north of the Canadian
line--but to call attention to the value of that region, and the vast
commercial importance to the country and especially to this section,
which must, ere long, attach to it. The too general impression
entertained is, that the territory in question is a frozen wilderness,
incapable of cultivation and utterly unfit for colonization. This
impression was undoubtedly set afloat, and has been maintained, for
its own very evident purposes. So long as that opinion could be kept
up, their charter was not likely to be disturbed. But light has been
breaking in on the subject in spite of their efforts to keep it out.
In a recent work by Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, it is stated that 'there is
not a more favourable situation on the face of the earth for the
employment of agricultural industry than the locality of the Red
River.' Mr. Fitzgerald asserts that there are five hundred thousand
square miles of soil, a great part of which is favourable for
settlement and agriculture, and all so well supplied with game as to
give great facility for colonization. Here is a field for Canadian
enterprise.

"The distance between Fort William and the Red River Settlement is
about five hundred miles, and there is said to be water communication
by river and lake all the way. But westward, beyond the Red River
Settlement, there is said to be a magnificent country, through which
the Saskatchewan River extends, and is navigable for boats and canoes
through a course of one thousand four hundred miles.

"Much has been said of the extreme cold of the country, as indicated
by the thermometer. It is well known, however, that it is not the
degree but the character of the cold which renders it obnoxious to
men, and the climate of this country is quite as agreeable, if not
more so, than the best part of Canada. The height of the latitude
gives no clue whatever to the degree of cold or to the nature of the
climate.

"Let any one look at the map, and if he can fancy the tenth part that
is affirmed of the wide region of country stretching westward to the
Rocky Mountains, he may form some idea of the profitable commerce
which will soon pass through Lake Superior. Independent of the hope
that the high road to the Pacific may yet take this direction, there
is a field for enterprise presented, sufficient to satiate the warmest
imagination."

It was not, however, until the year 1856 that public attention was
aroused to the importance of the su