CHANNEL OF THE ST LAWRENCE.

379

commerce of the river is destined to confer upon the province.

The geological structure of Lower Canada, to which I have already in general terms alluded, affects the navigable character of the St Lawrence below Quebec. I have described the strike of the beds on the south side of the river as running nearly parallel with the course of the river from Quebec to the district of Gaspé, and the inland country as consisting of parallel ridges of more or less hard rock, with intervening valleys of varying breadth and depth. The bed of the St Lawrence is of a similar character. The channel runs along the strike of the upturned metamorphic beds, and consists of alternate ridges and hollows, as the dry land. does. Where the ridges are elevated they form islands, rocks, and longitudinal reefs; while the valleys form the channels along which vessels proceed.

But from this description it will be understood that the deep water-channels, formed by the washing away of the softer parts or beds of rocks, must, such as these are, be irregular in width and direction. Where the river is broad, there may be several channels or parallel longitudinal valleys, any one or all of which may be interrupted by narrow and shallow reefs, which will render navigation intricate, difficult, and-when the tides run with great velocity-dangerous.

Such is really the case in the St Lawrence. About five miles below Quebec, the Isle d'Orleans divides the river into the north and south channels, and beyond this island, which has a length of twenty miles, it is divided into three irregular-the north, middle, and southchannels, by parallel ridges, the highest points of which form islands, and the lower, rocky or sandy reefs, visible only at low-water. Shoals also, at various points, stretch out from the south shore, which narrow and give still more intricacy to these channels. Hence, at a place

380

LIGHTHOUSES AND PROVISION-DEPOTS.

called the Traverse or Narrows, about fifty-five miles below Quebec, though the river is there thirteen miles wide, the channel usually selected by pilots is only 1800 yards in width, and, to add to the difficulty, the ebb-tide runs through it at the rate of seven, and the flood of five or six miles an hour, and there is no anchorage.

From such circumstances as this arises the risk usually understood to attend the navigation of the St Lawrence, and which is one cause of the higher rates of insurance usually demanded for vessels which sail to or from this river.

The mouth of the river also has its dangers; and among the consequences of these, the most distressing are the shipwrecks which occasionally occur, after the winter season has set in, and when unhappy crews, having saved their lives from the sea, are thrown upon frozen shores or islands, far from human sympathy, or necessary supplies of food, fuel, or clothing.

To obviate the dangers arising from the intricacy of the navigation, lighthouses have already been erected at various points; but the number of these is still insufficient; and a people who have expended the large sums I have mentioned in improving the upper parts of the river cannot hesitate-now that their sacrifices are beginning to be appreciated, and are likely to meet with their reward—to organise and maintain a sufficiently extensive lighthouse department, to give confidence and security to the navigator.

It is not more on behalf of humanity, than as a matter of wise economy, that I would suggest the establishment of fixed depôts of provisions, and other stores, in charge of the necessary number of people, at different points on the islands or coasts about the mouth of the St Lawrence, where shipwrecks most frequently occur-that those appalling evils may be averted, which to us, who live in more genial climes, appear among the most fearful to

CHAMBLY CANAL AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

381

The

which castaway mariners can be subjected. expense of such winter depôts would be only small, while they would create in the breasts of seamen such a feeling of confidence as would often prevent the disasters, the consequences of which they are designed to relieve.

No legislative interference, of course, can ward off icebergs from the banks of Newfoundland, or make the seas more safe in the bay of the St Lawrence, in early spring, and when winter approaches; but greater skill and care in the masters of vessels may lessen the casualties arising from these sources. The proposed examination of master mariners, the advantages of which have already been frequently discussed in the Home Parliament, will go some way towards securing this greater care and skill.

There is still one branch of the internal navigation of Canada which is likely to tend not only to the extension of the traffic on the St Lawrence, but to the improvement also of the general commerce of the province.

I have already spoken of the river Richelieu as flowing from Lake Champlain, in a northerly direction, through the once fertile flat country in which Chambly, St Hilaire, and other villages stand, and out of which rises Belœil, and the other isolated mountains, which add so much to the picturesque character of the district. This river falls into the St Lawrence at Sorel, forty-five miles below Montreal. From this point upwards to Lake Champlain, the Richelieu has been made navigable by the lock or dam of St Ours, and the canal of Chambly, extending a distance of eleven and a half miles from the town of Chambly to St John, between which places considerable interruptions occur in the bed of the river. This canal cost £120,000; and though it has hitherto returned comparatively little revenue, the state of the trade on the Erie Canal is likely very soon to give it an

382

FUTURE INFLUENCE OF CANADA.

important part of the traffic between the western country and New York.

I have already adverted to the excessive crowding of the Erie Canal, and the delays to which merchandise is occasionally in consequence subjected. But to descend to Montreal and Sorel is easy, and can be done without transhipment; and, in consequence of this and other advantages, it has been found that goods can by this route-down the St Lawrence, then up the Richelieu to Lake Champlain, and thence by canal to the river Hudson-be carried to New York as cheaply, and with more certainty as to time, than by the hitherto exclusive line of the Erie Canal. It may, therefore, be confidently predicted, that a portion of the internal traffic of the States will hereafter pass by the river Richelieu, and enrich and increase the value of land in the district through which it passes.

A shorter ship-canal has also been projected direct from Caughnawaga-opposite to Montreal, but above the rapids-direct to Lake Champlain. Should this be executed, there can be no doubt that much of the traffic between the western regions and the Atlantic borders would pass, without changing bottoms, in this direction— greatly adding, of course, to the income of the provincial canals, and to the commercial establishments and intercourse along the river.

On the whole, therefore, it appears certain that the river St Lawrence is destined ere long to become a most important medium of intercourse between the various sections of the New World, as well as between the Old World and the New, and to give to the province of Canada a far more extensive and commanding influence over the commercial operations of North America than any State east of Louisiana can ever aspire to.*

* I am happy to learn that, so far as the present year 1850 is concerned, the anticipations of the text have been fully confirmed. The revenue

FUTURE INFLUENCE OF CANADA.

383

I do not in this place introduce any remarks in relation to the railroad communications with the Atlantic which are now projected or in progress, as the observations I subsequently made in New Brunswick will naturally suggest some considerations in connection with this important means of colonial development.

from public works, during the first ten months of 1849, was £64,601, while, during the same ten months of 1850, it has been £76,672, an increase of nearly one-fifth. This, with the other abundant symptoms of prosperity experienced in the colony during the present year, will, I hope, hush the cry of discontent and disloyalty for some time to come.