Page:Quarterlyoforego10oreg 1.djvu/34

 26 Joseph Schafer trading post of Fort William, situated in about 48° 30 min. N. Lat., and 89° W. Long., and Red River Settlement, at the outlet of Red River into Lake Winipeg, in 50° N. Lat. and 97° W. Long., are the only two points where such protection appears at present necessary or desirable, and at those places military posts could be more advantageously situated than in any part of the Indian country east of the Rocky Mountains. As regards the means of transport, troops, ordnance, mili- tary stores, etc., etc., could be conveyed to the Kaministaquoia River from Canada in steam or sailing vessels. The inter- course with the Sault is now so great that for many years past there has been a constant communication during the sea- son of open water, by steam and sailing vessels, to that point, and the Hudson's Bay Company have a sufficient number of decked and open craft on Lake Superior for any amount of transport that might be required as far as the Kaministaquoia River. The soil and climate of the banks of the Kaministaquoia are favorable for the production of various descriptions of grain, potatoes and garden stuffs, with pasturage for any quantity of cattle, and an inexhaustible supply of very fine fish in its immediate vicinity. There is a water communication of about 700 to 800 miles from the Kaministaquoia to Red River Settlement, through which you are now passing, but, owing to the obstruction arising from rapids and falls, it is practicable only for craft that can be carried over such obstructions, usually known as "portages." Bark canoes, capable of conveying 15 soldiers and about 30 cwt. of baggage and provisions, which can be navigated and carried across the portages by four men, are the most suitable craft for half that distance, say from the mouth, of the Kaministaquoia to Lac La Pluie, and boats capable of carrying 30 men with their provisions and luggage, can be employed from thence to Red River. If the troops were to render the quantum of assistance in working these craft which has frequently been afforded by women in the