476 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



myriads of islands, is magnificently bold, is pierced by fiords 

 unexcelled in Norway and crowned by mountains higher than 

 any others east of the Rockies. Hamilton inlet runs in 150 

 miles. At Ramah the cliffs rise sheer 3,500 ft. and more. 

 The Four Peaks, still untrodden by the foot of man, rise 

 more than twice as high again. And the coloration, of 

 every splendid hue, adds beauty to the grandeur of the 

 scene. Inland there are lakes up to 100 miles long, big 

 rivers by the score, deep canyons and foaming rapids — to say 

 nothing of the countless waterfalls, of which the greatest equals 

 two Niagaras. This vast country is accessible by sea on three 

 sides and will soon be accessible by land on the fourth. It lies 

 directly half-way between Great Britain and our own North- 

 West and is 1,000 miles nearer London than New York is. Its 

 timber, mines and water-power will be increasingly exploited. 

 It should also become increasingly attractive to the best type 

 of tourist, naturalist and sportsman. But supposing all this 

 does happen. The mines, water-powers and lumbering will 

 only create small towns and villages. There will surely be 

 some conservation to have the forests used and not abused, 

 especially by fire : and the white man should remember that he 

 is the worst of all in turning a land from green to black. 

 Except in the south-west and a few isolated spots, the country 

 cannot be farmed. At the same time, the urban population 

 must have communications with the outside world by which 

 regular supplies can come in. This will make the settlers 

 independent of wild life for necessary food ; and wild life, in 

 any case, would be too precarious if exploited in the usual way. 

 The traders in wild-animal products, as well as the naturalists, 

 sportsmen and tourists, are interested in keeping the rest of the 

 country well stocked. So that, one way and another, the 

 human and wild-animal life will not conflict, as they do where 

 farming creates a widespread rural population or wanton 

 destruction of forests ruins land and water and human and 

 animal life have to suffer for it afterwards. All the different 

 places required for business spheres of influence in the near 

 future, added to all the business spheres of the present, can 

 hardly exceed the area of one whole England, especially if all 

 suitable areas are not thrown open simultaneously to lumbering, 

 at the risk of the usual bad results. So there will remain ten 

 other Engiands, admirably fitted, in all respects, to grow wild 



