On the prairie, constructional effort was not taxed to a supreme degree except in regard to water. This was found to be scarce in many parts, and is even so to-day. The country threaded is a continuation of the arid stretches of North Dakota and Montana, and where the land can only be brought to a state of remunerative productivity by recourse to irrigation. Science, however, has discounted the deficiency of nature, and to-day this dry belt is as generously supplied with water as those more favoured with ample natural resources farther north, though of course the settler is compelled to pay his quota to the expense of irrigation in the form of a higher price for the land. It was when the mountains were met, however, that the real troubles of the company commenced. The battle against the rocky bluffs round Lake Superior was as mere child’s play to what was encountered when the mountain barrier was entered. The Government had surveyed a route through the mountains, and its choice had fallen upon the Yellowhead Pass, the lowest summit in the range, which is only 3,723 feet above the level of the ocean. It was the obvious portal through the mountains to the coast, but the company decided to thread the chain farther to the south. This decision aroused considerable criticism, and the Government only relented by stipulating that if the Rockies were penetrated at any other point it should be at least 100 miles north of the International Boundary. When the project was consummated it was stipulated that grades should not exceed 1 in 52.8 feet, and the Yellowhead fulfilled this requirement strictly to the letter. However, the Government’s requirements being fulfilled, the line was forced through the range by way of the Kicking Horse Pass, a high road used by the _couriers du bois_ for some years previously. But it proved a trying piece of work. The river is a boiling stream and difficult of approach. The mountains rear up on all sides, and in order to force their way forward the engineers had to resort to herculean efforts, spanning tumultuous streams and carving narrow winding ledges on the sides of the mountains. Moreover, it is a heavy up-hill pull for mile after mile, until at last the summit is gained at an altitude of 5,329 feet. To gain this point the line winds in a bewildering manner, but the vistas of mountain scenery that are unfolded are difficult to parallel out of Switzerland. [Illustration: HOW THE CANADIAN PACIFIC LINE CREEPS ROUND TOWERING PRECIPICES ALONG THE FRASER RIVER]