the railway during construction, but leave a balance in her favour of £34,000 a-year; and when the railway is completed, that balance will become £54,000. In dealing thus generously, however, her Majesty's Ministers are killing two birds with one stone; because, under the new arrangement, the Galway line of steamers (from which the Government so scurvily withdrew the subsidy in the spring of 1861) is to replace the present Canadian line, and be restored to its old position.* Whenever this new arrangement is perfected by the completion of the Intercolonial Railway, we shall have a direct communication with Canada, through our own territories, all the year round; whereas at present, in the event of a war with the Americans, it is hardly possible for us to forward troops into Canada during the winter months. But the new railway cannot be constructed in a day, and we fear that if war is coming, it will be upon us long before we can avail ourselves of this new line of communication.

The frontier of the advancing line of British settlements in Western Canada is not yet half-way round Lake Huron, and is consequently still separated by a long distance from Lake Superior. The American States go far beyond the western end of that great lake, even to the head-waters of the Red River, which interlace with those of the Mississippi in the State of Minnesota. All the British side of Lake Superior is wilderness, and

even on the southern, or American, shore, it is only at a comparatively few points that human settlements interrupt the solitude of the primeval woods. The surpassingly rich veins of copper which abound on the American side of the lake have attracted various mining companies to this region; but as yet the scene gives little sign of the throng of civilised life which will ere long people the shores of that great inland sea. The Americans, however, with that " go-ahead spirit which distinguishes them, foresee well what is coming; and at the western end of the lake two cities are already planned, which compete with one another for the honour of becoming the future capital of the region. We say "planned," for that is really all that has yet been accomplished: but planned they are most carefully, and streets and quays are marked out to occupy ground that is at present covered by the shallow waters of the bay. This encroachment on the watery domain is a favourite procedure of the Americans; the streets of San Francisco, for example, have been carried far out into the bay, and houses and shops now stand where ships used to lie when unloading.

Up to the head, or western extremity, of Lake Superior, as we have shown-and, indeed, as every one knows-an admirable line of communication exists with the Atlantic. And, great as is the importance of railways, we do not think that it would serve any important

purpose to extend the Grand Trunk Line much further. Between the western terminus of the railway and the further end of Lake Superior the water-communication is so ample and good that the Canadians may dispense with a railway for a good while to come. It is beyond Lake Superior that the difficulty arises, and that the Canadian Government will have to put forth all its spare energies and resources. The very first step beyond Lake Superior brings us face to face with a difficulty, which gives rise to a most awkward and embarrassing position of affairs. Looking at the map, we see that a river flowing straight from the west falls into the lake at its upper end; and it appears as if one could easily ascend that river to three small lakes which are connected by its course, and thus proceed by a direct route through British territory to the Red River Settlement adjoining Lake Winnipeg. But such, it would seem, is not the case. The country between Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg is said to present many difficulties; no road of any kind leads westward from our side of Lake Superior; and the Red River Settlement is, so far as regards a route through British territory, entirely isolated from the Canadas and our provinces on the Atlantic. In order to proceed from Canada to the Red River Settlement, we must make a detour southward into the American States, to St Paul, on the head-waters of the Mississippi, and then northwards down the Red River, which flows into Lake Winnipeg. Although this route by St Paul is unquestionably the easiest, seeing that the country between our frontier and St Paul is very level, and that steamboats carry goods and passengers down the Red River-still there could be little difficulty in making a good road straight from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement and such a road is greatly needed, to unite that settlement with Western Canada, instead of

leaving it wholly isolated, and dependent almost for its very existence upon its communication with the American territory.

On the expiry of the Hudson Bay Company's Charter in 1859, when the discovery of gold on the Fraser River led to the establishment of Vancouver Island and British Columbia as colonies of the Crown, a controversy arose as to whether Red River Settlement and the territories of the Saskatchewan, which extend for a thousand miles between Lake Superior and the new colonies beyond the Rocky Mountains, should not also be taken from the jurisdiction of the Hudson Bay Company, and erected into a new colony. We do not think the time has come for the adoption of such a measure: but, leaving the vast and almost unoccupied territory under the government of the Company, measures should be taken, in conjunction with our American Provinces, to construct a good waggon-road and a line of telegraph connecting Canada with British Columbia. On the 4th of July last, the Duke of Newcastle said that "he thought the Company should give facilities for a full postal and telegraphic communication between Halifax on the one side and New Westminster on the other;" and he added that "he thought it would be possible, for an expenditure of £100,000, to form a communication [to the new colonies] through Canada, and he believed that the journey might be brought within thirty days." Whether or not the Home Government is sleeping over the matter, we cannot say; but it is reported that the Governments of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, have agreed to act together in this important matter. Obviously they are the parties most interested in obtaining a communication with the colonies on the Pacific; but the question, as one of Imperial policy, cannot be ignored by the Home Government. There are various sums, for postal services,

for bringing home troops and invalids from the Pacific station, &c., which the Government, we doubt not, would willingly transfer in aid of this new and much shorter route.

The soil and climate of the region lying between Lake Superior and British Columbia are, of course, matters of great importance in determining the policy to be pursued in regard to them. Captain Blakiston's report, which is characterised as admirable, even by those who are disposed to underrate the value of this region, speaks thus of the soil and productions of Red River Settlement :

ment.

seasons.

"The country is very level, and on the west generally open. There is a considerable amount of swamp; but in the dry parts the soil is well adapted for the growth of cereal and other crops, and naturally supports a rich growth of the different grasses. The trees are generally small, but there is fine oak and elm along the borders of the river, and there is timber suitable for building purposes to the north-east of the settleFarming operations comprehend the growth of wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, and potatoes, the manufacture of cheese and butter,-and the keeping of cows, horses, pigs, and sheep; besides gardening operations for the culture of turnips, onions, pease, cabbage, rhubarb, radishes, mangold, carrots, hops, pumpkins, and melonswhich all appear to thrive in ordinary In respect to the growth of wheat, the soil seems particularly well adapted, but owing to the climate it is occasionally caught by the early frosts. Large returns are obtained from new land, sometimes up to forty bushels per acre, and the soil will bear cropping for many years in succession. Barley and oats do well, and are never damaged by the frost; but Indian corn is sometimes destroyed. The green crops flourish,potatoes, turnips, and onions attaining very large size. Melons are said to come to maturity in the open air. regard to stock-farming, the greatest difficulty is the length of the winter, owing to which so much hay is required for the subsistence of the animals. cattle during summer roam at large at the back of the cultivated land, where they find plenty of excellent pasturage. Sheep thrive well at Red River. Pigs do remarkably well, and, if turned out

In

The

where there are oak woods, require no looking after."

Evidently this is a country which perfectly admits of being colonised. Hitherto, owing to its isolated position, and the greater attractions of less distant settlements, it has made very little progress: but a time is certainly coming when its condition will be very different. It is often the destiny of the latest-settled countries to falsify the poor opinion of them entertained at the outset of which the history of the British Isles, Holland, and Prussia furnishes a familiar example. And however little attractive to emigrants the territories of the Red River and the Saskatchewan may be at the present day, we need not hesitate to predict that they will be amply peopled in future times. As it is, we must beware of underrating these possessions. The Americans, who know them as well as we do, and who know their own western territories much better, prefer our unoccupied territories to their own. The Government Surveys of the United States show that the character of their territory west of the Mississippi and south of the great Missouri Road, beyond the 98th degree of longitude, is unfit for settlement. This is shown in a paper drawn up by Professor Henry, published in the Patent Office Report for 1856.' And Mr Louis Blodget, of Philadelphia, an eminent meteorologist, supports that opinion, and points out, in contradiction, the immense resources yet in store for Canada on both branches of the Saskatchewan, to the west of Red River. There, he says, "Of the plains and woodland borders the valuable surface measures fully five hundred thousand square miles"-or five times the extent of the whole United Kingdom. If these statements are correct, we may expect ere long to see a gradual influx of American settlers down the Red River into the British territories; while the fact that the only roads from Red River Settlement lead

into the American territory, from whence, too, the settlement derives its supplies, is not calculated to make the settlers in that isolated but most important region very zealous of their nationality.

can

From the Red River Settlement to the frontier of British Columbia, on the west of the Rocky Mountains, is nearly nine hundred miles. Except in winter, the journey may be made by water all the way up to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Red River, upon which there are steamboats, runs into Lake Winnipeg, at its south-eastern end; and at the opposite end of the lake is the mouth of the Saskatchewan, a river nearly as large as the Missouri, and upon whose broad stream, which parts into a northerly and a southerly branch, canoes reach the Rocky Mountains at several points. Steamboats will soon take the place of canoes on this great stream. The country between Lake Winnipeg and the Rocky Mountains is very level, and unintersected by any hill-ranges; so that both the navigation of the river, and the process of road-making, present a minimum of difficulties. Although the Saskatchewan will be of great use by-and-by for the transport of heavy goods, the fact that its stream is frozen during the winter months necessitates the construction of a good waggon-road for travelling parties, and also for the mail express. A line of telegraph may simultaneously be constructed at a trifling cost. These things can easily be done, and will be done. Whether, or at least when, a railway will be carried over this ground, we shall not attempt to say; but this much is established, that from the Red River Settlement to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the country does not present a single engineering difficulty.

Arrived at the lofty chain of the Rocky Mountains, the eastern boundary of British Columbia, we find that there are a dozen passes by which the chain may be crossed on horse or foot. At the north

eastern corner of British Columbia, indeed, the mountain-chain is so interrupted that the Peace River flows right through it; and by ascending its stream in a canoe, Sir George Mackenzie arrived within a few miles of the upper tributaries of the Fraser River. This route lies too much to the north to be adopted as the highway from Red River Settlement; but there are eight passes more to the south through which a highway might be carried, and some of which, as appears from Captain Palliser's report, are practicable for a railway. At the time Captain Palliser surveyed these passes, not one of them was considered by him to be practicable for waggons; but two months ago we saw it stated that a party with sixty waggons had arrived safely on the Columbia River from Red River. There is no question as to the practicability of carrying a railway from Canada right through to the Pacific: the difficulty is, where is the money to come from for the construction of so extensive an undertaking? No doubt, much might be done by the Government conceding to the company large allotments of land along the line, as is done by the American Government. But the Grand Trunk Railway has hitherto proved so bad an investment for the original shareholders, though of immense value to Canada, that it will need no ordinary concessions from the Government to induce a company to undertake the enterprise.

At present the most westerly point to which the railway system has been carried in Canada is the eastern shore of Lake Huron. From that point up to the head of Lake Superior, we think the water-communication might suffice, without a railway, for many years to come. But even if this were granted, the Americans have far the start of us. Their railway system extends from New York to St Joseph on the Missouri-in the longitude of Red River Settlement: so that they

have less to do to complete an interoceanic route than we have. On the other hand, the country between St Joseph and California is less fitted for settlement, and presents greater engineering difficulties, than the region between Red River and British Columbia. The Americans will have to cross two mountainchains the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada-with the desert of Utah between them; whereas we have only to cross one, and no desert. Moreover, gold has already been found in our territories on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, on the head-waters of the Athabasca and Saskatchewan; and if, as is not improbable, the diggings there prove rich, there may be a rush to them also, in which case the project of the interoceanic railway would at once assume a more hopeful character.

The Americans have already established a direct and tolerably good communication between St Joseph and San Francisco. At first they tried a "pony express, which travelled the distance in about nine days; but now they have established stage-coaches on the route, which passes through the Mormon territory, and also a line of telegraph, so that telegrams can be sent direct from San Francisco to New York. This is a great advantage which the American States on the Pacific have over our newlyestablished colonies. Moreover, a bill has been actually passed by the House of Representatives at Washington for the extension of their railway system to the Pacific.

"The bill incorporates a company, with seventy-five corporations, to construct a railroad from the 102d degree of west longitude to the western boundary of Nevada; and grants to the company every alternate section of land on the line of road, and also bonds of the United States to the amount of 16,000 dollars (upwards of £4000) a-mile. The Federal Government is to be represented in the company by five commissioners; public lands are

granted, and public credit loaned to the enterprise, the latter taking the shape of 6 per cent bonds, of 1000 dollars each, running thirty years. The route chosen is known as the 'middle' route-namely, from Western Kansas to Western Nevada; and the Government engages to concede to the railroads now in course of construction through Kansas and California such aids as may be necessary to their completion. And, as a return for such subsidies and grants, the usual preference is to be given to the Government in the transmission of troops and material, and in the use of the telegraph, which the company is also required to construct collateral with its road. Two years are given for the location of the track." Let all our North American provinces join together, and, with the consent and countenance of the Home Government, offer terms equally good to any company which will construct a railway from Lake Superior to British Columbia. The interests at stake are enormous; and if terms like these are offered, and gold be discovered in quantity on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, the work may yet be accomplished.

The lamentable war in the United States, which is disorganising everything, will necessarily delay and seriously obstruct the project to which the House of Representatives has given its assent. It is still possible, therefore, that an interoceanic line of railway may first be constructed on British territory. But if the opposite is the case—if the line from St Joseph to San Francisco be opened first-then the kindred British project will be given up,-at least so far as regards the present generation. The consequences, though they may be inevitable, will be serious to us in many ways, and highly advantageous to the Americans, -as a slight consideration of the balance of interests and the tendency of affairs will show.

Geographical position always ex