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910 

R24nE 
v.15 


.#*  ; 


■pn  ■ 


THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


*9W 


O. 


» 


LI3RAKY 

OF  THE 

HSITYofW 


A- 


THE    HORSE-SHOE   FALLS,    NIAGARA— VIEW   TAKEN   FROM   GOAT   ISLAND. 


THE   EARTH   AND   ITS   INHABITANTS 


THE 


't 


UNIVERSAL  GEOGRAPHY 


•  / 


By  elisee  reclus 


EDITED 

By  A.  II.  KEANE,  B.A. 

MEMBER  OF  COUNCIL,   ANTHROP.    INSTITUTB;  COR.   MEMB     ITALIAN   AND  WASHING  1  ON   ANTIIROP.   SOC,    ETC. 


VOL.    XV. 

NORTH    AMERICA 


ILLUSTRATED     BY    NUMEROUS    ENGRAVINGS    AND    MAPS 


LONDON 
J.   S.   VIRTUE   &   CO.,   Limited,   294,   CITY  ROAD 


LONDON: 

PRINTED   T.Y  J.    S.    VIRTUE   AND   CO.,    LIMITED, 

CITY    ROAD 


tl^^ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  The  New  "Woeld 1— 59 

The  Discovery,  p.  2.  Progress  of  Discovery  along  the  Eastern  Seaboard,  p.  14. 
Discovery  of  the  Pacific,  p.  IS.  The  North-west  Passage,  p.  20.  Expeditions  towards 
the  North  Pole,  p.  26.  Progress  of  Discovery  on  the  Northern  Continent,  p.  32. 
Progress  of  Discovery  on  the  Southern  Continent,  p.  34.  Physical  Features  of  the 
Twin  Continents,  p.  35.  Contrasts  and  Analogies  between  North  and  South,  p.  30. 
Geology  of  the  New  World,  p.  38.  Volcanic  Systems,  p.  40.  Climate,  Marine 
Currents,  p.  42.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  46.  Inhabitants,  p.  47.  Spread  of  Modem 
Culture  in  the  New  World,  p.  48.  Fate  of  the  Aborigines,  p.  49.  Dominant 
Ethnical  Elements,  p.  51.  European  Immigration,  p.  54.  Decadence  of  the  Spanish 
Power,  p.  56.     Ascendancy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Race,  p.  57. 

II.  Greenland 60—92 

Historic  Retrospect,  p.  GO.  Progress  of  Discovery,  p.  61.  Extent,  Physical 
Features,  p.  63.  Geological  Formation,  p.  06.  The  Inland  Ice-Cap,  p.  67. 
Glaciers  and  Icebergs,  p.  70.  Upheaval  and  Subsidence,  p.  75.  Marine  Currents 
and  Tides,  p.  77.  Fossil  Remains,  p.  78.  Climate,  p.  79.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  81. 
Inhabitants,  p.  83.     Topography,  p.  88. 


III.  The  Arctic  Archipelago 

Insidar  Groups,  p.  94.  Grant  and  GrinneU  Lands,  p.  97.  Baffin  Land,  p.  99. 
The  Western  Insular  Groups,  p.  101.  Climate,  p.  102.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  104. 
Inhabitants,  p.  100.     Topography,  p.  110. 


93—112 


IV.  Alaska 113  - 

Exploration,  p.  114.  The  South  Alaskan  Coastlands  and  Islands,  p.  116.  The 
Alaskan  Peninsula  and  Aleutian  Islands,  p.  121.  The  Interior  of  Alaska,  p.  124. 
Rivers,  p.  125.  Climate,  p.  130.  Flora,  p.  132.  Fauna,  p.  133.  Inhabitants, 
p.  134.     Topography,  p.  140.     Administration,  Instruction,  Trade,  p.  146. 


■117 


V.  The  Dominion  op  Canada  and  Newfoundland    ........     148 — 418 

V.  General  Considerations,  p.  14S. 

2.  British  Columbia. — Physical  Features  of  British  Columbia,  p.  151.  Fjords  and 
Glaciers,  p.  156.  Vancouver  and  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  p.  159.  Columbian  Lakes 
and  Rivers,  p.  160.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  166.  Inhabitants,  p.  168.  Resources 
of  British  Columbia,  p.  173.     Topography,  p.  174. 

3.  Xorth-West  Territory  {Athabasca-Mackenzie  and  Great  Fish  Hirer  Basins),  p,  181. 
Progress  of  Discovery,  p.  181.  Physical  Features,  p.  1S3.  Rivers  and  Lakes,  p.  185. 
Climate,  p.  192.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  193.  Inhabitants,  p.  195.  Administration 
— The  Hudson  Bay  Company  -Mineral  Wealth,  p.  198.     Topography,  p.  200. 


A  n   L  X  "h 


iv  CONTENTS. 

■   1!  '  P. 

4.  Lake  Winnipeg  Basin  and  Region  draining  to  Hudson  Bay  (Alberta,  Saskatchewan, 
Auinibttia,  Manitoba,  Keewatin),  p.  2f)2.  Physical  Features,  p.  203.  Rivets  and 
Lak. «,  p.  206.  Hudson  Bay,  p.  21S.  Climate,  p.  221.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  22:3. 
Inhabitants,  p.  22-").     Colonisation,  p.  226.     Topography,  p.  2:36. 

5.  Basin  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  th  St.  Later,  i  ncet  of  Ontario  and  Quebec),  p .241. 
Political  Boundaries,  p.  212.  Physical  Features,  p.  242.  Rivers  and  Lakes,  p.  246. 
Lake  Superior  and  its  Affluents,  p.  246.  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie,  p.  250.  Niagara 
River  and  Falls,  p  254:  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  p.  257.  The  Estu- 
ary and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  p.  263.  Climate  of  the  Laurentian  Basin,  p.  270. 
Flora,  p.  272.  Fauna,  p.  274.  Inhabitants,  p. 274.  French  Canadians,  p.  284.  Topo- 
graphy, p.  290.  Hamilton,  Toronto,  Kingston,  p.  297.  Ottawa,  p.  302.  Montreal, 
p.  308.  Quebec,  p.  320.  Settlements  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  p.  326.  Settle- 
ments in  the  Saguenay  Basin,  p.  328.  Stations  below  Tadonseac,  p.  331.  The 
Gaspe  Peninsula,  p.  332.  Chaleur  Bay,  p.  335.  The  Magdalen  and  Bird  Islands, 
p.  337. 

6.  Tin  Maritime  Provinces  (New  BrunswicA  -Nova  Scotia  -Prince  Edward  Island),^.  337. 
General  Survey,  p.  337.  Physical  Features  of  New  Brunswick,  p.  339.  Physical 
Features  of  Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  Prince  Edward  Island,  p.  340.  Rivers 
and  Lakes,  p.  342.  Bay  of  Fundy,  p.  345.  Climate,  p.  347.  Flora,  p.  349.  Fauna, 
p.  350.  Inhabitants,  p.  352.  The  Acadians,  p.  353.  The  English -Speaking 
Settlers,  p.  358.  Topography  of  New  Brunswick,  p.  359.  Topography  of  Nova 
Scotia,  p.  367.  Topography  of  Cape  Breton,  p.  372.  Topography  of  Prince  Edward 
Island,  p.  373.     Sable  Island,  p.  376. 

7.  Labrador,  p.  377.  Geographical  Research,  p.  379.  Physical  Features,  p.  380. 
Lakes  and  Rivers,  p.  381.  Climate,  p.  385.  Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  3S6.  Inhabitants, 
p.  387.  The  Moravian  Missions,  p.  390.  The  Stations  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, p.  391.     Fisheries,  p.  391. 

8.  Newfoundland,  p.  393.  Historical  Retrospect,  p.  393.  Physical  Features,  p.  394. 
Rivers  and  Lakes,  p.  397.  The  Bank  of  Newfoundland,  p.  398.  Climate,  p.  402. 
Flora  and  Fauna,  p.  403.  Inhabitants,  p.  404.  Colonisation,  p.  406.  'Fisheries, 
p.  108.  Mineral  Resources,  p.  411.  Topography,  $11.  Administration,  p.  414. 
Saint  Pierre  and  Miquclon,  p.  415. 

VI.   Economic  Conditions  of  the  Dominion 419 454 

Population- -Immigration,  p.  419.  The  Aborigines,  p.  420.  Agriculture,  p.  422. 
The  Fisheries,  p.  420.  Minerals,  p.  428.  Petroleum,  p.  430.  Trade,  p.  431. 
Routes — The  "Queen's  Highway,"  p.  436.  Shipping,  p.  436.  Canals,  p.  437. 
Railways,  p.  438.  Administration;  p.  442.  Religion — Education,  p.  447.  Con- 
fedi  ration,  p.  449.     Political  Forecasts,  p.  451. 

Appendix      I.  Statistical  Tab'es 1,;, 

,,  II.  Canadian  Chronology     ..........  471; 

,,  III.  The  Canadian  North- West  Territories 484 


J 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


MAPS    PRINTED    IN    COLOURS. 


Niagara  Falls  . 
.Montreal  and  its  Environs 

Quebec  and  its  Environs  . 


PAOE 

254  North-East  America 
312  North- West  America 
320 


PAGE 

337 

48-4 


PLATES. 


View  taken 

Frontispiece 

4 


16 
24 


The  Horse- Shoe  Falls,  Niagara 
from  Goat  Island 

View  taken  on  the  Bering  Sea  .         To  face  page 

Salvage  Rock,  near  Harbour  Grace,  Newfound- 
land ........ 

View  taken  in  Melville  Bay      .... 

Ottawa   Eiver — View   taken   at   the    Saut  du 
Carillon 

St.  Margaret  and  the  Stony  River,  Canada 

A  Canadian  Village— Beaufort,  near  Quebec    . 

View  taken  on  the  Sermitsialik  Glacier,  near 
Ivigtut,  Greenland    .         .         . 

En  mt  of  the  Sermitsialik  Glacier 

General  View  of  Uperm'vik       .... 

Drift-Ice  on  the  Arctic  Ocean 

View  taken  on  the  Coast  of  Admiralty  Island, 
Alaska       ....... 

Old  Bogoslov  Peak,  Aleutian  Islands 

Alaskan    Scenery — View     taken    at    Juneau, 
Douglas  Island. 

Tanana  Station,  River  Yukon  . 

General  View  of  Sitka 

View  of  Hell-Gate  Gorge,  Eraser  River 

View  taken  in  Gardner  Channel 

General  View  of  Vancouver 


40 
44 
5S 

70 
74 
90 
94 

114 
124 

132 
140 
140 
161 
174 
180 


Fort  Simpson,  at  the  Mackenzie  and   Liards 

Confluence     .         .         .            To  face  page  202 

Valley  of  the  Bow  River — Banff  Hot  Springs  206 

A  Station  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  .  .  228 
The  Great  Glacier,   seen  from   the    Railway 

between  Banff  and  Hector  Pass          .         .  236 

View  on  the  River  Nipigon  ....  246 
Encampment  of  Canadian  Woodcutters    .         .272 

Fort  Chambly,  on  the  Richelieu,  near  Montreal  2S0 

Lake  Huron—  View  taken  from  French  River  292 

Ottawa — View  taken  from  Parliament  Terrace  302 

Montreal — Ice-Block  on  the  St.  Lawrence        .  314 

Quebec — View  taken  from  the  Terrace  in  1888  320 
Ice  Bridge  on  the  St.  Lawrence— View  taken 

from  Quebec      .         .         .         .         .         .324 

Falls   of   the   Chicoutimi,    near   the  Saguenay 

Confluence 330 

The  Roche  Pereee  and  Perce  Village         .         .  334 

Fishing  Station  on  the  East  Coast  of  Labrador  392 

General  View  of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland      .  402 

Port  of  St.  Pierre,  Newfoundland  .  .  .  414 
Kicking- Horse  Pass,  on  the  Canadian  Pacific 

Railway    .......  438 

The  Dominion  Parliament — View  taken  from 

the  Ottawa 444 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


no. 
1. 


3. 


9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 
18. 
19. 

20. 

21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 


28. 
29. 

30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 

38. 
39. 
40. 
11. 

12. 

43. 

14. 
45. 


Discoveries  of  the  Norsemen  in  the  New 

World 

Form  of  the  Ocean  according  to  Toscanelli 

Martin  Behaim  and  Columbus 
First  West  Indian  Islands  discovered   by 

Columbus       ..... 
Voyages  of  Columbus 
American  Seaboard  discovered  during  the 

Lifetime  of  Columbus     . 
Part  of  America  known  at  the  Close  of  the 

Sixteenth  Century .         .        ,.         . 
The  North- West  Passage  . 
Routes  of  Arctic  Navigators 
Paleocrystic  Sea  .... 

Cireumpolar  Observatories 
American  Isthmuses  .... 
Central  Waterparting  of  North  America 
Isothermals  of  North  America    . 
Apparent  Anomalies  in  the  Surface  Cm-rent 

of  the  Gulf  Stream 
Chief  Cm-rents  of  the  American  Seas 
Limits    of    Forest  Vegetation    in    North 

America  ..... 

Dominant  Races  in  America 
Chief  Languages  of  America 
Occupation  of  America  by  Emigrants  from 

the  Old  World        .... 
Europe  and  Greenland  according  to  Lau 

rentius  Frisius        .... 
Expeditions  into  the  Interior  of  Greenland 

Cape  Farewell 

Part  of  Greenland  free  from  Ice 

Frederikshaabs  Isblink 

Humboldt  Glacier       .... 

Jakobshavn  Glacier    . 

Movement  of  the  Kangerdlug-Suak  Gla 

cier,  Umanak  District    . 
Greenland  Floe- Ice    .... 
Movement  of  the  Tidal  Currents  round 

Greenland       ..... 
Disko  Island  and  Nursoak  Peninsula 
Francis  Joseph  Fjord 
Greenland  Eskimo    .... 
Julianahaab  and  its  Fjords 
Godhavn  and  Disko  Fjord 
Upernivik,  its  Isles  and  Glaciers 
Channels  leading  to  the  Paleocrystic  Sea 
Front  or  the  Lady  Henrietta  Glacier 

Grinnell  Land      .... 
Barrow  Strait     ..... 

Magnetic  Pole 

Polar  Scenery — Bellot  Island 

Melville  Peninsula  and  Neighbouring  Isles, 

from  an  Eskimo  Chart    . 
Cumberland  Bay         .... 
Retreat  of  the  Franklin  Expedition    . 
Chief  Routes  of  Alaskan  Explorers     . 
St.  Elias  Range  .... 


>AGB 

no 

16. 

9 

17. 

48. 

10 

49. 

50. 

13 

51. 

15 

.52. 

53. 

17 

.54. 

21 

.55. 

27 

56. 

29 

57. 

30 

58. 

31 

59. 

35 

60. 

39 

42 

61. 

62. 

11 

63. 

45 

64. 

65. 

46 

66. 

50 

67. 

53 

68. 

69. 

55 

70. 

71. 

62 

72. 

64 

73. 

66 

74. 

69 

75. 

70 

76. 

72 

77. 

73 

78. 

79. 

74 

SO. 

76 

81. 

7S 

82. 

SO 

83. 

SI 

84. 

87 

85. 

89 

86. 

90 

87. 

91 

88. 

96 

89. 

97 

101 

90. 

103 

91. 

105 

92. 

93. 

108 

94. 

110 

95. 

111 

115 

96. 

118 

Southern  Slope  of  Mount  St.  Elias 

Horn  of  Alaska 

Aleutian  Islands 

Chilkat  and  Chilkoot  Bays 

Norton  Bay,  and  Great  -Bend  of  the  Yukon 

Yukon  Delta 

Isothermal  Lines  of  Alaska 

Zones  of  Trees  and  Range  of  Chief  Animal 
Species  in  Alaska   . 

Inhabitants  of  AJaska 

Tomb  of  Thlinkit  Chief 

The  Seal  Islands 

Island  of  St.  Paul 

Sitka  Bay  . 

Chief  Explorers  of  North  America 

Boundary  Line  between.  Canada  and  the 
United  States  in  the  San  Juan  Archipelago 

Kicking  Horse  Pass  . 

Kananaskis  Falls 

Jervis  Inlet 

Discovery  Passage 

Northern  Bend  of  the  Eraser 

Southern  Bend  of  the  Fraser 

Sources  of  the  Columbia     . 

Columbia  and  Kootenay  Valleys 

View  taken  on  the  Upper  Columbia 

Nootka  Island  and  Inlets 

Old  Nootka- Indian  Woman 

Aborigines  of  British  Columbia 

Victoria  and  Esquimalt 

Nanaimo    .... 

Queen  Charlotte  Islands     . 

Chimsian  Island 

Mouths  of  the  Fraser 

Disposition  of  the  Canadian  Lakes 

Swampy  Delta  of  the  Athabasca 

Peace    River  —  View    taken     at    Fort 
Dun-vegan 

The  Mackenzie  Delta 

Indian  Trappers  of  the  Upper  Tanana 

Posts  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company    . 

Cypress  Hills      ..... 

Coulees  of  the  Great  Prairie,  Alberta 

Saskatchewan  Rapids 

Lake  Agassiz     ..... 

Bifurcation    of    the    Saskatchewan    and 
Qu'Appelle  Rivers 

Portages  of  the  Old  Routes  between  Lake: 
Superior  and  Winnipeg 

Lake  of  the  Woods    .... 

The  Nelson  Emissary 

Hudson  Bay      ..... 

Aia ble  Lands  of  West  Canada  . 

Blackfoot  Indian      .... 

Indian  Reserves  in  Manitoba  and  the  Far- 
West      

Chief    French    Canadian    Settlements 
Manitoba 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PIO. 

97 

9? 

99. 

100, 

101. 

102. 

103. 

104. 
105. 
1C6. 

107. 
108. 
109. 
110. 
111. 
112. 
113. 
114. 

115. 

116. 

117. 
118. 
119. 

120. 
121. 

122. 

123. 


124. 

125. 

126. 

127. 
128 
129. 
130 
131, 
132. 
133, 
134, 
135, 
136 

13- 


page 

Fort  Edmonton— Saskatchewan  River  .  231 
Lands  Surveyed  in  Manitoba  and  the  Far 

West  in  1886 233 

Allotment  of  the  Surveyed  Lands     .         .  234 
Route  from  England  to  Manitoba   and 

Hudson  Bay  ......  235 

Cumberland  House  and   the  Lower   Sas- 
katchewan    ......  236 

Upper  Banff  Valley — Canadian  National 

Park 237 

Oalgary — Approach  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains"       238 

Winnipeg  and  its  Lakes  ....  239 

Lake  Memphremagog       ....  244 

Silurian  Escarpment  between  Chicago  and 

Niagara          ......  245 

Lake  Superior .         .....  248 

Northern  Bays  of  Lake  Superior       .         .  249 

Royal  Island" 250 

Lake  Huron  and  Georgian  Bay        .         .  252 

Lake  Erie 253 

Niagara  Falls  and  Rapids         .         .         .  250 

Thousand  Islands     .         .         .         .         .  25S 
Intermingled  Sources  of  the  Ottawa  and 

Gatineau 261 

Lake  St.  Peter 262 

St.  Lawrence  and  Richelieu  Rivers .         .  263 

Lake  St.  John 265 

Upper  Saguenay  and  Ha-Ha  Bay    .         .  266 
Eternity  Cape — View  taken  from  Trin- 
ity Cape 267 

Belle-  Isle  Strait 268 

Magdalen  Islands     ....  269 
Timber    afloat    at   the   Ottawa    Saw- 

Mnxs 273 

Indian  Tribes  and  European  Colonies  at 
the  Beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury         278 

Chief  Centres  of  German  Immigration  in 

Canada 282 

Increase  of  English  and  French  Speaking 

Populations  in  the  Dominion.         .         .  283 
Chief  Centres  of  French-Canadian  Immi- 
gration in  New  England        .         .        .  287 

Thunder  Bay 291 

Sault  Sainte-Marie 292 

Port  Huron  and  Sarnia    ....  293 

Lake  St.  Clair 295 

Most  Densely  Peopled  Region  in  Ontari 

Isthmus  of  Niagara          ....  297 

Toronto 299 

Lake  Nipissing         .....  301 

From  Ottawa  to  Montreal         .         .         .  304 
Confluence     of    the    St.    Lawrence    and 

Ottawa .307 

Growth  of  Montreal  .  .         .309 


MO.  rAGE 

lis.  Approximate  Distribution  of  Nationalities 

in  Montreal 311 

139.  Montreal  in  1889 313 

140.  Icicles  on  the  Front  of  a  House  after 

a  Fire 317 

141.  Railway  on  the  Frozen   St.  Lawrence  318 

142.  Sherbrooke  and  the  Upper  Basin  of  the 

St.  Francis 31 'J 

143.  ••Canada"    of   Quebec,    after  a    Spanish 

Map   of   the  Fifteenth  Cantury,  repro- 
duced by  Dui-o 321 

144.  Quebec 323 

145.  The  St.  Lawrence  between  Kamouraska 

and  the  Saguenay  .....  327 

14i3.  Tadoussac  and  the  Saguenay  Confluence  .  330 

147.  Eskimo  River  and  Bradore  Bay         .         .  332 

148.  Surveyed  and  Arable  Lands  of  Gaspe        .  333 

149.  Extremity  of  the  Gaspe  Peninsula    .         .  334 

150.  Bay  of  Chaleur 335 

151.  Shippegan  Peninsula  and  Island       .         .  338 

152.  Carboniferous  Districts  of    Nova    Scotia 

and  New  Brunswick       .         .         .         .341 

153.  Lake  of  Brador 340 

154.  Mines  Basin  and  Land  of  the  Acadians     .  354 

155.  Inhabitants  of  East  Canada      .         .         .  356 

156.  Isthmus  of  Chignecto        .  .         .         .361 

157.  Xew  Bbun-  pick   S  ;. ner y  -View  takes- 

near  St.  John 363 

15S.  St.  John 364 

159.  Passamaquoddy  Bay          ....  306 

100.  Ship  Harbour.   North  of  Halifax        .  369 

161.   Canso  Strait 372 

102.  Louisbourg       .....  374 

163.  Charlotte-Town  and  Roadstead         .         .  375 

164.  Okak  Island 380 

165.  Affluents  of  Melville  Bay  .         .         .382 

166.  Lake  Mistassini 384 

17.   Moravian  Missions  on  the  Labrador  Coa  - 1 

168.  Placentia  Bay.  Newfoundland      .         .  395 

169.  The  Gander  Fjords 397 

170.  Bank  of  Newfoundland    .         .         .         .399 

171.  Icebergs  off  Newfoundland       .         .         .401 

172.  Chief  Centres  of  French  Population  in  the 

Dominion       ......  407 

173.  Chief  Atlantic  Cables  terminating  at  New- 

foundland      ......  412 

174.  Placentia  Isthmus 415 

175.  Miquelon  Archipelago       .         .         .         .416 

176.  Map   of  the   Great   Canadian   Petroleum 

Region 432 

177.  Direct  itoute  from  England  to  China         .  437 
17s.   Network  of  the  East  Canadian  Railway-  138 

179.  TransconrinentalRailwaysofNorthAmeriea  439 

180.  Domain  of  the  Pacific  Railway  Company  .  441 

181.  Halifax  and  its  Citadel      .  .  .  .444 

182.  Ottawa.  Capital  of  the  Dominion       .         .  440 


NOTICE  TO  THE   READER. 


Volume  XVI.,  which  deals  with  the  United  States,  and 
which  should  follow  Volume  XV.  on  British  North  America, 
has  been  deferred  pending  publication  of  the  Census  Returns, 
now  being  prepared  by  the  American  Government.  Meantime 
the  Author  proceeds  with  Volume  XVII.,  which  is  devoted  to 
Mexico,  Central  America,  and  the  West  Indies. 


THE  UNIVERSAL  GEOGRAPHY. 


BRITISH  NORTH  AMERICA,  GREENLAND,  ALASKA. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  NEW  WORLD. 

NLIKE  the  names  of  the  Old  World  continents — Europe,  Asia,  Africa 
— that  of  America  is  shrouded  in  no  mystery.  The  origin  of  the 
former  has  hitherto  been  a  quesjbion  of  pure  conjecture,  whereas  we 
knew  for  certain  that  the  latter,  as  applied  collectively  to  the  whole 
of  the  New  World,  dates  from  1507,  appearing  for  the  first  time  in 
a  publication  issued  in  that  year  at  Saint- Die  by  the  "  Gymnase  Yosgien,"  a  group 
of  savants  and  printers  constituted  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine. 
It  matters  little  whether  this  name,  under  its  first  form  of  Amerige  (Amerigen), 
was  introduced  into  Cosmographies  Intrbductio  by  the  French  translator,  Jean  Basin 
de  Sandocourt,  or  by  the  Suabian  Waltzemuller  (Hylacomylus)  ;  the  fact  remains 
that,  either  by  one  or  the  other,  the  name  was  inscribed  in  the  treatise  in  honour 
of  Amerigo  Yespucci,  one  of  the  first  explorers  of  the  New  World,  but  also  one 
whose  fame  is  lost  in  the  dazzling  glory  of  Columbus.  The  Latin  text  is  deci- 
sive as  to  the  precise  meaning  given  to  the  recently  discovered  regions  ;  yet 
nothing  can  be  advanced  in  support  of  the  statement  made  so  early  as  1533  by 
Schoner  that  Yespucci  had  any  direct  relations  with  the  Saint- Die  Society,  and 
that  he  was  base  enough  to  claim  the  merit  of  the  discover}7  by  giving  his  Chris- 
tian name  to  the  New  World.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case  Yespucci,  like 
Columbus  himself  and  all  contemporary  navigators,  was  unaware  that  his  explo- 
rations had  contributed  to  reveal  any  regions  except  those  of  the  Asiatic  Con- 
tinent. 

VOL.    XV.  I! 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


The  Discovery. 


In  any  case  the  name  itself  came  but  slowly  into  general  use.  The  common 
appellation  naturally  continued  for  some  time  to  be  that  which  had  been  propa- 
gated by  the  mistake  made  by  Columbus  regarding  the  true  character  of  the  lands 
discovered  by  him.  Having  set  out  to  reach  the  Indies  he  supposed  he  had  redis- 
covered them,  and  the  term  India  consequently  continued  to  be  applied  to  the 
New  World  both  in  current  literature  and  still  more  in  official  documents. 
Even  after  further  exploration  had  established  the  vast  distance  separating  India 
and  China  from  the  Columbian  lands,  and  after  a  clear  distinction  had  been  estab- 
lished between  the  "  East  Indies,"  reached  chiefly  by  the  oriental  route,  and  the 
"  West,  Indies,"  lying  across  the  track  of  vessels  sailing  westwards,  the  Spanish 
Government  persisted  in  designating  as  las' Indias  its  trans- Atlantic  possessions. 
Even  to  this  day  the  term  "  Indians  "  is  that  which  is  still  most  commonly  applied 
to  the  American  aborigines,  and  in  regions  where  the  Spanish  language  prevails 
they  are  even  called  Chinos,  or  "  Chinese." 

On  relatively  few  maps  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  new  lands  bear  the  name 
of  America,  or  are  even  show*!  to  be  geographically  independent  of  Asia.  The 
first  sheet  of  ( ertain  date  on  which  the  name  itself  occurs  was  engraved  \ty  Petrus 
Apianus  in  1520,  eight  years  after  the  death  of  Vespucci,  and  where  the  word 
elsewhere  appears  it  is  nearly  always  associated  with  others,  such  as  Newfoundland, 
Brazil,  Holy  Cross,  Atlantica  or  Atlantis,  Peruvia,  New  Indies,  and  the  like.  It 
is  obvious  that  no  one  designation  had  yet  been  sufficiently  established  to  claim  a 
decided  preference  on  the  part  of  cartographies.  Not  till  the  seventeenth  century, 
over  a  hundred  years  after  the  discovery,  did  the  term  America  acquire  a  definite 
predominance  everywhere  except  in  Spain.  Its  gradual  adoption  was  clearly  duo, 
not  to  official  pressure  or  to  the  influence  of  great  writers,  but  to  popular  feeling 
itself,  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  euphony  had  much  to  do  with  its  favour- 
able reception  in  the  leading  Eunvpean  languages.  Thanks  to  its  felicitous 
form  it  harmoniously  rounded  off  the  enumeration  of  the  continents:  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa,  America.  Thus  it  happened,  not  for  the  first  time  in  the  records 
of  humanity;  that  alliterative  cadence  contributed  to  psrpetuate  a  manifest  injus- 
tice. 

In  the  face  of  authentic  documents  there  might  seem  to  be  little  room  for 
doubt  on  the  subject  under  consideration.  Yet  there  already  exists  a  copious 
literature  composed  by  writers  who  have  vainly  essayed  to  assign  a  purely  local 
origin  to  the  name  by  which  the  New  World  is  now  designated.  AVhen  certain 
erudite  Teutons  claim  it  as  of  German  origin  we  may  cease  to  be  surprised  that 
the  Americans,  on  their  part,  feel  a  pleasurable  gratification  in  researches  which 
trace  it  to  their  native  land  itself.  On  several  occasions  certain  resemblances 
have  been  pointed  out  between  Vespucci's  Christian  name  and  the  local  designation 
of  some  American  rivers  or  ranges,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  treat  the  question 
seriously  till  the  year  L875,  when  the  geologist,  Marcou,  suggested  that  the  term  was 
derived  from  the  Amerrique  Mountains,  skirting  the  east  side  of  Lake  Nicaragua 


THE  NEW  WORLD.  3 

between  the  towns  of  Juigalpa  and  Libertad.*  This  range,  whose  crests  rise  above 
3,500  feet,  forms  part  of  the  watershed  between  the  streams  flowing  to  Lake 
Nicaragua  and  the  Blewfields  river,  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  Mosquito  territory. 
Auriferous  deposits  occur  in  the  eastern  valleys  of  the  range,  which  remained 
unknown  to  geographers  till  the  year  187-1,  when  mention  -was  first  made  of  it  by 
the  naturalist,  Thomas  Belt.t  Marcou  advances  the  hypothesis  that,  during  the 
vovage  of  1502  along  the  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  Columbus,  ever  eager  in  the 
search  for  treasures,  heard  rumours  of  these  goldfields,  which  lay  about  100  miles 
inland,  and  which  belonged  to  a  tribe  of  like  name,  who  may  have  traded  with 
the  coast.  Amerigo  Vespucci  would  appear  to  have  twice  visited  the  Mosquito 
seaboard,  and  may  have  also  heard  of  the  mines  of  the  Sierra  Amerrique,  whose 
name  was  afterwards  extended  to  the  whole  continent. 

But  all  this  is  pure  hypothesis,  although  it  has  pleased  the  vanity  of  local 
patriotism,  and  has,  in  fact,  been  adopted  bj-  several  American  authors.  One  of 
these,  however,  writing  under  the  varkms  names  of  Hurlbut,  Byrne,  de  Bris,  and 
Lambert,  claims  for  the  term  America  a  more  illustrious  origin,  tracing  it  to  a 
word  in  the  language  of  the  Incas,  meaning  the  "Great  Land  of  the  Sun,"  or  the 
"Holy  Land."; 

The  first  discoverers,  amongst  whom  was  Yespucci  himself,  could  scarcely  avoid 
using  the  expression,  "  New  "World,"  without  thereby  necessarily  implying  that 
America  was  geographically  distinct  from  Asia.  Nevertheless  it  is.  in  this  latter 
sense  that  the  expression  has  been  perpetuated  to  the  present  time,  nor  can  it  be 
denied  that  it  is  sufficiently  justified  by  the  comparatively  brief  interval  that  has 
elapsed  since  the  American  populations  have  entered  into  the  common  history  of 
humanity.  But  the  same  can  scarcely  be  said  of  another  expression,  that  of  the 
"  Western  "  World,  which  is  also  occasionally  applied  to  the  American  continent, 
but  which  is  purely  relative  and  true  only  in  a  transitory  sense.  In  many  resj>ects, 
and  especially  in  its  relief,  the  form  and  disposition  of  its  seaboard,  America 
should  rather  be  called  the  "Eastern  "  continent,  for  it  lies  east  of  the  Old  World, 
with  which  it  is  connected  by  the  islands,  peninsulas,  marine  beds,  and  pack  ice  of 
the  Bering:  Sea. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  American  mainland  constitutes,  in  fact,  a  geographic 
unit,  disposed  in  a  vast  semi-circle  around  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  Capes  of  Good  Hope  and  Horn  terminate  on  either  side  the  immense  amphi- 
theatre of  the  continents,  which  follow  in  succession  round  the  abysmal  waters, 
and  which  raise  their  loftiest  crests  in  proximity  to  their  oceanic  seaboards.  The 
main  relief  of  the  earth's  crust  may  in  a  general  way  be  regarded  as  disposed  in  a 
continuous  semicircle,  sweeping  round  the  great  marine  basin  of  the  globe,  the 
African  and  Asiatic  highlands  constituting-  the  western,  the  American  the  eastern 
arc  of  this  mighty  curve,  where  the  ranges  of  Alaska  and  British  Columbia  merely 
form  a  prolongation  of  those  of  Manchuria  and  Kamchatka. 

*  "Sur  1'Origine  dunom  d'Amerique,"  in  the  Bui.  de  la  Soc.  de  Geographic,  vol.  ix. 

t  The  Naturalist  i»  Nicaragua. 

I   "The  Origin  of  the  Name  of  America,"  in  the  Bui.  of  the  Am.  Geoaraph.  Soc,  1883,  No.  1. 


4  NORTH  AMF.EL  A. 

And  within  the  circle  of  mountains  now  quiescent  there  is  developed  a  second 
circle  of  active  volcanoes,  whose  fiery  curves  arc  disposed  in  festoons  connecting 
the  Indonesian  archipelagoes  with  the  Asiatic  seaboard,  and  at  last  merging  in  the 
western  coast  ranges  of  the  American  highland  systems.  Evidently  the  volcanoes 
of  the  New  World  form  part  of  the  same  "  fiery  circle  "  as  the  flaming  craters  of  the 
Philippines,  of  Japan,  and  the  Kurile  Islands,  of  which  they  form  in  fact  the 
eastern  section.  In  exceptionally  clear  weather  the  most  westerly  headland  of 
North  America  is  visible  from  the  extreme  north-east  promontory  of  Asia  across 
the  intervening  strait  scarcely  60  miles  wide.'  The  Aleutian  Islands  also  stretch 
from  the  Alaskan  Peninsula  for  hundreds  of  miles  towards  the  Asiatic  mainland, 
while  in  winter  the  opposite  shores  of  the  two  worlds  are  connected  by  irregular 
masses  of  pack  or  floating  ice  roughly  thrown  together  by  the  contending  currents, 
counter-currents,  and  eddies  of  the  Arctic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  Even  in  mid- 
summer steamers  at  times  find  it  difficult  to  force'  their  way  in  the  intervening 
strait  through  the  drifting  fragments  of  these  glacial  masses. 

The  Bering  Strait  itself  has  an  extreme  depth  of  not  more  than  30  fathoms 
and  even  far  from  the  coast  whalers  find  good  anchorage  in  depths  of  little  over 
20  fathoms.  In  the  very  midst  of  the  strait  itself  rises  the  group  of  the  Gvozdeva 
orDiomede  islets,  serving  as  an  intermediate  station  for  men  and  animals  passing 
to  and  fro  between  the  continents,  from  Cape  East  on  the  Asiatic  to  Cape  West 
(Prince  of  Wales)  on  the  American  side.  Hence,  as  already  remarked  by  Adalbert 
de  Chamisso,  the  geodetic  triangles  of  the  Old.  World  might  easily  b&  connected 
with  those  of  the  New  World,  which  in  fact  forms  its  eastern  prolongation. 

On  the  other  hand  America  is  separated  from  European  lands  byr  a  space  of 
900  miles  across  the  narrowest  part  of  the  North  Atlantic.  Nevertheless  the 
striking  analogy  of  the  rocks  between  Labrador,  Greenland,  the  northern  archi- 
pelagoes and  Norway,  justifies  the  hypothesis  that  at  some  remote  epoch  all  these 
regions  formed  continuous  dry  land.  Greenland  is  still  united  with  Scotland,  and 
Cape  Wrath  with  the  Lindesnaes  by  a  submarine  bank  less  than  350  fathoms  deep. 

Historically  also  America  is  largely  a  dependency  of  Asia,  and  should  conse- 
quently be  regarded  as  an  eastern  land.  The  Asiatics  had  no  need  to  discover 
America,  nor  the  Americans  Asia,  seeing  that  where  they  approach  nearest  the 
continents  are  visible  from  shore  to  shore.  Even  without  the  aid  of  kayaks  (boats) 
the  natives  of  both  regions  have  been  able  to  cross  to  the  opposite  sides  of  Bering 
Strait.  South  of  this  strait  the  seaboard  is  indented  with  numerous  inlets  as  far  as 
Oregon,  all  affording  refuge  to  Asiatic  craft  drifting  eastwards ;  hence  the  state- 
ment that  the  American  continent  "  turns  its  back  on  Asia  "  does  not  apply  to  the 
northern  section  of  the  New  World. 

Although  contested  by  Rink,  Morton,  and  other  anthropologists,  the  view  is 
now  generally  accepted  that  the  hyperborean  populations  of  America  are  of  Asiatic 
descent,  and  along  both  sides  of  Bering  Strait  the  resemblance  of  physical  types, 
speech  and  usages  is  such  that  their  racial  unity  can  be  scarcely  called  in  question.* 
Consequently  those  who  fegard  the  kinship  of  the  Eskimo  and  Mongoloid  Siberian 

*  Chamisso,  Waitz,  Poschel,  Petitot,  Wliympcr. 


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THE  NEW   WORLD.  5 

as  established  naturally  infer  the  western  or  Asiatic  origin  of  the  population 
occupying  the  northern  section  of  North  America.  Polynesian  influences  are  also 
recognised  in  the  customs,  structures,  and  ornamental  work  of  the  islanders  along 
the  north-west  coast  of  America  from  Alaska  to  Oregon.  Moreover,  the  "  Black 
Stream  "  which  traverses  the  North  Pacific  has  frequently  carried  Japanese  flotsam 
to  the  opposite  seaboard  ;  over  sixty  instances  of  this  sort  have  been  recorded  since 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.*  The  same  current  has  even  occasion- 
ally borne  junks  and  shipwrecked  crews  from  one  continent  to  the  other,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  year  1875. 

Some  authorities  even  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  Buddhist  propaganda,  and 
consequently  Asiatic  civilisation,  exercised  a  direct  influence  on  the  inhabitants  of 
Mexico  and  of  Central '  America  during  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 
Amongst  the  sculptures  of  Copan  and  Palenque  mystic  images  have  been  found 
closely  resembling  those  'of  Eastern  Asia  ;  such  especially'  is  the  taiki,  the  most 
venerated  symbol  of  the  Chinese,  which,  according  to  Hamy,  represents  "  the 
combination  of  force  and  matter,  of  the  active  and  the  passive,  of  the  male  and 
female  principles."  But,  whatever  is  to  be  said  of  these  pretended  Buddhistic 
influences,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  earliest  transoceanic  relations  of  the 
American  continent  must  be  referred,  not  to  Europe  or  Africa,  but  to  Asia,  that 
is,  to  the  West. 

The  case,  however,  is  reversed  when  we  come  to  the  recent  history  of  the  New 
World.  If  in  remote  ages  the  march  of  civilisation  or  immigration  was  from  west 
to  east,  its  direction  has  .been  from  east  to  west,  from  the  Nile  to  the  Mediterranean, 
and  thence  towards  the  ocean,  and  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  shores  of  the 
Atlantic,  within  the  strictly  historic  period.  Attempts  have  even  been  made  to 
reduce  this  western  movement  of  the  cultured  peoples  to  a  fixed  principle. 
"  Westward  rolls  the  star  of  empire,"  is  a  familiar  saying  amongst  English- 
speaking  nations.  Anyhow,  the  fact  remains  that  throughout  modern  times 
Ameriaa  has  been,  relatively  to  Europe,  emphatically  the  western  world,  the  "  West " 
in  the  simple  language  of  British  seafarers.  Beyond  the  Mississippi  the  vast 
plains  and  highlands  stretching  away  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  are  also  commonly 
designated  by  the  name  of  the  "  Far  West." 

Possibly  at  some  remote  epoch  vessels  from  the  eastern  hemisphere  may  have 
reached  this  western  world.  Mention  has  been  made  of  Phoenician  navigators, 
and  the  Greek  legends  have  been  revived  touching  the  mythical  land  of  the 
Atlantes.  Reference  is  also  still  made  to  the  old  Welsh  traditions  regarding 
Madoc  ap  Owen's  discovery  of  the  western  lands  wrapped  in  the  perennial  fogs  of 
the  great  ocean.  The  Irish  have  similar  legends,  such  as  that  associated  with  the 
name  of  St.  Brendan  ;  but  the  marvellous  accounts  of  their  bards  are  unsupported 
by  a  single  fact  which  could  give  them  a  character  of  certainty. 

The  first  authentic  documents  on  the  existence  of  a  new  world  beyond  the 
Atlantic  date  no  further  back  than  about  a  thousand  years  ago,  coinciding  with 
the  epoch  of  the  great  Scandinavian  migrations.     Even  in  Italy  itself,  jealous  of 

*  Brooks,  Comptcs  Ecmhis  tie  la  Sue.  de  Geographic,  July,  18S6. 


C  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  fame  of  Columbus  and  Vespucci,  no  writer  any  longer  doubts  that  North 
America  was  discovered  by  the  Norse  seafarers.  The  northern  watt  rs,  scoured  in 
all  directions  by  the  fearless  Vikings,  naturally  offered  the  greatest  facilities  for 
exploration  and  conquest,  for  here. the  opposite  seaboards  of  the  Old  and  New 
Worlds  approach  nearest  to  each  other.  Since  the  time  of  the  Greek  navigator, 
Pytheas,  these  seas  were  doubtless  much  dreaded,  owing  to  the  dense  fogs  moving 
alono-  the  surface  like  whitish  walls.  Seafarers  also  feared  to  penetrate  through 
the  "nostrils  of  the  earth  "  amid  the  ice-encircled  shoals  and  waters  half  solidified 
by  those  masses  of  unmolten  snow  which  gave  rise  to  the  legend  of  a  "  Viscous 
Ocean,"  or  "  Sea  of  Glue."  Vague  reports  described  the  northern  seas  as  fallow 
lagoons,  or  even  nothing  more  than  vast  morasses,  or  else  Troldboten,  or  a  region 
of  magicians  haunted  by  supernatural  monsters.  Nevertheless,  a  belief  also 
prevailed  that  beyond  this  world  of  spirits  there  stretched  the  shores  of  continuous 
land.  On  all  the  charts  inspired  by  the  geography  of  Homer  the  great  "  Ocean 
Stream  "  is  represented  as  encircled  by  a  narrow  margin  of  coastlands. 

But,  whether  the  land  designated  by  the  ancients  by  the  name  of  Ultima  Thule 
is  to  be  identified  with  Iceland  or  the  Faroe  Islands,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  familiar  station  had  long  been  known  as  a  natural  starting-point  for  the 
discovery  of  the  western  continent.  The  Irish  monks,  settled  in  Iceland  towards 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  were  followed  a  hundred  years  later  by  the  Scan- 
dinavian Gardas,  from  whom  the  island  received  its  present  name.  At  that  time 
two-thirds  of  the  extreme  northern  waters  had  already  been  traversed,  and  here 
the  Norse  mariners  also  possessed  the  intermediate  stations  of  the  Shetland, 
Orkney,  and  Faroe  archipelagoes.  Navigators  frequenting  the  seas  between  these 
insular  groups  could  scarcely  fail  sooner  or  later  to  reach  the  shores  of  Greenland, 
driven  westwards  by  storms  or  mai-ine  currents.  As  early  as  the  year  !i?7 
Gunnbjorn  sighted  from  a  distance  the  snowy  crests  of  a  western  land,  and  gave 
his  name  to  some  rocky  heights  or  headlands  projecting  from  the  shores  of  the 
New  World."  Five  years  later  Erik  the  Eed,  banished  from  Iceland  for  murder, 
sailed  in  the  dii'ection  of  those  remote  mountains  of  Mid-Jokul,  and  on  a  sub- 
sequent voyage  built  himself  a  fortified  dwelling  on  the  coast  of  the  west,  beyond 
the  Ilvarf  or  southern  point  of  the  great  land.  Although  not  yet  identified, 
the  ruins  of  this  stronghold  of  Brattahlida  may  one  day  perhaps  be  found  on  the 
Igaliko  fjord,  erected  here  over  nine  hundred  years  ago. 

Ever  since  the  arrival  of  Erik  Greenland  has  always  had  inhabitants  of  European 
origin,  and  direct  relations  have  been  maintained  at  various  epochs  between  the 
Scandinavian  settlers  in  the  west  and  the  mother  country.  The  Christian  commu- 
nities administered  by  the  See  of  Greenland  were  even  tributary  to  Rome,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  annals  make  mention  of  furs  and  walrus  ivory  regularly  shipped 
to  Europe  in  payment  of  the  "  Peter's  Pence."  The  Crusades  themselves  were 
preached  in  these  Arctic  lands,*  and  even  after  the  occupation  of  the  West  Indies 
and  mainland  by  the  Spaniards  the  Norse  bishopric  of  Gardar  continued  to  be 
maintained  in  Greenland.  Nevertheless,  during  the  course  of  centuries  the  rela- 
*  P.  Riant,  Expeditions  ei  P&lerinaffes  (Us  tieandinaves. 


THE   NEW  WORLD.  7 

turns  became  constantly  less  frequent  between  the  opposite  coasts  of  the  North 
Atlantic.  For  some  time  after  the  discovery  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  conquest 
was  kept  alive  amongst  the  intrepid  Norse  seafarers.  Impatient  of  control  the 
young  men  took  to  the  high  seas  in  order  to  escape  the  oppression  of  their  rulers, 
and  in  their  turn  to  found  new  states  on  those  distant  shores.  But  in  the  year 
1261  Greenland  fell  under  the  direct  political  sway  of  the  king  of  Norway ;  trade 
became  a  royal  monopoly  ;  expeditions  across  the  Atlantic  consequently  grew  less 
frequent,  until  at  last  both  the  Danes  and  Norwegians  completely  neglected  those 
transmarine  colonies  which  had  been  acquired  by  their  enterprising  forefathers. 

South  Greenland  had  not  been  the  only  western  region  discovered  by  the  Norse 
explorers.  Various  expeditions  had  coasted  the  west  side  of  the  great  island 
beyond  72°  north  latitude  to  the  points  where  were  found  the  human  habitations 
lying  nearest  to  the  piole.  But  their  voyages  of  discovery  were  directed  chiefly  to 
the  south  of  Greenland.  Even  before  the  year  1000  Bjarn  Hcriulfson,  who  was 
sailing  towards  Greenland,  had  taken  a  too  southerly  course,  thus  sighting  some 
forest-clad  hills,  which  probably  formed  part  of  the  American  continent,  but 
which  he  did  not  venture  to  approach.  He  was  followed  by  Leif,  son  of  Erik  the 
Red,  who  first  discovered  the  desolate  ice-bound  stony  region  of  Hellu-land,  which 
should  probably  be  identified  -with  the  Labrador  coast,  although  referred  by  most 
Scandinavian  writers  to  the  island  of  Newfoundland.  He  then  pushed  farther 
southwards  to  a  wooded  coast,  which  he  named  Markland,  and  which  is  suj^posed  by 
Rarn,  Kohl,  and  others  to  be  the  seaboard  of  Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia.  This  view 
has  been  generally  accepted  by  the  commentators  on  the  Norse  Sagas,  who  identil'v 
the  present  Rhode  Island  between  41'"'  and  42°  north  latitude  with  the  Yineland  also 
discovered  by  Leif  at  the  end  of  the  year  1000.  An  "  inscribed  stone  "  is  even 
shown  on  the  banks  of  the  Taunton  River  opposite  the  village  of  Dighton  in 
Massachusetts,  which  the  interpreters  tell  us  relates  the  conquest  of  the  Surrounding 
territory  by  Thorfin  of  Iceland.*  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  a  passage  in  the  old 
Norse  texts  referring  to  the  length  of  the  day  in  Yineland  has  been  interpreted  by 
Rafn  in  a  sense  too  favourable  to  the  importance  of  the  discoveries  made  by  his 
fellow-countrymen  on  the  east  coast  of  North  America.  All  things  considered, 
the  Vineland  of  the  Norse  records  should  more  probably  be  placed  about  the 
northern  limit  of  the  range -of  the  wild  vine,  that  is,  in  Nova  Scotia  or  New  Bruns- 
wick, where  also  grows  the  "  wild  wheat "  (zizania  aquatica),  mentioned  in  the  same 
records,  t 

But  however  this  be,  the  fact  is  placed  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  Scandinavians 
founded  regular  colonies  on  the  American  mainland,  the  annals  of  which  cover  a 
period  of  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  thirty  years.  After  taking  possession 
of  the  land  hj  kindling  great  bonfires,  which  proclaimed  their  arrival  far  and  wide, 
it  was  their  custom  to  set  their  mark  on  the  trees  and  rocks,  to  plant  their  arms  on 
the'headlands  and  to  erect  strong  houses  and  outposts  at  their  stations.  The  Sagas 
also  speak  of  children  born   in  these  settlements,  as  well  as  of  conflicts  and  of 

*  Rafn,  AntiqiiititU's  Americancp. 

+  Haliburton,  Proceedings  of  the'R.  Geo.  Soc,  January,  1885. 


8  NORTH  AMERICA. 

warriors  killed  in  battle;  graves  also  arc  amongst  the  remains  of  the  old  structures 
attributed  to  these  Norsemen.  Like  all  subsequent  European  invaders,  the  Vikings 
massacred  the  natives  for  the  sole  pleasure  of  shedding  blood,  so  that  the  work  of 
extermination  began  with  the  first  arrival  of  the  whites.  The  old  accounts,  how- 
ever, which  were  handed  down  from  mouth  to  mouth,  diversely  intermingled  truth 
and  legend,  and  many  stirring  episodes  appear  to  have  been  inspired  only  by  the 
love  of  the  marvellous. 

One  of  the  northern  regions  discovered  by  the  Vikings,  and  since  rendered 
uninhabitable  by  the  cold,  bears  the  name  of  Furdustraudir  ("Wonder-strand"), 
so  named  from  the  strange  visions  conjured  up  by  the  evil  genii  of  the  place. 
According  to  tha  legend,  the  new  arrivals  had  to  contend  not  only  with  the 
Skrallinger — a  general  name  indifferently  applied  to  all  the  aborigines  whether 
Eskimo  or  Redskins — but  also  with  white  populations,  or  peoples  "  dressed  in 
white,"  that  is,  certain  Irish  Christians  living  on  the  southern  coastlands,  or  in  the 
interior  towards  the  west.  To  this  region,  placed  somewhere  on  the-  New  England 
seaboard,  was  given  the  name  of  Hvitramannaland  ("White  Men's  Land")  or 
Irland  it  Mikla  ("  Great  Ireland  "*).  But  if  the  Sagas  that  have  been  handed 
down  to  our  time  contain  much  that  is  marvellous,  they  probably  comprise  but  a 
small  part  of  the  real  history  of  the  Scandinavians  in  America.  It  is  at  least 
possible  that  a  strain  of  Norse  blood  may  still  survive,  even  beyond  Greenland, 
amongst  the  indigenous  populations  of  the  New  World. 

After  the  Scandinavian  explorations  in  the  northern  waters,  the  attention  oftbe 
South  European  seafarers  was  mainly  directed  to  the  temperate  and  tropical  regions 
bevond  the  Atlantic.  The  memory  of  the  earlier  expeditions  appears  never  to, have 
been  entirely  lost,  or  rather  became  intermingled  with  traditions  of  diverse  origin. 
Like  the  Welsh  and  Irish,  the  Arabs  had  also  their  legendary  navigators,  the  eight 
Almagruritti,  or  "  Wandering  Brothers,"  who  had  sailed  from  Lisbon  in  the  year 
1170  under  a  vow  never  to  return  xmtil  they  had  reached  the  remote  isles  beyond 
the  seas.  Other  "brothers,"  Frisians  by  .birth,  were  rumoured  to  have  soon  after 
embarked  at  Bremen,  and  to  have  reached  Greenland.  Towards  the  end  of  the, 
fourteenth  century  two  Venetians,  the  brothers  Zeni,  visited  the  same  region,  by 
them  called  "  Engroneland,"  and  the  particulars  recorded  by  them,  as  well  as 
certain  details  of  their  charts,  leave  scarcely  any  doubt  regarding  the  truth  of 
their  narrative.  Lastly,  the  Pole,  John  of  Szkolno  was  sent  straight  to  Greenland 
in  the  year  1476  for  the  express  purpose  of  reopening  the  communications  that 
had  so  long  been  interrupted. 

■  Undoubtedly  the  report  of  all  these  voyages  had  spread  from  seaport  to  seaport, 
as  attested  by  the  contemporary  marine  charts,  on  which  coastlines,  although 
traced  at  haphazard,  were  at  least  justified  by  popular  report.  Moreover,  the 
recent  discoveries  of  Madeira,  the  Canaries,  and  the  Azores  in  the  Atlantic  south- 
west of  Europe,  had  been  more  or  less  confused  in  the  imagination  of  seafarers 
with  the  ancient  traditions  regarding  the  "Fortunate  Islands,"  and  with  the 
Christian  myths  about   other  islands   inhabited   by  saints.     All    these    scattered 

•   Bcauvois,  La  JJicomcrlc  ilu  Xouveau  MonA  par  les  Irlandaia, 


LEGENDARY  LANDS. 


0 


archipelagoes  could  not  fail  to  awaken  visions  of  other  still  more  remote  islands, 
all  the  more  that  unknown  plants,  berries,  and  other  flotsam  were  brought  with 
the  currents  and  cast  ashore  at  various  points.  At  Flores  were  thus  stranded  two 
dead  bodies,  whose  features  in  no  respect  resembled  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Azores. 

One  of  these  visionary  lands,  compared  by  Columbus  himself  to  "  the  illusion 
of  a  mirage,"  was  the  island  of  Saint  Brendan,  which  was  sought  in  every  part  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  even  in  the  Indian  Ocean  itself.  Then  the  Sete  Cidades,  or  island 
of  the  "Seven  Cities,"  colonised  by  the  followers  of  the  seven  legendary  bishops, 
who  had  been  expelled  by  the  Moors  from  Portugal,  had  at  last  been  identified 
with  San  Miguel,  largest  member  of  the  Azores,  where  is  now  to  be  seen  the 
lagoon  or  "  cauldron"  of  the  seven  cities.     Antilia,  another  holy  island,  regarded 


Fig.  1. — Discoveries  of  the  Norsemen  in  the  New  World. 
Scale  1  :  60,000,000. 


i 


\ 


Gunnbj5rngakar(")      *^-*^  f'.'.-i 


''Hh 


^/frifn*  muring  fen  J 

70° 


West  oF   Gr 


•ich 


.50' 


4-0' 


1,200  Miles. 


at  one  time  as  distinct,  at  another  associated  either  with  Saint  Brendan  or  the 
Seven  Cities,  continued  to  shift  from  place  to  place  until  it  eventually  gave  its 
name  to  the  Antilles.  Lastly,  beyond  the  island  of  Brazil  (isofri  de  Brazi),  supposed 
to  have  been  found  in  the  Azores,  where  a  hill  in  Terceira  still  bears  the  name  of 
Brazil,  search  continued  to  be  made  for  the  land  of  Verzin,  or  "  Brazil  Wood,"  a 
term  which  was  universally  applied  to  the  vast  region  of  Santa  Cruz  soon  after  its 
discovery. 

The  mathematicians  on  their  part  also  endeavoured  to  penetrate  the  mystery 
of  the  equatorial  seas  by  attempting  to  define  the  limits  of  the  space  comprised 
between  the  western  shores  of  the  Old  World  and  the  eastern  seaboard  of  China. 
Thus,  eighteen  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  "West  Indies"  by  Columbus,  the 

VOL.    XV.  C 


10 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Florentine  astronomer,  Toscanelli,  was  requested  by  a  person  at  the  court  of  Affonso 
V.,  Kin»  of  Portugal,  to  prepare  a  nautical  memoir,  according  to  which  the  city  of 
Quinsay  (Hangcheu),  capital  of  the  powerful  empire  of  Cathay  (China),  was 
situated  only  130°  of  west  longitude  from  Lisbon.  Between  these  two  points  the 
Atlantic  and  the  sea  now  known  as  the  Pacific  Ocean  were  merged  in  a  common 
marine  basin.  Off  the  east  coast  of  China  this  space  was  further  diminished  at 
least  25°  by  the  great  insular  kingdom  of  Zipangu  (Japan),  a  wrong  interpretation 
of  a  passage  in  Marco  Polo  having  enormously  exaggerated  the  width  of  the  strait 
flowing  between  China  and  the  Japanese  Archipelago.  The  Chinese  miles  (li)  of 
the  text  had  been  changed  to  Italian  miles,  and  Zipangu  was  thus  removed  east- 
wards to  the  position  really  occupied  by  California,  or  even  still  farther  east  to  the 
Kocky  Mountains. 

Toscanelli's  now  lost  chart,  which  doubtless  differed  little  from  that  of  Martin 
Behaim  still  extant,  also  indicated  the  island  of  Antiglia  as  a  station  lying  midway 

Fig.  2  —Form  of  the  Ocean  according,  to  Toscanelli,  Martin  Behaim  and  Columbus. 


on  the  ocean  route,  which  route  might  be  further  diminished  by  taking  one  of  the 
western  Canaries  as  the  starting-point,  as,  in  fact,  was  done  by  Columbus.  Nay, 
more,  contemporary  astronomers  held  different  opinions  regarding  the  exact  size 
of  the  degree  comprised  between  two  meridians,  and,  according  to  most  of  them, 
this  space  was  considerably  smaller  than  the  determination  made  by  Eratosthenes 
seventeen  centuries  previously. 

One  of  the  chief  authorities  quoted  by  Columbus  in  justification  of  his'  daring 
enterprise  was  the  apocryphal  book  of  Esdras,  according  to  which  the  sea  covered 
only  a  seventh  part  of  the  planet.  The  vast  expanse  of  waters  between  Europe 
and  Asia  had  obviously  shrunk  to  very  small  proportions  in  the  eyes  of  contem- 
porary navigators,  and  herein  lies  the  explanation  of  Columbus's  remark:  "El 
munch  es  poco  !  "  "  The  earth  is  small !  "  Fortunately  ignorant  of  its  real  size  he 
dared  to  sail,  as  he  thought,  for  India,  "  seeking  the  east  by  the  way  of  the  west." 
He  would  doubtless  have  shrunk  from  the  enterprise  had  he  known  that  the  actual 


THE  GEE  AT  DISCOTEEY.  11 

distance  from  Lisbon  to  Zipangu  by  this  western  route  was  some  210°  of  longitude, 
that  is,  far  more  than  half  the  circumference  of  the  globe.  In  the  language  of 
d'Anville,  "  the  greatest  of  errors  led  to  the  grandest  discovery."  Still  this  event 
would  have  in  any  case  been  delayed  but  a  few  years  longer,  for  Alvarez  Cabral, 
following  the  track  of  Vasco  de  Gama  towards  East  India,  unexpectedly  struck  the 
Brazilian  seaboard  in  the  year  1500. 

But  the  failure  of  Columbus  to  reach  the  goal  he  had  proposed  to  himself 
helped  only  to  enhance  the  greatness  of  his  glory.  For  he  thus  discovered  a  new 
world,  and  as  he  said  himself  when  relating  a  dream,  "  he  took  the  keys  of  the 
heavy  chains  which  held  the  sea  imprisoned."  The  world  hitherto  supposed  to 
be  flat  he  proved  to  be  round,  and  thereby  opened  the  modern  era  of  history.  His 
rivals  overwhelmed  him  with  outrages,  he  was  treated  as  a  vain  boaster, 
an  impostor  (homem  fallador),  "  whose  words  were  idle " ;  then  his  enemies 
charged  him  with  treason  and  brought  him  back  in  chains  across  the  very  ocean 
which  he  had  been  the  first  to  traverse.  But  after  his  death  a  reaction  set  in,  and 
by  a  natural  tendency  in  the  mind  of  man  numerous  writers  attributed  the  exclu- 
sive glory  of  the  discovery  to  the  daring  genius  of  Columbus.  But  despite  all 
exaggeration  his  genius  was  still  shown  to  be  of  the  first  order  bv  his  manv 
observations  on  the  winds,  the  marine  currents,  the  declination  of  the  compass, 
and  the  confidence  with  which  he  had  boldly  plunged  into  the  unknown  "  sea  of 
darkness." 

Nevertheless,  the  prominent  part  taken  by  Columbus  in  the  progress  of  his 
times  should  not  blind  us  to  the  merits  of  so  many  other  fellow-workers  ;  least  of 
all  should  it  induce  us  to  discover  in  him  every  virtue  under  the  sun,  as  if  breadth 
of  intellect  and  fortune's  favours  were  still  accompanied  by  all  the  higher  qualities 
of  the  heart.  Amongst  the  less  fortunate  contemporary  navigators  some  might 
perhaps  be  mentioned  who  were  fully  equal  to  Columbus  in  scientific  knowledge, 
and  others  who  were  certainly  actuated  by  more  disinterested  motives.  But  it 
ever  happens  that,  where  multitudes  of  men  contribute  wittingly  or  unwittingly 
to  one  great  result,  some  one  favoured  person  arrives  at  the  right  moment  and 
resumes  in  himself  all  the  merit  of  the  common  work.  Thus  in  the  present  case 
amid  numerous  competitors  the  name  of  Columbus  stands  out  conspicuously  as 
summing  up  his  epoch,  and  the  year  1492  is  henceforth  regarded  as  the  parting- 
line  between  two  eras  of  human  progress. 

At  first  the  arrival  of  Columbus's  caravals  in  a  roadstead  of  the  Xew  "World 
seemed  but  slightly  to  affect  the  political  and  social  relations  of  the  civilised 
peoples.  On  the  other  hand  great  events,  such  as  the  fall  of  the  Eastern  Empire, 
the  artistic  and  literary  triumphs  of  the  Renaissance,  the  invention  of  printing, 
the  circumnavigation  of  Africa,  were  also  facts  of  vital  importance,  largely  con- 
tributing to  the  evolution  of  thought  which  brought  mediaeval  times  to  a  close. 
But  among  all  these  indications  of  the  profound  change  then  taking  place  there 
was  not  one  whose  significance  was  more  marked  or  richer  in  future  promise  than 
the  fortunate  voyage  of  the  Genoese  navigator.  Thenceforth  the  Old  "World, 
itself  not  yet   entirely  discovered,  ceased  to  constitute  the  whole  inheritance  of 

c2 


12  NORTH  AMERICA. 

man.  Civilisation,  which,  from  the  early  empires  grouped  round  the  converging 
point  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  had  hitherto  spread  almost  exclusively  along 
the  Mediterranean  seaboard,  and  thence  to  the  inlets  and  islands  of  Western 
Europe,  now,  at  last,  possessed  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe  as  its  proper  sphere 
of  action.  The  sum  of  knowledge  and,  consequently,  the  domain  of  thought  had 
been  enlarged ;  history,  till  then  fragmentary,  began  to  assume  a  universal 
character ;  the  still  distant  days  that  shall  witness  the  alliance  of  all  the  peoples 
in  a  common  humanity  were  already  foreshadowed  in  the  dim  future.  Such  was 
the  more  or  less  clearly  perceived  source  of  the  joyous  emotion  which  filled  all 
hearts  at  the  news  of  the  great  discovery.  The  beauty,  the  rich  vegetation,  the 
climate  of  the  recently  revealed  lands  also  largely  contributed  to  lend  additional 
lustre  to  the  great  event.  If  the  voyages  of  the  Norsemen  to  Greenland, 
Markland,  Vineland,  had  already  been  forgotten  outside  scientific  circles,  while 
the  first  sight  of  the  Antilles  has  remained  in  the  memory  of  the  nations  as  the 
only  true  discovery  of  the  New  "World,  must  not  the  contrast  be  in  a  measure 
attributed  to  the  lovely  skies  of  the  tropics?  Compared  with  the  marvellous 
southern  isles,  of  what  account  were  the  ice-bound  lands  of  the  polar  circle  and  the 
snow-clad  northern  rocks  wrapped  in  eternal  fogs  ? 

During  his  first  explorations  Columbus  failed  to  reach  the  mainland  of  the  New 
"World.  The  first  islands  sighted  by  the  Europeans  in  1492  after  a  journey  of 
thirt}T-four  days  from  Gomera,  one  of  the  Canaries,  was  a  mere  coralline  plateau, 
whose  native  name,  Guanahani  or  Guanahanin,  was  re-named  San  Salvador  by 
Columbus's  associates  "saved"  from  the  abyss.  But  this  name  was  again  changed 
either  to  Great  Turk  Island,  or  Cat  Island,  or  Hayaguana,  or  more  probably  AVatling 
Island,  for  it  is  still  somewhat  uncertain  what  was  the  first  land  actualty  reached 
by  Columbus  after  his  memorable  journey.*  In  any  case  he  afterwards  discovered 
several  other  members  of  the  Bahama  chain,  besides  a  large  part  of  the  north 
coast  of  Cuba,  and  the  harbours  on  the  north  side  of  Haiti,  or  Espanola,  that  is, 
"  Little  Spain,"  as  it  continued  to  be  called  during  the  centuries  of  Spanish  ride. 
But  Columbus  himself  supposed  that  this  island  was  Zipangu,  that  is,  Japan,  while 
Cuba  was  taken  for  a  peninsula  of  Cathay,  or  China.  During  the  voyage  the 
admiral  made  his  arrangements  for  submitting  to  the  Great  Khan  of  Tartary  the 
letters  of  friendship  and  exhortation  to  receive  the  Christian  faith  which  had  been 
entrusted  to  him  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.  Some  doubts,  however,  may 
perhaps  have  arisen  amongst  his  followers,  for  he  immediately  announced  his 
arrival  in  "  Asia  "  by  an  official  document  threatening  all  gainsayers  with  a  heavy 
fine,  excision  of  the  tongue  and  the  lash. 

Satisfied  with  having  reached  this  east  coast  of  Asia,  and  with  the  discovery  of 
gold  and  slaves  in  Espanola,  Columbus  made  no  effort  to  push  farther  towards  the 
west.  Even  his  second  voyage  the  following  year  was  limited  to  revisiting  Cuba 
and  Espanola,  and  surveying  the  coasts  of  Jamaica,  Puerto-Rico,  and  the  northern 
section  of  the  Antilles.     At  last  on  his  third  voyage  in  1498  he  reached  the  main- 

*  II.  Harrisse,  Notes  on  Columbus;  Ad.  deVarnhagen,  La  Ycrdadcra  Guanahani  de  Colon;  Beeher, 
The  Landfall  of  Columbus ;  Major,  Journal  of  the  li.  Geo.  Soc,  1871. 


THE  VOYAGES  OE  COLUMBUS. 


13 


land  at  the  Orcnoco  delta  and  the  peninsula  of  Paria.  On  this  occasion  he  had 
sailed  far  to  the  south,  acting  on  the  advice  of  the  Jew,  Moses  Jacob  Ferrer,  who 
had  induced  him  to  hope  for  richer  treasures  in  gold  and  precious  stones  under  a 
more  southern  latitude,  "  where  the  people  have  a  black  skin."  Although  rightly 
concluding  from  the  great  volume  of  its  waters  that  the  Orenoco  was  fed  by  a  vast 
continental  basin,  Columbus  made  no  delay  to  explore  the  surrounding  coastlands, 
but  hastened  towards  Espanola,  attracted  by  the  gold  mines  which  were  to  yield 
him  enough  to  levy  "  an  army  of  4,000  horse  and  50,000  foot  and  deliver  the  Holy 
Sepulchre."  lie  was  at  once  the  first  European  to  visit  the  New  World,  and  the 
first  planter  to  enslave  the  natives  and  cause  them  to  perish  in  his  service.  But 
he  had  rivals  in  this  fatal  work,  and  it  was  the  jealousies  of  others  who  had  also 


Fig.  3. — First  West  Indian  Islands  discovered  by  Columbus. 
Scale  1  :  0,000,000. 


:" 


ca, 


\    V; 


$W?t//s>g-/ste~eS 


^t^ZZ^Afayagc/cMci  ' 


Peque/7,3  /rr&guBf.    , 

Gran  //7&gi/ji 


■  -  -~C&''cos 
•        S---- 


/u/-A  •/■sfenc/ 


78" 


'West  oF  Gr-eenv 


300  Miles. 


received  concessions  of  mines  and  Indians  that  brought  about  revolts,  intestine 
strife  and  at  last  the  recall  of  Columbus  ignominiously  laden  with  chains. 

Eefore  his  third  voyage  he  had  secured  the  monopoly  of  exploration  for  himself 
and  his  posterity,*  so  that  all  independent  expeditions  had  been  interdicted  except 
from  the  port  of  Cadiz  under  burdensome  conditions.  This  provision,  however, 
was  not  enforced,  and  several  illegal  journeys  would  appear  to  have  taken  place  to 
avoid  paying  the  fiscal  charges  on  the  products  of  the  gold  mines.  Even  while 
Columbus  still  governed  Espanola  two  vessels,  under  his  enemy  Hojeda  and  the 
two  famous  pilots,  Juan  de  la  Cosa  and  Amerigo  Yespucci,  touched  secretly  at  the 
island,  and  resumed  their  voyage  without  waiting  for  the  governor's  visit.  These 
seafarers  had  also  seen  the  mainland,  coasting  the  seaboard  for  a  far  greater 


*  Herrera,  Indias  Oecidentales. 


li  NOirm  AMERICA. 

distance  than  Columbus,  from  the  low-lying  shores  of  Surinam  to  the  Cabo  de  la 
Vela,  northern  extremity  of  the  Goajiros  Peninsula  between  the  coasts  of 
Venezuela  and  New  Grenada. 

In  the  same  year,  1490,  a  part  of  the  Cumana  country  had  already  been  sur- 
veyed by  Peralonso  Nino  and  Guerra ;  in  1500  Bastidas  de  Sevilla  completed  a 
first  exploration  of  all  the  southern  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  as  far  as  the  Gulf 
of  Uraba,  while  Vincente  Pinzon  coasted  the  east  side  of  the  continent  beyond 
Cape  St.  Boque  as  far  as  the  point  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Pernambuco,  and 
on  his  return  traversed  the  "  Freshwater  Sea,"  formed  at  its  mouth  by  the 
Amazons  river.  A  few  weeks  later  these  waters  were  again  visited  by  Diego 
Lepe,  and  in  the  same  year,  1500,  a  Portuguese  fleet  of  thirteen  vessels,  under 
Alvarez  Cabral,  reached  the  supposed  island  of  Santa  Cruz,  which  was  in  reality 
the  mainland  of  Brazil,  about  the  southern  part  of  the  present  province  of  Bahia. 
Lastly,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  piloting  another  Portuguese  flotilla,  pushed  still  farther 
southwards,  surveying  the  whole  seaboard  of  Brazil  as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  Cananea 
in  the  south  temperate  zone.  From  this  point  he  appears  to  have  sailed  south- 
eastwards  without  again  sighting  land,  except  a  remote  coastline  about  52°  south 
latitude.  The  Austral  Island  of  New  Georgia  would  seem  to  correspond  best 
with  the  position  indicated  in  the  great  navigator's  report. 

Avast  stretch  of  seaboard  some  6,000  miles  in  extent  had  thus  been  opened  up 
by  the  European  seafarers  since  Columbus  had  penetrated  into  the  "  Dragon's 
Mouth,"  and  surveyed  the  Orenoco  Delta.  lie  had  hoped  to  cover  himself  with 
fresh  glory,  and  to  close  his  career  by  the  discovery  of  a  passage  leading  to  the 
Indies  properly  so  called;  he  had  even  provided  himself  with  an  Arab  interpreter, 
and  when  he  struck  the  Honduras  coast  he  supposed  he  had  reached  Ptolemy's 
Golden  Chersonesus,  that  is,  the  southern  peninsula  of  Indo-China.  He  failed,  how- 
ever, to  turn  its  southern  extremity,  the  isthmus  in  question  forming  continuous 
land  with  the  continental  seaboard.  But  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Chiriqui  Islands, 
where  the  land  is  already  contracted  to  a  very  narrow  width,  he  heard  of  another 
ocean  lying  a  little  farther  south,  and  forthwith  concluded  that  here  he  was  within 
"  ten  days'  voyage  of  the  Ganges."  Nevertheless,  he  vainly  sought  the  looked-for 
outlet,  and  had  to  retrace  his  steps  after  rounding  Cape  San  Bias,  close  to  the  spot 
where  hopes  are  now  entertained  of  excavating  the  channel  which  he  failed  to 
discover.  After  a  futile  attempt  to  found  a  station  to  work  the  gold  mines  on 
the  coast  of  Veragua  he  set  sail  for  Europe,  dying  in  1506,  two  years  after  his 
return. 

Progress  of  Discovery  along  the  Eastern  Seaboard. 

The  exploration  of  the  east  coast  of  North  America  had  begun  before  that  of  the 
southern  continent  had  been  revealed  by  Columbus.  In  1494,  Gaboto,  or  Cabot, 
another  Genoese  navigator,  had  rediscovered  the  shores  already  visited  by  the 
Norsemen.  After  becoming  a  Venetian  citizen,  Cabot,  one  of  the  best  pilots  of 
the  age,  had  removed  witli  his  whole  family  to  Bristol.  Although  his  name  is  not 
actually  mentioned  it  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  expression,  "  the  most  skilful 


VOYAGES  OF  THE  CABOTS. 


15 


mariner  at  that  time  in  all  England,"  who,  in  1480,  sailed  from  Bristol  in  search  of 
the  "  island  of  Brazil,"  and  who  returned,  two  months  later,  to  an  Irish  seaport 
after  having  found  the  island  in  question.  At  least  d'Avezac  thinks  it  probable 
that  the  pilot  so  described  was  Cabot  himself. 

In  1491,  and  again  in  1492  and  1493,  he  made  fresh  expeditions  to  the  western 
seas,  and  at  last,  in  June,  1494,  he  discovered  a  "  Land  first  sighted,"  and  another 
neighbouring  land,  as  is  expressly  indicated  on  a  chart  prepared  fifty  years  later 
by  his  son,  Sebastian  Cabot.  This  "  Prima  Vista  "  was  at  first  supposed  to  be  the 
headland  of  Bona  Vista  on  the  north  side  of  Trinity  Bay,  south-east  coast  of  New- 
foundland.    But,  according  to  Sebastian's  chart,  the  north-east  point  of  the  island  of 


Fig.  i. — Voyages  of  Columbus. 
Scale  1 :  90,000,000. 


West'oP  Greenwich 


1,800  Miles. 


Cape  Breton  was  the  first  land  sighted,  the  navigators  passing  thence  between  the 
present  mainland  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Prince  Edward's  Island.* 

Resinning1  the  "  Newfoundland  navigations  "  in  1497  Cabot  coasted  the  main- 
land  for  about  300  leagues,  planting  en  the  headlands  at  intervals  a  large  cross 
with  the  English  and  Venetian  flags.  Next  year  Sebastian  Cabot  set  sail  alone 
and  followed  the  coast  northwards  to  56°  or  58°  north  latitude,  that  is,  to  North 
Labrador,  thence  returning  southwards  to  the  shores  of  the  present  Virginia, 
perhaps  even  to  those  of  Florida.  Thus,  before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century 
the  North  American  seaboard  was  known  in  its  salient  features  for  a  space  of  over 


*  Halton  and  Harvey,  Newfoundland. 


10  NORTH"   AMERICA. 

1,200  miles.  English  mariners  continued  to  visit  the  same  coastlands,  and 
references  occur  to  voyages  accomplished  by  them  in  the  years  1-501  and  1504.* 

On  their  part  the  Portuguese,  long  in  possession  of  the  Azores  in  the  centre  of 
the  Atlantic,  naturally  sought  to  share  in  the  work  of  discovery  in  this  part  of  the 
New  World.  In  1464  Joao  Vaz  Cortereal,  Governor  of  Terceira,  had  already 
visited  a  Terra  do  Bacalhao,  that  is,  "Land  of  the  Cod,"  either  Iceland  or  New- 
foundland. In  1500  his  son,  Gaspar,  also  set  sail  from  Terceira  towards  the 
northern  waters,  where  he  claimed  to  have  discovered  a  "  Green  Land."  But 
this  very  name,  applied  to  such  an  inhospitable  region  as  the  present  Green- 
laud,  is  sufficient  proof  that  the  old  Norse  navigators  had  not  yet  been  entirely 
forgotten,  and  even  still  served  to  direct  the  later  seafarers  on  their  voyages  of 
discovery.  The  following  year  Gaspar  Cortereal  reached  Newfoundland,  traversed 
its  rich  fishing-grounds,  and  pushed  northwards  along  the  Labrador  coast  till 
arrested  by  the  increasing  numbers  of  icebergs. 

Certain  authorities  have  argued  that  the  Portuguese  navigator  had  endeavoured 
to  penetrate  into  the  northern  channels  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  "North- 
West  Passage  "  round  North  America.  But  this  view  is  far  from  probable,  as  at 
that  time  all  those  coastlands  were  still  described  as  belonging  to  "Tartary." 
These  northern  regions  were  by  the  Portuguese  collectively  named  the  country 
"Dos  Cortercals,"  in  honour  of  Gaspar  and  his  brother  Miguel,  both  of  whom 
perished  in  the  American  waters.  But  to  the  mariners,  who  began  to  be  attracted 
in  large  numbers  by  the  abundant  fisheries,  they  were  more  commonly  known  as 
the  Terra  de  Bacalhaos,  "  Land  of  the  Cod." 

Either  about  that  time,  or  at  some  previous  epoch,  the  Breton  or  Basque 
fishers  gave  its  present  name  to  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  possibly  suggested  by 
the  province  of  Brittany,  but  more  probably  by  the  town,  which  at  that  time 
stood  on  the  mouth  of  the  Adour.  Tradition,  unsupported,  however,  by  any 
extant  documents,  is  unanimous  in  attributing  to  the  famous  Basque  whalers  of 
Saint  Sebastian,  Pasages,  Zarauz,  Ciboure,  Saint-Jean  de  Luz,  and  Cape  Breton, 
the  discovery  of  those  remote  lands  of  the  cod.  The  name  is  even  mentioned  of 
one  Juan  de  Echaide,  a  Navarrese,  who  would  appear  to  have  penetrated  farther 
than  any  other  European  navigator  in  the  north-eastern  waters.  Nevertheless, 
the  Basque  word  bacallcm  ("cod")  is  really  of  Dutch  origin,  already  occurring 
under  the  form  of  Jcaieljau  in  the  language  of  the  northern  seafarers  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  During  the  same  period  the  French  were  also  trading  with 
the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  in  1504  de  Gonneville  reached  the  Bay  of  Santa  Ca- 
tharina,  coasting  thence  northwards  in  the  direction  of  Bahia.  Vessels  from 
Dieppe,  St.  Malo,  and  other  French  seaports  also  frequented  the  same  waters 
about  that  time. 

Thus,  in  this  year  1504,  when  Columbus  left  the  New  World  for  the  last  time, 
the  eastern  seaboard  of  both  continents  was  known  to  a  very  large  extent,  while  the 
West  Indian  waters,  the  first  to  be  discovered,  were  explored  only  in  their  southern 
parts.     For  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  discovery  of  the  Bahamas  by  Colum- 

*  Biddle,  A  Memoir  on  Sebastian. 


n 
z 

p 
o 

h 

Z 


o 


o 
o 


RARY 

SVERSi  I 


PROGRESS  OP  DISCOVERY  IN  THE  ANTILLES. 


17 


bus,  no  Spanish  vessel  had  penetrated  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  except  during  the 
circumnavigation  of  Cuba.  This  neglect  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Spaniards 
were  not  concerned  with  any  systematic  exploration  of  the  shores  of  the  New 
World  so  much  as  with  the  discovery  of  seas  abounding  in  pearls,  or  of  lands  rich 
in  gold  and  slaves.  In  1508  Vicente  Pinzon  skirted  the  Honduras  coast  as  far  as 
Belize,  and  five  years  later  Ponce  de  Leon,  with  his  pilot,  Alaminos,  approaching 
the  Gulf  from  another  direction,  west  of  the  Bahamas,  discovered  the  peninsula  of 
Florida,  which  they  coasted  northwards  to  Saint- Augustine  Bay,  and  again  south- 
wards to  Cape  Florida  and  the  chain  of  the  Cayos  (Keys  or  "Beefs").     The  object 

Fig  6.— Amebican  Seaboard  discovered  during  tub  Lifetime  of  Columbus. 

Scale  1 :  90,000,000. 


C.C.  Christopher  Columbus. 


of  this  expedition  was  no  longer  gold,  but  that  marvellous  "  fountain  of   rejuve- 
nescence," which  restores  strength  and  beauty  to  old  age. 

The  astounding  discoveries  made  during  recent  years  had,  as  it  were,  intoxicated 
the  men  of  that  period,  to  whom  everything  now  seemed  possible,  and  who  began  to 
fancy  that  the  myths  of  their  childhood  had  already  been  half  realized.  Columbus, 
navigating  the  brackish  waters  of  the  Orenoco  estuary,  claimed  to  have  seen  the 
river  that  descends  from  the  "  earthly  Paradise."  In  the  same  way  Ponce  de  Leon 
went  in  quest  of  the  water  that  gives  youth  and  everlasting  health.     But  in  none 


18  NORTH  AMERICA. 

of  the  islands,  not  even  in  Bimini,  said  to  contain  the  sacred  spring  itself,  did  he  find 
aught  but  limestone  or  brackish  waters.  Nor  were  those  expeditions  more  fortunate 
which  were  afterwards  conducted  by  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez,  Fernando  de  Soto,  and 
Moscoso  in  search  of  gold  and  silver  store.  Alvar  Nunez,  however,  one  of 
Narvaez's  followers,  nicknamed  Cabeza  de  Vaca  ("  cow-head  "),  reached  Culiacan 
in  Mexico,  after  a  residence  of  eight  years  amongst  the  savages. 

Discovery  of  the  Pacific. 

The  same  year  that  saw  the  discovery  of  the  coasts  of  Florida  by  the  Spaniards 
witnessed  an  event  of  supreme  importance  in  the  history  of  geography.  Nunez 
de  Balboa,  who,  like  Columbus,  had  long  been  familiar  with  reports  of  the  neigh- 
bouring ocean,  at  last  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and  from  the  brow  of  a  hill 
beheld  at  his  feet  the  Gulf  of  San  Miguel  and  the  boundless  expanse  of  the  Pacific 
waters.  In  an  ecstacy  of  joy  he  rushed  down  to  the  shore,  waded  into  the  water 
up  to  his  middle,  and  armed  with  buckler  and  sword,  took  possession  of  the  great 
sea  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain.  But  two  years  elapsed  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  first  European  settlement  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  near  the  peaiT 
fisheries  of  Panama,  and  in  1517  Espinosa  launched  the  first  vessel  on  its  blue 
waters,  navigating  them  from  the  Isle  of  Pearls  to  Nicoya  Bay.  The  name  of 
"  South  Sea,"  given  by  Balboa  to  the  Pacific,  and  still  current  amongst  seafarers, 
was  due  to  the  position  of  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  running  in  the  direction  from  west 
to  east.  Thus,  for  Balboa,  the  Caribbean  was  the  "  North  Sea,"  while  the  inlets 
discovered  by  him  on  the  opposite  side  belonged  to  the  "  South  Sea."  Protracted 
efforts  were  made  to  find  the  passage  supposed  to  connect  the  two  oceans,  and  in 
1523  Charles  V.  again  instructed  Cortez  diligently  to  search  for  this  channel  which 
had  escaped  the  attention  of  Columbus. 

During  a  slave-hunting  expedition  to  the  coast  of  Honduras  in  1517,  the  slave- 
dealer,  Hernandez  de  Cordova,  discovered  the  north  side  of  Yucatan,  where  he 
came  upon  the  first  civilized  populations  found  in  the  New  World.  Next  year 
Juan  de  Grijalva,  guided  by  Alaminos,  the  best  pilot  of  the  age,  pushed  farther 
to  the  west  and  north,  coasting  the  Mexican  seaboard  as  far  as  the  river  Jatalpa. 
The  fame  of  the  treasures  of  Mexico  was  immediately  spread  throughout  the 
Spanish  Antilles,  attracting  seafarers  and  conquerors  from  all  quarters.  Monte- 
zuma was  soon  replaced  by  Cortez  as  ruler  of  the  empire,  and  the  explorations, 
hitherto  mainly  confined  to  the  coastlands,  began  to  spread  their  network 
throughout  the  interior  of  the  continent.  The  outlines  of  the  Anahuac  plateau 
were  soon  clearly  traced  between  the  regular  curve  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
straight  coastline  of  the  seaboard  watered  by  the  Pacific. 

But  although  the  "  South  Sea"  was  known  and  had  already  been  navigated  by 
Spanish  mariners,  the  passage  leading  from  one  ocean  to  the  other  had  hitherto 
been  sought  for  in  vain.  In  1509  Vicente  Pinzon  and  Diaz  de  Solis  had  pushed 
southwards  to  the  vast  estuary  of  the  Bio  de  la  Plata,  and  perhaps  even  beyond 
that  point.     Six  years  later  Diaz  de  Solis  had  been  commissioned  to  round  the 


VOYAGE  OF  MAGELLAN.  10 

whole  American  continent  as  far  as  the  waters  discovered  by  Balboa ;  but  he  was 
killed  by  the  natives  en  the  banks  of  the  Plate  river  itself,  in  which  he  supposed 
he  had  found  the  looked-for  interoceanic  passage,  and  the  honour  of  the  discovery 
thus  fell  to  Magellan.  Contemporary  geographers  justly  pointed  out  that  the 
South  American  seaboard  gradually  declined  westwards  under  the  Austral  latitudes 
just  as  the  African  is  deflected  eastwards,  thence  arguing  that  the  New  World, 
like  the  old,  terminated  in  a  point,  that  it  also  had  its  "  Cape  of  Good  Hope." 
But  America  penetrates  much  farther  into  the  Austral  Seas  than  Africa.  Hence 
to  reach  its  farthest  point,  and  to  plunge  into  the  maze  of  savage  fjords  indenting 
its  southern  extremity,  needed  the  indomitable  energy  and  almost  superhuman 
will  of  a  Magellan.  The  two  great  navigators  who  gave  to  Spain  the  foremost 
rank  in  the  history  of  discoveries,  were  both  aliens,  one  an  Italian,  the  other  a 
Portuguese,  and  of  the  two  the  latter  accomplished  the  greater  work,  a  work  of 
geographical  exploration  absolutely  unrivalled.  Not  only  did  Magellan  discover 
the  passage  from  sea  to  sea,  but  his  vessel  was  also  the  first  to  circumnavigate  the 
globe.  He  "  lifted  the  earth  from  the  shoulders  of  Atlas  and  set  it  spinning  in 
the  free  ether."— (J.  Gr.  Kohl.) 

Although  Magellan  Strait  was  named  the  "  Spanish  Highway,"  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the " Portuguese  Highway"  around  Africa,  the  Spanish  seafarers  them- 
selves scarcely  made  any  use  of  this  route  between  the  two  oceans.  Nevertheless,  a 
vessel,  detached  by  a  storm  from  Loaysa's  squadron  in  1526,  after  clearing  the 
Strait,  was  driven  back  to  the  American  coast,  and  thus  reached  a  Mexican  port  near 
Tehuantepec.  But  this  vessel,  commanded  by  Guevara,  never  from  first  to  last 
sighted  the  western  seaboard  of  the  southern  continent.  All  the  discoveries  along 
this  seaboard  were  made  by  the  route  across  the  Isthmus.  In  1522  Andagoya  coasted 
southwards  to  the  river  Biru,  a  small  stream  whose  name  does  not  appear  on  the 
charts,  but  which  suddenly  assumed  great  importance  in  the  eyes  of  gold-hunters, 
thanks  to  the  glowing  accounts  of  the  natives  about  the  treasures  of  the  south. 
Two  years  later  was  founded  the  famous  "  Company  of  the  Biru,"  or  "  Peru," 
between  Pizarro,  Almagro,  and  Hernando  de  Luque,  an  association  which 
undoubtedly  resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  vast  treasures,  but  which  also  brought 
about  the  extermination  of  whole  populations,  and  the  thraldom  of  all  those  that 
the  fire  and  sword  had  spared. 

The  limits  of  the  explored  regions  coincided  with  those  of  the  reduced  lands, 
and  the  Spaniards  never  crossed  the  river  Maule  in  the  southern  part  of  Chili. 
Here,  at  the  very  gate  of  the  Araucanian  territory,  Gomez  de  Alvarado,  one  of 
Almagro's  lieutenants,  was  arrested,  and  beyond  this  point  no  explorer  has  yet 
succeeded  in  making  his  way  overland  to  Magellan  Strait.  The  coastlands  have 
been  surveyed  only  from  the  sea,  the  first  time  in  1540  by  Alonzo  de  Camargo, 
who  sailed  from  Seville  through  the  Strait  directly  to  Callao.  In  1579  the  same 
route  was  traversed  in  the  opposite  direction  by  Sarmiento.  But  to  Cook  was 
reserved  the  distinction  of  making  the  first  complete  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe  by  a  course  contrary  to  that  followed  by  his  great  Portuguese  predecessor. 

The  extreme  point  of  the  New  World  south  of  the  Fuegian  Archipelago  may 


20  NORTH  AMERICA. 

possibly  have  been  sighted  in  1526  by  one  of  Loaysa's  companions.  Other 
mariners,  such  as  Drake  and  Sarmiento,  also  verified  the  insular  character  of  the 
lands  skirting  the  south  side  of  the  strait,  and  in  1G16,  nearly  a  century  after  the 
time  of  Magellan,  Cape  Ilorn  was  at  last  doubled  by  the  Dutchmen,  Lemaire  and 
Schouten. 

A  Mexican  port  on  the  North  American  seaboard  had  already  been  chosen  by 
Cortez  as  the  starting  point  for  the  flotillas  of  the  Pacific.  Nevertheless,  the 
exploration  of  the  coast-lands  in  this  region  made  less  progress  than  elsewhere. 
In  1533  Grijalva  sighted  the  Revillagigedo  Islands  and  the  southern  point  of  the 
Californian  peninsula  ;  soon  after  Cortez  and  other  navigators  penetrated  into  the 
Gulf  of  California,  or  "  Vermilion  Sea,"  and  in  1542  Cabrillo  reached  as  far 
north  as  Cape  Mendocino,  beyond  40°  north  latitude.  This  is  usually  supposed 
to  have  been  exceeded  during  the  same  century  by  only  one  other  voyage,  that  of 
Drake,  who  struck  land  some  3°  farther  north,  and  thence  coasted  the  Cali- 
fornian seaboard  in  a  southerly  direction.  But  another  long-doubted  maritime 
exjiedition  appears  to  have  also  taken  place,  although  no  mention  is  made  of  it  in  the 
annals  of  Castile.*  The  details,  in  fact,  given  by  the  navigator  himself  scarcely 
leave  any  room  for  doubt  on  the  subject.  This  seafarer,  the  Greek,  Apostolos 
Valerianos,  who  claimed  to  have  served  on  board  a  Spanish  flotilla  under  the  name 
of  Juan  de  Fuca,  states  that  a  wide  breach  occurs  on  the  seaboard  "  between  47° 
and  48°  north  latitude, "t  where  a  strait,  sheltered  by  a  large  island,  communicates 
with  marine  passages  opening  in  various  directions,  north-west,  north-east,  east, 
and  south-east. 

This  fjord  really  exists,  although  it  is  not,  as  supposed  by  Juan  de  Fuca,  the 
"  Gate  of  Anian,"  affording  a  passage  round  the  north  part  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. By  a  strange  coincidence  this  term  Anian,  perhaps  the  same  that  had  been 
used  by  Marco  Polo  to  indicate  the  Indo-Chinese  kingdom  of  Annam,  had  been 
transferred  by  ignorant  commentators  to  a  marine  passage  supposed  to  skirt  the 
north  side  of  America.  In  the  same  way  Zipangu  came  to  be  applied  at  once 
both  to  Japan  and  Cuba. 

The  North-west  Passage. 

On  a  map  published  in  1542  'by  Sebastian  Munster,  the  legend  "Here  is  the 
route  of  the  Moluccas"  designates  either  a  strait  in  the  north-east  of  America  or 
else  a  river  such  as  might  answer  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  Navigators  have  taken 
three  centuries  and  a  half  to  discover  this  "  North-west  Passage  ;  "  nor  has  anyone 
yet  succeeded  in  completely  circumnavigating  the  double  continent  of  America. 
The  discovery  has,  in  fact,  been  made  piecemeal  by  fragmentary  expeditions. 
Sebastian  Cabot,  who  was  himself  perhaps  preceded  by  the  Cortereals,J  advanced 
in  the  direction  of  the  Arctic  Seas   in  the  hope  of  finding  the    famous   China 

*  Relation  del  Vm/'r  hecho  por  laa  Golelas,  Sutil  ij  Mejicana,  1792. 

t  The  entry  to  the  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  really  lies  some  30  miles  farther  south. 

+  Burney  :     Voyages  ut  the  South  Sea. 


THE  NORTH-WEST  PASSAGE. 


21 


passage.  He  reached  07°  30'  north  latitude,  and  meeting  open  waters  to  the 
north-west,  firmly  helieved  in  the  possibility  of  sailing  right  through  to  China  by 
this  polar  route,  which  woidd  have  been  three  times  shorter  than  that  of  a  Panama 
Strait.  But  he  was  compelled  by  the  faintheartedness  of  his  companion,  Sir 
Thomas  Pert,  to  give  up  the  attempt,  and  it  remains  doubtful  whether  the  route 
followed  was  that  of  Hudson  or  Davis  Strait.      According  to  Piddle  and  the 


Fig.  6.— Paet  of  America  known-  at  the  Close  of  the  Sixteenth  Centum. 

Scale  1  :  120,000,000. 


.1,800  Miles. 


indications  recorded  in  the  chart  of  Ortelius,  the  two  navigators  took  the  Hudson 
passage,  which  was  thus  discovered  long  before  the  voyages  of  Frobisher  and 
Hudson. 

Over  fifty  years  elapsed  before  Sebastian's  track  was  again  followed,  nor  did 
his  successors  at  first  reach  such  high  latitudes.  Estevan  Gomez,  a  deserter  from 
Magellan's  expedition,  appears  to  have  got  no  farther  than  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  the 


22  NOETH  AMEEICA. 

name  of  which,  despite  its  present  English  form,  is  none  the  less  of  Spanish 
origin.  Verrazano,  a  Florentine,  who  visited  the  shores  of  the  New  World  by 
order  of  Francis  I.,  made  no  important  discovery  beyond  the  entrance  to  the 
Hudson,  while  doubt  has  been  thrown  on  the  voyage  said  to  have  been  under- 
taken by  the  Portuguese  Alvarez  to  the  St.  Lawrence  river  in  1521.  Jacques 
Cartier  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to  recognise  in  1535  the  fluvial  character  of 
the  waters  which  prolong  the  estuary  opening  west  of  Newfoundland  and  of  the 
insular  groups  at  its  entrance.  The  great  value  of  Cartier's  expedition  in  the 
history  of  geographical  progress  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  forms  the  starting-point 
of  the  voyages  of  discovery  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  as  far  as  the 
Mississippi  Delta,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  Frozen  Ocean. 

Contemporary  geographers  fancied  there  must  be  some  sort  of  balance  in  the 
form  of  the  various  continental  masses.  As  they  believed  in  the  existence  of  an 
Austral  world  corresponding  in  the  Oceanic  regions  to  the  lands  of  the  Northern 
Hemisphere,  they  also  supposed  that  to  Magellan  Strait,  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  New  World,  there  must  correspond  another  in  the  northern  continent  ;  in 
fact,  that  "  Gate  of  Anian,"  which  Juan  de  Fuca  pretended  to  have  traversed  all 
the  way  to  the  Atlantic.  Nay,  more,  to  them  it  seemed  that  the  attenuated  form 
of  South  America  must  be  reproduced  in  the  north  ;  hence  the  hope  of  discovering 
towards  the  extremity  of  Labrador  a  short  passage  leading  directly  from  ocean  to 
ocean.  English  navigators  claimed  an  almost  exclusive  monopoly  of  exploration 
in  these  northern  waters.  The  "  Portuguese  "  route  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
as  well  as  the  "  Spanish"  by  Magellan  Strait  being  closed  to  them,  they  naturally 
sought  to  strike  out  a  "  British "  highway  in  the  far  north.  In  this  spirit, 
Willoughby  and  Chancellor  attempted  the  "  North-east  "  Passage  with  the  view 
of  reaching  China  by  coasting  round  the  north  of  Russia.  In  the  same  way, 
Frobisher  endeavoured  in  1576  to  force  the  "North-west"  Passage  by  following 
the  course  indicated  by  Sebastian  Cabot.  After  penetrating  far  into  a  channel 
flowing,  as  he  supposed,  between  America  and  Asia,  this  daring  pioneer  returned 
to  announce  the  news  in  England.  But  in  two  subsequent  voyages  he  failed  to 
get  beyond  the  Met  a  Incognita,  or  "  Unknown  Limit,"  that  is,  the  peninsula  of 
Einguait,  by  which  his  western  horizon  had  been  closed  in.  Then  Frobisher  was 
diverted  by  the  quest  of  gold  from  more  speculative  enterprises.  Having 
discovered  certain  black  stones  supposed  to  be  very  rich  in  ores,  but  from  which 
the  chemists  vainly  attempted  to  extract  the  precious  metal,  he  sailed  in  1578 
with  a  fleet  of  fifteen  vessels,  for  the  purpose  of  shipping  cargoes  of  these  useless 
blocks,  and  erecting  forts  to  guard  the  mines  from  foreign  nations.  But  so 
uncertain  was  the  position  of  the  region  discovered  by  him  that  it  was  long  sought 
in  the  eastern  parts  of  Greenland ;  nor  have  modern  metallurgists  yet  succeeded 
in  identifying  those  black  stones  which  gave  rise  to  so  many  costly  expeditions. 

In  1585,  Davis  *  resumed  the  work  of  exploration,  penetrating  far  into  the 
broad   channel   which   stretches   east  of  the  polar  archipelago,  and  which   now 
rightly  bears  his  name.      He  also  discovered  in  the  western  lands  a  winding  fjord, 
*  See  life  of  this  illustrious  navigator  by  Clements  R.  Markham,  1889. 


THE  NORTH-WEST  PASSAGE.  23 

the  ^Northumberland  Inlet,  another  of  those  passages  which  it  was  hoped  might 
communicate  with  the  China  waters ;  hut  after  surveying  this  opening  in  1587,  he 
found  the  Atlantic  here  also  barred  by  impassable  rocks  and  islands.  The  famous 
pilot,  Hudson,  then  in  the  service  of  England,  hoped  to  be  more  successful  in 
1610,  when,  after  coasting  the  whole  of  the  Labrador  peninsula,  he  perceived 
between  two  islands  the  open  sea  stretching  away  to  the  south  and  south-west. 
Under  the  impression  that  this  must  surely  be  the  Pacific,  he  sailed  exultingly 
southwards,  but  his  career  came  to  a  sudden  end  before  he  could  be  undeceived. 
Overpowered  by  his  mutinous  crew,  he  was  placed  with  some  companions  in  a 
small  boat,  and  left,  almost  without  provisions,  to  perish  no  one  knows  where.  In 
death  he  may  at  least  have  had  the  consolation  of  fancying  that  he  had  solved  the 
great  geographical  problem. 

Other  navigators  penetrated  after  him  into  the  inland  sea  which  now  bears  the 
name  of  Hudson  Bay.  But  it  was  soon  found  that  this  vast  basin  was  closed  on 
all  sides,  except  towards  the  north  and  north-east,  and  the  pilot  Baffin  at  last 
announced  in  1616  that  all  hope  must  be  given  up  of  reaching  the  China  seas  by 
this  route,  and  that  the  passage  must  be  sought  farther  north.  Accordingly,  under 
the  orders  of  Bylot,  he  pushed  towards  the  Pole  through  Davis  Strait  to  its  north- 
west prolongation,  the  present  Baffin  Bay,  reaching  as  high  as  77°  30'  north 
latitude  in  Smith  Sound,  which  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  from  that  time 
remained  unvisited  by  any  navigator.  Towards  the  west,  Baffin  observed  two 
broad  openings — Jones  Sound,  obstructed  with  ice,  and  Lancaster  Sound,  into 
which  he  cautiously  penetrated.  On  his  return  to  England,  his  verdict  was, 
"  There  is  no  Nbrth-TTest  Passage." 

This  verdict  was  accepted  as  final,  and  all  farther  research  in  that  direction  was 
almost  entirely  abandoned.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company  also,  which  was  founded 
in  1669,  and  to  which  Charles  II.  granted  vast  privileges,  possessions,  and  exclusive 
trade  rights,  jealously  guarded  its  monopoly  of  that  region.  A  few  London 
merchants  thus  became  masters,  not  only  of  the  coastlands  round  the  land-locked 
basin,  but  of  the  whole  of  Arctic  America,  warding  off  all  rivals  who  might  encroach 
upon  their  trade  in  peltries.  All  exploration  of  the  seaboard  was  forbidden  ;  all  non- 
authorised  discoveries  were  buried  in  secret  archives;  false  reports  on  the  difficulties 
of  the  navigation  were  spread  abroad,  all  with  a  view  of  securing  to  the  directors 
the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their  commercial  privfeges.  To  the  posthumous 
influence  of  the  now  extinct  Company  have  even  been  partly  attributed  the  pre- 
judices which  have  hitherto  prevented  the  settlement  of  the  coastlands  round  the 
southern  shores  of  Hudson  Bay. 

But  while  all  progress  was  suspended  throughout  the  eighteenth  century  in  the 
north-east,  the  north-western  parts  of  the  continent  continued  to  emerge  from  the 
obscurity  from  which  the  great  epoch  of  Spanish  enterprise  had  failed  to  rescue 
them.  The  Russians  now  made  their  appearance  in  this  field,  ushering  in  their 
operations  with  the  all-important  discovery  of  the  strait  separating  the  two  worlds. 
Henceforth  America  could  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  geographical  dependency  of 
China  or  "Tartajy."     In  1725   Bering  rounded  the    extreme  eastern   headland 


21  NORTH  AMERICA. 

of  Asia,  passing  through  the  strait  which  now  bears  his  name ;  he  failed,  how- 
ever, to  descry  the  opposite  or  American  side  of  the  strait,  which  was  seen  from  a 
distance  by  Gvozd'ev  five  years  later.  This  eastern  land  had  already  long  been 
reported  by  the  Chukches  to  the  Russian  Cossacks,  who  called  it  by  anticipation 
Bolshaia  Zeml'a,  or  the  "  Great  Land."  Its  existence  was,  however,  abundantly 
attested  by  the  driftwood,  the  sculptured  blocks,  the  cetaceans  bearing  embedded 
in  their  flesh  harpoons  of  strange  form,  and  the  Cossacks  themselves  had  met 
natives  of  that  remote  region  in  the  Chukche  camping-grounds. 

In  1741  Bering  and  Tchirikov  struck  the  American  coast  near  the  point 
dominated  by  Mount  St.  Elias,  thence  coasting  westwards,  and  so  discovering  the 
southern  part  of  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Archipelago.  After  the  death  of  Bering 
on  the  island  now  known  by  his  name,  other  daring  seafarers,  fishers,  hunters,  and 
traders  continued  the  work  of  exploration  on  the  "  Great  Land."  But  the  real 
form  of  the  coastline  was  first  revealed  in  1778  by  Cook,  who  penetrated  into  the 
Bering  Sea  through  an  opening  in  the  Aleutian  chain,  sailing  from  headland  to 
headland  across  the  strait  properly  so  called,  and  coasting  the  American  side  north- 
eastwards. Here  his  attempt  to  force  the  ice  and  thus  reach  England  by  the  direct 
north-east  passage  was  frustrated  by  a  continuous  mass  of  pack-ice  at  Icy  Cape. 
The  farthest  point  reached  by  Cook  in  these  waters  was  not  exceeded  till  the 
present  century ;  his  immediate  successors,  Laperouse  and  Vancouver,  surveyed 
that  part  only  of  the  seaboard  which  lies  south  of  Alaska. 

No  further  attempt  was  made  till  after  the  wars  of  the  Empire  to  force  the 
polar  ice  in  search  of  the  north-west  passage.  But  now  the  effort  was  renewed  with 
a  far  nobler  rmrpose  than  that  by  which  the  early  explorers  were  animated.  The 
English,  who  had  undertaken  this  mission  as  a  sort  of  national  duty,  no  longer 
aimed  at  collecting  auriferous  shingle,  or  even  at  discovering  some  shorter  trade 
route  between  west  Europe  and  China.  Their  object  was  rather  to  complete  the 
geographic  survey  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  to  observe  all  the  phenomena  of 
polar  life,  to  study  the  populations  scattered  over  those  snowy  or  storm-tossed 
regions — in  general,  to  increase  the  sum  of  human  knowledge.  For  the  purposes  of 
this  great  undertaking,  needing  all  the  highest  qualities  of  courage,  steadfastness, 
and  devotion,  appeal  could  be  made  only  to  the  best  wherever  to  be  found. 
Nevertheless  the  work  was  begun  by  an  act  of  injustice,  the  Government  rejecting 
Scoresby  because  he  had  the  misfortune  not  to  belong  to  the  Royal  Navy,  although 
his  previous  career,  as  well  as  public  opinion,  pointed  to  him  as  the  Arctic 
explorer  in  a  pre-eminent  sense. 

But  despite  this  mistake  the  history  of  the  "  North-West  "  navigations  abun- 
dantly attests  the  rare  skill  and  daring  of  the  men  employed  in  these  missions, 
both  as  seafarers  and  scientific  explorers.  In  volunteering  to  take  part  in  such 
enterprises  they  resigned  themselves  beforehand  either  to  the  slow  corruption  of 
scurvy,  or  to  a  living  tomb  in  some  Arctic  snowstorm,  or  else  to  being  crushed 
between  two  blocks  of  ice.  In  any  case  they  could  not  hope  to  escape  passing 
many  dreary  winters  far  from  their  homes,  without  the  possibility  of  communi- 
cating with  their  friends,  constantly  exposed  to  a  lingering  death  by  cold  and  hunger 


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THE  NORTH- WEST  PASSAGE.  25 

in  some  ice-pent  prison  under  the  impenetrable  gloom  of  an  interminable  Arctic 
nigbt.  Yet  these  men  were  found  iu  thousands,  eager  to  share  in  the  numerous 
polar  expeditions  that  now  followed  in  rapid  succession,  and  the  records  of  those 
expeditions  show  that  with  scarcely  an  exception  those  dauntless  seafarers  stood 
loyally  to  their  post  amid  the  most  formidable  trials.  In  the  history  of  humanity, 
so  full  of  dark  deeds  of  shame  and  outrage,  the  record  of  the  British  explorations 
in  the  polar  regions  of  the  New  World  is  probably  the  brightest  picture  yet  un- 
folded of  human  nature.  The  nineteenth  century  may  proudly  bequeath  this 
example  of  sustained  heroism  to  future  ages. 

In  1818  John  Boss  resumed  the  work  of  research  at  Lancaster  Sound,  at  the 
very  spot  where  it  had  been  abandoned  by  Baffin  two  hundred  years  before.  But, 
like  Baffin,  he  also  concluded  that  this  channel,  as  well  as  all  the  other  inlets  in  the 
same  waters,  was  an  inland  basin  enclosed  by  mountains.  To  his  companion, 
Parry,  fell  the  honour  next  year  of  piercing  the  zone  of  clouds  and  fog  which 
Boss  had  mistaken  for  a  rocky  barrier.  He  thus  penetrated  into  Barrow  Strait 
between  two  of  the  large  islands  which  have  since  been  named  the  Parry  Archi- 
pelago. He  even  traversed  more  than  half  the  distance  separating  the  outlets  of 
the  Frozen  Ocean  ;  but,  being  blocked  by  ice  south  of  Melville  Island,  he  was 
compelled  to  winter  for  nine  months  in  Melville  Sound,  returning  to  England 
the  next  year  after  vainly  casting  about  for  an  open  passage  to  the  west,  and 
without  meeting  the  explorers,  Franklin,  Hood,  and  Bichardson,  who  had  been 
sent  to  his  aid  overland  round  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

In  1821  Parry  renewed  the  attempt  by  another  route,  that  of  the  channels 
opening  to  the  north  of  Hudson  Bay.  Thanks  to  the  reports  of  the  Eskimo, 
illustrated  by  a  chart  prepared  by  a  woman  of  the  local  tribe,  he  was  able  to  utilise 
a  long  winter's  captivity  in  surveying  by  land  the  narrow  Fury  and  Hecla  Strait, 
which  communicates  with  the  labyrinth  of  winding  waters  in  the  Polar  Archi- 
pelago. Lastly,  in  another  expedition,  he  penetrated  into  the  Begent  Inlet,  a 
southern  branch  of  Lancaster  Sound,  thus  preparing  the  way  for  his  old  leader, 
John  Boss,  who  spent  no  less  than  four  winters  in  these  frozen  seas.  Boss 
escaped  through  Lancaster  Sound  in  two  boats,  made  of  a  spar  from  one  of  Parry's 
vessels.  But,  persisting  in  the  idea  that  the  North-West  Passage  had  no  existence, 
he  ventured  to  assert  that  the  peninsula  of  Boothia  Felix  connected  America  with 
the  North  Pole.  He  even  declared  before  a  Committoe  of  Inquiry  that  he  had 
determined  a  difference  of  "  thirteen  feet "  between  the  level  of  the  eastern  and 
western  seas,  a  difference  which  he  had  foreseen  from  the  rotatory  movement  of  the 
earth.  The  honour  of  the  expedition  fell  chiefly  to  the  commander's  nephew, 
James  Clark  Boss,  who  discovered,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Boothia  Felix  Peninsula, 
the  spot  where,  on  July  2nd,  1831,  the  magnetic  needle  pointed  almost  vertically 
to  the  ground,  thus  indicating  the  magnetic  pole  as  at  that  date. 

After  two  land  journeys  across  the  solitudes  of  New  Britain  and   along  the 

Arctic    shores    Franklin  was,  in  his   turn,  entrusted  with  a  marine   expedition, 

sailing  in  1845  for  the  Polar  Archipelago.     He  failed,  however,  to  return  at  the 

expected  time,  two  years  later,  and  the  British  public,  alarmed  for  the  safety  of 

VOL.   xv.  d 


2G  NOETH  AMERICA. 

this  universally  esteemed  navigator,  compelled  the  Government  to  despatch  other 
expeditions  by  land  and  sea  to  his  rescue.  The  American,  Grinnell,  also  equipped 
two  vessels  for  the  same  purpose,  and  in  ten  years  as  many  as  thirty-five  ships, 
manned  by  over  one  thousand  hands,  scoured  all  the  waters  of  the  Archipelago, 
studying  its  fjords  and  channels,  erecting  signals  on  the  headlands,  depositing 
"  caches  "  of  supplies  in  the  most  favourable  places,  promising  rewards  to  the 
Eskimo  for  the  least  scrap  of  information.  The  very  birds,  wolves,  and  foxes  were 
captured  and  again  let  loose,  charged  with  messages  for  those  who  might  happen  to 
ensnare  or  shoot  them.  In  August,  18-50,  no  less  than  ten  research  vessels  were 
assembled  off  Beachy  Island,  at  the  entrance  of  Wellington  Strait,  a  larger  fleet 
than  ever  before  or  since  appeared  in  those  waters.  The  remains  of  the  last 
camping -ground  of  the  Franklin  expedition  were  at  length  discovered  not  far  from 
the  Great  Fish  Lake  on  the  mainland,  and  in  1859  MacClintock  found  a  written 
document  describing  the  series  of  misfortunes  that  had  overtaken  the  ships  and 
their  crews.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  men  all  had  perished  of  disease 
and  hardship. 

During  this  period  of  research  the  problem  of  the  North-West  Passage  had 
been  solved.  In  1850  MacClure,  penetrating  through  Bering  Strait  into  the 
Frozen  Ocean,  coasted  the  American  seaboard  beyond  Icy  Cape,  discovered  by 
Cook.  Then  rounding  Barrow  Point,  which  had  arrested  Beechey  in  1826,  he 
passed  from  headland  to  headland  all  the  way  to  Banks'  Strait,  where  Parry  had 
been  icebound  during  his  first  expedition.  Here  MacClure  was  himself  detained 
for  two  winters  ;  but  he  had  fortunately  crossed  the  frozen  strait  during  the  spring, 
and  had  thus  succeeded  in  bearing  his  dispatches  to  a  station  on  Melville  Island, 
where  Kellett,  arriving  from  the  eastern  channels,  was  blocked  in  his  turn. 
Communications  were  in  this  way  established  between  the  two  oceans,  and  when 
MacClure  was  about  to  send  half  his  crew  southwards  over  the  mainland,  Kellett's 
men  hastened  to  revive  the  failing  spirits  of  the  party,  already  brought  to  death's 
door  by  famine  and  despair.  The  North-West  Passage  had  therefore  been  found 
by  a  "  Magellan  of  the  North,"  as  Franz  Schrader  wrote  in  1874 ;  it  had  been 
proved  possible  to  pass  from  sea  to  sea,  but  by  exposure  to  such  dangers  that  since 
the  time  of  MacClure,  Kellett  and  Collison,  no  other  navigator  has  attempted  to 
follow  this  route.  Thus  was  closed  in  1853  this  chapter  in  the  history  of  geogra- 
phical discovery,  though  doubtless  the  detailed  exploration  of  the  whole  region  will 
again  be  resumed  according  as  stations  and  places  of  refuge  spring  up  along  the 
Arctic  seaboard. 

Expeditions  towards  the  North  Pole. 

With  the  efforts  made  to  force  a  way  through  the  icy  channels  of  the  Polar 
Archipelago  was  naturally  associated  a  desire  to  approach,  or  even  reach,  the  North 
Pole  itself.  During  previous  centuries  mariners  had  already  pointed  in  that 
direction  through  openings  in  the  pack-ice,  and,  according  to  one  legend,  certain 
Dutch  sailors  had  even  reached  the  goal  in  1670.  In  any  case  the  names  are 
recorded  of  several  persons,  whalers  for  the  most  part,  who  passed  beyond   the 


EXPEDITIONS  TO  THE  NORTH  POLE. 


27 


80th  parallel  in  the  Xorth  Atlantic.  Thus  Hudson  would  appear  to  have  reached 
823  before  he  was  arrested  by  the  icy  barrier  ;  in  1775  Phipps  sailed  beyond 
Spitzbergen  and  the  "  Seven  Islands  " ;  Scoresby  pushed  forward  in  1806  at  least 
some  twelve  miles  higher  than  81",  and  this  explorer  frequently  expressed  the 
opinion*  that  he  might  easily  reach  the  Pole  by  sledging,  the  ice  by  which  he  was 
arrested  being  perfectly  continuous  and  so  level  that  if  swept  of  its  snows  it  might 
be  crossed  by  stage-coaches. 

Supporting  himself  on  the  authority  of  these  pioneers  Parry  induced  the  British 
Admiralty  to  entertain  his  project  of  reaching  the  Pole  across  the  pack-ice.     In 


Fig.  7. — The  Xorth-West  Passage. 
Scale  1  :  15,000,000. 


75' 


—^.iiet  /so*     ~— — -:• "-  — _ ■>  *~, — o    ;  /      /  J?^,  Y\ 


,73 


l^fe 


ISO* 


Meridian  or  oreer 


85" 


300  Miles. 


this  way  he  got  as  far  as  8*2°  4-5',  the  highest  record  for  the  following  half  century, 
and  so  far  the  absolute  highest  in  that  region  of  the  Xorth  Atlantic.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  expedition  no  progress  was  made  by  the  efforts  of  the  men  to 
drag  their  boats  over  the  ice,  for  although  they  appeared  to  advance  northwards, 
the  ice  itself  drifted  southwards  with  the  current.  Hence  they  had  to  give  up 
the  attempt  and  to  allow  themselves  to  drift  with  the  ice  back  to  the  starting- 
point.  + 

Hitherto  the  highest  latitude  has  been  gained  not,  as  was  hoped,  by  the  open 
sea  forming  the  northern  prolongation  of  the  Atlantic,  but  by  the  west  side  of 

*  Scoresby,  Account  of  the  Arctic  Regions. 

t  W.  E.  Parrv,  Narrative  of  an  Attempt  to  reach  the  North  Pole. 

D  2 


28    •  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Greenland  through  the  narrow  ice-obstructed  channels  of  the  Polar  Archipelago. 
Following  up  the  explorations  of  the  English  navigators,  Penny  and  Inglefield, 
Kane,  the  American,  was  the  first  to  try  this  route  in  1858.  North  of  Baffin  and 
Melville  Bays  he  penetrated  into  Smith  Sound,  where  he  had  to  force  a  passage 
across  the  hummock  to  reach  other  basins  by  which  this  marine  channel  is  con- 
tinued in  the  direction  of  the  north  and  north-east.  Few  polar  explorers 
encountered  more  tremendous  difficulties,  rugged  icefields,  stormy  waters,  disease, 
extreme  cold,  the  mercury  remaining  frozen  for  four  months  together.  Yet  on 
his  return  from  this  terrible  voyage  Kane  ventured  to  report  north  of  the  strait 
an  easily  navigable  channel,  completely  free  of  ice,  and  beyond  it  the  open 
Polar  Sea.  Such  a  report  could  not  fail  to  stimulate  fresh  efforts  in  the  same 
direction. 

Hayes,  who  had  accompanied  Kane  on  this  memorable  expedition,  again 
plunged  in  1860  into  the  chain  of  straits  and  basins  which  separate  Greenland 
from  the  Polar  Archipelago.  After  surmounting  in  sledges  the  ice  piled  up  north 
of  Smith  Sound  he  approached  some  distance  nearer  to  the  Pole  ;  but  he  no  longer 
found  Kenned}'  Channel  free  of  ice,  as  it  had  been  during  the  previous  voyage. 
Nevertheless,  the  ice  lying  farther  to  the  north  was  less  compact  and  weaker  than 
elsewhere,  and  Hayes  returned  from  his  expedition  still  a  firm  believer  in  the 
hypothesis  of  a  "free  Polar  sea."  Hall,  who  followed  him  in  1871,  and  who 
died  not  far  from  his  highest  record  (82°  16'),  visited  these  supposed  open  waters, 
but  found  that  precisely  here  the  passage  was  most  contracted,  forming  the 
narrow  and  mostly  ice-obstructed  Robeson  Channel.  On  the  return  voyage  his 
vessel,  the  Polaris,  was  even  crushed  between  the  floes ;  but  it  had  already  been 
half  abandoned,  and  it  was  on  this  occasion  that  nineteen  persons,  including  an 
Eskimo  infant  two  months  old,  drifted  on  some  floating  ice  southwards  to  a  point 
where  they  sighted  a  steamer  near  the  Labrador  coast.  The  castaways,  who  were 
furnished  with  some  provisions  and  a  boat,  traversed  over  2,000  miles  during 
the  space  of  six  months,  nearly  half  of  which  was  passed  in  the  gloom  of  the  Polar 
Sea.  Three  years  previously  the  crew  of  the  German  ship,  the  Sanaa,  had  met 
with  a  similar  adventure  on  the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  along  which  they  had 
drifted  for  eight  months  southwards  to  the  station  of  Fredricksdal,  near  Cape  Fare- 
well. The  annals  of  Polar  navigation  record  numerous  occurrences  of  a  like  kind, 
such  as  that  of  MacClintock,  who,  in  1857,  was  carried  in  242  days  a  distance  of 
1,300  miles  in  a  retrogade  direction.  About  the  same  time  a  Greenlander  and  his 
wife,  borne  on  a  block  of  ice  across  the  strait,  were  landed  without  accident  near 
Cape  Mercy  on  Baffin  Land.* 

The  American  explorers,  Kane,  Hayes,  and  Hall  were  followed  in  1875  by  tho 
English  expedition  under  Nares,  which  also  took  the  Smith  Sound  route,  and 
which  at  last  succeeded  in  penetrating  through  Robeson  Channel  into  the  bound- 
less sea  flowing  north  of  Greenland  and  Grinnell  Land.  But  so  far  from  being- 
"  free,"  as  reported  by  the  previous  navigators,  this  sea  appeared  to  be  covered 
with  huge  masses  of  ice  25  to  30  yards  thick,  alternately  fissured  hy  the  billows 

*  Kumlein,  Smithsonian  Miscellaneous  Collections,  vol.  xxiii.,  1882. 


EXPEDITIONS  TO  THE  NORTH  POLE. 


29 


and  again  bound  together  by  the  frost,  and  strewn  with  blocks  upraised  by- 
pressure  and  the  shifting  of  the  centre  of  gravity.  A  sledge  journey  of  some  sixty 
miles  northwards  showed  the  sea  everywhere  bound  by  these  icy  fetters,  while 
away  to  the  north  nothing  was  visible  except  interminable  ice  or  snowfields. 
Accordingly,  the  "  Free  Sea  "  was  renamed  the  "  Paleocrystic,"  that  is,  "  The 


Fig.  8. — Routes  of  Arctic  Navigators. 
Scale  1  :  30,000,000. 


"T 


;5; 


_     ''Viest'oT  ureenwich- 


Parry,  1S21. 


Eansa,  1S6J-70. 


Pack  ice  of  the  Polaris,  1872-3. 
.  600  Miles. 


Sea  of  Permanent  Ice."  It  was  here  that  Markham,  one  of  Kares'  officers, 
reached  83°  20'  26"  north  latitude,  the  highest  Litherto  recorded  by  any  explorer. 
But  in  1882,  this  record  was  beaten  by  the  Americans,  Lockwood  and  Brainard, 
who  pushed  forward  to  83"  24',  or  about  430  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the 
Xorth  Pole.      From  this  point  they  distinctly    descried    Cape    "Washington,  the 


30 


NOBTH  AMEKIUA. 


northernmost  land  yet  discovered  on  the  globe.     It  lies  to  the  north  of  Greenland, 
with  which  it  is  probably  connected  by  intermediate  ice-bound  fjords. 

Next  followed  Greely's  disastrous  expedition,  in  which  two-thirds  of  the  men 
perished  of  hunger  on  the  pack-ice  about  Cape  Sabine,  in  Smith  Sound.  This 
was  the  last  of  the  great  polar  expeditions  undertaken  in  our  days.  Since  then 
the  exploration  of  the  American  Arctic  waters  has  been  left  to  the  Scotch  and 
other  whalers,  who  never  venture  within  the  narrow  straits.  But  the  work  of 
systematic  research  will  certainly  be  continued  until  the  Arctic  regions  are 
thoroughly  known  to  geographers.  Doubtless  the  quest  of  the  precise  point  round 
which  are  described  the  circles  of  latitude  would  seem  a  puerile  undertaking  did 
it  not  also  involve  the  study  of  the  surrounding  lands  and  islands,  the  outlines  of 


Fig.  9. — Paleocrystic  Sea. 
Scale  1  :  7,000,000. 


m 


West  or  breenwich 


,  1,200  Miles. 


seas  and  inlets,  the  tides  and  currents,  the  movements  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
other  phenomena  of  terrestrial  life.  On  the  other  hand,  this  work  itself  will 
be  more  and  more  facilitated  with  the  establishment  of  an  ever- increasing  number 
of  points  of  observation  and  victualling  stations  in  the  higher  latitudes,  and 
according  as  the  physical  conditions  and  resources  of  the  neighbouring  regions 
become  more  fully  known.  The  circumpolar  observatories,  whose  original  plan  is 
mainly  due  to  the  Arctic  explorer,  Weyprecht,  have  already  been  partly  founded 
at  the  cost  of  the  European  nations  and  the  United  States,  and  Greely's  voyage 
was  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  one  in  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  on  the 
very  margin  of  the  Paleocrystic  Sea.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  all  the 
vast  resources  of  modern  industry  have  not  yet  been  placed  at  the  service  of 
northern  explorers,  and  that  it  still  remains  to  be  seen  what  may  be  accomplished 


ARCTIC  EXPLORATION. 


31 


by  aerial  navigation.  About  a  hundred  and  fifty  expeditions  have  been  equipped 
for  the  Arctic  waters  since  the  discovery  of  America,  while  thousands  of  whalers 
have  penetrated  into  the  same  regions.  Other  voyages  must  follow,  and  one 
at  least  is  already  provided  for  through  the  munificence  of  Gustave  Lambert. 

At  present,  to  complete  the  geographical  outlines  of  the  Xew  "World,  nothing 
remains  except  a  survey  of  the  North   Greenland  seaboard  between  the  waters 

Fig.    10. — ClHCCMPOLAK    OBSERVATORIES. 

Scale  1  :  80,000,000. 


1,500  Miles 


visited  by  Lockwood  and  the  extreme  points  of  the  east  coast.  This  space  of 
about  three  hundred  miles  in  a  straight  line  remains,  with  a  few  gaps  of  less 
importance  in  the  Polar  Archipelago,  the  only  blank  that  cartographers  have  still 
to  fill  up.  Apart  from  Greenland  itself,  the  interior  of  both  American  continents 
is  already  known  in  all  their  main  features.  The  gradual  settlement  of  the 
country  by  civilised  white  or  half-caste  populations  has  been  necessarily  followed, 


82  NORTH  AMERICA. 

if  not  by  the  scientific,  at  least  by  the  topographic  exploration  of  the  various 
lands.  Memorable  expeditions  have  also  distinguished  the  periods  when  the 
different  regions  successively  entered  the  sphere  of  human  culture. 

Progress  of  Discovery  in  the  Northern  Continent. 

In  the  Northern  Continent,  the  first  visited  by  Europeans,  the  chief  share 
in  the  work  of  discovery  fell  to  the  French  travellers,  thanks  to  the  dominant 
position  given  to  them  by  the  colonies  situated  about  the  radiating  point  of  the 
great  watercourses,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  tributaries  of 
Hudson  Bay  and  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Champlain,  the  true  founder  of  the  Canadian 
colony  and  first  settler  of  Quebec  in  1608,  penetrated  westwards  to  Lake 
Nipissing,  and  even  navigated  an  inlet  of  Lake  Huron,  which  forms  part  of  that 
"  sea  of  sweet  waters  "  already  figuring  on  the  maps.  The  Catholic  missionaries, 
full  of  zeal  for  the  "  conquest  of  souls,"  and  the  political  constitution  of  states 
directly  subjected  to  their  power,  or  at  least  their  influence,  soon  occupied  the 
most  advanced  stations  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  through  their  "coureurs  des 
bois"  and  Indian  converts  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  land  to  secure  for 
themselves  a  considerable  share  of  its  trade.*  They  themselves  explored  the  sur- 
rounding regions  in  all  directions,  and  in  a  few  years  penetrated  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  continent.  Guided  by  members  of  the  allied  tribes  whose  manner  of  life, 
toils,  and  hardships  they  gladly  shared,  these  intrepid  pioneers  navigated  all  the 
rivers  tributary  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  all  the  lakes  flooding  the  depressions  of  the 
Lawrentian  rocks. 

In  1G40,  Brebent  beheld  the  tremendous  falls  of  the  Niagara  Biver,  and 
traversed  Lake  Erie.  In  1660,  Mesnard,  ascending  the  Outaouais  Biver,  reached 
the  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  crossed  the  Sault  St.  Mary  at  the  issue  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  coasted  the  southern  shores  of  that  lake,  the  largest  freshwater 
basin  on  the  globe.  Allouez,  another  missionary,  pushed  forward  to  the  "  Fond 
du  Lac  "  at  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior,  and  discovered  the  river  St. 
Louis,  main  upper  branch  of  the  whole  fluvial  system  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  He 
also  surveyed  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  penetrated  westwards  to  the 
territory  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  later  traversed  in  its  entire  length  by  Jolliet 
and  Marquette.  By  following  the  course  of  the  Mescousin,  the  present  Wis- 
consin, these  travellers  reached  the  Mississippi  in  1675,  although  still  ignorant  of 
its  course  and  outflow,  despite  Fernando  de  Soto's  expedition  made  over  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  previously.  They  also  determined  the  confluence  first  of  the 
Missouri  and  then  of  the  Ohio,  magnificent  streams  which  at  that  time  bore 
different  names.  Bui  on  approaching  the  river  Akamsa  (Arkansas),  they  no 
longer  doubted  that  the  Mississippi  flowed  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  did  not 
venture  to  proceed  farther  for  fear  of  being  arrested  by  the  Spaniards  as  foreign 
explorers.  However,  the  Spaniards  themselves  advancing  into  the  interior  of 
the  "  Floridas "  in  quest  of  gold,  had  penetrated  to  the  point  visited  by 
*  Francis  Parkman  :   The  Jesuits  in  North  America. 


FRENCH  DISCOVERIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  33 

Marquette,  and  had  thence  drifted  with  the  stream  down  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  thus  took  the  largest  share  in  the  discovery  of  the 
North  American  fluvial  hasins.  But  they  saw  with  reluctance  members  of  other 
religious  orders,  private  traders,  and  even  military  leaders  venturing  to  explore 
a  region  which  they  regarded  as  their  exclusive  domain,  and  the  history  of  the 
seventeenth  century  in  Canada  is  full  of  their  bickerings  with  other  missionaries 
and  travellers.  Thus  by  all  manner  of  Court  intrigues  and  obstacles  of  every 
kind  they  endeavoured  to  exclude  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  from  the  routes  leading  to 
the  Mississippi.  Nevertheless,  the  Norman  traveller,  a  man  of  remarkable 
intelligence,  firmness,  valour,  ready  wit,  and  unflagging  perseverance,  achieved 
his  purpose  in  the  end.  After  three  expeditions  to  the  regions  lying  beyond  the 
lakes,  after  adventures  of  all  kinds,  wars,  alliances,  shipwrecks,  assaults,  retreats, 
and  a  serious  malady  caused  by  poisoning,  he  at  last  embarked  in  the  spring  of 
1682  on  the  "  Father  of  Waters,"  exploring  it  to  the  delta  in  the  course  of  fifty 
days'  navigation.  Two  years  later  he  returned  from  France  with  a  flotilla  to 
ascend  the  river  as  viceroy  of  Louisiana ;  but  the  command  of  the  vessels  had 
been  given  to  a  personal  enemy,  who  betrayed  Cavelier,  landing  him  almost 
without  supplies  on  the  present  coast  of  Texas,  and  himself  continuing  the 
exploration  of  the  Mississippi  mouths.  But  the  indomitable  De  la  Salle,  still 
undertaking  to  continue  his  surveys  by  land,  was  assassinated  by  one  of  his  officers 
a  few  days  after  setting  out  for  the  great  river.* 

The  vast  regions  stretching  west  of  the  Mississippi  towards  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  lacustrine  and  fluvial  plateaux  draining  to  the  Frozen  Ocean,  were  brought 
within  the  domain  of  geographv  mainly  through  those  "  coureurs  des  bois,"  mostly 
independent  traders,  against  whom  the  Canadian  authorities  issue  the  severest 
edicts.  But  they  had  a  boundless  world  before  them,  and  when  hard  pressed  on 
the  frontier  of  the  settlements  they  could  retire  to  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  red- 
skins. "With  these  they  entered  into  the  closest  relations,  marrying  their  daugh- 
ters, but  retaining  the  French  language  and  preserving  their  relations  with  the 
peltry  dealers.  From  sea  to  sea  they  opened  up  the  routes  afterwards  followed  by  the 
European  explorers.  When  the  great  traveller  De  la  Verandrye,  in  1731,  crossed 
the  "  Hauteur  des  Terres  "  north-west  of  Lake  Superior  and  entered  the  region 
draining  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  he  was  escorted  by  th^se  half-castes,  who  pointed 
out  the  watersheds  of  lakes  and  rivers,  the  camping-grounds,  the  forests  abounding 
in  game.  He  surveyed  the  shores  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  banks  of  the  Red  River, 
of  the  Assiniboine,  the  Saskatchewan,  the  upper  Missouri,  and  Yellowstone,  and 
crowned  these  achievements  by  scaling  the  Rocky  Mountains,  returning  to  the 
civilised  world  after  fourteen  years  of  wanderings  and  hunting  expeditions. 

During  the  present  century  these  "  voyageurs,"   whites  or  half-breeds,  have 

still  been  the  guides  in  most  of  the  supplementary    excursions  undertaken   to 

connect  the  various  itineraries  on  the  eastern   and  Pacific  slopes.     Even  during' 

these  land  expeditions  the  delusions  of  the  North-west  Passage  continued  to  fire 

*  Fr.  Parkman  :   The  Discovery  of  the  G-real  West. 


34  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  imagination  of  many  Canadian  traders.  In  the  absence  of  an  open  sea  or  of  a 
chain  of  straits  and  channels  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  hopes  were  enter- 
tained of  discovering  navigable  lakes  and  rivers  forming  a  commercial  highway 
across  the  continent.  Nearly  all  the  charts  of  the  eighteenth  century  represent 
the  American  Arctic  regions  as  intersected  by  a  labyrinth  of  large  rivers  and  inland 
seas  forming  a  continuous  waterway  between  the  two  oceans.  So  late  as  1789 
Meares  endeavoured  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  north-west  passage  between  Hudson 
Bay  and  Bering  Strait  through  the  AVinnipeg,  Athabasca  and  Slave  lakes,  and  by 
a  river  where  occur  the  largest  falls  in  the  known  world. 

Progress  of  Discovery  in  the  Southern  Continent. 

In  South  America  the  exploration  of  the  interior,  which  followed  the  conquest 
of  the  outer  plateaux  and  coastlands,  was  prosecuted,  as  in  the  north,  by  traders  and 
missionaries.  But  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  equatorial  Andes  the  sudden  con- 
trast of  climate  and  soil  between  the  uplands  and  plains,  the  impenetrable  forests, 
the  great  watercourses,  insalubrious  marshlands  and  justly  hostile  populations  long 
retarded  the  progress  of  research  in  the  lower  regions  occupying  the  very  heart  of 
the  South  American  continent.  After  Orellana's  memorable  journey  in  1540  down 
the  Amazons  two  centuries  elapsed  before  any  attempt  was  made  by  other  explorers 
to  connect  their  itineraries  with  his. 

In  the  temperate  zone,  where  obstacles  of  all  kinds  were  much  less  formidable 
travellers  soon  penetrated  far  into  the  interior.  The  "  Paulistas,"  that  is,  the 
Brazilians  of  the  province  of  St.  Paul,  commonly  called  mamelucos,  made  numerous 
excursions  westwards  to  the  Parana  basin  either  for  trading  purposes,  or  more 
frequently  to  procure  slaves.  The  Jesuits  also,  protectors  of  the  natives  against 
the  Paulistas,  but  with  a  view  to  their  own  aggrandisement,  established  themselves 
in  the  midst  of  the  docile  Guarani  populations  of  Paraguay,  here  founding  a  purely 
theocratic  state,  where  the  whole  social  system  was  regulated  to  the  sound  of  the 
church  bells  with  public  prayers  and  religious  ceremonies.  The  territory  of  these 
missions  was  the  chief  scene  of  the  researches  of  the  Spanish  naturalist,  Felix  de 
Azara  at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  About  the  same  time  Alexander  von  Hum- 
boldt and  Amedee  de  Bonpland  obtained  from  the  Spanish  Government  the 
removal  of  the  interdict  imposed  on  all  foreigners  visiting  this  vast  domain.  They 
were  thus  enabled  during  the  years  1799 — 1804  to  accomplish  that  famous  explo- 
ration in  the  equinoctial  regions,  which  was  so  to  say  a  new  discovery  of  the 
Columbian  world,  and  which  gave  such  a  potent  impulse  to  the  spirit  of  research 
and  the  study  of  nature. 

After  them  came  Auguste  de  Saint-Hilaire,  Spix  and  Martius,  d'Orbigny, 
Darwin,  de  Castelnau  and  de  Saint-Cricq,  Markham,  Orton,  Bates,  Muster,  Reiss 
and  Stiibel,  Crevaux,  Thouar,  Chafianjon  and  others  in  hundreds,  who  traversed 
the  land  in  all  directions,  visited  the  sources  of  the  streams  and  determined  the 
exact  disposition  of  (he  mountain  ranges. 

Compared  to  the  work  already  accomplished  little  now  remains  to  be  done  in 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY  IX  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


35 


order  completely  to  determine  the  relief  of  both  Continents  in  their  more  salient 
features.  The  mountains  and  rivers  of  Labrador,  those  of  the  Arctic  seaboard  and 
the  regions  between  the  Mackenzie  basin  and  Sitka  Bay  still  present  a  character 
of  great  vagueness,  which,  however,  will  gradually  be  removed  with  each  successive 
exploring  expedition.  In  Central  America,  despite  the  relatively  small  extent  of 
the  space  confined  between  the  two  oceans,  some  districts,  notably  the  Mosquito 
Coast  and  the  Talamanca  territory  in  Costa  Rica,  still  remain  unsurveyed.  Farther 
south  the  regions  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Orenoco  and  Amazons,  many  parts 
of  Gran  Chaco,  the  interior  of  Guiana  and  towards  the  extremity  of  the  continent 
some  of  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Patagonian  Andes  offer  several  tracts  intersected 


Fig.   11. — American  Isthmuses. 
Scale  1  :  55,000,000. 


Depths. 


'1  fa)    1KI 

Fathoms 


l^j  to  2,000 
Fathoms. 


2,0t>0  Fnthoms  and 
upwards. 


,  1,200  Miles. 


by  but  few  itineraries.  But  on  the  other  hand  many  of  the  settled  regions  have 
already  been  geodetically  surveyed,  while  here  and  there  the  New  World  presents 
specimens  of  topographical  work  fully  comparable  to  that  of  Western  Europe. 


Physical  Features  of  the  Twin  Continents. 

The  New  World  contrasts  with  the  Old  in  the  simplicity  of  its  general  form 
and  the  disposition  of  its  various  parts.  The  binary  arrangement  of  the  continental 
group  is  far  more  precise  than  in  the  four  eastern  continents,  Europe  and  Africa, 
Asia  and  Australia,  which  are  also  disposed  in  twos  from  north  to  south,  but  with 
great  irregularity  in  their  respective  contours  and  dimensions.  Considered 
in  its  relation  to  all   the  dry  land  of  the  globe,  America  constitutes  the  eastern 


36  NORTH  AMERICA. 

and  far  more  regular  section  of  the  semi-circle  sweeping  round  the  Pacific  basin. 
Compared  with  it  the  western  section,  comprising  China,  India  and  Africa,  appears 
disjointed  and  broken,  and  is  moreover  decomposed  into  the  chain  of  lands  running 
from  Indo-China  in  the  dh'ection  of  Australia.  The  axis  of  the  American  division 
also  coincides  with  its  main  ranges  all  the  way  from  Alaska  to  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
whereas  the  irregularity  of  outlines  in  the  Old  World  makes  it  almost  impossible 
to  recognise  its  main  axis,  which  in  fact  is  twofold,  running  north-east  and  south- 
west for  the  water  parting,  east  and  west  for  the  zone  of  culture  and  the  march 
of  civilisation. 

Both  being  of  triangular  form  and  connected  together  by  a  narrow  isthmus  the 
two  divisions  of  the  New  World  seem  at  first  sight  to  present  a  common  limit  of 
a  very  definite  character.  Nevertheless  the  passage  from  one  to  the  other  is  so 
gradual  and  effected  by  so  many  transitions  that  it  is  impossible  anywhere  to  say : 
Here  ends  North,  here  begins  South  America.  As  with  the  divisions  of  the  Old 
World,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  trace  the  natural  frontier  between  the  two  sec- 
tions, so  that  any  parting  line  that  may  bo  chosen  must  be  in  a  great  measure 
purely  conventional. 

From  the  geological  stand-point,  however,  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  might 
be  taken  as  a  natural  parting  line  between  the  two  Americas.  At  this  point  the 
last  slopes  of  the  Anahuac  plateau  merge  in  the  plains,  while  no  prominence  is 
yet  visible  to  indicate  the  rampart  of  the  Guatemaltec  highlands.  East  of  this 
limit  the  land  develops  a  sort  of  fork,  one  branch  of  which,  Yucatan,  is  con- 
tinued seawards  by  the  long  island  of  Cuba  and  the  other  Antilles,  while  the 
second  branch  constitutes  Central  America  properly  so  called,  with  its  successive 
rugosities  and  flooded  depressions. 

But  of  all  the  dividing  lines  the  best  defined  is  that  where  the  isthmus  of 
Darien  is  rooted  in  the  vast  mass  of  the  southern  continent  west  of  the  Atrato 
delta.  Here  the  heights  of  the  isthmus  fall  gradually  without  merging  in  the 
Andine  system,  both  slopes  communicating  through  a  low  sill,  where  the  project 
was  at  one  time  entertained  of  excavating  an  interoceanic  canal.  If  the  structure 
of  the  two  continents  be  studied,  not  as  at  present  limited  by  the  encircling  oceans, 
but  also  in  their  submerged  parts,  North  America  will  be  found  to  project  south- 
eastwards  two  nearly  parallel  sinuous  tongues  of  land  connecting  it  with  the 
southern  continent.  These  two  connecting  links  are  Central  America  and  the 
West  Indies,  which  are  themselves  transversely  united  by  the  island  of  Cuba,  while 
profound  marine  abysses  are  revealed  in  the  two  inland  seas  which  are  enclosed 
on  all  sides  by  continents,  islands,  or  peninsulas. 

Contrasts  and  Analogies  between  North  and  South. 

A  striking  analogy  of  outline  is  presented  by  the  two  Americas,  though  not 
such  as  was  conjectured  by  the  navigators  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  sought  in 
the  extreme  north  a  strait  corresponding  to  that  of  Magellan  in  the  extreme  south. 
Considered  in  their  general  structure  both  continents  affect  a  triangular  form 


ANALOGIES  BETWEEN  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA.  37 

disposed  in  the  same  direction,  their  three  sides  respectively  nearly  parallel,  and 
both  connected  by  two  parallel  ridges — the  isthmus,  properly  so  called,  of  Central 
America  and  the  chain  of  the  Antilles.  The  northern  is  about  one-eighth  larger 
than  the  southern  triangle  ;  but  its  north-eastern  section,  comprising  the  Labrador 
peninsula,  and  nearly  one-half  of  the  Canadian  Dominion,  is  severed  from  the  body 
of  the  continent  by  a  regular  chain  of  lakes  running  for  nearly  2,500  miles  like  a 
partly  obliterated  branch  of  the  sea  between  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Great  Bear 
Lake.  Vast  peninsular  regions  are  thus  cut  off  from  the  trunk  of  the  northern 
continent,  leaving  a  compact  mass  which  presents  a  surprising  resemblance  to  the 
southern  division. 

But,  as  at  present  constituted,  of  the  two  continents  the  northern  is  the  less 
regular,  the  more  diversified  with  gulfs,  inlets,  and  peninsulas.  In  this  respect  it 
offers  the  same  contrast  to  South  America  that  Europe  does  to  the  monotonous 
African  continent.  It  develops  a  coastline  of  some  26,000  miles,  or  about  0,000 
more  than  the  southern  division.  Nevertheless  South  America,  less  broad  though 
nearly  as  long  as  Africa,  offers  a  greater  elegance  of  contours,  while,  thanks  to 
its  general  structure  and  fluvial  systems,  its  central  parts  are  far  more  accessible 
from  the  sea.  Like  the  Xorth  it  enjoys  the  immense  advantage  of  vast  navigable 
wal  ercourses,  such  as  the  Amazons,  Orenoco,  Parana,  Uruguay,  Magdalena,  whereas 
the  African  rivers,  mostly  less  copious,  are  also  obstructed  by  cataracts  at  short 
distances  above  their  estuaries.  A  remarkable  degree  of  svmmetry  has  been 
observed  between  these  two  continental  regions,  which  form  the  southern  termina- 
tions of  the  great  semicircle  of  lands  sweeping  round  the  oceanic  basin  of  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  waters.  The  lofty  Cordilleras  of  South  America  are  disposed 
along  the  west  side,  whereas  in  Africa  the  mountain  ranges  and  highlands  occur 
chiefly  in  the  east.  The  two  isthmuses  of  Panama  and  Suez  connecting  them  with 
the  northern  continents  offer  the  same  symmetrical  arrangement ;  the  chief  South 
American  and  African  rivers  also  flow  to  the  Atlantic  from  opposite  quarters,  while 
the  two  protuberances  formed  by  North  Brazil  and  Senegambia  confront  each 
other  on  either  side  of  the  ocean. 

The  two  triangular  masses  of  America  resemble  each  other  not  only  in  their 
outlines,  but  also  to  a  great  extent  in  their  general  relief,  the  disposition  of  their 
plateaux,  mountain  systems,  plains,  and  rivers.  Thus  the  lofty  ranges  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains  and  the  Andes  both  run  parallel  with  the  western  seaboard,  both 
are  decomposed  in  several  places,  breaking  into  two  or  three  parallel  or  divergent 
ridges  encircling  elevated  plateaux ;  both  are  pierced  by  volcanic  apertures  either 
quiescent  or  still  active,  while  their  sedimentary  rocks  are  covered  with  vast 
expanses  of  lavas,  tufas,  or  scorice.  In  each  division  the  triangular  form  is  deter- 
mined by  the  main  axis  of  the  west  and  a  secondary  orographic  system  occupying 
a  part  of  the  east  side  in  the  Appalachian  range  in  the  north,  the  Terra  de  Mar  and 
Brazilian  chains  in  the  south.  In  both  cases  the  eastern  systems  run  parallel  with 
the  coast,  but  are  far  less  elevated  than  the  western,  from  which  they  are  separated 
by  vast  fluvial  basins.  Hence  the  very  centre  of  both  continents,  where  we  should 
expect  to  find  the   loftiest   uplands,  is   occupied  by  depressions,    in   which  are 


38  NORTH  AMERICA. 

gathered  the  continental  waters,  and  these  waters  flow  for  the  most  part  either  to 
the  Atlantic  or  to  the  lateral  seas.  Thus  it  happens  that  the  headstreams  of  the 
Mississippi  are  separated  by  no  prominent  divides  from  those  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  Eed  River  of  the  North,  and  the  same  absence  of  relief  is  presented  in  the 
South  by  the  Orenoco,  Amazons,  and  Parana  systems. 

The  lacustrine  region  occupying  the  central  part  of  North  America  was  at  one 
time  undoubtedly  far  more  extensive  than  at  present.  The  Michigan  peninsula 
was  itself  a  large  island,  and  the  outflow  oscillated  from  epoch  to  epoch  between 
the  Hudson,  Mississippi,  and  St.  Lawrence  valleys.  Numerous  species  of  the 
Canadian  lacustrine  fauna  present  a  pelagic  character,  and  several  lakes,  such  as 
Champlain  and  the  Six  Nations  in  New  York  State,  present  all  the  appearance  of 
ancient  fjords  gradually  cut  off  from  the  sea.*  Some  of  the  North  American 
rivers  also  seem  to  have  formerly  been  the  deep  channels  of  glaciers  grinding  their 
way  slowly  seawards.  Such  is  the  Saguenay,  with  its  stupendous  gorges  scooped 
out  to  depths  of  600  or  700  feet.  Such  is  the  St.  Lawrence  itself,  which  now 
gives  access  to  the  largest  vessels  for  over  600  miles  into  the  interior  of  the 
continent. 

It  should  also  be  noticed  that  those  parts  of  North  America  which  have  already 
shaken  off  their  icy  fetters  are  still  in  the  lacustrine  period  that  followed  the 
glacial  epoch.  The  lakes  themselves  have  considerably  diminished  in  size,  but  in 
several  places  their  eccentric  labyrinthine  windings  still  occupy  the  greater  part  of 
the  land.  The  streams  have  not  yet  regulated  their  course,  as  have  those  of  the 
temperate  zone  in  both  hemispheres,  but,  like  the  Scandinavian  and  Finland 
rivers,  still  constitute  irregular  chains  of  lakes,  connected  together  by  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  rapids,  falls,  cataracts,  "  cauldrons,"  in  every  stage  of  develop- 
ment. In  this  respect  Canada  is  the  most  remarkable  region  in  the  whole  world. 
Even  its  great  watercourses,  still  young  in  a  geological  sense,  are  interrupted  by 
obstacles  of  a  most  formidable  character,  and  some  of  these  have  been  the  scene  of 
the  most  memorable  conflicts  between  rival  populations.  Thus  the  possession  of 
the  Niagara  and  Ottawa  rivers  has  been  contended  for  to  the  bitter  end,  while 
colonisation  was  arrested  for  long  years  by  the  Saut  du  Carillon  and  other  fluvial 
rapids  held  by  the  Iroquois  confederacy. 

Geology  of  the  New  "World. 

Before  the  geology  of  America  was  properly  understood  the  opinion  was  often 
expressed  that  the  "  New  "  World  was  in  its  formation  also  more  recent  than  the 
Old.  Now  we  know  on  the  contrary  that  in  its  present  form  North  America  is 
apparently  the  oldest  of  all  the  continental  masses.  Towards  the  close  of  the  chalk 
age  it  had  already  assumed  very  nearly  the  same  outlines  that  it  now  presents.f 
All  the  north-eastern  parts  east  of  the  great  lacustrine  chain,  together  with  the  polar 
archipelagoes,  consist  of  crystalline  formations,  or  else  of  azoic  or  paleozoic  sedi- 

*  Peschel,  Ullrich. 

f  Em.  de  Margerie,  Annuairc  Ocohgique,  1888. 


GEOLOGY  OF  AMERICA. 


39 


inentary  rocks  of  extreme  antiquity.  The  outer  escarpment  of  the  mountains  skirting 
Labrador  and  stretching  away  to  the  north  and  north-west  is  composed  mainly 
of  gneiss  and  other  archaic  rocks,  which  fall  abruptly  seawards,  while  the  opposite 
slojie  inclines  gently  towards  the  interior.  Westwards  extends  a  vast  plateau  of 
pre- Silurian  formation  to  which,  from  its  bulging  form,  Suess  has  given  the  name 
of  the  "  Canadian  buckler."  By  erosion  it  has  been  almost  entirely  denuded  of 
its  upper  paleozoic  strata,  and  the  whole  of  Hudson  Bay  has  been  excavated  to  a 
slight  depth  on  the  surface  of  its  eastern  section. 

No  other  regions  occur  in  the  New  "World  whose  form  and  relief  have  been 


Fig.  12. — Ckntbal  Waterpartixg  of  North  America. 
Scale  1  :  2,000,000. 


.  180  Miles. 


maintained  for  such  vast  spaces  throughout  the  series  of  geological  ages.  Compared 
with  the  Canadian  plateau  the  oldest  parts  of  South  America  are  of  recent  origin. 
Great  charges  have  undoubtedly  taken  place  along  the  outer  borders  of  the  con- 
tinental mass,  and  notably  in  the  isthmuses  and  chains  of  islands  connecting  the 
two  continents.  Although  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  study  directly  the  surface  of 
the  now  submerged  lands,  their  primitive  continuity  is,  in  many  places,  revealed 
by  the  natural  history  of  the  insular  groups.  Thus  the  distribution  of  the  various 
species  of  mollusks  throughout  the  West  Indies  makes  it  evident  that  Central 
America  and  Mexico  were  formerly  connected  with  the  Bahamas  through  the  large 


40  NORTH  AMERICA. 

islands  of  Cuba  and  Haiti.  On  the  other  hand  the  southern  insular  chains  at  one 
time  belonged  partly  to  the  mainland  of  Venezuela,  partly  to  that  of  Guiana.* 
In  the  same  way  the  diversity  of  the  faunas  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean  shows  that  for  long  ages  the  two  divisions  of  the  New  World  have  formed 
continuous  land.  Of  1,500  species  of  marine  shells  belonging  to  the  Caribbean 
waters,  less  than  50  reappear  on  the  other  side  of  the  narrow  isthmus  of  Panama, 
where,  according  to  Adams,  the  classified  mollusks  already  number  1,350  species. 
From  this  it  is  inferred  that  at  least  since  the  close  of  the  miocene  epoch  there 
has  been  no  communication  between  the  two  oceans,  even  if  the  separating  line 
does  not  date  back  to  far  more  remote  ages. 

Volcanic  Systems. 

Viewed  as  a  whole  the  New  World  presents  a  remarkable  contrast  between  its 
western  and  eastern  seaboards,  the  former  bristling  with  igneous  cones,  the  latter 
long  quiescent  (except  in  the  Antilles)  and  slowly  eroded  by  the  sea.  Neverthe- 
less, the  burning  mountains  are  irregularly  distributed  along  the  west  coast,  and 
the  chain  is  in  many  places  broken  by  wide  gaps.  A  first  curvilinear  range,  fully 
as  symmetrical  as  that  of  the  Ku riles  and  Kamchatka  on  the  Asiatic  side,  sweeps 
through  the  Aleutian  archipelago,  and  is  continued  by  other  cones  on  the  Alaskan 
mainland.  Then  follow  southwards  along  the  west  coast  huge  mountains  of  lava 
still  emitting  vapours,  although  their  cirques  and  craters  are  already  filled  with 
glaciers.  Such,  for  instance,  is  Mount  Wrangel,  north-west  of  Mount  St.  Elias. 
North  of  the  Columbia  river  rises  a  third  volcanic  group  not  yet  entirely  at  rest, 
but  almost  extinct  when  compared  with  the  formidable  craters  which  formerly 
discharged  mighty  lava  streams  in  these  regions. 

South  of  British  Columbia  and  along  the  shores  of  California  the  few  still 
smoking  cones  are  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  great  volcanic  fissure  sur- 
mounted by  active  craters  which  traverses  Mexico  from  ocean  to  ocean.  The  region 
of  isthmuses  from  Guatemala  to  Costa  Rica  is  also  intersected  by  an  igneous  chain 
indicating  a  subterranean  zone  in  a  state  of  j^ermanent  combustion.  South  America 
abounds  even  more  than  the  north  in  centres  of  plutonic  action,  presenting  in 
Columbia,  the  Bolivian  plateau,  and  Chili  three  chief  regions  of  fiery  eruptions 
and  underground  disturbances.  Lastly,  in  some  of  the  lesser  Antilles  a  few  active 
cones  rise  between  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  inner  basin  of  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

Judging  from  the  frequence  and  violence  of  the  explosions  the  volcanoes  of 
the  isthmian  region  would  appear  to  correspond  with  those  of  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  The  distance  between  these  two  centres  of 
disturbance  comprises  exactly  one-half  of  the  terrestrial  circumference,  and  the 
two  igneous  chains  of  Costa  Rica  and  Java  are  about  equidistant  from  the  equi- 
noctial line,  the  former  to  the  north,  the  latter  to  the  south  of  that  line.  The  planet 
would  thus  seem  to  have  two  fiery  poles,  each  coinciding  with  a  region  of  transi- 
tion between  two  continental  masses. 

*  Belt,  A  Naturalist  in  Nicaragua. 


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LIBR 


CONTRASTS  OF  NOKTH  AXD  SOUTH  AMERICA.  41 

Disposition-  of  the  Zones  of  Temperature. 

As  in  the  Old  World,  in  the  New  also,  the  greater  part  of  the  dry  land  lies  in 
the  northern  hemisphere,  as  if  it  had  been  drawn  northwards  by  some  attractive 
force  emanating  from  the  Arctic  Pole.  The  equator  passes  far  to  the  south  of  the 
connecting  islands  and  isthmuses  just  above  the  Amazons  river,  which  has  often 
been  designated  as  the  "movable  equator."  To  the  north  is  thus  left  nearly 
eleven,  to  the  south  less  than  six  million  square  miles.  The  consequence  is  that 
the  temperate  zone,  the  most  favourable  for  the  development  of  human  culture, 
occupies  in  North  America  the  broader  part  of  the  land,  while  in  the  south  it  is 
confined  to  the  relatively  narrower  spaces  tapering  southwards  to  Cape  Horn. 
But  in  other  respects  the  land  is  less  favourably  distributed  in  the  north  than  in 
the  south.  The  vast  extent  of  the  Arctic  regions  renders  a  great  part  of  North 
America  almost  uninhabitable,  whereas  the  narrow  southern  extremity  is  the  only 
inhospitable  tract  in  South  America.  Formerly  the  two  limits  of  European  coloni- 
sation were  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  north  aud  those  of  the  Plate 
river  in  the  south.  At  present  the  latter  limit  has  been  left  far  behind,  whereas 
the  "  Hauteur  des  Terres  "  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Labrador  has  not  yet 
been  crossed.  Both  extremities  of  the  New  World  are  carved  into  fjords,  but  in  the 
Austral  division  these  formations  occur  only  to  the  south  of  Chili,  while  in  North 
America  they  begin  on  the  west  side  with  the  St.  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait,  and  on  the 
east  with  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary. 

The  tropical  zone  intermediate  between  the  two  temperate  zones  includes  but 
a  small  part  of  North  America  properly  so-called,  but  it  comprises  all  Central 
America,  the  West  Indies,  and  over  one-half  of  the  southern  continent.  This 
area  of  excessive  heats  and,  in  the  wet  regions,  of  rank  vegetation,  is  naturally 
far  less  favourable  to  human  progress  than  the  lands  enjoying  a  more  temperate 
climate.  Nevertheless,  the  torrid  regions  of  the  New  World  are  indebted  mainly 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  sea  for  a  special  climate  milder  and  more  equable  than 
that  of  the  African  and  Asiatic  countries  lying  under  the  same  latitude.  Thus  the 
islands  and  isthmuses  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  are  distinguished  by  an  essentially 
maritime  temperature. 

A  considerable  section  of  equatorial  America  consists  also  of  uplands,  plateaux, 
and  highlands,  where  again  the  great  elevations  with  their  cooler  atmosphere 
compensate  for  the  normal  climatic  conditions  on  the  lowland  plains.  Thanks  to 
their  altitude  many  regions  of  the  tropical  zone  are  thus  brought  within  the 
temperate  sphere.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  Mexican  tableland,  whose  normal 
temperature  at  sea-level  would  be  as  high  as  82°  or  83°  Fahr.  But  the  moist  and 
hot  lower  regions  remain  everywhere  unfavourable  to  human  advancement.  Thus 
the  magnificent  Amazons  river,  the  most  copious  on  the  globe,  flows  for  the  most 
part,  through  solitudes,  although  the  plains  comprised  within  its  basin  might 
amply  suffice  for  the  sustenance  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  planet. 


VOL.  xv. 


42 


NOKTH  AMERICA. 


Climate — Marine  Currents. 

Compared  with  that  of  the  Old  "World,  and  especially  of  Europe,  the  American 
climate  is  characterised  chiefly  by  its  lower  mean  temperature.  Under  corresponding 
latitudes  it  is  colder,  at  least  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  the  difference  in  certain 
places  being  as  much  as  fourteen  degrees.  While  the  thermal  equator  of  Africa 
and  Arabia  exceeds  86°  or  88°  Fabr,  it  falls  below  80°  in  the  hottest  parts  of  the 

Fig.  13. — ISOTHERMALS   OF  NoHTH   AMERICA. 
Scale  1  :  80.000,000. 


1,200  Miles. 


New  World.  But  this  discrepancy  between  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  docs  not 
prevail  uniformly  throughout  the  year,  and,  in  fact,  is  far  less  perceptible  in 
summer  than  in  winter.  In  the  month  of  July  the  heat  is  as  intense  in  the  United 
States  as  under  the  same  latitudes  east  of  the  Atlantic,  but  in  January  the  glass 
falls  as  low  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  as  on  the  Norwegian  seaboard.  Snow 
lies  for  months  together  on  the  ground  at  St.  Louis  and  Washington  under  the 
same  parallel  as  Lisbon,  Messina,  and  Smyrna,  places  where  snow  is  never  seen 


CLIMATE  OF  AMERICA.  43 

except  on  the  tops  of  the  neighbouring  heights.  To  meet  the  winter  climate  of 
New  York  on  the  European  seaboard  the  observer  must  ascend  some  twenty  degrees 
nearer  to  the  North  Pole. 

This  remarkable  contrast  is  due  to  atmospheric  and  marine  influences,  which 
have  now  been  carefully  studied.  In  West  Europe  the  prevailing  winds  blow 
from  the  south-west,  that  is,  from  the  tropical  regions  of  America,  and  the  marine 
currents  set  in  the  same  direction.  From  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  equatorial  waters  they 
flow  north-eastwards  without  appreciably  affecting  the  climate  of  North  America  ; 
they  act  only  on  the  West  European  seaboard  as  far  as  Scandinavia  and  even  Spitz- 
bergen,  while  the  coast  of  North  America  is  washed  by  a  cold  current  from  the  polar 
regions.  Nevertheless,  the  course  of  these  marine  streams  is  far  from  being 
constant,  nor  can  their  progress  be  calculated,  as  Maury  supposed,  like  that  of  a 
projectile  discharged  from  the  cannon's  mouth.  They  are  often  displaced,  re- 
tarded, or  accelerated,  are  complicated  by  backwaters  or  counter-currents,  undergo 
the  thousand  influences  of  climate,  and  in  their  turn  react  on  the  alternation  of  the 
seasons. 

The  hydrographic  researches  conducted  especially  under  the  direction  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Navigation  have  shown  that  even  the  Gulf  Stream,  one  of 
the  chief  factors  in  determining  the  climate  of  West  Europe,  is  far  from  being  so 
uniform,  at  least  on  the  surface,  as  was  at  one  time  supposed.  In  many  places 
under  the  shifting  surface  currents,  the  deeper  waters  have  been  observed  to  move 
along  in  a  regular  channel.  Numerous  spars  and  even  abandoned  vessels 
describe  sinuous  tracks,  at  times  even  returning  to  their  first  course  under  the 
influence  of  counter-currents.  Hulks  have  thus  drifted  from  Bermuda  towards 
Florida  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  main  stream,  which  sets  from  America 
towards  Europe.  About  the  end  of  1887,  an  accident  revealed  the  general 
direction  of  the  oceanic  current  west  of  Long  Island  at  that  time,  when  the  whole 
body  of  water  was  found  to  be  moving  almost  due  west  and  east  under  the 
latitudes  of  New  York,  the  Azores,  and  Lisbon.  A  gigantic  raft,  consisting  of 
27,000  trimks  of  trees,  200  yards  long,  and  weighing  11,000  tons,  was  broken  up 
and  sent  adrift  during  a  fierce  gale,  and  the  observations  taken  showed  that  over 
500  of  the  fragments  had  spread  out  in  the  form  of  a  fan  in  the  direction  of 
the  Azores.  In  225  days  the  flotsam  had  drifted  some  3,500  miles,  spreading 
north  and  south,  under  the  meridian  of  Flores,  about  eleven  degrees  of  latitude 
between  the  34th  and  45th  parallels. 

Other  currents  skirting  the  American  seaboard  produce  effects  analogous  to 
those  of  the  Gulf  Stream  and  polar  current,  diversely  modifying  the  continental 
climate  according  to  the  windings  and  varying  velocity  of  their  course.  Thus  the 
Kuro-sivo,  or  "  Black  Stream,"  which  corresponds  in  the  Pacific  to  the  Gulf 
Stream  of  the  Atlantic,  determines  on  the  west  coast  of  North  America  climatic 
phenomena  similar  to  those  of  Western  Europe.  Its  tepid  waters  setting  from 
Japan  eastwards,  strike  the  seaboard  south  of  Alaska,  and  thence  sweep  south- 
wards along  the  shores  of  Oregon  and  California.  But  as  it  advances  from  colder 
to  warmer  seas,  it  mingles  its  waters  with  those  coming  from  the  Arctic  regions, 

e  2 


44 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


and  is  thus  gradually  changed  to  a  cold  current.  On  the  tropical  coasts,  it  cools 
the  atmosphere,  and  tempers  the  torrid  heats.  The  Kuro-sivo,  however,  is  even 
less  uniform  than  the  Gulf  Stream.  It  is  not  originally  developed  in  a  well- 
defined  basin,  such  as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  nor  does  it  assume  near  its  source  the 
aspect  of  a  river  flowing  between  solid  banks.  It  sets  sluggishly  across  the  Pacific, 
moving  at  a  slower  rate  than  the  corresponding  current  in  the  North  Atlantic. 

Like  those  of  North  America,  the  east  and  west  seaboards  of  South  America 
are  also  exposed  to  the  influence  acting  in  different  ways  on  the  climate.  Thus 
the  west  side  is  washed  by  an  Antarctic  current,  whose  cold  waters  temper  the 
heats  of  the  coastlands  as  far  as  the  Equator.  On  the  other  hand,  the  east  coast 
receives  into  its  gulfs  the  tepid  waters  brought  by  a  branch  of  the  great 
equatorial  current,  which,  after  crossing  the  Atlantic  from  east  to  west,  ramifies 
at  Cape  St.  Roque  into  two  secondary  branches,  one  penetrating  north-westwards 
into  the  Caribbean  Sea,  the  other  setting  southwards  to  the  La  Plata  estuary. 

Yicf,  14. — Apparent  Anomalies  in  the  Surface  Current  op  the  Gulf  Stream. 


The  full  lines  indicate  the  course  followed  by  flotsam. 

The  dotted  lines  indicate  the  course  followed  by  the  fragments  of  the  great  raft. 

The  capitals  indicate  the  starting-point,  the  small  letters  the  terminal  point  of  flotsam. 


Thus,  of  the  four  chief  currents  affecting  the  American  climate,  two  raise  and 
two  lower  the  temperature  of  the  seaboards.  But  these  effects  are  produced,  so  to 
say,  in  diagonal  fashion,  the  east  side  of  North,  and  the  west  side  of  South 
America  receiving  cold  streams,  while  the  west  side  of  the  former  and  the  east 
side  of  the  latter  are  washed  by  tepid  waters. 

Thanks  to  the  triangular  form  of  its  two  main  divisions,  no  part  of  the  New 
"World  lies  at  any  great  distance  from  the  surrounding  oceans,  so  that  a  certain 
degree  of  moisture  is  brought  by  all  winds  to  the  interior.  Hence  the  only 
absolutely  rainless  tracts  are  those  where  the  rain-bearing  clouds  are  intersected 
by  lofty  ranges,  and  compelled  to  precipitate  their  contents  before  proceeding 
farther.  On  the  whole,  the  rainfall  is  heavier  in  the  New  than  in  the  Old  World, 
as  shown  by  the  prodigious  volume  of  waters  discharged  by  the  American  rivers. 


LI8R/ 


CLIMATE   OF  AMERICA. 


45 


Of  these  the  Amazons  is  the  largest  in  the  world ;  hut  others  also,  such  as  the 
St.  Lawrence,  Mississippi,  Orenoco,  and  Parana,  have  few  superiors  or  even 
rivals  amongst  the  watercourses  of  the  opposite  hemisphere.  Doubtless  no  such 
tremendous  downpours  have  yet  been  recorded  in  any  part  of  America  as  those 
which  fall  on  the  Tcherraponjie  Hills  in  the  Brahmaputra  basin.  But  the 
enormous  discharge  of  the  Atrato  into  the  Gulf  of  Uraba,  at  the  north-west  angle 
of  South  America,  makes  it  far  from  improbable  that  here  the  annual  rainfall  is 
fully  equal  to  that  measured  in  Gangetic  India.     In  an  equal  area  the  Atrato 


Fig.  15. — Chief  Curbejjts  of  the  Ahekicax  Seas. 
Scale  1  :  175,000,000. 


:."■ 


!•::■ 


Meridtan  or  o^eenwich 


0* 


,  3,000  Miles. 


sends  down  a  volume   of   water  twenty-three   times    greater  than  that  of  the 
Seine. 

Dry  tracts  with  poor  or  arid  soil  occupy  a  great  part  of  the  North  American 
plains  and  plateaux  stretching  west  of  the  Mississippi.  But  deserts,  properly  so 
called,  occur  only  about  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  along  the  Chilian  and  Peruvian 
coasts,  on  the  outer  terraces  of  the  Andes,  sheltered  from  the  rains  by  the  lofty 
rampart  of  the  Cordilleras  rising  to  the  east.  But  how  insignificant  are  these 
uninhabitable  districts  compared  with  the  vast  chain  of  sandy  spaces  occupying  the 
greater  part  of  a  diagonal  zone  which  extends  in  the  Old  "World  from  Adrar  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  Africa  all  the  way  to  Chinese  Manchuria. 


4G 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Flora  and  Fauna. 

From  the  disposition  of  the  twin  continents  stretching  north  and  south  across 
every  climatic  zone  it  might  already  be  inferred  that  their  flora  must  be  relatively 
more  diversified  than  that  of  the  Old  World.  In  fact,  notwithstanding  its  much 
smaller  extent,  America  comprises  nearly  as  many  vegetable  zones  clearly  marked 
by  the  presence  of  characteristic  genera  and  species.  From  the  frozen  islands  of 
the  north  to  its  austral  extremity  it  presents  every  variety  of  vegetation,  passing 
from  the  lowly  mosses  and  lichens,  the  miniature  forests  of  dwarf  birch  and  willow 
of  the  arctic  lands  to  larger  growths  gradually  increasing  in  size  in  Canada  and 

Pig.  16. — Limits  or  Forest  Vegetation  in  Nokth  Ameeica. 
Scale  1  :  75.000.000. 


1.  Limit  of  ubies  alba. 

2.  „      larch. 

3.  „      aspen. 


4.  Limit  of  cedar  (thuya.) 

5.  „      black  ash. 

6.  ,,      white  elm. 


7.  Limit  of  sugar  map'e. 

8.  „      redoak. 

9.  ■  ,,      dwarf  willow. 


.  1,800  Miles. 


the  United  States.  Here  trees  of  deciduous  foliage  prevail  in  the  south  and  east, 
replaced  chiefly  by  the  conifer  family  in  the  western  regions  of  British  Columbia, 
Oregon,  and  California.  Some  of  these,  such  as  the  sequoia,  acquire  gigantic 
proportions,  rivalling  in  girth  and  height  the  Australian  eucalyptus. 

Under  the  same  latitudes  stretch  the  less  abundantly  watered  prairies,  boundless 
grass}'  plains  now  largely  brought  under  tillage,  and  elsewhere  followed  by  arid 
plateaux  with  growths  of  saline  plants  like  those  of  the  se'ashore.  In  Mexico  and 
Central  America  the  vegetable  zones  assume  a  vertical  disposition,  rising  from  the 
"  hot  lands  "  of  the  periphery  to  the  "  cold  lands  "  of  the  interior.  The  Antilles 
also,  as  well  as  the  southern  mainland  and  the  Andes,  have  each  their  special  floras. 
The  Amazons  basin   is  almost  entirely  occupied  with  dense  woodlands  almost 


FAUNA  OF  AMERICA.  47 

impenetrable  except  by  tbe  natural  routes  of  the  river-beds.  No  other  region  of 
the  globe  is  clothed  with  such  vast  tracts  of  verdure,  and  this  is  the  home  of 
arboreal  vegetation  in  a  pre-eminent  sense,  specially  named  "Hylrca"  by  botanists. 
In  the  more  southern  temperate  zone  the  araucarias  of  the  plateaux  are  succeeded 
by  the  grassy  pampas  corresponding  to  the  North  American  prairies.  Patagonia 
again  has  its  peculiar  flora,  as  has  also  Tierra  del  Fuego,  with  its  stunted  beeches, 
its  trailing  shrubs  and  lichens. 

Like  its  flora,  the  American  fauna  is  highly  diversified,  thus  corresponding  to 
the  endlessly  varied  conditions  of  soil  and  climate.  Birds,  fishes,  amphibians, 
reptiles,  insects  of  all  kinds  are  represented  in  prodigious  multitudes.  The  mam- 
mals also  are  numerous,  although  the  large  species  characteristic  of  Asia  and  Africa 
have  no  analogous  forms  in  America.  The  naturalists  of  the  eighteenth  century 
had  already  remarked  that  in  this  narrower  world  the  animals  are  of  smaller  size. 
Yet  America  had  its  mastodon  in  a  recent  geological  epoch,  while  in  the  tertian- 
period  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  inhabited  by  dinocerata  of  prodigious  dimen- 
sions.* Now,  however,  the  New  World  has  no  quadrupeds  comparable  to  the 
elephant,  rhinoceros,  or  giraffe,  although  amongst  its  wild  animals  there  are  some 
of  considerable  size.  Such  are  the  white  polar  bear  and  the  grisly  bear  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  Canadian  wapiti  and  moose  deer,  the  jaguar  of  the  tropical 
regions,  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  American  "  tiger."  In  the  same  way  the 
puma,  llama,  and  nandou  or  rhea  have  been  respectively  called  the  "  lion," 
"  camel,"  and  "  ostrich  "  of  the  New  "World,  the  same  types  being  in  fact  repre- 
sented by  distinct  species  in  the  eastern  and  western  hemispheres. 

As  a  centre  of  evolution  South  America  contrasts  favourably  with  the  north, 
possessing  a  large  number  of  animals  not  found  in  that  region.  The  latter  has 
only  700  species  of  birds,  while  the  former  has  no  less  than  2,300,  and  the  contrast 
between  the  fishes  is  still  more  striking.  In  this  respect  the  North  American 
waters  resemble  those  of  Europe  and  Asia,  whereas  the  species  peculiar  to  the 
south  are  reckoned  by  the  thousand.  A  single  lake  contains  as  many  as  all 
Europe,  and  in  the  Amazons  basin  alone  Agassiz  collected  as  many  as  2,000 
distinct  forms. 

ItfHABITAKTS. 

From  one  extremity  to  the  other  of  the  New  World  the  various  divisions  of 
the  aborigines  present  the  most  surprising  uniformity  of  type.  Excluding  the 
Eskimo,  regarded  by  many  ethnologists  as  an  Asiatic  race  closely  allied  to  the 
Chukches  of  north-east  Siberia,  all  the  inhabitants  of  America  appeared  at  the 
time  of  the  discovery  to  constitute  a  single  ethnical  group.  "Whatever  local 
differences  may  exist  between  northerners  and  southerners,  between  cultured  and 
savage  peoples,  between  hunters  and  tillers  of  the  soil,  whatever  divergences  may 
have  been  produced  by  social  usages  and  their  450  distinct  languages,  the 
natives  have  almost  without  exception  certain  physical  traits  in  common,  notably 
that  dark  coppery  complexion  from  which  those  of  the  north  have  received  the 
*  O.  C.  JSIarsh,  The  Gigantic  JTammate  of  the  Order  Dinocerata, 


48  NORTH  AMERICA. 

name  of  "  Red  Skins."  All  have  straight  hlaek  hair  never  crisp  or  wavy,  and  all 
have  a  grave  demeanour,  slow  action  and  pulse  less  rapid  than  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Old  "World.  Their  common  relationship  is  further  shown  by  the  prevailing 
angular  face,  massive  jaw,  prominent  superciliary  arches,  aquiline  nose,  strongly 
marked  features  differing  little  between  the  sexes,  broad  and  relatively  powerful 
chest.  Such  is  the  so-called  "  Indian  "  type,  differing  profoundly  from  that  of 
the  true  East  Indians,  with  whom  they  were  confounded  in  the  imagination  of 
Columbus  and  his  Spanish  successors. 

Consequences  of  the  Discovery. 

The  discovery  of  the  New  World  had  a  far  greater  influence  on  the  destinies 
of  mankind  than  could  have  at  first  been  foreseen.  "Without  America  the  human 
family  remained  incomplete,  history  sought  without  finding  its  unity.  Reduced 
to  about  a  sixth  of  its  real  size  and  destitute  of  the  great  navigable  highways 
which  give  ubiquity  to  its  inhabitants,  the  globe  seemed  infinite  precisely  because 
its  limits  were  unknown.  But  what  an  expansion  was  given  to  the  field  of  human 
knowledge  when  America,  emerging  from  darkness,  took  its  place  between  Europe 
and  China,  and  when  the  terrestrial  surface  was  at  last  clearly  defined  !  So  long 
as  man  was  ignorant  of  his  position  in  space  and  even  regarded  his  domain  as 
immeasurable,  all  theories  on  the  nature  of  things  were  necessarily  false,  and 
scientific  progress  became  impossible. 

What  could  astronomy  lead  to  when,  despite  the  teachings  of  a  few  philosophic 
heirs  of  Greece  and  Egypt,  the  world  continued  to  be  commonly  regarded  as  a 
solid  plane  supporting  the  firmament,  or  else  as  the  centre  round  which  revolved 
the  sun  and  stars  ?  And  with  astronomy  all  the  associated  sciences  were  doomed 
to  rest  on  pure  conjecture,  depending  not  on  mathematical  certainty  but  on 
miracles  or  the  flights  of  fancy.  The  Middle  Ages  would  thus  have  been  indefi- 
nitely prolonged,  probably  involving  intellectual  and  moral  death.  But  what  a 
quickening  of  intellectual  life,  what  an  impulse  to  study  and  progress  of  all  kinds 
when  man  became  aware  by  the  direct  evidence  of  his  senses  that  the  earth  swam 
in  ether,  a  planet  amongst  the  planets,  one  of  the  myriad  particles  wandering  in 
boundless  space  !  The  influence  exercised  by  the  discoveries  of  the  Columban  age 
was  great  in  virtue  of  the  actual  knowledge  revealed  to  humanity  ;  it  was  far 
greater  through  its  indirect  action  in  advancing  the  intellectual  emancipation  of 
mankind. 

Spread  of  Modern  Culture  to  the  New  "World. 

Even  from  the  material  point  of  view  the  year  1492  brought  about  considerable 
changes  in  both  hemispheres.  The  aspect  of  the  land  has  been  modified  by  the 
clearing  of  forests,  by  plantations,  the  growth  of  towns,  the  development  of  high- 
ways, the  migration  of  plants  and  animals  between  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
basin.  In  respect  of  animals  America  has  received  far  more  than  she  has  given, 
obtaining  in  exchange  for  a  single  domestic  bird,  the  turkey,  all  the  numerous 


THE  AMERICAN  ABORIGINES.  49 

species  of  the  Old  World  associated  with  man,  the  elephant  and  camel  alone 
excepted.  Moreover,  representatives  of  the  respective  wild  faunas — forest  birds, 
marine,  fluvial  and  lacustrine  fishes,  insects  of  all  kinds,  have  passed  intentionally 
or  not  from  hemisphere  to  hemisphere.  Uncultivated  plants  carelessly  imported 
with  merchandise  or  agricultural  produce  still  continue  their  migrations,  and  if 
most  of  them  perish  in  their  new  environments,  a  certain  number  gain  a  footing  and 
even  end  by  exterminating  the  native  forms.  And  here  again  the  Old  World 
has  been  the  greater  benefactor,  largely  assimilating  America  in  its  flora  as  well  as 
in  its  inhabitants.  If  in  Europe  the  railway  embankments  have  been  overgrown 
by  the  Canadian  erigeron,  if  many  canals  in  England,  France,  and  Germany  have 
been  obstructed  by  the  "water  pest"  (anacharsis  alsinastrum),  the  American  plateaux 
have  in  their  turn  been  invaded  by  the  European  thistle,  while  half  of  the  northern 
continent  has  been  overrun  with  the  clover  from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

All  cultivated  species,  with  but  few  exceptions  due  to  climate  or  other  local 
causes,  have  become  common  to  both  worlds.  America  now  grows  all  European 
fruits,  mostly  in  greater  abundance  than  in  Europe  itself  ;  the  Arabian  coffee-plant 
and  Indian  sugar-cane,  also,  are  more  productive  than  in  the  Old  World.  To 
America,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  indebted  for  the  maize  and  the  most  wide- 
spread variety  of  tobacco,  as  well  as  the  potato,  cinchona  and  many  other  medicinal 
plants.  By  way  of  compensation  for  the  destructive  phylloxera,  she  has  also 
supplied  the  vigorous  stock  by  which  the  exhausted  European  vineyards  are  now 
being  renovated. 

Fate  of  the  Aborigines. 

Changes,  analogous  to  those  effected  in  the  flora  and  fauna,  have  also  taken 
place  in  the  native  American  populations,  who  have  been  violently  thrust  aside, 
and  even,  in  many  regions,  exterminated  by  the  intruders  from  the  Old  World. 
Of  the  aboriginal  tribes,  many  are  known  to  have  perished,  and  the  arrival  of 
Columbus  in  the  Antilles  was  the  signal  for  the  wholesale  disappearance  of  the 
insular  people.  Tracked  by  bloodhounds,  forcibly  baptised  and  thus  made  the 
"  spiritual  brethren  "  of  the  Spaniard,  but  none  the  less  condemned  to  statute 
labour  in  the  mines  and  on  the  plantations,  bound  as  serfs  to  the  glebe,  distributed 
in  herds  amongst  the  conquerors,  and  subjected  to  the  Inquisition,  the  unhappy 
natives  were  speedily  reduced  to  the  condition  of  abject  slaves.  Espafiola  and 
Cuba,  where  they  had  numbered  hundreds  of  thousands,  were  transformed  to 
solitudes ;  whole  tribes  were  seen  to  renounce  all  civilisation,  take  refuge  in  the 
woods  and  revert  to  the  savage  life  of  their  ancestors.  Others  sought  in  suicide 
an  escape  from  the  atrocious  oppression  of  the  foreigner,*  and  now  the  question  is 
discussed  whether  there  still  survive,  anywhere  in  the  islands  or  on  the  mainland, 
a  few  half-caste  descendants  of  the  primitive  insular  populations.  Their  memory 
is,  nevertheless,  perpetuated  in  a  considerable  number  of  familiar  words  bequeathed 
to  Spanish,  and  through  it,  to  all  the  languages  of  Europe. 

*  Las  Casas,  Sistoria  de  la  destruction  de  las  Indias. 


50 


NORTH   AMERICA. 


The  atrocities  begun  in  the  "West  Indies  were  continued  in  many  parts  of 
North  and  South  America.  Many  hundred  thousands  perished  at  the  hands  of 
Cortez,  Pizarro  and  other  conquistadores,  by  whom  whole  districts  were  often 


Fig.  17.— Dominant  Races  in  Ajleeica. 
Scale  1  :  115,000,000. 


Majority  of  the  population 
black  or  coloured. 

Majority  white. 


Majority  aborigines  or  half-breeds 
speaking  European  languages. 

I  J    Uninhabited  regions, 

—  1.B0O  Miles. 


depopulated.  Nor  were  the  Spaniards  the  only  delinquents,  and  if  some,  such  as 
the  Portuguese,  shed  less  blood  than  others,  the  fact  was  due  not  so  much  to  their 
sense  of  pity  or  justice,  as  to  the  conditions  of  the  regions  occupied  by  them  and 
sparsely  peopled  by  wandering  tribes  taking  refuge  from  their  oppressors  in  their 


THE  A3JEEICAX  ABORIGINES.  51 

remote  woodlands.  Elsewhere  systematic  slaughter  was  replaced  by  gradual 
encroachments  on  the  native  territory,  which,  in  the  long  run,  produced  the  same 
results.  The  aborigines  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  have  either 
completely  disappeared,  or  are  now  represented  only  by  a  few  scattered  "  Reserves." 
"Wherever  the  conditions  of  life  are  irreconcilable,  the  struggle  for  existence 
continues  to  the  advantage  of  the  whites ;  the  hunter  inevitably  yields  to  the 
agricultural  and  industrial  labourer.  Millions  of  natives  have  also  been  swept 
away  by  alcoholic  drinks,  smallpox,  and  other  epidemics  introduced  from  Europe. 

But  even  in  those  regions  where  the  aborigines  have  not  been  entirely  destroyed, 
their  original  civilisation  has  ceased  to  exist.  Many  cultured  communities  have 
reverted  to  barbarism,  or  else  have  adapted  themselves  to  alien  social  systems.  The 
expeditions,  battles  and  massacres  of  which  Cortez,  Pizarro  and  others  were  the 
heroes,  drew  the  attention  of  contemporary  observers  to  the  powerful  states  over- 
thrown by  the  conquerors.  But  while  the  local  civilisations  were  exciting  wonder, 
they  had  already  disaj^peared.  Yet  the  Mexicans  had  displayed  great  engineering 
talent  in  the  construction  of  embankments,  causeways,  canals,  aqueducts,  sewers. 
They  possessed  fine  highways  along  which  a  postal  service  was  organised,  compared 
to  which  analogous  European  institutions  were  still  in  a  rudimentary  state ;  they 
were  skilled  workers  in  gold,  silver,  copper  and  other  metals ;  their  astronomic 
science  enabled  them  to  divide  their  year  into  eighteen  months  of  twenty  days 
with  five  complementary  days,  thus  making  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  exactly  ; 
they  recorded  national  events  by  painting  and  sculpture,  and  even  made  use  of 
hieroglyphic  characters.  But  all  these  products  of  art  and  science  were  regarded 
by  the  ignorant  Spanish  priests  as  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  consigned  to  the 
flames.  The  continuity  of  history  was  thus  broken,  and  the  mass  of  the  people 
reduced  to  ignorance  and  slaverv. 

So  also  in  Peru,  the  descendants  of  the  Quichuas  and  Ayniaras  preserved 
nothing  of  those  industries  which  had  enabled  them  to  construct  vast  edifices,  to 
lay  down  broad  paved  highways  along  the  flanks  of  the  mountains,  to  cast  and 
chase  the  metals.  And  what  remains  of  the  ancient  civilisations  developed  by  the 
Chibchas  of  Columbia,  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan,  and  the  kindred  Quiches  of 
Guatemala  ?  These  nations,  however,  at  least  still  exist,  although  in  a  degraded 
state,  whereas  many  other  cultured  popidations  have  totally  disappeared.  In  the 
impenetrable  and  now  uninhabited  forests  have  been  discovered  the  grandest 
temples,  the  choicest  sculptures  of  the  New  World,  and  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  de 
Santa  Marta  the  splendid  paved  roads  found  at  remote  distances  from  all  habitations 
are  now  frequented  chiefly  by  the  tapir,  peccary  and  jaguar. 

Dominant  Ethnical  Elements. 

Despite  the  conquest,  many  native  races  still  survive,  protected  here  and  there 
by  swamps,  forests,  mountains  or  the  local  climate.  At  present,  in  more  than  half 
of  the  Xew  \Yorld,  the  majority  of  the  population  are  descendants  of  the  old 
owners  of  the   soil.     According  to  the  political   constitutions  of  the  Ilispaiio- 


52  NOETH  A]tfEEICA. 

American  States,  differences  of  origin  are  not  held  to  be  bars  to  civil  equality. 
The  natives  themselves  have  in  fact  acquired  the  right  to  rank  on  a  level  with 
their  conquerors,  either  by  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  rebels  against  Spanish 
rule,  or  by  taking  part  in  all  the  civil  wars  by  which  the  new  states  have  been 
convulsed.  Whatever  be  the  pretentions  of  certain  sections  of  the  community, 
there  can  scarcely  exist  in  Latin  America  any  really  pure  race,  for  the  first 
European  immigrants  from  Mexico  to  Chili  nearly  all  married  native  women,  and 
since  then  twelve  generations  have  followed,  diversely  modified  by  unions  between 
every  shade  of  half-breeds.  The  American  populations,  which  in  virtue  of  these 
unions  belong  at  once  to  both  races,  may  be  estimated  at  about  thirty  millions 
altogether. 

But  a  third  ethnical  element  must  also  be  taken  into  account,  for  the  negro 
has  also  contributed  to  people  the  New  World,  though  not  as  a  free  immigrant. 
The  blacks  captured  on  the  African  seaboard  and  sold  to  American  planters  have 
been  roughly  estimated  at  about  fifty  millions,  and,  in  any  case,  they  far  exceeded 
in  numbers  the  European  immigrants  down  to  the  close  of  the  last  century.  But 
most  of  the  new  arrivals  were  swept  away  by  disease,  oppression,  and  hardships  of 
all  kinds,  their  race  was  perpetuated  mainly  by  successive  fresh  importations,  and 
at  present  the  Africans  are  far  less  numerous  in  America  than  either  the  whites  or 
the  Indian  half-castes.  Nor  have  they,  any  more  than  the  redskins,  preserved 
their  racial  purity ;  nearly  all  those  of  the  West  Indies,  Brazil,  and  even  the 
United  States,  have  by  crossings  become  an  intermediate  race,  people  of  "  colour  " 
rather  than  blacks,  numbering  altogether  about  twenty  millions.  In  Haiti,  how- 
ever, where  alone  they  have  acquired  political  autonomy,  more  than  half  of  the 
inhabitants  are  classed  as  "blacks,"  relatively  to  the  other  citizens  of  lighter 
complexion.  But  even  if  they  have  remained  physically  pure  Africans,  they  have 
been  Europeanised,  if  not  in  habits,  at  least  in  institutions  and  language. 

Speaking  generally,  the  great  bulk- of  the  population  in  Latin  America  may  be 
regarded  as  consisting  of  three  elements — European  whites,  African  blacks,  and 
the  aborigines  diversely  fused  in  a  new  race.  In  the  United  States  and  British 
America,  on  the  contrary,  social  feeling  maintains  an  impassable  barrier,  especially 
between  the  whites  and  blacks,  a  barrier  which  since  the  emancipation  has  been 
strengthened  rather  than  weakened.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  Southern 
States,  for  instance,  political  causes,  such  as  the  granting  of  universal  franchise  to 
the  negro,  have  tended  to  widen  the  gap  between  the  antagonistic  elements.  The 
illicit  unions,  common  enough  on  the  plantations  before  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
have  mainly  ceased,  with  the  result  that  the  mulatto  is  dying  out  or  becoming 
absorbed  in  the  true  black,  the  whole  race  thus  showing  a  distinct  tendency  to 
revert  to  the  pure  African  type. 

Thus,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  progressive  blending  of  the  ethnical  elements, 
the  New  World  is  divided  into  two  distinct  sections,  very  unequal  in  extent  and 
in  no  way  coinciding  with  the  natural  divisions.  These  two  sections  are  frequently 
designated  by  the  names  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Latin  America,  from  the  dominant 
peoples,  or  rather  from  the  chief  languages  current  amongst  them — English  in  the 


ETHNICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  AMERICA. 


58 


north,  the  two  Latin  languages,  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  in  the  south.  But  as 
regards  the  origin  of  the  peoples  themselves,  these  expressions  can  have  hut  a 
very  relative  value.     The  "  Anglo-Saxons,"  taking  the  term  in  its  widest  sense, 


Fig.  18. — Chief  Languages  of  Amebica. 
Scale  1  :  115,000,000. 


."  Aboriginal. 
F  French. 


Guarani. 


E  Spanish. 


Icelandic. 


Portuguese. 


1.S00  Miles. 


A  English. 

Uninhabited 
regions. 


douhtless  enjoy  a  decided  majority  in  the  domain  attributed  to  them ;  but  the 
"  Latins,"  represented  especially  by  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  of  Iberian,  Keltic, 
or  Ligurian  stock,  are  almost  effaced  in  the  presence  of  the  multitudes  of  other 


51  NORTH  AMERICA. 

peoples  surrounding  them — Europeans  of  every  nationality,  Africans  and  American 
aborigines. 

Moreover  areas  of  different  speech  occur  in  both  domains.  Thus  the  unity  of  the 
English-speaking  division  is  broken  by  Lower  Canada  and  some  districts  in  North 
Amorica,  while  iu  the  south  several  of  the  Antilles,  as  well  as  British  Guiana,  lie 
beyond  the  Hispano-American  world.  Of  the  two  divisions  the  Anglo-Saxon  is 
the  smaller  in  extent,  but  immeasurably  the  more  important  in  population, 
industrial  and  commercial  activity,  and  political  power.  This  disparity  tends 
also  to  increase  from  decade  to  decade,  so  that  the  time  would  seem  to  be 
apjjroaching  when  the  whole  of  the  New  World  will  be  brought  under  the  direct 
or  indirect  influence  of  the  English-speaking  section.  As  if  in  anticipation  of 
their  future  destiny  the  people  of  the  United  States  already  claim  the  title  of 
"Americans"  in  a  pre-eminent  sense. 

Progressive  European  Immigration. 

It  was  long  ago  remarked  by  Kohl  that  the  peoples  of  West  Europe  shared  in 
the  New  World  the  work  of  discovery  and  settlement,  proceeding  in  an  order  from 
north  to  south  corresponding  to  their  respective  positions  in  the  Old  World.  Thus 
the  Scandinavians  (Danes,  Icelanders,  and  Norwegians)  occupy  the  shores  of 
Greenland,  and  to  them  is  due  our  first  knowledge  of  the  mainland  southwards  to 
and  beyond  the  St.  Lawrence.  Then  follow  the  English  and  the  French,  con- 
tending for  the  possession  of  Canada  and  the  Mississippi  basin.  Lastly  come  the 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  sharing  between  them  the  rest  of  America. 

But  the  populations  of  Central,  and  even  of  East,  Europe  have  also  aspired  to 
take  their  part  in  the  rich  inheritance  revealed  to  them  beyond  the  seas,  and 
colonists  were  thus  attracted  from  every,  civilised  land.  In  almost  every  American 
village  are  found  representatives  of  these  various  countries,  and  most  of  the  towns 
have  more  inhabitants  of  foreign  origin  than  natives.  Hence  the  astounding 
rapidity  with  which  the  more  fertile  regions  of  the  temperate  zone  have  been 
peopled,  the  population  having  increased  threefold  since  .1825  in  many  of  these 
more  favoured  parts.  The  annual  arrivals  are  now  reckoned  by  hundreds  of 
thousands,  and  in  some  European  countries  the  movement  of  transatlantic  migra- 
tion may  almost  be  described  as  a  veritable  exodus.  Certain  parts  of  America 
scarcely  inhabited  two  hundred  years  ago,  or  occupied  only  by  a  few  hunting 
tribes,  are  already  as  densely  peopled  as  many  industrial  centres  in  Europe. 

This  universal  migratory  movement  is  naturally  determined  by  climatic  con- 
ditions, for  the  mortality  of  colonists  everywhere  increases  in  direct  ratio  with  the 
difference  between  the  climates  of  their  old  and  new  homes.  Scandinavians, 
Englishmen,  Germans,  even  southern  Frenchmen,  cannot  venture  without  risk  to 
settle  in  tropical  lands,  where  their  physical  and  moral  energies  are  impaired  and 
where  the  family  dies  out  unless  renewed  by  fresh  arrivals.  On  the  other  hand 
the  Africans  perish  in  the  cold  regions  of  North  and  South  America.  But  the 
history  of  colonisation  clearly  shows  that  there  still  remain  many  broad  lands  well 


ETHNICAL  ELEMENTS  IX  AMERICA. 


55 


suited  for  settlement  by  the  various  ethnical  groups  of  the  Old  World.  Thus  the 
French  live,  labour,  and  thrive  as  well  under  the  isothermals  of  35°  or  3G°  Fahr. 
in  the  "Winnipeg  basin  as  under  those  of  72°  in  the  Mississippi  delta.  So  also 
with  other  Europeans  who  find  in  America  a  habitable  zone  where  the  total 
range  of  the  tomperature  presents  far  greater  extremes  than  in  their  native 
land. 

Colonists  from  the  European  temperate  regions  have,  moreover,  the  choice  in 
the  New  World  of  two  suitable  regions,  one  in  the  northern,  the  other  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.  "Whether  they  settle  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  or 
on  those  of  the  Plate  Eiver,  at  the  foot  of  the  California!!  mountains  or  of  the 


Fig.  19.— Occupation  or  Ameeica  by  Iiohgeaxts  feoji  the  Old  'Woeld. 

Scale  1  :  250,000,000. 


6,000  Hiles. 


Chilian  Andes,  they  find  themselves  equally  in  an  environment  adapted  to  their 
constitution.  The  fact  that  America  is  disposed  in  the  direction  from  north  to 
south,  transversely  to  the  line  followed  by  civilisation  in  the  Old  "World,  has 
modified  the  course  of  history  by  broadening  the  various  streams  of  European 
migration,  and  directing  them  at  once  to  both  hemispheres.  Nor  does  the  race 
appear  to  have  in  any  important  respect  degenerated  since  its  occupation  of 
America.  Changes  have  been  noticed  in  the  complexion,  the  carriage,  the  sound 
of  the  voice,  but  it  has  not  been  shown  that  the  whites  long  settled  in  the  tem- 
perate parts  of  the  New  World  are  inferior  to  the  average  European  in  height, 
strength,  endurance,  or  beauty ;  they  are  as  long-lived,  and  the  women  are  equally 
prolific* 


*  Shaler  in  "Winsor's  America. 


56  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Decadence  of  the  Spanish  Power. 

The  discovery  of  America,  followed  by  its  entanglement  in  the  rivalries  and 
vicissitudes  of  the  Old  "World,  naturally  proved  disastrous  to  the  destinies  of  the 
very  people  from  whom  it  had  received  its  first  navigators,  conquerors  and 
colonists.  One  of  the  first  consequences  of  this  event,  which  opened  to  commerce 
the  new  highways  of  the  west,  was  to  close  those  hitherto  followed  in  the  east. 
Thus  Columbus,  Vespucci  and  Cabot,  unwittingly  brought  ruin  on  their  Italian 
native  land.  Genoa,  after  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  had  already  lost  its  trade 
route  by  the  Black  Sea,  and  Venice  had  to  abandon  its  eastern  factories  after  the 
navigation  of  the  Atlantic  was  established.  "While  the  spice  monopoly  was  seized 
by  Portugal,  thanks  to  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  trade  in  gold 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Spain  and  was  transferred  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Indies. 
The  Italian  oligarchies  were  thus  overtaken  first  by  financial,  then  by  political 
decadence,  and  the  Peninsula  entered  on  a  long  era  of  decay,  misery  and  servitude. 
And  if  ruin  overwhelmed  the  Christian  agents  of  eastern  traffic,  how  much  more 
were  the  eastern  peoples  themselves  involved  in  the  calamity !  Vasco  de  Gama, 
Columbus,  Magellan  inflicted  a  deadly  blow  on  the  Mohammedan  States,  through 
which  had  hitherto  passed  the  exchanges  between  India  and  "Western  Europe. 
Henceforth  removed  from  the  great  stream  of  commerce,  the  Mussulman  world 
sank  into  hopeless  decline. 

Spain  and  Portugal  themselves,  at  first  benefited  by  the  discoveries  and 
prematurely  declared  masters  of  the  world  by  the  bull  of  Pope  Alexander  VI., 
began  also  to  decay  soon  after  obtaining  possession  of  those  vast  domains  abound- 
ing in  spices,  gems  and  the  precious  metals.  They  doubtless  imported  gold  by  the 
ton,  as  much  as  two  billions  sterling  between  1492  and  1775  ;  but  this  sudden 
wealth  fostered  a  love  of  display  and  a  taste  for  gambling,  created  monopolies, 
fomented  speculation  and  brought  industry  into  contempt.  The  moral  worth  of 
the  nation  diminished  with  the  increase  of  its  treasures.  Yet  Spain,  first  of 
European  powers  in  military  strength  and  resources,  seemed  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  irresistible,  and  fear  was  entertained  lest  Philip  II.  might  by 
force  or  intrigue  realise  his  visions  of  universal  monarchy. 

But  the  chief  mainstay  of  his  powerful  political  engine  was  already  broken. 
The  various  states  of  the  Iberian  Peninsula,  which  had  hitherto  enjoyed  a  large 
measure  of  autonomy,  and  whose  liberties  no  king  had  hitherto  dared  to  violate, 
were  henceforth  absolutely  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  monarch.  All  local 
energies  had  been  suppressed,  all  citizens  transformed  to  soldiers,  officials,  or 
subjects  of  no  more  account  before  the  power  of  the  sovereign  than  all  those 
nameless  peoples  assigned  to  him  by  the  papal  bull.  During  the  brilliant  period 
following  the  conquest  of  Grenada,  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  and  the  discovery 
of  the  New  World,  the  dazzling  glory  of  the  new  monarchy  had  seemed  ample 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  freedom,  and  the  Spaniards  had  yielded  without 
complaint  to  the  whims  of  royalty,  and  even  to  the  terrible  inquisitions  of  the 
tribunal  of  the  "  Holy  Brotherhood."     But  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 


ETHNICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  57 

when  the  vital  forces  of  the  nation  had  heen  exhausted  on  the  European  battle- 
fields, and  in  expeditions  beyond  the  seas,  Spain  had  no  longer  any  hands  available 
for  industrial  pursuits.  Her  Moorish  artisans  had  been  banished  the  land,  and 
the  Christian  craftsmen  stood  idle.  The  kingdom  continued  to  receive  consign- 
ments of  gold,  but  was  unable  to  export  manufactured  wares  in  return ;  hence  it 
was  fain  to  appeal  to  the  stranger  for  those  articles  it  had  ceased  to  produce. 
Thus  the  wealth  of  Mexico  and  Peru  flowed  out  to  Flanders,  Germany,  France  and 
England,  while  Spain  herself  was  compared  to  the  Arcadian  ass,  "  laden  with  gold 
but  feeding  on  thistles."  Her  mercantile  navy,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  comprised  a  thousand  vessels,  had  been  gradually  impoverished 
and  swept  from  the  seas,  for  the  squadrons  had  also  disappeared  which  should 
have  accompanied  the  convoys  and  protected  them  from  the  ubiquitous  English 
privateers.  Spain  was  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  her  colonial  empire,  from 
which  it  was  a  relief  to  be  at  last  delivered  by  foreign  wars  and  revolutions. 
Colonies  and  metropolis  mutually  ruined  each  other,  and  the  same  was  also  true  of 
Portugal  and  its  old  political  dependency,  Brazil. 

Ascendency  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Race. 

In  North  America  beyond  Mexico,  England  and  France  were  the  suzerain 
powers,  and  it  long  remained  doubtful  to  which  would  ultimately  fall  the  empire  of 
the  continent.  French  colonisation,  directed,  so  to  say,  towards  the  interior  by  the 
course  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  had  advanced  step  by  step  to  the  heart  of  the  land, 
descending  seawards  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi.  It  was  thus  developed 
in  a  vast  semicircle  sweeping  round  from  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  But  so  thin  was  the  zone  of  population  that  this  circuit  of  some  2,500 
miles  was  little  more  than  a  slender  line  traced  in  the  wilderness  and  interrupted 
at  intervals,  especially  towards  the  summit  of  the  curve. 

On  the  other  hand  the  English  colonies,  as  well  as  those  of  Holland  and 
Scandinavia,  soon  destined  to  be  merged  in  the  former,  had  been  founded  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  and  from  this  solid  base  they  had  gradually  spread  in  a  compact 
mass  inland,  always  in  free  communication  with  the  sea,  and  nowhere  presenting 
a  vulnerable  point  along  their  periphery.  The  respective  position  of  the  rival 
nations  thus  indicated  beforehand  the  result  of  the  conflict.  Apart  from  circum- 
stances foreign  to  the  colonies  themselves — diplomatic  talent  and  high  statesman- 
ship, military  genius,  superiority  of  forces  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  settlers,  integrity 
of  administrators — it  was  evident  that  the  more  compact  colony,  with  the  stronger 
strategic  position,  and  at  the  same  time  the  more  densely  peopled,  must  prevail  in 
the  long  run.  At  the  time  of  the  cession  of  Canada  to  England  the  British 
settlements  had  a  population  of  2,500,000,  while  the  French  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
numbered  only  60,000  souls. 

The  English-speaking  colonies  were  even  strong  enough  to  sever  their  political 
connection  with  Great  Britain,  and  achieve  their  independence  by  force  of  arms. 
After  nine  years  of  desultory  warfare  the  United  States  of  America  were  firmly 

vol.  xv.  f 


53  NORTH  AMERICA. 

constituted,  and  by  a  remarkable  turn  of  events  the  French  Canadians  also 
succeeded  in  maintaining  their  effective  independence.  During  the  revolutionary 
war  the  inhabitants  of  Canada  had  remained  loyal  to  England,  and  had  even 
resisted  the  appeal  to  rebel  made  by  the  French  allies  of  the  revolted  British 
colonies,  and  this  loyalty  was  rewarded  with  the  recognition  of  their  full 
administrative  autonomy.  They  were  thus  enabled  to  develop  a  new  France  far 
better  than  if  they  had  remained  under  the  direct  dominion  of  the  mother  country, 
exposed  to  the  caprice  of  royalty,  harassed  by  all  manner  of  laws  and  regulations, 
in  the  framing  of  which  they  could  themselves  have  had  no  share.  French 
influence  has  increased  in  North  America  precisely  in  proportion  to  the  political 
independence  of  the  French  Canadians. 

Still  more  emphatically  may  it  be  asserted  that  the  English  world  has 
expanded  in  virtue  of  the  independence  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 
Since  the  establishment  of  its  political  autonomy  the  great  republic  has  presented 
a  picture  of  jn'ogress  in  wealth  and  population,  such  as  has  never  before  been 
witnessed.  Within  a  single  century  the  new  State  has  become  in  some  resjiects 
the  most  powerful  in  the  world,  although  possessing  merely  nominal  land  and  sea 
forces,  and  scorning  to  line  her  seaboard  with  bristling  fortresses.  In  many 
industries  she  already  takes  the  foremost  rank,  and  aspires  to  outstrip  all  peoples 
in  the  arts  of  peace.  Despite  the  manifold  origin  of  the  inhabitants,  their 
common  work  is  usually  held  to  be  the  outcome  of  Anglo-Saxon  energy,  and 
rightly  so,  for  the  English  mould  in  which  American  society  has  been  cast  has 
converted  the  continent  into  a  "  Greater  Britain,"  enjoying  the  same  traditions, 
the  same  language  and  literature,  the  same  laws  and  love  of  freedom  as  the  mother 
country.  It  is  chiefly  through  the  United  States  that  English  is  }'early  acquiring 
more  and  more  that  character  of  a  universal  language  which  it  already  possesses 
in  the  commercial  world,  and  which  it  aspires  to  as  the  medium  of  intercourse 
between  all  civilised  peoples.  The  English-speaking  communities  in  the  British 
Isles,  the  United  States,  Canada,  Australia,  South  Africa,  the  "West  Indies,  Guiana 
and  elsewhere,  are  yearly  increased  by  a  population  of  from  two  to  three  millions, 
and  already  half  the  letters  passing  through  the  post-offices  of  the  world  are 
written  in  the  English  language.  Even  the  Spanish  American  republics  have  to 
submit  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  hegemony  in  their  political  institutions  and  the  general 
tendency  of  their  civilisation. 

"  America  for  the  Americans  !  "  Such  is  the  retort  of  the  States  of  the  New 
World  to  the  attempts  of  European  powers  to  intervene  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
the  western  world.  From  the  political  point  of  view  the  question  ma}'  even  be 
regarded  as  already  set  at  rest.  The  American  republics,  with  which  Brazil  has 
now  (1889)  thrown  in  her  lot,  have  no  longer  to  fear  attack  from  any  quarter, 
and  the  time  may  not  be  distant  when  they  may  even  cease  to  tolerate  the  exis- 
tence of  colonies  depending  directly  on  a  foreign  government.  If  Great  Britain 
still  possesses  officially  one-fourth  of  the  New  World,  the  greater  part  of  this  vast 
domain  is  an  almost  uninhabited  wilderness,  while  the  settled  provinces  constitute 
a  practically  independent  commonwealth,  in  which  the  suzerain  power  is  repre- 
sented by  an  empty  title. 


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ETHNICAL  ELEMENTS  IX  AMERICA.  59 

Their  political  autonomy  is  consequently  secured  to  the  peoples  of  the  Xew 
World.  But  from  the  social  standpoint  America  is  the  inheritance  of  all  the 
colonists  from  the  Old  "World,  who  have  made  it  a  new  home,  introducing  their 
traditional  customs  and  usages,  their  aspirations,  their  hopes,  and  the  power  of 
adapting  themselves  to  a  new  environment.  Those  who  call  themselves  "Ameri- 
cans "  to  distinguish  themselves  from  other  cultured  peoples  are  themselves  the 
descendants  of  Europeans,  whose  numbers  are  annually  increased  by  over  a  million 
through  the  excess  of  births  over  the  mortality,  and  by  nearly  another  million  by 
fresh  immigrants  chiefly  from  the  British  Isles  and  Germany.  The  transatlantic 
world  is  a  field  of  experiment  for  the  Old  World,  and  in  it  will  probablv  be  solved 
mam-  social  and  political  problems  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  mankind. 


F-2 


CHAPTER   II. 


GREENLAND. 


EOGRAPHICALLY  speaking,  Greenland  occupies  an  intermediate 
position  between  Europe  and  the  New  World ;  it  is  even  scarcely 
more  distant  from  the  European  island  of  Iceland  than  it  is  from 
the  Polar  Archipelago  of  America.  Nevertheless,  the  general 
disposition  of  its  seaboard  as  well  as  the  conformation  of  the  land 
connect  it  with  the  western  islands  and  constitute  it  a  fragment  of  North 
America. 

Its  isolated  condition  is  clue  to  the  girdle  of  ice  by  which  it  is  completely 
encircled  for  two-thirds  of  the  year  and  almost  severed  from  the  habitable  world. 
"With  an  area  equal  to  that  of  the  British  Isles,  France,  and  Central  Europe,  or 
about  870,000  square  miles,  it  has  a  population  of  probably  little  more  than 
ten  thousand,  including  the  native  families  not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Danish  officials. 

The  name  of  "Green  Land,"  given  by  Erik  the  Red  to  this  inhospitable  region 
in  the  hope  that  a  name  of  good  omen  might  attract  immigrants,  has  not  had  the 
desired  success.  For  over  nine  centuries  the  expression  has  rather  conveyed  a 
sense  of  irony,  and  the  name  of  "  Desolation  Land,"  applied  to  it  by  Baffin,  is 
certainly  better  justified  by  the  actual  conditions.  Nevertheless,  the  original 
designation  has  held  its  ground,  even  though  the  land  itself  had  been  long  for- 
gotten by  seafarers.  Of  all  the  names  given  by  the  Norsemen  to  their  discoveries 
in  the  New  World  before  and  after  the  year  1000  this  eccentric  term  alone 
persists  in  common  usage. 


Historic  Retrospect. 

Greenland  was  discovered  by  Gunnbjorn  and  the  banished  Erik  the  Red  at  the 
close  of  the  tenth  century,  five  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Columbus.  The 
first  Scandinavian  immigrants  were  still  pagans ;  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century  Leif,  son  of  Erik,  returned  from  a  visit  to  Norway  in  company  with  a 
priest,  by  whom  the  viking  and  all  his  thanes  were  baptized.  About  this  time  a 
large  number  of  Icelanders  settled  in  Greenland,  where  they  were  grouped  in  two 


IIISTOEY  OF  GREENLAND.  61 

districts,  separated  by  an  uninhabited  tract.  These  two  districts  of  the  "West  and 
East — Westerbygd  and  Ostcrbygd — have  not  been  determined  with  absolute 
certainty,  some  indentifying  them  with  the  settlements  founded  on  both  coasts, 
others,  far  more  probably,  with  stations  on  the  west  coasts,  one  at  a  point  project- 
ing westwards,  the  other  on  the  Gulf  of  Igaliko,  or  the  "Abandoned  Houses," 
lying  near  Cape  Farewell,  east  or  south-east  of  the  other  colonics.  This  hypo- 
thesis is  even  regarded  by  Rink  as  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  and  in  any  case 
the  presence  of  the  Scandinavian  settlers  is  attested  by  some  sixty  old  structures 
and  runic  inscriptions. 

Host  of  the  Greenland  nines  preserved  in  the  Copenhagen  Museum  were  found 
near  the  southern  extremity  of  the  island;  but  in  1824  one  was  discovered  in  a 
district  north  of  Upernivik  itself,  that  is,  beyond  the  last  group  of  huts  occupied 
by  the  civilised  natives,  on  the  summit  of  Kingiktorsoak  Island  in  72°  55'  north 
latitude.  These  inscriptions  have  not  been  very  clearly  made  out,  although  the 
form  of  the  characters,  compared  with  those  of  Xorway,  shows  that  they  evidently 
date  from  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century.  In  1881  a  Xorse  ruin,  bearing  the 
name  of  Xarssak,  or  the  "  Flam,"  was  also  found  by  the  missionary,  Brodbeck,  on  a 
fjord  a  little  past  of  Cape  Farewell.  Xarssak  was  no  doubt  one  of  the  fourteen  or 
sixteen  churches  erected  by  the  Scandinavians  in  Greenland  for  the  inhabitants  of 
the  '280  villages  or  hamlets  founded  in  the  two  districts  of  "VTesterbygd  and 
Osterbygd.  At  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  a  cathedral  church,  depend- 
ing on  the  .see  of  Bremen,  was  also  built  at  Garde  not  far  from  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  land. 

Social,  trading,  and  religious  relations  were  maintained  for  four  hundred  years 
between  the  two  Scandinavias  of  Europe  and  America.  But  these  relations  were 
gradually  weakened  and  at  last  brought  to  a  close  by  the  action  of  the  Norwegian 
Crown,  which  had  seized  the  Greenland  colonies  in  1261,  destroying  their  old 
republican  liberties  and  establishing  a  complete  commercial  monopoly.  Trade 
was  henceforth  restricted  to  a  single  royal  vessel,  the  Grbnlandsknarra,  so  that  a 
shipwreck,  a  war,  a  succession  to  the  throne,  an  epidemic,  or  other  accident  sufficed 
to  interrupt  all  communications.  Thus  it  happened  that  Greenland  ceased  to  be 
visited  after  the  "black  sickness,"  which  ravaged  Xorth  Europe  at  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  very  name  of  Erik's  domain  was  forgotten,  or  preserved 
only  in  legendary  tradition  and  indicated  at  haphazard  on  contemporary  maps. 
The  desire  to  revisit  the  land  was  not  awakened  till  after  the  great  discoveries 
of  Columbus  and  his  rivals. 


Progress  of  Discovery. 

The  first  attempts  made  by  the  Scandinavian  mariners  to  recover  their  old 
colonies  were  not  successful,  and  the  renewal  of  exploration  in  the  waters  between 
Greenland  and  the  Polar  Archipelago  was  due  to  Sebastian  Cabot,  Frobisher,  and 
Davis.  In  the  seventeenth  century  the  Danish  seafarers  resumed  their  efforts  in 
the  hope  of  discovering  the  mines  of  the  precious  metals   reported  by  Frobisher. 


G2 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


But  it  was  still  to  Englishmen,  Hudson  and  Baffin,  that  fell  the  honour  of 
geographically  surveying  those  northern  regions.  In  1607  Hudson  coasted  the 
east  side  to  73°  north  latitude,  while  Baffin  followed  the  west  side  in  its  entire 
length  from  the  southern  extremity  all  the  way  to  Smith  Sound.  At  last  the 
Scandinavians  renewed  acquaintance  with  their  old  possessions  in  the  year  1721, 
when  the  missionary,  Hans  Egede,  sailed  from  Bergen  and  landed  on  the  west  coast 
of  Greenland,  where  he  founded  the  village  of  Godthaab,  or  "  Good  Hope."  But 
he  met  no  descendants  of  the  early  Norse  settlers,  or  at  least  he  failed  to  recog- 
nise their  blood  in  the  Eskimo,  probably  half-breeds,  who  gathered  round  him. 
Since  Egede's  visit  West  Greenland  has  never  ceased  to  be  a  political  and  religious 
dependency  of  Denmark. 

During  the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century  several  expeditions  have  surveyed 


Fitf-  20. — EtmoPE  and  Greenland  according  to  Laurentius  Frisius 


in  detail  more  than  half  of  the  seaboard.  Partial  studies  are  due  to  the  Arctic 
explorers,  who  drew  up  charts  of  the  havens  and  anchorages  where  harbours  of 
refuge  might  be  established.  But  a  systematic  survey  of  the  coastlands  has  also 
been  undertaken  by  the  Danish  Government.  In  1821  Graah  studied  the  whole 
western  section  comprised  between  Cape  Farewell  and  62°  north  latitude ;  two 
years  later  he  explored  the  north  coast  between  Disko  Bay  and  Upernivik,  and  in 
1828  turned  his  attention  to  the  side  facing  the  Atlantic,  here  displaying  the 
highest  qualities  of  endurance  and  devotion.  After  a  year  of  preliminary  expedi- 
tions the  supplies  were  so  greatly  reduced  that  Graah  resolved  to  send  back  his 
four  white  companions  and  the  less  trustwortlry  of  the  natives,  retaining  only  two 
men  and  six  women,  with  whom  he  continued  to  explore  the  ice-bound  coast  in 
one  large  Eskimo  boat.  During  two  successive  campaigns,  interrupted  by  long 
winterings,  he  completed  the  survey  of  the  whole  coast  from  Cape  Farewell  to 
65°,  18'  north  latitude.     But  beyond  that  point  he  found  it  impossible  to  advance 


EXPLORATION  OF  GREENLAND.  63 

through  the  fringing  ice,  and  Egede  Land,  so  named  from  a  descendant  of  the 
missionary  who  sighted  its  shores  from  afar,  still  remains  the  least-known  part  of 
South  Greenland. 

Nevertheless,  De  Blosseville,  commander  of  the  French  ship,  the  Lil/oise,  struck 
the  seaboard  about  the  68th  parallel  in  1831,  and  followed  it  for  some  distance, 
but  next  year  he  perished  with  his  vessel  crushed  between  the  pack-ice.  Opera- 
tions were  renewed  in  1879  by  Captain  Mourier,  a  Dane,  who  reported  some  lofty 
mountains  under  6?"  6'  and  68°  10'  north  latitude.  In  1822  Scoresby,  one  of  the 
ablest  of  Arctic  explorers,  skirted  the  north-east  coast  for  about  400  miles  in  a 
straight  lino ;  his  accurate  chart  was  later  revised  and  completed  at  certain  points 
by  C'lavering  and  Sabine,  and  again  by  the  German  expedition  which  discovered 
the  extensive  Franz- Joseph  Fjord. 

Since  187(3  the  exploration  of  the  seaboard  has  been  systematically  conducted 
by  learned  naturalists,  who  have  studied  the  form  and  elevation  of  the  coastline, 
the  depth  of  the  neighbouring  waters,  the  phenomena  of  natural  history,  and  the 
customs  of  the  natives.  Thus  has  been  completed  the  survey  of  all  the  west  side 
beyond  Upernivik,  and  a  beginning  has  been  made  with  the  east  side.  But  the 
interior  remains  almost  entirely  unknown.  Few  of  the  numerous  attempts  have 
succeeded  to  penetrate  far  across  the  snowy  wastes.  In  1728  a  governor,  ignorant 
of  the  true  character  of  the  country,  had  imported  some  horses  from  Denmark  and 
mustered  a  company  of  soldiers  to  march  overland  to  the  east  side,  where  he 
expected  to  find  the  descendants  of  the  old  Xorse  settlers ;  but  the  horses,  objects 
of  wonder  for  the  Eskimo,  all  perished  before  the  cavalcade  could  start.  Twenty- 
three  years  later  the  trader,  Lars  Dalager,  scaled  the  glacier  north  of  Frederiks- 
haab,  but  only  passed  three  nights  on  the  ice. 

Over  a  century  elapsed  before  these  attempts  were  renewed.  In  1860  Hayes, 
leaving  his  ship  at  anchor  in  Smith  Channel,  made  his  way  about  60  miles 
inland  to  a  point  over  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  where  he  was  arrested  by  a  snow- 
storm. In  1867  "Whymper,  the  Alpinist,  and  Dr.  Robert  Brown  vainly  essayed 
to  reach  the  interior  from  Jakobshavn ;  but  in  1870  Xordenskiold  and  Berggren 
were  more  successful,  advancing  some  days'  march  east  from  Egedesminde  across 
dangerous  crevasses  and  running  waters.  Again  in  1883  Nordenskiold  pushed 
farther  inland,  wliile  his  Lapp  guides  reached  the  centre  of  Greenland,  traversing 
270  miles  in  57  hours  and  rising  to  a  height  of  6,400  feet  above  sea-level. 
At  last  the  Norwegian,  Dr.  Xansen,  succeeded  in  1888  in  crossing  from  the  east 
to  the  west  coast,  attaining  at  one  point  an  altitude  of  about  10,000  feet.  Although 
it  was  summer  the  temperature  oscillated  between  —40'  and  —57°  Fahr.,  but 
despite  this  intense  cold,  often  aggravated  by  the  high  winds,  the  heroic  band 
reached  the  Ameralik  Fjord  near  Godthaab  after  a  fearful  journey  of  forty-six 
days  across  glaciers,  frozen  plateaux,  and  vast  snowfields. 

Extent — Physical  Features. 

Although  its  outlines  are  now  accurately  known  almost  everywhere  except  on 
the  north-east   side,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  actual  extent  of  Greenland 


C4 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


without  a  probable  error  of  several  thousand  square  miles.  The  land  being  almost 
entirely  covered  with  an  ice-cap,  it  is  quite  uncertain  whether  the  projections 
along  many  parts  of  the  seaboard  are  true  headlands  or  mountains  surrounded  by 
plains  rather  than  islands  connected  with  the  mainland  by  glaciers.     It  has  even 


Fi"-.  21; — Expeditions  into  tile  Interior  of  Greenxant. 


Inland  Ice-fields 


300  Miles. 


been  suggested  that  the  whole  of  Greenland  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  vast 
archipelago  bound  together  in  a  compact  mass  by  a  superstructure  of  thick  ice 
and  snow.  Formerly  the  fjord  into  which  Frobisher  penetrated  in  1572  was 
regarded,  not  as  an  inlet  of  one  of  the  Arctic  islands,  but  as  a  strait  traversing 
the  southern  peninsula  of  Greenland.     In  support  of  the  insular  hypothesis  appeal 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  GREENLAND.  65 

has  also  been  made  to  the  statements  of  fishers  claiming  to  have  captured  in 
the  western  fjords  whales  that  had  been  harpooned  by  others  in  the  eastern 
water. 

Nevertheless,  the  detailed  study  of  the  west  coast,  which  is  free  from  ice  for  a 
considerable  distance,  makes  it  sufficiently  evident  that  Greenland  proper  really 
forms  a  continuous  mass  of  land.  The  existence  of  coast  ranges,  whose  crests  are 
seen  towering  above  the  ice  in  regular  lines,  the  homogeneous  character  of  the 
rocks  examined  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  the  form  of  the  inlets  along  the 
seaboard,  the  general  disposition  of  mountain  and  plateaux,  all  imparts  to  Green- 
land an  aspect  greatly  resembling  that  of  Scandinavia.  In  both  regions  the 
formations  are  the  same,  and  they  would  present  an  analogous  appearance  were 
the  western  land  disencumbered  of  its  icy  fetters.  As  in  Norway,  the  coastline  is 
fringed  with  ramifying  peninsulas  continued  seawards  by  islets  and  little  insular 
groups,  and  these  are  the  lands  which,  with  the  advance  and  retreat  of  the  glaciers, 
may  alternately  be  attached  and  separated  from  the  mainland. 

The  geological  history  of  the  seaboard  offers  numerous  examples  of  these 
changes — islands  that  have  become  promontories  or  even  snow-clad  mountains, 
and  which  have  again  been  detached ;  fjords  filled  up  by  glaciers  and  again  set 
free ;  gulfs  which  have  been  transformed  to  lakes,  and  which  after  many  years 
or  centuries  have  re-established  their  communications  with  the  sea.  Such  changes, 
caused  by  the  alternation  of  seasons  and  climatic  periods,  are  so  rapid  in  some 
fjords  that  the  charts  prepared  at  different  times  all  present  considerable  discre- 
pancies in  the  contours  of  the  mainland.  In  the  northern  parts  visited  by  the 
Greely  expedition  the  forms  of  the  insular  groups  appear  to  have  undergone  the 
greatest  modifications  in  their  icy  integument.  Here  several  parallel  straits 
separating  elongated  islands  would  seem  to  have  been  entirely  filled  by  the  ice- 
pack from  the  Paleocrystic  Sea  and  frozen  ocean. 

Throughout  their  whole  length  the  coastlands  are  mountainous  and  of  forbid- 
ding aspect.  Even  the  southernmost  point  at  the  extremity  of  an  archipelago  is  a 
gloomy  mountain,  the  Kangak  Kyrdlek,  or  TJmanarsuak  of  the  natives,  to  which 
the  English  seafarers  have  given  the  name  of  Cape  Farewell,  and  which  the 
4Scandinavians  call  Statenhuk.  North  of  this  headland  the  west  coast  is  dominated 
by  long  serrated  ranges  with  crests  "sharp  as  sharks'  teeth."  The  mean  altitude 
of  these  crests  scarcely  exceeds  1,600  feet,  but  in  the  interior  of  the  southern 
point  the  peaks  attain  an  elevation  of  over  7,500  feet.  The  inhabited  regions  in 
Danish  territory  have  summits  exceeding  3,000,  and  in  some  places  even  4,000  and 
5,000  feet,  but  north  of  the  polar  circle  the  mountains  are  less  elevated  in  the 
region  of  deep  fjords  stretching  north  of  Disko  Bay.  Here  the  seaboard  rises  in 
gentle  slopes  towards  the  ice-fields  of  the  interior.  But  the  rugged  island  of 
Disko  itself,  the  largest  on  the  west  coast,  presents  crests  and  domes  rising  above 
3,300  feet.  Still  farther  north  the  peninsula  of  Nursoak  has  summits  of  6,000 
feet,  while  the  peaks  of  gneiss  on  the  neighbouring  mainland  rise  to  heights  of 
6,500  feet  and  upwards.  Beyond  this  point  the  coast  range  falls,  although  the 
gaze  of  mariners  is  here  attracted  by  the  eccentric  form  of  the  "Devil's  Thumb," 


6G 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


a  lofty  eminence  terminating  in  a  sort  of  obelisk.  According  to  Kane  the  Arctic 
Highlands  north  of  Melville  Bay  nowhere  exceed  2,000  feet ;  on  the  east  side  of 
Smith  Channel  Hayes  ascended  a  peak  4,170  feet  high,  and  Nares  attributed  a 
height  of  6,000  feet  to  a  summit  in  Washington  Land,  the  peninsula  skirting  the 
east  side  of  Kennedy  Channel. 

The  east  side  of  Greenland,  indented  like  the  west  with  fjords  and  fringed 
with  islands,  is  the  loftier  and  more  precipitous  of  the  two,  and  here  rises  the 
highest  mountain  hitherto  discovered.  In  1870  the  German  expedition  under 
Koldewey  penetrated  into  an  unknown  fjord,  the  mouth  of  which  was  masked  by 
over  a  hundred  icebergs.  This  long  and  winding  inlet,  which  was  named  the 
Franz-Joseph  Fjord,  is  dominated  by  steep  escarpments  from  0,000  to  7,000  feet 
high,  and   consists   of  horizontal   layers   interspersed  with   quartz,  schists,  and 


Fig.  il. — Cape  Farewell. 
Scale  1  :  1,000,000. 


15  Miles. 


limestone.  Towards  its  western  extremity  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  the 
pyramidal  mass  named  Mount  Petermann  rises,  according  to  Payer,  to  an  altitude 
of  at  least  11,000  feet.  Other  summits  of  like  elevation  probably  occur  elsewhere, 
for  the  explorers  have  already  observed  domes  10,000  feet  high  in  the  southern 
regions,  where  Greenland  is  much  more  contracted  than  in  higher  latitudes.  The 
backbone  or  waterparting  between  the  two  slopes,  placed  by  ISTordenskj6ld  near 
the  west  coast,  is  by  Rink  and  most  other  authorities  removed  to  the  opposite  side, 
presenting  its  more  precipitous  slope  towards  the  Atlantic. 


Geological  Formation. 

Most  of  the  uplands  denuded  by  the  melting  snows  or  retreating  glaciers 
consist  of  crystalline  rocks,  such  as  gneiss,  granites,  and  porphyries.  The  gneiss 
of  the  Franz-Joseph  Fjord  contains  enormous  crystals  of  garnet  like  those  erratic 


GEOLOGY  OF  GREENLAND.  G7 

blocks  in  Iceland  which  were  perhaps  transported  by  ice.  In  this  part  of  Green- 
land the  series  of  rocks  is  the  same  as  in  Spitzbergen,  a  tract  of  Jurassic  formation 
here  also  occurring  associated  in  like  manner  with  carboniferous  deposits  and  fossil 
plants.  Some  chalk  beds  underlying  mioccne  strata  have  been  observed  on  the 
west  coast,  while  various  parts  of  the  seaboard  are  strewn  with  basalts  ejected,  as 
in  Europe,  during  the  tertiary  epoch. 

Xear  Godhavn  in  Disko  Island  a  basalt  escarpment  rises  nearly  vertically  to  a 
height  of  2,000  feet,  and  above  it  is  seen  the  bluish  section  of  a  glacier  over- 
hanging the  precipice,  and  from  time  to  time  sending  down  enormous  blocks  of 
ice.  The  basaltic  columns  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  waves  here  affect  the 
strangest  forms — causeways,  peristyles  of  temples,  cathedral  naves  where  the  billows 
break  with  fury.  It  was  at  Ovifak  near  the  foot  of  a  basalt  cliff  in  Disko  that 
xSordenskjold  found  the  three  huge  blocks  of  iron,  one  weighing  24  tons,  which 
he  removed  to  the  museum  of  Stockholm.  These  blocks,  till  recently  supposed  to 
be  of  meteoric  origin,  are  now  generally  believed  to  have  been  associated  with  the 
eruptive  basalts  and  dolerites  occurring  in  the  same  district  and  also  interspersed 
with  iron  of  the  same  description.  According  to  John  Boss  similar  blocks  are 
found  on  the  shores  of  Melville  Bay,  where  the  material  is  utilised  by  the  natives 
for  making  knives. 

Despite  the  abundance  of  old  igneous  rocks,  no  active  volcanoes  have  yet  been 
discovered  in  Greenland ;  and  although  jets  of  hot  water  occur  at  Unartok  in  the 
south  and  elsewhere,  none  of  those  "very  copious"  thermal  springs  have  been 
found,  near  which  stood  the  monastery  mentioned  in  the  travels  of  the  brothers 
Zeni.  By  means  of  irrigating  rills  the  monks  raised  vegetables,  fruits,  and 
flowers,  such  as  could  be  produced  nowhere  else  in  the  country  ;  the  hot  water 
flowing  seawards  also  formed  a  harbour  free  from  ice,  frequented  in  winter  by 
myriads  of  aquatic  birds. 

The  islands  mentioned  in  the  sagas  as  existing  between  Iceland  and  Greenland 
have  by  some  been  identified  with  those  designated  by  Graah  as  the  "  Gunnbjorn 
Beefs,"'  while  others  have  suggested  that  they  may  have  been  volcanoes  blown  to 
pieces  since  historic  times  by  an  explosion  like  that  of  Krakatau.  The  chart 
prepared  by  Buysch  for  an  edition  of  Btolemy  published  in  1507  indicates  in 
these  waters  the  site  of  an  island,  which  was  said  to  have  been  "  completely  burnt 
in  1456." 

The  Inland  Ice-Cap. 

Till  recently  Hooker,  Payer  and  others  supposed  that  the  interior  of  Greenland 
presented  vast  spaces  free  of  ice,  grass}*  valleys  where  herds  of  reindeer  grazed,  and 
popular  legends  were  appealed  to  in  support  of  this  view.  Xordenskjold  also 
suggested  that  the  phenomenon  might  be  explained  by  the  action  of  the  winds, 
which  after  crossing  the  inland  ranges  descended  in  warm  currents  like  the  foihn 
of  Switzerland,  and  thus  melted  the  snows  of  the  valleys.  But  the  systematic 
researches  made  in  recent  years  have  failed  to  discover  any  of  these  inland  oases. 
The  whole  land  appears,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  covered  with  a  continuous  ice-cap 


69  •   NORTH  AMERICA. 

fringed  by  glaciers  which  move  down  the  outer  valleys  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  sea,  or  to  the  fjords  of  the  periphery.  The  valleys  themselves  have  disap- 
peared and  despite  local  irregularities  the  ice-cap  slopes  like  a  shield  uniformly 
towards  the  interior.  Thus  in  certain  places  the  explorer  should  expect  to  meet 
elevations  of  7,000  or  8,000  feet;  but  owing  to  an  optical  illusion  he  scarcely 
knows  whether  he  is  climbing  or  descending.  The  horizon  seems  to  rise  on  all 
sides,  says  Nordenskjold,  "  as  if  he  were  at  the  bottom  of  a  basin." 

The  aspect   of  these  boundless   wastes  rolling  away  in   scarcely  perceptible 

undulations,  and  in  the  distance  mingling  the  grey  of  their  snows  with  the  grey 

of   the  skies,  at  first  gave  the  impression  that  Greenland  was  a  uniform  plateau, 

a  sort  of  horizontal  table.     The  belief  now  prevails  that  the  rocky  surface  of  the 

land  is  on  the  contrary  carved  into  mountains  and  hills,  valleys  and  gorges,  but 

that  the  plastic  snows  and  ice  have  gradually  filled  up  all  the  cavities  which  now 

show  only  in  slight  sinuosities  on  the  surface.     Allowing  to  the  whole  mass  of  the 

ice-cap  an  average  thickness  of  500  feet,  it  would  represent  a  total  volume  of 

about  150,000  cubic  miles.     This  sermer  sued;  or  "  great  ice  "  of  the  Greenlanders, 

flows  like  asphalt  or  tar  with  extreme  slowness   seawards,  while  the  surface  is 

gradually  levelled  by  the  snow  falling  during  the  course  of  ages  and  distributed 

by  the  winds.     In  the  interior  of  the  country  the  surface  of  the  ice  and  snow  is  as 

smooth  as  if  it  were  polished,  looking  like  "  the  undisturbed  surface  of  a  frozen 

ocean,  the  long  but  not  high  billows  of  which  rolling  from  east  to  west  are  not 

easily  distinguishable  to  the  eye."*     Nevertheless  the  exterior  form  of  the  ice-cap 

has  been  greatly  diversified  at  least  on  its  outer  edge,  where  in  many  places  it  is 

difficult  to  cross,  or  even  quite  impassable.     The  action  of  lateral  pressure,  of  heat 

produced  by  the  tremendous  friction,  of  evaporation  and  filtration  has  often  broken 

the  surface  into  innumerable  cones  a  few  yards  high  in  form  and  colour  resembling 

the  tents  of  an  encampment.     The  depressions  of  the  snowy  plateau  are  filled  with 

meres,  lagoons,  and  lakes;  streams  and  rivulets  excavate  winding  gorges  with 

crystal  walls  in  the  snow  and  ice.     Cascades,  frozen  at   night,  plunge  during  the 

day  into  profound  crevasses ;  during  the  expedition  of  1870  Nordenskjold  saw 

intermittent  jets  of  water  rising  to  a  great  height,  which  he  was  unable  to  study, 

but  which  he  supposes  must  be  geysirs. 

Moraines  occur,  not  on  the  inland  icefields,  but  only  at  the  foot  of  the  glaciers 
and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fall.  Not  a  single  stone  is  to  be  seen  on  the 
vast  expanse  at  any  distance  from  the  coast.  But  the  so-called  nunataJcker,  rocky 
eminences  dreaded  by  the  Eskimo  as  the  abode  of  ghosts,  rise  in  certain  places 
like  islands  above  the  surrounding  snows,  and  when  these  melt  under  the  summer 
heats  the  observer  is  surprised  to  find  the  eminences  overgrown  with  mosses  and 
even  flowering  plants.  Jensen  met  short  grasses,  the  carex  and  saxifrage,  as  well 
as  the  ranunculus  and  poppy  sheltered  beneath  the  mosses  of  one  of  these  nuna- 
takker,  whose  humble  fauna  consisted  of  a  butterfly's  larva  and  two  spiders.  A 
solitary  bird  had  been  borne  by  the  storm  to  this  isolated  rock,  which  stands  4,400 
feet  high,  about  24  miles  in  the  interior  of  the  icefield.  The  existence  of  these 
*  Nansen,  Proceedings  of  the  R.  Geographical  Society,  August,  1889. 


THE  GBEEXLAXD  ICE-CAP. 


69 


Fijr.  23.- 


■Pabi  of  Greenland  free  from  Ice. 
Boale  1  :  5,300,000. 


little  centres  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  amid  the  boundless  snows  is  one  of 
Greenland's  mysteries.  But  the  very  snows  themselves  tave  their  organisms,  as 
shown  by  yellow  and  red  patches  on  the  surface  of  glaciers  and  nivis,  the  colour 
of  which  is  due  to  the  presence  of  myriads  of  animalculte.  The  inland  ice  is  also 
pierced  by  innumerable  little 
holes  of  varying  size  tilled  at 
the  bottom  with  drops  of  water 
and  a  bed  of  grey  dust,  on  which 
grow  numerous  microscopic 
plants.  This  dust,  which  Xor- 
denskjold  has  called  cryokonite, 
or  "  ice  powder,"  is  so  abundant 
that  its  mass  certainly  repre- 
sents many  tons  per  square 
mile,  and  imparts  a  greyish 
tint  to  the  icefields.  It  con- 
sists of  refuse  of  all  kinds 
brought  by  the  winds,  and 
would  also  appear  to  contain 
substances  of  cosmic  origin, 
especially  the  dust  of  meteors 
traversing  the  atmosphere  of 
the  globe. 

Xotwithstanding  the  slight 
general  tilt  of  the  land  the 
Greenland  ice- cap  is  certainly 
in  motion.  All  the  changes  of 
equilibrium,  however  pro- 
duced, have  the  result  of  dis- 
placing the  particles  in  the 
direction  of  the  incline.  "When 
the  ear  is  applied  to  the  surface 
a  muffled  sound  is  heard, 
accompanied  by  sharper  notes 
like  those  of  distant  explosions. 
These  are  the  echoes  of  streams 
flowing  in  the  lower  depths,  of 
blocks  of  ice  falling  into  the 

cascades,  of  crevasses  opening  or  closing.  All  the  movements  are  necessarily 
propagated  from  the  higher  to  the  lower  levels,  so  that  the  whole  mass  is  gradually 
thrust  by  gravity  and  lateral  pressure  from  the  region  of  the  waterparting  down 
to  the  seaboard. 


West   Of    U"*een^"cfi 


l-.'O  Miles. 


NORTH   AMERICA. 


Glaciers  and  Icebergs. 


Although  so  little  is  known  of  the  interior  the  relative  size  and  importance  of 
the  catchment  basins  is  revealed  by  the  lower  extremities  of  the  frozen  streams. 
Towards  the  north  the  east  side  facing  Europe  seems  to  he  less  rich  than  the  west 
in  glaciers  overflowing  seawards.  But  the  south-east  coast  is  fringed,  according 
to  Garde,  by  over  170  glaciers  following  north  and  south  in  a  space  of  about  200 
miles.  More  than  half  of  these  are  fed  by  the  inland  snow-fields,  and  more  than 
a  third  are  over  -5,000  feet  broad  at  their  entrance  into  the  Atlantic.      On  the 


Fig.  24. — Fredekiksha.u:-  I -blink. 
Senle  1  :  700,000. 


Wm '   j  m 

mm     ^  ' l 


1m 


West  dp  Greenwich    50' 


Itinerary  of  Jensen 
Itinerary  of  Dulager. 


18  Miles. 


opposite  or  west  side    the  glaciers   are  relatively  much   narrower.     Such  is   the 
Sermitsialik,  which  discharges  into  a  fjord  1,600  feet  deep. 

The  space  on  the  west  coast  comprised  between  (>.  and  G8~  30'  north  latitude 
is  less  encumbered  with  ice  than  any  other  part  of  Greenland,  although  even  here 
several  glaciers  are  of  vast  size.  Such  is  the  Frederikshaabs  Isblink,  which  winds 
through  a  valley  26  miles  long  and  no  less  than  9  miles  wide  at  its  outlet.  But 
these  frozen  streams  fail  to  reach  the  sea,  thus  leaving  the  coastlands  free  from 
ice  for  a  distance  of  about  450  miles  going  northwards.  In  some  districts  the 
reindeer  hunters  advance  90  miles  from  the  seaboard  before  reaching  the  edge  of 


a 
a 


2 


v: 

H 


IS 

o 

z 
a 
a 


THE  GREENLAND  GLACIERS.  71 

the  inland  ice-cap.  The  superficial  area  of  the  iceless  zone  may  be  estimated 
altogether  at  over  20,000  square  miles.  In  general  aspect  it  differs  little  from 
the  Norwegian  seaboard  lying  under  the  same  latitude,  being  similarly  indented 
with  numerous  fjords  ramifying  in  various  directions,  though  for  the  most  part 
disposed  at  right  angles  with  the  coast.  At  the  upper  end  of  these  long  marine 
inlets  the  alluvial  tracts  are  watered  by  brooks  and  even  rivers,  which,  like  those 
of  the  Alps,  flow  in  summer  through  terminal  arches  at  the  foot  of  the  glaciers. 
These  temporary  streams  are  the  most  copious  in  the  whole  of  Greenland,  yet  they 
represent  only  a  part  of  the  excess  of  annual  moisture  precipitated  under  the  form 
of  rain  or  snow,  for  much  of  this  moisture  is  also  returned  to  the  ocean  through 
the  huge  icebergs  continually  breaking  away  seawards. 

The  long  convoys  of  these  icebergs,  which  drift  southwards  and  imperil  the 
navigation  of  the  north  Atlantic,  originate  on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  between 
68°  30'  and  75°  north  latitude.  One  of  the  great  sources  of  supply  is  the  Jakobs- 
havn  glacier,  which  discharges  into  Disko  Bay  at  a  point  where  its  bed  is  con- 
tracted between  two  lofty  headlands.  Still  more  voluminous  is  the  Torsukatak 
glacier,  which  presents  a  frontal  wall  nearly  5  miles  long,  and  which  reaches  the 
coast  at  "VTaigat  Strait,  north  of  Disko  Bay.  Then  follow  other  frozen  streams  in 
the  fjords  along  the  seaboard  beyond  the  Nursoak  (Nugsuak)  peninsula  as  far  as 
Upernivik  Bay,  whose  glacier  at  its  mouth  is  divided  into  several  branches  by  a 
cluster  of  high  islets,  giving  it  the  aspect  of  a  cataract  disposed  in  numerous 
divisions  by  rocky  piles. 

North  of  this  point  the  glaciers  have  been  little  studied  ;  they  are  seen  to 
disembogue  between  most  of  the  headlands,  although  explorers  do  not  describe 
them  as  giving  rise  to  any  large  icebergs.  Even  the  enormous  Humboldt  glacier, 
which  develops  a  concave  frontal  wall  over  60  miles  long  and  300  feet  high  above 
the  unfathomed  depths  of  the  Kane  Basin,  cannot  be  compared  to  those  of  Danish 
Greenland  for  the  number  and  size  of  its  crystal  fragments. 

Most  of  the  glaciers  reaching  the  coast  round  the  Greenland  seaboard  present 
a  somewhat  regular  frontal  line,  from  which  blocks  of  varying  size  break  off  with 
every  wrave  and  drift  away  with  the  cxirrent.  But  the  frozen  streams  which  yield 
those  huge  masses  large  enough  to  be  called  icebergs,  that  is,  "  mountains  of  ice," 
are  relatively  few  in  number,  their  production  requiring  a  combination  of  favour- 
able circumstances,  such  as  the  thickness  of  the  parent  glacier,  the  form  of  its 
bed,  the  depth  of  the  water  at  its  mouth.  The  larger  fragments  originate  for  the 
most  part  along  that  remarkable  break  which  is  presented  in  the  normal  formation 
of  the  coastline  between  Egedesminde  and  the  Svartenhuk  peninsula.  Rink 
enumerates  not  more  than  thirty  Greenland  glaciers  which  discharge  really  large 
icebergs,  and  of  this  number  only  six  or  eight  yield  blocks  of  the  first  magnitude. 

The  average  velocity  of  the  congealed  masses  is  about  50  feet  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours,  but  in  some  places  a  much  greater  speed  has  been  recorded,  though 
still  varying  considerably  with  the  seasons.  A  branch  of  the  Augpadlartok 
glacier  north  of  Upernivik,  moves  at  the  rate  of  100  feet  a  day,  the  highest  yet 
measured.     But  how  enormous  must  be  the  pressure  of  the  inland  icefields  to 


72  NORTH  AMERICA. 

discharge  into  the  sea  the  vast  quantities  of  icebergs  which  are  yearly  sent  adrift 
along  the  Greenland  seaboard  !  Estimated  in  a  single  block  the  annual  discharge 
from  each  of  the  five  best-known  glaciers  would  represent  a  mass  of  about  seventeen 
billion  cubic  feet  in  capacity,  and  5,600  feet  in  height,  depth,  and  thickness. 
Reduced  to  a  liquid  state  this  mass  would  be  equivalent  to  a  stream  discharging 
seawards  500  cubic  feet  per  second,  or  15,500  millions  a  year. 

Each  glacial  basin  may  be  compared  to  a  fluvial  basin  defined  by  waterpartings 


Fig.  25. — Huhboldt  Glacier. 
Scale  1 :  2,i  00,000. 


I  West  dP    Greenwich 


30  Miles. 


and  ramifying  into  lateral  basins.  Like  an  ordinary  river,  it  has  its  alluvial 
deposits,  the  fine  particles  of  triturated  rocks  ground  down  by  the  friction  of  the 
slowly  moving  frozen  streams.  Nevertheless,  most  of  the  precipitated  moisture 
probably  returns  to  the  sea  in  a  liquid  state.  Estimating  at  twelve  inches  the 
annual  snow  and  rain-fall  of  Greenland,  Rink  calculates  that  a  sixth  part  is 
discharged  in  the  form  of  ice,  and  five-sixths  by  evaporation  and  the  streams  fed 
by  the  glaciers.  But  the  alluvial  matter  is  mainly  carried  off  by  the  running 
waters,  very  little  sediment  of  any  kind  being  transported  by  the  drift  ice. 


THE  GREENLAND  GLACIERS. 


73 


The  formation  of  this  drift  ice,  or  floating  icebergs,  is  one  of  those  phenomena 
which  were  discussed  long  before  the  seaboard  had  been  studied,  or  before  the 
breaking  away  of  the  frozen  masses  had  actually  been  witnessed.  "Wherever  the 
glaciers  discharge  through  a  broad  valley  preserving  a  uniform  width  and  depth 
for  a  considerable  space,  and  advancing  seawards  through  a  fjord  of  like  dimen- 
sions, and  with  gently  sloping  bed,  the  ice  may  progress  without  any  of  these 
accidents  caused  by  the  inequalities  of  more  rugged  channels.  Under  such 
conditions  the  compact  mass  glides  smoothly  forward  over  its  rocky  bed  without 
developing  any  rents  or  fissures.  But  as  it  moves  down  like  a  ship  on  its  keel,  it 
tends  to  rise,  being  at  least  one-twentieth  lighter  than  the  displaced  water.     It  is 


Fig.  26. — Jakobshavx  Glaclee. 
Scale  1  :  600,000. 


12  Miles. 


also  left  without  support  by  the  sudden  fall  of  its  bed  beyond  the  normal  coast- 
line. Nevertheless,  it  still  continues  its  onward  movement  through  the  waters  to 
a  point  where  its  weight  prevails  over  its  force  of  cohesion  with  the  frozen  stream 
thrusting  it  forward.  At  this  point  it  snaps  off  suddenly  with  a  tremendous 
crash,  and  the  iceberg,  enveloped  in  a  thousand  fragments  projected  into  space, 
plunges  into  the  abyss  and  whirls  round  and  round  to  find  its  centre  of  gravity 
amid  the  troubled  waters.  On  recovering  from  the  bewilderment  caused  by  all 
this  tumult  and  chaos,  the  spectator  finds  that  the  glacier  has  apparently  receded 
a  long  way  towards  the  head  of  the  bay,  in  the  middle  of  which  a  crystal  peak  is 
seen  slowly  drifting  away  with  the  current.  In  this  he  recognises  the  huge 
VOL.  xv.  g 


74 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


fragment  detached  from  the  glacier,  though  seldom  able  to  detect  its  primitive 
form,  the  greater  part,  say  at  least  six-sevenths  of  its  volume,  sinking  below  the 
surface.  In  the  Jakobshavn  Fjord  Helland  observed  several  icebergs  rising  300 
feet  above  sea-level ;  one  even  attained  a  height  of  400  feet  and  was  some  miles 
long  on  all  sides.  But  being  too  large  to  cross  the  sill  at  the  entrance  of  the 
fjord,  these  enormous  masses  run  aground  at  the  bar,  where  they  break  into 
several  fragments  still  of  great  size.  The  highest  measured  by  Nares  in  the 
open  seas  rose  250  feet  above  the  surface,  and  in  the  Denmark  Channel,  between 
Greenland  and  Iceland,  Garde  saw  none  exceeding  200  feet. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  dangerous  to  shipping  must  be  the  proximity  of 


Fij<.  -7. — Movement  of  the  ICvn'OEEDli-o-Suak  Glaciek,    L"ju_xak  Disteict. 

Scale  1  :  3..  0,000. 


WertoR  G 


52°55- 


6  Miles. 


The  scale  of  heights  is  60  times  greater  than  that  of  lengths. 


those  glaciers  which  suddenly  throw  off  such  prodigious  masses,  whose  capacity 
is  measured  in  hundreds  of  millions,  and  even  billions  of  cubic  yards.  The 
instantaneous  crash  churns  up  the  seething  waters,  and  in  many  places  changes 
the  marine  level  by  many  feet,  causing  sudden  eddies,  swift  currents,  and  even 
rapids  like  those  of  a  river.  Then  the  tumultuous  waters  rush  fiercely  through 
the  narrows,  sweeping  along  the  broken  fragments  of  ice,  and  threatening  vessels 
in  port  with  imminent  destruction. 

During  the  present  geological  epoch,  some  glaciers  have  been  retreating,  while 
others,  such  as  the  Sermitsialik,  have  advanced  several  miles.     But  it  is  difficult 


- 
g 

< 
a 


S3 


THE  GREENLAND  GLACIERS.  75 

to  say  whether  the  inland  ice  has,  on  the  whole,  increased  or  diminished.  When 
compared,  however,  with  a  still  more  remote  period  the  present  aspect  of  the  seaboard, 
especially  in  the  inhabited  regions,  attests  a  retreat  of  the  present  glaciers.  The 
coastlands  now  free  from  ice  were  formerly  icebound  like  the  interior,  and  the 
peninsulas  and  islands  fringing  the  shore  were  connected  with  the  mainland  by 
continuous  glacial  fetters,  as  shown  by  the  erratic  boulders,  and  the  polished 
surface  of  the  rocks.  Since  the  retreat  of  those  glaciers,  that  no  longer  reach 
the  coast,  deposits  of  sand  and  mud  have  been  formed  in  the  abandoned  beds,  and 
these  deposits  have  even  encroached  on  the  fjords  themselves.  At  the  entrance  of 
the  inlets  a  submarine  ridge  of  debris  marks  the  limit  between  the  outer  and 
inner  waters.  This  skargard,  as  it  is  called,  represents  the  frontal  moraine  of  the 
glacier  which  formerly  filled  the  whole  fjord,  and  which  has  gradually  receded 
inland.  Thus  Disko  Bay  was  at  one  time  entirely  occupied  by  the  Jacobshavn 
glacier,  while  that  of  Torsukatak  overflowed  beyond  Waigat  Bay,  strewing  erratic 
blocks  of  gneiss  over  the  basalt  banks  of  its  bed.  Greenland  has  consequently 
entered  a  period  of  higher  temperature ;  its  glaciers  have  diminished  in  size, 
and  the  fjords  formerly  filled  with  ice  have  become  open  marine  inlets. 

Upheaval  and  Subsidence. 

Most  geologists  also  believe  that  considerable  changes  of  level  have  taken 
place  along  the  coastlands,  as  shown  by  the  raised  beaches  occurring  at  various 
heights  above  the  present  sea-level.  Some  are  mentioned  by  Hammer  and 
Steenstrup  as  high  as  480  feet,  and  the  same  observers  have  also  found  banks  of 
marine  shells  belonging  to  the  present  fauna  at  an  elevation  of  190  feet.  Never- 
theless these  terraces  and  deposits  are  no  absolute  proof  of  upheaval,  as  their 
formation  may  be  explained  by  the  former  extension  of  the  glaciers.  "When 
these  frozen  streams  advance  seawards  far  enough  to  close  the  entrance  of  a 
lateral  fjord,  its  communication  with  the  sea  is  cut  off  and  it  becomes  transformed 
to  a  lake,  whose  level  is  gradually  raised  until  the  overflow  finds  an  outlet  through 
some  sill  or  crevasse.  In  tbis  way  lakes  have  been  formed  to  the  right  and  left  of 
the  glaciers,  rising  to  various  altitudes  and  carving  on  the  surrounding  cliffs 
regular  beaches  like  those  skirting  the  seashore.  Then  as  the  confining  glacial 
barrier  subsides  the  lake  is  gradually  lowered,  and  at  last  exhausted,  leaving  on 
the  flanks  of  the  encircling  hills  the  traces  of  its  former  presence. 

On  the  Greenland  coastlands  hundreds  of  such  lakes  still  exist ;  but  there  are 
also  other  lacustrine  basins  which  were  evidently  marine  inlets,  and  which  now 
stand  above  the  level  of  the  sea  without  having  been  separated  from  it  by  glacial 
action.  Hence  their  origin  can  be  explained  only  by  the  assumption  of  a  change 
in  the  relative  levels  of  land  and  water.  Such  is  the  lake  discovered  by  Kane  to 
the  north  of  the  Humboldt  Glacier,  some  30  feet  higher  than  the  spring  tides. 
Its  water  has  gradually  become  fresh,  but  its  fauna  remains  marine,  so  that  there 
can  scarcely  be  any  doubt  it  at  one  time  formed  part  of  the  neighbouring  gulf. 
Bound  about  Polaris  Bay,  Hall  visited  several  basins  of  a  similar  character,  and  up 

g2 


76 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


to  an  altitude  of  1,760  feet  he  observed  beaches  containing  thick  beds  of  driftwood 
and  marine  crustaceans. 

Geologists  generally  suppose  that  the  region  of  North  Greenland  has  been 
upraised  during  the  present  epoch,  whereas  the  coastlands  south  of  77°  north 


Fig.  28. — Greenland  Floe-Tce. 
Scale  1  :  22,000,000. 


iz^r 


75* 


West  of  breenwich  ^ 


.   !'..  \  ,  f  Floe-Ice. 


>til\\\  \  Greenland  Tee-Cap. 


.  620  Miles. 


latitude  have  undergone  a  movement  of  subsidence.  Pringel,  Kane,  Payer  and 
others,  appeal  to  numerous  instances  of  erosion  and  denudation,  which  they  regard 
with  the  Eskimo  as  proofs  of  a  general  lowering  of  the  land,  whereas  Steenstrup 
sees  in  all  this  nothing  but  local  phenomena  without  any  general  significance. 


MARINE  CURRENTS.  77 

Marine  Currents  and  Tides. 

The  system  of  coast  currents  is  difficult  to  explain  in  its  details,  owing  to  the 
contradictory  reports  of  observers  perplexed  by  the  incessant  struggles  and  shift- 
ings  caused  by  the  conflicts  between  the  tepid  Atlantic  and  cold  Arctic  waters. 
Along  the  east  side,  which  is  occasionally  connected  by  continuous  floe-ice  with 
Iceland  and  Jan  Hayen,  the  current  sets  parallel  with  the  shore  from  north  to 
south  and  south-west ;  it  consequently  flows  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  branch 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  known  as  "Irminger's  Current,"  which  sweeps  round  the  west 
and  north  sides  of  Iceland.  But  the  soundings  have  revealed  the  fact  that  the  jtolar 
current  rests  on  a  layer  which  itself  belongs  to  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  which  sets 
northwards  while  the  surface  waters  move  southwards.  This  is  clearly  shown  by 
the  temperature  and  salinity  of  the  water,  both  increasing  with  the  depth.  From 
freezing  point  in  the  surface  waters  the  heat  increases  as  much  as  10°  and  even 
12°  Fahrenheit  lower  down,  and  the  salinity  increases  in  the  same  direction 
from  30  to  35  thousandths  and  more. 

About  Cape  Farewell  the  conflict  of  waters  is  shown  by  phenomena  of  a  very 
irregular  character.  Sheets  of  ice  are  often  seen  drifting  with  a  surface  current 
in  one  direction,  while  large  blocks,  penetrating  to  lower  depths,  were  carried  in 
another  by  a  contrary  undercurrent.  One  of  these  blocks,  which  stranded  in  1884 
near  Julianahaab,  was  found  covered  with  refuse  from  the  Jeannette,  which 
had  been  icebound  not  far  from  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Lena.  The  flotsam 
had  thus  taken  three  years  to  drift  some  3,000  miles  across  the  Arctic  Ocean  and 
round  Greenland.  From  Polar  Asia  also  comes  the  drift-wood,  larch,  alder,  and 
the  like,  which  is  gathered  on  the  east  coast. 

On  the  west  side  a  relatively  warm  current  sets  northwards  to  Smith  Sound, 
and  probably  continues  in  the  same  direction  under  the  floe-ice,  for  such  a  current 
has  often  been  reported  in  Kennedy  Channel.  It  is  owing  to  this  warm  current 
that  the  western  parts  of  Greenland  are  still  comprised  in  the  habitable  world. 
Here  villages,  surrounded  by  cultivated  plots,  have  sprung  up  on  the  margin  of 
the  fjords :  fishermen  find  an  open  sea  in  which  to  pursue  their  prey  ;  skippers 
are  able  to  coast  the  seaboard  from  port  to  port,  whereas  the  central  parts  of  Davis 
Strait  and  Baffin  Bay  are  obstructed  by  large  quantities  of  ice  often  forming  a  con- 
tinuous mass,  the  middle-pack  of  English  seafarers.  At  times  the  contrast  of  tem- 
perature between  two  neighbouring  places  is  most  surprising,  especially  near  Smith 
Sound.  Thus  Whale  Sound  and  Foulke  Bay  enjoy  a  remarkably  mild  climate  com- 
pared to  that  of  Rensselaer  Bay,  where  Kane  wintered,  although  it  lies  only  some 
forty  miles  to  the  north-east.  Hayes  speaks  of  the  former  region  as  an  "  oasis  " 
and  a  "  Paradise  ;  "  in  any  case  it  is  a  land  where  the  Eskimo  can  live  and  find 
sustenance. 

According  to  some  explorers  all  influence  of  the  Gulf  Stream  ceases  north  of 
Baffin  Bay*  The  waters  penetrating  into  the  northern  straits  would  appear 
usually  to  set  from  the  Paleocrystic  Sea,  where  are  united  the  two  tidal  currents, 

*  Axel  Hamberg,  Proc.  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  1884. 


78  NOETH  AMERICA. 

one  coming  from  the  Atlantic  round  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  other  from  the 
Pacific  through  Bering  Strait. 

Fossil  Remains. 

If  Greenland,  like  other  regions,  passed  through  a  glacial  epoch,  the   fossil 
remains  preserved  iu  its  sedimentary  rocks  show  that  it  had  also  its  hot  and  tem- 


Fig.  29.— Movement  of  the  Tidal  Currents  round  Greenland. 
Scale  1  :  35,000,000. 


. 


.50° 


West   of    Greenwich 


G20  Miles. 


perate  periods.  The  old  formations  -which  have  yielded  carboniferous,  triassic, 
and  Jurassic  fossils,  present  types  of  organisms  comparable  to  those  at  present 
found  in  the  torrid  zone.  The  upper  chalk  beds,  abounding  in  vegetable  forms, 
analogous  to  those  of  the  subtropical  and  temperate  zones,  had  already  been 
examined  by  Giesecke  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  They  supplied  to 
Nordenskjold  a  very  remarkable  flora,  especially  rich  in  dicotyledonous  plants 


CLIMATE  OF  GEEEXLAND.  79 

represented  by  numerous  families  of  Cycadea,  a  tree-fern  and  even  a  bread-fruit 
tree.     At  that  time  the  mean  temperature  must  have  been  as  high  as  68°  Fahr. 

The  miocene  flora,  whose  general  physiognomy  corresponds  to  a  more  temperate 
climate,  averaging  about  53°  or  54°  Fahr.,  is  illustrated  by  splendid  specimens 
discovered  chiefly  in  Disko  Island  and  the  surrounding  peninsulas.  Quite  a  fossil 
forest  is  buried  under  the  ferruginous  mass  of  Mount  Atanekerdluk,  a  peak  which 
rises  to  a  height  of  over  a  thousand  feet  over  against  Disko,  and  which  is  now 
surrounded  by  glaciers  on  all  sides.  From  these  deposits  "Whynrper,  Nordenskjold, 
and  others  have  extracted  169  species  of  plants,  of  which  about  three-fourths  were 
shrubs  and  trees,  some  with  stems  as  thick  as  a  man's  body.  Altogether  there 
have  been  discovered  in  the  Greenland  strata  as  many  as  613  species  of  fossil 
plants.  The  most  prevalent  tree  is  a  sequoia,  closely  resembling  the  Oregon  and 
Californian  giants  of  the  present  epoch.  Associated  with  this  conifer  were  beeches, 
oaks,  evergreen  oaks,  elms,  hazelnuts,  walnuts,  magnolias,  laurels  ;  and  these 
forest  trees  were  festooned  with  the  vine,  ivy  and  other  creepers.  A  leaf  of  a 
cycadea  found  amongst  these  fossil  remains  is  the  largest  ever  seen,  and  a  true 
palm,  the  flabellaria,  has  been  discovered  amongst  the  remains  of  these  old  Arctic 
forests. 

To  develop  such  a  flora  the  climate  of  North  Greenland  must  at  that  time 
have  been  analogous  to  that  at  present  enjoyed  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Geneva, 
twenty-four  degrees  nearer  to  the  equator.  According  to  the  same  gradation  of 
temperature  the  dry  lands  about  the  north  pole  itself  must  at  the  same  epoch  have 
had  their  forests  of  aspens  and  conifers.  According  to  Oswald  Heer  the  change 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  climate  since  then  represents  a  fall  of  30°  or  40°  Fahr. 
for  North  Greenland.  The  interval  between  these  two  ages  was  marked  by  the 
glacial  period,  whose  traces  are  visible  on  the  west  coast. 

Climate. 

At  present  the  climate  of  Greenland  is  one  of  the  coldest  in  the  world.  The 
isothermal  of  zero  traverses  the  land  near  its  southern  extremity,  and  in  the 
northern  districts  whole  years  pass  without  a  single  summer's  day,  that  is,  with 
a  temperature  of  59°  or  60°  Fahr.  At  TJpernivik  the  glass  falls  in  winter  to  — 47° 
Fahr.,  and  even  in  summer  it  does  not  always  rise  to  freezing-point.  In  September 
Nansen  and  his  party  had  to  endure  colds  of  — 56°  Fahr.  for  several  consecutive 
nights.  On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  summer  heats  scarcely  exceed  64°  Fahr. 
in  the  shade ;  but  they  amply  suffice  to  melt  all  the  snow  on  the  plains  and  even  on 
the  hills  of  the  coastlands. 

In  East  Greenland  the  solar  rays  often  appear  unendurable  to  travellers, 
especially  in  virtue  of  the  contrast  with  the  ordinary  low  temperature.  Payer 
relates  that  on  the  shores  of  the  Franz-Joseph  fjord  the  sailors,  overcome  by  the 
heat,  fell  into  a  lethargic  sleep  from  which  it  was  difficult  to  rouse  them.  Scoresby 
saw  the  natives  on  the  east  coast  walking  about  naked  to  cool  themselves.  In 
general  the  summer  temperature  is  remarkably   uniform  throughout  Greenland, 


80 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


the  few  fine  days  of  this  season  presenting  a  discrepancy  of  not  more  than  7°  or  8° 
Fahr  as  compared  with  differences  of  20°  or  25°  recorded  in  winter.  Towards  the 
southern  point  the  winter  climate  answers  to  that  of  Norway,  while  in  the  north  it 

is  quite  Arctic* 

The  prevailing  sea  breezes  usually  set  north  and  south  or  south  and  north,  the 


Fig.  30.— Disko  Island  and  Nuesoak  Peninsula. 
Scale  1 : 2,500,000. 


former   cold   and   dry,  but   occasionally  accompanied   by  fogs   in   summer,  the 


Temperature  of  various  Greenland  stations:— 

North  Latitude.       Mean  Temp. 
Julianahaab        .         . 
Godthaab    . 
Jakobshavn 
Upernivik   . 
Sabine  Island 


.     64°  8' 

.     29° 

.     69°  13' 

.     24° 

.     72°  48' 

.      15° 

.     74°  32'      . 

.     13° 

Summer  Temp 

47°  F. 

42° 

36° 

38° 

65° 


Winter  Temp. 
22°  F. 

.      17° 

.  10° 
.  6° 
—40° 


CLIMATE  OF  GEEEXLAXD. 


81 


latter  humid,  charged  with  rain  or  snow.  By  an  apparent  anomaly  the  warmest 
winds  are  those  on  the  west  coast,  which  come  from  the  ice-covered  inland 
plateaux.  Eising  in  the  tepid  Norwegian  waters  these  winds  are  cooled  in  their 
passage  across  the  Greenland  mountains,  but  again  become  warm  as  they  approach 
the  western  seas.  Their  effect  is  felt  in  the  north  as  well  as  in  the  south,  raisins 
the  winter  temperature  at  Upernivik  above  freezing  point,  and  causing  the  snows 
to  melt  even  in  the  month  of  January.  They  are  frequently  accompanied  by 
heavy  downpours,  such  as  that  of  October,  1887,  at  Ivigtut  near  Cape  Farewell, 
where  the  rainfall  reached  8  inches  in  two  days.  In  December  the  discharge 
exceeded  13  inches  in  eleven  days,  and  the  mean  for  the  whole  year  rose  to  46 
inches.     Farther  north   the  rains  are  never  so  copious,  and  the  climate  beyond 


Fig.  31. — Fbaxcis  Joseph  Fjoed. 
Scale  1  :  2,500,000. 


60  Miles. 


Upernivik  may  be  described  as  very  dry,  as  it  also  is  on  the  east  coast  facing 
Iceland. 

Flora  and  Fauna. 


Although  incomparably  poorer  than  that  of  miocene  times,  the  present  flora  of 
Greenland  is  sufficient  to  clothe  extensive  tracts  with  a  mantle  of  mosses,  grasses, 
and  brushwood.  Wherever  the  snows  melt  under  the  influence  of  the  sun  or  of 
the  warm  east  winds,  herbaceous  and  other  lowly  plants  spring  up  even  on  the 
exposed  nunatakker,  and  to  a  height  of  5,000  feet.  Owing  to  the  uniform 
intensity  of  the  solar  heat  the  summer  flora  is  almost  identical  on  the  low-lying 
coastlands  and  highest  mountain  tops.  True  trees  occur  in  the  southern  districts, 
where  Egede  was  said  to  have  measured  some  nearly  20  feet  high.  But  the 
largest  met  by  Rink  during  all  his  long  raniblings  was  a  white  birch  14  feet  high 


82  NORTH  AMERICA. 

growing  amid  the  rocks  near  a  Norse  ruin.  Few  trees  in  fact  exceed  5  or  6  feet, 
while  most  of  the  shrubs  become  trailing  plants.  Such  are  the  service  and  alder, 
which  on  the  coast  reach  65°  north  latitude,  the  juniper,  which  advances  to  67°, 
and  the  dwarf  birch,  which  ranges  beyond  7  "2". 

In  its  general  features  the  Greenland  flora,  comprising  about  400  flowering 
plants  and  several  hundred  species  of  lichens,  greatly  resembles  that  of  Scan- 
dinavia. Hooker  and  Dr.  Robert  Brown  regard  it  as  essentially  the  same  as  that 
of  the  North  European  highlands  and  lacustrine  regions.  Even  on  the  west 
coast  facing  America  this  European  physiognomy  is  said  to  prevail,  although  to  a 
less  degree  than  on  the  opposite  side,  which  appears  to  be  much  poorer  in  vege- 
table forms.  But  though  limited,  the  American  element  is  important,  supplying 
to  the  natives  numerous  edible  berries,  algae,  and  fuci,  which  have  saved  whole 
tribes  from  starvation  during  periods  of  scarcity.  The  Europeans  have  also  their 
little  garden  plots,  where  they  grow  lettuce,  cabbage,  turnips,  and  occasionally 
potatoes  about  the  size  of  schoolboys'  marbles. 

Like  the  flora,  the  fauna  is  mainly  European,  resembling  that  of  Iceland, 
Spitzbergen,  Lapland,  and  Novaya  Zemlya,  with  all  which  regions  Greenland  at 
one  time  formed  continuous  land.  The  mammals,  such  as  the  reindeer,  white 
bear,  Arctic  fox  and  hare,  ermine  and  lemming,  are  those  of  Europe,  the  musk  ox 
alone  being  of  American  origin.  But  this  animal  is  not  found  in  the  habitable 
parts,  being  confined  to  the  glacial  tracts  limited  westwards  by  Smith  Sound,  and 
ranging  eastwards  to  Franz-Joseph  Fjord.  The  Danes  have  introduced  a  few  of 
their  domestic  animals,  the  dog,  cat,  ox,  pig,  sheep,  and  goat ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  their  firearms  have  greatly  diminished  the  primitive  fauna.  Herds  of  rein- 
deer are  no  longer  met  in  the  northern  parts  beyond  the  European  settlements, 
where  as  many  as  25,000  were  annually  killed  during  the  years  1845-49,  and 
8,500  from  1851  to  1855.  The  swan  has  also  become  rare ;  another  bird, 
probably  the  auk  [alca  impennis),  has  completely  disappeared,  and  the  eider  is 
now  seen  only  in  the  small  archipelagoes  remote  from  the  Danish  villages.  Beetles 
and  mollusks  are  far  less  numerous  than  in  Norway,  from  which  Nordenskjold 
infers  that  the  glacial  period  has  persisted  much  longer  in  Greenland  than  in 
Scandinavia. 

The  surrounding  seas  teem  with  animal  life,  comprising  as  many  as  seven 
species  of  seals  and  sixteen  of  cetaceans,  besides  fishes,  mollusks,  and  smaller 
organisms  in  endless  variety.  The  marine  fauna  presents  a  distinctly  European 
character,  and  in  its  mollusks  Davis  Strait  still  forms  part  of  Europe. 

According  to  seafarers  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  West  Greenland  waters  is 
diversely  coloured  dark  brown,  green,  or  milky  white,  these  tints  being  due  to  the 
diatomacerc  filling  these  seas  to  a  depth  of  600  or  700  feet  and  for  many  thousands 
of  square  miles.  Numerous  species  of  medusoo  feed  in  these  vast  "  prairies,"  and 
in  their  turn  fall  a  prey  to  the  cetaceans.  The  neighbourhood  of  the  coloured 
waters  is  always  hailed  as  a  good  omen  by  the  harpooners,  who  here  secure  rich 
harvests  of  seals,  cetaceans,  and  fish.  The  seal  is  the  chief  resource  of  the 
Eskimo,  who  use  the  oil  and  fat  as  food,  the  sinews  as  a  stout  sewing  thread,  the 


INHABITANTS  OF  GREENLAND.  83 

skins  for  the  manufacture  of  garments,  tents,  and  canoes.  The  walrus  or  morse  is 
also  hunted  for  the  sake  of  its  tusks,  which  yield  a  hard,  white  ivory  more  valuable 
than  that  of  the  elephant. 

Inhabitants. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  present  population  consists  of  Danes,  Danish  half-breeds, 
and  tho  Eskimo  proper,  more  or  less  modified  by  crossings  with  the  early  Norse 
settlers.  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants,  already  Christianised  and  civilised  by  the 
missionaries,  are  grouped  in  parishes,  whose  organization  differs  from  corres- 
ponding European  communities  only  in  those  conditions  that  are  imposed  by  the 
climate  and  the  struggle  for  existence.  There  still  survive,  however,  a  few  tribes 
of  pure  Eskimo  stock,  such  as  those  recently  discovered  by  European  explorers 
beyond  the  Danish  territory  north  of  Melville  Bay  and  on  the  east  coast.  Others 
also  may  perhaps  exist  along  the  shores  of  unvisited  or  inaccessible  fjords.  But 
the  most  northern  camping-ground  hitherto  discovered  is  that  of  Ita  (Etah), 
situated  in  Port  Foulke  on  Smith  Sound,  in  78°  18'  north  latitude.  In  1875  and 
again  in  1881  it  was  found  abandoned  ;  but  it  is  known  to  have  been  previously 
inhabited,  and  the  natives  had  returned  to  the  place  in  1882  and  1883.*  When 
visited  by  Hall  and  his  party,  this  little  group  of  twenty  persons,  who  had  never 
seen  any  other  human  beings,  fancied  that  the  strangers  were  ghosts,  the  souls  of 
their  forefathers  descending  from  the  moon  or  rising  from  the  depths  of  the  abyss. 
In  their  eyes  the  ships  of  John  Boss  were  great  birds  with  huge  flapping  wings. 

The  term  "  Eskimo  "  applied  by  Europeans  to  the  natives  of  Greenland,  the 
Arctic  Archipelago  and  the  Frozen  Ocean,  is  usually  interpreted  by  etymologists 
in  the  sense  of  "eaters  of  raw  fish."  This  designation,  which  is  of  Algonquin 
origin,  is  supposed  to  have  been  given  to  the  "  Hyperboreans  "  by  their  Bcdskin 
neighbours  proud  of  their  superior  civilization.  But  the  Eskimo  themselves,  who 
from  their  isolated  position  had  come  to  regard  themselves  as  almost  constituting 
the  whole  of  mankind,  called  themselves  in  a  general  way  by  various  names, 
amongst  others  that  of  Innuit  or  Inoit,  that  is,  "  men  "  in  a  pre-eminent  sense. 
Karalit,  another  of  these  designations,  appears  to  be  the  original  form  of  the  term 
"  Skrallinger,"  applied  by  the  early  Norse  invaders  to  the  natives  with  whom 
from  the  first  they  had  maintained  a  deadly  struggle.  The  Europeans  on  the 
other  hand  are  known  to  the  Eskimo  by  the  name  of  Kablunak,  that  is,  the 
"  Crowned,"  in  allusion  to  their  headdress. 

The  Greenland  Innuits  are  all  grouped  along  the  coastlands,  as  are  also  their 
western  congeners  as  well  as  the  Asiatic  Chukches,  who  probably  belong  to  the 
same  stock.  They  are  prevented  by  the  ice-cap  from  penetrating  far  inland, 
while  fishing,  their  chief  pursuit,  obliges  them  to  settle  along  the  shores  of  the 
fjords  and  headlands.  It  has  thus  been  easy  to  calculate  their  numbers  in  those 
districts  where  Europeans  dwell  amongst  them.  In  the  whole  of  North  America 
they  are  estimated  at  about  30,000  altogether,  while  those  of  Greenland  rather 
exceed  10,000,  all  but  500  or  600  confined  to  the  west  coast.     In  certain  districts 

*  Greely,  Three  Tears  of  Arctic  Service. 


84  NOETH  AMEEICA. 

their  groups  of  habitations  are  dispersed  over  large  spaces,  the  stations  being  some- 
times over  60  miles  apart,  and  quite  inaccessible  one  to  the  other  except  by  way  of 
the  sea. 

Despite  the  vast  extent  of  their  domain,  stretching  3,000  or  4,000  miles  from 
east  to  west  between  the  Pacific  and  North  Atlantic  Oceans,  the  different  tribes 
everywhere  present  great  uniformity  in  their  appearance,  customs,  and  idioms. 
Like  other  American  languages  the  Eskimo  is  of  polysynthetic  form,  the  same 
structure  and  the  same  roots  prevailing  from  Bering  Strait  to  Labrador.  Of  all 
the  dialects  the  most  divergent  is  that  of  the  few  inhabitants  of  East  Greenland, 
a  fact  due  either  to  their  long  isolation,  or  else  to  the  custom  of  scrupulously 
avoiding  all  combinations  of  syllables  that  might  recall  the  names  of  the  departed. 
Every  death  thus  contributes  to  modify  the  current  speech. 

The  striking  analogy  in  their  customs  presented  by  the  hyperborean  Eskimo 
and  the  troglodytes  of  the  stone  age  in  West  Europe  has  suggested  the  theory  of 
a  relationship  between  the  two  groups  of  populations.  The  peoples  who  occupied 
the  Dordogne  basin  when  its  climate  resembled  that  now  prevailing  in  the  polar 
regions,  are  supposed  to  have  gradually  retired  northwards  with  the  increase  of 
temperature.  Following  the  retreat  of  the  snows  and  of  the  animals  inured  to  an 
Arctic  climate,  they  thus  at  last  reached  the  polar  circle  and  became  the  ancestors 
of  the  present  Innuits.  Link,  however,  who  has  dwelt  longest  amongst  the  Green- 
landers,  does  not  consider  this  theory  justified.  According  to  him  the  Eskimo 
are  pure  Americans,  who  while  contrasting  in  appearance  with  their  immediate 
neighbours  in  the  British  possessions,  nevertheless  present  every  shade  of  transition 
to  the  American  type  through  their  congeners  of  Alaska,  the  Charlotte  Islands, 
and  British  Columbia.* 

Amongst  the  Greenland  Eskimo  are  most  frequently  found  men  of  average 
and  even  high  stature,  especially  on  the  east  coast.  Most  of  those  on  the  west  side 
are  short,  but  thickset  and  robust,  with  short  legs,  small  hands,  and  a  yellowish- 
white  complexion.  The  face  is  broad  and  flat,  the  nose  very  small,  the  eyes  brown 
and  slightly  oblique  like  the  Chinese,  the  hair  black,  lank  and  falling  over  the 
forehead,  the  expression  mild,  suggesting  that  of  the  seal,  the  animal  which  is 
ever  in  their  thoughts,  and  whose  death  is  their  life.  They  have  also  the  seal's 
gait  and  carriage,  as  well  as  the  rounded  figure  well  lined  with  fat  to  protect  it 
from  the  cold.  What  essentially  distinguishes  the  Eskimo  from  the  Mongolian, 
with  whom  he  was  till  recently  affiliated,  is  the  extremely  "  dolichocephalous"  form 
of  his  head,  the  skull,  with  its  vertical  sides  and  sharp  crest,  often  affecting  a 
"  scaphocephalous  "  or  boat-like  shape.  According  to  Dall  the  cranial  capacity  is 
higher  than  that  of  the  Bedskins. 

Both  sexes  are  dressed  very  much  alike.  European  fashions,  however,  have 
already  penetrated  amongst  the  Greenlanders,  and  in  many  districts,  men  are 
now  met  wearing  the  garb  of  European  labourers,  while  the  women  deck  them- 
selves with  cotton  stuffs  and  many-coloured  ribbons.  But  in  winter  no  costume 
could   advantageously  replace  their  capacious  boots,  sealskin  pantaloons,  close- 

*  H.  Rink,  The  Eskimo  Tribes. 


INHABITANTS  OF  GREENLAND.  85 

fitting  jacket,  and  the  amauf,  or  hood  which  "keeps  haby  warm."  In  Danish 
Greenland  the  women  no  longer  tattoo  their  chin,  cheeks,  hands,  or  feet,  nor  do 
they  now  insert  variegated  threads  under  the  skin,  the  missionaries  having  inter- 
dicted these  "  pagan  "  practices.  Singing,  dancing,  the  relation  of  the  old  legends, 
even  athletic  games  amongst  the  young  people  were  also  formerly  sternly  repressed. 
Indulgence  in  strong  drinks  is  allowed  only  once  a  year,  on  the  anniversary  of  the 
King  of  Denmark,  and  the  royal  monopoly  of  the  trade  with  Greenland  is  justified 
on  the  ground  that  in  this  way  the  importation  of  spirits  is  prevented. 

At  present  all  the  Eskimo  of  the  Danish  territory  are  Protestants.  Hans 
Egede,  their  first  missionary,  landed  in  1721  on  the  spot  where  now  stands  the 
station  of  Godthaab.  He  was  followed  twelve  years  later  by  the  Moravian 
Brothers,  who  founded  their  "  sheepf old "  in  the  same  district,  but  who  had  long 
to  wait  for  the  flock.  Aiming  at  a  complete  revolution  in  Eskimo  society,  these 
foreign  "  magicians "  had  constantly  to  contend  with  the  angakok,  or  native 
wizards,  whom  they  endeavoured  not  only  to  deprive  of  all  religious  prestige,  but 
also  to  set  aside  as  civil  counsellors  and  magistrates.  With  the  conversion  of  the 
natives  complete  submission  was  secured,  the  only  troubles  that  have  since  arisen 
being  caused  by  the  excessive  zeal  of  the  neophytes,  who  aspired  to  the  role  of 
projDhets  and  founders  of  new  sects. 

On  the  west  coast  no  trace  survives  of  the  old  heathendom  except  the  name  of 
the  supreme  god,  Tornarsuk,  which  has  been  adopted  as  that  of  the  devil,  while 
the  bugdkah,  or  good  spirits  of  old,  have  now  become  the  demons  of  the  lower 
regions.  For  over  a  century  Greenland  parents  have  ceased  to  place  a  dog's  head 
near  the  graves  of  departed  infants,  "  so  that  the  soul  of  the  dog,  which  finds  its 
wav  everywhere,  may  lead  the  child  to  the  land  of  spirits."  In  East  Greenland 
the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  thrown  into  the  sea,  except  in  times  of  epidemics,  when 
the  survivors  shift  their  quarters  and  leave  the  corpses  in  the  abandoned  huts. 
Carved  wooden  figures,  recalling  the  "  genealogical  trees  "  of  the  South  Alaskan 
islanders,  still  adorn  the  entrance  of  the  houses  in  the  northernmost  villages  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  In  their  hunting  expeditions  these  villagers  often  see 
phantoms  gliding  over  the  heights ;  these  are  the  ghosts  of  the  departed  returning 
to  scare  the  living. 

Their  conversion  to  Christianity  has  scarcely  bettered  the  material  condition  of 
the  Greenlanders.  The  hovels,  constructed  of  alternate  layers  of  stone,  earth, 
and  turf,  and  roofed  with  earth  supported  by  a  little  driftwood,  are  small  and 
gloomv,  and  often  give  way.  Being  mostly  destitute  of  stoves  or  hearths,  they 
can  be  heated  only  by  the  lamp,  the  "  soul  of  the  dwelling  "  during  the  long 
winter  months.  Escaping  at  last  with  the  warm  season  from  these  foul  dens, 
the  inmates  remove  the  roofs  to  let  wind  and  rain  cleanse  their  abodes,  and 
meantime  pitch  their  tents  in  some  more  healthy  spot.  On  the  east  coast  every 
community  consists  of  a  single  house,  harbouring  on  an  average  ten  families,  or 
about  fifty  persons.  Here  fire  is  still  procured  by  the  primitive  method  of 
rubbing  two  bits  of  wood  together. 

In  all  Greenland  there  are  scarcely  fifty  head  of  cattle ;  sheep,  goats,  and  even 


8b  NORTH  AMERICA. 

poultry  are  also  rarely  met,  jealously  guarded  iu  the  enclosures  of  a  few  wealthy 

Europeans.  The  only  domestic  animal  of  real  value  is  the  dog,  a  savage  beast  of 
uncertain  temper,  often  tortured  by  hunger,  and  now  threatened  with  extinction. 
The  question  arises,  how  the  natives  themselves  can  hope  to  survive  when 
deprived  of  the  animal  that  now  conveys  them  from  fjord  to  fjord  and  transports 
the  produce  of  the  fisheries  to  their  settlements  ?  In  1877  there  were  still 
1,800  dogs  and  320  sledges  in  all  Greenland,  and  it  has  been  proposed  to  replace 
the  dog  by  the  reindeer.  But  the  natives  have  not  yet  learnt  to  tame  this 
animal,  which  has  moreover  become  very  rare  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Danish 
settlements.  The  only  remedy  seems  to  be  the  introduction  of  the  Lapps  with 
their  domestic  herds. 

The  Greenlanders  have  two  kinds  of  boats,  the  kayak,  used  for  fishing,  and  the 
umiak  for  transport.  Although  the  word  kayak,  borrowed  from  the  Tatars  of 
Siberia,  has  made  the  round  of  the  globe  from  the  caique  of  Constantinople  to  the 
"West  Indian  cayuco,  the  Greenland  boat  is  peculiar  to  the  Eskimo  world.  Formed 
of  sealskins  stretched  on  a  frame  10  to  20  feet  long,  and  2  feet  wide,  it  presents 
only  one  narrow  opening,  into  which  the  native  introduces  himself  enve- 
loped in  a  cloak  which  is  sewed  to  the  boat.  Provided  with  a  double  paddle 
he  glides  over  the  waves  almost  as  swiftly  as  the  seal  itself,  a  good  boatman 
averaging  80  miles  a  day.  If  it  capsizes  a  single  stroke  of  the  paddle  suffices  to 
right  the  craft,  which  weighs  only  55  or  60  pounds,  and  may  easily  be  transported 
overland.  The  umiak,  or  "  women's  boat,"  so  called  because  usually  propelled 
by  women,  is  also  made  of  sealskins  stretched  on  a  frame,  but  is  flat-bottomed 
and  large  enough  to  carry  as  much  as  three  tons  of  merchandise.  Collision 
with  a  block  of  ice  would  suffice  to  sink  it,  so  that  it  has  to  be  managed  with 
great  care,  the  crew  seldom  venturing  beyond  the  line  of  breakers  into  the 
high  sea. 

If  the  produce  of  the  chase  and  fisheries  could  be  uniformly  distributed  from 
season  to  season,  it  might  perhaps  suffice  for  the  wants  of  these  scattered  com- 
munities. But  the  communications  are  so  difficult  that  times  of  plenty  are  often 
followed  by  long  periods  of  scarcity.  The  old  cannibal  practices  no  longer  exist ; 
infanticide  is  rare ;  the  aged  and  sick  no  longer  invite  their  friends  to  despatch 
them.  But  the  same  work  of  destruction  is  continued  by  famine  and  misery. 
About  8  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  are  those  of  men  drowned  in  their  kayaks.  The 
consequence  is  a  considerable  disparity  of  the  sexes,  the  women  outnumbering  the 
men  in  the  proportion  of  about  115  to  100. 

All  writers  on  the  subject  consider  that  the  Greenland  natives  are  dying  out. 
According  to  Egede  there  were  as  many  as  thirty  thousand  on  the  west  coast  at 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century  ;  but  so  rapid  was  the  decrease  that  a  hundred 
years  later  Graah  estimated  the  whole  population  in  the  Danish  region  at  a  little 
over  six  thousand.  Since  then,  however,  there  has  been  a  slight  increase,  and  at 
present  it  is  about  stationary  between  nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  ten  thou- 
sand. But  this  is  mainly  due  to  crossings,  which  give  a  more  vigorous  offspring 
than  that  of   the   pure   race.      Immigration   also   contributes  to  maintain   the 


INHABITANTS  OF  GREENLAND. 


87 


equilibrium,  the  wild  tribes  of  the  east  coast  being  continually  attracted  to  the 
European  settlements. 

Possessing  great  natural  intelligence  combined  with  love  of  instruction,  the 
Greenlanders  may  justly  claim  to  be  civilised.  The  great,  majority  read  and  write 
their  mother  tongue,  and  sing  European  melodies,  while  several  speak  English  or 
Danish.  Nearly  all  the  families  have  their  little  library,  and  read  their  Eskimo 
newspaper,    as   well    as   the   collections   of    national    legends,    illustrated    with 

Fi"-.  32. — Greenland  Esedio. 


engravings  by  native  artists.  Greenland  even  possesses  at  least  one  original  work, 
the  account  of  the  voyages  of  Hans  Hendrik,  companion  of  Kane,  Hall,  Hayes 
and  Nares. 

Formerly,  the  right  of  property  was  restricted  to  objects  of  personal  use,  such 
as  clothes  and  weapons ;  the  hunting  grounds  belonged  to  the  whole  community, 
and  the  produce  of  the  chase  or  fisheries  was  equally  distributed  amongst  all. 
The  rights  of  communal  property  were  also  regulated  and  safeguarded  by  general 
assemblies  followed  by  public  banquets.  But  the  Europeans  have  changed  all 
that  by  introducing  the  principle  of  sale  and  purchase,  by  enlarging  to  their  own 
profit  the  rights  of  personal  ownership,  and  proclaiming  the  new  gospel  of 
"  every  man  for  himself."  The  result  is  a  general  impoverishment  and  moral 
degradation  of  the  people.     They  are  no  longer  like  the  Eskimo  visited  by  Graah 


88  NORTH  AMERICA. 

on  the  east  coast :  "  the  gentlest,  the  most  upright  and  virtuous  of  men." 
Nevertheless,  the  language  possesses  not  a  single  abusive  term,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  swear  in  Eskimo. 

Topography. 

The  part  of  Greenland  where  Eric  the  Red  built  his  stronghold,  and  where 
the  banished  Norsemen  flocked  around  him,  is  still  one  of  the  least  deserted 
regions,  as  it  also  is  the  most  fertile  and  temperate.  Julianahaab,  capital  of  this 
district,  contains  one-fourth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  country  grouped  on 
the  banks  of  a  small  stream  in  a  grassy  valley  near  a  deep  fjord,  which  is 
unfortunately  not  easily  accessible  to  shipping.  Navigation  is  obstructed  by  the 
numerous  icebergs  drifting  with  the  polar  current  across  the  entrance,  and 
skippers  have  to  make  a  long  detour  to  the  north  in  order  to  reach  the  anchorage 
off  Julianahaab.  As  many  as  a  hundred  Norse,  or  other  ruins,  are  scattered 
over  the  district,  and  at  the  very  extremity  of  the  fjord  are  shown  the  remains 
of  the  structures  attributed  to  the  first  conqueror  of  Greenland.  There  are  also 
some  debris  of  old  buildings  on  the  terminal  islet  of  Cape  Farewell  itself  ;  but  at 
present  the  southernmost  group  of  habitations  is  the  Moravian  missionary  station 
of  Frederik&dal,  the  point  first  reached  by  the  Eskimo  immigrants  from  the  east 
coast.  Here  the  inland  icefield,  pent  up  between  two  mountains,  is  only  a  few 
miles  broad  ;  the  passage  from  one  slope  to  the  other  presents  little  difficulty,  and 
is  occasionally  utilised  by  the  white  bear. 

The  Frederikshaab  district,  which  follows  that  of  Julianahaab  in  the  direction 
of  the  north,  is  limited  by  branches  of  the  ice-cap  covering  the  whole  of  the 
interior.  Southwards  the  glaciers  reach  the  coast  near  the  rugged  insular  heights 
of  Cape  Desolation ;  in  the  north  is  visible  the  enormous  isblink  of  Frederikshaab, 
the  bluish  glint  of  its  crystal  surface  reflected  on  the  grey  sky.  The  village, 
whence  the  district  takes  its  name,  has-  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  harbour, 
sheltered  by  islands,  but  encircled  by  rocks  and  morasses.  On  this  coast  the  most 
important  station  is  Ivigtut,  or  Ivigtok,  which  has  become  famous  for  its  absolutely 
unique  deposits  of  cryolite.  This  mineral,  of  a  whitish  colour,  was  long  known  to 
the  Greenlanders,  and  had  been  described  by  European  mineralogists ;  but  it  was 
first  utilised  in  1856  by  Sainte-Claire  Deville  for  the  preparation  of  aluminium. 
At  present  it  is  chiefly  valuable  for  the  soda  and  salts  of  alum  used  in  dyeing, 
which  are  extracted  from  it.  The  natives  reduce  it  to  powder,  which  they  mix 
with  their  tobacco  to  increase  its  strength.  The  Ivigtut  deposits  have  been 
granted  to  a  private  company,  in  return  for  a  yearly  sum  paid  to  the  Danish 
Government.  The  beds,  which  are  not  very  extensive,  lie  at  the  base  of  a  precipi- 
tous rock  on  the  seashore,  so  that  vessels  are  able  to  ship  their  cargoes  on  the  spot. 
It  might  also  be  possible  to  work  the  numerous  beds  of  asbestos,  as  well  as  the 
eudialyte  of  Julianahaab,  a  substance  which  supplies  the  best  burners  for  electric 
lights. 

In  any  other  region  Godthaab  would  be  an  admirable  trading  centre,  thanks  to 
the  labyrinth  of  fjords  which  here  penetrate  far  into  the  interior.     But  this  is 


TOPOGRAPHY   OP    GREENLAND. 


89 


one  of  the  least  populous  districts  of  Danish  Greenland,  nearly  the  whole  traffic  in 
seal  and  reindeer  skins,  cod  and  eiderdown  being  arrested  cither  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  animals  or  the  want  of  capital.  Yet  it  was  formerly  the  richest  and 
most  commercial  district  in  the  whole  country.  Here  Egede  and  the  Moravian 
missionaries  founded  their  first  stations,  and  Godthaab  is  still  the  literary  centre 
of  Greenland,  for  it  possesses  both  the  seminary  and  printing  establishment.  A 
more  flourishing  place  is  the  northern  village  of  Sukkertqppen,  or  "  Sugarloaf,"  so 

Fig.  33.—  JUT.TAXATTAAB   AND  ITS  FjOBDS. 
Scale  1  :  750,000. 


'-46° West  of   Greenwich 


15  Miles. 


named  from  the  conical  shape  of  its  island.  Sukkertoppen  is  the  most  populous 
place  in  Greenland,  and  several  of  its  three  hundred  and  sixty  inhabitants  have 
learnt  to  build  vessels  of  European  form  for  the  cod  fisheries. 

Other  less  important  villages  follow  in  the  direction  of  the  north.  Such  are 
Hohtenlcnj,  formerly  a  centre  of  the  whale  fisheries ;  Egedesminde,  situated  on  an 
islet  at  the  entrance  of  the  spacious  Disko  Bay ;  Kristianshaab,  standing  on  the 
mainland  east  of  the  same  bay;  Jakobsham,  at  the  entrance  of  a  fjord  which 
receives  the  most  famous  glacier  in  Greenland.     This   glacier,  which  discharges 

VOL.  XV.  H 


90 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


the  largest  icebergs,  is  at  present  moving  forward,  its  frontal  wall  having  advanced 
nearly  two  miles  seawards  since  it  was  visited  by  Ilammer  in  1878. 

The  port  of  Godhavn,  till  recently  known  to  the  whalers  by  the  name  of  Lievety, 
lies  under  shelter  of  a  headland  on  the  south  side  of  Disko  Island.  It  is  the  most 
frequented  island  in  Greenland,  being  visited  by  most  whalers  and  explorers 
during  the  six  mouths  of  navigation.  According  to  an  Eskimo  legend,  here  was 
made  fast  the  rope  by  which  an  ancient  magician  drew  the  island  of  Disko  away 
from  the  mainland.  The  local  gardens,  being  well  exposed  to  the  southern  sun, 
are  renowned  for  their  fertility  throughout  Greenland.  The  Waigat  Channel, 
passing  north  of  Disko  Island  and  separating  it   from   the  hilly  peninsula  of 


Fig-.  34.—  Godhavn  and  Disko  Fjokd. 
Scale  1  :  405,000. 


We  st .  of    breenv\ncVi  53° 


•  6  Miles. 


Nursoak,  leads  to  the  little  harbour  of  Ritcnlenk,  beyond  which  to  the  north  lies 
the  insular  village  of  TTmanak,  a  busy  centre  of  the  seal  fishery.  The  graphite 
discovered  in  the  Nursoak  cliffs  has  no  commercial  value. 

Upemivik  (Upernavik)  and  Tasiusak,  lying  still  farther  north  in  73°  24' north 
latitude,  are  the  last  European  settlements  in  Greenland,  gloomy  abodes  lost  amid 
the  snows  at  the  foot  of  yellowish  or  brick-red  rocks.  In  winter  the  sun  sets  for 
eighty  days,  yet  by  a  sort  of  mockery  this  glacial  district  bears  an  Eskimo  name 
meaning  "  spring."  The  horrors  of  war  wrere  extended  to  this  extremity  of  the 
habitable  world  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when  Upernivik  was 
burnt  by  the  English  whalers,  and  all  communication  between  Greenland  and 
Denmark  interrupted  for  the  seven  years  from  1807  to  1814. 


§ 

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'■A 
■J 


ADMINISTRATION    OP    GREENLAND. 


91 


Administration. 

Officially  the  whole  of  Greenland  belongs  to  Denmark,  but  the  actual  Danish 
territory  comprises  only  the  inhabited  part  of  the  west  coast  between  Cape  Fare- 
well and  Tasiusak.  Besides  the  two  "  governors  "  of  North  and  South  Greenland, 
the  commercial  agents  settled  in  all  the  stations  along  the  seaboard  are  representa- 
tives of  authority  amongst  the  natives,  and  depend  themselves  directly  on  the 
Board  of  Trade  at  Copenhagen.  The  Lutheran  missionaries  arc  also  included  in 
the  number  of  official  functionaries,  being  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction  and  administering  their  parishes  without  being  subject  to  the  control 
of  the  civil  governors.     Lastly  the  Moravian  missionaries,  although  without  official 

Fig.  35.—  Upeenivik,  its  Isles  and  GLAciEr.s. 
Scale  1  :  950,000. 


15  Miles. 


status,  also  enjoy  considerable  influence,  being  at  once  the  mayors  and  magistrates 
of  the  communities  grouped  around  their  stations  and  comprising  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  population. 

Three  physicians  named  by  the  Danish  Government  are  charged  with  the 
sanitary  inspection  of  the  coastlands,  that  is,  of  a  tract  over  950  miles  long.  Each 
commune  is  now  constituted  in  a  municipality,  whose  council  forms  a  tribunal  for 
adjusting  differences,  imposing  fines  and  in  serious  cases  sentencing  to  the 
bastinado. 

Since  1774  the  Greenland  trade  is  an  absolute  monopoly  of  the  Danish  Govern- 
ment, which  maintains  along  the  coast  some  sixty  factories  where  European  wares 
are  given  in  exchange  for  such  local  produce  as  sealskins  and  train  oil,  eiderdown, 
feathers,  walrus  ivory,  fox,  bear,  and  reindeer  peltry.     The  annual  value  of  this 

h2 


92  NOETH  AMERICA. 

traffic  is  estimated  at  about  £60,000.  Notwithstanding  the  dangerous  character 
of  the  navigation  between  Denmark  and  Greenland  caused  by  the  fogs  and  ice- 
bergs, the  "  royal  "  traffic  lost  only  three  ships  between  1817  and  1862.  The 
Tessels  engaged  in  this  traffic  are  very  solidly  built  and  commanded  by  skilled 
captains  familiar  with  the  route.  The  postal  service  along  the  coast  is  entrusted 
to  Eskimo  sailors  who  travel  in  kayaks  and  sledges  and  rarely  meet  with  an 
accident. 

In  the  Appendix  is  given  a  table  of  the  two  provinces  with  their  administrative 
subdivisions. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  ARCTIC  ARCHIPELAGO. 

HE  numerous  islands  which  continue  the  American  continent  in  the 
direction  of  the  pole,  and  which  are  nearly  all  comprised  within 
the  Arctic  Circle,  still  remain  somewhat  vaguely  defined  along  a 
great  part  of  their  periphery.  Many  promontories  now  figuring 
on  the  maps  will  doubtkss  prove  to  he  distinct  insular  bodies, 
fjords  and  inlets  will  be  transformed  to  straits,  lands  severed  by  imaginary  channels 
will  be  merged  in  one  ;  others,  on  the  contrary,  will  be  broken  into  smaller  frag- 
ments, while  certain  mountains  carefully  traced  on  the  charts  will  be  resolved  iuto 
mist  and  cloud.  One  section  of  this  archipelago  stretching  north-east  of  the  Parry 
Islands  has  not  yet  even  been  roughly  surveyed,  so  that  its  true  outlines  are  still 
unknown.  The  area  of  720,000  square  miles  given  to  the  whole  insular  group 
has  consequently  no  more  than  a  provisional  value. 

•  This  Arctic  Archipelago  is  readily  decomposed  into  several  perfectly  distinct 
groups.  One  of  these  is  clearly  limited  on  one  side  by  Smith  Sound  and  the 
Kennedy  and  Eobeson  Channels  separating  it  from  Greenland  ;  on  the  other  by 
Lancaster  Sound  and  the  Barrow  and  Banks  Straits,  which  form  a  long  waterway 
between  the  Baffin  and  Alaska  seas.  The  large  region  of  Baffin  Land  which,  with 
the  fringing  islands,  continues  the  vast  Labrador  peninsula  northwards,  and  which 
is  washed  on  the  east  by  Davis  Strait  and  Baffin  Bay,  forms  a  second  distinct 
group.  Lastly  the  western  lands  which  skirt  the  shores  of  British  America,  from 
which  they  are  separated  by  winding  channels  and  waters  of  a  lacustrine  aspect, 
constitute  a  third  division  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago. 

Till  recently  a  few  scattered  Eskimo  names  alone  appeared  on  the  rough  maps 
prepared  by  explorers,  ileeting  small  groups  of  natives  only  at  long  intervals, 
these  pioneers  had  themselves  to  complete  the  nomenclature  of  the  polar  regions, 
and  as  the  work  of  exploration  was  carried  out  almost  exclusively  by  British  and 
American  navigators,  English  names,  those  mainly  of  kings,  queens,  presidents 
or  leading  statesmen,  were  naturally  given  to  the  various  capes,  headlands,  straits, 
gulfs,  inlets,  mountains,  and  islands.  The  names  of  illustrious  seafarers  and 
naturalists  were  also  largely  employed  to  designate  the  geographical  features  of 
the  Arctic  Archipelago,  which    is  politically  assumed  to   form  part  of  British 


94  NORTH  AMERICA. 

North  America,  although  no  formal  possession  has  yet  been  taken  or  at  least 
ratified. 

In  the  history  of  geographical  discovery  the  explorations  of  these  regions  is 
inseparably  associated  with  the  quest  of  the  "North-West  Passage,"  and  the 
attempts  to  reach  the  North  Pole.  The  names  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  Frobisher, 
Davis,  Bylot,  Baffin,  and  John  Ross  are  intimately  connected  with  the  insular 
coastlands,  which  form  a  northern  extension  of  Labrador.  Kane,  Hall,  Hayes, 
Nares,  Markham  and  Greely  are  amongst  the  most  conspicuous  of  those  who 
forced  their  way  through  the  narrow  ice-obstructed  channels  to  the  Paleocrystic 
Sea.  Parry  was  the  first  to  penetrate  through  the  Lancaster  and  Barrow  Straits 
towards  the  Asiatic  waters;  Hudson  Bay  was  justly  named  after  the  navigator 
who  discovered,  or  at  least  explored  it,  possibly  following  in  the  track  of  Sebastian 
Cabot ;  the  Boothia  Felix  Peninsula,  within  which  lies  the  station  of  the  magnetic 
pole,  recalls  the  expedition  in  which  James  Clarke  Ross  took  a  leading  part  ; 
lastly,  the  western  islands  near  the  shores  of  British  North  America  perpetuate 
the  triumphs  or  glorious  failures  of  the  Franklins,  Collinsons,  MacClures,  Kelletts, 
MacClintochs,  and  Schwatkas. 

Insular  Groups. 

The  broad  marine  waters  separating  the  Arctic  Archipelago  from  Greenland 
are  extremely  deep  at  their  entrance,  the  sounding  line  recording  2,000  fathoms 
off  Cape  Farewell,  and  1,500  under  the  latitude  of  Hudson  Strait.  Farther  north 
Inglefield  would  appear  to  have  measured  2,600  fathoms  without  touching  the 
bottom,  and  the  sea  is  everywhere  deep  enough  for  the  largest  icebergs  to  drift 
freely,  although  often  sinking  250  fathoms  below  the  surface.  Melville  Bay 
reveals  depths  of  over  400  fathoms  within  10  miles  of  the  shore,  and  Ross  obtained 
soundings  of  950  fathoms  at  the  entrance  of  Smith  Sound.  In  these  seas,  kept  in 
motion  by  the  action  of  swift  currents  and  counter-currents,  the  navigation  is 
mainly  free  in  summer  except  along  certain  parts  of  the  seaboard  blocked  by  floes 
or  obstructed  by  convoys  of  icebergs.  But  farther  north  the  floating  ice  in 
the  narrow  channels,  failing  to  find  a  sufficiently  broad  outlet  towards  the  southern 
seas,  becomes  piled  up  in  confused  masses  difficult  to  penetrate.  One  of  the 
explorers  who  traversed  these  rugged  spaces  compared  them  to  the  houses  of 
New  York  with  their  gables,  turrets,  and  chimneys.  Hayes  took  31  days 
of  superhuman  efforts  to  cover  a  space  of  75  miles  in  a  bee  line,  but  estimated  at 
550  with  all  the  windings  and  detours.  These  prodigious  accumulations  are 
explained  by  the  quantities  of  ice  sent  down  from  all  sides.  On  the  east  the 
Humboldt  Glacier  incessantly  discharges  great  fragments  from  its  frontal  wall ; 
from  the  north  come  other  masses  impelled  by  the  winds  which  frequently  blow 
from  that  quarter ;  from  the  west  two  fjords  contribute  a  steady  stream  of  blocks 
of  all  sizes.  Nevertheless  the  straits  are  sometimes  partially  disencumbered  and 
thrown  open  to  exploring  vessels  by  the  rapid  currents  and  fierce  northern  and 
north-eastern  gales,  which  prevail  especially  in  winter. 


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THE    ARCTIC    ARCHIPELAGO.  95 


The  Polar  Sea  ahd  its  Approaches. 


North  of  the  Robeson  Channel  and  Parry  Island  stretches  that  Polar  Sea  which 
the  first  American  explorers  (Kane,  Hall  and  Hayes)  supposed  to  bo  "free,"  hut 
which  Narea  and  Greely  afterwards  found  to  be  filled  with  "old  ice,"  the  accumu- 
lations of  different  epochs  partly  melting  in  summer  and  again  frozen  during  the 
long  winters.  According  to  Greely  the  pack-ice  here  rarely  exceeds  7  or  8  feet, 
although  in  one  of  the  fjords  of  Grinnell  Land  some  was  found  apparently  over  12 
feet  thick.  The  crystalline  mass  increases  in  thickness  during  the  winter  and  even 
in  spring  to  the  middle  or  end  of  May,  and  then  diminishes  in  summer.  Hence 
the  thicker  masses  accumulated  in  the  straits  and  in  the  Paleocrystic  Sea  would 
not  appear  to  be  old  ice  which  has  remained  stationary  since  its  formation,  but 
heaps  of  blocks  pressing  one  against  the  other,  and  gradually  growing  in  size  by 
the  addition  of  other  fragments  cither  thrown  up  on  top  or  drifting  underneath. 

In  the  Polar  Sea  much  of  the  drift  ice  differs  in  form  from  the  Greenland  ice- 
bergs. Instead  of  rising  in  sharp  points,  precipitous  sides,  and  irregular  domes, 
it  generally  presents  vertical  walls  and  flat  upper  surfaces,  thus  resembling  the 
prodigious  cubic  blocks  seen  in  the  Antarctic  waters.  Greely  and  his  companions 
observed  nearly  a  hundred  from  30  to  over  300  yards  thick.  As  in  the  Austral 
seas  these  regular  masses  do  not  originate,  like  the  Greenland  icebergs,  in  glaciers 
discharging  their  contents  seawards  far  beyond  the  coastline,  but  they  are  "  land 
ice"  deposited  on  some  level  plain  and  then  gradually  pushed  forward  by  the 
pressure  of  the  inland  pack,  and  thus  at  last  sent  adrift  like  a  raft. 

In  winter  nearly  all  the  islands  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  are  united  with  each 
other  and  with  the  American  mainland  by  continuous  frozen  masses,  consisting  of 
old  fragments  soldered  together  by  young  ice.  But  despite  the  floes  and  other 
icy  fetters  covering  the  Arctic  seas,  the  currents  and  tides  still  make  their  way 
through  all  the  straits  and  sounds.  The  early  navigators  who  penetrated  into  the 
polar  waters  in  search  of  the  North -"West  Passage  carefully  observed  the  undula- 
tions of  the  tidal  waves,  in  the  hope  that  their  course  might  indicate  the  quarter 
whence  came  the  great  Pacific  current.  But  these  phenomena,  influenced  by  the 
most  diverse  conditions,  form  of  the  basins,  breadth  and  depth  of  the  channels, 
direction  of  the  winds,  alternations  of  temperature,  salinity  of  the  water,  quantity 
of  drift  ice,  have  frequently  perplexed  and  deceived  seafarers,  rather  than  aided 
them  in  their  researches. 

The  prodigious  accumulations  of  ice  often  observed  in  Smith  Sound  and  the 
Kennedy  and  Robeson  Channels  seems  to  be  in  a  large  measure  due  to  the  con- 
flicts of  opposing  currents  in  these  confined  spaces.  One  such  current  is  a  branch 
of  the  Atlantic  Gulf  Stream,  which  frequently  brings  driftwood  and  wreckage 
from  great  distances.  But  the  most  powerful  current  is  that  of  the  Polar  or  Paleo- 
crystic Sea,  which  often  breaks  rip  the  ice-floe,  and  sweeps  its  fragments  away  to 
Baffin  Bay  and  the  Labrador  waters.  The  large  driftwood  sent  down  through 
Robeson  Channel  shows  that  this  current  comes  from  beyond  the  Polar  Sea,  on  the 
shores   of  whose  basin  no  trees  grow  except  dwarf  willows  scarcely  an  inch  high. 


06 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


But  the  driftwood  here  in  question  appears  to  be  that  of  the  walnut,  ash,  or  pine, 
which    could    come   only   from   the  temperate  zone.      Possibly  some  of    it    may 
be   brought  from  soiith  Japan  with  a  branch  of  the  Kuro-Sivo,  entering  Bering 
Strait  and  then  sweeping  round  to  the  north-east  in  the  direction  of  Greenland. 
In  Lancaster  £ound,  and  the  other  channels  through  which   Baffin   Bay  corn- 


Fig'.  3G. — C'HAjra-Ei.s  leading  to  Tan  Paleocrtstic  Sea. 

Seal?  1  :  7,000,000. 


municates  with  the  west  polar  waters,  the  tides  are  very  low  ;  the  highest  scarcely 
exceed  forty  inches,  and  are  usually  not  observed  at  all.  Under  the  pack  south  of 
Melville  Island  the  low  tides  rise  only  one  or  two  inches.  In  all  these  inland 
channels  the  icebergs  are  also  of  very  small  size.  During  the  whole  of  his  voyage 
from  Lancaster  Sound  westwards,  Parry  met  none  rising  more  than  30  feet 
above  the  surface.      The  humidity  which  is  precipitated  in  these  regions  under  the 


GRANT  AND  GKINNELL  LANDS.  07 

form  of  snow  or  rain  is  far  less  than  in  Greenland.     During  a  whole  year  Parry 


recorded  only  forty.tjjree  days  when  a  few  drops  of  rain  or  flakes  of  snow  fell,  and 


-  :  . .:       v: . 

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-:_    -:  n  :  r  "_r 

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BAFFIN  LAND.  00 

and  82°  north  latitude  is  attributed  by  Greely  to  the  slight  annual  snowfall,  and 
the  precipitous  form  of  the  rocks,  on  which  the  snow  is  unable  to  lodge. 

South  of  Grinnell  Land  the  Ellesmere  coast  facing  Greenland  continues  to  pre- 
sent a  line  of  steep  cliffs  along  the  shores  of  the  straits,  -but  the  interior  has  not 
yet  been  visited.  All  these  shores,  both  of  the  Archipelago  and  Greenland,  arc 
disposed  in  parallel  terraces  at  levels  up  to  a  height  of  1,500,  and  even  2,000  feet, 
and  the  shells  embedded  in  the  rocks  are  identical  with  those  of  the  neighbouring 
seas.  On  the  flanks  of  one  mountain  Kane  counted  forty-one  regular  steps  like 
those  of  a  gigantic  staircase.  On  the  margins  of  lakes,  which  were  formerly 
marine  inlets  gradually  separated  from  the  sea,  Greely  also  found  large  driftwood 
sufficiently  preserved  to  be  useful  as  fuel.  The  banks  of  Archer  Fjord,  an  inlc 
Lady  Franklin  Bay,  contain  thick  beds  of  vegetable  fossils  in  the  form  of  coal. 

Baffin  Land. 

Baffin  Land,  which  is  the  largest  island  in  the  Arctic  Archipelago,  and  which 
is  shown  on  numerous  maps  as  divided  into  several  fragments,  skirts  the  west 
of  the  Greenland  waters  between  Hudson  Strait  and  Lancaster  Sound.  It  has  a 
total  area  of  at  least  265,000  square  miles,  and  this  vast  expanse  is  considerably 
increased  by  its  numerous  insular  dependencies.  The  two  most  important  of 
these  islands  are  Livang  at  the  north-east  corner,  which  has  received  the  name 
of  Bylot  in  memory  of  the  almost  forgotten  captain  under  whom  Baffin  served, 
and  Tujakjuak,  the  Resolution  Island  of  the  English  charts,  which  lies  at  the 
south-east  angle  towards  the  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait.  Baffin  Land  itself  is 
disposed  in  three  sections,  Aggo  in  the  north,  Akudnirn  in  the  middle,  and  Oko 
in  the«south,  these  Eskimo  terms  being  explained  to  mean  the  "  windward  land," 
the  "midland,"  and  the  "leeward  land." 

The  east  coast  of  Baffin  Land  is  dominated  by  a  gneiss  and  granite  range, 
whose  sharp  crests  in  several  places  reach  an  altitude  of  6,500  feet  and  even  more. 
The  lofty  headlands  projecting  eastwards  rise  precipitously  above  the  surface, 
and  beyond  them  in  the  interior  isolated  or  serrated  black  crags  are  seen  towering 
above  the  white  expanse  of  the  snowfields.  One  of  the  best  known  of  these 
eminences  is  Raleigh  Peak  (4,600  feet),  which  was  so  named  by  Davis  in  1585, 
and  which  presents  the  aspect  of  a  great  Alpine  summit  rising  to  the  south  of 
Exeter  Bay.  The  seaboard  is  indented  by  fjords  which  penetrate  far  inland, 
terminating  at  low  ridges,  by  which  they  are  separated  from  other  inlets  of 
similar  formation  on  the  west  side.  The  whole  region  is  thus  divided  by  deep 
fissures  into  parallel  sections,  which  a  subsidence  of  the  land  would  resolve  into 
separate  insular  masses.  These  fissures  themselves  are  subdivided  at  intervals  by 
transverse  ridges,  either  natural  rocky  barriers  or  the  remains  of  moraines,  which 
for  the  most  part  enclose  small  lakes  or  tarns. 

Notwithstanding  the  inaccessible  character  of  the  land,  due  to  its  rugged 
surface,  the  sudden  changes  of  temperature,  the  blinding  snowstorms,  fogs  and 
fierce  gales  which  prevail,  especially  in  summer  and  autumn,  the  Eskimo  succeed 


100  NOETII  AMEEICA. 

in  crossing  Baffin  Land  from  sea  to  sea,  and  seven  of  their  routes  are  indicated  on 
the  map  prepared  by  Boas.  Whalers  have  also  crossed  from  east  to  west  the 
south-western  part  separated  by  Fox  Strait  from  Melville  Peninsula.  In  1876 
Roach,  after  traversing  a  small  coast  range  on  Cumberland  Bay,  descended  from 
lake  to  lake  to  the  vast  plain  where  lies  the  Xettilling,  or  Kennedy  Lake,  one  of 
the  chief  trysting-places  of  the  Eskimo  hunters  and  fishers. 

From  the  few  explorations  made  in  the  interior  it  appears  that,  west  of 
the  eastern  coast  range,  Baffin  Land  is  occupied  by  granite  hills,  which  fall 
gradually  down  to  the  silurian  and  fossiliferous  Limestone  western  plains.  Lakes, 
which  were  formerly  marine  gulfs  and  channels,  are  dotted  over  the  centre  of  this 
plain,  on  which  are  still  found  the  remains  of  the  walrus,  whale  and  other  marine 
animals.  Amakjuak,  one  of  the  lakes  not  yet  visited  by  Europeans,  is  reported 
by  the  Eskimo  to  lie  not  far  from  the  north  side  of  Hudson  Strait.  The  much 
larger  Lake  Kennedy  is  connected  with  Cumberland  Bay  on  the  east  side  by  an 
almost  continuous  chain  of  meres  and  ponds,  although  its  overflow  is  discharged 
westwards  to  Fox  Channel. 

In  the  mountains  of  Baffin  Land  occur  mineral  deposits  that  have  not  yet  been 
worked.  Coal  and  graphite  have  been  found  in  many  places,  but  steatite  (soap- 
stone)  and  beds  of  driftwood  are  less  abundant.  The  former  is  used  by  the 
natives  for  making  their  lamps,  and  even  the  latter  has  acquired  some  value 
since  the  industrial  conditions  have  been  so  profoundly-  changed  by  contact  with 
the  Europeans. 

In  the  islands  skirting  the  north  side  of  the  long  line  of  channels  between  the 
Baffin  and  Bering  seas,  the  mountains  present  in  many  districts  a  formidable 
appearance  with  their  steep  escarpments,  terraced  cliffs,  and  vertical  walls.  But 
the  average  height  of  the  peaks,  crests,  or  plateaux,  scarcely  exceeds  800  or 
1,000  feet.  Few  summits  attain  an  elevation  of  1,050  feet,  although  in  this  part 
of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  some  eminences  rise  to  2,300  feet  and  upwards.  Such 
is  that  in  North  Kent,  an  islet  at  the  north-west  extremity  of  Tujau,  the  North 
Devon  of  the  English  charts.  The  rocky  shores  of  this  island  and  of  the  other 
members  of  the  Parry  group  stretching  westwards,  present  here  and  there  the 
fantastic  outlines  of  fortresses  whose  ramparts  consist  of  horizontal  layers  of  lime- 
stone and  argillaceous  sediment,  forming  an  alternating  series  of  raised  and 
depressed  surfaces.  Other  promontories  form  huge  masses  of  gneiss  interspersed 
with  garnet ;  some  again  are  columnar  basalts  ;  but  in  no  part  of  the  archipelago 
has  the  presence  of  volcanic  cones,  ashes  or  scoriae  been  placed  beyond  doubt. 

In  the  Parry  group  the  oldest  formations  occur  in  the  east,  the  more  recent 
in  the  west.  Thus  north  of  Lancaster  Sound  the  rocks  are  crystalline,  granite  or 
gneiss,  followed  westwards  by  silurian  strata,  and  still  farther  west  by  carboni- 
ferous sandstones  and  ferruginous  limestones  in  Bathurst,  Byam,  Martin,  and 
Melville  Islands,  and  other  limestones  associated  with  Jurassic  rocks  in  Prince 
Patrick  Island  in  the  extreme  north-west.  The  coal  measures  of  the  Parry  group 
date  from  the  same  age  as  those  of  Bear  Island,  north  of  Scandinavia,  and  are 
overlaid  by  the  same  marine  limestones.     These  coincidences  at  such  vast  distances 


THE   WESTERN   ARCTIC   ISLANDS. 


101 


have  been  appealed  to  in  support  of  the  hypothesis  of  a  great  continent  which 
formerly  comprised  all  the  Arctic  regions,  but  which  has  partly  subsided  in  both 
hemispheres. 

The  "Western  Insular  Groups. 

West  of  Baffin  Land  the  peninsulas  and  islands  skirting  the  northern  shores 
of  British  America  must  be  regarded  as  a  geographic  unit  independently  of  their 
present  junction  with  or  severance  from  the  mainland.  The  channels  winding 
between  continent  and  islands  are  relatively  shallow,  nowhere  more  than  260 
fathoms  deep,  so  that  a  slight  subsidence  of    the  waters  would  transform  the 


Fig.  38.— Baeeow  Strait. 
Scale  1  :  5,030,000. 


Part  £oiven 


West  of    ureenwich 


.  1C0  Allies. 


insular  groups  to  peninsulas.  On  the  other  hand  a  corresponding  upheaval  of 
the  marine  level  would  convert  into  fjords  and  even  straits,  the  chains  of  lakes 
which  at  a  former  epoch  were  evidently  branches  of  the  sea.  The  contours  of  the 
archipelago  as  traced  by  the  present  coastlines  are  a  passing  phenomenon  of  no 
permanent  geographical  importance.  In  this  respect  the  whole  peninsular  region, 
limited  southwards  by  a  line  continuing  westwards  the  north  coast  of  Labrador, 
and  terminating  at  the  Mackenzie  delta,  forms  part  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago. 

The  Melville  peninsula,  attached  to  the  continent  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land ; 
the  Boothia  Felix  peninsula,  which  the  first  explorers  supposed  to  be  an  island ; 
lastly  Adelaide  Land,  scarcely  severed  from  the  mainland  by  Sherman  Bay,  thus 
belong  to  the  same  natural  division  as  King  William,  Prince  Albert  and  Bering 


102  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Lauds.  The  abortive  straits  indicated  on  the  side  of  Hudson  Bay  by  the 
Wager  and  Chesterfield  inlets,  and  on  that  of  the  Polar  Sea  by  Sherman  Bay,  are 
the  natural  limits  of  this  region  of  the  Arctic  insular  world. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  these  peninsulas  and  islands  there  is  a  complete 
absence  of  mountain  ranges  properly  so  called.  The  highest  summits  observed 
by  explorers  do  not  exceed  1,650  feet,  and  their  apparent  relief  is  even  diminished 
by  the  snows  covering  hills  and  plains  alike.  Nevertheless,  the  surface  is  much 
broken  and  often  studded  with  lakes.  In  Prince  Albert  Island  some  peaks  on  the 
west  coast  have  the  appearance  of  volcanic  cones,  though  MacClure  was  unable  to 
determine  their  true  character. 

For  vast  spaces  the  coastlands  consist  of  dolomites,  whose  nearly  horizontal 
strata  stretch  away  uniformly  for  immeasurable  distances.  Near  the  shore  the 
bed  of  the  sea,  visible  to  a  considerable  depth  thanks  to  its  whiteness,  resembles  a 
marble  pavement.  As  in  other  parts  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  numerous  indica- 
tions of  upheaval  have  been  observed  in  this  region.  Here  and  there  old  beaches 
are  found  covered  with  shells  and  driftwood,  and  in  Cornwallis  Island  one  of  these 
beaches  now  stands  1,000  feet  above  sea-level.  On  the  shores  of  Banks  Island 
MacClure  and  his  party  collected  fossil  wood,  petrified  acorns,  and  branches,  and 
these  objects  are  now  preserved  in  the  English  museums  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
their  scientific  value,  but  also  as  mementos  of  these  heroic  expeditions.  Even  on 
the  coast  of  the  Paleocrystic  Sea  Greely's  companions  discovered  petrified  forests, 
and  so  early  as  182G  Robert  Jameson  had  verified  the  existence  of  fossil  plants 
attesting  a  former  temperate  and  even  tropical  climate  in  these  Arctic  lands. 

Climate. 

But  the  climate  has  undergone  a  vast  change  since  this  vegetation  flourished  ; 
it  will  doubtless  pass  through  further  modifications,  and  one  of  the  proofs  of  its 
instability  is  the  incessant  oscillation  of  the  magnetic  pole  and  of  a  pole  of  low 
temperature  above  the  Arctic  Archipelago  at  a  great  distance  from  the  true  North 
Pole.  In  these  regions  the  magnetic  needle  no  longer  serves  to  indicate  the  north, 
as  was  already  remarked  by  Forster  in  the  last  century,  so  closely  do  the  lines  of 
unequal  declination  approach  each  other.  They  converge  from  all  quarters,  not, 
however,  in  the  direction  of  the  geometrical  north,  but  towards  the  southern  part 
of  the  Boothia  Felix  peninsula.  By  following  the  indications  of  the  compass 
James  Clarke  Ross  was  thus  able  approximately  to  determine  the  place  where  the 
needle  points  towards  the  centre  of  the  planet,  and  this  twenty  years  before  the 
circumnavigation  of  America  had  been  completed.  On  the  site  of  the  observatory 
the  deflection  from  the  vertical  was  still  one-sixtieth  of  a  degree  ;  consequently 
the  actual  position  of  the  pole  should  be  a  short  distance  seawards  in  the  direction 
of  the  south-west.  At  that  time,  that  is,  in  1831,  the  converging  point  of  all  the 
magnetic  currents  in  the  northern  hemisphere  was  1,370  miles  south  of  the  true 
pole.  Thus  was  discovered  under  another  form  the  "  polar  rock,"  the  magnet 
which  mediaeval  mariners  supposed  to  exist  in  the  northern  regions,  and  which 


CLIMATE    OF   THE   ARCTIC    ISLANDS. 


103 


attracted  the  waters  and  ships.     Round  this  rock  the  sea  was  supposed  to  rush  iu 
cataracts  into  the  depths  of  the  earth. 

The  northern  lights  were  also  formerly  believed  to  increase  in  number  and 
intensity  in  the  direction  of  the  pole,  thus  illuminating,  like  the  solar  rays,  the 
long  night  of  50,  100,  or  even  150  days  that  Arctic  navigators  have  to  pass  in  those 
high  latitudes.  This  foregone  conclusion  of  physicists  has  not  been  verified  by 
observation.  The  auroral  coruscations  are  in  fact  rarer  and  usually  less  vivid  in 
the  Arctic  Archipelago  than  in  Labrador  and  !Nbrth  Scandinavia.  They  mostly 
roll  upwards  in  the  form  of  whitish  ribbons,  undulating  in  space  like  streamers  of 

Fig.  39.—  Magn-etic  Pole. 
Scale  1  :  2,300.000. 


West   of  Greenwich 


,  00  lliles. 


pale  light  against  the  black  ground  of  night.  The  phenomena  of  refraction  are 
also  very  common  in  the  unequally  heated  atmospheric  strata  resting  on  the  polar 
seas.  Islands,  vessels,  hills,  and  icebergs  assume  the  most  fantastic  forms  ;  the 
moon  becomes  oval  or  even  polygonal  and  develops  an  encircling  halo,  while 
several  suns  shine  in  the  firmament,  all  connected  by  crosses  or  circles  of  light. 
Eefraction  also  at  times  elevates  the  line  of  the  horizon  far  above  its  true  position, 
as  when  Parry  sighted  a  coastline  100  miles  distant.  The  vibrations  of  sound 
become  equally  intensified,  the  scrunching  of  frozen  snow  under  passing  sledges 
being  heard  at  a  distance  of  nine  or  ten  miles. 

'Apart  from  the  consideration  of  latitude,  the  annual  temperature  is  lower  in 


104  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  Arctic  Archipelago  than  in  Greenland  itself.  At  Port  Rensselaer  Kane 
recorded  97°  below  freezing-point  Fahrenheit  ;  Nares  and  his  companions 
endured  a  cold  of  90°,  and  MacClure  94°  at  Mercy  Bay  in  January.  But 
meteorologists  accept  these  figures  only  as  probable  approximations,  for  the 
mercury  freezes  at  — 40D  F.  while  spirit  thermometers  are  untrustworthy  beyond 
— 58°  F.  In  any  case  the  winter  temperature  in  these  regions  is  extremely  low, 
averaging  — 32"  F.  in  Grinnell  Land  and  the  Parry  Islands,  and  at  Port  Rensselaer 
— 36°  F.  in  March.  The  only  month  when  the  mercury  stands  above  freezing- 
point  is  July,  when  the  moisture  is  precipitated  in  the  form  of  rain,  snow  or 
sleet  prevailing  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  Even  farther  south  the  mean  winter 
temperature  is  about  — 22°  F.  on  the  west  side  of  the  Davis  and  Baffin  Seas.* 

By  a  most  remarkable  meteorological  phenomenon  all  winds,  from  whatever 
quarter  they  blow,  have  the  effect  of  raising  the  local  temperature  in  these  regions. 
During  calms,  that  is,  the  normal  winter  weather,  the  heavier  and  colder  air 
prevails  with  higher  barometric  pressure.  But  when  the  equilibrium  is  disturbed 
and  the  atmospheric  currents  rush  in,  the  actual  cold  diminishes  considerably, 
although  it  is  more  felt  and  more  irksome  to  travellers  than  the  intense  cold  of 
calm  weather.  As  a  rule  a  rapid  rise  of  temperature  is  not  welcomed  by  explorers, 
because  followed  by  aerial  disturbances  and  storms.  The  increase  of  heat  is  also 
generally  accompanied  by  thick  fogs,  which  greatly  contribute  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  ice-pack.     It  breaks  up  and,  as  the  Eskimo  say,  "  is  eaten  by  the  fog." 

Flora  and  Fauna. 

Although  of  a  lowly  type,  the  flora  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  is  not  lacking  in 
beauty.  In  Grinnell  Land  the  "  willow  groves  "  scarcely  one  or  two  inches  high 
cover  extensive  tracts  with  green  tints,  while  the  lichens  of  all  kinds — brown,  red, 
yellow,  and  green — seem  to  present  more  vivid  shades  of  colour  than  in  other  lati- 
tudes. Vast  spaces  are  also  covered  with  red  saxifrages  and  with  the  dryas,  a 
tiny  rose  with  tufts  of  white  flowers.  In  a  few  weeks  the  plants  complete  their 
life  history,  bursting  into  bloom  almost  as  soon  as  they  appear  above  tbe  snows. 
The  margins  of  many  lakes  are  fringed  with  tall  grasses  20  inches  high;  but 
the  vegetable  kingdom  supplies  nothing  suitable  for  fuel  except  driftwood,  and 
even  this  is  plentiful  only  at  the  entrance  of  Davis  Strait  and  on  the  coasts  facing 
the  Bering  Sea.  The  lands,  however,  contiguous  to  the  American  mainland 
produce  a  lowly  plant,  the  cassiope  ictragonia,  very  rich  in  a  resinous  substance 
which  is  carefully  collected  and  used  as  "  firewood."     The  plants  gathered  during 

*  Temperatures  in  various  parts  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  :  — 


North  Latitude. 

Mean  Temp. 

Summer  Temp. 

Winter  Temp. 

Winter  Island    . 

.     66' 11'     . 

.     +9°  F.      . 

.     +34°  F.      . 

.     _20°  F. 

Repulse  Bay 

.     66°  25'     . 

.     +6°  8        . 

.     +40° 

24° 

Igloolik 

.     69°  20'     . 

.     +5° 

.     +34'           . 

21° 

Port  Eowen 

.     73°  14'     . 

•   -H° 

.     +36° 

24° 

Port  Leopold 

.     73°  50'     . 

.     +3° 

.     +33°  8       . 

.     —32° 

Mercy  Bay 

.     74°  G'       . 

-4-2° 

.     +37° 

.     —28° 

Port  Rensselaer. 

•     7S°  37'     . 

.     —1° 

.     +38° 

.     —31° 

FAUNA  OF  THE  ARCTIC   ISLANDS. 


105 


the  Penny  expedition,  chiefly  along  the  shores  of  the  Wellington  Channel  between 

North  Devon  and  Cornwallis  Island,  comprised  as  many  as  fifty-four  phanerogams. 

The  islands  have   also  their   fauna ;    like   the  American  mainland,  they  are 

inhabited  by  the  wolf,  fox,  hare,  lemming,  ermine  ;  and  the  Eskimo  speak  of  them 


I 


as  the  "Land  of  the  White  Bear  "  in  a  pre-eminent  sense.  The  musk  ox  roams 
as  far  north  as  Grinnell  Land,  which  was  formerly  also  frequented  by  the  rein- 
deer. At  least  one  species  of  bird,  the  ptarmigan  (lagopus  rupestris),  passes  the 
whole  year  in  the  same  region,  to  which  about  thirty  birds  of  passage  flock  in 
vol..  XV.  I 


106  NORTH  AMERICA. 

summer.  Aquatic  fowl,  with  brilliant  plumage,  visit  the  bays  for  a  few  weeks, 
and  then  take  wing  for  the  continental  plains.  According  to  Otto  Torrell  the 
species  of  indigenous  birds  are  twice  as  numerous  in  the  wooded  parts  of  boreal 
America  as  in  the  islands  south  of  Lancaster  Sound,  while  in  these  the  proportion 
is  three  times  greater  than  in  the  Parry  Group  and  Grinnell  Land.  No  birds 
migrate  beyond  the  terminal  headland  of  this  region. 

The  family  of  passeres,  represented  in  British  North  America  by  twenty  sjiecies, 
has  only  two  in  the  Parry  Islands,  where  is  also  found  a  solitary  bird  of  prey,  the 
stryx  nyctea.  The  North  Polar  islands,  like  those  of  the  Antarctic  region,  are 
frequented  by  myriads  of  the  eider  duck  (somateria  mollmima),  and  here  the 
various  families  of  birds  always  congregate  together  in  large  colonies  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  encroach  on  each  other's  domains.  When  first  visited  by  the  Arctic 
explorers  those  frequenting  the  more  remote  islands  of  the  Archipelago  were  so 
tame  that  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  taken  by  the  hand. 

Like  the  birds  the  fishes  diminish  in  the  direction  from  south  to  north. 
Within  the  polar  zone  the  marine  waters  contain  at  most  about  a  dozen  species, 
while  the  freshwater  lakes  are  almost  entirely  uninhabited,  though  one  variety  of 
salmon  is  still  met  so  far  north  as  Grinnell  Land.  North  of  Cape  Sabine  in  the 
channels  leading  to  the  Paleocrystic  Sea  not  a  single  cetacean  has  been  found,  and 
only  one  species  of  seal  penetrates  beyond  these  channels.  But  in  the  cold  waters 
of  Baffin  Land  the  large  cetaceans  were  formerly  very  numerous.  The  early 
navigators  speak  of  schools  comprising  as  many  as  a  hundred  whales.  About  the 
year  1840  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  whaling  vessels  still  yearly  frequented  these 
seas,  and  especially  the  neighbourhood  of  Cumberland  Bay.  But  in  1860  they 
were  reduced  to  about  twenty,  and  now  scarcely  any  are  seen,  the  whale  having 
been  almost  exterminated  in  those  high  latitudes.  Here,  however,  the  seal  still 
swarms,  and  some  inlets  are  inhabited  by  the  cod;  the  variety  captured  off  the 
south  coast  of  Baffin  Land  is  said  to  have  a  more  delicate  flavour  than  that  of 
Newfoundland. 

The  mosquito,  scourge  of  the  Arctic  regions  south  of  70°  north  latitude,  almost 
entirely  disappears  in  the  more  northern  islands.  One  variety  of  spider  reaches 
as  far  as  the  Parry  group,  which,  however,  lies  beyond  the  range  of  the  beetle  and 
butterfly.  Yet  these  insects  are  still  numerous  in  the  islands  near  the  mainland, 
where  some  species  are  remarkable  for  their  brilliant  colours. 

Inhabitants. 

The  insular  Eskimo,  far  less  numerous  than  those  of  Greenland,  are  undoubt- 
edly allied  to  them  in  race  and  speech,  although  long  isolation  has  developed  consi- 
derable diversity  amongst  the  several  groups.  In  an  area  approximately  estimated  at 
800,000  square  miles  the  whole  population  scarcely  exceeds  two  or  at  most  three  thou- 
sand souls.  The  different  tribal  or  family  subdivisions  are  generally  named  from  the 
districts  usually  occupied  uj  them.  Thus  those  settled  on  Hudson  Strait  are  the  Siko- 
suilarmiuts,  that  is,  the  Mint,  or  "People,  of  the  Iceless  Shore."    So  also  the  Aggo- 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  ARCTIC  ISLANDS.  107 

riiiuts  and  Akudmr-miuts  (Oko-niiuts)  of  Baffin  Land,  and  many  others.  One  of  the 
most  divergent  tribes,  at  least  in  their  social  usages,  are  the  Talirpings,  the  only 
community  which,  till  recently,  occupied  an  inland  territory.  They  dwelt  on  the 
banks  of  Lake  Kennedy,  inhabited  by  the  seal ;  but  now  they  reside  on  the  sea- 
shore, like  all  the  natives  of  the  Archipelago.  Like  them  also,  they  have  greatly 
diminished  in  numbers  since  the  arrival  of  the  European  explorers.  One  of  the 
strongest,  if  not  the  strongest,  of  all  the  Innuit  groups  is  that  of  the  Neckilliks, 
who  formerly  held  the  isthmus  of  Boothia,  but  who,  since  the  middle  of  the  cen- 
tury, have  migrated  towards  the  northern  and  western  shores  of  King  William 
Land.  Here  they  find  seal  and  fish  in  abundance,  and  hunt  the  reindeer  in  sum- 
mer, and  are  thus  able  to  lay  up  sufficient  supplies  for  the  long  winter  days. 

About  the  second  decade  of  the  present  century  the  natives  of  Cumberland  Bay 
were  said  to  number  about  fifteen  hundred  persons  ;  but  in  1884  Boas  estimated  at 
a  hundred,  more  or  less,  the  whole  population  of  Baffin  Land,  one  of  the  least, 
deserted  regions  of  the  Archipelago.  Contagious  diseases,  and  especially  syphilis, 
introduced  by  the  white  sailors,  have  certainly  been  the  cause  of  these  deplorable 
ravages.  In  1883  diphtheria,  attributed  by  the  Eskimo  to  Boas  himself,  was  added 
to  the  other  disastrous  epidemics,  while  the  extermination  of  the  race  is  hastened  by 
infanticide,  prevalent  in  some  tribes.  The  famines,  by  which  the  population  has  often 
been  decimated,  have  often  wrongly  been  assigned  to  the  falling  off  of  the  fisheries. 
Doubtless,  the  whale  has  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  is  now  pursued  by  the 
Eskimo  only  in  Hudson  Strait  and  the  neighbouring  waters.  But  the  seal,  which 
is  not  captured  by  the  European  whalers,  is  still  found  in  multitudes  along  the 
shores  of  Baffin  Land.  In  spring,  however,  it  is  difficult  to  take,  the  ice  having 
become  too  weak  to  bear  the  hunters,  while  still  too  strong  to  be  forced  by  their 
kayaks.  They  are  also  frequently  kept  ashore  by  continuous  stormy  weather,  and 
the  distress  is  greatly  increased  when  a  member  of  the  tribe  happens  to  die,  custom 
then  requiring  all  hunting  and  fishing  to  be  suspended  for  several  days. 

Vestiges  of  old  habitations  have  been  met  by  most  explorers  at  various  points 
of  the  seaboard.  The  remains  of  cabins  occur  in  all  the  Parry  Islands,  and  large 
villages  formerly  stood  on  sites  hundreds  of  miles  remote  from  all  present  camping- 
grounds.  The  objects  of  human  industry  found  nearest  to  the  pole  were  a  sledge, 
a  lamp,  and  a  scraper,  collected  by  Fielden  on  the  shores  of  the  Paleocrystic  Sea 
six  or  seven  miles  below  82°  north  latitude.  Greely  also  discovered  some  ruins 
in  the  interior  of  Grinnell  Land,  which,  however,  seemed  to  have  been  merely 
temporary  structures.  In  this  region  he  draws  the  limits  of  the  zone  of  per- 
manent habitation  to  the  north  of  80°  north  latitude,  a  line  coinciding  with  the 
extreme  frontier  of  the  territory  roamed  over  by  the  reindeer  and  visited  by  the 
walrus. 

The  natives  have  legends  about  the  Tornits,  an  older  race  of  barbarians  un- 
acquainted with  the  bow  and  arrow,  but  skilled  magicians.  In  certain  mythical 
tales  they  are  confounded  with  monstrous  beings,  said  to  have  had  human  bodies  and 
the  paws  of  dogs.  The  Tornits  were  either  exterminated  or  else  died  out,  because 
"  the  world  was  too  small  to  contain  both  races."     The  Eskimo  themselves,  though 

i2 


108 


NORTH  AMEUH'A. 


the  least  numerous  of  men,  are  confirmed  Malthusians  ;  although  lost  as  it  were 
in  the  immensity  of  space,  the  earth  still  seems  scarcely  rich  enough  for  their 
support. 

Compelled  to  lead   a   nomad  life  by   the   necessities  of  the  chase,  fishing  and 


Fig.  41. — Melville  Peninsula  and  neighbouring  Isles,  from  ah  Eskimo  Chart. 


(Wfnter./s/anc/J 


Land  oF     /Vannovv 


trade,  the  natives  are  familiar  with  vast  stretches  of  their  insular  domain.  By 
inquiry  made  at  a  small  number  of  intermediate  stations  an  intelligent  explorer 
might  easily  make  himself  acquainted  with  all  the  routes  lying  between  the  shores 


INHABITANTS   OF  THE  ARCTIC  ISLANDS.  109 

of  the  Baffin  Sea  and  the  Mackenzie  delta.  But  in  undertaking  long  expeditions 
the  Eskimo  hunters  require  to  take  every  precaution,  for  many  communities  are 
separated  by  the  traditions  of  blood  and  the  vendetta.  Even  those  not  rendered 
hostile  by  hereditary  feuds  foster  feelings  of  mutual  jealousy  and  suspicion. 
Amono-st  the  Nechilliks  a  'woman  armed  with  a  knife  advances  to  meet  all 
strangers,  offering  them  peace  or  war.  After  certain  preliminaries  they  are 
received  into  the  tribe  on  a  footing  of  equality  ;  wives  are  assigned  to  them  and 
they  cease  to  belong  to  the  maternal  group.  Marriage  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  expatriation,  the  husband  nearly  always  leaving  his  own  people  to  dwell 
with  those  of  his  bride.  The  adoption  of  strange  children  also  contributes  variously 
to  intermingle  the  tribes,  and  half-breeds  have  become  numerous  since  the  whalers 
have  visited  these  regions  and  founded  stations,  round  which  the  natives  have 
grouped  themselves.  So  great  is  the  influence  of  the  whites  that  from  the  shores 
of  the  Baffin  Sea  to  Alaska  the  medium  of  intercourse  is  a  sort  of  Anglo-Eskimo, 
into  which  some  Danish,  Portuguese,  and  even  Polynesian  words  have  also  been 
introduced.  The  French  term  "troc"  is  usually  employed  for  barter  of  all  kinds; 
but  despite  all  these  foreign  additions,  the  vocabulary  of  this  jargon  is  very 
limited. 

The  Eskimo  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago  recognise  no  authority.  Custom  is 
their  only  law,  and  when  some  unforeseen  event  upsetting  all  their  calculations 
requires  them  to  depart  from  established  usage  the  change  must  be  made  by 
common  consent.  The  natives  have  a  vague  belief  in  a  supreme  being,  but  they 
carve  no  idols,  nor  do  they  perform  any  ceremonies  to  escape  from  a  future  life  of 
everlasting  winter  or  secure  the  blessing  of  an  eternal  summer.  Marriages  are 
generally  arranged  long  beforehand,  the  girls  being  occasionally  betrothed  in  their 
cradle.  Men  and  women,  as  well  as  the  different  tribes,  are  distinguished  by  the 
cut  of  their  hair,  the  fashion  of  their  dress,  and  the  tattoo  marks  on  nose,  cheeks, 
and  chin,  but  the  practice  of  tatooing  is  falling  into  abeyance. 

Although  recognising  no  masters  the  community  formerly  paid  great  deference 
to  one  of  the  elders,  the  wise  man  who  knew  everything,  and  who  was  consulted 
on  all  weighty  matters.  He  indicated  the  auspicious  days  for  changing  residence, 
undertaking  journeys  and  hunting  expeditions.  He  presided  at  the  public  feasts 
and  interceded  for  the  community  with  the  propitious  deities.  After  his  death 
he  received  great  honours,  and  in  his  grave  were  deposited  arms,  utensils,  orna- 
ments, and  other  valuables  ;  especially  hunting  and  fishing  gear  wherewith  to  pro- 
vide himself  with  food  in  the  other  world. 

Instead  of  the  kayak  the  natives  now  generally  make  use  of  boats  purchased 
from  the  whalers.  But  they  retain  most  of  their  old  industries,  and  as  artists 
greatly  excel  the  Labrador  and  Hudson  Bay  Eskimo.  Their  garments,  implements 
of  the  chase,  and  carved  objects  are  made  more  solidly  and  with  greater  taste. 
Their  surprising  sense  of  locality  is  alluded  to  by  all  explorers,  and  they  have 
often  prepared  charts,  the  accuracy  of  which  has  been  recognised  by  European 
mariners.  To  one  of  these  charts  executed  by  the  Eskimo,  Iligink,  Parry  was 
indebted  for  the  discovery  of  the  Fury  and  Hecla  Strait. 


110 


NORTH   AMERICA. 


ToP0GRAPH\. 


A  region  such  as  the  Arctic  Archipelago  could  scarcely  contain  any  centres  of 
population  beyond  a  few  permanent  or  temporary  encampments.  At  present  the  en- 
campment most  frequented  by  the  European  seafarers  is  Kekerten,  situated  on  an 
island  in  Tinikjuarbing  (Cumberland)  Bay  at  the  entrance  of  the  Kingnait  Fjord. 
At   Kekerten  have  been  established  the  only  two  whaling  stations  in  the  Arctic 


Fig.  42.— Cumberland  Bay. 
Scale  1  :  2,200,000. 


iNGUA^XMeteorological  Stshion       ,  ^^trr-'.^j'-r^        W 

- 


,  30  MUes. 


Islands,  and  these  have  attracted  the  natives  from  all  quarters.  Kingua,  another 
group  of  huts  at  the  northern  extremity  of  Cumberland  Bay,  owed  its  passing 
fame  to  the  choice  made  of  it  by  the  German  Commission  as  the  site  of  one  of  the 
circumpolar  meteorological  observatories.  Farther  south  Hall  discovered  in  Fro- 
bisher  Bay  a  large  number  of  objects,  cordage,  bricks,  bits  of  iron,  wood,  and  coal, 
winch  he  supposed  must  have  belonged  to  Frobisher's  expeditions  of  1576-78, 
and  which  are  now  preserved  in  the  Greenwich  Naval  Museum.  The  island 
where  these  relics  were  found  is  known  to  the  natives  by  the  name  of  Kodlunarn, 
"  Island  of  the  White  Man." 

A  few  islands  and  inlets  along  the  coast  have  also  become  famous  in  the  annals 


TOPOGKAPHY  OF  THE  AECTIC  ISLANDS. 


Ill 


of  geographical  exploration,  thanks  to  the  shelter  they  have  afforded  to  navigators, 
or  else  to  the  forcible  sojourns  made  in  them  by  Arctic  explorers.  Thus  Fort 
Conger  in  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  and  the  red  syenitic  headland  of  Cape  Sabine  in 
Ellesmere   Land,   recall    the    misfortunes    of    the   disastrous    Greely   expedition. 


Fig.  43. — Reteeat  of  the  Fbanklin  Expedition. 
Scaie  1  :  2,000,000. 


Erebus  8t  Terror 
in  bhe  ice    septe 


Erebus  &.  Terror 
abandonned  april  1848 


West  of  Greenwich 


.36  Miles. 


Becchey  Island  at  the  south-west  corner  of  North  Devon  was  the  chief  rendezvous 
of  the  polar  explorers,  thanks  to  its  happy  position  at  the  intersection  of  the  straits 
between  the  Wellington,  Lancaster,  Barrow,  Prince  Regent,   and  Peel  channels. 


112  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Winter  Harbour,  on  the  south  coast  of  Melville  Island,  has  been  known  since  Parry 
wintered  here  in  1819,  and  here  also  was  effected  in  1853  the  junction  of  the 
circumnavigation  routes  by  the  meeting  of  Kellett  and  M'Clure.  A  Winter 
Is/and  is  also  one  of  the  historical  places  in  the  Arctic  Ocean,  thanks  to  Parry's 
residence  here  during  his  second  expedition,  when  his  vessel  became  entangled 
in  the  "  no  thoroughfare  "  of  Repulse  Bay  south  of  Melville  Peninsula,  and  when 
he  vainly  endeavoured  to  cross  the  strait  to  which  he  left  the  name  of  his  ships, 
the  Fury  and  Hecla.  Port  Bourn  and  Port  Leopold,  facing  each  other  on  the 
Prince  Regent  Strait,  where  nothing  is  to  be  seen  except  "  sandstone,  snow,  and 
ice,"  similarly  recall  the  sufferings  of  other  Arctic  heroes,  while  Bellot  Strait  between 
North  Somerset  and  Boothia  Felix  perpetuates  the  memory  of  that  devoted  mariner 
who  disappeared  amid  the  floes  of  Wellington  Channel,  and  in  whose  honour  a 
monument  was  raised  on  Beechey  Island. 

But  the  best-known  places  are  those  where  have  been  discovered  the  traces  of 
the  retreat  made  by  the  ill-fated  companions  of  Sir  John  Franklin.  Such  are 
Point  Victor//,  where  M'Clintock  came  upon  the  first  indications  of  the  disastrous 
result  of  the  expedition ;  Cape  Felix  near  the  spot  where  the  two  vessels  were 
blocked  by  the  ice-pack  ;  Erebus  Bay  where  the  graves  of  the  dead  begin  to  show 
along  the  beach;  Simpson  Strait  where  the  survivors  at  last  reached  terra  firma; 
Famine  Bay,  crossed  by  one  only  of  the  fugitives  to  perish  in  his  turn  a  little 
farther  on  in  an  inlet  of  the  Adelaide  Peninsula.  The  calamitous  end  of  this 
expedition,  which  gave  rise  to  so  many  expeditions  in  search  of  the  castaways, 
was  the  chief  cause  of  the  long  suspension  of  Arctic  exploration  that  then  ensued. 
But  research  will  in  future  be  facilitated  by  the  establishment  of  fixed  stations 
which  can  be  provisioned  from  various  points  of  the  mainland.  Nor  have  all  the 
resources  of  modern  industry  yet  been  enlisted  in  the  service  of  Arctic  navigation. 
The  Polaris  was  the  first  steamer  employed  in  this  service,  and  that  so  recently  as 
the  year  1871.  In  1850  John  Ross  let  off  two  carrier  pigeons  in  Barrow  Strait, 
and  one  of  these  birds  reached  Scotland  in  120  hours  after  a  flight  of  2,500 
miles. 

A  table  of  the  Arctic  lands  with  their  chief  subdivisions  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ALASKA. 


HE  north-west  extremity  of  North  America  bears  the  official  desig- 
nation of  Alaska,  which  according  to  some  etymologists  is  derived 
from  the  native  words  Al-ak-shak,  or  "  the  Great  Land."  This 
name  it  takes  from  the  curved  peninsula  which  projects  to  the 
south-east  of  the  Bering  Sea,  and  is  continued  westwards  by  the 
chain  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  A/iaska,  the  name  formerly  attributed  to  the  penin- 
sula in  most  written  documents,  has  gradually  yielded  to  the  form  Alaska,  which 
has  been  extended  to  the  whole  region  as  far  as  141°  west  longitude. 

This  region  formed  part  of  the  Russian  empire  till  the  year  1867,  when  it  was 
sold  to  the  United  States  for  a  sum  equivalent  to  about  £1,500,000.  Although 
public  opinion  in  America  had  long  protested  against  this  purchase,  the  price  is 
certainly  low  enough  for  a  territory  nearly  600,000  square  miles  in  extent,  and 
which  is  not  exclusively  a  land  of  mountains,  frozen  lakes  and  snows,  as  has  been 
so  often  asserted.  Alaska  possesses  on  the  contrary  vast  forests,  mines,  and 
fisheries.  With  exception  of  the  Seal  Islands  its  resources  have  doubtless  been  but 
imperfectly  developed,  while  the  white  population  is  still  thinly  scattered  along 
the  south  coast,  the  only  inhabitable  district.  Nevertheless,  it  seems  strange  that 
the  Russian  Government  should  have  consented  to  surrender  its  vast  possessions  in 
the  New  "World,  which,  although  of  no  fiscal  value,  added  not  a  little  to  the  dignity 
of  the  empire.  The  step  has  been  explained  by  the  desire  felt  by  Russia,  at  that 
time  at  enmity  with  Great  Britain,  of  showing  her  sympathy  with  the  great 
republic,  and  of  sowing  the  seeds  of  future  dissension  between  the  two  conterminous 
states. 

The  south-east  part  of  Alaska  is  indicated  by  natural  frontiers  ;  starting  from 
54°  40'  north  latitude,  it  comprises  the  coastlands  as  far  as  the  divide  formed  by  the 
coast  range.  But  where  this  divide  lies  more  than  10  marine  leagues  (34  miles) 
from  the  sea,  the  frontier  towards  British  America  will  be  traced  at  this  distance 
parallel  with  the  coastline.  Near  the  superb  landmark  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  whose 
crest  is  probably  just  within  the  American  border,*  the  limit  becomes  quite  con- 

*  Dall's  determination  of  1874  gave  60°  20'  45''  latitude;  141°  00'  12"  longitude,  just  twelve  seconds 
on  the  American  side. 


114  NOETII  AMERICA. 

ventional,  and  has  hitherto  been  provisionally  surveyed  only  at  the  point  where  it 
is  crossed  by  the  Yukon  River ;  it  is  merely  an  ideal  meridional  line  drawn  to 
Demarcation  Point  on  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Had  the  political  limit  followed  the 
most  salient  feature  of  this  region,  it  would  have  been  drawn  from  Mount  St.  Elias 
towards  the  ranges  which  enclose  on  the  east  the  sources  of  the  Copper  River, 
and  then  those  of  the  Yukon  and  its  affluents.  With  the  addition  of  these  upland 
valleys  Alaska  would  have  been  enlarged  by  at  least  one-third,  though  its  economic 
importance  would  scarcely  have  been  enhanced,  these  parts  of  the  country  being 
almost  uninhabited.  The  present  population,  estimated  at  less  than  34,000  by 
the  census  of  1880,  would  at  most  have  been  increased  by  perhaps  2,000  or  3,000 
had  the  whole  of  the  Upper  Yukon  basin  been  annexed. 

All  the  adjacent  islands — Chichagov,  Baranov,  Admiralty,  Kuprianov,  Prince 
of  Wales,  Revilla-Gigedo,  and  the  surrounding  clusters  of  islets — belong  politically 
to  the  United  States,  as  does  also  the  Aleutian  chain  as  far  as  the  island  of  Attu. 
Omitting  these  islands  and  smaller  inlets,  the  coastline  of  Alaska  has  been 
estimated  at  about  8,000  miles.  But  this  long  stretch  of  seaboard  with  its  creeks, 
gulfs,  and  bays,  numerous  especially  along  the  south  coast,  is  but  of  slight  value 
under  such  a  frigid  climate.  All  that  part  of  Alaska  lying  north  of  Bering  Strait 
is,  so  to  say,  cut  off  by  the  line  of  the  Arctic  Circle. 

Exploration. 

During  the  first  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Russians  had  already  a 
Arague  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the  "  Great  Continent  in  the  East,"  which 
was  reached  by  Gvozdev  in  1730.  But  on  the  maps  constructed  from  current 
reports  the  name  of  Alaska  is  attributed  to  an  island  in  Bering  Strait.  Systematic 
exploration  first  began  in  1741,  when  Bering  and  Chirikov,  the  former  accom- 
panied by  the  naturalist  Steller,-  the  latter  b}7  the  geographer  Delisle  de  la  Croyere, 
made  independent  surveys  of  the  districts  near  Mount  St.  Elias,  coasting  the  sea- 
board and  Aleutian  chain,  but  without  penetrating  inland.  In  1745  Novodiskov 
reached  the  island  of  Attu  from  Kamchatka,  and  was  followed  by  numerous 
adventurers.  The  Spaniard,  Quadra,  got  no  farther  than  the  southern  islands  in 
1775  ;  Arteaga  stopped  short  at  the  Aleutians,  and  Cook,  who  penetrated  into  the 
Arctic  Ocean  as  far  as  Ice  Cape,  also  confined  his  surveys  to  the  coastline. 

But  the  Aleutian  Islands  had  already  been  overrun  by  Russian  traders  and 
hunters ;  the  costly  American  peltries  had  found  their  way  to  the  European  and 
Chinese  markets,  and  the  extermination  of  the  natives  had  begun.  In  1785 
Jelikov  founded  several  settlements  on  the  mainland,  although  these  were  occa- 
sionally designated  in  a  general  way  by  the  name  of  ostrorn,  or  "  islands."  Being 
absolute  masters  of  the  seaboard,  and  controlling  the  inland  trade  through  the 
native  hunters,  the  Russians  were  able  to  effect  their  exchanges  without  making 
long  journeys  into  the  interior.  Nevertheless,  they  gradually  became  familiar 
with  all  the  south-western  parts  of  Alaska  south  of  the  Yukon.  In  1829  the 
Russian  half-easte  Kolmakov  ascended  the  Nushagak,  flowing  to  Bristol  Bay,  as 


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EXPLORATION  OF  ALASKA. 


115 


well  as  the  Kuskokvim  (Kuskoquiu),  on  the  banks  of  which  he  erected  the  strong- 
hold of  Kolmakovst  over  240  miles  from  the  ocean.  In  1832  Glazunov,  also  a 
half-breed,  traversed  the  low-lying  country  between  the  Lower  Yukon  and  the 
Kuskokvim,  and  in  1838  the  station  of  Nulato  was  founded  at  the  head  of  the 
lower  course  of  the  Yukon.  Zagoskin's  expedition,  begun  in  1842,  surveyed  all 
the  western  parts  of  Alaska  as  far  as  the  Koyukuk  basin.  This  was  the  most 
important  and  most  scientific  exploration  carried  out  by  the  Russians  in  the 
interior  of  the  "  American  Siberia."  Some  excursions  of  less  consequence,  com- 
pleting the  network  of  Russian  itineraries  in  this  region,  are  figured  on  an  atlas 
published  in  1842  by  the  "  Creole  "  or  half-breed  Terentiev  at  Sitka  in  1842. 

Fig.  44. — Chief  Routes  of  Alaskan  Explorers. 

Scale  1  :  22.000,000. 


Although  the  rulers  of  Alaska  had  reserved  to  themselves  the  exclusive  right 
of  exploration,  the  Americans  engaged  on  the  construction  of  the  international 
telegraph  across  Bering  Strait  (a  work  interrupted  in  1S67),  took  some  part  in 
the  geographical  survey  of  the  land.  But  after  the  cession  of  the  territory,  being 
desirous  to  ascertain  the  real  value  of  their  purchase,  they  took  its  scientific  explora- 
tion vigorously  in  hand.  It  was  visited  in  various  directions  by  the  naturalist, 
Dall,  during  the  years  18G6  68  ;  Petroff  prepared  statistical  returns  of  the  tribes  ; 
Raymond,  Schwatka,  and  Everett  followed  the  course  of  the  Yukon,  which  is  now 
well  known  from  its  source  to  its  mouth  ;  Allen  surveyed  its  two  largest  tribu- 


11G  NOBTH  AMEBIC  A. 

taries,  the  Tanana  and  the  Koyukuk,  and  also  ascended  the  Copper  River  nearly 
to  its  source,  and  crossed  the  chain  of  the  Alaskan  Alps.  Mercier,  a  Canadian, 
who  lived  over  seventeen  years  in  the  country,  where  he  founded  several  stations, 
ascended  the  Tanana  to  its  headstreams,  and  penetrated  north  of  the  Yukon  and 
beyond  the  Arctic  Circle  into  the  Upper  Nunatok  basin. 

Numerous  miners  have  made  their  way  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  down  to  the 
plains  of  British  North  America,  and  naturalists  such  as  Krause,  Dawson,  and 
Ogilvie,  have  followed  in  their  track.  The  survey  of  the  southern  and  western 
districts  is  thus  being  completed,  and  the  only  regions  still  unexplored  are  those 
of  the  north-west  and  north-east.  Here  the  junction  has  not  yet  been  effected 
between  the  short  expeditions  undertaken  by  Ray  about  the  meteorological  station 
at  Barrow  Point,  and  the  surveys  of  the  Koyukuk,  Nunatok,  and  Kovak  severally 
executed  by  Allen,  Mercier,  and  Stoney.  The  geographical  nomenclature  becomes 
more  and  more  English  in  the  interior,  while  on  the  seaboard  most  of  the  Russian 
names  have  been  preserved.  Amid  this  diversified  terminology — English  or 
Russian,  Eskimo  or  Indian — we  occasionally  come  upon  places  bearing  French 
names.  These  are  due  to  the  Canadians  of  pure  or  mixed  blood,  to  whom  the 
Americans  are  also  indebted  for  the  term  "  Bostonians  "  till  recently  current  in 
Alaska  and  British  Columbia  as  the  general  designation  of  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States. 


The  South  Alaskan  Alpine  Coastlands  and  Islands. 

The  South  Alaskan  coast  range  is  not  entirely  comprised  within  United  States 
territory  even  on  its  seaward  slope,  for  the  conventional  line  of  demarcation 
certainly  falls  beyond  the  main  ridge  of  this  range.  The  more  or  less  parallel 
chain  skirting  the  Pacific  shore,  as  far  as  the  Mount  St.  Elias  group,  may  be 
said  to  have  its  chief  development  in  British  Columbia.  Alaska  itself  is  traversed 
only  by  secondary  ridges  flanked  here  and  there  by  lateral  spurs,  mostly  of  low 
elevation.  The  greater  part  of  the  crests  do  not  exceed  2,000  feet,  as  far  as 
and  beyond  57°  latitude,  where  the  region  of  great  glaciers  begins  with  that  of 
Patterson,  and  which,  according  to  Elliott,  comprises  about  5,000  alto- 
gether. But  more  lofty  eminences  occur  in  the  neighbouring  islands.  Here 
Mount  Calder,  in  the  north  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  was  in  eruption  when 
these  waters  were  visited  by  Antonio  Maurelle  in  1775,  but  since  then  appears 
to  have  been  quiescent.  Mount  Edgecumbe,  the  San  Jacinto  of  the  early  Spanish 
navigators,  which  occupies  an  islet  facing  Sitka  on  the  west  side  of  Baranov 
Island,  has  an  elevation  of  2,850  feet,  and  from  the  form  of  its  truncated  cone  it  is 
evident  that  it  was  formerly  at  least  one-third  higher.  It  has  a  circuit  of  over  a 
mile,  and  was  emitting  flames  at  the  time  of  Lutke's  voyage  in  1796. 

These  southern  shores  of  Alaska  are  profoundly  indented  by  fjords,  which 
ramify  into  endless  branches  and  secondary  channels.  No  section  of  the  north 
American  Pacific  coast  presents  a  similar  labyrinth  of  straits,  severing  from  the 
mainland  some  1,100  islands  of  all  sizes,  which  appear  to  have  at  one  time  formed 


SOUTH  ALASKAN  COASTLANDS  AND  ISLANDS.  117 

part  of  the  continent,  or  at  least  been  connected  with  it  by  glaciers.  South  of 
Alaska  the  broad  Dixon  Strait,  between  Prince  of  Wales  and  the  Queen  Charlotte 
Archipelago,  interrupts  the  maze  of  islets,  and  here  the  zone  of  fjords  is  much 
narrower,  although  still  continued  southwards  to  the  entrance  of  the  Juan  de 
Fuca  passage,  where  it  abruptly  terminates  at  the  headland  of  Cape  Flattery. 
North  of  Cross  Sound  the  shore,  although  still  indented,  is  far  more  regular  than 
in  South  Alaska,  and  beyond  the  Peninsula  and  Aleutian  Islands  it  is  disposed  in 
long  slightly  curved  lines  and  massive  peninsulas.  Along  the  Arctic  seaboard 
the  shore-line  stretches  west  and  east  without  any  prominent  headlands,  and  here 
the  deepest  indentations  are  fringed  with  low  sandy  ridges. 

The  ramifying  fjord-like  formations  on  the  South  Alaskan  coast  are  evidently 
due  to  the  structure  of  the  mountains,  which  have  become  folded  and  diversely 
ruptured,  producing  a  labyrinth  of  faults  and  fissures,  which  were  formerly  filled 
with  glaciers,  and  which  are  now  flooded  by  the  sea  branching  off  into  a  thousand 
straits  and  channels.  The  complexity  of  these  islands,  the  largest  of  which  have 
retained  the  names  given  to  them  by  the  Russian  navigators  of  the  last  century,  is 
sometimes  designated  by  the  general  appellation  of  the  Alexander  Archipelago. 
Nevertheless,  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  largest  of  the  group,  and  its  neighbour 
Revilla-Gigedo  with  some  others,  recall  the  share  taken  by  the  English  and 
Spanish  mariners  in  the  work  of  discovery.  Between  the  islands  and  the  main- 
land a  sheltered  navigable  highway  is  offered  to  the  coast  steamers  by  the 
intervening  passages  which  are  of  analogous  form  to  the  fjords  penetrating  inland. 
Their  average  depth  is  enormous,  that  of  the  Tungas  Straits  at  the  southern 
entrance  of  the  Alaskan  fjords  exceeding  400  fathoms. 

The  range  of  lofty  mountains  begins  immediately  beyond  the  Archipelago, 
towering  above  the  coast  which  from  this  point  trends  in  nearly  a  straight  line  north- 
westwards. Mount  Lapch-ouse  rises  to  a  height  of  11,300  feet  in  the  terminal 
peninsula  which  is  limited  on  the  east  side  by  the  fjord  of  Glacier  Bay.  Beyond 
it  follow  Mount  Crillon  nearly  16,400  feet  high,  and  Mount  Fairweather,  which 
despite  its  name  is  wrapped  in  fogs  for  over  half  the  year.  The  copious  rains 
and  snows  falling  on  these  mountains  and  their  offshoots  have  given  rise  to 
extensive  glaciers  overflowing  into  all  the  divergent  valleys.  On  the  east  slope 
these  glaciers  merge  together  in  enormous  streams  which  descend  to  the  shore 
and  even  advance  beyond  the  coastline,  discharging  seawards  small  crystalline 
blocks,  which  travellers  compare  to  flocks  of  swans  swimming  on  the  blue  waters. 

North  of  Cross  Sound  the  highlands  develop  a  vast  amphitheatre  round  the 
moving  ice-field  which  advances  in  white  promontories  down  to  the  deep  waters, 
and  in  many  places  the  base  of  the  glittering  escarpments  may  be  followed  for 
several  miles.  Of  all  these  glaciers  the  largest  is  the  Muir,  whose  terminal  wall, 
250  feet  high,  plunges  into  water  516  feet  deep.  Its  discharge  is  estimated  by 
G-.  F.  Wright  at  about  140,000,000  cubic  feet  per  day  during  the  month  of 
August,*  which  is  equivalent  to  a  river  sending  down  about  1,580  cubic  feet  per 

*   Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  February,  1887. 


US 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


second.  The  whole  of  this  region  is  an  Alpine  world,  a  "marine  Switzerland," 
whose  base  is  encircled  by  straits  and  inlets  instead  of  verdant  valleys.  These 
natural  marvels  already  attract  hundreds  of  tourists  from  California,  Oreo-on, 
and  Canada. 

Mount  St.  Elias,  probably  the  culminating  point  of  the  North  American 
continent,  belongs  to  the  same  coast  range  as  Mounts  Crillon  and  Fairweather. 
It  is  girdled  by  glaciers  above  which  its  sharp  pyramidal  peak  rises  to  a  height  of 
19,100  feet.  *     The  "  Great  "  Mountain,  as  it  is  called  by  the  natives,  is  perfectly 


Fig.  J5.— St.  Elias  Ranqe. 
Scale  1  :  4,000.000. 


K0° 


West  ot"    oreenwich 


.  60  Miles. 


regular,  at  least  on  the  three  sides  which  alone  have  as  yet  been  seen  by  observers. 
Ridges  of  ice  sparkle  on  all  the  prominences,  and  here  and  there  crystal  offshoots 
project  above  the  precipices.  Below  the  escarpments,  about  half-way  up  its  flank, 
a  broad  cirque  is  seen  to  open  in  the  form  of  a  crater,  which  perhaps  without  suf- 
ficient reason  is  supposed  to  be  an  extinct  cone.  At  the  foot  of  the  outer  talus  of 
this  chasm,  which  is  now  filled  with  ice,  the  glacial  stream  winds  down  the  slopes 


*  Or  19,500,  according  to  Lieutenant  Allen. 


MOUNT  ST.  ELLAS. 


119 


with  an  average  breadth  of  about  six  miles  between  snowy  heights,  every  gorge  of 
which  sends  a  smaller  contribution  to  the  Tyndali  glacier,  as  the  main  stream  has 
been  named.  The  waters  collected  in  its  lower  depths  swell  up  at  its  base  above 
enormous  moraines  ;  here  are  formed  temporary  lakelets  which  are  strewn  with 
floating  blocks  of  ice,  but  whicb  soon  escape  through  lateral  fissures. 


Fig.  46. — Southebn  Slope  of  Mou>t  Sr.  Elias. 
Scale  1 :  400,000. 


/  •. 


.*>  — 


-.■■/'■:■'■   ■  ■  '     i- 


' '■■:'■" '  -  ■ 


1 


I4i°iO'        'Aest  oibreenwich 


.  6  Miles. 


The  glacier  itself  also  seems  to  disappear  at  the  point  where  the  slopes  begin 
to  gradually  fall  off  in  the  direction  of  the  sea  ;  here  are  mingled  in  chaotic  con- 
fusion heaps  of  shingle  and  boulders,  shale,  slate,  granite,  quartz,  porphyry, 
trachyte,  basalt,   amid  which  are  here  and   there   visible  the  layers  of  blue  ice, 


120  NOKTH  AMEBIC  A. 

foaming  torrents  or  sheets  of  smooth  water.  Lower  down  its  extensive  moraine 
formation,  which  covers  the  glacier  for  a  width  of  about  nine  miles,  is  itself  clothed 
with  a  layer  of  earth,  where  grows  a  dense  forest  of  spruce,  alder,  willows,  birches, 
and  maples,  while  the  whole  mass  of  stones,  clay,  brushwood,  and  trees,  is  borne 
along  at  an  extremely  slow  rate  by  the  glacier  flowing  beneath.  The  accumulated 
forest-clad  debris,  thus  advancing  seawards,  at  last  overwhelms  the  coast  forests 
themselves,  the  aspect  of  nature  changing  from  year  to  year  with  the  progress  or 
retreat  of  the  glacier,  the  shifting  refuse,  floods,  crevasses,  or  sudden  eruptions  of 
the  underground  stream.  The  Yahtse-tah,  or  Jones,  as  this  river  has  been  re- 
named, plunges,  "broad  as  the  Thames,"  into  the  hidden  galleries  of  ice  and 
moraines,  and  after  a  sub-glacial  course  of  about  eight  miles  reappears  in  countless 
channels  winding  between  the  mud  and  sand  flats  of  a  broad  delta. 

Alpine  climbers  have  reached  a  height  of  11,461  feet  on  a  steep  ice-ridge  in 
the  amphitheatre  of  secondary  summits  encircling  the  crater-like  cirque  of  the  St. 
Elias.  This  mountain  surpasses  all  others  on  the  globe  in  the  extent  of  the  ice  and 
snow  fields,  which  have  to  be  traversed  between  their  lower  limit,  about  3,000  feet 
above  sea-level,  and  the  terminal  crest.  In  fact,  at  some  points  it  might  be  possible 
to  ascend  the  whole  way  from  base  to  summit  on  an  uninterrupted  sheet  of  ice,  for 
the  Agassiz  glacier  advances  to  the  water's  edge,  terminating  in  sparkling  white 
cliffs  150  to  300  feet  high,  which  descend  650  feet  on  the  marine  bed.  One  of  the 
"  dead"  glaciers,  that  is,  covered  with  earth  and  shingle,  sloping  north-westward  in 
the  direction  of  Yakatat  Bay,  has  a  surface  of  at  least  eighty  square  miles.* 

Westwards,  Mount  St.  Elias  is  continued  by  a  ridge  which  falls  rapidly,  but 
whose  crests  none  the  less  present  a  superb  aspect,  and  send  down  glaciers  of 
considerable  size.  One  of  these  falls  precipitously  from  a  lateral  valley  as  if  to 
bar  the  course  of  the  Copper  River  ;  but  the  ice  itself  is  visible  only  through  the 
crevices,  the  lower  part  being  almost  everywhere  covered  with  shingle,  earth, 
scrub,  and  even  trees.  A  little  farther -on  the  deep  inlet  of  Prince  William  Sound 
interrupts  the  coast  range,  which  is  only  indicated  at  intervals  by  the  chain  of 
islands  half  closing  the  entrance  of  the  sound.  But  beyond  this  break  the  oro- 
graphic system  reappears  in  the  Kenai  range,  which  is  continued  seawards  by  the 
large  Afognak  and  Kadiak  islands,  and  still  farther  west  by  a  few  islets  running 
parallel  with  the  Aleutian  Archipelago. 

The  Shugach  (Chugach)  Alps,  whose  snowy  amphitheatre,  7,200  feet  high, 
encircles  the  northern  bend  of  Prince  William  Sound,  are  connected  by  spurs  with 
the  St.  Elias  chain,  and  the  volcanic  group  east  of  the  Copper  River  may  be  re- 
garded as  forming  part  of  the  same  system.  Mount  Wrangell,  the  highest  peak 
in  this  region,  has  often  been  described  as  rivalling  the  St.  Elias  in  height ;  but 
it  would  appear  to  fall  considerably  below  18,000  feet,t  while  its  neighbour,  Mount 
Tillman,  is  about  1,000  feet  lower.  It  is  certainly  a  volcano,  and  although  ice- 
capped  like  the  Kamchatka  cones,  its  crater  emitted  dense  volumes  of  vapour  in 

*  Harold  "W.  Topham,  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  July,  1889. 
t  Tet  Lieutenant  Allen  asserts  that  it  rises  18,400  feet  above  the  forks  of  the  Copper  River,  which 
are  themselves  '2,000  feet  above  the  sea.     This  would  make  it  20,400  feet  or  1,000  higher  than  St.  Elias. 


THE  ALASKAN  PENINSULA  AND  ISLANDS.  121 

1884.  Mount  Drum  is  also  of  igneous  origin,  though  now  extinct.  Other 
neighbouring  summits  may  also  be  of  volcanic  formation,  for  the  banks  of  all  the 
headstreams  of  the  Yukon  present  thick  layers  of  scoria?,  which  would  seem  to  have 
been  ejected  by  YTrangell  and  the  surrounding  mountains.  Immediately  above  a 
gorge  of  the  Copper  Eiver  rises  the  "Spirit  Mountain  "  (2,800  feet),  so  called  by 
the  natives,  who  occasionally  hear  the  muffled  roar  of  the  evil  spirits  within  its 
recesses.  West  of  the  Atna  River  the  crests  of  the  hills  encircling  the  Kenai 
Peninsula  still  maintain  an  altitude  of  from  10,000  to  12,000  feet. 

The  Alaskan  Alps,  which  form  a  curved  prolongation  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
properly  so  called,  are  still  to  a  great  extent  very  little  known.  At  the  Perrier 
Pass,  between  the  Cliilkoot  Sound  and  the  source  of  the  Yukon,  they  are  little  over 
■4,000  feet  high,  while  the  Miles  Pass,  lying  much  farther  west  between  the 
Copper  and  Xanana  valleys,  falls,  according  to  Allen,  to  less  than  -'>,100  feet,  though 
the  neighbouring  summits  are  double  that  height.  The  depressions  of  the  rugged 
plateau,  which  here  forms  the  waterparting,  are  flooded  with  small  lakes  or  tarns. 
Xone  of  the  peaks  of  the  Alaskan  Alps  appear  to  attain  1 0,000  feet ;  but  although 
less  elevated  than  the  southern  coast  range  they  are  much  more  regular,  develop- 
ing a  vast  curve,  whose  main  axis  runs  parallel  with  the  south  coast  and  the 
Yukon  valley. 

The  Alaskan  Peninsula  and  Aleutian  Islands. 

Towards  the  neck  of  the  Alaskan  peninsula,  the  range  skirts  Cook's  Inlet  at 
no  great  distance  from  the  superb  Iliamna  (Ilyamua)  volcano,  by  the  Spanish 
navigator  Arteaga  named  the  "  "Wonderful."  Its  highest  peak  rises  to  a  height 
of  12,000  feet ;  but  the  crater,  which  occasionally  emits  vapours,  stands  at  a  much 
lower  elevation.  ^Nevertheless  Petroff  failed  to  reach  its  rim  owing  to  its  steep 
sides  and  dangerous  ravines,  swept  by  avalanches  of  snow.  Xear  Iliamna  rises  the 
less  elevated  Mount  Redoute,  a  perfectly  regular  mass  of  scoria?,  which  was  emit- 
ting smoke  when  seen  by  Wrangell  in  1819.  These  two  cones  form  the  eastern 
limits  of  the  long  Alaskan  peninsula,  the  middle  of  which  is  marked  by  the  superb 
Ycniaminov  with  its  encircling  cortege  of  snowy  peaks.  Yeniaminov  was  in  con- 
tinuous eruption  during  the  years  1830 — 40. 

Be)-ond  this  point  begins  the  long  chain  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  which  sweep 
round  from  the  north  to  the  south-west  and  then  to  the  west,  developing  a  regular 
arc  of  a  circle  with  a  radius  of  about  900  miles.  In  no  other  part  of  the  world 
are  seen  two  systems  of  terrestrial  prominences  presenting  a  greater  analogy  of 
forms  and  origin  than  do  the  two  volcanic  chains  of  the  Aleutians  prolonging  the 
American  peninsula  of  Alaska,  and  the  Kuriles,  continuing  the  Asiatic  peninsula 
of  Kamchatka.  The  resemblance  between  these  insular  groups  is  extended  even 
to  the  bed  of  the  ocean.  Both  enclose  relatively  shallow  seas  on  their  concave 
northern  sides,  while  on  the  opposite  side  they  plunge  into  the  abysmal  waters  of 
the  Pacific.  Xevertheless,  within  the  Aleutian  range  occur  depths  of  750  and 
even  1,000  fathoms.     The  whole  chain  is  divided  into  the  four  secondary  groups 

VOL.    XV.  K 


122 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  the  Fox,   Andreanov,  Eat,  and  Near  Islands,  the  last  so  named  from  their 
proximity  to  Siberia. 

Although  lying  on  the  same  fault  in  the  terrestrial  crust,  the  peninsular  Alaskan 
ran<re,  sometimes  designated  by  the  name  of  Tehigmit,  is  intersected  at  intervals  hy 
very  low  sills  or  portages,  the  perenossi  of  the  Russians,  which,  in  fact,  are  utilised 
by  the  boatmen  for  transporting  their  canoes  from  one  slope  to  the  other.     These 


Kg.  47. — Horn  of  Aiaska, 
Scale  1  :  9,000,00ft 


Fepths. 


0to25 

Fathoms. 


25  to  2,500 
Fathoms. 


2,500  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


180  Miles. 


gaps,  which  follow  throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  peninsula,  represent  the 
straits  formerly  connecting  the  corresponding  fjords  on  the  north  and  south  coasts. 
Towards  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  the  two  opposite  fjords  of  Cook's  Inlet  and 
Bristol  Bay  are  already  half  connected  by  an  extensive  lake,  bearing  the  name  of 
the  neighbouring  Iliamna  volcano.  Farther  on  follow  other  lakes,  each  flooding  one 
of  the  transverse  sections  by  which  the  long  peninsular  horn  is  divided  into  distinct 
fragments.     All  these  lacustrine   basins  send  their  overflow  northwards   to  the 


ALEUTIAN  ARCHIPELAGO. 


123 


Bering  Sea,  towards  which  the  mountains  slope  gently,  while  presenting  precipitous 
escarpments  to  the  deep  southern  waters. 

Although  occurring  at  long  distances  from  each  other,  one  or  other  of  the 
Alaskan  or  Aleutian  cones  is  nearly  always  in  eruption,  and  during  the  historic 
period  over  thirty  of  these  cones  have  been  the  scene  of  underground  disturbances. 
Vapours  and  lavas  are  often  ejected  by  Mount  Alay  at  the  neck  of  the  peninsula, 
and  Pavlosky,  towards  the  extremity  of  the  horn,  is  also  pierced  by  an  active 
crater.  In  1826  Chichaldinsk,  the  highest  volcano  in  Unimak  Island  (8,700  feet) 
ejected  dense  clouds  of  ashes,  which  changed  day  into  a  terrible  night,  partly  des- 
troying the  animals  on  the  island  and  neighbouring  lands.  The  following  year 
a  second  eruption  took  place,  after  which  a  second  crater  was  opened  to  the  east 
of  the  old  one.     Makuskin,  in  Unalashka  (5,000  feet),  is  one  of  the  most  active  in 


Fig.  18.— Aleutian  Islands. 
Scale  1  :  13,100,000. 


Depths. 


0  to  1,000 
Fathoms. 


1,000  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 

—  360  Miles. 


emitting  vapours,  although   no   eruption   has    taken   place  during   the  present 
century. 

New  islands  occasionally  make  their  appearance  in  the  Aleutian  waters,  as,  in 
1796,  when  Bogoslov,  or  St.  John  the  "  Theologian,"  rose  about  100  feet  above 
the  surface  and  gradually  increased  in  size  till  1825,  when  it  formed  a  peak  over 
420  feet  hiffh,  with  an  oval  base  about  5  miles  in  circumference.  Since  then  it 
has  again  been  reduced  by  erosions  to  little  over  250  feet ;  but  in  1883,  the  year  of 
the  Krakatau  outburst,  a  second  cone,  the  Grewink  volcano,  appeard  220  yards  to 
the  north-west  of  Bogoslov.  At  the  same  time  Mount  Augustine,  near  the  entrance 
to  Cook's  Inlet,  became  convulsed,  and  the  disturbance  was  followed  by  the  aj)pear- 
ance  of  another  islet.  Thermal  springs  and  mud  volcanoes  occur  in  many  parts  of 
the  Archipelago. 

K  2 


12 i  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  two  Pribilov  islands,  Saint  Paul  and  Saint  George,  as  well  as  Saint 
Matthew  farther  north,  and  the  twin  island  of  Saint  Lawrence  in  the  middle  of  the 
Bering  Sea,  are  also  of  volcanic  origin  ;  but  all  the  craters  are  obliterated,  except 
that  of  Otter  Island,  near  Saint  Paul,  and  Pinnacled  Pock,  south  of  Saint  Matthew, 
from  which  vapours  are  incessantly  ejected  at  a  height  of  1,000  feet  above  the 
sea.  On  the  American  side  of  the  strait  the  small  headlands  projecting  into 
Norton  Sound,  north  of  the  Yukon  delta,  are  formed  of  old  streams  of  black  basalt. 
The  insular  peaks  of  Kusilvak  (2,000  feet),  the  live  Nordenskiold  crests  (1,000 
feet),  now  encircled  by  alluvia,  and  the  heights  of  Cape  Newenkam  (2,460  feet) 
were  also  formerly  volcanoes. 

The  Intekiok  of  Alaska. 

The  inland  ranges  running  north  of  the  Alaskan  Alps  have  been  surveyed  only 
at  a  few  points,  and  their  general  trend  has  not  yet  been  determined.  Some 
belong  to  the  paleozoic  formations,  others  to  chalk  and  even  to  tertiary  times,  and 
these  abound  in  fossils  and  especially  in  impressions  of  foliage.  At  several  points 
along  the  coast  observers  have  discovered  deposits  of  lignite,  and  rich  beds  of  coal 
are  found  at  Cape  Lisburn  on  the  shores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean.  These  were 
utilized  bjr  Hooper  during  his  Arctic  explorations  in  1S80. 

As  they  approach  the  Bering  and  Arctic  waters  the  Alaskan  mountains 
appear  to  spread  out  like  the  ribs  of  a  fan,  and  here  they  are  certainly  less 
elevated  than  in  the  south.  The  Pumiantzov  chain,  between  the  Yukon  and  the 
Polar  Sea,  would  seem  nowhere  to  exceed  4,000  feet,  so  that  the  Alaskan 
system  taken  as  a  whole  appears  to  fall  gradually  in  the  direction  of  the  north  and 
north-west. 

Despite  its  higher  latitude,  North  Alaska  has  no  glaciers  comparable  to  those 
of  the  southern  region.  The  difference  is  due  to  the  absence  in  the  north  of  lofty 
mountains  with  vast  catchment  basins  and  long  valleys,  where  the  frozen  streams 
might  wind  down  the  slopes  like  the  running  waters.  Nevertheless,  these  northern 
glaciers  descend  like  others  from  the  uplands  of  the  interior  towards  the  coast ; 
only  their  motion  is  extremely  slow,  and  in  certain  places  they  may  even  remain 
stationary  owing  to  the  lack  of  incline,  or  the  absence  of  pressure  from  above. 
During  his  voyage  on  board  the  llttn'Jc  along  the  shores  of  the  sound  now  bearing 
his  name,  Kotzebue  noticed  with  surprise  that  a  promontory  covered  with  vege- 
table humus  and  an  abundant  growth  of  flowering  plants  consisted  of  a  long 
glacier  fissured  by  deep  crevices. 

On  the  same  sound  Seeman  and  his  companions  on  the  Herald  made  a  similar, 
but  even  more  remarkable  discovery,  that  of  a  fossil  glacier  higher  than  the 
surrounding  hills,  and  continued  along  the  coast  in  the  direction  of  the  east  at  an 
elevation  of  over  G50  feet.  As  afterwards  ascertained  by  Dall  and  other  explorers, 
this  mountain  of  ice  is  completely  covered  with  a  layer  of  mud  several  yards  thick, 
supporting  a  vegetation  of  willows,  herbaceous  plants,  mosses,  and  lichens. 
Numerous  discoveries  of  bones  showed  further  that  the  underlying  ice  must  have 


Mi 

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p 

is 


P 

5 


Ph 

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O 

►J 
30 
O 
a 
o 

►J 
o 


THE  ALASKAN  RIVERS.  125 

been  formed,  not  centuries  but  ages  ago,  for  amongst  the  remains  were  those  of 
the  mammoth  and  of  the  horse,  long  extinct  in  America. 

According  to  Dall  and  others,  there  are  no  traces  of  glacial  action  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  greatly  exceeding  the  present  limits  of  the  frozen  streams,  and  it 
is  remarkable  that  no  erratic  boulders  are  met  on  the  plains  near  Kotzebue  Sound. 
But  in  South  Alaska,  and  especially  in  Lynn  and  Glacier  Bays  clear  proofs  occur 
of  shrinkage.  Some  marine  islands  are  certainly  old  moraines,  and  above  the 
Muir  glacier  rise  high  striated  cliffs,  which  were  at  one  time  entirely  covered 
by  the  ice.  George  "W".  Dawson  even  endeavours  to  show  that  the  whole  space 
between  the  Rock}-  Mountains  and  the  coast  ranges  was  formerly  filled  by  a  vast 
icefield  with  a  northern  (rend. 

The  Alaskan  Rivers. 

A  few  streams  ice-bound  in  winter  flow  in  summer  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  cutting 
a  channel  through  the  floe-ice  which  here  fringes  the  coast.  Such  are  the  Corvine 
(Xigalek-kok),  the  Meade,  the  Nunatok  (Xoatak),  and  the  Kovak,  the  last  two 
falling  into  Kotzebue  Sound.  But  south  of  these  streams,  which  are  seldom 
navigable,  the  coast  i3  reached  by  the  Yukon,  the  most  copious  of  all  American 
rivers  flowing  to  the  Pacific,  and  one  of  the  largest  in  the  whole  world.  Petroff 
and  other  American  geographers  assign  it  a  volume  one-third  greater  even  than 
that  of  the  Mississippi,  which  would  imply  a  mean  discharge  of  about  740,000 
cubic  feet  per  second.  This  estimate,  however,  does  not  appear  to  be  based  on 
accurate  measurements,  and  it  should  also  be  remembered  that  in  winter,  when  the 
Mississippi  is  overflowing  its  banks,  the  Yukon  on  the  contrary  is  deprived  of  its 
affluents,  which  at  times  are  frozen  through  to  the  bottom  ;  hence  its  winter- 
discharge  represents  but  a  very  small  proportion  of  its  volume  in  summer.  In 
an}-  case  the  Yukon  compares  favourably  in  size  both  with  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississippi,  its  length  from  the  source  visited  by  Schwatka  to  the  mouth  of  its 
chief  branch  being  no  less  than  2,000  miles,  and  the  area  of  its  basin  about  400,000 
square  miles,  considerably  more  than  three  times  that  of  the  British  Isles.  It  is 
also  entirely  free  from  falls  or  rapids  and  accessible  to  steamers  as  far  as  British 
territory  above  the  Lewis  and  Pelly  confluence. 

The  region  of  the  Upper  Yukon  was  long  known  to  the  Canadian  and  Scotch 
trappers  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  ;  but  they  were  unable  to  connect  the  course 
of  the  rivers  frequented  by  them  with  that  of  the  main  stream,  the  chief  artery  of 
the  whole  of  north-west  America.  The  Yukon  was  first  ascended  in  1SG3  by  the 
Russian  trader,  Ivan  Lukin,  to  the  British  frontier,  though  the  account  of  his 
journey  was  never  published.  The  oldest  authentic  chart  of  the  river  within  the 
present  limits  of  Alaska,  is  due  to  Ketchum  and  Laberge,*  servants  of  a  telegraph 
company,  who  iu  1867  pushed  forward  to  Fort  Selkirk,  380  miles  beyond  the 
conventional  frontier.  Then  after  the  cession  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States, 
Raymond  was  charged  with  the  official  survey  of  the  whole  fluvial  basin  within- 
the  former  Russian  territory. 

*  Not  Lebargc,  as  the  name  of  this  Canadian  is  reproduced  in  all  English  works. 


126 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


According  to  Schwatka  the  main  Lead  stream  descends  from  the  Perrier  Pass 
(4,100  feet),  so  named  in  honour  of  the  French  geographer.  Collecting  its  waters 
in  Crater  Lake  on  the  opposite  slope  of  the  Chilkat  Mountains  near  the  Lynn 
Channel,  the  Takheena  torrent,  gradually  swollen  by  numerous   tributaries  from 


Fig.  49.— Chilkat  axd  Ciiilkoot  Bays. 
Scale  1  :  650,000. 


Unexplored  Regions 


West'  or  Greenwich 


12  Miles. 


glaciers  on  both  sides,  rushes  from  fall  to  fall,  from  lake  to  lake,  to  the  Alaskan 
frontier,  where  it  is  already  a  copious  river.  Eclow  the  only  well-marked  gorge 
occurring  throughout  the  rest  of  its  course,  where  its  bed  is  narrowed  to  about 
100  feet,  the  Yukon,  or  Lewes  as  it  is  here  called,  presents  an  uninterrupted 
navigable  waterway  of  1,800  miles  to  its  mouth.*     The  Hotalinqua,  one  of  its 


Fr.  Suhwatka,  Along  Alaska's  Great  River. 


THE  ALASKAN  BIVERS. 


127 


farthest  headstreams,  rises  far  to  the  south  iu  British  Columbia,  where  its  course 
lies  through  a  long  chain  of  lacustrine  depressions  connected  by  deep  rock}-  gorges. 
Owing  to  the  length  of  its  valley  Dawson  considers  that  this  branch  should  be 
regarded  as  the  main  stream. 

Farther  down  the  Newberry,  the  Big  Salmon,  or  d'Abbadic,  and  the  Polly 
follow  on  the  eastern  skrpe  ;  the  last  mentioned  is  sometimes  designated  as  the 
Yukon  throughout  its  whole  course,  on  the  information  supplied  by  Campbell,  who 
descended  it  in  18-52.     But  Schwatka  has  shown  that  the  Lewes  is  the  true  Yukon, 

Fiur.  50.—  Xoeiom  Bay,  and  (3-bea.t  Bexd  of  t:ie  Yl"i;o". 


160° 


Wsst  of    Greer. 


v.ch 


Depths. 


0to32 
Feet. 


32  Feet 
and  upwards. 

60  Miles. 


having  a  discharge  about  a  fifth  greater  than  the  Pelly,  37,000  as  compared  with 
29,000  cubic  feet.  Beyond  the  Bocky  Mountains  it  is  joined  by  the  Stewart  and 
the  Porcupine,  or  Bat,  whose  valley  runs  parallel  with  the  coast  of  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  At  this  confluence  the  Yukon  is  only  about  400  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
here  becomes  navigable  for  steamers  drawing  3  or  4  feet  of  water.  Lower  down 
it  expands  to  a  breadth  of  some  rmles  and  ramifies  into  numerous  branches 
winding  round  islands  and  islets  masking  the  real  river  banks.  Lower  down  the 
branches  converge  in  a  single  bed,  where  the  navigation  is  somewhat  obstructed 
by  the  so-called  "  Bamparts."     But  beyond  this  rocky  gorge  the  stream  again 


128 


XORTH  AMERICA. 


expands,  and  here  tends  to  encroach  on  the  right  bank  in  accordance  with  the  law 
regulating  the  course  of  large  rivers  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  Here  also  the 
Yukon  is  joined  by  the  Tanana,  its  largest  affluent,  which  was  ascended  for  the 
first  time  in  1848  by  Mercier  as  far  as  the  Tautlot  confluence,  150  miles  from  its 
mouth. 

At  the  junction  of  the  Koyukuk,  another  large  tributary  from  the  north-east, 
the  Yukon,  here  2,800  yards  broad,  bends  round  to  the  south-west,  thus  eominsj 


Fig.  51.— Yukon  Delta. 

Scale  1  :  4,500,000. 


7^ '/hid'  - 


West  of   uretnnich        P 65 


Derths 


0  to  32 
Feet. 


32  Feet  and 
upwards. 


125  Miles. 


within  30  miles  of  Norton  Sound,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  an  easy  portage. 
Below  the  isthmus  the  Yukon  continues  its  south-westerly  course,  and  then  trends 
to  the  west  and  north  before  ramifying  into  the  numerous  branches  of  its  delta. 
Although  the  mainstream  was  long  known  as  the  Kvickpak,  from  the  native  name 


THE  ALASKAN  EIVEBS.  129 

of  the  middle  branch,  navigation  is  confined  to  the  Aphun,  or  northern  branch, 
which  has  an  average  breadth  of  1,G00  yards,  winding  for  40  miles  through  a 
willow-fringed  bed  to  an  open  estuary  half  obstructed  by  a  bar.  The  Kvickpak, 
Kusilvak,  and  all  the  other  branches  with  their  lateral  channels  are  similarly 
separated  from  the  sea  by  sandy  bars,  none  of  which  are  flooded  by  more  than  10 
feet  of  water.  The  sea  itself  is  here  endangered  by  alluvial  banks,  and  so  shallow 
that  clear  water  30  or  40  feet  deep  scarcely  anywhere  occurs  GO  miles  off  the  shore. 
In  summer  and  autumn  the  river  rolls  down  a  vast  volume  of  water  which  melts 
the  floe-ice  and  tempers  the  climate  along  the  coast.  But  the  floating  ice  becomes 
again  united  in  winter  and  spring,  forming  a  cordon  of  islets  round  the  delta. 
Fluvial  ice  also  obstructs  the  delta  during  this  season,  and  one  year  persisted  so 
long  that  the  salmon  in  vain  attempted  to  ascend  the  channels. 

Although  really  a  very  large  watercourse,  the  Kuskokvim,  compared  with  the 
Yukon,  is  regarded  only  as  a  secondary  stream.  It  even  in  some  respects  belongs 
to  the  same  fluvial  system,  for  in  its  lower  reaches  it  approaches  the  Yukon,  and 
traverses  the  same  alluvial  plains.  Both  rivers  are  connected  by  lakes  or  lagoons 
alternately  dry  and  flooded,  so  that  the  traveller  is  often  uncertain  which  fluvial 
basin  he  is  traversing. 

On  the  southern  slope  of  the  coast  range  the  largest  stream  flowing  entirely 
within  Alaskan  territory  is  the  Copper  River  (Atnah),  which  has  been  ascended 
by  Allen  to  the  head  of  the  navigation  below  the  easy  portages  leading  to  the 
upper  course  of  the  Tanana.  After  describing  a  great  curve  to  the  north,  west, 
and  south,  round  the  highlands  dominated  by  Mount  "Wrangell,  the  mainstream  is 
joined  from  the  east  by  Chittynia,  which  is  the  true  "  Copper  ':  River.  One  of 
its  affluents  sends  down  such  a  quantity  of  the  metal  in  solution  that  salmon  are 
unable  to  live  in  its  yellow  waters.  Hence  Allen  was  not  justified  in  applying  the 
name  of  Copper  River  to  the  section  of  the  mainstream  which  lies  above  the 
Chittynia  confluence.  A  few  miles  below  this  confluence  the  united  streams 
plunge  into  Wood's  Canon,  one  of  the  wildest  gorges  in  the  whole  of  America. 
This  tortuous  chasm,  nearly  3  miles  long,  is  contracted  in  some  places  to  scarcely 
120  feet  between  its  vertical  basalt  walls  ;  but  at  certain  sudden  turns  the  fissure 
expands  into  broad  basins  without  any  visible  issue.  The  gorge  is  enclosed  by 
rocky  terraces  from  100  to  500  feet  high,  black  and  almost  destitute  of  vegetation. 
Here  and  there  a  few  stunted  shrubs  are  seen  on  the  cliffs,  and  from  an  over- 
hanging ledge  a  broad  rivulet  is  precipitated  into  the  stream,  though  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  the  fall  is  a  solid  crystalline  mass. 

Below  the  gorge  begins  the  lower  course  of  the  Copper  River,  which,  after 
winding  to  the  west  of  the  chain  terminating  in  the  "  Mountain  of  Spirits," 
receives  contributions  from  the  surrounding  glaciers,  and  ramifies  into  several 
channels  intersecting  the  alluvial  plains  of  its  delta.  Occasionally  the  stream  is 
partially  blocked  by  the  projecting  glaciers,  greatly  endangering  the  navigation. 
The  Taku,  Stikeen,  and  other  rivers  flowing  to  the  southern  fjords  belong  to 
Alaska  only  in  their  lower  course,  nearly  the  whole  of  their  catchment  basins 
being  comprised  in  British  territory. 


130 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Climate  of  Alaska. 

The  character  of  the  Alaskan  climate  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  those  rivers 
winch  send  down  such  enormous  quantities  of  ice  to  the  ocean,  and  which  are 
themselves  ice-bound  for  eight  months  in  the  year.  The  central  depression 
traversed  by  the  Yukon  partly  corresponds  with  the  natural  parting  line  between 
the  two  sections  of  the  country,  draining  one  to  the  Arctic,  the  other  to  the 
Pacific  waters.     At  one  point  near  Fort  Yukon  the  Arctic  circle  itself  touches  the 


Kg.  02. — IsOTHEllJIAL  LlXES  OF  AlASKA. 
Scale  1  :  20,000,000. 


WesfoF.  G 


--™  40  Miles. 


course  of  the  river,  and  after  intersecting  the  tundras  crosses  Kotzebue  Sound, 
leaving  Bering  Strait  entirely  within  the  temperate  zone.  Hence  the  climate  of 
the  northern  section  resembles  that  of  the  Polar  Archipelago.  During  Ray's 
residence  at  Barrow  Point  the  glass  never  rose  to  6-4°  F.,  while  it  often  fell  to 
— 13°.  A  temperature  of  — 52°  has  even  been  recorded,  but  the  region  south  of 
Bering  Strait  is  much  warmer,  the  mean  heat  being  several  degrees  higher  than 
under  the  corresponding  latitude  on  the  east  side  of  the  continent.* 

This  comparative  mildness  is  due  to  the  disposition  of  the  mountain  ranges, 


*  Contrast  between  the  west  and  cast  coasts  of  America  under  the  same  latitude  : — 
Sitka,  on  the  west  side,  57°  Lat.  .  .  41°  F.  mean  teinpsrature. 
N;iin,  on  the  east  side,  57°  10'  ,,  .        26°        ,,  „ 


THE  CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 


131 


which  shelter  the  southern  coastlands  from  the  polar  winds.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  great  curve  of  the  peninsula  of  Alaska,  continued  westwards  by  the  Aleutian 
Chain,  deflects  towards  Asia  all  the  cold  waters  from  the  Frozen  Ocean,  while  the 
tepid  stream  from  Japan  penetrates  freely  into  all  the  bays  and  inlets  along  the 
southern  seaboard.  The  winter  snows  are  soon  melted,  and  the  harbours  are 
covered  only  by  thin  sheets  of  ice,  so  that  vessels  are  able  to  ride  at  anchor 
throughout  the  year.  But  if  the  winters  are  mild,  the  summers  are  moist  and 
relatively  cold.  The  sky  is  mostly  overcast  by  the  clouds  gathered  up  by  the 
prevailing  south-east  winds,  and  precipitating  their  contents  almost  incessantly.* 

Being  interrupted  by  numerous  breaches,  the  mountainous  Aleutian  Chain 
receives  a  slighter  rainfall  than  the  coast-ranges  sweeping  round  in  the  direction 
of  British  Columbia  The  precipitation  is  heavy,  especially  on  the  coastlands 
which  begin  at  St.  Elias,  and  which  lie  at  a  right  angle  with  the  winds  and 
currents  of  the  north  Pacific,  the  annual  rainfall  here  rising  to  several  yards. 
Fort  Tungas,  the  southernmost  station  in  Alaska,  is  the  wettest  spot  on  the  whole 
American  seaboard,  from  Bering  Strait  to  Tierra  del  Fuego.  But  on  the  opposite 
slope  of  the  mountains,  in  the  Tanana  and  Kuskokvim  valleys,  the  climate  assumes 
a  more  continental  character.  Throughout  the  interior  of  Alaska,  the  ground  is 
permanently  frozen  below  the  surface,  in  some  places  to  a  depth  of  at  least  30 
feet.  The  moisture  is  thus  prevented  from  filtering  through,  and  the  upper 
strata,  even  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills,  become  swampy  in  the  warm  season.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  carpet  of  mosses  and  lichens  covering  the  ground  arrests  the 
effect  of  the  solar  rays  in  the  depths  of  the  sub-soil. f 

The  main  current  of  the  Japanese  "Black  Stream"  strikes  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Alaskan  seaboard,  here  ramifying  into  two  branches,  one  of 
which  flows  south-eastwards  along  the  Oregon  and  Californian  coasts,  while  the 
other  turns  back  along  the  shores  of  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Chain.  Within 
this  vast  semicircle,  the  water  has  a  mean  temperature  of  48°  to  50°  F.,  that  is, 
a  few  degrees  higher  than  the  neighbouring  coast.  But  north  of  the  Aleutians, 
the  mean  temperature  of  the  oceanic  waters  diminishes  rapidly,  though  shifting 
with  the  seasons  according  as  the  various  secondary  currents  predominate  in  the 
Bering  Strait.  According  to  most  navigators,  the  southern  waters  prevail  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year ;  but  throughout  the  winter  a  glacial  north-west  wind 
penetrates  into  the  strait  and  is  accompanied  by  large  quantities  of  water  which 
usually  follow  the  Asiatic  coast,  while  the  more  tepid  currents  turn  back  along 
the  A  merican  coast.      Thus  is  produced  a  sort  of  eddy,  which  is  revealed  by  the 


Rainy  days  at  Sitka,  2S.5  in  the  year  (Dall) . 
t  Meteorological  conditions  at  various  points  of  Alaska : — 


Extremes 

N.  Lat. 

Mean  Temp 

of  Cold.           of  Heat. 

Kainfall 

Barrow  Point    . 

.     71°  18'     . 

.     —  4°  F.     . 

.     —52°  F.     .  +65'  F.     . 

1  inch. 

Fort  Yukon 

.     67°  12'     . 

.     +15° 

.     —36°     .     .  +66° 

.     — 

St.  Michael 

.     63°  27'     . 

.      +24° 

.     —54°     .     .  +75° 

•       2  (?) 

Sitka 

.     57°    3'     . 

.     +41° 

.    —  4°    .     .  +75° 

.     81 

Fort  Tungas 

.     54°  46'     . 

.     +44° 

0°     .     .  +91° 

.     84 

Analashka 

.     53°  29'     . 

.     +36° 

0°    .     .  +77° 

.       4 

132  NOETH  AMERICA. 

drift  ice,  but  which  disappears  when  the  Strait  is  annually  closed  by  the  ice-pack. 
In  the  inlets  along  both  sides  of  the  horn  of  Alaska,  the  tides  rise  to  a  great, 
height,  over  50  feet  in  the  Kuskokvim  estuary,  and  in  Cook  Strait  forming  a  bore 
of  26  feet.  In  these  waters  the  "  woollies,"  or  sudden  squalls  sweeping  down  from 
the  surrounding  uplands,  are  much  dreaded  by  mariners. 

Floha  of  Alaska. 

To  the  difference  of  climate  corresponds  a  striking  contrast  in  the  aspect  of 
the  two  seaboards  facing  one  another  on  Bering  Strait.  The  Asiatic  side,  washed 
by  cold  waters,  is  almost  destitute  of  vegetation  beyond  mosses,  lichens,  or  a  few 
dwarf  bushes  in  the  sheltered  places,  while  on  the  American  coast  flourish  whole 
forests  of  shrubs,  growing  to  a  height  of  20  feet,  and  yielding  abundant  crops  of 
berries.  In  spring,  the  plains  are  diversified  by  the  brilliant  colours  of  flowering 
plants,  and  the  terraces  of  Cape  Lisburn,  at  the  north-west  angle  of  Alaska, 
look  like  a  garden.*  But  the  northern  coasts,  between  Kotzebuo  Sound  and  the 
Mackenzie  estuary,  are  completely  destitute  of  trees,  driftwood  being  the  only 
timber  known  on  this  seaboard.  Nearly  the  whole  region  extending  ncrth  of  the 
Arctic  Circle  is  a  mere  stretch  of  marshy  plains  or  tundras  perfectly  liniform  in 
appearance,  frozen  or  spongy  according  to  the  seasons,  and  thickly  dotted  over 
with  argillaceous  knolls  a  few  yards  high.  To  cross  these  dreary  wastes,  the 
traveller  has  to  jump  from  knoll  to  knoll  at  the  risk  of  falling  into  the  intervening 
depressions  and  getting  entangled  in  the  matted  roots  of  the  herbaceous  or  woody 
vegetation. 

North  of  the  Yukon  the  willows  and  alders  are  mere  scrub  and  grow  not  in 
continous  forests  but  in  scattered  clumps  on  the  less  spongy  mounds  and  knolls. 
Even  the  Aleutian  Islands  have  no  forests  of  spontaneous  growth,  the  only  large 
trees  being  the  firs  or  pines  planted  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
These  trees  have  struck  root,  but  do  not  germinate,  and  unless  carefully  protected 
the  little  woodlands  of  Amakuak  and  Unalashka  must  soon  disappear.  The 
herbaceous  vegetation  of  this  archipelago  nowhere  presents  any  Asiatic  types ; 
American  in  the  east,  it  becomes  purely  Arctic  towards  the  western  extremity. 
The  European  clover  thrives  well  in  South  Alaska. 

Great  forests,  chiefly  formed  of  conifers,  begin  with  the  semicircle  of  coast- 
lands  sweeping  round  southwards  in  the  direction  of  British  Columbia.  The 
section  of  Kadiak  Island  facing  westwards  is  still  under  grass,  while  the  opposite 
side  is  already  covered  with  timber,  the  parting  line  between  the  two  zones 
corresponding  with  the  difference  in  the  atmospheric  currents.  The  west  is 
exposed  to  the  cold  Asiatic  winds,  the  east  to  the  gales  from  the  American  uplands, 
which  blow  with  such  fury  that  the  trees,  especially  in  the  Alexander  Archipelago, 
are  all  inclined  in  the  direction  of  the  west.f  These  southern  forests,  where  the 
most  valuable  species  is  the  yellow  cedar  (cupressus  nutkatensis),  are  scarcely  less 

*  Berthold  Secman,  The  Voyage  of  the  "Herald." 
t  Seton  Karr,  Alaska. 


z 


•Jl 

< 
a 

O 

3 


m 
z 
fc> 


•- 


7, 


2 
<! 
M 

•4 


FLORA  AND  FAUNA  OF  ALASKA. 


133 


difficult  of  access  than  the  almost  impenetrable  thickets  of  the  Amazonian  and 
other  tropical  regions.  The  rains,  prevailing  for  nine  months  in  the  year,  foster 
an  undergrowth  of  dank  herbage  concealing  quagmires  and  sheets  of  water, 
decaying  roots  and  snags  dangerous  to  the  wayfarer.  The  excessive  moisture 
which  stimulates  vegetable  growth,  at  the  same  time  deprives  the  flowers  of  their 


Fig.  53.— Zones  or  Teees  a>o>  Range  of  Chief  Axdial  Species  ej  Alaska. 

Scale  1 :  20,000,000. 


165: 


V'te^z  cf   L^eef1  wicH 


Tundras. 


Limit  nf 
Dwarf  Willow. 


Rancre  of 
Conifers. 


Limit  of 
Murray  Pine. 


Limit  of 
American  Larch. 


.  £20  Miles. 


fragrance,  and  the  fruits  of  their  flavour.     The  berries  gathered  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sitka  are  almost  tasteless. 


Fauna. 

According  to  Dall,  the  Alaskan  fauna  comprises  62  species,  all  of  which  occur 
elsewhere— in  Siberia,  the  Arctic  Archipelago,  British  America,  and  the  United 
States.  The  northern  continuation  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  forms  the  divide 
between  the  Canadian  and  Arctic  types  on  the  one  hand,  and  those  of  Oregon  on 
the  other,  both  zones  merging  together  towards  the  horn  of  Alaska  (Dall).  The 
white  bear  is  met  only  in  the  regions  facing  the  Polar  Sea,  black  and  brown  bears 


IB  J  NORTH  AMERICA. 

being  common  everywhere  else,  and  especially  in  the  Kinai  peninsula  and  St. 
Matthew  Island.  The  caribou  wolf  and  the  orignal  are  disappearing,  as  is  also 
the  tebai  or  "mountain  sheep"  (haplocerus  americanus),  a  kind  of  chamois  with 
long  white  fleece.  The  reindeer  is  found  only  in  the  wild  state,  although  the 
Chukches,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Bering  Strait,  possess  large  herds  of  tame  reindeer. 
The  musk  ox  is  extinct,  but  its  remains  occur  along  the  banks  of  the  Yukon. 

Alaska  is  much  frequented  by  the  rhodostethia  rosea,  loveliest  of  the  mew 
family,  and  distinguished  hy  its  peach-coloured  plumage.  On  the  other  hand  the 
mild  summer  climate  of  the  southern  woodlands  attracts  a  Mexican  species  of 
humming-bird,  which  ranges  to  the  north  of  Mount  St.  Elias  (A.  R.  Wallace). 
No  reptiles  or  batrachians  are  found  anywhere  in  Alaska,  except  ?■  solitary  species  of 
frog.  The  southern  rivers  teem  with  fish,  and  the  salmon,  smaller  than  that  of 
Oregon,  ascends  the  Copper  River  to  the  foot  of  the  glaciers  and  snow-clad  slopes. 
The  remarkable  houlakan  {thaleichthys  pacificus),  found  in  all  the  coast  rivers  from 
South  Alaska  to  the  fjords  of  British  Columbia,  is  so  fat  that  the  natives  use  it  for 
lighting  purposes,  whence  its  English  name  of  the  candle-fish. 

Although  constituting  the  chief  resource  of  Alaska,  the  families  of  seal  and 
cetaceans  frequent  only  a  small  number  of  islands,  and  can  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  all  belonging  to  the  general  fauna  of  this  region.  Nevertheless  seals  occur 
even  in  the  inland  lakes,  and  notably  in  thelliamna  basin  (Petroff).  The  northern 
manatee  (rhytind  Stellcri)  was  completely  exterminated  towards  the  close  of  the 
last  century ;  the  whale,  also  formerly  pursued  by  hundreds  of  American  vessels 
in  the  Bering  waters  and  even  in  the  Arctic  Ocean,  has  almost  disappeared  from  the 
strait  and  taken  refuge  behind  the  floe-ice  in  the  Polar  Archipelago,  returning 
to  the  open  sea  after  the  deparhire  of  the  whalers. 

Inhabitants. 

The  few  inhabitants  of  North  Alaska,  and  even  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  are  of 
Eskimo  stock,  and  constitute  one-half  of  the  whole  population.  The  Tinneh,  who 
occupy  the  valleys  of  the  Yukon  and  its  affluents,  are,  on  the  contrary,  true  "  Red 
Skins,"  while  the  Thlinkeets  and  Haidas  of  the  southern  archipelagoes  and  coast- 
lands  belong  to  the  same  group  as  the  peoples  scattered  along  the  shores  of  British 
Columbia  and  Vancouver's  Island. 

The  Eskimo,  who  appear  to  be  least  affected  by  foreign  influences,  form 
wandering  communities  along  the  Arctic  seaboard.  They  are  now  reduced  to 
about  400,  and  like  most  other  Innuits  are  rapidly  diminishing  in  consequence  of 
the  extermination  of  the  marine  animals  by  the  American  whalers.  Some  villages 
have  lost  half  of  their  inhabitants  since  the  middle  of  the  century,  and  in  many 
places  occur  the  ruins  of  former  habitations,  dating  from  remote  times,  when  "  men 
spoke  like  the  dog."  The  tribes  are  still  in  the  stone  age,  and  those  met  by  Ray 
at  Barrow  Point  even  refuse  the  gift  of  matches,  preferring  to  strike  fire  by  the 
primitive  method  of  friction. 

These  Eskimo  of  Barrow  Point  are  the  most  peaceful  and  gentlest  of  mankind. 


INHABITANTS  OF  ALASKA. 


135 


They  have  no  chiefs,  either  elected  or  hereditary,  and  dwell  in  a  state  of  absolute 
equality.  Neighbouring  septs  are  never  at  war,  and  even  crimes,  if  committed, 
go  unpunished.  The  idea  of  personal  property  is  scarcely  developed,  except  in 
respect  of  boats ;  hence  the  people  make  no  scruple  to  help  themselves  to  what- 
ever takes  their  fancy,  unless  it  be  in  a  cabin  or  a  cache.  On  the  other  hand 
when  in  their  turn  deprived  of  anything,  they  make  no  demand  for  restitution. 
Wrangling  is  unknown,  the  children  are  left  to  amuse  themselves  in  their  own 
way,  and  the  women  are  treated  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  the  men. 

Fig-.    54. — INHABITANTS  OF  ALASKA. 
Scale  1  :  20,000,000. 


0to50 
Fathoms. 


Dopths. 


50  to  500 
Fathoms. 


500  fathoms 
and  upwards. 


,  320  Miles. 


No  contract  is  considered  settled  until  ratified  by  them,  and  not  even  the  shortest 
trip  is  undertaken  without  their  advice.  But  the  marriage  tie  is  easily  broken, 
especially  on  the  occasion  of  long  hunting  or  fishing  expeditions,  when  the  weaker 
women  remain  in  the  village  with  the  old  and  feeble,  while  the  others  accompany 
the  men.  There  are  no  funeral  rites,  although  apparitions  are  much  dreaded. 
They  also  fear  Tunya,  the  invisible  spirit,  dwelling  in  the  earth,  the  water,  and  the 
heavens  ;  Kiolya,  the  spirit  of  the  aurora  borealis,  is  likewise  dreaded,  and  when 


136  XOETH  AMEBIC.!. 

obliged  to  be  abroad  during  the  starless  nights  they  arm  themselves  with  an  ivory 
wand  against  the  malevolent  genii. 

In  certain  districts  the  aged  and  children  are  killed  during  times  of  scarcity. 
As  amongst  the  Siberian  Chukches,  the  old  people  themselves  ask  to  be  despatched, 
whereupon  they  receive  a  close  of  nux  vomica ;  then  their  throats  are  cut  and  they 
are  delivered  to  the  dogs,  who  will  be  devoured  in  their  turn.  The  Eskimo  of 
Alaska  seem  to  have  lost  some  of  their  skill  as  carvers  and  sculptors.  In  the 
American  museums  are  preserved  admirable  carvings  on  bone  and  wood,  repre- 
senting deer  and  other  animals  in  all  attitudes,  carvings  which  no  native  artist 
could  now  execute.  The  Alaskans  also  cultivate  pottery  ;  but  as  boat-builders  and 
fishers  they  are  greatly  excelled  by  their  kindred  of  Greenland,  and  their  arms 
are  also  of  a  very  rude  type  compared  with  those  of  the  eastern  Innuits. 

The  Alaskan  villages  have  always  their  kashga,  or  place  of  assembly,  a  large 
structure  where  are  held  public  deliberations  and  theatrical  performances.  In  the 
Kuskokvim  district,  these  "  municipal  buildings  "  are  furnished  with  benches 
disposed  in  amphitheatrical  form.  The  ordinary  dwellings  consist  of  interlaced 
branches  covered  with  a  thick  layer  of  hard  earth  and  lighted  by  a  block  of  ice 
placed  in  a  narrow  opening  on  top. 

The  Aleutians,  so  named  by  the  Russians,  call  themselves  Unungun,  or  Kaga- 
taya  Kungios,  that  is,  "  People  of  the  East,"  thus  attesting  their  continental  origin. 
All  the  early  travellers  describe  them  in  much  the  same  language  that  Ray  applies 
to  the  Eskimo  of  Barrow  Point.  Thus  Cook  speaks  of  these  islanders  as  the  most 
peaceful  and  inoffensive  people  he  had  ever  met,  who  might  serve  as  examples  for 
the  most  civilized  nation  on  the  globe.  The  Aleuts  are  in  truth  the  most  patient 
and  resigned  of  mortals,  never  uttering  a  complaint  or  shedding  a  tear  ;  yet  they 
are  animated  by  the  deepest  affection  for  their  families,  and  have  been  known  to  die 
of  hunger  in  order  to  leave  their  children  the  remaining  stock  of  provisions. 

As  long  as  they  enjoyed  independence  the  Aleutians  were  a  cheerful  people  ; 
but  after  enduring  the  hard  yoke  of  the  Russians  they  became  moody  and  de- 
pressed. No  indignity  had  been  spared  them,  and  their  manhood  was  so  com- 
pletely broken,  that  they  henceforth  submitted  to  everything  with  absolute 
resignation.  Hence  during  the  first  period  of  the  Russian  rule,  they  rapidly  dim- 
inished in  number,  and  phthisis  threatened  to  sweep  away  the  whole  race.  Accord- 
ing to  Jelikov,  the  island  of  Kadiak  alone  had  formerly  50,000  inhabitants ;  but 
in  1779  the  whole  population  of  the  archipelago  had  been  reduced  to  about  20,000. 
Fourteen  years  later  they  numbered  little  over  8,000  and  in  1840  were  reduced  to 
4,007.  But  since  then  they  have  again  begun  to  increase,  while  the  national 
type  has  been  greatly  modified  by  crossings.  Although  the  "Creoles,"  as  the 
half-castes  are  called,  resemble  their  Aleut  mothers  more  than  their  Russian 
fathers,  the  race  on  the  whole  seems  to  have  been  physically  and  morally  improved. 
The  Unalashka  islanders  had  already  been  half  Russified  in  character  and  usages 
fully  fifty  years  ago. 

Hence  the  usages  of  the  Aleuts  are  known  mainly  by  tradition  and  the 
discoveries  made  in  the  old  habitations  and  graves.     In  the  Shumagin  Archipelago 


INHABITANTS  OF  ALASKA.  137 

Piuart  has  explored  one  of  the  burial  caves,  where  the  bodies  were  surrounded  by 
various  objects,  such  as  carved  and  painted  masks,  some  differing  little  from  those 
of  the  ancient  Toltecs,  while  others  were  applied  to  the  face,  doubtless  in  order  to 
beguile  the  evil  spirits,  and  avert  their  malice.  The  dead  were  stretched  on  mossy 
beds  containing  a  complete  collection  of  the  implements  and  utensils  at  that  time 
manufactured  by  the  natives.  In  other  graves  the  skeletons  lie  in  a  crouched 
attitude,  the  head  resting  on  the  knees,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Peruvian  mummies. 

The  Eskimo  apply  the  term  Ingalit,  that  is,  "  Unintelligible,"  to  the  Alaskan 
Indians,  whose  language  they  do  not  understand.  These  Indians,  a  branch  of  the 
widespread  Athabascan  or  Tinneh  family,  occupy  the  Yukon  basin  above  the  low- 
lving  alluvial  tracts,  and  towards  the  south  they  reach  the  coast  between  Cook 
Inlet  and  the  mouth  of  the  Copper  River.  But  in  many  places  the  transitions 
between  the  various  races  are  so  gradual  that  various  tribes  are  grouped  by  some 
observers  with  the  Eskimo,  by  others  with  the  Red  Skins.  They  are  collectively 
called  "  Siwaches,"  this  term  being  nothing  more  than  an  English  mispronunciation 
of  the  Canadian  "  Sauvages,"  and  they  have  themselves  adopted  the  designation  of 
"  Boston  Siwaches,"  thereby  betraying  a  consciousness  of  their  ethnical  kinship 
with  the  United  States  Indians.  On  the  Upper  and  Middle  Yukon  the  Canadian 
trappers  group  them,  under  the  name  of  Loucheux,  with  the  neighbouring  Indians 
within  the  British  frontier.  The  special  tribal  names  are  for  the  most  part  derived 
not  so  much  from  any  particular  or  characteristic  features  as  from  the  localities 
occupied  by  them.  Thus  have  been  named  the  Yukon-Kuchins,  or  "  People  of  the 
Yukon,"  the  Tenan-Kuchins,  or  "People  of  the  Knolls"  (on  the  Tanana),  the 
Kocha-Kuehins,  or  "  Lowlanders,"  near  the  delta,  the  Hun-Kuchins,  or  "  Foresters," 
the  Atna-Tana,  or  "People  of  the  Atna  "  (Copper  River).  These  last,  if  not  all 
the  others,  speak  an  Athabascan  dialect,  and  Allen  has  detected  a  striking  resem- 
blance between  them  and  the  Mexican  Apaches,  who  are  also  members  of  the 
Athabascan  family. 

Lying  beyond  the  sphere  of  Russian  and  American  influence,  the  Indians  of 
the  Tanana  basin  have  preserved  their  primitive  usages.  They  still  paint  their 
faces,  wear  head-dresses  of  feathers,  insert  bits  of  bone  or  stone  in  the  cartilage  of 
the  nose,  and  adorn  their  skin  robes  with  fringes  and  glass  beads.  The  Tanana 
valley  is  probably  the  only  part  of  North  America  where  the  Red  Skin  may  still 
be  seen  in  his  primitive  state.  In  one  of  the  Upper  Yiikon  tribes  customs  survive 
which  recall  the  time  when  the  widow  sacrificed  herself,  as  in  India,  on  the  funeral 
pyre  of  her  husband.  When  the  flames  begin  to  dart  up  between  the  fagots,  she 
is  required  to  clasp  the  corpse,  and  allow  her  hair  to  be  singed,  and  then  thrust 
her  hand  through  the  blazing  fire  to  touch  his  breast  at  the  risk  of  her  life.  In 
return  the  ashes  are  placed  in  a  pouch  which  she  wears  for  two  years  round  her  neck.* 

One  of  the  most  numerous  and  original  of  these  tribes  are  the  Kinai  or 
Thnaiana,  that  is,  "  Men  "  who  dwell  in  the  Kinai  Peninsula,  east  of  the  horn  of 
Alaska.  Amongst  them  the  Shamans  are  by  far  the  most  respected  members  of 
the  community.     But  they  are  expected  on  all   occasions  to  recite  songs,  and  to 

*  Sheldon  Jackson,  Ala  ka. 
VOL.  XV.  L 


1S8  NORTH  AMERICA. 

compose  new  verses  in  order  to  astonish  and  propitiate  the  genii.  The  most 
revered  of  superior  beings  is  the  constellation  of  the  Plough,  supposed  to  be  the 
ancestor  of  the  race.  The  raven  is  also  venerated  as  their  father,  and  this  deity  is 
the  centre  of  all  their  national  myths.  "Water,  islands,  rocks,  everything  in 
nature  is  peopled  by  spirits,  who  must  be  invoked  to  secure  success  in  all  their 
undertakings.  Klush  is  the  "  great  lord  of  the  hill-tops,"  and  he  must  be 
offered  eagles'  plumes,  fish,  seal-oil,  in  return  for  the  anticipated  game. 

The  populations  scattered  along  the  South  Alaskan  seaboard,  south-east  of  the 
Copper  River  and  in  the  adjacent  archipelagoes,  are  known  by  the  collective 
names  of  Thlinkit  and  Kolosh.  The  latter  term,  which  has  fallen  into  abeyance 
since  Russian  times,  appears  to  be  a  corrupt  form  of  the  Aleutian  Kaluga,  meaning 
"  disk,"  in  reference  to  the  lip  ornament,  analogous  to  the  botoque  of  the  Bolocudos, 
worn  by  the  Thlinkit  women. 

Since  1840  the  Thlinkits  are  said  to  have  decreased  from  about  20,000  to  7,000 
or  8,000,  subdivided  into  numerous  tribal  groups,  according  to  the  islands  or  river 
valleys  inhabited  by  them.  Such  are  the  Chilkats  and  Chilkuts  of  Lynn  Sound, 
the  Thahk- Inches  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon,  the  Sitkas,  from  whom  the 
capital  of  Alaska  takes  its  name,  the  Stickeens,  Tungas,  and  others.  The  Haidas 
of  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  are  also  represented  in  South  Alaska. 

All  these  natives  are  distinguished  by  their  prominent  features,  so  different 
from  the  flat  Eskimo  face,  and  presenting  a  certain  Jewish  physiognomy.  Although 
almost  indifferent  to  cold,  owing  to  their  fish  diet,  they  suffer  much  from  the 
ravages  of  leprosy,  by  which  some  are  disfigured  beyond  all  human  form.  They 
are  also  infested  by  a  particular  species  of  parasite,  the  staphylinus  pedicuhis. 
Their  spacious  and  substantial  habitations  are  embellished  with  intricate  carvings, 
in  which  the  initiated  are  able  to  read  the  family  history.  Formerly  almost  every 
house  was  also  guarded  by  one  or  two  wooden  pillars  30  to  50  feet  high,  carved 
from  base  to  top  with  figures  of  men,  animals,  and  diverse  objects,  and  at  first 
supposed  to  be  the  creation  of  a  grotesque  fancy.  Now  they  are  known  to  be 
genealogical  trees,  in  which  each  figure  represents  an  ancestor  of  the  race.  The 
totems,  or  symbolical  images  distinguishing  every  family,  are  introduced,  like  the 
heraldic  emblems  of  the  European  nobles,  to  commemorate  the  fame  of  their  illus- 
trious forefathers.  In  front  of  many  houses  stand  two  such  trees,  one  for  the 
paternal,  the  other  for  the  maternal  line.  Certain  villages  on  the  seashore  present 
forests  of  these  sculptured  posts  sheltered  by  the  natural  pine  forests  of  the  back- 
ground. The  two  great  divisions  are  those  of  the  Raven  and  the  Wolf,  subdivided 
into  the  secondary  clans  of  the  Frogs,  Geese,  Owls,  Eagles,  Bears,  Sharks, 
Whales,  and  others  of  high  and  low  caste.  Some  of  the  figures  are  executed  with 
surprising  truth  to  nature,  attesting  the  marvellous  powers  of  observation  of  the 
natives.  But  others,  such  as  that  of  a  crocodile  on  the  grave  of  a  chief,  represent 
forms  which  the  Thlinkits  can  never  have  seen,  and  have  evidently  reproduced 
from  hearsay,  or  more  probably  from  traditions  handed  down  from  times  anterior 
to  the  migration  to  their  present  homes.  All  agree  in  the  belief  that  their 
ancestors  came  originally  from  the  south-east. 


INHABITANTS  OF  ALASKA. 


139 


Under  foreign  influences  the  artistic  sense  is  waning,  and  already  the  finest 
specimens  found  in  their  houses  and  graves  have  been  removed  to  the  American 
and  European  museums.  The  missionaries,  also,  in  their  excessive  zeal,  endea- 
vour to  suppress  all  the  old  mortuary  rites — exposure  of  the  body  on  a  plat- 
form or  in  a  canoe,  burial  in  the  house  or  neighbouring  forest,  submersion  in  the 
sea  or  streams,  lastly,  cremation,  which  is  held  up  to  special  obloquy. 

Fig.  55.— Tomb  of  Thlinkit  Chief. 


Although  generally  of  a  mild  temperament,  the  Thlinkits  do  not  submit  like 
the  Eskimo  to  oppression.  Intertribal  wars  are  frequent,  and  in  1851  the  Chilkats, 
crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains,  joined  the  Thahk-hiches  in  an  expedition  500 
miles  from  their  homes,  against  Fort  Selkirk,  which  was  interfering  with  the 
local  trade.  Most  of  the  tribes  have  chiefs  ;  who,  however,  are  bound  to  conform 
to  custom — they  cannot  declare  war  without  the  assent  of  the  council,  and  all 
abuse  of  power  is  promptly  resented.  On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  honours  are 
paid  to  them,  and  formerly  human  victims  were  even  immolated  on  their  graves. 

l2 


140  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  last  captives  reserved  for  these  funeral  rites  were  ransomed  by  the  Russians 
towards  the  middle  of  the  century.* 

The  whites  are  scarcely  represented  in  Alaska,  except  by  the  "  Creoles,"  nearly 
all  half-breeds  of  Russian  and  Aleut  descent  without  any  strain  of  Indian  blood. 
A  few  Norwegian  fishers  and  American  miners  reside  in  the  southern  districts ; 
but  the  recent  attempt  to  attract  Icelanders  to  Kadiak  was  unsuccessful,  those 
islanders  preferring  the  dryer  though  colder  climate  of  Manitoba. 

Topography  of  Alaska. 

There  are  no  American  stations  north  of  Bering  Strait.  Barter  Island,  west  of 
the  Mackenzie  estuary,  is,  however,  visited  periodically  during  the  fair,  which  is 
frequented  even  by  the  Asiatic  Chukches.  Barrow  Point  was  occupied  for  two  years 
only  for  meteorological  purposes ;  but  a  station  or  harbour  of  refuge  must  soon  be 
established  for  the  whalers,  either  here  or  at  Port-Clarence, -an.  excellent  haven 
sheltered  by  the  extreme  headland  of  the  American  continent.  The  village  of 
Kinging  (Kingegan),  facing  East  Cape  on  the  Asiatic  side,  is  uninhabited  except 
in  summer,  when  it  is  frequented  by  the  Eskimo  from  all  quarters  for  trading 
purposes.  During  this  season  the  island  of  St.  Lawrence  also  does  some  traffic  in 
furs,  ivory,  and  whalebone  with  the  Asiatic  continent. 

On  the  south  side  of  Norton  Sound  are  met  the  first  white  stations,  Unalaklit,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river  of  like  name,  and  St.  Michael,  an  excellent  harbour  sheltered 
by  a  large  volcanic  island  forming  the  natural  port  of  the  whole  Yukon  basin. 
Here  is  the  chief  station  of  the  Fur  Company  ;  but  the  surrounding  swampy 
district  yields  little  produce  to  support  an  export  trade. 

Throughout  its  whole  course  of  over  2,000  miles  the  Yukon  has  no  larger 
centre  of  population  than  its  little  port  of  St.  Michael.  Fort  Selkirk,  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Lewis  and  Pelly,  within  the  Canadian  frontier,  has  remained  a 
ruin  since  its  capture  by  the  Chilkats,  and  is  now  replaced  by  Forts  Reliance  and 
Belleisle,  built  by  Mercier  for  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Fort  Yukon,  con- 
veniently situated  at  the  Porcupine  confluence,  was  formerly  a  busy  station  during 
the  barter  season ;  but  it  had  to  be  abandoned  when  the  geographical  surveys 
showed  that  it  stood,  not  in  British,  but  in  American  territory. 

Some  20  miles  below  Nuklukayet,  at  the  junction  of  the  Yukon  and  Tanana, 
the  new  station  of  Mercier  or  Tanana  was  founded  in  1868  by  a  French  Canadian 
company.  It  is  already  one  of  the  most  important  trading  places  in  Alaska,  and 
here  are  brought  the  best  peltries  by  the  Atna-Tanas  and  other  Indians,  sometimes 
from  distances  of  over  300  miles.  Farther  on,  the  banks  of  the  Yukon  are  almost 
completely  deserted  since  the  destruction  of  the  Nulatos  and  other  riverain  tribes 
by  wars  and  epidemics.  Anvik,  at  the  head  of  the  portage  across  the  tundras  to 
St.  Michael,  marks  the  parting  line  between  the  Indians  and  Eskimo,  neither  of 
whom  ever  cross  the  common  border.  Ikogmut,  on  the  southern  bend  of  the  Yukon, 
at  the  terminus  of  the  Kuskokvim  portage,  is  the  centre  of  the  Russian  missions 

*  Hooper,  The  Tents  of  the  Tuski. 


.ARV 

'HE 

ILLINOI: 


TOPOGEAPHY  OF  ALASKA.  141 

for  the  whole  of  Alaska.  Lower  down,  near  the  bifurcation  of  the  delta,  stands  the 
factory  of  Andreierskig,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Company's  trading- 
places. 

In  this  low-lying  region  there  are  several  large  camping-grounds,  such  as 
Kaskumuk,  Kongiganagamut  and  Kinagamiut,  with  a  total  population  of  about 
3,000  full-blood  Eskimo  enjoying  a  relative  degree  of  prosperity.  The  walrus 
still  frequents  the  neighbouring  coasts,  and  the  natives  display  as  much  skill  as 
their  ancestors  in  carving  the  ivory  obtained  from  the  tusks  of  the  animal. 

On  the  Kuskokvim  the  chief  station  is  Kolmakovskiy,  founded  in  1839  by  the 
Russians  200  miles  above  the  estuary.  From  Port  Alexander,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Nushagak  river  or  Bristol  Bay,  are  exported  the  skins  of  the  musk-rat,  all  of 
which  are  sold  in  France  and  Germany.  But  the  whole  trade  of  the  Yukon  basin, 
at  most  £5,000  a  year,  has  greatly  fallen  off  with  the  decrease  of  the  native  popu- 
lation, caused  by  the  scarcity  of  game,  drink,  and  general  demoralisation.  Nor  are 
the  American  employes  of  the  Company  any  longer  satisfied  with  the  modest  pay 
which  the  English  and  Russian  traders  formerly  gave  to  their  trappers.  Not 
more  than  fifteen  whites  are  at  present  engaged  in  the  peltry  trade  throughout  the 
vast  basin  of  the  Yukon,  where  blankets  are  still  the  currency  in  all  transactions 
with  the  Eskimo  and  Indians. 

The  Eskimo  inhabiting  the  islands  of  the  Bering  Sea  live  almost  exclusively 
on  fish  and  game ;  but  despite  the  abundance  of  animals  in  these  waters  they  are 
at  times  prevented  by  the  pack-ice  from  procuring  sufficient  supplies.  Thus  in 
1878  as  many  as  400,  including  nearly  all  the  children  and  over  a  third  of  the 
women,  perished  of  hunger  in  the  island  of  St.  Lawrence,  out  of  a  total  popula- 
tion of  about  a  thousand.  On  the  other  hand  the  little  Pribylov  islands  have 
become  the  chief  source  of  wealth  for  the  whole  of  Alaska,  since  the  American 
Company  has  here  established  its  famous  fur-seal  "  rookeries."  The  archipelago, 
long  known  to  the  Aleuts  under  the  name  of  Atyk,  comprises,  besides  a  few  islets 
and  reefs,  the  two  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  discovered  by  Pribylov  in 
1786  and  1787,  the  first  930  feet  high,  the  second  lower  and  dotted  over  with 
cones  and  craters.  They -were  originally  uninhabited,  but  were  soon  frequented 
by  Russian  and  afterwards  by  English  fishers,  who  pursued  the  fur-bearing  seals 
so  recklessly  that  these  valuable  animals  were  threatened  with  total  extermina- 
tion. The  chase  was  thus  necessarily  interruptecl,  and  would  have  ceased 
altogether  had  not  some  speculators  conceived  the  idea  of  converting  the  island 
into  a  vast  marine  farm,  and  systematically  working  the  fisheries  with  a  close 
season.  In  a  few  years  they  were  repeopiled,  and  at  present  contain  on  an 
average  about  5,000,000  seals,  of  which  100,000  are  yearly  killed  by  the 
chartered  company  which  has  obtained  the  concession  of  the  islands  from  the 
American  Government  at  a  yearly  rental  of  £52,000.  The  same  "  Alaska 
Commercial  Company  "  leases  from  the  Russian  Government  the  Siberian  islands 
of  Bering  and  Copper  for  a  royalty  of  two  roubles  for  every  captured  seal,  or 
about  £1,000  a  year.  The  whole  population  of  the  Pribylov  Archipelago,  about 
400     Aleuts    and     Creoles,    depends    directly    or     indirectly   on    the    company, 


U2 


NOETH  AMElil*  A. 


being  paid  at  the  rate  of  fort}'  cents  (one  shilling  and  eightpence)  a  skin,  besides 
provisions  and  housing.  But  they  are  unable  to  dress  the  pelts,  which  are 
forwarded  in  the  raw  state  almost  exclusively  to  the  London  market.  Rats  have 
not  yet  appeared  in  the  islands,  which,  however,  swarm  with  mice ;  to  exterminate 
this  pest  cats   have  been  introduced,   which   in    a  few    generations    have    been 

Fig.  56. — The  Seal  Islands. 

Scale  1  :  1,200,000. 


O  to  25 
Fathoms. 


L>epths. 


25  to  50 
Fathoms. 


50  Fathoms  and 
upwards. 


rm  Milts. 


greatly    modified    in  form,    the    tail    becoming    shorter    and    the   voice    much 
changed.* 

Besides  the  fur-seal,  diverse  other  marine  animals  visit  the  archipelago,  and 


*  See  a  graphic  account  of  the  Pribylov  Islands  and  their  seal-rookeries  in  H.  W.  Elliott's  Arctic 
Province  :  London,  1886. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ALASKA. 


143 


are  pursued  by  the  servants  of  the  company.  From  20,000  to  25,000  sea-lions 
(eumetopias  Stelleri)  inhabit  the  island  of  St.  Paul  during  the  summer,  and  7,000 
or  8,000  pass  the  season  in  St.  George,  where  they  numbered  200,000  or  300,000 
at  the  close  of  last  century.  The  Aleuts  prefer  their  flesh  to  that  of  the  fur- 
bearing  seal,  and  utilise  their  skins  to  cover  their  baidaras  or  fishing-boats.  The 
walrus  is  now  met  only  in  Walrus  Island,  a  steep  rock  rarely  visited  by  the 
whites  stationed  at  St.  Paul.  The  natives  hunt  the  walrus  for  its  tusks,  and  the 
sea-otter  for  its  costly  fur,  which  is  usually  valued  at  £12,  but  which  has  fetched 
as  much  as  £100.     The  sea-otter  has  been  almost  completely  exterminated  in  the 

Fig.  57. — Island  of  St.  Paul. 

Scale  1  :  240,000. 


West  oF  Gree 


Depths. 


Bachelors. 


32  Feet  ;iud 
upwards. 


Seal  Families. 


6  Miles. 


Pribylov  Archipelago,  as  well  as  in  Cook's  Inlet ;  but  from  5,000  to  6,000  are 
still  annually  captured  in  the  group  of  Saanak  islets  south  of  the  horn  of  Alaska. 
Since  the  occupation  of  Alaska  by  the  United  States,  this  valuable  animal  has 
gradually  increased  in  numbers  by  the  enforcement  of  a  close  season. 

In  the  Aleutian  Archipelago  the  chief  station  is  Uuiliuk  (I/foolook),  better 
known  by  its  Russian  name  of  Unalashka,  on  the  north  side  of  Unalashka  Island 
at  Captain's  Harbour,  a  well-sheltered  haven,  free  of  ice  throughout  the  year. 
The  neighbouring  island  of  Unimak  does  some  trade  in  sulphur,  and  before  the 
introduction  of  firearms  supplied  the  Aleuts  with  obsidian  for  the  manufacture  of 


144  NORTH  AMERICA. 

knives  and  harpoons.  Nearly  all  the  islands  west  of  Unalashka  are  at  present 
uninhabited,  except  Atkha,  which  has  some  permanently  occupied  hamlets,  and 
Attu,  at  the  extremity  of  the  chain,  whose  inhabitants  since  the  disappearance  of 
the  sea-otter  have  introduced  the  blue  fox,  and  have  also  domesticated  the  wild 
goose. 

Near  the  south-west  extremity  of  Alaska  Peninsula,  some  Norwegians,  who 
have  abandoned  their  mother  tongue  for  English,  have  established  themselves  on 
a  deep  inlet  near  Belkovsky,  whither  they  bring  the  produce  of  their  fisheries  and 
the  sea-otters  captured  in  the  neighbouring  Saanak  islets.  Recently,  attention 
has  been  directed  to  the  shoals  of  cod  which  abound  on  this  seaboard  as  far  as  the 
Bering  Sea  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  on  the  other.  The 
Alaskan  cod,  however,  is  far  less  appreciated  than  that  of  Newfoundland,  probably 
because  not  so  carefully  cured  for  the  European  and  American  markets.  The 
Scandinavian  settlers  at  Belkovsky  have  also  perhaps  another  source  of  future 
wealth  in  the  carboniferous  deposits  of  Unga  in  the  Shuniagin  group,  although 
the  coal  is  very  sulphurous. 

On  the  mainland  follow  other  stations  at  intervals  of  about  60  miles.  But 
in  these  waters  the  most  important  is  St.  Pan/,  on  the  east  side  of  Kadiak 
Island,  which  till  1S32  was  the  capital  of  all  the  Russian  American  possessions. 
But  the  seat  of  the  administration  was,  for  no  apparent  reason,  then  removed  to 
Sitka  in  Baranov  Island,  which  certainly  possesses  less  advantages  than  Kadiak. 
Here  the  rainfall  is  less  copious,  the  forests  are  more  accessible,  leaving  a  few 
open  spaces  for  cattle-breeding,  the  surrounding  waters  are  richer  in  fish,  and  due 
north  of  Kadiak  runs  Cook's  Inlet,  where  salmon  attains  its  greatest  perfection  in 
size  and  flavour.  The  average  weight  is  no  less  than  50  pounds,  and  some  have 
been  taken  weighing  as  much  as  100  pounds. 

Nuchek  or  Port-Eehes,  on  Nuchek  Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Copper  River  ; 
Yukafat,  an  abandoned  penal  settlement  near  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias ;  and 
Lituya,  on  the  magnificent  land-locked  harbour  below  Cape  Fairweather  explored 
by  Laperouse,  are  mere  fishing  hamlets  or  stations  visited  chiefly  by  explorers. 
Towards  the  middle  of  the  century  as  many  as  400  whalers  were  occasionally 
assembled  in  these  waters :  in  1S80  not  more  than  forty  visited  all  the  Alaskan 
seas. 

Juneau  City,  or  Marrisburg,  at  present  the  largest  place  in  Alaska,  stands  east 
of  the  St.  Elias  Alps  and  Cape  Spence,  at  the  foot  of  a  steep  forest- clad  hill  not  far 
from  the  most  productive  gold  mines  in  the  whole  territory.  The  richest  deposits 
are  in  Douglas  Island,  separated  by  a  narrow  channel  from  Juneau,  which  also 
prepares  considerable  quantities  of  preserves  and  of  salmon  for  the  Californian 
market. 

Sitka,  the  Nom-Arkhancjehk  of  the  Russians,  was  founded  in  1799,  and 
became  the  capital  of  Alaska  in  1832,  when  it  was  also  declared  a  free  port  for 
the  whole  world.  Nevertheless,  it  has  remained  a  wretched  village  of  some  300 
inhabitants  at  the  head  of  a  sound  on  the  east  side  of  Baranov  Island,  which  is 
still  almost  entirely  covered  with  pine  forests.      Its  gold,  copper  and  coal  mines 


TOPOGEAPHY  OF  ALASKA. 


145 


are  abandoned,  and  its  industries  are  reduced  to  fishing  and  some  trade  in  timber. 
The  town  is  not  vi-ible  from  the  sea,  being  marked  by  headlands  and  numerous 
islets ;  but  at  the  issue  of  a  winding  channel  it  is  seen  grouped  on  a  rising 
ground  near  the  bold  headland  of  Cape  Edgecumbe  aud  at  the  western  foot  of 
the  superb  Mount  Verstovia.  Westwards  the  port  is  sheltered  by  Japonskiy 
Island,  and,  although  obstructed  by  reefs  and  islets,  is  spacious  enough  to  acconi- 

Fig.  5S.— Sitka  Bat. 
Scale  1  :  200,000. 


;-:': 


. West  oF    ureenwich 


I35°I5 


Tepthi 


' 

|           | 

320  to  640 
Feet. 

0  to  S3 
Feet. 

32  to  320 

Feet. 

640  Feet  and 
npwai'ds. 

n-.odate  a  whole  fleet,  but  is  scarcely  visited  except  by  the  regular    sttamer  from 
San  Francisco. 

Sitka  is  regarded  as  an  unhealthy  place,  doubtless  owing  to  the  spongy  nature 
of  the  soil.  The  streets  are  scavengered  chiefly  by  a  species  of  singing  raven 
(corrus  cncatotl),  a  bird  which  is  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives,  but  which  preys 
upon  the  poultry  and  even  attacks  swine.  Some  20  miles  south  of  Sitka  flows  a 
copious  thermal  and  sulphurous  spring,  which  has  always  been  much  frequented 
by  the  Thlinkits.  On  the  slopes  of  Verstovia  have  been  discovered  some  deposits 
of  very  pure  bismuth. 


146  NOETH  AMERICA. 

Farther  south  the  other  so-called  "  towns,"  Wrangell  and  Fort  Tunyis,  are 
inferior  even  to  Sitka  in  population  and  traffic.  They  are  merely  factories,  which 
till  recently  enjoyed  some  little  importance  as  military  outposts  against  the 
Indians.  But  TVrangell  was  really  a  large  place  during  the  four  years  between 
1 N74  and  1879,  when  the  Californian  miners  were  flocking  to  the  placers  of  Cassiar, 
in  British  Columbia.  From  TVrangell  they  received  their  supplies  and  through 
it  forwarded  their  gold  dust. 

Administration — Instruction — Trade. 

Although  an  American  possession  by  right  of  purchase,  Alaska  really  lies 
almost  beyond  the  United  States  from  the  administrative  point  of  view.  Military 
posts  had  to  be  established  along  the  seaboard,  the  natives  having  resented  the 
transfer  of  their  territory  to  new  masters.  But  there  were  no  revolts,  the  report 
having  been  spread  that  these  new  masters  "  had  many  guns  ;  "  the  garrisons  were 
consequently  withdrawn  as  useless.  The  central  government  has  also  incurred 
some  expenditure  in  the  exploration  of  the  country  ;  but  the  scientific  missions 
have  not  been  carried  out  on  a  strictly  systematic  plan.  The  sums  voted  for  the 
instruction  of  the  natives  have  not  been  directly  applied,  and  even  the  custom- 
house, introduced  at  first  in  Sitka,  has  been  everywhere  abolished. 

In  fact  Alaska  had  been  considered  unworthy  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
Washington  Legislature,  when  the  Government  felt  itself  called  upon  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  Alaskan  Company  leasing  the  Pribylov  Islands,  by  declaring  the 
Bering  Sea  a  "  closed  "  basin,  and  interdicting  seal  and  walrus  fishing  to  all 
foreign  vessels  even  bevond  the  line  of  3  miles  from  the  shore.  But  these 
pretensions  seem  incompatible  with  the  precedents  of  international  right,  and  will 
scarcely  be  accepted  by  Great  Britain,  the  power  most  interested  in  the  question  of 
the  fisheries  in  the  northern  seas.  In  1821  Russia  had  also  attempted  to  close  the 
Bering  Sea  ;  but  although  at  that  time  she  held  possession  of  both  coasts,  the 
claim  was  not  admitted  by  the  other  naval  powers.* 

In  religious  matters  the  Russian  Government  has  reserved  a  certain  degree  of 
authority,  for  it  still  remains  the  official  protector  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  religion 
and  subsidises  the  churches  of  Sitka,  Kadiak,  and  Unalashka.  The  Russian 
prelate  residing  at  San  Francisco  is  the  spiritual  head  of  all  his  co-religionists  in 
Alaska.  For  the  education  of  the  natives  in  Russian,  English,  Eskimo,  or 
Thlinkit  the  authority  remains  in  the  same  way,  not  with  the  federal  government, 
but  with  the  Russian  priests  and  the  missionaries  of  various  denominations.  These 
religious  bodies  have  in  many  places  taken  upon  themselves  to  decree  compulsory 
instruction  for  all  native  children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  nineteen,  and  in 
Sitka  they  have  even  exercised  judicial  functions,  condemning  to  a  day's  imprison- 
ment pupils  playing  the  truant.  Nevertheless,  general  instruction  cannot,  have 
yet  penetrated  very  deeply,  for  the  whole  of  Alaska  is  still  without  a  single 
periodical  of  any  kind. 

*  J.  G.  Kohl,  Getehiehte  der  Entdttkung  Amerika'i. 


'- 
Z 


> 

- 
m 
z 

m 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  ALASKA.  147 

Before  1884  there  were  neither  justices  nor  police,  and  except  in  Sitka,  Kadiak, 
Juneau,  and  Unalashka,  justice  was  irregularly  administered  by  the  missionaries, 
white  landowners  or  passing  sea-captains.  In  the  trading  districts  the  real 
administrators  are  the  representatives  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  owners 
not  only  of  the  seal-rookeries,  but  virtually  also  of  the  natives  themselves,  who, 
however,  are  far  better  treated  than  during  the  Russian  sway. 

The  whole  import  trade  of  Alaska  was  valued  in  1888  at  £'04,000.  Sitka  and 
the  other  southern  seaports  are  now  connected  by  a  fortnightly  steam  service  with 
San  Francisco,  and  in  summer  the  magnificent  scenery  attracts  numerous  American 
and  other  tourists.  The  project  has  even  already  been  mooted  of  a  railway  to  run 
from  the  Canadian  Trunk  Line  along  the  east  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 
Fpper  Yukon  basin.  The  fertile  tracts  along  the  Peace  River  as  well  as  the 
mineral  districts  of  the  Stickeen  Valley  would  thus  be  opened  up  for  colonisation, 
and  a  few  immigrants  would  then  undoubtedly  find  their  way  to  the  more  attrac- 
tive parts  of  Alaska.  Sitka  is  connected  by  a  telegraph  with  the  North  American 
system  ;  but  the  line  intended  to  cross  Bering  Strait  and  connect  the  Old  and  New 
"Worlds  was  abandoned  in  1867,  when  this  project  was  rendered  useless  by  the 
success  of  the  Transatlantic  Cable. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA  AND  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


I.— GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

)HE  vast  stretch  of  lands  occupying  all  the  northern  section  of  North 
America,  and  politically  defined  as  the  "  Dominion  of  Canada," 
constitutes  no  distinct  geographical  unit.  The  frontier  towards  the 
United  States  is  in  a  great  measure  purely  conventional,  running 
for  about  1,300  miles  from  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  to  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods  along  49°  north  latitude,  an  ideal  limit  which  crosses  lofty  ranges, 
plateaux,  and  rivers,  irrespective  of  all  mountain  axes  or  divides  between  the 
fluvial  basins.  Thus  the  headwaters  of  the  Culumbia  river  lie  within  Canadian 
territory,  while  its  lower  course  flows  through  the  north-west  corner  of  the  United 
States.  So  also  the  Upper  Missouri  affluents  rise  north  of  the  political  frontier, 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  Red  River  of  the  north,  main  branch  of  a  stream 
falling  into  Hudson  Bay,  takes  its  origin  far  to  the  south  of  the  border  near  the 
sources  of  the  Mississippi.  Beyond  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  which  is  traversed  by 
a  tortuous  dividing  line  regardless  of  all  natural  conditions,  the  frontier  follows 
the  Rainy  Lake  and  River,  and  an  old  portage  to  Lake  Superior.  In  the  region 
of  the  great  lakes,  however,  the  line  coincides  with  the  natural  features,  skirting 
the  north  side  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  then  dipping  south  of 
Cockburn  and  Great  Manitoulin  Islands,  so  as  to  enclose  the  whole  of  the  peninsula 
formed  by  Lakes  Huron,  Erie,  and  Ontario,  and,  lastly,  following  the  left  bank  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  45°  north  latitude.  But  here  again  begins  another 
conventional  line,  keeping  to  the  same  parallel  across  rivers  and  lakes  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  source  of  the  Connecticut  river.  Beyond  this  point  the  common 
frontier  runs  at  first  north-east  along  a  mountain  crest,  and  is  then  further 
deflected  in  such  a  way  that  the  State  of  Maine  approaches  at  one  point  close  to 
the  right  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  then  encroaches  on  the  greater  part  of  the 
Upper  St.  John  valley. 

The  territory  of  the  Dominion  is  geographically  known  in  direct  proportion  to 
the  density  of  its  civilised  populations.  Canada,  properly  so  called,  that  is,  the 
part  of  the   St.  Lawrence  valley  comprised  between  the   great  lakes   and  fluvial 


GENERAL  CONSIDERATION'S. 


149 


estuai-)',  is  at  once  the  most  thickly  peopled  and  the  most  thoroughly  surveyed. 
Farther  west,  the  points  astronomically  determined  become  rarer,  but  are  continu- 
ally increasing  and  drawing  nearer  to  each  other,  thanks  to  the  opening  of  the 
transcontinental  railway  and  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  country.  Geological 
sections  and  charts  are  being  multiplied  ;  the  main  directions  of  mountain  ranges 
and  rivers,  hitherto  roughly  sketched,  are  being  more  accurately  determined.  In 
the  southern  regions,  near  the  United  States  frontier,  the  early  itineraries  have 

Fig-.  59.-  Chief  Explorers  op  North  America. 


~^T 


■  '     "W 


's*O0r^s6y  "— 


7&>*tevLZU 


4C< 


p\  pa"-'*07*- sj/~~~\ 


\ 


/«A<' 


"^gf5"^ 


1  '  ^\ 


Ca&T'irr, 


^ttfk^^jZe 


J»« 


ir9 


A    ■     1    ** 


West  oF  Gr-ee 


1494.  J-  C.  John  Cabot. 

1669.  Allonez. 

1819.  F.   H.    R.   Franklin, 

1862-73.  Petitot. 

1494-98.  Sebastian  Cabot. 

1671   Marquette. 

Hood,  and  Richardson. 

1866.  Whymper. 

1600.  CortereaL 

1673.  Joliet. 

1819-15.  Franklin. 

.,     Dall. 

1524  Gomez. 

1682.  Cavelier  de  la  Salle. 

1821-30.  Graah. 

1S68.  Ravmood. 

1535.  Cartier. 

1721.  De  la  Verandrye. 

1826.  Bch.  Beechev. 

1869-73.  Butler. 

1542.  Cabrillo. 

.,     Egede. 

1831.  Blosseiffle. 

1870.  83.  Nordenskliild 

1576.  Frobisher. 

1727.  Bering. 

„    J.  C.  Ross. 

1873-86.  Meieier. 

1579.  Drake. 

1730.  Gvozdiev. 

1833-36  Back. 

187f-87.  Dawson. 

1585.  Davis. 

1741.  Bering  and  Tchirikov. 

1836-43.  Nicolet. 

1879.  Mourier. 

1692  (?)  Juan  de  Fuca. 

1770-72  Hearne. 

1837-39.  Dease  and  Simpson. 

1879  83.  Schwatka. 

1610.  Hudson. 

177S.  Cook. 

1842.  Zagoskin. 

1880-83.  Perroff. 

1612.  Button. 

1786.  Laperouse. 

1851.  MacClure. 

1881-82.  Ray. 

1613-15.  Champlain. 

1786-87.  P.  Egede. 

„    Collinson. 

1883-84.  Boas. 

1615  Baffin. 

1789-93.  Mackenzie. 

„    Kellett. 

1884.  Holm. 

1619.  Monk. 

1792.  Quadra,  Vancouver. 

1854-60.  Kane. 

„     Low. 

1631.  James. 

1806.  Clarke  and  LewiB. 

1858.  Palliser. 

.,    Peck. 

..      Fox. 

1818.  R.  Ross. 

1859.  MacClintoek. 

1885.  Bignell. 

1634.  Albinel. 

„     P.  Parry. 

1860-69.  Hall. 

.,    Allen. 

1669-62  Chouard. 

1818-22.  Scoresby. 

1862.  Milton  and  Cheadle. 

1888.  Nansen. 

ceased  to  possess  anything  beyond  an  historical  interest,  having  already  been 
replaced  by  more  regular  surveys.  But  towards  the  north  our  knowledge  of 
the  general  configuration  of  the  land  is  still  dependent  on  the  broadly-traced 
routes  of  such  explorers  as  Hearne,  Mackenzie,  Back,  Bichardson,  Petitot,  or 
Dawson. 

In  the  northern  continent,  all  the  natural  divisions  mainly  follow  the  direction 
of  the  meridian.     Thus  the  Pacific  seaboard,  the  coast  ranges,  the  plateaux   and 


150  NORTH  AMERICA. 

crests  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  system,  the  terraced  tablelands,  median  plain,  more 
or  less  parallel  ridges  of  the  Laurentian  and  Appalachian  chains,  and  lastly,  the 
Atlantic  coastlands  are  all  disposed  from  north  to  south,  or  at  least  run  in  the 
direction  from  the  polar  to  the  torrid  zone,  whereas  the  frontiers  of  the  two  great 
continental  states  have  been  drawn  transversely  to  all  these  natural  limits.  Even 
in  the  climates  there  is  no  approximate  coincidence  between  the  Canadian  frontier 
and  any  isothermal  line,  the  meteorological  phenomena  being  distributed  not  so 
much  according  to  latitude  as  along  greatly  deflected  curves,  which  in  many 
places  run  parallel  with  the  continental  coastlines.  The  zoological  and  botanical 
limits  are  also  far  from  coinciding  with  the  degrees  of  latitude. 

Were  the  Canadian  populations  grouped  in  a  compact  homogeneous  mass,  the 
Dominion  might  be  freely  developed  in  a  distinct  political  nationality  without  en- 
during the  inconvenience  of  the  fantastic  frontier  traced  along  its  southern  border. 
But  this  vast  region,  exceeding  the  United  States  themselves  in  superficial  area,  is 
still  sparsely  peopled,  the  inhabitants  being  for  the  most  part  distributed  along  the 
frontier,  and  in  some  places  alone,  particularly  the  peninsular  part  of  the  province 
of  Ontario,  and  the  region  of  Lower  Canada  of  which  Montreal  is  the  centre,  this 
cordon  broadens  into  loops,  where  the  population  is  dense  enough  to  constitute 
really  independent  groups  and  autonomous  centres  of  political  and  social  life.  But 
elsewhere  along  the  chain  of  towns  and  settlements,  the  common  national  senti- 
ment is  weakened  by  the  natural  attractions  of  the  conterminous  communities  irre- 
spective of  fictitious  diplomatic  limitations. 

No  great  importance  can  consequently  be  attached  to  a  precarious  political 
frontier  liable  to  be  effaced  by  the  least  change  of  equilibrium.  It  will  therefore 
be  more  convenient  to  neglect  the  geometrical  lines  traced  on  the  maps  by  the 
diplomatists  of  London  and  "Washington,  and  deal  separately  with  the  natural 
regions  as  determined  by  mountain  ranges,  river  valleys,  and  climates.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  island  of  Newfoundland,  as  well  as  a  portion  of  Labrador,  may  be 
regarded  as  fragments  of  the  Canadian  territory,  although  not  yet  forming  part  of 
the  Dominion  as  officially  constituted. 


II.— BRITISH   COLUMBIA. 
Rocky  Mountains— Queen  Charlotte  and  Vancouver  Islands. 

The  limits  of  British  Columbia,  as  fixed  by  legislation,  are  no  less  eccentric 
than  those  of  the  Dominion  itself.  In  order  to  simplify  the  administrative 
requirements,  it  was  thought  sufficient  to  trace  the  divisions  according  to  the  rough 
charts  at  the  time  available,  without  any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  physical 
conditions.  Thus  the  northern  frontier  was  drawn  at  G0°  north  latitude  and  the 
southern  at  49°.  Towards  the  east,  one-half  of  the  parting-line  between  British 
Columbia  and  the  North- West  Provinces  was  made  to  coincide  with  120°  west 
longitude,   while  on  the  north-west  it  follows  the  already   described   serpentine 


PHYSICAL  FEATUKES  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  151 

Alaskan  boundary.  The  only  natural  frontiers  are,  on  the  south-west,  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  on  the  south-east,  the  crest  of  the  easternmost  ridge  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Had  the  limit  been  taken  as  indicated  by  the  routes  of  tbe  Canadian 
trappers,  the  discoveries  and  formal  acts  of  possession  made  by  Vancouver,  and  the 
first  surveys  of  the  Columbia  estuary  by  Grey  in  1792,  the  basin  of  this  great  river, 
as  well  as  Puget  Sound  and  the  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait,  would  have  been  assigned  to 
Canada.  But  the  English  diplomatists  displayed  less  energy  than  their  American 
opponents,  and  the  parting-line,  as  fixed  by  the  arbitration  of  the  German 
Emperor  in  1872,  left  to  the  States  all  the  islands  and  inlets  lying  south  and  east 
of  the  deepest  channel  between  the  mainland  and  Vancouver  Island.  The  San 
Juan  Archipelago,  between  the  Haro  and  Rosario  Straits,  was  also  ceded  to  the 
Americans. 

Overlooking  these  arbitrary  lines  of  demarcation,  British  Columbia  may  be 
regarded  as  a  distinct  geographical  unit  by  studying  separately  the  whole  section 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  which  stretches  from  the  sources  of  the  Yukon  to  the 
middle  course  of  the  Columbia,  and  which  is  indented  by  innumerable  fjords  of  the 
seaboard  between  the  Alaskan  Islands  and  the  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait.  This  region 
has  an  approximate  area  of  370,000  square  miles,  with  a  scattered  population  of 
scarcely  150,000  Indians  and  whites ;  the  latter  element,  however,  rapidly  in- 
creasing, at  least  in  the  southern  and  more  settled  districts.  The  seaboard  was 
exclusively  explored  by  Spanish  and  English  navigators,  especially  Quadra  and 
Vancouver,  as  shown  by  the  geographical  nomenclature,  although  the  large 
island  is  no  longer  "  Quadra  and  Vancouver,"  as  had  been  agreed  between  the  two 
mariners. 

The  interior  has  been  gradually  explored  by  the  ti  appers  and  miners ;  but 
Mackenzie  was  the  first  scientific  traveller  who  crossed  the  mountain  ranges 
between  the  north-west  plains  and  the  Pacific  in  1792.  Mackenzie  followed  the 
middle  course  of  the  Fraser  river,  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  Columbia,  and 
which  in  1806  was  named  after  the  Scotch  trader,  Simon  Fraser.  The  travellers, 
mostly  servants  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  who  opened  up  this  section  of  the 
Pacific  Seaboard  were  nearly  all  Scotchmen,  and  the  whole  region  was  long  known 
by  the  name  of  New  Caledonia. 

Physical  Features  of  British  Columbia. 

The  various  chains  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  comprised  between  Alaska,  the  Mac- 
kenzie basin,  and  the  head-waters  of  the  Peace  River,  under  50°  north  latitude,  are 
known  only  in  a  general  way  through  the  reports  of  the  traders  and  miners.  But 
their  geological  survey  has  still  to  be  made,  and  in  this  respect  they  remain  a 
blank  on  our  maps.  The  main  range,  running  parallel  with  the  Alaskan  coast, 
east  of  the  Lewes,  or  Upper  Yukon  basin,  appears  to  be  of  moderate  elevation,  and 
forms  only  a  secondary  water-parting,  being  pierced  by  streams  belonging  some  to 
the  Arctic,  some  to  the  Pacific  basin.  Thus  the  upper  afHuents,  both  of  the 
Stickeenand  of   the  Skeena,  rise  in  the  same  regions  as   the  tributaries  of  the 


152 


XORTH  AMERICA. 


Liards  and  Peace  rivers,  which  flow  to  the  Mackenzie.  In  the<e  regions  the 
loftiest  ranges  do  not  probably  exceed  10,000  feet ;  towards  55°  30'  north  latitude 
they  develop  a  central  nucleus,  iu  which  are  united  the  various  parallel  chains 

Fig.   6O.-B0UNDABY    LlNE   BETWEEN    CaHADA   AND   THE   UNITED    STATES   IN  THE    SaN   JtTAN    AeCHIPELAOO. 

Scale  1  :  1,250,000. 


I22'o0' 


Depths. 


Settled 
Frontier. 


0  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


Frontier  proposed  by 
Canada. 


coining  from  the  north,  and  whence  diverge  the   upper  waters  of  the  Stickeen, 
Skeena,  Peace,  and  Fraser  rivers. 

Immediately  south  of  this  nucleus,  the  "  Peak  Mountains  "  of  the  older  maps, 
the  whole  orographic  system  falls  so  rapidly  that  the  whole  of  British  Columbia, 
from  the  Pacific  Coast  to  the  plains  watered  by  the  Peace  River,  may  be  traversed 
without  anywhere  ascending  more  than  3,400  feet ;  *  the  breach  formed  by  the 
Peace  itself  is  only  2,000  feet  high.     The  great  northern  bend  of  the  Fraser  in- 

*  G.  M.  Dawson,  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geo.  Soe.,  Feb.,  1878. 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  158 

dicates  pretty  accurately  the  ceutre  of  this  depression,  which  is  characterised  by  the 

presence  of  grey  or  whitish  arenaceous  clays  regularly  stratified  to  a  considerable 
depth,  in  some  places  as  much  as  100  and  even  200  feet.  They  rest  everywhere 
on  layers  of  boulder  clay,  more  or  less  modified  and  strewn  with  gravel  and  erratic 
blocks.  These  deposits,  which  extend  to  a  great  distance  between  the  ranges,  are 
evidently  due  to  the  action  of  a  vast  inland  sea,  which  is  still  represented  by 
the  present  lakes  and  plains  of  Chilcotin,  and  which  jjerhaps  communicated  with 
the  ocean  through  a  strait  traversing  the  whole  system  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  main  chain  properly  so  called,  running  due  north-west  and  south-east, 
begins  south  of  the  Peace  River  in  hills  scarcely  3,000  feet  high,  but  rapidly  rising 
above  the  plains  watered  by  the  Athabasca  and  its  tributaries.  The  Yellow  Head 
Pass,  through  which  it  was  at  first  proposed  to  carry  the  transcontinental  railway, 
is  3,820  feet  high,  and  farther  south  the  Athabasca  Pass  is  dominated  by  Mounts 
Brown  and  Hooker,  said  to  be  respectively  16,000  and  17,000  feet.  But  the 
surveyors  who  have  begun  the  triangulation  of  the  region  near  the  frontier 
consider  these  rough  estimates  excessive.  In  any  case,  the  passes  connecting  both 
slopes  in  this  part  of  the  main  range  are  so  easy  as  to  excite  the  astonishment  of 
travellers.  Milton  and  Cheadle  had  actually  crossed  the  Yellow  Head  Pass  before 
discovering  that  they  had  traversed  the  water-parting  between  the  two  basins. 

South-east  of  the  Athabascan  groirp  follows  a  series  of  peaks  generally  named 
after  British  naturalists  ;  such  are  Lyell,  Sullivan  (7,850),  Forbes  (8,440),  Murchi- 
son,  Balfour,  Lefroy  (11,600).  These  are  the  mountains  perceived  by  the  traveller 
advancing  from  the  plains  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and  more  specially  known  as  the 
"  Rockies."  Seen  from  the  rolling  prairies  of  Alberta  territory  their  greyish,  bare 
walls,  nearly  pyramidal  in  form,  and  streaked  with  snow  on  their  northern  slopes, 
present  an  imposing  appearance.  Some  of  the  escarpments  reveal  their  horizontal 
strata,  deposited  during  the  Devonian,  Carboniferous,  and  Cretaceous  ages;  others 
have  been  diversely  folded  and  dislocated,  but  are  inclined  for  the  most  part 
towards  the  east.  Some  resemble  enormous  slabs  of  slate,  some  pyramids  cut 
into  regular  steps.*  East  of  the  main  range,  the  foot  hills,  running  in  the  same 
direction,  traverse  the  centre  of  the  plain  in  disconnected  groups,  such  as  Dal- 
housie,  with  its  vertical  castellated  walls  over  against  the  Yellow  Head  Pass,  the  more 
uniform  Palliser  Range  named  after  one  of  the  first  explorers,  and  the  Porcupiue 
Hills  south  of  Calgary,  near  the  frontier,  which  also  belong  to  this  system  of  the 
"  Little  Rockies." 

The  part  of  the  chain  crossed  by  the  Pacific  Railway,  several  portions  of  which 
have  been  reserved  as  "  national  Parks,"  is  naturally  the  best  known  section  of 
these  uplands.  From  the  foot  of  the  hills,  already  3,000  to  4,000  feet  high,  the 
road  slopes  very  gradually  and  uniformly  to  a  narrow  gorge,  the  Gate  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  beyond  which  it  ascends  to  its  highest  point,  at  Kicking  Horse 
or  Hector's  Pass  (5,300  feet),  dominated  on  the  north  by  Mount  Stephen.  The 
Kanauaskis  (Palliser)  and  most  other  southern  passes  are  still  lower,  scarcely 
exceeding  5,000  feet ;  but  the  Kootenay,  about  30  miles  from  the  frontier,  rises 

*  W.  Spots-wood  Green,  Proc.  of  the  R.  Geog.  Soc,  March,  1889. 
VOL.    XV.  M 


154 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


to  an  elevation  of  5,9o0  feet.  In  its  upper  course,  the  Kananaskis,  already  a 
broad  stream,  plunges  over  a  romantic  fall,  after  which  it  continues  its  course,  with 
little  interruption,  down  to  its  confluence  with  the  Saskatchewan. 

Farther  west  the  parallel  ridges  occupying  the  space  enclosed  by  the  winding 
valleys  of  the  Columbia  and  its  great  affluent,  the  Kootenay,  are  distinguished  from 
the  main  chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  the  name  of  the  Selkirk  Range.  They 
are  crossed  by  the  Pacific  Railway  at  Roger's  Pass  (4,275  feet),  which  is  dominated 
by  mountains  about  10,000  feet  high.     Although  generally  lower  than  those  of  the 


Fig.  61.— Kicking  Hokse  Pass. 

Scale  1  :  550,000. 


II6°30  West  or  breenwich 


Rockies,  the  Selkirk  peaks  have  larger  glaciers,  a  fact  due  to  the  greater  abun- 
dance of  moisture  brought  by  the  rain-bearing  clouds  from  the  Pacific.  A  snow- 
field  just  south  of  the  culminating  point,  Mount  Sir  Donald  (10,645  feet),  has  a 
superficial  area  of  over  20  square  miles,  and  sends  down  several  ice  streams  into 
all  the  surrounding  valleys.  Owing  to  the  same  cause,  the  slopes  below  the  snow- 
line are  clothed  with  a  magnificent  forest  vegetation,  which,  however,  greatly 
impedes  the  progress  of  exploration  in  these  uplands.  Of  all  the  highlands  in  the 
New  World,  the  Selkirk  Range  most  resembles  the  European  Alps,  everywhere 
presenting  the  same  contrast  between  verdant  promontories  and  valleys  filled  with 
o-laciers.  Enormous  moraines,  now  abandoned  in  the  lower  valleys,  show  that  in 
this  region  the  glacial  rivers  were  far  more  extensive  than  at  present. 

Another  chain,  less  regular  than  the  parallel  Selkirk  and  Rocky  ranges,  rises 
west  of  the  Columbia  valley  below  the  great  northern  bend.  This  is  the  C4old 
Range,  so  named  from  the  auriferous  sands  which  till  lately  were  profitably  washed 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OK  131UTISII  COLUMBIA. 


]55 


in  its  lower  valleys.  Its  culminating  joints  are  lower  than  those  of  the  Selkirk 
highlands,  but  it  appears  to  be  of  older  formation,  the  prevailing  rocks  being 
granites,  gneiss,  crystalline  schists,  and  other  azoic  deposits. 


to 

S 


In  general,  the  relief  of  British  Columbia  presents  the  form  of  an  inclined 
plane  which,  from  the  watershed  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  falls  gradually  south- 
westwards  in  the  direction  of  the  Fraser  estuary  in  the  Gulf  of  Georgia.     Were 

m  2 


156  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  marine  level  raised  3,000  feet  a  great  part  of  the  region  dominated  by  the 
ramifications  of  the  Gold  Range  would  be  changed  to  straits  and  inlets.  Towards 
the  conventional  frontier  at  4!)  north  latitude,  the  various  chains  lose  their  dis- 
tinctive geological  characters,  here  consisting  of  uniform  strata  deposited  during 
the  first  fossiliferous  ages,  but  still  separated  by  deep  valleys.  Thus  a  certain 
natural  limit,  vaguely  coinciding  with  the  political  boundary,  may  be  traced  north 
of  the  lower  Columbia  between  the  conterminous  states. 

On  the  seaboard  the  so-called  "  Coast "  or  "  Cascade  "  Range,  continuing  the 
Alaskan  mountains  southwards  to  California,  really  consists  not  of  one,  but  of  a 
multitude  of  distinct  masses  and  ridges  ;  all,  however,  disposed  north-west  and 
south-east,  parallel  with  the  coast  and  the  main  axis  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Their  rugged  slopes  and  the  savage  aspect  of  the  steep  cliffs  and  escarpments, 
over  which  were  formerly  discharged  vast  streams  of  basalt,  impart  to  these 
uplands  a  great  apparent  altitude,  although  they  are  really  somewhat  lower  than 
the  eastern  chains.  Some  fall  below  2,000  feet,  while  the  highest  peaks,  towards 
the  south,  approach  10,000  feet.  The  whole  system  is  decomposed  into  distinct 
fragments,  towards  the  coast  by  variously  ramifyiug  fjords,  and  towards  the 
Fraser  River  by  lakes  or  old  lacustrine  valleys,  which  at  a  remote  geological  epoch 
were  themselves  fjords. 

Fjords  and  Glaciers. 

The  present  marine  inlets  resemble  those  of  Scotland  and  Norway,  only  they 
are  generally  narrower,  and  bounded  by  higher  and  more  parallel  cliffs.  Their 
form  has  suggested  the  hypothesis  that  they  are  river  valleys  slowly  eroded  by 
the  water,  according  as  the  seaboard  rose  above  the  marine  level.  But  these  rivers 
were  succeeded  by  ice-streams,  which  gradually  filled  the  fluvial  bed,  thus  pre- 
serving its  exact  outline  throughout  the  whole  glacial  period.  When  released  from 
their  icy  fetters,  the  Columbian  fjords  were  subjected  to  further  transformations. 
Their  upper  reaches  were  filled  by  the  alluvial  matter  of  their  lateral  affluents,  the 
parts  that  have  thus  silted  up  being  indicated  by  marshy  tracts.  Small  submarine 
deltas  continue  these  tracts  for  a  short  distance  into  the  fjord,  which  then  abruptly 
sinks  to  enormous  depths,  ranging  in  some  places  from  1,000  to  1,200  feet, 
Lastly,  a  now  flooded  moraine,  as  on  the  coasts  of  Greenland  and  Scotland,  marks 
the  parting-line  between  the  open  sea  and  the  inner  sounds. 

The  whole  of  the  Columbian  seaboard  is  thus  indented  by  profound  inlets,  such 
as  the  Portland  Canal  on  the  Alaskau  frontier,  which  penetrates  over  40  miles 
inland  opposite  Dixon  Channel,  between  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Queen  Charlotte 
Archipelagoes.  Here  the  broad  channel  obviously  forms  a  seaward  continuation  of 
the  Canal,  both  being  due  to  the  same  geological  agents.  Opposite  the  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands  occurs  the  still  more  intricate  Douglas  Channel,  which  is  again 
continued  south-westwards  by  the  Gardner  Channel,  penetrating  nearly  70  miles 
inland.  Farther  south  the  Dean  and  Bentinck  inlets  are  remarkable  for  their 
extreme  regularity,  forming  two  long  canals  at  right  angles  with  the  coast,  con- 
nected by  a  transverse  canal,  and  throwing  off  several  secondary  canals  also  at 


FJORDS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


157 


right  angles.  Dean  Inlet,  with  the  lakelets  and  valleys  forming  its  eastward 
continuation,  is  connected  with  the  Fraser  river  by  a  continuous  depression,  the 
whole  system  showing  clearly  that  fjords,  lakes,  and  rivers  were  all  determined 
by  the  same  geological  agencies. 

In  the   southern  part  of  Columbia   numerous   analogous   formations,  such  as 


Fig.  63.— Jeevis  Inlet. 
Scilel  :  800,000. 


"  £&&*& 


asgg 


M '"';  '^ 

ji  - 

jf£~iz?s-i&-& 

M:t 


Oto  10O 
Fathoms. 


Depths. 


100  to  250 

Fathoms. 


!S    F  ithoms 
and  upwards. 


125  Miles. 


Knight,  Bute,  Toba,  Jervis,  Howe,  and  Burrard  Inlets,  are  connected  through  a 
labyrinth  of  channels  with  the  broad  Gulf  of  Georgia  flowing  between  Van- 
couver Island  and  the  mainland.  And  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  itself,  from  its  entrance 
at  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  and  through  the  corkscrew  windings  of  Puget  Sound  pene- 


158 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


trating  southwards  into  the  heart   of  Oregon,  is  nothing  more  than  a  vast   fjord 
projecting  its  arms  in  all  directions  like  an  enormous  octopus. 

These  southern  fjords,  owing  to  the  neighbourhood  of  more  settled  districts 
and  easier  highways  of  communication,  are  better  known  than  those  of  the  north. 
Many  of  them  had  to  be  explored  in  detail  when  the  engineers  were  searching  for 
the  most  convenient  oceanic  terminus  of  the  trans-continental  railway.  None  of 
them  present  such  an  imposing  aspect  as  Jervis  Inlet,  which  exceeds  50  miles 
in  length,  with  a  mean  breadth  of  -3   miles,  its  rocky  walls  at  some  points   con- 


Fiu-.  6 1  —  1  *!-•  -civr.nY  Passage. 

Scale  1  :  1,100,000 


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West  oF    Greenwich 


i?4°^t 


Depths. 


n  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 

and  upwards 


IS  Miles. 


verging  still  closer,  and  rising  in  a  series  of  terraces  to  heights  of  4,000  or  5,000  feet. 
In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  coast  a  200-fathom  sounding-line  does  not  every- 
where touch  the  bottom,  and  here  and  there  the  submarine  slopes  plunge  into 
chasms  280  fathoms  deep.  In  summer  hundreds  of  cascades,  tumbling  from  the 
edge  of  the  cliffs,  fill  the  gloomy  gorge  with  an  incessant  din,  and  ruffle  the  surface 
with  innumerable  intersecting  ripples  ;  in  winter  and  spring  the  noisy  waters  are 


THE  FJORDS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  159 

replaced  by  crashing  avalanches,  whose  thunders  are  re  echoed  from  side  to  side 
of  the  rocky  crags.  Few  Indians  venture  to  navigate  the  fjord,  whose  shores  are 
still  uninhabited  by  the  white  man.  Even  the  vegetation  is  scanty,  and  tbe  hardy 
pine  scarcely  shows  itself  on  the  ledges  of  rock  exposed  to  the  gales  from  the 
high  seas. 

Not  only  did  the  ice-streams  at  one  time  fill  the  now  flooded  fjords,  but  they 
also  overflowed  their  banks,  and  in  many  places  the  islands  on  the  coast  were  con- 
nected by  crystalline  bridges  with  the  mainland.  At  that  time  the  Columbian 
seaboard  presented  the  same  spectacle  as  that  of  Greenland,  where  so  many  marine 
straits  are  obliterated  by  ramifying  glaciers.  All  the  insular  groups  at  the 
entrance  of  Douglas  and  Dean  Inlets  thus  formed  part  of  the  continent,  and  the 
great  Island  of  Vancouver  itself  acquired  a  peninsular  aspect.  At  the  narrowest 
part  of  the  intervening  waters,  that  is,  at  Johnstone  Strait,  Discovery  Passage,  and 
Seymour  Narrows,  the  channel  is  considerably  less  than  two  miles  wide,  while  the 
geological  strata,  granites  or  triassic  rocks,  correspond  exactly  on  either  side ;  the 
stratified  sands  and  gravels  containing  erratic  boulders  were  evidently  deposited 
on  both  sides  by  the  same  glacial  stream.*  In  these  narrows  the  opposing  tidal 
waves  produce  formidable  whirlpools,  all  the  more  dangerous  because  of  the  reefs 
rising  in  mid-channel.  At  times  the  tides  rush  through  with  a  velocity  of  10  or 
12  miles  an  hour,  irresistibly  sweeping  along  all  sailing  vessels,  and  sometimes 
even  steamers. 

Vancouver  and  Queen  Charlotte  Islands. 

The  general  aspect  of  Vancouver  Island  and  neighbouring  coastlines,  with  their 
hummocky  rocks,  boulders,  clays,  and  gravels,  has  led  to  the  conclusion  that  all  the 
southern  part  of  the  island  was  formerly  covered  by  an  ice-cap  at  least  650  feet 
thick,  and  that  this  glacier,  descending  from  the  continental  snowfields,  advanced 
for  about  60  miles  seawards. t  Since  that  epoch  erosions  have  again  sculptured 
the  islands,  many  of  which  are  composed  of  conglomerates  overlying  sandstone, 
and  rising  in  vertical  cliffs  above  caverns,  through  which  rush  the  roaring  waters. 

Although  at  present  separated  by  a  marine  channel  about  130  miles  wide,  the 
Queen  Charlotte  and  Vancouver  Islands  belong  to  the  same  geological  formation, 
constituting  a  single  chain,  which  runs  parallel  with  the  Rocky,  Selkirk,  Gold 
and  Cascade  ranges.  Of  the  Queen  Charlotte  group  much  of  the  relief  has  dis- 
appeared. An  intermediate  valley  has  been  transformed  to  a  strait,  the  Skidegate 
Inlet  and  the  Archipelago  is  thus  divided  into  the  two  large  islands  of  Graham  in 
the  north,  and  Moresby^  in  the  south  ;  the  latter  continued  southwards  by  a  chain 
of  reefs  and  islets,  and  rising  in  some  of  its  peaks  to  a  height  of  5,000  feet.  The 
more  compact  island  of  Vancouver  presents  a  more  regular  chain  of  mountains, 
which  culminate  about  the  geometrical  centre  of  the  island  in  the  Victoria  peak 
(7,670  feet).  The  disposition  of  the  granites,  triassic  and  cretaceous  rocks,  in  both 
groups  is  such  as  to  leave  little  doubt  of  their  geological  continuity.     Like  the 

*   Alfred  R.  C.  Selwyn,  Geological  and  Natural  History  S  irvey  of  Canada. 
t  (i.  M.  Dawscm,  op.  tit. 


lfiO  NORTH  AMERICA.. 

continental  seaboard,  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  is  indented  by  fjords,  one  of 
which,  the  Quatsino  Sound,  ramifies  through  the  interior  nearly  to  the  opposite 
coast.  Farther  south  is  the  smaller  but  better  known  Xootka  Sound,  visited  by 
so  many  great  navigators  since  Cook's  voyage  in  1778. 

Columbian  Lakes  a>td  Rivers. 

In  the  interior  of  Columbia,  the  lakes,  although  partly  filled  up  by  debris  and 
fluvial  deposits,  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the  fjords  of  the  seaboard.  Thev 
abound  especially  in  the  region  formerly  occupied  by  the  vast  freshwater  sea 
between  the  Skeena,  Fraser  and  Peace  valleys.  Here  still  survive  the  Tacla, 
Trembleur,  Stewart  and  Francois  reservoirs,  all  of  which  send  their  overflow  to 
the  Fraser  through  the  Nakosla  or  Stewart  River.  Lakes  Chilco,  Quesnelle,  and 
Shuswap,  belong  also  to  the  Fraser  basin ;  while  the  southern  lakes  —  Kootenay, 
Arrow,  and  Okanagan — drain  to  the  Columbia  or  its  affluents.  All  these  still 
flooded  or  dried  up  basins  occupy  fissures  in  the  terrestrial  crust  uniformly  disposed 
either  north-west  and  south-east,  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  Rock)'  Mountains,  or 
else  north  and  south,  or  west  and  east.  By  their  intersection,  the  three  systems 
of  fractures  develop  a  network  of  lines,  which  are  frequently  disposed  in  symme- 
trical  triangles,  a  phenomenon  analogous  to  that  observed  in  the  South  of  Norway. 

The  Columbian  rivers,  which  were  formerly,  and  to  some  extent  still  are,  chains 
of  lakes,  also  flow  in  many  parts  of  their  course  through  fissures  in  the  terrestrial 
crust,  little  modified  by  erosion  and  sedimentary  deposits.  The  Taku,  which  falls 
into  the  Alaskan  fjord  of  like  name,  is  joined  by  headstreams  flowing  through 
narrow  fractures  running  parallel  with  the  coast.  So  also  the  Stickeen,  a  very 
copious  river,  which  rises  in  the  lacustrine  region  of  Columbia,  and  which  in  its 
lower  reaches  is  also  comprised  within  Alaskan  territory.  Several  of  its  upper 
tributaries,  as  well  as  the  main  stream  itself,  present  a  zigzag  course,  turning 
abruptly  at  right  angles  in  the  clefts  of  their  rocky  beds.  A  little  above  its 
mouth  the  Stickeen  is  interrupted  by  falls,  below  which  its  banks  are  skirted  right 
and  left  by  glaciers,  thrusting  their  frontal  walls  and  moraines  right  into  the 
current.  Farther  south  the  Nasse,  near  which  rises  an  extinct  volcano,  flows 
entirely  within  Columbian  territory.  It  has  given  a  definite  form  to  its  valley, 
whereas  the  far  more  cojnous  Skeena  still  retains  throughout  a  great  part  of  its 
course  the  aspect  of  a  chain  of  lakes.  Lake  Babine,  one  of  these  narrow  basins, 
is  no  less  than  ninety  miles  long.  It  was  so  named  by  the  Canadian  trappers  from 
the  "babine,"  or  lip-ornament,  worn  by  the  Indians  dwelling  on  its  banks,  and 
resembling:  the  "  kolosh "  of  the  Thlinkits  and  Haidas.  All  the  lower  course 
of  the  Skeena.  is  still  a  narrow  fjord  dominated  by  mountains  over  0,000  feet  high. 

Excluding  the  Columbia,  whose  upper  course  alone  lies  within  Canadian 
territory,  the  Fraser  is  the  largest  river  in  British  Columbia.  It  rises  in  the 
Yellow  Head  Lake,  whence  it  flows  first  north-west,  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains;  then  it  bends  at  a  sharp  angle  round  to  south,  in  order  to  follow 
a  fissure  which  is  disposed  in  the  direction  from  north  to  south.     At  this  angle  it 


IUVERS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


101 


is  joined  by  several  of  i(s  upper  affluents,  such  as  the  Bear,  Willow,  North  Fraser 
and  Stewart  (Nakosla)  ;  this  last,  which  is  the  largest  of  all,  comes  from  the  north- 
west highlands,  and  is  fed  by  numerous  lakes,  all  taking  the  form  of  long  narrow 
basins.  In  its  upper  course  the  Fraser  receives  affluents  converging  almost  from 
every  quarter  except  the  north;  here,  Lowever,  the  Punais,  or  Parsnip  River,  flows 


Fig.  65. — Northern  Bend  op  the  Fraser. 
Scale  1  :  1,700,000. 


/feyo  Serfs  : 
Trout  •  Sji/ce^] 


.,  0I     -  ^--'  - 

Falls'*      '~-S=i_-     Mac\Lecd-ljAe       -    S 

•V' 
^"n  Ker/y  's  -  /sA e     -■  V*£f 


%  ~*J  Wk 


West  or  breenwicti 


30  Miles. 


in  the  opposite  direction,  as  one  of  the  main  headstreams  of  the  Mackenzie.  The 
fault  in  the  terrestrial  crust,  occupied  by  the  two  water-courses,  thus  belongs  to 
the  same  fissure  ;  only  it  is  inclined  along  two  opposite  slopes  belonging  to  two 
different  fluvial  basins. 

South  of  its  great  bend,  the  Fraser,  flowing  henceforth  almost  due  south  nearly 
to  the  coast,  receives  from  the  west  the  dark  current  of  the  Blackwater,  and  then 
from  the  east  the  more  copious  Quesnelle  rising  in  the  tortuous  lake  of  the  same 
name.  Farther  down  it  is  joined  from  the  west  by  the  Cbilcotiu,  an  emissary  from 
a  lake  near  and  parallel  to  Bute  Inlet.  In  this  part  of  its  course  the  pent-up  stream 
flows  at  a  great  depth  between  the  mountaius,  and  in  many  places  it  is  impossible 
to  follow  its  banks.      Hence  to  ascend  or  descend  its  valleys,  the   traveller  has  to 


162 


NoKTII   AMF.IiirA. 


scale  the  overhanging  bluffs,  or  even  to  cross  the  lateral  passes.  Thus  at  the  issue 
of  the  little  lake  Seton,  near  its  west  bank,  the  route  till  recently  followed  was 
deflected  westwards,  rising  through  a  series  of  lacustrine  terraces  to  Summit  Lake, 


Fig.  66.  — Southern  Bend  of  the  Frasee. 
Scale  1  :  950,000. 


122  io 


We  s  t     or     v  f~  e  o  n  w  icH 


i^Y? 

* 

*  '  •*'«■-*  •**< 

V    '     '     ' 

-:  Ilk  - . 

/— 

I2l°30' 


30  Miles. 


and  thence  turning  southward  in  the  direction  of  the  Lower  Fraser  through  another 
chain  of  partly  navigable  lakes.  Summit  Lake,  which  stands  at  an  elevation  of 
about  1,800  feet,  presents  the  peculiarity  of  discharging  its  waters  through  two 
different  channels  into  the  Fraser.*  Henceforth  the  transcontinental  railway, 
*  K.  C.  Mayne,  Four  Tears  in  British  Columbia. 


RIVERS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  1G3 

which  descends  to  the  Fraser  through  the  valley  of  its  eastern  affluent,  the 
Thompson,  relieves  travellers  from  the  necessity  of  following  the  round-about 
route  of  Summit  Lake. 

The  Thompson,  after  issuing  from  the  winding  basin  of  Lake  Shuswap  and 
collect iug  several  large  affluents  from  various  directions,  emerges  on  some  broad 
grassy  valleys,  which  have  already  been  brought  partly  under  tillage.  But  here 
and  there  it  plunges  into  some  gloomy  gorges  ;  of  less  formidable  aspect,  however, 
than  the  "dalles,"  or  canons,  in  which  the  Fraser  contracts  its  bed  below  the  con- 
fluence. The  first  miners  attracted  to  the  upper  valleys  in  quest  of  gold  have 
left  graphic  accounts  of  the  dangers  of  this  route,  with  its  "  hell-gates,"  before  a 
carriage  road  and  railway  had  triumphed  over  the  obstacles  by  bridges,  viaducts, 
and  levellings.  In  several  places  the  vertical  walls  rise  500  and  even  1,000  feet 
above  the  stream,  which  rushes  in  a  series  of  falls  and  rapids  through  these  gloomy 
narrows.  Many  hives  were  lost  in  the  attempts  to  ascend  or  descend  the  "  Crazy 
River,"  as  it  was  named  by  the  miners,  in  reference  either  to  its  changeful  moods, 
or  to  those  who  were  mad  enough  to  face  such  perils  in  their  search  of  wealth. 

The  Fraser  is  really  navigable  only  in  its  lower  course,  where  it  changes  its 
direction  from  south  to  west.  Here  the  mean  depth  is  no  less  than  50  to  60  feet, 
and  for  over  30  miles  above  its  mouth  ships  find  good  anchorage  close  to  the 
shore,  exposed  only  to  the  danger  caused  by  snags  drifting  with  the  current  or 
stranded  on  the  sandbanks.  The  river  is  lowest  during  the  first  three  months  of 
the  year  ;  but  with  the  melting  of  the  snows  in  April  it  rises  rapidly,  by  mid- 
summer reaching  50  feet  in  the  canons,  and  25  to  30  below  the  narrows,  and 
flouding  the  low-lying  plains  at  its  mouth.  The  sediment  brought  down  with  the 
current  has  encroached  on  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  developing  a  marshy  delta  with 
constantly  shifting  channels.  The  "  Sturgeon  Bank,"  or  bar,  which  half  closes 
the  mouth  of  the  Fraser,  presents  no  serious  obstacle  to  navigation. 

The  United  States  having  taken  the  lion's  share  of  these  western  lands,  Great 
Britain  had  to  abandon  the  greater  part  of  the  Columbia  basin,  retaining  only  the 
upper  valley  as  far  as  the  confluence  of  Clarke's  River.  Thus  the  upland  region 
enclosed  between  the  two  semicircles  of  the  Upper  Columbia  and  Kootenay  lies 
all  but  its  southern  extremity  within  the  Canadian  frontier.  Few  geographical 
formations  are  more  remarkable  than  this  upland  region  occupied  by  the  Selkirk 
Mountains,  and  encircled  like  an  enormous  fortress  by  a  moat  of  navigable  waters. 
The  Columbia  also  presents  the  almost  unique  phenomenon  of  a  river  already  fully 
developed  at  its  very  source.  Expanding  at  once  into  a  navigable  lake  it  is 
separated  from  the  Eootenay,  here  also  navigable,  only  by  a  low  isthmus  2,660 
yards  broad,  through  which  a  canal  has  easily  been  cut.  The  long  depression 
which  is  traversed  in  opposite  directions  by  these  two  rivers  has  obviously  been 
sculptured  by  the  same  geological  agencies.  Dawson  has  shown  that  the  general 
t  ilt  of  the  valley  was  formerly  in  the  direction  of  the  south  ;  it  was  in  this  direc- 
tion that  were  transported  all  the  erratic  boulders  and  other  glacial  debris. 

At  present  the  Upper  Columbia,  alternately  lake  and  river,  develops  a  course 
of  about  200  miles  along  the  west  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  then,  after  an 


1C.4 


Nol;TII  AMEBICA. 


abrupt  bend,  like  that  of  the  Upper  Fraser,  it  trends  also  to  the  south,  both 
rivers  thus  presenting  the  same  disposition  in  their  ujsper  reaches.  After  forming 
the  Upper  and  Lower  Arrow  Lakes,  a  continuous  sheet  about  100  miles  long,  the 
Columbia  is  joined  by  the  Kootenay,  the  two  streams,  which  almost  touched  at 
their  sources,  thus  merging  in  one  some  450  miles  from  their  origin.  In  point  of 
fact,  the  same  fold  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  the  southern  bend  of  the 
Kootenay  in  the  United  States  to  the  Cassair  district  under  56°  north   latitude, 


Fig.  67.  — SOUBCES   OF    THE    COLUMBIA. 
Scale  1  :  570,000. 


w 

.■  i 

50 

--    fk  - 

'■'■  : 

!"! 

■  ■  . 

SO' 

V  s 


'  MFlJiSmet 


West   ot~    Greenwich  116° 


M 


j  sife 


¥ 


II5°50' 


12  Hiles. 


is  successively  occupied  by  the   Kootenay,  Columbia,  Fraser,  Parsnip  and  other 
basins. 

The  changes  produced  in  the  level  of  the  two  rivers  and  their  lakes  are  attested 
by  the  old  water  marks,  visible  at  various  elevations  on  the  flank  of  the  mountains, 
as  well  as  in  the  Alaskan  fjords,  Cook's  Inlet,  and  Prince  William  Sound.  These 
parallel  terraces,  or  "benches"  as  they  are  locally  called,  are  one  of  the  most 
general  features  in  the  relief  of  the  land,  and  are  numerous,  especially  in  the 
Fraser  and  Columbia  basins.  In  several  districts  they  are  disposed  like  the  steps 
of  a  building,  rising  with  perfect  regularity  to  a  height  of  nearly  4,000  feet,  and 
in  one  place  near  the  great  northern  bend  of  the  Fraser  to  5,250  feet.  These 
benches  are  evidently  of  diverse  origin,  marine  beaches,  margins  of  lacustrine 
basins  or  river  beds,  according  to  the  thousand  oscillations  of  the  ground.* 

*  G.  M.  Dawson,  op.  cit. 


CLIMATE  OP  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 
Climate   of  Columbia. 


1G5 


The  south-west  angle  of  British  Columbia,  that  is,  where  the  mean  tempera- 
ture is  highest,  is  intersected  by  the  isothermal  of  50°  F.,  which  corresponds  to 


Fin'  OS.  —  Columbia  and  Kootenay  Valleys. 
Scale  1  :  3,000,000. 


52' 


-    . 


/-■■     -■;  '-    -        i,'\i'    \ 

ii    -■  yf  ■■£*  -*:  -  M-^ f-e<>7",rb^v/^.:s  j     ■  \-: 


49' 


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119° 


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iffiiL 


.  G2  Miles 


that  of  Paris.  But  beyond  this  point  the  heat  diminishes  gradually  northwards 
and  eastwards,  and  at  the  north-east  extremity  of  the  province  the  annual 
isotherm   falls  to   about    35°  F.,  answering   to    that   of    Winnipeg.      Under   the 


106  NOETI1  AMEBIC  A. 

influence  of  the  winds  and  marine  currents  the  isotherms  are  deflected  far  to  the 
north  along  the  coastlands.  Thus,  instead  of  coinciding  with  the  parallels  of 
latitude,  they  run  south-east  and  north-west,  and  on  the  northern  seaboard  even 
follow  the  coastline.  By  a  strange  'anomaly,  showing  how  little  the  climate  at 
times  depends  on  geographical  position,  the  summer  heats  are  greater  in  Vancouver 
Island  than  in  California,  as  far  south  as  Monterey,  which  is  nearly  900  miles 
nearer  to  the  equator.  This  curious  reversal  of  the  climatic  conditions  is  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  Japanese  "  Gulf  Stream  "  on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver.* 

But  notwithstanding  the  mildness  of  the  western  and  southern  districts  the 
climate  of  Columbia  is  in  general  inferior  to  that  of  Europe,  the  winters  being 
longer  and  colder,  the  summers  shorter  and  hotter.  Winter  begins  usually  in 
September  or  October,  and  lasts  till  May,  and  is  marked  by  much  snow,  rain,  frosts, 
and  fogs.  The  inland  lakes  and  rivers  remain  ice-bound  for  weeks  together,  and 
even  the  lower  course  of  the  Fraser  has  occasionally  been  frozen.  The  mean  eleva- 
tion of  the  land,  scarcely  less  than  4,000  feet,  tends  to  increase  the  rigour  of  its 
climate,  which,  however,  is  not  the  chief  obstacle  to  its  settlement.  European 
colonies  have  been  founded  wherever  the  soil  is  productive,  the  moisture  not  exces- 
sive, and  the  communications  easy. 

Thanks  to  the  general  conformation  of  the  country,  the  different  regions  all 
receive  some  share  of  the  rainfall,  although  the  contrast  is  great  between  the  dry 
eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  west  side  exposed  to  the  moisture- 
bearing  winds  from  the  Pacific.  In  the  south  Vancouver  acts  as  a  sort  of  screen, 
receiving  most  of  the  rainfall  on  its  western  slopes,  and  leaving  comparatively 
little  for  the  east  side  and  the  opposite  coastlands.  In  the  north  there  are  no 
islands  large  enough  to  intercept  the  supply,  which  is  consequently  almost  entirely 
discharged  on  the  uplands  of  the  mainland. 

Flora  and  Fauna. 

The  vegetation  corresponds  to  the  distribution  of  the  rainfall.  In  the  southern 
and  drier  regions,  the  slopes  are  covered  with  bunch-grass,  which  makes  such 
excellent  fodder,  and  which  contributes  so  much  to  the  wealth  of  the  colony. 
These  pastures,  on  which  the  cattle  graze  throughout  the  year,  ascend  the  hill-sides 
to  a  height  of  3,000  feet,  at  which  elevation  much  wheat  is  also  grown.  Most  of 
the  territory  receives  sufficient  moisture  to  support  a  large  forest  vegetation,  and  in 
some  places  the  woods  are  so  dense  and  continuous  that  many  of  the  early  travellers 
speak  of  British  Columbia  as  one  vast  forest. 

According  to  Dawson,  about  two-thirds  of  the  country  is  under  timber,  the 
prevailing  species  being  the  conifers,  some  of  which  acquire  gigantic  proportions. 
The  yellow  or  Douglas  pine,  most  valuable  of   the  Columbian  trees,  in  some  places 

»  Temperature  of  New  Westminster,  South  Columbia,  49°  12'  north  latitude  :-— 
July,  hottest  month,  61°  F.  ;  extreme,  88°  F. 
January,  coldest  month,  34°  F.  ;  extreme,  16°  F. 
Fearly  average,  47°  F. 

Annual  rain  ami  snow  fall,  03  inches  in  HIS  days. 


FLORA  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


grows  to  a  height  of  350  feet  with  a  perfectly  straight  stem  branchless  for  100 
feet.  No  timber  excels  it  in  strength,  elasticity,  and  power  of  resisting  extremes 
of  temperature  ;  it  thrives  especially  in  the  southern  districts  and  Vancouver 
Island.  Another  useful  conifer  is  the  pinus  Lambert iana,  which  yields  a  sweetish 
resin,  used  by  the  natives  instead  of  sugar. 

The  maples,  poplars,  and  aspens,  rival   most  of  the  pines  in   size,  while  the 


o 


> 
i 


! 


arbutus  becomes  in  Vancouver  quite  a  forest  tree.  Columbia  is  especially  rich  in 
shrubs  bearing  edible  berries,  which  are  gathered  by  the  natives,  and  even  ex- 
ported to  San  Francisco.  All  the  vegetables  of  Central  and  North  Europe  thrive 
well,  and  most  fruit  trees  yield  excellent  crops. 

Large  animals  are  somewhat  rare,  the  formidable  grizzly  bear  being  seldom 


168  NORTH  AMERK'A. 

seen  except  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  while  elsewhere  the  black  bear  alone  is  met. 
This  variety  never  attacks  man,  and  equally  harmless  is  the  puma  (felis  concofor), 
which  ranges  northwards  to  the  Fraser  Valley  and  Vancouver.  The  superb 
mountain  sheep  bounds  from  crag  to  crag  on  the  rocky  heights,  and  lower  down 
the  caribou  (rangifer  caribou)  and  wapiti  frequent  the  grassy  plateaux,  plains,  and 
islands,  while  deer  abound,  especially  in  the  wooded  islands  along  the  coast. 
Wolves  seldom  leave  the  depths  of  the  forest  except  in  severe  winters,  and  a  few 
bison  from  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  said  still  to  roam  over  some  of  tbe 
grassy  districts. 

In  Columbia  are  found  nearly  all  the  fur  animals  of  Alaska  and  the  Mackenzie 
basin — the  marten,  fox,  beaver — and  the  sea  otter  is  even  said  to  survive  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  Vancouver.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  no  venemous  snakes, 
but  several  harmless  serpents,  regarded  by  the  native  hunters  as  a  great  delicacy. 

The  avifauna  is  represented  by  numerous  families,  including  even  several 
species  of  the  humming-bird,  which  are  seen  flitting  from  bush  to  bush  even  before 
the  snow  has  disappeared  from  the  slopes  of  the  hills.  But  in  the  number  and 
variety  of  its  fishes,  British  Columbia  probably  surpasses  all  other  regions  of  the 
temperate  zone.  The  marine  inlets  and  rivers  teem  with  salmon,  trout,  sturgeon, 
whitefish,  herrings,  sardines,  anchovies,  and  many  species  unknown  in  Europe. 
The  cod-bank  off  the  south  coast  of  Alaska  is  continued  along  the  shores  of 
Columbia,  and  the  waters  between  Queen  Charlotte  and  Vancouver  islands  are 
frequented  by  the  "  black  cod,"  whose  flesh  is  said  to  be  superior  to  that  of  the 
ordinary  species.  There  are  no  lobsters,  but  crabs  and  prawns,  as  well  as  oysters 
and  mussels,  are  found  in  great  quantities.  Such  was  the  abundance  of  fish  in 
the  Columbian  rivers  in  the  early  period  of  colonisation,  that  during  the  season,  the 
banks  below  the  falls  were  strewn  with  innumerable  salmon,  which  had  failed  to 
surmount  the  obstructions.  They  were  taken  in  hundreds  and  thousands  with 
nets  or  casks,  and  even  raked  ashore.  .The  hulakan,  or  "  candle-fish,"  is  used  by 
the  Indians,  as  by  the  Alaskan  Eskimo,  for  lighting  their  houses. 

Inhabitants  of  British  Columbia. 

British  Columbia  is  scantily  occupied  by  an  indigenous  population,  broken  into 
distinct  tribes  numerous  in  proportion  to  the  vast  territory  over  which  they  are 
scattered.  They  are  estimated  altogether  at  from  thirty  thousand  to  forty  thou- 
sand, while  the  tribal  groups  are  reckoned  by  the  score,  each  with  its  distinct 
denomination,  though  often  differing  little  from  their  neighbours  in  origin,  appear- 
ance, or  usages.  Hence  the  impossibility  of  classifying  these  various  groups 
according  to  their  real  affinities,  or  even  according  to  their  languages,  of  which 
most  observers  are  profoundly  ignorant.  It  is  now,  also,  too  late  to  study  the 
extinct  tribes,  or  those  whose  primitive  features  have  been  effaced  by  servitude 
and  the  demoralisation  so  often  resulting  from  contact  with  Europeans. 

In  a  general  way  the  natives  are  divided  into  islanders,  coastlanders,  and 
inlanders,  a  classification  to  some  extent  based  on  social  habits,  some  being  fishers 


INHABITANTS  OF  BEITISH  COLUMBIA.  169 

or  seafarers  living  on  a  fish  diet,  others  hunters  dependent  on  the  produce  of  the 
chase.  In  the  absence  of  airy  common  national  designation,  the  iusular  and  coast 
tribes  have  been  collectively  grouped  as  "  Columbians,"  a  term  also  applied  to  the 
seaboard  populations  of  Washington  and  Oregon  in  the  United  States.  The  inland 
peoples  are  in  the  same  way  called  "Red-skins,"  or  "  Indians,"  and  several  are 
undoubtedly  related  to  the  prairie  Indians  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Still, 
they  must  often  differ  greatly  in  origin,  or  at  least  the  dispersion  must  have  taken 
place  at  very  remote  times,  for  there  are  few  regions  where  the  languages  current 
amongst  apparently  kindred  tribes  present  more  profound  differences. 

A  perfectly  distinct  family  is  that  of  the  Ilaidas,  who  occupy  the  Queen 
Charlotte  Archipelago,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  as  well  as 
the  opposite  Alaskan  and  Columbian  coastlands.*  The  various  clans  take  their 
names  from  the  districts  or  rivers  occupied  by  them — as,  for  instance,  the  Nasse, 
Skeena,  and  Bellacoola  tribes.  The  Haida  domain  stretches  eastwards  to  the 
Upper  Fraser  Basin,  and  may  be  estimated  at  about  80,000  square  miles,  with  a 
population  certainly  less  than  fifteen  thousand.  In  Queen  Charlotte  the  natives, 
formerly  numerous,  are  now  reduced  to  less  than  two  thousand.  The  Haidas  are 
generally  supposed  to  be  more  akin  to  the  northern  Thlinkits  than  to  their 
southern  neighbours,  although  the  two  languages  are  quite  distinct. 

Those  who  have  not  been  degraded  by  European  vices,  are  distinguished 
amongst  all  the  western  populations  by  their  shapely  figures,  their  strength,  skill, 
graceful  carriage,  and  regular  features.  Nevertheless,  the  prevailing  type  is  still 
that  of  other  American  aborigines — broad  face,  prominent  cheekbones,  small 
sparkling  eyes,  shaded  by  overhanging  superciliary  arches.  The  women  are  very 
muscular,  but  as  a  rule  less  good-looking  than  the  men,  and  till  recently  disfigured 
themselves  by  the  hideous  lip  ornament  so  generally  worn  along  this  seaboard. 
Amongst  some  tribes,  especially  the  Bellacoolas,  the  heads  of  the  children  are 
flattened,  and  till  lately  the  custom  prevailed  of  painting  the  body  in  colours, 
which  changed  with  the  different  feasts  and  ceremonies.  For  the  dance  they  wear 
animal  masks  and  figures  of  quadrupeds,  birds  and  fishes  painted  on  the  breast ; 
but  when  excited  to  a  pitch  of  frenzy,  these  Corybantes  will  often  throw  aside  the 
mask  and  fall  upon  a  dog,  tearing  it  to  pieces  with  their  teeth  and  devouring  the 
flesh.  Formerly  their  fury  was  vented  not  on  dogs  but  on  men,  who  were  treated 
in  the  same  way  to  appease  the  spirit  agitating  them. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans,  a  conspicuous  object  in  the  Haida  villages 
was  the  chief's  house,  or  assembly  room,  sometimes  spacious  enough  to  contain  an 
audience  of  seven  hundred  persons.  Some  of  the  houses  are  decorated  with  wood 
carvings,  or  else,  as  amongst  the  Thlinkits,  marked  by  "  genealogical  trees."  The 
Haidas  display  great  skill,  especially  in  building  and  adorning  their  canoes,  which 
are  propelled  with  remarkable  speed  by  means  of  shovel-shaped  oars.  The  finest, 
made  of  cedar,  are  those  of  the  Kaigani  in  the  Prince  of  "Wales  Archipelago,  who 
are  renowned  far  and  wide  for  their  beautifully  carved  pipes,  and  other  objects 
embellished  with  eccentric  designs.     Strange  to  say,  the  Queen  Charlotte  Haidas, 

*  G-.  M.  Dawson,  On  the  Haida  Indians  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands. 
VOL.    XV.  N 


170 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


who  resemble  the  Polynesians  in  so  many  respects,  are  quite  ignorant  of  the  art  of 
swimming.* 

Power  belongs  to  wealth,  and  many  of  the  chiefs  exercise  a  despotic  authority. 
The  nephew  inherits  from  the  uncle  through  the  female  line,  and  in  many  tribes 
matriarchal  customs  still  survive.  There  are  no  settled  laws,  though  the  murderer 
who  fails  to  pay  the  appointed  fine  is  often  put  to  death.  Slavery  exists  either  by 
purchase  or  capture,  and  the  chiefs  frequently  immolate  human  victims  at  burials, 

Fig-.  70. — Xootka  Island  and  Inlets. 
Scale  1  :  7,630,000. 


&i 


Tr  »TirlgwW 


I97°<>0' 


West  or   breenwicH 


Lieptljs 


h  In  .-.II 

Fathoms. 


50  Fathoms 

andupwaids. 


or  to  render  incantations  more  efficacious  ;  for  these  chiefs  are  above  all  magicians 
credited  with  power  over  the  spirits,  whom  they  pretend  to  keep  shut  up  in  a 
mysterious  box  in  order  to  have  them  always  at  their  service. 

Several  of  the  Haida  communities  have  been  demoralised  by  drink  and  gambling; 
nevertheless  some  progress  has  been  made,  and  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islanders, 
formerly  sea-otter  hunters,  have  now  become  skilful  agriculturists,  exporting  large 
quantities   of   potatoes  to  the   coastlands.     The    Chimsyans   of    the   Metla-Katla 


*  Fr.  Poole.  Queen  Charlotte  Islands. 


INHABITANTS  OF  BEITISH  COLUMBIA. 


171 


district  have  also  abandoned  their  old  usages,  and  are  now  under  the  absolute  sway 
of  a  missionary,  at  once  king,  priest,  and  general  controller  of  the  public  property. 
These  Christians,  now  dressed  like  Europeans,  have  recently  been  obliged  to  migrate 
northwards  into  Alaska  in  consequence  of  religious  wranglings  and  commercial 
rivalries  between  their  theocratic  master  and  the  English  traders. 

The  Nootkas  of  Vancouver  and  the  opposite  coast  have  been  so  named  by  Cook 
for  no  apparent  reason,  the  term  being  unknown  to  the  natives  themselves. 
Several  of  the  Vancouver  tribes  are  collectively  called  Ahts,  from  the  ending  of 

Fig1.  71. — Old  Nootka- Indian  Woman. 


the  special  names  borne  by  them.  On  linguistic  grounds  the  Nootkas  might  be 
grouped  in  four  distinct  families ;  but  they  are  usually  named  from  the  districts 
they  inhabit.  They  are  on  the  whole  more  robust  than  the  Haidas,  with 
shorter  figures  and  less  expressive  features.  The  oblique  eye,  flat  beardless  face, 
and  yellow  brown  complexion  give  to  some  a  strikingly  Chinese  appearance. 
Before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  the  heads  of  the  children  were  flattened  and 
the  crown  compressed  to  a  point  by  means  of  cloth  and  bark  bandages.  The 
head  of  a  young  girl  measured  by  Mayne  towered  no  less  than  eighteen  inches 
above  the  eyes.* 

*  Four  Years  in  British  Columbia  and  Vancouver  Island. 

n2 


172 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Traces  of  matriarchal  institutions  survive  amongst  the  Nootkas  ;  the  wife  is 
regarded  as  equal  to  the  husband,  and  in  case  of  divorce  has  the  right  not  only  of 
taking  her  personal  effects,  hut  even  keeping  a  share  of-  the  common  property. 
The  medicine-men  still  retain  much  of  their  baneful  influence,  though  they  no 
longer  excite  to  those  scenes  of  massacre  and  cannibalism  described  by  the  early 
travellers.  As  amongst  the  Haidas  the  dead  are  usually  cremated,  but  also  occa- 
sionally deposited  in  hollow  tree  trunks,  or  on  raised  platforms,  sometimes 
decorated  with  symbolic  figures  representing  the  totem  of  the  clan. 

The  Nootkas  have  shown  themselves  very  obdurate  to  missionary  teachings  ; 


Kg.  72. — Aboeioines  of  Beitish  Columbia. 
Scale  1  :  13,000,000. 


West  of   Greenwich 


.  185  Miles. 


the  few  that  have  accepted  Christianity  are  treated  as  outcasts,  and  if  not  actually 
killed  are  allowed  to  die  of  hunger.  Many  of  those  formerly  occupying  the  sites 
of  European  settlements  hang  about  the  outskirts  of  the  towns,  where  they  become 
thoroughly  debauched  and  are  soon  carried  off  by  drink,  disease,  and  misery.  In 
their  intercourse  with  strangers  the  Nootkas  speak  the  Chinook  jargon,  so  named 
from  the  powerful  tribe  living  farther  south  in  United  States  territory.  This  lingua 
franca  comprises  about  550  words,  including,  besides  Chinook,  several  English, 
French,  and  even  Polynesian  terms. 

Through  imperceptible  transitions  the  Nootka  type  merges  in  that  of   their 


INHABITANTS  OF  BRITISH  COLiniBIA.  173 

eastern  kindred,  the  Columbians,  who  are  collectively  known  as  Shuswaps  from  the 
lake  situated  about  the  centre  of  their  territory.  The  Shuswaps  are  subdivided 
into  numerous  septs,  such  as  the  Nicouta-mush  (the  "  Couteaux  "  of  the  Canadian 
trappers),  who  occupj'  Lake  Shuswap  and  its  affluent,  the  River  Thompson  ;  the 
Atnahs,  or  "Strangers,"  of  the  Fraser  Valley  above  the  gorges;  the  Kootenays, 
so  named  from  the  river  sweeping  round  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Selkirk 
range.  The  Shuswaps,  and  esjjecially  the  Kootenays,  contrast  favourably  with  the 
Columbians  of  the  seaboard  by  their  more  muscular  frames,  graceful  figures,  and 
noble  carriage.  They  keep  no  slaves  and  are  generally  more  hospitable,  frank, 
and  valiant  than  their  western  neighbours.  Unfortunately,  this  nation  was  ex- 
posed to  the  first  rush  of  the  gold-hunters,  the  sudden  irruption  being  followed 
by  the  spread  of  epidemics,  the  extinction  of  several  clans  and  general  demora- 
lisation. 

In  the  north-eastern  districts  of  British  Columbia  dwell  the  true  Red-skins  of 
Athabascan  stock,  akin  to  those  who  roam  the  plains  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
From  the  Canadian  trappers  they  have  received  the  well-earned  named  of  Porteurs, 
the  "  Carriers "  of  English  writers.  One  of  their  tribes,  the  Tah-killies,  who 
occupy  the  plains  between  the  great  bend  of  the  Fraser  and  the  Peace  River,  are 
closely  related  to  the  "  Beavers  "  residing  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Like 
certain  Yukon  peoples,  the  Carriers  burnt  their  dead,  the  widow  being  obliged  to 
pass  her  hand  several  times  over  the  breast  of  her  husband,  after  which  she  was 
doomed  to  serve  his  family  for  one  or  more  years  before  laying  aside  her 
mourning. 

On  the  lower  Fraser  begins  the  domain  of  the  Salish,  Sahaptin,  Skagit,  Chinook, 
and  other  Indian  tribes,  whose  territory  stretches  far  into  the  United  States.  The 
special  names  of  these  people  terminate  in  the  syllable  tin,  corresponding  to  the 
word  finneh  or  dene,  that  is  "men,"  which  is  applied  collectively  to  the  Indians  of 
Alaska  and  the  North-West  territory. 

Resources  of  British  Columbia. 

The  white  population  already  outnumbers  the  aborigines  more  than  three  times, 
and  the  discrepancy  is  steadily  increasing  from  year  to  year.  At  present  the 
white  element  is  estimated  at  over  100,000,  nearly  all  of  British  or  American 
origin  and  of  Anglo-Saxon  speech.  They  have  been  followed  by  the  Chinese,  who 
will  probably  monopolise  certain  industries,  unless  some  repressive  measures  be 
adopted,  as  in  California  and  Australia.  The  colonisation  of  British  Columbia 
began  scarcely  fifty  years  ago,  and  was  largefy  due  to  the  "  gold  fever."  Although 
the  Indians  had  long  collected  small  quantities,  the  discovery  of  extensive  deposits 
was  not  made  till  the  year  1856,  first  on  the  banks  of  the  Fraser,  and  then  in  the 
Thompson  valley.  Miners  were  immediately  attracted  from  California ;  fresh  dis- 
coveries were  made,  and  in  1858  occurred  the  great  rush. 

All  the  Columbian  rivers,  without  exception,  send  down  auriferous  sands, 
though  not  in  sufficient  quantities  to  cover  the  working  expenses.     At  first  the 


174  NORTH  AMERICA, 

largest  quantities  were  yielded  by  the  Lower  Fraser  aud  Thompson  districts ;  then 
followed  the  Caribou  region,  south  of  the  great  bend  of  the  Fraser  ;  after  which  the 
miners  pushed  north  towards  Gardner  Channel,  the  Skeena  basin,  aud  the  valley 
of  the  Omineca,  a  tributary  of  the  Peace  River.  Lastly,  in  1872,  the  stream 
was  directed  by  the  discoveries  of  Thibert  and  MacCulloch  towards  the  Cassiar 
Country,  between  the  Stickeen  basin  and  the  Liards  River,  near  the  Alaskan 
frontier,  where  a  few  patient  gleaners,  chiefly  Chinese,  still  linger.  During  the 
first  years  the  Columbian  mines  yielded  from  £800,000  to  £1,000,000  annually, 
rising  in  1861  to  £1,400,000.  At  present  many  of  the  grounds  are  exhausted, 
the  miners  have  disappeared,  and  the  total  yearly  output  varies  from  £120,000  to 
£200,000.  The  total  yield  from  1858  to  1888  is  valued  at  £11,240,000.  Columbia 
also  possesses  some  productive  deposits  of  native  silver. 

The  general  conformation  of  these  highlands  shows  that  the  gold  is  here 
distributed  in  the  same  manner  as  in  California,  and  the  workers  are  accordingly 
able  to  profit  by  the  experiences  of  their  precursors.  In  the  districts  where  they 
have  not  yet  been  expelled,  the  natives  are  employed  on  most  of  the  laborious 
operations.  Other  mining  industries,  such  as  that  of  bituminous  coal,  have  also 
acquired  considerable  importance.  From  the  first  days  of  the  colonization  passing 
steamers  were  supplied  with  coal  from  Vancouver.  Then  mining  operations  were 
systematically  developed,  and  at  present  many  villages  look  like  suburbs  of  New- 
castle, with  their  heaps  of  shale,  their  lifts  and  machinery.  The  pits,  situated,  so 
to  say,  on  the  very  quays  of  the  seaports,  already  yield  enough  to  support  an 
export  trade.  But  the  anthracite  on  the  banks  of  the  Skidegate  Channel,  in  the 
Queen  Charlotte  Archipelago,  has  not  yet  been  regularly  worked,  although  said 
to  be  equal  to  that  of  Pennsylvania. 

Stock-breeding,  especially  for  the  Californian  market,  is  also  acquiring  a 
considerable  development,  while  the  fisheries  yield  abundance  of  excellent  salmon 
tinned  on  the  spot,  and  exported  in  yearly  increasing  quantities.  Capitalists  have 
also  begun  to  work  the  vast  forests  of  the  coastlands,  and  a  brisk  lumber  trade  has 
already  been  established. 

Topography. 

Of  no  other  region  can  it  be  said  with  greater  truth  that  a  single  railway  con- 
stitutes its  vital  artery.  But  for  the  trunk  line  traversing  it  from  east  to  west, 
British  Columbia  would  be  cut  off  from  the  commercial  world,  except  at  a  few 
isolated  points  along  the  seaboard  ;  nor  could  it  maintain  any  direct  relations  with 
the  Dominion  of  Canada.  The  first  whites  who  settled  in  the  country  nearly  all 
reached  it  from  California,  and  when  the  rush  of  miners  was  directed  towards  the 
new  Eldorado,  most  of  the  precious  metal  was  shipped  to  San  Francisco.  From 
year  to  year  the  communications  with  the  States  became  more  direct  and  con- 
tinuous. Despite  the  political  ties,  Vancouver  and  the  neighbouring  settlements 
became  more  and  more  associated  with  the  great  republic,  and  the  British  Govern- 
ment had  reason  to  fear  that  this  remote  colony  might,  by  the  very  force  of  events, 
inevitably  become  a  political  dependency  of  San  Francisco. 


z 
z 

■4 


z 

p 
- 
< 


z 

•2 


OF 

RSlTYoflLI 


TOPOGRAPHY  OP  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


175 


To  counteract  this  current  it  was  found  indispensable  to  connect  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  Fraser  basins  by  a  rapid  line  of  communication,  although  considera- 
tions of  economy  naturally  delayed  the  execution  of  this  costly  project.      When  it 


Fig.  73. — Victoria  and  Esquimau. 
Scale  1 :  650,000. 


123°"°' 


West      oF      Greenwich 


I23°20' 


Depths. 


Sands  exposed 
ai  low  water. 


0  to  50 
Fathoms. 


60  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


18  Miles. 


joined  the  Dominion  of  Canada  in  1871,  British  Columbia  exacted  the  condition 
that  a  trans-continental  railway  should  be  constructed  across  the  Rocky  Mountains 
by  the  year  1891.      But  such  was  the  urgency  of  this  work  that  the  company, 


176  NOETH  AMERICA. 

aided  by  the  liberality  of  the  Canadian  Government,  was  able  to  complete  the 
line  from  ocean  to  ocean  in  1886.  All  the  centres  of  population  and  traffic 
naturally  gravitated  towards  this  great  artery,  which  traverses  the  Lower  Fraser 
valley  to  its  mouth  over  against  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  and  Pnget  Sound. 

Vancouver  Island,  lying  south  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  group,  nearer  to  the 
mainland,  and  opposite  the  excellent  harbours  of  the  inland  waters,  was  sure  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  early  colonists.  Nevertheless,  very  little  of  the  country 
has  been  settled,  and  not  more  than  15,000  acres  were  under  tillage  in  1881.  The 
first  arrivals  came  by  the  sea  route,  and  grouped  themselves  round  a  station  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  Cordoba,  or  Gamosin,  discovered 
in  1790  by  Manuel  Quinipe,  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  island  opposite  Puget 
Sound.  On  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Fraser  basin,  Fort  Victoria,  as  the  factory 
was  named  by  the  English  settlers,  became  the  rallying-point  of  speculators  and 
miners  flocking  from  California.  Within  a  twelvemonth,  as  many  as  30,000 
persons  were  crowded  round  the  station  in  log  huts  or  under  canvas,  and  a  regular 
town  rapidly  sprang  up,  with  fine  thoroughfares  crossing  each  other  at  right 
angles,  squares,  quays,  and  harbour  works.  At  present  Victoria  is  a  pleasant 
little  English  town,  adorned  with  shady  walks,  a  beautiful  park,  and  a  reservoir 
abundantly  supplied  from  a  lake  six  miles  off.  The  bay  is  bridged  by  a  handsome 
viaduct,  and  several  avenues  lead  north-west  to  the  well-sheltered  port  of 
Esquimau.  Here  the  British  and  Canadian  Governments  have  constructed  an 
arsenal  and  dockyards,  and  both  places  are  connected  by  frequent  steam  service 
with  Alaska,  California,  and  the  opposite  coast.  Victoria  will  also,  sooner  or 
later,  form  the  terminus  of  the  transcontinental  railway,  which  is  to  cross  the 
Seymour  Narrows  by  a  long  viaduct,  and  then  traverse  the  channels  of  Valdes  and 
other  islands,  reaching  the  mainland  at  Bute  Inlet,  and  penetrating  inland  through 
the  Homathco  and  Chilcotin  valleys. 

A  branch  of  this  projected  line  already  connects  Victoria  with  JVanaimo,  which 
lies  70  miles  north-west  on  a  good  harbour,  and  in  a  district  yielding  the  best 
coal  on  the  Pacific  seaboard.  This  coal  is  exported  to  China,  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  California,  and  also  supplies  the  British  squadron  stationed  in  these 
waters.  The  mines  are  reached  bj'  a  shaft  over  650  feet  deep  sunk  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  town,  and  giving  access  to  galleries  which  run  a  great  distance  under 
the  ground  and  neighbouring  Gulf  of  Georgia.  Nearlj-  a  thousand  hands  were  at 
work  in  these  galleries  when  a  sudden  explosion  of  fire-damp  destroyed  149  miners, 
and  since  then  the  pits  have  been  almost  abandoned.  But  those  of  Wellington,  a 
little  farther  north,  are  actively  worked  by  a  Belgian  company.  Other  coal- 
fields occur  towards  the  middle  of  the  east  coast,  and  industrial  populations  must 
soon  be  attracted  to  these  deposits,  which  are  conveniently  situated  for  smelting 
the  excellent  iron  ores  found  in  Texada  Island. 

The  Queen  Charlotte  Archipelago  is  also  one  of  those  Columbian  regions  which, 
thanks  to  its  mild  climate,  fertile  soil,  and  geographical  position,  might  become 
the  centre  of  a  considerable  population.  Yet  it  has  hitherto  been  almost  entirely 
neglected  by  European  settlers.      Discovered  in  1774  by  Juan   Perez,  its  insular 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


177 


formation  was  first  determined  by  the  American  trader,  Grey,  in  1789.  Since  then 
it  has  been  frequently  visited  by  trappers,  while  its  geology,  natural  history,  and 
ethnology  have  been  carefully  studied  by  G.  M.  Dawson,  the  chief  scientific 
explorer  of  the  Canadian  "  Far  West."  But  the  first  white  colonists  only  made 
their  appearance  siuce  the  rush  to  the  Columbian  goldfields.  Here  also  some 
auriferous  sands  have  been  found,  but  nowhere  in  sufficient  abundance  to  establish 
a  regular  mining  industry. 

Missions  have  been  founded  on  the  coasts  of  the    Queen    Charlotte   group, 
notablv  of  Masset,  on  an  inlet  which  ramifies  in   a   series  of  lakes  far   into  the 


Fig.  74.— Naxatsio. 
Scale  1  .  500,000. 


Depths. 


0to50 
Fathoms. 


50  to  100 
Fathoms 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


6  MileB. 


interior  of  the  northern  islands.  On  Skidegate  Channel  has  been  established  an 
important  factory  for  extracting  the  oil  of  the  dog-fish.  But  the  white  population 
increases  very  slowly  in  the  Archipelago,  while  the  native  Haidas  are  disappearing 
in  still  more  rapid  proportion. 

On  the  mainland  itself  every  fjord  has  its  trading  station,  its  fisheries  and 
tinned  provision  industries.  In  the  Stickeen  Valley  the  most  flourishing  place  is 
Glenora,  situated  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  130  miles  above  the  estuary. 
Fort  or  Port  Simpson,  in  Chimsian  Island,  is  not  a  military  post,  but  a  market 
frequented  by  various  Indian  tribes.  Hazkton,  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  on 
the  Skeena  river,  is  the  chief  resort  of  the  miners  engaged  on  the  Onimeca  gold- 


178 


NORTH  AMEEICA. 


fields,  and  Port  Essington,  near  the  mouth  of  the  same  river,  has  acquired  some 
importance  as  a  fishing  and  trading  station. 

In  the  valleys  of  the  Upper  Fraser   and  its  affluents  there  are   scarcely  any 
centres  of  population,  and  Lilloet,  on  a  terrace  overlooking  the  Fraser,  has  even 


Fig.  75.  —  Queen  Chaklotte  Islands. 
Scale  1  :  2,100,000. 


V, esJ--    ol~     Greenwch 13J.C 

.Miles. 


diminished  in  size  since  the  abandonment  of  the  route  which  through  Summit 
Lake  connected  the  middle  course  of  the  river  with  its  delta.  Kamloop, 
"metropolis  of  the  interior,"  stands  at  an  elevation  of  1,140  feet  at  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  two  forks  of  the  Thompson,  whence  its  name,  meaning  the  junction  of 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


170 


two    streams.      This   section    of    the   Thompson    is   navigated    by    steamers,  and 
numerous  herds  graze  on  the  surrounding  pastures. 

Lytion,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Fraser  and  Thompson,  is  too  confined  by  the 
river  gorges  to  develop  any  great  commercial  activity.  Yale,  at  the  southern 
entrance  of  the  canons  and  rapids,  and  at  the  head  of  the  fluvial  navigation,  was 
at  one  time  a  busy  centre  of  the  mining  industry,  and  a  few  Chinese  still  wash  the 


Fig.  76.  — Chuisiax  Islaxd. 

Scale  1  :  1,200,000. 


V/est   of'    u^een wich 


UtoSO 
Fathoms. 


Depths 


50  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


16  Miles. 


sands  for  gold.  Here  begins  the  romantic  route  which  winds  through  the  uplands 
in  order  to  avoid  the  impassable  gorges  of  the  Fraser.  Then  follow  Hope,  till 
recently  a  mining  centre ;  Agassis,  the  nearest  station  to  the  famous  sulphur 
springs  of  Harrison;  lastly  near  the  estuary  New  Westminster,  which  for  a  time 
ranked  as  a  capital,  and  still  retains  some  public  buildings.  Here  are  grouped 
the  dockyards,  sawmiDs,  and  "  salmonries  "  of  the  Lower  Fraser,  and  here  will  be 
constructed  the  viaduct  across  the  Fraser,  which  is  to  connect  the  Canadian  trunk 


ISO 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


line  with  the  Oregon  and  California  railway  systems.  "Westminster  is  connected 
by  a  daily  service  of  steamers  with  its  fluvial  port  of  Vancouver,  which  has  become 
the  Pacific  terminus  of  the  transcontinental  railway  on  Burrard  Inlet.  The  first 
terminal  station  was  erected  at  the  head  of  this  inlet  on  the  spot  still  indicated  hy 


Fig.  77. — Mouths  of  the  Feasee. 

Scale  1  :  445,000. 


123*20 


I22°50 


Sands  exposed 
at  low  water. 


^3 

0  to  32 

Feet. 


Depths. 


32  tn  320 
Feet. 


.  6  Miles. 


320  Feet  and 
upwards. 


the  little  village  of  Port  Moody ;  but  the  railwa}'  was  afterwards  pushed  farther 
west  to  Vancouver  on  a  little  creek  well  sheltered  by  a  peninsula  projecting  in  the 
form  of  a  fishing  hook. 

In  May,  1886,  the  spot  where  now  stands  this  flourishing  town,  was  still 
covered  by  dense  forests ;  but  the  buildings  sprang  up  as  if  by  enchantment,  and 
when  all  but  one  were  consumed  by  a  raging  fire,  Vancouver  again  rose  rapidly 


< 


UNIVERSITY  of  Ri 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  181 

from  its  ashes.  Unlike  any  other  Canadian  settlement,  it  was  a  large  place  from 
the  very  first,  and  as  soon  as  its  name  was  heard  in  Europe  it  was  already  a  great 
commercial  centre  of  British  North  America.  Its  regular  streets  cover  a  space 
large  enough  to  accommodate  a  population  of  100,000  ;  it  possesses  several  public 
monuments,  banks,  churches,  and  hotels ;  its  thoroughfares  are  lit  with  gas  and 
electricity  and  it  is  well  supplied  with  good  water  from  the  hills  lying  north  of 
Burrard  Inlet.  Railways  branch  off  to  the  north  and  south  of  the  city  ;  bridges 
cross  the  estuary  of  False  Bay  running  to  the  south  and  parallel  with  Burrard 
Inlet;  quays,  pontoons,  and  warehouses  have  been  erected;  the  transcontinental 
line  is  continued  by  steamer  to  Vancouver  Island,  Oregon,  California,  Alaska,  Japan, 
and  China,  and  other  lines  are  projected  towards  New  Zealand  and  Australia. 
Vancouver  has  thus  at  a  stroke  become  the  chief  station  on  one  of  the  great  trade 
routes  encompassing  the  globe.  A  fine  park,  1,000  acres  in  extent,  occupies  the 
north-western  peninsula,  which  half  closes  the  entrance  to  thejiort  and  completely 
shelters  it  from  the  west  winds. 


III.— NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY. 

Athabasca-Mackenzie  and  Great  Fish  River  Basins. 

With  the  exception  of  Labrador  the  great  division  of  the  Dominion  draining 
to  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  less  known  than  any  part  of  British  North  America.  The 
Mackenzie  basin  has  doubtless  been  traversed  in  various  directions ;  but  it  has 
been  studied  only  along  the  line  of  widely  distant  itineraries.  Consequently  many 
of  its  geographical  features  have  yet  to  be  determined  with  precision,  as  is  evident 
from  the  numerous  discrepancies  occurring  even  on  the  most  recent  maps.  A 
century  has  elapsed  since  the  whole  region  was  traversed  for  the  first  time. 
Doubtless  the  Canadian  trappers  had  penetrated  far  beyond  the  permanent  European 
settlements ;  but  none  of  them  appear  to  have  advanced  northwards  beyond  the 
sources  of  the  Athabasca.  It  was  surprising  enough  that  solitary  traders  could 
have  ventured  even  so  far  beyond  the  extreme  posts  held  by  the  whites,  passing 
from  tribe  to  tribe  in  the  midst  of  enemies  or  doubtful  friends,  and  making  their 
way  through  forests  and  across  innumerable  lakes,  rivers,  and  portages  hundreds 
of  miles  from  their  base  of  supplies.  The  young  Canadians,  whether  whites  or 
half-breeds,  took  pride  in  plunging  into  these  formidable  western  solitudes,  and 
returning  inured  to  every  hardship,  accustomed  to  face  all  dangers.  Such  a 
training  made  men,  and  to  it  may  largely  be  due  the  tenacity  with  which  the 
French  Canadian  nationality  has  held  its  ground  in  the  midst  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
world. 

Progress  of  Discovery. 


The  first  purely  geographical  exploration  was  that  of  Samuel  Hearne,  despatched 
in  1770  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  northwards  in  the  direction  of  the  Arctic 
waters.  After  pushing  westwards  to  the  Athabascan  basin  Hearne  reached  the 
shores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean ;   but   the  account  of  his  voyage  remained  in  the 


182  NORTH  AMERICA. 

possession  of  the  company  for  twenty  years,  when  it  was  at  last  published  in  com- 
pliance with  a  promise  made  to  Laperouse.  A  few  years  after  Hearne's  expedi- 
tion the  Beaulieu  family,  Canadian  half-breeds,  founded  a  settlement  north  of 
Lake  Athabasca,  and  in  1778  a  fort  was  erected  on  its  margin.  Then  Pond,  an 
Englishman,  guided  by  these  half-castes,  advanced  to  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  and 
seven  years  later  Mackenzie  descended  the  course  of  the  river  which  bears  his 
name,  and  thus  reached  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  which  he  supposed  to  be 
the  Pacific.  The  following  year  he  again  penetrated  into  the  same  basin  and 
after  ascending  the  Peace  River  crossed  over  to  the  western  slope  of  the  region 
now  known  as  British  Columbia.  Thus  was  opened  a  first  transcontinental  route 
across  North  America. 

This  memorable  expedition  was  followed  by  others  in  the  same  direction  ;  but 
no  record  was  preserved  of  these  voyages  made  in  the  service  of  the  two  rival 
companies,  that  of  the  "  North-West,"  heir  to  the  Old  French  Association,  and 
that  of  "  Hudson  Bay."  Both  alike  employed  French  and  Scotch  whites  and  half- 
breeds  ;  but  their  resources  were  chiefly  employed  in  thwarting  one  another,  in 
stirring  up  feuds  between  their  respective  Indian  subjects,  in  seizing  their  oppo- 
nents' factories  and  taking  possession  of  the  routes  and  portages.  Geographical 
studies  were  not  furthered  by  these  underhand  struggles,  which  more  than  once 
broke  into  open  hostilities.  After  Mackenzie's  expedition  no  great  voyage  of 
discovery  was  undertaken  till  1820,  when  Franklin  traversed  the  north-west 
territories  between  Lake  Winnipeg  and  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Five  years  later  he 
descended  the  Mackenzie  to  its  mouth,  and  carefully  surveyed  the  delta,  while  his 
companions,  Back  and  Richardson,  explored  the  regions  stretching  eastwards  to  the 
Coppermine  River. 

A  few  years  later  Back  resumed  his  polar  explorations,  and  discovered  the 
source  and  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Fish  River,  or  Back's  River,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called.  Afterwards  Dease  and  Simpson  coasted  the  shores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean 
between  the  Mackenzie  and  Back  estuaries,  and  when  Franklin  and  his  com- 
panions were  lost  among  the  Arctic  lands,  this  region  was  traversed  in  various 
directions  by  search  parties  under  Rae,  Richardson,  Pullen,  Hooper,  Anderson, 
Stewart,  Hayes  and  Schwatka.  Catholic  missionaries,  notably  Petitot,  also 
contributed  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  Mackenzie  and  other  rivers  flowing 
to  the  polar  seas. 

The  official  limits  of  the  North-West  Territory  bear  no  relation  to  its  physical 
features,  and  in  any  case  have  only  been  laid  down  provisionally  in  anticipation 
of  further  changes.  In  this  enormous  region  the  single  province  of  Athabasca 
has  alone  been  constituted,  its  frontiers,  as  is  so  often  the  case  in  America,  being 
traced  in  geometrical  lines  along  the  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude,  except 
on  the  east  side,  where  they  partly  coincide  with  the  course  of  the  Athabasca 
and  Great  Slave  Rivers.  But  beyond  this  district,  the  territory  official!}'  com- 
prises the  whole  section  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  Alaska  and  British 
Columbia,  as  well  as  the  vast  spaces  extending  north  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  and 
east  to  Hudson  Bay. 


THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY.  183 


Physical  Features. 


Including  the  not  yet  organised  province  of  Keewatin  in  the  south-east,  the 
North- West  Territory  with  the  polar  archipelago  comprises  more  than  half  of  all 
the  lands  constituting  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  But  if  the  country  be  taken 
within  its  natural  limits,  that  is,  leaving  to  Alaska  the  Yukon  basin,  and  to 
Manitoba  the  tracts  draining  to  Hudson  Bay,  all  the  Canadian  lands  whose  waters 
flow  to  the  Frozen  Ocean  present  an  area  of  about  one  million  square  miles,  or 
nine  times  that  of  the  British  Isles.  Yet  the  whole  population,  whites,  Indians 
and  Eskimo,  scarcely  exceeds  fifteen  thousand ;  in  other  words,  this  region  is  still 
almost  uninhabited. 

This  vast  triangular  space  sloping  towards  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  intersected  by 
the  chain  of  lakes  running  from  the  Canadian  "  Mediterranean  "  to  the  Great 
Bear  Lake  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  west  coast  of 
the  continent.  This  chain  of  inland  waters  forms  a  parting  line  between  two 
quite  distinct  regions.  So  early  as  1823  the  American  explorer,  Long,  traversing 
districts  far  to  the  south  of  the  Mackenzie,  had  noticed  the  remarkable  fact  that 
the  lacustrine  depression  coincides  with  the  line  of  contact  between  two  different 
geological  formations,  and  the  same  remark  has  since  been  extended  to  the  other 
great  freshwater  basins  of  British  America.  On  the  east  the  rocks  consist 
uniformly  of  crystalline  masses,  on  the  west  of  far  more  recent  sedimentary  strata. 
The  aspect  of  the  country  corresponds  to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  gneiss  and 
granite  formations  being  studded  with  innumerable  cavities  of  all  sizes  forming 
meres,  tarns  or  wooded  lakes,  while  the  stratified  rocks  of  the  west  constitute 
rolling  prairies  disposed  at  a  comparatively  gentle  incline. 

On  the  west  side  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  occupy  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  North-West  Territory,  and  some  of  the  advanced  spurs  even  rise 
in  isolated  groups  above  the  undulating  plains  extending  east  of  the  main  range. 
Moreover,  a  number  of  eminences,  which  here  and  there  develop  into  ridges, 
branch  off  from  the  Rockies  in  the  direction  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  These  "  ribs  "  of 
the  spinal  axis,  disposed  for  the  most  part  in  parallel  lines,  are  pierced  at 
intervals  by  the  emissaries  of  lakes  which  were  formerly  pent  up,  but  which  by 
long  erosive  action  have  gradually  found  an  outlet  seawards. 

One  of  these  transverse  ridges  begins  with  the  Bighorn  group  immediately 
east  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Athabasca,  and  forms  the  watershed  between  that 
basin  and  the  Saskatchewan.  Towards  the  sources  of  the  Churchill,  or  English 
River,  which  flows  to  the  Hudson  Bay,  the  ground  falls  between  that  basin  and 
the  Clearwater,  an  affluent  of  the  Athabasca,  and  here  is  the  famous  La  Loche  or 
Methy  Portage,  formerly  crossed  by  all  travellers  proceeding  to  the  north-west. 
It  consists  of  a  long  sandy  plateau  about  1,550  feet  high,  or  nearly  GOO  above  the 
plains  sloping  towards  Lake  Winnipeg.  Between  this  lake  and  La  Loche, 
regarded  as  the  common  limit  of  two  distinct  territories,  there  occur  as  many  as 
thirty-six  other  portages  where  boats  have  to  load  and  unload. 

A  second  line  of  hills  branching  from  the  main  range  north  of  the  sources  of  the 


181 


NORTH  AMEIIHA. 


Athabasca  rises  to  a  height  of  from  2,000  to  2,800  on  the  shores  of  the  Lesser  Slave 
Lake,  and  then  trends  northwards  across  the  course  of  the  Peace  River,  by  which 
it  is  pierced  through   a  series  of  falls  and  rapids.      The  various  sections  of  the 


Fig.  78. — Disposition  of  the  Canadian  Lakes. 
Scale  1  :  30,000,000. 


West    oF    breen*v!cH 


Primitive 
Land. 


Secondary 
Land. 


-  r.'n  Miles. 


chain  are  known  as  the  Raspberry,  Birch  and  Bark  Hills.  Then  follows  the 
Caribou  range,  forming  the  divide  between  the  Peace  and  Ilay  Rivers,  and 
crossing  the  main  watercourse  between  the  Athabasca  and  Great  Slave  Lakes. 
Other  sandstone  aud  calcareous  chains  running  in   the  same  direction  rise  beyond 


RIVERS  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY.  185 

the  Great  Slave  Lake  to  heights  of  over  1,000  feet,  and  near  the  ocean  attain  an 
altitude  of  over  5,000  feet. 

In  this  region  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  at  least  a  range  belonging  to  the  same 
orographic  system,  approaches  the  Mackenzie,  and  here  forms  the  waterparting 
between  the  Yukon  and  the  rivers  flowing  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  According  to 
Petitot  masses  of  phonolith  abound  in  these  northern  mountains,  and  several  cones 
near  the  east  side  of  the  Mackenzie  delta  at  a  distance  resemble  heaps  of  scoriae ; 
MacClure  reckoned  as  many  as  fifteen  emitting  wreaths  of  smoke  and  by  him 
compared  to  "  limekilns." 

In  several  districts  are  met  small  cones  similar  to  the  maccalube  of  Sicily,  and 
occasionally  emitting  smoke,  whence  their  Canadian  name,  boucanes.  When  in  a 
state  of  activity  they  deposit  sulphur,  salt  and  other  chemical  substances  along  the 
course  of  their  rivulets,  and  diffuse  an  odour  generally  like  that  of  petroleum. 
They  usually  occur  on  the  banks  of  rivers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  bituminous 
schists,  lignites  and  saline  rocks.  Elsewhere  a  huge  bed  of  porous  sandstone,  satu- 
rated with  mineral  oil,  burns  like  coal,  and  salt  is  found  especially  amongst  the 
hills  west  of  the  Mackenzie,  where,  according  to  the  natives,  whole  mountains  are 
composed  of  rock  salt.  On  the  other  hand  the  granites  in  the  eastern  region 
between  the  Arctic  and  Hudson  Bay  basins,  contain  deposits  or  traces  of  gold, 
silver  and  especially  cojjper.  So  early  as  1715  copper  ores  had  been  procured  by 
the  agents  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  from  the  Coppermine  district. 

A  process  of  upheaval  appears  to  have  taken  place  along  the  Arctic  seaboard, 
unless  the  ocean  has  here  receded  northwards.  West  of  the  Coppermine  estuary 
Franklin  collected  driftwood  at  an  elevation  far  above  the  present  sea-level,  and 
the  same  phenomenon  was  observed  by  Richardson  on  the  west  side  of  the  Copper- 
mine basin.  On  both  sides  of  this  river  old  marine  inlets  have  been  observed, 
which  are  now  severed  from  the  open  sea  by  low  beaches  and  narrow  strips  of 
sand.  Eskimo  Lake  near  the  Mackenzie  delta  would  seem  to  be  such  a  forma- 
tion, its  water  still  being  somewhat  brackish.*  But  according  to  Petitot  the 
Sitiji,  as  this  lake  is  called  by  the  natives,  is  merely  an  expansion  of  the  small 
river  Natowja,  which  reaches  the  coast  east  of  the  Mackenzie. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. 

The  Athabasca,  main  upper  branch  of  the  Mackenzie,  has  its  southernmost 
source  in  the  so-called  "Committee's  Punch-bowl,"  a  lakelet  situated  on  the  east 
flank  of  Mount  Brown  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Yellow  Head  Pass,  the  streams  flow  west  to  the  Columbia  basin,  and  north-west  to 
the  Fraser,  while  the  Athabasca,  or  Whirlpool  River,  escapes  from  the  hills  north- 
eastwards,  and  is  soon  joined  by  several  affluents  such  as  the  Miette,  Baptiste, 
MacLeod,  and  Pembit  a.  But  the  hydrographic  nomenclature  of  this  region  is  in 
a  very  confused  state,  every  watercourse  being  differently  named  by  the  English, 
the  Canadian  trappers,  and  the  various  local  Indian  tribes.      The  term  Athabasca 

*  John  Richardson   Franklin's  Second  Narrative  of  a  Second  Expedition  to  the  Volar  Seas. 
VOL.    XV.  O 


186  NORTH  AMERICA. 

itself  is  rarely  used,  the  Canadians  calling  it  the  Bic/ie,  a  term  which  they  also  apply 
to  other  rivers.  But  according  to  Petitot,  the  Athabasca  is  wrongly  named  the 
Elk  River  on  some  English  maps,  for  the  animal  formerly  called  the  biche  by  the 
Bois-Brule  trappers  is  not  the  elk  of  English  writers,  but  the  icajiiti,  or  "reindeer 
of  the  rocks." 

From  the  west  the  Athabasca  receives  the  drainage  of  the  Lesser  Slave  Lake, 
as  well  as  the  overflow  of  several  other  lakes.  Beyond  a  gorge  cut  through 
the  sandstone  rocks  to  a  depth  of  over  300  feet,  its  valley  broadens  out,  and 
in  several  places  is  studded  with  those  extinct  or  still  active  "  boucanes  "  which 
are  numerous  especially  in  the  basin  of  the  Mackenzie  pnxper.  At  the  foot  of  the 
Bark  Mountain,  the  Athabasca  traverses  the  "  Great  Rapids,"  a  perfectly  uniform 
inclined  plain  about  60  miles  long,  where  the  water  is  uninterrupted  by  a  single  fall, 
and  its  smooth  surface  ruffled  only  by  rocks  of  various  size  projecting  above 
the  surface. 

Some  550  miles  from  its  source,  the  Athabasca  enters  the  large  lake  of  like 
name,  at  a  point  a  considerable  distance  from  its  former  mouth.  At  present  the 
alluvial  delta  extends  about  30  miles  towards  the  north-east,  and  is  intersected  by 
a  multitude  of  channels,  which  change  their  direction  and  relative  size  with  every 
fresh  inundation.  The  chief  branch  retains  the  name  of  Athabasca,  and  another 
is  known  as  the  "Riviere  des  Embarras,"  owing  to  the  numerous  snags  washed 
down  with  the  stream.  The  delta  is  also  joined  by  channels  from  the  Clear  Water 
and  from  the  Peace  River,  and  in  some  years,  notably  1871  and  1876,  its  whole 
surface  has  been  transformed  to  a  shallow  muddy  bay.  The  former  herbaceous 
vegetation  of  the  islands  has  been  replaced  by  conifers,  and  the  term  Athabasca, 
meaning  in  the  Algonquin  language,  "  grassy  carpet,"  and  doubtless  originally 
restricted  to  the  deltaic  region,  has  lost  its  significance. 

The  lake,  standing  about  500  feet  above  sea-level,  takes  the  form  of  a  crescent 
with  its  convex  side  facing  northwards.  But  its  shores  are  very  irregular  and 
deeply  indented  by  inlets,  and  like  other  lakes  of  this  region,  it  occupies  a  depres- 
sion in  the  granite  rocks,  which  here  form  steep  but  low  banks.  A  few  rounded 
hills  of  Laurentian  and  Iluronian  formation,  offshoots  of  the  Caribou  Mountains, 
appear  only  on  the  north  side,  so  that  Hearne  was  scarcely  justified  in  naming 
this  basin  the  "  Lake  of  Hills."  It  is  joined  on  the  east  by  several  considerable 
streams,  mostly  emissaries  from  smaller  lacustrine  basins.  Hearne,  however,  was 
wrong  in  connecting  with  this  hydrographic  system  the  Wollaston  and  Deer 
Lakes,  which  drain  through  the  Churchill  to  Hudson  Bay. 

At  its  western  extremity  the  lake  receives  its  great  tributary,  and  here  also 
lies  its  outlet,  so  that  the  deltaic  region  is  common  both  to  affluent  and  effluent. 
But  owing  to  the  gradual  desiccation  of  the  land,  the  streams  have  a  tendency  to  be 
deflected  eastwards.  The  main  branch  of  the  effluent,  which  here  takes  the  name 
of  the  Great  Slave  River,  also  winds  between  low-lying  plains  alternately  dry  and 
flooded.  But  it  is  rapidly  increased  in  volume  after  receiving  the  various  channels 
through  which  the  Peace  River  ramifies  at  its  mouth.  The  Peace  rises  in  British 
Columbia,  on   the   elevated  plains  formerly  occupied   by  a  vast  lacustrine  basin, 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY. 


187 


while  its  chief  branch,  the  Panais  or  Parsnip  River,  takes  its  origin  north  of  the 
great  bend  of  the  Fraser,  the  two  streams  being  connected,  according  to  Petitot, 
by  a  portage  scarcely  more  than  300  yards  long.  After  escaping  from  its  upper 
valley,  the  Parsnip  is  joined  by  the  Finlay,  the  united  stream  taking  the  name  of 
Unshagah,  or  "  Peace,"  *  and  forcing  its  way  through  a  romantic  gorge  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  down  to  the  plains.  After  rushing  over  a  limestone  ledge  8  or 
10  feet  high,  it  enters  the  Athabascan  depression  through  a  fertile  region  abound- 
ing in  grassy  prairies,  magnificent  forests,  and  herbaceous  slopes. 


Fig.  79. — Swampy  Delta  of  the  Athabasca. 
Scale  1  :  1,200,000. 


Old  Fortdes. 

^*_._Embarpas    . ■ 


or  hreenv/ic'n 


112° 


IS  Miles. 


Being  formed  by  the  united  waters  of  the  Athabasca  and  Peace  rivers,  the 
Great  Slave  is  a  very  copious  stream ;  but  at  its  passage  through  the  Caribou 
hills  its  course  is  obstructed  by  long  rapids,  so  that  the  boatmen  have  to  cross 
seven  portages  successively  between  the  confluences  of  the  Dog  River  from  the 
east  and  of  the  Salt  from  the  west.  Below  these  granitic  barriers,  begins  under 
another  name  the  true  Mackenzie,  the  Des  Ncdhe,  or  "  Great  River,"  of  the 
natives,  which  is  henceforth  perfectly  navigable  for  about  1,450  miles  to  its  estuary 
in  the   Arctic   Ocean.      It  flows  at  first  between   wooded  alluvial  banks,  beyond 

*  Daniel  Gordon,  Mountain  and  Prairie. 

o  2 


188  NOBTH  AMEEICA. 

which  it  ramifies  through  several  branches  in  a  now  dried  up  lacustrine  region  to 
its  mouth  in  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  so  named  from  the  Indians  occupviug  its 
western  shores. 

This  inland  sea,  one  of  the  largest  in  North  America,  fills  a  depression  running 
south-west  and  north-east  parallel  with  the  series  of  rocky  ridges  traversing  the 
North- West  Territory  from  one  extremity  to  the  other.  It  is  no  less  than  -300 
miles  long,  with  a  varying  breadth  60  miles  at  the  widest  points,  and  a  total  area 
roughly  estimated  at  10,000  square  miles,  or  some  fifty  times  that  of  Lake  Geneva. 
The  western  section  is  shallow,  being  half  filled  up  by  the  sedimentary  matter 
deposited  by  tbe  Great  Slave,  Hay,  and  other  affluents.  But.  the  eastern  section, 
encircled  by  steep  cliffs  or  banks,  is  said  to  have  a  depth  of  over  650  feet.  Here 
also  the  shores  are  more  indented  by  long  narrow  inlets,  the  two  easternmost  of 
which  are  separated  by  a  sharp  peninsula,  terminating  in  a  headland  of  black 
serpentine,  called  the  "  Rock  of  the  Pipes,"  because  it  supplies  the  niaterial  with 
which  the  Yellow  Knife  Indians  make  their  calumets. 

Each  of  the  inlets  of  the  Great  Slave  Lake  has  its  affluents,  themselves  emis- 
saries from  other  lakes.  Thus  the  long  northern  gulf  receives  the  overflow  from 
Pike,  Marten,  and  Graudin  Lakes  ;  Christie  Bay  in  the  south-east  some  smaller 
tributaries,  and  MacLeod  Bay  in  the  north-east  the  discharge  from  Aylmer, 
Clinton-Colden,  Artillery,  and  other  basins,  all  draining  through  the  "  Queue  de 
l'Eau."  Some  12  miles  above  its  mouth,  this  affluent  tumbles  over  the  Parry  Falls, 
said  by  Back  to  be  400  to  500  feet  high,  and  so  contracted  that  one  fancies  one 
might  take  it  at  a  bound.  Vapours  rise  in  clouds  hundreds  of  yards  above  the  chasm  ; 
but  during  the  eight  winter  months,  the  chief  beauty  of  the  cascade  is  due  to  the 
pendant  icicles  fringing  the  overhanging  ledges,  and  protruding  from  the  cavities 
of  the  rocky  walls.  An  endless  variety  of  tints  is  imparted  to  the  scene  by  the 
green  mosses  and  ruddy  ferruginous  cliffs,  producing  an  effect  to  which  even 
that  of  Niagara  cannot  be  compared.  On  the  Hay  River,  another  affluent  of  the 
lake,  other  cascades  occur,  which  have  also  been  described  by  enthusiastic  explorers 
as  "  finer  than  Niagara." 

The  Great  Slave  Lake,  whose  northern  waters  are  crossed  by  the  sixty-third 
parallel,  forms  with  the  tributary  basins  a  parting  line  between  two  climates.  On 
emerging  from  the  lake  through  its  north-west  outlet  the  Mackenzie  enters  its  Arctic 
valley,  where  it  expands  at  first  into  almost  stagnant  basins,  then  contracts  its  banks 
and  falls  rapidly  down  to  its  confluence  with  the  Liards,  a  large  tributary  from  the 
south.  Like  the  Peace,  the  Liards  or  "  Poplars,"  rises  on  the  west  slope  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  after  collecting  the  overflow  of  the  Dease  and  other  lakes, 
escapes  through  a  very  precipitous  breach  in  the  mountains.  Below  the  confluence 
the  mainstream  almost  everywhere  maintains  a  width  of  at  least  2,000  yards  ;  but 
at  many  points,  especially  above  the  mountain  gorges,  its  banks  recede  as  much  as 
4  or  5  miles,  while  the  lateral  terraces,  standing  at  various  elevations  up  to  350 
feet  above  the  present  stream,  attest  the  enormous  volume  of  water  discharged 
through  this  fluvial  bed  at  a  former  geological  epoch.  Several  rapids,  of  which 
the  Sans-Saut  alone  offers  any  dangers  to  the  navigation,  follow  along  this  part 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY. 


189 


of  its  course  down   to  the  neighbourhood   of    the   Fork    Lake,   where    the   river 
ramifies  through  the  branches  of  its  delta. 

The  Great  Bear  Lake,  like  the  two  other  large  lacustrine  basins  belonging  to 
the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  hydrographic  system,  lies  to  the  east  of  the  Mackenzie, 


> 
I 


I 


bo 

iS 


u.,u. .  ,-...- .  SMbd& 


from  which  it  is  separated  by  an  isthmus  some  60  miles  broad.  Although  not  so 
long,  the  Great  Bear  is  much  wider  than  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  and  also  appears 
to  cover  a  greater  area  and  to  contain  a  larger  volume,  judging  at  least  from  the 
soundings  of  Franklin,  who  failed  to  touch  the  bottom  with  a  45-fathom  plummet. 


190  NOETH  AMERICA. 

The  basin  consists  of  five  bays  with  intervening  rocky  promontories  from  6o0 
to  800  feet  high,  beyond  which  stretch  the  north-eastern  solitudes,  snowy  wastes 
swept  by  the  Arctic  winds  and  covered  witb  a  snow-cap  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  year ;  in  1838  the  lake  itself  was  ice-bound  for  ten  months.  All  tbe  bays 
receive  affluents  except  the  north-western,  wbich  is  separated  by  a  portage  only 
a  few  hundred  yards  wide  from  the  Hare-skin  River,  now  flowing  to  the  Lower 
Mackenzie,  but  at  one  time  apparently  a  tributary  of  the  lake.  On  the  other  hand 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods  on  the  north  side  probably  sends  its  overflow  through  an 
underground  channel  to  the  Great  Bear  Lake. 

According  to  Petitot's  map,  the  vast  delta  of  the  Mackenzie  extends  north  and 
south  a  distance  of  90  miles  with  an  area  of  4,000  square  miles,  and  is  still 
rapidly  encroaching  on  the  sea.  This  delta,  however,  is  common  also  to  the  Peel 
or  Pluniee,  which  joins  it  from  the  west,  and  whose  mouth  has  been  mistaken  by 
Franklin  and  other  navigators  for  a  branch  of  the  Mackenzie.  After  issuing  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains  the  Peel  winds  between  this  range  and  a  lateral  limestone 
ridge  through  a  desolate  level  plain,  whence  its  Canadian  name  of  Plumee 
(Deplumee),  that  is,  "  treeless,"  "  waste,"  or  "  arid."  According  to  MacTsbiter,  a 
forked  channel  sends  its  two  navigable  branches,  one  to  the  Peel,  the  other  to  the 
Pat,  an  affluent  of  the  Yukon. 

Since  1887  the  Athabasca- Mackenzie,  which  has  a  total  length  of  nearly  2,700 
miles  and  a  catchment  basin  of  at  least  460,000  square  miles,  has  been  regularly 
utilized  for  the  transport  of  provisions  and  merchandise.  Steamers  starting  from 
Lake  Winnipeg  ascend  the  Saskatchewan  to  a  large  rapid,  which  is  turned  by  a 
short  railway,  beyond  which  the  navigation  is  renewed.  Then  a  carriage  road  100 
miles  long  runs  to  the  Athabasca,  which  is  descended  by  alternate  steamers  and 
flat-bottomed  boats  to  Fort  Smith  on  the  Great  Slave  River.  Here  occurs  another 
portage  of  12  miles,  beyond  which  steamers  drawing  5  feet  ply  regularly  on  the 
Mackenzie  to  its  estuary  as  well  as  on  the  Peace  and  Liards  rivers  and  on  Lake 
Lease.  Thus  is  presented  on  the  united  Saskatchewan  and  Athabasca-Mackenzie 
basins  an  almost  completely  navigable  waterway  of  about  7,500  miles,  beyond 
which  the  navigation  might  be  continued  along  the  Arctic  seaboard  to  Bering 
Strait  at  least  for  three  months  in  the  year. 

The  Anderson,  MacFarlane,  and  other  streams  flowing  east  of  the  Mackenzie  in 
parallel  courses  to  the  Frozen  Ocean  are  of  comparatively  small  size,  and  traverse 
a  dreary  solitude,  where  the  rocky  cavities  are  flooded  with  innumerable  little 
lakes,  which  send  their  overflow  either  through  surface  channels  or  underground 
passages  seawards.  The  Coppermine,  so  named  from  the  native  copper  collected 
on  its  banks,  is,  however,  a  very  large  river  with  a  course  estimated  at  3(30  miles, 
while  its  valley  forms  the  northern  continuation  of  the  Yellow  Knife,  a  tributary 
of  the  Great  Slave  Lake.  Being  long  known  to  the  Indians  and  trappers  for  its 
mineral  wealth,  the  Coppermine  was  selected  as  the  object  of  the  first  scientific 
expedition  sent  to  the  north-west  under  Samuel  Hearne  in  1770.  In  the  lower 
part  of  its  course  it  is  completely  obstructed  by  numerous  falls  and  rapids,  the 
last  of  which  has  been  named  Bloody  Fall  in  memory  of  the  Eskimo  here  massacred 


EIVEBS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  NOETH-WEST   TEBBITOEY. 


101 


by  the  Indiuus.  It  lies  10  or  12  miles  above  Coronation  Gulf,  a  broad  basin 
separating  tbe  insular  masses  of  Wallaston,  Prince  Albert,  and  Victoria  Lands 
from  the  continent.  A  slight  upheaval  of  the  ground  would  convert  this  gulf  into 
an    inland    sea   like  the   Athabasca,   Great  Slave  and  Bear  lakes,  which   would 


Fig.  81. — The  Mackenzie  Delta. 
Scale  1  :  3,700,000. 


70° 


63  Miles. 


themselves   be  transformed   to  marine  inlets  by  the  opposite  movement  of  sub- 
sidence. 

Xext  to  the  Mackenzie  the  largest  stream  flowing  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  the 
Great  Fish  River,  called  also  the  Back  from  the  daring  explorer  who  descended  its 
course  in  1834.     Its  Indian  name,  Luetchor,  that  is,  "  Great  Fish,"  has  reference 


192  NORTH  AMEEICA. 

to  the  numerous  whales  frequenting  the  waters  in  the  neighbourhood  of  its 
estuary.  It  rises  in  a  lakelet  so  close  to  Lake  Aylmer  of  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie 
system,  that  it  has  often  wrongly  been  described  as  connected  with  that  basin. 
Throughout  its  whole  course,  estimated  by  Back  at  600  miles,  it  flows  through  a 
dreary  inhospitable  waste  of  rocks  and  barren  plains,  whose  monotony  is  unrelieved 
by  a  single  tree.  In  its  middle  course  it  floods  several  large  depressions,  and  is 
here  obstructed  by  numerous  rapids,  of  which  Back  reckoned  as  many  as  eighty- 
three. 

At  its  mouth,  which  is  also  barred  by  sand-banks,  the  Great  Fish  expands  into 
a  broad  estuarv,  opening  upon  a  marine  inlet  which  resembles  Coronation  Gulf 
with  its  complexities  of  bays,  straits,  and  fjords,  and  which,  like  it,  would  be 
transformed  to  a  lake  by  a  slight  upheaval  of  the  land.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
subsidence  of  a  few  yards  would  change  to  islands  the  large  Boothia  and  Melville 
Peninsulas. 

The  natural  limit  of  the  North-West  Territory  in  this  direction  is  the  Rae 
Isthmus,  marked  by  a  double  chain  of  lakes  and  meres  between  the  Arctic  Ocean 
and  the  northern  straits  of  Hudson  Bay.  This  angular  limit  of  the  continent  is 
traced  along  a  general  line  running  south-east  and  north-west,  and  coinciding 
with  the  seaboard  between  Newfoundland  and  Boothia  Felix. 

Climate  of  the  North-West  Territohy. 

In  its  oscillations  south  of  the  true  North  Pole,  the  meteorological  pole  usually 
passes  above  the  northern  lands,  which  for  seven  or  eight  mouths  remain  covered 
with  snow,  while  the  subsoil  is  permanently  frozen  beneath  a  thin  layer  of  humus, 
which  thaws  sufficiently  for  a  few  Arctic  plants  to  strike  their  rootlets  into  the 
ground.  The  whole  of  the  Mackenzie  delta,  as  well  as  the  lower  course  of  the 
Coppermine  and  Back  rivers,  belongs  to  .this  polar  zone,  where  for  a  long  night  of 
two  months  the  sun  never  rises  above  .the  horizon.  The  glass  has  occasionally 
fallen  to  — 62°  Fahr.  at  the  New  Fort  Good  Hope  in  66°  20'  north  latitude,  and 
for  six  months,  from  October  17th  to  April  24th,  the  average  temperature  has  been 
— 14°  Fahr.  at  Fort  Confidence  in  66°  54'  latitude.  At  these  low  temperatures 
the  human  breath  rises  in  the  air  as  dense  white  vapour,  whose  sudden  condensa- 
tion into  extremely  minute  icicles  is  accompanied  by  a  slight  crackling  noise.* 

Snow  seldom  falls  during  intensely  cold  weather,  and  Petitot  never  observed 
it  when  the  glass  stood  lower  than  18°  Fahr.  The  numerous  kinds  of  snow,  for 
which  the  natives  have  a  surprising  variety  of  terms,  are  produced  under  special 
conditions  of  the  temperature,  winds  and  vapours ;  usually  it  is  formed  very  near 
the  surface  of  the  earth  in  the  lower  stratum  of  fogs,  while  higher  up  the  sky  is 

*  Meteorological  records  in  the  North-West  Territory  : — 

Mean 
Latitude.  Temperature. 

Fort  Dunvegan        .         .     55°  56'     .         .31°  Fahr.     . 
Fort  Chippewayan  .         .     58°  43'     .         .     27° 
Fort  Rae  ...     62°  39'     .         .     22° 

Fort  Good  Hope       .         .     66°  20'     .         .     — 


Extremes  of 

r.,1.1 

Extremes  of 
Heat. 

—60°  Fahr.     . 

.     90°  Fahr. 

—49° 

.     86° 

—40" 

.     78° 

-62° 

.     — 

CLIMATE  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY.  193 

perfectly  clear  with  bright  sun  and  stars.  The  Hare-skin  Indians  divide  the 
year  into  sixteen  parts,  each  specially  named  with  reference  to  the  snows  or 
frosts,  the  winter  darkness  and  the  brightness  of  summer.  But  they  scrupulously 
avoid  uttering  the  name  of  the  sun,  which  must  be  respectfully  referred  to  by 
some  complimentary  periphrase. 

During  the  short  summer  the  heats  often  appear  intolerable  even  to  the 
natives,  who  sleep  away  a  considerable  part  of  this  period,,  while  much  of  the 
long  winter  night  is  devoted  to  the  chase,  travelling,  and  fur-dressing.  When 
the  sun  remains  forty-eight  hours  above  the  horizon  the  temperature  scarcely 
changes  from  midday  to  midnight.  Abrupt  changes  coincide  with  the  shifting  of 
the  winds,  the  cold  currents  coming  from  the  east,  north-east,  and  even  south- 
east, the  relatively  mild  from  the  north  and  north-west.  The  latter,  flowing 
from  large  marine  surfaces,  often  assume  the  character  of  fierce  gales  ;  prevailing 
especially  in  January,  and  at  times  tepid  enough  to  cause  a  momentary  thaw. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  basin,  notably  in  the  Peace  Valley  where  the 
mean  temperature  lies  near  the  freezing  point,  the  west  winds  have  a  like 
influence,  rendering  these  regions  habitable  and  even  capable  of  supporting  a 
considerable  population.  The  so-called  "  Chinook  Winds,"  setting  from  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  sweeping  across  the  Columbian  Plateau  and  Rocky  Mountains, 
resemble  the  east  winds  of  Greenland,  the  Swiss  fohn  and  the  "autan  "  of  the 
Pyrenees,  all  developing  a  degree  of  heat  through  the  condensation  of  the  air 
after  crossing  the  mountains.  Thanks  to  the  deflection  of  the  isothermals  north- 
westwards under  the  influence  of  these  Pacific  currents,  the  valleys  of  the 
Athabasca  and  Peace  rivers  are  scarcely  colder  than  that  of  the  Lower 
St.  Lawrence,  while  the  summer  heat  suffices  to  ripen  cereals.  Here  the  chief 
dangers  are  the  early  and  late  frosts,  which  have  been  observed  on  the  banks  of 
the  Peace  River  even  in  the  month  of  August.  On  the  other  hand  these  regions 
are  greatly  favoured  by  the  long  duration  of  the  solar  heat,  the  sun  remaining 
above  the  horizon  at  midsummer  for  over  seventeen  hours  under  56°  north 
latitude,  that  is,  about  the  middle  course  of  the  Peace.  Anemones  flourish  in 
this  valley  earlier  than  on  the  banks  of  the  Ottawa  730  mil«  nearer  the 
equator. 

Flora  and  Fauna. 

The  Athabasca-Mackenzie  basin  is  naturally  divided  into  two  distinct 
botanical  regions,  the  forest  zone  of  the  south  and  south-west,  the  treeless  of  the 
north  and  north-east.  In  the  former  the  prevailing  tree  is  the  white  pine,  with 
which  are  associated  other  conifers,  spruces,  firs,  cedars  and  larches,  which,  how- 
ever, scarcely  reach  so  far  north  as  62°.  The  aspen  and  balsam  are  also  common, 
their  range  extending  even  to  68°,  and  from  them  several  rivers  take  their  name. 
The  white  birch  abounds  in  the  forest  districts,  but  is  seldom  allowed  to  reach 
maturity,  the  Indians  felling  all  well-grown  stems  for  their  boats.  Lastly  the 
dwarf  birch,  alder  and  willow  advance  northwards  to  the  region  of  mosses  and 
trailing  plants.     Petitot  even  speaks  of  "  gigantic  "  willows,  apparently  a  distinct 


104  NORTH  AMERICA. 

species,  on  the  banks  of  the  Peel  River.  On  the  shores  of  the  Great  Bear 
Lake  vegetation  develops  so  slowly  that  pines  four  hundred  years  old  have  a 
girth  scarcely  exceeding  8  or  10  inches.  Berries  of  all  kinds  abound  in 
the  forest  region  ;  formerly  the  Indians  of  the  Saskatchewan  migrated  every 
summer  to  the  Peace  Valley,  250  miles  from  their  camping  grounds,  in  quest 
of  these  fruits,*  and  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  crop  hundreds  of  natives  perished 
in  1889. 

In  many  of  the  forest  districts  prairies  alternate  with  the  woodlands,  the 
disappearance  of  the  timber  being  probably  due  partly  to  deficient  moisture,  but 
perhaps  mainly  to  conflagrations.  Where  no  fires  break  out  for  a  number  of 
years,  trees  begin  to  spring  up  again,  the  second  growth  consisting  chiefly  of  the 
aspen,  here  and  there  of  the  birch  ;  but  these  soon  perish  and  are  replaced  by  the 
white  pine,  the  characteristic  tree  of  the  north-western  forest  zone. 

The  treeless  boreal  region,  the  "barren  grounds"  of  English  writers,  occupy  a 
vast  space  especially  in  the  eastern  parts  bordering  on  Hudson  Bay.  The  Great 
Fish  River  basin  is  entirely  comprised  within  this  zone.  From  the  verge  of  the 
forests  south  of  Chesterfield  Inlet  to  the  Frozen  Ocean  along  the  shores  of 
Melville  Peninsula  or  Boothia  Felix  the  traveller  may  roam  for  over  600  miles 
across  plains  and  plateaux  covered  with  nothing  but  lichens,  mosses  and  short 
herbage.  Nevertheless,  these  boundless  wastes  also  yield  the  blackberry,  the 
wild  raspberry,  whortleberry,  gooseberry,  strawberry,  saskatoon  pembina 
(viburnum  edule),  supplying  nutriment  to  the  bear  and  even  to  man  himself. 
In  many  places  these  "  barren  grounds  "  also  yield  abundant  pasture  to  herbivorous 
animals,  the  reindeer  lichen,  commonly  called  the  "bread  of  the  caribou," 
covering  vast  tracts.  Even  the  rocks  are  clothed  with  an  almost  edible  vegeta- 
tion, such  as  the  gyrophora  proboscidea,  which  despite  its  disagreeable  flavour 
has  saved  the  life  of  many  a  traveller  and  fur-hunter. 

The  parting  line  between  the  forest  "and  steppe  zones  coincides  also  with  that 
of  two  distinct  zoological  regions.  Many  animals  keep  exclusively  to  the  wood- 
lands and  clearings,  while  others  roam  the  boundless  mossy  plains.  In  the 
southern  zone  still  survive  a  few  herds  of  the  forest  bison,  which  scarcely  differs 
from  the  prairie  species.  Here  also  are  met  the  wapiti,  the  alee  americanu$  and  the 
caribou  (rangi/er  caribou),  a  species  of  deer  also  common  on  the  northern  plains. 
The  beaver,  like  most  other  fur-bearing  animals,  whether  carnivorous  or  her- 
bivorous, is  confined  to  the  woodlands,  where  the  rabbit  and  its  enemy,  the  lynx, 
increase  and  diminish  in  numbers  by  periods  of  seven  to  nine  years.  After 
multiplying  prodigiously,  they  are  swept  away  by  some  contagious  disease, 
the  few  survivors  preserving  the  stock,  which  in  a  few  years  again  teems  as 
before. 

In  the  northern  steppes  the  mammals  arc  represented  by  a  species  of  caribou 
[rangifer  groenlandicus),  the  berry-eating  brown  bear,  the  musk  ox,  wolf,  fox, 
Arctic  hare,  and  other  fur-bearing  animals,  most  of  which,  however,  migrate 
southwards  in  winter.     Aquatic  birds,  which  are  very  numerous,  also   shift  their 

*  Butler,  The  Great  Lone  Land. 


INHABITANTS  OP  THE  NORTH  WEST  TERRITORY.  195 

quarters  with  the  seasons,  and  even  marine  fishes  ascend  a  long-  way  up  the 
estuaries.  M.  Macoun  enumerates  32  speeies  inhabiting  the  Mackenzie,  including 
salmon,  perch,  and  whitefish  (coregonm  albus),  most  esteemed  of  all.  Travellers 
also  frequently  mention  the  "  unknown  "  or  "  edentate  "  fish,  which  despite  its 
Latin  name,  sal/no  Macken&ii,  is  not  a  salmon,  but  rather  a  species  of  mullet,  which 
ascends  as  far  as  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  and  is  also  found  in  the  Yukon. 

Snakes  scarcely  range  beyond  56°  north  latitude,  although  some  are  found  as 
far  north  as  the  Upper  Yukon  basin,  while  a  solitary  batrachian,  a  species  of  frog, 
is  met  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Peel  River.  In  the  marine  inlets  English 
navigators  have  observed  whales  disporting  themselves  under  shelter  of  the 
floe  ice. 

Inhabitants. 

Despite  their  scanty  numbers,  the  inhabitants  of  the  North-West  Territory 
belong  to  three  distinct  families,  the  Eskimo,  Tinneh  and  Algonquin. 

The  Eskimo  are  akin  to  the  Innuits  of  Greenland,  the  Arctic  Archipelago  and 
Alaska,  and  in  the  Mackenzie  district  call  themselves  Tchiglit,  a  term  synonymous 
with  Innuit,  that  is,  "  Men."  They  number  about  2,000,  scattered  along  the 
seaboard  between  the  Colville  and  Coppermine  Rivers,  and  also  penetrate  up  the 
estuaries  some  distance  inland.  In  the  Mackenzie  Valley  they  even  range  beyond 
the  estuary  proper  as  far  as  the  first  gorges  and  rapids,  their  real  limit  being  that 
of  the  tundras,  while  the  forest  zone  belongs  to  the  Red-skins.  Being  still 
pagans  they  despise  their  half-civilised  Indian  neighbours,  and  local  traditions,  as 
well  as  the  direct  evidence  of  the  whites,  speak  of  great  battles  between  the  two 
races. 

The  Eskimo  of  the  Peel  River  are  tonsured  like  European  monks,  "  in  order," 
as  they  explain,  "  that  the  sun,  our  common  father,  may  warm  our  brain  and  send 
down  to  the  heart  its  beneficent  heat."  But  in  other  respects  the  usages  of  the 
continental  Tchiglits  differ  in  no  way  from  those  of  the  insular  Eskimo,  and  like 
them  they  are  diminishing  in  numbers.  Certain  circular  stone  enclosures 
towards  the  estuary  of  the  Great  Fish  River  seem  to  attest  a  former  higher 
state  of  civilisation,  for  the  present  local  tribes,  Nechiliks  and  Kideliks,  would 
be  quite  incapable  of  erecting  such  fortified  lines.  North  of  the  Great  Slave 
Lake  are  also  found  some  pyramidal  structures,  which  appear  to  have  been 
altars. 

The  Tinnehs,  a  term  also  meaning  "  Men,"  are  designated  by  many  writers 
under  the  name  of  Athabascans  from  the  lake  and  river  Athabasca,  and  also 
Chippewayans,  or  "  Pointed  Skins,"  from  the  form  of  their  cloaks.  Petitot  calls 
them  Dene-Dinjie,  which  is  simply  a  repetition  of  their  own  name  under  two 
different  dialectic  forms.*  They  comprise  a  great  number  of  tribes,  the  most 
important  of  which  are  the  Athabascans  proper,  who  roam  the  plains  between  the 

*  Other  tribal  variations  of  Tinneh  are:  Dene,  Dine,  Dane,  Dnaine,  Tin,  GoHnc,  Koehin,  Koisin, 
Dtnji,  Dinja,  &c. 


106  NOETH  AMERICA. 

Churchill  River  and  the  Great  Slave  Lake.  Near  this  lake,  and  especially  about 
its  northern  shores,  also  dwell  the  Dog-ribs,  so  named  from  the  national  legend  of 
their  canine  descent.  According  to  Petitot  these  Indians  all  stammer.  At  a 
recent  epoch  they  were  to  a  great  extent  exterminated  by  the  Slave  tribe,  which 
occupies  the  western  shores  of  the  lake.  Gentle,  timid,  and  long-suffering,  these 
"Slaves"  had  well  earned  the  contemptuous  name  bestowed  on  them;  but  they 
were  at  last  driven  to  turn  on  their  oppressors.  In  the  Mackenzie  Valley  the 
language  of  barter  is  the  Slave  jargon,  a  mixture  of  Slave,  Kree,  and  French- 
Canadian  elements. 

Many  of  the  Chippewayans  are  distinguished  by  their  natural  intelligence,  and 
King  mentions  a  skilful  musician  who  constructed  an  excellent  fiddle,  which  he 
played  with  much  taste.*  They  usually  dress  in  the  European  fashion,  and  build 
themselves  comfortable  little  houses ;  nor  do  they  any  longer  pierce  the  lips  and 
cartilage  of  the  nose  for  the  insertion  of  buttons,  bones,  or  shells. 

On  the  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  met  the  Beavers,  the  Carriers,  the 
Babines,  the  Naanneh,  or  "  People  of  the  West,"  and  others  connected  on  one  hand 
with  the  Slaves,  on  the  other  with  the  Tinnehs  of  British  Columbia  and  with  the 
Tanana  Indians  of  the  Yukon  and  its  waterpartings.  The  Hare-skins,  so-named 
from  their  costume,  are  an  inoffensive  nation  scattered  in  small  groups  over  the 
steppes  bordering  on  the  Eskimo  domain.  Lastly  the  Lower  Mackenzie  and  the 
reo-ion  stretching  thence  westwards  into  Alaska  belong  to  the  Loucheux,  who 
were  so  called  by  the  earty  Canadian  trappers  on  account  of  their  sinister  oblique 
glance.  Mackenzie  also  gave  them  the  uncomplimentary  name  of  "  Quarrellers," 
from  their  wranglings  with  the  Eskimo,  of  which  he  had  been  witness.  But 
Franklin  explains  the  term  Loucheux  in  the  sense  of  "cautious"  or  "wary"  in 
reference  to  their  skill  in  looking  both  ways  at  once,  to  avoid  the  arrows  of  the 
enemy.  According  to  Petitot  they  are  ten  times  more  numerous  in  Alaska  than 
in  the  Mackenzie  basin ;  but  it  is  chiefly  on  the  banks  of  this  river  that  they  come 
in  contact  with  Europeans  for  the  sale  of  their  peltries.  They  practise  circum- 
cision, and  some  of  their  Eskimo  neighbours  have  adopted  the  same  rite,  which  is 
very  rare  amongst  Indian  tribes,  though  said  by  Mackenzie  to  be  also  general 
amongst  the  Dog- ribs.  But  despite  this  practice  the  Loucheux,  as  well  as  all  the 
other  Tinneh,  except  a  few  remote  groups  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  have  become 
fervent  Roman  Catholics. 

The  third  ethnical  family  in  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  basin  are  the 
Eyinisuks,  or  "Men,"  the  "  Cris  des  Bois  "  of  the  Canadian  trappers,  whence 
the  Crce,  or  Kree,  of  English  writers.  They  are  a  gentle,  upright  people, 
now  reduced  to  about  a  thousand,  all  Catholics,  like  their  Tinneh  neighbours. 
The  true  domain  of  the  Kree  nation  is  the  Upper  Saskatchewan  basin,  whence 
they  gradually  spread  beyond  the  portages  northwards.  Of  all  the  Indians 
of  the  North- West  they  are  most  threatened  by  the  rising  tide  of  white  im- 
migration ;  some  hundreds  of  whites  and  Chinese  have  already  settled  on  the 
Upper   Athabasca    and   on   the    Peace  River  in  the   Omineca  and  Cassiar  terri- 

*  Richard  King.  Journey  to  the  Shores  of  the  Arctic  Oeam. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY. 


197 


tory,    and    these    are    regarded    by    all    Canadians   as   the    pioneers    of    many 

Fig.  82. — Indian  Trappers  of  the  Upper  Tanana. 


millions  destined  to  transform   those  vast  solitudes  into   flourishing  settlements. 


198  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Administration — The  Hudsos   Bay  Company — Mineral  "Wealth. 

Till  recently  the  Hudson  Bay  Compmy  had  systematically  reported  that  the 
climate  was  too  severe,  and  the  soil  too  unproductive  for  Europeans  to  establish 
themselves  in  the  northern  regions ;  nevertheless  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
valleys  of  the  Peace  and  Great  Slave  Rivers  as  well  as  many  other  tracts  ia  those 
high  latitudes,  might  be  profitably  cultivated  ;  for  wheat  thrives  as  far  as  Fort 
Liard  near  the  sixtieth  parallel.*  The  Athabasca  delta  especially  gives  promise  of 
magnificent  crops,  as  attested  by  the  samples  shown  at  various  agricultural  exhi- 
bitions. At  Fort  Simpson  in  6'2°  north  latitude  a  boat  is  every  year  loaded  with 
potatoes  to  supply  the  station  of  Good  Hope  on  the  Lower  Mackenzie.  Here  also 
barley  is  in  ear  75  days  after  being  sown,  although  within  10  or  12  feet  of 
the  surface  the  ground  is  permanently  frozen  for  a  depth  of  at  least  7  feet. 
But  on  the  other  hand  snow  is  seldom  more  than  3  feet  deep  in  winter,  and 
horses  may  pass  this  season  in  the  open.  Another  advantage  is  the  absence  of 
locusts  ;  but  no  serious  attempt  will  be  made  to  occupy  this  region  so  long  as  so 
much  rich  land  still  remains  fallow  in  Manitoba  and  in  the  provinces  traversed  by 
the  Canadian  trunk  line. 

The  vast  North-"West  Territory  has  hitherto  practically  belonged  to  a  trading 
monopoly.  In  1821  the  two  rival  Hudson  Bay  and  North- West  Companies  closed 
a  long  period  of  hostilities  by  merging  in  a  single  commercial  association,  with  the 
result  that  the  monopoly  became  absolute.  This  lasted  till  1859,  and  even  when 
legally  abolished,  the  system  maintained  itself  by  the  very  nature  of  things.  In 
1869,  after  a  profitable  liquidation  and  reorganisation  of  the  Company,  it  sur- 
rendered all  its  privileges  to  Canada  for  an  indemnity  of  about  £300,000,  a  grant 
of  7,000,000  acres  in  the  most  fertile  part  of  the  territory,  the  possession  of  all  the 
trading  stations,  and  a  space  of  60  acres  round  the  enclosures.  The  Company 
ceded  its  dominion,  but  the  colonists  succeeded  only  to  the  southern  part  of  its 
former  domain.  In  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  basin,  the  official  survey  of  which 
has  not  even  yet  been  commenced,  the  commercial  supremacy  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  has  not  even  been  threatened. 

Thus  the  whole  trade  of  the  north  is  still  in  the  hands  of  this  all-powerful 
association.  Although  all  restrictions  have  been  removed,  the  theoretical  right  of 
freely  trading  with  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  Indians  has  hitherto  tempted  no 
outside  speculators,  who  could  scarcely  hope  to  compete  successfully  with  an 
association  of  capitalists  who  have  for  generations  controlled  all  the  trappers 
throughout  a  region  six  times  the  size  of  France.  Great  changes  in  the  politic:!  1 
situation  were  even  required  to  deprive  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  of  its  commercial 
monopoly  in  Alaska  and  the  American  states  on  the  Pacific  south  of  British 
Columbia. 

The  official  suppression  of  the  monopoly  in  British  territory  has  in  no  way 
disturbed  the  trading  relations  in  these  northern  regions,  and  the  natives  them- 
selves may  possibly  have  remained  ignorant  of  the  changed  condition  of  things. 

*  J.  Richardson,  op.  cit. 


THE  HUDSON  BAY  COMPANY.  199 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Company  totally  disregards  the  administrative  divisions, 
and  continues  to  divide  its  territory  into  districts  not  according  to  degrees  of 
latitude  and  longitude,  but  according  to  the  abundance  and  quality  of  the  game. 
Each  district  has  its  "capital,"  that  is,  a  factory  or  trading  post,  comprising  a 
group  of  three  or  four  wooden  structures  enclosed  by  a  square  palisade  15  to 
20  feet  high.  Most  of  these  "  forts  "  being  military  only  in  name,  the  palisades 
remain  unfortified  except  where  some  precautions  are  needed  by  the  attitude  of 
the  natives.  In  1875,  the  servants  of  the  Company  numbered  about  a  thousand, 
mainly  English,  Scotch,  Anglo-Saxon,  and  French  Canadians,  and  Franco- 
Canadian  half-breeds,  these  last  being  still  the  dominant  element. 

The  half-caste  trappers  in  the  Company's  service  have  few  equals  in  the  world 
for  physical  strength,  skill,  endurance  of  cold  and  hardships,  and  coolness  in  the 
presence  of  danger.  In  the  woodlands  they  have  to  discover  the  tracks  by  the 
scent  of  bear  or  caribou,  or  by  the  slight  indications  of  their  forerunners.  From 
beneath  the  snow  they  have  to  disclose  the  lichens  required  to  attract  the  musk 
ox.  They  thread  their  way  unerringly  across  a  labyrinth  of  dunes  and  rocks. 
Amid  the  endless  intricacies  of  the  lakes  they  detect  the  emissaries  by  the  faintest 
landmarks.  During  the  long  winter  nights,  when  dogged  by  wolves  or  bears, 
they  guide  themselves  by  the  position  of  the  stars.  When  they  are  associated 
together  in  small  groups,  they  can  lend  each  other  mutual  aid ;  but  at  times  they 
find  themselves  cut  off  from  all  help,  and  then  their  life  becomes  a  continuous 
struggle  with  death.  A  wrong  turn  in  the  forest,  a  breakdown  in  crossing  a 
portage,  a  false  stroke  of  the  oar  in  shooting  a  rapid,  loss  of  supplies  or  failure  to 
bring  down  the  game,  the  slightest  mischance  in  these  boundless  solitudes  suffices 
to  involve  them  in  imminent  peril.  Against  famine  especially  every  precaution 
has  to  be  taken,  and  no  expedition  goes  unprovided,  with  the  indispensable 
pemmican,  which  in  like  bulk  contains  almost  more  nutritious  elements  than  any 
similar  preparation.  So  satisfying  is  it  that  even  the  most  voracious  Indian  can 
consume  no  more  than  five  pounds  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  the  normal  ration 
being  half  that  quantity.* 

In  the  districts  where  no  white  settlements  exist,  the  price  of  merchandise, 
blankets,  and  other  woven  goods,  tobacco,  ammunition,  pemmican,  and  the  like 
is  always  valued  in  peltries,  this  "currency"  itself  having  an  ideal  value. 
Formerly  it  consisted  of  real  beaver-skins,  but  each  article  having  its  tariff  fixed 
at  a  given  number  of  "beavers,"  the  exchange  is  effected  without  this  symbol 
itself,  which  in  some  districts  cannot  be  procured,  and  which  is  at  present  valued 
at  about  two  shillings  sterling.  With  the  changes  of  fashion  and  the  greater  or 
less  abundance  of  game,  the  peltries  themselves  rise  or  fall  in  price.  Thus  ermine 
being  no  longer  in  demand,  this  animal  has  ceased  to  be  hunted,  thus  escaping  the 
total  extermination  by  which  it  was  at  one  time  threatened.  The  beaver  also  has 
had  a  period  of  respite  since  its  fur  has  ceased  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
hats.  In  the  same  way,  the  black  fox  has  fallen  in  price  owing  to  the  discovery 
of  the  secret  by  which  other  peltries  may  be  dyed  a  glossy  durable  black.     The  use 

*  Butler,  The  droit  Lone  land. 


•200  NORTH  AMERICA. 

of  strychnine  to  take  wolves  and  foxes  has  indirectly  caused  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  many  other  fur-bearing  animals,  amongst  which  are  the  glutton  {gulo 
Imcus),  respected  for  its  almost  human  intelligence,  and  the  skunk,  dreaded  less 
for  its  pungent  odour  than  its  bite,  which  causes  a  kind  of  rabies,  different  from 
but  no  less  dangerous  than  that  of  the  dog  or  wolf. 

Notwithstanding  the  importance  of  the  fur  trade,  future  settlers  will  probably 
be  attracted  to  the  North- West  Territory  by  its  mineral  resources.  The  valleys  of 
the  Liards  and  its  affluents,  and  especially  the  basin  in  which  is  situated  Lake 
Dease,  appear  to  contain  gold  in  abundance.  Here  are  the  famous  Cassiar  mines, 
so  named  from  the  Kaska  Indians  of  the  surrounding  uplands,  and  the  village  of 
Laketon  on  the  delta  of  Dease  Creek  was  formerly  the  centre  of  a  busy  floating 
population.  As  indicated  by  its  name,  the  Coppermine  Valley  is  rich  in  copper 
deposits,  and  the  old  writers  tell  us  that  the  few  aborigines  of  this  region  used  the 
native  metal  without  smelting,  but  simply  hammering  it  with  stones.*  Salt  beds 
have  been  found  both  north  and  south  of  Lake  Athabasca,  where  also  occur  stores 
of  gypsum,  lignite  and  kaolin,  while,  according  to  the  latest  reports  of  the 
geologists,  the  reservoirs  of  mineral  oil  would  appear  to  surpass  all  those  hitherto 
discovered  in  the  New  World.  Indications  of  its  presence  have  been  observed 
everywhere  from  the  Saskatchewan  basin  to  Cape  Bathurst,  a  total  distance  of 
1,400  miles  north  and  south.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Canadians,  these  petroleum- 
fields  should  already  he  regarded  as  a  chief  future  resource  of  the  Dominion.  The 
Government  accordingly  proposes  to  reserve  a  space  of  about  40,000  square  miles 
between  the  Lesser  Slave  and  Athabasca  Lakes  for  future  concessions  to  capitalists 
capable  of  working  these  treasures.  Soundings  recently  made  in  the  same 
regions  have  also  revealed  the  existence  of  vast  supplies  of  inflammable  gases. 

Topography. 

In  the  absence  of  towns  in  the  ordinary  sense,  the  trading  stations  scattered 
over  the  North- West  Territory  possess  vital  importance  as  necessary  rallying- 
points  for  all  travellers,  and  as  positions  chosen  on  account  of  their  natural 
advantages  for  carrying  on  the  barter  trade  between  the  hunters  and  the  agents  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Should  future  cities  ever  spring  up  in  these  vast 
solitudes,  they  will  inevitably  occupy  such  favoured  sites,  just  as  Quebec, 
Montreal,  Toronto,  Niagara,  Winnipeg  have  grouped  themselves  round  the  forts 
erected  by  the  early  Canadian  explorers.  Some  of  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  forts 
have  already  acquired  a  certain  celebrity  in  connection  with  the  names  of 
Mackenzie,  Franklin,  Back,  Richardson,  and  other  renowned  explorers. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  forts  is  Jasper  House,  standing  at  an 
altitude  of  over  3,300  feet,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Miette  and  Tipper  Athabasca 
opposite  the  Yellow-Head  Pass,  which  leads  westwards  to  the  Fraser  valley.  But  the 
largest  place  in  the  whole  of  the  North- West  Territory  is  the  village  and  mission 
of   Lake  La  Bic/te,  which  has  a  mixed  population  of  (300  Krecs  and  French  half- 

*  Dobbs,  Aoc&imt  of  Eudaotfa  lUnj. 


TOPOGRAPH Y  OF  THE  NOBTH-"WEST  TEREITOPY. 


201 


breeds.  It  commands  the  portages  connecting  the  Upper  Athabasca,  the  northern 
fork  of  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Churchill,  not  far  from  Athabasca  Landing, 
which  has  lately  become  the  most  frequented  port  and  the  head  of  the  navigation 
in  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie  basin.  Fort  MacMurray  commands  the  confluence 
of  the  Athabasca  and  Clearwater  at  the  famous  La  Loche  portage,  which  for  a 
hundred  years  was  the  main  route  of  Canadian  travellers  and  trappers. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Athabasca,  Fort  Chippewayan  has  several 
times  shifted  with  the  shiftings  of  the  alluvial  delta,  and  now  stands  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  affluent  and  near  the  head  of  the  outlet,  not  far  from  a  mission  and 
an  orphanage  which  in  1888  contained  67  inmates,  quite  a   large  population  for 


Fig.  83. — Posts  of  the  Hudson  Bat  Coitpaxt. 
Scale  1  :  50,000,000. 


----- 


West  or  Greenwich 


030  Hiles. 


those  almost  uninhabited  regions.  Fort  Fond  dit  Lac,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of 
Lake  Athabasca,  is  the  most  advanced  station  towards  the  regions  which  drain 
to  Hudson  Bay.  In  the  Peace  basin  the  chief  station  is  Fort  Dunvcgan,  near  the 
British  Columbia  frontier. 

Fort  Smith,  the  much-frequented  port  at  the  portage  of  the  rapids  between  the 
Athabasca  and  the  Mackenzie  on  the  Great  Slave  River,  is  followed  northwards 
by  Forts  Resolution  and  Providence  on  the  Great  Slave  Lake.  These  places  have 
become  famous  in  connection  with  Franklin's  expedition,  just  as  Fort  Reliance  is 
associated  with  that  of  Back.  But  the  latter,  founded  only  for  the  purpose  of 
furthering  the  exploration  of  the  Great  Fish  River,  has  now  been  abandoned, 
while  Fort  Rae,  on  the  northern  inlet  of  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  has  been  restored,  at 
vol.  xv.  p 


202  NOETH  AMERICA. 

the  joint  charge  of  the  British  and  Canadian  treasuries,  as  the  central  meteorologi- 
cal station  in  the  North- West  Territory. 

In  the  region  comprised  between  the  Great  Slave  and  Great  Bear  lakes,  the 
chief  station  is  Fort  Simpson,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Liards  and  Mackenzie 
rivers,  where  it  commands  the  route  from  the  sources  of  the  Stickeen  to  South 
Alaska.  The  new  Fort  Good  Hope,  -which  replaces  an  old  post  swept  away  by  the 
floods  of  the  Mackenzie  in  1836,  occupies  a  position  analogous  to  that  of  Fort 
Norman,  at  the  junction  of  the  Mackenzie  and  Hare-skin  rivers.  On  the  other 
hand,  Fort  Macpherson,  on  the  Peel  River,  has  been  maintained  in  a  state  of 
defence  since  1848,  in  order  to  command  the  Eskimo  and  Loucheux  territories, 
which  are  conterminous  about  the  Mackenzie  delta. 

In  the  vast  "  barren  grounds "  stretching  from  the  Mackenzie  eastwards, 
the  only  factory  maintained  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  is  Fort  Enterprise, 
which  occupies  a  central  position  in  the  triangular  space  formed  by  the  Great 
Slave  Lake,  Great  Bear  Lake  and  Coronation  Gulf.  Fort  Confidence,  which  had 
been  erected  on  the  north-east  gulf  of  Great  Bear  Lake,  has  been  abandoned. 


IV.— LAKE  WINNIPEG  BASIN  AND  EEGION  DRAINING  TO  HUDSON  BAY. 
Alberta — Saskatchewan — Assiniboia — Manitoba — Keewatin. 

A  large  section  of  this  territory,  forming  a  portion  of  the  former  Ruperts' 
Land  or  domain  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  has  already  been  divided  into 
administrative  provinces,  which,  however,  follow  geometrical  lines  rather  than 
natural  frontiers.  The  four  territories,  cut  into  so  many  rectangles  draining  to 
Hudson  Bay,  are  the  Province  of  Manitoba,  and  the  Districts  of  Alberta,  Sas- 
katchewan and  Assiniboia,  which,  with  the  whole  of  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie 
basin,  comprised  the  so-called  "  North-West  Territory."  Towards  the  east  and  north- 
east the  region  sweeping  round  the  west  side  of  Hudson  Bay  still  remains  open, 
either  to  be  eventually  divided  into  new  provinces,  or  else  assigned  to  one  or  other 
of  the  already  constituted  states  of  the  Dominion.  This  undefined  space,  which 
merges  imperceptibly  northwards  in  the  unexplored  tundras  between  Hudson 
Bay  and  the  Great  Fish  River,  has  been  provisionally  designated  by  the  name  of 
Keewatin,  or  "  North  Wind,"  a  name  fully  justified  by  the  rude  climate  of  these 
bleak  north-eastern  wastes. 

On  the  south  the  Winnipeg  provinces  are  limited  by  the  forty-ninth  parallel, 
the  conventional  boundary  between  the  Dominion  and  the  United  States.  Had 
the  true  parting-line  been  adopted  between  the  Winnipeg  and  Mississippi  basins, 
the  first  landmark  would  have  been  placed  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  Montana 
between  the  headstreams  of  the  St.  Mary  and  Milk  Rivers,  respective  tributaries 
of  the  Saskatchewan  and  Missouri.  From  this  point  the  water-parting  runs 
north-eastwards  for  about  440  miles  through  Canadian  territory,  and  then  turns 


:arv 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  203 

south-eastwards  through  North  Dakota  and  Minnesota,  so  as  to  enclose  the  basins 
of  the  Red  and  Rainy  Rivers,  both  affluents  of  Lake  "Winnipeg.  "Within  the 
Canadian  frontier  the  portage  between  this  basin  and  that  of  Lake  Superior  lies  a 
short  distance  to  the  west  of  the  latter. 

In  the  absence  of  complete  trigonometric  surveys,  the  vast  Wrinnipeg  region, 
as  officially  circumscribed,  can  only  be  roughly  estimated  at  about  850,000  square 
miles,  with  a  white  and  aboriginal  population  probably  not  exceeding  200,000  in 
1889.  But  the  stream  of  immigration  has  ahead}'  been  directed  towards  these 
provinces,  where  vast  tracts  of  productive  soil  have  been  opened  up  by  the 
Canadian  Pacific  and  other  railways.  The  Pacific  line,  especially,  traversing  the 
whole  region  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  has  become  the  great 
artery  whence  life  is  distributed  throughout  the  surrounding  lands.  It  replaces 
the  natural  routes  of  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  portages,  along  which  traffic  formerly 
moved  at  a  slow  pace. 

Phtsicai  Features. 

"Within  the  Winnipeg  basin  the  Rocky  Mountains  throw  off  no  branches, 
properly  so  called,  to  the  eastern  plains.  Here  the  rolling  prairies  dash  like 
billows  against  the  foot  of  a  rocky  headland,  and  the  transition  is  everywhere 
abrupt  between  the  escarpments  and  the  steppe  lands.  The  heights  scattered 
over  the  region  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Lake  Winnipeg  resemble 
the  fragments  of  plateaux  eaten  away  by  erosive  action,  and  nowhere  rise  to  any 
great  elevation  above  the  surrounding  steppe. 

Taken  altogether,  the  whole  of  this  region  may  be  considered  as  forming  three 
terraces  with  parallel  scarps  following  successively  from  the  foot  of  the  mountains  to 
the  Winnipeg  depression,  and  standing  at  the  respective  altitudes  of  3,300, 1,600  and 
650  feet.  The  various  eminences  rising  above  the  escarpments  have  the  aspect  of 
hills  or  ranges  only  when  seen  from  the  lower  terraces.  On  the  off  side  they  merge 
in  the  plains  themselves,  or  at  least  have  merely  the  aspect  of  slight  undulations. 

The  western  terrace,  stretching  along  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  has  an 
average  breadth  of  about  450  miles,  and  falls  abruptly  in  ravined  cliffs  down  to  the 
plains  watered  by  the  Mouse,  the  Qu'Appelle,  and  the  Saskatchewan,  about  the 
converging  point  of  its  two  forks.  On  this  plateau,  which  slopes  gently  east- 
wards, the  heights  which  present  most  the  aspect  of  a  range,  especially  when 
half  veiled  in  the  rising  mists,  are  the  Cypress  Hills,  whose  highest  crests  have  an 
absolute  height  of  4,000  feet,  and  about  1,000  above  the  surrounding  saline 
lacustrine  plains.  These  almost  isolated  hills  form  a  waterparting  between  the 
Saskatchewan  and  Missouri  basins.  They  are  encompassed  by  fluvial  channels, 
some  dry,  some  still  flooded,  which  radiate  in  every  direction,  and  which  are 
connected  by  no  well-marked  high  grounds  with  the  Three  Buttes  (6,900  feet),  in 
the  neighbouring  state  of  Montana. 

The  Hand  Hills,  rising  between  the  two  great  forks  of  the  Saskatchewan  north 
of  the  Pacific  Railway,  are  also  encircled  by  arid  tracts,  hard  clays  of  the  chalk 
epoch,  where  no  shrub  can  strike  root.  Such,  also,  is  the  character  of  the  other  chalk 

p  2 


2ol 


NORTH  AAfKBIl  'A. 


or  sandstone  eminences  rising  from  a  few  hundred  to  perhaps  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  mean  level  of  the  plateau.  In  some  districts  the  prairie  is  likewise 
traversed  by  ranges  of  dunes,  and  even  shifting  sands. 

Of  all  these  rising  grounds  the  most  picturesque  are  the  "Wood  Mountains, 
which  lie  within  the  Missouri  basin,  their  northern  extremity  being  surrounded  by 
affluents  of  that  river.  They  are  intersected  from  east  to  west  by  the  frontier-line 
between  Canada  and  the  United  States,  thanks  to  which  they  were  till  recently  a 


Fig.  84. — Cypress  Hills. 
Scale  S  :  1,500,000. 


HO'50 


West   of    ureenwich 


,  36  Miles. 


place  of  refuge  for  Indians  escaping  from  the  Republic.  Here  the  famous 
Dakota  chief,  Sitting  Bull,  pitched  his  camp  in  1862,  after  overpowering  and 
massacring  a  detachment  of  American  troops.  The  upland  valley  and  neigh- 
bouring prairies  were  also  roamed  by  myriads  of  bisons,  which  supplied 
superabundant  food  for  the  Red-skins.  Now  Indians  and  bisons  alike  have 
vanished. 

The  scarp  of  the  western  terrace  is  uniformly  disposed  south-east  and  north- 
west parallel  with  the  main  axis  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  takes  the  Canadian 
name  of  Coteau  du  Missouri,  Coteau  des  Prairies,  or  Grand  Coteau,  and  runs 
almost  uninterruptedly  for  about  650  miles  from  1he  Missouri   to  the  Saskatche- 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  THE   WINNIPEG  REGION.  205 

wan  across  the  conventional  frontier.  The  Grand  Coteau  presents  the  aspect,  not 
of  a  single  scarp  or  continuous  slope,  but  of  endless  buttes,  or  knolls,  and  rounded 
promontories  consisting  of  boulders  and  gravels,  evidently  ice-borne  during  the 
glacial  period.  The  finer  debris,  such  as  clays  and  sands,  were  carried  farther 
afield,  and  then  distributed  by  the  running  waters  over  the  lower  terraces. 

The  Grand  Coteau  is  interrupted  only  by  a  few  gorges  for  the  passage  of 
rivers,  which  have  developed  meres,  for  the  most  part  saline  or  brackish,  along  the 
face  of  the  escarpments.  The  existence  of  ancient  lakes  is  also  attested  by 
cavities  now  dried  up,  but  filled  with  whitish  efflorescences.  On  the  plateau  the 
chains  of  saline  ponds  and  now  empty  lacustrine  depressions  mark  the  passage  of 
old  glacial  streams,  which  have  run  dry  during  the  present  geological  epoch. 
Altogether,  it  seems  evident  that  the  long  rampart  of  the  Coteau  is  simply  the 
front  of  a  vast  moraine  whicb  was  formerly  carried  from  the  Rocky  Mountains 
down  to  the  central  depression  of  the  continent.  The  blocks  piled  up  along  the 
frontal  line  belong  to  all  ages  from  the  Laurentian  to  recent  times ;  but  the  sands, 
clays,  and  surface  rocks  of  the  plateau  itself  are  of  chalk  and  tertiary  formation. 
They  contain  vast  deposits  of  lignite,  whence  the  expression  "plateau  of  the 
tertiary  lignite,"  sometimes  applied  collectively  to  the  upper  terrace.  The  remains 
of  large  extinct  animals  have  been  found  in  several  places,  and  are  venerated  by 
the  Indians  as  belonging  to  some  potent  spirit. 

The  intermediate  terrace  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Grand  Coteau  is  much 
narrower,  scarcely  exceeding  200  miles  from  scarp  to  scarp.  Like  the  upper 
plateau,  it  presents  isolated  knolls,  showing  traces  of  erosion,  and  remaining  as 
standing  proofs  of  a  former  higher  level  reduced  by  denudation.  The  outer  edge, 
broadly  pierced  by  fluvial  valleys,  is  far  less  regular  than  the  Grand  Coteau,  being 
broken  into  separate  masses,  which  present  the  appearance  of  mountains  only  on 
their  eastern  slope.  Such  are  the  Pembina  Hills,  west  of  the  Red  River  of  the 
North,  the  Riding  Mountains,  Duck  Mountains,  and  Porcupine  Hills,  west  of 
Lakes  Manitoba  and  Winnepegosis.  The  groups  scattered  over  the  plateau  also 
bear  the  names  of  animals — Turtle,  Moose,  Pheasant,  Beaver  Hills  or  "  Moun- 
tains." Northwards  the  terrace  itself  falls  abruptly  down  to  the  Saskatchewan  valley. 

Lastly,  the  eastern  and  lowest  terrace  skirts  the  valley  of  the  Red  River  and 
the  "Winnipeg  depression.  These  old  alluvial  tracts  consist  of  a  thick  layer  of 
humus  containing  in  abundance  the  ashes  of  grasses  yearly  consumed  by  the 
prairie  fires.  The  subsoil  is  also  alluvial,  but  changed  to  a  marly  consistence  by 
intermixture  with  the  countless  shells  of  freshwater  mollusks.  Few  regions  can 
compare  with  this  for  natural  fertility.  But  a  large  part  of  the  valley  is 
occupied  with  marshy  tracts,  which  it  would  be  too  costly  to  reclaim  for  tillage. 
They  produce,  however,  an  abundance  of  coarse  grasses. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. 

The  chief  watercourse  of  this  region  is  that  known  in  its  upper  reaches 
between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Lake  Winnipeg  as  the  Saskatchewan,  properly 


20G 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Kisiskatchiwan,  or  "  swift-flowing  river."  Both  of  the  main  forks  bear  this 
name — North  and  South  Saskatchewan — the  former  being  fed  by  the  largest 
glaciers,  and  flowing  through  regions  where  the  rainfall  is  most  abundant.  The 
Brazeau  and  its  other  chief  headstreams  rise  amid  the  glaciers  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  immediately  to  the  south  of  the  sources  of  the  Athabasca,  their  milky 
current  flowing  thence  north-eastwards  to  their  confluence  with  the  Clearwater. 
Below  the  confluence  the  North  Saskatchewan,  winding  between  sandy,  clay,  and 
marly  banks,  remains  a  turbid  stream  especially  during  the  floods.  In  the  spring 
a  few  lakes  send  down  a  saline  fluid,  which  dries  up  in  the  summer,  Beaver  Lake 
being  the  only  lacustrine  basin  which  sends  a  permanent  emissary  to  the  Saskat- 


Fig-.  85. — Coulees  of  the  Great  Prairie,  Alberta. 
Scale  1  :  1,600,000. 


West  cf   Greenwich 


30  Miles. 


chewan.  At  the  confluence  of  this  tributary  the  main  stream  sweeps  round  the 
Beaver  Hills,  beyond  which  it  trends  south-eastwards  along  the  foot  of  the  Grand 
Coteau.     In  this  part  of  its  course  it  is  joined  by  the  meandering  Battle  River. 

Like  the  north  fork,  the  South  Saskatchewan,  better  known  because  skirted 
by  the  Pacific  Railway,  is  formed  by  numerous  torrents  flowing  from  the  glaciers 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Here  the  chief  branch  is  the  Bow  River,  which  is 
followed  by  the  transcontinental  railway  in  its  ascent  to  the  Kicking  Horse  Pass. 
Rising  in  a  glacial  lake  west  of  Mount  Hector,  the  Bow  River  flows  south-east- 
wards through  the  Banff  Valley,  and  after  receiving  the  overflow  of  the  Devil's 


OF 

RSITYoflLI 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  207 

Lake,  escapes  through  the  "  Gap  "  down  to  the  plateaux.  Here  it  receives  the 
Belly  River  from  the  southern  valleys,  and  is  joined  by  all  the  glacial  torrents 
within  130  miles  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

In  the  Grande  Prairie  of  Alberta  the  Red  Deer  sends  its  waters  to  the  South 
Saskatchewan ;  but  here  many  ravines,  formerly  flooded  by  permanent  streams, 
have  now  only  temporary  rivulets,  or  even  meres  with  no  outflow,  which  dry  up 
in  summer,  leaving  on  their  bed  selenite  efflorescences.  The  Canadian  word  coulee 
or  ooule  has  been  adopted  in  English  nomenclature  to  describe  these  valleys  with 
recurrent  streams  or  saline  tarns.  Below  the  Red  Deer,  the  South  Saskatchewan 
flows  in  a  deep  gorge  through  the  terminal  moraines  of  the  Grand  Coteau,  beyond 
which  it  trends  northwards  to  its  confluence  with  the  north  fork,  their  united 
waters  forming  the  main  or  great  Saskatchewan. 

Formerly  the  southern  fork  probably  continued  its  course  through  the  Qu'Ap- 
pello,  affluent  of  the  Assiniboine.  During  the  early  explorations  of  the  Great 
West,  Palliser  and  Hector  believed  they  had  discovered  in  this  valley  a  navigable 
highway  between  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Red  River  of  the  North*  On  this 
almost  level  terrace  the  running  waters  easily  change  their  course,  a  slight  land- 
slip or  the  displacement  of  a  sandhill  sufficing  to  divert  their  currents  from  one 
basin  to  another.  Here  it  was  the  shifting  dunes  that  caused  the  South  Saskat- 
chewan to  bifurcate,  deflecting  the  main  current  to  the  great  valley  of  the  north. 
The  rivulet  now  occupying  its  old  abandoned  bed  is  called  the  Aitkov,  or  "  River 
that  turns." 

In  the  latter  part  of  their  course  the  two  Saskatchewans  flow  nearly  parallel 
north-eastwards.  Below  the  confluence  the  main  stream  runs  at  an  average  width 
of  about  1,000  feet  between  two  high  banks  ;  but  here  and  there  it  expands  into 
broad  basins  studded  with  sandbanks  and  islands  overgrown  with  poplars  and 
willows.  On  both  sides  the  riverain  banks  are  skirted  by  parallel  watercourses, 
which,  like  the  Saskatchewan  itself,  appear  to  be  the  remains  of  an  old  glacial 
stream.  On  the  south  side  flows  the  Carrot,  which  is  connected  with  the  main 
stream  by  a  transverse  channel ;  on  the  north  the  Big  Sturgeon,  and  on  this  side 
the  plateau  is  also  studded  with  numerous  lakes.  Pine  Island  Lake,  one  of  these 
large  sheets  of  water  below  the  Big  Sturgeon  confluence,  communicates  with  the 
Saskatchewan  through  several  mouths,  which  shift  their  course  with  the  floods,  at 
high  water  setting  northwards  to  the  lake,  at  ebb  southwards  to  the  river.  Chains 
of  lacustrine  basins  connected  with  Pine  Island  Lake  follow  north-eastwards  and 
northwards  towards  the  Nelson  and  Churchill  rivers,  and  during  the  great  floods 
a  temporary  communication  is  established  between  the  latter  and  Lake  Cumberland, 
an  affluent  of  the  Saskatchewan. f 

Below  the  junction  of  Pine  Island  Lake,  the  Saskatchewan  describes  the  so- 
called  "Big  Bend"  northwards,  and  then  takes  another  turn  to  penetrate  a  narrow 
rocky  gorge,  the  "Pas"    of   the   Canadian   voyageurs,  where  the  water  rushes 

*  Petermann's  Mittheilungen,  1860;  Toule  Hind,  Assiniboine  and  Saskatchewan  Exploring  Expedition 
of  1858. 

t  Youle  Hind,  op.  cit. 


203 


NOETII  AMERICA. 


through  in  eddies  and  rapids  much  dreaded  by  the  boatmen.  Farther  on  the 
Saskatchewan  winds  between  low  banks  across  an  old  lacustrine  basin  of  which  a 
few  reservoirs,  with  swampy  margins,  still  survive.  Such  are  the  Moose  Lake, 
the  Devil's  Drum,  and  Cedar  Lake,  this  last  being  separated  from  the  far  larger 
Wionii^cgosis  basin  only  by  the  mossy  portage  a  little  over  4  miles  wide,  which 
might  easily  be  pierced  by  a  canal.  The  Winnipegosis  would  thus  become  a 
tributary  of  the  "Winnipeg,  the  difference  of  level  being  only  about  three  feet ;  in 
the  spring  all  these  lakes  are  united  in  a  continuous  sheet  of  water. 

At  the  outlet  of  Cedar  Lake  the  Saskatchewan  crosses  a  limestone  hill,  where 
the  swift  current  can  be  stemmed  by  boats,  and  farther  on  again  expands  to  fomi 
the  Cross  Lake.  Here  the  stream  is  still  54  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake 
Winnipeg,  which  is  only  about  12  miles  distant.     Consequently  the  fall  is  here 


Pig.  86.— The  Saskatchewan  Rapids. 

Scale  1  :  200,000. 


WesL  of"  Greenwich . 


99°zo' 


'99°20' 


considerable,  the  river  traversing  two  rapids  successively,  and  then  enteriug  the 
lake  through  a  formidable  gorge  3  miles  long,  where  it  rushes  at  great  velocity 
through  yellowish  limestone  walls,  on  whose  ledges  are  rooted  a  few  trees.  During 
a  previous  geological  epoch  the  river  doubtless  plunged  directly  into  the  lake  from 
a  high  rocky  bed  which  has  gradually  been  eroded  and  then  transformed  to  a 
long  gulley  terminating  at  the  two  alluvial  peninsulas  which  line  the  current  at 
its  mouth. 

Besides  the  Saskatchewan,  from  which  it  receives  over  half  of  its  supjnies, 
Winnipeg  is  also  fed  by  several  other  tributaries,  amongst  which  is  the  Little 
Saskatchewan  which  enters  the  basin  towards  the  middle  of  the  west  bank.  This 
river  is  the  emissary  from  Lake  Manitoba,  which  gives  its  name  to  the  central. 
and  most  important  province  in  the  Hudson  Bay  basin.  The  depression  which  it 
occupies  is  disposed  parallel  with  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  both  lakes  are  fragments 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OE  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION. 


2C9 


of  the  inland  sea  which  formerly  flooded  (he  whole  central  region  of  the  conti- 
nent. 

North-westwards  Manitoba  is  separated  only  by  a  narrow  isthmus  from  Lake 
Winnipegosis,  or  "Little  Winnipeg,"  which  is  disposed  in  the  same  direction,  the 
two  basins  having  a  collective  length  of  about  250  miles,  or  nearly  the  same  as 
Winnipeg  itself.  But  they  are  narrower  and  shallower,  and  in  summer  Winni- 
pegosis  is  somewhat  brackish,  owing  to  the  copious  saline  springs  near  the  west 
side.  It  stands  about  20  feet  higher  than  Manitoba,  into  which  it  drains  through 
the  Water-hen  River.     Manitoba  itself  is  40  feet  higher  than  Winnipeg,  to  which 


Fig.  87.— Lake  Agassiz. 
Scale  1  :  8,000,000. 


ISO  Miles. 


it  sends  its  overflow  through  the  stream  which,  farther  down,  after  traversing 
another  lake,  takes  the  name  of  the  Lesser  Saskatchewan.  It  has  been  proposed 
to  pierce  the  isthmus,  about  12  or  14  feet  high,  which  separates  Manitoba  from 
the  Assiniboine  River,  a  project  which  would  double  the  extent  of  navigable 
highways  about  the  city  of  Winnipeg. 

Although  less  copious  than  the  Saskatchewan,  the  Red  River  of  the  North 
might  from  the  geological  standpoint  be  regarded  as  the  main  stream  of  the  whole 
hydrographic  system.  It  lies  in  the  axis  of  the  depression  occupied  by  Lake 
Winnipeg,  an  axis  which  at  the  same  time  coincides  with  the  central  depression  of 
the  whole  continent  between  the  Rocky  and  Appalachian  ranges.  The  Red  River 
rises  in  the  centre  of  Minnesota,  about  1,800  feet  above  sea-level  in  the  Elbow  Lake, 


210  NOETH  AMERICA. 

whence  it  Hows  first  south  through  a  series  of  lakelets  to  the  shallow  Otter-tail  Lake, 
thence  sweeping  round  to  west  and  south.  In  its  upper  course  it  thus  describes  a 
complete  semicircle  in  the  reverse  direction  from  that  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
farther  east.  The  common  region  of  their  sources  is  a  typical  lacustrine  district 
containing  over  700  lakes,  some  of  which  are  of  considerable  size,  so  that  in  many 
places  the  watery  element  is  more  extensive  than  the  dry  land.  Navigable 
canals  might  easily  be  opened  between  all  these  basins,  from  the  Eed  River  to  the 
Mississippi  and  thence  to  the  St.  Louis  and  Lake  Superior. 

Geologists  hold  that  beyond  doubt  the  Hod  River  was  formerly  a  tributary  of 
the  Mississippi,  through  the  Minnesota.  Between  the  Traverse  basin,  whence 
flows  an  affluent  of  the  Red  River,  and  Bigstone  Lake,  source  of  the  Minnesota, 
the  divide  is  scarcely  six  feet  high,  and  occasionally  during  the  floods  the  northern 
sends  its  waters  to  the  southern  basin,  thus  temporarily  restoring  the  old  waterway. 
The  upper  Minnesota  valley  presents  the  aspect  of  a  great  fluvial  bed,  in  which 
the  present  rivulet  seems  as  if  lost,  and  this  valley  is  continued  northwards  by 
that  of  the  Red  River.  With  the  eye  we  may  follow  the  broad  channel  formerly 
excavated  by  the  emissary  of  the  great  lake,  of  which  only  a  fragment  now 
survives. 

The  overflow  of  this  basin,  to  which  Warren  has  given  the  name  of  "  Agassiz," 
must  have  been  discharged  southwards,  for  on  the  north  side  it  was  barred  by  the 
rampart  of  ice  at  that  time  covering  the  whole  of  boreal  America.  But  when 
this  barrier  gradually  retreated  northwards,  affording  the  overflow  an  issue  through 
Lake  Winnipeg  and  the  Nelson  to  Hudson  Bay,  the  southern  watershed  between 
the  Minnesota  and  the  Red  River  again  arose  above  the  surface,  and  the  Red 
River  ceased  to  be  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi.* 

After  escaping  from  the  lacustrine  region,  the  Red  River  winds  northwards 
through  a  valley  which  mainly  coincides  with  the  meridian.  From  the  Brecken- 
ridge  meander  to  the  political  frontier  the  distance  in  a  straight  line  is  190  miles, 
and  460  with  all  the  windings.  The  fall  is  very  slight,  and  at  the  frontier  the 
placid  current  still  flows  800  feet  above  sea-level  through  a  prairie  valley,  whose 
uniformity  presents  a  strong  contrast  to  the  asj^ect  of  most  other  rivers  in  their 
upland  valleys.  Its  banks  nowhere  show  any  rocks  except  here  and  there  a  few 
erratic  boulders,  locally  called  "  hard-heads."  The  soil  everywhere  consists  of 
recent  alluvia,  resting  on  the  sedimentary  matter  deposited  by  the  former  lake. 

In  its  iipper  course  the  river,  controlled  by  the  numerous  lacustrine  reservoirs 
which  it  floods,  remains  at  a  somewhat  uniform  level  throughout  the  year  ;  but 
lower  down,  where  it  traverses  the  prairies,  the  winter  floods  rise  from  34  to  40 
feet  above  low-water  mark,  and  here  steamers  have  been  seen  careering  over  the 
ploughed  lands.  These  tremendous  inundations  are  due  to  the  irregular  melting 
of  the  ice,  which  disappears  first  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  basin,  where  the 
water,  being  unable  to  break  through  its  icy  barriers  farther  north,  accumulates  and 
overflows  its  banks  far  and  wide.  At  this  period  it  is  of  a  dirty  white,  not  of  a  red 
colour,  as  might  be  supposed  from  its  name.  But  according  to  the  Indian  legend 
*  Wincliell,  Popular  Science  Monthly,  June  auJ  July,  1S73. 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION. 


211 


this  name  has  reference  to  the  blood  that  mingled  with  the  stream  during  a  fierce 
battle  between  some  Saulteux  and  Assiniboine  tribes.  At  the  point  where  il 
crosses  the  frontier,  the  mean  discharge  is  estimated  at  2,800  cubic  feet  per 
second. 

In  Manitoba  the  Red  River  receives  the  Roseau,  the  Rat  and  the  Seine  on 
its  right  bank,  and  on  its  left  the  Sale  or  Salle,  originally  Salee,  that  is  "  Saline," 
from  the  salt  springs  flowing  to  its  channel.  But  on  this  left  or  west  side  the 
chief  affluent  is  the  Assiniboine,  which  gives  its  name  to  one  of  the  great  divisions 
of  this  region.  The  Assiniboine  rises  on  an  elevated  part  of  the  plateau  west  of 
Lake  Winnipegosis,  and  flows  at  first  south  and  south-east  in  the  direction  of  the 


Fig.  88. — Bifurcation  of  the  Saskatchewan  and  Qu'Afpelle  Rivees. 
Scale  1  :  670,000. 


106°4O' 


West  op  breenwich 


106" 


.6  Miles. 


Mississippi.  The  plains  traversed  by  it  were  till  lately  inhabited  exclusively  by 
the  Salteux  and  the  Dakota  Assiniboines  from  whom  it  takes  its  name.  It  is  also 
known  as  Stony  River,  not  so  much  from  its  rocky  bed  as  from  its  shallow  current 
for  a  great  part  of  the  year  winding  between  argillaceous  or  sandy  banks,  which 
are  fissured  by  the  heat  and  then  fall  in  great  masses  into  the  stream  when  swollen 
by  the  melting  snows. 

The  Qu'Appelle,  or  Calling  River,  so  named  from  the  voice  of  an  invisible 
spirit,  joins  the  middle  course  of  the  Assiniboine,  without,  however,  adding  much 
to  its  volume,  despite  a  course  of  nearly  400  miles.  The  discharge  of  the  main 
stream  itself  scarcely  exceeds  1,700  or  1,800  cubic  feet  per  second  in  summer. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  the  Qu'Appelle  is  the  continuous  line  of  communica- 
tion which  it  maintains  with  another  river  through  a  basin  with  a  double  outflow. 


212 


XOr.TII  AMERICA. 


East  of  the  "Elbow  "  of  the  South  Saskatchewan,  some  sandhills,  the  highest  of 
which  rise  from  60  to  70  feet  above  the  ground,  have  gradually  raised  the  bed  of 
a  deep  valley  excavated  to  a  depth  of  over  100  feet  below  the  plateau,  without, 
however,  completely  filling  it  up,  and  the  upper  course  of  the  South  Saskatchewan 
is  continued  eastwards  through  this  winding  depression,  which  exceeds  5,000  feet 
in  average  width.  At  the  point  where  the  valley  has  been  most  elevated  by  the 
accumulating  sands,  some  70  feet  above  the  low-water  level  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
the  space  between  the  dunes  is  occupied  by  a  little  basin  which  sends  the  Aiktow 
Creek  in  one  direction  to  the  Saskatchewan,  and  the  Qu'Appelle  in  another  to  the 
Assiniboine.  Along  the  bed  of  the  latter  a  chain  of  narrow  lakes  at  least  30  feet 
deep  follows  at   intervals  ;    of  these   the  most  remarkable  are  the  four  Fishing 


Fig.  89.- Postages  of  the  Old  Eoutes  between  Lakes  Supepjop.  and  Wjnsipeg. 

Scale  1  :  G.OOO.Cim. 


05° West  of   Greenwich 


125  Miles. 


Lakes,  which  are  separated  by  intervening  alluvial  plains  deposited  by  the  lateral 
torrents,  the  whole  forming  collectively  a  long  basin  of  crescent  shape. 

A  similar  bifurcation  to  that  of  the  Aiktow  Creek  is  said  to  occur  at  the  base 
of  the  long  scarp  formed  by  the  Grand  Cotean  of  the  Missouri,  where  the  two 
little  "Mouse  Rivers"  would  appear  to  flow  from  a  common  basin,  one  to  the 
Qu'Appelle,  the  other  to  the  lower  Assiniboine. 

After  receiving  the  Qu'Appelle,  the  Assiniboine,  here  flowing  through  a 
broad  deep  channel,  trends  eastwards  in  the  direction  of  the  Red  River.  In  this 
part  of  its  lower  course  it  is  joined  by  the  Mouse,  which  makes  a  great  bend  in 
United  States  territory,  and  it  then  flows  within  a  short  distance  to  the  south  of 
Lake  Manitoba  to  the  Red  River  at  the  spot  chosen  as  the  site  of  "Winnipeg  City. 
During  heavy  fli  ods,  the  Rat,  flowing  between  the  Assiniboine  and  Lake  Manitoba, 


R1VEBS  AND  IjAKES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION. 


•213 


is  said  to  convey  some  of  the  Assiniboine  waters  to  the  late.  It  would  be  easy  to 
construct  a  canal  across  the  isthmus,  while  a  barrage  would  suffice  to  divert  the 
South  Saskatchewan  to  the  Assiniboine  through  the  Qu'Appelle,  thus  transforming 
these  two  watercourses  into  a  continuous  navigable  highway.  At  present  the 
Assiniboine  is  scarcely  available  for  navigation,  despite  the  length  of  its  course, 
the  main  branch  of  which  is  alone  estimated  at  800  miles. 

Below  the  capital  of  Manitoba  the  united  waters  of  the  Assiniboine  and  Red 
River  keep  the  name  of   the  latter  stream,  and  continue    to  follow    its    general 

Fiff  00.— Lake  of  the  Woods. 
Scale  1  :  450,000. 


94°-ss  • 


West  op  Greenwlcl 


94°, s- 


G  Miles. 


northerly  direction.  About  36  miles  below  the  confluence  the  marshy  plains  through 
which  the  channels  ramify  present  all  the  appearances  of  a  delta,  beyond  which 
the  vast  expanse  of  Lake  Winnipeg  stretches  away  to  the  north.  The  time  is 
approaching  when  this  delta  'will  merge  in  that  of  the  river  Winnipeg  (Wi-nipi, 
or  "Turbid  Water,"  so  named  in  the  Rree  language  from  the  -white  argillaceous 
sediment  held  in  solution  in  its  current),  which  enters  the  lake  some  25  miles 
farther  to  the  north-east.  Although  a  less  copious  stream  than  the  Saskatchewan, 
the  Winnipeg  is  historically  more  important  as  the  natural  highway  of  communi- 
cation with  Lake  Superior  and  the  other  lacustrine  basins  constituting  the  Canadian 
Mediterranean.  This  route  was  followed  by  the  hunting  tribes,  and  after  them  by 
the  Canadian  trappers. 

The  river  itself  drains  a  considerable  area,  rising  within  25  miles  of  the  west 


214  NORTH  AMERICA. 

coast  of  Lake  Superior  at  the  "  Grand  Portage,"  a  rising  ground  about  20  feet 
high,  which  forms  the  parting  line  between  the  two  basins.  From  this  point, 
which  stands  1,440  feet  above  sea-level,  all  the  waters  flow  from  lake  to  lake 
through  steep  gullies,  where  the  boats  rush  the  less  dangerous  rapids,  and  are 
carried  across  the  portages  where  the  falls  cannot  be  navigated.  Before  the 
construction  of  roads  and  other  improvements,  the  journey  of  650  miles  between 
the  two  great  lakes  occupied  at  least  28  or  30  days;  in  1870  the  British  expedi- 
tion sent  to  suppress  the  revolt  of  the  half-breeds  took  three  months  to  march 
from  Thunder  Bay  to  Winnipeg. 

Of  the  other  more  or  less  difficult  routes  open  to  the  daring  trappers,  one  of 
the  most  frequented  is  that  which  has  been  chosen  as  the  frontier  line  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Dominion,  and  which  the  civil  engineer,  Dawson,  has  made 
comparatively  easy  by  the  construction  of  roads  across  the  portages,  and  by  canal- 
ising the  lakes  and  connecting  streams.  Now,  however,  all  these  highways  have 
been  superseded  by  the  Pacific  Kailway,  which  covers  the  whole  distance  in  less 
than  a  single  day. 

The  lacustrine  region  within  the  Dominion,  separating  the  Superior  and  "Winni- 
peg basins,  is  even  more  studded  with  winding  and  ramifying  sheets  of  water 
than  is  the  State  of  Minnesota  about  the  sources  of  the  Red  River.  Within  a  space 
370  miles  long  east  and  west,  by  185  miles  north  and  south,  the  labyrinth  of  lakes 
is  as  endless  as  is  that  of  the  islets  in  the  lakes  themselves  ;  everywhere  an  inex- 
tricable intermingling  of  land  and  water.  Amongst  the  hundreds,  the  thousands 
of  lakes,  some  are  large  enough  to  be  regarded  in  any  other  country  but  Canada 
as  great  inland  seas.  Such  is  "  Rainy  "  Lake,  a  term  which,  although  adopted  by 
the  French  Canadians  (Lac  de  la  Pluie),  is  really  a  popular  English  form  of  Rene, 
the  name  of  its  Canadian  discoverer.  The  basin  is  encircled  by  dome-shaped  cliffs 
from  300  to  500  feet  high,  with  intervening  swamps  and  thickets.  The  emissary, 
to  which  the  misnomer  "  Rainy  "  has  also  been  extended,  never  freezes  above  the 
falls  by  which  its  course  is  interrupted.'  The  Rainy  River  flows  between  somewhat 
elevated  banks,  which  were  formerly  shaded  by  large  trees.  But  at  a  distance 
varying  from  a  few  hundred  to  a  few  thousand  yards,  the  surface  of  the  ground  is 
little  better  than  a  quagmire  resting  on  masses  of  peat,  into  which  a  stake  may  be 
driven  some  30  feet  without  touching  the  bottom. 

Of  all  the  basins  between  Lake  Superior  and  Winnipeg,  the  largest  is  the  Lake 
of  Woods,  which  is  fed  by  the  Rainy  River,  and  which  is  no  less  than  400  miles 
in  circumference.  But  it  is  divided  by  innumerable  islets  and  promontories  into 
secondary  basins,  which  increase  and  diminish  in  extent  with  the  floods  and 
droughts.  In  the  north-western  part  especially,  the  islands  arc  numbered  by  the 
hundred,  all  varying  in  size,  elevation,  and  the  character  of  their  flora.  Some  are 
merely  grassy  stretches  almost  flush  with  the  water ;  some  present  wooded  heights, 
and  others  rocky  cliffs,  either  with  vertical  walls  or  else  disposed  in  terraces,  the 
whole  offering  an  unrivalled  variety  of  scenery.  In  some  places  the  water  is  said 
to  be  180  feet  deep  ;  but  the  average  scarcely  exceeds  30  feet. 

Here  occurs  the  so-called  Canadian   rice  (zizania  aquation),  the  folle  aroinr  or 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  215 

"wild  oats"  of  the  Canadians,  a  plant  characteristic  of  the  Mississippi  regions, 
and  in  Canada  met  only  in  the  lacustrine  district  of  the  Lake  of  Woods.  "West- 
wards this  lake  is  continued  by  a  muskeg  or  peaty  tract,  which  was  formerly  flooded, 
and  which  cannot  be  crossed  except  in  winter,  when  the  whole  spongy  tangle  is 
frozen  hard  and  covered  with  snow. 

English  River,  which  flows  north  of  the  Lake  of  Woods  westwards  to  the 
Winnipeg  River,  is  rather  a  succession  of  lakes  than  a  river  in  the  ordinary  sense. 
Rising  in  the  vast  basin  of  Lake  Seul,  probably  so  named  because  of  its  desolate 
aspect,  the  English  River  forms  the  chief  affluent  of  the  Winnipeg  River,  which 
escapes  through  several  channels,  a  kind  of  reversed  delta,  from  the  Lake  of 
Woods,  and  which,  during  a  course  of  ICO  miles,  falls  345  feet  through  a  series  of 
picturesque  cataracts,  whose  lovely  wooded  islets  contrast  with  the  rugged  granite 
rocks  on  both  sides.  According  to  Butler,  the  Winnipeg  River  has  a  mean  dis- 
charge of  about  140,000  cubic  feet  per  second,  or  double  that  of  the  Rhine. 

The  vast  reservoir  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  where  converge  the  Great  and  Little 
Saskatchewan,  the  Red  River,  the  emissaries  of  the  Lake  of  Woods  and  Lake 
Seul,  besides  many  other  less  important  streams,  is  one  of  the  great  lacustrine 
basins  of  the  globe,  covering  an  area  estimated  at  9,000  square  miles ;  it  has  a 
circumference  of  over  900  miles,  and  extends  north  and  south  at  least  250  miles 
in  a  straight  line.  At  its  broadest  part,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
it  is  about  60  miles  wide,  but  at  the  narrows  it  contracts  to  6  or  7  miles.  Winni- 
peg is  thus  disposed  in  two  distinct  basins,  the  "Little  Lake"  in  the  south,  and 
the  "  Great  Lake  "  in  the  north.  The  elevation  is  variously  estimated  at  from  625 
to  700  feet  above  Hudson  Bay ;  but  it  is  a  very  shallow  basin,  the  deepest  parts 
scarcely  exceeding  70  feet,  and  in  many  places  the  mud  and  sand-banks  are 
covered  with  only  2  or  3  feet  of  water  for  great  distances  from  the  shore,  which  is 
subject  to  great  fluctuations  with  the  alternating  wet  and  dry  seasons.  Here  and 
there  crystalline  rocks  fringe  the  east  margin ;  but  the  opposite  side  is  bordered 
by  low-lying  and  even  swampy  tracts  for  considerable  distances,  while  towards 
the  northern  extremity  the  primitive  contours  have  been  masked  by  perfectly 
regular  semicircular  tongues  of  land,  one  of  which  bears  the  well- merited  name  of 
Mossy  Point. 

Under  the  shelter  of  this  long  and  slightly  elevated  promontory  are  collected 
the  effluent  waters,  which,  after  forming  a  winding  lake,  ramify  round  a  large 
island,  below  which  they  again  converge  in  a  common  channel.  The  Nelson,  or 
Bourbon  as  this  great  emissary  was  formerly  called  by  Canadian  trappers,  rolls 
down  a  liquid  mass  estimated  at  no  less  than  280,000  cubic  feet  per  second.  But 
despite  its  enormous  volume,  the  Nelson  is  so  obstructed  by  stupendous  falls, 
rapids,  and  "cauldrons,"  that  it  is  navigable  only  by  canoes  which  can  be  trans- 
ported overland  across  the  numerous  portages.  During  a  course  of  about  400 
miles  it  has  a  total  fall  of  650  feet.  Below  Lakes  Fendu  (Split)  and  des  Muettes, 
its  current  becomes  more  tranquil,  and  deep  enough  for  large  vessels ;  but  its 
mouth  in  Hudson  Bay  is  obstructed  by  a  shallow  bar.  It  is  noteworthy  that, 
despite  the  quantity  of  sediment  brought  down,  the  Nelson  has  not  developed  a 


21 3 


NOKTII  AMERICA. 


delta  beyond  the  normal  coastline.  It  enters  the  bay  through  a  funnel-shaped 
estuary,  which  penetrates  a  considerable  distance  inland,  and  which  perhaps 
represents  a  partly  obliterated  fjord.  On  the  banks  of  this  estuary  were  interred,  in 
1612,  the  remains  of  the  navigator,  Nelson,  whose  name  is  perpetuated  by  the  river. 
On  its  south  side  the  same  estuary  is  reached  by  the  York,  or  Hayes,  formerly 


Fig.  91.— TnE  Nelson  Emssaey. 
Scale  1  :  1,400,000. 


West  oF  Greenwich  98° 


,  18  Miles. 


the  Sainte  Therese,  which,  like  so  many  other  watercourses  in  this  region,  is 
rather  a  chain  of  lacustrine  basins,  varying  in  size  and  connected  together  by  falls 
and  rapids.  Being  shorter,  less  meandering,  and  freer  from  ice  in  winter  than 
the  Nelson,  the  Hayes  is  used  by  the  trappers  as  the  trade  route  between  Lake 
Winnipeg  and  Hudson  Bay;  they  generally  traverse  the  whole  distance  of  250 
miles,  including  detours,  in  about  twenty-five  days. 


RIVERS  AND  LAKES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  217 

The  Hayes  is  one  of  those  watercourses  which  present  the  rare  phenomenon  of 
a  continuous  flow  to  two  different  slopes.  Near  a  place  called  the  Painted  Rock 
the  current  branches  into  two  channels,  one  of  which  flows  northwestwards  to 
Hudson  Bay,  while  the  other  joins  the  Winnipeg  emissary. 

Next  to  the  Nelson  the  largest  affluent  of  Hudson  Bay  is  another  "  English 
River,"  called  also  the  Churchill  and  the  Missi-nipi,  or  "  Great  Water,"  which 
flows  at  an  average  distance  of  about  95  miles  north  of,  and  parallel  with,  the 
Nelson.  Its  farthest  headstream,  rising  near  Elk  Lake,  bears  the  name  of  the 
Beaver,  and  here  it  skirts  the  outer  foot  of  the  terraced  moraines,  which  were 
deposited  during  the  glacial  epoch  far  to  the  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  After 
receiving  the  overflow  of  Lake  la  Plonge  and  of  several  others  through  the 
streams  descending  from  the  portage  la  Loche,  it  takes  the  name  of  Churchill. 
Lower  down  it  continues  to  be  fed  by  the  emissaries  of  numerous  other  basins, 
the  largest  of  which  is  Reindeer  Lake,  the  most  extensive  reservoir  between  Lakes 
Winnipeg  and  Athabasca.  But  Reindeer,  or  simply  Deer  Lake,  which  covers  an 
area  of  many  hundred  square  miles,  is  wrongly  represented  on  most  maps  as 
forming  a  water  highway  between  the  Churchill  and  Mackenzie  basins.  This 
phenomenon  of  bifurcation,  of  which  several  instances  are  found  in  Canada,  does 
not  occur  here,  for  at  this  point  two  fluvial  systems  are  clearly  separated  by  a 
ridge  of  rising  ground. 

North  of  the  Churchill  other  streams  of  much  smaller  size  flow  from  the 
Keewatin  plains  to  Hudson  Bay.  The  largest  is  the  Doobaunt,  which,  after 
traversing  the  lake  of  like  name,  enters  the  sea  through  the  long  Chesterfield 
Inlet,  which  is  said  to  penetrate  250  miles  into  the  interior.  It  is  succeeded 
farther  north  in  the  direction  of  Melville  Peninsula  by  the  wider  but  shorter  Wager 
Inlet.  South  of  the  Nelson  and  Hayes  rivers  the  chief  tributaries  of  Hudson  Bay 
are  the  Severn,  Weenisk,  Equan,  Attawahpiskat,  and  Albany ;  this  last  has 
acquired  a  certain  political  importance  as  marking  the  frontier  line  between  the 
province  of  Ontario  and  the  Eeewatin  Territory. 

Farther  on  the  Oiignal,  better  known  by  its  English  name  of  the  Moose 
River,  is  the  last  important  stream  belonging  to  the  western  slope  of  Hudson  Bay, 
which  it  enters  at  its  south-east  angle.  It  receives  the  overflow  of  several  con- 
siderable lakes,  including  Abitibbi,  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  Canada. 

In  all  these  secondary  basins,  as  well  as  in  those  of  Winnipeg  and  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  the  lakes,  whether  still  flooded  or  already  emptied  by  fluvial  erosion, 
are  found  to  be  encircled  by  terraces  rising  in  irregular  concentric  lines  above 
their  margins.  The  watercourses  themselves  are  similarly  fringed  at  some 
distance  from  their  banks  by  riverain  terraces  which  seem  to  indicate  the  broad 
channels  of  communication  between  the  inland  seas.  Certain  cliffs  may  be  traced 
for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  their  true  character  may  be  studied  on  those  maps 
where  the  changes  of  water  level  are  systematically  indicated. 

The  marine  shores  themselves  bear  witness  to  secular  changes  of  level.  For  a 
distance  of  about  200  miles  between  the  mouth  of  the  Severn  and  the  Nelson 
estuary  the  seaboard  is  disposed  in  ridges  running  parallel  with  the  coast,  all 

VOL.   XV.  q 


218  NOETH  AMERICA. 

formed  of  gravel,  aud  separated  one  from  the  other  at  intervals  of  from  350  to 
1,350  feet  by  shallow  meres,  whose  water  near  the  coast  is  still  brackish,  but  in 
the  interior  quite  fresh.  Everything  seems  to  show  that  the  ground  has  been 
gradually  upheaved.  The  ridges  lying  farthest  from  the  sea  are  always  the  most 
elevated,  and  the  driftwood  found  in  the  intermediate  depressions  consists  of  tree 
stems  at  various  stages  of  decomposition,  according  to  their  distance  from  the  present 
beach.*  Some  are  still  found  at  an  elevation  of  over  50  feet  above  the  present 
sea-level.  Certain  indications  seem  to  show  that  at  the  mouth  of  the  Churchill 
the  relative  subsidence  of  the  sea  has  been  about  six  or  seven  feet  since  the  last 
century. 

Hudson  Bay. 

This  vast  inland  sea,  so  inappropriately  designated  as  a  "bay,"  must  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  same  geological  region  as  the  Winnipeg  basin ;  it 
was  formerly  covered  by  the  same  ice-cap,  and  its  bed  is  inclined  in  the  same  way 
as  the  plains  which  slope  gently  from  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  eastwards 
and  north-eastwards.  From  the  same  plains  the  marine  basin  receives  its  most 
copious  affluents,  while  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec,  notwithstanding 
their  proximity  to  the  bay,  at  least  on  the  maps,  are  in  reality  separated  from 
it  by  an  elevated  parting  line  which  is  rarely  crossed  except  by  a  few  of  the 
surrounding  aborigines. 

The  vast  plateau  of  Labrador  also,  which  stretches  east  of  the  great  northern 
"Mediterranean,"  constitutes  a  separate  physical  region,  whose  inhabited  parts 
face  towards  the  Atlantic.  Even  during  the  two  and  a-half  centuries  of  rudi- 
mentary history  which  have  passed  over  the  boreal  regions,  Hudson  Bay  has 
always  been  intimately  associated  with  the  former  territories  of  the  company  to 
which  it  gave  its  name.  It  was  through  the  channel  flowing  between  Labrador 
and  Baffin  Land,  and  through  the .  waters  of  Hudson  Bay,  that  the  ships  of  the 
powerful  association  brought  their  supplies  to  the  stations  founded  by  the  trappers. 
Through  the  same  water  highway  the  settlers  in  Manitoba  and  Saskatchewan 
expect  one  day  to  forward  their  produce  to  England.  Their  future  shipping 
ports  lie  neither  on  the  St.  Lawrence  nor  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  but  at  the 
mouths  of  the  Nelson,  Churchill,  and  Moose  rivers. 

Including  the  secondary  inlets  and  channels  of  communication,  Hudson  Bay- 
covers  an  area  estimated  by  It.  Bell  at  520,000  square  miles.  Even  the  Bay 
proper,  enclosed  by  the  northern  islands  of  Southampton,  Manself  and  others,  has 
an  extent  of  320,000  square  miles,  that  is,  about  the  same  as  the  western  section 
of  the  Mediterranean  from  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  to  the  Sicilian  waters.  Its 
whole  catchment  basin  comprises  a  region  of  at  least  800,000  square  miles,  or 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  Dominion.  From  the  southern  extremity  of  James 
Bay,  the  extreme  southern  inlet,  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait,  there  is 
a  clear  navigable  waterway  of  over  1,250  miles. 

*  A.  P.  Law,  Geological  Surra/  of  Canada,  Annual  Report,  1S8G. 

t  Mantel,  not  Mansfield,  as  given  on  nearly  all  maps  ;  so  named  by  Button  in  1612. 


HUDSON  BAY. 


219 


But  notwithstanding  its  vast  size  throughout  most  of  its  expanse  Hudson  Bay 
is  little  more  than  a  flooded  depression,  which  would  be  transformed  by  a  slight 
upheaval  to  a  part  of  the  surrounding  mainland.     The  whole  of  James  Bay  is  a 


Fig.  92.— Hudson  Bay. 
Soak  1  :  12,000,000. 


"  West    oP    Gfeenwi 


S  ^ 


Depths. 


O  to  20 
Fathoms. 


20  to  40 
Fathoms. 


40  to  SO 
Fathoms. 


80  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  to  200 
Fathoms. 


200  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


1S5  Miles. 


sheet  of  yellowish  water,  where  the  muddy  bed  is  churned  up  by  the  storm,  aud 
where  vessels  are  exposed  to  the  danger  of  grounding  on  the  shifting  shoals  or 
on  some  low  island,  such  as  Agoomska  or  Charlton.  Even  the  central  parts 
appear  from  the  few  soundings  taken  here  and  there  to  have  an  average  depth  of 
not  more  than  435  feet,  and  such  is  the  uniformity  of  the  gently  sloping  bed,  that 

q2 


220  NOETH  AMERICA. 

were  it  dried  up  it  would  present  the  same  general  aspect  as  the  American 
prairies.* 

Towards  the  centre  and  at  the  entrance  the  water  is  deeper,  the  soundings 
having  recorded  over  100  fathoms,  while  in  Hudson  Strait,  through  which  the 
bay  communicates  with  the  ocean,  the  depth  increases  to  270  fathoms.  The 
aspect  of  the  shore  corresponds  as  a  rule  with  the  depth  of  the  neighbouring 
waters,  being  low  where  they  are  shallow,  high  and  steep  where  they  are  relatively 
deep.  On  the  coast  of  East  Main,  that  is,  the  Labrador  side,  the  waters  are 
dominated  by  headlands  1,000  and  even  2,000  feet  high.  The  fauna  is  similarly 
varied,  few  marine  fishes  being  found  in  the  shallow,  brackish  waters  of  James 
Bay,  whereas  farther  north  the  bay  is  frequented  by  nearly  all  the  Polar  species. 

Parallel  with  the  steep  Labrador  Coast  occur  the  dangerous  reefs  of  eruptive 
rocks  known  by  the  name  of  "Sleepers,"  and  apparently  representing  an  old 
coastline  about  250  miles  long.  Towards  the  north  the  bay  is  separated  by  the 
large  gneiss  island  of  Southampton  from  the  broad  Fox  Channel  and  other  passages 
ramifying  through  the  Arctic  Archipelago.  Till  recently  this  island  was  supposed 
to  be  much  more  extensive.  Now,  however,  it  is  known  to  be  separated  by  Fisher 
Strait  from  a  southern  island  not  yet  named  on  the  maps,  and  about  the  size  of 
Mansel  Island,  which  lies  to  the  east,  and  which  resembles  an  enormous  gravel 
table.  Hudson  Strait  is  likewise  studded  with  islands,  huge  masses  of  gneiss  .and 
conglomerate  plateaux. 

Despite  the  shallow  waters,  the  west  side  of  the  bay  is  nearly  destitute  of 
islands.  The  best  known,  as  a  rendezvous  of  whalers,  is  Marble  Island  south  of 
Chesterfield  Inlet,  whose  dazzling  white  cliffs,  however,  are  composed,  not  of 
marble,  but  of  a  coarse  limestone  with  white  quartzites  and  micaceous  schists. 

The  ocean  tides  are  felt  in  all  the  inlets,  but  are  much  weaker  in  the  south  and 
west  than  in  the  north,  falling  from  3-5  or  40  feet  at  Ungava  Bay,  on  the  north 
Labrador  Coast,  to  12  or  14  in  the  Churchill  and  Nelson  estuaries.  From  these 
tidal  movements  it  has  been  argued  that  Hudson  Strait  can  never  be  entirely 
blocked  by  ice,  and  that  there  is  always  an  open  passage  through  which  the  tidal 
waves  are  propagated.  In  such  a  climate,  where  the  mean  temperature  is  always 
several  degrees  below  freezing-point,  ice  cannot  fail  to  be  abundant ;  but  the 
secondary  bays  and  inlets  alone  are  completely  frozen  in  winter.  Still  the  naviga- 
tion is  discontinued  during  this  season,  and  vessels  seldom  attempt  the  passage  of 
Hudson  Strait  before  July.  They  usually  reach  York  station  on  the  west  side  about 
September  4th,  the  earliest  recorded  being  August  6  th,  the  latest  October  7th.  t 

Owing  to  the  shallowness  of  the  water,  which  is  rapidly  heated  by  the  summer 
sun,  nearly  all  the  ice  formed  within  the  Bay  is  melted  on  the  spot,  so  that  very 
little  of  the  floe  ice  drifts  towards  the  Strait.  The  danger  to  navigation  arises 
chiefly  from  the  masses  coming  from  Fox  Channel  in  summer  and  obstructing 
Hudson  Strait.  These  icebergs  contain  much  mud  and  fragments  of  rocks,  brought 
evidently  from  the  islands  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago,  and  especially  from  Baffin  Land. 

*  Kobert  Bell,  Geological  Survey,  1885. 

t  A.  E.  Gordon,  Report  on  the  Hudson  Bay  Expedition  of  1886. 


HUDSON  BAY— CLIMATE.  221 

Other  dangers  arising  from  the  currents,  tides,  and  fogs  greatly  impede  the 
navigation,  which  for  sailing  vessels  is  limited  to  two  months  in  the  year.  So 
skilfully  have  these  vessels  been  handled  that  before  18(34,  when  two  were  wrecked 
on  ^lansel  Island,  not  one  of  the  133  were  lost  which  were  despatched  by  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  since  the  year  1789.  By  the  aid  of  steam  the  navigation 
will  be  better  regulated,  and  kept  open  for  about  four  months  from  July  1st  to  the 
end  of  October. 

A  more  complete  exploration  of  the  seaboard  will  also  probably  discover  the 
currents  followed  by  the  drift  ice,  and  lay  down  the  more  favourable  routes  to 
follow.  The  first  expeditions  had  been  undertaken  in  connection  with  the 
researches  for  the  North- West  Passage,  which  was  the  exclusive  aim  of  Hudson, 
Button,  James,  Fox,  Alunk,  Gibb,  Middleton,  Smith.  The  same  goal  was  pursued 
in  the  present  century  by  John  Ross  and  Parry,  when  they  explored  all  the  inlets 
of  Fox  Channel.  But  henceforth  the  attention  of  navigators  will  be  concentrated 
on  the  bay  itself,  the  character  of  its  coasts,  the  constitution  of  its  rocks,  the  force 
and  direction  of  its  tidal  and  other  currents.  This  systematic  exploration  has 
already  been  begun  on  the  south  side,  along  the  Nelson  and  Churchill  estuaries, 
and  in  the  islands  of  Hudson  Strait. 

Climate. 

The  vast  domain  stretching  from  49°  north  latitude  to  and  beyond  the  Arctic 
Circle  presents  a  great  diversity  of  climates.  While  the  isothermal  line  of  46°  F. 
intersects  the  south-western  region,  in  the  north-east  the  mean  annual  temperature 
falls  below  14°  F.,  that  is,  nearly  20  degrees  under  freezing-point.  In  other  words 
most  of  the  territory,  if  not  actually  uninhabitable,  is  at  least  too  cold  for  perma- 
nent European  settlements.  The  true  limit  of  colonisation  is  indicated  by  the  iso- 
thermal of  zero,  which  comprises  all  the  upper  Saskatchewan  Valley  and  crosses  the 
middle  part  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  thus  approximately  coinciding  with  the  monthly 
isothermals  of  68°  F.  in  July  and  4°  F.  in  January.  Compared  with  the  St. 
Lawrence  basin,  this  southern  zone  of  the  Hudson  Bay  slope  might  contain  many 
millions  of  inhabitants,  and  will  probably  contain  them  before  many  decades  have 
passed. 

In  the  inhabitable  region  the  climate  is  essentially  continental,  despite  the  vast 
expanses  of  water  occupying  a  great  part  of  the  territory.  The  winters  are  very 
severe,  the  summers  correspondingly  hot,  while  the  intermediate  seasons,  especially 
spring,  are  scarcely  perceptible.  Between  the  extremes  the  glass  oscillates  as 
much  as  140°  or  145°,  and  in  Manitoba  the  discrepancy  between  the  day  and  night 
temperatures  is  also  greater  than  in  any  other  British  colony.  In  this  respect  the 
climate  of  the  Winnipeg  region  recalls  that  of  West  Siberia.  Yet  these  con- 
ditions agree  perfectly  with  the  general  health  and  physical  constitution  of  the 
white  settlers,  and  scarcely  any  other  region  is  more  unanimously  pronounced  to 
be  perfectly  salubrious  by  the  immigrants  themselves.  It  is  occasionally  visited 
by  fierce  snow-storms ;  but  these  blizzards  come,  not  from  the  northern  but  from 


•12-2 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


the  southern  regions,  and  are  usually  of  a  much  milder  type  than  in  the  United 
States. 

In  summer,  after  the  sudden  transition  which  changes  the  aspect  of  prairie 
and  woodland  as  if  by  magic,  the  intense  heats  are  tempered  by  the  breeze  which 
revolves  with  the  sun.  In  this  part  of  the  continent,  lying  in  the  central  depres- 
sion about  midway  between  the  Polar  seas  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  winds 
coming  from  the  frigid  and  torrid  zones,  from  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  are  nearly 
balanced,  the  most  prevalent  being  those  of  the  west  and  south-west,  that  is,  the 
counter-trades  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  At  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
the  so-called   "  Chinook  "   winds  sweep  abruptly  down  from   the  uplands  and 


Fig.  03. — Arable  Lands  of  "SVest  Canada. 
Scale  1  :  18,000,000. 


L-ea>- 


VK-. 


i&c&j^ 


cine-Hat,-^-!  °<$2"v  vT     *~" 

>  -^     ^~-pj^\. yyv-'..;,v^>.     r?     ■  -■>-:■  -\  ~  y- i 


v '  TnaThr'es 


Medic 


lZ~$SlJi "'feWWs 


West  oP  Gr-eemvlch  I'O' 


Arable  Land  according 
to  Talliser. 


Other  Arable 
Land. 


S10  Miles. 


resume  their  original  temperature,  drying  the  ground,  "  lapping  up  the  snow  and 
drinking  the  water." 

In  some  districts,  especially  south  of  the  Assiniboine  and  Qu'Appelle  rivers 
towards  the  United  States  frontier  the  chief  drawback  is  the  deficient  rainfall. 
The  yearly  precipitation  supposed  to  be  indispensable  for  profitable  corn-growing 
is  estimated  at  about  20  inches,  and  this  proportion  is  considerably  exceeded  in  the 
central  parts  of  Manitoba  watered  by  the  Eed  River,  where  most  of  the  rains  occur 
in  summer,  precisely  when  most  needed  by  the  crops.  But  there  are  also  vast 
tracts  where  the  annual  rainfall  is  less  than  20  inches,  and  here  stock-breeding 
rather  than  tillage  will  probably  form  the  staple  industry  of  the  future* 

The  panegyrists  of   Manitoba  deny  that  the  southern  districts  destitute   of 


*  Meteorological  observations  on  the  Hudson  Bay  slope  : — 

Annual  Temp.  Extremes. 


Rainfall. 


Heat. 

Cold. 

Winnipeg  (49°  53'  N.)    . 

.     36°  F.     . 

.     95°  F. 

—43°  F.     . 

.     2G  inches. 

Fort  York  (.57°  N.) 

22° 

.     99° 

—45° 

•     32     „ 

CLIMATE  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  223 

arborescent  vegetation,  or  even  quite  arid,  suffer  from  a  deficient  supply  of  mois- 
ture. They  protest  especially  against  the  term  "  desert  "  applied  by  Palliser  to 
the  region  -watered  by  the  Moose  River  near  the  United  States  frontier.  Anyhow 
this  region  is  studded  with  saline  lakes,  and  even  contains  a  certain  number  of 
closed  basins,  such  as  that  of  the  "  Old  Wives,"  where  the  water  disappears  with- 
out any  visible  outflow.  Very  probably  the  southern  terraces  of  the  province  of 
Assiniboia  owe  their  scanty  vegetation  to  the  slight  rainfall.  In  this  respect  they 
form  a  northern  continuation  of  the  continental  region  in  the  United  States,  where 
is  seen  a  gradual  transition  from  the  argillaceous  and  saline  desert  to  the  grassy 
plains,  and  from  the  prairies  to  woodlands  and  forests.  Doubtless  the  tracts 
under  timber  have  been  considerably  reduced  by  forest  fires  ;  but  these  ravages 
are  themselves  a  proof  that  the  local  climate  is  not  favourable  to  the  development 
of  large  growth,  and  that,  once  destroyed,  the  forests  are  with  difficulty  replaced. 

Before  the  white  colonisation  small  woods  of  the  willow,  poplar,  and  aspen 
grew  in  the  moist  hollows  especially  at  the  foot  of  the  dunes,  and  in  the  glens  of 
the  uplands  improperly  described  as  "mountains."  The  woodman's  axe  has  been 
more  destructive  than  the  incendiary  fires  caused  by  the  Indians. 

Flora  and  Fauna. 

On  the  whole  the  general  character  of  the  Manitoban  vegetation  is  much  the 
same  as  that  of  Ontario,  which,  although  lying  more  to  the  south,  is  traversed  by 
the  same  isothermal  lines.  Nevertheless  the  beech,  maple,  and  pine  predominant 
in  the  southern  province  are  not  found  in  the  Assiniboine  valley,  where  even  the 
oak  and  ash  are  rare.  The  commonest  arborescent  plants  are  the  poplar,  elm  and 
willow,  while  here  and  there  the  wild  briar,  vine  and  other  woody  forms  develop 
impenetrable  thickets.  The  wild  hop  and  other  trailing  plants  spread  their  meshes 
over  all  the  taller  growths,  and  plants  yielding  berries  of  divers  flavour  and  colour 
are  as  abundant  as  in  the  Mackenzie  basin.  Wild  fruits,  such  as  the  plum  and 
cherry,  which  in  other  provinces  are  very  sour,  have  here  quite  a  sweet  taste,  a 
phenomenon  attributed  by  Macoun  to  the  clear  skies  and  dry  atmosphere. 

The  dunes  are  nearly  everywhere  covered  with  a  species  of  trailing  juniper, 
and  with  the  kinnikinik  {arctostaphylos  urn  ursi),  the  bark  of  which,  mixed  with 
tobacco,  forms  the  most  highly  prized  narcotic  of  the  Indians  and  half-breeds. 
Two  species  of  cactus  range  as  far  north  as  the  Assiniboine  basin,  and  the 
natives  are  also  acquainted  with  a  "  fever  tree,"  an  aspen  or  trembling  poplar,  from 
the  bark  of  which  is  prepared  a  decoction  as  a  cure  for  the  sharp  attacks  of  ague. 

West  of  the  plains  the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  even  the  isolated 
Cypress  Hills,  have  a  distinct  flora  of  an  essentially  alpine  and  boreal  type,  contrast- 
ing with  the  vegetation  of  the  surrounding  prairies. 

The  wild  fauna  comprises  the  same  species  as  those  of  the  conterminous  lands; 
but  several  animals  have  already  disappeared  with  the  progress  of  colonisation. 
The  "  panther  "  of  the  trappers,  that  is,  the  puma  (felts  concolor),  now  very  rare 
in  the  remote  upland  valleys,  has  lone  vanished  from  the  plains.     The  wapiti  also 


224  NORTH  AMERICA. 

is  rarely  seen,  and  still  more  rarely  the  cabri,  or  pronged-horned  antelope  {antilo- 
carpa  americana).  The  bison,  herds  of  which  are  still  said  to  survive  in  the  Mac- 
kenzie basin,  are  now  known  only  by  tradition  on  the  plains  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
where  they  existed  in  countless  numbers  within  the  memory  of  man.  They  were 
systematically  exterminated  by  the  natives,  the  half-breeds  and  the  whites,  who 
formed  a  vast  circle  round  a  herd,  which  was  gradually  driven  towards  a  palisaded 
or  rocky  enclosure,  where  all  were  slaughtered.  The  whites  taking  part  in  these 
butcheries  often  took  nothing  but  the  tongue,  while  the  Indian  used  the  flesh  for 
food,  the  sinews  as  bowstrings  or  for  sewing  his  garments,  the  skin  for  clothes, 
tent,  or  boat,  the  horns  for  keeping  his  powder.  For  a  century  the  flesh  of  the 
bison  had  been  the  almost  exclusive  food  of  all  trappers  and  travellers  in  the 
"  Great  Lone  Land,"  where  as  many  as  ten  millions  were  said  to  have  roamed  the 
boundless  western  prairies,  and  where  a  few  of  pure  or  mixed  breed  alone  now 
survive  in  the  preserves  of  some  of  the  great  cattle-breeders.  As  many  as  230,000 
are  said  to  have  been  lulled  in  the  single  year  1855  on  the  United  States  frontier.* 

Of  the  smaller  mammals  the  beaver,  eagerly  pursued  by  the  trappers,  has 
become  rare,  while  the  musk  rat,  protected  by  the  nature  of  his  retreats,  still  abounds 
in  the  boggy  districts.  The  surprising  fecundity  of  this  animal,  which  breeds 
three  times  in  the  season,  enables  it  to  repair  the  losses  caused  by  inundations  and 
frosts  penetrating  too  deeply  into  the  ground  or  lasting  too  long.  Fully  as  industrious 
as  the  beaver,  the  musk  rat  builds  himself  a  spherical  cabin  by  means  of  tall  grasses 
interlaced  and  coated  with  clay.  His  bed  of  hay  is  placed  above  the  level  of  the 
annual  floods,  and  during  the  winter  he  maintains  a  system  of  ventilators  in  the  ice 
of  the  neighbouring  pond,  his  reservoir  of  fish,  the  holes  being  bordered  with  moss 
and  plugged  with  clay.  This  is  the  only  representative  of  the  rat  family  in  the 
Hudson  regions  ;  but  there  are  several  species  of  other  rodents  who  burrow  in  the 
ground  and  feed  on  the  roots  of  plants.  Such  is  the  so-called  "  prairie  dog  "  or 
gopher  (spevmophilus,  Frank.),  which  mounts  guard  in  comic  fashion  at  the  mouth 
of  its  underground  dwelling. 

The  feathered  tribe,  poorly  represented  on  the  prairies,  offers  great  variety  in 
the  Manitoba  valleys,  where  Macoun  enumerates  as  many 'as  235  species.  Most  of 
them  recall  European  forms,  such  as  eagles,  owls,  cranes,  duck,  gulls,  partridges, 
swallows,  sparrows,  and  chaffinches.  The  blackbird  is  most  dreaded  as  a  greedy 
devourer  of  corn,  while  the  cow-bird  (molothras  pecoras),  which  builds  no  nests, 
is  a  great  favourite,  often  keeping  company  for  weeks  together  with  the  waggon 
teams  across  the  plains,  perching  on  the  horses  and  snapping  up  the  gadflies  and 
other  winged  pests.  As  in  British  Columbia,  a  Mexican  humming-bird  passes  the 
summer  on  the  Manitoban  plains,  and  is  met  as  far  north  as  the  Churchill  valley 
in  57°  north  latitude.  Thus  this  tiny  creature,  which  glows  like  a  burning  coal  in 
the  foliage,  makes  a  journey  of  at  least  3,000  miles  in  spring  and  autumn  between 
its  winter  and  summer  resorts. 

Owing  to  the  character  of  the  soil  and  extensive  river  and  lake  systems,  this 
region  abounds  both  in  fish  and  reptiles.  In  certain  places  the  garter-snake 
:*  Duncan  G.  F.  Macilonald,  British  Columbia  ami  Vancouver's  Island. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  KEGION.  225 

(euteenia  sirtalis)  maybe  seen  in  myriads  coiled  round  the  shrubs;  lizards  also 
swarm  in  the  clearings,  and  have  given  their  names  to  numerous  lakes  and 
mountains  ;  frogs  deafen  the  ear  in  all  the  marshy  tracts,  and  in  crossing  swamps 
and  streams  the  wayfarer  runs  the  risk  of  being  covered  with  leeches.  But  the 
tortoise  is  rare  and  never  met  beyond  51°  north  latitude. 

Of  the  forty-two  species  of  fishes  enumerated  by  Moucon  the  most  valuable  for 
the  natives  is  the  whitefish  (coregonus  a/bus),  which  is  taken  in  multitudes  in  the 
Hudsonian  lakes.  These  waters  also  teem  with  sturgeon,  salmon,  trout,  pike, 
carp,  and  "  loach  "  (lota  maculosus),  the  last  mentioned  being  so  named  from  its 
form  and  its  gelatinous  skin.  The  carp  is  noted  for  its  almost  incredible  tenacity 
of  life  ;  after  being  frozen  up  in  the  ice  it  recovers  when  thawed  out,  and  survives 
decapitation  a  long  time.  The  earth  worms,  so  common  in  the  United  States,  are 
wanting  in  Manitoba  and  the  North-West  Territory,  so  that  Darwin's  theory  as 
to  the  fertilising  action  of  these  organisms  is  not  here  applicable. 

Inhabitants. 

The  aborigines  scattered  over  the  vast  region  comprised  between  Hudson  Bay 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains  east  and  west,  the  United  States  frontier  and  the 
Athabasca-Mackenzie  basin  south  and  north,  belong  almost  exclusively  to  the 
widespread  Algonquin  family,  which  also  at  one  time  occupied  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  and  all  the  north-eastern  states  except  the  Iroquois 
enclave.  The  various  tribes  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Saskatchewan,  the  Red 
River  and  Winnipeg  are  all  allied  to  the  Algonquins  of  Lower  Canada  and  the 
States,  the  chief  nation  being  the  Krees,  who  also  range  northwards  into  the  Mac- 
kenzie basin. 

Before  the  period  of  colonisation  all  the  aborigines  were  grouped  according  to 
locality  and  manner  of  life,  into  the  two  broad  divisions  of  Prairie  and  Forest 
Indians.  The  former,  who  comprise  the  Blackfeet  aDd  neighbouring  groups,  the 
Krees  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and  the  Assiniboines  of  the  Qu'Appelle,  hunted  the 
bison,  and  dwelt  in  camps,  obeying  warlike  chiefs,  and  maintaining  a  constant 
state  of  hostilities  with  the  surrounding  tribes.  The  latter,  called  also  "  Stone," 
Stony,  or  "  Thickwood,"  and  comprising  the  Krees  of  the  swampy  districts  and 
the  Saulteux  or  "  Fall  Indians "  of  Manitoba,  were  partly  fishers  and  partly 
hunters.  Roaming  the  forests  in  small  groups  in  pursuit  of  the  deer,  they 
were  generally  peaceful,  the  chiefs,  where  they  existed,  possessing  merely  a 
nominal  authority. 

Formerly  the  most  formidable  of  these  groups  were  the  Blackfeet,  who  accord- 
ing to  the  national  legend  at  one  time  dwelt  on  the  alluvial  plains  of  Manitoba, 
where  the  mud  blackened  their  mocassins,  whence  their  tribal  name.  Driven  by 
the  Krees  to  the  western  plains,  they  roamed  till  recently  over  tbe  plateaux  at  the 
eastern  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  the  headstreams  of  the  Saskatchewan 
and  the  Cypress  Hills.  Nearly  always  at  war  with  their  neighbours,  they  were 
continually  prowling  round  about  the  Krees  in  the  east,  the  Assiniboines  and  Flat- 


226  NORTH  AMEEICA. 

heads  of  the  south  and  soath-west,  and  the  Kootenays  of  the  west.  The  whites 
who  visited  their  territory  commanded  their  respect  by  constant  vigilance  and 
attention  to  their  firearms. 

Three  bands,  who  call  themselves  kinsmen  and  who  all  speak  the  same  language, 
form  the  Blackfeet  Confederation.  These  are  the  Satsikas,  or  Blackfeet  proper, 
the  Keina  or  Blood  Indians,  and  the  Piegans  (Pigan,  Paegan),  called  also  Pagans 
by  English  writers,  either  through  a  popular  etymology,  or  because  they  long  re- 
jected Christianity ;  till  recently  they  still  continued  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  the  Sun. 

From  a  remote  period  the  Sarsi  or  Gros  Ventres,  a  branch  of  the  great  Arrapahoe 
nation,  had  also  been  admitted  into  the  Blackfeet  alliance,  and  for  man}'  genera- 
tions took  part  in  their  plundering  expeditions.  They  spoke  both  their  native 
tongue  and  that  of  their  allies,  which  for  its  softness  and  harmony  has  been  called 
the  Italian  of  those  regions. 

The  Blackfeet  were  said  to  number  30,000  souls  in  1836,  that  is,  before  the 
appearance  of  smallpox,  and  even  about  the  middle  of  the  century  they  were  still 
estimated  at  7,500.  But  in  1881  the  three  nations  were  reduced  to  4,330,  all  settled 
in  reserves  which  they  are  forbidden  to  leave. 

The  Krees,  properly  so  called,  formerly  occupied  the  Bed  River  basin,  but 
they  were  driven  westwards  at  an  early  date ;  before  the  white  invasion  their 
domain  comprised  all  the  prairie  region  stretching  south  of  the  Churchill  to  the 
arid  tracts  on  the  Dakota  frontier.  They  contended  with  the  Blackfeet  for  the 
possession  of  the  western  plains,  but,  like  all  the  other  Indians,  they  are  now 
confined  to  reserves. 

The  Krees  call  themselves  Nehiyawok,  a  word  of  doubtful  meaning,  but 
explained  by  Lecomte  in  the  sense  of  "true  men  "  or  "chosen  people."  By  their 
Chippeway  neighbours  they  are  called  Kinistinok,  the  Knistineaux  or  Kristineaux 
of  the  early  documents,  of  which  Kree  is  supposed  to  be  a  contraction.  Of  all  the 
Kree  tribes  those  of  the  prairie  appear  to  be  of  purest  stock ;  they  are  also  the 
most  valiant  and  industrious,  and  speak  the  most  elegant  form  of  the  national 
language,  for  which  a  special  syllabic  alphabet  has  been  invented.  This  aggluti- 
nating idiom  was  adopted  as  a  kind  of  lingua  franca  amongst  the  surrounding 
Chippewaj',  Assiniboine,  Blackfeet,  and  Sarsi  Indians,  and  the  Krees  also  exercised 
a  preponderating  influence  on  their  white  visitors ;  hence  the  Canadian  trappers 
(coureurs  de  bois  et  de  prairies)  almost  exclusively  selected  their  wives  amongst 
these  Indians.  The  French  half-breeds  generally  spoke  Kree,  and  many  even 
became  members  of  the  maternal  tribe. 

The  Muskegons,  that  is,  Krees  of  the  muskegs  or  swamps,  hence  called 
"Swampies"  by  English  writers,  have  been  long  enough  detached  from  the 
primitive  stock  to  constitute  a  distinct  group ;  their  dialect,  however,  still 
resembles  the  Kree  of  the  prairie  more  than  any  other  Algonquin  tongue.  They 
occupy  the  marshy  regions  bordering  the  North  Saskatchewan,  Lakes  Winnipeg 
and  Winnipegosis,  north  of  the  Saulteux  or  Chippeways. 

As  indicated  by  their  French  name,  these  Chippeways  (Ojibways)  formerly 
dwelt  near  the  Sault  Sainte-Marie,  through  which  the  overflow  of  Lake  Superior 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  KEGION. 


227 


is  discharged  into  the  Huron-Michigan  basin.  The  Assiniboines,  who  dwell  on 
the  river  of  like  name,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  kindred  Sioux  (Dakotas), 
take  the  name  of  "Stony,"  either  from  their  arid  rocky  domain,  or  else  from  the 
primitive  custom  of  boiling  their  cooking  water  by  means  of  heated  stones.  Like 
the  Krees  they  are  divided  into  prairie  and  forest  Assiniboines,  both  equally 
reduced  in  power  and  numbers.     Before  1780  they  were  said  to  be  very  numerous 


Fig.  94. — Blackfoot  Indian. 


throughout  the  southern  part  of  their  territory,  but  were  nearly  exterminated  by 
an  epidemic  of  smallpox. 

Although  the  Canadian  Government  has  always  treated  the  aborigines  with 
kindness  if  not  justice,  they  are  none  the  less  disappearing,  and  this  decay  would 
appear  to  be  largely  due  to  the  policy  pursued  with  regard  to  their  lands.  The 
trifling  sums  granted  for  the  purchase  of  their  territory  were  nearly  always  paid 
exclusively  to  the  chiefs,*  while  the  tribes  themselves  were  removed  to  reserves, 
to  which   they  were  forcibly  confined.       The  children   also  have  been  removed 

*  Mean  price  of  18  million  acres  bought  from  the  Indians,  one  penny  per  acre.— (Youle  Hind.) 


228 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


from  the  family  influence,  taught  the  English  language  and  brought  up  to  some 
agricultural  or  industrial  trade,  the  result  being  that,  though  they  may  become 
useful  citizens,  they  necessarily  cease  to  be  Indians. 

The  Bed-skins  have  had  to  accept  the  new  order  of  things,  settling  down  in 
the  various  reserves  assigned  to  them  by  the  Government,  unless  they  were -willing 
to  break  the  tribal  connection  altogether.  But  by  taking  this  step  they  renounce 
their  share  of  the  collective  pension,  and  accept  a  personal  grant  of  land,  thereby 
entering  single-handed  into  the  struggle  for  life  with  their  English  neighbours. 
Lacking  all  national  cohesion,  they  must  henceforth  gradually  become  absorbed 
in  the  working  classes ;  they  are  already  largely  employed  as  navvies  on  the 
railways,  as  waggoners,   herdsmen,  and   on  the   drainage  works.      Many  have 


Fig.  95. — Indian  Reserves  in  Manitoba  and  the  Far  West. 
.   Scale  1  :  13,000,000. 


West    ©  [-*  ureenwich 


lSSlIibs. 


become  successful  agriculturists,  especially  along  the  banks  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
where  may  be  seen  their  well-tilled  plots,  neat  cottages,  outhouses,  and  agricultural 
instruments. 

In  the  reserves  the  most  fatal  maladies  are  the  measles  and  consumption,  the 
latter  especially  amongst  the  children  of  the  half-breeds ;  on  the  other  hand 
the  natives  are  said  to  be  entirely  free  from  cancer.  Amongst  the  independent 
Indians  the  great  scourge  is  famine,  which  has  at  times  swept  away  whole  tribes. 


Colonisation. 

Although  the  colonisation  of  the  "Winnipeg  basin  has  only  recently  been  fully 
developed,  it  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  explorations  of  Varennes  de  la 
Verandrye  (1731 — 1745),  after  which  alliances  between  the  half-breeds  and  the 
Indians  became  more  and  more  frequent.  In  order  to  protect  the  peltry  trade 
De  la  V6randrye  and  his  sons  established  factories  on  the  lakes  and  portages,  and 


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COLONIZATION  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGION.  229 

Fort  Jonquiere,  founded  in  1752,  is  said  to  have  stood  near  the  foot  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  on  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Calgary. 

The  first  colony,  properly  so  called,  was  that  organised  by  Lord  Selkirk  in 
1811,  when  about  a  hundred  Highlanders  and  Irishmen  landed  at  a  port  on 
Hudson  Bay,  and  after  a  hard  winter  passed  in  those  inhospitable  regions,  made 
their  way  to  the  Red  River  basin.  Here  they  were  well  received  and  provided 
with  all  necessaries  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  ;  but  dissensions  soon  broke  out 
between  them  and  the  Company's  servants,  and  this  pioneer  group,  attacked 
by  the  half-breeds  and  savages,  had  to  disperse.  But  ten  years  later,  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  hostilities  between  the  two  rival  Companies,  the  little  Red  River 
settlement  was  able  to  resume  its  peaceful  career.  For  many  years  it  was  certainly 
the  most  isolated  European  settlement  in  the  whole  world ;  its  most  frequented 
highway  of  communication  with  civilised  lands  traversed  730  miles  of  extremely 
difficult  ground,  across  lakes,  rivers  obstructed  by  falls  and  rapids,  rocky  portages 
and  swamps,  and  terminating  on  the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  an  almost  Arctic 
inland  sea  open  to  navigation  only  for  two  months  in  the  year. 

In  1870,  when  the  monopoly  of  the  Company  was  abolished  and  Manitoba 
constituted  an  independent  colony,  the  civilised  population  of  the  Red  River 
district  comprised  about  12,000  French  and  Scotch  half-breeds.  The  Bois-brules, 
as  the  French  half-breeds  were  called,  were  by  far  the  more  numerous,  occupying 
the  tract  between  the  United  States  frontier  and  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Winnipeg.  Some  were  also  settled  on  the  Assiniboine,  and  others  on  the  Saskat- 
chewan near  Fort  Edmonton.  So  little  were  they  acquainted  with  the  outer 
world  that  they  called  all  whites  "French,"  and  one  of  Simpson's  Canadian 
guides  fancied  all  imported  wares  came  from  "la  vieille  France  de  Londres" 
("Old  France  of  London  "). 

The  "  Orcanais  "  (Orcadians),  as  all  the  Scotch  settlers  were  indiscriminately 
called,  were  chiefly  established  on  the  lower  Red  River  near  Lake  Winnipeg. 
More  than  half  of  them  spoke  Gaelic,  though  the  majority  also  understood 
English.  The  trappers  employed  by  the  rival  French  company  ("  Compagnie  du 
Xord-Ouest ")  were  also  required  to  learn  French.  Thus  it  happens  that  many 
families  of  Scotch  origin  are  now  classed  as  French  half-breeds,  just  as  some  of  the 
Bois-brules  call  themselves  Scotch. 

But  according  to  all  observers,  great  differences  exist  between  the  two  groups. 
The  French  half-caste  is  taller,  more  slim  and  pliant,  and  runs  rather  than  walks.* 
He  assimilates  himself  easily  to  the  Indian,  and  his  native  wife  becomes  a  real 
helpmate.  His  children  combine  with  the  cheerfulness,  vehemence,  and  passion 
of  the  French  the  strength,  pliancy,  endurance,  and  marvellous  skill  in  inter- 
preting all  natural  phenomena  characteristic  of  the  Indian.  They  are  generous, 
reckless,  and  improvident,  born  trappers,  hunters,  and  traders,  taking  reluctantly 
to  agriculture. 

The  Scotch  half-breed,  on  the  contrary,  adapts  himself  with  difficulty  to  the 

*  S.  Havard.  The  French  Half -breeds  of  the  North-West,  Smithsonian  Report ;  John  Reade,  Proceed- 
ings, §c,  of  the  R.  Society  of  Canada,  1885. 


230 


NORTH  AMEBICA. 


environment.  His  squaw  remains  his  drudge,  almost  his  slave,  and  his  offspring 
seldom  take  after  the  mother,  but  like  the  father,  are  thoughtful,  persevering, 
men  of  few  words,  agriculturalists  for  the  most  part,  and  stockbreeders. 

"With  the  abolition  of  monopolies,  and  the  introduction  of  free  colonisation, 
the  relative  proportion  of  the  races  was  soon  reversed.  The  immigrants  were 
naturally  drawn  mainly  from  the  neighbouring  province  of  Ontario,  settled  almost 
exclusively  by  people  of  English  speech.  The  European  settlers  came  also  nearly 
altogether  from  the  British  Islands,  Germany,  and  the  United  States.  At  the 
last  decennial  census  of  1881,  the  whole  population  was  found  to  have  increased 
fivefold  since  the  middle  of  the  century,  while  the  pure  or  mixed  French  element 
had  only  doubled.  The  preponderance  had  therefore  passed  to  the  English- 
Fig.  %.— Chtef  French  Canadian  Settlements  eh  Manitoba. 
Scale  1 :  3,300,000. 


.  02  Miles. 


speaking  settlers,  and  the  disparity  steadily  increases  in  their  favour.  At  the  same 
time,  the  number  of  their  representatives  also  increases  in  the  Legislative 
Assembly. 

This  change  of  ethnical  equilibrium  has  not  been  effected  without  a  certain 
ebullition  of  national  feeling,  and  has  even  given  rise  to  occasional  political  dis- 
turbances. The  French  half-breeds,  suffering  under  real  or  fanciful  injuries 
connected  with  the  land  question  and  their  traditional  privileges,  have  twice  risen 
in  arms  against  their  British  rulers.  Both  revolts  were  easily  quelled  by  the 
Government,  which  was  able  to  draw  an  unlimited  number  of  English  volunteers 
from  Ontario,  and  now  the  Manitoban  half-breeds  appear  to  have  frankly  accepted 
the  situation,  and  given  up  all  thoughts  of  rebellion.  But  they  also  run  the  risk 
of  being  worsted  in  another  and  scarcely  less  important  struggle.  When  the 
provincial  government  was  constituted,  both  languages  were  regarded  as  possessing 


COLONIZATION  OP  TIIE  WINNIPEG  REGION. 


231 


equal  rights,  and  all  official  documents  had  to  he  drawn  up  in  English  and  French. 
Now,  however,  the  British  section  protests  against  this  arrangement,  and  not  only 
insists  on  the  exclusive  use  of  English  by  the  Maui  (ohm  Government,  but  also 


1 


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demands  the  substitution  of  English  for  French  in  the  French  public  schools,  even 
in  districts  where  the  French  element  still  predominates. 

Such  is  the  case  especially  in  the  valleys  of  the  Seine  and  the  Rat  and  in  the 
southern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  Red  River  basin,  in  a  few  districts  of  the  Sale, 


232  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Assiniboine,  Qu'Appelle  and  Mouse  valleys,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Manitoba,  in 
the  Cypress  Hills,  and  on  both  forks  of  the  Saskatchewan.  The  French  element 
is  increasing  by  arrivals  both  from  Lower  Canada  and  the  United  States,  and 
St.  Leon,  in  the  Pembina  district  west  of  Winnipeg,  is  peopled  almost  exclusively 
by  Canadians  from  Massachusetts.  In  recent  years  a  few  hundred  immigrants 
from  France  and  Belgium  (Wallons)  have  annually  settled  among  their  Canadian 
kindred. 

A  fresh  stream  of  Scotch  immigration,  that  of  the  Crofters  from  the  Hebrides, 
has  recently  been  directed  towards  Manitoba,  and  to  all  these  French  and  British 
colonists  have  now  been  added  other  arrivals,  especially  from  the  north  of  Europe. 
Amongst  these  are  the  German  Mennonites,  who  left  Russia  to  escape  from  the 
military  conscription,  and  settled  in  1876,  to  the  number  of  7,000  or  8,000,  in 
"  reserves  "  granted  to  them  on  both  banks  of  the  Red  River.  They  keep  quite 
aloof  from  the  surrounding  populations,  whereas  the  Scandinavians  become  rapidly 
anglicised.  Many  of  these  have  settled  along  the  Paeific  Railway  between  Lake 
Superior  and  the  city  of  Winnipeg,  while  thousands  of  Icelanders  have  occupied 
extensive  tracts  assigned  to  them  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  If  this 
movement  continues  there  will  soon  be  more  Icelanders  in  the  Dominion  than  in 
their  native  land.  They  have  already  their  own  schools  and  newspapers,  and 
amongst  them  the  birth-rate  is  three  times  higher  than  the  mortality. 

Even  some  Mormons  have  found  their  way  into  the  Alberta  district,  where 
they  have  settled  on  the  river  Lee,  south  of  Calgary.  They  are  chiefly  recruited 
amongst  the  Scandinavians,  but  they  have  conformed  to  the  laws  of  the  land  by 
renouncing  polygamy. 

Manitoba  and  the  other  regions  of  the  southern  zone  are  a  sort  of  "  land  of 
promise,"  declared  to  be  "  the  best  wheat-growing  country  in  the  world."  The 
great  valley  partly  watered  by  the  Red  River  presents  considerable  stretches  of 
excellent  arable  land  wherever  the  waters  are  not  collected  in  stagnant  lakes  and 
swamps.  The  intermediate  terrace  also  comprises  vast  tracts  of  productive  soil, 
known  as  the  "  Fertile  Belt,"  and  the  whole  region,  some  260,000  square  miles  in 
extent,  favourable  either  for  tillage  or  stockbreeding,  is  continually  being  enlarged 
according  as  the  settlements  spread  north  or  wrest  in  the  Saskatchewan  basin. 
Here  an  expanse  of  about  80,000  square  miles  is  fringed  on  the  north  by  con- 
tinuous forests,  on  the  west  by  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  the  south  by  the  prairies 
and  saline  plains,  eastwards  by  the  lakes  and  swamps.  Within  these  well-marked 
natural  frontiers,  the  land  presents  the  aspect  of  a  vast  park  pleasantly  diversified 
with  clumps  of  pines  or  aspens,  grassy  prairies,  tall  herbage,  copious  streams 
winding  along  the  foot  of  gently  undulating  hills,  lakes  and  lagoons  flooding  the 
depressions,  and  reflecting  the  surrounding  verdure  in  their  limpid  waters. 

To  the  fertile  soil  corresponds  a  climate  no  less  favourable  for  the  growth  of 
cereals,  but,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contraiy,  the  average  yield  does  not 
exceed  26  bushels  per  acre.  Agriculturalists  regard  the  severe  frosts  as  an 
advantage  for  corn-growing.  The  subsoil,  frozen  to  a  considerable  depth,  thaws 
very  slowly  during  the   summer,  thus  continually  liberating  the  moisture,  which 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGIONS. 


233 


gradually  rises  to  the  surface  by  capillary  attraction.  Other  advantages  are  the 
dry  winters  and  clear  nights,  no  raw,  damp,  cold  weather,  nor  any  of  those  alter- 
nating frosts  and  thaws  so  trying  to  plant  life.  But  in  some  disastrous  years,  the 
spring  is  accompanied  by  clouds  of  locusts  (cahpterm  spretus)  which  are  hatched 
on  the  plateaux  of  Montana  and  Dakota,  and  then  move  north-westwards  parallel 
with  the  Eocky  Mountains,  devouring  all  green  things  along  the  line  of  march. 
In  the  year  1875  great  ravages  were  caused  by  this  plague. 

The  uplands  along  the  slopes  of  the  "  Eockies,"  as  well  as  all  the  fertile 
plateau  region  over  1,500  or  1,600  feet  in  altitude,  are  admirably  suited  for  stock- 
breeding.  Speculators  have  already  introduced  thousands  of  cattle,  which  in  the 
single  district  of  Alberta  numbered  no  less  than  113,000. in  1889.  They  live 
throughout  the  year  on  the  runs,  even  in  the  depth  of  winter  scraping  up  the 

Fig.  98. — T.1V1W   SUKVETED   IN  MANITOBA  AND   THE  FAR  WEST  IN    18S6. 

Scale  1  :  13,000,000. 


Area  of  Preliminary 
Survey. 

Area  of 
Final  Surrey 

snow  in  search  of  herbage,  and  apparently  less  subject  to  disease  than  stall-fed 
animals,  only  during  the  prevalence  of  whirlwinds  the  calves  and  less  hardy  milch- 
eows  have  to  be  hand-fed. 

Cattle  have  already  begun  to  be  exported,  and  despite  the  vast  distance,  the 
Alberta  district  now  sends  thousands  by  the  Pacific  Eailway  to  Montreal,  where 
they  are  shipped  to  England.  Horse-breeding  succeeds  equally  well  in  the 
"  Canadian  Piedmont,"  that  is,  in  Alberta  and  Saskatchewan,  and  these  regions 
are  expected  one  day  to  become  the  chief  centre  of  the  industry  in  the  Dominion. 
Since  18S1  experiments  have  also  been  made  with  sheep-farming,  with  tbe  result 
that  all  the  imported  breeds  have  thriven.  In  certain  districts  they  have  had  to 
be  protected  against  the  wild  dogs  escaping  from  the  Indian  encampments  and 
living  like  wolves  by  the  chase. 

In  the  Eed  River  valley  the  land  has  been  parcelled  out  according  to  the  old 

VOL.  XV.  R 


231 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


Canadian  method  in  parallel  strips  fronting  the  river  and  extending  two  miles  back. 
But  elsewhere  the  surveyed  lands  in  Manitoba  and  neighbouring  districts  have 
been  divided  into  townships,  each  forming  a  perfect  square,  whose  four  sides,  six 
miles  long,  face  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  enclose  an  area  of  exactly  36 
square  miles.  The  townships  themselves  are  subdivided  into  sections  of  640 
acres,  or  one  square  mile,  one  fourth  of  which  (1G0  acres)  constitutes  the  allot- 
ment assigned  to  each  settler,  who  receives  his  title-deeds  after  paying  ten 
dollars  and  keeping  the  plot  under  cultivation  for  three  consecutive  years. 

The  colonist  has  also  the  right  of  purchasing  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  his  homestead  an  equal  number  of  acres,  the  price  of  which,  as  fixed  by  the 


Fig.  99.— Allotment  of  the  Subveyed  Lands. 
Scale  1  :  3.50.000. 


H4°30' 


• 


J 


Lands  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Co. 


Lands  belonging  to  the  State, 
Schools,  and  Hudson  Bay  Co. 

.  G  Miles. 


Government,  varies  with  their  distance  from  the  Pacific  Railway.  These  induce- 
ments have  doubtless  attracted  thousands  of  settlers,  who,  however,  find  that  their 
allotments  lie  at  an  average  distance  of  from  20  to  25  miles  from  the  nearest  railway- 
stations,  while  some  are  so  remote  as  to  be  for  the  present  at  least  quite  useless. 
The  farmer  attempting  to  cultivate  these  parts  is  ruined  by  cartage.  Hence  he  is 
compelled  to  buy  land  near  the  stations,  where  the  ground  not  already  granted  to 
the  Pacific  Railway  Company  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  speculators.* 
Nevertheless,  the  value  of  all  the  land  is  slowly  increasing,  especially  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  towns  and  stations. 

On  both  sides  of  the  trunk  line  and  its  branches  the  country  has  been  divided 
*  Ingersoll,  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 


RESOURCES  01'  THE  WINNIPEG  REGIONS. 


2'6S 


into  five  lateral  zones  of  varying  width,  where  the  upset  price  of  the  plots  increases 
fivefold,  from  four  to  twenty  shillings,  in  exact  proportion  to  the  distance.  Nearly 
everywhere  these  lots  alternate  like  the  squares  of  a  draughtboard  between  the 
two  chief  owners,  the  Canadian  Government  and  the  Pacific  Eailway  Company; 
moreover  two  lots  in  every  thirty-six  are  set  apart  for  the  public  schools,  and  two 
for  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  The  settlers  are  allowed  ten  years  to  pay  the 
purchase  money,  which  bears  interest  at  six  per  cent.  All  this  is  very  well  for 
those  who  have  the  necessary  capital,  and  who  are  able  to  anticipate  the  legal  term 
of  payment.  But  the  majority  have  probably  to  borrow  the  money  exacted  by 
Government,  the  companies  and  private  speculators,  and  may  have  thus  to  pay 
double  interest  before  securing  their  title-deeds. 

But  despite  these  and  other  drawbacks,  Manitoba  is  favourably  distinguished 


Eig.  100. — Route  fbom  England  to  Manitoba  and  Hudson  Bay. 

F?ile  1  :  4S,000,COO. 


"— ..-Pr'nee  Albert 


*=m  0-2O  Miles. 


by  the  relatively  large  number  of  its  independent  resident  landowners ;  of  17,000  not 
more  than  1,000  are  absentees.  At  the  same  time  great  landed  estates  are  already 
being  developed,  apart  from  those  granted  to  the  Hudson  Bay  and  railway 
companies.  A  single  farm  in  the  Qu'Appelle  valley  covers  an  extent  of  100 
square  miles,  and  vhe  plough  here  drives  a  furrow  four  miles  long. 

In  these  regions,  railway  enterprise  precedes  the  arrival  of  immigrants ;  in 
fact  the  lots  are  not  surveyed,  nor  the  sites  of  towns  and  villages  selected  until 
the  rails  have  been  laid  down.  Besides  the  transcontinental  trunk  line  and  that 
connecting  Lake  Winnipeg  with  the  Upper  Mississippi  basin,  others  have  already 
been  constructed  connecting  the  lakes  and  rivers  with  the  chief  markets  of  the 
country.  But  one  important  project  remains  still  unrealised,  a  line  affording 
direct  communication  between  the  agricultural  districts  and  their  natural  outlet, 
Hudson  Bay.  This  sea  is  nearer  to  the  city  of  "Winnipeg  than  is  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  voyage  is  shorter  between  the  Xclson  and 
Churchill  estuaries  and  Liverpool  than  between  this  port  and  New  York. 

x:  2 


33C 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


Unfortunately  Hudson  Bay  la  closed  even  to  steam  navigation  for  at  least  eight 
months  in  the  year,  and  wheat,  the  staple  product  of  Manitoba,  germinates  at  the 
very  time  when  this  inland  sea  becomes  blocked  with  ice.  Nevertheless,  the 
economic  conditions  are  being  gradually  modified  by  the  progress  of  colonisation. 
A  new  railway  running  from  the  Red  River  to  the  confluence  of  the  Saskatchewan 
has  already  diminished  the  distance,  and  the  shortest  line  to  England  should  now 
be  drawn,  not  from  "Winnipeg  City,  but  from  the  Saskatchewan  "  Horn."  New 
industries  have  also  sprung  up,  and  ere  long  coal  and  petroleum  as  well  as  cereals 
will  be  exported  from  these  regions. 

Topography. 

The  chief  branches  of  the  North  Saskatchewan,  flowing  through  a  region  still 
destitute  of  railways,  possess  no  centres  of  population  beyond  a  few  trading  stations. 

Fig.  101. — Cumberland  House  and  the  Lower  Saskatchewan'. 
Scale  1  :  2.500.000. 


62  Miles.    ' 

The  old  Fort  Edmonton,  the  nearest  village  to  the  sources,  is  already  over  180 
miles  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  stands  on  a  high  bluff  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river,  which  is  here  6  GO  feet  wide.  From  this  place  runs  the  most  fre- 
quented route  towards  Athabasca-landing  sit  the  head  of  the  Athabasca-Mackenzie 
navigation.  Saint  Albert,  a  little  to  the  north-west  of  Edmonton,  is  inhabited  by 
agricultural  Krees,  who  have  already  their  houses,  granaries  and  schools. 

Below  Edmonton  follow  at  long  intervals  the  little  stations  of  Victoria,  St. 
Paul,  Fort  Fitt,  and  the  rising  town  of  Battle/ord  at  the  confluence  of  the  Battle 
with  the  North  Saskatchewan.  Lower  down  como  Carleton.  and  Prince  Albert,  the 
latter  capital  of  the  Saskatchewan  district,  and  connected  by  rail  with  AVinnipeg. 
Its  position  in  the  Fertile  Belt  near  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  the  Saskatche- 
wan, and  on  the  natural  highway  leading  over  the   Lochc  portage  northwards  to 


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TOPOGRAPHY  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGIONS. 


237 


the  Mackenzie  basin,  ensures  for  Prince  Albert  a  dominant  place  amongst  the 
future  cities  of  the  Far  West.  Yet  a  more  convenient  commercial  centre  would 
appear  to  be  Fort  la  Coyne,  at  the  confluence  itself  of  the  two  Saskatchewans. 

Then  follows  the  unproductive  swampy  region  of  the  Lower  Saskatchewan, 
where  Cumberland  House,  or  Fort  Cumberland,  was  an  important  trading  station 
before  the  abandonment  of  the  old  northern  routes  by  water  and  the  difficult 
portages. 

The  Upper  South  Saskatchewan  basin  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the 
northern  fork  in  the  density  of  its  population  and  the  number  of  its  towns  and 


Fig.  102. — Uppee  Bantf  Valley— Canadian  Natiokal  Park. 
Scale  1  :  550,003. 


iihvj    Z 


f  i"  feW-"-^x  - 


vi-  v  t, 

JiA  4  ■ 

5*  II5°30;      West  of  Greenw'cH 


12  Miles. 


villages.  This  contrast  is  due  to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Piailway,  which  traverses 
the  whole  region,  and  winds  its  way  upwards  between  the  glaciers  descending 
from  the  Rocky  ilountains.  Here  is  situated  the  rising  town  of  Banff  in  a  wild 
and  romantic  district,  which  with  its  magnificent  cirque,  cascades,  forests  and 
snowy  crests,  has  been  seeused  by  the  Dominion  as  national  property.  The  ther- 
mal waters  of  Banff,  which  stands  at  an  altitude  of  4,500  feet,  are  frequented  by 
a  constantly  increasing  number  of  visitors. 

Lower  down  in  the  same  picturesque  valley  stands  the  flourishing  town  of 
Canmore,  and  quite  on  the  plains  80  miles  from  Banff  the  still  more  important 
station  of  Calgary,  the  chief  centre  of  the  cattle  and  horse  ranches  of  this  extensive 


233 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


stock-breeding  district.  Both  Calgary  and  the  pleasant  little  station  of  MacLeod 
(Alberta),  on  an  affluent  of  the  Belly  Eiver,  are  in  the  neighbourhood  of  coalfields 
which  the  lack  of  firewood  in  the  prairie  region  must  soon  bring  into  requisition. 

Medicine  Hat,  which  occupies  a  favourable  position  at  the  south-west  corner  of 
Assiniboia  below  the  confluence  of  the  Bow  and  Belly  rivers,  and  at  the  junction 
of  two  railways,  also  possesses  coal-mines  which  are  already  being  worked.  Bafoche, 
some  60  miles  above  the  confluence,  marks  the  scene  of  a  victory  gained  by  the 
confederate  troops  over  the  rebel  Bois-Brfdes. 

Rcgina,  capital  of  Assiniboia,  and  seat  of  the  legislature  for  all  the  western 
provinces  between  Manitoba  and  British  Columbia,  lies  on  the  Pacific  Railway  and 
on  an  affluent  of  the  Qu'Appelle  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  district.  In  the 
Qu'Appelle  valley  the  chief  market  also  bears  the  name  of  Qu'AppeHc. 

Fort  Ellice  lies  at  the  confluence  of  this  river  with  the  Assiniboine  ;  it  is 


Fig.  103. — Calgaey  — Approach  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
Fc-.le  1  :  2,000  non. 


%s(£?!p£vfei°J*r':- 


est    i  •■  ,jv'  ;  ' 


West  of  Greenw.ch  II4°30' 


I   v;; 


18  Miles. 


followed  eastwards  by  Birtle  (Bird-tail),  Minnedosa  and  Rapid  City,  all  on  affluents 
of  the  Qu'  Appelle.  In  the  direction  of  Winnipeg  the  centres  of  population  become 
more  and  more  numerous.  The  flourishing  town  of  Brandon,  founded  in  1879  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Assiniboine,  has  increased  rapidly,  as  has  also  Portage- la- 
Prairie,  or  simply  Portage,  built  on  an  isthmus  separating  the  Assiniboine  from 
Lake  Manitoba.  This  formerly  swampy  district  has  been  reclaimed  and  is  now 
the  "  garden  of  Winnipeg." 

As  early  as  1731  the  Canadian  trappers  had  erected  a  little  fort  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Red  River  with  the  Assiniboine.  On  its  site  now  stands  the  "  queen 
of  the  "West,"  the  proud  title  arrogated  to  itself  by  Winnipeg  City.  Several 
trading  stations  had  succeeded  to  the  original  post  of  Fort  Rouge,  and  Fort  Garry, 
the  last  of  these  fortified  stations,  was  still  in  existence  a  few  years  ago. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  THE  WINNIPEG  REGIONS. 


239 


Lut  "Winnipeg,  properly  so  called,  dates  from  about  18U0,  that  is,  after  ibe 
abolition  of  the  monopoly  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  It  increased  with  great 
rapidity  after  Manitoba  had  entered  as  a   sovereign  state  into  the  Canadian  con- 


Fig.  101. — Winnipeg  and  its  Lakes. 
Scale  1  :  3.S5J.0O0. 


v/est  of"  Greenwich 


.  C2  Hiles. 


federacy,  and  especially  after  the  completion  of  the  transcontinental  railway,  of 
which  "Winnipeg  is  the  chief  station  between  the  province  of  Ontario  and  British 
Columbia.  No  less  than  sis  other  lines  of  railway  now  radiate  in  all  directions 
round  the  city,  connecting  it  with  the  United  States  system,  while  another  is  being 
constructed  in  the  direction  of  Duluth,  the  western  emporium  of  Lake  Superior, 


210  NOETII  AMERICA. 

Steamei's  ply  on  all  the  surrounding  rivers  and  lakes,  and  Winnipeg  like  Vancouver 
may  be  said  to  have  sprung  from  the  ground.  In  1868  there  were  no  more  than 
thirty  houses  scattered  round  about  Fort  Garry;  at  present  the  city  possesses  streets 
forty  or  fifty  yards  broad  and  over  three  miles  long.  Public  buildings,  hotels,  and 
palaces  line  the  chief  thoroughfares,  and  parks  have  been  laid  out  in  the  northern 
and  southern  suburbs. 

Winnipeg,  which  in  1871  had  not  a  single  school,  is  now  a  university  town 
with  numerous  denominational  establishments  affiliated  to  the  central  college.  Till 
recently  confined  to  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  two  converging  rivers,  the  city 
has  already  spread  beyond  these  limits,  and  on  the  right  bank  of  the  main  stream 
has  sprung  up  the  almost  exclusively  French- Canadian  town  of  St.  Boniface.  The 
college  of  this  place  is  the  oldest  in  Manitoba,  dating  from  the  year  1818. 

South  of  Winnipeg  the  most  important  place  is  Emerson,  centre  of  the  Men- 
nonito  settlement  close  to  the  United  States  frontier ;  it  occupies  both  banks  of  the 
Red  River,  and  is  largely  inhabited  by  Americans.  Before  the  construction  of  the 
railways  as  many  as  3,000  waggons  annually  passed  through  this  station  on  the 
highway  between  Minnesota  and  Winnipeg,  and  in  anticipation  of  this  inter- 
national traffic  it  received  the  name  of  the  "  Gate  City"  in  1874,  the  year  of  its 
foundation. 

Selkirk,  situated  to  the  north  of  Winnipeg  and  on  the  same  river,  is  also  a  new 
place,  dating  only  from  the  j'ear  1875.  It  stands  on  a  bluff  at  the  head  of  the 
fluvial  navigation,  which  is  interrupted  higher  up  by  the  St.  Andrews'  rapids. 

Beyond  Selkirk  in  the  direction  of  Lake  Winnipeg  begin  the  solitudes,  where 
villages  and  stations  become  rarer  and  rarer.  Nevertheless  here  has  been  founded 
the  Icelandic  settlement  of  Gimli,  or  "  Heaven,"  a  group  of  houses  on  the  left  side 
of  the  lake,  where  they  are  too  much  exposed  to  the  periodical  inundations.  Oppo- 
site Gimli  stands  Fort  Alexander,  a  French-Canadian  colony  commanding  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Winnipeg. 

Norway  House,  so  called  because  founded  by  some  Norwegian  trappers  in  the 
service  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  lies  at  the  northern  end  of  the  lake  near  its 
outlet;  but  it  stands  in  too  remote  a  district  to  attract  any  settled  population,  and 
still  remains  a  mere  trading  post  and  rendezvous  for  hunters. 

From  this  point  to  Port  Churchill,  on  the  estuary  of  like  name,  the  route  along 
the  watercourses  and  across  the  portages  has  a  total  length  of  370  miles.  Near 
the  mouth  of  the  river  stand  the  ruins  of  the  old  Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  built  of 
huge  blocks  of  granite  brought  from  Great  Britain  at  a  cost  of  over  £120,000,  a 
piece  of  extravagance  which  earned  for  the  English  the  name  of  Teo-Tinneh, 
"People  of  the  Stones."  Port  York,  or  Nelson,  in  a  district  growing  potatoes, 
turnips,  radishes,  and  even  flowering  plants,  is  annually  visited  by  a  vessel  freighted 
with  supplies  for  the  barter  trade  with  the  natives.  This  place  competes  with 
Port  Churchill  for  the  honour  of  being  selected  as  the  future  transatlantic  packet 
station,  possessing  the  advantage  over  its  rival  of  lying  nearer  to  settled  and 
cultivated  districts.  But  its  port  is  shallow  and  of  difficult  access,  while  that  of 
Churchill,  though  exposed  to  colder  winds,  is  deep  and  better  sheltered.     Fort 


THE   LA.UEENTIAN   BASIN.  241 

York  is  the  old  Fort  Bourbon,  which  the  French  Canadians  twice  wrested  from 
the  English,  holding  it  till  the  peace  of  Utrecht  in  1713. 

Southwards  along  the  shores  of  the  bay  follow  other  posts  of  the  company,  such 
as  Forts  Sereru  and  Attain/  at  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  of  like  name,  and  Orignal 
or  Moose  Factory  at  the  south-west  corner  of  James  Bay.  This  last,  lying  nearest 
to  the  great  lakes  (only  310  miles  from  Mishipicoten  on  Lake  Superior),  is  the 
head  of  all  the  southern  factories,  and  will  probably  be  the  first  place  on  Hudson 
Bay  to  be  connected  by  rail  with  the  Canadian  railway  system. 


V.— BASIX   OF  THE   GREAT   LAKES  AND  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 
(Provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec.) 

A  part  only  of  the  vast  basin  drained  by  the  St.  Lawrence  is  comprised  within 
the  Canadian  frontier.  The  chief,  or  at  least  the  most  copious  headstreams  doubt- 
less flow  through  the  territory  of  the  Dominion ;  but  to  the  United  States  belongs 
the  St.  Louis,  that  is,  the  watercourse  which  is  usually  regarded  as  the  main 
branch  of  the  river,  because  it  lies  along  the  geographical  axis  of  the  basin.  Even 
a  part  of  the  northern  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  together  wiih  its  chief  island,  is 
included  in  the  State  of  Minnesota,  and  the  whole  of  Lake  Michigan  with  all  the 
surrounding  coastlands  also  belongs  to  the  United  States. 

East  of  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie  the  political  parting  line  follows  the  long  axis 
of  the  lakes  and  their  connecting  channels,  and  even  in  the  lower  part  of  the  basin, 
where  alone  both  sides  are  assigned  to  Canada,  some  of  the  large  tributaries,  such 
as  Lake  Champlain,  are  excluded  from  her  domain.  The  whole  of  the  catchment 
basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  estimated  at  about  586,000  square  miles,  of  which  less 
than  one-half,  say  2SO,000  square  miles,  lies  within  the  Canadian  frontier. 

This  territory,  however,  is  incomparably  the  most  populous  and  wealthiest  part 
of  the  Dominion.  Here  are  concentrated  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion, together  with  all  the  large  towns,  the  industries,  trading  centres,  educational 
establishments,  in  a  word  the  political  and  social  life  of  the  country.  Through  the 
estuary  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  this  section  of  British  North  America  lies  open 
to  Europe,  whence  came  the  first  immigrants,  and  whence  are  annually  received 
fresb  streams  of  population.  From  the  historic  standpoint  also  the  shores  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  constitute  what  is  popularly  understood  by  the  word  "  Canada  "  in  a 
pre-eminent  sense.  So  many  conflicts  have  here  taken  place  between  savages  and 
savages,  between  the  red  men  and  the  whites,  between  whites  and  whites,  this 
region  has  been  the  scene  of  so  many  sudden  political  convulsions  and  epic  dramas, 
that,  compared  with  the  rest  of  North  America,  Canada  alone  might  seem  to  have 
passed  through  a  historic  period.  Even  at  present  this  history  is  continued  by  the 
peaceful  rivalries  of  two  peoples  united  by  the  same  political  institutions,  but 
differing  in  speech,  usages,  religion,  and  even  national  aspirations. 


24-2  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Political  Boundaries. 

Canada  properly  so  called  is  about  exactly  divided  between  the  two  races, 
Ontario  or  the  upper  province  being  inhabited  by  peoples  of  English  speech, 
and  Quebec  or  the  lower  province,  by  the  French  Canadians.  To  these  two 
provinces  have  recently  been  added  the  vast  solitudes,  which  extend  northwards  to 
Hudson  Bay,  but  which  as  yet  possess  no  economic  importance.  The  line  of 
separation  between  Ontario  or  Upper,  and  Quebec  or  Lower  Canada  coincides  very 
closely  with  the  ethnical  and  linguistic  parting  line.  It  follows  the  course  of  the 
river  Ottawa  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Temiscaming  to  within  a  short 
distance  of  its  confluence  with  the  St.  Lawrence.  North  of  the  lake  the  frontier, 
not  yet  accurately  surveyed,  runs  due  north  to  Hudson  Bay. 

North-westwards  Ontario  is  separated  from  the  Keewatin  Territory  by  the 
Albany  River,  while  its  southern  and  south-eastern  frontiers  coincide  with  the 
boundary  line  between  the  Dominion  and  the  United  States.  Quebec  also  is 
conterminous  towards  the  south-east  with  the  Great  Republic,  and  is  partly 
separated  by  Chaleur  Bay  from  the  British  province  of  New  Brunswick ;  but 
towards  Labrador  the  boundary  is  purely  conventional,  following  the  52nd  parallel 
of  north  latitude.  Eastwards  Quebec  is  separated  by  Blanc-Sablon  Bay  on  the 
Strait  of  Belle  Isle  from  the  maritime  district  of  Labrador  attached  to  Newfound- 
land. 

Physical  Features. 

The  St.  Lawrence  basin,  so  remarkable  for  its  vast  lacustrine  reservoirs,  great 
fluvial  artery  and  estuary,  is  traversed  by  no  lofty  ranges.  Even  about  the 
region  of  the  farthest  headstreams  the  only  rising  grounds  are  gently  inclined 
scarps  and  granite  cliffs  polished  and  rounded  by  old  glacial  action.  But  north  of 
Lake  Superior  the  ground  rises  gradually  to  the  chain  which  forms  the  beginning 
of  the  border  range  to  which  Garneau  has  given  the  now  generally  accepted 
designation  of  the  "  Lauren  tides."  This  range,  however,  has  a  mean  height  of 
scarcely  more  than  1,500  or  1,600  feet,  and  Mount  "  Tremblante,"  some  60  miles 
north-west  of  Montreal,  rises  little  above  2,000  feet,  while  the  culminating  points 
near  the  Saguenay  appear  to  be  only  4,000  feet  high.  They  present  a  uniform 
aspect  of  rounded  hills  nearly  everywhere  covered  with  timber,  separated  by  wind- 
ing valleys  with  precipitous  banks  and  by  irregular  lacustrine  depressions. 

The  main  axis  of  the  Laurentides  nowhere  coincides  with  the  hauteur  des  terres, 
that  is,  the  watershed  between  the  streams  flowing  on  the  one  side  to  the  St. 
Lawrence,  on  the  other  to  Hudson  Bay.  Throughout  its  lower  course  and  its 
estuary  the  St.  Lawrence  follows  the  direction  of  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the 
Laurentides. 

Judging  from  the  nature  of  the  geological  formations,  this  mountain  system 
might  appear  to  have  its  origin  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Frozen  Ocean  east  of  the 
Mackenzie.  But  the  scientific  surveys  of  those  remote  regions  are  still  too  defec- 
tive to  enable  geographers  to  determine  with  accuracy  the  general  direction  of  the 
main  axis  running  north-west  and  south-east,  where  the  relief  of  the  land  presents 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  I.AUEEXTIAN  LASIX.  243 

rather  the  form  of  a  plateau  with  denuded  slopes  than  of  a  mountain  range  strictly 
so  called. 

Even  in  the  province  of  Ontario  nothing  occurs  except  irregular  masses  of 
slight  relative  altitude,  whose  normal  trend  it  is  difficult  to  recognise.  The  so- 
called  La  Cloche  "Mountains,"  north  of  the  strait  connecting  Lake  Huron  with 
Georgian  Bay,  are  scarcely  more  than  1,000  feet  high.  Those  which  farther  east 
dominate  Lake  Xipissing  range  from  1,400  to  1,600  feet,  and  even  towards  the 
centre  of  Ontario  between  Ottawa  and  Toronto  the  culminating  point  does  not 
exceed  2,300  feet.  Interrupted  by  the  Ottawa  fluvial  valley,  the  Laurentides  arc 
continued  north-eastwards  parallel  with  the  St.  Lawrence  at  a  mean  distance  of 
about  30  miles  from  its  left  bank.  Jsorth  of  Quebec  it  gradually  approaches  the 
river,  where  it  develops  the  imposing  headland  of  Cape  Tourmente,  nearly  2,000 
feet  high,  followed  lower  down  by  the  still  more  elevated  and  deeply  ravined  bluff 
des  Eboulements  (2,620  feet).  Beyond  the  Saguenay  the  Laurentian  system  is 
continued  along  the  estuary,  where  it  merges  at  last  in  the  granitic  uplands  of 
Labrador. 

The  Laurentides  consist  almost  exclusively  of  metamorphic  rocks,  old  sedi- 
mentary deposits  afterwards  highly  crystallised  during  the  course  of  ages.  They 
are  the  oldest  known  stratified  formations  on  the  American  continent,  and  probably 
correspond  with  the  old  gneiss  formations  of  Scotland  and  Scandinavia.  Through- 
out the  whole  orographic  system  the  northern  rocks  were  deposited  at  such  a 
remote  epoch  that  they  have  preserved  no  traces  of  animal  or  vegetable  organisms. 
But  the  southern  ranges  belong  to  more  recent  periods,  and  here  have  been  found 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  fossil  remains  preserved  in  our  geological  museums. 

"Where  the  limestones  crop  out  the  soil  is  generally  very  fertile,  and  here 
nearly  all  the  village  settlements  have  been  founded,  the  less  productive  gneiss 
and  quartz  regions  being  relatively  uninhabited.  Since  the  formation  of  the 
fossiliferous  strata  great  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  relief  of  the  land.  In 
the  clays  of  Montreal  have  been  found  the  skeletons  of  a  cetacean  and  of  a  species 
of  seal,  and  higher  up  banks  of  like  formation  filled  with  marine  shells  occur  560 
feet  above  the  present  sea-level. 

South  of  the  St.  Lawrence  the  heights  skirting  the  river  correspond  in  general 
disposition  with  the  northern  system  of  the  Laurentides.  Beginning  abruptly 
with  the  Gaspe  headland,  they  skirt  the  right  bank  very  closely,  leaving  only  a 
narrow  beach  between  the  water  and  their  slopes.  These  heights,  called  the 
Shikshak  Mountains  in  East  Gaspe,  present  steep  escarpments  with  rounded 
crests,  of  gloomy  monotonous  aspect,  unrelieved  by  any  variety  of  outline.  Even 
the  culminating  points,  which  fall  below  4,000  feet,  rise  little  above  the  mean 
altitude  of  the  range.  Farther  east,  where  the  system  takes  the  name  of  Kbtre- 
Dame,  the  range  gradually  diminishes  in  height,  and  diverges  somewhat  from  the 
St.  Lawrence,  ultimately  merging  in  the  waterparting  between  the  estuary  and 
the  Atlantic. 

Its  ramifications,  occupying  the  part  of  the  province  of  Quebec  called  the 
Eastern  Townships,  are  connected  in  United  States  territory  with  the  Green  Moun- 


244 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


tains,  that  is,  the  chief  terminal  branch  of  the  Appalachian  system.  The  chains 
are  broken  by  broad  gaps,  through  which  communication  is  effected  between  the 
Laurentian  and  Atlantic  slopes.  Such  is  the  depression  flooded  by  the  elongated 
Lake  Meinphremagog,  which  runs  parallel  with  the  White  and  Green  Mountains 


Fig.  10.3. — Lake  Mekpheemaqoo. 

Scale  1  :  400,000. 


West  of  C-*env^h       72°  ,5 


i  G  Miles. 


east  and  west,  and  which  sends  its  overflow  through  the  St.  Francis  to  the  St. 
Lawrence. 

Between  the  two  ranges  skirting  the  St.  Lawrence  the  plains  on  both  sides 
have  been  pierced  by  a  few  eruptive  cones,  such  as  the  Mont  Royal,  which  gives 
its  name  to  the  largest  city  in  Canada  (Mont-real) .  From  the  summit  of  this 
superb  basalt  eminence  are  visible  other  igneous  heights,  such  as  Montarville, 
rising  above  the  low-lying  plains  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Richelieu ; 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  LAUBENTIAN  BASIN. 


245 


Beloeil,  so  named  from  the  fine  view  commanded  by  this  isolated  peak ;  Eougemout 
and  several  other  eminences  of  volcanic  origin. 

The  general  aspect  of  the  Laurentian  basin,  enclosed  north  and  south  by  two 
ranges  of  vast  antiquity  and  elsewhere  occupied  by  more  recent  formations,  bears 
evidence  of  the  comparative  repose  which  has  prevailed  throughout  this  region 
during  a  series  of  geological  epochs.  In  fact  the  main  geographical  features  of 
the  land  appear  to  have  undergone  little  change,  beyond  those  modifications  due 
to  erosion,  and  to  the  accumulation  of  glacial,  lacustrine,  and  fluvial  deposits. 

A  remarkable  proof  of  this  persistence  of  the  main  physical  outlines  is  afforded 
by  the  shore-line,  which  is  developed  in  semicircular  form  for  over  600  miles 
from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  entrance  of  Georgian  Bay. 


Fig\    10(i. — SmTBIAN   EsCABPltBST   EETTVEEX   CHICAGO  AXD  KlAGAEA. 
Scale  1  :  11,000,000. 


250  Atilcs. 


Xorth  of  Chicago  the  Silurian  formations  sweep  round  the  Michigan  waters, 
developing  a  regular  line  of  cliffs  along  the  west  coast  as  far  as  Green  Bay.  Here 
they  are  interrupted  by  a  broad  gap,  but  are  indicited  by  islands  and  reefs,  and 
reappear  north  of  the  bay,  running  thence  north  and  east  along  the  north  side  of 
Mackinac  Strait  and  Lake  Huron.  On  its  south  side  the  large  island  of  Manitoulin 
forms  part  of  this  silurian  system,  whereas  the  north  shore  facing  the  Laurentides 
presents  very  irregular  outlines.  The  entrance  of  Georgian  Bay  forms  another 
break,  beyond  which  the  escarpment  is  continued  round  the  east  side  of  Lake 
Huron  along  the  foot  of  the  so-called  Blue  Mountains,  1,500  or  1,G00  feet  high. 
It  even  extends  across  the  province  of  Ontario  in  a  south-easterly  direction  to  the 
south  side  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  it  is  pierced  by  the  river  Niagara.  The  falls 
themselves  stood  originally  at  this  point,  but  gradually  receded  southwards  with 
the  continual  erosion  of   the  fluvial  gorge.      From  the  same  silurian  limestone 


246  NOBTH  AMERICA. 

cliffs  were  also  precipitated  the  other  cascades  of  lh?  rivers  flowing  through  the 
state  of  New  York  northwards  to  Lake  Ontario,  whose  southern  shores  must  at 
that  epoch  have  presented  a  spectacle  of  stupendous  magnificence.  Farther  on 
the  escarpment  is  continued  inland,  extending  north  of  the  Mohawk  Yalley 
towards  the  Hudson,  and  at  last  merging  in  the  Adirondack  Mountains. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. 

The  St.  Lawrence  is  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  globe  whose  geological 
history  is  least  developed.  Not  more  than  about  a  seventh  part  of  the  whole 
catchment  basin  forms  a  regular  fluvial  bed,  and  even  this  watercourse  expands  at 
several  points  to  fill  such  lacustrine  basins  as  those  of  St.  Francis,  St.  Louis,  and 
St.  Peter.  All  the  upper  part  of  the  basin  as  far  as  the  Thousand  Islands  is  still 
occupied  by  the  great  lakes,  themselves  a  remnant  of  the  vast  inland  sea,  which 
after  the  melting  of  the  ice-cap  stretched  far  into  the  interior  of  the  continent. 
At  its  lower  extremity  also  the  so-called  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  merely  a 
broad  marine  inlet ;  for  this  river  has  no  delta  and  the  sea  may  be  said  to  begin  at 
Quebec.  Evidently  it  is  of  relatively  recent  formation,  young,  for  instance,  as 
compared  with  the  Nile.  Even  where  it  assumes  the  character  of  a  river  in  the 
strict  sense,  it  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  regulating  its  banks  by  developing  a 
regularly  alternating  succession  of  normal  meanderings  in  accordance  with  the  law 
of  "reciprocal  curves." 

Lake  Superior  and  its  Affluents. 

The  vast  lacustrine  basins  of  the  upper  course,  which  formerly  drained  on  the 
one  hand  towards  Hudson  Bay,  on  the  other  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but 
which  at  present  belong  to  the  Laurentian  slope,  still  continue  the  process  of 
exhaustion  by  the  accumulation  of  sedimentary  deposits,  but  with  extreme  slow- 
ness. The  surrounding  heights  are  "of  low  elevation  and  consist  of  hard  rocks, 
which  resist  the  action  of  water  and  weathering.  On  the  other  hand  the  tributary 
streams  are  mostly  lacustrine  emissaries,  bringing  down  little  sediment  and  hold- 
ing nothing  in  solution  except  chemical  substances.  Then  the  great  lakes  them- 
selves are  so  vast  and  so  deep,  that  the  alluvial  matter  deposited  by  these  tributaries 
seems  infinitesimal. 

It  is  further  to  be  considered  that  long  geological  ages  will  be  required  to  wear 
away  the  fluvial  beds  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Ontario,  at  Niagara  Falls  between  Erie 
and  Ontario,  and  at  the  Sault  Sainte-Maric  ("  Saint  Mary  Falls  ")  between  Superior 
and  Huron.  Nevertheless  a  rough  estimate  may  be  formed  of  the  time  needed  to 
empty  the  Canadian  "  Mediterranean,"  and  thus  convert  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  to 
a  normal  watercourse  from  its  source  to  its  mouth.  If  45,000  years  be  required  to 
efface  the  comparatively  insignificant  Lake  of  Geneva  fed  by  the  Rhone  and  the 
Dranse,  both  rich  in  sedimentary  matter,*  it  would  take  their  limpid  affluents  at 
least  50  million  years  to  fill  up  the  great  Canadian  reservoirs. t 

*  F.  A.  Forel,  Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  Faudoise  det  Sciences  naturelles,  November,  1888. 

t  Greenlcaf,  Water-Power  of  the  North-Westem  Stales,  United  States  Census  fur  1881,  vol.  xvii. 


LIBRARY 
IVERSITYoflLUNG 


LAKE  SUPERIOR.  247 

The  St.  Louis  is  regarded  as  the  main  branch  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  because  it 
falls  into  the  western  or  farthest  extremity  of  Lake  Superior.  Nevertheless  this 
lake  receives  other  affluents  quite  as  large  and  even  larger  than  the  St.  Louis, 
which,  although  rising  30  miles  north  of  the  lake  and  over  GO  miles  from  its 
western  extremity,  has  its  source  in  United  States  territory  in  the  midst  of  a 
lacustrine  district  standing  about  1,000  feet  higher  than  Lake  Superior.  After 
flowing  west  and  south-west  as  if  to  join  the  Mississippi,  with  which  it  might 
easily  be  connected  by  a  canal,  the  St.  Louis  trends  east  and  south-east,  traversing 
an  extremely  rugged  district  through  a  series  of  falls  and  rapids  constantly 
varying  in  form  and  height.  In  the  12  or  14  last  miles  of  its  course  it  has  a  total 
incline  of  460  feet,  with  a  mean  discharge  of  about  1,200  cubic  feet  per  second. 

At  Thunder  Bay  on  its  north-west  side  Lake  Superior  receives  the  contributions 
of  the  Kaniinistiquia,  whose  basin  is  entirely  comprised  within  Canadian  territory. 
From  the  peaty  ground  where  it  rises  this  river  receives  a  blackish  water  charged 
with  vegetable  humus,  and  flows  sluggishly  through  an  almost  flat  plain  to  the  pic- 
turesque island- studded  Great  Dog  Lake.  At  the  outlet  of  this  reservoir  the  Little 
Dog  River,  as  it  is  here  called,  descends  rapidly  over  a  series  of  six  falls,  whose 
foaming  waters  rushing  between  pine-clad  slopes  may  all  be  seen  from  several 
projecting  ledges.  Lower  down  the  Kaniinistiquia,  or  "Wandering  River,"  escapes 
from  the  region  of  gneiss  and  granites,  and  at  Kakabeka,  the  "  Split  Rock," 
develops  a  magnificent  fall  120  feet  high  above  the  delta  where  it  enters  Lake 
Superior  through  three  branches. 

Eastwards  follows  another  considerable  affluent,  the  Black  Sturgeon.  But  the 
most  copious  feeder  of  Lake  Superior  is  the  Nipigon,  which  rises  in  the  lake  of  the 
same  name,  the  Annimibigon  of  the  Indians.  This  vast  sheet  of  water,  which 
some  geographers  propose  to  include  in  the  group  of  the  "Great  Canadian  Lakes," 
stretches  some  60  miles  north  and  south  and  about  50  miles  east  and  west  with  a 
total  area  of  3,000  square  miles.  But  much  of  this  space  is  occupied  by  several 
hundred  islands  of  all  sizes,  in  several  places  completely  masking  the  real  contours 
of  the  lake.  Nipigon,  which  has  an  extreme  depth  of  540  feet,  receives  on  its 
north-west  side  its  chief  affluent,  the  Ombabika,  from  a  lakelet  of  double  outflow, 
which  also  sends  an  emissary  through  the  Albany  to  Hudson  Bay. 

Tho  Nipigon  emissary,  that  is,  the  Nipigon  River,  has  a  total  decline  of  250 
feet  in  a  course  of  46  miles,  during  which  it  traverses  a  series  of  alternating  lake- 
lets and  rapids  with  such  velocity  that  within  the  last  30  years  it  is  said  to  have 
eroded  its  rocky  bed  to  a  depth  of  40  inches.  After  its  junction  with  Lake 
Superior  its  course  is,  so  to  say,  continued  by  Nipigon  Strait,  a  channel  flanked  by 
basaltic  walls,  whicb  like  the  columns  of  Fingal's  Cave  are  hollowed  out  by  the 
waves  at  their  base. 

Farther  east  Lake  Superior  is  joined  by  the  Mickipicoten,  another  large  stream, 
which  with  its  portages  and  those  of  the  Moose  River  offers  the  shortest  route 
between  the  Great  Lakes  and  Hudson  Bay. 

Superior,  largest  and  deepest  of  the  American  reservoirs,  and  the  most  exten- 
sive freshwater  basin  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  stretches  east  and  west  a  distance 


248 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  about  3GG  miles  with  an  extreme  breadth  of  1G0  miles,  and  a  total  coastline  of 
no  less  than  1,740  miles  including  all  the  secondary  buys  and  inlets.  The  Kitehi 
Garni,  or  "  Great  Lake,"  as  the  surrounding  Ojibways  call  it,  has  the  general  form 
of  a  crescent  with  its  convex  side  facing  northwards  ;  but  the  regularity  of  the 
southern  contour-line  is  broken  by  the  long  projecting  horn  of  the  Keweenaw 
peninsula. 

In  the  central  parts,  the  soundings  generally  reveal  depths  of  G50  feet,  and 
north  of  the  Keweenaw  peninsula  Reynolds  discovered  a  sub-lacustrine  ridge, 
where  the  plummet  fell  rapidly  from  730  to  1,150  feet,  though  this  record  is 
contradicted  by  others  taken  by  the  same  explorer,  and  showing  only  850  feet  at 
this  very  spot.  His  chart,  however,  indicates  1,000  feet  at  a  point  more  to  the 
north-east.      In   any    case   the  lacustrine   bed  falls    below   the   surface   of  the 

Fig-.  107.-   Lake  Suk  i 

So  il 


0to50 
Fathoms. 


.Depths. 


50  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


126  Miles. 


Atlantic,  above  which  the  lake  stands  at  a  mean  height  of  not  more  than  630 
feet. 

The  mud  brought  up  from  the  bottom  consists  almost  everywhere  of  a  sticky 
clay,  which  rapidly  hardens  in  the  air,  and  which  contains  innumerable  little 
shells.  The  water,  fed  by  hundreds  of  torrents  from  the  live  rock,  is  so  limpid 
that  near  the  shore  the  sands  and  shingle  may  be  seen  at  a  depth  of  several  yards. 
Little  alluvial  matter  is  brought  down  by  the  floods,  and  this  is  mostly  deposited 
about  the  deltas.  On  the  other  band,  the  surrounding  catchment  basin  is  relatively 
very  narrow,  so  that  the  general  lacustrine  level  never  varies  more  than  about 
three  feet. 

Superior  is  subject  to  the  full  fury  of  the  northern,  north-western,  and  north- 
eastern gales,  sweeping  uninterruptedly  over  the   plains  from  the  Polar  Sea  and 


LAKE   SUPERIOR. 


249 


Hudson  Bay,  lashing  its  waters  into  tremendous  waves,  and  at  times  strewing  its 
surface  with  wreckage. 

Sandy  beaches  occur,  especially  on  the  west  side,  hut  the  basin  is  mostly 
encircled  by  rocky  cliffs  such  as  the  eruptive  masses  commanding  the  entrance  of 
Thunder  Bay,  where  Pie  Island  rises  to  a  height  of  850  feet,  and  on  the  south 
side  the  "  Pictured  Rocks,"  variegated  sandstone  walls  near  Great  Island.  The 
central  parts  are  entirely  free  from  rocks,  reefs,  or  islands,  all  of  which  occur  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  coast.  Such  are  St.  Ignace  Island,  whose  basalt  masses  rise  to 
a  height  of  1,440  feet  over  against  Xipigon  Bay,  and  Royal  Island,  the  largest 


Fig.  108. — Nobtheen  Bats  op  Lake  Supeeiob. 
Scale  1  :  200,000. 


0  to  60 
Fathoms. 


Depths. 


50  to  100 

Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  npwards. 


30  Miles. 


in  the  lake,  which,  although  lying  in  Canadian  waters,  is  included  in  United 
States  territory. 

This  island,  which  extends  south-west  and  north-east,  a  length  of  44  with 
a  breadth  of  not  more  than  7  miles,  presents  quite  a  unique  formation.  It  forms  a 
group  of  dolfite  cliffs  varying  in  height,  but  nowhere  exceeding  580  feet,  and  all 
disposed  side  by  side  in  narrow  ridges,  sharp  as  knife-blades,  with  intervening 
narrow  glens  occupied  by  meadows,  meres,  and  lakes.  The  upper  rocks  are 
harder  than  the  lower,  so  that  the  periphery  has  everywhere  been  eroded  by  the 
waves. 

Michipicoten,  another  large  island  on  the  Canadian  side,  is  also  formed  of 

vol.  xv.  s 


250 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


eruptive  rocks  over  650  feet  high,  but  they  are  disposed  in  a  regular  oval  mass 
connected  by  a  submarine  sill  with  the  neighbouring  Caribou  Island,  noted  for  its 
rich  copper  mines. 

Lakes  Huron  and  Erie. 

In  Whitefish  Bay,  at  the  south-east  angle  of  the  lake,  the  overflow  is  dis- 
charged through  the  winding  channel  of  the  St.  Mary,  which  emissary  varies 
from  about  half  a  mile  to  over  a  mile  in  width.  Between  its  low  sandstone 
banks,  the  current  is  obstructed  by  a  rocky  ledge,  forming  the  famous  "  sault,"  16 
to  18  feet  high,  which  was  discovered  in  1641  by  the  missionaries  Raynibault  and 


Kg.  109. — Royal  Island. 
Scale  1  :  650,000. 


0to50 
Fathoms. 


Depths. 


50  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


12  Miles. 


Jogues,  and  which  for  many  years  arrested  the  navigation  between  the  lower 
lakes  and  Superior.  But  for  over  half  a  century  this  obstacle  has  been  turned, 
and  riverain  craft  can  now  ascend  from  Belle  Isle  to  the  St.  Louis  Elver,  a  total 
distance  of  2,100  miles  from  the  Atlantic. 

Below  the  rapids  the  St.  Mary  River  is  divided  into  two  branches,  each  of 
which  again  ramifies  into  numerous  channels  winding  between  a  chain  of  low 
willow-grown  islands.  The  southern  branch  falls  directly  into  Lake  Huron,  while 
the  northern  is  continued  by  the  North  Channel  along  the  Canadian  shore  to 
Georgian  Bay,  the  great  north-eastern  inlet  of  Lake  Huron.  The  regular  line  of 
insular  land  between  these  two  basins  includes  the  Great  Manitoulin  Island,  the 


LAKES  HURON  AND  EKIE.  251 

largest  in  the  whole  basin  of  the  Canadian  Mediterranean.  This  sacred  land, 
abode  of  the  "  Supreme  Manitu,"  consists  mainly  of  silurian  limestones  scored 
with  deep  fissures,  and  pierced  by  grottos.  Murray  attributes  to  underground 
currents  the  phenomenon  here  presented  by  Lake  Manitu- Waning,  which,  though 
fed  only  by  a  little  surface  rivulet,  nevertheless  gives  rise  to  a  very  copious 
emissary.  The  Cockburn  and  Drummond  islands  lying  farther  west  are  also 
known  by  the  names  of  Middle  and  West  Manitoulin. 

Georgian  Bay  is  sufficiently  distinct  from  Huron  to  be  regarded  as  a  separate 
basin.  It  communicates  with  the  main  reservoir  only  through  the  winding  passages 
of  North  Channel,  and  by  the  island-studded  straits  flowing  between  Great 
Manitoulin  and  Saugeen,  or  Indian  Peninsula.  It  also  contrasts  with  Huron  in 
the  greater  irregularity  of  its  shores,  which  are  carved  into  deep  inlets  and  even 
fjords  penetrating  far  inland  between  steep  rocky  walls.  In  the  central  parts,  it 
is  very  deep,  and  even  near  Cabot  Head,  the  promontory  of  Indian  Peninsula,  a 
trough  has  been  discovered  over  500  feet  deep. 

Of  all  the  great  Canadian  basins  Georgian  Bay  receives  the  greatest  relative 
supply  of  water.  The  two  large  lakes  Nipissing  and  Tamagaming,  besides 
numerous  smaller  reservoirs,  send  it  their  overflow  through  French  River,  one  of 
the  most  romantic  streams  in  Canada.  Tamagaming  is  one  of  the  few  basins 
which  have  a  double  outlet,  one  through  the  Montreal  emissary  to  the  Ottawa,  the 
other  to  Lake  Nijfissing,  a  deep  reservoir  where  Morin  has  recorded  soundings  of 
630  feet.  Nipissing  itself  is  also  said  to  have  two  emissaries,  one  through  the 
French  River  to  Georgian  Bay,  the  other  underground  to  the  Mattawan  tributary 
of  the  Ottawa.  But  however  this  be,  the  French  River  alone  represents  a  very 
copious  outflow,  estimated  at  over  9,000  cubic  feet  per  second. 

Other  large  feeders  of  Georgian  Bay  are  the  Maganetawan  and  the  Severn, 
which  carries  off  the  overflow  of  the  large  Lake  Simcoe  and  of  several  other 
smaller  basins  in  the  province  of  Ontario. 

Huron,  which  Champlain  called  the  "  Freshwater  Sea,"  is  about  half  the  size 
of  Superior,  which  it  resembles  in  its  general  outline,  only  that  it  is  disposed  not 
east  and  west,  but  north  and  south.  With  the  vast  Lake  Michigan,  which  lies 
entirely  within  the  United  States,  it  forms  an  enormous  semicircle  fringed  by  the 
already  described  silurian  escarpments.  The  middle  of  this  semicircle  is  filled  by 
the  Michigan  Peninsula,  the  exact  centre  of  which  is  occupied  by  a  carboniferous 
basin.  All  the  surrounding  hills  bear  traces  in  their  terraced  beaches  of  the  vast 
inland  sea  which  at  one  time  covered  all  the  peninsulas  at  present  intervening 
between  the  Great  Lakes. 

According  to  a  legend  probably  of  Indian  origin,  Huron  is  the  deepest  of  all 
the  Laurentian  lakes,  and  a  sounding-line  1800  feet  long  is  said  to  have  failed  to 
touch  the  bottom  near  the  entrance  of  Saginaw  Bay  on  the  west  side.  Neverthe 
less,  the  carefully  executed  soundings  of  the  American  marine  indicate  an  average 
depth  of  not  more  than  160  feet  in  this  region.  The  deepest  trough  lies  about 
midway  between  Thunder  Bay  and  the  entrance  to  Georgian  Bay,  which  is  700 
feet  deep.     The  bed  rises  gradually  towards  the  shores,  but  offers  only  a  very  few 

s2 


252 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


available  anchoring-grounds.  To  tins  cause,  combined  with  its  more  northerly 
position  beyond  the  main  line  of  railway  from  New  York  and  New  England,  is  due 
the  absence  of  large  ports,  such  as  those  tbat  have  sprung  up  on  Lakes  Michigan, 
Erie,  and  Ontario. 

Tbe  Michillimackinac,  or  Mackinaw  Strait,  through  which  Huron  com- 
municates with  Michigan,  stands  like  Georgian  Bay  at  the  same  level  as  the 
basins  themselves.  Consequently  all  three  form  a  single  sheet  of  water  at  the 
common  elevation  of  595  feet  above  the  Atlantic. 

Lake  Simcoe,  the  "Wentaron  of  the  Indians,  and  "  Lac  des  Claies "  of  the 
French    Canadians,    now   communicates   with    Georgian    Bay   only    through  a 

Fig.  110.— Lake  Hueon  and  Georoian  Bat. 
Scale  1  :  6,000,000. 


Depths. 


0  to  50 
Fathoms. 


50  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 

60  Miles. 


fluvial  channel,  but  it  represents  a  broad  strait  by  which  Huron  was  formerly 
connected  witb  Lake  Ontario,  thus  converting  into  an  island  tbe  present  thickly- 
peopled  peninsular  region  of  the  province  of  Ontario. 

At  the  southern  extremity  of  Huron  the  sandy  bed  gradually  rises  to  within 
23  feet  of  the  surface,  thus  forming  a  bar  at  the  head  of  the  St.  Clair  (Sainte 
Claire)  emissary.  This  river,  which  is  accessible  to  large  vessels,  winds  along  in 
a  tranquil  stream  broken  by  no  rapids,  and  at  an  average  incline  of  a  little  over 
balf  an  inch  in  the  mile,  but  about  the  middle  of  its  course  it  ramifies  amid 
shallows,  where  a  navigable  canal  has  had  to  be  constructed.  After  traversing 
Lake  St.  Clair,  it  takes  the  name  of  Detroit,  and  a  few  miles  below  the  city  of 
tbat  name  falls  into  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie.    Its  mean  discbarge,  which  varies 


LAKES  HURON  AND  ERIE. 


253 


little  throughout  the  year,  is  estimated  at  about  250,000  cubic  feet  per  second. 
But  this  estimate  seems  too  low  when  compared  with  the  volume  of  the  Niagara 
River,  which  should  be  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  St.  Clair  slightly  increased 
by  the  few  insignificant  affluents  of  Lake  Erie. 

The  chief  tributary  of  the  Detroit  is  the  Thames,  which  traverses  the  most 
thickly-inhabited  and  best-cultivated  district  in  Ontario. 

Lake  Erie,  that  is,  "  Cherry  Lake,"  is  the  southernmost  of  the  great  Canadian 
basins.  It  is  crossed  by  the  forty-second  parallel,  and  consequently  lies  under 
about  the  same  latitude  as  the  Adriatic  and  the  Gulf  of  Lions.  It  is  also  disposed 
south-west  and  north-east  nearly  in  a  line  with  the  axis  of  the  lower  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  while  its  somewhat  regular  oval  form  shows  that  it  has  reached  the 
transitional  stage  between  a  lacustrine  basin  and  a  fluvial  channel      Even  in  its 


Fig.  111. — Laxe  Eeib. 
Scale  1  :  4,000,000. 


Depths. 


0  to  32 
Feet. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


SO  to  160 
Feet. 


160  Feet 
and  upwards 


60  Miles. 


comparative  shallowness,  averaging  only  50  feet  with  an  extreme  depth  of  200  off 
Long  Point  on  the  east  side,  it  approaches  more  to  the  character  of  a  river. 

Of  all  the  great  basins  Erie  alone  has  its  bed  at  a  higher  elevation  than  the 
level  of  the  Atlantic.  The  whole  reservoir  forms  three  successive  terraces  :  the 
western,  25  to  40  feet  deep,  the  central,  60  to  80,  and  the  eastern,  where  occur  the 
greatest  depths.  The  western  constitutes  an  almost  independent  basin  separated 
from  the  rest  by  the  long  promontory  of  Point  Pele,  continued  southwards  by  the 
island  of  the  same  name  and  another  sandbank.  In  some  places  the  bed  is 
composed  of  sand  and  clay,  but  more  generally  of  mud  formed  by  the  disintegration 
of  the  surrounding  limestone  cliffs.  The  navigation  is  much  endangered  both  by 
sandbanks  and  shallows  along  the  shelving  beach,  and  in  winter  by  the  ice, 
especially  in  the  southern  parts,  which  remain  frozen  longer  than  elsewhere. 


254  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Niagara  River  and  Falls. 

At  its  north-east  extremity  Erie  sends  its  overflow  to  Ontario  through  the 
famous  Niagara  River  of  the  Iroquois,  a  name  of  which  various  forms  and 
meanings  are  given  by  etymologists*  The  river  is  only  about  36  miles  long,  but 
the  difference  of  level  between  the  two  lakes  is  no  less  than  330  feet,  and  at  one 
plunge  about  half  of  this  difference,  say  150  feet,  is  cleared.  The  silurian 
escarpment  which  encircles  Lakes  Michigan  and  Huron,  and  which  also  skirted 
Lake  Erie  before  its  partial  exhaustion,  is  here  broken  by  the  force  of  the  waters. 
But  this  is  a  comparatively  recent  event  in  the  geographical  history  of  the  globe, 
and  the  river  has  only  had  time  to  transform  its  falls  to  rapids  for  about  half  of 
its  original  "  high  level "  course.  Hence  it  still  flows  tranquilly  from  Erie  to  the 
stupendous  cataracts,  and  thence  tumultuously  towards  Ontario,  the  cataracts  lying 
almost  midway  between  the  upper  and  lower  reservoir.  But  the  early  documents 
assign  a  far  greater  elevation  to  the  falls,  Joliet  amongst  others  asserting  that 
"  Lake  Erie  falls  into  Lake  Frontenac  (Ontario)  by  a  fall  of  120  toises,"  t  while 
Hennepin  estimates  the  plunge  at  "  600  feet." 

At  its  outlet  close  to  Buffalo,  the  emissary,  here  about  650  feet  broad,  flows 
at  first  in  a  placid  current  northwards,  and  then  ramifies  into  two  broad  branches 
encircling  Grand  Island.  Below  this  island,  which  is  12  miles  long,  the  reunited 
stream  resembles  a  lake,  expanding  to  about  two  miles  between  its  low- lying  banks. 
So  far  it  has  fallen  only  20  feet,  flowing  at  an  average  depth  of  25  to  30  feet. 
But  at  the  confluence  of  the  Chippewa,  on  its  left  bank,  the  incline  becomes  more 
decided,  and  the  current  grows  more  and  more  rapid  between  its  converging 
banks.  First  are  developed  long  sinuous  undulations,  then  chopping  white-crested 
waves,  as  the  stream  is  parted  into  two  branches,  which  sweep  in  tremendous 
rapids,  and  with  irresistible  velocity,  round  both  sides  of  the  densely  wooded  Goat 
Island.  On  the  right,  the  smaller  branch,  contracted  to  a  breadth  of  less  than 
500  feet,  rushes  wildly  amid  the  projecting  rocks  and  ledges  along  the  American 
side  ;  on  the  left,  the  main  branch,  comprising  over  four- fifths  of  the  whole 
volume,  fills  a  semicircular  amphitheatre  over  a  mile  in  all  directions,  where  the 
liquid  masses  expand  into  a  vast  chaos  of  angry  waters.  Viewed  from  the  southern 
point  of  Goat  Island,  the  two  inclined  streams,  whose  foaming  crests  shut  out 
all  perspective  higher  up,  seem  to  descend  from  "  the  windows  of  heaven."  The 
observer  is  overwhelmed  with  awe  at  the  sight  of  these  prodigious  floods,  appar- 
ently rushing  headlong  from  the  near  horizon,  and  lower  down  suddenly  vanishing 
out  of  sight. 

The  "American"  and  "Canadian  "  Falls,  as  they  are  respectively  called,  are 
parted  by  the  northern  bluff  of  Goat  Island  facing  the  chasm,  one  plunging  in  a 
relatively  thin  sheet  slightly  concave  towards  the  centre,  the  other  developing  the 
vast  semicircle  of  the  "Horseshoe  Falls,"  a  name,  however,  which  is  scarcely  any 

*  Such  are  Niakare,  "  Great  Noise ;  "  Oniahgarah,  "  Thunder  of  Waters  ;  "  Onyahrah,  "Passage 
between  two  lakes  ;  "  Onghiahrah,  name  of  an  ancient  riverain  tribe. — (Picturesque  Canada.) 

t  The  old  French  toisc  answered  to  the  English  fathom,  being  equivalent  to  0  French,  or  6'396 
English  feet. 


Nl  AC  ARI 


Il.N'LS  ul    LRUS) 

lM*  1875 

1: 

i . 

0 


FALLS. 


Grass-island 


e    sisters  ■  islands 


A  G         A         Jt  A 


R  I  V        E         R 


of    Greenwich 


29°a 


01   TilE  UAKADIAN  FALL . 

1886  1889 

500. 


~1100  Yards. 


XIAGAEA  FALLS.  255 

longer  justified.  Like  so  many  other  Canadian  cascades,  it  forms  rather  a 
"chaudiere,"  or  "  cauldron,"  where  the  sheets  of  whitish  and  emerald  green  water 
descend  on  three  sides  into  a  common  basin,  and  where  they  disappear  for  a 
moment  in  a  dense  mass  of  ascending  vapours.  Thus  to  the  downward  rush 
corresponds  an  upward  movement,  caused  by  the  recoil  of  a  great  river  suddenly 
precipitated  into  a  deep  chasm,  where  its  waters  are  torn  by  a  hundred  hidden  reefs 
and  dissolved  into  clouds  of  mist,  which  continually  roll  up  and  are  re-condensed 
in  the  higher  atmospheric  strata,  again  descending  on  the  surrounding  heights  in 
the  form  of  rain,  where  the  sun  describes  an  ever-shifting  rainbow. 

At  times,  the  thunder  of  the  waters  is  wafted  to  a  considerable  distance  on  the 
breeze  ;  but  as  a  rule  the  visitor  is  surprised  by  the  apparent  stillness,  and  even 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Falls  misses  the  deafening  roar  supposed  to  be 
heard  far  and  wide.  Nor  does  the  Xiagara  any  longer  roll  down  its  tumultuous 
waters  in  the  vast  solitude  of  the  primeval  forests,  as  at  the  time  when  it  was  first 
visited  by  Europeans.  The  noisy  life  of  towns  and  factories,  the  whistle  of  the 
locomotive  and  rush  of  trains  blend  with  the  roar  of  the  waters  and  often  drown 
their  voice. 

At  one  point  on  the  American  side  the  view  is  somewhat  marred  by  industrial 
structures  of  a  mean  type.  Nevertheless,  both  banks  close  to  the  falls,  together 
with  Goat  Island,  have  become  national  properties,  and  the  stupendous  spectacle 
may  now  be  freely  contemplated  from  shady  avenues,  artificial  platforms,  and 
other  convenient  points.  On  the  Canadian  side,  the  railway  train,  emerging  on  a 
pleasant  forest  glade  close  to  the  scene,  obligingly  waits  while  the  traveller  enjoys 
a  hasty  glimpse  of  the  marvellous  sheet  of  liquid  green  curving  over  the  rocky 
ledge  ;  a  few  minutes  later  he  is  hurried  away,  his  mind  filled  with  a  vision  as  of 
some  supernatural  world. 

The  actual  volume  of  water  precipitated  by  both  falls  has  been  diversely  esti- 
mated ;  yet  the  discharge  varies  little,  except  in  winter  when  the  river  banks  are 
frozen,  when  crystal  pendants  are  attached  to  every  projecting  ledge,  the  aqueous 
vapours  massed  in  cones  along  the  margins,  and  the  living  falls  pent  in  right  and 
left  by  congealed  crystalline  cascades.  At  times,  the  huge  blocks  of  ice  drifting 
with  the  current  have  collected  in  an  enormous  pack  beneath  the  falls,  forming  a 
temporary  bridge  right  across  the  stream,  from  which  the  spectacle  could  be 
surveyed  from  below. 

Even  in  summer  the  changes  of  volume  are  caused  less  by  the  greater  or  less 
abundance  of  rain,  than  by  the  direction  and  force  of  the  winds,  which  drive  the 
Erie  waters  now  to  one,  now  to  another  quarter,  thus  producing  a  difference  of 
three  or  four  feet  in  the  level  of  the  current  at  the  outlet.  At  this  season  the 
mean  discharge  has  been  estimated  at  about  350,000  cubic  feet  per  second,  or,  say, 
twenty  times  the  volume  of  the  Seine  at  Paris.*  The  force  of  the  falls  has  also 
been  approximately  estimated  at  from  five  to  seven  millions  of  horse-power,  and 
some  fanatical  engineers,  deploring  this  annual  loss  of  some  £40,000,000,  have 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  whole  of  the  power  now  running  waste  may  some  day 

*  Barrett,  325,000  ;  Clarke,  385,000  ;  but  the  L'nited  States  Census  of  1880  only  165,000  (f). 


256 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


be  turned  to  account  in  the  American  factories.  A  canal,  or  mill-race,  constructed 
on  the  right  bank,  already  supplies  driving  power  to  numerous  workshops  dis- 
figuring the  landscape,  and  it  has  been  proposed  to  utilise  the  Canadian  Falls  for 
the  production  of  electricity. 

Since  the  first  drawings  made  by  Hennepin   in   1678,  considerable  changes 


Fig.  112. — Niagara  Falls  and  Rapids. 
Scale  1 :  120,000. 


***W' ','*, A^K -:  -.'■'■ 


43' 

o'-t 


79°  S' 


West   of  Gr-eenwich  79° 


2J  lilies. 


have  taken  place  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  falls,  which,  owing  to  the  erosion  of 
the  rocks,  are  retreating  towards  Lake  Erie.  This  erosive  action  of  the  stream  is 
aided  by  the  disposition  of  the  strata,  which  consist  of  calcareous  rocks  resting  on 
somewhat  loose  marls  or  overlying  friable  sandstones.  The  lower  strata  are  thus 
eaten  away  by  the  underwash  until  the  overhanging  ledges  at  last  give  way,  yield- 
ing to  their  own  weight  and  the  force  of  the  current. 

According  to  Bakewell,  the  retrograde  movement  has  proceeded  since  the  close 


NIAOABA..— LAKE  0>JTABIO.  257 

of  the  last  century  at  the  mean  annual  rate  of  about  40  inches ;  but  more  accurate 
measurements  have  shown  that  between  1842  and  1883,  the  total  erosion  of  the 
Canadian  fall  has  been  250  feet,  or  about  six  feet  a  year,  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can not  more  than  38  or  40  feet  during  the  same  period  of  42  years.  Assuming 
that  the  rate  has  always  been  much  the  same,  a  period  of  about  6,000  years 
must  have  elapsed  since  the  work  of  erosion  was  begun  at  the  cliffs  where  now 
stand  the  towns  of  Queenstown  and  Lewiston.  Should  this  movement  continue, 
the  American  fall  must  disappear  in  the  course  of  the  next  thousand  years.  By 
its  more  rapid  recession,  the  Canadian  fall  will  attract  all  the  waters  to  itself,  and 
Goat  Island  will  thus  form  part  of  the  mainland.  At  the  same  rate  of  progress 
the  falls  must  disappear  altogether  in  about  20,000  years. 

Below  the  cataracts,  the  Niagara  River  sweeps  at  an  average  depth  of  over  160 
feet,  and  forms  a  continuous  rapid  between  two  vertical  cliffs  200  feet  high,  and 
beneath  a  suspension  bridge  and  a  railway  viaduct,  down  to  the  circular  basin  of 
the  "  Whirlpool,"  where  the  current  develops  a  twofold  eddy,  one  from  bank  to 
bank,  the  other  from  the  surface  downwards.  Thus  the  waters  may  be  seen 
apparently  plunging  into  deep  chasms  and  reappearing  lower  down  in  seething 
undulations  rising  three  or  four  feet  above  the  normal  level.  Farther  on  follow  other 
vortices,  rapids,  and  whirlpools,  still  between  steep  rocky  banks,  completely  con- 
cealing the  fluvial  gorge  from  the  neighbouring  plains,  which  are  gently  undulated 
and  highly  cultivated.  At  last  the  cliffs  fall  on  both  sides,  and  the  Niagara  winds 
in  a  majestic  stream  away  to  Lake  Ontario. 

Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 

This  basin,  last  of  the  great  lacustrine  depressions,  preserves  under  a  some- 
what modified  form  the  name  of  "  Lovely  Lake,"  given  to  it  by  its  Iroquois 
inhabitants.  This  etymology,  however,  proposed  by  the  missionary  Hennepin,  is 
doubtful,  and  according  to  Champlain,  the  lake  was  named  from  a  neighbouring 
tribe.*  Although  smaller  than  Erie,  Ontario  has  a  larger  volume,  its  depth 
exceeding  660  feet,  and  according  to  Schermerhorn,  reaching  740  feet  in  its 
deepest  cavity. 

The  shores  of  Ontario  show  more  clearly  than  those  of  the  other  basins  how 
much  larger  these  lakes  were  formerly  than  at  present.  An  old  beach  following 
the  present  shore-line  at  a  varying  distance  of  from  six  to  twelve  miles,  and  at  a 

*  Nomenclature  of  the  gTeat  lakes  at  various  periods : — 

Superior  :  Kitch  Garni,  or  "  Great  Lake  "  in  Ojibway  ;  Great  Lake  of  the  Xaduessius  ;  Lake  Tracy 

(Marquette) ;  Lake  Conde. 
Michigan  :  Jliehin   Garni ;    Missihi-Ganin ;    Mitehi-Ganong ;    Lake  Dauphin   (Hemhre,  Le  Clercq, 

La  Potherie) ;    Lake  of  the  Illinois  (llarquette) ;   Lake  of  the   Algonquins ;  Lake  St.   Joseph 

(Allouez). 
Huron  :  Karegnondi  ;  Sler  Douce  des  Hurons  (Champlain,  GaUinee)  ;  Lake  of  the  Hurons ;  Lake  of 

Orleans. 
St.  Clair :  Sainte-Claire  ;  Lac  des  Eaux  Salees  ;  Lac  des  Claies  ;  Lac  de  la  Chaudiere. 
Erie  :  Herrie  ;  Teiocha-Rontiong  ;  Lac  de  Conty  ;  Cat  Lake. 
Ontario  :    Kanandario  ;    Staniadorio  ;    Lac  des  Outoouoronnons  (Champlain)  ;    Lac   des   Iroquois  ; 

Cataraqui;  Lac  Saint-Louis  ;  Lac  Frontenac.     (TVinsor,  America  ;  Garneau  ;   Suite,  &c.) 


258 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


height  of  from  150  to  200  feet  above  the  lacustrine  level,  so  obviously  represents 
an  older  margin,  that  it  has  been  named  the  "  Lake  Bidge."  This  ridge,  itself  a 
prolongation  of  the  Niagara  cliff,  is  interrupted  at  intervals  by  the  channels  of 
the  Genessee,  Oswego,  and  other  streams  rushing  over  falls  and  rapids  from  basins 
which,  like  Ontario,  have  been  gradually  contracted  in  size.  One  of  these  channels 
represents  a  strait  through  which  Ontario  formerly  sent  its  overflow  to  the  Atlantic 
through  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  valleys.* 

Like  that  of  Erie,  the  elongated  and  regular  form  of  Ontario  shows  that  it  has 
entered  the  period  of  transition  between  a  lacustrine  and  a  fluvial  basin.  Its  south 
side  runs  nearly  in  a  straight  line  without  any  indentation,  and  for  more  than  half 


Pig-.  113. — Thousand  Islands. 
Scale  1  :  520,000. 


i  Miles. 


their  length  the  opposite  shores  are  equally  uniform.  They  are  everywhere 
pleasantly  wooded,  at  least  where  the  woodman' s  axe  has  not  already  been  at 
work. 

Thanks  to  its  depth,  Ontario  freezes  to  a  much  less  extent  than  Erie ;  but  like 
it  and  the  other  great  lakes,  it  is  subject  to  sudden  seiches,  or  oscillations,  caused 
by  changes  of  atmospheric  pressure,  and  usually  forerunners  of  storms.  But  no 
appreciable  tides  have  yet  been  noticed,  like  the  regular  ebb  and  flow  recorded  by 
Graham  in  Lake  Michigan.  But  no  systematic  study  has  yet  been  made  of  the 
various  lacustrine  phenomena,  such  as  colour  of  the  water,  currents,  seiches, 
•  Shaler ;  "Winsor's  America,  vol.  iv.  ;  J.  K.  Gilbert,  Forum,  May,  1889. 


THE  ST.  LAWRENCE.  259 

eddies,  penetration  of  light,  glaciation,  temperature  at  the  surface  and  lower 
down,  differences  of  fauna,  and  the  like.* 

The  two  coldest  basins  are  Superior  and  Georgian  Bay,  where  the  temperahire 
in  the  lower  depths  varies  from  33°  to  39"  F.,  the  mean  of  the  other  lakes  being 
nearly  20  degrees  higher.     In  1843  Superior  was  completely  frozen  over. 

Towards  its  eastern  extremity,  Ontario  loses  its  regular  contours,  and  here  the 
rami fying  peninsula  of  Quinte,  projecting  from  the  Canadian  side,  encloses 
numerous  inlets,  winding  channels,  and  wooded  islands.  Then  follows,  towards 
the  outlet,  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  islets  of  all  sizes  and  forms,  thickly  studding  the 
head  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  collectively  known  as  the  "  Thousand  Islands," 
though  really  numbering  nearly  two  thousand,  and  even  more  if  all  the  eyots,  reefs, 
and  rocks  be  included  which  are  flooded  or  exposed  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
waters.  Some  are  large  enough  to  be  covered  with  dense  forest  or  grassy  slopes  ; 
others  are  mere  patches  of  verdure,  or  shaded  perhaps  by  a  solitary  wide-branching 
tree.  Some  of  the  fluvial  channels  are  so  narrow  that  the  palatial  steamers  glide 
smoothly  along  amid  avenues  of  rich  vegetation,  varied  with  sunny  glades,  smiling 
gardens,  or  a  tangle  of  matted  foliage  almost  interlacing  overhead.  Then  the 
leafv  waterwav  suddenly  broadens  to  the  proportion  of  a  land-locked  lake  still 
fringed  with  green  slopes,  where  all  outlets  are  masked  by  the  tall  forest  growths 
clothing  the  converging  rocky  heights. 

These  rocky  heights,  throughout  the  archipelago,  are  of  silurian  formation,  the 
"  Thousand  Islands  "  evidently  forming  an  eastward  continuation  of  the  "  Thou- 
sand Headlands  "  of  Quinte  and  the  adjacent  coast.  One  of  these  islands,  strewn 
with  picturesque  boulders  and  overgrown  with  magnificent  timber,  has  been 
reserved  for  the  Canadian  public  as  a  national  park  for  ever.  Others,  bought  by 
wealthy  American  citizens,  have  been  converted  to  delightful  pleasaunces  and 
summer  retreats ;  for  within  the  broad  bounds  of  the  Dominion,  there  are  no 
lovelier  land  and  water  scapes  than  those  of  this  marvellous  fluvial  archipelago. 

Below  the  Thousand  Islands,  the  St.  Lawrence  flows  as  a  fully  developed 
river  north-eastwards,  receiving'  on  its  right  bank  numerous  affluents  from  the 
Adirondack  uplands  in  the  State  of  New  York.  At  intervals  it  expands  into 
spacious  basins  resembling  lakes,  and  even  bearing  that  name,  as,  for  instance,  tbe 
St.  Regis  and  St.  Francis  Lakes.  But  elsewhere  the  river  contracts  its  walls,  and 
develops  long  lines  of  rapids  such  as  La  Plate,  Les  Galops,  Le  Long  Sault,  the 
Cedars,  the  Cascades,  and  so  on.  But  the  skilled  Canadian  boatmen  are  accus- 
tomed to  shoot  these   inclines,  one  of   which,  the   Long  Sault,  is  nearly  ten   miles 

*  Table  of  the  Laurentian  lakes  of  over  500  square  miles  in  extent : — 


Depth  in  feet. 

Height  of  hed 

Volume  in 

Height  in  feet 

Area  in 

, 1            -          11^ «N, 

above  or  below 

millions  of 

above  sea-level. 

sq.  miles. 

Extreme.           Mean. 

sea-level  (feet). 

cubic  feet. 

Nipigon 

.     840 

3,000 

540                330 

—265 

26,000-5 

Superior 

.     627 

31,400 

1,000                 700 

—  4U0 

629,395-0 

Michigan    . 

.     595 

25,600 

870               400 

— 2S0 

262,500-0 

Huron 

)» 

18,000 

690               330 

—110 

159,000-0 

Georgian  Bay 

>» 

5,000 

330                190 

—252 

26,640-0 

Erie   . 

.     564 

10,000 

530               390 

+365 

17,750-0 

Ontario 

.     235 

7,300 

740               290 

+500 

63,365-0 

(Reynolds.  Macomb,  Engelhardt,  Schermerhorn,  &c.) 


260  NOETH  AMEEICA. 

long,  and  the  up-stream  navigation  is  kept  open  by  a  regular  system  of  canalisa- 
tion. 

Below  St.  Francis  Lake  the  St.  Lawrence  is  joined  on  the  left  bank  by  its 
largest  tributary,  the  Ottawa,  the  "  riviere  des  Outaouais  "  of  the  early  French 
chroniclers.  This  romantic  stream,  longer  than  the  Rhine,  more  copious  than 
the  Nile,  is  already  a  considerable  watercourse  where  it  enters  the  Temiscaming 
("Deep  Water")  basin  below  the  "hauteur  des  terres."*  But  its  upper  course  is 
entirely  obstructed  by  a  series  of  no  less  than  fifteen  cataracts,  whence  this 
section  takes  the  name  of  the  "  riviere  des  Quinze "  ("  River  of  the  Fifteen," 
that  is,  Portages).  Towards  the  north  its  headstreams  intermingle  their  waters 
with  those  of  Lake  Abittibe,  wbich  belongs  to  the  Hudson  Bay  slope,  sending 
most  of  its  overflow  through  a  large  emissary  to  the  Moose  River. 

At  the  outlet  of  Abittibe,  the  Ottawa  receives  through  a  superb  cascade  115 
feet  high  the  contributions  of  the  still  larger  Kippewa  (Kipeewa)  basin,  whose 
wooded  shores  stretch  away  to  the  south-east  in  an  endless  labyrinth  of  channels, 
straits,  creeks,  inlets  branching  off  in  every  imaginable  direction.  Even  in 
Canada  there  are  few  watercourses  more  diversified  than  the  Ottawa,  whose  main 
channel  offers  a  continuous  succession  of  contrasts.  Here  a  cascade,  there  a  rapid, 
farther  on  a  meeting  of  many  waters  which  again  break  into  divergent  streams ; 
then  a  narrow  fluvial  gorge  flanked  by  jagged  rocky  walls,  followed  by  a  long 
chain  of  narrow  lakes,  and  here  and  there  even  broad  basins,  whose  bays  stretch 
away  beyond  the  horizon.  Such  is  the  infinitely  varied  character  of  the  romantic 
stream  which  forms  the  political  boundary  between  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and 
Quebec. 

The  same  aspect  is  presented  by  its  affluents,  especially  those  flowing  through 
Ontario  to  its  right  bank.  Such  are  the  Mattawan,  the  Bonne  Chere,  the 
Madawaska,  even  a  "  Mississippi,"  and  lower  down  the  Rideau  with  a  canal  through 
which  Ottawa,  capital  of  the  Dominion,  communicates  directly  with  Lake  Ontario. 
From  the  Quebec  side  come  the  copious  rivers  Moine,  Noire,  Coulonge  and 
Gatineau,  the  last  mentioned  rising  in  the  same  district  of  the  "  height  of  land  " 
as  the  Ottawa  itself,  which  it  joins,  after  a  course  of  370  miles,  opposite  the 
Canadian  capital.  Farther  east  come  three  other  large  streams,  the  Lievre,  Rouge 
and  Nord,  all  from  the  same  waterparting. 

Before  reaching  the  St.  Lawrence  the  Ottawa  resumes  the  aspect  of  an 
elongated  lake,  that  of  the  Two  Mountains,  which  sends  one  ramif ying  branch 
north-eastwards  to  the  Montreal  archipelago,  while  the  main  current  sweeps  in 
two  streams  round  the  wooded  island  of  Perrot  to  its  confluence  with  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Its  volume  appears  to  be  greater  than  that  of  the  Rhine  or  the  Rhone, 
being  estimated  at  the  Carillon  falls  opposite  Grenville,  and  below  all  its  large 
tributaries,  at  84,000  cubic  feet  per  second.! 

Even  after  its  junction  with  this  great  tributary,  the  St.  Lawrence  continues 

*  Literally  "the  height  of  land,"  the  familiar  French- Canadian  expression  for  any  parting  line 
between  two  water  systems.  The  watershed  here  intended  is  the  divide  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Hudson  Bay  basins. 

t  Flood  waters,  150,000  ;  low  water,  35,000  ;  mean,  84,000  (T.  C.  Clarke,  Report  of  the  Ottawa  Survey). 


THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 


2G1 


to  develop  numerous  rapids,  the  last  and  finest  of  which  is  that  of  Lachine,  which, 
despite  its  formidable  aspect,  has  never  been  the  scene  of  any  disaster.  Up  to 
this  point  the  mainstream  is  accessible  to  large  vessels  throughout  the  year, 
although  at  several  points  the  current  is  still  very  swift.  Formerly  the  lower 
reaches  were  too  shallow  for  ships  of  heavy  draught,  Lake  St.  Peter,  midway 
between  Montreal  and  Quebec,  having  scarcely  more  than  14  or  16  feet  at  the 
"pass."  The  alluvial  matter,  which  has  already  changed  the  whole  of  the  upper 
course  into  grassy  plains  or  swamps,  has  gradually  raised  the  bed  of  the  river 
lower  down ;  but  by  dint  of  constant  dredging  a  channel  is  kept  open  twice  as 


Fig.  114. — Intermingled  Soueces  of  the  Ottawa  and  Gatineatj. 
Scale  1  :  2,000,000. 


G/-ea6  te/ce 


f 


,  30  Miles. 


deep  as  that  formed  by  the  river.     The  marine  tides  cease  to  be  felt  90  miles 
below  Quebec. 

Above  Lake  St.  Peter  the  St.  Lawrence  is  joined  by  the  Eichelieu  or  Sorel, 
"half  lake,  half  river,"  which  rises  in  Lake  George,  New  York  State,  and 
traverses  the  much  larger  basin  of  Lake  Champlain,  whose  northern  inlets 
penetrate  across  the  frontier  into  Canadian  territory.  Here  the  Richelieu  assumes 
the  aspect  of  a  river,  and  after  forming  a  few  rapids  expands  at  Chambly  into  a 
broad  basin,  which  marks  the  limit  of  steam  navigation. 

A  study  of  the  low  peninsula  at  the  confluence  just  above  Lake  St.  Peter 
seems  to  show  that  here  the  Eichelieu  occupies  the  channel  through  which  the 
St.  Lawrence  formerly  flowed.  Before  piercing  the  rocky  barrier  which  arrested 
its  course  at  Montreal,  the  main  stream  was  deflected  southwards  across  the  present 
marshy  tract  of  Laprairie  to  the  Chambly  basin,  where  it  flooded  the  valley  at 
present  traversed  by  the  Eichelieu.     The  general   level   exceeds  only  by  a  few 


202 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


yards  that  of  both  streams,  while  the  Montreal  and  Chambly  basins  themselves 
stand  at  about  the  same  height  above  Lake  St.  Peter,  13  and  12  feet  respectively. 
During  the  floods  the  St.  Lawrence  even  now  sends  some  of  its  overflow  to  Lake 
Chambly.  Below  the  Richelieu  Lake  St.  Peter  receives  on  the  same  side  the 
Yamaska,  and  lower  down  the  St.  Francis,  the  emissary  of  the  deep  Lake 
Memphremagog. 

Next  to  the  Ottawa  the  largest  affluent  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  at  least  within  its 


Fig.  115. — Lake  St.  Peteb. 
Scale  l :  550,000. 


Depths. 


Oto  16 
Feet. 


16  Feet  and 
upwards. 


12  Miles. 


strictly  fluvial  course,  is  the  St.  Maurice,  which  rises  in  the  Height  of  Land, 
where  it  intermingles  its  headstreams  with  those  of  the  Gatineau.  It  springs 
from  lakes  and  receives  the  contributions  of  lakes  on  both  sides,  so  that  it  is 
already  larger  than  the  Loire  or  the  Garonne  before  rushing  over  the  edge  of  the 
syenite  plateau  to  enter  the  Laurentian  plains.  Although  only  one  in  a  thousand 
falls,  all  remarkable  for  their  volume  and  picturesque  beaut}',  the  Chaounigan 
cascade  presents  special  features,  distinguishing  it  amongst  so  many  marvels. 
Above  the  falls  the  mainstream  ramifies  into  two  great  branches  and  several 
secondary  channels  winding  amid  a  cluster  of  wooded  islets.  From  a  bluff  rising 
above  the  very  centre  of  the  chasm  the  currents  are   seen  converging  from  all 


THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 


263 


points  and  tumbling  in  wild  disorder  into  the  "  Devil's  "Whirlpool,"  a  vast  cirque 
where  the  tumultuous  waters  are  churned  up  and  dashed  against  the  encircling 
cliffs.     Then  the  stream  is  suddenly  pent  up  in  a  gulley  scarcely  100  feet  wide, 
where  the  whole  body  of  water  is  engulfed  beneath  an  overhanging  rocky  wall. 
Immediately  below,  the  thundering  cataract  again  expands  into  a  broad  basin, 

Kg.  116. — St    La  whence  and  Richelieu  Kivebs. 
Scale  1  :  700,000. 


5'.r 

/.'  -  .•■  AT"  •'  "".  ''••".■'  .',  '  '^S&^Y/^/.  SM^'eS37'-s$^' . ' 

4€- 

-45 
30- 

■;  .-^^  •  ; fY/  ■/./O-.-Mf  4     °v  ■  •  •  ■■•••' *r • 

I                 "  '     °  "      ""     '  V'Assornp-tionr      *  ^^^^l^Sr » \   •  o*     °  *  ff     •  .    »    ■      .          "udf^S^v'' 
TV         s"          "■   v     //     ■  '       v     °-$^)&^s'  °! '-'  ;  /  '    °o    /St  Den/s         °,'   ity    I         °^ 

^>~»— ~~'J       .       /'  I     °1  ■           (     F^f/     '"•■/»       )      <■'    .  "1    {     .       "     ■  ctc/A      -j-v              i*  • 
— ■  MascO*  o         / a"  )               o*    {  'jg^jy  •  «  .:  a      1  "  •*/  o.%»      ■  L<               *   '  o.iunhon  d  Yamaska 

&  Terrebonne 

V    S*  Vincent 
V,    de  faum 

;.    -o-    MONJf 

^v,  ••'.  .•j^P^Boucherlii'ie",'." ;: .  £X  »r  .°>  •  ( .•'■  'i>^Y%    '■ 
'   '"•'   Jligffi.'As^Jijiie.,,.:         .^IrlrtJ/     ■/';:(,;')' 

^  •  c'^^il^^-^rtrTrir^"-  f::    » - ^* Jean  ^^W  ;■•■ '  \i 

^^ 

73°>*5°                                                   West   of   Greenwich                                         75° 

12  Miles. 


while  the  dunes  and  sandy  tracts  of  the  lower  course  recall  the  time  when  the 
whole  region  was  flooded  by  a  vast  lake.  Between  the  various  cataracts  obstruct- 
ing its  upper  course,  the  St.  Maurice  is  navigable  by  steamers  for  a  total  distance 
of  200  miles. 

The  Estvary  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

Soon  after  passing  the  Quebec  narrows  and  branching  round  the  large  island 
of  Orleans  the  St.  Lawrence  loses  the  aspect  of  a  river  and  enters  its  great  estuary. 


2G1  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Here  the  bauks  diverge  uniformly,  as  they  approach  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
where  the  Laurentian  waters  are  lost  in  the  broad  Atlantic.  Below  Quebec,  where 
the  tides  rise  16  or  17  feet,  the  transformation  of  the  fluvial  channel  to  a  marine 
inlet  is  effected  very  gradually.  The  ebb  and  flow,  less  and  less  affected  by  the 
upper  currents,  become  continually  more  uniform ;  the  water,  while  fresh  at  Cape 
Diamond,  increases  steadily  in  salinity ;  schools  of  porpoises  and  other  cetaceans 
begin  to  make  their  appearance,  while  marine  fishes  and  mollusks  penetrate  far  up 
the  channel.  The  volume  of  water  also  increases  enormously,  the  tidal  currents 
between  the  Labrador  and  Gaspe  coasts  being  a  hundredfold  greater  than  the 
discharge  at  Quebec,  which  according  to  the  lowest  estimates  amounts  to  430,000 
cubic  feet  per  second. 

About  120  miles  below  Quebec  the  estuary  receives  the  waters  of  the  Saguenay, 
itself  resembling  a  fjord  far  more  than  a  river,  at  least  in  its  lower  course.  Its 
farthest  headstreams  rise  250  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  at  an  altitude  of  1,400  or  1,600  feet  above  the  sea  in  a  still 
imperfectly  explored  district  of  the  Height  of  Land.  One  of  the  chief  branches, 
whose  impetuous  cataracts  were  ascended  during  the  last  century  by  the  botanist, 
Michaux,  bears  the  name  of  Mistassini,  or  "  Great  Rock."  This  is  also  the 
designation  of  a  large  lake  on  the  Hudson  Bay  slope  of  Labrador,  and  was  applied 
by  the  early  Jesuit  explorers  to  the  river  under  the  impression  that  this  stream 
connected  Lake  Mistassini  with  St.  John  Lake. 

Other  watercourses,  such  as  the  Peribonka,  Ashuapmushuan,  Wiachwan,  and  Me- 
tabechuan,  converge  on  this  lacustrine  basin,  which  is  of  nearly  circular  form  and  at 
present  370  square  miles  in  extent ;  but  it  was  formerly  much  larger,  as  shown  by  the 
belt  of  sands  encircling  the  whole  perirjhery.  These  great  northern  streams,  often 
several  thousand  yards  wide  at  their  mouth,  wash  down  enormous  quantities  of  sands, 
and  the  Mistassini  itself  is  even  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Sandy  River." 

In  the  month  of  October  Lake  St.  John  is  already  frozen,  and  in  the  depth  of 
winter  it  is  traversed  in  all  directions-  by  sledges.  According  to  the  seasons  the 
level  varies  greatly,  the  flood  waters  rising  at  least  16  and  in  some  years  as  many  as 
25  or  26  feet.  Although  the  mean  depth  is  only  from  50  to  65  feet,  the  sounding- 
line  has  revealed  the  existence  of  a  profound  trough  about  a  mile  wide,  which 
runs  along  the  west  side  south-eastwards  in  a  line  with  the  axis  of  the  Ashuap- 
mushuan valley,  and  which  is  said  by  Duniais  to  range  from  200  to  250  and 
perhaps  even  300  feet  in  depth.*  This  "crevasse,"  as  the  fishermen  call  it, 
reappears  farther  on  in  the  Green  Lake,  the  Kenogamishish  with  its  southern 
prolongation,  the  Kenogami,  1,000  feet  deep,  and  again  in  the  Ha-Ha  and  the 
lower  Saguenay.  This  series  of  fissures  evidently  represents  an  ancient  fjord 
at  one  time  occupied  by  a  glacier,  but  to  a  great  extent  obliterated,  since  the 
remains  of  the  moraines  have  been  swept  away  by  the  running  waters.  East  of 
Lake  St.  John  the  crevasse,  formerly  continuous,  has  been  broken  into  separate 
basins,  the  beds  of  which  are  being  slowly  raised. 

*  Dumais,  MSS.  Notes.  Joseph  Rosa's  chart,  however,  gives  only  200  or  206  feet  for  the  deepest 
part. 


LAKE  ST    JOHX.—  THE  SAGUENAY. 


2G5 


After  the  effaceruent  of  the  original  passage,  other  openings  were  necessarily 
formed,  and  at  present  the  overflow  of  St.  John  Lake  escapes  through  the  so-called 
great  and  little  discharges,  which  meet  lower  down  to  form  the  Saguenay  proper. 
In  its  upper  course  this  torrent  differs  little  from  the  other  characteristic  Canadian 
streams,  cascades,  rapids  and  still  waters  ("dormant")  following  in  quick  succes- 
sion to  the  Terre  Eompue,  near  the  point  where  the  Chicoutimi  emissary  of  Lake 
Kenogarni  rushes  over  a  great  cataract  down  to  the  Saguenay.  Here  the  main- 
stream, nearly  1,200  yards  broad  and  dominated  by  frowning  cliffs,  already 
presents  the  aspect  of  a  great  river. 

Farther  down  it  becomes  still  wider,  and  at  the  junction  of  Ha-Ha  Ba)r 
assumes  the  character  of  a  Norwegian  or  Alaskan  fjord.     On  both  sides  of  the 

Fig.  117. — Lake  St.  John. 
Scale  1  :  1,400,000. 


,  30  Miles. 


sinuous  stream,  which  varies  in  breadth  but  is  nowhere  less  than  several  thousand 
yards  from  shore  to  shore,  the  rocky  banks  rise  higher  and  higher.  Here  the 
river,  whose  dark  waters  are  richly  charged  with  organic  matter,  assumes  a 
gloomy  aspect,  whence  its  Indian  name  of  the  "  Dead  River."  Although  not 
"fathomless,"  as  has  been  asserted,  despite  Bayfield's  soundings  in  1830,  the 
channel  is  enormously  deep,  no  less  than  900  feet  near  its  mouth ;  but  like  all 
fjords  it  terminates  in  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary  with  a  sill  covered  by  no  more 
than  from  40  to  60  feet  of  water. 

Every  summer  visitors  flock  in  crowds  to  contemplate  this  astonishing  marine 
inlet  with  its  superb  gneiss  or  syenite  cliffs  rising  hundreds  of  yards  above  the 
water.  One  of  these  bluffs  on  the  south  side  has  been  called  the  "  Tableau"  from 
its  perfectly  smooth  face,  as  if  prepared   for  some  monumental   rock   inscription  ; 

VOL.   xv.  t 


2GG 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


another,  also  on  the  south  side,  has  been  dedicated  to  the  "  Trinity  "  because  of  the 
three  enormous  superimposed  steps  presented  by  its  escarpment,  which  has  a  total 
height  of  1 ,650  feet.  East  of  this  headland  the  shore  is  indented  by  a  semi- 
circular bay,  and  the  reverse  of  Cape  Trinity  appears  absolutely  vertical,  or  even 
at  some  points  overhanging.  Facing  it  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay,  but  on  the 
same  side  of  the  river,  rises  another  promontory,  for  which  the  solemn  majesty  of 
the  scene  has  suggested  the  name  of  "  Eternity."     Though  higher  than  the  other 


Fig.  118.— Upper  Saguenay  and  Ha-Ha  Bay. 
Scale  1  :  270.000. 


spitf 


■-■< 


West  or  ureenwich       ! 


Sands  exposed 
at  low  water. 


0  to  32 
Feet. 


Depths 


32  to  320 
Feet. 


320  to  640 
Feet. 


6  Miles. 


G40  Feet 
and  upwards. 


this  cape  is  of  less  formidable  aspect ;  it  is  rounded  off  above  and  its  terraced 
slopes  are  clothed  with  timber.  Here  was  arrested  the  terrible  forest  conflagra- 
tion of  1872. 

Below  Cape  Eternity  follow  other  famous  headlands  along  both  shores  of  the 
Saguenay,  which  is  here  joined  by  several  rivulets  and  even  rivers,  such  as 
the  St.  Margaret,  a  noted  trout  stream  visited  in  summer  by  hundreds  of 
anglers. 

South  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  elongated  and  deep  Temiscouata  Lake  lies  in 


THE  SAGUENAY. 


267 


the  prolonged  axis  of  the  Saguenay,  and  is  continued  in  New  Brunswick  as  far  as 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  by  the  deep  valley  of  the  St.  John  Biver.  Thus  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  two  fissures  now  separated  by  the  broad  estuary  of  the  St.  Lawrence  are 
two  sections  of  the  same  fault  in  the  terrestrial  crust  partly  filled  in,  but  still 
capable  of  being  traced.     When  the  St.  Lawrence  flowed   through  the  Hudson 


5! 
o 

g 

s 
s 


> 

I 
« 


I 


valley  to  New  York  Bay,  the  Saguenay  would  appear  to  have  flowed  from  St.  John 
Lake  through  St.  John  Biver  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 

Below  the  Saguenay,  the  estuary  still  continues  to  receive  some  considerable 
affluents,  all  on  its  left  or  north  bank.  On  the  south  side  the  space  between  the 
hills  and  the  coast  is  too  confined  to  give  rise  to  any  large  streams.     But  another 

t2 


263 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


striking  contrast  is  presented  by  the  opposite  shores  of  the  Laurentian  estuary. 
The  south  coast  develops  a  curved  contour-line  of  remarkable  regularity,  which  is 
evidently  due  to  the  action  of  a  current  at  work  for  ages  rounding  off  the  sharp 
headlands,  filling  the  creeks  and  inlets  with  sand,  and  thus  gradually  effacing  all 
natural  rugosities.  This  current  is  that  of  the  ebb-tide,  which  is  always  more  con- 
tinuous and  less  irregular  than  that  of  the  flow.  The  north  coast  exposed  to  the 
rising  tides  is  far  less  uniform  in  its  general  outline,  and  here  is  found  the  Pointe 


Fig-.  120. — Belle-Isle  Steait. 
Seale  1 :  2,500,000. 


-,z 


Depths. 


25  Fathoms  and 
upwards. 


62  Miles. 


de  Monts,  the  most  conspicuous  headland  and  chief  landmark  of  seafarers  at  the 
entrance  of  the  estuary.  The  irregularity  of  this  seaboard  is  further  increased  by 
the  alluvia  of  the  Betsiamite,  Outardes,  Manicouagan,  Moisie,  Mingan,  St. 
Augustin  and  other  streams  from  Labrador,  which  develop  little  sandy  and  muddy 
deltas  advancing  beyond  the  normal  coastline. 

The  St.  Lawrence  estuary,  110  miles  broad  at  the  entrance,  contains  numerous 
islands,  all  disposed  parallel  with  the  coast  in  the  direction  of  the  tidal  currents. 
Such  is  Orleans,  the  Bacchus  of  the  early  navigators,  nearly  20  miles  long, 
situated  just  below  Quebec.      Such  also  is  the  far  larger  Anticosti,  lying  in  mid- 


ANTICOSTI. 


209 


channel  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  estuary,  which  retains  in  a  somewhat 
modified  form  its  Indian  name,  Naticostek,  "hunting-ground  of  the  bear." 
About  135  miles  long  and  30  broad  in  its  central  part,  this  monotonous  insular 
mass  presents  the  form  of  a  plane  sufficiently  inclined  southwards  to  shelter  it 
from  the  stormy  northern  winds,  and  give  it  a  relatively  mild  climate. 

Anticosti  is  of  silurian  formation,  consisting  of  calcareous  strata,  abounding  in 
fossil  wood,  and  covered  on  the  south  side  with  almost  impenetrable  thickets  of 


Fig.  121. — Magdalen  Islands. 
Scale  1 : 1,200,000. 


WestoP.  Greenwich 


6I°20- 


Depths. 


0  to  60 
Feet. 


80  to  160 
Feet. 


160  Feet 
and  upwards. 


IS  Miles. 


conifers,  10  or  12  feet  high.  It  appears  never  to  have  formed  part  of  the  main- 
land, for  it  contains  none  of  the  reptiles  found  on  either  side  of  the  estuary. 
Whole  families  of  insects  common  on  the  neighbouring  coastlands  are  also  absent, 
while  the  black  bear  has  evidently  crossed  over  in  winter,  when  the  surrounding 
waters  are  ice-bound. 

At  Anticosti  the  estuary  merges  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  a  shallow  basin 
apparently  excavated  by  erosive  action  in  relatively  recent  times.  The  former 
continuity  of   the  land  from  shore  to  shore  is  attested  by  the  uniform  character  of 


270  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  geological  formations  round  the  whole  basin,  which  is  even  shallower  than  the 
Saguenay  fjord.  Depths  of  600  or  700  feet  are  rare,  and  the  section  comprised 
between  the  Gaspe  Peninsula  and  Cape  Breton  nowhere  exceeds  360  feet.  But  at 
Cabot  Strait,  south  of  Newfoundland,  the  electric  cables  rest  on  a  submarine  bed 
from  1,450  to  1,650  feet  deep. 

Besides  this  strait,  the  gulf  communicates  with  the  Atlantic  through  two  other 
passages,  the  Straits  of  Belle-Isle  and  the  Gut  of  Canso  (Canseaux),  the  latter  a 
narrow  channel  17  miles  wide,  flowing  between  Cape  Breton  and  Nova  Scotia,  and 
consequently  of  great  importance  for  the  coasting  trade.  Belle-Isle,  so  called 
from  the  island  of  that  name  at  its  northern  entrance,  is  a  broad  cbannel  flowing 
north-east  and  south-west  between  Labrador  and  the  northern  limestone  peninsula 
of  Newfoundland.  West  of  this  passage  lies  the  serpentine  inlet  of  Bradore, 
from  which  most  etymologists  derive  the  term  "  Labradore."  Near  this  point  is 
the  Esquimaux  (Eskimo)  River,  which  recalls  the  memory  of  the  ancient  "  Skral- 
linger  "  met  by  the  Norsemen  at  this  eastern  extremity  of  Labrador. 

Through  the  Belle-Isle  Strait  a  branch  of  the  polar  current  penetrates  into 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  in  spring  and  summer,  strewing  the  water  between 
Anticosti  and  Labrador  with  drift  ice  of  every  imaginable  form  and  size.  This 
flotsam  together  with  the  frozen  masses  sent  down  by  the  St.  Lawrence  constitutes 
one  of  the  dangers  of  the  navigation,  which  in  Belle-Isle  Strait  is  delayed  till 
the  month  of  Jul)'.  But  still  greater  dangers  are  caused  by  the  fogs  and  shifting 
currents,  which  would  render  the  navigation  almost  impossible  but  for  the  aid  of 
alarm-guns  and  fog-signals  continually  kept  going. 

To  the  current  penetrating  through  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  is  opposed  the 
stream  entering  by  the  broader  passage  south  of  Newfoundland.  The  two 
currents  converging  in  the  gulf,  and  clashing  with  a  third  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
estuary,  set  up  a  vast  gyratory  motion  to  which  is  certainly  due  the  semicircular 
form  of  the  coasts  extending  from  the  Gaspe  Peninsula  to  the  terminal  point  of 
Cape  Breton.  To  the  same  cause  must  in  a  great  measure  be  attributed  the 
crescent  shape  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  and  the  double  hook  of  the  little 
Magdalen  group,  whose  outlines  recall  those  of  the  atolls  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Eruptive  forces  have  also  been  at  work  in  these  waters.  One  of  the  southern 
islets  of  the  Magdalen  group,  the  Entry  Island  of  the  early  navigators,  presents 
the  curious  spectacle  of  a  twin  cone  of  trappean  rock  about  400  feet  high  encircled 
at  the  base  by  a  sandstone  pedestal. 

Climate  of  the  Laurentian  Basin. 

The  climate  of  the  Canadian  regions  traversed  by  the  St.  Lawrence  differs 
considerably  from  that  of  European  countries  lying  under  the  same  latitudes. 
Thus  the  island  of  Point  Pele  in  Lake  Erie,  southernmost  land  of  the  Dominion, 
lies  at  the  same  distance  from  the  North  Pole  as  Rome,  and  45°  latitude,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  median  line  of  the  Laurentian  lands,  passes  in  Europe 
across  South  France,  Lombardy,  the  valley  of  the  Danube  and  the  Crimea.  But 
apart  from   the  extreme  southern  section  of  the  basin,  that  is,  the    peninsular 


CLIMATE  OF  THE  LAURENTLAN  BASIN. 


271 


region  formed  by  Lakes  Huron,  St.  Clair,  and  Erie,  which  enjoys  a  temperate 
climate  like  that  of  West  France,  as  shown  by  its  gardens,  orchards,  and  forest, 
trees,  all  the  rest  of  the  Canadian  territory  is  far  less  favoured  than  the  correspond- 
ing European  lands. 

Owing  to  the  general  movement  of  the  marine  and  atmospheric  currents  the 
west  European  seaboard  under  like  parallels  is  much  milder  than  that  of  the 
eastern  shores  of  North  America.  Here  the  prevailing  winds  set  from  the  pole, 
blowing  north-east  and  south-west,  that  is,  right  up  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary. 
The  other  cold  winds  from  the  north  and  north-west  find  little  obstacle  in  sweeping 
over  Labrador,  Hudson  Bay,  and  the  Laurentides,  whereas  the  warmer  south-east 
currents  from  the  AVest  Indies  are  more  easily  deflected  from  their  course  by  the 
New  England  uplands  and  the  range  skirting  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence. 

Hence  the  climate  of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  without  offering  the  same  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold  as  in  Manitoba,  is  much  more  severe  than  that  of  the  Seine  basin. 
At  Montreal  the  glass  fell  in  January,  1889,  to  — 41°  F.  At  the  same  time  the 
heats  are  also  more  intense,  and  in  general  the  winters  and  summers  are  longer, 
the  intermediate  seasons  less  marked,  than  in  west  Europe.  After  the  long  and 
severe  winter  months  nature  revives  almost  instantaneously,  and  after  a  short  but 
delightful  autumn,  it  is  again  almost  as  suddenly  stilled.  In  the  four  or  five 
months  between  May  and  October,  the  flora  runs  through  the  complete  cycle  of  its 
biological  functions.* 

Although  dreaded  by  Europeans,  the  long  winter  is  regarded  by  the  Canadians 
themselves  as  their  finest  and  most  enjoyable  season.  In  any  case  it  is  the  season 
that  makes  men  strong  and  robust,  which  invigorates  the  race  and  endows  it  with 
a  more  intense  vitality,  cheerfulness  and  energy.  It  is  also  the  season  of  feasts 
and  merrymakings.  The  snowfall  is  not  heavy.t  and  usually  occurs  in  November, 
remaining  on  the  ground  throughout  the  winter.  Clear  skies  and  bright  suns 
prevail,  and  although  the  surface  snows  may  melt  during  the  day  in  places  exposed 
to  the  solar  rays,  they  again  freeze  at  night.  Not  only  the  plants,  but  the  houses 
themselves  are  protected  from  the  cold  by  their  white  winter  covering.  Occa- 
sionally the  snow,  usually  about  40  inches  deep,  is  blown  about  by  the  high  winds 
and  may  then  be  seen  whirling  round  in  dense  masses  and  accumulating  to  great 
depths  in  the  hollows,  under  the  escarpments  and  in  other  places  sheltered  from 
the  gale.  Sledges  struggle  in  vain  against  these  fierce  snowstorms,  and  despite 
all  precautions,  the  railway  trains  themselves  often  get  snowed  up. 


*  Temperatures  in  various  parts  of  Canada  :  — 


Port  Arthur  (L.  Superior) 
Windsor  (Ontario) 
St.  Eruilion  (Temiscaming) 
Toronto  (40  years) 
Montreal  (10  years) 
Quebec  (10  years) 
Belle-Isle     ". 

t  Mean  annual  rain  and  snowfall  in  the  Laurenti:in  basin,  30  to  40  inches. 


Latitude. 
.     48°  27'     . 

Moan.  Temp. 
.     37°  F. 

Winter. 

Dec— Feb. 

7°F. 

Summer. 
June— Aug 
.      60°  F. 

.     42°  19'     . 

.     48°     . 

27° 

.     69° 

.     47°  20'     . 

.     38°     . 

16° 

.     65° 

.     43°  39'     . 

.     43°    . 

23° 

.     68° 

.     46°  31'     . 

.     45°     . 

20' 

.     67° 

.     46°  48'     . 

.     39°     . 

14° 

.     63° 

.     51°  58'     . 

.     28°     . 

(f) 

.     49° 

272  NORTH  AMERICA. 


Flora. 


The  Laurentian  basin  is  essentially  a  forest  region;  except  in  the  rocky  western 
districts,  the  whole  land  not  cleared  for  cultivation  is  still  thickly  covered  with 
timber.  Even  the  abandoned  clearings  and  the  tracts  ravaged  by  fire  are  soon 
again  overgrown  with  plants  of  less  economic  value  but  of  more  rapid  growth. 
From  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other  the  general  aspect  of  the  woodlands  changes 
little  in  the  direction  from  east  to  west,  the  chief  contrasts  occurring  between  the 
northern  and  southern  regions  owing  to  the  differences  of  temperature.  Thus  the 
walnut  forests  of  the  southern  districts  of  Ontario  watered  by  Lake  Erie  disappear 
farther  north  ;  the  red  cedar  also  extends  no  farther  than  the  Huron  and  Ontario 
basins,  and  corresponding  limits  are  assigned  to  other  species,  such  as  the  white 
oak,  beech,  sugar-maple,  white  and  red  pine.  For  the  most  part  the  Limiting  lines 
of  vegetation  present  a  rough  parallelism  with  the  isothermals  which  are  disposed 
south-west  and  north-east  in  the  direction  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley.*  North  of 
the  Laurentide  range,  and  especially  beyond  the  Height  of  Land,  the  forest  trees, 
being  exposed  to  longer  and  more  rigorous  winters,  are  of  smaller  size  than  those 
of  the  fluvial  region. 

Dominant  amongst  the  sixty  species  of  forest  trees  are  the  conifers,  which 
resemble  the  analogous  European  forms  and  bear  the  same  names,  such  as  pines, 
firs,  spruces,  yellow,  red,  grey,  or  white  cedars,  arborvitee  (thuya  Canademe),  and 
others.  The  willow  family  is  represented  by  the  poplars  ("  Hards  "),  balsams,  and 
other  forms.  One  of  the  most  valuable  trees  is  the  white  birch,  of  which  the 
Indians  make  their  bark  canoes  light  enough  to  be  transported  by  a  single  man 
across  the  portages.  The  forests  also  yield  several  fruit-bearing  trees,  notably  the 
cherry,  and  shrubs  giving  an  abundant  supply  of  edible  berries.  The  sugar-maple 
(aeer  saeeharinum)  is  distinguished  by  its  rapid  growth  and  the  splendid  tints  of  its 
autumn  foliage  no  less  than  by  its  majestic  form,  excellent  timber,  and  the  great 
abundance  of  saccharine  contained  in  its  sap.  From  this  syrup  is  made  a  highly 
esteemed  sugar,  some  of  the  larger  trees  yielding  as  much  as  600  or  700  pounds  in 
the  season.  The  maple  has  been  chosen  as  the  emblem  of  their  nationality  by  the 
French  Canadians,  who  drape  their  banners  with  it  on  festive  occasions.  Its 
northern  limit  is  also  that  of  the  wild  vine,  which  coils  round  the  tall  trees  and 
hangs  its  bunches  of  grapes  from  every  branch. 

Jlost  of  the  forest  region  still  belongs  to  the  Government,  and  is  divided  into 
lots  successively  farmed  to  speculators.  The  timber  merchants  who  rent  the  so- 
called  "  limits,"  that  is,  tracts  parcelled  out  into  so  many  tens  or  hundreds  of 
square  miles,  undertake  to  prevent  all  useless  destruction.  After  selecting  the 
trees  required  to  be  felled  and  transported,  they  must  leave  the  rest,  and  restore 
to  the  State  the  lots  undeteriorated.  But  such  provisions  are  nugatory,  and  the 
forests  continue  to  be  recklessly  destroyed  without  a  thought  for  the  future. 

The  woodmen,  engaged  in  the  autumn,  ascend  the  rivers  in  order  to  reach  the 
"heights"  in  time  to  establish  their  "camps,"  and  begin  work  as  soon  as  the 

*  Robert  Bell,  Map  showing  the  general  northern  limits  of  the  principal  forest  tree*  of  Canada. 


ENCAMPMENT   OF   CANADIAN    WOODCUTTERS. 


LIBRARY 


FLORA  OF  THE  LATTEENTIAN  BASIN". 


273 


ground  is  covered  with  snow.  The  winter  season  is  utilised  for  felling  the  timber, 
which  is  transported  across  the  hard  slippery  ground  to  the  torrents  and  piled 
up  along  the  banks.  Then  as  soon  as  the  ice  melts  the  logs  are  sent  adrift  and 
floated  down  attended  by  boatmen  armed  with  hooks  to  clear  away  obstacles, 
prevent  "  jams,"  and  keep  the  waterway  open.  These  men  are  exposed  to  many 
perils  about  the  falls  and  rapids,  some  of  which  they  shoot  on  the  rafts  constructed 
of  the  timber ;  they  also  suffer  much  from  the  moisture  and  from  damaged  pro- 
visions, causing  a  kind  of  scurvy  known  as  "  black  leg."  But  those  who  escape 
these  dangers  generally  acquire  a  remarkable  degree  of  strength,  skill,  firmness, 

Fig.  122. — TutBEE  AFLOAT  AT  THE   OTTAWA   SAW-MlILS. 


and  presence  of  mind.  Most  of  these  intrepid  "draveurs"  are  of  French-Canadian 
origin ;  they  delight  in  braving  death,  and  may  be  seen  rushing  the  swift  stream 
as  they  spring  from  block  to  block,  or  even  descend  the  cataracts  clinging  to  a 
single  log.  Yet  despite  these  constant  risks  accidents  would  be  far  less  numerous 
but  for  their  love  of  drink,  indulged  in  on  feast-days  and  after  receiving  their 
wages.  They  are  fond  of  the  poetry  of  their  romantic  calling,  and  for  them,  some- 
times by  them,  have  been  composed  the  most  popular  Canadian  songs : — 

■  •  Xous  avons  saute  le  Long  Sault, 
Xous  l'avons  saute  tout  d'un  moroeau  ! 
Ah  !  que  l'hiver  est  longue  ! 
Dans  les  chantiers  nous  hivemer  ms, 
Dans  les  chantiers  nous  hiveruerons  ! 


274  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Ruiili,  roulant,  ma  boule  roulant, 
En  roulant  ma  boule  roulant, 
Eu  roulant  ma  boule."  * 

To  the  woodmen  succeed  the  tillers  of  the  soil ;  the  former  thin  the  forests, 
the  latter  destroy  them.  In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  towns  or  land- 
ing stages  they  fell  the  timber  with  axes ;  but  in  remote  districts,  where  it  can- 
not be  brought  to  market,  they  fire  the  woods  to  clear  the  ground  for  their 
crops  and  orchards.  But  years  often  pass  before  the  roots  can  be  entirely  got  rid 
of ;  at  times  also  the  process  proves  too  costly ;  the  plot  is  abandoned,  under- 
growths  resume  possession  of  the  soil,  and  the  charred  trunks  of  the  forest  giants 
disappear  beneath  a  tangle  of  creepers. 

During  the  months  of  August  and  July  fires  are  forbidden,  owing  to  the 
danger  of  their  spreading  in  the  dry  weather  far  beyond  the  intended  limits. 
But  despite  all  precautions  the  flames  are  at  times  fanned  into  destructive  con- 
flagrations, which  can  be  arrested  neither  by  stream  nor  lake  until  they  have 
burnt  themselves  out.  Thus  a  few  years  ago  such  a  fire  destroyed  all  the  wood- 
lands in  the  Saguenay  region  stretching  from  Lake  St.  John  to  the  Metabetchouan 
river  and  thence  to  Cape  Eternity.  In  every  part  of  Canada  are  met  such 
"  bruies,"  or  fired  districts,  where  the  woods  take  a  long  time  to  spring  up  again. 
Amongst  the  species  threatened  with  destruction  is  the  useful  black  walnut 
(juglans  nigra),  which  is  all  the  more  valuable  that  it  serves  for  grafting  on  the 

European  variety. 

Fauna. 

All  the  large  wild  animals  tend  to  disappear  with  the  primeval  forests.  The 
Laurentian  basin,  which  during  the  early  days  of  colonisation  supplied  the  French 
trappers  with  nearly  all  their  peltries,  now  imports  from  the  North- West  Territory 
the  furs  so  lavishly  worn  by  the  Canadians.  The  moose-deer  and  the  other  cervidre 
are  met  only  in  the  more  remote  parts,  and  even  the  beaver  has  been  driven  far  to 
the  north.  A  few  pumas  are  still  seen,  but  bears  are  very  numerous.  In  the 
fluvial  waters  cetaceans  are  becoming  rare,  and  the  whale  no  longer  follows  in  the 
wake  of  vessels  as  far  as  Montreal.  Those  "  sea  cows "  have  disappeared  that 
gave  their  name  to  so  many  points  along  the  shores  of  the  gulf  and  estuary ;  the 
seals  also  have  ceased  to  penetrate  through  the  Eichelieu  river  to  Lake  Champlain, 
just  as  they  have  ceased  to  frequent  the  Hudson  and  the  estuaries  on"  the  New 
England  seaboard.  Nevertheless  the  porpoise  still  ascends  the  Saguenay  600  or 
700  miles  from  the  high  sea. 

"Wild  beasts  have  been  replaced  by  domestic  animals,  horses,  cattle,  sheep, 
goats,  imported  from  Europe  ;  the  bird  tribe  also  has  been  partly  renewed  by  the 
introduction  of  poultry,  pigeons,  and  the  audacious  sparrow,  whose  depredations 
have  already  caused  the  colonists  to  regret  its  appearance  in  the  New  "World. 

Inhabitants. 
The   aborigines   have    certainly    diminished    since    the    arrival    of     the    first 
Europeans.      Cartier  and  Champlain  met  Indians  in  every  part  of  the  territory, 

*  Ernest  Gagnon,  Chansons  popnlairct  du  Canada. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  LA.UBENTIAN  BASIN.  275 

and  at  that  time  their  scattered  groups  probably  exceeded  100,000  between  the 
Mississippi  portages  and  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary-  At  present 
these  groups  are  reduced  to  a  few  mostly  settled  communities  lost  in  the  surging 
tide  of  white  colonisation.  Including  those  still  in  the  wild  state  beyond  the 
"  Height  of  Land  "  towards  the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  they  number  perhaps 
not  more  than  30,000  altogether.  Living  by  the  chase  and  fishing,  the  descendants 
of  the  original  owners  of  the  land  necessarily  decreased  according  as  game  dis- 
appeared or  fell  into  other  hands.  They  retreated  before  the  intruding  Europeans, 
just  as  they  themselves  had  driven  north  or  exterminated  the  Innuits  or  Skral- 
Hnger,  who  under  the  name  of  Eskimo  still  survived  on  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
down  to  the  last  century,  and  whose  remains  are  met  throughout  the  whole 
region  of  the  Great  Lakes.  If  the  few  remnants  of  the  Indian  tribes  still  hold 
their  ground,  and  even  increase  in  some  of  the  reserves  assigned  to  them,  it  is 
only  on  condition  of  completely  changing  their  mode  of  life,  by  becoming  tillers 
of  the  soil,  artisans,  sailors,  and  intermingling  more  and  more  with  the  whites 
even  by  marriage. 

In  fact,  the  Canadian  Indians  have  scarcely  any  longer  any  true  representatives. 
They  live  only  in  history  and  legend.  Their  civilised  settlements  near  Montreal 
reveal  their  inner  life  less  vividly  than  the  sepulchral  mounds  scattered  over 
various  regions,  but  especially  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  and  Georgian  Bay,  as 
well  as  on  the  portages  about  Lake  Superior.  The  wild  tribes  were  accustomed 
to  deposit  their  dead  on  the  bare  rock,  protecting  them  with  large  stones  from 
predatory  beasts ;  then  after  a  few  years  the  bones  were  collected  and  interred  in 
some  conspicuous  place,  usually  near  a  portage  or  on  a  bluff  or  headland  wherever 
there  was  enough  earth  to  raise  a  mound,  which  became  an  object  of  veneration 
for  their  descendants.  On  the  banks  of  the  Rainy  River  all  such  barrows  are 
covered  with  a  little  birch-bark  roof,  with  a  uarrow  opening  on  the  south  side 
where  the  friends  of  the  departed  offered  tobacco,  rice  and  other  presents  during 
their  periodical  visits  to  the  grave.* 

Formerly  the  Indians  deposited  in  the  common  or  private  graves  their  most 
valued  treasures,  such  as  furs,  necklaces,  arms,  copper  kettles,  instruments  and  jewel- 
lery. These  deposits  have  supplied  to  archaeologists  the  materials  for  reconstruct- 
ing the  social  history,  the  arts,  industries  and  general  culture  of  the  aborigines. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  whites  to  help  in  the  work  of  extermination,  the 
Indians  themselves  were  constantly  massacring  each  other.  Everywhere  the  local 
names  recall  their  sanguinary  conflicts,  and  on  such  sites  the  very  bones  are  often 
collected  of  those  who  perished  in  the  fight.  Thus  were  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  French  River  a  heap  of  human  remains,  representing  a  whole  tribe  of 
Iroquois  massacred  to  the  last  man  by  the  Hurons.  The  Iroquois  in  their  turn 
destroyed  the  Huron  villages  which  were  formerly  dotted  thickly  over  the  shores 
of  Lake  Simcoe,  and  of  which  nothing  is  now  seen  except  some  oharred  timber. 
One  day  the  Huron  braves  were  descending  the  St.  Maurice  above  the  Chaounigan 
Falls.     The  prows  of  their  canoes  had  just  been  turned  towards  the  beach  when  a 

*  H.  Youle  Hinde,  Canadian  Red  River,  and  Assiniboine  and  Saskatchewan  Expeditions. 


276  NOETII  AMERICA. 

numerous  band  of  Iroquois  were  discovered  lying  in  ambush  behind  the  trees. 
"With  one  accord  the  Hurons  again  steered  their  boats  towards  the  already  swiftly 
rushing  current,  and  the  notes  of  their  death  song  and  of  the  defiant  whoop 
hurled  against  their  implacable  foe  were  presently  intermingled  with  the  roar  of 
the  raging  cataract. 

In  the  absence  of  written  records  some  of  these  desperate  struggles  are 
commemorated  in  the  popular  Canadian  songs : — 

"Un  noir  corbeau,  volant  a  l'avenrure, 
Vient  se  percher  tout  pres  de  ma  toiturc. 
Jo  lui  ai  dit :   '  Mangeur  de  chair  huniaine, 
Va-t'en  chereher  autre  viande  que  mieune  ; 
Va-t'en  la-bas,  dans  ces  bois  et  marais, 
Tu  trouveras  plusieurs  corps  iroquois ; 
Tu  trouveras  des  chairs,  aussi  des  os. 
"Va-t'en  manger,  laisse-moi  en  repos."* 

In  a  short  period  of  four  centuries,  the  same  lands  have  been  successively 
deserted  and  repeopled  by  men  of  different  origin — Algonquins,  Hurons,  Sioux. 
But  most  of  the  survivors  belong  to  the  great  Algonquin  family.  In  the  upper 
basin  and  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior  are  found  the  descendants  of  Saulteux 
or  Ojibways  akin  to  those  of  Lake  Winnepeg.  Other  Ojibways,  as  well  as 
Mississaugas  and  Amikouis  (Wyandots),  dwell  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Huron, 
the  former  hunting-ground  of  the  Outawais  ("  Oreillards  "),  called  by  Champlain 
"  Cheveux  releves  "  from  their  fashion  of  wearing  the  hair  tied  in  a  knot  on  the 
top  of  the  head.  For  the  same  reason  others,  whose  descendants  still  linger  about 
the  headwaters  of  the  St.  Maurice,  are  known  as  "  Tetes  de  Boule." 

The  Nipissings,  Temiscamings,  and  Abittibis  receive  their  names  from  the 
northern  lakes,  where  their  posterity  is  not  yet  quite  extinct.  North  and  south  of 
the  Ottawa,  whose  name  recalls  a  momentary  sojourn  of  the  Outawais,  two  rivers 
are  known  as  those  of  the  "  Little  Nation  "  from  an  Algonquin  people  of  less 
importance  than  the  "  Great  Nation,"  the  Algonquins  proper,  whose  villages 
stretched  along  the  middle  course  of  the  St.  Lawrence  above  the  estuary.  All 
branches  recognised  as  "Fathers"  the  southern  Algonquins,  or  "  Wolves,"  better 
known  as  Delawares,  or  Lenni-Lennape,  that  is,  "  Men  of  Men,"  who  gave  to  their 
kindred  tribes  the  names  of  "  Children  "  and  "  Nephews."t 

In  the  northern  forests  of  the  lacustrine  regions  lurked  the  Papinachois  and 
the  Attiakmegs  (Attikamegs),  or  "  "White  Fish,"  so  named  from  their  chief  food. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  Laurentides  and  of  the  Height  of  Land,  who  are  at  present 
the  most  numerously  represented,  took  their  general  designation  of  "  Montagnais," 
or  "  Highlanders,"  from  the  nature  of  their  territory.  Lastly,  about  the  lower 
part  of  the  estuary,  and  on  the  north  side,  the  French  met  the  Abenaki,  or  rather, 
"Wabanaki,  that  is,  "  People  of  the  Dawn,"  or  "  Eastlanders,"  who  are  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  early  chronicles,  and  whose  national  poetry  takes  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  history  of  native  American  literature.? 

*  Ernest  Gagnon,  op.  cit. 

t  Francis  Parkman.  Tlu  Conspiracy  of  Pontine. 

I  Lighthal] ;   Li  laud;  John  Reade,   Transactions  of  the  R.  Soc.  of  Canada,  1887. 


THE  CANADIAN  ABORIGINES.  277 

Of  all  the  Algonquins  of  the  Laurentian  basin,  the  Slontagnais  are  the  least 
removed  from  the  primitive  state,  thanks  to  their  forest  life,  remote  from  all 
white  settlements.  North  of  the  Height  of  Land  there  are  some  who  have  even 
resisted  the  influence  of  the  missionaries,  while  others,  abandoned  by  the  priests, 
have  reverted  to  their  pagan  practices.  Their  idiom  differs  greatly  from  the 
Algonquin  dialects  current  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  their  relations  with  the 
surrounding  tribes  they  make  use  of  a  common  trade  jargon. 

The  second  ethnical  family  in  the  Laurentian  basin  was  that  of  the  Yendats 
(TTyandots),  to  whom  the  French  gave  the  name  of  "Hurons,"  from  hure,  a  wild 
boar's  head,  to  which  their  style  of  headdress  gave  them  a  certain  resemblance. 
They  dwelt  on  the  east  side  of  the  "  Freshwater  Sea,"  which  bears  their  name, 
and  south-eastwards  iu  the  Erie  and  Ontario  basins.  Their  neighbours  and  allies 
were  the  Petuneux,  or  "Tobacco  People,"  who  occupied  the  shores  of  Georgian  Bay* 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Huron  nation  was  most  numerous 
west  of  Lake  Simcoe,  where  it  possessed  thirty-two  villages  with  a  total  population 
of  at  least  11,000.  Some  writers  even  speak  of  30,000  or  35,000  centred  in  this 
peninsular  district  of  Ontario.  They  must  have  been  far  more  widespread  at  an 
earlier  period,  but  the  relentless  hostility  of  the  kindred  Iroquois  had  compelled 
them  to  contract  the  limits  of  their  domain,  and  to  live  in  a  relatively  compact 
body.  Thus  nearly  the  whole  territory  comprised  between  the  river  Ottawa  and 
Lake  Simcoe  had  been  abandoned. 

Then  came  a  day  when  the  rich  Huron  land  itself  was  changed  to  a  wilderness. 
Instead  of  crowded  village  names,  the  French  maps  of  the  eighteenth  century 
show  nothing  but  that  of  the  "  Destroyed  Nation."  In  this  district  II.  Tache 
has  examined  sixteen  huge  "  charnel-houses,"  one  of  which  contained  over 
a  thousand  skeletons  heaped  together  in  disorder,  and  mingled  with  all  kinds  of 
objects,  pipes,  glass  beads,  strings  of  shells,  copper  ornaments  of  Mexican 
origin,  other  ornaments  and  instruments  procured  from  the  French. 

The  north  side  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  Niagara  River  valley  was  held  by  the 
"  Neutral  Xation,"  who  vainly  endeavoured  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power 
between  the  Hurons  and  the  Iroquois.  According  to  some  etymologists,  their 
tribal  name  Onghiarah  is  perpetuated  in  a  modified  form  in  that  of  the  famous 
river  and  its  falls. 

According  to  Charlevoix,  the  Iroquois,  a  nation  of  warriors  and  orators,  were 
so  named  from  the  formula  with  which  they  concluded  their  speeches :  hiro,  "  I 
have  spoken,"  followed  by  the  exclamation  hwil  uttered  in  a  tone  of  jubilation, 
sadness,  or  rage,  according  to  circumstances.  But  they  called  themselves 
Hottinonshiendi,  "  Hut-builders,"  and  their  dwellings  were  in  fact  larger,  better 
built,  and  more  strongly  fortified  than  those  of  their  neighbours. 

The  chief  seat  of  the  Iroquois  race  lay  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  are  still 
the  reserves  of  their  five  original  branches,  the  "Five   Nations, "  t  which  after 

*  F.  X.  Girneau,  Histoire  dii  Canada. 

t  Senecas  or  Tsonnontuan3,  Cayugas  or  Goyogwins,  Oneidas  or  Uneyuts,  Mohawks  or  Mahaku- 
ase,  and  Onondagos. 


278 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


their  alliance  with  the  southern  Tuscaroras  became  the  "Six  Nations."  The 
most  formidable  of  all  were  the  Mohawks,  whose  ascendancy  was  so  marked  that 
they  at  last  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  chief  representatives  of  the  confederacy. 
Nearly  always  victorious  in  battle,  thanks  to  their  valour,  tactics  and  prestige, 
the  Iroquois  had  arrogantly  assumed  the  title  of  "  Men  superior  to  all  others." 
They  figure  conspicuously  in  legend  and  romance,  and  have  been  selected  by  many 
writers  as  the  true  type  of  the  Indian.  Nevertheless,  they  differed  in  many 
respects  from  the  other  natives,  and  especially  from  their  Algonquin  neigbbours, 

Fig.  123. — Indian  Teibes  and  Eueopean  Colonies  at  the  Beginning  of  the  18th  Centuey. 

Scale  1  :  35,000,000. 


Regions  colonised  at  the  beginning  of  the  ISth  Century. 
____^_^__^__  620  Miles. 


by  whom  they  were  surrounded  on  the  west,  north,  and  east.  The  Algonquins 
were  still  mainly  in  the  hunting  and  fishing  state,  whereas  the  Iroquois  already 
cultivated  the  soil.  The  Iroquois  language,  common  also  to  the  "Wyandots,  differs 
greatly  from  that  of  the  Algonquins.  It  is  remarkably  deficient  in  consonants, 
and  lacks  the  labial  series  (lip  letters)  altogether.  Thus  the  vowels  prevail, 
giving  great  softness  to  the  language,  which  is  nevertheless  copious,  strong, 
sonorous,  and  admirably  suited  for  oratorical  display.  It  is  said  to  have  changed 
little  since  the  arrival  of  the  wbites.  The  Indian  willingly  learns  foreign 
languages,  but  safeguards  the  purity  of  his  own. 


THE  IROQUOIS.  .  279 

According  to  a  local  tradition,  the  Iroquois  formerly  occupied  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  towards  the  Ottawa  confluence,  but  were  driven  thence  by  the 
Algonquins.  When  Cbamplain  penetrated  into  the  interior  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  they  were  still  engaged  in  recovering  the  lost  territory,  and 
were  driving  Hurons,  Montagnais,  and  Algonquins  before  them.  Champlain 
himself,  despite  his  usual  good  sense  and  rectitude,  allowed  himself  to  be  involved 
in  these  political  struggles.  He  joined  the  Huron  alliance  and  was  successful ;  but 
Iroquois  vengeance  could  bide  its  time,  and  long  after  his  removal  from  the  scene 
the  war  broke  out  again  more  fiercely,  more  relentlessly  than  ever. 

The  Iroquois,  to  whom  the  Dutch  bad  sold  firearms  in  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  joined  the  whites,  that  is,  the  English  colonists  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board, who  were  reported  to  be  more  liberal  than  the  French.  Thus  while  the  King 
of  France  was  allowing  the  Hurons  forty  shillings  for  every  English  scalp,  the 
King  of  England  was  giving  eighty  for  that  of  every  Frenchman. :;  But  in  the 
long  run  the  Iroquois'  power  dwindled  to  little  or  nothing,  and  they  were  driven 
by  the  Ojibways  and  Missassaugas  from  all  the  western  parts  of  the  great  lakes. 
Then  this  savage  warfare  was  merged  in  the  shock  of  the  two  leading  European 
nations,  and  the  struggle  in  which  Champlain  had  been  induced  to  take  part  was 
decided  in  1760  before  the  walls  of  Quebec. 

After  the  war  of  American  Independence,  many  Iroquois,  who  had  remained 
loyal  to  Great  Britain,  crossed  the  borders  and  sought  refuge  amongst  the  French 
Canadians.  Here  they  found  some  of  their  own  tribes,  and  amongst  the  mixed 
descendants  of  both  are  met  those  who  are  proudest  of  their  past  glories.  In  the 
province  of  Ontario  were  also  founded  some  Iroquois  colonies,  now  civilised  and 
more  or  less  merged  in  the  surrounding  Anglo-Saxon  population.  Pauline  John- 
son, one  of  the  best  local  "  English  "  poets,  is  an  Iroquois  lady.t 

The  schools,  in  which  the  aborigines  learn  French  or  English,  the  Catholic  or 
Protestant  churches  where  they  worship,  the  common  social  and  political  life, 
lastly,  alliances  with  the  whites — everything  tends  to  their  ultimate  absorption. 
Nevertheless,  the  civilised  Indian  families  still  cling  with  tenacious  pride  to  the 
glorious  memories  of  their  race,  and  even  claim  the  name  of  "  Savages,"  rejecting 
as  an  insult  that  of  "  Indians,"  applied  to  them  by  the  English  in  later  times. 

Iroquois,  Hurons,  and  Algonquins  have  still  their  national  feasts,  their  songs 
and  sports.  Each  member  of  the  community  carefully  guards  his  totem  (better 
otem),  the  representation  of  the  symbolic  object,  whether  animal  or  plant,  by  which 
he  is  connected  with  the  tribe  or  clan.  It  is  amongst  these  civilised  communities 
that  an  increase  of  population  has  been  observed,  a  fact  bearing  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  equity  of  the  Canadian  Government  in  its  dealings  with  the  old  owners  of 
the  land.  If  the  hunting  tribes  diminish,  the  agricultural  communes  are  normally 
increasing,  while  gradually  losing  their  distinctive  characteristics. 

The  first  essays  at  European  colonisation  were  made  under  almost  insurmount- 
able difficulties.     Jacques  Cartier  and  Roberval  merely  visited  the  country  without 

*  P.  A.  de  Gaspe,  Zes  anciens  Canadicns. 

t  W.  D.  LighthaD,  Songs  of  the  Great  Dominion  ;  Athenieum,  Sept.  28,  1889. 


280  NORTH  AMERICA. 

leaving  any  settlers  behind  them.  In  1599,  sixty-five  years  after  Cartier's  first 
voyage,  Ch.au.vin,  armed  with  a  royal  concession,  attempted  to  found  a  first  per- 
manent establishment  in  Canada,  selecting  for  the  site  of  his  "  maison  de  plaisance  " 
Tadoussac,  at  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Saguenay  confluence.  Here  sixteen  persons 
were  left  to  pass  the  winter  ;  but  next  year  all  were  dead  or  dispersed  amongst 
the  Indians. 

Chauvin's  successors  directed  their  attention  to  the  seaboard,  and  after  numerous 
vicissitudes,  a  fresh  start  was  made  by  the  foundation  of  Port  Royal,  on  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  which  was  afterwards  abandoned  and  again  rebuilt.  This  station,  the 
modern  Annapolis,  is  the  first  Acadian  settlement ;  but  the  Canadians,  properly 
so  called,  date  their  history  from  the  foundation  of  Quebec  in  1608.  This  slow 
progress  was  due  to  the  prevailing  monopoly  system.  Thus,  in  1602,  Acadia  was 
the  property  of  Poutraincourt,  and  all  the  rest  of  "New  France  "  was  regarded  as 
belonging  to  Mdlle.  de  Guercheville. 

Those  authorised  by  Henry  IV.  to  trade  with  the  "  Terres  Neufves  "  and  the 
neighbouring  coasts,  were  required  not  only  to  remove  all  strangers  from  the 
conceded  territories,  but  even  to  expel  all  Frenchmen  found  intruding  in  those 
parts.  In  1603  the  king  forbids  all  captains,  pilots,  mariners,  or  others  of 
the  ocean  sea  to  carry  on  any  trade  or  traffic  in  the  river  higher  up  than  the 
district  of  Gaspe.  Doubtless  these  orders  were  mostly  disregarded,  and  the 
Basque  and  Breton  fishermen  continued  to  visit  the  entrance  of  the  estuary  ; 
but  they  did  so  at  their  peril,  and  were  liable  to  be  pursued  and  captured, 
they  and  their  vessels,  and  brought  to  France  "  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the 
law." 

To  the  commercial  monopolies  was  added  religious  intolerance.  During  the 
first  essays  the  Protestants  showed  most  eagerness  to  join  the  expeditions,  and, 
considering  the  state  of  France  at  that  time,  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  the 
persecuted  Huguenots  would  readily  seek  to  found  new  homes  beyond  the  seas. 
The  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence  would  have  been  rapidly  colonised,  as  were 
those  of  the  Atlantic  by  the  English  Dissenters  during  the  course  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  But  after  some  hesitation,  inspired  by  the  tolerance  of  Henry  IV.,  the 
policy  of  the  official  colonisers  was  finally  adopted,  and  all  "heretics"  were 
excluded  from  Canadian  territory.  Unity  of  faith  was  the  primary  consideration, 
and  the  priests,  charged  with  the  conversion  of  the  aborigines,  had  also  to  look 
after  the  orthodoxy  of  their  white  fellow-countrymen.  "  The  king,"  said  Pont- 
chartrain,  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  "  the  king  has  not  expelled 
the  Protestants  from  France  to  allow  them  to  set  up  a  republic  in  the  New 
World."    Even  the  very  Catholics  of  La  Rochelle  were  regarded  with  suspicion. 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  French  immigrants  gave  no  heed  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  land.  Eager  to  acquire  wealth,  they  wanted,  like  the  Spaniards,  to  discover 
gold  and  silver  mines,  and  return  in  a  few  years  laden  with  the  spoils.  During 
their  residence  in  Canada  they  sailed  from  inlet  to  inlet,  everywhere  in  quest  of 
mineral  treasures.  But  being  compelled  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  peltry  trade, 
itself  profitable    enough,  they  looked  to   France  for  all  supplies,  and  when  the 


Eh 
S5 
O 


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s 

o 


8 
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LIBR/ 


INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA.  281 

re-victualling  vessels  were  weatherbound,  the  settlers  were  reduced  to  tho  last 
extremities,  and  many  actually  perished  of  want. 

But  of  all  the  scourges  the  most  dreaded  was  the  "  mal  de  terre  "  (land  sick- 
ness), a  kind  of  scurvy  evidently  caused  by  the  bad  provisions,  absence  of  sanitary 
measures  and  home-sickness.  A  remedy  against  the  terrible  malady  was  found  in 
agriculture,  and  Hebert,  the  Parisian,  deserves  mention  as  "  the  father  of  the 
Canadian  race,"  the  first  who  ploughed  and  sowed  the  ground. 

Besides  Tadoussac  other  sites,  such  as  Cape  Rouge  above  Quebec  and  Trois 
Rivieres,  were  proposed  as  suitable  places  for  settlements  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
valley.  But  in  1608  Champlain  decided  in  favour  of  Quebec,  which  is  undoubtedly 
the  strategic  port  of  Canada.  The  contemporary  print  still  exists  representing  the 
strong  "abitation  de  Quebecq,"  built  on  a  terrace  above  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary. 
But  of  the  twenty-eight  first  settlers  about  twenty  perished  the  first  winter.  Then 
some  Algonquins  came  and  built  their  huts  round  about  the  little  fort ;  but  for 
several  years  the  only  French  inhabitants  of  Quebec  were  the  hirelings  who 
depended  on  the  Company  of  Merchants,  and  who  had  no  wives.  The  first  family 
to  settle  in  Quebec  was  that  of  the  above-mentioned  Hebert  in  1617,  and  his  eldest 
daughter  was  the  first  to  be  married  here  four  years  later.  Thousands  of  Canadians 
trace  their  descent  from  this  stock. 

But  it  was  only  after  the  brief  occupation  of  Quebec  by  the  English  in  1629 
that  the  colony  began  to  thrive.  In  1641  the  French  took  possession  of  the  island 
of  Montreal,  and  a  fort  was  erected  at  the  confluence  of  the  Richelieu  with  the 
St.  Lawrence  on  the  spot  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Sorel. 

Then  Fort  Chambly,  which  became  the  eastern  bulwark  of  Montreal  against 
the  English,  was  built  on  the  margin  of  the  lacustrine  depression  flooded  by  the 
Richelieu. 

In  1672,  a  century  before  the  British  conquest,  the  French  population  between 
Montreal  and  Quebec  numbered  3,418  souls,  of  whom  1,344  were  capable  of  bearing 
arms.  Despite  the  wars  with  the  Iroquois  and  the  still  more  ruinous  struggles 
with  the  English,  the  population  continued  to  increase,  less  by  new  arrivals  than 
by  the  normal  birth-rate.  Apart  from  a  few  Parisian  artisans,  there  were  scarcely 
any  immigrants  properly  so  called  before  the  year  1665.  A  certain  number  of 
adventurers  came  to  share  in  the  peltry  trade,  and  a  few  seafarers  settled  near  the 
fishing-grounds.  Colbert  sent  a  few  regular  colonists  between  the  years  166o  and 
1674 ;  but  later  nearly  all  the  settlers  belonged  to  the  military  class,  men  who  had 
received  their  discharge  on  the  condition  of  marrying  and  remaining  in  the 
colony. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  French  Canadians  are  half-breeds.  Such  can 
only  be  the  case  in  an  infinitesimal  degree,  for  those  who  penetrated  into  the 
inland  forests  and  took  native  wives  left  their  children  in  the  maternal  tribe,  or 
else  themselves  remained  and  became  assimilated  to  the  Indians.  In  the  colonies 
proper  there  were  only  seven  marriages  of  whites  with  Huron  and  Algonquin 
women  between  1608  and  1663,  after  which  time  the  equilibrium  of  the  sexes  was 
already  nearly  established  in  the  European  communities.     Charlevoix's  statement 

VOL.    XV.  II 


282 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


that  nearly  all  were  Normans  is  a  mistake,  although  it  is  true  enough  that  the 
great  majority  came  from  the  west  of  France ;  scarcely  any  names  of  southern 
origin  occur  in  Canada,  but  many  families  have  taken  the  names  of  plants,  animals, 
or  localities,  as  well  as  those  of  the  French  towns  whence  they  emigrated. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  whole  Franco  Canadian  popu- 
lation, including  the  Acadians,  numbered  16,000,  and  during  the  last  sixty  years 
of  French  rule  it  was  twice  doubled.  But  while  the  French  Canadians  were 
increasing  fourfold,  the  neighbouring  English  settlers  had  increased  tenfold,  from 
262,000  in  1700  to  2,500,000  about  1760.  It  was  thus  foreseen  that  in  case  of  a 
conflict  the  French  colony  would  be  crushed,  and  to  avoid  this  danger  it  was  even 


Fig.  124. — Chief  Centres  op  German  Immigration  in  Canada. 
Scale  1  :  2fi.000.00O. 


'-;2 


U20  Miles. 


proposed  to  convert  the  whole  region  into  a  vast  penal  settlement  and  transport 
thither  all  French  convicts. 

When  the  final  struggle  began  in  1759,  England  was  able  to  invade  Canada  at 
the  centre  and  the  two  extremities  simultaneously,  and  the  three  invading  armies 
comprised  altogether  as  many  fighting  men  as  there  were  inhabitants  in  the  French 
settlements.*  Hence  the  wonder  is,  not  that  they  had  to  yield,  but  that  they  held 
out  so  long. 

After  the  British  occupation  it  seemed  inevitable  that  the  feeble  Franco- 
Canadian  element,  totally  severed  from  the  mother  country,  and  thinly  scattered 
over  a  vast  region  without  any  important  oentral  rallying-point,  must  necessarily 
disappear  in  the  surging  tide  of  Anglo-Saxon  ascendancy.  But  on  the  contrary 
the  60,000  Canadians,  as  the  French  element  is  usually  called  in  a  special  sense, 
have  become  two  millions,  having  increased  thirtyfold  since  the  conquest.  This 
astounding  growth  has,  moreover,  been  effected  without  any  immigration  from 

*  Despatches  of  Moutoalm.  April  12th,  1769. 


INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA. 


283 


France  for  a  whole  century,  none  having  taken  place  till  1872,  when  a  few  hundred 
settled  on  the  shores  of  the  St,  Lawrence.  But  a  number  of  Scotch  and  English, 
many  of  them  descendants  of  soldiers  who  came  as  masters  and  conquerors,  have 
become  absorbed  in  the  surrounding  French  populations.  Several  appear  to  have 
even  translated  or  modified  their  family  names. 

In  any  case  no  people  in  the  world  have  better-established  genealogies  than  the 
French  Canadians.  A  learned  archasologist  has  been  able  to  trace  through  two 
and  a  half  centuries  the  family  trees  of  the  whole  nation,  consulting  for  the  pur- 
pose some  800,000  civil  and  official  documents.* 

The  surprising  growth  of  the  Franco  Canadian  population  is  attested  by  the 
decennial  census.     But  this  population  has  had  a  severe  struggle  to  maintain  its 


Fig-.  125. — Increase  of  English  and  Feench  Speaking  Populations  in  the  Dominion. 


Inhab. 

f 

3.000.0OO 

/ 

r~ 

/ — 

/ 
f, 

2.500.000 

/v—.-l-.v.-.: 

2.000.000 

#:S:= 

1500000 

<$-— -<-— A:  y 

/_.L—_q_t_-^p?_- 

/— _-j>-«q-— — ; 

f^rz^J j ; 

1.000.000 

_^^^::^r^z:::::t:::::;::::i::::: 

500000 

400O0O 

_— p-rtrrii — 

rtTT„-_'<r_L j ■ 1— ---{ 

300  OOO 
2O0000 
10  0.000 



— i 1 

•          i   .                 i          i          .          ;      . 

1789 

1739        1809 

1819         1829         "839         1849        1859         I8G9        1879         1889 

nationality  and  language  amid  the  surrounding  hostile  elements.  Even  the  British 
authorities,  with  every  desire  to  conciliate,  have  at  times  yielded  to  racial  prejudice, 
as  in  1806,  when  they  arrested  on  a  charge  of  high  treason  the  editors  of  a  journal 
entitled,  "  Our  Institutions,  our  Language,  and  our  Laws."  Public  offices  were 
almost  exclusively  entrusted  to  the  English  and  to  them  alone  were  distributed  the 
State  lands,  to  the  extent  of  3,000,000  acres  between  1793  and  1811.  These  and 
other  grievances  at  last  became  so  intolerable,  that  a  revolt  broke  out,  and  was  not 
quelled  without  much  bloodshed,  public  executions,  and  wholesale  proscriptions. 
In  1840  French  was  abolished  as  a  legal  and  parliamentary  language,  but  this 
measure  was  revoked  nine  years  afterwards,  when  the  Canadians  of  the  Lower 
St.  Lawrence  definitely  secured  their  constitutional  rights. 

Beyond  this  province  the  vast  region  stretching  west  of  the  Ottawa  River  has 

*  Cyprien  Tanguay,  Ilictionnaire  genealogique  des  families  canadimnes. 

v2 


284  NORTH  AMERICA. 

been  mainly  settled  by  English-speaking  colonists.  After  the  conquest  the 
British  Government  actively  promoted  emigration  in  this  direction,  and  the 
conclusion  of  the  American  War  of  Independence  was  followed  by  the  arrival  of 
numerous  British  "  loyalists,"  who  received  liberal  concessions  of  lands  in  the 
Upper  St.  Lawrence  basin.  In  1784  as  many  as  15,000  English,  about  an  eighth 
of  the  whole  population,  had  already  settled  in  Canada,  and  after  the  wars  of  the 
Empire  their  numbers  were  so  rapidly  increased  by  direct  immigration  from  Great 
Britain  that  about  1848  an  equilibrium  had  been  established  between  the  two 
races.  Then  this  equilibrium  was  immediately  disturbed  to  the  advantage  of  the 
English  element  owing  to  the  exodus  from  Ireland  consequent  on  the  terrible 
famine  of  1846. 

Other  immigrants,  such  as  Germans  and  Scandinavians,  also  tend  to 
increase  the  Bi-itish  element,  for  they  naturally  acquire  the  dominant  language, 
and  thus  become  rapidly  absorbed  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  world.  During  the  last 
decades  the  Scandinavian  immigration  has  acquired  a  steadily  increasing  import- 
ance. Hence  the  French  Canadians  cannot  hope  to  keep  pace  with,  much  less  to 
counterbalance,  the  English  speaking  populations  throughout  the  vast  expanse  of 
the  Confederation.  Whatever  progress  they  may  themselves  make,  the  relative 
proportion  of  the  two  nationalities  must  be  modified  from  year  to  year,  always  to 
the  advantage  of  their  British  rivals. 

French  Canadians. 

But  the  Franco-Canadians  have  at  all  events  succeeded  in  definitely  establishing 
their  predominance  in  the  region  originally  settled  by  their  forefathers.  Even 
the  city  of  Quebec,  which  the  English  converted  into  a  second  "  Gibraltar," 
peopling  it  with  British  soldiers  and  functionaries,  has  completely  recovered  its 
French  nationality.  Montreal,  also,  which  Anglo-Saxon  energy,  favoured  by  its 
natural  position,  has  made  the  industrial  and  commercial  centre  of  the  Con- 
federation, is  resuming  the  Franco- Canadian  character,  which  had  almost 
disappeared.  At  present  these  two  cities,  by  far  the  most  important  in  the 
province  of  Quebec,  have  become  the  strongholds  of  French-Canadian  nation- 
ality. 

Not  only  have  the  old  French  colonies  remained  the  patrimony  of  the  race, 
but  the  adjacent  lands  have  also  been  gradually  annexed.  Thus  several  English, 
Scotch,  and  Irish  colonies  settled  round  about  Montreal  and  along  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  are  now  exclusively  occupied  by  the  Franco-Canadians,  who  have 
successively  bought  up  all  the  lands.  The  East  Counties,  a  British  district 
created  by  the  Government  between  French  Canada  and  the  United  States  in 
order  to  prevent  all  political  alliances  between  the  conterminous  populations,  are 
being  slowly  encroached  upon  by  the  French-speaking  peasantry. 

Nay,  more  !  At  the  time  of  the  division  of  Canada  into  the  two  provinces  now 
bearing  the  names  of  Quebec  and  Ontario,  great  care  was  taken  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  group  the  populations  in  accordance  with  their  respective  ethnical 
origins.      The  eastern  districts  of   the  upper  provinces  were  at   that  date  un- 


INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA.  285 

doubtedly  English,  containing  only  a  few  isolated  French  groups.  Now,  however, 
these  counties  contain  over  22  per  cent,  of  the  French  element,  an  increase  of 
nearly  10  per  cent,  in  the  decade  ending  in  1881. 

The  Canadian  peasantry,  less  enterprising  but  more  thrifty  than  their  Anglo- 
Saxon  rivals,  seize  every  opportunity  of  acquiring  the  mortgaged  lands  beyond  the 
Ottawa.  They  pay  cash  down,  and  when  they  grow  too  numerous  the  English, 
disliking  this  foreign  invasion,  leave  the  district  and  migrate  farther  west.  In  the 
course  of  a  single  generation,  several  Anglo-Saxon  villages  have  thus  been 
completely  denationalised.  On  the  other  hand,  the  small  Canadian  colonies 
settled  in  Ontario  before  the  arrival  of  the  British  immigrants  have  not  only  held 
their  ground,  but  have  enlarged  their  borders.  Such  is  the  group  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Detroit  River,  where  the  French  population  increased  from  less  than 
5,000  in  1851  to  over  14,500  in  1881.  Such,  also,  the  Nottawasaga  enclave  on 
Lake  Huron. 

It  is  especially  noteworthy  that  the  Franco-Canadian  settlements  no  longer 
consist,  as  formerly,  of  two  long  streets  close  to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  but  are 
also  distributed  some  distance  inland.  Every  town  becomes  a  converging  centre  for 
the  rural  populations,  and  their  domain  thus  becomes  enlarged  and  consolidated.  It 
will  be  increased  threefold  by  the  occupation  of  the  upper  affluents  already  begun 
about  Lake  St.  John,  and  the  Canadians  hope  that  the  clearance  of  the  northern 
woodlands  as  far  as  the  Height  of  Land,  and  even  beyond  it  to  Hudson  Bay,  will 
be  effected  by  men  of  their  race,  and  to  their  advantage.  They  expect  one  day  to 
colonise  all  the  territory  traversed  by  the  Pacific  Railway  north  of  the  great 
lakes,  and  thus  to  join  hands  with  their  kinsmen  in  Manitoba,  as  they  have  already 
done  through  the  Gaspe  peninsula  with  the  Acadians  of  New  Brunswick  and 
Nova  Scotia. 

But  it  is  a  far  cry  from  the  sources  of  the  Ottawa  to  those  of  the  Winnepeg. 
The  intervening  arable  lands  are  scarce,  and  a  portion  of  them  has  already  been 
occupied  by  some  formidable  competitors,  especially  the  Scandinavian  settlers. 
Anyhow  the  French  Canadians  have  great  confidence  in  the  future  of  their  race. 
They  are  animated  by  a  buoj'ant  spirit  which  promises  to  carry  them  triumphantly 
over  all  obstacles.  Having  successfully  withstood  so  many  trials  which  might 
well  have  proved  fatal  to  their  national  aspirations,  they  fancy  themselves 
destined  always  to  overcome  adverse  fate.  They  applv  to  themselves  the  words 
addressed  by  one  of  the  founders  of  Montreal  to  the  first  settlers  :  "You  are  as  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  but  you  will  increase  until  your  branches  overshadow  the 
earth ;  your  children  shall  fill  the  world." 

At  any  rate  their  American  domain  will  become  densely  peopled  if  the  birth- 
rate is  maintained  at  the  same  proportion  as  during  the  past  hundred  years.  The 
"moral  constraint"  preached  by  Stuart  Mill  and  other  political  economists  has 
made  no  proselytes  in  Canada.  Candidates  for  public  office  have  been  rejected  by 
the  electors  for  the  crime  of  celibacy.  All  marry  young,  and  the  families  are  very 
mimerous,  averaging  from  five  to  six  children.  Happy  parents  are  not  seldom 
seen  on  holidays   surrounded  by  as  many  as  twenty  sons  and   daughters,    and 


286  NOETH  AMEEICA. 

instances  have  been  known  of  aged  people  leaving  behind  them  a  posterity  of  over 
five  hundred  living  persons. 

The  population  is  normally  doubled  every  twenty-eight  years,  and  it  would  be 
effected  even  still  more  rapidly  if  the  hygienic  treatment  of  children  were  better 
understood.  At  present  infant  mortality  is  very  high,  although  after  the  first 
years  ailments  become  rare,  and  cases  of  longevity  are  more  frequent  than 
elsewhere.  As  many  as  twenty  aged  couples  have  been  known  to  jointly  celebrate 
their  "  golden  wedding,"  and  in  certain  years,  notably  1888,  not  merely  the 
relative  but  the  absolute  increase  of  the  Franco- Canadian  population  has  exceeded 
that  of  the  mother  country.  At  the  same  proportion  the  French  inhabitants  of  Canada 
would  actually  exceed  those  of  France  before  the  close  of  the  twentieth  century. 

But  the  natural  growth  of  the  Canadian  population  is  greatly  reduced  by 
emigration.  It  is  often  remarked  that,  compared  with  the  English  and  Germans, 
the  French  are  a  stay-at-home  people.  But  however  true  such  a  statement  may 
be  for  the  French  of  Europe,  it  is  totally  inapplicable  to  those  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
basin.  The  French  of  the  New  World  have  on  the  contrary  a  dash  of  the  nomad 
in  their  veins,  and  the  terms  "  Canadian  "  and  "  voyageur  "  have  almost  become 
synonymous  throughout  the  North-West  territories.  Descendants  of  adventurers 
who  had  not  dreaded  to  cross  the  seas  at  a  time  when  the  difficulties  and  perils 
inseparable  from  the  foundation  of  remote  settlements  were  far  greater  than  at 
present,  the  Franco-Canadians  have  inherited  the  spirit  of  adventure,  and  this 
spirit  was  increased  by  their  manner  of  life  during  the  early  times  of  the 
colonisation.  The  struggles  with  the  Red-skins,  military  or  trading  expeditions 
across  rivers,  lakes,  and  forests,  encampments  in  the  woods  and  prairies,  accus- 
tomed the  descendants  of  the  first  squatters  to  a  wandering  existence.  The  same 
tendency  was  encouraged  by  the  method  of  cultivation  adopted  by  the  settlers  in  a 
region  too  vast  to  be  occupied  all  at  once.  Each  settler  might  be  satisfied  with 
the  plot  of  land  granted  to  the  first  colonists,  but  his  children  expected  to  receive 
similar  allotments  for  themselves.  If  the  circumstances  were  favourable  they 
built  their  log-huts  near  that  of  their  father  ;  otherwise,  they  moved  farther  afield 
in  search  of  good  arable  lands. 

Thus  the  movement  of  colonisation  advanced  westwards  along  both  banks  of 
the  river,  and  then  inland  up  the  valleys  of  the  tributary  streams.  Such  was  the 
need  of  expansion  that  many  of  the  settlers  even  moved  northwards,  removing 
from  a  comparatively  mild  to  a  far  more  rigorous  climate.  Nevertheless,  the 
chief  stream  of  migration  was  directed  southwards,  and  a  large  number  of 
Canadians  following  in  the  footsteps  of  their  forefathers,  the  discoverers  of 
Louisiana,  crossed  the  Great  Lakes  to  found  new  settlements  on  the  plains  of 
Illinois.  But  a  still  more  copious  stream  set  in  the  direction  of  the  conterminous 
lands,  that  is,  to  New  York  and  the  New  England  states.  The  industrial  towns 
of  this  region  attracted  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  who  during  prosperous  manu- 
facturing seasons  received  good  wages,  enabling  many  young  women  to  save 
enough  for  a  respectable  dowry,  and  even  to  live  in  comfort  on  their  return  to 
their  homes. 


INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA. 


287 


Thus  many  places  in  Maine,  Vermont,  Xew  Hampshire,  especially  Burlington, 
Concord,  Manchester,  Nashua,  besides  the  chief  cities  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  and  Connecticut,  received  numerous  Franco-Canadian  colonists,  and  all 
these  places  have  a  separate  quarter  known  as  "  Little  Canada." 

It  is  impossible  to  indicate  the  exact  number  of  these  Canadian  immigrants 


Fig.  126. — Chief  Centres  of  French-Canadian  Immigration  in  New  England. 

Scale  1  :  6,000,000. 


-.." 


-■-: 


125  Miles. 


according  to  birth  or  descent,  as  the  United  States  census  returns  regard  as 
American  citizens  all  those  who  are  born  within  the  territory  of  the  republic 
without  discriminating  between  those  of  English  and  French  origin.  But  most 
statisticians  estimate  at  not  less  than  600,000  the  number  of  Canadians  of  French 
speech  resident  in  the  States,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  of  the  Franco- 
Canadian   population.       According   to   the   Roman    Catholic    diocesan    statistics 


298  NORTH  AMERICA. 

326,000  French  Canadians  were  residing  in  the  New  England  states  alone  in  the 
year  1884,  and  those  settled  in  other  parts  of  the  northern  states  between  New 
York  and  Chicago  may  perhaps  be  estimated  at  about  the  same  number. 

But  opinions  vary  as  to  the  proportion  of  these  emigrants  who  ultimately 
return  to  their  Canadian  homes.  A  certain  number  merely  cross  the  frontiers  in 
search  of  employment,  returning  as  soon  as  they  have  earned  enough  to  set  up 
for  themselves.  But  the  majority  settle  permanently  in  the  States,  and  thousands 
of  Canadian  families  have  already  Anglicised  their  names. 

Formerly,  these  Canadian  settlers,  mostly  ignorant  aliens  lost  amid  popula- 
tions differing  in  language,  religion,  and  usages,  formed  an  insignificant  section 
of  the  community;  yet  comparatively  few  lost  their  distinctive  personality,  the 
majority  keeping  aloof,  grouped  round  the  chapel  and  the  school  where  the 
national  speech  was  preserved.  Now  they  have  become  strong  enough  in  several 
places  to  form  independent  political  parties,  hold  annual  assemblies,  found 
"  institutes,"  publish  periodicals,  combine  together  in  vindication  of  a  nationality 
which  was  supjjosed  to  have  been  absorbed  in  the  surrounding  Anglo-Saxon 
world.  In  Massachusetts,  over  two-thirds  of  the  adults  refuse  to  become  natura- 
lised Americans,  and  in  the  north-eastern  states  there  already  exists  a  "  Cana- 
dian question."  Is  the  Latin  element  supplied  by  Canadian  immigration  destined 
to  be  assimilated  like  all  the  other  foreign  ingredients  introduced  from  Europe  ? 
South  of  the  frontier  some  districts  have,  on  the  contrary,  already  become 
"  Frenchified."  In  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  the  total  population  decreases, 
while  the  Canadian  element  increases  mainly  through  the  natural  excess  of  births 
over  the  mortality. 

This  great  outflow  towards  the  States  is  regarded  by  the  patriotic  party  as  a 
calamity  because  it  tends  to  diminish  the  cohesion  of  the  race.  A  large  portion 
of  the  emigrants  appear  to  have  lost  their  nationality  altogether,  as  it  is  feared 
that  in  the  struggle  for  existence  the  Franco-Canadian  exiles  may,  sooner  or  later, 
merely  add  strength  to  their  rivals.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  growing  facilities 
of  inter-communication  may  have  the  effect  of  enabling  Canadian  families  to 
maintain  their  rapid  increase,  and  thus  preserve  a  numerical  preponderance  in  the 
districts  occupied  by  them. 

Although  the  modifications  caused  by  climate  and  change  of  life  have  not  yet 
been  carefully  studied,  it  appears  certain  that  on  the  whole  the  French  race  has 
not  degenerated  in  the  Laurentian  basin.  It  may  even  be  said  to  have  improved 
in  physical  strength,  stature,  and  the  power  of  resisting  the  attacks  of  disease. 
The  average  type  seems  to  have  scarcely  changed,  and  the  natives  of  Montreal  or 
Quebec  met  in  the  streets  of  Paris  present  no  peculiarities  specially  characteristic 
of  their  transatlantic  origin.  The  women,  however,  are  said  to  have,  on  the  whole, 
acquired  more  regular  and  stronger,  though  somewhat  coarser  and  less  animated 
features  than  those  of  their  French  sisters.  The  Canadian  is  naturally  light- 
hearted  and  eminently  sociable.  This  is  seen  even  in  his  dwelling,  which  is  open 
to  the  outer  world  and  furnished  with  the  friendly  verandah,  where  hosts  and 
guests  may  be  seen  balancing  themselves  in  their  rocking-chairs. 


INHABITANTS   OF   CANADA.  289 

Living  in  proximity  to  the  "  Bostonians,"  or  "  Yankees,"  the  Franco-Cana- 
dians are  not  men  to  be  easily  duped,  and  from  their  ranks  are  chiefly  recruited 
the  members  of  the  legal  profession.  But  on  the  whole  the  two  races  conduct 
their  respective  affairs  with  about  equal  success,  the  English  displaying  more 
initiative,  the  French  more  method  and  less  show.  The  latter  have,  however,  the 
advantage  of  knowing  both  languages,  all  educated  French-Canadians  speaking 
English  correctly,  and  even  supplying  some  of  the  most  brilliant  orators  to  the 
Ottawa  House  of  Parliament.  s 

It  might  be  feared  that  this  circumstance  might  tend  to  corrupt  the  national 
speech,  and  reduce  it  to  a  kind  of  jargon  full  of  English  words  and  expressions. 
Such  fears  are  not  altogether  chimerical,  and  the  Canadian,  like  the  French 
Anglomaniac,  is  often  heard  interlarding  his  conversation  with  all  manner  of 
English  terms  and  idioms  in  season  and  out  of  season.  But  the  tendency  has 
been  checked  by  a  revival  of  better  taste  aided  by  the  stings  of  the  satirist.  In 
other  respects  the  language  of  the  well  educated  is  still  that  of  the  old  country, 
preserving,  however,  a  rich  treasure  of  graphic  words  which  have  become  obsolete 
in  France.  The  pronunciation  is  everywhere  much  the  same,  except  that  j  is 
often  pronounced  with  a  slight  aspiration,  as  in  Charente-Inferieure  and  Deux- 
Sevres. 

Canadian  literature,  comprising  nearly  1,200  works  and  double  that  number 
of  pamphlets,  may  be  regarded  as  rich  for  a  population  which  numbered  less  than 
100,000  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Some  of  the  old  French  songs 
have  been  orally  transmitted,  but  often  so  modified  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
recognise  their  true  origin.  They  have  been  adapted  to  the  new  surroundings,  but 
the  old  poetic  spirit  still  remains  unimpaired.  Every  band  of  woodmen,  every 
boat's  crew  has  its  special  singers,  often  its  improvisatori  and  poets,  who,  like  the 
old  ballad-makers,  throw  into  verse  the  various  incidents  of  their  life. 

Amongst  her  relatively  numerous  writers  Canada  also  possesses  some  masters 
of  style,  and  quite  a  school  of  local  historians  have  revived  the  dramatic  records  of 
the  past.  Compared  to  their  English  fellow-citizens,  the  Franco-Canadians 
certainly  excel  in  the  importance  of  their  historical  and  literary  works,  but  are 
inferior  in  all  branches  of  the  applied  sciences.  The  geological  exploration  of  the 
Dominion,  so  brilliantly  begun  by  the  English  naturalist,  Logan,  has  since  been 
prosecuted  almost  exclusively  by  others  of  English  blood,  natives  either  of  Great 
Britain  or  of  Canada,  and  even  most  of  their  fellow-  workers  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  natural  history  belong  to  the  same  race. 

The  great  majority  of  the  French  Canadians  are  Roman  Catholics.  In  1765, 
soon  after  the  British  conquest,  there  were  only  500  Protestants  in  a  total 
population  of  69,000  ;  and  it  may  be  stated,  in  a  general  way,  that  at  present  the 
total  number  of  Catholics  returned  by  the  census  of  1881  corresponds  pretty  closely 
to  that  of  the  French  and  Irish  elements,  at  least  in  the  province  of  Quebec. 
Nationality  and  religion  coincide  almost  everywhere  in  this  province,  where  the 
influence  of  the  clergy  is  so  great  that  the  few  priests  who  become  Protestants 
generally  carry  their  congregations  with  them.     At  the  Canadian  national  feast  of 


290  NORTH  AMERICA. 

St.  John  the  Baptist,  religious  ceremonies  and  civic  demonstrations  are  curiously 
intermingled,  and  the  very  name  of  Jean-Baptiste,  like  Patrick  or  Paddy  in 
Ireland,  is  used  in  ordinary  language  as  synonymous  with  French  Canadian.  All 
"  perverts  "  to  Protestantism  are  regarded  as  also  traitors  to  their  nationality,  and 
generally  become  tabooed,  so  that  most  of  them  have  to  remove  elsewhere. 

In  French  Canada  Freethinkers  are  not  numerous,  or  at  least  they  are  not 
grouped  in  distinct  circles,  while  as  patriots  they  always  side  with  their  Catholic 
fellow-countrymen.  Apart  from  them,  all  Franco- Canadians  would  seem  to  pro- 
fess a  simple  faith  not  yet  disturbed  by  the  doubts  of  modern  philosophy  or 
scepticism. 

The  French  clergy  are  generally  regarded  by  the  patriots  as  the  mainstay  of 
their  nationality'.  Yet  they  would  appear  to  have  followed  rather  than  led  the 
movement.  On  all  great  occasions,  where  the  higher  interests  of  the  British 
Government  were  at  stake,  the  hierarchy  has  given  proof  of  the  most  devoted 
loyalty.  It  also  frequently  happens  that  in  mixed  parishes,  where  the  Irish  and 
French  disagree  in  the  choice  of  a  pastor,  the  Irish  carry  the  day  and  English 
becomes  the  official  religious  language.  "With  few  exceptions  the  Canadian  clergy 
show  themselves  hostile  to  modern  France,  the  "  Land  of  the  Revolution."  They 
delight  to  celebrate  the  France  of  the  old  monarchy,  and  their  flag  would  still  be 
the  white  standard  of  the  fleur-de-lis,  the  flag  raised  by  the  French  half-breeds 
when  they  revolted  in  Manitoba. 

Topography. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  population  of  the  Laurentian  basin  is  concentrated  in 
the  peninsular  space  comprised  between  Lakes  Huron,  Erie,  and  Ontario,  and 
along  the  banks  of  the  Ottawa  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  Quebec.  Beyond 
these  regions  the  land  is  very  thinly  peopled  and  contains  scarcely  any  places  of 
importance.  Towards  the  west  especially  the  province  of  Ontario  is  almost  unin- 
habited. 

In  this  direction  the  administration  extends  far  beyond  the  natural  limits  of 
the  Laurentian  basin.  The  outlying  stations  lie  on  the  frontiers  of  Manitoba 
within  the  Lake  "Winnipeg  basin,  and,  by  a  curious  contradiction,  the  capital  of 
this  district  is  Keewatin,  formerly  capital  of  the  district  of  the  same  name,  which 
stretches  away  to  the  northern  solitudes  far  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Ontario. 
Keewatin,  which  was  at  one  time  called  the  Portage  du  Rat  by  the  Canadian 
trappers,  lies  on  the  Pacific  Railway  at  the  point  where  the  Winnipeg  River 
escapes  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods. 

The  same  great  trunk  line  possesses  two  ports  on  Lake  Superior,  Fort  William, 
on  the  west  side  of  Thunder  Bay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kaministiquia,  formerly  a 
fortified  post  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company ;  and  Port  Arthur,  or  Arthur  Landing 
on  a  deep  bay  about  six  miles  farther  north.  Both  are  rising  places,  probably 
destined  to  merge  in  one  vast  city  as  a  great  outlet  for  the  agricultural  produce  of 
the  Far  West.  They  have  already  their  grain  elevators,  warehouses,  and  steamers, 
plying  on  the  lake  and  affording  water  communication  with  the  American  cities  of 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   CANADA. 


291 


Duluth,  Milwaukee,  and  Chicago.  Port  Arthur,  the  larger  of  the  two,  and  the 
most  important  place  on  the  railway  between  Winnipeg  and  Ottawa,  is  com- 
placently called  by  its  inhabitants  the  "  Future  Chicago  "  of  Canada. 

The  dioritic  rock  of   St'/cer  Islet,  at  the  extremity  of  Thunder   Cape,  which 
encloses  Thunder  Bay  on  the  east  side,  has  become  famous  in  the  mining  records 


Fig.  12". — Thtjsdek  Bat. 
Scale  1  :  550,000. 


OtolO 
Fathoms. 


Depths. 


10  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


12  Miles. 


of  Canada.  Its  valuable  argentiferous  lode,  discovered  in  1868,  yielded  in  the  ten 
years  from  1870  to  1879  a  total  sum  of  £630,000. 

Since  then,  Badger  and  several  other  very  productive  mines  in  the  Thunder 
Bay  district  have  been  discovered  and  surveyed.  Crushing  mills,  saw  mills,  and 
other  industrial  establishments,  mostly  belonging  to  American  citizens,  have 
sprung  up  below  the  great  Kakabaka  Falls,  the  "Niagara"  of  the  Canadian 
"West. 

The  ancient  post  of  Sainte-Marie,  round  which  were  formerly  grouped  the  huts 


292 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  the  Saulteux  Indians,  is  also  a  rising  place,  and  will  certainly  become  one  of  the 
great  industrial  centres  of  the  continent.  The  Canadian  village  lies  on  the  rapids 
over  against  the  American  town  of  Sault,  and  both  localities  bear  the  same  name. 
Sault  Sainte-Marie  is  already  an  important  centre  of  inland  navigation,  thanks  to 
the  canal  constructed  in  1855  on  the  American  side,  which  is  utilised  by  craft  of 
all  kinds  with  a  collective  annual  capacity  of  about  G, 000, 000  tons.  At  an  islet 
on  the  British  side  the  engineers  have  begun  the  construction  of  a  second  larger 
and  deeper  canal,  which  will  also  supply  water-power  for  the  Canadian  factories. 
The  "  Sault "  is,  moreover,  an  international  station  of  the  first  importance  on  the 
railway  connecting  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  with  Montreal. 

In  anticipation  of  the  future  agricultural  development  of  this  lake  region,  the 


Fig.  128. — Sault  Sainte-Haeie. 
Scale  1  :  600,000. 


84°40'    West    of  Gr 


84°  10' 


0to32 
Feet. 


Jjepths. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


80  Feet 
and  upwards 


.  1 2  Miles. 


Pacific  Railway  Company  has  here  founded  the  station  of  Algoma  Mills,  so  named 
from  the  surrounding  territory  of  Algoma,  "land  of  the  Algonquins."  It  stands 
on  a  deep  and  well-sheltered  harbour  on  North  Channel,  in  a  central  position  for 
the  converging  lines  of  navigation  on  Lakes  Superior,  Michigan,  and  Huron. 
Facing  it  is  the  large  island  of  Man  /ton  /in,  which,  till  1870,  was  a  territory  reserved 
for  the  Ottawa  and  Saulteux  Indians  ;  but  the  white  settlers  have  invaded  this, 
as  they  have  so  many  other  reserves,  and  now  they  far  outnumber  the  natives. 

A  few  ports,  whose  future  depends  on  the  progress  of  inland  colonisation, 
follow  east  and  south-eastwards  along  the  shores  of  Georgian  Bay.  From  Parry 
Sound  is  forwarded  the  produce  of  the  Muskoka  district,  partly  colonised  by  civil- 
ised Indians  from  the  east.  Pcnctanguishcne,  "  Moving  Sands,"  and  Co/lingicood, 
towards  the  southern  extremity  of  the  bay,  are  the  nearest  ports  to  Barrie,  Ori/lia, 


= 
o 

- 


o 


= 


LIBRARV 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   CANADA. 


293 


and  the  romantic  shores  of  Lake  Simcoe.  In  the  neighbourhood  are  the  French- 
Canadian  colonies  of  Nottawamga,  inhabited  by  descendants  of  trappers  settled 
here  since  the  last  century.  In  the  same  district  has  also  been  founded  an  estab- 
lishment of  Russian  Mennonites. 

On  Lake  Huron  the  most  frequented  Canadian  port  is  Owen  Sound,  now  con- 
Fig.  129.— Poet  Hubox  axd  Saexia. 
Scale  1 :  53,000. 


West    cr    breer 


62  '&i 


Depths. 


0  to  32 
Feet. 


32  Feet 
and  upwards. 


i  2,200  Yards. 


nected  with  Sydenham  at  the  extremity  of  an  inlet  near  the  neck  of  Indian 
Peninsula.  It  is  the  best  harbour  on  the  lake,  with  water  at  its  quays  deep 
enough  for  the  largest  vessels.  Thanks  to  the  railways,  Owen  Sound  has  become 
the  port  of  Toronto  for  all  produce  coming  from  the  north-west. 

The  other  ports,  such  as  Southampton,  Port  Elgin,  Kincardine,  and  Goderich,  are 
all  shallow  and  badly  sheltered.     Six  banks  of  native  salt,  discovered  at  a  depth 


294  NORTH  AMERICA. 

of  980  feet  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kincardine  and  Goderieh,  supply  some  twenty- 
factories  in  the  district.      They  have  a  total  thickness  of  130  feet. 

Sarnia,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  St.  Clair  River  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Huron, 
practically  forms  a  single  city  with  the  American  town  of  Port  Huron  on  the 
opposite  side.  The  converging  lines  of  railway  are  connected  by  steam  ferries, 
and  in  1891  a  subway  2,000  yards  long  will  be  opened  between  the  two  places. 
This  passage  runs  at  a  depth  of  75  feet  below  the  ground,  and  of  the  total  length 
about  800  yards  lie  beneath  the  river. 

Except  Wallaceburg,  which  stands  on  a  lateral  channel  of  Lake  St.  Clair, 
all  the  other  towns  and  villages  along  the  St.  Clair  River  are  twins.  Thus  the 
large  city  of  Detroit,  metropolis  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  is  supplemented  on  the 
Canadian  side  by  Windsor,  capital  of  Essex  County,  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  peninsular  section  of  Ontario. 

The  Big  Bear  River,  one  of  the  affluents  of  Lake  St.  Clair,  traverses  a 
highly  productive  district,  which  is  being  rapidly  developed,  especially  since  the 
petroleum  wells  of  the  United  States  have  shown  signs  of  exhaustion.  In  the  Big 
Bear  basin  also  occur  oil  reservoirs,  which  have  already  been  tapped,  as  at  Petrolic 
and  other  places. 

Besides  its  mineral  wealth  this  basin  has  great  agricultural  resources,  though 
in  this  respect  inferior  to  the  valley  of  the  Thames.  This  river,  the  Tranche  or 
Tranchee  of  the  early  French  explorers,  also  discharges  into  Lake  St.  Clair,  its 
course  following  an  old  coastline  of  Lake  Erie.  In  this  district  Strafford  and 
Woodstock  are  thriving  agricultural  centres,  while  London,  the  capital,  accepts  its 
name  quite  seriously.  Its  streets,  squares,  and  public  buildings  have  been  named 
from  the  corresponding  quarters  and  monuments  of  the  English  metropolis,  and 
one  of  the  governors  of  Canada  wanted  to  make  it  the  capital  of  the  colony. 
Surrounded  by  the  best-cultivated  fields  and  gardens  in  the  province  of  Ontario, 
London  is  also  proud  of  its  industrial  activity,  and  possesses  several  large 
educational  establishments.  Its  valuable  sulphur  springs  even  make  it  a  watering- 
place,  while  the  neighbouring  town  of  Ingersoll  has  become  the  chief  centre  of 
the  cheese  industry  in  Ontario. 

London  is  connected  with  Lake  Erie  through  the  flourishing  town  of  St. 
Thomas,  another  railway  centre,  where  large  rolling-stock  works  have  been 
established.  Port  Stanley,  on  an  inlet  of  Lake  Erie,  is  the  outport  both  of 
London  and  St.  Thomas.  South-westwards,  the  alluvial  lands  traversed  by  the 
Thames  before  entering  Lake  St.  Clair  have  earned  the  name  of  the  "  Garden  of 
Ontario."  Chatham,  the  central  market,  was  the  chief  refuge  of  runaways  in  the 
days  of  slavery.  Here  are  settled  as  many  as  2,000  of  their  descendants,  nearly  a 
fourth  of  the  whole  population,  while  they  number  1,500  at  Windsor,  where  they 
are  as  numerous  as  the  French  Canadians. 

The  basin  of  the  Grand  River,  which  flows  southwards  through  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  lacustrine  peninsula,  rivals  the  Thames  valley  in  the  density  of  its 
population.  In  its  upper  valley  is  found  the  largest  German  settlement  in 
Canada,  consisting  chiefly  of  Mennonite  and  Lutheran  communities  grouped  round 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   CANADA. 


295 


about  Berlin,  capital  of  the  district,  and  at  Hamburg,  Strassburg,  and  other 
places  bearing  German  names.  But  although  these  colonies  have  founded  German 
schools  for  their  children,  English  is  already  tbe  dominant  language  in  the 
district,  as  it  is  everywhere  throughout  the  province  of  Ontario. 

Guelph,  the  largest  town  in  the  Grand  River  basin,  is  altogether  English, 
as  is  also  Gait,  which  lies  farther  south.  Brantford,  so  named  in  honour  of  the 
famous  Iroquois  chief,  Brant,  is  Anglo-Saxon,  if  not  in  the  origin  of  its 
inhabitants,  at  any  rate  in  its  language  and  usages.  The  Iroquois  of  the  country, 
settled  round  the  council  ball  of  the  Six  Xations,  at  the  borough  of  Tu&carora,  are 

Fig.  130.— Lake  St.  Ct.aik. 
Scale  1 :  900,000. 


West   oF  Greenwich  82*50 


Depths. 


0tol6 
Feet. 


16  Feet 
and  upwards. 

—  18  Miles. 


amongst  the  most  loyal  subjects  of  the  Queen  of  England.  One  of  their  schools, 
the  Mohawk  Institute,  is  quite  a  model  establishment,  such  as  is  rarely  found  even 
amongst  white  populations. 

Between  Gait  and  Brantford  is  situated  the  only  town  named  from  the  French 
capital ;  but  even  this  Paris  lies  within  the  pale  of  British  colonisation,  and  its 
name  is  due  to  the  deposits  of  gypsum  (plaster  of  Paris)  found  in  the  vicinity. 
By  a  curious  coincidence  the  artistic  objects  produced  by  the  skilled  artisans 
of  this  place  more  closely  resemble  the  products  of  Parisian  industry  than  any 
others. 


296 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


East  of  the  peninsula  the  fluvial  valley  of  the  Niagara  liiver  is  traversed  in  its 
entire  length  by  the  "VVelland  Canal,  which  forms  the  connecting  link  between 
the  lines  of  navigation  on  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  The  towns  of  this  district  are 
even  better  known  than  those  of  the  Grand  and  Thames  valleys,  thanks  to  the 
numerous  strangers  who  come  to  visit  the  Ealls  during  the  season.  At  the 
southern  entrance  of  the  Niagara  River,  Fort  Eric  stands  over  against  the 
American  city  of  Buffalo.  A  little  farther  on  Victoria  corresponds  to  the  suburb 
of  Buffalo,  where  the  river  has  been  bridged  by  the  railway  viaduct. 

Below  the  Falls,  the  Canadian  side  has  also  its  little  settlement,  which  is 
connected  with  the  American  town  of  Niagara  Falls  by  the  famous  suspension 
bridge  1,270  feet  long,  which  was  blown  down  during  the  terrific  blizzard  of  1888 

Fig\  131. — Most  Densely  Peopled  Region  ln  Ontario. 
Scale  1 :  2.500,000. 


West  oF  Greenwich  80° 


,  60  Miles. 


and  immediately  afterwards  re-erected.  Clifton,  about  two  miles  lower  down,  is 
similarly  connected  with  the  opposite  town  of  Niagara  City  by  an  international 
bridge  shorter  but  higher  than  that  above  the  falls. 

Queaisfon,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  rapids,  where  the  river  enters 
smooth  water,  faces  the  American  town  of  Lewiston.  Lastly,  at  the  point  where 
the  Niagara  enters  Lake  Ontario,  stands  the  town  of  Niagara,  to  which  again 
corresponds  Youngtown  on  the  American  side.  Niagara  is  one  of  the  oldest 
places  in  Ontario,  having  been  founded  under  the  name  of  Newark  after  the  War 
of  Independence  by  loyalist  refugees  from  the  States.  It  was  the  first  capital  of 
the  province,  and  some  incidents  of  the  war  are  recalled  by  Forts  George  and 
Niagara,  the  former  on  the  British,  the  latter  on  the  American  side  of  the  estuary. 
Like  the  other  towns  of  the  Niagara  valley,  Newark  at  one  time  possessed  some 
commercial  importance,  but  most  of  the  traffic  has  gravitated  farther  west 
to   the   Welland  Canal,  which  is  also  lined   with  towns  and  villages  from  Fort 


TorooR.vrriY  of  oanada 


297 


Colbome  at  the  Lake  Erie  entrance  to  Port  Dalhousie  on  Lake  Ontario.  The 
chief  town  traversed  by  this  navigable  artery  is  St.  Catherine's,  a  centre  of 
workshops  and  warehouses,  on  which  converge  several  railways.      Unfortvmatelv. 


Fig.   132. — ISTHJIUS  OF  NlAOAEA. 
Scale  1  :  400,000. 


79°20' 


79"    West  cP   Greenwich 


.  6  Miles. 


this  place  occupies  a  low-lying  unhealthy  position  near  the  northern  end  of   the 
channel. 

Hamilton — Toronto — Kingston. 

Hamilton,  the  third  largest  city  in  the  province,  stands  on  a  much  more 
favourable  site  near  the  west  corner  of  Lake  Ontario,  on  a  canal  connecting  it 
with  Burlington  Bay,  and  in  a  cirque  limited  on  the  west  side  by  the  silurian 
escarpment   which  farther  east  has  been  pierced  by  the   Niagara    river.       The 

vol.  xv.  x 


298  XGETH  AMERICA. 

inhabitants  of  Hamilton  give  the  name  of  "  Mountain  "  to  this  steep  cliff,  in 
their  eyes  the  Mountain  in  a  superlative  sense.  It  is  traversed  by  a  canal 
connecting  Hamilton  Bay  with  Dundas  and  the  affluents  of  Lake  Huron. 

Hamilton  is  increasing  rapidly,  but  notwithstanding  its  advantageous  geo- 
graphical position  at  the  extremity  of  the  natural  highway  connecting  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Huron,  it  has  already  been  far  distanced  by  its  eastern  neighbour, 
Toronto,  which  possesses  a  better-developed  railway  system,  radiating  in  all 
directions. 

Toronto,  capital  of  the  province  of  Ontario,  and  "  Queen  of  the  "West,"  occupies 
on  Lake  Ontario  a  sandy  tract,  which  slopes  gently  northwards  between  the  two 
rivers  Don  on  the  east  and  Humber  on  the  west  side.  The  town  is  regularly  laid 
out,  nearly  all  the  streets  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles  and  running 
either  parallel  or  vertical  with  the  lake,  but  the  general  effect  is  somewhat  mono- 
tonous and  commonplace.  The  view  of  the  lake  is  masked  by  a  slightly  wooded 
tongue  of  land,  which  encloses  the  harbour,  leaving  an  open  channel  on  the  west 
side  12  or  13  feet  deep. 

At  first  sight  Toronto  would  not  seem  to  enjoy  any  special  natural  advantages. 
It  has  no  navigable  river,  nor  is  its  port  accessible  to  vessels  of  heavy  draught. 
But  it  occupies  a  central  position  with  respect  to  the  fertile  lands  of  the  province 
of  Ontario,  and  it  lies  directly  opposite  the  highway  opened  by  the  Niagara 
valley  towards  Lake  Erie  and  the  United  States.  In  former  times  the  Indians 
from  the  north  held  their  peltry  sales  on  this  spot,  and  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  controlling  them  and  drawing  a  revenue  from  the  trade  that  the  French 
erected  Fort  Bouille  in  1749  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  now  known  as  the 
Humber. 

This  fort  was  abandoned  when  the  present  city  was  founded  in  1794.  It  was 
at  first  called  York,  or  Little  York,  and  this  continued  to  be  its  official  name  till 
the  year  1834.  The  term  "Toronto,"  which  ultimately  prevailed,  and  which 
means  in  Iroquois  "  Trees  on  the  Water,"  was  at  first  applied  to  the  sandy  spit  off 
the  harbour,  and  then  to  the  whole  district  as  far  as  Lake  Simcoe  and  Georgian 
Bay.  Its  selection  as  the  provincial  capital  added  greatly  to  the  natural  advan- 
tages of  the  rising  settlement,  whose  destinies  were  secured  by  the  develop- 
ment of  the  railway  system,  which  has  its  converging-point  at  Toronto. 

Since  then  the  city  has  continued  to  progress  at  such  a  rapid  rate  that  it  hopes 
to  equal  or  even  outstrip  Montreal  before  the  end  of  the  century.  The  population 
rose  from  900  in  1813,  and  9,000  in  1834,  to  over  86,000  in  1881,  and  nearly 
180,000  with  the  suburbs  in  1889  !  Montreal,  however,  has  the  immense 
advantage  of  direct  communication  with  the  Atlantic,  besides  commanding  the 
great  trade  routes  to  the  interior  of  the  continent.  On  the  other  haud,  Toronto 
lies  in  a  relatively  densely  peopled  district,  and  owing  to  the  sandy  soil,  enjoys 
a  better  climate  than  its  rival.  The  streets  are  wider  and  better  shaded,  and  the 
average  mortality  much  lower,  2L45  as  compared  with  27-91  per  1,000. 

Perhaps  the  greater  ethnical  unity  of  its  population  may  also  be  considered  a 
point  in  its  favour.      The  inhabitants  being  nearly  all  of  English   speech,  are  not 


TOPOGEAPHY   OF   CANADA. 


299 


troubled  by  intestine  rivalries  and  wranglings  which  prevent  harmonious  action 
for  the  common  good.  If  the  trade  of  Toronto  is  still  inferior  to  that  of  Montreal, 
its  literary  and  scientific  activity  is  greater  ;  its  periodical  press  is  better  edited, 
and  commands  a  wider  circle  of  readers  ;  its  book  trade  also  is  brisker  ;  and  its 
high  schools  display  greater  educational  vigour.  The  university,  founded  in  1827, 
but  nearly  destroyed  by  the  disastrous  fire  of  1890,  is  the  chief  establishment  of 
the  kind  in  Canada.  Its  several  libraries  are  open  to  the  public,  and  its  schools 
are  amongst  the  finest  monuments  in  the  city.  Several  parks,  both  in  the  interior 
and  neighbourhood,  contribute  to  the  general  health  of  the  place,  and  it  is  in  their 

Fig.  133.— Toeonio. 

Scale  1 :  150,000. 


zU       79°S5 


Oto  12 

Feet. 


Depths. 


12  to  120 
Feet. 


120  Feet 
and  upwards. 


3  Miles. 


vicinity  or  even  beneath  the  shade  of  their  groves  that  most  of  the  scholastic 
establishments  have  been  erected. 

Eastwards  follow  a  few  little  havens,  such  as  Whitby,  Onhaira  (the  "Portage"), 
a  busy  manufacturing  place,  Port  Hope,  pleasantly  situated,  and  surrounded  by 
dockyard*,  Cobourg,  with  numerous  fine  residences,  extensive  parks,  and  shady 
thoroughfares.  Cobourg  is  also  a  university  town,  whose  faculties  are  com- 
pleted by  an  Academy  of  Medicine  founded  at  Montreal  by  the  Wesleyan 
Church. 

Farther  east,  Belleville,  which  has  also  a  large  college  with  the  title  of 
university,  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Moira,  on  the  winding  Bay  of  Quinte. 
Its  port  communicates  in  two  directions  with  Lake  Ontario,  eastwards,  through  a 
natural  channel  which  meanders  between  the  islands  and   headlands,  and  which 

x  2 


300  NORTH  AMERICA. 

sends  its  ramifications  towards  the  two  industrial  towns  of  Deseronto  and  Napanee  ; 
westwards  by  a  canal  free  of  locks,  but  only  12  feet  deep,  cut  through  the  neck  of 
Prince  Edward  Peninsula  near  the  important  town  of  Trenton,  where  are  the 
largest  paper-mills  in  Canada. 

North-west  of  Belleville  lies  the  thriving  town  of  Peterboro,  surrounded  by  a 
labyrinth  of  lakes,  which  also  drain  to  the  Bay  of  Quinte,  formerly  Kintsio.  The 
Otonabee  river,  which  flows  by  Peterboro,  carries  the  overflow  of  Stony  Lake  to 
Rise  Lake  through  a  series  of  falls  and  rapids  which  are  utilised  to  drive  the 
wheels  of  numerous  factories.  Like  its  western  neighbour,  Lindsay,  Peterboro  is 
a  converging-point  for  several  of  the  Ontario  railway  lines.  It  is  also  proposed  to 
make  it  the  centre  of  the  navigable  canals  intended  to  connect  the  various  ports 
of  Lake  Ontario  with  those  of  Lake  Huron.  It  is  also  proposed  to  construct  a 
skip  railway  between  the  two  lakes. 

Kingston,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  Lake  Ontario,  has  recently  become  a  busy 
trading  place,  and  is  now  the  chief  inland  port  between  Toronto  and  Montreal- 
So  early  as  the  year  1673  the  French  had  already  perceived  the  strategic  impor- 
tance of  this  site,  and  400  men  had  here  erected  the  fortress  of  Cataraqui  or 
Cataracoui,  so  named  from  the  river  which  reaches  the  St.  Lawrence  at  this  point. 
But  the  outlying  station  was,  so  to  say,  lost  in  the  midst  of  the  Iroquois  popula- 
tions, and  its  garrison  had  to  be  withdrawn.  Frontenac  rebuilt  the  fort  in  1695, 
and  since  that  time  Fort  Frontenac,  now  Kingston,  has  continued  to  be  the  chief 
military  town  in  Upper  Canada. 

Kingston  is  still  fortified  and  armed  with  batteries  and  the  Dominion  here 
maintains  a  military  establishment,  from  which  are  recruited  the  staff  and 
engineering  corps.  This  school  takes  rank  with  the  training  colleges  of  Great 
Britain,  its  best  pupils  receiving  commissions  in  the  English  army. 

Before  the  administration  was  removed  to  Toronto,  Kingston  was  the  capital 
of  Upper  Canada,  and  even  for  the  three  years  from  1841  to  1844,  during  the 
period  of  the  open  struggle  between  the  British  Government  and  the  French 
Canadians,  it  served  as  the  chief  centre  of  authority  in  the  province  of  Ontario, 
where,  besides  Niagara,  it  is  at  present  the  onty  fortified  town.  Its  importance, 
however,  is  mainly  due  to  its  military  college,  its  Presbyterian  "  university,"  its 
medical  schools,  and  its  lumber  and  grain  trade.  Through  a  narrow  cutting  in  a 
rocky  sill  the  lakes  drained  by  the  Cataraqui  communicate  with  those  which 
discharge  through  the  Rideau,  thus  connecting  Kingston  with  Ottawa,  capital  of 
the  Dominion. 

At  Kingston  the  St.  Lawrence,  from  the  first  a  mighty  stream,  begins  to 
ramify  into  a  thousand  channels  between  the  "  Thousand  Islands."  The  village 
of  Gananoque  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  is  lost  amid  this  labyrinth  of  waters. 
But  the  busy  town  of  Brockville  over  against  Morristown  on  the  American  side 
lies  on  one  of  the  "  narrows  "  where  the  whole  stream  is  pent  up  in  a  single 
channel. 

Lower  down  follows  Prescott,  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  mere  suburb  of  the 
American  town  of  Ogdensburg,  the  chief  port  of  the  State  of  New  York  on  the 


TOPOGKAPHY  OF   CANADA. 


301 


St.  Lawrence,  but  lying  in  a  district  partly  colonised  by  French  Canadians. 
Ogdensburg  was  formerly  the  Fort  Presentation  of  the  French  settlers. 

Below  the  Long  Sault,  a  formidable  chain  of  rapids  turned  on  the  north  side 
by  a  canal  12  miles  long,  stands  the  manufacturing  town  of  Cornwall,  which 
marks  the  point  where  the  St.  Lawrence  begins  to  flow  entirely  through  Canadian 
territory.  "Works  are  now  in  progress  by  which  the  canal  will  acquire  a  uniform 
depth  of  from  14  to  16  feet.  The  American  frontier,  which  here  strikes  inland, 
intersects  the  town  of  Saint-Regis,  occupied  by  a  community  of  civilised  Iroquois 
Indians. 

Just  below  this  point  the  river  ramifies  into  several  branches  round  about 
Grand  Island  and  a  whole  cluster  of  islets,  which  serve  as  the  foundations  for  the 


Fig.  134. — T.aiti;  Ifrpissrso. 
Scale  1  :  1.700,000. 


-v 


30  ililes. 


supports  of  a  viaduct  thrown  across  the  stream  from  Coteau  Landing  to  Valley- 
field.  Over  this  bridge,  3,000  yards  long,  is  carried  the  railway  running  from 
Ottawa  directly  to  Sew  York.  Beyond  Grand  Island  a  strait  flowing  between  two 
wooded  headlands  leads  at  once  to  the  vast  basin  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  with  the  Ottawa. 

The  Ottawa  itself  rises  too  far  to  the  north  beyond  the  Height  of  Land  for  its 
northern  valley  to  contain  any  important  centres  of  population.  Nearly  the  whole 
of  this  vast  region  is  still  a  mere  waste  of  rocks  and  woodlands,  and  hitherto  the 
white  colonists  have  reached  no  farther  than  the  shores  of  Lake  Temiscaminar. 
Even  this  young  settlement  lies,  so  to  say,  in  the  wilderness,  a  day's  journey  by 
water  and  portages  north  of  Mattawa,  whence  it  draws  its  supplies.  Mattawa, 
that  is,  "  Confluence,"  is  conveniently  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Ottawa 


302  NORTU  AMERICA. 

and  of  its  tributary,  the  Mattawan,  in  a  district  containing  auriferous  deposits. 
Till  recently  an  obscure  station  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  it  lias  now  acquired 
some  importance  as  one  of  the  chief  stations  on  the  transcontinental  railway,  and 
as  a  centre  of  distribution  in  the  northern  part  of  the  province  of  Ontario.  But 
Mattawa  still  presents  a  very  modest  appearance,  with  its  little  houses  scattered 
amid  the  surrounding  boulders  which  give  to  the  plain  the  aspect  of  a  giants' 
cemetery. 

The  lumber  sent  down  from  the  upper  Ottawa  and  from  the  Mattawan  meets 
at  this  place,  and  partly  supplies  the  local  sawmills.  A  speculator  has  also 
succeeded  in  making  Mattawa  the  depot  for  the  timber  from  Lake  Xipissing  and 
from  Georgian  Bay  despite  the  waterparting  between  these  basins  and  that  of  the 
Ottawa.  A  steam-engine  on  a  hill  commanding  the  eastern  inlet  of  Lake  Xipis- 
sing  raises  the  logs  by  means  of  an  endless  chain,  and  transfers  them  to  another 
lake  which  drains  to  the  Mattawan. 

South  and  south-east  of  Lake  Nipissing  the  Government  still  possesses  from 
ten  to  twelve  million  acres  of  land,  which  was  till  recently  uninhabited,  but  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  which  is  studded  with  lakes  and  is  quite  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion. These  lands  are  given  gratuitously  in  lots  of  100  acres  to  any  settlers  who 
undertake  to  build  a  house,  reside  on  the  land,  and  cultivate  it. 

The  colonisation  of  this  region,  formerly  supposed  to  be  unproductive,  began 
in  1878,  and  a  few  villages  have  already  sprung  up  in  several  districts.  The 
Pacific  Railway  skirting  the  north  side  of  Lake  Mpissing  is  gradually  trans- 
forming its  little  wayside  stations  into  agricultural  and  trading  centres,  where  the 
Canadian  population  predominates.  Sudbury,  the  chief  town  in  the  district,  lies 
in  a  country  abounding  in  copper,  iron,  and  nickel  mines.  Ca/tendar,  near  Lake 
Nipissing,  occupies  a  convenient  position  on  the  lake  and  near  the  converging- 
point  of  the  railways. 

Ottawa. 

Pembroke,  Aniprior,  Ai/lmer,  and  other  places  on  the  Ottawa  below  Mattawa, 
have  acquired  some  trade,  thanks  to  their  position  near  the  rapids,  where  pas- 
sengers, goods,  and  rafts  are  obliged  to  stop,  and  where  the  necessary  water- 
power  is  obtained  to  work  the  sawmills.  Ottawa  itself,  formerly  Bytown,  would 
have  remained  a  mere  lumber  village,  had  not  the  Queen  of  England  been  induced 
to  select  it  as  the  capital  of  the  Dominion.  In  1800  a  daring  pioneer  from 
Massachusetts  settled  here  with  a  few  companions,  and  began  to  clear  the  land ; 
but  no  lumber  was  floated  down  the  watercourses  to  Quebec  before  the  year  1806. 
In  1831  a  village  of  1,000  inhabitants,  nearly  all  Americans  or  Scotch,  had  already 
sprung  up  at  the  Ottawa  Falls,  and  soon  after  the  canal  was  completed  which  con- 
nects the  Ottawa  with  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Ontario  through  the  course  of 
the  Rideau  and  the  chain  of  lakes  traversed  by  the  Cataraqui.  This  great 
hydraulic  work  had  been  carried  out  mainly  for  strategic  purposes,  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  transport  of  troops  and  supplies  between  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence 
and  Lake  Ontario,  in  case  the  Americans  should  seize  the  channels  at  the  Thousand 


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LIBRARY 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF   CANADA.  303 

Islands.  Fortunately  it  has  hitherto  been  used  exclusively  for  the  development  of 
trade,  and  it  has  tended  greatly  to  increase  the  value  of  the  Ottawa  sawmills. 

In  1858  the  rising  town  of  Ottawa  was  chosen  as  the  capital  of  the  confederacy, 
and  the  first  parliament  was  here  assembled  in  1865  ;  since  then  the  neighbouring 
villages  of  New  Edinburgh  and  Rochestervilk  have  been  annexed  to  the  growing 
metropolis,  which,  thanks  to  the  political  and  administrative  concentration,  has 
already  become  the  fifth  largest  city  of  the  Dominion.  It  is  exceeded  in  popula- 
tion only  by  Montreal,  Toronto,  Quebec,  and  St.  John,  and  it  hopes  in  course  of 
time  to  surpass  all  its  rivals. 

Ottawa  is  admirably  situated  on  a  rocky  plateau,  which  commands  the  right 
bank  of  the  Ottawa  below  the  so-called  Chaudiere  Falls.  Its  suburbs  extend  west- 
wards above  the  rapids  and  eastwards  beyond  the  Rideau  River,  while  on  the 
opposite  side,  consequently  within  the  province  of  Quebec,  the  flanks  of  the  escarp- 
ment are  occupied  by  the  industrial  town  of  Hull.  The  eyots  and  ledges  skirting 
both  sides  of  the  falls  and  rapids  are  already  covered  with  workshops,  sawmills, 
depots,  and  numerous  wood  houses.  But  despite  all  these  unsightly  structures 
the  falls  which  gave  rise  to  the  city  of  Ottawa  still  present  a  superb  picture.  The 
stream,  which  higher  up  expands  to  a  width  of  over  1,600  feet  winding  between 
numerous  poplar-clad  islets,  suddenly  contracts  towards  a  rocky  chasm  scarcely 
200  feet  broad,  and  plunges  into  a  boiling  "cauldron,"  whence  it  escapes  in  a  long 
foamy  current  expanding  into  a  tranquil  basin  opposite  the  city.  Here  also  the 
Ottawa  is  joined  by  the  Rideau  tumbling  over  a  cascade  60  feet  high,  and  develop- 
ing a  perfectly  regular  white  rideau  or  "  curtain  "  in  front  of  the  limestone  cliff. 
But  this  cataract  also,  formerly  one  of  the  most  romantic  in  Canada,  has  been  dis- 
figured by  the  mean  walls  of  workshops. 

The  Ottawa  lumber  industry  is  the  largest  in  Canada,  and  special  machinery 
has  here  been  erected  for  converting  the  logs  into  planks,  battens,  tubs,  buckets, 
matches,  and  a  thousand  other  objects.  Hundreds  of  steam  saws  are  kept  going 
night  and  day  ;  the  surface  disappears  at  many  points  beneath  the  rafts  moored  to 
the  banks,  and  the  waters  of  the  inlets  and  even  of  the  whirlpools  are  strewn  with 
thick  layers  of  sawdust.  But  these  layers  get  gradually  saturated  and  then  sink 
to  the  bottom,  where  they  accumulate  to  such  an  extent  that  in  certain  cavities  of 
the  river  the  depth  has  been  diminished  by  40  or  50  feet.  Then  the  accumulated 
masses  begin  to  ferment,  and  in  winter  when  the  stream  is  frozen  over  the  gases 
escaping  from  below  are  at  times  strong  enough  to  burst  through  the  ice  with  an 
explosion  like  that  of  a  volcanic  eruption.* 

The  Houses  of  Parliament  have  been  erected  in  the  finest  part  of  the  city  on 
the  terrace  projecting  eastwards  to  the  Rideau  Canal,  which  has  here  been  cut  to 
a  depth  of  160  feet  in  the  live  rock.  The  buildings,  in  the  Lombard  Gothic  style, 
are  disposed  in  three  groups  round  about  an  extensive  grassy  lawn,  the  greyish 
sandstone  blocks  being  relieved  by  copings  of  pink  limestone  and  marble,  which 
produces  a  pleasant  effect.  Lofty  towers  of  varied  form,  some  extremely  pictur- 
esque, rise  to  a  considerable  height  above  the  roofs,  and  this  majestic  pile  is 
*  Benjamin  Suite  ;  Sandford  Fleming,  &e. 


304 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


altogether  the  most  sumptuous  monument  in  the  Dominion.  But  its  chief  beauty 
is  due  to  the  magnificent  panorama  stretching  round  the  rocky  terrace,  whence 
the  eye  sweeps  over  the  distant  chain  of  the  wooded  Laurentian  hills,  and  the 
sparkling  waters  of  the  river  with  its  tranquil  bays,  lakes,  whirlpools,  and  foaming 
cataracts. 

An  extremely  graceful  rotunda  standing  at  the  extremity  of  the  terrace  behind 
the  chief  building  contains  the  library,  which  already  numbers  over  100,000 
volumes,  besides  pamphlets  and  periodicals.  This  is  the  most  important  collection 
in  the  State,  and  it  is  growing  so  rapidly  that  it  will  soon  have  to  be  removed  to 


Fig.  135.—  Feom  Ottawa  to  Montreal. 
Scale  1  : 1,800,000. 


West  of   Gn 


eerwvic 


30  Miles. 


larger  premises.  The  most  valued  section,  specially  devoted  to  the  history  of 
Canada,  comprises  about  8,000  works  and  a  large  number  of  manuscripts. 

Ottawa  also  contains  a  valuable  museum  connected  with  the  geological  explora- 
tion of  the  Dominion.  The  petrographic  and  other  documents,  which  reveal  the 
gradual  discovery  of  the  boundless  regions  of  British  America,  are  here  admirably 
classed ;  by  their  means  the  student  may  easily  follow  the  track  of  the  explorers, 
who  go  forth  every  year  to  thoroughly  explore  those  districts  of  the  North- 
West  Territory  and  Pacific  seaboard  which  are  still  known  only  by  superficial 
surveys. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Ottawa  is  another  most  useful  institution,  the  school 
of  agriculture,  gardening  and  rural  industries,  with  500  acres  of  ground,  where 
the  study  of  the  acclimatation  of  exotic  plants  is  successfully  carried  on.  In  these 
experiments   French   seedlings  are   chiefly  used.     The   Canadian   capital  has  of 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA.  305 

course  also  its  university ;  which  however,  scarcely  yet  rivals  those  of  Montreal, 
Quebec,  and  Toronto. 

Although  founded  exclusively  by  English-speaking  settlers,  Ottawa,  like  Mon- 
treal, is  now  a  double  city  as  regards  the  nationality  of  its  inhabitants.  The 
French  element  forms  doubtless  but  a  small  minority  ;  but  its  relative  proportion 
is  increasing  from  year  to  year.  Hull,  on  the  opposite  or  Quebec  side  of  the 
Ottawa,  is  entirely  French,  and  the  Franco-Canadians  are  already  in  a  majority  in 
some  quarters  of  Ottawa  itself  ;  but  from  the  aspect  of  their  suburbs  it  is  easily 
seen  that  they  are  for  the  most  pact  poorer  than  the  English.  They  are  chiefly 
woodmen,  lightermen,  or  factory  hands  living  on  their  wages,  and  residing  in 
wretched  little  wooden  houses  in  dirty,  badty-paved  streets.  But  all  quarters  are 
at  least  supplied  with  an  extraordinary  abundance  of  good  water.  From  the  river 
above  the  falls  Ottawa  draws  sufficient  to  furnish  each  person  with  ten  times  as 
much  pure  water  as  is  thought  necessary  even  in  the  best-administered  European 
towns. 

Ottawa  has  also  become  an  important  railway  centre,  and  is  already  connected 
by  three  lines  with  Montreal.  One  of  these  is  carried  on  a  graceful  steel  bridge 
over  the  river  above  the  falls,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  crosses  the  great 
river  Gatineau,  which  every  year  floats  down  hundreds  of  thousands  of  logs  for  the 
sawmills  of  Ottawa.  In  1889  a  "jam"  of  200,000  tree-trunks  occurred  at  one  of 
the  narrows,  threatening  the  plains  lower  down  with  a  tremendous  avalanche  of  a 
novel  character.  All  the  upper  valley  abounds  in  iron  ores  and  in  graphite.  The 
rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  the  confluence,  and  especially  in  the  outskirts  of  Templefon, 
are  extremely  rich  in  phosphates,  which  are  at  present  for  the  most  part  exported, 
not  being  yet  needed  for  the  little  land  under  tillage  in  the  district  itself. 

Along  its  lower  course  the  Ottawa  is  joined  by  a  large  number  of  rivers,  and 
at  almost  every  railway-station  the  line  crosses  some  affluent  blocked  with  rafts 
floated  down  for  the  factories  on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  main  stream.  Bucking- 
ham, on  the  copious  Hare  River,  has  a  crowded  population  engaged  in  its  numerous 
sawmills  ;  Papineaurille,  chief  town  of  the  old  domain  of  the  "  Little  Nation,"  is 
one  of  Canada's  historical  sites;  and  1'Orignal,  on  the  right  bank,  is  the  largest 
place  in  the  lower  Ottawa  valley.  The  surrounding  forests,  however,  despite  its 
name,  are  no  longer  frequented  by  the  orignal  deer.  In  summer  large  numbers 
of  strangers  and  invalids  land  at  this  station,  attracted  by  the  neighbouring 
Caledonia  Springs,  whose  sulphurous,  saline,  and  ioduretted  waters  are  regarded  as 
sovereign  remedies  against  rheumatism  and  other  maladies. 

At  GrenviUe,  a  large  place  on  the  left  bank,  a  canal  and  lateral  railway  enable 
riverain  craft  and  passengers  to  turn  the  famous  Carillon  rapids.  Near  the  village 
of  this  name  below  the  falls  and  factories  is  shown  the  spot  where,  in  1660, 
sixteen  Frenchmen  from  Montreal,  a  Huron  and  four  Algonquins,  commanded  by 
Daulae,  threw  themselves  into  a  little  log  fort  to  delay  the  march  of  700  or  800 
Iroquois  warriors  who  were  invading  the  colony,  thus  saving  their  fellow-country- 
men at  the  sacrifice  of  their  own  lives.  All  perished,  the  last  survivor  despatching 
his  wounded  comrades  with  a  hatchet  to  save  them  from  torture  and  the  stake ; 


306  NORTH    AMERICA. 

but  the  enclosure  was  encumbered  by  so  many  bodies  of  the  enemy  that  they 
feared  to  advance  farther  and  withdrew  to  the  recesses  of  their  forests.* 

The  watercourse  which  reaches  the  Ottawa  below  Carillon  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  has  been  named  the  North  River. 
Compared  with  the  great  affluent  it  is  a  small  stream,  but  at  the  town  of  St. 
Jerome  its  perfectly  limpid  current  is  utilised  for  one  of  the  largest  paper-mills  in 
Canada.  The  river  here  falls  a  total  height  of  300  feet  down  a  long  series  of 
rapids.  Notwithstanding  its  distance  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  vital  artery 
of  the  country,  St.  Jerome  aspires  to  become  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
Dominion.  It  is  the  terminus  of  the  projected  "  Northern  Railway,"  which  will 
traverse  the  more  productive  regions  situated  near  the  Height  of  Land,  and  whicl . 
will  form  a  junction  through  Lake  Temiscaming  on  the  one  hand  with  the  Pacific 
trunk  line,  on  the  other  with  Hudson  Bay. 

A  headland  on  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  is  occupied  by  the  pleasant 
little  village  of  Oka,  called  also  Mission  du  Lac,  at  a  point  where  one  branch  of 
the  Ottawa  sweeps  north-eastwards  round  the  north  side  of  the  island  of  Montreal, 
and  bifurcates  round  Jesus  Island.  Since  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  Oka 
has  been  inhabited  by  some  civilised  Iroquois  and  Algonquin  Indians,  who  live  by 
fishing  and  agriculture  ;  but  they  are  confined  to  a  very  narrow  domain  of  700 
acres,  which  is  being  continually  encroached  upon  by  the  whites.  Some  Catholic 
missionaries  are  stationed  at  Oka  Point,  and  the  Trappists  have  founded  a  famous 
monastery  on  the  neighbouring  forest-clad  mountain. 

Nevertheless  the  Indians  who  settled  in  the  district  during  the  second  decade 
of  the  present  century  are  nearly  all  Protestants ;  the  suit  which  they  have 
brought  against  the  Roman  Catholic  seminary  of  Montreal  has  become  a  sort  of 
local  cause  celebre.  They  claim  to  be  reinstated  in  the  contiguous  lands,  which 
formed  part  of  the  old  seigniory  or  lordship  of  the  Two  Mountains  granted  to  the 
Sulpician  fathers.!  They  have  been  offered  in  exchange  100  acres  per  family  on 
a  reserve  near  Muskoka  in  West  Ontario,  and  most  of  the  Indians  of  Oka  have 
accepted  this  offer. 

There  are  few  more  delightful  positions  than  this  peninsula  of  Oka ;  but  the 
village  of  St.  Anne,  at  the  extremity  of  Montreal  Island,  would  be  a  still  more 
charming  place  had  not  two  rival  railway  companies  chosen  the  very  mouth  of  the 
Ottawa  for  two  parallel  viaducts  of  unlike  style  but  like  ugliness. 

Formerly  travellers  stopped  at  St.  Anne  to  prepare  themselves  by  prayer  for 
the  perilous  ascent  of  the  Ottawa,  and  the  dangers  to  which  they  would  be  exposed 
from  Indians  and  wild  beasts  in  the  region  of  the  divide.  It  was  here  also  that 
Moore  composed  his  "  Canadian  Boat  Song,"  the  softest  and  most  popular  of  all 
that  are  echoed  in  English  speech  on  the  Canadian  waters.  St.  Anne  stands  at  the 
very  portal  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  Lake  St.  Louis,  which  is  seen  from  this 
point  stretching  away  to  the  east,  unites  in  its  basin  the  parallel  currents  of  the 

*  Relations  des  Jcsuitcs  ;  F.  X.  Garneau,  Histoire  du  Canada. 

t  The  Sulpicians  are  a  congregation  of  secular  clergy,  so  called  from  their  founder,  Jean  Jacques 
Olier  do  Verneuil.  parish  priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  Paris,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They 
have  several  seminaries  in  France  and  two  in  America,  Baltimore  and  Montreal. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA. 


307 


two  streams,  the  yellowish  Ottawa  on  the  north,  the  green  waters  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  on  the  south.  On  the  southern  bank  stands  the  village  of  Chateauguay, 
where  in  1813  the  Canadian  Basque,  Salaberry,  at  the  head  of  a  small  force,  held 
out  against  a  whole  army  of  American  irregulars. 

Below  the  Ottawa  confluence  an  inlet  in  Lake  St.  Louis  is  occupied  by  the 
town  of  Machine,  that  is  "  China,"  apparently  so  named  by  Champlain  in  the  hope 
of  making  it  the  starting-point  of  his  contemplated  expedition  to  the  vast  empire 
of  East  Asia.       He    supposed,  like  so  many  others,  that  the    Laurentian  basin 


Fig.  136. — Confluence  of  the  St.  Laweexce  and  Ottawa. 
Scale  1  :  450,000. 


7^°go 


West  oh  GneenwicTi 


6  Miles. 


would  lead  to  the  entrance  of  the  North-West  Passage  which  had  so  long  been 
sought. 

Lachine  is  one  of  the  oldest  places  in  Canada ;  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  on  the 
route  to  Montreal  is  shown  an  old  house,  which  is  believed  by  the  local  archaeo- 
logists to  have  belonged  to  the  brother  of  Cavelier  de  la  Salle.  But,  lying  too  far 
within  Indian  territory,  this  French  station  was  taken  by  assault  in  the  year  1689 
by  the  Iroquois,  hereditary  enemies  of  the  French,  and  all  its  inhabitants 
massacred.  At  present  Lachine  is  a  flourishing  place,  connected  with  some 
industrial  villages,  where  various  crafts  are  plied.  Here  begins  the  canal,  13 
or  14  feet  deep,  giving  access  to  vessels  of  a  considerable  size  above  Montreal. 
Here  are  also  the  headquarters  of  the  numerous  yachts  and  pleasure-boats  which 


308  NOltTH  AMERICA. 

enliven  the  waters  of  the  lake ;  the  river,  ohstructed  lower  down  by  tremendous 
rapids,  here  expands  into  a  spacious  basin,  admirably  suited  for  boating  and 
regattas. 

Eastwards  Lake  St.  Louis  is  limited  by  the  fine  viaduct  of  Lachine,  which 
connects  the  railway  systems  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  This  bridge, 
3,700  feet  long,  is  of  irregular  form ;  towards  Lachine  it  presents  a  series  of  piers 
placed  close  together  ;  then  it  crosses  the  deep  channel  by  two  long  spans,  beyond 
which  it  is  continued  towards  the  right  bank  by  a  high  embankment  fringed  with 
osiers.  But  despite  this  lack  of  symmetry  the  structure  produces  a  very  graceful 
effect,  thanks  to  the  extreme  lightness  of  the  sections  suspended  above  the  stream; 
it  was  completed  in  seven  months. 

Caughnawaga,  which  is  connected  by  the  viaduct  with  Lachine,  is  an  old 
Iroquois  settlement  still  inhabited  by  their  descendants,  who  numbered  nearly 
1,600  in  1886.  But  they  are  crossed  by  French  blood,  live  like  the  whites  in 
houses  built  and  furnished  in  the  Canadian  style,  and  are  Iroquois  Indians  only  in 
the  eyes  of  those  tourists  to  whom  they  sell  fancy  objects  in  birchwood,  mocassins 
of  deer  skin,  and  the  like  ;  on  grand  feast-days,  however,  they  still  deck  themselves 
with  feathers.  The  steamers  that  shoot  the  rapids  are  generally  in  charge  of  one  of 
their  pilots,  and  some  boatmen  from  the  same  village  accompanied  the  British 
expedition  to  Khartoum  to  assist  in  ascending  the  Nile  cataracts. 

Montreal. 

Below  the  rapids  the  village  of  Laprairie,  so  named  from  the  grassy  vege- 
tation covering  the  alluvia  formerly  deposited  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  stands  on 
a  deep  inlet  on  the  right  side  of  the  river.  From  the  strong  embankment  here 
protecting  the  low-lying  lands  from  inundations,  a  view  may  be  obtained  of 
Montreal,  stretching  along  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  This  is  the  largest  city 
in  Canada  and  in  the  whole  of  North  America  above  the  latitude  of  Boston.  It 
still  bears,  under  a  slightly  modified  form,  the  name  of  "  Mont-Royal,"  given  by 
Cartier  in  1535  to  the  wooded  hill  which  dominates  the  island  at  the  confluence ; 
it  had  thus  already  received  its  name  over  a  century  before  the  French  had  erected 
a  single  hut  on  the  spot  previously  occupied  by  the  triple  palisades  of  the  Iroquois 
village  of  Hochelaga.  The  exact  site  of  this  village  has  not  been  determined,  but 
according  to  M.  Benjamin  Suite,  it  stood  at  the  very  foot  of  the  hill  now  occupied 
by  Montreal ;  the  modern  suburb  which  has  taken  the  name  of  the  Indian  strong- 
hold lies  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  city,  and  skeletons,  pottery  and  arms 
have  been  brought  to  light  in  many  parts  of  the  island.* 

After  the  first  French  visit  great  changes  had  taken  place,  and  when  Champ- 
lain  arrived  in  1611,  the  Iroquois  had  already  been  driven  out  by  the  Algonquins. 
Their  station  of  Hochelaga  had  been  so  completely  destroyed  that  no  vestige  of  it 
could  be  discovered.  Recognising  the  admirable  position  of  Mont-Royal  as  the 
converging  point  of  all  the  routes  from  the  regions  of  the  Upper  Laurentiaii 
basin,  Champlain  endeavoured  to  establish  a  factory  on  the  spot ;  but  the  first 
*  J.  W.  Dawson,  Fossil  Men  and  their  Modern  Representatives. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA. 


809 


permanent  settlement  was  founded  thirty-one  years  later,  under  the  direction  of 
Maisonneuve  in  1642.  Having  been  duty  consecrated  by  the  pious  founder,  the 
station  took  the  name  of  Ville  Marie,  which  still  survives  in  the  seminary  that 
stands  on  the  spot  where  the  religious  ceremony  took  place. 

But  this  nucleus  of  the  future  city,  situated  on  a  steep  cliff  commanding  the 
left  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  occupies  but  a  very  small  portion  of  the  space  now 


Fig.  137.— Growth  of  Montreal. 
Scale  1 :  50,000. 


75°J6- 


West  af  Greenwich 


73°  52 


.  2,200  Yards. 


covered  with  houses  and  streets.  Both  above  and  below,  the  urban  quarters 
extend  for  some  miles.  Towards  the  west  they  have  annexed  a  swampy 
depression  formerly  watered  by  a  winding  rivulet,  but  now  traversed  by  one  of 
the  leading  thoroughfares.  The  slopes  of  the  Mont-Royal  escarpment  have 
also  been  built  over,  and  the  city  proper  now  covers  an  area  of  nearly  ten  square 
miles  ;  but  beyond  the  municipal  limits  it  is  continued  in  both  directions  by  several 
suburban  quarters. 

Even   had    Champlain    and    Maisonneuve    neglected  the  admirable    position 


310  NORTH  AMERICA. 

offered  by  the  terraces  at  the  foot  of  Mont-Royal,  an  important  town  could  not 
fail  to  have  sooner  or  later  sprung  up  on  this  spot.  Standing  at  the  head  of  the 
deep-sea  navigation,  it  must  necessarily  have  become  a  busy  entrepot  for  the  goods 
transhipped  from  European  vessels  to  the  native  canoes  and  riverain  craft.  The 
surrounding  district  is  also  extremely  fertile,  and  its  agricultural  produce  can  here 
be  conveniently  exchanged  for  commodities  imported  from  abroad. 

To  these  local  advantages  are  added  others  of  a  more  general  character  derived 
from  the  relief  and  main  physical  features  of  this  part  of  the  continent.  The  city 
lies  precisely  at  the  point  where  the  line  of  depression  beginning  at  the  port  of 
New  York  follows  the  Hudson  valley  and  Lake  Champlain  until  it  strikes  the 
fault  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Here,  therefore,  begins  the  natural  overland  route 
between  the  Canadian  river  and  the  largest  American  seaport.  On  the  other 
hand,  Montreal  occupies  the  point  of  the  river  which  is  least  distant  from  the 
New  England  seaboard.  Hence  it  naturally  sought  to  develop  its  communications 
as  rapidly  as  possible  through  the  breaches  in  the  Appalachian  system  with  the 
numerous  inlets  indenting  the  north-east  coast  of  the  States,  those  especially 
of  Portland  and  Boston,  which  offer  an  alternative  outlet  towards  the  Atlantic. 

Montreal,  moreover,  commands  the  whole  of  the  extensive  Ottawa  basin, 
which,  though  till  recently  scarcely  inhabited,  is  destined  to  be  covered  with 
thriving  settlements.  Furthermore,  it  offers  a  natural  outlet  for  the  trade  of 
Lake  Ontario,  while  through  the  lacustrine  isthmus  stretching  towards  Georgian 
Bay  it  must  become  the  depot  for  the  produce  forwarded  by  the  great  lakes, 
Huron,  Michigan,  and  Superior.  Lastly,  thanks  to  the  direct  Soo,  or  Sault  Sainte- 
Marie  railway,  it  is  already  regarded  as  the  most  convenient  Atlantic  port  for 
Minneapolis  and  the  other  cities  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  basin.  Thus  Montreal 
is  the  converging-point  of  the  chief  trade  routes  of  Canada  and  a  large  part  of 
the  United  States. 

Yet  its  progress  at  first  was  extremely  slow.  The  lack  of  civilised  populations 
in  the  Laurentian  regions,  the  hostility  of  the  formidable  Iroquois  Indians,  who 
infested  the  surrounding  forests,  prowling  about  in  quest  of  white  scalps,  the 
incessant  warfare  and  rivalries  between  the  early  French  and  English  settlers,  the 
absence  of  all  trade  with  the  inland  tribes  except  the  peltry  monopoly,  for  a 
long  time  prevented  the  city  from  deriving  any  benefit  from  its  great  natural 
advantages. 

In  1689  Montreal  was  in  imminent  peril  of  being  captured  and  sacked  by  the 
Iroquois,  and  thus  suffering  the  fate  of  its  outlying  station  of  Lachine.  Soon 
afterwards  the  English  actually  occupied  the  town,  but  failed  to  seize  its  citadel. 
It  was  again  captured  by  the  Americans  in  1775,  and  all  these  troubles  checked 
the  growth  of  trade  and  population  till  the  conclusion  of  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. A  great  stimulus  was  given  to  its  development  by  the  construction  of 
canals  and  railways,  which  began  to  radiate  round  the  city  about  the  middle  of 
the  present  century.  At  present  the  total  population  of  the  city  and  its  commercial 
dependencies  exceeds  230,000  souls,  or  one-thirtieth  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
British  North  America. 


TOPOGRAPH Y  OF  CANADA 


Sll 


"Without  offering  the  absolute  geometrical  regularity  of  most  American  towns, 
the  plan  of  Montreal  is  symmetrical  enough,  despite  the  natural  inequalities  of 
the  ground,  and  the  absorption  of  several  less  uniformly  constructed  suburbs. 
The    eminence  occupied  by  the  first  French  colonists  still  remains  the  central 


Fig.  13S. — Appboximate  Distribution  of  Nationalities  in  Montreal. 
Scale  1  :  55.0.' <V 


West  oF  Gree 


75°32 


French. 


31 

English. 


Irish. 
_  2,200  Yards. 


quarter.  Here  stand  the  oldest  buildings,  piously  preserved  despite  their  lack  of 
architectural  beauty.  Here  also  are  grouped  the  more  sumptuous  modern 
monuments,  such  as  the  City  Hall,  the  Palace  of  Justice,  the  Post  Office,  the 
chief  banking  establishments,  and  the  two  great  churches,  one  the  largest  in  the 
Dominion,  the  other  the  oldest  and  most  venerated  in  Montreal. 


312  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  Champ  dc  Mars,  a  historical  site  where  the  populace  gathers  at  times  of 
political  excitement,  also  occupies  a  part  of  this  central  district,  and  the  first 
thoroughfare  opened  on  the  crest  of  the  rising  ground  was  the  Rue  Notre-Dame, 
which  now  extends  from  one  end  of  Montreal  to  the  other  for  a  distance  of  six 
miles  nearly  parallel  with  the  river,  and  is  continued  at  both  ends  by  shady 
avenues.  The  other  avenues  also  follow  the  course  of  the  river,  which  here  flows 
nearly  south  and  north,  while  the  transverse  streets  running  east  and  west  rise 
from  terrace  to  terrace  towards  the  foot  of  Mont-Royal.  The  wealthiest  and 
healthiest  quarters  extend  along  this  escarpment,  the  chief  building  materials 
being  wood  and  brick  as  in  all  the  large  towns  of  Upper  Canada.  But  most  of 
the  public  monuments  are  constructed  of  a  very  hard  limestone  of  a  somewhat  dull 
colour,  which  is  extracted  from  the  neighbouring  quarries.  The  finest,  however, 
are  built  of  a  red  sandstone  imported  from  the  United  States,  and  are  often 
adorned  with  granite  columns  and  copings  brought  all  the  way  from  Scotland. 

Montreal  is  a  double  city.  The  contrast  presented  everywhere  in  the  Do- 
minion between  two  rival  races  struggling  for  the  ascendancy  is  reproduced  in  the 
great  Laurentian  emporium.  Two  nationalities  and  two  languages  here  confront 
one  another,  as  in  Fribourg,  Bienne,  and  some  other  Swiss  towns,  and  give  rise  to 
the  same  religious,  political,  and  social  wranglings  ;  which,  however,  rarely  lead  to 
serious  conflicts.  They  lose  somewhat  of  their  virulence  by  the  very  fact  of  their 
continuity,  as  well  as  through  the  safety-valve  of  the  electoral  contests,  when  more 
serious  questions  yield  to  the  claims  of  ambitious  candidates. 

The  Franco- Canadians  are  the  more  numerous,  and  their  absolute  preponderance 
is  yearly  increasing  by  the  normal  excess  of  births  over  the  mortality.  About 
the  middle  of  the  present  century,  the  citizens  of  French  race  and  speech  were 
lees  than  half ,  now  they  are  in  a  considerable  majority,  although  the  death-rate 
is  far  higher  amongst  them  than  amongst  their  rivals.  During  the  epidemic  of 
small-pox,  which  prevailed  in  1885,  of  3,164  victims,  as  many  as  2,887  were  said 
to  be  Franco-Canadians,  and  the  normal  mortality  amongst  them  is  pv.er  3G  per 
1,000,  whereas  it  is  under  27,  23,  and  15  amongst  the  Irish,  English,  and  Scotch 
respectively. 

But  all  these  losses  are  more  than  repaired  by  the  continuous  inflow  of  the  Franco- 
Canadian  rural  populations,  the  same  tendency  prevailing  here  as  in  all  industrial 
countries.  Nevertheless,  the  French  Canadians  take  the  lead  only  in  numbers, 
and  are  outstripped  in  commercial  enterprise  by  the  rival  element.  The  large 
industries  and  undertakings  involving  possible  risk  of  sudden  failure  are  generally 
left  to  the  Anglo-Canadians,  the  Scotch  and  American  immigrants.  Nor  do  the 
Franco- Canadian  functionaries  stand  on  the  same  level  as  their  English  competi- 
tors, who  fill  the  highest  and  especially  the  most  lucrative  posts  in  the  Civil 
Service.  The  most  fashionable  quarters,  diversified  with  green  swards  and  shady 
pleasure  grounds,  belong,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  English  ;  and  the  St.  Antoine 
quarter,  where  scarcely  any  French  is  heard,  alone  contributes  more  than  a 
third  of  the  local  rates. 

The   Irish,  mostly  Roman   Catholics  like  the   French  Canadians,  but   their 


MONTREAL  AND 


0  000. 


6Miles. 


BTUE     i.  C  "     '    MITE] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA. 


313 


rivals  in  the  petty  industries  and  workshops,  and  nearly  always  their  political 
opponents  and  enemies,  occupy  the  Griffin-Town  quarter,  which  lies  in  the  former 
marshy  district  higher  up  the  river.  Recently,  the  Italian  colony,  doubtless 
destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  merge  in  the  French -Canadian  section,  has  increased 
rapidly  ;  hut  the  Germans  are  scattered  in  small  groups  over  the  city.  Those 
who  pass  under  this  name  are,  however,  for  the  most  part  Jews  from  Silesia, 
Poland,  Austria,  and  Russia,  nearly  all  pawnbrokers  and  dealers  in  old  clothes  or 

Fig-.   139.— Montbeai  in-   18S9. 
Scale  1  :  90,000. 


\    est  O:    ureenwrcn 


7h'35 


Depths. 


Oto  10 
Feet. 


10  Feet 
and  upwards. 


3,300  Yards 


marine  stores.  They  possess  little  national  sentiment  and  no  solidarity ;  hence 
in  the  course  of  two  or  three  generations  they  become  completely  absorbed  in  the 
surrounding  English-speaking  populations. 

To  obtain  a  general  bird's-eye  view  of  the  city  and  its  widespreading  suburbs 
of  diyerse  nationalities,  the  visitor  must  ascend  the  slopes  of  Mont- Royal,  which 
are  now  accessible  both  by  carriage  roads  and  a  steeply- graded  railway.  The 
summit  is  largely  occupied  by  the  public  park,  which  is  all  the  more  beautiful 
that  the  primeval  forest  has  been  left  almost  entirely  in  its  natural  state.    Through 

VOL.    XV.  Y 


314  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  clearings  in  the  woods,  vistas  are  here  and  there  obtained  of  the  city,  laid 
out  like  a  chessboard,  with  its  pink  houses  and  grey  roofs,  the  several  blocks 
enframed  in  a  green  setting  of  shady  avenues.  The  various  buildings  may  be 
distinguished  by  their  domes,  pinnacles,  and  clock-towers,  while  in  the  distance 
and  along  the  harbour  may  be  seen  the  tall  chimneys  of  the  factories,  the  pyrami- 
dal roofs  of  the  grain-elevators,  the  long  streaks  of  steam  or  smoke  from  passing 
trains  and  steamers. 

But  beyond  all  these  works  of  man,  when  the  smoky  curtain  lifts,  the  observer 
beholds  the  majestic  river,  here  nearly  two  miles  broad,  and  looking  more  like  a 
tranquil  lake  separated  into  two  basins  by  the  hills  of  St.  Helen's  Island.  Above 
stream  is  seen  the  long  oblique  line  of  the  Victoria  Bridge  crossing  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  in  clear  weather  the  view  is  said  to  stretch  away  beyond  the  broad 
plains  of  Richelieu  as  far  as  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain  and  the  Vermont 
Mountains.  Westwards,  the  prospect  is  more  open,  extending  beyond  the  Ottawa 
in  the  direction  of  the  inland  forests. 

The  western  escarpment  of  Mont-Royal  has  been  reserved  for  the  cemeteries, 
and  the  reservoirs  have  been  excavated  on  the  heights,  themselves  immediately 
above  the  city.  The  chief  basin  contains  about  160,000  tons  of  water,  derived 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  at  a  point  nearly  two  miles  above  the  rapids.  Altogether, 
the  supply  is  sufficient  for  a  daily  allowance  of  as  much  as  110  cubic  feet  per  head 
of  the  population. 

Besides  its  wonderful"  Mountain  Park,"  Montreal  possesses  an  equally  wonder- 
ful "  Island  Park,"  covering  nearly  the  whole  of  St.  Helen's  Island,  which 
lies  about  630  yards  from  the  quays  of  the  lower  town.  The  little  enclave, 
reserved  by  the  Government,  is  set  apart  for  military  exercises.  St.  Helen's,  so 
named  in  honour  of  Champlain's  wife,*  forms  a  little  group  of  rocky  hills  disposed 
parallel  with  Mont-Royal ;  from  its  shady  avenues  of  maple  and  elm  trees,  is 
unfolded  an  animated  view  of  the  shifting  scenes  up  and  down  the  river.  Between 
the  island  and  the  right  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence  follows  a  continuous  line  of 
rocks  and  reefs,  some  almost  flush  with  the  surface  and  covered  with  a  few  tufts  of 
verdure,  others  barely  indicated  by  a  few  flecks  of  foam  or  short  3reasty  wavelets. 

At  St.  Helen's  took  place  the  capitulation  of  Montreal  in  1760,  when  the  last 
square  foot  of  land  held  by  the  French  on  the  Northern  Continent  passed  into  the 
hands  of  their  British  conquerors.  Nevertheless,  the  Canadian  inhabitants  of  the 
Sault  Sainte-Marie  still  flew  the  French  flag,  until  they  were  overtaken  in  their 
remote  western  solitudes.  Lemoigne  dTberville,  who  marched  from  \  ictory  to 
victory,  northwards  to  the  Hudson  Bay,  southwards  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  a 
native  of  Montreal. 

*  "Associated  with  Champlain  was  a  young  wife,  whose  name  has  heen  handed  down  as  one  of  the 
heroines  of  Canada.  It  was  a  happy  augury  that  the  first  white  lady  who  set  foot  in  Canada  should  be 
one  of  such  winsome  manners  and  pure  character,  and  those  who  read  her  story  will  learn  with  pleasure 
that  her  name  is  still  commemorated  in  St.  Helen's  Island  opposite  Montreal.  She  visited  the  wigwams 
of  the  Indians,  and  attended  to  their  spiritual  as  wi  11  as  temporal  wants,  until  the  simple  savages  came 
to  regard  her  as  a  superior  being  descended  upon  them  from  another  world.  Years  after  the  death  of 
her  brave  husband  she,  having  returned  to  France,  founded  a  convent  of  Ursuline  nuns  at  Meaux,  and 
there  died."— (E.  B.  Biggar,  Canada,  a  Memorial  VoUme.) 


-.' 


o 

55 

w 
- 


x 


25 
o 


o 

►J 
n 

w 
o 


w 

« 

H 

o 


] 


■ 


. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA.  315 

Although  situated  1,150  miles  from  Belle-Isle  Strait  leading  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  and  100  miles  above  the  tidal  wave,  Montreal  is  none  the  less  a  seaport  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  Formerly  it  was  accessible  only  for  vessels  of  300 
tons  burden,  but  since  the  dredging  of  St.  Peter's  Lake  the  largest  transatlantic 
steamers  are  able  to  ascend  the  river  up  to  its  very  quays.  Nowhere  else  in 
the  whole  world  can  ocean  vessels  of  5,000  or  6,000  tons,  drawing  30  feet  of 
water,  penetrate  so  far  inland  from  the  sea-coast.  Even  large  sailing  vessels 
might  stem  the  current  but  for  the  expensive  pilotage  at  several  of  the  narrows, 
and  the  unavoidable  loss  of  time.  Hence  the  curious  spectacle  presented  by  the 
harbour,  where  scarcely  anything  is  to  be  seen  except  steamers  of  all  sizes,  ocean 
liners,  tugs,  pleasure-boats,  launches,  ferry-boats,  and  barges.  At  Montreal  some 
of  the  first  essays  were  made  at  steam  navigation.  In  1809  a  steamboat  made  a 
successful  trip  from  this  place  to  Quebec.  The  river  craft,  freighted  with  the 
produce  of  the  upper  regions,  pass  through  the  Lachine  Canal  to  the  extensive 
basins  constructed  near  St.  Charles  Point  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city.  Here, 
the  different  commodities  have  all  their  separate  storage  room,  in  one  place  coal 
and  ores,  in  another  European  wares,  farther  on  cereals,  and  lower  down,  lumber 
of  all  kinds. 

Owing  to  the  relatively  cheap  water  carriage  down  stream,  the  St.  Lawrence 
attracts  nearly  all  the  produce  intended  for  the  east,  whereas  goods  are  forwarded 
westwards  chiefiv  by  the  railways.  Montreal  is  also  by  far  the  busiest  industrial 
centre  in  the  Dominion ;  most  of  its  mills  and  workshops  are  situated  in  close 
proximity  to  the  river. 

In  contrast  with  other  American  cities  which  generally  present  a  labyrinth  of 
dockyards  and  basins  fronting  the  sea  or  river,  Montreal  shows  nothing  but  a 
vertical  quay  skirting  the  river  and  flanked  at  some  distance  by  a  high  em- 
bankment which  runs  along  the  front  of  the  river  and  houses.  All  these  struc- 
tures are  built  with  great  solidity  in  order  to  resist  the  force  of  the  current,  which 
in  spring,  after  the  thaw  sets  in,  accumulates  enormous  masses  of  ice  along  the 
banks.  The  frozen  masses  of  Lake  St.  Louis,  after  breaking  up,  are  carried  down 
the  Lachine  rapids  and  heaped  up  at  Montreal,  where  they  form  a  barrage  across 
the  stream.  Arrested  farther  down  by  the  still  unbroken  ice- cap,  they  get  piled 
confusedly  together,  and  are  at  times  raised  by  the  swollen  current  28  or  30  feet 
above  the  normal  level,  overhanging  the  quays  to  half  the  height  of  the 
houses. 

In  anticipation  of  the  enormous  pressure  the  landing-stages  are  detached  from 
the  shore  before  winter  sets  in,  and  towed  away  to  some  sheltered  place.  Then 
the  waters  flow  back,  rise  above  the  embankments,  and  flood  all  the  lower  parts  of 
the  town.  The  streets  of  Griffin- Town  and  of  the  other  southern  quarters  have 
occasionally  been  laid  under  water  to  a  depth  of  8  or  10  feet.  After  the  inunda- 
tions, the  saturated  soil  long  retains  its  moisture,  and  thus  contributes  to  make 
Montreal  one  of  the  least  salubrious  places  in  Canada.  Extensive  works  now  in 
progress  may  perhaps  secure  the  city  from  any  overwhelming  disaster,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  a   so-called   "bome,"  or  solid   rampart  of  beams,  may  prove  strong 

y  2 


B 


rsiu  NORTH  AMERICA. 

enough  to  arrest  the  ice  of  Lake  St.  Louis  and  regulate  the  discharge  of  the  frag- 
ments sufficiently  to  avoid  a  jam  lower  down. 

In  average  years  the  ordinary  precautions  suffice  to  prevent  a  disaster,  and  on 
the  whole  Montreal  suffers  less  from  floods  than  from  fires.  As  elsewhere  in 
Canada,  winter  is  the  festive  season,  given  up  to  sledging,  skating,  "  toboggan- 
ing," and  other  outdoor  exhilai-atiug  amusements.  The  children  are  everywhere 
busy  making  their  snow-men,  and,  as  at  St.  Petersburg  on  the  Neva,  an  ice  castle 
is  built  with  galleries,  towers,  donjons,  the  whole  lit  up  with  electricity. 

Montreal  is  one  of  the  American  cities  where  the  people  enjoy  themselves  in 
the  simplest  way  regardless  of  absurd  social  formalities  and  conventional  laws  of 
dress.  Deprived  of  the  title  of  capital  in  184! »,  and  evacuated  by  its  British  garri- 
son in  1872,  it  has  adopted  relatively  simple  habits,  replacing  rigid  etiquette  by 
genial  sociable  ways.  But,  despite  its  hundreds  of  lawyers,  it  is  probably  inferior 
to  Toronto  in  general  instruction.  Besides  the  English  MacGill  University, 
frequented  by  five  hundred  students,  it  possesses  another  high  school  attached 
to  the  Laval  University  of  Quebec,  a  large  seminary,  a  normal  school,  and  several 
other  educational  establishments. 

Montreal  communicates  with  some  difficulty  with  its  suburbs  on  the  right  side 
from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  great  river.  The  stupendous  Victoria  Bridge, 
which  crosses  the  St.  Lawrence  higher  up,  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  belonging 
to  Montreal ;  it  has  no  roadway  for  wheeled  traffic,  nor  even  a  side-path  for 
pedestrians,  being  exclusively  a  railway  bridge  on  the  tubular  principle.  Although 
possessing  no  claims  to  architectural  beauty,  the  huge  structure  is  none  the  less 
imposing  from  its  very  magnitude.  Including  the  approaches  it  has  a  total  length 
of  2,900  yards,  and  requires  to  be  viewed  from  a  considerable  distance  to  realise 
its  full  proportions.  On  the  upper  side  the  piers,  resting  on  foundations  160  feet 
deep,  project  with  sharp  buttresses  to  break  the  ice  and  throw  it  to  the  right  and 
left.  Nevertheless,  these  buttresses  are  often  injured,  and  require  to  be  constantly 
repaired.  Of  all  structures  of  this  type  the  Montreal  tubular  bridge  is  the  largest 
and  boldest ;  it  was  designed  by  Ross  and  Stephenson,  and  opened  in  1859, 
having  cost  £1,500,000,  and  taken  six  years  to  build.  Near  the  Montreal 
approach  a  block  marks  the  spot  where  were  buried  6,500  Irish  emigrants  during 
the  summer  of  1847>  victims  of  ship  fever,  after  escaping  the  horrors  of  the 
"  potato  famine." 

Montreal  will  probably  soon  be  connected  by  another  bridge  with  its  suburbs  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river.  This  viaduct,  starting  from  St.  Charles  Point  above  the 
harbour,  will  run  obliquely  towards  St.  Helen's  Island,  so  as  to  avoid  the  formidable 
current  of  Sainte-Marie  which  sweeps  by  the  lower  part  of  the  town.  The  section  of 
the  bridge  between  the  island  and  the  right  side  of  the  river  will  present  no  diffi- 
culty, the  rocky  bed  of  the  stream  being  here  very  shallow.  Owing  to  this  cir- 
cumstance the  steam-ferry  boats  have  always  had  some  difficulty  in  approaching 
the  village  of  St.  Lambert,  where  the  long  piers  running  out  to  deep  water  get 
destroyed  by  the  periodical  jams. 

The  populous  suburb  of  Longncuil,  indicated  miles  away  by  its  sumptuous  church. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA. 


317 


is  more  easily  accessible  by  the  steam-ferry  rounding  St.  Helen's  Island.  During 
a  recent  severe  winter  a  railway  was  extemporised  on  the  frozen  surface,  and  the 
trains  ran  regularly  for  several  months,  until  the  locomotive  at  last  crushed 
through  the  ice-cap. 

From  Montreal  to  Quebec  and  St.  Anne  on  the  left,  and  to  Riviere-du-Loup  on 
the  right  side,  villages  and  hamlets  follow  almost  continuously.  Here  the  concessions 
extend  on  an  average  about  2,200  yards  inland,  but  the  river  frontage  is  very 
narrow,  ranging  from  190  to  380  feet  so  as  to  give  as  many  as  possible  the  advan- 
tage of  access  to  the  great  artery.     Boucherville,  below  Longueuil,  is  almost  masked 

Fig.  HO. — Icicles  os  the  Fkont  of  a  House  after  a  Fiee. 


by  a  chain  of  wooded  islands,  noted  amongst  sportsmen  as  excellent  duck-shooting 
grounds.  In  spring  the  ice  floating  down  from  above  is  intercepted  by  these 
islands,  and  here  a  fresh  jam  is  often  formed,  greatly  retarding  the  navigation  sea- 
son. The  channels  between  these  islands  are  gradually  silting  up  from  the  alluvial 
matter  here  deposited  by  the  harbour  drainage  works,  and  if  the  process  is  con- 
tinued much  longer,  the  archipelago  will  form  part  of  the  mainland. 

Lower  down  on  the  same  side  Varennes,  opposite  St.  Theresa  Island,  is  much 
frequented  for  its  saline  springs.  On  the  opposite  side  the  St.  Lawrence  is  joined 
by  the  northern  branch  of  the  Ottawa,  which  is  itself  divided  into  two  channels  by 
the  large  island  of  Jesus.     Both  branches  are  studded  with  villages,  none  of  which 


318 


north  America. 


has  acquired  any  commercial   or  industrial  importance.     The  most  frequented  is 
Saut  aux  Recollets,  which  is  separated  from  Montreal  by  the  hills  of  the  public 
park.      St.  Theresa,   some  distance  inland,  is  the  convergiug-point  of  several  rail 
ways. 

Between  the  Montreal  archipelago  and  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  are  occupied  only  by  some  straggling  villages ;  here  the 
largest  place  is  Assumption,  which,  however,  lies  a  few  miles  from  the  main  stream 
in  a  fertile  district  encircled  \>y  a  river  accessible  to  steamers.  At  the  Richelieu 
confluence   stands  the  busy  town  of  Sorel,  commanding  from   its  high  cliffs  the 

Pig.  141. — Railway  on  the  Feozen  St.  Lawrence. 


cluster  of  islands  which  fill  the  western  extremity  of  St.  Peter's  Lake.  Sorel  is  much 
frequented  by  steamers  plying  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  on  the  Richelieu  as  far  as 
the  head  of  the  navigation  at  the  Chambly  basin,  which  expands  into  a  broad 
sheet  of  water  dominated  by  the  ruins  of  an  old  French  fortress.  Beyond  this 
point  the  Richelieu  is  blocked  by  rapids,  which,  however,  are  turned  by  a  navi- 
gable canal  giving  access  to  St.  Jolin's,  close  to  the  United  States  frontier. 

North  of  Farnham,  an  important  railway  centre  on  the  Yaraaska,  lies  the  in- 
dustrial town  of  St.  Hyacinth,  noted  for  its  numerous  factories.  Another  river 
reaching  St.  Peter's  Lake  almost  immediately  to  the  east  of  the  Yaraaska  delta,  com- 
prises within  its  basin  the  most  thickly-peopled  districts  of  the  region  known  by 


TOFOGKAL'HY  OF  LAX  AD  A. 


319 


the  name  of  "  Cantons  de  Test."  S/ierbrooke,  capital  of  this  region,  stands  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Magog  and  St.  Francis  rivers,  and  is  also  a  busy  industrial  c.ntre, 
with  numerous  cloth,  paper  and  other  mills.  Mayog,  at  the  northern  extremity 
of  Lake  Memphremagog,  has  a  large  cotton-spinning  factory,  and  Lemonville,  at 
the  bend  of  the  St.  Francis  below  the  confluence,  is  one  of  the  Canadian  University 
towns. 

The  muddy  banks  of  St.  Peter's  Lake  present  scarcely  any  suitable  sites  for 
villages  ;  nearly  all  the  little  groups  of  habitations,  such  as  Berihier  and  Riviere-du- 
Loup  (Loniseville)  on  the  north,  Yamaska,  St.  Francis,  la  Baie-du-Febvre  (St.  An- 


Fig.  142.— Sherbeooke  and  the  Uppee  Basin  of  the  St.  Fran-cis. 
Scale  1  :  400,000. 


45 


:5 


West  ol     Gree^w-cK 


6  ililes. 


toine)  and  Nicolet  on  the  south  side,  stand  at  some  distance  from  the  beach. 
Louiseville  is  visited  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  the  neighbouring  St.  Leon  saline  springs. 
Nicolet  possesses  one  of  the  largest  establishments  for  public  instruction  in  Canada  ; 
colonies  of  civilised  Abenaki  Indians,  numbering  altogether  560  souls,  are  settled 
at  St.  Francis  and  at  Becancourt. 

Between  Montreal  and  Quebec  the  chief  trading  centre  is  Three  Riven,  which 
lies,  not  on  Lake  St.  Peter  but  seven  or  eight  miles  lower  down,  at  the  confluence  of 
the  St.  Maurice  with  the  St.  Lawrence  ;  it  takes  its  name  from  the  ramifying 
branches  of  the  lower  St.  Maurice,  which  joins  the  main  stream  nearly  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Becancourt.      Three  Rivers,   which   was  founded  in   1618,  that  is, 


820  NORTH  AMERICA. 

twenty-four  years  before  Montreal,  certainly  owes  its  importance  mainly  to  its  posi- 
tion just  below  the  farthest  point  reached  by  the  tidal  current.  Here  the  Algou- 
quins  had  built  a  sort  of  stronghold,  and  during  the  early  period  of  the  colonisa- 
tion it  became  the  bulwark  of  the  French  against  the  Iroquois,  and  the  chief  market 
for  the  Canadian  peltry  trade.  It  still  does  a  considerable  traffic  in  the  lumber 
floated  down  by  the  woodmen  of  S(.  Theele,  la  Tuque  and  des  Piles  on  the  upper 
course  of  the  St.  Maurice  ;  but  the  blast  furnaces  which  smelted  the  excellent  ores 
of  the  neighbourhood  now  lie  idle  ;  they  were  erected  in  1737,  before  any  others  in 
Canada,  possibly  in  the  New  World.*  At  the  time  of  the  revival  of  Canadian  liter- 
ature the  inhabitants  of  the  Three  Rivers  district  claimed  to  speak  the  purest  French 
in  the  country ;  here  was  born  the  famous  explorer,  Varennes  de  la  Verendrye. 

Below  Three  Rivers  several  pleasant  villages  follow  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  Quebec  ;  but  none  of  them  rank  as  towns,  and  the  copious 
affluents  of  the  main  stream,  the  Batiscan  and  the  Jacques  Cartier,  flow  through 
almost  uninhabited  regions.  On  the  right  bank  the  largest  place  is  the  industrial 
town  of  Lotbiniere,  which  supports  a  few  manufactures.  But  as  the  St.  Law- 
rence approaches  Quebec  it  becomes  more  thickly  settled ;  below  Chaudiere  on  the 
river  of  like  name  and  Cape  Rouge  on  the  opposite  side,  both  banks  are  lined  by  an 
almost  continuous  chain  of  villages  and  hamlets. 

Quebec:  and  Environs. 

Quebec,  formerly  capital  of  Canada  and  still  the  chief  town  of  one  of  the  Con- 
federate states  of  the  Dominion,  ranks  amongst  the  oldest  settlements  in  the  New 
World,  and  is  in  a  pre-eniinent  sense  the  historical  city  of  the  Laurentian  region. 
It  attracts  American  visitors  by  a  sentiment  akin  to  that  which  draws  Europeans 
towards  Athens  and  Memphis. t  The  political  destinies  of  half  a  continent  were 
decided  in  favour  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  on  the  headland  which  here  dominates 
the  main  stream  at  its  confluence  with  the  St.  Charles. 

From  the  native  Canada  J  or  "  village  "  which  was  replaced  by  the  French 
settlement,  the  whole  country  probably  derived  its  name,  the  derivation  of  which 
has  given  rise  to  so  much  curious  speculation.  Jacques  Cartier  passed  his  first  winter 
(1535)  at  Stadaeoue,  a  riverain  clearing  on  the  St.  Charles  over  against  the  heights 
now  crowned  by  the  towers  of  Quebec.  He  returned  fifteen  years  later  and  con- 
structed a  redoubt  at  Cape  Rouge  above  the  present  city  ;  but  the  camp  being 
threatened  by  the  neighbouring  Indians  was  soon  abandoned.  The  origin  of  Que- 
bec and  of  the  whole  of  Canada  dates  really  from  the  year  1608,  when  Champlain 
built  the  first  cabins  of  the  future  city  whose  Indian  name  is  explained  by  most 
etymologists  to  mean  "  strait  or  narrows,"  in  reference  to  the  river  which  here  begins 
to  contract  above  its  estuary.  At  this  point  in  fact  it  measures  only  1,300  yards 
from  bank  to  bank  between  Quebec  and  the  village  of  Levis.     This  channel,  which 

W'urtele,  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  18S6. 
t  G-.  Kohl,  Travels  in  Canada. 
I  Jacques  Cartier,  Brrf  ricitde  la  Navigation  auxilesde  Canada, 


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TOPOGRAPHY    OF   CANADA. 


821 


might  seem  spacious  enough  for  a  river  in  west  Europe,  here  looks  relatively  so 
narrow  that  we  involuntarily  regard  it  merely  as  a  branch  of  the  mighty  St.  Law- 
rence. The  basin  of  the  St.  Charles,  which,  immediately  below  the  headland,  ex- 
pands to  a  far  greater  width,  might  at  first  be  taken  for  the  true  mainstream.  In 
any  case  it  forms  the  beginning  of  the  vast  estuary  developed  throughout  its 
lower  course  by  the  St.  Lawrence  as  it  mingles  with  the  marine  waters,  at  last 
expanding  to  a  veritable  inland  sea  between  the  Gaspe  peninsula,  Labrador  and 
Newfoundland. 

No  sooner  was  it  founded  than  Quebec  had  to  sustain  the  assaults  of  the 
enemy.  It  was  attacked  in  1628  by  Kerth  (Sir  David  Kirke),  a  native  of  Dieppe, 
but  in  the  service  of  England,  and  though  he  was  repulsed  he  returned  next  year 
and  after  a  long  blockade  captured  the  young  settlement,  which  at  that  time  had 


Fig.  143  — 'Canada"  of  Quebec,  after  a  Spanish  Map  of  the  15th  Century,  reproduced  by  Duro. 


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a  population  of  only  107  s^ouls.  One  or  two  families  alone  cultivated  the  soil;  all 
the  rest  depended  on  the  mother-country  for  their  supplies,  so  that  the  least  delay 
iu  the  arrival  of  the  re-victualling  vessels  was  followed  by  famine  and  sickness. 

Three  years  later  Quebec  was  restored  to  France,  but  its  progress  continued  to 
be  very  slow.  The  few  colonists,  mostly  soldiers  who  remained  in  the  country 
after  retiring  from  the  service,  married  native  women,  and  their  offspring  to  a 
large  extent  relapsed  into  the  savage  state.  Canadian  society  was  not  properly 
constituted  until  marriageable  young  women  were  introduced  direct  from  France. 
The  new  families  were  grouped  almost  exclusively  round  Quebec,  whence  in  due 
course  they  sent  off  fresh  swarms  up  and  down  the  river. 

The  British  settlers  at  Boston  could  not  allow  the  French  colony  to  develop 
itself  peaceably  in  the  threatening  position  which  it  occupied  at  the  back  of  the 
English  possessions.  In  1690  a  Bostonian  flotilla  was  repulsed  by  Frontenac ; 
some  years  later  another  fleet,  which  had   also  sailed  from  Boston  to  reduce  the 


32'2  NORTH  AMERICA. 

French  citadel,  was  almost  completely  wrecked  on  the  reefs  before  reaching  the 
fortress.  But  in  1759  the  decisive  campaign  was  opened  and  closed  by  "Wolfe, 
who  presented  himself  before  Quebec  with  8,000  British  troops,  and  was  at  first 
defeated  in  an  engagement  fought  with  the  French  commander,  Montcalm,  on  the 
plains  of  Beauport,  which  are  separated  from  the  town  by  the  St.  Charles  estuary. 
But,  snatching  victory  from  his  very  discomfiture,  he  took  advantage  of  a  dark 
night  to  ascend  the  river  under  the  very  walls  of  the  citadel  and  scale  the  heights 
from  the  west.  The  fortifications  were  thus  taken  in  the  rear  before  Montcalm 
had  time  to  re-form  his  forces.  A  second  battle  was  fought  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham,  when  the  French  were  completely  routed  and  compelled  to  retreat 
across  the  St.  Charles.  Both  generals  fell,  one  shrouded  in  victory,  the  other  in 
a  scarcely  less  glorious  defeat.* 

Next  year  the  struggle  was  renewed,  the  French  in  their  turn  besieging  the 
place.  A  sanguinary  engagement  had  obliged  the  British  garrison  to  withdraw 
within  the  walls  of  the  citadel,  and  Canada  might  possibly  have  been  recovered  by 
France,  but  for  the  opportune  appearance  of  a  British  fleet  in  the  harbour.  Three 
years  later  the  ascendancy  of  England  in  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  was  definitely 
secured  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 

Nevertheless  Quebec  had  to  undergo  yet  another  siege.  In  1775,  during  the 
War  of  Independence,  the  Americans  essayed  to  wrest  it  from  England,  but  the 
attempt  failed,  and  since  then  Quebec  has  become  the  "  Gibraltar  of  America." 
The  citadel,  which  crowns  the  summit  of  Diamond  Cape,  above  the  almost  inacces- 
sible fluvial  escarpments,  is  carefully  maintained  in  a  state  of  efficient  defence, 
although  its  British  garrison  has  been  withdrawn.  The  old  ramparts,  which  have 
long  been  outgrown  by  the  new  quarters,  are  also  preserved  on  the  upper  slopes ; 
but  the  gates  have  been  rebuilt  to  leave  more  easy  access  to  wheeled  traffic,  while 
the  outer  lines  and  moats  have  been  transformed  to  public  promenades  and  play- 
grounds for  children.  The  walls  of  the  citadel  and  the  surrounding  heights  are 
defended  by  batteries,  and  the  works  guarding  the  approaches  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
have  been  completed  by  the  fortifications  recently  constructed  on  the  headland  at 
Levis  over  against  Quebec. 

Seen  from  the  river,  or  from  the  heights  of  Levis,  Quebec  seems  a  small  place. 
A  great  portion  of  the  hill  is  occupied  by  the  ramparts  and  scarp  of  the  citadel, 
and  a  few  buildings  are  seen  rising  above  the  slopes,  while  the  shore-line  is 
fringed  by  the  narrow  zone  of  the  lower  town,  which  is  continually  threatened  by 
the  ravined  cliffs  of  the  fortress.  Houses  and  their  inmates  have  already  been 
several  times  overwhelmed  by  avalanches  from  the  overhanging  precipices,  and 
many  lives  were   lost  and  much  property  destroyed  by  a  tremendous  landslip, 

*  "  It  was  an  admirable  feeling  in  the  descendants  of  both  parties  to  this  conflict  that  led  them  to 
erect  a  single  monument  to  both  generals.  This  monument  stands  in  the  Governor's  garden,  and  bears 
on  one  side  the  name  of  'Wolfe,'  on  the  other  'Montcalm,'  with  a  Latin  inscription,  of  which  this  i-- 
a  translation  : — 

•  •  •  Valour  gave  a  united  death, 
History  a  united  fame. 
Posterity  a  united  monument.'  " 

(E.  B.  Biggar,  op.  ,:< 


TOPOGRAPHY    OF    CANADA. 


323 


which  occurred  in  the  month  of  October,  1889.  The  whole  of  this  poor  quarter 
should,  in  fact,  be  removed  to  a  better  position,  and  the  tumbledown  structures 
replaced  by  grassy  swards.  Meantime  the  new  quarters  are  being  developed  back 
of  Diamond  Cape  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham  and  in  the  direction  of  the  St.  Charles 
river. 

Quebec  owes  its  beauty  especially  to  the  marvellous  panorama   which  is  un- 
folded from  the  citadel,  the  Laval   University,  and  Buffurin  Terrace,  a  broad  plat- 


Fig.  144. — Quebec. 

Scale  1  :  70.000. 


Depths. 


Sands  exposed  at 
low  water. 


8  to  32 
Feet. 


32  to  1 

Feet. 


2,200  Yards. 


160  Feet  .      1 
upwards. 


form  standing  on  the  promontory  midway  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
St.  Charles  estuary.  Lower  down,  the  hill  is  skirted  by  a  semicircle  of  buildings, 
and  quite  a  new  quarter,  occupied  by  docks  and  warehouses,  has  been  developed  at 
the  point  between  the  two  sheets  of  water.  Steam-ferries  ply  between  both  banks 
and  the  high  cliffs  of  Levis  are  crowned  by  a  long  line  of  villages,  interrupted 
here  and  there  by  patches  of  verdure.  Xorth- eastwards,  between  the  widening 
branches  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  are  seen  the  gently  undulating  green  plains  of 
Orleans  Island  :  still  more  picturesque  are  the  slopes  on  the  left  side  merging 
northwards  in  the  hazy  atmosphere  which  half  veils  the  distant  headlands  and 
the  superb  crest  of  Tourmente  Cape. 


324  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Besides  the  citadel  and  the  Dufferin  esplanade  Quebec  has  its  historical  monu- 
ments ;  in  this  respect  it  has,  in  fact,  few  rivals  in  the  New  World.     On  a  square 

near  the  cathedral  stands  the  obelisk  raised  to  the  memory  of  the  two  captains, 
Wolfe  and  Montcalm,  united  in  death,  in  glory,  and  in  the  common  tomb  raised 
to  them  bv  posterity.  Other  columns,  beyond  the  urban  precincts,  commemorate 
the  last  battles  of  Abraham  and  8ainte-Foye;  a  cippus  has  also  recently  been  placed 
on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Charles  to  mark  the  site  of  the  spot  chosen  by  ( 'artier 
for  his  winter  quarters  during  his  famous  voyage  of  discovery.  Champlaiu's 
tomb  is  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  a  house  in  Quebec,  and  the  building 
is  shown  where  Montcalm  breathed  his  last. 

Some  religious  edifices,  the  basilica,  other  churches,  seminaries,  and  convents, 
possess  precious  tablets,  dating  for  the  most  part  from  the  period  anterior  to  the 
French  Revolution.  Unfortunately  such  old  records,  books,  and  other  collections 
still  remain  unprotected  by  a  fire-proof  building,  although  the  Canadian  libraries 
are  constantly  suffering  from  conflagrations:  "they  are  only,  good  for  bonfires," 
has  become  a  popular  saying. 

The  Laval  University,  so  named  from  the  prelate  *  who  in  1663  founded  the 
seminary  transformed  in  the  middle  of  the  present  century  to  a  school  of  science, 
includes  the  most  important  collection  of  paintings  in  America  north  of  Boston, 
containing  originals  by  Tintoretto,  Puget,  and  Rubens.  The  library,  comprising 
about  100,000  volumes,  is  admirably  classified,  and  ranks  in  importance  next  to 
that  of  the  present  Canadian  capital ;  its  mineralogical  collection  has  been  specially 
arranged  by  Haiiy. 

Quebec  has  long  ceased  to  be  the  largest  city  in  the  Dominion  ;  at  present  it 
yields  in  population  both  to  Montreal  and  Toronto,  and  judging  from  its  slow 
progress  it  will  soon  be  outstripped  by  other  more  modern  and  more  industrious 
places.  It  numbers  about  90,000  inhabitants,  including  the  suburbs  on  the  left 
and  the  villages  on  the  right  bank,  which  ought  to  be  regarded  as  forming  part  of 
Quebec,  as  they  share  in  its  trade  and  are  the  termini  of  the  railway  systems  con- 
necting it  with  New  Brunswick  and  the  United  States. 

Doubtless  Quebec  has  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  harbour,  now  completed  by 
slips  and  docks ;  it  may  also  be  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  navigation  for  sailing 
vessels.  But  since  the  deepening  of  Lake  St.  Peter,  the  largest  steamers  are  able 
to  ascend  the  river  right  up  to  Montreal ;  hence  the  aggregate  of  the  Quebec 

*  Mouseigneur  de  Laval,  a  noted  personage  in  Canadian  ecclesiastical  history,  was  the  first  bishop 
of  "New  France."  A  scion  of  the  noble  family  of  Montmorency,  "he  had  all  the  vigour,  all  the 
courage,  and  a  full  proportion  of  the  pride  which  belonged  to  his  lineage.  He  arrived  in  Quebec  in 
1658,  and  assumed,  with  no  faltering  grasp,  the  reins  of  ecclesiastical  power.  He  divided  the  country 
into  regular  parishes  ;  he  foimded  in  1663  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  the  Grand  Seminary  for  the  training 
of  the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  and  the  Little  Seminary  for  general  education.  To  thi-  institution  he 
devoted  all  his  own  wealth,  and,  after  thirty  years'  labour,  retired  to  spend  within  its  walls  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  It  was  not  till  1852  that  the  ultimate  design  of  its  founder  was  realised  and  the  Seminary 
was  erected  into  the  Laval  University.  The  building,  which  is  297  feet  long,  and  five  storeys  high,  with 
a  wing  265  feet  long,  stands  out  boldly  in  the  forefront  of  the  upper  town,  presenting  an  imposing 
appearance  as  viewed  from  the  water  below.  There  are  four  faculties  in  this  university — theology,  law  . 
medicine,  and  art.  It  has  thirty-four  professors  and  three  hundred  students,  and  fourteen  colleges  and 
four  grand  seminaries  are  affiliated  to  it. — (E.  B.  Biggar,  op.  tit.) 


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TOPOGRAPHY   OF   CANADA.  325 

shipping  decreased  as  much  as  150,000  tons  during  the  ten  years  from  1876  to 
1885.  Moreover,  it  has  the  inconvenience  of  lying  in  too  cold  a  climate  on  a  river 
completely  blocked  by  ice  throughout  the  winter  months ;  nor  is  it  surrounded 
like  Montreal  and  especially  like  Toronto  by  broad  arable  lands  whence  to  draw 
its  supplies.  Towards  the  north  it  verges  almost  on  the  solitudes  which  stretch 
away. to  Hudson  Bay,  and  the  two  first  railways  running  northwards  have  only 
recently  been  connected  with  its  system  ;  one  of  these  lines  runs  straight  to 
St.  John's  Lake,  the  other  skirts  the  left  bank  of  the  river  in  the  direction  of  Mont- 
morency and  St.  Anne. 

The  chief  trade  of  Quebec  is  in  Canadian  and  American  timber  floated  down 
by  the  Ottawa,  the  St.  Maurice,  Michigan,  and  Maumee.  The  building  of  wooden 
vessels,  formerly  the  most  important  industry  both  of  Quebec  and  Levis,  has  been 
almost  entirely  lost.  Here  were  formerly  built  vessels  of  over  3,000  tons,  but 
they  were  merely  compact  masses  of  timber,  which  was  in  this  way  exported  to 
England  and  then  taken  to  pieces.  By  these  sham  vessels  exporters  were  able  to 
avoid  the  absurd  custom-house  regulation  which  declared  the  importation  of 
vessels  free,  but  imposed  a  heavy  tax  on  imported  timber.  At  present  the  most 
active  local  industry  is  the  boot  and  shoe  manufacturing  business,  for  which 
leather  is  imported  chiefly  from  Buenos  Ay  res. 

Communication  with  the  suburbs  and  railways  on  the  right  side  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence is  kept  up  by  the  steam  ferries,  which  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  transport 
business.  These  boats,  armed  with  spurs  at  the  prow,  are  so  constructed  as  to 
break  up  the  ice  which  forms  and  re-forms  incessantly  throughout  the  winter. 
But  it  sometimes  happens  in  exceptionally  severe  seasons  that  the  "  ice  bridge" 
gets  too  thick  and  too  hard  to  be  thus  cleared  away.  About  the  middle  of  the 
present  century  the  whole  river  was  frozen  over  in  a  single  night  from  the 
Lachine  rapids  all  the  way  to  Crane  Island  below  Quebec,  a  total  distance  of  220 
miles.  At  such  times  the  St.  Lawrence  presents  the  aspect  of  an  interminable 
white  or  greyish  plain,  often  masked  by  whirlwinds  of  powdery  snow,  and  streaked 
by  the  long  tracks  of  sledges  and  pedestrians  travelling  from  town  to  town.  The 
crystal  surface  is  also  "  navigated "  by  sailing  boats  mounted  on  skates  or 
rollers. 

The  two  banks  will  probably  ere  long  be  connected  by  a  bridge  ;  but  this 
structure,  projected  in  the  interests  of  the  railway  companies,  will  scarcely  tend  to 
promote  intercommunication  between  the  populations  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
river.  It  is  proposed  to  construct  the  viaduct  at  Cape  Rouge,  7  or  8  miles  south 
of  Quebec,  almost  opposite  the  point  where  the  St.  Lawrence  is  joined  by  the 
Chaudiere.  Here  the  river  contracts  to  a  width  of  not  more  than  880  yards,  by 
far  the  narrowest  part  of  the  channel  below  the  Lachine  rapids ;  but  the  bed  of 
the  stream  is  some  300  feet  lower  than  the  banks  in  the  central  parts.  From  two 
granite  piers,  built  in  44  feet  of  water  near  the  shores,  will  spring  a  central  arch 
1,450  feet  long  and  460  feet  above  the  surface.  No  doubt  this  stupendous  work, 
almost  comparable  to  the  Forth  Bridge  at  Edinburgh,  will  tend  somewhat  to 
displace  the  local  trade  and  draw  it  farther  up  stream.     The  village  of  Sitfery, 


326  NORTH  AMERICA. 

at  present  noted  for  its  green  swards  and  shady  walks,  will  assume  a  very  different 
aspect  when  surrounded  by  dockyards,  depots,  and  warehouses. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  it  may  be  mentioned  that  another  bold  pro- 
ject for  bridging  the  St.  Lawrence  at  Brockville,  much  higher  up,  was  announced 
in  April,  1890.  At  this  point  the  river  contracts  to  less  than  a  mile  in  widtb, 
and  it  is  proposed  to  connect  Brockville  on  the  Canadian  side  with  Morristown  on 
the  American  side  in  the  state  of  New  York,  by  a  railway  viaduct  of  colossal  pro- 
portions. This  structure,  which  will  probably  be  taken  in  hand  at  an  early  date, 
will  comprise  no  less  than  nineteen  spans,  laid  on  piers  of  tremendous  strength  to 
resist  the  force  both  of  the  current,  here  very  deep  and  rapid,  and  of  the  ice  at 
the  periodical  break-up  in  spring.  According  to  the  published  plans  the  chief 
span  wilF  be  525  feet  long,  and  will  be  constructed  on  the  cantilever  principle, 
which  has  been  so  successfully  carried  out  on  a  far  larger  scale  at  the  Forth  Bridge. 

Settlements  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence. 

Other  picturesque  places  are  dotted  over  the  neighbouring  district.  Such  are 
the  cascades  of  Nouvelle-Lorette  and  of  the  Chaudiere,  the  latter  flowing  from  the 
lovelv  Lake  Megantic,  and  the  still  more  celebrated  Montmorency  Falls,  tumbling 
from  a  height  of  250  feet  into  a  regular  basin  of  uniform  width,  its  graceful 
parabolic  curve  unbroken  by  any  projecting  rocks  or  ledges.  The  Canadians  call 
it  the  "  Yache,"  comparing  it  to  that  of  the  Valais,  to  which  it  bears  some  resem- 
blance, only  the  Montmorency  sends  down  a  larger  volume  of  water  than  the 
Sallanche. 

Below  Quebec  the  villages  fringing  both  banks  may  be  regarded  as  maritime 
stations,  in  respect  of  the  salinity  of  their  tidal  waters,  their  marine  beaches,  banks 
of  seaweed,  fishes,  cetaceans,  and  sandy  dunes.  Montmagny,  on  the  right  bank, 
recalls  the  name  of  a  governor,  the  Latin  form  of  which  (Mous  Magnus)  secured  for 
all  his  successors  the  Algonquin  title  of  Ononthio,  "  Big- Hill." 

Lower  down  follows  Riviere- Ouelle,  a  place  ten  times  the  size  of  the  village  of 
La  Ventrouze,  whence  come  the  two  chief  families  forming  about  half  of  the  whole 
population.  Kamoura&ka,  on  the  same  side,  but  nearer  the  coast,  is  a  thriving 
watering-place  much  frequented  during  the  season  by  visitors  from  Quebec  and 
Montreal.  In  the  vicinity  flows  the  "  Riviere  aux  Perles,"  where  are  found  highl}-- 
prized  pink  pearls.  Nearly  opposite  lies  the  inlet  of  Mai  Bay,  so  named  by 
Champlain  from  the  dangerous  eddies  here  formed  by  the  tides.  The  English, 
who  call  it  Murray  Bay,  selected  it  as  the  site  of  a  Highland  colony  which  has 
since  been  completely  "  Frenchified."  Hotels,  villas,  and  even  schools  and  colleges 
have  sprung  up  at  the  entrance  of  the  valleys  and  on  the  terraced  slopes  of  Mai 
Bay,  which  is  much  frequented  by  wealthy  Americans  resorting  to  the  trout 
streams  and  lakes  of  the  Laurentide  uplands. 

A  railway  will  probably  soon  run  from  Mai  Bay  towards  the  Upper  Saguenay, 
thus  opening  a  relatively  short  route  from  Quebec  to  Lake  St.  John.  The  Pointe 
au  Pic,   and  higher   up  Sf.  Paul's  Bay  over   against    Condres    Tsland,  are   also 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF    CANADA. 


327 


flourishing    watering-places.      The    whirlpool  of  the    "  Gouffre,  '    near    Coudres 
Island,  was  till  recently  much  dreaded  by  boatmen,  but   it  is  gradually  silting  up. 

Fig.  145. — The  St.  Lawrence  between  KAMOtiEASKA  axd  the  Saquenay. 
Sc-de  1  :  480,000. 


48 


69°30-  West  of  Greenw.. 


Depths 


0  to  82 
Feet. 


32  to  160 
Feet. 


160  Feet  and 
upwards. 


6    Lighthouse. 


6  Miles. 


The  neighbouring  headland  of  the  "  Cap  aux  Corbeaux  "  ("  Raven  Cape  ")  is  said 
to  have  received  its  name  from  the  carnivorous  birds  waiting  for  the  bodies  of  the 
seafarers  drowned  in  the  whirlpool. 


328  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Rivi&re-du-Loup,  the  largest  town  of  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  below  Quebec, 
takes  its  name  from  a  neighbouring  stream  which  here  develops  a  magnificent 
cascade.  It  has  also  been  called  Fra&erville  in  honour  of  the  old  lords  of  the  manor, 
who  are  still  the  most  distinguished  persons  in  the  district.  Riviere-du-Loup  has 
in  recent  times  acquired  considerable  importance  as  the  converging-point  of 
three  main  railways,  the  Grand  Trunk,  the  Intercolonial,  and  the  line  running 
from  the  shores  of  Lake  Temiscouata  (the  "Deep")  in  the  direction  of  New 
Brunswick  and  the  port  of  St.  John's.  Its  staple  industry  is  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes,  and,  thanks  to  its  position  on  the  estuary,  it  is  rapidly  becoming 
a  popidar  bathing-place.  But  hitherto  the  Canadian  fashionable  world  has  shown 
a  preference  for  the  nearly  circular  beach  of  Caconna,  some  six  miles  farther  on. 
The  word  "  Cacouna,"  which  means  "  turtle,"  describes  accurately  enough  the 
form  of  the  bay,  which  is  protected  by  a  long  high  headland,  connected  with  the 
mainland  by  a  sandy  neck  like  that  of  Giens  or  Monte  Argentaro. 

Settlements  in  the  Saguenay  Basin. 

Over  against  Cacouna  the  St.  Lawrence  is  joined  by  the  Saguenay,  a  river  the 
solemn  grandeur  of  whose  scenery  never  fails  to  impress  all  observers  with  feelings 
almost  akin  to  terror.  "  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Saguenay?"  exclaims  Mr. 
Stuart  Cumberland,  "  that  river  which  the  early  explorers  thought  led  to  the 
nethermost  pit.  For  downright  gloomy  awfulness  there  is  nothing  to  equal  it  in 
the  world;  and  as  the  boat  glides  over  the  black  fathomless  water,  through  the 
chasm  rent  by  angry  nature  in  the  frowning,  cheerless  rocks,  one  finds  it  difficult 
to  overcome  the  first  feeling  of  awe  that  the  scene  creates.  "With  the  fall  of  night, 
and  with  all  brightness  gone  out  of  the  skies,  the  surroundings  assume  an  even 
more  fearful  aspect.  From  out  of  the  inky  darkness  strange  devilish  forms  seem 
to  issue  and  flit  in  threatening  attitudes  before  you,  whilst  from  out  of  the  depths 
of  the  impenetrable  caverns,  in  accordance  with  your  fancy,  there  come  the 
despairing  moans  of  souls  lost  in  endless  torture.  The  early  settlers  were  at 
constant  feud  with  the  evil  spirits  of  this  most  demoniacal  river,  and  at  its  mouth 
they  built  a  church — the  first  one  in  Canada — the  ruins  of  which  still  exist."  * 

The  region  traversed  by  this  remarkable  watercourse  is  not,  as  was  supposed  by 
the  early  settlers,  a  "  kingdom  rich  in  gold  and  precious  stones  "  ;  nevertheless,  it 
supplies  treasures  of  another  kind,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  which  inherited 
this  "kingdom,"  was  so  jealous  of  its  exclusive  possession,  that  till  the  year  1838, 
no  trapper  was  allowed  to  clear  the  land,  cultivate  the  soil,  or  even  fell  timber ; 
according  to  their  claims,  nobody  had  a  right  to  touch  "fur  or  fir"  within  these 
broad  acres.! 

Thus  a  region,  which  had  already  been  partially  surveyed  by  Normandin  in 
1735,  lapsed  into  the  condition  of  a  terra  incognita,  and  it  is  only  within  the  present 
generation  that  the  ploughshare  has  made  its  appearance  on  the  shores  of   Lake 

'    The  Queen's  Highway,  p.  388. 

t  Arthur  Buies,  Le  Saguenay  el  la  valU'e  tin  Lac  Saint-Jean. 


TOrOUliAl'HY   OF   CANADA.  329 

St.  John.  The  first  essays  at  colonisation,  in  1848,  were  of  a  heroic  character. 
It  had  long  been  known  that  the  whole  of  the  lacustrine  basin  was  broadly  girdled 
round  by  alluvial  lands  easily  cultivable  and  highly  productive,  resting  on  a 
substratum  of  calcareous  rocks.  But  how  were  they  to  be  reached,  lying  as  they 
did  beyond  the  mountainous  zone  of  the  upper  Saguenay  and  the  Laurentide 
Hills,  hundreds  of  miles  from  all  highways.  Yet  daring  pioneers,  mostly  from 
Mai  Bay,  Kamouraska,  and  other  villages  on  the  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
plunged  into  the  unknown,  remote  from  all  their  bases  of  supplies.  Hewing  their 
way  through  the  woodlands,  or  stemming  the  swift  currents  on  frail  rafts,  at 
last  they  reached  a  valley  which  seemed  to  have  formerly  been  an  emissary  of  the 
lake,  and  here  they  founded  a  settlement  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Hebert- 
ville,  in  honour  of  their  pastor,  at  once  their  spiritual  and  temporal  guide. 

This  was  the  parent  colony,  whence  sprang  all  the  other  communes  now 
fringing  the  southern  and  western  shores  of  the  lake.  The  marvellous  salubrity 
of  the  land,  where  the  birth-rate  is  fivefold  higher  than  the  mortality,  contributes 
even  more  than  direct  immigration  to  its  occupation.  Despite  the  lack  of  roads 
and  bridges,  the  forest  clearings  are  steadily  advancing  round  the  northern  and 
eastern  margins,  and  in  the  near  future  the  great  inland  sea  will  be  completely 
girdled  by  a  broad  zone  of  villages  and  cultivated  lands.  The  population  is 
doubled  from  decade  to  decade,  and  during  the  fine  season  the  district  is  resorted 
to  by  crowds  of  American  anglers  to  whip  the  waters  for  the  womanish,  called  in 
English  the  "  land-locked  salmon,"  though  not  a  member  of  the  salmonidee.  It 
is  now  proposed  to  regulate  the  level  of  the  lake  by  sluices  at  the  two  "  discharges  " 
towards  the  Saguenay. 

In  the  lacustrine  basin  the  largest  place  is  Eoberval,  named  after  an  early 
explorer  who  traversed  the  Laurentide  regions  in  the  year  1542.  The  houses  of 
Roberval  are  disposed  along  the  sandy  beach  on  the  verge  of  a  vast  plain,  now 
completely  disafforested,  for  in  the  eyes  of  the  settler  "  the  tree  is  the  enemy." 
Northwards  rises  a  rocky  eminence,  a  cran,  as  it  is  locally  called,  whence  a  wide 
prospect  is  commanded  of  the  tilled  lands  about  Sainte-Prime  and  other  communes, 
last  outlying  stations  of  civilisation  towards  the  north.  Farther  on,  the  only 
habitations  are  those  of  a  few  Montagnais  Indians,  and  beyond  Hudson  Bay  those 
of  the  Eskimo  fishers. 

East  of  the  "cran"  of  Sainte-Prime,  a  terrace  named  Pointe-Bleue  has  been 
reserved  for  the  Lake  Indians  ;  the  lands  granted  to  them  are  amongst  the  best  in 
Canada,  and  the  forests,  by  which  they  are  partly  overgrown,  have  recently  been 
destroyed  bv  a  fire.  The  whites  are  forbidden  to  encroach  on  this  tract,  where  a 
little  rudimentary  agriculture  is  practised  by  a  few  half-breeds.  They  still  live 
mainly  by  fishing  and  hunting,  and  the  bow  and  arrow  are  the  characteristic  toys 
of  their  children.  Nearly  all  the  Montagnais  of  this  reserve  have  erected  their 
tents,  their  shanties  and  stacks  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  grouped  round  about  a 
chapel  whose  altars,  decorated  with  banners  and  artificial  flowers,  they  are  proud 
of  showing  to  strangers.  There  are  few  more  pleasant  sites  than  that  of  la 
Pointe-Bleue,  where  the  path  winds  along  the  cliff  below  its  maple,  wild  cherry, 
vol.  xv.  z 


330 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


and  aspen  groves,  between  which   vistas  are  afforded  of  the  glittering  lake   with 
its  creeks  and  inlets,  its  white  sandy  beach  and  wooded  islets. 

The  port  of  the  St.  John  district  and  of  the  upper  Saguenay  basin  is  the 
thriving  town  of  Chicoutimi,  on  both  banks  of  the  river  of  the  same  name,  at  the 
head  of  the  navigation.  The  Kree  name  of  the  place,  "  Depth  so  far,"  answers 
exactly  to  the  conditions,  although  steamers  have  to  await  the  flood  tides  to  reach 
the  station.  A  busy  lumber  trade  is  carried  on  along  the  banks  of  the  Saguenay 
below   its   confluence  with  the  Chicoutimi,  which  descends  through  a  series  of 


Fig.  146. — Tadoussac  and  the  Saguenay  Confluence. 
Scale  1  :  20,000. 


West  of  G-eenwlch   6S 


Sands  exposed  at 
low  water. 


Ota  B0 

Feet. 


Depths. 


BO  to  L60 

Feet. 


320  Feet  and 
upwards. 


IS  Miles. 


rapids  from  the  deep  Lake  Kenogami.  The  last  cascade,  40  feet  high,  occurs  just 
above  the  confluence,  and  the  roar  of  its  foaming  waters  is  heard  in  the  town 
itself.  The  lumber  trade  is  here  monopolised  by  a  single  family,  owners  of  nearly 
all  the  surrounding  forests.  Above  the  town  stands  an  obelisk,  raised  in  honour 
of  the  "  father  of  the  Saguenay,"  that  is,  the  speculator  who  has  managed  to 
control,  for  his  own  benefit,  the  joint  labour  of  all  the  riverain  populations.  At 
Chicoutimi  much  of  the  lumber  is  shipped  for  export,  chiefly  by  Norwegian  brigs. 
Farther  down,  Ha-Ha  Bay  is  fringed  by  a  few  villages  above  the  deep  gorges  of 
the  Saguenay. 


LIBRARY 
SITYoflli 


TOFOGEAPHY   OF  CANADA.  331 

Tadoussac,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Saguenay  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  on  the 
left  bunk  of  both  rivers,  has  acquired  some  importance  as  a  port  of  call  for 
steamers,  and  as  a  summer  resort  frequented  especially  by  Americans ;  but  as  a 
trading-place  it  has  not  justified  the  hopes  of  the  early  French  navigators.  In 
1599  Chauvin  here  landed  a  few  men  and  founded  a  temporary  settlement ;  a  few 
years  later  it  became  a  regular  factory  where  the  Montagnais  came  to  barter  their 
peltries,  and  for  a  long  time  the  colonisers  of  Canada  hesitated  between  Tadoussac 
and  Quebec  before  they  finally  decided  in  favour  of  the  latter  as  the  centre  of  the 
administration.  At  present  the  chief  industry  of  Tadoussac  is  pisciculture, 
carried  on  in  the  Anse  d  la  Barque,  a  basin  where  as  many  as  two  millions  of 
salmon  fry  are  annually  reared. 

It  has  often  been  proposed  to  establish  a  winter  harbour  at  the  foot  of  the 
headland  on  the  right  side  of  the  Saguenay  over  against  Tadoussac.  At  this  point 
the  water  never  freezes,  as  it  does  at  Quebec  and  Montreal,  and  the  Atlantic 
liners  might  anchor  here,  instead  of  stopping  short  at  the  outer  ports,  such  as 
Halifax  or  St.  John. 

Stations  below  Tadoussac. 

Beyond  Tadoussac  the  left  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  presents  nothing  but  a 
few  scattered  habitations.  Here  the  river  valleys  are  narrow,  the  mountains 
steep,  the  climate  severe,  while  the  vegetation  of  this  rugged  region  is  parched  by 
the  formidable  north-east  winds.  A  few  missionary  stations,  round  which  are 
grouped  the  Indian  huts,  a  number  of  factories,  maintained  by  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  for  the  purchase  of  peltries,  lighthouses,  and  sheds  for  fish-curing,  occur 
at  intervals  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Blanc-Sablon  creek,  which  marks  the 
frontier  between  the  province  of  Quebec  and  Labrador  properly  so  called.  In 
the  current  language,  however,  the  Canadians  apply  the  term  Labrador  to  the 
part  of  the  seaboard  which  extends  north  of  the  estuary  and  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
as  far  as  Belle-Isle  Strait. 

Despite  its  rude  climate  daring  men  do  not  fear  to  settle  on  the  seaboard,  and 
this  "Labrador"  is  spoken  of  as  a  promising  region  for  future  colonisation.  A 
few  hamlets  have  already  been  founded  here  and  there  by  Acadians  from  the 
Magdalene  Archipelago,  and  by  other  pioneers  from  the  opposite  Gaspe  peninsula  ; 
the  population,  though  scanty,  is  nevertheless  doubled  every  ten  years.  One  of 
the  chief  stations  is  the  mission  of  Bctsiamite  or  Bersamis,  a  village  of  Montagnais 
and  half-breeds  on  the  north  side  of  an  estuary  here  joined  by  the  Betsiamite 
river,  which  is  navigable  by  small  craft  for  a  distance  of  about  30  miles.  Before 
1844,  when  the  Catholic  missions  were  re-established,  the  Montagnais  had  relapsed 
into  heathendom,  and  many  of  these  Indians  are  still  pagans.* 

Moisie,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  like  name,  is  also  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
places  whose  position  holds  out  promise  of  future  commercial  prosperity  ;  it  has 
often  been  proposed  to  utilise  the  neighbouring  sands,  which  contain  a  large 

*  C.  H.  Farnham,  "The  Montagnais,"  Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine. 

z  2 


332 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


proportion  of  magnetic  iron.      Another  place  of  future  promise  is  the  hamlet  of 
Mingan,  which  faces  the  Mingan  Archipelago  opposite  Anticosti. 

The  lands  about  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Augustine  river  are  said  to  be  highly 
productive  by  their  few  occupants,  and  the  valley  might  certainly  furnish  for 
export  considerable  quantities  of  timber.  Lastly,  near  the  entrance  of  Belle- 
Isle  Strait,  follow  the  stations  of  Eskimo  Point,  Good  Hope,  Belles-Amours,  Bra- 
dore,  and  Blanc-Sablon.  Should  a  town  ever  rise  on  the  shores  of  Bradore  Bay, 
it  may  claim  to  stand  on  the  site  of  the  oldest  settlement  in  Canada.  In  1508, 
that  is,  a  century  before  the  foundation  of  Quebec,  here  stood  the  Breton  town  of 
Brest,  which  during  the  fishing  season  had  a  floating  population  of  as  many  as 
3,000    souls.*     But  the  royal  monopoly  granted  to   the   Governors  of  Canada 


Fig.  147. — Eskimo  River  and  Bradoee  Bay. 
Scale  1  : 1,600,000. 


M*s  "sA^Hto^s- 


West    of  Greenwich 


0to32 
Feet. 


Depths. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


80  Feet  and 
upwards. 


IS  Miles. 


nipped  the  little  republic  in  the  bud.     In  the  vicinity  are  still  seen  a  few  remains 
of  old  sti'uetures,  some  of  French,  some  of  Eskimo  origin. 


The  Gaspe  Peninsula. 


The  right  side  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  is  less  of  a  solitude  than  the  Cana- 
dian-Labrador coast.  Here  have  been  founded  the  little  villages  of  Trois-Pistoles, 
Bic,  Rimouski,  Mitis,  and  Matane,  all  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  coast  range. 
Rimouski,  at  present  merely  a  landing-stage,  hopes  one  day  to  become  a  large 
place,  thanks  to  its  fine  harbour;  here  the  Atlantic  packets  stop  to  land  and 
receive  the  European  mails,  aDcl  Rimouski  is  also  the  first  or  last   point  of  the 

*  Quebec  Literary  and  Historical  Society,  1841  ;  Benjamin  Suite,  llistoire  des  Canadians  francais. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   CANADA. 


S33 


continent  reached  or  quitted  by  passengers.  Beyond  it  as  far  as  the  Newfound- 
land waters  nothing  is  visible  except  the  long  low  line  of  the  almost  uninhabited 
shores  of  Anticosti.  Till  recently  the  only  occupants  of  this  large  island  were  a 
few  salvage  men  and  lighthouse  keepers,  and  the  only  cultivated  lands  the  little 
garden  plots  round  their  dwellings.  Formerly  seafarers  wrecked  on  these  inhos- 
pitable shores  were  often  reduced  to  the  direst  distress,  resorting  even  to  canni- 
balism to  preserve  their  lives.*  The  chief  settlement,  composed  exclusively  of 
Franco-Canadians,  lies  near  the  western  extremity,  t 

The  southern  slope  of  the  Gaspe  peninsula,  which  is  washed  by  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  is  indented  round  the  coast  by  numerous  fjords,  whose  harbours 
have  attracted  a  few  groups  of  population.      Gaspe  (Gihakspek,  or  Montagnais) 


Fig.  148. — Sotveyed  and  Arable  Lands  of  Gaspe. 
Scale  1  :  3,500,000. 


-.- 


West  av    (jreenwich 


64" 


Surveyed  Lands. 


62  Miles. 


is  a  sort  of  Finisterre,  or  "Land's  End,"  analogous  to  the  western  extremity  of 
Brittany,  or  the  terminal  peninsulas  of  Spain  and  England.  Hence  this  advanced 
promontory  of  the  continent  has  played  a  certain  part  in  the  history  of  geo- 
graphical research.  Jacques  Cartier  landed  here  ;  here  also  Boquemont  lost  a 
fleet,  captured  by  the  English,  and  other  naval  battles  were  fought  in  the  neigh- 
bouring waters. 

At  present  the  Gaspesians  are  occupied  chiefly  with  fishing  and  navigation. 
The  interior  is  a  complete  solitude,  so  bleak,  rugged,  and  barren  that  the  surface 
has   not   even  yet  been   officially  surveyed.     The  little  station  of   Gaspe   stands 

*  Shipwrecks  on  the  coasts  of  Anticosti  from  1870  to  1880  :  106  vessels,  manned  by  2,000  hands,  of 
whom  300  perished.    (J.  IT.  Gregory,  L'xle  d' Anticosti  et  ses  Naufrages.) 
t  Faucher  de  Saint-Maurice,  I)e  tnbord  a  bdbord. 


334 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


on  a  creek  near  the  head  of  the  spacious  inlet  of  Gaspe  Bay,  and  its  har- 
bour offers  certain  advantages  for  the  projected  winter  station  for  transatlantic 
steamers. 

Another  inlet  a  little  farther  south  has  been  well  named  Mai  Bay  from  its 


Fig.  149. — EsTEEinrr  of  the  Gaspe  Peninsula. 
Scale  1  :  600,000. 


64°30-         West  of  Greenwich 


Ote.80 
Feet. 


Depths. 


80  to  160 
Feet. 


1G0  Feet  an.l 
upwards. 


i  12  Miles. 


dangerous  reefs  and  banks.  Near  the  south-east  approach  the  village  of  Perce 
stands  on  the  rocky  shore  at  the  foot  of  the  lofty  headland  of  St.  Anne,  whose 
natural   curiosities   render  it  one  of  the  most  remarkable  spots  on  the  North 


o 


z 


63 


o 

s 


LIBRARY 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANADA. 


335 


American  continent.  Off  the  coast  the  red  conglomerate  cliffs  of  Bonaventure 
Island  rise  to  a  height  of  330  feet  out  of  deep  water.  The  roche  percee  ("  pierced 
rock " )  which  gives  its  name  to  the  village,  is  all  that  now  remains  of  the 
isthmus  by  which  Bonaventure  was  at  one  time  connected  with  the  mainland. 
Its  rocky  walls  have  been  excavated  to  such  an  extent  by  the  waves  that  the 
overhanging  cliffs  and  cavern  are  high  and  spacious  enough  to  give  access  to  a 
vessel  in  full  sail  at  high  water.  The  cliff  itself  is  attached  to  the  mainland,  but 
an  isolated  obelisk  stands  on  a  rocky  pedestal  exposed  to  the  full  fury  of  the  surf. 
Nobody  is  allowed  to  scale  the  rock  for  fear  of  disturbing  or  driving  away  the 
aquatic  fowl  which  resort  in  myriads  to  this  breeding  station.  One  section  of  the 
heights  belongs  to  the  cormorants,  the  other  to  the  gulls,  and  all  attempts  of 
either  party  to  encroach  on  its  neighbours'  domain  give  rise  to  fierce  battles. 


Fig.  150. — Bay  of  Chaletjr. 
Scale  1  :  2,000,000. 


West  oF    breenw.ch 


C  to  32 
Feet. 


Depths. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


SO  Feet  and 
upwards. 


.  SO  Miles. 


Despite  the  romantic  beauty  of  its  surroundings,  Perce  fails  to  attract  visitors, 
who  are  repelled  by  the  intolerable  stench  of  the  cod  here  used  to  manure  the 
ground.      "  At  Perce,"  says  a  proverb,  "  the  potatoes  have  codfish  bones." 


Chaleir  Bay. 

A  short  distance  south  of  Perce  stands  the  low  headland  of  Gape  d'Espoir 
("  Cape  of  Hope  "),  of  which  by  a  curious  popular  etymology  the  English  have 
made  Cape  Despair,  a  name  too  well  justified  by  the  numerous  shipwrecks  on  this 
coast.  Nevertheless,  this  cape  marks  the  entrance  to  the  magnificent  inlet  to 
which  Jacques  Cartier  gave  the  name  of  Baie  des  Chaleurs  (Chaleur  Bay).  His 
visit  took  place  in   1535,  but  it  had  probably   already  been  discovered  by  the 


336  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Spanish  navigators,  for  a  "  Spanish  Bay  "  is  figured  on  the  old  maps  on  this  part 
of  the  coast. 

Chaleur  Bay  opens  like  a  second  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  south  of  Gaspe  Bay. 
Round  its  whole  extent  it  is  encircled  hy  ranges  of  dome-shaped  undulating  hills 
pierced  at  intervals  by  the  mouths  of  numerous  streams  here  reaching  the  coast. 
Although  occasionally  ruffled  by  storms,  the  bay  is  usually  tranquil,  with  clear 
skies  free  of  fog,  and  slight  tidal  currents  accompanied  by  scarcely  perceptible 
eddies.  It  abounds  in  cod,  herring,  and  other  fishes,  whence  its  Mic-Mac  name, 
"  Fish  Sea,"  one  far  more  justified  than  its  French  designation,  for  it  has  at 
times  been  completely  frozen  over. 

These  waters  are  visited  by  some  American  fishers  whose  captures  are  intended 
chiefly  for  the  New  England  markets ;  but  for  over  a  century  most  of  the  fishing- 
smacks  have  been  owned  by  a  Jersey  family  succeeded  by  a  financial  company,  and 
this  feudal  system  still  persists  almost  intact.  The  fishermen  being  encum- 
bered with  debt  for  the  loans  advanced  to  them  by  the  speculators,  could  scarcely 
attempt  to  get  rid  of  these  burdens  without  being  declared  insolvent  by  the 
courts. 

In  this  land  of  legend  and  weird  memories  Chaleur  Bay  coidd  not  fail  to  be 
associated  with  some  supernatural  manifestation.  Here  it  assumes  the  form  of  a 
"  phantom  light,"  which,  like  similar  phenomena  elsewhere,  is  spoken  of  by 
everybody,  but  actually  seen  only  by  a  favoured  few.  It  is  said  to  flit  about  in 
various  parts  of  the  bay,  now  under  one  form,  now  under  another,  at  one  time 
resembling  a  great  ball  of  fire  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  shore,  at  another 
assuming  the  appearance  of  a  burning  vessel  many  miles  away.  "  Sometimes  it 
shoots  like  a  meteor,  at  others  it  glides  along  with  a  slow  and  dignified  motion. 
Sometimes  it  seems  to  rest  upon  the  water ;  sometimes  it  mounts  rapidly  in  the 
air  and  descends  again.     It  is  altogether  mysterious  and  eccentric. 

"  The  light  is  generally  followed  by  a  storm,  and,  as  an  instance  of  its  mys- 
teriousness  and  eccentricity,  it  on  one  occasion,  I  am  assured,  actually  appeared 
above  the  ice  in  the  depth  of  winter. 

"  I  have  watched  more  than  once  for  a  sight  of  the  phantom,  but  luck  was 
never  with  me,  and  I  can  therefore  offer  no  personal  opinion  with  regard  to  it. 

"  In  conclusion  I  may,  however,  say  that  amongst  the  simple  fishing  folk  there 
is  a  tradition  that  some  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago  the  crew  of  a  vessel  lying 
in  the  bay  mutinied,  killed  their  loyal  companions,  and  plundered  the  ship.  In 
making  off  with  the  plunder,  however,  they  were  wrecked  off  the  coast  and 
drowned,  having  been  led  to  their  destruction  by  a  mystic  light  which  appeared 
for  the  first  time  in  the  memory  of  man. 

"  This  is  all  very  well,  but  why  this  light  continues  to  appear  after  it  had 
effected  its  purpose  is  not  at  all  clear."  * 

The  towns  and  villages  on  the  coast,  such  as  Pa&pebiac,  or  New  Carlisle, 
Carleton,  Campbelltown,  and  Dalhousie,  are  grouped  round  the  large  establishments 
where  the  fish  is  cured.     As  many  as  1,500  smacks,  manned  by  2,800  hands,  are 

*  Stuart.  Cumberland,  op.  cit. 


LIBRARY 

;HE 

RSITYoflLI 


THE  MARITIME  PROYTXCES.  387 

engaged  ou  these  waters,  and  the  yearly  captures  are  estimated  at  about 
£160,000.  Chaleur  Bay,  and  its  affluent,  the  Restigouche,  'with  the  tributary, 
Metapedia,  serve  as  the  common  limits  of  the  provinces  of  Quebec  and  New 
Brunswick. 

The  Magdalen  and  Bird  Islands. 

To  the  province  of  Quebec  also  belong  the  Magdalen  Islands  in  the  St.  Law- 
rence Gulf,  which  lie  nearer  to  Cape  Breton  and  Newfoundland  than  to  Gaspe 
Land,  but  are  nevertheless  inhabited  exclusively  by  French  Canadians.  At  the 
time  of  the  cession  of  Canada  to  England,  the  archipelago  contained  a  population 
of  less  than  a  hundred  fishers.  They  have  since  multiplied  forty  or  fiftyfold,  and 
have  moreover  sent  colonies  to  distant  places,  notably  the  Canadian  coast  of 
Labrador  and  the  Mingan  Islands.  In  the  year  1882  as  many  as  120  families 
emigrated  to  these  districts.  TVant  of  room  has  not  been  the  only  cause  of  this 
movement.  The  inhabitants  also  complained  of  being  little  better  than  the  serfs 
of  a  great  landowner,  an  American  citizen,  to  one  of  whose  ancestors  the  Governor 
of  Canada  had  assigned  the  lordship  over  the  archipelago. 

Formerly  the  Magdalen  Islands  were  like  a  little  Greenland,  their  waters 
abounding  especially  in  walrus  and  seals.  But  the  walrus  had  already  com- 
pletely disappeared  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  seals  are  less 
numerous,  although  thousands  may  sometimes  be  seen  on  the  ice-floes  driven  by 
the  winter  gales  against  the  shores  of  the  archipelago.  At  present  cod  and 
lobsters  are  the  chief  resources  of  the  islands,  the  latter  being  taken  in  large 
numbers  and  forwarded  chiefly  to  the  States.  Considerable  quantities  of  eggs  and 
feathers  are  also  yielded  by  the  Bird  Islands,  a  little  group  of  red  sandstone 
rocks  lying  some  distance  north  of  the  Magdalen  Islands.  Here  the  chief 
village  lies  on  the  south  side  of  Amherst,  the  southernmost  member  of  the  Archi- 
pelago. 

VI.—  THE   MARITIME    PROVINCES. 
(New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island.) 

This  section  of  the  Canadian  confederacy  constitutes  a  perfectly  distinct 
physical  region,  except  at  the  north-west  corner  where  the  frontier  is  indicated  only 
by  conventional  geometrical  lines.  But  none  of  the  rivers  traversing  New 
Brunswick  belong  to  the  Laurentian  basin,  all  flowing  in  independent  channels  to 
the  Atlantic.  A  height  of  land  or  waterparting,  clearly  indicated  either  by 
plateau  ridges  or  by  mountain  ranges,  separates  the  basin  of  the  St.  John  from 
that  of  the  great  Canadian  river. 

General  Survey. 

Regarded  as  a  whole,  these  maritime  provinces  belong  to  the  same  natural 
region  as  New  England,  while  the  solitudes  separating  them  from  the  province  of 
Quebec  coincide  with  the  watershed.      The  limits  determined  by  the  vicissitudes 


338 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  war  and  by  diplomacy  are  far  from  following  those  indicated  by  nature,  and  in 
order  to  remedy  this  violation  of  the  geographical  conditions,  the  Canadian 
Government  has  been  obliged  to  construct  at  great  expense  the  "  Intercolonial " 
trunk  line  of  railway  traversing  uninhabited  and  almost  uninhabitable  wastes.  A 
mere  glance  at  the  map  suffices  to  show  that  the  Maritime  Provinces  form  an 
abnormal  appendix  to  the  other  Canadian  regions.     A  division  more  in  accordance 


Fig.  151. — Shippeoan  Peninsula  and  Island. 

Scale  1  :  750,000. 


64°30'   Westop  Greenwich 


Depths. 


0  to  32 
Feet. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


80  to  160 
Feet. 


160  Feet  ami 
upwards. 


18  Miles. 


with  the  natural  relations  would  have  either  awarded  New  Brunswick  to  the 
United  States,  or  Maine  to  the  Dominion. 

The  contour  lines  and  relief  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  are  determined 
by  the  general  trend  of  the  Appalachian  orographic  system,  being  disposed  like  it 
niainly  in  the  direction  from  south-west  to  north-east.  Thus  the  terminal  horn  of 
the  Shippegan  Archipelago  projects  north-eastwards  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
and  the  other  headlands  of  New  Brunswick,  Prince  Edward  and  Cape  Breton 
all  point  in  the  same  direction,  which  is  also  that  of  the  elongated  Magdalen 
Archipelago  in  the  middle  of  the  gulf. 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  KEW  BETJXSTVTCK.  339 

During  the  first  period  of  colonisation  and  conquest,  long  before  there  could  be 
any  question  of  delimiting  these  scarcely  known  territories,  they  were  collectively 
known  bv  the  name  of  Acadia  or  Cadia,  derived  from  the  Indian  word  cody  or 
quoddy,  which,  according  to  most  etymologists,  has  simply  the  meaning  of 
"  countrv."  After  the  British  occupation  this  name  fell  into  abeyance,  but  it  is 
now  proposed  again  to  revive  it  as  the  general  designation  of  the  three  maritime 
provinces.  These  minor  states,  acting  separately  in  the  councils  of  the  Dominion, 
have  too  little  influence  to  enforce  their  views  ;  but  when  grouped  together  they 
hope  to  exercise  as  much  authority  as  the  other  members  of  the  Confederacy,  and 
even  at  times  control  the  majority  by  their  casting  vote. 

But,  however  this  be,  their  relative  influence  must  always  depend  on  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  and  this  number  is  far  from  increasing  as  rapidly  as  that 
of  the  other  provinces  despite  their  favourable  commercial  position  in  that  part  of 
America  which  lies  nearest  to  west  Europe. 

Phtsical  Features  of  New  Brunswick. 

The  mean  elevation  of  New  Brunswick  is  certainly  low,  and  the  highest  point 
in  the  whole  region  probably  falls  below  3,300  feet.  The  Bald  Mountain,  a  cone- 
shaped  trappean  rock,  which  dominates  all  the  other  summits  in  the  north-west 
district,  is  only  2,470  feet  high,  and  the  rounded  crest  of  the  Blue  Mountain 
farther  south  in  the  same  range  has  an  absolute  altitude  of  less  than  1,600  feet, 
rising  about  7  CO  feet  above  the  eurrounding  lake- studded  valleys.  Hence  these 
heights  appear  as  mere  hills  of  slight  elevation,  and  their  slopes  and  escarpments 
are  almost  everywhere  forest-clad.  It  would  be  difficult  anywhere  to  find  an 
eminence  affording  an  extensive  view,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sea, 
where  a  few  bold  headlands  rise  above  the  waves  and  neighbouring  archipela- 
goes. 

From  the  general  aspect  of  the  land  geologists  find  some  difficulty  in  deter- 
mining the  character  of  the  rocks,  except  where  they  are  exposed  in  the  river 
gorges  or  railway  cuttings.  The  surface  soil,  which  must  be  removed  to  reach 
the  substratum,  is  usually  covered  with  a  green  mantle  in  summer  and  a  white  in 
winter.  This  surface  soil  consists  chiefly  of  glacial  deposits  and  clays,  while 
nearly  all  the  underlying  rocks  appear  to  belong  to  the  paleozoic  and  carbonifer- 
ous epochs.  All  the  central  and  north-eastern  districts  are  formed  of  strata 
dating  from  the  coal  age  and  remarkable  for  the  regularity  of  their  horizontally 
stratified  rocks.  There  are  no  hills,  and  only  here  and  there  a  few  depressions 
filled  with  peat,  swampy  or  lacustrine  waters.  The  coal  beds  themselves  are 
usually  thin  and  of  small  extent,  but  interspersed  with  them  are  also  minerals, 
gypsum,  native  salt,  while  they  are  covered  with  a  soil  admirably  suited  for  the 
cidtivation  of  fruit  trees  and  cereals.  Hence  the  carboniferous  region  is  also  the 
chief  agricultural  domain  in  New  Brunswick. 

West  of  the  coal  measures  a  narrow  belt  of  igneous  formations  runs  south-west 
and  north-east  parallel  with  the  general  trend  of  the  Appalachian  system. 


810  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  New  Brunswick  Intervals. 

Alone  most  of  the  New  Brunswick  rivers  are  found  extensive  low-lying  tracts, 
which  consist  of  alluvial  deposits,  and  are  locally  known  by  the  name  of  "  the 
intervals."  They  have  a  surface  layer  of  rich  loam,  easily  worked  and  resting  on 
a  substratum  of  clay  or  sand.  Some  of  these  fertile  tracts  stand  above  the  level 
of  the  highest  floods,  while  others  are  periodically  inundated  by  the  spring  freshets. 
Nearly  all  the  islands  in  the  rivers  are  of  like  formation,  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  intervals,  which  in  some  instances  extend  for  over  a  mile  back  from  the  river 
banks,  has  already  been  brought  under  tillage.  In  some  places  the  intervals  rise 
in  terraces  to  the  slopes  of  the  surrounding  hills,  so  that  here  the  lower  cultivated 
and  annually  inundated  lands  are  succeeded  by  other  arable  tracts  rising  above 
the  reach  of  the  highest  floods.  But  all  alike  are  equally  productive,  whether 
they  occur  along  the  main  rivers  or  in  the  valleys  of  their  smallest  affluents. 

Before  thev  were  cleared  for  cultivation  these  intervals  were  often  densely 
wooded,  and  almost  everywhere  overgrown  with  a  rich  and  varied  vegetation. 
Referring  to  their  appearance  at  that  time,  Dr.  Bailey,  of  the  New  Brunswick 
University,  remarked  that,  "  these  interval  lands,  while  they  forbade  any  attempts 
at  geological  exploration,  could  scarcely  fail  to  attract  attention  for  their  evident 
fertility,  and  for  the  very  remarkable  luxuriance  of  their  vegetation,  elms  and 
mountain  ash  attaining  an  enormous  growth,  arbor  vita;,  spruce,  fir,  birch,  and 
poplar  being  very  numerous,  while  the  shrubs,  herbs,  and  ferns,  some  of  the  latter 
attaining  a  height  of  four  or  five  feet,  were  generally  of  a  kind  to  indicate  great 
fertility  of  the  soil  supporting  them."* 

Physical  Features  of  Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  Prince 

Edward  Island. 

Gradually  contracting  between  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  the  whole  region  is  reduced  at  its  narrowest  point  to  an  isthmus  15  or  16 
miles  wide,  which  rises  little  above  the  surrounding  seas.  The  line  of  demarca- 
tion, drawn  at  this  point  between  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  represents 
no  geological  division,  for  the  carboniferous  formation  is  continued  east  of  the 
isthmus  in  the  Acadian  peninsula,  where  it  develops  extremely  thick  beds  of  excel- 
lent fuel  which  is  worked  chiefly  in  the  northern  districts. 

As  in  New  Brunswick,  these  Acadian  coal-fields  are  very  flat ;  the  eminences 
rising  above  them  belong  to  other  formations,  partly  igneous,  partly  paleozoic. 
Most  of  the  higher  summits  of  volcanic  origin  occur  in  the  so-called  Cobequid 
"Mountains,"  which  begin  at  the  headland  projecting  between  the  two  basins  at 
the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  run  thence  eastwards  parallel  with  Prince 
Edward  Island,  ranging  in  height  from  about  900  to  a  little  over  1,000  feet. 

The  eminences  occurring  elsewhere  in  Nova  Scotia  are  even  lower,  but  they 
are  disposed  in  a  line  with  the  main  axis  of  the  peninsula,  and  at  many  points 

*  Dr.  Bailey,  Official  Report,  1864. 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  NOVA  SCOTIA. 


341 


present  a  superb  appearance  seen  from  the  inlets  washing  their  base.  Lastly 
the  eastern  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  are  skirted  by  a  double  chain  of  eruptive 
rocks,  the  "North  Mountains"  and  the  "South  Mountains,"  between  which  the 
bay  communicates  through  the  Annapolis  Gut  with  an  inner  basin. 

In  Cape  Breton,  which  forms  a  northern  extension  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  only 
marked  rising  grounds  are  a  few  silurian  heights  in  the  north,  for  the  most  part 
deeply  ravined  and  of  difficult  access. 

Prince  Edward  Island,  whose  irregular  crescent  is  developed  parallel  with  the 


Fig.  15:2.— Carboniferous  Districts  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick. 
Scale  1  :  7,000,000. 


48" 


44° 


West  op  Greenwich      65 


Coalfields. 


1-25  Miles. 


contours  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  is  a  low-lying  region  almost  divided  into 
separate  masses  by  the  deep  bays  and  inlets  indenting  its  northern  and  southern 
shores,  and  at  some  points  nearly  meeting  in  the  interior.  A  very  slight  subsi- 
dence would  transform  the  island  into  an  archipelago,  The  waters,  which,  by 
their  erosive  action,  have  separated  Prince  Edward  from  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick,  have  evidently  followed  an  original  fault  in  the  terrestrial  crust, 
dating  from  a  very  remote  epoch.     The  island  belongs  geologically  to  a  different 


342  NORTH  AMERICA. 

system,  being  of  triussic  origin  and  presenting  no  trace  of  the  carboniferous  rocks 
characteristic  of  the  opposite  mainland. 

The  coal  measures  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton  have  a  collective  area  of 
325,000  acres,  and  contain  a  supply  of  fuel  estimated  at  abotit  4,000  millions  of 
tons,  enough  to  supply  the  present  consumption  of  Great  Britain  for  over  thirty 
years. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  these  kinds,  situated  at  the  Atlantic  extremity  of 
Canada,  glacial  action  is  everywhere  conspicuously  evident.  The  soil  is  covered 
to  a  great  depth  with  the  debris  of  ancient  moraines,  clays,  and  boulders,  the  faces 
of  the  rocks  presenting  regular  striations,  according  to  which  the  glaciers  would 
appear  to  have  moved  in  the  direction  from  north  to  south  or  south-east.  In  many 
valleys,  notably  in  that  of  the  St.  John,  the  drift  did  not  follow  the  present  course 
of  the  streams,  but  moved  even  athwart  their  beds*  Hence  the  general  geographi- 
cal disposition  of  the  fluvial  valleys  must  have  changed  since  the  glacial  epoch. 

The  drift  gravels  contain  a  certain  proportion  of  gold  derived  from  the  hard 
rocks  of  the  neighbouring  mountains,  but  the  recent  alluvia  are  found  to  be  far 
less  rich  in  the  precious  metal.  Nova  Scotia  possesses  some  productive  mines,  but 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  these  deposits  gold-dust  has  in  vain  been  sought  in  the 
sands  of  the  running  waters.  Its  absence  is  explained  by  the  recent  passage  of 
the  glaciers.  The  streams  would  appear  to  have  acted  somewhat  like  the  gold- 
hunters  themselves,  carrying  seawards  the  clays,  sands,  comminuted  particles,  and 
leaving  behind  the  heavier  gravels  and  the  residuum  of  the  precious  metal.  The 
glaciers  on  the  contrary  carried  away  both  gravels  and  gold-dust.  Certain 
graded  terraces  skirting  the  New  Brunswick  rivers  seem  to  sbow  that,  since  the 
glacial  epoch,  the  level  of  land  and  surrounding  waters  bas  changed  several 
times.t 

Rivers  and  Lakes  of  New  Brunswick. 

South  of  the  St.  Lawrence  the  most- copious  stream  in  the  Dominion  flowing  to 

the  Atlantic  is  the  St.  John,  which  was  formerly  called  the  Lushtuk,  or  "  Long 

River,"  and  which  has  a  total  length  of  about  450  miles.     Some  of  the  head 

waters  have   their  source  in  the  dorsal  ridge  which  skirts  the  left  bank    of  the 

St.  Lawrence  at  a  mean  distance  of  from  12  to  15  miles.     To  the  St.  John  basin 

belongs  the  little  Lake  Madawaska  (St.  Francis),  near  Riviere-du-Loup  ;  but  the 

"Wollastook,  or  main  upper  branch,  has  its  origin  in  a  depression  which  is  much 

farther  removed  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  which  is  developed  in  the  direction 

from  south-west  to  north-east  parallel  with  the  fluvial  valley.     This  direction  is 

followed  as  far  as  the  Madawaska  confluence,  where  the  St.  John  trends  eastwards, 

and  then  south-eastwards  to  its  estuary  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy.     Along  its  course  it 

receives  tbe  waters  of  numerous  lakes  both  in  tbe  Canadian  and  United  States 

mountains,  which  send  their  overflow  to  both  banks  through  many  cascades  and 

rapids. 

*  Matthew,  Hunt,  Dawson,  and  others. 

t  Thomas  Belt,  Glacial  Period  in  North  America,  Transactions  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Institute  of  Natural 
Science,  1866. 


RIVERS  OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK.  343 

In  its  upper  valley  the  St.  John  itself  develops  the  finest  falls  in  New  Bruns- 
wick. Below  a  deep  expanse  of  smooth  water,  the  stream  disappears  in  a  narrow 
gorge,  and  after  sweepirjg  down  a  steep  incline  plunges  with  a  drop  of  60  feet 
over  a  limestone  barrier.  Right  and  left  numerous  little  cataracts,  tumbling  head- 
long from  the  lateral  projections,  merge  in  the  foaming  channel  of  the  main 
stream.  Beyond  this  chasm  the  rapids  are  continued  for  over  half  a  mile  to 
another  expanse,  where  the  snags  sent  down  from  above  are  seen  whirling  round 
in  the  eddies. 

Farther  down  the  St.  John  receives  its  two  largest  affluents,  the  Aroostook, 
which  joins  its  left  bank  from  the  State  of  Maine,  and  the  Tobique,  descending  on 
the  opposite  side  from  the  hills  encircling  the  Bay  of  Chaleur.  Alpestrine  scenery 
now  gives  place  to  soft  and  charming  landscapes,  where  the  meandering  stream 
winds  placidly  between  rounded  grassy  or  wooded  hills. 

Here  and  there  traces  may  be  seen  of  old  beaches  along  the  slopes  of  the 
valley,  and  considerably  higher  than  the  present  fluvial  level.  Such  water-marks 
attest  the  great  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  recent  geological  times  in  the 
relief  of  the  land.  But  the  great  extent  of  these  changes  can  best  be  studied  in 
the  lower  reaches,  where  the  St.  John  expands  into  a  broad  estuary  navigable  by 
vessels  of  heavy  draught.  Along  the  whole  of  the  New  Brunswick  coastlands  the 
rocky  heights  are  disposed  parallel  with  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  with  Nova  Scotia, 
in  a  line  with  the  main  axis  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains.  This  general  dis- 
position of  the  ridges  from  south-east  to  north-west  opposed  a  physical  impediment 
to  the  seaward  course  of  the  St.  John ;  the  consequence  is  that  above  each  rocky 
barrier  the  river  and  its  affluents  have  formed  extensive  lacustrine  basins. 

Four  large  lakes  thus  follow  each  other  east  of  the  lower  St.  John,  flooding 
parallel  valleys  between  the  coast  chains.  At  the  very  mouth  of  the  river  is  deve- 
loped a  marshy  expanse  with  a  creek  which  seems  to  have  been  the  former  fluvial 
channel.  The  present  mouth  has  been  formed  by  the  rupture  of  a  rocky  limestone 
barrier,  whose  walls  are  now  seen  rising  about  100  feet  above  the  surface.  This 
breach  in  the  rock-bound  coast  presents  a  unique  phenomenon.  At  low  water  the 
St.  John,  confined  to  a  channel  460  feet  wide,  descends  to  the  basin  through  two 
falls,  the  higher  of  which  forms  a  uniform  sheet  24  to  26  feet  high.  As  the  tide 
rises  the  lower  cascade  is  gradually  effaced,  and  then  the  base  of  the  second 
becomes  swamped,  as  it  were,  the  outer  or  landward  attaining  the  same  level  as 
the  seaward  current.  The  two  streams  become  intermingled  in  conflicting  eddies, 
and  during  exceptionally  strong  tides  the  cascade  becomes,  so  to  say,  reversed,  the 
tidal  stream  rushing  up  the  bed  of  the  fiver  sometimes  as  far  as  the  capital,  80 
miles  inland. 

During  the  short  period  of  equilibrium  between  the  two  levels  steamers  are 
able  to  penetrate  from  the  roadstead  into  the  St.  John,  whose  course  is  navigable 
for  over  250  miles  from  the  sea.  Formerly  the  Indians  and  Canadian  trappers 
ascended  it  as  far  as  a  portage,  whence  they  crossed  into  the  St.  Lawrence  basin, 
reaching  Quebec  by  the  bed  of  the  Chaudiere  River.  The  St.  John,  like  the  St.  Law- 
rence, becomes  a  source  of  danger  to   the  riverain  populations  by  the  jamming 


344  NORTH  AMERICA. 

and  bursting  of  its  icy  fetters.  Thus  in  1831  the  frozen  masses  suddenly  burst 
above  the  narrows  at  Fredericton,  and,  getting  jammed  in  this  gorge,  they  became 
piled  up  in  an  immense  dam,  causing  the  river  to  flow  back  and  threatening  the 
town  with  complete  destruction.* 

No  other  New  Brunswick  stream  can  compare  with  the  St.  John  in  size  or 
volume,  although  others  also  send  down  a  considerable  current  and  are  even 
navigable  for  some  distance  from  the  sea.  In  the  north  the  long  estuary  of  the 
Bay  of  Chaleur,  which  reproduces  on  a  smaller  scale  that  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
receives  the  waters  of  the  Restigouche  ("Five  Fingers"),  a  large  stream  which 
has  been  selected  as  the  frontier  towards  the  province  of  Quebec.  In  the  south 
an  inlet  from  the  same  estuary  takes  its  name  from  the  Nipisquit  (Nipisguit),  a 
considerable  affluent  from  the  south-west,  which,  like  the  St.  John,  has  also  its 
"  grand  falls." 

The  extensive  plains  between  the  St.  John  and  Nipisquit  basins  are  traversed  by 
the  various  streams  whose  united  waters  form  the  Miramichi,  which  reaches  the 
east  coast  at  Miramichi  Bay,  a  broad  inlet  sheltered  at  its  mouth  by  a  cluster  of 
islets.  The  Miramichi  basin,  which  is  next  in  importance  to  that  of  the  St.  John, 
lies  entirely  within  the  province  of  which  it  occupies  all  the  central  parts.  Its 
estuary  is  perfectly  safe,  and  the  lower  reaches  are  deep  enough  for  large  steamers 
to  ascend  some  miles  inland.  At  a  short  distance  from  the  coast  the  main  stream 
ramifies  into  two  branches,  which  are  again  subdivided  into  several  secondary 
channels  branching  off  in  various  directions.  The  farthest  headstream,  whose 
waters  appear  to  intermingle  at  some  points  with  those  of  the  St.  John  affluents, 
takes  the  name  of  the  South-west  Miramichi,  and  rises  near  the  United  States 
frontier.  It  flows  for  over  80  miles  through  a  comparatively  settled  and  productive 
region,  though  even  here  extensive  tracts  of  good  land  still  remain  unoccupied. 
All  the  other  tributaries,  such  as  the  North-west  Miramichi,  the  "Little  South- 
west," the  Renous,  the  Cain's  River,  and  the  Bartholomew,  are  navigable  by  boats 
of  light  draught,  and  settlements  have  already  been  formed  on  many  of  the 
"  intervals "  traversed  by  them.  All  the  streams  forming  the  wide-branching 
Miramichi  system  flow  through  a  region  of  great  fertility,  abounding  in  fine 
forest  and  pasture  lands.  Extensive  lumbering  operations  are  carried  on,  especially 
about  their  sources,  the  logs  being  floated  down  to  the  saw-mills,  which  are  kept 
constantly  at  work  at  Chatham,  Newcastle,  and  other  flourishing  places  about  the 
estuary. 

The  St.  Croix,  which  flows  to  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  forms  the  political  frontier 
towards  the  State  of  Maine.  It  is  a  considerable  stream,  receiving  the  overflow  of 
two  chains  of  lakes,  one  of  which  lies  beyond  the  frontier  in  the  State  of  Maine, 
while  the  other  forms  with  the  river  the  boundary  between  that  state  and  New 
Brunswick.  The  St.  Croix  is  navigable  as  far  as  St.  Stephen,  which  lies  about  16 
miles  from  its  mouth  at  the  head  of  the  tidal  waters.  The  estuary  in  Passama- 
quoddy Bay  forms  one  of  the  finest  harbours  on  the  whole  of  the  north-east 
seaboard.     This  harbour  of  St.  Andrews,  as  it  is  called  from  the  neighbouring 

*  A.  I.eith  Adams. 


BAY  OF  PUNDY.  845 

town  of  that  name,  has  an  area  of  about  100  square  miles,  is  well  sheltered  by 
the  West  Isles,  which  form  a  natural  breakwater  at  its  entrance,  and  has  the  great 
advantage  of  good  anchorage  almost  completely  free  from  obstruction  by  ice 
throughout  the  year. 

Altogether  New  Brunswick  enjoys  an  unusual  extent  of  navigable  waters, 
flowing  almost  entirely  through  wooded  or  arable  lands  of  great  fertility,  and 
developing  spacious  and  well-sheltered  harbours  at  their  tidal  estuaries. 

Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  Prince  Edward  Island  are  too  contracted  to 
develop  large  watercourses ;  but  many  of  the  streams  expand  into  broad  estuaries 
at  their  mouth.  Both  on  the  north  and  south  sides  the  maritime  provinces  are 
deeply  indented  by  such  estuaries  and  other  inlets,  which  were,  perhaps,  ancient 
fjords,  but  which  have  long  ceased  to  present  the  typical  aspect  of  such  forma- 
tions. They  nowhere  show  the  meandering  course,  precipitous  walls  and  deep 
channels  characteristic  of  the  Alaskan  sounds  and  inlets,  the  contour  lines  and 
general  relief  having  been,  during  the  course  of  ages,  profoundly  modified  by 
erosive  action. 

Sounds  and  Inlets. — Bay  of  Fundy. 

In  the  north  the  great  circular  current  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  which 
penetrates  into  Northumberland  Strait  between  Prince  Edward  Island  and  the 
mainland,  has  sculptured  the  seaboard  in  the  direction  from  north-west  to  south- 
east. But  on  the  opposite  side  the  waters  entering  the  Bay  of  Fund)'  and  setting 
south-west  and  north-east,  have  enlarged  the  fluvial  valleys  opened  in  that 
direction  between  the  parallel  spurs  of  the  main  mountain  ranges.  In  Northum- 
berland Strait,  a  comparatively  shallow  depression  in  the  earth's  crust,  the  average 
depth  varies  from  50  to  60  feet,  sinking  in  the  cavities  to  about  100  feet.  The 
curious  Bras  d'Or,  or  better,  Brador  Lake,  which  occupies  a  large  part  of  Cape 
Breton,  affects  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe,  opening  northwards  through  a  double 
channel.  This  basin  has  better  preserved  its  primitive  character  of  a  fault  in  the 
terrestrial  crust,  its  north-east  entrance,  called  "  Little  Brador,"  developing  a 
narrow  gorge  between  the  cliffs,  while  in  the  basin  itself  depths  of  over  100 
fathoms  have  been  recorded  in  the  deeper  troughs. 

On  the  seaward  side  of  Nova  Scotia  the  beds  of  the  various  inlets  are  normally 
inclined  in  the  direction  of  the  marine  bed,  which  in  these  waters  shoals  at  the 
average  rate  of  about  14  or  15  feet  per  mile. 

The  Bay  of  Fundy,  whose  Anglicised  name  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  either 
of  "Fond  de  la  Baie,"  or  of  "Baya  Fonda"  ("Deep  Bay"),  presents  the  most 
favourable  conditions  for  the  development  of  the  phenomenon  of  the  tidal  bore, 
as  observed  in  so  many  fluvial  estuaries.  Here,  also,  the  systematic  study  of  the 
surrounding  coastlands  has  shown  that  the  vast  volume  of  water  alternately  rising 
and  falling  in  the  secondary  inlets  has  had  the  effect  of  modifying  the  form  of 
the  seaboard  and  even  that  of  the  marine  bed  itself.  South  of  Cape  d'Or,  which 
commands  the  entrance  of  the  Mines  (Minas)  Channel,  the  sea,  whose  average  depth 
in  these  waters  is  less  than  25  fathoms,  has  been  excavated  to  a  depth  of  45  or  even 

VOL      XV.  A   A 


346 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


50  fathoms  below  the  surface.  Farther  on  the  soundings  have  recorded  depths 
of  58  or  60  fathoms.  Not  only  does  the  swift  current  prevent  the  deposits  of 
sands  in  these  chasms,  but  it  erodes  the  live  rock  itself ;  hence  the  coast  is  here 
everywhere  formed  of  bare  cliffs. 

At  the  extremity  of  Chignecto  Bay  each  of  the  secondary  inlets,  where  the 
daily  ebb  and  flow  presents  a  difference  of  level  of  40,  50,  and  even  G5  feet,  has 
been   carved  by  these  tremendous  tidal   currents  out  of  the  paleozoic   rocks  of 

Pig.  153. — Lake  or  Bkadob. 
Scale  1  :  l,300,tj00. 


West     cr     breenwich 


Depths. 


ii  1n  32 
Feet. 


.".'_'  tn  ii;.i 
Feet. 


160  to  010 
Feet. 


,  IS  Miles. 


Oil)  Feet  anil 
upwan's. 


the  isthmus  connecting  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick.  The  sea,  in  fact,  is 
continually  eating  away  this  isthmus,  so  that  the  time  may  come  when  the  Bay 
of  Fundy  will  communicate  directly  with  Northumberland  Strait,  thus  trans- 
forming Nova  Scotia  to  an  island. 

The  little  Amherst,  Oulac,  Tantramar,  and  Missiquash  rivulets,  which  at  ebb 
are  almost  lost  amongst  the  sands,  are  changed  at  flood  tide  into  vast  estuaries 
three  or  four  miles  wide,  while  the  low-lying  shores  of  Minudie  Island,  with  their 
vast  beds  of  seaweed,  are  completely  flooded  at  high  water.     The  contrast  between 


CLIMATE  OF  THE  MARITIME  PEOVLNCES.  847 

the  neighbouring  seas  is  most  striking.  In  the  south  the  whole  land  seems  to  be 
periodically  inundated  with  a  deluge  of  rising  waters,  whereas  the  tidal  currents 
seem  to  make  no  perceptible  change  in  the  form  of  the  seaboard  round  Yerte  Bay 
in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  where  the  highest  tides  scarcely  exceed  nine  feet. 

Climate  of  the  Maritime  Provinces. 

Although  the  Maritime  Provinces  lie  under  a  somewhat  more  southern  latitude, 
their  climate  on  the  whole  resembles  that  of  the  St.  Lawrence  estuary.  On  the 
coastlands  the  summer  heats  are  no  doubt  tempered  by  the  Newfoundland  fogs, 
and  the  severity  of  winter  mitigated  by  the  southern  winds  and  the  warm  currents 
penetrating  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  its  secondary  inlets.  But  the  effect  of 
these  modifying  influences  is  almost  confined  to  the  seaboard,  leaving  the  interior 
of  the  country  subject  to  the  normal  conditions. 

The  contrast  presented  by  the  central  plains  and  the  maritime  districts  is 
represented  by  a  discrepancy  of  as  many  as  30°  F.  between  the  extreme  tempera- 
tures. Thus  at  Fredericton  the  summer  heats  are  8°  or  10 J  higher  and  the  winter 
colds  18°  or  20°  lower  than  at  St.  John.*  Summer  is  followed  by  an  autumn  of 
early  frosts  and  biting  north  winds,  ushering  in  a  winter  which  lasts  more  than 
half  the  year  with  alternating  bright  and  snowy  weather.  So  rapid  is  the  tran- 
sition from  winter  to  summer  that  two  or  three  days  of  mild  spring  weather  are 
followed  by  the  season  of  intense  heats.  At  times  forty-eight  hours  suffice  to 
completely  clothe  a  leafless  tree  with  a  fully-developed  foliage.  On  the  coastlands 
the  average  annual  rainfall  amounts  to  about  40  inches. 

On  the  subject  of  the  climate  of  Xew  Brunswick,  so  important  for  intending 
emigrants  to  the  Maritime  Provinces,  Mr.  Ch.  Lagrin,  Secretary  of  the  Local 
Board  of  Agriculture,  has  embodied  much  useful  information  in  his  memoir  on 
the  "Resources,  Progress,  and  Advantages"  of  this  province.  "The  climate  of 
Xew  Brunswick,"  be  remarks,  "  is  favourable  to  the  successful  prosecution  of 
agriculture,  and  to  the  longevity  of  the  inhabitants.  It  has  been  the  custom  to 
represent  the  climate  of  Canada  as  made  up  of  extremes ;  but  it  must  always  be 
borne  in  mind  that  Canada  is  a  countr\T  almost  as  large  as  Europe,  and  extending 
through  nearly  as  many  degrees  of  latitude  ;  that  it  is  subject  to  many  influences 
affecting  the  climate,  of  which  it  presents  every  variety  from  the  balmy,  rainless 
summers  and  mild,  wet  winters  of  Southern  British  Columbia,  to  the  almost 
unbroken  winter  of  the  Arctic  zone. 

"  Xew  Brunswick  goes  to  neither  extreme,  for,  although  there  maybe  exceptional 

*  Temperature  of  the  Maritime  Provinces : — 

Xorth  Latitude.  Mean  Temperature. 

Fredericton 45°  57' i-   F. 

St.  John 45°  17' 41' 

Sydney 46°    8' 47° 

C'harlottetown 46'  14' 40° 

Halifax 44°  39'      .  .  .  .  .42° 

Differences  of  summer  and  winter  temperatures  at  Frederict  >n  and  St.  John  : — 

Fredericton -)-9G3  to — 30°  F. 

St.  John -J-8S"  to  —33° 

A  A  2 


848  NOETH  AMBBICA. 

days  eveiy  year  when  the  thermometer  registers  above  90°  Fahrenheit  or  below 
— 20°,  a  man  can  do  more  days'  work  out  of  doors  in  the  course  of  the  year  in  the 
Province  than  he  can  in  any  part  of  the  British  Isles.  During  the  coldest  days 
children  go  to  school,  and  men  engage  in  their  ordinary  outdoor  employment 
without  inconvenience.  A  common  working  dress  for  out-of-door  wear  in  the 
coldest  weather  consists  of  a  suit  of  heav}'  knit  underwear,  a  flannel  shirt,  trousers 
of  homespun  wool  cloth,  one  or  two  pairs  of  woollen  socks,  a  pair  of  boots,  larri- 
gans  or  moccasins,  a  coat  or  '  juniper '  of  the  same  material  as  the  trousers,  a 
cloth  cap  with  coverings  for  the  ears,  and  a  pair  of  woollen  mittens. 

"  Clad  thus  a  man  can  work  out  of  doors  all  day  long  in  the  coldest  winter 
weather  ever  felt  in  New  Brunswick.  If  he  is  going  on  a  long  drive  he  will  put 
on  a  heavy  top-coat.  Everybody  who  lives  on  a  farm  in  New  Brunswick  is  well 
provided  with  comfortable  clothing,  and  the  cold  of  winter,  so  far  from  being  a 
drawback  or  an  inconvenience,  is  both  an  advantage  in  many  respects  and  a  source 
of  much  enjoyment.  New  settlers  in  the  country  are  invariably  agreeably  dis- 
appointed in  the  winter  weather.  The  New  Denmark  settlers  say  that,  on  the 
whole,  it  is  preferable  to  that  of  Denmark,  and  the  Kincardine  and  other  settlers 
from  Great  Britain  say  that,  owing  to  the  cheapness  of  excellent  fuel,  the  dryness 
of  the  air,  and  the  infrequency  of  serious  storms,  a  New  Brunswick  winter  is 
pleasanter  than  one  in  Great  Britain. 

"  Summer  in  New  Brunswick  is  usually  very  fine.  In  every  season  there  are  a 
few  very  hot  days,  but  the  greater  part  of  summer  is  as  delightful  as  the  weather 
in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  province  is  a  favourite  resort  of  thousands  of 
persons  from  the  Atlantic  States,  who  seek  a  more  enjoyable  climate  than  they 
can  find  at  home. 

"  The  course  of  the  seasons  is  somewhat  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  year  generally  begins  with  the  rivers  and  lakes  frozen  over  firmly,  and  a 
foot  of  snow  irpon  the  ground ;  at  least,  this  would  be  an  ideal  beginning  for  the 
year.  The  Christmas  marketing  will  have  made  hard  snow  roads  all  over  the 
country,  on  which  a  pair  of  horses  will  transport  immense  loads  of  produce. 
Lumbering  operations  are  at  this  season  under  full  sway. 

"  March  is  sometimes  stormy,  but  its  average  temperature  is  higher  than  that  of 
the  two  preceding  months.  Towards  the  close  the  snow  begins  to  disappear  from 
much-used  roads  and  in  sunny  places. 

"  About  the  middle  of  April  the  ice  in  the  rivers  begins  to  break  up,  so  that 
when  May  comes  in  navigation  is  open.  In  May  vegetation  begins  to  make 
rapid  progress,  and  the  growth  appears  wonderful  to  a  person  not  familiar  with 
the  New  Brunswick  climate.  A  warm  rain  and  a  few  days  of  bright  sunshine 
completely  transform  the  face  of  the  country. 

"  In  June  planting  is  continued,  and  so  rapidly  do  things  mature,  that  crops 
may  be  put  in  late  in  this  month  and  yet  have  an  excellent  chance  of  coming  to 
perfection.  In  July  haymaking  begins,  and  towards  the  last  of  August  early 
grain  is  harvested  and  early  apples  are  ready  for  marketing.  The  harvest  con- 
tinues  during   September,  which  is  generally  the  finest  month  in  the  year.     In 


FLORA  OF  THE  MARITIME  PROV1XCES.  349 

October  the  root  crop  will  be  harvested,  and  early  in  November  a  fall  of  snow 
may  be  looked  for,  to  be  followed  by  a  few  days  of  most  genial  weather,  known  as 
the  '  Indian  summer.' 

"  December  is  the  beginning  of  winter,  the  effect  of  which  upon  agriculture  is, 
on  the  whole,  not  disadvantageous.  The  heavy  frosts  render  the  ground  friable 
and  open,  doing  more  good  than  could  be  accomplished  by  several  ploughings.  To 
the  pulverising  action  of  the  frost  on  the  soil  is  attributed  the  remarkable  yield  of 
root  crops  in  New  Brunswick. 

"  Fever,  ague  and  malarial  fevers  are  unknown.  There  is  an  abundance  of  the 
best  water  everywhere ;  in  fact,  in  all  that  is  necessary  to  produce  rugged  man 
New  Brunswick  is  unsurpassed.  In  all  parts  of  North  America  the  natives  of 
this  Province  are  admitted  to  be  above  the  average  in  strength  and  endurance." 

Flora. 

The  Acadian  flora  is  specially  remarkable  for  the  surprising  proportion  of  its 
Arctic  forms.  In  this  respect  it  bears  most  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Scandinavian 
peninsula,  despite  the  vast  extent  of  the  intervening  Atlantic  waters.  Till  recently 
Xew  Brunswick  was  an  almost  continuous  forest,  scarcely  interrupted  by  the 
rivers,  lakes  and  mossy  tracts,  which  were  formerly  flooded  depressions,  but  whose 
sphagnous  growths  have  gradually  absorbed  the  moisture,  themselves  expanding 
like  huge  sponges  below  the  surface.  Even  within  the  last  half -century  some 
lakes  of  considerable  size  have  thus  disappeared  beneath  the  encroaching  bog- 
mosses.* 

In  1825  a  terrible  conflagration,  generally  known  as  "  the  great  Miramichi 
fire,"  destroyed  nearly  the  whole  of  the  forests  in  the  northern  and  central  regions 
of  New  Brunswick.  The  space  laid  waste  covered  3,000,000  acres.  Even  in 
New  England  the  sun  was  obscured  by  volumes  of  smoke,  and  at  night  the  horizon 
was  lit  up  by  the  reflection  of  the  flames.  Newcastle  and  the  other  villages  on  the 
coast  were  reduced  to  ashes,  and  to  escape  the  fire  the  people  had  to  plunge  into 
the  rivers  or  else  take  refuge  with  their  domestic  animals  and  the  wild  beasts  on 
the  reefs  and  sandbanks.  After  the  devastation  the  evergreen  pines  were  mostly 
replaced  by  trees  with  deciduous  foliage,  but  here  and  there  in  the  new  woodlands 
are  seen  a  few  conifers  still  intermingled,  after  three-quarters  of  a  century,  with 
the  charred  trunks  of  the  older  plants. 

Another  great  fire  consumed  the  northern  forests  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1870  when  the  country  had  suffered  from  a  protracted  drought.  Formerly  the 
Indians  set  fire  to  the  woods  in  order  to  drive  out  the  game,  or  else  to  repel  the 
white  settlers  from  the  arable  lands.  The  "  gloomy  days,"  to  which  reference  is 
made  in  the  early  records  of  colonisation  both  in  Canada  and  New  England, 
probably  owed  their  appalling  darkness  to  an  atmosphere  charged  with  the  smoke 
and  ashes  of  some  conflagration  raging  in  the  distance. 

Fruit  trees  and  berry-bearing  plants  of  all  kinds  thrive  well  in  the  Maritime 

*  A.  Leitli  Adams. 


350  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Provinces,  and  especially  in  Nova  .Scotia.  The  apples  of  this  province  are  noted 
for  their  large  size,  brilliant  colours,  and  fine  flavour.  In  the  western  districts 
cherries  are  extensively  cultivated,  and  grapes  ripen  in  the  open  air  in  the  more 
favoured  localities.  All  varieties  of  small  fruits,  such  as  currants,  gooseberries, 
raspberries,  blackberries,  quinces,  and  strawberries  are  easily  cultivated  ;  blue- 
berries grow  in  abundance  on  the  barrens  ;  huckleberries,  blackberries,  raspberries 
in  the  woods ;  cranberries,  hakeberries,  snowberries,  and  bogberries  in  the  marshy 
tracts. 

In  New  Brunswick,  also,  apples  and  other  fruits  are  profitably  cultivated,  the 
surplus  stock  being  shipped,  chiefly  to  the  United  States,  and  recently  even  to 
England.  Immense  quantities  of  strawberries  are  raised,  but  so  great  is  the 
demand  for  them,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  that  the  supply  is  always  short. 

Fauna. 

Since  the  arrival  of  the  whites  the  wild  fauna  has  diminished  throughout  the 
Maritime  Provinces.  The  moose  and  caribou  (woodland  reindeer)  are  still  met, 
but  in  small  numbers,  although  now  protected  by  the  game  laws,  which  prohibit 
hunting  during  the  close  season.  A  few  years  ago  the  Virginian  deer  was  seen 
only  in  a  single  district  of  New  Brunswick,  and  it  has  now  probably  disappeared 
altogether.  The  kitchen-middens  left  in  many  places  along  the  shore  by  the 
ancient  Algonquin  or  Eskimo  populations  contain  large  quantities  of  the  bones  of 
this  animal,  generally  split  for  the  extraction  of  the  marrow. 

In  1873  the  beaver  was  still  found  in  certain  districts  80  or  90  miles  from  the 
coast,  but  if  he  has  himself  disappeared,  he  has  at  least  left  many  vestiges  of  his 
work  in  the  fine  meadow-lands  occurring  along  the  river-banks  above  his 
former  dams.  There  are  few  watercourses  in  New  Brunswick  which  do  not 
present  at  intervals  such  rich  grassy  tracts,  which  yield  the  best  hay  in  the 
country.  According  to  the  popular  •  saying,  "the  work  of  the  beaver  is  more 
lasting  than  that  of  the  Indian." 

The  pekan  or  "  fisher  "  (Pennant's  marten)  and  other  fur-bearing  animals  are 
also  becoming  more  and  more  rare.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
the  walrus  has  ceased  to  frequent  the  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  waters, 
where  it  abounded  during  the  eighteenth  century.  This  marine  animal  has  now 
withdrawn  to  the  Arctic  seas  some  600  or  700  miles  nearer  to  the  pole.  Seals 
formerly  congregated  in  thousands  in  all  the  neighbouring  inlets.  In  1797,  the 
southern  channel  having  been  completely  frozen,  their  herds  attempted  to  cross 
Prince  Edward  Island  to  the  north  side,  and  on  this  occasion  hundreds  were 
captured  in  the  forests.*  The  year  1825  is  also  memorable  in  the  zoological 
annals  of  the  island.  This  was  the  so-called  "  mouse  year,"  when  these  rodents 
swarmed  in  such  prodigious  quantities  that,  after  devouring  all  the  crops  and 
grain,  they  marched  down  to  the  seashore,  where  they  perished  in  countless 
multitudes,  their  bodies  forming  thick  beds  like  masses  of  seaweed  along  the  beach. 

*  John  Stewart,  An  Account  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 


FAUNA  OF  THE  MARITIME  PROVINCES.  351 

Amongst  the  birds  which  formerly  visited  the  Maritime  Provinces,  and  which 
were  met  by  the  first  European  settlers,  mention  is  made  of  the  great  auk,  as  well 
as  a  species  of  ■  duck  called  the  "  Labrador  duck."  It  is  difficult  to  account  for 
the  disappearance  of  the  latter,  which  was  not  an  awkward  bird  like  the  penguin, 
but  possessed  great  power  of  flight,  so  that  it  might  easily  have  retired  to  more 
distant  haunts  without  disappearing  altogether. 

Certain  shellfish  are  now  also  vainly  sought  on  the  coasts  which  were 
observed  by  the  naturalists  of  the  last  century,  but  their  disappearance  is  explained 
by  the  pollution  of  the  water  by  the  quantities  of  sawdust  covering  the  seashore 
round  all  the  estuaries.*  The  reptiles  and  amphibia  are  represented  in  the  Mari- 
time Provinces  by  a  few  snakes,  none  of  which  are  poisonous,  by  numerous  turtles, 
frogs,  and  salamanders. 

Amongst  the  loveliest  denizens  of  the  woodlands  is  the  ruby-throat  humming- 
bird, which  arrives  every  year  from  the  Caribbean  Islands  towards  the  end  of 
May  simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  the  young  foliage.  It  tarries  longer 
than  the  swallow  and  other  migratory  birds  of  larger  size,  suddenly  disappearing 
towards  the  end  of  September.  It  is  surprising  that  the  fledglings  born  during 
the  brief  summer  season  can  acquire  sufficient  strength  to  wing  their  flight  across 
the  seas  to  their  distant  winter  quarters  in  the  West  Indies.  The  humming-bird 
of  the  east  coastlands  of  America  differs  little  from  the  species  which  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  continent  migrates  periodically  between  Central  America  and 
British  Columbia. 

In  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  fresh  and  marine  waters  of  the  Maritime 
Provinces  teemed  with  animal  life  to  a  marvellous  extent.  Even  still  submarine 
banks  are  met  where  the  fish  are  crowded  together  in  compact  masses.  In  1837, 
during  a  fierce  storm,  a  marshy  lagoon  communicating  with  the  sea  had  its  muSdy 
bed  completely  covered  with  fish  "  heaped  up  like  herrings  in  a  barrel,"  and 
mixed  with  crabs,  lobsters,  mollusks,  and  annelids  of  all  kinds.  The  rocks  in  the 
channel  were  covered  with  a  seething  mass  of  these  decomposed  animal  remains, 
which  in  some  places  were  deposited  to  a  depth  of  several  feet.  For  a  distance  of 
5  or  6  miles  the  atmosphere  was  poisoned  by  the  gases  arising  from  this  putrid 
matter,  which  yielded  a  superabundance  of  manure  to  the  farmers  of  the  surround- 
ing district. 

At  present  the  salmon  has  ceased  to  ascend  several  of  the  watercourses  in  the 
Maritime  Provinces,  and  in  those  which  it  still  frequents  nearly  all  that  are 
captured  bear  traces  of  the  injuries  inflicted  by  the  hook  or  by  the  meshes  of  the 
fishermen's  nets.  But  the  deep-sea  fish  which  visit  the  coasts  during  the 
spawning  season  still  abound  in  amazing  quantities,  and  fishing  still  continues 
to  be  one  of  the  staple  industries  of  New  Brunswick.  Even  in  the  harbour  of 
St.  John,  crowded  as  it  is  with  shipping,  a  species  of  cod  is  captured  in  large 
quantities.  In  good  seasons  as  many  as  20,000  barrels  are  exported,  representing 
a  total  weight  of  over  1,750  tons. 

*  Hitchcock,  Scientific  Survey  of  the  State  of  Maine. 


852  XOETH  AMERICA. 

Inhabitants  of  the  Maritime  Provinces. 

The  former  inhabitants  have  left  numerous  traces  of  their  presence,  especially 
implements  and  weapons,  both  of  chipped  and  polished  stone.  Their  camping- 
grounds  were  concentrated  especially  on  the  banks  of  the  Grand  Lake,  an  affluent 
of  the  Lower  St.  John,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Tobique  River.  No  objects 
belonging  to  a  bronze  age  have  been  found,  and  the  chert  arrow-heads  and 
hatchets  were  succeeded  by  the  iron  weapons  stamped  with  the  fleur-de-lis,  which 
the  French  traders  sold  to  the  natives,  and  which  are  still  picked  up  here  and 
there  in  the  woods. 

Although  the  aborigines  had  no  pottery,  they  were  none  the  less  already 
artists,  judging,  at  least,  from  the  rude  sculptures  now  and  then  brought  to  light 
by  the  geologists  and  hunters.  One  of  these  carved  on  a  rock  on  the  banks  of 
Lake  Utopia,  not  far  from  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  is  a  boldly-chiselled  medallion, 
such  as  none  of  the  present  natives  could  attempt  to  imitate. 

The  practice  of  giving  the  local  Indians  the  name  of  "  brother  "  has  passed 
from  the  French  trappers  to  the  present  white  populations,  although  in  their 
mouth  the  term  sounds  somewhat  like  irony.  The  whites  have  allowed  their 
"  brothers  "  to  perish,  if  they  have  not  directly  hastened  their  extinction.  Accord- 
ing to  the  French  missionaries  the  aborigines  of  Acadia,  including  the  islands  and 
peninsulas,  probably  numbered  10,000  towards  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  but  the  census  of  1881  returned  only  about  3,400  altogether,  of  whom 
over  1,600  resided  in  Nova  Scotia. 

The  Mic-Macs  and  other  Aborigines. 

This  remnant  of  the  old  owners  of  the  land  belong  to  three  different  Algonquin 
tribes :  the  Mic-Macs,  or  Souriquois,  scattered  over  Nova  Scotia  and  the  northern 
parts  of  New  Brunswick ;  the  Etchemins,  or  Eteminquois,  who  dwelt  more  to  the 
south  in  the  basin  of  the  St.  John  Biver,  and  who  ranged  at  one  time  as  far  as 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  opposite  the  Quebec  headland  ;  lastly,  the  Melicites 
(Milicites),  who  now  occupy  a  few  reserves  on  the  south  frontier  of  New  Brunswick, 
but  who  are  more  numerous  in  the  contiguous  state  of  Maine.  Their  Protestant 
neighbours,  the  New  England  Puritans,  call  them  "  Amalekites,"  in  allusion 
to  the  accursed  race  whom  the  children  of  Israel  were  called  upon  to  exter- 
minate. 

The  original  language  of  the  Mic-Macs,  which  they  still  speak,  is  said  to 
contain  a  certain  number  of  words  resembling  synonymous  roots  in  the  European 
languages,  a  phenomenon  regarded  by  certain  writers  as  an  indication  of  a  long 
sojourn  of  the  Scandinavians  in  the  country.*  Both  the  Mic-Macs  and  Etchemins 
have  also  borrowed  a  number  of  expressions  from  the  early  French  settlers,  with 
whom  they  always  lived  on  a  friendly  footing. 

These  Algonquins  are  no  longer  full-blood  Indians,  all  their  groups  having 

Dawson,  Acadian  Geology;  C'h.  ti.  Leland,  Algonquin  Legends  of  New  England. 


INHABITANTS  uF  THE  MARITIME  PBOVIX<  !ES.  353 

been  crossed  with  the  French,  Scotch,  and  English  settlers  established  in  the 
country  for  over  three  hundred  years.  Nevertheless  it  is  impossible  to  confound 
any  of  them  with  their  European  neighbours.  Their  racial  characters  have  been 
hut  slightly  modified,  and  all  are  still  distinguished  by  their  thickset  figures, 
large  nose,  thick  lips,  large  mouth,  prominent  cheekbones,  small  eyes,  smooth  or 
lank  black  hair.  Leith  Adams  considers  that  they  resemble  the  Eskirho  more 
closely  than  they  do  the  ordinary  Red-skins.  The  majority  age  prematurely,  and 
more  than  half  of  the  children  perish  a  few  days  after  birth,  or  during  the  teething 
period.  Consumption,  which  is  very  prevalent  amongst  the  white  inhabitants  of 
the  Maritime  Provinces,  commits  great  havoc  amongst  the  natives. 

Yery  few  of  these  Indians  cultivate  the  plots  round  about  their  cabins ;  most 
of  them  still  prefer  fishing  and  hunting,  occupying  their  spare  time  in  building- 
canoes,  in  basket-work,  or  embroidering  mocassins.  According  to  the  early 
missionaries  their  ancestors  had  no  cult,  and  practised  no  religious  ceremonies  of 
any  kind  ;  at  present  they  pass  for  Roman  Catholics. 


The  European  Settlers — The  Acadiaxs. 

It  was  on  an  island  in  the  St.  Croix  estuary,  within  the  Etchemin  territory, 
that  the  first  French  settlement  was  founded  by  de  Monts.  But  half  of  the 
colonists  having  been  carried  off  by  the  terrible  "  land  sickness,"  this  fatal  spot 
had  to  be  abandoned  for  Port  Royal,  a  more  favourably  situated  station  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  From  this  point  the  colonisation,  frequently 
interrupted  by  wars,  spread  slowly  along  the  neighbouring  coastlands. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  hundred  years  after  the  founda- 
tion of  Port  Royal,  the  whole  of  the  white  population  in  French  Acadia,  that  is, 
in  the  maritime  region  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  numbered  not  more  than 
1,300  or  1,400;  in  1713  they  had  increased  to  2,100,  the  great  majority  from 
Xormandy  and  Perche.*  This  vigorous  population  of  peasantry  and  fishers  con- 
tinued to  grow  by  the  natural  excess  of  births  over  deaths,  and  towards  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  their  numbers  had  been  multiplied  sixfold. 

In  virtue  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  Acadia  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain ;  but  the 
French  colonists  having  been  recognised  as  "  neutrals,"  the  oath  of  allegiance 
required  by  the  British  Government  guaranteed  to  them  the  privilege  of  never 
being  called  upon  to  take  up  arms  either  against  their  former  fellow- citizens,  or 
against  their  "  brothers,"  the  Indians.  According  as  they  increased  in  numbers, 
or  enlarged  the  area  of  their  cultivated  lands,  they  seemed,  if  not  dangerous,  at 
least  inconvenient  neighbours  for  the  British  settlers.  Troubles  arose  on  the 
borders,  followed  by  complaints  and  charges  of  high  treason, t  and  increasingly 

'   Benjamin  Suite,  Sistoire  des  Canadiens  franfais. 

t  The  general  charge  was  that  they  had  forfeited  their  neutrality,  and  as  British  subjects  had  been 
guilty  of  treason  by  furnishing  the  French  and  hostile  Indians  with  information,  besides  supplying 
them  with  provisions  and  places  of  refuge.  The  chief  specific  charge  was  that  as  many  as  three  hundred 
of  these  Acadians  had  been  actually  found  in  arms  assisting  the  Canadians  at  Fort  Beau-Sejour  when 


354 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


exacting  demands  for  the  expulsion  of  the  French  settlers  and  the  confiscation  of 
their  lands. 

At  last,  measures  of  spoliation  were  decided  upon,  without  awaiting  instructions 
from  the  British  Government,  which  was  opposed  to  such  proceedings,  and  which, 
on  the  contrary,  advised  that "  the  Acadians  should  be  left  in  the  peaceful  possession 
of  their  villages  and  fields."*  In  1755,  Lawrence,  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  invited 
all  the  French  settlers,  young  and  old,  to  assemble  in  the  churches,  where  a  royal 


Fig.  154. — Mines  Basin  and  Land  of  the  Acadians. 
Scale  1  :  2,500.000. 


64°40' 


West   of  Greenwich 


63°40' 


30  Miles. 


decree  would  be  communicated  to  them.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  presented  them- 
selves unarmed,  and  without  suspicion,  at  the  indicated  places,  where  they  learnt 
to  their  amazement  that  "  their  lands,  their  houses,  their  cattle,  their  flocks,  were 
confiscated  by  the  Crown,"  that  they  themselves  were  condemned  to  transportation, 
but  that  the  king  "  in  his  great  goodness,"  hoped  "  always  to  find  them  loyal 
subjects  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  their  lot  might  be  cast." 

The   Acadians,   already  prisoners  of   the  king,  vainly  attempted  to   escape  ; 
vessels  presently  arrived  from  Boston,  and  the  unhappy  colonists  were  driven  in 

that  place  was  captured  by  the  English.  But  whether  these  charges  were  well  founded  or  not  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  ill-fated  Acadians  were  treated  with  unnecessary  harshness  and  cruelty. 
Many  were  certainly  innocent,  and  some,  such  as  Rene  Leblanc,  the  Notary  Public  mentioned  in  Long- 
fellow's Evangeline,  had  even  proved  their  loyalty  to  the  British  Government  at  the  risk  of  their  own 
lives  and  liberties  ;  yet  all  alike  were  involved  in  the  general  ruin. — Ed. 

*  Rameau  de   Saint-Pere,    Une    Colonic  Feodale  en  Amirique ;    Casgrain,    Un   Pilerihage    nit   pays 
d' Evangeline. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  MARITIME  PROVINCES.  355 

batches  to  the  landing-stages.  Despite  the  solemn  promises  of  the  governor, 
several  families  were  broken  up ;  the  "  grand  derangement,"  as  the  Acadians 
called  this  enforced  exodus,  was  accompanied  by  outrage  and  murder,  and  at  the 
very  moment  of  embarking,  the  exiles  beheld  the  terrible  spectacle  of  the  raging 
fires  devouring  their  houses  and  farmsteads. 

According  to  the  official  registers  sent  to  the  Government,  the  exiles  numbered 
altogether  about  6,300  ;  but  Haliburton's  estimate  is  nearly  8,000,  without  reckon- 
ing the  hundreds  said  to  have  been  killed,  or  to  have  died  of  cold  and  exhaustion 
in  the  forests,  swamps,  and  marine  inlets.  More  than  half  of  the  Acadian  popu- 
lation, estimated  at  14,000,  and  by  Rameau  at  16,000,  disappeared  during  the 
terrible  year ;  the  survivors,  thanks  to  the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  found  a 
precarious  refuge  in  the  more  inaccessible  districts  of  the  interior. 

The  great  majority  were  distributed  almost  indiscriminately  amongst  the 
different  English  colonies  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  but  they  were  received  with 
sympathy  in  Maryland  alone,  whose  inhabitants  professed  the  same  faith.  Famine 
and  smallpox  carried  off  hundreds,  and  the  stations  along  the  routes  were  marked 
by  the  remains  of  the  dead.  In  many  places  they  were  refused  work  on  the 
farms,  or  else  they  were  offered  employment  on  the  condition  of  being  re-baptized 
as  Protestants,  or  surrendering  their  children  to  the  shepherds.*  A  large  number 
were  transported  a  second  time,  some  to  the  West  Indies,  others  as  far  as  British 
Guiana.  As  many  as  1,500  were  brought  to  England,  where  they  were  allowed 
to  perish  in  the  worst  slums  of  Liverpool,  Bristol,  or  Southampton.  The  survi- 
vors were  at  last  restored  to  the  mother  country,  many  being  removed  to  Poitou, 
Berry,  and  especially  Belle-Ile-en-Mer,  where  some  of  their  descendants  are  still 
found. 

A  few  families  were  also  fortunate  enough  to  reach  France  direct  from  Acadia. 
But  the  largest  group,  destined  later  to  constitute  a  separate  colony,  found  their 
way  to  Louisiana,  drifting  in  a  flotilla  of  boats  down  the  current  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi.  They  numbered  about  500,  and  in  their  new  homes  they  gradually 
increased,  thanks  to  the  arrival  of  fresh  refugees  coming  from  St.  Domingo  and 
other  West  Indian  islands.  Even  now,  a  certain  number  of  these  "  Canadian  " 
families  still  keep  aloof  from  the  bulk  of  the  Louisiana  "  Creoles "  of  French 
origin.  Various  "  Cadies,"  or  Acadian  communities,  were  also  founded  near 
Quebec  and  in  other  Canadian  villages.  Lastly,  a  number  of  the  Acadian  sea- 
farers, having  no  other  resource,  took  to  piracy,  infesting  the  British  settlements 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  capturing  vessels  and  plundering  unprotected  settle- 
ments. 

In  1759,  after  the  fall  of  Quebec  and  the  submission  of  the  Canadians  to 
English  rule,  the  Nova  Scotian  authorities,  being  now  at  peace  with  France,  and 
having  no  longer  any  pretext  for  preventing  the  return  of  the  Acadians,  allowed 
the  exiles  to  come  back  in  hundreds.     In  some  instances  the  members  of  scattered 

*  It  should,  however,  he  stated,  in  justice  to  the  New  Englanders,  that  many  of  the  exiles  "became 
a  burden  to  the  public,  owing,  in  a  great  degree,  to  the  invincible  repugnance  which  they  felt  in  accepting 
the  usual  charitable,  though  humiliating,  establishment  of  paupers  for  their  children." — (Minot.) 


356 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


families  again  became  united  after  years  of  separation  ;  but  they  sought  in  vain  to 
resume  possession  of  the  lands  they  had  brought  under  cultivation  ;  their  farms 
had  all  passed  into  the  hands  of  others.  They  were  obliged  to  wander  from  place 
to  place,  and  settle  on  new  lands,  without,  however,  being  able  to  obtain  regular 
titles.  Scarcely  had  they  cleared  the  ground  when  it  was  granted  to  English  or 
Scotch  colonists,  and  the  Acadians  were  thus  driven  again  into  exile,  or  else  to 
take  service  as  hirelings  on  the  lands  of  strangers.  Their  social  position  remained 
unsettled,  their  very  existence  scarcely  tolerated  till  after  the  American   War  of 


Fig.  155.— Inhabitants  of  East  Canada. 
Scale  1  :  1S,000,UOO. 


West   of"    breenvvicK 


Canadians 


English  and 
Americans. 


Germans. 
.  310  Males. 


CD 

Desert. 


Independence,  when  British  supremacy  in  Canada  seemed  to  be  seriously  endan- 
gered. Even  then  the  Acadians  were  refused  the  right  of  establishing  compact 
colonies  ;  each  of  their  settlements  had  to  be  isolated  between  two  Protestant 
estates,  and  none  of  the  returned  exiles  were  permitted  to  settle  on  the  sea-coast. 
At  last,  by  the  abolition  of  the  oath  of  allegiance,  in  1827,  they  were  entirely 
assimilated  to  the  other  citizens,  and  declared  eligible  for  public  functions. 

But  notwithstanding  several  generations  of  oppression,  the  French  Acadians, 
who  seemed  more  than  once  on  the  point  of  being  exterminated,  had  never  ceased 
to  multiply.  During  the  hundred  3rears,  from  1785  to  1885,  the  Acadian  popula- 
tion doubled  itself  once  every  twenty-seven  years,  and  in   1881    the   Maritime 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  MABJTTMi:  PE07INCES.  357 

Provinces  contained  altogether  a  French  population  of  108,605  ;  at  present  they 
must  number  about  130,000,  or  one-seventh  of  all  the  inhabitants.  All  immigrants, 
however,  are  of  English,  German,  or  Scandinavian  speech,  and  there  is  also  a 
considerable  movement  of  emigration  towards  the  United  States.  But  nearly  all 
the  English-speaking  emigrants  from  the  Maritime  Provinces  settle  permanently 
abroad,  whereas  the  Acadians,  who  seek  employment  in  the  quarries,  brickfields, 
and  fisheries  of  New  England,  generally  return  every  season  to  Canadian  territory. 

Thus  it  happens  that  the  annual  progress  of  the  Acadians  is  more  rapid  than 
that  of  the  other  ethnical  elements  of  the  country.  Should  the  present  birth-rate 
be  maintained  in  the  French  families,  they  will  eventually  constitute  the  majoritv 
in  several  districts,  and  resume  the  political  and  social  influence  of  which  they 
were  violently  deprived  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

Nearly  everywhere  the  Acadians  reside  in  separate  enclaves,  isolated  from  the 
rest  of  the  population.  Thus,  in  Prince  Edward  Island,  they  are  concentrated 
chiefly  in  the  north-west  extremity  of  the  land ;  in  Nova  Scotia  they  occupy  the 
south-western  districts  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Bay  of  Fundy  ; 
their  villages  also  skirt  both  sides  of  the  Canso  Channel,  and  Madame  Island  at 
its  southern  entrance  is  in  their  exclusive  possession.  In  New  Brunswick,  where 
they  are  relatively  still  more  numerous,  they  constitute  one-fifth  of  the  entire 
population.  Here  their  colonies  are  dotted  round  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Chaleur 
and  of  Miramichi  Bay,  and  farther  south  on  the  coast  of  Northumberland  Strait. 
Lastly,  they  inhabit  all  the  north-western  part  of  the  country  bordering  on  the 
province  of  Quebec.  The  territory  of  Madawaska,  that  is  to  say,  both  the  Canadian 
and  American  sides  of  the  upper  St.  John  valley,  already  belongs  to  the  Acadians, 
descendants  of  those  who  took  refuge  in  the  unknown  forests  of  the  interior 
during  the  terrible  days  of  the  enforced  exodus. 

The  northern  frontier  of  New  Brunswick  is  the  only  part  of  the  Maritime  Pro- 
vinces where  the  Acadians  come  in  contact  with  their  Canadian  kinsmen.  But,  strange 
to  say,  although  both  are  equally  of  French  origin  and  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  the  two  sections  do  not  regard  themselves  as  altogether  forming  a 
single  nationality.  Having  dwelt  apart,  separated  by  vast  distances  and  subjected 
to  different  historical  vicissitudes,  they  have  developed  other  traditions  and  other 
usages.  Their  patron  saints  are  different,  as  are  also  their  national  feasts.  The 
Canadians,  being  more  wealthy  and  more  highly  cultured,  readily  fancy  themselves 
sprung  of  a  nobler  stock,  while  the  Acadians,  on  their  part,  reproach  their  Quebec 
fellow-countrymen  with  having  sacrificed  the  interests  of  the  weak  to  those  of  the 
strong  in  the  council-chambers  of  the  Dominion.  Nevertheless,  both  branches  have 
already  met  together  in  friendly  congress  on  various  occasions. 

The   English-speaking  Settlers. 

In  the  Maritime  Provinces,  the  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  settlers,  whether 
natives  of  the  British  Isles  or  born  in  the  country,  are  represented  in  nearly 
equal  proportions,  the  first  two  numbering  about   220,000  each,  the  third  some- 


35R  NORTH  AMERICA. 

what  less  than  200,000.  In  New  Brunswick  the  ethnical  preponderance  belongs 
to  the  Irish,  while  the  term  Nova  Scotia  is  justified  by  the  numerical  ascendancy  of 
the  Scotch  in  that  region.  The  Scotch  are  also  in  a  majority  in  Prince  Edward 
Island.  Nevertheless  the  gradual  fusion  of  all  these  British  communities  naturally 
redounds  to  the  advantage  of  those  who  have  given  their  language  and  institutions 
to  the  country.  Kelts  or  Anglo-Saxons,  all  call  themselves  English ;  even  the 
Germans,  descendants  of  settlers  introduced  during  the  last  century,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  domiciled  on  the  Atlantic  shores  of  Nova  Scotia  south-west  of  Halifax, 
have  already  been  Anglicised.  Amongst  them,  however,  were  included  a  large 
number  of  Dutch  and  even  of  French-speaking  Swiss,  and  French  names  are  by 
no  means  rare  amongst  families  originally  classed  as  Germans.  On  the  other  hand 
there  still  exists  a  certain  proportion  of  Scotch  Highlanders,  who  speak  the  Gaelic 
language  at  least  in  the  family  circle.  Thus,  in  the  New  World,  there  survive 
separate  communities  of  this  language,  which  has  already  been  reduced  to  such 
narrow  limits  in  the  Old  World.  These  Gaelic-speaking  groups  are  found  chiefly 
in  the  interior  of  Cape  Breton  and  in  the  central  and  hilly  parts  of  Nova  Scotia. 
Everywhere  they  live  on  excellent  terms  with  their  Acadian  neighbour's,  also 
jealous  guardians  of  their  national  speech.  To  these  linguistic  enclaves  must  also 
be  added  a  few  groups  of  Icelanders,  who  have  in  recent  years  settled  in  Nova 
Scotia  with  varying  success. 

Hitherto  immigration  has  been  slight,  so  that  the  growth  of  the  population  in 
the  Maritime  Provinces  is  due  almost  entirely  to  the  excess  of  births  over  the 
mortality.  But  this  excess  is  itself  slight,  and,  in  several  districts,  scarcely  causes 
any  perceptible  increase,  a  phenomenon  which  may  perhaps  be  connected  with  the 
prevalence  of  certain  grave  maladies.  Thus  leprosy  makes  terrible  ravages 
amongst  the  New  Brunswick  Acadians,  great  eaters  of  fish,  who,  for  several 
generations,  have  in  no  respect  modified  their  habits,  migrating  little  and  neglect- 
ing to  renovate  their  blood  by  alliances  with  strangers.  Amongst  the  English 
and  Scotch  inhabitants  of  Halifax,  also,'mental  disorders  are  very  prevalent,  most 
families  at  least  having  one  of  its  members  affected  by  some  form  of  insanity. 
Phthisis,  pneumonia  and  diphtheria  make  great  ravages  in  the  eastern  provinces 
of  the  Dominion,  and  in  Nova  Scotia  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  whole  mortality  is 
attributed  to  consumption  ;  the  proportion  per  thousand  rises  from  138  in  the 
province  of  Quebec  to  226  in  New  Brunswick,  and  '.241  in  Nova  Scotia  In  the 
citadel  of  Halifax  three  out  of  every  ten  deaths  in  the  English  garrison  are  referred 
to  some  form  of  chest  disease. 

The  blacks,  descendants  of  runaway  or  emancipated  slaves  removed  by  the 
British  Government  to  Nova  Scotia,  also  suffer  much  from  the  same  class  of 
diseases.  Nevertheless,  these  Africans,  notwithstanding  the  asperity  of  this 
northern  climate  with  its  keen  winds,  fogs,  and  storms,  have  become  acclimatised. 
During  the  ten  years  from  1871  to  1881  their  numbers  were  increased  in  the 
normal  way  from  a  little  over  6,200  to  more  than  7,000.  The  rapid  increase  of 
families  and  the  numerous  cases  of  longevity  sufficiently  attest  the  general 
salubrity  of  the  climate. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  MARITIME  PROVINCES.  859 

With  regard  to  longevity,  of  which  subject  Mr.  E.  B.  Biggar  has  made  a 
special  study,  it  would  appear  that  an  unusually  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitant 
of  the  Maritime  Provinces  are  found  to  be  octogenarians,  while  nonagenarians  and 
even  centenarians  are  relatively  numerous.  In  a  total  population  of  about  870,000 
the  census  of  1881  returned  nearly  7,000  as  over  eighty  years  of  age — 3,853  in 
Nova  Scotia,  3,227  in  New  Brunswick,  and  883  in  Cape  Breton ;  according  to  the 
same  census  there  were  44  then  living  over  a  hundred  years  old,  that  is  24, 
12  and  8  in  the  three  provinces  respectively.  A  list  is  given  of  26  inhabitants 
of  Nova  Scotia  whose  ages  are  stated  to  range  from  100  to  117.  Many  of  these 
are  still  living,  but  the  figures  do  not  appear  to  be  in  all  cases  absolutely  trust- 
worthy. A  corresponding  list  for  New  Brunswick  contains  the  names  of  22 
centenarians,  some  of  whom  are  said  to  be  108,  109,  and  even  110  years  old. 
But  without  attaching  too  much  importance  to  these  statements,  it  may  be  safely 
concluded  that  both  the  British  and  French  races  thrive  well  in  the  Maritime 
Provinces,  where  they  are  now  thoroughly  acclimatised  and  nowhere  betray  any 
physical  deterioration  in  their  transatlantic  homes.  They  are  in  every  respect  as 
robust,  as  vigorous  and  long-lived  as  the  parent  stocks,  and  the  Acadians  seem 
on  the  whole  to  be  even  a  stronger  and  more  healthy  people  than  their  French 
progenitors. 

Topography  of  New  Brunswick. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  Bay  of  Chaleur  New  Brunswick  possesses  no  centres 
of  population  beyond  a  few  fishing-ports,  such  as  Dalhousie,  Bathurst,  and  Gara- 
quct.  Fisheries  and  oyster-beds  are  found  in  the  waters  of  Shippegan,  a  triangular 
island  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a  winding  channel  which  forms  an  excel- 
lent harbour,  or  rather  a  group  of  harbours,  and  which  has  been  proposed  as  a 
port  of  call  for  the  transatlantic  liners.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Shippegan,  on 
an  inlet  or  lagoon  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  sandy  spit,  stands  the  little  Acadian 
village  of  Tracadie,  well  known  for  its  lazaretto  or  leper  establishment.  The 
malady  is  said  by  some  to  have  been  introduced  by  some  mariners  from  the  Levant 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  but  others  attribute  it  to  consanguineous  marriages, 
which  are  very  numerous  both  in  this  district  and  on  other  parts  of  the  coast.  The 
scourge  may  also  perhaps  be  partly  due,  as  in  Norway,  to  a  diet  composed  too 
exclusively  of  fish.  However,  it  appears  to  be  gradually  disappearing.  In  1889, 
the  hospital  contained  only  twenty-three  patients  suffering  from  leprosy,  and  of 
these  four  came  from  Cape  Breton.* 

Miramichi  Bay,  which  lies  farther  south  on  the  east  coast  of  New  Brunswick, 
has  often  proved  false  to  its  name,  which  is  explained  to  mean  "  happy  retreat." 
The  French  colonies  here  founded  in  the  seventeenth  century  were  successively 
destroyed  by  the  English,  and  on  many  occasions  the  settlers  seeking  lefuge  in  the 
woods  perished  of  hunger.  In  the  year  1760  the  district  was  completely  wasted, 
not  a  single  white  cabin  escaping.     In  1775  a  few  Scotch  colonists  arrived ;  but 

*   Monti  cU  Star,  September  12,  18S9. 


360  NORTH  AMEBICA. 

thev  were  in  their  turn  attacked  and  plundered  by  the"Bostonians."  At  last,  the 
peaceful  colonisation  of  the  country  was  begun  after  the  war  of  American  Inde- 
pendence, when  a  part}'  of  loyalists,  emigrating  from  the  United  States,  settled  on 
the  banks  of  the  Miramichi,  and  developed  a  timber  trade  with  England. 

Chatham,  standing  at  the  head  of  the  Miramichi  estuary,  is  one  of  the  busiest 
sea-ports  along  the  east  coast;  its  deep-sea  shipping  amounted,  in  1887,  to  over 
112,000  tons. 

Richibucto  Buy,  a  little  farther  south  on  the  same  coast,  lies  opposite  the 
western  extremity  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  forming  a  considerable  centre  for  the 
export  of  timber  and  for  shipbuilding.  It  is  now  chiefly  frequented  as  a  watering- 
place.  Still  farther  south  are  scattered  the  Acadian  villages  of  Buctouche,  les 
Cocagnes,  Bourgeois,  Grandigue,  Shediac  or  Gedaique,  Pointc-du-Chene,  and  Bara- 
chois.  The  chief  station  for  the  local  communications  with  Prince  Edward  Island 
is  at  Pointe-du-Chene,  but  it  is  expected  that  before  long  the  passage  between  the 
island  and  the  mainland  will  be  shifted  farther  east  to  the  narrows  of  Northum- 
berland Strait.  At  this  point  two  headlands  project  towards  each  other,  leav- 
ing an  intervening  channel  of  not  more  than  nine  or  ten  miles.  In  winter,  this 
channel  is  frozen  or  blocked  by  ice,  which  the  steamers  armed  with  spurs  often 
find  it  difficult  to  break  through.  It  is  accordingly  proposed  to  construct  a  tunnel 
under  Northumberland  Strait  somewhere  between  the  two  headlands.  When  the 
dominion  was  created  by  the  union  of  the  various  provinces,  mutual  engagements 
were  made  to  develop  the  communications  between  the  several  confederate  states, 
and  the  promoters  of  this  scheme  build  their  hopes  of  success  on  such  pledges.  As 
Vancouver  insists  on  the  extension  of  the  Pacific  Bailwaj'  across  the  Juan  de  Fuca 
Strait  to  its  capital,  so  the  Prince  Edward  Islanders  want  their  ten-mile  tunnel  to 
connect  them  with  the  rest  of  the  confederacy. 

To  this  stupendous  undertaking,  far  superior  to  that  of  the  Severn  Tunnel 
lately  completed  in  England,  corresponds  another  daring  project  in  the  same 
region,  that  is,  the  construction  of  a  navigable  canal  across  the  isthmus  connecting 
New  Brunswick  with  Nova  Scotia.  The  tremendous  tides  of  Chignecto  Bay 
— northern  extremity  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  —  penetrate  into  this  isthmus  to 
within  1G  miles  of  Verte  Bay,  a  lateral  inlet  on  Northumberland  Strait ;  but  to 
pass  from  one  harbour  to  the  other  vessels  have  to  traverse  a  distance  of  about  880 
miles,  all  the  way  round  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton,  across  seas  whose  naviga- 
tion is  endangered  by  strong  tidal  currents,  dense  fogs,  reefs,  and  sand-banks. 
Hence  the  cutting  of  a  ship  canal  between  the  two  inlets  naturally  suggested  itself 
all  the  more  that  the  moderately  elevated  isthmus  itself  might  be  pierced  without 
an}-  great  engineering  works.  But  the  difference  presented  on  both  sides  by  the 
action  of  the  tidal  waves  might  create  special  difficulties  which  the  engineers 
themselves  are  not  confident  of  being  able  to  overcome.  Hence  it  has  been  pro- 
posed to  replace  the  canal  by  a  ship  railway. 

The  works  were  actually  begun  in  1883  at  Fort  Lawrence  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
side,  where  the  contractors  have  already  completed  the  channel  giving  access  to  the 
isthmus,  besides  constructing  the  protecting  embankments  and  preparing  thefoun- 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   THE  MARITIME   PROVINCES. 


361 


dations  of  the  elevator.  This  apparatus  is  calculated  to  raise  a  weight  of  2,000 
tons,  although  it  is  not  contemplated  to  transport  vessels  of  more  than  1,000  tons 
burden  from  bay  to  bay.  Such  a  project  was  originally  proposed  by  Mr.  Eads 
for  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Should  it  be  successfully  carried  out  at  the  Isthmus  of  Chignecto,  it 
will  certainly  mark  a  new  departure  in  the  development  of  local  and  inter- 
national communications.  On  its  success  or  failure  are  already  dependent  several 
analogous  schemes  for  other  isthmuses,  the  excavation  of  which  has  resisted  all 
the  skill  and  resources  of  modern  mechanical  science.     History  itself  offers  nume- 


Kg.  156.— Isthmus  of  Chignecto. 
Scale  1  :  700,000. 


12  Miles. 


rous  examples  of  similar  enterprises  which  have  been  brought  to  a  triumphant 
issue.  Thus  vessels  of  over  200  tons  burden  were  carried  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Corinth  by  the  dioclos  of  the  Athenians,  while  the  far  more  daring  Venetian 
engineer,  Sorbolo,  transported  a  whole  fleet,  comprising  vessels  of  o"00  tons,  from 
the  Adige  over  a  hilly  isthmus  down  to  Lake  Garda.* 

Owing  to  the  high  tides  the  rivers  flowing  into  Chignecto  Bay  are  alternately 
broad  estuaries  and  alluvial  tracts  traversed  by  meandering  rivulets.  The  Tan- 
tramar,  in  French-Acadian  Tintamare,  is  so  named  from  the  bore  which  ascends 
it  far  inland,  and  which  appears  to  have  formerly  penetrated  even  much  farther 
into  the  interior  ;   hence  the  extensive  meadow-lands,  which  form  an  inland  pro- 


vol.  xv. 


*  Ketchum,  Chignecto  Marine  Transport  Railway. 
B  B 


362  NOETH  AMERICA. 

longation  of  the  estuary  and  surrounding  swamps.  A  still  larger  estuary  is  that 
of  the  Petitcodiac,  where  the  tides  are  said  to  rise  65  or  66  feet  over  30  miles 
from  its  mouth. 

According  to  some  authorities  the  tides  of  the  Petitcodiac  estuary  are  by  far  the 
highest  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  rising  not  merely  to  50  or  60,  but  even  to  120 
feet.  They  are  also  said  to  be  accompanied  by  a  tremendous  bore,  which  may  be 
seen  rushing  with  a  terrific  roar  some  30  miles  up  the  estuary.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  witnessing  this  extraordinary  phenomenon,  or  verifying  its  existence, 
Mr.  Stuart  Cumberland  lately  visited  the  district,  and  was  greatly  disappointed  at 
the  result.  "  The  tide  duly  came,"  he  writes,  "  with  its  much  vaunted  bore,  but  I 
confess  to  having  been  badly  treated  and  altogether  swindled  by  it ;  for,  instead 
of  having  a  rise  of  half  the  talked-of  120  feet,  its  height  scarcely  exceeded  six 
feet."  *  Anyhow  the  Petitcodiac,  or  at  least  its  estuary,  is  navigable  for  25 
miles  by  vessels  of  the  largest  size,  while  ships  of  from  60  to  100  tons  can 
ascend  it  as  far  as  Moncton. 

The  town  of  Moncton,  situated  at  the  north-eastern  extremity  of  the  Petitcodiac 
estuary,  has  become  the  capital  of  the  isthmus  ;  it  is  the  converging-point  of 
several  railways,  and  here  are  manufactured  large  numbers  of  locomotives,  car- 
riages, and  other  rolling  stock.  The  first  inhabitants  of  this  busy  industrial  and 
commercial  centre  were  Pennsylvanian  Germans  who  had  remained  loyal  to  Eng- 
land, and  were  removed  here  after  the  War  of  Independence.  The  neighbouring 
coal-mines  have  already  been  exhausted ;  but  the  stone-quarries  are  worked  to 
supply  building  materials  for  Boston  and  New  York.  The  marshy  and  saline 
coastlands  supply  vast  quantities  of  fodder  for  the  cattle  exported  in  great  numbers 
to  England.  Sportsmen  are  also  attracted  to  the  neighbourhood  by  the  enormous 
flocks  of  aquatic  birds  frequenting  the  surrounding  swamps  and  quagmires. 

East  and  south-east  of  Moncton  the  land  has  been  occupied  by  Acadian 
settlers.  Around  the  village  of  Memrawcook,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the 
metropolis  of  French  Acadia,  some  of  the  colonists  exiled  in  1755  recovered  their 
farms  and  were  allowed  to  resume  possession  of  their  ancestral  lands.  The  tracts 
flooded  by  the  destruction  of  the  dykes  have  been  again  embanked  and  reclaimed 
for  cultivation.  In  the  district  are  still  seen  the  ruins  of  the  forts  which  were 
the  scene  of  many  a  struggle  between  the  French  and  English  during  the  border 
warfare.  The  College  of  Memramcook  is  one  of  the  most  famous  Catholic 
establishments  in  North  America. 

St.  John,  the  most  important  Canadian  port  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  takes  its 
name  from  the  great  river  of  New  Brunswick.  In  its  upper  course  the  river 
traverses  a  territory  inhabited  by  French  populations.  The  villages  of  St.  Bazil 
and  Edmunston  are  inhabited  by  the  descendants  of  the  Acadians  expelled  from 
Nova  Scotia,  and,  thanks  to  the  railway,  they  now  find  themselves  reunited  with 
their  Canadian  kindred  of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  from  whom  they  were  formerly 
separated  by  the  intervening  forests. 

The  town  which  has  sprung  up  in  the  vicinity  of  the   Grand  Falls,  and  which 

*  The  Queen's  Highway,  p.  400. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   THE   MARITIME  PROVINCES. 


363 


is  so  named,  is  also  partly  inhabited  by  Acadians,  with  whom  are  now  associated 
some  immigrants  from  Scandinavia.     Lower  down  the  other  towns  along  the  banks 


a 
o 

1-5 


IS 


m 
! 


6C 


of  the  St.  John  were  founded  by  French  settlers,  who,  during  the  last  century, 
had  to  give  place  to  the   "  Bostonian  "  conquerors,  and  later   to  the   American 

UB  2 


3G4 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


"  loyalists,"  whose  fidelity  was  rewarded  by  the  British  Government  putting  them 
in  possession  of  other  people's  estates. 

Woodstock  is  surrounded  by  the  most  fertile  lands  and  finest  orchards  in  the 
St.  John  Valley.    It  lies  65  miles  above  Fredericton  near  the  point  where  the  river 


Fig.  158. — St.  John. 
Scale  1  :  70,000. 


66°S' West  oF   Greenwich 


66°3'  ■ 


Depths. 


Sands  and  reefs 

exposed  at  low 

water. 

0to32 
Feet. 

32  to  160 
Feet. 

1G0  Feet  and 
upwards. 

begins  to  trend  round  from  the  south  to  the  south-east.  Fredericton,  capital  of  New 
Brunswick,  is  the  scat  of  the  provincial  university,  and  the  handsomest  and  best- 
built  city  in  the  state.  Besides  the  university  it  is  adorned  by  a  fine  Anglican 
cathedral,  a  Government  House,  a  city  hall,  court-house,  and  some  other  more  or 


TOPOGRAPHY   OP   THE   MARITIME   PROVINCES.  365 

less  imposing  public  buildings.  Fredericton  lies  84  miles  by  water  from  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  and  the  river,  here  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  is  navigable  to  this 
point  for  vessels  of  120  tons. 

Although  inferior  in  rank  to  the  capital,  St.  John  greatly  surpasses  it  in  popu- 
lation, commercial  activity  and  wealth.  It  was  also  the  site  of  a  French  colony, 
and  the  roadstead  was  visited  in  1604  by  Champlain,  who  gave  their  names  to  the 
headland  and  river.  Thirty  years  later  Claude  de  la  Tour  bere  established  a 
factory  for  the  barter  of  peltries  with  the  Indians.  But  constant  surprises, 
attacks,  bombardments,  and  fires  prevented  the  place  from  developing,  and  it 
acquired  no  importance  till  the  return  of  peace,  and  especially  after  the  year 
1783,  when  a  British  fleet  here  landed  5,000  loyalist  emigrants  from  the  United 
States.  In  1877  a  great  part  of  the  city  was  swept  away  by  a  conflagration,  but  it 
soon  rose  fairer  than  ever  from  its  ashes.  A  successful  rival  of  Halifax,  where 
trade  is  hampered  by  the  naval  station,  St.  John  has  become  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  seaports  in  the  Dominion,  and  already  takes  the  fourth  place  for  popu- 
lation, being  exceeded  in  this  respect  only  by  Montreal,  Quebec,  and  Toronto. 

The  heart  of  the  city  occupies  a  rocky  peninsula  between  the  old  and  new 
mouths  of  the  river.  The  streets  are  laid  out  like  a  chess-board,  intersecting  each 
other  at  right  angles,  despite  the  inequalities  of  the  ground,  which  had  in  many 
places  to  be  levelled  by  blasting  operations.  Formerly  the  highest  rising  ground 
of  the  peninsular  space  between  the  two  islets  served  as  a  citadel,  but  is  now  used 
as  a  convenient  place  for  games  of  strength  and  skill.  Towards  the  roadstead  the 
ground  is  occupied  by  wharfs,  slips,  and  landing-stages  for  the  steam  ferry-boats 
plying  between  St.  John  and  the  basins  of  the  town  of  Carleton,  built  on  the  west 
side  of  the  estuary. 

A  valley  traversed  by  the  Intercolonial  trunk-line  separates  the  city  properly 
so  called  from  Portland  and  other  northern  suburbs,  all  of  which  are  now  comprised 
within  the  municipal  boundaries  of  St.  John.  Beyond  these  suburbs  stretch  the 
public  parks,  while  numerous  suburban  residences  are  scattered  over  the  neigh- 
bouring vales  and  round  the  margin  of  the  lakes. 

After  having  long  remained  stationary,  even  losing  a  part  of  its  population 
through  emigration  to  the  United  States,  St.  John  has  recovered  its  activity  and 
importance,  the  revival  of  trade  being  largely  due  to  the  development  of  the 
railway  system,  and  especially  to  the  trunk-line  now  connecting  this  seaport, 
through  Montreal  and  the  Sault  Sainte-Marie,  with  Minneapolis  and  the  other 
great  corn-markets  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  basin.  St.  John  enjoys  an  enormous 
advantage  over  Montreal  and  the  other  Laurentian  ports,  inasmuch  as  it  is  free 
from  ice  throughout  the  whole  year.  The  shipping  for  the  year  1888  comprised 
over  11,000  vessels  of  nearly  1,500,000  tons. 

At  the  extreme  south-eastern  angle  of  Canadian  territory  the  little  town  of 
St.  Andrews,  lying  on  a  long  peninsula  between  Passamaquoddy  Bay  and  the 
St.  Clair  River  east  and  west,  -aspires  to  become  a  future  rival  of  St.  John  ;  it  also 
claims  the  advantage  of  being  the  most  convenient  station  on  the  Atlantic  for  the 
navigation  between  Canada  and  Europe.     At  the  beginning  of  the  present  centurv 


366 


NOETH  AMERICA. 


it  carried  on  a  large  export  trade  in  timber  with.  England  and  the  West  Indies  ;  but 
in  consequence  of  certain  custom-house  regulations  the  seat  of  this  industry  was 
shifted,  and  St.  Andrews  fell  into  a  state   of   decay,  while  farther  north  the 


Fig.  159.— Passamaquoddy  Bay. 
Scale  1  :  1,000,000. 


67°aer 


West  or  Greenw'cn 


66"40- 


Depths. 


Oto  64 
Feet. 


64  Feet  and 
upwards. 

_  18  Miles. 


Canadian  town  of  St.  Stephen,  on  the  St.  Clair  Kiver,  rapidly  increased  in  trade 
and  population. 

Nevertheless   St.   Andrews   still   enjoys   the   advantage   it    derives  from   the 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF   THE  MARITIME    PROVINCES.  867 

picturesque  Passaniaquoddy  Bay,  with  its  numerous  isles  and  islets  and  encircling 
headlands  of  pink  granite.  At  the  entrance  lies  the  dangerous  group  of  reefs 
known  as  the  "  TVolves."  Another  island,  disposed  like  a  breakwater  over  against 
the  American  harbour  of  Eastport,  has  received  the  name  of  Campobello.  Farther 
seawards  rises  the  large  island  of  Grand  Manan,  which  is  encircled  by  red  cliffs 
and  clothed  with  timber.  Both  Grand  Manan  and  Campobello  are  visited  in 
summer  by  thousands  of  strangers,  mostly  from  Boston  and  other  Massachusetts 
towns,  some  invalids,  others  pleasure-seekers. 

Topography  of  Nova  Scotia. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  the  shores  of  Nova  Scotia,  which 
belonged  to  the  same  Acadia  as  New  Brunswick,  were  like  it  frequently  ravaged 
by  war,  the  Bostonian  Puritans  being  unable  to  tolerate  the  presence  of  French 
and  Indian  Roman  Catholics  in  their  neighbourhood.  The  town  of  Amherst, 
situated  on  the  Chignecto  isthmus,  stands  on  a  site  which  was  long  contested  by 
the  rival  French  and  British  settlers.  The  ruins  of  forts  are  still  shown  in  the 
surrounding  woods  and  prairies,  while  the  sanguinary  conflicts  that  here  took  place 
are  commemorated  in  such  local  names  as  that  of  Bloody  Bridge  still  borne  by  a 
bridge  crossing  a  neighbouring  creek.  At  present,  thanks  to  its  rich  meadow-lands, 
the  district  is  one  of  the  most  flourishing  in  Nova  Scotia.  All  the  lowlying 
coastlands  are  protected  by  levees  or  embankments  against  the  strong  tidal 
currents  ;  as  in  Holland  the  flocks  and  herds  may  be  seen  grazing  behind  these 
dykes  many  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

Analogous  to  the  position  of  Amherst  is  that  of  Truro  at  the  extremity  of  the 
large  branch  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  known  as  the  Cobequid  Bay.  It  is  now  occu- 
pied by  people  of  English  speech  although,  like  Amherst,  standing  on  the  site  of  an 
old  French  station.  In  this  region  not  a  single  Acadian  survives,  no  descendants 
of  the  exiled  race  having  returned,  as  they  have  in  other  districts.  The  plains 
where  they  were  most  numerous,  that  is,  round  the  southern  shores  of  the  Mines 
Basin,  have  also  lost  the  original  French  settlers,  who  had  transformed  the  whole 
country  to  a  smiling  garden. 

Eastwards  the  river  Avon,  formerly  called  the  Pisiquid,  or  "  Meeting  of  the 
"Waters,"  from  the  large  number  of  creeks  converging  in  its  valley,  forms  the 
frontier  of  this  rich  land  of  gardens,  orchards,  and  meadows.  The  district  is 
watered  by  the  Gaspereaux,  the  Riviere  aux  Canards,  the  Riviere  aux  Habitants, 
and  other  streams  which  have  for  the  most  part  preserved  their  French 
names. 

A  peninsula,  formerly  submerged  at  high  water,  but  now  protected  by  stout 
embankments,  which  had  been  begun  by  the  Acadian  settlers,  projects  seawards 
between  the  marine  channels.  This  is  the  famous  Grand-Pre,  the  grassy  plain 
which  formerly  gave  its  name  to  the  whole  district.  Now  it  is  much  better  known 
as  the  "  Land  of  Evangeline,"  for  there  is  scarcely  a  poem  more  universally 
popular  in  New  England  and  in   other  English-speaking  countries  than  that  in 


368  NOETH  ATSIEEICA. 

which  Longfellow  relates  the  painful  Odyssey  of  the  Acadian  exiles*  Towards  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  some  of  the  survivors  returned  to  their  homes 
thirty  or  forty  years  after  the  "  grand  derangement,"  they  found  their  holdings 
occupied  hy  a  new  generation  of  settlers  from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  England, 
and  Scotland,  t  They  had  consequently  to  wander  farther  afield  in  search  of  other 
still  unoccupied  lands. 

Grand-Pre  itself  has  not  been  chosen  as  the  site  of  any  towns  or  villages,  as 
if  the  present  possessors  feared  the  district  was  haunted  ;  but  the  lowlying  tracts 
are  fringed  with  a  dense  population.  In  this  district  the  chief  town  is  Windsor, 
which  stands  on  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Avon  estuary,  and  which  possesses  the 
most  famous  public  school  in  Nova  Scotia.  Large  quantities  of  gypsum  are  shipped 
for  the  United  States  at  all  the  landing-stages  of  the  Mines  Basin  ;  but  the  coal- 
pits and  gold-washings  from  which  this  branch  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  takes  its 
name  have  long  ceased  to  be  worked.  Parrsborough,  a  busy  little  trading-place, 
commands  the  northern  entrance  of  the  Mines  Basin. 

From  Windsor  and  Kentville,  the  twolargest  centres  of  urban  population  in  the 
land  of  Evangeline,  a  railway  leads  to  Annapolis  Royal,  the  Port  Royal  of  the 
French.  Goat  Island,  which  lies  in  the  narrow  marine  channel  at  Annapolis  Gut, 
the  old  "  Riviere  Dauphin,"  was  the  site  occupied  by  the  first  establishment  founded 
by  de  Monts  in  the  year  160L  In  the  vicinity  stand  the  modern  town  and  sea- 
port of  Digly. 

The  citadel  of  Annapolis,  which  often  changed  hands  during  the  Anglo-French 
wars,  is  still  standing,  and  has  been  reserved  as  Crown  property,  although  no 
English  garrison  has  been  stationed  here.  The  Acadians  of  the  surrounding 
district  had  also  to  forsake  their  villages  and  farmsteads  ;  but  thousands  of  the 
refugees  found  a  retreat  along  the  shores  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  in  the  south-west 
corner  of  Nova  Scotia.  Here  they  joined  the  Mic-Mac  Indians,  adopting  their 
language  and  forming  with  them  an  independent  little  theocratic  state,  which  was 
long  administered  by  a  Roman  Catholic  priest.  Their  descendants,  now  subject 
to  the  Anglo-Canadian  laws  and  living  almost  exclusively  on  fishing  and  agricul- 
ture, take  scarcely  any  part  in  the  general  industrial  activity  of  their  neighbours 
of  British  origin.     The  apples  raised  in  this  district  are  said  to  be  the  best  in 

*  In  reading  this  account  of  the  ' '  painful  Odyssey, ' '  however,  the  student  of  history  should  be  warned 
that  the  poet  has  obscured  the  true  facts  of  the  expulsion  "  beneath  a  glamour  of  romance  and  pathos." 
It  must  always  be  remembered  that  the  policy  at  that  time  adopted  was  rendered  absolutely  necessary 
by  political  considerations.  Quebec  had  not  yet  fallen,  and  there  seemed  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Acadians,  though  British  subjects,  were  directly  or  indirectly  aiding  their  Canadian  fellow- 
countrymen  in  prolonging  the  struggle  for  supremacy  on  the  North  American  continent.  "When  that 
struggle  was  decided  in  favour  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  by  the  capture  of  Quebec,  the  Acadians  were 
permitted  to  return,  and  many  did  actually  resume  possession  of  their  ancestral  homes,  though  under 
altered  social  and  political  conditions. — Ed. 
t  So  the  poet : — 

"  Still  stands  the  forest  primeval,  but  under  the  shade  of  its  branches 
Dwells  another  race,  with  other  customs  and  language, 
Only  along  the  shore  of  the  mournful  and  misty  Atlantic 
Linger  a  few  Acadian  peasants,  whose  fathers  from  exile 
Wandered  back  to  their  native  land  to  die  in  its  bosom." 

[Evangelint,  ad  fincm.) 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   THE  MARITIME   PROVINCES. 


869 


the  New  World,  and  whole  cargoes  of  them  are  shipped  for  New  York  and  New 
England. 

Yarmouth,  southern  metropolis  of  Nova  Scotia,  lies  on  a  narrow  creek  some 


ft 
| 


= 


a 
go 

I 


to 


three  miles  from  the  open  sea.  Of  all  Canadian  towns  it  most  resembles  those  of 
Massachusetts,  having,  in  fact,  been  founded  towards  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
by  some  seafarers  from  New  England,  whose  numbers  were  increased  by  some 


870  NORTH  AMERICA. 

American  loyalists  after  the  "War  of  Independence.  Yarmouth  is  occupied  mainly 
with  fishing  and  shipping,  this  port  owning  over  300  vessels  of  more  than  100,000 
tons  burden.  It  enjoys  the  advantages  of  direct  steam  communication  with  Boston, 
Halifax,  and  the  other  seaports  round  the  neighbouring  coasts. 

But  while  Yannouth  flourishes,  Shelburne,  which  lies  on  the  other  side  of  Cape 
Sable,  and  which  was  founded  under  analogous  conditions,  has  lost  much  of  its 
former  importance,  despite  its  magnificent  group  of  harbours.  The  colony  of 
loyalists  which  was  here  founded  in  the  year  1783  constructed  two  vast  establish- 
ments, which  attracted  a  numerous  seafaring  and  artisan  population  ;  the  object 
appears  to  have  been  to  make  Shelburne  the  capital  of  all  the  maritime  pro- 
vinces that  had  remained  faithful  to  England,  and  as  many  as  12,000  persons 
were  soon  concentrated  at  this  point  of  Nova  Scotia.  But  the  surrounding 
regions,  studded  with  numerous  lakelets  flooding  the  granite  depressions,  possessed 
no  agricultural  resources  for  the  new  city ;  on  the  other  hand  the  prospects  of 
trade  and  commerce  did  not  correspond  to  the  hope  of  the  American  immigrants, 
and  most  of  the  inhabitants  had  to  disperse  or  return  to  their  homes.  The  colony 
of  southern  blacks  that  had  accompanied  them  still  survives  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Shelburne,  notwithstanding  the  great  difference  between  the  climates  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  Virginia. 

Beyond  Shelburne  the  dangerous  coast  extending  north-westwards  in  the 
direction  of  Halifax  offers  a  succession  of  small  havens,  of  which  the  busiest  are 
Liverpool  and  Lunenburg,  partly  inhabited  by  immigrants  from  Germany.  At  the 
time  when  the  British  Government  was  expelling  the  Acadians,  it  was  endeavour- 
ing to  attract  German  settlers  by  granting  them  free  gifts  of  land.  Here  and 
there  in  the  vicinity  of  Lunenburg  echoes  of  the  German  patois  are  heard  amongst 
the  older  peasantry. 

Halifax,  capital  and  largest  city  of  Nova  Scotia,  stands  towards  the  middle  of 
the  east  coast  on  the  banks  of  a  fjord  which  ramifies  in  several  branches  north- 
wards, and  which  forms  an  excellent  harbour,  spacious  enough  to  accommodate  the 
largest  fleets.  The  Indians  called  it  Shebucto,  that  is,  the  "  Chief  Port,"  and  the 
French  gave  it  the  name  of  Bale  Saine.  The  original  settlement,  exclusively 
military,  received  in  1749  some  colonists  from  Massachusetts;  these  were  followed 
by  a  few  German  immigrants  from  Europe,  but  the  civil  population  increased  very 
slowly  round  about  the  citadel.  The  city,  which  is  regularly  built,  but  of  a  dull, 
mean  aspect,  extends  along  the  west  side  of  the  harbour  over  against  the  suburb 
of  Dartmouth,  which  occupies  the  amphitheatre  of  hills  on  the  opposite  side- 
Steam  ferries  ply  between  the  two  places,  and  a  few  men-of-war  are  generally 
riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbour. 

The  formidable  stronghold,  which  dominates  the  city  from  a  height  of  250  feet, 
occupies  the  summit  of  the  neighbouring  hill,  and  its  batteries  are  so  disposed  as  to 
develop  a  tremendous  cross-fire  with  those  of  Dartmouth,  George  Island,  and  the 
outer  harbour.  The  estuary  is  skirted  by  arsenals,  dockyards,  slips,  and  repairing 
docks.  Halifax,  the  best-appointed  British  naval  station  in  the  American  waters, 
possesses  a  graving-dock  GOO  feet  long  and  100  wide,  which  is  consequently  larger 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   THE  MARITIME   PROVINCES.  371 

than  that  of  Bermuda.  Its  barracks  are  occupied  by  a  British  regiment,  the  only 
regular  troops  still  kept  by  the  Imperial  Government  in  the  territory  of  the  Do- 
minion. 

Being  mainly  a  military  town,  with  a  large  number  of  functionaries  maintained 
at  the  charge  of  the  Imperial  Budget,  Halifax  is  considered  one  of  the  least 
industrious  places  in  the  Confederacy,  taking  little  advantage  of  its  magnificent 
position  on  a  peninsula  projecting  towards  the  Old  World  far  beyond  the  normal 
coastline  of  the  American  continent.  In  1887,  an  average  year,  not  more  than 
4,153  trading  vessels,  with  a  total  capacity  of  843,000  tons,  were  entered  at  this 
port.  Its  most  flourishing  period  was  during  the  American  War  of  Secession, 
when,  under  cover  of  neutrality,  it  smuggled  contrabands  of  war  into  the  Southern 
States,  and  gave  a  refuge  to  the  Southern  privateers. 

The  gold-mines,  formerly  worked  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Dartmouth  and 
south-east  of  Halifax  in  the  Gold  River,  are  nearly  exhausted.  Hammond's  Plains, 
a  village  in  the  environs  of  Halifax,  is  still  inhabited  by  the  black  descendants  of 
emancipated  slaves  which  the  British  fleet  transported  in  1815  from  Maryland  and 
Virginia. 

North-east  of  Halifax  the  rock-bound  fjord-indented  coastlands  are  nowhere 
very  fertile.  Thanks  to  the  general  poverty  of  the  soil,  the  Acadians,  returning  to 
their  ancestral  homes  after  the  War  of  Independence,  were  able  to  resume  possession 
of  their  still  unoccupied  lands.  One  of  these  French  colonies  is  settled  at  Chezzet- 
cook,  about  20  miles  north-east  of  Halifax,  while  others  occupy  the  shores  of  the 
Gut  of  Canso,  between  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton.  Towards  the  year  1860  it  was 
expected  that  these  districts  of  Nova  Scotia  would  be  rapidly  enriched,  especially 
in  the  districts  of  Ship-harbour,  Tangier,  and  Shcrbrooke,  where  several  auriferous 
deposits  had  been  discovered.  But  this  new  source  of  wealth  was  soon  exhausted 
by  the  speculators,  and  the  country  was  again  deserted. 

Even  the  port  of  Gwysborough,  so  conveniently  situated  at  the  head  of  Cheda- 
bucto  Bay  and  at  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Canso  Channel,  is  nothing  more  than 
an  obscure  fishing-station.  Pictou,  the  busiest  place  along  the  north  coast,  is  the 
outport  for  the  coal  extracted  from  the  mines  of  New  Glasgow  and  Stellarton. 
The  total  output  of  all  the  Nova  Scotia  coal-pits  exceeded  1,680,000  tons  in  the 
year  1886.  The  inhabitants  of  Pictou  are  to  a  great  extent  descendants  of 
Highland  settlers  who  still  speak  the  Gaelic  language  amongst  themselves. 

Antigonish,  which  lies  between  Pictou  and  the  Canso  Gut,  is  also  a  Highland 
colony,  which  contends  with  the  surrounding  Acadians  for  the  ethnical  supremacy 
in  those  districts.  But  both  elements  will  probably  ere  long  be  swallowed  up  in 
the  tide  of  cosmopolitan  settlers,  for  capitalists  are  already  planning  the  construc- 
tion of  a  great  commercial  emporium  at  the  entrance  of  the  trade  route  formed  by 
the  Canso  Channel.  The  little  havens  of  Port  Mulgrave  on  the  south,  and  of  Port 
Haukesbury  and  Port  Hastings  on  the  north  or  Cape  Breton  side,  will  be  replaced 
by  a  large  seaport  already  named  Terminal  City,  with  extensive  docks,  magazines, 
warehouses,  and  railways,  and  with  whatever  else  may  be  required  by  the  thou- 
sands of  vessels  which  yearly  traverse  this  natural  canal  between  the  Atlantic  and 


372 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     One  of  the  Transatlantic  cables  has  its  terminus  at  Port 
Hastings. 

Topography  of  Cape  Bp.eton. 

The  little  Madame  Island,  a  member  of  the  Cape  Breton  insular  group,  is  one  of 
those  few  Acadian  lauds  which  have  exclusively  preserved  their  early  French  popu- 
lation. These  islanders,  nearly  all  occupied  with  fishing  and  navigation,  are 
grouped  round  the  borough  of  Arichat,  the  chief  fishing-station  between  Halifax 


Fig.  161. — Canso  Strait. 
Scale  1  :  600,000. 


»  130' 


West  oh  Greenwich 


6l°iO' 


0to32 
Feet. 


Depths. 


32  to  SO 
Feet. 


80  Feet  and 
upwards. 


12  Miles. 


and  St.  John's  of  Newfoundland.  Here  also,  as  in  the  villages  on  the  Bay  of 
Chaleur,  the  fishers  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Jersey  speculators  who  have  monopo- 
lised nearly  all  the  shore  fisheries  in  these  waters. 

North  of  Madame  Island  the  old  Acadian  settlement  of  St.  Peter  (Saint-Pierre) 
has  acquired  some  importance  to  the  disadvantage  of  Arichat,  thanks  to  a  canal 
880  yards  long  and  12  or  13  feet  deep,  which  has  been  cut  through  a  low  isthmus, 
and  which  enables  vessels  to  penetrate  into  the  inland  sea  of  Bradore  (Bras  cTOr), 


TOPOGRAPH?  OP   THE  MARITIME  PROVINCES.  373 

and  visit  all  the  ports  of  the  interior.  By  this  important  engineering  work  Cape 
Breton  has  been  divided  into  two  distinct  islands.  St.  Peter,  like  most  of  the  vil- 
lages lying  farther  north  and  bearing  French  names,  is  now  inhabited  by  High- 
landers from  the  west  of  Scotland  and  the  Hebrides.  These  Highlanders  constitute 
the  dominant  element  throughout  the  whole  of  Cape  Breton,  and  they  have  kept 
more  aloof  from  the  other  populations  in  the  district  of  Baddeel;  (Bedcque),  a  town 
lying  on  the  shores  of  the  Bras  d'Or.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Baddeck  the  Mic- 
Mac  Indians  also  have  best  preserved  their  language  and  customs.  On  the  north- 
west coast  of  Cape  Breton  lies  the  Acadian  settlement  of  Cheticamp. 

Sydney,  formerly  the  capital  and  still  the  largest  place  in  the  province  of  Cape 
Breton,  has  been  enriched  by  its  traffic  in  the  coal  extracted  from  the  mines  of  the 
surrounding  district.  These  mines  are  connected  by  a  network  of  railways  with 
the  docks  and  landing-stages  of  the  port,  which  communicates  by  steam  ferry- 
boats with  North  Sydney  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  harbour.  The  coal-fields  have 
been  known  and  worked  for  the  last  two  centuries,  their  chief  markets  being  the 
manufacturing  towns  of  New  England.  Even  still  nearly  all  the  coals  extracted 
from  the  Nova  Scotia  mines  are  exported  to  the  United  States,  where  they  are 
chiefly  used  in  the  manufacture  of  gas. 

Sydney  is  one  of  the  places  which  hope  to  be  selected  as  terminal  stations  of 
the  Transatlantic  trade  with  England  ;  nor  are  its  aspirations  altogether  ground- 
less, for  it  is  the  easternmost  of  all  the  Canadian  seaports.  Unfortunately  its 
harbour  is  blocked  by  ice  for  three  months  in  the  year.  In  the  year  1888  its 
shipping  had  a  total  capacity  of  over  one  million  tons,  more  than  double  that  of 
any  other  Cape  Breton  or  Nova  Scotian  seaport  except  Halifax. 

Another  more  open  seaport,  and  perhaps  a  more  convenient  station  for  the 
Transatlantic  service,  is  the  famous  citadel  of  Louisbourg,  which  lies  near  the  head- 
land whence  the  island  takes  its  name  of  Cape  Breton.  Louisbourg,  the  old 
"Havre  a  V Anglais,"  was  long  the  military  key  of  the  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfound- 
land waters.  During  the  years  1720-1740  the  French  had  made  it  a  formidable 
stronghold;  but  it  was  twice  captured  by  the  English,  in  1745  and  1758,  and 
then  utilised  by  them  as  the  base  of  the  operations  undertaken  for  the  conquest  of 
Canada.  The  grassy  ramparts  of  the  fortifications  are  still  visible,  though  inter- 
rupted by  broad  gaps  where  the  sheep  now  peacefully  graze.  A  picturesque  little 
hamlet  lies  under  the  sheltering  walls  of  the  citadel.  A  new  town  is  also  springing 
up  on  the  north  side  of  the  old  fortress,  and  for  some  years  past  the  harbour  has 
been  used  as  a  seaport ;  it  is  free  from  ice  throughout  the  year,  and  in  1888  its 
shipping  represented  a  total  capacity  of  over  260,000  tons. 

Topography  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 

In  Prince  Edward  Island,  which  the  French  called  the  He  Saint-Jean,  the 
dominant  population  is  Scotch,  but  to  a  less  degree  than  in  Cape  Breton  ;  English 
has  long  superseded  Gaelic  as  the  chief  language  of  intercourse.  The  Hic-Mac 
aborigines  have    been  driven  into  the  interior  everywhere,  except  on  the  north 


374 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


coast,  where  the  little  Lennox  Island  has  heen  reserved  for  their  exclusive  use ; 
here  no  whites  are  allowed  to  settle. 

The  Acadians,  who  were  the  first  European  settlers,  suffered  the  same  fate  as 
their  Nova  Scotian  kinsfolk,  and  under  the  same  pretext  of  being  a  standing  menace 


Fig.  162. — Louiseoueo. 
Scale  1 :  70,000. 


West  or  Greenwich 


59°  59- 


59°57- 


Depths. 


0to32 
Feet. 


32  to  80 
Feet. 


80  to  160 
Feet. 


12  Miles. 


to  the  power  of  England.  But  after  their  expulsion,  the  sixty-seven  persons, 
retired  military  officers  or  court  favourites,  amongst  whom  the  British  Govern- 
ment disposed  of  the  island  by  lottery,  found  it  difficult  to  bring  under  cultivation 
the  20,000  acres  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  each.  Many  were  fain  to  recall  the 
French  peasantry  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  forests,   and   reinstate  them  in 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF    THE    MARITIME    PROVINCES. 


375 


their  holdings.*     At  present  the  Aeadians  are  found  in  every  part  of  the  island  ; 
but  they  are  dominant  only  in  the  northern  peninsula  round  about  Tignish,   a 


Fig.   163. — CffAKLOTTE-Towy   AND    ROADSTEAD. 

Scale  1  :  600,000. 


33' A/eat [  ■ 


e  e  n  w  c  f 


Depths. 


Sands  exposed  at 
low  water. 


0to32 
Feet. 


32  to  SO 
Feet. 


SO  Feet  and 
upwards. 


12  Miles. 


village  where  begins  the  main  line  of  railway  running  from  one  extremity  to  the 
other  of  the  province. 

The  feudal  organisation  of  property  preventing  the  peasantry  from  becoming 


*  John  Stewart,  An  Account  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 


376  NOETH  AMEBIOA. 

freeholders  of  the  plots  cultivated  by  them,  long  checked  the  agricultural  develop- 
ment and  general  progress  of  this  fertile  island,  which  might  easily  be  converted 
into  a  vast  garden.  Most  of  those  who  had  received  the  original  concessions 
abstained  from  recalling  the  Acadian  exiles,  and  allowed  their  estates  to  lie  fallow  till 
after  the  American  War  of  Independence.  Then  thousands  of  disbanded  troops  and 
of  fugitive  loyalists  nocked  to  the  island,  and  after  the  constitution  of  the  Dominion 
lands  had  to  be  found  for  the  colonists  by  spending  ±'160,000  in  buying  back  a 
portion  of  the  domain  which  the  royal  caprice  had  so  recklessly  granted  to  a  few 
favourites. 

Charlotte-Town,  capital  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  lies  on  the  south  coast  on  a 
well-sheltered  harbour  which  the  Acadians  named  Port  La  Joie.  As  the  centre  of 
the  provincial  administration,  Charlotte-Town  has  acquired  exceptional  importance, 
and  its  prosperity  has  given  a  stimulus  to  the  trade  of  the  neighbouring  town  of 
Summerside,  which  also  lies  on  the  south  side  of  the  island  over  against  New  Bruns- 
wick. Here  are  shipped  large  quantities  of  cereals  grown  on  the  fertile  plains  of 
the  surrounding  district,  as  well  as  oysters  of  excellent  quality,  which  are  raised 
farther  east  in  Bedeque  Bay. 

Other  centres  of  population  are  Alberton,  about  40  miles  from  Summerside,  on 
Cascunipec  Bay,  which  is  much  frequented  by  fishing  smacks  during  the  season  ; 
Georgetown,  about  30  miles  east  of  Charlotte- Town,  on  the  promontory  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Cardigan  and  Brudenell  rivers,  with  a  fine  harbour  open  far 
into  the  winter ;  lastly,  Souris,  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  railway,  60  miles  east 
of  Charlotte-Town,  the  outlet  for  the  exports  of  a  large  portion  of  King's  County. 
Souris  has  also  a  commodious  harbour,  which  has  lately  been  much  improved  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  its  increasing  export  trade. 

Prince  Edward  Island  has  numerous  orchards,  but  its  primeval  forests  have  all 
disappeared.  The  local  breed  of  horses  is  highly  prized  by  the  Americans  for 
their  speed  and  other  good  qualities. 

Sable  Island. 

Sable  Island,  which  lies  in  44°  N.  latitude,  about  100  miles  off  the  east  coast 
of  Nova  Scotia,  is  distinguished  especially  for  the  remarkable  changes  of  form  which 
it  has  undergone  during  the  short  period  of  three  centuries  of  its  historic  life. 
These  changes,  which  are  due  to  the  action  of  marine  currents  and  storms,  may 
be  studied  on  the  charts  taken  at  various  periods.  On  the  oldest  French  maps 
the  island  is  represented  as  about  46  miles  long,  and  about  3|  miles  wide ;  and 
an  English  map  of  1776  reduces  it  to  no  more  than  11  or  12  miles  in  length,  and 
500  yards  in  width,  and  at  the  same  time  shifts  the  west  point  over  12  miles  more 
to  the  east. 

Further  reductions  and  changes  of  position  are  figured  on  the  charts  of  the 
years  1818,  1850,  and  1888,  and  at  present  the  island,  affecting  the  form  of  a 
crescent,  with  its  convex  side  facing  southwards,  is  only  25|  by  1J  miles,  while 
the  west  point  has  advanced  28  miles  farther  seawards ;   the  high  dunes  also, 


LABRADOR.  877 

which  formerly  exceeded  200  feet,  are  now  scarcely  80  feet  in  height.  A  lake 
in  the  interior  has  followed  all  these  displacements  of  the  sandy  dunes  and  of  the 
island  itself,  being  at  times  completely  separated  from  the  sea,  and  again  commu- 
nicating with  it  through  a  channel.  In  1836  two  American  sloops,  which  had 
taken  refuge  in  this  lake,  were  unable  to  get  back  again.  From  time  to  time  the 
inhabitants  displace  their  station  and  their  lighthouse,  and  live  in  dread  of  the 
island  being  some  day  swept  bodily  away  by  t-he  raging  storm.  Many  acres  of 
sandy  shore  have  at  times  been  swallowed  up  by  the  waves  in  a  single  night. 

But  while  the  island  diminishes  in  size,  the  dangerous  sandbank  on  which  it 
rests  does  not  appear  to  have  been  eroded  by  the  sea.  In  stormy  weather  the 
waves  break  7  or  8  and  even  12  miles  from  the  beach  in  shallows  65  or  70 
feet  deep.  These  breakers  strike  the  stoutest  hearts  with  awe,  and  are  all  the 
more  dangerous  in  consequence  of  the  continually  shifting  currents  and  the  dense 
fogs  prevailing  in  these  waters.  For  weeks  together,  not  a  single  boat  is  able  to 
approach  the  island,  and  then  only  at  the  relatively  sheltered  inlet  on  the  north 
side. 

Sable  Island  has  been  called  an  "  ocean  graveyard  ;  "  since  1802,  when  a 
marine  station  was  first  established  here,  over  a  hundred  and  fi fty  sliip wrecks  have 
been  recorded  on  the  surrounding  banks ;  but  a  much  larger  number  of  disasters 
were  indicated,  without  being  identified,  by  the  nameless  wreckage  of  other  vessels. 
Thanks  to  the  admirable  organisation  of  the  station,  one  of  the  best  regulated  in 
the  world,  most  of  the  shipwrecked  seafarers  are  rescued  from  a  watery  grave. 

It  is  surprising  that  such  a  place  could  have  been  chosen  as  the  site  of  one  of 
the  earliest  essays  at  colonisation  in  America.  The  Marquis  de  la  Roche,  who 
had  received  from  Henry  IV.  the  concession  and  absolute  control  over  Canada, 
began  the  work  of  colonisation  by  landing  forty  of  his  people  on  Sable  Island, 
hoping  to  remove  them  again  after  finding  a  favourable  place  for  tillage.  This 
was  in  l-)78,  and  seven  years  later  twelve  of  these  ill-fated  persons  were  found 
still  alive,  but  reduced  to  a  state  of  savagery.*  The  present  inhabitants  are 
employed  by  an  English  company  in  raising  a  breed  of  ponies  which  graze  in  the 
grassy  dells  between  the  sandy  dunes,  t 


VII.— LABRADOR. 

This  geographical  name  is  used  in  diverse  senses  by  different  writers.  It  is 
applied  in  a  general  way  to  the  whole  of  the  peninsular  region  comprised  between 
Hudson  Strait,  the  Atlantic,  the  St.  Lawrence  Gulf  and  estuary  ;  but  it  seems 
difficult  to  determine  the  limits  of  this  vast  territory  on  its  landward  side.  Accord- 
ing to  the  natural  features  of  the  ground  the  true  frontier  should  be  indicated  by 
a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  Rupert  River,  in  Hudson  Bay,  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  Saguenay  confluence ;  but  the  poll  leal  divisions  interfere  with   this  natural 

*  Garneau,  Suite,  &c. 

+  Stuart-Fossard,  Bulletin  lie  la  Societe  cle  Geographic  commercials  ilu  Havre,  Nov'. -Deo.,  1S.S8. 

VOL.   XV,  <    ( 


879  NORTH  AMERICA. 

frontier,  for  the  province  of  Quebec  comprises  a  part  of  the  territory  extending 
farther  north  as  far  as  -52"  north  latitude. 

If  this  Canadian  slice  be  regarded  as  distinct  from  Labrador,  properly  so  called, 
as  may  be  justified  by  the  fact  that  it  belongs  to  the  Laurentian  area  of  drainage, 
then  the  enormous  triangular  expanse  pointing  in  the  direction  of  the  Arctic- 
Archipelago,  will  stdl  comprise  a  superficial  area  estimated  at  some  480,000  square 
miles,  or  about  four  times  that  of  the  British  Isles.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this 
space,  which  is  scarcely  known  beyond  its  periphery,  belongs  to  the  Dominion  of 
Canada,  that  part  alone  excepted  which  extends  as  far  as  Ungava  Bay,  below 
Hudson  Strait,  and  which  is  claimed  by  the  colony  of  Newfoundland  as  a  prolon- 
gation of  its  fishing  domain.  This  point,  however,  is  not  yet  settled,  for  the 
original  charter  of  Nova  Scotia  extends  the  jurisdiction  of  that  colony  as  far  as 
Hudson  Strait  on  the  mainland.  As  soon  as  the  commercial  and  industrial 
resources  of  Labrador  are  sufficiently  developed,  the  conterminous  provinces  will 
doubtless  proceed  to  settle  the  question  of  its  political  frontiers. 

Etymologists  have  much  discussed,  and  will  doubtless  long  continue  to  discuss, 
the  origin  and  meaning  of  this  word  "  Labrador."  Its  Latin  appearance  suggested 
to  the  old  cartographers,  the  form  Terra  Lnboratoris*  Terra  Agricoh.f  But  it 
may  well  be  asked  by  what  strange  irony  such  a  name  could  have  been  applied  to 
a  bleak  and  frozen  region,  where  no  husbandman  had  ever  driven  a  plough  into 
the  soil,  where  Jacques  Cartier  saw  not  "  as  much  earth  as  would  fill  a  basket." 
No  document  left  by  the  early  navigators,  who  first  visited  the  Labrador  peninsula, 
justifies  the  svipposition  that  they  could  have  stultified  themselves  by  giving  to 
such  an  icy  region  a  name  having  the  sense  of  "  land  of  the  labourer."  On  the 
Labrador  coast,  says  Mr.  Randle  F.  Holme,  "  not  a  tree  is  to  be  seen  ;  there  is 
nothing  there  but  bare  rocks,  and  occasionally  a  little  stunted  grass.  It  is  almost 
perpetual  winter."* 

Biddle,  whose  hypothesis  is  adopted  by  the  historian,  Parkman,  suggests  that, 
at  the  time  of  his  first  voyage  in  1500,  Gaspar  Cortereal  captured  a  certain 
number  of  natives  and  carried  them  off  to  work  on  the  Portuguese  plantations. 
Labrador  would  thus  have  received  its  name  as  being  a  good  field  for  recruiting 
the  labour  market.  But  although  this  supposition  may  be  justified  by  the  conduct 
of  most  seafaring  peoples  at  that  epoch,  it  is  unsupported  by  any  extant  records  or 
despatches  of  the  Lusitanian  navigator  ;  nor  would  an  Arctic  land,  thinly  occupied 
by  a  few  fishing  and  hunting  communities,  have  been  a  very  promising  region  from 
which  to  procure  hands  for  subtropical  plantations.  Others  have  identified  the 
word  Labrador  with  Labour,  the  name  of  a  district  at  the  foot  of  the  western 
Pyrenees,  and  have  endeavoured,  on  this  ground,  to  show  that  the  American 
"Labour  "must  have  been  discovered  by  Basque  navigators.^  A  tradition  is 
also  current  amongst  the  Canadians  settled  on  the  seaboard,  according  to  which  a 

*  Map  reproduced  by  Kuustmann,  Entdeckung  Amerika's. 

t  Sebastian  Munster,  Cosmographia. 

%  A  Journey  into  the  Interior  of  Labrador,  Proceedings  of  the  R.  Geographical  Society,  April,  1888. 

$  P.  Mai'gry,  les  Navigations  franchises. 


LABRADOR.  379 

Basque  or  a  Portuguese,  named  Labrador,  was  the  first  navigator  to  reach  these 
waters,  having  preceded  even  the  Cortereals  themselves.  But  history  knows 
nothing  of  this  explorer;  nor  has  it  preserved  any  trace  of  the  expression  "bras 
d'or,"  supposed  to  have  been  generally  applied  by  the  French  seafarers  to  all 
those  marine  passages  which  they  found  to  be  easily  navigated. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  certain  that  several  inlets  in  these  waters,  notably  at  Cape 
Breton,  and  on  the  Labrador  seaboard,  bear  such  names  as  "Bras  d'Or,"  Bradore, 
Brador,  and  Bradaur.  On  the  maps  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  inland  sea  in 
Cape  Breton  bears  the  name  of  Labrador,  while  the  two  approaches  are  respectively 
called  "Great"  and  "  Little  "  Labrador.  The  inlet  indenting  the  coast  of  the 
mainland  near  the  southern  entrance  of  Belle-Isle  Strait  is  specially  known  by 
the  name  of  "  Bradore  Bay,"  and  this  is  the  very  place  where,  before  the  colonisa- 
tion of  Canada,  the  fishers  assembled  in  the  largest  numbers,  and  where  they 
founded  the  station  of  Brest.  It  would  accordingly  seem  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  this  word  Brador,  whence  Labrador,  had  some  local  origin,  deriving  perhaps 
from  a  native  (Algonquin)  word  with  the  meaning  of  strait,  sound,  bav,  or 
creek.* 

Geographical  Research. 

Of  all  the  regions  comprised  within  the  vast  domain  of  the  Dominion,  Labrabor 
has  been  the  least  explored.  Even  the  tundras  bordering  on  the  Arctic  seas  in 
the  far  north  have  been  more  frequently  visited  by  travellers.  Judging  by  their 
title-pages,  a  considerable  number  of  works  would  seem  to  contain  narratives  of 
journeys  made  in  Labrador ;  but  most  of  these  works  have  reference  only  to  the 
"  Canadian  Labrador,"  that  is,  to  the  western  extremity  of  the  province  of  Quebec, 
and  even  that  region  itself  is  but  very  imperfectly  known.  The  only  persons  who 
have  penetrated  far  into  the  interior  beyond  the  height  of  land  are  the  Indians, 
a  few  missionaries,  and  some  agents  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Then  the 
Canadian  priest,  Lacasse,  cure  of  the  parish  of  Mingan  on  the  south  coast  opposite 
the  island  of  Anticosti,  traversed  the  country  from  south  to  north  as  far  as  Ungava 
Bav.  In  1838  and  1841  the  trader  Maclean  crossed  the  north-eastern  region 
between  Ungava  Bay  and  Hamilton  Inlet ;  about  the  year  1860  Mr.  Kennedy, 
another  of  the  Company's  agents,  visited  a  part  of  the  same  country,  and  these  are 
the  only  two  white  men  who  are  known  to  have  ever  seen  the  famous  Grand  Falls 
on  the  Grand  River  before  the  year  1888.  In  1884  the  Protestant  missionary, 
Peck,  succeeded  in  crossing  from  the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay  to  Ungava  Bay  by 
ascending  the  Little  AYhale  River  to  the  plateau,  and  descending  by  the  valley  of 
the  Koksoak  (Big  or  South  River). 

Thf-  various  expeditions  sent  to  Lake  Mistassini  have  contributed  to  enlarge 
our  knowledge  of  the  approaches  to  Labrador  proper ;  but  most  of  the  itineraries 
have  yielded  very  meagre  geographical  data,  and  even  these  have  not  yet  been 
entirely  harmonised.     So  little  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  real  configuration 

*  Jules  llarcou,  Bulletin  lie  la  Sotieti  de  Geoyiaphie,  1S-S, 

cc  2 


880 


NORTH   AMERICA. 


of  the  interior  that  report  still  speaks  of  unknown  lakes,  "  as  large  as  Ontario," 
which  are  said  to  exist  ahout  the  centre  of  the  peninsula,  hut  which  have  not  been 
assigned  to  any  particular  fluvial  basin. 

Physical  Features. 

The  most  elevated  part  of  Labrador  is  probably  the  eastern  section  which 
stretches  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Belle-Isle  Strait  northwards  to  Cape 
Chudleigh  at  the  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait  and  Ungava  Bay.  North  of  the  strait 
the  hills  on  the  coast  terminate  in  abrupt  escarpments  ;  they  have  a  mean  altitude 


Fig.  164. — Okak  Island. 
Scale  1  :  360,000. 


620do 


West     or   breenwich 


52°>0 


■  6  Miles. 


of  not  more  than  350  or  400  feet,  but  snow-clad  summits  are  visible  in  the 
distance.  Heights  bearing  the  name  of  mountains  are  seen  only  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sandwich  Harbour,  where  the  igneous  Mealy  Mountains  terminate  seawards 
in  a  peak  1,480  feet  high.  According  to  Holme  this  range  trends  south-westwards 
in  the  direction  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  thus  forming  the  southern  escarp- 
ment of  the  inland  plateaus  which  are  bounded  on  the  east  side  by  the  co  st 
range. 

This  coast  range  begins  near  the  head  of  the  narrow  gullet  known  as  Hamilton 
Inlet,  and  rises  gradually  in  the  direction  of  the  north.  Here  fellow  several 
eminences  terminating  in  bold  crests  or  sharp  pyramidal  peaks,  some  of  which 
attain  an  altitude  of  nearly  6,500  feet.  Nevertheless  this  chain,  taken  as  a  whole, 
is  far  less  elevated  than  the  nearly  parallel  range  skirting  the  south-west  coast  of 
Greenland  on  the  opposite  side  of  Davis  Strait.     The  insular  headland  of  Cape 


LABRADOR.  381 

Chudleigh  rises  to  a  height  of  1,650  feet,  and  beyond  this  point  the  system 
reappears  in  Resolution  Island  and  the  coast  range  skirting  the  east  side  of  Baffin 
Land. 

The  eastern  mountains  of  Labrador  consist  mainly  of  granites  and  gneisses, 
and  the  presence  of  porphyries  has  also  been  determined  by  the  naturalist,  Lieber.* 
Several  mountains  terminate  in  open  cavities,  presenting  the  form  of  breached 
craters ;  yet  the  character  of  the  rocks  shows  that  they  cannot  be  volcanoes. 
These  crater-like  formations  are  supposed  to  be  due  to  the  long  persistence  of  the 
snows  which  gradually  soften  and  decompose  the  rocks  aDd  clays,  thus  in  the 
course  of  ages  carving  them  into  vast  amphitheatres.  The  granitic  island  of  Okak 
on  the  east  coast  north  of  Xain  is  one  of  these  so-called  craters  now  half  submersred 
iii  the  Atlantic. 

Pieces  of  pumice  are  occasionally  picked  up  on  the  Labrador  coast ;  but  these 
floating  fragments  of  scoriae  are  not  of  local  origin,  but  have  drifted  with  the 
marine  currents  westwards  from  Iceland.  The  blocks  of  labradorite,  mostly  blue 
or  green,  very  rarely  red,  have  nowhere  been  discovered  in  the  cliffs,  but  are 
always  found  in  fragments  of  varying  size  scattered .  along  the  marine  and  lacus- 
trine shores.  The  Eskimo  often  bring  specimens  from  an  inland  basin  lying  to 
the  west  of  Xain,  and  this  mineral  is  also  very  common  about  the  entrance  of 
Hamilton  Inlet;  huge  boulders  of  it  lie  about  the  beach,  and  Holme  states  that 
he  sailed  from  the  North- West  River  down  to  Rigolet  at  the  narrows  above  the 
Inlet  "  in  a  schooner  entirely  ballasted  with  this  beautiful  stone." 


Lakes  and  Rivers  flowing  to  the  Atlantic  and  Ungava  Bay. 

\Vest  of  the  coast  range  the  whole  of  east  Labrador  is  occupied  by  a  moun- 
tainous tableland  studded  with  lakes  and  furrowed  by  rivers.  According  to  Hind 
and  Holme  theae  uplands  have  a  probable  elevation  of  over  2,000  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  surface  is  strewn  with  rocky  fragments  worn  by  weathering,  or  looking 
as  if  they  had  been  rolled  by  flood  waters.  Xorth  and  west  the  ground  slopes 
gradually,  presenting  a  uniform  incline  to  the  streams  flowing  towards  Hudson 
Strait  and  Hudson  Bay.  But  towards  the  south  and  south-east  the  fall  is  much 
more  pre?ipitous,  and  here  the  running  waters  develop  cascades  and  rapids.  Thus 
the  rivers  of  Canadian  Labrador  rush  over  a  continuous  succession  of  cataracts, 
none  of  which,  however,  can  compare  in  magnitude  with  those  of  the  Grand  River 
flowing  to  Hamilton  Inlet. 

Xeither  Maclean  nor  Kennedy  gives  the  height  of  the  Grand  Falls,  which 
would  appear  to  have  a  drop  of  at  least  1,000  feet.  At  this  point,  which  is  230 
miles  from  the  sea,  the  river,  fed  by  a  string  of  lakes  disposed  in  the  direction 
from  north  to  south  on  the  plateau,  is  already  a  considerable  stream,  being  500 
yards  broad  above  the  falls,  and  suddenly  contracting  to  50  yards  before  pluno-ino- 
into  the  chasm.     According  to  Holme   the  Indians  have  a  superstitious  dread  of 

•   O.  II.  Lieber,  Petermanna  MUteilmgen,  1861. 


382  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  falls,  believing  them  to  be  haunted,  and  as  they  also  suppose  that  no  one  can 
look  upon  them  and  live,  they  carefully  avoid  them.  Kennedy  was  guided  to  the 
spot  not  by  a  native  of  the  district,  but  by  an  Iroquois  from  Montreal,  who  did  not 
entirely  share  the  Labrador  Indian  superstitions.  The  Montagnais  scarcely  ever 
venture  beyond  Lake  "Waminikapou,  a  crescent- shaped  basin  which  fills  a  narrow 
crescent-shaped  valley  about  40  miles  long  traversed  by  the  Grand  River. 

Farther  down  the  river  forms  various  other  rapids  but  only  one  cascade,  con- 
sisting of  two  stages  with  a  total  drop  of  70  feet.  A  little  below  these  falls  the 
river  expands  into  the  broad  basin  of  Melville,  or  Big  Bay,  apparently  a  land- 
locked sheet  of  water,  but  really  communicating  through  a  "rigolet,"  or  narrow 


Fig-.  1  Go. — Affluents  of  Melville  Bay. 
Scale  1  :  10,000,000. 


West  op  ureenwich 


125  Miles. 


gullet,  with  Hamilton  Inlet  and  the  ocean.  The  various  sections  of  the  inlet  have 
a  total  length  of  no  less  than  150  miles. 

Besides  the  Grand  River,  Melville  Bay  receives  other  affluents,  one  of  the 
largest  of  which  is  the  Nascopi,  which  descends  from  the  north-west  through  a 
long  chain  of  lakes,  one  of  which  it  traverses  just  before  entering  the  marine 
estuary. 

The  maps  of  Labrador  based  on  the  reports  of  the  Indians  and  traders  show  an 
uninterrupted  network  of  lakes  and  rivers  all  communicating  with  each  other  and 
draining  in  three  different  directions,  towards  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the 
Atlantic,  and  Ungava  Bay.  It  is  highly  probable  that  these  statements  arc  incor- 
rect, and  that  the  communications  from  slope  to  slope  are  made  not  by  fluvial 
channels  or  by  lakes  with  double  outflow,  but  as  elsewhere  by  portages.     All  such 


LABRADOR.  383 

primitive  maps,  from  that  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  and  the  "tables"  of  the  ancients 
which  represented  the  Danube  as  discharging  through  two  mouths  into  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  Adriatic,  down  to  those  of  mediaeval  times  with  their  two  or  three 
African  Niles  running  wildly  over  the  continent,  invariably  show  in  the  interior 
of  every  country  one  or  more  reservoirs  with  a  multiplicity  of  divergent  emissaries. 
Even  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  Chateaubriand  speaks  with  enthu- 
siasm of  that  common  source  of  four  rivers,  the  Mississippi,  which  disappears 
southwards  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  St.  Lawrence  which  flows  eastwards  to  the 
Atlantic,  the  "  Outawais,"  which  trends  northwards  to  the  polar  seas,  and  "  the 
western  stream  which  carries  to  the  setting  sun  the  tribute  of  its  floods  for  the 
ocean  of  Xoutouka."* 

Xorth  of  Hamilton  Inlet,  whose  affluents  pierce  the  outer  escarpments  of  the 
plateau,  the  eastern  slope  of  the  coast  range  is  too  narrow  for  the  development  of 
any  large  fluvial  basins  with  lateral  arteries.  Hence  the  seaboard  here  presents 
nothing  but  a  succession  of  fjords,  inlets,  islands,  and  islets  without  any  large 
river  estuaries.  But  on  the  western  slope  there  has  been  ample  space  for  the 
formation  of  extensive  watercourses.  Such  is  the  Koksoak,  the  Big  or  South 
River  of  English  writers,  which  reaches  the  coast  at  the  head  of  TTngava  Bay.  It 
rises  in  the  same  part  of  the  plateau  as  the  Grand  River  of  the  eastern  slope,  with 
which  it  is  represented  by  certain  rudimentary  and  obviously  erroneous  maps  as 
communicating  through  several  strings  of  lakes.  Were  this  the  case  the  eastern 
coast  range  would  be  completely  isolated  by  a  continuous  channel  of  alternating 
fluvial  and  lacustrine  depressions.  In  any  case  it  is  at  least  certain  that  the 
Koksoak  is  fed  by  a  large  number  of  very  extensive  lakes,  amongst  others  the 
Meshikamou,  the  Petchikapou,  and  the  Kaniapuskaw. 

Lakes  and  Rivers  flowing  to  Hudson  Bay. 

The  western  slope,  which  belongs  to  the  catchment  basin  of  Hudson  Bay, 
comprises  over  one-half  of  the  whole  of  Labrador.  Accordingly  the  watercourses 
are  here  both  numerous  and  of  great  length.  According  to  the  reports  of  the 
trappers  most  of  them  flow  in  parallel  valleys  all  sloping  from  east  to  west  at 
right  angles  with  the  shore  line.  This  slope  has  also  its  Big  River,  a  very  copious 
stream,  which  is  exceeded  in  volume  only  by  the  Churchill  and  Nelson  of  all  the 
affluents  of  Hudson  Bay. 

South  of  the  Big  River  the  chief  tributaries  of  J;.mes  Bay  are  the  East  Main, 
which  about  coincides  with  the  official  boundary  of  the  province  of  Quebec,  and 
Rupert's  River,  the  emissary  of  Lake  Mistassini.  Xorth  of  the  Big  River  flow  to 
Hudson  Bay,  properly  so  called,  the  Great  Whale,  the  Little  Whale,  the  Clear- 
water, and  the  Xastapoka.  The  Clear-water,  emissary  of  the  lake  of  like  name, 
falls  into  a  large  basin,  called  Richmond  Gulf,  which  communicates  with  Hudson 
Bay  through  a  passage  too  narrow  to  allow  of  the  free  play  of  the  tidal  current. 
Hence  the  formation  of  swift  rapids  and  whirlpools,  where  the  Indians  never 
venture  in  their  canoes  during  the  ebb  tides.     But  owing  to  this  constant  agitation 

*   Voyage  en  Amhriaut. 


884 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


of  the  waters  the  estuary  is  never  frozen  in  winter,  and  is  consequently  frequented 
by  multitudes  of  waders,  seals,  and  porpoises. 

Lake  Mistassini. 

Luke   Mistassini,  the  "  Great  King,"  or  the  "Great   Stone,"  lies  north  of  the 
sources  of  the  St.  Maurice  and  Saguenay  Rivers  on  the  Hudson  Bay  slope  of  the 


Fig.  166. — Lake  Mistassini. 
Sc;ile  1  :  1,200,000. 


Greenwich  73° 


•25  Miles. 


height  of  land,  and  within  the  part  of  Labrador  assigned  to  Quebec.  It  is  one  of 
the  great  lakes  of  the  Montagnais  country,  perhaps  the  largest  and  certainly  the 
most  famous.  Mistassini  was  long  the  subject  of  mysterious  legends,  doubtless 
because,  after  having  been  several  times  visited  by  hunters  and  missionaries,  it  was 
again  lost  sight  of  under  the  jealous  administration  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 
In  1672  it  was  explored  by  the  missionary,  Albanel,  who  afterwards  made  his  way 


LABRADOR,  385 

down  its  emissary,  Rupert's  River,  to  Hudson  Bay.  At  the  end  of  the  last 
century  the  botanist,  Andre  Michaux,  had  already  studied  the  flora  of  its  basin. 
But  systematic  exploration  was  reserved  for  recent  times,  when  Low,  Bignell, 
Loudon,  and  Macdonald  succeeded  in  crossing  the  forty-one  portages  which  separate 
Mistassini  from  St.  John  Lake.  Henceforth  the  form  of  the  mysterious  basin  is 
known  in  a  general  way,  and  the  maps  which  have  been  prepared  by  various 
observers  differ  little  from  each  other. 

Grand  Mistassini,  as  the  chief  basin  is  called,  develops  a  crescent  about  100 
miles  long  with  its  convex  side  facing  north-westwards,  and  sending  its  overflow 
through  Rupert's  River  at  the  highest  part  of  the  curve.  In  a  line  with  the 
longitudinal  axis  is  disposed  a  regular  chain  of  islands,  which  also  affects  the 
form  of  a  crescent.  These  islands  divide  the  main  into  two  secondary  basins, 
while  a  third,  called  the  Little  Mistassini,  is  separated  on  the  east  side  from  both 
by  an  isthmus  pierced  by  channels  and  also  forming  an  arc  of  a  circle  concentric 
with  the  islands.  The  two  lakes  resemble  one  another  in  their  crystal  waters, 
general  contours,  and  surrounding  forests,  where  the  birch  is  the  prevailing 
species. 

The  soundings  have  revealed  a  depth  of  370  feet  towards  the  centre  of  Great 
Mistassini,  and  in  this  lake  is  situated  the  famous  "  Great  Stone,"  from  which  the 
whole  basin  takes  its  name.  The  storms  arise,  say  the  Montagnais  Indians,  round 
about  this  spirit  rock,  which  no  one  can  look  on  and  live.*' 

Climate  of  Labrador. 

Throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  its  extent  Labrador  lies  under  more  southern 
latitudes  than  Greenland.  It  extends  beyond  60°  over  against  the  southernmost 
extremity  of  Greenland  only  at  the  two  terminal  points  of  Cape  Chudleigh  and  Cape 
Wostenholme.  Nevertheless  its  climate  is  more  severe  ;  at  least  the  mountainous 
region  lying  nearest  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  is  certainly  colder  than  the  peninsular 
region  on  the  east  side  of  Davis  Strait,  its  mean  annual  temperature  falling  several 
degrees  below  freezing-point.  This  contrast  is  due  ruainly  to  the  fact  that  the  east 
coast  of  Labrador  is  fully  exposed  to  the  north-east  polar  winds.  Moreover,  the 
ice-floes  drifting  southwards  with  the  current  from  Baffin  Bay  come  into  collision 
with  those  issuing  from  Hudson  Strait,  and  the  whole  united  mass  is  driven  by 
wind  arid  waves  to  the  Labrador  seaboard. 

Summer  begins  in  June,  when  the  last  fragments  of  the  ice-pack  disappear, 
but  the  really  warm  weather  scarcely  lasts  more  than  about  thirty  days.  Winter 
usually  returns  in  September,  when  the  torrents,  liberated  for  a  brief  period  from 
their  icy  fetters,  are  again  silent,  and  the  water  frozen  down  to  the  fluvial  bed. 
Even  summer,  despite  the  relative  mildness  of  its  temperature,  is  by  no  means  a 
pleasant  season,  owing  to  the  abrupt  changes  from  hot  days  to  cold  nights.  When 
the  wind  suddenly  shifts  oscillations  of  35  or  40  degrees  have  been  recorded 
within  the  twenty-four  hours. 

*  Bulletin  of  the  Quebec  Geographical  Society,  1SSS. 


386  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Nevertheless  the  climate  of  the  interior,  even  within  a  distance  of  12  miles 
from  the  sea,  differs  greatly  from  that  of  the  coast.  It  escapes  the  keen  blasts 
blowing  from  the  ice  floes,  and  in  many  places  a  complete  change  of  climate  may 
be  had  by  simply  crossing  the  coast  range.  Hence  the  continuous  records  made 
since  the  year  1882  at  the  meteorological  stations  on  the  sea-coast  have  only  a 
local  value.* 

After  the  long  winter,  excursions  of  even  a  few  hours  are  extremely  laborious 
on  the  Labrador  seaboard  and  height  of  land.  The  melting  snows  till  the  depres- 
sions with  sludge  and  convert  the  ground  to  a  morass  ;  the  streams  overflow  their 
banks;  the  bog- waters  well  up  in  all  directions  ;  myriads  of  flies  and  mosquitoes, 
described  as  worse  in  Labrador  than  in  any  other  country,  blacken  the  air  and 
devour  the  wayfarer.  Hence  the  traveller  prefers  the  bright  winter  days,  the 
hard  tracks,  the  frozen  surface  of  lakes  and  rivers  presenting  free  scope  for 
sledging. 

Whenever  the  Canadians  seriously  undertake  the  geological  exploration  of 
Labrador,  the  work,  however  arduous  it  ma}'  be,  will  be  found  perfectly  feasible. 
In  the  interior  no  point  lies  more  than  350  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  some  bay 
or  inlet  on  the  surrounding  coasts ;  provisions  and  supplies  might  also  be 
safely  stored  in  several  places  of  the  interior  at  considerable  distances  from  the 
seaboard. 

Flora  and  Fauna. 

Apart  from  a  few  differences  of  detail,  Labrador  presents  much  the  same 
botanical  and  zoological  conditions  as  the  northern  regions  lying  beyond  Hudson 
Bay.  In  the  southern  districts  along  the  frontier  of  Canadian  Labrador  the  slopes 
of  the  mountains  are  covered  with  forests,  and  these  forests  consist  of  fine  trees, 
nearly  all  conifers,  with  very  slender  trunks  compared  with  their  height.  Near 
the  centre  of  the  peninsula  these  trees  decrease  in  size  and  become  far  less 
dense.  Reichel  speaks  of  splendid  beeches  near  Nain,  Okak,  and  Hoffenthal 
(Hopedale)  on  the  east  coast.  Berries  also,  of  excellent  quality,  especially  the 
whortleberry  and  the  cranberry,  abound  in  many  districts  where  the  forests  have 
been  destroyed  by  fire. 

Towards  57°  or  58°  north  latitude  all  the  woodlands  are  replaced  by  the  tundra  ; 
but  even  here  in  the  sheltered  places  may  still  be  seen  stunted  trees  or  shrubs,  the 
juniper,  beech  or  the  willow,  besides  grassy  tracts  and  flowering  plants,  amongst 
which  the  ledum  palustre,  or  "  Labrador  tea."  But  usually  nothing  is  visible 
except  the  caribou  moss,  which  covers  the  rocks  as  with  a  coating  of  green.  The 
missionaries  on  the  coast  are  able  to  cultivate  their  little  garden  plots  by  prepar- 

*  Temperature  of  various  plates  on  the  Labrador  coasts:  — 

Hoffenthal  (Hopedale) 

Nain 56°  33 

Okak 57°  34 

Rama  .... 
Fort  Cliinino 


Latitude. 
55°  27'     . 

Hottest  Month 

(July). 
.     54°  F.     . 

Coldest  Month 
(January). 

.     11°  F.     . 

Mean  Temp. 
23°  F. 

56°  33'     . 

.     50° 

.     13° 

.     21D 

57°  34'     . 

.     49° 

.     12° 

.      19° 

•3S°  53'     . 

.     45" 

.     13° 

.     20° 

•)S-  2S'     . 

— 

.     19" 

.      — 

LABKADOR.  387 

ing  the  ground  with  sand  mixed  with  decaying  seaweed.  At  the  more  southerly 
stations  of  Nain  and  Hopedale  they  thus  succeed,  by  dint  of  much  care,  in  raising 
cabbages,  cauliflowers,  radishes  and  lettuces;  they  also  grow  the  potato,  but  the 
ridges  have  nearly  every  night  to  be  protected  from  the  frost. 

Holme  concludes  generally  that  "  as  an  agricultural  or  pastoral  country  Labrador 
has  no  prospects  ;  and  unless  its  mineral  resources  are  some  day  turned  to  account, 
I  cannot  see  that  the  country  will  ever  be  very  different  from  what  it  is  now." 

The  wild  animals  are  the  same  as  those  in  the  far  north — reindeer,  caribou,  musk 
ox,  bears,  wolves,  foxes,  otters,  and  other  smaller  fur-bearing  animals,  except  the 
beaver,  which  the  trappers  have  scarcely  ever  met.*  The  caribou  has  already 
become  rare  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  country,  and  several  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  stations  having  ceased  to  yield  any  peltries  have  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Reptiles  are  very  rare,  although  a  harmless  snake  is  still  met  on  the  northern 
plateaux,  and  three  species  of  frogs  are  found  in  the  marshes  near  Ungava  Bay. 

Dogs  are  kept  by  the  natives  of  the  interior  for  hunting  the  porcupine,  which, 
with  ptarmigan  and  fish  from  the  lakes,  constitutes  their  chief  nutriment.  Those 
dwelling  on  the  seaboard  depend  on  the  sea  and  on  the  same  fishes  that  attract 
the  Newfoundland  fishers  during  the  open  season.  No  domestic  cattle  are  bred, 
and,  according  to  Holme,  there  was  only  one  cow  in  1887  on  the  whole  of  the 
east  coast  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Hamilton  Inlet ;  not  a  single  horse,  sheep, 
or  goat.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  Eskimo  dogs  are  a  necessity  and  are  kept  in 
large  numbers,  but  are  so  ferocious  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep  any  other 
kind  of  animal  in  association  with  them.  .Some  insects,  such  as  the  common  house- 
fly, elsewhere  the  usual  companion  of  the  wbite  man,  have  not  followed  him  to 
Labrador. 

Inhabitants  of  Labrador. 

Like  the  North- West  Territory  the  north-east  region  of  Labrador  yields 
sufficient  supplies  for  a  few  wandering  groups  of  Indians  and  Eskimo,  the  former 
chiefly  in  the  southern  districts,  the  latter  on  the  eastern  and  northern  shores  of 
the  peninsula.  Altogether  the  population  of  Labrador  north  of  the  height  of 
land  probably  does  not  exceed  10,000  souls.  A  census  taken  by  the  Newfound- 
land Government  returned  for  the  east  coast,  from  Blanc  Sablon  at  the  Canadian 
frontier  to  Cape  Chudleigh,  a  total  of  4,211  Indians,  Eskimo,  whites,  and  half- 
breeds. 

The  Indians,  who  inhabit  the  forests  and  the  shores  of  the  lakes,  belong  to  the 
great  Kree  nation,  and  are  divided  into  two  families,  the  Montagnais,  akin  to  those 
settled  round  Lake  St.  John,  and  the  Nascopi,  or  "  Men."t  The  latter,  who  number 
only  a  few  hundred  altogether,  wander  round  the  lacustrine  basin  to  which  they 
give  their  name ;  but  they  also  traverse  every  part   of   Labrador,  cither  passing 

*  Holme,  however,  mentions  the  beaver  as  one  of  the  fur  animals  commonly  trapped  in  Labrador. 
His  list  includes  the  black  bear,  wolf,  wolverine,  lynx  (or  mountain  cat),  red,  white,  blue,  and  silver  fox, 
otter,  beaver,  marten,  musquash,  and  mink. 

t  Stearns,  Labrador. 


386  NORTH  AMERICA 

from  like  to  lake  in  their  bark  canoes,  or  else  plodding  heavily  hut  unwearily 
over  the  snowy  wastes  in  their  clumsy  snow-shoes.  They  are  seldom  seen  at  the 
Company's  stations,  and  they  generally  keep  aloof  from  the  whites,  so  that  very 
few  half  breeds  are  found  amongst  them.  They  live  in  wigwams  covered  with  birch- 
bark  or  with  caribou  skins,  and  in  winter  they  heap  up  the  snow  in  dense  masses 
round  about  their  dwellings. 

Like  the  other  still  uncivilised  Indian  tribes,  the  Xascopis  subject  the  young 
men  to  severe  trials,  especiallv  to  that  of  hunger,  before  admitting  them  to  rank 
as  equals  ;  the  periods  of  long  fasts  are  often  renewed  during  this  time  of  proba- 
tion. The  terrible  custom  of  despatching  the  aged  and  infirm  still  prevails  amongst 
the  Nascopis  ;  to  the  son,  the  brother,  or  the  most  intimate  friend  of  the  victim  is 
assigned  the  duty  of  performing  this  pious  but  painful  office. 

Formerly  the  Indians  and  Eskimo  were  continually  at  war,  and  the  former 
usually  had  the  advantage  in  their  conflicts.  Eskimo  Island,  about  12  miles 
inland  from  Hamilton  Inlet,  is  pointed  out  as  the  scene  of  a  legendary  battle 
between  the  hereditary  foes,  the  cause  of  contention  on  this  occasion  being  the 
assertion  of  the  Indians  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  drawn  a  natural  boundarv 
between  the  respective  territories  of  the  two  races,  all  the  forest-clad  land  belonging 
to  the  Indians,  and  all  the  barren,  treeless  tundras  to  the  Eskimo.  But  the  latter 
objected  to  this  arrangement,  whereupon  a  great  battle  was  fought  to  decide  the 
point  at  issue.  The  tradition  appears  to  be  confirmed  by  the  large  number  of 
Eskimo  graves  discovered  on  the  island  by  Holme.  These  graves  were  of  the 
usual  Eskimo  type,  rough  unhewn  blocks  of  stone  heaped  together  in  an  oblong 
form,  the  inside  space  measuring  2  by  1|  feet.  Many  had  been  disturbed  by 
wolves  and  bears,  but  most  of  them  still  contained  human  remains.  According  to 
the  tradition  the  Indians  were  again  victorious. 

The  Norsemen  also  were  constantly  at  war  with  the  "  !Skr;illinger,"  that  is,  the 
Labrador  Eskimo,  during  their  expeditions  to  the  American  mainland.  In  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  these-  Eskimo  still  occupied  several  inlets  on  the 
coast  of  the  Canadian  Labrador,  where  they  dwelt  in  harmony  with  the  French 
fishers,  of  whom  the)7  called  themselves  "friends  and  comrades."  Certain  islands 
and  a  bay  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  still  bear  Eskimo  names ;  but  at  present 
few  of  this  race  are  found  farther  south  than  Hamilton  Inlet,-  which  may  now  be 
regarded  as  the  southern  limit  of  their  domain.  On  its  shores  dwell  several 
Eskimo  families,  while  the  whole  coast  stretching  thence  north-westwards  to  Cape 
Chudleigh  belongs  exclusively  to  them. 

They  differ  little  in  apjiearance  and  language  from  the  Eskimo  peoples  of 
Greenland  and  the  Polar  Archipelago.  From  the  latter  they  are  separated  by  the 
by  no  means  impassable  barrier  of  Hudson  Strait.  Maclean  met  at  one  of  the 
Labrador  stations  some  Innuits  who  had  ventured  across  the  channel  on  a  raft 
made  of  irregular  logs  of  driftwood.  On  the  east  coast  they  are  generally  of  small 
size,  the  average  height  not  exceeding  five  feet.  But  those  of  the  west  coast  are 
taller  and  more  robust,  and  for  the  most  part  have  not  only  an  abundant  head  of 
hair,  but  also  a  fully  developed  beard  reaching  down  to  the  breast.      This  feature  is 


LABTUDOR. 


380 


doubtless  due  to  the  numerous  crossings  with  the  whites,  several  villages  being 
entirely  inhabited  by  half-breeds. 

Like  the  missionaries  residing  with  them,  they  are  much  inclined  to  corpulence. 
Mortality  is  excessive  amongst   the  children,  especially  since  the  introduction  of 


Fig-.  Id 7.— JIoEAniN-  Missions  ox  the  Labkadoe  Coast. 
Scale  1 : 3.000.0U0. 


West  ol     ureenwich 


62  Miles. 


the  European  diet,  that  is,  flour  and  potatoes.  The  race  is  supposed  to  be  dying 
out,  although  the  Christian  communities  administered  by  the  Moravian  missionaries 
still  number  from  1,200  to  1,400,  as  formerly.  At  the  last  census  they  were  1,347 
altogether. 


890  XORTH  AMEttTPA. 


The  Moravian  Missions. 


For  over  a  century  the  most  inclement  seaboard  of  Labrador  has  been  inhabited 
by  whites,  members  of  the  Moravian  missions.  So  early  as  1752  a  "  brother  "  of 
this  community  endeavoured  to  found  a  station  on  one  of  the  inlets  on  this  inhospit- 
able coast;  but,  he  was  murdered  together  with  five  sailors,  and  the  mission  was 
not  resumed  till  the  year  1770.  Three  stations  were  successively  established,  first 
at  Nain,  about  the  middle  of  the  north-east  coast,  then  at  Okak,  an  island  close  to 
the  shore  100  miles  farther  north  ;  lastly,  at  Hoffenthal  (Hopedale),  an  inlet 
about  the  same  distance  from  Nain,  hut  in  the  oj^posite  or  south-east  direction. 
In  1830  the  Moravians  founded  a  fourth  mission  still  farther  north,  that  of  Hebron, 
near  the  neck  of  the  extreme  peninsula,  which  projects  northwards  between 
Ungava  Bay  and  the  Atlantic.  Since  then  two  more  stations  have  been  added  to 
the  group,  Rama,  north  of  Hebron,  and  Zoar,  between  Nain  and  Hopedale. 

At  certain  seasons  more  than  three-fourths  of  all  the  eastern  Eskimo  are  grouped 
round  the  six  Moravi  m  stations,  whose  population  ranges  from  about  30  souls 
(Rama)  to  350  (Okak).  Thus  at  Christmas  and  during  the  first  weeks  of  the  new 
year  all  reside  in  their  winter  habitations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  church  and  the 
pastor's  dwelling,  and  at  that  time  they  are  chiefly  engaged  in  trapping  foxes, 
hunting  birds,  or  chopping  wood.  Then  follows  in  February  the  seal-hunting 
season,  after  which  they  return  about  Easter  to  the  stations,  penetrating  thence 
into  the  interior  in  pursuit  of  the  reindeer.  In  June  they  return  to  the  coast  to 
collect  the  eggs  of  sea-gulls  and  other  birds  on  the  rocks  and  islands,  and  spend 
the  close  of  the  year  in  fishing. 

Considerable  changes  have  taken  place  in  these  Eskimo  communities  since  the 
frequent  visits  of  white  sailors  and  fishers  to  the  stations.  Most  of  the  natives  now 
dress  in  the  European  style,  and  garments  of  cloth  have  replaced  their  former 
sealskin  costume.  Nor  do  their  habitations  any  longer  consist  of  huts  made  of 
earth  and  sods  or  even  of  hardened  snow,  resembling  in  form  as  well  as  in  the  struc- 
ture and  arrangement  of  the  approaches,  those  underground  chambers  or  burrows 
approached  by  galleries  which  are  still  seen  in  various  Scandinavian  regions. 
They  now  build  European  houses  with  planks  and  joists,  which  they  furnish  with 
beds,  tables,  carpets,  rugs,  looking-glasses,  clocks,  lamps,  and  other  articles  imported 
from  England  or  the  United  States.  They  now  drink  nothing  but  tea,  the  use  of 
all  alcoholic  liquors  being  interdicted.  Formerly  hunters,  they  are  now  chiefly 
fishers,  but  have,  for  the  most  part,  abandoned  the  frail  and  unseaworthy  kayak 
for  boats  constructed  on  the  Eunypean  model,  and  even  sailing-vessels  of  consid- 
erable size.  The  most  popular  game  is  football,  introduced  by  the  English  and 
joined  in  by  both  sexes,  the  women  often  carrying  their  infants  on  their  backs.* 

Hopedale  has  become  a  small  fishing-port,  where  as  many  as  fifty-six  smacks 
of  modern  build  were  entered  in  the  year  1875.  The  old  religious  ceremonies 
formerly  conducted  by  the  angokok,  or  native  priests,  have  long  disappeared  in 

*  F.  F.  Payne,  The  Eskimos  of  Hudson  Strait, 


LABRADOR.  891 

the  neighbourhood  of  the  missions.  Nor  are  the  former  funeral  customs  any 
longer  practised,  although  the  Eskimo  still  regard  with  superstitious  reverence  the 
stone  enclosures  of  the  dolmens  containing  the  remains  of  their  forefathers.  But 
while  the  natives  have  thus  become  civilised,  they  have  in  some  respects  been 
deteriorated  ;  at  least,  the  solidarity  no  longer  exists  which  formerly  prevailed 
amongst  all  the  members  of  the  same  clan.  The  dangers  and  the  products  of  the 
hunt  and  fishing  are  no  longer  shared  in  common  by  the  whole  community,  and 
this  spirit  of  fellow-feeling  is  now  replaced  by  the  European  moral  law,  "  Every 
man  for  himself." 

The  Stations  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 

Besides  the  German  Moravians,  English  missionaries  have  also  establisned 
themselves  at  some  of  the  stations  in  the  vicinity  of  Newfoundland.  Other  whites, 
accompanied  by  Canadian  half-breeds  and  Iroquois  Indians  from  the  St.  Lawrence, 
occupy  the  posts  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  which  have  been  founded  at  long 
intervals  round  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  and  Hudson  Bay.  Fort  Chimmo,  one  of 
the  remotest  of  these  stations,  lies  near  the  head  of  Ungava  Bay  on  the  banks  of 
the  lower  Koksoak,  where  the  tides  rise  as  high  as  40  feet.  This  establishment, 
which  had  been  founded  in  1828,  was  afterwards  abandoned  by  the  Company, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  keeping  up  the  communications  in  those  dangerous 
waters.  But  it  was  reoccupied  in  the  year  1866,  and  since  then  it  is  frequented 
by  the  Newfoundland  fishers  who  come  to  pursue  the  whale  in  Hudson  Bay  and 
to  trade  with  the  surrounding  Eskimo  tribes. 

Fort  Nascopi,  the  most  central  of  all  those  belonging  to  the  Company,  has  also 
been  deserted  since  1864 ;  it  stood  on  the  west  side  of  Lake  Petchikapou,  about 
midway  between  Ungava  Bay  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  At  present  the  most 
inland  of  the  Company's  stations  is  that  of  North-  West  Hirer,  so  called  because  it 
lies  north-west  of  Melville  Bay  on  the  emissary  of  Grand  Lake,  which  is  fed  by 
the  river  Nascopi  ;  it  is  surrounded  by  the  huts  of  a  few  Eskimo  half-breeds. 

Lower  down,  the  important  station  of  Rigolet  has  been  founded  on  the  north 
side  of  the  narrows  through  which  Melville  Bay  communicates  with  the  outer 
basin  of  Hamilton  Inlet.  This  is  a  great  rendezvous  for  the  seafarers  engaged  in 
the  cod-fisheries  of  the  Labrador  waters.  The  village  of  Soutltbrook,  still  figuring 
on  some  maps  as  an  inner  port  of  Hamilton  Inlet,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Kenamou 
River,  has  ceased  to  exist.  Some  years  ago  the  last  vestige  of  the  village  was 
obliterated  by  the  erosions  of  the  sea,  which  is  constantly  encroaching  on  the  land 
in  this  direction. 

The  Labrador  Fisheries. 

During  the  summer  months,  and  generally  from  June  to  October,  the  Labrador 
fishing- grounds  attract  large  numbers  of  fishers  from  England  and  Newfoundland  ; 
at  the  height  of  the  season,  the  literally  "  floating  "  population  of  this  seaboard 
may  be  estimated  at  about   30,000,  and  to  these  must  be  added  all    the   Eskimo 


392  XORTH  AMERICA. 

and  half-breeds  who  congregate  about  the  stations  and  curing- places.  Every 
creek  and  inlet,  every  beach  on  the  islands  and  mainland,  suitable  for  the  purpose, 
is  temporarily  occupied  by  drying-sheds  and  platforms,  which  are  later  covered  with 
the  winter  snows.  A  steamer  plies  regularly  between  Nain  and  Newfoundland, 
and  other  craft  keep  up  the  communications  between  the  fishing-stations  along 
the  coast. 

Formerly,  the  Newfoundland  fishers  ventured  no  further  north  than  Sandwich 
Harbour,  tbe  headlands  of  the  Mealy  Mountains  marking  the  extreme  limits  of 
their  exjdorations.  But  about  the  year  1830,  some  bold  navigators  pushed 
forward  as  far  as  Hamilton  Inlet,  and  thus  the  fishing-grounds  were  gradually 
extended  from  inlet  to  inlet  as  far  as  Cape  Chudleigh,  terminal  headland  on  the 
Atlantic  coast.  It  was  discovered  that  the  cod-banks  occupy  all  the  waters  of 
the  sounds  and  fjords,  and  even  the  channels  winding  between  the  groups  of 
islands  and  islets  along  the  seaboard,  as  well  as  the  outer  submarine  banks,  where 
the  icebergs  are  grounded  in  depths  of  from  25  to  35  fathoms.  Altogether,  these 
Labrador  fisheries  comprise  an  available  space  of  about  7,000  square  miles,  and 
are  consequently  more  extensive  than  those  of  the  great  bank  of  Newfoundland 
itself.     The  annual  value  of  the  produce  is  estimated  at  nearly  a  million  sterling. 

The  early  fishers  visited  these  waters  with  little  hope  of  finding  an  abundance 
of  cod  so  far  north,  as  the  more  common  animal  forms,  such  as  herrings  and 
capelans,  on  which  the  cod  feeds,  gradually  diminish  in  the  direction  of  these 
higher  latitudes,  until  at  last  they  disappear  altogether.  They  were  not  then 
aware  that  in  the  boreal  seas  the  cod  finds  an  ample  supply  of  other  food, 
such  as  numerous  species  of  crustaceans  and  jelly-fish  which  swarm  in  the  straits 
and  sounds  round  about  the  stranded  icebergs.  The  myriads  of  minute  organisms 
which  change  the  colour  of  the  marine  water  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  ice-floes 
afford  nutriment  to  the  medusa?,  which  in  their  turn  are  devoured  by  the  cod, 
which  is  again  so  largely  consumed  by  man,  and  especially  by  the  Mediterranean 
peoples. 

The  fishing  season  is  gradually  shortened  in  the  direction  of  the  polar  seas. 
Thus  it  lasts,  on  an  average,  about  140  days  on  the  Newfoundland  Banks,  but  not 
more  than  two  moriths  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Chudleigh.  According  to 
Henry  J.  Hind,  each  degree  of  latitude  corresponds  to  a  week's  delay  in  the 
appearance  of  the  shoals  of  cod.*  The  fishermen  do  not  remain  throughout  the 
winter  season  on  the  northern  shores  of  Labrador  ;  but,  on  the  south  coast,  those  of 
Newfoundland  have  permanent  settlements  on  the  estuaries  of  the  salmon  rivers. 
In  winter  they  are  chiefly  employed  in  trapping  the  fur-bearing  animals. 

Salmon  is  becoming  rare  on  the  east  coast  of  Labrador,  and  dense  shoals  are 
now  met  only  in  Hudson  Strait  and  Ungava  Bay,  beyond  Cape  Chudleigh.  Salmon- 
peel  and  trout,  however,  are  still  abundant  everywhere  ;  whitefish  is  also  common, 
and  is  preferred  by  many  to  salmon  itself.  In  Hudson  Strait  whales  are  occa- 
sionally stranded.      When   the   Eskimo   succeed  in  capturing  one  of  these  huge 

♦  Official  Report  on  the  Fishing-Grounds  of  Northern  Labrador,  187G. 


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NEWFOUNDLAND.  393 

cetaceans,  they  observe  a  strict  fast  for  four-and-twenty  hours,  in  order  to  do 
homage  to  their  victim,  and  to  avoid  the  maladies  which  his  offended  spirit  might 
bring  down  upon  the  tribe.* 


VIII.— NEWFOUNDLAND  AND   ITS   BANKS. 

The  island  of  Newfoundland  is  a  British  colony  distinct  from  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  ;  when  consulted  by  the  confederate  states,  it  declined  to  join  the  union  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  Dominion,  and  consequently  continues  to  depend  directly 
on  the  British  Government.  Nevertheless,  annexation  to  Canada  still  remains  an 
open  question,  which  is  the  subject  of  continual  discussion,  in  one  form  or  another, 
in  the  periodical  press  and  the  deliberative  assemblies.  Account  must  also  be  taken  of 
the  common  interests  and  close  relations  existing  between  the  Maritime  Provinces 
and  Newfoundland.  In  fact,  all  these  lands,  apart  from  conventional  divisions, 
are  members  of  the  same  body  politic,  just  as  they  belong  to  the  same  geographical 
region,  despite  the  narrow  passage  by  which  they  are  separated.  Hence  it  is 
convenient,  after  describing  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  study 
the  large  island  which  stands  out  as  a  seaward  bulwark  of  the  vast  estuary. 


Historical  Retrospect. 

Of  all  American  lands,  Newfoundland  has  the  least  right  to  the  name  which 
it  bears.  It  had  already  been  discovered  in  the  year  1000,  or  a  few  years  later, 
either  by  Erik  the  Red,  or  by  one  of  his  sons,  and  from  the  Norse  navigators 
it  had  received  the  name  of  Hellu-Land,  or  Mark-Land.  Later,  the  memory  of 
this  discovery  was  preserved  in  tradition,  and  according  to  the  Portuguese  and 
Basque  writers,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  mariners  of  their  nations  had 
visited  the  banks  and  the  islands  of  Newfoundland  long  before  the  first  voyage 
of  Columbus  to  the  West  Indies. 

But  however  this  be,  the  fifteenth  century  had  not  drawn  to  a  close  before 
Newfoundland  was  re-discovered  by  John  Cabot,  or  Gaboto,  possibly  in  the  year 
1494,  when  he  sighted  Prima  Vista,  but  more  probably  in  1497,  when  he  coasted 
the  great  island  and  the  neighbouring  continent.  The  rich  fishing-grounds  of 
these  waters  almost  immediately  attracted  whole  fleets  in  search  of  the  fish  required 
for  the  days  of  fasting  and  abstinence  ordained  by  the  Church.  About  the  year 
1580,  there  were  annually  assembled  in  this  region  from  350  to  400  vessels,  of 
which  150  flew  the  French  flag,  100  were  Spanish,  50  Portuguese,  30  to  40 
English,  and  20  to  30  Basque. 

Although  relatively  few  in  numbers,  the  English  ships  were  the  best  equipped, 
and  by  the  general  accord  of  the  fishers,  the  English  captains  were  chosen  as 
judges  and  arbitrators  in  the  disputes  that  arose  amongst  the  various  members  of 

*  J.  Maclean,  Hudson  Bay  Territory. 
VOL.  XV.  D  D 


394  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  floating  commonwealth.*  Such,  at  least,  is  the  statement  of  the  English 
writers.  Anyhow,  if  this  function  of  arbitrators  was  at  first  exercised  by  them 
by  mutual  consent,  they  soon  claimed  it  as  a  right,  and  in  the  year  1583  Humphrey 
Gilbert  took  possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of  the  Queen  of  England.  Thus 
Newfoundland,  which  at  that  time  was  supposed  to  form  part  of  the  mainland,  is 
the  oldest  British  colony. 

The  first  essay  at  colonisation,  however,  was  unsuccessful.  Gilbert  was  accom- 
panied by  a  party  of  250  immigrants ;  but  the  new  arrivals  were  soon  discou- 
raged by  the  lack  of  all  resources  except  those  derived  from  the  fisheries.  They 
refused  obedience  to  the  authorities,  and  despite  the  relentless  severity  of  the 
governor,  who  cropped  the  ears  of  the  malcontents,  the  colonists  had  all  to  be 
re-embarked  and  brought  back  to  the  mother  country. 

Gilbert's  project  was  not  resumed  till  the  year  1608,  when  John  Guyas,  a 
Bristol  navigator,  established  himself  at  Conception  Bay,  an  inlet  on  the  west  side 
of  the  St.  John's  peninsula,  but  he  soon  removed  the  settlement  to  St.  John's 
itself,  the  site  of  Gilbert's  old  colony.  The  rising  town  became  the  capital  of  the 
English  possessions  in  Newfoundland,  which  in  a  few  years  embraced  all  the  south- 
east coast  of  the  island. 

The  numerous  French  names  dotted  over  the  map  of  Newfoundland  attest  the 
great  influence  exercised  in  the  country  by  the  rival  nation,  which  long  contested 
with  England  the  possession  of  the  Canadian  lands.  On  various  occasions  they 
openly  challenged  the  claims  of  the  first  occupants  to  the  exclusive  possession  of 
the  country.  In  1635  they  had  secured  the  right  of  curing  their  fish  on  the  coasts 
of  Newfoundland  on  payment  of  a  tax  of  5  per  cent.,  and  in  1660  they  even 
founded  on  a  well-sheltered  inlet  of  the  south-east  coast  the  village  of  Plaisance 
(Placentia),  which  became  the  headquarters  of  their  fisheries.  The  settlement 
rapidly  increased  in  importance  especially  after  the  year  1675,  when  the  tax  paid 
to  England  in  recognition  of  her  sovereign  rights  was  finally  abolished. 

In  1694  a  French  expedition  captured  St.  John's,  but  failed  to  drive  the 
English  out  of  the  island.  Fourteen  years  later  a  portion  of  the  island  fell  again 
into  the  power  of  the  French.  But  their  rule  was  of  short  duration.  In  1713 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht  restored  the  whole  of  Newfoundland  to  the  English,  includ- 
ing even  the  town  of  Placentia,  but  at  the  same  time  leaving  to  their  rivals  the 
right  of  fishing  in  certain  Newfoundland  waters  and  of  drying  their  captures  on 
the  west  or  "  French  "  shore. 

Physical  Features. 

Although  known  for  nine  centuries,  Newfoundland  has  remained  till  compara- 
tively recent  times  completely  unexplored  in  the  interior.  Nearly  on  all  sides  it 
presents  to  the  sea  a  precipitous  and  forbidding  seaboard.  Few  other  coasts  offer 
a  more  surprising  succession  of  wild  and  romantic  scenery — overhanging  cliffs  or 
terminating    in    sharp   peaks,   caverns  and  cavities  where   the  noisy  waters  are 

*  Hakluyt ;  John  Purkhurst. 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


395 


engulfed,  sloping  ledges  over  which  the  waves  expand  in  thin  sheets,  half -sub- 
merged reefs  and  blowers  shrouded  in  white  foam,  projecting  headlands  fringed 


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to 


with  breakers,  narrow  gorges  and  chines  at  the  upper  end  of  which  may  be  seen 
the  silvery  threads  of  cascades. 

dd2 


396  NOETII  AMEEICA. 

In  winter  and  spring  the  entrance  of  the  harbours  is  blocked  by  ice,  and  they 
are  often  wrapped  in  dense  fog.  Even  on  land  travelling  is  rendered  almost 
impossible,  except  along  the  tracks  made  by  the  caribou,  although  in  the  interior 
there  are  no  mountains  of  any  great  elevation  ;  but  the  wayfarer  is  everywhere 
arrested  by  fjords  penetrating  far  inland,  by  lakes  and  innumerable  ponds  and 
meres  filling  all  the  depressions.  The  tangled  thickets  of  scrub  present  as  great 
obstacles  to  progress  as  do  the  quagmires  of  saturated  peat  and  mosses.  In 
summer,  the  season  of  excursions,  the  air  swarms  with  mosquitoes  which  settle  in 
clouds  on  the  wretched  pedestrian  and  bathe  his  face  in  blood.  Owing  to  all  these 
obstacles  and  the  generally  rugged  character  of  the  surface,  the  interior  long 
remained  unexplored,  and  Newfoundland  was  for  the  first  time  crossed  from  shore 
to  shore  in  the  year  1822.  The  Exploits  Valley,  which  intersects  it  obliquely 
from  north-east  to  south-west,  was  also  for  tbe  first  time  surveyed  by  the  geologist, 
Murray,  in  1861.  Thanks  to  the  new  line  of  railway  this  valley  will  now  afford 
more  easy  and  rapid  communication  from  one  side  to  the  other. 

It  is  evident  from  its  general  outlines  that  Newfoundland  consists  of  several 
ridges  all  disposed  in  the  same  direction,  from  south- south -west  to  north-north-east 
parallel  with  the  mountain  system  of  Gaspe  Land.  The  western  ridge,  which 
skirts  the  east  side  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  begins  with  the  headland  of  Cape 
Ray  at  the  south-west  extremity  of  the  island,  and  runs  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  coast,  interrupted  here  and  there  by  the  bays  and  inlets  which  extend  from 
the  gulf  some  distance  inland.  Thus  this  main  range,  whose  crests  are  of  Lauren- 
tian  formation  while  carboniferous  rocks  stretch  along  the  seaward  slope,  is  pierced 
by  the  deep  fissures  through  which  ramify  the  secondary  fjords  of  St.  George 
Bay.  Farther  on  the  range  merges  in  a  plateau  ravined  by  long  parallel  faults, 
and  again  reappears  with  its  carboniferous  formation  near  White  Bay  on  the  north 
coast. 

West  of  this  range,  main  axis  of  .the  island,  a  ridge  beginning  at  the  escarp- 
ments of  Cape  Anguille,  and  rising  at  one  point  to  a  height  of  1,900  feet,  joins 
the  main  chain  east  of  St.  George  Bay.  Farther  north  another  ridge,  starting 
from  Cape  St.  George,  is  interrupted  by  the  Bay  of  Islands,  beyond  which  it 
continues  under  the  name  of  the  Long  Range  to  traverse  the  northern  peninsula 
along  the  east  side  of  Belle-Isle  Strait.  It  has  a  total  length  of  no  less  than  250 
miles  without  counting  the  windings  of  its  crest,  and  some  of  the  peaks  rise  to  a 
height  of  over  2,000  feet. 

East  of  the  main  range  other  chains  follow  the  same  direction,  terminating  at 
both  ends  in  promontories  or  peninsulas  which  in  some  places  project  far  seawards. 
The  Middle  Range,  above  which  rise  a  few  serpentine  masses,  traverses  the  island 
obliquely  south  of  the  Exploits  River  and  culminates  in  Mount  Peyton  (1,670 
feet)  near  the  north  side.  Another  shorter  and  less  elevated  chain  is  developed 
between  Placentia  and  Bonavista  Bays,  while  the  Avelon  Peninsula  in  the  extreme 
south-east  consists  of  two  parallel  ridges  nearly  separated  by  the  deep  inlets  of 
St.  Mary's  and  Conception  Bays. 

Viewed  as  a  whole,  Newfoundland  presents  the  form  of  an  irregular  triangular 


EP7EBS  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


397 


plane  inclined  from  south-west  to  north-east,  the  most  elevated  land  occurring  in 
the  west  and  south,  and  thence  sloping  towards  the  Atlantic.  Nevertheless  the 
uniformity  of  this  slope  is  broken  by  isolated  eminences  known  by  the  name  of 
tolts.  The  fluvial  valleys  occupy  the  depressions  between  the  parallel  ridges,  which 
consist  mainly  of  granitic  masses,  Laurentian  or  silurian  rocks.  Owing  to  the 
foldings  and  dislocations  of  these  formations  the  island-  and  reef-studded  marine 
inlets  also  penetrate  far  into  the  interior.     Belle-Isle  Strait  itself  is  nothing  more 

Fig.  169. — The  Gasdee  Fjords. 
Scale  1  :  4,500,000. 


West  of  Greenw.ch  55' 4C 


Depths. 


1=1 

50tolOO 

Fathoms. 

i===4 

0to50 
Fathoms. 

100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 

.  62  Miles. 

than  one  of  these  valleys  separating  two  parallel  chains,  those  of  Labrador  on  the 
north  and  of  the  Long  Range  on  the  south  side. 


Rivers  axd  Lakes. 

The  Exploits  River,  largest  fluvial  basin  in  the  island,  with  a  total  length  of 
200  miles,  traverses  the  country  diagonally  from  south-west  to  north-east,  and 
the  diagonal  line  is  completed  on  the  south  side  by  the  precipitous  La  Poile  river, 
with  its  estuary  of  like  name.  A  winding  pond,  flooding  a  granite  basin  at  a 
height  of  1,240  feet,  is  the  source  of  the  Exploits,  which  develops  a  series  of 
similar  basins  in  its  descent  from  terrace  to  terrace  of  the  plateau.  After 
emerging  from  the  long  crescent-shaped  Red  Indian  Lake,  which  about  occupies 
the  geographical  centre  of  the  island,  and  whose  bed  falls  500  feet  below  the 
marine  surface,  the  Exploits  enters  the  region  of  forests,  chiefly  pines,  birches 


898  NORTH  AMERICA. 

poplars  and  aspens.  Beyond  this  zone  it  descends  seawards  through  a  succes- 
sion of  rapids  and  cascades,  one  of  which,  the  Grand  Falls,  has  a  drop  of  145  feet. 
Farther  down,  the  course  of  the  river  is  again  interrupted  by  another  large 
cataract  near  the  head  of  the  rocky  and  island-studded  inlet  where  it  mingles  its 
waters  with  those  of  the  Atlantic. 

All  the  other  Newfoundland  rivers  resemble  the  Exploits  in  their  salient 
features,  lakes,  cascades,  and  marine  estuaries.  The  Gander,  which  flows  in  a 
valley  parallel  with  the  Exploits,  and  which  falls  into  a  bay  not  far  to  the  east,  is 
remarkable  for  the  profound  crevasses  which  form  its  bed,  and  which  might  be 
equally  well  described  as  lakes,  rivers  or  fjords ;  at  the  narrowest  point  the  chief 
fluvial  gorge  has  a  depth  of  over  330  feet. 

The  Humber,  which  traverses  the  western  part  of  the  island,  discharging  into 
the  Bay  of  Islands,  receives  the  overflow  of  the  largest  lake  in  Newfoundland,  the 
Grand  Pond,  as  it  is  called,  which,  like  all  the  other  lacustrine  basins,  is  disposed 
in  the  direction  from  south-west  to  north-east.  It  covers  an  area  of  about  200 
square  miles,  rather  less  than  that  of  Lake  Geneva  ;  but,  standing  at  an  altitude  of 
only  50  feet,  its  remarkably  deep  bed  falls  no  less  than  1,000  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  sea.* 

It  has  been  estimated  that  the  surface  covered  by  the  innumerable  lakes,  ponds 
and  basins  of  all  sorts  dotted  over  the  plateaux  or  disposed  longitudinally  with  the 
river  valleys,  is  equal  to  about  one-third  of  the  whole  island.  If  to  these  be  added 
the  spongy  expanse  of  the  great  bogs,  more  than  half  of  Newfoundland  may  be  said 
to  be  under  water.  In  many  places  over  a  hundred  flooded  depressions  may  be 
counted  by  the  observer  standing  on  the  summit  of  a  single  eminence.  A 
lacustrine  period  has  followed  the  glacial  age,  traces  of  which  are  observed  on  all 
the  rocks.  But  at  present  no  glaciers  exist  in  Newfoundland.  The  hills  are  not 
sufficiently  elevated  for  the  snows  to  remain  permanently  on  their  summits  and 
develop  neves  in  their  cirques.  The  winter  snows  everywhere  disappear  during 
the  summer  months. 

The  part  of  the  coast  most  indented  by  fjords  and  inlets  is  the  seaboard  facing 
the  Atlantic,  and  it  was  in  this  direction  that  flowed  the  old  glacier  which  must 
have  been  several  hundred  yards  thick.  Through  these  inlets  also  penetrate  the 
waters  of  the  polar  current  setting  from  Baffin  Bay  and  the  northern  straits  ; 
consequently  here  also  is  accumulated  most  of  the  drift-ice  till  the  general  break 
up  in  spring.  Arrested  by  the  headlands  and  broken  into  fragments,  the  icebergs 
continue  to  drift  along  the  coasts  in  the  direction  of  the  south,  and  thus  pass  over 
the  submarine  banks  which  form  a  south-easterly  and  a  southerly  extension  of 
Newfoundland. 

The  Bank  of  Newfoundland. 

These  banks,  far  more  extensive  than  Newfoundland  itself,  do  not  present  any 
indented  contour  lines  like  the  shores  of  that  island.  On  the  contrary  the  Great 
Bank  of  Newfoundland,  disposed  in  the  form  of  a  curvilinear  triangle,  everywhere 

*  Proceedings  and  Transactions  of  the  E.  Society  of  Canada,  1882-3. 


THE  BANK  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


399 


presents  rounded  outlines  with  long  curved  inflexions.  Were  the  whole  marine 
bed  upheaved  it  would  attach  itself  as  a  heavy  peninsular  mass  to  North 
America. 

Taken  in  its  widest  sense,  the  Bank  of  Newfoundland,  that  is,  the  submarine 
space  covered  by  water  less  than  50  fathoms  deep,  occupies  off  the  island  a 
superficial  area  of  about  48,000  or  50,000  square  miles.  Its  bed  presents  but 
slight  undulations,  and  those  engaged  in  probing  its  depths  may  in  many  places 
traverse  vast  distances  without  detecting  a  difference  of  more  than  three  or  four 
feet  in  the  liquid  layers.  Nevertheless,  a  few  cavities  occur  in  the  sands  of  its 
bed.     Such  is  the  "  Whale  Hole,"  caused  perhaps  by  the  eddies  of  the  conflicting 


Fig.  170. — Bank  of  Newfoundland. 

Scale  1  :  10,000,000. 


reen^ich 


Depths. 


0to50 
Fathoms. 


60  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  to  1,000 
Fathoms. 


1,000  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


•250  Miles. 


currents  in  the  western  part  of  the  bank  south  of  Ope  Race,  and  sinking  to  a 
depth  of  nearly  400  feet.  An  equally  profound  chasm  limits  the  bank  on  the 
north-west,  separating  it  from  the  Avalon  Peninsula  and  from  the  less  extensive 
and  shallower  submarine  islets  called  the  Banc  a  Vert,  and  the  Banc  de  Sainte 
Pierre  from  the  French  island  of  that  name. 

In  the  extreme  east,  and  at  a  distance  of  about  125  miles,  another  bank,  the 
so-called  Bonnet- Flamand,  rises  in  an  oval  mass  above  the  surrounding  abysses 
which  have  an  average  depth  of  about  500  fathoms.  It  is  precisely  in  the 
vicinity  of  these  elevated  plateaux  that  the  ocean  bed  itself  plunges  into  the 
deepest  chasm  yet  revealed  in  the  whole  of  the  Atlantic. 


400  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  seas  break  over  the  Newfoundland  banks  although  they  are  covered  by 
35  or  40  fathoms  of  water.  Hence  their  approach  is  usually  revealed  to  mariners 
by  the  heavy  chopping  waves  fringing  their  borders.  But  within  this  fringe  of 
agitated  waters  the  sea  is  generally  calm,  so  that  the  bank  itself  might  be 
regarded  as  forming  a  veritable  harbour  of  refuge  but  for  the  risk  of  collision 
with  the  fishing  smacks,  steamers,  or  icebergs,  a  risk  which  is  never  absent  from 
these  waters  during  the  fishing  season.  The  large  Atlantic  liners,  the  most 
dreaded  in  case  of  collision,  owing  to  their  speed  and  enormous  size,  pass  regularly 
over  the  southern  "  tail  "  of  the  bank,  thereby  prolonging  their  passage  by  three 
or  four  hours,  but  at  the  same  time  avoiding  numerous  disasters.  No  inter- 
national convention,  however,  has  yet  been  signed,  by  which  the  highway  of 
ocean  traffic  might  be  deflected  altogether  from  these  banks,  at  least  during  the 
fishing  season.  The  long  convoys  of  icebergs  drifting  with  the  polar  current 
would  still  remain  a  constant  source  of  danger,  to  be  guarded  against  bv  the 
experience,  skill,  and  presence  of  mind  of  the  mariners  navigating  these  waters. 
The  skipper  has  to  study  from  a  distance  the  aspect  of  the  surface,  the  glint  of 
the  crystal  masses  reflected  from  the  clouds,  the  dense  fogs  and  clear  skies.  He 
must  take  note  in  the  waters  themselves  of  the  changes  of  temperature,  of  colour, 
and  of  animal  life  caused  by  the  proximity  or  remoteness  of  the  floating  masses. 
And  when  the  seas  are  wrapped  in  impenetrable  mist,  deadening  the  senses  and 
concealing  all  objects  however  near,  he  must  be  ready  for  every  contingency, 
unhesitatingly  cutting  moorings  and  fishing  gear  alike  adrift,  should  the  roar  of 
the  breakers,  at  times  even  the  crackling  and  shrinking  of  the  huge  ice-hills,  or 
else  the  sudden  lowering  of  the  temperature  warn  him  of  the  imminent  peril. 

These  convoys,  drifting  down  from  the  higher  latitudes,  pass  for  the  most  part 
along  the  eastern  section  of  the  bank,  a  few  straggling  blocks  alone  being  attracted 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Newfoundland  coasts.  Their  route  is,  in  fact,  largely 
determined  by  the  action  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  which  sets  in  the  direction  from 
south-west  to  north-east,  thus  deflecting  the  convoys  from  their  normal  course 
and  driving  them  more  to  the  east.  But  independently  of  this  cause,  their  line  of 
march  is  constantly  modified  by  the  bulk  of  the  masses  themselves,  as  well  as  by 
the  conflict  of  the  marine  currents  which  collide  in  these  waters,  and  become 
divided  into  secondary  streams  either  flowing  side  by  side  or  superimposed  one 
above  the  other  and  moving  in  opposite  directions. 

Wherever  the  iceberg  is  entirely  confined  to  the  polar  current,  it  progresses 
with  the  same  velocity  as  the  current  itself ;  but  when  brought  within  the  influence 
of  the  warmer  stream  from  the  tropical  seas,  it  is  not  only  turned  eastwards  but 
also  begins  to  crack  and  thaw,  rapidly  shifting  its  centre  of  gravity  and  now  and 
then  toppling  over  with  a  great  crash.  Usually,  however,  it  is  impelled  succes- 
sively or  even  simultaneously  by  opposing  forces;  the  under  current  contends 
with  the  upper,  and  the  block,  penetrating  through  both  layers,  hesitates,  oscillates, 
swings  round  or  moves  backwards  and  forwards  without  any  apparent  reason. 
Between  46°  and  44°  north  latitude  the  convoys  usually  begin  to  break  up,  before 
finally  disappearing  altogether  in  the  tepid  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream.      Their 


THE  BANK  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


401 


presence,  size,  numbers  and  general  bearing  are  signalled  by  passing  vessels  and 
semaphores  to  Washington  and  thence  communicated  to  all  the  ports  along  the 
eastern  seaboard. 

The  hypothesis  has  long  been  advanced  that  the  Newfoundland  and  neigh- 
bouring banks  have  been  formed  by  the  debris  of  all  kinds  deposited  by  the 
melting  icebergs  in  the  region  where  converge  the  two  opposing  currents  from 
Baffin  Bay  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Nevertheless  the  careful  observations  taken 
in  this  very  region  have  shown  that  in  the  North  Atlantic  the  polar  drift-ice 
contains  but  a  very  small  quantity  of  the  rocks  and  stony  fragments  and  glacial 
clays  either  brought  down  with  the  glaciers  from  the  rocky  slopes  of  Greenland, 


Fig.  171. — lOEEEEOS  OFF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
Scale  1  :  21,000,000. 


West  oF  Greenwich  45° 


316  Miles. 


or  else  carried  away  from  the  bed  of  the  lower  gorges.  All  the  blocks  that  get 
stranded  on  the  Newfoundland  coast  are  found  to  be  pure  as  crystal,  and  singularly 
free  from  sedimentary  matter.  Hence  they  can  have  contributed  to  a  scarcely 
appreciable  extent  to  the  gradual  building  up  of  the  submarine  beds  stretching 
south-eastwards  from  the  great  island* 

Moreover,  the  marine  regions  where  the  convoys  are  concentrated  in  the  largest 
number  by  no  means  correspond  in  their  general  contours  with  those  of  the  sub- 
merged plateaux,  while  the  banks  stretching  due  south  from  Newfoundland  lie 
altogether  beyond,  that  is,  considerably  to  the  west,  of  the  route  followed  by  the 

*  Thoulet,  Bulletin  de  Geographic  historique  et  descriptive,  Nancy,  1887,  No.  1. 


402  NOETH  AMERICA. 

convoys.  The  now  flooded  banks  must  therefore  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the 
primitive  features  of  the  terrestrial  crust.  They  form  part  of  the  pedestal  on 
which  the  American  continent  itself  reposes.  At  the  same  time  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  plummet  never  strikes  a  hard  rocky  bed,  and  that  all  the  debris  fished 
up  during  the  soundings  contain  nothing  but  sands  and  gravels  intermingled  with 
shells. 

Climate. 

But  if  the  clash  of  the  conflicting  currents  has  played  but  an  insignificant  part 
in  modifying  the  marine  bed,  it  is  certainly  the  chief  cause  of  the  vapours  which 
are  so  characteristic  of  the  eastern  waters  of  Newfoundland.  During  the  spring, 
summer  and  autumn  months,  when  the  Gulf  Stream  prevails  in  this  region,  the 
mists  roll  up  in  abundance  from  the  surface  of  the  suddenly-chilled  waters,  and 
the  surrounding  seas  become  enveloped  in  fogs  covering  a  space  as  large  as  France 
or  even  as  half  the  European  continent.  The  reports  of  seafarers,  for  the  most 
part  familiar  only  with  the  south-eastern  ports  and  approaches  of  Newfoundland, 
tend  to  confuse  the  island  itself  with  its  banks ;  hence  dense  fogs  are  commonly 
regarded  as  a  normal  if  not  permanent  feature  of  its  climate.  Doubtless  during 
the  prevalence  of  the  south  and  south-east  winds  the  vapours  are  rolled  up  from 
the  banks  by  the  atmospheric  currents,  and  at  such  times  they  are  spread  in  thick 
masses  over  the  creeks  and  inlets  along  the  south  coast.  But  as  a  rule  they  seldom 
penetrate  far  into  the  interior,  and,  according  to  the  local  saying,  "  The  land  eats 
the  fog." 

The  coasts  most  frequently  wrapped  in  mist  are  precisely  the  most  densely 
peopled,  lying  as  they  do  over  against  the  banks  and  their  fisheries,  that  is,  the 
chief  resource  of  the  islanders.  On  the  west  side  turned  towards  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  fogs  are  rarely  seen.  Even  in  the  north-east  as  far  as  Bonavista 
Bay  thick  vapours  are  scarcely  developed,  for  the  tepid  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream 
are  prevented  by  the  long  south-eastern  peninsula  from  penetrating  into  these 
inlets.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  year  the  dominant  winds  are  those  from 
the  west  and  south-west,  which  blow  parallel  with  the  oceanic  currents,  and  these 
winds,  instead  of  driving  the  vapours  towards  Newfoundland,  waft  them  across 
the  Atlantic  in  the  direction  of  West  Europe.  The  fogs  generated  in  the  New- 
foundland seas  are  thus  largely  absorbed,  especially  by  the  British  Isles. 

The  climate  of  Newfoundland,  which  on  the  whole  is  much  colder  than  that 
of  "West  Europe,  occupies  a  somewhat  intermediate  position  between  a  strictly 
continental  and  a  marine  climate.*  Newfoundland  is,  no  doubt,  an  insular  region, 
but  the  prevailing  winds  are  those  which  blow  from  the  neighbouring  continent. 
The  aspect  of  its  seaboard  forms  one  of  the  chief  elements  in  determining  its 
normal  temperature.  Thus  St.  George  Bay,  broadening  out  in  the  direction  of 
the  south-west,  is  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  aerial  currents  blowing  across 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  from  that  quarter,  while  it  is  protected  from  the  northern 
gales  by  the  barrier  of  the  highest  eminences  in  the  island.     Hence  St.  George 

*  Mean  temperature  of  St.  John's,  41°  F.  :  of  Brest  (Brittany),  54"  F. ;  difference,  13a  F. 


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FAUNA  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND.  403 

Bay  enjoys  a  higher  mean  temperature  and  a  more  equable  succession  of  seasons 
than  the  inlet  of  St.  John's,  which,  although  lying  more  to  the  south  and  fre- 
quently enveloped  in  the  marine  vapours,  is  exposed  to  the  cold  northern  winds 
and  washed  by  waters  chilled  by  the  melting  of  the  icebergs.* 

In  the  southern  parts  of  the  island  the  rainfall  is  abundant,  the  yearly  averago 
exceeding  60  inches,  or  nearly  double  the  quantity  precipitated  in  France. 
During  the  winter  months,  this  moisture  nearly  always  assumes  the  form  of 
snow,  either  soft  and  flaky  or  sharp  as  needles,  and  at  times,  especially  during 
the  prevalence  of  the  north-westerly  gales,  the  squalls  sweep  down  with  such 
violence  that  the  boldest  pedestrians  scarcely  venture  to  leave  the  shelter  of  their 
bomes.  But  storms,  properly  so  called,  are  rare,  and  whole  years  sometimes  pass 
without  a  single  peal  of  thunder  being  heard.  As  in  Canada,  but  much  more 
generally,  the  branches  of  tbe  trees,  the  shrubs  and  hedges,  are  covered  in  winter 
with  a  "  silvery  dew  "  formed  by  the  cold  rains  suddenly  freezing  at  contact  with 
solid  bodies. 

Flora. 

In  its  flora  Newfoundland  also  resembles  Canada,  except  that  it  lacks  numerous 
species,  such  as  the  cedar,  beech,  elm  and  oak,  while  others,  stunted  by  the  winds, 
are  of  much  smaller  size.  On  the  east  side  of  the  island  the  prevalence  of  fogs 
prevents  sucb  Eurojjean  fruits  as  the  apple,  pear  and  plum  from  ripening,  and  the 
inland  districts  are  still  two  thinly  peopled  to  introduce  horticulture.  But  there 
is  a  great  abundance  of  berry-bearing  plants,  Newfoundland  in  this  respect  resem- 
bling the  north-western  regions  of  the  Dominion.  For  thousands  of  square  miles 
the  rocks  and  swamps  are  overgrown  with  low  bushes  whicb  yield  large  quantities 
of  berries,  chiefly  used  in  the  preparation  of  jams  and  preserves.  From  a  variety 
of  thorn  is  extracted  a  kind  of  beer,  the  common  beverage  of  the  Newfound- 
landers. 

Fauna. 

Like  its  flora,  the  Newfoundland  fauna  resembles  tbat  of  Canada  with  the 
difference  tbat  it  comprises  a  much  smaller  number  of  species.  Thus  not  a 
single  venomous  snake  is  found  in  the  island,  which  also  lacks  frogs  and  toads. 
On  the  other  hand  it  occasionally  receives  guests  not  met  in  Canada.  Such 
are  the  polar  bear  and  the  walrus,  which  are  brought  by  the  icebergs  and 
landed  on  the  Newfoundland  coasts  at  a  season  when  in  European  regions  under 
tbe  same  latitude  nature  is  bursting  into  new  life.  The  difficulty  of  bunting 
over   sucb  rough  ground   has    protected  the  caribou,   which  still    wanders   over 

*  Meteorological  conditions  of  Newfoundland  and  St.  Pierre  on  the  south-west  and  south-east 
coasts  : — 

Extremes 


Latitude. 

Mean  Temp 

of  Heat. 

of  Cold. 

Rainfall. 

St.  John's  (8  years) 

47°  34'     . 

.     41°  F.      . 

.     88°  F.     . 

.      3°  F.     . 

.     80  inches. 

St.  George  ... 

.     48°  25'     . 

.     43° 

•     (?) 

.     15" 

•     (?) 

St.  Pierre    .     .     .     . 

.     46°  47'     . 

.     42° 

.     74° 

.  —4° 

.     27  inohes. 

404  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  interior  in  considerable  herds,  browsing  in  summer  on  the  lichens  of  the 
northern  peninsula,  and  returning  in  winter  to  the  southern  thickets.  Here  the 
enemy  of  the  caribou  is  not  man  but  the  wolf,  who  commits  terrible  depredations 
amongst  the  herds. 

The  fine  race  of  "  Newfoundland  dogs,"  known  all  the  world  over,  has  almost 
disappeared.  At  present  the  most  valued  breed  is  derived  from  crossings  between 
the  Leonberg  and  Pyrenees  hounds  of  allied  species. 

Of  all  the  American  islands  one  of  the  richest  in  aquatic  birds  is  the  little  cluster 
of  rocks  known  as  Funk's  Island,  which  lies  off  the  east  coast  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
banks,  and  which  is  supposed  to  be  identical  with  Jacques  Cartier's  "ile  des  oiseaux," 
where  the  auk  (aka  impennis)  formerly  gathered  in  prodigious  multitudes.  But 
it  was  pursued  with  such  relentless  eagerness  that  the  whole  race  was  speedily 
exterminated.  Towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  it  had  already  disappeared 
from  all  the  American  waters,  where  it  had  been  met  by  the  early  explorers.  Of 
the  seventy-two  skeletons  of  the  great  auk  preserved  in  our  museums  three  came 
from  Funk's  Island. 

Other  aquatic  fowl,  whose  great  power  of  flight  enabled  them  to  escape  from 
wholesale  massacre,  still  abound  on  all  the  rocky  headlands  and  inlets  round 
the  coast.     They  are  familiarly  known  by  the  comical  names  of  turrs  and  murrs. 

Except  in  some  of  the  inlets  the  amazing  abundance  of  fish  in  the  Newfoundland 
seas  appears  to  have  suffered  no  diminution.  Newfoundland  is  still  pre-eminently 
the  "Land  of  Cod,"  or  the  " Terre  des  Molues,"  whose  name  figures  on  the 
old  maps.  The  designation  baccalaos,  applied  at  a  still  earlier  date  to  the  same 
species  by  the  Flemish,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese  fishermen,  still  survives  on  the 
little  Bacalieu  Island  off  the  east  coast. 

The  cod  is  always  accompanied  by  numerous  associates,  and  the  sea  teems  with 
various  organisms  which  serve  as  food  for  the  larger  species.  One  of  the  forms 
discovered  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  may  be  called  the  "  angler  "  in  a  pre- 
eminent sense  ;  to  its  head  is  attached  an  elongated  appendage  or  filament  which 
is  dangled  about  like  bait,  and  then  sweeps  the  prey  into  the  angler's  mouth. 
Huge  octopuses  abound  in  these  seas  ;  in  1873  one  was  captured  whose  body,  7  feet 
6  inches  long,  was  provided  with  ten  arms  with  over  a  thousand  suckers,  and 
measuring  52  feet  from  one  extremity  to  the  other  of  the  tentacles.  Since  then 
fragments  of  squids,  even  of  larger  dimensions,  have  been  found  cast  up  on  the 
beach  after  stormy  weather. 

Inhabitants  of  Newfoundland. — The  Beothtjks. 

The  Beothuks,  as  the  aborigines  were  called,  have  been  exterminated;  nothing 
has  been  preserved  of  the  race  except  a  solitary  skull  now  in  the  St.  John's. 
Museum,  a  short  vocabulary  of  their  language,  and  a  few  of  their  stone  implements. 
At  the  first  arrival  of  the  whites  this  tribe  of  Algonquins  were  still  numerous, 
although  Champlain  believed  Newfoundland  to  have  been  uninhabited.  The 
Beothuks    gave   a   friendly   welcome  to  the   strangers,  who  with  their  hunting 


INHABITANTS  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND.  405 

instincts  repaid  them  by  regarding  the  natives  as  only  another  species  of  game. 
The  Mic-Macs  of  the  mainland,  hereditary  foes  of  the  Beothuks,  also  profited  by 
the  relative  superiority  which  they  derived  from  the  firearms  introduced  by  the 
Europeans.  Armed  with  these  weapons  they  often  crossed  the  strait  to  destroy 
the  camping-grounds  in  the  vicinity  of  the  south  coast. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  there  survived  only  a  small  number  of 
these  Indians,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  more  inaccessible  regions  of  the 
interior,  where  they  were  surrounded  by  swamps  and  lakes.  In  its  essays  at 
"  civilisation  "  the  Government  offered  rewards  for  the  capture  of  the  natives,  and 
thus  were  secured  a  few  women,  who,  however,  failed  to  appreciate  the  benevolent 
motives  of  their  captors.  The  last  of  such  captures  were  made  in  the  year  1823,  after 
which  time  no  one  pretends  to  have  seen  a  Beothuk  in  any  part  of  the  island.  Pos- 
sibly a  small  band  of  fugitives  may  have  succeeded  in  crossing  Belle-Isle  Strait  to 
the  mainland,  though  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  such  an  event  could  have  taken 
place  without  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  any  of  the  white,  Indian,  or  Eskimo 
inhabitants  of  Labrador.  The  race  had  already  been  destroyed  by  the  gun  of  the 
trappers,  by  famine,  disease,  and  misery,  when  in  1828  there  was  founded  at  St. 
John's  a  "  Beothuk  Society,"  whose  professed  object  was  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the 
ill-fated  fugitives.  But  they  found  none  to  succour,  and  the  few  Indian 
families  now  met  in  Newfoundland  are  Mic-Mac  immigrants  from  the  mainland. 


The  Whites. 

The  white  population  is  of  mixed  origin.  To  judge  from  the  names  of  localities 
one  might  suppose  that  French  was  the  language  of  the  majority ;  but  such  is  far 
from  being  the  case,  these  names  being  given  by  the  people  engaged  in  the  cod- 
fisheries,  who  do  not  remain  in  the  country  or  form  any  permanent  settlements. 
Hence  the  geographical  nomenclature  gives  no  certain  indications,  although  the 
French  element  must  enter  largely  into  the  constitution  of  the  people.  They  are 
in  exclusive  possession  of  the  two  islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  which  belong 
politically  to  France  ;  they  are  also  numerous  on  the  neighbouring  coast,  as  well 
as  in  the  Avelon  Peninsula,  the  part  of  the  island  which  is  most  densely  peopled ; 
on  St.  George  Bay,  where  some  Acadians  are  intermingled  with  the  British  popu- 
lations ;  lastly,  on  the  "  French  "  or  west  shore,  where  they  reside  temporarily 
during  the  fishing  and  curing  season. 

But  their  actual  numbers  are  not  even  approximately  given  by  any  statistical 
returns.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  present  century  M.  Rameau  estimated  them 
at  from  15,000  to  20,000  in  a  total  population  of  130,000.  In  the  official  documents 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  pass  for  English  whatever  be  their  mother  country. 
The  Irish  are  very  numerous,  so  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  more 
adherents  than  any  single  Protestant  sect,  although  all  the  Protestants  taken 
collectively  exceed  the  Romanists  by  nearly  50,000,  the  respective  numbers  being 
122,000  and  74,000  in  the  year  1886. 


40G  NOKTil  AMERICA. 


Colonisation. 


To  the  commercial  monopolies  must  bo  laid  the  blame  of  the  slow  progress 
made  in  the  colonisation  of  Newfoundland.  Every  year  the  "  admirals "  of  the 
fisheries  assumed  the  command  of  the  island  which  was  governed  as  if  it  were  a 
man-of-war.  The  first  care  of  the  admirals  was  to  destroy  all  the  houses,  huts,  or 
sheds  which  had  been  erected  near  the  coast,  for  the  beach  was  regarded  in  its 
entire  length  as  a  sort  of  military  zone,  like  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  citadels  or 
fortresses.  On  their  return  from  the  fisheries  the  captains  had  to  bring  back  all 
the  men  embarked  in  England,  or  else  account  for  their  death  ;  they  were  strictly 
charged  not  to  leave  behind  them  a  single  emigrant. 

No  stranger  could  settle  in  the  country,  acquire  any  land  in  freehold,  or  build 
the  smallest  house  without  the  express  permission  of  the  governor  ;  such  permis- 
sion was  seldom  granted,  because  the  fishing  and  agricultural  interests  were 
supposed  to  be  antagonistic,  and  the  latter  had  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  former.  The 
colonists  in  fact  appeared  in  the  light  of  mere  intruders,  marauders  prowling 
about  the  fisheries,  watching  for  an  opportunity  of  snapping  up  a  few  yards  of 
the  beach  or  some  vantage-ground  about  the  landing-places.  So  late  as  the  year 
1797  a  governor  gave  one  of  the  magistrates  a  tremendous  wigging  for  having 
allowed  somebody  to  enclose  a  bit  of  land.  Moreover,  the  rampant  intolerance 
forbade  the  exercise  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  the  "  Irishry  "  were  often 
re-shipped  by  whole  cargoes  for  their  distressful  country.  The  celebration  of 
Mass  was  regarded  as  a  felony,  and  to  secure  a  passage  across  the  Atlantic  the 
priests  had  to  disguise  themselves  as  common  sailors.  "When  thinking  people 
ponder  over  these  things  they  are  set  a-wondering  how  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ever 
struggled  to  the  front  at  all.  They  forget  that  all  things  are  relative  in  this 
world,  and  that  if  the  British  colonial  policy  was  bad,  the  French  and  the  Spanish 
were  also  bad,  in  some  respects  ten  times  worse. 

Despite  all  the  measures  taken  to  prevent  the  colony  from  flourishing,  its 
population  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  had  already  risen  to  some 
20,000  permanent  settlers.  At  that  time  all  Europe  was  at  war ;  the  foreign 
fishing-fleets  were  blockaded  by  British  cruisers  in  their  ports,  and  the  New- 
foundland fisheries  acquired  quite  an  exceptional  importance.  The  population 
of  the  island  increased  rapidly,  rising  to  70,000  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Napo- 
leonic wars  in  1815. 

But  then  came  a  general  commercial  smash,  and  the  people  who  had  depended 
exclusively  on  the  fisheries  suddenly  found  themselves  without  work  and  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  perishing  of  hunger.  The  situation  became  so  critical  that  it 
was  proposed  to  remove  most  of  the  inhabitants  elsewhere,  and  steps  were  even 
taken  to  carry  out  the  project.  A  few  hundred  of  the  more  indigent  Irish  were 
sent  back  to  increase  the  misery  of  their  native  laud,  and  over  a  thousand  persons 
emigrated  to  Nova  Scotia. 

Nevertheless,  the  economic  situation  gradually  returned  to  the  normal  condi- 
tions, and  the  population  continued  to  increase  chiefly  by  the  excess  of  births  over 


AGRICULTURE  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


407 


the  mortality.  At  present  it  exceeds  200,000,  and  the  equilibrium  already  about 
restored  between  the  sexes  shows  that  immigration  has  contributed  but  a  small 
share  to  the  growth  of  the  population.  Newfoundland  is  on  the  whole  an 
extremely  healthy  region,  and  its  most  dreaded  ailments  are  all  forms  of  rheuma- 
tism and  chest  diseases,  such  as  might  be  expected  to  prevail  in  a  damp,  foggy 
eliniate. 

Agricultural  Prospects. 

Agriculture  still  remains  in  a  rudimentary  state,  and  the  whole  extent  of  land 
under  tillage  is  only  about  55,000  acres,  or,  say,  one- seventieth  part  of  the  surface. 
Recently  the  agricultural  prospects  of  the  island  have  been  the  subject  of  some 
warm  discussion  in  connection  with  certain  railway  projects  to  be  carried  out  by 


Fig.  172.— Chief  Centres  of  Feesch  Population-  ct  the  Dominion. 

Scale  1  :  46,000,000. 


Tie* 


40 


.  i-:;.i  Jliles. 


the  aid  of  British  capital.  On  this  point  Alaj  or-  General  Dashwood,  speaking 
from  a  knowledge  of  the  island  extending  over  nineteen  years,  remarks  that 
districts  described  on  railway  maps  as  rich  soil,  are  nothing  but  "  bogs,  rocks,  and 
scrubs."  He  observes  generally  that  the  greater  part  of  the  land  is  of  a  poor 
stony  nature,  needing  much  manure,  for  which  fish  and  seaweed  are  used  on  the 
coastlands.  Some  isolated  bottom  lands  may  be  described  as  fairly  good,  but  the 
summer  heat,  combined  with  late  springs  and  early  autumns,  is  so  uncertain  that 
cereals  cannot  be  grown  to  advantage,  though  good  root  crops  may  be  raised. 
Hay  is  seldom  a  good  crop,  unless  in  a  very  wet  summer.  This  makes  it  all  the  more 
difficult  to  rear  any  number  of  stock,  when  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  must 
be  kept  up  about  half  the  year.  There  is  very  little  natural  herbage  in  this 
island  on  which  stock  can  feed,  though  cattle  will  browse  in  the  woods  in  summer  ; 
and  there  is  hardly  any  "  interval  "  land,  that  is,  meadows  flooded  by  rivers  ;  add 
to  which  there  is  no  market  except  St.  John's  for  farming  produce,  that  is  to  say, 
the  dealers  in  the  out- harbours  will  pay  in  cash  for  hardly  anything  except  fur, 


408  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  truck  system  being  in  force  everywhere,  except  for  articles  sold  in  the  town  of 
St.  John's.* 

The   Fisheries. 

On  the  other  hand  the  industries,  properly  so  called,  are  acquiring  more  impor- 
tance in  the  general  economy  of  the  island.  Nevertheless  the  fisheries  still  remain 
its  chief  resource.  Cod  continues  to  be  "  the  soul  of  the  colony."  The  annual 
exportation  consists  almost  exclusively  of  the  various  products  of  the  fishing- 
grounds — cod  and  cod-liver  oil,  herrings,  salmon,  trout,  seal-skins,  and  blubber. 
To  these  Newfoundland  exports  must  be  added  those  of  the  two  French  islands  of 
Saint-Pierre  and  Miquelon,  derived  entirely  from  the  vast  vivarium  of  the  banks 
and  representing  a  yearly  value  of  about  £600,000.  Account  should  also  be  taken 
of  the  enormous  local  consumption  and  of  the  manufacture  of  manures,  in  which 
are  chiefly  used  the  heads  of  the  cod-fish  rejected  by  the  curers.  Despite  the 
annual  catch,  which  rises  at  times  to  150  and  even  175  millions,  there  does  not 
appear  to  be  any  ajqjreciable  diminution  of  the  shoals,t  although  some  of  the  inlets, 
amongst  others  that  of  Conception  Bay  west  of  St.  John's,  have  become  compara- 
tively deserted. 

These  treasures  are  shared  by  three  nations,  the  English,  the  French,  and  the 
Americans.  Although  the  political  rulers  of  the  island,  the  English  fishers  are 
not  in  a  majority,  while  the  Newfoundlanders  themselves  confine  their  attention 
almost  entirely  to  the  coasts  of  the  island  and  of  Labrador.  The  Americans,  to 
whom  the  treaties  give  the  right  of  fishing  to  within  three  geographical  miles  of 
the  shore,  fish  on  the  banks ;  but  the  distance  thence  to  the  Maine  and  Massachu- 
setts curing-grounds  is  still  considerable. 

The  French,  who  have  for  four  hundred  years  supplied  the  markets  of  West 
Europe  and  the  Mediterranean,  enjoy  still  more  extensive  privileges  in  virtue  of 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  concluded  in  1713,  and  frequently  confirmed  since  that  time. 
They  have  the  special  advantage  of  a  -solid  base  of  operations  secured  by  the  abso- 
lute possession  of  the  two  islands  of  Saint-Pierre  and  Miquelon,  besides  the  right 
of  using  the  "  French  Shore,"  that  is,  the  west  coast  of  Newfoundland,  for  curing 
purposes.  They  have  the  right  of  fishing  in  these  waters,  and  of  erecting  sheds 
and  platforms  on  the  beach,  but  not  of  building  permanent  structures  or  passing 
the  winter  on  the  mainland. 

International  Conflicts. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  clash  of  interests  gives  rise  to  frequent 
conflicts  on  this  territory  belonging  as  it  were  to  two  rival  masters.  Hence  the 
incessant  diplomatic  wranglings,  which  have  at  times  assumed  a  threatening 
aspect.  The  bounties  of  from  ten  to  sixteen  shillings  for  every  hundredweight  of 
fish,  and  of  twenty  shillings  for  every  man  employed,  which  the  French  Govern- 
ment grants  to  the  owners  of  the  fishing-smacks  with  a  view  "  to  protect  acquired 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  18S8,  p.  6S2. 
t  E.  B.  Biggar,  op.  cit. 


FISHERIES  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND.  409 

interests,"  and  to  form  recruits  for  the  navy,  are  regarded  by  the  Newfoundland 
and  Canadian  legislatures  as  an  infringement  of  the  conditions,  preventing  their 
own  fishers  from  competing  on  equal  terms  with  the  French. 

In  order  to  neutralise  the  effect  of  the  French  bounties  the  Newfoundland 
legislature  passed  a  law  in  1886,  sanctioned  by  the  British  Government  in  1888, 
which  prohibits  the  export  to  Saint-Pierre  and  Miquelon  of  the  bait  required  by 
the  French  fishers.  At  the  beginning  of  the  season  capelan  is  the  best  for  this 
purpose,  followed  during  the  months  of  August  and  September  by  a  small  species 
of  octopus,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  season  by  the  herring.  At  the  risk 
of  completely  ruining  the  populations  of  Fortune  and  Placentia  Bays,  who  formerly 
supplied  these  different  kinds  of  bait  to  the  French,  the  St.  John's  legislature 
has  interdicted  their  c  ipture. 

According  to  the  new  regulations  for  the  sale  of  bait  (April,  1890)  it  is  pro- 
vided that  all  French,  American,  and  Canadian  fishing  vessels  shall  pay  the 
ordinary  light  dues,  and  four  shillings  per  ton  as  licence  fee  for  every  time  she 
enters  port  for  the  purchase  of  bait.  The  purchase  itself  is  limited  to  one  barrel 
per  ton  register,  and  a  second  licence  will  not  be  granted  within  three  weeks  of 
the  date  of  the  first. 

The  French  were  little  troubled  by  the  embargo  laid  upon  the  capelan, 
because  from  the  12th  till  the  loth  of  June  this  species  swarms  in  the  inlets  of 
Saint-Pierre  and  Miquelon  in  such  prodigious  quantities  that  it  imparts  a  milky 
colour  to  the  surrounding  waters,  and  the  capelans  are  sometimes  heaped  12  or 
16  inches  thick  along  the  beach.  Some  of  the  other  bait  was  also  procured  by 
smuggling,  though  of  course  at  increased  expense  for  the  fishers.  Recourse  has 
also  been  had  to  other  expedients  to  keep  up  the  supply,  and  improved  kinds  of 
fishing-gear  have  even  been  introduced  wherewith  to  capture  the  cod  by  new 
processes.  Lastly,  a  large  number  of  fishers  have  abandoned  the  banks,  and  have 
begun  to  work  the  lobster-grounds  on  the  French  Shore,  or  applied  themselves  to 
the  preparation  of  preserved  food.  The  rival  parties  indulge  in  mutual  recrimina- 
tion, and  accuse  each  other  of  laying  snares  at  the  entrance  of  the  inlets  to 
capture  whole  shoals,  and  thus  depopulate  the  grounds.  The  Canadian  Govern- 
ment, on  its  part,  which  had  hitherto  observed  a  certain  neutrality  in  the  conflict, 
has  now  taken  sides  with  Newfoundland  against  France  by  prohibiting  the 
French  fishers  from  passing  their  cargoes  of  fish  free  of  charge  through  the  port 
of  Halifax. 

Lately  this  state  of  suppressed  warfare  brought  about  the  temporary  overthrow 
of  the  Newfoundland  ministry,  which  had  prohibited  the  sale  of  bait,  and  the 
negotiations  carried  on  between  the  British  and  French  Governments  resulted  in  a 
sort  of  modus  vivendi,  which  might  afford  time  for  a  permanent  settlement  of  the 
dispute.  It  was  hoped  that  this  temporary  arrangement  would  give  general 
satisfaction,  especially  as  it  has  been  proposed  to  repeal  the  Bait  Act,  replacing  it 
by  a  provision  for  the  purchase  of  bait  by  fishermen  of  all  nationalities  upon 
payment  of  licence  and  tonnage  fees.  But  the  modus  vivendi  is  now  generally 
condemned  by  public  opinion  iu  Newfoundland,  and  a  demand  has  been  made  for 

VOL.  XV.  E  E 


410  NORTH  AMERICA. 

the  total  abolition  of  the  old  treaties,  and  for  the  extinction  of  all  French  maritime 
and  territorial  rights  in  the  colony. 

This  result  has  already  been  virtually  brought  about  on  the  French  Shore, 
where  the  very  force  of  circumstances  has  rendered  impracticable  the  old  treaty, 
which,  in  fact,  has  been  officially  violated  since  the  year  1881.  Numerous  groups 
of  British  colonists  have  settled  on  this  interdicted  coast,  and  to  them  the  French 
fishermen  usually  entrust  the  care  of  their  establishments  during  the  w7iuter 
months.  The  legal  existence  of  these  colonies,  which  already  comprise  over 
12,000  residents,  has  been  recognised  by  the  British  Government,  and  the  "  French 
Shore,"  hitherto  a  sort  of  neutral  ground  where  no  one  had  the  right  to  settle,  has 
become  an  "  English  Shore."  The  French  fishers,  injured  by  these  inevitable 
changes,  have  preserved  their  fishing  rights  alone. 


Other  Fisheries — Navigation. 

Next  to  cod,  the  herring  has  the  greatest  economic  value  on  these  fishing- 
grounds.  It  is  taken  especially  in  the  bay  of  Islands  and  in  the  Humber  arm, 
that  is,  that  branch  of  the  bay  where  the  Humber  reaches  the  coast.  Even  in 
winter  the  herring  is  pursued  in  the  Eskimo  fashion  by  piercing  the  ice,  and 
casting  the  nets  into  the  hidden  waters. 

On  the  other  hand,  both  the  salmon  and  seal  fisheries  have  gradually  fallen  off, 
and  no  longer  possess  any  importance  in  the  general  trade  of  the  colony.  The 
number  of  seals  taken  on  the  Newfoundland  coasts  fell  from  nearly  687,000  in 
1831  to  a  little  over  200,000  in  1882.  The  oyster-beds  have  also  been  almost 
completely  exhausted.  But  on  various  points  on  the  coast,  and  especially  at 
Dildo  Island  in  Trinity  Bay,  piscicultural  establishments  have  been  founded  with 
such  results  that  some  hope  is  now  entertained  of  the  waters  being  re-stocked 
which  had  been  depopulated  by  the  reckless  improvidence  of  the  former  fishers. 
Hundreds  of  millions  of  cod  and  lobster  fry  are  periodically  distributed  by  these 
breeding-  stations. 

General  navigation,  apart  from  the  fisheries,  is  in  a  fairly  flourishing  state, 
but  in  the  statistical  returns  account  is  taken  only  of  those  vessels  which  regularly 
visit  the  Newfoundland  seaports  to  land  or  ship  freight.  The  local  mercantile 
fleet,  consisting  almost  exclusively  of  fishing  craft,  comprises  over  2,000  vessels 
of  all  sorts,  of  about  100,000  tons  burden.  Thus  the  smacks  do  not  average  more 
than  50  tons,  and  are  mainly  confined  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  banks,  and 
the  Labrador  coasts.  At  first  sight,  Newfoundland  would  seem  to  be  admirably 
situated  for  developing  a  great  shipping  movement,  projecting,  as  it  does,  far 
seawards  in  the  direction  of  Europe.  The  transatlantic  passage  would  even  be 
reduced  by  two  days  were  St.  John's  selected  as  the  terminus  on  the  American 
side.  But  the  railway  intended  for  the  transport  of  passengers  and  merchandise 
across  the  island  is  not  yet  terminated,  and  most  travellers  who  brave  the  seas 
will  probably  prefer  the  longer  voyage  to  the  inconvenience  of  two  embarkations 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND.  411 

followed  by  a  considerable  railway  journey  to  reacb  such  centres  as  New  York  and 
Montreal. 

However  Newfoundland  must  always  remain  the  most  advanced  terminus  of 
the  international  telegraph  service  on  the  American  side.  Of  the  ten  North 
Atlantic  submarine  cables  five  are  landed  at  Heart's  Content  on  the  east  side  of 
Trinity  Bay,  while  other  cables  radiate  from  the  island  in  the  direction  of  Canada, 
Cape  Breton,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  United  States. 


Mineral  Resources. 

Newfoundland  is  known  to  possess  a  considerable  reserve  of  mineral  wealth, 
which  however  must  remain  to  a  large  extent  undeveloped  until  the  country  is 
opened  up  by  a  more  extended  system  of  railway  communication.  The  copper 
mines,  which  have  been  partly  worked,  are  noted  for  the  excellent  quality  of  their 
ores.  Several  thousand  tons  of  these  ores  are  now  annually  exported,  and  recent 
surveys  show  that  the  country  abounds  in  other  minerals,  such  as  iron,  magnetic 
iron,  sulphur,  coal,  graphite,  nickel,  lead  and  sulphur.  Extensive  deposits  of 
magnetic  iron  ore,  from  which  the  finest  steel  can  be  made,  were  discovered  in  the 
year  1888  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  St.  George  Bay  coal  fields,  a  district  which 
also  presents  the  advantage  of  much  wooded  and  fertile  land. 

The  Newfoundland  sulphur  deposits  yield  considerably  over  fifty-one  per  cent, 
of  pure  sulphur,  which  is  two  per  cent,  more  than  the  richest  beds  in  Sicily  and 
other  parts  of  Europe.  At  the  Little  Bay  copper  mines  smelting  furnaces  were 
erected  in  the  year  1889,  for  the  purpose  of  smelting  the  ore  on  the  spot,  and  ex- 
porting the  copper  in  its  pure  state.  Extensive  mining  operations  have  also  been 
recently  undertaken  by  a  Scotch  company,  which  has  purchased  several  lead  and 
silver  mines  in  the  Placentia  Bay  district. 


Topography  of  Newfoundland. 

St.  John's,  not  St.  John,  which  is  the  name  of  the  New  Brunswick  seaport,  is 
the  capital  and  largest  town  in  Newfoundland,  one-sixth  part  of  the  whole 
population  being  centred  in  the  place.  It  dates  from  the  earliest  times  of  the 
discovery  by  Basques,  Bretons,  and  Portuguese,  and  was  already  much  frequented 
by  fishing  craft  so  early  as  the  begiuning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Hence  the 
possession  of  this  port  was  hotly  contested  by  the  English  and  French,  but  it  has 
belonged  to  England  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  The  town  is  invisible  from 
the  sea,  and  the  entrance  to  the  harbour  is  indicated  by  beacons  erected  on  the 
summits  of  the  headlands.  On  rounding  one  of  these  promontories,  navigators 
enter  the  Narrows,  a  marine  channel  about  a  third  of  a  mile  long,  which  is 
dominated  by  bluffs  500  or  600  feet  high,  and  which  was  formerly  closed  against 
hostile  vessels  by  an  iron  chain  220  yards  long.     On  one  occasion  the  passage  was 

e  e  2 


412 


NoltTII  AMERICA. 


so  completely  blocked  by  masses  of  ice  driving  before  tbe  storm  that  the  obstruction 
had  to  be  removed  by  blasting  with  gunpowder. 

The  Narrows  suddenly  expand  into  a  spacious  basin  of  smooth  water,  on  the 
north  side  of  which  the  city  is  seen  rising  in  amphitheatrical  form  on  the  terraced 
slopes  of  the  hills.  But  despite  its  picturesque  position,  St.  John's  cannot  be 
called  a  fine  town.  It  was  mainly  built  by  traders  and  shippers,  few  of  whom  had 
the  intention  of  permanently  settling  in  the  place;  hence  they  were  satisfied  with 
temporary  residences  and  with  tasteless  warehouses  solid  enough  to  shelter  their 
stores.  The  poorer  classes,  mostly  of  Irish  descent,  live  in  griniy  wooden  houses 
affording  fuel  to  the  flames  of  the  frequent  winter  fires. 

All  quarters  are  pervaded  by  the  penetrating   smell  of  fish,  which  is   quite 


Fig-.  173.— Chief  Atlantic  Cables  teesltxattno  at  Ne-ktou>-dla>.-d. 
Scale  1  :  19,000,000 


-■ 


-"' 


40 


c      Ijreer 


315  Miles. 


intolerable  on  the  beach  where  the  curing-sheds  are  erected.  A  town  whose 
atmosphere  is  permanently  charged  with  such  odours  scarcely  lends  itself  to 
architectural  display  ;  fortunately,  however,  it  is  abundantly  supplied  with  pure 
water  derived  from  a  lake  in  the  neighbouring  hills.  A  few  gardeners  have  also 
succeeded  in  raising  a  scanty  crop  of  vegetables  from  the  poor  soil  covering  the 
surrounding  rocks. 

A  railway  which  rounds  Conception  Bay,  so  named  by  Cortereal,  connects 
St.  John's  with  Harbour- Grace  (originally  Ha cre-de- Grace),  the  second  largest  place 
in  the  island.  Its  houses  are  grouped  together  on  tbe  shores  of  a  creek  which  is 
sheltered  from  the  surf  by  a  tongue  of  sand,  and  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
was  often  crowded  with  as  many  as  four  hundred  English,  French,  and  Portuguese 
fishing-smacks.     Although  the  waters  of  Conception   Bay  no  longer  teem  to  the 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND.  413 

same  extent  as  formerly  in  animal  life,  Harbour-Grace  is  still   much  frequented 
during  the  fishing  season. 

On  an  inlet  of  the  same  bay  about  eight  miles  farther  north  stands  the  English 
town  of  Carbonear,  on  the  site  of  the  old  French  settlement  of  Carboniere,  also 
a  busy  seaport  during  the  season.  On  the  east  side  of  Trinity  Bay,  north- 
west from  Carbonear,  lies  the  pleasant  little  fishing  village  of  Heart's  Content, 
memorable  as  the  spot  where  was  landed  the  electric  cable  of  18-jS,  by  which 
submarine  communication  was  first  established  between  the  Old  and  New  World. 
From  the  "  words  of  good  will "  on  that  occasion  flashed  across  the  ocean  and 
transmitted  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  one  might  have  supposed  that  the  era  of 
universal  brotherhood  had  at  last  begun. 

Other  fishing  stations  follow  north  of  Conception  and  Trinity  Bays,  and  here 
the  towns  of  Catalina  and  Bonavista,  dating  from  the  first  years  of  the  discovery, 
still  receive  hundreds  of  fishing  craft.  The  harbour  of  Greenspond  is  also  much 
frequented,  and  beyond  the  neighbouring  headland  of  Cape  Freels  (Frehel)  are 
situated  two  other  ports,  those  of  Fogo  and  the  old  French  town  of  Toulinguct,  which 
the  English  have  transformed  to  Twillingate.  This  place  stands  on  two  rocky 
islets  connected  by  a  picturesque  viaduct.  From  this  district  were,  till  recently, 
procured  the  finest  Newfoundland  dogs,  perfectly  black  with  a  white  cross  on  the 
breast. 

These  ports  on  the  north  coast  equip  a  considerable  number  of  smacks  for 
the  Labrador  fisheries.  Here  also  scfme  agriculture  is  carried  on,  especially  in 
the  vicinity  of  Twillingate.  But  in  the  neighbouring  Notre-Darne  Bay,  the 
chief  industry  is  the  working  of  the  deposits  of  copper  which  is  found  in  pockets 
or  nodules  disseminated  through  the  rocks.  Deep  galleries  have  already  pene- 
trated far  into  the  hills  in  the  district  of  Tilt  Core,  a  little  haven,  where  nearly  all 
the  inhabitants  are  engaged  in  the  mines.  An  English  company  exports  the  ores 
and  builds  roads,  railways,  and  telegraphs  in  this  region,  which  had  hitherto  been 
destitute  of  all  land  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  island. 

The  south  coast,  especially  that  of  the  Avalon  peninsulas,  south  of  St.  John's, 
is  much  more  densely  peopled  than  the  north.  The  inhabitants,  attracted  by  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  banks,  are  concentrated  along  the  shores,  though  the  poor 
and  rocky  soil  prevents  them  from  settling  in  the  interior.  Here  the  largest  place, 
formerly  a  rival  of  St.  John's,  is  the  old  French  colony  of  Plaisance,  which  was 
changed  by  the  English  to  Placentia  in  the  year  1713,  when  the  French  soldiers 
and  residents  had  to  evacuate  Newfoundland  and  remove  to  Cape  Breton.  Facing 
it,  on  the  north  side  of  a  creek,  stands  the  village  of  Little  Placentia,  near  which 
are  some  lead  mines,  la  Placentia  Bay  the  best  port  is  Burin,  on  t'he  west  side, 
where  it  is  sheltered  from  all  winds  by  a  group  of  islets.  The  Burin  ship-owners 
equip  a  large  number  of  smacks  for  the  banks  and  keep  up  a  brisk  trade  with  the 
French  port  of  Saint-Pierre. 

Farther  on  there  are  no  large  places  on  the  south  coast ;  not  one  of  the  villages, 
such  as  Fortune,  Burgeo,  La  Poile,  and  Port  Basque,  has  a  population  of  a  thou- 
sand  souls.     Near  Port  Basque,  called  also  Channel  by  the  English,  are  situate 


414  NOBTII  AMERICA. 

the  dangerous  reefs,  les  Isles  aux  Morts  (Dead  Men's  Isles),  the  scene  of  constant 
shipwrecks.  At  times,  after  stormy  weather,  batches  of  gravediggers  have  been 
occupied  for  several  days  in  burying  the  dead. 


Administration. 

The  Newfoundland  Government,  modelled  on  that  of  Great  Britain,  is  based 
on  the  one  hand  on  the  pojmlar  will  represented  by  manhood  suffrage ;  on  the 
other,  on  the  royal  pleasure  directly  interpreted  by  the  Governor.  All  citizens, 
twenty-one  years  old,  occupying  a  domicile  for  two  years  before  the  day  of  the 
elections,  either  as  owners  or  tenants,  and  all  men  over  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
whatever  their  residence,  have  a  vote.  The  island  is  divided  into  districts,  collec- 
tively returning  thirty-three  deputies  to  the  House  of  Assembly.  These  repre- 
sentatives are  chosen  every  four  years  amongst  proprietors  with  an  income  of  not 
less  than  £100,  or  property  valued  at  £500,  and  free  of  mortgages  ;  they  receive 
a  subsidy  of  £40  if  residents  of  St.  John's,  and  £60  if  they  have  their  domicile 
elsewhere. 

The  Legislative  Council  consists  of  fifteen  members  nominated  by  the  Govern- 
ment for  life,  and  receiving  a  subsidy  of  £25  for  each  session.  The  Executive 
Council  of  seven  members  is  also  chosen  by  the  Government,  but  is  responsible  to 
the  majority  of  the  Legislature.  Lastly,  the  Governor  is  appointed  by  the  Crown, 
usually  for  a  period  of  six  years.  The  Constitution,  which  dates  from  the  year 
1855,  was  modified  in  1885. 

The  colonial  revenue  is  derived  almost  exclusively  from  the  customs,  which 
vary  from  10  to  25  per  cent.,  according  to  the  different  articles.  Coal,  fishing- 
gear,  printing-paper,  and  vegetables  are  exempt  from  impert  dues. 


IX.— SAINT-PIERRE  AND  MIQUELON. 

The  two  islands  in  the  Newfoundland  waters  left  to  France  by  the  treaties 
were  well  known  to  the  navigators  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  are  specially 
mentioned  by  Cartier  in  1535.  But  the  little  archipelago  received  no  residents 
properly  so  called  before  the  year  1604,  when  some  Basque  and  other  seafarers 
from  the  west  of  Europe  settled  here  and  occupied  themselves  with  the  curing  of 
codfish.  But  they  were  expelled  by  the  English,  and  no  fresh  settlements  were 
made  till  the  year  1763,  when  some  Acadians,  driven  from  Nova  Scotia,  sought  a 
refuge  in  Saint-Pierre  ;  but  these  also  were  compelled  to  emigrate,  and  in  1778 
the  whole  population  of  the  islands,  at  that  time  variously  estimated  at  from  1,200 
to  1,932,  was  expelled  and  had  to  take  refuge  in  France. 

In  1783  the  islands  were  again  thrown  open  to  settlers,  and  ten  years  later  they 
contained  1,500  inhabitants,  when  the  English  again  swooped  down,  and  the  French 
were  again   banished.     No   attempt  was  made  at  a  fresh  settlement  till  the  year 


Il!iaii!ll||i;!!1:;:i,;!|; 


p 


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a 

2 
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a 
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o 

& 

H 

z 
w 

BS 
SS 
63 


r- 


o 


LI3RARY 
tfSlTVoflLli 


ST.  PIEBEE  A^'D  M1QUEL0N. 


415 


1816,  when  the  islands  were  restored  to  France.      Amongst  the  new  immigrants 
were  some  families  belonging  to  the  former  exiles. 

The  treaties  are  variously  interpreted.  According  to  the  French  the  archi- 
pelago belongs  to  France  in  full  and  absolute  sovereignty,  with  the  right  of  erecting 
military  works,  while  the  English  hold  that  all  fortified  works  are  forbidden. 
Anvhow  none  exist,  and  it  would  be  useless  to  erect  them.    Saint-Pierre  is  nothing 


Figr.  174. — Placextia  [sthhus. 
Scale  1  :  500,000. 


West  oF  Greenwich 


53c2o- 


1-iepths. 


Oto  10' > 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 

.  IS  Miles. 


more  than  a  French  fishing -station  in  Canadian  and  British  waters,  but  from  the 
ethnical  point  of  view  it  is  the  first  or  easternmost  station  of  numerous  French 
populations,  which  stretch  thence,  either  in  colonies  or  isolated  groups,  westwards 
to  Canada  and  the  Fnited  States  as  far  as  the  Eocky  Mountains. 

The  archipelago,  a  mere  geographical  dependency  of  Newfoundland,  with  which 
it  is  attached  by  submarine  beds  less  that  50  fathoms  deep,  forms  a  group  of  three 


lib' 


N01JT11  AMERICA. 


rugged  islets,  Saint-Pierre  in  the  south,  and  (he  much  larger  Miquelon  in  the  north, 
which  comprises  two  insular  masses,  Great  JVIiquelon  and  Little  Miquelon,  called 
also  Langlade  or  Langley.  The  former  has  a  few  summits,  700  or  800  feet  high. 
The  latter  is  lower,  though  one  of  its  peaks  rises  to  an  elevation  of  530  feet.     Both 


Fig-.  175.-  ilmrELON  AkciiipelagO- 
Scule  1 :  600,nnn 


56°25 


or   farp^nwich 


i-epths. 


0  to  5 
Fathoms. 


5  to  25 
Fathoms. 


25  to  100 
Fathoms. 


100  Fathoms 
and  upwards. 


12  Miles. 


are  connected  by  a  sandy  isthmus,  in  some  places  scarcely  1,000  feet  wide,  built  up 
by  conflicting  currents,  but  now  and  then  pierced  by  a  channel  large  enough  to  give 
access  to  vessels  of  average  tonnage.  Thus  in  1757  the  two  islets  were  separated, 
and  again  united  in  17S1,  when  several  skippers,  deceived  by  the  marine  charts  on 


LISRAR/ 

OF 


ST.  PLEEKE  AND   MIQUELON.  417 

which  the  channel  still  figured,  were  wrecked  on  the  sandbank.  Ships  were  also 
frequently  driven  by  storms  on  these  dangerous  shoals,  and  along  the  whole  length 
of  the  isthmus  may  be  seen  the  ribs  of  vessels  projecting  above  the  sands  like  the 
skeletons  of  cetaceans.  From  1816  to  1881  as  many  as  263  wrecks  were  recorded 
on  these  shores,  over  four  a  year. 

A  strait,  misnamed  a  "  bay,"  although  it  offers  no  anchorage  and  is  often  very 
dangerous  to  shipping,  separates  the  twin  islets  of  Miquelon  from  Saint-Pierre, 
which,  though  of  smaller  size,  is  even  of  more  desolate  aspect,  except  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  port.  Like  Miquelon,  Saint-Pierre  consists  of  porphyries 
interspersed  with  trappean  rocks,  and  on  the  slopes  underlying  sandstones  and 
conglomerates.  The  highest  summit  of  the  so-called  "  mountain  "  attains  an  eleva- 
tion of  650  feet.  Vegetable  soil  is  almost  completely  absent,  the  rocks  being  for 
the  most  part  covered  with  lichens.  The  "forests,"  as  they  are  called,  are  a  mere 
tangle  of  junipers  with  almost  trailing  branches,  growing  five  or  six  feet  high. 
Nevertheless  these  thickets  yield  a  large  quantity  of  edible  berries,  which  are 
gathered  in  the  autumn. 

The  rocky  depressions  are  flooded  with  ponds,  and  the  slopes  are  strewn  with 
erratic  boulders.  Hence  tillage  is  impossible  except  with  imported  soil,  and  in 
this  way  the  residents  of  Saint-Pierre  have  succeeded  in  cultivating  a  few  garden 
plots  round  about  their  houses. 

Langlade  is  more  fertile,  and  here  the  people  have  formed  considerable  farm- 
steads for  the  cultivation  of  cereals  and  stockbreeding.  In  1881  a  species  of  hare 
improperly  called  a  "  rabbit,"  was  introduced  from  Nova  Scotia,  and  has  rapidly 
multiplied  in  Miquelon,  as  it  has  already  done  in  Newfoundland. 

Topography. 

The  archipelago  is  completed  by  a  few  uninhabited  islets,  rocks,  and  shoals. 
Notwithstanding  its  larger  size  and  greater  fertility,  Miquelon  has  fewer  inhabitants 
than  Saint-Pierre,  which  has  the  advantage  of  possessing  a  well-sheltered  roadstead, 
and  the  town  has  naturally  been  established  at  the  point  where  the  fishers  are  able 
to  land.  The  permanent  population  comprises  about  2,500  souls  ;  but  at  the  height 
of  the  season  the  streets  of  Saint-Pierre  are  crowded  by  as  many  as  15,000  persons 
connected  with  the  fisheries.  Normans  and  Bretons  form  the  chief  French  element, 
and  there  is  also  a  little  Basque  colony  in  the  place. 

A  somewhat  shallow  lagoon  at  the  neck  of  the  sandy  isthmus,  on  the  north 
side  of  Great  Miquelon,  might  be  converted  into  a  harbour  ;  but  this  coast  is  rarely 
accessible  to  vessels,  and  it  has  remained  almost  uninhabited.  Around  Saint-Pierre 
and  on  the  neighbouring  Dog  Island  are  concentrated  most  of  the  habitations,  and 
near  them  stretch  the  grounds  for  curing  the  codfish.  A  numerous  floating  popu- 
lation, consisting  almost  exclusively  of  young  Bretons  of  both  sexes,  are  employed 
in  these  curing  establishments,  which  belong  to  the  shippers  of  Granville,  St. 
Malo,  Dieppe,  and  Fecamp.  Bordeaux  is  the  chief  French  port  to  which  the  pro- 
duce is  forwarded. 


418  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  industries  connected  with  the  fisheries — drying,  salting,  cooperage,  boat- 
building, storage  of  the  salt  imported  chiefly  from  Cadiz — make  Saint-Pierre  one 
of  the  misiest  places  in  these  waters.  During  the  season  it  maintains  frequent 
communication  with  the  surrounding  ports  of  Placentia,  St.  John's,  Sydney,  and 
Halifax.  Several  of  the  Atlantic  cables  touch  at  Saint-Pierre,  thus  constituting 
it  one  of  the  chief  ganglions  in  the  electric  system  of  the  world. 

France  is  represented  in  Saint -Pierre  by  a  resident  governor,  and  the  inhabitants 
on  their  part  send  a  delegate  to  Paris.  Each  island  of  the  archipelago  constitutes 
a  commune,  with  municipal  councillors  and  a  council  general  elected  by  the 
scrutin  de  liste,  and  meeting  twice  a  year. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  DOMINION. 

Populations. 

jHE  population  of  the  various  confederate  states  or  "provinces  "  and 
territories  constituting  the  Dominion  of  Canada  certainly  exceeded 
5,000,000  in  1890,  but  this  population  is  distributed  very  unequally 
"jP^li"-^  throughout  this  vast  domain.  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  are  con- 
=J  centrated  on  the  shores  of  the  three  lower  lakes,  in  the  valley  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  along  the  coasts  of  the  Maritime  Provinces.  A  few  com- 
munities are  grouped  here  and  there  along  the  routes  leading  to  the  Pacific ; 
but  the  boundless  northern  regions  are  almost  uninhabited  except  by  some 
scattered  Indian  and  Eskimo  tribes,  and  even  these  appear  to  be  decreasing  in 
numbers.  These  bleak  boreal  lands  lie  still  beyond  the  stream  of  immigration ; 
but  without  taking  them  into  account,  the  habitable  parts  of  the  Dominion, 
that  is  to  say,  in  a  general  way,  all  the  territory  situated  to  the  south  of  the 
isothermal  line  of  freezing-point,  are  still  extensive  enough  to  receive  and  support 
with  ease  at  least  100,000,000  human  beings.  The  rapid  progress  made  during 
the  last  century  is  sufficient  proof  of  the  great  resources  possessed  by  the 
Dominion.  Thus  the  population  rose  from  less  than  half  a  million  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century  to  over  two  million  and  a  half  in  1850,  and  since  then 
it  has  about  doubled  itself. 

Immigration. 

The  stream  of  European  immigration  setting  towards  Canada  has  never  been  as 
regular  in  its  movement  as  that  which  flows  to  the  American  republic.  It  is  even 
difficult  accurately  to  estimate  it,  for  every  year  a  large  number  of  the  new 
arrivals,  often  estimated  at  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  merely  pass  through 
the  Laurentian  basin,  and  continue  their  route  to  the  United  States.  On  the 
other  hand  many  Americans  or  colonists  of  European  origin,  domiciled  south  ol 
the  Canadian  frontier,  again  break  up  their  homes,  and  pass  northwards,  attracted 
by  the  thousand  shifting  interests  of  trade  or  the  industries.  A  continuous 
reciprocal  movement  has  thus  been  already  developed  between  the  conterminous 


420  NORTH  AMERICA. 

states,  and  although  returns  have  been  made  of  these  incessant  displacements,  the 
tables  have  not  yet  been  made  with  sufficient  care  to  determine  for  each  year  the 
loss  or  gain  resulting  from  the  interchange  between  the  two  regions. 

In  any  case  a  large  portion  of  the  direct  European  immigration  to  Canada 
settles  permanently  in  the  country.  Even  if  it  be  estimated  at  no  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  whole,  it  would  contribute  much  to  the  peopling  of  the  land.  This  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  during  the  last  twenty  years  the  official  returns  have 
never  shown  less  than  18,000  persons  in  any  single  year  (1860),  whereas  they  rose 
to  over  133,000  in  1883.  On  an  average  the  arrivals  have  steadily  risen  from 
20,000  to  about  70,000  annually.  The  slightly  higher  proportion  presented  by 
the  male  over  the  female  sex  in  the  whole  of  the  population  (100  to  97-5)  is 
explained  by  the  very  large  number  of  bachelors  included  amongst  the  immigrants. 
Of  the  native-born  inhabitants  the  women  are  in  the  majority. 

The  ethnical  elements  annually  added  to  the  Canadian  population  by  immigra- 
tion are  drawn  chiefly  from  Great  Britain.  Ireland  formerly  sent  multitudes  of 
colonists,  but  this  source  is  nearly  exhausted,  and  at  present  most  of  the  arrivals 
are  from  England.  Some  thousands  of  Scandinavians  also  cross  the  Atlantic,  but 
they  rapidly  became  Anglicised,  and  the  same  fate  overtakes  the  few  hundred 
Germans,  who  distribute  themselves  in  small  groups  in  various  parts  of  the 
territory,  but  especially  in  Ontario  and  Manitoba.  The  French  arrive  in  still 
fewer  numbers,  and  it  is  almost  exclusively  through  their  own  resources,  that  is, 
through  their  surprising  fecundity,  that  the  Franco- Canadians  are  able  to  hold 
their  ground  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  populations  of  English  speech,  and 
to  continue  that  peaceful  rivalry  to  which  the  part  played  by  language  and  the 
national  temperaments  lend  such  special  interest. 

The  Aborigines. 

As  regards  the  Indians,  original  owners  of  the  land,  these  international 
struggles  are  absolutely  unaffected  by  their  presence.  Of  so  little  account  have 
they  already  become  that  more  frequently  than  not  the  statistical  returns  neglect 
to  enumerate  them  in  their  periodical  summaries.  A  few  half-famished  tribes 
still  wander  in  the  solitudes,  feebly  protected  by  the  missionaries  from  the  con- 
tinual encroachments  of  the  whites.  But  most  of  the  natives,  surrounded  by  the 
rising  tide,  half-bastardised  and  debased,  are  being  slowly  but  surely  absorbed  in 
the  general  population  of  the  country.  The  80,000  Indians  who  live  in  the 
so-called  "  reserves,"  that  is,  lands  set  apart  for  them,  constitute  communities  of 
European  aspect,  where  annual  returns  are  made  of  the  houses,  the  schools  and 
churches,  the  arable  lands,  agricultural  implements,  livestock  and  produce,  in 
order,  as  it  were,  to  record  the  gradual  progress  they  are  making  in  the  process  of 
assimilation  to  the  colonists  of  white  race.  Conforming  even  in  their  political  and 
municipal  institutions  to  the  practices  of  their  Canadian  neighbours,  they  will 
soon  have  retained  no  distinctive  characters,  except  perhaps  the  vague  memories  of 
their  forefathers. 


THE   CANADIAN  ABORIGINES.  421 

All  the  Indian  populations  are  now  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Canadian 
Government. 

"Like  an  army  they  have  been,  and  still  are,  in  large  numbers,  fed  and 
clothed  by  the  Government.  With  their  consent  their  lands  have,  in  many 
instances,  been  sold,  until  an  Indian  fund  has  accumulated,  amounting  now  to  over 
.<•;. 000,000  (£600,000).  Schools  have  been  established  for  them,  and  about  140 
teachers,  many  of  whom  are  Indians,  are  engaged  in  teaching.  In  these  schools 
are  over  4,000  pupils,  and  the  annual  inspection  shows  good  results. 

"  Many  of  these  Indians  have  aided,  by  their  labour,  in  constructing  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway.  In  some  instances  they  have  become  contractors  and 
employers  of  labour.  In  one  or  two  instances  the  tribes  have  shown  themselves  so 
well  able  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  that  the  Government  has  released  them 
from  their  position  as  wards  of  the  country,  and  has  given  into  their  own  keeping 
the  moneys  obtained  from  the  sale  of  their  lands.  Under  an  Act  of  Parliament 
passed  in  1884,  privileges  have  been  conferred  on  the  more  advanced  bands  with 
a  view  of  training  them  for  the  exercise  of  municipal  powers.  Under  another  act, 
passed  in  1885,  Indians,  whether  on  the  Indian  reserves,  or  mingling  with  the 
general  community,  have  conferred  on  them  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of 
Parliament  on  the  same  conditions  as  other  inhabitants  of  Canada.  The  Indians, 
thus  placed  on  a  perfect  equality  with  the  whites,  demonstrate  the  success  which 
has  attended  the  efforts  of  Canada  to  raise  them  from  their  state  of  savagery  to  a 
civilised  condition. 

"  The  same  effort,  possibly  with  less  promise  of  ultimate  success,  especially  in 
the  North-West,  is  being  made  with  all  the  Indian  tribes.  Schools  and  farm 
instructors  are  provided  by  the  State.  Agents  and  inspectors  have  been  appointed, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  look  after  the  bands  committed  to  their  charge ;  to  see  that  the 
rations  provided  are  kept  up  to  a  uniform  standard  of  excellence  ;  to  prevent  the 
Indians  being  imposed  on  by  worthless  and  greedy  whites  ;  to  guard  them  against 
the  evils  resulting  from  the  introduction  of  spirituous  liquors,  heavy  penalties  for 
which  offence  are  imposed  by  the  State  ;  and  generally  to  aid  them  in  even'  way 
to  prepare  to  gain  their  livelihood  as  farmers,  labourers,  and  operatives,  instead  of 
by  the  chase. 

"The task  undertaken  by  the  people  of  Canada  is  a  difficult  one — no  less  than 
the  reclamation  of  over  a  hundred  thousand  savages,  and  the  development  within 
them  of  the  essentials  of  civilisation.  It  is  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  presence 
of  whites,  who  bring  with  them  the  evils  of  civilised  society.  As  a  comj^ensatory 
advantage,  the  Government  has  the  aid  of  the  various  Christian  denominations, 
who  have  established  missions  in  many  places,  and  have  won  the  regard  and  confi- 
dence of  the  Indians. 

"  The  difficulties  of  the  task  may  be  understood  from  the  fact  that,  although  on 
the  reserves  in  the  Xorth-West  Territories  the  agents  only  distribute  food  twice  a 
week,  warning  each  recipient,  at  each  distribution,  that  the  rations  are  intended 
to  last  for  three  days,  or  four,  as  the  case  may  be,  yet  so  like  children  are  these 
Red-men  that  they  eat  up  the  whole  supply  at  one  meal.    They  have  not  yet  learned 


•122  NOETH  AMERICA. 

the  wisdom  of  being  provided  for  three  days  ahead.  So  great  is  the  difficulty  of  teach- 
ing them  the  initial  step  toward  a  higher  plane  of  existence. 

"  The  total  expenditure,  on  account  of  the  Indian  population,  beyond  that  pro- 
vided by  the  Indian  fund,  was,  in  1885,  $1,109,604  (£221,900),  of  which  amount 
the  sum  of  $478,000  (£95,600)  was  expended  in  the  purchase  of  provisions  for  the 
destitute  Indians."* 

Agriculture. 

As  must  long  be  the  case,  the  great  bulk  of  the  Canadian  population,  nearly  60 
per  cent,  altogether,  belongs  to  the  agricultural  class.  Although  the  relative 
importance  of  the  towns  is  rapidly  increasing,  as  in  all  civilised  lands,  it  is  still  far 
from  being  as  great  as  in  the  other  Anglo-Saxon  countries,  England,  the  United 
States,  or  even  Australia.  In  this  southern  continent  the  two  cities  of  Sydney 
and  Melbourne  alone  contain  one-third  of  the  whole  population,  whereas  in  the 
Dominion  the  ten  largest  towns  contain  only  one-seventh  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
British  North  America. 

Since  1854  the  old  feudal  division  of  the  land  in  seigniories,  or  territorial  lord- 
ships, has  ceased  to  exist  in  the  province  of  Quebec,  where  the  "  lods  "  and  other 
burdens  have  been  redeemed  by  a  sum  of  £600,000  paid  to  the  ground  landlords  ; 
at  the  same  time  the  slight  remaining  ground-rent  has  been  declared  purchasable 
at  a  reasonable  valuation  at  the  option  of  the  tenants  in  possession.  Nearly  all 
have  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege,  and  the  charge  is  henceforth  optional. 

But  the  arable  lands  which  the  Canadian  Government  has  already  caused  to  be 
surveyed  by  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres,  are  far  from  being  occupied  even  as 
pasturage  for  livestock.  So  great  is  their  extent,  that  the  farmer  is  able  to 
exploit  them  without  any  forethought  for  the  future.  He  usually  tills  only  the 
naturally  fertile  ground,  and  does  not  even  take  the  trouble  to  increase  the  produc- 
tive power  of  the  soil  by  manures.  Most  of  the  lands  are  occupied  only  for  the 
sake  of  the  timber  growing  on  them.  The  trees  are  felled,  and  then  the  land  is 
abandoned  for  some  future  settler  to  again  clear  and  cultivate  it.  The  giants  of 
the  forest  are  growing  rare,  for  the  northern  limits  to  which  the  woodman  has 
already  penetrated  enjoy  a  less  favourable  climate  than  the  already  wasted  southern 
regions,  and  consequently  do  not  yield  such  fine  timber. 

But  the  resources  of  the  woodlands  still  amply  suffice  for  all  the  requirements 
of  Canada,  and  in  no  other  country  is  the  lumber  used  up  more  extravagantly  for 
the  construction  of  dwellings,  outhouses,  cattle-sheds,  bridges,  roads,  viaducts,  as 
well  as  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture  and  implements  of  all  kinds.  Moreover, 
the  forests  support  an  export  trade  which  represents  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
commerce  of  the  Dominion.  The  average  yearly  value  of  the  timber  at  present 
exported  is  estimated  at  nearly  five  millions  sterling. 

Wheat  is  the  staple  agricultural  product,  and  the  crop  usually  exceeds  the 
local  consumption.  Thus  the  commercial  scales  incline  almost  every  year  in 
favour  of  Canada.     According  to  the  years  the  yield  oscillates  between  twenty  and 

*  E.  B.  Biggar,  op  cit. 


AGRICULTURE.  423 

thirty  million  bushels,  or  rather  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  French  harvest.  But 
in  the  near  future,  when  the  rich  wheat-growing  lands  of  the  "  fertile  belt "  of 
Manitoba  are  brought  more  under  cultivation,  the  Dominion  will  probably  take  a 
foremost  position  amongst  the  grain-producing  regions  of  the  globe. 

Nor  are  any  of  the  other  European  alimentary  plants  neglected  by  the 
Canadian  farmers.  In  some  districts,  especially  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
province  of  Ontario,  they  have  developed  magnificent  orchards,  whose  apples  and 
other  fruits  are  of  excellent  quality.  They  have  even  made  essays  at  vine-growing, 
not,  however,  with  much  success,  although  the  summers  are  amply  hot  enough  to 
ripen  the  grape. 

A  large  portion  of  the  agricultural  regions  is  occupied  by  pastures,  and  for 
some  years  livestock  have  been  bred  for  the  European  market.  As  many  as  20,000 
horses  have  also  been  exported  in  a  single  year,  and  Canada  possesses,  relatively 
speaking,  more  of  these  animals  than  any  other  country.  Dairy  farming  has 
been  rapidly  developed,  and  the  Dominion  already  exports  large  quantities  of 
cheese  to  England,  but  the  production  of  butter  for  the  foreign  market  has 
suffered  a  corresponding  decrease.  Thus  while  the  export  of  cheese  rose  from 
over  10,000  tons  in  1874  to  nearly  36,000  in  1885,  that  of  butter  fell  from  over 
5,000  to  about  3,000  tons  in  the  same  period. 

The  export  of  wool  has  also  fallen  off,  though  the  decline  may  perhaps  be  only 
temporary,  and  caused  by  the  increasing  demand  of  the  local  spinning  factories  for 
the  raw  article.  In  1885  less  than  5,000  tons  of  wool  wei-e  yielded  by  the  flocks 
for  exportation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  products  of  the  poultry-yard,  thanks  to 
the  thrift  of  the  farmers'  wives,  have  acquired  increasing  economic  importance 
since  the  middle  of  the  century.  Nearly  139  millions  of  eggs  were  forwarded  in 
1885,  and  in  this  respect  Canada  follows  at  some  distance  in  the  footsteps  of 
France,  which  supplies  such  enormous  quantities  to  England. 

These  minor  articles  have  at  present  a  greater  annual  value  in  the  general 
trade  of  the  country  than  the  dressed  or  undressed  skins  which  formerly 
constituted  its  chief  resource,  and  which,  next  to  the  fisheries,  contributed  most 
to  its  settlement.  The  total  value  of  the  peltries  exported  in  1888  was  estimated 
at  little  over  £360,000. 

Homesteads  and  Pre-emptions. 

On  these  important  points  much  trustworthy  infcrmation,  of  great  value  to 
intending  settlers  in  the  Far  West, is  supplied  by  Mr.  E.D.Biggar,  speaking  on  be- 
half of  the  Dominion  Government.  It  appears  that  any  person,  male  or  female,  who 
is  the  sole  head  of  a  family,  or  any  male  who  has  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
is  entitled,  on  making  application  to  the  local  agent  of  the  district  in  which  the 
land  he  desires  to  be  entered  for  is  situated,  and  paying  an  office  fee  of  $10 
(£2),  to  obtain  homestead  entry  for  any  quantity  of  land  not  exceeding  one 
quarter-section,  or  160  acres,  of  the  class  of  land  open  to  such  entry.  This  entry 
entitles  the  holder  to  occupy  and  cultivate  the  land  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other 
person,  the  title  remaining  in  the  Crown  until  the  issue  of  patent  for  the  land. 


424  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Any  person  obtaining  homestead  entry  is  entitled  to  obtain,  at  the  same  time 
on  payment  of  a  further  office  fee  of  $10,  a  pre-emption  entry  for  an  adjoining 
quarter-section,  and  to  use  and  cultivate  the  same  in  connection  with  his  home- 
stead. 

The  settler  is  allowed  six  months  from  the  date  of  obtaining  homestead  entry 
within  which  to  complete  and  perfect  such  entry,  by  taking,  in  his  own  person, 
possession  of  the  land,  and  beginning  residence  and  cultivation,  and  if  the  entry 
be  not  perfected  within  such  time,  it  becomes  void  ;  except  where  entry  is  obtained 
on  or  after  the  1st  of  September  in  any  year,  and  the  six  months  would  expire 
before  the  1st  of  June  following,  in  which  case  an  extension  of  time  to  the  latter 
date  is  granted. 

In  the  case  of  immigrants  or  other  persons  intending  to  settle,  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  on  requisition  signed  by  them,  may  authorise  any  person  they  may 
name  to  obtain  homestead  and  pre-emption  entries  for  them  before  their  arrival 
in  the  territory  in  which  the  land  they  desire  to  occupy  is  situated,  and  in  such 
case  the  time  for  perfecting  entry  may  he  extended  to  twelve  months. 

The  settler,  on  proving  that  he  has  resided  on  and  cultivated  the  land  for 
which  he  has  homestead  entry,  during  three  3'ears  from  the  date  of  perfecting 
his  entry,  is  entitled  to  a  patent  from  the  Crown  for  the  same,  provided  that  he  is 
a  British  subject  by  birth  or  naturalisation ;  in  case  of  his  death  his  legal  repre- 
sentatives succeed  to  the  homestead  right ;  but  they,  or  some  of  them,  must 
complete  the  necessary  duties. 

In  cases  where  it  is  not  convenient  for  the  settler  to  reside  upon  his  homestead 
for  the  three  }^ears  from  the  date  of  perfecting  entry,  the  conditions  necessary  to 
obtain  patent  can  be  fulfilled  by  his  erecting  a  habitable  house  on  his  homestead, 
and  residing  therein  for  the  three  months  next  prior  to  the  date  of  his  application 
for  patent ;  and  from  the  date  of  perfecting  his  entry  to  the  beginning  of  the 
three  months'  residence  aforesaid,  by  his  residing,  for  at  least  six  months  in  each 
year,  within  a  radius  of  two  miles  fronl  his  homestead  quarter- section. 

He  must  also,  in  such  case,  break  and  prepare  for  crop,  within  the  first  year,  at 
least  ten  acres  of  his  homestead  ;  within  the  second  year  he  must  crop  the  said  ten 
acres  and  prepare  for  crop  fifteen  acres  additional ;  and  during  the  third  year  he 
must  crop  the  twenty-five  acres  already  broken,  and  prepare  for  crop  fifteen 
acres  more. 

A  homesteader  has  also  the  privilege  of  obtaining  a  patent  for  his  homestead 
before  the  end  of  three  years,  by  paying  the  Government  price  at  the  time  for  the 
land,  and  proving  that  he  has  resided  thereon  for  twelve  months  from  the  date  of 
perfecting  entry,  and  that  he  has  brought  thirty  acres  thereof  under  cultivation. 

In  case  a  certain  number  of  homestead  settlers,  embracing  not  less  than  twenty 
families,  with  a  view  to  greater  convenience  in  the  establishment  of  schools  and 
churches,  and  for  advantages  of  a  similar  nature,  ask  to  be  allowed  to  settle 
together  in  a  hamlet  or  village,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  may  dispense  with  the 
conditions  of  residence  on  the  homestead;  but  the  condition  of  cultivation  must  be 
complied  with  in  all  cases. 


APrraCULTUEE. -CROWN  LANDS.  425 

A  homestead  entry  is  liable  to  be  cancelled  at  any  time  that  it  is  proved  that 
the  settler  has  not  resided  upon  and  cultivated  his  homestead  for  at  least  six 
months  in  any  one  year  from  the  date  of  perfecting  entry ;  but  in  case  of  illness, 
properly  vouched  for,  or  in  the  case  of  immigrants  returning  to  their  native  land 
to  bring  out  their  families  to  their  homesteads,  or  in  other  special  cases,  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior  may  grant  an  extension  of  time  during  which  the  settler 
may  be  absent  from  his  homestead  ;  but  such  leave  of  absence  will  not  count  in 
the  term  of  residence. 

A  settler,  having  a  pre-emption  entry  in  connection  with  his  homestead,  on 
becoming  entitled  to  a  patent  for  his  pre-emption,  is  entitled  to  obtain  a  patent  for 
his  pre-emption  by  paying  the  Government  price  for  the  land  ;  but  such  payment 
must  be  made  within  six  months  after  he  has  become  entitled  to  a  patent  for  his 
homestead  ;  otherwise  his  pre-emption  right  is  forfeited. 

The  right  of  pre-emption  connected  with  homestead  entry  was  discontinued 
from  the  1st  of  January,  1890.  The  privilege  of  homestead  and  pre-emption 
are  also  understood  to  apply  only  to  agricultural  lands. 

Provincial  Lands. 

In  Ontario,  public  lands,  already  surveyed  and  considered  suitable  for  settle- 
ment, may  be  appropriated  as  free  grants  ;  but  such  grants  are  limited  in  each  case 
to  200  acres.  A  single  man  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  or  a  married  man  without 
children  under  eighteen  residing  with  him,  is  entitled  to  a  grant  of  100  acres.  The 
male  head  of  the  family,  or  the  widow,  having  a  child  or  children  under  eighteen 
residing  with  him  or  her,  may  obtain  a  grant  of  200  acres,  and  may  also  purchase 
an  additional  100  acres  at  the  rate  of  50  cents  (2s.)  per  acre. 

Outside  of  the  free  grant  townships,  uncleared  land  varies  in  price  from  2s.  to 
40s.  per  acre,  according  to  situation  and  soil.  Cleared  and  improved  farms  can 
be  bought  at  prices  ranging  from  £4  to  £10  per  acre.  The  money  can  nearly 
always  be  paid  in  instalments  spread  over  several  years. 

In  the  province  of  Quebec,  over  6,000,000  acres  of  Crown  lands  have  been  sur- 
veyed. These  may  be  bought  by  paying  one-fifth  of  the  purchase-money  on  the  day 
of  sale,  and  the  remainder  in  four  yearly  instalments,  bearing  interest  at  6  per 
cent.  They  are  sold  at  such  low  prices — from  Is.  5d.  to  2s.  5d.  per  acre — that  these 
conditions  are  not  very  burdensome.  But  the  purchase1'  is  required  to  take  pos- 
session within  six  months  of  the  date  of  sale  and  to  occupy  it  within  two  years. 
He  must  clear,  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  ten  acres  for  every  hundred  held  by  him, 
and  erect  a  habitable  house  of  the  dimensions  of  at  least  sixteen  by  twenty  feet. 

In  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  the  purchaser  is  required  to  begin  clearing 
and  improving  his  allotment  within  one  month  after  approval,  and  within  three 
months  he  must  improve  to  the  value  of  $20  (£4)  ;  within  one  year  build  a  resi- 
dence and  cultivate  at  least  two  acres ;  within  three  years  not  less  than  ten  acres. 
In  this  province,  besides  the  Crown  lands,  there  is  a  domain  of  1,650,000  acres 
belonging  to  the  New  Brunswick  Laud  Company,  which  may  also  be  obtained  on 

vol.  xv.  F  F 


426  NOBTH  AMERICA. 

favourable  terms.  The  soil  of  New  Brunswick  is  said  by  Professor  Johnston  to 
be  capable  of  producing  food  for  a  population  of  from  five  to  six  millions. 

In  Nova  Scotia,  there  are  nearly  4,000,000  acres  of  Crown  lands,  much  of 
which,  however,  is  barren  and  unfit  for  cultivation.  But  there  is  a  great  deal  in 
blocks  of  from  5,000  to  10,000  acres  of  really  valuable  land,  quite  accessible  and 
very  near  present  settlements.  The  price  is  $44  (£8  16s.)  per  100  acres,  and 
smaller  lots  may  be  had  at  the  same  low  rate. 

Lastly,  in  British  Columbia,  every  head  of  a  family,  widower,  or  single  man 
eighteen  years  of  age,  being  a  British  subject,  has  the  right  to  pre-empt  a  tract 
not  exceeding  320  acres  in  extent,  north  and  east  of  the  Cascade  Range,  and  160 
acres  in  other  parts  of  the  province.  Personal  residence  for  a  period  of  two  years 
with  reasonable  intervals  of  absence,  and  improvements  to  the  average  of  10s. 
per  acre,  are  necessary  to  complete  the  pre-emption  right,  and  entitle  the  settler 
to  claim  his  Crown  grant  in  freehold,  the  price  being  4s.  per  acre,  payable  in  four 
annual  instalments. 

TJnsurveyed  or  unreserved  Crown  lauds  may  be  purchased  in  tracts  of  not  less 
than  160  acres  for  one  dollar  per  acre,  payable  at  time  of  purchase. 

The  Fisheries. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Canadian  fisheries  still  remain  what  they  have  ever 
been,  if  not  an  inexhaustible,  at  least  a  chief  source  of  wealth.  The  innumerable 
lakes,  rivers,  and  maritime  coasts,  which  have  a  total  length  of  nearly  6,000  miles, 
yield  an  enormous  quantity  of  wholesome  and  palatable  food,  the  yearly  value  of 
which  approaches  £7,000,000.  The  annual  local  consumption  per  head  of  the 
population  exceeds  125  pounds  including  shellfish.  Nevertheless,  a  surplus  valued 
at  nearly  £2,000,000  is  still  available  for  exportation.  Altogether  the  Canadian 
fisheries,  not  counting  those  of  Newfoundland,  a  natural  dependency  of  North 
America,  yield  a  yearly  revenue  double  those  of  France,  which  yet  sends  to  the 
Canadian  waters  a  considerable  number  of  her  fishing-craft. 

The  fish  of  Lake  Huron  and  of  some  of  the  smaller  basins,  such  as  those  of 
Nipigon  and  St.  John,  are  considered  the  best  of  those  captured  in  the  inland 
waters.  The  maritime  provinces  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  naturally 
take  the  largest  part  in  this  industry,  although  British  Columbia  also  finds  a  con- 
siderable source  of  wealth  in  its  well-stocked  salmon  rivers  and  in  its  tinned 
salmon  establishments.  Cod  alone  represents  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
value,  and  next  to  it  in  order  of  importance  are  the  herring,  lobster,  salmon, 
mackerel,  and  others.  The  produce  is  exported  chiefly  to  the  United  States  and 
the  "West  Indies,  but  England,  Portugal,  and  South  America  also  derive  much  of 
their  supplies  from  the  Canadian  fishing-grounds. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  important  it  would  be  for  the  Dominion  to  get  rid 
of  all  her  rivals  in  the  productive  field  of  the  Laui-entian  waters,  the  monopoly  of 
which  she  woidd  be  willing  to  share  with  Newfoundland.  Hence  those  frequent 
contests  between  the  Canadian  fishers  and  their  French  and  American  competitors, 


THE  CANADIAN  FISHERIES.  427 

contests  which  have  frequently  given  rise  to  angry  diplomatic  discussions  between 
the  interested  states.  But  the  Canadian  flotillas  have  other  and  more  legitimate 
means  of  securing  their  superiority.  Thanks  to  the  coast  signals  and  the  sub- 
marine cables  connecting  all  the  chief  stations,  they  no  longer  require  to  lose  time 
in  searching  for  the  shoals,  of  whose  arrival  and  general  movements  they  receive 
instantaneous  notice. 

The  vicinity  of  the  coasts  also  enables  them  to  establish  drying  and  curing 
grounds  at  the  most  convenient  points  on  their  own  seaboard.  They  also  possess 
magnificent  reservoirs  for  the  live  fish,  while  the  progress  of  marine  zoology 
enables  them  to  found  piscicultural  establishments,  which  already  yield  an  income 
and  which  will  perhaps  one  day  relieve  the  fishers  from  the  necessity  of  facing  the 
dangers  of  the  high  seas. 

"  Very  few,"  remarks  Erastus  Wiman,  "  realise  the  vast  stretches  of  coast-line 
along  which  Canada  controls  the  greatest  fisheries  in  the  world.  Bounded,  as  the 
Dominion  is,  by  three  oceans,  it  has,  besides  its  numerous  inland  seas,  over  5,500 
miles  of  sea-coast,  washed  by  waters  abounding  in  the  most  valuable  fishes  of  all 
kinds.  The  older  provinces  of  the  Confederation  have  2,500  miles  of  sea-coast 
and  inland  seas,  while  the  sea-coast  of  British  Columbia  alone  is  over  3,000  miles 
in  extent.  It  is  impossible  to  take  these  figures  in,  and  all  that  they  imply,  with- 
out realising  at  once  the  enormous  magnitude  of  this  interest. 

"  But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  extent  of  sea-coast  line  that  Canada  has  a  surplus  in 
fi>-h  wealth.  In  the  extreme  northern  position  which  she  occupies,  she  possesses 
an  advantage  which  is  of  immense  value,  and  this  is  that  the  supply  of  fish  food, 
owing  to  the  extreme  northern  position,  is  inexhaustible.  As  has  been  truly  said 
by  Mr.  Harvey,  the  Arctic  currents  which  wash  the  coast  of  Labrador,  Newfound- 
land, and  Canada,  chilling  the  atmosphere  and  bearing  on  its  bosom  huge  ice 
argosies,  is  the  source  of  the  vast  fish  wealth  which  has  been  drawn  on  for  ages, 
and  which  promises  to  continue  for  ages  to  come.  But  for  the  cold  river  of  the 
ocean,  the  fish  which  now  crowd  the  northern  seas  would  be  entirely  absent. 

"The  Arctic  seas,  and  the  great  rivers  which  they  send  forth,  swarm  with  minute 
forms  of  life,  constituting,  in  many  places,  a  living  mass,  a  vast  ocean  of  living 
slinie.  The  all-pervading  life  which  exists  here  affords  the  true  solution  of  the 
problem  which  has  so  often  presented  itself  to  those  investigating  deep-sea 
fisheries,  the  source  of  food  which  gives  sustenance  to  the  countless  millions  of 
fish. 

"  The  harvest  of  the  sea  has  not  yet  been  gleaned  to  the  same  extent  as  the  harvest 
of  the  land  ;  but  this  fact  may  be  taken  for  granted,  that  of  all  the  countries  in  the 
world,  and  of  all  the  riches  in  these  countries,  nothing  can  be  made  more  useful, 
in  a  higher  form,  toward  sustaining  life,  or  to  a  greater  extent,  than  the  vast 
wealth  of  the  fisheries  of  Canada.  They  are  practically  inexhaustible,  because  the 
cold  current  of  the  north  brings  with  it  the  food  on  which  these  fish  thrive,  and  the 
supply  is  one  that  can  never  fail.  The  sea-coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence on  the  east,  the  long  stretches  of  the  Hudson  Bay  coast  in  the  centre, 
and  the  3,000  miles  of  coast-line  of  British  Columbia  on  the  west,  are  in  themselves 

ff  2 


428  NORTH  AMERICA. 

a  great  possession,  while  the  fresh-water  fish  of  the  great  lakes  of  the  north-west, 
especially  in  the  supply  of  the  prairie  states,  should  be  relatively  as  great  a  contri- 
bution to  the  sustentation  of  human  life  as  are  the  supplies  of  cattle  on  the  plains."* 

Minerals. 

The  Dominion  possesses  an  abundant  store  of  mineral  wealth,  and  the  mining 
industry  has  already  been  considerably  developed,  especially  in  the  Maritime 
Provinces,  Ontario,  and  British  Columbia.  The  Nova  Scotia  gold-mines,  which 
have  long  been  open,  still  annually  yield  from  £40,000  to  £80,000  of  pure  metal. 
From  the  much  more  productive  gold-fields  of  British  Columbia  about  four  times 
as  much  is  obtained,  although  the  quantity  mined  has  been  greatly  reduced  since 
more  attention  has  been  paid  to  agriculture.  Of  other  metals  the  copper  of  West 
Ontario  and  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior  appears  to  have  acquired  the  greatest 
economic  importance.  Canada,  however,  possesses  vast  reserves  of  iron,  and  the 
ores  of  the  finest  quality  are  usually  found  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
coal  measures.  Nevertheless,  the  extraction  and  manufacture  of  this  metal 
is  still  in  a  backward  state,  the  importation  of  English  hardware  and  machinery 
still  amply  sufficing  for  all  the  requirements  of  the  local  consumption. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  annual  output  of  the  numerous  coal-mines  in  Nova 
Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  New  Brunswick,  as  well  as  in  British  Columbia,  is 
steadily  augmenting,  and  the  coal  is  of  such  quality  that  it  already  competes  with 
that  of  England  in  the  markets  of  the  New  World.  The  deposits  of  the  interior 
distributed  along  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  the  districts 
traversed  by  the  Pacific  Railway,  will  soon  be  needed  for  the  local  wants,  all  the 
more  that  these  regions  have  been  almost  completely  disafforested. 

Phosphates,  salt,  gypsum,  petroleum,  naphtha,  and  natural  gases  are  the-  chief 
mineral  resources  of  the  Ottawa  Valley  and  the  Ontario  peninsula,  while  excel- 
lent building  materials  occur  almost  everywhere.  But  pending  the  develop- 
ment of  these  shores  the  two  essentially  mining  regions  continue  to  be  the  regions 
situated  at  the  eastern  and  western  extremities  of  the  Dominion,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
British  Columbia.  The  shores  of  the  great  lakes  constitute  an  independent  centre 
of  mining  operations. 

Speaking  of  the  vast  mineral  resources  of  the  Dominion,  E.  Wiman  remarks  : 
"  Perhaps  of  all  the  surprises  which  the  average  American  encounters  in  discussing 
the  wealth  of  Canada,  nothing  will  startle  him  to  a  greater  degree  than  this 
statement,  that  no  country  in  the  world  possesses  so  much  iron  as  Canada,  in  no 
land  is  it  so  easily  mined,  and  nowhere  is  it  quite  so  accessible  to  niamifacturing 
centres.  This  is  a  statement  which,  no  doubt,  will  challenge  contradiction,  and  it 
is  to  be  regretted  that  the  space  is  too  small  to  describe  at  length  the  location  and 
precise  advantage  which  the  iron  supply  of  this  greater  half  of  the  continent 
would  afford  to  the  United  States.  Take  the  instance  at  New  Glasgow  in  Nova 
Scotia,  where,  within  a  radius  of  six  miles,  there  are  found  deposits  of  iron  ore  of 

*  North  American  Review,  January,  1889. 


MINERALS  OF  CANADA.  4'2'j 

the  highest  quality,  equal  to  that  of  any  other  portion  of  the  world,  side  by  side 
with  limestone,  chemically  pure,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  coal  in  abundant 
quantities,  from  seams  thirty  feet  thick,  lying  directly  on  a  railway,  and  within 
six  miles  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  !  Could  there  by  any  possibility  be  a  combination 
more  fortunate  than  this  ? 

"Throughout  Nova  Scotia  there  are  deposits  of  ore  of  the  greatest  possible 
value  ;  but  in  Quebec,  and  especially  in  Ontario,  the  value  of  the  iron  deposits  is 
almost  incalculable.  Xear  the  city  of  Ottawa  there  is  a  hill  of  iron  called  the 
Haycock  mine,  which  would  yield  an  output  of  100  tons  per  day  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  without  being  exhausted.  On  the  line  of  the  Ottawa,  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  in  the  eastern  townships,  on  the  Kingston  and  Pembroke  railway, 
on  the  Central  Ontario  railway,  through  Lake  Nipissing,  in  Lake  "Winnipeg 
on  Big  Island,  and  on  Vancouver  Island,  there  are  enormous  deposits  of  ore,  all 
possessing  the  singular  advantage  of  almost  complete  freedom  from  phosphorus. 

"  The  peculiar  advantage  of  the  Canadian  ore  in  this  respect  is  sufficiently 
demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  face  of  a  duty  of  75  cents  (3s.)  per 
ton,  this  iron  is  being  steadily  introduced  into  the  States  for  the  purpose  of 
mixing  with  other  ores,  at  Joilet,  Illinois,  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  at 
other  points.  A  market,  such  as  the  United  States  would  afford,  if  it  were  free, 
and  the  introduction  of  enterprise  and  capital,  would  create  for  these  deposits 
the  same  development  and  the  same  value  that  have  followed  the  activity  in  the 
Vermillion,  Menonienee,  and  Gogebic  regions.  These  latter  deposits  are  almost 
within  sight  of  Canada,  and  are  but  the  edge  of  the  great  Laurentian  range  or 
belt  of  minerals,  which,  starting  from  the  Labrador  coast,  covers  the  vast  area  of 
Canada,  parallelling  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  great  lakes,  till  they  find  an  ending 
in  the  Algoma  district,  a  locality  that  has  been  aptly  described  as  a  great 
treasure-house  of  minerals,  wanting  only  the  touch  of  American  enterprise,  and 
stimulated  by  an  American  market,  to  yield  results  far  exceeding  those  of  any 
mineral  development  on  the  continent. 

"  Coincident  with  the  presence  of  these  great  deposits  of  iron  ore  are  discoveries 
of  even  greater  importance  in  copper  and  nickel,  and  in  other  metals  hitherto 
nameless  but  of  surpassing  value.  The  copper  development  at  Bruce  Mines,  and 
especially  and  recently  at  Sudbury  Junction,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior, 
is  likely  to  be  even  more  profitable  than  that  of  the  famous  Calumet  and  Hector 
Mines  on  the  south  shore  of  the  same  lake,  whose  payments  of  thirty  millions  of 
dividends,  on  a  capitalisation  of  two  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars,  is  a  realisation 
beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice. 

"  Already  Ohio  capitalists  have  invested  a  million  of  dollars  on  the  line  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  railway  in  these  deposits. 

"  The  development  of  nickel,  of  which  there  are  only  two  or  three  known 
deposits  in  the  world,  is  of  great  significance ;  while  in  gold  and  in  silver, 
especially  the  latter,  very  excellent  success  has  rewarded  the  efforts  of  the 
prospectors.  Perhaps  the  most  marvellous  yield  of  silver  that  the  world  has 
ever   seen  was  Silver  Islet,  within  the  Canadian  border  on  the   Lake  Superior 


430  NORTH  AMERICA. 

shore,  where  for  a  space  of  two  or  three  years  an  output  was  realised  that 
enriched  the  owners  with  a  rapidity  equalled  only  by  the  dreams  of  the  Arabian 
Nights. 

"In  British  Columbia  immense  quantities  of  gold  are  known  to  exist,  and  the 
fact  that  over  fifty  million  dollars'  worth  has  been  mined  from  only  a  dozen 
localities  hardly  yet  developed  is  full  of  the  deepest  significance,  as  indicating 
what  yet  remains  in  that  distant  region  to  reward  the  adventurous  efforts  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  continent. 

"  But.  it  is  not  alone  in  these  prominent  metals  that  Canada  is  rich  in  natural 
resources.  In  phosphates  she  possesses  enormous  quantities  of  the  purest 
character.  No  country  in  the  world  needs  fertilisers  more  than  large  portions 
of  the  United  States,  and  no  country  is  better  able  to  supply  them  than  Canada. 
Analysis  shows  that  Canadian  phosphates  contain  phosphoric  acid  up  to  47  and 
49  per  cent.,  equivalent  to  from  80  to  88  per  cent,  of  phosphate  of  lime.  No 
contribution  to  the  wealth  of  the  continent  is  of  greater  value  than  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Canadian  phosphates. 

"  In  asbestos,  in  mica,  antimony,  arsenic,  pyrites,  oxides  of  iron,  marble, 
graphites,  plumbago,  gypsum,  white  quartz  for  potters'  use,  siliceous  sandstones 
for  glass,  emery,  and  numerous  other  products,  Canada  possesses  enormous 
quantities  awaiting  the  touch  of  man.  Lead  is  found  in  almost  every  province, 
especially  in  British  Columbia,  the  lead  ore  there  containing  as  much  as  fifteen 
and  a  half  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton. 

"  The  deposits  of  salt  are  the  largest  and  purest  on  the  continent.  Again, 
another  surprise  awaits  the  observer  in  respect  of  coal.  Canada  possesses  the 
only  source  of  supply  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Pacific,  and  between  these  two 
there  are  stretches  of  coal  deposits  amounting  to  97,000  square  miles !  The 
magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  in  this  question  of  the  supply  of  coal,  its 
contiguity,  and  economy  of  handling,  are  of  vast  importance  to  the  United  States. 

"  It  is  significant  testimony  to  the  important  position  which  Canada  holds  on 
the  question  of  coal  supply,  when  it  is  recalled  that  away  down  on  the  Atlantic 
the  manufacturing  coal  of  Nova  Scotia  should  without  doubt  supply  the  manu- 
facturing centres  of  New  England  at  a  minimum  of  cost ;  while  midway  across 
the  continent,  in  wide  stretches  of  territory  of  the  lowest  temperature,  supplies 
should  be  drawn  from  the  sources  which  Providence  has  placed  within  the 
Canadian  border,  and  still  further  that,  on  the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific,  San 
Francisco  and  contiguous  cities  should  at  this  time  be  drawing  their  supply  from 
the  mines  of  British  Columbia,  and  paying  a  tax  to  the  overburdened  treasurj7  of 
the  United  States  of  75  cents  a  ton."  * 

Petroleum. 

The  presence  of  oil  reservoirs  of  enormous  extent  in  the  North- West  Territories 
has  only  quite  recently  been  scientifically  established.   Hitherto,  the  older  and  much 

*  E.  Wiman,  loc.  cit. 


PETROLEUM  DEPOSITS.  481 

smaller  deposits  of  the  province  of  Ontario  have  alone  been  worked.  Thtse  cover  an 
area  of  not  more  than  5,000  square  miles  altogether,  stretching  in  one  direction  about 
100,  and  in  another  some  50  miles,  while  the  helds  actually  tapped  are  limited  to  a 
belt  16  miles  long  by  two  or  three  wide,  lying  16  miles  east  of  Port  Sarnia,  and 
extending  nearly  parallel  with  the  St.  Clair  River. 

This  oil-yielding  region  of  Ontario  is  divided  into  two  separate  districts,  about 
seven  miles  apart,  named,  respectively,  Petrolia  and  Oil  Springs,  and  here  as  many 
as  3, "200  wells  have  already  been  sunk.  The  Petrolia  district  produces  the  greater 
part  of  the  25  million  gallons  obtained  every  year,  and  also  possesses  nine  out  of 
thirteen  refineries  now  at  work  in  the  Dominion.  This  industry  may  perbaps 
seem  insignificant  when  compared  with  that  of  the  neighbouring  States,  where  the 
average  annual  yield  of  crude  oil  amounts  to  about  1,000  million  gallons.  Xever- 
theless,  it  gives  employment  to  about  3,000  hands,  and  support  to  a  population  of 
over  8,000  souls.  The  capital  invested  in  this  business  already  approaches 
£600,000,  and  the  total  value  of  the  yearly  output  is  estimated  at  £420,000.  The 
industry  is  protected  by  a  duty  of  74-  cents  (nearly  4d.)  per  gallon ;  but 
it  does  not  provide  a  supply  sufficient  for  the  local  demand.  Hence  a  considerable 
quantity  of  crude  and  refined  oil  has  still  to  be  imported  from  the  United  States, 
this  trade  being  estimated,  in  1889,  at  about  five  million  gallons,  worth  nearly 
£100,000. 

But  this  position  is  probably  destined  soon  to  be  reversed,  and  instead  of 
depending  on  foreign  supplies,  Canada  must,  in  the  near  future,  become  a  great,  if 
not  the  greatest,  storehouse  of  petroleum  in  the  whole  world.  In  the  year  1888, 
the  select  committee  appointed  by  the  Dominion  Government  to  inquire  into 
the  extent  and  prospects  of  the  newly-discovered  deposits  in  the  Athabasca- 
Mackenzie  basin,  reported  that  "  the  evidence  submitted  to  your  committee 
points  to  the  existence  in  the  Athabasca  and  Mackenzie  Valleys  of  the  most 
extensive  petroleum  field  in  America,  if  not  in  the  world.  The  uses  of  petroleum, 
and,  consequently,  the  demand  for  it,  are  increasing  at  such  a  rapid  ratio,  that  it  is 
probable  that  this  great  petroleum  field  will  assume  an  enormous  value  in  the 
near  future,  and  will  rank  among  the  chief  assets  comprised  in  the  Crown  domain  of 
the  Dominion.  For  this  reason  your  committee  would  suggest  that  a  tract  of 
about  40,000  square  miles  be  for  the  present  reserved  from  sale,  and  that  as  soon  as 
possible  its  value  may  be  more  accurately  tested  by  exploration  and  practical  tests  ; 
the  said  reserve  to  be  bounded  as  follows  :  — Easterly  by  a  line  drawn  due  north 
from  the  foot  of  the  Cascade  Rapids  on  Clear  Water  River,  to  the  south  shore  of  the 
Athabasca  Lake ;  northerly,  by  the  said  lake  shore  and  the  Quatre  Fourche 
and  Peace  Rivers  ;  westerly,  by  the  Peace  River  and  a  straight  line  from  Peace 
River  Landing  to  the  western  extremity  of  Lesser  Slave  Lake  ;  and  southerly,  by 
said  lake  and  the  river  discharging  it,  to  Athabasca  River  and  Clear  Water  River 
as  far  as  the  place  of  beginning." 

The  significance  of  this  announcement  will  at  once  be  seen,  when  it  is  stated 
that  the  Russian  deposits  at  Baku  on  the  Caspian,  at  present  by  far  the  most 
productive  in  the  world,  have   a   total  area  of  only  1,600   square    miles.     But  it 


432 


XnRTII  AMERICA. 


must  be  remembered  that  this  area  of  40,000  square  miles,  here  recommended  to  be 
reserved,  by  no  means  represents  the  whole  of  the  oil-bearing  region,  "which  one 
witness  estimated  at  no  le^s  than  100,000  square  miles. 

Tig.  17(3. — Map  of  the  Gkeat  Canadian  Peteoletjji  Region. 


X  O  II  THE  RN  J 

O  C  EulN 


The  dotted  line  shows  the  estimated  boundary  of  the  Oil  Region. 


It  may  be  stated,  in  a  general  way,  that  "  if  the  reader  find  Calgary,  a  well- 
known   station  on  the  Canadian   Pacific  Railway,  and   strike  about  a  couple  of 


PETROLEUM  DEPOSI  K  133 

hundred  miles  due  north  to  Edmonton  (which  is  connected  with  the  station  by  a 
coach  road)  he  will  reach  the  fringe  of  this  great  oil  region.  From  the  Edmonton 
district,  the  oil  belt  stretches  the  whole  distance  in  a  north-westerly  direction  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  River,  a  length  of  quite  2,000  miles  as  the  crow  flies. 
The  Athabasca  River  runs  through  the  middle  of  the  oil  district,  which  includes 
the  whole  of  the  Lesser  Slave  Lake  on  the  one  hand,  and  touches  the  shores  of  the 
Beaver  Lake  on  the  other.  The  Peace  River  is  entirely  included  in  the  district, 
from  the  moment  it  quits  the  Rocky  Mountains,  until  with  the  Athabasca  it  flows 
into  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  a  course  of  over  1,000  miles  ;  and  from  Fort  Smith, 
close  to  where  they  jointly  flow  into  the  lake,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie 
River,  a  navigable  run  of  1,360  miles,  there  is  oil  the  whole  way.  The  general 
area  is  larger  than  that  of  all  the  petroleum  districts  of  the  present  oil-producing 
countries  put  together. 

"  These  boundless  treasures  have  hitherto  been  entirely  neglected,  simply 
because  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  Railway  has  only  quite  recently  brought  the 
countr}-  within  reach  of  the  world's  steam  communications.  At  no  distant  date 
Edmonton  will  be  connected  with  Calgary  by  railway,  as  well  as  the  Athabasca 
Landing,  90  miles  farther  north.  This  has  been  recommended  as  a  good 
point  for  commencing  operations,  on  account  of  its  connection  with  the  water 
communications  of  the  Mackenzie  River  and  Hudson  Bay.  Another  outlet  is 
available  by  means  of  the  Saskatchewan.  Thirty  miles  from  the  Grand  Rapids, 
according  to  Professor  Bell,  there  is  a  visible  petroleum  field  stretching  ten  miles 
along  the  river.  Wells  would  easily  strike  oil  at  400  feet  or  so  at  this  spot. 
From  here  there  is  a  steamboat  run  of  125  miles  to  Athabasca  Landing,  and, 
pending  the  railway,  a  pipe  line  90  miles  long  (a  mere  trifle  as  pipe  lines  go) 
would  bring  it  to  the  Saskatchewan  River,  where  it  would  touch  the  water  com- 
munications running  to  the  Canadian  Lakes,  meeting  on  its  way  down  the  river 
the  railway  system  at  Battleford  or  Prince  Albert  when  complete. 

"  We  may  therefore  say  that  this  great  oil  region  has  two  sea  outlets  rid  the 
Mackenzie  River  and  Hudson  Bay,  a  lake  outlet  by  means  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
and,  in  embryo,  two  railway  outlets  by  way  of  Edmonton  and  Calgary  on  the 
west,  and  Battleford  or  Prince  Albert  on  the  east.  Climatically,  it  may  be  said 
that  although  a  deal  lies  in  northern  latitudes,  yet,  owing  to  the  warm  currents  of 
air  from  the  Pacific — a  well-known  peculiarity  of  the  region — the  whole  of  the 
40,000  miles  of  the  proposed  oil  domain  compares  favourably  with  Middle  and 
even  Southern  Russia.  The  Mackenzie  River  is  a  far  better  sea  outlet  than  the 
Northern  Dwina,  on  which  Archangel  is  situated,  and  on  which  Russia  solely 
depended  for  maritime  intercourse  with  the  world  until  Peter  the  Great  provided 
another  at  St.  Petersburg  ;  while  at  Fort  Simpson,  on  the  Mackenzie  River, 
nearly  1,000  miles  north  of  the  oil  fields  nearest  the  Pacific  Railway,  the  winter 
is  not  so  long  as  the  winter  of  St.  Petersburg.  The  southern  oil  fields  experience 
warmer  winters  than  many  of  the  American  states,  and  the  climate  is  not  so  cold 
as  in  Manitoba.  We  may  consequently  strike  the  generalisation  that  while 
Russia's  petroleum  fields  lie  in  the  hot  region  of  the  Caspian  (Old  Persia),  and  the 


434  NORTH  AMERICA. 

petroleum  fields  of  the  United  States  in  the  cold  winter  quarter  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York,  England  enjoys  the  double  advantage  of  hot  and  cold  petroleum 
fields;  those  of  Burmah  being  a  little  hotter  than  Baku,  and  those  of  Western  Canada 
a  trifle  colder  than  Pennsylvania.  This  advantage  is  something  more  than  one  to 
be  held  out  as  a  mere  inducement  to  fastidious  capitalists,  because  Nature  seems  to 
have  established  a  relation  between  the  characteristics  of  crude  petroleum  and  the 
climate  in  which  it  is  found.  The  Baku  and  Burmese  oils  are  essentially  oils  for 
hot  climates,  while  Pennsylvanian  petroleum  is  better  adapted  for  temperate  and 
cooler  regions.  I  venture  to  predict,  therefore,  that  when  the  great  oil  fields 
of  Canada  are  opened  up,  the  oil  will  be  found  to  have  an  affinity  with  the  Penn- 
sylvanian, and  will  afford  light  not  only  for  the  future  millions  of  the  Dominion, 
but  also  for  the  present  millions  of  the  Pacific  freeboard,  both  on  the  American 
side  and  in  China  and  Japan."  * 

It  remains  to  be  stated  that  in  the  spring  of  1890,  the  Canadian  Government 
sent  a  scientific  expedition  under  Professor  Dawson,  to  examine  the  Athabasca 
oil  fields,  at  the  same  time  sanctioning  the  construction  of  the  proposed  railway 
from  Calgary  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Line,  to  Edmonton  on  the  border  of  the  oil 
region,  one  half  to  be  built  this  year,  the  rest  next  year. 

Trade. 

The  exports  of  a  young  country  like  Canada  to  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  where  the  industries  are  so  much  more  highly  developed,  must 
naturally  consist  mainly  in  raw  materials,  the  natural  products  of  the  agricultural 
and  mining  industries.  Planks,  battens,  and  lumber  of  all  sorts,  horned  cattle, 
sheep,  horses,  and  other  animals,  cheese,  hides,  skins,  wool,  and  peltries,  cod, 
salmon,  and  other  fish,  lastly  coal  and  gold  are  the  articles  of  the  export  trade, 
manufactured  goods  being  mainly  limited  to  tanned  and  dressed  skins,  wooden 
wares,  and  other  articles  not  requiring  complicate  manipulation.  Canada  also 
builds  a  few  wooden  vessels  for  foreign  use. 

Nevertheless,  manufacturing  activity  directed  towards  the  supply  of  the  local 
wants  has  received  a  great  stimulus  since  the  year  1879,  when  the  Dominion 
acquired  the  right  of  regulating  its  own  tariffs,  and  at  once  adopted  the  principle 
of  protection.  Heavy  duties  were  even  imposed  on  manufactured  goods  imported 
from  England,  the  suzerain  country  being  treated  like  the  United  States,  and 
paying  the  same  dues  on  its  manufactured  imports.  Since  that  time  the  number 
of  artisans  has  doubled,  and  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  various  manu- 
factures has  increased  threefold.  New  industries,  such  as  sugar  refineries  and 
cotton  spinning,  have  been  founded,  and  every  branch  of  the  manufacturing 
industries  is  now  represented  in  the  towns  of  the  Laurentian  regions.  Factories 
have  been  multiplied  especially  in  the  Maritime  Provinces  and  in  the  southern 
parts  of  Ontario,  a  country  where  the  whole  social  system  is  assuming  an  industrial 
character. 

*  Charlts  Marvin,  The  Coming  Oil  Age,  18S9. 


TRADE.  435 

The  most  flourishing  industries  are  the  flour  and  saw  mills,  the  tanneries,  wool- 
spiuning,  and  the  boot  and  shoe  business.  Canada  is  also  becoming  independent  of 
England  in  the  clothing  and  furnishing  departments.  Thus  an  increasing  propor- 
tion of  the  raw  materials,  all  of  which  were  formerly  exported,  is  now  needed  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  local  factories. 

Including  both  imports  and  exports,  the  general  movement  of  the  exchanges 
already  exceeds  £40,000,000,  which  is  at  the  rate  of  £8  per  head  of  the  population, 
a  proportion  little  inferior  to  that  of  France.  This  traffic  is  made  almost  exclu- 
sively with  Great  Britain,  the  suzerain  country,  and  with  the  United  States,  the 
conterminous  region  whose  provinces  overlap  those  of  the  Dominion  about  the 
central  districts  of  the  great  lakes  and  along  the  right  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Till  recently  England  held  the  first  position  in  the  international  trade  of  Canada. 
But  despite  the  old  relations  and  the  greater  facilities  afforded  for  trade  with  the 
mother  country  by  the  increasing  number  and  speed  of  the  transatlantic  liners, 
the  balance  is  steadily  inclining  in  favour  of  the  great  republic,  whose  imports 
actually  exceeded  those  of  Great  Britain  by  nearly  £700,000  in  the  year  1889.* 

The  States,  with  a  population  rapidly  approaching  70,000,000,  necessarily  exer- 
cises an  increasing  attractive  influence  on  the  neighbouring  confederacy,  which, 
though  about  equal  in  extent,  is  relatively  far  inferior  in  power,  population,  and 
general  development.  The  movement  of  the  exchanges  between  the  two  countries 
is  even  greater  than  is  indicated  by  the  official  returns,  for  the  contraband  trade 
is  easily  carried  on  at  a  thousand  points  along  a  common  frontier  stretching  from 
ocean  to  ocean. 

In  many  places  produce  forwarded  to  Europe  passes  either  through  Canadian 
or  United  States  territory.  Thus  the  commodities  sent  from  Minneapolis  and  the 
Upper  Mississippi  basin  to  the  destination  of  Great  Britain  are  conveyed,  as  a  rule, 
by  the  so-called  "  Soo  "  railway,  that  is,  the  line  which  follows  the  route  of  the 
Sault  Sainte-Marie.  Even  Chicago  and  Detroit  find  it  convenient  to  send  their 
more  bulky  and  relatively  less  valuable  wares  to  Europe  by  the  line  of  the  great 
lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  other  hand  the  direct  routes  from  Toronto, 
Montreal,  and  Quebec  to  that  part  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  which  lies  south  of 
the  Chignecto  isthmus  necessarily  pass  through  New  York  and  New  England 
territory. 

The  collective  trade  of  Canada  with  countries  other  than  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  represents  only  about  one-eighth  of  the  exchanges.  Amongst  these 
secondary  clients  the  foremost  place  is  taken  by  the  "  West  Indies,"  that  is,  the 
English,  French,  and  other  Antilles,  and  the  traffic  with  these  islands  is  rapidly 
increasing,  thanks  to  the  increasing  facilities  of  intercommunication  created  by 
the  new  lines  of  deep-sea  steamers.  The  relations  with  France,  abruptly  inter- 
rupted by  the  British  conquest,  remained  in  abeyance  for  about  a  hundred  years, 
and  even  now  are  very  slight.  In  fact  the  trade  of  France  with  Canada  is  less 
even  than  that  of  Germany,  being  mainly  limited  to  fancy  wai-es  and  "  articles  de 
Paris  "  taken  in  exchange  for  Canadian  raw  materials. 

*  See  Appendix  I. 


436  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Next  to  Germany  and  France  the  most  important  place  in  the  international 
exchanges  is  taken  by  the  neighbouring  colony  of  Newfoundland,  whose  annual 
trade  with  the  Dominion  is  only  about  £150,000  less  than  that  of  Frauce.  At 
present  the  Canadian  men  of  business  are  making  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to 
place  their  commercial  relations  with  the  Australasian  colonies  on  the  solid  foun- 
dation of  mutual  interests.  Their  analogous  political  conditions  of  common 
allegiance  to  the  Crown  of  England  serve  as  an  argument  for  obtaining  subsidies 
to  support  independent  lines  of  steam  navigation  across  the  Pacitic. 


Routes — "The  Queen's  Highway." 

Since  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  Railway  Canada  offers  the  most  direct  route 
between  England  and  the  extreme  East,  constituting  what  has  been  called  the 
"  Queen's  Highway,"  by  which  troops  could  be  despatched  to  Hong-Kong  if  not  to 
Singapore  more  rapidly  than  by  the  Mediterranean  and  Red  Sea.  When  the 
question  of  subsidising  a  line  of  first-class  royal  mail  steamers  between  Vancouver, 
the  Pacific  terminus  of  the  trans-continental  railway,  and  China,  was  recently 
discussed  in  the  House  of  Lords,  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  journey  from  England 
by  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  route  rid  Suez  to  Hong-Kong  took  from  33  to  37 
days,  and  by  the  Canadian-Pacific  from  32  to  35  days  ;  to  Shanghai  37  and  32, 
to  Yokohama  41  and  27  days  respectively.  It  was  shown  generally  that  the 
Vancouver  route  was  in  many  cases  better  than  the  existing  lines,  and  in  any  case 
it  was  an  excellent  alternative  in  case  of  difficult}'  and  danger  in  time  of  war. 
The  subsidy  would  give  England  five  distinct  imperial  and  commercial  advantages 
— first,  a  rapid  through  postal  and  passenger  route  to  the  East ;  second,  the  means 
of  establishing  an  independent  telegraphic  line  to  the  East ;  third,  the  means  of 
rapid  and  cheap  transport  of  troops  and  stores  across  the  American  continent  to 
British  India  ;  fourth,  a  third  and  possibly  the  most  important  route  to  the  East ; 
and  fifth,  the  provision  of  ships  which  would  form  part  of  the  service  at  the 
Pacific  end  of  the  route,  and  which  would  be  constructed  as  cruisers  in  accordance 
with  the  requirements  of  the  British  Admiralty.  Thus  through  Canadian  territory 
passes  the  highway  to  Cathay,  and  the  name  of  China  (Lachine),  given  by  antici- 
pation to  the  outpost  of  Montreal  by  the  first  French  settlers,  has  already  been 
justified. 

Shipping. 

The  Dominion  takes  a  high  place  amongst  those  states  which  possess  a  large 
mercantile  navy.  Although  official^  a  single  dependency  of  Great  Britain,  it  exceeds 
most  other  nations  in  the  importance  of  its  registered  tonnage,  being  surpassed 
in  this  respect  only  by  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  Norway.  In  1889  it  com- 
prised over  7,000  sailing-vessels,  and  nearly  1,400  steamers  of  about  1,180,000  tons 
burden,  including  the  flotillas  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  great  lakes.  Notwith- 
standing its  position  in   the  centre  of  the  continent,  Manitoba  possesses  its  com- 


CANADIAN  CANALS 


43*3 


mercial  marine  like  the  other  states  of  the  Dominion.  But  most  of  the  shipping 
naturally  belongs  to  tbe  Maritime  Provinces — Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and 
Prince  Edward  Island,  over  4,200  vessels  of  about  800,000  tons  altogether.  But 
Quebec  and  Ontario  own  the  largest  number  of  steamers,  most  of  which,  however, 
are  of  small  size.  At  present  scarcely  any  sailing-vessels  are  built,  and  the  yearly 
increase  is  almost  entirely  in  steamers. 

Canals. 

The  marine  highways  and  navigable  routes  presented  by  the  rivers  and  lakes 
of  the  interior  are  supplemented  by  numerous  artificial  canals.  At  first  all  the 
rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence  had  to  be  turned  in  order  to  open  an   uninterrupted 


Fier.  177.— Dibect  Route  feom  Exolaxb  to  China. 
Scale  1  :  25^,000,000. 


. , 


■rW^J- 


San  Franc 


Honolulu*. 


o. 


;; 


^^^W  Auckland 

Melbou^  J? 


C.J/orn 


Mend.3n  oP  GreertwcU  180° 


5.300  Miles. 


0" 


highway  from  the  sea  to  Lake  Ontario.  Then  this  basin  had  to  be  connected  with 
Lake  Erie  b)-  the  "Welland  Canal,  and  another  is  now  in  course  of  construction 
north  of  the  Sault  Sainte-Marie,  which  will  dispense  the  Canadian  shipping  from 
passing  through  Ehited  States  territory.  The  only  point  at  which  Canada  is  for 
the  moment  dependent  upon  the  United  States  is  in  the  matter  of  the  Sault  Sainte- 
Marie  Canal,  connecting  Lake  Superior  with  Lake  Huron,  which  canal  is  on  United 
States  territory ;  and  under  the  terms  of  the  Non-Intercourse  Act,  it  would,  of  course, 
be  closed  against  Canadian  traffic.  But  the  Dominion  Government  has  proved  itself 
equal  to  the  occasion  by  voting  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  construction  of  a  new 
canal  on  Canadian  territory  connecting  the  two  lakes  ;  so  that  when  this  is  finished 
Canada  will  have  an  independent  waterway  from  east  to  west  as  well  as  an  inde- 


438 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


pendent  through  railway  system.*  In  ordinarj'  times,  however,  all  these  connecting 
links  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Superior  are  open  to  the  shipping  of 
both  states  without  any  preferential  charges. 

Communication  has  also  been  effected  by  canalisation  between  the  navigable 
part  of  the  Richelieu  River  and  Lake  Champlain  and  the  network  of  the  American 
canals.  Lastly,  the  Ottawa  and  Lake  Ontario  have  been  similarly  connected 
through  the  chain  of  lakes  traversed  by  the  Rideau  Canal.  A  direct  route  from 
Ontario  to  Georgian  Bay,  north  of  the  peninsular  region  of  Upper  Canada,  is 
urgently  needed  ;  but  the  works  of  canalisation,  long  commenced,  still  remain  in 
an  unfinished  state. 

The  canals  of  the  Dominion,  formerly  excavated  to  a  depth  of  nine  feet,  have 


Fig.  178. — Network  of  the  East  Canadian  Railways. 
Scale  1  :  20,000,000. 


i  315  Miles. 


now  a  depth  of  fourteen  feet,  and,  in  some  places,  even  more.  Although  their 
collective  length  is  not  great,  they  serve  the  purpose  of  completing  the  natural 
system  of  navigable  lakes  and  rivers,  and,  thanks  to  them,  the  shipping  with  the 
United  States  has  acquired  an  enormous  development.  Relatively  to  its  population 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  possesses  a  larger  movement  of  navigation  than  any  other 
country  in  the  world. 

Railways. 

Such  a  vast  extent  of  inland  navigation  naturally  stimulated  the  development 
of  a  widely  ramifying  railway  system.      In    1835  the  first  Canadian  line  was 

*  Stuart  Cumberland,  "The  Queen's  Highway,"  p.  418.  When  completed,  this  Canadian  Sault 
Sainte-Marie  Canal  will  overcome  a  difference  of  18  feet  in  the  levels  of  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  and 
this  will  bo  effected  by  a  single  lock  600  feet  long  and  85  feet  wide.  The  gates  of  this  lock  will  be 
worked  by  hydraulic  power,  and  the  canal  will  be  crossed  by  a  railway  bridge  which  will  effect  a  junc- 
tion between  the  Canadian  and  American  railway  systems. 


55 
< 

< 

< 


o 


2 

w 

- 

o 


LIBRARY 


CANADIAN   RAILWAYS 


439 


opened  between  Lafirairi  and  St.  Jean  on  the  Richelieu.  In  1844  the  country 
still  possessed  only  thirteen  miles  of  railway,  but  about  the  middle  of  the  century 
two  main  lines  were  taken  in  hand,  the  Inter-Colonial,  to  conuect  the  Maritime 
Provinces  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  with  the  great  cities  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Grand  Trunk,  which  unites  them  with  the  Atlantic  ports  of 
the  United  States. 

The  Canadian  Pacific,  the  great  artery  of  the  Dominion,  and  of  all  the  American 
trans-continental  lines  the  most  direct  route  for  the  trade  of  the  world,  was  only 
begun  in  1880  ;  but  within  five  years  of  that  date  this  stupendous  work  was  already 
completed  throughout  its  entire  length  from  ocean  to  ocean.     It  is  now  being 


Fig.  179.— Transcontinental  Railways  of  North  America. 
Scale  1  :  53.U0O.000. 


45 


West  of*  Greenwich 


1,500  Milea. 


supplemented  by  feeders  and  lateral  branches  of  all  kinds,  which  are  ramifying 
north  and  south,  and  will,  doubtless,  ultimately  reach  the  Yukon  basin  in  the 
extreme  north-west,  and  Hudson  Bay  in  the  north-east.  Although  little  more 
than  a  wilderness  in  proportion  to  its  whole  extent,  the  Dominion  already  occu- 
pies the  eighth  place  amongst  the  nations  of  the  world  in  respect  of  its  railway 
communications,  which  are  increasing  at  the  rate  of  about  600  miles  a  year.  Most 
of  the  lines  are  owned  by  private  companies,  not  more  than  1,150  miles,  with  an 
invested  capital  of  over  £10,000,000,  belonging  to  the  State. 

The  great  Pacific  Company,  highly  favoured  with  grants  of  money  and  public 
lands  from  the  Confederate  Government,  is  richer  than  the  State  itself.  The 
main  line  from  Quebec  to  Vancouver  has  alone  a  length  of  3,100  miles,  and  it  is 
now  more  than  doubled  by  several  lateral  lines,  all  laid  down  on  the  same  condi- 
tions as  the  first,  that  is  to  say,  by  means  of  liberal  concessions  of  lands  bordering 


44(1 


XORTLT  AMERICA. 


both  sides  of  the  rails  and  naturally  chosen  in  the  most  fertile  districts.  A  society 
of  capitalists  has  thus  become  the  owner  in  fee  simple  of  a  vast  territorial  domain, 
the  sale  of  which  can  be  so  controlled  as  to  keep  the  purchasers  more  or  less 
dependent  on  the  association.  The  possession  of  the  most  favourable  sites  for 
the  foundation  of  the  new  towns  which  the  Company  helps  to  create,  adds  other 
privileges  to  those  secured  by  a  complete  monopoly  of  the  transit  trade.  Many 
towns  are  already  excluded  from  access  to  the  very  lakes  on  whose  shores  they 
have  been  founded.  Certainly,  this  work  of  immense  public  utility  could  never  have 
been  undertaken  without  the  inducement  of  substantial  concessions  in  lands  and 
privileges.  At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  denied  that  a  certain  danger  attaches 
to  the  creation  of  such  a  powerful  corporation,  a  State  within  the  State,  which 
will  scarcely  fail  to  use  its  enormous  resources  and  political  influence  in  promoting 
its  private  interests  at  the  expense  of  the  general  welfare.  The  same  company  is, 
directly  or  indirectly,  controller  of  the  ocean  steamers  by  which  the  "  Queen's 
Highway  "  is  continued  in  one  direction  towards  England,  in  the  other  towards 
China  and  Australasia. 

The  superiority  of  this  route,  even  over  that  of  San  Francisco,  for  the  communi- 
cations between  Great  Britain  and  Japan,  is  shown  by  the  subjoined  comparative 
tables  of  time  and  distances  between  Liverpool  and  Yokohama. 


Distance. 

Pacific  Ocean. 

Railway. 

Atlantic. 

Total. 

By  San  Francisco  ) 
and  New  York.    | 

Miles. 
4,470 

Miles. 
3,271 

Miles. 
3,130 

Miles. 
10,871 

By  Vancouver     | 
and  Quebec.       | 

4,232 

238 

3,053 
218 

2,661 

9,916 

Saving  in  miles 

469 

925 

Time. 

Days. 

Days. 

Days. 

Days. 

By  San  Francisco  ) 
and  New  York.    ) 

12-10 

5-17 

8-16 

26-19 

By  Vancouver     ) 
and  Quebec       1 

11-18 

3-15 
'2T2_ 

709 

1  07 

22-18 

Saving  in  time     .     . 

0-16 

4-1 

Telegraphs — Post — Edvcation. 


Like  the  railways,  the  telegraphs  are  mainly  owned,  not  by  the  State  but  by 
private  companies.  The  Confederate  Government  has  established  the  network  of 
lines  between  the  fishing  stations  round  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  as  well  as  the 
shore  line  along  the  coast  of  Canadian  Labrador,  which  reports  all  accidents  that 
are  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  and  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  banks.  The  State  has  also  undertaken  the  construction  of  the  lines,  unprofit- 
able in  a  commercial  sense,  which  connect  the  various  military  or  police  stations  of 
the  North- West  Territories,  the  Indian  Reserves,  and  the  factories  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  and  it  has,  moreover,  laid  a  submarine  cable  between  Vancouver 
and  the  coast  of  Oregon. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  wires  stretching  from  town  to  town  in  the  more  settled 
districts,  as  well  as  those  connected  with  the  Atlantic  cables  between  the  Old  and 


EDUCATION  IN  CANADA. 


411 


New  Worlds,  have  been  constructed  at  the  risk  of  private  speculators,  though  not 
always  without  public  aid.  The  transcontinental  system  will  soon  be  supplemented 
westwards  by  cables  running  in  the  direction  of  Australia  and  China  through  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  Thus  will  be  completed  the  magnetic  girdle  round  the  globe. 
In  1800  a  cable  874  miles  long  was  laid  between  Halifax  and  the  Bermudas,  and 
the  Imperial  Government  contemplates  extending  the  system  thence  to  the  British 
"West  Indies. 

The  telephone  system  is  also  extensively  used  in  all  the  more  populous  parts  of 
the  Dominion.     It  is  already  at  work  in   about  200  towns,  175  of  which  are  con- 


Fig-.  ISO. — Domain  of  the  Pacific  Railway  CoJirA^rr. 
Scale  1  :  13,000,000. 


West   oFbreenwich 


Land6  granted  in  alternate  lots  with  Government  Free  Grant  Lands. 
— ■  315  Miles. 


nected  by  telegraph.  As  many  as  10,000  sets  of  instruments  are  stated  to  be  in  use 
at  the  various  exchanges  and  agencies  throughout  Canada. 

The  postal  movement  is  about  doubled  once  every  ten  years.  The  increase  is 
naturally  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  railway,  or  even  of  the  population  itself, 
because  it  represents  two  distinct  lines  of  progress  mutually  reacting  on  one  another 
— the  development  of  trade  and  of  public  instruction. 

Relatively  to  the  population  the  progress  of  education  is  very  remarkable,  for  no 
less  than  one-fifth  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Dominion  are  receiving  instruction, 
and  of  these  about  two-thirds  are  regular  attendants  at  the  public  schools.  In  this 
respect  Canada  is  in  advance  of  the  neighbouring  republic,  though  inferior  to  it  in 
the  development  of  the  periodical  press.  This,  however,  is  a  factor  which  has  less  to 
do  with  the  real  state  of  instruction  than  with  the  keen  rivalries  of  hostile  parties 
contending  for  political  power.    The  first  newspaper  published  in  the  territory  of  the 


VOL.   xv. 


G  G 


112  NORTH    AMERICA. 

Dominion  appeared  at  Halifax  in  1702,  and  the  first  printed  entirely  in  French  was 
issued  at  Quebec  in  1806.  At  present  there  are  about  800  journals  altogether,  and 
of  these  the  immense  majority  are  English,  not  more  than  10  pur  cent,  being 
French. 

It  is  often  asserted  that  crime  is  much  more  rife  amongst  the  English-  than 
amongst  the  French-speaking  section  of  the  inhabitants.  Thus  drunkenness, 
which,  however,  seems  to  be  diminishing  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  Dominion, 
is  said  to  prevail  especially  in  Manitoba,  the  North- West,  and  British  Columbia, 
almost  exclusively  Anglo-Saxon  territories.  But  such  is  not  the  case,  although 
it  is  quite  true  that  the  consumption  of  beer  increases  according  as  that  of 
wine  and  spirits  decreases.  Pauperism,  which  was  supposed  not  to  exist  in 
Canada,  is  already  making  its  appearance  amongst  the  proletariate  classes  of  the 
manufacturing  towns. 


Administration  and  Government  of  the  Dominion. 

The  Canadian  commune  is  autonomous,  except  in  Prince  Edward  Island,  where, 
in  virtue  of  the  Royal  Charter,  the  municipal  power  is  still  centred  in  the  hands 
of  the  landowners.  Although  the  Canadian  Confederation  has  a  monarchical 
organisation  in  its  central  government,  nevertheless  its  primitive  elements,  its 
townships  or  rural  districts,  all  form  so  many  little  republics,  regulating  their  local 
affairs  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  majority.  "  In  Canada,"  it  has  been 
playfully  remarked,  "  politics  are  distributed  by  the  square  mile  more  than  in  any 
other  country  in  the  world." 

At  the  same  time  the  Canadians  are  far  more  free  in  their  local  administration 
than,  for  instance,  the  inhabitants  of  the  French  Commune,  which  is  nearly  entirely 
dependent  on  the  central  power,  despite  the  republican  form  of  the  State.  The 
council  of  each  municipal  group,  annually  elected  by  the  ratepayers,  votes  the 
acquisition  and  administration  of  the  communal  property,  the  appointment  of  the 
local  officials,  the  grants  to  agricultural  and  manufacturing  bodies,  the  amount 
and  appropriation  of  fines.  The  Municipal  Council  also  controls  the  sale  of 
alcoholic  drinks,  authorising  or  interdicting  the  trade  within  the  communal  limits. 


Provincial  and  Federal  Representation. 

Each  of  the  provinces  constitutes  a  distinct  state,  controlling  its  own  revenues 
and  framing  its  own  laws  in  a  parliament,  whether  of  one  house  as  in  Ontario,  or  of 
two  as  in  the  province  of  Quebec.  It  appoints  its  own  officers  and  secondary  magis- 
trates, and  has  the  entire  control  over  the  internal  administration  and  local  legislation. 
Nevertheless,  the  provinces  lack  all  sovereign  rights  as  regards  the  organisation  of  the 
military  forces,  the  national  defence,  the  levying  of  customs  and  excise  dues,  the 
direction  of  the  postal  service,  the  dispensation  of  justice  in  criminal  matters  and 
divorce.      Moreover,  the  laws  enacted  by  the  provincial  parliaments  may  be  set 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CANADA.  4-1R 

aside  by  a  veto  of  the  central  power  as  opposed  to   the  general  constitution   or 
interests  of  the  Confederacy. 

The  North- West  Territories,  which  arc  not  yet  constituted  in  provinces  properly 
so  called,  have  a  mixed  administration  consisting  of  deputies  elected  by  the  people, 
and  of  functionaries  nominated  by  the  Canadian  ministry.  Each  province  receives 
an  annual  subsidy  from  the  Confederacy. 

For  Government  elections  the  franchise  is  extended  to  all  British  subjects  by 
birth  or  naturalisation  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  certain 
income  or  holding  property  varying  in  value  according  to  the  circumstances  of 
tenure.  Thus  an  estate  owned  or  occupied  worth  £60  in  an  urban,  or  £40  in  a 
rural  district,  or  of  the  yearly  value  of  £4,  or  else  an  income  of  £60  from  earnings 
or  investments  entitle  to  a  vote.  Voting  is  by  ballot,  and  the  franchise  is  uniform 
throughout  the  Dominion  except  in  the  North-West  Territories,  where  every  male 
resident  for  a  twelvemonth,  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  not  an  alien  or  an  Indian, 
enjoys  the  franchise.  Women  are  excluded,  as  are  also  the  Chinese.  The  latter 
are  even  required  to  pay  an  entrance  tax  of  £10  for  permission  to  reside  in  the 
country,  where  they  are  treated  as  so  much  merchandise  by  the  railway  officials, 
being  transported  in  closed  cars  from  one  end  of  the  territory  to  the  other. 
The  Indiana,  who  have  given  up  the  tiibal  organisation  and  settled  in  the  reserves, 
are  assimilated  politically  to  the  whites.  All  strangers  may  become  citizens  after 
a  residence  of  three  years ;  by  simply  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  before  a 
magistrate  they  can  demand  a  certificate  of  naturalisation,  entitling  them  to  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  a  British  subject. 

The  Canadian  Parliament  comprises  two  Chambers,  the  House  of  Commons  and 
the  Senate.  The  first,  or  Lower  House,  is  elected  for  five  years,  unless  sooner  dis- 
solved, on  the  present  proportion  of  one  member  for  every  20,000,  but  so  that  the 
province  of  Quebec  shall  always  have  65  representatives.  Those  of  the  other 
provinces  vary  according  to  each  decennial  census  according  to  the  relative 
importance  of  their  population.  At  present  the  preponderance  of  Ontario  is  so 
great  that  it  commands  nearly  half  the  votes  of  the  House  of  Commons,  92 
in  a  total  of  214  deputies.  Having,  moreover,  the  advantage  of  possessing  the 
capital  of  the  Confederacy  within  its  limits,  this  province  really  disposes  of  the 
numerical  majority  at  divisious. 

The  7S  members  of  the  Senate,  or  Upper  House,  are  appointed  for  life  by 
summons  of  the  Governor-General  under  the  Great  Seal  of  Canada.  All  born  or 
naturalised  subjects  are  eligible  who  are  thirty  years  old  and  possessed  of  real  or 
personal  estate  valued  at  £S00  in  the  province  for  which  they  are  appointed,  and 
in  which  they  are  officially  required  to  be  domiciled. 

The  Governor,  representing  the  Queen,  but  paid  by  the  Dominion,  is  President 
of  the  Ministry,  which  consists  exclusively  of  members  of  the  Canadian  Parliament 
chosen  by  the  majority,  and  responsible  to  the  Chambers.  He  resides  at  Ottawa, 
seat  of  the  Parliament  and  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  It  has  often  been  proposed 
to  withdraw  the  capital  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Ontario,  and  constitute  it  a 
federal  city,  as  are  Washington  and  Buenos  Ayres  in  other  American  states. 

g  g  2 


m 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


An  my. 


Canada  possesses  the  mere  framework  of  a  standing  army.  Formerly,  when  it 
was  a  simple  colonial  dependency  of  Great  Britain,  its  citadels  and  chief  towns 
were  garrisoned  by  British   troops,   while  English  fleets  guarded  the  seaboard. 


Fig.  181. — Halifax  and  its  Citadel. 
Scale  1  :  55,000. 


65^37  ■ 


.Vest  or  Greenwich 


63'SJ 


0to32 
Feet. 


Depths. 


32  to  S4 
Feet. 


64  Feet  nnd 
upwards. 


2,200  Yards 


But  since  she  has  assumed  the  management  of  her  own  affairs,  the  Dominion  has 
also  to  take  measures  for  her  own  defence.  The  Imperial  Government  only 
keeps  an  armed  force  of  about  2,000  men  in  the  important  naval  station  of 
Halifax.      A  oinall  garrison  is  also  still  retained  at  Esquimalt  for  the  purpose  of 


LI8RARV 

THE 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CAXADA.  446 

guarding  the  shores  of  British  Columbia.  But  this  provisional  arrangement  has 
not  been  finally  settled. 

Legal  provision  has  been  made  for  the  levying  of  regular  troops,  though  there 
has  hitherto  been  no  occasion  to  apply  the  law,  the  number  of  volunteers  having 
always  exceeded  the  number  of  men  required  for  the  service.  The  nominal 
streno-th  of  the  active  militia  stands  at  43,000  men  for  the  whole  of  Canada,  but  the 
effective  strength  of  the  thorough-trained  volunteers  scarcely  exceeds  30,000. 
Those  drawn  from  the  towns  serve  under  arms  twelve  days  every  year,  but  those 
enlisted  in  the  rural  district  are  called  out  only  every  second  year.  "While  under  arms 
for  the  regular  exercises,  the  men  draw  a  small  pay,  and  are  also  armed  and 
equipped  at  the  cost  of  the  Government. 

Government  also  maintains  the  "Royal  Military  College"  of  Kingston,  besides 
eight  smaller  military  establishments,  where  men  are  thoroughly  trained  for  a 
special  corps  destined  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  permanent  army.  In  the  north- 
western regions  about  1,000  men  constitute  a  body  of  "  Mounted  Police,"  who  scour 
the  plains  in  various  directions,  the  chief  duty  being  to  control  the  Indian  tribes 
and  keep  them  in  their  camping  grounds.  This  is  the  most  active  corps  in  the 
Canadian  militia.  In  proportion  to  their  numbers  the  French  Canadians  are 
far  less  numerous  in  the  volunteer  service  than  the  English.  Whatever  be  said 
to  the  contrary,  the  Anglo-Saxons  take  more  pleasure  than  other  races  in  "  playing 
at  soldiers." 

Besides  the  regulars  there  is  a  reserve  including  all  able-bodied  men  between 
18  and  60  years  of  age,  and  comprising  altogether  about  a  million  of  soldiers 
disposed  in  four  classes,  according  to  age  and  family  circumstances.  But  no 
dnision  of  this  vast  force  has  ever  been  exercised  or  even  armed.  It  has  merely 
a  contingent  existence,  ready,  however,  to  be  called  into  being,  in  case  the 
national  independence  were  menaced.  The  largest  demand  for  troops  occurred  in 
1^70,  when  the  Irish  Fenians  threatened  to  invade  the  country  from  the  United 
States.  On  that  occasion  the  Canadian  forces,  comprising  nearly  20,000  men  and 
20  guns,  were  massed  at  all  the  vulnerable  points  of  the  frontier.  On  two 
other  occasions,  the  volunteers  were  also  summoned  to  enter  the  field  against 
the  French  half  breeds  of  the  north-west,  and  they  responded  in  both  instances 
with  alacrity  to  the  call. 

The  military  expenditure  is  so  slight  as  scarcely  to  be  felt  as  a  burden.  In 
1888  it  was  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling.  A  Minister  of  War, 
a  member  of  the  Ottawa  Government,  takes  charge  of  all  military  matters,  but  the 
Commander-in-Chief  is  an  English  Major-General,  "lent"  by  the  Crown,  but  paid 
by  the  Dominion. 

Administration  of  Justice. 

In  tbe  same  way  the  judicial  hierarchy  is  linked  with  the  Home  Government, 
the  Queen's  Privy  Council  being  the  supreme  tribunal  or  last  court  of  appeal. 
In  civil  cases  there  is  a  continual  stream  and  counter-stream  of  pleaders  and 
barristers   between  the   Canadian  and  London   courts  of    justice,  much    to    the 


440 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


benefit  of  the   lawyers,  but  involving  considerable   expense  and  endless  judicial 
complications. 

Yet  Canada  might  seem  amply  provided  with  judges  and  tribunals  without 
having  recourse  to  the  British  courts.  The  various  municipalities,  if  petitioned  by 
a  hundred  owners  of  property,  can  call  upon  the  provincial  Lieutenant-Governor  in 
council  to  appoint  a  court  of  commissioners  analogous  to  the  English  Small  Debts' 
Courts,  sitting  without  stipend,  and  deciding  without  appeal  all  matters  of  debt  not 
exceeding  the  sum  of  £'o.     The  mayors  of  the  municipalities  are  also  magistrates, 


Fig.  tS'2. — Ottawa,  Capital  of  the  Dominion. 
Scale  1  :  550,000, 


Chat. 


j£.F/of<3 , 


.-/    Q 


igaEvi 


'A 


1,100  Yards. 


with  functions  similar  to  those  of  the  justices  of  peace,  appointed  by  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  from  persons  possessing  property  of  the  minimum  value  of  £240. 
The}' have  both  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  may  arrest  people  charged  with 
the  commission  of  a  crime,  examine  witnesses  in  the  preliminary  proceedings,  and 
prepare  the  indictments  to  be  tried  by  the  qualified  tribunals. 

Then  follow  in  regular  order  the  judges  of  the  sessions  of  peace,  the  police 
magistrates  and  the  recorders,  also  nominated  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 
Circuit  courts,  presided  over  by  one  of  the  judges  of  the  higher  court,  are  held  in 
each  judiciary  district,  comprising  a  certain  number  of  counties.  They  have 
civil    jurisdiction,    limited,   however,  to  cases  of  slight  importance,  whereas   fchs 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CANADA.  i  17 

higher  courts  take  cognizance  of  any  case,  whatever  be  the  value  of  the  property  or 

sums  in  dispute.  According  to  circumstances  these  higher  tribunals  are  sub- 
divided into  courts  of  revision  and  courts  of  bankruptcy. 

The  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  the  highest  court  of  appeal  in  each  province, 
has  jurisdiction  bub.  in  civil  and  criminal  matters.  It  consists  of  six  judges,  of 
whom  one  alone  presides  at  the  criminal  assizes,  where  ca?es  are  heard  before  a 
jury  of  twelve,  while  the  other  five  constitute  a  court  of  appeal. 

The  judges  of  the  higher  courts  and  of  Queen's  Bench  are  nominated  by 
the  federal  government,  but  the  organisation  of  the  tribunals,  the  constitution  of 
the  courts,  and  method  of  procedure  depend  on  the  provincial  government. 
Above  all  these  provincial  tribunals  stands  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ottawa, 
composed  of  a  chief  justice  and  of  five  puisne  judges  appointed  by  the  Sovereign. 
It  exercises  jurisdiction  in  appeal  cases  for  the  whole  of  Canada  in  all  criminal 
matters,  but  only  in  civil  suits  where  the  sum  in  litigation  exceeds  £400.  The 
Supreme  Court  acts  at  the  same  time  as  a  political  council,  and  may  take 
cognizance  of  all  questions  submitted  to  it  by  the  Governor-General  in  Council.* 

Lastly,  when  the  sums  in  dispute  exceed  the  value  of  £50,000,  appeal  may 
be  interposed  to  the  Privy  Council.  The  Canadian  law  is  the  common  law  of 
England,  that  is  to  say,  essentially  monarchical.  Xevertheless,  some  of  the 
enactments  of  the  English  code  have  been  modified  by  the  federal  parliament. 
In  the  province  of  Quebec,  where  the  population  is  in  great  part  French,  the 
English  criminal  code  has  been  introduced,  but  the  civil  law  is  almost  entirely 
the  same  as  prevailed  in  France  before  the  Revolution.  Thus  the  right  of 
bequeathing  property  is  unlimited,  and  fortunes  are  disposed  of  at  the  testator's 
pleasure  without  regard  to  the  natural  rights  of  his  children. 

Religion. — Education. 

According  to  the  Canadian  constitution  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
should  be  absolute  in  the  Dominion.  Thus  neither  the  Catholic  nor  any  of  the 
Protestant  cults  derive  any  direct  aid  from  the  public  revenues,  receiving  no 
grants  of  money  except  those  that  in  certain  cases  are  made  to  their  schools.  In 
Lower  Canada,  where  the  French  and  Irish  Roman  Catholics  combined  have  an 
enormous  preponderance,  Protestants  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  In 
the  same  way  Catholics  are  treated  with  absolute  tolerance  by  the  Protestants  of 
the  other  provinces,  where  Anglo-Saxons  of  diverse  denominations  are  in  the 
majority.  The  State  recognises  the  right  of  all  religious  communities  to  con- 
stitute themselves  in  a  distinct  body  for  purposes  of  worship  and  instruction. 
Even  the  Jesuits  have  not  only  a  legal  status,  but  a  portion  of  the  property  of 
which  they  were  deprived  in  the  last  century  has  been  restored  to  them.  The 
religious  organisation  of  the  province  of  Quebec  has  been  preserved  such  as  it 
existed  under  the  French  rule,  and  the  cures,  or  parish    priests,  still  receive  the 

*  N.  Legendre,  Notre  Constitution  ct  no*  Institution* ;  Honors  Mercier,  Eequun  •  la  province 

de  Quebec. 


lis  NORTH  AMEBIC  A. 

so-called  "  dime,"  or  tithes,  which,  however,  instead  of  being  a  tenth  are  scarcely  a 
twenty-sixth  part  of  the  impost.  Thanks  to  this  tax  they  to  a  certain  extent 
share  in  the  administration  of  the  province.  The  surplus  of  the  ecclesiastical 
revenues  passes  in  great  measure  to  the  convents  and  schools. 

Primary  instruction,  obligatory  in  all  the  Canadian  provinces,  has  not  been 
uniformly  regulated  throughout  the  Dominion.  Hence  the  questions  associated 
with  this  subject  are  warmly  discussed  by  the  different  sections  of  the  community, 
because,  in  the  provinces  of  mixed  populations,  they  affect  the  interests  of  race, 
language,  and  religion.  In  Quebec,  the  oldest  colonised  province,  the  schools, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  private  establishments,  are  denominational,  that  is, 
some  Catholic,  some  Protestant,  not  secular,  neutral,  or  "  godless."  Catholicism 
being  the  religion  of  the  great  majority,  more  than  six-sevenths  of  the  children 
receive  an  education  controlled  or  directed  by  the  Catholic  clergy.  The  Council 
that  presides  over  the  organisation  of  the  schools  comprises  all  the  Catholic  bishops 
of  the  province,  ex-officio  members,  besides  an  equal  number  of  laymen  nominated 
by  the  Government.  As  a  section  of  the  lay  members  always  sides  with  the 
bishops,  the  Roman  Church  completely  controls  all  educational  matters. 

Its  influence  is  strengthened  from  the  fact  that  the  secondary  schools  are  also, 
for  the  most  part,  Catholic  colleges  or  "convents,"  where  instruction  is  given 
directly  and  almost  exclusively  by  members  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  sisterhoods. 
Lastty,  the  chief  university,  the  oldest  high  school  in  the  Dominion,  is  also  a  purely 
Catholic  institution,  and  it  is  significant  that  divinity  is  its  most  numerously 
attended  faculty. 

But  the  Protestants  on  their  part  also  enjoy  the  full  right  of  organising  their 
denominational  schools  after  their  own  fashion.  A  Protestant  committee,  whose 
members  are  chosen  by  the  Government,  directs  the  schools  and  distributes  the 
grants  in  aid.  Moreover,  the  religious  minority  in  each  municipality  has  the 
power,  whenever  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  educational  affairs,  to  appoint 
special  syndics  to  watch  over  its  interests.  The  inspectors  of  the  schools  of  both 
denominations  are  themselves  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants  respectiveljT.  On 
an  average  the  grants  made  by  Government  to  the  non-Catholic  schools  somewhat 
exceed  those  received  by  their  rivals  ;  but  both  confessions  enjoy  complete  equality 
before  the  law.  The  same  remark  applies  also  to  the  two  languages,  for  instruc- 
tion is  given  in  French  where  the  children  are  of  French  origin  or  speech,  and  in 
English  where  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Irish  elements  prevail. 

In  the  province  of  Ontario,  where  the  Protestants  have  the  numerical  superiority, 
lmt  where  the  Catholics  form  an  important  minority,  the  people  have  also  their 
denominational  schools.  Nevertheless,  most  of  the  communes  being  controlled  by 
the  Protestants,  many  Canadian  Catholics,  instead  of  exercising  their  right  to 
organise  their  own  schools  where  both  French  and  English  would  be  taught,  send 
their  children  to  the  establishments  where  instruction  is  imparted  exclusively  in 
English.  In  the  eastern  counties,  however,  near  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Ottawa 
confluence,  the  French  Canadians  have  the  majority  in  certain  municipalities,  and 
are  thus  enabled  to  support  schools  where  their  language  is  predominant. 


FINANCE.— CONFEDERATION.  449 

Hence  arise  frequent  political  conflicts,  one  party  complaining  that  the  teachers 
neglect  the  study  of  the  language  which  is  dominant  in  the  province,  the  other 
claiming  the  constitutional  right  of  conducting  their  schools  in  their  own  way. 
The  opinion  -which  seems  to  be  gradually  prevailing  in  Ontario  is  to  give  a  purely 
secular  character  to  the  schools,  and  to  make  the  study  of  the  English  language 
obligatory.  This  would  be  in  accordance  with  the  precedent  already  furnished  by 
the  province  of  Manitoba,  where  the  same  cause  of  dissension  had  arisen  between 
the  English  Protestant  and  the  French  Catholic  schools ;  and  where  the  question 
was  settled  by  making  English  the  exclusive  language  of  instruction.  In  1890, 
the  Manitoba  parliament  also  decided,  by  a  large  majority,  that  the  deliberations 
should  henceforth  be  carried  on  in  English  alone. 

In  British  Columbia  and  the  Maritime  Provinces  education  has  long  been 
secularised,  and  here  religious  instruction  is  now  given  only  in  the  family  circle 
and  in  the  private  establishments.  The  use  of  the  French  decimal  system  has 
been  legalised  and  rendered  optional  in  Canada  ;  but  it  is  little  practised,  although 
the  American  monetary  system  has  been  adopted. 

Finance. 

The  public  revenue  required  by  Government  for  the  general  cost  of  the 
administration,  civil  service,  army,  law  courts,  and  public  instruction  is  derived 
mainly  from  the  customs  dues,  which  average  about  15  per  cent,  on  the  value  of 
all  imported  goods.  The  Dominion  also  possesses  large  domains,  the  annual  sale 
of  which,  however,  add  but  a  very  small  sum  to  the  national  budget.  Most  of  the 
lands  now  bought  by  intending  settlers  arc  obtained,  not  from  the  State,  but  from 
the  powerful  railway  corporations. 

As  is  the  case  with  most  other  civilised  governments,  the  expenditure  gene- 
rally exceeds  the  income,  and  the  public  debt,  although  trifling  compared  with  that 
of  England  or  France,  already  represents  more  than  six  years  of  revenue.  The 
Canadian  Budget  increases  far  more  rapidly  than  the  population,  having  nearly 
doubled  within  a  single  decade,  rising  from  £4,500,000  in  1878  to  about  £8,000,000 
in  1888.  Besides  the  national  budget  each  province  has  its  srjeeial  revenue, 
expenditure  and  debt.  Thus  the  indebtedness  of  the  province  of  Quebec  already 
approaches  two  millions  sterling. 

Confederation. 

Since  the  recognition  of  the  principle  of  colonial  autonomy  by  Great  Britain, 
the  political  condition  of  the  Dominion  has  been  diversely  modified.  The  creation 
of  the  Confederacy  may  be  said  really  to  date  from  the  year  1841,  when  Upper 
and  Lower  Canada  were  fused  in  a  single  state.  But  the  other  provinces  still 
continued  to  hold  aloof,  and  during  this  transitional  period  their  only  political 
connection  with  the  two  provinces  of  the  Laurentian  basin  was  that  derived  from 
their  common  dependence  on  England.     The  movement  towards  general  amalga- 


450  NORTH  AMERICA. 

mation  was  not  revived  till  the  year  1*07,  and  then  four  years  were  occupied 
with  preliminary  discussion  and  diplomatic  negotiations  before  the  various  colonies 
were  at  last  united  in  the  "  Dominion  of  Canada."  At  first  the  two  Canadas, 
properly  so  called,  together  with  Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  New  Brunswick, 
formed  a  federation.  In  1869  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  sold  its  rights  over  the 
North-West  Territories;  in  1871  the  Columbian  region  of  the  Pacific  seaboard 
became  a  member  of  the  Canadian  "  Greater  Britain  ;  "  lastly,  in  1873,  the  little 
Prince  Edward  Island,  smallest  of  all  the  colonies,  threw  in  its  destinies  with  those 
of  its  powerful  neighbours. 

Newfoundland  alone  has  hitherto  declined  to  join  the  Confederacy.  Neverthe- 
less the  negotiations  connected  with  this  subject  have  never  been  completely  inter- 
rupted, while  the  economic  alliance  becomes  more  and  more  intimate.  Meanwhile 
the  Dominion  prudently  awaits  the  definite  settlement  of  the  thorny  questions 
connected  with  the  fisheries  before  taking  further  action. 

In  virtue  of  the  constitution  as  set  forth  in  the  British  North  America  Act, 
1867  (30  Victoria,  cap.  3),  the  executive  government  and  supreme  authority  is 
vested  in  the  Crown,  the  Queen  being  represented  by  a  Governor-General 
appointed  by  her,  but  paid  by  the  Dominion. 

The  "  Queen's  Privy  Council  for  Canada,"  for  which  members  of  the  Dominion 
Parliament  are  alone  eligible,  forms  a  ministry  which  must  possess  the  confidence 
of  the  majority  of  the  Lower  House.  But  the  power  of  dismissing  the  Privy 
Council  is  vested  in  the  Governor-General. 

An  officer  of  the  British  Army,  of  rank  not  inferior  to  a  major-general, 
appointed  by  the  Crown  and  paid  by  Canada,  has  the  supreme  command  of  all  the 
military  forces  both  active  and  reserve. 

Under  the  Act  of  Union  the  confederate  government  practical^  enjoys 
absolute  control  over  all  matters  which  by  that  Act  are  not  specially  delegated 
to  the  provincial  parliaments.  Thus  it  is  empowered  to  make  laws  affecting  the 
peace  and  general  prosperity  of  the  whole  Dominion,  and  it  reserves  to  itself  the 
privilege  of  legislating  on  such  questions  as  trade  and  commerce ;  indirect  taxa- 
tion ;  borrowing  on  the  public  credit ;  public  debt  and  property ;  the  postal 
service  ;  the  census  and  vital  statistics  of  all  kinds  ;  lighthouse  and  coast  service ; 
militia  and  defence  of  the  Dominion  ;  navigation  and  shipping  ;  fisheries ;  quaran- 
tine ;  currency  and  banking  ;  weights  and  measures  ;  bankruptcy  and  insolvency  ; 
the  naturalisation  of  aliens ;  marriage  and  divorce  ;  criminal  law  and  procedure 
in  criminal  cases  ;  penitentiaries. 

On  the  other  hand  each  member  of  the  confederation  has  its  own  provincial 
assembly  and  administration,  regulating  its  local  affairs  as  specified  in  the  Act 
of  Union.  Thus  the  provinces  dispose  of  their  own  revenues,  and  legislate  for 
their  own  welfare  ;  but  no  laws  can  be  enacted  by  them  which  might  tend  to 
interfere  or  clash  with  the  legislation  of  the  confederate  parliament.  They  take 
cognisance  of  such  questions  as  education ;  asylums,  hospitals,  charities  and 
eleemosynary  institutions  ;  trading  licences;  prisons  and  reformatories;  municipal 
affairs;   local  works;  property  and  civil  rights;  administration  of  justice  so  far  as 


lnhlTKAI-  FOBECASTS.  451 

regards  the  appointment  of  magistrates  or  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  constitu- 
tion, maintenance,  and  organisation  of  provincial  courts  of  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction. 

But  the  provinces  have  not,  like  the  States  of  the  American  federal  union,  the 
power  to  organise  and  maintain  a  provincial  military  force.  Nor  are  the  enact- 
ments of  the  provincial  assemblies  absolute,  inasmuch  as  the  Dominion  Govern- 
ment reserves  to  itself  the  power  of  veto. 

In  general  the  Canadian  constitution  may  be  described  as  consisting  of  a 
representative  government  of  ministers  directly  responsible  to  the  people ;  a 
federal  government  having  charge  of  the  general  weal,  and  provincial  govern- 
ments entrusted  with  the  local  and  provincial  interests. 

The  enormous  advantage  of  complete  autonomy  in  all  matters  peculiar  to  each 
province  explains  the  political  tranquillity  of  the  confederation,  and  the  good 
understanding  which  usually  prevails  between  the  various  elements  of  the  popula- 
tion. Doubtless  the  Dominion  has  also  its  causes  of  dissension  and  trouble.  The 
native  tribes  in  British  Columbia  and  the  Xorth-West  Territories  have  not  yet 
been  entirely  assimilated,  that  is,  brought  into  reserves,  while  the  two  successive 
rebellions  of  the  Bois-Brules  (French-Canadian  half-breeds)  in  Manitoba  and 
Saskatchewan  have  shown  how  little  the  interests  of  this  class  have  been  reconciled 
with  those  of  the  new  settlers.  The  heated  debates  on  the  subject  of  public 
instruction  and  the  rival  languages  keep  alive  a  strong  party  feeling  in  the  several 
provinces.  The  lack  of  fertile  lands  and  of  convenient  access  to  the  markets  of 
the  world  is  severely  felt  in  some  districts,  where  emigration  is  beginning  to  assume 
the  form  of  an  exodus.  Lastly,  a  still  more  ominous  element  of  future  danger 
lurks  in  the  monopoly  of  the  highways  of  traffic  granted  with  perhaps  too  free  a 
hand  to  the  great  railway  companies  and  to  the  syndicates  of  speculators  in  various 
industries.  Such  a  policy  tends  to  revive  the  evils  of  the  old  Hudson  Bay  and 
other  trading  companies,  threatening  to  stifle  the  spirit  of  individual  enterprise 
and  to  reduce  whole  populations  to  a  state  of  helpless  servitude. 

Political  Forecasts. 

But,  however  grave  may  b,  the  political  and  social  problems  which  Canada 
will  be  called  upon  to  deal  with  in  the  near  future,  they  do  not  assume  the  same 
urgent  and  even  threatening  aspect  as  in  the  neighbouring  republic.  The 
formidable  antagonism  of  races,  which  so  largely  contributed  to  bring  about  the 
War  of  Secession,  and  which  still  exists  pregnant  with  tremendous  issues  for  the 
Southern  States,  if  not  for  the  whole  union,  has  no  direct  interest  for  Canada, 
which  had  already  abolished  slave  labour  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
Other  ethnical  and  economic  conflicts,  growing  out  of  the  prodigious  movement  of 
immigration  setting  towards  the  United  States,  will  have  to  be  fought  out  in  the 
Alleghany  uplands  and  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi ;  such  conflicts  can  affect  the 
Canadian  provinces  only  in  a  secondary  degree,  at  least  until  the  wheat-growing 
regions   of  the  Far  West   also  begin   to   attract   great   streams   of    immigrants. 


452  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Lastly,  the  commercial  monopoly  of  the  land,  the  mines  and  industries,  which 
threatens  to  render  the  justly-prized  liberties  of  the  American  citizen  a  mockery 
and  a  delusion,  is  progressing  at  a  far  more  rapid  rate  in  the  United  States  than  in 
the  confederate  provinces  of  British  North  America. 

Hence  it  is  natural  that  most  Canadians  energetically  resist  the  attraction  of 
their  powerful  neighbour,  towards  which  they  might  be  supposed  to  be  drawn  by 
the  ties  of  so  many  common  interests,  and  even  by  the  very  geographical  position 
of  the  conterminous  states.  During  the  War  of  American  Independence  bands  of 
Franco-Canadian  rebels,  instigated  by  Lafayette,  crossed  the  frontier  to  join  the 
New  England  insurgents ;  but  their  action  was  not  supported  by  the  public  opinion 
of  their  fellow  countrymen,  and  the  ministers  of  religion  refused  them  burial  in 
consecrated  ground.* 

Since  that  time  American  parties  have  been  formed  in  Canada  during  all  the 
great  political  crises,  but  their  influence  has  always  diminished,  and  the  cry  for 
annexation  is  now  seldom  heard.  On  the  other  hand  many  American  statesmen, 
fearing  that  the  annexation  of  the  Canadian  provinces  might  disturb  the  equi- 
librium of  parties  to  their  disadvantage,  are  equally  opposed  to  union  with  the 
northern  populations  of  the  continent.  Nevertheless,  the  general  opinion  in.  the 
States  themselves  appears  to  be  that  the  Dominion  will  at  last  gravitate  towards 
the  great  Anglo-Saxon  republic,  and  orators  at  the  Washington  Congress  are  often 
heard  dilating  on  the  "  manifest  destiny,"  by  which  one  day  all  the  inhabitants  of 
North  America  will  be  grouped  in  a  single  political  state. 

This  question  has  heen  recently  discussed  by  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner,t  a 
thoughtful  American  writer,  who  generally  concludes  that  in  Canada  there  is  at 
present  "  a  growing  feeling  for  independence,  very  little,  taking  the  whole  mass, 
for  annexation."  One  reason  for  this  he  finds  in  the  prevailing  belief  of  Canadians 
that  the  Dominion  is  better  governed  than  the  republic.  There  is  also  a  strong 
dislike  felt  for  too  frequent  elections,  for  sensational  and  irresponsible  journalism, 
and  for  the  want  of  system  and  prevailing  corruption  in  the  civil  service  depart- 
ment. He  considers  that  there  are  "  great  commercial  forces  at  work,  which 
seem  strong  enough  to  keep  Canada  for  a  long  time  in  her  present  line  of  develop- 
ment in  a  British  connection." 

In  order  to  strengthen  this  tendency  and  neutralise  the  attractive  forces 
working  in  the  opjjosite  direction,  some  English  statesmen  have  proposed  the 
formation  of  an  "Imperial  Britain,"  to  comprise  in  a  single  confederation  of 
equal  and  autonomous  states  all  the  English  colonies — the  Canadian  Dominion, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  perhaps  India  itself.  But  this  political  and  commercial 
league,  a  sort  of  British  Zollverein,  would  necessarily  sacrifice  the  interests  of  the 
less  powerful  states.  Canada  especially  might  suffer  from  such  a  union,  and 
might  on  that  very  account  he  drawn  more  irresistibly  than  ever  towards  the 
powerful  conterminous  republic.  Many  Canadians  already  ask,  as  they  are  not 
directly  represented  abroad  by  their  own   envoys,  why  they  should   continue  to 

*  Philippe  Aubert  d6  G-aspe,  Les  Anciens  Canadiens. 

t  Studies  in  the  South  and  Went,  with  Comments  on  Canada,  1S90. 


POLITICAL  FORECASTS.  453 

depend  on  Great  Britain  in  the  conduct  of  their  foreign  interests.  They  may 
possibly  feel  the  irksomeness  of  the  situation  all  the  more  that,  since  the  overthrow 
of  the  Brazilian  Empire,  they  will  find  themselves  henceforth  isolated  in  the  New 
World  by  their  semi-monarchical  institutions. 

But,  however  this  be,  no  party  or  political  group  seems  disposed  to  anticipate 
the  natural  course  of  events.  Those  even  who  believe  the  union  to  be  inevitable 
still  rely  on  destiny  for  its  peaceful  accomplishment.  On  neither  side  is  there  any 
standing  army  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  peace  by  preparing  for  war.  It 
is  merely  felt  that  in  case  of  conflict  the  American  republic  will  be  able  to  appeal 
to  the  "  last  reason  "  summed  up  in  the  words  "  might  is  right."  Her  will  must 
needs  be  accomplished,  as  it  was  accomplished  when  the  questions  of  frontiers  were 
decided  in  her  favour  all  along  the  borders  from  Maine  and  Lake  Champlain  to 
Oregon  and  the  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait. 

The  most  zealous  of  American  "  annexationists  "  will  confine  their  efforts  to 
preparing  the  way  by  a  custom-house  alliance,  which  they  hope  may  gradually 
merge  in  political  assimilation ;  nor  can  it  be  denied  that  there  are  many 
Canadians  who  might  readily  allow  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  the  apparent  com- 
mercial advantages  of  such  a  union. 

In  any  case  there  is  no  perceptible  difference  of  race,  language,  or  literature 
between  the  Anglo-Saxon  populations  on  either  side  of  the  political  frontiers,  while 
the  differences  in  customs  or  institutions  are  either  slight  in  themselves,  or  carry 
little  weight  in  the  presence  of  such  momentous  issues.  For  Americans  and  British 
Canadians  alike  the  amalgamation  would  involve  social  and  political  changes  of 
comparatively  little  importance. 

"With  the  French  Canadians  it  is  otherwise,  differing  as  they  do  in  religion, 
language,  and  aspn-ations  from  the  surrounding  Anglo-Saxon  populations.  For 
them  annexation  would  necessarily  be  a  serious  event,  and  many  of  them  naturally 
fear  that  it  might  ultimately  lead  to  their  total  extinction  as  a  separate  people, 
just  as  most  of  their  fellow-countrymen  have  already  been  absorbed  in  Louisiana. 
But  they  have  already  resisted  so  many  assaidts,  they  have  thriven  so  vigorously 
under  the  most  adverse  circumstances  and  sa  feguarded  their  nationality  in  the 
midst  of  seemingly  overwhelming  difficulties  and  dangers,  that  they  may  perhaps 
contemplate  the  course  of  events  with  composure.  Whatever  political  groups  may 
in  future  be  formed  by  the  North  American  peoples,  the  French  Canadians  may 
still  hope  to  enter  the  body  politic  as  a  free  and  distinct  ethnical  factor. 

The  Franco-Canadians  themselves  are,  as  a  rule,  loyal  to  the  Crown  of  England, 
while  maintaining  the  national  spirit  and  hopeful  of  the  future  destinies  of  their 
race.  The  Hon.  Honore  Mercier,  a  competent  interpreter  of  Canadian  feeling, 
remarks  on  this  subject :  "  The  liberties  which  we  have  conquered  with  the  blood 
of  some  of  our  members  enable  us  to  retain  under  the  British  flag  the  customs, 
language,  and  civil  laws  of  the  France  of  Louis  the  Great,  to  openly  proclaim 
ourselves  French,  without  hindrance  or  molestation,  to  take  a  prominent  part  in 
the  politics  and  destinies  of  the  Canadian  Confederation,  and  our  fellow-citizens 
of  English  origin  benefit  too  much  by  these  liberties  to  think  badly  of  us  for 


4r>4  NORTH  AMERICA. 

having  introduced  them  into  the  country — we,  the  descendants  of  the  autocratic 
France  of  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.  The  extent  and  richness  of  our  territory  ; 
its  natural  resources,  as  inexhaustible  as  they  arc  varied  ;  its  incomparable 
geographical  position,  which  enables  it  to  command  the  trade  of  the  richest  por- 
tions of  Canada  and  the  Western  States  of  the  American  Republic  ;  its  great 
waterway  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  most  important  channel  of  inland  and  oceanic 
navigation  which  exists  in  the  world  ;  its  magnificent  system  of  railways,  which  is 
rapidly  extending;  its  universities,  colleges,  convents,  and  its  thousands  of  public 
schools,  which  furnish  the  people  with  education  and  instruction  in  all  branches 
and  degrees;  its  numerous  benevolent  institutions  for  the  relief  of  distress  and  infir- 
mity; its  political  institutions,  which  guarantee  freedom  to  all  citizens  and  the  most 
ahsolute  protection  to  all  races  and  religious  interests  ;  the  perfect  harmony  which 
reigns  among  the  different  groups  of  its  population — in  fine,  the  result  of  all  these 
benefits  and  advantages  will  be  that,  in  the  near  future,  our  province  will  offer 
the  spectacle  of  a  great  people  rich,  happy,  and  prosperous ;  and  as  all  these 
things  will  be  achieved  in  a  large  measure  by  that  French-Canadian  population 
yvhom  Providence  seems  to  have  selected  as  the  special  instrument  of  its  inscrutable 
designs,  the  future  writer  of  the  history  of  this  beautiful  country-  may,  with 
reason,  take  for  the  epigraph  of  his  book,  Gesta  Dei  per  Francos."41 

■     *   General  Sketch  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  1SS9. 


APPENDIX  I. 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


GENEEAL. 

Area  of  North  America  without  the  Inlands 

Square  miles. 

".noo 

„       South  America      „             ..             ... 

;      :.ooo 

219,000 

1,490.000 

Total 

16,729.000 

Miles. 

Coastline  of  Xorth  America,  without  the  Islands 

27,500 

South        ,,              „              „                   .         . 

21,250 

Miles. 

Area  of  America  and  adjacent  Islands  north  of  the  equator 

10,890,000 

„                 „                     „               south 

5,839,000 

Total 

16.729.000 

Area  in  square 
miles. 

Population 

Anglo-Saxon  America  .         .         .         .         7,193,000 

68,000.000 

Latin  America               .         .    •     .         .         9,536,000 

48,000,000 

Whites  and 
Half- Breeds.                    Coloured. 

Aborigines.                        Total. 

Anglo-Saxon  America        .         .         60,000.000                   7,500,000 

500,000 

Latin  America  ....         31,000,000                 15,000,000 

2,000,000                  48,000,000 

Totals         .         91,000,000                  22,500,000 

2,500,000               116,000,000 

45G 


APrEXPIX  I. 


GREENLAND. 


Probable  area  (Behm  and  Wagner) 


868,000  square  miles. 


Population  of  tbe  explored  eoastlands  : — 

Inspectorate  of  North  Greenland  (18 Si.) 
„  Soutb  Greenland  (1882) 

Extern  Territory  (1884) 


Total 


1.111 

5,  1M 

548 

10,446 


Vital  statistics  of  Danish  Greenland  (1882)  :  Births,  335  :  deaths,  401. 

Average  annual  yield  of  the  Greenland  fisheries,  from  1S70  to  1877  :  common  seals  {phoca  fatida), 
51,000;  other  seals,  37,000;  walruses,  200;  whales  and  narwhals,  703;  cod,  200,000. 

Books  published  in  Greenlandish  down  to  1874  :  religious  works,  25  ;  school  books,  16  ;  literary,  16  ; 
total,  57. 


TRADE  (1885). 


Imports  from  Denmark 
Exports  to  ,, 


1 

33.200 


administrative  divisions. 


South  Greeni^sd. 

Julianahaab. 
Eredericksha  ab . 
Godthaab. 
Sukkertoppen. 
Holstenborg. 

Ej^st  Greentantj. 
(No  Divisions.) 


North  Gree>,-laxi>. 

Egedesminde. 

Kristianshaab. 

Jacobshavn. 

Godhavn. 

Eitenbenk. 

Umanak. 

Upemivik. 


POLAE  ARCHIPELAGO. 

Approximate  area 720,000  square  miles. 

Total  population 2,000  to  3,000  Eskimo. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DIVISIONS. 


Main  Groups. 
North-East  Archipelago 


Northern  Archipelago. 


Sub-Gronps. 
/  Grinnell  Land  (Grant  Land,  fee.) 
|  EUesmere  Land  (North  Lincoln, 
'  North  Devon  (Tujan). 

Grinnell  Island. 

North  Cornwall 

Cornwallis  Island. 

Bathurst  Island.  ^ 

Finlay  Island.  j 

Byam  Martin  Island. 

Melville  Island. 

Prince  Patrick  Island. 

Eglinton  Island. 


&c). 


\  Parry  Group. 


APPENDIX  I. 


467 


Main  Groups. 


South-East  Archipelago. 


Western  -Archipelago. 


Sub-Groups. 

Baffin  Land  with  Colburn  and  Penny  Lands. 

Fox  Land,  Meta  Incognita  (King-unit),  &c. 

Bylot  Island  i Possession  Island,  (Jivang). 

Resolution  Island  (Tujnkjuak). 
I  Melville  Peninsula. 

North  Somerset  Island. 

Boothia  Felix  Peninsula. 
j  King  William's  Laud. 

Prince  of  Wales. 

Prince  Albert  Land  (Wollaston  and  Victoria  Lands). 
,  Banks  Laud,  inclnding  Baring  Land. 


ALASKA. 


Area:  531,410  square  miles.     Population  (1870) :  70,640;   (1880)33,020. 

Coast-line,  -without  the  islands  and  small  inlets  :   7,900  miles. 

Area  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  :  5,830  square  miles. 

Area  of  the  Alaskan  Islands  north  of  the 'Aleutians  ;   4. 120  square  miles. 

Population  of  Alaska  according  to  Races  (1880) : — 

Eskimo 17,617 

Aleutians 2,145 

Tinneh  Indians      .....  3,927 

Thlinkits 6,763 

Whites 430 

Creoles  (Half -Breeds)    ....  1,756 

Total        .         .         32,638   (Ivan  Petroff's  estimate). 


Ajnnual  Slaughter  of  Fcr-beartng  Seals  :  Prilulov  Islands,  100,000  ;  Bering  and  Copper  Islands, 
25,000  ;  Crozet  Islands  (Indian  Ocean),  1,500  ;  New  Shetland  and  Falkland  Islands,  5,000. 


Fur-bearing  seals  in  the  Prihilov  Islands : — 

Family  groups         .... 
Bachelors 


Totals 


St.  Paul. 

3,030,250 
1,400,000 


4.430.250 


St.  George. 
163,420 
100,000 

263.4211 


Total. 
3,193,000 
1,500,000 

4,693,000 


Annual  Revenue  of  the  Fur  Company  : — 


Otter  skins  . 
Other  peltries 


Total  . 


106,500 
56,500 

163,000 


value     £100,000 
29,000 


£129,000 


Cod  exported  to  California  from  the  Alaskan  and  Okhotsk  seas  (1887) :  1,129,000. 
Annual  value  of  the  Alaskan  whale  fisheries  :  £237,000,  or  about  £5,900  per  vessel. 
Annual  value  of  the  Alaskan  gold-mines  :   (1882)  £30,000  ;    (1886)  £93,000. 

VOL.    XV.  H    H 


458 


APPENDIX  I. 


DOMINION  OF  CANADA* 


AREA  AND  POPULATION  FROM  LAST  OFFICLAL  RETURN  (1881). 


North-West 
Tebeitoey  and  Arctic 
Islands. 


Provinces. 


Assiniboia 

Saskatchewan . 

Alberta   . 

Athabasca 

Keewatin 

Great  North 

British  Columbia 

Manitoba 

Ontario    . 

Quebec    . 

New  Brunswick 

Nova  Scotia 

Prince  Edward  Island 


Area  in 

square  miles. 

95,000 

114,000 

100,000 

122,000 

335,000 

2,060,000 

341,305 

00,520 

181,800 

188,688 

27,174 

20,907 

2,133 


Males. 


Females. 


Total 
Population. 


28,113  28,333 


29,503 
37,207 
976,461 
678,109 
164,119 
220,538 
54,729 


19,956 
28,747 

946,767 
680,918 
157,114 
220,034 
54,162 


56,446  (1881) 


49,459 

65,954 

1,923,224 

1,359,027 

321,233 

440,572 

108,891 


Newfoundland 


3,648,527 
40,200 


,188,779     2,136,031 


4,324,810 
197,335  (1884) 


Total  Br.  N.  America  3,6S8,727 
Probable  population,  1890  (with  Newfoundland)  :  5,500,000. 

Population  according  to  Ceeeds  : — 

Roman  Catholics    ...... 

Methodists 

Presbyterians  ...... 

Anglicans       ....... 

Baptists  ....... 

Lutherans       ....... 

Congregationalists  ..... 

Miscellaneous  ...... 

Of  "no  religion  " 

No  creed  stated 


4.522,145 


Total 


Adults  classed  according  to  Occupations  : — 

Agriculturists    ...'... 
Artisans,  labourers    .         .      •  .         .         . 

Trades        

Servants   ....... 

Professions 

Population  according  to  Races  and  Nationalities  : 


1,791,982 

742,981 

676,165 

574,818 

296,525 

46,350 

26,900 

79,686 

2,634 

86,769 

4,324,810 


662,630 — about  56  per  cent. 
287,295       „       24 
107,649       „        9         ,, 
74,830       „        7 
52,974       „        4         „ 


Franco -Canadians  (French  descent) 1 

i  Irish       ........ 

British  Canadians  ■'  English 

'  Scotch     

British-born 

British  Americans  ......... 

German  descent     .......... 

German-bom         .......... 

Dutch  descent       . 

French-bom 

Russians  or  Russo- Germans  ....... 

Indians  ........... 

Coloured  (African  descent) 

Chinese 

Scandinavians,  Italians,  and  others 


,299,161 

957,403 

881,301 

669,863 

170,092 

77.753 

254,319 

26,328 

30,412 

4,389 

6,376 

132,000 

21,394 

4,383 

66,000 


*  The  Statistics  in  these  Tables  are  the  latest  available  to  date. 


Ijotigran-ts : — 
1879 

1881 
1882 
1883 

Gbowth  of  Population'  nrBixr.  the  present:  Cextubt  :— 
1806      ....        456,000  1861 

1834      ....     1,303,000  1871 

1844       ....     1,803,000  1881 

1851       ....     '2,547,000  1890 


APPENDIX  I. 

40,000 

1884 

61,000 

1885 

86,000 

1881 

117,000 

L887 

193,000 

207,000 

4/J9 


166,000 
105,000 

122, 

I 
174,000 


.000 
J. 000 
.000 
5,500,000  (:;) 


GROWTH  OF  FOREIGN  TRADE  FROM  1SS0  to  1889. 


1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1889 


Total  Exports.  Total  Imports. 

£17,000,000  ....  £17,000,000 

19,000,000  ....  21,000,000 

18,000,000  ....  16,000,000 

39,000,000  ....  26,000,000 

18,000,000  ....  23,000,000 

18,000,000  ....  22,000,000 

17,000,000  ....  21,000,000 

18,000,000  ....  22,000,000 

18,000,000  ....  24,000,000 

CHIEF  EXPORTS  AND  IMPORTS  (1887). 


Exports. 
Lumber  and  other  forest  products 
Wheat  and  wheat  flour 
Cheese 
Barley 

Horned  cattle 
Horses 
Sheep  . 
Eggs   . 

Cther  agricultural  produce 
Codfish 

Other  kinds  of  fish 
Coal     . 

Gold-bearing  quartz  and  nuggets 
Other  mineral  articles . 
Wood  and  wooden  wares 
lion,  steel,  and  hardware 
Leather  and  leather  ware 
Coin  and  bullion 
Sundries       .         .     -  . 
Foreign  produce  . 
Wool  and  woollen  staffs  . 


Value.  Imports. 

£4.100,000  Iron,  steel,  and  hardware 

1  ; "0,000  Coal  and  coke 

1,420,000  Bread  stuffs 

1,050,000  Cotton  and  cotton-stuffs 

1,300,000  Tea  and  coffee      . 

454,000  Sugars 

320,000  Cotton  wool  and  waste 

301,000  Drugs  and  chemicals 

1,300,000  Silk  and  silken  stuffs 

510,000  Provisions    . 

870,000  Wool,  raw   . 

304,000  Hides,  raw  . 

204,000  Leather  and  leather  ware 

253.0DO  Tobacco,  unmanufactured 

115,000  Wood  and  wooden  wares 

70.000  Live-stock    . 

116.000  Flax,  hemp. 

1,100  Wines  and  spirits 

1,040,000  Coin  and  bullion  . 

1,710,000  Sundries 
2,580, 


Value. 

£2, 740,000 

1,3SO,000 

1.120,000 

1,100,000 

743,000 

1.127,000 

616,000 

280,000 

540,000 

354,000 

375,000 

392,000 

337,000 

265,000 

2>5,000 

335,000 

305,000 

286,000 

106,000 

7,580,000 


GROWTH  OF  TRADE  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


Tear. 
1878 
1880 
1882 
1884 
1886 
1887 
1889 


Exports  to. 
£8,874,000 

12,930,000 
9,871,000 
10.388,000 
10,061,000 
10,267,000 
-70.000 


Grain  and  flour  exported  to  Great  Britain  (IS 
Wood  and  timber  ..  ,,  , 

Cheese  ,,  ,,  , 

Live-stock  ,,  ,,  , 

Butter 

II  ll  2 


Imports  from. 

£7,000,000 

5,040,000 

7,959,000 

8,592,000 

7. 547, 000 

7.740,100 

10,850,000 

2.582,000 

2,727,000 

1,555,000 

1.221,000 

278,000 

140.000 


460 


APPENDIX  I. 


Growth  of  Tkade  with  Great  Britain- — continued. 

Woollen  stuffs                       imported  from  Great  Britain  (1887)  £1,706,000 

Iron  wrought  and  uuwrought        ,.               ..             ..             ..  1,488,000 

Cotton  goods                                      ..               ..             .-             ,.  1.018,000 

Clothes,  haberdashery,  &o.           ,.             „            ..            „  690,000 

Total  imports  from  the  United  States  (1889)   .         .                   .  £11,547,000 

..     exports    to          ..            .,            , 8,856,000 


Year. 

lMiS 

1869 
1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1SS5 
1886 
1887 
1888 


BUDGET  FOE  THE 

Revenue. 
£2,700,000 

2,800,000 
3,100,000 
3,800,000 
4,100,000 
4,200,000 
4,800,000 
4,900,000 
4,500,000 
4,400,000 
4,400,000 
4,500,000 
4,600,000 
5,900,000 
6,600,000 
7,100,000 
6,300,000 
6,500,000 
6,600,000 
7,100,000 
7,200,000 


TWENTY  YEARS  ENDING 

Expenditure. 
£2,700,000 
2.800,000 
2,800,000 
3,100,000 
3,500,000 
3,800,000 
4,G00,000 
4,700,000 
4,900,000 
4,700,000 
4,700,000 
4,900,000 
4,900,000 
5,100,000 
5,400,000 
5,700,000 
6,200,000 
7,100,000 
7,800,000 
7,100,000 
7,300,000 


1888. 

Public  Debt 
£19,000,000 

22,000,000 
23,000,000 
23,000,000 
24,000,000 
26,000,000 
28,000,000 
30,000,000 
32,000,000 
35,000,000 
35,000,000 
36,000,000 
.  39,000,000 
40,000,000 
41.000,000 
40,000,000 
48,000,000 
53,000,000 
54,000,000 
54,000,000 
57,000,000 


Tear. 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 


Wheat. 

bush. 

8,509,000 

9,767,000 

12,170,000 
9,092,000 
6,433,000 

10,733,000 
3,021,000 
5,424,000 
5,706,000 
9,127,000 
7,300,000 


EXPORT 

Flour, 
barrels. 
479,000 

580,000 

561,000 

501,000 

50S,000 

526,000 

584,000 

161,000 

415,000 

531,000 

355,000 


OF  BREAD 

Barley, 
bush 
7,543,000 
5,393,000 
7,241,000 
8,800,000 
11,588,000 
8,817,000 
7,780,000 
9,067,000 
8,-554,000 
9,456,000 
9,370,000 


STUFFS,   1878—1838. 

Maize. 

bush. 
3,987,000 
5,429,000 


Other  grains, 
bush 


4,547,000 
5,257,000 
2,230,000 
'819,000 
3,806,090 
2,007,000 
2,667,000 
3,373,000 
1,203,000 


5,380,000 
5,936,000 
9,622,000 
8,154,000 
9,235,000 
4,704,000 
4,736,000 
5,619,000 
7,851,000 
6,415,000 
2,816,000 


Other  Bread  stuffs 
lbs. 
38,200,000 
26,774,000 
32,458,000 
20,893,000 
17,096,000 
17,661,000 
20,354,000 
22,127,000 
29,624,000 
23,289,000 
12,386,000 


DOMINION   LANDS. 

Aiea  sold. 

Year,  acres 

1873  ....  155,600 

1874  ....  334,700 

1875  ....  156,700 

1876  ....  133,000 

1877  ....  429,000 

1878  ....  709,000 

1879  ....  1,096,000 

1880  ....  682,000 

1881  ....  1,057,000 

1882  ....  2,700,000 

1883  ....  1,832,000 

1884  ....  1,110,000 

1885  ....  482,000 

1886  ....  575,000 

1887  ....  521,700 

1888  .         .        .        .  679,000 
Land  under  cultivation  (18711 :   1 7.336.000  acres 


(18811  21. 


Amount 
realised. 
£5,700 
6,000 
5,000 
1,700 
28,700 
27,600 
51,000 
32,000 
33,000 
365,000 
185,000 
157,000 
57,000 
64,000 
82,000 
81,000 
900,000  acres. 


APPENDIX   I. 


-16 1 


PROGRESS  OF  SOME  OF  THE  CHIEF  TOWNS  BETWEEN  THE  TEARS  1S81  AND  lss*. 


Population. 

Municipal 

Assessment. 

Debt. 

Towns.                                                      1S81.                          1SSS. 

1SS8. 

1SSS. 

Montreal      ....       140,000                200,000 

IlH.SOO.OOO 

'.-',100,000 

Toronto 

77.000                  166,000 

20,000,000 

1.900,000 

Hamilton     . 

35,000                  43.000 

4,000,000 

500,000 

London 

19,000                    27,000 

2,400,000 

430,000 

Ottawa 

25,000                    40,000 

2,800,000 

490,000 

Halifax 

36,000                    40,000 

4,300,000 

— 

Winnipeg 

.;. 22,000 

3,900,000 

68,000 

St.  Thomas  . 

9,000                    10,000 

77i'.00O 

47,000 

Charlottetowu 

11,000                       — 

737,000 

Sherbrooke 

7,000                      9,000 

580,000 

32,000 

Guelph 

10,000                    10,000 

635,000 

89,000 

Brantford 

10,000                   13,000 

1.010,000 

52,000 

St.  Catherine's 

9,000                   10,000 

940,000 

30,000 

Peterboro'    . 

6,000                    8,000 

758,000 

37,000 

Windsor 

6,000                    8,000 

•537,000 

51,000 

Cornwall 

1,000                     6,000 

270,000 

16,000 

Collingwood 

4,000                    5,000 

267,000 

16,000 

Cobourg 

5,000                    4,000 

312,000 

48,000 

Lindsay 

5,000                    5,000 

345,000 

33,000 

Gait     . 

5,000                     7,000 

360,000 

21,000 

Barrie . 

4,000                     5,000 

263,000 

15.000 

Brockville    . 

7,000                    8,000 

681,000 

16,000 

Woodstock  . 

5,000                    8,000 

457,000 

28,000 

Port  Hope  . 

5,000                    5,000 

300,000 

38,000 

St.  John,  X.  B. 

26,000                        — 

3,805,000 

559,000 

Quebec.     No  rett 

irns. 

RAILWAY  TRAFFIC,  1875-S9. 


Hiles 

Freight. 

Year. 

open. 

Passengers. 

tons. 

Earning. 

1875 

4,826 

5,190,000 

5,670,000 

£3,900,000 

1876 

5,157 

5,544,000 

6,331,000 

3,800,000 

1877 

5,574 

6,073,000 

6,859,000 

3,700,000 

1878 

6,143 

6,444,000 

7,883,000 

4.100,000 

1879 

6,484 

6,523,000 

8,34S,000 

3,900,000 

1880 

6,891 

6,462,000 

9,938,000 

1,700,000 

1881 

7,260 

6,943,000 

12,065,000 

5,600,000 

1882 

7,530 

9,352,000 

13.575,000 

6,600,000 

1883 

8,726 

9,580.000 

13,266.000 

6,700,000 

1884 

9,575 

9,982,000 

13,712,000 

6,400,000 

1885 

10.150 

9,672,000 

14,659,000 

6,500,000 

1886 

10,697 

9,861,000 

15,670,000 

6,600,000 

1887 

11,691 

10,698,000 

16,356,000 

7.700,000 

1888 

12,163 

11,416,000 

17,173,000 

8,400,000 

1889 

13,000 

12,100,000 

17,400,000 

8,900,000 

Cost  of  construction  of  the  Canadian  Railways :  £152,000,000,  or  about  £7,400  per  mile. 
Pacific  Railway.  1889  :  6,400  miles  open. 
Capital  inTested :   £39,500,000. 


MINERAL  PRODUCTIONS  OF  CANADA,   1887. 

Antimony  Ore       ....         585  tons 

Arsenic          .....  30     ......         . 

Asbestos 4.619     ,, 

Barrta 400     „ 


Value. 

£2.200 

240 

4.500 

500 


402 


APPENDIX  I. 


Mineral  Productions  of  Canada,   188  i  —  continued 

Value. 

Building  Stone      .         .                      262,000  cubic  yds. 

£110,000 

Chromic  Iron  Ore 

38  tons 

110 

Coal  and  Coke 

2,419,000  tons 

979,000 

Copper . 

3,260,000  lbs. 

70,000 

Gold     . 

66,270  ozs. 

233,000 

Graphite 

21,217  tons 

28,000 

Gypsum 

154,000     ,, 

31,000 

Iron 

31,500     „ 

217,000 

Iron  Ores 

76,300     ,, 

29,000 

Lead     . 

205,000  lbs. 

2,1 

Lime    . 

2,269,000  bushels 

79,000 

Manganese 

1,245  tons 

8,700 

Mica     . 

22,000  lbs. 

5,900 

Petroleum 

704,000  barrels 

119,000 

Phosphate 

23,690  tons 

64,000 

Pig-iron 

24,820     „ 

73,000 

Platinum 

1.400  ozs. 

1,120 

Pyrites 

38,000  tons 

32,000 

Salt      . 

60,170     ,, 

33,000 

Silver    . 

— 

68,000 

Slate     . 

7,350  tons 

18,000 

Steel     . 

7,320     „ 

66,200 

Sulphuric  Acid     . 

5,477,000  lbs. 

14,000 

Miscellaneou. 

3 

— 

400,000 

OUTPUT  OF  COAL  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA  AND  BRITISH  COLUMBIA  IN  TONS. 


Year. 

Nova  Scotia. 

British  Columbia. 

Total. 

1874          ....           977,000 

81,000 

1,058,000 

1875 

875,000 

110,000 

985,000 

1876 

795,000 

139,000 

934,000 

1877 

848,000 

154,000 

1,002,000 

1878 

863,000 

171,000 

1,034,000 

1S79 

883,000 

241,000 

1,124,000 

1880 

1,156,000 

268,000 

1.424,000 

1881 

1,259,000 

228,000 

1.4S7.000 

1882 

1,530,000 

282,000 

1,812,000 

1883 

1,593,000 

213,000 

1,806.000 

1884 

1,556,000 

394,000 

1,950,000 

1885 

i,514,000 

365,000 

1,879,000 

1886 

1,683,000 

326,000 

2,009.000 

1887 

1,871,000 

413,000 

2,284,000 

YIELD  OF  THE  CANADIAN  FISHERIES  BY  PROVINCES. 


Tear. 

Ontario. 

Quebec. 

Nova  Scotia. 

New 
Brunswick. 

Manitoba 

and 

Territories. 

British 
Columbia. 

Prince 
Edward 
Island. 

Total. 

1876 

£87,000 

£420,000 

£1,200,000 

£390,000 

£6,000 

£21,000 

£99,000 

£2,200,000 

1877 

88,000 

512,000 

1,105,000 

424,000 

5,000 

116,000 

132,000 

2,400,000 

1878 

69,000 

533,000 

1,226,000 

461,000 

— 

185,000 

170,000 

2,600,000 

1879 

73,000 

564,000 

1,150,000 

511,000 

— 

126,000 

380,000 

2,700,000 

1880 

89,000 

526,000 

1,260,000 

549,000 

— 

142,000 

335,000 

2,900,000 

1881 

102,000 

550,000 

1,243,000 

586,000 

— 

291,000 

391,000 

3.100,000 

1882 

165,000 

395,000 

1,426,000 

638,000 

— 

368,000 

371.000 

3,300,000 

1883 

205,000 

427,000 

1,538,000 

637,000 

— 

329,000 

254,000 

3,400,000 

1884 

226,000 

339,000 

1,752,000 

746,000 

— 

271,000 

217.000 

3,500,000 

1885 

270,000 

344,000 

1,456,000 

801,000 

— 

213,000 

258,000 

3,500,000 

1886 

280,000 

348,000 

1,683,000 

836,000 

37,000 

315,000 

228,000 

3,700,000 

1887 

306.000 

354,000 

1,676,000 

712,000 

26,000 

395.000 

207,000 

3,600,000 

1888 

368,000 

372,000 

1,563,000 

588,000 

36,000 

380,000 

175,000 

3,500,000 

APPENDIX  I. 


1G8 


GOVERNMENT  EXPENDITURE  FOR  THE  TWENTY-ONE  YEARS  ENDING   1888. 


Other 

Year. 

Railways. 

Canals. 

Public  Works 

186S 

.000 

626,000 

110,000 

1S69 

56,000 

25,000 

35.000 

. 

340,000 

21,000 

52,000 

1S71 

590,000 

27,000 

112,000 

1872 

1,120,000 

60,000 

240,000 

1873 

1,152,000 

76,000 

250,000 

1874 

800,000 

250,000 

334,000 

in;.") 

1,003,000 

343,000 

343,000 

1876 

900,000 

478,000 

400,000 

1^77 

012,000 

326,000 

2-3.5,000 

1S78 

530,000 

770,000 

170,000 

1879 

500,000 

610,000 

150,000 

1880 

1,220,000 

421,000 

148,000 

1881 

1,100,000 

420,000 

214,000 

1882 

1,030,000 

334,000 

217,000 

1883 

2,340,000 

370,000 

310,000 

1884 

2,820,000 

373,000 

533,000 

1885 

2,250,000 

312,000 

448,000 

1886 

900,000 

265,000 

114,000 

1887 

654,000 

372,000 

510,000 

1888 

563,000 

237,000 

776,000 

Province. 

Depositors. 

Ontario    . 

83,063 

Quebec    . 

15,315 

Nova  Scotia    . 

1,402 

New  Brunswick 

1,062 

Manitoba  and  N. 

W.  I 

16 

Territories    . 

.) 

British  Columbic 

835 

Average  Amount 
of  each  Depositor. 

£39 

4     0 

49 

8     0 

25 

9     0 

38 

4     0 

18 

6     0 

55 

0     0 

SA.VTNGS  BANKS  RETURNS  PER  PROVINCE  FOR  1888. 

Amount 

deposited. 

£3,257.000 

757,000 

36.000 

40,000 

300 

46,000 

Total         101,693         .         .         £4,136,300        Average     £41   12     0 

Newspapers   published  in  Canada,  and  Neweocndland   (1886) : — 78S,   of  which   77  French, 
nearly  all  the  rest  English. 

Finance  :— 

Revenue  (1889) £7,940,000 

Expenditure  (1889) 7,636,000 

Surplus         .         .        £304,000 

Public  debt  of  Canada,  July  31,  1889 £49,320,000 

Crjfitams  receipts  (1888) 4,600,000 

Military  expenditure  (1888) 265,000 

NEWSPAPERS. 


1SS7. 

I-- 

Daily 

87 

89 

Tri-  weekly 

10 

9 

Semi-weekly   . 

17 

20 

Weekly   . 

.      516 

.       542 

Bi-weekly 

4 

2 

Semi-monthly 

14 

11 

Monthly 

74 

82 

Quarterly 

1 

— 

Total  of  all  issues 


723 


461 


A1TENMX   1. 


PARLIAMENTARY  REPRESEXTATIUX  UXTIL   1891. 


Provinces. 

Ontario 
Quebec 

Nova  Scotia    . 
Xew  Brunswick 
Prince  Edward  Inland 
British  Columbia     . 
Manitoba 

Total 


House  of  Commons. 
Members. 


65 

21 

19 

6 

6 


•214 


Senate. 

Members. 

24 

24 

10 

0 

4 

3 

3 


COMPARATIVE  TABLE  OF  THE  CANADIAN  LAKES. 


Length 

Breadth 

Depth 

Elevation 

Area  in 

Lakes. 

in  miles. 

in  miles. 

in  feet. 

in  feet. 

tq.  miles 

Superior 

420 

170 

1,000 

600 

31,500 

Michigan 

320 

70 

700 

576 

22,400 

Huron    . 

280 

105 

1.000  (?) 

574 

21,000 

Erie 

240 

57 

200 

565 

9,000 

Ontario  . 

180 

55 

600 

235 

5,400 

Winnipeg 

280 

57 

— 

710 

8,500 

Manitoba 

120 

24 

— 

752 

1,900 

Cedar     . 

— 

— 

— 

770 

312 

Dauphin 

— 

— 

— 

700 

170 

AVinnipegosis 

120 

27 

— 

770 

1,936 

Great  Slave    . 

300 

60 

660 

— 

10,000 

Great  Bear     . 

150 

140 

— 

— 

14,000 

Athabasca 

230 

14 

— 

620 

3,500 

BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 

Area  :   341,305  sq.  miles  ;  population  (1881)  :  49,459. 

Yield  of  the  Cassiar  gold-mines :  (1874)  £208,000  ;  (1887)  £2,600. 

Total  yield  of  the  British  Columbian  gold-mines  (1888)  :  £128,000. 

,,  ,,  „  coal        „         „         489,000  tons; 

„  ,,  „  fisheries  (1887)  £1,000,000. 

Salmon  tinned  (1889) :  420,000  tins. 
Total  value  of  the  salmon  fisheries  (1889)  :  £500,000. 
Men  employed  on  the  British  Columbian  fisheries  (1887)  :  4,693. 


value,  £500,000. 


ExCHANQES  OF  VICTORIA   (1888)  : — 

Imports £638,000 

Exports 437,000 


Total  . 

.    £1,075 

000 

EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA  L> 

'  1887. 

Pupils. 

Boys. 

Girls. 

Average 
Attendance 

Public  schools       .         .         79 

2,413 

1,289 

1.124 

1,322 

Graded  schools     .         .         10 

2,766 

1.486 

1.280 

1,494 

High  schools        .        .          3 

166 

68 

98 

105 

Total 


92 


5,345  2,843  2,502 

Shipping  of  Victoria  (1888) :  2,637  vessels,  of  1,695,278  tons. 
Shipping  of  the  Port  of  Nanaimo  (1888) :  11  vessels,  of  575,182  tons. 
Shipping  of  the  Port  of  Vancouver  (1889) : — 

Foreign  vessels  entered  and  cleared     .         .         .        5S0,  of 

Coasting  vessels 751  steamers 

„  „  ....     63  sailing-vessels 


2,921 


Tons. 
640,000 
409,254 

10,587 


Total 


1,394  vessels,  of  1,059,841 


APPENDIX  I. 


465 


Victoria  (3,270  in  1881) 

Vancouver 

New  Westminster 

Nanaimo  . 


CHIEF  TOWNS  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA  (1889). 

Tnpulation.  Population. 

.     16,000  Wellington 2,500 

12,000  Vale 2,000 

6,000  Kamloops 1,500 

3,000 


TERRITORIES  OF  THE  GREAT  NORTH. 


Area:  2,060,000  square  miles  ;  population  :  15 
Peltries  supplied  to  the  London  market  (1887) 

Musquash  (Musk  Rats) 

Skunks 

Foxes,  iScc. 

Hares 

Beavers 

Martens 

Bears 

Wolverine: 

Lynxes 

Otters 

Fur-bearing  Seals 

Sundries     . 


000. 


Total 


2,485,368 

682,794 

513,291 

114,824 

104,279 

98,342 

15,942 

15,525 

14,520 

14,439 

13,478 

26,265 

4,099,067 


WINNIPEG  REGIONS. 

AREAS  AND  POPULATIONS. 


Provinces. 

Area  in  sq.  miles. 

Pop.,  1881. 

Pop.,  188U 

Manitoba. 

60,520 

65,954 

130,000 

Saskatchewan  . 

114,000 

,  15,000 

Athabasca  and  Alberta     . 

222,000  ) 

42,000 

|  20,000 

Assiniboia 

95,000  I 

j  30,000 

Keewatin 

335,000  ' 

'    8,000 

Total 


826,520 


203,000 


107,954 

Indians  of  the  Hudson  Bay  slope  (1884)  :  24,984. 

Indians  of  the  whole  region  between  the  Rocky  Mountains,  Hudson  Bay,  and  the  United  States 
(1881):  49,472. 

IMMIGRANTS  INTO  THE  WINNIPEG  REGIONS  (1881). 

From  the  Eastern  Provinces  of  the  Dominion 21,514 

From  Europe 4,321 

From  the  United  States 7,758 


Total 
Mean  annual  Immigration  :   10,000  to  25,000. 


28,593 


POPULATION  OF  MANITOBA  ACCORDING  TO  RACES. 


English    ..... 
Scotch  and  half-breeds     . 
B'ish         ..... 
French  Canadians    . 
French  half-breeds  . 
Germans  and  Mennonites 
Icelanders        .... 
Norwegians,  Dutch,  and  Russians 
Indians    ..... 
Sundries 

Total 


1881. 
11.503 
16,506 
10,175 

9,949 

8,652 


65,964 


25,949 

25,676 

21,180 

I  6,311  1 

\  4,869  J 

11,082 

2,468 

1,189 

5,578 

711 

108,640 


1881). 
85,000 

16,000 

13,000 
8,000 
2,000 
5,000 
1,000 

130,000 


dG6 


APPENDIX  I. 


GRAIN  CROPS  IN  MANITOBA. 

Totalland  under  cereals  in  Manitoba  (1889) 840,000  acres. 

Wheat  crop  „  ,, 11,000,000  bushels. 

Other  grains  „  „ 8,500,000        „ 

Total  value  of  grain  crop £2,000,000. 


GROWTH  OF  AGRICULTURE  IN  ASSINIBOIA,  SASKATCHEWAN  AND  ALBERTA. 


Year 
1881. 

Year 
1885. 

Increase 

Horses  and  mules 

10,870 

24,456 

13,586 

Working  oxen 

3,334 

5,949 

2,615 

Milch  cows 

3,848 

11,030 

7,182 

Other  horned  cattle 

5,690 

69,557 

63,867 

Sheep 

Rigs 

346 

2,77.3 

19,398 
22,542 

19,052 
19,767 

Home-made  butter,  lbs. 

70,717 

510,191 

439,474 

,,           cheese    ,, 

1,060 

10,270 

9,210 

Wheat,  acres 

5,678 

67.255 

61,577 

Barley       ,,            ... 
Oats          ,, 

— 

11,605 
35,343 

11,005 
35,343 

Potatoes   ,, 

811 

3,676- 

2,865 

Hay         „           ... 

— 

428 

128 

Chief  Towns  of  the  Winnipeg  Regions  : — 

Pop.,  1889. 

Winnipeg 25,000 

Brandon 4,800 

La  Prairie  Portage 3,000 

Selkirk         . 2,500 

Calgary  (Alberta) 2,500 

Regina 2,000 

Emerson 1,500 

Medicine-Hat  (Assiniboia)          ....  1,500 

Edmonton 1,200 

Prince  Albert  (Saskatchewan)      ....  1,000 


THE   LAUKENTIAN   BASIN:    CANADA   PKOPEK, 

PEOVINCESOF  ONTARIO  AND  QUEBEC. 
AREAS  AND  POPULATIONS. 


Ontario 
Quebec 


Area  in 
sq.  miles. 
181, S00 
188,688 


Totals 


370,488 


Population, 

1881. 
1,923,224 

1,359,027 
3,282,251 


Hydkoseathy  of  the  Laukentian  Basin  :  — 

Length  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  sources  of  the  St.  Louis  River  to 

Gaspe miles  1,940 

Length  of  St.  Lawrence  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Quebec  .         .             ,,  440 

Area  of  the  basin  above  Quebec      .....       square  miles  460,000 
Approximate    discharge    of    the    St.    Lawrence,    according   to   Clarke 

cubic  feet  890,000 
Approximate  discharge  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  according  to  the  Geological 

Commission cubic  feet  1,1 30,  OHO 

Navigable  highway  from  Belle-Isle  to  Montreal     .         .         .           miles  1,150 

Total  navigation  of  the  river  and  lakes  from  Belle-Isle  to  Duluth          ,,  2,380 


APPENDIX  I. 


467 


Origin  of  the  French  and  other  Settlers  in  Canada  ix  the  17th  Century: — 


Paris 

Charente 3  IS 

Normandy       .         .         .         .         .         .341 

Poitou 

Flanders  and  Picardy       ....  95 


Brittany  ....... 

parts  of  North  and  Central  France 
i  Fiance  ..... 

oars 


87 

171 

i 


18S1. 
1,923,000 
1,359,000 


Growth  of  the  French-  Canadian  Population  under  British  Rule  :— 

1774 98,000  1881 

1871 1,005  1889 

Growth  of  Population  in  the  two  Provinces  :— 

1842.  1861.  1871. 

Ontario  .         .         487,000         1,396,000         1,621,000 
Quebec    .         .         697,000         1,111,000         1,192,000 
Yi  ulv  births  in  the  Franco-Canadian  population     . 
,,      deaths  ,,  „  ,, 

Increase  of  natural  growth 
French-speaking  population  of  Canada  ^1SS9)    . 
French  Canadians  in  the  United  States 

Total  French  Canadians  in  N.  America 


Total 


2,002 


1,28 

l.r. '0,000 


1690 

2,250,000 
1,580,000 

80,000 
37,000 


43,000 
1,490,000 
600,000 

2,090,000 


ADMINISTRATIVE  DIVISIONS  OF  QUEBEC. 


Counties. 

Area  in 

Population, 

Counties. 

Area  in 

Population 

square  miles. 

1881. 

square  miles. 

1881. 

Argenteuil 

970       . 

16,060 

Megantio 

770       . 

19,000 

Athabasca 

512       . 

20,120 

l!i>sisquoi 

370       . 

17,780 

A"umption 

257      . 

1").280 

Montcalm 

5,000       . 

12,960 

Bagot 

:S50 

21,208 

Montmagny 

640       . 

15,260 

Beance     . 

1,900      . 

32,000 

Montmorency  . 

2,220       . 

.     12,320 

Beaucharnois   . 

140        . 

16,000 

Montreal  (City) 

5 

140,700 

Bellechasse 

696       . 

is.  000 

Napierville 

158       . 

10,500 

Berthier    . 

2,510      . 

21,840 

Xicolet 

610       . 

26,600 

Bonaventure 

3,600       . 

18,900 

Ottawa     . 

6,900       . 

49,430 

Biome 

480       . 

1-5.S30 

Pontiac     . 

.   21,800       . 

.     20,000 

Chambly 

140       . 

10,860 

Portneuf  . 

1,730       . 

2.3,170 

Champlain 

.     9,480       . 

26,820 

Quebec  (City)    . 

12       . 

82,440 

Charlevoix 

.     2,000       . 

17,900 

Quebec  (County) 

2,750       . 

20,280 

Chateauguay    . 

260       . 

14,400 

Richelieu . 

200       . 

20,220 

Chicoutimi 

17,000  (?) . 

25,000 

Biohmond 

560       . 

13,190 

Compton  . 

.     1,430       . 

19,850 

Eimouski 

5,100       . 

35,790 

Deux  Montagnes 

266       . 

15,850 

Eouville    . 

255 

18,550 

Dorchester 

940       . 

is, 71ii 

Saguenay 

80,000  (?) 

7,460 

Druramond 

645       . 

17,240 

St.  Hyacinth    . 

280       . 

20,630 

Gaspe 

4,700       . 

25,000 

St.  John    . 

180       . 

12,260 

Hochelaga 

85       . 

40,000 

St.  Maurice 

2,600       . 

12,980 

Huntingdon 

410       . 

15,500 

Shefford   . 

570 

23,230 

Iberville   . 

196 

14,460 

Sherbrooke 

230       . 

12,220 

Islet  (L')  . 

800       . 

14,920 

Soulanges 

140       . 

Jacques  Cartier 

110        . 

12.340 

Stanstead 

400       . 

Joliette     . 

3,770       . 

22,000 

Temiscouata 

1,900 

25,480 

Kamouraska     . 

1,000       . 

.'.',180 

Terrebonne 

560       . 

21,890 

Laprairie 

180       . 

11,430 

Three  Rivers  (Town) 

18       . 

9,300 

Laval 

90       . 

9,460 

Vaudreuil 

190       . 

11,480 

Levis 

265       . 

27,980 

Vercheres 

200       . 

12,450 

Lotbiniere 

745       . 

20,800 

Wolfe 

680  (?) 

13,150 

Maskinonge 

3,350 

17,500 

Yamaska  . 

270       . 

i; i 

Roman  Catholi 

Ft 

Ir 

cs  in  the  Peovi 
sh 

XCE  OF   QuEBE 

c  (1881)  :— 

1,076,180 

123,749 

Total 


1,198,879 


468 


APPENDIX  I. 


Public  Instruction  in  the  Province  of  Quebec  (1887): — 


Catholic.           Protestant. 

Total. 

Elementary  Schools 

3,586                  988 

4,584 

Higher   . 

570                    80 

650 

Attendance 

221,611             33,648 

255,259 

ADMINISTRATIVE  DIVISIONS  OF  ONTARIO. 

Area  in 

Population, 

Counties. 

Area  in 

Population 

Counties.                square  miles. 

1881. 

v/u           .                  Bquare  miles. 

1881. 

Glengarry       .         .           480 

22,220 

Cardwell    . 

393       . 

16,770 

Cornwall 

105 

.       9,900 

WeUand     . 

266       . 

26,152 

Stormout 

317       . 

13,290 

Niagara     . 

40 

3,445 

Dundas 

395       . 

20,600 

Monck 

386       . 

17,145 

Prescott . 

507 

22.860 

Lincoln 

174       . 

22,965 

Russell   . 

710      . 

25,080 

Haldimand 

370       . 

18,620 

Ottawa  (capital) 

3 

27,410 

Wentworth,  South 

230       . 

14,995 

Grenville,  South 

237       . 

13,526 

Wentworth,  North 

235       . 

16,000 

Grenville,  North 

370       . 

12,930 

Halton 

364 

21,920 

Carleton 

670 

24,690 

Wellington,  South 

370 

25,400 

Brockville 

126       . 

12,514 

Wellington,  Central 

373       . 

22,265 

Leeds,  North 

670       . 

22,206 

Wellington,  North 

580      . 

25,870 

Lanark,  South 

627       . 

20,030 

Grey,  South 

464       . 

21,130 

Lanark,  Nortli 

632       . 

13,945 

Grey,  East 

800       . 

29,668 

Renfrew,  South 

1,230       . 

19,160 

Grey,  North 

595 

23,334 

Renfrew,  North 

12,800       . 

20,960 

Norfolk,  South 

363       . 

16,374 

Frontenac 

330       . 

14,990 

Norfolk,  North 

295      . 

17,220 

Lennox  . 

325       . 

16,314 

Brant,  South     . 

270       . 

21,975 

Addington 

2,130       . 

23,470 

Brant,  North     . 

170       . 

11,894 

Prince  Edward 

400       . 

21,044 

Waterloo,  South 

273       . 

21,751 

Hastings,  East 

410       . 

17,313 

Waterloo,  North 

2S0       . 

20,986 

Hastings,  West 

120 

17,400 

Elgin,  East 

380 

28,150 

Hastings,  North 

2,250 

20,480 

Elgin,  West       . 

375 

14,214 

Northumberland,   East     490 

22,300 

Oxford,  South    . 

370       . 

24,732 

Northumberland,  West    276 

16,984 

Oxford,  North    . 

415       . 

25,360 

Peterborough,  East        2,960 

23,956 

Middlesex,  East 

440       . 

30,600 

Peterborough,  West  .       190 

13,310 

Middlesex,  West 

400       . 

21,500 

Durham,  East 

377 

18,710 

Middlesex,  North 

446       . 

21,240 

Durham,  West 

330       . 

17,555 

Perth,  South      . 

344       . 

20,780 

Victoria,  South 

430 

20,813 

Perth,  North      . 

530       . 

23,210 

Victoria,  North 

925       . 

13,800 

Huron,  South     . 

412       . 

23,390 

Muskoka    . 

5,220       . 

27,200  . 

Huron,  Central  . 

410 

26,474 

Ontario,  South 

240       . 

20,378 

Huron,  North    . 

510       . 

27,100 

Ontario,  North 

650       . 

28,434" 

Bruce,  South 

690      . 

39,800 

York,  East 

232       . 

23,312 

Bruce,  North 

.   1,000       . 

24,970 

York,  West 

223       . 

19,884 

Bothwell   . 

610       . 

27,105 

York,  North 

480       . 

24,500 

Lambton    . 

830      . 

42,616 

Simcoe,  South 

593       . 

26,890 

Kent 

667 

36,626 

Simcoe,  North 

.    1,130       . 

49,238 

Essex 

730      . 

46,960 

Peel   . 

280       . 

16,387 

Algoma 

44,700       . 

20,320 

Public  Instruction  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  1887. 

Attendance. 
Elementary  Schools  .         .         .        5,395  (224  Catholic)        472, 45S 
Higher  ,,        .         .         .  42  15,313 


Total        .  5,437  487,771 

Roman  Catholic  Separate  Schools,  Ontario,  1886. 


Schools 
open. 
224 


Schools 
open. 
5,437 


Pupils. 
29,109 


Tupils. 
487,196 


Boys. 

14,860 


Gills. 
15,959 


Public  Schools  of  Ontario,  1886. 

Boys.  Qiiis. 


257,030 


280,466 


Average 

Attendance. 

16,000 


Average 

Attendauce. 

240,000 


APPENDIX  I. 


•1(19 


Schools 
open. 
109 


High  Schools  of  Ontaeio,  1886. 

Pupils.  Boys.  Givls. 

18,344         .        .        7,907         .         .         7,4:!7 


Average 

Attendance. 

8,800 


Shipping  of  Port  Arthur  with  the  United  States  (1888) :  804  vessels,  of  538,174  tons. 
Canadian  traffic  on  the  Strait  Canal  (1888) :  526  vessels,  of  303,384  tons. 

HAMILTON— TEADE  RETURNS,  1881. 


Capital  invested.            Hands  employed.                  Yea 

i  ly  wages. 

Total  value  of  products 

£965,000                        6,500                            £450.000 

£1,642,000 

TORONTO. 

Growth  of  the  Population  : — 

1813 

900 

1834 

9,254 

1850 

25,000 

1881 

86,415 

1889 

178,000 

'with  suburbs). 

Imports  and  Exports  (1888)  :  £4,900,000. 

Vessels. 

Tons. 

Shipping  with  the  United  States  (1888)    . 

.     1,252 

277,441 

With  other  ports  in  Canada              „ 

.     3,541 

720,525 

Totals 


4,793 


997,966 


OTTAWA. 

Lumber  sawn  (1888)  :  3,102,789  logs. 

Total  value  of  the  planks,  boards,  &c. :  £440,000. 

Shipping  (1888)  :  4,018  vessels  of  793,536  tons. 

Water  supply  :  400  gallons  daily  per  head  of  the  population. 


MONTREAL. 

Growth  of  the  Population  since  its  Foundation  :  — 


1672 
1722 
1765 
1805 
1821 


1,509 
3,000 
5,733 

12,000 
18,767 


1831 
1851 
1881 
1887 
1889 


31.516 

57,715 
140,747 
180,000 
220,000  (with  suburbs). 


")■- 


Population  of  Montreal  according  to  Nationalities  (1 
Franco -Canadians        . 

i  Irish      ....        39,710 
British !  English  .         .         .        23,028 

'  Scotch  ....        17,555 

Total 


118,819 
80,293 


199,112 


Per  cent, 
per  thousand. 
54-68 
30-48 
25-16 
3614 
26-89 
22-49 
15-72 


Birth-rate  of  the  Franco-Canadians  of  Montreal  (1888)     . 
, ,  , ,        Irish  and  other  Catholics        .... 

,,  ,,        Protestants 

Mortality  of  the  Franco-Canadians  of  Montreal  (1887) 

,,  ,,         Irish       ........ 

,,  ,,         English 

,,  ,,        Scotch 

Proportion  of  French  to  other  Races  in  Montreal  :  — 

1851         ....         451  per  thousand. 
1861         ....         482 
1871 
1881 
1887 
Shipping  of  Montreal  (1888): — 

Sea-going  vessels     . 
Lake  and  river  craft 

Totals         .         6,155  1,643,486 

Imports  (1888)  £8,300,000;  Exports  (1888)  £5,000,000;  Total  (1888)  £13,300.000 


530 

559 

611 

Vessels. 

Tons. 

655 

782,472 

5,500 

861,014 

170 


APPENDIX  I. 


GkOWTH  OF   THE   POPULATION'  :- 


QUEBEC. 


Quebec 

Levis,  St.  Joseph,  Lauzan,  &c. 

Totals 
Shipping  of  Quebec  (1876) 
(1885) 


1881. 
62,446 
12,878 

75,324 


1889. 
75,000 
15.000 

90,000 


711,386  tons. 
562,004     ,, 


CRIMINAL  STATISTICS  FOR  1886. 
Convictions  per  provinces  sentenced  to 


Province. 
Ontario 

Penitentiary. 
227 

Gaol  or 

fined.      Reformatory.    Death.      Sundrie 
18,339             79               2             527 

Total. 

19,174 

Quebec 
Nova  Scotia 

135 
24 

7,190             72            — 
1,402              2            — 

457 
114 

7,854 
1,542 

New  Brunswick 

22 

2,143             —             — 

11 

2,176 

Manitoba  . 

IS 

1,330                             — 

66 

1,411 

British  Columbia        .           32 

935                               4 

28 

999 

Prince  Edward  Island 

654             —               1 

3 

658 

The  Territories 

10 

40—7 

3 

60 

RELIGIONS  OF  PERSONS  CONVICTED. 

R.  Catholics. 
1,550 

Anglicans.       Methodis's.       Presbyterians.       "Protestants." 
555                 347                      281                         250 

Baptists. 
8S 

BIRTH-PLACES  OF  PERSONS  CONVICTED 

t 

England. 
335 

Ireland.              Scotland.              Canada.            U.  States. 
299                     95                    2,294                 232 

OCCUPATIONS  OF  PERSONS  CONVICTED 

Sundries. 
254 

Agricultural. 

158 

Commercial.         Domestic.        Industrial.         Professional. 
283                   195                 542                     41 

Labourers. 
1,550 

TOWNS  OF  THE  LAURENTIAN  BASIN  WITH  OVER  FIVE  THOUSAND  INHABITANTS 

Ontaeio. 


Est.  Pop. 

Est.  Top 

Pop.,  1881. 

1890. 

Pop.,  t881. 

1890. 

Toronto 

86,415 

180,000 

Chatham    . 

7,873 

9,000 

Hamilton  . 

35,961 

46,800 

Broekville. 

7,609 

10,000 

Ottawa 

27,412 

44,000 

Peterborough 

6,812 

9,000 

Ottawa  with  Hull 

34,302 

57,000 

Windsor     . 

6,561 

8,000 

London 

19,746 

27,000 

Port  Hope 

5,585 

9,000 

Kingston  . 

14,091 

18,000 

Woodstock 

5,373 

8,000 

Guelph 

9,890 

11,090 

Gait  . 

5,187 

7,000 

St.  Catherine'-  . 

9,631 

12,000 

Lindsay      . 

5,080 

7,000 

Brentford  . 

9,616 

14,000 

Owen  Sound 

4,406 

7,000 

Belleville   . 

9,516 

12,000 

Port  Arthur 

4,000 

8,000 

St.  Thomas 

8,367 

11,000 

Collingwood 

4,445 

6,000 

Strafford    . 

8,239 

11,000 
Est.  Pop. 

Qui 

;beo. 

Est.  Pop., 

Pop  ,  1881. 

1890. 

Pop.,  1881. 

1S90. 

Montreal    . 

140,477 

225,000 

Hull 

6,890 

13,500 

Quebec 

02,446 

65,000 

Sorel 

5,791 

8,300 

,,       with  Levis 

75,264 

90,000 

St.  Hyacinth 

5,321 

.      7,800 

Three  Rivera 

8,670 

10,500 

St.  John    . 

3,861 

.       6,200 

Sherbrooke 

7,227 

9,600 

S 

TRENGTH  OF  1 

[BE  ACTIVE 

!  MILITIA  OF  Cl 

LNADA,  1888. 

Province. 

District. 

Cavab.7.     Artillery. 

Infantry. 

Total 

/ 

1 

187              240 

4.140 

4,661 

OTifninr 

2 

418              307 

5.771 

6,496 

*-/!!  1.4-1  i  l\ 

'          ' 

3 

329             205 

2,973 

3,507 

\ 

4 

83             1 60 

2.175 

2,418 

APPENDIX  I. 


171 


Militia  of  Canada  (continued)— 


District. 

Cavalry. 

Artillery. 

Infantry. 

Total 

(° 

417 

532 

1,070 

5.11S 

— 

— 

2. 4  .'in 

2,430 

(7 

96 

350 

4,052 

New  Brunswick         ...      — 

324 

420 

1,672 

2,461 

Nora  Scotia       ....      — 

45 

649 

3,646 

Manitoba   .....       — 

45 

80 

688 

813 

British  Columbia         ...       — 

— 

180 

90 

270 

Prince  Edward  Island         .         •       — 

— 

275 

342 

017 

R.  Military  College  and  Schools      — 

43 

439 

597 

1.079 

Totals 


1.987 


3,208 


31,506 


37,474 


MILITARY  EXPENDITURE.    1888. 


Salaries,  district  staff     ....  £4,200 

Brigade-majors      .....  2,400 

Royal  Military  College,  Kingston          .  11,100 

Ammunition,  clothing,  and  military  stores  38, 000 

Public  armouries 10,600 

Drill  pay  and  camp  purposes          .         .  56,300 

Drill  instruction 7,400 

Dominion  Riffe  Association  .        .        .  2,000 

Drill  sheds  and  rifle  ranges            .        .  2,800 


Construction  and  repairs        .         .         .    £17,000 

Barracks  in  British  Columbia         .         .  1.S00 

Care  of  military  properties    .         .         .  2,500 

Grant  to  Dominion  Artillery  Association  400 

Batteries,  cavalry  and  infantry  schools  .  86,300 

Contingencies 9,300 

North-Vest  service        .                 .        .  8,100 


Total 


£260,200 


STATISTICS  OF  THE  INDIAN  RESERVES  LN  THE  DOMINION. 


18S4.  1SS5. 
Number  of  Indians  on  the 

reserves  .  .  .  88,897  85,329 
Extent  of  land  under  culti- 
vation, acres  .  .  80,725  85,911 
New  land  made  each  year,  acres  3,861  3,242 
Dwellings  .  .  .  10.712  11,509 
Barns,  stables,  outhouses,  &c.  3,563  3,992 
Ploughs,  harrows,  waggons  5,749  6,307 
Other  agricultural  implements  20,000  18,000 
Horses      ....           7,300  19,600 


Horned  cattle  . 
Sheep 

Pigs  .        .        . 

Hay  crop,  tons 
Grain  crops,  bushels 
Potato  crop  ,, 

Fish   caught,   value 
Furs  ,, 

Other  industries  , , 


1S84. 

6,700 

1,800 

7,300 

18,550 

212,000 

240,000 

£199,000 

£66,000 

£65,000 


1SS5. 

7,000 

2,000 

8,500 

18,600 

320,000 

280,000 

£140,000 

£142,000 

£36,000 


TOTAL  LNDUN  POPULATION,  1888. 

Provinces.  Resident.  Nomadic. 

Ontario 16,903  797 

Quebec 6.731  5,734 

New  Brunswick    .....           1,594  — 

Nova  Scotia 2,145  — 

Prince  Edward  Island  ....              319  — 

Manitoba  and  North- West  Territory     .  23,940  10,428 

Unsettled  Northern  Territories      .         .                • —  18,054 

British  Columbia           ....  17,922  22,022 

Totals       .         .        .  69,554  55,035 


Total. 

17,700 

12,465 

1,594 

2,146 

319 

34,368 

18,054 

37,944 

124,589 


THE   MAEITI1IE  PROVINCES. 
(NEW  BRUNSWICK,   NOVA  SCOTIA,   PRINCE  EDWARD   ISLAND.) 


AREAS  AND   POPULATIONS. 

Area  in 

Population, 

Provinces. 

square  miles. 

1881. 

New  Brunswick 

27,174 

321,233 

Nova  Scotia 

20,207 

440,572 

Prince  Edward  Island         .         .         .           2,133 

108,891 

Totals 


49,514 


870,396 


472 


APPENDIX  T. 


Growth  of  the  Population  feom  1871  to  1881 : — 


Total  population  (1871) : 
French  Element  (1881) :  108,605  ; 
Bitmsn  Element  (1881)  : — 

New  Brunswick 

Nova  Scotia 

Prince  Edward  Island 


770,415; 

(1890): 

English. 

83,598 
113,520 

21,404 


Totals         .         218,522 
Coloured  Element  (1881):  6.212:  (1890): 


(1881):  870,6 
130,000  (?) 

Scotch. 

40,858 

130,741 

48,933 


220,532 
,000  (?) 


increase,  1320  per  cent. 


Irish. 

100,615 

62,851 

25,413 

188,879 


Dotal. 

321,233 

440.572 
108,891 

870,696 


Schools 
open. 
2,123 


NOVA  SCOTIA  EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS  FOR  1887. 

Public  Schools. 

Pupils.  Boys.  Girls. 

86,731         .         .         43,345         .         .         43,386 

County  Academies. 


Pupils. 

1,404 


Males. 
723 


Females. 
691 


Average 
Attendance. 

52,000 


Average 

Attendance. 

764 


NEW  BRUNSWICK  EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS  FOR  1887. 

Public  Schools. 


Schools 

Average 

open.                             Pupils.                                Boys.                                Girls. 

Attendance. 

1,522        .         .        59,7^8        .         .        32,189        .         .        27,607 

34,000 

Grammar  Schools.                                                              Normal  Schools. 

Average 
Pupil*.                                                           Attendance. 

Pupils.                           Males. 

Females. 

697 480 

366         .          .           70 

296 

EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS  FOR  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND,    1887. 

Average 

Schools.                                  Pupils.                              Boys.                           Girls 

Attendance. 

Queen's:   174         .         .         9,722         .         .         5,385         .         .         4,337 

5,150 

Prince:      142         .         .         7,220         .         .         4,035         .         .         3,185 

3,950 

King's:     121         .         .         5,518         .         .         3,026         .         .         2,492 

3,000 

Total     437                         22,460                         12,446                          10,014 

12,100 

GROWTH  OF  POPULATION,   NEW  BRUNSWICK. 

1824 74,000 

1861          .... 

252,000 

1834 119,000 

1871          .... 

285,000 

1840 156,000 

1881         .... 

321,000 

1851 194,000 

AGRICULTURAL  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 

Acres            Acres 

Acres             Acres 

cleared,         cleared, 

cleared,          cleared. 

County.                     Acres.             1S51.              1881.                       County.                     Acres. 

1851.                1881. 

Albeit    .                   435,000         32,210         61,798             Victoria      and 

St.  John          .          386,400             —            25,158 

Madawaska      2,134,700 

26,834        79,175 

Charlotte         .          822,500         45,656         97,953 

Westmoreland          887,300 

92,822       171,090 

King's   .                    877,200       120,923       189,531 

Kent       .         .       1,149,000 

35,496         83,642 

Queen's                     924,700         63,710       100,319 

Northumberland  2,756,000 

30,221         53,416 

Sunbury                     666,000         15,587         36,902 

Gloucester              1,195,000 

19,812         48,639 

York      .               2,278,000        69,017       132,753 

Restigouche   .       2,072,710 

8,895        21,813 

Carletnn                   788,200        55,537       150,771 

Totals  .     17,393,410 

616,720    1,253.299 

AGRICULTURAL  RETURNS  OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 

1851.                     1881. 

1851.                     1881. 

Hay,  tons                   .            225,093            414,046      |       Wheat,  bushels 

!06,635             521,956 

Oats,  bushels    .         .         1.411,104         3.297,534 

Potatoes      ,,              .        2,' 

"92,394        6,961,016 

APPENDIX  I. 


473 


GROWTH  OF  POPULATION  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 


Year. 

Year. 

1687    Return  made  by  M.  Meule   . 

900 

1807 

Census  of  Nora  Scotia   Engl 

)         65,000 

1703     Census  of  Acadia  (French)    . 

1,300 

1817 

.. 

86,640 

1707 

1,484 

1S27 

.. 

123.130 

1737 

1838 

"                    " 

202,57.3 

1749 

1S51 

Official  Census 

276,854 

1755 

9,215 

1S61 

....            .         . 

330,857 

1764     Census  of  Nova  Scotia  (Engl.) 

13,000 

1S71 

....            .         . 

387,800 

1772 

19,000 

1881 

,, 

440,570 

1790 

30,000 

1890 

Estimated    . 

520,000  (?) 

Shipping  of  Hii^r-vx  (1SS7)  :r — 

Entered  . 

4,153  vessels  of     S43.125  tons. 

Cleared 

4,284 

„     871,987     ., 

Total 


8,437  vessels  of  1,715,112  tons. 


TONNAGE  OF  THE  CHIEF  SEAPORTS  OF  NOVA   SCOTIA  AND  CAPE  BRETOX  (1888). 

Halifax 1,715,112  Port  Hawkesbury           .         .         .  217,435 

Sydney  and  North  Sydney      .         .  1,095,218  Parrsborough          ....  189,098 

Pictou 517,979  Windsor 146,028 

Yarmouth 300,068  Amherst 124,269 

Lunenburg 261,352  Baddeck 120.526 

Arichat 254,044  Annapolis 116,738 

Digby 225.201  Shelburne 107,354 


in  1886  :  1,682,924  tons. 


PRINCE 

EDWARD 

ISLAND  - 

JROWTH   OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Year  1871. 

Year  1881. 

Year  1871. 

Year  1881. 

Wheat      . 

bushels 

269,000 

547.000 

Butter      .         .       lbs.             982,000 

1.689,000 

Oats 

,» 

3.120.000 

3,53S,000 

Cheese     .         .         ..              155.000 

196,000 

Barley 

,, 

176,000 

119.000 

Maple  sugar    .         ,,                  — 

25.000 

Buckwheat 

•  • 

75.(100 

90.000 

Wool    .     .     „          — 

552.000 

Potatoes    . 

;  .ooo 

6.042.000 

Apples,  grapes.  &o.    bushels    — 

35,000 

Hay 

tons 

68,000 

114.000 

PRLXCE  EDWARD  ISLAND 

-FISHING  RETURNS.  1886. 

Value. 

Value. 

Cod. 

cwts. 

12.850 

£10,000 

Halibut          .          lbs.             9.680 

£116 

Cod,  boneless 

lbs. 

35.790 

4.300 

Trout     .         .             ..              75,000 

900 

Herring    . 

barrels 

43.200 

26.000 

Smelts    .         .             „              74,100 

880 

Mackerel  . 

" 

27,500 

55,000 

Eels       .         .            ,,            150,650 

1,800 

Mackerel. pre  ser 

ved  cans 

679,580 

13.000 

Oysters  .         .       barrels           33,000 

19,800 

Haddock 

lbs. 

71.550 

800 

Lobsters,  canned    lbs.       3,617,000 

87,000 

Hake 

cwts. 
lbs. 

9,530 

2.440 

1 
73 

Total  value,  including  sundries 

Salmon,  fresh 

£228,000 

Alewives 

barrels 

700 

420 

SHIPPLXG   OF  PRLXCE   EDWARD   ISLAND,    1888. 

1,189  of  165,035  tons. 
6,020    ,,  811,655     ,, 

Total  vessels 
Summerside  :   1,426  vessels,  of  039.160  tons. 


Charlotte-town  :  Deep  sea  \ 
,.  Coasting 


7.209  of  976,690  tons. 


CHIEF  TOWNS  OF  THE  MARITIME  PROVLNCES. 

New  Brunswick. 


Saint  John  and  Portland  (1889) 
Monckton  (1889) 

VOL.    XV. 


Population. 

50,000 

9,000 


Fredericton  (1886) 
Chatham  (1886i  . 


Population. 
6.218 
5,000 


174                                                          APPENDIX   I. 

Nova 

Scotia. 

Popul  itioii 

Halifax  (1886) 39,9  10 

Sydney  and  North  Sydney  (1886)       .      9,000 
Yarmouth    1*86)          ....       8,000 

Truro  (1S86; 
Pictou(1889) 

Windsor 

Population 

6, 

3,000 
4,000 

Prince  Edward  Island. 

Population. 
12,500 

LABRADOR. 

Area:  180,000  square  miles ;  Population  (1881):  4,200. 
POPULATION   OF  THE   SIX   MORAVIAN   STATIONS 


Hebron 

•ill 

Rama  . 

Hoffenthal  . 

2s:; 

Zoar    . 

Nain 

270 

Okak   . 

340 

of  the  Labrador 

Fisheries  :  - 

-  £900,000. 

28 
128 


Total      1,272  (Behui  and  Wagner) 


1884. 

197,335 


NEWFOUNDLA  N  D. 

AREA  AND  POPULATION. 
Area  in  square  miles  :  40,200;  Population  (1884) :   197,335. 

Growth  of  thf.  Population:-- 

1874. 
161,499 

Population  accordino  to  Creeds:  - 

Anglicans  and  Wesleyans    ..... 

Roman  Catholics  ...... 

Sundries      ........ 

Total 

Adult  Population  classed  according  to  Pursuits  :-- 

Fishers 00,500  Miners 

.Mechanics 3,628       1       Farmers 


20.5.000 


120,411 

74.051 

2,290 

197.352 


3,600 
1,685 


Animal  yield  of  the  cod-fisheries  :    185,000  tons,  or  about  150,000,000  cod  :  value.  £3.000.000. 
Seals  captured  in  the  Newfoundland  waters  (1831) :   080,830. 

„  (1882)  :   200,500. 

Shipping  of  the  Newfoundland  Ports  (1886) :  — 

Vessels 


Entered 
Cleared 


Exports 
Imports 


Total 


1.2S5 
1,013 

2,298 

1883. 

£1.470,000 

1,900,000 


1SS5 
£'.150,000 
1.800.  oiio 


Tons. 
149,338 

128.0SS 

277,426 
1887. 

£1,080,000 

1,035,000 


( 'ml  and  other  fish 

(  oil  and  seal  oil 


CHIEF  EXPORTS.  1S87. 
I       Sealskins 


£840,000 
91,000 


Copper  ore 


Total  Exports  to  Great  Britain  (1887) 
Imports  from    ,,        ..        ,, 


£40.000 

34,0i  0 


£216,000 

318, 0UU 


APPENDIX   I. 


475 


REVENUE   RETURNS. 


1885. 

1881!. 

1S*7 

1S88 

200,000 

£216,000 

1409,000 

£1,430,000 

•27-5,000 

347,000 

:;is.000 

1,900,000 

Income  .        .        £'272,000 

Expenditure  .  247,000 

Public  Debt  (l!>S9) :  £734,000. 

Land  under  cultivation  (18S6) :  48,000  acres,  chiefly  potatoes,  turnips,  and  other  root  crops. 

Railways  (1S8S)  :— 


St.  John's    . 
Harbour  Grace 
Bonavista     . 


Si.  John's  to  Harbour  Grace  . 
Branch  line  to  Placentia 


Total 

CHIEF 

TOWNS. 

Pop.,  1881. 

31,000 

Carbonear    . 

7,054 

Fogo  and  Twillingate  . 

3,463 

Miles. 

1U0 

25 

125 


Fop.,  1881. 
3,756 
4,777 


ST.    PIEREE  AND   MIQUELON. 

AREAS   AND   POPULATIONS. 


Miquelon  . 
St.  Pierre 
Other  islets 


Area  in 

square  miles. 

43 

10 

1 


Totals  .  .  54 
Population  during  the  fishing  seasou  :  about  15,000. 
Shipping  of  St.  Pierre  (1888) :  6,611  vessels  of  412,660  tons. 

Vessels. 
French  fishing-  smacks     .         .         36')     . 
Local 668     . 

Totals         .         .      1,028 
Annual  yield  of  the  fisheries  :  32,000  to  36,000  tons. 

Exchanges  (1888)  : — 

Imports         ....... 

Exports         .  


Total 


74,815 


Population, 
1887. 

574 

3,244 
611 

4,429 


Tons. 

60,000      . 
14,818     . 

Crewe. 
5.100 
4,726 

9,826 


£543,000 
710,000 

£1,253,000 


Revenue  and  Expendituke  :  about  £20,000. 


i  i  2 


APPENDIX   II. 


CANADIAN    CHRONOLOGY. 


1494. — June.  Cabot  sights  Primavista  ;  either  Newfoundland,  or  more  probably  Cape  Breton. 

1497-8. — Cabot  coasts  the  mainland  of  Canada  and  Labrador. 

1500.— Gasper  Cortereal  discovers  the  Terra  do  Bacalhao,  "  Land  of  Cod,"  probably  Newfoundland. 

1501. — Gasper  Cortereal  visits  Newfoundland  and  Labrador. 

1517. — Sebastian  Cabot  penetrates  to  Hudson  Bay. 

1534. — July  14.  Jacques  Cartier  lands  at  Gaspe,  and  explores  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  so  named  by  him 
from  the  oppressive  heat  prevailing  at  the  time. 

153.3. — July.  Carder's  second  voyage. — August  10.  Cartier  anchors  in  a  small  inlet  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  John  river  on  the  feast  of  St.  Lawrence,  hence  the  name  of  St.  Lawrence,  -which  was  after- 
wards extended  to  the  whole  gulf,  and  to  the  estuary  and  river  as  far  ae  Lake  Ontario. — 
September  7.  Beaches  the  Isle  of  Bacchus  (Orleans)  and  the  present  site  of  Quebec. — October2. 
Arrives  at  the  Loquois  village  of  Hochelaga  on  an  eminence  which  he  names  Mont-Royal 
(Montreal) . 

1540. — Cartier  returns  with  the  Sieur  de  Roberval,  appointed  Lieutenant-General  and  Viceroy  of  New 
France. 

1542-3. — De  Roberval  and  his  followers  winter  at  Cape  Rouge. 

1544. — De  Roberval  recalled  and  the  colony  dispersed. 

1598. — The  Marquis  de  la  Roche  lands  forty  convicts  on  Sable  Island,  where  they  are  abandoned  to  their 
fate  for  five  years. 

1603. — The  twelve  survivors  of  the  Sable  Island  settlers  are  rescued. 
)>        Samuel  de  Champlain's  first  visit  to  Canada. 

1605. — Port  Royal  (afterwards  Annapolis)  founded  in  Acadie  (Nova  Scotia)  by  the  Baron  de  Poutrincourt. 

1608  — Champlain's  second  voyage  ;  first  permanent  settlement  of  Canada;  foundation  of  Quebec,  so 
named  from  an  Algonquin  word  meaning  "village." 

1608-9. — Champlain  winters  at  Quebec  with  twenty-eight  colonists. 


APPENDIX  II.  177 

1611. — Establishment  of  a  trading  station  at  or  near  the  site  of  Hoehelaga,  which  had  meantime  been 
destroyed  by  the  Algonquins  after  defeating  and  driving  out  the  Iroquois,  original  masters  of 
that  part  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley. 

1613. — Foundation  of  St.  Jo':.  at  capital  of  Newfoundland. 

1615. — Chaniplain  ascends  the  Ottawa  River,  crosses  Lake  Nipissing  and  descends  the  French  River  to 
Georgian  Bay  and  Lake  Huron,  returning  to  the  St.  Lawrence  by  Lake  Ontario. 

1620. — Permanent  French  population  of  Quebec,  sixty  persons. 

1629. — July.   Quebec  captured  by  the  English  under  Sir  David  Kirk,  who  wintered  here. 

1632. — Quebec  restored  to  France  by  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain-en-Laye. 

1635. — Death  of  Champlain  at  Quebec  on  Christmas  Day. 

1612. — Ville  Marie  on  Mont-Royal  enow  Montreal    founded  May  Is. 

1642-1667. — A  chronic  state  of  warfare,  accompanied  by  great  cruelties,  between  the  French  and  their 
Algonquin  allies  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Iroquois  Indians  on  the  other. 

1667. — Population  of  "  New  France"  (Canada),  3,918. 

1672.  —The  Count  de  Frontenac  appointed  Governor  of  the  Colony  :  population,  6,705. 

1689. — August.  Capture  of  Lachine  by  the  Iroquois  and  massacre  of  the  defenders,  followed  by  the 
surrender  of  the  Fort  at  Montreal  which  they  held  till  October. 

1692. — Population  of  Xew  France.  12,431. 

1698. — Death  of  Frontenac  ;  population,  13,355. 

1701. — August  4.  Treaty  of  peace  with  the  Iroquois  ratified  at  Montreal. 

1713. — Treaty  of  Utrecht,  by  which  France  surrenders  to  the  English  the  Hudson  Bay  territory,  Acadia 
(thereafter  named  Nova  Scotia),  and  Newfoundland. 

1720. — Population  of  New  France.  24,134,  and  of  St.  John  Island  (Prince  Edward  Island),  about  100. 

1739. — Population  of  New  France.  42,701. 

1745. — Louisbourg,  the  stronghold  of  Cape  Breton  and  key  to  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  captured  by  the 
English. 

174S. — Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  by  which  Louisbourg  is  restored  to  France  in  exchange  for  Madia*  in 
the  East  Indies. 

1 74  I. — Lord  Halifax  founds  the  city  of  Halifax.  A  party  of  2,544  British  emigrants  brought  out  by  the 
Hon.  Edward  Cornwallis,  first  English  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia. 

1752. — The  Halifax  Gazette,  the  first  paper  published  in  Canada,  issued  on  March  23. 

1755. — The  Acadians,  original  French  settlers  of  Nova  Scotia,  accused  of  treason  and  expelled.     They 
numbered  at  that  time  about  6,000. 

1758. — July  26.  Louisbourg  again  captured  by  the  English,  and  henceforth  held  by  them. 

1759. — July  26.  Capture  of  Fort  Niagara  by  the  English  under  General  Prideaux.  who  was  killed  during 
the  storming  of  the  citadel. — June  25.  Commencement  of  the  British  operations  against 
Quebec,  at  first  unsuccessful. — September  12.  Battle  of  the  Plains  of  Abraham  and  defeat  of 
the  French  by  General 'Wolf e,  who  is  killed  in  the  engagement.  English  loss.  700,  French,  1,500. 
— September  13.  Death  of  General  Montcalm,  Commander  of  the  French  forces,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  Plains  of  Abraham. — September  IS.  Capitulation  of  Quebec  to 
the  British  General  Townshend.  By  this  event  the  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  North 
American  continent  between  the  two  rival  nations  was  finally  decided  in  favour  of  the  English. 
The  subsequent  events  of  the  war  were  foreseen  as  inevitable. 

1760. — April.  Quebec  attacked  by  the  French  General  de  Levis  ;  siege  raised  by  the  arrival  of  a  British 
fleet. — September  8.  Capitulation  of  Montreal,  and  completion  of  the  British  conquest  of 
Canada,  though  a  few  Canadians  still  held  out  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  between  Lakes  Superior 
and  Huron.     Population  of  Canada  at  the  time,  70,000. 

1762. — British  population  of  Nova  Scotia,  8,104. 

1763. — February  10.  Treaty  of  Paris  ratified,  by  which  France  cedes  and  guarantees  to  the  King  of 
England  in  full  right  "Canada  with  all  its  dependencies."  No  further  attempt  was  ever 
made  by  France  after  this  date  to  recover  any  of  her  North  American  ]  is.     General 

Hurray  first  British  Governor-General  of  the  Province  of  Quebec. 

1764. — June  21.  First  issue  of  the  Quebec  Gazette,  which  is  usually  regarded  as  the  first  periodical  ever 
published  in  any  part  of  the  British  American  possessions  north  of  N  vr  England.     But  il 
certainly  preceded  by  the  Halifax  Gazette  (1752),  which,  however,  only  lasted  about  two  yeai  ■ 


47tJ  APPENDIX  II. 

1 764.— The  Pontine  Con>piracy.  Pontic-.  Chief  of  the  Ottawa  tribe,  and  a  person  of  considerable  ability, 
organised  a  scheme  for  a  simultaneous  rising-  among  the  Canadian  Indian  tribes  and  a  general 
massacre  of  the  English.  The  conspiracy  was  completely  successful  in  several  places,  where 
not  a  single  white  escaped ;  but  the  timely  arrival  of  reinforcements  prevented  the  revolt  from 
spreading,  and  it  was  eventually  suppressed.  Since  that  time  the  Indians  of  pure  blood  have 
mostly  been  peaceful,  giving  very  little  trouble  to  the  authorities. 

IT'i'i. — General  Carleton,  afterwards  Lord  Dorchester,  succeeds  General  Murray  as  Governor-General. 

1770. — St.  John's  Inland  (Prince  Edward  Island)  constituted  a  separate  Province  with  Walter  Paterson 
aa  it-  first  Governor.     The  first  meeting  of  the  House  of  Assembly  occurred  in  July,  1773. 

1771.  Passing  of  the  "Quebec  Act,"  which  was  the  Magna  C/iarla  of  the  French  Canadians,  giving  them 
the  free  exercise  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  over  half  a  century  before  the  passing  of  the 
Emancipation  Act  (1829)  in  Great  Britain.  It  also  secured  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  their 
civil  rights,  and  the  protection  of  their  own  civil  laws  and  customs.  By  the  same  measure 
large  territories  were  annexed  to  the  Province  of  Quebec,  whereby  these  privileges  were  ex- 
tended over  a  very  wide  area,  anticipating,  as  it  were,  the  expansion  of  the  French-Canadian 
race.  Lastly,  it  provided  for  the  appointment  by  the  Crown  of  a  Legislative  Council,  and  for 
the  administration  of  the  criminal  law  as  in  force  in  England.  In  a  word,  civil  law  accord- 
ing to  the  old  French  regime,  criminal  according  to  the  common  law  of  England. 

177-3. — Outbreak  of  the  American  Revolution,  immediately  followed  by  the  invasion  of  Canada  by  the 
American  "  rebels.''  At  first  they  earned  everything  before  them,  and  captured  all  places  of 
importance.  But  the  invasion  was  wrecked  under  the  walls  of  Quebec,  where  General 
Montgomery's  forces  were  routed  and  himself  killed  on  the  last  day  of  the  year. 

1776. — Reinforcements  arriving  from  England,  the  Americans  were  finally  driven  across  the  frontier,  and 
the  British  supremacy  never  again  seriously  menaced. 

1778. — First  issue  of  the  Montreal  Gazelle,  still  in  existence;  one  of  the  oldest  papers  in  the 
world. 

1783. — Ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  (September  3),  and  definition  of  the  boundary  b'ne  between 
Canada  and  the  United  States  ;  the  Great  Lakes,  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  the  45th  parallel  of 
north  latitude,  the  highlands  dividing  the  waters  flowing  to  the  Atlantic  from  those  draining 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  St.  Croix  rivers.  This  treaty  subsequently  gave  rise  to  much 
discussion,  owing  partly  to  the  prevailing  ignorance  regarding  the  region  of  the  water-parting 
between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Atlantic,  and  partly  to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  River  St. 
Clair,  which  the  Americans  claimed  to  be  the  St.  John.  In  1798  the  Commission  appointed 
to  decide  the  matter  reported  that  the  source  of  the  northern  branch  of  the  Scoodic  was  the 
source  of  the  St.  Croix  designated  in  the  treaty.  The  frontier  claimed  by  the  Americans  not 
only  included  a  disputed  tract  of  10,000  square  miles  but  would  also  entirely  cut  off  the 
communications  between  Lower  Canada  and  New  Brunswick.  From  the  source  of  the 
Scoodic  they  drew  the  line  northwards  to  a  ridge  within  30  miles  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
which  they  held  to  be  the  highlands  specified  in  the  1783  treaty.  But  the  British  maintained 
that  the  north-west  corner  of  Nova  Scotia  was  at  Mars  Hill,  about  40  miles  from  the  source 
of  the  Scoodic,  and  that  the  north  frontier  of  Maine  should  pass  thence  westwards  over  a 
range  of  hills  about  the  sources  of  the  Penobscot,  Kennebec  and  Androscoggin  rivers.  In 
1827  the  question  was  by  mutual  agreement  referred  to  the  arbitration  of  the  King  of  the 
Netherlands,  whose  decision  (January  10,  1S31)  awarded  most  of  the  disputed  territory  to  the 
States,  but  left  direct  communication  between  Canada  and  New  Brunswick.  The  British 
Government  acquiesced  in  this  decision,  but  the  States  rejected  it  on  the  ground  that  the 
umpire  had  exceeded  his  powers.  The  frontier  question  thus  remained  open  till  the  year  184-', 
when  it  was  finally  settled  by  the  Ashburton  treaty. 

1784.— Population  of  Canada,  113.000,  exclusive  of  the  "  Loyalist  "  immigrants  to  Upper  Canada  from 
the  States.  British  population  of  Nova  Scotia,  32,000,  besides  11,000  Acadians.  New 
Brunswick  detached  from  Nova  Scotia  and  erected  into  a  separate  Province  with  population, 
1 1,500.  Now  began  the  immigration  into  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  of  the  so-called  "  United 
Empire  Loyalists,"  that  is  to  say.  those  English  settlers  in  the  United  States  who  had  never 
joined  the  revolt  and  had  remained  faithful  to  the  Crown  of  England.  The  stream  of 
immigration  continued  for  several  years,   but  no  accurate  returns  were  ever  made  of  their 


APPENDIX  II.  479 

numbers,  which,  however,  are  believea  not  to  have  fallen  short  of  40,000.  The  Loyalists  were 
well  received  and  highly  favoured  by  the  British  Government,  receiving  large  grants  of  land 
in  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  this  way  extensive  tracts  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  round  about  Lake  Ontario  were  first  settled  by  some  10,000  Americans  on  lands  allotted 
to  them  by  the  Canadian  Government . 

1TS.3. — Re-establishment  of  the  right  of  //  '    ■■■  '    rptu  throughout  British  tei-ritory. 

1791. — Division  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  into  two  Provinces,  that  is.  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  corres- 
ponding to  the  present  Provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec.  Each  Province  was  to  be 
administered  separately  by  a  Lieutenant-Governor  and  a  Legislature  comprising  a  House  of 
Assembly  and  a  Legislative  Council.  The  members  of  the  Council  were  to  be  appointed  by 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  for  life,  while  those  of  the  Assembly  were  to  be  elected  by  the  people 
for  four  years      Population  of  the  two  Provinces,  161,300  altogether. 

1 792. — September  17.  First  meeting  of  the  Parliament  of  Upper  Canada  at  Newark  (Niagara)  under 
Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe,  the  House  of  Assembly  consisting  at  that  time  of  sixteen 
members. — December  17.  Meeting  of  the  Parliament  of  Lower  Canada  at  Quebec  under 
General  Clarke,  the  House  of  Assembly  consisting  of  fifty  members. 

1793. — Abolition  of  slavery  in  Upper  Canada. 

1796. — rhe  seat  of  government  of  Upper  Canada  removed  from  Newark  to  York  ("Little  York."  now 
Toronto). 

1798. — The  name  of  St.  John's  Island  changed  to  that  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  in  honour  of  the  Duke 
of  Kent,  the  change  taking  effect  in  the  year  1800.     Population  of  the  Island,  4,500. 

1806. — November.  Issue  of  Lc  Canadien,  first  newspaper  printed  entirely  in  the  French  language. 
Population  of  Upper  Canada,  70,700.  and  of  Lower  Canada,  250,000. 

1812. — Declaration  of  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. — August  11.  Detroit 
surrendered  by  the  Americans  under  General  Hull  to  the  British  under  General  Brock. — 
October  13.  Battle  of  Queenstown  Heights,  below  Niagara  Palls,  and  ultimate  defeat  of  the 
Americans  under  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer.  Death  of  General  Brock,  shot  while  rallying  the 
British. — November.  Battle  of  Lacolle  River ;  the  American  General  Deerborn  defeated  by 
<  lolonel  de  Salaberry. 

1813. — April  25.  Capture  of  York  (Toronto)  by  the  Americans. — June  5.  Rout  of  the  Americans  at  the 
Battle  of  Stony  Creek  on  Lake  Ontario,  six  miles  south-east  of  Hamilton. — September.  Battle 
of  Mora  rianto  wn.  Retreat  of  the  British  forces  and  death  of  the  Indian  Chief  Tecumseth. — 
Battle  of  Chateauguay  :  three  thousand  Americans  under  General  Hampton  out-manoeuvred 
and  defeated  by  Colonel  de  Salaberry  and  four  hundred  French  Canadians. — September  25. 
Battle  of  Chrysler's  Farm  ;  defeat  and  complete  overthrow  of  the  Americans  under  General 
Wilkinson  by  the  Canadian  Militia  under  Colonel  Morrison. — Battle  of  Lundy's  Lane  near 
Drumniondville. 

1814. — Ontario  hotly  contested,  both  sides  claiming  the  advantage. — December  24.  This  useless  blood- 
shed stopped  by  the  termination  of  the  war  and  the  Treaty  of  Ghent.  Since  then  Canada  has 
been  at  peace  with  all  her  neighbours,  and  subject  only  to  some  internal  troubles. 

1818. — October  20.  Convention  of  London  regulating  the  rights  of  Americans  in  the  British  North 
American  waters. 

1821. — Commencement  of  the  Lachine  Canal  to  turn  the  rapids  near  Montreal  and  make  the  St.  Lawrence 
navigable  for  sea-going  vessels  from  the  estuary  to  Montreal. 

1831. — Population  of  Upper  Canada,  236,700  ;  of  Lower  Canada,  553,000. 

1S36. — Opening  of  the  first  railway  in  Canada,  running  from  Laprairie  on  the  St.  Lawrence  seven  miles 
south  of  Montreal  to  St.  John's.     This  line  was  afterwards  discontinued. 

1837-38. — Outbreak  of  rebellion  in  both  provinces ;  suppressed  in  Upper  Canada  by  the  local  Militia,  in 
Lower  Canada  by  British  troops. 

1S40. — Death  of  Lord  Durham,  who  was  mainly  instrumental  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  subsequent 
union  of  the  provinces  in  a  common  confederacy. 

1S41. — Union  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada  under  the  name  of  the  Province  of  Canada,  and  establishmenl 
of  responsible  government.  The  Legislature  was  to  consist  of  a  Legislative  Council  and  a 
Legislative  Assembly,  each  province  to  be  represented  by  sixty-two  members,  of  whom 
forty-two  were  to  be  elected  by  the  people  and  twenty  nominated  by  the  Grown.     Population 


480  APPENDIX   II. 

of  Upper  Canada,  4-55, GSO. — June  13.  Opening  of  the  first  united  Parliament  at  Kingston  by 
Lord  Sydenham. 

1842. — The  Ashburton  Treaty,  by  which  the  boundary  line  was  settled  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States. 

1844.— Population  of  Lower  Canada,  697,000. 

1845.—  Disastrous   conflagrations  in  the  city  of  Quebec  ;  about  2,500  people  rendered  homeless. 

1848. — The  St.  Lawrence  canals  opened  for  navigation. 

1849. — Riots  in  Toronto  and  Montreal  on  the  question  of  the  Rebellion  Losses  Bill ;  burning  of  the 
Parliament  Library  at  Montreal. 

1850. — The  first  sod  of  the  Northern  Railway  turned  by  Lady  Elgin. 

1851. — Control  of  the  Postal  Administration  transferred  from  the  British  to  the  Provincial  Governments, 
and  adoption  of  a  uniform  rate  of  postage,  viz.,  3d.  per  half  ounce,  afterwards  reduced  to  2^d. 
The  Census  taken  this  year  returned  population  of  Upper  Canada,  952, 000  ;  of  Lower  Canada, 
890,200;  of  New  Brunswick,  193,800;  of  Nova  Scotia,  276,850. 

1852. — Commencement  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  905  miles  long,  completed  in  six  years  at  a  total 
cost  of  £17,000,000.  This  great  artery,  the  '-backbone  of  Canada,"  and  the  great  inter- 
national route  between  the  eastern  and  western  states  of  the  Union,  now  represents  with  the 
affiliated  lines  an  aggregate  of  over  4,200  miles,  with  an  invested  capital  of  nearly  £57,000,000 
and  about  20,000  employes. 

1853. — The  number  of  members  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  increased  from  84  to  130,  being  65  for  each 
province. 

1854. — Main  line  of  the  Great  Western  Railway  opened  for  traffic,  363  miles  long,  cost  £5,000,000. 
Abolition  of  seignorial  tenure  in  Lower  Canada,  and  settlement  of  the  Clergy  Reserve 
question. — June  5.  Reciprocity  Treaty  with  the  United  States,  signed  at  Washington,  making 
provision  for  mutual  rights  of  fishing  in  certain  Canadian  and  American  waters  ;  for  the  free 
interchange  of  the  products  of  the  sea,  the  soil,  the  forest,  and  the  mine.  It  allowed  the 
Americans  the  use  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  and  Canadian  canals  on  the  same  terms  as  British 
subjects,  and  gave  to  Canadians  the  right  to  navigate  Lake  Michigan.  This  treaty  was  to 
last  ten  years. 

1856. — The  Legislative  Council  made  an  elective  chamber. 

1858. — Adoption  of  the  decimal  system  of  currency  with  the  dollar  as  unit.  The  city  of  Ottawa  selected 
by  the  Queen  as  the  capital  of  the  Dominion  and  permanent  seat  of  government. 

1860. — The  Prince  of  Wales  visits  Canada  and  the  States,  and  everywhere  receives  au  enthusiastic 
welcome.  On  August  25  he  opens  the  Victoria  tubular  bridge  which  crosses  the  St.  Lawrence 
just  above  Montreal  on  the  line  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway.  This  is  the  largest  iron  tubular 
bridge  in  the  world,  is  60  feet  high  in  the  centre  and  with  the  approaches  nearly  two  miles 
in  length. — September  1.  Laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Parliament  Buildings  at  Ottawa 
by  the  Prince  of  Wales.  These  buildings,  together  with  departmental  buildings,  were  erected 
at  a  total  cost  of  £922,000  up  to  June,  1838. 

1861. — Population  of  Upper  Canada,  1,396,000;  of  Lower  Canada,  1,111,500;  of  New  Brunswick, 
252,000  ;  of  Nova  Scotia,  331,000  ;  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  81,000  ;  of  Vancouver's  Island, 
3,000,  exclusive  of  Indians. 

1866. — March  17.  Termination  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty  in  consequence  of  notice  given  by  the 
United  States. — June  1.  Invasion  of  Canada  by  the  Irish- American  Fenians;  Battle  of 
Ridgeway  and  retreat  of  the  Volunteers. — June  3.  Withdrawal  of  the  Fenians  into  the  L'nited 
States. — June  8.  First  meeting  of  Parliament  in  the  new  buildings  at  Ottawa.  At  this 
session  the  first  resolutions  necessary  to  effect  the  confederation  of  the  Provinces  were  passed. 

1867. — February  10.  The  British  North  American  Act  passed  by  the  Lnperial  Legislature. — July  1. 
Union  of  the  Provinces  of  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  New  Brunswick  under  the  name  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada.  The  Provinces  of  LJpper  and  Lower  Canada  now  took  the  names  of 
Ontario  and  Quebec  respectively.  Lord  Monck  first  Governor-General  of  the  Dominion. 
— November  6.  First  meeting  of  the  Dominion  Parliament,  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald  being 
Premier. 

1868.— April  7.  Murder  of  the  Hon.  T.  D'Arcy  McGee  at  Ottawa.— July  81.  The  Rupert's  Land  Aot 
pa  sed  by  the  Imperial  Government  providing  for  the  acquisition  by  the  Dominion  of  the 


APPENDIX  II.  481 

North-West  Territories. — October  29.  Hon.  Wm.  Macdougall  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor. 
The  Red  River  Rebellion  of  the  Canadian  half-breeds. — November  19.  Deed  of  surrender 
signed  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  to  Her  Majesty. 

1870. — March  4.  Thomas  Scot  shot  at  Fort  Garry. — August.  Arrival  at  Fort  Garry  of  the  expedition 
under  Colonel  (now  Lord)  Wolseley,  when  the  rebels  were  found  to  have  dispersed. — May  25. 
Fenians  again  cross  the  frontier  at  Trout  river  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  but  driven  back  by 
the  Volunteers. — July  15.  Annexation  of  the  North- West  Territories  to  the  Dominion,  and 
admission  of  the  Province  of  Manitoba  into  the  Confederation.  This  province  was  formed 
by  detaching  a  portion  of  the  newly-acquired  North-West  Territory. 

1871. — May  8.  Ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington. — July  20.  Admission  of  British  Columbia 
into  the  Confederation.  Population  of  the  Dominion,  3,485,760;  of  Manitoba,  19,000;  of 
British  Columbia,  36,240  ;  of  Prince  Edward  Island,  94,000  ;  total,  3,635,000. 

1872. — Abolition  of  dual  representation. 

1873. — May  2.  Death  of  Sir  George  E.  Carrier  in  London. — July  1.  Admission  of  Prince  Edward  Island 
into  the  Confederation. 

1875. — Commencement  of  the  enlarged  Lachine  Ship  Canal,  of  all  waterways  constructed  by  Canada  the 
most  important  for  the  development  of  Montreal.  "This  splendid  work  has  a  length  of  Si- 
miles. From  Lachine  to  Cote  St.  Paul  (5|  miles  long)  its  mean  width  is  150  feet ;  the  remain- 
ing distance  has  a  mean  width  of  200  feet,  and  the  greatest  depth  is  15  feet.  The  old  barge 
canal,  commenced  in  1821  and  completed  in  1825  at  a  cost  of  £89,000,  was  8j  miles  long, 
its  bottom  width  was  28  feet,  at  water  surface,  48  feet.  The  depth  of  water  on  the  sills  was 
4J  feet.  The  first  ship  canal,  commenced  in  1843  and  completed  in  1849,  cost  £430,000 ;  it  was 
8  j  miles  long,  bottom  width,  80  feet,  at  water  surface,  120  feet,  with  9  feet  of  water  on  sills." 
— (Stuart  Cumberland.) 

1876. —Opening  of  the  Intercolonial  Railway  from  Quebec  to  Halifax,  distance  678  miles.  This  line  is 
Government  property  and  is  worked  by  officials  appointed  by  the  Government.  Strategically 
it  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  Dominion,  but  as  a  passenger  line  it  is  too  roundabout,  being 
so  constructed  in  order  to  take  in  the  settlements  and  centres  of  rural  population  stretching 
along  the  right  bank  of  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence. 

1877. — June  20.  Great  fire  in  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. — November  23.  Award  of  Halifax  Fisheries 
Commission  of  the  sum  of  £1, 100,000  to  be  paid  by  the  United  States  to  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment. 

1879. — Adoption  of  a  Protective  Tariff  in  accordance  with  the  so-called  "National  Policy." 

1880. — Death  of  theHon.  George  Brown. — October  21.  Contract  signedforthe  construction  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  subsequently  ratified  by  44  Vic.  c.  1  (1881).  The  Dominion  had  already 
arranged  to  build  and  work  a  transcontinental  line,  such  an  undertaking  being  considered 
too  gigantic  for  private  enterprise.  Preliminary  steps  were  actually  taken  in  1871  when 
surveying  parties  were  sent  to  explore  the  almost  unknown  regions  through  which  the  line 
would  have  to  pass.  Over  £700,000  were  spent  in  this  way,  and  between  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Coast,  where  most  of  the  engineering  difficulties  would  _r,  as 
many  as  eleven  different  routes  with  an  aggregate  length  of  over  10,000  miles  were  examined 
before  a  feasible  system  could  be  decided  upon.  ' '  By  the  terms  of  the  agreement  with  the 
Canadian  Government  the  'Syndicate,'  or  incorporated  Company,  undertook  to  lay  out, 
construct,  and  equip  in  running  order  the  eastern  and  central  sections  of  the  line  by  May  1 , 
1891 ;  and  the  Government  agreed  to  complete  the  unfinished  portion  of  the  western  section 
between  Kamloops  and  Yale  by  June  30,  1885,  and  also  between  Yale  and  Port  Moody  on  or 
before  May  1,  1891,  and  the  Lake  Superior  section  according  to  contract.  In  chartering  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company  the  Dominion  Government  adopted  a  policy  precisely 
similar  to  the  one  carried  into  effect  by  the  United  States  Congress  with  regard  to  the  earlier 
transcontinental  roads,  by  giving  both  a  money  and  land  subsidy.  The  subsidy  in  money 
•was  $25,000,000  (£5,000,000),  and  in  land  25,000,000  acres,  such  land  to  be  chosen  by  the 
Company  along  the  route  between  Winnipeg  and  the  Rockies.  The  Company,  under  the 
terms  of  the  agreement,  also  received  authorisation  to  mortgage  its  land  grant  for  §25,000,000  at 
5  per  cent.,  and  in  addition  to  issue  a  mortgage  on  the  line  on  completion  at  the  rate  of  $10,000 
(£2,000)  per  mile      The  Charter  also  gave  the  Company  very  large  additional  powers,  embrac- 


482 


APPENDIX  II. 


ing  tin'  right  to  build  branches,  open  telegTaph  lines,  and  establish  steamer  lines  from  its 
terminals.  The  lands  required  for  the  road-bed  of  the  railway,  and  for  its  stations,  station 
grounds,  workshops,  dockground,  water  frontage,  buildings,  yards,  &c,  were  also  granted 
free.  Whilst  granting  the  Company  the  right  to  construct  branch  lines  from  any  point 
within  the  territory  of  the  Dominion,  the  Dominion  Parliament  agreed  that  for  twenty  years 
no  railway  should  lie  constructed  south  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  except  such  line  as 
shall  run  south-west  or  to  the  westward  of  south-west,  nor  to  within  fifteen  miles  of  latitude 
I'.i  degrees  (United  States  frontier).  The  properties  of  the  Company  were  also  made  free 
for  ever  from  taxation,  and  all  material  necessary  for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  the 
line  was  to  be  admitted  duty  free;  even  the  lands  of  the  Company  in  the  North -West 
Territories,  until  either  sold  or  occupied,  were  also  made  free  from  taxation  for  twenty  years 
after  the  grant  thereof  from  the  Crown.  By  1882  the  Company  had  issued  §20,000,000 
(£4,000,000)  land  grant  bonds,  depositing  the  proceeds  with  the  Government,  which  allowed 
4  per  cent,  interest  thereon,  and  paid  the  principal  back  to  the  Company  as  the  railway  con- 
struction proceeded.  The  remaining  §5,000,000  (£1,000,000)  land  grant  bonds  were  held  by 
the  Government  as  security  that  the  Company  would  fulfil  its  agreements.  In  1884  the 
Government  lent  the  Company  §22,500,000  (£4,500,000)  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  construc- 
tion of  the  line,  which  was  being  pushed  throughout  with  marvellous  rapidity,  the  Company 
undertaking  to  complete  the  main  line  by  May  31,  1886.  The  tracks  were  finally  joined  in 
the  Eagle  Pass  on  November  7,  1885,  and  the  great  highway,  which'had  cost  the  enormous 
sum  of  §140,000,000  (£28,000,000),  was  an  accomplished  fact.  In  the  spring  of  this  year  the 
line  was  being  equipped,  and  on  the  evening  of  June  28  the  first  through  train  left  Montreal, 
arriving  at  Port  Moody  on  July  4,  the  journey  occupying  exactly  136  houi-s.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  the  Syndicate,  by  dint  of  almost  superhuman  efforts,  managed  to  complete  this 
magnificent  undertaking — by  far  the  greatest  feat  in  railway  construction  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen — in  half  the  stipulated  time,  having  accomplished  what  was  generally  considered 
at  first  to  be  not  only  impossible  but  altogether  mad.  By  finishing  the  railway  in  1886  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Company  has  given  Canada  five  years  advantage,  and  with  the  running  of 
the  first  through  train  the  benefit  of  the  country,  arising  out  of  this  new  '  Queen's  Highway,' 
commenced.  It  should  be  added  that  not  only  did  the  Syndicate  complete  the  railway  in  half 
the  time  agreed  upon,  but  it  has  honourably  discharged  all  its  obligations  to  the  Dominion 
Government  five  years  before  the  debt  was  due.  Part  of  this  Government  indebtedness  was 
paid  in  cash  and  part  in  land,  the  Government  having  agreed  to  take  back  portions  of  the 
land  granted  in  the  original  instance  at  §1.50  (6s.)  per  acre." — (Stuart  Cumberland.) 

1881. — April  4.  Population  of  the  Dominion,  4,324,810. — May  2.  First  sod  turned  by  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Company. 

1882. — June  22.  Legality  of  the  Canada  Temperance  Act  confirmed  by  the  Privy  Council. — August  23. 
The  new  seat  of  Government  for  the  North-West  Territories  receives  the  name  of  Regina  ;  it 
lies  on  a  tributary  of  the  Qu'AppeUe  river,  and  is  a  station  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  line. 

1885. — Outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  the  North-West;  commencement  of  hostilities  at  Duck  Lake. — 
April  2.  Massacre  at  Frog  Lake. — April  14.  Fort  Pitt  abandoned. — April  24.  Engagement 
at  Fish  Creek. — May  12.  Battle  of  Batoehe  and  defeat  of  the  rebels. — May  26.  Surrender  of 
Poundmaker. — July  1.  Termination  of  the  fishery  clauses  of  the  Washington  Treaty  by  the 
United  States. — July  2.  Capture  of  Big  Bear  and  final  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Total 
loss  of  Militia  and  Volunteers  :  killed,  38  ;  wounded,  115.  The  rebel  loss  could  not  be  ascer- 
tained, but  estimated  at  about  30  killed  and  12  wounded. — November  7.  Driving  of  the  last 
spike  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 

1886. — May  4.  Opening  of  the  Indian  and  Colonial  Exhibition  in  London. — June  28.  First  through 
train  from  Montreal  to  Vancouver,  journey  completed  in  five  days  and  sixteen  hours. 

1887. — April  4.  Important  Conference  at  London  between  representatives  of  the  principal  colonies  and 
the  Imperial  Government  on  the  question  of  Imperial  Federation.  At  this  Conference  the 
Dominion  was  represented  by  Sir  Alexander  Campbell  and  Mr.  Sanford  Fleming. — November 
15.  Meeting  of  the  Fisheries  Commission  at  Washington. 

1888. — March  15.  Signing  of  the  Fishery  Treaty  at  Washington. — August.  Rejection  of  the  Fishery 
Treaty  by  the  United  State?  Senate. 


APPENDIX  11.  483 

1890. — Canada  supports  the  views  of  the  Newfoundland  Government  in  connection  with  the  French 
fishery  question,  holding  that  the  erection  of  lobster  factories  by  the  French  on  the  treat; 
shore  (the  "French  Shore")  is  incontestably  in  contravention  of  the  treaties  ;  further,  that 
the  legal  advisers  of  the  Crown  have  declared  such  pretensions  on  the  part  of  the  French  to 
be  utterly  groundless,  and  that  to  allow  such  factories  to  remain  during  the  season,  while  at 
tlie  same  time  preventing  the  erection  of  any  fresh  ones  by  the  British  unless  an  equal  number 
is  permitted  to  the  French,  is  a  concession  most  prejudicial  to  any  future  settlement,  as  far  as 
the  interests  of  the  Colony  are  concerned :  lastly,  that  the  modus  vivi  ndi,  having  been  arranged 
without  the  consent  of  the  St.  John's  Legislative  House  of  Assembly,  is  a  violation  of  the 
rights  gTanted  by  the  British  Government  to  the  people  of  Newfoundland  in  the  year  1857. 


APPENDIX    III. 


THE  CANADIAN  NOBTH-WEST  TERRITORIES. 

(Communicated  by  Mr.  J.  G.  Calmer.) 

Only  a  few  years  ago  that  part  of  Canada  now  called  Manitoba  and  the  North-West 
Territories — the  latter  with  its  divisions  of  Assiniboia,  Saskatchewan,  Alberta,  and 
Athabasca — was  known  as  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory,  or  Eupert's  Land,  and  to  the 
world,  outside  the  officers  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  it  was  little  more  than  a 
geographical  expression,  so  meagre  was  the  knowledge  that  existed  of  the  fertility  of  its 
soil,  and  of  its  mineral  and  other  diversified  resources.  It  is  true  that  much  of  the 
country  had  been  partially  explored  by  Palliser  and  Hinde,  and  that  a  Select  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons  had  been  engaged  in  collecting  evidence  regarding  it ;  but  the 
subject  was  not  one  that  created  any  great  enthusiasm  at  the  time,  and  the  question  of 
its  being  opened  up  for  settlement,  and  for  the  use  of  mankind,  remained  in  abeyance 
until  the  formation  of  the  Dominion  came  about  in  1867,  when  the  young  and  vigorous 
confederation  very  soon  initiated  the  negotiations  which  finally  led  to  the  transfer  of 
nearly  three  millions  of  square  miles,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  of  fertile  land,  to 
the  united  provinces  of  British  North  America. 


Rate  of  Development  of  the  Country. 

The  object  of  this  short  paper  will  be  to  endeavour  to  show  with  what  energy  and 
enterprise  this  country  has  been,  and  is  being,  developed,  and  the  advantages  that  are 
likely  to  follow  its  rapid  settlement  by  the  overcrowded  populations  of  Europe.  To 
make  such  a  territory  accessible  is  after  all  the  most  practical  way  of  utilising  for  the 
public  good  the  geographical  knowledge  placed  at  our  disposal  by  the  intrepid  explorers 
who  invariably  precede  the  march  of  civilisation.  The  knowledge  that  now  prevails 
upon  the  subject,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  population  has  augmented  by  the  aid 
of  immigration,  are  in  themselves  no  mean  evidences  of  the  capacity  of  Western  Canada 
to  sustain  a  large  number  of  inhabitants. 


ArPEXPlX    ITT.  485 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 

The  story  of  the  inception  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  of  the  difficulties  that 
were  experienced,  one  after  another,  before  it  was  taken  in  hand  by  the  present  Company 
(1881),  and  of  its  final  completion  from  ocean  to  ocean  in  the  winter  of  1885,  are  now 
matters  of  history,  familiarised  to  us  by  the  comparative  recent  date  of  their  occurrence, 
and  by  frequent  repetition.  The  country  surveyed  extended  from  Ottawa  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  from  Port  Simpson  to  the  Fraser  River,  and  the  work  involved  an  outlay  of 
at  least  3,000,000  dollars.  These  surveys  were  followed  by  a  more  general  examination 
of  the  land  available  for  settlement,  north  and  south  of  the  line,  on  a  system  laid  down 
by  legislation.  The  country  was  mapped  out  in  townships  of  six  miles  square,  contain- 
ing thirty-six  sections  of  640  acres  each,  and  a  large  area  has  been  actually  inspected. 
Copies  of  the  sectional  and  township  diagrams  are  now  deposited  in  the  offices  of  the 
High  Commissioner  for  Canada  in  London,  which  show  the  general  character  of  the  land 
in  question,  and  contain  the  surveyors'  notes  of  their  examination.  So  complete  are 
these  maps  that  it  is  a  question  whether  such  a  mass  of  information,  about  so  large  an 
area  of  land,  is  accessible  in  so  small  a  compass  for  any  other  country.  These  surveys 
will  be  continued  from  year  to  year,  as  the  necessity  for  opening  up  more  country  for 
settlement  arises. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  has  cost  Canada  about  £14,000,000, 
exclusive  of  the  land  grant  of  about  18,000,000  acres.  To  this  may  be  added  the  cost 
of  the  Intercolonial  Railway,  a  part  of  the  through  system  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  say  nearly  £7,000,000,  and  there  has  also  been  spent  upon  the  development  of 
the  North- West,  and  upon  the  land  in  that  part  of  Canada,  another  £1,250,000.  There- 
fore the  acquisition  and  development  of  the  county,  for  national  and  imperial  purposes, 
has  at  a  moderate  computation  required  over  £22,000,000,  representing  an  annual 
outlay,  for  interest,  of  nearly  a  million  sterling.  Xo  financial  aid  was  given  by  the 
Imperial  Government. 

Canada  axd  Australia. 

A  regular  line  of  fast  vessels  will  soon  be  steaming  between  British  Columbia  and 
Asia,  and,  it  is  believed,  before  long  between  British  Columbia  and  Australia.  It  is  also 
regarded  as  being  only  a  question  of  a  few  years  when  Canada  and  Australia  will  have 
direct  telegraphic  communication.  All  these  things  are  the  direct  outcome  of  the 
development  that  has  been  taking  place  in  Manitoba  and  the  Xorth-West,  and  add 
considerably  to  the  significance  of  that  great  work. 

Manitoba  and  the  Xorth-West. 

Manitoba  and  the  North-West  are  estimated  to  contain  an  area  of  about  2,700,000 
square  miles.  The  character  of  the  country  is  that  of  a  plain,  rising  in  three  steppes  of 
different  altitudes,  from  the  95th  degree  of  west  longitude  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It 
is  well  watered  by  large  rivers,  the  principal  streams  in  the  district  inhabited  at  present 
being  the  Assiniboine,  North  and  South  Saskatchewan,  Red,  Bow  and  Pelly  Rivers,  with 
their  many  tributaries,  while  lakes,  large  and  small,  are  to  be  found  scattered  everywhere. 
In  the  more  northern  districts,  there  are  the  Peace  and  the  Mackenzie  Rivers,  both  of 
them  of  great  volume.     A  good  deal  of  misapprehension,  arising  from  misunderstanding, 


im 


APPENDIX  IK 


exists  about  the  climate.  The  winters  are  severe,  but  are  not  in  any  way  injurious  to 
health.  Aery  much  the  same  tales  were  told  years  ago  about  the  climate  of  Eastern 
Canada,  that  are  now  related  about  that  of  the  West.  The  former  is  now  regarded  as 
one  of  the  best  parts  of  the  Continent  for  all  general  agricultural  purposes,  and  time  is 
daily  showing  up  the  climatic  libels  that  have  been  perpetrated  about  the  latter,  and 
demonstrating  its  healthiness  and  suitability  for  all  the  needs  of  human  existence.  Not 
so  much  is  now  said  against  Canada  as  formerly,  and  this  is  largely  attributed,  in  the 
Dominion,  to  the  visit  of  the  British  Association  five  years  ago,  when  the  members  were 
able  to  see  it  for  themselves,  and  to  form  their  own  opinions  as  to  the  varied  nature  of 
its  productions.  The  settlement  of  Manitoba  and  the  North-West  Territories  has  been 
much  facilitated  by  the  discover}'  of  the  immense  beds  of  lignite,  bituminous,  and 
anthracite  coal,  that  are  now  known  to  underlie  an  immense  district  stretching  from  the 
Pacific  coast  to  from  150  to  200  miles  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Coal  is  being 
raised  at  Lethbridge  near  Fort  McLeod,  and  at  Banff  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains,  and 
a  good  supply  of  this  article — indispensable  where  the  winter  is  severe — is  now  assured 
at  reasonable  prices.  As  already  stated,  the  country  is  very  well  watered,  and  irrigation, 
which  is  a  drawback  in  many  parts  of  the  world  where  there  are  any.  large  areas  of  vacant 
land,  is  not  necessary.  Not  only  are  there  plenty  of  rivers  and  lakes,  but  in  most  parts 
of  the  country  good  water  is  found  at  a  reasonable  depth  from  the  surface.  It  is  not 
intended  to  assert  that  North- West  Canada  is  without  any  disadvantages,  but  the  worst 
character  it  can  be  given  is  that  it  is  subject  to  some  of  the  vicissitudes  of  temperate 
climates,  and  the  best  proof  of  its  suitability  is  found  in  the  increase  in  the  settlement 
that  has  taken  place. 

A  Home  foe  Agriculturists. 

As  a  result  of  the  enterprise  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  it  is  not  surprising  to 
learn  that  the  population  of  Manitoba,  the  North- West  Territories,  and  British  Columbia, 
has,  within  the  last  twelve  or  fourteen  years,  risen  from  a  few  thousands  to  probably 
over  300,000.  The  new  arrivals  have  come  partly  from  the  eastern  provinces  of  Canada, 
and  from  the  United  States,  but  a  very  considerable  number  consists  of  emigrants  from 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  from  .the  Continent,  several  flourishing  settlements  of 
foreigners  having  been  formed  along  the  line  of  the  railway.  At  present,  the  principal 
industry  in  which  the  people  are  engaged  is  agriculture,  the  climate  and  soil  having 
proved  to  be  exceptionally  favourable  for  both  arable  and  pastoral  farming.  In  this 
connection,  a  reference  may  be  made  to  a  recent  speech  of  General  Butler,  a  well-known 
American  Senator,  in  which  he  said  that  Canada  has  twice  the  extent  of  available  wheat 
land  possessed  by  the  United  States,  and  that  it  will  produce  twice  the  number  of  bushels 
of  wheat  per  acre,  on  an  average,  compared  with  the  yield  in  the  great  republic.  The 
country  is,  however,  known  to  be  rich  in  minerals  of  various  kinds,  and  it  also  possesses, 
in  parts,  great  wealth  in  timber.  These  resources,  in  the  near  future,  are  likely  to  receive 
the  attention  of  capitalists,  and  to  provide  employment  for  the  labourer.  The  effect  of 
the  development  of  the  country  has  been  to  largely  augment  the  trade  of  the  Dominion, 
supplies  having  hail  to  be  brought  in  for  the  railways,  and  for  the  settlers,  and  as  it  becomes 
more  thickly  populated,  the  effect  upon  the  quantity  of  the  goods  exported  from  Great 
Britain  to  the  Dominion  is  sure  to  be  considerable.  Then  again,  the  area  under  cultiva- 
tion and  occupation,  owing  to  the  liberal  land  regulations  that  have  been  inaugurate!  by 
the  Canadian  Government,  is  increasing  year  by  year,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 


APPENDIX  III.  187 

the  surplus  of  its  bountiful  products  available  for  export,  after  supplying  the  home 
consumption,  will  rapidly  increase,  so  that  the  country  will  soon  become  an  important 
factor  in  the  food  supplies  of  Eastern  Canada,  and  of  Great  Britain.  Land,  no  matter 
how  fertile  it  may  be,  is  not  of  much  value  unless  it  is  accessible  to  settlers,  and  unless 
its  products  can  be  marketed  with  facility  and  cheapness. 

Advantages  Offered  to  Settlers. 

Now  that  this  condition  of  things  may  be  said  to  exist  in  the  country  in  question,  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  explain  briefly  the  conditions  under  which  the  land  may  be 
obtained.  The  terms  are  probably  more  liberal  in  Canada  than  in  almost  any  other 
country  in  the  world.  Free  grants  of  160  acres  may  be  obtained  by  any  settler  the 
head  of  a  family,  or  by  any  male  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  on  the  sole  conditions 
of  residence  for  three  years,  the  cultivation  of  a  reasonable  portion  within  that  time,  and 
the  erection  of  a  suitable  house.  A  modification  of  these  regulations  is  also  in  force 
under  which  a  settler  need  not  reside  continuously  upon  the  homestead  for  the  first  two 
years ;  and,  in  these  circumstances,  a  title  may  be  obtained  in  five  years.  These  free  grant 
lands  are  equal  in  quality  and  in  position  to  any  of  the  other  lands  that  will  subsequently 
be  mentioned.  As  already  explained,  the  country  is  surveyed  into  townships  of  six  miles 
square,  each  containing  thirty-six  sections  of  one  mile  square.  The  alternate  sections  are 
available  for  free  grants.  Most  of  the  land  in  the  other  sections  belongs  to  various 
railway  companies,  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  or  to  Land  Corporations,  and  may  be 
obtained  at  prices  ranging  from  8s.  to  £2  per  acre,  according  to  contiguity  to  railway 
communication  and  settlement. 

Several  experiments,  both  on  the  part  of  companies  and  individuals,  and  indeed  of 
the  Imperial  Government,  in  connection  with  the  crofters,  are  now  on  trial  in  Manitoba 
and  the  North-West  Territories,  and  their  progress  will  be  watched  with  interest.  In 
this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  president  of  the  section  is  an  authority  on 
colonisation,  having  been  connected  with  the  experiments  commenced  on  his  return  from 
occupying  a  high  official  position  in  Canada.  If  it  can  be  shown,  and  it  is  believed  to  be 
possible,  that  persons,  properly  selected,  and  siarted  in  this  way,  can  succeed  in  making 
a  living  and  in  repaying  the  capital  advanced  to  them  with  interest,  a  great  and  perplex- 
ing social  question  will  have  been  satisfactorily  solved.  It  is  early  yet  to  speak 
positively,  for  hardly  any  of  the  settlements,  although  progressing  favourably,  can  be 
said  to  be  in  the  position  of  having  succeeded,  so  far  as  returning  the  money  advanced  is 
concerned,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Mennonites  who  went  to  Canada  some  years  ago,  and 
who  have  entirely  repaid  the  money  lent  to  them.  The  experience  that  has  so  far  been 
obtained  makes  it  very  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  money  that  may  be  advanced 
upon  the  security  afforded  by  Canadian  legislation  is  sufficient  to  enable  a  family  to 
start  successfully  upon  160  acres  of  land.  It  has  been  suggested  by  Sir  Charles  Tupper 
that  the  sum  should  be  increased  to  £180,  which  it  is  claimed  would  not  only  put  any 
possibility  of  failure,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  out  of  the  question,  but  would  improve  the 
security — £180  being  secured  upon  the  homestead  of  the  head  of  the  family  and  upon 
that  taken  up  by  an  individual  member  thereof.  In  other  words  320  acres  would  be 
given  as  security  for  £180,  as  against  160  acres  for  the  £120.  In  addition,  what  is 
even  more  important,  it  would  enable  the  advances  to  be  repaid  more  quickly  than  at 
present,  and  thus  make  the  money  available  for  the  assistance  of  further  families.     In 


4RK  APPENDIX   III. 

such  a  short  paper  it  is  only  possible  to  touch  the  fringe  of  so  extensive  and  so  important 
a  geographical  matter  as  the  opening  up  and  development  of  a  new  country  extending 
from  the  49th  parallel  to  the  far  north.  Nothing  has  been  said  as  to  the  recent  discus- 
sions upon  thr  Mackenzie  Eiver  district,  and  its  reported  immense  and  varied  resources, 
or  about  the  country  that  would  be  affected  by  the  opening  up  of  the  Hudson  Bay  route, 
when  that  comes  to  pass ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  a 
fertile  country  of  great  extent,  practically  unknown  some  twenty  years  ago,  has,  in  that 
period,  been  opened  up  for  habitation,  and  that  the  foundation  has  been  laid  for  bringing 
the  vacant  lands  now  awaiting  cultivation  and  occupation  into  the  use  for  which 
Providence  destined  them,  and,  at  the  same  time,  providing  homes  and  sustenance  for  the 
congested  populations  of  the  Old  World. 


INDEX. 


Abenaki,  276 
Abitibbi  Lake.  217.  260 
Abraham.  Plains  of,  322 
Acadia.  339 
Acadians.  2S2,  353 
Adelaide  Land,  101 

Peninsula,  112 
Admiralty  Island.  114 
Afognak  Island,  120 
Agassiz  Glacier.  120 

Lake,  210 

Town.  179 
,  99 

•mints.  107 
mska  Inland.  219 
Ahts,  171 

Aitkov  River.  207,  212 
Akudnirn,  99 
Akudnir-miuts,  107 
Alaska.  113 

Horn  of,  122,  143 
Alaskan.  Peninsula,  121 
Alay  Mountain,  123 
Albany  River.  217,  242 

Fort.  241 
Alberta,  153,  202.  2    ; 
Alberton,  376 
Aldrich,  97 

Aleutian  Llands,  113.  131,  143 
Aleutians.  136 
Alexander.  Port.  141 
Is.  117.  132 
Alfred  Ernest  Cape,  97 
Algom:, 

~~  Afills.  292 
Alsronquins,  195,  225,  276 
Allen,  116 
Almagro,  19 
Alonzo  de  Ca 
Alvarado,  19 
Alvarez.  22 

Cabral,  11.  14 
Alvar  Xuriez,  18 
Amakjuak  Lake,  100 
Amakuak.  132 
Amazons  River,  14,  34 
Ameralik  Fjord,  63 
America,  1 

Central.  5,  36 

Xorth.  36 

S  nth,  36 
Amerige,  1 

Amerique  "Mountains.  2 
Amherst.  367 

Island.  337 

River.  346 
Anderson  River,  190 
Andreanov  Islands,  122 

VOL.    XV 


Andreievskiy,  141 
Anslo-Saxon  A  merica . 
Anglo-Saxons.  2S3,  284 
Anguille  Cape,  396 
Anian,  20 
Anna]'  lis  Gut.  341 

Royal.  2S 
Annimibigon  Lake.  247 
Anse  a  la  Barque.  331 
Ant: 

Antigonish,  371 
Antilia  Island,  9 
Antilles.  12, 
Anvik,  140 
Apliun  River.  129 
Appalachian  Mountains.   37. 

338 
Archer  Fjord,  99 
Arctic  Highland- 

Archip  lago,  83,  93 

Ocean.  4.  77 
Aricha; .     i  2 
Arnprior.  302 
Aroostook  River,  343 
Arrapahoes,  220 
Arrow  Lake,  160,  164 
Arthur  Mountain 

Landing,  290 
Artillery  Lake.  188 
Ashuapmushuan  River.  264 
Assiniboia.  _    2 
As  -Luiboine  River.  211 

Indians.  211,  225,  227 
Assumption, 

Atanekerdluk  Mountain,  79 
Athabasca  Lake,  186 

Pass,  153 

Rivi  r.  153,  185 

Landing.  201,  236 
Athabascans.  137 
Atkha,  144 
Allan* 
Atlantis  2 
Atnah  River,  121,  129 

Tribe,  173 
Atna-Tana  Tribe.  137 
Attahwapiskat,  217 
Attiakmega,  27 
Attu  Island,  U4,  144 
Atyk  Ialands,  141 
Augpadlartok  Glacier.  7 1 
Augustine  Mountain,  123 
Avelon  Peninsula,  396 
Avon  River,      7 
Avlmer  Lake,  1SS,  192 
Aylmer,  302 
Aymaras,  51 
Azores,  8 

K    K 


209, 


Babine  Lake,  160 
Babines,  196 
BaeaUeu  Island.  404 
Back,  149 

Back's  River,  1S2,  191 
Ea  Week,  373 
Bads-er  Mine.  291 
Baffin,  23,  02 

Bay,  77. 

Land, 
Bahama  Islands.  12 
Bald  Mountain.  3 
Banc  a  Vert  Mand 
Banff  Valley 

Bank.  Newf  midland,  398 
Banks  Strait.  93 

Island.  102 
Baptiste  River.  1S5 
Baiachois,  360 

Baranov  Island,  114,  116,  144 
Bark  Mountains,  184 
Barree,  2   . 
Barrow  Strait,  25,  93.  Ill,  112 

Point.  116,  130,  140 
Barter  Island    140 
Bartholomew  River.  344 
Bathurst  Island.  100 

Cape 
Batiscan.  320 

i 
Battleford,  236 
Battle  River,  206 
Bay  of  Chalcur,  335 
"  Fundv,  21,  310,  345 

Islands,  396 

Mines.  345 
Bear  River,  101 

Island.  100 
Beaufort,  322 
Beaver  Hills.  20.5,  206 

Indians,  173,  196 

Lake,  206 

River,  217 
Becancourt,  319 
Beechey  Island,  26,  111 
Beechv.  j 
Belcher, 
Belkovsky.  144 
Bellacoola  Tribe,  1C9 
Belle-Isle  Strait.  242.  270,  331 
Belles- Amours,  332 
Belleville,  299 
Bellisle  Fort,  140 
BeDot  Strait,  112,  206 
Belly  River.  2n7 
Bentinck  Inlet,  156 
Beothuks.  4<i4 
Berggren,  03 


490 


ixde: 


Bering,  2 1 

Berini:  Strait,  4.  78,  96 

Sea,  100,  104 
Berlin.  295 
Bersamis,  331 
Berthier,  319 

Betsiamite  River,  2  S,  331 
Bio,  332 

Biche  River,  186 
Big  Bay,  382 

Bear  River,  294 

River,  379,  383 
Bighorn  Mountains,  183 
Big  S.ilin' m  River,  127 

Sturgeon  River,  2U7 
Bigstone  Lake,  210 
Birch  Mountains,  184 
Bird  Islands,  337 
Birtle,  238 
Biru,  19 

Bjarn  Heriulfson,  7 
Blaekfeet  Indians.  225 
"Black  Stream,"  5,  131 
Black  Sturgeon  River,  247 
Blackwater,  161 
Blanc-Sablon  Bav,  242,  331 
Blood  Indians.  226 
Bloody  Fall,  190 

Bridge,  367 
Blue  Mountain,  339 

Mountains,  245 
Bogoslov  Island,  123 
Bois-Ii rides,  1S6,  229 
Bona  venture  Island,  335 
Bona  Vista,  15,  413 

Bay,  396 
Bonne  Caere  River,  260 
Bonnet  Flamand  Bank,  399 
Boothia  Felix,  25,  94,  101,  112,  192 
Boucherville,  317 
Bourbon  River,  215 

Fort,  241 
Bourgeois,  360 
Bow  River,  206 
Brador  Lake,  345 
Brad-re.  332 

Gulf.  270 
Brandon,  237 
Brantford,  295 
Bras  d'Or,  372 
Brazil,  2,  14,  15 
Brebent,  32 
Breckenridge,  210 
Brest,   !  !2 

Bristol  Bav.  114.  122 
British  Colombia,  si 

Guiana,  54 
Brorkville,  300.  326 
Brodbeck,  61 

Brown  Mountain,  153,  185 
Buckingham.      I  - 
Buctouche,  360 
Buffalo,  254 
Burgeo,  H3 
Burin  Port,  413 
Burrard  Inlet,  157,  is l 
Hut-  InVt.  157,  161 
Byam  Martin  island,  100 
Bylot,  23 
Byrne.  3 


i  1 1 "  Vaca. 
Cab  a.  J.,  n 
Head,  251 

Sebastian,  15 
Strait,  270 


is 


Caeouma,  328 
Cadia,  339 

<  ladies,  355 

<  Iain's  River.  314 
Caledonia  Spring . 
Calgary,  232,  237* 
California,  20,  H),  43 
Callao,  19 
Callendar,  302 
falling  River.  211 

( lampbelltown,  336 
Cainpo-Bellu.  367 
Canada.  241 
( 'anadians,  286 
Cananea,  14 
Canmore,  237 
Canso  Strait.  279,  371 
Cap  d'Espoir,  3  IS 

Rouge,  320 
Cape  Breton,  15,  16,  338 
d'Or,  345 
Florida,  17 
Captain's  Harbour,  143 
Caraquet,  359 
Carbonear,  413 
( laribou  Island,  250 

Mountains,  1S4,  186 
Carillon  Rapid,  260.  305 
Carleton,  236,  336,  365 
Carriers,  173,  196 
Carrot  River,  207 
Cartier,  Jacques.  22 
Cascade  Mountains,  156 
Cassiar  Mines,  174 

(Kaska),  164 
Cat  Island,  12 
Catalina,  413 
Cataraqui  Fort,  300 

River,  300 
< langhnawaga,  308 
Cavelier  de  la  Salle,  33 
Cavos.   17 

Lake,  208 
I  haco,  Gran,  35 
Chaffanjon,  34 
Chaleur,  Bav  of,  335 
Chambly  Fort.  281 
Lake.  261,  318 
Chanvplain.  32 

Lake,  241,  261 
Chancellor,  22 
"Channel,"  413 
Chaounigan  Falls,  262,  275 
Charlotte-Town,  367 

Islands,  84 
Charlton  Island,  219 
Chateauguay,  307 
Chatham,  294.  360 
Chaudiere.  320 

FaUs,  303,  326 
Chedabucto  Bav,  371 

afield  Inlet,  192,  217 
Chezzetcook,  371 
Chibchas,  51 
Chichagov  Islands,  1 1  l 
Chichaldinsk  Mountain,  123 
Chieoutimi,  330 
River,  265 
Chignecto  Bay,  316 

Isthmus,  361 
Chikchak  Mountains,  243 
Chileo  Lake.  160 
Chileotin  Plains.  153 

River,  161 
Chili,  19 
Chilkat,  126 


Chilkat  Mountains,  126 

Chilkats,  138 

Chilkuts,  138 

Chimsyans,  1 70 

Chinooks,  172,  173 

Chippewa  River,  25 1 

Chippeways,  226,  276 

Chippewayan  Fort.  191,  201 

Chippewayans,  195 

Chirikov,  114 

Chiriqui  Island-,  1 1 

Chittynia  River,  129 

Christie  Bav,  188 

Chudleigh  Cape,  380,  392 

Chukches,  47 

Churchill  River,  183,  207.  217 

Clarke's  River,  163 

Clavering,  63 

Clearwater  River,   183,   186,  206, 

383 
Clifton,  296 

Clinton- Golden  Lake,  188 
Cloche  Mountain,  243 
Coast  Range,  156 
Cobequid  Mountains,  340 

Bay,  367 
Cobourg,  299 
Cocagnes,  Les,  360 
Cockburn  Island,  14S,  251 
Colborne,  297 
Collingwood,  292 
Collison,  26 
Columbia.  51 

British.  159 

River,  US,  154 
Columbus,  1,  2,  10,  11 
Colville  River,  125 
Committee's  Punchbowl,  1S5 
Conception  Bay,  396 
Confidence  Fort,  191,  202 
Cook,  19 

Inlet,  122,  164 
Copper  River.  120,  129 
Coppermine  River,  185,  190 
Cordoba,  176 
Cornwall,  301 
Cornwallis  Island,  102,  105 
Coronation  Gulf,  191 
Cortereal,  16 
Cortez,  18 
i  ostarica,  35 
Coteau  du  Missouri,  29 1 

des  Prairies.  204 

Landing,  301 
Coudres  Island, 
Coulonge  River,  260 
Crane  Island.  325 
Crater  Lake,  126 
Cree  Indians,  lie; 
Crevauz,  34 
Crillon  Mountain,  117 
Cross  Lake.  208 

Sound,  117 
Cuba,  12,  20 
Culiacan,  IS 
Cumana,  14 
Cumberland  Bay,  100,  107,  110 

Lake.  207 

House,  237 
Cypress  Hills,  203 

Dakota,  2o 2 

Indians.  227 
Dalhousie,  336.  359 

Mountain,  153 
Dall,  84 


IXDEX. 


HOI 


Dorian  Isthmus,  18 
Dartmouth,  3T0 
D'Avezac,  15 
Davis,  22 

Strait.  23,  77,  82,  93 
Dawson,  116 
Dean  Inlet,  156 
Dease  Lake.  188,  190 
DeBlosE 

stelnau,  34 
Deer  Lake,  186,  277 
De  Gonneville,  16 
De  la  Verandrye.  33 
Dela wares,  276 
Demarcation  Point.  114 
Dene-Dinjie.  195 
Denmark  Channel,  74 

.  34 
Deseronto.  300 
Desolation  Cape,  88 

Land,  60 
De  Soto.  IS 
Despair  Cape.  335 
Detroit  River.  253,  285 
DevU'sLake.  206 

Thumb,  65 
Diamond  Cape.  323 
Diaz  de  Solis,  is 
Diego  Lepe,  14 
Dig-by,  36S 
Discharge,  Great.  265 

Little,  265 
Discovery  Passage.  15S 
Disko  Bar.  65,  89 

Island,  67,  90 
Dixon  Strait,  117,  156 
Doglsland.  417 

Ribs,  196 

River,  1S7 
Dominion  of  Canada,  148,  419 
Don  River,  298 
Doobaunt,  217 
D'Orbigny,  34 
Douglas  Channel,  156 

Island,  144 
Drake.  20 

Drum  Mountain.  121 
Duck  Mountains.  205 
Duluth,  239 
Dundas,  29S 
Dunvegan  Fort,  191,  201 

Eastern  Townships,  243 
East  Cape,  140 

Greenland,  84 

Main,  220 

River,  383 
Edgeeumbe,  116,  145 
Edmonton  Fort,  229,  236 
Edmunston,  3o2 
Egedesminde.  71,  S9 
Elbow  Lake,  209 
Elk  River,  186 

Lake.  277 
Ellesmere  Land,  97.  Ill 
Embarras  River,  186 
Emerson.  240 

English  River,  1S3,  215,  217 
Engronelond,  S 
Enterprise  Fort.  202 
Entry  Island,  270 
Equar  River,  217 
Erebus   Bay,  112 
Erie  Lake,  250.  253 
Erik  the  Red,  6 
Eskimo,  83,  106,  109,  134,  195,  34$ 


Eskimo  Lake.  185 
Espanola.  12 
Espinosa,  is 
Esquimalt,  176 
Esquimaux  River.  270 
Essex  County,  294 
Estevan  Gomez,  21 
Etah,  83 
Etchemins,  352 
Eteminquois,  352 
Eternity  Cape,  266 
"  Evangeline,  Land  of,"  367 
Everett,  115 
Exeter  Bav,  99 
Exploits  River,  396,  397 
Eyinisuks,  196 

Falrweather  Mountain,  117 

Cape,  144 
Fall  Indians.  225 
Famine  Bay,  112 
Farewell  Cape,  65,  77 
Farnham,  318 
"Bar  West,"  the,  5 
Felix  Cape.  112 
de  Azara,  34 
Fendu  Lake.  215 
Fisher  Strait.  220 
Fishing  Lakes,  212 
Flatheads,  225 
Flattery  Cape,  117 
Flores,  9 

Island,  43 
Florida.  15,  17 
Fogo,  413 
Fond  du  Lac,  32 

Fort,  201 
Forbes  Mountain,  153 
Fork  Lake,  189 
Fort  Alexander,  240 
Chimmo,  391 
Conger,  111 
Ellice,  238 
Erie,  296 
Garry.  23S 
Lawrence,  360 
Tungas,  146 
William,  290 
Yukon.  130.  140 
Fortunate  Islands,  8 
Fortune  Bay,  409,  413 
Foulke  Bay,  77 

Port,  S3 
Fox  Channel,  100 
Islands,  122 
Strait.  100,  220 
Franklin,  25 

Franz-Joseph  Fjord,  63,  67,  79 
Fraser  River.  152,  155,  160 
Fraserville,  328 
Frebel  Cape,  413 
Fredericton,  347,  364 
Frederiksdal,  88 
Frederikshaab,  88 

Isblink  Giacier,  70 
FreelsCape,  413 

French  Canadians,  273,  282,  284 
River,  251,  275 
Shore,  410 
'•Freshwater  Sea,"  14 
Frobisher,  21 
Bay,  110 
Frontenac  Fort,  300 
Frozen  Ocean,  22 
Fuegian  Archipelago,  1? 
Fundy,  Bay  of,  340,  345 


Funk  Island.  104 
Furdustrandir.  8 
Fury  and  II  I    25,  109,  111! 

Galoj  s  Rapids,  2 

Gait,  295 
Gananoqne,  300 
Gandei  Rivei 

"Gap,"  the,  207 
Gaidar,  6 

Garde,  70 

Gardner  Channel.  156 
i  rasper  Cortereal.  16 
Gaspe,  333 
Bay,  334 

Indians. 

Peninsula,  270,  332 
Gaspereaux  River, 
Gatineau  River,  260,  305 
Genessee  River.  25  - 
George  Island,  370 

Fort,  296 
Georgetown,  376 
Georgia  Gulf.  155,  157 
Georgian  Bay,  215,  251 
Giesecke,  7S 
Gimli.  240 
Glacier  Bay,  117 
Glenora,  177 
Goajiros  Peninsula .  1 4 
Goat  Island,  254,  257 
Goderich,  293 
Godhavn,  67,  90 
Godthaab,  62,  SS 
Gold  Range,  154 

River,  371 
Gomera.  12 

Gomez  de  Alvarado,  I  - 
Good  Hope  Fort,  192,  202 

Cape,  3 
Graah,  62 

Graham  Island,  159 
Gran  Chaco,  35 
Grand  Coteau,  204,  205 

Falls,  362,  379,  398 

Island,  254 

River,  294,  381 
Graudigue,  360 
Grandin  Lake,  188 
Grand-Manan,  367 
Grand-Pre,  367 
Grand  River,  294 

Portage,  214 
Grant  Land,  97 
Great  Bear  Lake.  183,  189 

Dog  Lake.  24  7 

Fish  River,  1S2,  191 
Lake,  26 

Manitoulin  Island,  250 

Rapids.  1S6 

Slave  Lake,  185,  188 
Island,  249 
River,  182,  186,  188 

Turk  Island.  12 

"Whale  River,  383 
'•  Greater  Britain,"  58 
f,  30 

Inlet,  97 
Green  Lake,  264 

Bay,  245 

Mountains,  243 
Greenland,  6,  60 
Greenlanders,  6S,  S4 
Greenspond  Harbour,  413 
Grenville.  305 
Grewiugk  Mountain,  123 


492 


TXDEX. 


Griffiu-Town,  313 
Grijalva,  20 

ineil,  26 

Lau.l.  28,  93,  97,  104 
( Iros-Ventret 

i  ihani,  12 
ui,  36 

ma!. i.    10 

i  ruatemaltec,  36 
Guelph,  295 

i.  14 
Guevera,  19 
Guj  ma,  35 
Gulf  Stream,  43,  77 
Gunnbjorn,  6 
B    s£s,  67 
Guatav,  Lambert,  31 

trough,  371 
Gvozd'ev,  24 

Ha,  83 

Ha-ha  Bar,  265,  330 
Haidas,  134,  169 
Halifax,  35S,  370 
Hall,  28 
Hamburg,  295 
Hamilton,  297 

Bav,  298 

Inlet,  380 

Plains,  371 
Hammer,  7  > 
Hand  Hills,  203 
Hans  Egede.  62 

Hendrik,  S7 
Harbour  Grace,  412 
Hare  River,  305 
Harcskin  River,  190 
Haro  Strait,  151 
Harrisburg,  1 14 
Harrison,  179 
Hawkesbury,  o  7 1 
Hay  River,  184,  188 
Hayes,  28 

River,  215 

Sound,  97 
Hazletnn,  177 
Hearne,  149 

Heart's  Content  Bay,  411,  413 
Hebertville,  329 
Hebron,  390 
Hector  Mountain,  206 

Pass,  153 
Helland,  74 
II.-liuLand,  7,  393 
Hernandez  de  Cordova,  IS 

Luque,  19 
Hoarf,  6 
Hochclasra,  SOS 
HofEi  nthal,  390 
Hojeda,  13 
Ib.Utenberg,  89 

II .  25 

Hooker.  67 

Mountain,  153 
Hope,  179 
Bopedale,  390 
1  Inrti.  Cape,  3 
!1  italinqua  River,  126 
I  Coun-Kucbin,  137 
Bowe  Inlet,  167 
Hudson,  21,  23,  62 

Bay,  202,  218 

Strait,  21,  99,  2  ' 
Hull.  303,  305 
Humber  River,  29S.  3 
Humboldt  Glacier,  71,  94 


Huron  L  ike.  250 
Hurons,  275,  277 
Hvitramannaland,  8 
[[;.  lacomylus,  1 
"Hyperboreans,"  83 

Icelanders.  232 
Icy  Cape,  24,  114 
Igaliko  Fjord,  6 
Gulf,  61 

Ikoginut,  140 
llianima  L  ike,  122 

Mountain,  121 
Higink,  107 
Illinoi-. 

Indians,  :}1 
Iluiliuk,  143 
Ineas,  3 
Indians,  2 
Indies,  West,  2 
Ingalit,  137 
Ingersoll,  294 
Inglefield,  28,  94 
Iniiuits.  83,  136,  195 
"  Intervals,"  340 
Irish,  105 
Irlandit  Mikla.  8 
Irminger's  Current,  77 
Iroquois,  225,  275,  277 
Isle-aux-Morts,  414 
Ivan  Lukin,  125 
Ivigtut,  81,  88 

Jacques  Cartier,  22 

River,  320 
Jac  ibshavn,  74,  89 

Glacier,  71 
James  Bay,  218,  383 
Jan  Mayen  Island,  77 
Japan,  4 

Jasper  House,  200 
Jatapla,  18 
Jensen,  68 
Jervis  Inlet,  157 
Jesus  Island,  306,  317 
•To  i  i  Vaz  Cortereal,  1 6 
Johnstone  Strait,  159 
Jolliet,  32 
Jones  Biver,  120 

Sound,.  97 
Jonquiere  Fort,  229 
Juan  de  Eohaide,  16 

Fuca,  22 

Strait,  20,  14S,  151,  157 

Grijalva,   IS 

la  Cosa,  13 

Perez,  176 
Juigalpa,  3 
Julianahaab,  ss 
Juneau  City,  144 

Kablunak,  83 

Kadlak  Island,  120,  132,  144 

Kaigani,  169 

Kakabeka  Falls,  217,  291 
Kamchatka,  40 
Kaministiquia.  217.  290 
Kamloops,  17S 
Kamouraska.  326 
Kanana-kis  Pass,  153 

River,  154 
Kane,  28 

Basin,  71 
Kangak  Kyrdlek.  66 
Kangerdlug-Suak,  71 
Karalit,  83 
Kashumuk,  141 


Kaska  Indians,  200 
KJeewatin,  183,  202 

Town.  290 
Keilia- 

Kekerten,  110 

Kellett.  26 

Kenai  Mountains,  120 

Kenamu  River,  391 

Kennedv  Channel,  28,  06,  77,  93 

Lake,  100 
Kenogami  Lake.  265 
Kenogamishish,  264 
Kentvillle,  368 
Keweenaw  Peninsula,  248 
Keys,  17 

Kicking-horse  Pass,  153,  206 
Kideliks,  195 
Kinagamiut,  110 
Kinai  Peninsula,  134,  137 
Kincardine,  293 
Kingegan,  140 
Kingiktorsoak  Island,  61 
Kinging,  140 
Kingnait  Fjord,  110 

Peninsula.  22 
Kingston,  300 
Kingua,  110 

King  William  Land,  101,  107 
Kinistinok,  226 
Kippewa  Lake,  260 
Knight  Inlet,  157 
Kodlunaru  Island,  110 
Kohl,  7 

Koksoak  River,  379,  383 
Koldewey,  66 
Kolmakov,  114 
Kolmakovsky,  115,  141 
Kolosh,  138 
Kongiganagamut,  141 
Kooteuay  Indians,  173 

Lake,    160 

Pass,  153 

River,  154 
Kotzebue  Sound,  124 
Kovak  River,  116 
Koyukuk,  115,  128 
Krause,  116 

Kree  Indians,  196,  225,  226 
Kristianshaab,  89 
Knprianov  Islands,  114 
Kurile  Islands,  4,  40,  121 
Kuro-sivo,  43,  96 
Kusilvak  Mountains,  124,  129 
Kuskokvim  River,  115,  129 
Kvickpak  River,  128,  129 

Labrador,  218,  377 

Lachine,  307 

La  Cloche  Mountains,  243 

La  Corne  Fort,  273 

Lady  Franklin  Bav.  30,  39 

Lake  La  Biebe,  2 

"Lake  of  Hills,"  186 

Laketon,  200 

La  Loche,  183,  201 

Lambert,  3 

Lancaster  Sound,  23,  94,  96,  106 

Langlade  Island,  416 

Laperouse,  24 

Mountain,  117 
La  Poile  River,  397 
Laprairie,  308 

Portage.  238 
Lars  Dalager,  63 
Latin  America,  52 
La  Tuque,  320 


INDEX. 


498 


Laureutide  Mountains,  242 
Lefroy  Mountain,  153 
Leif,  7 
Lenriire.  20 
Lenni-Lennape,  276 
Lennox  Island,  374 
Lennox ville,  319 
Lesser  Slave  Lake,  186 
Levis.  320.  323 
Lewes  River,  12-3.  126 
Lewiston.  2.57 
Liards  River,  152,  188 
Libertad,  3 
Lievely.  90 
Lievre  River,  260 
LUloct,  178 
Lincoln  Land,  97 
Lindesnaes.  4 
Lindsay.  300 
Lisburn  Cape.  124,  132 
••Little  Canada,"  287 

Miquelon,"  416 

Placentia,"  413 

Rockies,"  153 

Saskatchewan,  208 

Slave  Lake.  1S1 

Whale  Paver,  379,  383 

York,"  298 
Lituya,  144 
Liverpool,  370 
Loaysa,  19 

Loche  Portage,  183,  201 
Lockwood,  29 
London,  294 
Long  Island.  43 

Point  Peninsula,  253 

Range  Mountains,  396 

Sault,  259,  301 
Longueuil,  316 
Lotbiniere,  320 
Loucheux,  137,  196 
Louisbourg.  373 
Louiseville,  319 
Lower  Arrow  Lake,  164 
Lunenburg,  370 
Lyell  Mountain,  153 
Lynn  Bay,  125,  126 
Lytton,  179 

MacClintock,  26 
MacClure,  26 
MacFarlane  River,  190 
Mackenzie  River,  161,  187 
Macleod,  238 

Bay,  188 

River,  1S5 
MacMurray  Fort.  201 
Maepherson  Fort.  202 
Madame  Island,  372 
Madawaska  Lake.  342 

River.  260,  342 
Maganetawan  River.  251 
Magdalen  Islands,  270,  331,  337 
Magdalena,  37 
Magellan,  19 

Strait,  19 
Magog  River,  319 

Village,  319 
Maine,  148,  343 
Makorshin  Mountain.  123 
Mai  Bay,  326,  334 
Manipouagan  River,  268 
Manitoba  Lake.  205,  208,  209,  212 

Province,  202 
Manitoulin  Island,   148,  245,  250, 
292 


Manitou- waning  Lake,  251 

Mansel  Island,  218,  220 

Marble  Island,  220 

Marco  Polo,  20 

Marcou,  3 

Maritime  Province-.       7 

M  irkham,  29 

Markland.  7,  393 

Marquette,  32 

Marten  Lake,  188 

Martin  Behaim,  10 

Martins,  34 

Masset,  177 

Matane,  332 

Mattawa,  301 

Mattawan  River.  2.31,  260,  302 

Maule  River,  19 

Maurv.  43 

May,  Cape,  97 

Mayaguana,   12 

Mayas,  51 

Meade  River.  125 

Mealy  Mountains,  3S0 

Meare9,  34 

Medicine  Hat.  238 

Megantic  Lake,  326 

Meficites.  352 

Melville  Bay,  S3,  94,  382 

Island,  25,  96,  103 

Peninsula,  100,  101,  112 

Sound.  25 
Memphremagog  Lake,  244,  262 
Memramcook.  362 
Mendocino,  Cape,  20 
Mennonites,  232 
Merrier,  116 

Station,  140 
Mercv  Bay,  104 

Cape,  28 
Mescousin,  32 

Metabetchuan  River,  264,  274 
Meta  Incognita,  22 
Metapediac,  337 
Methv  Porta  ye,  183 
Metla"-Katla,  170 
Mexico,  5 

Gulf  of,  17 
Michigan  Lake,  251 
Michillimackinac,  252 
Michipicoten,  241,  247,  249 
Mic-Macs,  352 
Middle  Range,  396 
Miette.  SS 
Milk  River,  202 
Mingan  Islands,  337 

River,  268 

Town,  332 
Mines  Channel,  345 
Minneapolis,  365 
Minnesota,  209 
Minudie  Island,  346 
Miquelon  Islands,  405,  408,  414 
Miramiehi  Bav,  344 

River,  344 
Missiquash  River,  346 
Mississangas,  276 
Mississippi,  210 
Missouri,  32,  203 
Mistassini  Lakes,  379,  383,  384 
Mitis,  332 
Mohawks,  278 
Mohawk  Valley,  246 
Moine  River,  260 
Moira  River,  299 
Moisie,  331 

River,  268 


"  i  is,  29 

Moncton,  362 
Monl  ignais,  276,  329,387 
Montana,  202 
Montarville  Mountain,  211 
Monterey,  I 
Montmagny,  326 
Montmorem  \    : 
Montreal, 

Islam! 
Mont-Royal,  244, 
Moose  Factory,  241 

Hills.  2i  1.5 

Lake,  - 

River,  217,  247 
!   Moravian  Mission*,  SS,  390 
j   Moresby  Island,  15lJ 
Morristown,  300 
Morton,  4 
Moscoso,  18 
Mosquito,  3 
Mossy  Point,  215 
Mourier,  63 
Mouse  River,  203,  212 
Muettes  Lake,  215 
Muir  Glacier,  1 1 7 
Murchison  Mountain,  153 
Murray  Bay,  326 
Muskegans.  226 
Muskoka,  292 
Muster,  34 

Naanneh,  196 
Nain,  3S1,  390 
Nakosla  River,  160 
Nanaimo,  176 
Xansen,  61 
Napanee,  300 
Nares,  2S 

"  Narrows,"  the,  411 
Narssak,  61 
Narvaez,  18 
Nascopi  Indians,  387 

River,  3S2 
Nasse  River,  160 

Tribe,  169 
Nastopoka  River,  3S3 
Natowdja  River,  185 
Near  Island,  122 
Nechilliks,  107,  195 
Nchiyawok,  226 
Nelson  River,  207,  215 
Nelilling  Lake,  100 
Neutral  Nation,  277 
Newark.  296 
Newberry  River,  127 
New  Brunswick,  337 

Carlisle,  336 

Edinburgh,  303 

England,  8 

Fort  Good  Hope,  191 

Georgia  Island,  14 

Glasgow,  371 

Grenada,  14 

Westminster,  179 

York  43 
Newcastle,  344 
Newenham,  Cape,  124 
Newfoundland,  393 

Banks,  393,  398 
Niagara  Falls,  246,  254 

Fort,  296 

River,  253,  254 

Town,  296 
Nicaragua  Lake,  2 
Nicolet,  319 


494 


[NDEX. 


Niconta-mush,  173 
Nicoya  Bay,  18 
Nigalek-kok,  125 
Nipigon  Lake,  2  l  7 

River,  2 17 

Strait,  247 
Nipisquit  Riv<  r,  341 
Nipissing  Lake,  251,  302 
Noatak,  125 
Noire  River,  260 
Nootka  Fjord,  160 

Indians,  171 
NordenskiOld  Mountains,  124 
Norman  Fort,  202 
North  Channel,  250 

Dakota,  202 

Devon  Island,  100,  10-3 

Eraser  River,  101 

Greenland,  91 

Kent  Island,  100 

Labrador,  15 

Pole,  Expeditions  to  the.  26 

River,  306 

Saskatchewan,  206 

Somerset,  112 
Northumberland  Inlet,  23 

Strait,  345 
North-West  Passage,  20,  94 

River.  344,  191 

Territories,  181 
"North  Wind"  (Keewatin  ,  202 
Norton  Sound.  124,  140 
Norway  House,  240 
Notre-Dame  Mountains,  243 
Nottawasaga,  285,  293 
Nouchek,  144 

NouvelleLorette  Falls,  326 
Nova  Scotia,  337 
NovodiskoT,  111 
Nugsuak  Peninsula,  71 
Nuklukayot,  140 
Nulato,  115,  140 
Nunatakker,  81 
Nunatok,  116,  12-3 
Nunez  de  Balboa,  18 
Nursoak  Peninsula,  6.5 
Nushagak  River,  114 

Ogdensburg,  300 

Ogilvie,  116 

Ohio  River,  :J2 

Ojibway  Indians,  226,  276 

Oka,  306 

Point,  306 
Okak  Island,  381 

Station,  390 
Okanagan  Lake,  160 
Ombabika  River,  2  17 
Onimeca  Mines,  177 

River,  1 7 1 
Ontario,  Like.  257 

Province,  290 
Oregon,  4,  133 
OreUana,  34 
Orenoco,  13 
Orignal  Factory,  305 

River,  217' 
Orillia.  292 

Orleans  Island,  268,  323 
Ortelius,  21 
Orton,  34 
Oshawa,  299 
I  (sterbyu'd.  6  I 
Oswald  Heei',  70 
Oswego  River,  268 
Otonabec  River,  300 


Ottawa,  302 

River,  21 10, 
Otto  Xorrell,  106 
Oulao  River,  346 
Outardes  River,  268 
Outawai.s,  276 

River,  260,  383 
Ovit'ak,  67 
Owen  Sound,  293 

Pacifip  Ocean,  318 
Painted  Rick,  217 
Palenqu<\  5 

I'alc'irrystic  Sea,  29,  65,  9.3 
Palgan,  220 
PalUser  Range,  153 

Pass,  153 
Pamphilo  de  Narvaez,  18 
Panama,  18 

Strait,  21 
Pancais  River,  101,186 
Papinaohois,  270 
Papineauville,  00.3 
Parana,  34 
Paraguay,  34 
Paris.  29-3 
Parrsboro,  368 
Parry,  2.5 

Islands,  25,  93,  100,  104 

Falls,  18S 

Sound,  292 
Parsnip  River,  161,  187 
Pasages.  16 
Paspebiac,  336 
Passamaquoddy  Ba}*,  3 1 1 
Patagonian  Andes,  35 
Patterson,  116 
Payer,  66 

Peace  River,  1.32,  184,  186 
Peak  Mountains,  152 
Pearls,  Isle  of,  18 
Peel  River,  190 

Channel,  111 
Pelly  River,  12.3,  127 
Pembina  River,  185 

Hills,  205 
Pembroke,  302 
Penetanguishene,  292 
Penny,  28 
Peralonso  Nino,  14 
Perce  Rock,  334 
Peribonka  River,  261 
Pemambuco,  14 
Perrier  Pass,  121,  126 
Perrot  Island,  260 
Pert,  Sir  Thomas,  21 
Peru,  19 
Peterboro,  300 
Petermann  Mountain,  CO 
Petitcodiac  River,  362 
Petitot,  149,  182 
Petroff,  115 
Petrolia,  294 
Petuneux,  277 
Peyton  Mountain,  396 
Pheasant  hills,  205 
Pictou,  371 
Pictured  Rocks,  249 
Piegans,  226 
Pie  Island,  219 
Pike  Lake,  188 
Piles,  320 

Pine  Island  Lake,  207 
Pinnacled  Rock,  124 
Pisiquid  River,  307 
Pitt  Fort,  236 


Pizarro.  19 
Placentia.  094,  413 

Bay,  409 
Plains  of  Abraham,  322 
Plata,  La,  41 
Plate  River,  IS,  .5.5 
Plonge,  La,  River.  217 
Plumee  River.  190 
Point-au-Pie,  326 
Pointe  Bleue,  329 

de  Monte,  268 

du  Chene,  300 
Point  Pelee  Island,  2.30 

Peninsula,  200 

Victory,  1 1 2 
Polar  Archipelago   2-3 

Sea,  95 
Polaris  Bay,  70 
Poplars  River,  188 
Ponce  de  Leon,  17 
Porcupine  Hills,  156 

Mountains,  205 

River,  127 
Portage-la-Prairie,  238 
Port  Arthur,  290 

Basque  Channel,  413 

Bowen,  1 1 2 

Churchill,  240 

Clarence,  140 

Dalhousie,  297 

Elgin,  293 

Essington,  178 

Hastings,  371 

Hawkesbuiy,  371 

Hope,  299 

Huron,  291 

Leopold,  112 

Moody,  180 

Midgrave,  371 

Nelson,  240 

Royal,  280,  3.53,  368 

Stanley,  294 

York,  240 
Porteurs,  170 
Portland,  365 
Prescott,  300 
Presentation  Fort,  301 
Pribilov  Island,  121,  111 
Primavista,  15,  393 
Prince  Albert.  230 

Island,  102 

Land,  101,  190 
Prince  Edward  Peninsula,  300 

Island,  337 
Prince  of  Wales  Island.  114,  116 

Fort,  2 -to 
Prince  Patrick  Island,  100 

Regent  Strait,  111,  112 

William  Sound,  120,  164 
Providence  Fort,  201 
Puerto  Rico,  12 
Puget  Sound,  151,  157 

Quadra,  114 
Qu'Appelle.  238 

River,  203,  207.  211 
Quatsino  Sound,  160 
Quebec  City.  280,  320 

Province,  290 
Queen  Charlotte  Island,  117,  150, 

156,  159 
Queenston,  296 
Quesnelle  Lake,  160 

River,  161 
Queue  de  l'Eau,  188 
Quiches,  51 


INDEX. 


105 


Quichuas.  51 
Qninsay,  10 
Quinte  Peninsula,  259 
Baj . 

Quinze  Lh 

Race  Cape,  399 
Rae  Isthmus.  192 
Fort.  192,  201 
Bafn,  7 
Rainy  Lake.  US.  214 

River,  148,  203,  214 
Raleigh  Peak,  99 
Rama,  390 

Station,  390 
Raspberry  Hills,  184 
Rat  River.  127.  190,  211 

Island,  122 
Raven  Cape.  327 
Ray  Cape.  396 
Raymond,  115 
Red  Deer  River,  207 
Indian  Lake,  397 
River  of  the  North,  207,  200 
Skins.  48,  134 
Redout  e  Mount.  121 
Regent  Inlet,  25 
Regina,  238 
Reindeer  Lake,  217 
Reiss,  34 

Reliance  Fort,  140,  201 
Renous  River,  344 
Rensselaer  Tort.  104 
Repulse  Bay,  112 
Resolution  Fort,  201 

Island,  99,  381 
Restigouche  Raver,  344 
Revillagigedo  Island,  20,  111 
Rhode  Island,  7 
Richardson,  25,  149 
Richelieu  River.  244.  261 
Richibucto  Bay. 
Richmond  eiuli.  383 
Rideau  River.  30  i 

Canal,  303 
Riding  Mountains,  205 
Rigolet,  881,  391 
Bimovisld,  332 
Rink.  4 

Rio  de  la  Plata.  IS 
Rise  Lake.  3o0 
Eitenbenk,  90 
Rivieredu-Loup,  317.  328 
Riviere- Ouelle,  326 
Roach,  100 
Roberval,  329 
Robeson  Channel,  28,  93 
Roche  Pereee,  334 
Roehesterville,  303 
Rocky  Mountains.  125 
Roger  Pass.  154 
Roseau  River,  211 
Rosario  Strait,  151 
Ross,  James  Clark,  25 

John.  25 
R-msre  Cape.  281 

Fort.  238 
Rouille  Fort.  29S 
Roumiantzov  Mountain-,  124 
Boval  Island,  249 
Rupert's  Land,  202 
Rupert  River,  377,  383 

Saanak  Island,  143 
Sabine  Cape,  30,  106,  111 


305 


268 


St. 
St. 


St. 
Bfc. 
St. 
St. 
St. 


Sable  Cape,  370 
Sayinaw  Bay,  251 
Saguenay  River,  38.  205.  328 
Sahaptins,  173. 
St.  Albert.  1  16 
Si.  A,,  JrewB,  311. 

Rapids,  240 
St.  Anne.  300 

de  Beanpre, 
St.  Autoine.  319 
St.  Augustine  Bay,  17 
St.  Augnstin  River,  332 
St.  Bazil.  302 
St.  Boniface.  240 
St.  Brendan.  5 

Island,  9 
St.  Catherine's.  297 
St.  Charles  River,  320 
St.  Clair  Lake,  252,  294 

River.  252 
St.-Claire  Deville,  88 
St.  Croix  River,  344 
St   Elias  Mountain.  40,  113,  US 
Fove,  324 

Francis  Lake,  246,  259 
River,  319,  342 
St.  George  Bav.  390.  102 
Cape,  396 
Island,  124,  HI 
Helen's  Island,  304 
Hyacinth,  318 
Ignace  Island.  240 
Jean  de  Luz,  16 
Jerome.  306 
St.  John  Lake,  265 
City,  302,  365 
River,  342 
St.  John's,  Canada,  318 
Newfoundland,  411 
St.  Lambert,  316 
St.  Lawrence  Gulf,  209. 
Estuary.  263 
River,  38,  241,  259, 
St.  Leon,  310 
St.  Loui>.  42 

Lake.  210,  306,  316 
River,  2 1 7 
St.  Marie,  291 
St.  Margaret  River,  266 
St.  Mary  River,  202,  250 
St.  Mary's  Bav.  390 
St.  Matthew  Island,  121 
St.  Maurice  River,  202,  275 
St.  Michael,  140 
St.  Paul.  2 

Province.  34 
St.  Paul's  Bav,  320 
Island.  124,  141 
(Kadiak),  144 
St.  Peter's  Lake,  246,  261.  315 
St.  Peter.  3,72 

St.  Pierre  Island,  405,  108,    HI 
St.  Prime. 
St.  Regis,  301 
St.  Roque  Cape,  14 
St.  Sebastian,  16 
St.  Stephen,  366 
St.  Thecle,  320 

Theresa  Island,  317 
Town,  318 
Therese  River,  215 
Thomas,  294 
Sale,  Salee,  River,  211 
Salish  Tribe,  173 
Salt  River,  187 
San  Bias  Cape,  14 


311 


300 


7! 


170 


St. 

St. 
St. 


Sandwich  Harbour,  380, 
San  Jacinto  Mount.   116 
San  .in. in  de  Foe  i  Strait,  151 
San  .1  nan  Island,  151 
San  Miguel,  9 

Gulf,  is 
San  Salvador,  12 
Sans-Saut,  188 
Santa  Catharina,  16- 
Santa  Cruz.  9 
Island,  14 
Sarmiento,  19 
Sarnia,  29  1 
Sarsi,  220 
Saskatchewan  District,  202 

River,  183,  203,205,  206 
Satmkas,  226 

Sault  St.  Marie.  1  IS.  220,2  11.202 
Sault  mix  Becollets.  318 
Saulteux,  211,  22£ 
Saut  du  Carillon.  38 
Schwatka,  115 
Scoresby,  27,  63 
Seal  Islands,  113 
Sea  of  Greenland.  6 
Sebastian  Cabot.  15 

Minister,  20 
Seine  River.  2 1 1 
Selkirk.  210 

Fort,  125,  139,  140 
Mountains,  154 
Sermitsialik  Glacier,  70, 
Seal  Lake.  215 
■■  Seven  Islands,"  27 
Severn  River,  217.  251 

Fort.  241 
Seymour  Narrows.  159, 
Shebucto  Bay,  370. 
Shediao,  360 
Shelburne,  370 
Sherbrooke,  319,  371 
Sherman  Bay.  101 
Shikshak  Mountains,  213 
Ship  Harbour.  371 
Shippegan  Islands 
Shugaeh  Alps,  120 
Shuswap  Lake,  160,  163 
Muiswaps,  173 
Sierra  Amerrique 

Nevada  de  S ■inta-Marta.  51 
Sikosuilar-miuts,  100 
Sillerv,  325 
SEver  Met,  291 
Simcoe  Lake.  261 
Simpson  Strait.  112 
Fort,  177.  202 
Port.  177 
Sioux,  227.  270 
Sir  Donald  Mount,  154 
Sitiji  River,  185 
Sitka,  144 

Bay,  35 
Sitkas,  138 
Siwaches,  137 
Six  Nations,  278 

Lake,  38 
Skagit  Tribe.  173 
Skidegate  Inlet,  159,  174 
Skeena  River,  151,  100 

Tribe.  169 
Skrallinger,  8,  83,  270,  388 
Slave  Lake,  184 

Indians,  196 
"Sleepers"  Reefs,  220 
Smith  Sound,  23,  28,  62,  77,  94 
Fort,  190,  201 


49G 


INDEX. 


Soo  Railway,  r!10 

Sorel.  281,  318 

Souris,  376 

South  Alaskan  Mountains,  116 

Jand,  7.  91 
Saskatchewan,  206 
S  luthampton,  293 
Island,  218 

Southbrook,  391 
Sp  ooe  Cape,  14  t 
'•Spirit"  Mountain,  121 
Split  Rock,  247 
Stadacone,  320 
Statenhuk,  65 
Stellarton,  371 
Stephen  Mountain,  153 
Stewart  Lake,  160 

River,  127,  160 
Stickeen  River,  129,  151,  160 
Stone  Indians,  225 
Stoncy,  116 
Stony  Lake,  300 

River,  211 
Strassburg,  295 
Stratford,  294 
Sturgeon  Bank,  163 
Sudburv,  302 
"Sugarloaf,"89 
Sukkertoppen,  89 
Sullivan's  Peak.  153 
Summit  Lake.  1 62 
Summerside,  376 
Sn]i  irior  L  ike,  2  I  ; 
Svartenhtik,  71 
Sydenham,  293 
Sydney,  373 
Szkoluo,  John  of,  8 

Tableau,  The,  265 

Turin  Lake,  160 
Tadoussac,  280,  331 
Tali-killies,  173 
Takheena  River,  126 
Taku  River.  129,  160 
Talirpings,  107 
T  imagaming  Lake,  251 
Tanaua  River,  115,  128,  129 

Station,  HO 
Tantramar  River,  346,  361 
Ta  iusak,  90 
Taut  lot  River,  128 
Tchiglits,  195 
Tchigmit  Mountains,  122 
Temiscaming  Lake,  260,  301 
Temiscouata  Lake,  266,  328 
Templeton,  305 
Terentiev,  115 
Terminal  City,  371 
Terra  do  Bacalhao,  16 
Texada  Island,  176 
Tliahk-hielies,  138 

-  River.  162,  253 
Thiokwood  Indians,  225 
Thlinkeets,  134 
Thuaiana,  137 
Thompson  River,  163 
Thousand  Islands,  259,  300 
Three  Buttes,  203 

Rivera.  319 
Thunder  Bay,  211,  247,  249 

Cape,  291 


Tignish,  375 

TUlmanu  Mountain,  120 
Tilt  Cove,  413 
Tiuikjuarbing,  1 1 1 1 
Tinneh.  173,  195 
Tintamare,  361 
Tuba  Inlet,  157 
Tobique  River,  343 
Tornarsuk,  85 
Tornits,  107 
Toronto,  29S 

Torsukatak  Glacier,  71,  75 
Toulinguet,  413 
Tourmente  Cape,  243,  323 
Tracadie,  359 
Tranche  River,  294 
Traverse  Lake,  210 
Tremblaute  Mountain,  242 
Trembleur  Lake,  160 
Trenton.  300 
Trinity  Bay,  15 

Cape,  266 
Trois  Pistoles,  332 

Rivieres,  281 
Truro,  367 
Tujakjuak  Island,  99 
Tujau  Island,  100 
Tungas  Strait,  117 

Port,  131,  146 
Turtle  Mountains,  205 
Tuscarora,  295 
Tuscaroras.  278 
Two  Mountains,  306 

Lake  of  the,  260,  306 
Twillingate,  413 
Tyndall  Glacier,  119 

TJivang  Island,  99 
Umanarsuak,  65 

Umanak,  90 
Umingman  Nuna,  97 

Unalaklit,  140 
Unalashka  Island,  123,  143 
Ongava  Bav,  220,  378 
Unimak  Island,  123,  143 
United  States  Mountains,  97 
Unshagah  River,  187 
Unurigun,  136 
Upernivik,  61,  90 

Bay.  71 
Upper  Arrow  Lake,  164 

Columbia  River,  163 

Fraser  River,  164 
UrabaGulf,  14,  4  1 
Utopia  River,  352 

Valdes  Island,  176 

Valley-field,  301 

Vancouver  Island,  24,  lo0,  159 

Port,  180 
Veniamiuov  Mountain,  121 
Ventrouze,  La,  326 
Vermilion  Sea,  20 
Verstovia  Mount,  145 
Verte  Bay,  347,  360 
Vespucci,  1,  2,  13 
Victoria,  Athabasca,  236 

Fort,  176 

Land,  190 

Ontario,  296 

Peak,  159 


Victoria,  Vancouver,  176 
ViUe-Marie,  309 

Wabanaki,  276 

Wager  Inlet,  102, 1\: 
Waigat  Strait,  7 1 

Bay,  75 
Wallaceburg.  294 
Walrus  Island,  143 
Waminikapu  Lake,  382 
Washington,  42 

Cape,  29 

Land,  66 
Waterhen  River,  209 
Watling  Island,  12 
Weenisk  River,  217 
Wetland  Canal,  296 
Wellington,  176 

Canal,  105,  112 

Strait,  26 
Wentaron  Lake,  252 
Westerbvgd.  61 
AVhale  Hole,  399 

Sound,  77 
Whirlpool  River,  185 
Whitby,  299 
White  Bay,  396 

Fish  Bay,  250 

Mountains,  2  1 1 
Wiachwan  River,  264 
Willoughby,  2_' 
Willow  River,  161 
Wiud-or,  294 
Winnipeg  Mountain,  215 

City,  212,  238 

Lake,  190,  209,  213,  215 

Territory,  202 
Winnipegosis  Lake,  205,  208,  209 
Winter  Harbour,  112 

Island,  1 1 2 
Wolastook  River,  342 
Wollaston  Land,  191 

Lake.  186 
Wolves  Reefs.  367 
Wood  Mountains.  204 
Wood's  Canon.  120 
Woods,  Lake  of  the,  148,  190.  214 
Woodstock,  294,  361 
Wrangell,  Mount.  40,  120,  129 
Wyandots,  276,  277 

Yahtse  River,  120 
Yakutat  Bay.  120 
Yamaska  River,  318.  262 

Town.  319 
Yarmouth.  369 
Yellow-head  Lake,  160 

Pass.  153,  185 
Yellow  Knife  River,  190 

Indians,  188 
Yellowstone  River,  33 
York.  220 

(Ontario),  298 

River,  215 
Youngtown,  296 
Yukon  River,  114,  125 

Fort.  130,  140 

Kuchins,  137 

Zoar  Station,  390 


END    OF    VOL.    XV. 


PRINTED   BY   J.    S.    VTRTUE   AND   CO  ,  LIMITED,    CITY    EOAD,    LONDON. 


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