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 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 ITS 
 
 Resources and Capabilities. 
 
 
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BRITISH COLUMBIA. ' • 
 
 If one is moved to enthusiasm in contemplating the great future 
 of other provinces of the Dominion, the mind is struck with wonder 
 in endeavoring to grasp die possibihties that He before the provmce 
 on the Pacific. All the great natural features of the othei provinces, 
 the level prairies of the Northwest alone excepted, are reproduced 
 here on a magnified scale. In mere geograi)hical extent British Col- 
 umbia is the largest in the confederation. It has an area of 341,305 
 miles, orabout 357,000, including Vancouver Island, and thus ecjual* 
 the area of France, Italy, Belgium and Holland all put together- 
 It has a greater variety of climate than all the other i)rovinccs to- 
 gether, for the upj)er slopes of the Rockies are as cold as: 
 Labrador, while on the southern coast oranges were last year 
 ripened in the open air. Its wonderfiil coast line; its unrivaled 
 fisheries ; its stupendous forests, many trees of which measure 8 to 10 
 feet in diameter; its incalculable wealth in those minerals which are 
 the most valued and most necessary to man ; and its peculiar geo- 
 grajihical i)osition on the Pacific Ocean all mark out the province 
 of British Columbia as one of the imperial realms of the future. 
 
 DISCOVERY -AND SK T ri.KMKN T. 
 
 In t!ie year 179J — by a coincidence just 300 years after the dis- 
 covery of America l)y Columbus, — the ship Columbia of Boston, 
 comma.ided by Cai)t. (iray, sailed into the mouth of the noble 
 rivei upon which he bestowed the name of his vessel, and 
 whicli afterwards gave the name to the province of British Col- 
 umbia, whore its head stream lies, and through which it runs for 
 a course of 440 miles. I-ong before this it had been known to the 
 Spanish navigators who called it the St. Roe, but it was not till uSi i 
 that its main course was navigated by the astronomer of tlie North- 
 west Fur I'rading Comjiany. In the year that ("apt. Clray saw the 
 mouth of the Columbia, a hardy Scotchman named Simon Fra.ser 
 joined his fortimes to the North West Co., and in 1805-7 was 
 sent on the first e ' "dition across the Canadian Rockies, to explore 
 the country beyond an-' o|)en up trade with the Indians. He dis- 
 covered the river whica took his name, and having established 
 trading posts, assumed sovereignty of the country i.i the name of 
 his company, under whose control it remained till its fusion with 
 
2 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 the Hudson Bay Co. in 1821. It was also in 1792 that Capt. Van- 
 couver of the Royal Navy sailed up the Pacific, and gave his name 
 to Vancouver Island which he discovered, and which proved to be 
 the largest on the west coast of America. Although discovered so long 
 .ago, it was not till 1843 that a permanent settlement was made on 
 Vancouver Island by the Hudson Bay Co., who in that year built a 
 fort and trading post on the spot where the beautiful city of Victoria 
 now stands. Six years later this settlement developed into the colony 
 of Vancouver. The mainland of British Columbia remained a wil- 
 'derness with two or three far trading posts till in 1858, some gold 
 ■prospectors advanced up the coast and discovered the rich diggings 
 of the Fraser River. The influx of people was so great that the 
 region was erected into a crown colony in the same year, under the 
 .name of British Columbia. In 1866 the two colonies were united, 
 .and in 1871 the province joined the Confederation of Canada. In 
 that year the population of the Province was only 36,247 including 
 the Indians. Now it is about 100,000, and is rapidly increasing as 
 the varied and exhaustless resources of the country are becoming 
 known to the world. The increase by immigration alone in 1888 
 was estimated at 11,000. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. 
 
 British Columbia is nearly a parallelogram in shape, being about 
 ■760 miles long north and south, and about 500 broad. For about 
 ,300 miles down the coast from the north, a very narrow strip of the 
 United States Territory of Alaska intervenes between it and the 
 sea; but even with this strip cut off it has a coast line, reckoning its 
 wonderful labyrinth of bays and inlets, of perhaps 2,000 miles. It 
 is noteworthy that while from San Francisco to Cape Flattery on the 
 American coast there is not a single harbor for ocean ships, good 
 harbors can be found by the dozen in British Columbia, both on the 
 mainland and Vancouver Island. The scenery ot the coast is unlike 
 that of any shore yet discovered, and was thus graphically pictured 
 .by Lord Dufferin when he visited it in 1876 : 
 
 " Such a spectacle as its coast line presents is not to be paralleled by any coun- 
 "try in the world. Day after day for a whole week, in a vessel of nearly 2,uoo 
 tons, we threaded an interminable labyrinth of watery lanes and reaches that wound 
 endlessly in and out of a network of islands, promontories, and peninsulas, for thou- 
 sands of miles, unrufHed by the slightest swell from the adjoining ocean, and pre- 
 sent-'ng at every turn an ever-shifling combination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier 
 .and snow-capped mountain of unrivaled grandeur and beanty. When it it i«- 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. ' 3 
 
 membered that this wonderful system of navigation, equally well adapted to the 
 largest line of battle-ship and the frailest canoe, fringes the entire seaboard of your 
 province, and communicates at points, sometimes more than a hundred miles from 
 the coast, with a multitude of valleys stretching eastward into the interior, while 
 at the same time it is furnished with innumerable harbors on either hand, one is 
 lost in admiration at the facilities for inter-communication which are thus provided 
 for the future inhabitants of this wonderful region." 
 
 These wonderful natural features of the coast lead one to consider 
 the advantages of British Columbia's position with reference to 
 the ocean traffic of the future. It juts out from North- West America 
 as Great Britain juts out from Europe. The comparatively favor- 
 able distances across the ocean to Japan, China, and Australia, the 
 direction of the trade winds, the open harbors, the stores of coal, 
 the immense fertile region through which the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way reaches the seaboard of British Columbia — linking the Pacific 
 Ocean to the system of the St. Lawrence navigation on the eastern 
 side of the American Continent — are facts extremely favorable to 
 the growth of a widely extended commerce. The opening of the 
 Panama Canal, also, would have a marked influence, commercially, 
 on the future of the North West of America. 
 
 The distance from Japan, China or the Pacific Coast generally to 
 Liverpool is from i,ooo to 1,200 miles less by the Canadian route than 
 by the American railways. In reference to this point, Professor 
 Maury, an American, writes : — 
 
 "The trade-winds place Vancouver Island on the wayside of the road from 
 *' China and Japan to San Francisco so completely, that a trading vessel under 
 " canvas to the latter place would take the same route as if she was bound for 
 " Vancouver Island — so that all return cargoes would naturally c*jme there in 
 " order to save two or three weeks, besides risks and expenses." 
 
 It must, however, be clearly understood that this advantage, equi- 
 valent to the distance between Vancouver Island and San Francisco, 
 viz., about 700 miles, is independent of and in addition to, the 
 saving of direct distances by the Canadian route given above. 
 
 These very important facts of position in relation to distances 
 are very much heightened by the further fact of the possession of 
 important stores of Coal on the Canadian Pacific Coast, and the 
 piains east of the Rocky Mountians. This is put in a striking manner 
 by Sir Charles Dilke, in his book entitled ** Greater Britain." Sir 
 Charles says : — 
 
 "The position of the various stores of coal in the Pacific is of extreme impor- 
 tance as an index to the future distribution of power in that portion of the world ; 
 
4 • BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 but it is not enough to know where coal is t(i be foii,:d, without looking also 
 to the quantity, quality, cheapness of labor, and facility of transport. In China 
 and in Borneo there are extensive coal fields, but they lie 'the wrong way' for trade j 
 on the other hand, the California and Monte l)iablo, San Diego and Monterey 
 coal lies well, but is of bad quality. Tasmania has good coal, but in no great 
 quantity, and the beds nearest the coast are formed of inferior anthracite. The 
 three countries of the I'acific, which must, for a time at least, rise to manufaciuring 
 greatness, are Japan, Vancouver Island and New South Wales ; but which of 
 these will become wealthiest and most powerful depends mainly on the amount of 
 coal which they respectively possess, so situated as to be cheaply raised. The 
 deainess of labor under which Vancouver su.Ters will be removed by the opening 
 of the I'acific Railroad; but for the present New South Wales has the cheapest 
 labor, and upon her shores at Newcastle are abundant stores of coal of good qual- 
 ity for nianufacluiin;^ purposes, although for rea use it burns 'dirtily' and too fast. 
 * * * The future of the Pacific shores is inevitably brilliant, but it is not New 
 Zealand, the centre of the water hemisphere, which will occupy the [)osit;on that 
 England has taken on the Atlantic, but some country such as Japan or Vaiicouver 
 
 jutting >'Ut into the ocoan from Asia or from America, as England juts out from 
 Europe."' 
 
 The question of pre-eminence in the future ocean trade would 
 seem to be settled by the coal deposits. These are inexhaustible 
 in this province, and as to quality Dr. Dawson reports that at a test 
 made by officers of the American Government to ascertain the sour- 
 ces of the best coal on the Pacific coast, it was found that to i)ro- 
 duce a givcji power in steam, i,8oo lbs. ot Nanaimo or \\'eliington 
 (B.C.) coal were equal to 2,400 lbs. of Seattle (U.S.), to 2.600 lbs. 
 Oregon coal, and to the same of California coal. 'I'his is corrobor- 
 ated also by the preference given to it by steamship owners, and by the 
 fact that nearly two-thirds of the coal received at San Francisco by 
 sea comes from Vancouver Island. Indeed indications of this 
 future greatness in maritime trade are already a[)parent. In 18S6 
 the exports of B. C. amounted to about $3,000,000, or four times 
 those of Manitoba, and nearly three times those of Ontario ])erhead 
 of population. They consisted of gold, coal, salmon and otherfish^ 
 timber, furs, etc., and reached the maikets of Great Britain, the 
 United States, Mexico, South American States, Japan, Australia 
 and .\frica. The opening of the direct line of steam.-hijis to Cliina 
 and Japan has since increased this foicign trade, and is a further 
 justification for antici; ating a great future maritime traffic. 
 
 CLIM.VrE AND GEOGRAPHY. 
 Regarding the climate we quote ihe following f m a description 
 appearing in IVes: Sior , publishe 1 at Po.tland, Orejon ; — 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. $■ 
 
 The general surface of the country is mountainous and broken, consisting of 
 short ranges, detached groups of mountains, elevated plateaus, and many valleys 
 of various extent. Running parallel wi'h the Rocky Mountains, and in many 
 places scarcely distinguishable from them are masses of mountains, and along the 
 coast lies a high range usually indicated as a continuation of the Cafcadt-s, but in 
 fact a northern extension of the great Coast Range. Lying between these two, 
 and extending as far north as latitude 55.30 degrees, is an irregular belt of elevated 
 plateau. Beyond this the interior mountains decrease in height, and the land has 
 a'gentle slope toward the Arctic Ocean. Peace River and other streams of the 
 Arctic watershed find their sources there. Down *he cen're of the plateau flows 
 theFraser Rivir, its general course being soutl) until almost to the international line, 
 ■where it turns sharply to the west and enters the ocean. The other great streams 
 of the interior are Thompson River, .entering the Fraser from the east, and the 
 Okanagan, Columbia and Kuotenay, the last two having very eccentric courses. 
 The Columb.a rises almost in the extreme southeastern corner, sweeps northerly 
 around the upper end of the Selkirk Range, and then fl.iws directly ^^outh between 
 the Selkirk and Gold mountains into the United Stales. The Kootenay has its 
 source in the same region, makes a long sweep to the snuth, crossing the boundary 
 line, and returning again, discharges its waters into the former stream. Lakes and 
 water courses abound from one end of the province to the other, many of them 
 navigable by steamers of light draft for great distances. 
 
 ^ Taken as a whole, the climate is much more moderate and equable than that 
 of any other portion of the Dominion, each district enjoying cooler summers and 
 milder winters than any region of a corresponding latitude lying east of the Rocky 
 Mountains. Primarily the one great cause of this prevailing characteristic is the great 
 ocean stream of warm water known as the "Japan Current." This great volume 
 of comparatively warm water Hows soutli along the coast of British Columbia. 
 Perpetual summer reigns wherever the full influence of this great ocean river is 
 felt. Even in the midst of winter the warm breezes from the sea steal over the 
 islands and niainland, and penetrate far into the interior among tiie many valleys 
 of the mountains, their modifying influence gradually less:ning as they advance- 
 In the regions fully subject to them flowers bloom, vegetation remains green and 
 bright, and there is little save the almanac and increased rainfall to tell that 
 winter is at hand. The warm, moisture-laden currents of air coming from the 
 southwest meet the colder atmosphere from the north, and the result is frequent 
 and copious rains during the winter season, the rainfall being much more abundant 
 on the mainland coast than on the islands or in the interior. 
 
 The climate of the southeaitern portion of Vancouver Island, the region in 
 which Victoria is situated, is universally conceded to be the most delightful on the 
 Pacific Coast. Here much less rain falls than on the adjacent mainland or upon 
 the island further north, or the numerous small ones and the large ones of the 
 Queen Charlotte group still further to the northward. Much of the moisture is 
 taken from the atmosphere by the mountains lying between Victoria and the ocean, 
 and the second precipitation does not c"cur until the winds strike the high lands 
 of the opposite coast. Snow seldom fails, and then lies but a short time. The 
 climate at that point is truly delightful, and is at all times invigorating. For a 
 
6 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 period of three years the lowest temperature was 8 deg. and the highest 83.9, the 
 annual mean being 55.6. During the same period the average fall of rain was 
 24.78 inches per year. 
 
 The climate of the mainland coast opposite Vancouver Island differs somewhat 
 from that just described. In the summer the temperature averages slightly higher 
 and in winter somewhatJower, while the rainfall is greater immediately along the 
 coast, decreasing toward the interior. The Lower Fraser Valley (New Westmins- 
 ter District) does not receive in summer the cold breezes from the Olympian 
 Mountains which blow across Victoria, nor does it receive in winter so much o^ 
 the genial warmth of the warm ocean air. As a general thing ice forms on the 
 river for a short time, and snow begins to fall in January and continues to do so 
 intermittently till March, the ground not being continuously covered with it. The 
 rainfall at New Westminster is somewhat greater than on the flats at the mouth of 
 Fraser River. It is also less as the river is ascended until Hope is reached, where 
 it is about the same as at New Westminster. These variations are due solely to 
 local causes. Above Yaie it decreases rapidly as the interior is penetrated. 
 Observations for seven consecutive years at New Westminster showed the lowest 
 temperature to be 7 deg. and the highest 92, with an annual mean of 47.9. The 
 average yearly rainfall was 59.66 inches, including a precipitation of snow of 51. 2 
 inches, equal to 4.37 inches of rain. 
 
 The climate of the interior, that portion of the province lying above and to the 
 east of Yale, is radically different from that of the coast, being drier and subject 
 to greater extremes of temperature, though not entirely beyond the soft influences 
 of the Japan Current. The mountains along the coast relieve the ocean winds of 
 their moisture, and the elevated plains of the interior are in consequence much 
 drier than the coast and islands. The annual mean temperature does not differ 
 much from that of the coast region, but the summer and winter extremes are much 
 greater, and there is also much variation indifferent districts, owing to situation 
 and local causes. The total precipitation of rain and snow is very small. Wher- 
 ever there occurs a mountain barrier, there the fall of rain and snow is heavier at 
 its western base and correspondingly light on the lee .side. In the Gold and Sel- 
 kirk ranges, in the southeastern portion of the province, the winters are more se- 
 vere and snowfall heavier than iii the lower and more open portions. In that 
 part which may be classed as the *' Southern Interior," the climate, as a whole, 
 [■i milder than the northern districts. In summer the heat is sometimes very great, 
 though sunstrokes are unknown, and the evenings and nights are rendered comfort- 
 able by cool mountain breezes. Winter weather continues about four months, 
 the remainder of the year being quite agreeable and enjoyable. Snow seldom ex- 
 ceeds two and one-half feet in depth, and occasionally, in some localities, stock 
 remain out the entire season, though the prudent farmer keeps a good supply of 
 food for their use when necessary. The climate changes materially to the north- 
 ward of the region just considered. The general su rface of the count ry has a greater 
 elevation, and the Cariboo and other mountain masses render it quite broken and 
 rugged. The summers are quite warm but of shorter duration ; winter continues 
 longer and the fall of snow is heavier. The forests are denser and the trees of 
 a larger giowth. In the valley of the Fraser, within this district, the climate it 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. f 
 
 milder than that of the surrounding higher altitudes, and the atmosphere is drier^ 
 the valley and the benches and rolling hills and valleys of the western tributaries 
 being covered with bunch grass. 
 
 SCENERY. 
 
 It may be imagined from what has already been said that the 
 scenery of British Columbia is on a scale of vastness and grandeur 
 unsurpassed in America. The views which are presented to the 
 railway traveler through the magnificent passes of the Rockies, the 
 Selkirks, the Gold Range and the Cascades are spoken of with 
 admiration, but hunters and explorers tell us that these are but 
 scenes in the entry of a theatre of stupendous views of nature in 
 her sublimest aspects, many regions being yet unscanned by the 
 eyes of a white man. Speaking of the scenery in the railway passes, 
 a writer in a London journal says : — 
 
 "The convulsion of nature which piled up these gigantic masses of rock in dis- 
 tant ages has left gaps with almost vertical walls, through which the railway enters 
 on its passage through the mountains. Before the surveyors penetrated these 
 regions they were practically untrodden by man ; and the trains now travel along 
 precipices where, in bygone days, only the eagle could obtain a footing. There 
 is no finer scenery in the world than among these mountains. During a journey 
 through them the effect produced by their many beauties is almost bewildering, 
 and an impression is left on the imagination which is not easily forgotten." 
 
 Some of these moimtains rise in pyramids 10,000 to 12,000 feet 
 high ; some have upon their huge backs single glaciers believed to 
 be as large as all the glaciers of Switzerland combined j some pre- 
 sent cliffs rising precipitously, for thousands of feet, and forming 
 walls that stretch for miles before the eye. One such canyon along 
 the Eraser extends for twenty miles. The bright green of the moun- 
 tain valleys, the great forest trees on the mountain slopes, the deep 
 torrential rivers fed from many a secluded mountain lake and 
 stream, whose char waters are covered at times with wild fowl and 
 teem with edible fish are subjects that must be left to the artist> 
 poet or sportsman of the future. One quotation may be given from 
 the Marquis of Lome's charming description of the coast scenery : — 
 
 "Along the shore of these oceans inlets grow wondrous specimens of the Douglas 
 fir and gigantic cypress, to the height of 150 and 250 feet, and of a girth of 25 and 
 30 feet. Tiiese stand close to the water's edge, and it is on the borders of such 
 sheltered coast that the tallest trees are found. Inland there are magnificent groves 
 of the same ; ccies, clothing the valleys of the Columbia River, but the finest are 
 to be seen . 1 the sea, and it is to be earnestly desired that they may be preserved 
 in some area chosen as a lutional park, that travelers may have the attraction of 
 
8 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 visiting the tremendous aisles where the great shafts rise from the thickets of glossy- 
 leaved shrubs, to be lost to sight in the dark green gloom above. I do not thmk 
 there is any scenery more solemn and beautiful -than the interior of such a grove. 
 It wants, of course, the intense color and the sunlit glory of the liana-hunj; woods 
 of the South, and the undergroWth is not so varied or bright. Hut the russets and 
 browns, the greys and sombre greens, the purple tints on the straight stems varied 
 by the vivid hues of the moss, which provides a compass for the wanderer, because 
 it grows most abundantly on the side which feels the western sea moisture, — all 
 are most delicious to the eye. And overhanging the sea margin, in crannies of the 
 rocky bays or covering the jutting promontories, are the beautiful madiona-trees, 
 ■the large-leaved arlnitus, with the trunks as red as coral. All this forest is ever- 
 green. Winter strips tlie scattered maples of their autumnal lire, but makes little 
 ■change on the steep slopes of tliese deep lochs." , .. 
 
 MINERALS. 
 
 The experience of miners and the data collected during the last 
 ten years by the geological othcers of the Dominion government 
 establish the existence of vast mineral wealth in British Columbia ; 
 and when the country is opened u]) and the cost of labor and sup- 
 ])lies lessened, the variety and amount of its products will not be 
 excelled by any part of the two Americas. The mineral ])roducts 
 now known and mined are gold, coal, silver, iron, copper, galena, 
 mercury, cinnibar, platinum, antunony, bismuth, molybdenum, 
 j)lumI)ago, salt, and mica, while other minerals are being discovered 
 from time to time as new regions are cxjjlored. So high an autho- 
 rity as Dr. Dawson says that as yet "British Columbia can scarcely 
 be said to have more than begun the development of its mining 
 industries. " 
 
 Of the gold bearing rocks here, the same authority says : " There is 
 little r.'ason to dou!)t that they are geologically ecpiivalent to the 
 ;gold bearing rocks of California." He proceeds to say: — 
 
 '• Gold is known to be nlmosl universally distributed in the Province of 
 British Columbir.. Tiieic is scarcely a stream of any size in any part of tiie 
 Province that one cannot wash a |few 'colors,' out of, at the very least ; and in 
 105 localit es, which 1 catalogucil in 1877, actual mining had l)een carried on for 
 gold. The mam auriferous belt of British Columbia runs fiom south-east to 
 nortli-west, just inside the Rocky Mountain, and includes the mining localities • 
 which have lieen called Koolcnay, Hig Mend, Cariboo, Omenica and Cn^siar. 
 From south to north, from 1858 to 1882, the gold produced in Mritish Columbia 
 amounted to $46,685,334, which is a great return, considering that the average 
 )K>pulation of the Province, taking the jieriiMl altogether, would not exceed about 
 Io,ocK) whites. The average numlicr of miners employed in these placer diggings 
 lias l)een 2,940, and the avernge yield ])er man employed, obtained by dividing tlis 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 9 
 
 total by the number of miners, $683 per man per annum. It should be also con- 
 sidered that these placer deposits are, as a rule, only to be worked in summer, 
 and that the sum stated was earned in less than half the year of actual work. The 
 greatest yield of any one year was in 1864, when $3,7351850 was sent out of the 
 country. Last year the total yield was only $1,013,827. Since 1864, with occa- 
 sional fluctuations, the yield of gold has shown a general tendency to decline, and 
 the state of the country at present is simply this : The richer placer mines so far 
 discovered having been more or less worked out, the gold yield is falling off. 
 Such placers have been more or less completely exhausted, early in the history of 
 gold-mining countries, as in Australia and California. Then the peiiod comes 
 when the miner goes to work on the (]uartz lodes, whence the gold in the placer 
 mines lias been derived. That period lias not arrived yet in British Columbia. 
 There is not a single auriferous quartz vein worked there yet, and the present is 
 the interim period between the full development of placer mines and the beginning 
 of the quartz mining, which is a more permanent industry." 
 
 Considerable belts of auriferous rocks have been found also in 
 Vancouver Island, and in Queen Charlotte Island. During the 
 past year many new placer diggings have been found, and fresh 
 Canadian and American capital is now being invested to bring in 
 machinery and develop the rich quartz ledges. 
 
 We have already shown the superiority of the coal of this pro- 
 vince ; and the widely spread .\nd inexhaustible beds are being 
 developed so steadily that it may soon rank first in the mining 
 industries. In twelve years preceding 1874 the total exports of 
 coal were only 150,000 tons or 12,500 tons per annum. In that 
 year 81,000 were exported, and in 1884 the output had grown 
 to 394,070 tons, of which 245,478 tons were exported. The exports 
 in 1888 were 400,000 valued at $2,400,000. At Nanaimo, in Van- 
 couver Island, the industry has reached its greatest proportions. 
 The quality and kind varies in different localities from common 
 lignite to anthracite, of which beds extend from ao to 100 miles. 
 Most of the coal found is admirably suited for steam purposes, 
 and the steam shipping trade of the Pacific now turns to British 
 Columbia for its supplies. The total output of the Nanaimo mines 
 in 1888, including exports and home consumption, was 487,784 
 tons. 
 
 On Texada Island, only 20 miles from the Comox coal fields, and 
 near the mines of Nanaimo and Wellington are vast masses of rich 
 magnetic iron, which assays 68.4 of pure iron with little sulphur and' 
 impurities. Gold and silver bearing quartz leads have recently 
 been discovered on this island, which arc likely to become of great, 
 value. 
 
10 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 On the American border are to be found large quantities of hema- 
 tite, and the existence of these three minerals in such a combination 
 and in such quantities points to the development of an iron industry 
 whose dimensions no man can gauge. One of its features in the 
 future may naturally be the iron ship building industry. As a 
 beginning of the iron industry, smelting works are now being erec- 
 ted at Vancouver. 
 
 Silver has been found, near Hope, on the Fraser River. The 
 specimens of ore assayed have given high yields of silver. It has 
 also been found at Yale, on the Fraser, and a rich silver ore has 
 t^cn brought from Cherry Creek, a tributary of the Shuswap. 
 Native silver has: been found at Omenica, in the northern interior, 
 and argentiferous galenas at Omenica and Kootenay. Professor 
 Selwyn states that there is every reason to believe that rich mines 
 of silver will be opened in the province. Specimens received by the 
 Geological Survey, from the Rocky Mountains, show a high per- 
 centage. 
 
 Copper has been discovered in a great many localities, both 
 inland and on the coast. Seventeen are mentioned in the Geolo- 
 gical Survey report. The Howe .Sound mine is considered by Dr. 
 Dawson as the most i)romising. 
 
 Galena has been found in many i)arts of the Province in connec- 
 tion with gold, and Cinnabar has been obtained in the gold washings 
 on Fraser river and the Hope silver ores. Rich Cinnabar ore was 
 found on the Homathco in small quantities. 
 
 Mercury and Platinum have also been found, but as yet in small 
 quantities. 
 
 Specimens of Antimony and of Bismuth have been found at 
 Shuswap Lake ; of Molybdenum near Howe's Sound and on the 
 uppei part of the Cowitchan River, and of Plumbago in Vancou- 
 ver Island. 
 
 Salt Springs are found on Admiral Island, Shoal Hay, Vancouver, 
 and salt is also found on the Chilcotin and Mazco Rivers, but little 
 is known of these or their capabilities for use. 
 
 The land and mining regulations are referred to later on. 
 
 THK FISHKRIF-S. 
 
 The fisheries, like the minerals, have yet to be developed. The 
 saln-.on of the British Columbia rivers arc now known throughout 
 the world, it is true ; but the value of the deep sea fisheries of this 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 11 
 
 •coast is scarcely yet understood by even the British Columbians 
 themselves. The principal fish are salmon, cod (each of these two 
 having several species), shad, whitefish, bass, flounder, ska'?, sole, 
 halibut, sturgeon, oolachan, herring, trout, haddock, smelts, ancho- 
 vies, dogfish, pike, perch, sardines, oysters, crayfish, shrimps, crabs 
 and mussels. The whale, seal and sea otter fisheries are also 
 important branches of the province's marine products. Although 
 the rivers, lakes, and sea coasts teem with these fish, many of the 
 species mentioned have not yet either entered into the local markets 
 or figured among the exports, for want of men and capital to open up 
 the trade. The subject, however, has begun to attract the attention 
 of the fishermen of the Atlantic coasts and of Europe, and within 
 the next few years the wurk of distributing these vast living stores 
 of food over the world will begin. The fishery products of the 
 province are already remarkable, considering the small population 
 yet engaged in the trade. The exports of fish and fish products 
 from Victoria alone, in the year ending June, 1888, were $1,159,504 
 in value, and the total yield including the consumption by Indians 
 is over $5,000,000, the ofticial estimates in 1886 being $4,834,848. 
 
 The salmon of British Columbia are famous. At the proper 
 seasons some of the rivers are so full of them that the local saying, 
 " you can walk across the river upon their backs," seems scarcely 
 a hyperliole. There are 21 factories for making canned salmon, 12 
 of them being on the Fraser, and their annual output is from 150,000 
 to 200,000 cases (each containing forty-eight i lb. tins), with 4000 
 to 5000 barrels of salt salmon. The take of salmon from the Fraser 
 alone is over 8.000,000 lbs., exclusive of what the Indians procure. 
 Fresh salmon, as well as tinned salmon, are now Ijcing shipped frozen 
 to the markets of eastern .America and England. 
 
 A remarkable British Columbia fish is the oolachan or candle 
 fish. It is smaller than a herring, and so oily that when dried it will 
 burn like a candle. They are caught chiefly in the Nass and I'raser 
 rivers. They enter the Fraser about the first of May. They are 
 delicious when fresh, .smoked or salted, and their oil is considered 
 Rtiperio' to cod liver oil or any other fish oil known. It is of a 
 whitish tint, and about the consistency of thin lard, and is a staple 
 food among the natives, and an article of barter between tht' Indians 
 ol the coast and the interior tribes. These fish begin running in the 
 Nass about the last of March, and enter the stream by the million 
 for several weeks, The various Indian tribes of that region assem- 
 
12 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 ble on its banks, and catch them in immense numbers. The fish 
 are taken in purse nets, frequently a canoe load at a single haul, 
 and are piled in oins on the shore. They are then placed in bins 
 made of plank, and having sheet iron bottoms, holding from three 
 to five barrels, and are boiled in water about four hours. 'I'he con- 
 coction is then strained through baskets, made from willow roots, 
 and the oil is run into red cedar boxes of about fifteen gallons 
 capacity each. When the run of fish is good, each tribe will put 
 up about twenty boxes of oil. Before the introduction of sheet 
 iron bottoms for their tanks, the Indians boiled the fish by throwing 
 heated stones into the tank. There is no doubt that this undeni- 
 ably valuable article will soon become one of the regular products 
 of the province, for exportation in quantity, as it is even now, to a 
 limited extent. * 
 
 .\nother fish destined to be of great commercial value is the Skil 
 or black cod, which is caught in 150 to 300 fathoms of water, and at 
 some distance from the shore. It is pronounced to be superior to 
 tht true cod, both in quality of meat and value of oil, and is found 
 between Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands in countless num- 
 bers. Two schooner loads brought down in 1888 have been so 
 favorably reported on, that large preparations are being made to 
 prosecute the industry. 
 
 Want of space forbids a detailed account of the industry, but all 
 the different kinds of fish before enumerated promise profitable 
 employment to cajjital. Several of these fish are remarkably rich 
 in oil, the dogfish among others yielding a valuable lubricating oil 
 which is now being manufactured for exj>ort, the product in 1887 
 being 67,000 gallons. 
 
 The British Columbia oysters, though small, are of very fine flavor, 
 as are also the shrimps. 
 
 The sealing industry is already extensive, and will be more so 
 when an amicable arrangement is come to between the governments 
 of (Ireat Britain and the States, regarding fishing rights in the north- 
 ern waters, as affected by the monopolistic claims of the Alaska 
 Commercial Company. The catch of seals by British Columbia 
 sealers in 1887 was 33,800 valued al $236,600, that of 1888 beings 
 owing to adverse weather, only 24,790, valued at $173,530. 
 
 FORESTS. 
 The immense forest wealth of the province is now beginning to be 
 
 * Wen Short, Jum, 1U7. 
 
IlKMISH COLUMBIA. 13 
 
 opened up by the establishment of saw mills and wood working fac- 
 tories. In 1881, the exports of timber were valued at $162:747, in 
 1888 the exports of lumber were valued at $527,371, and the total 
 quantity of timber cut about 140,000,000 ft. This was an increase 
 of 40,000,000 ft. over 1887, and shipments were made to Asia, Aus- 
 tralia, Africa and South America. The principal trees consist of the 
 Douglas fir, spruce, white pine, hemlock, maple, oak, cedar, tama- 
 rac, poplar, ash, cherry, yew, arbutus, dogwood, and others, some 
 of the foregoing having several varieties. 
 
 Among these trees, one of the most celebrated is the Douglas fir 
 or pine. It frequently grows over 300 feet high, with a diameter of 
 8 to 9 feet. It is admirably suited for ship building, as well as for 
 general purposes, owing to its strength and straightness. Masts have 
 been cut 130 feet long and 42 inches in diameter, hewn octagonally. 
 It is often obtained 150 feet free from knots, and has squared forty- 
 five inches for a length of 93 ft. It is thought to be the strongest 
 pine, or fir, in existence. Broken in a gale, the stem is splintered to a 
 height of at least twenty feet, and it is astonishing to see how smal' 
 A portion of the trunk will withstand the leverage of the whole tree. 
 The timber contains a great deal of rosin, and is exceedingly dur- 
 able. The grain is coarse, but exceedingly tough and tenacious. It 
 will bear more w^'ight than oak. A piece one foot lo.ig and one inch 
 stpiare, supported at the ends, requires a weight of six hundred and 
 thirty-eight pounds to break it ; oak recpiiring but five hundred and 
 fifty, and maple five hundred and eighty. Its mean crushing load, 
 endwise, is seven thousand pounds to the square inch, and sidewise, 
 seventeen hundred and fifty pounds. The bark resembles cork, and 
 is often eight or nine inches thick. 
 
 Cedars sometimes attain a diameter of 17 feet, and it is of this 
 tree that the Indians make their celebrated canoes. Dr. Dawson 
 attribute!? the great si/e of the Hritish Columbia trees to the mild- 
 ness an 1 humidity of the climate. 'I'liere are 30 s])ecies of trees of 
 greater or less commercial value. In tracts already exploretl, a Mi- 
 cliigan lumberman, who recently visited the province, estimates that 
 there are 40,000,000,000 to 50,000,000,000 feet of choice timber. 
 
 AC.RICULrURAl, AND HORTICUI/PURAL. 
 
 The Province of British Columbia cannot be called an agricultu- 
 ral country throughout its whole extent. Hut it possesses very gnuat 
 agricultural resources, especially in view of its mineral and other 
 
14 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 sources of wealth, as well as its position. It possesses tracts of 
 arable land of very great extent. A portion of these, however, re- 
 quires artificial irrigation. This is easily obtained, and not expen- 
 sive, and lands so irrigated are of very great fertility. The tracts of 
 land suitable for grazing purposes are of almost endless extent, and 
 the climate very favorable, shelter being only required for sheep, and 
 even this not in ordinary seasons. On the Cariboo road there is a 
 plain 150 miles long, and 60 or 80 wide, and between the Thomp- 
 son and Fraser rivers there is an immense tract of arable and graz- 
 ing land. The hills and plains are covered with bunch grass, on 
 which the cattle and horses live all winter, and its nutritive qualities 
 are said to exceed the celebrated blue grass and clover of Virginia. 
 Between 5,000 and 6,000 square miles of the Peace river prairie 
 land is within this province. The wheat shown here often yields 30 
 to 40 bushels per acre. 
 
 Besides the mainland there are on Vancouver Island about 
 1,000,000 acres of land well suited to agriculture, and on Queen 
 Charlotte Islands about 100,000 acres, most of this being now 
 covered with dense forests. The total agricultural land of the pro- 
 vince cannot yet be "ven approximately estimated. British Colum- 
 bia produces all the fruits of the temperate zone, in fine quality and 
 size. The industry is only in its infancy, but A. McD. Allan, pre- 
 sident of the Ontario Fruit Growers Association, visiting the pro- 
 vince in 1888, predicted a great future in this branch. At a local 
 fair at Chilliwhack, in this year, 75 varieties of fruit were shown, 
 most of them being pronounced equal to the California products.. 
 Among various kinds of vegetables shown was a squash weighing 
 100 lbs., and a pumpkin weighing 157 lbs. 
 
 COMMUNICATIONS. 
 
 On every hand the visitor to this province is struck with evidences 
 that only men, railways and working capital are wanted to open up 
 the vast treasures of nature lying stored within its limits. The era 
 of local railway building has now begun. Among these enterprises, 
 one of the most important is the Westminster Southern, which, it is 
 expected, will be built this year, and which will connect Westmins- 
 ter with the cities of Puget Sound, and with the American Pacific 
 coast system, thus completing the connection from C'anada to Mex- 
 ico. It will be 126 miles long from the Fraser to Seattle, W.T. Final 
 surveys have been made on a railway through the Shuswap and Oka- 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 1 5 
 
 nagan regions, 52 miles in length, with a connecting link on the 
 lakes. The line enters splendid agricultural and mining districts, 
 and is designed to reach to the Kootenay. Another proposed rail- 
 way of great importance to che province is one opening up the great 
 plateau between the Cascade and Selkirk Mountains. Still another 
 is intended to connect Victoria with the mainland by means of a 
 ferry. Work has been commenced on the Kootenay canal, which is 
 to connect the uppei Kootenay river with the headwaters of the Co- 
 lumbia river by Lake Columbia. It will afford steamer communica- 
 tion for a stretch of 200 miles, and give access to one of the richest 
 mineral districts of th; province. 
 
 GENERAL INFORMATION. 
 
 Crown lands here are classed as surveyed or unsurveyed lands, 
 and may be acquired by " record " and pre-emption or by purchase. 
 A British subject over 18 years may record unsurveyed and unoc- 
 cupied crown lands and aliens may do so on declaring their inten- 
 tion to become British subjects. The quantity of land may not 
 exceed 320 acres in the district north and east of the Cascade or 
 coast mountains, or 160 acres in the rest of the province ; and only 
 one such claim can be held at a time. The fee on recording is $2. 
 Crown grants in fee simple may be obtained after improvements. 
 
 The price of Crown lands pre-empted is $1 per acre, which may 
 be paid in four equal instalments. The Crown grant excludes gold 
 and silver ore, and reserves to the Crown a royalty of 5 cts. per ton 
 on every ton of merchantable coal raised or gotten from the land, 
 not including dross or fine slack. It also reserves to the Crown, 
 since the 7 th April, 1887, all limber on the land, except for domes- 
 tic purposes. A pre-emptor, however, can obtain a license to cut 
 the timber of his pre-emption on payment of dues at the rate of 25 
 cts. per 1,000 feet board measurement. No Crown grant can be 
 issued to an alien who may have recorded or pre-empted by virtue 
 of his declaring his intention to become a British subject, unless 
 he has become naturalized. The heirs or devisees of the homestead 
 settler are, if resident in the province, entitled to the Crown grant, 
 on his decease. 
 
 Vacant surveyed lands, which are not the sites of towns or the 
 suburbs thereof, and not Indian settlements, may be purchased at 
 the rate of $2.50 per acre, and lands so purchased must be paid 
 for at the time of purchase. 
 
l6 PRTTISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 The applicant to purchase unsurveyed Crown lands, after staking, 
 ]josting, &c., must give two months' notice of his intended applica- 
 tion Ml the (iovernment (lazette, or a newspaper of the district. 
 
 Ho m :st also have the land surveyed at his own expense, by an 
 ap])vove 1 surveyor. 
 
 The ijrice is $2.50 per acre, to be paid as follows : — 10 per cent, 
 at the time of application, and 90 per cent, on comjjletion and ac- 
 cei)tance of survey. The cpiantity of land must be not less than 160 
 acres, nor mire than 640 acres in any one district. The purchase 
 misl i)e completed within six mo iths fiom application. No public 
 lands of any kind that aie chiefly valuable for timber are sold either 
 by |)ubiic auction or by private sale. 
 
 The farm and buildings, when registered as a homestead, cannot 
 be taken for debt incurred after the registration ; they are free from 
 seizure up to a value not greater than $2,500 (^500) ; goods and 
 chattels are also free up to $500 (^^loo) ; cattle "farmed on 
 sliares " are also protected by an Exemption Act. 
 
 'l"he following are chief points in the mining regulations : 
 
 " Free miners " only can have right or interest in mining claims 
 or ditches. A " free miner " must be over 16 years of age. His certi- 
 ficate may be for one year (I5), or three years ($15), and is not trans- 
 ferable. He mav enter and mine Crown lands, or, on making com- 
 ])ensation, lands occu])ied for other than mining ])urposes. To 
 recover wages, must have free miner's certificate. 
 
 Claims must be recorded ($2.50), and re-recorded ($2.50). Time 
 allowed for record is three days after location, if within 10 miles of 
 office — one additional day for every additional 10 miles, or fraction 
 thereof. In very remote places, minjrs assembled in m^-eting may 
 make valid rules temporarily. Transfers of claims or mining inter- 
 ests must be in writing and registered. -i. 
 
 A fiee miner can only hold two claims by pre-emption, but may 
 ]turchase any number. CTaims must l)e, as far as ])ossible. rectan- 
 gular, and must be staked. The sizes are: — " IJar diggings," 100 
 feet widj at high water mark, extending into the river to the lowest 
 water level. " Dry diggings," 100 feet scjuare. " Creek Claims," 100 
 feet long in general direction of stream and in width from base to 
 base of the hill or l)en( h each side. lUit if the hills or benches are 
 not 100 feet apart, then the claim shall be 100 feet square. " Bench 
 Claims," 100 feet square. " Mineral Claims," containing or sup- 
 posed to contai;i minerals (other than coal) in knles or veins, 1,500 
 
1 8 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 feet long by 600 feet wide. Discoverers of new mines allowed 300 
 feet long for each discoverer. " Creek discovery claims," 1,000 each 
 side of the centre, or as far as the summit. 
 
 A twelve months' prospecting license for 480 acres of vacant coal 
 land, in one block, may be granted by the Government on payment 
 of $25. The licenses may be extended for another year, if the licen- 
 see has actually explored for coal, on payment of $50. The license 
 is not transferable without notice being given to the Chief Commis- 
 sioner of Lands and Works. If a licensee wishes to purchase the 
 •coal lands, he may do so under the said Land Act at $2.50 per acre. 
 
 The following are features of the Public School system : 
 
 The Public Schools are in the hands of the people — non-sectarian 
 and free to all, without distinction of race or creed — uniform text- 
 books — Public School Fund voted every year by the Provincial As- 
 sembly. School Districts may be formed where there are 15 pupils 
 between 5 and 15 years — the people choose every year from among 
 themselves three School Trustees or six in cities, to manage schools 
 — Female suffrage in the election of Trustees — Trustees get money 
 from " PubHc school Fund," on application endorsed by Superin- 
 tendent of Education — Teachers, three grades — appointed or re. 
 moved by Trustees — must have certificates of qualification from the 
 Department of Education. 
 
 The paid banking capital of British Columbia is $2,433,333, exclu- 
 sive of private banking business. The value of the exports of the 
 province in 1888 was $3,928,077, and of the imports $3,509,951. 
 This shows a trade far larger in proportion to population than any 
 province of the Dominion. Taking the item ot exports, the ship- 
 ments per head of population in 1888 were as follows : British Co- 
 lumbia, $39 ; Quebec, $26 ; N. B., $23 ; N.S., $17 ; Ont, $15 ; P. 
 E. L, $10 ; Manitoba, $9. 
 
 The province has its own legislature controlling its local affair. 
 
 It consists of a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by the Governor- 
 General of Canada, an Executive Council of four members, and a 
 Legislative Assembly ot twenty-five members, elected by the people 
 for a term of four years. In practice the Executive Council holds 
 office at the will of the Assembly. There are thirteen districts for 
 electoral purposes. A short period of residence, with registration^ 
 qualifies voters. 
 
 For purposes of municipal government, the people of a rural loca- 
 lity with over 30 male residents may be formed into a " Municipa- 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 19 
 
 A BBITI8H COLUfifiBIA bAIjMON BlVisiii. 
 
20 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 lit}-," and may elect frcm among themselves Gour.cilois aiitl a 
 Warden to manage all local affairs. 
 
 ' WAGES IN B. C. ' .. ' 
 
 Stonecutters, stdneirasons, and bricklryers. ... . $4 oo to 5 co per' day. 
 
 'llieir laborers ...,..,. i 75 to 2 co " 
 
 .' Plasterers • .■ 40010450 " 
 
 Carjientevs and joiners 2 50 10 3 50 " 
 
 .. Ship carpenters and caulkers 40010500 " 
 
 ^^ Cabinet makers and upliulsterers 300 
 
 Fainters 3 50 to 4 00 " 
 
 Shoemakers 2 co to 3 00 " 
 
 Tailoi s 2 50 to 3 00 " 
 
 Tailoresses I co to I 50 " 
 
 Bakers (with board and lodginj. ) 65 00 per n o. 
 
 I'utchers (cutters) 75 co to loo oc " 
 
 /Slang! terers 75 00 " 
 
 CigainiKkers 2 50 to 4 00 per day; 
 
 Ho\ s, as stripptr> dr-c , frorri 2 00 to 5 co ] er >vk. 
 
 Printers 45 dr" 50 cts. a 1000 c n.s. 
 
 ^ Waygon-n akiTs 3 50 to 4 co per day. 
 
 -' Tinsn;iths, pJunibers and gasfilters 3 50 to 4 00 " 
 
 Machinisis. moulders, [>atiein antl be iler- makers, 
 
 and blacksmiths 4 co to 4 50 " 
 
 I.onushoremtn 50 cei ts an hour. 
 
 Female domestic servants $15 to $15 per nu nth. 
 
 Generally speaking siij^ply in all lines is fully equal to demand. 
 More detailed ii formation for intending setders may be obtained 
 on api lication to the Imn.igration Department, Victoria, B.C., or in 
 ^^ England, to Mr. H. C. Bceton, agent general for the province, 36. 
 
 i F nsbury Circir, London. 
 
 Demand for female doraestrc servants is always far in'excess of 
 supply, and situations can be obtained readily. 
 
 sj 
 
 ',■•• ■ ■*»;,. 
 
 
 <i. 1 1 1 f/ i.\ \