FROM CUBA TO NEW ORLEANS, AND HENCE UP THE MISSISSIPPI ON TO ST. LOUIS--
OUR VOYAGE UP THE OHIO--KENTUCKY SHOTS--CINCINNATI--AWAY TO TORONTO--THE
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S TERRITORY DESCRIBED.
After we had lost sight of Cuba I could scarcely help expecting to see
some rakish-looking craft hearing down on us, and I must own that it was
with inward satisfaction that I remembered the fact that the black
schooner and most of the scoundrels on board her were blown up, and
unable any more to trouble voyagers over the deep sea. Poor Peter was
continually on the look-out for an enemy, and if he saw a sail in the
horizon he would come up to me and ask if we hadn't better get ready to
fight, lest it should be "another on them cut-throat gentlemen a-coming
to look for us."
Notwithstanding all the lad's prognostications of evil, we reached,
without any misadventure, the Crescent City, as New Orleans is not
inappropriately called, on account of the shape it presents, built along
the curving shore of the river. I hastened at once on landing, followed
by Peter and Ready, to the office of the merchant on whom I had letters
of credit, fortunately forwarded originally in duplicate by post, and
having obtained a supply of cash, and such necessaries as I required, I
was in a few hours on my way up the Mississippi, earnestly hoping that
on this voyage I should escape being snagged, and not be blown up, as
Aunt Becky had predicted would be my fate.
I have not been complimentary to New Orleans, but I must say that it is
a very grand city. It is divided into two parts by Canal Street--the
Old and the New--the Old, built by original French and Spanish founders,
contains narrow and dirty streets and the worst class of the population,
while in the New are numerous fine buildings, broad streets, and wealthy
and respectable inhabitants. It is not nearly so unhealthy as is
supposed when once a person is acclimatised,--but to be sure a good many
die in the process. And so I make my bow to New Orli_ee_ns, as the
natives call it. Although I had not many fears on the subject, I was
glad to get away without being recognised, nor did anyone on board the
steamer take especial notice of me, that I could discover. It was
curious to go paddling on day after day, and night after night, and
still to find oneself floating on the same broad stream, sometimes with
rich level land on either side, and at others with light bluffs, or
towns, or villages; also to pass the mouths of large rivers, and to be
told that one was navigable eight hundred or a thousand miles up, and
that five or six tributaries, each also navigable for six hundred miles
or so, while others fell into it. Truly the eastern, southern, and
northern parts of North America present a wonderful river system, suited
for internal navigation.
We had a curious collection of passengers on board--five hundred at
least in the main cabin--some of them, I judged by their physiognomies,
not the most respectable portion of the human race. A party of them got
round me, and in the most insinuating manner invited me to join them in
a friendly game of cards, or dice, or dominoes, indeed they were not
particular, anything that would enable me to pass the time agreeably.
In spite of all their arguments I persevered in declining their polite
invitations, and at length, in reply to no very polite remarks on my
manners and appearance, and a strong expression of doubt as to whether I
had anything to lose--
"You've hit it, gentlemen," I remarked, quietly looking up at them.
"It's dull work to skin a flint, and I did not wish to give you the
trouble."
"You did well to keep clear of those fellows," observed a gentleman to
me shortly afterwards. "If they could catch you on a dark night near
the side of the vessel, they wouldn't scruple to rob you and heave you
overboard."
In many places the banks of the Mississippi exhibit high bluffs of an
earthy nature, sometimes broken into the most fantastic forms,
representing castles, towers, church steeples, and ruins of every
description.
On the morning of the sixth day we were off the mouth of the Ohio, which
river can be ascended for nine hundred miles to Pittsburg, and it must
be remembered that I had already come upwards of a thousand miles from
New Orleans. The next day, after paddling against stream two hundred
miles farther, I landed at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri. It is a
handsome city, built on ground sloping up from the Mississippi, about
twenty miles distant from the mouths of the two mighty streams of the
Missouri and Illinois, while the Mississippi itself has there already
pursued a course of nearly seventeen hundred miles. It is a very busy
place, and vessels of every description crowd its quays. Proceeding up
the Ohio, I landed at Louisville, the chief town in Kentucky. Everyone
has heard what Kentucky riflemen can do with their weapons.
Understanding that a match was going forward outside the town I went to
see it. To my disappointment it was over, but I saw two men shooting
away as fast as they could load, at two cocks in a sort of enclosure,
with an open space towards us, through which they kept constantly coming
into view. Nearly a dozen shots had been tired, and the birds ran about
as lively as at first. "Well, sir, I think with uncle's old
fowling-piece I could knock over them barn-doors a precious sight faster
than that," observed Peter, eyeing the marksmen with a glance of
contempt.
"Now I guess, stranger, if you was to look closer you wouldn't be quite
so ready to boast of what you could do," observed a stout, good-natured
looking man near us. "Understand, just what you say you could do, they
don't want to do. Their business is to knock the feathers out of them
birds' tails, and do them no mortal injury. There's a chalked line on
their tails, inside of which a shot mustn't go, or the man who fires it
loses the match. Each man, too, has his bird and it requires a sharp
eye to know which is which."
Such I found to be the case. One man had shot all but one short feather
away, and he was afraid of killing his bird; the other had shot all but
two very long thin ones away, and his bullets constantly flew between
them.
The next day we stopped at Cincinnati, a very handsome,
civilised-looking city, and one of the most important west of the
Alleganies. Here we embarked on board a much smaller steamer than any
which had before carried us, though we had still four hundred miles
farther to go up the stream to Pittsburg, from whence it was my
intention to proceed to Toronto, and so find my way into the Hudson's
Bay Territory, in the best way I could. The boat drew very little
water, for we had rapids and shallows to pass over; not so little,
however, as a builder on board boasted was the case with one he had
constructed--"Six inches, sir! why you know well enough, I guess, that
if you was to attempt to send a craft drawing six inches of water up
some of our streams, she'd be grounding every day in the week, and ten
times in the day," I heard him exclaim, in a tone of contempt, to a
fellow-passenger. "Talk of inches, sir--what do you say to one I built,
sir--why, she'd go along right slick across the prairie, provided the
dew was thick enough on the grass in the morning. Why, sir, nothing
could stop that craft if she could but get a taste of water." Whether
or not his assertion was believed I do not know, but as he was a big
strapping fellow, and carried a formidable-looking bowie-knife in his
waistcoat pocket, with which he used to pick his teeth and carve his
meat, or indeed, what was not so pleasant, any dish intended for the
public before him, nobody chose to call his assertion in question.
The country in which I was now about to seek for adventures, is a region
which must before long become of importance on account of the great
highway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans passing over it.
Through that region indeed will be found the true and only practicable
North-west passage, but it will be across the rolling prairie instead of
the rolling ocean, and over rocky mountains instead of mountainous
billows. The land I speak of is Central British America, also known as
"Rupert's Land," "the North West Territory," and the "Hudson's Bay
Company's Territory."
The earlier French settlers in Canada believed, and not without reason,
that the high road to China would be found along the course of the
mighty river on the banks of which they had located themselves. Their
idea was ridiculed, and the name of La Chine was given to a village to
the west of Montreal by those who believed that the explorers would
never get farther in that direction, little supposing that ere long a
rich province, full of wealthy cities, would have its eastern limits
beyond the point in question; while only of late years the truth has
dawned on a few far-sighted individuals that in that direction will be
found the shortest and safest high road not only to China, but to
provinces fast rising into importance, to British Columbia and
Vancouver's Island, to the wide-spreading shores of the Pacific, and to
the numberless islands which stud its bosom; that it will afford a
western outlet to the commercial enterprise of the British North
American Confederation, which will raise it to a position of great
wealth and power.
Let me try and map-down this great country. Following up the course of
the St. Lawrence across Lake Ontario, and passing over a broad isthmus,
where a deep canal is to be formed, we reach lake Huron. Still going
west some two thousand miles distant from the month of the St. Lawrence,
we arrive at the Saulte St. Marie, where the waters of the great Lake
Superior fall into that of Huron. Here is a free port, and a free
settlement has been formed; but we have yet Lake Superior to cross, when
we shall reach Fort William, in Thunder Bay, where the most western
British American settlement has lately been established. From Thunder
Bay, a spot of great picturesque beauty, a good map will show us a
succession of lakes, joined by rivers, and known as Dog Lake, Lac des
Milles Lacs, Rainy Lake, and Lake of the Woods, the chain, extending
till the extensive Lake Winnipeg is reached, having again numberless
other lakes and rivers farther west. A journey of about eighty miles
beyond the extreme west of the lovely Lake of the Woods carries us to a
settlement of British people; not of people who have cast off their
allegiance to the British crown, but true subjects, who desire to live
under British laws and institutions, and to enjoy all the privileges
which Britons justly value as their birthright; yet it is not too much
to say that no community of the British race is more completely debarred
from the advantages possessed by Englishmen at large than are the
inhabitants of the settlement in question.
A glance at our map will show us a river rising in the State of
Minnesota, and running nearly due north, entering the British territory
at the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, and finally falling into Lake
Winnipeg. This is the Red River, and the British settlements on its
banks are known as the Selkirk, or Red River settlements. Here are
located about six thousand white inhabitants. The spiritual wants of
the people have not been neglected, and a bishop, called the Bishop of
Rupert's Land, and about eight Protestant clergymen are placed there,
besides a Roman Catholic bishop and several priests. The productions of
the district are valuable and numerous, and the climate, though cold
enough in winter to ensure a supply of snow, and very warm in summer, is
healthy in the extreme, and admirably adapted to British constitutions.
The Red River is navigable from the States to the settlements, and again
thence to Lake Winnipeg, from which there is a ramification of water
communication by lakes and rivers, navigable for steamers for many
hundred miles.
The Hudson's Bay Company have a strongly-fortified post at the junction
of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, called Fort Garry, which serves as
the citadel or capital of the settlements, for town or village there is
not. The general aspect of the country here is that of a rich level
prairie, with the river cutting its way tortuously through it towards
Lake Winnipeg, forming steep or cliff-like banks. Belts of trees,
however, are to be seen near the river, and woods scattered about, and
to the east ranges of hills, while along the sides of both rivers are
homesteads, substantial farm-houses, mills, stores, churches,
parsonages, and school buildings. These settlements are about four
hundred miles west of Thunder Bay, in Lake Superior, and the country for
this distance must be the first opened up, and about three hundred miles
of it is by far the most difficult part of the undertaking; yet the
engineering difficulties for forming such a road as is required are
trifling compared to those which have been overcome in numerous works in
Canada.
It is a country peculiarly of lakes, and rivers, and forests, the timber
being very fine. The timber, by means of the lakes and rivers, can be
carried to the settlements, while it is most valuable for the formation
of the roads, dams, canals, and villages about to be constructed. I am
speaking of the first three hundred miles of road to be formed, whether
that road is by lake, river, canal, or on the firm earth. The great
object is to get a way opened up with the greatest expedition and at the
least expense. Now let us turn our eyes west of the settlements, and we
shall see a belt of fertile land, in some places one hundred, in others
fifty miles wide, extending for eight hundred miles, to the very base of
the Rocky Mountains. This magnificent belt of land has already been
traversed from one end to the other by exploring expeditions, and
emigrant parties with carts, dragged by oxen travelling at the rate of
twenty miles a day. It is intersected by many rivers. The carts were
unladen, formed into rafts, and towed across; the cattle swam or waded.
The once declared impassable Rocky Mountains were passed with perfect
ease, in several places, and British Columbia entered.
To understand clearly the nature of the country, let us suppose
ourselves standing on the banks of the Red River, looking west. In
front we have the fertile belt stretching out before, us, consisting
chiefly of rich level prairie land, ascending gradually towards the
Rocky Mountains. Rivers and streams run directly across it at
intervals, invariably lined with trees, and here and there are forests
of considerable extent, though generally trees are found in small clumps
or copses, covering a few acres, having escaped the ravages of the fires
which destroyed the primeval forests.
On the left, running from west to east, there is the Assiniboine River,
connected by the Calling River with the south branch of the
Saskatchewan. On the right, extending in a north-easterly direction, is
a range of wood-covered mountains known as the Riding, Duck, and
Porcupine Mountains, and on the other side of these are three large
lakes, the Winnipeg, Manitobah, and Winnepegosis. Into the northern end
of the first falls the important river Saskatchewan, navigable by
steamers for two or more hundred miles, and, with certain breaks, up to
the very; foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Saskatchewan gives its name
to the greater portion of the fertile territory, which is known as the
valley of the Saskatchewan. This wonderful chain of rivers and lakes
abounds in a great variety of excellent fish, on which once numerous
tribes of natives entirely subsisted--so that they thus afford a
never-failing supply of food, abundant irrigation, and extensive water
inter-communication.
Compared with the latitude of the British North American Provinces, the
climate may be supposed to be severe, but it should be understood that
as the west is approached the climate improves, and the fact is that
near the Rocky Mountains, farther north, and at a far greater elevation,
the climate is not more severe than at the Red River. Thus there is
uniformity of temperature and natural productions throughout the
territory. The cold is great, but not greater than in Lower Canada, and
sometimes the winters are so mild that, as Mr Ross, an old settler,
states, he has known ploughs at work at Christmas. When spring begins,
the heat becomes considerable; thus all the productions of the earth
ripen with wonderful rapidity, and from sowing to harvest time is often
but three months.
Professor Hind, of the University of Toronto, stated some years ago that
the valley of the Saskatchewan, or rather the basin of Lake Winnipeg,
contains an area available for cultivation of eighty thousand square
miles--a territory very nearly as large as England--and that it is
capable of supporting an agricultural population exceeding fifteen
millions of souls. "The outlying patches of fertile land lying within
the limits of the great plains, together with the deep, narrow valleys
of the rivers which run through those arid regions (that is, to the
south of the fertile belt), the east flanks of the Rocky Mountains, and
the low lands in the region of the great lakes, might support another
ten millions, so that the present available area of arable soil--the
greater portion of which is susceptible of being at once turned up by
the plough--would sustain an agricultural population equal to that of
Prussia." Indeed, vast as is Canada, the professor's calculations show
an excess of land fitted for the permanent abode of man, in favour of
the basin of Lake Winnipeg over Prussia, before its recent accessions of
territory, of five million five hundred thousand acres. If the whole
quantity of land fit for cultivation in Canada were occupied, it would
sustain a population of eighteen millions, while in the same proportion
the territory under discussion would sustain nineteen millions of
people. Including the Red-men, who slaughter the buffaloes which roam
over its rich pastures for the sake of their skins alone, it scarcely
now supports twenty thousand souls.
As to the natural productions of this region, it may briefly be stated
to contain abundance of wood, stone, and clay for building; lignite in
many districts, and coal in others; iron of excellent quality, in the
neighbourhood of coal; salt, which has long been in use, the springs
being easy of access; and grasses, which afford rich fodder in abundance
throughout the winter season to large numbers of horses, and to many
cattle. "Within the limits of the fertile belt vast herds of buffalo
come in winter to feed and fatten on the rich natural grasses, which the
early frosts in autumn convert into nutritious hay." To sum up the
capabilities of the territory: It is an admirable grazing country, and
cattle and horses can remain out all the winter. Sheep thrive and
multiply. Pigs, where there are oak woods, if turned out, require no
looking after.
It must be understood that agricultural operations have for many years
been carried on at the Red River, and round the mission-stations and
trading-posts, and that the statements made are the results of actual
experience. Wheat is the staple produce. The ordinary yield is thirty
bushels to the acre, and oftentimes forty bushels. It is cut three
months from the date of sowing. Indian corn is very fine, and never
fails on dry lands. Root crops, especially potatoes, turnips, and beet,
yield abundantly, and attain large dimensions. The potato disease is
unknown. Garden vegetables grow luxuriantly, and equal those of Canada.
Barley and oats, when cultivated with care, yield as abundantly as
wheat. Of hay from the natural grasses an abundance can be made.
Tobacco is successfully cultivated. Hops, in great luxuriance, grow
wild. Ale is brewed with them at Red River. Hemp and flax have also
been successfully cultivated. A variety of fruits grow wild, such as
strawberries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries; so does rice.
Melons grown in the open air are very fine, and sugar, as in Canada, is
abundantly obtained from the maple-tree.
Again, considering the abundant supply of fish, and the various sorts of
game, large and small, from the buffalo and deer to the hare and rabbit,
it will be understood how amply the territory is provided by nature for
the support of a large population.
Of the Indians, there are scarcely forty thousand in the fertile belt
and wood and lake regions together, who chiefly subsist on buffalo flesh
and fish, and live in skin or birch-bark tents. The Prairie Indians
have large numbers of hones, while only some tribes of the Wood Indians
possess those animals. Some few have been converted to Christianity,
but the larger proportion retain all their heathen customs, though
generally they do not show any hostility to the whites. The Sioux
Indians, however, across the boundary line, from the treatment they have
received from the people of the United States, are determined enemies of
the white men and half-breeds.
But how, it may be asked, can this vast territory be peopled? By a
simple and easily carried out system. The object, in the first place,
is to establish a direct communication across it. A railroad is out of
the question for many years to come, and even a regular macadamised road
can scarcely be expected for some time, but we may well be content if we
can obtain a road over which a wheeled vehicle may travel some forty
miles in the day, and horsemen at still greater speed. In the first
instance, there must be settlements, and it is proposed to establish
them at about twenty-five miles apart, in a direct line from Lake
Superior to the Rocky Mountains. Grants of land with freedom from
taxation, and the certainty of obtaining ample employment, will quickly
attract settlers. In the first place, in each settlement a wheelwright
and cart-builder, a blacksmith, two or more carpenters, a painter and
glazier, a baker, a butcher, an innkeeper, and other artisans obviously
required on a great highway, would find employment. Several farmers and
agricultural labourers, and a market-gardener, would be wanted to supply
food. Stable-keepers, and grooms, and postilions may be named, and all
these would, of course, attract storekeepers, tailors, and shoemakers.
A police force, with small bodies of military pensioners, and perhaps a
few troops, might be stationed at intervals in the settlements along the
line. To these communities, with the aid of some navvies, might be
confided the duty of improving the road at first roughly marked out.
Bridges might be required over small streams, and ferries would
certainly be required over broad ones, and here boat-builders and
ferrymen would be called for.
It will thus be seen in what way the settlements can first be formed;
but before they are placed along the whole line, the more difficult part
of the country between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods must be
pierced through. Trees have to be cut down, rough places smoothed, and
bridges erected; and where the line is by water, dams have to be
constructed, landing-places formed, and steamers launched. Scarcely one
summer, however, would be required for the work; and it must be
remembered that the route in question has been traversed for years back,
and that, although heavy luggage cannot at present be carried that way,
passengers and light goods may be transported by canoes through the
lakes and rivers which have been described. The first settlement has
already been formed by the colonial government at Fort William, on
Thunder Bay. About forty miles to the west is the boundary line between
the British North American Confederation, which is destined ere long to
include the whole of British North America, and the Hudson's Bay
Company's territory.