Canadian pictures : drawn with pen and pencil

Front matter

•4

• i

1 i

Chapter I. The Dominion Of Canada

The Settlement of Canada — The Form of. Government — The Confederation of 1867 — The French AND English Communities — The Law of Political Division on the American Continent — The Fertile Belt of Canada — The Maritime Provinces — Their Settlement and Government — Quebec

— Ontario — Manitoba and the West paoes 1-18

Shad Fishing page 2 Indian Hunting Equipment .... page 9

New Westminster, British Columbia ... 3 Horse in Snow-Shoes H

Canadian Rolling Stock 6 The Great Bluff, Thompson River . . . -17 vi

Contents.

Chapter II. Relations Between Canada And England

General Ignorance of Canada in England — Strength of Canadian Sentiments — The Tariff Question — Importance of keeping up Friendly Relations with the Colonies — The High Commissioner for

Canada — Feeling in Favour of the Connection with the British Empire iiages 19-28

Illudrations :

Canadian Farm Snowed-up .... page 20 Canadian Snow Plough page 2^

Cariboo Horns 21 Snow-Shoe Club in Indian File .... 26

Chapter III. The Climate Of Canada

Comparison between the English and Canadian Climates — Canadian Winter — Fuel— Climate of British Columbia — Emigration — Its Facilities and Advantages pages 29-38

Children Tobogganing page 30 Vineyard in Canada page 34

Dog Sledge 31 An Indian Camp on the Plains .... 36

On the Homathco River, British Columbia page 37

Chapter IV. The Maritime Provinces

The Bay of Fundy— Annapolis— Louisburg— Shipbuilding in Nova Scotia— New Brunswick— The Cascapedia- Prince Edward's Island— The Fisheries— Newfoundland pages 39-62

Canadian Forest Path in Winter . . . pageiip A View on the Bay of Fundy . . . . page 50

Cape lilomidon 41 Cascapedia Cottage 52

jjalifax 43 A. Salmon River, New Brunswick .... 54

The " Grafton " with Temporary Rudder . . 46 Canadian Flowers 55

The Moose 47 Going to Church in Canada during a Flood . 59

The " Sardinian " in the Ice off Newfoundland . • • • page 61

Contents!

vii

Chapter V. Ontario

Ontario— Niagara— Ottawa— Kingston— The Thousand Islands— Toronto— Miss Rye's Home— Religion IN the Province — The Fair at Toronto — Ontarian Agriculture— Food and Fruit Supply— Duck

Shooting— The Beaver— Western Ontario pages 63-96

The Thousand Islands ..... fai;e()\ Indian Pilot on the St. Lawrence . . . page-jl

Parliament Buildings, Ottawa 65 Miss Rye's Home as it was 78

Niagara 67 Miss Rye's Home as it is 79

Lumber Piles, Ottawa 70 Girls as Taken off the Streets .... 80

Lumberers at Work 72 After Eleven Years in the Home .... 80

Rideau Falls 74 Cedar Bay, near Ottawa 85

Sir John A. Macdonald .... ■ • 75 A Beaver Village 91

Running the Lachine Rapids . . . . 76 Gardiner Canal 95

The Wapiti page 96

Chapter VI. Quebec

Quebec from the Heights of Abraham — Montmorenci Falls — Capture of Quebec in 1759 — Early Buildings— The Iroquois Indians — The French Canadians — The Lake St. John District — Agriculture about Lake St. John — The Saguenay— The Gulf of St. Lawrence — The Porcupine — Montreal —The McGill University— The Winter Carnival — Ice Harvesting— Lacrosse— The Victoria

Bridge fages 97-126

Ice Cutting on the St. Lawrence . . . page 98 The Quebec and Lake St. John Country . page 113

Quebec 99 Montreal 119

Montmorenci Falls 102 Montreal in Winter. An Ice Jam .... 122

A Street in Quebec 106 Indian Lacrosse Player 123

Champlain attacking an Iroquois Fort . . .110 Victoria Bridge 124

CHAPTER VH.

FROM LAKE HURON TO WINNIPEG.

The Water-way from Montreal to Lake Superior — Algoma and Manitoulin — Winnipeg — The Manitoba University — The Red-River Settlers— A Day's Journey in the North- West — Mr. Peacock Edward's

Report on the North-West — The Canadian Pacific Railway pages 127-150

Ilhisb-ations :

Montmorenci Falls in Winter .... page 128 Red River Cart page 136

Winnipeg in 1875 129 Winnipeg in 1882 141

Settlers' Huts 132 A Farm in the North-West 142

Michipicoten, Lake Superior 133 An Indian Lodge in the North-West . . 147

Winnipeg as it was . . . . . . .135 A View on the Peace River ..... 150

I viii Contents.

Chapter VIII. The Indians Of The North-west

The North-West Mounted Police — The Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic — Horse Stealing— Evils OF Whisky Drinking — Sitting Bull's Victory over General Custer — The Sioux — The Blackfeet — The Pow-wow in i88i — Indian Eloquence — The Sun Dance — Squaw Doctors — Canadian Policy WITH the Indians — Indian Cruelties — Indian Customs — The Christian Indian tages 151-172

Illustraiions :

Blackfeet Indians Crossing a River . . page 152 Blackfoot Crossing. Indian Pow-wow with Governor-

An Indian of the North-West 153 General proceeding in the Plain . . page 161

Ugly Customers 157 Group at the Pow-wow ...... 163

A View on the Elbow River 159 An Indian Squaw with Papoose , ■. . . 168

Indian Burial on the Plains .... page 170

Cariboo Horns 172

Chapter IX. The New Territories

The Stern-wheel Steamer— Prince Albert— Carleton— Fort Edmonton— The Peace River— Athabasca — The Bell Farm— The System of Land Appropriation in the North-West— Comparative Production of the North-West and other Parts — Alberta— Buffalo Herds — First View of the Rocky Mountains pages 173-192

Ilbisti alions :

Indian Dresses, Weapons, and Ornaments . page 174 Buffalo Hunting page i8i

A North Saskatchewan Steamer . . , .175 Stalking Antelopes . 188

Fort Edmonton 179 Chief Mountain . 191

Chapter X. British Columbia

Across the Rockies— The Gold Country— The Chinese in British Columbia- Kamlcops— The Cascade Mountains— Salmon Fisheries— British Columbian Indians— Vancouver's Island— Nanaimc— Victoria — EsQuiMAULT — Wapiti — Seal Hunting Concluding Summary ^ pages 193-222

View from Esquimault . . . . . page 195

The Cariboo Waggon Road 197

Yale. The Eraser River 199

Indian Salmon Cache 202

Seal Driving

Carvings by British Columbian Indians

Indian Bridge

Indian Graves

Wapiti Horns

Meet of the Snow-Shoe Club

INDEX .

Ilhistratioits :

fagezid Nature's Monument, Canadian Pacific Coast . page 221

J

THE DOMINION OF CANADA.

New Westminster, British Columbia.

[From a Photograph in the possession of the Marrj7tis oj Lome.)

CHAPTER I. The Dominion of Canada

The Settlement of Canada — The Form of Government — The Confederation of 1867 — The French and English Communities— The Law of Political Division on the American Continent— The Fertile Belt of Canada— The Maritime Provinces— Their Settlement and Government— Quebec— Ontario — Manitoba and the West.

THE name " Dominion " was first used in the New World to designate Queen Elizabeth's colony, called after her. Virginia ; and the Americans now distinguish between Canada and Virginia by calling the British possessions, "The New Dominion." When the French began to desert their colonists from Brittany, who had founded the early settlements in Canada, Voltaire, the great sneerer at all things human and divine, with an ignorance which, to give him justice, he rarely showed, said_that the French territory in Canada was not worth fighting for, because after all the country consisted only of " a few acres of snow." But had he read the glowing accounts of the journeys of Cartier and of Champlain, had he been able to realise with the gallant Frontenac and Montcalm that the land of which he spoke so disparagingly was destined to maintain a population larger than that of his own France, he would have directed his satire against those who spoke lightly of the treasure which these first discoverers and these devoted soldiers knew to be of such value that they were willing to give their lives, if only France might become possessed of it. The French were earliest

B 2

Canadian Pictures.

in the field, and for many years a bitter warfare raged between them and the English, who had landed in New England. Each nation dreamed of the conquest of the whole continent, and King Louis's officers, dominant on the St. Lawrence, and with a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, thought that by military posts along the Northern Lakes, and down the valley of the Missouri, they could ring the English round, and ultimately expel them. But the genius of their people was not for colonization. At the time of the conclusion of the war in 1 760 they had but 60,000 souls in Canada, and that number became as nothing compared with the English population to the south of them. The Indians were, it is true, usually on the side of the French, but beyond embittering the war by the introduction of savage practices, they could do little. Had not other ambitions led the French court to neglect the interests of their army in Canada, our conquest of " New France " would have been long postponed. There were some good French regiments, and some strong places, but these were miserably provided with material of war. Louisburg, where great fortifications had been erected, soon fell, and Quebec followed.

It is only near the Newfoundland coast that France has now any soil on which she may hoist her flag, and this consists of two little islands, called Miquelon and St. Pierre. The descendants of the leaders and of their followers who planted the golden lilies of the white banner of the Bourbons on the shofes of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence are now the contented, free and loyal citizens of the British Empire. Numerous and prosperous, they enjoy the ancient rights guaranteed to them by treaty, in the exercise of their own laws, the stability of their own institutions, and the use of their own language. So numerous have they become, that many a county in New England, where of old the Puritans held sway, is now peopled by them, and they find no rival along the shores of the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal. They are filling up the country to the north ; and as they are content to live on soils which are not sufficiently rich to attract other settlers, they are certain to maintain their customs, their religion, and their tongue in these regions, which form the summer gateways of the Dominion. Elsewhere the traveller will hear English.

And what is the form of the eovernment under which these races have mingled, and constituted a new nation ? First, let us look back a little way. It will be sufficient to remember that althouo^h the American colonies united together under the pressure of the necessity of offering combined resistance to the old and ill-advised dictation of the mother country, the colonies in Canada ■only began their existence at the time of the American Revolution. " Go to Halifax !" cried the Revolutionists in derision to the men who as Tories were known to remain faithful to the British Crown. And they went to Halifax, and to other places, then mere wildernesses. They went north to the River St. John, in New Brunswick. They went across Lake Ontario, and landed at " muddy little York," now the great city of Toronto. They went, in poverty and wretchedness, away into the forest, and to them came others, until eighty years had

The Confederation of 1867.

passed away, and then their descendants were seen to have thriving cities, towns, and villages, and to have so cleared away the woods that men were thick upon the land. But all were still in separate communities. Upper and Lower Canada, as the regions along the upper and the lower course of the St. Lawrence were called, were joined under one governor, but with separate legislatures ; and by the sea Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had each its own ruler; while Prince Edward Island and Newfoimdland were tracts barren of life and little known. Difficulties between the French and English population culminated in an insurrection in 1837 and 1838, and led to the visit of Lord Durham, appointed by the British Government to inquire into the causes of the troubles. Although Lord Durham's conduct, during his short term of service, was not approved by his employers, the report he drew up led to the grant of responsible government to the colonies. As each of these increased in the number of the inhabitants, the desire among them for a complete system of railway communication, and for a union which might render obsolete the petty political differences existing between them, and enable them to carry out public works designed for the benefit of all, arose and bore fruit.

The confederation entered into in 1867 by all except Newfoundland gave to a central government the control over those matters which were of national importance. The defence of the country, the revenue arising from customs and excise, the regulation of the post, of navigation, of patents, and of all things affecting any two of the several Provinces of the Union were to be placed in charge of the federal power. A Senate, composed of men nominated by the Government, and a House of Commons, elected on the basis of the franchise then obtaining in each colony, were to legislate on all vital questions. Each province retained the power to pass its own laws on civil rights in the devolution and tenure of property, and on education ; and in each a local legislature was maintained. The governors, hitherto appointed by the Crown, were, with the exception of the Governor- General, to be appointed by the Canadian Ministry. Thus was a new nation started in political existence whose creation was the joint work of the British Government and of Canadian statesmen.

The union has been a most successful one. It would be difficult now to find anywhere a man of any mark who would vote for its repeal. Each year strengthens the pride felt in its increasing cohesion, and the feeling of brotherhood is cemented by the growing knowledge that each section has of the other. The two sea-boards on the great oceans, the three gigantic tracts, each so different, but each so vital — the region of forests, the region of prairie, the region of mountain and valley — of which the old provinces, the central territories, and British Columbia are respectively the types, are now known each to the other, and each is felt to be of vital importance to all. The Federation differs in many respects from the American, for less power is given to individual States, or, as they are called in Canada, Provincial governments.

Canadian Pictures.

The jealousy and friction once existing between the French and English speaking sections of the community are fast passing away. This has been one of the results of the union. When Upper and Lower Canada stood alone, the one representing the English and the other the French race, the differences between the two races became accentuated when political questions, characteristic of the imperfect constitutional development of those days, occurred. The French element in the maritime provinces has always been respected by the majority consisting of other races, but it has never been dominant, as was and is the case in Lower Canada. There is no reason why this element should not in its own province remain dominant. The only race which increases as fast as the French is the Irish. With these, who are their co-religionists, there is no very cordial

Canadian Rolling Stock, sympathy ; but it is to be hoped that, just as the soldiers of Wolfe's Highland Regiment, when settled in the country, mixed with the Habitans until they became alike except in name, so will the Irish blend in harmony with their French-speaking neighbours. The Celt and the descendant of the Breton have this in common, namely, the power of living contentedly on comparatively poor land. Where an Englishman or a German will pass on, seeking a more gracious soil, they will settle, found comfortable villages, and, under the guidance of their priest, and the shadow of the church, happily cultivate their oats, buckwheat, and potatoes, bringing up large families, who will yet further extend the area of cultivation to the northward.

Growth of the National Idea in Canada.

The progress of the national idea, which has been the result of the union advocated chiefly for reasons of immediate convenience and utiUty, has been most remarkable. Although a defeated or disappointed clique may sometimes even now be heard in this or the other province to threaten " an appeal to Washington," because they have not succeeded in having their own way in local politics, such language has less meaning than that of a petulant child, who declares when angry that he will drown himself, and that his nurse shall not prevent him. No party and no individual aspiring to gain the confidence of the public dares to advocate any policy but that of the strengthening of Canada's resources, unity, and nationality under the flag of the Empire. This result is the more remarkable because the geographical position of the Dominion would not by a casual observer be supposed favourable to the successful application of a moral gluepot. No great national emergency has welded the various populations together to defend their combined interests. They have never stood shoulder to shoulder to battle for their rights and liberty. The war of 1812, when the United States sent forces at various points to invade their territory, certainly proved that they possessed a unanimity of feeling little suspected by the invaders. But at that time Upper Canada was very ignorant of Lower Canada, and as much separated from the seashore people as from England. Yet they were all inspired by the sentiment that bid them abide by the flag of the old country. The British Government and its army officers formed then the tie of union for the scattered colonists. It was as the British Government made its presence less and less felt, and wisely determined to trust government to the local legislatures, that each colony sought in mutual alliance to prove itself worthy of the help of the mother country, by demonstrating a native power of co-operation. With the increase of population this became every day more easy. " Aid yourselves, and we will aid you," was the language of England. " We will work together, confiding in you to work with us," has been the answer of Canada. The result has proved that we did not do wrong in believing in the instinct of the Canadian populations.

It seems to be a law of political division on the American continent that separation and difference define themselves along lines running from east to west. Thus, in the far south, Mexico rests on both seas, and has only a northern and southern frontier. So it was with the Southern States, for " Dixie's Line" extended far beyond the Mississippi, and there were as earnest seceders in New Mexico as there were in Virginia. The difference of climate makes a line, which although its exact location may be artificial, is in essence no mere line of imagination. So, in regard to Canada, the difference in the people north and south of the lakes is real, although difficult to define ; and along the New England frontier, sprung as the people are from the same stock, there is a difterence ; and if it become less discernible as time passes, it will be so because the greater vigour of the more northern people will cause their influence and numbers to flow southward. Along Canada's whole southern line, except in the

Canadian Pictures.

north of Lake Superior, and in the central prairie region, and on the mountainous frontier line of its Pacific province, the people are now thick upon the land. They touch each other through all that long fringe of country. It is because their territory looks like a fringe upon the map that it is supposed to be difficult for its inhabitants to coalesce into one political entity. But the territories of the Dominion are not in reality the mere borders of the Arctic regions which they appear to be on the map. The size of the country is so vast, that a map, in giving the great width, cannot give the depth, though the depth of the habitable land is in reality very great. There is probably not a point along that seemingly weak chain where there is not a fairly good back country ; and this remark applies even to the regions supposed to be so sterile to the north of Lake Superior. The surveys made of that part show that the snowfall on what is called the Arctic slope is less than on the lake shore. It was, indeed, first proposed that the great Trans-continental Railway, now so near completion, should be carried over the country to the back of the ranges of rocky hills which rise so steeply from the north shore. They who have crossed thence to Hudson's Bay have reported a fairly good soil to exist throughout these tracts.

A consideration of the depth of the habitable area as you travel north from the whole frontier of the old provinces will show that everywhere there are regions greater than those which were possessed by many of the famous nations of antiquity, and greater than those now under the rule of several of the European peoples. Beginning with the most eastern section, there is already a very large series of settlements one hundred miles to the north of the city of Quebec, on the banks of a great lake which feeds the Saguenay. Reports from the far-away James's Bay declare that there also root crops and oats will thrive. But leaving this portion, as unlikely to receive any considerable influx of settlers, we may judge from the actual experience of the Canadians who have penetrated up the rivers flowing into the Ottawa ; and at their sources again we find a continuation of the conditions of soil and climate found at Lake St. John, so that there will probably be a continuous chain of forest-cleared farms from the Gatineau county to the Saguenay. Again, on the higher waters of the Ottawa, and thence away towards Georgian Bay, an excellent forest-growth, denoting cultivable soil, is met with. In Keewaydin, that is, the part lying between Nipigon and the Lake of the Woods, we alone find a surface of rock so sterile that, save in a few places, we can never expect or desire settlements to be attempted on it. It will ever remain a good place from which to obtain timber, and where valuable minerals may be worked, but of arable land it has hardly any. Immediately after this unpromising belt we emerge from the woods on to the prairie, which continues without interruption for Boo miles. The further we go westward the greater does the depth of good land in distance from south to north become. The line of equal mean temperature, showing an average of sixty degrees, stretches away to the north-west until on approaching the mountains we hear that wheat flourishes at points removed 400 miles from the American border. There is.

Nova Scotia.

enough land in this prairie world of Canada to supply more wheat than is now grown in all the United States. Thus we see that the Dominion is likely to be no mere fringe of settlements, but that almost throughout its vast length of 3, coo miles there is room for numbers of men to own and cultivate a country which is favourable to our race, strong in its natural features for defence, and capable of giving to its sons that love of home, which is the birth and life of patriotism. There is no fear that the country is too poor or too small to support a nation. I believe that its people will never show themselves lacking in spirit.

Indian Hunting Equipment.

(From the ColUxtion of the Marquis of Loriie.^

Let us see what the statistics tell us as to the material resources in area, and what use has hitherto been made of them — remembering always within how short a time the results enumerated have been accomplished.

It would be best for the interests of the smaller maritime provinces, were they to be under one government legislating for " Acadia " — such was the old name of the greater portion of these territories. As yet the way to accomplish this has not been found. Taking Nova Scotia first, it will be seen

c lO

Canadian Pictures.

by the map to consist of the great triangular island of Cape Breton, and a long-shaped piece of the mainland connected with New Brunswick to the north by a narrovv isthmus about eleven miles in width. It has nearly 22,000 square miles of surface, almost the whole of which was in old days woodcovered. Gold mining has been carried on with varying success along the Atlantic coast, and near Yarmouth this enterprise has paid fairly well. A range of picturesque hills runs through the mainland portion of the province, and has on each side of it a band of very good land. The harbours are excellent, and only occasionally obstructed by fogs. The approach to the ports from the Atlantic is by no means difficult. If fog prevents a clear view, vessels have only to keep clear of Sable Island — a heap of sand in the ocean which occupies as regards Halifax much the position of Heligoland oft the Elbe. Soundings will tell the mariner where his vessel is, and if the weather be " dirty " there is plenty of sea-room to the south, and the captain may stand away from shore until the gale abates. The inland fresh waters are computed to cover 3,000 square miles, so that there is much variety in the scenery, where the trees stand reflected in the calm lakes, the home of numberless trout, and the streams pour down in white rapids from the moose-haunted forests of the hills to the pleasant bays along the shore. In Cape Breton Island there are many Scottish settlers on the shores of the fifty-mile-long Bras D'or Lake. But where are there not '* many Scots " throughout our Colonial empire ! In the county of Antigonish there are at least 3,000 of the name of MacDonald. The chief county town lies pleasantly situated in a well-cultivated valley and near the strait dividing Cape Breton from the mainland. A great stone-built church, with the words "House of God" written in golden Gaelic letters on it, is filled each Sunday by a numerous Roman Catholic congregation.

The Church of Rome has considerably over 100,000 adherents in the province, and the Anglicans have over one half that number. The Presbyterians are as numerous as the Roman Catholics ; and other Protestant bodies claim the remainder of the population, which, counting all heads in Nova Scotia, amounts to about 400,000. There are no Jews.

Cabot was the first visitor from Europe, in 1497 ; "and De Mont and the Jesuits settled in 1604 at Port Royal and other places, but were expelled by the English colonists who came from Virginia. It is well known how James the First desired to found a Scots colony here, like his Scots colony in the north of Ireland, but the people he sent were discouraged at finding the coasts already occupied. Charles the First tried to induce his subjects to send settlers to the country by the grant of the title of Baronet of Nova Scotia and an allotment of land, and Cromwell took fornial possession for a time ; but a cession to France was made by the Treaty of Breda, and Nova Scotia remained under the French crown until 1713 Although there has been a considerable movement of its people to the Canadian western country and to the United States, the population steadily increases, and the coal mines are worked by an ever-growing

Nova Scotja.

number of miners, who find remunerative employment at all times of the year. There are immense deposits of gypsum at several places. The plaster of Paris made from these supplies all Canada with this article. The gypsum quarries look like the marble quarries of Carrara, so pure and white is the material which in broken cliffs rises at some points along the coast to a height of fifty feet. In 1880 the imports amounted to a value of over seven millions of dollars, the exports to seven and a half millions. There are 497 miles of railway. One line runs along the whole of the south side of the Bay of Fundy, with the exception of a small break in the bay at Digby, and to the east reaches the Straits of Canso. The Intercolonial has 138 miles of rail in Nova Scotia, and a railway takes the co:il of Sydney in Cape Breton to Louisburg, and the line will be continued so as to connect with the mainland at the Straits of Canso.

Horse in Snow Shoes.

A lieutenant-governor, appointed as all these officials are by the Dominion Government; an executive council of nine members (who have been nearly persuaded to abolish themselves, so as to leave the legislature to consist of one chamber only) ; and an assembly of thirty-eight members, elected every four years, form the government. There is a provincial supreme court, a court of error, and one of vice-admiralty. A court of probate regulates the distribution of, or succession to, the property of deceased persons. The secondary education is provided for by schools and academies. There is a normal and a

model school, and almost every denomination has its college for university trainino".

Canadian Pictures.

In New Brunswick a similar government machinery is provided, there being nine members in the executive council, eighteen in the legislative council, who are appointed for life, and forty-one in the popular branch of the legislature. In both provinces the common schools are free to all, and are supported by the provincial revenue, the rates being laid on all property. The people number about 300,000 — a small population, considering the great size of New Brunswick, for there are 27,322 square miles within its borders. It has the Intercolonial line of railway traversing its eastern section from south to north. Another line connects it with the St. John Valley, and to the west it is in communication with New England. Montreal will soon be only 430 miles distant from St. John by rail, and Quebec will be only 388 miles from this sea-port, shortening the distance, as compared with the Intercolonial, by 200 miles. Ships, sawn lumber, cotton and woollen goods, leather, cheap furniture, paper and iron manufactures of all descriptions, are the staple productions ; and of raw material there is, as with the sister province, abundance of fish, timber, coal, iron, and gypsum. The extent of the coal-fields cannot be compared with those of Nova Scotia, but it has some veins which have proved most valuable, notably the beautiful " albertite," a very hard, glossy, and perfectly clean mineral, of which the supply has, alas, greatly decreased. As the treasure of other species of coal is so near and practically inexhaustible, New Brunswickers need not deplore the exhaustion of one kind, although unique and precious. The imports in general amounted in 1880 to $4,093,135, and exports to $5,863,955.