pack train by Pine River. MacLeod and Dawson continue explorations eastward and south-east- ward." (Signed) " H. J. CAMBIE, " HENRY A. F. MacLEOD, " GEORGE M. DAWSON, " DANIEL M. GORDON," The writer dosures to point out that the above telegram proves beyond a -loubt, the soundness of the views expressed m 1872, officially, and in " Canada on the Pacific," see maj) therein, where " red line, letter A to Slave Lake,'' referred to in the above telegram, corresponds exactly with that shown on tlie map, and described to the Minister of Railways in the Memorandum dated, 20th January, 1879. A few days after the receipt of this despatch, Mr. Fleming addressed the Minister of Railways, as follows : — " Canada Pacific Railway. " Office of thb Enginebr-in-Chief, . " Ottawa, 80th September, 1879. ** Sir, — T have the honor to report progress on some of the explora- " tions authorized by you las'u spring, in connection with the Canadian " Pacific Railway, " Before deciding on tlie route through British Columbia, it was 66 " deemed advisable to gain additional information regarding the nortli- ** em portions of that Province, as well as the territory extending east of ** the Rocky Mountains and l>ing between the latitude of Peace River " and Edmonton. " I have received despatches from several of the parties who were " sent in May last, under special instructions, to explore in these " regions, and who were directed to examine the harbours on the northern " coast of British Columbia aud the approaches thereto by sea. *' At the date of last returns, these examinations were by no means '* complete, but considerable progress had been made, and the informa- " tion so far obtained is of importance. " Tlie country south of Peace River, hitherto unexplored, between *' the Rocky Mountains and Lesser Slave Lake, has been traversed in " various directions as far south as the 55th parallel of latitude. The " general character of the district for railway construction has been " ascertained, and the fertile nature of the soil has been found to extend " over a wider area than had been previously known. " I have not heard from all the parties ; I cannot, therefore, refer *' to the explorations whieh by this time may have been made to the east " of the mountains between the 55th parallel and Edmonton. " Nor cau I allude to the progress of explorations on the western " side of the mountains between Fort MacLeod and Fort Connelly, " embracing the basin of the Nation River. " Although the examinations are incomplete and the returns partial, " nearly all doubts are now removed as to the possibility of getting a " practical railway line from the neighbourhood of Edmonton, by way " of Peace River, aud the valley of the River Skeena, to Port Simpson. *• The coast examinations, too, go to show that at Port Simpson a har- " hour exists, which is probably unrivalled in British Columbia." " The question of distance is an important one. The more northern route has not been instrumentally surveyed, and, consequently, the distance to Port Simpson cannot yet be accurately stated. A rough estimate, however, indicates that the line referred to, from Edmonton as a common point via the Peace River country, will probably be found 100 miles shorter to Port Simpson than to Esquimalt. " The engineering character and the cost would, at the same time, I feel coiLaiu, be greatly in favour of the line terminating at Port Simpson." " In comparing the line to Port Simpson, to which I have alluded, with the one via the Yellow Head Pass, to Burrard Inlet, the latter appears to be from 100 to 190 miles shorter, but one of the advan- \ 66 (ages vJilci> moij he claimed for tiie more vortherv rcv'e is, iltnt it irovJd pass flroir(/h avd (M-ommodate the Pawn Rirer coimfri/.* The lino by " the Yellow Iloiul Pr id, with .1 branch. ^ot th ihioct. l)ut - -, -- _-^ ^ Jio 8ninn object, 1)1 _ " to serve the reiico rviver district equnlly wilh the laaiii line passing " through it, the branch would bo fully 3(i0 miles in leng!!i. . If wo as- " sumo that this extra distance ])e added to the line to Ilurrard Inlet, " wo sliali have both lines placed nearly on an ccj^ual footing, in point " of mileage."" " Tiie (jrcdlrJs on f^/9 route ti> Port Siiiijjoon voidd compare fii.vonr- " ahhj ii'ith fJiose on the line to Burrard Inh't, and I liari' ro.ison ti) iliivk " ilidt the total cost troidd he considerahlij lest than th' laf.f.''r iclien the. " branch is i((/,-'n into consir Bute " Inht routes:'", '• While I wnuld dceiTi it prudent to defer a linil decision v/ith " regard to the a,ioj>tion of ar;y route, untd we receive more delinito " information regarding some porticms of the country now under cxam- " ination, I have no hesitation in saying, that, considered apart from " the quGstio!! of climate, the roide to Port Sim.p.n ])resents itsef mith " so manty adruntayes (hat, to my mhul, it opens up an e.vcellent prospect " of serurina the ,aost elidilde route, from tlie ijrairis reaion to ihe Paci/ic ii of Coast. ng 'J' eg I " I have m^'ntionod tliat tho returns from ouv oxploving parties are " incomplete. From wliat I have learned, liowcvfjr, J iun sanguine " enough to think that, beforo the close of the season, we may have data " to show thai a lino may bo secured from tlie Peace lUver ])istrict to " Port Simpson, considerably shorter than the line which I have above " referred to. 8hould this view be reali/:ud, the comparison of routes " will be still more in favour of the one terminating at Port Shnpson.§ " "With regard to the question of climate, I have, in previous '' reports, alluded to this sulject. I now beg to refer tt) extracts from " the letters of Capt. Bruudigo, a nautical gentleman specially detailed to *XoTK.— Precisely what the writer hiis urged durii)>,' the last eiglit years. tNoTK. — Ci'iiipiris iiis of cost will bo fniiiid immensely adva'it;i;,'j'i is, as re;;an!4 the Northern line, and aUh"ut the bnuich hjmkcii of, while the Cieo{fni)i!iical position of the Kiiiin.il is as favourable as that of I'ort Siniiwoii. JNOTK. -With all (li;fcrcnce to Mr. Fleminf,', the advantages of the Northern route were known before. §NoTR.— Mr. FlcTiiinL,' refers to the substance of th3 writer's !e/er to Mr. H. J. Cambie, of date, a.Uh July, lf<79, relating: to the Kotsine Pass route. 67 *' make fall examinallons and enquiries respecting the coast, harbours " and approachoii. I also append som3 excractj from Jlr. D. M. " Gordon's letters ; that gentleman speaks for himself, and Messrs. " Cambie and MacLeod, in regard to the explorations they have been J' engaged in in Northern British Co^ ;mbia. " From these it would seem that, w.hilo tin interior of the country " is free from an excess of moisture, the raiufill on the oast is great, and " tlie climate tliere may coinpare generally with the v.'est coast of Scot- " land and with parts of Nova Scotia. From these extracts it will also " be learned that Port Shupson is a capacious and safe harbour, and that " it is perfectly easy of access to ocean steamers or siiling ship-j, night " or day, and at all conditions of the tide, " It is obvious that Port Simpson is a place whicli possesses excep- " tional n.aturai advantages, and in tiie cvriit of a northern route for the " railway being chos-n, it would uudoubtcilly hi-com-j a place of great " importance J would, therefore, suggest that Jio time be lost in taking " steps to Jiave tlio land in the neiglib(»rhood reserved. " 1 have the L-oiior to bo, " c*CC. , itc, iVC, (oignvd) •• SAXDFOlil) i'l rt Eu ■J'- ;:-riN •-l.t-Clh '■ The Hon. Sir Cu.vrlks Tm-i-ER, K.C.M.G., " il'C., itc, &c., " Minister of Railways jinJ Canals." The foregoing letter shows concluhively that, even with tiic indefinite iuformation receive! up to its date, Mr. Fleming folt that the northern route pr.?se:ited immense advant.iges — engineering and otherwise — over the lliirrard .' Jie. Port Simpson is the finest harbonr on tlie whole coast, but to rcacli it, the formidable " Cascades,' for a uii.taneo of 75 mdes, must be passed. iNotwiths'ari'ling tl.i-s great disadviir.tn go, ]S!r. Flemiiig still .'aAV the immense Kuperi n-ity (tf the northoi'u route oia Pine Pass, over tlie Bur- rard Line. "What, theji, would he have thought of it, li.id ho known that tlie sea could 1)0 r'?acht'd without runnii'g the giiunilct of the coast range at all, siniply by taking advantage of tlie Valley of the Kitimat ".' "With- out this knov* ledge, his letter to the Miuist 'r of Bailways is uiimistake- ably in favour of deferring construction. .Vnd he had not then heard the writer's final report upon the missing link between llaaelton and the Peace River Pass. 6d With the imperfect data therl in his possession, Mr. Fleming strongly, unhesitatingly, exhorts the Minister of Railways to defer con- Btrnction on the southern line, hut despite this professional advice proffered, it must he supposed, in good faith, an Order in Council was passed on the 4th October, ratifying the s^ection of the Frazer River line. What is to he thought of this ? And it would be interesting to know if Mr. Fleming had forgotten all about the Kitimat. The writer reported upon it in 1874, Mr. H. J. Cambie spoke of it privately in 1877, and had it again under his notice in 1879, yet the subject was completely ignored. This matter is certainly worthy of full investigation for many reasons : — The Kitimat, Pine Pass route is the easiest of all the lines hitherto examined in British Columbia. It presents fewer miles of heavy work than any other. , Between liocky Mountain Summit and the Pacific its construction will cost (approximately) ten millions dollars less than tlio Burrard Yellow Head route. It passes through the dreaded coast range by a wide, open valley, the finest on the coast. East of the Rocky Mountains it opens up a nearly continuous belt of agricultural and pastoral land, all the way from the Forks of Pine River to Manitoba. Its general profile is the finest across the North American continent from ocean to ocean. Its highest summit is only 2,800 foot above the sea level. On the Pacific slope it taps the great-M connected 'rjlon susceptible of cultivation in. British Cohmbia {Vide Dawson's report) which has a climate similar to that of Edmonton, where wheat attains perfection. {Vide Macoun's Report.) At its western end there are unlimited facilities for the growth and extension of a large city. Its terminus is only 4,000 miles from Yokahama, being 400 miles nearer to Japan and China than Burrard Inlet. That terminus is easier and safer of access than any proposed to the south, and Captain Brun- didge expresses the opinion that the passages leading to it, and its approaches from the sea, are the best on the coast. {Vide page 164, 69 Railway Report 1880.) It is within ten or twelve hours steaming of Port Simpson, the best harbour on the British Columbian coast. It has, within easy reach, numerous havens of refuge. With the wind at west, south-west or south-east, sailing ships can reach the liead of Douglas Channel, via Nepean Sound, %Bithout towage. With a light-house on Cape St. James, and three other lights in the inner passages, the coast can be made on the darkest night with perfect safety. In none of the numerous channels leading from the ocean to Doug- las Inlet, are there any tide-rips or overfalls, the tide setting regularly along the coast, and rarely, if at all, exceeding a rate of throe knots per bour. Certain marine engineering works will bo necessary to form a per- fectly good iiarbour at Kitimat. Those have been referred to in the preceding pages. It is clear that a northern route terminating either at Port Simpson or at the Kitimat, will be cheaper by millions of dollars than the Bur- rard line. It is also evident that, to answer the purposes of a Colonization road, the northern line is infinitely preferable to the southern route, which must run for six hundred miles through an irreclaimaMc wilderness. It is, or Lliould be, intelligible to all, that, to carry a great coloniza- tion and imperial highway out of its proper course, upon the plea of serving the interests of 2,000 or 3,000 whites on the Frazer River, is absurd. The writer feels that, strengthened as he is by the written testimony already cited, and backed by the evidence of the Chief Engineer him- self, in his letter of the 30lh September, 187U, addressed to Sir Cliarlee Tupper, the ground ho has taken in support of a northern route is impregnable. In July, 1878, an Order in Council was passed, practically adopting the Burrard Inlet route. The late Premier had, acting upon the advice of the Chief Engineer of the Pacific Railway, authorized this action. It has been shown, conclusively, that all reports upon the Kitimat Valley and route had been suppressed, and the inference is, that the matter had never been discussed between the Premier and his Engineer. 70 IndeeJ, the " Kitimat " ha'.l bocu systematically covoroJ up, and hidden from cveryouo. The probabilities are that, had Mr. IMackcnzio been made aware of the existence of a fine valley through the coast ranp:", as indicated, a thorough and exhaustive survey of the northern rout i Avould have been made before the adoption of a southern lino. Mr. Mackenzie never had that information, conseipieutly, ho had no altaruativo but to follow his Engineer's suggestion, and adopt the Burrard lino. After the change of Administration in September, 1878, Mr, l^loming again urged the necessity for northern surveys, deploring in forcible language the serious consoipiencos of a possible mistake in the choice of routes. As has been shown by the evidence given in the procediiig pages, a ciioapor and b.'tter route than that of Burrard Inlet vras found. If the reader vriU once more refer to the Chief Engineer's Pii-port of the J^th April last, a strange and rather significant onnssion v/ill be ob- served. The remarkaldy clear and very pronounced Ici^ter of 30th Sciptem- ber, 1S70, from Mr. I'leming to Sir Charles Tuppur, urging the imprudence of adopdng, of beginning construction on, the Burrard Inlet Line, iii view of tlie cxainiaations of 137D by the Peace lUvcr parly, is uov/here alluded to in that Beport. The importance of th.} lett-r in (jucstioa being so gn^at, and ^\v. Fleming's opinion therein expressed so very decided, it is surprising that it should have bejn overlooked. Its omission from a report intended for the public i;, uuler thi circumstances, tiiituuoiint to an unequivocal withdrawal, aul the public, liaving access to the report alon-^, must road the omission in such a light. The question then arises : Had the Burrard Inlet lino been decided upon beforehand, at all hazards, regardless of incalculable future injury to the Dominion '? Were British Imperial interests — an important factor in the railway scheme — to bo sacrificed, by adopting a line terminating on United States soil, or, at the best, under the very guns of Ban Juan ? Were the blunders of former Boundary Commissions to be supple- mented by anothei", still further aggravated by tlie fact that its committal 'is actually taking place in full view of recent knowledge gained at great expense, and in direct opposition lo the Chief Engineers vijoruas protest of the 30th Scplcnher last I hidden iwaro of 'atetl, a •0 been ivcr had ow his [•"lomuig forcible loicc of pages, 71 Wor^ tho explorations of 1870, then, a racro sham ? Thoso explora- tions wore solemnly, avowedly undertalcon for tho express purposo of averting a possiblo error, a calamity " ever after to b'j deplored " as Ih. Fleming gravely wi'cto. [See page 5, of Iloport.] The ro-;ults of thoso OTvplorations are glaringly apparent, and point uumi;-'fcakeal)ly to a far hotter route for colonization purposes, and also one much easier of construetiou, and couso|uoutly.loss CDstly ; yot, notwitli- standing, tiie Ord<'r in Council of July, 1B7B, v/as ratified, aa 1 a report '^ramed in accordance. TJio wiir>l;> !n ittor is cort;iinly well warthy of .*. soavching investiga- tion, and in la ' m.\iuti;n; mvy ail'ord tli: taxpayers ample food for reflection. eport of 1 be ob- Septem- u-udcnce Line, in nov.liero and ^Ir. sing that jidod for quivoeal ust read doeided e injury iportant a line guns of supplc- muiittal ^t great roti'st of Within tlio past I'ew vreelcs tlioro have boon rumours of a proposal, on the part of llio 1) )minion (.lovernuDnt, to hand over lii'ty millions acres of bind in the North- West, t ) a company of Gn^disli cipitalists for tho purpose of building tho Pacific llailvvay. Recent movomonts of Ministers ar.p 'ar to con.'irm tho truth of tho report, and it is not unlikely, ere mvny weoks elapse, that som3thing more definito maybe heard. In 1871, tlie scheme in which Sir Hugh Allan llgnred so promin- ently, but wliich, fortunately for the country, fell to tlio gL'ound, involved a grant of "iD.OOi) acres oHand, together with a casli bonus of 11)12,000 for each mile of rail'.vay construetBd. The land was to have beau taken up along tlio en! ire length of the road fi-om Nipissinguo to tliO Pacitic, good and bad acres, indiscriminately. Tliat sehcmo, impolitic as Canadians then judged it to be, v.'as far less dangerous to the interests of tho North-West than the present proposition. It now appears, if newspaper reports can be relied on, that English ca])italists will not look at any of the lands within the Woodland and liocky l\Iouiitain regions, knowing that both eastern and western sections of the road Vvdiere located now, pass through a worthless country. They are to help themselves to the " cream" of tho North- West, and will coniino their choice within tho erroneously designated " thousand mile" belt of prairie. • The proposition, if allowel, will be excessively unwise, and merits universal reprobation. 72 If the original schemo of 1871 offerctl speculators any real advan- tages — which from our i^reseut knowledge of the country, appears doubt- ful — the proposition of to-day, while trebling the apparent inducements to capitalists, so far as the lands are concerned, will be productive of the most disastrous effects throughout the North-West. Of course, but for the harassing arrangement of 187^ with the Pacific Province, there would bo no necessity or excuse whatever for such mciisu'-es as are apparently in contemplation, because the Dominion ■ i.wf juipui, were it at liberty to carry on the work in a common-sense lULijiici', is perfectly able to build the prairie sections of the Pacific Rni;vf(y dz fast as necessary, without overburdening the tax-payers of the older pv inces, while the construction of the British Columbian portion of the road could be deferred ; but politics, and the Pacific Province being paramount over all other considerations, the entire North-West may shortly bo sacrificed on that account, and find itself bound hand and foot under the domination of a gigantic and soulless monopoly, unless tlie people awaken to a sense of the impending danger. Let us enquire for a moment into the consequences of transferring the only available choice lands of the North-West from tne custody of the Government to that of a great corporation or body of capitalists. It is universally admitted that all land monopolies are a curse, and utterly subversive of a fair and liberal policy. To-day in Manitoba, as the result of an atrocious system on a small scale, what between the Hudson Bay Company and some large private proprietors, it is impos- sible to purchase lands either at or near Wmnipeg, or along the line of the Pacific. Railway, excepting at ridiculously high figures. To such a degree has the abominable system been carried, that recently arrived intending settlers have turned back in disgust to take up the equally good, but cheaper lands of Dakota and Minnesota. What then will be the state of things when the whole prairie belt is controlled by a private corporation ? The inevitable result will be to unfairly enhance the price of all lands within the limits of the rail- way grant, and to impede or totally prevent settlement oi the soil by the poorer classes of colonists to whom we must leok in a great measure for agricultural development. In the case of the Central Pacific Railway, Congress granted to the Company all the alternate sections on each side of the road, for twenty miles back, or an area of 12,800 acres for each mile built. The immediate result was to increase the price of the pan- nibt- kents If the 73 ordinary public lands rotainccl by Govornraent within tho limits of tho railway grant, from i?l.'i') to $2.50 per aero. Coi.gross was actually forced to raise tho prico of (Jovernmcnt lands at the Inddhi'j (>/' lie. IiY^ ■ ■y^'A ■ -^■■ „-i*-:^+ 1i t^.' ■!!>•::./?, ff.;..i-;.