Chapter IV: Section D: by Professor Ray Lankester. The Committee, as we have already (2)

Lord Rayleigh, ladies and gentlemen,--I am given to understand that it would be in accordance with the rules under which the business of the British Association is carried on, that the proceedings of to-day should commence with the vacation of the president's chair and by the installation of the president-elect in the place which he will so honourably fill. The occasion, however, which has brought us together is so remarkable, and will be so memorable, not only in the annals of the Association, but in the history of the Dominion, that I believe you will pardon the slight irregularity of which, as a member of the Association, I am guilty, in rising to address a few words to this distinguished audience. The occasion, Lord Rayleigh, is the first upon which the British Association has held a meeting beyond the narrow limits of the United Kingdom. Such a departure from the usage which you have hitherto observed, though an inauguration, is certainly not inconsistent with the objects of the Association or with the designs of its founders; its earliest records contain the statement that it was instituted for the promotion of intercourse between those who cultivated science in different parts, not merely of the British Islands, but of the British Empire. I question whether any means of promoting this intercourse could have been discovered more effectual than the holding of your annual meeting in one of the great cities of this colony, and my object in now addressing you is to express at the very outset the satisfaction with which the people, not only of Montreal, but of the whole Dominion, hail your arrival here and to welcome you in their name to these shores. (Loud applause.) Perhaps you will allow me to state my own belief that if you were to select for your place of meeting a spot within the colonial empire of England, you could not have selected a colony which better deserved the distinction, either in respect of the warmth of its affection for the mother country, or in respect of the desire of its inhabitants for the diffusion of knowledge and of culture. (Applause) In a young country such pursuits must be carried on in the face of some difficulty and of the competition of that material activity which must to a great extent engross the time and absorb the attention of a rapidly developing community such as this. We may, however, claim for Canada that she has done her best, that she has above all spared no pains to provide for the interest of science in the future, and that amongst those who have done scientific work within the Dominion are men known and respected far beyond the bounds of their own nation. In this connection I cannot deny myself the pleasure of referring to the honours which have been conferred upon Sir William Dawson within the last few days. (Loud and long continued applause.) He is, unless I am misinformed, more responsible than any one person for the visit of the Association, and I feel sure that I shall command the acquiescence of all those who have worked in the cause of Canadian culture when I say that we regard the knighthood which Her Majesty has bestowed upon him as an appropriate recognition of his distinguished services, and as an opportune compliment to Canadian science. (Applause.) But the significance of this meeting is far greater than it would be if its results were to be measured merely by the addition which it will make to the scientific wealth of the empire. When we find a society which for fifty years has never met outside the British Islands transferring its operations to the Dominion--when we see several hundred of our best known Englishmen, who have acquired a public reputation, not only in the scientific, but in the political and the literary world, arriving here mingling with our citizens, and dispersing in all directions over this continent; when we see in Montreal the bearers of such names as Rayleigh, Playfair, Frankland, Burdon, Sanderson, Thomson, Roscoe, Blanford, Moseley, Lefroy, Temple, Bramwell, Tylor, Galton, Harcourt and Bonney, we feel that one more step has been taken towards the establishment of that close intimacy between the mother country and her offspring, which both here and at home all good citizens of the empire are determined to promote. (Loud applause.) The desire for such closer intimacy is one of the most remarkable and one of the best features in the political life of the present day. Our periodical literature, our proceedings in parliament, the public discussions which have recently taken place and in which some of our most prominent Canadians have taken a part, all indicate a remarkable awakening to the importance of the noblest colonial empire which the world has ever seen, and a desire to draw closer the ties of sympathy and allegiance which bind us reciprocally. (Applause.) And, ladies and gentlemen, whatever difficulty there may be in the way of a revision of the political relations of the mother country and her colonies, it is satisfactory to reflect that there are none in the way of such an alliance as that which you are establishing to-day between the culture of the old world and that of the new. (Applause.) In the domain of science there can be no conflict of local and imperial interests--no constitution to revise--no embarrassing considerations of foreign and domestic policy. We are all partners and co-heirs of a great empire, and we may work side by side without misgiving, and with a certainty that every addition to the common fund of knowledge and mutual enlightenment is an unmixed advantage to the whole empire. (Loud applause.) I believe, Lord Rayleigh, that your visit will be fraught with far reaching advantages both to hosts and guests. We shall gain in acquaintance with our visitors, and in the publicity which their visit will give to the resources and attractions of this country. We believe that it will be more justly appreciated in proportion as it becomes more widely known and more thoroughly understood. (Applause.) Sympathy, as a distinguished Canadian has lately written, begets knowledge, and knowledge again adds to sympathy. You, ladies and gentlemen, who have lately left the mother country, will gain in the opportunity which will be afforded you of studying the life of a people younger than your own but engaged in the solution of many problems similar to those which engage our attention at home, and observing the conduct of your own race amidst the surroundings of another hemisphere. On every side you will find objects of interest. Our political system, the working of federation, the arrangements of the different provinces for the education of our youth, our railways pushed across this continent with an enterprise which has never been surpassed by the oldest and largest communities--(loud applause)--our forests, our geology, our mineral resources, our agriculture in all its different phases ranging from the quiet homesteads and skilful cultivation of the older provinces to the newly reclaimed prairies of the North-west, which we expect to yield us this season a surplus of from six to nine millions of bushels, the history and characteristics of our native races, and the manner in which we have dealt with them--all these will afford you opportunities of study which few other portions of the globe could present in such variety. (Applause.) Of the facilities which will be afforded to you and of the pains which have been taken to render your explorations easy and agreeable, I need not speak. Some of you are aware that a distinguished member of an assembly to which you and I, Lord Rayleigh, have both the honour to belong, has lately been cautioning the English public against the dangers of legislation by picnic. (Loud applause.) I have heard that in some quarters misgivings have been expressed. We too should be exposed to similar danger, and lest the attractions which the British Association is offered here should conflict with its more strictly scientific objects. These are probably _rumores senum severiorum_, and I will only say of them, if there is any ground for such apprehensions, you must remember that hospitality is an instinct with our people, and that it is their desire that you should see and learn a great deal, and that you should see and learn it in the pleasantest manner possible. (Applause.) I have only one word more to say. I wish to express the pleasure with which I see in this room representatives, not only of English and Continental and Canadian science, but also many distinguished representatives of that great people which, at a time when the relations of the mother country and her colonies were less wisely regulated than at present, ceased to be subjects of the British Crown, but did not cease to become our kinsmen. Many of you will pass from these meetings to the great re-union to be held a few days hence at Philadelphia, where you will be again reminded that there are ties which bind together not only the constituent parts of the British empire, but the whole of the British race--ties of mutual sympathy and good-will which such intercourse will strengthen and which, I believe, each succeeding decade will draw more closely and firmly together. (Applause.) I have now only to apologize for having intervened in your proceedings. I feel that what I have said would have come better from the lips of a Canadian. Others will, however, have ample opportunities for supplementing both by word and deed the shortcomings of which I may have been guilty. It was my duty--and I have much pleasure in discharging it--as the representative of the Crown in this part of the empire to bid you in the name of our people a hearty welcome to the Dominion. (Loud and long continued applause.)

Sir WM. THOMSON, in responding, said:--You will allow me, in the first place, to offer my warmest thanks to His Excellency the Governor-General for coming among us this evening, and for the very kind and warm welcome which he has offered to the British Association, on the part of the Dominion. Your Excellency, it devolves upon me as representing Professor Cayley, the president of the British Association, to do what I wish he were here to do himself, and which it would have been a well-earned pleasure for him to do--to introduce to you Lord Rayleigh as his successor in the office of President of the British Association. Professor Cayley has devoted his life to the advancement of pure mathematics. It is indeed peculiarly appropriate that he should be followed in the honourable post of president by one who has done so much to apply mathematical power in the various branches of physical science as Lord Rayleigh has done. In the field of the discovery and demonstration of natural phenomena Lord Rayleigh has, above all others enriched physical science by the application of mathematical analysis; and when I speak of mathematics you must not suppose mathematics to be harsh and crabbed. (Laughter.) The Association learned last year at Southport what a glorious realm of beauty there was in pure mathematics. I will not, however, be hard on those who insist that it is harsh and crabbed. In reading some of the pages of the greatest investigators of mathematics one is apt to become wearied, and I must confess that some of the pages of Lord Rayleigh's work have taxed me most severely, but the strain was well repaid. When we pass from the instrument which is harsh and crabbed to those who do not give themselves the trouble to learn it thoroughly, to the application of the instrument, see what a splendid world of light, beauty and music is opened to us through such investigations as those of Lord Rayleigh. His book on sound is the greatest piece of mathematical investigation we know of applied to a branch of physical science. The branches of music are mere developments of mathematical formulas, and of every note and wave in music the equation lies in the pages of Lord Rayleigh's book. (Laughter and applause.) There are some who have no ear for music, but all who are blessed with eyes can admire the beauties of nature, and among those one which is seen in Canada frequently, in England often, in Scotland rarely, is the blue sky. (Laughter) Lord Rayleigh's brilliant piece of mathematical work on the dynamics of blue sky is a monument to the application of mathematics to a subject of supreme difficulty, and on the subject of refraction of light he has pointed out the way towards finding all that has to be known, though he has ended his work by admitting that the explanation of the fundamentals of the reflection and refraction of light is still wanting and is a subject for the efforts of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. But there is still another subject, electricity and the electric light, and here again Lord Rayleigh's work is fundamental, and one may hope from the suggestions it contains that electricity may yet be put upon the level of ordinary mechanics, and that the electrician may be able to weigh out electric quantities as easily and readily as a merchant could a quantity of tea or sugar. (Applause.) It remains for me only to fulfil the commission which Professor Cayley has entrusted to me of expressing his great regret that his engagements in England prevented his being with us, and in his name to vacate the chair of president of the Association and to ask Lord Rayleigh to take his place as President for 1884. (Applause.)

[_Lord Rayleigh then delivered the Presidential Address, a copy of which is appended to this work._]

Lord Rayleigh was loudly applauded at the conclusion of his address.

HON. DR. CHAVEAU in an eloquent speech in French proposed a vote of thanks to Lord Rayleigh for the interesting sketch he had given of modern science. In this scientific review Lord Rayleigh had also displayed great literary ability. The reunion to-day of the British Association was significant in the sense that it extended the operations of the society to all parts of the British Empire, so that while on the other side the question of a federation of the British Empire was being raised, the British Association had taken the lead in its sphere by casting out the roots of a scientific federation. In this connection he spoke of the work the Royal Society was doing in Canada. He was glad to see that Lord Rayleigh did not hold extreme views as to the elimination of classical studies from our schools, for he believed that in those stores of antiquity our modern mind found a great deal of its strength, and were this study abolished our mental grasp and vigour would be greatly lessened. What Canada required was the greater development of our universities. In this way would science be most benefited, for we would have a greater number of men able to devote themselves entirely to the study of scientific subjects. He expressed the pleasure he felt at the honour of knighthood conferred on Principal Dawson, an honour in which the whole Canadian people felt pride, and concluded amidst great applause.

Mr. HUGH MCLENNAN in seconding the resolution said the very interesting address which Lord Rayleigh had given them was not only a source of pleasure to the audience, but gave them an adequate idea of the wide field of knowledge and research opened by those who devoted themselves to different scientific pursuits. The presence of so many men devoted to scientific pursuits in our midst could not fail to give an impetus to the study of science in this country. We had not many scientific men, owing principally to the fact that the people who settled here had given their attention to material pursuits, but a new era was now opening. The worthy chief of the government must be gratified at the success of his wise policy in encouraging this movement, which could not fail to be of great profit to Canadians, and he felt sure that no vote would be more heartily given than the vote of thanks to Lord Rayleigh, which he had much pleasure in seconding.

Sir Wm Thomson put the motion, which was adopted unanimously amidst loud applause.

Lord Rayleigh returned thanks for the honour done him, and the meeting adjourned until Friday next, when Professor Ball will deliver a lecture.

* * * * *

It was not very surprising that after all this excitement I had a very bad night and awoke quite ill Thursday morning, remained all day in bed nursing and starving, and could not, therefore, go to two afternoon parties for which we had invitations, nor to the grand evening reception at the college. This morning I am feeling quite well, and it is pouring with rain.

_Friday Evening_.--After luncheon Dr. P. Smith called and went with me to Section A, but we were too late to hear John's paper--He told me that he and E--- start for Quebec to-night after a lecture on "Dust," and stay at the Lansdownes for the festivities there (we three have settled not to go), and return Sunday evening. We went then to Section B to hear something of Chemistry, and to the Vicars Boyle's at the Windsor Hotel, and found her at home. I have had a letter asking us all to go to the Macpherson's at Toronto. Hedley and I called on the McClennan's (Dick's hosts) and found her to be a nice clever woman, with seven sons and two daughters. Mrs. Stephen had called in my absence and waited some time to see me, and left a message for us to drink tea there Sunday, but I shall probably be occupied elsewhere. Dick went to see the Victoria Bridge to-day and dines here. Mr. Angus has been telling us delightful accounts of some of the new routes through the Rocky Mountains down to British Columbia, which the Canadian Pacific Railway will take, and which will be finished by the spring of next year. Their surveyor, Mr. Van Horn, has just returned from an exploration, and gave very curious details in answer to Professor G. Ramsay's questions (brother of Sir James Ramsay). Mr. Van Horn says the mountains sheer up eight to eleven thousand feet; glaciers are eighteen to twenty miles long; trees two hundred and fifty feet high and thirty in circumference. They have only to cut one down and it makes a capital bridge at once. He told us a curious story of a Mr. Rogers, who started with a young engineer to find a pass for the railroad over the Rocky mountains which would, on its discovery, make him famous. After their six days' provisions were all exhausted, Mr. Carroll, the young engineer, said: "It is all very well for you, but what shall _I_ gain by risking my life and going on?" "Well," said Mr. Rogers, "let us go to that high plateau and think." While there, he decided to go on, upon which Mr. Carroll again expostulated. Mr. Rogers then exclaimed: "You see all these magnificent peaks, which probably no human eye has seen before--now the grandest of these shall be named after you if I succeed." Just then a caribou went past. They gave chase and he took them nine miles into a valley where they did not find _him_ but _did_ find a _cache_ of food--and then the _pass_! And the highest mountain is called Mount Carroll at this day. Mr. Angus does not encourage me much to go to the Rocky Mountains, on the ground of fatigue and hardships.

_Wednesday, September 2nd_--I must bring up my journal to this date. On Saturday there were no sections. John and E--- Lansdownes and many others went to Quebec. Owing to showers of rain the festivities there were rather a failure. Miss Angus drove H--- and me to Mount Royal, where we had a splendid view; Dick walked up. We then went to the market, and saw there all sorts of new vegetables, fruits, and fish. The melons here are delicious, and we have had buckwheat cakes, and rice cakes, and sweet potatoes, and blueberries. The living here is very good, and nothing can be more comfortable than we are; but the flies are sometimes an annoyance, and the darkness of the rooms--which are kept dark to prevent their getting in. Saturday afternoon Dick, H--- and I went to see La Chine by rail to the steamer, and then down the rapids, which were less dangerous looking than we expected. A violent thunder-storm came on, and in the middle of it we got into the whirlpool of the rapids, and then a fiery red sun broke out among a mass of dense black clouds; a great fire appeared also near the banks of the river, and all this combined, produced very striking effects. We met on the steamer Mr. George Darwin and his Bride--a charming looking American girl--he looks already much better and happier.

_Sunday_.--Miss A---, H---, and I went to the cathedral, a full simple service and good sermon from Mr. Champion. In the afternoon I went with Dick to a musical service at St. James' Church--such a sermon! from a man who nearly wriggled himself out of the pulpit; he came from Norwood, I heard. _Monday_.--We went in the afternoon to a party at Mrs. Redpath's; her son, "now gone to his home above," she said, had known one of mine at Cambridge. It is a pretty place, on a hill near this, and a good many people there; it got very damp after sunset. We none of us went to an evening party going on at Mrs. Gault's, being too tired. Mr. C--- called early and went with me to sections; John joined me, and we saw and heard Captains Ray and Greely of Arctic fame. They say he (Greely) and his living companions saved themselves from starvation by eating their dead ones--a dreadful alternative, but I don't think they were to blame; it didn't agree with him, for he looks horribly ill, poor man! In the afternoon we all went to see the Indian game of La Crosse played between twelve Montrealists and twelve Indians. It is pretty and exciting, something between lawn tennis and football--I could have watched it for hours! we were all comfortably seated in places of honour on a covered stand, which partly accounts for my enjoyment. After this we went to tea with Mr. and Mrs. G. Stephens, and there with John and E--- we finally settled with Mr. Stephens to go by Canadian Pacific Railway to the north-west; Mr. Stephens offered us a private car, provisioned, &c.; we take _his_ to Toronto, and stay there with Sir David and Lady Macpherson. This invitation is the result of an introduction I had from a friend in England. Several invites have come from Philadelphia and New York. I sent a telegram to you yesterday, but according to the rules of the Company (who allow us to send free, subject to these conditions), it must first go to 90, O--- G---; you will write next to New York, and I will give directions there respecting all letters. Please tell Edward at T. P. and Mary.

_Wednesday_.--I went to Sections for last time; in afternoon to the closing meeting of British Association, when they all butter one another; the buttering of John was, of course, very nice and justifiable Sir William Dawson said among other things that John was to be loved and admired as a man as well as a scientist. He certainly looks gentlemanlike and sweet, and though nervous, he always expresses himself well; he and others received the honour of D.C.L. from the McGill University here. I forgot to say that on Tuesday evening there was a grand reception by the civic authorities at the skating rink, a very large hall, where we paraded up and down, and the young ones danced (Hedley with Miss Angus), and then I sat in a state gallery with E--- and other grandees. I cannot say I was struck with the beauty of the company. I made acquaintance with Captain Greely--he does not look any better, poor man, but has a nice expression. Wednesday evening we went to a pretty party at Mr. Donald Smith's, the richest man in Canada, and so kind and simple; he had a ball-room built at a day or two's notice, and tent for supper, and Chinese lanterns lighted up the garden, &c. It was a lovely night with full moon, and I was very glad to walk outside, for the heat was very great. Mr. D. Smith asked me to "Silver Heights," his place at Winnipeg. H--- and Dick are both rather unwell to-day, and I hear poor Mr. Walter Brown is dying. I am well enough now. It is extremely hot, but there is always air. John has shirked the Toronto function, and also the American Association at Philadelphia--some of the B. A. are starting there soon. We go alone to Toronto, and also to Winnipeg and the Rocky Mountains. Miss Becker and Mrs. Hallett called to see me, and I signed a memorial of thanks to Sir John Macdonald (the Premier of Canada), for proposing Women's Suffrage here.

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

The fact that the British Association meets this year in Canada gives unusual interest to the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Philadelphia, from September 4 to 11. After the Montreal meeting those who feel inclined can make their way leisurely to Philadelphia where it is evident from the information before us, they will meet with a warm reception. On the Friday evening, September 5, after the address of the retiring president (Professor C. A. Young, of New Jersey) a general reception will be tendered by the citizens and ladies of Philadelphia to the members of the British and American Associations, and the ladies accompanying them. The British Association has been cordially invited, both by the American Association to take part in the proceedings, and by the local committee representing the citizens of Philadelphia, to accept the warm welcome which will be tendered them during the joint session. The local committee has, indeed, been divided into a number of subcommittees for the sole purpose of rendering the stay of their visitors agreeable It will, therefore, only be courteous on the part of Britons who intend to be present at the American meeting to comply with the committee's request, and send their names, together with the number of ladies and gentlemen in their parties, as early as possible, to Dr. Persifor Frazer, 201, South Fifth street, Philadelphia. During the week occupied by the session there will be a number of receptions, entertainments, and excursions, and a day will be set apart for the examination of the International Electrical Exhibition, to be held at Philadelphia under the auspices of the Franklin Institute, and commencing September 2. By an arrangement between the Canadian and United States Trunk lines, members of the British Association will be conveyed between Montreal and Philadelphia at specially low fares, while the hotel charges at the latter city during the meeting are not expected to exceed three dollars a day. We believe the number who have already promised to be at the Montreal meeting is about seven-hundred and fifty, so that with those who will go without promising, added to the many Canadian and United States scientists who are sure to be present, the meeting is likely to be in numbers more than an average one.

Letter No. 4.

_September 17th, Toronto, The "Chestnuts."_

My beloved Mother.--I forgot to mention your birthday when I last wrote, but you know how glad I am that you were born! And how much I prize every year that is added to your life; and now as this will find you at dear Mary's, please give her my fond love and best wishes for this day, and I shall drink her health to-day, and call upon my sons to do the same. I posted my last letter at Montreal on Thursday; Dick was quite ill that day, and after seeing him twice and shopping, I bid good-bye to Mr. Angus, who went to New York, and then Miss Angus drove me to see poor Mrs. Walter Brown, whose husband was dying at the Hospital. I sent my card in and she asked to see me. I did not know her much, but it was very touching, and I felt my heart quite drawn to the poor young woman, who came out with her husband on a pleasure trip, and now has to leave him buried in a far land. He got typhoid fever, and inflammation of the lungs, and was lying unconscious on a hospital bed, while she sobbed on my shoulder, and said "Oh what shall I do? what shall I do?" I asked her if she had any difficulty about money matters, but she said Captain Douglas Galton had called and kindly arranged everything for her with one of our kind hosts at Montreal. Her father was coming out to her as fast as he could, but could not be at New York till the 12th, and her poor husband died that night, and was buried yesterday. After this, which upset me much, I went to the Stephens' and met John and E--- and told them, and John went off also to see Mrs. Brown, for Mr. Brown had been a friend of his. The Stephens' house is very gorgeous, and full of beautiful satin-wood walls, and the staircase finely carved mahogany. Mr. Angus' house, too, has much beautiful carved wood about it, but the houses are kept so dark on account of the heat and flies, that one can hardly see well enough to appreciate these beauties. Excepting in this respect, and the amount of carved wood, the style is very like the houses of the middle class of well-to-do men in Scotland.

_Friday_.--I got up at six, and walked to see Dick, and found him better, and he arranged, if well enough, to follow us to Toronto; then we breakfasted and all the family were up to see us off, and we joined John and E--- at the station and arranged ourselves in the Directors' car (Canadian Pacific Railway), a drawing-room with beds (sofas), dining-room and table in centre, a little kitchen, private bedroom, and two lavatories. We had a very hot and dusty journey but were otherwise comfortable, and arrived at Ottawa about twelve. John and E--- went off to lunch with Lady Melgund at Rido, but as she did not know we were coming I was not invited, and so Hedley and I lunched in our car, and then drove to lionize the Claudiere Falls, where the Ottawa River falls about two hundred feet. The quantity of wood piled about is amazing (lumber they call it) and it chokes up and destroys the effect of the river, but it is not in itself ugly, for they arrange it so beautifully and the colouring is bright. Then we drove to the Government buildings, and there I was agreeably surprised by the beautiful view, not so grand as Quebec certainly, but very fine--the Ottawa, with headlands, well wooded, frequently breaking the line of the river, and the far reach of country with blue mountains in the background, and then the air so deliciously sweet and pure, and reviving. We returned there again in the afternoon, and sat reading till half-past seven, when we returned to our small house and John and E---, and the conductor gave us a capital dinner--champagne and all sorts of good things, and we all enjoyed it. Then we chatted and played whist, and then to bed. Hedley and I in the drawing-room, and John and E--- in small room, the maids in dining-room. I can't say I slept well for they moved our car once, causing our conductor to storm at them for their impertinence, and the arrival and departure of various trains and fog signals, &c., were not calculated to favour one's slumbers! Hedley declares that a fog signal in the morning did not awake me, but he slept through all. About twelve, Dick arrived from Montreal, much better, and our car was fastened to the train and on we went to Toronto. We all tried to read, but oh! the shaking, and dust, and heat were overpowering; still it was interesting to see what appeared a primitive country with forests half burned, with stations at "cities" consisting of apparently two or three wooden houses in the wood--I say apparently, for Sir D. Macpherson told me there were splendid farms near the railway. Sometimes we saw a pretty lake with park-like scenery around, and we thought "here we could make a pretty country place." At ten o'clock Saturday night we arrived at Toronto, and Sir David Macpherson and his carriage were waiting for us, and it was so delightful to drive in an open carriage with a lovely moon shining and the sweet, cool air refreshing us, that we were very sorry the drive was so short. Lady M--- and her daughter, Miss M---, only in their house, which seems like an English one in the style of arrangements--servants and conservatories, and greenhouses, &c., and my bedroom is furnished like a Scotch one, full of pretty quilts and muslin covers, and odds and ends. I was delighted to find myself between two very fine sheets, and slept like a top. Evelyn had a headache and did not get up or go to church. We drove to the nearest and had a nice service and fair sermon from a Mr. de Barr, son of a Canadian Judge; Dick, Miss, M---, and I stayed to Holy Communion, and I was struck with the remarkable number of young people who remained. After luncheon I had a long talk with Sir David. He says we are quite wrong about free trade: as the world is, it should be fair trade, or England will continue to lose, as she is now losing, every year. The Canadians are obliged to have Protection on account of the United States, who would send their manufactured goods by English vessels and so ruin Canadian workshops. No country can grow and prosper which only produces the raw article of food, &c. Land alone cannot make a people rich or great; he thinks the Conservative party are not half, active or energetic enough, and we must have workmen orators stumping all over the country to reach their own class, or we shall lose all influence with those who will really be the ruling power. Here, he says, the Conservatives are two to one in the House of Commons; the Radicals here abuse their country, and try to hinder and injure all the enterprise which would enlarge its borders and bring emigrants to take possession, and do all they can to lower it in the estimation of outsiders, in hopes that if things come to smash they might have a chance of a reign of power. Doesn't this remind one of some people in our own country? Radicals are called "grits" here, and they say you can recognize a "grit" when you see him, for though they are not at all from one class or one industry, they have heads that might betoken a sojourn in a penitentiary!

_Monday, September 8th_.--We did not go anywhere last evening but strolled about the garden. Mr. Brand, son of the late Speaker, Mr. Morris, member of the Senate, and another man, dined. Mr. Morris was Governor of Manitoba. He said in the year 1870 Winnipeg was a little wild village. Now, when I asked him about buying a few things at Toronto for the Rocky Mountains expedition, he exclaimed "Oh! wait until you get to Winnipeg, you can get everything there!" He described a ball he had given to some royalties (I forget which) and how he had to scour the country for three hundred miles round to get provisions enough for the supper, in the year 1874. In my youth I remember reading of Winnipeg, Fort William and Lake Superior as the outposts of the Hudson Bay Company, and how travellers, trappers, &c., endured all manner of hardships, and crossed hikes with Indians carrying the canoes from lake to lake, and guiding them through endless swamps and rocky bills, until half-frozen and starved they arrived quite exhausted at these distant forts. Now we travel by rail in a private car, and Mr. Donald Smith has a country house near Winnipeg, to which he invited us, and all along there are "rising cities" which did not exist in any shape five years ago. When this Canadian Pacific Railway is finished to British Columbia, and the Atlantic and Pacific are united by it in one, our "Dominion" then ought to have a splendid future. I don't think I told you about Mr. Tan Horn's conversation with me at Montreal he said "we are a great deal too quiet in Canada; we don't puff ourselves enough or make enough of our advantages and our doings. Why, we live next door to fifty millions of liars and we must brag or we shall be talked out."

_Monday, later_.--I have just returned from a drive with Miss M--- and Hedley to Toronto, and I am surprised at its size and importance, and busy look and general air of English prosperity and neatness. Though Montreal is very pretty, the town is too French and idle-looking to be impressive--there are numbers of well-kept villas and gardens here. We are now going out to see a regatta on Lake Ontario and to the island. Lady M--- said last night, when making arrangements, "I think this will suit the young people," and I exclaimed "Don't put me among the old ones, please," so I am going. Sir D--- has gone to Ottawa on Ministerial business.

Letter No. 5.

_September 12th, Niagara Falls._

On Tuesday we drove with John, and Dr. Wilson showed us over the University and some pretty sketches he had taken. We got berths on board the steamer from Owen Sound on Saturday. It is difficult to find out who manages these things, and we had telegrams going to two or three places before we could make certain of our berths. At four o'clock all sorts of people called, being Lady Macpherson's "at home" day, and many on me and E---. I don't admire Canadian women _especially_! We had fourteen at dinner and a delightful old Irishman, Chief Justice Haggerty, took me in. The Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Robinson, though only the Provincial Governor, is treated as the representative of the Queen, and goes before every one. Professor Godwin Smith and his wife were also of the party. He says (but I am sure he is prejudiced and that it is not true) that the Canadian Government is just as corrupt and that there is as much bribery as in the States. Mr. G. Smith differs in opinion with every one, for the Liberal side would not publish his letters in the papers, and so he sent them to the Conservatives, and he says they are far more impartial and just.

_Wednesday, 10th_.--We started here at one o'clock, first by steamer on Lake Ontario. It was refreshing after being nearly melted at Toronto, for there was a good breeze. The size of these inland seas strike one much. We arrived at Niagara about four, and found Mr. Plumb, John's quondam friend of eighteen years ago, waiting for us in waggonette, and we drove at once to his pretty house, surrounded by peach orchards and vines, an untidy but pretty garden. He asked after Leonard and Mary. Then we had tea, presided over by his pretty daughter of sixteen, and then the train by his orders stopped for us at his garden door, and, as he informed me, the last time it did so, was for the Prince of Wales! We arrived here, Clifton House, the Hotel, by a picturesque railway journey, and are opposite the American Falls, and the Horse Shoe Falls are on our right, nearly facing us. Like many other people, I am rather ashamed to confess I am not as much impressed and overwhelmed as I ought to be! Dick took a note from Mr. Plumb to his nephew, Mr. Macklem, and he arranged to call for us at three. In the morning we drove to the Rapids and Whirlpool, and went up and down all sorts of queer places in _queerer_ elevators. The river looked beautiful, a blue-green colour, and the whirlpool is mysteriously curious, where poor Captain Webb disappeared! In the afternoon the Macklems took us to the American side on the fine Suspension Bridge, and then to Prospect Park, Goat Island, and different peeps and vistas of the Falls and Rapids. I think the immense breadth and volume of water, with the incessant rush and roar of the river, strike me more than the actual Falls. We saw some rapids between the islands "Weird Sisters," and finally drove to Mr. Macklem's place, surrounded by rapid streams of the Niagara and very pretty. There seems no end to this river, it has so many turns and arms and rapids. We had tea (by this time I was nearly dead), and three dear small boys appeared; one only two and half had a violin, and he imitated a person playing on it, and made the sounds with his voice in the most amusing clever way, and laughed so merrily when we shouted applause. Mr. Macklem drove us home, and after dinner we played whist in E---'s nice bedroom. This morning I am not well! We have seen the maids off with the luggage by early rail and boat for Toronto and follow in afternoon.

_Friday, continuing_.--I was unable to see anything more of Niagara; the others crossed the ferry. We left at twenty minutes to five, and owing to the steamer being late on Lake Ontario we did not reach the Macpherson's till half-past nine. They waited dinner, and we rushed down, at least I did, just twelve minutes after my arrival, and also dressed! A Mr. Pattison, a very agreeable-looking man, who seems an authority on farming, and a Mr. and Mrs. Plumb (son of our Niagara friend), who was once at T--- P---, but I had entirely forgotten him. Mr. Pattison spoke of the ignorant, idle, good-for-nothing young men sent out here to make a living by their worried relations, sometimes with scarcely a sixpence, in which case they starved but for the charity of himself and others, or if with any money they fell into bad hands and lost everything. So many are sent here that he has made a kind of home for the destitute.

_Saturday Morning_.--Sir David M--- returned from Ottawa, and we breakfasted together. We nearly missed the train at Toronto (not having Miss M--- to keep us in order; I call her Queen Christina, she is so masterful), but just managed to get ourselves and luggage in, and to see George Bunburg, whom I had made several attempts to see before, and who I hear is enterprising and likely to do well. We reached Owen Sound, and got into the steamer all right about three o'clock. Nice farms nearly all along the line.

_Sunday, 14th September_.--I slept pretty comfortably. We got into a narrow passage between Lakes Superior and Huron, which was pretty and curious, great numbers of islands and a very narrow path marked out for steamers, which, as we met several, made the risk of collision seem very imminent; they moved very slowly, and have established regular rules of the road, but cannot travel by night, or if a fog comes on. St. Mary le Soult is a pretty place, on one side American, where they have made a lock to avoid the rapids from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. We waited some time to get into the lock, and then found ourselves in the largest lake in the world, five hundred miles long by three hundred and fifty miles wide. Of course, it is like the sea, and while I am writing it is rough enough to make it difficult. No land is in sight. I have had a talk with an Archdeacon who lives near St. John's College, Winnipeg, and is reading "Natural Law;" it is really getting very rough and I must stop.

_Tuesday, 16th_.--I am writing in the train, and I am thankful to be alive in it. We arrived at Port Arthur at eight o'clock yesterday, 15th, but could hear nothing of our private car, and when the train arrived no car still to be seen. At last, after hunting about and asking, everyone, it turned up, and was very satisfactory. Two men were there to wait on us, and it was well provisioned, and we set off about an hour and-half late, but no one minds such a trifle in these parts. At first the line was fairly straight and smooth, but then the country became wonderfully wild, with rocky hills covered with stumpy trees and undergrowth of brilliant colouring, and wooded lakes without end. In and out we wound, sometimes over most light and primitive bridges, and over high embankments, often running along the margin of the lakes, consisting of loose sand, which frequently rolled down the sides as we went over them. It rained nearly all day, and towards night it poured and was pitch dark. I was just undressed, and congratulating myself that we had been standing still at a station, and so I had been able to do it comfortably, and just got into my sofa bed, with Dick and Hedley opposite me behind their curtains, when we set off, and in a few minutes I felt a violent concussion; so many jerks come in common course that I was not frightened, but we stopped, and then our head man came to the door and said with dignity, "I think it right to announce to you, my lady, that an accident has happened." "What is it?" "The engine went over a culvert bridge all right, but the baggage wagon next to it fell, down off the line, and as we were going slowly they put on the brake and no other carriage followed." "Can we go on to-night?" "Oh no, the roadway is broken up." This was a shock to my nerves, but at any rate we were safe for the night, and after running in and telling John and E---, we soon all fell asleep. During the night they tacked on an engine, with its great lamp eye at the back of our car (we are the last carriage), and every few minutes this monster gave a tremendous snort, but nothing awoke Hedley, who slumbered peacefully through it all. We got up early, rushed off to the scene of the disaster, as did all the other passengers. It was marvellous that the engine went over that bridge, for really the rails were almost suspended in mid air, but fortunately for us it did, or we should have followed and telescoped, and probably been hurt or killed, the baggage wagon being suspended between the engine and cars, all on one side and down the bank close to the lake, the window broken through which the guard jumped out. We trembled for our luggage, which was all there. The lakes and gaily coloured hills that elsewhere I should admire, make our railroad so dangerous that we have to creep along, sometimes over long spidery wooden bridges, and again on most shaky and uncertain looking embankments, and round sharp corners; every now and then we stop for no apparent reason, and then all rush to the platform of our car to see what is the matter. Once a party of the railway officials got out and ran back; we thought some of our luggage had fallen out, but it seems one of the bridges over which we had just passed was rather shaky, and they went to investigate. If we had gone on last night we meant to be detached at Rat Portage, or Lake of the Woods, but now we go on to Winnipeg if, please God, we can get there.

_Wednesday 17th_.--Soon after writing yesterday, our steward came in with a solemn face and said: "I have unpleasant news to communicate; a wire has just come to forbid the train crossing the tressel bridge in front of us, so every one must walk, and the luggage be carried over." The railroad is only lately completed, and they have had no experience hitherto of the effect of heavy rains. Some of the bridges are only temporary ones, but no doubt it will be a good and safe line soon. When one considers the country it passes through, and the difficulties of all sorts that they have had to encounter, I think the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and engineers, &c., deserve great credit. "There is a train to meet us on the other aide of the bridge to take us on to Winnipeg;" upon which there was a general outcry. "Part with our comfortable car and provisions Forbid the thought!" "How long will it take to repair the bridge?" "I don't know at all; it may be days or a fortnight." After confabulating with the conductor of the train, we settled to remain this side of the bridge, and be shunted off till it was repaired, and tacked on to a train again for Winnipeg. We went as far as the bridge, and a curious scene was before us; the passengers for Rocky Mountains on the other side had been waiting there for hours, our train being delayed by the accident, and they proved to be some of our long lost friends of the British Association; we greeted each other with effusion; they rushed on our car, and spoke _all at once_ about the glories of the Rockies and the dangers they had escaped, and the _fun_ they had, &c. Some conducted me to the bridge to see what had happened there; considering that there was a great gap in the bridge, and the tressels were lying about anyhow, and a great iron crane hung suspended over the hole by one hook, and the engine lay on its side below, the wire message telling us it would not be safe to go over was rather ironical! All the luggage of the two trains was spread all over the rocks and bushes, and people running here and there, the silent lake so pretty and lovely in contrast. The men with the crane were coming to our assistance at Termillion Bay (where our culvert bridge gave way), and the engineer felt the tressels bending as the engine crossed, and was considering whether to jump off or stay; he decided to remain in the cab of the engine, as the jump was a very high one, and down they went to the bottom, but the men were only cut and bruised, and one broke his leg. This accounted for the delay in our getting assistance, and fortunately for us all, that our small accident happened when it did. As our friends from Winnipeg thankfully exclaimed, "if it had not been for your accident, which was happily so harmless, we should have gone over that bridge, and as our train was faster and heavier there would probably hare been a greater smash;" and we exclaimed, "but for our comparatively harmless accident, we should have gone over that bridge that night and come to great grief." Wasn't it a mercy we escaped? We had Professor Boyd Dawkins, Professor Shaw, Mr. de Hamel, Bishop of Ontario, Mr. Stephen Bourne, &c., on our car for some miles on our way _back_, and then we were shunted on a siding to wait as patiently as we could. At this _Hawk_ something station we parted with our British Association friends, with many good wishes and waving of handkerchiefs, and were left shunted on the edge of a disagreeable embankment over the lake. After all this excitement we read, had dinner and played whist; then made our own beds, and all the 'boys' slept in the drawing room with me last night, and E--- had the state cabin to herself. It was very cold in the night, and I had to hunt up another rug. We breakfasted at half-past eight, and now the others are taking a walk while I write. I forgot to say Gibson and Roberts went on with our luggage, across the bridge (or rather, by its side), in the train which returned to Winnipeg, and there they will stay till we return from the Rockies. E--- and the boys are just off in the cab of an engine exploring to the broken bridge. It will he fun, perhaps, for them, but _I_ find I have frights enough to endure in our necessary journeys. There is actually a cow at this station, so we had milk for porridge and tea; moreover, there is a piece of ploughed land, a rare sight in this wild stony _watery_ country. The Canadian Pacific Railway have not had experience before this autumn of the effect of heavy rains on their roads, bridges, &c., and things have sometimes come to grief in consequence; some bridges are very good and not temporary.