IMPORTANCE OF CENTRAL BRITISH AMERICA. 415 
depth likely to become well settled north of Lake Ontario and the 
River St. Lawrence is 120 miles. On the banks of the Ottawa and 
some of its tributaries, and of the St. Maurice, this distance may ul- 
timately be increased by a few miles, bnt on the shores of Lakes Hu- 
ron and Superior it is far from probable that any but thin and sparse 
agricultural settlements are possible, even in the rear of the Lakes. 
Excluding the peninsula portion of Western Canada, the average depth 
of the country available for agricultural settlements does not ex- 
ceed 75 miles between Quebec and Fort William. Excluding the 
North Shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, we have the probable 
limits of Canada as an agricultural country, defined by a frontier 
800 miles long by 100 miles deep, on an average, on the north 
side of the St. Lawrence. All the best land in Canada is sold; in 
what direction then can British settlements extend by immigration P 
assuming that the natural increase of the present population is 
sufficient to occupy the profitable wild lands already owned by 
private individuals. The fact is, that Canada is really nothing 
more than a narrow fertile stripe, 1000 miles long and 75 miles 
broad on an average,—backed by an undulating mountainous region, 
susceptible only of agricultural settlements in valleys neither nu- 
merous nor broad, considering the immense area occupied by this 
region. 
_ Itis clear then, that in order to preserve our nationality in the face of 
the astonishing strides towards wealth and political importance 
which have been made by the United States, we must strengthen our 
position by extending British civilization where there is room for it 
to grow and expand. 
The North, ay an agricultural region, is practically closed against 
us by the conditions of soil and climate, although it contains abun- 
dance of inert wealth, which may. yet become productive and 
valuable. 
The Hast is already preoccupied: the West alone remains to us. 
We are separated from Central British America by six degrees of 
longitude, which must be traversed before we can reach a region 
possessing a soil of remarkable fertility, and occupying a greater 
extent of surface than the whole available portion of Canada; 
abounding also in iron ores of the richest description, salt, and lig- 
nite coal, and almost entirely unoccupied by man. This barrier has 
frequently been upheld as an insuperable objection to a practicable: 
