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{FromlLelCamdien, 16th November, 1882.)
THE SODTHERN WATER-SHED
OF
S
$
M Mtl ^
We promised in our issue c! , -titerday to give a mimmury of the very intci. sting
lecture which Mr. Chrysostome Laiigelier delivered, on Tuesday evening, belore the Con-
servative Association.
The following is the conclusion which is a synoiwis of the whole work .
1. The Southern water-shed of Hudson's Iky, that is to say, that portion of the territory
ceded to Canada by the Hudson's l$ay Company whirh is bounded to the North by the 60tn
degree of latitude, to the East by the 80th degree of longitude from Greenwich, to
the South bv the summit lino of the Lauventiaii range and to the Wtst by a line cross-
ing diagonally the 110th degree of longitude from the North- West to the North-East,
covers an area of alx)Ut 7S0,000 square mile* or more than three times the extent of the
province of Quebec. From this are>i however, we must dedui-t about 250,000 miles for the
space covered by the waters of the tk)uthern i>onion ot Hudson's Bay and of James' Bay
which leaves a'suijcrficies of 500,000 square miles of laud or more than twice the extent
of the province of Quebec ;
2. The configuration of this territory resembles the lateral s.>ction of a truncated cone,
or the arc of a circle of which the Laurentian range forms the circumference, the Southern
portion oi Hudson's Hay and James Bay the centre and the great rivers, which liow into
these two bays, the radii.
The surface of this immense territorj' is everywhere level, but slightly broken by n
few rocky mounds of small extent, barely two or three hundred leet in height, in the lands
of crystalline origin which adjoin the summit of the Lanrenlidej<, which barely rise to a height
of oiie thousand feet atK)Vi> the lev<^l of the sea, to the South of Janu's Bav. and s1o[h> gradually
towards the North-West. 1J«H ween the Laurentides and the .sea the level of the soil sinks
imyiorceptiblv to nsu li an extent that we hardly find two or three I'all.s fifty feet in height, at
the jwint where the .rystalliue soils meet the softer formation ot tlie siluriau age on the
course of all the large rivers whieh traverse this region, to flow into James or Hudson's
Bay.
3. These slightly elevated lands forming fhe narrow strip which bounds the whole of
th(- territory to the Houth-Easl, to the South and Ihi- Soutli-West In-long to Ihc Laurentian
and Huroniau formation ; they are more undulating and ilryer than those of the interior
zone which fielonir to various ages of the silnriati grnnp In ihi-; /oiii' tln' soil is swampy
and damp in uertain places, because > is too llat; but it js ulmost euiirely cum])oscd of clay
in strain or in nlluvial doposi's, of vepotnl detritus iind superficial deposits which c^ustituto
rxccllent fhniiiui,' land, Lukes nre (ompanitively few in number, hut this does not jirovent
one I'rom eiixiiy lindinsf ev,000
* Total ir),().54,400 31,274,000
The figures in the column to the left are based uimiu the area occupied, and those to
the right ui>on the an>a under cullivatioa in the province of Quebeo in 1871.
f). Forests of timhfr, suitable for dome8ti<' us(> and for exportation, cover nn area of
at least 210,000, 000 acres. As far as (leorge or Grand River in the Eiist Main Region and
to a distance of fifly miles from the sea, ouithe banks of the Nelson and Hayes Uiv+'rs,
there are, forest« with trees which may be cut inio lo;rs of twenty four inches in diameter,
• hiefly of white spruce. The principal timber consists of white pine, red pine, white
s|>rui'e, '•■'n poplar, fir balsam, cedar, poplar and
white birch. White s|)ruce is the most abundant and valuable -. in .he three reirions it
forms forests which, in extent and in the size of the trees, are far superior to the forests of
the sam.' kind which we h.ive in th(^ Trovinci' of (Jv.ebec. Red spruce forms forests whti-h
are elmost as line, in the country situated to the South of James Hay. Then? are line
forests of white pine, some of red pine of lesser exteiit in the strip adjoining the height of
land between I/ikc .Vbittibi and (he sources oi' the Keuogami River. They are the con-
tinuation of the forests of the Upper Ottawa. Throughout the reirion are al.'^oto be found
b.ilsuni and cedar of sullicieiit dimensions to l)e u.sed as linnt>cr White birch is ring to make
syrup of its sap, just as we make sugar in ('aiia.la with the sap of our majile.s.
The aspen and poplar i>r(>e:i Lake,
where the trees attain colossal proportions and form fiin> for(>sts, TLuse forests might bo
used to advantage to obtain supplies of wood for the lumber trade.
The great nnas of teiritory which they cover in the East Main and James Bay Regions
are iiiterseeted ))y numerous hirge rivers whose course is irenerallv free and ncwhere inter-
rupted by serious oli^liicles. On the majority of thi'se rivers, loirs may be lloateetween (Quebec aitd l.,iver()oi>l. and very
little more than between the chief jmrts of the United Kingdom and (hose of the Ualtic
Boa, whence comes the greatest portion of the lumber imported into England. *^ - - '
e. In this region thare »re miaca af ittcftlcolahlo ojttent and richness. The principal
minerals are iron, lead, wppe', manganese, silver, lignite, anthracite, gypsum, petroicam and
different kinds of ornamental stone.
The most precious kinds and those which are easiest to work are iron, lead, lignite,
manganese raid gyp«um.
There are considerable dejKwits of luagaetic iron ore on the banks of the river Matta-
garni, of red hoematite or red iron ore in the dilnvian beds of the Albany' river, brown hoB-
matite or hog iron ore at the f^rand rapids of the Mattagami river, (this ore has assayed
62.43 per cw»t ol ireo^ But the«e mines are not to be compared to those in the islands of
the Straits of Nostakopa, where spathic iron oontainiiig manganese is found in iiiexhausti<
ble quantities. In all these islands, which form s lain more than ninety miles in length,
iron ore is Tound on the snrfai« to a depth of twenty feet. Two siiecimens of this ore have
respectively given 26.44 and 27.83 of iron, thus proving it to be a very profitable ore to
work, since, according to Osborne, who is an authority on the subject, any iron ore which
contains at least 6 i>er cent of metal may be worked with profit. The ore at Naatakoka
contains nearly twice this proportion of iron.
Besides this quality, it may be extraqted under peculiarly advantageous conditions.
The ore forms the upper stratum of the soil which is complett>ly bare ; the rock, as Dr Bell
says, has been fVactured by the action of the air and ice so that a great i/ortion of the ore
may be taken out without miuiuir, thereby gtwatly reducing the cost of extraction, and con^
scqnently that of the ore when tiucen out of the mine, and enabling it to be delivered at
the blast furnaces for t>. trifle. In the neighlxfrhood of the islands good anchorage exists
everywhere for vessels of the greatest draught, which may be moored or anchored with the
greatest security and ease.
These beds are sufficiently rich and oxteusive to yield at least 40,000,000 tons of iron.
This ore is almost unequall.^ for the manufacture of certain kinds of steel and esjie-
daily Be8st>mer steel, which has come iuto such gvneral U8i> duriug past years especially in
making rails.
In England and iu the Tnited States, principally at Trov, a good many of the Bes-
semer steel factories are supplied with pig iron derived from tlie spathic iron on* which is
imported in large quantities from Uennauy. In the United tStates, sin<-e a few years,
thirteen foundries have been started iu which Bessemer steel is made for the purjwse of
being worked up into steel rails, to such an extent does the demand therol'or increase.
These foundries employ 10.840 workmen whose wages, iu 1881, amounted to $4,980,389.
For the same year, the yield of these foundries was $.5.i.83,),00() and the expenditure for
raw material, repwirs, &c., reached the amount of $3(),875.92(!. The cnpital invested iu
these thirteen establishments is $21,000,000. In Fruni-.e, thert> are more than thirty-five
foundries where spathic iron ore is t,ansforuierior for some purjioses to case-hardened steel. The presence of
manganese in the spathic ores, such as those of Nastakopa, renders the malleable iron
obtained from them mm.'h better suited for the manufaotnre of st^n-l, and iu Sweden,
when the manganese is deficient, its want is sup)ilied by certain inangaiieaiferous inix'-
tures which are introdiced into the iron ore duriug the smelting.
Our Nastakopa ore is therefore of supt^riw quality in this respect, since it contains
24.64 per cent of maugauesiferous carbonate, i^voirding. to the analysis made by professor
Hoffmann. It is therefore an uudoubted fact that these mines I'ontaiu immense riches,
of incalculable value, and may be worked with ease and economy ; that we find in them
ores fVom which the best Bessemer steel 'n the world may Ix' made, and that the working
of these mines would greatly contribate to the setileraeut of the entire adjacent region, as
well aa of the territory of James Bay. The mines of red iron ore, of magnetii; iron and
bog iron ore iu the latter region an^ ulsu of great value ; nut their working would pro-
bably be delived by that of the spathic ores uf Nastakopa which offer so many advantugea
and such brilliant prospects.
Galena forms a stratum of about thirty foot in thickness and extends along the tthore
of the sea from the mouth of Whale river, as fur as Kichmoud Biiv, u distance of alx>ut
8i?:K».a!'«,
M\Aur.
1^ .-.;<-.*
thirty milos. This Oalcnn (ontains more than 80 \H>r cent of kwl, ami two HjKwimonH
mwayiMl by Dr. Ilarriugton yioldeU ronpectively r>.l04 uiid 12.03 ouuwh of ftilvor to tho ton
of :!,000 U)H.
These miuBH maybe worked with the greatest ease and were worked in ISAH-ftft by
the Hudson's Bay Company, whi<'h extracted nine tons of ore from some shafts in tho
uej,yhborh(HHl ol Whule Hiver. The quantity of silver to 1h( found in tho ore is sufficient to
pay for a groat i>ortiou of the exiH;nse of working these mines, which cannot foil to at'
trac t tho utteution of capitalists.
Manganese, which is found in such Ur||e quantities in the spat'uic iron ores of Kasta-
kopa, is a mineral of the greatest utility. V. is used in the preparation of chlorine and more
tha.u CO.OOC tons are imjwrted into lilnglaud every year. It is theiefore an article of impor-
tance and as it passes into the sing produced by the smelting of spathic iron ore, the work«
iujj of this ore would enable us to produce manganese at a lower price and in greater quan-
tities than it can b; anywhere else. For this reason, these ores might be worked under j)e-
ouUarly advantageous cinmi'tstances since we would obtain at the same time iron and
mangauese, whicn are both very useful metala.
The copper mines of Lake Abatagomaw, (x>ntain vast riches whi<'h may be turned to
account when this region will 1k) (Tossod by a railway running from Quebe<' to James
Hay. These superticial dejxwits cover an a.-ea of several square, miles, and the extraction of
the ore is all the more easier aneusive, that the coppery rock forms the upper stratum
of tho soil.
For some time the Canadian Pacific Railway l\)mpaiiy has Ix^en using lignite, from the
mines on tho Houris river, for its locomotives. It is waid that this sjiecies of coal gives more
heat and less smoke than that which is generally used. This would give a value to the lignite
mines discovered in the valleys of the Moose, Mis.«inail'i and Albany Rivers. This lignite,
if we may judge by professor Iloti'man's reports, is of sapttrior quality. Some seams are as
mu(^h as three feet thick, and more extensive, if not more careful, researches than have been
hitherto made, will show that these deposits of fossil coal cover an area of several thousand
square mile«. The coal derixcd from them may be used as fuel on the railways and esjie-
cially for smelting the spathic iron ore of NastaKopa. The chief olyection to the use of
lignite in smelting inm ore is the sulphur contained in the ashes and which might mix
with the molten metal. Now we have seen that this obje(!tion is removed when the ore
contains manganese which absorb,, the cnlphur of the fuel used in smelting. As the
spathic iron of Nastokopa contains a large projwrtion of manganese it can ho smelted
without trouble, by means of the lignite found in the region of James l?ay within a com-
paratively short distance, at places wheu«fit may be trausi»orted by water and cimsequeutly
at a verj' small cost. All these ciri-urnstancou combiniHl give considerable value to theso
mines of iron and coal, while they render them considerably easier to work.
The other minerals found in this region and esiHHially gypsum, asbestos and anthraiite,
offer a vast held of en!erpri/,e which cannot fail to be turned to account as the country is
settled. We may say without fear of contradi<.'tion that the whole of this country coiisti-
tuttw one of tho liuest and richest mining regions of Canada, if not of North America.
7, The rlimate throughout the whole of the area which we have stai d to l)e suited
forcultivation, is as line and even v^'arnn" 'n the region of James Bay than in the province
ofManitolxi and the prairies of the North-West. The farming season, that is the .season
free from frost, is longer at Moone Factory than at W^niyipcg, long«T than in the Musjioka
district and as long as ii\ tl\e greater jiorliou o,( tl,e provii^ce of Quebtn^. The fiut that the
fkmt in the vicinity ofMm)se Factory is thesiime as lijtit alnni^ Qiieb*>c shows clearly that tho
climate must be nearly the same iu both plai-ew. At the ^^«mthern eitn-mily of James Bay,
the presence and the meltinur of the jce slightly retard vegi'tution in the sprinir, but, in
return, the heai, giv\vn out by the waters of the sea i>rolongs tho mild weather in the
autumn, so that, all things considered, the o|hmi season is as long as in the Red River coun-
try and longe ''^>''< in the North-Weslern part of Ontario. The cold is rather seven- in
winter, as in tl. ril ; the thaw
commences in th(^ latler half of Mar«'h under a tcmixTuluri' which IVecjuently reaches lifty
degre««s, the earth is bare at the beginning of May and may l>c cultivated about the luiddln
of that month Tho tnn* bud generally hotw««U tl^e lijtl\ and 15,th of May au^ are ii^
li'iU'oii th(> 1st of June, oven bflforo thut diito in somo Ux-Bliticn, whoro the climntpis milder,
lit lh(» hlouthcni anil South- WcHtcrii n-ffioii of.Tonii'H Buy the lirHt wiowp-nernlly rnllNiit tho
t'n«l ot'Octolwr (ir Ix'H'iiiiiinjr of Novt'nibcr ; llu^ prciilcNl (lunntily coiiieH with Diri'mbtir
wliirh IN uIno the coluoHt month, im a rulo. During Jaiiuury and I'Vhruury tho weather ih
healthy, clear oud Hue.
(k>nprally sponking, the climate of James Buy is at Irivate indivi-
duals at Oxford. Norway House, in the valley >f the R'liver Kiver. on the snores of Lake
lie i\ la (."ross4«, afford uinindant evidi'nce of the fact Tixm seve-iil of these farms, even on
that of IJupert Hiver, t lie Hudson s Bay Company keeps constantly lierdscontainintnvsmiiny
as eijfhty bead of cattle, to say iiothintc of sheep, swine iijul even horses in one or two
localities. T'nlesK thev art" made diH'erently from ours. the.M' niiimals must be fed with hay
and irrain. and as none is im|>orted, we must concliKle that this hay and grain is harvested
on the spot, and this establishes beyond a doubt that lereiils can 1m' successfully irrown
everywhere, and that the climate ottem no obstacle to their cultivation.
.\t Mf)ose Factory they e\ en grow the tomato, a very sensitive plant, without Im--
stowinp n|Kiu it any morei'are than in any part of Canada. But little attention has bi'cn
hitherto ,'iid to the cultivation of wheat, which is not of mucli use owing to the smiijlne^s
of the po[' Illation, and also chiefly because there are no mills to griiul it |)ro])erly : but the
ex]>eritnenl made in cultivating it in the reirion of the Moose and Albany IJivers, alsmt fifty
miles from the sea. proves that it succeeds |M'rfe<'tly. Kveii ut M(M>se I''actory the fall wheat
stood the winter frosts and ripenelace in sprinir is siin-oumled by a d«ni]). <"ld soil, is ex)iosed to the colil sea winds mid is
subject to certain unfavorable climatic influences, which iire not felt at a sliirht ilistaiice
further inland. Thi> su ■ccssfiil cultivation of wlieat iu the Western Begion, that is in the
valley of the Beaver Biver nnd uiioii ihe shores of I,ake Ili'ii la Crosse, is attested by Bishop
Tache and Professor Macouii, who saw with thi'ir own eyes what they relate.
Filially it is established that the climate of this viust territory with the excei)tion of a
few lo:'al and ai-cideiital variatiiois is as fine, as warm, as favorable for agriculture as the
climate of the greater portion of Ihe province oft^uebtM', and a^ that of the Muskoka district
and the Northern part of the proviuw of Ontario.
H. The finest jv.irt of thf country is the .'Southern or .lames Buy Hi'jrion which contains
at least lOH.HOO.ooo ac-res of very it>od arable land, forests more extensive and almost us
rich as those of the province oftjui'bec, valuable mines of lignite, jrypsum nnd iron which
can maintain and sujiport with ease a ]>opulation of ul least ten millions of inhar)itants,
when it is plived in communication with Ihe large commercial centres, by means of a
railwav.
The Kasteni section i< valuable chiefly ns a mining rejjion.
the mines oi spathic iron and galena of which we have spoken
It is there that we lind
The 1''astern section, especially the u]>ptT valley of the Nelson Hiver contains nbont
forty million a-res of of tho same proportioiiB 08 in
iuhabttRcl parts of tho proviiu^i' »!' tjiiobw. Wo uro willing to con-w-de that this caunol bo
fully roalizod for a lonj^ tiiiio to coiiio and that tho wcKidinl laiidM of tho James Bay Uogion
will probably not attact a very lart(o niiinhor of wsttlorH, ho long a« tho prairie lauds of tho
WcHt, continue, ax in the pawt, Ui hi' the favorite lield for emiijratiou. Hut this do«w not des-
troy tho fa