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 €k^i^<.y^^ut^^c^ t^"^^ 
 
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 K^ 
 
 A RAILROAD 
 
 ^N 
 
 FROM 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PACIFIC: 
 
 THE SEOBmi, CHEAPEST ANI) SAEE8T COHUimCiTION 
 
 FOR EUROPE 
 
 WITH ALL ASIA. 
 
 // 
 
 BY ALLAN MACDONELL, 
 
 • TORONTO: 
 
 PRINTED BY HUGH SCOBIE, 16, KINO STREET EAST. 
 
 MDCCOLL 
 
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 '^-C 
 
 9 SI 
 10 
 
 tebb 
 
A RAILROAD 
 
 F&OX 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR TO THE PACIFIC. 
 
 To shorten, by a Western passage, the route to the Indies, which is 
 now conducted around the fearful barriers of Cape Horn an(i Southern 
 Africa, is a design that has long occupied the attention, and aroused the 
 exertion of all maritime nations. England's exploring expeditions to 
 both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, have pryed inio every sinuosity of 
 shore, from Lat. 30, South, to the borders of the Frigid Zone, ami in 
 the defeat of her exertions, projects have been forming to pierce the 
 Continent within the limits of a foreign country, and where England 
 would be placed at the mercy of her rivals. Whilst France, Mexico, 
 the United States, and other Powers meditate the separation of the 
 Continent at the Isthmus of Panama, let England at lenst enquire 
 whether she has nut, williin her own teiritories, superior iacililits for 
 accomplishing the same grand purpose which impel them. 
 
 Within this past year, three works have been published in England, 
 emanating from different sources, urging the necessity and advantages 
 of a Railway connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, such 
 railway to be constructed through the British Possessions. jMy present 
 object is not to canvas the schemes proposed by any of these several 
 
 Earties or projectors, whereby they would seek to carry out their views, 
 ut, if possible, to direct the attention of the Canadian public to the 
 existence of such a project, and the incalculable advantages which 
 must result to this and the Mother t'oinitry, could such a connection be 
 accomplished. In one of the pamphlets referred to, by Major Smith, 
 the plan proposed by him is to construct such road by convict labour ; 
 the others, one by a Mr. Wilson, (who, I believe, was at one time in 
 the employment of the Hudson Bay Company) and the other by Lieut. 
 Synge, of the Royal Engineers, I have not met with. That the con- 
 struction of such a road is feasible and practicable, I have every reason 
 to believe, and will propose to build it upon a plan similar to that pro- 
 posed by Mr. Whitney, for constrncting a like Railway communication 
 through the United States, — which plan is so peculiarly adapted to our 
 country, that it cannot fail of finding as favourable a reception here as 
 it «lid there. The scheme of building a Railway for hundreds of miles 
 through a country which at present is a wilderness, seems at first fight 
 absurdly extravagant, as well as utterly impracticable ; and so it would 
 be if the plan contemplated was one to be fully carried out within any 
 short period of" time. It must be borne in mind that under the most 
 favourable circumstances, some years would be required for the con- 
 struction of such a work ; with its progress, population must keep in 
 advance, or accompany its advancement. 
 
 In determining, therefore, upon the wisdom or praclicaLiiity of con- 
 structinrr such a road, the whole matter h to be looked at prospectively, — 
 the question is not how far the present condition of the country and its 
 interests warrant the undertaking, but whether such a state of things 
 
will be likely to exist, as will justify it when it shall have been aecom- 
 
 Jlished. As to the expediency or advantaj^e of construotinff such road, 
 imagine there cannot be a diversity of opinion, if it shall be found to 
 be practicable. 
 
 Oik portion of the continent of North America lies directly in the way 
 of the commerce passing between Europe and India — with a ship canal 
 of six hundred and thirty-eight yards around the falls (twenty-one feet 
 in all) of the Sault de Ste Marie, we have through our own territories 
 the most magnificent inland navigation in the world, carrying us one 
 half way across this continent. By means of a Railway to the Pacific 
 from the head of this navigation, a rapid and safe communication would 
 be formed, by which the commerce of the world would undergo an 
 entire change ; every one must perceive at a glance, that such ar road 
 would stand unrivalled in the world. Nbt only are the United States, 
 but the whole of Europe aroused to the importance of securing the im- 
 mense trade of China and the East Indies— even in the days of Hernando 
 Gortez it was thought possible and expedient to unite the two oceans by 
 a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and since that time almost 
 every nation has talked of doing so ; nor is the project at the present 
 time abated or suspended. Even in the early history of this country, 
 the French perseveringly, and anxiously sought for a supposed water 
 communication from the St. Lawrence to the Pacific ; with a view to 
 secure, if possible, that important trade, which has from the earliest 
 histroy enriched, beyond calculation, every nation that held it ; while 
 each in its turn has fallen from power and afiluence as it lost or sur- 
 rendered it. Without adverting to its effects on other nations, it is 
 sufRcient to look to England ; she owes more of her grandeur and her 
 power t.o her commerce with the East Indies, than to almost any other 
 source whatever. At the present time^ she is to commerce, what the 
 principle of gravitation is to the material world — that which regulates 
 and upholds all. And yet, should ^he United States construct a Railway 
 through their territories, she might too soon feel how precarious is her 
 tenure of the sceptre of the seas — it would be wrested from her by her 
 active and energetic rival ; she would be driven from her position, and 
 her Indian fleets as eflectively forced from the bosom of the ocean, as 
 have been the caravans which formerly carried across the deserts the 
 wealth of India ; or, as England snatched from Holland the East Indian 
 trade, so in her turn she may be deprived of it by the United States: 
 such would be — such some day may be — the effect produced by a Rail- 
 road through the territories of this latter power. It is therefore incum- 
 bent upon England, for her own sake, and it becomes her duly and her 
 interest, to enquire into the practicability of constructing such road 
 through British dominions, whereby our active and enterprising rival 
 will cease to be regarded as such; and a British people will have no 
 competitor for maritime supremacy among nations. If it be practicable 
 to connect the Pacific with the head waters of our inland navigation, it 
 oupht not to be delayed. Every facility should be offered for carrying 
 it into effect. It would not only be the means of settling all the lands 
 capable of sustaining population, in those regions, but the commercial 
 relations of the world would be altered ; the great west would be pene- 
 trated — the stream of commerce would be changed from boisterous seas 
 and stormy capes, to flow to our shores upon the Pacific, and through 
 the depths of our Western wilds. With the power of steam through 
 an accessible of region and over a peaceful sea, England would be 
 placed at one-fourth of the distance at which she has hitherto stood 
 from the treasures of the East ; her merchants would be able to under- 
 sell, in their own ports, all the nations of the world. In other words, 
 she would render commerce tributary to them, and Canada would be 
 
 • i 
 
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 V 
 
T 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 tlie great toll-gate through which this enormous traffic must pass. Ko 
 other route across the Continent of America could compete with this, as 
 vrill be shown hereafter^ at present, I shall'simply pomt out the route 
 proposed : — 
 
 Liverpool to St. Lawrence, (miles) 2,800 
 
 St. Lawrence to British boundary^ Lake Superior 1,150 
 
 Lake Superior to Fuca's Straits 1,500 
 
 5,450 
 The distance from Fuca's Straits to Japan is about 4,000 miles ; to 
 Shanghae about 5,000. Vancouver's Island commands the Straits, and 
 abounds with excellent harbours ; coal of a superior quality is found 
 there ; the Indians mine it and deliver it on board the Hudson Bay 
 Steamers at a mere nominal charge. No part of the Pacific coast 
 affords such capabilities as does this for controlling the whole trade and 
 traffic of the Pacific. 
 
 It might be assumed as a certainty, that a cargo from Shanghae, 
 borne b^ a modern ocean steamer, over this placid seo^ could be uii' 
 loaded m 15 or 20 days, at some on« of the harbours at Fuca's Straits, 
 and in from three to five days more placed, for sale or transportation, on 
 tfce banks of Lake Superior. The construction of such a road, in the 
 clirection of Fuca's Straits, would shorten the distance to England from 
 China, &c., by 60 or 70 days, and place before us a mart of six hun- 
 dred miUions of people, and enable us geographically to command 
 ihem. Leaving it 1o the guidance of commercial interests, who shall 
 tell what may not be the commercial destiny of this country ? 
 
 This scheme may excite only the curiosity of those who can hardly 
 contemplate it as anything else than an hallucination to amuse for a 
 moment, and then vanish. Nevertheless, such a work will some day 
 be achieved, — if not by a British people, by our neighbours. And let 
 <it be remembered, that it is no difficult matter to open a new channel 
 for a new trade, but it is very difficult to change one that is already 
 established. 
 
 There is something startling in the proposition of a Ilailroad to co: re ;t 
 the Atlantic and Pacific, and much that will strike the hasty observer ;is 
 chimerical, but when we have seen stupendous pyramids raised by tiie 
 hand of man in the midst of a desert of shifting sands ; when we know 
 that despite the obstacles of nature and the rudeness of art a semi- 
 barbarous people centuries before the christian era, erected around their 
 empire a solid barrier of wall, carrying it over the most formidable 
 mountains, and across rivers on arches, and through the declensions and 
 sinuosities of valleys to the distance of fifteen hundred xniles, let us not 
 insult the enterprize of this enlightened age by denouncing as visionary 
 and impracticable the plan of a simple line of rails over a surface of no 
 greater extent without one-half the natural obstacles to overcome. To 
 do so would evince a forgeffulness of the vast achievements of this age. 
 As to* its feasibility, I am aware, many will object to it on that ground. 
 Nevertheless, from all the information obtained, I believe that it is 
 firacticable and easy of accomplishment, and that it can be accomplished 
 by individual enterprize ; by connecting the sale and the settlement of 
 the lands on its line, with the building of the road, population must keep 
 pace with the work and be interested in it, and the labour of grading, 
 &c., must pay in part for the land and make homes for the settlers. 
 The plan or mode of operation by which it is proposed to carry out this 
 great work, is that the Government shall sell, to a chartered company, 
 60 miles wide of the lands from the Lake to the Pacific, at a reduced 
 .ratq, orat such jate.as the Government shall pay for obtaining the aiu:- 
 
6 
 
 reniTer to the Crown, from the various bands of Indians now possesxinj; 
 it. At present it is a wildorness, and although, to a great extent, it is 
 capable of suMaining a large population, yet it tnuMt lie waste anil 
 nnprotitable whilst thousands of oui follow countrymen are starving and 
 desljiute ; and fio it must remain without value and impossible of settje- 
 ratmt, unless some move be made which shall create facilities which 
 will afford the means of settling these lands and thus make them a 
 sou ice of wealth and power to the country. Immediately after such 
 surrender to the Crown, of 100 or 200 miles or more, the route upon it 
 would be surveyed and located, preparations made fur grading, &c., and 
 proceeding with the work, a large Dody of workmen or settlers at once 
 placed upon it ; when ten miles of the road shall have been completed, 
 m the most substantial and approved manner, and to the satisfaction of 
 a commissioner appointed by Government, a patent shall issue lo the 
 Company for the first half of the road or five miles, or patents lo the 
 settlers who may have purchased upon the line, as may be deemed 
 most advisable ; the Government thus holding still one-half and the 
 road. Now, if the sale of land could not be made to produce a sufficient 
 amount to return the money expended on the ten miles of road, then the 
 experiment is the loss of the Company, and the Government would not 
 have lost one shilling, but on the contrary, the five miles of road held 
 by it, must be enhanced in value ; if upon the contrary, the land is 
 raised from beyond its present value to an amount exceeding the outlay, 
 then the half held by Government would have imparted to it an ecjual 
 increase in value from the same causes, and this ought to be a sufficient 
 security for the due performance of the work. Such should be the 
 proceeding throughout the good or available lands upon the route ; but 
 as the road for an immense distance may pass through poor and barren 
 lands — in such case, as much of the nearest good lands beyond the line 
 finished as may cover the outlay upon such line or section, may be sold 
 by the Company, and patents issued ; and when all shall have been 
 completed, the title of the road should vest in the Company, subject to 
 the control of Government, in regulating and fixing tolls, &c. Should 
 the plan fail, Government can lose nothing, because the lands still 
 remain, and their value will have been added to, even by the failure. 
 Thus it is proposed to establish an entirely new system of settlement, 
 on which the hopes for success are based and on which all depend. 
 The settler on the line of road would, so soon as his house or cabin wa^ 
 up and a crop in, find employment upon the road; when his crop would 
 have ripened, there would be a market at his door, created by those in 
 the same situation as his was the season before, and if he had in the 
 first instance paid for his land, the money would go back to him either 
 directly or indirectly for labour and materials furnished for the work, so 
 in one year the settler would have his home, with settlement and civil- 
 ization surrounding him, a demand for his labour, a market at his door, 
 and, for any surplus of his produce, a Railroad to communicate with other 
 markets. The settler who might not have the means to purchase land 
 even at the lowest price, say 3a. 9d. per acre, would obtain those means 
 by his labour on the road and a first crop— he too in one year would have 
 his home, with the same advantages and be as equally independent. 
 
 Settlers under any other circumstances, placed in a wilderness remote 
 from civilization, would have no benefit from the sum paid, beyond his 
 title to the land, — his house built and crop in, he finds no demand for 
 his labour, because all around him are in the same condition as himself ; 
 when his crop is grown he has no market ; his labour, it is true, produces 
 food from the earth, but he cannot exchange it for other different products 
 of industry. A proper and systematic course adopted for inducing 
 immigration from the mother country, would relieve her of a surplus 
 
 iT 
 
 « 
 
•(.■ 
 
 r 
 
 population ; open the areatett poMible extent of wilderness, otherwise 
 forever useless, to settlement and production ; making it the means of 
 benefitting and carrying comfort and happiness to ihousandJs of our 
 fellow-subjects in the mother country, suffering the worst of evils caused 
 by a too dense population, whilst at the same time such immigration 
 will beneiit this country to an illimitable ejitetit. Perhaps it may be 
 thouffht that the Government of the country should undertake this work, 
 and dispose of the lands as proposed. Private enlerprize far exceeds 
 any operations of the Government in celerity, and is much more econo- 
 mical and effective. If the Government undertook it, the sale of the 
 lands would never meet the disbursement, and the difficulties to be 
 encountered by delays in the transaction of the business of the Seat of 
 Government, would alone retard the work and cause it to linger until it 
 perished. Such a work by Government would absorb the entire legis- 
 lation of the country, and being subject to changes of management and 
 direction at each session, its progress would be utterly defeated ; the 
 management of such a great work, and the amount of money which this 
 plan would place as a stake to be carried off by the successful paity ia 
 the struggle, would lead to eveiy species of political corruption and 
 bargaining to secure so vast a prize, which of itself would preclude the 
 selection of the men of the character requisite to carry out the plan ; 
 each administration would appoint its own partizans as directors, who 
 would exert all the influence thai their position and the immense means 
 at their command would give them, to sustain in power those on whom 
 their offices depended. The only true way of carrying out this work is 
 by private enterprize connected with the sale of the lands, under the 
 protection of Government ; or else it must be accomplished by the 
 Iniperial Government alone. 
 
 The commencement of this work would make it a point of attraction 
 to the whole population of Europe, daily flocking to American shores ; 
 most of these are generally without means — nevertheless their labour is 
 the capital which would grade the load, and pay in part for the land. 
 They would not only be interested in the road, as a means for their daily 
 bread, but would be sure that its results would benefit their condition, 
 and elevate themselves and families to afHuence. Civilization, with 
 all its influences, would march, step by step, with the road, and would 
 draw to it, after the first two years, 100,000 souls annually. Cities, 
 towns and villages would spring up like magic, because the road — the 
 cheap means for the transit of the products of man's labour to a market 
 — would leave a rich reward for that labour, and as it proceeded produce 
 the further means for the completion of all. The Government in 
 exchage for the substratum of a suffering population of indigent emigrants 
 of the mother country would find its broad and fertile western territory 
 sprinkled with hamlets and possessing a class of intelligent and happy 
 husbandmen the best pride and boast of a free country. 
 
 It yrill be at once perceived, that the plan proposed is based upon the 
 assumption that a great portion of the country through which such Rail- 
 way might pass, is capaole of sustaining a large population, and also of 
 furnishin:; the means of carrying the work over such portions of the line 
 as should be found larren or unfitted for the abode of civilized man. 
 
 I propose now to show that such a description of favourable country 
 exists, to an almost unlimited extent, and that westward we have a vast 
 wilderness of land which only requires the application of the labour of 
 the now destitute, to produce abundant means for achieving this great 
 work, richly reward that labour, and open out almost a new world as the 
 inheritance of a British people. I might speculate upon the future, and 
 predict what would be the vast, the mighty results by the accomplish- 
 ment of this work, but it is my object to give a plain statement which I 
 
8 
 
 beliera to be based on facts of the featnres of the coantiy. There are 
 two points npon Lake Superior from which such Railway mlffht be 
 commenceii, each line striking the same point at the Lao La PFuie, a 
 distance of about 125 miles, thence to the Lake of the Woods. The one 
 starting at Pigeon Hirer, perhaps, is a more direct route, and I believe 
 in many respects the better one ; the other starts from the Kuminisla- 
 qnoia, at the mouth of which stands the Hudson Bay Company's 
 Establishment— Fort William. I will nuppose that this latter route is 
 followed, because, without merely asserting my own views and opinions 
 as to its capability of sustaining an agricultural population, I can quote 
 from the published work of another, showing the description and char- 
 acter of country through which I propose to pass, proving that at the 
 moment of leaving the shores of Lake Superior we enter a country 
 capable of providing for men all those necessaries and comforts which 
 civilization requires. The Kaministaquoia is a lar^e and fine river, but 
 at the distance of about 30 miles up, navigation is obstructed by the 
 Kakabeka Falls, a fall of about 140 feet ; the banks of the river are 
 clothed with elm) birch and maple ; above the falls the river is again 
 navigable, to the height of land which is reached in little over a days' 
 travel by canoes. 
 
 The valley of this river is described by Sir George Simpson in his 
 overland journey^ and he says : — 
 
 '^One cannot pass through this fair valley, without feeling that it is 
 destined sooner or later to become the happy home of civilized men. 
 with their bleating flocks and lowing herds, with their schools and 
 churches, with their full garners and their social hearths. At the time 
 of our visit, the great obstacle in the way of so blessed aconsnnimation, 
 was the hopeless wilderness to the eastward, which seemed to bar for- 
 ever the march of settlement and cultivation. But that very wilderness, 
 now that it is to yield up its long hidden stores, bids fair to remove the 
 very impediments which hitherto it has itself presented. The mines of 
 Lake Superior, besides establishing a continuity of route between the 
 east and weiit, will And their nearest and cheapest supply of agricultural 
 produce in the Valley of the Kaministaquoia.'' 
 
 Through the valley to the height of land, there exist no obstructions 
 -which cannot be readily overcome— 'from this height of land descending 
 to the level of the beautiful lake of the Thousand Islands, thence to Lao 
 La Pluie and the Lake of the Woods. In reference to this portion Sir 
 George Simpson says: — ^''Tbe river which empties Lac La Pluie into 
 the Lake of the Woods, is decidedly the finest stream on the whole route 
 in more than one respect, from Fort Francis (situated on Lac La Pluie) 
 downward a stretch of nearly a hundred miles, it is not interrupted by a 
 single impediment, while yet the current is not strong enough to retard 
 an ascending traveller, nor are the banks less favourable to agriculture 
 than the waters themselves to navigation ; resembling the Thames near 
 Richmond — from the very bank of the river there rises a gentle slope of 
 green sward, crowned in many places with a plentiful growth of barch, 
 poplar, beech, elm, and oak ; is it too much for the eye of philanthrophy 
 to discern through the vista of futurity this noble stream, connecting as 
 it does, the fertile shores of two spacious lakes, with crowded steamboats 
 on its bosom, and populous towns upon its borders. The shores of this 
 latter lake are not less fertile than the other, producing rice in abundance 
 and biing maize to perfection." The Lake of the Woods is connected 
 again by a magnificent river 300 miles in length, (the Winipeg) with 
 the lake of that name lying to the north-west of the Lake of the Woods 
 — these lakes, with others, bein^ wholly within our own boundaries — 
 the Lake of the Woods is about 80 miles long by 40 broad ; Lake Wini- 
 peg is 2S0 long and 100 broad. The country in which these lakes are 
 
 /i 
 
 *.»- 
 
•haated it called the Auiiiiboin, aorora which flows the Red River, 
 emptvinff into Lake Winipei; ; upon this river is established the colony 
 founded by Lord Selkirk. From the western side of the Lake of the 
 Woods, the Winipeg River, or Lake Winipeg, coinprising a distance ot 
 near 300 miles, any point may be taken, and running directly webt, not 
 a single obstruction offers for carrying a Railroad to the vury foot of the 
 Rocky Mountains, a distauce of 8M) miles, carrying us through this 
 mag^nidcent country— the Assinboin, watered by the river of its own 
 name and by the Red River, each flowing for hundreds of miles, further 
 westward still, we pass through the Saskatchewan country, through 
 which flows the river of that name for 600 miles, navigable for large 
 boats, &o. 
 
 Loaded carts traverse this immense country in every direction, and 
 as a proof of how easily all this is accomplished. Sir George Simpson 
 travelled over 600 miles of these plains in 13 days, with 60 horses and 
 loaded carts, and frequently caravans of 200 and 300 carts are traversing 
 these plains, bearing the hunters, with their families and equipages, in 
 pursuit of the bufialo, thousands of which animals are destroyed merely 
 for their hides. Sir George Simpson says he has seen ten thousand 
 carcases lying putrid and infecting the air for miles around, in one bed 
 of the valley of the Saskatchewan. The valley of that river alone is 
 equal to the extent of all England ; it abounds in mineral, and, above 
 all the blessings and advantages that can be conferred upon a country 
 like this, is, that coal is abundant, and easily obtained ; it crops out in 
 various parts of the valley. Speaking of some portions of this country, 
 through which he was travelling, he says : — ^* The scenery of the day 
 had been generally a perfect level ; on the eaEt, north, and south, there 
 was not a mound or tree to vary the vast expanse of green sward, whilst 
 to the west were the gleaming bays of the winding Assiniboin, sep- 
 arated from each other by wooded points of considerable depth." 
 Again — *' The rankness of the ^getation savoured rather of the torrid 
 zone, with its perennial spring, tiian of the northern wilds, brushing the 
 luxuriant grass with our knees, and the hard ground of the surface was 
 beautifully diversified with a variety of flowers, such as the rose, hya- 
 cinthe, and tiger lily.^' Of the Red River Settlement (in the Assmi- 
 boin country) he savs : '* The soil is a black mould, producing extraor- 
 dinary crops, the wheat produced is plump and heavy ; the soil fre- 
 quently producing 40 bushels to the acre — grain of all kinds is raised in 
 abundance, beef, mutton, pork, butter, cheese, and wool, are produc- 
 tions which likewifte abound, thus showing that to the foot of the Rocky 
 Mountains, lies a country capable of being rendered the happy homes 
 of millions of inhabitants, when facilities of communication shall be 
 offered which can lead to it." To these statements of Sir George 
 Simpson, might be added those of many others, in corroboration, were 
 it necessary. 
 
 That the Rocky Mountains will present a formidable barrier to the 
 construction of a Railway to the Pacific cannot be denied ; nevertheless 
 I imagine that at the present day, there can scarcely be found any one 
 so bold or rash as to assert, that obstructions will be found to exist which 
 neither the science, skill, nor energy of man can overcome. Let immi- 
 gration once reach the eastern slopes of the Rot^ky Mountains, and 
 speedily would vanish all the most formidable obstacles which may 
 now appear to present themselves. 
 
 Even now, there are several passes known th 'ough those mountains, 
 whereby it may be practicable to carry steam to the western side. The 
 goods and merchandize required by the Hudson Bay Company for carry- 
 ing on their trade in the interior, often being landed on the shores of the 
 Pacific, are transported through some of these passes to the eastern side. 
 
10 
 
 In his overland jonrney, Sir George Simpson ascended from the eastern^ 
 crossed, and descended to the Columbia river upon the western side^ with 
 forty-five pack«horses, in six or seven days, some days making forty 
 miles a day.' 
 
 Sir Alexander McKeiizie, (at a pass fuither north) ascended the prin- 
 cipal water of the McKenzie river to its head, which he found to be a 
 sUiall lake ; he crossed a beaten track leading over a low ridge of eight 
 hundred aiut seventeen paces in length to another lake ; this was the 
 head water of Fraser's river, which he followed down to where it dis- 
 charges itself in the Greorgian Gulf or Fuca Straits at 49 "^ , thus showing 
 that a communication between the east and west is open to us. In lat. 
 52^, is also a pass affording facility of communication by the head waters 
 of the Columbia and the north branches of the Saskatchewan ; up to this 
 point, boats ascend from Fori Colville, which is in latitude about 48^ ° • 
 
 Wherever the head waters of the rivers on the east and west sides of 
 the Rocky Mountains approach each other, there have been found passes 
 through them. 
 
 The Rocky Mountains have been crossed by waggons at vanoti« points 
 to the Columbia River, and to the Saptin or southern branch of that river 
 and to the Wallawulla. Thomas P. Furnham, in 1840^ crossed to the 
 mouth of the Columbia, and found a waggon which had been run to the 
 Saptin by an American missionary from Connecticut, and left there under 
 the impression that it could be carried no further through the mountains: 
 but very soon after that, emigrants going out to Oregon, in 1843, crossed 
 the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia with fifty loaded waggons, per- 
 forming the journey without any loss or injury save the bursting of one 
 waggon tire ; and that ought to be sufficient to convince the most scepti- 
 cal, that a Railroad to, and through the Rocky Mountains, is practicable 
 beyond a doubt, and affording reason to believe that, upon a careful pre- 
 paratory survey, which must be instituted, new passes through tfiese 
 mountains may be found adapted to the jvork within our own limits, and 
 on a more direct line with the commodious harbours upon Fuca Straits. 
 
 One of the projected lines of Railway communication through the 
 United States was proposed should terminate at Puget Sound. Colonel 
 Fremont, one of the mo?t scientific men in the United States, was directed 
 to examine and report upon the feasibility of crossing the Rocky Moun- 
 tains to such terminus. 4S\ ° N. lat. he examined, and reported its 
 feasibility, stating that "impracticability is not to be named ivith the 
 subjects either at that point, or even to carry it to San Francisco ; **that 
 difficulties from snow would be confined to short spaces, and these 
 inconsiderable." 
 
 With reference to the country upon the western side of the mountains, 
 within our boundaries, none perhaps is so well situated for communicat- 
 ing with all the countries and ports washed by the waters of the Pacific. 
 Fuca Straits and the Georgian Sound abound with excellent harbours, 
 without obstruction to ingress or egress at any season of the year; are 
 unsurpassed for salubrity of climate, and for advantages are equal to any 
 other country, whether considered under the head of agriculture, com- 
 merce, or even the capabilities of becoming a manufacturing one. It 
 holds that position with regard to the Pacific and its islands, which must 
 make it a ruler of its commerce; and when adirect cnmmuniuation shall 
 have been opened from the ejistern side of the continent, it must receive 
 the aid of capital and immigration, and rise speedily to an importance 
 scarcely to be paralleled. 
 
 The Rev. C. G. Nicolay says of this country : — " Thtf growth of tim- 
 ber of all sorts, in tlie neighbourhood of tho De Fuca Straits, adds much 
 to its value as a naval station. Coal is found in the whole western dis- 
 trict, but principally shows itself above Jhe surface on the north side of 
 
 I 
 
 M , r. 
 
 + 
 
 ^« 1 # 
 
 t.i.iJ- 
 
T 
 
 »* . r 
 
 + 
 
 *» , <> 
 
 11 
 
 Vancouver's Island. To these sources of commeicial weallli, tnusl he 
 added the minerals : iron; lead, tin, &c.; and limestone is plentiful in the 
 north. It will he found to fall short of few countries, either in salubrity 
 of climate, fertility of soil, and consequent luxuriance of vegetation and 
 utility of productions ; or in the picturesqiZH character of the country." 
 
 Thus far, I have endeavoured to show the feasibility and expediency 
 of constructing a Railway to the Pacific, through British territories. I 
 may have failed in interesting readers in it sufficiently to excite the 
 feeling to exert an influence on the accomplishment of so great a work. 
 Our geographical position gives us advantages and facilities for carrying 
 it out, which no o/W count?'!/ possesses. We are placed so far north 
 that the climate would protect animal and vegetable productions from 
 injury and destruction, and where the soil, for nearly the entire route, 
 would be capable of sustaining population ; thereby opening to settle- 
 ment and production, the greatest possible extent of wilderness, other- 
 wise forever useless. It is a subject of wide national interest ; one of 
 universal benevolence, opening to mankind the now uncultivated por- 
 tions of an immense country, to the superabundant population of the 
 Old World, building cities upon the silent shores of the Pacific, and 
 growing corn upon the untrodden slopes of the Rock5r Mountains. I am 
 aware that many will be found, who will urge the impossibility, and 
 unhesitatingly assert that such a work is impracticable. There never 
 yet was any great work projected, which did not meet with its cavillers 
 or opponents. To such 1 would reply, there is no work, no enterprise, 
 too vast, too magnificent, if dependent alone upon the labour of man for 
 its accomplishment, aided by the science and skill of the present day. 
 
 Within but a short time, we have seen a body of 20,000 Mormons 
 traverse a wilderness of 1200 miles, and, seating themselves at the foot 
 of the Rocky Mountains, in one year place themselves in a most pros- 
 perous and flourishing condition : building up cities, and, in fact, ac- 
 quiring the position of an independent state; who shall tell us, then, 
 that an extensive and systematic immigration to the fertile lands west 
 of Lake Superior, cannot become equally flourishing^ prosperous and 
 happy. If in the plan proposed there is any merit, it is to be ascribed 
 to Mr. Whitney, of New York. It originated with him, and has be- 
 come the foundation for many to build upon. In the United States, no 
 less than six or seven different projects were brought forward, giving 
 rise to sectional prejudices, and creating diverse interests, which has 
 chiefly been the cause that none of the projected railways have been 
 commenced, unless the one at Panama. Setting aside the advantages 
 to be derived by this country in opening to immigration our western 
 wilds, it will be well to consider whether it is possible, and if possible, 
 whether some one of the projected routes through the United States be 
 likely to be commenced or built, which would be the means of render- 
 ing one through our territories useless, for the purposes of controlling 
 the trade of India, &c. I propose to show that not even a ship canal 
 across the Isthmus of Panama, can compete with a communication by 
 the head waters of Lake Superior and the Pacific. 
 
 The various routes advocated in the United States, for the construction 
 of a Railway communication connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, are :'^ 
 
 1st. That termed the northern route, from Lake Michigan, terminating 
 at Puget Sound. 
 
 2nd. A route from some point upon the Missouri, terminating at the 
 mouth of the Columbia. 
 
 3rd. A route from St. Louis, terminating at San Francisco. 
 
 4th. A route from St. Louis, by way oif the Gila, terminating at San 
 Diego. 
 
 5th. A route from New Orleans across Texas. 
 
12 
 
 6th. Over the Isthmus of PanamH, by railroad. 
 
 7th. By Tehnantepec or Nicaragua, bjr ship canal. 
 
 The fiist or northern route is that projected by Mr. Whitney, who 
 «xplored and examined the country westward of the Lakes Michisan 
 and Superior, fur a distance of 800 miles, and compared with the otner 
 lines, it has been found to possess the greatest advantages; it pursued a 
 oourse along 4S^ degress of north latitude, until it terminated at Puget 
 Sound. It was found that thus keeping so far to the North, better lands 
 were offered suitable for agriculture, timber more readily obtained, less 
 <lifficulty in surmounting the hills, and all the large rivers in a measure 
 avoided, inasmuch as only the head waters of these would be crossed, 
 besides, the distance by this ronte, ISOO miles, being from 300 to 600 
 shorter than the others, and the fact that at Puget Sound there always 
 «ould be obtained supplies of coal from the adjoming British possessions 
 at Fuca Straits. That this or no other particular route has been decided 
 upon by the United States is, I believe, to be solely attributed to the sec- 
 tional jealousies which the other proposed routes have created, the 
 interests of those advocating the others, requiring a more southerly route, 
 all being actuated by a fear that their section of their country would not 
 secure its full benefits certain to follow from it. In as great a degree 
 as this proposed northern route has advantages over all the others, so 
 "would one through British possessions possess advantages over it. 
 
 The more southern lines are all alike liable to the same or similar objec- 
 tions. They would cross a much greater extent of country, where the 
 altitude of the mountains is much greater, and large rivers must be 
 •crossed, as well as immense tracts of sterile lands which cannot be inha- 
 bited ; and the want of coal or fuel throughout a very large portion of 
 the line, and at the terminus upon the Pacific, must preclude anything 
 like competition with one through British territories where the distance 
 Is so very much shortened, where there are less difficulties to overcome, 
 and where the line would pass through some of the best lands in the 
 western country, possessing a fine and healthful climate, and thegreatev 
 part of which country may be densely populated. 
 
 The great barriers upon the American routes, are upon the one pro- 
 posed through British possessions, modified or made clear by nature, and 
 above all through the Valley of the Sascatchewan, and at the terminus 
 at Fuca Straits abundance of coal is at hand. 
 
 A canal across the Isthmus of Panama, at Nicaragua or Tehuantepee, 
 has been mooted for near 200 years ; surveys and explorations have been 
 made, but it all rests where it commenced. It is true that this [sthmu« 
 Corms but a narrow barrier between the two great oceans of the world, 
 nevertheless there are innumerable obstacles in the way of its beconir 
 ing the best, cheapest, or quickest route between Europe and Asia. 
 
 It is far from being among the most serious objections that the 
 Isthmus of Panama is without harbours upon either side, with shoals 
 and shallow waters difhcult of access from either ocean, situated in the 
 latitude subject to calms, squalls, and tornados^ the climate unhealthy 
 in the extreme, nine months in the year subject to excessi-ve torrents elf 
 rain, and the thermometer ranging from 82 ° to 88 ® , and the other 
 three months from 90 ° to 95 '^ , a temperature and climate certain to 
 •destroy all animal and vegetable production, and also to injure greatly 
 all manufactured goods. 
 
 In a transportation by Railway across the Isthmus of Panama steam 
 must be used ; depots of coal must become necessary, transported from 
 •nn immense distance upon the Atlantic side, consequently the rate of 
 freights must be so great as to preclude the transmission of merchan- 
 <]ise. Upon the Pacific side depots of coal would become necessary 
 at the Sandwich Islands or at the Marquesas or Society Islands.; 
 
 *. 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
f. 
 
 13 
 
 the diiitance from Panama to China, beins over 9000 miles, what 
 steamer could carry freight in addition to lier necessary fuel ? For 
 auch route the cost of the quantity of fuel to be placed at such depots, 
 (a large portion, if not all of it, would most likely be brought from Fuca 
 Straits,) would render the undertaking so unprofitable that it could not 
 compete with the old route around the Cape. Again, the route across 
 the Pacific from Panama, offers many difficulties to sailing vessels in the 
 prevailing winds, calms, &c., so much so that even a vessel might pass 
 round the Cape to China in a shorter space of time than from Panama. 
 
 If these objections were not sufficient of themselves to settle the question 
 as to the advantages of the routes across the Isthmus of Panama, the du« 
 tance gained by a route from the head of Lake Superior to Fuca Straits will. 
 
 Many, perhaps, who have not reflected upon our position with regard 
 to China, will be surprised to know that here, in Toronto, we are 
 upwards of two thousand miles nearer to Canton, than is the IsihrMU of 
 Panama to that place; consequently, that through Canada, England can 
 reach the great marts of Asia by a much shorter route than by any other. 
 
 Supposing that a ship canal was completed across the Isthmus of 
 Panama, thereby obviating the necessary delays and heavy expenses 
 of transhipment and transit upon a railway, &c., and the steamers pass- 
 ing through that canal of sufficient capacity to carry the fuel required 
 for 9,000 miles, still neither distance nor lime can be diminished. Let any 
 one take the map of the world, he will see upon one side of us Europe at 
 a distance of some 3,000 miles ; upon the other, Asia at a distance of 
 some 5,000 miles. A line drawn from the great European to the Asiatic 
 marts, passes through our great lakes and across Canada ; as we are thus 
 placed in the centre, so may we become the thoroughfare of both. 
 
 From London to Panama, 81 ^ of longitude and 42 ^ 
 of latitude must be overcome, which in a straight 
 line, would vary little from .*. 5,868 miles* 
 
 From Panama to Canton, 170 ° of longitude is to be 
 overcome, measuring 60 miles to a degree 10,200 <* 
 
 16,068 <« 
 
 London to Quebec 2,800 
 
 Quebec to Pigeon River, Lake Superior. . . . 1,150 
 
 . Pigeon River to Fuca Straits 1,500 
 
 Fuca Straits to Canton 5,400 
 
 10,860 <• 
 
 Difference in favour of route through Canada 5,218 ** 
 
 This, most likely, will strike one as incredible, nevertheless it will 
 be found not very far wrong ; and even a much greater difference in 
 favour of Fuca Straits will be found to exist when actual sailing distance is 
 compared, ships often being obliged to run down far to the south or keep 
 up far to the north to catch the winds. 
 
 It will be seen that in crossing the globe within the tropics, the degree 
 of longitude measures full 60 miles, where on a course from a point at 
 30 o on a line to 60 o latitude, measures but 47 miles to the degree. 
 
 mies. Mile*. 
 
 Panama to Japan 7,600 Fuca Straits to Japan 4,000 
 
 Panama to Shangee 10,600 Fuca Straits to Shangee. . 5,000 
 
 Panama to Singapore . . 10,600 Fuca Straits to Singapore. . 7,000 
 Panama to the Sandwich Fuca Straits to the Sandwich 
 
 Islands 3,400 Islands 2,400 
 
 Panama to Australia . . 6,460 Fuca Straits to Australia . . 6,000 
 As to the advantages of the respective routes, comments are unneces- 
 sary, figures and facts settle the question ; looking again to the terniinus 
 at Fuca Straits, we find advantages as to harbours, climate and position^ 
 
14 
 
 in a degree commensurate to the disadvanttiges of Panama, and for 
 steamers abundance of coal ; the islands of Japan also abound in coal, 
 where supplies can be had, and if necessary, depots might be made 
 upon the Aleutian Isles ; no sea is so remarkably adapted to steam navi- 
 gation as the Pacific, its tranquil surface is scarcely ever agitated by a 
 storm. For sailing vessels, Fuca Straits is equally advantageous, easy 
 of access at all seasons of the year, being out of the latitudes of the pre- 
 vailing calms ; the passage could be made out and back with the trades ; 
 the course to the great commercial marts of Asia would be west of south, 
 and the north-east trade winds blow almost uninteruptedly, returning by 
 a more northerly route, advantage would be taken of the polar currents 
 which set northward towards Bhering Straits, and also of the more vari- 
 able winds in higher latitudes. 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to compare with each other, the different 
 routes proposed for this great highway of the world, to explain the plan 
 by which it is proposed to accomplish it, and to show that the very route 
 which circumstances force us to take, is the only route suitable for the 
 accomplishment of such a magnificent work. British capitalists, it 
 appears, are ready to give their aid towards the construction of a similar 
 communication across the Isthmus of Panama ; where must be incurred 
 a much greater expenditure of money than would serve to build the Rail- 
 way witliin our own territories, and, even then, unless nature herself 
 can be overcome, they cannot attain their object ; whilst here, nature 
 invites the enterprise, and where they have no favours to ask of foreign 
 nations, where they will have security that the way shall never be closed to 
 the enterprise of the British merchant, and whereby her possessions upon 
 the Pacific will be secured to Britain for all time to come, and be an 
 additional guarantee for the perpetuity of her dominion upon this conti- 
 nent, it would create a union among all her people which could not be 
 dissolved, with the trade of the world her own forever ; cemented by the 
 affections and undivided interests of her subjects in Europe and in Asia, 
 by means of her Canadian Empire, bound together with sinews of iron. 
 
 The view that this opens upon the mind, independent of its internal 
 benefits, staggers speculation with its immensity, and stretches beyond 
 ail ordinary rules of calculation. The riches of the most unlimited 
 market in the world would be thrown open to it ; and, obeying the new 
 impulse thus imparted to it, England's commerce would increase until 
 every billow between us and China bore her meteor flag. By the su- 
 
 ?erior facilities conferred upon m, by our position to control the whole 
 acific, and the route through our own country, we would become the 
 common carrier of the world. 
 
 Again : Vast countries still lie in the fairy regions of the East, the 
 productions and resources of which are scarcely known to us, and only 
 await the civilising influence of such a scheme as this, to throw down 
 the barriers of prejudice and superstition. Of this nature and character 
 is the opulent empire of Japan. Though second but to China itself, it 
 holds no intercourse with foreigners, and only permits onenati on to land 
 upon its dominions (the Dutch). Ought it to be too much to hope that 
 thus being brought so near to us, some diplomacy or commercial inter- 
 ests would throw its rich markets open to our enterprise. 
 
 The cost of the work, even though it should amount to a hundred 
 millions, is no argument to urge ai^aiiiRt the undertaking which would 
 render every nation on the globe our commercial tributaries. But this 
 is a most extravagant estimate. It would scarcely amount to eight 
 millions, less, indeed, than would be required to cut a canal across the 
 ■ Isthmus of Panama, as is proposed, entailing, perhaps, upon England, 
 some future war, to maintain the rights of her subjects in using such 
 eanal, the expenses of which would build a dozen railways; a war that 
 might leave England enfeebled, exhausted, and depressed. The com- 
 
Eletion of the proposed Railway through British possessions, would find 
 er regenerated with new lifo) her impulses reawakened, her energies 
 strengthened, and advancing with a rapidity and vigour that would 
 astonish Destiny herself. 
 
 The distance from the head of Lake Superior to the Pacific being 
 about 1,500 miles, then allow for detours and crossing the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, say 250 miles, making in all 1750. 
 
 To construct such a road would cost about £6,000 per mile, making a 
 total of £8,750,000. 
 
 From the point where it might start upon Lake Superior to Lac la 
 Pluie, would be the most expensive portion upon this side of the Rocky 
 Mountains ; from Lac la Pluie onward, the land is of the best quality for 
 the production of food for man, well watered, covered with rich grass, &c. 
 The farmer wants but the plough, the seed, the scythe and the sickle ; 
 at the above rate, ten miles of railway would cost £50,000. Five miles 
 by sixty contain 192,000 acres, the whole of this sold at say 5s. per acre, 
 would not produce the sum required for the bare expense of building, 
 thereby showing that the request made for 60 miles is not unreasonable. 
 
 Without directing attention to the trade carried on throughout the 
 Pacific, by France, by Holland and other continental nations, and also 
 by the United States, let us look only to England, it will afford some 
 idea of the incalcuable advantages which such a communication would 
 open out through this country. 
 
 Imports into Great Britain from the following ports : 
 From Bengal, Madras and Bombay, as taken from 
 HunVs Merchant's Magazine for March, 1843, includ- 
 ing all to Continental Europe, and North and South 
 
 America, annually £12,000,000 
 
 Less for the amount to France and America 2,489,340 
 
 £ 9,510,660 
 
 From Sumatra and Java (commercial tariff, part 6) . . 215,216 
 
 The Philippine Isles 346,692 
 
 New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, (table of 
 
 revenue, part 12, page 474) 1,118,088 
 
 Mauritus, (table of revenue, part 12) 806,593 
 
 Chili, estimated at 1,500,000 
 
 Peru, estimated at 1,000,000 
 
 £14,497,240 
 From China the total amount of various productions, 
 teas, silks, &c 5,000,000 
 
 £19,497,240 
 To which must be added the eocports fiom Great Britain, which are 
 sent in exchange for the above productions. The imports and exports 
 of the Dutch East Indies and the French East Indies, should also be 
 considered, as also the exports and imports of the United States, all 
 would be tributary to such a road. 
 
 The Imperial Government have contracted to pay, per 
 annum, for the transmission of a Monthly Mail to 
 Chagres £260,000 
 
 And from Panama to Callao, for communicating with the 
 Navy and Ofiicers in the Pacific 20,000 
 
 £270,000 
 
 Having thus alluded to the importance to be attached to the opening 
 of such a communication as proposed with the Pacific, and to the com- 
 
16 
 
 parative advantages, in a strictly commercial point of view, between it 
 and the Isthmus of Panama, it may not be inappropriate to again advert 
 to it, as regards the effect the constructing of a canal at the latter would 
 have upon £nsland's maritime supremacy. 
 
 As early as the seventeenth century, a company projected by William 
 Patterson, was formed in Scotland, to improve the advantages offered by 
 the Isthmus of Darien, £700,000 was raised, and 1200 men set sail to found 
 a colony, but being denounced by Government, and attacked by a Spanish 
 force^ they sunk under accumulated misfortunes, and abandoned tne en- 
 terprise in despair. The project seems to be again revived, and a Company 
 is now forming in London to carry out the scheme of a ship canal by means 
 of British capital, an almost suicidal act to England's supremacy on the 
 saafl,for it would thus contribute toafford superior facilities and advantages 
 to other nations,and particularly to her enterprising rival the United States, 
 from whose rapid strides towards maritime equality England has much 
 to fear. Through her geographical position the United States can mora 
 readily avail herself of the benefits to be derived from this course thaa 
 any other nation. Her fleets would steam in one unbroken line through 
 the Gulf of Mexicoi< her naval power would over-awe our settle- 
 ments upon the nortn-west coasts; and her influence extend itself 
 throughout all our Indian possessions. The Marquesas Islands in case 
 the project be carried into effect, lying directly in the route of the navi- 
 gation to India, would at a step advance into one of the most important 
 maritime ports in the world, whilst the Society Islands, also in the pos- 
 session of France, would enhance iipmensely in their value, more than 
 all, returning back, the vessels of all Europe would 'ere long procure 
 their tropical productions from the newly awakened Islands in the 
 Pacific Ocean, m just the degree that their value would increase the West 
 India possessions would depreciate. By changing the route throush the 
 Isthmus of Panama, England would voluntary resign into other hands 
 those commanding maritime and naval stations which she has won at 
 the expense of so much diplomacy, perseverence and wealth. The 
 power and advantages of Saint Helena, Mauritius, Capetown, and the 
 Falkland Islands, commanding the passage round Cape Horn, would 
 be tFttnsferred to New Orleans and other Cities of the United States 
 bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, to Cuba, Chagres, Panama, and the 
 Marquesas Islands. 
 
 By the present route around the Cape of Good Hope and through the 
 Isthmus of Suez, she has a fair start with the best, and superior chance 
 over most other nations for the Indies, and while her established power 
 and superior marine in that region secures a preponderence in trade, 
 better let well alone, unless sh^ can gain superior advantage. 
 
 The commerce of India in every age has been the source of the 
 opulence and power of every nation that has possessed it ; by a silent and 
 almost imperceptible operation, India has been through centuries the 
 secret but active source of the advance of mankind, and while lying 
 apparently inert in her volumptuous clime, has changed the maritime 
 l^Iances of Europe with the visit of every people that has sought the 
 riches of her shores. Her trade imparted the first great impulse to 
 drowsy and timid navigation, it revealed in the direction of its coasts, 
 region after region before unknown. Like the Genii in the fable, it 
 still offers the casket and the sceptre to those who unintimidated by the 
 terrors that surround it, are bold enough to adventure to its embrace. In 
 turn Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, Venice, Pisa^ Genoa, Portugal, 
 Holland, and lastly England, has won and wore this ocean diadem j 
 Destiny now offers it to us. 
 
 UUail BCOBIE, PRINTER, KINO ITRKIT, TORONTO.