332 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



through rugged and difficult country. The Vermilion 

 Pass, which is the lowest, is 4,944 feet above the 

 level of the sea, or above 1,000 feet higher than the 

 Leather Pass ; and although Dr. Hector states (^) 

 that a road might be constructed across it without 

 material difficulty, it is open to the same objection 

 as the rest, that it communicates with the valley of 

 the Columbia, far to the south of the gold regions 

 of Cariboo, passes through the battle-ground of the 

 Crees and Blackfeet, and is in unsafe proximity 

 to the American frontier. 



The principal advantages to be urged in favour of 

 the southern passes, appear to be that they com- 

 municate with more open country on either side, 

 that pasturage is plentiful along the road, and 

 that from their lower latitude they are liable to be 

 blocked up by snow for a somewhat shorter period. 

 Against these the claims of the route by Jasper 

 House may be briefly summed up as follows : — First, 

 it offers the most direct line from Canada to Cariboo, 

 communicating with the road on the Eraser by the 

 shortest route, since Tete Jaune Cache is in lati- 

 tude 52 deg. 58 min., Eichfield Cariboo in latitude 

 53 deg. 3 min. 9 sec. (^) Secondly, it is the only 

 one which will afford easy communication with all 

 the gold districts of British Columbia. Thirdly, 

 it passes entirely through a country inhabited only 

 by peaceable and friendly Indians. Fourthly, it is 



(^) Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860 ; Dr. Hector's 

 Beport. 



(") From the observations of Dr. Rae. 



