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■^^ 
 
 TWO LECTURES 
 
 -ov- 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 -BY— 
 
 LEOB BABnrETT, ESQ., 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 VICTORIA : 
 
 rUBLUllED Br IIIUGINS k LONO. 
 IbOS. 
 
I! 
 
 C-1. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In publisliing these Lectures in their present form, I am 
 only complying with the general desire of the people, to 
 whom, at different places, they were addrcsacd. The 
 opinions they contain as to the future of British Columbia 
 are so different to those commonly entertained, that I 
 should have hesitated in their publication, had they not 
 been endorsed by the intelligence of the country. The 
 mere fact of my having seventeen years' experience in the 
 mines of California, though it might give weight to my 
 jopinions, would not confer the authority I desire on this 
 occasion. If the publication of my opinions is to do any 
 good in the world, it must be known, I am not speaking 
 merely as an individual, but on the behali and under the 
 sanction of the community, I have, therefore, thought it 
 necessary to append the resolution adopted by the audience 
 at New Westminster, the Capital of the Colony, and signed 
 by Henry Holbrook, Esq., President of the Municipal 
 Council, as it conveys precisely the authori*^y under which I 
 desire to appear. 
 
 . LEGE HARNETT. 
 
 Victoria, Feb; Ttb, 1868. , . 
 
 * 
 
 
 [!': 
 
 The Lecturer sat down amidst loud and enthusiastic 
 applause, after which the Hod. J. Robson read the following 
 address, which was seconded by Jas. Cunningham, Esq., 
 unanimously adopted by the meeting, and presented to Mr 
 Harnett, who duly acknowledged the same : — 
 
 To Legh Harnett. Esq., 
 
 Sib, — Having had the pleasure of listening to your two 
 Lectures on British Columbia, including all its interests, we 
 cannot allow you to leave without making some acknow- 
 ledgment of our great indebtedness to you. We have be* 
 astonished at your powers of observation, and impresse •, 
 
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 2y5336 
 
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 lip. 
 
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 with the correctness of your reasoning, and Btill more hayo 
 we been surprised at the vast amount of interesting and 
 important information you have collected in so short a 
 time. 
 
 It is little to say that wo heartily endorse what you have 
 advanced in regard to the advantages and resources of this 
 Colony, Unquestionably the country owes you much, and 
 it is as gratifying to us to say as it will doubtless be to you 
 to be assured that you leave us with the respect and 
 gratitude of all classes. We hope the interruption to our 
 intercourse will be short, and that we shall soon have the 
 pleasure of seeing you amongst us again. If so, you may 
 rely upon meeting with a hearty reception. 
 
 Signed, on behalf of the Meeting, 
 H. HOLBROOK, 
 
 President Municipal Council. 
 
 Nbw Wiibtminsteb, Not. 27lh, 1867. 
 
 L 
 

 Mr President :— It is just eighteen monllis since I came 
 a stranger amongst you, to learn and not to teach. When I 
 look back through that short period and sec how my position 
 has changed, I may be pardoned, if I keenly feel the re- 
 sponsibility it entails, and deprecate, in some measure, the 
 importance attached to my opinions. It is true that I am 
 no longer a stranger, that my name has become familiar to 
 almost every household in the land, that 1 have been en- 
 trusted with a most important duty ; but all this, I think, 
 may be attributed as much to circumstance as to merit. I 
 first came here for the purpose of compiling a brief history 
 of the Colony, to be published in another form, Avhich gave 
 me the fullest opportunity of understanding its real condi- 
 tion. The favorable conclusions I drew from the evidence 
 before me were made known to the community at a public 
 meeting in the theatre ; and thus, it was natural, on 
 coming the second time, to complete my original business, a 
 general desire should prevail for me to visit the upper 
 country and judge honestly of its future, by my mining 
 experience in California, I believe, it is admitted by all, 
 I have discharged tlie onerous duties of that exploration 
 faithfully in every respect ; that I have omitted nothing, 
 overlooked nothing, neglected nothing having a remote 
 bearing on the future of the Colony, and I am here to night, 
 after five months' excessive labor, exposure and fatigue to 
 submit to you the final result of my investigations. 1 con- 
 fess I have felt much anxiety about the cliaracter of this 
 meeting, for if my labors arc to do any gcod, so abused and 
 slandered has the Colony been, I must not speak on this 
 matter as a private individual, but for the community, and 
 under their sanction. The intellectual and social element I 
 see present encourages me to speak boldly, while it warns 
 me to speak honestly. I shall do both, and if I succeed in 
 gaining the concurrence of those before whom I stand to 
 night, I shall consider I have accomplished a success of 
 which any man may be proud. 
 
 You are aware, Mr President, that thia lecture is to em- 
 brace the whole of your mining interests, with a description 
 of your entire mining territory. On this ground I must 
 claim your indulgence, for there are few things in life mere 
 difficult than to make such a lecture attractive to an audience 
 having little knowledge of geology and less connection with 
 the mines. Under ordinary circumstances, it is nothing but 
 a relation of specific terms and dry detail, which it is im- 
 possible to diversify or embellish. In this case, I think, I 
 may fairly claim the indulgence asked, tor you have all, 
 though it may not appear so, a direct connexion with tho 
 
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 : 
 
 mines— a connexion, in fact, wliicli p;ovornfl your future con- 
 dition. Tliore cannot, in my opinion, bo any ininiediato im- 
 provcmont in tlic goiornl interests of tlic (/olony, in com- 
 meree, trade, a<rriciiitiire, real estate, n)anul\ietures. Sic, 
 witiiout an iniinediat<3 iinjirovonieiit in the mines. Without 
 tlio latter, the others must I'cmain Ianpnisliin<r in tlieii" 
 present nnliealthy state for a Ioi.l^ period, probably the life- 
 time of the present peneratioii ; but with the latter, tlio 
 change would bo maj^ieal — now life, Yigor, enterjtrisc and 
 prosperity would exist everywhere, and eomparalively to as 
 great an extent as in California, altev her mining depression 
 in 1858. Preeisely i:i the same way that an iinvataral pro- 
 sperity in the mines gave, at first, an unnatural life to the 
 whole Colony, you can measure the result of a return to a 
 natural prosperity in tlio 'mines, such, 1 mean, as they are 
 really capable of' regaining — a new life, and bcttei- still, a 
 rational life, Avould be infused into the whole body politic, 
 from which a permanent pro;;j)crity never known before 
 would follow; for you, like, ourselves, in California, I 
 imagine, would not soon forget the bitter lesson of your mis- 
 fortunes. Thus, it will bo soon, the real prospect of the 
 mines developed, and the extent and capacity o' the aurifer- 
 ous territory undeveloped, is a (]uostion of absorbing im- 
 portance, TFJiich no class of jicrsons in the Colony can ignore 
 or treat with, indilTcrcncc, for it certainly involves the very 
 condition of their existence- I rely, tliei'cfore, tonight on 
 self-interest, at all times a powerful agent, with mankind, to 
 excite the attention I desire, while I endeavor to show what 
 your mines are positively to-day and what your mining ter- 
 ritory must be hereaAer. 
 
 The mining explorer or engineer, who seeks to attain a 
 competent knowledge of this poi'tion of' the Paeiiic Coast, 
 must have a general if not an intimate acquaintance with its 
 mineral formation, as it appears elsewhere, cthcrwise its 
 extent will frustrate all his exertions and its clmractcr bafilo 
 all his ingenuity. But with a knowledge of tiic mineral 
 formation of California (which 1 have studied practically for 
 seventeen years) he has the key of the whole Coast, which 
 not only facilitates his labors at any given point but renders 
 his conclusions thereon accurate and reliable. It was this 
 experience and knowledge I brought to bear on British 
 Columbia while tracing for hundreds of wiles the unity and 
 correctness of her mineral formation. The same mistake I 
 find, and a mischievous one it is, has been made here, that 
 wo made in California, adopting a general system of mining, 
 sindlar in all cases and in all districts, without in some 
 degree first understanding the source of those mines. The 
 miner, who labors to develop the auriferous deposits, or the 
 explorer, who seeks to understand their extent and character, 
 if they would avoid endless failures and ruinous expendi- 
 tures, must both study two things, viz., the mineral forma- 
 tion from which those deposits originally came, and the 
 primitive water-sheds by which they were originally located. 
 
wT 
 
 To simplify this Iccturo to tlic full coinprclicnsion oT tlioso 
 present, wlio ciiiiiiot bo oxpi'cted to bo familiar with tlio 
 furidatnontal priticiploH ofiniiiiiip tid exploriii"-, 1 sliail care- 
 fully oKcbow all tiM,'iiiii(;!il and scientific terms wiiile I take 
 you atop by sto|) tliroiii;'li (In; va-;tnps.s and yet llie Icpitinincy 
 of your minin^i; territory and explain .smV(/('»i (lie facts wliicli 
 Irnve led ino praduiilly to form sncli an exalted opinion of 
 your slandered country. Fir^t, tlicii, 
 
 THE MINERyVL FOR^fATION. 
 
 It is a p;i'eal mistake, in my opinion, of many very com- 
 petent persons to deny the i-ontiniiity of (riic ori,Mnic veina 
 and tlie existence of any natural laws by whicU \vc can 
 determine their permanency and riehnoss. For my own 
 part, I am a firm Ijclicvcr in the condnuity of oriranic veins, 
 in obedienc to (he conrsc of electricity, now generally ad- 
 mitted to bo the grand accent of tiieir formation ; for, as 
 Prescott beautifully remarks,, "it is electricity, mysteriously 
 powerful in this as in other departnicntH of material ex- 
 istence, that teaches these veins what course to take, where 
 to aecuniulaie and where to lie down and rest," Modern 
 science has demonstrated, beyond all question, the universal 
 influence of this ajeiit thr..nghoiit the raiifre of animal life 
 and material existence. Why, then, deny it in the aggrega- 
 tion of mineral veins, and thus retain the dilTiculties, which 
 for ages have proved a stumbling block to geology and 
 scientific mining ? 1 was first led to believe in this theory 
 when exploring the great mineral formation of the Coast, 
 from the Southern boundaries of California to Oregon, 
 especially the copper system ; and I have since become con- 
 firmed ill that belief by my recent exjilorations thence 
 through your territory up almost to the Rocky Mountains, 
 a dist-ancc, in a direct line, of some 1200 miles or more. 
 From the extreme south, through the intermediate regions to 
 the extreme north, I liiid the same unity of formation, the 
 same continuity of course, the same extent of width, the 
 same disposition of metal, the same relation of rock, and 
 therefore how can 1 longer doubt it all springs from the 
 same parentage ; that the great mineral formation of Cali- 
 fornia and British Columbia are one and the same thing, and 
 that when placed under the same expenditure of capital and 
 the same intelligence of labor, as these primary agents of 
 successful enterprise and industry naturally gravitate to 
 their level, they will equal each other in the same endless 
 wealth. 1 believe 1 could not do the Colony a greater ser- 
 vice than by proving the identity of the mineral r-ystem of 
 the Coast at the extreme north and the extreme south. The 
 world knows what gold California has produced, still pro- 
 duces, and for years will produce ; the world, if it pleases, 
 may know thereby what British Columbia, struggling at 
 present under the early difficulty of California, an un- 
 natural inequality between labor, food and capital, will bo, 
 
8 
 
 I 
 
 when liko California, alio lias out-lived that dilTiculty and 
 started fairly in her career of prosperity, and, so from the 
 quantity of gold, tlio world may, if it pleases, form a correct 
 estimate al8o of all other natural products and elements of 
 wealth. I do not concur with those political economists who 
 think there is no advantage to a country in being gold- 
 bearing. Would California and Australia ho to-day what 
 they really are, magnificent in their present and future 
 liistory, unless for the last fifteen years they had produced 
 from $40,000,000 to $00,000,0(10 every year ? In California, 
 I know, all the o!oinents of productive wealth, commerce, 
 agriculture, manufactures, existed for many years, and do 
 still to a great extent, in proportion to the yield of gold, 
 though having receivcl a good start from the product of 
 gold, they n>e fortunately all fast beconiiiig self-sustaining. 
 I see the pamc thing goirg on around ine here — the life of 
 the Colony governed in the past, the present, the future, 
 by the yield of gold — exalted or depressed, stagnant or pro- 
 gressive, according to the j ear's yield. How all important 
 then to have a correct kiiowlcdgb of the mineral formation, 
 which, in fact, determines the extent and richness of the 
 auriferous deposits, which again in their turn decide the life 
 or death of the country for years. The ignorant may deny, 
 the educated may doubt, one man's ability to sec farther into 
 a rock than another, and yet with an alnding faith in nature 
 he can do so, and does do so, in all mining countries. I 
 know very well the Great Creator never errs or belies His 
 purpose, and on looking over the universe we find every- 
 thing " that is, is well." Now, in the same way, if I find 
 the imprint of Divine omnipotence stamped on a rock, or a 
 series of rocks, or in other terms " on a formation," I care 
 not what man, or multitude of men, ignorant beyond what 
 they see, or intelligent to the full extent of education, op- 
 pose me, I there rest my unwavering faith. I know this for- 
 mation is an integral part of the great universe, I know it is 
 created for the specific purpose of man's use and happiness, 
 and therefore must be capable of being understood and de- 
 veloped by natural laws, otherwise the object of its creation 
 is a failure, and that cannot be. The fact is, Mr President, 
 these mineral formations are really governed by laws as de- 
 termined and immutable as those that govern the heavenly 
 bodies ; and when the one are understood as well as the 
 other, there is no more difliculty in predicting the result of 
 the final development of a mineral formation than there is 
 
 in 
 
 tracing 
 
 the excentric 
 
 wanderings of a 
 
 comet through 
 
 space for centuries to come, and fixing the precise moment at 
 which it shall reappear to us on earth. If one man, by a 
 knowledge of gravitation, can bring the eternity of spaco 
 within the deductions of the human mind, I see no reason 
 why another, by a knowledge of geology, should not also bo 
 able to bring the mysteries of the mineral system to a com- 
 parative certainty. Being assured that such a thing is to be 
 aoae, let me now give ia detail the analogy between tliQ 
 
 •i 
 

 
 syatcms of California and British Coliimbin, on wliicli, as I 
 have already naid, ho iiuicli of tlio future life of the latter dc- 
 peiuiH, especially in attractiug a 8j)ecdy inoreaso to her popu- 
 lation and capital. 
 
 I find, tlien, the two systcmH, cxistinj^ at the extreme north 
 and extreme south, a counterpart of the other in all their 
 relations, divisions and subdivisions ; from tlio copper to the 
 gold and silver, in the granite, nietamorphie, slate, trap-rock, 
 marble, there is no difference in character nv position, so 
 far as I can discover. Taking the copper aysti i as a base 
 of examination, we find it here, as in Califofuia, in three 
 divisions, and by mastering it the remainder of the whole 
 formation is easily understood. In Cali'i nia, 'le central 
 division is the principal, strotciiing fron. iiic foothillp nf the 
 P; rra Nevada, twenty-five miles ei's*-, into th'- uiountains, 
 and intei-sccting the whole State north anr* somh ; on the 
 Avestcrn summit of tho isierra Nevada there are two or three 
 veins, and in the (Miast range five veins, forminsr two more 
 divisions, parallel to each other, but all tiiree separate and 
 distinct in their formations. The same thing precisely exists 
 hero. Commencing at the west, in thi^i country, I find the 
 Alberni, Sookc and llowc Sound veins, corresponding with 
 the Coast Range in California; then, travelling east, I find 
 the central division, extending from the mouth of Thompson 
 River twenty-five miles in the interior, and intersoetiiig the 
 whole country north and south, and finally at the head of 
 Shuswap Lake, two or three veins, which correspond with 
 ihosc on tho western summit of the Sierras, while it is re- 
 markable that the distances from west to cast, between these 
 three divisions, are about the same as in California. Again, 
 the best gold and silver veins in the two countries are found 
 east of the central copper division, with the subsidiary rocks 
 already mentioned occupying the same relative positions 
 throughout the whole formation. It is by no means an idle 
 speculation to establish this identity, for it appears self- 
 evident to me that the marvellous wealth extracted from the 
 California mines at the present time simply reflects the 
 destiny of British Columbia hereafter, when her mines, 
 equally rich ai'd more extensive in gold, sdver, copper, iron, 
 lead, and incon parably richer in coal, arc brought under the 
 same liberal expenditure, infolligcnt labor, and scientific 
 development, an event only to ,o hastened by the real facts 
 of the case being made known to tho world. It is sufiicitnt 
 to state here the fact of the unity and cxtt -t of the mineral 
 formation, as I shall have to particularize upon tho gold and 
 silver veins when I speak about quartz mining. On the 
 present division of my subject I sliall merely add, it is a 
 matter of inditVerence to me who follows my footsteps in my 
 late explorations, so long as he is a competent and unpre- 
 judiced man. In that case, I feel assured, his intelligence 
 and justice will compel him to indorse my opinions, and with 
 me, to regret the world should so long have been kept ia 
 ignorance of the real merits of the .country. Having thua 
 
 \ I 
 
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 i 
 
 10 
 
 established the legitimacy of the source of your mineral 
 wealth. I mast proceed next to the 
 
 AURIFEROUS DEPOSITS. 
 
 These, as found in what are called Placer Diggings, can 
 onh' have their extent and richness determined by the 
 itiineral formation. Hence, if we find the one correct we 
 may safely have confidence in the other. I admit, however, 
 there must always be more uncertainty in finding and follow- 
 ing such lodes than in working mineral veins, because their 
 distribution through rivers, gulches, and hills being governed 
 by the action of water, is necessarily eccentric, accidental, 
 and arbitrary. Indeed, there is oul^!|safe theory by which 
 to judge them, and that is, to determine the primitive water 
 courses, as far as possible,, by the evidences of the present 
 configuration of the country. Some people deem this process 
 little more than mere speculative observation ; to a certain 
 extent it is so, but when a man understands the business, 
 possesses the requisite knowledge and experience, and will 
 take the trouble to perform it properly, for it is very labor- 
 ious, it is astonishing what a degree of accuracy can be given 
 to that observation. In examining tlie different creeks at 
 present under operation', and the enormous territory hitherto 
 neglected, I fully re^'ized the responsibility of this uncer- 
 tainty, feeling the ner painfully for a corresponding circum- 
 spection and care be/ e I adopted any conclusion as to their 
 future. 1 believe, I omitted nothing that could guide and 
 mature my judgment. I took all this special trouble, because 
 for some time past, a general belief has been growing up at 
 home and abroad that the auriferous deposits of this country 
 are nearly exhausted. Looking at the condition of things 
 as I found them in tlie mines, I confess, I am not much 
 astonished at the prevalence of such a belief. A greater 
 mistake, however, was uover made in the world. In no 
 single case, that I could see, has any ground been worked, 
 within a distance of three hundred miles in length and one 
 hundred in width, but the hed» of a few streams, while the 
 sources of gold feeding those streams, as for many years in 
 California, have been entirely nrglected. I think it safe to 
 say, there is not a legitimate liill tunnel in the upper coun- 
 try. How, then, can the deposits of ^old be exhausted ? 
 They are really not yet touched. To-day they are as 
 thoroughly unknown as they were six years ago. But with 
 the experience of California, in this respect, before the 
 miners, such a thing ought not to be, and had they devoted a 
 tithe of their early wealth to the discovery of hill-diggings, 
 which all admit could have been done without inc^ivenience 
 at the time, such a thing would not have been. But the mis- 
 take as to the exhaustion of the auriferous deposits gaes 
 farther even than this ; for in the stream-beds, throughout 
 every locality, where the lodes have been longest and most 
 BuccessfuUy worked, so far from being exhausted are now 
 
mineral 
 
 ings, can 
 
 by the 
 •rect we 
 lowever, 
 d follow- 
 use their 
 governed 
 !cidental, 
 by which 
 ve water 
 
 present 
 a process 
 a certain 
 business, 
 
 and will 
 ;ry labor- 
 be given 
 creeks at 
 J hitherto 
 [is uucer- 
 ig circum- 
 18 to their 
 guide and 
 e, because 
 ing up at 
 is country 
 of things 
 not much 
 A greater 
 id. In no 
 n worked, 
 h and one 
 , while the 
 y years in 
 : it safe to 
 pper coun- 
 ixhausted ? 
 3y arc as 
 
 But with 
 before the 
 devoted a 
 1-diggings, 
 ^iTenience 
 ut the mis- 
 posits g«e8 
 throughout 
 it and most 
 ed are now 
 
 only beginning to bo better opened, better understood, and 
 better appreciated, while new ones of great importance, in 
 different sections far apart, have recently been discovered. 
 There is no such a thing for generations to come, as ex- 
 hausting the auriferous deposits of this country ; they are 
 co-exibtent and co-extensive with the mineral formation, and 
 cannot therefore be thoroughly known, much less worked, 
 until the other is more thoroughly developed. A man who 
 has had the experience of half a life-time in California, par- 
 ticipated in all her mining vicissitudes, watched her strug- 
 gles, and shared her triumphs, can see at a glance that the 
 deplorable condition in the mines and country is but the re- 
 Bult of natural causes, which must have their . course ; hvX 
 uninfluenced by that condition pecuniarily, his vWsion is left 
 free and clear, and he can also see at a glance those causes 
 have nearly exhausted themselves, and without your know- 
 ing it, inaugurated a new period of safer progress and pros- 
 perity than ever known. This truth, which has been im- 
 pressed on me, step by step, as I passed through the gold 
 regions, will, I think, be impressed on you, as we travel 
 tnrough those regions again to-night. I propose to give an 
 illustration of the principal sections, beginning with — 
 
 WILLIAM OSEEK AND ITS TBIBUTARIES. 
 
 This creek has played so important a part in your history, 
 
 and forms so conspicuous a feature in the history of mining, 
 
 that it is well worth being understood. From the time of 
 
 its discovery in 1861 up to last Pummer, as near as. I could 
 
 ascertain from the most authentic sources, some $25,000,000 
 
 have been taken from its bed, and a limited portion of its 
 
 banks, within a distance of three miles, and vet when 
 
 thoroughly drained and thoroughly worked, I really believe 
 
 twice that enormous sum will be taken out hereafter. From 
 
 its fabulous richness it has been alike, the origin of your 
 
 );:osperity and misfortunes. It would have been far bettor 
 
 lud the creek been discovered two years sooner or five years 
 
 nter. In either case the welfare of the country would have 
 
 jeon more permanently served, for its interests, products, and 
 
 reputation would not have been dependent, as they have for 
 
 J ears, on the accidental condition of a single isolated spct. 
 'I either case, many rich tracts of mining and agricultural 
 Ifinds, easy of access, and with the finest climate, would have 
 boon teeming with life and wealth, which now are unjustly 
 dtjserted, because this creek has absorbed the capital and 
 enterprise of the whole population, and filled them with in- 
 flated dreams of sudden wealth to the prejudice of that 
 patient industry from which the true wealth of every coun- 
 W comes Unfortunately and wrongly, since its discovery, 
 William Creek has been considered, in a certain sense all 
 Cariboo, and Cariboo all British Columbia. The world, 
 more or less, thinks so to-day, because it has no authentic 
 knowledge of tho wonderful wealth and richness of the vast 
 
 ( ■ 
 
 
I 
 
 12 
 
 « 
 
 interior.. Thus, in a great measure, it must remain, until 
 Cariboo regains its pristine glory ; for it is only by its 
 wealth your'own people can disenthral themselves from such 
 a contracted existence, and field of operation ; it is onlv by 
 its wealth strangers can bo induced to come in sufficient 
 lumbers to give life and vigor to the whole country. The 
 principal point tlien I had to determine by my investigations 
 was, whether this creek and the vast region it opened, and 
 still represents, held out any immediate hope of accomplish- 
 ing either of these things. I have already said, I do think 
 10 conscientiously, and I do not think I am mistaken.^ 
 
 The opinions prevailing in the public mind respecting tins 
 particular spot are altogether wrong. I was under the im- 
 pression myself that there were only one or two very rich 
 claiu-s in Cariboo, all the other ground, like the basins in 
 Idaho, being barren. I know that such is still the general 
 impression in California. Yet on William Creek alone 
 there must be over sixty good claims, independent of the 
 Flume Companies and Hill claims, some of which, after six 
 years' working still pay remarkably well, and all pay wages, 
 which means, in other words, from $8 to $10 a-day. Last 
 year, it is estimated that nearly one-third of these claims 
 were not touched during the best part pf the season, owing 
 to the Bed Rock Flume, at the upper end. not being com- 
 pleted, and the Bed Rock Drain Flume, at tlie lower end, 
 being Blled up by the frcsliet. But in 'ipite of these draw- 
 backs, what was the result of tlie season's labor ? TliC total 
 yield of gold was larger than at any period since 18(53, the 
 golden year of the country, This season, the upper Flume 
 will bo completed, the lower one repaired, which will bring 
 the whole creek into perfect operation by draining it tho- 
 roughly from one end to the other ; and if these Companies 
 secure the drainage against every possible contingency, the 
 most important thing of all in successful mining (and it is 
 their interest and duty to do so.) J cannot but conclude the 
 yield next season will surpa-s 1863 by a large amount. I 
 arrive at this conclusion from the best of all evidence, the 
 history of every claim from first to last. To secure myself 
 against mistake, I took the total receipts and total expendi- 
 ture of each from the time it was opened to the present day, 
 with the amount and character of ground left to work. I can- 
 not, of course, give the whole, as it would be tedious, and con- 
 sumo more time than I can spare. Those, however, I select, 
 are not chosen, it must be understood, on account of their 
 great richness, but to show the steady yield of the ground. 
 I will take the upper part of the creek first, beginning at 
 the Canyon :— Black Jack Co., located in 1862, 6 interests; 
 in two years took out $200,000 ; total expenditure, in the 
 dejresttime, when labor was $10 a-day, $50,00) ; still the 
 best claim on the creek for proper hydraulic washing. 
 Cunninghan Co., located in 1861, 4 interests ; total receipts 
 up to 1865, $500,000 ; total cost, $100,000 ; now making 
 good wages eluicing. Tontine Co., located in 1864, 4 
 

 13 
 
 interests ; total receipts, $36,813 ; total cost, |22,243 ; now 
 prospecting for back cliannel. Dietz Co,, located in 1864, 
 paid good wages all the time. Tyack Co., located in 1861, 
 4 interests ; paid all the time from $16 io $20 a-day to the 
 hand ; this year better than ever, washing up sometimes 
 over loo ozs., and looking more promising as they go into 
 the hill. California Co., located in 1861, 9 interests ; total 
 receipts to 1865, nearly $500,000 ; total cost, $150,000 ; now 
 working a small sluice ; three white men and two China- 
 men ; making from $15 to ■:20 a-day ; considerable ground 
 left. Cornish Co., located in 1861, 8 interests ; paid ex- 
 penses to 1 866 ; that year paid a dividend of over $400 to 
 the interest besides wages, most of the shareholders working; 
 in 1867 up to September paid over $8,000, at cost of $4,000 ; 
 still paying better as they go into the hill. Steadman Co., 
 located ia 1861, 4 interests ; up to 1863 total receipts nearly 
 $60,000 ; at a cost of $15,000 ; still working and making 
 good wages. Allen Co., located in 1864, 1 interest (colored 
 man) ; could not be worked till 1866 ; from that time to the 
 present paid from $25 to $30 a-day to the hand ; considera- 
 ble ground to. work. To these may be added, the Browse, 
 Wilson, Bradley, Forward Cos.. in fact, the whole of the 
 immense flat stretching thence to the Junction of McCullura's 
 Gulch, paying in about the same proportion, but which will 
 all be worked henceforth to the lest advantage, by being 
 thoroughly drained by the Bed Rock Flume. This company 
 also have a large amount of good ground, hitherto lying 
 idle, but which also will be brought into operation under 
 the hydraulic system, and contribute immensely to the 
 general receipts of the season. I may here remark, for they 
 deserve my saying so, that it is almost impossible to estimate 
 the benefit this Corporation will be to the upper portion of 
 the Creek, within the limits I am now describing, if they 
 adopt a safe and liberal policy towards the miners. Under 
 Buch mauagemont, I consider, they have one of the best 
 properties in the country. Below the canyon, some of the 
 most marvellous claims existed, and I could go on saying the 
 same of them as I have of those above it, until your patience 
 was exhausted. It is enough to say that the old celebrated 
 Diller claim, which paid in one day 103 lbs. of gold ; the 
 old Barker claim, which enriched its owners, will be drained 
 by Mr R, Dexter ; it is expected in time for this season, 
 and if so, that ground and the rest stretching up to the 
 month of the Canyon, will again yield immensely. Then 
 below these claims, down to Camcrontown, including some 
 twenty or thirty goed claims, the whole Creek will be a 
 scene of active labor, if the Bod Rock Drain is only secured 
 against accident. In my opinion, the miners ought to see to 
 this themselves. A common benefit is a coinmon interest. To 
 SPfiure a successful season, at any time, is no trifling matter 
 the miners ; to the country at largo, in this particular 
 
 Eeriod of its crisis, it is all important the world should see 
 ow really rich you are, and that can bo done if the drain- 
 
 A 
 
 ■i I 
 
 II 
 
 ! 
 
PPffiPHP 
 
 14 
 
 i fli 
 
 fl 
 
 age of the creek this year is kept secure. Every man ia 
 interested in, and therefore should contribute to it if neces- 
 sary; for drainage ; in all raining regions, especially Cariboo, 
 is the secret of permanent success, whatever may be the 
 character of the dirt, whether very rich or only moderately 
 rich. 
 
 It is necessary here, while treating upon this branch of 
 the subject, to draw your attention to a stream running into 
 William at this point from the left-hand side, called Stout's 
 Gulch. ,It also has been a feature, like the great stream 
 itself, t«r the history ot mining in Cariboo, but never 
 hitherto properly understood or appreciated; its glory has 
 yet to come. It is especially an illustration of what perfect 
 drainage will do, and as it presents itself to-day, ia the best 
 worked stream I saw in the country. The mouth of the 
 Gulch joining William Creek was commenced in 1863, and 
 worked chiefly the next year, when the water from the latter 
 breaking into it, it has never, I understand, been opened 
 since. he first claim on it from the mouth was the High, 
 Low, Jack, located in 1864, with 5 interests, and in June, 
 1867, paid a dividend of $12,000 to the share. The Pioneer 
 Co., located at the same time, paid about the same amount, 
 and was tlien sold to tlie Floyd Co., who now own the whole 
 ground from the mouth to the Alturas, above them. This 
 company lost most of last season by their underground draia 
 being filled up, but this is a magnificent claim and will be 
 for a long time, having good pay dirt from 20 to 40 feet 
 wide. The Alturas Co. is next, located in 1864, with 8 
 interests ; from thorough drainage they work their claim to 
 great advantage, making much of it, otherwise valueless, 
 yield well thereby. In five weeks, last summer, they paid 
 off an indebtedness of $23,000, and have a large amount of 
 ground left. Taft Vale, located 1864, 8 interests, only 
 commenced working thoroughly last summer, by extending 
 the drainage from the claims below, and averaged from 100 
 to 240 oz. a week. It cost $30,000 to open this claim in the 
 first instance, having lost five shafts for want of their present 
 drainage. This is also a splendid claim. The Jenkins Co., 
 located 1864, 8 interests, have pay dirt from 30 to 40 feet 
 wide, but from its great width it has never yielded over $12 
 a-day to the hand. Tiie Much Oro, located in 1865, 6 
 interests, realized $20,000, at a cost of $15,000. The lead 
 is narrower and richer here than in the Jenkins, and now 
 they have carried on the drain, they will henceforth realize 
 much more. Above are two claims, the Durham and Emery, 
 prospecting for the lead on the upper end, on the left hand 
 side of the flat. I consider this a very important locality, 
 and examined it thoroughly. My observations led me to 
 conclude, that although thcsu two companies occasionally 
 find gold enough to encourage them, it is only a small over- 
 shot from the original lead, the continuation of which 
 eventually will be found above the Much Oro, on the right 
 hand side of the flat ; thea curving to the left, but con- 
 
1$ 
 
 siderably above the Emery and Durham. I am led to this 
 conclusion by the present condition of the slate-rock, as seen 
 along the water-ditch going to Lowhoe Creek. There must, 
 unquestionably, at one time have been an immense water 
 stream through here, and before it was drawn down to its 
 present level, have turned oflf opposite or a little below the 
 Alturas, gone through the high hill behind Barkerville and 
 joined William Creek, then also a much larger stream, at the 
 Morning Star claim below the town. This is no idle or 
 useless speculation, for there must be an immense deposit of 
 gold at the flats, which originally fed Stout's and Lowhee 
 Gulches, and which cun only bo found at last by investigat- 
 ing the formation ; and anyone understanding these matters, 
 doing so, will, I believe, adopt my views. This case is 
 multiplied all over the country, so that a correct knowledge 
 of the one attained by actual experience will both assist and 
 hasten the development of the others. That surely is no 
 trivial consideration. Such is Stout's Gulch to-day. What 
 will you think when I state it was not deemed worthy of 
 attention three years ago? Yet this is the natural progress 
 experience creates in mining, as well as in other occupations; 
 and when I see that experience daily maturing in Cariboo, 
 and carefully applied in every direction to the development 
 of her vast auriferous deposits, I cannot but feel that her 
 real wealth and greatness will only be known when most of 
 us have passed away. 
 
 There is another stream running into William's, a little 
 below, on the opposite side, called Conklin's, which cannot 
 be overlooked in considering the future of this section of 
 Cariboo. From the great richness of the celebrated 
 Ericson claim, near the moutli, immense expectations were 
 formed, which, so far, have not been realized. If the rich 
 pay in the Ericson had been anything but an accidental 
 deposit, it v juld certainly have been found in the bed by the 
 Reid Co., who have an extensive, deep, and exceedingly well- 
 worked claim, or by the Home-Stake tunnel in the hill on 
 the left side, because it could never come from the right side, 
 between the mouth of the Gulch and the upper end of the 
 Reid claim, if not farihor up for that strip, stretching 
 indeed back to the Canyon on William Creek, is inevitably 
 barren. In truth, Conklin's is very difficult to understand. 
 It is one of those spots, sometimes found in mining countries, 
 which baffle scientific i. estigation, and which can only be 
 proven by hard labor and expensive ventures. Yet from the 
 interest and importance it derives from an accidental freak 
 of nature, we ought to try to understand it, in some measure, 
 in order to direct the large expenditure of labor and capital 
 it so strongly attracts and freely receives. The extreme 
 richness of the Ericson claim, at the bottom, and the smooth 
 surface of the rocks in tlio Itenfew and otlier claims at the 
 head of the Gulch, convince all people of two things — the 
 existence of a tremendous wash through there some, and 
 the existence of a largo deposit of gold somewhere ia the 
 
wm 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 neighborhood yet. Considering the amount of labor and 
 capital expended at the prc-ent day on this Gulch, the 
 enunciation of any man's ideas may be uselul to all interested, 
 provided they are based on reason, and induce a closer and 
 more extended examination of the laws of nature. My 
 opinion is, tliat the mountain, from McCuUum's Gulch to the 
 Prairie Flower, at the Meadows, though divided now, is one 
 and the same mountain, that Conklin's Gulch is compara- 
 tively of recent formation, and that the original deposit will 
 only be found far back in tlie hill, beyond the pressure of ^ 
 water, which when it first broke its barriers, made the 
 United, Ericson, Davis, Aurora, and Borealis ground so 
 very rich. Thus, to understand the final chances of most 
 claims on this Creek, we must look into the prospects of 
 finding 
 
 HILL DIGGINGS. 
 
 These may be considered the second era of placer mining, 
 for they are naturally overlooked until people begin to 
 inquire whence all the gold in the stream beds comes, and is 
 finally traced up the banks into the mountains. Too much 
 importance cannot be attached, nor too much encouragement 
 given to this branch of mining, for as a general thing, it is 
 always found to be a permanent source of wealth. Accord- 
 ing +' our California ideas it has not really been commenced 
 in British Columbia, simply because its day has not arrived; 
 but it is time public attention was directed to it, for by my 
 own showing, the more the streams are brought r.nder a 
 thorough system of drainage, the quicker and more effectual- 
 ly will they be exhausted, and hence, it cannot be very long 
 iu the natural course of events before ^orae other resource 
 will be required to fall back upon. Let us, then, look into 
 the hills rising so precipitously round the locality we are 
 reviewing, and that will be sufficient, lor the same argument, 
 and the same rules in a primary sense apply to all others. 
 
 Of the existence of immense rivers, of which there is no 
 evidence at present but such as the hardy miner gives the 
 world, I may quote the great " Blue Lead " in California. 
 Here we have the bod of a large river, intersecting the 
 contre of the whole State almost from one end to the other, 
 filled in by some terrible incomprehensible convulsio.i, and 
 huge mountains piled up on it, afterwards to hide, if pos- 
 sible, its precious treasures for ever. By degrees and by 
 accident man's intelligence is brought to bear upon the sub- 
 ject, when the secret of countless ages is made known, 
 perhaps, 't a few months ; and, his skill and indurance in 
 this, as in his other triumphs over the accumulated obstacles 
 of nature, add to the general happiness of his iacc. Now, 
 if large rivers can thus be lost for ages, and found again in 
 one country, why cannot smaller streams be lost and found 
 by the same agencies in another ? I ask this question to 
 arrest the attention of the sceptical, feeling assured, that if 
 the experience of California in this matter is applied to 
 
raw 
 
 rfJBWB^^WWBW" 
 
 1 1 
 
 11 ■ > 
 
 British Columbia, much labor and money will bo saved, and 
 many failures avoided, indeed, I do not tliink better ser- 
 vice can be done the country by any one, than to assist tho 
 investigations now directed by the miners in Cariboo to the 
 discovery of those primiti' o deposits wliich have made its 
 principal streams so rich. For my o\rn part, I give the 
 preference to tho hill on the right aide of William Creek. 
 In the first place, I find tlie country from Ground Hog Lake 
 and Jack of Clubs' Creek to the head of William much 
 firmer in its formation, more consecutive in its order, less 
 disturbed on its surface, tlian tho country thence to the head 
 of Grouse Creek, and tliroughout bearing less evidence of 
 being auriferous. I nattirally look, therefore, for the original 
 water-course whicli fed William and Conklin's to bo in tho 
 right hand iiill. Did that stream, then, come somewhere 
 from Bald Mountain range, across the head of McCullum's 
 Gulch, through this hill to tiie mi. idle or upper portion of 
 Conklin's, behind the boundary line of the United and 
 Aurora claims, to the Forest Rose and Prairie Flower, at tho 
 Meadows, which originally probably were a series of large 
 lakes? I am strongly inclined to this opinion, and foci satisfied, 
 hill diggings, as rieli as any we ever ha^l in California will, 
 bo found along tho route 1 have just marked out. The whole 
 range trom McCuUuni's to the Prairie Flower, was certainly 
 in early times all one hill, for from each extreme I traced 
 with exactness the same evidences of two or three distinct 
 slides, of fearful power, wiiich iinally left the rim rock on 
 the left hand side of Conklin's as nmcii out of its primitive 
 position as the Canyon on Williiun Creek. No one, I p.^e- 
 sume, acquainted with geology "ftMU venture to maintain the 
 latter rocks arc in tiieir original position. Everything in 
 my mind leads to the conclurtion 1 have drawn. Even the 
 load ou William, from above lliclilit'ld to the Canyon, is 
 nothing but an overshot from t!ie hill deposits, otherwise it 
 would never be fuund in the Tyaok and California claims, as 
 it has been, crec [)iug u[) from tho Creek to the very summit 
 of the first slide. Taking the limited time at my disposal 
 the wet weather I experienced, and the amount of work I 
 had to do in places ov^er a iuuidred miles apart, 1 can at the 
 best be only suggestive now ; but, notwitiistanding tlie 
 Perseverance claim on Mink Gulch, I can find no sati^^factorj 
 evidences on the west range, from the head of William to 
 Stout's Gulch, of the existence of primitive deposits on that 
 side ; yet I have examined every point with e(iual care. In 
 speculating upon the chances of the tunnels in tho east 
 range which must eyeutually lead to the discovery of rich 
 and permanent diggings, I may mention the Cathcart, 
 Cornish, Mountain View, Hilton's (if run a long way in) 
 those on the south side of Conklin's at the upper end, Home- 
 Stake, United, Aurora, Borealis, if they will persevere, 
 Forest Rose, and Morning Star. The last claim, however, 
 is distinct from the others, but it will open a very rich 
 deposit, for tho whole hill in which it is located bears 
 
 tl 
 
? 
 
 mm 
 
 I s'l 
 
 ! 
 
 I 
 
 i: 
 
 18 
 
 eriiJences of an extensive basin. Below this claim, on the 
 west side, and the Forest Rose on the east side, the 
 country down to the Meadows looks unpromising for 
 hill diggings. The result I predict, of course, is the work 
 of time, and can never be fully accomplished until the 
 Btream-beds are more exhausted ; then labor, provisions 
 and materials will be cheaper, and consequently the 
 cost of tunnels reduced within the means of many, who have 
 now the desire but not the ability to commence them on a 
 l?rge scale. Thus, I feel assured, the brave men of Cariboo, 
 who have already done such marvellous wonders, will be 
 true to themselves, and repeat the history of California in 
 this, as in other respects. Who would have thought that 
 any men could have been found in California, when labor 
 and provisions were as dear there as they are to-day in 
 Cariboo, to devote three, nay six years of their lives, and 
 seventy or one hundred thousand dollars of their money, to 
 pierce her grim old hills in order to reach their hidden 
 wealth ? Well, we know it was done in cases innumerably 
 throughout the State ; we may rest assured, it will be done 
 here also. A finer race of men are not to be met in the 
 world than the miners of Cariboo, hardy, industrious, in- 
 telligent, generous ; they may be discouraged to-day, but 
 they will not be so next season ; with an extended and more 
 correct knowledge of the country, will come better and surer 
 7'esults ; an increase of gold will bring a renewal of con- 
 fidence ; and that confidence, a thorough development of the 
 country. I have one more subject to speak about before I 
 finish William Creek, without which any account would be 
 Q^jost and imperfect. I mean 
 
 THE MEADOWS. 
 
 These are a series of flats, extending from below the de- 
 serted village of Marysville down the stream to its junction 
 with Willow River, a distance of three miles. These flats, 
 as I have already said, were either one large lake or a con- 
 tinuation of lakes in early times, having their final discharge 
 of water through Jack of Clubs' Lake, round the western 
 base of Island Mountain, instead of the eastern side, as at 
 present. In the prosperous days of William Creek, as the 
 gold was gradually traced down to the stream in paying 
 quantities below Marysville, they received much attention, 
 and were prospected in every direction, as far as possible, by 
 shafts and artesian wells. At all points, without exception, 
 I believe, where the gravel was touclied at an average depth 
 of about 60 feet, far apart, and in opposite directions, such 
 astonishing prospects were obtained, that to-day, the fact 
 of their being marvellously rich cannot be disputed. As far 
 as I could learn, and 1 can get scores of affidavits from the 
 most reliable men in the Colony, if necessary, to prove the 
 fact, every shaft on reaching the gravel got a prospect from 
 ton to twenty-five cents to the pan, which allowing an aver- 
 
19 
 
 age of ten feet of gravel throughout the flats, by no means 
 an extravagant allowance, such a prospect makes them the 
 richest and most extensive deposit of gold I know on the 
 coast, even supposing it were no better as the bed-rock was 
 reached. The moment, however, the top gravel was dis- 
 turbed, the water shot up with such violence, and in such 
 quantity, that no shaft could be kept empty. Machinery of 
 the best character, with pumps of the greatest power, were 
 applied in vain to combat tliis great eneniy of miners ; and, 
 BO the meadows were finally abandoned, after a long and 
 terrible struggle, at an expenditure, it is estimated, of some 
 $600,000. Soon afterwards the general depression com- 
 menced, under which the wiiolo Colony still lies prostrate 
 and exhausted ; and since then no one has had the means 
 to do what is now known necessary to be done in order to 
 drain the ground effectually, though that drainage can be 
 obtained easily, and, in a certain sense, cheaply, besides being 
 made a paying investment almost from the beginning. I 
 fully endorse the general opinion prevailing now, that the 
 source of this great body of water came from the Jack of 
 Clubs' Lake, about four miles long, a mile and a half wide, 
 and in some places, over a hundred feet deep, lying to the 
 west of the Meadows, a mile, or perhaps more. Thus, by 
 sinking on the Meadows sixty feet, the surface level of the 
 lake is exceeded, according to my calculations, at least thirty 
 feet, and by an underground communication evidently exist- 
 ing, the same as was found at Valecitas, in Caleveras county, 
 California, each shaft would immediately fill that depth, aL 
 soon as the water escaped by disturbing the gravel. Jlence, 
 it is evident, no known machinery or pumps could contend 
 successfully against such a pressure. The question then 
 comes, how is the ground to be drained sufficiently to get to 
 the bed-rock, and what would it cost ? The answer, at first, 
 sounds strange, though it is true. The lake can be success- 
 fully drained deep enough, and a tunnel run thence to the 
 Meadows for $50,000 or less. That is a very small sum com- 
 pared with the $600,000 expended already by a small num- 
 ber of men ; but, unfortunately for themselves and the 
 Colonv, those men did not know, while they had sufficient 
 capital at command, what tliey had to do at the time, or it 
 would have been done. Mr Dewdney, a competent civil 
 engineer, has surveyed the country on the Western side of 
 Island Mountain, from the Lake to Willow River, and finds 
 a fall of 40 feet can be obtained within a short distance, and 
 then probably another 50 feet between there and the river. 
 I am fully prepared to confirm the first calculation, and have, 
 therefore, no doubt of the correctness of the second ; but, 
 supposing no more fall than the first 40 feet could be ob- 
 tained, it would practically drain the ground, as a limited 
 quantity of sub-water could be mastered by pumps. Much 
 of the labor of the lower drainage could be done by this 
 water as it is drawn from the lake. There is then, we see, 
 no really great difficulty ia the yray of this vast uQdertakiog. 
 
2(1 
 
 fc 
 
 The tnnncl to the Meadows from the Lake, would not cost 
 as much as tlic tunnel cut Ihrouj^h the liill a few miles above 
 Auburn for tlic water of tlio Bear River Ditcli. With the 
 Lake once lowered GO feet, the company could begin to 
 realize enough to i)ay a largo share of their expenses, for 
 besides the odgcsof the Lake prospecting enough to pay $5 
 or $6 a-day sluicing, the tunnel would soon cut the rich lead 
 of Lowhec, one of tlio best creeks in Cai-iboo, at the mouth 
 of which tlie Calaveras and First Clianc3 claims are still 
 paying from lUO to 200 ozs. awcck each. Such, in so many 
 words, is the work and amount of capital required to redeem 
 this rich, but idle ground, and considering all things con- 
 nected witli it iionestly, and in a business liglit, I know no 
 mining speculation equal to it on the whole coast. There 
 are many men in tliis Colony who are aware how enormously 
 Gold Flat, near Nevada City, paid, wiion putundor a similar 
 drainage, after some 1500 men liad drifted in it for three 
 seasons — that undertaking, however, fades away into night 
 when compared witli this one. Indeed, it would not be 
 extravagance on my |)art to place the drainage of these 
 Meadows on a par with tiie great Sutro Tunnel, so far as 
 rojil goes, which is to drain all tiie claims on tlie Comstock 
 edge in Washoe. Tlie one is intended to go through eight 
 miles of solid rock, at a cost of $0,000,000, and tlie stock is 
 all taken in California, Allantic States, and England ; tho 
 other, is intended to cut tiirough gravel one mile and a half 
 at the most, at a cost of $30,00'>, and no one can bo found 
 to touch it. Yet, it is a question in my mind, supposing both 
 works completed to-day, whether the owners of the Meadows' 
 Tuunol, in Cariljoo, would not realize in five years' time 
 twice as much as tho owners of the Sutro Tunnel in Washoe; 
 for. if 1500 men could not half work out (5old Flat in three 
 years, 4000 men coulu not work the ^leadows out in ten 
 years. In California, it is safe to say, any number of men 
 would bo glad to complete the undertaking for the only 
 privilege tliey have in sucli cases there — that of catching 
 the tailings from each claim ; and, in many of our large 
 drain flumes, as much or more money is invested on tliat 
 solitary condition than it would take to complete the one I 
 am now describing. IJut, in addition to the privilege of 
 catching the tailings, ifsclf an cnorinom fortxinf, the Govern- 
 ment would grant a liberal charter of so many feet of 
 original ground on each side the flume, on the condition, of 
 course, that the work would be completed. I am opposed, 
 on principle, to such charters as a general thing, because 
 they have a tendency to create vexatious and obstructive 
 monopolies ; but, in this case, considering the magnitude of 
 the undertaking, and its influence on the prosperity of the 
 country, it would bo necessary, for if once commenced, no 
 person should have the power by owning ground on the line 
 of route to obstruct its completion and success. Sucli, Mr 
 President, is tho scheme of draining the Meadows. Looking 
 at it as a practical miner ia every possible light, its praeti- 
 
Tn 
 
 m 
 
 21 
 
 cability, its ohcapncs?, itg certainty of paying, ita duration, 
 I dare not lot loose my imagination to paint its efiFecta on 
 the future of tlio Colony if successfully carried out, and 
 perhaps, it is unnecessary, for they must bo obvious to every 
 person. After all it is only question of time. We live ia 
 an ago of rapid moTemcnts and rapid accomplishments. 
 During ray experience in California I have seen so many 
 sudden revolutions in the mining woild, such vast schemes 
 conceived, enunciated, believed in, completed, within such 
 short periods, at such enormous expenditures, that I havo 
 ceased to doubt tho accomplishment of any scheme, having 
 a reasonable biisinioss character, when honestly brought before 
 the speculati1^*^of the age. And why should not this 
 one be speedily accomplished, when like others of less 
 promise and less surety, it is thus honestly presented to and 
 urged upon the world? I see no reason, because 1 have 
 unlimited faith in tho energetic, glorious enterprise of the 
 people on the Pacific. The inhabitants of this Colony were 
 not behind tiie rest in their day of prosperity, if on looking 
 over your gigantic works of every kind, ray eyes do not 
 deceive me. Yet those works, or many of them, were 
 stopped, as it were, in their conception, and yourselves laid 
 low. What of that ? Suppose you did stake all on a single, 
 throw and lose, you cannot got lower than the bed-rock 
 where you arc, as we in California from similar causes were 
 before you. You must rise again or perish. Which is it to 
 be? Did we pcrisli? Did any English community ever 
 perish? No, and noitiior will you. This very creek alone, 
 which built you up and tlircvv you down again is still worth 
 betting npon. .Take courage, you may well do so, for in old 
 William Crock, the fatlicr of Cariboo, the father o" the 
 Colony, which I have now tiioroughly, and I believe honestly 
 illustrated, there is still wealth enough left to build up the 
 country again three times as large as ever it was. 
 
 I must now lead you a short distance below these Meadows, 
 and the junction of William Crook and Willow River to a 
 stream opened last summer, called 
 
 MOSQUITO CREEK. 
 
 It is hardly possible to estimate tho good which the coun- 
 try will derive from the discovery of tliis creek. It may be 
 regarded, indeed, as one of tlic most fortunate events that 
 could have happened. Apart from its real wealth, and the 
 comparative easy character of the ground to work, it is the 
 key to an immense new territory almost unexplored hitherto, 
 stretching to the Eraser river fifty miles, all of which will 
 be found full of streams as good as Mosquito, excepting that 
 portion intersected by the granite range, and that, I think, 
 will not be so good. Thus, Mosquito will not only give a 
 new impetus to mining, but, w'hat is better, revive the droop- 
 ing spirits of the old miners, and inspire generally, a new 
 coulidoace ia tho country, not easily to be shakea hereafter^ 
 
 
 }' 
 
 ii 
 
 .1 
 
fid 
 
 for already this new territory lias been prospected twonty- 
 eix miles, to a creek called Mustang, and gold found in pay- 
 ing qualities that far down. Some new discovery of this 
 kind, with gold in paying quantities, and without being so 
 difficult and expensive to work as it has been on the old 
 creeks, was requisite at this period. It cannot bo denied 
 many circumstances of late tended to shake the confidence 
 of the people in Cariboo containing general gold deposits 
 easy to bo worked, and though such was a superficial view, it 
 was not altogether without reason. For instance, Lightning, 
 Lowhee,jG rouse, Antler, Horse-shoo, Kcithley and other,-', had 
 gradually gone down ; Cunningham, Conklin, and others 
 had not realized expectations, although a vast amount of 
 labor and money had been expended upon them ; so it came 
 to pass, that what Avas left in William ^'-cek and its im- 
 mediate vicinity was considered about that could be 
 relied upon in Cariboo. So that, in rc; v, I regard the 
 opening of Mosquito at present as impoi lant an event in 
 your history as the opening of Cariboo originally ; nor, 
 would it astonish me, if it proves of more value to the 
 Colony in the end than the discovery of tliree such creeks 
 as William, wonderful as that has been and is still if the 
 now country which it calls into lifo is vigorously prospcctec' 
 to the Fraser. But it is not simply in the fact of its being 
 a new creek, very rich, easy to work, and the pail \vay to an 
 immense gold region hitherto seglected, that I consider the 
 discovery most important — it is rather, in the newer and 
 truer knowledge of the country it supplies, and in the ap- 
 plication of that knowledge to other districts. There is in 
 fact no limiting the encouragement, if properly viewed, 
 which it gives of the inevitable progress of the country. 
 Three years ago the creek was first discovered and worked, 
 but labor, provisions and packing were so high, that it 
 would not pay a dollar, altliough only five miles from Bar- 
 kerville, the chief trading town of Cariboo. It was 
 abandoned until last Spring, when a man named Cookings, 
 dissatisfied with the results of his labor, and having some 
 leisure time at his disposal, resolved to return, and see 
 whether he had gone down deep enough, his opinion all the 
 time being that he had not. He did so, like a sensible fellow, 
 and he and the Trevethicks, whom I remember years ago at 
 Grass Valley, in California, now own the Discovery claim. In 
 a few months the creek was occupied and opened, and before 
 I left Cariboo, the total results of the claims taking out gold 
 was as high as 500 ozs. a-week. Next season, there will be 
 some 300 men or more working, and the result when in full 
 operation, will I think, be 1200 or 1500 ozs. a-week, for the 
 Minnehaha and other laims not then paying at all, have since 
 been found to be immensely rich, while those that were paying 
 well have become still richer. You cannot then over-estimate 
 the importance of this creek. The gold it yields, of course, 
 is Talnable to you, but the evidence it gives of your progress, 
 70ur wealth, and the ledsoa it teaches your miners, is incotn- 
 
 ^ 
 
twcnty- 
 in pay- 
 of this 
 )oing BO 
 tl)o old 
 denied 
 nftdence 
 deposits 
 view, it 
 Rhtning, 
 loiv, had 
 others 
 nount of 
 it came 
 d its ira- 
 jould be 
 !<^ard the 
 event in 
 lly ; nor, 
 le to the 
 ch creeks 
 till if the 
 'ospccter' 
 its being 
 vay to an 
 isidor the 
 lower and 
 n the sp- 
 here is in 
 y viewed, 
 3 country. 
 I worked, 
 h, that it 
 from Bar- 
 It was 
 Cockings, 
 ving some 
 I, and see 
 on all the 
 ble fellow, 
 ars ago at 
 ' claim. In 
 and before 
 g out gold 
 ere will be 
 len in full 
 sek, for the 
 have since 
 'ere paying 
 jr-estimate 
 of course, 
 r progress, 
 , is incom- 
 
 2ft 
 
 parably more so. It shows beyond all question that the 
 true character of the country has never been understood ; 
 that it is rapidly being attained ; and that as labor, living, 
 and wapos reach their natural level, these four essentials of 
 prosperity will force your progress and extension in snito 
 of yourselves, and all your enemies combined. To satisfy 
 you I am not talking without mature calculation, lot mo 
 enumerate the claims opened since last June, the time tho 
 work was commenced, up to September, the date of my visit. 
 First the Minneiiaha, 15 interests ; had spent then about 
 $4,000 prospecting, without results ; since found the gold, 
 and taken out probably twice that amount, having in one 
 week, I learu, washed up over 400 ozs. The Hocking, 5 
 interests ; sank a sliaft 65 feet, and drifted 18 feet, got pay 
 to tho amount of 52i ozs. ; now paying well. The Ophir, 4 
 interests ; struck pay in the first shalt 25 feet deep ; taken 
 out from 3 to 5 ozs. a-day. Willow Co., 5 irterests ; total 
 cost, $800 ; total receipts over $2,000 ; paying then about 
 ozs. a-day to two picks ; pays much better now. Point 
 Co., 4 interests ; total cost, $800 ; total receipts, $1,500 ; 
 paying about $12 a-day ; now paying better, I believe. 
 Union Jack and Hugo Uo.'s prospecting for the source of 
 th) lead. Jeffrey Co., 4 interests ; total cost, $3,000 ; total 
 receipts, $4,500 ; now paying better. Rising Sun, 7 interests; 
 total cost and receipts, $1,500 ; now paying a dividend of 
 $50 a-weck to the interest, besides $6^ a-day wages, to such 
 shareholders as work, being $39 a-week more, or $89 
 together ; now paying bettor. Holman Co., 4 interests ; 
 total cost, $2,000 ; total receipts, $4,000, for two picks. 
 Tabb Co., 6 interests ; total cost, $40 or $50 a share, pros- 
 pecting. Discovery Co., 3 interests ; total cost, $2,000 ; 
 total receipts, $1,500 up to September; not thoroughly 
 opened ; running a tunnel, the results of which I have not 
 learnt. Intersecting Mosquito, about half-way down, and 
 having its source in the same mountain, is another stream, 
 called Rer! Gulch, not sufficiently opened at the time of my 
 visit, to speak definitely of its merits, but since proved to 
 contain vury rich deposits. To describe this gulch in detail 
 would simply be a recapitulation of Mosquito ; though, 
 in general, I believe it will be somewhat more difficult to 
 developo. I have no doubt at all of its proving equally 
 rich. At tho time of my visit there were six companies at 
 work, with a largo number of claims located, but laid over 
 for the season. Like Mosquito, this summer, it will be full 
 of life. One word more on this section, and I have done 
 with it. Between Mosquito and the Fraser River, some 50 
 miles, thence up the river, to Fort George, a distance of 100 
 miles, where gold was found last summer in puling quantities, 
 and back from tho Fraser to Swamp River nearly parallel 
 with Mosquito, is a large auriferous region, utterly unknown, 
 as I have already said, which will henceforth b. carefully 
 prospected owing to these developments, and in the end be- 
 come the most popular region in Cariboo, because thg 
 
 ■i 
 
 ■ 
 
24: 
 
 '}\ 
 
 I'' 
 
 greater portion will prove the least expensive and difficult 
 to work of any yet known. So that you see it is not an idla 
 foolish boast in sayin^ Mosquito is worth tnore to the coun- 
 try to-day than William Creek ; not so much from the 
 amount of gold it will yield, as from the new life, vigor, 
 enterprise, and confidence it will inspire ; and, because it 
 goes far to prove that Cariboo really is, the country of end- 
 less wealth which we have heretofore only thought it was. 
 
 I must now retrace my steps, and travel in an opposite 
 direction 60 miles ^onth-east to tlie Qucsnelle River and 
 Horse Fly country, taking as we gO: a glance at the creeks 
 lying in the intermediate .sections, the value of which, 
 though occupied a long time, is only beginning to be known. 
 The first is 
 
 GROUSE CREEK. 
 
 It lies some five miles north-east of William, running 
 parallel with it, and rising in tl:e same Bald-Head range of 
 mountains. I attach great importance to this creek ; for I 
 regard it as the futuie centre of the best hydraulic and Hill 
 diggings in Cariboo. Its history to day, is instructive, by 
 showing the vitality of the country, as a truer and more ex- 
 tended knowledge of its character prevails amongst the 
 miners. For several years it has been abandoned, and any 
 man who spoke of it except in terms of contempt, was con- 
 sidered a madman or fool ; yet it now boasts thirty five com- 
 panies at work, a good saw-mill, and two respectable vil- 
 lages- It is not, by any means, an easy creek to understand, 
 describe, or worlc, from the existence of two distinct leads, 
 one much more modern than the other, and neither, accord- 
 ing to any evidences I could find, ever coming from the Bald 
 Mountain range. Of course, this naturally complicates its 
 investigation and development ; it has two very rich, con- 
 tinuous, and determined leads : that fact has been proved ; 
 but whence they originally came, can only be explained by 
 a great amount of expensive labor. The Ontario and Moun- 
 tain Co.'s tunnels on the north and the I'oint Co.'s open cut 
 on the south side, all prove the adjacent ranges rising from 
 the creek to be auriferous, and that it and another stream 
 existed for a long time at an elevation far above the present 
 water level. Tims years, perhaps, will be required to ascer- 
 tain the real wealth of this locality, which everything in- 
 dicates, in my opinion, to lie in the banks and hills rather 
 than in the present stream-bed. The Heron, Flume Co., 
 Discovery, Caledonia (the latter paid very well last fall), 
 Salt Spring, and Hippie claims combine in dift'erent ways to 
 prove this fact ; and, therefor:, if all the other claims, from 
 the Saw-mill to the head of the creek, supposed to be on tho 
 modern lead, should prove failures, it would not change my 
 opinion of tho richness of tho locality in general. But thero 
 arc circumstances connected with this creek which give it au 
 advantage over any other locality I have seen in Cariboo. 
 From tl'.c boundaries of the Heron and Hard-Up claims at 
 
Tmxwsnrv^srr 
 
 ■y. i 
 
 by 
 
 25 
 
 the lower end, the creek stretclies out into a continuation of 
 flats in whicli, at present, the old channel has not been found, 
 although considerably prospected for. Throilijliout these 
 flats and baucher;, Mr Qeron informs iiie, the gold i.-^ generally 
 distributed from the grass down through the gfavcl, which 
 at the present rate* of living, with China labor at $3J a-day, 
 can be made very profitalilc. Indeed, tiicre were some 
 Frenchmen working them last sunnner, who with most im- 
 perfect appliances, acknowledged to making $4 and $0 a-day, 
 though where tlie gravel was only three feet thick, the> did 
 not wash more than six feet sf|iiare. a id that in California 
 would be considered altoiit half a day's work for an ordinary 
 man. There is abundance of ground of this character all 
 through to Antler Crock, which with proper sluicing, in the 
 hand- of California miners would ray $10 or $12 a-day to 
 the man. iiut this is not all. At a comparatively small 
 expense suHicient water could ;.e introduced for hydraulic 
 washing, with 150 feet pressure ; and that system, with the 
 bedrock soft as it is, and such an amount of gravi 1 easily 
 washed, would certainly raise the pay to $20 or $25 a-day. 
 All this is Hire to be in tlio course of a short time. It is 
 ■ contrary to the nature of tilings that hundreds of acres of 
 valuable mining ground, while there is a known system of 
 wasliing wiiicli makes the investment safe, shouiil long be 
 allowed to lie idle when its actual existence is made pul)lic. 
 Such an idea is preposterous. If men can go through a dis- 
 trict, like this for 30 miles to the iiead of Bear River, with 
 the gi'ound not very rich, but generally containing gold, and 
 with, small means and small appliances soon realize enough 
 to cou-.nionco large surface hydraulic operations, you may 
 rest assured, men from somewhere will come to do so. The 
 existence of such a tract would be considered a most for- 
 tunate event in Calilornia. The siine may be said of 
 Canadian Creek, a small stream lying a short distance to 
 the west of liiese Hats, but emptying itseh inlo Valley River, 
 if that can i>e called a river. Along this creek I know per- 
 sonally oF tlie existence of an immense deposit o^ fine gold, 
 a tliin;^ 1. had be>.^u earnestly looking for, but never found 
 before in Cariboo. Almost on the top of the mountains, 
 behind the Miller claim, and running up into tlie Divide 
 between William and Grouse ta-ceks, as high as 20 cents to 
 the pan has been wi>slied ; while in the tunnel of the Clear 
 Grit claim, at the lower end of the creek, I myself j)ickcd 
 small particles of gold from the gravel sev:n feet above the 
 bed rock. I hare my doubts whether the Clear Grit can be 
 made to pay very much under the present system of working; 
 but under a goo.l liYdranlic, Avhich would cost but little 
 more than the present works when completed, it would pay 
 immnnsely for a long time. So it will be seen from these 
 statements that Grouse Crecic. so long despised and ridiculed, 
 because three men would not investigate their interests pro- 
 perly in 't)l and '02, is fast vindicating herself in the estima- 
 tion of practical men, and in due time will bocomo the coutre 
 
I 
 
 ;i 
 
 1 
 
 i i < 
 
 2e 
 
 of active business and lasting prosperity, without my aid or 
 the aid of any stranger. 
 
 ANTLER, CUNNINGHAM AND KEITHLEY CREEKS. 
 
 There Is nothing of particular interest to be said of these 
 Btreains. Antler, however, is worthy of a short notice, on 
 account of its wonderful richness in times past, and as being 
 the first stream in Cariboo on which gold was found by the 
 hardy and daring pioneers who forced their way from the 
 Quesnelle River ; and becuiso if it never sees the glory of 
 tJM past again, there is much ground in its neighborhood 
 that will make a name. In early times, a portion of the 
 creek paid as well, it' not better, tlian anything in Cariboo, 
 since which the lead has never been found. But here, as in 
 other places, the best plan to recover a lost lead is, if 
 possible, to trace its origin. A very striking peculiarity in 
 Antler was that tiie hue gold was found on one side, the 
 coarse gold on the other side of the creek, as far down as it 
 paid, and I believe all successful investigation hereafter 
 must be guided by this singular circumstance. Now, sup- 
 pose the flat up to the head of the creek in tlie Bald-Head 
 range, and the Saw-mill flat stretching for miles in an op- 
 posite direction, to have been in early time, as 1 have no 
 doubt they were, one great lake, and when drawn down their 
 waters formed tlie present stream-bed. In that case, I know 
 no laws of gravitation or projectile that would divide the 
 gold thus systematically fur a long distance. Hence, I con- 
 clude, this very rich lead did not come originally from the 
 head of the present sti'eam. Whenco then "'' Certainly not 
 from the high mountain on the east side of the creek, for 
 that to-day is in its primitive position and little disturbed 
 except by the attrition of ages; while it it had tlie disposi- 
 tion of the gold would have been reversed, the coarse instead 
 of the fine gold being at its base. It could not by possibility 
 come from that mountain, as some slill think. Whence 
 then ? I think from the liill on tiie west side. This so far 
 from being primitive, is a gravel formation back three miles 
 to Grouse Creek, fearfully rent and torn adjoining Antler, 
 from the immense slides it has u'lderjione. The disposition 
 of the gold confirms this view — the line gold being lightest 
 went with the soil to the opposite side, where it was found, 
 the coar.se gold being heaviest remained at the base all over 
 and along tlie jagged rocks where it was found. I do not 
 think the deposit on Antler a regular lead, such as we find 
 on Grouse Creek, l)ut simply an oversliot, such as we find on 
 William, opposite Richfield. Besides, this western hill is 
 auriferous from one end 'o the other ; and I shall be much 
 disappointed if the tributary streams running across it from 
 the divide into Antler, viz.. Wolf, California, Stephens and 
 Begg's do not all turn out good diggings and lead to further 
 developments. Near the old town site, either immediately 
 below or above, I see no chauco of recovering the lead j but 
 
 i 
 
m 
 
 27 
 
 as t1i« pop«kti*on increases it may be found still furtlier 
 down, and to a certain extent, at tlie extreme upper end of 
 the creek. I iiavc already spoken of the moutli of Antler, 
 as it runs down to Bear River in connexion with Grouse 
 Creek. At the time of my visit this first-born of Cariboo 
 was almost deserted, although a few men did tolerably well 
 last summer by sluicing and cleaning up the old ground a 
 second time. 
 
 A few miles from Antler is Cunningham, a creek I was 
 unable to visit on my way to tiie north and south branches 
 of Quesiielle River. It is, 1 understand, a large creek, on 
 which considerable works are progressing, and from which' 
 hereafter good results are expected. Beyond that I am 
 ignorant of its history. Opposite this crcolc the summit of 
 the Bald-Head range is s )on attained, tlio higliost point, if I 
 mi.stake not, in Cariboo ; and it would bo impossible to 
 describe the grandeur of the country laid open to the vision 
 for hundreds of miles in every direction. On the right the 
 plains of the Horse Fly lie flooded with llie effulgence of 
 sunlight, while the biting sleet storm passes fo;- a moment 
 over where you stand, and huge masfies of snow, which have 
 withstood the summer's heat, intersected with an endless 
 profusion of rich pasturage, wild flowers, and beautiful 
 woodlands meet the eye at every turn, giving to the whole a 
 contrast and power beyond expression, ciian.iing. Nor must 
 I forget the lofty pinnacles and rounded domes of the Slate, 
 Granite, and Wild Goose ranges, commingling in grand and 
 fantastic groups, 'till the vision is lost in the hazy far-oflf 
 loom of the Rocky Mountains. On this spot, more than all 
 others I mot with, the mind grasps the future mining great- 
 ness of British Columbia, not on account of its " magnificent 
 distances'" for the Continent of America is full of them, but 
 because thosa distances in this case are proved to be fdlcd 
 with golden streams from Swift River under your foot to 
 Fort George on the Fraser, of which nothing is known really 
 except that they contain gold in i)aying quantities, but 
 which in time will give employment to 10,000 men, instead 
 of the small isolated bands which here anil there in out-of- 
 the-way solitudes possess ihom to-day. From the summit 
 there is nothing to mention but Iveithley's, and that needs 
 only a short notice. It is, indeed. iMit a repetition of tho 
 old story, rich in early times, load lost, and the whole creek 
 abandoned to Chinamen witliout being tlioroughly investi- 
 gated. Of late it has again attracted attention, on account 
 of the money whicii it is known the Cliinamen made regu- 
 larly, and on account of a claim at the mouth of the creek, 
 which has paid steadily for a I'ong time from $12 to lJ16 
 a-d,'iy to the hand. This led to some other men going back, 
 who in running a tunnel have struck a lavge quantity of dirt , 
 paying ai high as a dollar to tho pan since I left. There ; 
 can be no doul)t of the existence of good diggings on Keith- . 
 ley's and neighboring streams down to the l>ridge on the 
 North Fork of the Quesuollc, Ifut like must of the country I 
 
 r 
 
; 
 
 i: 
 
 28 
 
 have illustrated, there is not yet yet safficient population in 
 the country to prospect it tlioi'ouglily. 
 
 Havinja; finished and left the Cariboo district, on reaching 
 Keithley's, I will now proceed to the south-cast side of the 
 second divide, a distance of tivc miles, in a straight line 
 across, to Cedar Creek, on the south lake of Quesnelle 
 Ilivei', in order to bring under notice a new territory recentlj 
 opened, which promises to be of much importance in future. 
 It is astonishing on i-eaching Quesnelle River how the coun- 
 try and climate change immediately for the better, cereals, 
 vegetables and fruits being grown in abundance, while the 
 profusion of tlic wild raspberry, a large and luscious fruit, is 
 truly marvellous. From this region the early pioneers 
 traced up Cariboo, which led gradually almost to its deser- 
 tion in the feverish ''ace for sudden wealth, and it has since 
 remained, 1 may t^ay, unknown, so far as its real richnci-s is 
 concerned. Feme parties, however, went into it again *wo 
 sea.'ons ago, and opened Cedar Creek, which from tlie laigo 
 and steady pay it has yielded must lead eventually to exten- 
 sive diggings being lound on Ihis magnificent lake, offering 
 as it docs for iicarly ninety miles above and twelve miles 
 below the creek an unbroknn navigation. The discovery of 
 this creek ranks certainly in importance next to Mosquito, 
 seventy miles away to the north-west, because while the two 
 establish the richness of the extremes they at the sa;iie time 
 establish the richness of the centre, the only difference being 
 that the latter is generally much more diflicult to open and 
 expensive to work. Up to this time only three companies 
 have got fairly to work on Cedar Creek—the Aurora, Moor- 
 head and Barker. Tl)e fust, the Aurora, at the mouth, is 
 perhaps of the kind the best opened claim in the country, 
 having a main flume of 2000 feet to cany the tailings into 
 the lake, and three sluices, each 150 to 200 feet long, to wash 
 the dirt ; total cost, $8,000 ; total receipts, principally last 
 year, $20,000 ; with ground for three years more, and in a 
 condition to be worked to the best advantage. The Moor- 
 head, located in ]8(U), 2 interests ; total cost. $2,000 ; total 
 receipts, $7,000. The Barker, located in 1 86('), 3 interests ; 
 total cost, $7,000 ; total receipts over $20,000, vi'ith ground 
 for three years more. Above this claim, to the head of the 
 creek, a large extent of unprospected ground remains unoc- 
 cupied. Mr Barker himself belnngs to the best class ot our 
 California miners, and as soon as he has finished the stream 
 intends running a tunnel into the side hills, on evidences 
 which certainly justify the enterprise, and which, 1 feel con- 
 fident, will be successful. It may be, therefore, this creek 
 will be the means of inaugurating the era of hill-diggings, 
 and if so, its discovery will bo one of the most fortunate 
 events that could possibly have happened. 
 
 A few miles to the east of Cedar lies Black Bear Creek, 
 .which was opened in a small way last summer with satisfac- 
 tory results. It runs however in an opposite direction, 
 emptying itself into' Snunish Creek, a tributary of tha north 
 

 29 
 
 fork of Qucsnello River, thus intersecting; tlie whole of the 
 south divide and prnvinp; it to be auriferous all tlirough. 
 Some day this fact will force itself upon the attention of 
 prospecting parties and liavc a beneficial result. Again, 
 below Cedar, some two miles, but running into the south 
 lake, is Coquette Creek, until lately occupied only by a 
 solitary company of Chinamen, who are known to have done 
 well by tlieir purchase from the Cornishnicn who originally 
 opened the creek. The latter lost their lead, and as usual, 
 got discouraged and sold out. The pertinacity with which 
 the Chinese have kept on working has again attracted white 
 men to the creek, and good results are expected from the 
 work they have now in hand. Up to this period these arc 
 the only new mining operations in this section. They may, 
 so far, be limited in character and limited in productiveness, 
 but they assure me that tlie country, deserted for Cariboo, 
 will ere long be its rival, as the population increases, because, 
 although it moy not be so ricli, it is superior in four essen- 
 tials of successfnl placer mining ; it is easier of access, better 
 in climate, longer in season, and less expensive to work. 
 With those advantages its thorough development is only a 
 question of time. Notliing more has been done to-day, 
 simply for the reason tliere were not people in the Colony to 
 do it.* I hnve only one more district to notice in the north- 
 ern gold fields, and to omit it would be an act of injustice. 
 I mean the Horse Fly country. It commences with the river 
 bearing that name, some twenty miks above Cedar Creek, on 
 the south side of the lake, stretching east I suppose up to 
 the head of the lake, and west between the boundaries of 
 Quesnelle and Thompson Rivers to the dividing water-shed 
 of theSvhole country, an immense region of which nothing 
 is known except that it contains gold largely from one end 
 to the other, though, I confess, I see no chance of its being 
 brought into operation for years. I shall simply speak of 
 the district in the neighboriiood of the Horse Fly River. lu 
 the first place, it is remarkable for containing a gravel for- 
 mation very similar to the celel)rated " blue-lead " of Coli- 
 fornia, and eoataiiiin g the fertility of the vajley, as shown in 
 the endless profusion of natural pasturage and indigenous 
 fruits of every variety, proves the allurial deposits of a 
 great primeval river. Whatever prospecting has so far been 
 done on the present river to discover the bed of the old one 
 hns been rendered useless by a false bed-rock which the 
 miners did not understand. In the entire basin of the river 
 I find an immense form:)tion of a bastard ialc, which of 
 course could not hold gold to any extei.t, though in spots 
 quite large amounts have been obtained ; but on further ex- 
 amination I find the lull-rock to be metamorphic. '1 his fact 
 satisfies me that the talcose formation is only accidental, and 
 
 * Tti« country of the itir\in Qupsnelle ninrinK 40 miles ' nee to the 
 Fraser, incliiriino: Liithinini; Creek aad Cultouvrood, will bs ia:luded nnder 
 tte h«a4 of b^drauljc tntuing. 
 
80 
 
 mnst be cut through entirely, not followed down in holes as 
 was done to reach the original pay gravel, which under this 
 talc is likely to be very rich. At present, however, this 
 splendid district lies idle, as the few men in it originally ex- 
 hausted their means and were compelled to leave. Some of 
 them, I understand, intend returning when able to prosecute 
 their investigations ; in that case, I would recommend them 
 by all means to cut through the talc, which according to 
 general experience cannot bo more than si.xteon or thirty 
 feet thick. I have now finished the northern gold fields of 
 British Columbia. It will at once be seen what a trifling 
 proportion lying between the gold-bearing parallels has been 
 occupied, and how imperfectly that trifling proportion has 
 been prospected and developed. What tiien will be the 
 condition of the Colony when the whole of that vast region 
 teems with a busy, active, and prosperous mining population? 
 Simply incredible. The facts and details I have given prove 
 beyond question that I have not examined the mining regions 
 carelessly or superficially, but on the contrary, more minutely 
 than others preceding me. If I am mistaken in the estimate 
 I have formed, it is upon evidences that would deceive any 
 man, and nature docs not often present such for the sake of 
 deceiving — those evidences cannot be mistaken. Such as I 
 have described the northern gold fields sugh I really believe 
 them to be, and such 1 am firmly convinced they will even- 
 tually prove. 
 
 There is another immense territory to be noticed, the 
 southern gold fields, but as these have been partially worked 
 and the gold found generally is fine dust, it will enable me 
 to show their value better by considering them in connexion 
 with 
 
 HYDRAULIC WASHING. 
 
 This division embraces a vast region, commencing below 
 Hope on the Fraser, up the Thompson and Bonaparte Rivers, 
 to the head of great Shuswap Lake, a distance of some 2"0 
 miles, to which for the purpose of this description of gold 
 washing may be added all the country from Lillooet up to 
 Quesnelle River to its forks in one direction, and to Cotton- 
 wood and Lightning Creek in another direction, at least 150 
 miles more. When gold was first discovered on the Fraser 
 it was found in very fine dust, scattered profusely on the sur- 
 face of its bars and banks, but none generally speaking on 
 the bed-rock. This led to a false impression of the country. 
 It is supposed this fine gold was washed down the Fraser 
 from the regions above, where the coarse gold would be 
 found. This, however, cannot possibly be. and the deposits 
 of fine gold on the Fraser have no con.ioxion with the coarse 
 gold of Cariboo, though the idea led fortunately to the dis- 
 covery of the latter. I arrive at this conclusion from two 
 important facts — first, that gold as coarse as any in Cariboo 
 is found to-day in quantity on Bridge River, near Lillooet, 
 showing the cxfstence of a distinct primitive deposit ; and 
 
81 
 
 next, that the water-shed forming that deposit always ran 
 from Nelson's, 100-mile house, to the Eraser, in an opposite 
 course from that forming the Cariboo deposit. The point 
 mentioned is to-day and always has been, in my opinion, the 
 natural division of the two great water-sheds of the coun- 
 try, for it is a singular coincidence, that tlio present water- 
 sheds of Britisii Columbia and the pre-Adamite river systeip 
 in California arc the same. The gravel beds of the southern 
 districts in California appear to have been formed in rivers 
 whose courses followed the same direction as the present, 
 while those of the northern mines appear to have run at 
 right angles. This is precisely the case with the present 
 water sheds of this Colony, and we may, therefore, presume 
 it will be found the same with those of ancient times. Hence 
 the fine gold of the Fraser could never have come down tho 
 river from any point higher than Lillooet ; it could never 
 have been carried at right angles over the intervening coun- 
 try 10 the Fraser, nor could that river afterwards carry it 
 300 miles and scatter it about where first found. The river 
 itself forbids such a conclusion, for after all it is nothing 
 more than a natural sluice on a large scale, and with its im- 
 mense benches, its Jagged and broken rocks acting as 
 riffles, the fine gold must be caught long before it reached 
 Hope, by the very principle on which we conduct large gold 
 washings to-day. To give reason to such an argument we 
 
 river to have been at least twenty 
 no doubt it was, for the benches on 
 to Quesnellemouth mark its gradual 
 present limits ; but that fact, so far 
 from strengthening, really destroys tho argument. Such an 
 immt'ise volume of water as the river then contained would 
 immeaiately dissolve the debris containing the fine gold, 
 when gravitation would soon gather it to its final resting 
 places, for it is now an authenticated fact, that even fine 
 gold will not travel far in water without the aid of some 
 earthy substance. Hence, I conclude, the fine gold deposit 
 of the Fraser never came from Cariboo, but from a deposit 
 of its own in the lofty benches and precipitous hills on both 
 sides, and which probably will only be found by means of 
 the hydraulic pipe. In estimating the ground then in British 
 Columbia suited for this system of working, the Fraser can- 
 not be excluded with justice, although it has been worked 
 for years. Let me now show in detail the results of 
 hydraulicing in California, for by them alone can anyone 
 thoroughly appreciate the advantage it will be to this coun- 
 try when applied to its full extent. 
 
 The greater portion of the placer diggings in California, 
 as 3^ou a)l know, were first worked by the rocker and long- 
 torn, most crude and defective machines, and district after 
 district gradually deserted on the supposition of being ex- 
 hausted. Then flume and ground-sluicing came into exist- 
 ence, and with them the districts deserted were re-peopled ; 
 again worked to advantage and again deserted. Then fol- 
 
 must pre-supposc the 
 times its present .size ; 
 both sides from Yale 
 contraction within its 
 
32 
 
 I i': 
 
 ! M 
 
 I nil 
 
 lowed the hydraulic pipe, and with tliis last and most perfect 
 system, a repetition of action and a repetition of results, 
 only with this dilVerence, the districts liavo not again been 
 deserted so fully, for thousands of acres have tliereby been 
 made remunerative for years past and for years to come, 
 which under any other method of woriiing would be value- 
 less. The held for prolitablu iiyilraulics in California, 
 indeed, has been found almost coextensive witli the gold 
 belt, and it will prove so in this country. It is not my in- 
 tention, however, to do more than refer to the principal dis- 
 tricts under hydraulic power, in order simply to illustrate 
 the cost and profit of working, and to do this effectively I 
 shall make an extract from tlic report of Mr Georcre Black, 
 M. £., published in San Francisco, 180^. Speaking of the 
 hydraulic diggings between the soutli and middle Yuba,e 
 '' he estimates tlie ground supplied with water by the Middl 
 Yuba Canal Company at 5 miles in length, 350 yards 
 average width, and 40 yards average depth. These figures 
 give a grand total of r23,()00,()00 cubic yards; of this 
 amount, only eight per cent, was worked out in 12 years, the 
 average yield of which, as saved, was 30 to 45 cents per 
 cubic yard ; hence lliis mass of auriferous earth would yield 
 over $38,000,000. But the total area of tlie gravel deposits 
 worked on the ridge is estimated to be equal to fifteen 
 square miles, which, assuring a like average width and thick- 
 ness would contain at 30 cents per cul)ic yard the enormous 
 sura of $550,000,000." To work dirt under this system, Mr 
 Black computes the cost as follows, and I have token his 1864 
 prices as approximating in some degree thbse of this Colony 
 in 18G8. " To work," he ^ays, " one cubic yard of this au- 
 riferous earth, assuming the wages of the miners to be $4 
 a day. it would cost by the ordinai'V pan, $20; with ihe 
 rocker, $5 ; with the long-torn, "2 50 ; with the sluice 75 
 cents ; and by hydraulics, 20 cents." Now, before I give the 
 result of washing dirt by this >ystcm let me show in another 
 way still plainer the inlinitCBsimal character of its pay. 
 Mr Black, and I assure you he is quite an authority amongst 
 , us, asserts that this great hydraulic dirt in California, of 
 which the world has heard so much, during 12 years' average, 
 only 'paid 30 cents to ihe cubic yard, or a fraction over 1 cent 
 to the cubic foot. Now, a cubit foot of loom dirt without 
 rocks will fill an ordinary gold wash pan about ten times, so 
 that every prospect a person would obtain amounts on an 
 average to tlio tenth of a cent. Can anything in a business 
 sense be more infinitessimal ? Yet now listen to the results. 
 I will give some of the principal claims only. Tike for 
 instance the Blue»Gravel Mining Co., in vSmartsville, 18 
 miles from Marysville, which is known to have yielded since 
 1864 no less thail $600,000 ; their sluice boxes are over 
 3,000 feet long ; they are cleaned up eiglit or nine times a 
 year, and from which are obtained amounts varying up to 
 $50,0C0 each time. The Live Yankee claim, at Forest City, 
 js reported to have paid $3,COO,000 ; while throughout the 
 
 
^ 
 
 
 State, it is no uncommon lliinj? to sec tlio less important 
 claims clean nj) from a few liuntlnds to Sla,()()() or 1^20,000 
 cacli tiino. In one case, the iMun/,i\iiita Hill, near Han Juan, 
 Nevada County, 51U kc;,'s of powder were dificliarged 
 at a single blast to reduce tiio dirt to a fitting condition to 
 wash. A dull report, it is said, " broke upon tlic car, and a 
 mass of cartli, 150 It. deep, 200 ft. wide, I^UO ft. loijg, rose a 
 short distance into the air, and fell back thorougldy dis- 
 integrated, and in a ht condition lor working." Such is tlio 
 spirit witli widch this system is adopted and carried out all 
 through California. Hnppo.<(! it wer ; applied here even in a 
 limited way. what a diflerence it woiikl make. All up the 
 Frascr, especially round Lillooot, the benches and hills will 
 all pay 1 cent, and iu many cases 3 cents to the cubit foot, 
 and at the same time abundance of water and abundance of 
 fall can be obtained ; it is 1lic same on the Thompson and 
 Bonaparte Rivers to the houd of Sliuswap Lake ; it is the 
 same up the (^ucsnellc River to the Forks, and above them ; 
 it is the same in Cariboo ; it is the same everywhere, but 
 the people do not understand its wonders ; in lact, its day 
 has not arrived. Jt is not only in the extent to which dirt 
 can be wasiied, so much as in the elTectual manner in which 
 it is washed liy this system tliat its merits lie. Drifting is a 
 slow and costly process, while it is an established axiom in 
 mining that tlie best undergrouii<l men necessarily leave a 
 third of the gold behind them. Suppose the old Aurora 
 claim, on William Creek, like the Man/.anita Hill, at San 
 Juan, was sliattered to pieces V,y powder and put under an 
 efTectivc hydraulic, <lo yon tiiink it would not ]»ay more than 
 1 cent to the cubit loot ? It has paid from 180;} to the end 
 of 18(>7 about $'22r),()n() in dividends, at a cost of $100,000 ; ' 
 put that claim under tlse new system, when three men would 
 do the wo/k of fourteen, and it would ])ay again almost as 
 well as it did in its proudest day; while the folly of such 
 costly labor Tvould be seen and ap])reciated. At present, 
 however, the people say it cannot l)e done; ere long, you 
 will hear them say it must be done ; and then, but not 
 before, when every section of the country is brought under 
 economical operation, and made to pay in full the [iroportion 
 it can pay towards the geiioi'al wealtii, the world will stand 
 amazed at the annual yii'ld ol' gold coming out of the " poor 
 and beggarly country" which Rritish Columbia is called 
 to-day.* 
 
 Before I close this branch of the subject, let me say a few 
 words upon the two great dilliculties at present iu the way 
 of introducing the same general and extensive mining sys- 
 
 * The same Rrgiiment may bo used in reference to groun'i once worked 
 over, especiiilly tliiit wbich Ims l)e?n dritlcd. Take for instance the rich 
 Ileron claim, on (iroiiso Crci'l(, It originally paid S.'iOO 000, at a cost of 
 $150,000. Last year li?o inen bouahlit lor S4,U00, and by simply cu;tinK 
 down the bed rock from twclvu to eigbtetn iacbes deeper, averagod nearljr 
 100 0Z3. a-week during the Benson. 
 
 ,' ! 
 
3i 
 
 :!; 
 
 tern in this Colony that prevails in California, for they arc 
 intimately connected. I mean, tho absence of artificial 
 canals and the severity of winter. I confess, it struck me, 
 considering the complaints I honrd of the want ot water, 
 not only as very extraordinary hut as one of the main causes 
 o( tho mining stagnation in Cariboo, that tiicrc were no 
 artificial canals or largo temporary reservoirs. Of tho 
 necessity of both here, as elsewhere, during the latter part 
 of the season there can l)e doubt. Tiie (piestion then comes, 
 can they bo built ? Tho artificial water canals for mining 
 purposes in California, arc, p r! rips, tiie proudest monument 
 of her enterprise and spirit. Tiio best ground is of no use 
 without water. Now to make all availal)lc, there is a net- 
 work of these canals intersecting the entire State, r),:^28 
 miles long, constructed at a cost of $15,575,400 ; the water 
 is drawn from sources as inaccessible, and through regions 
 as terrible as any in British Columbia ; it is takon»from tho 
 heads of rivers, incased for miles in solid walls of rocks, 
 tho lakes on the very summit of the Sierra Nevadas 11.500 
 feet above the level of tho ocean, and finally, sent to its 
 destination through llmnes, iron pipes and over suspension 
 bridges, with a constructive genius that could not bo subdued 
 or ai)palled. Yet, notwithstanding this enormous supply, 
 our general washing is suspended lor the season from aliout 
 the second week in July to the end of October, and often- 
 times later. I grant such a system of canals cannot be con- 
 structed here for some time, but to meet the emergency, the 
 miners by uniting together, as was done in California, can 
 do the next best thing, build largo reservoirs at the head of 
 the creeks, as a reserve fund whoa needed in suinmor, and 
 thus ensure a profitable employment of every hour of that 
 precious season when drawing to its close. This could be 
 done successfully, and to a certain extent cheaply in every 
 district, and thus equalize in a great measure the busy min- 
 ing seasons of both countries. There is not, however, as 
 things are, tho vast dilTerence which some imagine and many 
 maintain. In California, from the dry summer, extensive 
 washing, and mining operations generally are suspended 
 from July to November, during which period many miners 
 go to the Eastern States, and many visit San Francisco ; in 
 British Columbia, the suspension takes place in December, 
 sometimes sooner, and goes on to April and May, and the 
 same exodus is seen ; so, after all, it is but a change of 
 period rather than a difference of fact. All that is wanted, 
 so far as I could observe, to place British Columbia on an 
 equality with two-thirds of California, is more water at the 
 end of summer ; and with that the severity of the winter 
 would be shorn of much of its terrors and most of its evils. 
 In California, it is true, tunneling is carried on in the fall of 
 the year, and a vast amount of dirt accumulated for the wet 
 season; to some extent, the same is done in Cariboo, and 
 every year now will see that system of Avork extended. At 
 
86 
 
 Cellar Crook, last smnmcr, the Harkor Co, and others worlccd 
 and washed from the I'lirit we(!lc in April to the end of 
 November ; and so thence south the same thinf^ could be 
 done, if there wa-i oidy wnter ititrodiicod throuufh the coun- 
 try. Take, as an example, the whole of Tiiompson River to 
 Boston Bar, on the Frascr, all the way full of good hydraulic 
 and moderately good sluicing ground ; if that territory was 
 in Calilornia, tbc Bonaparte would be carried right through 
 from Cache Creek, and by supplying water for irrigation in 
 the intermediate sections, be nmde a splendid investment. 
 If this sounds extravagant, lot mo state there are many 
 artificial canals in California much longer, and much more 
 costly than this would be. 1 will enumerate a few, to 
 satisfy the incredulous, and to show 1 uevcr make statements 
 I am unable to sustain. On referring to the Pacific Coast 
 Directory it will 1)0 soon that tlio Eureka Canal Co., 
 Cosumnes River, is 450 miles long, and cost $500,000 ; Pilot 
 Creek Co, 150 miles, cost ^:500,(l()0 ; South Yuba Canal Co., 
 200 miles, cost $1,500,000; Eureka Co., Yuba River, 150 
 miles, cost $750,000 ; Auburn and Bear River Co,, 290 miles, 
 cost $050,0 )0. [ could, if requisite, multii>ly these cases, 
 but they are sudiciont to sbow that such a canal as T have 
 just mentioned is not so gigantic or terrible an affair after 
 all; that it iff not nonsense, as some in their ignorance of 
 what mon will ilo in gold countries might be pleased to call 
 it, when they know the wealth to justify the expenditure is 
 really ihore. As in the case of draining the Meadows, tua- 
 iieling the hills, introducing hydraulics, I see no earthly 
 reason why the same enterprise, the same costly undertak- 
 ings, the same wonderous and all conquering spirit, should 
 not be seen in British Columliia that we have witnessed 
 in California, when the world comes to know that they 
 will pay as well there as elsewhere. That is simply 
 the trouble, the world knows nothing of the real truth 
 of the case, and as far as the people and a portion of 
 the Press are concrnod, thoy seem, until lately, mutually 
 determined it never should know. Personal experience, 
 whether good or bad, is not by any means a safe principle 
 by which to judge the gcnroal or particular merits of a 
 country. All cannot become rich by mining any more 
 than by any other occupation in life ; and it is well they 
 cannot, for 1 can conceive nothing more deplorable thaa 
 mortal's condition in a connnunity where every person was 
 positively rich — even if poverty and wealth were not, as wo 
 know they arc oftentimes, tlie result of mere chance and 
 accident. But what incalculable turpitude is this in men, to 
 go forth and defame a country at all times, and in the most 
 unjust manner, simply because they were not successful in it. 
 However, those things will soon be adjusted, for the truth is 
 told now by everyone who knows anytiiing of the country ; 
 and you rest assured, that this greatest of all evils, " the 
 short season and (ievero winter," will grow smaller and 
 
80 
 
 Btnrvllor as water ia generally introduced throughout tho 
 mining regions. 
 
 GOLD, SILVER AND COri'ER VEINS. 
 
 I have boon ro(|ucstcd to say a fow words boforo conclud- 
 ing upon tiicso interests, and ua i have examined them 1 will 
 do 80 gladly, for without such notice my history of your 
 mineral wealth would bo iiiconiplole. Witii ruforcnco to tho 
 auriferous ([uartz lodges, I havo I raced tlicm from Island 
 Mountain, at tlio liead of iMosiinilo Crock, tlirougli Lowhco, 
 Stout, William, Grouse, ovor IJiild-lIoad Mountains to Blauk 
 Boar Creek, on tlio great soiitii lake of tho QncsncUe, a dis- 
 tance of seventy miles. Alllionuh tiiesc ledges are very iino 
 in character, well developed, determined in their course, and 
 otfor every evidence of being up to tho s-tandard of tho 
 California ledges, still I do not tliiiik tiie time has arrived 
 when they could bo workod to advantage. Much discretion 
 must be exercised in commencing tho (juart/, l)usino*s on an 
 extensive scale. A failure at lirst wonld tiirow these great 
 interests back for years. It will be wisdoni in this respect 
 to be guided strii^tly by tho cxperienco of California. Up 
 to 18G0, nearly ovcryono who went into the (juartz businesa 
 was ruined, and it fell into such disrepute, and became so 
 odious in San Francisco, that no oapitalist could he found 
 to advance a dollar to assist in o])ening a ledge for .vliich 
 now he would gladly give ii50,(M)U. The total average pay 
 of the California ledges thronjjliout tho State, according to 
 Mr Black, and other autlioritios of e([ual experience, does 
 not exceed $15 t ton. Of sourso tliere are many brilliant 
 exceptions, and ?)0 ib I re will be here, Imt upon the whole, 
 you have no right to expect nature to make an exception in 
 her general l!'.\;; fir you. Now in this country at present, 
 with labor, moiic-y, provisions, machinery, freight and in- 
 cidental expenses so high, anything under HW a-ton at least 
 would bo a losing affair, and $41) a-ton is very rich rock ; 
 thus 18 out of every 20 men investing in (piartz largely 
 would be ruined, the same as men were at lirst in California, 
 and this great productive interest thruwn back for years. 
 Therefore, I advise a little delay. Develop the ledges so 
 far as to prove them, if you please, but csssipt in ordinary 
 cases, do not attempt to work tiiom on a larc'-o scale. It ia 
 estimated that from 18G2 to 1805, the period of tho quartz 
 mania in California, that San Francisco and New York 
 spent $120,000,000 in Reese River, Montana and Idaho, 
 without getting a dollar in return, and now no matter what 
 they find, no one will help them in those cities, nor will they 
 for years. You all know the doiolate condition of those 
 territories at prcsoat. from having little or no other resource 
 to fall back upon, t have already spoken of the immuta- 
 bility of the laws govcrniug mineral veins, but those laws 
 are valueless agaiust an overwhelming expense that can 
 
37 
 
 neither be avoided nor rodncod ; nnd it is a poor policy in 
 mining to expend tlio niom'v in simply getting to a mine, 
 wiiioii was intended to develop it ; people very rioon tiro of 
 sucli a business. 1 grant tlieio is a great diflercnco in Cali- 
 fornia to-day. In ISGO, lioi- (jnai't/, interests were literally 
 dead ; in 18()7, lier (piartz mills numbered 111, erccte<l at a 
 cost of $5,'.)J0,llil(), the annu.il agi,'i'eg>U(! product of wliicliia 
 $ll,2r)0,0ll0. Wliat produceti tliis eliango in seven short 
 years? In the first placet, a better knowledge of the laws 
 governing mineral formations and a thorongh experience in 
 working rot!k,and the appliealiun of both to the minimum 
 yield and the maximum cost by wliich to determine the mar- 
 gin for profit ; and in tlie second jdaeo, the natural equaliza- 
 tion of lal)'-; and capital. To-diiy, from these causes, a 
 IcdgG paying $10 a-ton, easy of access and easy to work, 
 would bring more in California than one that would pay 
 $500 a-ton in Idaiio or Montana ; simi)ly because, iu tho 
 former, wo can reduce our amalgam for $0 a-ton, wliich 
 leaves 100 percent, profit. A. lew years will make a similar 
 change in tliis country. You arc not wanting in all tho 
 elements of successful quartz mining ; and, theroloro, it is 
 better and safer for all concerned, in my ()])iiii()n, to allow 
 the business to come to maturity in tho natural course t)f 
 events, than to force it into a sickly cx.i3tonco at present, to 
 its certain pr'^judiee hereafter. 
 
 These observations, however, do not apply to the same 
 extent to your silver ledges. You haro already made such 
 a wonderful develojiment at Cherry Creek in silver, that I 
 think that interest may be advantageously advanced now as 
 hereafter. Such enormous fortunes have been made in Washoe 
 by silver, and such an enormous Ijusiness is still done in Cali- 
 fornia iu silver, that I see no diiliculty in inducing capital- 
 ists to invest money in it here, if the thing is properly 
 managed. IJcsides, there can bo no doubt about the Cherry 
 Creek lead, the quantity and the cliaractor of the rock it has 
 yielded establish its legitimacy at once. I have some in my 
 possession, richer thjin any coming from Wasiioe for three 
 years' yast. I feel convinced tiiey have the main lead and 
 not the spur ; but as the sudden illness of Mr Landvoigt pro- 
 vented me going to inspect it personally, I cannot yet de- 
 termine that important i)oint. Nevertheless, putting all the 
 circumstances together, I confess I cannot resist the convic- 
 tion on my mind, that the discovery is not made on a spar, 
 but on a large, rich and permanent vein. I saw the same 
 ledge on Scotch Creek, twenty-si.K miles from Cherry Creek, 
 and it is there nearly thirty feet thick, and at the same time 
 a magniliccnt cliaracter ot rock. 
 
 You arc probably aware. His Excellency tho Goveroor 
 was kind enough to place his little steam yacht Leviathan at 
 
 my disposal, in order to visit the IIowo Sound Copper Mine, 
 near Burrard Inlet, soon after its discovery. Many in this 
 
 city have asked mo, since my return, whether there is any- 
 
 I 
 
 <! 
 
38 
 
 : I 
 
 [I! 
 
 thing in it. Indeed there is, you may be assured, a great 
 deal in it. I ))ronouncc it by far tlie best thing of the kind 
 discovered in the Colony, and quite as legitimate as anyjon 
 the Pacific Coast. It is one of four mines hitherto found in 
 the world, of which we have record, where sulphuret ore in 
 a concentrated form was carried in quantity and of high 
 percentage on the surface. Nor is the. 3 any doubt, in my 
 mind, about its being a true organic vein, for there, plainly 
 in sight, are all the essentials necessary to constitute a true 
 copper vein down even to the flucUan, the first and last 
 essential. At present there is a slight displacement, which 
 will require probably drifting for a hundred feet to over- 
 come. As soon as the vertical dip is reached in th<) hill, the 
 vein will show itself in its true course and form, and at 
 least be three feet thick. If this mine is now judiciously 
 managed by the owners, and liberally dealt wiih by the 
 Government, it must be of immense good to the Colony ; 
 for it at once establishes the reliability of your vast copper 
 ledges, and may in the end, wlicn tlioroughly developed, 
 excel the marvellous richness of the Union in Copperopolis, 
 and the Cobra, in Cuba, for neitlier of those celebrated 
 mines were equal to the Howe Sound mine on the surface. 
 
 So far, I have spoken only of your mineral wealtli on the 
 Mainland. Vancouver Island, of course, I have had no op- 
 portunity of examining, to decide with any degree )f cer- 
 tainty either the extent or character of its auriferous de- 
 posits. Its copper and coal, hnwevcr, ore endless, and the 
 rock on which your town of Victoria stands i-- all a mineral 
 formation. It appears to me, yoi> should first devote every 
 energy to the development of your splendid and extensive 
 coal beds. I have already told you that the theory of 
 Professor Jackson, of New York, a very competent and 
 scientific man, of the non-existence of the carboniferous era 
 in California is daily gaining strength, for the more we 
 examine into the matter the more we find his statement of 
 the auriferous rook occupying the place of the coal-measures 
 to be correct. Ilence, then, the coal does not exist there at 
 all, or at such a depth it cannot be worked with p'-ofij; ; in 
 either case California is left in the same dilenima — she is 
 without coal. 1 stated this eigh<^een months' ago, and that, 
 therefore, the day was not far distant when the proud city of 
 San Francisco must come begging to you for tlie means of 
 sustaining her commerce, manufactories and greatness ; for 
 ■without coal she is comparatively helpless. To-day my pre- 
 diction is nearly realized. It was then evident to me that 
 the busitui^s enterprise of the Americans wouhl. overcome 
 all political arid naiional prejudices, and in the event of not 
 getting coal of their .>'.vn, they would do tiic next best thing, 
 go to the nearest and cheapest place for tlie supply tliey re- 
 ((uired. To-day they are doing so, and I am satisfied, if the 
 business is properly managed, at least ir>0,00() or 200,000 
 tons a-yen.r can bo ^^^)ut froiQ thig Island to Saa Francisco, 
 
■■iiPPMH 
 
 39 
 
 It IS gratifying to see the increase of shipmpnts lately made 
 from Nanaimo, the last year excoeded the v-rcvious year by 
 10,000 tons, while the shipments during the first two months 
 of this year are far in excess of that increase. And so it 
 must continue to the end— tlie long, dreary night of misfor- 
 tune is giving way to the dawn of a brighter day, end if 
 you only avail yourselves of the mineral wealth in your pos- 
 session, the coal beds of Nanaimo, Cowiclian, Comox, New- 
 castle, and on the Mainland, are sufficient in themselves to 
 build up the Colony to the highest state of prosperity and 
 wealth. 
 
 U 
 
 Ml 
 
 ;' f 
 
 for 
 
MH 
 
 40 
 
 LECTURE TT 
 
 II 
 
 
 On the Agricultural, Commercial, Geographical, Political 
 and National Resources, Advantages and Aspeets Ct Uh' 
 Conntrr. 
 
 Mr Prksident :— Haviii? in my previous oddrcss sub- 
 stantiated, I believe, beyond all (jucstion the mineral wealth 
 of the country, ■\vliich in the natural course of events must 
 attract the attention of the worhl to a large extent, in spite 
 of all the prejudice and misrepresentation of those who 
 judged the country, not from its merits so much as their own 
 incapacity to ensure success, the next question that pre- 
 sented itself to my mind was, whether in case of a sudden 
 influx of people drawn to it by sudilen discoveries which 
 are certain to be made, the agricultural capacity of the 
 Colony would be equal to the emergency. Instead, there- 
 fore, of finishing my travels with an examination of the 
 mines, I found, in order to ascertain this fact, f had still an 
 irksome, laborious and important duly to perform, and I 
 went through with it with care, because few people, un- 
 acquainted with mining countries, have any idea how closely 
 the production of gold and the production of flour are con- 
 nected. My impressions ol the agricultural character of 
 the Colony. I am free to confess, by being obtained <':om 
 false authorities, were about the same as my impressions of 
 its mineral Avealth, altogether wrong and unjust. It was 
 necessary, in this case, to examine the districts lying adjacent 
 to the main thoroughfare of the niiucs, the product of which 
 could be brought into immediate use if re(|uirod to feed and 
 sustain a mining population ; so it must be understood all 
 the rich tracts of land ex'uading along the bunks of the 
 Frasor to its mouth, and also on Vancouver Islard. are not 
 included. F am merely speaking now of the Upr Fras(;' 
 fiom Yale to (iucsneilcmouth. It has always .n main- 
 tained that British Columl)ia is not ii-i agrici'.iturui country, 
 the same tiling that was said of Calilornia in early times 
 by men about as foolish as those who f ..u '■, of tliat country 
 witliout any real knowledge oi' it[> ' icrvs. ii uidcr to prove 
 the vitality of tiiis country, it i. not ucc '- ry ta prove it 
 an agricultural country in the strict ^ensi; if the term — that 
 is, like California, capable of <.\\porting grain ; ail that 
 appears necessary to mc, is to show she can as eurly Call- 
 
 % 
 
, Political 
 
 1 dress sub- 
 3ial wealth 
 ivents must 
 Mit, in spite 
 
 those who 
 IS their own 
 -i that pre- 
 )f a sudden 
 cries which 
 acity of the 
 stead, thcre- 
 tion of the 
 
 had still an .- 
 ■form, and I 
 
 people, nn- 
 how closely 
 our are con- 
 I'liaractcr of 
 tained f:\iin 
 iiprossions of 
 iiist. It was 
 
 inf^ adjacent 
 liiet of which 
 I to feed and 
 ulcrstood all 
 banks of the 
 ird, arc not 
 pr Vv&si 
 
 M inain- 
 i.rai country, 
 I early times 
 
 that country 
 i tier to prove 
 
 y to prove it 
 le term — that 
 in ; all that 
 IB early Call- 
 
 41 
 
 fornia did, sustain the population of to-day, and half-a- 
 million more if t!iey were to come to-morrow at any given 
 point without callinir into ro(|uisiti()n tiic whole of her 
 resources. Now, what do 1 lind in this respect ? This great 
 truth — that British Columbia is as capable in agriculture as 
 she is in mining, even wiiliin liio coiitraetod limits to which 
 I shall conlino myself, extensive as tiiosc limits are in point 
 of distance, but nothing, w )rse than nothing, in comparison 
 with the tobil extent of Iier vast agricultural area = 
 
 Prom Lillooet on the west to Soila (hx-ek on the east side 
 of the Frasei', s'ly 201) miles noi'th, thence to Cache Creek, 
 along the Thompson, to Savaua's Fci'ry, up the lakes to 
 Kamloopsand Seymour, say 200 miles south, 1 tind a country 
 as fertile, as eiisy of (Miilivatidn and as durable as most of 
 the lietter portions of (Jaiitbrnia, and wliich, Judging from 
 its general l"e:itures an 1 the actual corps it produced last 
 year is certainly l,. ;;■:•.!. lo, without exagg^i'ation, of sustain- 
 ing at least lialr-a-niillion p(!uj;lo lu the two great necessaries 
 of lilb, Hour and nieit. ThroiioliDiit tiiose limits I also find, 
 as ill California, that all niiiiirtMl to make an a|)parcntly 
 barren laml highly productive is sullieicnt irrigation, for the 
 cro[is last year liy tliis means ;iverag(!d thirty bushels to the 
 acre, an average over that of any similar given area to 1)0 
 found, J believe, on the coast. It is estimated by parties 
 engaged in bnyiiiLr last year's grain, that the Upper b'raser, 
 from Lyttoii to (^biesiielleniont'f, pioduced IdOO tons of wheat, 
 which is ('(juivalent to U.ODO barrt.'ls of llonr, while the 
 quality of Hour is ecpial to tli(; celebrated (.ioideii <Jatel)rand 
 of California ; and that this is not an exagu'erated calcula- 
 tion, is evident, fr< ni tlie fact of (lari'uoo this winter, the 
 most severe e^e|• known, lieiiig abundantly .-applied with 
 flour of your own prndueiiiir ai 20 (tents a pound instead of 
 5U I'eiifs a pound, when the .-u|i|)lies weru dependent upon 
 Calilornia. Thus ymi have a|'i'i\ed at that period, long to 
 be remeiiiltered in vnr history when the upper country, 
 even the " liowlinii' rtihierne.>s " as it is called, has become 
 selfsusiaining in (l(,ui' Few people, especially those unac- 
 quainted witii mining countries, can lurm a line estimate ot 
 the importance of this achievement. Wiiilc Ca ilornia re- 
 mained depCHdent on Chili for Hour, she made little progress 
 in the development ol her material iiiierest.-' ; v/iiile liritfsh 
 Columbia rt^mains (h'p( iideut iijion (.'alilbiiiia we see the 
 same thing : but as tlie Ibnuer gradually became se'f-.-ustaiu- 
 ing, sIk! gradually ln-eame wliat >hi! is, the princely mistress 
 of the Facilie. Shall wi! deny the s me results to the latter? 
 Perhaps we might with propriety it siie were not a largo 
 prolucer of gold and C(tal ; Inir havin.; these, with the pro- 
 duction ot her o\s n Ihiir, her eareiM'. in my o|>inioii. cannot 
 be impelled. \o, sir, tiie laeis of your t.ikin^ last year the 
 firs , step towards your independence of the world for the 
 chiel means of living, the first time ob.MUve ;t has been 
 taken in your history, is worth moro, a thousand times more, 
 than uU ilie glilteriny;, unstablo, grandeur of the paut, bo- 
 
 f 
 
«■ 
 
 42 
 
 Si': 
 
 cause it will create an inevitable desire for greater independ- 
 ence by greater production, and therefore every coining year, 
 in obedience to that desire, will duplicate the past ytar in 
 both. The labors of 18(')7, all round, have been indeed a 
 glorious triumph for the Colony. 
 
 Throughout the limits I have drawn, the soil is very rich 
 and enduring ; abundantly supplied with water for irriga- 
 tion, with a climate unexceptionable in summer, and not very 
 ^1 v(re in winter. I have already spoken of the high average 
 J jrops, and as a proof of tiie power of duration in the 
 
 la' ley proved larger upon some of the farms last year on 
 Cac^ . Creek, the fifth consecutive growth of wheat, barley 
 and oats, than ever known before. This was shown on the 
 two farms, of Boston and Perry — the one under cultivation 
 five years produced about the same proportion of wheat from 
 22 acres, that the other, for the first time under the plough, 
 did from 30 acres. P'roui inquiries at the mills, at Lillooet, 
 Soda Creek and Cornwr.U's ranch, I learned that the grain 
 runs very even in its percentage of flour, yielding in all the 
 three districts from 65 to 70 per c.nt,, with a little advantage 
 in favor of Cache Creek grain. T!.o best and largest farms 
 I have seen in tlie whole country are Dunlevy's and Gal- 
 brailh's, at Soda Creek ; Boston's and Perry's, on Cache 
 Creek, and the Cornwall ranch, on the Thompson. A few 
 particulars of tiiese five ranches, selected simply because 
 they are well-known, may not be uninteresting. Dunlevy 
 produced about 125,000 pounds of wheat, 40,000 of barley, 
 30,000 of oats. Galbraitli, about 150,000 pounds of wheat, 
 with something of the same in barley and oats. The im- 
 mediate district of Lillooet produced 1,500,000 pounds of 
 excellent wheat, 800,000 pounds of oats and barley, 60,000 
 pounds of beans, which is much less tiian tlie farmers intend 
 growing there next season. Sandford, or Boston, as he is 
 commonly called, on Caciie Creek, 43,000 pounds of wheat, 
 86,000 pounds of barley, 22,000 pounds of oats. Perry, from 
 30 acres, the first season, as already said, averaged 50 bushels 
 of wheat to the acre. Cornwall Brothers, have 90 acres 
 under cultivation, witli 50 more preparing for this year ; last 
 season's crop yielded 48 bushels to the acre, with barley and 
 oats in tlie same proportion ; oats esj)tcially never being 
 considered good under 49 bushels to the acre. These gentle- 
 men, in addition, have 380 head of cattle, 60 horses, hogs, 
 Ac, &c., in (juantity, and will soon become wealtliy. I wish 
 to refer for a few moments, to Handford's case, being a bright 
 and meritorious example of industry. He located 260 acres 
 in 18(51, the cereals ol whicii, as given already, would realize 
 him last season $4,500, in addition lo which (given here as 
 an evidence of the duration of the ground) lio produced TO 
 tons of hay, wortii $25 a-ton ; in v* getables, 50,000 pounds 
 of potatoes ; beats, 3 tons : carrots, 8 tons ; Swedish turnips, 
 15 tons, bosidt'S a large amount of onions, 'i'he total cosi of 
 this farm residence, out-houses, fonces, together with ditch 
 for irrigation, cost $6,000. Putting the stock growing up 
 
 
43 
 
 \4 
 
 
 on the farm, ton^ctlier with its produce, the proprietor to-day 
 may be considered rich. I could instance numbers of such 
 examples, )'et it is difficult to make people believe that 
 British Columbia offers atiy inducement for farmers to culti- 
 vate the land. It must not be understood either that the 
 territory within the limits mentioned is fully occupied. Not a 
 tithe of it is under cultivation. Indeed some of the best 
 still invites the settlor. Here, I must observe, that the 
 climate is equally ^i^ood for voijjotiibleH. Durintr the summer, 
 in all places, as far up as QiiosnoUemonth, I ate peas, cauli- 
 flowers, caljbncres, turnips carrots, onions, celery, as large as 
 any tri'own in Califurnia, but better flavored, while the 
 potatoes everywhere in tlio C'dony, fir sf^e. soundness and 
 quality, defy the world. The same holds good also in refer- 
 CHce to ftuits. It is a common and true sayiiic amongst the 
 Americans, thai where llie watermeloi\ flouri-lies, any fruits 
 may bo grown to advantage. When, therefore, I found 
 water-melons nt Lillooot and other places a-^ fine in every 
 respect as any grown in lone Valley, California, I was not 
 surprised to find apples, pears, plums, strawberi'ies, cherries, 
 gooseberries, currants. Sec, Ac, if not so large as the Cali- 
 fornia fruits of tlie same varietv, infinitely better flavored. 
 Yet people will persist in calling the interior a ''howling 
 wilderness," fit only for the red man and tlie bear. If I am 
 wrong in these statements, it is easy to show the falsehood. 
 To do so, however, rccpiires a inau to do what [ have done, 
 traverse the entire country step by step, look into everything, 
 calculate everything, compare everythin;'', and when that ia 
 done, I know my v(!racity will be established. General 
 statements, contradictory of what I advance, will not suffice; 
 figure against figure, detail lor detail, must be produced, and 
 then if there is a discrepancy it can very soon and very 
 easily be brought home to the erring party. If I am proved 
 to be wrong, lot mo lor ever be covered with the shame such 
 falsehoods deserve. Now, Captain Bunisby, author of the 
 trashy letters appearing last summer in the Cariboo Sentinel, 
 as your optics and imagination are so dull that you could not 
 see Legh Harnett's garden in the interior, here is another 
 chance for distinction — to you and all of the same school, I 
 boldly throw down the gauntlet. Any man who could ride 
 through the country at the time of my visit, and not see it 
 in th3 same light that I did, must look in his own soul for 
 the barrenness he sees around iiim. 
 
 The ne.\t and last point to be considered in connexion with 
 the agricultural resources of the Colony is cattle-grazing. I 
 approach this subject really with hesiiation, nor should I 
 venture to publish the facts I have collected, were they not 
 fully substantiated l)y parties whose position and characters 
 cannot bo ques.ioned. It is, indeed, one of the most re- 
 markable features of the country, a> d I doubt whether any 
 man was more astonished than myself at what I learned and 
 gathered. The magnificent range of pasturage, in which 
 the bunch-grass is found, peculiar for ita fattoaing pro* 
 
 
 l! 
 
^ii 
 
 im 
 
 8.^ 
 
 44 
 
 pertiog, really begins east of the Cascade Mountain?, fifty- 
 Bv^ven miles above Yale, running up to tiio head of naviga- 
 tion on the P'raKM-, to tlie vitv l-a^o of tlicKocky Mountains, 
 altogetlier norlii and s^ontli 800 niilos, but liow far cast and 
 west is not icnown, tiiongli the distance must be iininonsc. I 
 will select a few parliculiits fiotn my notes. The ])rincipal 
 cattle dealers arc tlie Messrs llarjicr. two brotliers. supposed 
 to be wortli $200,000, most of which tliry arc said to have 
 made in tins Colony. Mr Jcinnic Ilnrpci' assured me there 
 is scarcely any such pnstMray:c in 'IVxas or Missouri, and as 
 he is an Aiucrimn his t^^-til!Ulny is the nioic rclialilc. They 
 are located on the Shusuii]) iind ('ache Creek, and p )ssess 
 about 1.800 head o!' line stock. .\t tlio time I saw h in at 
 Cache Creek, on ids way tn ("arilxio, witii some ()00 head of 
 grass-fed cattle for the winter's su|i|ily, he assured me ho 
 could select ISO thice-year ohi steers fiom the hand timt 
 would weigh 870 poDuds each, wiiile tlic rcMiiainder were 
 certainly the finest lot of bcefcalth' I ever saw collected 
 together in any country. No 'lurli average as tiiis could be 
 reached on tlie I'athero Phiins, round Sau .luan, sDuth in 
 California, Ijcyond compi'rison the; linest grazing district in 
 the State. A<rain, Mr Cornwall told iih; they had kdled 
 tir^-yetir old animals that wtfiuhcd as hiih as HH) pounds 
 each, fed simply on gra-s. One case I witnes-t^l myself, on 
 Antoiiie's farai, four miles lielow .Mr (Cornwall's, exceeds all 
 the others, and appo rs aim >st incredible ;' it was that of n, 
 yearling, killed in my prosence, wliicli weigh(>d wlien dr(>ssed 
 545 pounds. J could mention many such inslai.cea coining 
 to my knowledge imlircctly, imi, I prefer the above because 
 they can be ontlienticati'd by the g ntlemen whose names are 
 mentioned. Ilcn; then, again, yon see what tliis ''howling 
 wilderness" of the interior will clo, and is doing daily. Can 
 such cattle be found in the London market./w/ (done on grass, 
 in England, Scotland or Ireland? if so, I confess, 1 never 
 saw or heard of them. In (California. 1 know nothing of 
 the sort can be produced. Ai. other instance maybe given 
 of the extraordinary value ol this binich-grass I'or dairy 
 purposes, and with it I will finish. It is that of Messrs 
 J)uek and Pringle, located on the Shuswap River, who made 
 1,500 pounds of butter from 15 cows during last summer. 
 Nor is the severity of winter through this ])articuhir dis- 
 trict, as in some others, a set-ofi' against the profits of summer. 
 During some extreme seasons, it is true, catth; suffer and die ; 
 but settlers who are prudent enough to cut natural hay for 
 winter feed, which can be done for $5 or $7 a-ton, never 
 lose a single head in the deepest snow, while such as do 
 perish are old and poor C^alifornia. cattle. That I am not 
 underrating or overrating this nnignilicent cattle range is 
 proved l)y tl>e Cariboo tnamsters and packers, in addition to 
 the stock belonging to it, regularly bringing at the cud of 
 each season from 400 to (100 head of worn o ,t animals of 
 every kind to winter, and whi(.'li, without being led with 
 hay, come out in the spriug in f-plcndid condition. And so 
 
r 
 
 . ' 45 
 
 I leavo the a.ffricultural rcsoui-cos, with a firm conviction, 
 tliat in this r('S[)oct, as in others, tho country has been grossly 
 inisreprosontcd. 
 
 It will bi3 soon from these statements that this solitary 
 bu.irbear of tho ("olony, tho " tcrrihhi winter," mi,t!;ht as M'cil 
 bo loft alone, for in most parts o.\(('|it tho extreme north its 
 hori'or consists more in it solitiirte tiian severity. If, as in 
 Canaila and the Kiistern States, the interior ji>entlcmen could 
 have lots of sleiLrliinf"', with soniethiiiii vei-y pretty pnd warm 
 r()IIed up in f;:rs liy their sides all tiie time, it would not bo 
 fciUHid I think so very much. In su(!h latiMides a ('alilornia 
 winter camiot l)e expeeted, thoim'h iier winter one year in 
 tiiron is more devastatin'i' and ruinous than yours witii all its 
 severity during,' the wiioh; tinu;. Indeed, I have never met 
 a country so (roe from tliosc dire calamities which pe''iod" 
 icallv visit tiie world as this. VVIiOro are your floods, lires, 
 huri'icanes, earth(piaUes, diMuiuht that with sucii a crmd hand 
 constantly in other jihices hiy men so low, so ruined, so 
 crushed? in the. absence of these playurs suixdy yon can 
 bear with tho severity of a winter, whiidi at the worst only 
 stops woi'k in ojien air two or three times duriiif;- the season. 
 I have had some expi'i'ien<'e in C'iililornia dnrinu' the last 
 seventeen years in these matters and know what they are. 
 Let me tell von something almut llwrn Ho v(ni know what 
 
 a lar";e city laid in ashes mean> 
 
 II; 
 
 IVC 
 
 you ever seen a 
 vast ocean of (ire sweepin;:' onwards with liirhtninp.- speed, 
 on every side; (Mn'Iin<>' up the lofty spires in wreaths of anjrry 
 flame, devourint>- the mansions of the rich, the hovels ol the 
 poor, the haunts of the vicious, the asylum.-, of the destitute, 
 and coiimuiiu'linL!; all ill one vast and (UMi.mon ruin? It is 
 but tho work of an hour— yet how terrible that work. To 
 see stern men who had irone to bed rich, delicate and refined 
 ■women accustomed to the elei^ancies and luxuries of wealth, 
 children who never knew want wandering to and fi'O in 
 multitudes, without a homo, without clothes, without food, 
 crushed and helpless and no relief at hand, is a sijiht that 
 tries mens' souls indeed. Ibit you have none of tliis, you 
 have none of tliis in your midst, and God grant you may stdl 
 be spared. Do you know what a country deluged by floods 
 means? Have you over seen a vast inland sea, a hundred 
 miles long and forty miles wide, the work of a \'q\v days, but 
 raging and surging lor Avccks, and la%ing a paralyzing 
 baud on all it touches? Jlave you ever stood on some lofty 
 eminence and viewed tho utter hopeless wreck of life that 
 lies stretched out on all sides as far as the eye can cari'y ? 
 The work and reward of years lost in an hour — J^ieautiful 
 homes crushed to pieces or swept away, noble cities sub- 
 merged and surrounded l>y a desolation as sublime, though 
 not as fatal as that which wiped out all traces of the once 
 proud Babylon and Nineveh ? Have you ever seen tho 
 darkness of the storm,_night prevail by day, when it seemed 
 as tliongh you could raise your hand and clutch tho murky 
 heavens above as they poured and poured down their endless 
 
 
46 
 
 torrents of water, and the soul of man is weary, so weary 
 waitiiifj; for the t-uii ? No, you have none of tliis, you have 
 none of this, and God tyrant you tnay still to spared. Do 
 you know what a country dyin^ out by inches from drought 
 means? Have you ever rode over fertile valleys, rich 
 prairies, studded with splendid lar'.iis, valualtlo orchards, 
 eudles« flocks of every kind, and marked the slow but 
 inevitable work ot famine and ])rogiess of death ? Have 
 you ever seen the beautilul firmament of Heaven paled in its 
 . hue by tiie ^onst mt glare of tiie terrible sun, aaaad creation 
 stripped of every living herb, imnthers and bears subdued 
 by hunger come down IVom their lairs to die willi dying 
 flocks of shix'p and cattle, and fruits, and trees, and crops 
 perish by tiie hour ? Have you ever felt that living death, 
 the dread silcico pervading the busy haunts ol man, when 
 the earth and all things Jiving are weary, so weary waiting 
 for the niin ? No, no, you have none ol this, you have none 
 of this, and God grant \(>n may still be spared. No, sir, of 
 all countries I was ever in this one to me seems hast alllictcd 
 by those physical evils which constantly punish each clime 
 and each podplo in turn. What would have been your con- 
 dition to-day had you gone through a tithe of our (..'aliforniu 
 experience? I hear people on all sides constantly talking 
 of California to the prejudice of Hritish Columbia. Well, 
 she is a bright, sunny, glorious country upon, the whole ; but 
 if there is one country in the world more than another where 
 men's souls have been tried and their energies tasked to 
 make her what what she is, it is that very California. Had 
 this Colony received the same advantuge of foreign capital 
 and emigration that she has had, it w >uld hav|(j been, in my 
 opinion, a far more preferable country in man^. respects. 
 
 Again, in a commercial sense, I cannot sed-~ grounds foi* 
 such gloomy forebodings, because, in my opinion, the more 
 San Francisco exl^ends lior influence, capital and successful 
 trade, it must, to a certain extent, in the end benefit Vic- 
 toria, simply because she has the only safe seaport besides 
 that city on the sea coast. The opening of the Japan and 
 China trade, and the purchase of Sitka, will also have an 
 immediate good effect, for neither can be carried to a suc- 
 cessful issue witliout the means of this Island. The 
 Americans know this, and hence their desire to get this 
 stumbling block to their greatness on ttie Pacific. In refer- 
 ence to Sitka, it brings British Columbia at once in the 
 centre of the American possessions, and its trade must centre 
 here in spite of national prejudices and political jealousies. 
 The steamers plying to and from San Francisco mast coal 
 here, because it is cheaper, and commercial necessities and 
 commercial benefits soon bring all things to a level. Some 
 think Sitka will never amouut to anything, and much fun has 
 been made about its purchase. That is not luy impression. 
 In the har. Is of the American people, and in the midst of 
 American wants, it is sure to advance ad not being able 
 to get this country, the purchase of SiU.a was the uext beat 
 
tmmt 
 
 mmm 
 
 0^ 
 
 4T 
 
 thin|[? they could do, for the possession of the extreme north 
 and south doubles their power on the coast, and privcs them 
 political and commercial advantages they never before pos- 
 sessed. Let those advantages extend to the utmost, if you 
 please, as the great tide of nation floats along your shores; 
 and how you can avoid participating in the establishment 
 and continuance of tliat nation, when you cut tliem off in 
 their necessity from their own people? Do you think any Sitka 
 shipmaster would go to San Francisco in preference lo Vic- 
 toria for such things as may be required immediately, simply 
 because you are English ? It would not pay, and the 
 Americans look to tliat point I assure you. Hut the pos- 
 session of Sitka by tiie Americana tends to your advantage 
 in another way hitherto not seen, in connexion with the 
 Japan trado recently opened with San Francisco. You all 
 know how that trade lias increased during the first year, 
 beyond the expectation of tiiose who inaugurated it. Now, 
 it is a fact, that tiie route from San Francisco to Japan, by 
 going tlirough the Aleutian Isles, on the west coast ot Sitka, 
 can be shortened eleven hundred and sixty inile.i, instead of 
 going by the Sandwich Isles, as they do now. There is 
 nothing for the large steamei-s running on this line to go to 
 Honolulu for, except to keep up an established communica- 
 tion and connexion ; it cannot possibly pay, financially; and, 
 therefore, when Sitka becomes of more importance, by being 
 filled by American people, and by extending American in- 
 terests, X do not see how the Japan line can avoid taking 
 the other route; when, in the first place, they s ive thereby 
 such an immense distance, and by coaling here, ia the next 
 place, save such an immense expense. Such are the natural 
 advantages of this place, in a commercial light, that I can- 
 not understand any prngress on tlie Pacific coast and Vic- 
 toria not sharing in it largely; and the proof of this is, that 
 to-day, she i-- doing more, and holding her own better, than 
 any portion of the coast from Was^hington Territory to San 
 Francisco, except Portland, and she is no great thing to 
 boast about. 
 
 But the most important feature of this country in relation 
 to its future progress, is its geographical position. Without 
 mines, without any extent of agricultural lands, this alone 
 would make it prosperous in course of time. If tlio English 
 nation desires to nmintain its footing and extend its influence 
 on the Pacific, it must foster and encourage Hiitish Colum- 
 bia. An abandonment of this territory, is an fil)andonmcnt 
 of the entiie Pacific, for there is not now another spot on it 
 where we can get a foothold. The more this trutli is im- 
 pressed upon the Knglish people, in order to imluce their 
 assistance in various ways required at present, the better lor 
 them and fur yourselves, for a greater Colonial calamity 
 could not be experienced than its loss. That po?ition i>ains 
 additional importance from the configuration of tiic country 
 inland, in connexion with a waggon-road to Caiiada- My 
 own impression is, that no power on earth cm prevent 
 
 ' J 
 
,1 
 
 'i 
 
 i! 
 
 \' 
 
 M 
 
 48. 
 
 eventual Confederation with tlie Dominion; and, furthermore, 
 tliat the idea, so far as tlic! tran-^uiisHioii of Briti^-li iiitercrttH 
 and inlhienccs are concornod. it is the irreatost idea cnuneiatod 
 for a eontury. I havealnnidy told you, in uiy corrcspondenco 
 with the Colonist. Iiow the coufiiruration of tiio uppor coun- 
 try ])oints naturally to ;l'.iS result, for I really helieve it 
 would not cost m(.>'0 to tiike a railroad to-day from Yale 
 through the Ilorse-b'ly country to the Rocky Mountains 
 than it has already cost to build one from Sacramento to the 
 Summit of the Sierra Mountains, tlionuh only somcthini? over 
 200 miles. Thus, $2(),00(),0ll(), 1 believe,* of the original 
 stock is gone. I do not think the most salient points in 
 favor of t/onfederation have been ])resented to you, neiUier 
 do I tliink it has been discussed entirely free from personal 
 prt'juiiees and ;ild pililical proclivities. Now, it seems to 
 me, any measure having lor its olijeet ostensibly tlic per- 
 petuity of England's greatness, by insuring the prosperity of ' 
 her Colonies, should receive tiic respectful attention of every 
 Bi'itisii subject. Now, ('onlcdcration cannot l)0 understood 
 without discussing the encn-oaclnuLUts made on our Asiatic 
 interests by the aggressive spirit ot the Americans since 
 their establishment upon this coast; nor do 1 refer to that 
 spirit, becausi> 1 fear it, but to indue'! tlie lOiiglish, it possi- 
 ble, to imitate it. In lifte^Mi years, they have done more in 
 overcoming the national prejudices of the Japanese by the 
 potent inlluence of commerce, than we have done from the 
 otiicr side in fifty ye-irs by tlie means of irciities and salt- 
 petre; and to-day, from their pro.ximity to Japan, by tiieir 
 establishment at San Fi'ancisco and with their Overland 
 Railroad, they eont'st with us in no mean manner tlie supre- 
 nmcy of ilominion f)n the Pacific, and thi-eaten seriously to 
 Avrest irom our grn-p a large portion of tiie rich trade of 
 the Orient ; for you may l)c assured, if they once iiimly get 
 
 • a foothold iu Japan, they will ailvnnce further. IJnw then 
 can they be checked ? J answer, l)y inunediiite Confedera- 
 tion with Canada. The real hivep of his country, and the 
 real .■statesman, will not view this question simply l)y the im- 
 mediate gdiid ('oul'cdcration would do this Colony, although 
 
 ■» that is a view you cannot and ought not to overlook; ho 
 must view it to under-staml it prop(!rly as an Euirlish as well 
 as a Colonial cpjestion. It is by these great results the wel- 
 fare ol this country will be iiest snltserved. VV^e can oidy 
 check the Amei'ican en<'roachnient upon our Kastern trade by 
 imitating their example on the racilic, and we can oidy do 
 tliat througli this Colony. F(M'C(! this view upon tiic Knglish 
 and th(>y will see at once what they (tught to have s(;en long 
 ago —that this (.'oiony, next to Austr.ilia, is the; most im- 
 ])ortant possession England has. This, it uuiy be said, is 
 si;iiply raising a luture issue, that nmy or may not come to 
 ])ass, while we want immcdi;ite njilcf. What more, pray, do 
 tiie opponents of t/'onfedi'ratioii (jIVcr liy asking you to wait 
 than a future issue, without investing the claims of the 
 Colony with new interest? i know very well the Colony 
 
40 
 
 can redeem itself M'ithout, but it will do it, in my opinion, 
 more thoroughly and more permanently with Confederation. 
 I do not regard this consolidation of power as an untried 
 experiment. To a certain extent it has proved successful in 
 America, but that success was never so conspicuous as wlien 
 California i;onnectcd iicr boundaries witli the two great 
 oceans. Wiiat California has done for America, Canada 
 will do for BritisI) Columbia. I have no doubt in my mind 
 that the groat mineral formation of the Pacific Coast crosses 
 the Rocky Mountains within our possessions and goes 
 throngh to Canada. I know it goes to the Mountains, and 
 we have strong evidence of its existing on the other side by 
 recent reliable gold developments in the kj^askatchewan ter- 
 ritory. Connect the two great oceans once more through 
 «ur possessions, and there is no other portion of the globe 
 equal to that territory for wealth of every kind. That ter- 
 ritory, however, can only be brought under the industry of 
 man immediately to any extent by Confederation ; and, 
 therefore, it seems to me, taking consolidation of power as 
 a fact, that the immediate and permanent welfare of British 
 Columbia and Confederation are synonymou?. There is 
 another consideration in favor of this grand idea of Con- 
 federation which the people here do not sufficiently regard, 
 if they are not altogether ignorant of it. The Americans 
 have determined to have a Northern Railroad, to come from 
 Lake Superior tlirougli Montana and Idaho, to Pnget Sound. 
 Already the Government have granted 47,000,000 of acres, 
 and ordered a bill for its construction to be brought at once 
 into Congress. They know very well the value of the 
 territory through which this Avill pass— that it is incom- 
 parably superior to the barren territory of the California 
 line. What the Americans know, we ought to know ; what 
 the Americans do to enrich their nation by an expansion, but 
 at the same time a union of power, we certainly ought to do. 
 We are equal to them in intelligcuce ; superior to them in 
 wealth ; but we want their quick conception of great idea % 
 their harmony of action in carrying these ideas out. In n-j 
 opinion, this Northern Railroad through American territory, 
 not more distant often from our own line than 150 miles, 
 will of itself force Confederation upon you, independent of 
 all other issues. However, with or without Confederation, 
 of the future prosperity of this country I have no doubt ; 
 and after looking into "her great and varied interests with 
 me, I hope wo now agree, low even as she stands among the 
 nations of the earth, that next to Australia she is today the 
 most important possession of Creat Britain, and in connexion 
 with the transmission of her future power and futuro great- 
 ness she is priceless iu proportion as she commands the 
 Great Pacific. 
 
 . 
 
 PosTSCEiPT. — I have to apologize for the reduction made 
 in the Second Lecture, which became necessary in conse- 
 
I 
 
 50 
 
 quonco of sliglitly cnlargins? the firnt. Dotli were originnlly 
 delivered cxtcinporancour^ly without a single note, but I 
 have endeavored to keep up the resenii'lnnco as fai 
 memory would possibly permit. 
 
 as 
 
 I also tliink it right to acknowledge the especial attention 
 to nic at all times of Cnptain Swanson of the Enterprise ; 
 Captain Finch, of the Anderson; Cni ta'n Irving, of tiio 
 Onward ; Captain Fleming, of the Lillooct, and Mr IJarnanl. 
 
 of the Cariboo Stage Co.