OBSERVATIONS IN CANADIAN WATERS. 99 



The heavy losses annually incurred through ignorance of these currents, have been 

 referred to, and the practicability of obtaining- the necessary knowledge has been shewn ; it 

 only remains to consider the cost, and to compare it with that of our present ignorance. 

 The loss to the country from the loss of life it is impossible to estimate. One canno! but 

 shudder, however, in trying to picture what might happen in the case of large passenger 

 vessels, having accommodation for 1,000 steerage passengers or more. An accurate esti- 

 mate of the cost could only be obtained from officers engaged in similar work. Still, 

 enough can be ascertained to show how small it would be compared with the great gain 

 to the commerce of the country. In fact, if only a single ocean steamer of moderate size 

 were saved in a dozen of years, by the knowledge acquired, the gain to the community 

 would possibly exceed all the money spent on the survey. Take the instance of the S. S. 

 " Lartington," for example— a vessel of 1,136 tons, and in whi<h the value of the vessel 

 alone, without cargo, is set down as $ltj5,000— or take the steamer " Cedar Grove," which 

 was wrecked less than three years ago, viz., November, 1882, on Cape Island, Canso, 

 causing a loss of $160,000. These are examples of what I mean by vessels of moderate 

 size. But it must be remembered that much larger vessels arc common, and are becom- 

 ing more common every year. There are probably as many vessels of 4,000 or 5,000 tons 

 " gross " tonnage now in the Canadian trade, as there were of 2,000 or 3,000 not many 

 years ago, the cost being very great. The "Parisian," I am informed on the best 

 authority, cost, when new, |750,000, and there are other vessels, nearly if not quite as 

 large, in the trade ; even larger vessels are being built. I will not refer to such vessels, 

 but from a knowledge of their value we can readily understand how, in some instances, 

 the loss of a valuable cargo, along with the vessel, may have amounted to a million of 

 dollars ; compared with even one such loss, the cost of a survey would be small. 



I have heard the argument stated that this question really concerns insurance com- 

 panies more than shipowners, and that the insurance companies have no reason to com- 

 plain, because they make a profit on the whole. This argument would hardly be worth 

 noticing, were it not that I believe it to be really influential in producing indifference to 

 the subject. It is evident that the insurance companies are merely agencies for distribut- 

 ing the loss, which might ruin a single firm, over a larger area. The premiums paid by 

 the shipowners are merely their contributions towards the general loss, and it is quite 

 clear that the insurance companies, to whatever country they belong, would not carry on 

 a losing business. If they found one particular branch a source of loss, they would cer- 

 tainly terminate their business there. It is hardly necessary to say this to show that the 

 loss by wrecks of vessels coming to Canada falls inevitably on the people of Canada, and 

 that it is therefore their interest to make it as small as possible, by supplying the usual 

 means for diminishing the risks of navigation. 



I have only to remark, in conclusion, that it is obvious that it would not be well to 

 limit the meaning of the term, " Canadian waters," too strictly. Every year, there are 

 serious losses to Canadian vessels, by currents that throw them on the coast of Newfound- 

 land, more especially in St. Mary's Bay (St. Shott's.) These currents might well be subject 

 to investigation. The tides and currents of the Pacific coast, of course, come under the 

 heading also. Of these very little is known, and as the opening of the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway, with the probability of a line of Trans-Pacific steamers in connection with it 

 will no doubt make them of great importance, it will be well to prepare for this com 



