Mr. EDWARD ALLEN had no doubt that a cheap system of railways could be made for about 2000l. or 3000l. a mile, which would be sufficient for the wants of Natal for the next thirty or forty years. If left to themselves and conducted upon that plan, he had no doubt that the railways could be made to pay 20 per cent. The lines would be the means of rendering the communication certain at all times, whereas at present for months of the year the communication between coast, capital and up-country was entirely cut off. He had been informed that owing to the cost and difficulty of the carriage, it cost 50l. for a small family to move up from the coast to any place in the interior.

Mr. H. E. MONTGOMERIE agreed with Mr. Allen, and suggested that a cheap line of railway could be made in Natal similar to that in use in the northern part of the state of New York, and also adopted in Canada.

The Marquis of NORMANBY said there could be no doubt that the colony of Natal was still in its infancy, it was only thirty-five years old, and to have made the progress it had gave evidence that it was a most healthy offspring, and afforded abundant grounds for hoping it would be immensely prosperous in the future. In all new

countries the three great things necessary for its proper development were-population, capital, and an easy communication; and there was no insurmountable difficulty in causing a flow of the two former to Natal, nor in the colony bringing about the latter. He concluded by conveying the thanks of the meeting to Dr. Mann for his capital paper.

Dr. MANN, in acknowledging the vote of thanks, replied to the observations of some of the previous speakers. He observed that the native population must be considered in any scheme of emigration, and that if poor emigrants were sent out, they must be given the means of living for a time, and of transport to the place where their services were wanted. The vine could never grow in Natal, because the summer was a long and a wet one. But in the Cape, on the contrary, the summer was fine and warm and the vine grew and flourished. New roads had been made in Natal and old ones improved within the last few years. Mulberry trees grew everywhere, almost wildly; it was next to impossible to keep them down, and the Secretary of the Silk Supply Association had said that there was no reason why Natal should not become a great silk producing country. The great objection to the cheap wooden rails adopted in America and Canada, was that the country was subject. to the white ant and to sudden heats and rains.

AN Ordinary General Meeting of the Institute was held on Monday evening, 30th May, 1870, the Right Hon. Viscount BURY, M.P., President, in the Chair. A Lecture

ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK

was delivered by Professor DAWSON, Principal of McGill College, Montreal.

PROFESSOR DAWSON commenced his lecture by observing, that the portion of British America to which he desired to direct the attention of hearers that evening was called originally Acdii, or Acadia, and it resembled the Arcadia of fable. The Mic Mac Indians had a method of applying as nearly as possible the same names to places as they heard the French colonists exclaim on first seeing them, and so the place in their tongue or dialect was called "Cordeer," signifying abundance. Proceeding to remark upon the early history of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, he said, the Provinces were markedly and distinctly separated from Canada, and, coming to the physical geography of New Brunswick, that province might be said to be considered as a great triangular plain of carboniferous rocks, bordered with oolite formations running into the hills and broken country, with three principal rivers, the St. John, the Ris igouche, and the Miramichi—the former crossing from the hills bordering the St. Lawrence to the Bay of Fundy, a distance of 250 miles; Nova Scotia, a peninsula stretching from north-east to south-west, parallel to the American coast, with the scarcely separated island of Cape Breton presenting the curious peculiarity of having a great inland salt water front-the Bras d'Or Lake.-Nova Scotia, consists of a broad belt of hard metamorphic rocks, fronting the Atlantic, and an inland area of carboniferous and triopic rocks, traversed by hills, ridges of Silurian and Devonian age (?). Prince Edward Island, the remaining Acadian province, is a crescent-shaped belt of rich undulating country, based in triopic red sandstone, and lying parallel to the north coast of Nova Sco:ia and New Brunswick. The resources of the two provinces forming the subject of the paper were considered as consisting of those of the surface, and those of the bowels of the earth. Among the former, in the earlier state of the country, the lumbering and shipbuilding interests occupied a large place. These were still important,

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especially in New Brunswick, though they had passed their maximum point. The fisheries had been largely developed, especially in Nova Scotia, where the a nual produce was worth 2,000,0007. and 900 vessels were employed in their prosecution. Agriculture was the great leading pursuit, and was rapidly improving and extending itself. The wet, dike and marsh lands of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick amounting to 38,000 acres were mentioned, and these in connection with cattle and dairy farming, and the grain and fruit farming of the upland districts. In the Acadian provinces, though the cultivable area was greater than in Canada proper, the climate was milder, and the variety of soil greater.

Under the second head were mentioned the great coal deposits of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, covering a large area, and in some places having beds of coal of enormous thickness. About thirty mines have been opened in these beds, some of them of considerable magnitude, and well equipped; but the trade languishes, owing to the small extent of home manufacturers, and the positive closing against them of the American Manchester. The iron deposits in the vicinity of the coal areas are of immense magnitude and value, though at present worked only in two districts, one in Nova Scotia and one in New Brunswick, where charcoal iron of superior quality is made.

The gold deposits of the southern part of Nova Scotia were next described, and the success which had attended their exploration referred to; though their productive capabilities could not be said to have been more than tested by the operations hitherto carried on, which, though important, are not great in comparison with the extent of the gold veins. The gold produced in 1869 was 17.868 ounces, and this was stated to average 489 for each man employed, or about 100l. sterling for each man engaged in mining operations.

Besides iron and gold, the Acadian provinces possess also copper, silver, lead, antimony, and manganese, as yet worked only to a very limited extent. Then quarries of gypsum, slate, grindstone, and sandstone, had been worked to some extent, and the former, in particular, was largely exported.

In conclusion, the lecturer expressed his opinion that the Acadian colonies were not only the key to the possession of Canada, and to maritime supremacy on the western Atlantic, but that they possessed more of the resources essential to empire than any other portion of eastern America. The agricultural resources of the great interior plains of the continent naturally attracted the attention of colonists; but the merely agricultural regions would never be very populous or wealthy.

The mineral resources and maritime position of the Acadian provinces were sure, in time, to give them the preponderance in wealth and political power. The development of the resources of these Colonies, was at present impeded by their anomalous political relations with the mother country, with Canada, and with the United States, and could not remain very long in their present position.

It was thus an important and urgent question for British statesmen, whether by a closer union with Great Britain they should permit these Colonies to develope these resources, without ceasing to be parts of the Empire, or whether they were content, by allowing the Acadian provinces to fall into the hands of the United States, to transfer permanently the maritime supremacy of the Atlantic and the leadership of the English race to the great Republic.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. FREELING said the members must feel deeply indebted to Professor Dawson for his very able lecture, and he only regretted that the remarks which the learned Professor had offered as to the proximity of coal and iron, and the peculiar advantages offered for the development of those mineral riches, had not been listened to by a greater number of the members. He thought all the suggestions of the Professor were most valuable, and he hoped that they would be presented to the members in a succinct form. There was one observation which struck him as having a peculiar bearing and force at the present moment, and that was the Professor's condemnation of the unwise protective policy which was indulged in by England's offspring on the other side of the Atlantic. Only a short time since, as a member of the Social Science Association, he was called upon to welcome the president of a similar association from across the water, and from conversations with that gentleman, and others equally well informed, he found that the short-sightedness of that protective policy was felt by a large and increasingly influential number of people. But whilst admitting that the policy was wrong, they felt that it would take a very long time to educate the people of that country in "Free Trade."

Mr. H. E. MONTGOMERIE thought the information, both scientific and commercial, which had been laid before the meeting, was valuable in the extreme; at the same time he felt bound to say that he thought the time when there would be a great modification of

the United States Tariff was not far distant.

For many years, a

reciprocity treaty was in force between Canada and the United States, which worked well for both; but it was unfortunately put an end to by the United States. It had, however, been found an act of more hardship upon the citizens of the United States than upon the British North American colonists, and therefore there was some chance of a good understanding being arrived at soon.

Mr. PRENTICE Said Mr. Principal Dawson had told the meeting of extraordinary deposits of gold and coal in British American provinces, but comparatively nothing had been said about its great wealth of iron. The speaker had seen it, and from observation, he believed the coal and iron of the British American provinces would bear comparison with that of Sweden, which was acknowledged as the best in the old world.

Mr. W. WESTGARTH, as having lived some time in both colonies, had been greatly struck with the great difference between the two countries, viz., Australia and Victoria, and Nova Scotia. It was common for a viewer to come upon three or four successive layers of basalt, indicating a great range of time. It had always been a matter of surprise to him that there should be a great abundance of gold in the upper portions of the range, and that in the lower gold had never been discovered, unless there had been an upheaval from behind, and that was always where there were certain indications of Silurian strata.

Mr. Principal DAWSON thanked the meeting for the patience and attention which had been given to his remarks. Alluvial gold was of course found. The rocks of the earth, when removed by a convulsion of nature or otherwise, left behind them other deposits which were not removed when they were abraded. When the earthy matters had been worked away by the action of the sea, or the coasts, or by rivers, the cutting of ravines, or otherwise, certain of the deposits often remained; gold had been found in alluvial soil, showing that there were gold gravels so far back as the carboniferous period when there was no one to take care of them.

Lord BURY having conveyed the thanks of the meeting to the lecturer, the proceedings closed.