DAYS IN THE WOODS 281 



twenty or thirty portages in some three hundred 

 miles. The fact, therefore, that it is better for 

 large boats than the Nelson, does not lead one to 

 form a very favourable estimate of the latter river. 



Even wdthout this direct communication by sea 

 with Europe, Manitoba and the western fertile 

 tract must become one of the most prosperous 

 regions of the earth ; and I think it affords a 

 better opening for farming industry at the present 

 time than any other district on the globe. If this 

 route proved practicable, the prosperity of the 

 country would be enormously increased ; and it 

 is to be sincerely hoped that the sanguine views 

 of some writers on the subject may not prove 

 fallacious. But until they are demonstrated to be 

 correct, it would be unwise to attach too much 

 importance to them. Disappointed immigrants 

 form but a dejected and heart-broken population, 

 and the strength of a young country was never 

 healthily fostered by delusive hopes, mistaken 

 statements, or thoughtless exaggeration. 



I have alluded to this vast fertile region only in 

 connection vidth the advantages it offers to the 

 grower of wheat, but it must not on that account 

 be supposed that it is unfitted in any way for the 

 raising of stock. On the contrary, it is a vast 



