From the Pacific to Hudson's Bay. 309 



" The crossing of Pine River below the Lower Forks would be 

 1,200 feet wide, and seventy feet above the river, and some heavy 

 work might be expected along the river slopes in gaining the 

 plateau to the eastward. 



" Finally, the following may be noted as the salient facts ascer- 

 tained from this exploration, viz. : — That a depression occurs in the 

 Rocky Mountain range, extending from 55° 15', to 55° 45', north 

 latitude. That a pass exists in this depression which, together 

 with its approaches from east and west, is, with respect to railway 

 construction, of a generally favourable character. That the summit 

 of this pass is 2,440 feet above the level of the sea, which summit, 

 for the sake of convenient comparison, it may be observed, is 1,293 

 feet lower than that of the Yellowhead Pass ; 1,065 feet lower than 

 the watershed between the Fraser and Homathco Rivers ; 660 feet 

 lower than the summit to Dean Channel ; and, to carry the compari- 

 son a little farther, 5,802 feet lower than the highest point on the 

 Union Pacific Railway." 



We have now to examine the country from the Pine River to 

 Churchill on Hudson's Bay, and see what its advantages for railway 

 construction are, and to note some of its requirements from the 

 standpoint of cheap transportation. This will complete our obser- 

 vations of the country traversed by the proposed transcontinental 

 Short Line from the Pacific Coast to Europe, via the Pine River 

 Pass and the Hudson's Bay route. We may then turn our attention 

 to the great valleys of the Saskatchewan and the Red Rivers, and 

 point out their attractions and the necessity existing for speedy 

 railway connection between them and the shores of Hudson's Bay. 



