Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/683

Rh along the N. bank of the St. Lawrence river, near its margin, from the Labrador coast to Cape Tourment, near Quebec. From this point the range recedes N., running 60 m. behind Quebec and 30 m. behind Montreal. Thence, following the line of the Ottawa for a distance of 150 m. from Montreal, it crosses that river at Lac du Chat; then taking the opposite direction, it returns S. to the St. Lawrence, a little below the point at which Lake Ontario discharges its waters into that river. From this point it runs in a N. W. direction to the S. E. extremity of Georgian bay; then forming the E. shore of that bay, it passes beyond to lat. 47° N.; whence, taking a W. direction, it passes Lake Superior, and runs in a N. W. direction to the Polar sea. This range crosses the St. Lawrence at the point where it returns to it after crossing the Ottawa; and the Thousand Islands, which there stud the former river, may be considered as so many of its fragments. Between this point and Lake Champlain it comprises the Adirondack mountains. On the S. side of the St. Lawrence, commencing near the E. extremity at Gaspé, is another range of mountains, which is considerably broken, running parallel with the river, and passing higher up through the Green mountains of Vermont into the higher range of the Alleghanies, which divide the waters of the Ohio from those of the Atlantic. On the river Chatte one of the peaks has an elevation of 3,768 ft. The Laurentian series of mountains, on the N. side of the St. Lawrence, have at some points an elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 ft. This elevation is attained between Quebec and Lake St. John; but this is at a point where the rivers, including the Jacques Cartier, are 3,000 ft above the level of the St. Lawrence, and in general the range is much lower. The height of land which divides the affluents of the St. Lawrence from those of Hudson bay is far from presenting a continuous mountain range. It consists for the most part of a ridge of table land, on which the sources of the waters which run N. and S. interlock and overlap one another, sometimes for considerable distances. At some points the heights have now been ascertained by actual survey. At the W. end of Portage du Prairie, above Lake Superior, the elevation is 1,520 ft. above the level of the sea. The ridge decreases in height eastward. The highest point in the peninsula of Ontario, along the line of the Great Western railroad, is about 700 ft. above Lake Ontario. A line surveyed on the plateau of Lake Erie shows an elevation of only 200 ft. at the highest point above Lake Ontario. The altitude of the valley of the Red river is about 680 ft. above the sea level.—Viewing the country as a whole, Canada may be said to be open on the Atlantic and the Pacific, and the whole widely extended northern frontier of the United States, with which it is coterminous; for where the dividing line is not hydrographical, there are scarcely any natural boundaries. On the north the country

is closed by the Arctic sea and practically inaccessible. The river St. Lawrence, which brings down the waters of six lakes (for to the five on the frontier Nipigon in the north must be added), is the great natural entrance and outlet of the country. This river is navigable for seagoing vessels as far as Montreal, a distance of nearly 600 miles. Above Montreal several extensive rapids occur. They can be descended by the largest steamers which navigate Lake Ontario; but as no force of steam is sufficient for their ascent, it has been necessary to construct canals, near the sides of the river, to overcome them. These canals, with that intended to overcome the falls of Niagara—the Welland—have been constructed at a cost to the province of $15,000,000, the whole of them having been directly built as government works. By the aid of these canals, and that constructed at the Sault Ste. Marie, between Lakes Huron and Superior, vessels may descend from the head of the latter lake into the ocean; and as a matter of fact, several vessels have gone from Chicago, on Lake Michigan, to Liverpool; but it is a question if this combined lake and ocean navigation will ever become general. The Saskatchewan, which takes its rise in the Rocky mountains and empties into Hudson bay, through Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson river, is about 1,800 m. long; but from the interruptions to navigation near its mouth, and the high latitude in which it lies, it is only the upper section, or Saskatchewan proper, that is valuable for navigation. The Mackenzie, which has a course over 10° of latitude, has the disadvantage of connecting with the Arctic ocean.—Canada has not the same varieties of climate that some countries of much smaller extent enjoy; but the distribution of large bodies of fresh water saves it from the evils of aridity and sterility. The St. Lawrence and the connecting lakes above are estimated to contain 12,000 cubic miles of water. Besides these, there are thousands of lakes in Canada further north, some very large and others of which the size is only very imperfectly known. The region of summer droughts lies between the parallel of 49° and Bow river, the S. branch of the Saskatchewan; at the base it extends between the meridians 104° and 114°, rounding off in a cone-like shape on the north, with its apex about the meridian of 108°. The northern extremity of the chief wheat zone, commencing in the east at the parallel of 50°, on the N. side of the St. Lawrence, near its mouth, is deflected a little to the south, when it reaches as far W. as James's bay; it then takes a general N. W. course till it strikes the parallel of 60° at its intersection with the meridian of 101°; from which point to the Pacific it has the form of a bow slightly bent northward, both ends of which rest on the parallel of 60°. The northern limit of grains and grasses, crossing James's bay in lat. 52°, takes a N. W. course till it attains to nearly 70°, at the meridian of 132°. The wheat zone covers