several months at Victoria:--

"From October to March we are liable to frequent rains; but this period
of damp is ever and anon relieved by prolonged intervals of bright dry
weather. In March, winter gives signs of taking its departure, and the
warm breath of spring begins to cover the trees with tinted buds and the
fields with verdure.... The sensations produced by the aspects of nature
in May are indescribably delightful. The freshness of the air, the
warbling of birds, the clearness of the sky, the profusion and fragrance
of wild roses, the widespread, variegated hues of buttercups and
daisies, the islets and violets, together with the distant snow-peaks
bursting upon the view, combine in that month to fill the mind with
enchantment unequalled out of Paradise. I know gentlemen who have lived
in China, Italy, Canada, and England; but, after a residence of some
years in Vancouver Island, they entertained a preference for the climate
of the colony which approached affectionate enthusiasm."[X]

The climate of the whole section through which the line passes is
milder than that of the Grand Trunk line. The lowest degree of
temperature in 1853--54 at Quebec was 29 below zero; Montreal, 34; St.
Paul, 36; Bitter Root Valley, forty miles from Big Hole Pass, 20.

In 1858 a party of Royal Engineers, under Captain Pallissir, surveyed
the country of the Saskatchawan for a line to Puget Sound which should
lie wholly within the British possessions. They found a level and
fertile country, receding to the very base of the mountains, and a
practicable pass, of less altitude than those at the head-waters of the
Missouri; but in winter the snow is deep and the climate severe. That
section of Canada north of Superior is an unbroken, uninhabitable
wilderness. The character of the region is thus set forth by Agassiz. He
says:--

"Unless the mines should attract and support a population, one sees not
how this region should ever be inhabited. Its stern and northern
character is shown in nothing more clearly than in the scarcity of
animals. The woods are silent, and as if deserted. One may walk for
hours without hearing an animal sound; and when he does, it is of a wild
and lonely character.... It is like being transported to the early ages
of the earth, when mosses and pines had just begun to cover the primeval
rock, and the animals as yet ventured timidly forth into the new
world."[Y]

THE FUTURE.

The census returns of the United