PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 85 



since 1867 to the provincial work, one state, New York, exceeds the whole in 

 quantity of matter. Pray notice that I am not discussing in any manner the re- 

 spective value of the work itself. I am very anxious to impress the legislatures of 

 the Canadian provinces as to their shortcomings, and in order to do so I shall at the 

 risk of wearying you, press the point still further. If one were to look 'over a 

 collection of reports on geology and palicoutology of the various states he could at 

 once count between 75 and 100 quarto volumes illustrated with line maps and 

 literally many hundreds of plates describing many thousands of fossils and other 

 things of course besides fossils. And then turning to octavo volumes, similar to 

 our ow^n, I should be afi-aid to say how many hundred volumes he could count, but 

 the total result would satisfy you that I am warranted in saying that we stand dis- 

 graced until we bestir ourselves and show that we possess ordinary intelligence 

 regarding such matters. I shall not further hurt our pride as Canadians by com- 

 paring our position with that of many South American republics whose limited 

 civilization we are wont to deplore. 



We now come to the work done by the Geological and Natural History Survey 

 of the Dominion. Although the series of publications from 1843 to date is unbroken 

 I have separated them in order to consider the work done by the Dominion 

 Government apart from that of the old Province of Canada. The change which 

 was caused by Confederation was of very great importance, although it does not 

 seem to have impressed itself on the Canadian jjeople. Just before Confederation 

 we had in operation a survey of what now constitutes portions of ( )ntario and 

 Quebec, which would have year by year become more minute in its character until 

 we reached such results as those obtained in many of the States where each county 

 is reported upon so fully that the nature of its water courses, the character of its 

 soil, the area of its forests, the value of its minerals, building stones, clays for 

 brick-making, etc. , etc. , are published in such shape as to be available to anyone 

 interested in such matters. But instead of this very desirable consummation of the 

 early labours of Sir William Logan his work was largely arrested by Confederation, 

 and thei*e was thrust upon the Survey a problem similar in character to that under- 

 taken by him in 1843, but incomparably greater in extent, namely, the survey of an 

 area larger than that of the United States, if we exclude Alaska. I refer to the 

 problem as similar in kind to that undertaken in 1843, because it was destined for 

 many years to be mainly topographical and only subordinately geological. As late 

 as 1880 the present director of the Survey, in demonstrating the inaccuracy of our 

 maps of the northern and western parts of the Dominion wrote as follows :* "It 

 is very commonly supposed, even in Canada, but to a greater extent elsewhere, 

 that all parts of the Dominion are now so well known that exploration, in the true 

 sense of the term, may be considered as a thing of the past. This depends largely 

 upon the fact that the maps of the country generally examined are upon a very 

 small scale, and that upon such maps no vast areas yet remain xipon which rivers, 

 lakes, mountains, or other features are not depicted. If, however, we take the 

 trouble to enquire more closely into this, and consult, perhaps, one of the geo- 

 graphers whose name may appear on the face of the map which we have examined, 

 asking such awkward questions as may occur to us on the sources of information for 

 this region or that, we may probably by him be referred to another and older mai), 

 and so on till we find in the end that the whole topographical fabric of large parts 

 of all these maps rests upon information of the vaguest kind. 



" Of most of the large areas marked upon the map here shown, this is abso- 

 lutely true, and the interests of knowledge, with resi)ect to these, would bo better 

 subserved if such areas were left entirely blank, or, at least, if all the geographical 

 features drawn upon them appeared in broken lines in such a way as to show that 

 none of them are certain. In other regions, the main geograi)hical outlines, such 

 as the courses of the larger rivers, are indicated approximately, with such accuracy 

 as may be possible from accounts or itineraries derived froni travellers or from 

 officers of the Hudson Bay Company ; or from the descriptions or rough sketches 

 of Indians or other persons by whom the region has been traversed, but who ha\-e 

 been unprovided with instruments of any kind, and whose knowledge of the country 

 has been incidentally obtained." 



'~^- On Some o( the Larger Unexplored Regions of Can.ula." C. M. Dawson. Otf.wa Nalv.r.ili.st. V.l IV. 

 l8qo. 



