Show IN THE WILDS OF CANADA ANADA C the interior of the provinces of quebec and ontario Is nothing but a continuous stretch of dense forest much of which has been burned over in days gone by so that the deadfall was consid erable writes frederick A talbot telling of the surveys for the grand trunk pacific railroad in the engineering magazine the forest was for the most part trackless the indians and trappers moving through this inhospitable country along the obviously easy channels the waterways huge stretches of muskeg were encountered for the land Is in sore need of draining As the west ern boundary of the province of ontario Is ap 81 pro preached ached the country becomes more broken lakes and ind swamps being intersected by stretches of badly broken rocky hills from lake nipigon westward westward to the boundary of manitoba the worst country between the atlantic and pacific had to be penetrated with great difficulty and arduous ness for the purpose of the surveys an elaborate organization had to be perfected in order to ship in supplies and keep the surveyors well equipped with provisions for six months of the year the country was in the grip of snow the tall fall of which is heavy while the thermo ther momet mets r drops to vry v ry low readings As the nearest railway communication was or more miles to the south supplies had to be packed over and numerous caches had to be established tote roads ere driven for team work as tar far as practicable in summer trails had to be blazed to permit of the passage of the halt half breeds who because of the physique and stamina were pressed treely freely into service tor for carrying sup piles plies on their backs while large fleets of canoes of every description were aca acq acquired aired the waterways being followed so tar far as possible packing by mules and hordes hores coull not be practiced exten owing to the muskeg and the absence ot of fodder tor for the country waa wa 9 ting to ani ant mal life while the shipping in a of hay would have been impossible except at the expense of 0 more urgent necessities owing to the uncharted char acter of the rivers canoeing demands extra ordin ary skill and after the first few months ex peri per lence ence where with these water ways was attended by considerable looses losses in boats and valuable supplies only men familiar with the country such those in tl e employ 0 ot f the hudson bay company were permitted to handle these craft even then occasional losses were sustained and the stores of provIs provisions tons suffered extensively from the ill effects of portaging which was mas frequent and heavy during the winter corn com muni cation with the hinterland was maint maintained annei solely by means of dog sleighs large numbers ot of these animals being acquired from the indiana indians and bred for this service |