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There is probably no portion of the North A meri- can Continent^ -within the confines of government and civilization, concerning which the general public has less definite and reliable information, than British Columbia. Hitherto comparatively inaccessible, and only by tedious and expensive modes of travel, it has been known chiejiy as the vast wilderness trap- ping, and hunting ground, of the Hudson Bay Company, and gold field of adventurous miners. Since the inauguration of that stupendous undertaking, the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and its progress towards the western shores of the Province, people abroad are beginning to inquire what this region contains, to warrant such an enormous outlay for its development. In the following pages we have briefly outlined its resources and capacities for stistain- ing a large and prosperous population, and directed attention to its wonderful attractions for the tourist and health seeker. In the preparation of the same, I am under great obligations to his Honor Lieut.- Gov. Clement F. Cornwall, Hon. fos. W. Trutch, C. M. G., F. R. G. S., M. Inst. C. E., Dominion Gov- ernmH A gt. for British Columbia, Hon. Allen Francis, American Consul, Mr. William Charles, Chief Fac- tor of the Hudson Bay Company, to the members and officers of the Provincial Government, Mr. Noah Shakespeare, M. P., Mayor of Victoria, Lqftus R. Mclnnes, M. D., Mayor of New Westminster, the British Colurubia Board of Trade, through its President, Mr. R. P. Rithet, and Secretary, Mr. E. Crow Baker, M. P., and to Mr. Wm. Wilson^ and others to whom I tender sincere thanks. N. H. C. Victoria, B. C, ith November, 1882. IN BRITISH COIaUIMEBIA BY NEWTON H. CHITTENDEN. INTR OD UC TOR T. A little over one hundred years ago, that bold mariner, Capt. Cook, cruised among the wonderful islands stretching along the shores of the then unknown, unnamed land of Bri- tish Columbia, Capt. Vancouver of the Koyal Navy soon followed in his course, and gave his name to the largest of the islands, and that of New Georgia to the south coast of the mainland. This was in 1792, but for more than forty years following, the numerous and populous Indian tribes inhabiting these shores, were the sole possessors and occupants of this whole region. Adventurous traders had occasionally visited the west coast of Vancouver, but no permanent settlement was made until 1843, when the Hudson Bay Company built a Fort and established a trading post upon the beautiful site of the City of Victoria, followed six years later by the forma- tion of the Vancouver Colony. In 1858, daxdug prospectors advancing up the coast from California, discovered the rich gold diggings of the Fraser, and so rapid was the influx of population, that another Colony was organized upon the main- land, and the jiresent territory of the Province set apart, and designated British Columbia. In 1866 the two Colonies united, and in 1871, were confederated as one of the seven Provinces comprising the Dominion of Canada. It is a vast region. 2 oxtfiidiiiR from tlic 40tli imiiiUcl of lutituiU' more than 700 luilt's north to the (JOtli, aiul from the (livi(h' of the llocky Mouiitiiins on the East, 400 miles West to the Pacitic, con- taining IJil,")!") square miles, or 218,-4;{5,200 aereH, a country nearly three timoH as laige as England, Ire- land, Heotlaud and Wales eombiued. It is traversed lengthwise hy two great niouniain I'anges, the lloekies and the Cascades, about 250 miles apart, the former reaching an elevation of 9,000 and the latter of 0,000 feet- The Coluhil)ia and the Eraser, the second and third largest rivers on tln' Pacitie Coast, rise within the Province, and Avith the Hkcena, Nass, Stickeen and innumerable other streams drain its western slo[)e. The interior is well watered by numerous rivers and cn-eks, and thousands of lakes and Bjn'ings. Parallel to the mainland, and at a distance of from three to twenty miles therefrom, extends ^anctmver Island for over 250 miles. The shores of the mainland and of Vancou- ver, and the intca'vening Avaters, enibrace the most wonderful colhnition of inlets, sounds, har])ors, straits, channels and islands, to be found upon the planet. British Columbia, in common with the whole Pacitic Coast, possesse.s, two distinct climates. Along the west coast, even as far north as latitude fifty-three degr(>es, the mean winter temperature is about forty-two degrees; the annual rai'"+''ll aA'eraging from forty- five inches at Victoria to sevent-five inches, at Eort Simpson 6;J0 miles North. In the interior the climate is much drier, the entire precipitation ranging from ten to twenty inches; the mean summer temperature being about seventy- five deg. and the winter teu deg. above. North of latitude fifty-one the winters are severe, but the snowfall moder- ate except in the higher altidudes. This section is not sub- ject to the terrible blizzards which prevail east of the llocky Mountains, the coldest Aveather usually being perfectly calm and clear. Though mountains and forests cover a. consider- able portion of its surface, there are very extensive areas excellently adajited to stock-raising and agriculture. The gieat natural resources of the Province are minerals, coal, fish, timber, grazing and furs. Although there are millions of acres as yet untouched by human foot, the discoveries of Lake and th( Williai the wo yieldin IBntclK 432, tl deanecl of gol(| beds oi There [ awaitiil their of moi greatel The ill $1,00C formed liiii 700 Jiocky IC, COD- crcH, a 11(1, Iit'- |-ilV(!l'SO(l ll()fki(!H forincM' 000 fret- lillf^OSt (•(', iiiul I! other 1 ^vat^n•t'(l iikt's and I' of from [slaiid for A'^ancoii- wonderful iiiiels aud uiiibia, in fo distinct IS latitude I is about om forty- ; Simpson is much to twenty ,t scventy- f latitude dl moder- 1 not sub- the Bocky ectly calm ii consider- iive areas ire. The ^rals, coal, ;-e millions ioveries of 8 vahiabh' luiiural ch-posits already made au- immense. Her gold fields are among the* most (fxtcnsive and ricluist in the world ; coal underlies huiKlrinls of th(jiisands of acres; there are niouiitaiii musses and islfinds of iron, and rich mines of silver, c()])j)er and other precious metals. The Great Gold Fields of British Columbia Embrace in area more than 100,000 s(piare miles, extendiii<4 from lloek Creek, near the 4'.)th parallel, to Liard Hiver on the GOth. On the Similkameen and Kootenay, at Hope, Yale, Bo.stoii Bar, Lillooet, and Bridjj^e Bivers; in tlu! Bi^f Bend of the Columbia, at Quesiielh', Keithley, Harvey, Cariboo, and Omineca ; on the Peact', Skeeiia, Naas, and Stickeeii Bivers; and, lastly, at Cassiar, gold has been found not only ui paying cpiantities, but in many places liy the millions, their aggregate products amounting to about fifty niilliou dollars. The Cariboo Gold District, Lying between 52 and 54 degi-ees of north latitude, embracers an area of upwards of 700 squan; miles. The Quesnelle Lake and Biver form its south and south- western bcmndary, and the Eraser north -eastern, western and northern. Here AVillianis, Lightning, and Antler creeks and gulches startled the world b}' their amazing richness, the Wake-up-Jake claim yielding 150 ounces in a single day, the Caledonia 300 ounces* Butcher 350, Steele's 40!), the Chittenden claim on Lowhee 432, the Ericsson 500 ounces, when the Diller claim cleaned up with the astonishing amount of 102 pounds of gold! These wonderful deposits have been found in the beds of the water courses, from (50 to 80 feet below the surface. There are also extensive lodes of rich gold-bearing quartz awaiting d(!velopment. Though tlie mines of Cariboo reached their maximum product $3,735,850 in 1804, it is the opinion of most old miners who have had experienc*! there, that still greater wealth lies hidden in her mountains and water courses. The annual yield of the district now ranges from $700,000 to $1,000,000. Mr. John Bowron, the Gold Commissioner, in- formed me on my recent visit to Barkerville, that prosptHitors sent out by th« Governraont liail jiist returned, and reported havir g found good surface diggings and extensive ledges of rich quart/i rock. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway will greatly reduce the hitherto ouormouB cost ol con- ducting mining operations here, and greatly facilitate the development of the vast gold deposits of this region. The Gold Fields of Cassiar, Next in importance, extend over more than 250 square miles of country lying between the 54th and 60th degrees of north latitude, along the north-eastern watershed of the gold range. Gold was first found in this section in 1872-3, near the con- fluence of the Liard with the Mackenzie River, i..> iuost productive mines being on Doase, Thiber* and McDames Creeks, tributaries of the Deape River. Several millions were taken out along those streams during the two or three succeeding years. Their product for the year 1881 is esti- mated at one hundred and ninety-eight thou.sand dollars, and the number of miners engaged at 300, most of whom go south to winter. Interviews with Mr. Rufus Sylvester, the well- known explorer and trader, Mr. John Grant, M.P.P. for Cas- siar District, and Mr. W. V. Brown, one of the pioneer miners, who has spent several years in this portion of the Province, indicate that the richest gold deposits of Cassiar are yet to be discovered. The Omineca Gold Mines. Are also situated on the north-eastern slope of tl>e gold range of the Province, near the 53rd parallel of latitude, upon the tributaries of the Omineca, a branch of the Peace River. There are about seventy men working claims here upon Vitell's, Manson, and Germansen creeks, taking out about $35,000 annually. Other Golc Fields. Gold is found in paying quantities upon many of the streams of tho south-eastern portion of the Province, especi- ally in the Big Bend of the Columbia, and in the Kootenay reported lodgoH of Pacific Ht ot con- itutu the laro inileH f north 1 range. th(» con- ,--. inost DklcDameH millions or three n is esti- tllars, and 1 go south the well- ?. for eas- ier miners, Province, 3 yet to be gold range upon the iice River, lere upon out about uy of the ce, especi- Kootenay country, the claims on Perry and Wild Horse creeks being the most productive. In 1852 the Hudson Bay Company discov- ered gold bearing quartz of remarkable richness on the west shore of Queen Charlotte Island. Gold has also been found on the head waters of the Leech River and other streams along the west coast of Vancouver. Silver, Copper and Iron, Are known to be widely distnij,' d throughout the Province. Pieces of pure silver have been li ^und from time to time in many of the mining camps alo-g the Fraser, also on Cherry Creek in the Okanagan d'' t ct, ai 1 at Omiiuca. In 1871 a rich vein of silver was discovered near Hope, on the Fraser River unu traced for jiearly halt ; mile. There are deposits of co^iper ore upon Howe S-imd, Knights and Jervis Inlets, the Queeu Charlotte Islards, and at other pointS, the former said to be quite extensive. There are inexhaustible quantities ofijron on Texada Island, situated in the linlf of Georgia, about 100 miles north of the City of Victoria, ai;tnidst the great ooal beds, timber supphes, and limestone quarries of the Province. The Coal Fields of British Columbia, On Vancouver Island alone, comprise many hundred thou- sand acres, lying mainly along the East Coast of the Island between Nanaimo and Fort Rupert. The Nana- imo coal lands embrace about ninety square miles, and those of Comox upwards of 300. There are also extensive bodies of coal on Quatsino Sound on the North-west coast of Van- couver, about 250 miles North-west of Victoria, and large veins are reported to have been discovered on the Queen Charlotte Islands. These coals are chiefly bituminous, of the cretaceous era and superior for general and domestic pur- poses to any other found on the Pacific Coast. The Tiviber Resources of the Province, Are very extensive, embracing many hundred thousand acres of Douglas fir Ipng in the West Cascade region, the choicest l)otlies upon BniTiinl mid Jervis Inlets, Mud Buy, How» Sound, and the east coast of Vancouver Island. It attain.^ an enormous growth, and being straight and exceedingly tough and durable is in great demand the world over for ship spars and tind.)ers. Ov(!r thirty million ft;et are niannfac!- tured into lumber annually, ehietlj' for exportation to Asiatic, Australian, and South American ports. The pinii and spruce of the interior, though luuch inferior in size aiul quality to the fir of i;lie coast, is sufficient in both and also in quantity for all local purjjoses. Fish. . , . The waters of British Columbia teem with countless mil- lions of the choicest salmon, halibut, cod, herring, smelt, sturgeon, wljiting, &c., &v. The canning oi .-ialmon forexpin-- tation is already a veiy important industry, the product for " the present season amounting to about 177,000 cases. They also constitute the chief food dependence of the Indian popu- lation. Oil is manufactured from dog tish, herrings, and oolachans, but the other fish mentioned are as yet, exccspt to a limited extent, only caught for home consumption. Fur-bearing Animals ' Are more numerous in this Province than in any other part of America, excejiting, perhaps, portions of Alaska, having for neai-ly 40 years through the Hudson Bay Comjiany supplied the world with most of their finest furs. Tlu^y comjnise Bears, Beaver, Badgers, Coyotes, Foxes, Fishers, Martens, Minks, Lynxes, Otters, Panthers, Raccoons, Wolves. Wol- verines, and other smaller kinds. The product of the fisheries Hiid furs of the Province amoxints to nearly a million and a half dollars annually. S>tock Raising in British Columbia. British Columbia contains a very extensive area of grazing lands of unsurpassed excellence. The whole inter- llocky Mountain Cascade Region is specially adapted for pastoral purposes. Dui'ing my recent travels through the interior of D , Howe attain, s seedinglj' for ship iiauufac!- ) Asiatic, d spruce lualitv to quiintity ;loss iiiil- S, smelt, for expor- ixluct for ' s. They iau popu- ings, and except to ler par tof laving for • snj)plied comprise Martens, Ives, Wol- le fisheries lioa and a of grazing iter-ll< )('ky [• pastoral interior of the Province, I traversed hundreds of thousands of acres in the Nicola, Kamloops and Okanagan Valleys and Lake La Hache ctmntry, covered witli a luxuriant growth f)f the nutri- citnis bunch grass, and saw bands oi thousands of cattle rolling fat; and wa}' to the northward in the Chilcotin, Ne- chaco, Wastonquah and Peace River Valleys, are vast ranges, hundreds of miles in extent as yet almost untouched. Inter- views with all the })rincipal stock-raisers and dealers in British Columbia confirms my own observations that cattle raised upon the bunch grass of this region are among the finest in the world, ver}' large and fat, and the choicest of beeves. Mr. B. Van Volkeuburgh, the leading butcher in the Province, meat purvey- or to Her Majesty's Navy, the owner of 7000 acres of grazing lands, and several thousand head of cattle and sheep; Mr. Thad- (hnis Harper whost; 3,000 or 4,000 head of cattle and horses ranges upon his own estate of '25,000 acires, Mr. J. B. Graves at y)reseut the largest owner of fat cattle, 8,000 head, includ- ing 0,000 st(>ers, Mr. C. M. Beak, of the Nicola Valley, who had just s()len to twenty dollars per lu!a.d. The average wtMglit of catths upon tlie ranges is 550 for two-year old, 075 for three-year old, and 800 for fcmryear old cattle. 8 Thev feed in the, ('lovatcd valleys during tlio suminor, and in winter on tlio shcltcriHl sunny slopes and bottoms, ki.'eping in good condition upon a species of white sage, called worm- wood, wliicli succeeds tlio l)uncli grass, wlieri^ the latter is too closely grazed. Mr. Van Volkenlmrgh lias had over 1000 tons of hay stacktnl up for over three years, having had no occa- sion to feed it. Tlii-ee wint(>rs in twenty, cattle have died from starvatioji and ex])()sure occasioned by (h^eji snows covering the feed. Such losses are confined mainly to brei;(hng cows, in the spring of the year, for which most prudt^nt stock-raisei-s now [irovide a reserve of hay. The steers seldom su(H'unib> cixcept in extraordinarj' winters, su(!h as that of 1879-80, many of them keeping fat in the mountains the year round. The winter ranges throughout the Province are generally full3^ stocked, but hay for the Avinter feeding re(piired in the northern part may be cut in unlimited quantities. The Agricultural Lands of British Columbia Comprise in tli(> aggregate several million acr'3S, only a small portitm of which are at present occupied. Vaiutouver Island alone is estimated to contain over 1500,000 acres, — 100,000 in the vicinity of Victoria, ()4,000 in North and South Saanich, 100.000 in the Cowichan district, 4r),000 near Nanaimo, 5,000 (Ui Salt Spring Island, 50,000 in the Comox district, and 3,500 acres near Sooke. Ah>ng the lower Fraser, including the delta, there are about 175,000 acres of unsur[)asst!d fertility- Then^ is a large tract of open arable laud on the (^iieen Char- lotte Islands without a white settler. In the Lillooet, Cache Creek, Kamloo])s, Spallumcheen, Salmoii River, Okanagan, Grand Prairie s('ctions tlier(t are large amounts of excellent farm- ing lauds ; and in the Lake La Hache, upper Fraser, Cliilic( )tin, and Peace lliv(>r countries, vast bodies, hundreds of miles in extent, awaiting setthiment. They alford the greatest choice of situation with r^'ferencc to climate and j)roductions. Here- tofore, there has been but little encourageineiit for agricul- turists in the interior, but tiie com[)letion of the Canadian Pacific llailway, will give them an excellt>)it market on the seaboard for all tlieii' surplus grain, potatoes, Ac. Tlie great- 9i Comi Jl s undt quest and reco 3r( reco and or a^ this Al moil tiie pay expi (I r, find in H'pinjj; in wonii- X'V is too 000 tons no occii- 11 tiirvation u' feed. in tlie sem now swc'unibj f 1879-80, 'iiv round. rully fully . I'd in the Dlumbia ily a small iver Island -100,000 ill th Saauich, limo, 5,000 , and 8,500 ludin<:^ tlio ",d fertility- iiecn Cliar- )oct, Cache Okanaj^an, I'Uentfavni- , Chilicotin, :)f mdes in test elioico )ns. Here- for a^ricul- ' Canadian ket on tlui Tlie great- 9 uesa, character, and diversity of the natural resourccss of the Province, will ultimately em])loy a laige populati(jn in their deveh)pnient and utilization, creating a great demand at good prices for all kinds of farm produce. The Provincial Land Laws Provide that any person being the head of a family, a widow, or single man over the age oi 18 years and a Bi'itish subject, or any alien upon declaring his inteuti(m to become a British subject, may reccjrd any tract of unoccupied, uusurveyed and unreserved Crown Lands, not exceeding 820 acres, north and east of the Cascade or Coast Ilangci of Mountains, and 1(50 acres iu the rest of the Province, and " pre-cnupt" or " home- stead"' the same, and obtain a litle therefor upon paying the sum of $1 per acre in four ecpial annual instalments, the first oiH! year from the date of record. Persons desiring to accpiire land under tliis law must observe the following re(|uirenients : 1st. The land apj)litHl for must b(i staked off with posts at each corner not less than four inches square, and five feet above tlie ground, and marked in tbrin as follows: (A B"s ) Land, N. E. ])ost. (A B's) Land, N. W. post, Ac. '2nd. Applications must be made in writing to the Land Commissioner, givuig a full des{;ription of the land, and also a sketch ])lan thereof, both in (bii)licate, and a declaration under oath, made and filed in du])licate, that the land in question is pioperly subji'ct to si-ttlement by the applicant, and that he or she is duly (jualified to record tlie same, and a recording fee of $'2 ])aid. 8rd. Such homestead settler must within ■']() days after record enter into actual occupation of the land so pre-enq)ted, and continuously reside thereon personally or by his family or agent, and neither Indians or Chinamen can be agents for til is purpose. Abstuice from such land for a ]ierio- stream and shall extend in wid h from base to base of the hill, or bench on each side, but when the hills or benches are less than 100 feet apart, the claim shall be 100 feet square. Bench claims shall be 100 feet square. Mineral claims, that is claims containing, or supposed to contain minerals (other than coal) in lodes or veins, shall be 1,500 feet long by 600 feet wide. Discoverers of new mines are allowed 300 feet in length for one discoverer, fiOO feet for two, 800 feet for three, and 1000 in length for a party of four. Creek discovery claims ext(!nd 1000 feet on each side of the centre of the creek or as far as the summit. Coal lands west of the Cascade Range in tracts not less than 160 acres, may be purchased at not less than ten dollars per acre, and similar lands east of the Cascade Bange, at not less than five dollars per acre. The Government and People. British Columbia is governed by a Legislative Assembly of twenty-five members elected by the people every four yt'ars. The Lieut.-Governor and a Council of three Minis- ters constitute the Executive body, Hon. K.ol>ert Beaven, Prem- ier, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, Minister of Fin- ance and Agriculture, Hon. J. R. Hett, Attorney General Hon. W. J. Armstrong, Provincial Secretary and Minister of Mines, being its present officers. Political and religioxis free- dom, free public schools, liberal homestead pre-emption and mining privledg(?s, are guaranteed and secured by the laws. Justice is firmly administered, good order prevails, and life and ])roporty are secure throughout the Province. So far as the government is concenied, there has been nothing to remind me that I have crossed the line into the Queen's dominions, excepting the glad demonstrations of welcome accorded the Governor General, the Marquis of Lome and T 12 tlio Qnoon's diuiglitor, Princess Louise. There is the same freedom of opinion, luul oiitspoken criticism of jmblic men and meusur(!s; elections are condiicttsj wit'i the same partisan zeal, and the Press is just as abusive as in the United States. The people generally entertain a very friendly feeling toward the United States. The pcu'traits of George and Martha Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Sheridan, Garfield, and other distinguished Americans, are often seen hanging upon the walls of both public and private houses in all parts of the Province, together with those of members of the Royal family. Tht; populiition is quite cosmopolitan and liberal in then' views-. Stopj)ing at au inn in the interior recently, it was found that eacli of the st!vcn white persons present, represented a diflierent nationality. The popular feeling is strongly opposed to Chinese immigration, the present Provin- cial Government refusing to employ any Chinamen upon the public works. The Indian Nations of British Columbia Afford a most interi>sting study for the ethnologist. Thcsy are eleven in number evidently of Asiatic at- meut by the general government, they are noAV quite friendly I have vi.sited most of the principal tribes during tlu* past season, and have always been cordially received in their houses or wigwams. They are generally much inferior both in stature and form to the white race. A few of the Queen Charh)tte Hydahs are fairly good looking, and well formed, though it would require an exceedingly fertile and romantic imagination to discover among tluise people a singles specimen of the l)eauti- fiil Indian maiden, we have all reiid about, l)ut whom so few, t\u) same hublic men |n^ piutisau ted States . jig toward [d Martha and other upon tlie 1.1-t.s of th(; the Rojal ind Hberal •t'cently, it s pr(>sent, feeling is nt Provin- npoi} tljo umbia ,nst. Tliey comprising », (^iack(>- Tlio West 'tte Island •ui.'lly nun-, it through i ehastise- 'val t'-eat- 3 friondiv the past in their itnre and ' Hvdah's it would nation to le beau ti- ll so few, i8 have ever seen. They arcs almost entirely self-suppoiting, dei)ending not ahme upon the wonderful nsh and game sup- plies of tluH region, but in many instances cultivating farms and raising cattle and horses. Large nund)ers an* also em- ployed by the salmon fisheries and canneries, lumber mills, steamboat lintss, and railroad contractors, and are considered sui)eri(>r to Chmese laborers. Mr. Duncan's reniarkal)le work at ]MeHakatlali, where ho ii us colonized over a thousand of the Tsimpsheans, who now live in good houses, worship in a $10,000 church of their own erection, school tlnur chihiren, operate a salmon cannery, a sawmill, and (sngagc! in other self supporting pursuits, demon- strates the possi])ilities attainable by well directed etibrts for their civilization upon a Christian basis. The Principal Cities, Towns and Settlements in British Columbia Aw. Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Cowichan, Nanairao, Wel- lington, Comox, Fort llupert, and Sook(^, on Vancouver Island , New Westminster, Port Moody, Moodyville, Hast- ings, Granville, Langley, Sumass, Chilliwhack, Hojie, Emory, Yale, Lytton, Lillooet, Cache Creek, Cook's Feri-y, Clinton, Lake La Hache, Soda Creek, Qucsnelle, Stanley, Barkervillo, Savona's Ferry, Kamloops, Trvnouille, Grand Prairie, Sal- mcm Kiver, Spallnmcheen, ()k,.nagan, Mission, Cherry Creek Similkanieen, P(n"t Essington, llivers' Inlet, Metlakathla, Tort Simpson, and Cassiar, on the Mainland, containing alto- gether about fifty thousand inhabitants. Victoria, The chief city and capital of British Columbia, occupies a magnificent sitnati(ni on the scmth shore of Vanc(mver Island, about no miles from the Pacific, and 750 north of San Francisco. Its immediate surroundings arc^ charmingly ])ictures(jue, em- bracing a bt'autifnl harbor and inlet, ])in(' and oak covertnl shores and rolling hills, with green forests of fir and pine clad mountains in the near back ground. The distant view is one of exceeding grandeur, c<):nprising the loftiest peaks of the 14 Olympic {.nd Cawcado Mountains. A person nnfaniiliar with the marvelous prof^ress ot civilization in the new world sur- veying its busy marts of trade, ships of commerce laden with exports for the most distant ports, numerous manufacturing in- dustries, well graded streets, and good public and private build- ings, would scarcely believe that all these things are the crea- tion of a little more than twenty years, and that only a gener- ation has passed since the Hudson Bay Company lirst planted the English flag on these shores. But this is only the begin ning as compared with the brilliant future which awaits Vic- toria. The resources of the vast region to which she holds the commercial key are only in the bud of their development. That she has reached her present status while laboring under the gi-eat disadvantages of extreme remoteness from the centres of population and demands for her products exces- sively costly transportation, shows not only their enormous extent and richness, but what may reasonab'v l.'- »,.vpected when all railway commimication shall be established with the East and the coxuitry opened to immigration and capital. Victoria is i)rovided with all the concomitants of the pro- gi-essive cities of our times — good religious and educational advantages, three newsiiapers, the Cohmht, Standard and Evening Post, a i^ublic library, and the usual benevolent orders, an able and active Board of Trade, gas and water works, efiicient police and fire departments, a beautifid public park, and a well ordered government. Victoria as a Summer Resort for Tourists and Health Seekers. Nature has awarded to Victoria, the most attractive and interesting situation and surromidings, of any city on the north Pacific Coast. Possessing a most enjoyable, invigorating anil healthful climate, she lies central amidst the sublimest scenery in the new world. The waters of Puget Sound and of the Inside Passage to Alaska, between Vancouver and the Mainland, embraces more that is unique and wonderful in nature, than can be found on any equal area of the earth's surface. I can scarcely conceive of a gi-ander panorama of 15 iliar with voihl Hiir- aden with Lftuiing in- ate build- the crea- y a fjoner- 4 phmtod he begin vaits Vic- she holds rihjpment. ing under from the Cits exces- enormous < -vpecteil witli th(i )ital. 1 the pro- kicational lard and enevoleut md water fill pubHc 3ts and tive and the north iting find ml)hniest luid and • and the lerfiil in i earth's )rama of nionntains and inhind waters, forests and islands, than that afforded from the summit of Beacon Hill, her favorite Park resort. Her drives are unsurpassed, both in respect ti» the excellence! of the roads, and the beauty of the scenery through which they pass. Tin; three mil(!s from Yi(!toria to the tine harbor of Esquimalt, with its pretty village, off" lying fleet of ships. Graving Dock, kv., is a delightful drive or walk; so is the one to the Gorge, a picturesque romanti(! spot, situ- ated about the same distance from the City. It may al.,o be visited by a small boat through a charming inlet extending from Victoria almost to E^^luimalt. To C'adboro Bay, re- turning by the Government House, l{act> Course, and Beacon Hill, a distance of about eight miles, affords a splendid excursion. Excellent macadamized roads lead from thrtse to twenty miles into the country in all directicms. Victoria is central in one of the be.st fields for hunting and fishing of which I have any knowledge. Deer and other large game abound on Vancouver Island, and within a short distance of the city. All kinds of watt'r fowl are numerous, and the streams and lakes are full of trout. It is only a few hours vide by steamer amidst magnificent scenery to the most im- portant places in the Province, New Westminster, Port Moody and Nanaimo — and to the principal towns of Puget Sound — Port Townsend, Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia- Steamers also rim among the beautiful islands of the Archi- pelago De Haro, and of the San Juan gi'oup, touching at their chief points of interest. Upon the comi)letion of the Cana- dian Pacific and Northern Pacific Railways, Victt)ria will be thronged with tourists and health-seekers, from all parts of East, and should lose no time in providing hotel accommoda- tions in keeping with her other un])aralled attractions. MRS. R. MAYNfARD^ Photographic Artist _^«>J'^j^-^^i!%J I'icics (/ rictorla anil liriti.sli Cohiinbki For Safe. DOUGLAS ST., VICTORIA, B. C. MANUKACTUREll AND PKAl.KR IN BOOTS and SHOBS -r^ip^ _ L h'A THER AND SHO E FINDINGS vil SEWING MACHINES t^^^'^ \ o (: Cor, Johnson and Douglas Sts., Victoria, B. C. Cash Price pnid for Hides. <^//r/// (iiHiil Fishiiii/, /iiiiitiiiy iiHtl lluntinji on the Pri'tiiimH. Ttro-r(('r!< iiiiil DciiIci'h in Groceries, Provisions, Fruit, Etc. COFFEE AND SPICL MILLS, GENERAL FFAL- LIN WAREHOUSEMEN. FORT STREET, - VICTORIA, B. O. All Hlii|)piiij,' Orders Completely mid Promptly Filled and Delivered l)er Express Van Free of Charge. ALWAYS ASK FOR FELL'S COFFEE AT THE MINES. Ml Has Theal E RealE Con^ Hoard o! ] Office ( TelephoE Real L E.J.J Joh Impor Glasi India VICTORIA ADVERTISEMENTS. nsT c Materials C<)hniilti(( , B. C. fNDJNGS INES turia, B. C. es. >:jNr, :jiials. ►'— f H NEWTON H. CHITTENDEN. TRIP NUMBER ONE. From Victoria to Yale, the head of navigation on the Frnser River, tcith Capt. John Irving, on the steamer li. P. Bithet. Through the Archipelago De Haro, Plumper Pass, Gulf of Georgia, and South Arm of Fraser Itiver. 3[agnifcent scenery, salmon fisheries and canneries, rich delta and bottom lands. The toums of Ladner's Landing, New Westminster, Mission, Maple Ridge, Langley, Matsqui Sumas, Chilli whack, Harrison River, Hope, Emory, and Yale—S50 miles. B Fixtures Yale, B. C, 14tli Aiignst, 1882. Victoria, the beautiful capital city of the Province, is the heachpiarters and starting point of all the princijial steamboat and other lines of transportation through it. Of these, the Pioneer line of steamers to the head of navigation on the Fraser River, is one of the most important. It comprises thr(>e boats, the Wm. Irving, II. P. Ilithet and Heliance, ()\vn(Hl by Capt. John Irving and others, which run in ccm- junction' with the Hudson Bay steamers Princess Louis(>, Enterimse and Otter. I took passage on the II. P. Ivitliet, r'apt. John Irving, one of th(> lin»"st boats ui)on the waters of the North-West Coast. She is a new, powerful sten'-wheeler, 200 feet long, 39 feet wide, 81(i tons l)urden, accommodating 18 25G [iiisseugers, and having a s]ieed of 13 miles an hour. Her cabins are elegantly finished and furnished, state-rooms largt^, and table excellent. The usual time to Yale — 175 miles from Victoria — is from 18 to 22 hours on the upward, and twelve hoiu's on the downward trip, the dift'er- ence being occasioned by the sti'ong currents encountered both in the straits and river, in some places from seven to eiglit miles an hour. No passage of equal distance in the world affords a succession of more magnificent natural views. Sailing out of the fine land-locked harbor of Victoria into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, on such a glorioiis day as yester- day, presents a panorama of indescribable beauty and sublimity. The grandest mountains outUne the horizon on every hand — rising 5,000 feet from Vancouver, the snow- covered Olympian Peaks 8,000 feet— and sweeping East and Northward along the rugged Cascades the eye is arrested l)y the white crowning peaks of Mount Bakei", 10,800 feet above the sea. The intervening landscape is exceedingly pictur- esque and charming. Sailing northward, the immediate shores of Vancouver, faced wii;h a sea wall of rounded trappean rock, sparsely wooded with pine and oak, receding gradually, are interspersed with pleasant green slopes and park-like openings. The large, conspicuous mansion situated upon the commanding eminence in the Eastern suburbs of Victoria is the Government House, now occu- pied by His Honor Lieutenant-Governor Cornwall. A few days ago the Governor kindly showed me through the tine grouiuls, which afford a most magnificient view of the incimipiirably gi'and scenery of this region. Looking into Cadboro Bay — three miles from the city opposite the small, rocky islands of Discovery and Chatham, a fine little harbor of refuge— a number of well improved farms are visible. Driven in here l)y a storm in April last, crossing from San Juan Island to Victoria, I was surprised to find vegetation more advanced than in Oregon and Washington, whic I had just left. Several varieties of flowers bloom here through- out the winter. Approaching the entrance to the Canal De Haro, San Juan Island, to the North-East, first engages the attention. It is th Lopez, Henry, width o ; as ( ispi English bounda: of the nent lai •' of the numero Salt S]) Mayne taken Stuart, Pender most ri Portlan reachin Pass. Siindsto lignite, fir and above fall not tmknov mink, i and otl poisoni schoon are sai the sh( ])leasai we see] and, ji twochi tlie rig yards "of G.ui 19 hour. Her stiit(!-ro()in8 Yule— 175 rs un the the difter- jncoimteretl m seven to tance iu the tural views, ictoria into J as yester- beaiity and horizon on the snow- ug East and arrested by feet above igly pictur- diate shores ippean rock, gradually, id park-like uated u])on •n suburbs now occu- iniwall. A through the view of the looking into pposite the , a fine little s are visible, ug from San [ vegetation whii I had ne tlirough- e Haro, San e attention. It is the lai'gest of the San Juan Group — comprising Orcas, I Lopez, Blakely, Decatur, Waldron, Shaws, Stuart, Speiden, Henry, and others — being thirteen miles long, with an average widUi of about four miles. It accpiired historicid imp(;rtance as I isputed territory, having been jointly occupied by the English anil American forces from 1858 to 1873, when the boundary question was finall}' settled. The white faced clitl's of the extensive limestime quarry ot McCurdy's is a promi- nent landmark on its Southern slope. Lying to the Westward of the group, and comprising the Archipelago De Haro, are numerous Islands belonging to British Columl)ia. Of these. Salt Spring, Galiano, Saturna, Pender, Sidney, Moresby, and Mayne are the most important. The main channel, usuallj- taken by deep draiight vessels, runs between San Juan, Stuart, and Waldron on the East, find Sidney, Moresliy, Pender, and Saturna on the West ; but our route, that of most river steamers, lay between Sidney, James, Moresby, Portland, Pender, Provost, Mayne, and Galiano Islands, reaching the Gulf of Georgia through Active (u- Plunq)er Pass. Thest! islands are uniformly rock-bound, with basalt, sandstone, and ccmglonuirate formations, interspersed with lignite, rugged and irregular iu (mtline, thickly wooded with fir and s])ruce, and rising from five to fifteen hundred feet above the sea. Their climate is healthy and uniform, rain- fall not excessive, and great extremes of cold or heat are uiikncnvn. The forests abound with deer, otter, coon, and mink, and the surnmnding wat(>rs with salmon, halibut, cod, and other excellent fish. There art^ no beasts of prey, or jioisonous reptiles. Ap])roaching the Pass a steam sealing schooner and three large Chinook canoes, filled with Indians, are sailing northward. Their huts are occasionalh' se(Ui ujjon the sho)'es. A (;onsideral)le settkaiH>nt of whitt's occupy a ])leasant green slo])e on Vancouver Island at Cowichan. Tlien we seem to be advanciiig against a mountain wall of solid rock, and, just as we aic wondering most wliei'e we can be going, two channels suddenly a])pear — the left leading on to Nanainio, tlie right Plumi)er Pass — not exceeding two or three hundred yards wide in ])laces, and abouf two miles h)ng, to the (lulf of Georgia. Now we head for tli(> Delta of the Eraser River, 20 visible in the distance. The Gulf of Georgia is from nine to twenty miles in width, and one hundred and twenty miles in length. When opposite Point Roberts, the boundary' hne between British Columbia and the United States, a wide pathway cut through the timber, entirely across, is plainly seen from the steamer with the naked eye. Just before entering the South Ai-m of the Fraser Kiver we pass the Steamer Beaver, which Capt. Irving says is the oldest on the Pacific coast, having come round the Horn in 1835. She is still doing good service for her owners, the British Columbia Towing Company. The Fraser River. The third largest stream flowing into the Pacific upon the Continent of North America, rising in the Rocky Mountains, drains, with its tribiii-aries, an area estimated at 125,000 square miles, reaching from the hundred and eighteenth to the huncb'ed and twenty-fifth degi'ee of longitude. The inter- vening country embraces the greatest diversity of physical features, climates, soils, natural resources, and adaptations. East of the Cascade Range, mountains, rolling foot hills, and elevated plateaus, covered with bunch grass, sage brush, plains, forest and table lands, with occasional prairie open- ings, are its prevailing characteristics. It is rich in gold and other valuable minerals, contains extensive stock ranges of unsui-passed excellence, and large areas of arable lands ex- cellently adapted to the gi'owth of cereals, roots, and fruits generally. Irrigation is necessary over a considerable portion of this region. The summers are hot, the nights cool and sometimes fi'osfcy in the valleys and in the elevated plateaus ; the winters dry and not unfrequently severe, though the snow fall, except in the mountains, seldom exceeds two feet in depth. Crossing the Cascades its Western slopes, river val- leys, embrace the greatest variety of climates and range of pro- ductions, varying according to altitude and local sui'face con- figurations. Forests of Douglas pine, cedar, spruce, and hemlock cover a considerable portion of this region, though there are extensive bodies of excellent grazing and agricultural land. But no pe'^ora,! description can convey correct impressions concemu oxistmg i guide in Asiatic o^ ; through marked ( globe. I malarial i The jThe delt) of any ot South Ai stretch a Boundar distance Husceptib alluvial plains an for theii dyk'ng t( against li damaginj Wood, c who havt Bay estii and that the aver! their exc ing the R close at tons per for from strong, ] growing three toi and baUi m 21 111 nine to ty miles in lulMrj' line 's, a wide , is plainly ust before pass the lest on the >. She is Columbia ic upon the Mountains, at 125,000 ^hteenth to The inter- 3f physical daptations. )t hills, and lage brush, rairie open- in gold and : ranges of e lands ex- and fruits ible portion B cool and i plateaus; ih the snow wo feet in 3, river val- mge of pro- lurface con- ad hemlock bi there are Itural land, mpressions • n concerning or do justice to this region. The climatic conditions cxistmg in the same latitudes on the Atlantic coast affords no ^nide in judging of those found here The warm Asiatic ocean currents sweeping along the Western coast and tlirough the Gulf of Georgia modifies the temperature in a marked degi-ee. It is one of the healthiest portions of the gloV)e. Even the river bottoms and deltas are free from all malarial fevers. The Rich and Extensive Deltas of the Fraser River. The delta lands of the Fraser are more extensive than those of any other river flowing into the Pacific. Advancing up the South Arm, a broad, rapid, muddy steam, the tide lands stretch away for many miles on either hand, extending from Boundary Bay on the East to Point Gray on the West, a distance of thirteen miles, embracing over 100,000 acres susceptible of cultivation. Enriched by the silt and alluvial deposits of ages, brought down from the plains and mountain slopes of the interior, they are famous for their inexhaustible fertility. They generally require dykmg to the height of three or four feet, for protection against high tides, though escaping, almost altogether, any damaging effects from the spring floods. Messrs. Turner & Wood, civil engineers and sm'veyors, at New Westminster, who have recently examined a tract of 4,500 acres near Mud Bay estimate that it can be reclaimed in a body for $8000, and that from two to four dollars per acre will securely dyke the average Fraser delta land. Every one bears testimony to their exceeding fertility and durability. At Ladner's Land- ing the Rithet took on board a quantity of excellent hay, grown close at hand. The young man shipping it said that three tons per acre was the average yield, and that it sells readily for from twelve to sixteen dollars per ton. Hon. W. J. Arm- strong, M. P. P., informs me that he saw a field which, after growing timothy ten or eleven years in succession, produced three tons per acre. He estimates the cost of cutting, curing, and baling at not exceeding four dollars por ton. These delta 22 laiuls are also well adapted to oats, barley, and roots general- ly. They are offered in tracts to suit at from ten to twenty doUai's per acre, and are being rapidly reclaimed and im- proved. Mr. E. A. Wadhams and Mr. Adair have each dyked over 1,200-acre tracts, and at Ladner's Landing tliere is a prosperous settlement of farmers and stock raisers upon smaller tracts. The Salmon Fisheries and Canneries. Altlumgh salmon fishing and canning has been an important industry on the Pacific const since 1866, and during the last twt' e years has grown to immense proportions — a single firm(m the Columbia Iliver (Kinney's) canning fifty thousand cases during the season of 1881 — it is only a f(!W years since the establishment, by Eweu it Co., of the first cannery on the Fraser. Now there are thirteen — the Phoenix, English tt Co., British American Packing Co., British Union, Adair it Co., Delta, Findlay, Durham ele, a prominent druggist and a})othe- cary of Ntsw Westminster, and Meterological Observer for the Dominion Government and Signal Officer for the United States, for the following valuable notes of the mean temper- atures and rainfall at that place for a period of six years : — JTEAN T.K M P". HIOHE8T TEMP. LOWEST TEMP. RAINFALL. »4.9 37.11 4H:.i fili.H m.H - r.ti.« - 4H.9 4().» 3li.2 57 57 m 74 82 HI 02 K4 81 75 69 54 IH 21) »4 iW 45 44 42 2H 14 H 7.2« F(*V>ruHry . 6.61 Ataroti 6.77 April 2.S5 M;iy .luiiu 2 HH July I.IVI A niruHt 2.11' S*»ptomlinr K.tW r>.H;t November 7.65 Dncoinbor 7.H7 Between New Westminster and Yale, a distance 100 miles, the mail steamers not unfrequently make 26 thirty -five landings, including stoppages at railway construc- tion cam])s. Maple Hidgt^, twelve miles ; Langley, seventeen. Riverside, thirty-one ; Matsqiii, thirty-three ; Snuias, forty-one; Chilliwluick, forty-seven ; Hope, eighty-five; and Emory, ninety-five miles above, being the most important places. Langley. Though only 'a small village, ■< the oldest settlement on the river having been laid out for a town in 1858. There is a considerable tract of rich, arable land a short distance back, of wliich the Hudson Bay Company own about a thousand acres. Though the area susceptible of cultivation along the Lower Eraser is comparatively limited it comprises in tlie aggi'egate over 150,000 acres, excluding the deltas. At Matsqui there is a prairie opemng three or four miles square, aud on the right bank opposite, north of the Mission, Burton's Prairie, containing over 3,000 acres. Suiuas Prairie is estimated to contain 25,000 acres of farming lands. Surromiding Chilliwhack, A village? of al)o it twenty-five houses on the left bank, there is a large body of level, lightly timbered, alder, maple and pine wooded bottoms, enclosed by a grand ampith<>atre of mountahis. The soil is a deep clay, alluvial, exceedingly produi - tive. Mr. A. Pierce told me that the lessee of his funu, sit lated three miles back from the landing, will clear $2,000 this season from forty-eij^ht acres under cultivation. Though comprising the pinncipal farming settlement id the river, these lands are ojily about half occupied. In common with most of those described they are subject t^ occasional overflows sometimes quite disastrous. The i\ /incial Government has undertaken to protect them by dyking and will doid)tless succeed in doing so. For sixty miles from the mouth of Harrison River the Frascn- hpj little valley proper, the moun- tains rising abruptly fi-om two to five thousand feet above the 3ea, their rugged, furrowed sides sparsely covered with tildes the Ui have witliin miles ed inn Ji snii al)()^■e 2 7 construc- evfuteen, Siinias, five ; iiiid important emeut on in i8r)8. e land a apany own ■ejitiblo of ely hmik'd chiding the ee or fonr rth of the 000 acres. 1 of farming U^ft bank, •, mapio and >xtheatre of igly produi - nn,sit lated this season I comprising ■Hi lands are ost of those overflows 'rnmont has 1 donbtl OSS mouth of ', the moun- [>t above the vercd with Donglas fir, and sharply defined j^eaks with remnants of the winter snows. Th^re are occasional slopes, benches and bottoms of small extent, occupied, though the general aspect of the country, outsitie the small settlements, is a wild, unbroken wilderness. This was tin; field of the great Frasei ' llivergold excitement of twenty-four years ago, wluui miners rushed in from all parts of the world, encountering untold hardships and dangers to share in its rich treasures. The Itt'st diggings were found upon the lower benches and bars of the river, American, Murdei-er's, Texas, Emory, Hill's Sailor's Boston, Kanaka, Fargo's, Chapman's, "Wellington, and Foster's l)eing the richest. Scores of brave fellows lost their lives in attempting to reach them, in canoes and small boats, through tin; terrible rapids of the awful canyons intervening. Between Cornish and American Bars, near the mouth of the Coquhalla River, we touch at the small village of Hope, Charmingly situated upon a high bench at the base of the mountains. A trail leads from thence 100 miles North- Eastward into the rich Similkameen and Okanagan country. A silver mine, said to V)e very rich, has been discovered upon the side of the mountain within sight, upon Ihc; development of which great an<^icipi'^i(ms are l)ased. I am informed by Mr. B. C. Oleson, Supt. of the C. P.ll. R. powdcu- works, that there are good o'^enings in the up[)er Skagit Valh^y, within forty or fifty miles of Hi^pe, for thirty or forty famiiies. Salmon Ruiminp: and Catching Extraordinary. I have read, with mucii allowance, accounts of the multi- tudes of salmon sometimes seen in the smaller tributaries of the Umpcpia, Columbia, and Eraser Rivers, but, after what I have witnessed to-day, am prepared to believ(< any fish story within the limits of possibilities. Arriving at Emory, five miles Ixdow Yale, two 3'oung men from San Francisco report- ed imme\se munbers of salmon at tlie month of Emory Cn>ek, a small, rapiil mountain stream fiowing into tiie Fraser just above. Going there I fimnd it packed so full in places that I 28 coimted, wliile standing in one position upon the railroad bridge, over four hundred different salmon. Mentioning the matter to a resident, he remarked, " Oh ! that's nothing. If you want to see salmon goto the next creek beyond." Keach- ing there, after a walk of about four miles, and taking a central position upon the bridge crossing it, I counted, without moving, over 800 salmon. This stream plunges down the mountain side with a fall n{, probably, one liundred and fifty feet within a mile-irid-!.-b:Jx, being from five to fifteen yards in width. For a di; Id"!. -several rods up from its mouth , the salmon were ci. .v(iii>y m from the muddy Fraser, now again rapidly rising, almost as thick as they could swim, and in their desperate efforts to ascend the successive falls above presented a spectacle never before witnessed by the oldest native settler. Mr. John Woodwoi-th, who has lived here for twenty-four years, says he never heard of the like. The salmon is a fish of extraordinary strength and agility, and are said to jump and swim up perpendicular falls from ten to twenty feet in height. I stotxl upon the bank an liour and watched them in their desperate struggles to make the ascent of several of lesser size within sight. Of hundreds whicli made the attempt, only a few, comparatively, succeeded, but fell back exhausted, splashing au whirling among the boulders. Many were covered' '. ith ^Teat bruises, some had lost their eyes, a few lay dear U;;ai ii'e shore, others were dying, and all seemed nearly m.^kv nui. Stepping close to fi pool filled with them, I easily cauj^n' two iii my hands, which offered but little resistance. Before J- a-ing, a photographer, Mr. D. K. Judkins, of NcwWestmi'\-4tcr, anivedand took two views of the remarkable scene. M^. Dani»;l Ashworth, wife and family were also present. Beaching Yale I told a hotel- keeper about it, estimating the salmon at thousands. •' Thousands ! " he exclaimed, almost with indignation, " Why, there are millions of them i* v running up the Fraser within a few miles of town." Ge;*"i ,, nboard Mr. Onderdonk's con- stniction train I rode along d • :• er, fifteen miles to the end of track. Millions was prob;i,( ly nut much of an exagger- ation, for although the river was quite muddy, schools ot |if\'Tnoii, uu il»eriiig thousands each, coidd be seen from the 29 e railroad ioiiing the )thiiig. If Reach- g a ceutral \, without down the \ and fifty toen yards its mouth , raser, now swim, and falls above ■ the oldest lived here like. The ity, and are from ten to hour and i the ascent reds which needed, but among the 3, some had athers were ; close to p. ands, which otographer, nd took two th, wife and Id a hotel- thousands, ion, " Why, •aser within •donk's con- ^ to the end an exagger- , schools ot len from the i platform of the cars, at short intervals, the entire distance. The Indians were catching and drying them in large quanti- ties. Standing upon the edge of per[)endicu]ar projecting ledges, they capture the largest and finest specimens, either by means of hooks or scoop-nets, di-ess them upon the spot and hang them up on long poles to dry in the wind and sun. When suflaciently cured they are packed in caches made from cedar shakes, and suspended for safe keeping among the branches of trees from twenty to fift^' feet ab(jve the ground. It is the opinion of those familiar with the habits of the salmon, that not one in a thousand succeeds in depositing their spawn, and that if hatching places were ])rovided uptm tlieso streams, and protected that they could scarcely be exhausted, under proper restrictions as to catching them. On the morn- ing of the 15th I reached Yale, The head of navigation on the Eraser River, a town of several liundred inhabitants and buildings sitiiated upon a narrow l)ench, surrounded by mountains of striking grandeur, rising precipitously thousands of feet among the clouds. In the eiirly days of the goy discoveries in this region, Yale present- ed those scones of wild dissipation and reckl<>ss extrava- gance oiilj witnessed in great and rich mining camps. An old miner, who was stopped from working his claim when I)aying from sixteen to twenty dollars per day, because encroaching upon the city front, told me that he seldom cleaned up without finding gold pieces which had been dropped from the overflowmg pockets of men intoxicated with li({uor, and excitement. It was nothing uncomuKm in those times to spend fifty dollars in a single treat around at the bar. It is now an orderly place, siipporting churches schools, and a weekh' paper, the Inland Sentinel, by Mr. M. Hagan — the extreme North-Western publication up Caui I)roperty maintain agreed .S25,000,( as follow 1,350 nil (550 mile Ist 900 2iul 450 (1.10 IillU Up 3 3 ujiou tlic uled upon east of the work of 1 ill 1874, but from lau eleven smveyed e thereto, ally bee r-General, 3 speech at iky Moun- itract and mada and ind James if London, le, forming ite, for the ian Pacific rtion of the jctions, the last end of I'ior section le Eastern 11 the Red Eiver, was iding from e Western construct) 4 ft. 8,^ hi., y of May, rnmeiit the les of road of Winni- I complete iiloops and le and Port Moody on or before the first day of May, 1891, and the Ijake Superior seeticm according to contract. The railway, as con- structed under the terms of the agi'eement, becomes the ])ioperty of the company, and jiending the comjiletion of the Eastern and Central sections the possession and right to work and run the several portions of the railway already constnicted, f)r as the same shall be completed, is given by the Goverii'ient to the com])any. I'pon the completion of the Eastern and Central sections the (T(jveruim'nt agreed to convey to the company (exclusive of o(|uipmeiit) tho.se portions of the railway constructed, or to bt; constructed by the Government, and upon completion of the remainder of the porti(m of railway to be constructed by the Government, to convey the same to the company, and the Canadian Pacific Eailwav thereafter become the absolute j)roiierty of the company, which agreed to forever efficiently maintaiii, work, and run the same. The Government further agreed to grant the company a subsidy in money of $'25,000,000, and in land of 25,000,000 acres, "to be subdivided as follows :,— monp:y suiJsiiiY— centual section. 1,350 miles.— 1st 000 miles, at $10,000 per mile. .$ 9,000,000 2nd 450 " 13,333 " .. (5,000,000 $15,000,000 EASTKUN SECTION. (550 miles at $15,384 Gl $10,000,000 $25,000,000 LAND SUBSIDY — CENTUAL SECTION. 1st 900 miles at 12,500 acres per mile 11,250,000 2nd 450 " IG.OOO.GT acres " 7,500,000 18,750,000 EASTERN SECTION. <;50 miles at 9,015.35 iicres per mile 6,250,000 25,000,000 Upon the construction and completion of, and regular 84 running of trains npon any portion of the railway, such as the traffic Khoulil require, not less than twenty miles in length, the Government agreed to pay and grant to the company the subsidies applicable thereto. The Governmcic also gi-auted to the company the lands required for the road-bed of the railway, and for its stations, station grounds, work shops, dock ground, and water frontage, buildings, yards, etc., and other appui-tenances required for its convenient and effectual construction and operation, tuid agreed to atlmit, tree of duty, all steel rails, fish plates, spikes, bolts, nuts, wire, timber, and all material for britlges to be iispd in the original construction of the railway and of a telegraph line in connection therewith. The Company's Land Grant. Comprises every alternate section of 640 acres, extending back twentj^-foiir miles deejj on each side of the railway from Wmnpeg to Jasper House, and where such sections (the uneven numbered) are not fairly fit for settlement on account of the prevalence of lakes and water stretches, the deficiency thereby caused to make up the 25,000,000 acres, may be selected by the company from the tract known as the fertile belt lying between parallels 49 and 37 degrees of North lati- tude or elsewhere, at the option of the company, of alternate sections extending back twenty-four miles deep on each .side of any branch lin(*, or line of railway by them located. The company may also, with the consent of the Government, select any lands in the North- West Territory not taken up to supply such deficiency. The company have the right, from time to time, to lay out, construct, equip, maintain, and work branch lines of railway from any point or points within the territory of the Dominion. It was further agreed by the Dominion Parliament that for the period of twenty years no railway should be constructed South of the Canadian Pacific Railway, except such hne as shall run South-West or to the Westward of South-West, nor to within fifteen miles of lati- tude forty-nine degrees, and that all stations, and station grounds, workshops, buildings; yards, and other property, rolling stock, and Jippurtenances required and used for the 35 Huch as in length, pany the ^•iiuteil |t'(l of the k shops, et(!., and eftectual se of duty, mber, and nstniotion thorevvith. extending ilway from jtions (the on account deficiency 38, may be the fertile North lati- ;)f alternate I each aide ated. The ovemment, ;aken up to right, from intain, and )ints within reed by the ty years no liau Pacific t or to the iles of lati- md station r property, ised for the construction and working thereof, and the capital stock of the company shall be forever free from taxation by the Dominion, or by any Province hereafter to be (istablished, or by anj' Municipal Corporation therein, and the lands of the company in the North- West Territory, until tliey are either sold or oc- cupied, shall also bo free from such taxation for twenty years after the grant thei'eof from the Crown. The Great Work of Building the Railway Through the Cascade Mountains. Soon after the consumation of the agreement. Mr. A. On- derdonk, an experienced railroad builder, became the man- aging contractor for the construction of that portion of the Western division extending from Port Moody to Savonas Ferry, a distance of two hundred and twelve miles, ably assisted by E. G. Tilton, Superintendent and Chief Enginer, John P. Bacon, Chief Commissarry, Geo. F. Kyle, Assistant-Superintendent, and other gentlemen. It presented greater difficulties than have ever been overcome in railway building. The Union and Central Pacific and other lines have gone over the mountains by gradual ascents, but no such way of climbing the Cascades was possible, and the wonder- ful undertaking of runnmg throinjli them parallel with the great canyon of the Eraser, was determii. jd upon. For nearly sixty miles from Yale to Lytton, the river has cut through this lofty range, thousands of feet below the summits. Moun- tain spurs of granite rock, with perpendicular faces hundreds of feet in height, pi'oject at short intervals along the entire passage. Between them are deep lateral gorges, canyons .and plunging cataracts. On this sixty n)iles of tunnels rock -vork and bridges, the greater portion of Mr. Onderdonk's con- struction army of 7,000 men have been engaged since 1880" The loud roar of enormous discharges of giant powder has almost constantly reverl)erated among the mountains. Fifteen tunnels have been bored, one 1,600 feet in length, and mil- lions of tons of rock bi^rsted and rolled with the noise of an avalanche into the mshing boiling Eraser; workmen have been suspended by ropes hundreds of feet down the perpen- 86 (liciilfir sides of tlic iiiouiitiiiuw to bliist a foot hold; Mup|ilie8 have l)eeu packed in upon the l)aeks of muh'S and horstjs, over trails whore the Indians were accustonied to use ladders, and building materials landed upon the opposite bank of the rivtu" at an enormous expense, and crossed in Indian canoes. It is estinuited that ])ortions of this work hav»' cost $'500,000 to the niih\ In a(hlition to other transportation chargers, Mr. Onderdouk pays $10 for every ton of his freight passuig over the Yale-Cariboo Wagon Road, (!xce])ting for the productions of tlie Province. As the work progresstnl tla^ cost of transportation by such means increased until Mr. Onderdonk determined to try and run a steamer through the (irand Canyon of the Fraser to the navigable waters above to sui)[)ly the advance camjjs. F(jr this purpose he built the steamer Skuzzy. Then came the difficulty of finding a captain able and willing to take her through. One after another wtnit up and looked at the little boat, then at tlw. awful canyon, the rushing river and the swift foaming rapids, and turned back, either pronouncing the ascent impossible or refusing to undertake it. Finally Cap- tains S. li. and David Smith, brothers, were sent for, both well known for their remarkable feats of steamboating on the up})er waters of the Columbia. The former ran the steamer Shoshone 1,000 miles down the Snake River through the Blue Mountains — the only boat which (ner did, or probably ever will, make the peiilous passage. He also run a steamer safely over the falls of Willamette at Oregon City. He said he could take the Skuzzy up, and prcjvided with a crew of seventeen men, including J. W. Burse, a skilful engineer, with a steam winch and capstain and several great hawsi^rs, began the ascent. At the end of seven days I found them just below Hell Gate, having lined safely through the roaring i?lack Canyon, through which the pent up waters rush like a mill-race at 20 miles an hour. Returning from my journey in the interior, I had the pleasm-e of congi-atulatiug the cap- tains up(m the successful accomplishment of the undertaking, and of seeing the Skuzzy start from Boston Bar with her first load of freight. Captain Smith said the hardest tug of war was at China Riffle, where, in addition to the engines, the steam w namen ii captains volume t of Mr. ( ties of gi Emory a — Mt^ssri mitted t( acid wor tight, th» '24 glass as l)arrel jars for Japan, jj nitro-gly were niai lbs. a da; after the oil and tl are mad^ and are f about 5( u AiK^ther Pacific I site, or s iGovernn [date tl |Caribo( jginning [the Alex jby Hon Ithence i lalong tl: jSpence' Iber fore iLa Hac 3 7 Hupplios ] 1(1 horses, se ladders, ink of the !U» i-aiioHH. $:}00,oo() laif^t^s, Mr. issiiig over roductioiiH 111 Viy Hui'h to try and Fruser to ICO camps. Then came to take h(!r it the litth' id the swift unciiif); the hially Cap- It for, both itiiig ou the the steamer ihrough the or probably II a steamer y. He said 1 a crew of giueer, with Fsers, began I them just the roaring rush like a my journey iug the cap- iiidertaking, >ar with her rdest tug of engines, the steam winch, and 15 men at the capstain, a force of 150 ("hi. namen upon a third line was recjuired to pull her ovia- ! The cajitains received S2,250 for their work. It would fill (|uite a volume to descrilxi in detail eveiitlu* more iiiiportaiit jiortions of Mr. Onderdonk's great work. All of the iininense (juaiiti- ties of giant ])owder used is manufactured on the line between Emory and Yale. Through tlie favor of the Superintendents —Messrs, Daniel Ashworth and Ji. C. Oleseii — I was jier- niitted to examine the whole of the interesting process. The acid works contained 2 Aitriol chambers, made of lead, air tight, the largest 02 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 20 feet high • 24 glass condensers for holding suljihuric acid nearly as largo IS liarrels, costing from SIK) to $40 (^aeli; 24 great earthen jars for nitric acid, and about 200 tons of brim.stone from Ja])an, and 00 tons of nitrate of soda from Chile. At the nitro-glycerine and giant cartridge works a fonuj of 10 men were manufacturing the terrible explosivcis at the rate of 1200 lbs. a day. It requires about two hours to make the powder after the sulphuric and nitric acids and the sweet gl^-cerine oil and the (!harcoal have been prepared. The cartridge cases are made fnmi strong jiaper dipped in hot paiaffino and wax, and are from f to 1 inch in diameter — 118 weighing, when filled, about 50 11)8. The Yale-Cariboo Wagon Road, Another great highway, runs parallel with the Canadian Pacific Eailwav thnmgh the Cascade Mountains on the oppo- .site, or south side of the Fraser. It was built by the Colonial Government, in 1862, at a cost of $800,000 to accommo. date the great rush to the won If if idly rich gold fields of Cariboo, and the travel and trafic resulting therefrom. Be- ginning at Yale it crosses the Fraser twelve miles above, over the Alexander wire suspension bridge, a fine structure erected by Hon. Joseph W. Tinitch, m 1803, at a cost of $42,000. From thence it follows up the left bank of the river to Lyttou, then along the Thompson to Cook's Ferry, which it crosses on Spence's Bridge up the Buonaparte, through the Green Tim- ber forests, down the San Jose, through the beautiful Lake La Hache country; again along the Fraser, across the Ques- 88 nollo then up tlio fiiinons Lij^litniiif^ Cn'i'k into tlui heart of tlio mountains and ;1" tho rirhest mining camp 400 mihis from Yak', 5,000 feet above the hivel of the sea. Over tlie steep nxmntain spurs, ami across the wild eanycms— (52 bridges in 25 miles — alonf^ the brink of frowniiif^ precipices thousands of feet above the river, anJ 3,000 feet below the; summits, it winds through the Cascade llange. Slides, avalanches, and Hoods freijuently destroy portions of it, $39,000 having been expended for re])airs upon the first 110 miles in 188'2. During the great Hood of last June the water rose within four fcset (jf the Susp^iuaion Bridge, which stands 88 feet above low water mark. Mr. Black, who has charge of the first section of the road, once saw an avahuu'he sweep entirely across the -er, above Hell Gate, onto the mountain on the oppos ide. He expended, one year, $2,500 in dealing the sn,. ,/m the first twenty-five miles of the road. I walked o\in- it by day and rode ovtn- it by night, and what, vritli the grandeur of the mountains and canyons, the two great highways which traverse them — only separated by tlie roaruig river — the Indian villages and burying grounds, the old plac(;r diggings, the tents of an army of Cliinese rail- way laborers, the long processions of great freight wagons drawn by from twelve to sixteen cattle en- mules, and hundreds of pack animals filing by, driven by Indians, carrying sup- plies into the interior, it was a journey of (fxceeding intertist- At several points there were wayside inns, orchards, gardc^ns, and meadows. Mr. H. B. Dart, of Boston Bar, and Thos. Ben- ten, of Kanaka Bar, showed me apple, i)ear, and plum trees bending under then burdens of handsome fruit. Lytton. Situated on the left bank of the Fraser, just below the mouth of the Thompson, fifty-seven miles from Yale, is the first place reached after crossing the divide, and the next largest in the interior to Barkerville. Looking at the bare, brown, rocky foothills surrounding, one wonders wiiat can support its score of business houses, hotels, and shops, and two hundred residents. It comes from various sources, the rich Lillooet country on the river above, railway construction, :}9 thri)Uph travel iiiid traffic, and tlio iitsigliboriiifj Indians. Mr. Seward and Tlios. Earl have the most extensive and valuable improved ranehes in this ncif^hhorhood, each containinj^ fine (irchards of apples, pears, cherries, pliuns, etc. Mr. Earl says he gathered $100 worth (jf apples from one tree this season, and (jne apple wiiich weighed one pound and a quarter. Here Mr. Patrick Killroy, the oldest, and most ex- tensive resident liutcher in the interior, told me that he; had killed, two, five, and six-ytsar old bunch grass f(Ml steers, which weighed, dressed, respectively, 915, 1,336, and l.-lOO pounds, and showed me the kidney of an ox weighing 09 j)ounds. Beyond Nacomin, near Cook's Ferry or Spence's Bridge, The road crosses the great mud slide, or moving mountain which a raildroad engineer said was sliding toward the river at the rate of eight feet a year. How to build a railway over this changing base, is a problem the engineers are trying to solve. I am well acquainted with Mortimer Cook, who immortalized himself, and made a fortune hero, in the days when Cariboo was rolling out her fabulous wealth, by ferrying over the armies of gold hunters rushing northward. A man of remarkable energy and exceptional ability, he rode into this country jjoor, on a mule, and out of it in good style, a few years later, worth his thousands, added to them by successful operations in the West, invested all in California, flourished, became banker and Mayor of the most beautiful city on the Southern coast, and then, in the general financial crash of 1877, turned everything over to his creditors, like a man. The place is now quite a little village, and being situated at the en- trance to the Nicola country, will always prosper. Mr. John Murray, an old time resident, owns a fine property and ranch here, upon which, in addition to excellent grains, vegetables, apples, chemes, plums, and benies, he has grown, this season, grapes, which, he says, the Marqxiis of Lome pro- nounced eoaal to any raised in the Dominion. Crossing the Thompsou River, on Spence's Bridge, I proceeded thirty miles to Cache Creek, past Oregon Jack's, and through 40 Ashcroft, Lieuteiiaut-Govenior Cornwall's splendid estate. The moun- tain valleys to the Westward contain excellent sunnner stock ranges, and the rolling river slopes, consde'^able tracts of arable land, jjroducing large crops by irrigation. The manager of the Governor's j)laco told me that they raised 19,500 ])ounds oi wheat ll-om six acres, or over fifty bushels l)er acre, and that tliirty-three bn.shels is their average yield. Afewmilesb(\y()nd, Antoine Minaberriet owns a fine ranch of 2,030 acres, with 400 in. proved, fourteen miles of irrigating ditches, where lie has made a foitune by .stock-raising. He solel $4,000 worth of cattle last year, and has 900 now on the range. Between his place and Cache Creek I came near .stepping on a rattlesnake, which gave the alarm just in time to enable me to jump tmt of reacli of its poisonous fangs. Procuring a sharp stone, and approacfhing as near as prudent, by a lucky throw I nearly severed its vtmemous head. It Avas about three feet in Ituigtii, with six rattles. They are not immerous, being seldom seen in the course of ordinary travi.'l. Ciich ; Crec.'k is situated on tlie Buo.iaparte, about six miles from the Thompson lliver. I rode through this rich, pleasant valK>v, with Mr. Thadueus Harper, -"ho owns 25,000 acres of laud, large bands of cattle and blooded horses, improv(>d farms, gold mines, floui and saw- mills, town sites, etc. It contains about 2,r)00 acres of very rich soil, principally owned by Harner, Wilson, Van Yolken- burgh, aniith f'plendid horses raised by Hon, F. J. Barnard, M. P., the largest owner in the company, upon his extensive horse ranch in the Okanagan country. These .spirited animals itre fre([uently hitched u]), wikl from the range, ahead of trained ones, and though dashing away at full gallop, up j.nd and down hills i'or miles, over the most fright- ful mountain roads, are so skillfully managed by Tiugley, Tait, Bates, and Moffit, careful and experienced drivcns, that accidents s(»ldom occur. A ride of twenty-six miles in a North-westerly dir of me.idows, and thence across Hat Creek along the shores of l)eautiful lakes (.golden bordered ' -ith the autumn foliage of the popl'ir and vine ma])le, brii>'.;sns to Clinton. It is a [)leasant villag(> of about one hundred inhabitants, two good iiuis, several stores and shops, situated at the junc- tion of the old Harri.son Iviver, Lillooet, with the Yale-Cariboo road. Within a radiuf> of thirty miles there are summei' stock ranges of considerable extent, especially in tlie Cretan Lake count>'v and Cut-oti Valley, and arable lands ])roducing annually abort ;iO,0()0 bushels of whcnt and olhcr grains. 42 fiat(i mill early fiosts fVc({iU)iitly c-nt slunt the unA iiutl vcf^c- hiltle crops, tlioiij^li this season's yield was most abniulaiit. Mr. Foster, the leading morchaut of this sec^tion, showed me a, potato ffi'owii near town which weighed two and thrtie- qnartiMs lbs. From tA\enty-tive to thirty tlionsand dollars' worth of f^old dnst is slnieed out yearly by Chinamen and Indians along tin; Fraser and tribiitaty streams within sixty mi](^s. The J'ig Slide cinail/. lo(h', owned by Mr. F. W. Foster, is re[)oi [ed immensely rieh. assaying from ^-lU to f 100 por ton. About $20,0fM) wortli of fins are jjurcliased here annualiy, principally beavei-. .V small rapid mount.iin stream flows tln'ough the village iut(. the Buonaparte. A f(!W yivirs ago it was stocked with trout, and so rapidly have they in- creased that a fellow passenger, Ml'. Andrew Gray of Victoria, lironght in forty splendid specimens after an absence not ex- ceeding two hours. For tU'ty miles lun'ond Clinton, we pur- sued a North-easterly coui'st^ over a rocky surfaced mountain ihvide between the Fraser and the Thompson, lightly wooded with fdack pine, spruce and tamarack, known as the Green TindxT. Near the summit, at an elevation of I],fin0 feet, we pass within sight of the Great Chasm, a remarkable rent in fho mountain nearly a thousand feel in depth, pi'r[>endicnlar walled, with two lakelets gleaming among the pines at the bottom. At Li iilge Creek there is a pheasant prairie opening of six or seven huiidreil acres with meadows bordei-ing, owned by Mr. Hamilton, and used for (hiirying pur|)oses. Soon we jo'<^ following down the SaJni^n ami San Jose llivcrs through The Eeautifiil Lake La Hache Country. ]t embraces an extensive scoj)e of exc('llent summer stock ranges only i)artly occupied. The winters are very sevens but tlry, and the snow fall modeiatt;. At Lake La Hacht>, a charming slie. At the loO-mile House we. stopped for a late suppcsr, fresh horses, and a few hours' rest. A tire broke out in the kitcdien of the hotcd just as we had got fairly stowed away in a far off corner r)f the se('oud .story, and sound asleep. I awoke first antl arousing my bed-fellow, Mr. Gniy, we jumpedinto our clothes d(mble-(|uick nnd explored our way through a narrow, smoky 2)assage dowji stairs. By hard work the flames were extinguished, but then; was no moi'e .sleep that night. Mr. Gavin Hamilt(Hi, for a long time an agiHit of tlie Hudson Bay Company at their es - treme North ve-steru posts, owns in conn>any with Mr. (IrifHu, besides the in 'ted, a large ranch, a store, flour mill Ac. They <'stimat(! that ,')0(),00l) lbs r)!' grain are raised in the neighbor- hood. A trail hmds sixt \ miles North-east to tin; Forks of Qucsuelle and from thence to the neigh bourhig mining camps. A rapid rid»i of 28 miles the following morning brought us to Soda Creek, A small town situated on tln^ left bank of th" Fraser at the mouth of the creek of that name. Mr. Robert MeLeese, M. P.P., and Mr. P. C. Dunlevy, are the })i iueijtal trader.s. The latter prest!nt(ul me with a potato g:owu near Mud Lake, which weighed three pounds nine ounces. Here we made i'onneetion with tlu! steannu' Victoria, owned by Mr. M