394 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



in great measure of swamp and forest, and consider- 

 able outlay and labour would be required to render it 

 passable. But Professor Hind (^) has satisfactorily 

 proved that the difficulties are far from insuperable, 

 and not worthy of consideration in view of the mag- 

 nificent results which would follow its successful 

 accomplishment. In California and British Columbia, 

 w^here far greater obstacles have been successfully 

 overcome, such objections w^ould be considered light 

 indeed. 



Nearly 200 years have elapsed since Cavalier 

 de la Sale conceived the project of opening a com- 

 munication between the Atlantic and Pacific by a 

 route across the continent, and in pursuit of this 

 scheme, in 1731, the French Canadians were the 

 first to reach the Pocky Mountains. Since then the 

 subject has been repeatedly brought before the notice 

 of the Government and the public. 



The dream of the old enthusiasts, of thus reach- 

 ing China and Japan, is on the point of being 

 reahsed — not by Frenchmen or Englishmen, but 

 by Americans. They have already made the road 

 across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 and as we write, the intelligence has arrived that 

 a bill has passed the United States Congress, grant- 

 ing a subsidy for the establishment of a line of 

 steamers between San Francisco and Hongkong. 



A^ictoria, with the magnificent harbour of Esqui- 



(^) Vide " Overland Eoute to British Columbia," by Henry Youle 

 Hind, M.A., F.R.G.S., and "Narrative of Canadian Exploring Ex- 

 pedition," by the same Author; also Captain Palliser's Keport in the 

 *' Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society for 1860." 



