164 é ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
harvest of valuable furs and carrying westward, into the otherwise path- 
less wilds of our vast interior, the various kinds of merchandise which 
formed the staple of trade with the savages of the great western wilder- 
ness. Up to comparatively recent years, when, through the advent of 
railway and steamboat communication, it has gradually fallen into dis- 
use, it thus formed the main artery of traftic, the sheltered nature of its 
water stretches and the directness and shortness of the route recom- 
mending it at a time when the light birch canoe of the Indian trader 
formed the chief, and often the only, means of conveyance between the 
scattered hamlets of the sparsely settled country. These same potent 
reasons have likewise, in more recent years, been advanced by advocates 
of the projected through water-way, who saw in this route the most feas- 
ible line for an improved direct canal system between the waters of the 
great lakes and the St. Lawrence. Acting under instructions, therefore, 
from the Commissioner of Public Works, Mr. Walter Shanly, C.E., in 
1856-57, made a detailed examination of the route contemplated, and 
pronounced most enthusiastically in favour of the scheme. In 1858-59’ 
another examination was made by Mr. T. C. Clarke, C.E., in accordance 
with instructions from the Commissioner of Public Works, and he also 
reported in favour of the undertaking. The details of the surveys and 
estimates of the expense can be found fully stated in the reports of these 
engineers. 
The discussion of the proposed canal route naturally falls under two 
heads, viz., that which pertains strictly to the engineering problems 
involved, and in which the public at large are more directly interested, 
and, secondly, that in which the great problems of Archean geology are 
presented. For the consideration of the latter, probably no better section 
is anywhere presented; since it traverses the great development of the 
older crystallines, nearly at right angles to their strike, for several hun- 
dreds of miles. For nearly half a century the limestones and gneisses of 
the area along the Ottawa and the rivers west to Lake Huron have been 
studied by some of the ablest geologists both of Canada and of the United 
States, and the great variety of rocks here presented, including the strati- 
fied gneissic and calcareous series, as well as the great variety of intru- 
sives which are associated with these, furnish materials for the satisfactory 
solution of some of the most interesting and important questions in geolo- 
gical science. As for the engineering aspect of the question, it falls for 
the most part beyond the scope of this paper ; but it is thought that a 
brief sketch of the principal physical features presented by the several 

1 Report of Walter Shanly, Esq., ‘ On the Ottawa Survey,” Toronto, March 22, 
1858. Also, ‘Report on the Ottawa and French River Navigation Project,” pub- 
lished by order of the Montreal Board of Trade, 1863. 
2 Return of the Recent Survey and Report of the Engineers on the Ottawa Ship 
Canal,” Quebec, 1860, Thos. C. Clarke. 
