GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



THE BALLOON AS AN AID TO EX- 

 PLORATION 



IT might not be inappropriate at the 

 present time, in view of M. Santos 

 Dumont's success in aerial navigation, 

 to recall the argument of the famous 

 American aeronaut Wise in favor of the 

 use of balloons in exploration. 



" If, for instance," writes Mr. Wise, 

 in "A System of Aeronautics." 1850, 

 ' ' we take a balloon of limited size, about 

 18 feet in diameter each way, it will, 

 when inflated with hydrogen gas, be 

 capable of raising 160 pounds, inde- 

 pendent of its own weight. Now, if 

 this be so fastened to a man's body, as 

 not to interfere with the free use of his 

 arms and legs, he ma)^ then ballast him- 

 self so as to be a trifle heavier than the 

 upward tendency of the balloon, which 

 will be nearly in equilibric." 

 ' ' He ma}' then bound against the earth 

 with his feet so as to make at least a 

 hundred yards at each bound. 



" This the writer has often done, in 

 the direction of a gentle wind, with, the 

 aid of his feet alone, after his balloon had 

 descended to the earth ; and, on one oc- 

 casion, traversed a pine forest of several 

 miles in extent, b}' bounding against the 

 tops of the trees. Such a contrivance 

 would be of inestimable value to explor- 

 ing expeditions. I^andings to otherwise 

 inaccessible mountains ; escapes from 

 surrounding icebergs ; explorations of 

 volcanic craters; traversing vast swamps 

 and morasses ; walking over lakes and 

 seas ; bounding over isthmuses, straits, 

 and promontories, or ex]:)loring the 

 cloud-capped peaks of Chimborazo, 

 could thus all be easily accomplished. ' ' 



POPULATION OF CANADA 



THE population of the Dominion of 

 Canada is given by the recent cen- 

 sus as 5,338,883, an increase of 505,644, 

 or about io}4 per cent, during the last 



ten years. The population of the prov- 

 inces is as follows : 



Provinces. 1891. 19:1. 



British Columbia 98,173 190,000 



Manitoba 152,506 246,464 



New Brunswick 321,263 331,093 



Nova Scotia 450,396 459,116 



Ontario 2, 114,321 2, 167,978 



Prince Edward Island. . . . 109,078 103,258 



Quebec 1,488,535 1,620,974 



Territories 66,799 i45,ooo 



Unorganized territories. . . 32,168 75, 000 



The population of the principal cities 

 of Canada, by municipal boundaries, is 

 as follows : 



cities. 1891. 1901. 



Montreal 220, 181 266,826 



Toronto 181,220 207,971 



Quebec 63,090 68,834 



Ottawa 4-1,154 59,902 



Hamilton 48,980 52,550 



Winnipeg 25,639 42,336 



Halifax 38,495 40,787 



St. John 39,179 40, 7 1 1 



London 31, 977 37,983 



Victoria 16,841 20,821 



Kingston 19,263 18,040 



Vancouver 13,709 26,196 



Brantford 12,753 16,631 



Hull 11,264 13,988 



Charlottetown ii,373 12,080 



Valleyfield 5,515 11,055 



Sherbrooke 10,097 11,765 



Sydney 2,427 9,908 



Moncton 5,165 9,026 



Calgary 3,876 12,142 



Brandon 3,778 5,738 



A Study of the population by families 

 compared with 1891 is very interesting. 

 In nearl}' every province the per cent of 

 increase by families is considerably 

 greater than the per cent of increase of 

 the actual population. 



Provinces. 1891. 1901. 



British Columbia • 20,718 30,000 



Manitoba 31,786 48,590 



New Brunswick 58,462 62,700 



Nova Scotia 83,730 89,106 



Ontario 414,796 451,839 



Prince Edward Island iS,6oi 18,746 



Quebec 271,991 303,301 



Territories 14,415 29,500 



Unorganized territories 32,168 75,000 



