The Increasing Interest Which Attaches To This Noble Colony Fully
Justifies Me In Devoting A Chapter To A Fuller Account Of Its State And
Capabilities Than Has Yet Been Given Here.
Canada extends from Gaspe, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Lake Superior.
Its shores are washed by the
Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and by the
river St. Lawrence as far as the 45th parallel of latitude; from thence
the river flows through the centre of the province to the sea. Canada is
bounded on the west and south by the Great Lakes and the United States; to
the east by New Brunswick and the ocean; and to the north by the Hudson's
Bay territory, though its limits in this direction are by no means
accurately defined. Canada is but a small portion of the vast tract of
country known under the name of British America, the area of which is a
ninth part of the globe, and is considerably larger than that of the
United States, being 2,630,163,200 acres.
Canada contains 17,939,000 occupied acres of land, only 7,300,000 of which
are cultivated; and about 137,000,000 acres are still unoccupied. Nearly
the whole of this vast territory was originally covered with forests, and
from the more distant districts timber still forms a most profitable
article of export; but wherever the land is cleared it is found to be
fertile in an uncommon degree. It is very deficient in coal, but in the
neighbourhood of Lake Superior mineral treasures of great value have been
discovered to abound.
Very erroneous ideas prevail in England on the subject of the Canadian
climate. By many persons it is supposed that the country is for ever
"locked in regions of thick-ribbed ice," and that skating and sleighing
are favourite summer diversions of the inhabitants. Yet, on the contrary,
Lower Canada, or that part of the country nearest to the mouth of the St.
Lawrence, has a summer nearly equalling in heat those of tropical
climates. Its winter is long and severe, frequently lasting from the
beginning of December until April; but, if the thermometer stands at 35°
below zero in January, it marks 90° in the shade in June. In the
neighbourhood of Quebec the cold is not much exceeded by that within the
polar circle, but the dryness of the air is so great that it is now
strongly recommended for those of consumptive tendencies. I have seen a
wonderful effect produced in the early stages of pulmonary disorders by a
removal from the damp, variable climate of Europe to the dry, bracing
atmosphere of Lower Canada. Spring is scarcely known; the transition from
winter to summer is very rapid; but the autumn or fall is a long and
very delightful season. It is not necessary to dwell further upon the
Lower Canadian climate, as, owing to circumstances hereafter to be
explained, few emigrants in any class of life make the Lower Province more
than a temporary resting-place.
From the eastern coast to the western boundary the variations in climate
are very considerable. The peninsula of Canada West enjoys a climate as
mild as that of the state of New York. The mean temperature, taken from
ten years' observation, was 44°, and the thermometer rarely falls lower
than 11° below zero, while the heat in summer is not oppressive. The peach
and vine mature their fruit in the neighbourhood of Lake Ontario, and
tobacco is very successfully cultivated on the peninsula between Lake Erie
and Lake Huron. It seems that Upper Canada, free from the extremes of heat
and cold, is intended to receive a European population. Emigrants require
to become acclimatised, which they generally are by an attack of ague,
more or less severe; but the country is extraordinarily healthy; with the
exception of occasional visitations of cholera, epidemic diseases are
unknown, and the climate is very favourable to the duration of human life.
The capabilities of Canada are only now beginning to be appreciated. It
has been principally known for its vast exports of timber, but these
constitute a very small part of its wealth. Both by soil and climate Upper
Canada is calculated to afford a vast and annually-increasing field for
agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Wheat, barley, potatoes, turnips,
maize, hops, and tobacco, can all be grown in perfection. Canada already
exports large quantities of wheat and flour of a very superior
description; and it is stated that in no country of the world is there so
much wheat grown, in proportion to the population and the area under
cultivation, as in that part of the country west of Kingston. The grain-
growing district is almost without limit, extending as it does along the
St. Lawrence, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, to Windsor, with a vast expanse
of country to the north and west. The hops, which are an article of recent
cultivation, are of very superior quality, and have hitherto been
perfectly free from blight.
Vast as are the capabilities of Canada for agricultural pursuits, she also
offers great facilities for the employment of capital in manufacturing
industry, though it is questionable whether it is desirable to divert
labour into these channels in a young country where it is dear and scarce.
The streams which intersect the land afford an unlimited and very
economical source of power, and have already been used to a considerable
extent. Lower Canada and the shores of the Ottawa afford enormous supplies
of white pine, and the districts about Lake Superior contain apparently
inexhaustible quantities of ore, which yields a very large percentage of
copper. We have thus in Canada about 1400 miles of territory, perhaps the
most fertile and productive ever brought under the hands of the
cultivator; and as though Providence had especially marked out this
portion of the New World as a field for the enterprise of the European
races, its natural facilities for transit and communication are nearly
unequalled.
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