P.—It freezes up.
T.—Yes. It is frozen over for about four months in the winter, and ocean-going vessels cannot use the river then, so Halifax was chosen as a good winter port on the Atlantic. Now, what place on the St. Lawrence would be chosen as the other terminus?
P.—Most likely either Quebec or Montreal.
T.—We can tell better a little later which one was actually chosen. Here is a thing that I want you to think about. Why should they build the railway just to the St. Lawrence? Were there many people living in Upper Canada fifty years ago?
P.—Yes, as many people as there were in Quebec province.
T.—Really there were about 250,000 more here than in Quebec. How would the people here ship their goods in the winter? How do we send our goods to Europe now in winter?
(Several suggestions were made. Finally it was stated that we could ship by water in summer, and by rail in winter.)
T.—You know that there are some rapids on the St. Lawrence before we reach Montreal. How do we manage about them?
P.—By using the canals.