"98c8d584-ce49-4be6-bf05-13935d2b96c7"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=356705"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "Louise, Princess, Duchess of Argyll, 1848-1939"@en . "Argyll, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Duke of, 1845-1914"@en . "2015-06-19"@en . "1886"@en . "\"Reprinted from 'Good words,' v. 27, 1886, p. 73-81, 160-168.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 79."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0221914/source.json"@en . "32 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " ALL Till-\nSights and Wonders\nMENTIONED HEREIN\nCAN BE SEEN BY THOSE WHO TRAVEL TO\nBRITISH IcOLUMBIA\nBY THE\nn Canadian National Highway,\nThe Canadian Pacific Railway\nj\n:: \u00E2\u0096\u00A0- THE TOURIST\nNEVER HAD SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY AT THE LOW\nRATES OF FARE OFFERED OF WITNESSING\nANYTHING\nHALF SO GRAND OR IMPRESSIVE\n AS THE\t\nRocky Mountain Passes\nTHROUGH WHICH THIS LINE RUNS. Hour\nRAILWAY TO:ItHE:^B\nP PACIFIC IT THE MARQUIS OF LORNE ^ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY\nH.R.H. PRINCESS LOUISE H 1 ' :^S|\nREPRINTED FROM \"GOOD WORDS\"\ni\nLONDON\nISBISTER AND COMPANY LIMITED\n56 LUDGATE HILL \n1886 THE library\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nGift\nProvincial Archives of B.C. OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nBy the MARQUIS OF LORNE.\nT)EFORE we speak of the new railway, let us look at the views engraved\n-L' here from sketches taken in that island to which the | Canadian\nPacific \" leads, namely, Vancouver Island, that earthly paradise lying off the\nwestern mainland coast, and shielding it from the storms of the outer ocean.\nAlong its southern shore the island is also protected, for the long range of\nthe mountains of Washington Territory defend it from the south-westerly\ngales.\nOur Frontispiece shows this | Olympian Range \" as seen from the house\nof the governor of the island. The hills are sixteen miles away, across\nthe straits of San Juan de Fuca. Another sketch, on page 7, shows\nthe lonely and gorgeous Mount Baker, veiled in mist, but lifting its double\ncone over ten thousand feet above the still waters of the archipelago. The\nlow island blending with the mainland shore from this point of view, is\nSan Juan, about which there was so much contention between the British\nand American governments. The King of Prussia, who was called in as\narbitrator, decided that according to the wording of the treaty in dispute, it\nmust be reckoned American territory. The drawings give a very accurate\nidea of the beauty of the landscape. There is no fairer land in the world\nthan the country about Victoria, the capital of Vancouver. The climate of\nmuch of the Island is like that of Devonshire or Jersey. A more rigorous\nwinter is to be met with at its northern end, and the high mountains which\nstud most of it afford opportunities of seeking an occasional snow-field in\nwinter. But about Victoria the snow never lies long, and its inhabitants\nare far more ignorant of the art of skating than are their English cousins.\nThe great coal mines of Nanamo, near one of the best harbours on the\nisland, are seventy-five miles distant, and their produce is brought by rail 6 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nand steamer to 1 the city.\" A quaint and charming town it is, with very\npleasant society, many English and Canadians having recently settled there.\nThere is good land to be bought at moderate prices. But the chief attraction is the sport, the climate, and the beautiful scenery. Other minerals\nbesides coal are known to exist. Great woods of Douglas fir cover the\nwhole region, with a lovely undergrowth of arbutus, sallal, an evergreen\nshrub, and small maples, while underneath all grows a luxuriant vegetation\nof fern and other plants, giving proof of the mildness and moisture characteristic of the coast.\nMany Chinese and some thousands of Indians live in this part of British\nColumbia. The Chinese make excellent servants, but the Celestials are not\npopular, and it is probable that their numbers will be much diminished in a\nfew years. The Indians are wholly unlike their brethren of the plains of the\ninterior. They are almost wholly fish-eaters. On the islands to the north\nthey build houses of carved woodwork, reminding the traveller much of the\nSandwich Islanders' habitations. They are not inclined to warfare, and are\neasily employed in the steamers on the rivers, and in the industries connected with the catching and preserving of the salmon which swarm in\nevery creek and stream from March to October. The results we see in the\nprovision shops in Britain, where the potted fish are sold in enormous quantities. In the shops and banks are to be observed the nuggets and gold\ndust parcels brought from the neighbouring mainland. These have been\nwon from the soil and gravel of the workings in the Fraser and streams\nfarther north, and the nuggets are often worth from \u00C2\u00A3to to ^ioo apiece.\nThe crushing of the gold-laden quartz rocks will now become a prominent\nindustry in the mountains, for the necessary machinery can by rail be easily\nimported. Vast mines of silver and copper will also be worked. Although\nthe amount of agricultural land cannot be compared with that to be offered\nto emigrants in Alberta or Saskatschewan, there is a good deal still to be\nhad, and the delta of the Fraser only wants good dykes to make it a closely\npeopled country. On account of its beauty and the many charms afforded\nby its society, sport, and natural advantages, Victoria is sure to become the\nfavourite residence of men wishing to possess a home in one of the most\nattractive spots on the American continent.\n| Ottawa, November 6th, 1885. I am desired by His Excellency the Governor-General,\nto acquaint you that he has received her Majesty's commands to convey to the people of\nCanada her congratulations on the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her\nMajesty has watched its progress with much interest, and hopes for the future success of a\nwork of such value and importance to the Empire.\"\nSo wrote Lord Melgund, in giving the message sent by the Queen to Sir 8 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nGeorge Stephen, the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.\nThe message conveyed a wish in which all her Majesty's subjects will heartily\nhave joined, and not they alone, but all the dwellers in North America, who\nhave now three lines traversing the continent. Not long ago there was but\none. The southernmost should perhaps also be included, although it cannot\nbe called direct, passing as it does the Mexican frontier, and then turning\nnorthward through Southern California. The three direct lines give the\ninhabitants of the 1 Western Slope \" a wholesome choice of route, and will\ngreatly lessen the charges which they have hitherto been obliged to pay.\nNo one expected that the British road would be completed so soon. I\nremember that in 1882 I told the people of Victoria, on Vancouver Island,\nthat they might expect to see the rails laid to the harbour of Port Moody,\non their mainland coast, by the year 1887, and then the statement was\nscarcely believed. The news seemed to be too good to be true. And now\nthe great task has already been accomplished. One of the men who were\nfirst connected with the enterprise, namely, the distinguished engineer and\nman of science, Mr. Sandford Fleming, was lately enabled to telegraph\nI First through train from Montreal arrived at Vancouver, most successful\njourney; average speed, including stoppages, twenty-four miles per hour.\nBefore long possible to travel from Liverpool to Pacific by Canadian National\nLine in ten days. Physical difficulties have been overcome by gigantic\nworks skilfully executed, with marvellous rapidity.\" Then came the official\nannouncement, | This completes the Company's main system, covering a\ndistance of 3,053 miles.\"\nFew would have believed, ten years ago, that such an announcement\nwould be made during the present century. The work stands as the\nunrivalled national effort of a people only four and a half millions in numerical strength. That these should not only have deemed it possible, but\nshould have persuaded others to think so also, is a success altogether\nunknown in history. There is nothing to equal the undertaking so gallantly\nconceived and executed. When we remember the enormous difficulties,\npolitical and physical, which had to be faced and overcome, we may congratulate the Canadians that above all nations they have shown a political\nstability and absence of fickleness in the trust reposed in Governments,\nwhich alone stamps them as a community capable of great things. If\nanother race had won the chief power in the northern zone of this continent,\nwe should have seen Government after Government overthrown in attempts\nto carry out the vast project. Although in political strife the groundless\naspersions on private character and public worth among Americans and\nCanadians give Englishmen an evil example, which, to judge by many cases\nduring the recent elections, they are only too ready to follow, yet the Cana- 1\nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC. 9\ndian has the advantage of the Englishman in the faith which gives the\npower to the national Rulers to j put a thing through.\" Evident as it was\nto the ministers of successive Cabinets, that the north-western prairie lands\nmust be settled and mapped out with roads and railways and provincial\nboundaries, men feared to undertake the enormous outlay. \"Times were\nbad,\" and emigration brought comparatively few to the British American\nshores. Twenty or thirty thousand was considered a fair number for the\ncountry to have attracted during one year. There was no regular communication with the prairie, beyond the Great Lakes, unless the Hudson's Bay\nfreighters could be considered as making those distant regions accessible.\nCourteous as were the officers of the Company, and hospitable to any\ntraveller going for sport or curiosity to visit their fur-trading posts, not one\nof them could be found who would not deprecate the idea of I opening the\ncountry for settlement.\" They could not foresee that a favourable bargain\nfor the Company would be made in reference to their lands, and they only\nlooked upon an immigrant invasion as the expulsion of the fur-bearing\nanimals, which alone afforded a good trade. Had they been able to prophesy they would have welcomed the tide of the white races, whose advent\nwould enhance a thousandfold the value of the as yet useless grass ocean\naround them, while the influx of settlement could never penetrate into the\nnorthern forests, where for an apparently endless vista of years, the musk-\nrat, beaver, skunk, fox, and wolverine will yield their annual tribute for the\nEuropean and American market.\nBut the Hudson's Bay people had had enough trouble in years long past\nwith their competitors of the old North-west Company, and having passed\nthese troubles and procured a monopoly, they did not desire neighbours who\nmight become interlopers and usurpers. So it was said that grain would\nnot grow, that even roots were difficult to \"raise,\" and that an arctic\nwinter made life unbearable in winter, even for the buffalo. It was known\nthat these spirited members of the ox tribe liked the country in summer;\nbut whoever heard of their staying during the winter, and why should people\nin the comfortable groves of Ontario desire the comparatively bleak grassy\nlevels of the Red River? Manifestly it was best to leave the buffalo to\nspeculate in H. B.'s, and to develop the backwoods, and do all the clearing\nin old Canada before men thought of the lazy process of beginning agricultural work by the Royal Road of putting a plough | straight away\" into\nvirgin soil. Who knew if the virgin soil was worth the plough ? Such was\nthe language industriously employed. But there were suspicions that the\ncountry should not be left to the musk-rats and buffaloes. Lord Selkirk had\npersuaded some of the Highlanders, who at the beginning of the century\nthronged so eagerly to the emigrant vessels, to sail into Hudson's Bay, and\n1 10\nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nto ascend the Nelson River, and to settle to the south of Lake Winnipeg.\nThey formed a most flourishing colony, and the French voyageurs, who had\ntaken unto themselves Indian wives, also throve -and multiplied. Then again\nthe Americans, higher up the Red River, which cast its dirty waters into the\nlake, had found the valley most fertile, with a soil marvellously black and\nrich. It became evident that vast wheat-fields, affording far more space and\nscope than any heretofore occupied, had been hidden away in that dim green\nnorthland. The old provinces of Canada, magnificent as they are in area,\nhad their best tracts already used for agriculture, and that craving for\nnovelty, and for yet better land and for new soil, which is the wholesome\ncharacteristic of the Transatlantic farmers, was strong among Ontarians and\nthe Brunswickers and Nova Scotians. Had not the Americans derived new\nlife and hopes from the time that civilisation was carried inwards from the\ncoast, and the mere fringe of the New England colonies, with the Carolinas\nand New York, had blossomed and bourgeoned into a nation controlling the\nMississippi, and master of all the regions which pour their wealth through\nthe great market-place on the shores of Michigan, the city of Chicago ?\nWhy should not Canada also have its Chicago ? To be sure there was\nthe rocky desert to the north of Lake Superior, and a further stretch of\ncountry which, like the north shore, was fit only for wood and minerals ; but\nhad not the United States also their desert beyond the fiats of Nebraska ?\nWas this rocky tract, which would very likely prove rich (as a part of it had\nalready proved) in silver and copper, so bad an impediment as that horrible\nplain, so many hundred square miles in extent, filled with alkali dust and\nugly sage scrub, called \"the American Desert ?\" Did not that brown Sahara\nextend almost to the Rocky Mountains on Uncle Sam's territory, and had\nthe Canadians anything so disagreeable and useless? No; on the contrary,\nit was known that once past the marshes and rocks and woods of Keewaytin,\nthere was in Canadian territory one uninterrupted stretch of grass for eight\nhundred miles right up to the Western Mountains. And as to the quality\nof the soil, the veil had been lifted. Even Richardson, the traveller and\nnaturalist, famous in boyhood's memory as the man who had once, on an\narctic expedition, shot one of his companions, an Indian, because morally\ncertain that the said Indian had begun, in his hunger, to kill and eat\nRichardson's white comrades\u00E2\u0080\u0094even Richardson long ago, when accompanying Sir John Franklin, had declared the Saskatchewan country to be\ngood. Then in our own time, Colonel Butler had written a charming book,\ndescribing with ecstasy the riches of a region which, in spite of the ice and\nsnow covering which enveloped it during the season of his journey, he had\nfound to possess an excellent climate and promising soil. So the world\nbegan to believe in the north-west; and Canada saw that she must have it OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC. n\nsoon under control, or the active American might go in and possess it, and\nshe decided to build a railway. She was so keen about doing this that, in\norder to get an indispensable member of her future sisterhood of provinces\nunder the national government, she promised British Columbia that the line\nshould be made so as to reach the Pacific in so short a time, that the\nGovernment must have anticipated a direct interposition of Providence in\ntheir behalf, Sir George Stephen not having at that date appeared above\nthe political horizon. It was Sir George Stephen's assent to form a company\nto undertake the work that virtually produced the results we now witness.\nThis may seem a remarkable statement, but it is the bare truth. If we look\nback we see how government after government had been floundering in the\nslough of half measures, and in the \"muskegs\" or bogs of the political\ndifficulties always attendant on the undertaking by the State of any great\npublic work. The smaller the State, and the more party conflicts centre\naround the domestic quarrels involved in the giving of contracts to firms or\ncompanies, or even on the appointments by Government Departments to\noffices in connection with docks, railways, or canals, the more impossible\ndoes it become that the direct action of the State can prove a satisfactory\nmethod for the prosecution of an undertaking. A strong executive can\nalone provide the best means, and the best means can alone be found in a\npowerful company with an able chief. To these agents it is essential to\nconfide the business, under proper conditions. Witness the ineffective\nprogress made under Mr. Mackenzie's Government; although, with the\nbest intentions, surveys were pushed forward, and work commenced. The\ndifficulties seemed almost insurmountable; and almost as soon as the facile\npromises had been given they were repented of, because the regions,\nhitherto unknown, showed obstacles, as soon as they were examined,\nenough to daunt the stoutest heart. The north shore of Superior was\nknown to be a mass of rock. Then mighty mountain chains barred the\nway to the western coast, and no one knew of a pass on the most direct\nroute through the \"Rockies.\" There was one far to the north, and it was\nresolved to lay the line across the plains so as to reach it, and then to\ntake a zisfzagf course down the easiest river courses. But it was soon\nacknowledged that much more time must be given to surveying.\nMeanwhile the twenty thousand .white men in British Columbia were\nexhorted to patience and moderation, qualities which, in view of the\npromises formerly made to them, they found it difficult to exercise. They\nspoke as if their union with Canada must be repealed. They objected to\nthe employment of Chinese, although it was not possible, except at enormous expense, to get the necessary amount of white labour to begin the\nroad. Hardly anything was done on any section, so that men began to 12\nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nlose faith in the earnestness of the desire to bind the provinces together.\nParties with theodolites and scientific paraphernalia, although most necessary pioneers of labour, did not strike the popular imagination to the same\nextent as would a party of navvies. But events were hastening towards\nmore definite conclusions; St. Paul and Minneapolis, in Minnesota, had\nbecome great facts. Flourishing cities had been created there on lands\nin no way superior to those of the lower part of the Red River. Settlement\nwas rapidly progressing, and the Americans had pushed their communications to our border. Most fortunate of all, of those who had seen the\nadvantages of the country was Sir George Stephen. He had control of a\ntract which virtually gave him as much land on American soil as exists in\nthe whole of Lowland Scotland. The improvement made in that part of\nMinnesota through the energy of himself and his friends was phenomenal.\nFull of eagerness as was the government of Sir John Macdonald to open up\nManitoba, it was difficult to see how the feat could be accomplished; for,\nalthough there was not much opposition to the laying of a railway over\nthe prairies, there was still hesitation as to the direction it should take, and\nno one believed that the hostility sure to be encountered by \"pushing\nthrough\" any portion of the line over sterile parts of the route would be\nsuccessfully combated. Indefatigable as was the Minister of Railways, and\ncapable as he had shown himself of proving that a State road could be\nmanaged without loss, by the manner in which the \"Intercolonial,\" between\nFlalifax, in Nova Scotia, and Quebec, had been administered, it was\nmanifestly adding a tremendous load to that already placed on the shoulders\nof his department to saddle it with the task of another great undertaking.\nEven his indomitable will might recoil from such a prospect. On the other\nhand, there was no want, of volunteers who deemed themselves able to build\na railway to the moon if they could only get the contract on terms which\nmight bridge the interstellar spaces. New York and London vied with each\nother in producing men, who had talked the matter over in club smoking-\nrooms, and were quite ready to certify to \"the soundness of their own\nfinancial condition, and become the pillars of a nation. Even in Canada\nitself there were several who declared themselves ready to cope with any\nemergency, without having recourse to the unpatriotic course of employing\nmen who had not had the advantage of opening their eyes at birth to\nsunshine which had become national fifteen years ago. But it was much\nto be desired that a syndicate should be formed which would command the\nconfidence of men iffthe Old as well as in the New World, and, above all,\nthat they who had the experience in Minnesota to guide them should come\nforward. Would they be induced even to look at the new country ? Eminent Englishmen, guides of London opinion, had been persuaded to go as OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nJ3\nfar as St. Paul, but in some cases had refused to look even at Niagara,\nunless from American soil, and had positively refused to look at Winnipeg,\nbelieving all things Canadian to be \"cracked up\" and only a future northern\nfringe of Washington dominion. But the patriotism of Sir George Stephen\nmade him at all events go to judge for himself of the value of Manitoba. He\ncame back, as many a man since has come back, convinced that in the northwest lay the future prosperity of Canada. But the Government terms were\nhard, for they had to satisfy public opinion, which is always suspicious of\nbargains made with individuals, however eminent for integrity and pluck.\nPluck was the quality required, and in the case of the future president of the\nCanadian Pacific Railway there was no doubt that this existed, combined\nwith many others which he will pardon his friends from mentioning in an\narticle that may possibly meet his eye. With true Canadian patriotism he\nfinally launched out into the work, gathering round him distinguished men\nof the commercial world in Canada, London, and New York. Foremost\namong his best supporters was a chief of the Hudson's Bay Company,\nMr. Donald Smith, a gentleman as distinguished for his life's work in that\nservice, as he has since become by his unobtrusive aid in assisting all good\ncauses, whether they require his support in Canada or Great Britain.\nFrom the moment that these gentlemen put their shoulders to the wheel,\nwe felt the affair was only a question of time, and that victory must soon\ncrown the desire to span the continent and unite the provinces. It was only\nan affair of time, and with Sir George Stephen at the head of the organization,\nthe time would be made as short as possible. Now for the necessary support!\nIt was obviously the interest of the country to get these men as their best\nagents, and then to help them' through thick and thin, through evil report\nand good report; to allow no detraction to influence the Government from\nthe honest path of backing those who were proving themselves the indispensable friends of their country. The object was a national one, for how\ncan a country live in isolated sections, barred each from each, except by\npassage through a foreign land ? How can a political whole be cemented\ntogether, when there is no backbone for the limbs ? A railway traversing\nthe Dominion on its own soil was only to be delayed at the price of secession, disintegration, and destruction of the Union. Completed, it would give\nnew life and hope to the enormous territory, would carry emigrants direct to\nthe place where they would be settled, would give to the farthest communities a pledge that their interests were not to be neglected or sacrificed, and\nwould brace with the invigorating influence of national feeling the cohesion\nand solidarity of Canada. In 1881 the incorporation of the new company took\neffect, and with a capital of 100,000,000 dollars the start was made. Twenty-\nfive million dollars in cash was to be given by the Government, and an equal H OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nnumber of acres of good land in the new territories was to be added. The\nsmall I bits I of the road already begun were to be completed and handed\nover when finished. These portions traversed country that was formidable\nenough from an engineer's point of view, and very little labour had been\n| put in I upon them. The first was that between the Lake Superior and\nWinnipeg, a distance of no less than four hundred and twenty-eight miles,\nand these were miles covering an unbroken series of lakes, bogs, rocks and\nwoods, where no settlements were possible, where much cutting and \"filling\nin \" had to be done, with the probability that in many cases the stuff put in\nthe treacherous swamps would sink, and have to be again brought up to the\nrequisite levels. But nitro-glycerine and giant powder were soon at work,\nand the pretty lakes gemmed with countless water-lilies, and the little islets\ntufted with their crown of pine, and the lonely forests silent but for the\nknocking of the woodpeckers and the hooting of the owls, heard the blasts\nthat gave passage to the wide liberty of the open plains.\nAgain, in the far west, at the very limit of this track, almost nothing had\nbeen done. There the labour was far more serious, and great canons between\nimmense precipices had to be threaded, and ledges made and tunnels bored\nalong the mountain's face, over torrents that rose with the summer melting\nof the snow a hundred feet in perpendicular height, sweeping with tremendous violence through the bottom of the gorges. Yet the Government\npromised to carry out the plan here also, and two hundred and thirteen miles\nof road-bed had to be laid and furnished to the satisfaction of the company.\nIt was even undecided where the terminus was to be; but this was soon\nsettled, and a lovely fiord running far up into the hills was chosen, having\nat its mouth an excellent harbour. Along the shore of this ocean inlet grew\nwondrous specimens of the Douglas fir and gigantic cypress, to the height of\n150 and 250 feet, and of a girth of 25 and 30 feet. These stand close to the\nwater's edge, and it is on the borders of such sheltered coast that the\ntallest trees are found. Inland there are magnificent groves of the same\nspecies, clothing the valleys of the Columbia River, but the finest are to be\nseen near the sea, and it is to be earnestly desired that they may be preserved in some area chosen as a national park, that travellers may have the\nattraction of visiting the tremendous aisles where the great shafts rise from\nthe thickets of glossy-leaved shrubs, to be lost to sight in the dark green\ngloom above. I do not think there is any scenery more solemn and beautiful than the interior of such a grove. It wants, of course, the intense colour\nand the sunlit glory of the liana-hung woods of the south, and the undergrowth is not so varied or bright. But the russets and browns, the greys\nand sombre greens, the purple tints on the straight stems varied by the vivid\nhues of the moss, which provides a compass for the wanderer, because it OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\n15\nAt Canmore.\ngrows most abundantly on the\nside which feels the western\nsea moisture, \u00E2\u0080\u0094 all are most\ndelicious to the eye. And\noverhanging the sea margin,\nin crannies of the rocky bays\nor covering the jutting promontories, are the beautiful madrona - trees,\nthe large-leaved arbutus, with the trunks as red as coral. All this forest\nis evergreen. Winter strips the scattered maples of their autumnal fire,\nbut makes little change on the steep slopes of these deep lochs. Away\nabove, the hills become whiter, and the snow comes far down, driving\nthe wild sheep and goats to the valleys. But the frost is light except in\nthe interior. The temperature, however, was often quite low enough -for'\nthe Chinese labourers even near Burrard's Inlet, and as they hewed a\nlane through the woods and graded the track, they used every half-hour\nto rush away to warm themselves over little fires lit at intervals by the\nwayside. Crouching over these, the small blue figures, with their saucer-\nshaped straw hats, could be seen, acting on the Indian principle that many\ntiny fires are better than one big one. | You make fire so big you must run\naway from it; make small, then can sit close,\" says the Indian, and the\nChinese seem to agree with him. For the cold weather to be encountered in\nthe winter time on the higher ground white men were alone found to be of\nreal use, and where they were employed the work went forward merrily.\nThe big mountain buttresses were bored through, trestle bridges, to be\nI i6\nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nquickly made more substantial, carried the construction trains, so that the\nnavvies had house and food carried along with them as'they progressed.\nCurious obstacles had to be overcome, and one which was unique was encountered near where the Thompson River joins the rushing Fraser. At this\nspot a remarkable land slide seems to.be in perpetual operation. Probably\nowing to the action of some springs of water, all the soil of a whole mountain slope is slowly descending at the even rate of about eight feet per year.\nIt is like the movement of a glacier, very slow, but very constant. Big blocks\nof earth, bearing on their tops shrubs and higher growth, are to be seen\ntoppling over near the road. They look as if they would fall, but the pressure of the soil above, where the like masses are seen in apparently the same\npredicament, is gradual, and there is no danger of sudden descent. Each\nyear the lowest blocks are pushed down into the impetuous river, and are\ntaken to form atoms of the delta plain which affords such good land to the\nsettler by the sea. The engineers, I hear, have avoided the unusual difficulty\nby crossing over to the other bank, where firm gravel banks give security to\nthe road-bed. Very grand are the views of peak and snow-fields from points\nin this tract of the valley, and at one of the finest prospects a bend had to be\nmade, giving the traveller an opportunity to let his eye dwell on beauties\nwhich are too often seen in such journeys only for an instant.\nDangers of another kind have to be guarded against in this Alpine\ncountry, where the snow slides or avalanches had to be taken into account.\nSo much practice has been afforded by experience on the American\nrailways in this regard, that the only question is one of expense; so many\nI snow-sheds\" have to be placed where the falls are heaviest. These are\nlike the coverings seen on Swiss bridges. Stout timbers, of which there is\nno lack, support a strong roof capable of resisting the impact of any\nordinary slide: and spots where heavy falls occur are avoided, or the safe\nshelter of the rocks themselves is used by the process of tunnelling beneath\nthem. Wherever high wooden bridges are necessary (and there is one\nwhich is perhaps the highest in the world), the lowest supports rest on\nmasonry of the strongest kind. Cobweb-like as these wooden structures\nappear from a distance, it is wonderful what strength they possess, and how\nextremely rare accidents have been upon them, universal as is their use all\nover the American continent. The trains go over them at a leisurely pace,\nand if it were not for the courtesy of the conductors, who usually call the\nattention of the passengers to the outlook, the traveller would not know that\nhe was proceeding along a narrow way just wide enough to hold the pair of\nrails forming the single track, and with an abyss below him of two or three\nhundred feet. In the snug cars the transit is no more trying than is the walk\nacross London Bridge. But if a man unaccustomed to heights tries to walk On the Fraser Rivet'.\nacross as an experiment, the sensation is not so pleasant. The \" ties\" or\nsleepers are only a short distance apart, but between each yawns the gulf\nbelow, and many a person finds it advisable to halt and gather nerve as he\ngoes on his way stepping from timber to timber, for his eye gets confused in\nthe effort to look through the intervals and to the next resting-place for the\nfoot. Perhaps the shortest-sighted are the least inclined to giddiness in making such an effort. Many of course laugh at the idea of such weaknesses, but\nthe strongest in body often prove the weakest in head. The engraving of\nCanmore, on page 15, gives a good idea of one of the fine hill views. The\nfirst surveys of these ravines and hills looked like one of the old physical\ngeography charts of our boyhood, where all the acutest and tallest peaks of\nthe globe were gathered together at the top of the map to show their relative ,8 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nheights. Such a formidable row of uneven sharks' teeth was never seen. It\nseemed impossible to run a straight line anywhere among them. And for a\nlong time it was believed that none could be found. Man after man who\nhad explored the ranges had come back with the tale that as far as he could\nsee through the dense forest unbroken range succeeded unbroken range.\nThe entrance to the Fraser canon is not difficult. The engraving on\npage 17 gives the outlook from near the foot of its great ravines.\nEvery one knew the Fraser gorge could be penetrated, costly as it would\nbe, for a waggon road had already been made to cling to the precipice walls\nabove the foaming floods, and this had carried the gold miners up to regions\nwhere in old days the Indians could hardly get a mule along the craggy\nfootpath scarcely fit for a goat. Then there was the Thompson River, giving\naccess by more easy paths to Kamloop's Lake, and beyond again, by streams\novershadowed by woods, to Lake Shuswap, a beautiful sheet of water, winding with many arms among the forest slopes. Then again, yet farther, there\nwas the Eagle Pass to the Columbia River, which was a little difficult, but\nwas certainly possible. Ah ! then came the puzzle! We might follow the\nColumbia round its great bend of seventy-five miles and so reach the foot of\nan awful \" col\" or neck, which might be reached by climbing three thousand feet, and so down over the \" Kicking Horse Pass I to the eastern side\nof I the Rockies.\" But could the Columbia bend be avoided ? All accounts\nsaid, I No, it is impossible; we see no chance of it.\" But Major Rogers, an\nAmerican engineer, thought he would make another attempt. Through perils\ninnumerable from the difficulty of getting food, and with dreadful fatigue, he\naccomplished his object. Following a stream called the Illecillowat, he took\nobservations with the result that he came down from the entangled forests\ndeclaring that the thing could be done. He had found a practicable pass.\nFew believed him, but he was \" not to be denied,\" and taking with him Mr.\nSandford Fleming and Principal Grant, two men who, like himself, believed\nthat nothing was impossible, he went over the route again, and light broke\nin on the darkest problem of this stupendous enterprise. The sea range in the\nCascade Mountains had been traversed, \"the Rockies,\" the most eastern,\nwould give trouble, but a bit could be placed in their rugged jaws, and now\nthe central or \"Selkirk\" range had also been conquered, for where the\nsurveyor says the navvy can go, the iron horse can follow.\nThe task is done, and done in less time than many governments would\ntake to talk of it. The Canadian Pacific Railway spans the continent.\nNowhere can finer scenery be enjoyed from the window of a car than upon\nthis line. There is no doubt that the favourite Transatlantic excursion will\nno longer be to New York, Niagara, Montreal and Quebec only, but that all\nwho have a month's time to spend will go to the Pacific by the Northern making\nAmerican line, or\ncome back that way,\nthe Canadian\nPacific Railway their\nobject on the outward or return\njourney. By the \"Union and Central,\" striking as is some of the\nscenery on the Western slope, there\nis very little worthy\nof note until the\nwoods are reached,\nfor one is borne to\nthe top of the high\nwithout\nit, so\ngradual and so tame\nis the ascent. But\non the two northern,\nroads the approach\nto the mountains is\nknowing\nMount Stephen. 20\nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nmost remarkable, and the view from the Canadian j Susa,\" namely Calgary,\nis very grand. Clear from the long swells of greensward spring the rock\nwalls and serrated ridges of the Western Alps. It is among these rock\nmasses that it has been found in one place necessary to make a long tunnel\nunder Mount Stephen, a formidable barrier to the line. The engraving\non page 19 shows this \"little difficulty.\" As the train leaves the hills,\nstanding steel-blue against the golden sky of sunset, and we depart from\nthis fascinating Alpine land, let us listen to the words of one of the latest\nsettlers within its valleys, and beguile halt an hour in the smoking-room\nof the train by hearing, what he says.\nThere is nothing so interesting as the recital of recent experience, and\nthe following letter was received by me in December. It was written by\nan English officer who, last year, determined to try his luck in the ranche\ncountry, and it gives so graphic a picture of life among the valleys of\nBritish Columbia, near to the borders of America, and a hundred and fifty\nmiles from Alberta Territory, that it is worth far more than any general\ndescription:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\"I have now,\" he writes, \"been over a twelvemonth in this lovely\ncountry, and am therefore in a position to give an account of it which\nmay be of value. Thanks to letters of introduction, my way was smoothed\non my arrival at Victoria, and, accompanied by my son, I made my way\nhere last winter. We had a hard time of it\u00E2\u0080\u0094in a tent up to last January,\nwith the thermometer occasionally 400 below zero of Fahrenheit; but from\nthe 24th of January we had the most exquisite weather imaginable. The\nwinter was an unusually severe one, but I purposely braved it in order\nto gain experience of the country at its worst season.\nI First, let me give a brief description of the country and valley where\nwe are located. Starting from the Kicking Horse Pass, where the Canadian\nPacific Railway meets the Columbia River, we have a long valley formed\nby the Rocky Mountains on one side, and the Selkirk Range on the other,\nand stretching for two hundred and fifty miles to the American boundary.\nAbout half-way along the valley is a flat piece of land of about two\nthousand acres area, with the foot-hills of the Rockies and Selkirks coming\ndown on each side of it. This flat is, curiously enough, the watershed of\nthe two great rivers, the Columbia and the Kootenay, there being only\na difference of eleven feet between the two. The former flows north, and\nthen makes a great bend to the south, the latter flows south, and then\nmakes a great bend to the north.\n'We thus have a long valley of two hundred and fifty miles, with the\nColumbia and Kootenay rivers flowing in opposite directions from its OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC. 21\ncentre. Both these rivers are navigable for the above distance, and it is\ncontemplated to put steamers upon them next year, which will bring the\nwhole valley into water communication with the Canadian Pacific Railway.\nThe width of the valley varies from fifteen to twenty miles, and it is composed of foot-hills, benches, or river-terraces, and bottom lands, all covered\nwith bunch grass (an excellent, nutritious grass, making the best beef in'\nthe world), and a considerable quantity of magnificent pine and larch\ntimber. It may be described as open forest with small prairies scattered\nthrough it. North of the watershed there is no pine, and very little larch,\nbut Douglas fir is scattered over the grazings. The bunch grass gives\nway to pine grass about eighty miles north of the watershed. Good\nagricultural land is very much scattered in patches varying from three\nhundred to fifty acres, here and there, but the former quantity in one\npiece is rare. The soil is generally a sandy loam, with a gravelly subsoil,\nand it bears splendid crops of potatoes, oats, barley, peas, and wheat, but\nwhere the sand predominates over the clay irrigation is necessary. There\nare many streams flowing into the main river, which afford means for\nirrigation. Father Fouquet, the Roman Catholic priest, who has lived in\nthe valley for fifteen years, declares that irrigation is not necessary, but I\nshould be loath to farm some of the lands without the power of irrigation\non an emergency.\n\"There are parts which must originally have been lakes, where the soil\nis deep and exceedingly rich, forming a dark vegetable loam, and I am\nfortunately located on such a spot. This year I had over ten tons of\npotatoes from one acre, and without manure or irrigation. An acre of\noats, which averaged five feet three inches in height\u00E2\u0080\u0094and some stalks\nwere six feet six inches\u00E2\u0080\u0094turnips, carrots, and beet do admirably, but it\nis too cold for Indian corn to flourish. Currants, raspberries, gooseberries,\nand strawberries, together with numerous other berries, grow wild in great\nprofusion. There is also a wild vetch, a wild pea, and a wild onion.\nI As to climate, I have found it perfectly delightful. There is generally\na heavy fall of snow at this season, or early in November, which disappears\nin a few days. Just before Christmas the second snowfall occurs, and the\nsnow lies until March, when it commences to thaw, and is generally gone\nby the 1 st of April. The average depth of the snow is about fifteen inches.\nHorses do admirably on the wild grazings without any other food in the\nwinter, and come out in the spring in admirable condition; but unless a\nman is fond of gambling he should feed his cattle for three months in\nwinter, otherwise he might lose a large proportion of them in a very\nsevere year. Horses, or rather large ponies, may be bought at 27 dollars\nper head, taking a number of various ages; cattle at 30 dollars in the same 22 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nway. Wages and food are very high at present: labour 45 dollars and\nfood per month in summer, and 30 dollars and food per month in winter.\nBeef sells at 13 cents, pork at 20 cents, flour at 10 cents, potatoes at 3 cents\nper pound. But the local market is limited at those prices. Herds of\ncattle can be readily sold at Fort McLeod,'distant two hundred miles from\nhere, at 40 dollars per head. The future of the valley is dependent on its\nmining, timber, and cattle-ranching resources. There is an almost certain\nprospect of a very large mining population growing up in the valley, as\ngold is found in all the creeks, and one ' wild horse' has given out over\nthree million dollars within the last twenty years. The country is yet in\nits infancy as far as mineral prospecting is concerned, but valuable discoveries are constantly being made. A clever mining engineer who has\nlately visited us, considers this to be one of the richest mining districts\non the American continent. There is no doubt that the lumber trade will\nalso develop, as the timber lies conveniently for supplying the north-west\nprovinces. Cattle-ranching, with ordinary care, must prove very profitable,\nand there is yet a field open for settlement in that direction. There is\nno doubt that when communication is easy the valley will become one of\nthe great tourist routes, as the lake, river, and mountain scenery could\nnot be surpassed. The district is admirably suited for English gentlemen\nimmigrants provided they have capital. A steady man, with a good\ncommon-sense head and with not less than ^3,000, would be sure to\nsucceed, and with patience and hard work he might in twenty years have\nan income of as many thousands a year as he had capital to start with.\nBut the man without capital should not come here; he will find the cost of\nfood and wages so great that it will crush him before he can get returns\nfrom his farm, and he cannot count upon any returns worth mentioning\nunder three years. As to sport, there is plenty of game; but it is difficult\nto get at, on account of the immense extent of forest on the mountains.\nThere are grisly, brown, and black bears; here and there elk and cariboo,\nbesides numbers of black and white-tailed deer, mountain sheep and goats,\nseveral kinds of grouse, wild swans, geese, and ducks; but a large bag\ncannot be made. There are quantities of splendid trout in all the rivers,\nand they take the fly readily. Hitherto we have been very much out of\nthe world; but with steamers on the Columbia and Kootenay rivers we\nshall be within fourteen days of England.\n\"I ought to have mentioned that although in the winter months there\nare one or two cold waves of three days' duration, during which the\nmercury has gone down to indicate the low temperature recorded, the\nremainder of the time has given us most enjoyable weather. February,\nMarch, and April were most lovely months. The altitude of the valley OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nn\ny\u00C2\u00ABi\u00C2\u00A7\n^*?s?2\nSSKSRgS\n^^^^^^\nBrandon.\nhas never been accurately measured,\nbut I make it about 3,000 above the\nsea. I would not advise any gfentle-\nman emigrant to bring out a wife at first; he should come himself for a\nyear, and get things settled up, and then bring out his wife.\n\" Yesterday an old man, over seventy years of age, came to me. Where\nhad he come from ? He had been born and bred in Golspie. I gave him\nsome of the whisky of the country, and told him that when next he came I\nmight be able to give him a glass of Clyneleish whisky from Brora. I was\namused at his remark of thanks, for the curse of this region may be put\ndown as whisky-drinking in excess. Such scruples had evidently not\ntroubled my friend, for when I announced my expectation of the arrival of\nmountain dew from Sutherland he said, 'Weel, now, sir, ye'll just be the\nmaking of this country!' \"\nIt may be mentioned in passing that the cattle droves have thriven\nmarvellously of late on this side of the mountains, among which the writer\nof the foregoing letter is settled; and that whisky is not a commodity\nallowed to be sold in Alberta, so that the old Sutherland emigrant had\nbetter remain where the country has the best chance of such \" making.\"\nIf the reader has not gone to sleep already he may do so now, as the\ntrain passes on. He will miss the junction of the line to the coal-mines and\nthe crossing of the Bow River, with the swift and clear water of the South\nSaskatchewan, whose waters are already made muddy by the alluvial\ndeposits of the flat country. He will miss Regina, the official centre of the z4 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nnew provinces, but he may console himself if he awakes when the morning's\nlight shines upon cultivated fields, grain elevators, substantial stations, near\nbusy little towns, like that of Brandon, a three-year-old city. These are\nspringing up like the flowers in spring-time all over the prairie country.\nThey are not yet, as a rule, free of their aboriginal structures of plank, but\nwith church towers and public buildings.\nWinnipeg itself deserves a more than passing look, for the site gives\npromise of great wealth. The Assiniboine joins its waters to those ot\nkindred hue in the Red River's stream. Fine buildings, wood-paved streets,\ngas, and handsome shops show the vigorous growth of the young capital of\nthe West. It is strange to think that only fifteen years ago Riel, the leader\nof two revolts, who has just expiated his second crime by death, believed\nhimself secure here when he raised the flag of a mongrel separate state, and\nbade defiance to the British Empire. His last crime was the worst, for he\nattempted to raise the red against.the white man; but peace to these\nrecollections, which may be deemed the last trouble of the newest country\nin the New World.\nHenceforward let us pray that an uninterrupted time of ever-progressing\nprosperity lies before the great grain-provinces of Canada. What they may\ndo in the future has been shown this last year, when, in spite of insurrection\nand disturbance, more than eight million bushels of wheat was ready for\nexport. With careful sowing the early frosts of autumn can be made harmless, and, to judge by the looks and words of the people, there are health\nand comfort to be found in the wide north land now open to all who love\nindependence, and toil remunerative in the two great requisites of health\nand contentment. No one who has knowledge of the present condition ot\naffairs dreads any Indian trouble, any more than death at a London crossing.\nThe chiefs knew too well what was their sole chance ot getting food, and did\nnot join Riel. The exceptions were men living far to the north of the railway, and in contact with the half-breeds. The grievances of Riel's deluded\nfollowers, the so-called Metis, have been fully investigated and remedied.\nNo redskin would have dreamed of resistance to the law had it not been for\nthe instigation of his evil-minded cousins. The exceeding promptness with\nwhich the Canadian troops were sent westwards, their swift tracking- of the\ninsurgent bands, the summary end put to the armed rebellion on the faraway Saskatchewan, and the just and certain doom dealt out to the murderers, have produced the desired lesson.\nThe land along the railway may still be obtained at prices which are\nridiculously cheap. Branch lines are being pushed in various directions.\nThe whole of the eight hundred miles to the west of Winnipeg pays tribute\nto her advancing prosperity. The cattle ranches have proved as successful OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\n25\nas was expected in Alberta, and where cattle cannot be easily grazed all the\nyear round, a large amount of horse-breeding will probably be carried on,\nfor horses appear to thrive well all over the plains, and especially in the\nnorth during the winter cold. The coal mines opened by Sir Alexander\nGait have already reduced the price of coal at Winnipeg to 8 dollars per\nton. There is an apparently endless amount of good fuel, so that as other\nmines are developed, and a double track laid, the best provision can be\nmade against winter's severity.\nThe last news given to the\nDirectors of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany is good. \" There is,\"\nsays their Land Commissioner,\na decided improvement in\nmercantile affairs in Manitoba.\nThe bank deposits are largely\nincreasing ; so much so that the\nrate of interest is being steadily\nreduced. The wholesale and\nSr^'-w^S^-\nThe Lake of the Woods.\nretail business throughout the city shows a marked improvement. Similar\nreports are received from Brandon and other points. The price of grain\nis much better than last year, and the quantity of first-class wheat much 26 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\ngreater than was expected in September. The branch lines now being\nconstructed are of benefit, both from the expenditure incurred and the\nimproving transportation (for grain) facilities which they are creating. The\nFall has been fine and very dry. A large amount of land has been\nploughed, and will be ready for early sowing next year.\"\nThere is no doubt that, although in 1881 there was an undue amount of\nspeculation, and the resultant recoil, together with the general depression in\nbusiness, produced much disappointment and distress, the country is now\nfinding its level. The national highway must reap the benefit of this solid\nand satisfactory advance: the dangers which menaced it have been conquered. These consisted not so much in the rocky wilderness of the Lake\nSuperior shore, sufficient as they had been to make men decry the honest,\npurpose of pushing the undertaking. No : the real danger lay in persistent\ndetraction by interested rivals, and in the attempts of New York rings to\ncut down stocks that might compete favourably with those supported by\nthemselves. Once this gigantic effort, made by a people of such comparatively small numbers, should succeed, there was no doubt that the southern\nI combinations \" would have to look to their laurels. What other company\npossessed, as did this new upstart, harbours on each ocean, entirely free\nonly to themselves, relieving them from the obligation of parting with the\nI earnings of the most remunerative traffic \" ? How could the fact be passed\nover that there was a saving in distance of more than four hundred miles,\nand that, if one looked at the saving in reaching Asia, the gain was\nenormous ? Opposition was natural. But it must be acknowledged that\nthe public opinion of the great people of the United States overlooks the\nsmall jealousies of competing companies, and regards only the \" greatest\ngood of the greatest number,\" and it hails with joy the opening of a new\naccess to the West.\nNo more appreciative notice has come from any quarter than that given\nby a Chicago writer. | A transcontinental railway parallel to, and in many\nrespects a competitor with, those of the United States, but independent of\nthem in respect to all agreements, is now completed. The Canadian Pacific\nhas a continuous track from Port Moody, a distance of 2,900 miles; the\nlongest line in the world. A few days ago its trains commenced running\nfrom Montreal to Winnipeg, 1,430 miles, and from the latter point they\nalready run west 1,000 miles. The entrance of this line into the field will\nsoon develop some new phases of railway competition. The Canadian\nPacific has been built as a national highway, and to develop the region\nthrough which it passes. Travel and freight traffic between Europe and\nAsia is to be diverted from the long all-sea route, and from the railways\nnow reaching the sea at Portland and San Francisco ; and the trains of the OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC. 27\nCanadian Pacific, and the fast steamers which will ply in its interest\nbetween Vancouver Island and Japan and China, will offer all possible\ninducements. There is no fear that American railroads will not hold their\nshare of transcontinental business against this new rival, but it is not\nunlikely that rates may be materially reduced in the struggle. The suggestion that this ambitious railway may also reach down and take business\nright from under the eyes of American roads seems comical, and yet it\nappears to be apprehended. Thus the Gazette, published at Billing's,\nMontana, advocates the building of a branch from the Northern Pacific\nnorth-westerly to Fort Benton. The Canadian Pacific Railway has a great\nand useful work to perform in developing the vast country which has called\nit into being, and in this the people of the United States will be glad to see\nit succeed. If it is operated on the principles of fair and reasonable competition it will receive honourable treatment from the railways of the United\nStates; and in time the growth of the continent, which all transcontinental\nlines will help to develop, will give them all ample support.\"\nOf the difficulties overcome north of Superior some idea may be formed\nfrom the annexed statement:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nWith the exception of about sixty miles, the principal material encountered was rock of the hardest description known to engineers and\ncontractors, and the oldest known to geologists\u00E2\u0080\u0094sienite and trap. Over\ntwo and a half million tons of solid rock excavation of this description\u00E2\u0080\u0094a\nmixture, chiefly, of feldspar, hornblende and quartz\u00E2\u0080\u0094had to be removed,\nbesides large quantities of loose rock and hardpan. The task may be\njudged of by the fact that for fifteen months one hundred tons of dynamite\nper month were used. The explosive property of dynamite is considered to\nbe equal to twelve or thirteen times that of gunpowder; so that for every\nmonth, for fifteen months, if gunpowder had been employed, enough would\nhave been required to freight one of the Company's large steel steamers\nrunning on Lake Superior. The dynamite was manufactured on the\nworks.\nThe operation went on without intermission, winter and summer, day\nand night, controlled by an army numbering for the greater part of the time\nnot less than twelve thousand men. There were also employed from fifteen\nhundred to two thousand teams of horses, supplemented in the winter by\nabout three hundred trains of dogs. To house and accommodate this vast\nhost, nearly three thousand buildings of various descriptions were erected\non the works. There would thus be there more than double the number of\nbuildings that the city of Stratford contains, counting five persons to each\nbuilding. Of course the comparison ends here, for the shanties and stables\nwere in marked contrast to our three-story stone and brick edifices. We 28 OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\ncan give no estimate of the quantities of food for men and dogs and forage\nfor horses which were brought in : but in the fall of the year seven months'\nprovision had to be made for this hungry host, with appetites so whetted by\nthe hard out-door work and the eager nipping air, that each man consumed\non an average five pounds of solid food per diem. To bring in these supplies and the material for the works, the company had seven steamers\nrunning, and the contractors five. For the same purpose fifteen docks and\nstorehouses were built by the company along the shore of the lake, requiring\nthree million feet of lumber in construction. The shore was so rough that\nsupply roads could not be built except at enormous expense; so the supplies\nand material were landed at these docks, and thence distributed by fleets of\nsmall boats along the line. And not only were there difficulties by land,\nthere were difficulties by water as well. Michipicoten was one of the most\nvaluable points of distribution along the entire coast; but it could not be\nadvantageously availed of owing to the fierceness of the storms. Here two\ndocks were built, each in turn to be washed away by the violence of the sea,\nand here also two steamers were sunk. Consequently the supplies had to\nbe landed four miles west of Michipicoten, and distributed from that point\ninstead.\nThe labour and expense of getting in the stuff from the coast at Michipicoten to the railway being constructed inland on the north, may be estimated\nfrom the following: First, a road through the rocks had to be built seven\nmiles in length; then a lake six and a half miles long was struck, to traverse\nwhich a steamboat had to be constructed. A stretch of sixteen miles of\nrough mountainous country, requiring large rock blastings and cuttings,\nhad then to be encountered. That accomplished, a second lake eleven miles\nlong was reached, where another transport steamer was built. Two and a\nhalf miles more of road intervened between this lake and Dog Lake, where\na third steamer was built. This boat ran from the point of taking in the\nsupplies fourteen miles to the north-west angle and twelve miles to the\nnorth-east angle of Dog Lake, distributing her freight along the works,\nwhich were now at last reached\u00E2\u0080\u0094about one hundred miles of the road east\nand west being in this way supplied from Michipicoten. On these inland\nlakes six docks and six warehouses were built. As many as eight hundred\nand sixty derricks were used on the works.\nBetween Nipigon and the Pic there are five tunnels, and not less than\nten rivers had to be diverted from their natural courses and carried through\nrock tunnels excavated underneath the road-bed. One of these rivers\nmeasures in width one hundred and fifty feet. There are along the coast\neleven miles where in the living rock a shelf has been formed for the roadbed of the railway, averaging twenty feet in width, in some places consider- OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\n29\nJunction of the Gatineau and Ottawa.\nBy H.R.H. Princess Louise.\n|c ably wider. The rivers crossed\nby the line are spanned by iron\nbridges ; the abutments\u00E2\u0080\u0094indeed,\nthe stonework throughout\u00E2\u0080\u0094being\nthe best kind of masonry. There\nis some temporary trestle work which has mostly now been filled in. As\na further evidence of the quality of the work, it may be remarked that no\ngrade exceeds fifty-two feet to the mile, and the curvature is generally good,\nonly two curves exceeding six degrees.\nThere were few accidents to call the hospitals into requisition, and such\nwas the care exercised in the dynamite factories that no casualty whatever\narose in the manufacture of the tons upon tons of explosives. There was,\nhowever, one serious result from culpable ignorance and temerity, four men\nhaving brought dynamite into one of the houses and placed it on the stove\nto thaw! The experience was a severe one, but to these poor fellows it\ncarried no benefit. The survivors were more cautious. After the works\nwere completed, care was taken to demolish the dynamite factories so as to\nrender them innocuous.\nAlthough last winter was very severe, with heavy falls of snow, Mr. Ross\nregards it as exceptional, and he does not apprehend difficulty in working\nthe line. The winters of 1882-3 and 1883-4 north of Lake Superior were, he\nsays, delightful, with only about two feet of snow, and no drifts. 3o OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC.\nThe character of the country, he states, is very different from the dreary-\nwaste between Port Arthur and Selkirk, being bold and, with the lakes and\nrivers, exceedingly changeable in its aspects, striking and picturesque.\nThe work would have been completed earlier even than it was but for\nthe transport of the troops to suppress the Riel rising, the labour of laying\ntrack and building bridges having to be suspended in order to take the\nforces round the gaps. The first troops reached the division about April ist,\nand were through by the 20th. Fifteen days later a train passed over\nwithout a break. The last troops went past on May 19th, fully equipped\nwith sleeping and dining cars.\nOnce the north-eastern shores are left behind the route runs through the\nwoody country skirting Nipissing, and so by the Upper Ottawa to familiar\nground around the capital of the Dominion. Crossing the Gatineau River,\nthe junction of which with the Ottawa is shown on p. 29, we are reminded\nthat colonisation is being actively carried on by the French Canadians in the\nvalleys of the tributary streams, such as the Gatineau, Lievre, and others,\ngiving a | back country\" to the Ottawa and St. Lawrence valleys. Montreal is reached in less than two hours from this point. Controlling interests\nhave been secured by the Canadian Pacific Railway in Ontario over other\nroads to prevent hostile intrigues. In brief, the history of the greatest\nundertaking of this age is seen at a glance in the following table:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nCANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.\nIncorporated February 16th, 1881.\nCommenced building westward from Winnipeg, May, 1881. Owns in November, 1885 :\nMiles. Miles.\nMain Line 2,8947\nBranch Lines, East ....... 40 V4\nDo. West 221-2\nLeased Lines ....... 608\"?\n 4,217-6\nWhich have come into the Company's possession in the following manner :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI ., , I Miles. Miles.\nBuilt by Government and handed over to Company . 706*5\nAcquired by purchase, lease, or otherwise . . . 1,370*5\nBuilt by Company since May, 1881 .... 2,140-6\n4,217-6\nThe mileage operated by the Company next year (1886) will\n(approximately) be . \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 4j30q\nNet earnings, for 12 months ending 31st December, 1885 . . $3,225,000\nI am sure it will be the wish of all patriotic men, be they British or OUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC. I\nCanadian, that this backbone of the Dominion may, year after year, draw\never-increasing profits. Troops and freight may thereby be sent by a route\ntwelve hundred miles shorter than any other to China and Japan. Mail\nservice, if sent over by this way, will be greatly accelerated, and none but\nBritish ground, and none but British ships, need be touched from London\nto Hong Kong. It is a noble work nobly performed.\nAPPENDIX.\nAs a purely Canadian work, this Pacific Railway fulfilled its primary\npurpose when it connected the Atlantic with the Pacific seaboard, and\nlinked all the provinces of the Dominion together by a road lying entirely\nwithin their own territories. But its still greater importance to the Empire\nat large, and to Canada also, lies in the possibilities of extended trade, and\nof increased safety to Imperial interests all over the world, which the construction of this great highway has opened up. It affords a safe alternative\nroute, without touching foreign soil, between England, Japan, China, India,\nand Australia; and the following table shows how the proposed Services by\nthis route will compare with those by other lines using the Suez Canal ;\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI. Between London and Yokohama \u00E2\u0096\u00A0*\u00E2\u0080\u0094\ni. By Peninsular and Oriental Company's route, vid Brindisi,\nto Hong Kong\t\nDetention at Hong Kong .....\nHone: Kong to Yokohama\t\n2. By P. and O., vid Gibraltar, to Hong Kon|\nDetention at Hong Kong\nHong Kong to Yokohama ....\nDAYS.\n34\nto\n37\nI\nto\n2\nn\nto\n8\n41\nto\n47\n43\nto\n46\n1\nto\n2\n6\nto\n8\n50 to 56\n, \nOUR RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC\nBy Canadian Pacific Railway (Summer route)\u00E2\u0080\u0094 DAYS.\nLondon to Montreal 82 to M\nMontreal to Vancouver 4 to 4a\nVancouver to Yokohama I3 to T4\n25i to 28\nBy Intercolonial Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway\n(Winter route)\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nLondon to Halifax ........ 7 to 9\nHalifax to Montreal 1 to 1 *\nMontreal to Yokohama (as above) 17 to 185\nto 28\n1\nII. Between Londo7i and Hong Kong:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n1. By Peninsular and Oriental Company's route vid Brindisi 34 to 37\n2. By same, vid Gibraltar 43 to 46\n3. By Canadian Pacific Railway, vid Montreal, to Yokohama 25 to 28^ *\nDetention at Yokohama . . . . . ^ to ^\nYokohama to Hong Kong 5 to 6\n3\u00C2\u00B0\u00C2\u00A3 to 35\nIII. Between England and A ustralia :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n1. London to Adelaide in 1888, if the Proposed Contract for\nMails, vid Brindisi, is carried out .... 29 days\n2. By Canadian Pacific Railway route and proposed Steam\nship line from Vancouver to Brisbane in 1888 . . 30 days\n* In the above comparisons, the shortening of the time now spent on the Atlantic\nvoyage to Canada, and on the land journey between Halifax and Montreal\u00E2\u0080\u0094both of which\nwill soon be effected\u00E2\u0080\u0094has not been taken into account. At the very least a day will be\nsaved by these improvements to the Canadian route. It is confidently anticipated that if the\nproposals now made by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company are accepted by the Imperial\nGovernment, the Mail Service which is at present performed vid Suez, between England and\nHong Kong in 34 to yj days, Shanghai 39 to 42 days, and Yokohama 43 to 46 days, will be\nperformed, by the Canadian route, in 29J to 31$ days, 28 to 30 days, and 24 to 26 days\nrespectively.\nPRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD, LONDON. \nOur Railway to the Pacific\nTHAT is\nThe Canadian Pacific Railway\nIS the longest continuous line in the world under one management, the only\nline on the continent of America reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific\nOceans and can therefore give innumerable advantages that cannot be got by\nother transcontinental lines.\nThrough Sleepers are by this line run from ocean to ocean without change,\na convenience offered by no other line.\nWe own and operate our own Sleeping and Dining Cars and they are therefore\nrun in the interest of the travelling public and not in the interest of a Sleeping\nCar Company.\nThe temperature on our route is mild, the scenery is grand, and competent\nengineers have pronounced the line to be the best built new Railway on the continent of America.\nOUR ROLLING STOCK IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD.\nFULL INFORMATION AS TO TIME, ROUTE, PRIVILEGES AND RATES\nTO BE HAD ON APPLICATION TO ANY AGENT\nOF THE COMPANY,\nOR TO\nG. M. BOSWORTH, E. TIFFIN,\nAsst. Freight Traffic Manager, Montreal. General Freight Agent, Toronto.\nMOST. KERR, J>. McNICOIL,\nGeneral Freight and Passenger Agent, Winnipeg. General Passenger Agent, Montreal.\nHARRY ABBOTT, GERGE OEDS,\nGeneral Sufi. Pacific Div., Vancouver, B. C. General Traffic Manager, Montreal\nW. C. VAN BZORNE,\nVice-President, Montreal. "@en . "Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12146523"@en . "Clippings"@en . "FC3205.2 .A74 1886"@en . "I-0698"@en . "10.14288/1.0221914"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "London : Isbister and Company"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca."@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. FC3205.2 .A74 1886"@en . "Canadian Pacific Railway Company"@en . "Northwest, Canadian"@en . "Our railway to the Pacific"@en . "Text"@en .