^'
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
I.I
|5o ""^^ llnlSlE
^ 1^ III 2.0
12.2
11^
1.25 ju |i.6
^
6"
►
p
^:^'
■»
/
y
'{^
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WBT MAIN STRHT
WiBSTIR.N.Y. 14510
(71«) 872-4503
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Instituta for Historical IMicroraproductions
institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquaa
1980
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checlced below.
n
n
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagie
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul^e
Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
I I Coloured maps/
Cartes gdographiques en couleur
n Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire)
□ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
D
D
D
D
Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion ie long de la marge int6rieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte.
mais, lorsque ceia 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6t6 fiimies.
Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppi6mentaires;
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meiileur exemplaire
"^u'ii lui a At6 possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la methods normale de f ilmage
sont indiquAs ci-dessous.
I I Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur
Pages damaged/
Pages endommagtes
Pages restored and/oi
Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es
Pages discoloured, stained or foxe(
Pages d6coior6es, tachet6es ou piqudes
Pages detached/
Pages ddtachdes
I — I Pages damaged/
I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/
r~l Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
I I Pages detached/
FTl Showthrough/
Transparence
□ Quality of print varies/
Quality in6gale de I'impression
I I includes supplementary material/
E
Comprend du matdriel suppidmentaire
Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refiimed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partieiiement
obscurcies par un feuiilet d'errata, une pelure.
etc., ont 6t6 filmdes A nouveau de faqon d
obtenir la meiileure image possible.
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est film6 au taux de rMuction indiqu* ci-dessous.
10X
14X
18X
22X
26X
30X
Z
12X
16X
20X
24X
28X
32X
tails
du
)difier
una
nage
The copy filmed hare has been reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:
Library of the Public
Archives of Canada
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.
L'exemplaire fiimA fut reproduit grAce A la
gAnArositA de:
La bibliothdque des Archives
pubiiques du Canada
Las images suivantes ont 6t4 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de ia condition at
de la nettet6 de I'exempiaire film*, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couvertum en
papier est imprimte sont filmte en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par ia
dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iilustration, soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont film6s en commen^ant par la
premiAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par
la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol ^^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"),
whichevef applies.
Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la
derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", ie
symbole V signifie "FIN".
ly/laps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
film6s A des taux de rMuction diffirents.
Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour fttre
reproduit en un seul cliche, il est f iim6 A partir
de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en has, en prenant ie nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent ia mAthode.
irrata
to
pelure,
nd
□
32X
12 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
^
^
THE
CANADIAN DOMINION
j.'—j..tu^t-,.:,:^t.imMsi
LONDON : PRINTED BV
Sl'OTTISWOOUE AND CO., NEW -STREET SyUAKE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
i
rrr- ,^^:i<fj;ciVK |
THE AUTHOR IN A RED RIVER COSTUME.
\ .
K^^
\IJIAN
) V
■fW ^
r^i
*-"•
#
THE
CANADIAN DOMINION
nv
CHARLES MARSHALL
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1871
%1>A\
PREFACE.
I AM not conscious that this book is written
with undue partiality. I am certain that I
entered Canada without prepossessions in
favour of the country. During a tour of five
months through the Dominion, I endeavoured
to judge fairly of the present condition —
social, commercial, religious, and political—
of the country, and of its future prospects.
I have tried to give the result of my im-
pressions and inquiries in the simplest and
most condensed manner possible.
I believe that, to estimate Canada justly,
the country must be compared not only with
England, but also with the United States.
The contrast which Canada presents to the
garden-like condition of the old country and
VI
PREFACE.
the highly-developed state of English society,
is calculated to startle and sometimes to ag-
grieve the sensitive observer. These impres-
sions are modified when it is perceived that the
crudity and roughness of the civilisation are
not peculiar to the British provinces, but are
incident to the youthfulness of the civilisation
of the whole of this new continent. I had
the advantage of passing into Canada from
a tour through the Eastern States of the
American Union, and of preparing this
volume after the completion of a visit to the
Western States.
The Author.
April, 1 87 1.
CONTENTS.
CHAP
lER
Preface . , ,
I.
• . . The Dominion
II.
. ■ . Quebec .
III.
. . . The ' Habitans ' .
IV.
■ . . Lumber .
V.
. . The Free-Grant Lands
VI..
• • The Farming Interest .
VII..
. . Niagara ....
VIII. .
. . Oil Springs and Salt .
IX..
. . Little Africa
X. .
. . The Indians .
XL.
• • Across the Prairies .
XIL.
. . The Red River Revolt
Jan..
. • The Great Nokth-West
TACJE
V
I
12
31
37
49
70
85
93
99
. 120
• M5
. 174
nHSB"
Vlll
CONTENTS.
I' I
CHAPTER
XIV. , . . The Air-Line to China
XV. . . . The Maritime Provinces
XVI. . . . Inter-Continental Communication
XVII. . . . Immigration
XVIII. . . . The Political Question
XIX. . . . Canadian Defence . . .
PAGE
199
206
, 217
220
239
. 254
XX. . . . The Future of Great Britain and her
Colonies 270
Appendix
275
V i
LIST
OF
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. The Author in a Red River Costume Frontispiece.
2. Quebec FROM Point St. LfivY .' . To face page, 2
3. The Falls of the Chaudi£re .
4. The Falls of Montmorenci
5. Fort Garry, on the Red River .
6. The Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, from
ABOVE the RiDEAU CaNAL
»7
20
M3
• •
283
i
it'i
I' i"
1^
l:
I
t
-{
THE
CANADIAN DOMINION.
- ■■•»i»qtfc«f»-«—
CHAPTER I.
-i
THE DOMINION.
Centuries ago a few wigwams on the shore of one
of the magnificent rivers of the New World gave a
characteristic name to the strip of land on which
they stood. The Indians called it ' Kanata,' the
Place of Huts.
The French applied the name to a wide piece of
country ; the English to a great territory. The term
now includes an empire stretching from ocean to
ocean. The Dominion of Canada is the Land of
Homes.*
The settlement of the country by Europeans is
scarcely two centuries old. The English occupation
dates from 1 760.
The first explorers of the New World supposed,
from the appearance of the indigenous races, that
^ r > See Note III., at the end of this volume.
B
r
^TT^T^
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
they were the * Indians ' of that rich country of
the east, which was sought by the long westward
voyage. The name still clung to the red men, after
the discovery that a greater India had been found.
The native races hesitated whether to unite against
the intrusion of the pale-faced races from across the
great sea, or to bid for their aid in their own inter-
necine wars. Champlain, one of the earliest and
most distinguished explorers of Canada, leagued
with the Hurons and Algonquins, put an army of
their foes, the warlike Iroquois, to flight, by suddenly
appearing in the midst of a battle in glittering
armour, with miraculous firearms. A god in re-
splendent light with uplifted thunderbolts could not
have produced greater dismay before the walls of
Troy. But the Indians soon learnt that their
new foes were mortal. Traders from the seas sup-
plied them with fire-arms for the slaughter of the
white settlers, and with fire-water for their own
swifter destruction. The diminished tribes fought
on both sides in the fierce struggle for supremacy
on this continent, waged by French ar d English.
Now they have for the most part settled down to
habits of peace. Under the wise and kindly policy
persistently followed towards them by the English
Government, they live in security on their settled
reserves. By mixture of blood, and the agency of
teachers and missionaries, the Indian tribes are
slowly approximating to the condition of the white
races. We may watch in Canada the interesting
FRENCH DISCOVERY OF CANADA.
experiment of a fairly-conducted effort to elevate a
lower race of people ; meanwhile their presence in
the country adds to the picturesqueness of life.
It is a fact of more interest, however, and of much
greater importance, both social and political, that in
Canada at this time a large proportion of the white
population, perhaps even one quarter, under the
English domination, is composed of a race foreign
in blood, speaking a strange language, professing
another religion, and yet living in assured content
and peace.
The French are the discoverers of Canada. In
1534 Jacques Cartier appropriated its unknown ex-
tent to France, by erecting on the shore of the coast
of Gasp^, a cross thirty feet high, inscribed with the
arms of Francis I. Champlain established the first
colonies. Colbert organised a great scheme for
strengthening ' La Nouvelle France.' War-captains
by sea and land, and martyrs tortured to death,
make a long list of French names to emblazon ' the
heroic age of Canada.' The gallantry of Montcalm,
glad that his wounds should kill him before the
English entered Quebec, fitly closes the period of
French rule over the country.
The people learnt quickly to acquiesce in the new
order. They refused all solicitation to fight against
the English during the war of American Independ-
ence. In 18 1 2 and the following years, when the
American forces invaded Canada for its conquest,
the French shared with the English the honour of
B 2
^^
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
!
I !
I
making a successful defence of the country. At
this moment French Canada is as loyal as any part
of the English dominions. The French do not
forget their past ; they do not lose their distinctness
of race ; they retain fondly their language, their old
customs and social order, their separate system of
law, and their ancient faith. But they are pros-
perous and contented. They have been treated by
the Imperial Government with fairness and con-
sideration. They have responded with good-will,
and have learnt to feel an attachment to the English
rule, and a deep devotion to the country of their
birth. The French are as thoroughly Canadian as
the English.
But the country has been conquered not only
from the Indians, and from the French, but with
severer effort from the tyranny of Nature herself.
The fertile lands of the Dominion, covered with
homesteads, villages, and towns along a measureless
network of railways, roads, rivers, and canals, once
formed part of the limitless northern forest wilds.
With infinite labour vast forests have been hewn
down, and their tangled growths of interlacing roots
torn up from the soil. Free way has been made for
the sunlight and air, and the climate meliorated.
Countless streams and rivers have been spanned
with bridges. The rapid waters have everywhere
been made to repay the damage of their tumultuous
overflows by working the saws and hammers, the
looms and mills of the settlers.
FERTILITY OF CANADA.
The labour of making this country habitable has
been beyond all estimate; but the result is a full
compensation. The older-settled districts have be-
come a fair garden. The farmsteads are homes of
comfort and ease, and often of culture and refine-
ment. The log-hut gives place to the frame-house,
and this to a substantial building of stone or brick.
Meanwhile the line of invasion on the old realm of
forest everywhere extends. The lumberman ad-
vances further and further north with his axe, and
removes by the snow- roads of winter and the great
water highways a mass of choice timber for all the
markets of the world. The backwood's-man, more
than reconciled to his life of excitement and variety,
clears a space for his log-hut, fires the useless timber,
and sows his first irregular crop.
The cleared land is worth all the pains. The
Ontario wheat is one of the finest in the world.
Oats, barley, maize, and other grains, yield excellent
crops. Fruits and vegetables grow generously. The
Canadian apple is the standard of excellence.
Melons and the tomato grow equally with the
potato, pea, turnip, and the rest of the vegetables
known in England. The grape thrives well. Rasp-
berries, cranberries, cherries, and other fruits grow
wild. Orchards everywhere prosper.
But the great labour demanded in settling the
country has produced a further result of great con-
sequence. It has developed a fine race of people.
The Canadian, whether French, English, Irish, or
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
i'
Scotch, is well-proportioned and vigorous, often tall,
with broad shoulders, sinewy frame, and capable of
great endurance. He may not have much book-
learning, but he is quick of resource, and apt at
many things. He is enterprising, but unhurried.
He does not move in his affairs over-fast, but very
surely. He is sober-minded, persisient, and trust-
worthy. The races of the British isles and of Nor-
mandy have certainly not degenerated here.
The remarkable advance in material prosperity
made by the country may be indicated by a com-
parison of statistics.
In 1 85 1, the export returns of the four provinces
of Quebec (then Lower Canada), Ontario (then Upper
Canada), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, amounted
to four millions of dollars.
In the following ten years the exports of these
provinces increased more than tenfold ; in 1 86 1 the
returns were «S^43 millions.
For the past year, 1869, the exports came to Bdo
millions, or twelve millions sterling.
For the same provinces the imports were : — In
1851, seven millions of dollars; in 1861, fifty-one
millions; in 1869, seventy millions.
The increasing quantity of land brought under
cultivation — one of the most important elements in
the well-being of a new country — is shown to be
eminently satisfactory by the Government returns.
In 1 85 1 the extent of land actually under culture in
the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada was
HESOUJiCES OF CANADA.
seven million acres. By the year 1861 the amount
had increased to eleven millions. It is estimated
that the returns to be made at the next census will
show a corresponding increase to the present date.
The returns of population afford significant proof
of the rapid progress of the country. In 1841, the
date of the union of Upper and Lower Canada, the
population of the two provinces was i,090,<xx). In
1852 an approximate estimate for the whole of the
British North American provinces gave the popula-
tion as 2,471,366. From the census returns for 1861
the numbers for all the provinces was 3,447,706. A
carefully-prepared estimate of the population for the
present year — 1870 — for all the provinces, as before,
makes the numbers 4,525,000.
But statistics of the present condition of the coun-
try, and of its past progress, can scarcely suggest
an adequate idea of the prosperity and importance
which Canada appears destined to attain. Her
various sources of wealth waiting to be developed
are immeasurable and exhaustless. Tracts of prairie
and woodland as large as European kingdoms wait
for settlers. Lands already cleared will yield double
and fourfold their present increase when the farmer
shall have sufficient time to adopt improved methods
of culture. Mineral wealth, vast beyond conception,
of iron, coal, copper, gold, silver, lead, lies stored
away in ready waiting for the appliances of science.
A great variety of exquisite marbles rest in yet
untroubled quarries, to make a full amends for the
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
m
unproductiveness of some regions of the soil. Orna-
mental woods will yet give greatly increased value to
the returns of the forest. Inland and ocean fisheries,
great as they are, are capable of indefinite expansion.
From its northern position on the American con-
tinent, the Dominion of Canada possesses one re-
markable commercial advantage, the importance of
which is not yet appreciated either in the country
itself or in England. It possesses the shortest and
easiest route for the trans-continental traffic between
England and China. The most direct practicable
line from Shanghae to Liverpool passes through
British Columbia, traverses the fertile Saskatchewan
valley, crosses Red River, follows the Ottawa, strikes
Montreal on the St. Lawrence, and then passes from
Halifax across the Atlantic. This route is over one
thousand miles nearer than that through United
States territory. By a happy freak of Nature a
pass is prepared for this Canadian Pacific railway
across the Rocky Mountains at an elevation less than
half that which the United States line has had to
climb. Sooner or later commerce is certain to find
its way along this channel between Europe and Asia.
This brief view of the Canadian Dominion may
suggest the importance which it may one day attain
in the British empire. By its social order, by its
political institutions, and by unbroken ties of associ-
ation and of interest, Canada is still firmly attached
to the mother-country. Nothing but English in-
difference, or a persistent policy of alienation, will be
( :
CANADA AND THE MOTHER^COUNTRY. 9
likely to lead to a severance of the present con-
nexion. Canada is proud of the English name, and
of the fame of English history. In any time of
national danger this true New England would eagerly
lend her aid to the country from which she springs.
At this moment Canada in many respects is more
like the England of Elizabeth, and more intensely
English, than England herself The bonds that
hold her in the empire may be weakened, no doubt,
with ease ; but they might be strengthened with
greater ease.
Perhaps there exists at present no question affect-
ing the future of the English race so deeply as the
determination whether the Canadian Dominion will
be retained in the empire, or become alienated from
us with the almost certain result of being incorpo-
rated with the United States. The permanent
place of the mother-country among the nations of
the world will probably be determined by the way
in which this question is solved.
Canada is no longer a puny stripling needing pro-
tection, incompetent for self-defence, and useless as
an ally. The Dominion possesses an active militia
force of over 40,000 men, with a trained reserve of
600,000. She has reared a large and hardy popula-
tion of seamen. By a singular caprice of destiny
almost all the great inlets and bays on the Atlantic
coast suitable for fisheries are placed within her
boundaries. Her marine already ranks in order of
importance next to France.
.10
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
1 '
The empire perhaps can ill afford to suffer the loss
to its prestige and power which would follow upon
the alienation of its great colony.
An impressive view of the magnitude and im-
portance of the interests involved may, I conceive,
be obtained by a comparison of the extent of the
Dominion with the countries of the Old World.
In the year 1867 the provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia
were confederated under the title of the Dominion
of Canada. This year, during my stay in the
country, the territory of the Hudson Bay Company
has been ceded to the Canadian Government. At
the present moment the terms are already arranged
for the admission of the important province of Bri-
tish Columbia. The Dominion territory will there-
fore extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Now for our comparison.
The old-settled, contented, industrious, French-
speaking province of Quebec contains more square
miles than all France.
The English-speaking, energetic province of
Ontario counts more square miles than Great
Britain and Ireland.
New Brunswick has a greater territory than Hol-
land and Belgium combined.
Nova Scotia exceeds Switzerland in size.
British Columbia surpasses in extent the whole of
the North German Confederation, giving in the
South German States to boot.
FUTURE GREATNESS OF THE DOMINION, ii
The newly-added Far West is vaster than all
Russia in Europe, counting in, and counting twice
over, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Faroe, and
Iceland.
This is the empire, with its hardy, high-spirited
population, already to be counted by millions, and
growing to tens and scores of millions ; with its
exhaustless sources of all kinds of material wealth ;
with its commanding position as the highway to
China and all Asia ; and with its assured future of
greatness and power, which England may now
retain in intimate association with herself to aid her
prestige and influence, but which is apparently in
danger of being lost to the empire by negligence or
indifference.
Ml! i I
1.1 II
M
ii i [
12
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
CHAPTER II.
QUEBEC.
Unexampled for picturesqueness and magnificence
of position on the American continent, and for the
romance of her historic associations, Oiiebec sits on
her impregnable heights a queen among the cities
of the New World.
At her feet flows the noble St. Lawrence, the fit
highway into a great empire, here narrowed to a
couple of miles' breadth, though lower down the
waters widen to a score of miles, and at the gulf to a
hundred. From the compression of the great river
at this spot the city derives its name, the word
signifying, in the native Indian tongue, the Strait.
On the east of the city, along a richly fertile valley,
flows the beautiful St. Charles, to join its waters
with those of the great river. The mingled waters
divide to enclasp the fair and fertile Isle of Orleans.
The city as seen from a distance rises stately and
solemn, like a grand pile of monumental buildings.
Clustering houses, tall, irregular, with high-pitched
roofs, crowd the long line of shore and climb the
rocky heights. Great piles of stone churches, col-
ic
Ipi
la
'',VI
i<
PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF QUEBEC.
13
leges, and public buildings, crowned with gleaming
minarets, rise above the mass of dwellings. The
clear air permits the free use of tin for the roofs and
spires, and the dark stone-work is relieved with
gleaming light. Above all rise the long dark lines
of one of the world's famous citadels, the Gibraltar
of America.
Let the spectator stand on the Flag-staff Battery
within the lines won by Wolfe's gallantry, but which
he could not live to enter. Below lie the steep, tor-
tuous, narrow streets of a city as French as Havre
or Calais. Yonder is an open market-place, with
groups of women sitting at their stalls with kerchiefed
heads. At a distant corner-house you may see a
shrine to Our Lady, newly- whitewashed by the piety
of the inmates. The vast stone block adjoining the
cathedral is the celebrated Roman Catholic College,
the Laval University, named in memory of the first
bishop of Quebec. Another great pile of stone is
the Parliament House for the provincial legislature.
Unhappily, it must be admitted that the public
buildings of Quebec look less imposing the nearer
they are approached. From the citadel these two
buildings look like dismal factories or workhouses.
However, the parliament buildings at least have
already been burnt down more than once.
Then, still below, the shores are lined with ware-
houses, and quays, and masses of shipping. All the
surrounding waters are filled with sails ; the scene is
one of sunlight and life. Steamers with their filmy
14
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
li m
^■"
11
II >
lines of smoke pass up and down the river, or rapidly
across, or tug with much noise and short breath the
heavy rafts of wood, acres wide, covered with hut
villages that float down from the inland waters. At
Point St. L^vy, opposite the citadel, lie stranded or
lazily floating incalculable masses of this lumber,
waiting for transit to the British Isles, South
America, or Australia.
The abrupt or gently undulating* banks of the
opposite shore, of the Island of Orleans, and of the
northern bank of the St Lawrence, are fringed with
rich woods, except where spaces have been cleared
for villas and country houses, and for the long line
of farm houses of the habitans of the country.
As I stood within this citadel made famous for
ever in the annals of English war, the place seemed
to me a fitting one for some reflections on the policy
which has been lately adopted by the home Govern-
ment. At the quay below lay a ship loading with
old war material for England.
* A ship load of stores goes home now every
week,* an officer of the garrison told me.
' And very much of it not worth carrying on to
the ship,' exclaimed a Quebec gentleman, somewhat
querulously. ' If your Government has determined
not to use it for the defence of the country, then in
the name of common sense let it be sold to the
Dominion Government here ! *
* Don't appeal to common sense, pray,' said another
Canadian with good humour. ' Do you remember
if fi
DEFENCES OF QUEBEC.
IS
the story of the shanty guard-house brought here
from Australia ? '
' The home policy is an admirable one,' said the
officer ; ' it is to teach the colonies self-reliance, and
compel them to develop their strength.'
* Well and good,' was the reply. * But it would
be better to tell us this plainly instead of making us
think we are to be thrown off altogether.'
My attention- was directed to a long line of earth-
works thrown up on the heights on the further shore
of the St. Lawrence. Modern warfare demands
another system of defence than that of stone ram-
parts. But I learned that the progress of the works
was interrupted, and that it was not known whether
the proposed line of defence was to be completed.
At the time of my visit one regiment only re-
mained in garrison at Quebec.
I visited one day the convent of the Ursulines
below the citadel. A mild-eyed nun passed me a
key through the guicfiet in the wall, and left me to
wander about the chapel at my will. I found a few
indifferent paintings, and a tablet on the wall that
arrested my attention : —
Honneur
"k Montcalm !
Le destin, en lui derobant La Victoire,
L'a recompensee par
Un Mort Glorieuse.
I wondered if, when the time comes for England
to fall from her place among the nations, she will
make an end worthy of her past.
'I
i6
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
\\\
In 1 86 1 the population of the city of Quebec was
51,109 souls. The census to be taken next year
will show a large increase. The building of wooden
ships for the carrying trade was formerly the chief
industry of the place, but has greatly decreased
since the introduction of iron vessels. The annual
returns that were formerly 100,000 tons, sank in
1869 to 27,000 tons. But other industries will fill
up this loss. Quebec has a large operative class in
its population, and many advantages for the manu-
facturing trades.
As an inland port Quebec must always remain a
place of great importance. Though it stands two
hundred miles up the St. Lawrence, the city is still
full three hundred miles nearer to Liverpool than
New York is. In proportions always increasing, the
export produce of the west is finding its way down
the St. Lawrence to Quebec for ocean transport.
At the St Charles river, which has a tidal flow of
fourteen feet, Quebec possesses the means of con-
structing docks that may one day equal those of
Liverpool.
For picturesque beauty the environs of Quebec
vie with those of any city in the world. A short
drive will take the visitor to the Plains of Abraham,
where he will wish to see a nobler monument to
Wolfe than that at present erected. Or he may
proceed along the picturesque St. Foy road, and
pause at another monument in memory of the men
who fell on this spot at the second batde of the
iv
bee was
xt year
wooden
he chief
^creased
e annual
sank in
, will fill
; class in
e manu-
remain a
ands two
ty is still
tool than
ising, the
^ay down
transport,
al flow of
IS of con-
those of
f Quebec
A short
Abraham,
lument to
• he may
road, and
f the men
de of the
i. i
FALLS OF THE CHAUDIERE.
n
Plains, when the brave De L^vis snatched a victory
from the English, and almost succeeded in winning
back the great citadel lost the year before.
A sunset seen from the heights above the wide
valley of the St. Charles, bathing in tender light the
long undulating lines of remote hills, and trans-
figuring with glory the great chain of the Laurentides,
is a sight of beauty to rest in the memory for ever.
Crossing the St. Lawrence ferry with a light
calccfie, or with one of the handsomely appointed
carriages that wait for hire in the open squares, the
visitor will pass in an afternoon's drive through a
wild and romantic piece of country along the St.
Lery river to the highly picturesque Falls of the
Chaudiere. For the last half-mile you wend your
way afoot across fields and through a small wood,
and then find unexpectedly a scene of bewildering
beauty. In a long still reach of waters, where the
bending forest trees and the clear sky overhead
reflect themselves, the river sleeps in dreams of
profound tranquillity, then suddenly leaps a pre-
cipice jagged with projecting masses of rock, and
falls white and foaming a hundred and thirty feet
into the seething caldron below. The spray rises
in a thin mist to cool your brow where you stand in
the hot sun. Below stretch the gleaming reaches
of the winding river, and around a wide range of
undulating country soothes and satisfies the eye.
It may add to the traveller's interest in this river
to know that it flows with gold. At one spot near
c
i^'
■^
•¥
|8
T//E CANADIAN DOMINION.
■ ,' !
i'
l''
its source a mining company obtained last year 838
ounces of the precious metal.
At a similar distance of an afternoon's drive from
Quebec to the north, lies the picturesque Indian
village of Lorette. I had the pleasure of making a
visit to this place in company with the Honourable
Mr. Chauveau, the Minister of Instruction for the
province of Quebec. The tribe settled here is of
the Huron race ; but a glance at the features of the
people proves that there has been a considerable
intermixture of white blood. The chief of the tribe,
M. Paul, a finely-made middle-aged man of much
intelligence and good humour, introduced us to his
family, and courteously conducted us through the
settlement. All traces of the old savage life have
disappeared. The people live in neat, well-made
frame-houses, each with its garden or piece of culti-
vated land. Many of them are well-to-do farmers ;
others make a comfortable living by the manufac-
ture of snow-shoes, canoes, basket-work, and Indian
curiosities. The people all speak French. We
attended divine service at the Roman Catholic
chapel ; here the prayer was intoned in the old
Huron language, but not a soul in the congregation,
I was assured, understood a word. Over the altar
was a painting, done, I should think, by one of the
Indians, of the very house of Lorette, miraculously
removed from Jerusalem to Rome, from which this
village has its nar ;. The people, old and young,
attended to the service with devotion.
INDIAN VILLAGE OF LORETTE.
19
Many of the houses we visited had an appear-
ance of comfort, and even of elegance. The rooms
were carpeted, and tastefully furnished. In some a
piano would stand open, with a piece of classic
music on the stand. In such a room as this the
good-natured chief showed us a collection of Indian
dresses and war implements ; then suddenly swing-
ing aloft his tomahawk, he shouted the war whoop,
and performed one of the old dances. In conclusion,
of course, the sacred pip«^ of peace was fitted to the
war weapon, and offered to each of us. At another
house we found a well-to-do Frenchman from Quebec,
who introduced us with pride to his pretty Indian
wife and two of the loveliest children in the world.
The Indians were nearly all dressed in the ordi-
nary costume of modern civilisation, but a few of
the women wore short skirts, with full trousers, and
a graceful short cloak.
The name by which the Indians call my friend
Mr. Chauveau, not without a just appreciation of
his character, is ' Hodilonrawasti,' or ' Le bel esprit,'
as it was explained to me. The name given to me
at once was no less than * Alonhiawasti Chialontarati,'
which I shall find too long for customary use.
The village is built on the St. Charles river, and
here, too, are some exceedingly pretty falls. It is
not too much to say that the Lorette cascades would
give fame and fortune to any spot in England or
France ; yet here, dwarfed by grander waters, they
remain comparatively unknown.
C 2
If
1 "
]
1
111
r
1 ■
:i,!
■•"
'A
,
\
i4l..
20
T//E CANADIAN DOMINION
For, after all, the great pride of Quebec is the
Falls of Montmorenci. Nine miles from the city,
the Montmorenci river, escaping from the tangled
network of rocky pools through which it has forced its
crawling way, plunges magnificently, in a snow-white
mass, a sheer depth of 250 feet into a dark chasm
below, where, stunned and broken, it slowly melts
into the great St. Lawrence. A few stray silver lines
of the river descending on either side suggest the
great width of the Fall ^ else lost in their extreme
height.
The roar of waters is deafening ; you cannot speak
to your friend ; but perhaps you grasp his hand to
stjiy the strange impulse that seizes you to fling
yourself on the madly hurrying waters, and feel for
one supreme instant the ecstasy of their frightful
leap.
The white waters fall into a black gorge of utter
desolation. Here the glowing iris spans the rolling
clouds of foam, turning the spray to jewels. A
rocky ridge from the coast-line bends round in front
of thr great Falls, as if expressly to afford a perfect
view of their majesty.
m
m
<'\-
THE FALLS OF MONTMORENCI
21
CHAPTER III.
THE 'HABITANS:
I WAS ushered one morning into the reception-room
of the Laval University. One end of the hand-
some apartment was occupied by two paintings
not badly executed, and the space for a third. In
the centre appeared the Holy Virgin, robed in fair
white and pink, standing on massive clouds that
hung over the long line of the city and shipping
of Quebec. The painting on the right was a full-
length portrait by Pas-qualoui of His Holiness
Pope Pius IX., in gorgeous robes. The vacant
space was for Her Sacred Majesty, Victoria, Queen
of the British Empire.
' The Blessed Virgin, the Holy Father, and Her
Majesty, they are our three patrons,' the attendant
explained to me.
I was presently conducted by many corridors up
to the private apartment of the Abbe Brunet, to
whom I had letters of introduction. ' Entrez, entrez !'
cried the good father from within at the knock of
my guide.
The door opened, and discovered the holy father,
t.'Jti
■A,
23
rif£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
1 t
!
i
U -•
ll'lf-
razor in hand, half-way through the delicate opera-
tion of shaving. Wholly unembarrassed, the abb6
welcomed me heartily, and proceeded to give me all
kinds of information, with such breaks as the em-
ployment of the moment necessitated.
The French population of Canada, he assured me,
was prosperous, contented, and eminently loyal. On
the cession of the province to England, the integrity
of their institutions, social order, language, and
religion had been secured to the inhabitants ; Eng-
land had scrupulously respected these treaties, and
had won the attachment and gratitude of the people.
They had no causes of discontent, and prospered to
the extent of their ambition. The Confederation of
the Provinces had been attended with one great
advantage to the French race. Formerly, while
Upper and Lower Canada had been united under
one Government, there had been a constant struggle
for rule between the two provinces, the occasional
diversity of interests and the general difference in
religion often causing strife and ill-will, and leading
sometimes to a political ' dead-lock.' All this was
changed. The province of Quebec, like that of
Ontario, had now its own local legislature, and
unseemly strife for power had given place to a
wholesome rivalry in advancing the general good.
I have subsequently met on all sides with con-
firmation of these statements.
At two o'clock I found the Rev. Mr. Laverdiere,
Librarian of the Laval University, in readiness for
H
ON THE ST. LAWRENCE.
n
me. We took one of the quaint Quebec cars, and
drove to the Custom-house landing-stage. He-e
we were joined by another priest, M. Roussel. We
descended a perpendicular ladder to a boat waiting
at the quay. In a few moments we rigged the sails,
pushed her off, and were speeding before the wind
on the wide St. Lawrence. The little yacht was
the private property of M. Laverdiere, in which he
and his brother priests were accustomed to make
excursions thirty-five miles down the river to an old
chateau under Cape Tourment, the summer resort of
the professors and students of the University.
The day was perfect. Gleaming waters with
rafts and shipping, fair hill-slopes dotted with farms
and villages, the magnificent pile of the mountain
city, a heaven overspread with fleecy clouds and full
of sunlight, made up a scene of enchantment. We
passed along the channel between the Island of
Orleans and the north shore. Till the chaloupe
grated on the shallow bottom, we crept in closer and
closer below the magnificent Montmorenci Falls.
The wind grew perverse and coquettish, changing
its mind every moment. It was an odd sight to
watch the two tall thin priests, in their long black
robes buttoned to the feet, and their tall black
beaver hats, made for dignity rather than conve-
nience, managing the boat, nevertheless, with a skill
that would have done credit to practised sailors. We
lifted a wooden plank in the stern seat, and pro-
duced a repast which I considered one of the most
1
li ■ *
I
hi ^
ii - ;
'i . I
h
m
, i :
m
Hi
,&
$
»4
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
delicious I had ever eaten. It consisted of cold
ham served on white bread for plates, and of excel-
lent claret drank from a piece of delf as a loving
cup. We lay in the sun, and talked, and sang.
Then the wind, tired of coquetry, pretended an
absurd modesty, and left ua ;»ltogedier. We reefed
the sails and took to the oars. The tide was
changing, and our progress was slow. Evening fell,
and we doubted if we could reach our destined
resting-place for the night. The wind laughingly
took pity on us, let us put in our oars, and carried
us swiftly, without pausing once to take breath,
on to tf pirturesque French village of Chateau
Richet.
On the further shore we cast anchor. Two of us
stripped, aii i pl'ingov! into the delicious waters.
Then we sped straight across to the village. M.
le Cur^, with smiling face, stood on the shore to
welcome us. We walked through the village, touch-
ing our hats to the salutations of the pleasant-
looking people, and pausing at times for talk.
A simple but most hospitable supper was pre-
pared for us at the curb's house. Good-natured
gossip about Church matters and the affairs of the
village finished the day.
In the morning we went to see, and seeing to
admire, the new church of stone just erected
through the indefatigable exertions of our host.
The walls of the interior were still bare, showing
the lines of the great stones. The open timber
VILLAGE OF CHATEAU RICIIET.
25
work supporting the roof was all exposed. I am
not sure that I succeeded in proving to my friends
that my admiration of the effect was sincere. M, le
Cur^ listened at first with incredulity and then with
pity to the expression of my strong abhorrence of
plaster. They meant to get the whole place finished
off smooth and white as soon as ever they could, he
assured me, and then, when they had funds enough,
they might fresco it with columns and cornices of
marble.
We went to inspect, too, the alterations in pro-
gress at a large stone house below the church, to
fit it for an educational establishment, under the
management of the Sisters of the Society of Le bon
Pasteur. This was also one of the pet projects of
our kind host.
' M. le Cure is a very good man, and we all love
and respect him very much,' said one of the vil-
lagers to me ; ' but what with the new church and
the new convent, and other things, he burdens us
heavily and keeps all the village poor.'
A little sparkling stream coming down from the
Laurentian chain forces for itself with difficulty a
way into the St. Lawrence at this spot, and makes
the Falls of La Puce prettier than their name.
At eleven a.m. we resumed our course. There
was more sun and wind than on the previous day,
and we reached Cape Tourment quickly. With
sails all set we drove the little chaloupe as far as she
could go into a swamp of waving rushes on the
'^
%.
,
i
1
1
I
: J
4
*-^
s
,1
■ 111' 1
26
77/i5: CANADIAN DOMINION
river shore. Then, with our light baggage in the
hand, with boots off, and with trousers (and robes)
rolled up above the knees, we waded cheerfully
through the sludge to the firm land. This was the
ordinary means of disembarkation at this spot.
Half an hour's walk, by pretty French farmsteads
and through a scented pine wood, led us to the
Chateau Bellevue — a long, square, massive mansion,
built of the dark limestone of the district. We
were received, literally, with open arms. At dinner
we sat down to a well-served and tastefully-
appointed table. In the reading-room I found a
large collection of religious periodicals, mostly
French ; but among them * The Tablet.' A quaint
old billiard-board, evidently much used, stood in one
of the great rooms.
Twenty of the professors and about as many
students are accustomed to spend the summer vaca-
tion here. One party had gone away this day
fishing ; another to make the ascent of Mount
Tourment. Two priests, coming home from some
religious duty, splashed to the hat-top in mud from
a swamp, were received with hearty laughter. The
whole company showed an extraordinary gaiety of
heart, simplicity, and kindliness.
Half a dozen of us strolled out into the noble
woods surrounding the cluster of buildings. We
came presently to a small shrine, erected by some
pious brethren to the honour of St. Joseph. A
white plaster image of the saint himself stood inside,
A SPHINGLESS CART.
87
profusely decorated with vivid artificial flowers. I
was informed that the figure was taken within doors
in the winter, to save it from being cracked by
the frost. Further on we came to a still prettier
shrine, erected to Our Lady ; but unfortunately
the frost, or some strange lack of care, had slightly
interfered with the regularity of the Virgin's
features.
The glory of the day was still undimmed when
M. de Laverdiere and I got into one of the small
springless carts of this country, and were driven to
the woods by a man sitting on a kind of undeveloped
splash-board, with his legs stretched forwards on to
the shafts. The roadway wandered across country
and into the cool depths of the forest, over most
irregular ground, filled with blocks of stone, and
broken with gaps and ruts.
' As this car has no springs,' said my kind friend,
* I fear the jolting will shake you.'
I suggested that the motion might be beneficial to
digestion, or to the liver, or to something or other
inside us.
' But if you would like to ride easy,' he resumed,
' don't hold on to anything at all, but let your body
go freely with the motion of the cart'
I tried this plan, and found the exercise quite ex-
hilarating.
During the ride M. de Laverdiere advised me on
no account to omit a visit to the church of St. Ann,
which I should pass on my way home on the morrow.
^^
^'u
t
s
U i <
a8
77/£ CANADIAN DOMINION,
\ ■'
'M\ i
It was the only place of pilgrimage in all Canada,
he explained, — being the chosen spot for the per
formance of miraculous cures. He kindly informed
me of the whole supernatural history of the place :
how a little child had received the honour of a
heavenly vision on the identical spot where the
church now stands ; how this was repeated a second
and yet a third time, when the Virgin commanded
the child to tell the people of the village that a
church was to be built in that place ; how, when the
church was ready, the first beggar threw away his
crutch in the midst of a great assembly of people,
and so became the first of a line of cured cripples
which remains unbroken to the present date. The
priest proceeded to tell me of a number of extra-
ordinary and interesting cases of cure, some of which
he had heard of from actual spectators. And then
he argued philosophically on the great question of
miracles.
* It showed absurdity,' he said, 'and, what was
worse, a tendency to infidelity, when people urge
that the cures of the church occur through occult
but simply natural causes. Some cases there might
be of that order, but all were not
' For instance, when a man with a shrunken limb,
in which there remains no use or life, suddenly
stretched it out sound and well, or when a man
stone dead is brought back to life, what power can
have done this short of a true miracle ? Must not a
cause be always sufficient for the result } '
A SPLENDID WATER.FALL.
99
We left the car in the heart of the woods, and
proceeded along a faintly-traced pathway, till the
roar of falling waters told us we were near the
object of our search. A magnificent spectacle burst
upon our sight. A rapid stream, breaking its way
through the dark woods, and from pool to pool
among masses of jagged rock, suddenly cleaves for
itself a narrow chasm, over which you may spring if
you have an iron nerve, and then falls, broken into
a thousand fantastic forms of spray along the steep
face of the rock, into a deep gorge of horrid
darkness.
I do not know the volume of water ; I forgot to
guess the height — it may be two hundred feet.
Figures are absurd in the estimate of the beauty and
grandeur of a scene like this. I only know that the
whole impression of the scene was one of the most
intense I have ever experienced. The disposition
of the mass of broken waters is the most graceful
conceivable. The irresistible might of the rush of
the fall, the stupendous upright masses of black rock
that form the chasm ; the heavy fringe of dark
woods all around ; the utter solitariness and gloom
of the scene — all add to impress the imagination.
An artist might prefer this spot to Niagara.
The precarious footway down which we climbed
half-way to the bed of the gorge was fashioned in
part by the labour of my companion in former days.
Climbing back and beyond the Falls, we reached a
sheltered pool, and bathed in the icy waters. We
i
I
i ■
\ .
■ V , \
»
t
i
■!■ r
•! .:
1 1
if <i
30
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
were careful to avoid the current. Swimming back
to our dressing-place, the priest indicated the spot
where one of the students had recently been drowned.
We drove back through the wood a new way.
Then, with sincere expressions of regard, I left
the priest, and walked on to the inn, like an
auberge of Brittany, that stands by the long wooden
bridge crossing the St. Ann river, on the route to
Quebec.
Of course I visited St. Ann's Church in the morn-
ing. There were at least thirty crutches suspended
in the church, the grateful offerings of men who
needed them no more. One thing struck me pain-
fully : the crutches were too much alike, and were
not old and picturesque enough.
I walked back to Quebec by Chateau Richet and
Montmorenci, visiting many of the houses and talk-
ing with the * habitans,' the term by which the
French Canadians are known.
The division of inheritance being the rule here,
the separate holdings are comparatively small. The
nominal extent of the holdings rarely falls below
ninety or a hundred acres, but a large part of this
will probably be unfit for cultivation.
The disposition of the land along the St. Law-
rence is very peculiar. The divisions have been
made longitudinally, leaving to each holding a front-
age on the river. The present farms, therefore, are
about two acres wide and fifty deep. This arrange-
ment must increase the difficulty and labour of
HOUSES OF rrz 'habitans:
3'
working ; but it is attended with an odd advantage.
The farmsteads are all built on the line of road that
traverses the country ; an unceasing succession of
villas, cottages, and barns stretches from Quebec to
St. Ann's, and I know not how far beyond. The
people are social, and everyone thus has the ad-
vantage of near neighbours.
The houses of the ' habitans ' are generally well-
built, wholly or in part of stone, and afford abundant
evidence of comfort and prosperity. Many of them
are surrounded with verandahs or balconies of wood ;
and some are decorated artistically with porches and
terraces, and painted to the best effect in low colours,
pricked out with deeper tints at the mouldings and
ornaments. Flowers often grow on the v indow-
sills or before the door.
The scene by the winding roadway is often
eminently picturesque. By the side of the pretty
dwellings, or in the rear, stands the larger building
of the barn. A team of good horses is being put to
the strongly built market-cart. An old-fashioned
plough lies rusting in a mass of tall weeds, discarded
in favour of an improved implement. Screened by
some large stones, there blazes in the open air a
fire of wood, over which hangs a great black caul-
dron for washing or cooking. Sometimes you see
also an oven for baking, built out by itself in the
garden. Near almost every door a streamlet trickles
down from the wooded heights, affording the ready
means for that peculiar kind of washing with a stone
•A-
til
si
!
i;
!•
:h i
:,f -I
:i:
li
33
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
or wooden beater which the Frenchwoman espe-
cially loves.
The houses inside are neat and orderly, and are
comfortably and sometimes elegantly furnished. In
very many a cottage sits the old grandmother, with
dreamy eyes but busy hands, before the picturesque,
murmuring spinning-wheel. And not unfrequently
the house-wife may be seen at work at the antiquated,
but still useful, hand-loom. The people showed me
with pride the stuffs they wove, and boasted their
superior durability over city goods.
' Would Monsieur like to see the way the machine
goes ? ' a bright-eyed brunette asked of me, as I
stood talking in one of the cottages.
' But Mademoiselle has hurt her hand, I fear.'
* Ce ne fait rien ; ' the girl answered, gaily, pro-
ceeding to wind round the cut hand a long piece of
linen.
She allowed me to assist her in the delicate opera-
tion, and then sat at the loom, making the shuttle
fly from hand to hand with astonishing quickness.
* How very fast you work ! ' I exclaimed.
' Ah, yes ; I do not like to be slow. And, besides,
I have so much work to do.' •
' But, Mademoiselle, why so ? '
' I have twelve brothers and sisters, and they all
want coats and dresses. And, besides, I like to have
a piece over now and then to sell.'
The French Canadians are, as a race, cheerful,
frugal, pious, and eminently industrious. They make
SETTLEMENTS ON THE ST. LAWRENCE. 33
admirable settlers in a new country. They have
overspread and reduced to cultivation a vast extent
of country which would scarcely have attracted other
settlers. They cling to the historic soil of the
Lower Provinces, and push backward their settle-
ments deeper and deeper into the back-woods, add-
ing parish to parish till the saints' names from which
they name them are well-nigh exhausted. Recently
they have begun to occupy the upper regions of the
noble Saguenay River, and have formed large settle-
ments round the inland lake of St. John's. And
still they swarm, and extend, and colonise, and help
to build up a great prosperity for the future.
For, beyond all other staples, the great product
of French Canada is children. An amazing quan-
tity swarm along the traveller's route. Families of
twelve, fourteen, sixteen are not uncommon. A
family of children under nine in number is below
the average, and is deemed insignificant.
The ' habitans ' have settled both sides of the
St. Lawrence down to the ocean. If the climate is
severe in the winter, at least it is delightfully cool
and invigorating in the hot months of the year.
Each summer their picturesque villages suffer in-
vasion from Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and all the
cities of the Dominion. The wealth, and beauty,
and fashion of Canada crowd to these deli'ditful
spots, and constitute a brief and brilliant order of
existence, midway between the extremes of dull
reserve and extravagnnt gaiety of the English and
■nrr
34
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
American watering-places. To many a wearied
frequenter of the well-known bads and springs of
Europe, the wilderness watering-places of Murray
Bay, Tadousac, and Cacouna, with their wild scenery,
their falls and mountains, their excursions, pic-nics,
and balls, their duck-shooting and plenteous fishing,
would prove a welcome change after Tronville,
Wiesbaden, Bagnieres, or Long Branch, and well
repay the long voyage to reach them.
At Murray Bay the visitor is, unwittingly, in an
old settlement of Scotchmen, who have become so
identified with the French among whom they settled
as even to have forgotten their own language.
Charming Cacouna claims the first place for
fashion and gaiety. Here we talked politics all day
and danced all night — breaking up, however, at ten
o'clock, for Canada keeps very proper hours. Here
we were initiated into the mysteries of bowls, and
saw with unfeigned admiration young girls of the
fairest type of grace and beauty make successful
' spares ' and * strikes.'
No lover of the picturesque could wish to find a
more wildly romantic spot than Tadousac. And, to
increase his interest, here stands the little wooden
church built by Champlain, two full centuries ago,
the oldest church in Canada.
By Tadousac the St. Lawrence receives the deep,
cold, black waters of the Saguenay. A hundred
miles up this romantic river lies the great lake of
St. John. The visitor to this northern continent
CAPE TRINITY.
35
should not fail to pass up at least as far as Ha-ha
Bay, through the magnificent scenery of this river, a
precipitous gorge cloven in the Laurentian Moun-
tains. Above Ha-ha the prospect opens, and the
land begins to be capable of cultivation. At the
time of my visit a vessel was being laden here with
lumber for Australia.
Coming back, the steamer lies, a mere nutshell,
under the precipitous range of Cape Trinity, to let
the traveller judge of the height of the cliffs that
make this river gorge.
The scene is scarcely to be surpassed for stern
magnificence. The mass of rock towers sheer above
to a height Ci 1,500 or 1,800 feet. The broken
mountain-shores, fringed and tasselled with clusters
of pine, give their dark reflection to the cold,
motionless waters. No sail, or canoe, or trace of
life is visible. Silence and awe rest on the wonderful
scene.
I have indicated but a few of the points of interest
in the French province which would be sure to
repay the English traveller here. The artist would
find perpetual occasion for his sketch-book. The
geologist must come here to study the oldest known
formation of rock. The whole country seems a
sporting reserve. And to all kinds of visitors the
simple and gay mode of existence of the inhabitants,
older in style than the French of the old country,
offers a pleasant subject of study. To the English-
man, concerned with some anxious thoughts for the
o •
I'
■T"-
1
.'
i 1*
S 'I
1i'
ill
ii< ■
^
ii
I
36
T//E CANADIAN DOMINION.
future of the British Emf ire, a personal persuasion
of the loyalty of this mill'on of his fellow-subjects of
another language may be found an agreeable reas-
surance.
' Pray tell me, Sir George Cartier,' said a lady in
an English drawing-room — ' pray tell me what you
mean by a French Canadian ? '
• Madam,' replied the witty baronet, ' he is an
Englishman who speaks French.'
37
CHAPTER IV.
LUMBER.
The peculiarly characteristic industry of Canada is
the lumber trade. It adds enormously to the wealth
of the country, develops a vigorous race of men,
and hastens the settlement of distant and still savage
regions of forest. From first to last all the opera-
tions of this business are full of interest to the
stranger, and possess a high fascination for the men
actually employed. The lumber-man is as devoted
to his vocation as the sailor to his, and leads a life
as free and as adventurous.
At the fall of the year a whole army of stalwart
men, in expeditionary bands of thirty to forty, move
up the great rivers and their tributaries and pene-
trate the woods, to prepare for the winter campaign.
In some spot as romantic as it is solitary the
shanty is built, for it must be erected near some
stream or mountain lake for a supply of water, and
the virgin forest rises sombre and magnificent
around. The winter-house for the shelter of the
forty men is constructed with extreme facility. A
number of trees are marked by the leader, great
"^m
I'M ,^
i
;,
I :it
< i
1 ' <
II
1 •
•
' i
♦
»
i^
*
3S
77/^ CANADIAN DOMINION
pines from loo to 200 feet in height. A couple of
lumberers take a tree standing erect, one on either
side, with well-planted feet, and the small, thick
Canadian axe swinging over the head. But first,
with practised eye, they look to see in which direction
the great creature would prefer to fall, willing to let
it have its way. Then follow the ringing strokes of
the axes, with quick and measured rhythm, beating
out the wild song to which the great son of the forest
must die. Every stroke falls true, every stroke tells ;
the tree groans and cries in despair to its strange
assailants, gives up its life in one long, wild shriek,
and crashes resounding to the ground. These fifteen
minutes are the ' mauvais quartre d'heure ' in the life
of the tree. The branches are lopped away, the
trunk is divided into lengths of forty feet, and these
are dragged by a chain and a powerful team of
horses to the spot chosen for the shanty.
By a simple device of notches the logs are built
on one another, in the form of a great square, to a
height of six or eight feet. A massive roof, sloping
to the sides, is formed of split logs, hollowed and
roughly fitted one into the other. The gaps are filled
in with branches and mud. A great aperture five
feet square in the roof serves for chimney, ventila-
tion, and light. A strong frame door is put in at
one side, but rarely a window. The fireplace is
peculiar ; it is built in the centre of the shanty, ten
or twelve feet square, of logs two feet thick, and is
filled in with sand or dry earth. Here smoke and
CANADIAN LUMBER MEN.
39
crackle and roar the mighty logs dragged in from a
great pile outside. From one of the upright supports
of the roof, and at the corner of the fireplace, swings
a strong limb of timber bearing the mighty caldron
for the general cooking of the company. Small
delicacies are prepared by sticking some pot or
kettle into the hot sand along the wide margin of
the fire.
The sleeping berths or ' bunks ' are arranged all
round the place in two tiers of wooden shelves. On
these the men sleep two and two, usually sharing
the two pairs of thick Canadian blankets which each
man is allowed for his use by the employer for
whom he works.
The one dish eaten by the lumber-man is salt
pork ; his one drink is tea. It is highly creditable
to the wise forethought of the masters, and no less
to the good sense of the men, that no strong drinks
are permitted within the limits of the lumbering
operations. The men are provided with an abun-
dance of a food particularly suited to their wants,
and which they prefer to all other meats, and with
tea ad libitum, strong enough, as one of them said
to me, to float an axe in ; and they are content to do
without intoxicating liquors.
Close by the shanty is built a similar log-house as
a smithy ; a great deal of smith's work being wanted
for the sleighs, chains, and the horses. A less
elegant place is put up as the stables.
The rncn employed by one lumbering firm may
»' "i
I'
■*
It
i
40
/•///•: ('.7,v.//>/ /.v /)o.\nx/o\.
occupy liair a-(.lo/(Mi sliaiUics in a dislricl. At soiiu*
cciUral s|K)t a 'llclu^t' is built, where tin* hcail
ilircclor lives, where a ^cueral store t)f implements
ant! clothing is kept on haml. and from which the
supplies of pork, (lour, molassi's, <S:c.,are ilistrihuted.
\Vh(Mi owv region is stripped of its best timber —
foroni) the choice trees are markcvl and cut — tlie
shanties are left standing;, and fresh ones are built
fvnther up the country.
Meanwhile, the most avail. d)Ie spt»ls «)f land for
apicultural purposes have been noted by the lumlxM-
men. and one o'i them marries a wife expressly, or
briui^s up his family, if he has one already, from
(Quebec, anvl commences life as a back woods settler.
Pouble prices can always be obtained for every thinj^
in the neii;hbourhooil of the shanties, inconsequence
o\ the distance from the rcL;ular markets.
Tsually the men ai;ree very well together, I'rench,
Irish, Scotch, anil MnHish ; but it is not an uncom-
mon thiuj; \ov a foreman lo prefer to employ all of
iMie race. .All through the winter months they work
in the woods, frtim sunrise to sun.set, and accom-
plish an extraordinary amount of work. They divide
into bands of six or eight men, and each company
strives to outrival the others. At night, after the
evening nieal. they sit in groups in the flickering light
of the blazing logs, and smoke, and sing^, and tell
stories. In every shanty there is certain to be at
least one fiddle, and the more hilarious dance, while
the sedate look sympathizingly on.
T/^AIVsrOh'T 01' lA'MKh.N.
41
On the Suiulay lalxnir s1(»))K. '\\\v nn.n take
llu'ir ^'iins, or llicir sprinj^s and snan-s, Oir ^Mmc!.
Sonic of the men, however, make the Simday a
(lay of rest, anil remain in the slianty to t(;II yarns
anil menil their clothes. Onri! ()r twice in the sea-
son the Catholic priest comes round to confess the
faithful, and about as often the itinerant Methodist
arrives to exhort and hold a j»rayer me<:tin^r.
As soon as a thaw comes the hnnherin;; parties
break up. I'art of them at onci; descend to thir
sawmills, now riNuIy for work a^Min, and part are
occupied in dintctiu)^ the passage; of the lo^s to the
mills. y\t certain bends of thi; rivers, and es[)ecially
at the frequent rapids, the hurrying loj^^s are apt to
rest and j^round. Tens of thousands of lo^fs are
sometimes obstructed thus on the passaj^^i; down.
To obviate this the raftsmen, in canois, or stationed
at certain points on land, armed with steel jjointed
poles, move and ^uiile the logs along. Lower down,
where the waters become broad, the men are actively
occupied in fastening securely together a certain
number of the logs, Jibout twenty or thirty, into
what are called ' cribs.' I'^ach of these is destined
to proceed intact as far as the saw-mills, or jjrobably
to Quebec or the Hudson. 15ut not separately.
The * cribs ' are mutually attached by bonds of
withies into great rafts acres wide, on which are
sometimes built whole villages of huts. The lum-
ber-man now has a lazy, luxurious life. He eats fat
pork, and smokes his pipe, and lies in the hot sun,
t r>
?-J
f
42
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
}.
\\
\
I % !'i:
1
luUed to dreams by the light motion of his floating
home. Very often he does not even guide the great
raft ; a steam-tug saves him the trouble.
Sometimes the logs are not fastened into ' cribs * at
all. On rivers where the course is easy and unob-
structed the logs are simply gathered within great
booms, formed by attaching a number of the logs
together end to end, inclosing the rest ; and so the
heavy mass floats lazily down or is tugged by steam.
The saw-mills are built where a great water-power
can be obtained, and consequently are found in the
most romantic situations — at Montmorenci, the
Gatineau Trails, and the Phandiere on the Ottawa,
for example. The operations of a lumber-mill present
an extraordinary spectacle. By a more or less com-
plicated system of dams and flumes the danger of
inundation is averted, and a sufficient water-power is
ensured to work the mills through the season. The
buildings, often picturesque in their variety and
strange outline, press close upon the very edge of
the falls. Up the stream, in some sheltered reach
of water, float whole fields of loosened logs, awaiting
now indifferently the fate for which they have been
brought so far. One by one they are fixed to the
endless chains that dip down for miles, and are
dragged up a wooden slope on to the floor of the
mill. There work incessantly, with a perpendicular
motion, the multitudinous sets of glittering teeth of
the eager saws, hungry and insatiable for ever. A
stalwart workman fixes the dripping log with an
i \
».
THE LUMBER TRADE.
43
iron Icvcr, and before the prcccdinjj log is two-thirds
cut dexterously turns the new one on to an endless
platform that passes beneath the gleaming saws.
Without the loss of an instant the fresh log follows
along the platform ; four, six, sometimes eight saws
bite, and rend, and sunder it remorselessly, and the
log has become planks.
These are examined, marked, measured, and cut
up for the different markets. The best is set aside
for the English trade; the rest goes to the United
States, to South America, Australia, and all parts of
the world. The smaller pieces are worked up for
rail-fences, ' shingles,' fire-wood, and matches. The
refuse, ground to chips, not to impede navigation,
falls into the hurrying stream below.
Summer is over before the last raft reaches
Quebec. With the first snow-fall the mills close,
and the scattered army of axemen make their way
back to the woods.
The valley of the Ottawa is at present the prin-
cipal seat of the lumber trade. It was my fortune
to be making a somewhat long stay in the neigh-
bourhood at a time without parallel, happily, in the
history of the district.
The Ottawa is but a tributary of the magnificent
St. Lawrence ; but it is no less than six hundred
miles in length, it drains 80,000 square miles, and
will one day support a population to be counted by
millions. Already settlements are spreading far up
the course of the river, and invading the depths of
ft.!
m
.'fl
r
...M^JU».v>.>
44
Till': C ANA PI AN DOMINION.
u
( .
|i(:
j ^
, f
the primeval forests by the tributary streams ; while
villages and towns are springing up in lower districts.
Beyond question the Ottawa is one of the most
picturesque rivers of the world ; in other words, it
is not easily navigable. It is one long succession of
reaches studded with islands, narrow passes, fair
lakes, impetuous rapids, and magnificent falls. The
voyage on its waters, day after day, is a succession
of charming surprises. At one time a wide prospect
of open lakes reaches almost to the horizon ; at an-
other, you look over an endless undulating extent of
hill and dale ; then you are shut up in a narrow gorge
without visible escape. To increase the feeling of
exhilaration which variety gives, the traveller is com-
pelled to change perpetually his mode of conveyance
— from steam to stage, from boat to ferry, from car
to scow. At some intervals the traveller may have
to walk ; for instance, where the narrow platform,
thirty feet high, crossing a rocky valley, has been
burnt by a fire in the woods.
At present the steamers plying on their several
reaches of water go up as far as Deux Joachims,
three hundred miles by water above Quebec. Be-
yond this place the canoe is used.
The steamers are constructed expressly for this
traffic ; some of them have a draught of but two
feet six inches. The captain does not scruple t'^
bring his boat gently on to the mud of the short
where there is no wharf or landing-stage, to land or
take up freight and passengers.
i
OTTA \VA.
45
Where the steamboat runs you are still within the
ranj;e of civilisation ; on board an excellent English
dinner is served at a moderate price. The inns
ashore are well kept, and will supply unexpected
delicacies in drinks and meats, if you wish. The
back-woods are not barbarous. In a remote inn by
one of the portages I noticed among a collection
of books on the landlady's table Faber's • All for
Jesus,' ' Gil Bias,' and the Waverley novels.
Oii special occasions the farmers and settlers will
dress wonderfully. It was my happy fortune to fall
in with a large pic-nic party at the limits of civilisa-
tion. The young men were dressed like Hampton
Court dandies, and the girls in short flounces,
coloured scarfs, tiny hats, and shoes with two-inch
heels. The staying-power of their gaiety was ex-
traordinary. After dancing all night they danced
all the next day, on a poop without rails to save the
giddy couples from a waltz into the river.
A prosperous little city on this river has been
made the capital of the Dominion. The Canada
Central Railroad passes through it. It is on the
highway of the projected trans-continental route,
along which the commerce of Europe and Asia is
destined to pass. The place was not formerly called
own because it was out of the way of traffic, but
onour of Colonel By, the superintendent of the
r. ignificent military canal uniting the Ottawa at this
point with the St. Lawrence at Kingston, one of the
finest engip'-cring works in America.
'1
1
1
!
1
.-
i!^
4«
T//£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
On one of the many fine sites of the picturesque
city of Ottawa stand the Parliament buildings — the
noblest pile on this continent, with the exception of
the white marble capitol at Washington. Wide
streets of fine buildings are rising in all directions
through the city ; and pretty villas and cottages are
spreading over the suburbs.
On the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty in
1864 the United States imposed a heavy duty on
lumber, the principal article of Canadian export,
with the view of influencing Canadian feeling in
favour of entering the American union. This policy
does not appear to have had the effect intended.
Meanwhile the Canadian merchants have asked
and obtained higher prices than before. Within the
past few years the rates of lumber have increased
fifty per cent, and still promise to rise.
The figures of the lumber businesr are not with-
out interest and importance. On the Ottawa River
250,000,000 board measure (i.e., superficial feet) are
prepared for the American market alone. A similar
quantity is sent to the English market, in the follow-
ing proportion : 50,000,000 superficial feet and
1 8,000,000 cubic feet of square timber.
From one of the principal merchants engaged in
the American trade I obtained the favour of the
following singular figures, the result of careful in-
vestigation and estimate : —
For the business alone of the 2^0,000,000 board
measure above-named —
STATISTICS OF THE LUMBER TRADE. 47
5, OCX) men are employed in taking out the logs ;
2,000 teams used ;
9,000 sleighs used ;
2,500 tons of hay consumed ;
3,500 barrels of pork ;
4,000 barrels of flour ;
23,000 lbs. of tea;
14,500 lbs. of soap consumed ;
400,000 lbs. of iron chain used ; and
2,000 men further employed in sawing and ship-
ping the lumber.
But far larger figures are needed to express the
amount of the whole of the Canadian lumber trade.
It is estimated at 700,000,000 feet for the Ame-
rican market, and an equivalent quantity for Eng-
land, South America, Australia, &c. Or a grand
total, in a row of ten figures, of 1,400,000,000 feet.
To carry on this trade, over 30,000 men are em-
ployed, at an average of probably a dollar a day.
The present prices average nine to ten dollars a
thousand feet for America, and twelve dollars and
over for England.
In point of fact, Canada possesses a great staple
which all the world requires, and which must be
obtained at any cost. The lumber will remain a
vast source of national wealth to the Dominion in
perpetuity.
Immense tracts of rocky territory, stretching
northwards towards the Pole, and wholly unfit for
agricultural productions, may continue to rival lands
m
I '<
i
48
7y//i CANADIAN DOMINION.
of wheat for use and value. As the great trees are
thinned out young ones grow to take their place.
As prices hicrease, and labour becomes more abun-
dant, it will be found advisable to promote the
growth of the large timber by thinning the over-
crowded woods. And, still later, it will even become
profitable to encourage artificially, by planting or
other means, the superior qualities of wood in the
place of less valuable kinds.
The lumber trade of Canada will remain, there-
fore, to increase the national wealth, and — a result of
greater importance — to promote the growth of a
hardy, adventurous race.
49
CHAPTKR V.
THE FREE GRANT L.IXDS.
It was my pleasant fortune to be invited by the
Premier of Ontario to join him, with several members
of the Government, uj)on a tour of inspection throuj^h
the Muskoka district, a wide region of romantic
lakes, and streams, and woods in the nt)rthern part
of the province of Ontario. The object of the
(iovernment was to see the conditit)n of the roads
and bridges lately constructt.'d under their order, to
observe the suitability of the country for immigra-
tion, and to make themselves acquainted with th.e
condition and wishes of the settlers. I*\)r myself. I
wished to see something more of back-woods life,
and to know what kind of lantl was given away
without payment to the settler.
We proceeded from Toronto fifty-two miles by
the Great Northern Railway to Belle luvart, a pic-
turesque little town of frame houses s|)ringing up
with a rapid growth on the bordc.-rs of the beautiful
Lake Simcoe. This district is already settled. Along
both sides of the railway farmsteads and villages
occur in cpuck succession through the dense woods,
E
^^
.
■ «
»
r 1!
•■
m
<
'
i: ' :
• V;:
\
I n
50
TJ/£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
with fields bearing a rich produce, despite the un-
sightly slumps which had not yet had time to rot
away. This railway is to be carried on at once to
Gravenhurst, the door of the free-grant district ;
and subsequently, without any question, it will pro-
ceed north to Lake Nipissing, to tap the line of rails
that will cross the continent direct to Fort Garry
and the Pacific. This line, therefore, through the
free-grant Muskoka district, appears destined to be
the direct channel for the north-west, and for the
Asiatic trade with the province of Ontario, and
with the New England States of the American
Union. However, we are concerned at present
with narrower prospects.
A large steamer took us, with a number of settlers
and immigrants, and their multifarious wares and
baggage, across Lake Simcoe. On the further side
a miniature screw-steamer waited to take us over
the narrow, winding, lovely lake, Couchiching. This
little boat, after the excellent fashion prevailing here,
and more or less all through Canada, is named, from
an Indian tongue, 'Winonah' (the first-born). Other
steamers we subsecjuently used or met were the
• Wanbuno,' the * Chicora,' the ' Macinac' On this
Lake Couchiching — the Lake of Many Winds — we
stopped at a new-born town, Orillia. The town-
ships near by were named Rama, Mara, Vespra, and
Oro. These beautiful nan cj everywhere abound,
and the country is worthy of them.
It is a pleasant indication of a natural apprecia-
SCENERY NEAR LAKE COUCIIICHING. 51
tion of the graceful in this transplanted English race
that sonorous and significant names are being every-
where chosen throughout the Dominion, and are
even displacing old names of a vulgar sound. A
certain spot on Lake Ontario — the Beautiful — could
not prosper while it was styled York, or contemp-
tuously Little York ; named anew Toronto — the
Meetinyf- Place of the Tribes — it has advanced to
dignity and importance with a rapidity scarcely
rivalled on the whole American continent.
There are not wanting people who say that
Kingston, better named, need not have sunk to an
insignificance corresponding with that of our old
Saxon Kingston on the banks of the Thames. I
have been told of a newly-born city which, on being
called Victuallersville by a vote of the inhabitants,
in grateful memory of a licensed association,
perished miserably in the christening, and was aban-
doned by its ashamed inhabitants. From the depths
of my soul I invoke a similar fate on the Pickwick-
villes, Yow-Bets, Big-Jerichos, and Ulysses-Cities
on this continent !
From Washago on Lake Couchiching to Graven-
hurst the route passes for fourteen miles through
a singularly picturesque tract of savage scenery.
Precipitous broken hills, crowned with dense pine
and beech, rise on every side ; abrupt masses of
granite block the way. The ragged road-track
plunges violently down the hill-slopes to the cordu-
'M
) r!
1
S ': '•
1
i
■
*
,,
52
TI/E CANADIAN DOMINION.
roy bridge over a stream at the bottom, and toils
painfully up the opposite slope. Within view we
frequently pass clear lakes, as yet unnamed, reflect-
ing the true Muskoka sky, — the name of the district
being another example of the happy choice of Indian
words ; it means the Lake of Clear Skies. Every
bend in the road opens a fresh prospect of singular
beauty ; but no traveller here has ever come in
search of the picturesque. I believed the Minister
of Crown Lands when he told me that an intending
setder has been known to stop midway along this
road with his family and goods, and return dis-
heartened or resentful. But the man was wrong.
Proverbially, the entrances to all lands of promise
are difficult, to test the courage of the pilgrim and
prepare him for his home of rest.
Midway along this road at a point named by the
settler Gibraltar, from the extremely rocky character
of the ground which he had chosen for his home,
we found ourselves exposed to a direct fire of a
battery of six mounted guns, made of the trunks
of fallen trees. A defiant soldier, cut out in profile,
and rather larger than life, kept ceaseless guard.
These precautions were taken lo overawe a Fenian
invasion, should the rebels ever be absurd enough
to advance so far into the heart of the country.
As our straggling cavalcade approached the spot,
a brawny Highlander, in kilt and tartan, sprang
from rock to rock to the battery height, and saluted
our arrival with several discharges of his gun. We
PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FENIANS.
53
dismounted, and made our way to his \o'g shanty.
The place presented many appearances of comfort.
The furniture was old-fashioned, but ample. Prints
adorned the boarded walls. A small side room pos-
sessed a considerable library of works of piety,
fiction, and history. Mr. Cuthbert had been settled
for several years on this spot, had cleared a good
deal of land, and, like all the other settlers through
this region, was content with his rough but free
life, and extremely hopeful of the future. We were
presented to his wife and sister, who told us they
were entirely satisfied with their new home.
' If those rascally rebels should ever come this
way, gentlemen,* said our host, * you may rely upon
us here to give a good account of them.'
The Commissioner of Public Works informed
him that a small brass cannon was on its way, and
would be sent up to strengthen his battery with all
convenient dispatch.
' I am obliged to you, sir,' said Mr. Cuthbert ;
' but pray don't let it be sent up yet. All the boys
about these parts are going to turn out to welcome
it, and we're going to have a procession to bring it
home. The boys here are much interested in my
place, gentlemen.*
We said that we could not have the least doubt
of that.
The Attorney-General, the Hon. Sandfield
M'Donald, talked with his fellow-Scot in Gaelic, and
then continued in English : * Now, I hope you
IP
w
#
;*
!r
m
p
1
I .,
1: f!!
m
•iiit
iii'i
54
TJ/£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
peopl(i about here don't neglect your religion. You
read the Holy Scriptures, I trust, aye ?'
• I do,' was the answer. ' I read the Holy Scrip-
tures — and " the Globe " ! '
Our procession made a sufficiently characteristic
appearance. We used the ordinary conveyances of
the route. I^^irst came a roughly-made wagonette,
bearing several members of the Government, an
English clergyman, and one or two more invited
guests. Then followed a stage with cross seats,
almost as grand as may be seen at Eppigg on a
popular English holiday. This bore several M.P.'s,
some railway directors, and the rest of our party.
Next came a ' buggy ' that had once known the life
and fashion of some large town — like the family of
immigrants whom it carried. Then a road-wagon
of the simplest construction of unpainted planks.
On one of the cross benches of this vehicle sat a
fine-looking elderly man, with a young wife and a
lovely child — people of education proceeding finally
to a piece of uncleared land on which a log-hut had
been put up for them. They were by no means
unhopeful of their future ; but rougher-made people
were naturally disposed to estimate more lightly
than they could the probable hardships of their new
life. Other vehicles followed, of any description
that would go on wheels without jolting to fragments
on the rocks. Men, women, and children all carried
bundles of every size, shape, and hue. A baggage
cart brought up the rear. At the time of our visit
BRACEBRIDGE.
55
fifty or sixty people were arriving by this route
every clay.
Another steamer took us over Lake Muskoka, a
lovely sheet of water dotted with picturesque islands,
with steep, hilly, winding banks, dense with forests
to the water's edge. The shades of night were
falling as we reached Bracebridge. The moon rose
above the great pine trees, and made a wide path-
way of silver across the dark waters. Near the
landing-stage, a mass of blazing pine-logs revealed
the black shadows of the surrounding woods, and
flecked the waters below with red and gold.
The news of our visit had preceded our arrival.
A group of thirty or forty big, rough men welcomed
the Attorney General with ringing cheers. A
second bonfire lit up the village itself. In a short
time a supper, with ales and wines, was prepared
for fifty or sixty persons. The reeve presided, and
speeches, patriotic, and humorous, and explanatory,
and promissory, were made up to two o'clock in
the morning. The people wanted roads, railways,
and a separate township, and were willing to tax
themselves to assist in getting what they wished.
They spoke good sense, in good Plnglish, some
with a Scotch accent, and showed some natural pride
in recounting what they had done within the past
four or five years, and a great confidence in the
future prosperity of the district.
In the morning we could see that a most romantic
spot had been chosen for the little town. The
Vr.
1
t
!f;
i;
■W: l\
f' .;
'1 !■
II ^
■■:
56
T///i CANADIAN DOMINION.
narrow but deep and very lively Muskoka river
winds round the place, with a set of falls in full
view, and another at a short distance. Of course,
saw-mills were in busy operation. At a bend in the
stream floated a quantity of saw-logs. The log
huts, and wooden cottages, and frame houses two or
three stories high, at different elevations on the hilly
ground, with a great variety of outline, gave the
most picturesque views. All around were clearings
in the wood, and fields still choked with stumps.
There were a number of stores, and all were bustling
and prosperous. Anything conceivable, apparently,
was to be obtained there, and, as I discovered, at
but a trifling advance upon Toronto prices. The
artisan here has a hundred acres in the bush. Free
public schools are opened. Presbyterian, Methodist,
and P2piscopal churches are already formed. ' The
Northern Advocate* has a circulation of 1,100 a
week. The hotels — Victoria, the Royal, and the
Dominion (signs significant) — at present sleep their
superabundant guests in rows upon the floors, while
their accommodation is being increased. The emi-
grant agent here had disposed of 60,000 acres of
land within the past two months.
Muskoka is but one of a series of lakes affording
a natural communication through the Free Grant
district. Rousseau, beyond, is an eminently pic-
turesque sheet of water, of irregular shape, filled
with islands, large and small, with hilly, well-wooded
shores ; and yet perhaps Lake St. Joseph, still more
LAKE ST. JOSEPH.
57
north, may boast even greater beauty. This region
is destined one day to be visited by summer tourists,
as Lakes Georji^e and Champlain now are in New
England, or our own small lakes in Old England.
We bathed in each, and fished from canoes or row-
boats lent us by the settlers. A considerable pro-
portion of the land with a water frontage is already
taken up. In a few years all the land will be settled,
at least up to Lake Nipissing, where the Pacific
route will cross.
The proportion of land capable of cultivation
through the district is probably fifty per cent. In
some sections it was estimated at sixty or even at
seventy per cent. Scotch settlers often told us that
the most stony districts were no worse than those
parts of the old country from which they cai'ie;
and if half the extent of a farm can be used for
purposes of agriculture it is abundantly sufficient.
The wooded half will supply the settler with material
for his out-buildings, barns, and fences, and with the
important article of fuel. In the wildest parts, too,
a rank grass grows freely round the stones, on which
the cattle feed well. Tht settlers send out their
beasts into the woods in the spring, and find them
in the fall in excellent condition. We frequently
met with roaming cattle, marked and belled, and
always plump and healthy.
Hears are now very rarely to be met. Moose
and elk are occasionally stalked. Partridge, duck,
and various small game are common. The lakes
f. •.
•r.h-
'S¥f
-, I':-
I.*!
1 !
1
1,
1
•i -
1
i;
>
1
H
•
1
f
9
1
•1
1 '
ss
77//i CANADIAN DOMINION.
ami streams affonl an extraordinary abundance of
fine trout, bass, white fish, and what is here called
herrinjr.
We constantly met parties of two to half a dozen
men makinj^ their way with ^uns throujijh the woods,
with the view of choosin}^ settlements. Sometimes
one or two of these would be commissioned to select,
lots for friends at home who intended to join them.
Some were Canadians, others old country folk ; they
camped out in rough style in the woods, or made
their way at night to a settler's house or a shanty
tavern.
I had the honour of suggesting a name for a spot
that may possibly attain to importance. At a cer-
tain point the waters of St. Joseph approach within
about two hundred yards of Lake Rousseau ; a strip
of sand, easy to work, forming the division. Some
thirty men were at work cutting this through, and
embanking the channel solidly with stone. We
encamped here one night on a wooded knoll over-
looking the two lakes. I took a lesson in wood-
chopi ing, and felled, but with many a wasted stroke,
two trees. It was a pleasant experience to stand
back, just after the last blow, and see the tottering
tree sweep down from among its fellows with a
thundering crash. It was more difficult to stand on
the trunk afterwards and cut it into logs by strokes
directed between the outstretched feet.
Before our canvas tents blazed a magnificent fire
of pine logs. Here we broiled our fish and pork
PORT SAND FIELD,
s»
ami cooked our tea. A recent settler prayed our
acceptance of the first jjotatot-s j^rown on Lake
Joseph ; they turned out from our pot whit<-', flaky
halls of unecjualled deliciousness. Another settler
brouj^ht out from his pocket a s|)eclmen ear of
Indian corn about a foot lon^, and excellently
.ripened.
We ate suppers hearty enoujjfh to have ^iven us
all nij^htmare in any sj)ot less free and wild than
this. Then members of Government sanj^ patriotic
sonji^s, and some backwoodsmen, and the men on the
works close by, attracted to our camp, sang sonj^s,
sentimental and comic. The stars were lonj^ out
when we crawled into our tents, rolled ourselves in
blankets, and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night our quiet was dis-
turbed by a wild cry of alarm. I sprang up, and
found the place at my side vacant At the tent
door loomed the spectral figure of the Attorney-
General, dark against the glowing light of the camp
fire, with extended arms and wild gestures. The
cry of fire died on his lips. ' I thought I was in
a house in flames,' he said penitently, and crept
quietly back.
In the morning a great plank was procured. In
open block letters I inscribed on it the name
newly decided on for the place. The plank was
nailed up to a pine before the assembled party. In
the name of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and of
the Dominion of Canada, the Reverend Mr. Herring
m
'I'
Vv
ff
1'
- ; ^ " 'i
i •■^!
■ 11
■ \l
I III
il
6e
T//£ CANADIAN DOMINION
Christ ned the place Port Sand field. We added our
acclamations.
We visited a great number of the houses of the
settlers up to Parry's Sound on the Georgian Bay.
In no instance did we find anyone disheartened or
faring ill. No doubt their life was hard, and labo-
rious, and somewhat solitary ; but they had all
apparently come to like it. Every man knew his
neighbours and received help from them, giving his
own assistance in turn. We met at different points
the son of a Devonshire clergyman and the nephew
of a Lord Mayor of London, each contented and
resolved to stay. We found also a number of Lon-
doners who had been assisted out by Mr. Herring,
and who were overjoyed at the unexpected sight of
the face of an old friend. Without any exception,
such settlers from the old country expressed their
.satisfaction at the change in their condition, and
declined the thought of returning. I do not question
that, on the whole, they were getting on as well as
the Canadians from the old province.
Now that roads and steamboats are opening com-
munication through the country, the coarse of rais
ing a new home in the back-woods is by iio means
so arduous an undertaking as it may appear to our
imagination at home. The first thing to be done is
the selection of a piece of land. The Government
agent for the district will always assist intelligently
with his advice. Sor:c old settler or hotel-keeper
can always be found, for a dollar or a dollar and a
WORK IN THE BACKWOODS.
6t
half a clay, to go out with a new comer, and show
him the country and the most eligible plots.
The allotment decided on and secured at the
agent's office, the settler must find a lodging till his
own house is up. But this is no difficult matter ; all
the people are neighbourly, and will gladly offer
what accommodation they have for a small remu-
neration for the short time the new comer remains
houseless.
Not far from the roadway, and, if possible, near
some stream or lake, the settler fi.xes upon tiie site
for his dwelling. Then he strips to his shirt sleeves,
and falls to work vigorously with his axe. At fell-
ing two men should work together, for the saving of
labour and for company's sake. If the .settler has
no friend or sturdy son with him, he can hire or
borrow help near by.
It is a pleasant sight to sec a good a.xeman at
work. He stands erect ; with well planted feet, with
throat bare, and probably with bare arms, lie lifts his
axe aloft against the towering majesty of the forest-
tree. The Canadian axe is small and very thick,
and seems a ridiculous weapon against its great
opponents. The handle is very long and bent in
shai)e. The man swings the axe high aln>ve his
head ; his right hand, sli|)ping down tht: long handle,
guides the stroke; the weight of the falling blow,
with little muscular effort, drives the axe edge deep
into the trunk. After some practice not a stroke is
lost. The woods resound with the gay rhythm of
%
'<!
A\
..♦ -i
63
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
k ' :
V ,."
t
i i . ■
1 :
-l-li
the alternating blows. A great notch, a foot or two
.icross, grows on either side of the tree. The forest
giant totters. The men pause and look up ; wield
the axe again, then step back. The direction in
which the tree must fall is always determined by
some irregularity in its growth or eccentricity of its
position. It is a splendid moment when it comes
crashing down, shaking the earth and sending the
noise of its fall through the woods. The branches
are lopped off and pil(;d for burning. The trunk is
divided into logs for the house.
When enough logs are ready, a ' bee ' is held, and
all the neighbours round flock to assist in raising the
new dwelling. The 'bee' is popular ; it affords a
pleasant variety and excitement to th<! back-wooils
life, it appeals to the social propensities, it allows
opportunity for talk, advice, and the forming of new
actpiaintanceshipH. Hesides, everyone who comes is
expecting to have a bee himself, for getting in his
wheat, or raising a sh<*d, or building his second
house. The bee in the backwoods is the fete, the
club, the ball, the town-hall, the labour convention of
the wiiole community.
Several members of our Muskoka party assisti^l
for a short time at one of these gatherings. A
fmer score of mtMi than th(»st,' whom we found as-
sembled it wouKl be ditt'icult anywhere to meet.
Most of them were young, but the new settler him-
self ami several of the others were men past tlu*
prime of life. They all worked with a will, whist-
LOG HOUSES.
6j
HiiLl or sin^injj, with bits of talk and an occasional
joke. At a nc'ij^hbour's house, lent for the occasion,
there was a table well spread with pork and beans,
and j^ood bread, and strong tea, for the noonday
nv ^1. It is a j^eneral custom, well honoured in the
observance, not to offer ale or stronj^ drink on these
occasions. The expense would In,' too i^n'at for
many an immij^rant ; and, besides, the men meet
to},^ether for hard work.
I tri(;d to use an axe upon the new house. !)ut
ratlu r to the amusement of the men by my awk-
wanlness than l(» their assistance. The Attorney-
Cleneriil. however, was pronouncetl by them with
admiration ' an old hand.' The j^M'eat lo};s are
Inid on the beaten earth in a s(|uare, perhaps of forty
i-.-K'':. Ijy thirty. Hy deep notches the corners are
jointed tojrciiu^r. .Some inecpialilies of the surface
are removed. The next tier of selected loj^s is
placed on, and so jointed as to make llu; (riuls of the
side logs fit between ihost; of the front anil back,
rhe bark outside is left on and aids the picturt s<pie-
n«'ss of the building. The insiile throughout is
smoothed level. TIu: interstices are \\\\i i\ in with
small branches and clay. I'he doorways and win-
ilows are cut through after the whole wall is raised.
.\ll this can be done in a day. 'ihe sloping roof, built
of hollow, divided logs, fitted one into the other, can
be put on by two men afterwards.
.Sometimes \\\v. log-house is Iiuilt of two stori<'S,
or at least with a loft. It is solid auil comfortable,
•''Hi
■■»li
■ I;
I'
64
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
wind-proof and rain-proof, and will last many years.
The morticed corners are often smoothed plain, and
the bark is som*^times cut away in a pattern round
the windows. Some of these log dwellings suggest
a model type for a gentleman's country residence.
There is one absolute essential which the new
settler must procure, and with that he may move at
once into his new home. He must have a stove for
cooking, and for warmth through the long winter.
Of course it is better if he can take with him also
bed, boxes, chairs, a gun, and a few books. And, if
he has a family with him, he should certainly take
pork, flour, and tea to last till the next summer, or
money enough to buy these, h'orty or fifty pounds
will carry a man with a snail family pretty comfort-
ably through his first winter and spring, the time of
his chief difficulties.
But a lusty young man, with a taste for * roughing
it.' need not hesitate to commence in the bush with-
out a cent. He can get work enough on the first
day of his arrival to pay for his food. He can join
a settler in clearing his plot on condition of receiving
similar assistance. In the growing towns he can
always earn some spare money. If put to a push,
he can get a dollar or a dollar and a (juarter a day
at some; lumberinjj works, and there is always one
near. We found such men, who had come there
penniless, and were now doing well.
The dwelling up, the man proceeds at once, with
what help he can to clear two or three or more
THE SETTLER'S PROGRESS.
^'5
acres. The best lumber he can sell, paying certain
government dues ; the rest he burns, with all the
underwood. His first crop — wheat, barley, beans,
potatoes — will be an extraordinary one, unless he is
a man born without luck. Of grain he should get
fifty bushels to the acre, notwithstanding the stumps.
Of potatoes he will get a preposterous yield. Then
he will lay this down in grass, and proceed to clear
four acres more.
The good wife should have her cows, and pigs,
and multitudinous poultry.
The settler has no need to seek a market. The
Kmibering shanties will buy of him at double prices
everything eatiible he can offer. The rising indus-
trial centres also alvl the demand.
In three or four years the log-house becomes too
small for the settler's increased family and growing
importance. He builds a new one of squared
timbers, and uses the old place for cattle or horses.
In five years more a new change is necessary,
'i'he wilderness has become a cultivated settlement.
The stumps are rotted and pulled out ; save for the
snake-fence his farm looks like a piece of Old ling-
land. He has built great barns, for they cost
nothing but the labour. His cattle and sheep are
well housed ; but he is always wanting more room.
Once more he sets to work building, but by this
time a town has grown up near him, and he can
()i)tain any kind of labour he desires. If his tastes
are prettMitious, he ilecidcs on a stone residence,
:i
a
y»'::'!
t. '•'k
"fm
■■f
66
•':
TIFF. CAXADIAN DOM/N/OX.
M
•I
■I
I
with a hamlsome portico. But, more probably, he
will build an cKj^ant frame house, with pretty bal
conies and a wide verandah.
These are the steps of projj^ress to be seen all
throu<jh Canada, The man of industry and intelli-
j^once is certain to achieve an independent position
for himself and his family.
He will have hardships on the way, no doubt.
One well-to-do farmer told me of a time when he
and his family, snowed up, were reduced to a diet of
barley-meal seasoned with rat-skins. Another man,
whose farmhouse is now surrounded by villas, tt)ld
me humorously of his return once from market,
with a bi^ saucepan, when, throuj^h the darkness of
the nij^ht, he .searched about on his own farm for
hours for his shanty in vain, and at length .slept on
the ground, with his head insiile the pot for shelter.
Me stated that he had often passed a week on his
clearing without the sight of a human creature, and
at last had married a wife to save himself growing
deaf and dumb. The old lady told me that on her
marrying she used to drive to market in the winter
on the smooth snow roads with a hogshead for her
carriage.
' It was just as good driving as in a sleigh,'
said she ; * but my daugiiter would not think so, I
guess.'
' I should be afraid of tipping out, mamma,' was
the answer.
•And what harm? you could get in again.' the
KDUCATIOX IN THE HACK WOODS.
67
old lady rejoined testily. ' But the jj^irls think them-
selves (juite younj^ ladies now-a-days ! '
I confess I thoujjht this myself of the bloominj^,
blushinjtf j^irl who sat by.
In some instances considerable difficulty is found
in obtaininj^ suitable instruction for the children.
The settlers, however, as a rule, are well aware of
the importance of education, and the first public
enterprise in a new settlement is usually the buildinj^
of a school-house. The educational department,
alive to the importance of proviilinjj^ instruction in
the new districts, always assists liberally in meeting
the annual expenses. The use of the school-house
is allowed to the various denominations for relij^ious
services on the .Sunday.
At Port Carlinj^, a small cluster of huts in Mus-
koka, we found a school of twenty-two children in
the upper story of a general store. Many of the
children were bonnetless, some had bare feet ; but
they were all healthy-lookinj^, and seemed fairly iii-
tellijj^ent. The copy-books and readinij were very
creditable. ' What is the meaning of that word you
have just read, "stumbling?"' we asked. ' It is
half-falling, sir,' replied one .)f the boys, after a mo-
nuMt's pause.
On the whole, there do(.'S not apjjear the least
doubt that tens of thousands of our hard working
population at home would hnd tiieir position greatly
improved on these free-grant settlements. It was
our general conviction that new comers just out from
'.J-
^
i 2
. .?■••,.;
t
■
es
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
the old country did quite as well here as Canadians
from the settled districts. If a man is healthy and
stronj( and means to work, he has nothing to fear
here, and everything to hope.
The regulations of the government grant are very
simple. To an unmarried man one hundred acres is
the quantity given freely, but he is permitted to pur-
chase an additional hundred acres at the nominal
rate of fifty cents per acre, or two shillings English.
The head of a family is allowed two hundred acres,
and an additional hundred for every boy and girl
over eighteen years of age. He has also the
privilege of buying a limited quantity in aildition, if
he desire it, at the rate of fifty cents per ^cre. The
land is absolutely given without charge ; but always,
and solely, on condition of fulfilling the ' settlement
duties.' These are : to clear at least fifteen acres out
of every hundred within five years, and to build a
dwelling-house on the property.
These conditions fulfilled — and they are found
wholly unburdensome — the settler receives at the
end of the five years a patent establishing his right
to the land. He is then at liberty to sell, but not
before.
These regulations are framed with the intention
of securing bona-fide settlers, and not land specu-
lators, or mere fellers of timber.
The free-grant lands are practically inexhaust-
ible. About twenty townships are now open to
settlers in Muskoka; others are being surveyed.
EXTENT OE THE EREEGRANT LANDS. 69
The vast rej^ion reaching up to Lake Nipissing is
being surveyed.
Nine townships in County Victoria and four town-
ships in North Peterborough are open for settle-
ment.
These are in Ontario. Similar districts are
already open, and others are being rapidly prepared,
in the lower province of Quebec.
In both provinces the government are engaged in
surveying and building new roads. Railway com-
panies are finding it to their interest to run lines of
the new narrow gauge to open up the new country.
Then west of Lake Superior stretches an enor-
mous tract of rich prairie and woodland, destined to
be the home of new and powerful states.
Immigration to Canada, which for some years
past has been steadily increasing, is likely soon to
attain to very large dimensions.
"1
'; -If
T ■,••-'"1
s
/-hi
■ ft
H.M
a
TO
TIIK CANADIAN DOMINION.
\\
*'
CHAPTER VI.
THE FARAfINC, INTEREST,
I *t I ¥
Beyond all question agriculture is the mainstay
and the making of Canada. It is estimated that
eijifhty per cent of the adult male population is en-
gaj^ed, directly or indirectly, in the cultivation of the
soil. In a constantly increasing degree intelligence
is being added to labour, and larger capital employed
in improved methods of farming.
In the year 1841 the province of Ontario (for-
merly Canada West) produced 3,221,991 bushels of
wheat; in 1861,24,620,425 bushels, an increase of
664 per cent, in twenty years.
At the date of the last census, 1861, the two
Canadas, with the maritime provinces, produced over
forty-three million bushels of oats, five and a half
million bushels of barley, thirty-six million bushels
of potatoes, twenty million bushels of turnips, over
two million tons of hay, fifty-two million pounds of
butter, and a hundred and twenty-three million pounds
of pork. These large figures may serve to suggest the
great advance Canada has already made from its
primitive forest condition. It is believed that the
1
VALUE OF PROPERTY.
7«
census for 1871 will show an increase of fifty per
cent, on the last returns.
The accumulated wealth of the country in st«>ck
is enormous. The figures for 1861 stood as follows
for the provinces now included in the Dominion :
Horses
11 1 /'-..I \ Milch cows .
Horned Cattle < ^,
I Neat cattle .
Sheep
Swine
Total animals
706,979
966,875
1,309,070
1,207^164
6,600,624
A carefully compiled estimate of values made at
the date of the last census, 1 86 1 , gave the following
particulars :
Value of farms |$(546,ooo,ooo = £109,000,000
„ Agricultural imple.
ments
}
25,000,000 ss 5,000,000
„ Horses, cattle, &c. 1 20,000,000 ss 24,000,000
Beyond all question the return of 1871 will show
a great increase on all these items.
In one important respect — the quantities of land
brought under cultivation — the progress made by
Canada in the ten years preceding the last census can
be made easily apparent. In 185 1 the quantity of
acres occupied in the two provinces Upper and
Lower Canada were 17,939,825 ; in 186 1 the figures
were increased to 23,730,325. In 1851 the number
of acres under actual cultivation in the two Canadas
were 7,300,930; in 1861 the figures had risen most
satisfactorily to 10,855,854 acres.
v.^;
li-
■^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
k
A
%^ M^..
■f .%^ '""^^
i; . "ii^
:a
^^
f/,
4a
1.0
I.I
itt IIIIIM
lis
IM
1.8
1-25 U 11.6
■• 6"
►
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
/..
^
vV
^
72
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
It is safe to predict that the next returns will show
at least a corresponding advance.
For the most part the land is owned in properties
of moderate extent. A numerous class of working
farmers, somewhat like the yeomen of Old England,
is springing up to be the strength and health of the
country. The following table, in which the returns
of the two provinces Upper and Lower Canada are
combined, may possess in this view a peculiar in-
terest :
Properties of lo acres and less .
. 11,246
From ID acres to 20
. 5,861
» 20 „ „ 50
. 46,704
„ 50 „ „ 100 .
. 108,932
„ 100 „ „ 200 .
• 53,075
Over 200
• 11,836
The large proportion of farmers of about a
hundred acres will, without doubt, still be shown in
the census figures for next year. The policy
adopted by the government in the disposal of the
Crown lands distinctly favours the increase of farms
of about that size.
There has been but little scientific farming as yet
in Canada. The men have been too busy, the capi-
tal employed has been too small, the necessity for
immediate returns from the soil too great. In all
the newly-settled districts the most rough-and-ready
style of farming will prevail for a considerable time
to come. In some sections of the country injury
has resulted to the land from the farmer's lack of
knowledge. This appears to be notably the case in
CANADIAN FARMING.
73
some parts of the lower province, among the French
Canadians, whose disposition and habits dispose them
to an existence of content and quiet rather than to
enterprises demanding risk.
But an era of improvement has already come. In
the older-settled districts a scientific system of farm-
ing is being adopted. Even in the conservative
lower provinces several schools of agriculture have
been established, and a system of rotation of crops
is becoming general.
One of the most palpable signs of this improve-
ment is found in the greatly increasing use of excel-
lent farming implements. Factories for improved
ploughs, mowers, and reapers are everywhere spring-
ing up. The farmer has too much work to do in so
short a season in Canada, and has such extreme
difficulty in obtaining all the assistance he could use,
that labour-saving machines have become a great
necessity. Canada claims to have passed both
England and the United States in the value, per
head of the population, of the agricultural implements
employed.
The virgin soil of the country is ordinarily so
rich that the settler finds no inducement to treat it
with consideration. W/heat crops are frequently
raised in constant succession, and with little or no
diminution of return, for over a dozen years. An
utterly systemless style of farming has in conse-
quence prevailed in many districts. Farm manure
is frequently thrown away, to save the trouble of
•■■mk
■i"^ ':
I'M
74
TIf£ CANADIAN DOMINION
^A :".
I
I'
carrying it to the land. When the soil at length
becomes too impoverished to yield a paying return,
farmers of the old-fashioned type sell out at low
prices and move to new ground. A farmer knowing
his business buys the place, and quickly makes it
pay better than before.
The draining of the land in the old-established
districts is now proceeding in all directions. Several
draining-ploughs, or ditch-excavators, have been in-
vented, and are coming into use, for running the
lines for the draining-pipes. These implements are,
I understand, expressly of Canadian invention and
manufacture.
Throughout Canada farmers' societies have now
been formed for the discussion of agricultural matters
and the dissemination of intelligence. A number
of agricultural journals are also in general circula-
tion. But perhaps the most effective, as it certainly
is the most popular, means of improving the farming
of the country, is to be found in the agricultural
fairs that have lately become general through the
Dominion. Almost every township, in Ontario at
least, has its annual show of farming implements
and produce ; each district has its show in addition,
sometimes an annual one ; and, besides these, the
great Provincial Agricultural Exhibitions are held
annually, moving the place of exhibition each year.
A District Agricultural Fair was held in London,
Ontario, during my stay there. London the Little
the energetic town is called, to distinguish it from
AGRICULTURAL FAIRS.
75
another London, by the people who have heard of
both.
The fair was held for three days towards the end
of September. Nearly ten thousand persons passed
within the grounds during the last day. The scene
presented a fair picture of prosperity, content, and
advancement. The stalwart, burly, jovial farmers
would have compared favourably with any similar
gathering in the old country. Their wives, plainly
dressed, absorbed in examining improved butter-
churns and wringing machines, looked cheerful and
well-to-do, but sometimes rather too sun-dried. The
daughters, plump and rosy-cheeked, daintily trimmed
from feather to shoe-buckle, casting demure glances
from the calves and sheep among the crowd, in
search of acquaintances, seemed the very models of
young housewives to make a new farm complete —
as many of the tall young farmers, in cut-away coats
and astonishing caps, evidently concluded. There
appeared little danger, I thought, of the farming lands
being less well- managed by the new generation.
The fine display of produce surprised me. Wheat,
barley, oats, and other cereals were well represented.
Maize, or corn, as it is uniformly called on this con-
tinent, though less grown than in the United States,
showed excellent samples. The roots and vegetables
were surprisingly fine. A field pumpkin which I
measured was four feet ten inches in circumference ;
a squash eight feet three inches, weighing one
hundred and fifty pounds. The potatoes were the
■,• -Ma
V !;■;■■,
.1
K t.
'1
'PI
'.• .'V
'•V -■:
1
%•
■I
.1
J I"*
T *
if'-' ti
it \ai
76
7W^ CANADIAN DOMINION.
finest I have ever seen, but were too large to be
ornamental on a dinner-table. There were a great
number of varieties ; the meshamoc, ruby seedling,
and early rose being perhaps the best. Citrons,
melons, marrows, and tomatoes were also exception-
ally large and fine.
Many of the fruit specimens would infallibly have
taken prizes at an English show. Upwards of a
hundred varieties of apples were exhibited. For
cooking, there were the Cayuga, Red-streak, or
Twenty-ounce pippin, an imposing fruit, measuring
sometimes over fifteen inches ; the Alexander, of a
glorious crimson ; the Red Astrachan or Snow-apple,
so named popularly from the whiteness of the pulp ;
the Gravenstein, Baldwin, and many others. For
dessert, there were the Fameuse, the Streaked St.
Lawrence, the Spitzenburg, the Seek-no-farther, of
gold and red.
Even in California, the orchard of the Union, the
superiority of Canadian apples was, to my surprise,
confessed. Vast quantities are exported to England,
and sold simply as American, their nationality being
lost.
In pears we had the musky-flavoured Bartlett ;
the red and russet Beurre Clairgeaux, of ideal shape ;
the Flemish Beauty, with a fine melting flesh ; the
small, fragrant Seckel, the standard of excellence.
Plums were good ; the peaches indifferent. Open-
air grapes showed to great advantage. I will name
a few varieties : the Delaware, a prolific vine, with a
lilliii
EXHIBITIONS OF LIVE STOCK.
77
honeyed claret-coloured grape ; the Concord, with
a compact, shouldered cluster of dark fruit ; the
delicious Hertford Prolific ; the sweet Creveling,
the strangely-tinted Diana, the Clinton, Catawba,
Isabella, and others especially fit for wine.
There was a good collection of foliage plants and
of flowers. Canada has advanced far beyond the
stage in which a people is solely occupied in pro-
viding for the necessities of life.
At this single district exhibition the following
entries in live stock were made :
j-**y
.■ ( ■
■ '*j
.■ i '.
.ni
1, •
■ e;
'vi
i- '
''.-If
'"• -i
■ «i'
V' *: '
"%
^'^vV
•if
-m
Homed cattle
Sheep .
Horses .
Pigs .
Total
• 360
. 640
. 200
1.530
There were excellent Durhams, Devons, and
Ayrshire cattle ; Cotswold and Leicester sheep ;
Essex, Suffolk, and other well-known breeds of pigs ;
and many excellent draught and road horses. I had
already seen at various farm establishments that
much attention was given to stock-raising ; but I was
not prepared for the evidence of such a wide-spread
interest in this branch of the farmer's occupation and
such a general excellence of result as I found here.
I was still more surprised at the great variety and
excellence of the agricultural implements exhibited.
Beautifully made ploughs were priced at fifteen
dollars and upwards. A splendid piece of machinery,
-'■ I
78
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
a thresher and separator, with ten-horse power
enghies, cost 340 dollars, or about 70/. Others less
elaborate were offered at lower prices. A newly-
invented Canadian drain-tile ditching machine was
at work, digging cleanly out a ditch of five or six
feet in depth, and was priced at 130 dollars (26/.).
But the most interesting pieces of construction
were perhaps the hand-raker with mower, and com-
bined self-raker and mowing-machines, ranging from
130 dollars to 160 dollars. They were calculated to
perform with ease the work of several men. And,
however high the cost, it must be soon saved in a
country like this, where labour is highly paid, and
difficult to obtain at the needed moment.
There were, besides cultivators of different kinds,
fanning-mills, straw-cutters, grain-crackers, root-
cutters, &c. ; and a number of improved gates,
pumps, log-raisers, stump-extractors, &c.
The fair of which I have been speaking was not
the result of unusual efforts. It was but one of
many district exhibitions held annually, and was to
be followed in ten days by the great Provincial
Agricultural Fair, appointed to be held in Toronto,
in the same division of the country.
At an extremely small town, Chatham, in the
south-west of Ontario, I visited, a few days later,
another annual exhibition, marked by all the charac-
teristics of the Little London one, but on a smaller
scale, commensurate with the diminished importance
of the place. All the specimens shown of grain.
STOCK FARMS.
79
roots, and vegetables were excellent, and the variety
and number of improved agricultural implements
noticeably large.
Increased attention is being shown throughout
the Dominion to the raising of stock. Both in
Quebec and Ontario there are now large stock-farms
which yield heavy returns to their proprietors, and
are useful in assisting to improve the breed of cattle,
horses, and sheep through the country. Choice
animals are imported from England, and stock raised
from them is sold freely at high prices. The Cana-
dian has the old English love of fine animals about
his farm — a fondness that is not diminished by- the
fact that superior meat, wool, or capacity of labour
more than repays the additional outlay.
It is difficult to speak with precision of the returns
of grain commonly yielded to the farmer in this
country ; the amount varying much, according to the
climate, the soil, and the cultivation. I have seen
some fields that yielded forty bushels to the acre ;
others, not far distant, giving perhaps but fifteen.
In one of the southern counties of Ontario I re-
marked one morning a particularly poor-looking crop
of Indian corn ; on the same day, in the same
county, I walked through a field of, I suppose, forty
acres of this splendid plant, growing to a height of
eighteen to twenty feet, and yielding thirty-seven
tons to the acre as a food for cattle. It was then
being cut down green. I plucked an ear nearly ripe
eighteen inches long, and out of curiosity counted
f* ■
,■'
^
\'
lUi!'
m^
80
T/f£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
*'■. si
r
!• 11
■ ill
it
!!l||
1 1
* II!'
the large grains of the ear. They numbered 600 ;
an enormous increase on the sown grain.
An approximate average, however, of the returns
of the soil can be offered. I will quote, as a trust-
worthy authority, a pamphlet issued in 1869 by the
authority of the Government of Ontario :
' The average yield of wheat in some townships
exceeds twenty-two bushels to the acre, and where
an approach to good farming prevails the yield rises
to thirty and often forty bushels to the acre. On
new land, fifty bushels is not very uncommon ; and
it must not be forgotten that Canadian wheat, grown
near the city of Toronto, won a first prize at the
Paris Exhibition. It may truly be said that the soil
of what may be termed the agricultural portion of
Canada, which comprises four-fifths of the inhabited
portion, and a vast area still in the hands of the
government, and now open to settlement, is unex-
ceptionable ; and when deterioration takes place it is
the fault of the farmer, and not of the soil.'
An impression, I think, has generally prevailed
with us that, as an agricultural country, Canada
compares to great disadvantage with the United
States. I should not judge this, however, from
personal observation and enquiry in the two coun-
tries. On both sides of the boundary line the land
is cultivated with, apparently, an equal lack of the
neatness and care that distinguish the farming of
the long-settled countries of the Old World. And
on either side of the line the soil seems to give an
CENSUS KETURNS.
Sr
equally abundant return to the slight labour bestowed
on it. The Canadian farm looks as prosperous as
the American ; the house and farm-buildings and
the home comforts of the Ontario farmer compare
well with those of the farmer of New York State or
Ohio.
I have no kind of wish to snatch an advantage for
Canada at the expense of the great Republic on her
borders. It is perhaps only fair, however, to the
younger and smaller people, to allow them to state
their own case with the best chance of attracting
attention to their position. They claim to be no
whit behind their neighbours in agricultural pros-
perity ; and dare even to assert, giving openly the
figures in proof, that lately their rate of advance has
been greater than that of the States. I will quote
again from the authorised pamphlet mentioned
above, prepared under the management of the Hon.
John Carling, the Commissioner of Agriculture for
Ontario, and, as I was assured by him, completed
with the greatest care, to insure fairness and
accuracy :
' Durino; the interval between the last census and
the preceding one the decennial increase of popula-
tion in Canada exceeded that in the United States by
nearly 5^ per cent. ; Canada adding 40*87 per cent,
to her population in ten years, while the United
States added only 35*58 per cent, to theirs. She
brought her wild lands into cultivation at a rate, in
nine years, exceeding the rate of increase of culti-
G
■ '4
;4
3<
82
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
l; 1.
m
ii ■'%
vated lands in the United States, in ten years, by
nearly 6 per cent.; Canada, in i860, having added
50 acres of cultivated land to every 100 acres under
cultivation in 1851, while the United States, in i860,
had only added 44 acres to every 100 acres under
cultivation in 1850. The value per cultivated acre
of the farming lands of Canada in i860 exceeded
the value per cultivated acre of the farming lands of
the United States ; the average value per culti-
vated acre in Canada being iS'20.87, and in the
United States ,^17.32. In Canada a larger capita!
was invested in agricultural implements, in propor-
tion to the amount of land cultivated, than in the
United States; the average value of agricultural
implements used on a farm having 100 cultivated
acres being in Canada iS'182, and in the United
States (S'l 50. In proportion to population, Canada
in i860 raised twice as much wheat as the United
States ; Canada in that year raising 1 1 "02 bushels
for each inhabitant, while the United States raised
only 5*50 bushels for each inhabitant. Bulking
together eight leading staples of agriculture — wheat,
corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, peas and beans,
and potatoes — Canada, between 1851 and i860,
increased her proportion of these articles from
57,000,000 to 123,000,000 bushels, an increase of
1 13 per cent; while the United States in ten years,
from 1850 to i860, increased their productions
of the same articles only 45 per cent. In i860
Canada raised of those articles 49*12 bushels for each
COMPARISON OF ONTARIO AND NE W YORK. 83
inhabitant, against a production in the United States
of 43*42 bushels for each inhabitant. Excluding
Indian corn from the list, Canada raised of the
remaining articles 48*07 bushels for each inhabitant,
almost three times the rate of production in the
United States, which was 1674 bushels for each
inhabitant. As regards live stock and their products,
Canada in i860, in proportion to her population,
owned more horses and more cows, made more
butter, kept more sheep, and had a greater yield of
wool, than the United States.'
The figures for Canada in this statement are ob-
tained from the returns of the conjoined provinces
of Ontario and Quebec ; the former having, however,
a greater prosperity than the latter, which is to a
large extent occupied by a conservative French
population. The rate of advance, therefore, of the
Anglo-Saxon province of Ontario has been still
more remarkable than the above comparison in-
dicates. The Ontarians may be forgiven for asking
our attention to this. I will quote Mr. Carling's
pamphlet again :
' Of fall wheat New York sowed within some
28,000 acres of the breadth sown in Ontario, but we
reaped over 2,000,000 bushels more than they did.
The average quantity of oats raised by us in 1861 was
fully more than 31 bushels per acre, but New York
only averaged 17 bushels per acre. New York
reaped 19,052,853 bushels of oats from 1,109,565
acres sown ; whilst our Western farmers, from
: i.:
.via
.m
'^V'^
:M
• ■».'''',ivTi
G 2
Vv
1 ••: '';
TT-
ii
•I
!'
i
i
I ^•ill
Ri ^ifl
I. ?
1^ .^y
84
77/i? CANADIAN DOMINION.
678,337 acres, took off no less than 21,220,874
bushels. This fact of itself speaks volumes for the
fertility of Canadian soil. The small quantity of
turnips raised in New York appears singular, our
returns being 18,206,950 bushels as against 1,282,388.
Taking the returns all in all, they indicate that our
farmers have nothing to envy in the Empire State,
and that, either as regards excellent soil or good
farming, we can compare favourably with our neigh-
bours.'
8s
CHAPTER VII.
NIAGARA.
The Dominion may claim the dignity of possessing
the most magnificent spectacle of falling waters in
the world. Of the multitudes who have heard of the
fame of Niagara, few perhaps are accustomed to
associate the name with that of Canada.
The Falls of Niagara are shared between the
New Dominion and the United States. The boun-
dary-linc; passes through their troubled waters ; but
from the position of the Falls, broken into by a rocky
island dense with woods, the chief panoramic view
of the whole mass is to be obtained on the Canada
side. The inferior division of the great flood, the
American Falls, though within the United States,
makes its tremendous plunge in full face of the
Canada shore. Then, separated by an abrupt wall
of rock, the exposed base of Goat Island, the main
body of the river rolls headlong down, forming the
world-renowned Horse-shoe Falls which divide
Canada from the States. Below the feet of the
observer the great river, broken into whirlpools of
foam and spray, rushes hurriedly away along the
^?',
..^>^
: ^ ' ♦''
p.
'.»*/
I ■:'!■:
-t^nh
11 ■■::!;.:
86
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
deep chasm which the Falls have fashioned for it
during countless ages. Rolling masses of vaporous
spray rise up to the heaven ; sunrise and sunset
transform them to clouds of the most delicate hues ;
the moonlight lends them a mysterious beauty.
The Indian says it is the incense of the world rising
to the Great Spirit. The grandeur of the scene is
heightened by the wild roar of the Falls, loud as
ocean, but with no moment's lull. It is the voice of
the waters sounding for ever one unvarying note
in the psalm of creation, and the effect on the mortal
spirit may well be too exalting. The moment of
the vast plunge of the waters, though the supreme
instant in the course of the river, is not its only
burst of rapture. For a mile above the Falls the
river leaps, foaming, thunderous, tossed to billows,
lashed to whirlpools, down a long series of falls and
rapids. For two or three miles below, the fierce
current, hedged to one-half the width which it has
wrought for itself at the present Falls, leaps madly
forward in long rolling waves that scarcely touch the
shore, but dash against «each other in the centre of
the current. Niagara fills the senses to intoxication
with scenes of awe and magnificence. The art of
nature here exhausts itself
Night after night during my stay I visited the
scene by moonlight. One night I wandered alone,
down a precipitous footway on the Canadian side,. to
the spot where formerly Table Rock stood. Its
shattered masses lay below me, scarcely visible
NIAGARA BY MOONLIGHT.
87
through the circling clouds of foam. Above me
bent forwards the overhanging mass of the hollowed
rock, threatening an overwhelming ruin. In front
the great flood of waters rolled headlong down,
losing itself in a chaos of surge and foam. The ledge
on which I stood continued forwards beneath the
descending flood. Wet through with spray, with
hands against the rock, and with carefully placed
feet, I passed slowly behind the falling waters.
The moonlight streamed in through a break in the
flood, and I paused to look up. It was a spectacle
never to be forgotten. From a cavern of black
waters, turned here and there into cataracts of
brilliants, I looked out into a strange world as fair
but as intangible as seen in dreams. The blue
heaven, the round moon and stars, were faint in
mist. The outline of the Falls, brightened where the
moonbeams fell, and the dark masses of the woods
on the opposite shore, rose like a thin vision through
the ascending wreaths of spray. Before me the way
still led on beneath the body of the Falls ; I followed.
A frightful chasm yawned at my feet, up which
clouds of spray came drifting against my face.
Below I dimly traced the peaks of jagged rocks.
Before me the black wall of the cliff struck out into
the falling flood, barring further progress. My eyes
threatened to grow dizzy ; I closed them for an
instant. The earth seemed to tremble where I
stood. And, hardest of all to endure, the air was
rent with the most hideous and appalling noises. It
-i
' \4
1.
> <
88
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
lilii
seemed as though myriads of fiends, or formless
creatures of the waters, yelled curses at me from the
bewildering floods, or shrieked warnings to the in-
truder. I returned with hurried steps.
Neither descriptions nor calculations can do more
than suggest the vast volume and fury of the waters
of these Falls. Professor Lyell has estimated that
1,500,000,000 cubic feet pass every minute; Dr.
D wight, of Yale College, that above 100,000,000
tons pass every hour. These figures, if they impress
the mind, do as well as any other. The height of
the American Falls is said to be 164 feet; of the
Horse-shoe Falls, 158 feet; the depth of the water
as it makes the plunge 20 feet. Good Father Hen-
nepin, the first white man, as far as we know, who
saw the Falls, may give us a better idea of them by
a certain misstatement of his for which he has, no
doubt with perfect complacency, suffered the ridicule
of formal observers for two centuries. He thought
the Falls were 600 feet high. And they still seem so,
whatever they may count.
It is one of the delightful peculiarities of the
Niagara Falls that you may walk with perfect safety
along the brink of the waters, either on the main-
land or on the islands that rise from the flood just
before it leaps the abyss. You can stoop and cool
your hand in the clear water at the very instant it
falls from sight. You may stand on the smooth
limestone over which the waters roll when a west
wind blows, and look straight down into the falling
LUNA ISLAND.
89
flood at your side. You may touch with your cane
the rock over which the flood is passing, then, letting
go, see it instantly disappear. It will come up to
the surface of the river at the whirlpool probably,
three miles down the river.
The beautiful stream permits itself to be toyed
with. Its smiling accessibility is most alluring, but
is most dangerous. Every rock and ledge has its
story of the fatal attraction of the waters.
One of the finest points of view is from the little
Luna islet, joined by a flying bridge to the island
that divides the river. The lunar rainbow is seen to
a great advantage here ; and when the sun shines
you get a most brilliant arc painted on the rolling
clouds of spray. Just here a little girl perished, and
a young man in trying to save her. The rocks
below have many tragic memories. Half-a-dozen
spots on the Canadian side, visible from where you
stand here, have been the scenes of sudden death.
You see yourself that you have but to take one step.
A horrible impression seizes you that more tragedies
occur at the Falls than are ever known. The river
hides many a mystery in its cavernous depths.
A strange story came to my recollection the first
time I stood on the spot.
An excursion party were visiting the Falls ;
among them an engaged couple, the man singularly
handsome, the girl a born coquette. She flirted ;
he remonstrated. At sunset he was found seated in
one of the delicious rocky dells looking on to the
Wl
■ -1'-
I- .-■/
t *
'•M
I- :^ -A
M
<'•!
y\
ij jll !
'' '■
90
T//£ CANADIAN DOMJNION.
Falls at Luna Island. His friends intreated him in
vain to return with them. His bride-elect sobbed
on his shoulder, and prayed him to come away.
My informant, a girl-playmate of his from childhood,
pleaded with him. No ; he chose to stop there, he
said. The waters fascinated him ; he could not go
yet ; he would follow presently. An old friend hid
in some trees to watch him unperceived. His shat-
tered body was found the next day caught in some
rocks at the base of the fall.
' And the woman ? Did she recover from her
grief and self-reproach ? ' I asked. ' Or has her life
been spoilt ? '
' She was married within three months,' said my
informant slowly.
One of the best views of the flood is obtained at
the extremity of Iris or Goat Island, the wooded
mass of rock that divides the Falls. A plank bridge
crosses from rock to rock over the foaming cataract
to a stone tower built at the verge of the great
Horse-shoe Falls. You get here a terrible im-
pression of the fury and might of the waters.
You do not doubt that Father Hennepin spoke the
truth in declaring that 200 years ago there was a
third cascade falling from the Canada side. You see
that the Falls are changing their form now ; the horse-
shoe shape is being broken in the centre by the
stress of the flood. The Falls eat away the solid
wall of the rock at the rate of a foot a year. You
pause and speculate. The line of the Falls perhaps
RECESSION OF THE NIAGARA FALLS.
9«
passed opposite where you stand when the New
World was discovered. It is possible that the great
floods were united in one single fall at the time of
the birth of Christianity. What vast changes has
the stream of time wrought while this river has been
carving out its divided course ! The eye glance? on
further. Where the fallen river bends round yonder
point, and passes from sight, may possibly be the
spot at which the Falls stood at the furthest date to
which man can trace back his history. Before then —
what ? Did fauns and sylphs haunt these scenes ?
Or did the great river work on its slow way in utter
solitariness through these earlier millenniums ? It is
not difficult to believe that the river is glad that
young nations are now gathered on its shores to see
its splendour. For, with a magnificent vanity, it has
spread its charms to the best effect, and offers a
grander spectacle than during its earlier course.
You turn and look up the course of the river. Many
and many a long age must pass before the waters
shall have cut their way inch by inch to the back of
the island, and the Falls again be united. What will
happen to the world through that vast reach of time ?
Will not this new continent, great as several Europes,
produce a cluster of nations whose fame and power
shall vie with that of the peoples of the Old World .-*
Will the English language of to-day be understood
by the nations of those times, or be dead, like the
tongues of the great peoples of old ^ Will the
Anglo-Saxon retain its supremacy, and renew here
>',j
-A
\
'I
I .'i;
i
\
1
. i
J 1!
,*•>■
92
77/^5- CANADIAN DOMINION
the splendour of its achievements, or become modi-
fied and changed by the infusion of new elements ?
There was a time when the tread of a hoof or the
fall of a stone might have deflected the course of
the river ; who shall lift it from its bed now ? The
destinies of the people of this continent will be de-
termined for ever by the influences at work to-day.
I ('
93
CHAPTER VIII.
0/L SPRINGS AND SALT.
One of the strangest-looking towns in the world
is Petrolea, Ontario.
A branch line from the Grand Trunk reaches the
place from Wyoming Station. The train that takes
you has probably one passenger car and a long line
of empty oil tanks of thirty-five barrels capacity
each.
Approaching Petrolea, the train crawls among a
heap of vast vats and tanks, and pauses at the first
sight of the clustered group of oil-works. This spot
is Pithole, the newest of the petrolea districts. I
got out from the car here, in company with the
editor of the ' Petrolea News.' For a mile on the
rough the wooden scaffoldings of the oil-works are
scattered irregularly through the open forest ; the
older division, above Pithole, is Petrolea.
Wherever oil has been ' struck,' hasty structures
of wood, have been at once put up for working the
well. No clearing is made ; no road. The great
forest trees wave their green branches against the
* derricks,' the wooden open-work constructions for
:m
:-*>'
94
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
■■■
sinking the wells. You tread on the brushwood
and fern to pass to the furnace or other works. You
may count over thirty of these lean, wooden pyra-
mids rising amid the forest as you stand at Pithole.
Columns of smoke curl upwards still further in the
distance. All around you the grace and freshness
of nature are befouled past all imagination.
At spots convenient for the pumps, the soil, con-
sisting of a heavy blue clay, is dug out to make
great tanks, sometimes large enough to hold two or
three thousand barrels. The underground position
is some security against fire. Besides the mounds
thus formed, the scene is diversified with vast iron
tanks, holding from five to ten thousand barrels
each, erected before the simpler plan of the clay
tank was thought of. Instead of streams of water,
the ground is intersected with rivulets of a black,
filthy, pestiferous fluid that runs as refuse from the
works.
The wells are about four hundred and ninety feet
deep, of artesian tubing, cased for about seventy-five
or a hundred feet down to the rock. The crude oil
is pumped directly into a reservoir, for safe keeping.
Thence it is conducted by pipes to a still, to steam
off the water which comes up with it. It is then
run into the underground tanks, and is ready to be
pumped on to the cars for transport.
An ingenious process has been adopted for heat-
ing the furnaces. The clotted oily refuse from the
tank above drips slowly down within the mouth of
MINERAL OILS OF CANADA.
95
the furnace, is there met and scattered by a jet of
steam, and converted into a blaze of gas.
Along the scattered line of oil-works a number of
wooden huts have been built for the men employed.
At one spot the irregularly placed oil-works and
wooden hovels are grouped closely together. The
intervals are filled up with provision and clothing
stores, drinking and billiard saloons, printing and
banking offices, and one or two churches. This is
Petrolea. All around stretch wide wastes of uncul-
tivated ground and the uncut forest. The place is
too wild and singular to be called ugly, and it gives
a vivid idea of the easjerness of commercial enter-
prise in a new country.
The atmosphere reeks with the rank odour of the
mineral oil. But, through an accommodating whim
of nature, the older residents come to like this — at
least they say so, and should know best. A lawyer of
the town, for example, assured me that he had lost
his health and spirits while away from the oil for a
couple of years. No sooner, however, did he return
to the richly-lubricated air of Petrolea, than a pro-
cess of ' recuperation,' as he termed it, rapidly set
in, and he became healthy and happy once more.
The discovery of oil here was made, it is said,
from observing that Indians were accustomed to
resort to a certain spring, at the advice of their
medicine men, and to dip their blankets in the oozy
waters, for the cure of scrofulous diseases.
The present production of the district is esti-
.11
• :, ''A'
'm
'!!■
96
THE CAiYADIAJSr DOM/mOiV.
i ■
7 . \[\
mated at 5,000 barrels per week. The crude oil
was sold at ffl^i.6o a barrel at the time of my visit,
September 1870. The principal export market was
Germany.
The distilling of the mineral oil is mainly done in
the suburbs of London the Litde. The crude oil
is heated to steam, condensed, and turned into
agitating tanks, where it is moved violently by air ;
it is then treated with sulphuric acid, washed with
caustic soda, and deodorised in the same agitators
with letharge and sulphur ; it is finally bleached in
tanks holding about five hundred barrels. In the
last stage I observed that iridescent hues of the
most delicate tints played on the surface of the oil,
and was told that this was the recognised indication
of the purity of the fluid. The oil had now become
colourless and odourless — but not tasteless.
The manufactory I visited turned out 120,000
gallons of refined oil a week, using up 200,000 gal-
lons of the crude oil.
A great deal of intelligent ingenuity has been
expended in extracting the most value from this oil
of the earth. After the refined oils have been made,
benzine and benzole are obtained from the stills ;
paraffine is made ; a lubricating oil for machinery is
extracted from the refuse ; the thick tar from the oil
is employed in Nicolson pavement ; and the hard
coke remaining finally at the bottom of the stills
serves as an admirable fuel.
The sulphuric acid used in the oil processes is
fi i^!
BRINE SPRINGS.
97
)il
le,
(s;
Is
)il
Ird
Ills
is
obtainable at works close by. At one manufactory
crude brimstone imported from Italy is used ; at
another copper pyrites from Lennox Villa, near
Quebec. This ore, stacked in heaps, burns of itself.
The sulphuric acid is obtained by a newly-patented
'continuous process' with glass retorts, which ap-
pears to answ(T excellently well. The refuse ore
contains five per cent, of copper.
The Ontarian London seems to cherish an ambi-
tion of becoming a city of manufactories. Works
for starch making and other factories are in active
operation there, besides those already mentioned.
When petroleum fortunes were first being made
in the United States and in Canada an oil fever set
in over the continent. A promising shale was found
on the shores of Lake Huron. A company with
)S'4,ooo capital was started forthwith to find coal oil.
The town of Goderich, Ontario, near which the
discovery was made, offered 1^500, and the county
i8'i,ooo, to induce the company to descend 1,000 feet.
At length water was reached, but brine came up
instead of oil. The company were disappointed and
resentful. But the brine came up thick and pure,
yielding a fine white salt. Fortune had favoured
the venture beyond all hopes.
Goderich has already become the seat of a con-
siderable industry. At the date of my visit a thou-
sand barrels of salt a day were being produced ;
while the demand is increasing, I was told, far
H
M
'A
m
l:-.
11
•f
li: r
rv
*•
h
HI
yy/A CAXADIAX /)()A//X/OM
beyond ihc rate of supply. A niiinlHT of roiupanics
arc alro;uly at work, aiul others are rorinin^.
T\
ic pnKcss is simple
I'hel
)rine is puinp(H
1 into
wooilen vals. and runs Ironi tlu'in ni
lo 1(
on^ iron
pans, about loo feet by lo, with a depth of 3 inches,
riie [)ans are lieated from below by steam ; the
WI
len
\vat(M- evaporat(vs ; the pure salt remams
cool it is shovelled asiile to fall into the packiujij
rooms. 'l"h(M-e it is put up into 280 lb. barrels. One
well will supply too barrels a day. The salt deposit
is believetl to ho very far spread, stretchinj^ at least
sixty miles fri>m Kincardine, above (iodtMMch, to
Seaforth South.
ber
I'here appears to be no reason why the
num
of salt works here should not In^ multiplied ten
times, to the advanlam* of the capitalist and of the
country.
|i
"SV
■1 >!*
• I
99
CIIAI'TI'R IX.
< 4
1,11 T I. E AriacA.
In the soulli west corner of the province of
Ontario tiiere still exist, in considrrabh' propor-
tions, the remains of a nej^^ro sdtlement which
once proniis(Hl to attain to some importance*. The
coloured colony dates l)ack to the tinu; when the
l''ui;itive Slave Law was enacted in the Stat(;s, and
the ncj^ro who had escapeil from a southern master
found himself without lej;al |)rotection in the North.
One means of safety aloni; remain(!d for him ; to llee
a,L;.iin, still further north, to Hritish soil. 'I'he first
spot he cam(! to was this an^le of the Canadian
l)rovince, ' The lU!autiful,' dippin^^ tlown into the
clear waters of Lake Lric!. The fugitive; here found
a liome, the most southerly portion of Canada ;
its climate was more tolerable to the sun-darkened
negro than oth(;r portions of the dominion. The
new settlers were soon to be counted by hundreds
and l)y thousands. In a large proportion they con-
sisted of the best elements (jf the negro race ; of
families that brought away the i)roceeds of their
II 2
,%'.
x^\\
/11
,i
f
%
n
' Ik
.1-
i ^«
\f '•
mmt
100
T//£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
ii I,
Ki
• f "I L
m
industry, to prevent the forfeiture of their property
with their persons. They overspread the district — a
wide range of marshy land, then little settled — and
commenced, with as much energy as their indolent
nature permitted, the difficult task of improving and
cultivating the soil. The settlement continued to
increase in numbers until the outbreak of the late
war in the States. The Fugitive Slave Law was
repealed in the North ; many of the negroes made
their escape immediately from the severe Canadian
winter. On the conclusion of the war others went
South, to the black man's fitting zone of tempera-
ture, to live as free men in the scenes which had
witnessed their degradation and misery.
At the date of my visit, September 1870, the
numbers of the coloured population were regarded
as stationary. The natural increase by births made
up for the losses by removal. The black race was
estimated at one-third the numbers of the white in
Chatham, the principal place in the district, and in
Brixton and Dresden, towns of very small propor-
tions. The negroes were not unkindly spoken of;
they were generally regarded as good citizens, quiet
and orderly, easily managed, and moderately indus-
trious. In the towns their occupations seemed to be
mainly the keeping of barbers' shops and apple stores,
shoe mending, and washing and ironing. Of course
we must add domestic service and the ministry of
religion. Most of the coloured people here, as in
the States, are Methodists, though not a few are
A NEGRO SCHOOL.
lOI
)f
tn
re
Baptists. Prayer meetings, and other gatherings
where the social and rehgious instincts may be gra-
tified at once, are highly popular with them. Their
piety is sincere, but sometimes lacks reverence.
' I hear de Lord a-comin' t'rough de shingles !' a
cracked-visaged, bright-eyed, little, lean old man
cried out in a prayer meeting at Chatham (the
'shingles' form the wooden roofing) ; * Come 'long.
Lord ! Here's a darkie — dat's me — '11 pay for all
dem shingles what gets broke up dar ! '
The nigger quarter of Chatham is popularly
known as Little Africa. The houses, generally of
wood, are very small and poor-looking ; but the
manifest inferiority of the black man in position and
in capacity does not distress him greatly. The
negro is singularly light-hearted, and forgets, in a
burst of easily-provoked laughter, any transient im-
pression of his low place in the world.
Little Africa swarms with half-naked, grinning
imps. I visited one of their schools ; the children
seemed merry enough, and certainly not too much in
awe of their two worthy teachers. The partiality of
the negro race for brilliant colours was manifested
singularly in the dress of one of the few well-to-do
children ; she shone in more colours than appear in
the rainbow. From irregularity in attendance, and
other causes, most of the scholars were very back-
ward in their learning ; but — as if for the sake of an
odd contrast — a dozen boys and girls were being
taught trigonometry. Two or three great giggling
i'^fi/J-j
I02
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
W\m \l
n
m
■■\A
girls, with unmended frocks, were deep in the
second book of Euclid.
While I stood talking in a cottage in Little
Africa with the good-natured landlady — a marvel-
lously fat washerwoman, with a ridiculously small
head — there came in a neighbour, a wrinkle-faced old
lady, and we had a discussion on education. The
fat washerwoman wished that the coloured and
white children should be taught together, and talked
profusely, but disconnectedly, in advocacy of the plan.
Her friend, jet black except where grey, made
strenuous opposition.
' Why,' said she, * can't you jest rec'lect as it used
to be so once ? and what did we do then ? Why, we
coloured people sent a petition to the Queen of
England to get separate schools. And the Queen
replied that she didn't know no difference of colour
'mong her subjects, which is to say that she thought
all jest alike. However, we did get our schools
separate someways, and now you want it back
agin ! '
. J-;
The fat lady argued that if the two races went to
school together they would learn to like each other,
and would intermarry.
But this was a reason for fresh objections on the
part of the old lady.
The washerwoman averred that the division was
unchristian.
* By gar, I'd have the black and white separate,
even in heaven,' returned the old lady, with strong
to
te,
NEGRO FARMING.
103
emphasis. ' It ain't good for neither of 'em to get
mixed.'
Without any doubt there are to be found men of
superior intelligence among the coloured race. A
gunsmith of this place with whom I had a long con-
versation, a man of pure negro blood, seemed to
have good natural parts, and to be particularly well
informed. He quoted Livingstone and Darwin
appositely in illustration of his conclusions. His
table was heavily piled with newspapers and re-
views. As a gunsmith he is said to have no equal
in America. He showed me a pair of silver-
mounted Derringer pistols for which he had re-
ceived a prize from California, and a double-barrelled
shot-gun, of exquisite finish, which contained pro-
perly, he said, the work of sixteen kinds of hands,
but which he had made entirely himself
The negro farms throughout the settlement are
but poor. The holdings are commonly small, from
thirty to fifty acres. The insignificant farm-dwell-
ings, with ragged patches of out-buildings, appeared
even more mean and comfordess than the town
lanes. Specimens of their crops in the Chatham
Agricultural Fair showed to little advantage.
The true destiny of the negro race is certainly
not farming in a northern soil.
However, the settlement must not be regarded as
a failure. A great number of the most influential
members have gone South, but still the community
holds on its way and thrives. It affords one among
■..>;(]
4
:v5jii
■m
104
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
a thousand proofs that the negro race can be trained
to order and industry, and to the pursuit of the
civiHsing arts of Hfe. Under more favourable con-
ditions, in a climate more congenial, and with a
longer space of time for his development, the negro
will probably attain a position both of usefulness
and respect.
:ii
%i
^■:A-
lO:
CHAPTER X.
THE INDIANS.
The statement may be made with some con-
fidence that the Indian tribes of British North
America are not fated to immediate extinction.
Whether they will ultimately survive a close con-
tact with the ever-growing white people, it were
more hard to say. Observers scarcely disposed to
an over-sanguine view of the case have sometimes
been disposed to judge of this question very favour-
ably. For instance, in a Report to the United
States Congress for the current year, 1870, it is said:
* It is now an established fact that the Indians of
Canada have passed through the most critical era of
transition from barbarism to civilisation ; and the
assimilation of their habits to those of the white race
is so far from threatening their gradual extinction
that it is producing results directly opposite.' And
it is absolutely a fact, if the provincial statistics are
to be depended upon, that the Indians of the old
Canadas have been increasing slightly in numbers
during the past twenty-five years. The causes are
not difficult to discover. They have been saved
■,r.. n
m
m
ii i\
i!^ ^
io6
T//E CANADIAN DOMINION
\,\-:, •.!
!*; i ,
■M'«S
from the constant internecine wars which thinned
their numbers perpetually in the days of their pure
barbarism ; and in Canada they have had to suffer
no wars with the whites since the settlement of our
provinces. On the contrary, we have followed
towards them an undeviating policy of conciliation
and protection, which appears to have won the
admiration of some of our friends in America.
' The Government has assumed a friendly and
painstaking guardianship over them,' says the re-
port above quoted. We have carefully respected
our treaty engagements with them, and have paid
them for the lands we have required of them, or
have granted them new reservations. We have
supplied them with missionaries and schools, and
the elements of instruction in agriculture and in
various trades. Of more consequence still in esti-
mating the causes staying their extinction, we have
provided for them medical aid, and have taken
especial pains to save them from the ravages of
small-pox, a disease which formerly would destroy
whole tribes.
The various Christianising and civilising agencies
have not been without effect. Large reservations
of land for farming purposes and for fishing and
hunting are faithfully left to the use of various
Indian tribes in Ontario, Quebec, and maritime
provinces ; and in each will be found small attempts
at farming and the commencement of the arts of
life. Some of the Indians have become carpenters,
ill.
VILLAGE OF LA JEUNE LORETTE. 107
coopers, tailors, masons, blacksmiths, and have ex-
hibited creditable skill. The Indian of pure blood,
however, makes a far better fisher, trapper, or voy-
ageur, canoe-builder, or guide.
The Indians of the Canadian provinces are slowly-
becoming civilised, and, probably, are not decreasing
in numbers ; but they are losing their savage blood.
In all the older settlements they are parting with
their distinctive character and peculiarities. The
native costume is a thing of the past ; they wear a
motley dress half English, or else the complete
European costume. They learn the English or the
French language, and in many instances forget their
own. The Indian blood becomes largely mixed
with white. It appears likely, therefore, that they
will escape extermination simply by ceasing to be
Indians.
By common consent the most favourable example
of Indian civilisation is to be found at the pretty
village of La Jeune Lorette, eight miles from
Quebec. A small branch of the Hurons retreated
here for safety after disastrous wars with other
Indian tribes near the great lake from which they
take their name. Here are prosperous farms, well-
built cottages, handsome houses owned by the richer
men, schools, and a Catholic church. But in colour
and in type of feature the people have become
significantly like the whites among whom they live.
The Huron language has fallen into disuse ; young
and old alike speak French. Of these Lorette
'■':■<»
■I
• '■.■■)',<
^^'':^i'
1 *hi'
n
■f 1
t^
loS
Tim CANAPIAN nO.U/X/ON.
■**■:
. .i
;• ''M
Ilurons, Professor Wilson, of Toronto University,
writes : —
• They seem likely to survive until, as a settle-
ment of I'rench-speakinjj^ Canadians on the banks of
the St. Charles, they will have to prove their Indian
descent by the baptismal register or the genealo-
j;ical record of the tribe, after all external traces
have disa[)peared.'
A less atlvanced Indian community is that of the
Iroquois at Caughnawauy;a, near Montreal. They
farm indifferetuly ill ; a few of them work at trades ;
all of them hunt and fish with skill. I remember
that during my stay in Ottawa, a gentleman, com-
missioned by the Government to make an explora-
tion of the north of Lake Superior, determined to
enirao-e some Cautihnawauira Indians as boatmen
and voyageurs on the expedition. The uses of even
the pure Indian will not be readily exhausted.
Civilisation finds some unexpected occupations for
him. The Indian makes a superb runner, leaper,
jockey, and expert at ' La Crosse.' At Montreal I
witnessed a series of exciting contests in the
favourite Canadian game between a picked com-
pany of the city players and a dozen of the Caugh-
nawauga Indians. The game is a pretty and exciting
one, though inferior in science and order to our
cricket. At either end of a laree field double stakes
are set up, the 'homes' of the respective parties of
players. The ball is started midway, and is pro-
pelled solely by a kind of open-work cane bat, with
CANA niA N INDIA NSi.
109
which the ball can be caught and fliiii}^ with jijrcat
dexterity. In the games which I witnessed the
whites, though players of reputation, stood ajjpa-
rently no chance. The noted Keraronwe, or some
other Indian, would run straight away, with the ball
on the ' La Crosse' bat, at will. If intercci)ted, he
would leap aside, and fling the ball with a dexterous
jerk to some other Indian in the field. Put through
the white wickets, the game was won by the red
man. In this contest at least Fortune appeared on
the side of the fleet, agile son of the woods.
One of the most encouraging Indian agricultural
communities is said to be that of a tribe of the Six
Nations, on a reservation near Brantford, Ontario.
If we remember the wandering, houseless, indolent,
normal condition of the Indian, and his especial dis-
like of plodding, monotonous occupations, like those
of the farmer, the results attained in this settlement
may seem surprising. Hut again, when the Indian's
farming is compared with that of the poorest white's,
a conviction is forced on the mind of the hopeless-
ness of this attempt at training him. He must have
white blood, and cease in part to be Indian, before
he can submit to follow the white man's patient
culture of the soil.
There are many necessary occupations which
would be far more congenial to him. The Indian is
peculiarly adapted for the care of horses, catde, and
sheep. He has a natural love of animals, and in-
herits a large amount of sympathy with them and
:s;iH
I
h:^l
'*'
no
77/^^ CANADIAN DOMINION.
understanding of them. The Indian is volatile and
versatile. That occupation suits him the best in
which he finds a constant change of interest, the
varied employment of his highly-trained bodily
senses, and the opportunity for long spells of laziness.
The care of wandering herds and flocks appears to
be the ideal occupation of a civilised but pure
Indian ; and no inconsiderable number could thus
be provided for. As Canada becomes more popu-
lous, as increasing attention is paid to stock-breeding,
and as new districts are opened for settlement, it
will probably be found advantageous to employ the
Indian generally for this business. The breeding of
goats in the mountain plains in some parts of the
Dominion will probably become a profitable industry,
and would increase the demand for herdsmen.
Th'i various religious missions, Catholic and Pro-
tcstanil:, have without doubt exercised a large in-
fluence on the native tribes. The older church,
with its many condescensions to an ignorant race, its
imposing ceremonialism, resembling but surpassing
the Indian rites, and with its many pretensions to
miracle, excelling those of the mystic or medicine
man, appears to have great advantages in gaining
over the superstitious Indian tribes. On the other
hand, the reformed churches have directed special
attention to the • education of the children and the
training of the Indians to trades. Both churches
are generally regarded with respect and gratitude.
It is a little hard, however, upon the uncultivated
0/iniVAYS.
n I
Indian, to be besieged, as he sometimes is, by
champions of the old nnd reformed faiths, and com-
pelled to decide, on pain of his everlasting perdition,
between the claims of churches supported by the
learned arguments accumulated in long centuries.
It is said that, in his excusable indecision, the Indian
sometimes finds a welcome suggestion of the right
choice in the practical form of the gift of a parti-
coloured blanket.
Outside the small town of Sarnia, on Lake Huron,
I found an interesting settlement of the Ojibways,
among whom the English missionaries have laboured
with, apparently, considerable success.
There are about five hundred Indians on this
reservation. They have been instructed in various
trades, and some of them make fair masons, car-
penters, and tailors. Great pains have been taken
to attach them to the cultivation of the soil, with
results which the missionaries regard as encouraging.
Some of them farm indifferently well as much as
thirty or forty acres. Their log-houses are small,
squalid, unfurnished, comfortless ; but are neverthe-
less considered by the whites a great improvement
upon the ever moving wigwam. The Indians and
squaws are usually dressed in unpicturesque gar-
ments which have been discarded by the whites.
Their inborn delight in colours, however, still mani-
fests itself occasionally with fantastic effect. A
bright handkerchief is twisted in the black hair, a
gay scarf disposed gracefully over the head, a quan-
>v1
m
. f
H- If.)
.■■:, i.L
i
.:',i
\'
If'.
- :,'::
1'
.'•'ii:
: A-':..
'ii^
■'■i^'
■ ;^
' ^Jil
rdfi
' IW!
1
-g^jS ' -.f
■ -^S' '"
^ Ma '■ -
1 "*a|[tti
^ 'wi I
' M"-
112
rZ/y? CANADIAN DOMINION.
tity of trinkets are attached to ears, neck, and wrists,
and gleam against the dark skin. The men are tall,
muscular, and well-proportioned. Many of the full-
blooded Ojibways, both men and women, have in-
telligent and handsome countenances. It is apparent
enough, however, that here, as in the other semi-
civilised reservations, there has been a considerable
mixture of white blood. Many of these Indians
speak English.
There are two chapels, each with its school-house,
on this reserve ; the one Methodist, the other Epis-
copal. At first a sharp rivalry existed between the
two missions, but now they work quietly, taking no
heed one of the other.
I attended a Sunday afternoon service at the
Episcopal Church. The building was small, but
neat, and prettily decorated. The light from the
altar window was softened by a chequer-work
pattern, apparently of coloured paper. The crimson
altar-cloth was inscribed in the Indian tongue,
Jehovah Shahwanemeschenaum. The congregation,
numbering five-and-twenty souls, was very silent
and attentive. Some of the old men had really
grand-looking faces, set off with long white hair ;
several of the half-blooded young squaws, tastefully
attired in holiday dress, had pretensions to great
beauty.
The form of service was extremely simple. Some
prayers, and passages of Scripture were read ; hymns
were sung ; and two short addresses were delivered.
AN OJIBWAY CHURCH,
113
e
s
by English and Ojibway clergymen. Here is one of
the hymns (' Come, let us join our cheerful songs,' &c.):
Nuh qua uh muh wah dah nig suh
Ish pe ning a yah jig ;
Kuh ke nuh moo je ge ze wug,
Koo tah me gwe noo wug.
The principal address, or sermon, was spoken in
English by the founder of the mission, the son of a
well-known London clergyman. It was touching to
witness the earnestness of the young minister in an
effort apparently so hopeless. He entreated his
hearers to be content with no merely formal faith,
but to assure themselves of the possession of vital
Christianity, One of the arguments he urged upon
these semi-savages had a strange sound. The end
of the age was apparently approaching. The greatest
event since the Incarnation had just happened. The
Man of Sin, the son of perdition, had been exalted
above all that is called God, and had taken his seat
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is
God. Those of his hearers who had studied pro-
phecy would perceive that all the Scriptures were
being fulfilled, and that only a last opportunity
remained for repentance and salvation.
The assistant minister, a pure Ojibway, one of
the few Indians consecrated to the Anglican priest-
hood, spoke afterwards in a rich, soft, musical tongue,
not without a deep touch of melancholy in the tones.
In conversation afterwards he appeared to be a
man of intelligence and earnest piety.
■•■sIr.S-SJL.
''■..■•iVi.^l
"-v''ff
"'■m
t *
<,M
N ;
•*M
114
TJ/Jt: CANADIAN DOMINION.
A fair and not untruthful statement of the present
condition of the semi-civilised Indian tribes is sub-
mitted in an Ottawa Blue Book Report for 1868.
Mr. W. Spragge, who prepared the report, says :
' There is reason to believe that there is general
evidence of progress among the Indians of the
province of Ontario and Quebec, and improve-
ment in their habits of life. A portion of this is
undoubtedly due to the personal influence of the
clergy who minister among them, exercised as it is
for the repression of intemperance and vice, and for
the promotion of industry and good order. An
evidence of this will be found in the population
returns, showing that in twenty-two settlements
there is an increase in numbers, and in two only of
those from which returns have been received is there
a decrease. The sanitary condition of the settle-
ments is beyond doubt much better than it was some
years since. One cause of this is that the contagious
diseases, such as small-pox, which at times swept off
whole families, have of late been guarded against ;
and, at periods sufficiently near to each other, it is
our practice to require professional men to make so
general a vaccination as to leave little room for ap-
prehension of a repetition of such visitations. An-
other cause is the improved mode of living in com-
fortable habitations, better diet, and better clothing,
all of which assist in diminishing the number of
cases of pulmonary diseases to which the Indians
when in a semi-civilised state become liable.*
AMOUNT OF INDIAN POPULATION
H5
The total Indian population of Ontario and
Quebec, Lakes Huron and Superior, Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, was estimated to be 20,612 in
1868.
The numbers have probably increased slightly
since then.
It is on various accounts desirable that the well-
meant efforts for their civilisation should be continued.
Their chance of surviving the process, as pure
Indians, is slight; but their final extinction, if they
do not undergo the change, is certain. The effects
produced on the Indian by our modern civilisation
and Christianity cannot fail to be an interesting
study, and, if carefully observed and reported, may
lead to some useful results in social science. These
missions, too, have a beneficial reflex action on the
whites, in preserving our traditions of a generous
care for the -weak and ignorant ; and eventually the
half-bred Indian race that will survive may prove of
great service in the community in a variety of out-
door occupations requiring manual dexterity.
Still one may perhaps be forgiven a regret that
the picturesqueness of the Indian life will be gone.
The ancient ' Kanata,' the cluster of wigwams, of
boughs or skins, rich in stains of sun and storm, with
light smoke curling upwards in the woods, modern
Canada will soon know no more. The Indian
brave, fierce with tattoo and war paint, dressed in
skins of the chase, ornamented with fringes of scalp-
locks, and with the feathers of birds of prey, whose
1 2
til
' /6
M
' ■ m
' '••■*»l
■11
]i6
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
\% h
arrangement and stripes of colour tell the whole
story of his achievements, will bury both weapons of
war and the pipe of peace, and stalk off the scene of
living history, followed by his obedient squaw with
her painted papoose strapped on the shoulders.
But this event is still distant. We have as yet
considered only the semi-civilised Indians of the
older Canadas. There remain numerous tribes in
the Far West in a condition of almost primitive
simplicity and unmitigated barbarism. It will be
long before the white man will require their vast
hunting-grounds. The opportunity still exists for
studying the natural mode of life of the red man, his
singular and poetic superstitions, and the social and
political institutions which he inherits by long tradi-
tion, and considers a true civilisation.
Their numbers can be estimated with but a faint
chance of approximate correctness. There are, per-
haps, 1 20,000 on this side the Rocky Mountains ;
and possibly 30,000 more on the Western Slopes
reaching to the Pacific. One-tenth of them possibly
are semi-christianised ; the rest are pagans.
They pursue, with their old ardour, fishing and
the chase, and engage frequently in those internecine
wars which are apparently the chief means of giving
interest to existence, and which afford the men their
principal opportunity for acquiring distinction and
influence. These wars do not appear to be nearly
as destructive to the red men as contact with the
white race. The diseases introduced with
our
\\\
TREATMEXT OF TJIE INDIAN TRIBES. 117
id
le
modern civilisation, and the fire of our ' burning
water,' fearfully reduce the numbers of any '-ibes in
whose countries the white men settle in amity. As
we have already seen in the Canadas, this process
appears to be stayed when the Indians have become
accustomed to our methods of life, and when the
white blood has been mingled with theirs.
It is greatly to the credit of the Imperial and
Canadian Governments that since the conquest of
the country no wars have been waged with the
Indian tribes. Treaties have been made for the
cession of the tracts of country claimed by the
various tribes, and these engagements have been
scrupulously respected. Large sums of money are
still paid annually, in accordance with the terms of
these treaties. To a certain extent these moneys are
applied by commissioners to the establishment of
schools, &c., on the Indian reservations. The rest
is spent readily by the people for food, clothing, and
trinkets.
This policy of peace and protection towards the
Indians has proved a wise one. It has cost far less
than the aggressive policy of the United States
towards the tribes within their boundaries. Eng-
land is regarded with respect and affection by these
rude savages. ' King George's men,' as our soldiers
are called, are spoken of with admiration, and are
believed to be invincible. Medals and buttons,
strips of ribbon and bits of accoutrements, relics of
the wars when the red men had the honour of fight-
'.V»J
m
m
i'^'l
\
I -
-M
{
I
.••-ti>
» -1
I
[I ,
ii«
7///; CAXAVI.4N DOMINION.
inyf for ' Kin^ Goor«;{'/ .irc preserved as pr(!cioiis
heirlooms, and worn upon great feasts.
A very satisfactory jjroof of the attacliment of the
Indians to the British rule was afforded durin^^ the
current year in circumstances tliat rendered their
ijood-vvill of the i^reatest consecjuence to us. All
the cost we have incurred in making presents to
them, and in purchasing their lands, was more than
compensated in this one occurrence.
v. hen the English and Canadian forces started
across the Continent for the Red River, attempts
were made by the half-breed rebels of the settlement
to ' • 'lire the Indians to offer resistance. It was an
opporJi: ' ^ for the kind of warfare which the braves
especially like, and for which they are admirably
suited .1 war ^f ambushes and surprises, in a
country of rocks Ai\<.\ .voods familiar to these sons of
the forest, and entirely unknown to the white troops.
There was rich booty, of food, arms, and uniforms,
to be secured. At some of the portages, where
the flat-bottomed boats had to be carried along
narrow defiles, a few score of these Indians could
have inflicted heavy losses on the troops without
exposing themselves to a shot in return. The half-
breeds were allied by blood with many of the tribes,
and )et fail(*d to obtain their concurrence in the
scheme. The Indians had learnt that the advancing
troops were ' King George's men,' and refused to
molest them. Yet more ; the Red Lake Indians, a
body of about five hundred, living to the east of
n/sros/T/oN of the Indian trihes.
Fort Garry, sent messages to the Red River rebels
that tliey intended to resist the i)assa}^e through
their country of any half-breeds j)rocecding against
the troops.
Red River stories are always open to suspicion ;
but this one was told nic on the best authority on
the spot, and is commonly believed in the country.
There is one special reason just now why the
traditional policy of a kindly treatment of the
Indians should be followed.
In all probability the Canada Pacific Railway will
soon be constructed. It will pass through i,5CX)
miles of Indian country. Some management will
be needed to reconcile the Indians to the under-
taking, for the railroad and the line of settlements
along its route will tend to ruin the great remaining
buffalo grounds, and, in doing this, will threaten the
continued prosperity of these wild children of
nature.
For the sake of our own interests, if not from pity
for a race destined apparently to extinction, we
should deal with these Indian tribes kindly, and let
them pass from the world unstained by the shedding
of English blood.
■.'' «fj
"vife
120
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
CHAPTER XI.
ACROSS THE PRAIRIES.
,. , .
' 'i^
On the last day of September, 1870, I left Ontario
to make my way through United States territory to
the new Canadian province of Manitoba. /
I should have preferred the route taken by the
Red River Expeditionary Force, in order to judge
for myself of the suitability of the country for a line
of settlements on British soil ; but the last party,
proceeding with the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr.
Archibald, had already passed through, and the
season had become too advanced for a single traveller
with but one or two attendants to make the journey
without extreme difficulty.
A day on the cars took me from Detroit to
Chicago, across the wooded state of Michigan. We
passed no town of importance ; but the country ap-
peared to be generally occupied and cultivated.
This is but a run of 284 miles, a trifling distance
here. Lines of great cars, worn with much use,
impressed the imagination by their inscriptions with
the true extent of A.eHcan travel They i^
labelled-
CHICAGO.
lai
Great Central Throucfh Route.
P-
d.
New York
Omaha
Boston
Salt Lake
Detroit
Sacramento
Chicago
San Francisco
I remained in Chicago three days ; but there is
really little in the city to detain a visitor. It is
built on the flat prairie at the south of Lake
Michigan. The streets, of course, are at right
angles. Several of them are- very wide, and in these
there are some large stores ornamented profusely
in stucco ; and there are several fine new comfort-
able churches. But the majority of the houses are
petty wooden frame structures, and all the streets
present an unfinished and slovenly appearance. It
is easy enough to understand here how three or four
story houses can be moved about without extreme
damage ; they are merely big square boxes, with
sashes and doors let in. I met such frame houses
constantly blocking up the traffic of the larger
streets, with wooden rollers placed and replaced
under the flooring timbers, as they were being slowly
drawn along by horses, towards the outskirts of the
city, to make room for more pretentious structures
in the older quarters.
But the inhabitants are with reason very proud
of their city. It has been built up in an incredibly
short time, and has increased in population and
■ m
■■vm
•iiH
• ■'.';..*1
■■'4
, «• ■
I-
;■-' .
iMl
« it ! .
J"
■'1
liij
|!'1
laa
77/i!i CANADIAN DOMINION.
in wealth beyond all precedent. The situation is a
commanding one, as an entrepot for the through
traffic of the continent, and for the supply of the
Western States ; and the inhabitants have displayed
an extraordinary energy in availing themselves of
the natural advantages of the position, by opening
up railway and steamboat communication to deter-
mine the lines of commerce to their city. * Every
other merchant in Chicago has failed twice,' Mr.
Wendell Phillips said to me in Boston, in illustration
of that restless energy of his countrymen which he
termed go-a-headitiveness, and the excess of which
he deprecated. ' Or, at any rate, every merchant you
see on our streets has failed once,' said a Chicago
merchant to me smilingly, in mitigation of the
former judgment.
No visitor is expected to leave the city without
seeing its peculiar sights. These are the corn
elevators, that lift the grain from the rail-cars to
boats ; the bridges that swing on a pivot to allow
barges and schooners to go up the creeks ; and a
roadway that runs under a shallow river. Besides
these, you may see a pig-killing establishment, and,
five miles away, a vast range of out-buildings for
Texan and other cattle.
This is Chicago, the Queen City of the West.
But its great title to distinction remains to be told.
Its pride and glory are expressed in a single fact — it
has attained a population of 300,000 souls within
the duration of a single lifetime.
A PRAIRIE JOURNEY.
J 23
It seems a pity that so ill an odour should attach
to the name of this great city. Chicago signifies, in
the Indian, ' The Place of Skunks.'
A thousand miles of prairie now lay between me
and Fort Garry. But the railway already traversed
half this distance, and will be continued over the
remaining half, probably before the end of 1872.
The rich lands of Wisconsin and Minnesota still
wait for the tens of thousands of immigrants needed
for their cultivation. Northwards from the pic-
turesque station on the Mississippi Prairie du Chien,
the railway proceeds through a scarcely broken wil-
derness. The small, irregular, hastily-built, but
rapidly-progressing St. Paul's is the present limit of
civilisation. At this point the traveller bids an un-
regretful farewell to the prosaic, ungainly, hideous
new clusters of houses which must at present pass
for cities on this new continent, waiting blankly the
ministry of time to give them picturesqueness and
dignity.
At St. Paul's the small party had already arrived
with whom I was to make the journey to the Red
River settlement ; the wife and daughter of the
Lieut.-Governor, in charge of an old friend of the
family, Mr. Loo Gouge. Sir John A. Macdonald
had done me the honour to ask me to render any
help that might be in my power on this journey.
We were fortunate enough to obtain here the ser-
vices of Mr. Robert Tait, of Red River, who was just
returning from St. Paul's, and who kindly undertook
I
III
il!
v^^
'sm
"4
THE CANADIAN DOMrNIOX.
!;'»' i:'
to make all the necessary arrangements for our
passage across the prairies.
We could still avail ourselves of a small piece of
railway. Rails laid on the open prairie took us on
seventy-five miles to St. Cloud, the last station
on the lately commenced St. Paul and Pacific
Railroad.
There were in all over thirty passengers on the
cars, immigrants and other^ wishing to proceed north
through Minnesota; but the two lumbering stages
that stood in readiness for our further progress would
not by any ingenuity of packing hold nearly that
number. A dozen rough men, with their non-
descript masses of baggage, were left behind to wait
the extemporising of ' extra ' stages, or the return of
the * regulars ' in three days.
The weather-beaten, sun-dried driver, with a mass
of dark hair, rough as a buffalo mane, flowing beneath
his battered sombrero, got his six horses well in hand,
and dashed off on a devious coach-track across the
prairies at about one o'clock in the day. When we
came to a swamp in the interminable flats, half-a-
dozen roadways would break off, and our driver
would choose the one he hoped would have the
fewest * quags ' and holes. We drove on, with
varying speed, for twelve hours. Five times we
changed horses, and three times our driver. We
passed clearings pretty frequently during this first
day ; but the houses of settlers, often Swedes, were
miserably small and poor-looking, and the rich
SI/.t\TY INNS.
"S
;t
ground was cultivated apparently with but the most
barbarous ideas of farniin' -.
At t^»e ro^dsid;- shanty inns where we stopped to
water or change horses, our motley crowd of fellow-
pass',ngers usually turned out to stretch their legs and
' liquor-up.' They made a most picturescjue group.
There were tall, rough, tawny-haired miners from
Fraser River and Montana ; thin, hollow-jawed
Yankee traders, with hair shaven from the cheeks,
but hanging long from the chin, aiding that impres-
sion of long-headedness which our American cousins
delight to produce. Then we had some fine speci-
mens of the F'rench half-breed population of Red
River, men of large frame, with swarthy complexion,
long coal-black hair, and great black eyes. In our
coach we had a big straw-haired Swedish woman,
who could not speak one word of English, French,
or German, and who was labelled to be taken through
about one hundred miles, with her four bundles of
fat-faced children, and other baggage. On the
other stage, that sometimes followed, sometimes
passed ours, were several fur-traders and a govern-
ment official, proceeding on a visit to the United
States forts scattered through the Indian terri-
tories.
It is pleasant to be able to say that throughout
the journey our fellow-passengers and all the people
we met showed the greatest consideration for the
comfort of the two lady-passengers ; and, with a
larore amount of rough frankness, behaved with the
m
111
. *
' 'I
*■> .•'■4
I ': . .. '1
<'
I «
'■■Am
126
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
Utmost good humour amongst themselves. A certain
amount of very vigorous language we were com-
pelled to hear ; but there never was occasion for an
instant's fear of rudeness or incivility.
At dusk we stopped at a long rambling frame
house for a supper of pork, eggs, bread, excellent
potatoes, and strong tea. Our driver from this place
had not been over the ground for six years, and
heavy clouds perpetually veiled the moon ; our
roadway amid the deep ruts had to be guessed at.
Besides this, the coach was top-heavy, and reeled at
each sudden curve in the most ominous manner.
Despite the night cold, we had thought it better
that our party should occupy outside seats to escape
the peril of asphyxia and paralysis in the interior ;
but as we were now in danger of being swung into
space on the lurching of the coach, we doubted the
wisdom of our decision.
Still that night's ride was a grand one. It
was our first experience of the open prairie. The
moon broke through the clouds and lit up endless
tracts of country, sombre-hued with the autumn
grasses. Here and there a scrap of scrub-oak
served to indicate the receding distances, and impress
the imagination with the wide extent of the wilder-
ness.
At two o'clock in the morning the stages pulled
up at a small cluster of log-houses called Sauk-
centre. At the * Hotel ' we obtained, with some
difficulty, one private room. We men rolled on
It
he
ess
Umn
ler-
on
FORT ABERCROMBIE.
137
to a line of rough beds, or on to the floor, in a
long garret, as much or as little undressed as we
pleased.
At half-past five the next morning we were called
for breakfast — of course of pork, eggs, potatoes,
and tea. At six rang the drivers' cry of ' All aboard,'
and we swung off into interminable space again.
But the heavy, tall stages were fortunately ex-
changed here for light, low, canvas-covered wagons ;
the baggage following behiid. Towards midday
we passed through a wide straggling wood of scrub-
oak, poplar, and birch, where the ground was so
broken, and the ruts so preposterous, that our former
conveyance would assuredly have met with disaster.
We stopped for dinner beyond the wood at a
dozen or so of log-houses, called Alexandra Villa ;
and rested at night at the city of Pomme-de-
Terre, which consists of a single farm-house with
its out-buildings in a palisaded inclosure, dating
from the time of the Sioux massacres here seven
years ago.
' For a city, I consider this here Pomme-de-Terre
very small potatoes indeed,' observed one of our
fellow-passengers reflectively, as he broke up a mass
of stick-tobacco in his hands for a plug.
We arrived here at the seasonable hour of 8.30
P.M., having again driven our sixty miles in the
day.
We started the next morning about six, and in
eleven hours reached Fort Abercrombie, the ter-
V:m
■•a
,4
-9
taS
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
i'f.
minus of the stage-route. Our distance this day
was probably fifty-five miles.
Beyond all question, the country we passed through
is eminently suitable for settlement. The farmers
with whom we talked along the route spoke in the
highest terms of the productive qualities of the soil.
The remark of one rough-visaged, keen-eyed, old
Yankee may well stand as the expression of the
general testimony.
' This prairie land,' said he, solemnly, * is jest
about the best there is lying out of doors in the hull
creation.*
At Pomme-de-Terre the last signs of settlement
ceased. During our third day we saw no traces of
cultivation whatsoever, nor indeed once again, till we
arrived, in five days more, at the Red River settle-
ment, with the sole exception of the few farmsteads
gathered round the United States Forts Aber-
crombie and Pembina. The land waits for the
settlers whom it is ready to support and enrich to
superfluity.
By the third day our travelling companions were
reduced to less than half their original numbers, and
we could stow ourselves in the wagon with com-
parative comfort. One of our remaining acquaint-
ances had seen all the course of the Red River
troubles ; another had been employed as a govern-
ment scout in the time of the Sioux massacres. Not-
withstanding our many discomforts, our three days'
staging was enjoyed, I suspect, by all of us. We
ll
A SIOUX WARRIOR.
129
sang songs or hymns, discussed politics, or told
anecdotes all the way through. Nothing could
exceed the good humour with which the ladies sub-
mitted to the rough break in their ordinary life
which this journey involved. We were afraid they
would find the new experience too barbarous ; but
they quickly perceived that the rough manners of
the men hid a true courtesy of disposition, and
henceforth they felt at ease. In fact, the strangeness
of the scene and the people, the singular contrast
presented to ordinary life, afforded us all a constant
fund of entertainment.
One of the stories told us by a travelling com-
panion, who had himself witnessed the circumstances,
may be found interesting as illustrative of the Indian
life.
A Sioux warrior had been found guilty of stealing
a horse, and was condemned to pay its value in
certain instalments. He brought the last sum to
one of the Hudson Bay Company's forts, and ten-
dered it to the man, a M^tis or half-breed, who had
been mainly concerned in bringing him to justice.
The transaction was completed, the quittance given,
and the Indian withdrew. In a few moments the
Sioux reentered the office, advanced on his noiseless
moccasins within a pace of the writing-table, and
levelled his musket full at the half-breed's head. At
the instant of the descent of the trigger the half-
breed raised the hand with which he was writing,
and touched lightly the muzzle of the gun ; the shot
K
1 '* 'J >\
IJO
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
passed over his head, but the hair was singed off in
a broad mass. The smoke cleared away, and the
Indian saw with superstitious amazement that his
enemy still lived. The other looked up at him for
an instant full in the eyes, and quietly resumed his
writing. The Indian rushed away for his life without
one word. Our informant saw this through the open
door and rushed in with some others, offering to
follow the fugitive and bring him to justice. * No/
said the M^tis ; * go back and finish dinner ; leave
this affair to me.'
In the evening a few whites accompanied the
Metis to the Sioux encampment, outside the fort,
to see how the matter would end. At a certain
distance, within sight, he bade them wait The
M^tis advanced straight to the Indian tents.
The ordinary employments of the encampment
were going on — cooking, talking, smoking. No
preparations had been made for battle. By one of
the tents sat crouched the murderous Sioux, with no
weapon in his hand, but the Indian tom-tom, to
which he was singing his own death hymn. He
mournfully complained that the hour had come when
he must say good-bye to wife and child, to the sun-
light, to his gun and the chase. He sent messages
beforehand to his friends in the spirit-land to meet
him on his arrival, and to expect him that night.
He told them he would bring all the news of their
tribe. He swung his body backwards and forwards
as he chanted monotonously the strange song ; the
PRAIRIE FIRES.
131
sweat poured from his brow ; he never once looked
up.
The M^tis stood quietly over him and spurned
him with his foot.
The crouching Indian sang on, unheeding the
insult, and awaiting his fate.
His musket, discharged within a foot of his enemy's
head, had failed to kill. Some spirit had intervened.
The Indian felt himself powerless, and acquiesced
in his doom.
The Sioux around looked up now and then, but
with no pretence of interfering in the affair. It was
a private quarrel, with which they had no concern.
Still the Metis waited ; still the murderer sang on
his death song.
Then the half-breed bent his head and spat down
on his crouched foe before the tribe, and turned
leisurely away.
It was a crueller revenge, said our friend, than
if he had levelled his pistol and shot him dead.
It was not until this third day of our journey
that we saw the spectacle of a fire on the prairie.
Afterwards we saw fires, near or remote, almost
daily up to Fort Garry. But the first fire we en-
countered will live the longest in our recollection.
Even in the midday the heavens were made red
with the flames. For hours we approached the
scene of the conflagration, wondering, and in
part fearing, whether we should have to pass
through it.
K 2
II-
II
i3»
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
At length we reached the black and smouldering
country ; the fires were passing before us, and away
to the right, before a slight wind. Another hour,
and we came to the fire in its full glory. A vast
line of leaping flames, rendered vivid in the dark
rolling masses of smoke, extended before and behind
us for a distance of many miles. In some spots the
flames, beating back against the wind, came right up
to the edge of the track along which we drove. The
horses showed no fear. It was singular to notice
that all along the line the slightly-beaten track made
by the passing of the stages proved enough to stay
the progress of the flames. The country on one
side was charred and black ; on the other an endless
wilderness of brown and russet grasses gleamed
wave-like before the wind. In the fires where the
grasses were thick the flames leapt up perhaps
twelve feet ; but ordinarily the fire ran much nearer
the ground. Our drivers were entirely content at
the sight The burnt land would prevent an accu-
mulation of snow along their track during the winter.
Snow-drifts, they explained, cannot lodge except
where the grass is thick to hold them.
It was five o'clock when we reached the farm-
house outside Fort Abercrombie where we intended
to pass the night, and where Mr. Tait's wagons
awaited us for our further journey. With the falling
darkness the magnificence of the fires increased,
until the whole horizon became a spectacle of awful
beauty. In the west the sun set in calm splendour.
FORT ABERCROMBIE.
m
changing the moveless clouds to the fair image of a
world with seas of gold and peaks of translucent
glory, with dreamy regions of endless repose. But
all the east was reddened with rolling masses of
lurid smoke, from which broke forth white leaping
flames and circling columns red as blood, — a fearful
picture of wrath, desolation, and magnificence ;
but on the one side lay the majestic repose of
heaven, on the other the mad fury of a hell.
Only on the ocean could we have seen such a
sunset; but not even a battle-field could have
given so vast a spectacle of rolling clouds and
blazing fires.
Early on the morrow we inspected Fort Aber-
crombie, and received much courtesy from the
United States officers. At noon Monday, Octo-
ber lo, 1870, our small party started over the un-
inhabited plains. We had struck the Red River,
here a turbid stream of perhaps one hundred yards
in width, and were to follow it north direct to
Fort Garry, a distance of some two hundred and
fifty miles.
But the Red River itself, especially through this
part of its course, crawls through a flat country with
most persistent windings, trebling the distance, as if
reluctant to leave a congenial land. Our course
lay from bend to bend of the river almost due
north.
Our processioi was one of picturesque simplicity.
First, a light spring wagon, with a canvas awning
8*
I'' •.^'^ai
m
%■%%
S??'
il
jit
«34
r/fii CANADIAN DOMINION
1
M
for protection against the hot noonday sun and the
keen morning winds. In this sat the ladies, care-
fully heaped with shawls, buffalo-robes, and rugs,
all needed during our starlight journeyings. Next
came a baggage wagon, drawn by two long-eared
zebra-marked mules, of excellent patience and
strength. At the end of our five days' journey of
fifty miles a day these creatures still seemed in
good condition, though we could afford them
little but the prairie grass all the way. They
carried, with other luggage, our tent gear and
provisions. Then a second wagon, of two horses,
piled with many boxes, which we took only as far
as Frog Point, about seventy miles from Fort
Abercrombie. Paul, a fine, young, strong Indian, a
pure Saulteaux, with black eyes and long black hair,
a somewhat sallow but intelligent countenance,
dressed in the rough wide garments worn by the
whites of these parts, proved of great service to us
in our campings, and in finding the horses each
morning. He always drove the mules. Mr. Tait,
Mr. Loo, and myself drove the other wagons, one
of us, however, by turns riding a spare horse with
a Mexican saddle and a blanket
At six o'clock the first evening we struck a bend
of the Red River, chose a good spot for wood,
water, and fodder, and made our encampment. The
horses and mules were unloosened and allowed to
roam at their own free will ; Paul cut tent poles, and,
with crooked tops and notched pegs, in half an
A PRAIRIE ENCAMPMENT.
»35
hour our tent was well fixed. We strewed it inside
with thick grass, and placed on this buffalo robes
and white blankets. Various carpet bags were
taken in from the wagon, and .of course wash-basin
and towels. Mrs, Archibald was kind enough to
say that she found this sleeping chamber extem-
porised in the desert as comfortable as it was
picturesque. Meanwhile a great camp-fire was
built, one of the pleasantest of the day's duties.
The fire easily takes in the keen air, and the logs
burn clear away. My lumbering experience now
proved of service, and I explained carefully the
proper method of cutting a log. I was less successful
in reducing science to practice. Both Mr. Tait and
Paul could use the axe better than could the lecturer.
For the sake of neatness, and to prevent a prairie
fire spreading from our camp, we burnt the grass for
a distance of several feet round the fire. Within
the circle we spread on the ground our cloth for
supper ; our tin plates and tea-mugs glittered in the
warm light like silver. A great saucepan was put
into the red flames. Seated on a buffalo robe Miss
Archibald graciously plucked a prairie hen, the
result of a shot from the side of our wagon while
the horses stood still. Another bird, trussed by
Paul, and fantastically skewered across a mass of
cinders, gave to the air a most delicious evening
fragrance. Magnificent slices of ham frizzled in our
stew pan ; great potatoes, masses of flaky flour,
steamed off their skins. Seats from the wagon
136
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
V%
!■('!
-I;
were drawn up, but naturally we fell into recumbent
attitudes, after the fashion of a civilisation older than
chairs. It was a veritable gipsy pic-nic.
We were content gind without care. The freedom
and ease and independence of our prairie journey
came in delightful contrast with the cramped and
ordered staging; and we were proving how prac-
ticable the new mode was.
The scene around us, too, was strange. The
flickering fire-light touched everything with romance.
The sombre trees rose up around us weird, though
protectingly. Behind stretched away the endless,
silent, melancholy wilderness. No human soul was
near, save perhaps some traveller like ourselves.
We were scores of miles from even a log-house ;
hundreds from the last trace of civilisation in a
shanty town.
The ladies retired. We men sat still awhile, to
fill or finish a pipe. Then we put down buffalo
robes on the ground, removed coat and boots, and
rolled ourselves in blankets, with our feet to the fire.
Good-nights were said, and a fearful stillness
followed. I could easily distinguish the breathing
of each of my companions. One by one all slept.
It was too strange for me to sleep, feeling for the
first time the great night close over me, the great
earth spread close around me. The hours^assed
in waking dreams. Great stars glittered cold above.
The moon rose high, and filled the dark scene with
mysterious beauty, and with a stillness more intense
'm
n
GEORGETOWN.
«37
than before. At one o'clock I woke and re-made
the fire. At four, in the chill dawn, our camp broke
up, and we resumed our desolate way. We en-
deavoured to arrange the wagon so that Mrs. and
Miss Archibald might still find some snatches of
sleep, if the roughness of the prairie road would
allow it, or at least be sheltered from the bitter night
wind. At six the sun rose in splendour, with a vast
horizon, on which to make a scenic display. By
ten we reached Georgetown, at present a cluster
of five wood-huts, but the place which the United
States Northern Pacific Railroad is to reach in the
course of 1871, on its way from Duluth on Lake
Superior to the western coast. There were no signs
of preparation for the railway at the time of our
visit ; but the energy of American enterprise may
well be counted on to carry this work through
by the time arranged. At six o'clock in the evening
we encamped at the junction of the Goose River
with the Red River, a distance of about forty-seven
miles from our morning starting point.
The next morning we again started at four ; pre-
pared our breakfast at Frog Point, a shanty station
of the Hudson Bay Company, where we left the
luggage of our second wagon, to be sent on by a
steamer, the * International,' on her last trip for the
season down the river. At sundown we camped at
Grand Forks, by a wild patch of scrub poplar, at
the junction of the Red Lake River with our own
stream.
P.
.;\\
mW
■ m
U8
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
At two in tho morninjx. while Loo was ft-ctlinjj
the fire, a mounted horseman approached our en-
campment from out of the darkness. We watched
his cominji^ with some uneasiness, unable to con-
jecture a reason for the appearance of a solitary
rider on these desolate j)lains at such an liour.
Stories of Indian atrocities came to our minds, with
keener recollections of warnings which we had re-
ceived of the scattered Red River rebels. Loo had
his revolver in readiness ; I looked to my i^un.
Our precautions were unn(!cessary. We soon
recojvnised a friend of the mornini;;, an employe of
the Hudson Bay Company at I'^roj^ Point, i lis
story was characteristic. He had missed the two
hi^rses we hail left with him, with our second
wai^on. From the * bull-punchers ' of an ox train
crossinjj^ the prairies he had learnt that the horses
had been seen with a certain party of travellers
j^oinii^ north. * They have chosen a jj^ood chance
for a bullet,' he said, with siii^nificant emphasis.
We took note of his detailed descrii)tion of the
party supposed to have ' conveyed ' the horses ;
but saw nothings of them. Our acquaintance sat
and smoked by the fire ; then smoked and took
breakfast with us ; and finally rode away puffing
dense clouds to his melancholy musings.
The next day, Thursday, we had our loivest
stretch of travel to do, having to cross t^
streams before we could encamp for the nighi We
started, therefore, at 3 a.m. At 8.30 we prepared our
mmmm
mtm
A PRAIRIE ADVENTVRF..
»39
breakfast, and of course j^avc the horses a lonj^ rest,
havinjjf already come some twenty-five miles. At
6 P.M., havinj^ travelled twenty-s(!vcn miles further,
we encamped at a bend in the Red River just past
the Lon^ Trevasse.
'I'his afternoon I had a small prairie adventure to
myself. I threw a blanket over the saddle of our
spare horse, and went with my gun to seek game.
My intention was to keep our wagons in sight, but
in an hour's time they were far in the distance. I
imagined that, with a little coaxing, my horse would
stand fire ; and, at any rate, I was willing to run the
risk of the creature's starting in some alarm. I was
not, however, prepared foi what happened. A
second hour elapsed before I found a chance for a
second shot. I sprang off, held the horse with a
long cord, and raised my gun. But my over-curious
horse turned his head to see what I was doing, and
instantly started away in frantic alarm. Perforce I
followed. The scarlet blanket fell from the saddle.
I could not drop the gun, for a sudden whirl of the
brute had entangled the cord with it. We went
plunging over the prairie, until presently the un-
reasonable creature struck at me with his heels.
At all hazards of the discharge of the piece, I
threw it down, and seized the horse's head, I
have never seen such a look of fear and agony as
shone in that brute's eyes.
It was an odd position for a man unaccustomed
to the idea of crawling a score of miles with frac-
i
140
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
if*.
It
1*
tured ribs. We were now far beyond sight or help.
If the horse had succeeded in breaking away, I
might have followed him in vain for hours.
I talked to the poor beast in an unreasonable
manner, suited possibly to his demented condi-
tion. By degrees I coaxed him to quietness. I
led him back in search of the blanket; its colour
aided me. When I mounted the horse, pretending
that he had no further cause of alarm, I showed
him my hands, empty of the gun, and assured him
in plain words that I had no intention of firing again
in the solitary company of a horse who showed so
vehement a dislike of the sport.
Then I traced my way back to a clump of bushes
which I had marked near the spot where the gun
fell, and, dismounting, and patting the brute, I suc-
ceeded in drawing the weapon, unobserved, by his
side. Once again mounted, I struck my heels into
the horse's flanks, and had the finest gallop of my
life.
Evening was hastening on, but we had a splendid
sunset. The travelled track, which I soon struck,
was unmistakably distinct. The camp fire was lit
and the tent pitched when I got in. The smoke
had guided me to the spot by the woodside.
The next morning we started at 3.30. There
were several reasons for the urgency with which we
made our journey. Mrs. Arch'bald felt anxious to
reach the Red River settlement with the least pos-
sible delay. Besides, the brilliant weather with which
MANITOBA.
i4f
we were favoured was likely to fail us at any day
on the route. More than once a slight storm-shower
fell. Sometimes we could see along the horizon
half-a-dozen vast vaporous clouds discharging their
rain in trailing lines of blackness. A night encamp-
ment in storm would have occasioned us real incon-
venience. In the advanced season hail and snow
were by no means improbable.
We prepared breakfast eighteen miles on, at Big
Point. At noon we passed the American outpost
Fort Pembina. We took dinner in the Hudson Bay
Company's fort, in the small room in which Mr.
McDougal had received the peremptory notice of
the Red River Provisional Government that he
would not be permitted to proceed forward to the
seat of his Governorship. Since that time the
United States surveyors have discovered that the
boundary line of the British possessions lies some-
what further north than had been presumed. In
half an hour we passed the new post just set up, and
reverently saluted British soil. In the evening we
encamped on Little Lake, seventeen miles on, in the
new province of Manitoba.
The most magnificent spectacle we had ever be-
held in th(^ heavens was displayed for us this evening,
as if in celebration of our arrival on our national soil.
At a quarter past six a vivid belt of rosy light grew
out of the still darkness in the north-east, and
spanned the heavens from the horizon to the zenith.
All the sky around was cloudless, but filled with a
'1
. *i
IB
H
■
H
I4«
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
faint mist of vapour, obscuring all but the brightest
stars. To the east and to the south new belts of
light appeared, flame-coloured, saffron, opal, sapphire,
and orange. One-half the celestial vault was ablaze
with colour ; the other side still black with darkness.
Then the splendour of mingled colours poured slowly
down on the western slopes of heaven, until the
whole earth was enshrined in a gorgeous canopy of
light Broken sheets of flame, varying streams of
liquid colours of the most delicate hues, descended
from the zenith to the edge of the world, save at one
spot due north, where 'he stars still shone in utter
darkness. Our little camp was hushed to stillness.
No word was spoken until one of us repeated the
words of a sacred scene for which the spectacle
alone seemed worthy : — ' Then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven : and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn : and they shall see the
Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory.'
The next day, Saturday, October 5, completed
our journey. We started at 4 a.m., and in eighteen
miles reached the first house on British soil, the hut
of a kindly French half-breed, five miles from the
boundary line. Here we found waiting us, with a
large travelling carriage, the private secretary of the
Lieut-Governor. Twelve miles further on we
partook of a civilised luncheon, sitting without re-
luctance on chairs round a table. At four o'clock
we were met by the Hon. Mr. Archibald himself
g^htest
ilts of
phire,
iblaze
cness.
lowly
1 the
pyof
ns of
nded
t one
utter
ness.
1 the
tacle
sign
Ithe
the
with
eted
teen
hut
the
h a
the
we
re-
ock
!elf.
I
♦T if V
M|iw'^<*f:
,„„„„„ '^'-iiipi^
I ' '; r' I'll ill' ' '
if I*' ..I , J II f '
.ii;:..:#
tl;i: :^'lli;illlji:|
''I'll ..iiii ilii'" i!
f
«■"
Ilia;: ,,l',l! Ill
III lir
m<
111
>
i
Q
UJ
o:
III
z
I-
z
o
V
<
o
t-
a:
O
u.
FORT GARRY,
U3
Ul
>
o
u
a:
UJ
X
I-
z
o
>
<
o
t-
d:
o
u.
This part of our way led through a belt of scrub
poplar, with an occasional clearing and a settler's
log-house.
At dusk we descried the long lines of the now
celebrated Fort Garry, built at the confluence of the
Assineboine with the Red River, with the straggling
town of Winnipeg, a cluster of wooden houses,
scattered over the plains close by. Our pleasant
journey was done.
There are no difficulties on the route even now
that need prevent the immediate entrance of Cana-
dian and English immigrants. From the experience
of our party I can confidently assert that the journey
may well be made a continuous pleasure excursion.
No intending settler need hesitate to bring out his
wife and children. The freedom and novelty of
camp life for a few weeks in good weather would
fully compensate for a few slight inconveniences.
Let no traveller, however, of delicate organisation
willingly undertake this journey in a period of winter
storms, as I perforce did, in the middle of November,
on my return. The travelling would have been
more agreeable in the settled, intense cold, a month
later, when two feet of snow would have covered
the prairies, and the jolting wagon have been ex-
changed for the gliding sleigh.
The farmer proceeding now to the Red River
country shoultl certainly take through his own
horses and wagons, his farming implements, and
household goods. If he need extra draught after
'• 1
■» ■;• ^if
\: ':...
»!-■.
n
144
TBE CANADIAN DOMINION.
i
ffi '■
leaving the railroad, let him buy more horses and
carts, or oxen and the charettes of the country.
Everything he takes to Red River will be worth
twenty-five to fifty per cent, in advance on its cost
upon arrival ; and if he travels with his own teams,
the expense of transit will be nothing.
With each year, however, the facilities of com-
munication will increase.
By the close of 1871 an American railroad will
probably strike the Red River, meeting a line of
steamers running to Fort Garry. One or two years
later, the iron rails will be laid all the way.
Long before this, however, a new route will be
opened through British territory, saving several
hundred miles to the immigrant from Canada. First
the stage and steamer, and finally continuous rail-
road, will render communication easy by this route
also.
The interior country will be developed rapidly to
a condition of great prosperity ; but the romance of
travel will be gone.
M5
CHAPTER XII.
THE RED RIVER REVOLT.
EvKRYTiiiNG connected with Red River is excep-
tional. The country is unHke any other in the
world ; its settlement differed widely from that of
any colony ever established ; its mingled races of
people form a community unrivalled in eccentricities.
The variety of divergent interests here — social, com-
mercial, political, and religious — presents one of the
most intricate puzzles ever offered for the ingenious
treatment of politicians. The settlement has attained
a world-wide fame ludicrously disproportioned to its
positive achievements. Its wars have been more
innocent than school-boy sports ; its heroes young
men of absurd insignificance, its revolutions the by-
play of the oddest chances. It has been the appro-
priate theatre of the most ridiculous mistakes ever
made in the blundering art of politics. Statesmen
even of acknowledged ability have, in dealing with
Red River, lost all regard for e.Kpediency, policy,
or common sense. Its recent troubles, the direst
tempest in a wash-pot ever known, have attracted
the attention and consideration of the American
L
'.^V'-'f/
M
'm
Vj
!
!i
146
ruh: CAXADiAM no.u/x/ON.
coiuiiuM^t aiul of l''.uro|)(>. Its iniiuitc parish .S(|iia1)-
l)l<'s liavi' lucomc <|iicstion.s «»f imperial lua^nitiuK'.
\Vlu*n tin* history ol" kcil Kivt-r shall some day be
wriltrii j^ravfly, it will In* roail as an extravagant
Imrlesque.
The settlement has existetl for half a century in the
centre of a vast continent, remote from all external
'nlhienct*. A circle drawn rounil it with a ratlins of
a thousanil miles wouKl scarcely touch civilisation
anywhere in its sweep. Norlhwanls lie great lakes
and streams w ithout a solitary sail, vast plains and
wtunls without a settler, the inlaiul ocean (.)f I ludson
Hay. aiul the frozen wiKlerness that reaches to the
I'ole. Ti* the south stretch boundless uninhabited
pr.iiries to the Hritish frontier, and t-ndless ()nuries
still throui^h Unileil States territories downwards for
hundreds o( miles. ICastwanls reaches a vast coun-
try i)f dense wootls. reekinj^ swamps, tortuous streams
broken with rapids, irrej;ular lakes, and wilderness
of rock, far beyoi\d Lake Superior, in a line that
twelve lunulreil miles would not measure.
To the west stretches the mat^nificently fertile,
but utterly ilesolate. X'alley of the Saskatchewan,
w ilh verdant slopes anil navij^able rivers, up to the
base oi the Rocky Mountains ; and then a vast
wiKlerness of rock, woodland, and prairie, on to the
l\icitic. The ne.xt settlement in this direction counts
tit'teen hundred miles from Winnipeg.
The only routes of travel through the country are
the trails opened by the Honourable Hudson Bay
Till: WARS or Till-: RIVAL COMPANIES. 147
Company for the conduct of their business in furs.
In the suinintT months the trailer and the occasional
travclhT (liul their way to the setthMuent in th(;
Indian hark-canoe, or in h^ht fiat bottomed boats,
which may l)e carried over the jiorta^es in order to
pass the rapids ; or li^ht wagons and ox-carts brin^
them over the prairie. In the winter tiie sleigh is
used, with horses, or pref(;rably with a lon^ train of
doj^s. I''ort (iarry is th<; principal station of the
Hudson IJay Company, and the seat of the former
j^overnment, and has therefore become the terminus
of tlieir wanderin)^ lines of travel.
This strangely-isolated colony owes its origin to
the ancient feud that subsisted between the Iluilson
Hay Company and its French rival the North-West
Company before their amalgamation. With the
view of opposing the influence of the I^'rench com-
pany, Loril Selkirk brouj^ht out in 1813, by way of
Hudson IJay and York-I'actory, 300 Scotch fami-
lies, mostly from the Orkneys. All kinds of Macs
flourish to this day etjually amonj^ the white settlers
anil the half-breeds. The North-West Company
refused to submit tamely to this intrusion. War
was declared. A conflict took place, known in the
history of the Territory as the Battle of Red River,
in which no fewer than twenty-two lives were lost,
including that of the Hudson Bay Governor. This
is the most bloody encounter known through all the
wars which have signalised the history of this
settlement.
I. 2
.-.'fi
•^•<.'
"'■h
5, -.a.
',^^
■•--^
148
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
I.;
This Ijattlc is supposed popularly to have taken
place in the year, clay, and hour of the Battle of
Waterloo, which name has consequently found a
place, through the power of association, in the
memory of the people. I shall not be unj^cnerous
enouj^h to attempt to disturb so innocent and
natural an illusion.
The troops of the Hudson Hay Company sub-
sequently gained some com[)cnsatinj^ victories in
the capture of various rival forts ; and finally an
amalgamation of the two companies was effected, as
a result of which the efforts of the allied belligerents
Wiixii turned to the trapping of moose and mink,
and to trading with the Indian tribes with flour and
blankets for the winter furs. Peace reigned in the
settlement ; prosperity followed.
Lord Selkirk had brought his Scotch settlers to
Red River partly on account of the amazing fer-
tility of the soil, and partly because the position was
a very central one for conducting the operations of
the fur company. In a long line of farms with river
frontage the Scotch have mainly settled on the left
or west bank of the Red River, northwards from
I'ort Garry to the Lower or Stone Fort, a distance
of fifteen miles. The French and French half-
breeds have settled on the right bank and up the
Riviere Rouge. The English residents, generally
old servants of the Company, and the English half-
breeds, have scattered themselves along the Assine-
boine for a distance of sixty miles to 1 he Portage.
SOIL OF THE RED RIVER TERRITORY. 149
Speaking in general terms, no care has been ex-
pended on the cultivation of the soil. In a slovenly
manner, with miserable implements, its surface has
been scratched over and grain sown, with a total
heedlessness of any order of rotation of crops. In
some instances wheat has been put into the same
ground year after year since the commencement of
the settlement ; yet such is the richness of the land
that the farmer tells you he knows of no falling off
in the quantity or quality of the crop.
The peculiarity of the Red River farmer is to
pitch all his manure into the river ; it is his way of
getting rid of a nuisance. To save himself this
trouble, however, he adopts sometimes another ex-
pedient. He piles his cattle dus^g round his
roughly-built log-barn and stables till the light is
shut out and the wood has rotted to tottering ; then
he makes a sudden escape from the accumulated
filth by raising new frame buildings, or possibly by
removing to some fresh tract of land. He can pre-
sent, however, one single excuse for his neglect of
valuable manure — the whole soil consists of a rich
compost.
The less said about the dwellinnf-houses of the
old settlers the better. There is a complete dearth
of large timber throughout the district, and the
cost of transport on the rivers has hitherto been
very heavy. The extensive woods on the river
banks are composed of small trees growing much
too densely to allow of the formation of larg'j tim'jer.
';^t^
. ■, »■■ c'. tit
ISO
THE CANAniAN DOMINION.
In ohtaininj^ fiu,'l and wood for fences it has never
been the fashion here to thin these w(kx1s, so as to
let the larjrer trees jjrow to a fit size for building
purposes ; but insteatl of this successive strips are
cleared wliolly away— and this in pure despite of
the fact that the chief disadvantajjc of the country is
its scarcity of timber. Of course, no one lias ever
yet been jjuilty of the prudence of planting trees.
When this is done on a larj;e scale, the climate will
be ameliorated, greater ihimpness secured, and the
crops of the farmer reiulered as secure from early
frosts as in the oliler Canadas.
But though timber for buiKling is scarce, lime-
stone abounds within easy access. Two or three of
the many churches of the settlement are built of
this, and it is used in the foundationjiof some of the
woollen houses ; but no quarry is regularly worked.
I'^xcellent brick-clay occurs constantly through the
country ; but not a single kiln is in operation. A
small attempt at brick-making was made some year
or two ago. and the bricks sold readily at 3/. a thou-
sand. T'our stout English brick-labourers here,
with 10/. a piece in their pocket, might make a com-
petency in a few years, and a large fortune, if they
had wit and enterprise.
A fair idea may now be formed of the character
of the Red River settlers for business activity and
intelligence. I am delighted to allow that a number
of examples are to be found of another order of
men ; but they are exceptional. It is also certain
RED RIVER JUSTICE.
»5»
that a number of excellent virtues may be dis-
covered in men who may disdain to devote them-
selves to the material improvement of the country.
The Red River settlers claim to be singularly moral,
sober, relij^ious, and jiatriotic. I for one shall not
venture to question the propriety of the claim.
Hut the mode in which the jrrcat qualities of the
inhabitants of Red River have displayed themselves
has occasionally been somewhat singular. We
should not be speaking of Red River if this were
not so. Some years ago, a clergyman, found guilty
of a very grave offence before the highest court of
justice in the land, was sentenced to six months' im-
prisonment ; but the gaol at Fort Garry was broken
open by his sympathising friends, and the reverend
gentleman set at liberty. One of the leaders in this
brilliant cx|)loit was secured, by order of the autho-
rities, and imprisoned, with the view of asserlmg
the injured majesty of the law. Ikit this imprison-
ment could no more be tolerated in Red River than
the other. The friends of the gentleman collected,
broke open the prison again, and set the captive
free.
From this time the Hudson Hay Company be-
came increasingly anxious to hand over the go-
vernment of the country into stronger hands. At a
later date a professional gentleman, whose name
afterwards became a rallying cry for one of the
parties in the late disturbance, had the misfortune to
be sentenced to imprisonment for debt Once again
;v,.
?5 <^< :
I
to.
rsa
77/A CANADIAN DOMINION.
the prison was brokcMi, and the j^entlcman quietly
resunieil his position in the town of Winnipeg, under
Fort Garry, without molestation.
Of the one town of the settlement a word should
be saiil. It is nanu>d Winnipeg, though forty miles
from the lake of that name, and still more distant
from the river ; but this strikes no one in the
place as incongruous. It is composed of fourscore
wooden buildings, tl;c stores, dwelling-houses, and
barns all counted ; and no one will lightly venture
the calumny that any of these show tlu? least preten-
tiousni'ss of style, or betray any uiuhu; regard to
outwaril appearance. The; uniformity of an Ame-
rican town is happily avoitleil. The houses might
very well have been shaken carelessly out of a
magician's bag, who hail done with them for old
boxes.
It remains only to state the estimated numbers of
the population. The figures are —
2,000 Pure WMiites, b'nglish -speaking Protestants.
5,000 I'jiglish Ilalfbreeds, Protestants.
5,000 P'rench Half-breeds, Catholics.
Within the settlement are scattered also a few
scores of semi-civilised Indians, whose bits of farms
do not compare to such disadvantage with those of
the whites ;is one might beforehaiul have e.xpected.
These families all migrate during the summer for
the chase, as do many among the half-breed popula-
tion. All around the settlement, especially n<»rth
OR/CfiW OF TIIR INSURRECTION.
«5J
ami west, roam wandcrinjj tril>cs of Saultcaux,
Sioux, Swainpies, Crccs, Chippcwyans, and Hlack-
fcot. TliL'sc are mostly Pajraiis, ami may number
throuj^hout the whole North- West 150,000 souls.
The scent! is now sufficiently i)re|>aretl before tluj
reader for an account of the ht.Toic events which
have ^iven Red River its fame with the Canadian
and I'^n^lish public.
The outside world knows the main course of the
history. Under th(r j^uidance of ICn^lish statesman-
ship, a transfer was arranj^eil, to In; compUtltrd at the
close of 1869, of the North-VVest Territories of
the Hudson Hay Com|)any to the Dominion of
Canada. A j^entleman, Mr. McDouj^mII, was selected
by the Canadian administration to occu[)y the j)osi-
tion of tlu! first Lieutenant-(iovernor of Manitoba,
the name by which a new province, including the
old R(h1 River Set-lement, was to be known. At
the close of iS09he proceeded by the easiest route —
that throuj^h the United States — to b<: ii, ihe place
of his government at the; time when, by iht." ^JuecMi's
Proclamation, it should become a j)ortion of the
Dominion of Canada. On November 2, 1869, Mr.
McDou^all's pro^nrss was arrested at the British
boundary line, by a small force of I'n.'nch half-brecxls,
and he was i^nominiously driven back lo l'nit(rd
States soil, in obt^dience to a brief rerpiisilion which
may be <^\\vw here as commencinj.j the documentary
history of the insurrection : —
*..?«
/^' <1
'«
'»
fl
:i!
»54
77/i^ CANADIAN DOMINION.
A Monsieur W. McDougall.
Monsieur, — Le Comitd national des M6t\s de la Riviire
Rouge intime ;\ Monsieur W. McDougall I'ordre dc ne pas
cntrer sur le tcrritoire du nord-ouest sans une permission
spi^ciale de ce Comitc*.
Par ordre du President, John Bruce,
Louis Riel, Secretaire.
Date k St. -Norlicrt, Riviere Roujje.
Ce 21* jour (I'oclobre 1869.
The English-speaking population of Red River
appear to have been taken completely by suprise by
the energetic action of their French neighbours ;
but they declined to make any effective efforts for
the re-estahlishment of order. Mr. McDougall
waited vainly at Pembina for his friends within the
settlement, and notably for one Colonel Dennis,
whom he constituted his representative, to prepare
by a counter display of arms for his entry within
the country. The authority of the Hudson Bay
Company, disrespected in the former days of peace,
now fell utterly into contempt. Mr. McTavish, the
governor of the Hudson Bay Company, issued a
proclamation calling on the people to lay down their
arms, to which no one gave the slightest heed. Mr.
McDougall issued proclamations, though he was not
yet constituted the governor, nor held any legal
status of authority. Louis Riel issued proclamations
on his side, which had the one merit of getting re-
sj)ectcd. I'ive or ten score rebels — a disorderly, ill-
armed rabble of French half-breeds — walked into
FORT GARRY JJICLD HY THE REHKLS. 155
I'ort Garry, took possession of the cannon, small
arms, and ammunition, and henceforth held the
inconstant, divided, ill-armed mob of the English-
speaking population at a great disadvantage. At
any time before the taking of the P'ort a dozen
determined men might have overawed the incipient
rebellion. At any time after the capture two score
of English soldiers could have retaken the Fort by
a night assault, and probably without effusion of
blood.
Hut this c(ndd only have been done at one risk
of great magnitude. It might have led to a con-
flict of races through the bitter winter — a miserable
calamity in an isolated province like this, cut off
by distance from all interference and succour. The
Indians, appealed to, as it were, on both sides, might
have made an effectual clearance of the whole white
population. At the very least, a deep sense of
injury and of hatred would probably have been
established between the rival races here which years
or centuries might have failed to lemove. As the
event has proved, the sensible men of each party
are disposed to bury the ridiculous errors of the
past in a speedy oblivion.
To appreciate at all the inner history of the Red
River revolt it is necessar)' to observe the excep-
tional variety and intricacy of the interests that
were involved. Never was tliere such a mixture of
elements in such a little pot before ! No wonder it
■ ril
1'!
i I !
* \
t
li
.1 \\
I*!
156
77/i? CANADIAN DO Af IN JON.
came to spasmodic ebullition, and boiled over in
wide-spread confusion.
First must be named the difference of race, divid-
ing the little community with natural rivalries. Next
the difference of religion, separating the people into
two antagonistic parties. Then must be considered
the separate interests of the powerful Hudson Bay
Trading Company, with its own policy to pursue
and its great profits to make — an associati<»n sur-
rounded, of course, with enemies, as every monopoly
is sure to be. With all ♦Sis, however, it must be
remembered that the isolated condition which the
people here all shared tended strongly to unite all
interests against the outside world of foreigners. Hut
to assist the complication we must take into account
the divergent interest of a number of energetic
American residents, and their sympathisers within
and without the settlement, who covertly or openly
avowed a policy of annexation to the United States.
Add still the influence of a restless but imbecile
Fenian party, whose aim was to establish an Inde-
pendent Republic, from which they might make
wars upon Canada and Great Britain. The im-
broglio is not yet complete. It is no secret that
the (jovcrnmcnt at Ottawa were themselves divided
as to the policy to be adopted in Manitoba. The
Quebec party wtTe naturally for increasing their
own influence, |)erpetuating the Catholic religion,
and strengthening the I*>ench interests in the new
country. The Ontario part)- were equally deter-
STATE OF PARTIES AT WINNIPEG,
157
•r-
mined to prevent the growth of a second Quebec in
the Dominion, and set themselves in unreasoning
haste to secure Protestant and English ascendency.
Here are the ingredients of our olia podrida :
Rivalries t)f race and of creed ; Orangeism, Ultra-
montanism, Rcil-rcpublicanism, Monopolies, Feni-
anism. Spread- Kagling and Annexation; and, not
least active, Ishmaelism, the natural sentiment of the
country. Hach party had representatives in the
disturbances, while some of the prominent actors,
however, represented especially themselves. It
would recjuire infinite patience and the rarest
powers of discrimination to determine which party
acted with the most, and which with the least, in-
discretion. Now, of course, each one seeks charit-
ably to distribute the burden of blame among his
choice enemies. The present government shows
admirable sense in devoting its energi<*s to the
pacification and development of the country, and in
avoiding intpiiry into past affairs. The only tribunal
fit to deal with these is one of Omniscience, No
practical good could be gainetl by distributing e(pial
doles of censure all rouml.
The initial and chief blunder in the Red River
affairs was, without thuibt, committed by the states-
men of Canada anil Mnglaiul. The Territories, with
their populations, were made over to a new govern-
ment without c(»nsulling the people in the slightest
ilegree. And this omission occurred notwithstanding
the obtrusive fact that in recent annexations of
:m
• V-
>
4'
'IP
]^
158
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
territory — of Nice, of X'enetia, of Rome, for instance
— a vote of the peoples was considered a political
necessity. Their destiny may have been pre-
ordained and \}^M pUbiscite a managed formality ; but
nevertheless it was permitted in deference to an
international sense of justice, and as a show, if an
empty one, of rej^ard for the wishes of the people.
In the present case, if, as it has since been urj^ed in
extenuation of the mistake, the Governments were
possessed with the conviction that the population
of Red River were eager for the projected chanj>e,
the more reason surely existed for allowing them an
exercise of the privilege of professedly disposing of
their destiny. But no commissioners were app«»inteil
to inquire into the wishes of the people ; no votes
were taken ; no representatives called for to express
the popular feeling. It is a singular fact that no
official communication of the transfer of the Territory
was ever sent to Red River. No official notice was
sent even to the resident governor of the Hudson
Bay Ci>mpany ; nor was there any formal announce-
ment made to the settlement that a Lieut-Governor
was to assume authority over it, or that Mr.
McDougall was on his way to his seat of govern-
ment The people learnt tht; fate prepared for them
through the news|)apers. The Ishmaelism of the
whole community felt itself outraged. ' We are
sold as a flock of sheep.' was everywhere said.
The first popular expression of displeasure was
made by a party which, although it afterwards con-
MISTAKES OF CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. 159
sidered itself expressly loyal, publicly avowed its
persuasion that, since the people of Red River had
been sold for 300,000/., they ought to adopt mea-
sures for securing the division of the purchase-
money among themselves.
A second blunder was made by the Canadian
Government in a generous eagerness to improve
their new possessions. A Mr. Snow was sent in
the fall of 1 869 to prepare a road between the Lake
of the Woods and I'ort Garry before the transfer
of the Territory had been made. The Hudson Bay
'-ompany and the Red River people, at one in
indignation at this interference with their prescrip-
tive rights, made urgent remonstrance against the
premature action of the Government. A worse
mistake followed. A number of surveyors appeared
in the settlement, running lines through the claims
of the inhabitants and marking off fresh plots. With
or without reason, the people imagined that their
property would be appropriatctl at the caprice of a
crowd of new-comers. Ishmaelism revolted.
Hut perhaps the most extraordinary mistake com-
mitted throughout these transactions was the issuing
of a bogus proclamation by Mr. McDougali. Wiiilc
in retreat at Pembina, before the transfer of the
Territory by Her Majesty, without any official notice
of his actual status as Licut.-Governor, and »>f
course without having taken the oaths of office, Mr.
McDougali judg«!d it well to issue a Proclamation
in the Oueen's name announcing himself as the
"'■"til 3
': t -. • .'
» ' .^ .
■ i ■
I
1» ■
^il
■%
f '
1 60
r//£ CANADIAN DOMINION
Lieut-Governor of the North-West Territory, and
requiring * our Loving Subjects of our Territory,
and all others whom these Presents may concern,'
to govern themselves accordingly. It is understood
that on the night of the first of December, the ap-
pointed day of the transfer, Mr. McDougall stole
down to the boundary line and signed this manifesto
on British territory. But far more than this was
needed to make the thing legal. The occurrence of
the disturbances had rendered a delay in the transfer
imperative, in the opinion at least of the Govern-
ment which Mr. McDougall served.
Another extraordiiiary document of these days
was this gentleman's Commission issued to Lieut-
Colonel Dennis, authorising him to commence civil
war in the disturbed district After a long recital
of particulars, it proceeds in the following manner : —
' Know you that, reposing trust and confidence in
your courage, loyalty, fidelity, discretion, and ability,
and under and in virtue of the authority in me
vested, I have nominated and appointed, and by
these presents do nominate and appoint, you, the
said John Stoughton Dennis, to be my Lieutenant
and a Conservator of the Peace in and for ihe
North-West Territories, and do hereby authorise
and empower you as such to raise, organise, arm,
equip, and provision a sufficient force within the
said Territories, and with the said force to attack,
arrest, disarm, or disperse the said armed men so
unlawfully assembled and disturbing the public
MISTAKES or 77 fE LOYAL PARTY.
i6i
peace ; and for that purpose, and with the force
aforesaid, to assault, fire upon, pull down, or break
into any fort, house, stronghold, or other place in
which the same armed men may be found ; and I
hereby authorise you, as such Lieutenant and Con-
servator of the Peace, to hire, purchase, impress,
and take all necessary clothing, arms, ammunition,
and supplies, and all cattle, horses, waggons, sleighs,
or other vehicles, which may be required for the
use of the force to be raised as aforesaid ' — and so
on to double this length.
But injustice would be done to the other actors
in the comedy if it were supposed that the blunders
made were all on the side of the Canadian Govern-
ment and its representatives. The Hudson Hay
Company's officials received notice in advance of the
intended attack on Fort Garry by the insurgents,
and yet took no precautions for securing the place.
This fault has perhaps been expiated by the loss of
50,ocx3/. worth (so the figures have been estimated)
of provisions and stores appropriated by Mr. Riel
and his party during their half-year's occupancy of
the Fort. The Canadian or loyal party, through
disunited counsels and the want of a leader, failed
to do anything but make themselves ridiculous.
Their impotent displays of force served to encourage
rather than to check the rebels. .Some forty of tliis
party, well armed, assembled in the house of Dr.
Schultz in Winnipeg, while the main body gathered,
and talked, and disputed at the Lower or Stone
M
! -'♦
<■:
.A^
,'.♦•
Li
1 '^'
il^ill
ii
t6t
T/fE CANADIAN DOAflNION,
Fort, twenty miles off, under Colonel Dennis. Three
separate orders were sent from Mr. McDougall's
Lieutenant and Conservator of the Peace, requiring
this detached force to fall back and join the main
body. The orders were ignored. Out came the
rebel Conservator of the Peace and the military
generals from Fort Garry, with a small field-piece,
which they trundled in front of Dr. Schultz's house,
and waited there for a couple of days, demanding
submission. On the third day the garrison yielded.
Quarter was given. The forty men were disarmed
and marched into Fort Garry as prisoners. This
affair is known as the Siege of Winnipeg. Not one
fired shot mars the glory of the victory.
Colonel Dennis issued more proclamations, and
suddenly disappeared from the country. Mr.
McDougall wrote some more papers, and then
returned to Canada. Mr. McTavish, the Governor
of the Hudson Bay Company, grew more sick and
ill at the indignity of his position as a prisoner
in his own house, and at the miserable issue of
events which he could no longer control, and
eventually obtained permission to leave the country
and die.
The rebel party reigned. A lull took place in
the tea-pot tempest. The less obno.xious of the
prisoners were set at liberty. The most obnoxious
of them. Dr. Schuitz, effected his escape in a singu-
larly daring and ingenious manner. The self-elected
Provisional Government occupied itself over Fort
RIEL AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
'6j
in
the
Lious
ingu-
tcted
iFort
Garry wine with discussions on the fate to be chosen
for their country. The first president, Mr. John
I3ruce, was early supplanted. I found him in the
parish of St. Honiface, near the Fort, usefully en-
gaged in his proper avocation as a journeyman car-
penter. He speaks only French, but told me that
his grandfather was Scotch. His persistent idea, he
assured me, had been the establishment of the pro-
vince as a Crown Colony. Hut the fame of Mr.
Bruce has failed before that of the triumvirate, Kiel,
O'Donoghue, and Lepine. Louis Ricl was born in
the province ; had shown some ability at school ;
and had been sent by Bishop Tachc to the Montreal
Roman Catholic College for the completion of his
education. The young man, however, eventually
declined to enter the priesthood, and wandered into
the States for a fortune or a living. Shortly before
the Red River outbreak he was • clerking ' in a store
in some small State town. But he was back in Red
River in good time. This young man is 'the Little
Napoleon ' of Red River fame. It is not known, how-
ever, to what circumstance he owes the flattering title.
The Honourable \V. B. O'Donoghue, .Secretary of
the Treasury, was an escaped lay brother from one
of the Roman Catholic Red River schools. It is
understood that he chiefly represented the I*'enian
party in the insurreclit)n.
The Honourable Mr. Lepine was only the
Adjutant-General. It was believed, however, that
he would have been made Commander-in-chief, or
M i
^:^ .1i
I: '1
■i •
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
V.
/>
(/ /jk"4L
<;' <5?
i
/- >^/.
^
1.0
.50 '""^ !!■■
== itt lii 12.2
I.I
iii lift
i ■« lllig
111'-^- III '-^
K25
V
vl
^J^/
*^''^'
^
>
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WiST MAIN STRUT
WMSTM.N.Y. 14580
(716)872-4503
4r
^
r"'
1 1' ■
t ;
i
8 '
164
TJIE CANADIAN DOMINION.
at least a Lord Marshal, after the murder of Thomas
Scott. Popular expectation was disappointed. Even
at Red River courage and generosity would go un-
rewarded.
The Provisional Committee found time for some
pieces of business. To imitate other great States,
a Convention of Representatives was called at
Winnipeg. It consisted of forty members. For
the sake of present quiet the English-speaking
districts sent delegates with the rest. By this as-
sembly Riel was recognised as President of the
Provisional Government, and a Chief Justice, a
Secretary of State, and various other high function-
aries were elected. After fifteen days of talk the
Convention broke up in February 1870, having pro-
duced a long Bill of Rights.
And now occurred one of the greatest events of
this history. The columns of the rebel newspaper,
the ' New Nation,' containing the thrilling story, are
headed in startling type, ' The Revolution ! Battle
of Winnipeg ! '
But, as the excitement of the conflict has now
passed away, I shall content myself with a condensed
and unimpassioned narrative.
During the sitting of the Convention the Canadian
or loyal party had a second time assembled in arms —
on this occasion at Kildonan, the Scotch settlement
par excellence^ about six miles north of Fort Garry.
Their purpose appeared to be the overawing of
the Riel party, the storming of Fort Garry, the
RENEWED AGITATION.
165
overturning of the Provisional Government, and the
establishment of a new one of their own. But they
could onlyagree positively on one thing — the peremp-
tory demand of the release of the remainder of the
prisoners captured in the Siege of Winnipeg. Awed
by the Kildonan demonstration, the Little Napoleon
agreed to the demand, and let the two dozen re-
maining prisoners free. The whole country trembled
to hear what desperate thing would next be done.
Nothing the first day. The suspense grew fearful.
Nothing the second day. Men breathed. Nothing
the third day. The women laughed in scorn. The
Kildc lan army, of perhaps five hundred men, broke
up and dispersed. The leaders could not agree that a
sufficient cause existed for embroiling the settlement
in strife, with murder, and pillage, and fire. And
possibly they were right.
The Little Napoleon and his court of generals
plucked up heart. From the wall of the Fort a
soldier descried a small party of men making their
way across the prairie in the snow. They were
proceeding from the direction of Kildonan, and
•were apparently on their way to Portage la Prairie.
The conviction flashed upon some man of genius in
the Fort that this was the detachment from Portage
Ja Prairie that went up several days before to swell
the number of the loyal army. The wild clarion of
the bugle sounded ; every available horseman was
urged fopward. Adjutant-General Lupine and the
redoubtable O'Donoghue headed the tumultuous
♦ .^,\
m
''■ f.if
■j-4i
'%
i66
T//£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
charge. The horsemen stood in a ring round the
entrapped party. The loyalists were called upon to
surrender ; they obeyed. Forty-eight fresh prisoners
were conducted into the Fort.
This was the great Battle of Winnipeg, fought on
Thursday morning, February 1870. Once more a
complete victory had been gained without the
expenditure of one ounce of powder.
Some remarks of a writer in the ' New Nation'
may find a place here, for, rebel as he probably was,
the fellow had a stroke of wit in him : —
* Between 500 and 600 of the English people
sprang to arms to liberate the prisoners, and about
24, all that remained, were set at liberty by the
President. Thirty-six hours subsequently a whole
detachment, en route home to the Portage, was
gobbled up by the French. Here, then, is a summary :
English prisoners released, 24 ; made prisoners, 48.
If we were not a peculiar people this result would
astonish us. But in this country we have learnt to
be astonished at nothing. The war of proclama-
tions inaugurated by Dennis & Co. has been
followed up by a series of campaigns — the principal
feature of which is that nobody was hurt {sic)^
A fortnight after this capture the Riel Govern-
ment perpetrated their one damning fault in the
cold-blooded murder of one of these prisoners, a
young man named Thomas Scott. He gave offence
to the petty usurpers of a little power by a dangerous
firmness of character and a remarkable plainness of
MURDER OF THOMAS SCOTT.
167
speech. To quote a representation made in the
behalf of the rebels, ' He was very violent and
abusive in his language and actions, annoying and
insulting the guards, and even threatening the Presi-
dent'
For these offences the young man was sentenced
to death by a court-martial held March 3, 1870.
Until ten o'clock the next day was given him for
preparation for his end. Mr. Donald Smith, a
Commissioner recently sent out by the Ottawa
Government, and held in semi-captivity in his own
house in the Hudson Bay Company's Buildings,
made the most strenuous efforts to show the rebel
leaders the character of the deed they were com-
mitting, and to obtain at least a delay of the sentence.
Clergymen and priests also entreated in vain.
* During all this time nothing could convince the
prisoner that his sentence would be carried out.'
On the fatal morning, the Rev. George Young, the
minister chosen by the prisoner to attend him,
earnestly urged delay, on the ground that the con-
demned man * was not prepared to die.' An extra-
ordinary piece of generosity was now shown on the
part of the rebel government. In deference to this
statement the execution was postponed from 10 a.m.
to noon. The prisoner was then led out into the
court-yard within Fort Garry, and shot down like a
dog.
The miserable playing at government of the
rebels has a certain fit culmination in the cold-
m
'If
%
m
t68
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
blooded murder of a powerless prisoner with an
aping of the forms of military law.
All previous mistakes by other parties were
diminished to insignificance before this malignant and
imbecile blunder.
But for awhile peace reigned — a very still quiet —
for the people were seized generally with an invincible
fear. That one murderous volley, the only shots
fired in the rebellion, woke in every home echoes
of indignation and dread. Riel's cause and that of
his party received its death that morning in the
Fort
It is not difficult to conjecture the underlying
reasons for this so-called ' military execution.' The
rebel Government wished to strike awe through the
settlement, and prevent any further attempts against
their usurped authority. It was their purpose, further,
to commit their party irrevocably to a policy of op-
position by some deed not to be lightly passed over
by the Canadian Government. A temporary success
attended their plan.
Five days after the execution of Thomas Scott
Dr. Tache, the Roman Catholic Bishop of St.
Boniface, arrived in the settlement. News of the
disturbances in his diocese had been sent to him at
Rome, where he was assisting at the CEcumenical
Council ; and a special telegram from the Ottawa
Government urged his immediate return. With
extreme anxiety the prelate set out, crossed half the
world, and came back to his people— unfortunately,
INFL UENCE OF ROMAN CA TIIOLIC CLERG Y. 1 69
^ith
the
too late to prevent their crowning bkmder and crime.
It is morally certaii that if Bishop Tachd had been
present Scott would have been saved. Among the
French of the settlement the Bishop's influence is
supreme. On his arrival he set himself to moderate
parties, and to prepare for the friendly reception of the
Imperial and Volunteer Expeditionary Force. It is
probably owing especially to this one man's influence
that the playing at war did not eventually become a
grave reality, and that our NorthrWest Territory has
been saved from wide-spread calamity.
Having said this, I must in candour add my convic-
tion that, but for the influence of the Roman Catholic
Church, the Red River difficulty would never have
occurred at all, or, at least, would not have attained
serious dimensions. The most mischievous element
in the first excitement of public feeling in the settle-
ment was a wide-spread alarm that the interests of the
Romish Church were to be sacrificed, and that the
Catholic religion was to be forced into the holes and
corners of the provinces by the horde of English
adventurers that would come in with the new order
of things. The priests themselves were afraid of
this, and increased the alarm of their flocks. It is,
unfortunately, certain that several of the Catholic
priests openly abetted the acts of the insurgents ;
and I have reason to know that at one moment, at
least, the Catholic clergy hesitated in their loyalty to
the English rule, and questioned if annexation to
the United States might not be a better fate than
■''■^^
W: 'i
• " , !t
! !'■
!
170
TIf£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
the treatment they were likely to receive from the
Canadian Government.
A month after Scott's murder, Mr. Riel issued a
proclamation to the population of the North- West
which is one of the choice literary curiosities in Red
River history. I will quote some of the characteristic
sentences : —
Elevated by the Grace of Providence and the suffrages
of my fellow citizens to the highest position in the Govern-
ment of my country, I proclaim that peace reigns in our
midst this day.
Happy country to have escaped many misfortunes that
were preparing for her !
O, my fellow countrymen, without distinction of language
or without distinction of creed — keep my words in your
heart ! If ever the time should unhappily come when another
division should take place amongst us, such as foreigners
heretofore sought to create, that will be the signal for all
the disasters which we have had the happiness to avoid.
Louis Riel.
Government House, Fort Garry, April % 1870.
The spring of 1870 came hastily on. Red River
heard the news, at first with incredulity, of the
starting of the expeditionary force. It was proposed
by the rebels to equip and discipline an army in
opposition. They debated on the advisability of
raising the wild Indians on the line of march against
the coming troops. Fenian aid was talked of, and
indeed was to have been tendered, if Canada had
first been conquered. It was agreeable to Fenian
imbecility to neglect a practicable opportunity for
LUDICROUS END OF THE REVOLT.
i7«
W^
EL.
iver
the
osed
in
of
linst
and
had
tiian
for
striking a blow at England on this remote expedition
of our troops, where, at some of the portages, a
hundred men might have occasioned a great, or
even a fatal, disaster. And of course it was the
fitting thing in Red River to depend on these
Fenians, and on the action of the United States,
and on the intervention of the gods, and on big talk,
to stop the English force. Up to the end the rebels
did nothing ; the empty wind-bag of the revolution
had not one last breath left in it.
On August 24, 1870, at ten o'clock in the morning,
the first detachment of English troops entered Fort
Garry. At nine o'clock Mr. Riel and the honour-
able gentlemen of his government left by the back
door. Up to the last moment resistance appears to
have been intended, or at least dreamt of. The rifles
flung down by the rebel soldiers on their retreat were
found ready loaded. But, agreeably to the peculiar
genius of the Red River warfare, not one shot was
fired. Little Napoleon and his army ignominiously
disappeared. The farce ended befittingly ; the Red
River Revolt was done.
Despite the ludicrous aspect of this burlesque of a
revolution, it is only too certain that at one time it
threatened to involve the empire in serious difficulty.
A certain party of American political agitators were
in active correspondence with sympathisers within
the settlement. An incursion of filibusters to aid
Riel, and then to take the conduct of affairs, was by
no means a distant probability. It is happily be-
%
■■ X-'W
»T
J72
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
! 'I'll
yond question that the Government of the United
States would have considered seriously any repre-
sentations En<jland might have chosen to make; but
it is by no means clear that the Washington Govern-
ment could have taken any effective part in aiding
us to a recovery of the province if a rabble of
miners from Montana and Colorado had already en-
tered the Red River Territory and established an
independent government.
Fortunately, such an untoward event did not
happen, and will not now. At the time of my
visit, in October 1870, order was completely re-
established. The careful selection of the first Lieu-
tenant-Governor of Manitoba has proved a happy
one. From all parties the Honourable Mr. Archi-
bald has won favourable opinions by the impar-
tiality, and kindliness, and ability of his administra-
tion. Already the resentments and jealousies of the
population are giving way to milder moods. A
vigorous stream of emigration will shortly flow in,
and give the new blood, the enterprise, and the
healthy ambition which the settlement alone needs
to make it one of the most prosperous countries on
the face of the earth.
An Anglo-Saxon race has to spread across this
continent The loss of the Red River would have
prevented effectually the confederation of the North
American Colonies and the consolidation of British
power in the New World. Let Red River and the
magnificent Saskatchewan be filled up. Our island
IMPORTANCE OF RED RIVER TERRITORY. 173
is too small both for the population and the enerjry
of our race. Wc can establish a new and vaster
England here, with advantage to ourselves and to
the world. The importance of the possession of
this country to Canada is beyond calculation. For
the first time she has vast plains, large enough to be
carved into great states, to which she can invite
immigration upon a scale of national magnitude. Let
Canada endeavour to colonise from the Atlantic to
the Pacific with Anglo-Saxon blood, for the sake of
a great destiny for her children ; race still remains
the determining element in deciding the fortunes of
nations. Of course, no sort of unfairness must be
shown to the present French population ; and none
will be. On this vast continent they will find use
and place wide enough, however large the influx of
the English race may be.
The scope of her territory now dignifies Canada.
It is no mean thing to be a citizen of a Dominion
which in extent is a new Europe. Let Canada
cherish here the sense of honour, the high courage,
and the hatred of corruption which we think made
Old England strong, and her fame will be worthy of
her descent.
''SI
'M\
/. '
t I
' :»f?
■■i:
* I*
?
- f
i^i
X
174
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE GREAT NORTH-WEST.
It has now passed beyond all question that a vast
country of extraordinary fertility occupies the central
portions of British American North- West territory.
Until recently few travellers had explored these
remote and inaccessible regions. No sufificient in-
ducement was supposed to exist for the pains. The
great fur-trading Company, claiming the whole
region, jealously kept hidden their knowledge of the
country. The traditional policy of the Company
has always been opposed to any scheme of public
immigration. The dominant Church here, foresee-
ing that its influence would be jeopardised by
a large Protestant settlement, has also naturally
favoured a Conservative policy. No suspicion of
dishonesty or want of right intention is implied in
this. Self-interest influences men unceasingly in
biassing and blinding the judgment
Nor has much good time been lost through the long
neglect of this country. Canada was not prepared
to occupy it ; England would not have felt disposed
to do so. The United States, with all their amazing
VALUE OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 175
resee-
by
irally
)n of
:d in
ly in
long
)ared
|>osed
izing
eagerness to promote immigration, have not spread
onwards the line of settlements within hundreds of
miles of this part of the continent. The open dis-
covery of the magnificent resources of the Red
River and of the Saskatchewan come at a most
fitting moment It affords a safe and wide field for
the display of a new-born ambition natural to the
age of the new-born Dominion. It gives scope for
petty provincial politics to expand into a generous
statesmanship. It suddenly presents the idea of
empire and national pride before the spirit of the
Ontarians and Quebecois and the peoples of the
maritime provinces at the earliest moment in which
they were prepared to forget their local jealousies.
And once more the existence of this wide Red River
country, and of the fertile belt of the North- West,
renders practicable the opening of a direct route
from the Pacific to the Atlantic for the extension
of the Japan and China trade at the earliest moment
in which such an undertaking was likely to be
carried through by English and Canadian enterprise.
And yet again it may be added that the better time
has only just come, if indeed it be come yet, when
England has awakened to the fact that, for pre-
serving her own position among the nations of the
world, it is essential for her to adopt a policy of
strengthening her great family of colonies, and of
binding them to her more closely, by generous senti-
ment and by material advantages. England may
now probably be disposed to assist a great scheme
*
■a
■ •TV',.." ,
'...aft''
^1
# I
Ms
176
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
m
w
of emigration to these wide western wilds, in order
to build up here a power favourable to her own
honour and interest.
To assist distinctness of apprehension, the old
Hudson Bay and North- West Territories may be
divided into three great sections : — First, the barren,
frost-bound, polar north. Second, eastward of Red
River a wide region of lakes, swamps, disjointed
streams, dense woods, and wildernesses of rock full
of ore, extending beyond Lake Superior. Through
a section of this difficult country the Expeditionary
Force made its way in the summer of 1870. Third,
the fertile region of plains extending west of Red
River for 1,000 miles to the base of the Rocky
Mountains ; the country destined to be the granary
of the Dominion.
The country contained in this last division is of
vast extent. From its eastern boundary, the Lake
of the Woods, to the sources of the Saskatchewan in
the west, it stretches 880 miles. Its breadth,
reckoned from the British boundary line, latitude
49" to 60" north, is 760 miles. It includes an area
of 480,000 square miles — an extent of country equal
to that of Great Britain, France, and Prussia united.
The greater proportion of the land appears to be
well fitted for cultivation ; many great districts pos-
sess a richness of soil unparalleled.
This region of flowing plains, that may be called
the basin of Lake Winnipeg, was once probably a
vast inland sheet of water. Its elevation above the
is of
Lake
wan in,
•eadth,
Ltitude
li area
equal
Imited.
to be
pos-
Icalled
ply a
^e the
CLIMATE OF NORTH- WESTERA AMERICA. 177
level of the sea is inconsiderable, rarely rising to
1,000 feet. The soil is a fine alluvial deposit, or
frequently a black vegetable compost. Roots, vege-
tables, melons, and certain fruits, grow with an
extraordinary luxuriance. Good crops of barley,
oats, and rye, are raised even by the poorest skill
where any attempts at farming have been made.
Wheat will yield fifty bushels to the acre, but
requires more care than the people know how to
give.
All the rivers from the British boundary line flow
northwards. The whole country tilts that way.
Lakes Athabasca and Winnipeg, at the north and
north-east of this division, are estimated at but 600
feet above the sea. The effect of this depression of
level on the climate is very great, and wholly favour-
able. The isothermal lines strike directly upwards
from the Lake of the Woods as far as Peace River
and Athabasca Lake. The rigour of a northern
winter is mitigated. The increased heat of summer
rapidly ripens all grain. It is possible that the
warm current of the Pacific, striking upon the
Columbian Coast, may aid in modifying the climate
of the north-west of America, as the Gulf Stream is
popularly supposed to temper that of England. At
any rate, the resemblance holds that in the north-
west of America, as in the north-west of Europe, the
climate is naturally less severe than in the eastern
extremities of these continents in the same degrees
of latitude. In Red River, and in other districts,
■*■.■«
i'ii
m
N
I
II M
!! 1
ii
It P:
!| ^'::
178
rifE CANADIAN DOMINION.
only 18 inches of snow fall. Horses and cattle keep
in good condition through the winter without shelter.
No snow-drifts occur to impede railway communi-
cation.
* We have in a very great part of this central prairie
country an open or summer season of seven months,
the mean temperature of which is fully as warm
as Toronto for the same period, with a winter season
of five very cold months, but clear and dry — as cold
as the northern parts of Minnesota — a winter fully
colder than that of Quebec, but without its obstruc-
tively deep snow, or the drawback it presents in the
difficulty of feeding cattle through it.' ^
The natural system of water communication ex-
isting throughout this country will prove of immense
service in facilitating its settlement, and in develop-
ing its resources. Close together in the Rocky
Mountains, about two hundred miles from the United
States boundary line, two streams have their rise,
flowing east. One bends somewhat to the north,
the other much to the south. At five hundred
miles from the starting point they meet, each having
run about eight hundred miles. One is the north,
the other the south or main branch of the great
Saskatchewan. The river is a thousand feet wide
at the junction of its branches, and flows on east
two hundred and eighty miles further, and falls into
Lake Winnipeg. A natural highway, west and east,
• Mr. Russell's Pamphlet on the North-West.
LAKE WINNIPEG.
179
is provided through the country. The occurrence
of several rapids will necessitate the construction of
canals and locks, to avoid trans-shipment. There is
no doubt that for grain and heavy produce water com-
munication will be used even after the construction
of railways. Vast beds of coal lie exposed on the
banks of the Saskatchewan, two hundred and fifty
miles from its mouth, in readiness for steamers.
Woods abound ; marshes wait to be drained ; and
vast reaches of fertile prairie attend the coming of
the husbandman.
The great sheet of water into which the Saskatche-
wan flows, Lake Winnipeg, will prove of immense
value in the water communication of this country.
It lies north and south with a length of two hundred
and eighty miles, and a breadth varying between six
and sixty. Its area is said to be over eight thousand
square miles. It empties itself northwards, by navi-
gable rivers, into the Hudson Bay. Heavy freight
that will not pay for transmission will probably leave
by this route for England, as return cargoes. It is
the route hitherto chiefly used for the great import
and export business of the Hudson Bay Company.
Its chief disadvantage is that it can be used with
certainty for only five months in the year, as the
early formation of ice impedes navigation.
At a southern bend of this lake the waters of the
Winnipeg river flow in, after a course of five hundred
miles from the east. The volume of this river is
more than double that of the Rhine. In its turn
'"■■■*!
.• -t.
■•ll.
?'.
St
f
I
'♦,'' ■
it
1'
N 2
:%.
iii!
180
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
this river communicates with the Lake of the Woods,
Rainy river (whose banks are singularly fertile and
beautiful), Rainy Lake, the river Seine, and the
lovely but greatly obstructed Lac des Mille Lacs,
within forty miles of Lake Superior. Various locks
on tlie way, and a tram-road or railway over this
forty miles, will complete the direct communication
between the Rocky Mountains and the settled pro-
vinces of Canada. From Lake Superior, canals and
great lakes, and the magnificent St. Lawrence, pre-
sent an open route to the Atlantic and the Old
World. The inland ports of Toronto, Montreal,
and Quebec, have a great interest in the opening up
of these western territories. The future will see a
water highway, crowded with commerce, from the
Gulf of St. Lawrence to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains, a distance of three thousand miles across
the continent
Two large streams, the Assiniboine and the Red
River, uniting at Port Garry, flow into Winnipeg
from the south. Each of them runs a course of
about five hundred miles, through a soil of extreme
fertility, which one day will produce an enormous
supply of grain for the European markets. The
north-west corn lands of the United States will
probably avail themselves of this line of transit.
The difficulties of creating this trade, however
great, are certain to give way before the unusual
advantages which nature has beforehand arranged
for it
LAKE MANITOBA,
i8i
Red
nged
Lake Winnipeg is but one of several sheets of
water lying together and connected by open waters.
Winnipeg signifies in the Indian the Dirty, or rather
Turbid Waters. The lake and river owe this name
to the rich mud which tinctures their waters. The
Red River has its name from its similar appearance.
West of Winnipeg lies its diminutive lake Wine-
pegoos. South-west lies the fine lake of Manitoba,
which gives its name to the new province. The
Indian has chosen the title from the thunder-storms
that disturb its waters. It signifies ' The God who
speaks.'
There is little doubt that the Red River country
will be the first to receive a large incursion of
settlers. The fame of its history, and the number
of its already known advantages, will secure it the
first preference. It ha^, the making of a great coun-
try ; but it needs the making.
I will state a few facts about the country which I
gathered myself during a three weeks' stay there.
The soil is a rich, black, vegetable compost, a foot
deep on the Red River prairies, and two or three
feet, and sometimes more, at the portage on the
Assiniboine, and in many other localities. The
subsoil is generally a light clay. Boulders of lime-
stone and granite occur constantly along the banks
of the rivers, and in the dry gullies of the prairies
formed by storms and by the melting of the snow
in spring. Lime-stone crops out in masses in various
places on the prairie.
■^7
*■
i'
IP
182
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
It
ill
In the wretchedest hovels of the half-breed inha-
bitants I have seen ripened Indian corn stored away
against the rafters for family use. A dilapidated old
half- Indian settler showed me some particularly fine
potatoes. His year's crop of three hundred bushels
had been produced from eleven bushels sown. Some
of his potatoes weighed four pounds each. He put
in this year twenty pounds of wheat and took out
two hundred and seven. But for the culture of
grain better appliances are needed than the old
settlers know anything about Twenty returns of
wheat, however, I am assured, are not uncommon, of
sixty-five bushels to the acre.
An old Scotch settler gave me the following
figures : — For his last crop he sowed 72 bushels of
wheat, and raised 1,470 bushels on 2\ acres. Barley
and oats yield five or six bushels more to the acre.
Of potatoes he planted 20 bushels and took out 450.
About his land he said, ' It would be none the worse
for being drained.'
An Ontario farmer, a recent settler, grve me some
particulars of his first season's crop. His farm has a
depth of fourteen feet of loam. From a field which
had been planted with wheat for twenty years in suc-
cession, he raised without manure a crop of wheat of
fifty bushels to the acre. Barley gave as much ; oats
more. ' It is the finest country in the whole world
for root crops,' he said ; ' I had turnips from fifteen
to nineteen pounds.' His potatoes yielded enormous
returns ; many of them weighed from two to three
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
•83
pounds. He grew excited at the thought of his
vegetables. His peas, beans, cauliflowers, celery,
carrots, citrons, and melons, grew with a lavish
luxuriance that amazed him. * You could not crowd
a cabbage into a flour-barrel,' he said. ' The sugar-
beet here will make fortunes for many manufacturers,*
he went on, 'and for the culture of flax the country
is without rival.' His wheat was marvellous, 'every
grain as big as a little pea.'
Before me lie the Minutes of Evidence respecting
the character of this country, taken before a Select
Committee of the Senate at Ottawa in the year in
which I write, 1870. I could fill pages with state-
ments similar to the following : —
' I have seen a crop come off the same land for
twenty-five years,' says one of the settlers examined.
' I have known farmers who have thrashed their
wheat and got thirty-five bushels to one, during the
last year, and that was not a good season for ripen-
ing. I have seen one grain of wheat make fifty-five
heads. About sixty-five or sixty-six pounds is the
average weight. Hemp grows taller than myself.'
' I had an estimate made up last year,' says an-
other, ' and my opinion was that of all the cereals
we had not less than twenty returns for every bushel
sown in the whole country. The yield per acre is
difficult to get, as the people do not pay any regard
to that measurement. I would say thirty and thirty-
five bushels to the acre would not be too large.'
' Last year about forty bushels to the acre in
;4\
1
'i- '■%
A
'm
i
•|.
1..
.n
■ t 'tin-'
'■■• ''/■'
! 'II
III
184
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
some parts,' is stated as the yield of wheat by a
gentleman examined. ' The average, probably, how-
ever, was not much over thirty. The wheat weighs
generally over 60 lbs. to the bushel. Its weight can
be so generally depended upon that the local regu-
lation makes the bushel measured not weighed.
Oats are about 32 lbs. to the bushel. Barley turns
out equally well.'
These wide prairie lands present advantages
beyond all countries in the world, probably, for three
purposes : steam farming, stock-raising, and railway
making.
Fields of grain may be raised here a mile, or ten,
or a hundred miles square, without a hill or river, or
even a stone, to obstruct the furrow of the plough.
Steam for breaking the ground, for harrowing, for
reaping, could and should be used. The grain crops,
especially wheat, now suffer occasionally from the
shortness of the season. The farmer can rarely put
in the plough before the first of April ; teams of
oxen, or of horses, cannot do the requisite labour
fast enough. Summer comes suddenly. The seed
cannot be got in soon enough. after the passing of
the snow. Every day saved is of consequence.
Once ripe, the crop cannot be cleared with sufficient
haste. Early frosts are to be feared. A fall of snow
will sometimes occur early in July ; and the im-
mediate return of fine weather, and a superb Indian
summer, will not restore the frozen wheat The
latest improvements in agriculture for hastening field
PRAIRIK PASTURES.
'85
put
ms of
30ur
seed
ngof
ence.
cient
snow
im-
operations will here have their full value, not only
in saving labour, scant to get, but in rendering the
crops secure.
For stock-breeding this country, and perhaps still
more the Saskatchewan, offers extraordinary advan-
tages. It is the natural home of the buffalo. Herds
of these great creatures, numerous beyond estimate,
covering scores of miles square as they graze, find
rich sustenance on these plains. The natural grasses
are good, but will in time probably be replaced by
grasses better still. Horses and cattle find pasture
all through the year; and indeed remain in good
condition, exposed on the prairie, through the rigour
of winter. At present it is the common practice to
save the trouble of providing shelter ; but certainly
the more experienced farmer will not allow his stock
to suffer the keen prairie winds, and he will lose
nothing by his carefulness.
For railways all that is needed is to throw up a
couple of trenches, to carry off rain and melted snow,
and put the rails flat on the tract thus made. There
are no engineering difficulties. There are not even
snow drifts to provide against, as in older Canada ;
the snow lies only from eighteen inches to three feet
deep on the prairies. From Fort Garry right up to
the summit of the Rocky Mountain pass, a distance
of a thousand miles, the line can be laid down with
as much speed as the rails and ties can be brought
along the route. Branch lines will be constructed
with all imaginable ease to develope the resources of
n
■ ■•!■•< ES
■Ve'
^4
MS;
i86
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
V'V
IS!
the inland country as soon as sufficient occasion
exists for them.
But there are various objections to this new
country which must in candour be named. They
are these : the periodical plague of grasshoppers, or
locusts, as they are termed here; a persistent
nuisance of mosquitoes ; the mole-hill mountains
made by the little gophir, which hinder the plough in
some places ; the presence of ague-breeding swamps ;
the inundations of the rivers which take place on
the melting of the snows ; occasional droughts ; the
extreme scarcity of timber ; the want of communi-
cation with the outer world, and lack of a market ;
the indolence of the native population ; the excessive
length and severity of the winter. The list is a long
one ; for I have put down all the objections I could
myself find, or could hear anything of.
These objections are of weight, at least as against
the country as a place of residence for people
disposed to tolerate little change from the ordered
mode of life of old-established communities. They
are of less account to a rough practical farmer, or to
an energetic man resolved to find fortune in the
New World. And they are all fated to disappear,
or become greatly lessened, under the influence of a
large immigration to the country.
The plague of grasshoppers is already diminish-
ing, and is really little thought of in the settlement.
They have visited Red River three times within the
past fourteen years, and always in fewer numbers.
PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES.
)pear,
of a
linish-
Iment.
tn the
ibers.
1H7
On the last occasion little damaj^e was done. The
creature, about an inch and a half long, appears in
the autumn and cuts down the stalks of grain not
sufficiently ripe to resist it When the crops are
well advanced little harm ensues. But commonly
the grasshopper deposits its eggs before leaving the
country, and from these the principal mischief
comes. In the early spring the young grasshoppers
swarm over the land, destroying everything green
in their course. But latterly the autumn swarms
have been inconsiderable, and few eggs have been
left. The prairie swamps to the south in which
they have their origin are drying up, or being
drained. As cultivation advances this once formid-
able plague will disappear.
Much the same must be said of the mosquito pest.
Without question this tiny fly has been hitherto a
cause of grievous misery throughout the land. I
have been told with a grave face, by men of un-
questioned veracity, that at mid-day the clouds of
mosquitoes on the plains would sometimes hide the
leaders in a team of four horses from the sight of
the driver. Cattle could only be recognised by the
shape ; all alike becoming black with an impenetrable
crust of mosquitoes. The line of the route over the
Red River plains would be marked by the carcases
of oxen stung to death by this insignificant foe.
However, this September I failed to find even a
single specimen as a curiosity ; and on all hands I
heard that the fly, with an admirable sense of pro-
'■■': n
-' K ■
■ if
f ',
»■
i/
!•;
Im-
'■^'^
■■it
1 1,1
n
U
:"A
I
HI
f
It
I1
1 88
T//£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
priety, forbears to obtrude within the older settle-
ments.
In some districts, at present, fever and ague
prevail. This will surprise no one who has seen the
mean log-houses of the people, built flat on the
soil, and frequently in a depressed hollow by the
river side. There is no draining as yet in the
country. All this will be altered by a little enter-
prise.
In 1826 the land for thirteen miles west of Red
River was flooded on the breaking up of the winter
ice. This was an unusually heavy inundation, and
had the happy effect of widening the bed of the river.
One or two slight inundations have occurred since,
doing little damage. The river banks are said to be
double the width they were formerly.
Timber is so valuable, as well as so necessary for
ornament in any country, that woods and parks are
certain to be planted as settlement increases. Private
enterprise will suffice for this, but probably the
government will see fit to encourage the process.
Several of the prairie States in the Union have found
it expedient to grant a royalty to the settler on
every acre planted with trees. The policy is a wise
one ; both the State and the individual become the
richer. A great variety of timber will grow in the
Red River district ; poplar, birch, the sugar-bearing
and exquisitely-leaved maple, all the white woods ;
and, with perhaps less facility, the hard woods, oak,
elm, and the rest. Fruit trees will probably be
CLIMATE OF THE RED RIVER COUNTRY. i8<>
difficult of cultivation until portions of the land are
protected by large timber from the searching winds
of the prairie.
With the opening up of the country markets will
be found for everything that can be raised. At pre-
sent the demand in the settlement for all kinds of
produce, and for all descriptions of manufactured
articles, greatly exceeds the supply. But an outside
trade by rail or water must grow up to large
dimensions with the progress of the country.
The chief difficulty remains to be mentioned —
that of the climate. It is severe beyond all question,
but not beyond exaggeration. ' Settle in that ac-
cursed Red River country ? No, sir ! ' said an
American to me. ' No country is gwine to fit me
that has got a nine months' winter, with the three
months' balance very late in the fall ! '
Up to the time I remained in the country, the
middle of November 1870, the weather was splen-
didly fine, with warm sun in the day, and mornings
and nights cold but exhilarating. Half an inch only
of snow had fallen, and that disappeared. The air
was of an intoxicating brightness. I believe the
country must be one of the healthiest in the world.
The rivers are ice-bound, and the prairies white
with snow, usually in the beginning of December.
The cold then lasts steadily on till the middle or end
of March. No rain falls, and no thaw occurs to
spoil the sleigh-roads. Sometimes the thermometer
falls for days or weeks to 20" or 30° below zero,
ri
.il
»
■•'I j'.
IQO
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
'Jiiiliill
touching occasionally at 40**. At times, but infre-
quently, the mercury freezes. But at these low
temperatures the people feel the cold very little.
Men will go out without overcoats. By a happy
peculiarity of the climate the wind never blows
when the glass is very low, and in the absolutely
tranquil bright keen air I was assured that it was
impossible to tell within 20° Avhat the tempera-
ture is.
Put briefly, the winter, trying though it may be
to an Englishman accustomed to our singularly tem-
perate insular climate, presents no unfamiliar features
to a Canadian. It is generally held to be somewhat
more severe than the winter of Ontario, but less
extreme than that of Quebec. It is endurable at
once, and makes itself liked by the settler. It helps
to breed a vigorous hardy race, and so to form a
strong nation.
I have been writing with an especial regard to the
country of Red River ; but much that I have said of
its condition and peculiarities applies equally to the
Great Saskatchewan plains intervening between Red
River and the Rocky Mountains.
This wide region is usually termed the valley of
the Saskatchewan, from the fact that it drains into
that river, though its actual conformation is one of
rolling prairie and broad woodland.
It is the * Fertile Belt ' of various travellers, so
called because it lies between the frigid north and
the great arid American desert which dips above the
THE VALLEY OF THE SASKATCHEWAN. 191
boundary line, and limits the Saskatchewan region
along the south.
Of this country Captain Palliser, in a Blue-book
Report as far back as 1857, speaks in the following
terms : —
' Almost anywhere along the Saskatchewan a suf-
ficiency of good soil is everywhere to be found fit
for all purposes, both for pasture and tillage, ex-
tending towards the thick-wooded hills, and also to
be found in the region of the lakes, between Forts
Pitt and Edmonton. In almost every direction
around Edmonton the land is fine, excepting only
the hilly country at the highest levels, such as the
Beacon Hills ; even there there is nothing like
sterility, only the surface is too much broken to be
occupied while more level country can be obtained.
' In the upper part of the Saskatchewan country
coal of fine quality occurs abundantly, and may
hereafter be very useful. It is quite fit to be
employed in the smelting of iron from the ore of
that metal which occurs in large quantities in the
same strata.'
Similar testimony might be collected from all
writers on the country. I will content myself, how-
ever, with but one more quotation, from a Report
prepared for the New York Chamber of Commerce
several years ago, when the possibility of the ab-
sorption of our North American colonies by the
United States seemed less remote than now.
* There is in the heart of North America a distinct
i
%
'it
■ 1.
\>l
;fi
■y, 'i
^^t
i
'i'S'
'i
sl
%
H
■\\
S
XI
'1
il
;,
%-^.^'
vt
,0 t- ^'
w
i
lii
192
TffE CANADIAN DOMINION.
subdivision, of which Lake Winnipeg may be re-
garded as the centre. This subdivision, like the
valley of the Mississippi, is distinguished for the
fertility of its soil, and for the extent and gentle
slope of its great plains, watered by rivers of great
length, and admirably adapted for steam navigation.
It has a climate not exceeding in severity that of
many portions of Canada and the Eastern States.
It will in all respects compare favourably with some
of the most densely-peopled portions of the continent
of Europe. In other words, it is admirably adapted
to become the seat of a numerous, hardy, and pros-
perous community. It has an area equal to eight or
ten first-class American States. Its great river, the
Saskatchewan, carries a navigable water-line to the
very base of the Rocky Mountains. It is not at all
improbable that the valley of this river may yet offer
the best route for a railroad to the Pacific. The
navigable waters of this great subdivision interlock
with those of the Mississippi.'
This is the country happily opened to the enter-
prise and capital of England and of the Dominion
at a critical moment in the history of our nation.
We need space in which to develope our cooped-up
race, and grow to the vast numbers which make up
a modern empire. There is room enough here.
I have said enough of the great fertile West, the
chief of the three divisions of the British North-
West Territories. It remains to speak briefly of the
extreme north, and of the broken country east of
if!
THE ATHABASCA LAKE AND VALLEY. 193
Red River, reaching to the Canadian province of
Ontario.
The line of absolute sterility and of perpetual
ice, however, lies far to the north of the country we
have been considering. Advancing settlement and
cultivation will push the line still further towards the
pole, as in the old countries of Europe. North of
the Saskatchewan valley immense districts remain
which are at least as well fitted for civilised popula-
tions as Scotland, Sweden, or Northern Russia.
For example, there are the valleys of Peau River
and the Athabasca, consisting of fertile prairie and
woodland, with a climate not more severe than
that of Canada. The two rivers just named, flow-
ing northwards, unite near the beautiful Lake
Athabasca to form one of the great rivers of the
world, the M*Kenzie, that makes its way to the
Arctic Sea. Immense districts along this river, too,
are capable of cultivation, and possess a moderate
climate.
Lake Athabasca, Bishop Tache says, is ' a oeauti-
ful expanse of deep limpid water, measuring over
two hundred miles in length, at an elevation of
about 600 feet above the sea level.' The Peace
River he describes as a noble river, with few rapids ;
its valleys as rich and beautiful.
' Mineral riches,' says Bishop Tache, ' including
sulphur, iron, bitumen, and plumbago, abound all
over the district. I think there are also petroleum
springs there. Peace River has plaster quarries and
o
■ ii-i
■;^s
ilHi
' I ' L..
I
ii
m
iiiip
i:f:
IT M'
i; 'I'll
.1
194
7y/i? CANADIAN DOMINION.
carboniferous deposits supposed to be of great value.
Gold dust concealed in large quantities of sand is
washed from the Rocky Mountains by its rapid
stream.'
Athabasca and Peace rivers flow east from their
source to their junction about a thousand miles ;
then, forming the wide M'Kenzie, they journey still
another thousand miles directly north to the ocean.
It is difficult to realise fairly the extent of country
on this northern continent waiting to be developed.
'The M'Kenzie,' Mr. Alex. J. Russell writes,
* offers a great navigable communication for large
vessels, with coals on its banks, connecting the vast
interior region south of it, suitable for cultivation,
with the rich fisheries of the Arctic Sea.
' The whale fisheries it leads to, inside of Behring's
Straits, are the richest known, and are fished ex-
tensively by American whale fishers, who have to
sail sixteen thousand miles to get there. When our
great central prairie country is occupied by millions
of people, they will have but one-tenth of the dis-
tance to reach these fisheries by the M'Kenzie, to
obtain the products of the sea ; it will no doubt then
be a highway of some importance.'
It appears probable that districts of the barren
north, which must remain for ever unsuitable for
cultivation, will yet prove valuable for stone and
marbles, and for their mineral wealth.
And the utterly desolate, melancholy, frozen north-
ern frontier is not without its service. It affords
ROUTE FROM LAKE SUPERIOR TO RED RIVER. 195
a flank that can never be turned. The northern line
of defence nature guards for ever, and from that
north breathes down the strength and vigour neces-
sary to enable a race to defend its other boundaries.
The remaining portion of the North- West Terri-
tory, the country between Ontario and Red River,
possesses a character wholly distinct from the divi-
sions we have been considering. It is a wild region
of rock and river, morass and forest, hitherto almost
impassable. But for this natural barrier, the fertile
plains of the West would long since have attracted
the immigration of the Old World. The barrier is
now, however, effectually broken through. For-
merly only the Hudson's Bay Company's trails
led through this rocky wilderness. No settler ever
passed through. But this year, 1870, the Imperial
and Dominion Expeditionary Force, a thousand
strong, made its way with stores and guns from
Lake Superior to Red- River, and the route selected
is now being slowly made ready for ordinary traffic,
and for the passage of immigrants.
The trail followed was that known as the old
Canoe Route, passing from Thunder Bay on Lake
Superior, by the Kaministiquia River, the connected
lakes Shebandowan, Kashaboiwe, Lac des Mille
Lacs, Windigoostigan, and a number of other small
strips of water with incongruously long names, and
Rainy Lake and River, to the Lake of the Woods ;
a distance of about three hundred and fifty miles.
From the Lake of the Woods a roadway of ninety
,:-ti
I
"'1i '"
:;.'•• a
W!:
'4 k'"*
O 2
a.
^•^^'
; -iSi
l1
i
196
T/i/i CANADIAN DOMINION
*■
«<
m ''-
miles is in process of completion, across prairie land
and swamp, direct into the heart of the Red River
Settlement.
This is the route that will probably be used for
several years to come by travellers from Canada.
Thoug^h the country is generally unfit for settlement,
many small patches, and occasional tracts of good
land, are found along the line. This is notably the
case along the Rainy River, the boundary of the
United States and the Dominion. ' This tract is of
the very richest alluvial soil,' Mr. Dawson said in
his Report, submitted in 1869 to the Ottawa Parlia-
ment ; ' in the whole distance there is not apparently
an acre unsusceptible of cultivation.*
But this entire range of country will be found of
the utmost economic importance, from its hidden
mineral treasures and its illimitable supply of
timber.
' For a great part of the way,' Mr. Dawson's
Report says, * the line which it is proposed to take
will pass over schists of the Lower Silurian period,
such as yield silver at Lake Superior and gold in
Nova Scotia.' Indications of a variety of the useful
metals also have been found, though the country as
yet has been very imperfectly explored.
The value of the great woods covering this region
can scarcely be overestimated. A vast lumbering
country is here provided, as if expressly, for the
supply of the treeless prairie lands beyond. The
abounding water communications will float the logs
Wit
of
rson's
take
riod,
d in
eful
ry as
Z/N£ OF THE DOMINION PACIFIC RAILROAD. 19?
wherever they are wanted. * On the streams flow-
ing towards Rainy Lake,' Mr. Dawson says, ' there
is an abundance of timber, sucli as red and white
pine, of a large size and good quality. This section
would compare not inifavourably with some of the
timber regions on the Upper Ottawa.'
As the great prairie lands settle up, the demand for
timber will grow immeasurably; but the supply from
the hill country will also be practically inexhaustible.
The route here indicated, however, through the
tangled country of rock and lake and stream near
the United States borders, will not finally be the
highway to the Red River country and the fertile
West A line of railroad is imperative, and is prac-
ticable. Fortunately, the direct Canadian route to
the Red River coincides with the shortest line from
Canton to Liverpool. A railroad from Ottawa to
Fort Garry would form a link in the Dominion
Pacific Railroad. It will pass probably much to the
north of the water-route of which we have been
speaking. By recent explorations a practicable rail-
road route has been found, passing thirty or forty
miles north of Lake Superior, a little to the south of
Lakes Nipigon and Seul. and north of the Lake of
the Woods. This appears to be a far more pro-
mising range of country for settlers than that more
to the south.
The north shore of Lake Superior is a broken
mass of rock, hopeless for cultivation, wholly unfit
for the construction of a railroad, but full of mineral
m
*^'
:'k
ij:.:
198
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
wealth. A considerable distance to the north, how-
ever, the aspect of the country changes to compara-
tively level woods and plains.
Lake Nipigon is still another of the great inland
sheets of water, adding to the beauty, and healthful-
ness, and value of the northern part of this con-
tinent It is estimated by Dr. Bell, in his Report
for the present year, 1870, at seventy-five miles
north and south, with a breadth of about fifty.
This, 'the most beautiful of all lakes,' as Dr. Bell
calls it, is in the same latitude as Fort Garry, with a
similar climate. The Report states that the land
between Nipigon and Sturgeon lakes is admirably
fitted for cultivation, consisting principally of black
loam.
The country of the Lake of the Woods is known
to be fit for settlement, and practicable for the
railway.
Let the direct Canadian line be constructed with-
out unnecessary delay, and the immediate prosperity
of the North-West will be assured.
• 1
199
CHAPTER XIV.
THE AIR.LINE TO CHINA.
A LINE of railway from ocean to ocean across
British territory is, perhaps, the most important
undertaking waiting to be accompHshed for the
development and strengthening of the empire. It
is needed to make the Confederation of the British
North American Provinces true in fact, and not in
name only. It is essential to the opening of the
rich countries of the North-West to English and
Canadian enterprise. It cannot fail to be of im-
portant service as the direct communication between
Asia and Europe.
With this railway, and a stream of immigration
following it, and overflowing the northern continent
along its course, the Dominion will grow in strength
and influence, and will hold its place as a distinct
power in the New World. If this immigration should
take place mainly from Great Britain and the British
American colonies, as very certainly it would, the
power that would grow up here would be another
and larger England, willing to remain in political
aoo
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
4
%
%
union with the mother country, and certain to remain
attached to us in the closest bonds of sympathy and
of alliance and good-will. In preparation for the
threatening future, with our European alliances
proving untrustworthy, we should surely direct our
policy to the strengthening of the peoples of our
own flesh and blood, formed to be our natural allies.
The means that may secure this are of imperial and
vital consequence.
For this Canadian line of railway, Nature herself
has apparently gone out of her way to accumulate a
variety of favourable conditions. At the Atlantic
terminus of the rail vast beds of coal lie exposed, on
the very coast, in readiness for the steamers that will
ply between Halifax and Liverpool ; this being the
only example of coal so situated along the whole
Atlantic seaboard. Similarly, at the Pacific termi-
nus, great coal mines wait at Vancouver's Island for
the traffic to China and Japan ; this again being the
only coal on the Pacific seaboard. But this is not
all. Along the very line which the railroad must
traverse, coalfields of measureless extent lie along
the Saskatchewan, obtruding often to the surface to
save the trouble of mining.
• Along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains,'
Mr. Alex. J. Russell writes, ' there extends a broad
belt of geological formation, throughout the entire
length (nearly a thousand miles), containing an in-
exhaustible amount of lignite coal ; it has been seen
in many places in beds from two to eight feet thick,
FACILITIES FOR MAKING RAILROADS. 201
and in some parts over a breadth of nearly two
hundred miles.'
Hut nature has been kinder still. By a happy
eccentricity in the formation of the Rocky Moun-
tains, a wide, and easy, and remarkably low pass has
been scooped out, almost immediately in the direct
air-line to China. The greatest elevation, 3,760 feet
above the sea, is less than half the height of the
passes which the United States Pacific line has had
to cross.* The ascent to this pass — the Yellow-
head, or Leather-head Pass — is, from the east,
simply a gradual upward sloping of the vast prairie
plains. The descent into British Columbia is per-
fectly practicable for railroads.
' There are,' says Lord Milton, ' no engineering
difficulties of any importance. From the Red River
settlement to Edmonton, a distance of about 400
miles, the surface is slightly undulating, the lower
ground universally swampy, and everywhere covered
with thick forest. There is little doubt that a better
trail than the one at present used might be found for
this portion of the way, by keeping to the higher
ground. From Jasper House to Tele Jaune Cache —
the pass through the main ridge of the Rocky Moun-
tains, about 100 or 120 miles in length — a wide break
in the chain, running nearly east and west, offers a
natural highway, unobstructed except by timber.
The rivers, with the exception of the Athabasca and
* Evans' Pass in the United States Pa<;iric line is 8,242 feet ;
the Rattlesnake, 7,560 ; Bridger's, 7,534.
%
i\
^LJ^l
•,^'
■ill
'M
1^
, 1
i
903
77/5 CANADIAN DOMINION.
the Frazcr, arc small and fordable, even at their
highest. The ascent to the height of land is very
gradual, and indeed hardly perceptible ; and the
level only 3, 760 feet above the sea ; the descent on
the western side, although more rapid, is neither
steep nor difficult. P'rom the Cache the road might
be carried in almost a straight line to Richfield in
Cariboo, lying nearly due west . . . and a road has
already been made from the mouth of Quesnelle, on
the Frazcr, to Richfield, through a similar country.
This would therefore complete the line of com-
munication through Cariboo to Victoria.' ^^
The line is a northern one, but still it is only in
the latitude of Amiens and Prague. The difficulties
which it presents are fewer than those already over-
come by the United States Pacific Railroad. As a
result of the tempering influence of the warm waters
of the Pacific, and of the descent in northing of the
great inland plains, the winter reigns here with no
undue severity. Through parts of the rocky ascent
from British Columbia, snow sheds will doubtless
have to be constructed, as along the American Pacific
Railroad. On the thousand miles of the Saskatchewan
plains, however, the snow lies but two or three feet
deep, and does not collect in drifts. The traffic,
even in the depth of winter, will probably be more
easy than on the lines in constant use in Ontario
and Quebec, and on the nearly completed Inter-
colonial Railway to Halifax.
* Milton and Cheadle.
'
IMPORTANCE OF THE DOMINION RAILWAY, ioj
The country traversed by the line is all valuable.
There are no tracts of country like the five hundred
miles of arid and saline plains from Laramie to
Salt Lake valley, over which American enterprise
has successfully carried the first Pacific railway.
From Halifax to Ottawa a line is already almost
completed through a fertile and partly-settled coun-
try. North of Lake Superior and south of Lake
Seul, the railway will help to develope a region of
inexhaustible mineral wealth. It will pass on west-
ward through a magnificent lumbering country —
then through the midst of the future granary of
the Dominion and the wide grazing lands of the
Saskatchewan. Then, crossing by Tele Jaune Pass,
the line will run once more through a wide mineral
country rich with the gold of Frazer River and
Cariboo. If only for the means of exchange between
these different portions of the northern continent,
the line of rails will become a commercial neces-
sity.
But the Imperial policy is also concerned in the
establishment of this line of communication. British
Columbia declines to enter the Confederation, it is
understood, without a guarantee that this Pacific
railroad, which would unite her with the other pro-
vinces, shall be constructed within a limited series
of years. The exceptional importance of the case,
and the unusual circumstances attending it, may pos-
sibly justify the English Government in affording
this enterprise its all-powerful assistance.
¥
pi'
1 •'
I: ■
m
i il
1 1
]
j 1
in
204
TJI£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
To the New Dominion this enterprise means real
dominion, influence, and increased national pros-
perity. Sacrifices should be made, and some risks
incurred by the Government, to avoid any tedious
delay in the execution of this project.
The separate provinces — at least Ontario in the
east, Manitoba in the centre, and British Columbia
on i.he Pacific — have interests so great in the line,
that by grants in aid, or by other available means,
they should seek to secure its early construction.
But if Parliaments and Provincial Assemblies are
too busily occupied to give minute heed to the
claims of this railway, let a dozen merchants of
London, Liverpool, or Montreal be allowed to build
it, with the single advantage of the grant of alter-
nate blocks of land, as on the United States Pacific
railways, and the line will be a reality and a success
in a few years' time.
The reasons that demand its construction and
ensure its success are not all indicated yet. The
proposed Dominion Pacific Railroad is on the most
direct line possible to China. No map gives a just
idea of the shortest lines over the earth's surface.
The convexity of the earth cannot be shown on the
flat surface of the map. But take a globe ; place
one end of a string on Canton ; draw it by the ' air-
line ' straight to Liverpool, with only those deflections
which the configuration of the continent render
absolutely necessary. The cord will pass through
British territory solely. Crossing the Pacific, the
1 ■
I
ADVANTAGES OF THE DOMINION RAIL \VA Y. 205
line will enter Vancouver's Island, follow the Sas-
katchewan, traverse the Red River country touching
at Fort Garry, pass north of Lake Superior, cut the
St. Lawrence, and reach the Atlantic at Cape
Breton. Standing before a globe it is at once in-
telligible that the proposed Dominion line should be,
as estimated, over twelve hundred miles shorter than
the existing United States line by San Francisco
and New York.
Commerce as certainly finds the nearest and
readiest route of communication, as waters do the
lowest level.
The true North-West Passage has been found.
The commerce of Asia in the ancient world built
up a long line of cities whose fame survives their
decay — Nineveh, Babylon, Palmyra, Bagdad, Alex-
andria. This great commerce, now beginning to
flow eastwards round the world, may help to raise a
new line of cities, from Victoria to St. John, fair
with a newer and purer civilisation, to rival the
glories of the past.
•■i..v.
-■^'
wmmm
206
CHAPTER XV.
THE MARITIME PROVINCES.
:i li
The Canadian Dominion is destined to be, appa-
rently, one of the great maritime powers of the
world. Upon the adhesion of Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick in the Confederation, the returns of
the commercial navy exceeded 800,000 tons. If we
allow for even a moderate increase of prosperity
since that date, and take into account the marine of
the two provinces of Newfoundland and Prince
Edward's Island, which are surely gravitating to the
New Dominion, the gross tonnage would to-day
exceed probably a million tons, a more imposing
commercial marine than that of any of the conti-
nental powers of the Old World, with the doubtful
exception of France.
' The Maritime Provinces, in confederating with
Canada, have augmented her importance and power
in a degree immensely exceeding the mere propor-
tion of their population or extent of their territory.
They have given her an ample seaboard thickly
studded with excellent harbours, coalfields nearly
TONNAGE OF THE DOMINION.
207
with
)o\ver
ropor-
Iritory.
pickly
learly
as extensive as those of Great Britain, and many
thousands of hardy, skilful seafaring men, who, to
use the language of Governor Andrews in his
report to Congress on the British Provinces, from
their superior intelligence and bodily vigour, and
their experience in the navigation of cold and stormy
coasts, are the best of seamen, and well qualified to
maintain the honour of their flag on every sea.
The Dominion, though but in the beginning of her
power, owns already about 800,000 tons of ship-
ping ; bearing a proportion of about 20 per cent,
to her population, while that of Great Britain, the
greatest maritime power in the world, without her
colonies, is only about 18 per cent, per head.' ^''
The importance of the offensive and defensive
powers of a navy of this magnitude can scarcely be
overestimated in the event of war, while during
peace the fisheries constitute one of the principal
sources of national prosperity. This industry tends
also to conserve the old national characteristics
and the vigour of the race.
Nova Scotia, the ancient Acadia, with Cape
Breton, a part of the same peninsula, contains an
area of 28,800 square miles, or twenty millions of
acres, a territory about twice the size of Denmark.
It is a beautiful country of hill and valley, with in-
numerable streams and lakes. As many as a hun-
dred sheets of bright water are sometimes grouped
* From an admirable pamphlet on the North-West, by A. J.
Russell, Esq., of Ottawa.
■'ri
ll..^
■t|l
'■■».
i)i
*■!
r"
( I
In
%,.'
i^».
Ift' I
1"
•f!
, V5
2o8
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
within a space of twenty square miles. A consider-
able proportion of the soil is excellently fitted for
ai^riculture. An improved system of farming is
beinLj adopted throughout the province.
Coalfields of immense extent occur on the very
seaboard, to aid the natural advantages of position
possessed by the province for securing the direct
trade between the Old World and the New.
Mines of tin and copper have also been recently
discovered. But this great rocky peninsula, thrust
boldly out into the ocean, seems expressly designed
for a vast fishing trade, and for a nursery of sailors.
The coast is a continuous fretwork of excellent
harbours. TVom Cape Canso to Halifax alone, a
comparatively short strip of about a hundred miles,
there are no less than a dozen ports capacious
enough for ships of the line. In the harbour of
Halifax, one of the strongest military positions on
the new continent, the assembled navies of the
world might ride at ease.
New Brunswick shares the characteristic advan-
tages of the sister province. She possesses a some-
what larger area than Nova Scotia, or about twice
that of Switzerland. The country is eminently pic-
turesque, abounding in wooded lakes and rivers,
with fair reaches of fertile valley, and great ranges
of hills, broken with abrupt masses of rock, and
rising often to precipitous elevations, ' which give
them an almost Alpine aspect ; all the more striking
in contrast with the peaceful plains and vales they
protect from the tempests of the sea.*
FISHERIES OF NOVA SCOTIA.
209
Idvan-
iome-
twicc
|y pic-
ivcrs,
.ngcs
1, and
give
ikin^
diey
It is estimated that a million acres of her valLys
are under cuhivation. Her magnificent breadth of
forest is a source of great wealth. Her coal fields
are of enormous value. But the fisheries of New
Brunswick are again of the chief importance to the
province. A large proportion of the population is
employed in this industry. * In the harbour of St.
John's alone there have been at one time 200 boats
with 500 men taking salmon, shad, and other fish.
Nearly 600 fishermen have been seen at one period
at the Island of Grand Manan ; while at the West
Isles about 700 men have been thus employed at
one moment ; and so on at many of the other count-
less fishing grounds and stations of the New Bruns-
wick and the Nova Scotia coasts.'
By far the most valuable fisheries on the whole
coast of the Atlantic are those of Newfoundland, the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Bay of F'undy. The
mackerel is now rarely caught on the shores of the
United States, while cod, herring, and other valu-
able fish never go south of the cold waters surround-
ing the coasts of Dominion provinces.
The economic importance of these fisheries is
very great In the Year Book of Canada, a useful
publication, compiled with extreme care, there is
contained in the volume for 1868 a statement of
the value of the annual yield of fish. From the
figures collected for the year 1866, the most recent
date for which the requisite statistics could be ob-
tained, it appears that the total value to the pro-
p
S' ;#■•
2IO
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
% •'■
\M.'
IP
r
vinces of the produce of the fisheries, for export and
local consumption together, reached the large amount
of 1^10,837,000 (or 2,167,000/.) ; while a nearly equal
value was taken from the same waters by the
fishermen of the United States. The total gross
value, therefore, exceeds four millions of pounds
sterling.
The regulation of the fisheries has been deemed
of too important and too critical a nature to be left
to the control of the provincial governments. A
special ^^^'nister of the Dominion has been entrusted
with the r}v -re. of this department. The interests
involved aflect the honour and prosperity of the
Dominioii ^ cry closely, and are not without a bearing
on the Imperial policy nlso.
From the first discovery of these fisheries they
have been the occasion of national jealousy, and
sometimes of armed strife. French, English, and
Americans have fought strenuously for the posses-
sion of these rich waters. At the present moment
they are likely to give rise to new complications
between the Imperial and United States govern-
ments.
The cause of disagreement is of easy apprehen-
sion.
From 1854 to 1864, during the continuance of the
Reciprocity Treaty, under which the markets of the
United States and of Canada were open freely
to each power, the fishermen of the States were
allowed an open entry to all the fishing-grounds of
■ ■■ i
THE RECIPROCITY TREATY.
211
,Vl>
rehen-
of the
of the
I freely
were
ids of
our Atlantic colonies. By the action, however, of
the Washington Government, in terminating this
Treaty in 1864, they forfeited the privilege of this
free entry into Canadian waters. Their fishing rights
became once more limited within the close terms
of an earlier convention — that of 18 18 — between
Great Britain and the United States. The present
misunderstanding arises upon a difference of con-
struction of the terms of this convention.
It must, however, be stated that in 1865 the
Canadian Government, hoping for a speedy renewal
of the friendly Reciprocity Treaty, adopted a parti-
cularly liberal and conciliatory policy towards the
United States on this subject of the fisheries, with
the express understanding, however, that the con-
cessions granted to the American fishers were pro-
visional in their character, and should not be taken
as prejudicing the legal rights of the Canadian
provinces. The United States vessels were allowed
temporarily all the privileges they had enjoyed
under the Reciprocity Treaty upon the payment of
a nominal license-fee of fifty cents per ton.
The Dominion Government has now, however,
decided upon resuming the privileges thus accorded,
and of falling back upon the strict provisions of the
1818 Convention, the only treaty of legal force in
this matter.
The reasons for the adoption of this course are
simple. In the first place, the payment of the
nominal license-fee was systematically evaded by
^.
.-V
II
i.:^
p 2
■■<!,,
■It'
1
P
Mr
•
8
1
r
1
:
i'
!-
,'
'
iu:!'
1*1 *
Ji'
4*
I' <
s±
aia
TIfE CANADIAN DOMINION.
the American vessels, with the possibility, as the
Dominion Government feared, that this unrestricted
use of our waters would be set up at some future
time by the States as a claim established by usage.
And further, the express object for which these
fishing privileges were provisionally accorded — that
of inducing a renewal of the commercial Reciprocity
Treaty — appeared to be still a remote probability.
Debarred from trade privileges by the United
States, Canada has naturally determined to resume
the uncompensated privilege which she had ac-
corded.
In a note at the end of this volume will be found
the text in full of the Convention of i8i8, limiting
the fishing-rights of the United States. The terms
are briefly these : —
American fishermen have liberty to fish on certain
coasts of Newfoundland, of Labrador, and some
islands expressly defined ; but are debarred • for
ever any liberty heretofore enjoined or claimed to
take, dry, or cure fish on or within three marine
miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours *
of the British dominions in America not included in
the specified limits.
The present disagreement between the two
Governments, in this matter, is limited to a single
point. ' Great Britain contends ' — I quote the re-
port of 1870 of the Canadian Minister of Marine —
* that the prescribed limits of three marine miles, as
the line of exclusion, should be measured from
DISPUTES ABOUT THE FISHERIES.
213
rtain
ome
for
d to
vine
urs'
:d in
two
|ingle
re-
ine —
is, as
I from
headland to headland. The United States Govern-
ment contends that it should be measured from the
interior of the bays and sinuosities of the coast'
A technical difficulty of this minute character can
be readily adjusted, it may be presumed, between
the two governments, upon a reference to the usage
of nations in similar circumstances. But out of the
eminently unsatisfactory condition in which this
whole subject of the fisheries rests at present a
number of practical inconveniences are certain to
arise, calculated to excite still more a feeling of
mutual distrust and alienation between the peoples
of the United States and of the Dominion, and to
provide matter for distasteful discussion between
the government of the United States and those of
Great Britain and the Dominion.
In pursuance of its newly-adopted policy of pro-
tecting the exclusive fishery-rights of the British
vessels, reserved in the 18 18 Convention, the Do-
minion Government has equipped a marine police of
six sailing vessels and two steamers, to prevent, on
pain of seizure, the vessels of the United States
from fishing within the prescribed three-mile limits.
Several seizures have been made ; an occurrence
peculiarly aggravating to the body of American
fishermen and to the temper of the American
people.
This new and most unfortunate grievance natu-
rally finds a prominent place in the last message of
the American President
'*•-.♦
'I
, :,*
I'
if: '
,;
m
214
TIfE CANADIAN DOMINION.
* The course pursued by the Canadian authorities
towards the fishermen of the United States during
the past season,' President Grant complains, 'has
not been marked by a friendly feeling. . . . Vessels
have been seized without notice or warning, in
violation of the customs previously prevailing^ and
have been taken into the Colonial ports, their voyages
broken up, and the vessels condemned.'
' Anticipating that an attempt may be made by
the Canadian authorities in the coming season to
repeat their unneighbourly act,' the President pro-
ceeds to recommend Congress to confer upon the
Executive the power to suspend the operation of
the existing laws ' authorising the transit of goods,
wares, and merchandise, in bond, across the territory
of the United States to Canada.*
The policy here proposed by President Grant,
of limiting still more the already closely-restricted
commercial relations between the United States and
the Canadian people, is scarcely a wise one. The
abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, instead of
increasing the chances of the annexation of Canada,
intensified in the northern nation a dread of the
tyranny of the Republic, and incited it to a strenuous
development of its own resources. The suspension
of the privilege of bonding goods will be a political
mistake of the same kind, and will produce, in
larger measure, the same results. The Dominion
of Canada might by possibility be attracted to enter
the Union ; she will never suffer herself to be com-
pelled.
•.It;
CONTROL OF THE FISHERIES.
"5
•Is
On their side the Canadian authorities are entirely
resolved to disallow to the United States so im-
portant a privilege as that of the freedom of the
fisheries without receiving some compensating ad-
vantage, as, for example, that of the entry of the
United States ports for the sale of fish at moderate
rates of duty. The demands, apparently reasonable,
of the population of the maritime provinces, enforce
this policy on the Dominion Government, even
if there were not principles at stake of national
importance to be established as well.
I will make one further extract from the recent
Report of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries : —
' Immense as is the intrinsic value of the exhaust-
less fisheries which form so large a portion of our
material resources, their rightful control and exclu-
sive use possess a peculiar value and significance
intimately connected with the new condition and
prospects of this country. The actual situation and
future development of these inshore fisheries acquire,
if possible, additional importance from the selection
of a seaboard line of railway connecting the hitherto
separated provinces of the British North American
Confederation.
' If these provinces must in future depend more
fully on their own resources, and open new markets
for their native products, our attention cannot now
be too soon turned to the development of our vast
and valuable fisheries. They should form the staple
of an extensive and lucrative trade with foreign
i' ..
•: ■■ (
ai6
rJ/£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
countries and with the other British colonies. They
provide an important nursery for our seamen, and
they afford an inexhaustible field for the skill and
energy of our sea-board populations. They possess
peculiar value to Canada. Their exclusive use,
therefore, affords these united provinces such ad-
vantages as a young country cannot too highly
estimate, and should on no account neglect or
abandon.'
\
817
CHAPTER XVI.
INTER-CONTINENTAL COMMUNICATION
The inter-colonial railway, now being rapidly con-
structed across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,
will prove of great value in binding together the
provinces of the Confederation, and in opening up
the eastern country for immigration and for the
development of its buried resources. It will be,
also, a military line of the greatest importance ; and,
once more, it will aid materially in an object of
national and imperial consequence — the shortening
the time of communication between Great Britain
and all parts of the Dominion.
Each year the relations between the Old World
and the New become more intimate and more im-
portant. The exchanges of a vast variety of products
and manufactures grow unceasingly in magnitude
and in value. The mail service alone has grown to
enormous dimensions ; and passengers cross and
recross the Atlantic in numbers to be counted by
hundreds of thousands.
The great bulk of products and of manufactures
t'
m
■'.'''''«.
li
■i'
II
3l8
rif£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
Fi
k
will naturally follow the cheapest and easiest routes
of transit, such as require the fewest trans-shipments
and avoid unnecessary delays. As inevitably the
passenger and mail service will persistently seek out
the shortest and speediest line of communication
possible.
Already, on the European side, the mails are
forwarded by rail and packet to Ireland, and are put
on board the Atlantic steamer at Queenstown with
a saving of many hours. It is probable that, on the
American side, similarly, the mails will before long
be forwarded to the last practicable poini of de-
parture for the steamer. The inter-colonial railway
will provide the necessary means when the lines of
travel are established between the port of Halifax
and New York and Boston to the south, Montreal
and Quebec to the west.
The track of the ocean steamships lies along the
Nova Scotia coast. Letters from New Orleans, St.
Louis, New York, Toronto, Montreal, could be put
on board at Halifax, or some port more eastern still,
of several days' later date than by the existing
system of mailing from New York City.
The imperious interests of commerce will pro-
bably compel before long the adoption of the shortest
practicable mail line between England and America.
It might not, however, be unworthy the care of
Imperial and Canadian statesmanship to aid the
establishment of this line, and secure its control,
CONVEYANCE OF MAILS.
ai9
linking so closely together, as it would, the mother
country with her greatest colony.
It is conceivable also that the occasion might
arise when the possession or control of the fleet of
swift steamships needed for this service might prove
to be a matter of grave importance to the empire.
r-V, 1
♦<•■•?,
Iif
y :■ ^
aao
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
\\\
' 'I;
i
CHAPTER XVII.
IMMIGRATION.
The stream of emigration from Great Britain is
beginning to set in to her North American pos-
sessions in increasing volume. By slow degrees the
especial advantages which Canada presents as a
home new to the Englishman are becoming known.
Farmers, manufacturers, traders, and enterprising men
of all kinds in the pursuit of fortune, with large capital
or with small, are finding in this true New England
a peculiarly promising sphere for the attainment of
independent position and wealth. Various associa-
tions in England, and many private individuals of
influence, induced by patriotic or charitable con-
siderations, are engaged in assisting suitable families
of poor means to cross to the new Dominion. Still,
when the overcrowded condition of all professions
and occupations in the old country is considered, and
when it is remembered that free space and the ready
means for the immediate improvement in position of
tens and hundreds of thousands of settlers are af-
forded in the older and newer provinces of the Do-
minion, it is apparent that only a beginning, though
IMMIGRA TION STA TISTICS.
221
a good one, in this transfer of our people has been
made.
The immigration statistics for 1868, given in the
Government Report for 1870, are as follows : —
Cabin. Steerage. Total.
Passengers arriving at Quebec . 17 17 32,583 34,300
Passengers arriving at Hamilton,
vi& the Suspension Bridge .... 32,004
At Portland, Montreal, and To-
ronto, by steamers, etc 2,294
Total 68,598
Of these numbers probably one-third, or rather less,
remained in Canada. It is impossible at present to
obtain accurate information on this head, but from
the follow'ng figures an approximate estimate may
be made : —
Of 14,098 emigrants conveyed by the Grand
Trunk line westward from Quebec, 4,513 remained
in Canada, against 9,585 taken through to the States,
according to returns furnished by the Company.
Again, from the returns made by the different
emigration agents in Ontario and Quebec, it appears
that in the year 1868 emigrants had settled in
various parts of the Dominion in the following pro-
portions : —
111
c xiaiiiiiiuii u
Toronto
1311 It. t.
auuui, .
• 5.»97
Kingston
. 1,817
Ottawa
. 1,284
Montreal
• i,32»
Quebec
300
14,565
III
■ j>
m
't
>'*:
i
r
^
pi
Hi
ti:::i
»M
^11
jfef
,1 ■>•• '
•iv >■
aaa
Z«£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
These figures are necessarily very incomplete.
They serve, however, to show that there is already
the commencement of a considerable emigration to
the Canadian provinces. The excellent Minister of
Agriculture and Immigration for the Province of
Ontario, the Hon. John Carling, informed me that
from data in his possession it appeared likely that
the immigration to Canada within the past two
years 1869- 1870 would approach or possibly exceed
50,000 persons.
There is no need for either surprise or regret in
the circumstance that some 40,000 immigrants an-
nually pass to the western States of the Union
through British territory. A singular instance of
the misuse of statistics is found in the statement,
repeated on all hands without consideration, that the
population of Canada migrates into the States almost
as rapidly as it can be recruited by fresh immigra-
tion. The simple fact of the case is that, in regard
to the whole mass of these immigrants, their des-
tination is already fixed for some point in the West.
In a large proportion of cases they actually bring
through tickets from Ireland, Sweden, Bavaria, to
the new States and Territories of America. The
proper deduction from the existence of this large
through traffic is, that the Dominion possesses in
the St. Lawrence the natural highway to the west
of the continent, and that Canadian enterprise has
availed itself of this advantage for securing a large
and profitable branch of business.
DISTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRANTS.
323
While there is abundant scope in Canada for
every kind of ability, there are some particular kinds of
immigration that may be recommended with especial
confidence. There is a very large and increasing
demand, for instance, for agricultural labourers, for
useful artisans, such as carpenters, tailors, masons,
smiths, &c., and for female servants.
During the past season Mr. Carling procured
returns from the reeves and mayors of a number of
Ontario municipalities, stating the kinds of occupa-
tion for which immigrants were needed, and the
number for whom immediate employment could be
found. ' These returns,' the Government Report
says, 'show a demand for upwards of 24,000 farm
labourers, mechanics, and female servants.'
' Indigent immigrants,' the Report continues, ' on
their arrival were each furnished a good wholesome
meal, and forwarded as soon thereafter as possible,
by free railroad or steamboat passes, to their several
places of destination, by the respective immigration
agents, at the expense of the local government. By
this prompt method of distribution, dependent on
the returns from the municipalities, the congregating
of large numbers of immigrants at any of the points
of debarkation, and much consequent suffering, were
avoided. The rate of wages current in the Do-
minion is, of course, an important consideration for
the intending emigrant I will quote a pamphlet on
Emigration issued under the sanction of the Govern-
ment of Ontario : —
m:
■f?
I
[I
II
U:
; .1 i •:
li'iv
"I
ill
1. '^^
324
r-^^ CANADIAN DOMINION
l^\
* Farm indoor servants, who are generally treated
as members of the family, receive from 1^ 10 to 10*14
a month, by the year. Farm servants with wives
can obtain employment with board, in the house, at
from 812 to 10^ 1 8 a month, provided the wife is
willing to assist in the general female work of the
farm. Sometimes farmers give to married servants
a cottage and garden, with fuel, and grass for a cow,
on the premises. In such cases, the usual wages
are from 50/. to 60/. a-year.
' Female servants receive from ^4 to S6 a month,
by the year. In country places wages are somewhat
lower. The demand is constant for both of these
classes throughout the province, and superior ser-
vants will sometimes get higher wages than the
largest amounts above stated.
' Labourers receive from 75 cents to fS^r25 a day,
with board. During harvest, wages have often
risen to Si 'SO to $2 a day, with board. Boys of
twelve years of age and upwards readily get em-
ployment at proportionate wages.
* Carpenters in towns get from Si'$o to iS^2'25 per
day. Bricklayers, plasterers, and stone-masons from
Si'7S to (S'3 ; painters and plumbers, «8'i*50 to ^2*25 ;
tinsmiths, i$'i'25 to .S^i'so ; blacksmiths, .6'i'25 to iS'2 ;
wheelwrights, $1 to Si'75. Tailors can earn from
Si'SO to S2, and shoemakers nearly the same.'
These amounts coincide with the answers made to
my own inquiries in all parts of the Dominion. A
large employer of labour in Ottawa gave me the
WOJiKMEN'S WAGES.
"S
ser-
the
!'25;
$2',
from
le to
A
the
following items as the wages paid by his firm : —
Carpenters, $i\ or 6s. a day ; masons, B2\ or 95. ;
labourers, Bi\ or $s. At these rates he could offer
employment to a hundred additional hands at the
time of my visit.
At the Great Western Rolling Mills at Hamilton,
employing at present 175 men, but where, it was
expected, a large addition would shortly be required,
the following figures were given me as the ordinary
wages: — Labourers, 8\\ engineers, Si'l to 82]^',
puddlers paid by the piece, but making on an aver-
age, per day, 16^3 J ; heaters, S^\ (piece); their helpers,
18'ii; rollers (piece-workers), $^. The Canadian
dollar may be reckoned with sufficient accuracy at
four shillings sterling.
A farmer in ' the Garden of Canada ' gave me the
wages paid by him as follows : — To single men, 50/.
a year, paid monthly ; to married men, 40/. a year,
with a good cottage rent free, and a liberal supply
of milk, vegetables, and fuel. To harvesters, S\ to
82 per day.
From Mr. Conolly, whom I met in Canada on his
return tour as a delegate from an English Trades'
Union, inquiring expressly into the condition of the
working-men of this continent, I received the fol-
lowing comparative statement : —
' ■•.*
*.. sm
H.;^
* '1
M
226 THE CAXADIAN DOMINIOX.
Unitkii Siaiks. Canada,
Dollars (paper Dollars (coin, or
currency). in currency at par).
Carpenters, per day 2 (country) )
2\ (New York))
Masons, „ 3 (country) )
4(>^ewYork)I
Bricklayers „ 3 (country) \
4 (New York) (
Engineers „ 2\
4
1^ to 2
I.AM).
Shillinj;s
{stcrliny).
6 •
6
6
5 to 7
It was Mr. Conolly's opinion that, taking into
account the depreciated vaUie of the American
currency and the increased cost of living in the
States, the wages received in Canada were fully
equal in buying power to those paid in the States.
In regard to the important consideration of living
expenses, I will again quote the Ontario Govern-
ment pamphlet (count the cent as a halfpenny ;
the \2\ cents is the so-called New York shilling,
equivalent to our sixpence) : —
'The cost of living in Ontario for ordinary
mechanics and agricultural labourers, when quantity
and quality of food are considered, is cheaper than
it is for the same classes in the old country.
' Rents — Cottages and small houses in cities and
towns, suitable for single families, from B^ to iS'8 a
month, including taxe.s.
' Flour per barrel (200 lbs.), ^5 to Bd. Butchers'
meat from ^5 to 58 per 100 Ib.s. ; cheese, 12 to 16
cents per lb. ; butter, 15 to 25 cents; tea, 60 cents
X.O B\\ coffee 25 to 40 cents ; sugar, 8 to 13 cents.
Poultry are generally plentiful and cheap ; geese,
COST OF LIVING,
227
..\NI>.
linings
uiling).
•
6
6
6
to 7
; into
erican
n the
fully
ites.
living:
overn-
)enny ;
lining,
inary
lantity
than
les and
o ^8 a
tchcrs'
to 16
cents
cents.
geese,
30 to 50 cents ; turkeys, 50 to 70 cents. Potatoes
and ordinary vegetables are usually procured at
moderate prices. Working people living in the
country commonly raise sufficient of the before-
mentioned articles to supply their own domestic
wants.
' Clothing, strong and well-suited to the climate,
made from cloth manufactured in the province, can
be obtained at reasonable rates. A man's winter
suit, including the making, from 1^14 to ^^20. Sum-
mer clothing lower. Calico and the finer descriptions
of woollen goods, being generally imported, are con-
sequently dearer than in England.'
From a similar tractate, ' published by order of
the Government of Quebec,' I extract a few items,
serving to show the cost of living in the French
province : —
* Bread, 6 lb. loaf, 1 2 cents to 1 5 cents ; flour, per
barrel of 20c lbs., B^ to Sd ; meat, per lb., 6 cents
to 8 cents ; salt butter, 15 cents to 20 cents ; cheese,
12 cents to 16 cents; potatoes, per bushel, 40 cents
to 50 cents.'
The above sets of figures are substantially ac-
curate. At one of the many market-places I visited,
the busy, crowded, morning market at the thriving
little city of Hamilton, I asked the prices of a great
variety of articles : —
Beef or mutton, best cuts, 12.^ cents per lb.;
seconds, 10 cents and 8 cents ; the brisket, 6.^ cents
(i.e. the best td.^ the cheapest 2i\d)\ bacon, 17
Q 2
->
It \
y
m 11
oliii
p.
llr!.:!
Mil
^•'■.i "I
■i •'■.
228
7//£ CtiWlDIAiY DOM/NIOy.
cents; hams, per 11)., 15 cents; pork, \2\ cents;
sugar, 10 cents moist, \2\ cents loaf; tea, 50 cents,
75 cents, and $i per lb. Coffee, ground, 25 cents to
35 cents per lb. ; .soap, 6 cents per lb. ; salt, i cent
per lb. ; butter, 23 cents per lb. ; fowls, 25 cents a
pair (when full grown 40 cents to 50 cents a pair) ;
potatoes, 40 cents a bushel ; tomatoes (a delicious
summer vegetable in common use), 40 cents a
bushel ; onions, 50 cents a peck ; carrots and beets,
12.^ cents a peck ; heads of cabbage, 6 cents each ;
of cauliflower, 1 5 cents ; splendid melons, 1 5 cents
each ; great pumpkins, 8 cents ; pears, 50 cents a
peck; grapes, 10 cents a quart ; cooking apples, 10
cents a peck ; Indian corn, 12^ cents the dozen cobs ;
capsicums, or ' hotpeppers,' as they were called, 8
cents a dozen ; crab apples, for jelly, 20 cents a peck.
As to house rent, four rooms, I was told, could be
had at four dollars a month.
The immigrant of small means should not expect
to find his ' bread ready toasted, and buttered on
both sides,' as the wife of a newly arrived London
artisan naively expressed their hopes to me. He
will have to work hard, and perhaps to suffer both
inconveniences and privations. But in this, at least,
the lot of the artisan and labourer will have under-
gone no change. The ad\^antages presented to the
immigrant are mainly these: first, the easy possibility
of improving his position, by obtaining a house of
his own and a plot of ground or a farm, by purchase
at low rates or by free grants. The artisan, if a
VALiE OJ' LA XIX
229
xpect
:d on
ndon
He
both
least,
nder-
the
ibility
iise of
Ichase
, if a
man of industry and intellij^cnce, may expect to be-
come a master ; the labourer a farmer. Second,
the assurance of securing an excellent practical
education for his children, and giving them a fairef
start in life, under more favourable conditions for
their success, than he enjoyed himself Kven if he
fail himself, the immigrant may expect his children
to attain to positions of wealth and consideration.
Third, the influence of the climate, and tendency of
the general conditions of life, for benefiting his own
health, and for raising a hardy and vigorous family,
r^ourth, the certainty of securing abundant employ-
ment at fair rates of pajment. The skilled or
unskilled labourer must work hard, and may suffer
hardship ; this will not be new. But the pleasant
novelty is that in a few years he may be independent,
and in a few more he may see his children foremost
in the country in wealth and influence.
But the class to which Canada presents at present
the greatest advantages are farmers with small
capital. A farm of good land, with fair improve-
ments upon it of dwelling-house and out-buildings,
situated in the best parts of Ontario, with easy access
to good markets, can be purchased freehold for less
money than is paid in England for the year's rent of
inferior land. I should be inclined to name iS'30, or
6/. per acre, as the present average price of farm-
lands in the oldest settled districts of Canada, this
amount being inclusive of the buildings and fences
on the farm. An average, however, is very hard to
V i
H
*3o
THE CANADIAN DOAflNION.
determine ; the value varyinjjf j^rcatly accorcllnj]^ to the
qiiahty of the land, and still more from its situation.
Farms may be obtiiined in Ontario for B\o or
even $^ an acre (i/. or 2/. only) ; while for farm-
lands near the great towns 1^50 or &\qq would be a
small price. In the uncleared districts, the land can
be bought for one or two dollars an acre, or had for
nothing in the free-grant districts.
As a rule understood to have many exceptions,
the immigrant farmer should wait a season before
investing his capital. He will do well to visit the
farming districts of the Maritime Provinces and of
Quebec and Ontario, and also some of the uncleared
regions along the line of the Inter-colonial railway,
or up the Ottawa river, for examples, before he
makes his choice of a new home for himself and his
sons. If he can spare sufficient time, the farmer is
not likely to regret the extension of his tour to the
Red River country. All this time the English or
Scotch farmer will be finding abundant occasion for
* unlearning ' much of the system pursued at home.
He will see that, with the wide tracts of land to be
cultivated, with a summer of novel shortness, and
with a great scarcity of labour at his command, the
farmer must make rapidity of operation his chief aim,
. and leave neatness of fence, regularity of furrow, and
cleanness of harvesting to the era of steam-plot' 'I1
and of the fuller settlement of the country.
In many districts the old stumps, disfiguring liic
soil and obstructing the plough, will grieve the eyes
M
INVESTMENT OF MONEY IN I AND. 231
I
g ihc
eyes
of the old-country fanner. He will tolerate more
readily the unsightly • snake-fence,' a zig-zag line of
tree trunks laid end to q\m\ and five or six feet high,
which almost universally takes the place of the
picturesque hedges of our own country. Happily,
however, the stumps rot ; and the snake fences too.
The farmer will see the necessity of accommo-
dating his practice to the exigencies of a new
country. He will not, however, forget the ideal of
high farming he saw aimed at in the old. His ex-
perience will prove of admirable service.
If the new comer has relatives or friends in one
of the provinces, he may wish to settle in their
neighbourhood. They will, however, in all proba-
bility, advise him to defer the purchase of his farm,
or at least his personal management of it, until he;
has had time to learn the peculiar characteristics of
Canadian agriculture.
There is abundant room, with the certain prospect
of independence, for tens of thousands of our tenant
farmers who find it difficult at home to make the
rent and living expenses out of their farms. ' Not one
half of the. land already in private hands is yet culti-
vated, to say nothing of the many millions of acres
of wild lands still undisposed of by Government.'
The farmer need not fear any failure of the
markets. The rapidly-growing towns of the Do-
minion require a constantly increasing supply. The
grain market cannot be overstocked. The export
trade will absorb all that can be produced.
( •
£l
If
I
I
:''it
93a
77//t' CANADIAN DOMINION.
The immigrant farmer need not incur the trouble
and expense of taking agricultural implements with
him. He will obtain them at moderate cost in
Canada, manufactured expressly to suit the pecu-
liarities of the soil, &c. But he will do well to
carry with him favourite seeds and roots ; and his
wife or daughter should not fail to take a quantity
of flower seeds from the old garden and woods.
Canada has a lovely flora ; but there are never too
many flowers in any country ; and, besides, the
plants of the old home will make the new one
more home-like, and will serve to freshen the
memories of the past.
The farmer of capital would do well to take over
some of his choice stock. Horses, horned cattle,
shc(?p of good breed, could be sold to advantage if
it proved inconvenient to keop them until the choice
of a farm was made.
Stock-breeding is rapidly becoming one of the
most important and lucrative branches of business
in the Dominion.
When the especial advantages of Canada for
English emigrants become known, appropriate means
of passage and facilities for settlements will be
provided to answer the demand. I shall therefore
be content to make but one or two slight sugges-
tions, in addition to a strong recommendation to the
proposing settler to consult som^ government emi-
gration agent in the United Kingdom before starting,
or in the Dominion upon landing there.
MODES OF SETTLEMENT.
233
for
heans
be
fore
emi-
ting,
I visited recently a new-born American settlement,
Greely, on the Denver Pacific Railway. On April
25, 1870, rot a house stood there, and not a clod of
the earth was turned up. On November 21, I
found a thriving township of about 300 plank-houses,
hotels, stores, carpenters' and masons' shops, and
neat dwellings. Forty miles of ditches, at an ex-
pense 'of 1^30,000, had been cut business and
prosperity had already set in.
A t'-act of 200,000 acres, all needing irrigation,
had been purchased at cheap rates by a Mutual Aid
Society. To secure the settlement on this sj)ot, the
railway companies had agreed to take the Greely
passengers and freight at half rates. The settle-
ment was laid out as follows : First, into city lots ;
second, into 5-acre plots round ' the city ; ' third,
into 40-acre allotments outside ; and then into 80-
acre and 160-acre farms on the outskirts. Fach
member of the association was allowed the choice of
a city lot and of one of the outlying allotments, the
increasing size compensating for the greater distance.
The company consisted of 800 members, with paid
up shares of fS^rso (30/.) a share.
Similar projects of settlement have been tried in
Canada, and in other ICnglish colonies, with varying
success. The plan seems peculiarly adapted for the
choice lands of Red River and the Saskatchewan.
Among the various plans for assisting the emigra-
tion of individuals and families from Fngland, the
one lately proposed by the Rev. A. Styleman Her-
■|':»ll :
I* ''I!
'id!
j "ill
«34
77/^ CANADIAN DOAflNION.
ring seems to merit especial notice for its easy
simplicity and practicability, and for its consequent
proved success. This gentleman has commenced
several Working Men's Emigration Clubs in his
own large parish of 8,000 souls in the east of
London. The rules of these clubs are delightfully
practical. Each member pays in what he likes
weekly. He is at liberty to collect subscriptions
for the club, 'but with the distinct understanding
that it is for his own benefit if he emigrates ; if
not, for the general fund.' if the member changes
his mind, he can draw out the amount of his weekly
subscriptions, forfeiting only the shilling entrance-
fee. From funds raised for the relief of London
distress, auv' to aid the emigration of the poor, an
equivalent amount is added to the members' sub-
scriptions. Reduced fares are obtained from steam-
ship and railway companies. ' The selection of the
emigrants is by payments, lot, election, or by the
President' It is no matter of surprise that over
500 souls have already been assisted to Canada by
Mr. Herring. I had the pleasant opportunity of
witnessing the delight with which these emigrants
met their kind friend in the country of their new
home, and of hearing the satisfaction with which
they all spoke of the change in their condition.
Mr. Herring has also succeeded in establishing a
number of similar Immigration Clubs in Canada, for
the assistance of relatives and friends who may wish
to join the settlers.
ADVANTAGES TO EM/GRANTS.
ns
An altogether admirable plan is the one adopted
by Miss Rye this year, in removing from the En-
glish poor-houses a number of healthy orphan girls
to find them homes in families properly guaran-
teed in Canada. On calling at the spacious and
pretty home — a transfonned prison — which this
lady has purchased and prepared for her good
work, I was too late to see more than two or
three of the 120 children brought out this season.
In three weeks all had been provided for. Miss
Rye kindly allowed me to see some quaintly-written
letters from these girls, expressing their regret at
the separation from their kind friends, mingled with
delight at the novelty and comfort of their new con-
dition. They all wanted Miss Rye to go and live
with them, or at least pay them a visit. I was also
shown a huge packet of letters from farmers' wives
and townspeople, making application for these
English children.
It appears to me that Canada presents several
advantages of the greatest importance to the inha-
bitant of the old country wishing to change his home.
First, I should be disposed to reckon its nearness
of situation. Quebec is but a week from Liverpool.
The Scotchman or Englishman need not feel him-
self hopelersly expatriated. Upon his establishment
in a good position in the new country, he can ' run
over ' to see his friends in the old land. From the
older provinces the journey is now only a short
pleasure trip ; that is, if the traveller escapes sea
sickness.
i'l
m
>ll
Wt . .1
■vf
236
77//? CANADIAN DOMINJON.
I shall be bold enough to reckon the climate as a
second great advantage.
The opinion popular in England and in the
United States, th\t Canada has a 'thirteen months'
winter,' is scarcely an ace rate one. The Canadians
do, however, count four months of snow and frost,
but without any c.ispo::ition to accept our commise-
ration. My repeated questions about the severity
of the season were answered with amusement, and
sometimes with a pretty resentment.
To the two principal industries of the Dominion,
farming and lumbering, the winter presents especial
advantages. It makes all the country traversable.
Snow roads are formed across rivers and swamps,
through vast forests, and over broken tracts of rock,
for the easy transport of all kinds of freight. By
the gliding sleigh, and by ' runners ' of various in-
genious construction, agricultural implements, heavy
grain, cumbersome timber, and produce and goods
of all kinds, can be transported with less cost, and
in less time, than over the best macadamised roads
in summer.
• Our vast lumbering operations could not be
carried on without our long winter,' an Ottawa
merchant said to me.
* Our winter in the woods is the best part of the
year to us,' a lumbermar told me in one of the
upper shanties ' We can work so easily, and we
never feel the cold. We generally pull off our
jackets. Of course we keep a roaring fire in the
!• ■■^-
THE CAXADIAN WINTER.
237
be
the
the
tl we
our
the
shanty, and our evenings there are the jolliest I
have ever spent.'
Farmers talked to me with a similar inability to
perceive that the lonjj Canadian winter was a dis-
advantage.
The professional men. merchants, and traders of
the cities and towns lind leisure in the winter for
snow-shoeing e.xcursions into the country, and for
skating and sleighing at home.
To the ladies of Canada the long winter is the
gayest and brightest season of the year. Balls,
* hops,' and concerts innumerable, make brilliant the
nights. The days are enlivenec' with delightful
' to-boggonning' e.xcursions. Hill-side slopes and
river-banks are made gay with this pretty exercise
throughout the Dominion. The ' to-boggon ' is a
curved slip of birch bark, extremely light, and
daintily ornamented, on which the fair Canadian
girl takes her seat on the top of the slope ; once
started it glides down with a delicious rapidity, and,
skilfully guided, carries its charming occupant far
along the level ground at the base. The cavalier,
who has shot down in his clumsier snow-canoe,
draws the two to-boggons up the slope again without
effort by the side of his companion.
I had to make many promises of returnini: to
Canada to enjoy its winter myself, in order to
become disabused of my last prejudices against the
season.
In all seriousness, I am persuaded that, despite
I
238
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
itn severity, the climate of Canada is one of the
healthiest in the world. It is expressly fitted to
develope a hardy race. For the bringing up of a
young family it is to be preferred very decidedly
to the climate of almost all the States of the Union
south of the chain of Canadian lakes. The fact of
the generally healthy condition of the people, the
splendid development of the men, the preservation
of the English type of beauty of the women, may
be taken in proof of the excellence of the climate,
and may well be allowed to influence the choice of
an Englishman who seeks a new home for his
family.
I venture to think that to many Englishmen
considerations of patriotic duty would be of weight
in determining their choice of a new home. Third
among the reasons for selecting Canada, I shall
name the usual influence which each new settler
may exert in strengthening the bonds that unite
our chief colony with the mother country, and in
securing the adoption of a policy which shall pre-
serve intact the integrity of the British Empire.
f\
=35
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE POLITICAL QUESTION.
The next j^reat question likdy to disturb the public
mind of Canada relates to the future of the country
— whether the Dominion shall remain attached to
England, or be annexed to the United States, or
become a sovereign and independent power. Ad-
vantages of no mean character are presented by
each of these courses. Wise statesmansliip might
easily control the result ; it seems only too likel)',
however, that a policy of ' letting things drift ' will
be followed both by the Imperial and Dominion
Governments, and the future of this great northern
empire be left to the play of circumstance, or the
hasty decision of some popular excitement.
Let us endeavour to estimate without undue par-
tiality the advantages of the several courses of
policy indicated, and the chances of their adoption.
Beycnd all question the people of the United States
expect to annex the Canadian provinces. They
would be prepared at any time to make large sacri-
fices to this end, were it not for a profound con-
viction that the result is certain, even without any
240
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
,f
r I'-
ll i .
pains taken to secure it. ' When the Canadian
apple is ripe it will fall,' they always say. East and
west, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the eventual
annexation of the English colonies is the dream of
the whole American people; and even the dreams of
a great people have an odd way of finding fulfil-
ment. The 'incorporation of the vast range of our
northern possessions would add to the wealth and
numbers, and above all to the dignity, of the Ame-
rican Union. The removal of the British flag from
the continent would be a piece of flattery to the
national pride to wliich every American would prove
susceptible. The annexation of the north would be
a happier achievement than the subjugation of the
south. The Americans are not accustomed to con-
sider very carefully the amount of advantage which
Canada would gain by this change. The honour of
belonging to the great Republic would immeasurably
exceed, as they suppose, any pride of connexion
with an Old World monarchy. A new era of pro-
gress and of rapid improvement, they say, would
follow the change. Canada would cease to be con-
servative and old-fashioned. Real estate would in-
crease in value fifty per cent., they i)romise, on the
day of union with the Republic. Labour would be
better paid, new railways would be opened, the
mines would be worked, a great immigration would
be attracted, and generally the whole country would
be changed by ' Yankee * enterprise. The long
double line of custom-houses would be abolished.
RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. 241
The evil of smuggling would be done away. A
ready and vast market would be opened for all
Canadian produce. The northern provinces would
immediately have their full share in all the pros-
perity of the Union. An equitable arrangement
would be made in regard to the burdens of the war
debt. If the new provinces strongly objected to
bear their proportion, a complete immunity might
be indulgently granted them.
Of these advantages the only one, it is safe to
say, that at present would be greatly appreciated in
Canada is the opening of the American markets to
her produce. To obtain this from the States, the
Dominion government would willingly arrange a
renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty, with or without
modification, or agree to the institution of some kind
of customs' union.
It is probable that a great increase in material
prosperity would be attained by union with the
States ; at least it is thought so generally, though
by no means universally, in Canada. But at present
the presumed disadvantages of the course outweigh
in the popular mind any such possible increase in
the national wealth. There has grown up in the
Dominion an extreme repugnance to the mobocratic
elements of the great neighbouring republic. It is
certainly a fact that the Canadians prefer, very de-
cidedly, their own ordered and free mode of govern-
ment to the more democratic institutions of the
States. An American can scarcely be expected to
^tl
m
243
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
M
r«v;
r.
i<i
realise this ; an Englishman may. The Canadians
are disinclined to permit within the Dominion the
disruption of affairs which takes place with each
Presidential election ; they hesitate to change their
parliamentary system for one in which the Presi-
dent's veto might stop legislation ; and they fear the
adoption of democratic changes which might lead to
the election of the judges by the populace, the
periodical removal of the business officials of the
nation, and similar measures. There appears to be
in Canada a greater fear and dislike of ' American-
ising' their institutions than we feel at home. It is
easy to account for this. The States are their next-
door neighbours. The Canadians are compelled to
overhear the party strifes within the Republic, and to
listen to the threats of a certain order of politicians
to ' Americanise ' and annex the northern provinces
with or against their will. This, together with the
overt course of action pursued by the United States
Government, has induced a feeling of alienation from
the republic, the force of which we are not prepared
to estimate rightly at home.
The Reciprocity Treaty was repealed by the
action of the United States in 1864, avowedly for
the purpose of chastising Canada for the misdirection
of her sentiments during the rebellion, and with a
view to forcing her into the Union for the salva-
tion of her commerce. The decisive alienation of
Canadian feeling dates from the adoption of this
policy. Canada has been compelled to discover that
AAfRRJCAN PROTECTIONISM.
•43
dians
n the
cacli
their
Presi-
ar the
ead to
(', the
of the
5 to be
crican-
It is
r next-
iUed to
and to
iticians
ovinccs
ith the
States
m from
epared
)y the
lly for
Irection
I with a
salva-
tion of
)f this
ler that
she can exist in complete commercial independence
of the States. The period which was to have wit-
nessed her financial and industrial ruin has been
the most prosperous in her history. Thrown back
expressly on her own resources, Canada has found
them practically inexhaustible. There are not, in-
deed, wanting some sanguine spirits in the Dominion
who dream of a future time when the British North
American Empire shall become a worthy rival of the
States in all the elements of national prosperity and
greatness.
This feeling of Canadian distrust of the States
has, unfortunately, not lacked further provocation.
The canals and navigable waters of the Dominion
have always been open to United States vessels on
precisely the same terms with the native shipping.
The American barge or boat passes anywhere with-
out hindrance on payment of the ordinary dues.
This courtesy has not been reciprocated. The trans-
port vessels of Canadian owners lie under certain
disabilities. They are not permitted, for instance,
to trade from one American port to another. The
interests of American protectionists have here co-
incided with the settled policy of the government.
So, similarly, in regard to the passage of material
of war. During the rebellion in the States stores
and troops were allowed to pass freely across Cana-
dian territory from Detroit to Niagara along the
Great Western Railway. But a vessel of ours con-
taining stores for the Red River expedition was not
K 2
344
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
it,
::t
■15
■i*
■I
-ill'*
permitted to pass the four miles of canal at Sault Ste.
Marie belonging to the States. Only after much
trouble, and the unloading of the stores, was the
vessel allowed a passage. A persistent policy of
this kind has not proved efficacious in increasing a
desire for union with the States. It was surely
little calculated to have that effect upon a high-
spirited people.
But, further, it is urged in Canada that the pro-
mised rapid development of the country upon its
annexation might well be bought at too dear a cost.
The prosperity of a country is not shown solely, or
mainly, by the numbers of its population, and the
returns of its imports and exports. England, in the
Elizabethan era, was not a rich country, and did not
count the number of souls that Canada possesses to-
day. There is a feverishness of haste, a painful
crudity and excitability, in the character of the pro-
gress of the modern American cities and States, which
presents an unfavourable contrast with the slower
growth of Canadian prosperity, at least in the estima-
tion of our colonists themselves. They believe their
progress to be as much more sound and wholesome
as it is less spasmodic and startling.
A sentiment of nationality also is slowly arising
throughout the Dominion. The people want to be
themselves, and not part of another nation, even
though a greater one. They desire to work out
their own course of civilisation, to fulfil their own
destiny, and not to become merged in another people.
rJIE CANADIAN PEOPLE.
245
[ising
to be
leven
out
own
lople.
They no longer ask for any help ; the only favour
they wish is to be let alone ; and they have no fear
about the future. There are not lacking some spirits
among them who dare believe that no amount of
interference can prevent this.
In considering the probability of annexation to
the United States an important element of the case
is often overlooked. It is this, that the American
and Canadian peoples are fast becoming sundered
by the development of distinct types of national
character. Two races are here forming side by
side. The Canadians are still sturdily Anglo-Saxon.
The climate of the north involves a slighter change
for the race than that of the middle and southern
portions of the new continent. In so far as the climate
is changed at all, it is by a return to the severity of
the northern regions from which the Scandinavian
peoples came. The old race bids fair to attain a
new vigour in being transplanted to a bleak clime
once more. The Canadians, as a rule, are hardy,
well-developed, fresh-coloured ; they love the country
and the life of a farmer ; they are fond of field
sports and of vigorous exercise ; they arc all born
soldiers, and learn to handle the rifle well. They
are like the English of past generations.
To a certain extent this description applies also
to the French Canadians. The English, as a race,
however, are but little affected by their presence
among them ; intermarriages not being frequent.
For the sake of distinctness, I speak expressly of
the English-speaking people.
I
Kv
';'|iV'
a46
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
\%
The American people, though distinctly Teutonic,
is ceasing to be Anglo-Saxon or English. It will
soon become, if indeed it is not already, a nationality
of more mingled elements than ever the world has
known before. American thinkers perceive thv^ fact,
and argue from it a great future for the nation. The
English nation was made up of many elements —
Celtic, Roman, German, Norman — and proved a
good one. The American nation will be more mingled
still, and should unite the best qualities of the fore-
most peo|)les of the age. Already the new race
claims to possess the solidity and practical good
senso of tht; ICngUsh, the vivacity of the French, the
wit of the Irish, and the breadth and thoroughness
of the German. It is certainly impossible to travel
east and west through the States without perceiving
that changes from the old English type have taken
place. In further support of this position some
well-known facts may be advanced.
Eirst, an enormous immigration of Irish, Germans,
South Germans, and Swedes has bt.en attracted from
the Old World, antl for a series of years has been
overflowing the American continent. Thcj English
immigrants are lost in the multitudes of other races.
Second, the new-comers rear large families, of eight,
twelve, sixteen children ; the native American, the
desct^ndant of the Ivnglish race, chooses to have
but t>ne child or two. In the West, if he is a
farmer, he has more ; but, as a rule, the American
prefers a trade or profession ; and in all the cities.
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE.
247
some
•mans,
from
been
n^lish
races.
ei<;Iu,
n, till!
liave
is a
■rican
cities,
West as well as East, the small family is the recog-
nised rule. An increasing proportion is thus secured
for the foreign elements, and used up in the fusion
of the new race. The amount of negro or Chinese
blood likely to be mingled in the American people is
too slight to require consideration. The race is,
and will remain, Teutonic.
Thirdly, in estimating the growing divergence of
type of the American and Canadian peoples, account
should be taken of the difference of climate of the
two countries. This influence, acting persistently as
it does, and upon every individual of the masses,
must exercise a great though insensible power in
modifying the physique and the character. And,
singularly enough, the operation of this cause appears
to be directly in the line of those already indicated.
Climatic influences tend to intensify the differences
created by divergence of race. 'IMie long and severe
Canadian winter produces vigour and hardihood in
the people. The summer heat, though more intense
than in the mother country, has n.)t the extreme dry-
ness of the middle and southern portions of tht* new
continent. The hot bree/es coming from the south
are tempered by the great chain of lakes that
stretches along the Dominion l)ord(T. Tht; climate
of the New I'Jigland and central .States is one of
extn^mes ; the winter is severe, the summer heat
excessive. All the year round \\\(\ air is keen, dry,
exhilarating. No one has any real \\ii^*\ of stimu-
lants. Not a litde of the restless, eager excitability
*
i
S 1!
948
TJ/E CANADIAN DOMINION.
of the typical American is probably due to this subtle
influence.
To summarise the arguments. The Canadians
prefer their own representative institutions to the
democratic republicanism of the States. They are
proud of their social order, thsir general well-being,
their system of education, the tone of thought in
society, the sound basis on which their increasing
prosperity rests. A sentiment of nationality, too, is
slowly arising. The Canadians are growing proud
of the extent of their IJominion, and of their inex-
haustible resources. They would not now willingly
submit to be ' swamped ' in the superior greatness of
another people. And they are eminently Hnglish,
cherishing fondly many dear old insular prejudices.
They speak the language as we do, with no notice-
able change of accent. They are jealous to a fault of
the English honour, and proud of the Knglish fame
and power. In race they are wholly one with us.
The immigrants they receive are from the old
country. Climate has fostered, not changed, the
national characteristics. They are conservative of
the old traditions of English liberty, and honour,
and national greatness. They are the English of
the English.
it is certain that only the humiliation of being
cast off l)y tlie old country, and the discovery that
Canada could not stand alone as an indepentlent
power, would at present intlucc her to enter the
American Union.
QUESTION OF ANNEXATION.
249
that
idcnt
the
Whether the annexation of Canada would prove an
advantage to the States themselves, and to the world
at large, are questions difficult indeed to answer.
The immediate effect would be the Americanising
both of the people and of the institutions of the
country. The formation of a purely Anglo-Saxon
nation on the new continent would be stopped.
Promiscuous immigration would overflow and obli-
terate the boundary line. The nuisance of the
army of custom-house officials would be swept
awtiy. The North American Union, more complete
than ever in its variety of climes and produc-
tions, would probably adopt an indefinite exten-
sion of the system of commercial jirotection. The
dea does not lack grandeur of the whole of this
vast continent being filled with a new, freshly
mingled, Teutonic race, to be counted j)resently by
hundreds of millions, and forming one single gigantic
republic. A citizen of the States must naturally
cherish the glorious vision.
But it would be hard indeed to determine whether
human progress and the development of the race
would be advanced or retanlcd by the realisation of
this dream. The big world, however, could well
afford to let the experiment be tried.
One element in the case the Anurrican politician
should not overlook. The presence of Canada in
the Union would add materially to the chances of a
future disruption of the Republic. In some grave
national crisis, or on the breaking out of a new war.
f ll
I,' i
li
250
77//! CANADIAN DOMINION.
if Canada seceded from the Union, she would pro-
bably carry with her the Western States that find in
the St. Lawrence the natural outlet for their pro-
ductions, together with all the States that border
upon the great river on its way to the sea.
The way is now prepared for considering more
briefly the probability of the English connexion
ceasing, and of Canada becoming an independent
power.
In the Dominion it is suspected that this is the
set purpose of the home governmt.it It is regarded
as a weak and blundering policy, and is looked upon
with much regret and some contempt.
The Dominion is not powerfi?l enough yet to
stand alone. Its men are too few ; its resources are
too little developed ; its means of inter-communica-
tion too incomplete ; its power of defence too weak.
The consolidation of the government is scarcely
effected. The confederation of the various pro-
vinces is too recent ; in fact, is still imperfect. The
sentiment of a common nationality is too partial.
The population does not count five millions, while
the Dominion Territory ecpials two-thirds of Europe.
It is generally held in Canada that iniiependcnce
now would lead quickly to annexation. The country
would be overrun by political agitators, who woultl
aiUlress themselves skilfully to the prejudices of the
French and Irish among the population, and to the
sectional interests of some classes of the people — the
manufacturers and holders of property in the citi<s.
J"^
DISPOSITION OF THE CANADIAN PEOPLE. 251
r()i)c.
Mice
|ntry
t)ulcl
the
the
■the
|ti«-'s,
for example. Lavish promises would be made on
the one side to attract the Canadians ; on the other
high tariffs would be threatened or imposed to com-
pel them into the Union. Grievances against the
Dominion government would be discovered with
extraordinary frequency, and would fill the news-
papers. A pUbiscite would quickly be demanded,
and the era of independence would close. It is in
this way, at least, that Canadians forecast the future.
The few public men in the Dominion who ad-
vocate the policy of independence are particu arly
careful to disavow this ulterior project of uniting
the Canadas to the States ; but the popular mind
retains its suspicions. The independence party at
pi'esent is insignificant both in numbers and in-
fluence.
The time has not yet come when the Dominion
may stand alone. The time need never come when
the connexion with England should terminate. It is
an incomplete statement of the fact to say that Canada
has no desire for the separation. On the contrary,
speaking generally of the people, they are proud of
the English name, and are ami)itious of ackling to
the wealth and power of the empire. The Canadians
have their dreams, too, of an Anglo-Saxon confede-
ration belting the world, with England at its head
and London as its metropolis. The sons of luig-
land in these colonies fret at the thought of English
decadence, the signs of which they think are ap-
parent in the indifference she manifests towards
F
'J- ■!
35a
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
her colonial possessions. A wise policy, they believe,
might consolidate an English Empire which the
world would be compelled in continuance to respect ;
our present policy, they fear, will reduce England to
a third-rate power.
The imperial policy, favouring Canadian indepen-
dence, is regarded, I have said, with some contempt
as well as with sorrow. It is supposed to indicate
a weak fear of rival power — a feeling which no
great nation can consciously entertain without a fatal
loss of self-respect. Such a fear, if it exist, Cana-
dians say proudly, is wholly unreasonable. The
United States would not fight for Canada; nor could
they obtain Canada by fighting. The States, the
Canadians say, dare not provoke a new conflict.
They do not hold securely all their present territory.
The South is still impacified. Hy the dme the
States are prepared to uiulertakc a war of conquest —
could such a course, so alien to the spirit of the
people, be dreamt of- -the Canadians will be reaily
to oppose an effectual resistance. Or, should the
country be overrun, an indemnity would have to be
made at the close of the war for the damage in-
flicted. Again, at the very worst, should Canada
be conquered, the loss and the suffering would be
h(;rs, and not luigland's, and at least this task
would not be effi;cted without diverting from other
employment a large pn)poriion of the American
forces. ' If,' say the Canadians, * we choose to expose
ourselve"' to this possible risk, for the sake o^ our
THE FUTURE OF CANADA.
253
.'.a
connexion with England, why should you object ?
We have no fear for ourselves ; please do not allow
yourselves to suffer so much fear for us.'
In reply, however, it may be fairly urged that our
retention of Canada exposes us to increased risks of
misunderstanding with the States, and of the defeat
of our arms in the event of war.
England has never yet, however, been accustomed
to attach very much consequence to considerations of
this nature. We have never yet doubted our ability
to defend our rights and succour our allies. In the
day when England adopts for her policy the careful
removal of possible causes of dissatisfaction to other
nations, the period of her decline will have set in.
No people can possess the consideration of the
world that has ceased to respect itself.
The destiny of the Dominion appears to rest
mainly with England.
Canaila would prefer a continuation of the con-
nexion with us, with a prospect of a share befitting
her position in the consideration of questions of
imperial consetpience.
In iletermining her future we shall probably
decide our own.
M
t\
254
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
CHAPTER XIX.
CANADIAN DEFENCE.
■
'44 a
The feasibility of the defence of Canada still remains
a subject of legitimate concern. If a just perception
of the facts of the case prevailed generally in Eng-
land, it is likely that we should cease to view our
great colony as a source of national weakness, and
the probable occasion of a grievous humiliation.
Our ordinary conceptions at h jme, I suspect, are
these : that Canada is not worth fighting for ; that
the Canadians themselves would not fight ; that, if
they did, they would be crushed immediately by the
overwhelming might of the United States, the sole
power likely, in any event, to make this war ; that
Canada lies exposed to America along two or three
thousand miles of indefensible frontier ; that, finally,
not all the military power of England, could it be
employed, %vould sulifice for this task of Canadian
defence. A more complete mass of popular mis-
apprehensions cannot probably be produced on any
subject of human concern.
The facts are directly opposite. It is likely that
these pages have at least raised a presumption that
i
I
FUTURE GREATNESS OF CANADA.
255
that
\\ that
Canada, whether independent or joined to the
States or to England, is sure to become one of the
great countries of the world. The Canadians them-
selves are a peculiarly warlike people, both in their
training and temper ; presenting, in this character-
istic, inherited from England, a distinct contrast to
the growing disposition of the people of the United
States. Certainly the Canadians, upon sufficient
provocation, would fight for their country, even if
they had to fight unaided ; and they would be very
hard to beat. ' It waw difficult to conquer the South,'
they say, with qui«-t assurance; 'but to subdue the
North would be impossible.' They are hardy, stub-
born, valorous ; a nation of soldiers more truly than
any people of this age, with the doubtful exception
of Prussia. The difficult character of the country
and the severity of their winter would give them
extreme advantages. Nature would fight for them.
Considering that it is a continental boundary, Canada
possesses a frontier singularly suited for defence.
The magnificent St. Lawrence and the great system
of lakes make Canada a vast intrenched and moated
camp. Guarded by gun-boats, by far the greater
proportion of the country would be inaccessible.
The landing of a large invading force, except at
some few points, would be to court disaster. The
weak places in the natural line of defence are well-
known ; they have been fought over before, and
defended, by the fathers of the present generation.
These points could again be protected by earthworks
H'-:
^■, 1
•5^
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
'::%
' ' 1
■'-
%
and resolute armies. That Canada can be taken at
one j^ulp, ' like an oyster to tickle the appetite,' as
an American lately said to me, is a statement only
to be smiled at. A gourmand would enjoy better
the swallowing of the oyster shell.
It is a significant fact, not commonly known, that
all men in the Dominion between the ages of
eighteen and sixty are liable by law to military
service. The proportion of the adult population
that has received some amount of training is very
considerable. The period of service in the militia
is three years, with sixteen days* drill each year,
during which the men receive a pay of half a dollar
a day. The returns in the Government report,
made to December 31, 1869, show an active force
of 43,541 men, with a militia reserve of 612,467;
total, 656,008 men.
Nor are these pen-and-ink forces. On the occa-
sion of the Fenian raid in 1862 20,000 men turned
out in four and twenty hours. This year, 1870,
when 40,000 were called for, 43,000 respomled
within the specified time. With what efficiency
they did the work then needed of them is within
the popular recollection. They executed forced
marches, and chose and used advantageous positions,
to the satisfaction of military critics. These slight
affairs were but playing at war, but they served to
show the military capacity of the people.
Respecting the present condition of the militia
force, I will (juote briefly the report of Colonel F,
1
:n at
'ft
xl to
lilitia
id P.
CHARACTER OF THE CANADIAN SOiniER. ^57
Robertson- Ross, made to the Dominion Govern-
ment, March, 1870: —
' There are few of these battalions [of infantry]
without some officers or men who have previously
served in the regular army, and many of them, at
some time, actively in the field. The presence of
these men in the ranks is of the utmost importance,
and tends to impart a feeling i)f military strenj^th
and steadiness throughout the whole ; for there is
a very large number of men who have previously
served as soldiers setded in the Dominion. The
rural battalions are almost entirely composed of the
agricultural population — the bone and sinew of the
land, who have a stake in the country, and in very
many instances are the proprietors and sons of pro-
prietors of the land ; audit is impossi/>ic lo sec a hardier
race, or Jitter material for soldiers. I n many instances
their physi([ue is most remarkable, and they all ap-
pear imbued with a spirit of the gr(;atest loyalty to
their Queen and country, and the same spirit anil
aptitude for military service are exhibited by the city
battalions, who are composed mainly of intelligent
and educated artisans and mechanics. Consiilcring,
moreover, the short period of time allowed for the
annual drill, the degree of advancement at which
they have arrived is most creditable, and they are
all now quite ready to go into brigaile.'
The arm chiefly used is the Snider-Mnfield rille.
It is proposed, however, to supply by degrees to all
the Dominion forces the last improvement in breech-
s
■%
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
^
/.
A
#/
1.0
I.I
!f ilM IIIIIM
•^ IM 1112.2
L^ 1^ 12.0
1.8
1.25 1.4 1.6
== — ^
< 6"
►
V]
v^
7
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
r/i
M
m r
■s ill
-»*!
I I
258
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
loading arms. The use of the rifle seems natural
to the Canadian ; every man in the country is ac-
customed to arms. Rifle matches are everywhere
popular. As many as 181 took place during the
year 1 869, — an increase on the preceding year ; and
rifle-practice is becoming still more common.
I attended a volunteer corps shooting-match at
Ottawa. The practice made during my stay was
twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five points
(twenty-eight the highest possible) with the Snider.
I remarked particularly the splendid physique of
the men. For employment in a region of country
like that of Canada, where the personal qualities of
the individual soldier would still necessarily count
for much in determining the practicability and suc-
cess of military manceuvres, the stalwart farmers,
backwoodsmen, and lumberers of the country would
produce the finest army conceivable. * Great hea-
vens ! ' exclaimed an English officer to me, at the
sight of these tall, broad-shouldered, resolute-looking
men, ' what superb fellows I would make of these,
if I might only lick them into shape.'
A significant example of the military proclivities
of the race, and a proof that Canada is resolved to
make herself respected, may be found in the fact of
the large attendance at the schools for the practical
training of officers. These institutions were com-
menced in 1864, on the occurrence of the Trent
affair. Four of them — those of Quebec, Montreal,
Kingston, and Toronto — have continued in constant
CANADIAN MILITARY INSTRUCTION.
259
atural
is ac-
where
\<g the
• ; and
Itch at
ly was
points
Snider,
que of
country
lities of
y count
md suc-
farmers,
y would
at hea-
at the
|-looking
if these,
)cHvities
Lolved to
le fact of
I practical
ire com-
je Trent
[ontreal,
constant
operation. * The number of cadets who have been
granted certificates by the several commandants
(officers of the regular army) who have had charge
of these schools now exceeds 5,000, of whom 24 per
cent, have taken first-class certificates. The whole
of these cadets are distributed throughout the two
provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and so continuous
have been the applications from the provinces, that
the number of cadets in Quebec only exceeds that
of those from Ontario by eighty-eight.'
Since the adhesion of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia CO the Dominion, schools of military instruc-
tion have likewise been established at St. John and
Halifax.
The necessity, however, of a higher grade of
military instruction than is contemplated in these
schools of practical training, is now becoming felt
somewhat generally. An academy of military science,
like that of West Point in the States, should be
established without unnecessary delay. The Do-
minion might then expect to find ready, within the
ranks of her own population, her Lees, or Grants,
or Shermans, in the unhappy event of the defence
of the country requiring them, or possibly to aid the
mother country in some future struggle for empire
or existence.
Canada has already prepared for self-defence,
without a great dependence upon military aid from
England. She believes that the moment chosen to
attack her, should it ever come, would be when
m
s a
26o
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
England was engaged in some European or Asiatic
war, straining all her resources in disciplined soldiers.
Novel as the statement may seem to English ears,
it is nevertheless a fact that the Dominion calmly
expects to be able to hold its own, even under such
circumstances, against any force likely to be brought
against her. I will quote again the Report of
Colonel Robertson- Ross, already cited : —
* In the event of war, sufficient numbers of men
could always be obtained from the large Militia
Reserve to swell the ranks of the active force to
any strength likely to be required, for it is a fact
that the population of the Dominion comprehends
nearly as many men within the fighting ages as the
Southern States in the neighbouring Republic ever
brought into the field, and the men of Canada, both
morally and physically, are not only equal to any
that the world can produce, but in point of hardi-
hood, manliness of spirit, and fitness for military
service, are not to be surpassed.'
It is not pretended, however, that the Dominion,
with a population of less than five million souls,
would be able to oppose a successful resistance for
an indefinite time to a power numbering forty mil-
lioiii" The Dominion must needs expect the action
of the English fleet in drawing off large American
armies for the defence of the long line of populous
coast cities open to attack. Canada would thus be
left, she believes, to encounter no more than the
considerable odds for which she considers herself
THE DEFENCE OF CANADA.
361
prepared; she would be fighting on the defensive,
with the many advantages which a people always
find over an invading foe.
But the Dominion population will not long rest
at four and a half millions. At the present rate of
increase — and the proportion is likely to increase
rather than lessen — the numbers will exceed six
millions in 1880, and will reach twelve millions by
the close of the century. With each year Canada
increases in strength, in confidence, and in the pride
of nationality ; and in the same proportion the
chances of her absorption into the great Republic
diminish. If no war of annexation takes place
before the Dominion possesses ten millions of souls,
it is safe to predict that it never will. From the
time when this northern empire shall count its tens
and scores of millions of population, it appears
more reasonable to expect rather the breaking up of
the Dominion itself into an Atlantic and a Pacific
power, unless the dream of a great Anglo-Saxon
Confederation be earlier realised.
In discussing the possibility of the defence of
Canada, it should scarcely be forgotten that she has
already once successfully withstood the power of the
United States in a three years' war of invasion. It
is half a century ago, and the Republic has in that
time increased vastly in wealth and in numbers.
But Canada has advanced also in at least a pro-
portionate degree. The relative increase in strength,
indeed, is in favour of Canada, since in this interval
j;ifl
pi
y li
!if^
'<?^.
. t
• -ii
IVf
t
) i
r!
262
77Z£- CANADIAN DOMINION
the confederation of the North American Colonies
has been effected. It can scarcely, therefore, be un-
reasonable to expect a similar issue of the struggle
in the unhappy event of its renewal.
The news of the declaration of war on the part of
the United States did not reach the English govern-
ment until after the commencement of hostilities.
There happened to be but some 4,000 regular troops
in Canada at the time. The resources of Great
Britain were taxed to the utmost in the great Euro-
pean war then raging, and no troops could be spared
for our remote dependency. The moment for an
invasion of Canada appeared well chosen ; the Ame-
ricans anticipated an easy conquest. But the war
of 181 2-14, memorable for the victory of Queens-
town Heights and for the battle of Chateauquay, by
which the safety of Montreal was assured, terminated
distinctly in favour of Canada. The invasion wholly
failed. Canada defended all her frontier. In the
third year, 18 14, when a few regiments of Welling-
ton's veterans w^ere added to the Canadian militia
forces, offensive operations on a large scale were
undertaken. By this time, also, the American coast
was blockaded by an English fleet, and the com-
merce of the Republic almost destroyed. In complete
disgust the Americans closed the war.
It is worthy of remark that in this war no portion
of our colonists proved more loyal than the French,
no troops fought better than they. It was antici-
pated beforehand in the States that the French,
LOYALTY OF FRENCH CANADIANS,
263
Dortion
rench,
antici-
rench,
remembering bitterly their conquest in old days by
the English, would be willing to change their rule,
and enter the Union as an independent State. But
England had consistently respected her treaty en-
gagements with the French, and had won their
entire good-will. Since then broader liberties than
ever have been accorded the French, in common
with all our American colonies. The province of
Quebec exercises the fullest control over its own
affairs, and fails to see any likelihood of advantage
in any change of her political condition. The French
of Canada are as favourably disposed towards the
English rule as ever, and would prove this decisively
if the necessity arose. They believe that their
interests are bound with ours. In defending the
Dominion they would fight for their own honour,
the integrity of their institutions, the continuance of
their social and material well-being. The Quebecois,
too, are Canadians. They have begun to feel the
influence of the new national sentiment
There is no disaffected class within the Dominion.
The numerous Irish Canadians form no exception
to this statement. They have never shown any
sympathy with the Fenianism common in Ireland
and in the States. The fact is singular, but not
unaccountable. They are not tampered with by po-
litical agitators. They find themselves fairly treated
and moderately prosperous under English rule, and
without a single grievance. And, to name perhaps
the principal reason, they are more completely under
■»*f-
i '
' Jl*-''
i'"
.-V
264
7W:£ CANADIAN DOMINION
ji. *ii
the influence of their religion in Canada than in
Ireland or America. The Catholic Church in Canada
is emphatically loyal. By treaty-right she holds
many special advantages which would be put in
immediate jeopardy upon a union of the French
province with the States. It need not be doubted
that the Irish Canadians, equally with their French
co-religionists, would strenuously support the Do-
minion Government in a war of national defence.
Hitherto, in considering the possibility of the
defence of Canada, I have been mainly concerned
with various objections. The Dominion, however,
possesses a number of unusual advantages for the
conduct of a war, which must be briefly mentioned.
She has already a splendid marine, the third in
amount of tonnage in the world. Her seafaring
population, accustomed to hazardous fishing ven-
tures, is especially hardy, able, and daring. From
her secure ocean recesses on the Gulf of St. Law-
rence and Bay of Fundy armed flotillas could swoop
down on the exposed commercial sea-board of the
Scates from Boston to New Orleans, and make
terrible reprisals. She could thus inflict ten times,
or a hundred times, the injury which she could be
made to suffer. Even without the aid of English
men-of-war, the rock-bound coasts of New Bruns-
wick and St. Lawrence, full of armed vessels, with
the first-class military station of Halifax, would
render the eastern portion of the Dominion prac-
tically unassailable.
DEFENSIVE POWER OF THE DOMINION. 265
with
lould
)rac-
Her fishermen and sailors would supply the best
possible material for the gun-boats with which she
would line the 2,000 miles of inland sea and river
which form the natural protection of her southern
boundary. From Lake Superior to the mouth of
the St. Lawrence no large invading force could land
on Canadian soil, exposed to the attack of fleets
of gun-boats, without extreme peril. On the other
hand, the rich and populous cities of Rochester,
Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee
lie on the shores of the great lakes, peculiarly exposed
to sudden attack or the horrors of bombardment.
Nature herself, with barren wilderness and im-
passable regions of perpetual ice, provides effectually
for the defence of the Canadian north. The Do-
minion will never be taken ' in reverse.'
The seasons, too, in their courses would favour
Canada. The shortness of summer would allow
but little time for an offensive campaign. The
rigours of winter would dishearten, or even destroy,
any alien army that could succeed in encamping on
the soil. ' General Frost,' the Canadians say, is one
of their first commanders. Storms of snow and hail
would be no mean auxiliaries to mitraille and grape
in driving back invaders.
The farmers and lumbermen of Canada are a
splendid material for an army. They are accus-
tomed to the use of arms and the care of horses.
They are peculiarly adapted for artillery service,
and for a light cavalry as mounted riflemen.
It: 1
\\\
W
it
R !l
966
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
«:i vSf
The country is peculiarly suited for defence, from
its broken and irregular character, and especially
from its water-boundary. It stands like a great
citadel built against the frozen north, and boldly
facing the south. Quebec, with its recently-formed
lines of earthworks ; Montreal, with its similar outer-
lines ; Kingston, with its strong system of fortified
works, are three mighty bastions in the grand line
of defence. Similar strong points, at Toronto, at
London perhaps, and at some spot commanding the
Georgian Bay, ought to be prepared by earthworks
to complete the chain of posts. Then what a moat
has this citadel ! Lakes fifty miles across, and a
river that is the glory of the northern continent,
wind along the whole course, to give protection and
stop an invader.
* The reason we were so long taking the South
was this, that the Almighty jest made that damned
country on purpose to be defended,' an American
once said to me, unconscious of the extraordinary
claim he was making for his nation. I fancy that
this inquirer into final causes might be still more
disposed to believe that Canada was designed for
defence from the creation.
Of course this does not apply to the Red River
country, where an imaginary line on the flat prairie
is the j?ole boundary. That country, doubtless, might
be invaded with ease. The piece of Canadian terri-
tory also south of the St. Lawrence might possibly
be occupied by an enemy. In either case, pos-
MILITARY ADVANTAGES OF CANADA. 267
inary
that
session would be restored, with compensation for all
damage inflicted, if the Dominion were successful in
the struggle to retain her independence.
To sum up our considerations of Canadian de-
fence : the population is a warlike one ; it is already
to a large extent trained to arms ; it is willing to
bear the chief strain of a struggle on this continent
should the United States ever declare war against
England. The country, from its position and climate,
is eminently fitted for a long defence. Its well-
manned fleets could make destructive reprisals. Its
growing wealth and power will soon put the question
of its conquest beyond ordinary discussion. England
may well be reassured in regard to the possibility of
maintaining her prestige and influence in the New
World. The mother country need not think of
abandoning her chief colony from a weak fear that
her power is insufficient to protect it.
But further, in the event of a war between Great
Britain and the United States — a possibility to be
prepared for as diligently as it should be shunned —
the fleets and armies of the Dominion would pro-
bably turn the scales of fortune. Driven to the
States by the inconsiderateness of English policy,
or cajoled into union with the Republic by large
promises, Canada would assure to the American
people a naval, military, and commercial precedence
over the pent-up race of the English. United per-
manently with Great Britain, and growing always
stronger from an overflow of the English population
»68
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
'•<
I ■■'>
to her boundless territories, the Dominion may
materially assist in prolonging the period of Anglo-
Saxon ascendency.
It may possibly have appeared ungracious that
throughout this discussion so constant a reference
has been made to the United States. This has
arisen from necessity, and from no feeling of inclina-
tion. No other power has ever expressed the least
wish to attempt the taking of Canada. But the
public men and the press of the American Union
constantly engage the popular mind with projects of
this order. The absorption of the Dominion appears
to have become one of the fixed ideas of the people
of the great Republic.
Still, they will pause long before undertaking a
war. They feel heavily the burden of their debt.
If a war of invasion against Canada proved un-
successful, America would be called on to pay a bill
of many figures for the injury she inflicted, after the
example set in recent instances. This consideration
will have weight in the States. Besides, the still
disaffected condition of the South excites apprehen-
sion in the minds of thoughtful American politicians.
Such men would prefer the consolidation of the
existing republic to any further extension of its
boundaries. It is by no means impossible that
some of the States in the Union would withhold
their forces from joining in an unprovoked war upon
Canada, following in this the example of Maryland,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island in
I' :.l
AMERICAN POLICY. ,j
the war of ,8..-,4. u is „ot even beyond possi-
The American Government will not hastily adopt
I
4 'I
in ;l
ri-"i
?:i'i;:
■'i
III!
{Hi ■
1%
f
!*• t'
^^\
I'-;!'
if.,.-
w
mt
*****
::!:■
270
77//'; CANA])IAN DOMINION.
CIIAITICR XX.
77//'; I'UTURE OF GREAT JiKHAlN AND JIEK
COLONIES.
1m)k .1 loni^ period Great Britain has occupied a
foremost j)Iace in the eye of the world. Her
achievements in all departments of human ent(!r-
j)rise and ambition have won Ah* her a lastinj^ fame.
Her arms have comi)elled victory the world round.
I ler coKmies are s^rowini; into threat states in each
(juarter tif the i;lobe. Her civilisation and liberty
have inlhienced all modern nations. The ;;tory of
her slow j;rowth to power, and of the sweep and
vii^ourof her ascendency, is one continuous romance.
It is possible that, in coming ages, the student will
rank after Greece and Rome the name of l^^nijland
next in time and next in fame.
Hut, without question, the ascendency of England
is now threatened. There are at least three rival
powers that aspire to stand before her in the rank of
nations ; and Prussia, Russia, and the United States
can each advance very imposing claims to greatness.
Each is an eminently progressive people ; each
possesses a vast and growing population ; each
indulges in an inordinate ambition.
rosrnoN of England.
271
•K'
i;land
rival
link of
States
itness.
each
each
Tliese rivalries will have to be settled eventually
as all rivalries of race have been hitherto. 'I'he
j^reat wars of the world have still to be fouj^ht.
i'-n^land will have to take her part, or drop in the
rank of nations.
The mere mass of an empire and bulk of its
population are becoming rapiilly material elements
in determining its place and power. War-power has
now to be estimated by the million of men. Valour
and science are essential as evc^r, but mainly to
wield vast masses whose chief merit must be a per
fection in military discipline.
To hold her front [>lace ICnj^land must be pre-
pared to meet her rivals on these new terms. Her
insular policy must be abandoned. Cooped u[) in
a narrow island, she will sink to insii^nificance, for
simple lack of men, if she pursues her recent
course of alienating her colonies.
Her rivals are vast confederations. Russia con-
tains eighty millions of people, of various races,
held firmly under one central power. The American
Union is composed of forty-five States and Terri-
tories, each as large as an old European kingdom.
The population is forty millions ; it will reach a
hundred millions, possibly, by the end of the century.
Germany has become an empire. Prussia is but the
controlling member of a mass of States held in
union in the North German Confederation. The
South German States gravitate towards this power-
ful Union. By virtue of its weight and density, and
m
li'i
Mr-
m
m
S:
272
77/^ CANADIAN DOMINION.
inspired by intelligence and patriotism, Germany
may take the first position in Europe, and the next
great place in history.
England possesses, however, advantages beyond
either of her rivals for the formation of a powerful
empire. Her colonies and dependencies embrace
about one-third of the surface of the globe and a
quarter of its population. The colonies of her own
blood and language afford abundant opportunity for
the preservation of the hardihood of her sons, and
room for their increase to hundreds of millions.
England should adopt as her national policy the
strengthening of her colonies, and the attachment of
them to her permanently in a great Anglo-Saxon
Confederation.
Failing some course of this kind, England must
sink to the position of a second or third-rate power.
Upon the realising of this policy, the English race
would be assured of a new era of prosperity and
ascendency.
The difficulties to be encountered are slight com-
pared with those we have had to meet already. Our
scattered colonies are nearer together in travelling
time than our counties used to be ; and they are
within talking distance by telegraph. The pretence
will scarcely be made that we have not statesman-
ship enough to arrange fairly for the representation
of each colony in a Confederation Convention, and
for a wise determination of the limits of its powers.
If we followed our practical national instincts, we
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES. 273
must
>wer.
race
and
should probably commence our scheme for colonial
representation in a tentative and informal way. A
Deliberative Assembly might first be convened to
discuss certain specified subjects, and present reports
and recommendations to the English, the Canadian,
and the Australian parliaments. This assembly
might become periodical or permanent, as the sub-
jects arising for its consideration might require, and
according to the measure of respect which its method
of treating them might secure. Subsequently, a
power of legislation would possibly be granted to the
assembly on certain intercolonial subjects carefully
defined. Finally, the convention might acquire a
control over affairs of imperial policy similar to that
which the English Parliament has obtained over the
whole range of subjects affecting the interests of our
people. In such a consultative or legislative as-
sembly England would naturally exercise a leading
influence similar to that which Prussia has in the
North German Parliament. More she could not wish.
But the discussion of any particular method by
which an Anglo-Saxon Confederation might be
organised, though of some consequence as showing
the practicability of the scheme, is of infinitely less
importance at present than the conviction in the
public mind of the necessity of some kind of close
and permanent union of Great Britain and her
colonies. This is absolutely essential, to prevent
the breaking up of the empire and the degradation
of the English fame.
T
11
I'
\%
F
374
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
1 1(
,Mh.
m
I .' * ■ ■
I - ■ f •
V*: i
I?''
R..^
si;*'- "
Following upon a national conviction of the im-
portance of strengthening the bonds that unite the
English race, some measures of the greatest practical
moment might be carried into effect.
Great Britain has a redundant population. Our
colonies need the overplus. Transport is now easy
and inexpensive. An imperial scheme of emigra-
tion might be adopted with the greatest advantage
to the mother country and to our dependencies. In
view of the future, it would be only a measure of
national protection to direct the ceaseless outflow of
our people to the countries likely to remain united
or allied with us, rather than to those which are
alien in their feeling towards us. This proposal, at
least, is neither Utopian nor sentimental.
The adoption and consistent development of a
national policy of strengthening our colonies, and
at the same time of strengthening the bonds of
interest and sympathy that unite them with us,
would render the task always more easy of consoli-
dating a great Anglo-Saxon empire.
After all, the fame of England is but young.
The vigour of the race is unimpaired. It is too
early in our history yet to suspect that England will
forfeit willingly her first place among the nations
of the world. A destiny of influence and of honour
beyond that of the past is open before her. England
will be true to her old fame, and to her generous
and unquenched ambition.
275
APPENDIX.
Mil
W
>(
SHORT NOTES.
T. English Ignorance of Canada.
An amusing instance of the ignorance of Canada,
too prevalent in England, was told me privately,
but not confidentially, in Toronto. My informant
was a personal acquaintance of the heroine of
the story. A cultivated English lady, who came on
a lengthened visit to the Dominion in the present
year, actually brought over with her a barrel of butter
and six dozen of eggs, to assist her in existing on
the barbarous fare of the country. These stores
were disposed of as quickly as possible upon the
lady's arrival at Quebec.
2. Government Information,
In former days the gun-boats sent for service on
the lakes of Canada were provided with an ap-
paratus for condensing salt water. It was presumed
apparently that, being so large, these inland waters
could not be fresh.
T 2
'& '
I-
k''
i
276
Tff£ CANADIAN DOMINION.
The story is told in Quebec of an old wooden
guard-house arriving there once from a military
station in southern Australia. The thing was of
more value as firewood in Melbourne, where wood
is scarce, than it was as a guard-house in Canada,
where lumber is the great article of export.
The story is scarcely incredible. On the quay at
Montreal, at the time of my visit, were a number of
heavy sentry-boxes brought down from a distant
post, waiting ibr transport to England, where they
would not be worth a tenth of the cost of their
removal.
3. The Meaning of * Canada^
* Le nom de Canada, donn6 ici par les indigenes
eux-memes a une partie du pays a la totality duquel
il setend maintenant, ne laisse aucun doute sur
I'origine de ce mot, qui signifie, en dialecte indien,
amas de cabanes, village.' — F. X. Garneati, ' Histoire*
' Laissant ensuite la baie de Gaspd, Cartier de-
couvrit la grande riviere de Canada, ou Kanata, qui
signifiait, dans la langue algouquine, un assemblage
de cabanes, et qui les Fran9ais prirent pour le nom
du pays.' — LAbbd Bourbourg^ ' Histoire.^
A '■ \ \
'.it • *
4. Steamer Travelling.
It is an extreme advantage to the traveller in
Canada that he can traverse all parts of the Do-
minion by the easy and luxurious mode provided by
APPENDIX.
277
river steamers. He has the use of a private berth ;
meals are served at the table d'h6te\ there is a
commodious deck for smoking, walking, talking, and
seeing the scenery. At night some fellow-travellers
will usually join in whist, or possibly in dancing.
There is frequently a piano in the saloon. No time
need be lost ; it is as easy to read, write, talk, as in
a house on shore. At night one sleeps, after a little
experience, without waking up at the stopping
stations.
i
i!
5. TJie Climate.
The climate of Canada, so decried by outsiders,
excites the enthusiasm of actual residents. It is
a theme which can exalt the sober style of a
government pamphlet to poetic fervour.
' Nowhere on earth do the seasons of the year
move on in a lovelier, grander procession. In spring
we have a quick awakening of vegetable life, and
Nature puts on her best attire, promptly as a bride
on her wedding morn. Our summer is short, but
gorgeous with splendour, and bedecked with flowers
that can hardly be surpassed ; we have oppressive
heat at times, and occasionally drought, but how
do our summer showers refresh the face of all
things ; how welcome is the rain, and how green
and beautiful are the fields, and the gardens, and
the woods when it fails. In autumn we have the
waving fields of tasselled corn ; our orchards dis-
play apples of gold in baskets of silvery verdure.
f>:
t.
-%\
1^1
¥■
>t'
[/:>
278
77/75 CANADIAN DOMINION
and we can reckon even the grape among our fruits ;
our forests present a richly-tinted and many-coloured
foliage. We have mid-October days in which the
weather is superb ; our Indian summer is a splendid
valedictory to the season of growth and harvest ; a
bright and beautiful hectic flush sits upon the face
of universal nature as death draws on and we glide
imperceptibly into winter. This, though confessedly
severe, is exhilarating, hardening animal as well as
vegetable fibre, while it has its ameliorations and
joys in the fireside warmth that tempers into geni-
ality the clear, frosty air ; we have also the merry
jingle and fleet gliding of the sleigh, and the skater's
healthful sport, together with almost entire exemp-
tion from damp and mud, two most disagreeable
accompaniments of winter in milder climes.' — The
Province of Ontario : i<isued by order of the Govern-
ment.
6. The Autumn Foliage.
All the world knows the glory of the Indian
Summer of the North American Continent. I think,
however, that the spectacle of most startling beauty
to a traveller accustomed only to the sober tints of
the foliage of the Old World is afforded by a
Canadian forest after the first slight early frost.
Here and there only, in infrequent masses, a single
branch of the maple tree hangs in the midst of the
deep verdure a flaming mass of scarlet, orange,
rosy-hued opal, or purple dripping with gold. Aglow
APPENDIX.
279
in the sunlight, these patches of magnificent colour
seem like sprays of resplendent gems. Later in
the year the whole forest blazes with colour, and
the force of the contrast is lost.
7. The Climate Ameliorating.
In Harper's * Statistical Gazetteer ' the statement
is made that the climate has lost as much as 8** of
its former severity in the neighbourhood of Quebec,
and that the river St. Lawrence remains open for
navigation nearly one month later than when the
country was first settled.
\\
Mi'
%
i
8. The Province of Ontario.
' I am delighted to have seen this part of the
country ; I mean the great district, nearly as large
as Ireland, placed between the three lakes Erie,
Ontario, and Huron. You can conceive nothing
finer. The most magnificent soil in the world, four
feet of vegetable mould — a climate certainly the
best in North America — the greater part of it ad-
mirably watered. In a word, there is land enough
and capabilities enough for some millions of people,
and in one of the finest provinces of the world.' —
Lord Sydenham's Memoirs.
'\V
V *
II
..ri
i
'iti-
280
TUB CANADIAN DOMINION.
9. Population to the Square Mile.
England
. 250
Upper Canada . 9 \
France
. 179
Lower „ . ^^q
Germany
. 182
British Columbia . \
Belgium
• 436
North-West Territories yV
Italy .
. 219
United States . . 7yV
(Estimate made in i860.)
10. Free Grant Lands.
' No grant is to be made to a person under 18
or for more than 200 acres. The patent shall
not issue for five years after location, nor until the
locatee has cleared and cultivated fifteen acres, and
built a house thereon fit for habitation, has resided
continuously on the lot, clearing at least two acres
per annum ; absence of six months during each year
is, however, allowed. Failure to perform settlement
duties forfeits the location. The mines and minerals
on such lots are reserved to the Crown. The setder
may not cut any pine timber on it, except for fencing,
building, or other farm purposes, and in clearing,
until the issue of the patent ; or, if it be cut, the
settler must pay timber dues to the Crown. On the
death of the locatee, the land vests in his widow
during her widowhood, unless she prefers to accept
her dower on it. The land cannot be alienated or
mortgaged until the patent issues, nor within twenty
f\
APPENDIX.
281
years of the location, without consent of the wife, if
living. Nor will it at any time be liable to be sold
under execution for any debt contracted before or
during the twenty years after the patent issues, ex-
cept for a mortgage or pledge given during that
time. It may be sold for taxes.' — Summary of the
Amended Free Grant and Homestead Act of
Ontario.
1 1. Burden of Ptiblic Debt.
The public debt of Canada is (6^23*50 per head of
the population ; that of the United States is /S^8o'i8.
12. TJie Laws.
Though mainly the same as those of England, the
laws are simpler and less expensive. Some differ-
ences are worth noting.
' The law of primogeniture has been abolislied,
lands descending to all children, male and female,
in equal shares. Married women hold their own
property free from debts and control of the husband.
Trial by jury in civil cases is optional, being dis-
pensed with unless either party desire it.' — Govern-
ment Pamphlet.
13. Montreal.
The name of the commercial capital of the Do-
minion is a corruption of the old name of the fine
hill rising behind the present city, Mont Royal.
1%
m
ill
•(■
'.It'
m
•.«?L
m
283
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
m
EC'
m
i*B-
I
The place has been thrice named. At the time of
the first visit of Jacques Cartier the site of the
present city was occupied by an Indian village,
Hochelaga. The French dedicated the city they
founded here to the Holy Virgin, and called it
Ville Marie. In 1760, the date of the English pos-
session, the present name usurped the place of the
old. In 1800, the population was but 9,000. It is
now probably over 1 50,000.
The situation of the city, at the junction of the
picturesque Ottawa with the magnificent St. Law-
rence, commanding naturally a great number of lines
of communication with the interior of the country,
and in the best position for securing the import and
export trade with Europe, is one of the most im-
portant on the whole of the American continent. It
will yet probably become a worthy rival in com-
merce with New York. It is already, I think, the
most substantially built city of the New World. Its
appearance, too, is already an imposing one. ' Mon-
treal,' an American book of description says, 'with
its beautiful villas, its glittering roofs and domes (the
latter covered with tin), its tall spires and lofty
towers, and its majestic mountain in the background,
bursting on the eye of the tourist, forms, together
with the noble river, a vast and picturesque pano-
rama that is perhaps unequalled in the whole of the
American continent
* Its quays are unsurpassed by those of any city
in America ; built of solid limestone, and uniting
*•
'i'
*.
«.i
•• 'f
UV'
mi.
fi
'>
.J
•t
z
<
o
<
o
Ul
I
h
UI
>
o
n]
O
a
o
3
111
9
J
a:
<
a.
u
I
►-
AI'ri'.NDIX.
aSj
■*
z
4
o
-3
<
Ul
o
Q:
Ul
I
h
UI
>
o
ni
a
o
Q:
u
o
Ul
z
Ul
3
4
a
0.
Ul
I
h
with the locks ami cut stone wharves of the I.aohiuo
Canal, they j)resent for several miles a display of
coiuimious masonry which has few parallels. Un-
like the levees of the Ohio and the Mississippi, no
nnsij^htly warehouses ilisfioure the river sid(\'
The city hoasts oiu* of the en_i;in<'erini; marvels of
tlu^ world, the j^reat Tubular liridi^e. 'K\\v. church
of Notre Dame, popularly hut incorrectly calletl tlu;
cathedral, will seat lo.ocxi persons. 'I'he streets are
adorneil with fme churches and pui)lic l)uildin_i;s.
The private nrsidences of the merchants clust('red
round the mountain form one of the fmest city
suburbs in America.
14. llw (Jui'cn City.
The capital of tlui province of Ontario is one of
the most busy and j)rospert)Us cities on \\\v Ameri-
can continent. Standiui^ in t)ne of its hamlsome and
crowdetl thoroui^hfares, I was assured by a merchant
of the city that within his recollection the forest
woods crept down over the spot to the margin of
1-ake Ontario. A iKip pulley then occupied the
present site of the Town hall. An acri; on Kini;
Street sold for 250/. a few years a_oo. Tiiis pro-
perty .low fetclu;s one hundred i;uineas a foot front-
ai;e, with a ilepth of a huiulred feet. In 1S33, the
town happily champed its name from York, and
entered upon its career of prosperity. It now con-
tains about 10,000 [)ublic and private buildings, with
1 ."
I.
v.
t ■■
1*' '■
PI
III!
284
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
'4.
a population of some 70,000. The assessed value
of the property is about ten million dollars.
It possesses many fine piles of building, churches,
halls, libraries, distilleries, blocks of stores, as little
interesting as all the other big masses of buildings
are on the new continent. But, to its honour, the
city can boast of one piece of architecture imposing
in simple grandeur, and exquisite in its appropriate
internal decoration. The University of Toronto is,
perhaps, the only piece of collegiate architecture on
the American continent worthy of standing room in
the streets of Oxford. It is a Norman pile. In the
interior, massive wooden columns, joists, and rafters
are freely exposed to view, giving a suggestion of
the style of decoration naturally suitable to a country
of great forests. Every Canadian should visit this
building before instructing his architect on the style
of a new house he wishes built.
fS^
t<;
i
W ■
15. Golden-Jiaired Women.
The type of beauty in Canada is peculiarly En-
glish. The women are well-proportioned, well-
developed, often very fair, and sometimes stately
and tall. There is a greater admixture of Scotch
blood than is found inmost parts of England proper.
In the city of Toronto especially, I was struck
with the large number of beautiful women with
golden hair. I believe that this is due to the purely
Saxon origin of many of the families settled there.
APPENDIX.
285
A lady of the city, herself of Scotch extraction, and
boasting a glorious mass of golden hair, assured me
that, among all her acquaintances with flaxen, or
auburn, or golden locks, there was not one lady who
used dyes. I believed her implicitly.
J:|
.n-
^11-
th
•e.
16. Hamilton tJie Ambitious.
The rapid progress in material prosperity through-
out the Dominion has occasioned a great increase
in the number and in the importance of the centres
of commercial activity. The growth of Hamilton
may be taken as an example of a large class of towns
of the secondary rank.
In 1847, the population was about 7,000; it is
now over 25,000. The assessed value of property
is some ten million dollars. In 1869, 1,105 immi-
grants settled in the city. Up to September 1870,
906 had already chosen this bustling town for their
new home. In 1868, small houses could be rented
at ]^3 per month ; the rates are now nearly double
in consequence of the increasing demand. Hamilton
manufactures in large quantities boots, hats, furs,
glass, brushes, brooms, sand-paper, agricultural im-
plements, steam-engines. It exports sewing-machines
to the United States and to Europe. ' More than
18^100,000 worth of manufacturing machinery has
been put up in the different establishments of the
city during the present year.'
The grain trade for 1 869 of this one city amounted
■ y.
I
386
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
to about 1,575,000 bushels. Tho receipts of coal at
one wharf have reached 50,000 tons during the cur-
rent year. ' The freight passing inwards,' a local
paper says, ' in i860 amounted to 1 1,036 tons, while
in 1869 it had reached 24,879.' It has projected
and commenced several lines of railway to develope
the interior country, and expects from these a great
addition to its prosperity.
iff' ;
If*:-
1 7. London the Little.
London, Ontario, is one of the most enterprising
and prosperous of the cities of Canada of the second
rank. It is not by these characteristics, however,
that it is peculiarly distinguished. London, Ontario,
can boast an increasing population, increasing wealth,
large manufactories, a central position, converging
lines of railways, and an energetic body of towns-
|)eople restilved to rival the other growing towns of
the province. But for nothing of all this will the
city be remembered by the ordinary traveller.
The little city has chosen to affect a resemblance,
or comparison, or rivalry with the metropolis of
England. London, Ontario, is built on a little
stream, called the Thames. Her bridges across are
named Blackfriars and Westminster. Her principal
church is St. Paul's. Her streets are Piccadilly,
Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Pall Mall.
From what singular mental condition of the in-
habitants such a naming of their town can have
APPENniX.
aSy
arisen, it would be a difficult task to cUitcrminc, The
mystery is too liiy^h for me ; I cannot attain to it.
There seems a touching simplicity, a delijj^htful
innocence, about the matter. These names were
chosen, jjerhaps, as a father mi^ht christen his baby
Ca'sar, Shakespeare, liacon, or Napoleon, in the
hope that the name mii^ht work as a subtle spell in
developing a rival hero. In this delicate way, or in
some other no less profound, there was presumably
an intention of paying a compliment to that London
of which the world has already heard.
The motives were probably, however, mingled
that led to this piece of public display. Possibly the
little town felt the swelling emotions of an ambition
that threatened to burst it on the spot, without some
relief of its sense of its magnificent future. Or
again, distrustful of the strength of its resolve to be
great, possibly the young city chose this means of
pledging itself publicly to continuous effort, on pain
of meriting some such contemptuous epithet as
'petty London' if it failed to become big. Or have
the borrowed names been given out of pure affection
to old London by emigrntcd cockneys ? But ima-
gination tires in the attempt to discover an adequate
cause for this extraordinary phenomenon.
Is it yet, however, quite too late for this busy,
prosperous little city to resolve to be herself, and
make a new name famous } However patriotic, or
complimentary, or ambitious the intentions of the
community were in choosing these old names, the
unhappy result has been to make the city ridiculous.
*
f r
J 4!
/ft^
I'* ■
288
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
II
pif
I
J V
! ;
I
18. Newspapers.
The following is a recent estimate of the dimen-
sions of the newspaper and periodical press in the
Dominion : — Ontario, 239 publications; Quebec, 88;
Nova Scotia, 45 ; New Brunswick, 34 ; total, 406.
19. Art in Canada,
One of the few paintings of any artistic merit to
be found on the new continent is a Crucifixion, attri-
buted to Vandyke, in the Catholic Cathedral at
Quebec. In this fine composition four weeping
cherubs fill from the wounds on the cross large
sacramental cups. The darkness of the scene is
scientifically accounted for ; an eclipse of the sun is
taking place with great distinctness.
20. Religious Recusaiits.
In the province of Quebec the Catholic Church
has the power of assessing the property of its mem-
bers for the erection of church buildings, &c. I was
told of an instance of (S'50,000 being assessed on a
certain town, whereupon twenty-four families, liable
to one-third of this amount, incontinently turned
Protestant. This kind of conversion is a reproach
to human nature rather than to the consistency of
any particular religion. In Salt Lake City the chief
iHHn
APPENDIX
289
recent defection from the Mormon Church occurred
upon the decision of the Executive to limit the dan-
gerous growth in wealth of some of the merchants
by enforcing the co-operative system on the whole
trading community.
?;>!
nurch
mem-
was
on a
liable
urned
roach
icy of
chief
21. The Clergy Reserves.
In 1823 an Act was passed in Upper Canada
authorising a reservation of land, for the support of
the Protestant clergy, equal in value to one-seventh
of all lands disposed of to settlers. No authority
existed, however, for a long time, for the sale of
the Clergy Reserves ; a Clergy Corporation simply
granted leases. The system answered badly ; free-
holds were commonly preferred throughout Canada,
and the Corporation found difficulty in obtaining
adequate rents. The Legislative Council constantly
rejected the Bills for dealing with these reserves sent
up by the House of Assembly. This disagreement
was one of the main grounds for the agitation for
responsible Government, and was one of the chief
causes of the rebellion of 1837.
In 1827, 1829, 1830, 1831, and 1832, Bills were
passed by the Lower House to appropriate these
reserves to purposes of education. In 1832, 1833,
and 1834, Bills were passed to vest the reserves in
the Crown. In 1835 and 1836 still other Bills were
voted in the House of Assembly of similar purport.
In 1840 the Imperial Clergy Reserve Act passed
u
;ui
I^r^lfl
290
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
I
W^
WC'
fit
i
both Houses and became law, admitting the Church
of Scotland to share the exceptional advantages of
the Church of England. This measure, though a
partial one, was accepted provisionally by the people
for the sake of peace.
In 1853, under the Duke of Newcastle's admi-
nistration, this Act of 1 840 was repealed. The next
year, under the Hincks-Morin Ministry, the question
of the Reserves was finally settled. The life in-
terests of the clergy were capitalised, and the lands
reverted to the State.
22. Endowed Rectories.
In 1836 Lord Seaton, while Governor of Upper
Canada, determined to establish a number of rec-
tories, with an average of 400 acres of land each for
their maintenance. By the mere accident of the
omission of his signature to a number of these grants
before his supercession by Sir Francis Head, only
forty-four out of fifty-seven rectories which he had
purposed to establish were legally entitled to the en-
dowment. The question was afterwards brought be-
fore the English law courts, whether the endowment
of the rectories was beyond Lord Seaton's authority.
The validity of the grants was finally affirmed.
23. Religio7i in the Backwoods.
I attended Divine service one Sunday at the
Methodist chapel of the picturesque village of
APPENDIX.
391
Portage du Fort, sixty-five miles above the City of
Ottawa, on the lovely river of that name.
The minister became eloquent once in his prayer,
when he entreated for * the land darkened with
God's judgments, and desolate with conflicting
flames.' The sermon was suggested by the text,
' They have Moses and the prophets ; let them hear
them.' One application of the subject was a quaint
one, considering the rustic character of the audience,
and the small probability of the preacher's well-
meant remonstrance having any influence on the
dignitary of the English Church whom he named.
' I think,' said the good man earnestly, ' that if
Bishop Colenso had only meditated humbly on these
words, in which the Saviour acknowledges the suffi-
ciency of the teaching of Moses for the salvation of
precious souls, then, whatever his mathematical cal-
culations might have been, he would have exclaimed
with renewed faith —
Whate'er the forms that men devise,
To assault my soul with treacherous art,
I'll call them vanities and lies,
And bind the Gospel to my heart !
V -i
:t,.'
:li;i-(j
1!: I r
It the
lore of
10
24. Races.
The Canadians have certainly not lost the love of
the turf that seems natural to the English blood.
Waiting for my train at the small station of
Guelph, on the Great Western, I took down the
U 2
i It.-? ;i
292
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
headings of a number of flaming placards on the
walls, of autumn races about to take place in this
part of Ontario : —
Brantford Races, premiums Si, 000
Guelph Turf Club, premiums 18^2,400.
Ingersoll Fall Races.
Autumn Races, Napanee.
Mineral Springs Fall Races.
Aurora Turf Club Autumn Meeting.
I..
'Mi'
m
is:
! !
2 5 . Ogdcnsbii rgh and Prcscotf
Half a hundred times I was told in the States that
an easy means of judging of the relative property of
the Union and the Dominion was afforded by the
contrast between the go-ahead city of Ogdensburgh
on the south shore of the St. Lawrence and the
quiet town of Prescott on the opposite bank. I was
duly mindful of the fact when I finally reached the
place. The explanation of the difference of size
and business of the two towns was a simple one :
Ogdensburgh is the junction of several railways,
while no reason exists at present for the rapid
growth of Prescott. As far as an example could go
in proof of a general assertion, the question was
settled.
But at the next stopping-place of the steamer this
relation of things was reversed, with even a greater
advantage to the Canadian shore. Brockville in
Ontario is a busy, thriving, substantial-looking town ;
APPENDIX.
293
r ;
'■i
Size
Ir this
reater
lie in
[own;
Morristown on the American shore is an insigni-
ficant cluster of frame houses.
I think it would prove inconvenient to form and
change and reform one's ideas on a large subject
upon recurring examples that perpetually differ. It
is easier to take an example, and stick to the con-
clusion from that alone.
There is no doubt that each succeeding traveller
through the States will be favoured his half-hundred
times with the characteristic example which was
urged on my notice.
26. Accent.
Among the minor reasons which might influence
an Englishman in preferring Canada to the United
States for his new home may be mentioned the
freedom of the Canadian, generally speaking, from
the peculiar accent, or rather intonation of sentence,
peculiar to the Americans, and especially charac-
teristic of the true-born Yankee. This accent is
often quaint and amusing, and gives peculiar pun-
gency to the delicious Yankee yarn ; and on the lips
of a Boston lady it is extremely fascinating. I
think, however, that most Englishmen would prefer
that their children spoke without it.
2 7. The Far West.
' The region from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg
is of the primitive or crystalline formation. In its
.' !
U I. '
294
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
■ill' I ■
{■■J-k .■•1 ■
general aspect it is a hilly and broken country, inter-
sected by rapid rivers and wide-spread lakes. . . .
Dense forests cover the whole of the region, and
the most valuable kinds of woods arc seen in various
places and in considerable quantities.'
The Red River and the West — ' an undcviating
flat spreads out everywhere, vast prairies open up
where the eye seeks in vain for some prominent
point to rest upon, and the rivers, richly bordered
with trees, flow with a sluggish course through the
great alluvial plain.' — Report of Mr. S. J. Dawson,
1859.
28. The Fertile Belt.
What sort of crops grow ? — Oats, barley, and
wheat, chiefly, but all sorts of vegetables.
Did the wheat ripen ? — In ninety days from the
sowing.
It ripened very perfectly ? — It was the finest
wheat I ever saw.
Was the soil fertile ? — Along the immediate
banks of the riven, and extending for perhaps the
breadth of two miles, no finer soil could be seen,
with a limestone formation.
Is it geologically limestone ? — All.
And wherever lime is, there is fertile land, is not
there ? — I think that is the consequence.
Do you know how far the limestone extends,
looking at that map ? — I have ascertained from
servants of the Hudson's Bay Company that it ex-
APPENDIX,
295
tends as a base of the whole prairie land to tlie
Rocky Mountains.
So that, in fact, that part of the territory is fit for
agriculture ? — Quite so.
And would make a good colony ? — It might
maintain millions. — Col. Croflons Evidence before a
Connnittee of the House of Commons appointed to
investigate the claims of the Hudson s Bay Company.
not
tnds,
from
ex-
29. Native Skill of the Half Breeds.
The half-breeds of the Red River country have
obtained a high reputation for their faculties of ob-
servation. Bishop Tache, for instance, in his work
on the North-West, says : ' A glance suffices to en-
able them afterwards to recognise all the horses of a
large herd which do not belong to them, and after
a considerable lapse of time they can tell the
difference between one horse of the herd and
another which they may or may not have seen at
the same time.'
An instance was given me in Red River of one
of these half-breeds, a herdsman, who, the morning
after a herd of 200 cattle had been brought, in-
formed his master that he missed two animals, which
he particularly described. Upon counting the cattle
it proved that two were gone. The herdsman re-
ceived authority to pay a trifling sum to any person
who should succeed in finding the animals. By a
£„
i
2()(t
THE CANADIAN DOMINION.
singular coincidence they were brought in next day
by a cousin of the half-breed who had described
them so carefully.
i^^'':^-
30. Indian Names,
The Indians are forced to live indolently, if it
were only in order to find sufficient time to repeat
each other's names. Here are the ordinary titles of
some chiefs in the north of Lakes Huron and
Superior:
Pameguonaishueng, by the river Maganatiwang ;
Ketchiposkissigun, near Lake Nessinassung ; Sha-
wanakeshick, at Wanabitesebe ; Nebenaigoching,
near Wanabekinegunning.
Of course all these words are expressive. Here
is an example from the Sioux language of the way
in which these long words are constructed : A saw-
mill is thus called Chan-bassen-dassen-dassen-basscn-
da-madah-tepee ; i.e. a log cutting-up, cutting-down,
cutting-down, cutting-up, i)lank, out-there house. I
give this example, on the authority of an Indian
scout, I confess, with some dubiousness.
3 1 . The Fisheries.
The Canadian Fisheries arc protected along 900
miles of coast.
The humpbacked whale is harpooned in large
numbers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It frequently
Iff I
ArriiNDJX.
297
900
measures from fifty to sixty feet long, and yields
from 300 to 2,000 gallons of oil. In 1861 the pro-
duce of this fishery was 33,600 gallons of oil, value
^17,680.
Seals were captured in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
alone to the number of 26,591, in the year 1862 ;
and yielded. 208,439 gallons of oil, value .S* 120,463.
Cod weigh from five to 100 lbs. They are vora-
cious, and take any bait. The female spawns
several million eggs. Vast as are the quantities of
fish taken from the Newfoundland Banks, the supply
is likely to answer the demand in perpetuity.
The total yearly produce of the cod fishery is
estimated at one and a half millions of tons of fresh
fish. Half is thrown away as refuse, but would
yield 150,000 tons of manure as good as guano.
'The Bankers' range from thirty to 100 tons,
with crews of from eight to thirty men. 300 to 400
lbs. of fish is a good day's average for each man.
The cod are usually taken with a hempen line
strung with hooks thirty fathoms long, let down into
the submerged banks. Sometimes, however, the
• seine ' is used, and as many as 5,000 may be taken
at a single haul.
The summer fishing is from April to August.
Fish then caught are exposed to the air and sun.
These are the * dried cod * of commerce.
The autumn fishing, during September and
October, yields better fish. These are salted and
barrelled as the ' pickled cod.'
l I
I'ii
i
'^M
vm
298
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
In 1862 the oil from this fishery was estimated at
100,000 gallons. The cod are sometimes so abun-
dant in Moisie Bay that a dry Government Report
is betrayed into the statement that one ' could walk
upon them over the waters of the bay on snow
shoes.'
Herring in 1861 was taken to the amount of
48,000 barrels, at $\.^o = ^72,000, in the spring
fishery ; with the addition of 5,000 barrels, at B^ =
iS" 1 5,000, as the yield of the autumn fishery.
The exports of mackerel for the year 1865 are
said to have amounted to a million dollars.
Salmon are caught annually to the value of
(§'30,000. Nova Scotia boasts that she possesses
finer salmon streams than any country in the world,
with the one exception of Scotland.
The yield of the fisheries of the north and south
shores of the St. Lawrence, from Quebec to the
Bale des Chaleurs, amounted in 1867 to iS' 1,070,62 2.
The yield of the lakes and rivers of Ontario came
to (S* 1 87,865 in the same year (in 1868 the figures
increased to iS" 198,08 2).
New Brunswick exports in products of the sea
1^300,000 a year.
Nova Scotia, iS'3,000,000 a year.
These figures amount to four and a half millions
of dollars, or a million sterling, a year, and do not
include all the North American fisheries.
APPENDIX.
299
sea
ions
not
32. New Brunswick.
' A few years ago the country round the Bay of
Chaleurs was considered unfit for raising wheat ;
experience has proved this unfounded, and it now
produces all the kinds of grain raised in Eastern
Canada. The climate does not appear colder than
in the district of Quebec. Fogs are little known.
Showers of snow fall about the end of October ;
winter generally sets in in the month of November,
but fine weather often continues to the end of the
month. The average height of the snow is four to
five feet when deepest ; it disappears about the
beginning of May, and the ground is fit for sowing a
few days afterwards.
' Owing to the direction of the Bale des Chaleurs
and River Restigouche, the winds are either westerly
or from the east ; strong gales are of rare occur-
rence.
' The well-cultivated grounds in the neighbourhood
of Dalhousie yield, of wheat, thirty to thirty-two
bushels per acre ; peas, about the same ; oats, forty
to forty-eight ; barley, forty-five to sixty ; potatoes,
three to four hundred ; carrots, two hundred and
seventy to three hundred bushels per acre ; hay,
two to four tons per acre. The weight of grain
exhibited at the agricultural shows in the district
has been as follows : spring wheat, per Winchester
bushel, sixty-four to sixty-seven pounds ; fall ditto.
' A\
r ii^
300
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
^■{^'r>
sixty-six ; Siberian wheat, sixty-four to sixty-five ;
oats, forty-two to forty-eight and a half ; barley, fifty-
four to fifty-six ; field peas, sixty-six to sixty-seven
pounds.
' On new land, not cleared of stumps, the yield of
wheat has been thirty to one ; fifteen to twenty to
one is not unusual.' — Report to the Hon. the Com-
missioner of Crow7i Lands., by A. W. Sims, Nov.
1848, inserted in Bine Book on the Intercolonial
Railway, 1870.
33. Average Crops.
Average produce per Imperial Acre.
State of New York. New Brunswick.
Wheat
Barley .
Oats .
Rye .
Buckwheat
Indian Corn
Potatoes
Turnips
Hay .
* The superior productiveness of the soils of New
Brunswick, as is represented in the second of the
above columns, is very striking. The irresistible
conclusion to be drawn from it appears to be, that
looking only to what the soils under existing circum-
stances and methods of culture are said to produce,
the Province of New Brunswick is greatly superior
as a farming country to the State of New York.' —
Govermnent Report on New Brunswick, 1870.
14 bushels
20 bushels
16 „
29 »»
26 „
34 »
9* »
20^ „
14 »
33^ „
25 »
4i| „
90 »
226 „
88 „
460 „
»
if tons.
-five ;
fifty-
seven
ildof
ity to
Com-
Nov.
lotiial
New
the
tible
that
;um-
uce,
jrior
• '-^ ■
APPENDIX.
301
34. The Remaining Provinces.
The terms are already arranged, subject to formal
authorisation, for the admittance of British Columbia
and Vancouver's Island into the Confederation. It
is expected that Newfoundland and Prince Edward
Island will follow.
35. Prince Edward Island.
This Island is admirably situated for fishing, and
possesses excellent harbourage. ' Its coasts are so
much indented by bays that no part of the Island is
more than ten miles from salt water.' It has an
excellent soil, and a climate more moderate than
that of Quebec. It is some 140 miles long, with an
irregular breadth reaching to thirty-four miles at the
widest part. The area is 2,100 square miles; the
population perhaps 100,000.
A considerable proportion of the people are of
French origin, the descendants of the men who were
expelled from lovely Acadie, now Nova Scotia, on
September 10, 1755. The anniversary of the sor-
rowful day is still kept by them.
36. Newfonndland.
Its area is estimated at 42,000 square miles ; the
population at 150,000 souls. In the year 1867 its
exports, consisting principally of the products
\\
302
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
!»;
of the cod and seal fisheries, amounted to five
million dollars. Its imports, of breadstufts and
animal food chiefly, came to five and a half million
dollars.
m?i
I '
m
It
M
.a 4
m
37. Labrador.
This coast was discovered a.d. 986 by Northmen,
who called it ' Helluland it Makla,' the Great Slate
Land, from its stratified rocks. It was re-discovered
in 1 50 1 by Corte Real, and misnamed by him ' Terra
Labrc' .' the Labourer's Land, or land capable of
cultivation, f "i the growth of trees which he saw.
It consists of a high table-land, with mountains rising
to 3,000 :.d /'.,ooc) feet. It possesses dense forests
of spruce, fir, and bcv'^cl; Its fisheries are of great
value. It is estimated that a million seals are killed
annually by Esquimaux and other fishers.
38. British Cohwibia.
British Columbia contains 280,000 square miles,
a territory' greater than the whole of the States of
the North German Confederation, with the South
German States counted in.
Its harbours on the Pacific are destined probably
to receive a large proportion of the Japan and
China transit trade with Europe, on the construction
of the Canada Pacific railway.
At present the imports are but some five million
dollars ; the exports about the same, principally of
APPENDIX.
303
gold. The population is estimated at 25,000 whites
and Chinese and 35,000 Indians.
The country possesses minerals of all kinds. It
has great and valuable forests. Its fisheries are of
importance. It is well adapted for stock-raising.
39. Vancouver s Island.
* The serenity of the climate, the innumerable
pleasing landscapes, and the abundant fertility that
unassisted nature puts forth, require only to be
enriched by the industry of man, with villages,
cottages, mansions, and other buildings, to render
it the most lovely country that can be imagined ;
whilst the labours of the inhabitants would be
amply rewarded in the bounties which nature seems
ready to bestow on cultivation.' — CapL Vanconvcr.
I
bably
and
iction
40. The Direct China Rente.
' Victoria is but 6,053 niiles from Hong-Kong, or
about twenty-one days' sailing ; and if a roadway
were constructed from Halifax to some point in
British Columbia, the whole distance from South-
ampton would be accomplished in thirty-six days —
from fifteen to twenty days less than by the overland
route via Suez. . . .
' Millions of money and hundreds of lives have
been lost in the search for a North- West passage by
i
304
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
sea. Discovered at last, it has proved worthless.
The North- West passage by land is the real highway
to the Pacific' — Milton and Cheadle.
^•,\->
14'
W
41. Lines of Traffic.
'An air line from St. Louis to Liverpool passes
northward of the city of Ottawa. An air line from
New Orleans to Liverpool passes through the Straits
of Belle Isle. . . .
' A railway from Montreal to the Pacific might
not exceed about 2,500 miles, and Fort Garry is
about midway on the route. . . .
* The lands granted to railway companies in the
United States amount to 232,000 square miles or
154,000,000 acres (written June, 1869). . . .
' We have by a long way the best engineering
route for a railway across the continent, the shortest
line for through traffic, and the greatest amount of
arable land for local traffic. The through traffic
would be from the Pacific coast, China, and Japan.
The foreign commerce of China is worth (§'500,000,000
annually (100,000,000/. sterling), and is in British
hands.' — Frotn Letters by Thomas C. Kee/er, Esq.^
Engineer^ Ottawa.
42. Railiuay Enterprise.
In the year 1869 I find that nearly 3,000 miles of
railroad were open ; and railway enterprise has not
iless.
[iway
jasses
; from
straits
might
irry is
in the
iles or
eering
Ihortest
unt of
traffic
Japan.
00,000
British
Esq.,
liles of
las not
APPENDIX.
305
stopped since then. With a view to the more rapid
opening up and development of a new country,
wooden railways are being laid down in the province
of Quebec ; and in the province of Ontario railroads
of a three-feet-six-inches gauge, at a cost of but
5,000/. a mile, similar to lines laid in Norway and
Queensland.
43. Commercial Intcr-Commiinication.
' Toronto is as near Liverpool, via St. Lawrence
and the Straits of Belle Isle, as New York is by
the ordinary sea-route. If large and commodious
steamers could come down through our improved
canals with western produce, carrying equal to 7,000
barrels of flour, and these meet ocean-vessels at
Montreal or Quebec, it may fairly be expected that
both freight and passengers would be attracted to a
route which, by means of but a single trans-shipment,
would convey them from any foreign port to the
cities of the west. . . .
• Freights by the St. Lawrence can be despatched
as early and as late in the season, by the route of the
St. Lawrence, as can be done by the water com-
munication of the United States.
' Montreal is nearer Liverpool by about 200 miles
by a direct navigable line than New York is by the
sea-route.' — Letters by the Hon. John \\>iing, M.P.P.
Montreal.
•Hi '
!ii
I W
>'iS,
3o6
THE CANADIAN DOMINION
m
i
lif
44. The Porl for /iiio/aiid.
Halifax is 550 miles nearer Liverpool than is
New York, 357 miles nearer than Boston, 373
nearer than Quebec, and 316 nearer than Portland.
— Blue Book on Inkr-Colonial Raihuay.
45. Canadian Occan-Stcaniers.
The Allan line started in 1856 with 4 vessels,
6,536 tons. By 1868 the number of vessels had
increased to 23, and the tonnage to 96,887. Quebec
and Montreal are the summer ports ; Portland the
winter one.
No more safe, speedy, and commodious vessels
cross the Atlantic.
46. Lc Canada.
The French muse has not been dumb in the old
Quebec province. Mere are two stanzas written in
1859 by one of the many P>cnch Canadian poets, M.
Cremazie, interesting for its expression of the senti-
ment of nationality slowly growing up among the
people :
Salut, 6 cicl dc ma patrio !
Salut, 6 noble St.-Laurcnt !
Ton noni dans nion anic attcndric
Rcpand un parfum enivrant.
Ah ! puisse ccttc union saintc,
Qui fit nos ancctres si grands,
Ne rcccvoir jamais d'attcntc
Par Ics crimes dc tcs enfants.
APPRXniX.
.^07
Vx si jamais pour tc (li'fcmlic
Suivait Ic ^'raiid jour tiu combat,
Commc autrefois (ju'ils sachciit prtiulre
I-c ^flai\'c vaiiujucur du soldat.
iq: the
47. Cousohilion.
When Canada was lost to France It was said in
Paris, * Apres tout, que nous font (juelqucs arjjcnts
de neige en Amerique ? '
Do we undervalue Canada in E norland from an
impression that we cannot retain the connexion, and
that it is philosophic to make light of a prospective
loss ?
48. Removal 0/ our Troops.
' The feelini,^ in Canada respectin<r the removal of
the national troops may be easily misunderstood.
It is not that the people expect or desire that
England should bear the burden of the defence of
the colony. But they prize highly the moral support
which the presence of our troops affords. It is the
pledge of protection of a great empire. The depar-
ture of our regiments one by one seems to threaten
the final withdrawal of English power and influence
from this continent. For a long time yet England
ought to retain some of her troops here, unless
indeed we have resolved to shirk the responsibility
imposed upon us by our fame and our history, and
abandon our old national policy. '* There are many
thincrs which Enixland can make better than we can,
X 2
vA
^.•.•>\
lip
ml
308
yy//i cANADiAy domixion.
better than the rest of the world," a Canadian officer
lately said tome. " Soldiers, for one example. We
cannot make troops with the Ihilish discii)line, and
order, and esprit de corps. You must try to teach
us the secret of this manufacture. Your troops
ought to remain here as a pattern to ours. And
especially we should need the example of their
steadiness and order in actual war. The reii;ulars
V'ould give confidence to the volunteers, and show
us how fighting ought to be done.'" — From an Article
in Frascrs Magazine for November 1870 by the
Author,
49. Counter- Alabama Claims.
Canada considers that she suffered a very large
direct loss, and an enormous indirect loss, through
the two Fenian raids made on her territory by
citizens of the United States. She considers that a
claim for compensation can be preferred against the
Government of the Republic with at least an equal
show of ji^stice with the more celebrated Alabama
claims made against England.
50. Bill 0/ Rio hts. ,.
Drawn up by the Red River Convention dcfring tlie Rebel
Interregnum.
1. That the people have the right to elect their
own Legislature.
2. That the Legislature have the power to pass
officer
:. Wc
ic, and
) teach
trooi)S
And
f their
eoulars
d show
Article
by the
•y lar^e
through
ory by
that a
inst the
equal
abama
jcl
:t their
to pass
y
A pp FN nix.
309
all laws local to the Territory over the veto of the
Excutive by a two-thirds vote.
3. That no act of the Dominion Parliament
(local to the Territory) be binding on the people
until sanctioned by the Legislature of the Terri-
tory.
4. That all Sheriffs, Magistrates, Constables,
School Commissioners, &c., be elected by the
people.
5. A free homestead and pre-em[)tion land-law.
6. That a portion of the public lands be appro-
priated to the benefit of schools, the building of
bridges, roads, and public buildings.
7. That it be guaranteed to connect Winnipeg by
rail with the nearest line of railroad, within a term
of five years ; the land grant to be subject to the
Local Legislature.
8. That, for the term of four years, all military,
civil, and municipal expenses be paid out of the
Dominion funds.
9. That the military be composed of^the inhabi-
tants now existing in the Territory.
10. That the English and French languages be
common in the Legislature and Courts, and that all
public documehts and acts of the Legislature be
published in b(5th languages.
11. That the Judge of the Supreme Court speak
the English and French languages.
1 2. That treaties be concluded and ratified be-
tween the Dominion Government and the several
::lt
• if
i
310
/■///'. c.L\'An/,L\ no.]//.\/()\.
trihi'S of Iiulians in ihc Territory, to insure in.'acc
on ihf frontier.
13. That we have a fair and full representation in
tlie Canadian I'ariianient.
14. That all privilej^es, customs, ami usa«;cs exist-
ini;" at the tiu'.e of the transfer he respectetl.
IS
51. /7ii' lus/iiiy l^naly.
Article I of Convention between His Brilanin'c
Majesty antl the United Stati-s of America, sij^iied
at Lonilon. Octoln-r 20, iSiS:
Whereas, differences have arisen respectini;; the
liberty claimed by the United States, for the inhabi-
tants thiMXH)f to take, dry, and cure fish on certain
coasts, bays, harbours, and creeks of His IJritannic
l\Iajt\sty's dominions in America, it is aL{;reeil be-
tween the nii;h ContractiuL^ Parties that the in-
habitants of the said United States shall have, for
ever, ii\ common with the subjects of 11 is Britannic
Majesty, the liberty to take fish of every kind on
that part of the southern coast of Newfoundland
which extends fromCaix* Ray to the Rameau Islands,
on the western and northern coast of Newfoundland
from the said Cape Ray to the Ouii'pon Islands, o\\
the shores of the Magdalen Islands, and also on the
coasts, bays, harK)urs, and creeks from Mount Joly,
on the southern cmist o{ Labrailor, tt> anil through
the Straits of Belle Isle, and thence northwardly in-
defmitely aloui; the coast, without i)rejudice, however,
ArPENDIX,
3»i
|K;acc
lion ill
; i-xist
itannic
si<;i\ccl
no tlu!
iiihal)i-
ccrtain
rilannic
't.'il bc-
tlic in-
^vc, for
ritannic
kIiuI on
uuUancl
Islands,
uulland
nds, oil
I) oil the
nt Joly,
hrougli
rcUy in-
owcvcr,
lo any of the exclusive rights of the lliulson's Hay
Company. And that the American fishermen shall
also have liberty, for ever, to dry and cure fish in
any of the unsettled bays, harbours, and creeks of
the southern part of the coast of Newfoundland here
above described, and of the coast of Labrador ; but
so soon as the same, or any portion thereof, shall be
settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen
to dry or cure fish at such [)ortion so settled without
previous aLjreement for such purpose with the in-
habitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground.
And the United States hereby renounce, for ever, any
liberty heretofore enjoyed or claimed by the inhabi-
tants thereof, to take, dry, or cure fish on or within
three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks,
or harbours of His Hritannic Majesty's dominions
in America not included within the above-mentioned
limits ; |)rovidcd, however, that the American fisher-
men shall be admitted to enter such bays or harbours
for the purpose of shelter and of n;pairing damaL^es
therein, of purchasing- wood, and of obtaining water,
and for no other purpose whatever. Hut they shall
be under such ru'strictions as may be necessary to
l)revent their taking, drying, or curing fish therein,
or in any other manner whatever abusing the pri-
vileges hereby reservi'il to them.
I N D E X
i|!i
'Im
v-
' H
I N D E X.
!'i
AliK
Ar.KKCKOMIUi:, r-ort, 127.
I'arnisicads nnnul, 12S, 132.
Fii>i|K'cli()ii of, 133
Ahraliaiii, |)lain.s of, 16. Ualllcs of,
16, 17
Acadif (now Nova Scotia), expulsion
of tlie Frvncli from, 301
Accent of the Canadians, 293. C'i>n»-
parcd with the intonation (K-tuIiar
to tlic Aineritans, 293
Africa, l.iitic, Xc^jro settlement so
called, 99, loi
A^ricuhiire, importance of, to Ca-
nada, 70. Necessity for the lx.'st
a^nciiitural implements, 73,77, 232.
Siv I'"annint; interest ; Settlers
Aijricultural exliibitions, 74-78
Ague, prevalence of, in sonie parts of
the North-west territorj-, 186, 18S
Alabama claims, losses of Canada l>y
the Fenian raids as a counler-claim
to the, 308
Alexandra Villa, log-houses of, 127
Algon<[uin Indians, their league with
the French under Cham|)l.iin, 2
Allan line of steamers, increase in the
tonnage of the, 30<}. Their safely
and raj)idity, 306
Andrews, (lovernor, hi-^ I\e|uirt to
Congress on the Ihilish Provinces,
207
tlMK
Animals of Canada, tlomcstic, 57, 77
Wild, 57. Minis and small game,
57. An Indian's natural love for,
109
Ann, St., church of, 27. Mii-aculous
cures jicrfonned at the, 28. \W\l to,
30. Crutches suspended in the, 30
Ann, St., river, 30
Annexation of lanada to the United
States, chances of, 239, 240
A[)ples of Canada, 5, 76
Archibald, Ilun. Mr., ai)pointe<l
I.ieuteiiant-Covernorof Manitoliah,
172
Assiniboine river, confluence of ilie,
with the Red River, 143, iSo.
Fnglish settlers on the, 14S. Its
course, 180
Athabasca, Lake, its iieight above the
sea, 177, 193. Its beauty, 193
Athabasca river, woodland and Ri-
lile prairie land of the valley of the,
193. Its junction with the Peace
River, 193
Axe, a Canadian, 61. Mode of
using it, 61
B
\SS, 5S
liays anil inlets of Canada. 9
'Bee,' the, in the backwoods, (12
nr
316
/.vn/cx.
lUM.
lU'llc l-.wail. t
DWll
'. 4')
lU'lli
I lull
o;ni, visit to,
af>
Kill of lights iliawn up liy tin- Red
Kivor Convi'iition, juS
Ilifls
Itit
nine
wil.l, S7
II in till- valley ol the IVacc
Uivii, H).?
Ui;\a'ltiiil(;i', town of, 55. Visit to,
55. Its iDiiiaMlii- siiualioii, 55.
Stores and liuililin^s at, 5''
llrantfoi'il, Clntaiio, a<;rieullnriil sot-
tlenicnt of the Six Nation Imliaiis
at, \oi)
Hieton.l'aiH', aica of, ineliulinn Nova
Seotia, J07
Uiiek-mnkini', opening; for, at Ke.l
River, 1 50
I'rixlon, Ne^^roes of the town of, icxi
Ilroekville, Onlaiian town of, eoin-
pnrol with that of the Anieriean
town of Moiiistown, 2i)2, 29.^
Ihiiee, John, liist president of the
Rc»l River I'nivisional (lovern-
uient, his pvoelaination to (Jo-
vernor MePou^all, 153. Siip-
plantinl, and at work as a journey-
man carpenter, i6j
Ihunet. the AMh-, visit to, 21
lininswick. New, incorporated with
the nonunion, lO. Advantaj^es of,
20S. Area of, 20S. IVanty and
fertility of the eountry, 2ciS. l".x-
tent of land under cultivation, 209,
Importance of the tisheries of, 209.
Railway across. 217. Annual ex-
ports of, in pnxluce of the sea, 2»)S.
W heat jjiown round the l>ay of
I'haleui^, 200. \ ield of crops in
the neii;hl<ourhoixl of Palhousie,
209. Weight of gram per bushel,
J.h). A\cra.L;e ciop^ ciMupaied with
CAN
Hy, Colonel; his military canal, 45
llylown, now Ottawa, 45
c
ACOl'NA, fashion and gaiety
(.'unada, nan
if, I, 276. Settle
inent of l>y I'.iiropeans
l'!nj;lish oeeiipalioii, 1.
I>i
Ihe
seoveiy
and settlement of hy the Kreneli,
J. ImuI of the I'rench rule, \.
Loyalty of the jieoplc of, 3, 4.
I'ertility of the country, 5. Its
produce, 5. |)evelopment of the
Canadian race of peo])le, 5. In-
crease in their mater
al
prosperity,
6. (,)uantity of laiul under cultiva-
tion, (). Increas
•f th
1"M
)ula-
tioii, 7.
Its fiitiir
e prosperity, am
importance of its resources, 7. Ail-
vantages of the route across Ca-
nada hetween I'aiiope and Asia, S.
Importance of the Uoininion to tin?
ither country. 9. Its active
mi-
ihose of the stale v>f New \tMk, jixj , Indians, 105. The I'rair
lilia force and trained reserve, 9.
Its seamen, fisheries, ami marine,
9. I''.xtent of the country, 10. Its
future greatness, 11. Advantages
of the union of Upper and Lower
Canada, 22. Lumlier and luink-r-
trade of, 37. The freegrant lands,
49. The ste|>s of progress of the
settler in Canada, 66. The farm-
ing interest, 70. Canada as an
agricultural country compared with
the I'niteil States, 80, St. In-
crease of the population, 81. L'er-
tilily of the Canadian soil, 84. The
Kails of Niagara. 85. Oil and salt
springs, 95. Little Africa and the
Negroes in (."anada, 99-104. The
r»ulValo, hcrils of wild, on the prairie
l.mds of the Norih-wcsi. |8^
The Rcvl River revolt, 145. The
great North-west, 174. Line of the
JNDEX.
317
CAN
Doiniiiioti I'ucilic KailriKul, 197.
The iiir-liin; lo Cliiiu, 199. (liowlli
iifaiiollH'i- iiiitl Liitjcr I'jinlaml, 199.
Canada dcsliiu'd I4) lie um: oC llic
^U'al iii.\i'iliiiic piovina-s of llic
woilil, 206. lis tisliiiics, 209,
29O. I'.n'i'i t of llu- alii(i(;atii)ii uf
till,' Ki'Li|)iiuily Tnaly, 214. IiiUr-
t'ontint'iilal cuinimiiiiiatidii, 21 7.
Slalisliis of iimiiii;inlion, 220. And
uf fooil and ilulliinj.;, 224 22S.
Advantaijcs of ilic Lliniale, 236,
237. 'I'lic |>ulilical (|iicsti(in, 2,^9-
'I'lic various courses of policy indi-
cated, and tlic chances of their
ndoplion, 2J9 250. Distinct types
of national character in Canada
and the United States, 245. The
unly |)resei)t inducement to Canada
to enter the United States, 24S.
The wisest policy of I'aijjlaml as to
its future, 252, 25.5. Its defences,
2154. Its increase in strength, con-
fidence, and pride of nationality,
261. Complete failure of the
American invasion of Canada in
1S12-14, 262. Umisual a<lvau-
lages of Canada in the conduct of
a war, 264. Suitability of the
country for defence, 266. Its va-
lue to Knglaml in the event of war
with the States, 2()7. Ij^norancc
of Canada in I'.ni^land, 275. Its
climate, 277 279. Its population
to the s<|uare mile compared with
that of other countries, 2S0. raw-
respecting; free jjraiit Iaiid>, 2S0.
rilblicdelit ol Canada, 2Si. The
(Jucen city of the Dominion, To-
ronto, 2S_}. 'I'he newspaper press
of the Dominion, 2SS. Art in
Canada, 2S8. ihe t leryy Reserve
Act* in Upi>er Canada, 2S9. One
of the chief causes of llie rebellion
(HA
in iS}7, 2S9. Towns of Canada
conijiared with those of the United
Slates, 292. The fertility of the
I'ar West and Red River, 2<) 5, 294.
Admittance of the remainiu); jiro-
vinces into the Domiiiion, joi,
'I'he throu^^h Iraflic to China, .}02.
Railway enlerprlMC, 304. (Jom-
ntercial inler-conununicatlon of
l''.ni;land aiul the Dominion, 305.
Remark in Paris on the loss of
Canada, 307. 'I'he feelini; in Ca-
nada respeilin^; the removal of
Ihitish troops, 307. The I'ishery
Tiealy of iSiS (|uote<l, 310
Canada I'aeific Railway, Indian coun-
try throu^jh which it will pass, 119,
199. 3"4
Carlini;, lion. John, Connnissioner
of Agriculture for ( Mitario, his ac-
count of the pro^rcis of Canada,
81. His statistics of inimigratiun,
---1 -'.>
Carlin^', I'ort, school at, O7
Cart, a sprinj;Iess, 27
Cartier, Jacpies, his discovery of
I'anaila, 3
Catholics, Roman, loyalty of their
Church in (Janada, 264
Cattle of the settlers, 57
Cau^lmawau^;a, settlement of Iro-
(|Uois Indians at, 108
Cereals of C!anatla, 75. \'ield of
tjrain in various places, 79
Champlain, Samuel dc, his explora-
tion of Canaila, 2. I lis leaijue with
the lluronsand Alj4oni|uins, when
he puts an army to tli^ht, 2. I•:^ta-
blishes the first French colonies, 3
Charles, St., river, beauty of the, 12.
Setilement of Union Indi.m.s on
the, loS
Chateauijuay, li.itiK.' of, 262
Chateau Richet, visit to the I'rench
318
INDEX.
.1;
m
i^
CHA
village of, 24. Church ami school
of, 25. Falls of La Puce at, 25
Chalhain, town of, ay icultural exhi-
bition at, 78. Negro scltlcnient at,
100, lOI
Chautiiere, Falls of the, 17
Chauveau, Hon. Mr., minister of
instruction for the province of
Quebec, 18. Ilis Indian name, 19
Chicago, city of, 121. Houses and
public buildings of, 121. Go-a-
headivcness of the people of, 122.
Sights of the city, 122. Popula-
tion of, 122. Meaning of the
name of, 123
China, the through traffic from Fng-
land to, 199, 304. Annual value
of the foreign commerce of, 304
Clergy reserves, Act of 1823 relating
to, 289. Acts of 1827 36 respect-
ing them, 289. Act of 1840,
289, 290. Final settlement of the
question, 290. Endowed rectories
of Lord Seaton, 290
Climate, melioration of the, 4, 279.
Of North-western British America,
177. Of the Dominion generally
and its advantages, 236- 238.
Its effect on the national character
of the Canadians, 245, 247. And
on the character of the Ameri-
cans, 247. Its advantages in the
defence of Canada, 255, 265.
Realities of the Canadian climate,
277
Clothing, cost of, in Canada, 227
Cloud, St., station, on the St. Paul
and Pacific Railway, 124
Coal, vast beds of, on the banks of
the Saskatchewan river, 179. In
the valley of the Saskatchewan,
191. And at Peace River, 193.
The coal-beds on the proposed line
and at the termini of the Dominion
Pacific Railroad, 200. The lignite
coal of the eastern base of the
Rocky Mountains, 200. The coal-
fields of the maritime provinces of
Canada, 206. Of immense extent
in Nova Scotia, 208. Of New
ISrunswick, 209
Cod fishery of the Dominion, 209.
On the banks of Newfoundland,
297. Total yearly produce, 297.
The ' Hankers' ai\d their takes,
297. Periods for fishing, 297. Tlie
dried and pickled cod, 297. Cod
oil, 298. Abundance of the supply,
298
Colonial possessions, apprehensions
as to the result of the present
English policy respecting, 252
CoUnubia, lirilish, admittance of, into
the Dtjminion, 301. Its area, 302.
Its harbours, 302. Its ]irobable
future trade, 302. Its imports and
exports, and |)opulatioii, 302, 303.
Its forests and fisheries, 303. Its
capabilities for stock-raising, 303
Confederation, a great Anglo-Saxon,
proposed, 272, 273
Copper, mines of, discovered in Xova
Scotia, 208
Couchiching, Lake, beauties of, 50.
Meaning of the name, 50
Cows, the settler's, 65
Cremazie, M,, his French poem on
Canada, 306
' Cribs' of lumber, 41
DALHOUSIE, yield of crops in
the neighbourhood of, 299
Defences of Canada, concern respect-
ing the, 254. Conceptions and
n\isapprchensions in England re-
garding the facts, 254. The Ca-
nadians ii warlike people, 255.
'
INDEX.
319
r takes,
97. The
7. Ctxl
rops m
!99
espcct-
nd ro-
le Ca-
255.
DEN
'I'hc militia and nuniheis of the
militia reserve, 256. Forces turned
out in 1862 and in 1870, 256. Re-
jiort of Colonel I'. Uoliertson-Koss
respecting the present condition of
the militia, ((uoted, 257. Schools
for military instmction of officers,
258, 259. Prepnrat ions for self-de-
fence, 259, 260. Failure of the in-
vasion of 1812-14, 262. Advan-
tages of Canada in the conduct of a
war, 264. Suitability of the coun-
try for defence, 266. Summing uji
of our considerations of Canadian
defence, 267. Advantages of the
country in the event of a war be-
tween Kngland and the United
States, 267
Dennis, Colonel, receives a commis-
sion authorising him to commence
civil war in the Red River terri-
tory, 160. Issues |)roclamations,
ami disap|)ears from the country,
162
Dresden, Negroes of the town of, 100
Droughts, occasional, of the North-
west territory, 186
Ducks, wild, 57
EDUCATK )N in the backwootls,
its difficulties, 67
KIk, 57
Emigrants. .SVi' Immigration
Encampment, an, on the prairie,
•34- '36
England, her policy respecting the
future of Canada, 252, 253. The
future of. and her colonies, con-
sidered, 270. Position occupied
by her, 270,271. Her ascendency
threatened, 270. Claims of Prus-
sia, Russia, and the United States
to power, 270, Future settlement
FAR
of these rivalries, 271. Advantages
of England over all her rivals, 272.
Proposal for a great Anglo-Saxon
Confederation, 272, 273. And for
an imperial scheme of emigration,
274. Ignorance in England re-
specting Canada, 275
Exports of Canada in 1 851, 1861,
and 1869, 6
FWRMINC intcrc-.t in Cai
70. Increase in the pro
"anada,
roduce
in ten years, 70, 71. And in tiie
(piantity of land brought under
cultivation, 71. Extent of the
farms generally, 72. Scientific
farming little in use, 72. Import-
ance of lalwur-saving machines, 73.
Improved methods of draining, 74.
Agricultural fairs, 74, 75. The
farmers attending them, 75. Pro-
duce exhibited at them, 75, 76.
Eive stock shown, 77. .Stock
farms, 79, 185, 232. Peculiarities
of the farmers of Red River, 49.
Advantages of the wild prairie
lands of the North-west overall the
countries in the worM, 1S4, 185.
Wages paid to farm servants and
lal)ourers, 224. Advantages of the
Dominion to farmers with small
ca]iital, 229. Value of land, 229,
230. .Advice to the immigrant
farmer, 230-232. Stumps of trees,
230. Snake-fences, 231. Agri-
cultural implements, 232. Adv.ni-
tages of the winter to the farmer,
236. The flirmers considered as
material for an army, 265. Periocl
in which grain ripens in the fertile
belt, 294. Vield of the crops in
the neighbourhood of Dalhousie,
299, 300. Crops of New York
w
320
INDEX.
KEN
' t
State coni|).ircil with those of New
Uruiiswick, 300
Fcniuii jiarty, aim of the, in the Kcil
Kivcr rcvoh, 156. No sympiithy
sht)wn by tlic Irish in Canada for
Kcnianisni, 2f)3. Losses siilTercd
by Canada in tlie Kenian raids as
n counter-claim to tlie Ahibama
chiinis, 308
Fever, prevalence of, in some districts
t)f Red River, lS6, 1S8
Fires, prairie, 1 31, 132
Fish of the lakes and streams, 58
Fisheries of Hehrinj^'s Straits, 206.
Of the maritime jirovinces of the
Dominion, 207. Of New Ihuns-
wick, 209. Of Newfoundland, the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Hay of
Fundy, 209. Statistics of the
fisheries, 209. Minister for the
rei;idation of the fisheries of the
Dominion, 210. Jealousies and
disagreements to which the fisheries
have given rise, 2 10. Action of the
Washington Government, and ter-
mination of the treaty in 1S64, 21 1.
Liberal and conciliatory policy of
the Dominion, 211. Resumption
of the rights of the Dominion go-
vernment, 211. Reasons for tiiis
resumption, 211. Terms of the
Convention of 1818, limiting the
fishing rights of the United Slates,
212, 213. Seizures of vessels of
the United States, 213. Report
of the Minister of Marine of the
Dominion respecting the fisheries,
215. Kxtent of coast along which
the fisheries are protected, 296.
Whales and seals, 296, 297. Co»l,
297. Herring and salmon, 298.
Value of the yield in the lakes,
rivers, and at sea, 298. Fisheries
of Labrador, 302. And of British
GAR
Columbia, 303. The Fishery
Treaty of 1818, <iuoted, 310
Flowers and foli.ige plants of Canada,
77
FockI, cost of, in the Dominion, 226-
228
Forests, magnificent colours of the,
in the sunlight, 378, 279
Free-grant «listrict, tour of inspection
in the, 49. Land disiiosed of in
two months at the, 56. Propor-
tion of land capable of cultivation
in the district, 57. Progress of the
settlers, 60-O5. Regulations of
the government grant, 68. Kxtent
of the free-grant lands, 68, 69
French in Canada, settlement of the,
I, 3. Ally themselves with the
llurons and Algontjuins against
their foes, 2. Their number in
the country, 3. Their discoveries,
3. I'.nd of the periiid of French
rule, 3. Loyally of the people to
Kngiand, 3, 4. Cost of living in
the I'lench province, 227. Cha-
racter and distinctness of type of
the people, 245. Their loyalty in
the war of 1812-14, 262. And of
those of the present day, 263.
Sentiment of nationality growing
among ihein, 306
Frog Point, 137
Fruits of Canada, 5, 76
Fundy, Ij.ay of, im[)ortance of the
fisheries of the, 209
G
AME, small, 57
Garry, Fort, distant view of,
143. The principal station of the
Hudson Hay Company, 147.
Seized by the Red River rel)el half-
breeds, 155. Fnd of the revolt,
320
INDEX.
321
view of,
)ii of the
147.
L-l)cl half-
ic revolt,
GAS
f jasiH?, Jacques Cartier's cross at, 3
(ieortjian Hay, settlers at, fio
(ie<)rKel<twn,theUnite(l States North-
em Paeifie Railroad at, 137
(fibmltar, in Canada, precautions
n^ainst bVnians at, 52. Mr. Cuth-
bert and his shanty at, 53
(Widerich, oil and brine springs of
the town of, 97
Cioose kiver, junction of the, with
Red River, 137
Gold dust in the Peace River, 194.
In the country Iwtween Lake Su-
perior and Red River, 196
(lophir, mole-hill mountains of the,
in the i>rairies, 186
drain, crops of, in North-western
liritish America, 177, 182, 183.
Average weight of the yield, 184.
The grain trade of Hamilton city,
285. rerio<l in which it ripens in
the fertile !)elt, 294. Set Farming
interest ; Wheat
(lra|)es of Canada for dessert, 76.
For wine, 77
(ireat Northern Railway, farmsteads
and villages on both sides of the,
49. Future of the line, 50
(ireely, visit to the township of, 233
(irand Forks, the river at, 137
(Irasshoppers, or locusts, iK'rio<lical
plague of, in the North-west terri-
tory, 186, 187. Their prolKible
extinction, 187
flravenhurst, the door of the free-
grant district, 50, 5 1
H
AniTANS,' or French Cana-
dians, 30. Houses of the,
30, 31. Their industry and fru-
gality, 32. Their large families,
33. Sir fleorge Cailier's descrip-
II UR
tion of a I'rench Canadian, 36.
Their style of farming, 73
1 laha Hay, 35
Half-breeds, native skill of the, 295,
296
Halifax, in Nova Scotia, harbour of,
20S. School for niilitaiy instruc-
tion at, 259. The nearest port to
Fngland in North America, 306
Hamilton city, cost of living in, 227.
And of house rent in, 228. Its
ra|)iil increase in prosperity and
]io])iilation, 285. Intmigration into
in 1869- 70, 285. Its nianiifaitures,
285. Its grain trade, 285. Rail-
ways j)rojecled and in progress at,
286. The freight passing inwards,
286
Harbours of Nova Scotia, 208
Hennepin, leather, his impression re-
specting the Falls of Niagara, 88, 90
Herring of Canada, 58. Herring
fishery of the Dominion, 209, 298
Herring, Rev. A. Styleman, his plan
for assisting emigration, 233, 234
llochelaga, a former name of Mont-
real, 282
House-rent in the Dominion, 226, 228
Hudson Hay Company, territory of
the, ccde<l to the I)omini()n, 10.
The scat of government of the, 147.
Hattle of Red River, and death of
its governor, 147. Amalgamation
of the Company with the North-
wc-st (.ompany, 147. Contempt
into which its government hatl
fallen at the time of the Red River
■tvolt, 154. Its neglect to secure
Fort Carry against the insurgents,
161. Its policy res]ifcling the
North-west territory, 174
Huron Indians, league of, with the
French un<lerChamplain,2. Settle-
ment of, at La Jeunc I,f)rette, 18,
:■■■;!
'
a
m I
mi
i
322
INDEX.
IMM
107. Professor Wilson's remarks
respecting them, 108, Their long
names, 296
IMMIGRATION into Canada, in-
crease of, 69, 220. Statistics
for 1868, 221-223. The particular
kinds of emigrants most in demand,
223. Method of distribution of
immigrants, 223. Rate of wages
in the Dominion, 224, 225. Ad-
vantages to the immigrants, 228,
229. Suggestions to intending
settlers, 232, Mr. A. Styleman
Herring's plan for assisting emi-
gration, 233, 234. Miss Rye's
plan, 235. Advantages to emi-
grants, 235. Proposal for an im-
perial scheme of emigration from
Great Britain to the colonies, 274
Indian summer of Canada, 278
Indians, origin of the name, as applied
to the Red Men, 2. How treated
by the first European settlers, 2.
Improvement in their condition, 2.
The native tribes not fated to im-
mediate extinction, 105, 115. Re-
sults of British policy of conciliation
and protection, 106, 117. Gradual
civilisation of the tribes, 107.
Their village of La Jeune Lorette,
107. Caughnawauga Indians, 108.
Indian dexterity, 109. An agri-
cultural settlement at Brantford,
109. Employment best suited for
them, wo. Influence of the
various religious missions on the
native tribes, no. Ojibways at
Sarnia, III. Indian luve for
colours and personal ornament,
III, 112. Their mixture with the
white races, 112. Methodist and
Episcopal chapels, 1 12. An Ojib-
LAD
way church, 113. Condition of
the red men of Canada, 114.
Total Indian population of Canada
in 1868, 115, 116, Their employ-
ments, 116. End of the wars
of the whites with them, 117.
Proofs of their attachment to
British rule, 118, 119. Their long
names, 296.
Inns in the backwoods, 45
Inundations, occasional, of rivers in
the North-west territory, 186, 188
Iron ore in the valley of the Saska-
tchewan, 191. And in the north,
193. In the valley of the Peace
River, 193
JOHN'S, ST., fisheries of the har-
bour of, 209. School for mili-
tary instruction at,
Joseph, St., Lake, beauty of, 56
Jury, trial by, optional in civil cases
in Canada, 281
KAMINISTIQUIA River, part
of the old canoe route to Red
River, 195
Kanata, the Indian name of Canada,
meaning of the name, I
Kashaboiwe, Lake, part of the old
canoe route to Red River, 195
Kildonan army, the, in the Red
River insurrection, 165. Their
demonstration and dispersion, 165
Kingston, town of, 51. Defences of,
266
LABRADOR, discovery o*^ *»
Name of, given by ti
coverers, 302. Re-discovery i l»y
Corte Real, 302. Meaning of the
♦
♦
INDEX.
3^i
LAC
name of I^brador, 303. Its forests
and fushcries, 303. Its seal fishery,
30a
• La Crosse,' the Canadian frame of,
108. Dexterity of the Indians at,
108, 109
Lakes, ignorance in England respect-
ing the, of Canada, 275
Land, extent of, under cultivation in
1851, 1861, and at the present
time, 7, 71. Scienlific methods of
treating it, 73, 74. In Canada as
compared with that of the United
Stales, 81. Fertility of that of the
valley of the Sxskatchewan, 191
Laval University, at Qucl)ec, 13.
Origin of the name, 13. Visit to, 21
Laverdiere, Rev. Mr., librarian of
Laval University, 22. His yacht,
Lawrence, St., river, its width at
Quebec and lower down, 12. A
sail on the, 23. Disposition of the
farms along the, 30. Climate of
the banks of the, 33. Junction of
the .Saguenay with the, at Ta-
dousac, 34
Lcpine, Hon. Mr., his part in the
Red River revolt, 163, 164
Levis, De, his victory at the Tlains
of Abraham, 1 7
Lery, St., river, 17. Gold obtained
near the source of tlie, 18
L^vy, Point St., masses of lumber at,
14
Little Lake, encampment on, 141
Locusts in the North-west territory.
See Grasshoppers
London the Little, agricultural fair at,
74-78. Mineral oil at, 96. Pre-
paration of it for the market, 96.
Other manufactures of, 97. Cha-
racteristics of the city, 286. Its
increasing wealth and [population.
MAC
286. Its resemblance to or rivalry
with the metropolis of England,
286. 387
Lorettc, La Jeune, village of Huron
Indians at, 108. Visit to it, 18.
The cascades at, 19
Lumber, masses of, on the St. Law-
rence, 14. The lumljer trade of
Canada, 37. Winter work, 37.
Operations in fulling a tree, 38.
Floating rafts, 41. The saw-mills,
42. Principal scat of the lunil)cr-
trade, 43. .Statistics of the trade,
47. Advantages of the winter to
the lumlx:rers, 236
Luml)cr-man, the, of Can.ida, 37.
His shanty, 38. His food, 39.
His way of life, 40. Lun>l)er-men
considered as material for an army,
265
Luna Island, lunar rainbows at, 89
Lawrence, Gulf of St., importance of
the fisheries of, 209. The whale
fishery of, 296. Quantity and
value of whale oil, 297. Seals cap-
tured in, 297
MCDONALD, Hon. Sandfield,
at Gibraltar, 53
McDougall, Mr., notice served on,
by the Red River Provisional
Corair'.ttee, 141, 153. The docu-
ment, 154. Riel's proclamations,
154. Mr. McDougall's proclama-
tion, 159, 160. His commission
to Co). Dennis, 160
McKenzie River, formation of the,
193. Its great advantages, 194.
Its future importance, 194
Mackerel rarely caught on the shores
of the United States, 209. The
mackerel fishery of the Dominion,
298. Exports of, 298
.m
/N/)/':.\
Ml lnvisli, Ml., (lovrimtr i>f llw
IIuiImiii lltiy ( '<)iti|miiyi lii^ imlii;
iiiiioH, idj. l.oiivcH llic country
iiiul ilift, idj
M.nl M'lvit'o, iin|ioi'litiii'c of the, l)c
twt'cti iMitopc niwl Atiii'iiL'it, a 17.
I'lituic nii|Movciii<'nts in the, iiS
Miii/i<, |iiimIiu'c III, in Oiitiiiio, 71)
M.in;ui, iil.inil nC (uiiml, li^tlu-ncN i)f,
JDl)
Miiitiliilniti, l.iikr, iSi. Mi<;«iiin|{ nf
its iiiitnc, iSi
M;initiilml«, now |iit>vina' of, i.|i
Muninc, linw iliii|<iiNOil «>!', Iiy (he
tiiinuis 111 Kinl IviviT, l^t)
Miiiinc, in)|Hirlinu'o ol tlu*, of
(iniail;), 0, iiXi, J<).|
Miiiitinic |>riivimTN, l»ai\lilt(Hnl, «lar-
iiij;, unil iilnUly nt iho sim taring;
]iii|<iil;\tiiin III tiic, in ciiso nC a war
with tl)o I'niti-il Stiiti-s, j(i.|, ^(15
1VI;iik(<t. want .il' i«, in tlio Noith-wcst
ti'iiiiiMv, iS(i
Mili>, 01 liall liroiil, stDiy of a, aiul a
Sioux, I Ji|
Militia ami liaiiuil ix'scivoof t'anaila,
1). 'I'lio ntiliti.i anil militia icsoivo,
JSd. Niinilii-i tutiictl out in 1802
ami 1S70, JS<»
Milli- l..»rs. I ai- lies, |vul of the oKl
iwuiH" loiito to Rol Kivi'f, !«)_;
Milton, \ isiount, on the Pacilic no-
nunion Kail way i|notoil, ioi, 202
Mineral riihes of the valley of the
SasUatehewan, 1 1» 1 . 1 'f the northern
jmrt* of l(riti>h North Anieriea,
li)^ Anil of the U-ll of eonntry
K'tween t)ntario anil Ue»l Kiver,
195, Ufb. Wealth of the country
north of l^rke Superior, 198, 203.
Auil of Nova Scotia, 208
Molehill mountains of the little
p»|ihir in ihc North-weM prairies,
1S6
NKW
Monli;nlni, Mari(uis of, tahlct lo, nl
*.>uelKe, IS
Montmorenci, l''alU of, 30
Montrenl, ilefenees of, aW>. Origin
of the name of, jHi, Its formii
nainc!«, 3i\2. rii|iulation of, in
i(t«M.) unit at incsent, aSj. Iih im-
portant siluatiiin, jSi. Xt'* Imilil-
in^^ mill pulilie works, 282, 2H{.
The Tuliuhu lliiilt;!- uiul chuivli of
Nl^lrc Dame, 28 j
Moose, S7
MiiMluitiM-s, plague of, in (he N'ortli-
west territory, i8(i, 1S7
Mules lehra-niarkol, their pnticncu
anil Kirength, 1,(4
Murray Kay, oKI MVltlenient of Scotch-
men at. Ji
Muskoka, I ake, nrennin|>of the niime,
S2. Itouly of, 55
Muskoka Kiver, 5(>
Inilinii
N AMI'S of towns, 50, 51.
lonj; names, 2<)(i
Nationality, (•lowth of n feeling; of,
in C'ana 'a, 244. Histinct typet
of national ehuracter in I'anaihi and
the Uniteil Slates, 345
Navy, commercial, of the Dominion,
2ii6. Its tonn;ij;e, 2o(>, 207. Its
importance, oircnsive ami defensive,
207
Nejjroes, settlement of, in i'nnnda,
9v>-iui. 'riieirschiNilsand scholars,
IOI. Men of superior intetli^enco
ainoiri; thcin, loj. Their farms,
New York, n^riculturnl statistics of,
com|Mn.\i with those of Canada,
84
New found Hud, importance of the
fishcrii" of, 2CM). The ciul lishiii}*
on the IkinkM of, 297. Admitlaiicv
wniix.
325
ly|ii"«
la mill
union,
its
L-nsivc,
NKW
<if, into the Ditniinion, 301. \u
nrcii and |M)|iuli«liiiii, 301. Iih ex-
piiitH anil ini|MiilH, 301, 302
N('w<«|iii|icr prvHH of (he Doniiiiiim,
aHK
Niaf>ura, l''ii||s i)f, X5. View of, liy
inooiili^lit, K6, K7. ('nU'ulaliuiis
ol till- inasHVH of water paHsin^ con-
stantly, 8S. I, una Islan<l, K<).
StoiivH of tin- (landers of, K9. Kc-
• ossiiin of tlif I'alis, i>i
Nipi^on, Lake, its t-xli-nt aixl livauty,
njK. Its litncss fill si-ltli-nicnt, n>S
Nurtli-wrst passam*, tin- tnir, found,
ao'j. 'I'hc pa!»Haj;r liy sea, itM ilis-
covci-y mill wort IiU-smicss, 303, 304.
Itut valiK- of that by laiul, 304
North-west Coinpany oppoKCN the
IliiiUon Kay Company, Imt linaliy
nnialf;aniales with it, 147, 14H. 'I'lic
Kritish Ainerican teriitory little
known until recently, 174. {'olity
of the lliiiKon May Conipany re-
tipectin({ it, 174. Its value ami
inipoiiatice, 175. The three jjreat
sections of the country, 176. Its
width anil extent, 17(1. llscliniatc
mill soil, 176, 177. I'lohaMe
causes of the mildness of winter
And of the heat of summer, 177.
Water coininunicatioii, 178-i.Sa.
Advant!i);es of the prairie lands for
Kteani-farniin^, slock diteedin^, mid
railway inakin^;, 1S4, 1X5. Dis-
ndvanta^es of, and olijcclions to,
the country, |S(). Its future pros
|)crity after the coiistrut tion of the
Pncihc Dominion railway, |i>S
Nova Scotia incorporated with the
Dominion, 10. The ancient Acadie,
207. Its area, iialudiiij,' (.'ape
Kreton, 207. Its lieniity and fer-
tility, 207, 208. Its coal-fields,
208. Its abundance of harbours,
«»rr
20K. Railway across, 217. The
fine salmon streams nf, 298. Value
of the fisheries of, 29S. Kxpul-
nion uf the I'lcnch riuui Aaidie,
301
O'DONOCIIUK, Hon. W. H.,
represents the l''enian jiarty
in the \ivi\ River insiiirection, I'i3.
At the battle of Winnipeg', I<i5
( )jMlensiiiir^;h, American city of, its
pro|rress compared with that of the
Canadian town of rrescott, 292
Ojibways, selllemeiit of, at the town
of Sarnia, III. An Djibway
church and divine service, 112
Oil, whale, in the Culf of SI. I41W
reiue, 297. Seal, 297. *."o<l, 298.
The mineral oils of ('aiada, 93.
Value and produce of the crude
mineral oil, 9O. Refining it, 96
( >iilaiio, l.aKe, 2S3
Ontario, province of, its wheat, and
excellence of the, J. Increasi- of
its priNlucc in ten years, 70. Slock
farms of, 79. Indian com (;iown
in, 79. Aftricullural statistics of,
compared with those of New York,
82, 83. Lord Sydenham's account
of the province of, 279. Its busy
nnd pros|)erous condition, 283.
Trice of building laridin, 283. lis
public and private buildings, 2S3.
Its population, 284. The Uni-
versity Ituildings, 284. The golden-
haired women of, and their l)eauty,
2S4. Three-feet six inches gauge
of railways in, 305. Cost of these
lines, 305
Orchards of Canada, 5
Orillia, town of. 50
( (rleans, Me of, 12. NVoikIs of the, I4
Ottawa, capital city uf, 45. The
336
INDkX.
OTT
former Bytown, 45. Streets and
buildings of, 46
Ottawa, river-valley of the, the prin-
cipal seat of the lumber-trade, 43.
The river, 43. Settlements on its
banks, 43, 44. Its picturesqueness,
44
PACIFIC RAILROAD, United
States Northern, course of the,
137, 197-205. See Railways
Palliser, Captain, his Report on the
valley of the Saskatchewan quoted,
191
Parliament House at Quebec, 13.
At Ottawa, 283
Parry's Sound, settlers at, 60
Partridges, 57
Paul, the Saulteaux Indian, 134
«3S
Paul, M., chief (f the Hurons, settled
at Lorette, 18
Paul's, St., town of, 123. The St.
Paul and Pacific railway, 124
Peace River, fertility of the valley of
the, 193. Plaster quarries in the
193. Gold in the, 194
Pears of Canada, 76
Peau River, fertility of the valley of
the, 193
Pembina, Fort, 141. Mr. McDou-
gall at, 141
People of Canada, 5, 6
Peterborough, North, townships of,
open for settlement, 69
Petrolea, town of, 93. Mode of
working the oil wells at, 93
Petroleum springs in the north, 193.
In the valley of the Peace River,
193
Pigs, the settler's, 65. The breed
of, in Canada, 77
Pithole, the petrolea district of, 93
PUC
Plumbago in the valley of the Peace
River, 193
Pomme-de-Tcrre, city of, 127. The
last sign of settlement at, 128
Population of Canada, 5, 6. In
1841, 1852, 1861, and in 1870, 7.
Of the tity of Quebec, 16. Of
Toronto, 284. Of Hamilton, 285.
Of London the Little, 286. Of
Prince Edward Island, 301. Of
Newfoundland, 301. Of British
Columbia, 303
Potatoes of Canada, 75
Poultry, the settler's, 65
Prairies, the, journey over, 123-144.
Swedish settlers on, 124. Shanty
inns on the roadside, 125. A
Slipper at one, 126, 135. Prairie
fires, 131, 132. Sunset in, 132,
140. An encampment in, 134.
A camp fire in, 135. A night
in, 136. Sunrise in, 137.
Thieves in, 138. A prairie ad-
venture, 139. Weather in, 140.
A celestial spectacle in, 141,
142. The prairies west of the
Rocky Mountains, 146. Advan-
tages of the wild prairie lands
beyond all other countries in the
world, 184, 185. Herds of wild
buffalo on, 185. Pastures of, 185
Prescott, Canadian town of, its
progress compared with tiiat of the
American city of Ogden.>burgh,
292
Primogeniture, law of, abolished in
Canada, 281
Prince Edward Island, admittance
of, into the Dominion, 301. Its
fisheries and harlx>urs, 301. Its
soil and climate, 301. Its area
and population, 301. Fcoplu of,
301
Puce, La, Falls uf, 25
INDEX,
327
nittance
I. Ite
I. Its
ts area
pItt of,
QUE
QUEBEC, city of, 12. River
flowing at her feet, 12. Ori-
gin of the name, 12. Lines of the
citadel, 13. Streets and public
buildings, 13. Defences, 15, 266.
Convent of the Ursuline.-;, 15.
Tablet to Montcalm, 15. Popula-
tion, 16. Trade, 16. Nearness of
the city to Liverpool, 16. Means
of constnicting docks, 16. Reauty
of the environs, 16. The Falls of
Montmorenci, 20. Local legisla-
ture of, 22. Picture attributed to
Vandyke in the cathedral of, 288
Quebec, province of, townships of,
open for settlement, 69. Stock
farms of, 79. Broad liberties
accorded to the French in common
with our American colonies, 263.
Loyalty of our French subjects,
263. Causes of defection from the
Roman Catholic church in, 288.
Wooden railways in, 305
Quecnslown Heights, victory of, 262
RACES and the turf, love of the
Canadians for, 291. Meetings
in Ontario, 242
Railways, ease with which they can
l>e laid down on the prairies of the
North-west, 185, Future develop-
ment of branch lines, 185. A
practicable railway route to the
Pacific, 197, The air-line to
China, 199. Its importance to the
English empire, 199. Favourable
conditions of the Atlantic and Paci-
fic termini and of the course of the
line, 201. Value of the country
traversed by it, 203. Imperial
policy concemerl in it, 203. Pro-
posals for its execution without
delay, 204. Reasons which de-
RED
mand its construction and ensure
its success, 204. Importance of
the inter-continental communica-
tion, 217. Air-line from Liverpool
to St. Louis and to New Orleans,
304. Length of line from Mont-
real to the Pacific, 304. Ijinds
granted to railway companies in
the United States, 304. Railway
enterprise in Canada, 304, 305.
Wooden railways in Quebec, 305.
The three-feet-six guage in Ontario,
305
Rainy Lake, communication through
the, 180. Part of the old canoe
route to Red River, 195
Rainy River, fertility and beauty of
the banks of the, 180, 195, 196
Rebellion of 1837, one of the chief
causes of the, 289
Reciprocity Treaty, object of the
repeal of the, on the part of the
United States, 242. Alienation of
friendly feeling for the States from
this time, 242. Further causes of
distrust in Canada, 243
Red River, Battle of, 147
Retl River, settlement at, 128. The
stream, 1 33. Junction of the Goose
River with it, 137. Confluence of the
Assiniboine with it, 143, 180. Ac-
count of the Red River revolt, 145,
153. Exceptional state of the coun-
try, 145. Peculiarities of the farmers
of, 149. Dwelling-houses of the
old settlers, 149. Scarcity of
timl)er in the settlement, 149, 150.
Abundance of limestone at, 150.
Brick-clay but no brick-kiln at,
150. Character of the settlers, 150.
Thfir exploits, 151. Commence-
ment of the revolt, 153. Inp^-
dients of the quarrel, 155-157.
The initial and chief blunder in the
'^
3*8
INDEX.
REL
aflair, 157. Other mistakes, 159.
Colonel Dennis authorised to com-
mence civil war, 160. Mistakes
of the Canadian or loyal party,
161. The prime movers, 163.
Kiel recognised as president, 164.
Demonstration of the Kildonan
army, 165. Murder of Thomas
Scott, 167. Kiel's proclamation,
170. End of the revolt, 171.
Present state of the settlement,
172. Its future importance, 173.
Account of the country 1,000 miles
to the west of Ked Kiver, 176.
Climate at Red Kiver, 177, 178.
Facts respecting the country, 181.
Marvellous fertility of the soil, 183.
(Objections to the country, 186-188.
Length and severity of the winter
in, 1 86, 1 89, 1 90. Ix)w temperatures
at, 189, 190. Koute from Lake
Superior to Red Kiver, 195. The
Hudson Hay Company's trails, 195.
Kase with which the Ked Kiver
coinitry could be invaded from the
Unitetl Slates, 266. Hill of Rights
drawn up by the Rebel Convention,
308
Religion in the backwoods of Canada,
290. Divine service at a Methodist
Chapel at Portage du Fort, 290,
291. The preacher's remonstrance
against the views of Bishop Colenso,
291
Riel, Louis, account of, 163. His
title of the 'Little Napoleon,' 163.
Recognised as president of the pro-
visional committee, 164. His fatal
mistake in Scott's death, 168. His
proclamation to the people of the
North-west, 1 70. His disapi^ear-
ance, 171
Rifle shooting natural to every Cana-
dian, 258. Matches in rifle prac-
SAR
tice in 1869, 258. A match at
Ottawa, 258
Robertson-Ross, Colonel P., his Re-
port on the present military condi-
tion of Canada quoted, 257. And
on the preparations for self-defence
in the event of war, 260
Rocky Mountains, lieds of lignite
coal on the eastern slojies of the,
200. The V'cllow-head or Leather-
head Pass, and the Dominion Pa-
cific Railway, 201. Lord Milton
on the practicability of the railway
quoted, 201, 202
Roman Catholic College at Quebec,
13. The Roman Catholic Church
at Red River, excitement caused
by the influence of the priests of
the, 169. Defections from the
Church in Quebec, 288
Rousseau, Lake, its picturesqueness,
56. Islands of, 56
Russia, war-])ower and population of,
271
Rye, Miss, her plan for assisting emi-
gration of healthy orphan girls, 235
SAGUKNAY RIVKR, junction
of the, with the St. Lawrence
at Tadousac, 34. Magnificent
scenery of the, 35
.Salmon fishery of the Dominion, 298.
The salmon streams of Nova Scotia,
298
Salt, produce of, at Goderich, 97.
The salt s|)riiigs, 97. Extent of
the salt deposit, 98
Salt Lake City, causes of recent de-
fection from the Mormon church
in, 288, 289
Sandficid, Port, a spot on Lake St.
Joseph christened, 59, 60
Samia, settlement of Ojibways out-
side the town of. III
IXDEX.
329
: emi-
.235
St.
out-
SAS
Saskatchewan, valley of t lie, its ferti-
lity and beauty, 146. Kisc and fall
of the river, 178. Hedsofcoal <in
the banks of the, 179. Herds of
wild buflfalo in the valley of the,
185. The ' Fertile Belt ' of various
travellers, 190. Captain Palliser's
report of the country, 191. Report
prepared for the New York Cham-
ber of Commerce quoted, 191. Its
extent, 192. Measureless extent of
the coal-fields of the valley, 200
Saulteaux Indian, a pure one, 134.
The Saulteaux round Red River
Settlement, 152
Schultz, Dr., parly of loyalists, or the
Canadian party, in his hou>e in
Winnipeg, 161. Taken prisoner
by the reliels, with his men, 162.
Escapes from |)rison, 162
Scotch settlers on Ke<l River, 148
Scott, Thomas, offences charged
against him, 166. Trie<l by court
martial and shot, 167
Seal fishery of the Gulf of St. Law-
rence, 297. And of Labrador, 302
Seaton, Lord, his establishment of a
numl>er of endowed rcciorie-. in
Upper Canada, 290
Seine River, water communication
through the, 180
Selkirk, Lord, his settlement of Scotch
families at Red River, 147
Sentry-l)oxes at Montreal, story of
the, 276
Settler, his selection of a i>ieccof land,
60. His mode of procee<ling, 61.
His first house, 63. His essentials,
64. His progress, 64, 65. Hi>
crops, 65. Pleasure and ease of a
journey to the Red River, 143. The
farmer's licst nnxlc of proceeding,
143. Settlements on Retl River
and on the Assinilx)inc, 148, 149.
STE
Crops of an old Scotch settler at
Red River, 182. Another settler's
first crop, 182. Advantages of the
wild prairie lands for steam-farm-
ing, stock-raising, and railway
making, 184, 185. Statistics of
settlers in various parts of Canada
in 1868, 221. The Hon. Mr. Car-
ling's < tatistics of immigration, 222,
223. Rate of wages, 224. Mr.
Conolly's statement, 225, 226.
Cost of living, 226, 227. Advan-
tages to the settler in Canada, 228,
229. Advice to immigrant farmers,
231, 232. Suggestions to intending
settlers, 232. Modes of settlement,
233. Laws respecting free-grant
lands, 280, 281. See F!»'.(Ung in-
terest ; Immigration
Sewin{^-machines manufactured iit
Hamilton, 285
Shebandowan, Lake, part of the old
canoe route to Red River, 195
Sheep, breed of, in Canada, 77
Simcoe, Lake, settlement on, 49.
Passage over, 50
Sioux Indians, their long words, 296.
Story of a Sioux warrior and a
Metis, 129
Sleighing in a hogshead, 66
.Smith, .Mr. Donald, his efforts to save
Thomas Scott, 1 67
Snake-fe!ices in Canada, 231
Soil of Red River, 181, 182
.'spectacle, a celestial, in the prairie,
14'. 142
."spragge, Mr. \V., hi-. Rejinrt on the
condition of the Canadian Indians,
114
Steamlwat travelling in Canada, ad-
vantages of, 277. The ocean lines
of steamers lx:twecn Kurope and
North America. 306. The sum-
mer and wniicr port-., 306
.130
INDEX.
STI
Stimulantii, why not needed in the
United States, 247
Stock, live, excellence of the, in
Canada, 77. Stock farms, 79
Stock-breeding, advantages of the
prairies of the North-west for, 185.
As a business in Canada, 232
Sturgeon Lake, fitness of the land
near, for cultivation, 198
Sulphur in the valley of the Teace
River, 193
Sunset on the prairie, 132
Superior, I^ake, route from, to Red
River, 195. Country north of the,
«97
Swamps, ague-breeding, in the North-
west territory, 186
TACIlfi, Dr., Bishop of St. Bo-
niface, his influence among the
French of Red River, 169. His
services to the cause of order, 169.
His description of Lake Athabxsca,
«93
Tadousac, Champlain's chapel at, 34.
Junction of the Saguenay with the
St. Lawrence at, 34
Tait, Mr., his wagons, 132-133. A
journey to Fort Garry in them, 133
Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, route
from, to Red River, 195
Timber, scarcity of, in the North-
west territory, 186. Trees suitable
for Re<l River, 188. The timber
of the country lietween Lake Supe-
rior and Red River, its value and
importance, 196. On the streams
flowing towards Rainy I^ke, 197.
Value and importance of that of
New Brunswick, 209
Tin, mines of, discovered in Nova
Scotia, 208
UNI
To-l)oggons and to-l)Oggonning in
Canada in winter, 237
Tonnage of the Dominion, 206, 207.
Stt Maritime provinces ; Navy,
Commercial.
Toronto, formerly Little York, 51.
Meaning of the name Toronto, 51.
Its dignity and importance, 51.
Nearer to Liverpool than New
York, 305
Tourment, Cape, visit to, 25
Travelling to Red River, routes for,
146, 147
Trinity, Cape, scenery at, 35
Trout, 58
Turnips raised in Can.ula compared
with those of New York, 84
UNITED STATES, agricultural
statistics of, compared with
those of Canada, 81-83. Terms
of the fishery convention of 18 18,
212. Resumption of the rights of
the Dominion, 211, 212. Seizures
of American vessels by the Cana-
dian marine police, 213. Griev-
ance in consequence, 213. Presi-
dent Grant's complaint in his
Message, 214. Effect in the Do-
minion of the abrogation of the
Reciprocity Treaty, 214. Demands
of the Dominion in return for the
fishing privileges, 215. Wages in
Candda as compared with those of
the States, 226. Chances of an-
nexation of Canada to the States,
240-243,248. Alienation of friendly
feeling dating from the abrogation
of the Reciprocal Treaty, 242. The
people of the .States a distinct type
from those of Canada, 245. The
American people ceasing to liecome
INDEX.
33»
UNI
ml to-lioggonning in
inter, 237
e Dominion, 206, 207.
>e provinces ; Navy,
erly Little York, 51.
the name Toronto, 51.
and importance, 51.
Liverpool than New
>e, visit to, 25
Red River, routes for,
scenery at, 35
I in Canada compared
f New \ork, 84
STATES, agricultural
;s of, compared with
nada, 81-83. Terms
y convention of 1818,
iplion of the rights of
n, 211, 212. Seizures
vessels l)y the Cana-
jTolice, 213. Griev-
efjuence, 213. Presi-
complaint in his
Effect in the Do-
le abrogation of the
rcaty, 214. Demands
ion in return for the
gcs, 215. Wages in
mparcti with those of
!6. Chances of an-
anada to the States,
Alienation of friendly
from tlie abrogation
al Treaty, 242. The
States a distinct type
Canada, 245. The
Ic ceasing to liecome
VAN
Anglo-Saxon or luiglish, 246. Ef-
fect of the climate in this direction,
247. Review of the question of
annexation, 249. Possible future
danger to the Republic by the ad-
mission of Canada, 249. Failure
of the invasion of Canada in 181 2-
14, 262. Value of Canada for
or against England in cxse of a
war between her and the States,
264, 268. Risks in attempting an-
nexation of Canada, 268, 269.
\Var-|X)wer and population of the
United States, 271. Its public
debt as compare<l with that of
Canada, per head, 281. I^nds
grante«l by the States to railway
companies, 304
VANCOUVER'S ISLAND, ad-
mittance of, into the Dominion,
301. Its climate and fertility, 303.
Capt. Vancouver's account of it,
303
Vandyke, picture attributed to, in
Quebec cathedral, 288
Vegetables and roots of Canada, 75
Victoria County, townships of, open
for settlement, 69
Victuallersville, abandonment of, 51
Ville Marie, a former name of Mont-
real, 282
WAGES, rate of, in the Domi-
nion, 224, 225. As com-
pared with those of the Uniteil
States, 226
Waterfall, a splendid, 29. Of the
Chaudierc, 17. Of Montmorenci,
20.
West Isles, fisheries of the, 207
YOU
Windigoostigan, Lake, part of the
old canoe route to Red River, 195
Winepegoos, Lake, 181
Winter, length and severity of the, in
the Red River Settlement, 186
Whale-fisheries of Behring's Straits,
fished by Americans, 194. Of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, 296
Wheat, increase of the produce of, in
Canada during ten years, 70. Its
average yield in Canada, 80. Ex-
cellence of that grown near Toronto,
80. Crops of, in Dritish N«)rth-
westem America, 177. Ami at
RctI River Settlement, 182. Pericxl
in which it ripens in the Fertile
Belt, 294
White fish, 58
Wine, grapes grown for, 77
Winnipeg, Lake, its height al)ove the
sea, 1 77. Fctl by the Saskatchewan,
'78» 179. Its future value for
communication, 179. Its area,
179. Its advantages and disadvan-
tages, 179. Its name, l8l
Winnipeg River, its value and import-
ance, 179, 180
Winnipeg, town of, 143, 152. Trails
from, to the West, 146. Houses
of, 152. Population of, 152. Con-
vention of Representatives at, 164.
Battle of, 164-166
Women, married, laws respecting the
property of, 281. The type of
l)eauty of those of Canada, 284
Woo<ls, Lake of the, communication
through the, 180. Part of the oM
canoe route to Red River, 195.
Its fitness for cultivation, 198
Y
OUNG, Rev. George, his efforts
to save Thomas .Scott, 167
LONDON : TRINTBD BV
SrOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STRBKT SQIIARB
AND PARLIAMBNT STRERT
L