/ 
 
 HUDSON BAY 
 f roposed utilization of its land and water resources. 
 
 I. 
 
 ?! 
 
 A- 
 
 ■i 
 
 • i 
 
 A NEW COLONY -A RAILWAY TO REACH IT. 
 
 Read before the Ziterary and Historical Society of Quebec, 
 7th March, 1803, by C. BaiUairg^, 
 
 , f \^ 
 
 jj.' 
 
:. • HUDSON BAY ■ 
 
 Proposed utilization of its land and water resource.' 
 
 A NEW COLONY -A RAILWAY TO REACH IT. 
 
 l*,v C. P>^VTr.T^A.IHGK, ^V. M. 
 
 l..iiiil Survi-yor, Kngiiicnr aii<l iXrchitcci — Kx-i>icsi(l-iit of tln' <^hielicit (Juo- 
 grapliifal Socitcy. — Presidont »f tho Troviiiri! of Qiu-btc A.>^sociatiffli 
 (if Aicts. — MciiibcT (if the Can i-liaii AsHP<n;itiiiii df Civil V'lis'incfis — 
 Fclliiw of the U'lViil Sfic'itty ofCniiiidu. 
 
 •■...>■'■ '■•.- ' '■ ■ , ' ■, v/. 
 
 To th'^ Nortinviird of Qael)oc is a vast cxpMnse of waU-r 
 discovered in 1010 by Ileiny Hudson, and it is c died by the 
 name of tliis intrepid navigator. - .... » 
 
 The bay extends from the .list to the iiord dei^ree oF 
 Xorth latitude, in wliieli direction it m<' isiires (S2.') miles ; 
 and from the 7Sth to the Ollth (k^gree of West lonn'itud(.', 
 wiiich gives it a breadth of abonth (VAO nules. -'"*' '- 
 
 Its area is ^]!)7.()00 luiles : say six times that <>f th" (lull* 
 of St. Lawrence; rtve times that of otir great fresh water 
 lakes combified : tlv^ Ontai-io, Erie, Michigan, Huron and 
 Superior with (Jeoigian bay in the bifgiiti — ^ see- report oi 
 Min. of P. W. for 18S i^ST page U, by C. V. Haillarge esq., at 
 the time deputy mii\ister of the Dept. - • 
 
 Aj')[)roximating t<> the si/e of the (ilulf of Mi'xico in 
 h'ngth and bi-eadtiv Fludson Hay is thre times the extent of 
 the Caspian sen or of the Black SeiA-. twice that of tiie Ked 
 
2 
 
 Sea, lialf that of the Meditei'ranean between Africa an«1 
 Europe. . 
 
 But iTiay be you will have a more tanfjible, st iking proof 
 of the vast extent of this inlanil sea, when I tell you that its 
 urea is 26,500 times greater than that of the harbor here 
 between Quebec, Levis, Beauport and the Isjarul ; and this is 
 no Wiiy dispaiaging, since the Quehec Harhoi- is celebrated 
 amongst those of the entire world. 
 
 Some thirty years ago, several of you are witness to the 
 f;ict — no less tiian KJOO vsssels entered our harbor durinjj a 
 single season ; of which 40>) at a time, and had they been 
 of an average length of 500 ft : or of that of our present 
 ocean steamers, and to each of them a radius of 1100 ft, could 
 liave swung around together with the tide and had ample 
 room to manipulate and lighter in. 
 
 This bay. Sirs, is vast, vast as is everything in this new 
 w'orld of ours — our lakes beside those of the older continent 
 — our rivers, the Amazones, St-Lawrence, Mississippi in pa- 
 rallel with the streamlets Thames and Seine and Rhine of 
 Europe ; vast as our Sierras, our Rockies beside the Pyren- 
 nees, the Alps ; the Muir glacier of Alaska vaster than all 
 the old world glaciers put together ; as the Geysers of tin- 
 Yellowstone, 50 ft in brea<lth and spnoting their boiling wa- 
 ters to two and three hundred ft, in height, beside the Iceland 
 tiny thermal springs ; as America itself beside the orlnT con- 
 tinents ; Chicagos Columbian exposition com[)ared with (ill 
 those the woild had seen till then. 
 
 And yet great as are onr lakes, our estuary of the St. 
 I^xwrence ; still when compared in size with Hudson Bay. 
 they arc but like the Saguenay with its majestic roc^.s 
 towering to a hight of IHOO ft. compared with the Coloradtv, 
 where three Capes' Trinity " three ' Eternity " must be piU-d 
 the one upon the other to reach the apex of the monstrous 
 tianks of this stupendous canion, the mightiest work oV 
 
(lod's successive aj?es, and like Niacfara on a smaller scale, 
 telling bow old the world is and by comparisons of mountain 
 chains how older is this so calle 1 " new world " of ours, than 
 that which falsely bears the name of beinif s >. 
 
 But if every thing here is grand in s^ale, we ujust not, 
 by allowing ourselves to be forestalled by the iidiabitants 
 of another Country, in the accomplishuient of that which I 
 am here this evening to propose, allow it to be said and go 
 abroad that Canada, America while grand and g;eat in 
 features of the land, are le s so in tho-;e of their intelligence, 
 in their iidiabitants' conceptions of waj^s and means to utilize 
 these God-given treasures in a way worthy of the great ar- 
 chitect, the won d be builder up of our fortunes, provided 
 that as set forth in Holy Writ We put our own shoulders to 
 the whoel. 
 
 God moulds men's nunds on a par with the scale of na* 
 ture they have to do with : compare our canals, the la gest 
 in the world, with their locks and sluices to the tiny or mere 
 miniature ones of Europe. See how w^e strive ahead of the 
 old world in our giganti'. briilges, the Niagira, the Victoria, 
 the Brooklyn. The Firth of Forth of Scotland took a les.son 
 trom our c u'tilev<MS, and outstripped America in the finest 
 bridge the world has ever seen: two spans of 1700 ft. built 
 without scaffolding, by merely running the two halves out 
 from each side of each pier and abutment, h\ a way to ba- 
 lance each the other, and until meeting at the centre ; but 
 we Americans will shortly take the lea<l again with a bridge 
 over the Hudson of far greater span, raid Europe shall not 
 thatch up to us in engineering entrepris\ not having the eX' 
 tent of land or continent whereon to bviilt a C. P. R., a G. T. R 
 x)r even an 1. C. R. ; and in the same way have we the talent 
 and can we find the capital to reach Hudson Bay by rail, and 
 if need be, build rn iron road around it, be it even 5000 miles 
 %)r more iu circuit. But that will be for future geiierations 
 
to carry out ; througli nothinj;^ oxtra<)r<1ini\ry, ovoii if Wf 
 had to bui<l it ouisflvcs, since lliissin is now buiMinj^ ;i 
 railway throuo^h the ver3' Ijeait of Silicria, fi'om Moscow t<> 
 Vhi'livo.stok near Coroa on the Pacific coast wliich F. ({. Car- 
 penter in a copy righted article in the Moutrenl Duilij iSVo/' 
 of thti 2n<l inst. — in an interestini^ and irjstructive descrip- 
 tion of this Trans-Siherian lii^lnvay, of its objects and res- 
 .sourecs, ogives as over 7000 miles in lengtli, whih.- in fact it i- 
 V)nt oOOO niiies or theivahout, since it c<jvcrs l>ut 100 decrees 
 of l(jngitiide in a latitude wheie tlie d<>grec is barely 50 miles 
 in-tead of the (59 wliicli it is at the erpiator ; and when this 
 ro:\d is ternnnated, let nie say, en p;issant, and tliat which 
 C/hina has under \vi\y to meet it from Pekin, it will then be 
 possible to tiavell all the way from Paris to Pekin by hind. 
 
 Wh.t we ai'e now concerne*! with, is merely to reach 
 the bay, only 'SoO miles remote, built up a new colonv 
 at James Bay and exploit the riclujs of the waters and tin- 
 land The. road would pass within 50 miles of Mistassini. 
 Henry F)y in an issue of the (J/n'Oiticle of the bSth u!t., 
 has shown how we can biiild cli"ap steel or iron vessols f )r 
 tlie purpose. Hill is at the goNernment with Irs promising 
 scheme of turniui'' the bay into a ntnv Alaska of fur bearin;^ 
 seals. Lo\ " is about to issue his n-port <>n the mineral and 
 other riehi's of Labrador, h's discoveiies of lakes larger far 
 than Mistassini, of rivers with high'-r falls that tho-e of 
 Montmorency or Niagar.J, in fuel an Fld>>rado for Quebic 
 and G d kn»)Ws wt; want it badly. Som<' ninny ( 'citi/en' ) un- 
 der th" heatlim'- of '" A railway to the moon ' had it iii th'- 
 Mercur;/ ii y<'aragoor more that • a railway to Hudson Ba}' " 
 was 50 years before its time ; ignoring, as nio-t njen do wh<t 
 look not before they leap, that while he was thus writing; 
 himself down an mdeliever, a railway was already partly 
 built and under way from Parry Sotuid to Nipissing, Nipiss-; 
 insr to Madnwaska ojv the C. P. l^. Madawaska to Temisca* 
 iriin<nu> and that the'<'. P. K. have now taken this road in 
 
 C3 
 
tow an<l will continue it to Al>ittilji nn I thence to Mooso 
 r.ictory on Juuies Bay. Let us then nut dehiy and got to Kuport 
 House at the othtM* corner of the hay, wlion, in oxploitinj;" tht 
 products of the tishoies, there will he aniple work t\n" hoth : 
 and just think my liearers, of the niatrnilicent discovery only 
 lately made tliat Ungava Bay at the mouth of Hudson strait 
 abounds in the loveliest of salmon, the best the world lias 
 ever kn< \vn of, because of the coldness of tho water there : 
 and oh for a dash at them, they are there in thousands, ten 
 of tJiousands, t\iillions — I am not exajiferatin^' — the whoh 
 supply of the Frazer river in I>riiish Cohnnbia, of tlie St. 
 LawicJice and all its tributaries, is not to be compared, so the 
 leport ^oes, which has just readied us, to this we dth, not of 
 the dead yellow metal, but of living gold. 
 
 For some yeai-s past, idealists liave nursed the .schem. 
 of making Htulson Bay a high road for the products of the 
 Western prairies on th(<ir way to Europe, by a route shorter 
 by several hundred miles than the St. Lawrence, Portlan-i 
 or New- York route-; novr followed, and a better latitude 
 for grain on an oceai^ voyage, due to a lower tempoiatur- 
 and less danger of heating in the transit. 
 
 The Federal (iovernment, impressed with the feasibility 
 and advantages of the scheme has already expended S12'2 - 
 000.00 in investigating a::d studying the project, during th« 
 years 1884, 5 & (J, when an expedition was sent out under 
 charge of Lieut. Gordon, to survey and repoit upon tluj <lat< 
 at which the ice breaks up and forms again along tlie oO( 
 Uiiles of Hudson straits or narrows ; on winds, and ice ann 
 currents both in the bay and straits, climate., geoloy, tish- 
 eries, and resources of the .surrounding country. The Lieu- 
 tenant had buildings or cunps erected at paints along th« 
 straits an! partly afound the bay and during the thre< 
 years, the necessary studies were pursued most thoioughly 
 and exhaustively. 
 
■ i^ 
 
 A survey w;is made of Churchill harl)or and of poH 
 N»lson whore the then proposed Winipeg railway was to 
 ha\ H i s terminus. A report of the pn^giess made by tht^ 
 expedition was each 3^ear sent t, the Department of Marine 
 and Fisheries smd published in their yearly blue books. 
 Thece sue books Sirs and Ladies, which but few ever read, 
 but which teem with, one wouM think sensation d, situations 
 of perd and anxiety, difficulties encountered and to be o er- 
 come. It is in such books, pul)lisht'd at great expense by 
 Goverments and fully and beautifully i lustrated, that one 
 becomes initiated to the marvels, the withcheries of the 
 Colorado, the gigantic petrifactions and precious stones of 
 Arizona, the Yosamito valley, now the socalle 1 United States 
 National Park, the land of giants of this new world s(» 
 called. It is through reports such a- these that we lia\ e 
 learnt of — and only since the last forty yeais — the giant 
 trees of the Maripoza valley, 300 ft. in height, 3000 years in 
 age ; but I am wandering from my subject. 
 
 The first year's expedition Was on board the " Neptune" 
 belonging to Mr. Job of Newfoundland. It was mann'd by 
 a corps of expert mariners including a geologist, a doctor, 
 observers, a photographer, 2 carpenters, and 12 caretakers 
 of the several camps and observatories. It is with this ex- 
 pedition that our poor friend Ashe of the Quebec obser- 
 vatory, Avent out and was a year or more away at Ashe in- 
 let which was called after him and still bears his name. 
 
 The 85 and 86 expeditions were on board the" Aleit ' 
 of some 700 tons, built for Sir George Nares for his arctic 
 voyage of 187(). The total hands were 52 including the editor 
 of the Winnipeg Times, and 43 respectively, a meteorologist 
 and the other scientists required on such a mission. 
 
 The meteorological observations taken on board the 
 Neptune in 1884 at Nacvack bay, 100 miles short or south o!f 
 
— 7 
 
 the niotith of Hudson Strait, show a mean tenip«-*rature at 
 cape Chmlleigh of 39" for August, 33" for Septeinher, and 
 49*^ and 43° respectively at Belle-Isl ■, or of 10 deurees below 
 the latter. Tlie mean temperatuie leaves no doubt as to the 
 impossibility of navigating th« straits in April. Duiing May, 
 tlie strait is covered with lai'ge tields of ice, and as the mtan 
 temperature is 25" or oh below the fnezintr poii t of sa t 
 watei', the breaking up does not commence during that 
 month. During June and July when the te!nper;iturt' lias 
 increased to 3 " and 40" (all Farenheit) the ice lecomes 
 honey-combed and melts rapidly, tliough, from all accounts, 
 it is only from the midd'e half of July that one can count 
 upon a po-sibility of tin<ling clear enough water to navigate 
 the stiait for connnercial puiposes. 
 
 There are icebergs at all seasons in the straits, where 
 they have been found grounded in 80 nnd 100 fr.thoms of 
 water, showing a thickness of fom 500 to 700 ft., but less in 
 'August and September than at anj'^ other season ; while the 
 young or azure ice < f the season attains a thickness from 4 
 to 7^ ft. from the western end of the strait to Marble Island 
 at the opposite or western sidc^ of the bay. 
 
 About the beginning of July gr< at (juan ities are met 
 with of arctic ice several years old and 40 to 50 ft. in thick- 
 ness. The quantity of ice crossing the mouth of the strait is 
 enormous: it sometimes, in the spring, forms an inipenetrable 
 banier of from 50 to 100 miles in extent, between the mouth 
 and the free waters of the ocean. 
 
 Duiing ordinary years the period of navigation is limit- 
 ed to the 3 months from July 15 to Oct. 15, while vessels of 
 small draft and with small propellers might possibly continue 
 for another two or four weeks, together 4 months at the 
 utmost. . ' ,. . . 
 
 The mean date of arrival at York Factory of 116 con- 
 secutive voyages of the Hudson Bay Company's vessels, was 
 
 
 .. 
 
 \. 
 
 /i ; 
 
 
 fe ■ 
 
 i 
 
 n, 
 
 ■^ 
 
 1 
 
8 
 
 the 4fch of Sept., of wliicli 48 <lui ino- An<TU.st and ran(i:in«r 
 l^roin Au<(. C) to Oct. 7 jtncl in sucli cases the vessels had to 
 winter in tlie bay. , . 
 
 But wliile tlie strait is thus iia\ ifjahle only duiin?"' o t<> 
 4 montlis at most, not so of the Bay itself, whore the waters 
 are not so coM. the mean tempernture of the hay heinjf sonu- 
 7'^ warmer than in the strait, 500 miles North of the contre 
 of the bay, and due als(» to the fact that hirge bodie.-i of deep 
 water are tempered as well from the heat of tlie un<lerlyinu 
 bottom as from the fact that S(» soon as the surface is frozen 
 ovei", it imprisons the contained heat and prevents it from 
 escaping into the atmosphere. 
 
 During the voyage of the Ne|)tune, it was observed that 
 while the surface temperature of the strait water was 82° to 
 'V^° or close to the freezing point of sAlt water ; that of thr 
 bay itself was as high as 41 '^, at Churchill 37.7" at 100 mil^s 
 North East of York factory 3D 4'>, at marble Island 36^ 
 
 The Bay itself is now known to be navigable early in 
 June, and the Churchl'l factor declares that never does tin- 
 ice extend fir eno)io-h from sli<^re for clear \\'ater not to be 
 seen beyoml, and, that this distance is ineousidi^rable, say only 
 u mile or less, you have often been in a position to see for 
 vourselves while travellin-r over the ice bri'lo-e between 
 <iaebec and the Island. ... . r 
 
 The 3 to G kiio', cuirents in the strait, notably increast" 
 the dangers of navigation ; and, says Lieut. Gordon, these 
 dingers are enhuiced by the perturbations the magnetic 
 needle is subject to, in this not far vicinity from tlio mag- 
 g letic pole, supposed to be in lititude 82° or thereabout, ac- 
 cording to sir John Ko.ss ; the vertical attraction becoming' 
 so great, that while the dip is but 07^ in Etigl.an 1, it increases 
 to 87" or by 20" in the dista'nciv to Digges Island at the North' 
 
— D — 
 
 I'n 1 of the Bay, the only way of safely navigiiting the strait. 
 lieinsT hv the constant use of thesoundinsj line. 
 
 The fish and nuiinmalia of commerce are the so called 
 light \vha!e " bilcna mysticet:is ', the most prize I on ac- 
 count of tie high price of its whale-bone, A rtsh 50 to flO 
 ft. gives, saj'' one t>n of bom and 20 to 40 tons of oil, the 
 blubber varying from G" to 18" in thicknes-j. The white 
 while " begula catodon " or porpoise, the most prolific of the 
 hay, schools of which are at every tide seen to enter the 
 Churchill, York and Nelson rivers. The^^ are worth $1 
 each as an average. In ISSt} the Co. killed as many of theiii 
 as 200 during a single tide at Churchill: .sav a §20,000.00 
 catch. Th"y are made to ground on the fore shore or bat- 
 tures and prevented from returning by powerful nettings 
 stretched across, until the tide subsides. The Xarwall " mo- 
 nodon monoceros " or unicorn, whic'i o-jves a lai"<re amount 
 of blubber for its siz) ; the tusk of the male being often of .a 
 length of J ft. and which, of ivory is highly valued. The 
 morse or sea horse " triehecus rosmarinus " whicli is found in 
 flocks at no grea*: distance fronj the shore, to the North of 
 Marble Island, where the Company send every year fiom 
 Churchill, two vessels returning within a few weeks loaded 
 down to their full capacity with oil and skins and ivory : In 
 1884, i*7.0;)0.00 worth. Agiin there is the sea lion of seve:al 
 species " phcjcae " but not s > numerous as on the Nf nl. banks ; 
 thought he Esquimaults kill a great many utilizing their 
 fueat for food, tht'ir hidts for vestments, canoes " kayoks " 
 huts. Now there is the polar bear " ursus niaritimus " 
 which venture out upon the floating ice in quest of seals 
 which they capture while as'eep. There is no known case 
 \vhere, i otwithstanding their natural ferocity, they ha\ e 
 attacked man. Of fishes, there are the salmon and trout only 
 which are exported, though excellent white fish are captured 
 in Nelson river au 1 other water courses wliere they deliglit 
 
— lo- 
 in brackish waters or where the salt water meets the fie-h. 
 As to cod which is abumhint in the strait E:vst of Uiigava 
 bay, tljore does not. appear to be any in the Bay. 
 
 Whale risliing is Inoked aftei', Mnd has l)een for the la'-t 
 40 yoars, b}' our neiu^hboi's of* Massnchussets and Con- 
 necticut, who gcnernlly h.^ave New Bedford and New London 
 in July, arriving at Marble Island in Soptenibtr where tht»y 
 winter until tiie following June The^'^ then saw themselves 
 ou of the suriounding ice, cruise iti tlie bay during Ju'y 
 whence they leturn in Si'ptendjer with the i: cargoes of blub- 
 ber and whale-bone, the value of wliich fur the last 25 year?* 
 has been estimated at a nnllion dollars. 
 
 According to the United States Commissioners of fishe- 
 ries for 1875-7(5, their whalers male at least 59 trips to Hud- 
 son Bay, br nging home cargoes woith Sl,871,000 00 or of an 
 average value of §27,24i').00 per trip per vessel during the 
 eleven years prior to 1874 
 
 The total value of the oil alone obtained and exported 
 from the Bay by the H. Bay Co. and United States tislier- 
 me.i in 1883 is estimated at $150,000.00 and at §1,50 \00() 
 for the 10 years Gordon's estimate — see his report of 
 I88() — is that in the 80 years from 1S40 to 187i), the nuiu- 
 l)er of whalers from the Ncw-Engi'ind States to Hudson Bav 
 and N»u thum! erland Inlet, w.is 118:14.3 barrels of sperm 
 oil, on an averjige, p-jr trip per vessel, 496 barrels wliale oil. 
 79()5 lbs of wfia!el>onc. The mean value of each oarijo says 
 Gordon, at pre.-ent piices would be >^47, 200.0). 
 
 During the 70 years there were but 30 wrecks, l)ut if it 
 be considere<l that their toinjago ba.'ely readied 240 tons it 
 will be seen how great the profits were. 
 
 In a<Mition to the whaling industry, these whalers treat, 
 without permit, with the natives, the Esquimau.^ for muskox 
 
~ 11 — 
 
 }\n 1 other pelt, while the Company pay license to the Govern- 
 nient of Canada, and htid so paid S22,000.0J in 1885. 
 
 The mineral resources and natural history of the Hud- 
 son S.traits and bay are set foi th in the report of T)j Bell who 
 accompanied the expeditions and tilled the post of physician 
 or doctor and of geologist during each of the three voyages. 
 His reports are annexed to those of Lieutenant Gordon and 
 show that whil'i gneiss predominates along the Straits, the 
 Hudson bay region is mostly Hurosiian, a formation in whieh 
 mast economic materials are found. His report of 1888 says : 
 iron, ferrous clay, coppe •, lead, zinc, molybdenum, silver, 
 gold, gypsum, salt, hematite or soapstone, lignite, anthracite, 
 petroleum, asphalt, mica, graphite, asbestos, chromate of iron, 
 apatite, iron pyrites, hydraulic lime, building stone, glass 
 blower's sand, refractory clays, brick clays, molding sand) 
 shelly marl for manuring or fertilizing purposes, ochre, t»?rf, 
 paving stones, roofing slate and other substances, together 
 with stones for ornamental puj'poses and minerals of scien- 
 tific interest. .. , 
 
 M. Bell is of opinion that judging fron\ information ob- 
 tained up to 1887, the N. W. region ol" Hudson bay is that 
 which, of as yet unexplored lands, gives promise of the 
 richest field in materials of economic value, - 
 
 Among the terrestrial fauna : the principal ai'e the po- 
 lar beai', the white, black, red and grey fox, rein-deer, w6lf, 
 hare along the ,-trait and to the North of the bay. Amongst 
 birds, the most abundant species are the wild goose, the 
 swan, the duck and ptarmagan. 
 
 In report < I 188G of as istant Payne, he says the plan's 
 sprout about the 20th to the 27th May, leave during Juuts 
 
rj 
 
 ,''i 
 
 — 12 — 
 
 blossom in July, ripen their seeds in August an<l begin to 
 <lie oHf" hout the 2 ;th of th:it luontli and up to Sept. Ifth. 
 
 The forest essences are white and red spruce or tamar- 
 ack, l);ilsam, white bircli, ospen and poplar in the interior 
 .11 «l No'th iT the Labrador legion, while white spruce and 
 tamarack y,re found along the western shores of the Bay. 
 
 The tides at Churchill, it appears, i-ise some 8 to 15 ft- 
 and the port is well suited as a terminus for the Winnipeg 
 and Hudson Bay railway which will be 050 miles in lengtli. 
 and is subsidized in binds to the extent of G,cSSO,000 acres- 
 see 41) Vict., chap. 78 — 1886 and order in Council of May 
 II, 1885. 
 
 We liave now seen a rapid sketch of the Bay and its 
 resources, its size, its climate, the difficulties of reaching it 
 by water; that already there are two projected railways 
 under way, one from Winnipeg to port Nelson, the other 351) 
 miles from North Bay on the Ottawa liver to Nipissing, 
 Teniiscaminojue, Abittibi and Moose Ffkctory at Jnn)es Baw 
 o le of the most southern points of Hudson B^3^ The North 
 West and Ontario are interested in these lines ; Avhile Quebec, 
 more interested than either, in jjettin^r theie, has done noth- 
 ing as yi t, e.xcep' that, to be sure, the lake 8t John Railway 
 is in the right direction to I'each R ipert Hou>e. or where 
 Mistassirn I ty the Rupert Rivci', larger than the Siguenay. 
 Hows irrto James b «y at a p)int just o;)p)->ite M(>:>se Factory 
 where the Temiscamingue route is to have its terminus. 
 t!iough 120 miles therefrom. 
 
 V , It has l)een said that a straiijh line from lake St. Joh!> 
 tto Rupert Hou.se would lea\e great lake Mistassini — a 
 Imndred miles in length — sou»e 50 miles Eastward, and 
 and though the distance should be thus increa.seil by say 30 
 ndles, it probably would be well to touch at Mistassini on 
 the wav,thus afForlingan issue for its resources and those of 
 
 }■ 
 
— 13 - 
 
 the rogii 11 rouml about it, (. "•d whence tlie road could sorno 
 day reach tlie Labrador Coast en route for EuiMp") nnil then 
 running along Rupert River to its outlet into the Bay. 
 
 Foitnnately now we have a Beenier with us and after 
 successfully running to lake St-John, Chicoutiini and St- 
 Anne, ami wht.'n he shall have completed our electric ci y 
 lines ; let ns hope, for he is still young and hale and hearty 
 that with Hoare as engineer Scott and Cresinan as niana 
 gers, itiniy not be many years ere we shall see this roa I sur- 
 veye I and the first rail laid not later than at the very begin- 
 ing of the 20tli century of this Christian era, and befoie the 
 year 1J)00 is out, I will venture to surmise. We cannot ex- 
 pect much from the Federal Goveinment though it must at 
 least do as much for ns as it has alrei*.dy done for the two 
 other lines allude 1 to ; but it will indeed behove our Lo;'al 
 Legislature to step in and do the needful to give Quebec that 
 back country so much re |uired for its welfare ; for in ad lition 
 to the economic features of the enterprise, and now that all 
 nations are tiirhtins: for the Alaska seal ; let us carry out Hills' 
 scheme of natchiug this lovely mammal from persecution and 
 quick destruction, by tiansplanting a colcmy thereof to Hudson 
 Bay where the waters are just of a temperature to suit ; and 
 where the pooi- thing, the ladies dote on, shall not be hounded 
 as it is at present, but left to our parental care When, some 
 time ago. Hill lectured here on thiss.ibjectof the Alaska seal 
 in Hu'ison Bay, the (piery was raised, so I am told, as to how 
 the defenceless amphibian would hold out against the other 
 supi oseil to be vo acious nionters of the deep ; but no fear, J 
 presume, need be anticipated on this head, as whales and por- 
 poises feed on smaller fry than seals; and to proof, the fact 
 that many varieties of the seal and so called sea-lion — though 
 such a misinoner CMiinot well be conceived — abound in the 
 waters of the bay and only fall a prey to the polar bear, 
 .which, when the bay is peopled round about its shores and 
 ^vessels constantly cruising there, the bear will have to make 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
. - 14 -^ 
 
 tiMcks further North and leave the seal to be exploited for 
 more us ful purposes. 
 
 Ami shall we tlius continue to allow poaching in our 
 Wateis l)> (tur American Cousins, amial)le though they be. 
 See how our gulf ti>ijeries of the St. L .wrence have in a ftvV 
 years dwindled to almost nothing, when, before We allowed 
 our neighbours of beyond tlie line or 4 > to wade in our 
 waters, some ten to twelve vessels yearly made such a good 
 thing out of the whaling industry, and n»ight be doii»g so 
 still, but for our apath}'^ in lookijig after our own interest-;. 
 
 If, says Gordon, we art^ to allow aiier'can wha'c s to con- 
 tinue their deprelations in Canadian waters, Canada should 
 receive a fair equivalent and this shoMJd l>e seen to in any 
 future treatise of leciprocity between the two nations ; and 
 without a laige comp-nsation for the right to do so, Govt, 
 should reserve the right to enact laws to prevent the con- 
 tinued destruction of the mannnals and their disapjiearence 
 from our seas - , 
 
 ! 
 
 And that there may be no doubt as to what I have said 
 al)Out the roid to Moose factory by the way of lake Temis- 
 camingue, hiring under contract and already partly built or 
 completed may he by this time toAbittibi, here is what Hon. 
 N. Nantel, minister of Public Works of the Piov. of Quebec, 
 says in relation thereto in his report for 1894, i age V: The 
 Montieal Occidental Railway, will be next year built as far 
 as "La chute aux Iro(]Uois, " i caching the new paiishe.«» 
 founded by cure Labelle. Tlie Company proposes to push on 
 to lake Nominingue and thence to Temiseamingue, where it 
 will join the Tenuscamingue colonisation load, of wliich the 
 works will be completed next year, as per information: re- 
 ceived to tliat effect from the C. P. R. authorities. If this 
 scheme ii realized, the North side of the Ottawa valley \ViII 
 be traversed by a railway in its richest districts, if considered 
 
— 15 — 
 
 under the tiiple he.id of mines and minerals, forests and 
 agriculture. 
 
 It lieli. ve<; me now to ssiy something more special about 
 James 613% wliich is merely a narrower portion of the Hud- 
 son Bay and at the Southoin extren)ity thereof or nearest to 
 Qnelc c This we glean from surveyor Ogilvie's leport of 
 Jnnunry 18!)1 to tin; Hhle. Minister of the Interior, Ottawa, l>y 
 whom Ogilvie had l>een instructe<l to survey the Teinisca- 
 mingue fin 1 Ali ttibi route to Mo>se factory. This Bay is 
 some 60 miles in wi<lth from East to West and 200 miles 
 from South to North and therefore of an area of 40,000 
 miles or 2600 times as vast as the liarbor of Quebec. In this 
 bay th'ie are islands, one of which Agooniska is some 70 
 milis in length. Between Moose and Rupert, 120 miles as al- 
 ready stated, the shore is high and or uniform level, the 
 soil san<ly with agi'owth of tiiid)er which becomes intensified 
 an<l of larger size along the rivers Ruport and Abittibi vhich 
 empty into the bay. At Moose and Rupert says Ogilvie 
 the Company has gardens where it raises all the potatoes it 
 is in need of. Other vegetables are grown in sufficient 
 quantities ; but melon-, tomatoes and cucuud)ers will not 
 lipeii ; and as for that, as is well known, even in Quebec and 
 its vicinity, there are many pUices where melons and tomatoes 
 will not come to al)solute maturity, nor tobacco eit'ier on 
 occasions of early fro>.t.s. 
 
 Currants, continues Ogylvie, 'thrive well at both places 
 and are good in size and quality and wild strawberries and 
 raspbe. ries, gooseberries are to be found all along the bay ; 
 the only differei.ce being that they ripen later than in On- 
 tario, or about the end of August. Blueberries are found in 
 quanti^^ries all around the bay, and as well known, this is a 
 fruit of great value, as at a low temperature, it keeps well 
 for a very long time. 
 
\: 
 
 t 
 
 — IG — 
 
 At every port around the bay there are horned cattle in 
 abundance, of heavy stature and in no way inferior in ap- 
 ]) aranc'i to cattle in Ontario. At East main, some 5(5 miles 
 Nv rth of Rupert, catt e ave raised and slieep, and distributed 
 as re<iuired to the several posts, including milch cows, sheiq), 
 etc. The cows feed on a 1> 'ach giass or hay tiooled at every 
 tide and which is lioused or stacked between tides for winter 
 use. The wood around the bay is not of hirge diameter i 
 but for all purposes of construction, there is an abundance of 
 it; wdiile mill sites are plentiful on the Rupert and rivers 
 tiischaiging into it and into the bay, with fuel wood for years 
 to come. 
 
 On the Rupert, or call it our side of the bay, an<l bet- 
 w. en it and East main, is a most valuable stone, called 
 led rock, which can be taken out of almost any size for 
 building purposes and would afibrd when cut and polished, 
 an ornamental stone of much beauty. 
 
 Of course the James Bay fisheries alone are not of such 
 extent, though ample for all food purposes of a colony then^ 
 if there were on, as to warrant a ro^d beinjj built nurelv 
 for their utilization ; neither is this the idea, in ax^y way ', 
 but from James Bay to reach the Hudson waters and put 
 them to contribution, utilizing the railway as well for colo- 
 nisation purposes as for the shipment of all Bay produce to 
 and through Quebec to foreign ports ; since as has been said, 
 navigation through the straits ct)uld hardly be depended on 
 even duiing the 3 months stated, when the sound has almost 
 constantly to be used to feel your w.iy and keep out of 
 danger.^ 
 
 • ■ ■ Again, as shown, an outside whaler could but make, as 
 ? at present, one trip in two ye;irs ; whereas by the scheme I 
 
 propose, the required fleet of ves-els should oe built here or 
 " in the Province of Quebec, fnlly equipped, sent out to enter 
 
 the Biy by Hudson Strait and onci there, to remain there; 
 
- 17 - 
 
 tn.ikingf, not one h;in! in two Vfjiis. It t two hauls a venr or 
 • ioing 4 times the hiisine-.-. in an tMjual interval. They would 
 wi.iter in Janjes B ly whf»re the m -n >v ouM, while livin.; on 
 I'Oanl (hirini; the fir<t winter. util'Z" their time in pnttinf; 
 up the buildings requii-ed for themselves and fami its and 
 could amply provide for their oWn siii»-;istenc(^ an 1 :jf those 
 depending on them, by raising the vegetable-* an fiuits 
 required an I providing themsdves with oxen for horses, 
 cows for milk, sheep, etc, W'th al the meat i'e(|uired, vary- 
 ing there fare with .some of the wild goose or duck which ai"e 
 found, as already said, in gre..' abundance about the bay. 
 
 WHALi: FISHING 
 
 England in the 27 years from INGO to 1887 with only 
 8 whders or whaliuu vessels enfjMjjed in the cntch, made 
 t:i,G.S4,()-24 ^tg.= §8,1 7:^12!) or a yearly average of S302,710 ; 
 with an ave age of only 8 whales from the coast of Green- 
 land, and of 82 from Davis straits, a total of 21-78 whales 
 during the 27 years> and a mean value of .^"^330.00 for 
 each whale. 
 
 The english whaler is generally a 400 to 500 ton ves -el. 
 It is armor plated along the water line with what is calle I 
 iron bark: an Australian wood of extreme harilness. Under 
 the flooring of the hold are placed some 50 iron tanks capa- 
 ble of containintf from 250 tO 300 tons of oil. Each whalii- 
 has eight boats and from 50 to 60 men, the monthly expen- 
 diture say S2500.0 ). Average cost of whaler SS7.500 with 
 an auxiliary engine of 75 H. P. The boat is some 27 ft. in 
 length. G in width, 2i in depth. To each boat G to 800 fa- 
 thoms of J" line or rope. On a raised platform or jack deck 
 iat the bow of the boat is a small gun sometimes made to <!<» 
 duty in throwing the harpoon. The gun is swivelled so that 
 it may be pointed in any required direction 
 
18 — 
 
 h. 
 
 When from the " crow's ne>t " (a mere barrel attnchetl 
 to the mast hea^l ot* the vessel) a whale is si;Lcnalle(l, one of 
 the ship's boats puts off immediately in pursuit, but ca eful 
 not to heave in sij^ht of the whale's radius of vis-on. At 2o 
 feet, if by hand, 75 feet where tlie gun is used, the harpoon 
 is thrown ; it penetrates the monstei's tlank ami be in^jj barbed, 
 cmnot be withdrawn To tlie sh;ink of the harpoon which 
 is of }/' iron and some 6 feet in length, is attached one end of 
 the ()00 faihom line already mentioned, the line being wound 
 on a drum in a wavto al;cw of its free and unobstructed de- 
 livery as it spins along with the retiring whale, which as 
 sojii as speared, is oti* with the japidity of an arrow. It dives 
 towards the bottom of the sea, against whicli, if only from 
 4')0 to 503 f ithoms otF, the whale sometimes strikes an<l 
 breaks its jaws. After an interval of 30 to 40 minutes it 
 rises again to breadth' or blow as it is called. 
 
 During the interval, other boats have put off from the 
 wh'\'er, ready to harpoon it when it reappears. Off h goes 
 a second time, but now with less speed, for being weakencil 
 from loss of blood ; nor <loes it go so far, when, on returning 
 a second time, souietimas a thirl, its slower motion allows of 
 the boats getting near enough to spear at the li.!art or lungs, 
 after which it is k lied and brought alongside the whaler. 
 Rjpe-5 from the deck are then passed under it, with the re- 
 turn end parsed through sheaves, which as the blubber, from 
 one to tw^o fi'et thick, is cut from the mammal's flanks and 
 haule 1 on deck, to be c it and boiled or melted and made oil 
 of, allow of rotating the vvhule in a way to pre.sent success- 
 ively every portion of its body to the proce.ss of roVibing it 
 of its coating. And now for the whale bone of which tin iv 
 are generally as many «juintals as there are t )ns of oil, an I 
 of eipial, .-ometinies greater value. 
 
 Wh iling, always sensational and exciting is sometimes 
 dangerous. Salmon fishini; is a mitiiaturc of this, fov as soon 
 US struck the sdmon goes and conies awl goes again until su 
 
— 19 — 
 
 Weakened as to allow of being c iptured : the work of half an 
 hour or thereabout; whereas to secure the whale, an hour is 
 require'l, sornetinii'S close on two, ami one '.nust l>e on thr (pii 
 vive and know how to approach it, for with a stroke of its 
 powtiiFiil tail, it lias l»een known t) stave in a boat, or 
 br ak it in twain, hiunching itstccupants into mid air, if not 
 into internity. Its speed is said to be as much as 5 J miles 
 an hour; twice that of one our so called ocean grjy-hounds, 
 or it could keep pace with a locomotive tlying at a mile a 
 minute, which m ike< it necessary, so to leel the rope that 
 there may be no liitch in the unreeling or paying out; or 
 else the rope will snap and lose the whale, or the boat may 
 be hauled with it below the su.'face and its occupants lose 
 their lives. 
 
 During the 27 years of which I have spoken, the value 
 of oil has varied, says the last edition of the Encyclopedia 
 Brit innica, from 5 to 11 cts a pound and of whale bone, front 
 <S0 cts to S4-.91. This last has become so expensive now a 
 day, that it is no moit; used in umbrellas and corsets, for 
 which steel is u-ed in stead, nnd the whale bone riserved for 
 the polishing of silk and other uses. 
 
 A pair of jaw bones of the whale is to be seen in tlu' 
 tnnseum of Laval Uuiver>ity, more than ample in size to 
 drive a carriage and pair through. The bone, as a wdiole, is 
 made up of some 500 blades having parallel fibres, of which 
 a large consumption is made for industrial purposes, as 
 brushes, brooms and the like. When the lujne was intro- 
 duced in 1708 it sold for S3,500 a ton, while duiing thr 
 present century the piice went down to as low at SI 20. loiter 
 on it again rose in value t3 !?1000 and now sells as hijjh at 
 !$7500 for groenland bone. . . -;-.-:. ,.> . 
 
 There are three species of bone, that vvliich is obtaineil 
 From the right or Greenland whale— whale bone — that fron» 
 
■W^ 
 
 — 2v) — 
 
 ^ontljcrn sous or from the so ejille<l Mack wlinle " balaen i 
 nustralis," ami that from tlie PaciHc whale " bahien i Japo- 
 nic-a" To prepare the bone for commerce the bhulos arc 
 b<MhMl 12 hours or until the subtance has become ijuite soft, 
 ani it is then it can be separated into ribbon-like strij)s 
 imkI of the re<|uiie»l breadth and thickness, and even into 
 fihimeuts of the tenuitv of Imir, according; to the usaire to be 
 made of it. 
 
 1: 
 
 
 The cachalot or sperm whale is that from which sperm- 
 aceti is oVitained. It is hunted all the year round in tropical 
 seas. B;f<»re the war of ii.dependence of the United States 
 or in 1774, a fleet of as many as 370 vessels used to engao^i- 
 in the chase and capture, and up to 181-G the number of 
 whaleis had increased to 785 vessels, with and averajji' 
 tonnan^e of 315. 
 
 The head of the cachalot whicli is an ' odontaceti ' 
 or to )thed mammal, is sometimes as much as 12 to H f t , or 
 one third the length of the fish. It is very high an<l stumpy 
 truncated in fiont, due to an accumulation of a sini;ul ulv 
 mollified fatty substance which overlies and Hds the cavity 
 above the upper ba e of the cranium. The oil contained iti 
 the cells of this enormus cavity, after refining it by b >iling' 
 produces the substance called spermnccti or whale sperm, 
 blanc <le baleinc as we Sav in f rench ; while the thick coat- 
 in J of blubber which on all sides covers ami surrounds th * 
 fish, or mammal 1 si ould say, for whales as porpoises, seals and 
 dolphins are not fish, truly speaking, they being vivipa- 
 rous, or iringing forth their young alive as other or terrestrial 
 mammals do ; the thick coating, I say, of blubber which ei\- 
 ca'^es the animal on all sides gives the sperm oil worth 12 
 ets a pound or $1.20 the gallon. 
 
 The lower jaw of this whale lias on each side of it, some 
 20 to 25 large teeth which are of ivorj'' of a valued quality. 
 
— 21 — 
 
 The substance ' a- nl;ergris' formerly usod, in medicine an 1 
 now in peifuniery, is a niorbiJ secretion from the anim lis' 
 intestine, ami whicli is tViUnd floating — in ma*;ses, sjiys 
 W.'lister, oF from GO to 125 lbs, \vei<;ht — on the sujface of 
 the s»a frequented by this whale. Its origin and purity are 
 made known by the presence of th » horny man libula of the 
 cephalopo Is on which the cachalot fee Is. 
 
 The American whaler is, as stated, a vessel of only some 
 330 tou.s, and crew of HO; instead of the 400 to 500 tons of 
 the engiij^h whaler and its crew of 40 to 50 hands ; but I 
 have yet to tell you of the Norwegian whaler, the most eco- 
 nomical of all. The most nmiked trait of norwejjian whalin*' 
 is their use of the explosive harpoon which kills the fish as 
 it sti ikes it. The harpoon which weighs 123 Ib-^. and is loail- 
 el with a cartridge containing f of Ji lu. of p )vv ler, is fired by 
 a gun of some 4i inches aperture nt the jnuzzle an 1 of 3 inch 
 boi-e or caliber. The m\n we ijhs 15 cwos. and the chariie of 
 pi)\vdei' is one pound. 
 
 The whalmg vess 1 is a steame- of some HI ton-; and 30 
 H P The boat i^ not only used to bear the gun, and pursue 
 an 1 kill the whal ■, bur also to tow it a'^hf)re where not only 
 aiv its oil & w^hale'ione utilized ; but als > the fle'h,tho bone-^ 
 w ich are made manure oF, and nothing lost. In 1885 the 
 Norwegians killed 13('0 whales and duii g tha following 
 year more th in 1700 and this with a fleet t)f only some 30 
 boats, eiual to fr. mi 43 to •')() whales per season for each 
 \esel,anl w^hat the Norwegian does at home, so can the 
 Canadia i likewise do in Hudson B ly. 
 
 A'l th'^se data, ladies and gentlemen, are for no idle pur- 
 pose ; but to 1 ly down some firm, some reliable basis on which 
 the profits of whale fishing in the bay may be predicated ; 
 for, to demonstrate the neces: ity of a railway to Hudson bay, 
 it is to be shown, not only that there are profits to be realized, 
 but profits large enough to pay interest on capital, manage- 
 

 — 22 — - '^ ■ ": 
 
 iiient. interest on cost of buiMinjr the mi!\vav and to cover 
 yearly vvoikinj^ expen-es of every <Iesciiption ; but sufficient, 
 in addition, to pay a good fat <lividend to shareholders ven- 
 turing on the concern, and such as to make it worth their 
 while to «t lit on such a venture. 
 
 New, as ah't'ady shown, tlie average profits on a 25 yrs. 
 laisines-* by our neighbours of the United States, has been 
 S47,000.00 per tri|> or S 3,500 per annum as per report of 
 the United States Conniiissionners of Fisheries who were not 
 likely to ovejvalue the advantages for fear of creating com^ 
 petiti(m on the part of Canada. 
 
 But these whalers from New Bedford and New Lomh^n 
 and which for 40 y. ars or more have frecpiented tlie water.-* 
 of Hudsoa Bay ; make but one trip or voyage, as I have said, 
 in two years ; wintering at Marble Island to the Westward of 
 the bay and doing all their killing during th' ensueing spring, 
 in a way to return home befo e the straits become packed 
 again with ice of the foUowincj fall and winter; and, jjiven 
 nil the untoward circumstances, the delays and dangers of 
 an arctic voyage, the go and come through a strait not lesi 
 than 500 miles in length, packed with ice near y the whole 
 year round, and open only 3 to 4 months out of twelve, and 
 where tlie needle is altos^ether umeliable, and Ct)nstaut 
 soundinjj has to be resorted to and relied on — it is evidentf 
 that with such retardatory influences, no more than one trip 
 in two years cou d ever be attempted with any promise of 
 success. 
 
 Now I am here to-night to solve the probknn of not only 
 doubling, but of possibly quulrupling the profits I have 
 told you of; by, as I have already hinted, a tfotilla of say 
 100 vessels of from 300 to 35'J tons each : equipping them 
 with all necessary implements for the chase, including boats 
 on the english system, or some of thein, as a trial, on the Noi'- 
 
— 2.S — 
 
 wegian plan, with provisions as for an arctic voyage of from 
 two to three years. These vessels to re ich the bay, once for 
 all, by the Hudson strait^;, of course ; and then to remain tliere 
 anil not return, thus putting tliein in the way, not only of one 
 cargo every year but of two; th 're being the tall as well as 
 the spring whaling season. 
 
 But such would be too lonesome, too monotonous a life 
 without someting to while away the long and dreary nights 
 of winter. There must be the uiinisttT, the cure, the niis- 
 sioner if you like, the village church ; and even that, the cure 
 though jolly he might be and amiub e, would not suffice. 
 There must be soiiiething more : you have already guessed it. 
 my fair hearers, God had guessed it after he created Adam. 
 Woman must be there au'l she is ever b ave enoujih to be 
 where she can minister unto the wants of man. The crew 
 must have their wives and families with them, by them : the 
 tramp of the little ones' feet must be heard, and the mu.sic 
 of their V(.>ices ; an I there must be the butcher and the baker 
 the shoemaker and the tin smith and so on, and a post office ; 
 and the girls' school and the boys', a justice of the peace, a 
 magistrate or mayor, may be a few notaries and lawyers of 
 which we have lots to spare and of doctors too ; later on, a 
 college, a hospitd, an asylum: in fact a village with the 
 parson's house or presb tery or both. 
 
 t 
 
 It will be shown that the climate, the temperature of 
 James bay, where this new colony would be in.st illed, at this 
 the nearest or southernmost end of it, of course — and in face 
 there(»f, the docks or basins for the housing or wintering of 
 the fleet — is in no respect inferior to that of Rimouski or 
 Quebec. 
 
 In support of this view, Mr. Scott, the worthy and active 
 manager of the lake St. John railway, infonr.s me that Mr. 
 Bell the geologist who passed a whole and long season at 
 
- n — 
 
 .lames bay, told him ho had hathe<l in the bay, on every day 
 without exception of his sojourn in the U)c:ality, from June to 
 September inclusively; and 3^ou may have noticed in the 
 Ontario papers and Montreal cra/.ette of the 2cSJi of Fe1>ruary 
 1893 that on the occasion o*' the funeral of bishop Horden, 
 missionary to Moose factory, ' the weather was warm and 
 spring-like. " 
 
 Here now arc extracts fiom a hotter of Rvd. father 
 Nedelec, who has been so much among the indians and 
 travelled the country over. I shall club and condense the 
 citations to refrain from keeping you too long. 
 
 He says : The country get:erally is habitable with the 
 exception of a few places to the Eastward where, notwith- 
 standing, fisli is plentiful. All kind>; of grain are grown 
 there excepting wheat and buckwheat, while vegetables and 
 fruits thrive well on th 3 soil. Space th -re is for millions. 
 Extreme heat 100", maximum cold 50° as at Manitoba Mean 
 temperature of January only :i° (below zero I presume) in 
 some places the climate is superior to that of the North of 
 Germany, of Poland, Norway, the North of Scotland, of Lake 
 St. John and Newfoundland. As a general rule the bay 
 resembles Quebec and the Lake St. John ili.strict. The country 
 is vast and more habitable by far than any one can con- 
 ceive. Far-beaiing animals, bird> and tish are found in 
 quantities. Snow not excessive. And he adds : what was 
 Cinada 200 year.s ago, what were the Unit d States. In my 
 opinion §ays the missionary, it would bo a g))l thing for the 
 Province ot Quebec to take possession of such portion of 
 Hudson bay as belongs to it. 
 
 Dr Bell, geologi.st to the expedition, in his report, says; 
 a considerable poition of the territory South of James Bay is 
 adapted to colonisation. The summer an I winter tempe- 
 ratures are those of Rimouski. The summers are nob so hut. 
 

 
 'lo 
 
 hor the winters so c )](! as those of Witmipe^^. Mean deptli 
 <»f snow 3 ft , says he, or less than at Quebec. Potatoes and 
 utlier ve<jjetab!e^ are plentiful. Hay grows luxuriantly and 
 ■^spontaneously ; barley and o.its are gool crops and inn 
 word, the countr}- produces everything which Riniouski can 
 grow. The region is also well adapted to lai ing cattle. 
 White ami red pine are to be found near nio :)Svi factory, but 
 the most abundant growth is white, black and red spruce 
 or tamarack, white ceibir, white or soft birch, balsam and 
 poplar with some elm and ash. 
 
 Among the fish, says Bell, which are to be found iu 
 »Tames Bay is a tine white fish. Lake Superior trout, sea 
 trout, salmon, roek cod, caplan, etc, besides the strictly fresh 
 Water fish as t.out, pickerel and the like. 
 
 Says Dr Bell — if a railway were built from Quebec to 
 James Bay, we should strike for the moutli of Rupert river. 
 A boat which from theie would ciuise along the East shore 
 ■of James Bay, would in summer have its attractions for 
 (.Canadian and United States tourists. I declare this, says he, 
 from my own experience. ; 
 
 No.v let us s;:'e wliat Rvd. father Lacasse says of the 
 country about the bay. VATith him we are better aciiuainted. 
 for having often seen him here and attended his lectures ow 
 the subject: The country, says he, is extreuudy well adapte I 
 to colonization, and the soil of good (juality. Potatoes and 
 all ve<r tables "^hrive there. Beef is excellent. Native hav 
 is there in abundance. Ducks and wild geese abound, oG.OOO 
 of tl»em being killed every year for the Company's provi- 
 sions. Such is the nuuiber the Indians are called on to 
 supply. Sturgeon is ])lentiful in the rivers and on the East 
 •coast (our side) porpoises are found in great abundance at 
 t)nly 30 miles fro>n shore, an<l all other fish to be met with 
 in the (fulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
 
— 26 — 
 
 I do not hesit.ite a mouiL'nt, says the Rvd, Gentleman, 
 to recoininend the construction of a railwa}' from Quebec to 
 James Ba^'. Indians also say that the land ajound Mistasini 
 IS level and ar<^illac ous. The country rnay he compared to 
 Germany in Europe. The climate is that of Kamouiaska 
 with the same flowers and native fruits: as ra*^pherries, straw- 
 berries, gooseberries, cranberries, juniper and other berries. 
 
 The bay is navigable fiom 5th to ITtli of May and 
 closes about the 20th November. The highest tide rises 
 10 ft. 
 
 Returning to my scheme : say tliat of 30C0 men — 80 men 
 t ) each of 100 whalers — 1000 are married, to each of whom 
 u suit of 3 to 5 rooms according to refjuirements, an out 
 liouse for storage of fire wood or fuel, etc., a stable for ihc 
 cow, a vegetable garden, a potatoe plat ; and starting from 
 the first rise in the Rupert, an aqueduct, and a soft water ta]> 
 for each nnd every family. 
 
 The other 200') men couifortably house 1, eitlier in their 
 Vi!ssels, properly docked for vvintei', and close at liand ; or in 
 buildings put up for the purpose, where they could club, 10 
 to 20 together, and instead of, as here, lolling away their time 
 at playing dice arid dominos and checkers, could better utilize 
 it at, fi; st, quarrying the I'ed sand stone or granite already 
 mentioned, to build themselves their foundations with, and 
 their chimnies and their baking ovens ; and when that wen- 
 done, get out stone for exportation by the railway — erect- 
 ing also inills, lime kilns, forges, and the like; and, in th«'r 
 bay, the dock- required to shut in the fleet and prevent any 
 shove of ice from injuring them during their time of inac- 
 tivity. : ^ 
 
 Methinks, that if I did but posstiss the imagery of word;*. 
 I shoul I paint you such a prettry picture of this little co- 
 lony that on every side we would hear the cry reiterateil : 
 all aboard for Mistassini and Hudson Biy 
 
— 27 — 
 
 NOW THEX FOR THE COST OF It. ; 
 
 From lake St-John to Mistas-sini 17 > miles, thence iA 
 .tames Biy 207 miles — together 88) miles which at .Sl-2,000- 
 por mile, (for the couiitry between the lake and hay is by 
 no means as hilly as th^i Liurentians) inclu<ling sidinsfs, 
 
 telegraph line etc S4.,570,0()0.0(» 
 
 20 stations, one at every 20 miles and enough 
 
 to begin with 10,000 00 
 
 19 locomotives at SIO.OOO.OJ) 190,000 00 
 
 l^ars of all kinds including passenger, vans 
 
 and platform cars 57,' 00.0!) 
 
 Add for Work shops, cisterns, turn tables, hand 
 
 cars, f . eight sheds, stores, etc 18'^,000.00 
 
 - ♦^0.0 00,000 .00 
 
 Annual cost of road — interest at 5 y on 
 
 $5,000,000.00 ° . . . 250,000.00 
 
 Salary or wages of telegraph operators along 
 the line or at each station, station keep- 
 ei's, engineers, stokers, conductoi-s, brakes- 
 men :^9,000.00 
 
 M) men per section of 20 miles to repair track 
 
 and keep it clear of snow 40,000.0;) 
 
 < vistern keepers ' 4, 00.00 
 
 50 hands in work shops . 1 5,00;).00 
 
 Fuel for the 19 engines 38,000.0^ 
 
 (Jontingeut and unforeseen 54,000.00 
 
 Annual cost .^440,000.00 
 
 And on this .^440,00 .00 it is likely we nn*ght save S40,- 
 OOO 00 — .^25,000.00 of which by getting money at $U % 
 instead of 5 ^ and in running trains in winber on!^ once or 
 twice a week between December and March of eacli year. 
 
— 28 — 
 
 IXSTALLATION O?^ THE COLONY AND WHALERS. 
 
 lOO vessels fully erjuippe«l with tisliing tackle, 
 
 boats, &c., - - 300 tons at SI 00 — s?30,000 . - 
 
 each S'S 000,000.00 
 
 Houses for 1000 fami'.ies, 10 faniiiios per 
 
 ht.ii.se at .SIOOO 100,00000 
 
 Houses or camps for the other 2000 men (un- 
 married) say 20 mm n per camp, 100 of 
 them at $5 )0 , 50,000.00 
 
 Crib woik and stone til 11 in^ for docks for win- 
 terin<^ vessels in a basin, with lOD ft. all 
 round the dock walls, to allow the ice 
 free play with the tidt; along the jetties. 
 Wharves .say 30 ft. wide, 25 ft. high, basin 
 1000 X 1000 ft. (I,00:V:00 ft. sup.) or for 
 eacli vessel a space of 150 ft. X 40 = 
 0000 ft. per ves.sel X 100 = ()0O,OOO ft., 
 adding the 100 ft. space all around or 
 4,0 ft. l:n. perimeter by 100=400,000 
 ft. — together 1000,000 as above set 
 forth — .say 4120 lin. ft. of whaif = 
 
 ■ 144,444 cubic yards at SI. 25 143,000.00 
 
 200 stables, wood sheds at SlOO.OO 20,000.00 
 
 Stores r.nd utensils and furniture for 200 ten».>- 
 
 n.ents at S100,00 20,000.00 
 
 A(|ueduct, say 100,000 OO 
 
 ( 'hapel and preswitery 10,000.(»0 
 
 Post otJiee, schools, contingencies a'.;d unfore- 
 seen 57,000.00 
 
 • - ' - • • " V .. • ^3.50!)/)0Q 00 
 
 I utere.st at 5 % on co.t of installation $175,000.00 
 
 3000 men at SiO.OO per month, GO^ cts pt-r 
 
 diem or S240.00 per annum 720,000.00 
 
 100 vessels for fuel say 30 cords each — 3000 
 
 cords at S2.00 0,000.00 
 
29 
 
 ^00 houses for fuel j\t 25 cords caeli, and 25 
 cords each for lO'J camps — 7,500 cords 
 at $2 
 
 JiOO oxen, one per 10 men for laboring pur- 
 poses at ^:J0.00 
 
 700 cows, of which 200 for the men at 1 per 
 10 men 500 for the 2000 families or I 
 for 2 iVhiilies at #li0 
 
 Fod ier for pO cows and 3C0 oxen, 1000 at 
 $25 cost f gathering 
 
 Add for insurt. I ccs and repairs 
 
 Annual cost of v >luny 
 
 Synopsis. 
 
 Aniiual cost of R > > 1 inchidinfj interest on ca- 
 pital say 
 
 Annual cost of CoI<n y including interest on 
 cost of installa^!' n 
 
 Add 10 % dividen 1 on i^ <,500,090 capital cost 
 of installation . . 
 
 15,000.00 
 0,000.00 
 
 2I,00\(X) 
 
 25,00000 
 2 ^), 000 00 
 
 *1, 000,000.0 » 
 
 $500,000.00 
 
 1,000,000.00 
 
 Total annual cost. 
 
 $1,500,00100 
 
 850,000.0(» 
 
 .*2,350,000.OO 
 
 We have seen that Gc\ >n, at current prices, values each 
 cargo at an averjige of $4'inLv 0.00 ; but to start on a surer 
 basis, let us only take the l(^|t *igure of S27,4()0.0 • which we 
 g.t as an average of the Sl,3'<m)00.00 on dividing that figure 
 by the £0 cargoes during theft i years prior to 1874- as per 
 report of the United States fisl^y commission. 
 
 Reducing this again, to dea.li.n round numbers, to $23, 
 SOO.iO by striking of $3,920.00 \r unforeseen losses, in- 
 surances, etc., this reduced suiu ot^'iself, into 100 vessels or 
 cargoes, gives us the $i;i'> >,()00.OlYbf annual expenses in- 
 cluding interest at 5 ^ on capital a via 10% dividend on 
 the venture. 
 
^ 30 — 
 
 11 ■ 
 
 m 
 
 But since there will or may be, two fishing seAsohsl 
 per annum, spiinj^ and fall, ami therefore 2 carf^oos per 
 whaler per annum ; the profits, will be theieby doubled and 
 the shaieliolders receive, not 10 but 23 to 30 7^ oi more 
 on their money, since the doubl ng of the profits in i o way 
 increases the sum to be piid for interest on capital. 
 
 M. Light, consulting engineer, to the Government of the 
 Province of Quebec, assures me tliat he tol I Honble. M. 
 <jraineau some 20 years ago, when the latter was minister of 
 P. W., that he Light Avasof op nion that the future of Quebec 
 lie in the d.rection of Hudson Bay, and says he is still dto- 
 gether of that opinion. 
 
 Mr Scott, M)anager of Q. L. St. J. Rly., also fav rs a road 
 to Huds n Bay ; but would reach it at Moose factory, the op- 
 posite CO ner to Rupert house, and 120 miles fn)m it; but of 
 course l)y varying the line which he would continue from 
 River a Piei-re to lake Temiscamingue and thence by Abittibi 
 to James Bay, in company with O.ibirio, which — and he his 
 this, he says, from Biiley of Tor into — is de-irous of joining 
 Quebec in carrying out the enterprise. 
 
 This road as projected by the Lake St John eompanyy 
 has its great advantages, no doubt : it will pass through ii 
 country rich in resomces capable of paying interest and 
 profit on cost of additional length of road, in thus opening 
 up the interior of the country, the whole valle .■ of the Ot- 
 tawa. This route by Temi-camingue and Chapleau wouM 
 shorten by 180 miles the dist*inee between the groat lakes an<l 
 the sea, and the shortening would be increa-od to 300 miles by 
 Chicoutlmi, St. Alphonse the S iguenay and Lake St. John, 
 if the loail were made to run direct from ths latter to 
 Abittibi and thence to Lake Superior ; and as you know, the 
 farther North we go, the farther we recede from our summer 
 temperatures, the better would the grain, the cereals front 
 the North West, behave under this cold- r temperature, anj 
 
 
— 31 — 
 
 shorter route; but for the pre-ent, let us stick to our lastsuKl 
 liave our own road to ourselve-;, ami on our own si<le of the 
 bay, the shortest an- 1 most direct r>>u;e possiM*' lietwecn 
 Quebec, Lake St. John, Mistsissini and .Tanu's Biv, and 
 which can in no way inteifcre witli thi' Ifiny So'uid rmitc ; 
 there being room fur both; since the road I nroposH wo il I 
 be fully occupied in tlie transportation of so ne -')(),<)0 ) ton of 
 oil per annum in addition to tish, fnis, an I other ec iioukc 
 piolucts. 
 
 Why, SiiS and Ladies, ha\ e wc always to this d ly, liad 
 the shivers when we reaij of Hud-on Bay ? How is it th ir, all 
 tlio data wliicii I have supplie I you with this evening, and of 
 a nature so favorable to the colonisation of James Ijy, are -^o 
 rt i^frantly at variance with the reports nwnle by the em- 
 ployees of the company. We need in no way woniJer at this, 
 if we wdl but consitler for a moment, the innmnse int<*rest 
 tlie company has, and of course has alwiys ha I, in dissimula- 
 tion, in dissemintiting error, doubt and darkness all around : 
 as does a certain tish which when pressed by its ennemies, 
 tlirows forth a fluid so black as to render itself invisible Tho 
 company, liowever it may feign to deny the fact, discourages 
 all advances towards its gauung grounds, all participation 
 in the rich spoils of its immense territ ry. 
 
 Yes, I too felt half frozen when rcailing the Company's 
 reports, on this pretended glacial country, until our own ex- 
 phners, our missio.inarios came in anrl gave the lie to al^ 
 such statements, well calculated as they were to be discour- 
 aging and destructive of all zealous endeavours to work our 
 wa}^ thitter; and a moments consideration snffi.'es to show, 
 oven if no favoia' le reports existed as to climate, that it cnn 
 not, be as painted by the Company ; since; if you will but 
 glance at the map, you will be .surprised to see that the lati- 
 tude of Jamt s Bay is precisely that of the British Isles : En- 
 gland, Ireland, Scotland ; that of Paris, even, or \ery nearly 
 so, and if these seem more favored, in respect t ; temperature 
 than Quebec, Rimouski and the country about the bay ; it is 
 
 
• 111", as we nil know, to the fact tliat a rivir whose waters are 
 warmer than thos ■ of the surrounding ocean, a river within 
 an ocean, the so called gulf stream, is poured out of tli;it 
 hoi ing cauldron, the gu'f of Mexico, where a tropical '^un 
 heats and expands its waters upwarvls — and, as molasses 
 in a lieated cauldron, are seen to swell or overflow from 
 the centre towards the sides — so do the; waters of the gulf 
 run out and cross the ocean until thev strike the Western 
 coast of Europe, carrying w th them a corresponding stream, 
 of heated atmosphere or air wliieh tempers France and p]n- 
 g'and, Spain, &c. ; precisely as on a smallei scale, of a hot 
 summer's day, one can feel the deliciously cooled current or 
 air which caresses one's cheek, after the mere ti'ansitory con- 
 tact of it with the ice van wliich distributes that luxury 
 about tlie city. 
 
 Frenchmen ignored their country until in 1870 the 
 Germans taught thein their own geography. We are unac- 
 quainted with our own <lomain. Ltt us net wait then ti^ 
 tlie enemy make it known to us. Sir Edmund Head called 
 us the inferior race and it is now or never to V)e se^i if we 
 merit this opprobrium. Let us be in liaste, I have told you 
 that Upper Canada, Ontario, has alre?idy commenced a joad 
 which from Nipissing at Parry Sound makes for lake Huron 
 by Georgian bay and which by way of Temiscamingue and 
 Abittibi will now soon reach James bay at Moose Factor}-. 
 en route for the Hudson fisheries We liave but the same 
 distance to go as they to reach there. • 
 
 And now my hearties shall we not put our sliouMers to 
 the wh'.el. The people are all mighty. It is for we to impose 
 our willing on Pailiament, where our deputies are met to 
 execute our wishes. It is several years since the roads 
 already n)entioned from Winnipeg and Nipissing to Hudson 
 and James bays have been subsidize I in money and in lands, 
 and both by the local and the federal governments?. Tln&n 
 why not ours. -' . - - ...... ^:~^^^iy^.^Mi^^-^ 
 
— 33 — 
 
 Tlu; fuiiner of these louds is alluded to in tlio issue «)ftli«' 
 Mowing Chronicle of the 3rd inst. 
 
 While Mr Alphonse Gagnou, a young man, witli whosr 
 trthnt and aptitude for patient and laborious research we are 
 nil ac(iuainted. has among other subjects in a neat littN- 
 volume of " Archeological studies and varieties, " lately 
 published, given us from Loud<m's report on lake Mistassini 
 and on his journey there and back from Lake St. John, a 
 \ery interesting description of both, as surveyed also b> 
 *>nr pioneer of the forest Mr. J. Bignel', and by Mr. Low, 
 which you .».hould all read and would certainly enjo^'. 
 
 Ontario I have said, is richer than Quebec, more pros- 
 perous, and less in nred than we are of seeking fortune else- 
 where. It is for you to say if we shall continue thus to ex- 
 })atriate ourselves each year, and as thousands hav^' already 
 done in permanence, to go and pucMle our neighbor's clay, 
 carry it to them on our shoulders, black their boots for them 
 — Sir Edmund Head was right : in one word become their 
 valets, their domestics, while they of over the line of 45, 
 proud of their superior intelligence and goaheadism leave us 
 l)ehind or unlooked at while they pass us by on their way to 
 poach in our w^aters and rob us of our God-given patrimony. 
 
 Let us labor, gentlemen. God has said pray, * t'is true, but 
 it is' not of that contemplative outpouring which like faith, 
 is worthless without deeds. God has said : aid yourselve.s 
 and I shall aid or abet you ; it is therefore the prayer of 
 labor which is meant, the most effica-'ious of all Mgr. Paquet 
 said the other day at the universitary meeting of the St- 
 Denis Academy : labor leaves no leisures for unavowable 
 <leeds. God has said ' earn your living at the sweat of your 
 brow. My prayer is one of 18 hours a day, 14 of which I de- 
 Note to my civic <luties, though oaly paid for 7 ; the four re- 
 maining are njy compensating ones, n.y recompense when I 
 can thus utilize them, in writing up such a subject, and then 
 imparting it to an audience like this appreciative of the 
 subject and of my time and trouble. 
 
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