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■"": 1

f. fr^^

^- ?. J. I

THE BEGINNINGS

OF THE

St Ldwtence J^oute

JItihur Wdr, B.JIp.Sc.

A LECTURE DELIVERED BEFORE THE SCIENCE

STUDENTS OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY.

JANUARY. 1899.

CONTAINING MUCH MATTER HITHERTO
f UNPUBLISHED.

VlAM'^

w- /»

TORONTO

BIGGAR, SAMUEL & CO.
1899.

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." ■',^:■ i ■ ■y.-r^^.:r.
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■1

THE BEGINNINGS

OF THE

ST. LAWRENCE ROUTE.'

(rF.FKINTHO I-R0.\! the CANADIAN ENGINIiEk).

There is a river which contains more salt water than
fresh, which has a seaport almost a thousand miles from
any ocean, a ri\er that twice in the day flows backwards.
At one season it affords navigation to the largest vessels,
and at another it has upborne upon its crystal surface a
train of loaded cars, with busy locomotives. It flows past
virgin woodland, past cultivated fields, and past cities, is
sentinelled for hundreds of miles by the oldest mountains
in the world, expands into vast lakes, swept by sudden
storms, and contracts in narrow gorges, toothed with
rock, where its wrath and strife are titanic. It pene-
trates a continent like a wedge, and makes a maritime
people where the phenomenon of the tides is wanting. It
has been the haunt of pirates, of smugglers, the route of
heroes and of savages, the scene of wreck and the arena
of glory. It is to the Canadian what the Tiber is to the
Roman, the Nile to the Egyptian, the Rhine to the
German; for that river is the St. Lawrence.

The St. Lawrence gives the Province of Quebec a sea-
coast of 2,500 milts or 500 miles more than that of England.
From theStraitsofBelleisleto Duluthit has a length of 2,384
statute miles. Montreal, at the head of ocean navigation,
is 986 miles from Belleisle, and the river is salt as high as
St. Thomas, 766 miles from the ocean, while the tides are
regular as high as Three Rivers. The great lake system
with connecting waterways has an area of 98,000 square
miles, a coast of 2,1 12 miles and the basin area of the system
's 330,000 square miles, a generally fertile country cap-

*Abridgecl by the author, Arthur Weir, B.Sc, from a lecture delivereiJ
before the Applied Science students of McGill University, Montreal, January, 1899.

able of accommodating 108,500,000 inhabitants if as
densely populated as the United Kingdom. From the
ocean to Quebec the river varies from seventy to ten miles
in width* with a proportionate depth. It is, however,
dotted with reels and islands and subject to fluctuating
currents and summer fogs, which render necessary the
present magnificent system of lighthouses, sirens and
buoys. From Quebec to jVIontreal the river is rarely less
than two miles in width, and its depth is never less than
thirty feet, except where a score of shoals aggregating
fifty miles in length have had to be dredged, giving at
present a navigable channel of 27.5 feet.

The current of the river is usually gentle, but in its
descent of 235 feet from Lake Ontario it traverses a
series of steps creating about forty miles of rapids, which
have had to be overcome by the construction of some
seventy odd miles of canals. The continuity of navigation
on the great lakes is interrupted by the Niagara Falls, to
overcome which a canal nearly 28 miles long has been
constructed, and by the Sault Ste. Marie, where there is a
canal, short, but otherwise on a gigantic scale, to accom-
modate vessels almost as large as those that brave the
tumult of the Atlantic.

The St. Lawrence route in whole or in part is the
natural outlet of the interior of the continent to the Atlantic
seaboard. Its headwaters are equi-distant between the
Atlantic and the Pacific, and engineering work of an
easy nature might render continuous navigation possible
from the foot of the Rockies to Montreal. The old canoe
route by way of Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, French
River, Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa, while studded with
difficulties, is even shorter than the Great Lake and St.
Lawrence route for traffic originating west of Lake
Huron, but would use the St. Lawrence from the mouth
of the Ottawa downwards. A short distance below Mont-
real the Richelieu enters the St. Lawrence, giving access
to Lake Champlain and the Hudson Valley, and to New
York, the distance from Montreal to the United States
metropolis being 457 miles by this route, of which 372
miles would be natural navigation. The present objections
to the St. Lawrence route are several. In the first place
there is no Canadian lake harbor sufficiently equipped or
deep enough to compete for trade with the United States
lake ports, many of which have been deepened at large

expense. Secondly, the river cannot be said to be open
more than seven or eight months in iht year. And thirdly,
the existence of tolls militates against the natural advantages
of the route. The competition of railroad's and of the P2rie
Ci-nal, which is free of toils, renders the advantage of the St.
Lawrence route almost useless to stay the tide of traftic
by way of the United States. Of course, the Erie Canal is
not navigable in winter.

Champlain's escapade (m the lake named after him, in
which he shot an Iroquois chief, closed the St. Lawrence
against the French until 1653, and in that year it was open
only for a short time.

In Champlain's day, Tadousac was the leadjjig harbor
of Canada, subsequently being displaced by Quebec an(^
then by Montreal, for it is a rule of trade that it will ever
go to the head of navigation.

During the French regime the St. Lawrence was the
centre and not the boundary of Canada. Her trappers had
overrun the country south to the Gulf of Mexico, had
skirted the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, and d'Iberville
had performed feats of valor against the British posts on
Hudson's Bay. Lake Mistassini was known, and there
was scarcely a pellucid stream west of the AUeghanies
which had not rippled to the paddle of the courier de bois.
The trade of Canada was chiefly in furs, and but for the
expenditures from the military chest the country would
have been in a state of chronic bankruptcy. Foreign trade
was prohibited, and anyone engaged in it was treated as a
pirate. Huguenots were forced to leave the country
every fall, the more important trades were always in the
hands of a monopoly, prices of commodities were fixed by
Government officials ; as also were freight rates. Non-
resident merchants were not permitted to trade with the
Indians, and could do business only below Quebec, and
then only during three months of the year. But there was
nevertheless some traffic in the country. The fur trade
just before the outbreak of the war of the Conquest
averaged from 200,000 to 300,000 livres per annum, and in
1615 there were, according to the Jesuit Biard, fully 500
French ships engaged in the fur, whale and codfish trade.
Licenses for the fur trade were ultimately issued, costing
from 500 to 1,000 livres at first hand, and good for one
canoe. In 1754 the trade with the western posts amounted
to 90 canoes. According to Lt. Gov. Miles the beaver

trade never exceeded £ 140,000 stg. per annum, and it was
not half that in 1754 and 1755. In 1688 Canada produced
101,000 bushels of wheat, increased by 1734 to 738,000
bushels. The exports of wheat at the latter period were
about 60,000 bushels. At the close of the French period
the exports were still only raw materials, furs of all kinds,
porpoise oil, cod, s£.lmon, eels, lumber, and such like, while
even bacon and flour were imported, the imports amounting
to about 8,000,000 livres, against 2,500,000 of exports. Dur-
ing '759 the requirements of the colonists were met by
!2,ooo tons of shipping, although they were in the throes of
war and depending almost entirely upon external support.
I may here remark that these figures are not entirely
reliable. The science of statistics did not come to any-
thing like perfection in Canada until after Confederation.
The imports of 1765 are placed by a memorial of the time
at 4,000,000 livres and the exports at 1,500,000. I give
the figures I find to hand, merely because they will in a
measure give some idea of the early trade via the St.
Lawrence.

The intendant Talon, to whom all honor, came to
Canada in 1665 and may be looked upon as the father of
commerce in Canada. He established a brewery that the
money the people spent on liquor might at least be kept at
home. In 1667 he built the first Canadian Ixiilt ship at
Quebec, the beginning of a very important trade, carried
to particular extent in the Maritime F'rovinces. This
ship he sent to the West Indies to open a trade with those
islands. It carried out salt cod, pease, salmon, eels, fish
oil, staves and planks, and brought back sugar. Later,
wheat was exported, of which 54,000 bushels were sent out
in 1685. Attempts were also made to establish an export
trade to France, exclusive of peltry. The season of navi-
gation on the St. Lawrence has been placed at about eight
months. During the French regime it was only four
months, the ships from France arriving in July, August and
September, and sailing agam in November. The duration
of a voyage in those days was uncertain. The Jesuits
Biard and Masse were four months between France and
Canada, from January to May, Talon himself was 117
days en route, and de Levis was to be congratulated in
crossing the ferry in 56 days in 1756. Sometimes the
shipo were blown back to France after sighting America,

as was de la Roche in 1598; sometimes they became
plaf^ue stricken, as was the " Riibis" in 1740 ; and wrecks
were freriuent, that of ''la Providence;" in ijiS.'Me Chameau"
in 1725, " riilepliant " in 1729, the " Beaiiharnois "in 1731,
" la Trinite " in 1752, and the " Chamelion " in 1753. The
ships of the day were of very small tonna^'e. Chan.plain
crossed in one of 12 tons. One could wash in the sea
from the deck of the vessel of " la Roche."

The cost of a passage m one of these ships was 33
livres in 1664, increased to 40 livres by 1672. In 1740
freight charges were 25 francs per ton. Every ship coming
to Canada from France, and it might come only from a
French port, had to conform to the tariffof prices in sell-
ing its cargo, had to bring out, if desired, one immigrant
for every ton of its burden, refrain from trade with the
Indians, and carry a certa'n proportion of salt, iron and
coal, although the St. Maurice forges were in operation
and the outcrops of coal in Acadia were utilized by the
French in that district. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence
to Ouebec during the French regime there was not a single
friendly light to guide tlie mariner through the sometimes
tortuous channels. And the Gouffre and the Traverse,
stiJl somewhat boisterous at certain stages of the tide, were
then as dangerous as the maelstrom. These once danger-
ous spots, a little below Quebec, have now been largely
silted in, and are of small consequence to vessels of to-day.
In the days of sailing vessels, however, many a wreck took
place there and the first buoying of the St. Lawrence was
done at the Traverse.

As already stated, the lower portion of the St. Law-
rence is a seacoast with all the dangers of one ; and it was
early charted. There is a chart of the ri\er in the
Archives Department at Ottawa, bearing date 1695. ^t
was, however, between 1717 and 1737 that the charting of
the St. Lawrence was first developed to any extent. In
1723, I'Hermite, the father of charting on the river, began
his labors. He and Richardiere, harbor master at Quebec,
took soundings in the Gulf and river, and in 1737 the
latter was busy cutting landmarks for the mariner. In the
same year was first lit the fire tower of Louisburg, the
only beacon that flamed along those shores for maritime
purposes during the French regime. In passing, I may
mention that the Indians in early times in crossing from

Cape North to Newfoundland and back were wont to lif^lit
beacons upon that lowering mass, which they called
Sakpt;e(liah or Smoky Point in consequence.

Above Quebec there were no impediments to the
vessels of the day, as far as Montreal, although Jacques
Cartier ran aground in Lake St. Peter. The usual means
of conveyance was by canoe and subsequently by rude
batteaux, which were days and sometimes weeks upon the
trip. The usual duration of a voyage between Queliec
and Montreal was six days, Three Rivers being the mid-
way point. It was customary to land each night and
billet upon some seignory. The luxurious Bigot had a
most suuiptuous barge with silken awnings when he made
his customary visits to the future metropolis.

The only important engineering work begun in
connection wit' the St. Lawrence route during the I'rench
regime was the attempt to construct a canal between
Montreal and Lachine, to overcome the Sault St. Louis or
Lachine Rapids. In 1700 a contract was signed by Dol-
lier du Casson on the one part and Sieur de Catalogue on
the other to construct a canal some twelve hundred feet
long and twelve feet wide from Lachine to connect with
a little lake, called St. Pierre, which in turr^ connected
with two streams, one of which ran through what is now
Craig street. The work was interrupted in 1701 by the
death of Du Casson, and although many attempts were
made to complete it, the Seminary spending some 20,000
francs in work begun in 1717, a heavy rock cutting that
was encountered finally brought all operations to a stand-
still.

It may be interesting to remark in view of the
present endeavor to find a winter outlet for the St. Law-
rence that during the French regime the harl)or of Bic was
designed to be improved and fortified to make it what
Louisburg was to Acadia and what Halifax is to-day, a
naval depot and winter port for trade. French shipping
on the great lakes began as we all know with the journey of
LaSalle, who built a vessel to navigate Lake Ontario, left
it at the upper end of the lake, passed Niagara and on Lake
Erie built the " Griffon " in 1679. She made one trip into
Lake Michigan, and was lost on her return journey. As
early as 1700 there were two or three brigantines on Lake
Ontario, and in 1756 from six to ten schooners and brigs,
as well as a number of large batteaux.

•3

I will close this sketch of the French regime by
remarking that the priesthood, who do all things ciet ently
and in order, had a series of regulations regarding travel
which read rjuaintly to-day. They were to tuck up their
robe on getting into a canoe, and were not to wear their
shoes or stockings, though they might don these when
portaging. Above all, they were to be careful that they
took no sand into ihe canoe upon their feet and that the
brim of their hat should not annoy the savages, an item
which alight bear quotation to-day in theatres, although
the alternative that they should wear their nightcaps
because there is no such thing as impropriety among
savages, might be asking too much of the ladies.

The first canals of Canada were constructed for mili-
tary purposes, by the royal engineers. They v.'ere the
direct result of the American Revolution. During this
war there were about six thousand troops in ihe Great-
lake region who depended upon Montreal for supplies, no
fewer than 670 boats being required to transport provisions
in six months. These batte'iux sailed in brigades of ten
or a dozen to aid one another .n surmounting the sluicing
cataracts of the upper St. Lawrence, particularly the Long
Sault, which required an entire day to ascend. This was
an object lesson not lost upon the authorities, and im-
provements were begun at these rapids in 1779 by Captain
Tvviss, R.E. The first canal was begun at Coteau du Lac,
the first plan being to make the lock walls of timber, but
they were subsequently made of masonry. It was begun
in 1779 and completed by 25th October, 17S0, with three
locks and iron flood gates. The locks were forty feet long,
six feet wide and less than thirty inches of water covered
the sills. It would have been useless to make them deeper
without undertaking a much greater length of canal. Mr.
de Longueuil, who had built a mill a little above the
Cascades, had thereby somewhat improved navigation, but
Captain Twiss further improved tlie canal here, which
■ivas designed merely to overcome the current, and he was
shrewd enough to make Mr. de Longueuil <' jfray part of
the expense. In 1781 work was begun on canals at the
Cascades and Cedars, and the Split Rock channel was
deepened. Cornish miners were employed upon the vari-
ous rock cuttings and blasting work, vvhich was carried on
in various perilous places throughout the series of
rapid^, dangerous rocks being blown to atoms. The

Cascades Canal was at Cascades Point, where a shallow
and rapid channel discharges from the St. Lawrence into
the Ottawa, known as Les FauciHc'^, between the main
river and Ileie Moyne. It was a b?tteau canal with two
locks, and about 200 yards long. The Split Rock Canal
was at a point where the current is greatly accelerated by
the projection into the stieain of Point an Buisson, on the
southern bank. The remains of tliis lock are still to be seen.

These canals were all batteau canals. The batteau
had about the dimensions of the Venetian gondola, but
there the reseuiblance ended. It was built of pine wood,
about 5A feet beam, 35 feet long; was flat bottomed,
pointed at both ends, and drew very little water. A bat-
teau containing 25 persons, their baggage and 25 barrels
of flour, is said by a traveler of the time to have drawn only
eight inches. But this must have been a very large bat-
teau, as the average batteau load was 30 barrels of flour
and the crew of four or five meii. When these canals
were constructed the annual traffic on the upper St.
Lawrence to Carieton Island amounted to from 240 to 320
batteaux. On the completion of the Coteau du Lac Canal,
Twiss, with *^he cordial consent of the merchants, imposed
a toll of ten shillings currency per batteau, increased to
twenty-five shillings when the series of canals was com-
pleted- Ten barrels of flour being reckoned as a ton, we
find that the early canal tolls were ^1.66 per ton. The
present rate on the Beauharnois Canal, which replaces
these canals, is $0,15 per ton.

The canals remained in th's condition until 1800, after
;he formation of Uppf^r Canada, which took place in 17-33.
The effect of the improvement in the rapids is well shown
by the toll receipts, although we must not forget that Upper
Canada was being rapidly populated by exiled United
Empire Loyalists. In 1781 seme 263 batteaux, two
canoes and one boat used the Coteau Canal. The tolls
for a time declined, probably because no ships were per-
mitted upon the Great Lakes except the King's vessels,
but subsequently increased and in 1799 Vv^eie double what
they had been in 1795. By iSoo the tral c was so great
that improvements were demanded, and although to detail
ther.e here is to trespas" upon our third period, it may be
well to do so and complete the history of canals at this
point prior to the Union. In 1800, Col. Gother Mann pro-
posed to increase the capacity of these canals. The

Coteau Canal was to be widened to 9^ feet in the lock
gates, the lock itself to be widened four feet and the canal
prism two feet. This would make the locks ten feet wide,
and the dimensions are from the report of our Archivist,
although Mr. Keefei in his admirable monograph on the
canals of Canada states that they were enlarged to twelve
feet. So also the two differ as to the length of the locks
which Mr. Keefer places at no feet and Dr. Brymner at
120 feet, the first probably allowing for the opening of the
gates. Col. Mann proposed to replace Mill rapid and
Cascades canals by one canal across a neck of land from
the St. Lawrence to the Ottawa about 900 yards above the
Cascades, and 300 yards wide. His suggestions were
accepted and work was commenced, the work bemg com-
pleted by 1805. Old documents enable us to estimate the
depth of the enlarged canals at 3^ feet, and Mr. Keefer
places theni at four feet. Rock cutting was here encount-
ered, the first of importance since the ill-fated French
Lachine Canal.

The Durham boat was introduced after the war of
1 81 2, and compared with its predecessors it was a levia-
than. How the habitant must have swelled with pride to
see a ship ascend the St. Lawrence with ten times the
capacity of the early batteau. The Durham boat was flat
bottomed, with keel and centreboard, rounded in the bow
and decked at bow and stern with a wide gunwale running
its entire length for purposes of poling. Its capacity was
350 barrels of flour, or 35 tons. To accommodate these
vessels it was necessary to further enlarge the canals in
1817, to 12 feet between the gates. Bythat time nearly 900
batteaux passed the canals annually, and in 1833 some 863
batteaux and 612 Durham boats carried the trade of the
Upper St. Lawrence. In early ('ays the western country
had to be fed from the east. Where now waves the golden
wheat of Manitoba the traders were exposed to starvation
if the supply boats did not arrive at the grand portage in
due season. The first shipment of wheat from Chicago
did not take place until 1838. This must be borne in
mind in connection with what I now propose to review, the
struggle for supremacy on the Great Lakes between the
navy and the fleets of commerce. Before describing this
struggle, however, it will be desirable to review briefly the
history of the great fur-trading days, in order to show the
volume of commerce that depended upon the result.

In 1802 the Montreal North-West Fur Company had
117 trading posts, 20 partners, 161 clerks and interpreters,
877 common employees in addition to loo free hunters and
540 canoe men on the Ottawa. The London sales of 1801
were ^371,139 stg. and they paid ^"22,000 stg. in duties.
In 1780, according to Charles Grant, the trade from Mont-
real was from go to 100 canoes, and the furs brought dov/n
were estimated at ^200,000, or $8 per capita of the popula-
tion. Each canoe load cost ;^30G stg. in England. The
freight charges across the Atlantic v/ere fifty per cent. To
transport it from Montreal to Machillimackinac cost fifty
per cent, more on the original price, so that each canoe
load was valusd at over ^700, much over $3,500 as com-
pared with the present day ; no inconsiderable treasure
to trust to the rush of im etuous rapids day after day for
weeks at a time. The work of the voyageur was highly
specialized. His skill has not entirely passed from among
us, but it is not now an integral portion of the trade of the
day. He engaged as " devant " or in the bow, or " Gouver-
neuil," that is as steersman, or if not quite so skilled as the
ethers as "milieu," or in the midships seats. The pole was
quite as much in vogue as the paddle, and ailyone using
it had to keep the bow true against the current or the boat
would be swept round and capsized, perhaps where no man
could fall in and live.

In connection with cost of transportation I may say
that the Hudson's Bay route to the interior in those
early days, was 25 per cent, less, that is, it was 75 per
cent, of the original price. Som«^ three hundred men were
employed west of the carrying place, men who exposed
themselves to hostile Indians, to rapids and starvation so
keen that cannibalism was not unknown among them.
They straggled from the peaks of the Rockies, from the
shores of the Saskatchewan and from the far north, even
from the Mackenzie River, back to the carrying place
between loth June and loth July each year, laden with
ixch furs, but with scarcely a mouthful of food, and if the
supply canoes were delayed the results were terrible to
think of. It was this that made the conflict for supremacy
upon the lakes so bitter, and which ultimately led to the
triumph of the merchants.

In 1755 the British built two sloops at Oswego on
Lake Ontario, naming them after lake and site respectively,
and in the same year General Shirley placed a sloop and

schooner, each of ninety tons, on the same lake in addition
to a number of whale boats and galleys, which we might
call batteaux. After the Conquest, merchants began to
establish themselves to tap the rich fur routes, and Oswego
was for some years the most important fur trading post on
the continent. The Lake Superior copper mines attracted
the attention of English capitalists and in 1770-71 a sloop
of forty tons was built at Point aux Pins and sailed to
Ontenagon. There was no difficulty in opening up the
fur trade, so far as navigation of the lakes was concerned,
until the outbreak of the United States revolution, almost
immediately after which all private trade on the lakes was
prohibited, and merchants' goods were permitted to be
transported only on the king's ships. One may regret,
but should not unduly complain of the hardships which
war imposes upon trade, and the merchants of Canada,
while very much put out by ihe new regulation, bore it
with some equanimity until peace was restored, but while
the number of ships of the navy was reduced to two ships
on each lake after the war, the authorities refused to
accord the merchants their former rights of free navigation.
Then the storm broke. The merchants did all in their
power to make the authorities see reason. They even
offered to have their vessels commanded by a naval officer
and pay his salary. Haldimand, on the other hand,
thought it sufficient to place a third war vessel on Lake
Ontario and Lake Erie. It will save time to quote Haldi-
mand's own words in connection with the matter :

" The navigation of the Great Lakes by the king's
vessels only," he said, " is an object so nearly connected
with the entire preservation of the fur trade, that I have
withstood various appl'cations for building and navigating
private vessels and boats upon the lakes ; the rivers and
outlets from them to the American States are so numerous
that no precautions which could be taken in that case,
would be effectual in preventing a great part of the furs
from going directly into the American States, ... I
would therefore recommend by all means that a sufficient
number of king's vessels be kept up on the lakes, and all
other craft whatever prohibited not only for foregoing
reasons, but in all events to preserve a superiority upon
the waters of that country."

That sufficient of the king's ships were not kept up on
the lakes is indicated by the fact that in 1784 the goods

ilr

"I"

intended for the interior trade were so long delayed at
Kingston and Niagara that they could not be sent forward,
while on the i6th July, 1785, there was little, if anything,
short of 100 batteaux loads of goods to cross Lake Erie,
besides thirty or forty loads at Kingston. Some of these
goods hau been awaiting transport for twelve months.
Benjamin Frobisher put the case of the merchants in a
nutshell when he wrote, sending a memorial : " All the
company (N.W. Fur Co.) wishes for is on any terms to be
left to the management of its own business." The mer-
chants of Detroit (then under the British tlag) declared that
they were paying ;^3,700 stg. interest upon the goods
detained at Carleton Island, and that the action of the
Government would involve them in ruin. It required five
years in those days to begin and complete a transaction in
furs in Canada. The goods were ordered from England
in one year, they came out the following year, went west
the third year, the furs for which they were bartered
reached Montreal in the fourth year and were sold in Lon-
don in the fifth year, during- all of which period
interest was accumulating. An extra year's delay meant
a great deal to the merchants, many of whom went into
debt for their goods.

By 1785 a relaxation in the regulation was made by
St. Leger at Detroit, and merchant vessels were once
more spreading their sails on the lakes in 1791. The
'* York," one of the pioneers of the now gigantic fleet, was
launched at the mouth of the Niagara in 1792. One of
the historic vessels of the lake trade was the " Beaver,''
built in Detroit in 1784. She was built for the navigation
of Lake Superior, by the North-West Fur Company, but
could not be got up the Sault Ste. Marie. As the com-
pany declared that she was built at inconceivable cost
($7,374), and altogether looked upon her as a phenomenon,
you may like to learn her dimensions. She was 34 feet
long in the keel, 13 feet beam and 4 feet deep in the hold.
On Lake Superior to-day are vessels exceeding 300 feet in
keel length, 42 feet in the beam, and drawing 16 feet ; I
am speaking of the " Pope," which has carried 126,000
bushels of corn, weighing 3,527 tons. In 1797, by the way,
was launched the first United States vessel on Lake Erie,
the " Washington," which after one season was bought by
a Canadian, taken on wheels — you can imagine her size —
around the Niagara Falls, and sailed for Kingston from
Queenston in 1798 as the " Lady Washington."

Let us now pass to the consideration of the early
coasting and foreign trade of Canada by way of the St.
Lawrence. Quebec was then the metropolis, the great
seaport. In its narrow streets the drunken sailor stag-
gered, and the press gang snatched him from the siren's
lure. Often the merchant vessels had to put to sea danger-
ously short-handed because His Majesty — God bless him —
wanted sailors and took them when he would. The brandy
dram of the Ehzabethan age had now become rum. It was
part of the wages of a sailor. Tommy Atkins must needs
have rum also, and the roll of the kegs followed the roll of
the drum into the western country, and the commissariat
was often hard pushed to satisfy his wants.

While glad to throw off the colonial yoke, the United
States was not willing to relinquish colonial advantages,
and it may seem strange to you to be told that United
States traders made a strong effort to continue enjoying
the advantages of the Navigation Act. The Navigation Act
was an act under which trade to British ports was permit-
ted only in British ships, and when at last the United
Statesians found themselves formally and by legal opinion
declared foreigners and not eligible to come into Canada
under the act, they resorted to forging the registers of their
vessels, some two hundred being issued between 1788 and
1790, being chiefly Mediterranean certificates, with which
region Can ida had for many years a fairly extensive trade.
The Navigation Act was repealed for Canada in 1849.

Canada's trade with the rest of the continent towards
the close of the eighteenth century was not very extensive.
From 1768 to 1783 inclusive, the entries at Quebec averag-
ed only twenty-four per annum, the average burden being
64 tons. The largest number of arrivals was 76 in 1774,
and the largest average tonnage was 97 tons in 1780. The
average annual clearings during that period was 26, and
the average tonnage cleared was eighty tons. The largest
number of clearings was 38 in 1778 and the largest average
tonnage was 136 in 1781. In 1782 there were only two ar-
rivals and in 1780 only twelve vessels cleared. The average
tonnage in 1769 was 41 tons and the lowest yearly average
of tonnage cleared was 49 tons in 1771 and 1773. Such
were the cockle shell coasters of a century ago. These
vessels brought in the bulk of the rum used in the country,
and a very large portion of the coffee, sugar and molasses,
although the last two were most extensively brought from

i::

the West Indies. Large quantities of pease were exported
between 1770 and 1775, with much lumber, wheat, b'«5cuit
and flour. The exports of flour between 1768 and 1783
averaged 2,334 barrels per nnnutn. In 1802 Canada ex-
ported 1,010,033 bushels of wheat, all countries, 28,301
barrels of flour and 22,051 cwt. of biscuit. The average
tonnage of the ships that entered at Quebec from Great
Britain from 1768 to 1780 was 145 tons and the average
crew was ten men. In 1793 two fairly large vessels, one of
299 tons and the other of 301 tons cleared from that port,
but there was one mere jolly boat of 72 tons and the average
had risen only to 176 tons. Great Britain was Canada's
chief port for potash, fish oil and lumber. Before the
United States revolution thirty-four ships and four hundred
men satisfied the commerce of Britain with Canada annu-
ally. The West Indian trade and trade to ports other than
British or American was not large in those days, and was
confined chiefly to codfish, salmon, boards, planks and
wheat exported ; and imports of molasses, sugar and salt.
Wines and teas were brought usually from England.
Canada did a good trade in masts in those early days,
these being usually sent to Gibraltar.

The position of Governor-General of Canada was by
no means a sinecure in those early days. Canada was cut
off for the six winter months from all communication with
the Motherland, except via Halifax by couriers to
Acadia. Mails were not frequent even in summer, and
the Governor was a Governor indeed. One of Haldimand's
first proposals was the establishment of a line of fast ves-
sels, to sail once a month or every six weeks for the con-
veyance of the mails to and from Europe. It was not,
however, until 1787 that a monthly mail was established
between London and Halifax. The European news of the
Quebec Gazette in 1764 was seventy days old. The trade
fleet usually left Great Britain for Canada towards the end
of March, and a second fleet followed in July. It may be
inferred from the register of shipping at Quebec that the
season of the port opened ist July and closed ist October,
a period of three months, now doubled. Mention has
already been made of the early efforts of the French to
chart and landmark the St. Lawrence. Under early
British rule further progress was made. It is not generally
known that the celebrated Captain Cook was with Wolfe
at the capture of Quebec and aided that commander

very greatly by taking soundings in and about the liarbor
of Quebec, being so nearly captured on one occasion that
his foes had leaped into one end of his boat as he sprang
out of the other. He also charted the river below Quebec
in places that had been found intricate and dangerous, and,
so said his biographer in 1788, " his work was so accurate
that it hath not since been found necessary to publish any
other." He surveyed Miquelon and St. Pierre and the
coast of Newfoundland in 17637, and held from the latter
year the title of Marine Surveyor of Newfoundland and
Labrador. Captain Bayfield, who charted the river very
extensively, was no unworthy successor.

As early as 1785 the London Merchants trading to
Canada offered to place buoys in the Traverse, if the auth-
orities would maintain them, and the proposal was received
with favor. As early as 1783 the buoying and lighting of
the river had been proposed, and attached to the recom-
mendation was a report showing that sixty vessels had
been wrecked in the river between 1776 and 1783. In
1788 the Council declared that it could not afford the
expense of lighting Green Island, and it was not until 1809
that a light shone upon that dangerous strand, which is
almost opposite the Saguenay. This, I believe, was the
first lighthouse in the St. Lawrence.

We come now to a period which we cannot treat in
such detail as has hitherto been done. Improvements
began to come rapidly. The influx of exiles from the
United States had begun to give the upper country an air
of civilization,. and in 1793 the province of Upper Canada
was created. Its wonderful prosperity had all to do with
the development of the St. Lawrence route, up to Con-
federation at least, and we will begin our consideration of
the third period by describing the advance of shipping on
the Great lakes up to the Union of the provinces in 1841.
The first canal on the lakes was built by the North West
Fur Company, at Sault Ste. Marie about 1800: Mr. Keefer
says, in 1798. The United States had a canal in i8co
from the Mohawk river to Wood's Creek, the first effort
to establish communication with the Hudson river, that is
to say, forerunner of the Erie canal. The canal of the Fur
Company was built at the lower end of the rapid on the
northern or Canadian side, and supplemented a road by
which the goods of the company were transported to the
landing on Lake Superior. The commerce on Lake

Superior was developed later than that on the other lakes.
Canadian companies navigated it from about 1800, one of
the first vessels being the " Recovery," owned by the British
Northwestern Company. She was of 150 tons burden and
a brigantine. The ''John Jacob Astor," the first United
States vessel on this lake, was launched in 1H35.

Coming to the next obstruction in navigation on the
lakes, there is the historic Niagara portage, which was in
a good state of development in the French regime and
over which the bulk of the carrying remained in the hands of
Canadians until the United States passed the embargo and
non-intercourse acts of 1807 and 1809. This portage was
usually leased to one firm, which had a fixed tariff. There
was another portage from Toronto to Georgian Bay,
avoiding the navigation of Lake Erie.

For many years there were no roads worthy the name
in what is now Ontario. All travel was by water, and in
time a class of packet schooners arose which reached a high
state of development. Then came steam, first used in
Canada at Montreal, by Hon. John Molson in 1809,
and used on the great lake's by Canada before it
was used by the United States. The "Frontenac," built in
i8i5,and the"(,Jueen Charlotte," built in 18 16, both antedate
the United States vessel the "Ontario," which was so poorly
constructed that her paddle shaft was thrown from its
bearings during the first trip. But the heat of the furnaces,
the clank of the engines, and the smell of the whale oil
lamps in the cabins of the early steamboats were not con-
ducive to hearty appetites, and it was not until the thirties
that the competition of a line of steamers from Toronto to
Prescott was able to place the schooners in the background.
The speediest of these steamers made four miles per hour
against a stiff breeze, and her walking beam was as broad
as it was long. She was subsequently transferred to the
lower lakes on the St. Lawrence proper, and the "Sir Robert
Peel" took her place on the route from Cobourg to Toronto.
In 1 841 the propeller came into use on the lakes through
the instrumentality of a Canadian, who had read of Ericson's
invention, and urged an Oswego friend, then in New York,
to look into the invention and let him know the result.
The friend took one Van Cleve, of Lewiston, N.Y., to see
the invention, and Van Cleve left the place with the mono-
poly of propeller traffic on the lakes in his pocket, the result
of which was the " Vandalia " — such is the consequence

sometimes of consulting one's friends on matters of im-
portance.

In the early years of the century there was not a light-
house on the great lakes and the harbors were still in a
state of nature. Some charting had been done, and it had
been ascertained that the harbor of Toronto was rapidly
shoaling. Measures to prevent this were proposed by
Captains Richardson and Bonnycastle, but nothing was
done I? "til after 1841. Towards the close of the twenties
some ot the harbors, such as Port Stanley, Port Hope,
Cobourg and Oakville, had been supplied with wharves,
chiefly by private enterprise. The Queen's wharf at Tor-
onto had been constructed prior to 1M41, i,ogi feet long,
with a depth of water varying from 9 to 12 feet. There
was not a lighthouse on the lakes until after 1825, and the
totalexpenditureof UpperCanadauponlighthouses, beacons
and buoys, prior to the Union, was less than $100,000.

We allknowthatsteamnavigation inCanadabeganwith
the Molson Ime between Montreal and Quebec, the pioneer
of which was the "Accommodation," launched in iSog.

In 1826 the firm now known as that of David Torrance
& Co. purchased from John Handyside & Co. the tug and
passenger steamer" Hercules," and placing Captain Brush
in command began a competition with the Molson line.
This was the origin of the Richelieu and Ontario Navi-
gation Company.

Steam navigation speedily spread beyond Quebec and
Montreal. Above the latter city on Lake St. Louis, a
steamboat was placed as early as 1824, and there was one
on the Ottawa above Carillon in i8ig, followed by one on
the lower Ottawa in 1826. The first steamer to run. the
Lachine Rapids was the "Ontario," Capt. Hilliard. She
made the perilous trip igth August, 1841. The name of this
vessel was subsequently altered to the "Lord Sydenham."
In 1814 Lower Canada had a population of 335,000 and
Upper Canada had 95,000, increased by 1825 to 479, 188 and
157,923 respectively, an increase of nearly 70% for Lower
Canada and quite 60% for Upper Canada. Side by side
with this increase in population came an increase in trade,
which added to the need of good communication experienced
during the war of 1^12, led to the devotion of a good deal
of attention to the improvement of the St. Lawrence route
and of the connections between the upper lakes.

The first important improvement in the St. Lawrence
route was the construction of the Lachine Canal. Adam

Lyml)urner in 17(^1 had proposed a canal from Montreal
to Lachine, and as a compromise, in 1805 a vote of $4,000
for the improvement of the river had been applied by the
Commissioners to improvements in the Lachine rapids.
In the following year a similar sum was applied to further
improvements as well as for work between Montreal and
Laptairie, at Point St. Charles and in the rapids above
Lachine. In 1815 a company was incorporated to con-
struct the canal, but failing eventually to. secure the re-
quisite capital, the Legislature took over the work in 1821,
ground being broken 17th July by Hon. John Richardson.
The canal was opened as far as the outskirts of Montreal
by August, 1824, and the first vessel passed through in
1825. The canal was a barge canal with five feet depth of
water and locks 100 feet by 20 feet. The advisability of
canal construction by Government instead of a private
company is well shown in the history of the W'elland canal,
which was begun in 1824, and completed after much mis-
management and many difficulties, including the falling in
of the Deep Cut, in 1829, but so-poorly that much subse-
quent work was requisite.

We now approach the period when (Quebec lost to
Montreal the proud and lucrative position of the ocean
port of Canada. This came about through the construc-
tion of the lake St. Peter channel, which is one of the most
unique canals in the world. Its length is about eighteen
miles, and it affords a depth of twenty-seven and a half feet,
its submarine walls being sometimes sixteen feet deep, and
ranging from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards
in width. The history of its construction is interesting.
In L826 the merchants of Montreal presented a petition
that aid be granted in '^learingthe St. Lawrence at He Plat
and in Lake St. Peter. The matter was referred to a com-
mittee of the Legislature, who examined pilots and ship
captains, all of whom thought that any channel which
might be dredg'^d would be almost immediately refilled by
the quicksands. In 1830 Capt. H. W. Bayfield surveyed
the lake, and in his reports of 1831 and 1835 expressed the
opinion that it was doubtful whether a channel for vessels
of deep draught were possible. Montrealers, however, do
not acknowledge that anything is impossible to them, and
in 1838 the Committee of Trade again brought the matter
forward and asked for a sixteen feet channel in place of the
natural one of only eleven feet and a half. A new survey

was ordered immediately after the I'nion of 1841, and tlie
engineer, D. Thompson, declared a sixteen feet chan-
nel practicable. In that year the Legislature appropri-
ated lifty-eight thousand live hundred pounds sterling
towards the undertaking. The machinery and dredges
recjuired for the work were completed by 1843, and work
was begun in the following yt>ar, a straight channel 150
feet wide and 14 feet deep being projected through the
flats. This appears to have been an injudicious proceeding,
as the currents drifted large quantities of sand into the ex-
cavations. Work was, however, continued until it was
ascertained in 1845 that the appropriation would not be
sufficient. A committee visited the work and decided that
it would be better to abandon it and enlarge the natural
but crooked channel, a proposal in which Capt. Bayfield
concurred, only that he thought it more economical to
complete the straight cut now that it had been so nearly
finished. He advocated increasing the width to a hundred
yards. The work was resumed, and discontinued in 1847
for want of funds, some seven miles out of nine having
been dredged and seventy-one thousand pounds sterling
having been expended.

Montreal would not accept its defeat. Its citizens
kept up their agitation, and an act was passed in i»5o em-
powering the Harbor comnnssioners of the city to excavate
a channel through the lake to a deptli of sixteen feet, they
being authorized to raise the necessary funds by a toll of
not more than one shilling per ton on vessels drawing ten
feet of water and upwards, and by borrowing thirt) thou-
sand pounds currency. The commissioners abandoned the
straight cut and adopted the natural channel eleven and
a half miles long, which by the following year they
had dredged to a depth of thirteen feet, an increase of two
feet, at low water. It was with pride and keen anticipa-
tion of a bright future that the pe')ple of Montreal in that
year watched the " City of Manchester" pass down the river
en route for sea, drawing fourteen feet. In 1S52 the com-
missioners were authorized to effect an additional loan of
$160,000, supplemented in iS^-; by a further authorization
for i$40o,ooo. In 1852 the depth of the channel was 15
feet 2 inches at low water, and by the end of 1833 an addi-
tional foot had been gained, bringing the chani.-el to the
depth which had been contemplated. But ocean vessels
had been growing larger, and the commissioners had

determined not to stop there, [n 1855 they had received
authorization to excavate a twenty feet channel, rind prO'
ceeded with the work with energy. In i>>^i) the Govern-
ment advanced them !?6o,ooo, on their plant. By 1H60 a
channel of seventeen and a quarter feet at low water had
been reached, and the Ilarhor commissioners had con-
tracted a debt of !j68o,ooo, not including the !?6o,ooo due
the Government. It is with some surprise that the writer
notes a considerable difference in the statistics given by the
Board of Trade and the Government on this subject. -He
has followed the Government report, although the Board of
Trade declares that there was an eighteen feet channel by
1857. In J 860 the Government determined to reduce the
toll imposed by tiie commissioners, and assumed the debt
of $680,000, an action confirmed by Act of Parliament in
1864. When the channel had been brought to the depth
mentioned, it was decided to make it twenty feet, the
Government consenting to wipe out the !*>6o,ooo indebted-
ness and pay a further sum of $160,000 on the completion
of the works, leaving the plant, which they had loaned the
commissioners, in the hands of the latter. The twenty
feet canal was completed by the autumn of 1865. But
again it was determined to dee[ien the channel, and by
1878 it had reached 22 feet 6 inches. A depth of twenty-
five feet was reached in 18S2, and by 1888 a great celebration
was held in honor of the passage of a vessel drawing
twenty-seven and a half feet from Montreal to Quebec,
making Montreal by the energy of her citizens the most in-
land seaport of the world. In that year the Government
took over the works.

Canadians are too familiar with the history of the
"Rcyal William" fo: me to more than refer to it here. Let
it suffice to say that this vas the first bona fide ocean
steamship to cross the Atlantic, that she was built at
Quebec, engined at Montreal, and performed her memor-
able voyage in 1833, sailing from Pictou on i8th August
and arriving at Gravesend, seventeen days later. She
was subsequently sold to the Spanish Government.
The first company to run a regular line of steamers
between Montreal and Great Britain was chartered
in 1853, being granted a subsidy of $19,000 per annum
by Government to carry a fortnightly mail. It also
received $4,000 from the St. Lawrence & Atlantic
Railway and $i,oco from Portland, which city it

made a port of call. On loth May of that year the
'•Geneva," 350 tons, arrived in port, tliepioneerof Montreal's
ocean steamships, if we except the "Royal William." The
♦• Geneva " was followed by the " Lady ICglinton " and the
"Sarah Sands." The Canadian Steam Navi^^ation Company
did not, liovv'ever, succeed, and was replaced as a mail car-
rier in 1S56 l)y the Allan Line.

This famous Canadian line was founded by Captain
Alexander Allan, of Galtcoats in Ayrshire, whr^^e ship
" Jane "carried stores to the Dukecf Wellington in the Pen-
insula in 1S15, andshoitly after the peace began runninpf be-
tween Montreal and the Clyde. His business prospered,
and packet after packet was added to his Heet. When the
deepening of the channel to (,)uebe>- had been partly ac-
complished, the Allans began to build steam vessels, the
first in 1853, and were carrying a weekly mail to Lngland
by 1856. Their mailing fleet had reached sixteen in num-
ber. From 1S57 to 1864 inclusive, the line suffered the
loss of nine vessels by wreck, but the cloud passed away,
and there is perhaps no line more fortunate in this respect
to-day and for years back than that of the Allans, whose
commanders never assume the risks which L'nited
States liners take. The line owes its rapid advancement
to the labor of Sir Hugh Allan, son of the old sea captain,
who came to Montreal about 1826 and there received his
business training.

Prior to the development of steam navigation on che
Atlantic, the sailing vessel had been brought to a high sta^e
of development, in the form of clipper ships, whose races
with one another across the ocean were as much subject
for excitement then, as a big ocean race to-day. I under-
stand that Montreal has owned the fastest sailing ship
ever built, the " Thermopylae." She was built by Walter
Hood & Co., of Al)erdeen, and ran from the Lizard to
Melbourne, Australia, in sixty days, a r'istance ot 13,222
knots. On one day she made 380 statute miles. Her run
from Foo Chow, China, to London, 91 days, has been
beaten by sail only by the " Sir Lancelot," which accom-
plished the voyage in 8g days.

I have already occupied too much of your time. We
must hasten to a conclusion. The Union of the Provinces
took place in 1S41 and attention was at once turned to the
completion of the various canals projected by the two pro-
vinces. During the period of the Union, notwithstanding

the political deadlock which ultimately rendered Confeder-
ation necessary, a very great deal was accomplished. At
the time of the Union the Erie canal and the Rideau navi-
gation vere overshadowing the St. Lawrence route from
the lakes. The Rideau was the freight route to the great
lakes. But work upon the St. Lawrence canals was
pushed forward. The Lachine canal had been opened in
1824 with seven locks 100 x 20 x 5 ieet. In 1843 an en-
largement was begun with locks 200x45x9 feet, five in
number, the lowest two of wliich hy urgent request of
Montreal were altered to 16 feet of water on the sills, to
admit ocean vessels. The canal prism was 120 feet wade
at ihe surface and 80 feut wide at bottom, when Confeder-
ation took place.

The necessary plans for the Beauharnois canal were
prepared in 1842, work was begun in 1843, and completed
in 1845. It had at the time oi Confederation a length of
II I statute miles, 9 locks 200 by 45 feet by 9 feet, and the
prism was the same as that of the Lachine canal. The
Cornwall canal to overcome fhe Long Sault was begun in
1834 and completed in i8|2, the first vessel through being
the steamboat " Highlander." The canal was formally
opened in June 18+3. The depth of water on the sills was
the same as in the Lachine and Beauharnois canals, 9 feet,
but the locks, seven in number, were ten feet wider, and.
the canal prism 100 feet at bottom and 150 at the water
surface. The Farrans Point canal lock completed in 1847
had the same dimensions as that of Lachine, and the Rapide
Plat canal, opened in 1847, the Galops canal, opened in
1846, and the Point Iroquois canal opened in 1847, were of
the same demensions also, the canal prism in all three
cases being, however, only 50 feet at bottom and 90 at top.
Thus at the time of Confederation there was a channel for
ocean steamers to Montreal 20 feet deep, the two lower
locks of the Lachine canal had a depth of sixteen Ieet, and
the rest of the navigation on the St. Lawrence was only on
a 9 feet basis. The Welland canal was on a 10^ feet basis,
and the only canal in use from Lake Huron to Lake
Superior v/as that of the United States.

In 1793, 114 vessels, of 15,758 tons and 933 men, arrived
at Quebec. By 1841 this shipping had increased to 1,221
vessels, 425,118 tons, and 16,4.13 men, of which 13
ships and 5,057 tons were steamers. The "Unicorn " navi-
gated between Quebec and Nova Scotia from 1840 to 1844

inclusive. In 1866 the shipping was 1.041 ships, 590,120
tons, and 15,695 men, 73 of the ships being steamers. The
dangers of the route may be exempHfied by the statemen,-
that between 1840 and 1849 inchisive 238 ships were
wrecked of those engaged in the Quebec trade. In 1854
258 seagoing vessels arrived at Montreal, with a tonnage
of 70,910 tons, and the river vessels in theptjrt were 3,047
of 234,866 tons. In 1866, 516 seagoing ship, of 205,775
tons arrived and 4,016 river ships of 417,349 tons. The
million ton mark was lirst passed .11 1892.

From comparatively early days it has been the ambi-
tion of the interior provinces and states to secure a direct
route to Europe without trans-shipment, an ambition
which the future may see realized. As early as 1S58 a vessel
passed from Chicago to Liverpool. Thi;3 was the " Dean
Richmond," which left Chicago on 17th July and arrived
at Li'^erpool by the St. Lawrence route and the Straits of
Belle Isle on 17th September, in sixty-two days and a half,
about 12 of which were consumed in lightering and other
delays. Her trip from Quebec to Liverpool consumed 29
days. The canal tolls on the St. Lawrence route during
the Union may be taken as sixty cents per ton, a reduction
of over 64% from the period of the Twiss canals, still farther
reduced 75% in these modern times. I am taking the
tolls upon flour and wheat.

The improvement of the St. Lawrence route opened
up a fertile territory. Ihe canals were to early Canada
what the railroads have been since Confederation.
In 1838 the exports of wheat from Canada were 296,000
bushels; in 1852 this had risen to nearly 5,500,000 bushels.
Instead of the bulk of the trade going up the river, the
shipments downward began that preponderance which
have since characterized them. In 1854 the follow-
ing was the relative standing of our exporting cities :
Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Coaticook, Dalhousie, King-
ston, St John's (Que.) and Whitby. In imports Montreal
led, followed by Quebec, Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston,
Stamford, Prescott and Port Stanley. The period closing
with Confederation witnessed the establishment of the
railway in Canada, which has since been an important
rival and support of the water route The earliest railway
and railway station, that at Laprairie, was opened in 1836
to connect with St. John's, Quebec. It closed down in
winter, there being no traffic. There was also very short-

Iv after a railway from Montreal to Lachine, and the Grand
Trunk railway had united Montreal and Toronto with
their present winter port at Portland. In 1868-69 the
trade of Canada amounted to $127,^76,000, exports and
imports entered for consumption. As already stated there
was only one lighthouse in the St. Law-ence in 1809. By
Confederation there were no fewer than two on Labrador
22 between the Gulf and Quebec, 27 between Quebec and
Montreal, and 80 others above Montreal on the river the
great lakes and the Ottawa, a total of 131, of which 11
belonged to private individuals and companies. Dur-
ing the Union, over ?.i,ooo,coo was spent on lighthouses,

beacons and buoys.

Before Confederation Canada possessed within her
own boundaries no winter port, nor any satisfactory com-
munication with her sister colonies in Acadia. Civilization
stopped at the head of Lake Superior. The far west was
in ^he hands of the Hudson Bay Company. At the time
of the Union, Quebec and Ontario had a population of
2 soo,ooo souls, yet with the exception of the canal at
s'ault Ste. Mane, they had developed the St. Lawrence
route to a point which left it necessary only for the new
Dominion to carry out the plans and develop the tra.e of
our fathers.