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There is, perhaps, no other island of its size in Queen Victoria's broad •dominions which possesses as much interest at the present time, in relation to the Empire, as does Vancouver Island. Situated on the north- west coast of America, and occupying a position on the Pacific coast analogous to that of the British Isles on the coast of the Atlantic, it extends in a north-westerly direction parallel to the mainland, from the south-east, for a length of about 300 miles, with a breadth varying from 20 to 60 miles. The capital or the Province of British Columbia, Victoria, is situated near the east end of the island. It is connected by an electric railway with the town of Esquimalt and its commodious harbour, the naval station of the North Pacihc, The west coast of the island is indented by deep inlets, or canals as they are sometimes termed. One of these, the Alberni Canal, extends from Barclay Sound for over 20 miles into the interior, and is of suffi- cient depth ^ong the whole distance to float the largest ships of the navy. Another inlet, also navigable by the largest ocean-going vessels, begins at Quatsino Sound, and crosses the island to within 7 miles of the eastern coast near Fort Rupert, so named by the Hudson Bay Com- pany in honour of Prince Rupert. Nootka Sound, near the centre of the island on the west side, first became celebra'ied by the arrival there of Captain Cook iu 1778, on his tiiird voyage around the world. The natives received hira kindly. Il« Li S- 626 scoriiSH (;KO(jRArHicAi, magazink rpm(iiiiobtain'ii in al>undance from the natives of the north-west coast, tradi-rs of various natioualitiea liej^au to arrivi^ in hiii|is Hyiii^' thf lla.^s of their respec- tive nations. The traile with the natives, chiefly lor aea-otler skins, increased rapidly, and Nootka became the chief rendezvous of the various traders In 1788 John Meares, formerly a lieuienant in the British navy, arrived at Nootka with two trading vessels from China. He met with a friendly reception from the natives, a:id airreed witli the Indian chiefs for the purchase of lands on which to establish a station for trading purposes anrl .siiipbuilding. Having erected suitable buildings on the land thus obtained, he returned with his vessels and furs to China, leaving instructions with skilled men as to the Ituilding of a ve8.>el to be named the Nor/h-ITed A mcrim. In due time the vessel was l>uilt and launched. When Captain iMeares returned on his second voyage, he found that a Spanish lleet had come north from the we-'t coast of ^lexico and captured the newly built vessel, had robbed his store.';, taken his men prisoners, and destroyed his buildings. This outrage he reported to the British Oo' ernment, and in consequence a convention was held at Madrid in 1790. After much diplomatic correspondence between the courts of Great Britain and Spain — France, her ally, having proposed to join against Great Britain — the imbroglio, which almost led to v ar, ended in Siiaiu agreeing to pay compensation to Captain Meares and ids party (British subjects) for the los.ses and damage resulting from the seizure of his vessels and property in 1789, Commissioners were appointed by Spain and Great Britain to define the amount of the claim. Thoy met at Whitehall, London, in February 1793, and decided that S})ain should pay an indemnity of $210,000 in coin, in full settlement of all claims. It had formerly been agreed by the convention at Madrid that the Spaniards should evacuate Nootka. This in due time was carried into effect. Captain George Vancouver, in 1790, was commissioned by the British Admiralty to see that the agreements with Spain were fully complied with ; also to make explorations and sr-veys along the nortli-west coast of America; and to finally set at rest the question of a navigable passage between the Atlantic vid Hudson's Bay and the Pacific Ocean. He arrived at the Straits of Fuca, April 1792. Proceeding along the Straits until the large opening leading southward was reached, he turned in that direction and surveyed those wonderful inlets, naming them Ptiget Sound, after his second lieutenant, Peter Puget, who had principal charge of that survey. Then proceeding northward, surveying as he went, lie sailed westward around the north-westerly point of the island, and thence south easterly until Nootka was reached, where he found Govorncr Quadra. NoiES UN VASCOfVKK ISLAND. 627 With tlie S|»iiiiiKli Governor \ aiK^oiiver discussed tlio situation fully. Oil tlie one liiind, \'.incouver hud insLiuctions to leceive I'roni t^iiadra, in accordance with tiitr Madrid conveiiuoii, the buihlings and tracts of land of whicli l)iiush siiljjects had been dis})()ssess('d in 17H'J. Un liis part, Quadra desired delay, ;i.8 lie had not received speciu' instructions from his (ji)venunent on the subject. it was tlu'iefore agreed between tlieni, that the whole matter relative to the transfer should remain in abeyance until further instructions were received ; and that, in the ineantiine, the large island which Vancouver had just circumnavigated, should l)e named *' Quadra and Vancouver Island." Quadra and his fleet left Nootka on 22iid September 171) J for his Mexican heathiuaiters at San lilas. lie died the following March. Vancouver left Nootka on the 12tli of October for the Sandwich Islands, where he wintcued. Karly in the summer of 1703, V^ancouver returned to complete his explorations and surveys along the mainland. He called at Nootka, but received no despatches from Kngland. He completed his surveys during the i-'uiiimer as far as Tortlard (Jaual and Clarence Strait, examining als<» Prince Ernest Sound, and, returning south, passed to the west or outside of Queen Charlotte Islands, calling at Nootka. Finding no despatches for him from England, be proceeded, via Monterey, to winter at the Sand wich Islands. After the winter of 17D3, Vancouver sailed north, direct to the Alaskan coast, to tborouginy examine those portions of the mainland coast southwards which he had not formerly surveyed. This work occupied the whole summer of 1794. It enabled him to report definitely that no navigable channel intersected the continent south of the latitudes which had been explored by Captain Cook and himself, and that the supposed hyperborean passage did not exist. He returned to Nootka in Sep- tember, where he remained repairing hi: vessels until October. During that time be enjoyeil the hospitality of the Simnish commander Alva (successor to Quadra), and exchai\ged courtesies with him. No despatches having arrived from England or from the continent of Europe, botli commanders at nearly the .same date left Nootka for Monterey, where desp-.lches would first arrive by the overland nnite. It was understood Miere that no alteration would be made from the wording of the convention of 1790; Vancouver, therefore, proceeded to England vid Cape Horn. He reached his destinaoion iu October 1795, his uiission having been highly successful; and he had the satisfaction of reporting that, during the long absence of four years and nine months, the Discoviyif, his Hag-ship, had only lost one man by disease out of the complement of 100 men, and that the Chatham, his consort, had not lost one man either by illness or by accitlent. "The Nootka difliculty " was not finally settled until another conven- tion was held at Madrid ia 179-1, which resulted in an agreement being made, tliat " commissioners should meet, as soon as possible, on or near the spot where the buihlings occupied by British subjects formerly stood, and there exchange declaration and counter-declaration as literally describeii in the document, which provided that, the preliminaries having been 628 SCOrriMH OROaKAVIIICAL magazink. c()m[ili('(l witli, the Britlsl) officer shall nnfurl tlie IJrilisli fliij; over the lainl l\\u< ro>t(irt'(l, us u sign ot iio.ssc.ssioii, iiiid iiFler tlifse loiiiialitifs lh« oflifei'H of rliH two crowns uhall n-tire re8|i(>ctively to their jieojilc from the snid port )(' Nootkii." The cuiiiini.ssioruTii n|>i'<)jnte(l to coiichule the forinalities sailed from Monterey, Murch 2'2in\, 1795. "By the niornin,!,' of the 28lh," tiie Brititih ofHcei, liieiit. 'I'liomas Tierco of the iiijiriiu's, i({)orts, "all the artil- lery were enihaiktd, part on hoard hi.s Catholic Mijcsty a sliip y/':/?V(i, and part oil board of the San Carlos giiardship. Brii^adicr-Oeneral Alva aiul myself then met, aprecahly to our instructions, on the plate where formerly the Ihitibh hiuldings stood, where we signed and exchanj^^ed the declaration and counter-declaration for restorinj^ those lands to hi^ Majesty, as aj^Tfcd n])on hetweoti the two courts; alter which et'icmony, 1 onlered the Jiritish tlag to he hoisted in token of possession, and the Cieneral gave orders for the troops to eml>ark.*' The name of the island was changed to Vancouver. iS'o sooner had the Spaniards withdrawn from Friendly Cove, as the harhour was "ailed, than the Indian t^liief Maquintia transferred his buhjects to the quarters which the troojw had ahaiidoned. No attempt was made to eslaV)lisli another settlement of white men at Nootka. Friendly Cove remains an Indian villagt; as it was a hundred years ago;. the only aildition of wliito settlers is a storekeejier, who keeps on liand a small stock of goods of such sorts as are suited to the requirements of his Siwash (Tnd."an) customers. The sea-otter fur trade, however, continued to be carried on vigorously at Noutka, and was also prosecuted along the west coast geneially, Tradeih were then at liherty to carry on their traflic in such ways as lliey considered most profitah'e ; they sailed from cove to village, and in many instances too\- undue adi-antages of the imsoplii.sticated natives. Intoxi- cating liquor of the vilest sort was freely introduced. Uemoralisalion and disea.se followed. The cupidity, greed of gratification, and the reck- less improvidence of the natives, induced them to capture, in season and out ot season, the sea-ottei-s, which, notwithstanding their ijumense inimhers, soon began to show the eil'ect of indiscriminate ami incessant slaughter. The fur trade was carried on exclusively by sea ujitil the year 1810, v'hen the North-^Yest (■omj)any, following up the explorations made in 17'JH b^^ Alexander Mackenzie (after»vards Sir Alexander), branched south by the C(dumbia river, and made tiie southern portion of that great water-courie the principal route of trade and travel unti! 1821, when they amalgamated with the Hudson Biy Comi)any ; after which time that Company tairied on tlie wiiole of the fur trade of British North America under their old name. For about fifty years after the withdrawal of the Spaniards from Nootka, the Island of Vancouver was entirely in possession of tlie naiive tribe.s. In 1843, however, the Hudson Bay Company removed their headquarters from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia rive'' to the south- eastern part of Vancouver Island, where they erected a fort and trading post, which at first uas named Camosnn, but soon afterwards, with its MOTKS ON V.VM 111 \ Kit ISI.AM. 6'_'1< name clmny.Ml to Vicfoiiu, l).'c,uiii' ilic mi. I. us of ilic pifs. iit i:h\ of Victoriu. 'I'Ik! (.'oitipaiiy, uxi)(;i:tiiig to jifolit fiuin tlit) iiiiiiiixi'ixtiini wliidi liail bcjiiiii to come ivmi the e.ist to the hiinis near tlic ColiiiiilMa ^iv.-;, ohtaiii-d from the Im|).Tijil Oovernnient a grant or lease of the whole Island of V'ancuiivfi' for cuhjiiisatiim |iiirii(»sfs. Tlie iVhitnl was jj;raiittil ill .l.iiiuaiy 1H49 to the Comiiany, together with itH .sens, aiKi all niin.'s h.h. Hiring to it, for ever, suhject only to the domination of tlie British Crown, and to the yearly rent of seven shillings, i)ayal)lt! un tin- liist y u majority of the representatives of both. This was ratified by an Imperial Act of her Majesty, and Victoria remains the capital o( iiritish (Jolunibia. Governor Seymour, then at New Westminster, wa.s transferred to Victoria. At his death he was succeeded by Sir Anthony Mnsgrave, who held oHice until 1871, when the Province of British Columbia was merged into the Dominion of Canada. At the time of the confederation of British Columbia with the Dominion, the building of the graving dock at E-squinialt and the con- struction of a railway from Ksipiimalt to Nanaimo were arranged for. , The railway was completed in 1887, and Esquimalt now {(ossesscs one of the best and most substantial dry docks on the Pacific Coast. The harbour, the naval station of the British fleet on the Pacific, is about thiee miles long by two wide, and has an average depth of about eight fathoms, with excellent holding-ground for anchorage. The dry dock, which was nearly three years in construction, is built of sandstone im- bedded in cement; it is 457 feet long, T)? wide, and 27 deep. The machinery connected with the water gates, valves, and pumping apparatus I is of the latest and most j)erfect types of mechanical and engineering skill. ^ Vancouver Island is celebrated for the excellent quality of its coal ; I for the past year (1894) the output was 1,01 2,053 ton.s. The exports were 827,642 tons, of which San Francisco and California took 049,110 tons; the balance, with less than two weeks' production on hand at the end of the year, was shipped to Washington Territory, Alaska, to the Hawaiian Islands, etc. The northern end of the island overlies extensive coal measures. At Quatsino, near the mouth of the inlet of the same name, a new town and settlement have recently been established. Near at hand the outcrops of coal and borings give a prospect of an abundant supj>ly of excellent coal. A mere reference need only be made to the inexhaustible supply of edible fishes which swarm along the shores and on the deep sea fishing banks. Unfortunately, but little lias been done towards bringing this harvest of the sea to market, with the exception of the salmon. The *\ V NUTKS UN VANCUUVKK ISLAND. B31 limh.'r supply of tlir Ishniil in v«Ty lar/^p, ntxl iniicli of it of exrellpiii <|ii;.lit}, imliHliii;,' cxti'iisiv.- ;:roves <.t nMltir and I>oiiglaH pitie, which « Hoii.ImIi on tli« coiiht down to lluj limit of tidul wuUr. , Jiiilgin;,' fioin ?ii,, neu«piip.-r f.«porls ri-Hpcctiii^ thn work wliicli ii Ix'itif,' (lout- ul tlie «oidli»;MH ot All).Miii, it iippcarH tluit Vuncoiiwr iHliUiJ hoUU a foipmoht placM in tlio n)in«Tal legionn of I'.ntuli Coliinil.ia. ' I'rofesHor W. .1. Sutton, fornicily pn»vnii'ial n8.»ayer, and uior.' it'ccntly A-Nistant I'inf.-sHoi- of (Jcol(.).'y and MincViilo^'y in tli'i iMi(lii;.'an (U.S.) Sclio,,! „f Minoa, lias liand.'d into tlio Minister of Mines a ici.oit, from wliicli the ftdlowing arc extracts: — " In takint: a gf-nnrai surv.-y of tho country under consideration bpforc iiilerinR into spi'ciHc .Ictail.s, a yiiuice at ill" iimp of Vancouver I-laiul will .sli.iw ilie iiik;,'Pd, • iiH)imt,Minn„s n..tur.i cf its interior The iiiomilains of \'a.Kouver Island aic cnm- [ prised of lo..r ureat riingew or systeniM of mountains within what has I.ee.i called I the Vancouver nini,'c, the nioHt westerly of the foiirj^reat ranges in Mntisli ( 'olui.d.ia, forming the c.)r.liil..ia lils. The I ar^iilhtes have become semi-cr,\ .stalline and more or le^s ciiloritic schists. Tl,e I eruptives, although originally basaltic and tiachytic lava flows, have undergone f ^icli alterations that we have now diabase, diorite, felsite, etc. A large propor- 6'i2 SCO'llISH (.KiXiKAl'iirCAl, .MA(.AZINK. fion ini'^ht be called grppnttone, their greenish a)>]ieniiinre bfini: Huj tn ilic alten tioii products, sMoli as dilorite, viridiie, et> . Some of tliesf extremely nlter'd eniptives ini;;lit, from a iithologitnl standpoint, be regarded as vt-ry low down in tlie ^eolovtiral -jcaie. "TliL interior of Vancouver Island lying north of Cowichan lake and down to Aiberni appears to be the remnant of a high, elevated plateau, the mountain penkn now remuiiiini! having; an t-levalion of ab^ut A(M)0 feet, which is about tlie avtr.ipe lieij;ht of ui. t of the principal mountains of the island, the highest, Vioioriu Peak, haviuj; an elevation of al)oufc 7484 feet. " Lyinu' unconformaldy on the Vautouver series is qiiito a lar^e area of ('retu- ceous rocks, lonniuj; a sort of friiii^e alou^ the ea.'^t c(ia>t of Vancouver Inland, and fuibniciiij; the coal areas of Cowichan, Nanainio, and Comox. " At th(! head of Alberni t'anal there ia a basin of seilimentary strata, consist- ing of sandstones, coni;lomerates, and sliide.s, which have been classed as Oretaceons, but t'roin observed lithological differences I am inclined to question whether they bchini^ to the same horizon as the coal-bearing area of the east coast. A ..haft was sunk in the shale near tho head of the canal about seventeen years asro, but no dis- tinct coal seam was exposed, altliongh the shale was highly carbonaceous. I came across outliers of these sandstones and shales in the China creek basin, to which I shall have occa^ioa to refer later on. I have also seen sin)ilar sandstone and con- gloineiate on ilie border of Cowichan lake. "It is interesting to note in this connection that almost every creek and river on Vancouver Lslaiid shows at least one or two colours to the pan. Leech river, in particular, yielded a considerable quantity of gold lo the h.irdy miners of the early sixties, variously estimated at fn m one to two hundred thousand riollnrs. "China creek was worked for its alluvial gold as far back as 18b'2, principally by Chinamen, and has yielded about forty thousand dollars by the most pjimitive methods— the pan, shovel, rocker, and s'uice-box A good deal of gold has also been taken out ot Cold river by the Chinese, but nothing definite ciin be obtained regarding its yield. The black ?:uid along the north shore, especially at Caj>e Cormorant and Cape Scott, ci)ear to lie horizontitliy, but pas-siiig rmiiKt Moiint I'iitl Patlicant to tiie west iliey form a spiral, and crop out near the top of the mountain on tiie south aide. A yood exposure siiowiiii; this twist in on a bltiff at tlie head of Cliild's crei-k. Tlie most renuirkable exposure of the .saiul.stcne is at its coutat't with tlie Vancouver erupt ives, well seen in the bed of (.'liiiia creek. Here the s.nulstone dips under eastward at an angle of tO decrees, which may be explained as a com|)iete overthrovv of the strata, or ii reversed faidt- the eruptives bcinir supposed to antedate the sandstone. There is about two feet of tliiocati, ami the sandstone is very iiuich indurated at the con- tact. The eruptives are also very much altered. Tlie det peat section of these Bedimcritary strata amounts to about (3t)0 ftet of sandstone ai;d 4(X) feet of siiale. Nt) evidence of coal hiis anywhere been .'j the ridjje of H 'hojj's bai k,' with snowsbdos on either side. The ridge is covered •with timber, wliich serves as a protection from the heavy snowslides that would otherwise be a constant menace. " The ho({'8 back a|)pears to be an intrusive boss of diorite which has under- gone local metamorphism. At a short distance from the vein the hornblende of the diorite has undergone alteration to niic.i. Immediately adjoininn th« vein the mica diminishes, so that it becomes a leached felspalhic rock which un^hi be classed us a fclsite. The vein has a banded structure, and has every appearance of being fdled by lateral secretion and deposition, and posiibiy some replacement of the country-rock with vein mutter. " Thp ravine where the claim (King Solomon) is situated lies between Mount Saunders and Mount M'Quillan, at an elevation of nearly 4000 feet above sea- level, so that snow remains in the basin tiie year round. From whut 1 was able to see, I should judge that the vein is a narrow seam along the side of a dyke. I was informed that it was widening below. " The country-rock consi.sts of schists cut through by mimerous felsite dykes^ which can be plainly seen running up the mountain side. These igneous injictions produce conditions favourable to the concentration of the precious metals — in fact, it has been contended that the presence of gold in veins is alwavs in conjunction v/ith intrusive rocks, that the gold has been carried up with t' ; outHow of thes* eruptive rocks. Without fully accepting this theory, it is generally believed by mining men that some eruptive action is e.-sential to produce the necessary con- ditions for the concentration of metals in veins. The occurrence of auriferous- deposits in conjunction with dykes is particularly exemplified throughout Cali- fornia, and, apart from any theory in connection therewitlv, we may naturally expect to find the same condition here. "It is now well established that the metals occurring in veins in the form of ores have been deposited by the chemical solution of their ingredients from the surrounding country-rock. The priiicipid ditt'erence of opinion, ovo^wiiich there has lately been a warm controversy, is wiih regard to the stress laid upon lateral secretion, or the ascension of the mineral -bearing solutions from great depths. . . . " A number of claims h.ive al.so been staked off in juxtiipositicm to the King SohmoM, upon which very little work has been done. The rid>;e on the east side of the King Solomon Basin, of which Hanson Heights is the summit, is very much, stained with iron oxide, due to the oxidation of the sulphuiets with which the whole region is h«-avily charged. Hanson Heights is a highly crystallised diorite,^ being the same as the summit of Mount Saunders. "On the trail, below the cabin on MQuil'an creek, is a notable outcrop of jasper or j ispillite— a name given to the rock by Dr. Wadsworih. Some of this jaspillite is heavily charged with hematite, and is identical with the jaspillite occurring in association with the great iron deposits of Northern Michigan. This is the (miy place where I found it in siiu, although I met with float pieces all over the district.. It may only occur as an inter-bedded layer similar to the quarty.ite* in that locality. Adjoining it on the one side is a large bed of argillaceous schist,. somewhat ferruginous, and on the other side are crystalline rocks. NOTKS ON VANroL'VKU ISLAND. 630 " In pas