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ST 33 f iS i"f e'H<^) 3 i ^rll^ '^^f'ic^f/frf /r (7 V /V ^-4- (yfev/^ .J>..^>; ,^;v>..<. J^r,M J I ifj/^r-ft^ ^^f/f'^trf.j Mi/'/fk^^r/^,./-/,^ WELCH, RITHET & CO. Merchants and Commission Merchants, Shipping and Insurance Agents Agts. Pacific Coa^t Steamship Ws Steamers Canning Her Majesty's Mails between San Francisco and Victoria. Sailing dates from each port: 10th, 20th and 30th of each month. Agents for Imperial Fire Insurance Co. Agents for Maritime Marine Insurance Co. Agents for Reliance Marine Insurance Co. Agents for JVerv Zealand Marine Insurance Co. Agents^or Moodyville Sawmill Company OF BUERAED INLET. Advances made on consignments to our friends in Eng- land. Australia. China and Canadian markets. BEPBESENTED BY WELCH * CO., E. D. WELCH & 00 109 OaUfonU. SW, Tower Chamber, PREFACE. There is probably no portion of the North A meri- can Continent, xvithin tlie confines of government and civilization, concernimr which tlie general public lias less definite and reliable information, than British Columbia. Hitherto comparatively inaccessible, and only by tedious and expensive modes of travel, it has been known chiefly 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 sustain- 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. Jos. W. Trutch, C. M. G., F. R. G. S., M. Inst. C. E., Dominion Cov- er nmH A gt. for British Columbia, Hon. A lien 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, Loftus R. Mclnnes, M. D., Mayor of New Westminster, the British Columbia 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. Victoria, B. 0., ith November, 1882. I Ameri- Hent and (bl/'r has BrUish bhn, and h it has f.v f rap- on Bay s. Since ■ ing^ the and its rovince, hat this f outlay toe have sustain- directed ^ tourist same, I Lieut.- itch, C. m Gov- ^rancis, ef Fac- ■rs and Noah 'tus R. linster, igh its Wr.E. '», and r. C. country, the claimfton Perry and Wild Horso creeks being the inoHt 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 Kiver and other streams along the west coast of Vancouver. Silver, Copper and Iron, Are known to be widely distributed throughout the Province. Pieces of pure silver have been found from time to time in many of the mining cami>s along the Fraser, also on Cherry Creek in the Okanagan district, and at Omineca. In 1871 a rich vein of silver was discovered near Hope , t)n the Fraser River and traced for nearly halt a mile. There are deposits of copper ore upon Howe Sound, Knights and Jervia Inlets, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and at otlier points, the former said to be quite extensive. There are inexhaustible quantities of iron on Texada Island, situated in the GKilf of Georgia, about 100 miles north of the City of Victoria, amidst the great coal beds, timber supplies, 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 Timber Resources of the Province, Are very extensive, embracing many hundred thousand acres of Douglas fir lying in the West Cascade region, the choicest 6 bodioB upon Burrara and Jervis Inleta.. Mud Buy. Howe Sound, and tlu, ouHt coaBt of Vancouver Island. It attain^ an enormouH growth, and being Btraight and exceedingly tough and durable is in great demand the world over for ship Bpars and timbers. Over thirty million feet are manufac- tured into lumber annuaUy, chiefly for exportation to Asiatic, Australian, and South American ports. The pine and spinice of the interior, though much inferior in size and quality to the fir of the coast, is sufficient in both and also in quantity for all local purjioses. Fish. The waters of British Columbia teem with countless mil- lions of the choicest salmon, halibut, cod, hemng, smelt, sturgeon, whiting. &c., &c. The canning of salmon for expor- tation is akeady a very 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 fish, hemngs, and oolachans, but the other fish mentioned are as yet, except to a Umited extent, only caught forborne consumption. Fur-bearing Animals Are more numerous in this Province than in any other part of America, excepting, perhaps, portions of Alaska, having tor nearly 40 years through the Hudson Bay Company supphed the world with most of their finest furs. They comprise Bears, Beaver. Badgers, Coyotes, Foxes, Fishers Mar^ns, Mmks, Lynxes. Otters, Panthers, Baccoons, Wolves, Wol- verines, and other smaller kinds. The product of the fishenes and fnrs of the Province amounts to nearly a miUion and a half dollars annually. Stock Raising in British Columbia. British Columbia contains a very extensive area of grazing lands of unsurpassed excellence. The whole mter-Bocky Mountain Cascade Begion is specially adapted for pastoral purposes. During my recent travels through the interior of 7 id Buy, Howe id. It attains ad exceedingly Id over for Hhip 1 are mauufiuj- ition to Asiatic, pine and spmce i and quality to also in quantity I countless mil- lierring, smelt, bdmon for expor- tlic product for 00 cases. They he Indian popu- 1, herrings, and as yet, except to oaption. any other part of laska, having for )mpany supplied They comprise rishers, Martens, 18, Wolves, Wol- ct of the fisheries y a million and a umbia. e area of grazing hole inter-Bocky )ted for pastoral h the interior of the Province, I traversed hundreds of thouHiinds of acres in the Nicola, Kamloops and Okanagan Valleys and Lakt» La Hache country, covore«l with a luxuriant growth of the nutri- cions bunch grass, and saw bands of thousands of cattle rolling fat ; and way to the northwai'd in the Chilcotin, No- chaco, Wastonquah and Peace River Valleys, are vast ranges, hundrtids of milen in extent as yet almost untouched. Iiitei'- views with nil the principal stock-raisers and dealers in British Columbia confirms ray own observations that cattle raised upon the bunch grass of this region are among the finest in the woild, very large and fat, and the choicest of beeves. Mr. B. Van Volktiuburgh, 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- deus Harper whose 3,000 or 4,000 head of cattle and horses range upon his own estate of 25,000 acres, Mr. J. B. Graves at present the largest owner of fat cattle, 8,000 head, includ- ing 6,000 steers, Mr. C. M. B(!ak, of the Nicola Valley, who had just sold 1,300 for 128,000 and been offered $27,000 for the balance of his herd, Antoine Menaberriet, of Cache Creek, Victor Guillaume, W. J. Roper, Hugh Morton, M. Sullivan, Wm. Jones, John Pringle, John Peterson and W. J. Howe, of Kamloops, Wm. Fortune, of Tranquille, A. L. Fortune, James T. Steel, Cornelius O'Keefe, Greenhow, Postill and Eli Lequime, of Okanagan, and John Clapperton, Alexander Coutlie, A. VanVolkenburgh, John Gilmore, John Hamilton, and Guichon of Nicola, Patrick Killroy, of L3iitQn, and others, together the owners of three quarters of the sixty or sixty-five thousand head of cattle in the Province, agree that stock does exceedingly well in this region, increases at the rate of thirty per cent, by the herd, or ninety per cent, for those breeding; is free from disease, and subject to less loss from occasional severe winters, than from drouth on the Southern coast. Fat cattle are now in active demand, at from twenty to twenty-five dollars for two-year old, and from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars for three-year old steers, herds selling at fi'om fifteen to twenty dollars per head. The average weight of cattle upon the ranges is 550 for two-year old, 675 for three-year old, and 800 for four-year old cattle. Tlu'V foed in the oloviitfd valloyK during the Huninier, (ind in winttT |)in^ in nalUnl woria- ir latter is too Dvtir 1000 toHH hiwl no occtt- roni Ktarviition riun tli« fotnl. ; oowH, in tlio tilt-raiKoi'B now ilom Huocuiubt at of 1879-80, lio year round, generally fiilly iquired in the es. [ Columbia 8, only a small ncouver Island ps,— 100,000 in South Saanich, ^anaiino, 6,000 trict, and 3,500 including the assed fei-tility- e Queen Char- Lillooet, Cache er, Okonagan, excellent far ui- jser, Chilicotin, 3ds of miles in jreat^st choice actions. Here- int for agricul- the Canadian market on the &c. The great- ness, rhiiracter, and diversity of tht) natund resounu'M of the Frovinre, will ultimately employ a large population in their develi)pnien^ and utili/aticm, creating a great demand at good piiutiH for all kinds of farm produce. The Provincial Land Laws Provide that any person being the head of a family, a widow, or singh; man over the age of 18 years and a British Hubjeet, or any alien upon declaring his intention to be(;ome a British subject, may record an}' triuit of unoccupied, unsurveyed and unreHerved Crown Lands, not (exceeding 320 a ber of claims by purchase, but only two claims by pre-emp- tion in the same locality, one mineral claim and one other claim, and sell, mortage, or dispose of the same. The size of claims are as follows : — The bar diggings, a strip of land, 100 feet wide at high- u first become a e. .cquired, of the he unsiirveyed, ike off and file own lands may teres for$l per jivmg title by ication to pur- applicant in the iper circulating tating name of and appUed for, icuous place on )vemment office, so stake off the , and also have for sale at public ased for cash at >f age may hold a Gold Commis- at a cost of five ■or three years, the same in the I of one or more r year. > time any num» ims by pre-emp- n and one other rme. et wide at high- water mark and thence extending into the river to the lowest water level. For dry diggings, 100 feet square. Creek claims shall be 100 feet long measured in the direction of the general course of the 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 cl.iims 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, 600 feet for two, 800 feet for three, and 1000 in length for a party of four. Creek discovery claims extend 1000 feet on each side of the centre of the creek or as far as the summit. Coal lands west of the Cascade Bange 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 Range, 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 years. The Lieut.-Govemor and a Council of three Minis- ters constitute the Executive body, Hon. Robert 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 religious free- dom, free public schools, liberal homestead pre-emption and mining privle^es, are guaranteed and secured by the laws. Justice is firmly administered, good order prevails, and life and property are secure throughout the Province. So far as the government is concerned, 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 12 the Queen's daughter^ Princess Louise. There is the same freedom of opinion, and outspoken criticism of public men and measures; elections are conducted with 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 portraits of George and Martha Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Sheridan, Garfield, and other distinguished Americans, are often seen hanging upon the walls of both pubho and private houses in all parts of the Province, together with those of members of the Royal family.' The population is quite cosmopolitan and liberal in their views. Stopping at an mn in the interior recently, it was found that each of the seven white persons present, represented a different 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 interesting study for the ethnologist. They are eleven in number evidently of Asiatic origin, comprising altogether about 35,000 souls, —the Tsimpsheean's, Quacke- weth, and Hydah nations being the most populous. The West Vancouver and the Hydah Indians of Queen Charlotte Island were formerly quite hostile to the whites, having cruelly mur. dered several ship crews cast upon their shores ; but through the influence of missionary training, several severe chastise- ments by English gunboats, and their humane liberal treat- ment by the general government, they are now quite friendly I have visited most of the principal tribes' during the 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 th3 Queen Charlotte Hydah's are fairly good looking, and well formed, though it would require an exceedingly fertile and romantic ima^nation to discover among these people a single specimen of the beauti- ful Indian maiden, we have all read about, but whom so few, IS e is the same of public men 9 same partisan United States, feeling toward e and Martha leld, and other iging upon the 11 parts of the of the Royal an and liberal (rior recently, it arsons present, »ular feeling is present Provin- amen upon the Columbia inologist. They gin, comprising leean's, Quacke- ilous. The West charlotte Island ing cruelly mur. 98 ; but through severe chastise- ae liberal treat- ir quite friendly during the past ioeiv6d in their in stature and harlotte Hydah's hough it would imagination to en of the beauti- ut whom so few, have ever seen. They are almost entirely self-supporting, depending not alone upon the wonderful rish and game sup- plies of this region, but in many instances cultivating farms and raising cattle and horses. Large numbers are also em- ployed by the salmon fisheries and canneries, lumber mills, steamboat Unes, and railroad contractors, and are considered superior to Chinese laborers. Mr. Duncan's remarkable work at MeHakatlah, where he has colonized over a thousand of the Tsimpsheans, who now live in good houses, worship m a $10,000 church of their own erection, school their children, operate a salmon cannery, a sawmill, and eng^e in other self supporting pursuits, demon- strates the possibilities attainable by well directed efforts for their civilization upon a Christian basis. The Principal Cities, Towns and Settlements in British Columbia Are Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Wel- lington, Oomox, Fort Rupert, and Sooke, on Vancouver Island , New Westminster, Port Moody, Moodyville, Hast- ings, Granville, Langley, Sumass, Chilliwhack, Hope, Emory; Tale, Lytton, Lillooet, Cache Creek, Cook's Ferry, Clmton, Lake La Hache, Soda Creek, Quesnelle, Stanley, Barkerville, Savona's Ferry, Kamloops, Tranquille, Grand Prairie, Sal- mon River, Spallumcheen, Okanagan, Mission, ^Cherry Creek Similkameen, Port Essington, Rivers' Inlet, Metlakathla, Fort 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 situation on the south shore of Vancouver Island, about 60 miles from the Pacific, and 750 north of San Francisco. Its immediate surroundings are charmingly picturesque, em- bracing a beautiful harbor and inlet, pine and oak covered shores and rolling hiUs, with green forests of fir and pine clad mountains in the neto back groimd. The distant view is one of exceeding grandeur, comprising the loftiest peaks of the 14 Olympic and Cascade Mountains. A person unfamiliar with the marvelous progress ot civilization in the new world sur- veying its busy marts of trade, ships of commerce laden w'.th 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 first 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 great 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 reasonably be expected when all railway communication shall be established with the East and the coimtry opened to immigration and capital. Victoria is provided with all the concomitants of the pro- gressive cities of our times — good religious and educational advantages, three newspapers, the Coloniit, Standard and Evening Post, a public library, and the usual benevolent orders, an able and active Board of Trade, gas and water works, efficient police and fire departments, a beautiful public park, and a well ordered government. ;i( Victoria as a Summer Resort for Tourists and Health Seekers. Nature has awarded to Victoria, the most attractive and interesting situation and surroundings, of any city on the north Pacific Coast. Possessing a most enjoyable, invigorating and 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 grander panorama of 16 nfamiliar with lew world sur- irce laden w'.th inufacturing in- d private build- ;8 are the crea- it only a gener- ly first planted only the begin' ich awaits Vic- fhich she holds r development, laboring under ness from the products exces- their enormous ly be expected •Ushed with the .nd capital, ants of the pro- 9ind educational Standard and 3ual benevolent , gas and water beautiful public fourists and t attractive and city on the north invigorating and b the sublimest iget Sound and ncouver and the id wonderful in a of the earth's ier panorama of resort. Her drives are unsuipassed, both in respect t. fl . excellence of the roads, andthe beautvnf fl. '^^''P''*'* * "»*' which they pass. The tlnJ'':l:7'!:'^rZ7 t'''^' Moody and Nanaimo-and r^^L Westminster, Port Sound-Pnrf TV. ^ o ^ pnncipal towns of Puget tion, in keeping wi.t W 0^:.^!^^ ^J^^"'^ Travels in British Columbia BY NEWTON H. CHITTENDEN. TRIP NUMBER ONE. From Victoria to Yale, the head of navigation on the Fraser River, toith Capt. John Irving, on the steamer B. P. Bithet. Through the Archipelago De Haro, Plumper Pass, Ovlf of Georgia, and South Arm of Fraser Biver. Magnificent scenery, salmon fisJieries and canneries, rich ddta and bottom lands. The towns of Ladner's Landing, New Westminster, Mission, Maple Bidge, Langley, Matsqui, Sumas, C hillitohack, Harrison Biver, Hope, Emory, and Yale — 350 miles. Yale. B. C, 14th August, 1882. Victoria, the beautiful capital city of the Province, is the headquarters and starting point of all the principal steamboat and other lines of transportation through it. Of these, the Pioneer line of steamers to the head of navigation on the Fraser Biver, is one of the most important. It comprises three boats, the Wm. Irving, B. P. Bithet and Beliance, owned by Capt. John Irving and others, which run in con- junction with the Hudson Bay steamers Princess Louise, Enterprise and Otter. 1 took passage on the B. P. Bithet, Capt. John Irving, one of the finest boats upon the waters of the North- West Coast. She is a new, powerful stem-wheeler, 200 feet long, 39 feet wide, 816 tons burden, accommodating 18 250 pusHcugers, ojkI having ii speed of 13 miles an hour. Her cabins are elegantly finished and furaishod, state-rooms largit, and table excellent. The usual time to Yule — 175 miles from Victoria — is from 18 to 22 hours on the upwHjd, and twelve hours on the downwaril trip, the difler- ence being occasioned by the strong currents encountered both in the straits and river, in some places from seven to eight 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 glorious 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 by the white crowning peaks of Mount Baker, 10,800 feet above the sea. The intervening landscape is oxceeitingly pictur- esque and charming. Sailing northward, the immediate shores of Vancouver, faced with 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 fine grounds, which a£ford a most magnificent view of the incomparably grand 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 by 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, which 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. 19 I, nil hour. Her Htatc-ruoins to Yule— 175 loui'H on the rip, the ilifler- ts encountered from seven to distance in the natural views. ' Victoria into day as yester- e beauty and the horizon on ver, the snow- Bping East and is arrested by ,800 feet above edingly pictar- imediate shores trappean rock, ling gradually, and park-like situated upon stem suburbs », now occu- Comwall. A le through the nt view of the Looking into opposite the am, a fine little irms are visible, tssing from San find vegetation >n, which I had I here through- De Haro, San I the attention. It is the largest of the San Juan Group — comprising OrciiH, Lopez, Bhikely, Decatur, Waldron, Shaws, Stuart, Speiden, Henry, and others — being thii-toen miles long, with an average width of about four miles. It acquired historical importance as disputed territory, having been jointly occupied by the English and American forces from 1858 to 1873, when the boundary question was finally settled. The white faced (iliffs of the extensive limestone quarry ot McCurd^ 's is a ])romi- uent landmark on its Southern slope. Lying to the AVestward of the group, and comprising the Archipelago De Haro, are numerous Islands belonging to Bntish Columbia. Of these. Salt Spring, Galiano, Satimia, Pender, Sidney, Moresby, and Mayne are the most imp(s, sage brush, il prairie open- ich in gold and took ranges of rable lands ex- ots, and fruits derable portion ights cool and ated plateaus; lough the snow Is two feet in opes, river val- id range of pro- ial surface con- se, and hemlock ongh there are ricultural land, ct impressions concerning or do justice to this r«gion. The climatic conditionn existing in the same latitudes on the Atlantic coast affords no guide in judging of those found h«!re. The warm Asiatic ocean currents sweeping along the Western coast and through the Gulf of Georgia modifies the temperature in a marked degree. It is one of the healthiest portions of the globe. Even the river bottoms and deltas are free from all malarial feveis. 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 iUho woll iulii]it<'«l tooutM, Imiioy, iiiul rootn Kriil- \y. Tlu'y iini ottVr.ul in triirtH t«> miit ut front ttni to twtaity ilollars per iicro, and ui-u bttin^ mpidly rucliiiuu'tl and iin- provt'd. Mr. E. A. Wudliiinm and Mr. Adair havt* viu-h dyked ()V«>r l,20<)-a(*r(t tractH, and at Ladni'r'H Landing tli(*rt> \n a prospi>ronH Htittleiueut of fariuori* and Htock riiiuerM upon HUialler triu^tH. The Salmon Fisheries and Canneries. Although Halmon HHhing and canning has btutn an important induHtry on the Paritic oouHt nince 18(>(), and during tiio liiHt twi'lvtt yearn hnn grown to inuueuHu proportiouH — a ninght firnion tlie Cohiinbiu Biver (Kinuey'H) canning Hfty thouHand cdHes during tlie Heason of 1881 — it is only ft few years since the eKtablishment , by Ewen &. Co., of the first cannery on the Eraser. Now there are thirteen — the Phoenix, English & Co., British American Packing Co., British Union, Adair & Co., Delta, Findlay, Durham & Brodie, British Coluud>ia Packing Co., Ewon & Co., Laidlaw & Co., Standard Co., Haighife Son, and the Richmond Packing Co., their aggregate product diiiiug the present season amoiiuting to not less than 230,000 cases. The fish of Northern waters are of superior quality, and their ranges for hatching and feeding so extensive and excellent that the salmon, especially if protected by the Gov- ernment, « ill constitute one of the great permanent resources of this region. Before proceeding far up the Eraser we meet the advance of the numerous fleet of salmon fishing boats which throng the river for a distance of fifteen miles from its mouth. They are from twenty-two to twenty-four feet in length, and from five to six feet wide, each frirnishcd with a gill net, made of strong linen, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred fathoms long, and about forty half- inch meshes deep, and manned by two Indians. The steamer stopping to discharge and receive freight at a small settlement on the left bank, at Ladner's Landing, consisting of the Delta salmon fishery and cannery and McNeely and Buie's store and hotel, afforded an opportunity to visit 28 (I rootH ^nil> nil t(*ii to twenty liiiiii«>«l Hiul iiii- iuv« eiu;li dyked idiii^ tliero iH II :!k raiHura upon inneries. m an iinportunt during tlio liiHt rtioiiH — a Hinglo ^^ fifty tliouHiiud low youVH since i ciiunory on the c, EugliHliA' Co., )n, Adttir & Co., lumbia Packing o., Haigh & Son, ;;regate ])roduct ms than 230,000 nperior quality, o extensive and ted by the Gov- aneut resources the Fraser we salmon fishing of fifteen miles to twenty -four each fiirnishcd ae hiuidred and »out forty half- The steamer imall settlement Jig of the Delta id Biiie's store The Delta Cannery. The largeHt in Di-itish Coluiiihia. (7(ininiting, over 800 salmon. This stream plunges down the mountain side with a fall of, probably, one hundred and fifty feet within a mile-and-a-half, being from five to fifteen yards in width. For a distance of several rods up from its mouth , the salmon were crowding in 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 Woodworth, 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 stood upon the bank an hour and watched them in their desperate struggles to make the ascent of several of lesser size within sight. Of hundreds which made the attempt, only a few, comparatively, succeeded, but fell back exhausted, splashing and whirling among the boulders. Many were covered with great bruises, some had lost their eyes, a few lay dead upon the shore, others were dying, and all seemed nearly worn out. Steppmg close to a pool filled with ihem, I easily caught two in my hands, which offered but little resistance. Befoife leaving, a photographer, Mr. D. B. Judkins, of Nev/ Westminster, arrived and took two views of the remarkable scene ; Mr. Daniel Aishworth, wife and family were also present. Beaching Yale £ told a hotel- keeper about it, estimating the salmon at thousands. •'Thousands!" he exclaimed, almost with indignation, "Why, there are millions of them now running up the Fraser within a few noiles of town." Getting aboard Mr. Onderdonk's con- struction train I rode along the river, fifteen miles to the end of track. Millions was probably not much of an exagger- ation, for although the river was quite muddy, sohoob ot salmon, numbering thousands each, could be seen from the 29 the railroad entioning the nothing. If id." Reach- ciiig a central ited, without down the [red and fifty ifteen yards n its mouth , Fraser, now d swim, and e falls above )y the oldest 8 lived here e like. The lity, and are from ten to u hour and e the ascent hreds which ceeded, but among the s, some had others were I close to a Etnds, which otographer, ad took two th, wife and d a hotel- thousands, on, "Why, iser within lonk'soon- tothe end (D. exagger- schoola of n from the platform of the cans, at short intervals, the entire distance. The Indians were catching and drying them in large quanti- ties. Standing upon the edge of perpendicular projecting ledges, they captured the largest and finest specimens, either by means of hooks or scoop-nets, diess them upon the spot and hang them up on long poles to dry in the wind and sun. When sufficiently cured they are packed in caches made from cedar shakes, and suspended for safe keeping among the branches of trees from twenty to fifty feet above the groimd* 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 provided upon these streams, and protected that they could scarcely be exhausted, under proper restrictions as to catcliing them. On the morn- ing of the loth I reached Yale. The head of navigation on the Fraser Biver, a town of several himdred inhabitants and buildings situated upon a narrow bench, surroimded by mountains of striking grandeur, rising precipitously thousands of feet among the clouds. In the early days of the gold discoveries in this region, Yale present- ed those scenes of wild dissipation and reckless extrava- gance only witnessed in great and rich mining camps. An old miner, who was stopped from working his claim when paying 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 frt>m the overflowing pockets of men intoxicated with liquor, and excitement. It was nothing uncommon in those times to spend fifty dollars in a single treat around at the bar. It is now an orderly place, supporting churches schools, and a weekly paper, the IrJand Sentind, 1)y Mr. M. Hagan — ^the extreme North- Western publication upon the Oontinent. There is still paying placer mining on the river bench opposite, though the place derives its main support from the construction of the 0. P. B. B., traffic with the interior, and through travel. 80 The Qrand Scenery of the Cascade Region. The grandest scenery on the Western slope of the Conti- nent is formed by the passage of its great rivers through the Cascade Bange. When I looked with wonder and admira- tion upon the stupendous architecture of the mountains through which the Columbia has worn her way by the flow of unknown ages, I thought surely this scene can have no parallel ; but ascending the Fraser Biver, above Tale, moun- tains just as rugged, lofty, and precipitous, present their rocky, furrowed sides ; a stream as deep, swift, and turbulent, rushes headlong to the sen, between granite walls hundreds of feet in height, above which rise, by every form of rocky embattle- ment, tower and castle, and terraced slope which the imagination can conceive, the snow-co^^ered peaks of the Cascades. Qreat broad, deep paths, have been worn down the mountain sides by the winter avalanches ; crystal streams come bounding over their narrow rocky beds, sometimes leaping hundreds of feet, as if impatient to join the impetuous river below, enormous rocks stand out threateningly in the channel, over and around which, the waters boil and foam with an angry roar ; and thus above, and below, and on every hand for more than fifty miles, extends this sublime exhibition of nature. TBIP NUMBER TWO. From Victoria to BarkerviUe, Cariboo, via New Wtstminster, Yale, Boston Bar, Lytton, Cook's Ferry, Ashcro/t, Cache Creek, Clinton, Soda Creek, and Quesnede. Returning through the Kamloops, Okanogan, SpoXlnmcheen, and Nicola Country — 1,682 miles. On the 9th of September, two days after returning from Alaska, I took passage on the steamer Western Slope for New Westminster, en route for Cariboo. Capt. Moore, com- manding, is one of the pioneers in the steamboat navigation of 31 eglon. )f the Conti- through the and admira- I mountains >y the flow can have no Tale, moiin- their rocky, lent, rushes ds of feet in Y embattle- which the laks of the m down the ital streams sometimes ) impetuous ingly in the I and foam nd on every e exhibition Veaiminster, crofty Cache Returning cheen, and roing from Slope for )ore, com- vigation of the waters of British Columbia. In 1858, at the breaking out of the Fraser River gold excitement, he built and run the Blue Boat as far as Yale, clearing $3,500 in five weeks. Four years later, during the nish to the Stickeen River, he earned, with his little boat the " Flying Dutchman," $14,000 in seventy-five days, receiving $100 per ton for carr}'ing freight from Fort Wrangel to Olenora, a distance of 160 miles. Upon the discovery of the rich Omineca diggings in 1870, he placed two boats upon Stewaii and Tatlah Lakes, 800 miles in the interior. His next venture was gold mining at Cassiar, where himself, and his sons John, William, and Henry, washed out $36,000 in a little over five months. Then he built the steamers Alexandria and Western Slope for the East Coast trade. The latter, a staunch, powerful steamer of 850 tons burden, and good accommodations for thirty cabin passengers, makes bi-weekly trips between Victoria and Yale, touching at intermediate ports. At New Westminster we transferred to the Gertrude, a swift steamer, running on the Fraser between that place and Yale. Mr. Lipsett, managing agent, informs me that she will probably return to her former route on the Stickeen River, next spring. Arriving at Yale, I proceeded at once to the office of the British Columbia Express to secure a seat in the stage leaving for Cariboo, 385 miles north, the following morning. As I en- tered, Mr. Dodd, the obliging agent, gravely remarked to a clerical gentleman who was anxious to express a small parcel, that there was'nt room on the stage for a tooth-pick. I did not much regret the detention, for it gave me an opportunity to examine the most stupendous undertaking in railway build- ing on the North American continent, the construction of The Canadian Pacific Railroad Through the Cascade range of mountains. My readers are probably more or less familiar with the history of the progress of this great iron highway across the northern portion of the continent. The necessity for such a road through the several Provinces of the Dominion for their better security and mor« rapid development becoming apparent, in 1871 surveying paz< 1. 1 32 ties were sent out to explore the comparatively unknown region through which, if possible, it should pass, and report upon the most favorable route. Over $3,600,000 has been expended upon these preliminary surveys. The location of the road east of the Rocky Mountains being^ much the less diiBcult, the work of construction was commenced on the Eastern section in 1874, and 264 miles completed and in operation in 1880 ; but from the Bocky Mountains to the Pacific coast no less than eleven lines, aggregating upwards 10,000 miles, have been surveyed before determining the best terminal point and route thereto. Port Moody, at the head of Burrard Inlet, has finally been selected as the Mainland terminus, and the Governor-General, the Marquis of Lome, has recently stated in a pubhc speech at Victoria, that the road will probably cross the Bocky Moun- tains by the Kicking Horse Pass. In 1880 a contract and agreement was made between the Dominion of Canada and John 8. Kennedy of New York, Bichard B. Angus and James J. Hill of St. Paul, Minn., Morton, Bose & Co. of London, England, and John Beinach & Co. of Paris, France, forming an incorporated company, known as the Syndicate, for the construction, operation, and ownership of the Canadian Pacific Bailway. By the terms of this agreement, that portion of the railway to be constructed was divided into three sections, the first extending from Callander Station, near the east end of Lake Nipissing, to a junction with the Lake Superior section then being built by the Government, was called the Eastern section ; the second, extending from Selkirk, on the Bed Biver, to Kamloops, at the Forks of the Thompson Biver,wa8 called the Central section, and the third, extending from Kamloops to Port Moody at Burrard Inlet, the Western section. The company agreed to lay out, construct* and equip in running order, of a uniform guage of 4 ft. 8 J in., the Eastern and Central sections by the first day of May, 1891. The company also agreed to pay the Government the cost, according to existing contract, for the 100 miles of road then in course of construction from the city of Winni- peg Westward. The Government agreed to complete that portion of the Western section between Kamloops and Yale by June 30th 1885, and also between Yale and Port 33 wn region upou tlje idod upon sastofthe I work of I in 1874, but from on eleven surveyed s thereto, illy been -General, speech at cy Moun- tract and oada and ad James London, I, forming e, for the in Pacific ion of the tions, the st end of ar section I Eastern the Bed Jiver,wa8 ling from Western construct, ft. 81 in., of May, imeut the s of road f Winni- complete oops and and Port Moody «'n orboforo the "first day of May, 1891, and tht> Lake Superior section according to contnud. T\w railway, as con- structed under the terms of the agi-c(nn Oovtirnmont also j^antcil to the company the huulw recpiiriMl for iho lojul-beil of the railway, and for its stations, station ^roiinds, work shopn, dock f(ionnd, and water frontajTo, buililings, yards, tstc., and other appnrtenanees retpiired for its convenient and offeotuai construction and operation, and ajj^roed to admit, tree of duty, all steel rails, fish plates, spikes, bolts, nuts, wire, timber, and all material for bridjj;es to Xw us<(l in the orij^nal constniction of the railway and of a telegraph line in connection therewith. The Company's Land ttrant. Comprises every alteniate section of 640 acres, extending bat> voiupativ shiiU Ixi foi'DVc^'frcu tVoiii taxiitioii Ity tli<> ])(>iiiiiiioii, or by any I'roviiuu) luTt'iifhT to \w «'Htiil>lisln(l, or liy iiny Miinicipul Corporiitioii tlirn'iii, and tlit> Imuls of tli* coiiipuiiy in th«( North- Went Tt'i-ritoiy, until tli>y uni j-ithrr sold or oc- taipiod, shall also he fi-(!<> fioni siich taxation for twunty ycai'M aftiir the grant thereof from the Crown. The Great Work of Building the Railway Through the Cascade Mountains. Soon after the conHuniution of the agreement, Mr. A. On- <1erdonk, an (sxperienced railroad huilder, became the man- aging eontrae.tor fen* thtt construction of that portion of the Westeni division extending from Port Moody toSavonas Ftirry, u distiuice uf two luuab'ed and twelve miles, ably assisted by E. G. Tilton, Su])erintendent and Chief Enginer, John P. Bacon, Chief C(ii packtMl ill ii|miii tlitt hiirkH of inuIi'H iiiiil liorHrM, ovrr tiiiilM wliKiT tln' IiidiiiiiH were iircUHtoiiK'tl lo uho liiddHrH, Hiid Ituildiiig iimtrrialH liiiid«>d u|Miti th<< oppoHitc Ituiik of tlio river at an oiioniiouH cxpciiHiv loid cM'oHKrd in Indiiiti cniiods. It is UHtitnatrd tliat ]M)i'ti(iiiH of thin work 1ihv«' ctint f'JOO.CXM) to tli«> mile. Ill iul(titioii to oth«>r traiiHportiitioii chnr^eH, Mr. Ouderdonk |)ays #10 for every ton of liiM freight puHsiiig over the Yale-(^ari)M)(> Wagon Road, (excepting for the prodmtionK of the Provim?©. Ah the work progroHHed tlie ooHt ni tratiKportrttion l»y Hiufh nieaiu; iiuTeiiHed until Mr. Onderdoiik d(>termini>d t<» tr}' and ran aHt of ir>()('lii. r.iiMH'ii ii|)<)ii II lliinl liiif wiih i'<'i(iiit-ril t<> pull hor omt! The ciiptaiiiH rncitiviMl f'i.'ioO for tlu'ir work. It woiiM fill (|iiit<) a VMhinii< to (li'Mcrilxt in dt'tail <'vt>ntii«- tiion> iinpoitaiit portioiiH of Mr. < )iHlt'r(lonk'>' ^rcat work. All of tlu^ initiicMHt* ipianti- tit'H of^iaiit powder iiHed iw niaiiiifiietureil on tin) line between Emory and Yale. Throuvjh tho fav(»r of tho SiiperintenthditH — MeKsrn, Daniel Ashworth and IJ. (). OleHen I way per- mitted to examine the whole of the intereKtiiif^ proeeHH. The tund works eontaiiied 2 vitriol chandjers, made of IcMid, air tight, the hir^^est 02 feet lonj^, 22 feet wid«s and 20 f»!et high ; 24 ghiHH condeiiHerH for holding Hulphurie acid nearly an larg.t aH harrelH, ccmting from $H0 to $40 each; 24 great earthen j'lrH for nitric acid, and nl)ont 200 tons of brimstone from Japan, and 00 tonH of nitrate of Hoda from Chile. At the nitro-glycerine and giant cartridge works a force of 10 men were manufacturing the terrihh* t^x[)loHives at the rate of 1200 lbs. a day. It reciuires about two hours to make th«) powd(>r after the suli-huric and nitric^ acids and the sweet glycerine oil and the charcoal have been propannl. The cartridge cases are made from strong paper dipped i/i hot paiatiine and wax, and are fntm |to 1 inchin diameter — 118 Wviighing, when filled, about SO lbs. The Yale-Cariboo Wae^on Road, Another great higliway, runs ]'o Wagon luming to arkerville >he great as Bar- nard's Express in 1860, was incorporated as the British Columbia Express Company in 1878, Mr. Frank S. Barnard, of Victoria, being its managing agent. Horses and men were used at first for its traffic over the rough and difficult mountain trails. At Boston Bar, I was told about two Indians who once sought refuge at an inn, near the Suspension Bridge, after having been covered up and roughly handled by an avalanche. As they were leaving, it was noticed that they shouldered heavily weighted sacks. Upon enquiry, it wiis found that they were each carrying eighty pounds of gold dust for the company, which they safely delivered to Mr. Dodd, its agent at Yale. But stages were substituted in 1865, and for eighteen years it has been one of the best equipped, and managed stage Unes upon the Pacific coast. It is stocked with splendid T.orses 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 are frequently hitched up, wild from the range, ahead of trained ones, and though dashing away at fall gallop, up and and down hills for miles, over the most fright- ful mountain roads, are so skillfully managed by Tingley, Tait, Bates, and Moffit, careful and experienced drivers, that accidents seldom occur. A ride of twenty-six miles in a North-wrsterly direction, fourteen up the valley of the Buonaparte Creek, lightly wooded with Cottonwood and poplar, and containing about a <;housand acres of rich arable bottoms, exclusive of meadows, and thence across Hat Creek along the shores of beautiful lakes golden bordered with the autumn foliage of the poplar and vine maple, brings us to Clinton. It is a pleasant village of about one hundred inhabitants, two good inns, several stores and shops, situated at the junc- tion of the old Harrison Biver, Tjillooet, with the Yale-Curiboo road. Within a radius of thirty miles there are summer stock ranges of considerable extent, especially in the Green Lake country and Cut-oflf Valley, and arable lands producing annually about 30,000 bushels of wheat and other grains. 42 Late and early frosts frequently cut short the root and vege- table crops, though this season's yield was most abundant. Mr. Foster, the leading merchant of this secticm, showed me a potato grown near town which weighed two and three- quarters lbs. From twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars' worth of gold dust is sluiced out yeariy by Chinamen and Indians along the Fraser and tributary streams within sixty miles. The Big Slide quartz lode, owned by Mr. F. W. Foster, is reported immensely rich, assaying from 140 to $100 per ton. About $20,000 worth of furs are purchased here annually, principally beaver. A small rapid mountain stream flows through the village into the Buonaparte. A few years ago it was stocked with trout, and so rapidly have they in- creased that a fellow passenger, Mr. Andrew Gray of Victoria, brought in forty splendid specimens after axi absence not ex- ceeding two hours. For fifty miles beyond Clinton, we pur- sued a North-easterly course over a rocky surfaced mountain divide between the Fraser and the Thompson, lightly w(X)ded. with black pine, spruce and tamarack, known as the Green Timber. Near the summit, at an elevation of 3,660 feet, we pass within sight of the Great Chasm, a remarkable rent in the mountain nearly a thousand feet in depth, perpendicular walled, with two lakelets gleaming among the pines at the bottom. At Bridge Creek there is a pleasant prairie opening of six or seven hundred acres with meadows bordering, owned by Mr. Hamilton, and used for dairying purposes. Soon we are following down the Salmon and San Jose Rivers through The Beautiful Lake La Hache Country. It embraces an extensive scope of excellent summer stock ranges only partly occupied. The winters are very severe but dry, and the snow fall moderate. At Lake La Hache, a charming sheet of water, scores of trout were seen jumping out their full length. A son of Mr. Archibald MoKinley, a former factor of the Hudson Bay Company, who owns a large stock ranch here, said that they could be caught by the boat load. On we whirl, at a seven-mile trot, through poplar open- ings interspersed with small lakes, bordered by hay meadows. At the head of Williams Lake we leave two of our passen- 48 ind vege- ibundaut. owed me ad three- dollars' kiuen and .bin sixty r. F. W. 10 to $100 ised here in Htream ew years they in- ' Victoria, e not ex- ,, we pur- mountain ly w(X)ded. ;he Green feet, we >le rent in pendicuiar les at the ie opening j9g, owned Soon we rs through try. imer stock severe but Haohe, a in jumping jKinley, a msalai^e y the boat >plar open- ' meadows, ur passen- gers, Sister Mary Clement and companion, of the St. Joseph Mission. En route from Kamloops with a settler of that sec- tion, his horses took fright, threw him out, and dashed away at full run with the Sisters for over three miles at the im- minent peril of their Uvea With remarkable presence of mind they seized the reins, sat down on the bottom of the wagon and held on for dear life. At length, but not until the horses had b^an to slacken their speed ttova exhaustion, a horseman, who had witnessed the runaway from a distance, dashed up to the rescue. At the 150-mile House w;e stopped for a late supper, fresh horses, and a few hours' rest. A fire broke out in the kitchen of the hotel just as we had got fairly stowed away in a far off comer of the second story, and sound asleep. I awoke first and arousing my bed-fellow, Mr. Gray, we jumped into our clothes double-quick and explored our way through a narrow, smoky passage down stairs. By hard work the flames were extinguished, but there was no more sleep that night. Mr. Gavin Hamilton, for a long time an agent of the Hudson Bay Company at their ex- treme North-western posts, owns in company vnthMr. Griffin, besides the hotel, a large ranch, a store, flour mill &c. They estimate that 500,000 lbs of grain are raised in the neighbor- hood. A trail leads sixty miles North-east to the Forks of Quesnelle and from thence to the neighbouring mining camps. A rapid ride of 28 miles the following morning brought us to Soda Greek, A small town situated on the left bank of the Fraser at the mouth of the creek of that name. Mr. Robert McLeese, M. P.P., and Mr. P. C. Dnnlevy, are the principal traders. The latter presented me with ft potato gnMm near Mud Lake, which weighed three pounds nine ounces. Here we made connection with the steamer Victoria, owned by Mr. McLeesei which during the Summer months runs to Quesnelle, about sixty miles above, at present the extreme North-western steamboating upon the Continent. Capt. Lane, commanding^ is a grandson of Gen. Jo. Lane, of Oregon, and well-known in ooDTieotion with daring steamboat exploits. The naviga- f^ 44 ble stretch of the Fraser abounds in subjects of interest. Numerous parties of Chinamen were seen placer mining on the bars and benches. Twenty miles out we pass Alexandria, an old Fort of the Hudson Bay Company, but now aban- doned, and a few miles beyond, the well-known Austi'ahan and Bohanan Banches, the most extensive grain forms in Northern British Columbia, raising upwards of 400,000 pounds of wheat and oats yearly, and considerable quantities of apples, plums and other fruits. Away to the Westward over the terraced pine and poplar wooded blufiis lies the Ghilcotin Country Which embraces several hundred thousand acres of rolling prairie, undulating, hghtly timbered forest plateaus, as yet unocctipied except by a few Indians, and by bands of cattle in Summer. Steaming slowly up the rapid stream, past Castle Bock, Cottonwood Canyon and the Pyramids, at 'five o'clock, p. M., the 22nd, we arrive at duesnelle. The town is very pleasantly situated on the left bank of the Fraser, at the mouth of the Quesnelle, and contains about fifty white inhabitants, fifty buildings, two hotels, several i^tores, shops, &c. The Hudson Bay Co., J. B. Skinner, J. C. F., and the firm of Beed & Hudson, carry large stocks of merchandise and do an extensive ti'ade. The Occidental Hotel, Mr. John McLean, proprietor, is one of the best in the upper country. Here we resume our joiuney by stage, and b«^fore dayli^t, the 23rd, are on the home stretch for .The Gold Fielcls of Cariboo. Twenty-two years ago the advance of the bold and hardy prospectors, following up the rich diggings of th« lower Fraser, penetrated as far north as the Forks of the Quesnelle, Here Eeithley struck it rich upon the creek of that name, and then followed in rapid succession those remarkable discov- eries which have made Cariboo so famous in the history of gold mining. Antler Creek in 1860 and Williams, Lightning, 46 interest, ning on xandria, w aban- asti'alian fanuH in 400,000 uautities iTestward the >f rolling 8, as yet of cattle am, past i, at "five ik of the ins about , several sinner, J. ge stocks )ccidental )est in the tage, and or nd hardy bhe lower ^esnelle, name, and le discov- history of [lightning, Lowhee, Grouse, Mosquito, Sugar, Harvey, Cuuninghaui, Nelson, Bums, and Jack of Clubs, in 1861, and then StoutH Conklings, McColloms, Beigs, Stevensons, ChiBholm, Van- Winkle, Last Chance and Davis Gulches in 1862, poured out their long hidden treasures by the million. The reports of their wonderful wealth spread like wild tire, and miners rushed in by the thousands from all parts of the world. Victoria was like the encampment of an army of 20,000 men, and Yale of 5,000 more. At that time the whole of this im- mense interior region was an almost unknown wilderness, without roads, and untrodden except by the native Indian tribes and the yearly pack trains of the Hudson Bay Com- pany. Over the 400 miles from Yale to Cariboo, over the steep and perilous Cascades flocked the great eager throng, thousands on foot, packing their blankets and provisions, fording rivers, wading deep snows, sleeping on the ground, enduring untold hardships by cold and heat, hunger and fatigue, to reach the shining goal. The ru^ed mountains of Cariboo, became a beehive of miners exploring its rivers and creeks. Never were gold- seekers more liberally rewarded. Gold was found in unpre- cedented quantities. Three hundred and forty ounces were taken out by drifting from one set about eight feet by three and a-half feet square in the Sawmill claim, originally taken up by Hon. R. Beaven, the present Premier of the Province, and his associates, Messrs. B. J. Kennedy and Silas James, and a big, broad-shouldered German named Diller cleaned up one night with 102 lbs. gold as the result of his day's work ! The a^regate yield of these wonderful deposits can never be known. Men who reached the diggings penniless, hungry and ragged, left them again in a short time with a mule load of gold dust. For several years from 1861 to 1876, their annual product is estimated to have ranged from two to five million dollars, maintaining since 1872 a yearly average of about one and a half million. But of the millions realized immense sums were absorbed by the enormous expense of living and conducting mining operations. The costs of trans- portation alone were so great that strong men earned from $25 and upwards a day packing in supplies upon their baoks, 46 ProviHioDB sold at almost incredible prices; flour from $1.50 to $2 per lb., meats from |1 to $1.50, and salt, $1 per lb. I have met an editor, Mr. Hollo way, who published a paper in Bar- korville in those days, who received $1 per copy for a five- oolumu sheet. The postage on a lettei from Victoria to the mines was $1. Building materials were correspond- ingly high, lumber, $250 per thousand, nails, $1 per lb., &o. As in all great mining camps comparatively few carried their riches away with them. Hundreds made their tens of thousands, and sank them again in unsuccessful efforts to find a real bonanza. Others, bewildered by their suddenly acquired wealth, spent it as freely as it' they were in possession of the philosopher's stone which converts everything it touches into gold. I have heard of such a miner who went into a public house in Victoria, and without provocation, out of a spirit of reckless extravagance, merely to show his contempt for money, dashed a handfiill of twenty dollar gold pieces through a costly mirror and then coolly piled them up before the astonished landlord and walked away. Crossing the Cotton- wood and ascending the mountains alon^; Lightning Creek, through the villages of Stanley and Richfield, by ten o'clock we were rattling down the famous Williams Creek into Barkerville. It is one of the most interesting collections of human habita- tions ever piled together by the accidents of flood and the fortunes and misfortunes of a great mining camp. Built in the narrow bed of Williams Creek it has been so frequently submerged by the tailings swept down from the hydraulic mines above, that it now stands upon cribs of logs from fifteen to twenty feet above the original foundation. When the floods break loose, the inhabitants man their jackscrews and raise their respective buildings, each according to his views of the impending danger. As a result the sidewalks of the town are a succession of up and down stairs from one end to the other, with occasional cross walks elevated like suspen- sion bridges. Perfect vigilance and sobriety is required to navigate these streets in broad daylight, which may in some measure account for the temperance habits of the people. rom $1.5U b. I have ir in Bar- for a five- Victoriu rrespond- Ib., &c. )w carried tens of rts to find acquired eH6ion of touches at into a ,out of a itenipt for )8 through )efore the ke Cotton- ig Creek, en o'clock nto m habita- 1 and the Built in frequently hydraulic logs from n. When ackscrews ing to his lewalks of m one end ke suspen- quired to Y in some leople. 47 From Cache Creek to KanUoopf and through the North and South Thompson, Ohinngan, Spallnnu'he*n and Nicola Country. Returning to Ca(;he Creek, Leighton's stage which makes weekly trips to the head of Okanaf n Lake via Savona's f'erry and Kamloops, had left the day previous. I therefore started out on foot six miles up the Cache Creek, Valley, previously discribed, and then along the right bank of the Thompson, 18 miles further to Savona's Ferry At the foot of Kamloops Lake. This portion of the Valley of the Thomi)son is about 4 miles in width from foothill to foot- hill, and consist mainly of rolling grazing lauds. Bands of cattle and horses were seen feeding in all directions, though most of the stock ranges in the mountain valleys from spring imtil the beginning of winter. Harper, Graves, Willson, Stewart, Sanford, Hoar, Uren, Barnes, Pinney, Goten> Craig and Semlin, are the principal stock raisers and farmers in this section. Calling at the first house reached in the village at the ferry, I found it to be the pleasan) home of Mr. James Leighton, post master, telegi'aph operator and proprietor of the Kamloops stage line. His father-in-law, Mr. Uren, keeps a good hotel close by, and is also the owner of a 370-acre ranch, 500 head of cattle and fifty horses. He showed me fine specimens of pump- kins, vegetables and fruits grown on his farm and in the neighborhood. Mr. John Jane has a store here, Mr. James Uren a blacksmith shop and James Newland the ferry. At Savona's Ferry is the beginning of 140 miles of steamboat navigation upon the Thompson and through a succesion of lakes, the Kamloops, Little Shuswap and Shuswap Lakes, extending to Spallumcheen — 25 miles from the moutli of the river of that name and within 19^ miles of the head of Like Okanagan. Three steamers, hhe Peerless, Capt. Tackabery, The Lady Dufferin and Spallumv'*'heen, are ininning'upon these waters during uboui 7 mouths (»f the year, from April to mm 48 Novombor, wlioriover the traffiti rtHjuires. All of them wort' lip the country aiul the time of their return being ()uit<- uncertain, on the 28th I walked thirty miles furtlier to Karaloops. The wagon i'()ad, a good one, follows the Houth Hhore of KamloopH Lake for a Hh«)rt diHtance and then turuH away through a rolling mountainous country, lightly timbered with pine along the summits, with bunoh grass on the foot- hills, and wormwood ui>ou the lower sU>peH. There are occa- sional small lakes, some of them strongly impregnated with alkali. There are but three or four ranches on this road — Roper's, of a thousand acres being the most extensive. He has about a thousand head of cattle, and an orchard of apples, pears, plums, cherries, &c., which has produced 12,000 pounds of fruit this season. Indian com reaches maturity here, and melons and tomatoes are gi'own without difficulty. Kamloops Situated at the forks of the North and South Thompson is one of the most impoi-tant places iu the oust Cascade region. It commands the trade of a considerable portion of the richest grazing and agricultural sections of the Province, the Nicola, Kamloops, Spallumcheen and Okanagan country. The Kamloops distiict, which lies between the Gold Range of mountains on the east and Savona's Feny on the west, the north end of Shuswap Lake on the north and Okanagan Lake on the south, contained, by the returns of 1881, 8,136 homed cattle, 1 ,108 horses, and 2,000 sheep. About 3,000 acres of land were under cultivation, the average yield per acre being as follows : — Wheat, 1,300 lbs., barley, 1,800 lbs., oats, 1,500 lbs., peas 2,000, potatoes 1,800, turnips 18,000 and hay 2,000 lbs. The largest stock raisers and farmers are J. B. Graves, Thoddeus Harper, Bennett & Lumby, Victor Guillaume, W. J. Roper, Duck & Piingle, Wm. Jones, Hugh Morton, John Peterson, L. Campbell, Thomas Sullivan, Thomas Roper, Ed. Roberts, "Wm. Fortune, W. J. Howe, A. J. Kirkpatrick, Peter Frazer, James Steele, Herman Wich- ers, Alexander Fortune, Mathew Hutchison, George Lynn and John Edwards. Kamloops was first occupied by the Hudson Bay Company, their old fort still standing on the right 40 hem wore tiug ({uiU> fiirther to i\w HOUtlt huu turnH y timbered the foot- i are occrt- ated with lis road — sivo. He of apples, •00 poundH here, and ompHon IS ide region, on of the )viuce, the cout'try. i\ Range of e west, the Okonagau 1881, 8,136 3,000 acres i per acre I lbs., oats, 8,000 and inners are by, Victor ues, Hugh I Sullivan, . Howe, A. lan Wich- Lynn and xe Hudson the right bank of tlit> river opposite. In those days the Indiuii tribes weri' frequently at war with ea<'h other, and the servants of the eom|)any.i1(ad ^t h>ok out for thrir s«'alpH. Itosunu Hhubert,, duugtiter' of Augustus niifl llosana Shu* b»'rt, who erpijsed, th»> inountains fruni Winnjpeg, in 1802^ was con I 1h(! firs), .wliiti), eijji(jl' lM')i-H fn the place. , 'j^he , t(f\vii n<)w tainit abpjit 4p^whji,teVc«>deiits,ekclusiv«> o( Ini^jan's, a good and hanidss uiaker^ Ihe nqtir and saw q^ill,<)(^.tne bhuswap Millit)g,.r'0];n]>uuy is located Tiere, James ]y(cJutoK|iinianatf(JbHh '"••'' Thompson Settreirifefit;-" ••" -i»»i • lv-^ Tlie Thoiupspf} jRjypr, the princip»u. tnlmta^y, qf,%t? Fyaser, forks VtKanilui^p,tii t|^^^ north wan'eh heddipg-i)uay|,l^ititude 53 betv«fu th^ (^jv^^ye.jliver and the iiortii for^ xj^, tjjp pue^s- nelle^ , It itblj^fivigal^e f<,u' lig^t draught steam^r^^to^ [^e^Vy^e. a distance of,,al)9^t^,]l,25^iiles from Etuulo()|^8.f ,, O^ieo^ the most 'ftv.vorei^.ri^i^ea of.^thOjCapadiali Piun^c Iia\^-(/|id (follows up thifi 8treairt.l\y,^ jsasy grade •yit^^|,^r, pine and cedar^itUougheontaii^j^ cxciellen^:bnncl)^-pMs r^inges of considerable extent. Tlie rolling foot hills are also cov^eryc^ with bunch grass and sivge, a fine quality known here as wormwood'prevailing on tKeloV^V aitflaa aiul bunches. Cotton- wockI, althy^.ttud birch gtows along the immediate river banks. The vaUey is -froni one t^jtwcynji^tj-a-hal^ miles in width, and though specially, J, ^tljapted f'>r grazing pur|)OHies contains Hevei'aV-thQWsp.n^ jicres jOf ri.h farming lun^St. ,1]^e^^yoil is 'variable— 7gi5*kv^;l^^^uy|)^ the the bencL)e4t„,)vi^jf^^fiue deeji 50 nlhiviid oil tlu> liottoin. The Kiiiiil()n|)M [iidiiin r«>Hoiviitioii of altoiit 2'J,000 aon'H ut tlH> ForkH of thr Thoinpwdi coiii- prineH nliont 2,500 lUTt'H of itH iM'Ht iiriiMo IuikIh. T1u» valley liaH Imm'ii (M'ciipiod by tlu> wliitt'H Hiiim iHfiS and contaiiiH at l»iVHt»nt t«'n wttlrrH— Mc'IvorH, EdwardH, Hiiltivaii and Kaii- ouflf, on tli«) h'ft bank ami Potcli, McQiiuen, Gordon, Mi'Auly and Jam(>Hoii, on tlu* ri^lit bank. Thoy arc engaged princi- pidly in raiHiiig rattle, IiorHcR and Iio^h, their ag^^regate Htofk amounting to about 1,100 head. Sullivan and Edwards have between four and five liundriHl head each. Mr. EdwardH farniH upwards of 200 aereH of riidi bottom land. HIh wheat yields on an average twenty-five buHlH^ls per acre. Thert) in room for a few more Hcttlers in this valley. Mr. Sullivan nays there are good (tattle ranges in the mountain vnlUiys as yet almost untouched. The stock-supportiiig cnpatuty of this region must, however, be based upon the extent of the winter feud. This is greater than I had supposed, and sufficient "by the cultivation of tame grasses in the meadows to carry a large number of cattle throiigh the severest winters. On the 30th of September, furnished with a good horse by Mr. Tait of the Hudson Bay Company, I rode rapidly over a j)rotty good trail to Jameson's ranch, 17 vaWm from Kamloops on the right bank. Mr. Jameson kindly ferried me over the river here which is three hundred yards in width, my horse swimming behind the boat. I was hospitably entertained for the night at Sullivan's, returning to the forks the follow- ing morning, crossing the South Thompson upon an Indian flat boat. Since writing the forgeoing I have been informed that gold has been found in McAuley's, Jameson's and Lewis' creeks, and a four-foot vein of lignite coal upon the North Thompson Indian Reservation, 70 miles from Kam- loops. From KAmloops to Tranquille. On the 3rd of October I crossed the Thompson River opposite the Hudson Bay Oo.'s store, and rode eight miles westward along the north shore of Kamloops to Tranquille. Low lands and green meadows from one to one-and-a-half mUes in width, producing thousands of tons of hay extend I ».m ^"-mf 1 'Ht«IVllti)>II moll cotti- 'lio viillry >iitiiiiiH lit 111(1 Kuii- , MoAiily (1 priiici- ;titBon River light miles [^ranquille. and-a-half lay extend 51 thtt who!*) diHtanc(> on thu h^t't. ThcHii worn alivo witii diickK niitl wild ){(>en years ago. Together they have acquired a magniiiuent property, consisting of a splendid ranch of 400 acnm (stocked with 260 head of cattle, 100 horses, 100 hogs and a choice band of sheep) a gristmill grinding eighty sacks of excellent floiir a day, and a steamlK)at, The Lady Dnfferin. The Tran(]uille River flows through the place aft"ord- iiig an excellent water power, and abundant water for in'igation. Mr. Fortune's garden is one of the best I have seen in the Province, growing in great abundance and perfection a long list of fruits, ben-ies and vegetables, including melons luid tomatoes. Learn i;^ that there was placer Gold Diggings on the Tranquille Accompanied by Mr. Fortune I went three or four miles up the stream, and was much surjjrised at their extent and pro- duction. From twenty to forty Chinamen have mined here for several years and are evidentlj- doing very well. The lirst one whom we asked to show us some gold, brought out several packages containing an ounce or more in each. They build log cabins, cultivate gardens, raise chickens and live here tke year round on the best the country affords. An oven was shown me made of rocks and mud, where they occasionally roast a whole hog, usually on their national holidays. Mr. Fortune says that tbey frequently go home to China and bring back their relatives with them. Returning, Mrs. Fortune spread an excellent lunch of home productions, — meat, bread, butter, jams, jellies, tarts, fruits, etc. On the wall of the sitting room I noticed a first premiiwn diploma 6'i p,war(,iett Mr. Fortuie by.tjie ]Jform aiid'&diiitli uufti Exliftiitidil of .187,9,fpr flour pi. his nianuf} Saanich An- Jpv ^our pi! his iiianufactiire. John Jjplinson fell ^luplbyeG; of,, t^/B Hudson tBay tlo;, who haB f^een in British ColuniJbift.fpr.thirfv years, took enlarge of my jiorse at ni'e* Forks and pad^Joil^ me acrpsis to Kamloops in a duc-'put. ' He remembers but four severe Winters during his long residence in the Jf mymce, ■njd oj; ;v . ■ '■•"'/ "iJ.ijW i,« f... ..^. n> . .fut|..M v., -/' .' ' ';< ^-' ••' ' ■iv.u.c . )., . ,. '■^71 1( (alPhe OkahagaJo: Spallimicheen vQountry. ■¥t^} ^(tmloopi, to Okanagann^i^on, viafiuifk dk Fringle's yftiu . CfrandPrairte, diid 'OkafAa(J4iii;-'r«tm'ning through the i^palhi.Mheeh, Salmon ' Ewer,' 'Rd'mu'^ and Pleasant '.^i)('h,r. : f . '^ :•• 1^1 Ji'll- Mv ,;,.:. , ... VfdUya. ^' ' --/ ^., u- i .,;, :,\ ,y, ' •• ••" .jrtTrrrmfr ;..g .,. f, .' On tfi6 4ttf 'of Oetober I'Tesumed my journey through the , south-eastern portion of the Province. For eighteen miles to Duct.& !Briag}p!8 jranch we followediup the South Thomp- son, passing through a fine pastoral and wheat growing ^Puhtty The valley jpSroper fe''fr6m om t6 one-and-a-half miles ' in vridth, fljiiiked bv m'o\itfttiiil8,%ith gradually receding feHttiills covered with .biihch pas^: '^From thence we rode eightefeh miles, »outh-ea8twaV35''6V*r^ smooth, rolling moun/ Hkim- fr^in 1,950 to 2,660 iedt lif'h^ight.to- ' ' • iji' ;..U * ^ "'" , ^ GraiM'Pmirie. .'^hese mountainig aie. tjijwly wooded with fir and pine, and ^terspersed with laJte^J^rd^i-^d bv meadows and marsjies. ip^rj^d Prairie ts a riah ^^d pjieasaut opening, about four miles long, and'two miles viide,,}^c(jupied bj four settlers, Kirkpat- rick, J. Pringle, Jonesj^ Aiid 0)f!.fJ^Sf*^ heirs. There is room in tl^ light pine lands bordering it, lor a dozen more families. Proceeding early on the morning of the 5th, we soon croaeed, and then follo\yed dowij.^ the Salmon River for upwards of 53 aich Au- B, John who han •ge of my oops in a luring his twenty miles, tlrfingh arplling,^)ine timbered section, s'tre^m ihevifloWs North in^o Sl^uswIip'Lafte,' its lower Pringle's irough the Pleasant irough the teen miles h Thomp- fc growing md-a-half Y receding le we rode ng moun/ pine, and marshes- four miles , Kirkpat-- re is room re families. »n croased, pwfiffds of 1 This SinuswftpXalte,' its lower valley corilaiiiing ftdvei'al' thoilsan'd Qon{inmng78<^th-'eh.stdrly jmd'Greehh'6'WS!! ranches, '^t the head bf Okttttagan lliey coilheTi'erd fourtee^ years a^o wiM limited means, and an(i are'noiV''tH^'owiiertf, eq,ph,' of i,ObiO-!ici'ef rabches, and yeven or 'fiicht'litiodi-ed het^d,ofcf. JWitufally the richest paEfci9f the. interior pf the Prbvintsel ^eftphipgP'Keef'satnoon ».dl'unQhiag hastily, I walktHl'foui-. njjjles^ ap4 then mounting ^'powecful.hprse.gAlloped tliirty*pigli;kijm^es South on the ifia^t sifiq of Okantigan Lake »ndiiiQok^ijpp^j^ at seven o'clock with BJi L«quimetat . ■ "irty /(f -..(..f.j -.>xw,"'/ ,, " ..] The Okanagan.JUsgiqn. '*¥rode"''fliW»iigh the 'most magiiificeiflf ^'dStoral and farming ve^idn'l hAVe steBiiaince-yiaitm^ j&ie' W&Tllfi WalU Valley of '^asWgl6ii. On the rightVa^bw'r^ligA'df mountains about feur'mies ^t'' width teaclii^Wtfre'^^^ of the Ijake ^exteiids 'most' ttf 'the. "tray. . , . . / ' " ' ' '^'irtief arg-ediTered Ts^th Imn^fe'^a^^ frOm foot-hill to simi- mii' ahd' tRoitgh lightly J)inftiml6feretfaftbttlexcenent summer grazogi' • immediately on ' the kft 'ilfe 'a ' chain of beautifu/ '"*"»i»« I 64 Iiikes, extending Southward over twenty miles. First Swan Lake, surrounded by extensive meadows, and splendid wheat lands with a grand stretch of rolling foot-hill grazing lands, lying to the South-eastward. Over this section under charge of Mr. Vance range the six hundred horses of Hon. F. J. Barnard, M. P., the most extensive breeder of fine horses in the Province. Here are also the ranches of Lawson, Andrew, and Lyons. Next comes Long Lake, eight or ten miles in length, and about a mile in width with a large scope of goqd grazing country surrounding its Northern shores. To the East lies the Cherry Creek settlement, the home of Hon.G. Forbes Vernon, and Girouard, Deloir, Ellison, Walker, Keefer, Duer, P. Bissett, Louis Christian and Williams. A narrow strip of land known as the Railway separates Long Lake from Wood Lake. Tom Wood has a ranch and six hundred head of cattle on its South side. Now we reach the head of the Mission or Okanagan Valley, Which is about fifteen miles long, and from three to four miles in width. It was first occupied by Peter Lequime and wife, who came into the valley almost dead broke from Bock Creek, twenty-two years ago, and are now the owners of a thousand- acre ranch, 1000 head of cattle, a store, good houses, and barns and thousands of cash besides. The soil is a rich sedi- mentary deposit growing enormous crops of cereals and roots. Mr. Lequime says his wheat averages from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre. He showed me a potato which turned the scale at four pounds. Fruit, melons and tomatoes grow finely, and Indian corn usually reaches maturity. The cU- mate is healthy, water good, and fuel abundant. The lakes abound with fish, wild geese and duck. There are about twenty white settlers in the valley, engaged principally in stock raising, though farming several hundred acres. First below Woods' is the Postill Ranch of 800 acres, beautifully situated upon Postill Lake. They have 400 head of cattle, 100 horses and cultivate 150 acres. Their neighbor, Fulton, was digging IKitatoes, which he estimated would yield over 500 buq^els to the acre. He had farmed in the East and in Califonya, 55 First Swau ndid wheat izing lands, nder charge Hon. F. J. le horses in •n, Andrew I en miles in ope of goqd 38. To the of Hon.G. n, Walker, 'illiams. A rates Long ich and six to four miles le and wife* Book Creek, a thousand- bouses, and i a rich sedi- Is and roots, /enty-five to ivhich turned natoes grow f. The cU- The lakes ,bout twenty illy in stock First below uUy situated e, 100 horses was digging ■ 500 bufj^els 1 Califorqia, and never saw such a crop. Then follow the ranches of Jones, Whelan, Fulton, McGinnis, Simpson, Lacerte, Bucherie, Brant, Moore, Simpson, Ortolan, Jos. Christian, Eli Le- quime, McDougal and Hayward, in the order named. Two settlers, Fronson and Brewer, live in Priest Valley and three white men, Major Squires, Copp and Hermann, are gold mining on Mission Creek, about seven miles above the Mission. There are about 4.000 head of cattle in the Okan- agan Valley, and 6,000 in the seventy miles of country be- tween the Mission and the Boundary Line. The Government wagon road terminates at Lequime's, from whence pack trails lead over the mountains to the Custom House, and 160 miles to Hope on the Fraser River. On the morning of the 6th, I rode forty-two miles to O'Keef's, horseback, then five miles by wagon, when a walk of seven miles brought me to Bennett & Lumby's ranch, in the Spallumcheen Valley, The choicest body of farming lands in this «rhole region. The Spallumcheen or Shuswap River rises in the Gold Range of mountains, and flows into Shuswap Lake, and from thence into the South Thompson. It is navigable for steamboats to Fortune's Ranch, about 25 miles from its mouth. Undu- lating lightly timbered pine lands, several miles in width, ex- tend nearly the whole distance. There are occasional small openings, the largest, occupied by Mr. Dunbar, containing upwards of three hundred acres. He is the only settler upon this large tract, which will furnish farms for at leust one hun- dred families. The soil is a deep clay loam, and the rainfall suflScient to secure good crops without irrigation. But the most beautiful portion of the Valley of the Spallumcheen does not lie along the river, but beginning at Spallumcheen Land- ing extends south for fifteen miles, with an average width of 2^ miles. It contains about 3,000 acres of level prairie opening, exclusive of Pleasant Valley and Round Pl-airie, comprised within the same valley but separated by narrow belts of pine. The soil is a deep clayey loam, producing on an average one ton of wheat per acre and abundant crops of all the cereals and roots grown in this latitude, and without 66 irrigation. ,.,T)^^ clUpate is salubrious, watw.gQQjJ,, wiutei>> of moderatlj^r 9ccujiant8. ^ Upon th«i ;..., ,, ^_ „^ •, ^ j^ ^ ..•.'i. •'<>+ r ... ,, ^fehnett'& Lumby F^;;;;'; . ,^ Owned byi MeHs^^. Pi|^st9n Bejinett & Mosas Xi?,,r A .belt of youiig pino agd pjc^p^ar extentls felong the ea8tei;n,|^pjxie^-^ at ^he ba.se of the) mo,\u^l^aiu8.^ T^'/bugh it flows a iiv^ng ^^.^ream pf good wateji iftpoflL (jjj'hic'h, in a pleasantigrgv^ vj^^P^iij^vi'J'?;*^ ^^P,^*" comfpi:^able f^p ^ cppmbdious farm hotost^, , f^^d, ^ jbarns . 'Miey haye^ i-f^^sed about 320 tons of wheat this^sc^aon, the average yield Ijtjing, t^v^r one ton 'to the aere,i.,,5PJlf^,.^iji^fj|8|. in|prov(id agricult^fjil^^pieme^is are used, lOsbpjiT^/^ ^^ryester^ two ^aiig-:plow;p,, ,yjae sulky plow, seed drillg,, &Cj.i- ^^ ,- ~ -. , .Tl^e SpAUUu^cueeh and Qkanagan, Canal ^M^ ^'Wni the 'wbglejcngtib, pf. inp ranoli without tpuvl^Hg tjbe, aral^le por- tion, au.d aj|oi;4 extrabrdin'&ry> faeilities, J^r, ,^ht^ smpn)(ent of itSipfOj^uc.^. It is, lio^e'Vor, only tbreQ.milfj^^'om the Spal- lumcjie^ J^ianibng, whel-esteamboajtarMn, during six or soy'en montlii* pf .tlie year. Mr. Lumby, .an excp^ji^mially jyell in- fopi>fe(J jjip4 <5J^J|vip'd gentleman, reaides.Pi? ^^p|ape anS gives it^hift p.i^}^(}|cjfil supervision, alssifsted-by M^-. Matthew. Hut^hin- spu, ..J3«?'^"Q,f?|j^|aa t|lib oteasm-e pf jnefitiflg^]\lf^;^pwinau, whp is engaged in u geplogical 8yrvey>.,p^.tl^i8,j r^^ion. ^^e is wiutein of ' ' ' k ■ ■ . iwo. fe^t in id has, 200 1,500 acres Furstenq,u, jvauippn, W". \y broijh^rs ;,r/ ., '. nt or'l... ... I iljy,,fijre car' tl^a part, of ,.l^uayitifully (^dtj^njourf; I the West. I tract all in tifin. . There ch produces pit of young B at the base am pf good le, are their /ivrr.. ^'i arns. Thev the average fi imjn-ov(id ryester. two will iW the B. araqle por- shipiQpnt of a the Spal- six or so'veu ally jeell iu- jse and gives ew.Hutchin- owinau, who ion. He IS 57 accompanied by Mr. G. Brown, an artist from San Francisco, who is making very fine sketches in oil of its incomparable scenery. Mr. Brown is the pioneer in the line of oil sketches in the Province, and his work merits the liberal patronage of the people. A Ride Through the Salmon River Valley, Okanogan Indian Reservation, and Round Prairie. An Interview toith His Excellency the Oovernor-Oeneral, tlie Marquis of Lome. The Salmon Biver, rising in the mountains South-east of Kamloops, in its lower course runs parallel with and about ten miles from the Shuswap Biver, emptying into the Lake of that name. It embraces £iom three to four thousand acres of prairie and rolling foot-hills, and a much larger body of open pine land easily cleared for farming purposes. The soil is a deep dark sandy loam, producing large crops without irrigation. It is occupied by the Steele Brothers, ( James, Thomas, and W. B. ) Matthew Hutchinson, Geo. Lynn, Donald Matthews, A. C. Wilkie, and Thomas James, 320 acres each. They cultivate altogether about 400 acres, and raise a few cattle, horses and hogs. Mr. James Steele has the best improved farm in the valley, and twenty-eight thorough-bred shorthorns. Mr. A. Postill is buiUUng a saw-mill on Deep Creek, where there is a considerable body of good pine timber. Galloping through it on the morning of October 9th, I over- took Wm. Bicl^ardson who was blazing the trees from his ranch to the main road. He thought it was the best country in the world for a poor man. Landing at Burrard Inlet four years ago with one dollar and a half, he had since earned by Ills own labor one farm of 160 acres, partly paid for 320 acres more, has a small band of horses, and is entirely out of debt. A little further on my horse suddenly sprang forward, and a small shepherd dog ran by at fiill speed. Looking bock ex- 18 pecting that his owner was following, great was my surprise to see a coyote wolf in full pursuit. He stopped when about three rods off, sat down on his haunches, as if knowing that I was unarmed and perfectly harmless. When I advanced he retreated deliberately, sitting down again when in climb > ing a very steep hill I halted to 'lismount. Beaching the summit I gave chase at full speed, but the cunning animal by choosing the roughest ground, escaped. I have seen a shep- herd dog and wolf in company once before standing together upon the banks of the Bio Grande in Mexico. Biding on 14 miles to the head of the valley and turning Eastward, I followed a good trail seven miles across the Okanagan Indian reserva- tion, a rich bunch grass range capable of supporting 500 or 600 head of cattle, but unoccupied except by a few Indian ponies. Descending the foot-hills toward Lake Okanagan, The Governor-General, the Marquis of Lome, And party, ex-Lieut.-Govenor Trutch and Col. DeWinton, were Been shooting in the distance. The Marquis is very popular with the people who came flocking in from the remot- est settlements to see him. To use their own language the Mar- quis is not in the least "stuck up," but chats as freely with the poor as with the rich and titled. One of the settlers told me, with great satisfaction, that he had a talk with the Marquis with- out knowing who he was, and when he asked him his name the Governor replied simply "Lome." His Excellency expressed himself to me as highly pleased with what he had seen in the Province, and seemed to take a deep interest in its further development and prosperity. Mr. Campbell of the Governor-General's staff, who accompanied the Earl of Dufferin on his visit to the Province, was busy taking notes upon the resources of the country. He thinks the scenery of British Columbia is the grandest and most beautiful he has ever seen. I returned through Bound Prairie, a very beauti- frd opening of 600 acres, between the Salmon Birer and Spallumcheen Yalleya. Messrs. Jones, Kirkpatrick, Prindle, Clementson and Shubert, have secured this choice location. ly surprise vhen about towing that advanced in climb* aching the animal by een a shep- Dg together on 14 miles followed a an reserva- Iportii^ 500 by a few ^ard Lake Lorne, DeWinton, uis is very u the remot- ige the Mar- sely with the old me, with irquis with- in his name Excellency 'hat he had > interest in ]!ampbell of the Earl of aking notes e scenery of tifdl he has rery beauti- Birer and iok, Prindle, 3 location. 59 From the SpaUumcJieen Valley to Messrs. Barnard ami Vernon s Bunches, via Pleasant Valley. From Messrs. Bennett and Lnmby's farm to Mr. Vernon's is about twenty-five miles. En route I passetl through Pleasant Valley a fino level prairie opening of 800 or 900 acres, lying a mile ir.d a half to the Eastward of the main road. In reaching it by a short cut across a swamp my horse suddenly sunk belly deep, when, dismounting, we both floundered out covered with mud and water. I foimd the settlers, Clinton & Murray, Edward Thorne, Herman Wichers, Donald Graham and the Croziers in the midst of threshing* Mr. Murray gave me the yearly product of his cereals for a term of six years, which shows an average yield of twenty- eight bushels per acre. Being quite wet, to avoid taking cold> I left my horse at O'Keef 's, and proceeded from thence on foot. Four miles Southeast of the head of Lake Okanagan* I took a trail leading along the Eas' side of Swan Lake. At least A Thousand Wild Qeese Were standing together upon the shore. Two or three miles beyond, darkness overtook me, and after two hours' unsuccess- ful search among the foot-hills for Vance's, wet to my waist* I found shelter in the cabin of a neighboring settler. It con- tained a single room already occupied by two white men, two Indian women and their babes. But in the smallest house in this country, as in a stage-coach or street-car, there is always room for one more, tnd after ringing and drying out for an hour beforo a roaring fire I laid down upon a mattress on the floor until daylight. Early in the morning I reached Hon. F. J. Barnard's Horse Ranch. And saw upwards of 400 of his 700 horses now on the range. Sired by Belmont, Moi^an, and Norman, stallions, they are the finest animals I have seen in the Province. Mr. Vance, for 14 years manager of the ranch, says that they subsist throughout the year upon the native grasses and have suffered 60 from cold and soaroity of feed only one wintor during that period. In view of the early completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway along over 100 miles of the route of the British Columbia Express service for which they have been raised, a portion of them will probably be sold the ensuing year. Five miles further over a rich rolling country, com- prising several thousand acres of excellent wheat land, brought me to Hon. G. Forbes Vernon's Ranch. It contains 2,500 acres, beautifully situated, between the mountains upon Coldstream, which flows into Long Lake. Near here two coyotes came leisurely down from the foot-hills and circling round me within a short d'stance, returned up the mountains. They ae q lite numerous, und catch large v. ' Vers ri small pigs and occasionally a yonng calf. From Spalluniclieen to Kamloops by Steamer, through iJie Little and Big Shuawap Lakes and doum tJie South Thompson. From the present head of navigation on thr Bpallum- caeen Biver to Kamloops is about 125 miles. As previously stated, the building of a canal twenty miles in length from Spallumcheen to the head of Lake Okanugan would extend navigation over eighty miles further through the heart of the richest portion of the interior of the Province. The surface aud soil of the country through which it would pass is very f a ^ mma ble for its cheap construction. On the 16th of Octo- ber, having exhausted the time at my disposal for examining the Okanagan and Spallumcheen country, I took the steamer Spallumcheen for Kamloops. The smallest of the three running upon the rpper waters, she is not of oceanic dimensions and b'"-ing buill. exclusively for carrying freight, her passenger aocommodatiou<^ are very limited. But her deficiencies in this r'^spect were the source oi lunnsemeut r«+her than dis- comfort. (Jupt. Meanant'eu, who w<*s also engineer, mate and pilot, kindly shared liis bunk with me, aud wneu duties on mm. mfr- •1 uring that Canadian ate of the have been ho ensuing ntry, com- id, brought contains itains upon here two nd circhng mountains, rs r{ small through Oie I tJie South IP Bpallum- i previously length from ould extend leart of the rhe surface ass is very th of Octo- r examining t;he steamer iree running dimensions r passenger tciencies in r than dis- r, mate and I duties on deck called away the Indian boy cook and interfered with the regi'ilar service of meals, I ofhc-iuted as assistant, and so we got along splendidly. For two days we slowly steamed through a magnificent stretch of lakes and rivers, amidst scenery of exceeding grandeur and beauty. For a distance of twenty-five miles down the Hpallumcbeen, both banks are lightly woer 18th, for nmit of the •unch grass 9od, Jones, er, the head ) ranches, I dairy farm- and makes cheese, the 20 cts. per , spur of the >thers on the a beautiful rteen miles, little village ne's Hotel, blsMiksmith e East side, ranch here, John Ham- ilton, Qeorge 0. Bent, John Gilmore, Samuel Wasley, Byron Earushaw, and Patrick Killroy, other excellent ranges in this neighborhood. The Douglas Lake country, lying to the Eastward, con- tains a considerable extent of choice pastoral lands, owned by 0. M. Beak, Hugh Murray, L. Guiohon, T. Richardson, McBae Brothers and others. It is said that one of its most prosperous stock-raisers recently wedded a lady from the Golden State, and started with hei for his ranch. The fair bride had been led either by the overdrawn statements of her anxious lover, or the natural fancies of a youthful, inex- perienced maiden, to expect to be ushered into a mansion house becoming the possessor of such large bands of fat cattle and wide areas of rich pasturage. Now it is well known that some of these cattle Lords dwell in habitations which would not be considered first class for any purpose, — single room, dirt floor, dirt roof, one window, low, small, dirty log cabins, where, in the dim light of a tallow candle, they make their slap-jacks, as I have seen them, on the top of a dirty stove. The happy couple, after a splendid ride through the beautiful country, halt before a rough pile of logs, having the appear- ance of a stable. "What is this?" the bride asked. " This is my home — our home," replied the bridegroom. "Homel Home!! You — ^you cruel deceiver, you call that miser- able hovel out home? It may do for your home, but it will never be mine,'' she exclaimed with dramatic emphasis, and in spite of all entretztiet'., oft him then and there and returned to the Sunny South. Nine miles further down the now narrow- ing valley brings me to Nicola, Its principal town. It is pleasantly situated near the foot of the lake and comprises a neat little church and school-house, Fettit & Oo.'s store, George Fenson's flour and saw-mill, and several private reddenoes. Leaving Nicola, the valley broadens again for several miles, stretching away across the river bottoms and over the Westward slopes of the moun- tains. John Clapperton, A. D. G. Arxoitage, Paul Gillie, Edwin Dalley, John Ohartres, Wm. Ohartres, Wm. Yoght and 64 Alexander Coutlie are the principal Hettloig of this aeotiou. The latter haa one of the lient plaoea in the interior. From thence the valley rapidly narrowa, and below the Woodward farms and millH. to loaa than a mile in width, flanked by pre- oipitouB, thinly pine woinled mountaina. There are Hmall tracts of arable and irrigable lands, chiefly occupied by In- dians, James Phair, proprietor of the 22-mUe house — a very comfortable, home-like inn— being the only white settler for the last twenty-five miles. I am informed by Mr. Thaddeus Harper and others, that there is a six-foot vein of good bitu- minous coal in the central portion of the valley, easily acces- sible. TRIP NUMBER THREE. From Victoria to Burrard Inlet upon the steamer Alexander, Capt. Donald Urquhart, Commamlimj. A Visit to Port Moody, the Moodyville and Hastings Saw-mills, OranviUe, and the Intlian Villages, Returning via Departure Bay and Nanaimo. Bound Trip, 215 Miles. On Board Steabier Alexander, November 11th, 1882. Burrard Inlet, an arm of the Qulf of Georgia, extends about twelve miles inland from the entrance, between Points Grey and Atkinson. Port Moody, on this harbor, has been selected as the Pacific terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Everyone familiar with the topography of the North-west coast, and the character of its sea approaches« will recognize the wisdom of the choice. The Inlet is a per- fect land-looked harbor, with excellent anchorage and easily accessible, in all kinds of weather, for the largest ships afloat- It is situated about eighty-^ve miles from Victoria, six miles from New Westminster, and thirty-six miles from Vancouver Island at Nanaimo. Immediately bordering its shores are m^sm 6f hid tieotion. lior. From Woodward ;od by pre- aro HDiall )ied by In- use — a very Hettler for -. TltaddeuH f good bitu- sasily uoces- • Alexander, f^isit to Port 's, OranviUe, ure Bay and NDER, Itli, 1882. 'gia, extends :ween PointH lor, has beeu lian Pacific iphy of the approachesi nlet is a per- e and easily ships afloat, ia, six miles n Vancouver 9 shores are the largent IkkHhh of valuable fir timl»er in the Province. Here great Haw-niillH have Ymen in operation since 1865, ex* porting immense quantities of timlM^r, direct to all the princi- pal eastern [MirtH of the world. Steam tugs have been employed towing back and forth the numerous fleet of vesseln engaged in this trade ; of these, tlie Alexander, Capt. Donald Uniuhart, commanding, is the largest, finest and most powerful on the Pacific coast. She was built at Port Essington, near the mouth of the Skeena, in 1876, and is 180 feet in length, twenty- seven feet wide, with two 4fX)-hor8e power engines. Leaving the fine harbor of Esquimalt on the evening of the 9th, with two ships in tow, she steamed along easily through the Straits and across the Gulf at the rate of eight miles an hour. At daybreak the following morning we were heading directly for a lofty snow-capped peak of the mainland, be- neath which flashed the brilliant light of Point Atkinson. The dark outlines of the grand old mountains were clearly defined against the cloudless starUt sky. Just before round- ing Point Gray the rising sun gilded the snow covered sum- mit of Mount Baker, and of the Cascade Range. A large black whale is rolling and spouting within rifle range on the right. Entering the inlet, Indian villages are seen on the shores, and two Indians paddl'? by, making the woods ring with their salutations. A dense forest of Douglas pine reaches down to the water' s edge, except whore leveled by the axe of the lumberman. We leave the ships a little beyond English Bay, and run alongside the wharf of The Basting's Sawmill Company. This firm are manufacturing about fifteen million feet of lumber annually, most of which is shipped tnd 48 feet g 24 feet of led with all ■on are now s wife — the ommencing way offices )redict with ^rminns of 3ean across of miUions ng lands in itween Port ind imports l^olarly from and of the Pacific and made, and mannfactur- , 42 mUes. settlements w peninsula le waters of anich Arm, learly to the Vancouver, ith a thick isand acres of prairie openings. Both soil and climate are well adapted to the growth of large crops of haj, grain, roots, hops, &c. There are two good turnpikes, known as the East and West Saanich Boads, extending t>om the suburbs of Victoria through South and North Saanich. Every few miles there are comfortable wayside inns and summer, health and pleasiu*e resorts. First, the Swan Lake Hotel, by William Lewis, about three mUes out from the city ; then the Royal Oak, by John Camp & Son, at the junction of the two roads ; next Stephens', about two miles beyond ; the Mount Newton Hotel, by John Henderson, 13 miles ; and lastly, Henry Waine's Inn, 20 miles from Victoria, — all convenient to ex- cellent fishing, hxmting, and boating. At the Mount Newton House the waters of Finlayson Lilet were seen through the bordering groves of oak and pine. The Saanich tribe of Lidians have built their village on the shore of a pleasant cove on the east side. Approaching it, I met two Lidians, a man and boy, the former carrying a bow and arrow. Expressing my surprise that a grown man should be hunting with such a weapon, the Lidian said it belonged to his son, and that he was only teaching him how to shoot. This explanation was made in a manner soapologeticalthatit showed that he felt above the use of such savage and childish implements himseU: Hero as elsewhere their lands afford little more than a camping place, only small patches being in- differently cultivated for root crops, their main support coming from the sea, the forest, and rivers. Upon the ground of original occupancy, many of the choicest situations through- out the Province generally have been reserved for the Lidians. This I believe to be just, to the extent of giving them all the lands which they reasonably require. Where, however, as in many instances, both in British Columbia and in the United States, extensive tracts have been set apart for small bands who do not make any profitable use of the same, it is an injustice to the whites who desire and need the land for homes and cultivation. From what I have seen of the condition of the Lidians in various parts of North America, I am of the opinion that the time has come to abolish the reservation system altogether, and grant to the Lidians, iudi- 70 vidually, liberal quantities of land, giving them a reasonable time in which to avail themselves of such an allowance, and then open the balance of their reservations to settlement the same as upon other portions of the pubUo domain. After a good dinner at Waine's, I returned to Victoria by the East road, passing several quite extensive, well managed and pro- ductive farms. Meeting a party of settlers, they suggested what I have often observed, that in following public highways many of the finest portions of the country escape notice, and by way of illustration indted me to go with them less than fifty rods from where we stood — which I did — and saw a beau- tifiil level prairie of several hundred acres hidden fi-om the ordinary traveler behind rising ground and a grove of pines. TRIP NUMBER SIX. From Victoria to Fort Wranyel, Alaska, loith Capt. MoGuUoch of the Hudson Bay steamer Otter. Through tlie Canal De Haro, Gulf of Georgia, Dodd's Pass, Seymour Narrows, Discovery, Johnstone, and Broiighton Straits; Queen Charlotte, Fitzhugh, MiUbank, Wrights, and Chatham Sounds ; Tolmie, Greenville, and ReviUa Gigedo Chan- nels, via Departure and Alert Bays, Fort Rupert, Rivers Inlet, Port Essington, Bella Bella, MeOahattah, and Fort Simpson. Magnificent Scenery, Extensive Coal fields, Salmon Fisheries, Indiav Vilku/es, Trading Posts, Missions ria. It is a of Cormorant irer,of Vancou- ans from time Captain Cook, )out 190, and Eide from cedar ) covered with } with hideous ng squatted in many in blan- learty manner. TiJiff^c quantities (if driod Halnaon, their prineijial food, luin^' inside of their dismul, windowless houses. In the edj^^e of tlie forest elose at hand, suspemled among the hranehes of tlie tallest trees were at least a dozen bodies of their dead. The Episcopal Churt'h of England has established a mission nmon^ them, built a chnnih and school, and placed Rev. Mr. Hall in charge. Just as we were leavmg, a neatly droMsed Indian boy jiassed through the village ringing n biill for evening service to which many weie responding. Messrs. Eirl, Huson it Spencer built tlie Alert Bay Salmon Canner)" here last year, at an oxpenditurt; of about $20,000, putting up 5,000 or 0,000 ca.ses of salmim of superior excellence. The Halmou are cAught in the Ninij)kish River, chiefly by the Indiaius. This stream is the outlet of Kurmutsen Lake, bordering which, there are re))orted several hundi'ed acies of land suitiible for cultivation. Fort Rupert, A village of the Fort Rupert Indians, and Hudson Baj trad- ing post is next reached. It is finely situated on the East shore of Vancouver Island, about 35 miles from Cape Scott, the extreme North-western {)oint of the Island. From thence we sailed by moonlight through Queen Charlotte Sound, a Htr(;tch of about thirty-five miles of open sea, sometimes rough enough, but now placid and unrippled, the long swells rolling gently without a break, entering Fitzhugh Sound by dayUght the 29th. " The finest night we have had for six or seven mouths" said the watchman, as I met him on deck early iu the morning. We had passed the Sea Otter groui> of islands, aho Calvert and Hecate, all on the left, and Rivers Inlet On the right. Here the steamer on her return rticeived seven hundred cases of salmon from the Rivers Inlet Canning Co., Thos. Shotbolt «fe Co., proprietors, established at the mouth of the O-wee-kaj'-no River iu FeVn-uary last. The}- will pack about 5,000 cases this season. The salmon are larger than those caught at most other places, frequently weighing ■P 74 seventy-five pouiuls. At nine o'iflock we are opposit*' tl)o entrance to Burkt^'n Dmnnel wliicli IcikIk away for fifty mileH North-eastward through tlie North Bentic Arm to Bella Gcola. A village of about 300 of the Bella (Joola ln(Hn.nh, and a trading post of the Hudson Bay Company, W. Sinclair, iigent. Rev. Mr. Wood, a missionary of the Methodist C'urch of Canada, Just returned from thei*e, tells rae that fh'- "tuiit'on is (' ry ''. eaxitiful one, and that th.^ro are about 2,000 acres "^. rh\ii li ;iia laudb at tho mouth of the Bella Coola River, a pt.)j!iii.?i of which are cultivated by the Indians for raising ] • f.'.t'je • He also reports finding them in a very degraded conditio^' ■ ny of the men Uving by the prostitution of theiv women. Steaming on through Fisher's Channel we turn into Lima Passage, which extends in a North-westerly direction into Ogden Channel. When about ten miles up, the vessel suddenly rounds into a little cove opposite the Indian village and Hudson Bay trading post of Bella Bella. The Bella Bella tribe having their permanent quarters here number about 250. They are entirely self-supporting. A resident ' issionitry, Rev. C. M. Tate, is provided by the Methodists of Canada. There is no landuig, but the en- gine had scarcely stopped before we were surrounded by a fleet of canoes of all sizes, containing twenty-five or thirty natives, men, women and children, who had come, some from curiosity, others to receive their fiiends, several young men of the tribe, employes of the Hudson Bay Company; returning home for a visit. Their houses are built of logs and plank, with low double roof, generally without chimney or windows, and one small entrance in iront. Numerous graves were seen on the neighboring hills, made very conspicuous by the bril- liant red bunting floating over them. Rude mon^Tients, co"a- sisting of enormous wooden circulars with images and canoes, marked the graves of the chiefs. In less than an hour our voyage was resumed. Crossing Millbank Sound at the close r )p{*)Hlt'' the )!• fifty mihs to iR,nH, and a nclair, agont. it C'urch of V' "tuiil ou 2,000 acres •ola Kiver, a 8 for raiding )ry degraded iition of their we turn into irly direction p, the vessel ndian village [uarters here orting. provided by ;, but the en- •ounded by a five or thii'ty le, some from young men of ny; returning ;s and plank, y or windows, ves were seen by the bril- v'Tients, co"ii- !S and canoes, I an hour our [ at the close f« of (luo of the most beautiful days of the year, a 1>right moonlight night, lights us through a succession of moHt remark. li lie waters — Tolmio Channi;!, Frastn's and McKay's Bcachoh, Wriglit's Pound, into Greenville Channel by day- 'yicak the 30th. At liowo's Inle' about half way through on the right there is a salmon iisliing and salting «'stablishmeut. Precip- itous rocky nt/untains, covered with stunted cedar, their sides *'.rr<)wed by avalanches, and summits white witi) snow, de- scribes the general features of the landscape for hundreds of miles. The mountains on the mainland rising to the height of 3,500 f».et, are liere (tailed the Countess of Duffat vilia^^c (»f aliout !.')(► tiouHtiH, htiuutifuUy situatud U|><)utli«> THiiiipsliri'aii |uwiiiiHula. A large, tine chiin-li ami rtcliool-liouse arc conHpu-uouHl}- prom- inent. Tlua-o m alwi a Mt«m(, Haliuon CaiiJU'ry, ami Hawiiiill. This iH Metlakathia, Tho fiolil of thf reuiarkahly siurcusHful work of Mr. Diukmii, ill civilizing and ciu-iHtiaiUKiug tint TsinipHhoeaii luilians. Ho firHt eHtablisluxl a niisHiun at Fort 8iul|)^w>u, a |)o*st of tho HiidK(»n Bay Company, but for the pmijose of greater isola- tion in 1H62 removed to Metlakathia, where ho has gathered about 1,000 of that trilH>, and through u firm Government and faithful Hticulur and religious training raised them from bar- barism to the condition of civilized people. Tiiey live in comfin'table houses, dress like the whites, schocjl their chil- dren, and worship in one of tho largest churches in the Pro- vince, eriicted at a cost of $10,000. Fort Sirapsou. About 15 miles further across Chatham Sound, brings us to For t Simpson, the principal trailing p;>st of the Hudson Bay Co. upon the Pacific coast. It has Jjoen the favorite abotle of the Tsirnpsheean Inilians, one of the most populous and ixjwer- ful of the native tril>es of North America from times imme- morial. When first occupied by the Hudson Bay Company, their village here contained over two thousand people. They were found living in houses, many of which are still standing, strongly built of great lunvn timl>ers and thick planks split from enormous cedars. Some of their canoes, made from a single tree, are ovei' 65 feet in length, carrying seventy people, and m which they not infrequently make voyages as far South as the Straits of Fuca, and North to Alaska. The situation was the most commanding which could have been selected for traffic with the neighboring tribes. They came here to trade from the Skeena, Naas, Stickeen, Takou, and Chilkat Rivers, the Queen Charlotte and Prince of Wales Islands, Wrangel and Sitka, and from the distant interior, to exchange their furs for goods. For several years most of this barter was car- iilxxit ITyO louslj- prom- ul Huwiiiill. VIr. rhiiiciin, kdiiiiiH. He MMsl of tho (iiiitiv i.sola- iis giithorud Dt'umoat 1111(1 li from bur- lioy live ill )l their cliil- * in the Pro- ngs lis to For t sou Bay Co. rite aboile of 18 and power- times immo- ay Coinj)nny, eoplo. They till standing, planks split nade from a v^enty people, i as far South ?he situation Q selected for here to trade lilkat Bivers, ids, Wrangel change their irtor was car- 77 ri«>(l on through tiio TsimpHlu'nanH, wlio wouhl not permit tlie inland tril)<>H to dt>al directly with the ugcntHof tht> conipHny, hut jealously rescrvtid that privilege for their own peo|>le. Fort Simpson was then the liase ot supplies for all the trading posts of this region, which were brought in t\w (jompany's own ships direct from England. The fort consists of a simple HtcM^kade about twenty feet in height, made from large cedar poles, with watch and shooting towers, andench»ses the store warehouses, and (juarters of th(* servants of the company. The village contains at present about HOG Indians, most t)f whom live in conifortabUi houses and dnsss in civilized eos- tum(!S. Uemaining here several hours discharging freight, I had tlut pleasure of meeting Bev. Mr. Crosby and his estima- l.'le wife, missionaries of tht^ W(!sleyan Methodist Church of Canada, of examining the mission dnm-h and school and attend- ing an interesting service in the evening. To their noble self- sacnfieing labors during the pr>st eight years, the marked improvement in the conditicm of these people is mainly due. Their houses for worship and instruction, erected almost ex- clusively by Mr. Crosby and the Indians at a cost of about 18,000, chiefly expended for material, are well designed, well built, commodious and comfortable. Taking a purely secular view of such results, it must be conceded that the missionaries are doing more than all other agencies combined to bring these semi-barbarous tribes into peaceful subjection to the general Government, and harmonious and beneficial relations ■with the whites. Fort Simpson is situated about 35 miles from the mouth of the Skeena, 40 from the Naas, and IGO miles South-east of Fort Wrangel. Sixty miles or more to the Westward lie The dueen Charlotte Islands, The extreme North-westeni land of British Columbia. Count Zuboflf, a Bussian geologist, who has spent two summers upon these islands, gives me a very interesting account of their geography, resources and inhabitants. Their extreme length is 156 miles, and their greatest width ' 52 miles. Mountains thickly wooded with cedar, spruce and hemlock, cover most of their siuface, though Graham Island, one of the largest l\ i 78 of tho group, cnntaiiiH ft tract of tiinhf'rlesH gra/itif^ land HutH- oiont, it Ik itHtiniatcd, toHupport ovnra thouHand lumd of catth^ Tli(^ cliniato is comparatively mild, and Hnowfall ho liglit that Htock would Hul)HiHt throughout th« ymr entirely upon the native gr.iHHCH. It in peopled by tlui H\dahH, evidently of Asiatic origin, the HneHt Hpecimens, phyHioally, and the most courageouH of all the native tribuH. They live in villagen upon i\w HeaKliore, building large and HubHtantial liouseM from great logH and plankH of cedar. They now number about 850, but were formerly mu(!h more populouH. Hunting, finhing, and trapping is their main dependence, though they are great canoe builders, supplying them to the other tribes, and also very skillful workers in gold and silver, and carvers upon wood and slate. Bold and skillful navigators, and war- like, they ruled among the natives of these northern seas, and until a comparatively recent date have been hostile to the whites. Now they are fri«)ndly, and anxious for miosionary teachers, who are about to establish a school for their in- struction. The Count has discovered an extensive vein of lignite and a four foot vein of anthracite coal, and also coal-oil there. Graham Island has been occupied as a trading post by the Hudson Bay Company since 18 , and for the last four years by the Skidegate Oil Company, which is manufacturing a very excellent lubricating and burning oil from sharks. They are so numerous in the surrounding waters that the Company have caught over 5,000 in thirty-six hours, by means of thousands of strong steel hooks, fastened by cotton cod lines to a fifteen thread hemp rope, and anchored in from seven to thirty-five feet of water. At daybreak on the morning of the 30th we were crossing tlie waters of the en- trance to the Portland Channel, into which flows the River Naas. This stream abounds with salmota, and is the greatest known resort of the oolachan, which swarm here by the million, and are caught by the Indians in the Spring of the year in im- mense numbers. A kit of them salted has just been brought on deck. They are a bright silver colored fish, smaller than the heiTing, of more delicate flavor and so rich in oil that when trr 79 f* land HiifH- oiitlofrattlo. HO liglit tliut \y ujxm the «'vitlontly of 11(1 th<^ most illagoH upon KmscM from )w iiinnlter iH. Hunting, hough thoy >thor triben, and carvers )r8, and war- ivn Hoas, and oHtile to the miosionary for thwir iu- vuin of lignite coal-oil thtjre. post by the he last four lanufacturiog from sharks. kers that the ix hours, by led by cotton anchored in break on the rs of the en- s the eatest known B million, and yeaf in im- been brought smaller than I oil that when drird thoy burn lik(> a candle. It is extract<;d in huge tpian- titit'H and forniH antaple artiule of di«^t and barter iinmnif tlie nativeH. Tliere are alHo two saliuon tinherieH near the mouth of the river, CroaHdaile V >- aboiit thirty reteddent whit^ and several hundred Indians, The Presbyterian Indian Misciion Church, the Mc^arlan Home, and the former Glovemmdnt buildings, are the most conspicuous among the' 150 or more houses and cabi^fi . crowded together on ihb pitituresque shore. , The; Indiitn vijir m lage compriHes several ho^nses ai large jsize built from gre«i; f cedar logs and planks generally without ' parti:^o^8» but some having floors, and all an (^n central fireplace^' l^ese are ^ frequently paved with smooth Btoneb, but have no ohimn^#, the smoke escaping through- tm opening in the roof. The great cedar posts, three feet in diftmeter supporting the monster ridge poles, and also columns stiiB^ngin front from forty to Mty feet in height, were covered from the ground up with rude grotesque carvings (rf Indians, b«ar, beaver, frogs, fish, eagles, ravens, and frii^tfiil imaginaty hobgoblins. They ware for- merly '8upp - Mr. ' Stephens showed mera splendid lot of fur comprising' otter^ beaver, mmk, wolverine^ wolves, lynqi, seal, and sea liqn, including t^'bull fur-seal over 8^ feet in length. His shipmentd of fur Im^ seasqn iwere valued at $26^000. This is also the winter rendezvous of the Cassiar miners. The principal mmds are sitttated on Pease Greek, 238 miles North- east, 160 mfles up the Stiokeen river to Glenora, then a port- age of 86 mfles to the head ofDease Lake, and from thence 18 iaB:^es further by water. The Juneau gold fi<3kis of Alaska are situated near the moutid of the Takou rives, 160 miles North-west from Wrangel. , ■f-' 88 ping Indian the l&ndiog: ia^pmt|xe id contajns id Jbidjana, e MclS'arlan .re the most and cal^i^S Indian ytIt hom gre«4: )is» jbut some IHxese are ID ohimn^A, of. The great monster ridge forty to fifty up with rude i, fish, eagles, ley ware for- te now known 1 heraldic de- the purchase tral trade with 3teph»p8, W. ^^0 the prm- idid lot of for, «, lynj, seal, aet in length. J26^000. This oainers. The miles North- , then a port- 'om thence 18 tds of Alaska ss, 160 miles Parties just down from these mines report several claims paying from 18 to $16 per day. On the evening of the 31st the Otter turned her bow homeward. A heavy rain fell during the first night, and in the morning scores of streams were plunging and flashing from the snowy summits down the avalanche furrowed sides of the high, precipitous mountains boirdering the channel of Bevilla (^igido. S^Ung through the same WOndexfol water- ways, traversed on the upward voyage, through lou}; stretches of river-like passages, shadowed by /their niOuntain walls, across Sounds affording more extended and grander views, — then tiirough an archipelago of innumerable rock-bound islands and islets, with arms and inlets reaching out in all directions, on the 7th of September we arrived safely in pori &\ Tietoria. CAR/!). Victoria, B. C, 2oth Dec, 1882. In eonalusiomi i tfnder my sincere ihfffihs to Sm- veyoT'Oencral W. S, Gcre^ and Tkos. Elwyn, Deputy Provincial Secretary, to tvhom I am under special obligations for government maps, documents, etc. I shall soon publish, at San Francisco, a second edition of " The Watering Places, Health and Pleasure Re- sorts of the Pacific Coast.'*'' It 'will be a mo ell bound, illustrated volume, of about 1^0 pages, embracing descriptions from personal observntions and experi- ence, of the principal sea-side, lake-side and mountain resorts and mineral springs from Mexico to A laska. The follotuing are among the places which tvill be prominently noticed : Victoria, Puget Sound, Gray^s Harbor, Shoalwater Bay, Sea View, Iltuaco, Tilla- mook and Taquina Bays; Wilhoit, Foley'' s, Harbin* s. MHM .^tMai^i^.&^.^ 84 Highland, Pierson's, Witter's, Ziegler's, HtmarcTs, BarthVs, Allen's, Hough's, Calistoga, White Sul- phur, Congress, Gilroy, Paraiso, Paso Robles, Ar- royo Grande, Santa Barbara, The Ojai, Arrowhead, Temescal and Fulton Mineral Springs; Lakes Ta- hoe and Donner, the Calaveras Big Trees, Tosemite, Monterey, Pescadero Pebble Beach, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Nordhoff, Santa Monica, Passadena, San Gabriel, Orange and San Diego. Persons desirous (^'obtaining copies of the same at $2.00, please address me at San Francisco. N, H. C. Mr. and Mrs. R. Maynard, of Victoria, the leading pho- tographic artists of the North-west coast, have the most com- plete coll ction of British Columbia and Alaska views extant, They have been taken by Mr. Maynard, personally, for which purpose he has traveled extensively through the interior, and along the coast as far north as Portage Bay, within thirty-two miles of the Yukon. ■■i^' -. -.^, iBiiiiiiiii g-ler% HowarcTsy 'og-a, White Sul- '^aso Robles, Ar- OJai, Arrowhead^ ings; Lakes Ta- ■ Trees, Tosemite^ anta Cruz, Santa Passadena, San ies of the same at ncisco. N. H. C. a, the leading pho- lave the most com- laska views extant, )rsonaIIj, for which ;h the interior, and f, within thirtjr-two mmsammmmm