CHAPTER XIX
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND SOME REFLECTIONS
A man might try to describe the Rockies as he sees them from the railway; but he could not succeed. Let me content myself with an ungrateful reflection. The through traveller in that astounding region is sated with scenery—bored with beauty. A hundred grand mountains, entrancing valleys, noble rivers, bewitching glades, and glorious waterfalls—that quantity would leave you still exclaiming, still in an extremity of enthusiasm. But when you have experienced a sunny day and starry night of peerless panorama, and find there is yet more to come, a heaviness comes over your senses. Because the eye has been debauched, the numbed brain can no longer receive definite impressions. In a feeble revolt, and hungry for contrast, you long for a sight of something ugly, like a row of London suburban villas.
Among the mountains there are halting-places of luxury, loveliness, and slippered ease. One of these is Banff, where you may swim in an open-air bath of sulphur water, which flows soft and warm from fiery entrails of the earth. On certain stretches of the line, trains pause beside pretty buildings, where fountains play in gardens ablaze with blossoms, and where in dainty observation-towers telescopes give you intimacy with the stretches of eternal snow high overhead.
Constantly in the hurrying waters of fairy rivers one sees the dismembered trunks of trees—some jolting onwards to be butchered into planks, the respited majority stranded on rocky islands or sandy shores. The trees of Canada are apt to excite one’s sympathy. You pass acre upon acre of mountain side that has been swept by prairie fires. They are a pathetic sight—those black, leafless forests of carbon. Some of the abbreviated trunks remain erect, some lean at perilous angles, some are prostrate. The ground is strewn with ashes and sorrow. In those regions of blackness and death, I saw no moving thing, save only, on occasion, a yellow flying grasshopper—a creature that flutters forward slowly, makes a grating noise. Conspicuous among plants that push their way through the desolate ashes is the great willow herb, commonly called the “fire rod.” Settlers tell you it appears only on land that has been swept by fire; but there is another justification for the very appropriate name. The spike of ruddy blossoms suggests flame, while the clouds of feathery seed resemble smoke.
The living forests are as inspiriting as the dead forests are depressing. Canada has vast tracts dense with majestic trees, which grow bolt upright to give one another room. In the island of Vancouver, that richly favoured region, I journeyed for hours, in the makeshift rolling stock of a mining railway, through an interminable paradise of lofty trees and lovely undergrowth. Sometimes we zig-zagged on a switchback track right up mountain sides; sometimes we crept cautiously along the edges of deep ravines. Away beyond the forest-wrapped island lay the Pacific Ocean—a broad stretch of soft blue.
Man looks a poor little thing in a forest. But, while incidentally unafraid of grizzly bears, he exercises over the trees a dominion as absolute as it is tyrannical. Far in the land of shadows and moss I came upon two specimens of my species—mere dots of creatures less than six feet high—who were assaulting a Douglas fir which, with a girth of three yards, rose to an altitude of over a hundred feet. This is what was happening: Standing on spring boards lodged in the trunk some four feet from the ground, they were working their saw towards a V-shaped cut previously chopped on the other side. I was encouraged by example to stand a few yards from the toilers, and facing the back of the saw. The tree, for all that it leaned slightly in our direction, was destined to fall—everybody was positive—on the other side.
A few years ago some men were felling a tall tree in a London suburb, and they worked for many hours with saws, axes and spades, likewise employing an elaborate tackle of ropes; but in the end that tree came down in an unintended direction, doing mischief to a cab horse. My brain was busy with this memory as, with head thrown back, I watched the top of the Douglas fir. It was at least some comfort to reflect that, if human judgment proved at fault, one would see the thing coming, and there should be time to dodge the danger. “She is moving,” someone said. I watched intently. Yes, she was—but how gently, slowly, and silently. No one spoke. Without a tremor, that one tufted tree top went on moving softly towards the other tufted tree tops that were motionless, and the direction of the fall was fulfilling prophecy. In the lapse of seconds, slowness became speed, and silence gave place to thunder. Creaking and groaning, the murdered monarch went crashing through the crowded company of his fellows, who seemed to yell with pain as their limbs were bruised and torn by the helpless falling form, which struck the ground with the report of cannon. Under the soles of my feet I felt the earth heave, and then came the gentle patter of a shower of branches.
Perspiration was streaming down the hairy chests of the woodmen. They told me why they waste so long a stump. The base of the tree is charged with resin, which proves an obstacle to the saw. They also told me that they can “throw” a tree in any direction with precision. Man’s mastery over these wooden giants is, indeed, complete. Elsewhere in the forest we saw a felled tree of formidable dimensions girt about with steel wire, which extended through the undergrowth to a raised platform beside a railway line. Presently from that platform there came the hullabaloo of escaping steam and revolving wheels, the steel wire tightened, and the huge bulk was hauled with contemptuous ease through the wilderness of ferns and shrubs. At an incline of stout logs some show of resistance was made, but the engine gave a vicious snort, and the poor old tree, jerked out of his momentary anchorage, was dragged without ceremony on to the platform. Anon we saw noble firs subjected to further indignities, they being either towed or shoved by a locomotive along a timbered track. Still later we beheld them drawn from the water into a saw-mill, whence they emerged as clean yellow planks, which were loaded into a steamer soon to depart for Liverpool.
There are growing communities of luxurious families who—in both senses of the phrase—live on fruit ranches in British Columbia. They dwell in paradise, and find it pays. But I have qualms about advertising their felicity. The existence seems to be altogether too restful and romantic to be deserved by mortal man. Instinctively I find myself recommending to my friends the prairie homestead rather than the British Columbia orchard.
* * * * *
Life on the plains is delightful enough in all conscience. It is good to wander in the sunny prairie, looking at the flowers, birds, and insects. Swallows and blackbirds occur in clouds. Pairs of milk-white doves float amorously by. There are rooks far in excess of the farmers’ wishes. You will occasionally see a robin that is larger and lankier than the English kind, suggesting a tiny eagle. In Eastern Canada I saw many sparrows, and Professor George Bryce, of Winnipeg College, told me these adventurous little immigrants have spread across the continent within his memory. They were introduced from England by ladies who, in 1880, made pets of them on Boston Common. Around Portage la Prairie I saw humming birds—sprightly scraps of gorgeousness. Prairie chickens and pin-tailed grouse are never far to seek. On almost every stretch of water you see cosy companies of wild duck among the lilies and rushes; while geese, swans, pelicans, herons and snipe may there be seen.
In sheltered places the little garter snake makes his home. When Winnipeg Penitentiary was being built, the workmen discovered thousands of these harmless reptiles in a neighbouring cave. Minks, weasels, squirrels, badgers and gophers are common enough. The gopher is a grey little creature something like a rat and more like a squirrel. He has the queerest way of squatting bolt upright upon his haunches, and staring defiance at passing carriages and trains. Often he holds a stalk of bearded grass in his mouth, and this gives him a comical whiskered appearance.
Frequently in the great grain district one sees the “French weed” (_Thlaspi arvense_), which seeds in silver discs. It is the farmer’s chief pest, being highly prolific and difficult to eradicate. In France, its native land, this innocent-looking member of the mustard family grows within decorous bounds, giving no trouble to agriculturists, so that French visitors to Canada resent the ill-will it there excites. The wild mustard, accidentally introduced in wheat imported years ago for cultivation, is another agricultural nuisance, though it works less havoc than the native thistle—a bright-hued offender. A while ago the Russian thistle filled farmers with fear, but stern measures were taken, and it has been exterminated. Many a flowery stretch of land owes part of its beauty to the wild oat, a frail, fluffy growth whose seed sails for miles at the impulse of the gentlest breeze.
* * * * *
I think Canada’s chief charm is her people, with their delightful freedom from snobbishness and their sense of the dignity of labour. Prime Ministers of Provinces give themselves no airs of superiority, and, so far as manner is concerned, there is nothing to distinguish a railway director from a railway porter. One class, however, does seem to occupy a position of some superiority. I refer to shoe-blacks. It is not in my heart to begrudge them their exaltation of spirit. They are artists. Canadians, not particularly concerned about dress in a general way, have agreed in attaching great importance to a well-polished boot. In the haphazard British Isles almost anyone is considered capable of applying blacking and brushes to footgear, but in Canada the operation ranks as an art, whose professors are understood to have been born with their special aptitude. Britishers on a first visit to the Dominion mechanically place their boots outside their bedroom doors on retiring for the night. How the bell boys smile! The desired end is not to be attained that way. In the morning you must go yourself, with your boots on your feet, to one of the palatial saloons where the art is practised. The result, attained by protracted and cunning exertions, is sure to surprise and please you. Nay, in the joy of finding your boots transformed to mirrors, it is likely you will not bewail the substantial fee demanded.
It is, by the way, a curious feature of the country that it dispenses with small payments. A box of matches, a newspaper, a tram ride—for each of these, five cents is the charge. A bronze coinage exists, but it can hardly be said to be used; indeed, in the west, shopkeepers refuse to accept it. The only thing you can buy for two cents, so far as my experience goes, is a postage stamp of that value. But note the happy significance of this disdain of coppers. Money is a utility constantly accessible to all classes in Canada, every form of manual and mental labour yielding in that country an easy margin beyond the living wage: wherein lies the difference between Great Britain on one side of the Atlantic and Greater Britain on the other—between the small country at the zenith of its development and the large country that offers ever-widening opportunities to industrious humanity.
Of what the Dominion is, and of what it will become, I have attempted to afford some glimpses in this book, which haply may assist in stimulating young Britons to cross the sea and enter into their inheritance. And with Canada’s expansion we may dream of the day when our Empire, grown strongest on the North-American continent, shall join with the sister democracy of the United States in leading the world to universal peace.
INDEX
A Acadia, settlement in, 12 Agricultural pests, 261 —— possibilities in the North West, 134 —— produce of Saskatchewan, 195 —— prospects in Northern Alberta, 223 —— —— in Northern Saskatchewan, 195 Agriculture, height above sea level, its relation to, 39 Aix la Chapelle, treaty of, 12 Alberta, 222 ——, coal in, 177, 187 ——, gold in, 178 ——, undeveloped state of, 133 Alaska, coal in, 188 Angling, Quebec’s famous, waters, 43 Animal life in Northern Saskatchewan, 201 —— —— in the Great North Lands, 227 —— —— on the prairie, 260 Antimony, where found, 179 Appalachian region, minerals of the, 181 Arsenic, where found, 179 Asbestos, discovery of, 34 ——, location of quarries, 179 ——, value of annual output, 42 Ashwapmuchuan river, experiences on, 38 Assiniboine, 236 Athabasca river, richness in bitumen, 186 ——, salt deposits in, 186
B Bad Lake, plunder and bloodshed at, 24 Banff, 256 Barley, most suitable kinds, 88 Barr colonists and the Government, 159 —— colony, the, 147 Battleford, 148 Bird-life on the prairie, 260 Birds of Northern Saskatchewan, 203 Bitumen deposits in Athabasca, 186 Blackfeet Indians, beliefs of, 205 —— ——, teaching the children of, 206 —— ——, the, a spiritual awakening among, 207 Booth, Mr. J. R., an interview with, 56 ——, ——, on manual labour, 72 ——, ——, some personal incidents, 62 Breaking the prairie, process of, 85 British capital in Canada, advice and a warning, 189 British Columbia, 256 —— ——, beauty of scenery, 256 British Columbia, coal in, 177, 188 —— ——, conditions of union, 110 —— ——, copper in, 178 —— ——, platinum in, 178 —— ——, extent of forests, 257 —— ——, fruit farming in, 259 —— ——, gold in, 174, 178 —— ——, gold-copper ores in, 178 —— ——, lead deposits in, 178 —— ——, mercury found in, 178 —— ——, salmon fisheries of, 242 —— ——, silver-lead mines of, 178 —— ——, undeveloped state of, 132 —— ——, value of minerals, 187 —— ——, wolfram deposits in, 179 —— —— and the Canadian Northern Railway, 234 Buffalo, exterminating the, 29 “Buffalo Bill,” 30 Business ethics, Canadian, 189
C Canada a century ago, 166 Canada-Atlantic Railway, early experiences of the, 70 Canada, discovery of diamonds in, 183 ——, division of, 14 ——, early history of, 5, 11 ——, mineral output of, 193 ——, mineral wealth of, 173 ——, mining richness of, 177 ——, population statistics, 4, 111 ——, railway extensions in, 131, 231 ——, struggles for, between England and France, 12 ——, unification of, 14 —— and the U.S.A. correspondence of mineral deposits, 180 —— ——, mineral values compared, 181 Canadian boundary defined, 13 Canadian National Exhibition, the, 82 —— Northern Railway, growth of the, 232 —— Pacific Railway, _see_ C.P.R. Canadians, characteristics of the, 261 ——, economic freedom of, 262 Canneries, labour conditions at, 251 ——, number of, on Fraser River 249 Canning, new method of, 251 —— industry, inception of, 247 Cannery, operations in a, 248, 250 Calgary, 113 ——, irrigation at, 125 Castlegar, 106 Cattle-raising in Manitoba, success of, 93 ——, suitability of Northern Saskatchewan for, 201 Cazakoff, Mr. M. W., on the Dukhobors, 106 Cereal crops, perfection of, in Northern Alberta, 223 —— produce of Saskatchewan, 195 Champlain, Samuel de, 12 Charles II., interest of, in Hudson Bay, 15 Chaudière Falls, harnessing the, 60 Chesterfield, 143 Chibougamau district, mineral richness of, 34 Chief Pie-a-Pot, eviction of, 120 Chinese labour in the Canneries, 251 Christianity among the Red Indians, 206 Chromite mines, location of 179 Church Missionary Society, work of the, among Red Indians, 204 Churchill, 138 —— river district, agricultural experiences in, 196 Churchill district, fertility of, 135 Climate, excellence of Northern, for agricultural operations, 140 Coal areas, extent of, in Canada, 133, 181 —— —— in the West, 188 —— in Alberta, 177, 187 —— in British Columbia, 177 —— in New Brunswick, 177 —— in Nova Scotia, 177 —— in Peace River district, 228 —— in Saskatchewan, 187 ——, where abundant 177 Cobalt, nickel deposits in, 178 ——, silver mines of, 178 ——, —— of, how discovered, 184 Cody, Colonel, 30 Colonists, early, sufferings of, 169 —— experiences and life, _see_ Immigrants Constitution, the, of 1840, 14 Copper deposits, location of, 174 —— in Ontario, 178 —— in Quebec Province, 24, 178 Copper-mining, great possibilities of, in Keewatin, 144 Cordilleran Belt, stupendous mineral wealth of the, 187 Corundum, location of deposits 179 Cows, best daily breeds for Canada, 96 C.P.R., annual profits of the, 112 ——, capital of the, 115 ——, completion of the, 31 ——, cost of constructing the, 111 ——, establishment of the trans-Atlantic service, 123 ——, history of the, 109 ——, how the, was built, 116 ——, laying the first track of the, 111 ——, paternal character of the, 112 C.P.R., present strength of the, trans-Atlantic service, 123 ——, purchase of the, from the Federal Government, 111 ——, rate and value of annual dividend, 114 ——, some engineering triumphs of the, 117 ——, stories of the, 113 ——, total mileage and rolling stock of the, 124 ——, the, and irrigation, 125 ——, the, and its “ready-made farms” scheme, 127 ——, the, and water traffic, 123 Cree Lake, 201 —— River, 200 Cunard, Samuel, 2
D Dairy-farming, prospects in the prairie provinces, 97 Daylight, duration of, 140, 145, 223 Diamonds in Canada, 183 Dowling, Mr. D. B., opinion on the coal areas, 188 ——, ——, travels in the north, 137 Dukhobors, beliefs of the, 101 ——, communal life of the, 103 ——, the, 99 —— and Tolstoy, 101 Dunvegan, 223
E Easter-tide among the Blackfeet, 208 Edmonton, 133, 222 Emigrants, after thirty years, 100 Emigrants’ experiences, 147 Emigrants, Government’s care for, 149 Emigrants in 1811, 167 ——, the raw material, 99 Emigration, Lord Selkirk’s scheme, 166 —— from U.S.A. to Canada, 4 _Empress of India_, the, 123 Engineering triumphs of the C.P.R., 117 Europe and Western Canada, opening of new route, 171 Experimental Farms, value of, to settlers, 128
F Families, inducements to large, 44 Farming elements of success, 146 —— methods in Manitoba, 88 —— possibilities, valuable data, 38 —— prospects in Manitoba, 84 ——, suitability of Northern Alberta for, 202 ——, —— of Northern Saskatchewan for, 202 Farms, free, 237 —— on the hire-purchase system, 127 Federal Government, establishment of, 28 Federation, benefit to Canada of, 111 Feldspar, location of deposits, 179 Fertility, disadvantages of super-abundant, 91 Finance, mining and, 189 Fire, a prairie, 152, 157 First European colony in Canada, 12 —— operations in prairie farming, 85 Fish, abundance of, in Sakatchewan lakes and rivers, 198 ——, ——, in northern lakes, 40 ——, prolific yields in northern lakes and rivers, 142 Fish, quantity of, in British Columbia, 244 Fodder crops, richness of, 88 Forest lands in Northern Saskatchewan, 198, 200 Fort Chipewyan, 224 —— Garry, 29 —— McMurray, 224 —— Nelson, capitulation of, 21 —— Providence, 224 —— Simpson, 225 Free homesteads, 237 French rule, end of, 13 —— weed, prevalence of, 261 Fruit prospects in Manitoba, 98 —— ranches in British Columbia, 259 Fruit-growing, success in Quebec Province, 42 Fruits, wild, of Northern Saskatchewan, 200 Fullerton, 143 Fundy, Bay of, coal fields at the, 182 Fur traders’ rivalries, 23
G Gas, natural, tapped in Alberta, 186 Geological comparisons with U.S.A., 180 —— research in unexplored Quebec, 34 —— surveying, constant Government activity in, 177 Gladstone, William Ewart, an anecdote about, 73 Gleichen, 205 Gold in Alberta, 178 —— in British Columbia, 178 —— in Keewatin, 143 —— in Nova Scotia, 178 —— in Ontario, 178 —— in Quebec, 178 Gold in Yukon territory, 178 —— in Peace River district, 228 ——, value of, produced from Yukon, 187 Gold-bearing quartz, discovery of, 41 Government activity in scientific research, 173 —— aid, value of, 153 Grain-growing, success of, in Manitoba, 88 Grain, total, carried by the C.P.R., 116 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, 232 —— —— —— ——, character of land opened up, 235 —— —— —— ——, incorporation of, 235 Graphite, location of deposits, 179 Grass River district, minerals located in, 143 Grasses and clovers, cultivation of, 88, 91 Great North Lands, alluring agricultural prospects of, 225 Growth, rapidity of town-, 161 Gypsum, where found, 179
H Hamilton, visit to, 53 Herring, extraordinary prolificness in British Columbia, of, 244 Homes provided by C.P.R., 127 Homesteads, free, 237 Horse-breeding, Canadian prospects of, 92 Horse-raising in Manitoba, its history, 91 Horses, demand for, 92 ——, what breeds are wanted, 93 House, building the first, 155 Hudson Bay District, mineral richness of, 134 —— ——, nature of trading, 16 —— —— railway, the proposed, 134 —— —— route to Europe, opening of, 171 —— Strait, mica deposits at, 174 Hudson’s Bay Company, early history of, 15 —— ——, purchase of, 28 —— —— and Nor’ West Company, amalgamation of, 26 —— —— war with France, 18 _Hudson’s Bay_, Fight of the, and the _Pelican_, 19 Hume, William, biography of, 246 Hunting, possibilities of, in Quebec, 43
I Iceberg, description of an, 8 Ile à la Crosse, 197 Immigrants, arrival on prairie allotment, 152 ——, building the home, 155 —— experiences, 147 ——, first operations on own land, 152 —— journey across country, 150 —— outfit, 148 ——, plentitude of food, 153 ——, reasons for independence, 154 ——, recreations of, 159 ——, the first rush to the prairie provinces, 122 Immigrating, Quebec’s unique plan, 44 Immigration, beginnings of, 1 Intensive methods of farming, results from, 96 International Financial Association, operations of, 28 Investments, Canadian, advice on, 189 Iron deposits, richest in world, 184 —— in Nova Scotia, 177 —— in Ontario, 177 ——, prospects of mining, 41 —— in Quebec, 177 Irrigation, extent of, by C.P.R., 125
J Jacques Cartier, the discoveries of, 11 Jasper National Park, 237
K Kaksakin’s conversion, 206 Kansas Pacific Railway, construction of the, 30 Keewatin, abundance of fish in, 142 ——, agricultural and mineral prospects in, 136 ——, climate of, 144 ——, opening up its resources, 132 Kicking Horse Pass, building the railway at, 118
L Lac la Rouge, 197 Lake Winnipeg, 138 —— ——, fertile lands to the north of, 136 Land, irrigation of, by C.P.R., 125 ——, price of under the C.P.R., 125 ——, value of, 43 ——, farming, where available, 84 Laurentian plateau, mineral yield, 183 Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, 195 Laziness, fatal to farming, 161 Lead, the, mines of British Columbia, 178 Lesser Slave Lake, 223 Lignites, location of, 177 Limestone deposits, extensive, 143 Live-stock, history and prospects, 91 Lloydminster, 161 Logging, process of, 259 Low, Mr. A. P., scientific expeditions of, 33 ——, ——, geological explorations of, 136 Lumber mill, machinery of a, 64 ——, the centre of the industry, 57 Lumbering, how logs are reduced, 63 ——, how trees are felled, 258 ——, removal of logs, 259 ——, value of annual production, 43 ——, value of the waterways in, 61
M Machinery, extensive use in agriculture, 89 McKenzie Bay, Magnetic Rock in, 40 McKenzie, Mr. Peter, discoveries of, 34 McInnes, Mr. W., report on vegetation in the north lands, 139 Macoun, Mr. John, scientific labours of, 175 Magnesite, where occurring, 180 Manganese, location of deposits, 178 Manitoba, beginnings of, 28 ——, its plains and prairie, 83 ——, land awaiting settlement, 84 ——, mineral deposition, 186 Maple syrup, production of, 43 Medicine Hat, Irrigation at, 125 Mercury, production of, 178 Mesabi iron deposits, 184 Mica deposits, location of, 174, 179 Mine swindles, how engineered, 191 Mines, management of, 192 ——, purchasers of, Government advice to, 192 Mineral deposits of Canada, zones of, 181 —— ——, parallels with U.S.A., 180 —— output of Canada, 192 —— resources, untouched, in Canada, 133 —— richness of Hudson Bay district, 134 —— —— of the North lands, 143 —— springs at Roche à Miette, 238 —— wealth of Canada, 173 Mineralogy of Canada, the Government’s research work, 174 Mining companies, advice to investors, in, 189 —— ——, some causes of failure, 192 —— investments, advice and warning, respecting, 189 —— richness of Canada, 177 Missionaries and the Red Indians, 204 Montreal, early adventurers from, 22 ——, some particulars about, 75 Mount Royal, founding of, 13
N Natural gas, discovery of, at Pelican Portage, 228 Naval engagement, a, of 1697, 18 Nelson, 145 Nelson house and district, 140 New Brunswick, coal in, 177 New Brunswick, mineral possibilities of, 182 —— ——, wolfram deposits in, 179 —— England, 12 —— France, 12 —— Hudson Bay line starting point and proposed route, 139 Niagara, at the Power houses, 53 ——, a visit to the Falls, 47 ——, beneath the cascade, 49 ——, distribution of power, 55 ——, experiences at the cataract, 50 ——, how it makes electricity, 53 Nickel deposits, chance discovery of, 185 —— ——, of, in Keewatin, 144 —— —— in Ontario, 178 Northern Canada, development of, 132 —— territories, agricultural possibilities in, 38 North lands, richness in timber, 141 North-West Company, origin of, 23 —— ——, floral fertility in the, 73 —— —— mounted police, establishment of, 31 —— ——, stories of the, 119 Nova Scotia, coal in, 177, 181 —— ——, gold in, 178 —— ——, iron in, 177 —— ——, tin in, 174, 179 —— ——, wolfram deposits in, 179
O Oats, a good course for Manitoba, 87 ——, annual yield of, 42 ——, average yield from good farming, 87 ——, best kinds to grow, 87 ——, popularity of “Banner,” 87 ——, yield from virgin soil, 164 Oil-fields, certainty of, in Alberta, 186 Oil, prospects of in Peace River district, 229 Ontario, copper in, 178 ——, gold in, 178 ——, iron in, 177 ——, mineral possibilities of, 182 ——, nickel in, 178 ——, silver in, 178 Oncorhynchus, the, 245 O’Sullivan, Mr., on the climate in the northern territories, 138
P Palæozoic region, mineral products of the, 182 Paper making, operations in, 64 Passengers carried by the C.P.R., 116 Paul Little Walker, 209 Peace River valley, 227 Pelican Portage, 228 _Pelican_, the fight of the, and the _Hudson’s Bay_, 19 Petroleum, extent of fields, 179 ——, prospects of in Peace River district, 229 Pigs, success in raising, 98 Platinum, location of deposits, 178 Ploughing, first, of the land, 132 Police methods in the North West, 120 Population, distribution of, 111 ——, growth in U.S.A., 2 Port Nelson, 131 Portage la Roche, 203 Portland cement, output from Quebec Province, 42 Potatoes, annual yield of, 42 ——, average crop, 164 Potatoes, successful raising in Saskatchewan, 197 Prairie, animal life on the, 260 —— farming, 83 —— ——, preparing the ground, 86 —— fire, experiences in a, 152 —— fires, devastation of, 237 ——, open air life on the, 260 —— Provinces, the, 84 —— ——, mineral wealth of, 186 Prince Albert, 202 —— Rupert, 241 Prosperity in farming, steps to, 146 Ptomaine poisoning, causes of, 249 Pulp-wood, abundance of in Central Saskatchewan, 197 Pyrites, location of deposits, 179
Q Quebec, Act, the, 13 ——, Dufferin Terrace, 9 ——, first impressions, 9 ——, the slums of, 10 —— Province, copper in, 178 —— ——, early colonising of, 32 —— ——, extent of, 32 —— ——, gold in, 178 —— ——, iron in, 177 —— ——, mineral output, 42 —— ——, mineral possibilities, 182 —— ——, mineral wealth of, 41 —— ——, prospecting in, 33 —— ——, prosperity in, 33 —— ——, value of forests, 43
R Railway building in Canada, some of the difficulties, 117 —— extensions in Canada, 231 ——, projected new route to Europe, 131 Railway prospects in Northern Saskatchewan, 200 ——, the Government’s first, 110 Ready-made farms, 127 Red Indian ethics, a typical example of, 35 —— —— raidings, 23 —— Indians, Government treatment of, 217 —— —— in Canada, proportion of, 111 —— ——, North-West, treaties with, 30 —— ——, aid in prospecting, 34 —— ——, mission stories of, 207 —— ——, teaching the, to read and write, 214 —— ——, the compact of 1807, 26 —— —— and Christianity, 206 —— —— and missionary effort, 204 —— —— and railway builders, 119 Red River district, first settlement in, 26, 27 Reindeer Lake, 198 Riel rebellion, the first, 29 —— ——, the second rising, 31 —— ——, the, and the railway, 122 Roblin, the Hon. R. P., 84 Robson, Mount, ascents of, 238
S St. Lawrence bridge, the new, 10 Salmon, British Columbian, average sizes, 249 ——, extraordinary quantities of, 243 —— Fisheries, history of inception, 245 —— ——, the, of British Columbia, 242 —— Fishermen, pay of, 253 —— ——, stories of, 252 Salmon, fluctuation of supply, 254 “Salmon” is not really Salmon, 245 Salmon, method of catching, 248 “Salmon,” species of, 245 Salmon, the best species for canning, 248 ——, tinned, consumption of, 254 ——, ——, process in producing, 248, 250 Salt deposits, where worked, 180 —— found at Fort McMurray, 228 —— —— in the Athabasca region, 186 Saskatchewan, 195 ——, abundance of fish in, 198 ——, coal fields in, 187 ——, fertility of northern section, 196 ——, minerals in, 177, 186 ——, production of cereals, 195 ——, stock raising in, 197 ——, value of agricultural produce in, 195 Saw-fly, European, ravages of, 37 Saw-mill, in an up-to-date, 64 Scientific prospecting, Canadian Government’s interest in, 33 Selkirk, Lord, Centenary celebrations, 170 ——, ——, his work, 26 ——, ——, Reminiscences of, 166 Settlers, experiences of, _see_ Immigrants. Settlers and the C.P.R., 114 Shaughnessy, Sir Thomas, and the carriage cleaners, 129 Sheep-farming, some experiences and opinions, 97 Sherbrooke, copper deposits at, 174 Silver-lead, in British Columbia, 178 Silver in Cobalt, 178, 184 —— in Ontario, 178 Simpson’s Pass, 238 Smallholdings scheme of the C.P.R., 127 Smith, Mr. J. Obed, 2 Split Lake, 139 Sporting, prospects in Canada, 43 Stocken, Canon H. W., 205 Stock raising in Saskatchewan, 197 Sturgeon industry, the, in British Columbia, 244 Success in farming, requisites for, 146 Sudbury, nickel deposits at, 143 ——, —— mines of, 178 Sulphur springs, region of, 229 Sunflowers as food, 107 Sunlight, duration of, in the North-West, 145
T Tar-sands, discovery of, in Athabasca River, 186 _Thlaspi arvense_, prevalence of, 261 Timber, abundance of, around Lake St. John, 37 ——, ——, in Northern Saskatchewan, 198, 200 ——, cutting, processes of, 63 —— in the North, considerable wealth of, 141 ——, quantities of, in Vancouver, 257 ——, size of in the Ile à la Crosse district, 197 Tin in Nova Scotia, 179 —— deposits, location of, 174 Tinned salmon, consumption of, 253 Tobacco, annual crop, 42 Tolstoy and the Dukhobors, 101 Toronto, its history, 76 ——, life in, 77 Toronto, municipal administration of, 78 ——, some particulars of the Exhibition, 79 ——, the Exhibition, its inauguration, 79 ——, the Garden City of Canada, 77 Touchwood, 237 Towns, rapid growth of, 165 Transatlantic service, the first, 1 —— travelling, some contrasts, 6 Transport on the lakes, 122 Travelling in pre-railway days, 150 Trees of British Columbia, unsuitability for paper making, 68 ——, method of felling, 258 Trekking to a settlement, 150 Tyrrell, Mr. J. Burr, explorations in the North West, 134
U United States, comparison of mineral values, 181 Unknown lands in Canada enormous extent of, 132 Utrecht, treaty of, 12
V Vancouver, richness of timber in, 257 Varnoe, experiences at, 102 Vegetable-growing, increasing demand for, 98 —— ——, prospects of, in the Far North, 225 Vegetable prospects in Northern Alberta, 224 Verigin, a visit to, 101 ——, Mr. Peter M., 106
W Waswanipi, cultivation at, 40 Water-power in Canada, 55 —— —— in Northern latitudes, 203 —— ——, utilisation of, at Niagara, 53 Waterways, utilising the, 61 Weeds, varieties of, 162 Western Canada-Europe, opening of new route, 171 Western Canada, in the old days, 166 Wheat, best grades for Manitoba, 87 ——, excellence of, grown in Northern Saskatchewan, 196, 197 ——, superiority of Red Fyfe, 87 ——, suitable kinds to grow, 86 ——, yield from virgin soil, 164 Wheat-growing, conditions of success, 88 —— —— in Northern Alberta, 223 —— —— in the Far North, 224, 226 “White coal,” 51, 55, 203 Wild fruits of Northern Saskatchewan, 200 —— mustard, prevalence of, 261 Winnipeg a century ago, 169 Winnipeg Centenary Exhibition, 170 ——, early history of, 29 —— Exhibition, financial interest in, 172 Winter in the farming districts, 162 —— in the northern latitudes, 198 Wolfram, location of deposits, 179 Wood pulp industry, annual value of production, 43 ——, processes of manufacture, 63 Work, willingness to, a necessity, 161 World’s Fair at Winnipeg, 171
Y Yellowhead Pass, scenery around, 237 Young, Mr. R. E., experiences of, 133 Yukon, coal in, 188
Z Zones of Mineral deposits in Canada, 181
Printed by Cassell and Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C.
TRANSCRIBER NOTES
Mis-spelled words and printer errors have been fixed.
Inconsistency in hyphenation has been retained.
Inconsistency in accents has been retained.
Illustrations have been relocated due to using a non-page layout.
Some photographs have been enhanced to be more legible.
The map of Canada at the front of this ebook was made by joining together the two endpapers.