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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. errata i to e pelure. :on i n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ii ' TIIK QUEEN'S IIIGIIWAY MllNTF.D BV Kl'orns«l.01)li AND .u., NEW^TliJiJiT SQUAUK LONDu.N w IT. c in TIUO QUEEN'S Highway fRO/V\ pCEAN TO pCEA N a: liY STUAliT CUMIiERLAND, F.R.G.S. CHEVALIKlt OK inj.; ,)l{[jy.n OF CHUIhT, ETC. Al-THOK or 'BESL-Cl.EU AV8 l-KM ..ENHEITS ' ' THK lUBBl'S BrKLl. ' KTC. WITH NUMEROUS COLLOTYPE ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO MAPS LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MAKSTON, SEAllLE, & RIVINGTON CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STHEET 1«87 (.ill riyhli laerteil) Va T(l CANADAS TKLEST FltlENU THE MOST HUN. THE MARQUIS UF LOHNE. K.T. } PfOicilf lljis ^ooli S. c. Va CONTENTS. •■ii.u n l; I. Till: ruoviNci; ki.' riii: M I '< urn ON I AliK iiiNKiiir Six 'rin: Isi \m. N'ictMrift uiul V'nnc mv.T Islmil The t^iifcii Clmrldit,. (;i,iii|, n. Tiu; ritoviNfK ((K Tin; .M lo.vKiiiT Sin -Tim: .\1\i\- I.A.VK Viincouvur, tli.. ' Tonniimj (Jin i>ew W.'st Port Mo.xly, tlif I' iiiin.st.T and tli.- Fras..r Uivir Di.^t H'sctii Icrinimis iiiiate and (i.'iit'ral U.-iuinrtsi of tli.' I I'll I \''l\ llICi' 48 H4 Kii; III. KsoriMAi IT AS A \aVAL ('kX i\ ii'oN RrsHiA's Posit On THK IllOHWAY . rUi;, AM) IIS I'.IMM.N., ION IN Tin; l*A(ii.|( Frniii the Pacilic to the IJ.icJf Across the Open Prairie IPS ^■• The Halfway II ousi; Vi. I tocxD THE Noirrn Snom; oi' Lake S fl'EUIOK Nil. Ottaw V, mi; DOJIIXION Cvi'lTAI, ^ in. Montreal, TQE CoMMI'UtlAI, ('aiti.i \7, IX. T HE City op the NAuuowiNii W.- ATI; lis X. The IIkjuway's last Stages From Point Levia to the Si'a 'I'lie Atlantic Terminus . I.JO l.ii; !)0 !l!) J-JO }().•: |i } hi \\^ .1 LIST OF TLLUSTUATIONS AND MAI'S. .Mi>r.vr Stepiikx anm. Kickincuiohsi.: I.'ivek . VicrouiA, J'miTisii Cof.r.MiiiA \VNC01VER,THE Pacific T,;RM.xrs ok -Tin: (^n;i:N-s IfrUHWAY" Tin; PurxcEss LonsE's Pink Xi:w U'estmixsteh I>l(lI.MAT-I,T . . . _ -MocxT Ross Axi) (ii..u;ii:i; FoiKTH BRriKu: at Loop, .Moixt lioss Tm: Sxnw ItAXcu:, Selkihks ... (JATEWAV TO Beavek Ca.VOX 'i'liE Lower Kickixghokse Caxon . TCXXRT, ox KlCKiXGHOUSE, LOOKING WesT THij Lower Kicking IIokse River The Cathedral Mocntaix. WlXXIPEG Fort Garry Thi; Great Northern Packet Ott.vwa • . . . moxtreal ... Quebec ... Halifax, Nova Scotia . . . _ Chart of the ^Vorld, showing v- Routi: tiir-.i >r*r OP the Dominion of Canada. F/'Hifixjiicrc f" face j). U SO ir,,s IT);) Kil 161) It!? PiS 170 litU i'4(i pai/c -Jiif^ fojace}). .'51 !» .'340 -Jo;i jii Caxaoa. HI '. ■! 4\ Oth degree of north latitude. British Columbia, it will thus be seen, is greater than California, Oregon, and A\'ashington Territory combined. Looking eastward from the Strait of Georgia, if the eye could carry so far, it would rest upon nothing but British land for close upon 4,000 miles. It is through this vast tract of country, comjjrismg timber limits of inexhaustible extent, mineral belts of untold wealt]i, and millions upon millions of corn-producing acres and rich grazing lands, that this new rail- way runs, serving to connect the Pacific with the Atlantic, and giving us the only highway we have to Asia and the Antipodes. From the moment the traveller arrives in A' ictoria until Liverpool is reached he will have been under no Hag other than the British. Victoria is not only the capital of ^'"ancouver '»*> I'llh 6 THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY \fi m I m it '■^ m Island, but it is tlie centre of j^overnmont of the entire province. It contains a population of about 12,000, of which upwards of 3,000 are ^longolians. There is a tax upon tlie entrance of each Chinaman to the extent of SlyO ; yet this docs not appear to have a deterrent effect, as visitors from the Flowery Land are constantly arrivinp^, and they pay their entrance fee with a bland resignation which is highly com- mcndable. One and all of them appear to be doing very well. They have a quarter to themselves, and their houses are clean and well built. They are engaged in all kinds of manual labour, and nothing comes amiss to them, from tilling the soil or lum- bering in the woods to doing the family washing or waitinij at table. Opinions are divided here, as elsewhere, as to whether the Chinese are a blessing or an injury ; but at the present moment I, for my part, fail to see how the Europeans could do without them. The principal feature of the Chinese quarter is the theatre, where are nightly performed portions of plays which drag their wearisome way for months before they are finally finished. With the plays of the Celestials it seems to be all ' act-drops ' without ' curtain.' The English have just erected a very handsome theatre of their own, and it is by far the largest and best equipped temple of the Muses that I have seen in a town of its size in any part of the Hi it VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND com- world. P)Ut then Victoria is big in its ideas, and promises to possess, ere long, imposing commercial houses, banks, churches, and other public buildings ; and, in its general go-ahcadncss, it already has elec- tricity to light up its streets. True, the Government buildings are not much ; they are built in the Swiss style of arcliitecture, and seen from across the river they look like so many dolls' houses. ])ut very good laws are passed inside of them, and the inhabitants can get within their precincts all the justice they want. In this matter they are better situated than the peo])le of the neighbouring State of California, who erect costly buildings in which to administer the law, only to find that the law is neither so well nor so justly administered n their marble balls as it is in Victoria's wooden courts. In reference to the government of Brittsh Columbia, whilst the Provincial Government — whose head-quarters are in Victoria — has control over all local affairs, the Canadian Government regulates all matters connected with trade and navigation, the customs and excise, the administration of justice, militia and defence, and the postal service. The province is, at present, represented in the Dominion Parliament by three senators and six members of tlie House of Commons. Its own Legislature consists of a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the Governor- General of Canada, an Executive Council of four .f* 8 TIIK QUKENS niailWAY Tl" members, and a Legislative Assembly of twenty-five members, elected by the peo[)le for a term of four years. In practice the Extfciitive Council holds office at the will of the Assembly. Victoria is not a bustling place, neither is it sleepy ; but there is an air of old -world ism, of (piiet content about it, aflbrding a striking contrast to the active towns I left behind me in Australia. The streets are neither very long nor very broad (the principal ones are Government Street and Yate Street), but the liouses therein are in the main substantially built, whilst in various parts buildings of improved style and greater size are in the course of erection. The shops are well supplied, and London goods can be purchased for a slight advance upon Lonny (^)mi){iny wlio tirst l)r()H<,^]it tliis \)\ncxi in coiMiiicrciul toucli witli luiroiu!. From a mere f'>rt of the Company's lias si»iMin^' tlio present oily, which, witii its railway ami .shippini-- connec- tions, promises finally to become one of the most im- portant ports in the \orth I'acilic. The harbour of Victoria, whilst it is of considerable extent, does not in its natural state atford accounnodation for vessels inunediate future be a naval depot of the highest importance, and already a scheme is in hand for the Ibrtifying and defending of the harbour and its ap- proaches But of this in another place. Victoria, from the time that the c(msolidated Hudson's Pay Com[)any founded its ti-ading ports in these regions, became the general snj)ply point. This was in 1X18, and the Company named the stockade, where stands the present block, Fort Victoria, in honour of licr Majesty the (^ticen. Then the trade of the entire country was almost exclusively in furs, and the route taken by the ships engaged in this trade was round Cape Horn ; so that the island was separated from the mother country by nearly 20,000 i ' •'I p. 10 THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY miles of water. Tlie journey was then one of montlis^ now it is one of days. With the present connection, and at tlie present rate of speed, the distance between Liverpool and A^ictoria can be readily encompassed Avithin fourteen or fifteen days. Outside of the Hud- son's l>ay Company's ships very few vessels touched at either A'ictoria or the mainland, and life for the early settlers nuist, under such circumstances, have been dreary in the extreme. In 1 80 G a gold craze swept over these parts, gold having been discovered on the mainland, on the Columbia and Fraser Kivers. Speculators and experts, vagabonds and idlers, rushed in their thousands to Fort Victoria, as the centre from which they could eventually depart in their search for the precious metal. At one time it was estimated that there were, consequent upon this rush, not less than 30,000 people encamped in the neigh- bourhood. It was, I believe, chiefly owing to the firmness displayed by Sir James Dc'iglas, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company at A^ictoria, that law- lessness was kept under, and the rabble did not attempt to serve the fort as the Barbarians and mer- cenaries served ancient Carthage. Whilst jxold was discovered in considerable ([uantities, it by no means panned out so well as was expected, and the wave of excitement gradually subsided. Of thousands who had rushed in search of fortune, the greater part returned in poverty. m VICTOPIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND 11 i Scvcr.il linndreds remained behind, some in possession of wealth, others in the searcli for it. Tlie craze, liowever, was tlie chief means of making the c()h)ny known, and it in a measure caused N'ictoria and otlier towns on the Cohunbia and Fraser to be built u\). Gold is still found in the neiii'libourhood of these rivers, some of the old claims beinsj^ even yet worked at a profit. It was in 1819, some seven years previously to this, that Vancouver Island was constituted a Crown colony; whilst two years later, in 185S, the main- land, the paradise of the Indian fur-hunter, was also made a colony with the name of British Columbia. It had previously gone by several names, the chief one being New Georgia, a title bestowed upon it by the explorer, Captain George Vancouver. At that time ^^^ncouver and British Columbia were separate colonics, but in ISGG they were united, and so they remained till 1871, when they Avere incr)rporatcd in the Dominion of Canada. In thus forfeiting its in- dependence the colony received certain handsome concessions from the Dominion Government, one of the chief conditions being that a railway should be built opening up the country from the Kocky Mountains to the sea. After several delays this promise has been fuKilled, and British Columbia is now as much an integral portion of Canada as are the Upper and Lower Provinces. \1t\ ' i'?IW ' 12 THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY The island of Vancouver is oblong in shape, ex- tending north- westwardly parallel with the mainland, from which it is separated by the island-dotted channel of the Gulf of Georgia, a distance of close upon 300 miles. It has a varying width of from thirty to fifty miles, and its area is estimated at 12,000 square miles. Whilst being densely timbered, much of this land is altogether unsuitable for cultiva- tion, and would not pay for the clearing. The tim- ber, however, is in places very large and sound, and lumbering industries cannot fail to be remunerative for many years to come. The interior of the island is generally mountainous, some of the peaks attaining an altitude of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. There is but very little level land in any part of the island, and, so far as is yet known, the arable tracts are principally confined to the extreme south-eastern portion. I am, however, assured that there is some fairly level land at the extreme north which would repay the agriculturist, liut the good land is in patches — here and there, between the forks of rivers and between the mountains and the water, and in no part is it sufiicient to warrant agricultural operations upon an extensive scale. A great — the greater part, in fact, of the country is unknown. The interior of the island is still a terra inco^/nita, and, save in and about the coast, there are neither roads nor settlements. Victoria, Esquimault, and Nanimo, the great coal centre, are the only ui m VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND 13 I.^ am. places of note. About midway between Victoria and Nanimo there is a small agricultural settlement called Cowicban ; and on the same east coast, engaged in similar undertakings, are Maple Bay, Chimainus, and Somenos. Saanicb is at the extreme soutli-east ; whilst Comox, a logging centre, is sixty miles further north than Nanimo. What land there is is good, arid anything will grow on it. With the draining of the marshes, of which there is no end, rich pasturage will be afforded, and the island should have no equal in tlie matter of hay-producing. The climate of Vancouver Island is, to my thinkino;, the most deli"'htfid in the world. There is a certain balminess about the air which at once creates contentment ; and one speedily arrives at the laudable condition of being at peace with all mankind. In summer — and I speak from experience — it is never too hot ; and the winters, I am assured, are never too cold. True, rain falls somewhat heavily in the autumn, but winter brings with it little frost and less snow. Sometimes the inhabitants get a fortnight's sleighing or an equal amount of skating, but the Avinter in such case Avill have been exceptional. Flowers bloom and flcurish in the Victorian gardens all the year round. The whole island is Flora's paradise. Sweet old-fashioned Encrlish flowers abound in profusion, keeping the settlers, in memory at least, H 1 14 THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY in touch with the mother country beyond the seas. There are beautiful drives around Victoria, and tlie roads are excellent. There is the scent of wild flowers about everywhere as the team spanks along the macadamised roads. A few late dog-roses peep from out of the hedges, exhaling a delicate perfume, which eventually gets lost in the overpowering odours of the trailing honeysuckle, which is in extraordinary abundance. Here there are natural hedges of it, whilst there its waxen petals are beating out their perfume on the trunk of an oak as the soft July wind fans them up and down. Ferns are in countless profusion. The banks are a quivering mass of them, whilst they nod like plumes from the crests of moss-grown stones. In some places they burst like tufts of waving hair from the sides of monster trees, or hang like curling feathers from the lower branches. There arc watei -ferns and rock-ferns, wood-ferns and tree-ferns ; some coarse and vulgar, others delicate and well-bred, all forming one great family of healthy, flourishing, well-to-do plants. Most of the larger trees have already fallen by the woodman's axe, but there are still a few left within the city limits sufficient to give you an idea of the timber Avealth of the island. They are in great variety — hemlocks, cedars, maples and firs, oaks and »,« VICTORIA AND VANCOUVEIl ISLAND 15 and lo-do the Itliin the Ireat luud dogwood, and the evergreen arbutus, which is heavier than oak, and resembles box in its grain. In tlie copses grow the wild cherry and prickly raspberry, and trailing over the rocky banks are the blueberry and blackberry ; in the swamps is to be found a species of gooseberry, and the hedges are often red with rasp- berries, or purple and white with varieties of wild currants. Singing birds are scarce, but game is plentiful. Grouse rise up from beneath your feet at almost every step you take in the woods, and not infrequently cross the road just in front of your horse's nose when you are out driving. Deer and mountain goats are in plenty within a short distance of the town. Fish- ing, for those who care for it, can be had anywhere. The views afforded by a drive along the coast roads are simply exquisite. Ijetween the pines, little lakes sparkle and ripple in the sun, whilst frogs croak amongst the browning rushes, or a fish splashes sud- denly upwards in chase of a gaudy fly which has been temptingly skimming the surface of the water. A duck, with shining blue wings, may whirl from out of the lily leaves with a hoarse note of alarm, or a water- fowl duck his black head in fear beneath the water. To the right is an Indian camp, and the blue smoke rises high above the top of the tallest cedar in curling, lingering columns, whilst the air is odorous with burning pine fumes. As the team mounts a hill rvi m •■»•»". 16 THE QUEENS HIGHWAY if higher than the other.s, one can look clown m the valleys. A green expanse strikes the eye, although here and there a streak of blue denotes the existence of a stream, and the patches of red glowing in the sunliglit speak of habitations. At this point one unconsciously draws in the pure air, and invigorated thereby continues to open one's mouth the wider — this consciously, of course. The resinous })erfume of the firs tickles one's nostrils, and one sniffs and sniffs as if it were impossil)le to have enough. A feeling of exhilaration creeps over one, and all the petty troubles and worries of everyday existence are mo- mentarily forgotten. As the horses descend, the way leads throu";li some scrubby tiiuber, such as dwarf spruce and bark-shedding arbutus ; we are approach- innr the shore. The stones rattle from the rocks on either side, and the sand flies up in stinging clouds from beneath the horses' hoofs. l-Jound the race- course we speed, and then down to the pebble-strewn beach, where break the white-crested waves of the Pacific. The gulls and other white and black plum- aged sea-birds are spreading their wings in the sun or are diving after fish. An Indian is mending his nets, and a Chinaman is collecting mussels from off the rocks, the haunts of the ghastly octopi. Some children are bathing close inshore ; the water is not deep, but the bathers are fearful of venturing out too far because of the devil-fish. Some half-breeds are •..« 1 VICTOrjA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND 17 in the :hongh istcncG in the nt one ^orjited ;^ider — •ume of rl sniffs feeling e petty re mo- he way 3 dwarf proach- )cks on clouds le race- strewn of the phim- Ihe sun Xmsc his rora oiF Seme is not Dut too kds are propelling a cnnoo, which is fantastic with carved emblems and gaudy with colour ; and spread over the surface of the water are frail sail-hoats. There is no coast in the world whidi affords such facilities for safe boating as docs Vanrouver Island. Everywhere the land seems to run out in forks as if to enfold the water ; and the water, nothing loth, rushes into the land's embrace and nestles there, wearing away the soil into placid 1)1 ue basins. Some waves more daring than the others rush still further onward, piercing a way into the interior, creating numerous little inner seas, wliich afford safe boating at all times. The same th'ug occurs on the main- land, and there is no doubt of the coast line being the most wonderful in the world. It was this peculiarity of bay-indented shores and tortuous inlets which so struck the luad of Dufferin when he paid a visit to British Columbia in his capacity as Governor- General. In a speech delivered in Victoria his Excellency said, with regard to this matter, ' Such a spectacle as its coast-line presents is not to be paralleled by any country in the world. Day after day, for a whole week, in a vessel of nearly 2,000 tons, we threaded an interminable labyrinth of watery lanes and reaches that wound endlessly in and out of a network of Islands, pronioutories, and peninsulas for thousands of miles, unruffled by the slightest swell from the adjoining ocean, and presentintJ" at c It*" f^" 18 THE (iUEKN'S HIGHWAY every turn an ever-sliifting coniI)iiintlon of rock, verdure, forest, glacier, and snow-capped mountain of unrivalled grandeur and beauty. When it is remembered that this wonderful system of navigation, equally well adapted to the largest line-of-battle ship and the frailest canoe, fruiges the entire seaboard of your province, and communicates at points, sometimes more than a hundred miles from the coast, Avith a multitude of valleys stretching eastward into the interior, while at the same time it is furnished with innumerable harbours on either hand, one is lost in admiration at the facilities for intercomuumication which are thus provided for the future inhal)itants of this wonderful region,' For a lonix time Vancouver Island was thouuht to be part and parcel of the mainland, and the early S[)anisli and English explorers designated it as such. It was, I believe, Vancouver himself who, in 17i)2, cleared up the matter by exploring Puget Sound and the Gulf of Georgia. Just previously to this the Spanish had taken possession of a small English settlement at Xootka Sound, on the west coast of the islard, and held it in the name of their sovereijjfn. This act aluiost precipitated a war between the two countries. An understanding was, however, eventu- ally arrived at; and in a treaty, signed in 171)0, S[)ain undertook to vacate ^sootka Sound, without prejudice to what she considered to be her general VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND 1!) 7i)2, and the in;lish )f the t'cign. two cntu- 7J)0, tlioiit ncral rio'lits in the region. On the nrrival of Captain A'ancouver two years later, Hon Jioflei^-a y (,|uadra, actinf^ connnissioner for S})ain uniU'r the treaty, surrentlered tlie post of Nootka Sound to liiiii. One ean well understand how the early navigators Avere united in the matter of imagining Vancouver Island to be a part of the mainland, as in parts chains of small islands almost connect the two ; and, in the original survey of the transcontinental rail- way, it was intended to carry the railway over one of these chains on to the island. This scheme being found to be impracticable was eventually al)andoned, and the railway was built some distance further south, with a terminus at 15urrard's Inlet, distant u[)wards of sixty miles from Victoria. So that, instead of there being a complete line of rail from the liritish Columbian capital to the far east, there are these miles of sea to be got over before one strikes the iron highway. It is in order to lessen the water distance that ]\[r. Dunsnniir (the British Columbian millionaire) has built a railroad alonir the coKSt from Victoria to Naninio, a distance of ninety miles, leaving only some seventeen miles to be got over by steamer. This will be a distinct advantage to winter tralfic. ^Ir. Dunsmuir — who, by the bye, is not only absolutely without ' side,' but is the most obliging millionaire I have ever had the i)leasure of meeting — was good enough to place at my disposal I'?' f'T ■ LM> TIIK (^UKKN's IimilWAY ill m^ m a pprcial train, in order that I rni^lit