.O^, **.^i. ^,>,% IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) Sis ^ <, <;» ^%^ i< i/.x fA l.w us "" "^ I.I 11.25 2.5 ...,. I 2.2 1^ iiiiim U III 1.6 V] <^ ^ /a A '/ /A Photographic Sciences CorporatioTi 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ V SJ \\ .-^ rv '^ (/j ^ % ^ :\ \ k CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which ma\ significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les d6tails de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. D D D D D D n D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couve iure restaurde et/ou pellicul6e I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure se.^rde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int6rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6td filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires; □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur n D n Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculies Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponibie Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6X6 film^es d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 1 / 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X laire s details [|ue8 du It modifier :iger une e filmage J/ |u6es The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated Impression. aire The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — »- (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those toe large to be entirely included in one exposure aia filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film* fut reproduit grAce A la ginArositi de: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Les images suivantes ont AtA reproduitus avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la nettet* de l'exemplaire filmA, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimAe sont filmAs en commen^ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fMmAs en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la deniiAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole —^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre rerroduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A drcite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. by errata ned to ent une pelure, fapon A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 WIT] THE GREAT GOLD FIELDS OF * GARIBOO; WITH AN AUTHENTIC DESCRIPTION, BROUaST DOWN TO THE LATEST PERIOD, OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AKD VANCOUVER ISLAND. ./»*^' By WILLIAM CAREW HAZLITT, OV IHE IirirEB XKHFLE, BABBISTEB-AT>LAW. WITH AN ACCURATE MAP. LONDON : ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE, ^ TAERINGDON STJREET. 2^EW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. 1862. (Y, larriiii/']" Seaie ot' tCntfluh iff/tiv. /.ViV'-"'"' '" 1. M.Hechir'^t fittcnt /^■••r.M.t on A'f.i/. /'/y/nri //, t,..itrisYoiiny. Umiion: i^ihltit/trJ (n i.it'ry,- Jit'>uh-ti . ■IS Haul' !,liiunt»i Heal?' C ■~\ (' \^' "^ e^>^'^ ^ ^ ,/->"' j^Anuas (^ ■^.n'^- K.' F "b u i> ( X t.» /''Ml &,,«<<•'■"'• r.,C/.«.'fv ,(uiM ■' ^; .'/Vi/.-.-, \ h,./„ (\fOUN0 Cf \1 \ COLO >OUMOj^. .;-^*. /?r>* /-'i^«- ^-^/. ,,n Co1%iUp r* !;*?'' f Siinln n-moti ^ :;-7i'>- ff. m s VI ■Vv'^ 1 I I ^1^1= 122 120 llri iie U^nilcn : Iithli.^/ir,l li\ t:,;>ry,- Jti'ntii-tti/c .('• r<\ /)j;v/A#/ Ci6 LONDON : FATILL AKD EDVA.RDS, PKIXTEBS, CHAKDOS STBF ^ * COVENT GARDEN, ' ' ? 4^. . i v^:. i I •Yob eou Bew ires[ yeai kas witl tab pub imo Of 1 imp fta] i;:ljioti • vhis ^reca care M tell] 1 PREFACE 3 STBF ', • : * ■I In 1858, tlie pi'esent writer publislied a small ^▼olume, entitled " British Columbia and Van- couver Island," in wlii«"h he o-ttempted to present to 'iBnglish readers a full and accurate account of the iiew colouy, so far as the knowledge obtained in Irespect to its prospects and resources up to that time "lirould allow. In the course of the last four or five jfears, however, information on British Columbia ha& been steadily accumulating, and the avidity with which this has been received, shows unmis- ipikeably the growing interest felt by the British public on the subject. This abundance of fresh Jinowledge, dispei*sed as it is through the columns if the press, and in official and private letters, imperatively calls for publication in a collective ,phape, and it has prompted the writer to reject the notion of bringing out a merely revised edition of his former work, and to adopt the safer plan of ^recasting his materials, embodying therewith a carefully digested selection of all the reliable in- [telligence that has hitherto reached ns : so that, IV PREFACE. 7n fact, the present volume may be regarded as virtually a new book. Prosperous as has been the growth of the colony bince its establishment in 1858, it is more particu- larly within the last few months — in fact, sinco the discovery of the Great Gold Fi jlds op Cariboo, that public attention has been drawn to this quarter. So alluring have been the accounts fur- nished by returned diggers and others, of the almost fabulous gains that have rapidly rewarded their toil, in this new auriferous region, that a stream of immigration has poured in, not only from our own country and its dependencies, but from China, Cali- fornia, and other parts of the world.. ^^. The mineral wealth of this highly favoured land is unquestionable : not only has it been found to be the richest of gold-producing countries yet ex- plored, but it contains treasures of almost equal value in its vast coal fields. This latter source of wealth and of commercial and industrial develop- ment promises indeed to raise the colony eventually to the highest pitch of prosperity. Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island, may therefore fairly hope one day to become the Liverpool of the Pacific Ocean. - British Columbia has, however, attractions for other immigrants besides miners and diggers. Owing to its salubrious climate, the fertility of the soil, and the abundance of its rivers, it is evidently destined to become, as its population increases, a great agri- cultural district; and there can be no doubt that from this fort would fii In proof authority 100,000/ developn The ft siderablj this worl likely to emigrant sands no the day : of the p swell th developn most val Then made as latest di 4, Powi s : r- .- ,i PREFACE. ded as colony )articu- iCvj tlie \.RIBOO, to this its fur- almost [ their earn of ur own a, Call- 3d land und to yet ex- fa equal source ievelop- mtually ria, the ) fairly Pacific '^ this fortunate combination of advantages, farmers would find the ^ a lucrative field for their laboui's. In proof of this opinion it may be stated, on good authority, that the colony luis " lost this year full 100,000/. simply through the want of agricultural development." The facilities of transit have latterly been con- |H| siderably increased, and will be found detailed in ^B this work, as well as every other kind of information m^plikely to be useful, or to interest the intending emigrant ; and we may predict that from tlie thou- (sands now wending their way to British Columbia, the day is not very far distant when the completion of the projected Tnter-Colonial Railway will vastly swell the tide of immigration, and accelerate the development of England's newest, and probably her imost valuable dependency. The map which accompanies the volume has been ^made as complete as possible, and includes all the latest discoveries. \y. c. If. ■J ,\ 4, Powis Place, W.C, Ajml 20th, 1862. ^ns for Owing oil, and estined it agri- at from « ■; "W «:, ,i^i''r^ •Oeoip'aph Coast 1: Operati Drake- others- Berkele *k- Tuca's S If^ Voyagt British ''^ lation— 1 — Hou! Columl Curren t Descripti i M^ i ber— C ^^^Kid . establis • v'^^M Stock- * • • # CONTENTS. CHAPTER L rcofp-apliy of British Columbia — First Discovery of tlio Coast by the Spaniards — Hernando Cortez — Earliest Operations of the English on the Coast — Voyage of Drake — Later Discovenes — Voyages of Cook and others — Discoveries of the ]?ur-traders — Voyages of Berkelev and Vancouver CHAPTER II. ^uca's Strait — Mackenzie's Voyage (1789) — Frazer's Voyage (1806) — Description of the Lake Scenery of British Columbia — Rivers — Climate — Native Popu- lation — Language of the. Natives — Religion — Canoes — Houses, &c. — Agricultural Resources of British Columbia — Fisheries — Game, Wild Animals, &c. — Currency of the District . • . • . 18 CHAPTER in. Description of the Coast apd Interior; — ^The Soil — Tim- ber — Coal — TheVan ouver Coal-Mining Company just established — Indian "Women and Indian Babies — Siock-^Horses '.'.'.'• g . , 57 Till CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Various Routes to the Colony — Useful Directions for the Outfit — What to take and wliat not to take — Prices of Provisions — Female Emigration — "A Re- turned Digger" CHAPTER V. Inter- Oceanic Railway — Red River — British Columbia Overland Transit Company — Gold in the Saskatche- wan — Proposal for a Line of Electric Telegraph — The Gold Fields of Cariboo — Their Riches — Concurrent Testimony on this Point — The Canadian and Local 77 Press 91 CHAPTER VI. •M v*i Extracts from Recent Official Despatches — Further Extracts from the Local and Canadian Press and from Correspondence — Extracts from the Times Letter of March 25, 1862 — Remarks on the Letter — ^The Bishop of Columbia's Journal 117 ,'; f.r-^:r i:- ,, ■. APPENDIX. I. Rules and Regulations for the Working of Gx>ld Mines, issued in conformity with the Gold Fields ' Act, 1859 166 II. The Law of Land Sales in the Colonies . , 168 III. An Act to Provide for the Government of British Columbia 173 IV. Vocabulary of the " Chinook Jargon" . • , 177 V. Government Emigration Officers in the L^nited Kingdom ISO VI. Extracts from a Vancouver Island Journal and the Canadian News . . » . • . .180 BE eograp] by tht of the coverif Fur-Ti Britis ^donia) ^Bonth ,fica, to JSklount lihe Fii #i*'est Queen ladjacei 1 until o of Van The - 22 of clonia ' 3 for ce — Re- ■fca • ■r*< BRITISH COLUMBIA. nbia che- -The irent ocal 91 irther v from t' ter of bishop 117 Gold Fields . 166 . 168 Iritish . 173 . 177 Fnited . 180 1 and . 18C irr. Kf^t- ii^r 'V .' iii^- CHAPTER I. .<.'l !^li-' Geography of British Columbia — First Discovery of the Coast by the Spaniards — Hernando Cortez — Earliest Operations of the English on the Coast — Voyage of Drake— Later Dis- coveries — Voyages of Cook and others — Discoveries of the Fur-Traders — Voyages of Berkeley and Vancouver. RiTiSH Columbia (formerly known as Kew Cale- donia) comprises "all such territories within the ^dominions of Her Majesty, as are bounded to the (Bouth by the frontier of the United States of Ame- rica, to the east by the main chain of the Bocky Mountains, to the north by Simpson's River and %\\Q Finlay branch of the Peace River, and to the l«lvest by the Pacific Ocean." It also includes Queen Charlotte's Islands, and all other islands i|adjacent to these territories, with the exception, funtil otherwise provided by the Queen in Council, of Vancouver Island. The region thus described in the Statute 21 and 23 of the Queen, cap. 99, s. 1, is the New Cale- donia which, as a dist^'ict of the Columbia Depart- 2 BRITISH COLUMBIA. f# Tuent of tlie Hudson's Bay territories, was classed by that Company among their richest possessions. "While it was in their hands, it extended much farther south j at present, under the treaty of 1 84G, its southern limit is at parallel 49° N., while its northern boundary runs in about parallel 55°, It is about 420 miles long in a straight line ; its average breadth is about 250 to 300 miles. Mea- sured from corner to corner, its greatest length, however, is 805 miles, and its greatest breadth 400 miles. Mr. Arrowsmith computes its area, includ- ing Queen Charlotte's Islands, at somewhat more than 200,000 square miles. The denomination of New Caledonia dates no earlier than tl e time of Captain Cook ; by Yancouver the coast between parallels 45° and 50° was called New Georgia, and that between 50° and 54° New Hanover. In 180G, the North-West Company formed the first settlement in this district ever made by British subjects, on a small lake called, after the person by whom the ex- pedition was headed, Frazer's Lake, and since that time British traders have applied the designation New Caledonia to the whole region extending from 48"^ to 56° 30', between the Kocky MountaiLs and the sea. These mountains, which are also known as the Stony, and, more southerly, as the Oregon Moun- tains, form part of a lofty chain, which divides North-Western America from the other portions of the continent, running continuously in a north- west direction, from the Mexican Andes to the COLUMBIA RIVER TERRITORY. shores of the Arctic Ocean. Between this great chain and the Pacific an ample territory lies, of which the main breadth is loosely calculated at 500 miles. The northern portion, terminating at 54® 40' N"., belongs, under treaties between Russia and the United States of America in 1824, and between Russia and Great Britain in the following year, to Russia ; the next portion, reaching a line drawn east from the Gulf of Georgia south of Frazer s River in parallel 49°, to the Rocky Mountains, belongs, under the treaty of 1846, between the United States and Great Britain, to the latter Power ; the remainder, so far as the Mexican frontier, has been absorbed by the United States. In the nego- tiations which ensued upon the seizure of British vessels in Nootka Sound, and terminated in the Convention of the Escurial, the Spanish Government designated this territory " the Coast of California, in the South Sea ;" but it has more recently been known as the Oregon or Columbia River Territory. There is no doubt that the earliest pioneers on these coasts were the Spaniards. The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Vasco Nunez de Balboa in the year 1513; Magellan's Strait, hy Fernando Magalhaens, in 1520. In the earlier part of 1532 the most northerly point on the Western coast of America occupied by the Spaniards was Culiacan, at the entrance of the Gulf of California ; beyond this town, toward the North and West, the lands and seas of North-Western America were wholly unexplored. An expedition made by order of Cortez, under B 2 t:i'i BRITISH COLUMBIA. r the command of Mendoza and Mazuela, in 1532, produced no result ; but a second, under Grijalva and Becerra, in 1533, discovered California, of which peninsula Cortez, on the 3rd May, 1535, took pos- session in the name of the King of Spain. The last expedition despatched by Cortez was under the command of Francesco de Ulloa, who sailed from Acapulco on the 8th July, 1539 ; and who, having first surveyed the shores of the Gulf of California, and having thus ascertained that California was not an island, proceeded northward, according toHerrera, so far as the 28th parallel, and was lost. Other writers, on the contrary, allege that Ulloa reached the 30th degree, and then returned safely to Mexico. , A maritime expedition despatched by Antonio de Mendoza, in 1540, resulted in the discovery of the Colorado River, and in the same year a region identified by Mr. Greenhow as the beautiful district now called Sonora, was acquired for the King of Spain by an exploring force sent by Mendoza in that direction, for the purpose of discovery and conquest. The name is said to be a corruption of Senora, by the Spanish commander Coronado, in honour of the Viceroy, who bore as a portion of his arms an image of Nuestra Senora de Buena Guia, " Our Lady of Safe Conduct." . - ? f ,- i v^ In June, 1542, two vessels started under Juan Cabrillo from the port of Navidad in Xalisco. Ca- brillo examined the coast of California as far north as 37° 10', when he was driven back by a storm to the island of San Bernardo, where he died. His SPANISH CLAIMS — DRAKE's VOYAGE. 5 pilot, Ferrelo, continued his course northward. Respecting the point which he succeeded in reach- ing, there is some difference of opinion. Greenhow contends that he proceeded as far as the present Cape Mondocino ; while othei-s, and Humboldt among them, say that he discovered Cape Blanco in 43°. Cape Blanco afterward changed its name to Cape Orford. . These explorations had been made by the Spa- niards by virtue of the papal bull, conferring on Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and their succes- sors all the New World to the west of a meridian line drawn a hundred leagues west of the Azores, the other portion having been conferred by the Holy Father on the Portuguese. When England renounced her allegiance to Home, she repudiated also the validity of this preposterous concession, and asserted the right of Englishmen to navigate any part of the ocean, to settle in anj country nob occupied by another Christian nation, and to trade with any customers who desired to trade with them. In accordance with this policy, Sir Francis Drake, sailing from Plymouth on the 13th Decem- ber, 1577, with only five vessels, carried three of these safely through the Straits of Magellan. A storm then dispersed the little squadron, and Drake was left with only one schooner of 100 tons and about sixty men, to prosecute his enterprise against the whole power of Spain on the western coast of America. The bold navigator persevered, however, !-; I V ' J' Li ' ii ! i' /, ;fr v^1 BRITISH COLUMBIA. '^■^' and realized immense booty. In the spring of 1579, apprehending that the Spaniards would in- tercept him if he should attempt to return through Magellan's Straits, he resolved to seek a north-east- erly passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, by tho Straits of Anian, which, discovered by Gaspar Cor- tereal, a Portuguese, in 1499, were long supposed to connect the two oceans, and to be the north-west- erly passage so much desired by Europea-n naviga- tors. The most generally received opinion now is, that the Straits of Anian are identical with Hud- son's JStrait, lee ding, not from the Atlantic to the 'PekciQ.o, hut merely into Hudson's Bay. ' ""■ Setting aside the question whether Drake found New Georgia, or approached Fuca's Straits, it is indisputable that he discovered and appropriated, as English territory, the region extending along the coast, between latitude 43° and 48° j and bestowed upon it the name of N^ew Albion, In 1776, Parliament offered a reward of £20,000 to the discoverer of any practicable passage by sea between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, in any direction or parallel of the northern hemisphere north of the 52nd degree of latitude. Captain Cook, who had lately returned from his second voyage of circumnavigation, offered to conduct this mission of discovery ; and two vessels were placed under his comi^iand for the purpose. The instructions given to Cook were to proceed by way of the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand, and Otaheite, to the coast of Now Albion; there COOKS EXPLORATIONS. 'i"i. he was to put into the first convenient port to ob- tain wood, water, and rea-eshments, and thence io proceed northward along the coast to the latitude of 65 degrees, where he was to begin his jearch for " such rivers or inlets as roight appear to be of con- siderable extent, and pointing tovvarr! Hudson's or Baffin's Bay, should he find a passage of that de- scription." Cook sailed from Plymouth on the If^th of July, 1776, in the Resolutiony followed by the Discovery, under Captain Charles Clarke, who joined him at the Cape of Good Hope. They arrived in sight of the north-western coast of America on the 7th March, 1778, near 44°, about two hundred miles north of Cape Mendocino. For several days, Cook was prevented from advancing northward by con- trary winds, which forced him one hundred miles in the opposite course ; but he was ultimately enabled to examine partially a large extent of coast, and to determine with greater accuracy than had been hitherto attempted the longitude of that part of America. The weather at length permitting, he took the desired direction ; and running rapidly northward, at some distance from the land, he was on the 22nd March opposite a projecting point of the continent, a little beyond the 48th parallel, to which he gave the name of Cape Flattery, in token of the improvement in his prospects. The navigators then sailed north-westward, doubled a projection of the land, named by them Point Breakers, from the violence of the surf break- 'M I! ; m. i 1' i \' I W f. BRITISH COLUMBIA, v ing on it, and found immediately beyond a spacious bay, opening into the Pacitic, in the latitude of 49^ degrees. Into this bay they sailed, and anchored on its northern aide, at the distance of ten miles from the sea, in a safe and commodious harbour, which tliey called Friendly Cove. »♦"> Erom the number of articles of iron and brass found among these people, one of whom had more- over two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture hanging round his neck as ornaments — from their manifesting no surprise at the sight of his ships, and not being startled at the report of his guns, and from the strong inclination to trade exhibited by them. Cook was at first inclined to suppose that the place had been visited by vessels of civilized j»ations before his arrival. He, however, became convinced by his inquiries and observations during his stay that this was by no means probable. The iron and brass might, be conceived, have been brought from Canada or Hudson's Bay, and the silver spoons from Mexico j and he imputed the indifference of the natives respecting the ships to their natural indolence of temper and want of curiosity. * : - - On his arrival in this bay Cook had christened it "King George's Sound;" but afterwards he found that it was called Nootka by the natives, by which name it has accordingly ever since been known. The bay is situated on the south-western side of Vancouver Island, which was, till 1770, supposed to be part of the American continent; COOK S EXPLORATIONS. 9 I >:' and it communicate*; with the Pacific by two open- ings, the more southerly of which, the only one affording a passage for large vessels, lies under the parallel of 49° 33'. ^ - . - On the Ist of May, Cook saw the land about the 55th parallel ; and on the following day he passed under 57° near the beautiful conical mountain, known since Bodega's time (1775) as Mount San Jacinto. The name of the peak was changed to Mount Edgecumb by Cook, who also gave the name o'^ Bay of the Islands t: the Port Bemedios of the Spaniards on its northern side. After leaving these places, the English observed a wide opening on the east, called by them Cross Sound, and beyond it a very high mountain, which they denominated Mount Fairweather. The latter was situated near the 59th parallel, and they had consequently advanced farther north than the Spaniards or any other navigators had proceeded from the south along that coast, and were entering upim the theatre of Russian enterprise. Although Spanish navigators may have seen portions of the coast of North America between the limits of 43° and 6o° prior to his visit, their observations had been too cursory and vague to lead to any practical result ; and to Cook belongs, beyond doubt, the credit of having first ascertained the true extent of the American and Asiatic continents, and their proxi- mity to each other. On the return of the expedition to England (October, 1780), it became known that there was -It • mi 3 10 BRITISH COLUMBIA. abundance of animals with fine furs on the north- west coast of America, and that there was a large Oldening for the fur trade in China ; for the ships, on their return to Englan'" ^fter the deaths of Cook and Clarke, hid put int ^Janton, and found a ready market for the skins collected by the crews, to the amount of 10,000 dollars. The Russians had promptly availed themselves of information on the subject acquired from Captain King, and an asso- ciation was formed among the fur merchants of Siberia and Kamtschatka to open a trade with the shores of the American continent. By this asso- ciation various trading poots were established in 1783, between Eliaska and Prince William's Sound; and in 1788 other Russian settlements had extended themselves as far as Admiralty Bay, at the foot of Mount Elias. Since that time the Russian frontier lias advanced to the coast of Queen Charlotte's Sound. ^ r The publication, however, of the journals of Cook's expedition in 1784-5 brought other Powers into these seas. La Perouse, on leaving his country for the Pacific in 1785, was specially instructed "to explore the parts of the north-west coasts of America which had not been examined by Cook, and of which the Russian accounts furnished no idea, in order to obtain information respecting the fur trade, and also to learn whether in those unknown parts some river or internal sea might not be found com- municating with Hudson's Bay or Baffin's Bay." But the geography of North- Western America STRAIT OP JUAN DE FUCA. 11 ll gained little by this movement ; for of the three mouths passed by La Perouse on the coast, one- third was spent at anchor in a bay at the foot of Mount Fairweather, and the remainder in visit- ing various points of the coast as far south as Monterey. • It is remarkable that Cook, though he made diligent search for the Strait of Fuca, was not suc- cessful in discovering it, and that that honour was reserved for Berkeley. The Strait of Juan de Fuca, through which that navigator himself was believed in Cook's time to have sailed from the Pacific into the Atlantic, in 1592, has an average width of eleven miles, and runs from the Pacific into the Gulf of Georgia. It is, says Pemberton, free from sunken rocks or shoals ; its direction is eastward for about seventy miles to its junction with the channels which lead by a northerly course into the Gulf of Georgia, which separates Vancouver's Island from the continent. "The approach," continues the ^ame writer, " is safe for all desc;.'iptions of ves- sels, being liable to no other dangers than those incidental to gales from the S.E., which, with con- siderable intervals of tranquil weather, are in winter not uncommon, and to fogs, or rather dense smoke, arising from forests on fire in autumn ; although in the latter case soundings are a safeguard, and good anchorage can generally be found within a mile of either shore." "The facility of entering and navigi\ting this strait has been greatly increased by the erection of ; ! 't I '1. ii * t ^ .■ 12 BRITISH COLUUBIA. 'i' lighthouses on the south shore by the United States Government, and on the north by the British. That at Capo Flattery stands 162 feet above the sea, and in clear weather the light can be seen distinctly 20 miles off. New Dungeness is 100 feet high, and has a fog-bell attached to the lighthouse." '■*'' When Cook*8 journals were given to the world, the British trade in the Pacific was divided between two great corporate bodies, each of which possessed peculiar and exclusive privileges, secured by Act of Parliament. Thus, no British subjects, except those in the service or bearing the licence of the South Sea Company, were in a position to make expedi- tions for trade or fishery, by way of Cape Horn or Magellan's Straits, to any part of the western coast of America, or the seas and islands within three hundred leagues of it : while no British sub- jects, not employed or licensed by the £ast India Company, could proceed for either of those purposes around the Cape of Good Hope to any seas or lands east of that point, between it and Magellan's Straits ; with the provision, however, that the privileges con- ferred on the East India Company should not be considered as interfering with those previously granted to the other association. All British vessels found trading or fishing contrary to the Acts by which these privileges were conferred, became liable to confiscation, and the persons directing such ex- peditions exposed themselves to the risk of heavy penalties. The next discoveries worthy of note made after DISCOVERIES OP DIXON— DUNCAN — MEARES. 13 Cook's voyage were those of Captains Portlock and Dixon, in the service of the King Georrjea tSound Company y which aimed at monopolizing the trade between the Nortli Pacific coasts and China. Portlock and Dixon left England in August, 1785, and reached Cook's River in July, 1786. Dixon claimed the discovery of the land between the 54th and 52nd degrees of latitude, on the ground tli.it it had not been seen by Cook, though it is specially marked on the chart of that navigator as found by the Spaniards in 1775; and having become con- vinced from the reports of the natives that this land was separated from the American continent by water, he bestowed on it the name of Queen CJuirlottes Islands, and on the passage immediately north of it that of Dixon^s Entrance, ^,v In the year subsequent to this expedition, Cap- tain Duncan, commanding the Princess Eoi/al, ascer- tained the already assumed separation of Queen Charlotte's Islands from the mainland, and dis- covered the group now known as the Princess RoyaVs Archipelago. In 1788, Meares, in the Felice, accompanied by Captain Douglas in the Iphigenia, continued his examination as far north as latitude 49° 37', after which he retraced his progress, and on reaching the Strait of Juan de Fuca, took possession of it, with the usual ceremonies, in the name of the King of Great Britain. ... In 1787, Captain Berkeley, commanding a vessel called the Imperial Eagle, discovered immediately I 14 I /» ^t^ i 'u ^ 14 BlIITISH COLUMBIA. north of Cape Flattery, between 48° and 49°, a broad arm of the sea, stretching eastward from the Pacific. To this passage Captain Meares in the following year gave the appellation of Fuca's Straits, in commemoration of the old Greek pilot, whose story is so well known. Berkeley did not, how- ever, explore the passage. ' r- »; The United States now began to engage actively in the trade of the North Pacific, and the voyages made on this account were the origin of the Oregon question, which led to the Treaty of 1846. In 1789, an American trader, named Gray, sailed round the islands now named Queen Charlotte's, a ad gave them the name of his sloop, Washington; he afterwards entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and sailed in it east-south-east for fifty miles. In 1790, the Spaniards having previously taken possession of Nootka and the coast generally, two vessels, the Discovery and the Chatham, under the command of Captain Yancouver and Lieutenant Broughton, were despatched on the authority of a convention with the Spaniards, to receive the cession of the territory from their officers in the Pacific, although, in point of fact, the cession was not finally made till March, 1795. Prior to their arrival on the coast in 1792, the Spaniards had made progress in ascertaining the character of the Strait of Juan de Fuca ; one of their officers, Lieutenant Quimper, having, in 1791, proceeded to its eastern limit, and ascertained the position of the principal openings of the coast in that direction, though it does not appear that he GRAY-T-VANCOUVER — BROUGIITON. l» entered them. In tlie autumn of the same year Captain Gray, in the Coluinhiaj visited the more northern coasts, and explored a canal in latitude 54° 33', which is supposed to have been that afterwards named by Vancouver, Portland Canal ; in the spring, he discovered Bullfinches' or Gray's Harbour, between the Strait of Fuca and Co- lumbia River, in latitude 46° 58', and the day following entered the mouth of that river, and sailed up it about ten miles, from whence he proceeded in boats fifteen miles further, and after some delays succeeded in his endeavour to get to sea. He gave i^ Lhe name it now bears. , . - ; • On the 1st of May, 1792, Yancouver and Brough- ton left Cape Flattery, and sailed slowly along the coast in an easterly direction about a hundred miles» until, reaching the extreme point to which it ex- tended eastward, they entered the harbour, already known as l^ort Quadra, to which they gave the new name of Fort Discover^/. At a short distance beyond Port Discovery, the navigators found another open- ing in the coast toward the south, corresponding to Quimper's Canal de Caamano^ through which they , entered an extensive arm of the sea with several branches, stretching in various southerly directions. On this arm they bestowed the name of Admi- rally Inlet ; its western branch was called Hood's Canal ; its eastern. Possession Sound : while the southern received the appellation of Puget's Sound ; and all having undergone a minute survey, the navigators were in a position to deny the possi- ' \::m r,!i1 1:) m 16 BRITISH COLUMBIA. f ! ;| i:- M m bility of reacliing tlio continent through these channels. After this examination of the coast in an easterly- direction, the navigators proceeded to take posses- sion, in the name of the King of England, of all that part of New Albion, from 39° 20' south lati- tude, and 230° 26' east longitude, to the entrance of the inlet, supposed to be the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as also of all the coasts, islands, of a i'et i are pun it is pe i miscuou I ■ • keeping at once. / their pe difficult < profusel l> the blen 't in symp « The * given to ■■),. A stran. ; food for li pays for the best Thel t Fort Al d by Mr. '-* enmity "s -.7 cognomi ■1. more nu »; abounds ct j but the-' '^^ ^ % A as relyin s^ THE INDIANS. they would pay no attention. Mr. M'Lean tells ns that there is considerable variety and melody in the airs they sing. In common, again, with more re- fined people, they have professed " composers," who turn their talent to good account on the occasion of a feast, when new airs are in great request, and are purchased at a high rate. As to their dancing, it is performed in circles ; men and women pro- miscuously holding each other by the hand and keeping both feet together, hop a little to a side all at once, giving at the same time a singular je^!>. to their persons behind. The movement seems to be difficult of execution, as it causes them to perspire profusely ; they, however, keep excellent time, and the blending of the voices of the men and women in symphony has an agreeable effect. " These Indians," observes Mr. M*Lean, " are not given to hospitality in the proper sense of the word. A stranger arriving among them is provided with food for a day only ; should he remain longer he pays for it ; for the day's entertainment, however, the best fare is liberally furnished." The Talkotin Indians occupy the territory above Fort Alexandria, on Frazer River, and are described by Mr. M'Lean as being on terms of deadliest enmity "with the Chilcotins. These reside about the cognominal lake and river, and are somewhat more numerous than the Naskotins. Their district abounds in beavers and other fur-bearing animals^ but they are described as indifferent hunters, and as relying for their chief sustenance on the produce l> iS ' ', : 34 ^RITISH COLUMBIA. m of the lake and the river. They are well acquainted with the use of fire-arms, and a traveller specifies " one particular gun of excellent quality which he saw among them, marked 'Barret, 1808.'" From these circumstances, and from the superiority of their general condtict and behaviour, from their greater cleanliness and comparative refinement, Mr. Cox was led to imagine that they must have had considerable intercourse with the whites. The dress they wore, common tc both sexes, and which is a kind of blanket, favoured the supposition with Mr. Cox, who considered that these articles had been obtained from Russian travellers. All the natives of th^ north-west coast are skilful and enterprising traders. At Queen Charlotte's Islands they not only dispose of furs and fish, but they cultivate potatoes, and hold, at stated periods, potato fairs, attended by the native traders from other islands, who again supply these and other vegetable products to the more remote traders in- habiting some of the rocky islands in Behring's Straits. Touching religious matters, the Bishop of Colum- bia, inJiis Journal (1860), says : — >>r: » " Most of the Indians profess to know of the Sack- ally Tyhee Papa, Great Chief Father. They point upwards ; they say He sees all, is all- wise, and strong and good, and never dies. I found out to-day, from two Indians of this place, that Skatyatkeitlah is the same as Squaquash Suokum, or the sun. The sun ? i .. , , * Though the extent of really good land in British Columbia is certainly small compared with moun- tain and forest tracts, yet it is very large in pro- V portion to the number of inhabitants. The soil is ' everywhere fertile, though in many places it is f extremely light and sandy. Mr. Pemberton says : — "The fertility of the soil in the neighbourhood of the gold-bearing rocks is very remarkable, and is indicated rather by the production from ordinary ' seed of gigantic roots and vegetables and fruits, than by crops of grain." I V " An acre of land planted with 200 apple-trees would, at the end of three years, on a minute cabu- ■■ lation, cost a proprietor lom 30^. to 40/., and the lowest selling price of an acre of apple-trees of that ageisSOOZ." . . ' ■ ■ A miner who has lately (1862) returned from the , Gold Fields, and who seems to have been a shrewd observer, remarks — ♦ " All along the coast of Vancouver Island the '- fisheries may be described as beyond value. Sal- I mon and herrings abound to an extent almost un- known elsewhere, and mackerel and cod are also found. The produce of these fisheries, along with i the coal and timber, form the principal resources of the island, as it is not well adapted for pastoral and not altogether for agricultural purposes. " Of salmon there are four kinds, differing in the •im I ■•*i. * i i :: I I m i'l ^f I 42 BRITISH COLUMBIA. conformation of the head. The largest species is the same with that found in Great Britain. These fish ascend Frazer's River and its tributaries, from the Pacific, in immense shoals, proceeding towards the sources of the stream until stopped by shallow water. Having deposited their spawn, their dead bodies are seen floating down the currenc in thou- sands j few of them evtr return to the sea ; and, in consequence of the old fish perishing in this man- ner, they fail, in this quarter, every fourth year, and then the natives starve in all directions." The salmon fishery commences about the middle of July, and ends in C'ctober. This is a very busy time with the natives ; for upon their success in secnriiig a supply of salmon for the winter depends their main support. Their method of catching the salmon is this : A certain part of the river is en-* closed by a number of stakes, about twelve feet high, and extending about forty feet from the shore. A netting of rods is attached to the sta' :,:;, to pre- vent the salmon running through. A conical machine, called a vorveau, is next formed; it is eighteen feet long and five feet high, and is made of rods about an inch and a quarter asunder, and lashed to hoops with whattap, a tough fibrous root used in sewing bark. One end is formed like a funnel, to admit the fish ; two smaller machines, of nearly equal length, are joined to it. It requires a number of bands to attach these vorveaus to the stake, but they are very efiective for their purpose. As soon as a cargo of salmon is caught, the natives SALMON PICKLING. 43 bring it to the trading post in their canoes. A number of Indian women are employed by the trader, seated on the beach, with knives ready to cut up the fish. The salmon are counted from each Indian, for which a ticket is given for the quantity, large or small. After the whole of the salmon are landed, the Indians congregate round the trading shop for their payment, and receive ammunition, baize, tobacco, buttons, v Nootkj t four in F slightl} ■' end. 1 most \ . oommo portion J passing '■ length. 'i the fix( y stance. •j double fragility *To fallen tir > state, it J have see * 23ERTO:^. NATIVE CURRENCY. 49 of thongs, or shot with arrows, or taken in traps made with large pieces of wood, which are so sot as to fall and crush them while nibbling at the bait. The beaver and the bear* are considered the most valu- able of these edibles, and are served up at the feasts which they make in memory of their deceased relatives, as companion j)l(f'ts with the dogs. When all other food fails, the natives make shift with a species of lichen, which is found in abundance on the sides of the rock. The currency of British Columbia, in its native simplicity, consisted of haiqua, a round shell of extreme hardness, found in the neighbourhood of Nootka Sound. It varies in length from one to four inches, and is about half an inch thick, hollow, slightly curved, and tapering a little towards the end. It is highly estimated, the longest being the most valuable. It resembles the top shank of a common clay smokiug-pipe : they are valued in pro- portion to the number that, when ranged on a string passing through their hollow tubes, extend a fathom's length. Forty to the fathom is or was supposed to be the fixed standard of excellence and worth ; for in- stance, forty which make a fathom are worth nearly double fifty which make a fathom. Their extreme fragility, lightness, tenuity, and delicacy of colour are * To see one of these animals steeple-chasing over the fallen timber of the forest, or spring up a tree in its native state, it is difficult to conceive its being similar to that we have seen so tame and spiritless in the menagerie. — Pem- 33ERTON. • •*'• E y -I t, .4 ♦ " s ■ la 50 BRITISH COLUMBIA. what appear to give them their importance. They are thus caught in Nootka Sound and along Vancouver Island : — A piece of deer's flesh or fish is dropped by a line to the bottom ; this they cling to ; and they are then drawn up, and carefully gutted and preserved. But in proportion as the new colony has deve- loped itself, it has become necessary that some mone- tary system of a fixed or recognised character should be adopted ; and in 1861 the Governor took this im- portant question into serious consideration. In a despatch to the Colonial Secretary, dated Novem- ber 14th, 1861, Mr. Douglas says : — " Much inconvenience and loss have, ever since the formation of these colonies, been occasioned by the want of a circulating medium of fixed and re- cognised value, equal to the business demands of the country. The scarcity of coin has been so great, gold dust not being received for duties, that importers of goods have found it diflicult at all times to make their custom-house payments, and, as is well known, are frequently compelled to bor- row money for that purpose at exorbitant rates of interest, from two per cent, per month and upwards. Almost all the business of the country is transacted in gold dust of uncertain value, and it is easy to conceive the difficulty and inconvenience of adjusting payments by such means, when the holder and receiver are both alike subject to loss, ind fearful of imposition. " The effects of an over-restricted monetary cir- FORMER SCARCITY OF MONEY. 81 cir- culation are now, however, operating so fatally in both colonies that it is indispensable to devise a remedy for an evil that is sapping the very founda- tions of our prosperity. To illustrate this fact, I would inform your Grace that at this moment there is an amount of gold dust in the hands of miners from Cariboo, residing at Victoria, exceeding one quarter of a million sterling ; and so great is the present dearth of coin that it brings a premium of ^ve per cent, and over when procurable, which is not generally the case, as men may be seen hawk- ing bars of gold about the streets of Victoria, who cannot raise coin enough, even at the high rates of discount just mentioned, to defray their current expenses. The miners and other holders of gold are naturally incensed, and refuse to submit to this, depreciation on the value of their property, whea they know it can be converted into coin for the moderate charge of one-half of one per cent, at the United States Branch Mint in San Francisco ; making an important saving to them of four-and-a- Lalf per cent. They are consequently leaving Vic- toria by every opportunity ; and it is most painful to witness a state of things which is rapidly driving population and capital from the country. ' •' As a safer remedy, and one more suitable to the actual circumstances of the colonies, I propose to take immediate steps for the manufacture of gold pieces, equal in value to the ten and twenty dollar American coins, and to bring them into general use as a circulating medium in both colonies. ^ E 2 r>y :■£■ ; * 4 I ■''4: f TP i R j ^: ■^' '4^-^ f '■•■ i^.> ^ t^ ,,4 ., m 52 BKITlSir COLUJIBIA. lii:^ " This plan does not contemplate refining the gold, as the expense would be greatly increased by that process : it is merely proposed to bring it to a uniform standard of fineness, without sepr; tting the natural alloy of silver which to some ex'.;_ifc exists in all the gold of British Columbia. • - • "The pieces will be prepared at the Government Assay Office, and will bear the stamp of unquestion- able character ; and I am of opinion that by making the gold contained in them of the full current value of the piece, without taking the silver ir.co account, which I propose should go as a bonus, they will not only answer as a cheap and convenient currency within the colonies, but also have the same exchange value when exported to other countries. ' '"''"^ " I have submitted this plan for the consideration of the principal banking and commercial houses of Victoria, with the objectofobtiining their views a i to the probable effects of the proposed currency o:i the general business of the country, and more espe- cially as to its exchange value when exported to pay for supplies : the single point which I think admits of any question, for in that case it would probably be treated as simple bullion. ^ • "i " It was clearly proved by the statements of those gentlemen, that the actual cost of importing coin from other countries is rather over five per cent., which the/ believe to be the actual cost of our pre- sent metallic currency. Not having had sufficient time for consideration, they were not, however, pre- pared to give a decided opinion on the general mea- A BANK ESTABLISHED. 53 sure, but they admit teil that it wouhl establish tlio value of the gold produced in British Columbia in the cheapest manner, and ^^I'f^vide a metallic cur- rency for the country at a cost of four per cent, less than is paid for imported coin, and offered no objec- tions either to the plan or the basis of tlie proposed currCixcy. . *' If the principal banking and mercantile houses agree among themselves to receive this currency as a legal tender, no difficulty will be experienced in carrying the measure into eiiect ; and no reason exists why it should not receive their hearty sup- port, as it will surely tend to their advantage, not only by the saving, as before shown, of four per cent, on the cost of importing coin, and the complete removal of the cause which is draining the country of wealth and population, but also in the number- less other ways by which the investment of capital serves to promote the general prosperity." The foregoing despatch was received in London on the 13th January, 1862, and the prospecti:s has since appeared of " The Chartered Bank of British Columbia and Vancouver Island." The association professes to be formed for the purpose of " afford- ing additional facilities to the new colony," where the existing banking accommodation is represented to be at present inadequate to the requirements of an increasing trade and population. The scheme seems to have been maturely weighed, and its success has been hitherto great, the shares being, we believe, already at a premium. Still there is a good deal of H i I ■ ,* f* I i'>^\ 54 BRITISH COLUMBIA. truth in a letter which was published in the Times on the 9th April, 1862, and it remains to be seen how far this banking project will meet the wants of the colony, and whether it is not slightly prema- ture. The Timea^ Correspondent, Mr. Eauerman, says : — "Judging from the statements put forward in the prospectuses of joint- stock banking companies for Vancouver's Island, there must be a considerable amount of ignorance as to the nature of the bank- ing operations in Victoria. It may therefore be of interest to some of your readers to know that at the commencement of the current year the follow- ing firms were engaged in the purchase of gold dust and bars at Victoria, Vancouver's Island: — 1, Messrs. Wells, Fargo, and Co., bankers and general express agents; 2, Messrs. Macdonald and Co., bankers ; 3, Messrs. Marchand and Co., assayers ; 4, Messrs. Robertson and Co., assayers ; 5, The Bank of British North America ; — all subsisting on 1,500,000^. worth of gold, the greater part being bought by the first firm. Wells, Fargo, and Co., who are among the principal buyers and exporters of gold in California and Oregon. • ^ ..>;>.% ,ri«^.> 1 " The branch of the Bank of British North Ame- rica was established in 1859 as an experiment, and at the beginning of the present year the staff of officials was reduced, probably from diminished business. . " There is no authority for the supposition that large profits are to be derived from the circulation IMPORTS INTO BRITISU COLUMBIA. 55 of bank notes, as up to the present time tlie experi- ment has never been tried on the Pacific coast. Tliere will be less need for it in a short time, as the Government of British Columbia are about to issue pattern gold pieces, or tokens, of twenty dollars and ten dollars value, for circulation in the colouy."* . The principal exports of British Columbia are coal, timber, lumber, oysters, salmon (10,000 bar- rels were exported in 1860), and oil; but the rush to the diggings has been so immense, that the ex- ports during last year may be set down at nought. The exports in 1860 valued 50,000^. ; the imports about 40,000?. These imports consisted of specie, provisions, and various merchandize." The Canadian News of the 19th December, 1861, says : — " The total value of imports into this colony for the last quarter is, from San Francisco, $234,956 ; from London, $57,530 ; from Portland, $45,093 ; from Port Townsend, $51,564; from Honolulu, $11,419, and from New Westminster, $14,171 — Total, $414,733." As Mr. Alfred Roche points out, " the harbours at Queen Charlotte's Islands, Vancouver Island, and the entrance of Frazer's River, are peculiarly adapted * The Daily News of the 15th April, 1862, says, however : — "It is expected that the allotment of the shares in the Chartered Bank of British Columbia and Vancouver's Island will be completed on the 16th or 17th. It is a work of great difficulty, the applications reaching to nine times the amount of the company's capital." , -. ; w 56 BRITISH COLUMBIA. for the fitting-out of whalers ; being in the neigh- bourhood of very valuable fishing grounds, and the country in their vicinity affording everything that is required for the construction of vessels, such as excellent timber, iron and copper, coal for forges,, water-power for driving saw-mills, and even flax, growing wild in the interior, for the manufacture of sails and cordage ! Thus the whale fishery alone, by creating a demand for many articles into which these products could be manufactured, might be made to give employment to numbers of persons of various trades and callings." V) 0.'' ; s .IS, »' :x-ir 57 CHAPTER Iir. Description of the Coast and Interior — The Soil — Timber — Coal — The Vancouver Coal-lMining Company just estab- fii"- lished — Indian Women and Indian Babies — Stock — Horses. v.. As the emigrant steams eastward into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, he beholds on his right Washington Territory, and on his left Vancouver Island. Before him lies the Gulf of Georgia, dotted with islands, and in the background of the landscape is British Columbia, with the Cascade range and the snow-clad peaks of Mount Baker. The entrance to the Strait of Fuca is highly dangerous ; but when a vessel is once safe within the Strait, safe anchorage and good liarbours are abundant. There is, on the outer shore, Port San Juan, thirteen miles east of Point Bonilla. Soke Basin, thirty miles more inland, quite land- locked, and sufficiently capacious to receive a fleet ; four miles from Soke Basin lies Beecher Bay ; beyond Beecher Bay, Esqnimault,* which, it is * "These were originally the sites of Indian villages; not here alone, but invariably, the Indians on the coast have shown great sagacity in choosing for their village sites spots the most favoured by nature, commanding and accessible at the same time. Fresh water, fuel, and drainage are attended to ; facilities for boat navigation are never forgotten ; and, whether f rj I I Ht iC^* i '-■ I > t M'i f;r„l 58 ,4- ■%'li&SI: BRITISH COLUMBIA. I believed, is to be the new naval depot of the Pacific j and three miles thence, Victoria Harbour. Of these, Esquimaiilt is by far the best. " In point of shelter," observes Mr. Pemberton, " holding-ground, facility of ingress and egress, dock sites and wharfage, it is with- out a rival, and appears to be the natural port of entry for sailing ships which have made a long sea voyage to either colony, and to be the proper starting-point or a line of steamers connecting with British Colum- bia." ''' Victoria Harbour, however," continues Mr. Pemberton, " though it cannot compete with Esqui- mault as a naval depot or as a port for clippers, is far from unimportant. Ordinary merchant vessels, by attending to the tides, can readily enter, and once within, there is ample space and depth." •"■ " The position and natural advantages of Van- couver Island," says Colonel Grant, in a paper read before the Geographical Society of London a few years ago, " would appear eminently to adapt it for being the emporium of an extended commerce. It contains valuable coal-fields, and is covered with fine timber. The soil, where there is any, is rich .and productive ; the climate good ; and the singular system of inland seas by which it is environed teems with fish of every description. Capable of producing those very articles which are most in de- mand in neighbouring countries, and oflfering in its we look at. their camps or from them, we quit them with the impression that the savage has a clear conception of, and knows how to appreciate, the picturesque and beautiful." — Pemberton. ' • • VANCOUVER ISLAND. 59 .' i numerous safe and commodious harbours almost unrivalled facilities for import and export, it would seem to require but a little well-directed exertion of energy and enterprise to make it the seat of a flourishing colony. " The coast of the island," continues Grant, "trends in a north-west and south-east direction ; its extreme length from Cape Scott to Point Gonzalez being 270 miles, with a general breadth of from forty to fifty, and the greatest breadth is seventy miles, being from Point Estevan, at the south entrance of Clayoquot Sound, to Point Chatham, at the northern extremity of Discovery Passage j its least breadth, namely, from about twenty miles south of Woody Point to Port Bauza, is twenty-eight miles. There are, however, several places in which the arms of the sea, running inland from opposite sides of the island, approach very closely to each other. In the north, for instance, from Beaver Harbour to Kos- kiemo, the extremity of an inland loch, running in immediately opposite, the distance is only eight miles. From the Alberni canal on the west, to Yaldez inlet, called by the natives Saatlam, on the east, the distance is only twenty-two miles ; again, in the extreme south, a rough journey of about seven miles brings the pedestrian from Sanetch, on the Canal de Haro, to the end of Esquimault harbour on the Straits of Fuca ; and from Nitinat, between Barclay Sound and Port St. Juan on the south- west, in a day and a half the savages pass over to the valley of the Cowichin in the south-east. The I it; !. 60 BRITISH COLUMBIA. i ii general aspect of the ^onntry throughout the island from the ^'oaward is peculiarly uninviting. Dark, frowning cliffl? sternly repel the foaming sea, as it rushes impetuousl;v against them j and beyond these, with scarcely any interval of level land, rounded hills, densely covered with fir, rise one above the other in dull, uninteresting monotony ; over these again appear bare mountains of trap rock, with peaks jagged like the edge of a saw, a veritable Montserrat, forming a culminating ridge, which may be said to run with little intermission, like a backbone, all down the centre of the island, from the northern to the southern extremity ; nor does a nearer approach present one with many more favourable features in the aspect of the country. ' " The soil under cultivation is sometimes a rich vegetable moidd,* in other places a clayey loam, and in others som'^vvhat sandy. It produces excellent wheat crops. Mr. Baillie has raised forty-four bushels to the acre ofi" some land which he farms for the Hudson Bay Company, about three miles from Victoria. Heavy crops of peas have also been raised in the same place. I myself, at Stoke, raised excellent crops of wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, turnips, and potatoes ;t Swedish turnips in * **Tlie soil, where it is richest, in the river deltas, the valleys, and the plains, usually consists of black vegetable mould six inches to three feet in depth, overlying a deep substratum of clay, gravel, or sand ; it is generally covered with a luxuriant crop of fern, which it is very difficult to kill and tedious to eradicate." — Pemberton, 1860. f " Turnips as large as hassocks, radishes as largo as beets w SOIL — CLIJIATE — TREES. 61 particular did remarkably well, and produced a very heavy crop. I imported all the seed, except for wheat, peas, and potatoes, from Van Diemen's Land, through the Sandwich Islands. In all arable portions of the island the land is favourable to the production of green crops of every description ; vegetables also grow particularly well, and esculent roots of all sorts attain a great size. Oats have generally been a failure, probably owing to their having been sown too late in the season. " The prevailing winds along the coast in winter are from the south-east, varying from that to the south-west, and with occasional neavy northerly gales ; the prevailius; winds in the summer are from the north and north-west. Generally speaking, the climate is both agreeable and healthy ; and not a single death that I am aware of has occurred among adults from disease during the six years that I have been acquainted with the island." On the subject of timber, another writer, Mr. Pemberton, Surveyor-General of Vancouver Island, says : — ■"■ ■ - ' ■ " Of oak there are two kinds ; the timber is weak, and the trees usually show symptoms of decay. " If curled maple is in England valuable for furniture, as I am told it is, it may be of service to some one to know, that it grows in abundance on the banks of the rivers in these colonies. or mangolds, and bushels of potatoes to a single stalk, are ^lothing astonishing." — Pemberton. ^ I I' ' {i ■' t •; 62 BRITISH COLUMBIA. " The trunks of the arbutus grow very large, and the wood in colour and texture so much resembles box, that for many purposes it might supply the uses of the latt.er. It is, however, specifically lighter. "The country a^so produces cedar, or rather cypress, juniper, yew, birch, poplar, sorbis, y id COAL ON VANCOUVER ISLAND. 63 the 15th of September, the same seam, called ^ the . Douglas seam,' was discovered on Newcastle Island, and the Indians soon got out 200 tons. A pit was commenced by Mr. Gilmore, with ten regular miners, on the 17th September, and a shaft sunk . to a depth of fifty feet, being through twelve feet of alluvium, eight feet of sandstone, and thirty feet of shale ; the situation of the pit is at the north-west extremitv of Nanaimo Harbour. Here they struck another seam of from six to seven feet in thickness, lying on conglomerate ; they are now regularly working this seam in several parallel gal- leries, already esitending to a considerable distance underground. The seam here runs ne?>rly level, with a dip of only some seven degrees to the south- west ; •the greatest quantity of coal that has been , raised from it was at the rate of 120 tons per week with ten re2:ular miners. , ., 4 " The same seam, 'the Douglas,' which was worked by the Indians on Newcastle Island and Commer- cial Inlet, has been discovered by Mr. M'Kay, who ; plied the pick and shovel indefatigably in search of it, cropping out on a peninsula at the upper end of Nanaimo Harbour ; to this they are working a gal- lery on a level from the beach, and have already progressed several yards with it ; the gallery is some six feet liigh and four or five feet broad. It is solidly lined and roofed with square timber ; they excavate at the rate of about one yard per diem, one miner picking and propping, aud two shovelling , and carrying the dirt, (fee, away. \i 'Id i''4 ill, C4 BRTTISII COLUMBIA. "Work has thus been done at lour different pkces : hy the Indians at Newcastle Island and at Com- mercial Inlet, and by miners on the peninsula above- mentioned. These were ail on the same seam of coal, which is called * the Douglas ; ' the greatest thickness which has been anywhere seen of it is eight feet ; its average maybe six. It is distinguished by containing eight inches of fire-clay, and in the lower part of it are some seven or eight inches of cannel coal. In the other seam through which the pit is sunk, and whic * V ^ only one now worked, the coal is of a preci. ^y s.nnlar quality, though without the fire-clay. Doubts having been enter- tained as to whether all these seams were not iden- tical one with another, though raised by various causes, in different places and at different eleva- tions, a bore has been sunk close by the pit to en- deavour to discover whether the other seam, called Hhe Douglas,' does not exist below. They have already gone through some sixteen feet nine inches of con- glomerate, and forty-five of soft sandstone with layers of shale ; they then reached a coal of similar quality to that in the Douglas seam, and after borjiigtwenty inches through it, came to a fire-clay, through which they had gone twelve inches when the writer of this letter left on the 20th December. These strata lie at a considerable inclination, and are nearly similar to those which overlie the Douglas coal at Commercial Inlet, which are as follows: — ..... . .... ,^.;.^; " Conglomerate, twenty feet ; silicious sandstone, COAL AT NANAIMO. 05 •- eight feet ; shale, two feet ; alternate layers, shale and sandstone, fourteen feet ; sandstone, two feet ; shale, one foot four inches ; sandstone, two feet ; shale, four inches ; sandstone, four feet. Total, fifty-three feet eight inches. *' It is therefore probable that the coal which has been recched in the bore will be found to be identi- cal with the Douglas seam, in which case tliere will be two seams, each of an average depth of six feet, overlying each other, at an interval of from fifty to sixty feet. The pit is situated within a few yards of the water-side, and vessels drawing sixteen feet can anchor close to it ; the Hudson Bay Company have brought out an excellent engine, by whi'. i they raise the corfl, and pump out such water as is accumulated in the pit ; they are not much troubled with water, and all the pumping that is neces. .ay does not keep the engine going above a quarter of the time. ' " It is the opinion of the head miner that coal may be found anywhere within a circumference of two miles froni Nanaimo, at a distance of fifty feet below the surface. Altogether there are few places to be met with where coal can be worked as easily and exported as conveniently as from Nanairao, and it will be the Hudson Bay Company's own fault if they do not make a very profitable speculation of their possessions there. " Altogether about 2000 tons of coal have as yet been exported from Nanaimo, of which one-half may be sa^'d to have been worked and loaded by I -J m\ it; ; If ■ -I 6f BRITISH COLUMBIA. Indians, and the other worked by the miners. Tlie first coal exported from the pit wua o; ought by the William to San Francisco, in May, lfci53 : it *ssold by the Hudson Bay Company at Nanaimo at |11 per ton, the Indian women bringing it along- side tlic vessels in their canoes. At San Francisco it now (January, 1854) sells at $28 per ton. The greatest objection is that it burns too quickly, and leaves behind a good deal of slag, which makes it difficult to keep the furnaces clean : it is, how- ever, a very strong, rich coalj and full of sulphurous matter." The value of the coal deposit at Nanaimo has of late attracted considerable attention, and a com- pany, entitled the " Vancouver Coal-mining Com- pany (limited)," is already in course of formation. From the prospectus, issued on the 29th March, 1862, it appears that the capital of this association will be 100,000Z., in 10,000 shares of lOZ. each, and that of this sum the shareholders are expected to pay a deposit of 11. per share on application, and 1^. 10^. on allotment. , . ' . ^/. ;f ;: ; As we regard this branch of the subject as one of deep interest to those who may now or hereafter seek a home in British Columbia, or who may be induced to invest capital in that colony, we annex herewith the heads of the prospectus, which fully explains all the attendant .circumstances and the true nature and extent of the enterprise. *'This Company is formed for the purpose of acquiring and working the extensive and well- large VANCOUVER COAL-MININQ COMPANY. 67 of fter be lex illy Ithe of rell- known Coal Fields situate at Nanaimo, on the east of Vancouver Island. ' " The property comprises 6193 acres of land, and includes the safe and commodious Harbour of Nanaimo, in which are jetties for the loading of vessels at all periods of the tide, and the Islands of Newcastle and Douglas ; on the former of which coal, of a superior quality for steam purposes, is being worked, the latter also containing coal. " The circumstances under which this property is acquired are unusually favourable. From 1848 until 1859 the island of Vancouver was held in trust for the Crown by the Hudson Bay Company, who, on the discovery of coal in various parts of the Island, determined to engage in the working of the most promising seams. After full and careful ex- amination of all the localities where coal was found, selection was made of Nanaimo, as offerhig coal of better quality and more abundant than elsewhere, with great facilities for its working and shipment. Dwelling-houses and stores were erected, wharves constructed, all necessary plant and machinery and parties of miners sent out from England, and a large outlay incurred in the formation of the establishment and gradual extension of the works* Coal in abundance, and of a superior quality, has since been raised, fully proving the extent and value of these coal fields. " The surrender of their territorial rights over the Island has induced the Hudson Bay Company to sell these coal fields, with ali the machinery, plaut> l'\ i if I 4 t.,a I GS BRITISH COLUMBIA. and buildings, barges, &c., as tliey feel it expedient no longer to carry on in a locality apart from their future sphere of action, an undertaking so foreign to their general objects and purposes. " Under these circumstances, a provisional con- tract has been entered into for the purchase of the property, at the price of 40,000^., including all build- ings, machinery, &c., part thereof — viz., 15,000/. — to remain on mortgage at 5 per cent, for five years. In addition to the 25,000/. of the purchase-money, which is to be paid within six months, a sum of 8000/. to 10,000/. will be required for sinking additional shafts and making tramways to the harbour. . .. .. ... ^ •' Upon a capital of 50,000/., which, after provid- ing for the purchase and first outlay, will amply suffice to work the coal fields so as to keep pace with the increasing demand, the directors can with certainty calculate on a profit of not less than 20 per cent. 1000 tons weekly could be raised by this expenditure, and could be readily sold at the price of 25^. per ton. Mr. Nicol, the energetic manager, calculated, in October, 1861, the cost of raising and shipping the coal, on the average of several years, at 16*. per ton — viz., raising the coal to the surface, IO5. ; shipping and agency, os. ; and taxes. Is, This, at the present price of 25s. per ton, will give a profit of ds. per ton ; and a sale of even 500 tons weekly would, therefore, ensure a profit of 225/. a week, or nearly 12,000/. a year, upon the estimated expenditure of 50,000/. supp] come corjfi( J>rice, iry j VALUE OF THE COAL FIELDS. C9 "But the capability of the mines and the prospects of the demand are by no means limited to this q\iantity. Vancouver Island must become the great centre of the commerce of tlio North PaciHc, and a chief con^'nfr depot is.)'' all the steamers engaged in thnt coinnierce. Steam navigation is rapidly increasing within the Strait of Fuca, on the Frazer, and on the Columbian Lakes. The selection of the noble harbour of ICsquimauJt as the principal station for the British Na^ y in the Pacific, and the formation of an Admiralty Coal Depot there, will have an immediate and in^portant efl'ect on the demand for the coal of Nanaimo, which has been already extensively used in the steamers of the Koyal Navy. Coal of equal quality has not been found on the whole Pacific coast of North America, and tlie coal fields of Nanaimo are ex- tensive enough to supply all tlie demand that can thus arise. Thdre is besides a large consumption of coal in San Francisco and tlie other cities on or near the coast. San Francisco alone consumes 14,000 tons a mouth, the greater portion of which has hitherto been brought from England or tho eastern coast of the States, and has been sold as high as 51. per ton. Latterly, some portion of this supply, and especially that for the gas works, has come from Nana mo, and Mr. Nicol expresses a very confident opinion, that, by a slight reduction in tlie j)rice, the sale of t-Le Nanaimo coal there might be very largely increased." .is . .. — . " South of Nanaimo," pursues Grant, " there are ! 5 rv n J ,'V' m ■im 70 BEITISH COLUMBIA. tlirce ranges of islands, niuniiig j)arallel with each other, between the mainland of A'ancouver Island and what is generally laid down as siicli on all charts hitherto published. The cliannels between these islands are too intricate for a sailijg vessel of large size to attempt with any certainty or secu- rity. I fonnd no bottom at twenty fathoms in any part between Nanaimo and Sanetch. The bottom throughout these passages is rocky and uneven, and in the narro^vs the current sets a vessel towards the rocks, ^■ithout her helm having any power to guide her av/ay i'rom them. *' Fifteen miles nortlnvard of Cape Bonilla is Cape Carrasco, the soutliern point of the entrance to Barclay Sound, a broad, bay open to the south- west ; its breadth at tlie entrance is about fifteen miles, and it runs inland with nearly the same breadth to a distance of seventeen miles. A num- ber of rocky islets stretch across the entrance ; leaving, however, tv/o broad, open channels, both to\\'ards the south-east side. One of these chan- nels is about a mile and a half broad ; it is close to the eastern shore of the Sound ; the other is about three miles and a quarter broad, and is a little farther to the north-west ; it cannot be mis- taken, bejag clearl}'' visible from the outside, and also distinctly marker}, by a very singular rock, with only three fir-trees on it, appearing precisely like the three masts of a vessel. The channel is im- mediately to tlio north of this rock, and the Sound is more open after entering within it. Tliero are. llOM of t save witl sudc to i and] of t] SatcJ abov (( < outsi ' Tsu chief aboul out i wide eastei somel somet 500 y and soil., .• is no whiol lei w either soil IS cipallj count rocky, a . BARCLAY SOUND. 71 IS lis- irid ;th ike m- nti re. however, a few islands interspersed all over it, most of them inhabited by small fishing families of the savages. There is anchorage near all these islets, with good holding-ground, but the water deepens sudde^ijy, and vessels in search of anchorage have to stand very close in-shore. The Honolulu anchored in ten fathoms water within sixty yards of the beach, under the lee of an island called Satchakol, about two miles within the Ship Rock above mentioned. *' On the eastern shore, about four miles from the outside, there is a sm ill inlet, ct^Ued by the natives * Tsuchet?a,' with «, small tribe living on it, the chief of whom is called * Klayshin.' The inlet is jibout 300 yards broad at its entrance, and branches out into two arms from seventy to eighty yards wide each. The first of these arms extends in an easterly direction for about one mile and a half, sometimes narrowing to a breadth of forty yards, sometimes expanding to 200 ; it ends in an open bay 500 yards broad. The land on either side is broken and rocky, though not high ; there appears little soil, and the timber is stunted and scrubby. There is no open land either on this or on the other arm, which runs in for about a mile to the south, paral- lel with the shores of the Sound. The land on either side of that arm is level woodland, but the soil is not rich and the wood is worthless, being prin- cipally stunted Canadensis. Generally speaking, the country all round Barclay Sound is broken and rocky, thickly covered with useless wood, and unfit m t'lr iwm\ 4 § %■ i; tZ ,.'■ BRITISH COLUMBIA. for cultivation or settlement. There is no truth in reports which have been circulated of there being coal on Barclay Sound ; the Indians, however, de- scribe some coal as existing at Munahtah, in the country of the Cojucklesatuch, some three days* journey into the interior, at the back of Barclay Sound. At the back of Barclay Sound, on a small river, about two days' journey into the interior, live the only inland tribe who?e existence is known of in Yancouver Island. They are called the * Upatse Satuch,' and consist only of four families, the remainder having been killed by the Nanaimo Indians. , "About seven miles to the south-east of Barclay Sound, and between it and Cape Flattery, is a bay which has never yet been mentioned, called by the natives 'Chadukutl.' This bay is about three miles broad, and runs back a considerable distance. A rocky barrier runs across the entrance, leaving a channel only about 100 yards broad, which no vessel should attempt to enter for the first time without having an Indian pilot. At the upper end of the bay runs in a fine river, about 200 yards broad at the mouth, and there is a frontage of about three miles of fine level woodland, running apparently a considerable distance inland. The bay is about eight miles deep, and its shores are inhabited by one tribe about 400 in number. " The next harbour north of Barclay Sound is Clayoquot, where there are established 3000 Indians, who are anxious to trade with the whites, but CLAYOQUOT — NOOTKA — KOSKEEMO. n 1^ IS is, Lit as yet none but Americans have been among tlicm. A bar with from four to six fathoms on it ruus across the entrance to the harbour. There is good anchor- age inside, and shelter from all winds ; the arm runs a considerable distance into the interior, but there is no open land that I am aware of, and the surface of the woodland is rocky and broken. Clayoquot is distant about sixty-live miles from Port St. Juan. From this northward to Nootka there is no land along the sea-board that has the appearance of being available for any useful purpose. "At Nespod, a little north of Nootka, coal is reported by the Indians. Nespod is called Port Brooks on the charts. "At Koskeemo, north of Nespod, and opposite to Beaver Harbour, a seam of coal, two feet in thick- ness, has also been discovered, but neither from its situation nor its nature can it be worked to any advantage. There are three arms in Koskeemo, in either of which there are good shelter and anchorage for vei5sels. Immense quantities of fish are caught here by the Indians. Between Clayoquot nnd Nootka is Fort San Raphael or Achosat, which is a bight of the sea, running inland three or four miles. There is no available land near it. The water is deep, but close into thein. er end there is anchorage near tho shore and good shelter. "From Koskeemo round the north to Beaver Harbour there is no land that we a^-e aware of fit for pu: OSes of colonization or settlement j the 74 BRITISH COLUMBIA. coast is rocky, though not high, and a vessel would do well to keep clear of it in winter. A very heavy sea is constvntly running there, and there is no kiv-M-n harbour to which vessels can put in for til^fjif^er. " The women of Vancouver Island have seldom or ever good features ; they are almost invariably pug- nosecl. They have, however, frequently a pleasing expiession, and there is no lack of intelligence in their dark hazel e3^es ; they are more apt to receive instruction than the other sex. They are ready with the needle, naturally industrious in their habits, and of their own accord weave very inge- nious j)atterns from the coarse materials above enumerated.'"' " The colour of the natives of Vancouver Island is a reddish brown. The features of both sexes are very much disfigured by the custom prevalent among them of flattening their heads. This is effected during infancy, when the child is a few weeks old and while the skull is yet soft, by placing three or four pieces of the inner bnV of the fir or cedar on the top of the forehead, an .? I.inding them tightly round the head. Here they are left until the ♦ "The Indian women take a full share of labour — even more is carried by them than by men ; they were paddling with as much strength. One womn.'j was steering a canoe, and came very close to us as we passed it. She had eight silver rings on two fingers of her left hand, and six bracelets. They have ear-rings also, and sometimes armlets. These orniiments are r::ade oat of silver dollars." — Bishop of Co- I'lmbia'a Journal of a Tour in J5. 6^—1860. ;i^^ INDIAN BABIES — STOCK. 7c» ese d'^siiu.i distortion has been thoroughly effected. This [rocvi.a completely flattens the forehead, and indeed flattens the whole front face ; the effect ls hideous, and it is a question whether it does or does not interfere with the intellect of the child. I am inclined to think it does not, as the brain is not iujin-ed, though its position in the head is undoubt- edly altered. The baby of these latitudes is a most independent little feJow. Swathed in his covering of soft bark, and bound tightly up in an outer case or hammock of stronger bark, he is suspended by a hempen string to the extremity of one of the lower boughs of an overhanging lir or cedar tree ; and there, while his mother strays to a short dis- tance through the woods in quest of roots or berries, the gentle zephyr rocks him to sleep, and sings to him a sweet lullaby, as it murmurs through the leaves of his natural bower." On the subject of stock, a writer already quoted makes the following remarks : — " Of stock, every variety, good, bad, and indifferent, can be procured on the coast. " The American horned cattle are particularly fine, and numbers of Durhams and Devons have been imported to San Francisco ; the Spanish cattle, which are the most numerous, are smaller, and very like the Guernseys at home. " In Yancou ver Island the best breeds of sheep, both Southdowns and Merinoes, are abundant. " The native horses of the countrv make adoiir- able saddle hacks, and are most enduring, but h?.ve a ^•'^ BRITISH COLUMBIA. aingj.ilar repugnance to drauglit. The carriage Iiorso is constantly met with." Governor Douglas, in a despatch to the Colonial Secretary, dated July IGth^ 18G1, says: — " A good deal of mnuing stock has been brought in for sale ; but, v/ith the exception of eight or ten persons, there are no farmers in the district. One of those, Mr. McLean, lately of the Hudson Bay Company's service, has settled on a beautiful spot, near the debouch of Hat River, and is rapidly bringing his land into cultivation. Ho has a great number of horses and cattle of the finest American breeds ; and from the appearance of the crops there is every pros[)ect that his labour and outlay will be well rewarded. He is full of courage, and as con- fident as deserving of success. He entertains no doubt whatever of the capabilities of tlie soil, which he thinks will, under proper management, produce any kind of grain or root crops. The only evil he seriously apprehendi: is the want of rain and the consequent droughts of summer, wljich has induced him to hring a supply of water from a neiglibouring stream, by which he can at pleasure irrigate the whole of his fields.' . , . , . V 4 K 'H, •t . '<:•> , t» .> ••; n 77 . •» '. CHAPTER ly. The Route — The Outfit — What to take and what not to take — Prices of Provisions — Female Emigration — "A Ee- turncd Digger." The ways to this Eldorado are several. There is, first, the route to the Isthmus of Panama. You leave Southampton on the 2nd or 17th of the month (unless those dates fall on a Sunday, and then on the day following), and are due at Colon or Aspinwall in about nineteen days; and since the completion of the Panama Railroad, the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- pany have made new arrangements, by which each steamer lies over at Panama for two weeks, so as to make it certain that she will be ready to start at the appointed time. The fare altogether, including the transit across the Isthmus, is 35^. and upwards, and the journey to the gold fields occupies, under the new and improved arrangements, about forty days. Fron?. Aspinwall to San Francisco is about fourteen days by steamer ; thence you travel, always by steam, to the mouth of Frazer's River, and from that point you are conveyed in a similar manner to the theatre of 'B^- w h if P in 1,1 i 78 BT^ITISir COLUMBIA. operations— the gold fields. Here is the Bishop of Columlna's description of a Frazer-river steam- boat in 1800 :—" " Some things in Columbia I was prepared for, but I certainly did not expect to see so good accom- modation as afforded by the steamboats. The cost of the Moody was 2000^. It pays the shareholders nearly 50 per cent. It could accommodate 200 ])assengers. I had a cabin, the three nights I was on board, fiupcrioo' to tliat I had in the La Plata or Solent — ships of the West India Mail Company. Provisions were good and abundant. Thus, for dinner the first day, soup, sturgeon, mutton, beef, bacon, potatoes, beans, carrots, apple-tart. For break- fasjt there were fried sturgeon, bacon, mutton-chops, hot rolls, bread, butter, tea, coffee, kc. i J ■f „ ] '4 T 4 >t ^ 1» I 4„ 1 3„ 1 1 n ( 1 pint 1 „ i lb. ] i„ I FARES TO VAXCOUVER ISLAND. 79 ;e(l )ks lew fer, ka, >aii Francisco.* This fine ship has three decks, with great space and very superior accommodation ' * The rates of passage-money are as follows : — First Class Cabin. — From eighty guineas upwards, accord- ing to accommodation required, including cabin furniture, bed- ding, &c., and a liberal table, but exclusiveof wines and spirits. Second Class. — Forty guineas each, including provisions according to an ample scale, which will be found annexed, but exclusive of liquors and cabin furniture. Third Class. — Thirty guineas each, including provisions according to the Government scale, as annexed. Children of twelve years and upwards will rank as adults; those from one to twelve years as half ; infants, free. One-half of the passage-money must be paid on securing the passage, and the balance not later than the 20Ui ]\Iay. First cabin passengers will be allowed 20 cubic feet of bag- gage freight free ; second and third class, 10 cubic feet. All excess will be charged for at the rate of 5s. per foot. The ship carries an experienced surgeon. A stewardess will be provided for attendance to the cabin passengers. . • • The scale of provisions will be as follows : — , . . For second-class passengers, each adult per loeek. 1 lb. Preserved meat. 2 oz. Tea. . " 1 ,, Soup and bouilli. i lb. Coffee. 1 ,, Assorted soups. ^ „ Butter. ^ „ Preserved and assorted ^ ,, Cheese. fish. 1 „ Raisins and currants. 1 „ India beef. 'i „ Suet. ^ ^ „ Mess pork. J pint Pickles. 1 „ Rice. \ „ Vinegar. 4 ,, Bread. 6 oz. Lime-juice, 3 ,, Flour. ^- ,, Mustard. : ' 1 ,, Oatmeal, ^ „ Pepper. \ pint Peas. 1 lb. Preserved potatoes. 1 „ Preserved milk. 1 oz. Salt. ^ lb. Kaw sugar. 21 quarts Water. h ,, Eefined ditto. '■A ff ' 80 BRITISH COLUMBIA. for cabin and especially intormciliato passengers. She has just been fitted with new engines and boilers, and all the most recent improvements in hull, spars, and machinery. In connexion with this branch of the matter, ifc is proposed to introduce some remarks respecting the proposed Columbian Emigration Society, in- tended to embrace both sexes. At the meeting of the Columbian Mission in London, on the 27th February last, Mr. Garrett observed on this point : — " There is another subject which has been alluded to to-day, and which has met with the strongest sympathy — I mean the Columbian Emi- gration Society, which, with the Divine blessing, may become a powerful handmaid to the Mission. I ■ Fo7' thivd-class x>ass€nfjer8, each adult per wcel\ m ' 5 1 lb. Biscuit. !i lb. Kice. ' . il i i 1 „ Preserved meat. 1 ,, Raw sugar. ; 'i/^i: f ' ^ ,, Soup and bouilli. 1^ oz. Tea. • 'fi . ;.-^o;;.' 1 1 „ Mess pork. U „ Coffee. ^ •».U"i '' w Jh ,y India beef. 6 ,, Butter. •'• ""O r i^ „ Preserved and salt fish. 2 „ Salt. ''''^' 1 \ : 2 „ Flour. }^ ,, Mustard. H 1 „ Oatmeal. ^ ,, Pepper. . ' A 6 oz. Suet. 1 gill Vinegar. ■ ^ lb. Kaisins and currants. 1 ,, Pickles. n , ^^ pint Peas. 6 oz. Lime-juice, '■,!■ [ ^ lb. Preserved potato. 21 quarts Water. Second and third class passengers will have to find bed, bedding, towels, knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups and saucers, water-can, &c. Wine, beer, and spirits will be procurable on board, at reasonable prices. — Extract from Prospectus. 1 COLUMBIAN EMIGRATION SOCIETY. 81 in. Let me give a distinct idea of what we wish. The latest time at which emigrants ought to leave Great Britain is the 30th of May. On that day we hope that a baud of emigrants — respectable people, people fitted to take that position in life in the colony which Mr. Brown in his letter points out — will go forth. We hope we shall not only find the proper people, but have the funds with which they may bo ii-^nt. A suggestion of a very practical nature has been made by a gentleman who is well versed in works of benevolence of this nature. It is this. At Coventry, at the present moment, there is an amount of distress which it is almost impossible for the local resources at Coventry to relieve. If it were possible to show many of those wlio are there in a state of actual distress, a high road by which they may secure for their industry and skill a sphere in a new land — by which they may find a home, and a vigorous one, in this distant colony — great good would no doubt be done ; and this new Emi- gration Society might thus be made a valuable agent in a great work." '^ 1 i i land at * The movement commenced at the Columbia Mission meeting, held at the London Tavern on the 27th March, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor, has already made good progress. Amongst the contributors are Miss Burdett Coutts, lOOZ. ; the Hudson's Bay Company 100^. ; Messrs. Cavan, Lubbock, and Co., and Anthony Gibbs and Son, 100^. each ; an anonymous subscriber gives 50/. About 2000^. will be required to commence operations on a good footing. The plan upon which the emigration is to be narried out is such as to ensure the fullest encouragement and protection G »- 1. III IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /#. ^ A // /- y. ^ y. ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 125 ■5 "^^ iinii 1^ 1^ 1 2.2 2£ U III 1.6 V] <^ /2 7 'c>l c^l > > >^^ ^ A '^'^''J '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation i\ -b "^S <> % V ^ ^S c^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \l^% rj^..%s ,j.v«.^^v. . ^•i^';.:- ,::^.:iiaf ^ SINGLE man's OUTFH \ ,:- f^..:...f 1 beaverteen jacket (warm lined) , ..■it. S. :' 6 a. 6 1 ditto waistcoat with sleeves 4 6 1 ditto trousers (warm lined) , 6 6 1 duck ditto . . . ''T' 2 3 1 coloured drill jacket . 2 9 1 ditto trousers . . . , 2 6 1 ditto waistcoat . . . , 2 1 pilot overcoat or jacket . 10 Or, 1 waterproof coat 7 6 2 blue serge shirts, or Jersey frocks 4 6 2 1 Brazil straw hat . . . , 10 6 blue striped cotton shirts, each . 1 6 1 pair of boots • . . , 8 6 1 pair of shoes . . . , o 4 handkerchiefs, each 6 4 pairs worsted hose, each 1 2 pairs cotton hose, each 9 1 pair braces . • . , 3 4 towels, each • , . . . 4 Kazor, shaving-brush, and glass 1 6 OUTFITS, S5 ubrity, 3 finest ng and York, lestina- r ) outfit :ia a s. 6 6 4 6 G 6 2 3 2 9 2 6 2 10 7 6 4 6 2 10 1 6 8 6 o 6 1 9 3 4 1 6 , , SINGLE woman's OUTFIT. ■it ■ , ,..-.' .■■ ■'■'? I. '^■. <■'■,: ^ . -- 1 warm cloak, with a cape 2 bonnets, each 1 small shawl 1 stuff dress .... 2 print ditto, each . 6 shifts, each .... 2 flannel petticoats, each 1 stuff ditto .... 2 twill cotton ditto 1 pair of stays 3 caps, each .... 4 pocket handkerchiefs, each . 2 net ditto for neck, each 4 nightcaps, each . 4 sleeping jackets, each . 2 black worsted hose, each 4 cotton ditto, each 1 pair of shoes 1 ditto boots .... 6 towels, each . . . Each person also requires — 1 bowl and can, 2s. 3d. ; 1 knife and fork, 1 deep tin plate, 1 pint drinking mug, 1 table-spoon, 1 tea- spoon, 1 5. 6c?. An assortment of needles and thread. Is, 8. a. 6 3 10 2 3 11 6 1 3 2 6 3 9 2 2 6 10 3 5 7 1 4 10 10 2 9 5 4 ii tUL'l ^1 if 2 lbs. of marine soap, at id. 1 comb and hair brush. Is. 3 sheets, each 1^. 2 pots blacking, each 4|c?. %n M BRITISH COLUMBIA. 2 shoe brushes, each 7yV 1 pair of blankets, 7s. 1 counterpane, l^. 3d. 1 strong chest, with lock, 8s. 9d. 1 linen clothes bag, Is. 9d. 1 mattress and pillow, 5s. A married couple require only one set of these articles, but of larger size. Uviil -.1 Cost of above outfit for a single man, about £5 10 Ditto ditto sinsfle woman Ditto ditto married couple j> » 5 15 10 10 But we believe that the outfit for Yancouver Island will, in a great measure, depend on the route intended to be taken, and also whethei* it is in- tended on arrival to proceed to the diggings, or to adopt farming or mercantile pursuits. In either case the party should apply to a respectable house, accustomed to supply articles adapted to the colony. Monnery & Co., 165>, Fenchurch- street, London, supply, gratis, an illustrated price list, suitable for all classes. . For the overland route, bedding and mess utensils are not required for the journey ; but it is advisable, if intending to proceed up the country, to take the same packed in a waterproof valise, as the same is purchasable here at half the price which it fetches in the colony, and can always be disposed of to advantage if not ultimately wanted. The following list of necessaries should be provided : — 18 white or printed shirts, 6 coloured flannel-shirts, 6 night- shirts, 3 dozen collars, 24 pocket handkerchiefs, 3 mg MINING TOOLS. m cravats, 124 pair cotton socks or stockings, G pair wool do., 2 pair braces, G pair drawers, G under-waistcoats, 1 tweed suit, 1 pilot coai. and trousers, 3 pair duck or jean trousers, 2 linen or alpaca coats, 2 serge shirts, 1 pair strong leather gaiters, 1 each, straw and felt hat, waterproof coat, trousers and hat, 2 or 3 pair strong hoots, and 2 overland trunks or chests. The whole of the above may be obtained for about 151. or 201., but the present stock of clothing may be deducted from above, this list being the entire quantity that each person should provide themselves with for the overland route. If it is the intention of the emi- grant to proceed by ship the whole distance, sufficient under-clothing should be taken to last from four to five months, as only small articles can be washed on the voyage. .First-class passengers •will be required to find their own bedding and cabin requisites, but not mess utensils; the second and 'third-class passengers will be required to find bed- ding and mess utensils, viz. : a mattress, 2 blankets, a counterpane or wool rug, 4 pair sheets, 4 pillow ..* oases, a cabin lamp, a washstand or basin and ring ,w'to liold the same, a can or keg to hold the daily as supply of water, 2 knives and forks, 2 spoons, 2 '-» metal or enamel plates, 2 cups and saucers, 1 drink- ing mug, 2 lbs. yellow and 3 lbs marine soap for washing with sea watei', and a bag with lock to contain the soiled linen. The whole can be obtained from 2ls. to 60s., according to quality. If the emigrant purposes to proceed to the diggings, a tent^ 2 mining shovels, 2 pickaxes, a ' -i'^ : V ■■«' Mr # ■m ;■!':*•- Wit 88 BRITISH COLUMBIA. crowbar, galvanized iron buckets, an American axe, a set of splitting wedges, and a camp stove should be provided. If a party is going together, 1 tent and stove will suffice for six or eight persons. We think that " A Keturned Digger" must be heard on the question of dietary precau- tions : — ** If I were asked what provisions I should recom- mend the emigrant to take as a kind of addition to those 2'>rovided by the ship's master, I should say a case or so of 2)7'eserved meats and preserved vegetables — especially the latter, which when good are beyond all value. " Another indispensable thing is lime-juice ; I believe that on two or tliree occasions I owed my life (and several of my fellow-travellers owed their lives in turn to me) to a large supply of lime-juice, which was more than enough to satisfy us all. The value of this health-preserver cannot be too highly estimated. If you ask me how much you shall take, I answer, just as much as ever you like ; for what you don't want you will be able to give away in the best-directed charity you ever had a hand in. ; You should see the little children enjoy a draught of water in which a littk lime-juice has been dropped ; it is a real pleasure to look upon the sight. This liquor seems to cure bad water, and to save every creature who uses it carefully from such illnesses as fever, costiveness, scurvy, and all affec- tions of the skin. There, I have known it to cure toothache, and even inflamed eyes. It seems to me, DIETAUY. 89 that OQ ship-board lime-juice is a regular universal medicine. " Whatever you take with you, leave alone such things as potted meats and all hiyJi-seasoned thingSf which will only heat your blood. And I can tell you the Hween-decks of a ship will send your blood up to fever heat quite soon enough. Perhaps, how- ever, you should not forget some preserved milk, which you will find of immense benefit, and a great luxury, while a few pounds of tea will cheer you, and will pay you for the outlay upon it." On the value of temperate habits to any one who is intending to trv hi^ fortunes in the Gold Fields of British Columbia, it is impossible to dwell too much. In England, the use of ardent spirits is pernicious enough ; but in British Columbia it is absolute and speedy destruction. A practical and intelligent writer, whom we have already had oc- casion to quote, is particularly earnest on this point : — ** I tell you plainly, there is nothing so pulls a man back at gold digging as spirits. They take all the strength out of him ; they unman him for a time, and the expense is so great, spirits (especially the good) costing an enormous figure at all gold settlements, that I really think the man who picks up half an ounce a day, and doesn't spend a grain, of it in drink, makes, in reality, more by the end of the month than the miner v/ho picks up four ounces a day, and drinks when it pleases him. As a proof of the truth of what I am saying, I may fci.> ''Jill *5 CI DO BRITISH COLUMBIA. dcclaro that the owners of spirit stores are always safe to nuike fortunes. " This warning is worth something, for candidly I tell you that the temptation to drink is very great. Whether it is the excitement natural to a gold digger's life, or whether it is the desire to be luxu- rious and dashing, I know not j but this is certain, that an enormous per-centage of gold diggers (and this I know from my own observation, and the ex- perience of other sober men much older than I am m^^self,) an enormous per-centage of gold diggers, I say, drink extravagantly of spirits. * " These diggers who * drink their gold,' as they say in Australia, never are worth anything, and they generally die in ditches, unless men more tem- perate than they have been give them hut or tent- room. ' r, . "Again, there is another and still greater argu- ment against spiiit drinking as a custom with gold diggers. It is this : that those who take much spirits are unable to bear the roughing of a miner's life ; and tlie consequence is, that they are ready at any moment to take any disease w^hich may be com- mon ; and not unfrequently, in fever times, they fall down in scores, and never get up again." 91 '1 •• CHAPTER V. Inter-Oceanic Railway — Red River — British Columbia Over- land Transit Company — Gold in the Saskatchewan — Pro- posal for a Line of Electric Telegrapli — The Gold Fields of , Cariboo — Their Riches — Concurrent Testimony on tiiis ^ Point — The Canadian and Local Press. i1 We trust that the commencement of the Hali- fax and Quebec Railway will be hailed as mark- ing out the first portion of that Great Inter- Oceanic Railway, running wholly through British territory, which shall not only convey colonization to our Pacific shores, but which commerce shall adopt as its great highway between the West and the East. There can be no rational doubt, as Lord Bury has pointed out, '* that our trade in the Pacific ■Ocean with China and with India must ultimately be carried on through our North American pos- sessions." This Inter-Oceanic Railway would les- sen the distance between London and Pekin 9991 miles, and would reduce the journey to thirty days. It would lessen the distance between Liver- pool and Vancouver Island to 5650 — the distance between Liverpool and Panama alone being 4100 — and would secure sea-access at each extremity; for while, on the Atlantic coast of British North '■if I.;!'' t\. w 92 BRITISH COLUMBIA. America, the magnificent harbour of Halifax is tlie only safe port wo have accessible at all seasons, the rest being closed by ice for six months of the year, on the Pacific we have, in tho harbour of Esquimault, Vancouver IslS-nd, the finest port in the world, there being along the wliole remainder of that coast, thence to Valpa- raiso, scarcely a safe and convenient port. E\ eu that of San Francisco, as Mr. C. Fitzwilliam, from personal observation, informs us, is so excessively large that it cannot be said to be safe at all times. It is therefore gratifying to find that a com- mittee has been named for completing the forma- tion of this great scheme, and that Mr. J. Nelson has been appointed secretary. On the 1st March, 1862, Mr. Nelson addressed a letter to all the Cham- bers of Commerce of the United Kingdom, in which he explained the " postal, commercial, and military importance of the proposed line of railway com- munication betweeen Halifax and Quebec." In an article in the Canadian News, of the 20th March, 1862, the writer says : — "It would be of immense advantage to Canada if the Provincial Government would at once take steps to organise an effective transportation line through Canada to British Columbia, either by the Fort William or the Min- nesota route, with escorted caravans from Red River leaviiig at regular periods. This route would be less expensive than that by Panama, more healthy, and would prepare the travellers for the labours before them. Such an enterprise would draw an RED* RIVER. 93 immense araonnt of travel to our shores, create strong bonds between Canada and the Pacific pro- vinces, and eventually lead to the settlement of many of the fortunate gold-seekera in our midst. It would be a great step towards the construction of the Pacific railway through British territory, by gi*adually developing the capabilities of the route, dispelling prejudices, and proving how small are the physical difficulties in the way of its accom- plishment. Hundreds of thousands of emigrants will seek British Columbia this year] the greater part of whom would prefer the land route, if the Canadian Government would manfully apply itself to the organisation of effective transportation trains." Moreover, there is the value of Red River itself* * I have always felt an active living interest in everythinjj that concerns what .s usually called among us " the Ked River country." In the very heart of the continent, on a territory 500,000 miles in extent, where Lord Selkirk, half a century ago, declared that there was field enough for a population of 30,000,000 souls, the only speck of colonization is some 6,000 or 7,000 inhabitants in and about Fort Garry. No American community has ever undergone a sterner ap- prenticeship to fortune, or been so widely underrated by Imperial and Canadian statesmen. The greater part, if not all that region, was an integral part of Canada at the conquest, and to Canada the people of the Selkirk settlement most naturally looked for protection against the monopolizing policy of the Hudson Bay Company. It is not creditable to us to be forced to admit that hitherto they have looked this way in vain. No Canadian can have read with satisfaction the latest intelliger.^e from that kindred community; no Canadian can learn with satisfaction that it was left for the infant state of Minnesota, with a census not exceeding alto- I, ■I m 94 BKITISH COLUMBIA. to recommend the scheme, as well as the recent '^ discovery of gold on the Saskatchewan Kiver. A ' LL getlier this little island of Montreal, to do for them what thej'' naturally expect from us — that while they are interrogating our ministers as to their policy on the Hudson Bay question,, the Americans from St. Paul were steaming down to Fort Garry. It is not the first time that we have received a lesson in entei-prise from our republican neighbours ; to be our leaders on our own soil, though creditable to them, is surely not in this case particularly honourable to us. That Red River country, let me observe, is no inhospitable desert, repugnant to the increase of the human race. Modem science has exploded the ancient error, that climate is deter- mined by the latitude. The best authority on the climatology of our continent, Mr. Lorin Blodgett, has pointed out the existence of a vast wedge* shaped tract, extending from the 47t.i deg. to the 60th deg. of northern latitude, 10 degrees of longitude at the base, containing 500,000 square miles of habitable land, subject to few and inconsiderable variations of climate. This author gives a summer of 95 days to Toronto, and of 90 days to Cumberland House in 64 deg. north. Mr. Simon Dawson, from personal observation, compares the- climate of Fort Garry to that of Kingston. Prof. Hind places its annual mean temperature at 8 deg. lower than that of Toronto. Herds of buffalo winter in the woodland as far north as the 60th parallel ; Indian corn grows o- both banks of the Saskatchewan ; wheat sown in the valley of the Red River early in May is gathered in by the end of August. The solitude and aspect of the country nourish in it a temperature which one would not expect to find so far northward. Blodgett asserts that spring opens almost simultaneously along the vast plains from St. Paul to the Mackenzie River ; and assure ily where cattle can winter out, where the rivers are generally free of ice by the first week of May, where wheat can be grown "twenty years in succession without exhausting the soil" — there must be something woefully wrong in the system of rule, when, after fifty years of settlement, we find a total SASKATCHEWAN RIVEE. 9J- m IS Canadian paper of good standing has the followiug, under date of the 27th March last : — " The evidence of the existence of gold on the total population of less than 10,000 souls ! The lalce and river system of that region a almost as wonderful as our own. Lake "\Vinnipeg has an area equal to that of Erie, and Lake Manitobah nearly half that of Winnipeg. In the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboine, Professor Hind esti- mates that there are above 11,000,000 acres of '* arable land of the first quality." Of this region about one-half is prairie to one-half woodland ; it is the only extensive prairie country open to us east of the Rocky Mountains, and if justice was even now done it, it would become the Illinois or Iowa of our future Britioh-American uationality. And this country is not onl}- valuable in itself, but valuable for that to which it leads. The distance from a given point on our side of Lake Superior to navigable water on Frazer's River, in British Columbia, does not exceed 2000 miles — about twice the distance between Boston and Chicago. It has been shown by every explorer how, with some incon- siderable aids from art, a continuous steam-boat navigation might be obtained from Lake Winnipeg to the base of the- Rocky Mountains. By these aids, and corresponding im- provements on the other side of the mountains, Toronto might be brought within ten or twelve days of British Columbia. But there is a more important consideration connected with the territory ; for we know that through its prairies is to be found the shortest and best railroad route to the Pacific. Every one can understand that the American route from Western Europe to Asia which lies farthest to the north,, must be the most direct. Any one glancing at a globe will see where the 46th degree parallel leads the eye from the heart of Germany, through the British Channel, across to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and from our gulf westward to the Sas- katchewan, to Vancouver's Island— the Cuba of the North Pacific — and from Vancouver to the rich end populous archi- pelago of Japan. This coi^rge was demonstrated by Captain it ,1 '■ m '-' ill ) it ^Sbi 96 BRITISH COLUMBIA. Saskatchewan is sufficient to satisfy the minds of the people of Red River, and they propose to fit out an expedition and engage in the work of practical exploration. Small quantities of gold have been found, and miners are said to be already on the spot prepared to commence operations in the spring. From British Columbia last year we were informed that gold had been found on the Peace River, which takes its rise in the Rocky Mountains and has its course to the eastward of that range. The extreme probability that gold, which has been found on both sides of the mountains throughout their entire ex- Synge to be 2000 miles shorter between London and Hong Kong than any other in existence ; it uas but one formidable engineering difficulty to be overcome — an eleva- tion of 6000 feet above the sea- level in crossing the Rocky Mountains into Columbia. Such at least is the carefully- guarded statement of Mr. Stevens, the late American Gover- nor of Washington territory ; and such is said to be the result arrived at by Captain Palisser's more recent explorations. By a short tunnel at the favourable pass, the elevation may be reduced to 5000 feet, "whose gradients," it has been cal- culated, **need not exceed sixty feet per mile, from the head of Lake Superior to Puget Sound." An elevation of 5000 feet is not an insuperable obstacle — as has been shown at Mount Cenis and the AUeghanies. (On the Philadelphia and Pittsburg road at Altona the gradient of 96 feet to the mile has been found practicable.) The name — '* Rocky Moun- tains" — is more formidable to the ear than to the engineer ; as the latitude has misled us with regard to climate, so the latitude has been overrated with regard to cost ; but the science of this age once enteri g upon any experiment, it •will neither be deterred by regions represented as uninhabit- able, nor by mountains reputed to be impassable. — T. D. M'Gee, quoted in the Canadian News of the 31st Oct., 1861. SASICATCHEVVAN GOLD-FIELDS. 97 tent within the United States territory, will also be found on both sides in the British possessions, makes lis receive the evidence of its existence on the Sas- katchewan and Peace Rivers with confidence. We are happy to find that the people of Red River are about to test the matter in a practical way by send- ing out some of their most intelligent and reliable men. If their expedition is successful in finding gold, they will secure the introduction of a stream of emigration through their territory which cannot but prove immediately advantageous to their inte- rests. In many respects, a gold field upon the Sas- katchewan will be more attractive than any other yet discovered upon this continent, or, indeed, in an}'" part of the world. That of Nova Scotia is in deed much nearer civilization, but it is of limited extent, and is not yet proved to be possessed of the extraordinary riches of the Rocky Mountain dig- gings. The Pike's Peak gold fields are geographi- cally as near civilization as those of the ' Saskatche- wan, but the country surrounding them is of the most sterile character, almost unfit for the residence of man, and the journey from the east is made over barren plains not fit fur man's habitation. The Saskatchewan country, on the contrary, is a mag- nificent prairie with a fertile soil, a climate not more severe than that of Upper Canada, with fine navigable streams, and considerable supplies of lig- nite. California and British Columbia are acces- sible, it is true, by sea, but the voyage is a long and >expensive one. The number of persons who will H ■:» M . ii 98 BRITISH COLUMBIA. resort thither from Europe and the Atlantic coast of America will necessarily be comparatively small. The Saskatchewan, on the contraiy, can be reached by the expenditure of a small sum of money, and, when the routes are properly opened, without fatigue or expense. Already a steam-boat and stage route has been opened from St. Paul's to Red River, and a still hotter one will, we trust, be established from Fort William ere long. With a steam-boat on Lake Winnipeg and another upon the Saskatchewan River, the journey from Canada and the United States to the Saskatchewan gold fields would cost but a few dollars in money, and a few days in time. The territory is rendered still more attractive by the fact that it lies on the direct route to the gold fields of the Pacific. The adventurer would understand that if he failed on the east; side of the mountains, he would find on the west the opportunities he asked for." :. ,. . ' " ■•■ ■/: : .,,.^.^,f^y'jf^ : . Again : ^"'' " The last Red River mail confirms the rumours of 1861 in respect to the discovery of gold on the Saskatchewan. The * colour ' has been found at Carlton House, near the forks of the river — a loca- lity about half-way from Selkirk to the mountains. The Nor'-WesteVf the newspaper at I'ort Garry, is filled \/ith articles exhibiting the rising excitement among the mercurial people of the settlement. I anticipate that the voyageurs of the north-west, with oxen, horses, and carts, will be unavailable to the Hudson's Bay Company next summer. A popula- MEANS OP COMMUNICATION. 99 tion of 4000 from Selkirk alone will be speedily- transferred to the valleys of the Eocky Mountains, thoroughly exploring, under the guidance of Aus- tralian and Californian minei*s, the resources of the Saskatchewan. Their places will be filled tenfold by emigrants from England and Canada, especially if a Colonial Government is established at the pre- sent session of Parliament over Central British America. In any event, I cannot see how the Hudson Bay Company can rely on their present system of transportation during the summer of 1862. A Mackinaw boat, holding five tons, re- quires five men — usually half-breed voyageurs. These cannot be obtained, if there is a stampede to the diggings, among that roving and unreliable class. " There are now two steamers on the Red Kiver of the north. With our present news, there will be a necessity in July for a propeller through Lake Winnipeg and a river steamer on the Saskatchewan. These furnished, a water communication from Georgetown, in Minnesota, would transport an emigrant to the new Eldorado in the Rocky Mountains, from which the Frazer flows to the Pa- cific, the Peace River to the Arctic Ocean, and the Saskatchewan to the Hudson Bay," " The conception of an Inter-Oceanic Railway " (writes an able correspondent of tlie Times), " com- mencing at Halifax, and, after passing, in its entii<- length of 3200 miles, through British territory, ter- minating at the new Liverpool, which, we may con- fidently hope, will, in a few years, rise up on the H 2 r\i ^!1 100 BRITISH COLUMBIA. southern shore of Yaucouver Island, is one the magnitude and importance of which cannot be over- estimated. As compared with the route to British Columbia vid Panama, the Inter-Oceanic line would effect a saving of twenty-two days, while the position of Vancouver Island, as contrasted with Panama, in relation to China and Australia, is also very sig- nificant. '■ ' ' ■■■'■■ ' — ■ ...v ■. :./^ '•'■'' ' * -; ■ *:>^' •'' Panama to Canton, about 10,000 miles '^ Vancouver Island to Canton . . . . 9,000 , .^.l^ ■i Panama to Sydney 8,200. ; - Vancouver Island to Sydney . . . . 7,200 . - - "This proximity to Australia," continues the writer," is especially vrorthy of note at a time when the transmission of the mails across the Pacific is again being prominently advocated. It will be apparent from the aforegiven distances, that by transmitting the Australian mails from England to the Pacific across British North America vid Vancouver Island, instead of vid Panama, a saving of live days is eflfected between England and the Pacific, and of 1000 miles, or say five days more, in the passage across that ocean — ten days saved in all. '"■ " The advantages to Great Britain which would accrue consequent upon the entire service being jjerformed through British territory are beyond all calculation. The construction of the railway would not rae^'ely open up to civilization a large territory in British North America hitherto almost unexplored, but it would open up to the cultivators of the soil in that territory and in Canada a means of transit to all the markets of the Pacific, and an THE INTER-OCEANIC RAILWAY. 101 the open passage to the China seas and to our posses- sions in the East Indies. In every nspect, whether viewed politically, socially, or commercially, the establishment of the proj^osed railway "vould give a progressive impulse to the affairs of the world, which, in its results, would eclipse anything which has been witnessed even amid the extraordinary de- velopment of the present century. That the railway will infallibly be made is as certain as that now is the time to undertake it. One does not require to be a prophet to predict that when the resources of British Columbia are fully opened up, and a com- munication established between the Atlantic and the Pacific, there will be enough traffic for a dozen steamers as large as the Great Eastern on both oceans. The Biitish empire has now the opportu- nity of securing that position which it has hitherto occupied without dispute as the greatest commer- cial nation in the world.' In reference to the delays which the scheme has experienced in its progress towards completion, the Canadian News of the 20th March, 1862, observes : — ;>*■ *' The papers received by the last mail from Bri- tish North America state that the return of the Hon. Mr. Van Koughnet to Canada without the definite reply of the Imperial Government to the proposals of the several provinces in regard to the Inter-colonial Railway, has been made the occasion by several of the journals in each of th*^ provinces to charge their recently returned delegates with failure in their mission. Never was a charge so utterly groundless. We are in a position to state P4 i !• (•5 '-'i -I- 102 BRITISH COLUMBIA. in the most positive terms that, so far from this Government having given a refusal, they are now en- gaged in discussing the whole merits of the question. " The delay has arisen because it was suggested that it would be well in the first place to satisfy the Lords of the Treasury in regard to the feeling of this country with reference to the proposed rail- way. Memorials have accordingly been sent in from Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Sheffield, Leith, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, (fee, all couched in the strongest possible language as to the absolute necessity, in an Imperial point of view, of the Halifax and Quebec Railway. These documents are now receiving at the hands of the Executive that consideration to which they are so well entitled ; and we understand that, with the view to the discussion of the whole question in Parliament, the production of these papers will be moved for in the House. In the meantime, our provincial contemporaries would do well to await the results of the forthcoming action of the Imperial Legislature, before attributing failure to the recent mission with which the Hon. Messrs. Van Koughnet, Howe, and Tilley were charged, and especially as their recent statements are very likely to prove them false prophets." , Another new undertaking, projected in connexion with the same colony,* is the " British Columbia Overland Transit Company (limited)." The capital * It is proper to draw attention to the accompanying letter on the subject of this enterprise, which was inserted in the i>a% iS^CM^s of AprillO, 1862:— <( THE OVERLAND TRANSIT COMPANY. 103 is to be 500,000/., with power t o increase to 1,000,000^., in 10^. shares. The promoters have organized an overland route from Canada, passing direct through British territory. Surveyors have traced a direct road, which, with a perfect organiza- tion of land-transport, is stated to be at once available. The company intends to form a land- transport train adapted both for passengers and goods, a large immigrant traffic being anticipated. Enterprise in this direction having Ijeen encouraged by the legislatures both of Canada and British Columbia, applications have been made direct to them for local charters, with a view to secure to the company exclusive privileges. The hope is held out of accomplishing the distance between Europe 'I' I <■ ■■■<;■ ''the west-end joint- stock bank (limited), and the british columbia overland transit company (limited). '^' '' Tot Jie Editor of the Daily News. • ' '"'*" Sir, — Admitted, on the one hand, that gentlemen of po- sition and property have a right to exert their influence and invest their money in as many joint-stock companies as they please, I think it will be conceded, on the other hand, that the public should know how or where any particular circle of such capitalists may be found in continuous co-operation in different enterprises. . • ,. + " I have before me copies of the prospectuses of the two companies whose titles introduce this letter. The board of the tirst-mentioned consists of eleven directors, of the second^ fifteen ; and I observe that the former contributes ten mem- bers to the directory of the latter. The chairman, the soli- citors, and the auditor stand alike for both companies. ** Would it not be more discreet, on the part of those gen- tlemen, if they were to distribute good dividends on No. 1, before they immerse themselves in No. 2 ? — I am, &c., ** Cautious." ,• ■l pi i 101 BRITISH C0LU3IBIA. and British Columbia in about twoiity-fivc days. Attached to tlie luidortaking is a scheme for carry- ing on banking business in British Columbia. It is more particularly i »oaed to deal in bullion and gold dust, -.ipon the p . pursued by the transit companies in British Columbia. j A correspondent of the Canadian KewSf under date of the 23rd February, 1862, says : — '^ " The movement towards the gold fields of British Columbia which is almost depopulating some parts of California, and is raging with some intensity in the States, has reached some parts of Canada too, and several hundred adventurous spirits are going to follow the few who have already left in search of fortunes on the Pacific coast. The papers of the Atlantic provinces arc rather discountenancing this — they fear the exodus of even a few, and they are pointing to the rich new gold fields of Novia Scotia as a preferable quarter for people to try their luck. I hardly know which course to take. I hope a large number of immigrants will go to both. What a future for this northern portion of the continent do not these new gold discoveries open up ! The Nova Scotia coal mines are the best places on the Atlantic coast of America for procuring coal — nay, I think the only place, and the supplies there are inexhaustible. Vancouver Island is the only spot where coal is to be found on the Pacific. Thus facilities for steam-boat and railway travel are pro- vided at either end of the great trans-continental route. The Harbour of Halifax on the one side and Victoria on the other are the best in ail America NORTH-WEST TRANSPORTATION COMPANY. 105 — both always free from ice, well protected, and capacious. Tlie valley of the St. Lawrence extends a thousand milca and more between these extreme pointH. The valley of the Saskatchewan runs a thousand miles further — both of these being in British territory, in the direction of travel between the oceans, and so level as to be almost natural beds for railroads. Ere many years, I see that railway trains must run on British ground from one side of this new world to the other, carrying not only tho gold of Ctilifornia and Columbia towards Great Britain, but also the teas and silks of Cluna and Japan and the rich productions of our Indian empire, returning with finer manufactures of English anvils and looms for the supply of the populations of two continents. It is a thousand pities the British people will not open their eyes to the advantages of the International Railroad in brincjinff this future soon about ; it alone is needed to half accomplish it, and to link Halifax with Sarnia, Goderich, and Collingwood on Lake Huron and its great Georgian Bay. It is much to be regretted, too, that the grand ideas of Mr. W. M. Dawson, the projector of the North-West Transportation Company (chartered, but not yet organised), have not yet been carried out. His plans, which excited much attention a few years ago, comprised, you will remember, the establishment of a steam line between Collingwood and Fort William (Lake Superior), and the placing of half-a-dozen small river steamers on the chain of rivers and lakes which run from that to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with only a few easily sur- •> .i e 4 -•*, lOG BRITISH COLUMBIA. mounted portages. It would not have taken more than $100,000 to start this enterprise, and liad it been in operation now, it would have repaid its proprietors tenfoUl in a few seasons, for it would have been patronized by all who are going to the Cariboo or to Peele River. Perhaps Mr. Dawson's next endeavour will be more successful, and the establishment in London of the British American Association, of which we have heard with the deepest interest, will enable such plans as his the better to be laid before the British public." On the 13th of September, 1858, a letter ap- peared in the Times from a writer desirous of show- ing the practicability of speedily establishing, and at a very moderate cost, a line of electric telegraph from Canada to the western sea-board, which shall prove the forerunner of the Great Inter-Oceanic Hailway, and the means, in part, of opening up the vast and yet unoccupied territory east of the Rocky Mountains. ■ ' «* ,5^,' The route may shortly be described as follows : — Miles. Fort "William to Red River — say .... 500 Red River to Fairford (or Lake Winnipeg) — say 130 Fairford to Cumberland station — say . . 170 Cumberland to Nepowewin 200 ^ Nepowewin by the N. Saskatchewan or Battle River to the Punchbowl Pass, on the Rocky Mountains 600—1100 1600 " The weight and cost of the staves for the whole line would be, approximately : — TELEGUAPH ROUTES. 107 :m- FoRT William to Ashiniboia. ^ , . Weight, 272 tons. Cost of materials and of COP veyanco from England by the route of Lake Superior to Fort William £9,500 Inland conveyance ♦ # . . . 1,500 AssiNiBoiA TO Rocky Mountains. : Weight, 298 tons. ^Cost of materials and of conveyance from England . by way of Hudson's Bay to Fort York . .£11,000 , Inland conveyance iJ,000 " The only remaining item of cost to be consi- dered is that of labour. The amount of skilled labour to be performed in the erection of a line of telegraph is so limited that a trained workman would complete his ])ortion of the work at the rate of from five to ten miles of line per week. The labour, for the execution of which no previous training is required, is simply that of cutting wood suitable for telegraph posts along the route, and setting these posts in the ground at intervals of fifty or sixty yards. Possibly for some hundreds of miles of the whole distance no pole-setting what- ever would be required, the living trees themselves (of course with proper insulators) affording every convenience for the due support and protection of the electric wire. A sum of 51. per mile would, no doubt, be a liberal allowance to cover this charge. " The figures would therefore stand thus : — Materials and shipment £20,600 Inland conveyance 4,500 Labour • 8,000 £33,000 He adds : " Between Fort William and the Ca- m 1.08 BKITISH COLUMBIA. !■ nadian capital such an extension as might hereafter seem desirable could readily be established, either by the route of Lake Superior or of the River Ottawa, but the unbroken Lake communication which now exists would supply in a measure the hiatus, until the completion of the remaining section should bind together with a link of iron the mother Cvountry and her colonies in the Pacific." - ' ^' "" '^v..^>^,( * Gold had been discovered in Queen Chailotte's Islands in 1852, but only in small quantities ; and it has been long well understood that this precious metal existed not only on Frazer River, but throughout the Central Cascade Range in tliis di- rection. As matter of actual discovery, Captain McClelland, in 1853, while surveying the military road from Fort Walla Walla, on the Columbia River, to Fort Steilacoom, on Puget Sound, through the Nachess Pass, found gold in considerable quan- tities, his men making two dollars a day, some- times, with a pan. The discovery, whenever first made, or wherever, was not reported to the Homo Government until 1856, when Mr. Douglas, Go- vernor of the new colony, addressed a despatch to the Colonial Secretarv, in which he stated that a discovery of much importance had been made known to him by Mr. Angus M'Donald, clerk in charge of Fort Colvile. Mr. M'Donald reported that gold had been found in considerable quantities within the British terri- tory on the Upper Columbia, and that he was moreover of opinion that valuable deposits of gold would be found in many other parts of that country. ti-i POPULATION AND REVENUE. 109 The communication was not very enthusiastically received, and in December, 1857, the Governor wrote to the Colonial Government a letter, in which he says : — "The reputed wealth of the Couteau Mines is causing much excitement among the population of the United States territories of Washington and Oregon, and I have no doubt that a great number of people from those territories will be attracted thither with the return of the fine weather in spring. " When mining becomes a remunerative employ- ment, and there is a proof of the extent and pro- ductiveness of the gold deposits, I would propose that the licence fee be gradually increased, in such a manner, however, as not to be higher than the persons engaged in mining can readily pay." - ^^'^ •■ ^ •"• On the 6th April, 1858, Douglas informed the Colonial Secretary that the search for gold and prospecting of the country had, up to the last dates from the interior, been carried on by the native In- dian population, who were extremely jealous of the whites, and strongly opposed to their digging the soil for gold. The shipments of gold from Victoria to San Francisco by the agencies, amounted in 1858 to $337,765, in 1859 to $1,211,309; in ISGO to $1,303,332, and in 1861 to $1,636,870. In 1860 the population, revenue, and expenditure of British Columbia and Vancouver Island v ere as follow : — m ■v. I 110 BRITISH COLUMBIA. . Population. Males. Females. Total. British Columbia . 5,000, official estimate, 1860. Vancouver Island 6,000, do. do. Revenue. British Columbia . . . . . . £53,286 Vancouver Island ...... 14,749 ' ' Expenditure. . ; * . --^jj British Columbia £47,175 Vancouver Island ...... 14,171 The Canadian News of the 8th May, 1861, pub- lishes the subjoined figures :— " The receipts at the Custom-house (of Victoria) for the week ending March 2, 1861, were — Duties, 710?. 12s. Icl.y harbour dues, 11. 7s. 2d.; head money, 161. 4s. 4:d.'j tonnage dues, 601. 19s.; warehouse fees, 11. As.; total revenue, 796?. 6s. 6d. The customs re- ceipts for January and February, 1860, were 3890?. 5s. lOd.; for the same months in 1861, 4069?. 3s. 4c?.; increase in favour of 1861, 178?. 175. 6d. A slight increase has also taken place in the number of per- sons who paid head money. In 1860, during Janu- ary and February, there were 290; and in 1861, during the same period, 316. Gain in 1861, 26." The largest hotel in Victoria is in Langley-street, and is a commodious and well-finished structure. It was erected for Mr. Mitchell, the owner of the ground, and was leased, in 1861, for a term of years, to Mr. Bull, the proprietor of the late British- American Hotel on Yates-street. It is called, we believe, the Columbia House, or the Columbia Hotel. ^ A quite recent letter from Victoria, Columbia, RICHNESS OF THE MINES. Ill gives a flourishing account of the mineral wealth of Vancouver Island : — ' " I have told you before of the almost fabulous richness of the mines of British Columbia ; recent accounts place this beyond a doubt. Many men are making |100 per day, and not a few have picked up 100 ounces in the same space of time. Numbers who left Victoria penniless are now worth from $1000 to $10,000, the result of one summers •labour. Those who had not luck enoudi to s^et good claims of their own, obtained plenty of em- ployment at from $10 to $20 per day. Want is unknown, provisions are plentiful, and hardships are among the things of the past. According to all accounts, the gold must have been taken out by spadefuls. Think of $100 to the pan — not a fancy, but a reality. Miners think that richer diggings are yet to be found, and that the true seat of the gold is not yet discovered. All the metal is coarse and in small nuggets — say from ten to twenty dollar pieces. The largest lump yet found weighs 7 lb. ; and this, strange to say, was fo nd on Thomp- son's River — old and neglected ground. Miners are now coming down in large numbers, each with his little sack of gold ; but the majority of those with * piles' proceed to San Francisco — a loss at present unavoidable from the want of mint and the scarcity of the circulating medium. The Otter, within the last fortnight, has brought down not less than $500,000, and there is plenty more to come. Wells, Fargo, and Co. alone will have shipped this year not less than a million and a half dollars." I 112 BJRITISH COLUMBIA. / Mr. A. G. Dallas, to whom the letter was ad- dressed, says: — ' - . "From my own personal knowledge of the country, I believe that British Columbia will sur- jjass both Australia and California in the richness of its gold fields. At present the labourers are few, and the gold does not figure in the exports from Victoria, but goes to swell those of California. Provisions are as plentiful as gold, and cheaper than in any other country I know. The finest potatoes I ever saw were selling last winter in Victoria at 20 cents, or 10 J. per 100 lb. Flour and other neces- saries were equally cheap and abundant. Groceries also were as cheap as in England, there being no duties. The only expensive articles are manufac- tured goods, the produce of labour. For tlie pos- sessor of the latter, in the shape of a stout heart and strong arms, both male and female, there is no better country in the world, with its fine climate and every other good gift of Providence, including seas and rivers abounding with fish, forests, rich farming lands at 4s. 2d. per acre, corn fields, and minerals. In the event of war, these fine colonies, at all times difficult of access to the poor man, can only be reached or even communicated with either by the circuitous route round Cape Horn or vid China. To American steamers from Panama to Victoria we are at present indebted for the trans- mission of letters or passengers. What is wanted is a line of English steamers from Panama to Vic- toria. This cannot, in the first instance, be accom- plished without the aid of the mother-country. gold CARIBOO. 113 This aid, granted but for a short period, would, I am satisfied, so add to the population and so develope the resources of Yaneouver Island and British Co- lumbia, that in a few years they would be able to carry on for themselves what they now solicit the mother-country to establish." • t« The Victoria Colonist^ in speculating upon tha next season's emigration, says : — " Cariboo — fabulously rich in gold — will be the centre of attraction. Between that and Victoria will be the main line of trade, travel, and industry. The Cariboo country proper contains no less than an area of 6400 square miles. It is ample enough to employ t^0,000 miners of itself. But it is not at all probable — attractive as it is — that our other gold fields will be overlooked, if enjoying exclu- sively the immigration. Stickeen Biver, where good wages can be made — where provisions can be boated in — where mining is nearly as rich as at Cariboo — Stickeen will draw off its adven- turers ; that is certain. Then there is Peace Biver, between Stickeen and Cariboo. It is rich ; the gold fields extensive, and more accessible than Cariboo. Peace Biver will take its quota of miners. Then there is North Biver — a branch of the Thomp- son — between Lake Kamloops and Cariboo. I^* offers another field for miners. It is nearer and more accessible, and probably equally as rich as Cariboo. Its tributaries and bars will hardly escape the delving miner. *' Still farther east is Columbia Biver — the north- ^U 114 BRITISH COLUMBIA. eru branch of that extensive artery. By crossing over from North River or the head of Shuswap Lake, the head waters of the British portion of Co- hiinbia River is struck. Its bars are auriferous ; pay $25 a day; and on the rich creeks which are tributary, are diggings as rich as Cariboo. Ex- plorers ascended it last year. Gold miners will go there too. Rock Creek and Similkameen will also attract more or less ; whilst numerous other loca- lities, either known or unknown, will share out the immigration. .,, • " We may thus see the wide field for immigration which our country offers — a gold field extending from the 49th to the 57th degree of north latitude ; and from 116° west longitude to 132° — eight de- grees of latitude by sixteen degrees of longitude. Whichever route miners take — to whatever gold fields the miners go — it will require a great deal of labour to supply them. Towards Cariboo, in all probability, the majority of the rush will go. No question then exists but that the attention of Go- vernment should be early turned in that direction. But along the same road, on Thompson and Nicolas Rivers, at least five thousand farmers may settle down this year — insured unequalled prices for their crops. Hay, cerr^als, vegetables, are sure to find a good market." . , .,: ..r;. Another local paper, under date of the 14th January, 1862, gives us the following news from Cariboo : — > " Mr. Levi, of Levi and Boas, New Westminster, FREIGHTAGE. 115 has furnished some additional and interesting items of intelligence from Cariboo. There are about 75,000 pounds of flour at the Forks of Quesnelle, and 125,000 pounds of other goods. At Beaver Lake there are 25,000 pounds of every description of merchandize, most of wiiich will be taken to the Forks, before the spring immigration arrives, on the backs of Indians. The only article of which there was a scarcity up to December 1st, was candles, which were selling at 1 2 50 a pound ! Think of payiijg |50 for a 20-pound box of greasy illumi- nators ! The Indians, for packing 100 pounds from the Forks of Quesnelle to Antler Creek, receive $40 a trip, which generally, owiog to the deep snow, consumes the best part of a week. From Beaver Lake to the Forks, $10 are paid for each 100 pounds packed. Four or five white men were making hand-sleds at the latter place, on which they pro- posed freighting goods to Antler ; and McCarty (a well-known packer) was preparing dog-sleds at Port Alexandria to run between the Fords and Antler, with freight at 30 cents per pound. Several parties were engaged in sawing lumber on the banks of Quesnelle, and they were selling it at $125 per 1000 feet J the demand was very light. Flour at the Forks was worth $72 dollars per barrel ; beans, 45 cents per pound ; bacon, 6S cents ; best india-rubber boots, $16 j axes, $6; long-handled shovels, $5; picks, $6. Just before our informant started to come down, the discovery of a rich silver mine, be- tween Beaver Lake and Alexandria, was announced. I 2 *. : il:\k\ m in 3 i!y IIG BRITISH COLUMBIA. The weather was intensely cold, and the snow three feet deep." Under date of July 16, 1861, the Governor writes to the Colonial Secretary : — " The latest accounts from Cariboo confirm the former reports of its vast auriferous wealth. About 1500 men are supposed to be congregated in those mines, and the number is continually augmented by the arrival of fresh bodies of miners. Jt will be a work of difficulty to keep them supplied with food, a service which now gives employment to about 1200 transport horses and mules; and I am in hopes that the large profits made in that business will lead to its extension. " To facilitate the transport to those mines I authorized a grant of 400?. to improve the river trail from Cayoosh to Williams' Lake ; and -WQl. to open a trail from Quesnelle to Cariboo Lake, the charge, in both cases, to be defrayed out of the district revenues. ' j " The remoteness of the Cariboo mines, and the large assemblage of people there, have rendered it necessary to establish a gold escort for the convey- ance of treasure from Quesnelle to New Westminster; and more especially with the view of strengthening^ the hands of the magistrates in those distant localities by the periodical exhibition of a small military force. This will put the colony to expense, but I conceive it is an indispensable precaution thai may prevent much future evil." 117 -■ I 'I 'It, ■f :t«!i'l/\ CHAPTER VI. a Extracts from Recent Official Despatches — Further Extracts , from the Local and Canadian Press and from Correspondence ^ — Extracts from the Times Letter of March 25, 1862— Re- marks on the Letter — The Bishop of Columbia's Journal, We think that the following letter is of sufficient interest to be given at length : — " Copy of Despatch from Governor Douglas, C.B., 4 to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, K.G. 1 " Victoria, Vancouver Island, Septemher 16, 1861. *' "(Received iVb2;em6er 2, 1861.) : "My Lord Duke, ' " I HAVE much satisfaction in reporting to your Grace that the Colony of British Columbia con- tinues in a tranquil and progressive state. *' The Gold Commissioners, in their last monthly reports, represent the continued exodus of the mining population from their respective districts towards the * Cariboo ' country ; in speaking of which I have adopted the popular and more con- venient orthography of the word, though properly it should be written * Caiaboeuf,' or rein-deer, the country having been so named from its being a favourite haunt of that species of the deer kind. i I 118 BRITISH COLUMBIA. *' The most extraordinary accounts of the wealth of that gold field are received by every succeeding steamer from British Columbia j and those accounts are confirmed by letters from the merchants and traders of the district, and by fortunate adventurers who have realized, by a few weeks' labour, their thousands of dollars. It would in fact appear that Cariboo is at least equal, in point of auriferous "wealth, to the best parts of California ; and I b'-lieve the gold deposits of British Columbia will be found to be distributed over far more extensive space. " Some idea may be formed of the large sums realized, from the fact that 195 ounces of gold were taken in one day out of a single mining claim ; while ordinary claims yield as much as forty or fifty dollars a-day to the man : but perhaps the most telling circumstance is the high price of labour, which has attained to the extraordinary sum of ten dollars a-day ; and any number of men may find employment at that rate of pay. "The Cariboo gold district was discovered by a fine athletic young man of the name of McDonnell, a native of the island of Cape Breton, of mixed French and Scotch descent, combining in his per- sonal appearance and character the courage, activity, and remarkable powers of endurance of both races. His health has suffered from three years' constant exposure and privation, which induced him to re- pair, with his well-earned wealth, to this colony for medical assistance. - i( MINING AT CARIBOO. 119 " His verbal report to me is interesting, and con- veys the idea of an almost exhaustless gold field, extending through the quartz and slate formations, in a northerly direction from Cariboo Lake. " The following well-attested instances of success- ful mining at Cariboo may prove interesting, and will probably convey to Her Majesty's Government a more precise idea of the value and real cliaracter of this gold field than any mere generalizations, and with that object in view, I will lay the details, as received from the persons themselves, before your Grace. "John Mc Arthur and Thomas Phillips arrived herefrom Cariboo on the 17th of August last, with nine thousand ($9000) dollars' worth of gold dust in their possession, being the fruits of three mouths' residence at the mines. They arrived there on the 1st day of May, and left again on the 1st day of August, having previously sold their mining claim at a high price to other persons. Their last earn- ings for one day amounted to five hundred and twenty-five dollars ($525); and no single day's work yielded less than twenty-five dollars ($25). Both those persons have been mining in California, and are acquainted with its resources, yet they give it as their opinion that Cariboo, as a 'generally paying' country, surpasses the best days of Cali- fornia. . ■ **Mr. Patterson and brother arrived at New Westminster by the steamer of the 14th instant, with ten thousand dollars' worth of gold dust, the ■ 1 ,1 m. a', i m :i3 120 BRITISH COLUMBIA. produce of five weeks' work at Cariboo. I person- ally inspected their treasure, of which they are justly proud, being the well-earned reward of their skill and enterprise. Mr. Patterson's mining claim was on the Lowhee, a tributary of Swift River, and about sixteen miles distant from Antler Creek. The ground was composed of gravel and many quartz boulders, and the depth to the bed-rock was from four to six feet, beyond whicli he did not attempt to penetrate, though the richest deposit of gold was immediately over the bed-rock. The largest day's retiu'n from the claim was seventy-three ounces of gold, worth about twelve hundred dollars ($1200) ; on another occasion he received seventy ounces at the close of a day's work. The gold is in rough jagged pieces, the largest found by Mr. Patterson was over six ounces ; but on the next claim to his, a piece of ten ounces was picked up by the luckv proprietor. Mr. Patterson .sold his mining claim before his departure from Cariboo, and is now re- turning to his native country, the United States, with the wealth he has so rapidly acquired in British Columbia, this being one of the evils to which the colony is exposed through the want of a fixed population. " I will not multiply these details, having said enough to show your Grace the opinion entertained by the public of the newly-discovered gold fields, and of the probable influx of population from Cali- fornia and other countries which may be attracted by those discoveries. I need not assure your Grace SUPPLIES. 121 that every precaution will, in that event, be taken to maintain the peace, order, and good government of the country, and to increase its permanent popu- lation : but it is impossible to repress a feeling of profound regret that so few of Her Majesty's British subjects have yet participated in the rich harvests reaped in Britisli Columbia, though there is certainly no country in the world that offers greater induce- ments to the labouring classes, or for the employ- ment of capital. The settler enjoys the peculiar advantage in British Columbia of an unfettered choice of the public domain ; and may, without expense or official delay, select any part of the colony he pleases, as his future hor^.e ; the ultimate price of land being in no case over four shillings and twopence an acre, payable by instalments, spread over several years. In fact, the system of no country can offer greater inducements to the settler and miner than the land regulations and mining laws of British Columbia. ■A*' The miners at Cariboo have, I am glad to inform your Grace, suffered no privation whatever from the want of food. Besides the large importations of bread-stuffs and salt meat packed in from Lillooet and Lytton, large droves of cattle haye been sent to Antler Creek, where the native grasses are nu- tritious and abundant ; and fresh beef is now selling by retail at Is, 8d. a pound. A mining town of some note has sprung into existence at Antler's Creek, and supplies of all kinds can be readily purchased. - 11 i X ■•I n I ' *■! .1. t I '* S 122 BRITISH COLUMBIA. **^The traveller who is prepared to encounter famine in its gauntest forms on his arrival at Cariboo, is not a little astonished to find himself in the midst of luxury, sitting down every morning to fresh milk and eggs for breakfast, and to as good a dinner as can be seen in Victoria. - > v ..* » " The great commercial thoroughfares, leading into the interior of the country, from Hope, Yale, and Douglas, are in rapid progress, and now exercise a most beneficial efiect on the internal commerce of the colony. I have many other productive public works, indispensable for the development of the colony, in view, but I cannot undertake their execution until I am made acquainted with your Grace's decision about the proposed loan of money for British Columbia. "I have, <&c. ^i? "(Signed) James Douglas. " His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, K.G. &c. &c. &c." (^ V f-Kl] w ,c)^ * *Y'f! Again, under date of October 24, 1861, the Go- vernor says : , -s I., r "Accounts from Cariboo are more than ever satisfactory ; and the numbers of returning miners with their rapidly acquired stores of gold, and the extraordinary fact, unusual, I believe, in gold countries, that they have been all eminently suc- cessful, offer the strongest confirmation of the almost fabulous wealth of that gold-field. I have not, indeed, up to the present time, met with a single MINERS GAINS. 123 ..• .(,i'^»' f ?! unfortunate miner from that quarter. Of those whom I had occasion to interrogate during my recent visit to British Columbia. I ascertained that none who held mining claims had less than 2000, and that others had cleared as much as $10,000 during their summer's sojourn at the mines, lb may therefore be fairly assumed that their indi- vidual earnings range at some point between those figures. I shouid, however, apprize your Grace that the large strikes of the season, such as Jonrdan and Abbott claim en Lowhee Creek, and Ned Campbell's claim on Lightning Creek, the latter said to have produced 900 ounces of gold in one day, are not included in this category, as I have had no opportunity of seeing the owners of these claims, who are still in the upper country ; but I will inquire into and report upon these special cases hereafter." • Our readers will probably not object to have a few extracts from Mr. Douglas's travelling note- book for 1861 :■— " Laurent Bijou, a native of France, left Cariboo on the 1st day of August. He resided about one month at the mines, and has acquired $4500 worth of gold dust ; — says he has not been so fortu- nate as many others, who are making as much as $1000 a day. He has mined in California, but never saw a gold field so rich as Cariboo." " Joseph Paterson and brother, natives of Maine, United States of America, have been mining at Keithley's Creek, and left it about the 10th of Sep- •w "-r i rp ' '?v'>T> :c- II ■ I }'H- 124 BRITISH COLUMBIA. tember. They have cleared the sum of $6000 between them, or $3000 each, in gold dust, which they carry about with them on their per- sons. They report that as a general thing the miners are making from two to three ounces a day. They are well acquainted with Jourdan and Abbott's claim, and have often seen them weighing out, at the close of their day's work; the yield on one occasion was within a few grains of 195 ounces, the number of working hands being at the time four in all. That was their largest day's return ; bi't 80, 90, and 100 ounces a day were ordinary returns." „ " Richard Willoughby, a native of England, dis- covered a mining claim on Lowhee Creek, and began to work it on the 27th of July last; he continued mining with from four to seven hired men till the 8th of September, when he sold the claim to an- other person, and returned safely to Yale, where he now resides, with the sum of 12,000 dollars in gold dust. His largest day's return was 84 ounces, and the entire amount of gold taken, during his tenure, from the claim, amounted to 3037 ounces, valued at 48,600 dollars, and his own share to the sum of 12,000 dollars. His last week's work netted 2032 dollars, and for two weeks previously he cleared 1000 dollars a week for each working hand on the claim ; and what is extraordinary is the fact that all this wealth was found immediately at or within four feet of the surface, the extreme of Mr. Wil- loughby's sinkings. At that depth he encountered the bed rock, composed of soft blue sUte, yielding dis- gold MINERS GAINS. 125 readily to the pick. He also mentions the discovery of a highly auriferous quartz reef; and he gave me a specimen of galena, containing, as per assay, 67 per cent, of lead, and 37 ounces of silver to the ton. He also mentioned several rich veins of silver ore which he saw at Cariboo ; but the inferior metals attract scarcely any attention in countries where gold is easily acquired." " Mr. Hodge, an American settled near Yale, held a raining claim on Lowhee Creek for about six weeks, and lately returned to Yale with a sum ex- ceeding $2100. His reports corroborate and con- firm in all respects tlie statements of Kichard Willoughby." , " Thomas Brown, an American citizen, claims the honour of having discovered and taken up the first mining claim on Williams' Creek, just one claim below the Jourdan and Abbott claim. Mr. Brown has been fortunate, and has a heavy pouch of gold, but I did not ascertain its money value. He says that ' Ned Campbell,' a friend of his, with a com- pany of ten other miners, selected and recorded a claim on a newly discovered stream, called Light- ning Creek, a tributary of Swift River, which yielded about two ounces of gold to the panful of earth ; and that a report had reached Quesnelle previous to his departure, that the company, almost as soon as they began to work, had realized 1100 ounces in one day; and he places the greatest confidence in that report. Mr. Brown's statements on all other points respecting Cariboo corro])orate the state- ments of Mr. Willoughby." -/ Zo ''o^,lU)k \X g\ wu. f. ii V-U\ 126 BiUTISH COLUMBIA. We do not know that we can render a better service to our readers, who desire practical and trustworthy information, than by giving a few more extracts from the local press. In reference to the vital question of prices, the Victoria (V. I.) Colonist of the 21at January last, says : — - " Little business worth anything has been trans- acted here for three weeks past. Goods of every description are held at very high figures, but the sales made are extremely light. The New Westminster market is reported bare of flour, pota- toes, and beef. Here there is an abundant supply of flour to meet the present very limited demand, at $8 50 and $9 for extra brands, and $7 50 to $8 for superfine. Three thousand barrels of California mills are on the way to this market. New beans are in good supply at 6 and 7 cents per pound. Po- tatoes meet with a steady sale at 1|- cents by whole- sale, and 2J and 3 cents retail. Sugar of every grade is high, and tea and cofiee are away up in the clouds, on account of the War Tarifi* on both articles. A heavy sale of Sandwich Island sugar took place yesterday on private terms. Adaman- tine candles are wholesaled at 30 cents per pound, and the Hudson Bay Company hold Oregon bacon at 17 and 18 cents. There is stored in town a small quantity of British Columbia freight awaiting transit, and we learn that the schooner Explorer will start for Frazer Biver to-day with freight and passengers." Annexed is a " List of Goods shipped from Sau ^ GOODS. 127 Francisco to Victoria (V. I.) and British Columbia inlSoy." , - Absinthe, cs 72 Agricultural implements, pes 32 Alcohol, bbls. . . .136 do. cs 172 Anchors, no 56 Bacon, hhds 225 do. cs 447 do. pkgs 554 Barley, bags . . .16,937 Beans, bags . . . 11,065 Beef, bbls 99 do. cs 21 Beer, csks. .... 858 do. kegs . . . . U do. cs 101 Bitters, cs 122 Boilers, no 2 Boots and shoes, pkgs. ^^1321 Buckwheat, bags . . 3 Butter, j&rkins . , 1028 Building materials — Lumber, feet . 287,206 do. pes. . . . 131 Blinds, bdl. ... 1 Doors, bdls. and no. . 748 Sash, bdls. and no. . 369 Pickets, bdl. ... 1 Bran, bags . . . 2473 Brandy, hhds. ... 13 do. 4 pipes ... 3 do. I pipes ... 27 do. octaves . . . 442 do. cs„ .... 45 Bread, bbls 477 do. cs 767 Bread, pkgs. Bricks, M. Brooms, doz, Camphene, cs, Candles, bxs. Carts, no. . Cement, bbls. Cider, bbls. do. cs. . Cigars, cs. Coal, csks. . Copper, cs. Corn, sks. . Corn meal, puns, do. bbis. do. sks. Coffee, bags . do. cs. . . Cordage, coils, do. pkgs. Clieese, bxs. . do. pkgs. China goods, pks. Chocolate, cs. Clothing, pkgs. Clocks, pkgs. . Crockery, csks. do. pkgs. Drugs, pkgs. . Dry goc';.s, pkgs. Fancy goods, pkgs. Fire crackers, bxs. Fish, drums . do. bbls. . . do. kits . . . do. bxs. . . . . 473 . 203 . 179 . 857 2920 . 6 . 148 . 139 . 491 . 157 . 4 . 2 . 98 . 4 . 40 . 381 . 544 . 360 . 251 . 95 . 95 . 118 1613 . 26 . 66Q . 3 . 9 . 35 . 904 1633 . 4 . 450 . 19 . 6 . 140 . 28 li ;'*, * '.1 m If 128 ' » Flour, bbls. . do. hf. sks. do. qr. sks. BEITISn COLUMBIA. do Fruit, grean and dried, bbls. . . . do. bxa. do. pkgs. do Furniture, pks. . Gin, pipes and puns do. bbls. . . . do. kegs . . . do. cs. ... Glass, bxs. . . Glassware, pkgs. Groceries, pkgs. . Guns, cs. . . . Gunnies, bdls. do. bales . Hams, casks . . do. bbls. . . do. pkgs. . . Hardware, pkgs. Hay, bales . - Hollow- ware, pkgs. do. pes. Hops, cs. and bales Iron pipe, pes. . Lard, bbls. . . do. cs. . . . Leather, rolls . . Lead, white, kegs Lime, bbls. . . Liqueurs, cs. . . Liquors, unspecified, oc- taves 59 do. do. bbls. 71 2654 4620 39,761 . 145 . 481 . 64 1135 . 57 . 9 . 2 . ri8 . 168 . 131 2567 . 4 , 104 . 48 15 260 33 2250 2911 10 56 23 200 6 397 21 172 423 104 do. -do. 6.9, do. kegs. 250 do. cs. 400 do. pkgs. 248 Maccaroui, bxs. , . . 132 Machinery, pea. and pkgs. 393 Malt, sks 386 . 103 Matting, rolls Merchandise, pkgs. Metals, bars . . do. cs. and bdls. Molasses and bbls. . do. kegs do. cs. Kails, kegs Nuts, pkgs. . Oats, bags. . Oakum, bales . Oars, no. . . do. pkgs. . Oil, bbls. . . do. cs. do. pkgs. . . Paints, pkgs. . Paper, pkgs. . Pianos, no. Pickles, preserves, do. kegs . do. pkgs . Pipes, cs. . . Pitch, bbls. . Plaster, bbls. . Pork, bbls. ,-#? Potatoes, bags Powder, kegs . do. bxs. Printing materials, pkgs. Provisions, unspecified, 62 1017 600 409 syrups, 35 1252 153 751 37 1416 96 442 38 65 176 31 937 97 7 &c. 1484 350 29 95 38 90 316 394 34 23 7 pkgs. Pumps, Pure spirits, -pipea no. 174 11 12 STEAM TRANSIT. 132 393 386 103 62 1017 600 409 15 1252 153 I. 751 37 1416 96 442 38 65 176 31 937 97 7 1484 350 29 95 38 90 316 394 34 23 174 11 12 Pure spirits, bbls. Quicksilver, flasks Rice, mats do. csks. Bum, puns. . do. bbls. do. keg . , Saddler}'-, pkgs. Safes, iron, no. Salt, sks. . . do. bbls. do. bxs. . . Sardines, cs. . Saw mills, no. Ship chandlery, pkg Shot, bags do. kegs . . Soap, bxs. . . Spices, cs. . . do. pkgs. . Spirits, turpentine Starch, bxs. Stationery, pkgs. Steel, pkgs. . Stoves, no. and pkgs Sugar, mats . do. bbls. . do. bxs. and cs. cs . 9 . 19 10,209 . 36 . 23 . 45 . 1 . 139 . 17 . 518 . 14 . 44 . 101 . 2 . 255 . 19 . 9 5095 . 489 . 50 . 13 . 112 . 169 . 239 . 816 2132 . 465 . 348 Sugar, pkgs. . Tar, bbls. . . Teas, pkgs. . Tin, plate, bxs. Tin ware, pkgs. Tobacco, bales do. cs. and Tools, pkgs. . Trunks, no. , Tubs, nests Twine, pkgs. . Vinegar, bbls. do. kegs Waggons, no. Wheat, bags . Whisky, puns, do. cs. do. bbls. . do. Wine, pipes do. csks. do. bbls. do. kegs do. cs. . do. bskts. Yeast powders, cs, Zinc, rolls . . . kegs . bxs 129 . 50 . 2 . 802 . ISO . 12 . 7 . 855 . 10 . 79 . 38 . 7 . 32 . 81 . 3 . 177 . 3^ . 236 . 136 . 51 . 3 . 187 . 32 . 32 1258 . 242 . 128 . 17 Arrangements have been made by whicli, since tlie 1st of March la^t, two steamers will run from San Francisco direct to Victoria in aid of the emi- gration movement. Large numbers of mules have been imported from Sonora, to be employed in the transportation of provisions and other necessaries to the diggings '^'i ■ i 130 BRITISH COLUMBIA. as soon as the spring opens. The Colonist for Decem- ber, 1861, says: — " Every one expects a large immigration. We ex- pect tlie living tide to commence flowing in the course of a month or six weeks — by the first of March at the utmost. The ebb in the immigration we expect will take place not earlier than the middle of August next. The number expected is variously estimated from 5000, the lowest, to 50,000 or 60,000, the highest. The only thing that can be done is to prepare. In preparing, then, to give the adventurers a hearty welcome, and turn their enter- prise, labour, and capital to a profitable account, there are duties to be performed that devolve on the Government as well as on the people. If Govern- ment will put forth its energies in time, and do its work, industry and trade will fully do their part. If Government will build a wagon road — cut it out, bridge the creeks, shave down the bluff edges of ravines, and render the miry places passable— we may have wagons by the 1st of July running up as high as the mouth of Quesnelle Biver from Lil- looet. Pack-trains would then only be required to carry provisions and passengers from the main trunk to the different mining localities. Ox-trains — twenty or fifty wagons in a company, as they go to New Mexico or Utah — could carry all the merchandise into the interior, and carry it far cheaper than mule or horse- wagons to the head of the wagon travel. They would be slower, but not the less sure. But the use of ox-trains depends on a passable wagon COPPER ORE. 131 road, and the construction of the waggon roads depends on the Government. If Government does not construct the road, the division of the carrying industry into ox-trains and pack-trains is not likely to take place early enough this year to be of much account." ' A December (1861) number of the Victoria Press reports the discovery of copper in the Cowichan dis- trict : — " Messrs. Charles Smith and C. B. Young returned yesterday, after an absence of six days, from Cowi- chan District, whither they had gone on a prospect- ing tour for copper. They return entirely successful, having struck a lode of rich copper near the water's edge of Sansum Channel, and bring with theui about 1500 pounds of ore, which is pronounced to be very rich by judges. The lode is about two feet thick, and was traced to a distance of half a mile. It was discovered by Mr. Smith about a year since, and himself and Mr. Young have now pre-empted it " That the whole of this region possesses immense mineral wealth there cannot be any hesitation in believing. The richness of the new Nova Scotia gold fields, and the discovery of gold in the Stick een River which, by the treaty of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia, is thrown open to the former Power, tend to increase the absorbing interest now manifested by the industrial classes both in Eng- land and elsewhere in this part of the world. Respecting the auriferous deposits in Nova Scotia, we beg to refer our readers to the Times of Feb, k2 ."^f I hi 132 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 21, 1862. On the subject of the "Stickeen gold," a Canadian paper of recent date has the following : — "Mr. Choquette brings about $4:0 worth of Stickeen gold dust, which he dug himself, from the river bars. The dust is of the class denominated fine, altliough a portion of it is in small scales. The prospecter left here in May last for the Stickeen River, in an Indian canoe, and reached thej^e in June. The river has three mouths, and is a much larger stream than the Frazer. For 40 miles from the coast, along the river banks, snow-clad and pre- cipitous mountains rear their heads, and the country- presents a very uninviting aspect. The general characteristics are similar to the Frazer — with occa- sional sloughs and island, but no rapids. After the first 40 miles are accomplished, the open country commences and the mountains recede from the banks and become less precipitous. Fine gravel benches, covered with tall grass, and extensive bars are seen. Light-draught boats could ascend a dis- tance of 75 miles, after which small boats must be used for 30 or 40 miles, when a canon, twelve miles long (the only one on the river), occurs. Here the prairie land commences. This prairie land is covered with fine grass, and is intersected by Indian trails. Game of every kind is abundant. The climate is delightful — only one rainy day having occurred in five weeks ; and up to the 1st of October there were no signs of frost. A good trail, which the Indians say leads to Fort Alexandria, on the Frazer River, exists on the Northern shore of the river. STICKEEN GOLD. 133 Over this trail they claim that they can make a trip to Frazer Eiver in a few days. Our informant made a very imperfect rocker with a knife and some Indian tools, and started to work on a bar about 100 miles from the river's mouth ; but land- ing the results not so favourable as he had hoped, removed to a bar some miles higher up, where ho made, the first day $5 50 ; second day, $10 ; third day, $11 ; fourth day, $12 ; and on the last day, $13. A great deal of the gold, beiag fine, was lost, owing to the poor rocker used. At the close of the' fourth day, Mr. Choquette's wife (a Stickeen woman) was taken violently ill, and he accordingly placed her in a canoe and came down the stream. The Indians, although threatening, committed no depre- dations upon the property of the prospecter, owing, no doubt, to his alliance with their countrywoman. The higher Mr. C. ascended the river, the coarser the gold became. Several small streams making into the Stickeen River from the North and South were prospected, but the results were not satisfac- tory. Four Indians, who worked in company with the prospecter, made as high as $9 a day to the hand. Mr. Choquette says ^he found gold on the Naas River two years ago, and that on several other rivers making into the ocean between the Naas and Stickeen, he got good prospects. He has mined in California, and was a '58 pioneer on the Frazer, and declares that he never saw a more favourable- looking country for minerals than that bordering on the Stickeen. So confident is he of finding great IN : i:] >■% ■ 134 BRITISH COLUMBIA. diggings that he will return as soon as he can pro- cure an outfit and a conveyance. Mr. Choquette seems a very straightforward man, and his veracity is vouched for by persons to whom he is well known." .. , ..•.( The following testimony is singularly unani- mous : — The Victoria Daily Press of October 15, 1861, says : — ., " The accumulation of the startling but veritable facts which come one after another, each growing greater than its predecessor, by every steamer from the Frazer, is really an excuse for the mania which at present pervades all classes of society in Victoria. To say that our population have gone mad might be using an expression rather exaggerated, but to state that almost every person in the community is deeply infected with the gold fever and declares his intention at all hazards of leaving for Cariboo in the spring, is simply recording a fact which meets one's ear in every house and every street. It is no wonder that Jones gets excited when his friend Smith who, not five months ago, had not ^200 in the world he could call his own, comes down from Cariboo heavily laden with $20,000 or $30,000 in gold. Were these isolated cases the delirium might be confined to a small circle, but there is by no means a limited supply of such lucky miners. Vic- toria will be in another week literally inundated with successful Caribooites. Never in the history of gold-mining have there been such fabulous sums CARIBOO. 135 amassed in so incredibly short a space of time. But a few mouths ago and tho whole collective miners in British Columbia did not possess as large a sum as that which arrived by the last trip of the Otter, yet since the spring $2,000,000 have actually been taken out of the few creeks that have been worked in the Cariboo. When we consider the smallnesi? of the number of men — fifteen hundred — the short- ness of the season, and the thousand and one draw- backs which miners experience in the heart of a country so new to civilized man, and so far from the sea coast, we can only come to the universal conclu- sion that British Columbia admits of no comparison in the world as a gold-producing country. From a letter received by a gentleman in town yesterday morning by Major Downie, we have the statement of this experienced and indefatigable miner to the effect that the richest portions of California in its most palmy days are as nothing compared with what he has seen since he left Victoria for the Cariboo." r The British Colonist, of the 22nd October, says : — ,, "Nothing is talked of now-a-days but the Cariboo mines. When the excitement following the dis- covery of gold on Frazer's River was at its highest in California, in 1858, it was not a more universal topic of conversation than Cariboo is here at the present time. Were we to believe what we hear, we would conclude that everybody will go *to Cariboo in the spring.' The fabulous accounts of 'rich strikes' almost bewilder people. Accus- 136 BRITISIT COLUMBIA. tomed to think eight dollar and twenty dollar dig- gings exceedingly rich, it is difficult to realize the fact that men who left the shoe-bench, or the hoe, or the jack plane, and went to Cariboo last spring, should, after two or three months' labour with pick and shovel, living on bacon and beans, return with three, five, ten, twenty, and thirty thousand dollars each. It is harc.ly believable even by those who are accustomed to 'lucky strikes' and rich gold fields. Yet it is, nevertheless, true. It is well authenticated. The best possible evidence is given by the lucky miners themselves, by the size of their bags c * gold dust and the nuggets they carry in their pockets as boys carry marbles. No wonder, then, that the only topic of conversation is Cariboo, or that the universal destination of every one who can by any possibility get away should be *for Cariboo in the spring.'" . . ,< . ,.i. ^ * .; ..:■■ A voice from Lilloet gives similar evidence : — " The news from the Cariboo n^.aes is very encou- raging ; miners are reported to be on the way down, some with $15,000, others wiih piles that I think are too good to be reliable, but on the whole the people of British Columbia may flatter themselves that the/ have the richest gold mines at present existing on the face of the globe. "Since I wrote the above several miners have arrived from Cariboo, bringing the most exciting news as to the richness of the mines. One man that wintered last winter at Lilloet brings down $15,000 ; he made shingles last winter for a living. A RICHER CALIPOPNIA. 137 There is not only a few who have made big strikes, but many have made a handsome fortune, and those that have not been fortunate are in good spirits and are certain of big strikes next summer. Five hun- dred miners are expected down in a week or two, so we may expect lively times for a spell." A correspondent of the Christian Guardian says : — " The bags of dust which are now coming down confound and strike dumb every person who has dared to call Frazer's River gold mines a humbug. If I had time and space I would fill sheets with the reports of lucky ones. I could give you a long list of those who went up last spring with hardly enough to pay their expenses to Cariboo, and are now returning with from $5000 to |20,000 each. Some intelligent persons who have seen California in its best days have lately made tours of observa- tion in our mines, and they declare that Cariboo surpasses California (so far as prospected) in its palmiest days. " It is matter also of great satisfaction, now when the exceeding richness and vastness of our mines are being proved beyond controversy, that the ex- cellence of our climate and agricultural resources could develope themselves. The recent explorations of Colonel Moody and others establish the fact that between the Cascade and Rocky Mountains, and not far from the West Mines, there are millions of acres of prairie and woodland highly suitable for farming and grazing purposes. Several who com- i * i It I'. 138 BRITISH COLUMBIA. menced gardening two years ago have cleared from $5000 to |1 5,000. A great many will go out gar- dening, ap- Oka- -day, ne of , , hus- i miles luited ) n the i holiaj vy to f. ,0 the from " the miles ie of uired ess of ed to )f the ttrac- orado yet discovered, so that only 30 white men and 225 Chinamen remained. A party of three white men saved in the season $12,000 that I know of, after paying expenses; $100 a-day to the hand was sometimes made. The average earnings are returned at $7 a-day per man. There are both "bench" and ^* wet" diggings, and both are productive and extensive. The place is now abandoned. There being no more mining localities of any note on the southern frontier, we will proceed to the northward and westward for about 120 miles, passing on the way several auriferous streams flow- ing southward, and in fact, in every direction, as well as a pastoral and agricultural country of great extent, without comment for the present, and get into the heart of the Thompson River country, as established by the Hudson Bay Company in their nomenclature of local divisions of the " Indian Country." ^ , .. . _.,,,. If you could fancy yourself on the .banks of the Thompson you would find it a large, swift-flowing river, rolling with considerable impetuosity between high rocky banks. Near its mouth it is too full, too rapid, and too rocky for mining. Its source is not in the mountains, but comes from the overflow of a series of lakes dispersed over a large extent of the central portion of the country which lies to the eastward of the Frazer, and stretches over more than two degrees of latitude and as many of longi- tude. It falls into the Frazer, after running a very L tl 146 BRITISH COLUMBIA. tortuous course of perhaps a hundred miles, at the small town of Lytton, a mining and trading hamlet on the forks of the two rivers, 75 miles (above) north and a little to '.ie west of Fort Hope. Several streams flow into the Thompson — the Nicaomeen and the Nicola on its left or east bank. We are now in what may emphatically be called the "Lake District." The last-mentioned little river drains two lakes, Nicola Lake and Stump Lake — the first eight miles by three, the other much smaller. The next tributary is the Buonaparte, on the opposite side — a very important river, from its rich auriferous deposits and from the valuable arable soil through which it flows. It drains nine lakes, two of which, Loon and Vert, are each about 12 miles long. After receiving the Buonapirte, the Thompson describes three great tortuoi.s bends, which brings it up to lake Kamloops, which empties into it (I am describing the river up stream). Lake Kamloops is 20 miles long by five miles wide. From this lake the river continues its course to the east and north, receives the waters of North River, and extends to Shushwap Lake, which also dis- charges into the Thompson. Shushwap Lake, a fine sheet of water, situated in a rich pastoral coun- try, 45 miles long, 5 to 10 miles wide, and studded with islands, receives the waters of two other lakes, which discharge by the Barridre River, as well as those of two rivers of considerable length which rise in the i-ange that divides the valley of the LAKE KAMLOOPS. 147 33, at ading miles Fort ;.l i — the bank, called little Stump • much rte, on rom its 5 arable ) lakes, out 12 te, the bends, Bmpties Lake wide. e to the River, so dis- ake, a al coun- studded r lakes, well as which ' of the Frazer from that of the Columbia. The lake is a little below the Slst parallel of north latitude, and the 11 9** of west longitude passes over the east end of it. Kamloops Lake is about a degree fur- ther west, and about 12 miles further south. The Tranquille and the Copper River both fall into the xae latter lake. .■ -■ ^ The North River, already mentioned, runs nearly due noi-th for a great portion of its course. Cor- rectly speaking, it runs from the noi-th, but I am describing as if I were ascending the river. This river has several tributaries of great length, some rising far to the eastward in the watershed of the great valley of the Frazer, and others draining a long chain of lakes stretching far up into the coun- try beyond the 53rd parallel of north latitude, and embracing nearly three degrees of longitude ; while its "head waters" flow from a range which is the watershed of Swamp River, flowing in an opposite direction into the Cariboo country. All the streams which I have mentioned are auriferous — those which are tributary to the Thomp- son itself, and those which are tributary to its affluents. ^ ' , *'- Such portions of the Thompson as run through somewhat level ground are also auriferous. Seven miles from Kamloops, 150 miners worked upon one of such portions and made $16 a-day to the man, "rocking" on the "bars" in the bed when the river was low. The banks are very extensive, but require water ditches for " washing" them, as they l2 t i 148 BUITISH COLUMBIA. il run higb. Tranquille yielded $7, $15, and $20 a-day to "a crowd of Chinamen." North River gave $8 to $10 a day to the hand ; and on the Barriere a community of French Canadians made as high as $50 a-day to the hand. Beyond the portions of North River which have been worked for gold near its embouchure, the country hereabouts has not been prospected. This is about the centre of the colony, and about 80 miles of this space from south to north, by about 100 miles from east to west, have not been developed. It may be auriferous ; but its character on the face of the soil is pastoral. It is a high table-land which produces abundant pasture, free from forest, and only inter- spersed with timber. Its climate in summer is dry and equable, and in winter cold, but not severe ; and noted for its salubrity. In fact, the climate of British Columbia is good throughout the whole extent of the country, and there is no drawback except from the presence of the mosquitoes in summer. These insects are so numerous as to forjpd a pest while they prevail. ■ If we could pursue a straight western course from the Fort to Frazer River for about 100 miles, we should strike the new town of Lillooett, situated at a point where the two great routes of travel into the interior meet that from Hope and Ly tton by the river, and that by the Harrison Valley and the Lillooett chain of lakes. Lillooet is the great final starting point to the northern mines, and beyond this there is no made road, and no other means of LILLOOETT. 149 1(1 $20 River md on ladians Beyond e been jountry s about ( of this es from may be the soil iroduces y inter- ir is drv severe ; climate e whole •awback toes in to form course miles, situated vel into tton by and the eat final beyond neans of transport than horses, mules, and what the miners expressively term " footing it." ' - • " Lillooett is distant from the mouth of the Frazer (on the Gulf of Georgia) by the river route, vid Hope, Yale, and Lytton, 220 miles ; and by the Harrison route, vid Harrison Lake, by steamer, Douglas, portages, and four lakes, crossed by steamers, 238 miles. The first route commands steamers up to Yale, the rest of the journey must be ridden or walked. The other route commands steamers to Douglas ; a stage coach thence to Wil- liams's Lake, 29^ miles, on a road made along the Harrison Biver, chiefly by the Royal Engineers ; an open boat on the first lake of five miles, steamers on the other three lakes, which are together 49 miles long, and the portages between the lakes and Lillooett, wJiich in the aggregate of the four of them are 33| miles long, can be ridden or walked. Both routes afibrd prospects of beauty and grandeur seldom seen elsewhere, but I dare not trespass on your space so far as to describe them, nor could I do justice to the subject if I tried. From Lillooett to the first or lower Ca- riboo mines the distance is about 260 miles. » ^' A few miles beyond Lillooett, and on the same (the west) side. Bridge River falls into the Frazer. Bridge River is very rich in gold. The Indians of the neighbourhood make considerable earnings in it, workinsf in the rudest manner with the most inefficient implements. It was here the Bishop of Columbia found them making an ounce a-day to ii ! f J ■; 150 BRITISH COLUMBIA. the hand, as I mentioned in my last letter. Nodules of pure copper have been found in the bed of the river, indicating the existence of copper veins in the neighbouring banks. Quesnelle River has two branches, one of which drains Quesnelle Lake, lying a degree and a-half to the eastward of the Frazer, and which is 50 miles long. The other branch drains Cariboo Lake, which receives Swamp River aud Lower Cariboo Lake, into which Keithley's Creek, one of the Cariboo streams, empties. At the junction of the two branches a town, the nearest to Cariboo diggings, L: built, chiefly for the supply of the latter. The place is called " The Forks of Quesnelle." Both branches of the Quesnelle are highly auri- ferous. Mining began here in 1859, and led to the discovery of Cariboo, situate 50 miles further north. The returns for last summer were that nine out of ten of the claims paid over an ounce a-day to the hand. The river banks enable the miners to work in winter. The diggings must be rich to have retained any miners so close to Cariboo, where for- tunes were made in the course of a few weeks. ^ One grand prominent feature of the country is a chain of mountains which run from, our southern frontier (on 49° north latitude) in a north-v^esterly direction through the country, and in fact, beyond the northern limit of the colony. This range is in many parts very lofty, luns nearly piarallel to the Rocky Mountains, and bears the successive names of :i f VAST GOLD-FIELD. 151 [odules of the dns in which half to 3 miles , which Lake, Cariboo le two mgs, j.^^ . The y auri- ied to further sit nine 3 a-day ners to io have sre for- :s. ry is a uthern esterly 3eyond 3 is in to the ,mes of the Snowy Mountains, the Bald Mountains, and the Peak Mountains, from the height of several of the more elevated portions having induced the belief that these portions were detached mountains, and not parts of a connected chain. It is now known that the diflferent eminences, which at a distance seem to be isolated, in reality form but one vast range subordinate to the Rocky Mountains. It, in fact, forms the watershed of the great basin of the Frazer River, one side of which drains itself into the valley of the Frazer, and the other into that of the Columbia. The whole of this vast range is now known to be auriferous. It has been traced for 400 miles, and "fine and coarse gold is everywhere found on its western slopes from Rock Creek in the south to Cariboo in the north." Cariboo itself is but one point in the range. It is nearly all in Bri- tish territory, extending, as already remarked, be- yond the northern frontidi of British Columbia and into the Indian territory of Stickeen, to the east of the Russian possessions on the Pacific. It is the longest stretch of continuous inland gold-bearing country yet discovered in the world. Its valu(? and importance are incalculable both to the mother i country and to these colonies, for when it comes to be efiiciently worked by tunnelling it may continue to produce gold for a^es, as long, perhaps, as gold retains its value among mankind. Respecting Ca- f riboo, Governor Douglas was good enough to fur- nish me with the following statement in writing, %,i I I k 152 BRITISH COLUMBIA. taken down by himself from a Cariboo miner, Mr. Steele j but I received it after I had finished my letter : — 't^f " Steele's company consisted of five partners, of which Mr. Steele, an American, was one. Their claim was on Williams's Creek (Cariboo, of ooui :;e). In the summer they sawed the lumber themselves, and made their own sluices. Their claim did not prospect as good as many other claims. Neverthe- less, they went at it with a will j made nothing the first three days; persevered, and the fourth day made 4oz. ; the fifth day, lOoz. ; and the sixth day, 41oz. (the market value of 4:loz. of gold in sterling is 290^. 45. 2d.). From that time, after the sixth day's work, when the return rose to 41oz. a day, it kept increasing, imtil it reached 387oz. a day ; and the last day's work yielded a return of 409oz. The five partners employed ' four hired hands' to assist them to clear away the tailings. The claim was one of the most difiicult to work, as it required eight feet to eighteen feet of top-stripping of super- incumbent earth whicn covered the auriferous stra- tum, or * pay-dirt.' This latter was composed of a blue clay, six feet thick, mixed with gravel aid de- composed slate. The whole area of the mine w .ked was only eighty feet by twenty-five feet, and the yield amounted to $105,000, equal to 21,875^. That so much gold was dug out of so small a space as eighty feet by twenty-five feet is a pregnant fact. It proves that the wealth buried in this i*eraoto region lies concentrated in masses thick and plentiful, which i* .y MR. STEELE S CLAIM. 153 corroborated by the shortness of the period of labour — not over two months' actual work. This is a short period to have earned 21,875^. in, certainly, yet the exuberance of the gold of these mines is more clearly demonstrated by the rapidity of the accumulation. I shall show this result more clearly by converting Mr. Steele's gold ounces into American currency. The produce of the labour of the first day that the claim yielded anything was $68; that of the next day, $170 ; of the following day, $697; and so on, increasing until it reached the astounding sum of $6579 in a day ; and culminated in a ' return' of $6953 on the ' last day's work.' * " To prevent any exaggeration in my conversion of the gold-dust, I have taken the money value of the ounce at $17, although the average value of Cariboo 'dust' is $17 65c. and 37-lOOOths, so that I am under the mark. In other words, this com- pany's gold produced to the partners more money in the market than I have valued it at. Their gold may have been worth $18 the ounce." ^gTo show still more clearly to English readers the prospects and rewards of labour in British Columbia, I will paraphrase M". Steele's statement, which will place it in another and, perhaps, more practical light. I will suppose that the five miners who owned this mining claim were Englishmen, and that they had sent their earnings home. The gold would, by the rule of trade, go to the Bank of Eng- land, and be converted into sterling money — say in London. I will deduct all the charges of remitting t u 154 BRITISH COLUMBIA. the bullion (gold-dust), and then see what the miners would have, net money, in London. The fruit of ^ih^sir first day's " yield" would be 13^. 10s. 2d.; of the next day's yield, 34:1. lis. 2d. j the following day's yield, 1 343^. 4^. 3c?. j and the last day's yield would be 1419^. lis. 5d. The mines would have been to them a prolific mother, for the last day's return shows an increase of 761. 7s. 2d. over and above the general run of the yield of " lucky days," as the miners term their successful and satisfactory periods. Mr. Steele's return of the gross yield was corroborated by the quantity of gold-dust brought to Victoria, where he remained for some time. Indeed, the miners seldom exaggerate their earnings. Their general reports take the opposite direction. The partners return to their claim in Cariboo in the spring to resume work, and they expect to do much better next season, as the mine is already well opened. To have made the statement complete, I should have mentioned that the four hired men did not share in the profits. They were paid $8 a-day wages and " found ;" and they did not work durmg the whole season. ' I may assert that there are no low earnings. Here is exactly how the matter stands. Some of the Chinamen, whUe serving their novitiate, are satisfied with such poor diggings as yield only $1 to $2 a day, but they are soon forced by their taskmasters, who paid their expenses from Chii^a and San Fran- cisco, and for whose benefit they labour, and who WAGES OF LABOUR. 155 tax them both for repayment of these expenses and for a profit on the venture, to abandon such poor diggings for a richer. And as to white miners, not one of them will work for the small earnings I have mentioned. If a miner cannot fall upon a rich " claim " he will hire himself to other more for- tunate claim-owners, who will pay him from ^5 to $10 a day, according to location and circumstances. In this way it comes that no poor diggings are worked. The surface of the mineral region is being "skimmed" — not efficiently worked. But by and by the miners will be satisfied with ground which they now reject. This time is distant, however, owing to the extent of the field, unless the country receives a large addition to its mining population. I suppose it would take half a million of miners to bring the mines into play. It would take a much larger population to develope tliem efficiently, r . . Another cause influences the miner in his con- duct. Wages generally are high for all kinds of labour. Common labourers get $3 a day at the lowest, some get more. Farm labourers get QL & month and are "found." I pay an English labourer whom I found working on the roads lOL a month, and he " finds " himself, for looking after my horse and doing odds and ends about the place. This was his pay from the road contractor. Mechanics get $5 (II.) a day. With these rates of wages in competition with mining, and with the prices of provisions very high in the remote mining country, owing to expense of transport, the miner naturally I I I! r If ill 156 BRITISH COLUMBIA. abandons poor diggings which yield a low return ; so you understand why there are no low returns. My advice to emigrants from the old country will be short, and, while it can easily be remembered, cannot be misunderstood. British Columbia wants two classes only — men with money, and men with bodily strength — capitalists and labourers. Both classes will do well. The one will find lucrative en.ployment for its capital, the other still more pro- fitable employment for its labour. If either fails it will be its own fault. Should either of these two classes be married, let them bring their wives and families ; the more numerous the progeny the better. '■■'h ■- The Times newspaper in its leader of the 25th March last, and the Times' correspondent in his letter here quoted, have certainly conspired to draw a glowing and seductive picture oi the condition and prospects of British Columbia as a gold-pro- ducing colony. The Times' account is no doubt true enough in the main ; but that the colourirg, of the leading article especially, is often too high, there is abundant evidence. Still the Governor, in his latest despatches, speaks favourably of the social state of the gold districts, and of the respect gene- rally paid by the miners to public order. The Times' articles are full of sunshine ; other writers tell a difierent tale. It is a difficult course to judge between the two ; but, nevertheless, that is the course which we have endeavoured to pursue. We feel it to be our duty to present to intending emi- ITS FUTURE, 157 grants, not a fancy landscape, but as true an idea as possible of the locality in which they may be about * to plant themselves ; and we believe that we should be greatly misled if we accepted unreservedly either the statements of the Times j or the far less sanguine views propounded in other quarters. We repeat . that Governor Douglas — no contemptible authority — invariably reports well of the settlement ; and . the Bisliop of Columbia has always been a firm believer in its success and prosperity. At the same time, we do aot entertain the slightest doubt that drunkenneis and every form of depravity may be witnessed ad nauseam at the diggings ; but the question is, in what part of the globe may not these vices be witnessed ? Things will find their level by degrees, and some sort of society will grow out of the present chaos ; but in the interim, any- body who goes out to these latitudes must look for rough work and rougher neighbours. Still, nobody who keeps his eyes open, who uses his hands well, and who is temperate and thrifty in his habits, has the slightest reason to be discouraged ; for he will find in British Columbia, with its coal beds, its gold fields, its copper, and its agricultural resources, such an opening as perhaps he would find nowhere else on the surface of the globe j and at this moment there are thousands on their way, sharing in this faith, and who, if they be true to themselves, and forswear the temptations inseparable from life in a young colony, will prosper beyond their bri;p;htest expectations. I f m IH I 158 BRITISH t LUMBIA. We conclude with, >\ few select extracts from thf^ Journal of the Bishop of Columbia : — ^^ May 22, 1860. — Laid corner-stone of Trinity Church, New Westminster. The site of the new church is a very beautiful one in Victoria Gardens, and, com- manding an (extensive view, will be a most prominent object from the river to steamers arriving from the sea ; at present two deep lavines are on either side, around it are large stumps of trees, and the ground is entirely unlevelled. Here the frame of the flooring had en aid, being massive sills on thick short columns . r woe 1 Under one of these Spin- nings,' the south-east outer corner of the porch, was laid the stone, of granite ; a bottle of coins, with inscription, was inserted. The same form of service was used as at St. John's, Victoria ; the service was commenced by Mr. Sheepshanks, and the Bishop followed. The Governor laid the stone. " June, 1860. — One of the most interesting things in connexion with gold-mining is the coui*age and enterprise of the miner. Water is absolutely neces- sary for two purposes : washing away the earth above the gold, and washing the earth or * pay dirt ' which contains the gold. For the former work an immense power of water is frequently necessary; this is brought from a distance in wooden canals, aqueducts, and courses excavated in the soil or rock, and this is made to descend upon the workings, and applied by a hose to wash away vast masses of earth, "At Hill's Bar I visited to-day an aqueduct two miles long, which had cost $12,000, or 2400/. ; THE BOCKER. 159 id by a company accomplished it in twelve shares, eight of which were held by one man. The miners of . the various claims pay for a head of water five f dollars a day. Sometimes there will be forty claims ' and this flume will be making to the proprietors 200 dollars, or 40^. a day. We visited spots where, by working without the sluicing power, Chinese were making five dollars a day. The sluice is where the water is brought in a body from the flume, and continual shovelling of earth into the sluice boxes produces a large return of gold, because more earth can be washed, and the more earth washed in a given time, the greater ^h^ yield. The rocker is by the river-side. It ie a -^jort of wheelbarrow on rollers, with a scuttle front ; within is a sieve, beneath which p.r<3 two blankets, and at the bottom is a copper plate with qui silver ; the * pay earth ' is cast into the sieve, and the machine rocked with one hand while the other hand keeps pouring in water ; the earth and water pass through the sieve and blankets ; the sieve stops the stones and larger particles, the blanket catches other atoms of gold, &c., and the quicksilver retains the golden dust. , , s. 7, ^^ June 5. — I heard a strange noise in passing near an Indian hut ; when I approached I found it to be that of Skiyon, the Indian bear-hunter. His wife had her sick child in her lap. Before her was the medicine man practising enchantments upon the child. He was a strong-featured man of about forty. He repeated over and over a few t 11: !J I> ! I I' 160 BRITISH COLUMBIA. words with considerable gesture. Occasionally ho would stroke the breaso una stomach of the child. Beside him was a basin of water with some whiten- ing mixture in it ; this he would take and rub upon his hands, or he would blow into his hands and upon the child, then burst forth again into his lament and incantation. The mother held the infant towards him, and evidently felt considerable faith in the enchanter. itn " Overtook a miner from California, with a revolver on one side and a bowie-knife on the other. I spoke about the former; he said they were needed in California, but not here. " I have met very few miners with their weapons ; once none went without. Things are now as quiet and orderly as possible. All classes are well- treated. Chinamen, Indians, and Blacks, have justice equal with others. Indeed it is evident that what the Californian looked upon as a sign of high spirit and courage he now thinks little of, and these terrible weapons are put away. ../„/» " Jwie 7. — I took a walk with Mr. Pringle along a beautiful and romantic trail, following a stream and glen to Lake Dallas, and then through a gorge into a valley on its northern side, where was a stream wending its way to the Frazer. I visited some of the Indian potato grounds in that valley ; the soil is very rich. The rows of potatoes were laid with great regularity, indeed in figures and patterns such as you see on their basket-work. They also 'earth up' at the proper time, which SCENERY. 161 shows a more advanced state than I expected. We ascended a height, and upon a rocky, mossy knoll, shaded by pines, we had an extensive view of mountain and river scenery. I could have sat there for houra, impressed with the grandeur of the works of God. How insignificant the most gigantic accomplishments of man ! We were then on the east fide of the Quequealla. A canoe, paddled by an Indian and his squaw, brought us quickly down the rapid, rolling, swelling Frazer, to Hope, for which we paid the sum of a dollar, 4s. 2d., for half an hour's paddle. These Indians are well paid." *^ June 14. — I crossed the river opposite Yale, and took the trail to Hill's Bar. We walked through groves of young pines ; much of the ground is cleared. " Hill's Bar, about a couple of miles below Yale, was the scene of great excitement in 1858 ; it was the richest of all the diggings ; thousands flocked to it, and thousands of pounds have been extracted from it. It was here that the McGowan riots took place. Then Colonel Moody marched up his men to capture the rioters, bat when became to the spot drank champagne with them instead. " The first gold diggings were upon the bank of the river ; upon this bank grew giant trees — all these, and acres of soil, have been swept away to the depth of some ten or twelve feet. It is now found that the higher banks, or flats, still further from the river, are very auriferous. These are now being worked. I m Vs.] ■11 « 1 ii 163 BlUTISH COLUMBIA. " The excitement of gold-mining is great. Tlie mind's seem never to tire. There is an interest in the work which always sustains them. I was told cards and whiskey are their bane. They seldom play for money, but for drink, a dollar a game. A reckless man will go into Yale on Sunday, and Bpoud twenty-five to forty dollars in drink and treating others. There are, however, many tem- perate men. A friend of mine, though an old miner, never touches spirit, only porter and ale. He always has a dozen of English porter in hi& house (on the Bar). *'June 26. — On this my 44th birthday, I awoke on the floor of a log-hut, in the wild and almost in- accessible recesses of the Cascade Mountains, the Frazer flowing at my feet. The five other indivi- duals who occupied other parts of the room had beeu not otherwise than quiet ; sleep, however, I had had but little. I rose about half-past five. A com- fortable breakfast at seven, of tea and coffee, ham, &c., prepared us for the arduous day before us. Our horses had arrived in the neighbourhood the night before, and about eight came up ready equipped. " The Frazer is about 250 yards broad at thfs point. The current is strong. A rope is suspendci^ from bank to bank. From this rope is tackle, which works the large punt-shaped ferry-boat. A most in- genious method ; the current acting as the wind acta upon a sail, the side of the boat being the sail, and kept by the tackle in an inclined position to the stream. The stronger the current the less in- PACKEBS. 163 Tho 'est in 3 told eldoin e. A jy ami k and ^ tom- in old id ale. in lu& awoke ost in- is, the ndivi- Ibeeu I had com- liam, Our night ed. it this endei^i which )st in- d acta 3 sail) ion to ss in- clined need be the boat. Without the slightest difficulty the ferry is thus quickly crossed. " The view of the Frazer, encompassed in moan- tains from the front, or rather from a point near, is grand indeed. » • ' v - ^* July 10. — Packing is one of the most lucrative employments. A train of twelve or eighteen horses and mules very soon pays the expense of first ost, and then great profits are made. The packers a:*^ principally Mexicans ; th ere are, however, many Americans. .^ • -♦ • 'i -. . *- --■■*-. " I met this day a train under the conduct of a very odd-looking dust-begrimed packer. He had a broken-in, slouched wide-awake. I was i. troduced to him. His speech showed him to be an educated Englioh gentleman. A few years since he was a smart officer with his regiment in Canada. He came to California, where he followed * packing.' He now packs on British soil with the best horse- pack in the colony. "Jvli/ 18. — All merchandize is cai'ried here upon pack-horses, the only exception being that Indians also carry goods. Pack-mules carry the heaviest loads. I saw mules to-day packed with nearly 400 lbs. of goods. There is a great art in packing ; bulk is the thing to avoid ; if a pack is in small compass much more c; a be carried than when the contrary. ^^ July 20. — Columbia does not abound in the feathered tribe. I have seen, however, eagles, hawks, rooks, jays, grouse, ducks, loons, robins (as large as blackbirds, and good eating), and humming birds, m2 n i ■i^il ^j II 164 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 'i " July 25. — I visited Rough Flat ; a miner told me some were making an ounce a day per man. - "Aug. 7.— On boai'd were two respectable- look- ing men. They were American minei*s returning home with a comfortable *plle.* They both ac- knowledged thiei. I asked w hat was considered ' a pile.' From 3000 to 5000 dollars, was the reply : this was the result of two years' mining in British Columbia. ' ' - • •'' - " ^'^Afig, 8. — My belief in the progresa of the colony haiit been confirmed ; there is no doubt now, upon any single mind, as to the vast resources and attra^*- tioiis in mineral wealth. There is considerable agiicultiiral land in the lower portion of the Frazer, that is to say along the river up to Hope ; on either side large tracts invite the farmer, more especially about the Chilewaak, the Pitt River, and Hope, to a fair return of capital and labour. Above this point the country is difficult of acceps, rough and mountainous, unless you get some fifty miles through the Cascade Range. Nothing could have opened this tract except its mineial produce. It would drive ba<:!k the sturdiest traveller. It did send back, at the larst, thousands, in poverty and despair. "Tho appellation of all miners is Mboy;' their chief is ' ct^p,'' All are called Dick, Tom, Harry. One man, a, notorious character, was nicknamed Liverpool Jack. Men are not known by their real names. Yoni inquire, tis I have often done, the name of soime one, and nol)ody knows his name ; only he ia called so-and-so^ of such-and-such a bar. i NICKNAMES. 165 told I I was speaking to a miner, who said he had just coiue from California, and with him had come a miner who had sold his claim there for 1800 dol- lars. I asked what the man's name was ; he said lie went by a nickname, * Bam' — he knew not his real name. He had known in California instances of considerable difficulty arising from this. A man came into the country from the eastern States seek- ing his brother ; his inquiries for Thomas Maguire produced no result j and he went away back to the States. Yot his brother was known and was work- ing v/ith those who had heard the inquiry, but they had not the least notion their friend, who had some apposite nickname, was really Thomas Maguire." 4 * **»i^v#- n 4 \y.T-' r-'t r. <.'• •'..* ^•'/I'^i ,i.?M*" i. < • 1 • ; I -^ -.'^''t;- , • I .:• ' ,, .!• .A -• !* «f "-iv »><"> 4« ."»,' *».- I' ' i itt^'^-:. 'ii.^; !i\:S APPENDIX. 'V?ff;. '■'•■ j!> ?'-ik. •■:i 1 1 I p KULES AND EEGUIATIONS FOR THE WORKING OF GOLD MINES, ISSUED IN CONFORMITY WITH THE GOLD FIELDS ACT, 1859. Whereas it is provided by the Gold Fields Act, 1859, that the Governor, for the time being, of British Columbia, may, by writing under his hand and the public seal of the colony, make rules and regulations in the nature of by-laws for all matters relating to mining. And whereas, in conformity with the said Act, certain rules and regulations have already been issued bearing date the 7th of September, 1859. * 1. The mines in the said level benches shall be known as " bench diggings," and shall for the pur- pose of ascertaining the size of claims therein be ex- cepted out of the class of " dry diggings," as defined in the rules and regulations of the 7th of September last. 2. The ordinary claims on any bench diggings shall be registered by the gold commissioner accord- ing to such one of the two following methods of measurement as he shall deem most advantageous on each mine, viz. : One hundred feet souare, or else APPENDIX. 16; :aif ^ strip of land twenty-five feet deep at the edge of the cliff next the river, and bounded by two straight lines carried as nearly as possible in each case per- pendicular to the general direction of such cliff across the level bench up to and not beyond tlie foot of the descent in the rear ; and in such Ii^st mentioned case, the space included between such two boundary lines when produced over the face of the cliff in front as far as the foot of such cliff and no farther, and all mines in the space so included shall also form a part of such claim. . 3. The gold commissioner shall have lutliority in <:ases where the benches are narrow, to mark the claims in such manner as he shall think lit, so as to include an adequate claim. And sliall also have j)ower to decide on the cliffs whic]>, in his opinion, form the natural boundaries of benches. 4. The gold commissioner may in any mine of any denomination where the pay dirt is thin or claiins in small demand, or where from any circum- stances he shall deem it reasonable, allow any free miner to register two jlaims in his own name, and allow such period as he may think proper for non- working either one of such claims. But no person shall be entitled to hold at one time more than two claims of the le^al size. A discoverer's claim shall for this ^ urpose be reckoned as one ordinary claim, ' *). All claims shall be subject to the public rights of way and water in such manner, direction, and extent as the gold commissioner irhall from time to time direct ; no mine shall be worked within ten i il i I i\ lii IGS BRITISH COLUMBIA. feet of any road, unless by the previous, ■vaucticu of the gold commiasioner. "•" • 6. In order to ascertain the quantity of watet iii fuy ditoli or sluice, the following rules shall be ob- served, viz. : — The water taken into a ditch shall be measured at the ditch head. No watei' shall be taken into a ditch except in a trough whose top and floor shall be horizontal planes, and sides parallel vertical planes ; such trough to be continued for six times its breadth in a horizontal direction from the point at which the '^^'ater enters the trough. The top of the trough to be not more than seven inches, and the bottom of the trough not more than seventeen inches, below the surface of the water in the re- servoir, all measurements being taken inside the trough and in the low-water or dry season. The area of a vertical transverse section of the trough shall be considered as the measure of the qurnfcity of water taken by the ditch, • ^ *ii .•.»»T .V 11. THE LAW OF LAND SALES IN THE COLONIES. 1. That from and after the date hereof (Januaiy 4th, I860,) British subjecta, and aliens who shall take the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty and Hov successors, may acquire unoccupied and unreserved and unsurveyed Crown land in British Columbia APPENDIX. 1G9 »JT : ^ M. lES. (pof- beiDg tlie site of an existent or proposed town, <;r {luriferous land available for niininj? riurposes, or an Indian Reserve or Settlement), in lee 'jimpie, under the following conditions. 2. The person desiring to acquire any particular plot of land of the character aforesaid, shall enter into possession thereof and record his claim to any quantity not exceeding 16C acres thereof, with the magistrate residing nearest thereto, paying to the said magistrate the sum of eight shillings for re- .cording such claim. Such piece of land shall be of a rectangular form, and the shortest side of the rectangle shall be at least two-thirds of the longest gide. The claimant shall give the best possible description thereof to the magistrate with whom his claim is recorded, together with a rough plan there- of, and identify the plot in question by placing at the corners of the land four posts, and by stating iii 3us description any other landmarks on the said 1 60 acres which he may consider of a noticeable cha- racter. 3. Whenever the Government survey shall extend to the land claimed, the claimant who has recorded his claim as aforesaid, or his heirs, or in case of the grant of certificate of improvement hereinafter men- tioned, the assigns of such claimant, shall, if he or they shall liave been in continuous occupation of the same land from the date of the record aforesaid, be entitled to purchase the land so pre-empted at such rate as may, for the time being, be fixed by 170 BRITISH COLUMBIA. i yi' :-^l tbe Government of Eiitish Columbia, not exceeding ' the sura of ten shillSnga per acre. 4. IS^o interest in any plot of land acquired as aforesaid, shall, before payment of the purchase money, be capable of passing to a purchaser uuless the vendor fchall have obtained a certificate from the nearest magistrate that he has made permauent improA^'ements on the said plot to the value of ten shillings per acre. - • . • . ?" 5. Upon payment of the purcbase mooey, a con- veyance of the land purchased shall be executed in favour of the ]>urchaser, reserving the precious minerals, with a right to enter and wor-k the same in favour of the Crown, itsi a„ssigns and iicencees. 0. Priority of title shall be obtained by the per- son first in occupation, who shall first record his claim in manner aforesaid. " 7, Any person authorised to acquire land under the provisions of this Proclamation, may purchase in addition to the land pre-empted in manner afore- said, any number of acres not otherwis<^ appropriated, at such rate as mny be fixed by the Government, at the time v/hou suck land shall come to be sur- veyed, not to exceed ten shillings per acre ; five shillings to be paid down, and the residue at the time of survey. 8. I'i tho event of the Crown, its assigns or licen- cees, avixiiuirf it'^elf, or themselves, of the reservation mentioned in clause 0, a reasonable compensation for the waste and damage done, shall be paid by the m ?T %:a/.. APPENDIX. 171 ])erson entering and working, to the person wliose land shall be wasted or damaged as aforesaid, and in case of dispute, the same shall be settled by a jnry of six men, to be summoned by the nearest magistrate. 9. Whenever any person shall permanently cease to occupy land pre-empted as aforesaid, the magistrate resident nearest to the land in question may in a summary way, on being satisfied of such permanent cessation, cancel the claim of the person so perma- nently ceasing to occujiy the same, and record the claim thereto of any other person satisfying the re- quisitions aforesaid. 10. The decision of the magistrate may be ap- pealed by either party to the decision of the Judge of the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of British Columbia. 11. Any person desirous of appealing in manner aforesaid, may be required, before such appeal be heard, to find such security as may be hereafter pointed out by the rules or orders hereinafter di- rected to be published. 12. The procedure before the magistrate and judge respectively, shall be according to such rules and orders as shall be published by such judge, with the approbation of the Governor for the time of British Columbia. 1 3. Whenever a person in occupation at the time of record aforesaid, and he, his heirs, or assigns, shall have continued in permanent occupation of iund pre-e3XLpted or of land purchased as aforesaid, I (If XI 2 BRITISH COLUMBIA. il^ 1 1 'Ml he or they may, save as hereinafter mentioned, bring ejectment or trespass against any intruder upon the hind so pre-empted or purchased, to tho same extent as if ho or they were seised of the legal estate in possession in the land so pre-empted or purchased. ;; 14. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as giving a right to any claimant to exclude free miners from searching for any of the precious minei*als, or working the same upon the conditions aforesaid. 15. The Government shall, notwithstanding any claim, record, or conveyance aforesaid, be entitled to enter and take such j^ortion of the land pre-empted or purchased as may be required for roads or other public purposes. 16. Water privileges and the right of carrying water for mining purposes, may, notwithstanding any claim recorded, purchase or conveyance afore- said, be claimed and taken upon, under or over the said land so pre-empted or purchased as aforesaid by free miners requiring the same, and obtaining a grant or licence from the gold commissioner, and paying a compensation for wiiste or damage to the person whose land may be wasted or damaged by such water privilege or carriage of water, to be as- certained in case of dispute in manner aforesaid. 17. In case any dispute sliall arise between per- sons with regard to any laud so acquired as afore- said, any one of the parties in difference may (before ejectment or action of trespass brought) refer the question in difference to the nearest magistrate, who APPENDIX. 173 id, bring ipon the e extent state in [phased. )nstrued Lide free precious nditions ing any iitJed to ■empted )r other carrying tanding 3 afore- ver the 3said bv ining a er, and to the ged by ) be as- said. m per- aforo- (before fer the te, who is hereby authorized to proceed in a summaiy way to restore the possession of any land in dispute to the person whom he may deem entitled to the same, and to abate all intrusions, and award and levy such costs and damages as he may think fit. *ao; t < . III. ANNO VICESIMO PRIMO & VICESIMO SECUNDO i^i I' ;i-.M VICTOIII.E IlEGIN^. l'*i{.JC U. 'i/; (i^p XCIX. AN ACT to provide for the Government of ^r?7iVt . Columbia, , ^ [2d Augitst, 1858.] WHEREAS divers of her Majesty's subjects and others have, by the license and consent of her Majesty, resorted to and settled on certain wild and unoccupied territories on the north-west coast of North America, commonly known by the designation of New Caledonia^ and from and after the passing of this Act to be named British Columbia, and the islands adjacent, for mining and other purposes ; and it is desirable to make some temporary provision for the civil government of such territories, until permanent settlements shall be thereupon established, and the number of colonists increased : Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Comnions, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — I. British Columbia shall, for the purposes of this Act, be held to comprise all such temtories within the dominions of •J I «ats. ,?ar. ). olassea. > — Shoes. — Mocasine. 3— Candle, — A rifle. -Kill. ■Bear. Deer. r — Rabbit. —Skunk. -Seal. )a!?le. uirh— Owl. -Hawk. ok. k — Grouse. -Musquito. Panther. . squirrel. .ice. iilU. ii!)bons. lit. antalooiis. H. sh-hock. Milk. n. I lick. |)W. n axe. ilo. nifo. 'VS. broom. —Clams. -A trunk. —A barrel, basket, ilate. table. A saw. 5l('0p. Winter, e — Summer, ar. A hole. .0. it — False. )on't know, ir, afraid. Olally — Berries. Tzae — Sweet. Tumalla — To-morrow. Hee-hee — Laugh. Moon — Moon. Klakeece— Stars. How — Listen, attend. Sil-sil — Buttons. Lapeep — Pipe. Akaepooit —Needle. Tin-tin — Music. Tance— Dance. Opooteh — Tail. Etlinwill— Ribs. Ikt stick — A yard. Elp— First. Claylstone — Coal, Lesack — A bajj. Newha — How is it ? Tanass Klootchman — A girl. Tanass — A child, and any- thing small, Wawa — Language, to speak. M;imook Chaco— Bring. Muck-Muck — Anything good to eat. Pire-Chuck — Ardent spi- rits of any kind. King George — English, Scotch, or Irish, Laplosh — A shingle or plank. Wake nika kumtux — I do not understand. Oihe— Sandwich Islander. Hyass — Large, or very large. Till — Heavj', or tired. Lazy — Slow, or lazy. Maiiimock Ipsoot — To conceal. Halluck Laport — Open the door. Ikpooy Laport- Shut the door. Klakany— Out of doors. Midlight— Sit down, put down, or stay, Midwhit — Stand up, get up, or move. Sitkum— Middle, or half. Tenas Poolakly — Smiset, or dusk. Cockshut — Fight, break, injure, &c. Wakeskokum — Weak. Wakekonsick — Never. Kumtux — Understand. Tikke— Want, desire, &e. Ikta mika tikke — "What do you want ? Okaok— This, or that. Wake ikta nika tikke— I do not want anything. Sow wash — Indian, sa- vage. Ankuty — Long ago. Lay-lay — A long time. Konsick — How much. Makook — Buy or sell. Kultis — Nothing, or gra- tis. Kapitt — Finish, stop. Kapitt wawa — Hold your tongue. Kanitch — Look, to see. Sockally Tyhee— The Al- mighty. NeekwooUy — Deep, be- neath. Quonisum — Always. irick — Unwell, ill, sick, &c. Lecreme — Cream-colour. Leky — Spotted, or pie- bald. Olo — Hungry, or V irsty. Lapushnio — Saddle-blan- ket. Chick chick — A wagon, or car. Kull-kull stick— Oak. Laplash stick— Cedar. Legum stick — Pine. Ki'lcman Sapel — Flour. Sale — Cotton, or calico. Kanim — Canoe, or boat. Klackan — A fence, a Held. Kalidon — Lead, or shot. Chickaman— Metals of all kinds. Chickaman shoes — Horse shoes. Tanass Musket — A pistol. Moolack or Moos— Klk. Salmon or sallo-waek — Salmon. Tanass Salmon — Trout. Lemule ou Hyas kolon— Mule. Man IMoofi-moos — An ox. Tanass Moos-moos — A calf. Henkerchim — Handker- chief. Coat — A woman's gown. Kcekwully coat— A petti- coat. KeekwuUy Sickilox — Drawers. Ilachr ou House — A house. Kata — Why, or what is the matter ? Whaah— (Kxclamation of astonishment) Indeed. Abba— Well then, or, If that is the case. Luckwulla— A nut. Tupso— Grass or straw. Hoey-Hocy — Exchange. Tootosli gleece — Butter. Kquttilt — To collapse. Glass— A looking-glasa or window, Koory kuitan — A race- horse. Tanuss Lakutchee— Mus- sels. Koppa — From, towards, &c. Chitch — Grandmother. Kia Howya — How are you ? or poor, pitiful, Lapooellc— Frying-pan. Appola— A roast of any- tliing. Quis-quis — A straw mat. jMakook house — A store. Katsuck — Mid-day, be- tween, Oioman— An old man, or worn out. Lemsei— An old woman. Hyass Sunday — Christ- mas day and the 4th of July. Pisheck— Bad, exhausted. J'aper— Paper, books, &c. Zum seeahhoose — Paiat the face. Pire olally— Ripe berries. Cold olally— Cranberries. Fill olally— Strawberries. Lapiaege — A trap or Mi^ami— Down the stream^ below. Maehlay — Towards the l.uul. Stactij ay —Island. Aalloyma — Another, or dillercnt. Hee-hee-lema— Gamble. Killtipic— Return, or cap- size. Kloch-Klock— Oysterf, Lawoolitch— A bottle . 180 BRITISH COLUMBIA. Annah — Exclamation of Ikt-1. Taillum pi ikt— 11. astonishment. Mox— 2. 'I'atilum pi mox~12. Sick turn turn — Regret, Klone— 3. Tatihxm-tatilum on I sorrow. Locket— 4. Takamonak— 100. Kooy - Kooy — Finger- Qui n urn —6. Ikt hyass Takauionak rings, 'J'ahum — 6. 1000. Ilrowlkult— Stubborn. Sinimox— 7. Stowebelow— North. Tickajrchy— Althougli. Sotkin— 8. Stegwaak— Sout li . Tamanawas — Witchcraft. Quies — 9. Sun Chako— Kast. Owaykeet— A road. Tatilura— 10. bun Midlight— West, Ikt GOVERNMENT EMIGRATION OFFICE KS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. Com. Lean, RN" ^ J. T. Forster, Esq., R.N.] ^^^^.^ j, London (Office, Com. VVestbiook, R.N. • - 1 " i. " 1 70, Lower Lieut. Barnard, R.N. . J ^ ^ * J Tlianies Street). Com. Prior, RN. . . Lieut. Bourchier, E.N. . Com. Saunders, R.N. Lieut. Hay, R.N. . . Lieut. Aldridge, R.N. . Assis- tants. Liverpool (Office, Stanley Buildga., Bath Street). . R. Evatt, Esq. E. A. Smitii, Esq., R.N., Southampton. Capt. Stoll, R.N., Plymouth. Com. Stewart, R.N., Glasgow and Greenock. Capt. Dyer, R.N., Belfast. Capt. Keele, R.N., Londonderry. Com. Ellis, R.N., Limerick, &c. Capt, Kerr, R.N., Cork, &c. VL A WRITER in one of the Yancouver Island journals received by the last mail, justly observes : — • " British Columbia, at the era of her gold dis- APPENDIX. ISl kt— 11. [lox — 12. lum on Ikt ik— 100. rakaiiionak — -North. South. -East, it— West. N THE 'Office, )wer ^ Street). 1 (Office, Uiildgs., reet). ournals old dis- coveries — and even at the present — differed from both of those great gold countries. She was notliiug but an interminable wilderness when the gold excitement commenced in 1858. Around a few of the wide-spread forts of the Hudson Bay Company there were a few evidences of agriculture, but the amount of labour invested annually in agriculture was merely nominal. The white men and Indiana who lived in the country may, for all practical purposes, be said tc have lived by hunting and the chase. With the influx of immigrants came also the demand for supplier of food, and as nothing but fish or game could be had, of necessity, with these exceptions, every article of food, whether necessaries or luxuries, had to be brought from abroad. The searcJi for gold has, during the four years past, occupied industry entirely. Only a few — very few — persons have engaged in agriculture ; so few, indeed, that the total value of agricultural produce for 1861 cannot exceed $20,000. We even think that a high estimate, though the labour invested this year in agricultural improvements may be much more. As a set-off to this small gain by agri- culture, we may safely assume that this year $500,000 have been spent for food for men and animals, and sent abroad, enriching our neigh- bours. We might with safety increase the estimate; but this is sufficiently large to show what tribute British Columbia is paying annually to the agricul- turists of the neighbouring States merely for subsis- tence. It shows what an advantage our mineral industry is to our neighbours, and what a loss British Columbia is annuall}'' sustaining. Her gold is taken out of her hills ; is exclianged for food ; the food is consumed ; and yet all that the country can show for it is the discovery of new gold fields, the construction of trails, and the possession of a 153 BRITISH COLUMBIA. few tliouf-ands of miners. These results were un- avoidable in a great degree. They may compensate for the temporary poverty they entail, the drain on our chief export, gold. But if we pursue a similar course year after year, when the cream of our gold fields is taken awav, we will be forced to fall back on agriculture as a leading branch of industry, and at a time when the inducements to engage in it may not be so attractive to immigrants as at pre- sent. It will be long before the infant manufac- tures of the country will make any perceptible diminution in the imports. Mines, whether gold, silver, copper, or coal, and agriculture will, for many yeai\s be the only kinds of productive labour with "which we can maintain our commerce. From these two branches of industry British Columbia will have to })ay off the annual indebtedness created by her in^ports. The exchangeable commodity will be mineral wealth, and agricultural produce should be largely consumed in creating that kind of exchange. Such is evidently her true industrial policy at the present time. No other policy can create perma- nent wealth. Fabulously rich gold fields may for a time build up cities, construct roads, and fill our ports with shipping and commerce, while dependent on. our neighbours for food. But to be really pros- perous, really independent, really powerful and wealthy, agriculture has to feed the whole popula- tion ; and to feed them, agriculture has to be encou- raged and developed as the basis of the high road to moral and intellectual excellence — to wealth itself. "The mineral wealth of British Columbia is a powerful inducement to engage in the cultivation of tlie soil. It will attract annually, for many years to come, thousands of immigrants, all of whom have to be fed ; and, except fed with domestic produce, the cost of living will be materially increased. Without APPENDIX. 183 protection enforced by law, the farmer who settles oil Thompson's River or farther north towards Alex- andria, will be protected in his market by the dis- tance which produce will have to be brought to compete with him. If it is brought from California, its distance will be from 1000 to 1500 miles. If from Oregon, 500 to 800 miles. If from Vancou- ver Island, 150 to 500 miles. The cost of trans- portation to a shipping point, and the freight on the route to tlio place of consumption, are enormous, a huge profit of itself, and a better protection to agricultural industry in British Columbia than a, high protective tariff levied on purpose. The duty of ten per cent, levied at New Westminster adds still more to the protection afibrded to the farmer. But the greatest protection of all is the distance from all foreign farmers. It is useless to urge the superabundance of produce in the markets of Cali- fornia and Oregon, and its cheapness. It is impos- sible for them to compete. The expense of trans- portation is so great, that nothing but tlie entire absence of agriculture in central and northern British Columbia allows an ounce of California and Oregon produce to reach the mines. The moment that domestic produce is raised in sufficient quantities to supply the demand, that moment the ipiportation of foreign produce will cease. "We estimate that British Columbia has lost this year |500,000 and over, simply through the want of agricultural industrj*. That sum itself would provide 500 farmers with an annual profit of f 1000 each, which is far greater than miners usually average. If to such a profit the farmer were to add the value of his labour expended in improvements and the increase in the value of his property through the increase of the population, his profits would be mises as > ' April, itributed 3f 1862, tier Me(/ ley will lat point articles 5, fossils, jc, and, t highly btention. ited the on to re- l at the ed John ouncil in ire, Esq,, all told, :om this imo and ^ f I