ACKOSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



through the strait, and spent one winter in it upon Big 

 Island. 



I assume that the prime motive in opening up a route for 

 commerce through Hudson Bay and Strait is already well 

 understood, viz., to provide the best and the mvich-needed 

 additional transportation facilities for the large and ever- 

 increasing produce of Western Canada. As compared with 

 present shipping roiites to Europe, the distance from Fort 

 Churchill to Liverpool is almost identical with that from 

 Montreal to Liverpool by way of Cape Eace, whilst the 

 distance from a central point, such as Prince Albert, to 

 Churchill is more than twelve hundred miles less than to 

 Montreal. From Regina to Churchill the saving in rail 

 travel would amount to over one thousand miles, and 

 from Edmonton it would amount to more than eleven hun- 

 dred. Surely the simple statement of these facts alone 

 forms the strongest possible argument in favor of railway 

 connection between Fort Churchill and the railway systems 

 of the Western Provinces. 



I mention Fort Churchill only as the terminal point, since 

 it is beyond all question the most advantageous port on the 

 west coast of the bay. 'No unusual difficulties would be met 

 with in the construction of such a road, for during the sum- 

 mer of 1905 it was my privilege to explore a proposed route 

 from Prince Albert to Churchill, and I found it entirely 

 feasible. A year later several other explorers covered the 

 same route in the interests of the Canadian Northern Rail- 

 way, and they have also reported quite favorably upon the 

 project. It remains for us, therefore, to consider only the 

 feasibility of steamboat navigation on the bay and strait. 



In this connection we will first consider the harbor ques- 

 tion, and the length of season for which it is available. Aa 

 shown by my map and contours thereon, Churchill harbor is 

 an excellent one, possessing good anchorage in from four to 

 nine' fathoms of water at low tide, and the area al this depth 



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