IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) W ^ A {./ :/. I ^ ikP ///// ^^ w^ f/- 1.0 I.I '" IIIIIM I: 1^ [1 2 1.8 1.25 1.4 11.6 .4 6" ► J\ *%' % ^^ /^ ■'// r Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN bTREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 ( 716) 372-4503 *4v ^ '^ 'r^ V ^ \ \ 6^ %^ fS^ ^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques ^ (^1987 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bii.0, 1861, 630 vessels, tonnage 53,-i 13, crcwj o,5'2J. Cleared 609 vessels, tonnage 57,398, crews 3,725. Gold export ill 1861, about £500,000— this was the product of Hritish Columbia — ■■cry little gold lias been obtained on Vancouver. Other -exports thon to British Columbia, coal, timber, dried fish, furs and assorted merchandise. pi-oba1)ly £75,000 to £100,000. Imports in nine months ending Sept. 30, 1861, £293,502, of which £53,285 wer'j from I-ngland. Vbout fiv. ■•eighths of the imports would be provisio'is, &e., Uiost advai.tageously supplied by the neighbouring continent untd niiseu or the island. Imports during March 1862, were £52,350, Revenue derived from sale of public lands, a tax on real estate, licenses to trade, harbour dues, supreme court and police, &c. — revenue in 1861, £25,291 ; expenditure, £22,912. A reciprocity treaty vvlth e United States would be a great benelit to the people of Vancouver and the continent — the island gives all she has to offer, and asks for some return from her populous neighbour. A line of economically worked auxiliary screw steam vessels, of about 500 ton>. to ply between San Francisco and Victoria, likely to bo well supported and subsidized by the colonial government. Were the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's boats connected with a line of north Pacific boats, it would tend much to increase the business of merchants at home with the colony. Young men beginning life with a small capital may feel as sure of attaining independence iu this colony as at home they are certain to have a hard struggle merely "to make both cuds meet." It must be evident that either in coal, copper or iron mining, in farming, fish curing, lumbering, the manufacture of crockery, brewing, or in other branch of industry, Vancouver offers an almost certain reward. Its climate is unsurpassed for invigorating qualities, it possesses a highly productive soil, and what some may deem considerations, it has ( ) most picturesque scenery, and the lakes, .Ireams and woods abound in sport for the angler or shot. The explorer may ramble without dread »,f wild beasts, nc i is he annoyed by mosqueloes, those pests of most new countries. The Indians can be, and arc, with a little management, used as labourers at comparatively low wages— that they are ingenious may be seen by their works on exhibition. As the colony is at present too poor to pay tho passages of labourers from home 'u tiling it would gladly do if able), the natives will occupy their place in a measure. Other sources of probably great profits not yet examined, the collec- tion of turpentine which exudes freely from the Douglas pine— obtaining of salt from numerous strongly impregnated saline springs. Hops grow luxuriiintiy, but they are not cultivated, all those consumed are im- ported from California. Manufacture of iodine from unlimited quan- tities of kelp on the coast. The manufacture of hemp from the abun- dant hem,, nettle, its quality is superior to Russian. There is no tannery, the leather is all imported and the hides exported— as is also the wool, for there is no loom although the consumption of blankets is eno'"' us. Cost of reaching Victoria by steam from Southampton or Liver- pool, 45/., 75/. and 100/.— lengih of passage. 45 days. By sailing vessel, 26 guineas ; length of passage, about 150 days. Columbian Emigration Society, for assisting the emigration of indus- trious women — apply, by letter, to the Rev. John Garrett, or to W. C. Sargeaunt, Esq , 54, Charing Cross. The best route is vid New York and San Francisco, because thero is no detention on Panama— cost £15 to £110. ( BEITISH COLUMBIA. Superficial area about 200.000 square miles, 500 miles long and 400 miles wide (that of England and Wales is 58,320 square miles). Johnstone Strai'v, separating on the south west this colony from Vancouver, resembles a fine river studded with islands which are covered with trees. 7n/firior— extremely mountainous, but there are hundreds of thou- sands of acres suitable for agriculture and grazing— vast forests- numerous lakes, rapid streams and swamps. ( 7 ) h sandy lo.im. Price of land, 4*. 2(1. an Soil — Oq the prairies, a ric acre payable when surveyed. In 1861 the population of Whites was about 6000. Estimated population during the summer of 1862 — Whites —20,000 men, 500 women. ChinnnK-n— 4000 to 10,0()0. Indians— 10,000 to 15,000. There are about 50,000 Chinese in California, who expend about £2,800,000 per an. in that country— its labouring population are endea- vouring to expel them. The miners of Columbia have been mostly foreign- ers who naturally prefer their own countiy, therefore do not settle, and this colony has been nearly depopulated every winter, minus the large amounts of gold obtained by them every summer. Another great cause for this migration is the scarcity of women— nothing appears to settle a man so quickly as a wife, and in this country she is not to be had. CLIMATE— very salubrious, of various character owing to diffe- rence in altitude, latitude and surrounding peculiarities — mining is carried on in Cariboo from June to October ; when tunneling com- mences, it may be pursued through the winter ; on the lower Frazer many places have been wo.ked all through the winter months at intervals ; at Beaver Lake, in Cariboo, last January, mercury in ther- mometers congealed whilst exposed to the setting sun. Agricultural products are similar to those of Vancouver, and com- mand a higher price than in any other country, arising from the paucity of farmers and the high price of freight, duties, &c. Prices, at a good farm, 60 miles from Cariboo, in summer of 1861 — Vegetables, 4d. ; Hay, 4d. ; Barley and Oats, Is. 2d. per lb.— in Ca- riboo, Vegetables. Is. ; Barley, Is. 8d. ; Hay, Is. ; Oats, 28; Butter, 68. ; Beef, Is. 8d. ; Flour and Bacon, 2s. lid. per lb. The nearer to Vic- toria, the cheaper to live. Port of entry — New Westminster, 80 miles from Victoria and 1 5 miles from the mouth of Fvazer River— population, 300 to 500— it contains the custom-house, a bonded warehouse, the mint, treasury, and a pretty episcopal church ; three or four miles higher up the river there is a village, which is the head quarters of a company of Royal Engineers under Lieut.-Gov. Col. R. C. Moody, R.E. A Simple Fact— Gold Digging in this country " a lottery without blanks and the prizes are indeed splendid." Five men in two months ( 8 ) obtuincd 2.1,000/. One ,.laim yicMr.l \ MH) o/. ^,l,.mt .-i.MO/.) in thm. (lays. 'Iho avora-c- yi. 1,1 of -.,1.1 t,. oacli iniinT was, la^t y.^-ir, 10/. a-wcvk. flii. far cxco.'.l. thai ,,f any oth.T -old inii.inj,' jx.pulutmn. Kxtent of the K..l,l lichls aiiknuwn. It slioul.l iv.iuire tmt littlo '•oiiMd. ration to .ausc at.y one to h.^licvo that want is absent in thfsu clo.ii. ., vvlure laliu.a- is so hanuson.cly ivnnnuTato.l. and the 'l'''"a.Hl for it is aim. 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