The west shore., December 01, 1885, Page 367, Image 17

THE WEST SHORE.'-
3C7
a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the general govern
ment The confederation grow out of the natural desire
of the people of the disconnected provinoos to unite for
their metn.nl benefit and to sociue a IwlUr form of self,
government To the urgent demand for the privilege of
oonfodorating, the Brititth rrliamont responded in 18(17
by passing an act known as "The British North Ameri
can Act," providing for the voluntary union of the various
provinces in North Amorica under the name of the
"Dominion of Canada," ceding to the Dominion all the
vast unsettled area of British America formerly domi
nated by the Hudson's Bay ComjMiny, with powor to
create new provinces aud admit thorn into the uuiou
when sulliciently populated, similar in principle to the
custom of admitting now States into the American Union.
The act wont into operation on the 1st of July, 1867,
the provinces of N jva Scotia aud New Brunswick uuiting
with Upper and Lower Canada, or, as thereafter known,
Ontario and Quebec This uuiou of the inland aud
maritime provinoos gave to Canada an inixrtanoe she
had never before possessed. The United States had now
on hor northern boundary, from ocean to oeoau, a uoarly
independent nation of considerable strength and wealth,
and one which would naturally develop and expand at a
rapid rata In 1870 the Province of Manitoba was ad
mitted to the confederation, having been carvod out of
that iMrtion of tho territory lying on both sidi of the
lied River of tho North, embracing tho oity of Wiuuipeg
aud the old Rod Rivor settlements of the Hudson's Bay
Company. In 1871 tho large and protuMirous Province of
British Columbia was added, consisting of all that region
lying k'twoeu the Rocky Mountains and tho Pacific, in
eluding the numerous largo islands fringing the count,
aud extending from the United States to and beyond the
southern limit of Alaska. Prince Edward Island joiued
the confederation in 1872, but Newfoundland, including
a ortion of Labrador, has not yet uuitcd, although pro
vision was mado for its doing so in the original act of
Parliament
The population of the Dominion approximates 6,(M)0,000
Caucasians, of whom about one-fourth are of direct
French descent, the remainder being chiefly of English,
Scotch and Irish extraction, or immigrants from those
countries. Germany is well represented, and every na
tion in Euroe has contribute I its quota to swill tho
populutiou. Of Iudiaus there is an estimated population
of 8,r,000. About one-third of theso live in the older
proviuoes and Lave been long since gathered into settlo
tneuU under the care of oflicers of the Indian Depart
ment, in some cases having industrial schools aud other
organizations to aid them in their progress toward a
higher civilisation. Missions under the care of different
denominations have been established among these as
well as tribes not yet gathered on reserves, and their
schools are disseminating knowledge among the younger
generation. Canada baa always had good fortune in hor
doalings with the native tribes, and baa seldom experi
enced the bloody Indian wars so common south of the
bouudary. The recent trouble with the French-Canadian
hnlt-brocxls in the Saskatchewan oountry, in whioh a
uumlier of Indiana participated, grow out of land difficul
ties of long stnudiui The natives hsv rr jrT"S
turbulent, and the policy of tho government is calculated
to enoourago them in peaceful relations towards the
whites. Iu tho Uuited States Indians are supported in
idleness by tho govommout, and being subject to official
mismanagement, to a failure of food and clothing supply
through want of sufficient appropriations by Congress,
cnrolcsHuess by officials or peculation by agents, aa well
as interference with their guaranteed privileges by irre
sponsible people, they frequently ars goaded Into hostilU
ties. These fruitful causes of trouble are aWnt in
Canada, the policy of tho government being to require
the nativoa to take oaro of themselves. The result is
Hint in tho older settlements the natives aro employed in
various industries, especially in fishing on both the At
lantic and Pacific ooasta, end as settlements progress
they are gradually converted from idlonoes to bnbita of
industry.
Tho variations of tho Canadian climate are less than
iu ninny countries of much smaller extent But through
out nearly its whole area Canada is characterised by
greater boat iu summer aud a much lower teinorature
iu whiter than in oorreiqionding Eurojionn latitudes. Its
general character is level, though it includes the Rocky
Mouutaina, with tho picturesque and diversified region
lying between them and the Pacific, and the Lauroutinn
Range, continued northward to tho Arctic Ocean.
Besides the great lakes which find their outlet through
the St Lawronco to the sea, there are thousands of lakes
throughout Canada, maiiy of them of largo dimensions.
Foremost among those is Lake Winnipeg. The two great
branches of the Saskatchewan take their rise in the
Rocky Mountains, and, after uniting their streams, flow
into tho lake, which also reoeivos the Assluihoiu, the Red
River aud other smaller rivets. The St Ijawrouee and
the great lakes, of which it is tho outlet, are estimated
to contain 12,000 cubic miles of water; and the Niagara
Falls, which constitute tha main feature in the desoeut
from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, are on a scale oorumeu.
surate with this vast fresh water system of rivers aud
lakes. The River Niagara issues from Lake Erie in
broad, tranquil stream, varying in breadth from one to
three miles, and continuing through a course of about
fifteen miles, with a fall of little more than a foot per
mila But on reaching the rapid the descent is sud
denly increase! to about eighty feet in less than a mile
before the waters reach the grand leap of about 105 feet
perMMidiou!nr over the greet falls. Tha Horseshoe Fall,
on tho Canadian side, is upwards of third of a mile
broad. Between this and the American Fall Goat Island
intervenes; and then another volume of water, about (UK)
feet wide, plunges with like abruptness luto the abyss
below. The great breadth as compared with the height
of the falls tuuds in some degree to mislead the eye in
the first impression produced, and it is only by slow de.
(frees that the mind ia brought to an adequate estimate
of the grandeur of the scene. The river paaaee over the