We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Kegaska to various places of note, such as Parliament Hill.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Kegaska and extending to:
The National Capital at Parliament Hill (Ottawa, ON) is 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Kegaska to Parliament Hill, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 43 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 29 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 4,830 miles [7,773.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 5,555 miles [8,939.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,433 miles [5,524.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kegaska) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kegaska. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 50.1900, Longitude: -61.2742
<2>
While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<3>
The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Kegaska to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 295.959 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 292.132 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 290.518 degrees.