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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS

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CHIEF MEANS OP COMMUNICATION
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AGRICULTURA L AND PASTORA L LOCALITIES

DEPARTMENT OF LAIRDS AND WORKS
VICTORIA 1897

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"iF

BKITISH COLUMBIA
FOE SETTLEES

ITS MINES, TEADE, AND AGEICULTURE

FRANCES MACNAB

AUTHOR OP "ON VELDT AND TARM," "RELICS," ETC.

WITH THREE MAPS

LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, ld.

1898

166455

THE " TRAIL-BLAZERS,"

WHOM I MET ON MY TRAVELS,

AND TO ALL WHO SMOOTHFD MY PATHS

IN BRITISH COLUMBIA,

I DEDICATE THIS

BOOK.

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PREFACE.

The reader must accept the following pages as a Rketch
of the great work which might be written upon British
Columbia were more time allowed for it.

While it would be impossible to compress the whole
of so large a subject into a book for the information
of emigrants, it is hoped that, by breadth of treatment,
some idea may be conveyed in a handy compass of
both the inducements and drawbacks offered to careers
in that Colony.

I have to acknowledge the courtesy of Lord Strathcona
for permission to reproduce the Government agricultural
map of British Columbia and Mr. Ogilvy's map of the
Klondyke. I am indebted to the C.P.R. for furnishing
me with their map of Canada, and for assisting me to
reproduce the other maps.

These notes are the result of travels undertaken
during the summer months of last year, and I have
to thank the following gentlemen for the good advice,
assistance, and encouragement given me in what I
found to be an arduous, in fact, an almost impossible,
task : — Colonel the Hon. James Baker, the Hon.
J. Turner, Sir William van Home and the officials
of the C.P.R., Charles Hosmer, Esq., Major "Dupont,
the Eev. Dr. Eobertson, Messrs. Allan & Bros., the
managers of the Bank of Montreal, and many friends,
too numerous to be named, but whose kindness it is a
lasting pleasure to remember.

THE AUTHOR.

South Weald,

January 1, 1898.

CONTENTS,

cnAPTBn

I. Introductory

II. Mines

III. Trade

IV. Agriculture ,.,
v. The Chinese

VI. The Red Indians

VII. Commencement op Itinerary

VIII. From Ottawa to Winnipeg

IX. From Winnipeg to Calgary

X. Calgary to tue Rockies

XI. The Rockies to Victoria ...

XII. To tub Albkrvi Mines

XIII. Alberni ...

XIV. The Mines
XV. The Rush to Klonpyke. Saimon Fisheries,

SON Lake
XVI. Chilliwack

Jv V Xl« aOASSIZ ••• ••! ••• •••

XVIII. Vernon
XIX. Eelowna and Coldstream ...
XX. Grand Prairie to Trail

XXI. ROSSLAND ... ... ...

XXII. Grand Forks and Spokane

XXIII. Nelson

XXIV. Fort Steele by the Columbia Riveb .
XXV. Cbanbrook — Conclusion

Appendix

PAOB
1

12
... 28

... 74

... 104

119
... 128

142
... 154

174
... 182

193
Harri-

... 207

220
... 234

244
... 255

267
... 283

292
... 311

319

• •• Ou«f

••• 353

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

CHAPTER I.

INTROD UCTORY.

The condition of British Columbia is one of gradual
unfolding. There is no other word which will describe
the process taking place in that country. The peculiar
interest in the subject centres round inclinations pointing
to certain conditions of industry, which possibly prevail
nowhere else to the same extent. We are not watching
the rapid rolling back of a long-closed scroll, finished
and brought to perfection ages ago. It is not the case of
patching new methods upon an old, effete, and yet
glorious civilization. It is S'^'i^ething which is being
born in our own day ; and, like the slow and original
work of Nature, there follows a sequence of events — first
the bud and then the leaf, the shoot, the flower. This
generation may not gather the fruit or harvest the
seed, but at least it will see a wholly new and distinct
branch of life produced with all its hopefulness and
promise.

Under the two fur-trading companies — the Hudson's
Bay and the North- West — who first exploited a territory
which, considered geographically, is as large as Europe —
this colony was merely a hunting- ^^round for fur-bearing
animals. Gold washed from the sands of the Eraser
river allured men from the coast fisheries and lumber
trade, and brought into the country a race of brave and

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

hardy pioneers. Then followed within a period of a few
years two great gold rushes — that to Wild Horse Creek,
at the foot of the Rockies across the American border ;
the other to Cariboo, south indeed of Alaska, but
considerably north of Kootenay.

In the excitement of the chase for gold, the ol I fur-
companies fell into the background — much as does a
sheath which through winter and the storms of spring,
protected the bud. To this day old wooden forts can be
seen, surrounded with, and overbailt by, houses, shops,
stores, and hotels. The names of the factors are
immortalized by great rivers, and the largest store in
most towns bears above the doorway the proud lettering,
** Hudson's Bay Company. Incorporated, 1647." But
while the sealing industry is arrested and threatened
with extinction, and fur-bearing animals are becoming
more and more rare, the stores carry on a retail business
in grocery, haberdashery, millinery, and upholstery.
This change alone is remarkable in a country which
was once considered the ultima thule of Canada.

Two obstacles placed a check upon the development
of British Columbia. The great double range of
mountains which shut it off from the North- West
territories, and the other range which formed a barrier
along the coast, the only means of crossing which was
by navigating in canoes treacherous and dangerous
rivers, through dense forests, inhabited by savage tribes.

Then ^ollowed the advent of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, or, as it is called, the C.P.E., which was at
that time reaching out to lay hold of commerce in the
Orient, and based its hope of success on ide directness
of the route it offered from Liverpool to Japan, China,
and the South Seas. This great enterprise brought
with it a trail of population which formed clusters at
the section-points and timber-yards. The railway
found work, it brought money, and then came the
demand for fresh farm produce. That was a time of
high prices for the produce -growers, and the Hudson
Bay Company's factors, who had cultivated patches

INTRODUCTORY,

of a few
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of land, or bought cattle, and pastured them on the
ranches, reaped good retui'ns on theii enterprise.

Hitherto the gold-mining operations had iuoen confined
to that known as placer-mining and gold-washing.
Picks, shovels, and pans are attractive implements to
the poor; while placer-mining produces rich results
with a rapidity impossible by other methods. The
real source, however, to which British Columbia looks
as the foundation of her future wealth, is the ore
and gold-bearing quartz, of which many of her rocks
are composed. The exploration of these mines is a
very large industry, necessitating the support of a large
population, which cannot dig out the gold and retreat,
but must perforce settle in the country and build towns.
Until recently, the cost of machinery and the intractable
nature of the ore have been barriers against success in
mining; but with the cheap transport of the railway,
and the new methods lately discovered for treating ores,
these difficulties are gradually vanishing; and more
than one Johannesburg is growing up in British
Columbia.

Glancing backwards for a moment upon a scene
which is already disappearing, we shall see a process
typical of the present century. From an economical
point of view, the development of the territory itself by
the railway is still more interesting than the traffic
from long haulages. That Montreal should require tea,
Japan coal, and China wheat, is less remarkable than

'. that towns should spring into being upon prairies, or
amidst forests, almost simultaneously with the arrival
of the railway. The construction of the line brought
a small army of employees, and this population, which
was not altogether transitory, encouraged others to

I settle and devote themselves to gardening in the narrow
valleys, and to herding cattle on the benches or foot-

, hills of the mountains. This necessitated a certain
% clearing of the land, the timber being frequently required

I for the railway, or turned to account very cheaply in
the mills erected upon the river. The land was cheap.

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR StJTTLERS.

the life along the lino wao never isolated. There was
the occasional excitement of a fresh gold discovery.
Trapping and fishing, on which there was always a
profit, offered a change from the monotony of existence ;
and the railway, besides bringing mails and other
comforts, ensured easy transport of lumber to the coast
at all seasons of the year, independently of the freezing
of rivers. The province was retrieved by the accident
of a railway, which, in passing through it, aimed at
connecting markets thousands of miles apart, while the
actual wealth of the territory itself was a thing that no
one dreamt of.

It is scarcely wonderful that, with so many favourable
circumstances, the people who settled in this country
took life easily. So much was done for them by outside
enterprise, and by sheer favour of the gods, that the
tendency wad to live in the old groove and wait for
another stroke of luck. What these people did not
foresee was, that the advent of civilization enforced
conditions for living and money-making which they
would cither have to adopt, or by which they would be
crushed. They believed that fur-trading would last,
and also the high prices for agricultural produce;
whereas the completion of the railway meant the
reverse.

With very few exceptions, people were startled to find
that, after the railway came in, they were becoming
poorer. Some made an effort to reduce their expenses.
Others borrowed capital at an exorbitant rate of interest,
to launch out in fresh business, with their land mort-
gaged away under their feet. As the families grew up,
the struggle to pay the intovest on money borrowed,
in some instances to provide maintenance, rendered
life intensely anxious. No margin whatever was left
them to take advantage of the fresh opportunities for
investment which the country afforded as it opened.
This element in the population has held the country
back, and still checks advance.

Right along the southern border of British Columbia

INTRODUCTORY.

is the jiortbcrn boundary of the United States of
America. Tbib means tbe juxtaposition of a people
composed of tbe restless, dissatisfied fractions of many
nations. They are a people prepared for anything,
because tbey bavo nothing, and greedy to be rich;
loving both wealth and the pursuit of wealth, till the
value of everything is gauged by cents and dollars
alone. British Columbia could find and had attracted
the brave, hardy prospectors, men who faced the dilB-
cu/. as of mountaineering in a country scantily supplied
with food, and possessed of a severe climate. The
Americans came in as promoters and mining brokerc,
and companies were formed chiefly by capital which
was drawn from the States, although it may originally
have come from Great Britain.

The British Columbians looked on in wonder and
admiration at these people, who coolly risked thousands
where they had to pinch themselves to collect a few
hundreds. Moreover, they saw business handled in a
manner they never conceived before. They saw energy,
and along with it a tone of luxury which they envied.

Then it was cot only for mining that the Americans
came over the border. They were not slow to see the
pomts where their own products might be traded at
a good profit in a country which had no manufactures,
where fruits were neither understood nor cared for,
and where even the commonest fresh vegetables could
scarcely be had. It was true the mines, in many
instances, "hung fire " ; but as more and more capital
was drawn into the country, the markets increased, and
the Americans were ready to take advantage of every
point.* Then, as railways became necessary, the
Americans ran their lines over the border, bringing up
supplies from Washington and Montana, and freighting
down bags of ore to the smelters in the States. But

* The duties paid on imports into British Columbia for 1895 include
the following items : — Horned cattle, $365"00; horses, $400940 ; sheep,
$10,628"20; bacon and hams, $11,435'25; potatoes, $7095*10; tomatoes,
$347-17 ; condensed milk, $283318 ; hay, $351706.

^ jt -^ ^ - - « * ^ „

6 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

few of the mines, except those owned and worked by
Americans, paid; so that the situation resolved itself
into a loss to the British Columbians. They also lost,
or buried for some years, their money in the mines,
which money they had drawn in some instances from
legitimate and prosperous business ; besides losing the
markets for produce which the mining camps in
Kootenay created, independently of the success or
failure of the mines themselves.

While the Canadian Pacific Eailway was fully occu-
pied in working its way to the coast, and in establishing
a connection with India, China, and Japan, a line of
railway was run from Spokane to Nelson, thus pene-
trating into the very heart of the mining district.
Telephones to Rossland rapidly followed, and with the
strong commercial organization at Spokane, and the
improved methods of agriculture in Washington and
Montana, it was soon far more than a mere boast on
the part of America that British Columbia had lost her
market. The import duties levied by Canada on
American produce were no deterrent, and in spite of
immense efforts among the farmers on the Lower Fraser
and in Okanagan, and the starting of an experimental
farm at Agassiz for the distribution of information, the
farmers of British Columbia were unable to compete
successfully. It was easier to send fruit from the Lower
Fraser to the North- West than to Kootenay.

The present time shows a decided awakening, not
only on the part of British Columbia but of Canada
in general. The North-West Provinces, Winnipeg, and
even Montreal, have commenced to lay hold of the
markets of Kootenay, and the branch of the C.P.R. at
present under construction through the Crow's Nest
pass, which it is hoped will reach Nelson before the
autumn of 1898, will provide direct facilities for
forwarding Canadian produce.

There can be no doubt that, up to a certain point, the
mining industry was advanced by American energy
faster than it would have been had it been left to the

ii^Hriri'AA

'•A'l>

INTEODUCTORT,

British or Canadians themselves. The business was
unquestionably extremely speculative — so far as the
gold and copper ore were concerned. Experience soon
showed that mining in British Columbia required a
large outlay, while oven the most skilful American
smelters found themselves baffled by the refractory ores
of Bossland.

The British emigrant who goes into the country now
will find the chief interests in the mines about equally
divided between Americans and Canadians, and for a
few years longer the struggle will probably go on
whether the Americans are to exploit the wealth of
British Columbia or not. Much depends upon the in-
flux of British capital directs % instead of following a
circuitous route. More still dt nends upon the energy,
determination, and intelligence of the men, whether
Canadians or British, who go there to take their share
in this part of our Empire. They must be capable of
living as frugally as the Canadian, and of working as
incessantly as the American.

These features in the unfolding of British Columbia
are at the present moment epitomized in the North
and on the borders of Alaska. But there, in addition
to other difficulties, we have a climate both inclement
and pluvious, while rocks and bogs combine to render it
inaccessible.

The London Times speaks airily of the rush to the
Klondyke as " one of the incidents which draw attention
to our imperial interests in Canada," while a man at
Seattle oretells with shrewd recognition of hard facts,
that " It will be hell in two volumes, bound in calf."

V/ithout any desire to check men going forward
to lay hold of the best chances which may offer in the
Klondyke, some warning is necessary of the dangers
which certainly underly any chance of success. Not
the least of these is the fact that the Americans have
already appropriated considerable claims, and show
every desire to exploit the territory for the benefit of
Seattle, San Francisco, and Tacoma. No reference is

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

made in tlioir advertisoments to the duties charged on
American goods entering Canada. It is a positive gain
to these merchant cities to send men there — provided
they purchase goods from them, or from their stores
estahlished in the country itself. The shipping com-
panies and the C.P.B. share in the benefits, although
these last — and especially the railway, are far more
interested in attracting good settlers to develop British
Columbia.

It is with the object of thus drawing money into their
own tills that everything has also been done by Victoria
and Vancouver to promote and prolong the Klondyke
boom. The merchants have been waiting for a market to
come to them. It is comparatively easy and very cheap
to advertise the Klondyke, seeing the difficulty the
journalists of the country have in providing news.
Therefore the utmost is made of every rich strike, and
the excitement is kept up at fever pitch.

But the story is a familiar one. History repeats
itself, and human nature is but one air with variations.
All gold rushes are manias akin to panic — and as men
do wild things in bicycle-riding and lawn-tennis because
these excitements become the rage, and one man drags
another — so these gold rushes become the fashion of
the hour in the country where they take place. As
with all other fashions, they wear out and become
forgotten.

There is one peculiarity, however, about the rush to
the Klondyke which is worth noting. Other rushes have
been famous for the population which they attracted
into the country. This gold rush will be remembered
for the population it destroys.

It will carry with it men who might have made good
farmers, or traders, or miners, in British Columbia
itself. Brave men, young men, strong men, will be
enticed into the harsh conditions of a severe climate
and scarcity of provisions, beyond the possibility of
retreat. Some of them will die, but a good number
will live to return with shattered constitutions.

>V._i;

INTRODUCTORT.

The booming of the Klondyke, the pretended anxiety
to exploit its wealth, has thrown into iho Britisli market
the prospectuses of companies which vxq trading con-
cerns on the Yukon and the district known as Klondyke ;
but even these are too wise to depend solely on the
Klondyke, and also own properties in British Columbia.
The Klondyke has merely been used by them as a
decoy to catch the ear of the public. They are fully
aware of the eminent uncertainty in the gold strikes in
Klondyke.

But beyond the actual sale of groceries, etc., and
the chances for advertisement, there is another reason
for prolonging the Klondyke boom. It is the hope
of inducing men who hold good prospects in the Koo-
tenays to sell them for less than their value, in order
that they may raise the capital to go to the Klondyke.
Each man fancies that he will do heroic things in the
Klondyke. Whoever else fails, he will succeed ; and ho
burns day and night to show himself, or his luck, as a
light before men. It is so easy to cajole and flatter a
man on his pet hobby. Yet men may be successful
prospectors in British Columbia who would fail in the
Klondyke. It is the flattery of the fox to the crow
concerning her voice — when she held the piece of cheese
in her beak.

Yet there are few among the old " trail blazers " —
who are not ready, even for the sake of the hardships,
to go to the Klondyke. To these men the money made
is of far less consequence than the adventure. They
know exactly how to proceed, and their powers of
endurance having been tested, they are not likely to
give way. These men are a totally different race from
the city clerks, or farmers. The road to success in
life which lies before every man consists in his doing his
best at th vork for which he is naturally fitted and
thoroughly trained. It is part of the common British
ignorance of things colonial to believe that any man
can succeed out there at anything he tries. In point of
fact, the same rule applies there as here, and men

-'vJjii-'.i« ■;-^.jej|ii^. WM

(

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

require as special a training for colonial life as they do
for the army ; but the fact is, that we do train the boys
before we put them into the army, whereas we send
boys to the colonies whose training has been in many
respects positively the reverse of what it should have
been.

Another feature of interest in British Columbia is,
that while she is part of the Empire of Great Britain,
her position is similar to that of the Southern States of
America or California, inasmuch as there is a sudden
enormous increase of wealth in a country whose con-
stitution is scarcely hatched — whose system of adminis-
tration is half-fledged, and whose laws hay to be framed
without the light of previous experience.

There is, of course, always the outline of the con-
stitution and the model of British laws to fall back
upon. But both the outlines and the details must be
expanded and changed to allow the admission of
wholly new elements ; nor can the experience of older
states offer much assistance in solving the political and
economic problems relating to highly advanced com-
merce which invariably shows a determination of
establishing and creating a code for itself.

Is the future of British Columbia to be, as some say,
** merely a valuable asset to Canada, as offering handy
markets for the North- West " ? Will the merchants of
Victoria and Vancouver be content to share with the
States the trade in the mining cuntres, and see the stable
rural population crushed out ? Will British Columbia be
the dumping-ground for the products of America worked
up into manufactures by aliens to the Empire ? Or will
capital and intelligence be found equal to securing the
full result of her productiveness to this British colony
herself? That Canada is alive to part at least of the
situation, may be inferred from her recent movement
towards Free Trade within the Empire. But there are
still ultimate questions relating to the maintenance and
equilibrium of trade which have hitherto appeared to
apply only in Great Britain. Is it possible to develop

INTRODUCTORY.

a paying business in raw products ? Is an agricultural
population worth having; or is it good enough for a
province to exist, with its towns fed and provisioned
from elsewhere ?

Time was when Vancouver Island, as a Crown colony,
regarded Itnelf as the candlestick in which burnt the
light of Tritish administration. The mainland was
hardly worth a thought, and still to-day the island
people are incredulous that mainland cities should be
as important as Victoria. Have they not the Govern-
ment Buildings in Victoria ?

But the problems clamouring for attention throughout
British Columbia are those of the most modern con-
ditions of trade, although the country is still in its
infancy, and the land has not yet passed through the
hands of the first generation of farmers ; while much of
it is in the same state as was Great Britain when the
Komans colonized it.

The spring of life so long delayed has come with a
rush, and the country which has been long laid by
— hidden behind its mountains, and overgrown by its
forests — will receive a people who must hammer out
a constitution suitable to the nation's precise needs. It
is an opportunity which we shall doubtless see embraced
by men who can feel that their country's welfare is
more to them than the pursuit or accumulation of wealth,
or the mere exercise of power.

^»

k '

;

CHAPTER II.

MINES.

Mineral wealth is so lavishly distributed in British
Columbia that it is difficult to point to localities which
are entirely destitute of mining prospects.

In We&t Kootenay the most pronounced development
has taken place. The methods in general use there
are those likely to preveil elsewhere; and at present the
mines of Rossland, Nelson, Slocan, and Sandon form
the principal markets for other industries. The develop-
ment has been largely assisted by the great waterways
of lakes and navigable rivers, and by the railway which
has for some time connected Northport and Spokane
with Rossland and Nelson, beside the other short line
which brings up supplies and takes down ore between
Sandon and Kaslo.

In Cariboo, and beyond in Cassiar, there is wealth
untold which has scarcely been touched. In Lilloet
there are free-milling quartz mines, one of which, the
Gold Cash, has already paid a dividend. In the Boundary
Creek district, there are mountains of almost pure ore.
Along the Hope trail to the coast, and in East Kootenay,
between the Rockies and Selkirks, copper, silver, gold,
and lead are only waiting for the railway and the
smelter. In Vancouver Island, where mining was for
many years solely occupied with the coal of Comox and
Nanaimo, free-milling quartz of high grade has recently

MINES.

been discovered. Nor must the large deposits of coal in
the Crow's Nest Pass, and the oil wells in Cassiar, be
omitted, especially because, affording as they do a cheap
basis for working precious metals, their value ranks as
an asset to other mines which would not pay without
them.

The geological formation of the country is a subject
upon which the present writer is not qualified to enter.
But it will be of use to the reader to remember that ore
apart from quartz is gold mixed with other matter,
such as copper, iron or silver, or else silver mixed with
lead, antimony, copper, or galena. The fluxes used in
smelting are introduced to get rid of the sulphur, arsenic,
ii'on, etc., while the process of smelting itself separates
the quartz or rock which floats away from the minerals
when both are liquefied by intense heat. The whole
subject is extremely fascinating ; introducing as it does
what may be termed the chemistry of mining brought to
great perfection.

Just at the present time the whole question of the
mines rests upon ways and means — transport and
treatment. Then follows the important item which has
not been ascertained — the depth to which the mines
may be sunk. In some cases the gold is a deposit upon
the surface of the rock, in others the veins grow richer
as they descend ; in some they pinch out altogether ; or,
again, the nature or kind of mineral may change : gold
in some cases disappearing and copper taking its place.
Instances are not uncommon of prospects showing very
high assays of gold upon the surface, owing to the
oxidizing of the iron, which carries it, under the action
of air and moisture — the base metal is slowly washed
away leaving the gold. This is particularly the case in
free-milling mines, and is a form of natural concen-
tration.

Hitherto the silver mines have made by far the largest
returns, and the ore in them varies less than in the gold
mines. They appear to have been formed by metal
boiling up from below, and if rich on the surface, tend to

3«yrr3srr=3ai^n^P

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

\,l

become richer lower down. The volcano which formed
them has jven thrown out wire-silver, or pure native
silver ; and in the Payne Mine, Slocan Star, and Reco,
silver ore, of such very high grade as to be almost
pure silver, has been found in quantities.

One distinct obstacle to the success of mines in British
Columbia has been the novel nature of the necessary
treatment. The British public was unwilling to invest
money in the exploitation of ores the method of treating
which was only in the experimental stage. Some mines
were opened only to be closed again, because the ore was
so hard or so expensive to treat, and the capital which
started them had been wasted upon unsuitable machinery.
Quartz mills and cyanide plants sufficed for the Eandt,
and flumes for placer mines, and these things the
British public understood. Diggings in California and
Australia, and washing in the Fras'er Eiver were also
comprehensible ; but a mystery overhung the British
Columbia mines, and for some time no process seemed
able to treat ores worked from a certain depth and
brought from certain mines. The Americans must
be given credit for having achieved the latest triumph
in smelting, and of having discovered the precise
fluxes and methods by which the most refractory
ores in this country can be treated successfully and
economically.

Another reason which has deterred British capital
from coming into the country has been the utter failure
of certain properties to carry out the good things
promised for them. Though the vast mineral wealth
of the country as a whole is indisputable, yet there
are tracts which are mer prairie land, and mountains
which will never produce anything but pine forests.
Besides districts entirely barren of minerals, there are
"showings" — to use a prospector's term — which have
never been proved to go any depth, and "prospects"
which have nothing beneath them.

It should be an emphatic rule that no mineral claim
should be bought as a mine upon its surface showings,

MINES.

however good they may be. Even if a hole has been
dug of ten or twelve feet deep and five feet in diameter,
the claim is nothing but a surface showing ; and all it
is worth is the ore or quartz actually in sight. This
rule should hold good upon all purchases of mining
property : that the price given should never exceed the
value of the ore in sight. It has been estimated by a
man well versed in mining affairs that $25,000 to
$100,000* must be spent upon a property before
the stage can be reached at which it passed from a
prospect to a mine. For that sum about four or five
thousand feet of tunnelling f and shafting should have
been done, to follow and gauge the value of the veins
or deposits ; and some estimate will be fairly made of
the actual worth of the property. These figures must
be taken somewhat loosely, owing to the cost of develop-
ment work varying in different localities. The advice
given in the Fort Steele district by a leading mining
expert is worth quoting, that milling ore should not be
touched in that neighbourhood (viz. that it is not worth
its development work) which assays less than $4 a
ton on the surface, and smelting ore less than $40.
It also serves to indicate the relative cost of the two
methods, and accounts for the failures which have
marked the initial stage of smelting mines in this
country. It also indicates the fallacy of supposing
that any prospect is good enough to buy in British
Columbia.

The assay values of properties are also apt to be
misleading. In a vein there is often considerable variety
in the quality of the quartz or ore. It is the man who
means to sell the mine who picks the piece of ore which
is assayed; and he will be sure to select it from the
richest part of the true vein or pay streak, and yet it

* The dollar ia worth ou exchange about four shilllDgs and a penny in
English money.

t " Shafting " is sinking from the summit or ridge. " Tunnelling " is
boring into the side of the mountain to cut the vein horizontally. It
is a cheaper method than sinking.

ssar:

aBRf

J'i

BItr>ISE COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

'Ill

will be taken as representative of the mine. The
Americans seek less for high assay values, and are
more anxious for large bodies of ore than either British
or Canadians.

A large body of low grade ore can be operated more
cheaply than a narrow vein, which is often difficult and
expensive to expose, owing to the large amount of stuff
to be moved, and practically impossible to estimate in
bulk. This fact stamps the deceitfulness of high assay
values as to the worth of mines. Purchasers should be
satisfied with nothing less than bulk assays, and should
in no case trust to samples coming through the hands of
the vendor's expert.

Yet another reason why British Columbian mines have
** hung fire " is that, probably owing to violent volcanic
action, the mineral deposit is very frequently " patchy,"
or " pockety," and the veins are broken and disconnected.
It is no uncommon case to find the corresponding strata
of a mountain on opposite sides of a wide valley. Some
upheaval split the rock and set it up edgeways — perhaps
a mile apart. A river first formed by melting snow or
ice commenced to trickle between the rocks, and carried
away with it the gold precipit formed by oxidized iron
wherever the rift left the mineral deposit exposed to the
air. The vein or deposit of ore must necessarily be
broken, and is not infrequently found on the two opposite
sides of the valley, or on different parts of the same
mountain.

But apart from the natural causes, something must be
ascribed to positively dishonest management, and also
for mis-management. Though companies formed in
London may buy properties which are worthless,
they may also find money to develop good properties ;
and this money, instead of going into the mine, will find
its way into the pockets of the promoters. We will deal
with mis-management. To illustrate this, we will suppose
the following history of a mine :—

MINES.

Paid for mino

Capitalized ai<

Treasury stock sold 100,000, realizing
Expended in mine on development

Dollars.
25,000
1,000,000
25,000
25,000

The balance of 900,000 shares the directors keep
to recoup themselves for the original cost of the
mine.

The $25,000 becoming expended, the directors go to
capitalists elsewhere, and sell 500,000 shares for less
than $50,000, and give up the concern.

Had they managed with business perspective, they
would have kept 100,000 shares to recoup themselves,
and the entire remainder would have been put into the
mine ; for there was no doubt as to the value of the
property. The case, we take it, is simply one of exhausted
capital, and consequent inability to conduct the business
further. Not unfrequently, mines thrown up like this
become, under better management, payable properties of
considerable value. The story is of a very common kind,
and does not give an extreme case. Something, we
maintain, was actually paid for the mine, and $25,000
were actually put into it. There are, however, cases in
British Columbia quite fit to rank on a par with the
well-known Glasgow pig-iron companies — which were
formed and reformed without touching the iron, and
over which many fortunes were lost, and one or two
made (which is still more regrettable).

Another difficulty under which Colonial undertakings
labour is a management located in London, which
insists upon interfering in matters which it does not
even remotely understand. There is an instance at the
present time of a London Company whose directors meet
regularly — yet owing to the initial stage of the mine
not being passed, and to the geographical position of the
property, no work can be done there at the season when
the river freezes. The directors own amongst them a
man who studies mining engineering m books, and
has theories which he propounds to the managers in

);

■f

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS,

British Columbia in long letters, as ho wishes to have
them tried upon this particular mine. He has never
seen the property; in fact, he has never been in the
country.

Yet another and kindred difficulty is the London
promotors' high profits. Upon this subject the history
of the War Eagle Mine offers a case in point. The
purchase price of a mine is reckoned at the value of the
amount of ore in sight, which is supposed to cover
the purchase price, whatever it may be. The War Eagle
was bonded in Canada at £160,000. By the time it
reached London it was £200,000 ; and the promoters
offered it to the public at £400,000. It was not sold
then, but was ultimately bought by a Toronto firm for
£160,000. The mine has since become one of the great
successes of Eossland ; the shaft has been sunk to 600
feet, and the ore is richer at that depth than upon the
surface. The War Eagle must be reckoned as a pioneer
mine, and has necessarily had much to contend with.
It has had, in common with the Le Roi, to weather, in
its critical infancy, the disadvantages of costly transport
and very heavy smelting cnarges. It is thought by
some people that as the shaft descends it will become
richer in gold. Others aver that it will cease altogether
as a gold mine, and produce only copper. An expert has
given his opinion that at a certain depth the value of the
ore- will either increase very considerably or " peter out "
entirely. It is also said that no mine in this district can
be worked lower than 4000 feet, owing to the high
temperature, and possibly not to that depth.

There are rumours of syndicates being formed to
acquire large holdings. This practice will not promote
the best interest of the country. At all events, the
question of management and the possibilities offered to
stock-jobbing are of absorbing importance. There are
many ways of making money which are both quicker
and less troublesome than mining.

Companies will no doubt be floated by British capital
in fully -paid scrip largely ** watered." There will be the

MINES.

3 to have
las never
?*! in the

London
le history
int. The
lue of the

to cover
rar Eagle
e time it
)romoter8
J not sold
5 firm for
the great
ik to 600
upon the
a pioneer
end with,
eather, in
transport
ought by
11 become
altogether
Xpert has
lue of the
eter out"
strict can

the high

ormed to
promote
(rents, the
offered to
There are
quicker

3h capital
rill be the

promoters' pockets and directors' fees * to reckon with ;
and the residue, if any, will go to working the mine.
Every time that a " big strike " or a good " clean up " in
other mines causes a boom in the markets, these sham
concerns will profit by the boom and rise. They can be
easily depressed again by a bad report from their own
manager, and persons prepared for this will be able to
buy back again at a low figure, and wait for the next
boom. The property may really be valuable, and yet not
a dollar be taken out of it ; and if a dividend is declared
to encourage investors, it will be paid out of money
actually subscribed by themselves.

There are between two and three hundred mining
properties in the immediate vicinity of Kossland, in-
cluding the Le Roi, Centre Star, Monte Cristo, and the
War Eagle, all of which show considerable development ;
and to give an idea of the inflated statements some-
times made to the British public, it is useful to know
that one company largely interested in furnishing
information to intending investors in the home market,

* llie following may be instanced as a fair account of mining
directors' fees and expenditure under the English plan : —

To Expenses at :

Wages

Mine Manager's Salary

Timber

Water

Cartage

Horse Hire

Rents of Leases
Telegrams, Stamps, etc.

Office Rent

General Expenses

To Expenses in London :
Rent, Salaries, etc. .
Directors' Fees ...
Telegrams, Stamps, etc
Stationery and Printin

Interest

General Expenses

• . *

£ 8. d.

1^34

500

218 15 5

421 6 6

8 4

08 7 6

55 14 ;{

44 11

'dij 6 3

383 6 8

1,050

64 14 7

51 11

25 4 2

163 11

8. d.

2,495 1 3

1,737 7 3
£4,232 8 6

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEIiS.

announced publicly that five of their properties would
be richer than the whole of Kossland put together. Yet
not one of the properties v/as sufficiently developed to
justify such an exaggerated statement. Such bravado
has been aptly described as *' hunting geese with a brass
band."

The lines upon which mining business usually works
in British Columbia is as follows : In the first instance,
the prospectors go out into the hills, and hunt for
indications of mineral deposit. They return sometimes
empty-handed — or, if not, with specimens of quartz or
ore for the assayer, and to register with the Govern-
ment official the strips of territory or land where they
have discovered payable ore or quartz. These claims
are afterwards bought, generally speaking, by a man
who acts as broker or agent for several others. He
buys the claim (or claims) as cheaply as he can, and,
being a broker, he looks to make a profit upon the sale.
He sells it to the company formed by the other men,
for all the stock. In this way he renders the stock fully
paid, and the company cannot be assessed for any sum.
If it were assessable, and i'ell into debt at any time, the
creditors would call up the unpaid amount. By this
arrangement with the broker, the books of the company
show that the stock is fully paid and unassessable. The
broker next offers to give the company the proceeds
from the sale of one-fourth, or it may be, one-half of
the stock called treasury shares — or trust shares. The
balance of the stock is called promoters' shares, and
these are divided amongst those who have assisted him
to buy the mine, keeping a certain number for himself
— all which is done upon arrangements made prior to
entering upon the business. The promoters next agree
to pool their shares — and those who manage a concern
of this kind properly will see that all the promoters*
shares are pooled until the treasury stock is sold. By
this means no individual shareholder can get out of the
business leaving the treasury stock unsold. The money
raised by the sale of the treasury stock goes to develop

MINES,

the prospect. When the mine is at last proved, and
more capital is required, if the company has no more
of the treasury shares left, they must fall back on the
promoters' shares. The choice is left them of selling
the mine " right away," and dividing the proceeds, or
they can sell an interest by surrendering a portion of
their promoters' shares for working capital at a fixed
figure. This last offers a very fair opportunity for the
introduction of British capital. The original company
remains in possession of the mine, and having the
largest share, is certain to carry out the development
of the property. It has its head-quarters upon the spot
— for companies which hold their oflQccs at Montreal, or
Vancouver, are as useless as if they were in London.
They can appoint, if necessary, an authorized agent in
London to transfer shares, but the actual company
would be upon the spot in British Columbia.

There is a British Columbian branch on the London
Stock Exchange, which was opened during the summer
of 1897 ; but those who avail themselves of this exchange
to sell treasury shares will have to pay a tolerably high
registration fee.

Another disadvantage in transacting business is the
want of confidence which exists between the British
Columbian mine-owners and the London stockbrokers.

There is considerable difference of opinion as to the
merits of working a mine upon the British or American
plan. The British engineer has a more finished,
elaborate, and consequently, more costly method. He
uses what may be termed complete apparatus from the
very commencement, and if the mine fulfils its promises
and does not disappoint the expectations of the experts
who examined it in its early stages, his methods will in
the long run prove the most economical. But he requires
very large capital to start with, and remembering that
the initial cost in British Columbia must always be high,
the raising of sufficient capital to commence and con-
tinue mining may prove beyond the powers of his
company. There is no doubt that heavy capital increases

— rr'^^

BItlTISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLES 8.

the epeculativo clement in the business, for the mine
may not turn out to bo sufficiently rich to justify the
outlay — although it would have made good returns upon
smaller capital.

The American, on the other hand, works as cheaply
as possible. He wastes or casts aside ore which require
machinery. He works with as few men as possible, and
without clerks, or mine-managers — putting in one man
with a pick, to dig out the pay streak, and then, as
returns come in, another man, and when he can afford
it, a third ; but from the very first ho takes care that
the mine pays for its labour. After the pay streak hap
been dug out and exposed, and the ore shipped till it
is certain that the property is valuable, the manage-
ment will be changed.

British mismanagement takes various forms, and the
following story illustrates the injury which may be done
by too good a plant. There was a mine into which
$160,000 had been put, and lost. The busines*» utterly
failed to show a return ; and at last it could not meet
its working expenses. Latterly, the miners' wages had
not been paid, therefore the men asked to be allowed to
try and recover them by working the mine themselves
for two years. They put aside all the expensive
machinery except the stamps and the plates. The
company had paid these men $2 a day, but, working the
mine for themselves, they paid themselves out of the
proceeds $5 a day for two years. The American's
method is less speculative than is generally supposed.
The aim is to reach results by the cheapest possible
methods. It is an incontestable fact that Americans
will produce results while the British, with their more
elaborate system, are "fooling around" outside. The
Englishman, in his anxiety to save low-grade ore,
endeavours to treat it — whereas the American casts
aside all but the pay streak until he sees the way clear
before him. By the time he has made his profit out
of the pay streak, the local conditions of the mine may
be changed by the erection of a smelter, or the advent

MINES.

of a railway which will enable him to procure machinery,
and get his ores treated cheaply.

Though much may be said in favour of the initial
working of British Columbian mines upon the American
plan, some stress must be laid upon the fact that it is
only in the early stage that such a wasteful, cheap, and
careless method can be tolerated. There are mines
which have been slowly and steadily proving themselves,
and whose value has been tested by capable and trust-
worthy men. These properties are worthy of furthe**
outlay and the most thorough development in the best
English style.

It is apt to be forgotten that gold has a price, and
that the profit on it is over and above the cost of pro-
duction. The great lesson of British Columbia to
miners in general is to count the cost beforehand.
Once again the Klondyke i/ill emphasize this fact. In
reading the reports of the dollars' -worth brought down
from that country, not a word is said about the dollars
which were "planked down "by some one before the
man could get into the country.

The treatment of ores by smelting is one of the
gravest and most interesting problems in British Co-
lumbia. Hitherto the cost has been so great that only
high-grade ores could be mined to pay. The North
Star Mine * has placed the cost of treatment $17 the
ton. The War Eagle and Le Eoi paid until recently
$13 to the ton. The North Star Mine is now awai+^'ng
the completion of the railway, while the War Eagie,
having sufficient capital in hand, is storing or banking
its ore until the new arrangement is effected of a smelter
at Nelson, on the Columbia Biver, supplied with coke
through the Crow's Nest Pass. Then it is believed that
the cost of output at the War Eagle will be as follows : —

Dollars.

Coat of Bmelting 5.00 per ton.

mining 2.00 „

>• f«« ••• ••• \),oO ••

freight

Total

7.50

♦ A silver mine in Eaat Kootenay, near Fort Steele,

"\'ii^4>i''

^ m^- wr* JWW»*-.

75 n

BBITISE COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEB8.

The original charge of smelting, upon which the Trail
smelter was huilt, in agreement with the Le Eoi Mine,
was as follows : —

Cost of smoltiug
„ freight ..

Total

Dollars.
9 per toD.
2 „

The agreement was at this rate for 75,000 tons of ore.
The charge made by the Trail smelter upon other mines
was two per cent, of the assay value of gold, ninety-five
per cent, on silver upon the New Yor]'. quotation on day
of shipment, and half the actual value of copper. Over
and above these charges, the cost of freight was two
dollars a ton upon the Trail railway.

Low-grade ores, averaging $10 to $15 a ton, have
been severely handicapped by these rates. Such
charges also increase the speculative element in mining,
which is undesirable, as in many instances only the pay
streak — a narrow and uncertain feature — could be made
to pay ; whereas, under cheaper management, large
bodies of low-grade ore will be treated economically, and
afford certain profits.

The Le Koi Mine has continued shipping ore to the
Trail smelter, in discharge of its obligation to ship
75,000 tons ; but the company is constructing a
smelter at Northport, in America. There may, some
day, be objections to the shipping of ore across the
border, and difficulties may arise of a fiscal nature.
The present owners of the Le Roi are Americans.

Besides the restrictions already stated, as agreed upon
and arranged by the C.P.R. for freighting and smelting
ores, there is a scheme on foot, initiated by a clever
young Scottish engineer, for bringing electric power into
the mines in Rossland. A cheap supply of electricity
in the case of mining refractory ores would be of
immense assistance. It is believed in some quarters
that the cost of mining will be reduced as much as
Qi ton bj' this introduQtion of electrical power.

>'.

MINES.

i the Trail
[loi Mine,

ID.

ms of ore.
her mines
linety-five
on on day
ler. Over
; was two

ton, liave
IS. Such
in mining,
ly the pay
i be made
ent, large
ically, and

)re to the
1 to ship
ructing a
aay, some
cross the
1,1 nature.
ns.

reed upon
smelting
a clever
)ower into
slectricity
lid be of
quarters
ich as

Although smelting in itself is a profitable business,
it would be very unwise for English syndicates to be
formed for the purpose. The smelter at Nelson is
backed by the mines belonging to the company, which
are the richest in the country ; but with a capacity for
250 tons per diem, and a large refinery plant, this well-
equipped concern could treat more ore than it obtains
at present. Smelting is a business which will probably
never be worked singly, but in conjunction with mines,
or railways, or other business, upon which it is more
or less dependent.

In order to work a smelter cheaply, water-power is
desirable, if not essential, for blast-furnaces and
crushers, and also for electrical plant. Cheap fuel
is indispensable — charcoal and coke being preferred to
any other. The next essential is to be within easy reach
of fluxes, the principal of which is limestone, though
silica is used for iron and copper ores. T^here are,
connected with smelting, some as yet unsolved problems
relating to by-products, in themselves necessitating
factories or refineries for further treatment.

It will be easily seen that smelting is just an instance
of aii intermediatory business, which the main business
— gold production — will always endeavour to cheapen.
In fact, there will be a constant struggle to " cut rates."
Any invention or discovery likely to cheapen the cost
of smelting will be eagerly welcomed, and certain to
be taken advantage of promptly. Whatever is barely
necessary for working blast-furnace or smelter, British
Columbia amply provides, as though Nature predestined
the country to its present fate. The one thing needful
is communication which shall bring the several parts
of the puzzle to a common centre, together with strict
economy in methods.

It is a difficult task to convey an idea of the actual
value of any business by mere figures. Yet it is
impossible to close this chapter without some reference
to the returns from the different mines. Hitherto
silver has been most profitable; owing partly to the

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

I i-

\\i

comparative cheapness of the work, and partly to the
peculiar richness of the best properties. It is said,
with truth, that "silver pays from tue grass roots";
by which is implied the fact that the mines are rich
upon the very surface of the ground, and generally
continue to be so as far as they have been exploited.

These successful mines are principally in American
hands, and, with the exception of the Hall mines, the
ore ifa shipped to America.. The Hall smelter does not
work in the wet ores of galena silver and lead common
in the Sandon districts, but with the refractory ores
containing a mixture of copper, iron, and gold, which
are far more difficult to treat. This smelter is said
to have made in one year £50,000 ; the Slocan Star
(silver mine), £60,000 ; the Payne (silver mine),
£50,000. The ore in the Le Eoi (gold, copper, silver)
is said to be worth, at its best, as much as £20 a ton.

Such statements, however, must be regarded with
caution. These concerns are the prize-winners amongst
many failures. Because there are some very rich pro-
l)erties in British Columbia, it does not follow that half
the claims pegged out will ever be worth so much as
the initial development necessary to prove their value.
Caution in proceeding in the first instance is absolutely
essential. It is regrettable that mining, especially
where gold is concerned, kindles an enthusiasm which
amounts almost to insanity. So long as gold is
obtained, the cost of obtaining it is forgotten ; more
especially when the cost comes out of the pockets of
people who are some distance off. The men actually
in the business may not be as rich as they appear, for
the money made in one mine is very often thrown away
in another. It may reasonably be questioned whether
gold-mining is not, after all, more valuable as a means
of attracting men to new countries, of circulating
money, and creating markets, than profitable as an
industry to those most deeply concerned.

In conclusion, the last point to be dwelt upon is
perhaps the most important of all. It is, that mining

" msz '4eu^

partly to the

It is Baid,

rass roots";

nes are rich

nd generally

exploited.

in American

11 mines, the

ter does not

ead common

ractory ores

gold, which

elter is said

Slocan Star

ilver mine),

)pper, silver)

£20 a ton.

garded with

lers amongst

3ry rich pro-

pw that half

so much as

their value.

s absolutely

;, especially

siasm which

as gold is

itten ; more

) pockets of

len actually

appear, for

irown away

ed whether

as a means

circulating

;able as an

It upon is
;hat mining

MINES.

is essentially a business for which a man requires
special training and knowledge. Any attempt at
amateur dabbling is to be deprecated. The best
method by which money can be safely invested is by
the advice of men whose character is well established,
and \,liose experience has been tested, and who are
known to be above the tricks of newspapers, promoters,
or stock-jobbers. Such persons are unfortunately rare ;
but if the industry is to proceed at all, they must bo
produced.

Meanwhile, there are three sayings common in
British Columbia. The first is, " The (/old is where you
find it*' * — signifying the great uncertainty attaching to
mining operations, the long search and hope deferred,
and the hardships which have to bo endured before the
results are crowned with success. The second refers
to a class of people who exist chiefly in the bucket-shops
at home, and are spoken of as "men ivho mine the
public'' — which implies that the profits returned and
the wealth made by some companies came out of the
pockets of the British investors. The third saying
refers to the danger of listening to corrupt persons who
impose upon the ignorance of others, and especially
upon the "tenderfoot " from homo. It speaks for itself,
requires no comment, and provides the last piece of
warning I would give : " There is a liar — a damned liar
— and a mining expert/'

* In CornwoU, tho saying is, " Where it ia— there it is.

■s

wr^

iiV

CHAPTER III.

TRADE.

The manner of trading in British Columbia cannot be
treated independently of some reference to the system of
banking, yet the business of banking is so complete a
study in itself that it would be impossible to enter upon
it in so small a space as the present volume affords.
Certain facts more or less generally known it will, how-
ever, be necessary to state, on which to base a slight
account of general trade.

The banking system of Canada is the admiration of
America, and one of the best systems in the world. It has
been built up by legislative enactment and commercial
enterprise during the last eighty years, and its success
should go to prove that Canadians possess a rare gift of
finance than which no surer foundation can be desired
for the future greatness of a people.

A remarkable feature in the system is its provision for
the circulation of currency throughout Canada. And no
better proof of its intelligent grasp upon comruerce could
be desired than the satisfactory results of its introduc-
tion in Nova Scotia, when that territory had brought
itself to ruin ; and the partial restoration effected by the
introduction through branches of the established methods
of the Canadian parent banks.

The leading bank in Canada is the Bank of Montreal,
which stands fifth among the banks of the world. The
following facts, drawn from the report for 1897, will be
an indication of the strength of this bank's position : —

TRADE.

Capital

Beserve

U.idivided profits

Public deposits

Notes in circulation

Market price of stock

Dividend, ten per cent, per annum.

Dollars.

12,000,000

0,000,000

88,690,998

40,000,000

456,338,600

230

The Bank of Commerce is another large bank of very
strong position. The Bank of Toronto and the Dominion
Bank of Canada are also very large concerns, but it is
sufficient for the present purpose to cite the Bank of
Montreal.

So far as trade in general is concerned, the chief
feature in Canadian banking is that the banks work
by branches, and the credit of these branches is as good
as the credit of the bank. In this way money can be
borrowed at a cheap rate throughout the Dominion on
good security. What this means in a semi-civilized
country such as British Columbia, where money is fre-
quently required in almost inaccessible places, can
hardly be imagined by people who only know Europe.
In the States the banks have no branches ; banking is
there carried on by a number of single banks and
agencies. Small banks arise which people are almost
compelled to make use of, though they are practically
irresponsible. Not only do they charge exorbitant
interest, but they fail, and vanish off the scene, with
alarming frequency.

Possibly it is due to the high rate of interest charged
by banks in the States that the savings of Canada go
there for investment. In Kansas money is sometimes
loaned by banks at three per cent, for the month. The
Monetary Times for October, 1897, has this passage in an
article on banking returns : — •' The increased extent to
which our banks are making advances in the United
States is a feature of the return. Business is active over
there, and they are using $27,000,000 of our money,
where a year ago they only employed $15,000,000."

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

! '

This is, nevertheless, an extraordinary fact, considering
the many good investments in Canada, and the way in
which British Columbia has been exploited by American
capital. It may possibly be accounted for because the
Americans are very quick in getting returns on money
invested, and it is beginning to be commonly recognized
that mines are often some years before they begin to
make returns ; and that money should not bo invested
in them which is likely to be wanted at short notice.

Still, the opportunities for investment in Canada are
exceptional, not only in mines, but in highly lucrative
and perfectly safe businesses such as the deep-sea fish-
eries, and in factories associated with by-products, and
agricultural produce.

A very broad distinction is made in Canada at the
present time between wholesale and retail trade. It is
practically impossible for a wholesale merchant or
shipper ever to become a retail tradesman. The business
is worked by an army of commercial travellers, ten
thousand of whom, it is said, are employed in Canada,
besides those that come over from the States. So much
importance is attached to travelling that it is not un-
usual for the head of a firm to travel himself. There
are five distinct travellers' associations formed with the
object of issuing qualification certificates, reducing rail-
way fares, and providing insurance against loss by illness.
The largest of these clubs is at Toronto, and is credited
with having accumulated an enormous reserve fund.
Sometimes the travellers are paid on commission, but
a good percentage of the older men have independent
salaries besides commissions.

There has been a very great increase of travelling
during the last fifteen years, and the probability is that
this increase will continue. Twenty years ago, the whole-
sale-grocer firms of Ontario would send their men over
the ground once in three months, where now they send
them once in two weeks. This increase is traceable to
competition. Orders on wholesale houses are smallerand
more frequent : the fluctuation of prices rendering the

RS.

TRADE.

considering
the way in
y American
)ecause the
J on money
recognized
)y begin to
bo invested
t notice.
Canada are
ly lucrative
ep-sea fish-
oducts, and

lada at the
rade. It is
lerchant or
'he business
ivellers, ten
in Canada,
So much
is not un-
elf. There
d with the
ucing rail-
Is by illness,
is credited
erve fund,
ission, but
dependent

travelling
|lity is that
1 the whole-
men over
they send
iceable to
lalleraud
lering the

retailers timid about giving largo orders, lest they should
be left with a large stock on their hands, purchased at
too high a price to be sold at a profit on the sudden fall
in retail prices. This change is not otherwise than
beneficial, as it enables capital to be turned over more
rapidly.

But there is a new element indicating itself which
marks a change. Tha obvious trend of commerce in
general is towards large general stores, and probably
this is because large concerns possess the ability to
throw off stocks on hand rapidly. The capital required
for a large retail store, and the enormous business en-
tailed in its management, offering as it does every possi-
bility for selection, is certain eventually to render them
independent concerns. Many, if not all of them, will
treat with the manufacturers themselves through the
medium of travellers; becoming thus shippers and
wholesale merchants themselves.

What is of far more importance than is commonly
supposed to trade mtijaged on these principles is a good
faculty for buying. The good buyer must know to a
fraction where he can buy best and most cheaply. There
may be one house in Ontario where he can get coffee of
exactly the class required for his trade at ten cents a
pound cheaper than elsewhere, and though this may
appear at first sight an easy matter, it is less so in reality
when the number of houses are considered. If we take
the matter of canned salmon, it is a puzzle of no common
difficulty to get a grasp of the working of even the best
forty canneries. Then, business relations sometimes tie
men's hands in respect of their dealings; and, lastly, there
are the considerations of railways and their freights.

The retail tradesman is sometimes used as a medium
for advertisement, but as a rule he is at the other end of
the column. The producer of a new article or commodity
usually starts by printed advertisements. Perhaps for
the first week he merely pastes up the name of fain
article. Samuel's Soap becomes in this way familiar •v^-
be public at least in sound, and is credited with an

r77T

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

■ '

V il

importance and usefulness which it may not really
possess. Then he sends round a few samples with
printed recommendations, till the whole town has seen
something of it, and perhaps even handled it. The next
point is to get the commercial travellers to take it with
them on their rounds, and recommend it to country
retailers along with their sardines, cocoas, and tobaccos.
The commercial traveller is not averse to carrying some-
thing which is smartly got up, and easy to talk about.
The retailer likes to have something fresh to put about
in his shop to attract customers, so he orders a small
stock. Having got it, he is anxious to sell it, and brings
it out the first time Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones comes in
with the timeworn weekly orders, and, just for the sake
of novelty, the thing is sold. It is talked about, and
others buy it out of curiosity, or because some one
recommends it for the sake of something to talk about ;
and so the new product asserts its place and becomes
a necessity. It is not until one has camped out where
there are no shops, and transport difl&cult, that one
learns how few things are really necessary.

The common mistakes in Canadian trade, and the
cause of many failures and bad debts, is the incapability
of retail dealers. Where, as in South Africa, the large
wholesale houses put up their own retail stores, a certain
insurance is effected against losses of the kind. Out in
Canada, all sorts of people start store-keeping. Very
young men — or very old men — men employed in
other businesses, whose children wrap up the parcels, and
whose wives ** keep store ; " all such persons, without any
business qualification whatever, can be found credited
by manufacturers and importers. Among the list of
failures recorded in the newspapers, the life history of
the bankrupt is sometimes given, and frequently it may
be found that liabilities running into thousands of
dollars have been incurred in a few months on which
possibly 30 per cent, is offered, by men who started with
nothing, out of an employment which had taught them
no business methods.

TBADK

not really
mples with
'n has seen
. The next
take it with

to country
id tobaccos,
rying some-
talk about.
put about
iers a small
;, and brings
,es comes in
for the sake
. about, and
e some one
• talk about ;
md becomes
id out where
It, that one

,de, and the

incapability

la, the large

es, a certain

nd. Out in

^ ig. Very

mployed in

mrcels, and

without any

md credited

the list of

history of

ently it may

lousands of

IS on which

started with

aught them

But these losses are not always due solely to want
[of the business faculty. Retail trade is an easy one in
which to get credit, and men plunge into it with no
jmoney of their own. But it may happen that some
[large wholesale business in the State backs another
[man who comes in and settles in a township, or a large
[trading concern from Kalispelle or Spokane puts in two
[or three smart young men in their ** branch " to create
[a business. No one can sell single-handed, and without
■capital on which to turn round, against unlimited
** backing."

Apart from business methods, each market requires

special study, and even from a local point of view it is

astonishing how much diversity there is in ordinary

trade. In British Columbia alone, I found at least five

different accounts given me of Indian trade, all which

were, I believe, bojid fide concerning each particular

locality. While in one place I was told that Indians

should on no account be given credit, elsewhere I found

that they were not only trusted with large amounts, but

that they met their obligations with greater readiness

than most white men. In one place I found that they

spent what money they had in m,ere luxuries : sugar,

biscuits, and paint for their faces, which consisted of

yellow ochre, bought in the lump, and a kind of red

: earth of some kind described as ** vermilion." One trader

1 1 met had done a large business with them in cheap

! scents ; but this, I suspect, was a surreptitious sale of

; spirits, for they probably drank the scent. In this belief

I was confirmed by an old Hudson Bay trader, who told

[me that he had once sold a bottle of Florida-water to

an Indian, and that the man came back and insisted on

buying a bottle of Crosse and Blackwell's rennet. Though

he dissuaded him from so useless a purchase, the

Indian was determined to buy the bottle. He afterwards

returned to the store, and could not say enough for

[the badness of the stuff, having evidently tried to drink

it, and been disappointed with the mildness of the flavour.

[The trader then remembered the Florida- water, and

M ■

BBlTISn COLUMBIA FOB BETTLEBS.

' ,1

concluding that the Indians had drank it, made up his
mind to sell them no more, lest ho should incur the
penalty for breaking the law with regard to spirits.

In several places I found that the Indians formed an
excellent basis for a market. One trader was so good as
to give me permission to look at his books, and there I
found large accounts amounting to four or five hundred
dollars, regularly settled at the end of the harvest.
Along the shores of Lake Windermere, the Indians are
self-supporting. Both Shuswaps and Kootenays are
prosperous; they are stock and grain farmers. One
order, which was as follows, was given by an Indian for
his threshing outfit in East Kootenay: —

2 platters.
2 tiu peas.

1 bottle of chow-chow pickles.

2 cans of corn.
20 lbs. ham.

5 lbs. beans.

2 cans of milk.

1 camp-kettle.

1 tin of baking-powder.

10 lbs. breakfast bacon.

13 lbs. dry salt bacon.

1 lb. T.B. tobacco.

2 tins of tomatoes.

4 lbs. raisins.

2 cans St. Charles cream.
1 tin of plums.

5 tins of salmon.
^ lb. pepper.

1 lb. candles.
10 lbs. rice.
4 lbs. prunes.
100 lbs. flour.

Such a list might have been the order of a Canadian
or British farmer ; and, though given of an Indian, may
be taken as furnishing a sketch of requirements for a
similar occasion among settlers, and as a suggestion of
the style of goods required. The immense part played
by tinned or preserved articles will be a feature noticed,
especially the fact that though ordered for use on a farm,
and in a farmer's district, preserved milk and cream are
considerable items in the account. If this is the case
at the present time, what a great increase in canned
goods we must expect as the Klondyke, Liloet,^ and
Cassiar districts become explored and opened.

Indians of the industrious class will also look for
quality in whatever they buy ; and any attempt to palm

TRADE,

off inferior goods is very quickly detected and most
deeply resented. Even cheapness is insufficient recom-
mendation ; and one trader lost his entire trade in cotton
through introducing cheap American prints. At first he
had a ready sale, but when the Indians discovered that
, the patterns faded out in the wash, they would not buy
the goods at even reduced prices ; and in addition to the
loss of custom, the remainder of the stock was left on
his hands.

There have been heavy losses in the retail trade of
' British Columbia through men going into the business
without any idea of the requirements of the market. I
heard of a man who ordered three hundred white shirts.
In all probability, the whole district did not contain three
men who wore white shirts twice a week. He had had
these shirts on hand ten years, and was still keeping
them. He never saw that it would bo better to dispose
of them at any price, and replace them with something
which would sell.

There is undoubtedly a market for cheap goods in

British Columbia, but not for cheap necessaries. The

miner and prospector like their beans and bacon, tea and

coffee, sugar and canned milk of the best ; and while they

have money, they pay for what they have solely with

an eye to the quality. Canvas shirts, or dark-coloured

strongly made cotton ones, with turn-down collars, which

[require no starch, woollen sweaters, mackintoshes, not

t made up to catch the eye, but strongly sewn and of stout

! material, to keep out the wind and wet. Boots are a

subject often discussed in camp. Only those made of

I the strongest and toughest leather will stand the rocks.

I How it comes that some trail blazers I met had taken to

\ mocassins I cannot say ; but when once the skin of the

[foot has become thoroughly hard inside them, they are

[preferred to the ordinary boots.

In the matter of foot-gear, women seem worse provided
[for than men. Their boots were generally smart in
appearance, but they did not wear well nor fit well,
neither did they keep the water out.

II!'

: \

i ii
r

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

It struck mc that mon who como over as labourers to
British Columbia would do well to consider the advisa-
bility of knowing shoe-making. During the winter, when
outdoor labour is less in demand, there is often distress
amongst labourers. Here, at least, in the repair of boots
and shoes, if not in their make, is a trade which is inde-
pendent of weather, and can be practised profitably
anywhere in-doors, provided that they could obtain
good leather. Nevertheless, whoever comes to British
Columbia, should bring plenty of boots from England.

The cheap market in British Columbia is in women's
dress. It was a constant marvel to me to see the
quantity of shoddy goods worn by miners' wives or inn-
keepers' wives and daughters. For the " socials " and
dances in the backwoods townships, the style of the
ladies* dress was astonishing. Brocades stamped with
rough-hewn nondescript patterns, cheap cotton velve-
teens in the most vivid colours, trimmings of bead-work
and cheap laces, velvet slippers with high heels ; all
the sweepings, apparently, of second-rate shops at home,
were eagerly bought and worn with pride.

But there is another cheap market which is caused by
the fluctuating incomes of the people in general. If
people with money get accustomed to use certain things
which are not necessary, when the day of poverty
comes they look round to see if they can get the same
things cheaper. Luxuries are hard to forego, and as
in the matter of tobacco, so it is in other things ; a man
who cannot afford cigars will take to a pipe, and then
go through all the gamut of cheap tobaccos before he
relinquishes the luxury.

There is a very lucrative business done in packing
goods into the mining camp^. The miners give the
storekeeper the order, and another man contracts to
pack the goods to the camp. As much as $100
a week is frequently made by packing alone. But the
aspect of trade which we have to deal with in British
Columbia is one of the border line, where the trader and
the raw producer meet sometimes in one individual. In

TRADE.

products such as hops and tobacco this is very markedly
the case. The man who grows them must himself
dispose of them to the manufacturer. To do this on
strict business terms, a farmer requires to be thoroughly
informed concerning markets and prices. His knowledge
must even go further in tobacco ; he must be able to
grade his produce according to the taste of the public,
and know precisely what price they will give and he
can afford to take. He may even have to study the
matter of advertisement. There are a few general
rules on this subject, but, unfortunately, farmers seldom
understand them.

In a new country, where many things are tried, it
sometimes ends in one being worked up into a speciality.
"When this happens in a manufactured article, such as
Diamond Dyes, an absolute monopoly is created which
cannot be taken away. The farmer is too apt to think
that he can do the same, and may consequently charge
what he pleases, whereas his object should constantly
be the cheapening of his methods of production, and the
careful search lest any imitation or close copy of his
monopoly should get into the market at a cheaper rate
than his management secures. He must remember
that the imitation or the close copy will alwajj come in
cheaper in one respect, because it will be sure to benefit
by his advertisement. If we take condensed milk, we
shall see that the second company which started con-
densing milk profited by the expenditure of the company
which first taught the public that condensed milk was
an article fit for consumption. Sardines, canned salmon,
smoked fish, and many other manufacturers, could
illustrate the same fact.

In market-gardening, it occasionally happens that a
new product comes to light, and some market-gardener
makes a speciality of it. 7 ais may occur wherever a
new invention comes in, but owing to the peculiarities
of soil and climate it happens more frequently in " petit
culture." It is of course possible with wine ; also with
tobacco, and occasionally with tea.

/ '!

■ I

! I

' i

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

To trace what may happen, we will suppose that a
gardener has succeeded in raising a peculiar mushroom.
It is a distinct variety, and will only grow under rigid
conditions. He finds that he can produce it to an extent
altogether in excess of the consumption in the local
market. He extends his sale without very great outlay
in pushing it ; still he has more than he can dispose
of, and the misfortune remains that the supply, owing to
changes of seasons, varies. He invents a method of
drying or preserving the delicacy, and the next thing is to
attempt the capture of the market beyond the local one.
He has now his gardens and a factory ; and his next in-
vestment will be in advertisement. It is a slow process
to convince the big world that this special delicacy is of
superior excellence to any other. Hotels, which are large
consumers, but extremely difficult and expensive to
capture, are accustomed to order through houses which
do not find it worth while to lay in supplies of
new fancy articles whose popularity with the public is
not assured. A good deal is done by private patronage
in fashionable circles. At length no one in polite society
will dine without this special delicacy being placed before
them ; and consequently there is a rush on the part of
the common herd, who cannot at any price be left out
of the fashion.

Now, one of two things may happen to the producer.
The rush may come suddenly, and all his stock be
cleared out before the demand can be satisfied ; thus he
is left with the public only half captured, and his out-
lay upon advertisements only half repaid. In such a
predicament it is very probable that some other man
who has been watching the business closely will have
managed to raise a mushroom, which, though not so
good, can be doctored and improved and made very like it
before it gets finally into the hands of the public. He
comes in without investing a shilling in advertisements,
and is therefore able to sell more cheaply. In time the
public get to like his product, their taste gets vitiated, or
they accept what they can get. Perhaps it is traceable

A«

TBADE.

pose that a
mushroom,
under rigid
to an extent
n the local
reat outlay
3an dispose
ily, owing to

method of
:t thing is to
le local one.
his next in-
low process
ilicacy is of
ch are large
[pensive to
)uses which
supplies of
le public is
e patronage
plite society
aced before
the part of

be left out

e producer.

is stock be

3d ; thus he

id his out-

In such a

other man

y will have

agh not so

very like it

ublic. He

rtisements,

!n time the

vitiated, or

s traceable

to some cause such as thi above, that though the general
excellence of commodities has improved, it is increasingly
difficult to get a choice article — such as used to be
described by the old-fashioned word '^recherche.''*

There is another way in which the difficulty of shortage
works out which has sometimes proved very damaging to
the producer. We will take it for granted that there is
a good demand for his product. He accepts all tho
orders he can get ; amongst them those of two or three
large firms who have the credit of their reputation at
stake. He finds that he has overrated his own powers,
and cannot possibly fill up his contract to supply.
Either he fails, and admits that he has not the means
of satisfying their orders, which naturally gives them
offence ; or, if he is leas honest, he buys in despair the
nearest approach to his own articles, tinned or pre-
served, or grown and produced by some other man, and
sells them, even at a loss, as his own. The goods turn
out bad or inferior ; and his reputation is ruined in the
trade.

It can never be insisted upon too earnestly that abso-
lute honesty in dealing is not merely the best policy,
but the only policy which leads to success in trade.
In the fruit trade, a business is quickly ruined by the
dishonest packer who slips in small and inferior fruit
underneath the best. So a man, in contracting to supply,
should never accept contracts up to the fullest amount
of his expected stock ; but discount largely for a possible
deficiency, and trust to be able to sell his surplus,
which in all likelihood he will do easily enough if his
name be a good one.

It may also happen that, finding himself possessed
of a monopoly, the producer may believe that he can
charge his own price for it. At first this may answer ;
and, provided he is not excessive, he will go on with
his sales; but let him beware of overcharging. His
article must be of exceptionally superior excellence to
permit of his price giving him a very large profit. If
another man can possibly creep in, and by any means

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

iii

undersell him, his market is henceforward in a critical
position. Even if he makes up his mind to avoid this
danger by only reaping a modest interest on his invest-
ment, he must still be continually on the alert to take
advantage of any cheapening method of production. The
standard of value in goods occupies a totally different
plane to that of gold or jewels. The demand for the
former is always above the supply, and there is no need
to create a sale ; while in jewels an attempt may safely
be iiade to keep up their price because their preciousness
enhances their value, and makes them more desirable.

The only safeguard in commerce is to use every
means by which production may be cheapened. It is
untold how many fortunes are made solely by reduced
expenditure, or, as it is sometimes called, ** manage-
ment." The whole tendency of trade is in this direction,
and to grasp a wider market. " We can never stop in
our business," said a manufacturer ; "we have to look
out everywhere in the Colonies — among blacks or any
one — to try and secure another market." '. 'hen it must
be obvious to the most ordinary mind that any railway
company would gladly welcome an invention by which
an engine could haul twice as many tons with half the
expenditure of fuel. The company is able to reap the
profit of cheaper methods ; but still they must remember
that too high fares will invite competition to come in,
and possibly ruin them.

The cost of production is the subject which occupies
the minds of ingenious men all over the civilized world,
and leads to many inventions. The country which can
encourage this inventive spirit, and train it scientifically,
is the one which will be the strongest commercially,
provided that at the same time close attention is paid
to the subject of securing markets.

Farmers, in fact all who have anything to sell, should
keep themselves thoroughly informed as to markets and
their prices. The raw producer must ascertain what
the market price is, and then see if he can produce
sufficiently below it to secure a margin of clear profit.

E8,

TRADE.

In a critical
) avoid this

his invest-
ert to take
iction. The
ly different
and for the
3 is no need

may safely
ireciousness
desirable.

use every
jned. It is

by reduced

manage-

is direction,
ver stop in
lave to look
icks or any
hen it must
any railway
n by which
ith half the
reap the
remember
|o come in,

ih occupies
[ized world,
which can
[entifically,
imercially,
Ion is paid

|ell, should
irkets and
|tain what
In produce
Ir profit.

The following extract from the Times for November
2nd, 1897, points to this matter of the prices in various
markets : —

"How greatly the times have altered is shown by the
circumstances that last week witnessed tho inauguration of
the export of fresh meat (frozen) from London to the Cape,
tho steamship Nineveh having taken on board 1600 quarters
of Bowen (Queensland) beef, and 2000 carcases of River
Plate mutton, for conveyance to Capo Town. Tho most
noteworthy feature of this transaction is that, as reported
by the Colonial Consignment Company, the meat could bo
purchased in England at a much lower rate than in the
countries of production. Beef at 2ld. per lb. and mutton
at 2^(1. per lb., free-on-board, could not be supplied in tho
colonics, but was procurable at home."

Here we see that, had the Queensland people been
sufficiently alive to the requirements of the Cape, they
could have shipped their beef direct, obtaining a better
price, and saving the cost of transport.

This subject is specially applicable to British Columbia.
It may appear on the surface that the country is un-
developed, and that a long while must elapse before such
conditions of advanced trade will arise ; but this is not
the case. It is pre-eminently a country of choice growths
in small quantities. There are products, such as tobacco,
which will probably before long become an industry.
The same may be said of flax, some growths of which
are extremely fine. Leather, and tanning by means of
the fine hemlock-bark, will some day offer a large trade.
Fruits and vegetables have unquestionably a future before
them in this colony ; and with the great market to the
north, where demand for preserved and dessicated vege-
tables, as well as canned fruits, will be on the increase,
all these remarks have distinct value in British Columbia.
The impossibilities for railways in certain localities, and
the enormous difficulty of transport, will cause more
and more attention to be paid to packing and preserving
products. The wealth of, the country is not that of great
wheat areas such as Manitoba, or huge cattle ranges

is-*-

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

' )

like the North-West, but of small or medium quantities
of choice products in connection with which lies a good
deal of trade.

Another aspect of the case which should not be lost
sight of is the increasing recognition among commercial
people of the value of raw products. The time has
actually come when men are fruit-farming in companies
— notably in the States. The tide would seem turning,
for while at one time agriculture was despised by
traders, they are now beginning to see a business in it.
So much is this the case that on my remarking upon
tobacco being grown in Kelowna, an American at once
asked me the price of the land, and how much of it could
be bought — with a view to starting a factory supplied to
as great an extent as possible from the land farmed by
the company. The effect of ranching, gardening, and
farming by companies will be to combine trades such
as butchering, canning, and manufacturing, with raw
products. It will alter ihe nature of markets without
increasing prices. It will create an antagonism between
the men who are unable to start trading on their own
account and the large concerns who will try to squeeze
them down by buying their produce at the lowest possible
rate. Trading centres such as Vancouver and Victoria
are largely busied with the manufacture of canned
salmon, and, were fruits more largely grown, there would
probably be also factories for the preservation of fruits.

Apart from the tinning industry, there is a large
business in transit goods from the Orient of silk, tea,
and similar products which pass through to warehouses
in the States, or to Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal.
Of late there has been a forwarding trade done in
wheat for China from the North- West territories ; and
some grain is taken back as ballast round Cape Horn
to Great Britain, as return cargo upon salt, tin-plate,
pig-tin, and pig-lead, machinery, and hardware. As
many as 100,000 boxes of tin plate were imported direct
to Vancouver in one year, and worked up into cans for
the salmon industry in the factories.

EE8,

TBADE.

im quantities
ih lies a good

d not be lost
y commercial
'he time has
in companies
leem turning,

despised by
usiness in it.
larking upon
rican at once
ch of it could
y supplied to
id farmed by
rdening, and

trades such
ig, with raw
rkets without
lism between
on their own
^y to squeeze
west possible

and Victoria
of canned

there would

on of fruits,
is a large

of silk, tea,
warehouses

d Montreal.

ide done in

itories; and
Cape Horn

t, tin-plate,

Idware. As
orted direct
to cans for

.'Si

It is evident that there are distmct points in the trade
to be considered as follows : —

1. Import trade of goods consumed in British
Columbia from the Orient and Australia, tea, silk
manufactures, sheep, tropical fruits.

2. Import from Canada of Canadian products from
Winnipeg, Montreal, and from Great Britain.

3. The export of lumbsr, fish, coal, silver, gold,
copper, etc., to other countries, and fruit and cattle
to North-West territories, also finished woodwork to
Australia, and a little to Japan.

In a word, British Columbia is a highway or port
of entry and departure, and this fact opens a distinct
branch of commerce over and above that of trade for
its own coij ; -mption, or in its own products.

As the country fills up, it is certain that import trade
foi the consumption of the inhabitants of British
Columbia itself will increase very rapidly.

Hitherto the main endeavour has been to foster the
"all through trade" from the Orient. Vancouver city
has not increased in size or in importance during the
last ten years at the rate predicted for it. The only
assignable reason is the slowness with which British
Columbia has filled up. The principal towns have
been in the Kootenays ; and their food supplies have
been drawn from Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco, and
Spokane.

In clothing and soft goods, a good deal of trade has
come in from Montreal, because that city is nearer
British factories, and its merchants are an energetic
and pushing race.

The following extracts from the Returns of the Board
of Trade will give an idea of the advance of trade,
and also of its stationary condition for the last six
years.

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS,

IMPORTS INTO THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
FOR 17 YEARS ENDING 30th JUNE, 1896.

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1880

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1881

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1882

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1883

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1884

From Canada...
To 30tb June, 1886

From Canada...
To 30th June, 1886
To 30th June, 1887
To 30th June, 1888
To 30th June, 1889
To 30th June, 1890
To 30th June, 1891
To 30th June, 1892
To 30th June, 1893
To 3()th June, 1894
To 30th June, 189.'>
To 30th June, 1896

Value of

Total
Imports.

184,951
1,689,394

208,072
2,489,643

387,111
2,899,223

449,768
3,937,536

624,207
4,142,486

789,287
4,089,492

927,054
3,963,299
3,647,852
3,609,961
3,763,127
4,379,272
5,478,883
6,495,6X9
3,934,066
5,320,615
4,403,976
5,663,095

Goods e:<tered fob. Home Coksumption.

Dutiable
Goods.

1,614,165

2,214,163

2,472,174

3,331,023

3,337,642

3,458,529

2,851,379
3,065,791
2,674,941
2,002,646
3,357,111
4,261,207
4,423,414
3,662,673
3,582,333
3,131,490
3,993,650

Free

Goods.

184,951

122,451

208,072

242,963

387,111

404,287

449,768

650,833

621,207

702,693

789,287

664,923

927,064

1,060,347

660,348

729,266

8U7,140

1,030,375

1,074,983

1,803,006

1,266,496

1,738,282

1,236,935

1,532,840

Total.

184,051
2,457,116

208,072
1.736,616

387,111
2,875,461

449,768
3,866,856

624,207
4,040,335

789,287
4,023,462

927,054
4,011,726
3,626,139
3,401,207
3,809,786
4,287,486
6,336,190
6,226,419
4,918,168
6,336,961
4,368,425
6,526,490

Duty
collected.

$ CtB.

460,175 43

689,403 63

678,104 C3

907,655 64

884,076 21

966,143 64

880,226 65

883,421 63

861,465 14

974,675 69

1,075,215 2U

1,346,059 42

1,412,878 00

1,367,250 32

1,308,631 23

1,137,727 49

1,406,931 91

TRADE.

E Consumption.

Duty

collected.

$ CtB.

»61

—

116

450,175 43

072

—

616

580,403 62

111

—

461

678,104 63

168

—

856

907,655 64

207

—

335

884,076 21

287

—

452

066,143 64

0S4

—

726

880,226 65

139

883,421 53

!07

861,465 14

974,675 69

(»<6

1,076,215 20

.90

1,346,059 42

,19

1,412,878 00

1,367,250 32

1,308,631 23

1,137,727 49

1,406,931 91

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TRADE.

IMPORTS INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA

Pbom other Countries of some Products of Agriculture and its
Branches as can be i'Roduced in tue Province, for the Year
ENDING June SOtr, 1895.

Quantity.

Live Stock.

Horned Cattlo

Horses

Sheep

Hugs

All other

No.

lbs.

Meats, Etc.

Bacon and hams

Lard ... • ■ • ... ...

Beef, salted

Mutton and lamb

x^or& ••• ••• ••• •••

Poultry

Meats, dried or smoked, n.o.s.

Other meats, fresh „

„ salted, u.e.s. ... „
Canned meats, poultry and gamo „
Meat extracts ,

Breadstuffs, Grain, Etc.

Biscuits lbs.

Barley bush.

Beans ...

Buckwheat

Indian com

Oats

Peas

Rye .

Wheat

Bran, mill feed

Indian or corn meal . . . bbls.

Oatmeal lbs.

Rye flour bbls.

Wheat flour ... „

Total carried forward

VuUjc.

• ••

5>
»
»

115

730
35,881
20,038

571,701

135,100

29,.078

50,178

31,375

39,018
100,055

25,100
310,101

129,177

10,028

5,709

155

7,703

215,243

2,005

GOO

147,285

1,101

33,879

102

29,490

$
1,825

20,347

53,141

1,150

4,741

04,700
10,330
2,048
2,931
2,379
3,408
3,507
0,020
2,210
28,297
1,279

0,054

3,029

8,344

105

5,191

00,834

1,939

314

57,945

00,023

3,001

953

581

07,377

Duty.

$
305.00

4,009.40

10,028.20

390.72

948.20

11,435.25

2,714.01
591.50

1,025 G5
Ov;/.50
093.00
792.50

3,199.55
503.33

7,077.87
319.75

1,523.25

908.70

805.05

1.5.03

582.28

21,524.41

200.55

00.05

22,103.37

13,325.00

404.49

190.30

81.25

22,118.34

497,929 1 129,400.70

BRITTSn COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

IMPORTS INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA— con<»«ued.

Quantity.

Value.

Duty.

Vegetables and Fbuitb.

Brought forward ...

• * •

$497,929

$129,406.76

Potatoea

bush.

47,.30O

13,937

7,09.'). 10

Tomatoes

»»

1,025

1,428

347.17

Tomatoes and other ...

»«

—

20,454

5,339.68

Apples, dried

... lbs.

47,853

3,507

876.75

Apples, greca

Lbls.

7,994

20,301

3,197.81

Currants

... Its.

185,787

4,187

1,857.87

Small fruits

„

83,045

3,910

1,060.89

Cherries

„

89,002

5,975

1,781.28

Cranberries

bush.

372

651

162.75

Peachea

... lbs.

220,208

6,092

2,202.68

Plums

bush.

5,081

5,301

1,340.05

Fruits, canned

... lbs.

163,589

7,150

3,369.96

Jams and jellies

... „

40,782

3,310

1,234.43

Almonds, shelled

... „

0,680

1,167

334.30

„ not shelled

... „

23,781

1,801

713.43

Brazil nuts

... „

3,502

206

106.80

Walnuts

... „

27,304

2,213

819.12

Other nuts, not shelled

... „

54,381

2,324

1,087.63

Daiuy Pkoducts.

Butter

... lbs.

203,278

42,585

10,531.04

Cheese

... „

01,490

7,015

1,844.93

Condensed milk

... „

93,750

9,166

2,833.18

Miscellaneous,

Chicory

... lbs.

10,852

500

434.08

Cider

gals.

1,145

822

105.90

Hay

tons

1,758

12,801

3,517.00

Hops

... lbs.

17,336

2,303

1,040.16

Malt

bush.

49,355

83,157

7,403.25

Honey

... lbs.

8,800

988

263.99

Mustard

... ,,

11,750

3,059

764.75

Eggs

... doz.

102,251

13,502

5,112.58

Pickles

...gala.

7,069

5,980

2,093

Total ...

• •

739,896

197,884-54

The value of similar products received from Eastern Canada during
the same period will probably amount to $1,500,000.

TRADE.

Duty.

1129,406.76
7,095.10
347.17
5,339.68
876.7r>
3,197.81
1,857.87
1,060.89
1,781.28
162.75
2,202.68
1,346.05
3,369.96
1,234.43
334.30
713.43
106.80
819.12
1,087.63

10,531.04
1,844.93
2,833.18

434.08

105.90

3,517.00

1,040.16

7,403.25

263.99

764.75

5,112.58

2,093

197,884-54

lada during

Since these statistics were compiled, the Yukon dis-
trict has forced itself into prominence as a market
which will draw its supplies largely from Victoria and
Vancouver. Besides this new field for commerce, the
enterprise of au Australian firm in starting a shipping
service between Sydney and Vancouver, led to a fast
mail service between British Columbia and Au' iralia.
It is earnestly hoped that this enterprise will be immedi-
ately followed by the long-delayed cable. It is a matter
of continual inconvenience that the C.P.B. telegraph
system stops at Vancouver ; but it is only fair to say
that the Company have been anxious for years past to
connect with China, and have only been withheld from
doing so by the action of the home Government.

The communication opened by the mail service brings
Australia within a three weeks' journey of Canada. The
Crown colony of Fiji also benefits by the arrangement,
and contributes a subsidy of ^£1500 to the under-
taking.

Although political considerations and passenger traffic
have their share in this enterprise, the business will
depend upon cargo. Mails are, in fact, only the sign or
manifestation — the outward flourish. It is the cargo
boats which justify the outlay. The cargo is already in
excess of the accommodation; and trade took a leap
from the very commencement, so far exceeding the ex-
pectations of the promoters that they were altogether
unprepared to deal with it.

The idea which arose from a desire for improved
markets for sheep and wool has spread to other goods ;
and Australia is at present considering the advisability
of shipping low-grade ores to be dealt with in British
Columbian smelters, where the best methods are
thoroughly understood, and where fuel is plentiful,
which, in Australia, has to be imported.

Perhaps the highest results will accrue from the in-
troduction of enterprise and capital on the part of
Australian firms to infuse fresh life into the feeble,
(enervated, and timid methods of Victoria and Vancouver.

BBITian COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS,

,'B i

\H I

The following is a statement of the goods exchanged
between the Colonies : —

Imports from Australia to British Exports from British Columbia to
Columbia. Australia.

Sheep,
Wool.
Tropical fruits.

Lumber.

Fish.

Agricultural machinery.

Flour.

Coal.

Finished woodwork.

It need not be supposed that the Canadian trade on
the Pacific coast will bo without competition. Whether
or no the benefits of Australian or other markets are to
be grasped by Canadians and the British depends upon
the amount of enterprise with which the present oppor-
tunities are grasped. In the report for the Vancouver
Board of Trade for 1896-97, mention is made of five
new salmon canneries being erected on the American
side in Puget Sound. These factories are able to com-
pete with the British Columbian factories by the use
of cheaper methods. They work the catch by means
of traps, and this system is under stringent regulations
in British waters for fear of exterminating the fish.
But, besides this successful competition in canned
salmon, the cold storage for fish export is entirely in
American hands. The fresh-fish export trade consists
principally of halibut,* and an immense business which

* "The exports of halibut, which practically oommenced Ices thon
two yeors ago, amounted to two million pounds during 1895, and
Inspector John McNab estimates that at least as much more was caught
in British Columbian waters by United States fishermen. Our fishermen
have consequently had to dispose of their catch in United States markets
fairly well supplied with fish in every respect equal to their own and prices
have been lowered accordingly. They have been further handicapped
by having to pay United States' duty, half a cent per pound — that is,
$10,000 on the year's operations. A new aud very important industry
is therefore threatened with extinction. The matter was brought to the
notice of the Dominion Government in January last, and it is understood
that the steamer Quadra is to be commissioned to this service as well as
to the prevention of smuggling on the west coast of Canada." — Victoria
Board of Trade Kepoit.

TRADE.

might be done in sturgeon is treated quite apathetically ;
yet experts have pronounced the British Columbian
sturgeon to be superior to the llussian. This fish, when
properly handled, commands a very large European
market. The roe, preserved as caviar, finds a ready sale
almost anywhere ; but smoked sturgeon is extremely
popular in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. The
method of preserving it is not costly. The fish are
skinned and smoked whole, the roe and etceteras having
been removed. The skins can be utilized as a by-
product for making glue. The export to Europe would
be by sailing-ships round Cape Horn.

The sealing trade is practically entirely in the hands
of the Hudson's Bay Company. The prices given for
seals are less remunerative than they were a few years
ago. It is said that the industry is depressed by
imitation sealskin. Seals are also less easy to procure
than they were. The great market for sealskins is
in the States, and of late the Americans have been
endeavouring to secure the whole trade (hence the
dispute about the Behring Sea). The latest move has
been to place a high tariff on pelts imported into the
States. It is difficult at present to see how this will
act. It will probably cause a diversion of the trade to
London.

It should, however, be remembered that sealskins
depend on fashion, and that fashion may be introduced
elsewhere. The trade is also dependent to a consider-
able extent on cheap skilled labour in dressing the pelts.
Would it be possible to create a market for pelts in the
Orient, now that China is opening up ? It is said that
the tendency of Oriental trade is gradually setting
towards the importation of raw products, to the dis-
placement of manufactured goods ; but for the truth of
this I cannot vouch.

As an indication of the business done in the export
trade departments of sealing, salmon, and lumber, the
following statistics from the Vancouver Board of Trade
Eeport may be useful.

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

SEALING CATCH, 1895. (Tho figures for 1896 arc not to hand.)

Total Canadian catch

Catch of Director oflF Falkland Islands

Catch of American schooners landed ot Victoria ..

Total

70,739

620

2,255

73,614

The catch for the past seven years has been : —

1889
1890
1891
1892

35,310
43,325
52,365
49,743

1893
1894
1895

70,592
95,048
73,614

SALMON SHIPMENTS IN DETAIL.

.< I y

England —
London direct
London overland
Liverpool direct ...
Liverpool overland
F»« other ports ...
Overland (previous years)

Eastern Canada

Australia

Other destinations ...

Local sales

Stocks on hand

Total

1896.

1895.

1894.

1893.

cases.

182,253

96,459

94,203

148,332

9,076

—

322,364

256,301

222,345

253,833

11,405

—

29,590

59,296

27,445

—

65,647

20,424

25,703

51,041

79,288

76,009

114,792

11,609

8,832

15,078

8,830

2,128

—

150

•3,844

4,326

2,642

2,931

7,850

25,952

4,374

8,213

601,507

566,395

494,371

590,229

1892.

cases.
61,864

101,447

59,350
1,498

(4.

311

228,470

TRADE.

land.)

70,739

620

2,255

, 73,6U

70,592
95,048
73,014

1892.

cases.

i2i 61,804

53 101,447

15 —

)3 —

)2 59,350

JO 1,198

m 228,470

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEB8,

It remains to be seen whether the Australian mail
service and increased trade will promote the export of
British Columbian coal as return cargoes. For the last
two years the mines on Vancouver Island have been
Bufifering from the competition of American mines. It
is fluctuations of this kind which render figures con-
fusing, and often misleading in matters relating to
business. What is lost by one industry is gained by
another. The following year the deficiency may be
elsewhere, recouped again by fresh enterprise in securing
a new market for another trade, or the market may
come of itself through the necessity of a return cargo.
Thus, if coal is suffering abroad, pig-iron may gain
a footing through a sudden impetus given to Japanese
manufacture. The import and export trade of British
Columbia offers a field for skilful merchants well backed
by capital, and with connections in other sea-ports.
Hitherto the trade has been confined to Great Britain
and American ports. The export of wheat to China
is of very recent date, and the Australian development
a thing of to-day.

It is in Vancouver rather than Victoria that mer-
chants will find their best opportunity. Up to the
present time the contracted nature of the trade, and
the fact of coal playing a large part in exports, the
ports in Vancouver Island of Nanaimo and Victoria
have maintained a comparatively larger role than they
are likely to do in future.

Vftncouver has a much finer harbour, admitting
larger ships than Victoria, But even should Victoria
be able to secure a better harbour than the present
one, the terminus of the C.P.E. is on the mainland,
and this alone is sufficient to draw a good deal of trade.
For some years past Victoria has received considerable
consignments for transhipment through America into
the Kootenays ; but this business will be reduced when
the railway through the Crow's Nest pass reaches
Nelson.

TRADE,

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLES S.

S '!

. •!.''

' i

The subject of the future of Vancouver is so important
a one to the shipping interests that more attention
would be well bestowed upon it. It must be remembered
that the harbour is accessible to vessels of any draft,
and is perfectly sheltered ; though up to the present it
does not possess a dry dock. There is a wide beach on
the north side exposed to the fall of the tide to as much
as fifteen feet. This allows of vessels being beached and
scraped of marine growths at a very low cost, and with
perfect safety. The Board of Trade Eeport goes on to
say that —

*' For inwards business there are general cargoes from
Europe, and cargoes of raw sugar from Java for the refinery.
For outwards business a charter for lumber can nearly always
be obtained, and in the season (August to September) canned
salmon for the United Kingdom.

" The Empress line of mail steamers, belonging to the
Canadian Pacific Kailway, leave for Japan and China once a
month during the winter, and once every twenty dajs in the
summer (calling at Victoria, Vancouver Island, for local
mail and passengers).

" The Canadian- Australian Mail Line leaves for Sydney
once a month, touching at Victoria, Honolulu and the Fiji
Islands.

" The Pacific Coast SS. Company's steamers ply regularly
between Vancouver and San Francisco every five days,
calling also at Victoria. There is a daily service with Vic-
toria and with Nanairao, the steamers connecting with the
incoming and outgoing trans-Continental express trains of
the Canadian Pacific Railway.

" Provisions and supplies of all kinds are plentiful and at
moderate prices, imported stores being allowed to be supplied
from bonded warehouses.

" The charges for wharfage are levied upon the cargo, and
paid by the receivers.*

It will be observed that the figures quoted on the
authority of the Board of Trade are from the last report

* In the Appendix will be found a list of the usual expenses, together
with copies of actual disbursement accounts. ,

TRADE,

rtant
ntion
bered
draft,
lent it
ch on
much
id and
il with
on to

8 from
efinery.

always
canned

to the
I, once a

9 in the
3r local

Sydney
he Fiji

gularly
days,
th Vic-
th the
ains of

and at
upplied

go, and

ion the
report

together

to hand, and consequently contain no reference to the
sudden impetus given to trade by the rush to the Klondyke.
The result has been an influx of ready-money custr i> rs,
and it is to be hoped that the funds thus brought into
trade will be turned over in trade, and not withdrawn
for investment in mines.

Before dismissing the subject of shipping entirely,
some reference must be made to the effect of the new
Canadian tariff. The movement inaugurated on the
occasion of the Jubilee of her Majesty will probably
cause great alterations in trade. The Canadians claimed
their right to impose their own tariffs, and adjust them
as they pleased. It pleased them to give a preferential
tariff to Great Britain in gratitude for the generosity
with which Canadian products had been treated in
British ports. This was the first move towards Free
Trade within the Empire ; but the new tariff offered
similar benefits to all who came into line, and were pre-
pared to take Canadian goods on similar terms. New
{South Wales and British India availed themselves of the
offer ; doubtless moved thereto by the lines of shipping,
and consequent commercial relations already estab-
lished.

Since then a fresh development has followed, which
may prove of very far-reaching consequences. Japan,
whose manufactures have been increasing both in out-
put and in quality for some time past, first adopted a
gold coinage, and then, so far as dry goods are concerned,
took steps to place herself in a position to benefit by the
minimum Canadian tariff. Her overtures have been
accepted by Canada, and an increase of trafiic between
Canada and Japan is certain to follow. These two
countries rej)resent the two interests which constitute
trade. In British Columbia there is abundance of raw
material, but with dear labour. In Japan there is very
little raw material, but marvellous skill in working up
raw products, and plenty of cheap labour.

The question is how far the wonderful quickness of
the Japanese will enable them to find fresh uses for the

I !

rt^

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLE B8.

./• i

minerals — flax, hides, timber, and other products of
British Columbia ; and to what extent they can fit them
for greater careers of usefulness when distributed in the
markets of the Orient after adaptation in the Japanese
workshops.

Owing to the necessity for cheapening production,
the Japanese may presently find it advantageous to send
their factories over to British Columbia, and thus save
the bulky shipment of raw products. Such a move
would be beneficial to British Columbia by improving
the local markets, no less than to the Japanese.
Although an Oriental nation, they have aspired success-
fully to Western habits and civilization. They have
proved themselves a nautical nation of no mean rank.
They are like ourselves, an Eastern power. Their
instincts are towards commercial pursuits which they
direct with skill ; and they are able to furnish capital
for the accomplishment of their objects. That they
should be linked with a British colony in the matters of
coinage and tariffs oifers suggestions for many problems
in modern commerce, with regard to the East, of very
far-reaching significance.

lets of
t them
. in the
,panese

action,
to send
us save
I move
proving
,panese.
guccess-
sy have
,n rank.
Their
Lch they
I capital
lat they
atters of
problems
of very

CHAPTER IV.

AGRICUT,TURE.

If we accept under the heading of British Columbia
only the territory between the Rockies and the coast
bounded by the 49th parallel on the south, and the 00th
on the north, together with the archipelago of Queen
Charlotte and Vancouver, we sliall have an area of
383,300 square miles. The Island of Queen Charlotte
covers 6100, and that of Vancouver 12,780. These
are the limits of the province at the present time;
for the rich country of the Klondyke and the immense
region extending, roughly speaking, from the Hudson's
Bay to Alaska, belongs to the North-West territories,
and is governed from Regina. It remains to be seen
how long the present arrangement will hold good, but
if geographical formation and facilities of communication
count for anything, it may reasonably be supposed that
as the Klondyke and Teslin Lake district open up, the
seat of provincial government will be elsewhere.

At the present moment it is sufficient to consider the
area of 383,300 square miles divided as follows : —

Land ...
Water..,

382,300 square miles.
1,000

Total

383,300

Statistics relating to the present occupation of the
land — though they must be taken loosely — are not
without interest. Passing at once from miles to acres,

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

I .

there are only 1,000,616 acres under the private owner-
ship of landowners. Of this million and a half acres
it is estimated that only lll,4i5 acres are cultivated;
513,430 acres being pasture, prairie, or hay meadows.
Nearly as much is still uncleared forest under private
ownership, while 69,000 acres are returned as rock,
and about half as much is undrained swamp and
marsh.

It may be added that though there are still Government
lands to be pre-empted, a large portion of the best land is
already in private hands. It also remains to be seen
what economical management may effect in irrigating
the dry belt, and whether the rich alluvial laud in the
delta of the Fraser could not be further drained,
recovered, and sold for agricultural purposes.

The dry belt occupies a large part of Central British
Columbia. Roughly speaking, it extends from Lytton to
Eevelstoke, and south to the American boundary. The
delta of the Lower Fraser, including Chiliwack and the
coast, are rendered moist and luxuriant from rains
falling from clouds which drop against the Cascades
Eange. When the clouds reform, they pass over the dry
belt, and descend again against the Selkirks and Eockies.
These latter rains help Kootenay, and even extend in a
lesser degree into the State of Washington.

Considering the immense effect exercised by climatic
conditions upon agriculture, it is most desirable that
steps should be taken to collect more accurate returns of
rainfall and temperature in different localities. In
some instances, it is not the amount of rain which falls,
but the season at which it comes, which signifies. The
same may be said of snowfall with regard to stock
feeding. In a heavy snowfall the grass is buried, and
neither sheep nor cattle can reach it. At the present
time there are periodical large losses in various districts
owing to farmers taking chances or risks, which some
scientific attention to the subject of climate might do
much to diminish. The matter is already engaging
attention ; and in most localities a general idea of the

AQBIOULTURE.

owner-
[f acres
jvated ;
eadows.
private
ls rock,
up and

srnment
it land is
be seen
•rigating
i in the
drained,

1 British
jvtton to
ry. The
I and the
)m rains
Cascades
^r the dry
1 Rockies,
[tend in a

rainfall can be furnished to intending settlers by the
authorities at Victoria.

The farmers themselves are taking steps to collect
and distribute information, as well as to combine and
co-operate. For these purposes there are several
societies. In 1895, a Farmers' Convention was held at
Agassiz, which lasted three days, and was attended by
most of the leading agriculturists of the province. The
British Columbian Central Fruit Exchange and the
Fruit Growers' Association, have evinced practical
knowledge of the economic needs of agriculture by
exerting themselves to obtain concessions upon the high
freights charged by the railway, and at the same time to
raise the general standard of packing, grading, etc. It
is also indirectly due to these societies that the Minister
of Education has authorized a text-book on agriculture
for use in the public schools of the province ; so that
agricultural education has been added to the general
curriculum. Steps have also been taken to get the
obnoxious royalty on timber removed, or at least
reduced, on farm land. Thus it cannot be said that the
farmers of British Columbia are indifferent to their own
interests ; for each of these moves indicates a spirit of
self help, and is not merely a demand for outside
assistance in the form of bounties.

On^ striking feature in this country is the immense
quantity of fodder for stock which is raised in every
district, and even imported from the States. The pro-
portion of land devoted to hay and pasture is nearly five
times as much as that under cultivation ; and a good
part of the arable land is also used for growing green
crops, such as oat-hay, for stock feeding. This is due to
three causes. First, the fact that beef is required in the
mining camps of the Kootenay, where it is eaten three
times a day whenever it can be obtained ; secondly, to
the immense use of transport animals, either mules
or horses. As a third cause, with which the raising of
timothy hay has certainly a good deal to do, is the fact
of the ranges having been overstocked and eaten out ;

[1 ;il

i !i

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS,

I,? )i;

1 \\

*!'

'|1

BO that the grass growing on them at the present time
is very often poor and innutritions.

The most important industry connected with agricul-
ture is fruit-farming. It is impossible to say to what
excellence this business may not eventually reach.
Already there are shipments to the North- West terri-
tories, and even to the Orient. That the trees of apple,
pear, and plum, and in some districts of peach also,
bep** abundantly, and that the fruits are fine and full
i'iivOdi-ed, is amply proved. But the business requires
immense organization, and a few years are still neces-
sary to allow even the most advanced fruit ranches to
come into full bearing, and prove what may be taken as
a reasonably average return. As soon as this is under-
stood, and the districts selected for the right kinds of
fruit, factories for canning and preserving the surplus
are certain to be started. Meantime, the industry has
so far advanced that every settler should at least devote
a part of his land to fruit of suitable kinds.

Bound Agassiz, near Vernon, and at Kelowna, English
hops are found to answer admirably, and to command a
good price in the London market. In the matter of price,
they are beating those of Washington. In the States,
this crop has been liable to blight of recent years ; and
the last accounts are that growers are ploughing up
their yards. There is, therefore, just cause for assum-
ing that their place in the London market will be taken
by the Colonial product. Shipments have been tried to
Australia, which were well received and fetched good
prices.

Another industry which has a future before it is that
of flax growing. On rich, alluvial soils, where experi-
ments have been tried, the results have been so
encouraging, both as regards fibre and seed, that
Government has been induced to grant an appro-
priation for the distribution of seed, and for further
experiments.

Tobacco has been found to grow well at Kelowna, and,
probably owing to the rich silt washed from the hills,

^OSICULTUHE.

cigar-leaf. ''^^^^^^ *end towards farming the

sacoess is entirely dfnenden? . ''''^"' 8"wii; but its
except where a little irrifl- T°° " «»P'OM rainfall

In 1897, the yield wasv^v^hX-'''' ''''° nndertakon'
average all over tha It^ -^^ '" <'«'-'«als generallv ti?"

acre in o<,tZZ^m°ZZ-'^V^''^ ^^^^V^
figure of a hundred and fiftt"shZ, °, ^^' ''^'omshEfg
. -""o's grown under irri^tt^ .. ?'^ P^' a"™-"
«'3e, andai^eofgreatvilaefor iff'"'" '" « ''wmense
on mall holdings. ^ '°' fattening stock in winter

the p"ovLKd^^el*inoss nf ^ '''=<=°"''* th™ughout
on no account be considered T/-""'°,^;'''^«'''ng bS

necnnit '■'"'"'> °" the ranches of rT ' '° """P'^te

horse of the Korth-We7 '""' '^"^ «"« bettfr-bred

CoCb'inl'/^thetll:^ ^ --"et in British

'"adequate, and S!i^'^^^%''''^ip ii^elt hfut
from the Alberta ranches Th^''^'"''"« "« impS

Ktt.2 TiC^lf "«s;l5

fSh- 1 ^°.^ mountain lions Tn u '°^=^« through
British Columbia, and with tl,. °''?'" » "'mate Is
» actual progress', boSi Xp p'ettHf"^ °' "'^ N°rtb

, '.Tfis has been amply tcatiflo,! K « ^"^'^''^ «»«<J,

"griclto., report,. P'J' '«'"W by „fflaavi„ tai,„ ^^ ,^^ ^^^^^ ^^

'' ifS

^.^n^T^nai

iA--j>:^^;gn>ir^

'; !
(I'

f/i (

f.!

/i I Iff

! ,

/. 1

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLE BS.

and wool itself, should be distinctly valuable ; but tlio
fact is that sheep require more labour in nightly herd-
ing, besides attention at washing, shearing, and lambing,
than cattle ; and cheap labour is the one thing absent in
British Columbia.

Swine, though hardly less liable to attacks from wild
beasts than sheep, are found profitable. In the district
called Grand Prairie, between Vernon and Ducks, the
business done in breeding and fattening swine is a large
one, and every farm has its curing house, where the
pork, bacon, and hams are smoked. There is an
immense market for this meat, which is easily carried,
and very nourishing.

The dairy industry has been making great strides,
but the supply of butter is by no means equal to the
demand. The Lower Fraser is the district where most
butter is made; and, generally speaking, it finds its
way to the coast instead of into the mining centres
of Kootenay. Of late it has been shipped to Japan
and China, which affords a curious instance of trade ;
for while British Columbian butter is shipped to
the Orient, British Columbia obtains supplies from
Ontario.

The agricultural societies have done good work in
keeping down fruit pests and noxious weeds. The
Government is always alert to quarantine any cases
of cattle disease. The worst complaints I heard of
were those of deaths through exposure and scarcity of
food, also of animals being disabled by frost-bite ; and
several times I heard of lampas, one man attributing
this last disease to the use of maize as food-stuff.

Generally speaking, it is for the sake of the land
that men emigrate. To most men'R minds there is
a fascination in the possf ssion of a piece of land with
which they can do as they please, and on which they
can live as in a kingdom of their own. The problem
of emigration is nevertheless a most difficult one to
solve. Setting aside the fact that it is a law of nature
and an instinct common amongst even the lowest tribes

■■ ■a r -r-V

AGRICULTURE.

Ut tllG

hord-
nbing,
jent in

m "wild
district
sks, the
a large
lere the
is an
carried,

strides,
d to the
ere most
finds its
7 centres
to Japan
of trade;
ipped to
Lies from

work in
is. The
my cases
[heard of
Icarcity of
Ibite; and

ttributing

the land
there is
hand with
Ihich they
problem
[it one to
lof nature
yest tribes

in the animal world, there is in reasoning man the
actual knowledge of the glut of population at home, and
the glut of land in the Colonies. Yet the initial
difficulty is actually becoming harder to solve — of fitting
our people to be successful emigrants.

Every part of the Empire offers opportunities for a
certain class of emigrants. The surplus coolie has
found his place tending tea and coffee in Africa, and
offers an object-lesson to all interested in emigra-
tion. But although British Columbia offers exceptional
advantages for fishermen or farm-labourers, miners,
and especially for farmers, it does not at all follow
that even tolerably successful men at home will succeed
there.

Those who come out to British Columbia, frequently
waste their best years, and all their capital, in trying
to learn what they should have been taught before
leaving home. Considering how little is done to prepare
our emigrants, it is remarkable that they should succeed
so well — although that success is purchased with
enormous waste, and by dint of many failures.

At the present time there are few openings for towns-
people. An acquaintance with agriculture, and famili-
arity with country pursuits, are advantageous to every
emigrant. Ordinary farm-labourers should acquire a
knowledge of smith's work for shoeing horses, of rough
carpentry, or of masonry. The most useful trade is the
blacksmith's, if practised in addition to some other
business — especially if the man possesses sufficient
knowledge of machinery to enable him to repair agri-
cultural implements. Artisans pure and simple, me-
chanics who know only one trade, and clerks, are not
in request, and would find life very hard in British
Columbia.

The first fact which the emigrant must grasp is that
life in the colony is much harder than at home. The
eight hours' day is never heard of there; the theory
is that every man must do his best to advance the
country, for by helping his neighbour, he is helping

I 1

pit

•>r\

I 111

: I

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

I! I.

himself. It is therefore a common sight on river
steamers, where there is sometimes a shortage of hands,
to see the passengers come forward and assist in
getting the cargo on or off the boat. They expect no
payment. No one dreams of inquiring who they may
be ; but vokmteering is part of the life of the country.
Hard work is the keynote. It is hard for both man
and beast. Mechanical assistance, even that which
trains and steamers x^rovide, has not gained possession
of the country. It is still the machinery of human
muscles and nerves which drives civilization. There
are yet rivers which men navigate in crafts made by
themselves, in which they row or pole freight into
camps. Canoes are still in use; and the miner starts
for the hills as often as not on foot, with his blankets,
** grub," pick, and rifle strap ">ed to his own back.

In so primitive a life, it will readily be seen that
though a man should be master of one business, such
as stock raising, or market-gardening, it is extremely
useful to have a knowledge of trades, such as, with our

odern technical classes, every boy ought to acquire
jasily.

Many middle-class families with small incomes, if
they made up their minds to live simply, and take their
pleasure in the country, with its wonderful nature and
its opportunities for riding and fishing and boating,
would find their small incomes easier to live upon in
Canada than at home. There is no false pride about
economy, and thfi-'-e are opportunities for investment of
small sums whicx^ do not offer themselves very frequently
in Great Britain. If a man with an income of £t. jO
a year went oi*t to British Columbia, and purchased an
improved mixed farm of 165 acres near Vernon, he
could live out of the proceeds. His expenses in pur-
chasm g and stocking such a farm and furnishing his
house ought to be covered by £1000. In order to live
comfortably, he would require one Chinaman as cook
and another one as gardener. Their wages would
amount to about £60 for the pair per annum. It would

AGRICULTURE,

river
ands,
st in
ict no
' may
antry.
I man
■which
jession
buman
There
ade by
it into
f starts
lankets,

•

en that
ss, such
itremely
;vith our
acquire

omes, if
,ke their
ture and
boating,
upon in
ie about
jment of
lequently
' of £o jO
ased an
-non, he
in pur-
|hing his
sr to live
as cook
s would
It would

also be advisable to take out a governess from England
who should also help in the house. The education at
the free Government schools would answer very well for
the boys, but the girls would require a more careful
home training, and a knowledge of good French and
English literature. The mother of the family would
find it a great comfort, as well as convenience, to have
some reliable person to help her care for the children
and share her work in the house. Chinamen very
rarely undertake any domestic work except cooking.
Therefore a good deal of the housework falls upon tho
ladies themselves. The greatest difi&culty is usually the
washing, but this is a branch of industry which China-
men will always undertake, and carry out with very fair
efificiency. The wood-chopping and water-carrying and
window-cleaning would be the work of the gardener.

If the businejs of farming in British Columbia is
wholly novel and untried, it would be well to get the
services of a good manager for a couple of years. The
wages would be an expensive item, probably amounting
to $45 a month, with board and lodging ; but if a really
good man, and one conversant with the country, were
secured, the outlay would be found to be a profitable
investment.

It is a good plan for the wife's sister to go out, and
add her quota to the little settlement ; but she should
be prepared to help in such work as cleaning lamps,
washing pocket-handkerchiefs, laces, collars, and cujffs,
and also in cooking of simple food.

Some arrangement should also be made with a leading
bookseller at home for the periodical despatch of goc^
new books, reviews, and newspapers. There is no reasou
why the country houses in British Columbia should
not have as good libraries as the old country houses at
home.

The chief gain in the life would be to the children.
Brought up thus upon a farm, they would learu many
things, which even if they were sent home to finish
thilr education in England, would not be lost, and

■4

( I

1; I'u

li'

BBITI8E COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

.11

would fit them to start in the Colonies. The money
saved out o' the income would he ready to give a start
to the boys in business, or help the girls in setting up
homes of their own should they marry. At the end of
the time, after the family is started, there would remain
the value of the farm, which, if it is further improved, as
it should have been by slow degrees, should fetch more
than it cost to purchase ; so that if the parents desired
to return to the old country and live there quietly upon
their income, they would be able to do so without any
sacrifice.

The one thing that a man in such circumstances
should beware of is speculating in gold mines.

When one considers the uphill struggle that it is to
many families to live as gentlefolks on small incomes,
the free life in the beautiful climate of British Columbia,
and the chances ofiered by a new country to boys with
small capital, ought to be made more of than they are.
The old custom which has obtained hitherto of sending
boys out to the Colonies to make their fortunes, or go to
the bad, cannot be too much condemned.

For older men, with some knowledge of the world, there
are opportunities in British Columbia as mining-brokers.
If they have a small capital to start with, and are pru-
dent in investing at the outset, they may be able to turn
their capital over with no small profit.

There are chances connected with mining, for men
who can manage mules or pack-horses, of packing goods
up to the mines. The best way to start in this business
is to bring out d£200 or £300 capital, and go into partner-
ship with a man who understands the business. The
profits are often as high as $100 a week to each share.

For electrical engineers there does not appear to be
much demand. It is, however, one of those professions
the name of which is given to — or assumed by— a very
large class, many of whom appear to know the business
very slightly.

In most districts it is common to hear complaints of
the scarcity, and sometimes of the inefliciency, of doctors.

oney
start
ignp
nd of
main
ed, as
more
esired
upon
it any

kances

It is to
comes,
ambia,
^s with
ey are.
sending
)r go to

., there
irokers.
je pru-
Ito turn

)r men
goods
business
^artner-
The
&hare.
Lr to be
[essions
-a very
isiness

lints of
loctors.

AGBICULTURE.

Though the climate is healthy, there are feverish locali-
ties; and typhoid and kindred complaints are by no
means uncommon at certain seasons in new townships.
Unfortunately, the medical man is a political appoint-
ment, a fact which is certain to degrade the profession.

The private tutor, so common in South Africa, seems
quite unknown in British Columbia. Probably this is
to be accounted for by the remarkably high standard of
the Free Government Schools. Certainly there is no
demand for them.

As compared with the North-West, British Columbia
is a far more agreeable country to live in. The climate
is not so severe, the scenery is beautiful, fuel is always
abundant, and domestic help in the shape of a
Chinaman or Japanese always obtainable.

Kanchers in the North-West make more money by
their business than those in British Columbia, for reasons
presently to be stated. It is no uncommon thing for a
farmer in Manitoba to cover all his expenses of
purchasing land and settling by his first year's crop.
But the life on these plains is very hard, and for the
women and children positively cruel. There is no
assistance to be had, except occasionally a Swede or
German ; who too often proves a broken reed. The
farms are isolated. Where all the housework and the
care of a young family falls on the shoulders of one
woman, who has no one to sympathize with her or
advise her during the long hours that her husband is at
work, life becomes hard enough to break the health and
spirit of an English girl.

As regards domestic servants, there are situations to
be had for girls of good character who have been trained
as general servants ; but, for the most part, Canadians
do not offer sufficiently high wages to induce first-class
servants to emigrate. This is the case especially in
Montreal, where I have known $11 a month offered for
a good cook, who was also to undertake light washing,
the dairy, milk the cow, and sew.

Except in cattle ranching, British Columbia is a very

!l 1

i" ;.

BRITISU COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

i i

I' ■.

■ ''

i!*

new country for farmers. In ranching, its best districts
are older than the North-West ; but owinj? partly to the
nature of the grass, and partly to the fact that it has
been overstocked, it can no longer be recommended in
the same terms with the North-West. In the Chil-
cooten district, on the North Fraser, in Cariboo, there
is good ranching country not yet appropriated ; and with
the mining development likely to take place, settlers
with small capital and no families would do well to
secure farms there.

The farmer would find it advantageous to bank his
capital, whatever the sum may be, saying nothing about
it to any one, and come into the country to work for
wages, and look about him for at least a few months.
He should be able to reckon upon having not less than
£1000 to buy an improved farm, and stock it. Before
coming out, he would do well to learn something of
fruit culture, especially how to graft and jirune fruit
trees.

For a farmer who can farm at all in England, British
Columbia would not be a hard country. But it would
be a waste of his time and ability to pre-empt land
at $1 an acre, and undertake the severe labour of
clearing it of timber. Owing to reasons to be hereafter
explained, excellent farms are likely to find their way
into the market at reasonable prices for men who know
how to select them.

Another class to be considered is that of farm
labourers, who come out without any capital. They
will find that during the summer they can earn
$2 * a day if they board themselves, or $1.50 if their
employer boards them. The meals are excellent, meat
and potatoes being given three times a day. At the
same time, it should be borne in mind that though
$1 at the rate of exchange represents a little over four
shillings, it is spent more easily in British Columbia
than half the sum would be in England. The wages at
railway laying, which are generally considered the lowest,

* About eight shillings a day. This nppliea tu Yale and tho Kootenays.

l^V'

'i^'*A.^./

farm

They

earn

their

meat

■At the

hough

Sotenays.

AGRICULTURE.

are J^2 per diem. The employment in fairly continuous,
but the cost of $1 a day for board continues, and
must bo met by the men during the "stops" and on
Sundays. If a man can save $1 a day, ho will do
well ; but at railway work they can seldom save above
the rate of 50 cents per diem. Miners are paid $3
a day in the mines, but it is very seldom that a
miner saves. They arc not a thrifty race, and plenty of
temptation is provided for them.

If a man emigrates from Great Britain in April to a
farmer who will require his services through the summer,
he should have saved enough by the autumn to pre-empt
a piece of land of not less than 15 acres.* lie will be
able to get help to put up a log hut stopped with clay,
warmed with a stove, and well provisioned before winter
settles down; and he can employ himself until the
spring in lumbering — that is, felUng trees, and clearing
land by burning the stumps and brushwood. In the
spring, after the frost has broken up, he will bo able to
plant some potatoes and sow alsike and timothy grass
between the charred stumps which he has not had time
to remove, and to work it into the ground with a hoe.
In July there will be a rough crop of very fair hay, which
ho can cut with a scythe in a few days and stack it,
dragging it up to tho stack on a contrivance used by
primitive settlers, and copied from the Indians of the
plains, called a travois, which consists of two poles
fastened on either side of a horse like shafts, and
connected with one another near the ground by short
boards or staves. This hay can generally be sold, and
for the first year it will be better to sell it.

The settler will have been able to plant enough
potatoes for his own use during the coming winter, and
the sale of his lumber, and such wages as he will bo able
to earn during the summer, ought to place him in a
better position before tho next winter. If he is able to

* Uii fortunately it ia iinpuHHiblo to pre-ompt very amull sections in
UritiHh Columbia. Tho amount vuricy in diilurent loculiti</8 ; in Liloct not
losu thuu IGU or ii20 acroa.

\ ■■;

i 1 1 ^'^

t i

7;! I

BRITISU COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

clear another piece of ground in the same way before
the following spring, ho should have quite two acres of
ground cleared. He should then review his position,
and make up his mind what he intends to do. There
are few parts of British Columbia which will pay entirely
without irrigation, and the amount of ground he is able
to irrigate will influence him largely in his decision. It
will also be well to consider his neighbours, and whether
they keep stock, and are likely to buy his hay. If he
has any bench land suitable for fruit it will be worth his
while to plant and fence a few trees ; and he should first
obtain information from the experimental farm at
Agassiz as to what kinds are likely to thrive. A small
orchard always enhances the value of land. On the
other hand, hay is an easy crop to handle and to dis-
pose of.*

The attempt to launch out into too large a style of
farming from the commencement has been the ruin of
many farmers. Like kings, they have gone to war with-
out counting the cost. It is not good business to make
an expensive start. If a man intends to create a large
millinery business, he does not buy miles of laces,
cambrics, and silks, and open an enormous house ; but he
puts his money into a small shop and develops it bit by
bit, as he sees trade coming. On no account should a
man borrow money or take a mortgage on his property.
He should remember that his cajntal is his own laboWf
and that it will pay him to sink in his land the surplus
which he cannot invest for a higher rate elsewhere.
With matters trending as they are at present in British
Columbia, an improved farm — or even a good clearing —
is certain to be worth money some day. The main
difficulty is for labourers to obtain work in the winter-
time ; but a man who has his ranch to fall back upon
can put in his time in felling trees, burning stumps, or
putting up fences. There is little doubt that in the
course of the next ten years he will be able to sell his

♦ The price of hay varies in localities aa well as eeaaons, from $10 to
$80 a ton.

»M»' L L-imi 3t: 'T ^mmm- ^>mm0■ •

ing—

Imain

linter-

upon

)S, or

11 the

[U his

I $10 to

AOIilCULTDRE.

farm for three times what he gave for it, and this money
will provide him v/ith capital in starting elsewhere.

When two brothers are together, a good deal of hard-
ship will be lessened, and the suffering of loneliness bo
avoided altogether. Only hard-working men need con-
template settling in this manner in British Columbia.

Before concluding this chapter something must be
said about the profits of agriculture. This is an
extremely difticult subject to treat. If we compare the
industry with that of gold, it does not make a bad figure.

The provincial mineralogist records the total pro-
duction of gold in British Columbia for all years from
its discovery to the present time as less than £12,000,000.
The wheat crop of Manitoba for the single year (1897)
is estimated at 21,000,000 bushels, valued at the lowest
estimate at £3,200,000. The price of land is much
cheaper there than in British Columbia, where no free
grants are offered : but the productiveness of the soil is
much greater in Piritish Columbia, and the quality of
the wheat superior to Ontario, and second only to
Manitoba Al. Cattle are not raised as cheaply in
iixitish Columbia as on the Alberta ranges, but the
following figures were given me by a man in Okanagan.
In that district men have from 500 to 1000 head of
cattle at a time. They run loose for three years, costing
$3.50 a head per annum. By the end of three years,
when they are fat upon the summer grass, they weigh
650 lbs. They are sold at $27.50 a head, which, after
deducting all expenses, and an extra dollar for the ex-
pense of bringing them off the ranche, leaves a clear
profit of $15 per head. Another man, who had a
small ranch of 300 acres, principally in fruit, told mo
that he expected — when the railway freights were lowered
and the business better organized — to reckon on au
income of not less that £500 per annum clear profit.

But it is the exorbitant price of labour which handi-
(aps agriculture at the present time, and helps to
render competition by the United States successful.

''f

'km

CHAPTEE V.

THE CHINESE.

'I! '

The heading to this chapter might have been " Labour "
— for the Chinaman is the cheap labourer of British
Cohimbia. But certain features render the Chinese
problem a different question to any which could come
under the head of labour.

It would be impossible to say when the Chinese first
came to British Columbia. They have been known to
wash gold in the mouth of the Eraser and in Vancouver
Island for years past, and their patience and care in
this pursuit renders the work profitable where the white
man and all his machinery prove an utter failure.*

The same may be said with regard to market garden-
ing. A Chinaman rents a piece of waste ground for
which no one else has any use, and under his careful
hands it becomes a veritable Eder. I never watched
his methods, nor did I meet any one who had done so ;
but I always saw them at work from sunrise to sunset
— Sundays included — and they used both irrigation and
manure.

I knew a man who once washed gold near some
Chinese on the sandbars of the Eraser. He found that
the Orientals made a clear profit, while ho himself
worked in vain — the gold being so fine as to escape.
The Chinese method was to wash the sand in their pan,
pouring off the silt by degrees, leaving the heavier gold to
sink to the bottom as more and more water was added.

* Vide placer mining in Vuucouvcr Island.

:^T

THE CniNESE.

»»

white

some
Ltl that
liinself
)3cape.
tr pan,
IgolA to

added.

The last dregs of sand containm^ the flower of gold was
brushed out with a tooth-brush (picked out of some dust-
heap) on to his old blanket, which John had calculated
he could spare, it beinp; summer-time. The blanket was
carefully folded up after the sand and gold had been
brushed well into it ; then at the end of the season it
was made up into a tight small bundle, a fire was
lighted underneath, which slowly consumed it, and the
gold being amalgamated was recovered in the ashes.

The Chinaman's power is this patient industry and
immense economy ; and yet, although these are two
distinct features which are needed in British Columbia,
it cannot bo said that the Chinese form a part of the
State, or have any interest in the country. As things are
regulated at present, it is diilicult to believe that even
their labour is an advantage ; but though it may seem
a paradox, it would be hardly possible to live in Jiritish
Columbia without them. The truth of the matter is,
that regarded in the light of a labour problem, it is not
the Chinese who are wholly right, but it is the British
workman who is partly wrong.

The colony belongs to Great Britain — not to China.
Climate and all other circumstances prove it to bo
eminently suited to British emigrants. China itself is
hardly more in need of an outlet for its surplus popu-
lation than is Great Britain. There are countless
hundreds of men and women in these islands who are
subsisting by the assistance of charity, or the aid of
crime — because of over-competition in the labour market.
Behind these there is an immense crowd who receive
charity in the form of hospital beneficence, or the partial
care of lunatic asylums supported by the State, whoso
cases, if investigated, would go to prove that their
disablement was due to over-work, over-worry, and
insuthcient food.

In God's Name — let nothing be said to diminish the
aid given to the poor of our own race and blood ; but it
does seem an inscrutable mystery that neither ikitish
men nor women emigrants are desired in British

\ !
}

f 1

» I '

' '

■ I

^■:i^

BBITISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEB8.

Columbia — of the working class. " As for your servant-
girls," said one Victorian lady, "I would not employ
them if they would work for nothing ! " " Thank you,"
said another, " if I could not keep a Chinaman, I would
rather be without servants." Finally, I am bound to
add my own conclusion, arrived at most reluctantly,
that the only way to be waited on efiiciently, or to live
in peace and comfort, was by getting rid of white
servants and employing only Chinamen.

Let it be distinctly understood that it is not only a
case of cheapness, but also one of efficiency. It is true
that white servants can demand, and do obtain, better
wages ; but their employment is so rare that they
cannot be reckoned as a class in the country, and
yet wherever they are found to have any merit they
are certain to secure situations. The tendency, how-
ever, is for the servant class to become Chinese, because,
as people say, ** They are less troublesome."

I have sometimes thought that the wages offered to
English servants are not sufficiently high to attract a
good class, which I know to be the case in Montreal.
Yet the class of Chinese who emigrate to British
Columbia are only the lowest dregs of their own people.
How comes it, then, that after centuries of durance vile
in the Celestial Empire, these creatures emerge to fill
at once — and fill very ably — domestic offices under
Europeans? It is impossible not to grant the China-
man a measure of respect, if not of sympathy. His
patience and industry, cleverness and dexterity, are
often allied with a fidelity to his white master practised
by few Europeans. I have known them become virtually
steward of the household, and looking after the master's
interest with laborious care. Moreover, they are ca:;^able
of attachment to their master's children, and, I believe,
may be trusted with them more readily than any
other coloured man.

Occasionally a morose or sulky Chinaman may be
* nnd, but the instances are rare. There is usually a
oility about the Celestial which makes him pleasanter

niw

TBE CHINESE.

are

ictised

l-tually

ister's

liable

siieve,

any

lay be
lally a
banter

to deal with than the Western barbarian. He is not
truthful. In common with all Oriental people, ho
romances rather than lies. Out of sheer desire to make
things pleasant for himself, and also for others — if pos-
sible, he either adds or subtracts a little. He is obliger'
to be honest towards the white men, whatever he may
be towards his own people, or his own people would
execute judgment upon him of a nature far more to be
feared than any white man's. They are capable of
learning cleanliness, and their memory is astonishing.
I never heard of a Chinaman who forgot anything.
Once show John Chinaman how you wish anything to
be done, and it will always bo so in future. Once read
a recipe to him, and it is posted under his shaven skull
for the rest of his days.

That they are often cruel — especially to one another —
is unfortunately true. What crimes they may commit
amongst themselves is never known ; inquiry would be
practically useless, for to Europeans one Chinaman is
so like another that identification is impossible. But
the small regret with which they hear of wholesale
deaths by shipwreck, fire, or sword, of their own
countrymen, is sufficient proof of the cheapness with
which they regard one another. A friend of mine in
Victoria told her Chinaman of a catastrophe which had
cost the lives of a number of his countrymen. It seemed
probable that the creature's own uncle was among the
number killed; but he received the news with glee.
"Chinamen die! Very good, very good! Too many
Chinamen ! " was his unfeeling remark. Yet this same
Oriental sobbed as if his heart were broken over the
death of his master's little son.

I never found one who had learnt to tell the time by
the clock ; but, as cooks, they seemed to know the hour
by what was going on around them, and get ready
accordingly. Not that they will admit their inability
to read the clock. They avoid it by saying something
pleasant. " Tell me the time, John," I cried as I ran
to catch a tramcar. "He teatime," replied John,

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

cheerfully, and vanished. He knew I liked tea ; but it
was about eleven o'clock in the morning. There is a point
in the Chinese character which is always anti-pathetic
to the British — and that is the love of dramatic effect.
No one can be quite sure when John is not acting a
play ; and though at proper times and seasons we most
of us like good acting, the place we do not want to find
it is in our own kitchens and gardens ; nor do wo care
to be drawn into the business, and made to take a part
whether we like it or not, and that at any hour.

Probably the chief reason for this theatrical display
is the humdrum creature's aspiration after a grandeur
and distinction he will certainly never realize. But he
visits his own theatres, and studies effective recitations,
till his method of relating even the commonest incident
is highly dramatic, notwithstanding his pigeon English.

A kind old lady wanted some soup made to take to an
Englishman who was ill, and told John to make it
nicely. John grunted. "He sick!" he exclaimed,
shaking his head with a deplorable air of despondency ;
then he briefly remarked, with a graceful wave of his
hand, " Too little rice — too much whisky I "

There is one point in which they are apt to become in-
corrigible, and that is their extraordinary superstition. I
believe that many of their inexplicable ways are traceable
to this cause ; as, for instance, the making of presents,
which appears to be an invincible mania. A Chinaman
who may be one's cook, or on whom one has no claim
whatever, suddenly presents one with a China bowl, or
a silk scarf — just as an old and affectionate friend of
many years' standing might give one some trifling
memento or keepsake. These gifts are apt to embarrass
the Englishman. The action is not prompted by affec-
tion, nor by the spirit of friendship. I believe it to be
a mere matter of business. It is done to offer propitia-
tion — just as libations of cold tea are poured out before
the shrine of some dead ancestor. There is something
strangely material even in a Chinaman's superstition.
Some tangible gift or offering has to be made. On the

THE CHINESE,

lamaii
claim
)wl, or
lend of
trifling
)arrass
affec-
to be
|:opitia-
before
^ething
stition.
In the

outer table of the joss-house in Victoria there were
bundles tied up in red silk handkerchiefs, and Canon
Beanlands, who went with me, said that he believed
them to represent offerings or gifts.

Absolution for sin cannot be given without the sins
themselves being caught and destroyed, and the best
means to do this is to print them on pieces of paper,
place them in paper boats, and consume them in a
furnace built in the joss-house for the purpose. The
fact that two large joss-houses are supported in
Victoria, mainly — it is surmised — by the fees paid for
the consultation of omens, is sufficient to indicate the
immense superstition of the Chinese. Canon Beanlands,
with whom I visited the joss-house, described to me the
proceedings usual on these occasions, with such circum-
stance that, though he had never consulted the oracle,
I believe he had been a close witness of the ceremony.
He attributed much of the evident respect he enjoyed
amongst the Chinese to his name, assuring me that
**Can-beelan" had a distinctly Chinese sound about it.
The first part of the consultation, according to Canon
Beanlands, consisted in prostrations in the outer court
of the joss-house and libations of water poured upon a
carved stone, or altar, brought from the Celestial Em-
pire itself. The next thing was to take from the altar
of sacrifice — on which stood vases of paper flowers, the
red silk bundles already described, and innumerable
candlesticks — two small pieces of wood, each about the
size and shape of a kidney. These are held in either
hand before the altar of libation, and thrown suddenly
upon the floor. Much depends upon the positions they
assume, which are either encouraging or the reverse.
Then a small vase is brought, and revolved rapidly
between both hands, until a certain number of spills
contained in it are thrown out. After this a visit is
paid to a small office at the back of the high altar,
where a ticket is purchased, very similar in appearance
to an ordinary railway ticket, and on it is printed the
answer to the inquiry.

' .

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS,

Their notions of a divinity seem extremely vague.
The joss-house contained one image — that of a benevo-
lent, good-looking old Chinaman; but whether he was
" the old man of the sky," or Confucius himself. Canon
Beanlands had never been able to find out. They object
very strongly to being told that they will "no go sky."
And whenever a Chinaman did anything very trouble-
some, such as bringing back my linen from the wash
only half clean, and very highly scented with the same
atrocious perfume he used on his own person, I found
the most effectual rebuke was to tell him that he would
**no go sky " if it happened again.

After all, fear of the devil is their strongest belief ; and
here comes in the incorrigible element of which I have
already spoken. It is mixed up in some manner with
the worship of the dead. At all events the Chinese
prize their dead very highly, and it is commonly said
that a dead Chinaman is worth more than a living one.
This being the case, it is not surprising that the devil
should be particularly active and on the alert in the
hour of death and at funerals ; or that he should
frequent graveyards and cemeteries.

In the public burial-ground outside Victoria where
Chinamen are buried, there is a brick oven for the
roasting of their pigs, which is a favourite offering to
the dead. The place is often rendered untidy by the
scraps of paper, with remarks printed upon them con-
cerning the evil spirit, which the Chinese cast behind
them to distract the devil's attention as they walk in
procession. The offerings to the dead are less bountiful
than they were at one time, because the noble Bed
Man became cognizant of what went on, and chose to
picnic by moonlight among the tombs — which fact
became known to the Celestial.

There is a bitter animosity between the two races, who
can never be made to understand one another. The
Indian is a sportsman — a gentleman of leisure — to
whom work, especially menial work, is extremely un-
congenial. No Chinaman I ever met had a single

THE CHINESE,

sporting instinct; penurious, mean, commercial, and
industrious, he despises, hates, and, I believe, fears the
Red Man. Yet such strange things happen that once
a Chinaman actually married a squaw. They had
been married about three years before I arrived in
Victoria, and during my visit there was a tough
divorce case proceeding between them. It caused
plenty of commotion down at the docks, where the
Chinamen are all taken stock of, and held in some kind
of check by the interpreter Li Mun Kow. Both parties
had nothing but the worst to say of each other, and the
Bishop became drawn into the squabble ; for either side,
or else the children, had been mixed up with some
missionary society. Finally the Chinaman threw up
all his goods and all his children to get rid of his squaw
wife, and departed beggared, and it is said embittered,
to the Celestial Empire.

Such an incident would be sure to be known amongst
the Chinese, and increase their aversion towards the
Indians. My friend Mrs. Dupont told me a character-
istic story of the two races, which shows how at variance
are their feelings and ideas. It happened that the
Duponts were camping out, and at that time and in
that neighbourhood the Indians were permitted to bury
in their own manner, which consisted in setting their
dead brave up in a tree wrapped in his blanket and
with his gun by his side. A funeral of this description
was going on all one day, and the Chinaman whom
the Duponts had brought with them took care to keep
close to the camp-fire while the Indians were howling
in the forest. In the evening it was cold, and the
moon rose clear and bright. The howling had ceased,
John took courage and became his old self. Before bed-
time it struck Mrs. Dupont that they ought to have
some more wood handy for the morning, and John —
according to her instructions — took the axe to go and
cut some. Suddenly hideous yells rent the air, and
John, with his pig>tail fiying, came tearing into camp
mad with terror. Quieting him as well as they could,

'j^5

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

the Duponts at length elicited that he had seen the
devil himself sitting in a tree. The following morning
John departed, taking French leave.

The difficult point with the Chinaman is that no one
can foresee the hour when his service may terminate.
The utmost that can be done is to secure that his place
shall be immediately filled by one of his countrymen.
But in cases of the ill-timed interference of the devil
being the cause of John's disappearance, it is by no
means easy to secure another Chinaman in his place.
If a death is about to take place in the house, John
is pretty certain to withdraw discreetly. Some time
before I came to Victoria a case of the kind occurred.
The mistress of the house was known to be dying,
and a lady friend, who knew the Chinaman as an
old servant of her own, spoke to him, and warned
him not to leave his master. John promised to be
brave, and probably his intentions were good. The
lady died, and John did not run away. She was
buried, but John remained busy in his laundry ironing
clothes all day. The next morning, however, he was
nowhere to be found. " So after all, John, you ran
away," said his old mistress, meeting him subsequently.
"Missi, I see devil." "Oh no, John." "Missi, me
see devil ! " " What did he look like, John ? " " Missi,
she bury. I iron clo' in laundry. My little lamp he
burn. Devil, he come; and — puff— he blow out my
lamp. I run away." "But what did the devil look
like, John ? " " All same's Englishman — black coat,
white collar — all same Englishman. And puff — he
blow out my lamp ! "

This fear as to the power exercised by the devil does
not deter the Chinaman from exhuming his own dead
and taking them back to China. For the most part,
their bones are packed into barrels, nailed down, and
shipped as ordinary freight. I could not understand
how they could force themselves to perform this work,
till it was explained to me that the Chinaman's fear of
the devil is no greater than his fear of the departed. I

TEE CniNESE,

came at last to the conclusion that the Chinaman has
no courage ; and I believe that they are only made to
fight by the fear of what will happen to them if they do
not fight.

They are acknowledged to be very difficult people to
understand. I tried to ascertain what kind of class
emigrated to Canada, and I was told that there were
three — the merchant, the labourer, and the student.
I asked the nature of the studies pursued by the student,
and I was told that he was trying to take his degree.
This degree often occupied him his whole life, as he had
to maintain himself at the same time; so that one's
laundryman, or gardener, or cook might be burning
the night oil in pursuit of the degree. I asked what
advantages it bestowed, and I was told "Nothing: only
the pleasure of having it." But the nature of the study
surprised me most of all. It consisted of Chinese
history. " And Chinese history," said my informant,
" is everlasting ; and no one knows quite the whole of
it, because it is so old." The wisdom of our own
degrees and their classic studies has been questioned,
but I felt speechless before this pathetic waste of toil —
the heroically endured privations to obtain a barren
honour — which this account of the Chinese student laid
bare before me.

The Chinaman is permitted to exercise no political
rights in British Columbia ; and this is a wise measure,
seeing how ignorant he is of Western civilization,
and how alien he always remains. He is furthermore
taxed upon entering the country for the privilege of
coming there to do work which no one else will do as
well, and for wages no one else will accept. This poll-
tax is $50 entrance fee, and in addition he pays taxes
annually to the amount of $8 a head, besides $2 for the
maintenance of schools which he may never use. In
some quarters these sums are considered quite in-
adequate, and it is suggested to raise them at once to
$50 per annum. In the case of students and merchants
who bring letters of identification, the capitation fee is

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

remitted, the intention being to place a restriction upon
cheap labour in favour of the European as against the
Asiatic.

Both the object and the origin of this movement is
perfectly obvious. It is the working class who are afraid
of Chinese competition. They maintain, in self-defence,
that the Chinaman is injurious to trade by purchas-
ing little or nothing in the country, and by shipping
his savings back to China. With regard to the charge
of draining money to China, it does not seem pro-
bable that more than $1,000,000 are sent to that
country annually. If a class of maid-servants were
introduced, more money would be spent upon millinery
and clothing, but the difficulty would be to provide
servants which people in British Columbia would accept
at the wages they offer. Keally good servants of high
character are not likely to emigrate, unless very great
inducement is offered them. Besides, the Chinaman is
amenable to the emigration agent at Victoria, and if he
behaves in a way to bring himself into disgrace with his
own people, his fate is practically sealed. He is sent
bar.k to China, and never heard of again. There is no
society capable of dealing out discipline of this kind to
white emigrants; and until those who argue against
the Chinaman are prepared to pay for something better,
and provide not merely suitable servants and labourers,
but likewise the machinery for enforcing discipline, it is
useless to talk of getting rid of the Chinaman.

During the summer of 1897, farmers in the Lower
Fraser, who had ripe crops spoiling and contracts to
fulfil, were offering $3.50 per diem for white labour,
and did so in vain. The white man complains of want
of work at certain seasons, but he says nothing about
the high wages at other seasons. Because $3 a day are
paid in mines, he expects the same rate of pay elsewhere
always. The usual complaint is want of work in winter-
time, and on farms the rate of wages in summer-time
varies from $25 a month, with board, to $30. What
would a labourer say in England to £1 5s. a week, with

^PPF

THE CHINESE.

sleeping accommodation, besides ** three meals a day,
and all of them dinners," as one of them once admitted ?
One morning in mid-winter a man called at the ranche
of a friend of mine, and asked for work. " I can put
you on to some fencing, at $1.50 a day," said my friend ;
but the offer was rejected on the score of the lowness of
the wages, and the man went away.

What the labourers do not see is that the sum to be
spent in wages depends upon the success of the industry,
and is at all times a variable quantity, according to
profits. They maintain that winter wages ought to be
at the same rate as summer wages : that a farmer
should put by in the summer a suflficient sum to pay
the same rate of wages in winter. This is absurd — for
the farmer offers the high rate in summer-time to
attract labour and to obtain skilled labour of the kind
he requires. It is another example of the aversion
displayed by the working class to having a premium
put upon excellence, and emphasizes the desire which
they openly express for levelling the good workmen
down to the same rate as the second-class hand. The
very reverse should be the object of the Unions. They
should endeavour to render workmen more skilled and
more capable of holding their own against cheaper and
more industrious and more dexterous workmen else-
where. The attempt to debase labour is so unnatural
that the results may be totally different to those ex-
pected by the Unions. It is already sufficiently
difficult to obtain good workmen in many trades, and
consequently greater encouragement will be given to
inventions of machir^ery or processes which shall
diminish the necessity for manual dexterity. The
indifferent workman must always be little better than
useless. The fact of ladies in British Columbia pre-
ferring to do their own house-work, rather than employ
bad servants, indicates the* it is not by levelling down
work that more employmt. . is made or better wages
obtained.

That the Chinaman forms no basis for a market is

.1:

BItlTISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

not exactly true. He lives principally on rice, which
is imported, and so far the shipping industry benefits ;
and it is on his account that the mills for dressing raw
rice were erected at Victoria, and are able to do a good
business. His clothes — though cut after the orthodox
Chinese pattern — are made of materials bought in the
country.

While we are considering the subject of the Chinese,
it is useful to examine the actual working of the strange
embargo laid upon them by the Legislature. The $50
entrance fee is refunded if the Chinaman leaves the
country before he has been there six ,iOnths. This
naturally obliges the Chinaman to stay when he has
once forfeited $50, until he has accumulated a con-
siderable sum. It is at least probable that the $50
are borrowed from a rich man of his own race, and
that he pays a pretty high rate of interest out
of his weekly wages. This acts very adversely on the
labour market, for if there is one thing absolutely
necessary to save working men heavy losses, it is auy
system which renders it difficult for them to reduce
competition in the labour market at the shortest
possible notice. Again, nothing is so disastrous to
capital as not being able to secure all the labour it
wants immediately occasion for it arises. The taxes
simply act so as to prevent any relaxation of immigra-
tion when competition is highest, and yet provides a
deterrent against the Chinaman's coming in as a relief
when wages rise to an injurious figure.

Nor is this all : for the misfortune of money being
drained out of the country is actually called for and
rendered necessary; for these taxes prevent a China-
man from bringing his wife into the country. Any
inquiry as to how bad this may be for bis morals in
this Christian land, is not necessary to our purpose.
But the effect upon our finance is, that he sends his
wages back to China, which is a very profitable business
for him, considering the rate of exchange — as, speaking
generally, forty cents of Canadian money is worth a

THE CHINESE.

being
and

Jhina-
Any

als in

hundred in China. Thus, a man who earns fifty cents
in Canada, can send fifty away and yet have fifty to
live upon. This of course supposes that they transfer
then- savings in gold. Yet another inducement to drain
money out of the country is offered them by our legis-
lation. Most of the Chinese in British Columbia ure
agricultural labourers. Hero comes in another im-
portant element. All these men have a hankering to
possess a little piece of ground of their own. But the
Columbian law prohibits them from acquiring it. A
few take up land under long leases, and at heavy rents ;
but others find it better to transfer their savings, and
purchase land in China.

The better-class Chinaman must perforce live in
Chinatown. " I cannot live in the country," said one
of them to me. "I could save $5 a month if I did,
and have a pretty little garden for my children besides '*
(and how a Chinaman loves a garden ! ) ; " but if I did
there are rough boys who would annoy my children
and break my windows." Yet this man was actually
a British subject. His children were born such; he
himself naturalized. His children attended the English
school ; he was himself in a position of trust and uni-
versally respected in the city. He spoke the truth;
for the brutal ruffianism of the idle whites to the Chinese
is well known in Victoria. It can only be hoped for the
credit of this loyal colony that these scoundrels are
from the States, for it is hard to believe that the British
ideal of fair-play could bo violated by British subjects.

The present alternative to the Chinaman is white
labour from the States. It is impossible to avoid com-
parison, however odious, and, touching this subject, the
Chinaman has one distinct point in his favour, that
already alluded to as the system of discipline exercised
over him by his own people. They are supplied to who-
ever requires them by labour contractors, who can
furnish them on remarkably short notice to perform any
kind of work. In a new country, such as Canada, these
agencies are extremely convenient.

jit.

1:1

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB BETTLEBB.

But it is neither with public convenience nor with
justice that the white working man concerns himself.
Not many years ago an experiment was tried of intro-
ducing Chinese into the coal-mines of Vancouver Island.
This caused an uproar, and the masters gave in. Then
this astonishing result followed, that some of the miners
employed Chinamen to go underground for them, paying
them half their wages and engaging themselves in other
pursuits.

The Chinaman is, « course, a substitute in a British
colony, and once more I insist that he is only there so
long as the British decline to qualify themselves to take
his place. Unlike the Japanese, he has nothing in
common with ourselves, and he does not rise to a higher
level than the gratification of his animal nature. China-
town is an offence to at least two senses — sight and
smell. It reeks of opium, and is suggestive of low
gambling-hells. There sit the fat "merchants," who
are probably deep in usurious practices of the most blood-
sucking description. It is impossible not to suspect
that the hard toil of many a poor John goes to increase
the paunch of some of these fat tyrants who sit lurking
like spiders in their dark and silent dens, concocting in
their minds webs for the unwary. Yet be it remembered
that many of these men have invested large sums in the
country, and are deeply interested pushing trades which
are shipped in English bottoms, and which but for them
would not be existing to-day.

It is said that the middle-man trade of Victoria is
passing into the hands of the Chinese. If so, the con-
dition of Victoria will be similar to that of Capetown
under the Malays. With the bonus on their savings
offered by the rate of exchange, it would be dangerous
for individual European settlers to compete against
them. It is said, with truth, that the Chinaman is
honourable and fair as a business man, and no thief.
It is quite as true that he practices these virtues as
part of his rules of business, and that he is all this
as long as his interests lie that way. It is an utter

TEE CEINEBE.

jiiistake to extol him as a tradesman for merely showing
himself at the best as good a man of business as
another. It is a policy of danger which permits the
exploitation of a market by an alien and less civilized
race — only out of timidity and from want of proper
business perspective.

;■

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.'i

■«™-sa»/^;-^L'~'*i~«»L!rte!i5iK^ts*«

CHAPTEB VI.

,i:

1,; (

THE RED INDIAN*",

Although the North American Indian does not play
the same role as the Kaffir in South Africa or the
Fellaheen in Egypt, he abounds in Canada in sufficient
numbers to oflfer a clearly visible entity. It would be
impossible to consider the country without him, espe-
cially as he represents the race which once owned it all.
The most that I learnt about the Indians was from
Government officials, though I also met some missionaries
and others who took a private and philanthropic view of
them.

Government agents — for one purpose or another —
abound everywhere in Canada. They are courteouspeople,
but I found them overwhelmed with anxiety concerning
their duties, which they invariably informed me consisted
of writing reports, etc. Somehow they recalled the story
of the debutante who believed herself so much admired
that she spent all her leisure time in composing refusals.
One of them inquired, in a tone of deep despondency,
whether I thought any one would read my book on
British Columbia. I replied, with becoming modesty,
that his literary experience was greater than my own,
that the British public was not a thing that any one
could speculate upon. But that considering the way " On
Veldt and Farm " had been received, I ventured to hope
that " British Columbia " would prove acceptable.

Than! a to these gentlemen's efforts, it is impossible to
move far in Canada without having a "Report" presented

TEE BED INDIANS.

to one ; and many of their works are very interesting
reading. By far the most entertaining ii that on
** Indian Affairs." There are portions of it which
suggest that the authors are qualifying to become
novelists. At all events many of the little touches here
and there might point a tract for the S.P.C.K.

It is continually asserted that the Eed Indian is dying
out. Of this there is no actual proof. Owing to various
causes, diseases have decimated some tribes or bands
more than others. They certainly die more frequently
when their conditions of life are changed suddenly, or if
civilization is forced upon them. There seems an idea
gaining ground that it is chiefly in the transition state
that the Indians die. Neither those who live the old
wild life in the north (and very few are left who lead
even approximately the life they once led) ; nor those
who have learnt how to manage three-storied houses —
ventilate them properly, and keep them clean — and to
nurse their children through civilized ailments such as
measles, are dying out. But with those in the
intermediary stage it is otherwise. They send their
children to sit for hours in stifling schools, and sleep
with them under the old wigwam at night ; they dress
neither in the old way nor the new — but half and half.
They gorge themselves with tinned provisions because
the deer are scarce, the buffalo all gone, and they are
too lazy to keep cattle or poultry. These people die in
great numbers. Consumption is the most prevalent
disease, but scrofula is also common. It has been
conclusively proved that consumption is contagious, and
not hereditary, and every effort is made to keep down
the ravages of the disease. Small-pox has been virtually
extirpated by unremitting vigilance with respect to
vaccination. So that from all accounts it would seem
as though the rapid decrease of the Indians has been
checked if not finally arrested.

The Indian population in Canada generally has been
estimated as 100,027, but from reading the reports I
conclude it must be very difficult to get accurate figures.

iii

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BRITI8K COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

Speaking as a traveller of such things as came under my
notice, I could not but bo struck with the immense
trouble and the great expenditure which the Canadians
lavish upon the Indians. They have been left tolerably
free agents in the matter. Perhaps all their measures
have not been wise, and some have proved disappoint-
ing in their results. All their agents may not be
equally well qualified for the difficult and often dangerous
work of administration. The broad fact, however,
remains, that the Canadians have never spared
themselves in their endeavour to do the best in their
power for the Red man, and if possible do something
more than merely compensate him for the loss of his
country and his old way of living. I do not believe —
whatever defects there may, be — that Imperial Govern-
ment itself could have done better than the colony has
done ; and I suppose not even a German or an American
will question Imperial Britain's success in dealing with
dark races, as compared with themselves, or, indeed, any
nation. I am told that Canada was left to her own
devices on this point. If so, the natural impulsv. 'le
has followed must endear her more than anything else
(her natural wealth, her great geographical position,
her commercial importance not excepted) to one who is
the Mother of Nations.

I never heard a Canadian say a single unkind thing
of an Indian ; but, on the contrary, they were anxious
to befriend and protect them. And all this they have
done in spite of the example set them in the Eepublic
over the border — acting, it would seem, out of the
sturdy independence of their character, which I found
a most lovable feature in their disposition, and which
proves their close kinship with my own people.

The Indian has been a difficult problem even of its
kind. He is courageous — not merely by nature, but
also by education, or rather training ; armed almost
equally with the white man ; at one time incomparably
more numerous than the whites ; extremely skilful
in the warfare best suited to the country ; quick of

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ladians
)lerably
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i,ppoint-
not be
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owever,

spared
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Govern-
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In of its
ire, but
almost
barably
skilful
luick of

TEE RED INDIANS.

apprehension, and treacherous to friend and foe ; in-
credibly cruel, and a slave to the most debased super-
stitions. Such was the noble Eed Man by nature.
^ The case has been further complicated by the pseudo-
civilization of the half-breeds, who united the vices of
both races without assimilating a single virtue. Nor
must the effect of drink be omitted, and the utter ruin
of mind and body which followed in its wake.

So long as the buffalo existed, the Indians lived by
the chase. A cruel, wasteful hunt it was, by no means
deserving the name of sport. The creatures were
destroyed anyhow, merely for their hides, sometimes
only for their tongues. The superstition of the Indians
was partly to blame for the senseless massacre. They
believed that if one animal — no matter how young —
escaped from a herd, that he would tell of the Indian's
method of hunting, and warn all other herds. Thus, to
save themselves trouble, a whole herd would be harassed
and driven over a precipice ; where they were skinned,
and their tongues cut out, while some of them were
still alive.

At this rate the herds were soon wiped out, avcl the
support and amusement of the Indian was gone. Then
he began to grumble at the white man, and grumbling
led to fighting. The white man had taken his country,
and he could not live.

The problem for the white man was how to fit these
wild creatures into some rank in the new constitution of
things. How were men who looked upon the mere
suggestion of any kind of work as a gross personal
insult, to be fitted into a modern industrial community?
How were the roving huntsmen of the boundless
prairies to be converted into farmers ? How were the
banditti of the mountains to become
citizens ?

A suggestion has been offered that they would have
provided a first-class cavalry regiment — and so far as
horsemanship and dash would go, there can be no doubt
of their qualifications — but who could possibly discipline

law-abiding

''■i 'a

\'\M

BBITI8H COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

them? The slightest acquaintance "with the Esd men
impresses one directly with the impulsiveness of their
character. Neither were their services as soldiers re-
quired in Canada. It is •uoreover, tolerably certain
that, without a strong mu^.^ry force in the country to
control them, they would have been puffed up with their
own importance, and a source of perpetual danger and
unrest.

The part of native policy which has received most
liberal censure is that which was probably started with
the most generous intentions. It is that of the payment
of subsidies towards the support of those bands who
came into treaty with the Canadian Government.
Various objections are raised against the system, and
few of them are without foundation. The payment
does not reimburse the Indian for the losses inflicted on
him by the white man ; it offers him no encouragement
to improve his condition ; and it tends to make him a
spendthrift — in fact, it has the usual bad effect of
pauperizing charity.

Where the Indians are thrown upon their own re-
sources — but at the same time receive encouragement
and instruction — they have made wonderful progress
towards supporting themselves. The first necessity
was to cut off all supplies of intoxicants. This is still
extremely diflOicult along the American border ; but the
exertions of the North-West Police have entirely pre-
vented the running in of alcoholic liquors by traders to
the Indians of the North-West. Alongside with the
prohibition of intoxicants is the work of education in
schools, which receive every assistance and suijport
from Government, independent of the religious body
which controls them. The country is divided into
districts, with agents and superintendents who watch
over and promote the welfare of the Indians, and are
responsible to Government for their good behaviour.
It is not too much to say that these agents take the
greatest pride in advancing the improvement of the
bands or tribes; and wherever I went I was struck

((

TEE BED INDIANS.

with the pathetic confidence which the Indians reposed
in the discretion and wisdom of the agents.

The work of reclaiming the Indian and establishing
him as a self-supporting factor, and, if possible, drawing
upon him for at least a portion of the labour so greatly
needed in the colony, is a very slow business, requiring
inexhaustible patience.

" The Indian in his natural state," says Mr. Hayter Reed,
" would undergo wonderful privations and fatigue in the
chase ; but when he had returned to discharge the fruits of
the hunt at the door of his lodge, he considered his labours
as ended and that he had earned a well-deserved rest, while
the remainder of the work, however hard, was to be done by
his squaw ; so he is now unwilling to exert himself for a
lengthened period, particularly if the results cannot readily
be seen. Without much difficulty an Indian can be induced
to cut hay or cut firewood, where he knows they are readily
sold for cash; but to get him to make hay in the early
stages of rearing small herds, when he is not allowed to sell,
becomes a much harder task."

This gives a picture of the watchful patience in the
slow work of instructing the wild Indian to farm — and
surely never was a harder task taken in hand ! Here
is a passage taken from the Eeport for 1896 : —

" Tbi-ough a great deal of watching and patience, the loan
system, as applied to cattle in the North- West Territories,
has been brought to work admirably among the Indians. This
system, in a few words, is the lending to the Indians of one
or two animals, upon condition that, at the expiration of a
certain time, he will return to the department an equal
number — these in turn being loaned to others. So successful
has this system proved, that many individuals have managed
to collect about them herds of sufficient size to permit sales
to be made, bringing in ready cash ; thus the Indian, who
for a long time remained sceptical, has become aware of the
value of stock."

Throughout Canada there are lands reserved for the
exclusive property of the Indians. And these tracts are

;1|

VMVIII

B1UTI8H COLUMBIA FOB 8BTTLEB8.

some of the richest and best in the country — notably
the Shuswap Keserve in West Kootenay. These lands
are frequently a trouble to the settler, who is neverthe-
less compelled to defer in this matter to t'le Indian.
They are usually unfenced, and ic pleases the Indians
to keep running loose upon them herds of utterly useless
wild cayuses, sometimes called ponies.

" I may point out," says the Report, speaking of one o£
these reserves, " that if the magnificent grazing arcAS which
this reserve possesses could be turned to account for the
growing of cattle and sheep, and the irrigation area utilized
each year for the growth of a certain fodder crop for these
cattle . . . the future of the Indians comprising this land
would be very bright. On the Blackfoot Reserve it at once
suggests itself to the visitor, that if the large band of ponies
which the Indians have, and which are practically useless,
could be exchanged for cattle, the position of the Indians
would be greatly improved."

Cattle raising is eminently an industry suited to the
Indian; and since it has been started amongst them
they have taken to it with astonishing zest. They not
only prefer the work of looking after stock to any other
employment; but they realize the necessity of taking
good care of their cattle in winter-time, erecting shelters
for them, and putting up hay. Many of them have gone
even further than s! ^ck-raising, and raised crops of
turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables.

The women i^ave their share in the improvement.
In place of the original hut or wigwam there are now
houses, well constructed, with shingle roofs, and divided
into apartments. Some of them have staircases, and
bedrooms upstairs. These houses contain cooking-
stoves, tables, chairs, and bedsteads ; and many of
them are enclosed in neat fences with gates. A feature
in these homes is the woman's sewing-machine of the
latest style ; and instead of curing hides, the making of
butter, and bread with yeast, and the raising of poultry,
are the tasks assigned to the squaw.

■A-

otably
I lands
rerthe-
^ndiaa.
ndians
useless

' one o£
,B which
for the
utilized
or these
his land
t at once
jf ponies
f useless,
) Indians

id to the
rst them
JChey not
,ny other
if taking

shelters
ave gone

crops of

THE RED INDIANS.

Their bread, I was told, was very good. Their butter
is at all events marketable.

Still it must not be supposed that the task of civilizing
the Indian is by any means accomplished. It is still
a question how far the noble savage may survive the
infliction of civilization. There are hundreds who
cannot endure the white man for any time. It amuses
them to visit his store and sell a few furs ; with the
proceeds of which they smoke, and lounge about gossip-
ing, and showing off their latest beaded finery. They
will bet and gamble and drink — if they can. But two
days is the utmost limit of their endurance. " They are
tired of the white man and his ways " — in tru';h they
despise and dislike him ; and so they gallop away again
to their squaw and their wigwam — for they !Vie muato
Home-rulers, and care nothing for the Empire.

In this state, with his wild trappings, feathers, and
beads, he forms the most romantic feature in Canadian
life. His actual origin is lost in obscurity; but the
type of the pure-blood Indian of the plains is Aryan,
and if they come from the Orient, it should be from
India rather than China or Japan. He has a tall,
lithe, majestic figure, holding himself with a haughty
air. He walks, moves, and rides with dignity and
grace. His voice is very musical, and particularly soft
and low — unlike any other human voice I ever heard.
There is as much caste among Indians as any other
race of men, and they deeply resent a liberty.

In religion he is a mystic, and it is difficult to
believe that this mysticism, which spreads itself out
over all nature, can be effaced by Christianity. With-
out knowing it, the Indian is a poet. Will he be
silenced, when his forests are felled and his rivers
harnessed to mill-wheels ? That God dwells all round
him is the belief of the Indian of the North- West ; but
He is chiefly in the mountains; and when the clouds
descend upon the mountains, it is God coming down
to talk with men. There is, besides, the hidden life of
a spirit in every stream or strange rock, and the forest

1 ■»"

■ i

^ i':

'f j#-'f

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

is inhabited by many apirits. Now it is a wicked man
whose evil deeds God arrested by turning him into a
mountain ; or it is an angry father who, in the form
of a river, pursues and drowns his daughter and her
lover. Lakes are very frequently the abode of evil
spirits, who are compelled to remain there. They are
harmless unless any one ventures to catch the fish or
to row or swim in the water. Those who are drowned
in these lakes are lost for ever, because the devils seize
them. Thus there are trails it is better to avoid, since
they pass close to lakes which must never be fished ;
and mountains it would be impious to ascend.

Before the advent of the white man in British
Columbia, when the Indians followed their "own sweet
will," they had many practices and customs which have
now become almost obsolete. There was a great love
of mythical narrative, mixed with tradition, sometimes
taking the form of complete chronicles, and probably
the stories came from the Orient. The well-known
allegory about the man, the water-rat, and the beaver,
who were saved from the flood, bears a striking analogy
to the history of Noah. While others, such as the
story of the crab and the crow, indicate a trial of
strength between two heroes, who learnt thereby to
respect each other. This is especially suggetced by
the invariable use of totems, and the ancestor-worship
practised among these coast tribes. The story is as
follows : —

•' For many years the crab and the crow were at enmity
with each other ; but they are now fast friends, and this is
the reason. One day tiie crab was on the seashore, and the
crow, happening to come that way, jeered at the cmb because
he could not fly. The crab waited patiently till the crow
came close i»o him, and then he shot out his long arm and
caught the crow by the wing. To this he held fast. Mean-
time the tide began to come in nearer and nearer, and the
crow became more and more afraid lest he should be drownod.
He begged and implored the crab to let him go; but the
crab said, ' No ; now is the time for us to see which is the

:'l

I. .y ,

TEE BED INDIANS.

better fellow.' So ho hold him fast. Then the water washed
all round them; and the crow became quite wet and was
terribly afraid. So the crab had pity upon him and let
him go. Therefore this ia the reason why these two, who
were once enemies, are now good friends."

Legends as fine as this are sure to inspire artistic
feeling; and the coast tribes to-day still carve very
beautifully in stone as well as wood. They also work
their own desig- . in gold and silver — in fact, the power
of design is very marked in these people. In their
ingenious devices for fishing-hooks and tackle, made
by utilizing thorns or the teeth of marine monsters
sharpened on the rocks and bound with ligaments or
gut, and in many similar adaptations the dexterity of
the coast Indian is abundantly proved.

These tribes appear never to have lived in wigwams,
like the Indians of the mountain and the plain; but
in long wooden houses, in which whole clans lived
together. Supporting the gable in front of the house,
but towering high above it, was a gigantic totem-pole —
probably a tree with the top cut off. From top to
bottom this totem-pole was carved with devices, sup-
posed to be the aeraldic bearings of the chief's ancestors.
One above the other can be seen the familiar Indian
signs of the owl, the eye, the beaver, the frog, the
raven, the stag, and so on. At the bottom of the
totem-pole was a large hole, through which entrance
was effected into the house. There was, in the old
savage days, a sanctuary offered by the totem-pole. If
any fugitive — even the chief's bitterest enemy — should
contrive to pass through the totem-pole into the house,
he was safe.

Among these coast Indians, cannibalism of a peculiarly
gruesome description existed until comparatively recent
times ; and in some of the remoter parts of Vancouver
Island it seems highly probable that, if left to them-
selves, the natives would revert to these odious practices.
The custom evidently referred to an occult mysticism
of a character no trace of which appears on the plains.

; i:

i V'-

, ;■■;

«•

100

BniTISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

The disgusting proceedings usually commenced with
a dance. The Indians were assembled by a herald
in the shape of a hideous old crone, known as " the
dance tempter." Moved by innate malignity, this old
wretch would appear with her frightful "properties" of
old bones and horns clattering round her decrepid and
often deformed person, and a wand of office in her
hand. Seating herself among the young braves, who,
if left alone, would probably have been harmless, she
would commence a droning noise through her closed
teeth. After a time this song and the periodical
waving of the old witch's wand would so act on the
young men's nerves that they would get up and dance,
throwing themselves about and becoming wilder and
wilder till a blind frenzy of devilment overmastered
them. The end was the death of some poor slave-girl,
whose destruction was probably the old witch's chief
object. This unfortunate creature would be pursued
simultaneously, set upon, and torn limb from limb,
while her murderers fastened their teeth in the living
flesh.

Cannibalism of this kind no longer obtains, being
forbidden by British law ; but it is by no means certain
that on some of the islands the temptation offered
by dead bodies washed ashore is always resisted ; and
there are people living who witnessed the winding up
of a native dance by the eating of a live six-weeks-old
puppy. The Indian who seized it, began at the nose
and gnawed right through it to the tail.

A certain allowance must be made for these Indians
on the scote of their raw fish eating habits. The teeth
of every one of them are ground down evenly, it is
said, through eating clams, which they dig out of the
sand of the shore.

The subject of their dances is an interesting one ; but
owing to the discouragement shown by the British,
these ceremonies are dying out. There was an attempt
made to hold a "sun dance" last year, but it was
practically a failure.

»'l^-.*«iii;***'-'i-.»'*.>'»'-y»- 1**V- - 0-.T?'— ;^.-l i i* M - * t--<

THE RED INDIANS.

101

At some of these dances polytheism was traceable.
There was, for instance, the frequent use of masks
carved to represent the heads of birds or beasts of
prey — the eagle, the wolf, and the dog being special
favourites. The jaws or beaks were ingeniouBly made
to move and clap, while the jaws of the wolf wore
furnished with rows of iron fangs. There was a dance
called the "wolf dance," in which they dressed entirely
in wolf skins and wore wolf masks. This was an
especially savage affair, and invariably concluded with
the hunting and tearing to pieces of some wretched
human being.

No doubt the inventive genius and ar.'stic taste of
these Indians has assisted the authorities In the task
of civilizing them. From weaving and dyeing it was
easy to pass on to needle-work, and from carving to
carpentry. It was found more profitable to dig potatoes
than clams, and the succulent vegetable was preferred
to the gritty clam.

To ascertain what development has taken place among
coast Indians, we will take some figures from the Keport
for 1886 of the Cowichans agent (Vancouver Island) : —

"Tride or Nation. — The Cowichans are a branch of what
has been termed the Salish nation, which formerly occupied
a large extent of land in Washington State as well as in
British Columbia.

" Vital Statistics. — There are nine hundred and ninety-
two males, and one l ousand and thirty-seven females, of
whom five hundred and seventy-two are children. There
have been sixty-two births, and thirty deaths. No cases of
immigration or emigration. Increase in population, com-
pared with previous year, is thirty-two. Deaths were confined
to the old people and very young. Bronchial and pulmonary
affections were the principal cause.

" Occupation. — Employment is found in the following
occupations — mixed farming, including the cultivation of fruit,
these Indians having planted over a hundred fruit trees
this year ; fishing ; hunting ; working at canneries and saw-
mills; making fishing-boats and canoes, fishing-nets; acting

102

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

as pfuides, packers, and boatmen for sportsmen, etc. Tho
women make mats, baskets, dress deer skins, make moccassins,
knit socks, and are clever at needle-work.

"Education. — There are three hundred and fifty school
children of school age, and six schools, one industrial and
the rest day schools.

" CHAiiACTERisTics AND PROGRESS. — Thcso Indiana are in-
dustrious and intelligent, good farmers, shrewd traders,
expert fishermen, and are apt at learning trades. They aro
fairly tempcrute and moral.

"Statistics. — Value of personal property ... 173,050
Acres under cultivation ... 2496

Acres of new land broken ... 114

Total value of real and personal
property $810,608"

As may be gathered, these coast tribes are not horse-
men. They fish and trap, and their legs are cramped
and bent with sitting in the bottom of their canoes.

So far as furnishing a working class for the white
man is concerned, the Indian cannot at present be
reckoned upon. A good deal depends upon the indi-
vidual white man's power of handling the Redskin.
The chief point is to hold steadily to whatever agree-
ment is made, and whilst leaving kindnefs entirely
alone, to be patient with their Indian peculiarities.
Chenook — the language used by the Hudson Bay Company
— is easily acquired, and will be found very useful in
making arrangements with Indians for fishing, hunting,
hop-picking, herding, or fruit-gathering.

The Indians in British Columbia give no trouble,
and their government is a purely civil affair. Tho
use of force is quite unnecessary. But it must not
be supposed that this is the case in the North-West.
The outbreaks which occur from time to time there,
are sometimes attributed to superstition or similar
causes ; but the fact is that there still remains a
great deal of bitterness against the white man; and
unfortunately the half-breeds increase this feeling.

The matter of the half-breeds is a disagreeable topic.

.^i£m

TBE RED INDIANS.

103

It is said that it was onco the policy of the Hudson's
Bay Company to encourage the marriage of their factors
with Siwash women as tending to identify the Company
with the country. This was many years ago, when the
results of such alliances were not as manifest as they
are to-day. Certain it is that there is nothing to
snggest that marriages formed in this manner at that
date were of the low and revolting character which
occasionally obtains to-day. In this, as in a good
many other things, there is a great deal in the way
the thing is done. It is quite impossible to condone
the conduct of Englishmen who have lived with Siwash
women, begetting by them families of children, which
they afterwards deserted, when they found it possible
to marry a white woman. The strangest part of the
case is that men are usually far more devoted to the
Siwash woman than to the white wife. It is the hankering
after respectability which leads them to forsake the one
for the other, and the desire to have white children.

It is most pitiful to think of the half-breed children,
and the bitter struggle of the two natures fighting
within the one individual with no helping hand stretched
out to aid. It is not to their discredit that they do
not forsake their mother's people — even though the
bitterness against their sires may result in such an
outbreak as the Eiel rebellion.

Much may be said to palliate the ofTence of these
relationships in the early days, which cannot be advanced
now. Still this discreditable conduct is not so uncommon
as could be wished. It exists especially on the frontiers
of civilization, prior to the introduction of publfj opinion,
before wl" ch men quail. ** Do the squaws still rule the
roast?" >va8 the question I heard asked respecting the
Klondyke.

'i'

CHAPTER VII.

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY.

'fi 1;

r ^ '

In compiling my notes on British Columbia, I was struck
with the fact that they were of two kinds— the one
consisted of the categorical rehearsal of my travels;
the other, added to independently, gave a general or
bird's-eye view of the country. I saw no real assimila-
tion of the two, and therefore I decided to classify them
as well as possible, giving first some chapters on special
subjects, and afterwards the history of my travels — such
travels as any one else might make who did not go as a
tourist, but to spy out the land.

This plan is somewhat on the same lines as my book
on South Africa ; and though the arrangement has been
criticized, I think it has its advantages, for in spite of
some things said against it, I heard on the whole more
in its favour. With my reader's permission, I will now
start upon a rapid sketch of the travels I u^^dertook
during the four months I spent in British Columbia last
year.

It was late in the afternoon of the 3rd of June that
the s.s. Parisian, of the Allan Line, bound for Quebec,
left Liverpool with about forty-five first-class besides
intermediate and steerage passengers.

I was glad to sail by this line — the old pioneer line to the
loyal Dominion of Canada. Although many emigrants
still travel via New York on the White Star and Cunard
Lines, they probably do so through ignorance. Even
for the smarv tourist, it is well worth while sacrificing

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERAHT.

105

New York for the pleasure and privilege of the trip up
the St. Lawrence river and the approach by water of
the grand old city of Quebec. For those who intend
making Canada their future homo, there can be no
reason for going round by New York. To begin with, it
is a waste of money, and secondly, there are admirable
arrangements made by Government for assisting the
emigrants who land at Quebec, and for furnishing
reliable advice.

Our party on board was a quiet one. There was a
Governor and his lady who were going out with their
young family to represent her Majesty in a distant part
of the Empire ; a general, his wife, and his aide, who
were bound for Halifax ; Dr. Eobertson, the Presby-
terian superintendent, returning from a missionary tour
in Scotland ; and the rest were made up of Canadians
who had often made the trip before — some of them as
many as forty times — travellers like myself, and the
inevitable naval officer going to join his ship at the
other side of the world.

The first part of the voyage was neither cold nor
stormy. Moville, where we put in for mails, looked
lovely after the soft rain of a June night, with the yellow
gorse all ablaze upon its green hillsides, and the sea-
birds skimming over the still grey waters.

I soon became at home, and found my way all over
the ship, having made the acquaintance of the ship's
steward, Mr. Hardman, who took me through the
emigrants' quarters, as well as into his own special
departments of the cook's galley and the storeroom.
The accommodation for the emigrants is especially good
on this line. I took occasion to ask several of the
passengers as to the treatment they received ; and they
one and all spoke with entire satisfaction. There was,
of course, a great mixture — Eussians, Finns, Swedes,
Norwegians, Poles, as well as Scots and the irrepressible
Irish. It was remarkable how, in the close compass of
a ship, each nationality kept apart. The company
endeavoured to arrange for the comfort of them all

m
.1 ■

•An

'(:

106

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

individually. I found that the Russians brought their
own bread in their boxes in sufficient quantity to last
the voyage.

In the first-class many of the ladies brought their
own tea, and a supply of cream, which was kept for
them in the cold storage. It was customary for the
saloon of an afternoon to be divided into small tea-
parties of "private teas." But the "private teas"
began very early, for, as I went to my bath at seven
o'clock, I found Miss Adams, the Scottish stewardess,
who is a familiar character on the Parisian — indeed, I
doubt if the ship could go to sea without her — busy over
the ** private teas." Miss Adams had all the loyalty of
a Scot, and the whole of it was given to the company.
Whatever was " the Allan's " was perfect, whatever was
not "the Allan's" was despised if not derided. The
"private teas" came in for a large share of contempt;
and one morning I was asked to be judge, and offered a
cup of each. But two large bowls of tea at that early
hour were too much for my courage; besides, I must
admit that I should never have dared to give the case
against " the Allan's."

" We've got very great people on board with us this
time. Miss Adams,*' said one of the lady passengers,
referring to the Governor and his suite.

" But naething to what we had coming oot," responded
Miss Adams with alacrity.

" But who may they have been ? " exclaimed the lady,
who, being a loyal Canadian, could not raise her ideas
above a representative of the Queen.

" A-weel," replied Miss Adams, lingering over the
triumph of the moment, "it was jist the Allans
theirsels."

There is a little too much of the tendency to place the
line above criticism, at all events on the part of the
line itself ; and the inevitable result has been the calling
into the field of fresh competition. So far as the
emigrants of the intermediate and steerage were con-
cerned the line compared most favourably with others

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY.

107

by which I have travelled ; but the first-class was in-
commodious and badly ventilated — in fact, left with the
clumsy, old-fashioned ideas of twenty years ago. The
thing which helped to smooth one's lot, and enabled one
to forget the imperfections, was the extraordinary civility
and readiness to oblige of the whole ship's company.

On Sunday we had service in the saloon, which was
taken by the emigrant chaplain. The ships on this lino
always carry a clergyman of the Church of England free,
if there are a certain number of emigrants. He takes
care of them, so far as he is able, during the voyage,
and hands them over to the chaplain of the Emigration
Bureau in Quebec. This is a most excellent plan. It
affords a curate from the slums of our great cities the
opportunity for a thorough change such as he might not
otherwise secure. It also gives a clergyman of our
Church a chance of visiting one of our colonies, seeing
something of our emigrants, and gaining an insight into
the thoughts and feelings of our settlers.

The voyage was uneventful. There were the usual
icebergs, fogs, and whales ; but eventually we got safely
into the great river which is Canada's principal water-
way. It is scarcely possible to convey any idea of the
magnificent effect of the St. Lawrence. Other rivers
may be larger, but few possess such a stirring history ;
moreover, it is in future the direct highway over British
territory to the ancient splendour of the Orient. Of
Canada it may be said that the Canadians themselves
appear unaware of the riches and grandeur of their own
country. The beauty and magnificence of the scenery
is certainly more appreciated by the emigrant than
the native.

Meantime we were running full speed up the great
waterway, and the transcendent greatness of the country
gradually unfolded itself before us. The shore was high,
and covered to the sky-line with dense pine woods. At
length we came to a part which had evidently been
cleared long ago. There were spires of churches, which
glittered in the sun, being made of plates of copper, and

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108

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLES S.

little white villages, with red roofs, and herds of small
cattle grazing on the flpts. There was a line of little
white woode'^ houses, eacii with its strip of land running
down to th( river. The population was French, for it
was the province of Quebec.

Then, on the morning of the 12th, we passed the
falls of Montmorency, the island of St. Charles, where
Wolfe first landed, and lastly we came to the ancient
citadel of Quebec.

It is not my intention to describe this town, though
I stayed there on my return, and enjoyed my visit
extremely; suffice it saying that the place is brimful
of historic interests, besides occupying a site of un-
common natural beauty. There is a very fine hotel
there, the Frontenac ; and few holidays could be better
spent than in exploring the Edinburgh of Canada and
its environs.

I landed for an hour or two to make the acquaintance
of Mrs. Corneille, who, with the chaplain and Mr. Le
Bel, was waiting to meet the emigrants. I had messages
to deliver from Mrs. Joyce and Miss Lefroy, and I was
most kindly received and shown the excellent arrange-
ments made for sheltering emigrants and assisting them
to find occupation. The characters of all emigrants are
closely scrutinized, and those with faults likely to render
them a burden rather than an assistance are returned
by the next ship. I soon had a proof of the vigilance
exercised, in the close investigations persisted in with
regard to the character of a poor girl, whom I would
gladly have helped to a fresh start in the new world.
It seemed a little hard, but I think on the whole they
are right. "The Colonies," said Mrs. "^orneille, "are
no place for the feeble, either mentally, physically, or
morally. If they cannot keep their feet under the close
supervision of the old country, they will assuredly fall
where there will be greater temptations, and infinitely
greater hardships at the commencement of their
careers."

As usual, a good many passengers left the ship at

!L'-"

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY,

109

I wa3
mge-
them
its are
render
turned
dlance
L with
would
world,
e they
are
lly, or
close
ly fall
nitely
their

lip at

Quebec. I believe this is frequently due to ignorance.
They fancy that they have reached Canada ; and some
among the emigrants left the ship there to go on by rail
to Montreal. This was much more expensive than if
they had gone on by boat ; and I do not think that they
saved enough time to justify the expenditure.

A word of advice may be offered to people about to
take this voyage, and that is to make up their minds
before starting at which port they mean to disembark,
and have their baggage addressed accordingly. The
Allan Company have an elaborate system by which all
the passenger baggage is classified and described ; but
it is extraordinary how many packages come on board
without either name, address, or distinguishing mark of
any kind. What with passengers landing at Kimousky,
Quebec, and Montreal, it is greatly to the company's
credit that there are not several losses every voyage.
In addition to this difficulty, passengers change their
minds as to their port of landing during the voyage, and
expect to have their luggage brought up and put ashore
for them quite correctly, from any compartment, shelf,
or locker to which it has been consigned. The company
supply labels for passengers, which need only be filled
in and affixed ; but it is a distinct advantage to have
the full name or some device painted upon the baggage.
When it is remembered what hundreds of brown port-
manteaus and cabin trunks are turned out annually
by the same makers, it must be obvious how difficult
it is for the company's servants to avoid confusing
Mrs. Brown's non-addressed luggage with Mrs. Jones's
ditto.*

It was four o'clock on the following day, Sunday,
when we reached Montreal, and having made my peace
with the customs officers, I presently found myself
driving through the streets of a clean, well-ordered city.
The names over many of the doors were French, as were

* It ia no uncommon thing for the company to find as many as sixty
unaddreBBcd and unclaimed packajiies loft ou their hands at the end of a
single voyage.

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110

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

those on the corners of the streets ; and public notices
were written in French and English side by side.

My destination was the Windsor Hotel, and here I
met with my first experience of the worst item in
Canadian travel — to wit, the Transfer Company. I had
been quite willing to leave my heavy baggage to the
care of these people, but I had taken a fly from the
docks with the express intention of carrying my cabin
trunk, hold-all, and hat-box with me. I3ut I was un-
prepared for the arts and devices of the Transfer
Company, who, while my back was turned, ran oflf with
my belongings, handing the brass checks, of which they
kept the tallies, to one of the ship's stewards, who
chanced to be standing there. The steward gave me
the checks, and told me that I should find the baggage
at the hotel as soon as I got there myself.

This was far from being the case. I had neither
sponge, nor brush and comb, and no means of tidying
myself, and no book to read. There I was kept for two
mortal hours awaiting the arrival of my baggage, for
the transfer of which I was charged a dollar. I had
a good mind not to pay this imposition, and should
certainly refuse to if it happened again. But these
transfer companies play with the C.P.K., as well as
the shipping companies, as a cat plays with a mouse ;
while the unlucky passenger fares the worst. At one
place in my travels I went up to bed with two smart
hats, and nothing else in the world. I had clung to
my hat-box, and kept it ; but my other effects did not
reach me till the next morning, and only after I had
rung the bell and demanded them several times.

The hotels, or at any rate the porters, play into the
hands of the Transfer Company. It is unavailing for the
wretched traveller to exercise forethought. No matter
how early he rises, or how soon his baggage is addi-Gv^sed
and sent down to the hall, the Transfer Company takes
it upon their van, and proceeds on a round o*' calls,
arriving at the station with a vast truck load of odds
and ends, at the very bottom of which the first baggage

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY.

Ill

tices

3re I
n in
[had
3 the
1 the
cabin
,8 un-
tinsfer
t with
ithey
1, who
ve me
iggage

neither
tidying
:or two
ige, for
1 had
should
these
ell as
LOUse ;
At one
smart
|lung to
Lid not
I had

taken up is buried. Perhaps they arrive only three
minutes before the train is due. In the heat, crush,
and confusion, the probability is that the baggage never
gets checked at all.

The city of Montreal struck me as the finest colonial
town I had seen. The sun was shining brightly below
a mass of deep black clouds, which hung above the
pine-covered mountains to the back of the town. The
maple trees all round the square fluttered their bright
green leaves — they stood there on the edge of the
smooth turf, unfenced and unenclosed, and threw a
light shade on the grass or pavement. Gaily dressed
people and children, in Sunday clothes, were passing to
and fro. Behind rose the great mass of the Eoman
Catholic Cathedral, and I could see a stream of nuns in
black attire passing out of the sunlight through a side
door in the wall. Stopping an electric tramcar, I
jumped on it, and away it went downhill at a tremendous
rate.

As we flew past I saw a great block of grey granite,
built in Norman style. This was the railway station
and chief office of the C.P.K. From this point all the
affairs, down to the minutest details, of the great high-
way to India, China, and Japan were directed and
controlled. I tried to picture the distance the line
covered, and the obstacles it overcame ; and this, with
the great river up which I had passed, gave me a sense
of immensity such as I had never experienced in all my
travels. I seemed to have planted my foot on the first
step of an undertaking which went, with the winds of
heaven and the currents of ocean, as part itself of the
force of Nature.

Then down into the city we rushed, swinging past the
red-brick pile of the Great Trunk railway station, and
past the bank of Montreal. But here 1 left the car,
being anxious to see a little of these usually busy
thoroughfares in the quiet of Sunday afternoon.

The city was founded by an expedition of fifty-seveu
persons under Maisoneuve. Amongst these adventurers

112

BBlTISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEB8.

was a Mademoiselle Manco, who brought with her a
donation of a quarter of a million francs. This was the
great time of French colonial enterprise, a spirit which
the growth of Republican sentiment appears to have
extinguished. The fur trade, and subsequently the
lumber and grain, have rendered the city so prosperous
that the bank of Montreal is reckoned the richest bank
on the continent. There is a touch of dramatic interest
in the situation of this bank's chief office. It stands
immediately opposite the cathedral of Notre Dame — the
oldest cathedral in Canada — and the space lying between
them, now bright with flowers, and planted with young
maple trees, is the old burial-ground of the pioneers.

I stood for a moment before the statue of the spirited
Maisoneuve, in the graceful fantastic dress of his age ;
his small wiry figure full of life and energy, as he
advances, holding a flag. It was thus he landed and
founded the city of Mont Eoyal, on the island on which
the English in 1535 had found an Iroquois village
called Hochelaga.

I had not much time to spend in Montreal, and the
following day I devoted to discussing my plans with the
officials of the C.P.R. and to making final arrange-
ments for my journey.

I was deeply interested by my visit to Sir William
van Home. It was like listening to a fairy tale to
hear him talk of the great enterprise of the C.P.E. —
how it grew out of the idea of the federation of the
provinces, and how as it went on through an empty
and almost unknown country, kindred commercial enter-
prises sprang up alongside of it; first lumber mills,
then grain elevators, then warehouses for the people's
food ; then the cattle trade with the States and Europe,
and the growth of cities on the prairies, with hotels and
private residences. We talked of traffic which came
over the line, and the boundless possibilities opened for
the shippers on the coast of the Far West, and of
the inland enterprise in the gold, silver, copper, and
other minerals. Together we saw the bright future of

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY.

113

centuries to come, unrolling before our eyes, when we
ourselves should be no more.

I saw in Sir William van Home one of those rare men
who are the genius of their age — who can dream dreams,
and work out their realization. This man worked like
the artists of old, laying on each touch with care and
precision — knowing what had to be done, and doing it
perfectly. Over his face, as I watched him speak, I saw
a thousand expressions follow one another. It was like
watching a rock — always the same, and yet the light
brought out new meanings and interests — only the
light in this human countenance shone from within, for
it was a great intellect which illumined it. At last,
when we had talked some time. Sir William sat silent
for a few seconds, and then he said, "And now it is
finished — so far, at any rate — so far "

The sentence remained incomplete. His hand rose
and fell on the writing-desk beside which he sat, and by
the smile on his face — wistful, regretful, triumphant —
I concluded to myself that he saw his own term of
usefulness was finished, and that his work no longer
needed him.

"And you?" he said, suddenly turning to me again.
"Go through to the coast — go through to the coast"
(how often must those words have rung in his mind !),
"and when you get back here, come and see me again."

" What did you think of Sir William van Home ? "
some one asked me afterwards.

I replied, " I should enjoy seeing some one try to sell
him a gold brick."

The chief agricultural market of Montreal is the Bon
Secours. It opens soon after daybreak, and I determined
to pay this market a visit.

Accordingly, the next morning a little breakfast was
brought to my room at a quarter to five. This meal
over, I went down dressed in a grey ulster and sailor-
hat, walked a little way towards the city, and then
engaged a cab. The vehicle was a victoria, and I found
the old driver so interesting that I stood up inside and

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BlilTISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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held on to the box talking to him, as \vc went along
down to the city. He gave me much information.

The market of the Bon Secours is a lai-ge building
situated on the quay, but some distance from the main
railways or the residential part of Montreal. All round,
in the streets outside, the country people station their
carts— for which privilege they pay twenty-five cents
each time, or take out a licence for the year. These
carts bring in local market-garden produce, such as
poultry, flowers, eggs, and vegetables. There is no
auction, but the stall-keepers inside the market, and
shop-keepers from the town, come to the carts and
bargain with the country people for whatever supplies
they require.

Inside the building the lowest floor is occupied by fish
salesmen and ice stores ; the floor above is entirely
devoted to meat and fresh pork ; while on the third
floor the stalls provide poultry, eggs, etc.

This old market was built long prior to the railways,
but is well situated for supplies coming across the water
by boat from the prairie. A good deal of produce comes
in by small carts from a distance of forty miles. Many
of the country people arrive over-night, and sleep at
little old-fashioned inns near the market, with odd
French names on their signs. A few — the aristocracy —
own stalls within the market; but for the most part
the stalls are branches of the shops in the town
itself.

In winter-time the country people drive over the ice
in their own sleighs, bringing in onions, potatoes,
turnips, and hard fruits. The spring trade is the most
paying, consisting principally of salads, rhubarb, and
anything which can be raised quickly in frames or
under glass. There is another market in winter, near
the railway station, where fruit and vegetables are sold
which come in from the States.

The meat market interested me particularly. It is
supplied from Ontario and the ranches of the North-
West. The beasts are sold alive, by weight, at thq

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERART.

115

market belonging to the corporation, and slaughtered
in the ahattoires belonging to the corporation. These
abattoires are rented by the butchers, sometimes two or
three tradesmen joining together to rent one abattoir.

The price of the best cattle (from the North-West)
is 4 cents per lb., live weight.* Those from Lower
Canada are inferior, and are paid for at a lower rate.
It appears that this inferiority is not only a matter of
breeding, but also of condition. They are very often
young immature beasts, or stale cows.

The best cattle in Canada, and always the largest
and heaviest, go across the sea to England. The
reason of this is that the regular freight is £2 per
head for the crossing. They are sold by weight the
other side, and thus it answers better to send a heavy
beast for £2 rather than a light one.

The quality of the meat, as I found it in the hotels,
was by no means first class. This may have been duo
to the cooking, which appears to be a medley of French
and American. You are given a menu for breakfast,
beginning with varieties of corn dressed as porridge;
and "fried frogs* legs," sure to be an item when in
season, is boldly announced in plain English. I always
sighed over the beef steaks, feeling that somehow a
respectable beef steak could not be cooked in the same
kitchen with corn porridge and frogs' legs.

Many of the stall-holders in the market of the Bon
Secours cannot speak a word of English, but they were
very friendly to me, especially one little old man who
had a very large butcher's business near the centre of
the market. He saw that I was English, and forthwith
befriended me. Believing that I intended opening a
stall, he offered to walk round with me and point out
to me the features of the market and the way business
was done.

•; ShalJ I tell you why I like the English ? " he asked,
taking my arm confidentially as we walked downstairs

* Since writing this, I have heard that r.U cattle are sold at private
sales at an average price of 3J cents per lb., live weight.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

to visit the fishmongers. " It is because I have made a
good bit of money by them."

This was intended as a high compliment, for presently
he added reflectively, " Yes ; there is always money
where the English are. They make a stir up, and they
Btir till the money comes."

" It surprise you very much — no ? " he continued,
" to hear me speak English so perfect. But I did not
marry a Canadense ! No— not I ! I did marry from
the States — and her father was Irish. So I made a
good mix ! Then I who am little have sons that are

big ! "

He had a taste for horse -racing, which was another
link between himself and the English. He kept his
own race-horse, and had ridden it himself very suc-
cessfully. His business was evidently a large and
prosperous one; and he showed me his clean, well-
filled refrigerator and cool chamber with the same
pride that he spoke of his " good mix " and his race-
horse. He gave me yet another proof of his prudence,
and the far-sightedness which had doubtless been a
feature in his career. "I have a daughter," he said,
straightening himself as he spoke, probably because he
was " little," " who is a professed nun, and a son who
is a member of Parliament."

He was puzzled and perplexed to find I had kept a
cab waiting outside ; but as I was getting into it he
stopped me to ask what business I meant to open in the
market.

Meanwhile my old driver was in great distress, and
not disposed to let me stay there another minute. ** If
you put your money into a business in this country on
your own account you will lose it," he said. " There
are too many rogues here. But I will give you a safe
piece of advice, which was given me when I came to this
place by a man whose name was Samuel, who was in
the fur trade, and came from Liverpool. * Look on all
men as rogues,' said he, * and yourself as the biggest
rogue, then, perhaps, you won't lose your money.' "

COMMENCEMENT OF ITINERARY.

117

He began to look upon me as a rogue in good earnest
when I told him to drive mo to the Windsor Hotel, so
thoroughly had he taken me for a future market-
gardener of 8ome description. And when I paid him
the faro he asked for without abatement, I left him
staring at it ; but on looking back I found he was watch-
ing to st 1 if I really went up the steps into the "Windsor.

I did so, but turned round and waved my hand to him
before I disappeared.

Among the people whose acquaintance gave me special
pleasure I cannot omit mention 'ng Mr. Hosmer. Tho
whole time I spent in Canada I felt more or less under
Mr. Hosmer's watchful eye — or I should say within the
hearing of his ear — and on my return to Montreal his
office was so full of interest that I was there nearly
every day. IMr. Hosmer is the incarnu-tion of telegraphy,
and conveys the idea that he carries a battery inside
himself. To be in his office is to sit in the centre of the
world, with messages of all descriptions flashing round
one, and coming down on the telephone from the ends
of the earth. He is so enthusiastic in his work that he
contrives to make one feel as though one were working
the concern with him ; and must perforce succeed, how-
ever novel the occupation may be. But his interests
are wide — as well as the system over which he presides.
For instance, we settle down to discuss his pet subject,
to wit the extension of the cable to Australia. Somehow
I am made to feel as if I were already at the bottom of
the sea with a coil of copper wire in my hand, awaiting
instructions. The difficulties with the Home Govern-
ment, and tho raising of fresh capital, have all been
settled with a characteristic wave of the hand — when
suddenly a violent ringing on the telephone causes
Mr. Hosmer to apply his ear to the machine, and in-
stantly his face is suffised with smiles. It is a Mary
whose beloved has just proposed to her ; but th 3 mamma
objects, and Mr. Hosmer is implored to come to the
rescue. The next moment we are in the middle of a
discussion on the mines of Kootenay, interspersed with

118

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

an a'^count of a difference between Tommy and his

papa, which Mr. Hosmer is making up by wiring mes-
sages on his own account of dutiful apology on the part
of Tommy, and fraternal forgiveness on the part of papa.
" But where are we ? " " "We are in the No. 2 vertical
shaft of the War Eagle." ** No, we are not ! We are
in the Monte Christo ! Look at the map, I say ! " But
the next moment we are careering round the room hunt-
ing for Lake Okanagan, which is hanging up on the
walls somewhere, to find the Kelowna valley, when
suddenly, in awe-stricken tones of heartfelt regret, I am
told that Dick has had **a row with his wife," and
that both parties are equally to blame. In company
such as this, Canada really becomes a small place, but
its interest is vastly increased.

CHAPTER VIII.

FROM OTTAWA TO WINNIPEG.

In the evening I proceeded to Ottawa, wliicli I reached
about midnight.

This town, the seat of Government, is small and
sleepy. The Government buildings and House of Par-
liament, and the river choked with timber below the
great saw-mills, are the chief features.

The House of Parliament is not an impressive edifice.
It is a graceful building in pseudo-gothic. Inside, the
rooms and chambers are mean and rfmall. There is a
stall for refreshments of a very common description in
the vestibule.

Although the House was in session, I had no oppor-
tunity of hearing a debate or making the acquaintance
of the legislators.

The next day I went to the Experimental Farm, about
three miles outside Ottawa, and spent a very interesting
morning with Professor Saunders. I returned in time
to start by the afternoon train for Winnipeg.

The scenery was a mixture of dense wood, intersected
with farms which were strangely English in appearance.
Now and again one appeared to have been only recently
hewn out of the forest. I saw snake fences, for the first
time, stretching their zigzag lengths beside the railway.
There were charred stumps still standing even in pas-
tures which appeared to have been laid down some years ;
and I was pained and distressed again and again at the
cruel waste of burning such valuable timber. The crops
of corn were green, and very flourishing, and remarkably

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120

BBITISE COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEBS.

free from weeds; and there was a comfortable, safe,
happy appearance, which made one forget how little
developed — in fact, how nearly savage this country
really was.

The whole history of the settler's life was rehearsed.
There were new-comers squatting in log cabins, with
the trees burnt and slashed. Then some draining of
swampy hollows — a thing which is very necessary in
Ontario, where the wheat often suffers, owing to the
damp coupled with late frosts. Then came the two-
storied wooden house with gables, and strongly built
log sheds for the cattle, surrounded with fenced fields
of many kinds of crops, pulse, roots, cereals. Occasion-
ally I saw a tastefully built homestead, smart with fresh
white paint, with red-tiled roof, and a veranda, stand-
ing in a trim flower-garden, with a flourishing orchard
behind it, and the long ridge roofs of comfortable build-
ings showing over the tops of the apple trees.

The train was travelling up hill, and the air became
fresher as we ascended. Soon we left the plain entirely,
and entered the forest. Great out crops of rock showed
themselves between the pine, larch, and silver birch.
Dense masses of bracken, and clumps of other ferns
overhung the quiet pools and brown mountain torrents.
Still we swept on through scenery measured by mile-
long lakes, and mountains whose hoary summits cut
the sky-line high above the forest. The wood became
denser, and I revelled in its vigorous growth — the rich
brown greens of the spruce, and the tender feminine
grace of the silver birch and aspen. Soon we came to
foaming rapids, swirling through dark chasms, and at
last the setting sun showed amber and crimson —
turning the trees a rich madder against the clear sky.

Then the moon came out, and shone white and clear
over a scene of silence — a weird land, smitten with death
and blighted with disaster. For a whole mountain-
side, which had once been clothed with a beautiful pine
forest, was naked and bare. The trees stood in death,
white and spectral, for a forest fire had swept through

FBOM OTTAWA TO WINNIPEQ.

121

them. It was a scene for Sintram and his companions ;
and I looked out, fancyinpf I could see the white horse,
and the curious black evil thing crawling along beside
the knight.

It was Thursday afternoon when I left Ottawa, and I
reached Winnipeg * on Saturday afternoon at about four
o'clock.

I was tired of the train, and of scenery which was
becoming monotonous, and it was with a feeling of
exultation that I stepped out once more into a city. It
was marvellous to find broad thoroughfares, handsome
buildings, and shops which compared favourably with
those at Montreal. I consigned my baggage to the
inevitable Transfer Company, and walked out to take a
tramcar down the main thoroughfare to the Manitoba
and North-Western Hotel.

I noticed with delight that the streets were spanned
by gigantic triumphal arches, covered with spruce fir.
Men were busy hanging up flags and adding the last
finishing strokes of scrolls, shields, and wreaths. Private
houses and shops vied with one another in bunting and
gay streamers. Every kind of loyal sentiment found
expression in good wishes to the whole royal family, but
the legend which was most frequent was the old familiar
one, " God save the Queen ! " It was the preparation
for the Jubilee.

As soon as possible I left the hotel to go in search of
Dr. Eobertson, who received me very kindly. We
started off together to visit the new park across the river.
He showed me the ruined arch which is all that is left
of old Fort Garry, and we went to the Hudson Bay
Company's stores and had tea. Dr. Eobertson is a
most interesting companion, and his knowledge of the
country is so thorough that the whole time I spent with
him I was laying in stores of information.

The next morning, soon after breakfast, I went to call
on Mr. Baker, of the Manitoba and North-Western
Railway Company, and went to church with him and his

* Winnipeg is 1424 miles by rail from Montreal.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

family to a most impressive service held in celebration
of the Jubilee.

The old 90th Canadian Eegiment, which was cut to
pieces in Eiel's rebellion, turned out and marched to
church, headed by the band. A great efifort had been
made to collect as many as possible of the veterans who
survived the campaign. There were about thirty of them,
headed by their old colonel, Mr. Hugh Macdonald.* It
was impossible not to feel struck with this muster of
brave men, whose countenances show to this day the
effects of the hardships they endured in the service of
their Queen and country. They marched past into the
church followed by the men who serve in the regiment
to-day, whose mothers, sisters, and sweethearts were
waiting to see them pass.

The church was packed to overflowing, as indeed I
heard were all the churches in Winnipeg that morning.
The service commenced with the whole congregation
rising and singing, ** God save the Queen." There is a
j&ne organ and a good choir, but the strong voices of the
soldiers took up the singing .of the anthem which is
peculiarly their own, and I could hear nothing but the
deep bass voices. I looked round me once, and was
struck with their earnest countenances. The idea of
loyalty was no suddenly caught impression. It was a
conviction which these people felt — the desire to ally
themselves with all the greatness and pureness of the
glorious example of sixty years' devotion to duty. The
halo which surrounds the idea of monarchy made these
sons of a vast dominion turn their eyes to the little
island in the North Sea, as a light by which to steer
and shape the history of their own country, by deeds
worthy to rank with those of British history in the past.

Subsequent to the service appointed for the occasion.
Archdeacon Fortune — himself a pioneer — preached a
sermon, taking for his text the line, "A mother in
Israel."

After luncheon I drove with Mr. Baker to visit the

* Son of the late Sir John Macdonald.

FROM OTTAWA TO WINNIPEG.

123

old cathedral — a small building outside Winnipeg, where
the old ** trail-blazers " and first factors of the Hudson's
Bay and North-Vvest Companies were buried. The
cathedral itself is a very simple edifice, and recalls a
village church in some country parish in the home
counties. The spot has long been a favourite burial-
ground, and there are many beautiful tombs in marble
and granite — some bearing coats-of-arms and well-
known names. There is a small enclosure and a
handsome marble shrine, hung with many laurel wreaths
and kept with scrupulous care. This is Winnipeg's
memorial to the gallant men of her own regiment who
went out to quell the rebellion under Kiel.

Many of the men were buried where they fell on
remote battle-fields ; but those whose names are recorded
here came back to die of their wounds and privations.
But among the many graves, eloquent of hopes and fears,
joys and sorrows — telling of the lives of brave men, little
children, gentle women, who have helped to make the
city of Winnipeg — none are so worthy of ^ove and honour
as those which lie by the gateway in what was only
unlevelled prairie. Some of them are east and west,
others north and south, as might have been convenient
in these early days. Each is covered with a plain slab
of limestone, blackened with age, so that all lettering is
hopelessly defaced. A record of burials preserved in
the church gives the list of their names, which are
almost without exception Scottish. It is, however,
absolutely certain that these graves are those of the
first factors of the company who founded Fort Garry.

Little could they have dreamt of the future lying
before the land. How the buffalo and the Indian would
decrease and vanish ; and over the prairies a race of
peaceful farmers spread round a modern city. Could
the old pioneers come back again, Winnipeg could offer
them nothing ; for they have nothing in common with
the city of to-day — its smart suburbs and industrial
mills. There they lie under the old grey slabs, while
scarcely a hundred yards away the electric cars go

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124

BBITISE COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEB8.

whizzing past, and the hum of the city is drowned by the
roll of the C.P.E.

Very little is known of their individual histories, but
they appear to have enjoyed the life they had adopted
as men of their stamp would do. Thoy were accustomed,
in their Highland fastnesses, to isolation and to the
rigours of a tolerably severe climate. So far as material
wants were concerned the company treated them
liberally, and they were probably quite as well off at
Fort Garry as they would have been in the Highlands.

Then there were chances of adventure, and a certain
amount of fighting, which was congenial to men of their
origin and temperament. The forest and its game, the
lake and its fish, and beyond the vast extent of
unexplored territory; travel by canoe and portages,
following the course of rivers through terrific mountain
ranges ; — gave them plenty of topics for conversation,
and suggested problems and mysteries which they, alas !
would never solve in their day. Besides all these royal
pleasures, at intervals there were passing strangers, to
entertain whom was a duty which gratified their
hereditary instincts. They were practically their own
masters, and were free to feast and dance, to play golf or
hockey, or to curl, as suited the season. The one duty
incumbent upon them being the collection of furs from
the Indians and the forwarding of the same in due safety
to head-quarters.

From these graves we went back once more to look at
the ruined archway, which is all that is left of Fort
Garry. It is situated near the fork where the two
rivers — the Assiniboine and the Eed river — converge and
join in one. These rivers were the highways in those
days, but the archway of old Fort Garry is that of the
gate which opened towards the prairie and the North-
West. And above it were mounted two guns. In this
fort Lord Strathcona was imprisoned for some months
by Kiel, and under sentence to be shot at any convenient
moment. He has lately presented this archway to
Winnipeg.

FBOM OTTAWA TO WINNIPEO.

125

On my return from British Columbia I stayed a day
or two at Winnipeg, out of affection for the city of so
many memories ; and walked by myself to the meeting
of the rivers. Near this spot, when the railway of the
Manitoba and North- Western Company was being cut,
there were found close to the river the remains of a man
which had been buried by the Indians with unusual care.
The skeleton was perfect, and raeasured seven feet.
It was wrapped in a winding-sheet which was evidently
a plaid, but the precise name of the tartan could not be
decided, owing to its being too far gone in decay. Upon
the breast was a small box containing an amber mouth-
piece, and a small coin. The whole was encased in bark.
From the winding-sheet being a plaid, and also from the
great stature of the man, the presumption is that he
was one of the Scottish pioneers ; but no record of any
such interment can be found either in the books of the
company or among the Indians. The belief is general
that the man reached the two rivers before Fort Garry
became a station ; but how he fell — whether by treachery
or malice of the King's enemies, or by the hand of God
— there is nothing to show. AH we know is that the
Indians honoured him in his burial, and that his winding-
sheet was the same kind that has served many a bravo
man on many a battle-field.

But important as the fur-trading element had been in
the establishment of Fort Garry, Winnipeg really owes
its important position to a settlement of agricultural
emigrants upon a scheme known as Lord Selkirk's.
This part of the history forms an important addition to
emigration literature, and in some respects offers a
parallel with the Government scheme for the settlements
in what are now known as the Eastern Provinces of Cape
Colony. In both cases the first settlers endured losses
and privations, while the present generation has cause
to bless the intelligence which inaugurated the scheme.
Another great reason of the fascination which
Winnipeg exercised over my mind, was the fact that it
was the meeting-point for most of the " trail-blazers "

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126

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

and pioneers who went on to British Columbia. I felt
that here — where many of them lay buried — the first
news of the country and the plans for its exploration
must often have been discussed. Scarcely any of the
"old timers" survive, and of these the memory is
failing fast. They talk of the old days — changing from
Chenook into French or Gaelic, as the mind in its
weakness wanders back to the past. They can tell tales
of hardship and bravery out-vying any record of the
Klondyke or the Far North. In the present day we are
tired by the ideal of the Empu*e and the lust for gold ;
b'^t the old " trail-blazers " of Canada required no other
stimulant than their own brave natures could afford.

As I walked by the river in the sunset, thinking of all
these things, the bells of St. Boniface's Priory began
their silvery chime for vespers. I bethought me that
the spot was sacred with traditional history, and
that Winnipeg had its poets. Nor could I marvel
that Whittier should have been inspired to follow that
musical sound in verses which ring like the Angelus
itself —

" Is ifc the clang of the wild geese,
Is it the Indian's yell,
That lends to the voice of the north wind
The tones of a far-off bell ?

*' The voyageur smiles as he listens
To the sound that grows apace ;
Well he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells of St. Boniface ;

" The bells of the Koman Mission,

That call from their turrets twain
To the boatman on the river,
To the hunter on the plain.

" Even so in our mortal journey.
The bitter north winds blow ;
And thus upon life's Red river
Our hearts as the oarsmen row.

■".^dM^

FBOM OTTAWA TO WINNIPEG,

127

" And when the Angel of Shadow

Rests his feet on wave and shore,
And our eyes grow dim with watching,
And our hearts fail at the oar,

" Happy is he who hearetli
The signal of his release
From the bells of the Holy City,
The chimes of Eternal peace."

) * •

CHAPTER IX.

FROM WINNIPEG TO CALGARY.

On Sunday evening I went on again by the train, this
time bound for Banff, in the Eockie mountains.

The scenery was very monotonous as we went on hour
after hour over the prairies, which reminded me of the
high veldt in Africa — only that it was ploughed and
sown with wheat as far as the eye could see on cither
side of the line. At intervals there were small railway
stations, with large grain elevators or stores ; and here
and there what seemed to be a mill.

At one little place where we stopped late in the
evening there was a small church; and the people
were coming out, for the service was over. It was still
Jubilee Sunday, and they had come from far and wide,
on spiders or on horseback, and whole parties in
waggons.

It was like a country scene in England ; such as
might have been long ago on the thanksgiving for some
great victory. It was a delightful sight to see so many
sturdy agriculturists — men, some of whom were elderly,
with their good motherly wives ; young couples making
a start in life ; lads still under their father's eye ;
girls dressed simply and sensibly, with clear complexions
and bright eyes; and little children chubby and well
fed. They came to look at the train, and waited —
perhaps for their mails — until we had gone on ; and we
went on following the long black rope which stretqhea
across the continent.

r::rar-/^r.:rxr

WINNIPEG TO CALGARY.

120

The next day the wheat disappeared, and its place
was taken by the grass of the cattle ranches of Alberta.
The heat became very great, owing to a hot wind.
Some people told me that this wind blew over from
the great American desert ; but it appeared to mo
that we were facing it, and that it blew from the
Eockies.

So much has been written and said about the
advantages offered to the farmers in the North-West,
that I feel obliged to offer my quota of information;
more especially as much that I hear is said by way of
disparaging British Columbia.

There is no doubt that land can be had very reason-
ably, a grant of 160 acres is made by Government to
any settler who will take them up. Besides the Govern-
ment land, the C.P.K, has an enormous acreage still on
its hands for sale, at prices ranging from $2.50 to $5
per acre. There are homesteads in the outskirts of
present settlements, which, with the present improved
communication and increasing local markets, offer
exceptional opportunities for farmers who come in
with a little capital.

The following notes I took down from a man who
was a successful rancher, and by subsequent inquiry I
have good cause to believe that they give an accurate
picture of the case.

" Free land in Manitoba (that is, Govemment grants) are
good things in a way; but they aro sure to be a long
distance from market or railway, and 160 acres does not
leave much margin for grazing. A quarter section of first-
class land near the railway would cost £300. 320 acres
would be a good-sized farm; but it would cost £600. A
man farming 300 to 400 acres, starting with £1000 capital,
ought to make £300 to £4-00 a year ; in fact, a man may
reckon on getting 10 to 12 per cent. But then he must start
quite clear, with no interest to pay on borrowed capital.
Money rates are easier than they were. Bank interest has
gone down, and money can be borrowed at 7 per cent.
If a man comes out with deficient capital, he must borrow

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130

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

in the North-West ; for machinery, wapgons, and horses
are essential, and ho has to pay a vent, as it were, in interest.
He probably owes half the price of his laud as well, and has
to pay 8 per cent, on it.

"I think the restinctions about landing live cattlo at
Liverpool benefit the Canadian farmer. / find it docs ;
because now I only ship full-grown largo boasts, fat and
ready for slaughter, and for the same freight I get a higher
price than I did for the young things and lean cattle. Just
think ! A fai'raer in Manitolsa in winter has nothing to do
but to feed his beasts. He grows plenty of coarse grains,
Buch as oats and barley. Roots also grow well there, with
irrigation — thirty to fifty tons to the acre. He can sell
his cattle fat in winter-time. Farmers are getting tired
of the old way of leaving cattlo to chance in winter-time.
They see it pays better to put up food for them instead of
letting them die. The Durham is the favourite breed. They
feed better and weigh more for the butcher ; Polled Angus
are also good. For the Noi*th-West, Highland cattle have
been found to answer ; but their long horns arc against them
in the trains and ships.

•' There is a good deal of alkali in some parts, both in
the soil and the water. The first thing a man should do
is to look and see that he has plenty of water. That is the
most important thing of all, and the next is to see if any of
the soil is alkali. A little alkali does not matter, and it
can generally be worked out, for a time at any rate, by deep
ploughing and manuring with long manure, so as to keep the
soil open.

"I don't think there is any good land near Winnipeg.
They have very cutting winds there and late frosts.

"As to profits, there have been cases in which men

vo paid all their expenses out of the first year's crop.
Jut of course that was a favourable year. Still, we have
not on record any year which was a complete loss. The
returns are quicker upon wheat than cati'e, and mixed
farms pay more quickly than ranches ; but I think the
most money is made in cattle.

" There are many men who come out who know nothing
of farming ; and a great many who won't work. There ara
plenty who come out and live on a ranch, getting an
occasional five-pound note from home. They are called
remittance men, and they are a gi'eat nuisance. Canadians

WINNIPEG TO CALGARY.

131

Bay of them that thoy aro supported by rod loggings,
remittances, and cheek.

" Manitoba wheat is always Al iu tho market. Wo havo
no grasshoppers or plagues of that kind, but golphera — a
sort of half-rat, half-squirrol, which lives in tho ground —
aro very dcstructivo."

A more favourable picture of farming could hardly
be given than tho above. The drawbacks were not
felt by the young man who gave mo the information.
He lived with his brother near a settlement. They wero
strong and hardy, and felt that they were prosperous.

The English farmer must take into consideration
the bitter cold of Manitoba in winter, and though fuel
may be obtainable in some disiricts, in others it is
both scarce and dear. The matter of education for
children upon isolated ranches is a difficulty. With
the thermometer 30° below zero it is difficult to send
them to school. When the blizzards begin it is impos-
sible to go out-doors at all; and the confinement for
women and children in one small house is extremely
trying. In case of illness, neither nurses nor doctors are
to be had. Children are born in these circumstances.
Then there is tho difficulty of obtaining assistance in
the house. Servant-girls are at a premium, Chinamen
out of the question ; and so the whole of the house- work
falls upon the wife and mother. Cooking, washing, and
house-cleaning for a family has been the lot to which
some men in their selfishness have brought out young
English gentlewomen, who married their husbands for
love, and were perfectly ignorant and wholly unprepared
for the hardship and suffering of the life into which
they were plunged. The North-West is a man's
country ; but hardly one for family life.

As the train passed along over the wide expanse of
absolutely treeless country, I saw h( ds of cattle of
various breedu. The water was nearly dry in pools
which we passed, and round the edges there was a
white crust of alkali, which the wind blew up in clouds
like very fine snow.

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132

BRITISH COLOMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

The best ranching country commences after Medicine
Hat. It is even better for horses than cattle. There
is a portion of the country which it would answer Jo
irrigate, and the Government have started some large
schemes near Calgary. Late frost and the shortnesf,
of the summer season are against wheat-growing, so
that ranching answers better than mixed farnimg.
Horses thrive turned out all through the winter, and
several fine thoroughbred sires are running on the
ranch «? at Calgary.

M».antime the train was approaching Calgary. It
was four o'clock in the afternoon, and the heat in the
sleeping-car was almost intolerable. Owing to the dust,
it was difficult to have the windows open. Our dining-
car had been taken off at Medicine Hat to be sent back
by freight to meet the next West-bound train ; and we
began to be aware that something unusual had hap-
pened. Other trains met us going down East, and our
conductors were astonished to see their fellow-conductors
standing on the back of the cars who should have been
on their way West.

At length we stopped at a small wayside hamlet,
and were advised that a meal could be had at the inn.
The innkeeper explained the makeshift nature of the
meal on the score of another trainful of people having
come in unexpectedly and eaten up the dinner.

That evening I stood outside on the platform, waiting
to see the first glimpse of the Eockies« We seemed to
have been travelling;' towards them an interminable
time. The next day was the great day of the Queen's
Jubilee, and as I lay down in my berth, my thoughts
went homeward with the earnest hope that all might
pass off well.

The train reached Calgary very early the next
morning, and when I got up it struck me that we were
staying a long while at the station. I performed my
ablutions in the little lavatory, and jumping off the
car was surprised to find that an engine was not
attached. I was also struck by seeing another train

WINNIPEG TO CALGARY.

133

drawn up in the station. Then one of the gentle-
men who was travelling in our car and the conductor
came towards me and explained matters. It appeared
that a cloud had burst in the Eockies a few days
previously, and that this, together with the sudden
melting of the snows, caused by exceptional heat, had
flooded the Bow river, which had broken down several
bridges and washed out some miles of the line. The
trains had been stopped at Calgary during the last four
days, and the passengers were being put up at the
expense of the company. The case was aggravated by
the fact of CpJgary being the junction where the lines
to Edmonton in the north, and Macleod in the south,
met the main line.

This day was the great day of the Jubilee, and the
hotels were besieged by people who came in from the
ranches round to join in the celebration. Hearing that
people were sleeping on the floors, and two or three in
a bed, I joined my petition to that of two gentlemen
that the company would allow us to retain our sleeper ;
and this being arranged, I walked off to see the town
of Calgary, and to buy some Jubilee stamps — a special
issue — wherewith to decorate my letters home on this
great day.

The town of Calgary is interesting in many ways.
It owes its existence to the railway in the first instance,
and now, whatever may be the effect of the divergence
of traffic through the Crow's Nest pass, it will always
remain a centre of the cattle trade. The Government
offices there for the registration of property, grants of
land, and for the promotion of irrigation, are sufficient
in themselves to render Calgary important. There are
also the barracks of the mounted police, and the town
is the market where the ranchers and the police
congregate, and where the women-folk shop and fore-
gather.

It is handsomely built of grey stone. There are none
of the miserable wooden shacks common in the towns
of the West. The bank of Montreal, the Hudson's Bay

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134

BBITISB COLUMBIA FOB SETTIEUS.

Company, the post-office, and Government buildings
form a fine wide street. The hotels are very poor for
so good a township, and considering the class which
frequents them; but they are built of stone, which
renders them more secure, and one can go to bed
without the fear of being roasted to death before

mornmg.

All round the town, and down to the river, where
again wooden houses assert themselves, the country is
destitute of trees. The short summer is bright, dry,
and warm ; but the winter is certain to have ten days
of extreme cold. There is little or no snow, as the
blizzards blow it away. This is an advantage to the
ranchers, as it enables the cattle to get at the grass ;
but it destroys tree -life, and is distinctly a drawback to
human pleasu 2.

At breakfast, which I had in the dining-car of the
other train, I found several of my fellow-passengers
in the Parisian, who had been delayed at Calgary,
although they had left Montreal at once, in their anxiety
to get to the "West. Theirs '^ivas the first train stopped,
and they began to despair at the delay. After breakfast
I walked round the town with the conductor of the
dining-car, who knew the place well, and took me to
see the ruin effected by the flood where the Bow river
had changed its course. Months afterwards, on my
return, I visited the spot and found the water-mark of
the flood still left. Nor had the river gone back to its
old course. Settlers' houses had been swept away and
floated down the river and tossed up bodily on the
banks, where they lay stranded on their sides. The
whole shore was covered with wreckage of homesteads
and dwelling-houses. Up-country several cowboys were
missing, who were supposed to have been drowned
swimming the river to rescue cattle.

The celebration of the Jubilee was bruited abroad,
and the Indians, who dearly love the excitement of any
kind of fete, were arriving by hundreds in all the glory
of their finest feathers. Only one person at a time

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WINNIPEG TO CALGARY.

135

was allowed to cross the tottering bridge over the Bow ;
but some of the Indians, in their eagerness, plunged
into the river and swam their horses across. The
courage of these fellows beggars description, as also
does their vanity and love of display. The squaws
were also there — for there were to be races in the
afternoon, and of course the squaws must race ; in
fact, they rode as fearlessly and as well as the men, and
at a little distance it was extremely difficult to tell a
squaw from a brave. Some of them had come in to
do shopping, and as all braves do not consider it
necessary to supply horses for squaws, good-natured
squaws took up their friends. On one occasion I saw
three squaws on one horse. The old cayuse might
buck or shy, but the squaws, sitting in a row one
behind the other, held on to each other and stuck to
their mount like men.

I do not think the Indians understood the cause of
the holiday. But they knew the white men were to have
a jollification; and the sight of the bunting, ribbons, and
pine branches with which the main street was decorated,
excited them immensely. They galloped backwards and
forwards with their long hair streaming, and showed off
their feathers and finery witn childish delight. The
Jubilee at Calgary would have been rather tame without
them.

Some of the squaws wandered about the town, either
to beg or find work. One of them, wL ^m I met when
the conductor was with me, had her papoose on her
back, and produced a paper on which was written that
this was Crowsfoot's wife, and that she could do washing
and was industrious. She was wearing a broad leather
belt garnished with brass nails and a big knife; and
this belt I bought in memory of the day.

In the Hudson's Bay stores, which were open during
the morning, many Indians came to make purchases.
Mr. Irvine, one of the store-keepers, knew most of the
Indians very well, having traded goods amongst them
at the time of the treaty payments.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

I "was struck with the fact of there being distinct
classes of Indians, and during the time I spent in the
store I tried to classify them. It was not merely the
distinction of hands or tribes. I soon began to see
the difference between the Cree and the Blackfoot, and
to judge which were the full-blooded braves or chiefs as
distinct from low-class specimens of the same tribe.
But there were the tatter-de-malion, evil-looking Indians,
and others more self-respecting but less haughty, more
industrious and simpler. There were amongst them
some who were far too proud to beg, and others who
lived by begging. I believe there were some who
would neither lie nor steal; but others, again, were
absolutely without a vestige of respectability of any
kind. Their quickness was astonishing, and their
stealthy movements reminded one of reptiles. Many
of them were suffering physically, several had bad
coughs, and the children invariably heavy colds, though
it was summer-time.

How I pitied the poor little papooses ! and how patient
they were ! There was one Indian dressed more like a
European, though he had feathers stuck in an old felt
wide-a-wake. He had come in to the town to shop, and
brought his squaw to carry the parcels. She had her
papoose on her back. He did all the bargaining, and
watched Mr. Irvine weigh out the sugar with the closest
care. Every time a parcel was made up he handed it
to the squaw to carry, and the poor thing received the
additional burdens with an expression on her worn face
of patient acquiescence. I asked Mr. Irvine about them,
and he said they vere good people, and were very
industrious on their little piece of land. Seeing me ask
about them, the Indian turned and eyed me curiously.
X held out my hand, and he took it at once and shook it.
I held it out to the squavv^, and this seemed to surprise
him; but the papoose on her back began waving its
skinny little arm, looking at me through its mane of
unkempt black hair, so I shook hands with the papoose.
This caused the Indian the greatest delight, and he

WINNIPEG TO CALQARY.

137

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rushed at me, and seizing my hand, shook it till I was
almost off my feet. I saw round the neck of the
papoose a piece of an old leather boot-lace, and moving
it gently I found hanging to it a tuft of white horsehair
on a piece of hard leather, and underneath a little worn
ebony cross bound with silver. The figure of our
Saviour which had once hung upon it was missing, all
but the feet and part of one hand. It was evidently
considered a charm, and hung there ti gether with the
pagan ornament. I asked Mr. Irvine whether those
people were Christians, and he said, "Not very
Christian ; but they are considered Koman Catholic."

Meantime there was a bargain going on about some
flour. In every possible way the Indian had been trying
to get the better of Mr Irvine over the sugar and
tobacco which he purcLa ed in two-ounce packets. At
least half a dozpn times Mr. Irvine weighed out different
sized packets of flour, till I marvelled at his exemplary
patience. At length, after more than half an hour
spent in trying to get it chpaper than the stated price,
the Indian bought the whole bag at Mr. Irvine's price,
and the squaw had half a bushel of flour added to her
load.

Whilst the flour was being weighed, I became
conscious of a shadow on the floor, and turning round
found a tall Blackfoot wrapped in a striped blanket
standing close behind me. He w^as so motionless that
he hardly seemed to breathe, but his dark eyes shot
piercing glances all over the store. How long he had
been standing there I do not know; but the bargain over
the flour being settled, he advanced, and began to
question Mr. Irvine about me, speaking in Chenook.
Presently he turned round and took a piece of paper
from under his blanket and handed it to me to read.
It was from a missionary, and was to certify that the
bearer of this note was called ** Frank, or Tried-to-fly-
but-couldn't ; " that he was a pretty fair carpenter, and
could dig, and if he asked for work it might be given
him, but that if he begged he was to be given nothing.

138

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

He watched me narrowly while I read it, and after-
wards, when I went into another shop to buy some note-
paper, I turned round again, and found my too ambitious
friend with the name of a moral story-book again
watching me like a statue with his sharp eyes and his
tightly compressed, cruel, thin lips.

The physical condition of the people was most
distressing. Many of them seemed to like wearing old
felt hats, though they dispensed with all but the brims.
They cut the crowns into strips like fringe, stuck eagles'
feathers in the band ; but the shade of the brim was
grateful to their diseased eyes. A good number were
hopelessly blind, but whether the cause was ophthalmia
or some other comijlaint, I do not know. There is
under heaven no sadder sight than the blind Red
Indian with his long stride unduly hesitating, led by his
patient squaw, his blind eyes upturned in total darkness
to the skies.

Whether their present sufferings are a judgment
upon them for their atrocious cruelty to each other in
past times, and to the dumb creatures on whom they
showed no mercy, it is scarcely for us to say. All we
know is that the white man has deprived them of their
country, their pastime, their position, and in too many
instances all he has given them in exchange are his
vices and his most hideous diseases.

But the fun of the day was yet to come, and hearing
bells ringing and firing of musketry, I set off in the
direction from which the sounds came. Outside, on the
parade ground, the Mounted Police were manoeuvring
with the big guns, while a crowd of about three hundred
people stood in three sides of a square.

Then the great guns were let oft' at the word of the
officer in command. I saw some of the Indians who
were present on horseback change countenance, but
they endeavoured to appear stolidly indifferent.

After the firing the officer in command took off his
hat and called for three cheers for the Queen.

We all did our best, but an excited rancher close

WINNIPEG TO CALGABY.

139

his

old

;anng
In the
mthe

ivring
indred

)f the
-who
3, but

)ffhig

behind me was far from satisfied at the first cheer, and
throwing his cap into the air ho roared, " Shout, you
brutes ! " which startled me so that my voice was not
forthcoming again till the third hurrah.

After luncheon the races were to take i^lace on the
race-course ; and all Calgary was to be there — the
Indians included.

The race-course was some three miles from the town,
and driving down on a small break we passed the camp
of the Indians who had come to the races. For the first
time I saw a te-pee, or wigwam, with the smoke e ling
out at the top, and made up my mind that a te-p^e is
the only kind of tent worth having.

There were over a thousand Indians, nearly all of
whom were mounted — Blackfeet, Sarcee, and Cree. In
their midst was a medicine-man, with a head-dress made
of horns and ermine. They were riding about in a
frantic manner, and looking round the ring from my
seat in the grand-stand, I wondered if the half-dozen
red-coated police could have held them if the passion
for blood were once kindled.

But on these occasions they are too keen on racing to
care for anything else. They bet with each other, and,
to our shame, with the white man, in a wild, random
manner. Poor things ! It is the only kind of diversion
or sport which they have left them now that the buffalo
are gone ; and it is a wise policy which permits them to
have this safety-valve for their utter recklessness.

The ranchers were assembling, and I was astonished
and delighted at the quality of the horses entered for
the races.

Yet up to the present horse-ranching at Calgary offers
an instance of an industry which has been highly
developed to no purpose. It was about fourteen years
ago when the natural facilities of the country for this
purpose first attracted attention. The water and grazing
is of the very best, and the climate eminently favourable ;
what has been all along wanting is a good market.
Enormous sums were sunk in the business. Young

I .

140

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

men came out from England, and the greatest interest
was taken by them in having everything of the best.
At one of the largest ranches, called the Quorn, some
very valuable sires were introduced. They were bought
in England for prices ranging from one thousand to ten
thousand guineas.

Some of the ranches were started on too large a scale.
They wert owned by companies formed in England. On
one of them two hundred valuable Irish mares were
turned loose, besides thoroughbreds of known pedigrees.
The plan was at that time to leave the colts rr nning till
they were three or four years old, and then get them up
and break them in. This was done by force, and by
putting heavy weights behind them, and similar harsh
measures, by which means the creatures' spirits were
broken rather than tamed, and they became stubborn,
tricky, and vicious.

The ranching is now carried on on smaller ranches,
with more direct supervision, and the colts are handled
from the very commencement. The chief breed now is
that of first-class hackneys ; but some Clydesdales have
bred a stout working horse, which sometimes finds its
way into the London omnibus, and is fairly popular. The
thoroughbreds have turned out some good race-horses,
which have made their mark in the United States, amongst
whom are the well-known Grey Eagle and Plumeray.

The great want is a better market. Some years ago
it was suggested to the Imperial Government that these
ranches could provide excellent re-mounts for the army.
For reasons which I have never heard stated, Imperial
Government did not act on the suggestion; but since
then both Belgium and Germany have imported horses
from Calgary as re-mounts to their entire satisfaction.

The sports consisted of flat races, as well as hurdle
and water jumps. There were also trotting matches
and a bicycle race. Then the Indians were allowed to
come in, and they raced about forty at a time, in all their
wild habiliments, on their piebald, striped, and odd-
shaped cayuses. In one of the races they all fell in a

lorses,
Longst

[ay.

\xB ago

these

army.

iperial

since

Ihorses

WINNIPEG TO CALGART.

141

lump together ; but such is the Indian nature that none
of them appeared to be even so much as bruised or
strained, though to the spectators it seemed probable
that at least a dozen would be killed outright and all the
rest injured. However, it was only an incident in the race,
which was continued as though nothing had happened.

As I walked back from the race-course to dine at the
Alberta, I passed the laundry of a Chinaman. He had
written up over the doorway " Joe George," which I felt
was done by the wily Celestial to encourage his trade
with the English. "Joe George" is a name easily
pronounced and not easily forgotten, which cannot be
said of Chinese appellations in general. To my last hour
in British Columbia I never could remember if my
washerman was called Wo Chang or Wang Lo.

Not even for the Jubilee would the Chinese give up
working. As I passed Joe George's humble tenement I
heard a sound like six cats spitting in chorus, and I
looked all round, for the domestic cat is rare in Western
Canada. I could see nothing, but again I heard the
sound ; and this time I felt sure that Joe George must
have a wealth of cats in his laundry, and that they were
in high dispute. I crossed the road to see ; and, looking
in through the doorway, I saw Joe George himself and
one of his satellites, who were standing over their
ironing-boards, fill their capacious mouths with water
out of a small basin, and emit it again in a fine spray
all over the shirts stretched out for ironing.

So engrossed were these Chinamen that at first I
remained unnoticed, till Joe George, looking up, smiled
at me encouragingly, and bending over his iron to press
a crease, he said —

** Yd learn ? Yo savey wash clo' ? "

I nodded my head, feeling fairly bereft of the power
of speech ; and Joe George smiled indulgently at me.

In the evening there were fire- works and illuminations,
but before they began I returned to the train to go to
bed, feeling very tired after a long day and many fresh
experiences.

.,^kiitii»t<.aujhii!r:i^&Jliii

CHAPTEB X.

CALGARY TO THE ROCKIES.

The enforced "stop off" at Calgary was unfortunate,
but its irksomeness was relieved by the evident anxiety
on the part of the company's officials to do all in their
power for our comfort. It was a heavier loss and a
greater inconvenience to the C.P.R than to any one
else, and yet it was scarcely to be wondered at if some
of the business men with important engagements to
fulfil became fairly exasperated at the delay.

Situated where we were, it was impossible for us to
see the extent of the disaster, or we might have been
more resigned to our fate. All we saw was the batches
of men hurrying past us to the scene of havoc caused
by a flood which was unprecedented at that season, and
consequently wholly unexpected. Freight trains started
from Calgary loaded with materials for reconstruction ;
and we were warned not to leave the station for too
many hours at a time, as there was no telling how soon
or at what hour we might move on.

This uncertainty prevented me from going to see the
large irrigation works undertaken by the Dominion
Government. I should especially have liked seeing
them just then, because I heard that the flood had
wrecked them ; and this would have been instructive.

It was at Calgary that I first touched the mining fever,
and met people carrying rock in their pockets. One old
gentleman, who had been in the business since his boy-
hood, interested me extremely. He was on his way
East, and only spent a few hours in Calgary to see some

CALGARY TO TEE BOOKIES.

143

iunate,
mxiety
n their
and a
ny one
if some
ents to

ir us to
ye been
batches

caused
ion, and

started
ruction ;

for too
ow soon

friends. Ho had come up from Lethbridge, having
crossed the Rockies by the Crow's Nest pass, which was
already in the hands of the railway surveyors and
engineers. From my conversations with various people,
I could not doubt the existence of very valuable proper-
ties in British Columbia. The feature which seemed of
paramount interest was the raising of capital, and on
this point I heard a good deal.

One man assured me that insufficient capital had been
the only deterrent to success hitherto. He said —

"A man has a property, but no capital. What is
he to do ? He forms a company with a nominal capital
of, say, $1,000,000. This is divided into promoter's
shares and treasury shares. The promoter's shares are
three to one. The par value is $1, and they are sold at
from 10 cents apiece to 25 cents. This is an easy way
of raising capital. Sometimes only a limited number of
shares are sold at 10 cents, and the rest held back.
Now, you will see that this system has its evils ; for it
means that the mine is under-capitalized from the
beginning, and never has a chance. Yet it is the
easiest way of raising capital."

Nevertheless, I could not but believe that there was
capital forthcoming, even in Canada itself, for sincere
exploitation of mining properties. A man from the
States told me that he had been engaged in the ** selec-
tion of properties," and was fully satisfied with his
prospects. He said —

"I know they are not all certainties, but even the
worst will pay me. I and my friends will take up the
claims which are proved, and keep them. The others
we shall dispose of on the London market, so soon as
we shall be able to declare a good dividend on our own
properties."

I asked if he was prepared to part with any of his
properties ? and he answered, " Not at present ; but
eventually we shall sell those for which we have no
use." I asked him if the mines he intended to develop
were actually in the mp'ket, and he said, "No; they

t; !

ill

144

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

I:'

iii

aro held privately. Wo have no occasion to go to the
public; but if we want more capital later on, we can
get it by the sale of the claims for which wo have
no use."

This struck mo as being remarkably similar to a
method I had heard described as " Unloading rubbish
on the London market."

Meantime the subject of the ranching at Calgary and
Alberta generally appeared to me less and less satis-
factory. I saw a great many young Englishmen who
were evidently engaged in ranching; but they struck
me as being an idle, card-playing, and drinking set of
young fellows, and I could not wonder at the stories
of failure I heard. Another, steadier class of men had
since come into the country, who were not the sons of
gentleman, and were not backed by capital or assisted
by remittances. As for the other poor boys, I ascribed
their ruin to their being sent out young and inexperienced
to " learn ranching " with men who took every advan-
tage of them. As one lady said to me who had watched
the careers of many of them, " They are fools, poor
boys ! when they come out, and they become knaves."

The tricks which they play upon their parents or
guardians at home to get money, when the usual supply
is falling short, would form a chapter in itself. One
young fellow whose debts pressed upon him, wrote home
and asked for £500. This was refused; so he wrote
again, and said it was a pity that he should not have
the money, for his ranch was just beginning to pay.
He had five hundred fat golphers * running on it ; and
in a month or two he expected to reap a handsome
return for his trouble. The £500 was sent to him.

Many similar tales did I hear, of the quickness shown
by these boys in taking advantage of the ignorance of
their parents; but the chief blame I attribute to the
elder men, with some of whom the sole object in life
is to bleed these boys till, ruined and heart-broken, they

* The golpher is the pest of the prairie. It is a creature between a
rat and a guinea-pig, and extremely destructive in its habits.

CALGARY TO THE ROCKIES.

145

nts or

supply

One
home
-wrote

have

pay.

; and
idsome

shown
mce of
to the
in life
Q, they

stween a

are neither welcomed at hotels, nor the Ilauchcr's Club,
nor fit to return to their homes.

Things are improving at Calgary, owing to the death
or removal of some of the worst characters; but still
parents would do well to exercise caution in sending
boys to this neighbourhood for the next few years.

That evening, as I stood gazing at the Rockies with
longing eyes — for they are visible from Calgary — a little
Canadense came up to me. She was from the East, and
had come up on my train.

" You are going to write a book on Canada, I hear?"
she began interrogatively; and without waiting for a
reply continued, ** Well, mind you say everything that
is very very nice about Canada. And if you come across
anything that is not quite nice, don't you let on — don't
you let on ! "

Her earnestness and patriotism delighted me ; but I
felt it was just another instance of the flinching from
adverse criticism of any kind, which is the charac-
teristic that all colonists share in common ; and a thing
to be wondered at, considering their British origin.

Presently I became aware that our sleeping-car —
which had been wheeled backwards and placed on other
lines during the day — was filling up. It required an
effort to go to bed with so many of one's fellow-creatures
huddled together; but luckily I had a lower berth to
myself, and the cowboy and his "chum " who came in
late and took the berth above me at the last moment,
were very quiet and considerate.

One lady came to me in distress to say that a mother
and two children were put over her; and presently
another came, to tell me that a German couple on then*
honey-moon were in the berth above her, and that the
lady threatened to become hysterical if the train moved
on, for fear of an accident.

At length the babel subsided, and content to have got
my window open, I fell asleep.

The dawn was beginning to creep over the prairie
when I woke to find the train in motion. For some

^■

ii '

146

BRlTISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEIiS.

tirao I lay still, in a happy frame of mind, to think that
wo were making progress, howovor slow. Presently it
occurred to me tliat it would be interesting to go outside
and see the effocts of the disaster from the platform in
front of the car.

I washed and dressed myself, and went outside. My
move was anticipated by the Gorman couple, who stood
clasping each other's hands. I noticed that the lady's
dress was not hooked, and presently I saw her stays
imdcr her cloak. They were in a theatrical pose, and
as I contemplated them I came to the conclusion that
they were the very people to begin a panic if a smash
occurred.

Nor was I far wrong, for presently the poor girl who
had to spend the night below them came and clutched
my arm. "Do you think there's any danger?" she
asked. ** Those people keep saying we shall be killed."

" I put faith in the company," I replied. "Our deaths
would be a costly business for them ; so I am sure they
will preserve us alive if possible."

I was astonished at the rapidity with which the line
had been repaired. There were miles upon miles of
rails which had been washed away and twisted out of
shape. We went very cautiously over hastily extempo-
rized bridges, and men were stationed at intervals to
watch us passing, at a rate which must have been about
seven miles an hour.

I saw sheep ranches and horse ranches among round
green hills, and at last we broke into a country of rock
and scrub, and caiiie to a standstill before a wooden
house.

Here wo were to have breakfast. The dining-car was
on in front, with the car containing my old friends of
the Parisian; but, to my surprise, on getting out of
the train I found it was of immense length. There was
a colonist car, containing emigrants ; our own car ;
another full of Presbyterian divines, who had been sum-
moned to a convention at Winnipeg by Dr. Robertson,
and given free passes by the company on their way

,:.... V^ljife^dlk

■1^

CALQAIiY TO THE ROCKIES.

that

tsido
m in

stood
iady's
Btaya
3, and
1 tliat
smash

rl who
utched
>" she
dUed."
deaths
ro they

he line
liles of

out of
:tempo-

vals to
[n about

Ig round
of rock
wooden

j-car "was
tends of
out of
lere was
m car;
^en sum-
tbertson,
leir way

homo to British Columbia ; and last of all thoro was a
car of Chicose, who were all on their way back to China,
having realized fortunes in Canada. The Chineso
cooked their own food, and ate it in their own car ; but
the rest of the passengers who could not squeeze into
the dining-car were supplied with a meal at the Section-
house by some Norwegian peasants. There we sat on
wooden settles, eating rashers of grilled ham, and drink-
ing hot water flavoured with milk and sugar, which
these excellent people called "English breakfast tea."

After breakfast was over I spent a delightful hour
delivering letters of introduction, which Dr. Robertson
had given me, to the Presbyterian divines. If they were
surprised they concealed their feelings ; but I felt that
they were taken slightly off their guard, and that their
wit was less ready than usual. Needless to say, I found
them very able men, with a remarkably thorough know-
ledge of the country and its inhabitants.

Another hour of cautious travelling (during which it
was a great pleasure to walk through the train from end
to end, inspecting the different species of humanity with
which it was packed), and then we came to a final stand-
still, having reached the bridge across the Bow, which
had been completely wrecked.

Here we had to get out with our luggage, walk over
the temporarily repaired bridfre, and gc. in a freight
train on the other side.

It was a scene which I shall never forget. The long
passenger train, containing so many human beings, and
all their baggage, together with the mails for the VVest
Coast, Yokohama, and the Orient. On either side of us
were the wilds of the l\.ockic3. Now and then an excited
Indian had galloped up to look at us, and raced his
horse against our train, vanishing at length with a howl
of triumph ; but we, as we pressed on, represented the
march of civilization, the triumph of human genius over
the forces of Nature — for surely never was there a more
difficult feat of 'engineering than this railway through
the Kicking Horse pass !

■

I i

148

BBITISB COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

13 'li

The train stopped — baffled, as it were, by the uproar
of the river ; but though the bridge was down, and some
of the arches carried completely away, the space between
the two portions — which lay wrecked in mid stream — was
spanned by iron rails — to which boards were lashed. In
order to connect the two ends of the bridge, which were
down in the water, these rails were on the level of the
water in the middle. It was a novel sensation thus to
walk in batches of half a dozen at a time downhill into
the middle of the river, and up again on the other side,
with nothing but an elastic board between one's feet
and the evil-minded flood below.

The freight train consisted of open trucks and guards'
break-vans. Many people preferred to sit on the open
trucks; but finding that Mr. Henry, the Presbyterian
divine from Brandon, and his wife were going in a
guard's van in front of the trucks, I accompanied them.
Mrs. Henry remained inside, having a nice seat close to
the window. I found the view wider, and more interest-
ing outside ; so I got through the window, and sat on
the top.

Before this arrangement was arrived at, I went back
to see what was being done about the baggage. I found
that it was all being turned out of the van, and that one
of the company's officials was sitting on a box giving
instructions. 1 sat by his side for a time, watching
the various pieces of personal effects tumbling out of
the van.

Presently cut came a large wooden box which required
three men to move it. *' Really," I exclaimed, ** I should
have thought a thing like that might have waited for
another day."

The official smiled. "That," said he, "is a dead
Chinaman, and his friends are taking him back to
China. He couldn't wait." I looked again, and saw
that the deal box was really shaped like a coffin. '* He
is embalmed. His own doctor embalmed him, and he
is going to catch the Empress of Japan, who has been
kept waiting for the mails at Vancouver."

Jiving
ching
)ut of

jhould
a for

dead
ick to
id saw

"He
Ind he

been

CALGARY TO THE ROOKIES.

149

I h

I remembered that my friends from the Parisian were
" going to catch the Empress of Jajpan,^' and promised
mj'self that I would introduce them to their travelling
companion.

The stream of passengers went past us towards the
bridge, and presently the Chinese began to file by.
There were two huge navvies carrying between them the
emaciated form of a Chinaman. "He is being taken
back to die in China," said my friend.

" Poor thing ! " I exclaimed, " why don't they let him
die in peace here?"

A low laugh was the immediate answer; and then
the words came slowly —

"He costs only half to transport while he's alive;
but after he's dead the price goes up double, and there's
the embalming too. Many Chinamen die on board.
All our ships carry a few spare coffins in, case. He'll
probably die on the way, but they'll get him as far as
they can alive."

" But he may recover when he gets to China."

"That's not likely. His friends arn't likely to wish
him to. There are plenty of them there. He would be
cheaper to bury than to doctor and nurse ; and when
he's dead he can't use up the money he is taking home
with him."

Soon after I left my friend to try and find out the
name of the embalmed Chinaman. I felt sure he must
be a person of consequence to be traveUing thus.

I found Mr. Stuart giving directions, and as he was
an official of standing, and in a position to know, I
asked him who the dead Chinaman was in the coffin
consigned to the Empress of Japan,

Mr. Stuart laughed. "He's no one in particular,"
he said ; " we have scores and scores go by like that.
A Chinaman, if he dies, must go back to China; and
probably this man washed clothes, or was a general
servant while he lived."

He stopped to order "two men — good ones, mind,"
to go to the rear with a chair. I went back, partly to

I : ¥

•

ji? 1

.! :%

mi'

150

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

ill

see what had become of my luggage, and sat down for
a few minutes' more conversation with my friend at the
luggage van.

As I sat there the " two men — good ones " went by,
and presently returned with a poor old lady, very sickly
and infirm, who looked ready to die with fright, but
resigned to the care of the navvies. And what tender
care it was ! Had they been her own sons they could
not have been more gentle or consoling. And so were
the two who carried the dying Chinaman. John trusted
them implicitly ; his only anxiety appeared to be not to
lose his shoes, and his poor feet were too thin to keep
them on. First one came off, and a navvy picked it up
and put it on again; then a few steps, and the other
fell off. Whereupon John begged them to give him
both his shoes, and he held them in his hands.

I had sat down on a box — when suddenly I leaped to
my feet ; for I discovered that I was sitting on the
Chinaman's coffin. Such contempt does familiarity
breed ! I went back to look at it once more ; and there,
in the centre, I saw beautiful Chinese lettering in green
paint — doubtless the coffin-plate of the dead man. It
looked very artistic beside the company's pink printed
label affixed a little lower down.

After this I went back to the freight train, and, climb-
ing on to the roof of my van, I told Mrs. Henry all I
had seen. She would not believe me at first, but
happened shortly afterwards to put her head out of the
window at the critical moment, and saw the coffin being
lifted. On the roof of the van immediately in front of us
the Presbyterian divines were grouped. They spread
out their coat-tails, and looked for all the world like a
company of rooks. I wanted a little time to myself to
understand the Kockies, or I should have liked to pene-
trate amongst them, for I felt sure they were saying
things which were " pawky and keen," and taking slices
off each other with crisp sayings that they brought with
them bottled up for the occasion. Certainly no men
enjoyed a piece of travelling more thoroughly than

imb-
all I
but
)f the
oeing
of us
Dread
ike a
elf to
pene-
jaying
slices
t with
men
thau

CALGARY TO THE ROCKIES.

151

they did. Amongst us was a bride-elect, who was to be
married immediately on her arrival the other side of the
Rockies ; and was consequently dressed in her best, as
became her wedding day.

It had been a disappointment to us that the
Eockies were obscured by mist ; but while we waited
the mists cleared away as the sun strengthened. The
great mass of the mountains stood out boldly and
defiantly, yet with countless tender little lines — the
footprints of events which passed over them in the
childhood of the world. I went away for a little while
by myself, and, sitting down, I tried to formulate the
impression that these mountains would make on people
who came to them as I did for the first time from the
enclosed fields and pastoral scenes of home. I con-
trasted them with the little rounded hills of Essex, and
the wide valleys where slow rivers meandered in green
pastures. I knew that these mountains represented
the kind of scenery with which I should soon become
familiar.

They were but the first range of miles and miles of
mountains. Still, I scarcely understood the power this
scenery had to compel attention; or the influence it
undoubtedly exercises on human character. All other
mountain scenery I had seen was smaller, and missed
altogether the wild ferocity, the sharpness of outline
and definition of the Eockies. They were terrible in
their vastness, though over some minds mountains exer-
cise a peculiar fascination. These mountains were
more rugged — fresher, as it were, from the workship of
Nature — than any others I had seen. Their outlines were
almost ferocious in their strength and freshness, and
recalled the old poetical simile of strong contrast, "How
say ye, then, to my soul that she should flee as a bird
unto the hill ? " All that was powerful and defensive
in material Nature seemed expressed by these Eockie
heights.

Yet it was impossible not to be struck with a terrible
sense of past conflict ; the traces of a stupendous death-

' ')^l

: '3

■ h'

I -i

; 1

;■',

1 ' *

\. ■ !f

! ( .

152

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

struggle made themselves felt above everything else —
some terrific battle in the long past, when the world
was moulded or educated piece by piece; and tre-
mendous forces now laid to rest, of whose existence we
gain but a dim idea of, were once upon this scene.

Once, when there was chaos, God said, *' Let there be
light ! " and forthwith the breath dispersed the mists.
The light fell across the wild confusion of land and
water and tangled shapes of flying clouds. Strange
forms drew together, binding atoms into the strength of
the hills, and locking waters into the depths of the sea.
Above the heights arose, towering in majesty, which
now are softened and smoothed by the hands of Time.
Then they were garrisoned by fierce forces. Deep
within we cannot tell what took place in their secret
caverns, or how the powers worked, and like drew
towards like, and there was burning and grinding and
the thunder of awful struggle, as one power clashed
with and overcame other powers, and there were rents
and divisions and upheavals; till the glaciers formed
without, covering the fierce fires, freezing what had been
molten rock, smoothing and concealing the marks of
strife, and where they passed leaving a trail for an
eternal memory. Then the suns of many centuries beat
upon the rocks and scorched them. So by degrees the
old battle spirit wore out, and now they are patiently
yielding themselves for the good of the world. Ages
have passed over them, and they stand, yielding food to
the life of the oceans, fertilizers for the prairie and
the field, gold for the cities of men; still they point
upwards, teaching patient, steady self-surrender. Silver
peaks, dazzling limestone with rich purple shadows!
The gloom of caverns and dark ravines ! The brightness,
the aspiration, the purity of beauty untouched by the
hand of man ; sublime in simplicity and the length of
days ! At their feet one forgets one's self .a a contem-
plation too deep for words. To retire from the city and
the poor IHtle " dreams in stone," to be alone with the
majestic masterpiece of the first rough sketch of this

CALQAR7 TO THE ROCKIES.

153

world's life, is good for the soul r, and to feel how frail
and transitory a thing is man — " who hath but a short
time to live ; who cometh up as a flower, and is cut
down; who fleeth as it were a shadow, and never
continueth long in one stay."

i",]:;!

lows:
ness,
the
gth of
ntem-
y and
h the
f this

■'■\:

\ ■-

i III

Kfe-^imt.

CHAPTEE XI.

THE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

!■■

Several hours elapsed before our freight train began to
move, and I was compelled to remain on the roof.
Whilst there, it was impossible to avoid being irritable,
for the scenery was of a kind one desired to be alone
with, and anywhere on the train people came and
interrupted one's thoughts with mere talk.

The outlines of these rocks are very uncouth, and no
adequate idea can be gained of them from the inside of
a train. I felt that I should like to ride through the
Kockies on horseback ; taking my own tepee and pitching
it where I liked.

At Canmore we meT; a passenger train, which was
waiting for us. We were the first people to come
through after the " wash out," and the passengers were
all outside the train waiting for us, and received us with
a hearty cheer.

Then began another great removal of ourselves, our
baggage, the dead, the dying, and the mails ; and once
again we found ourselves in a passenger train, while
those who had come up from Banff took our place in
the freight cars.

The rest of the way to Banff I could think of nothing
but the desire for food. Calgary had been a time of
meagre meals, snatched in the overcrowded inns, where
the food, at the best of times, is never good. What
happened at Banff was described by a lady, who was
staying in the hotel, in a letter which, some time after-
wards, was read out in my presence in Victoria.

-/■■/' -f ■ • ■ r

TEE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

155

*' Three hundred passengers have suddenly arrived by
the train and eaten up everything, so that wo can get
nothing."

In this I was not to blame ; for, so far as eating up
the supplies went, I came in for as little as any one,
being employed at the time that others were dining in
trying a sulphur spring bath. The water was delicious,
and should be highly medicinal, but the accommodation
was very poor.

The hotel at Banff is a good one. There is a fine
natural park, containing Lord Strathcona's herd of
buffalo. There are good roads ; and a day or two may
well be spent there. It is an excellent starting-point
for sportsmen. The scenery reminded me of Norway,
and I found myself following a small stream and
gathering the wild strawberries which grew in the rough
grass.

At length it became dark and chilly, and I climbed
into the train, put on a wrap, and went to sit in tho
observation car. Here people were collected in knots,
talking, for it was too dark to read. There were one or
two miners and an old " trail-blazer ; " these were
talking to my cowboy friend and his chum. Presently
they began singing; and wonderfully well they sang.
We had the oU songs of home — ** Tho Last Eoso of
Summer," " Annie Laurie," ** The Land o' the Leal,"
and "Home, Sweet Home." This last surprised mo,
for in South Africa it was tabooed. No one, I believe,
had the heart to sing this song in that strange land.

The old songs finished, the performers started some
songs of their own. These were the compositions of tho
cowboys or miners by their camp-fires.

I listened with delight, for some of them were in-
tensely quaint. "Where these fellows learnt to sing I
cannot tell, but they had the intonation of cultivated
Englishmen, and very good voices too. The art of cow-
boy songs was a quick exchange of sentiment for fun, of
pathos into bathos; with a curious scanning of their own
invention. One I remember, so far as the first verse

I ' I

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M-l

156

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

goes. It began in a slow, pathetic strain, to which the
tenor lent itself perfectly —

" Wo fell in 1 — o — v — o — one night . . .
Arter tea 1
When sho was riding — riding — ri — iding —
Home in her father's cart old . . .
Meikie Magee ! "

After Baiih* o\ir troubles were passed, and certainly
the disaster had been wonderfully met. Sometimes I
heard it proposed — and the idea is so amusing that it is
worth recording — that the C.P.E. should be placed under
Government management ; that then, and not till then,
would the line be a success and cease to be *' the curse
of the country."

I thoroughly enjoyed " the curse," and appreciated to
the fullest extent the management of the Government,
but I must say that it would be quite as good business
to propose that the railway should run the Government,
as that the Government should manage the railway. In
Colonial affairs an immense weight attaches to business
capacity, and when I weighed the capacity of the one
against the other, I found that the qualifications for
rendering the C.P.R. even as partially successful as its
worst detractors may admit it to be, were fully equal to
anything I found in Government offices.

But there may be other motives underlying the
superficial criticisms, upon which the following extract
from a leading Canadian journal may possibly throw a
little light. In the States it is unfortunately common
to treat politics as a handle or tool with which to obtain
commercial or financial advantages. It is this degrada-
tion that Canada must guard herself against. It is, at
least, satisfactory to find that the danger is openly
acknowledged. The management of business concerns
may not always be above suspicion; but the opportunities
for peculation are unquestionably increased when politics
are mixed up with trading concerns of whatever character;
and Government railways offer special opportunities.

THE liOCKJES TO VICTORIA.

157

jlithe

:taiiily
[mes I
at it is
[ under
i then,
e curse

ated to
nment,
usiness
•nment,
siy. In
lusiness
ilie one
ons for
1 as its
qual to

ng the
extract
throw a
ommon
) obtain
egrada-
It is, at

openly
oncerns
tunities

politics
aracter;
ities.

** It is undeniable that a belief exists widely amongst us
that Governments and municipalities are fair game for over-
charges by contractors or servants. Many a man or firm,
otherwise honest, will charge on a Government job a higher
price than he would if working or tendering for an individual,
and will contend that he is iustifiecl in so doing. In fact,
people do not recognize that in working for the common-
wealth any member of it ought to show exactly the same
regard for honesty and economy as if the transaction were
with his next-door neighbour."

It is in this way that Government works become
milch kine to the people.

From Banff onward our journey lay through the
magnificent scenery of the Selkirk mountains. We
passed across valleys about a mile to two miles wide,
where, with drainage of the swamps, crops of some kind
might be grown. Then we came into the dry belt, where
the principal necessity was irrigation; and from this
we went into the district of the Lower Fraser, which I
heard called the " gum boot country," where drainage
is of paramount necessity. The vegetation here is
tremendous, and I was filled with wonder and delight
at the gigantic cedar trees and the luxuriant masses of
ferns. We were approaching the American border, and
before we reached Vancouver I could see the snow-
capped peak of Mount Baker, in the State of Washington.

The journey had been an exhausting one, and I was
very anxious to proceed as soon as possible to Victoria.
The company were so good as to facilitate my doing
so by allowing me to cross in their ocean liner The
Empress of Japan, which sto^j^od in the roadstead
outside Victoria to take up mails and passengers for the
Orie.it.

This voyage was most enjoyable. The ship was in
itselt a perfect specimen of a first-class liner, arranged
expressly for the comfort of passengers ; and at the time
I would have given a good deal to have been going on
in her to Japan.

Vancouver is a prosaic city, which will, in time,

"' »

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i ;!'

' ■^''>(*-

'.(

<!l

' i

m
f

','1

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158

BRITlSn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

become a bustling seaport of immense importance.
The passage across to Victoria is a beautiful panorama,
and I regretted to leave the deck even for the sake of
breakfast and luncheon.

The servants who waited on us were Chinese, and
wore lovely blue blouses, with black caps like the lids
of cannisters. Forgetting that they might understand
English, I reraarked upon them to the ship's officer, by
whose side I sat. " They are not so ugly, either," I said.
" That young fellow by the side-board is almost hand-
some." To my astonishment, John's countenance
changed immediately, and he pranced past me out of
the saloon, as though he were escaping from a dangerous
situation.

In the pamphlet entitled "Vancouver Island as a
Home for Settlers," this passage occurs with regard to
Victoria : —

"In addition to its inner land-locked harbour, extensive
docks have been constructed at its entrance, capable of
accommodating a large fleet of ocean steamers and sailing
vessels."

I was repeating this eloquent passage to myself as
I descended the stairs from the Empress of Japan to the
deck of the little tender which had come out with the
mails. I made up my mind to look out for the docks
and the ocean steamers ; but I never saw them. I saw
the Empress of Japan sweep round and put out to sea
like some beautiful strange bird or fish; but she had
not availed herself of the harbour or docks, nor did
I see any other "ocean steamer." But I own my eyes
were blinded by the exquisite natural beauty of the bay
as it lay before me in the evening sunlight. I could
only repeat to myself, " What a heavenly spot to live
in ! " and look round from one site to another, each in
turn seeming more beautiful than the last. But the
tender drew into what I have no doubt was a land-
locked harbour full of sealing crafts, while beyond them
I saw the majestic pile of the Government buildings,

io sea
had
or did

THE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

159

glistening white in the simHght under an azure sky.
Veritable palaces of ivory they seemed! I did not
realize the crazy little wooden landing or the sparsity
of the arehouses for the freighting of the "ocean
steamerb." I walked, as in a dream, to the carriage
which Mrs. Dupont had kindly sent for me, and, leaving
my baggage to follow, I shut myself in to rest and
realize that I had travelled three thousand miles from
Montreal to an island in the Pacific.

The following day was Sunday, and, beyond going to
church, I did nothing except lounge in the garden at
Stadacona, feast on the strawberries and cherries, and
revel in the flowers. I saw a humming-bird, but I
believe they arc rare in Victoria.

As soon as possible, I went to call on Colonel Baker
and Mr. Turner, by whom I was very kindly received
at the Government buildings.

Colonel Baker, as the Minister for Immigration, had
collected some very clear ideas on the subject with
regard to British Columbia. The first point on which
he placed the strongest insistance was that people who
emigrated should be of a class suitable to the conditions
of the country, and acceptable as an addition to the
population. He did not appear to rate the British
emigrant very highly ; nor even to regard him as the
man most wanted at that particular time. I had to
listen to a great many tales of young Englishmen who
had come out and failed — aiid failed, too, in spite of
good chances which had been given them. He was
averse to the idea of men coming out who were penni-
less ; and also to young men being supplied with money
from home. He told me of one young fellow who had
lived on his remittances till the patience of his relations
became exhausted and the money ceased. Upon this
he took the expedient of cabling two words: "John
destitute.** A cable of three words was the reply:
*' Destitute John work." "And, be it known to his
credit," said the colonel, as he finished laughing,
" John did work, and is now, I believe, fast proving

!■■

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* J

i;-'

■II d

|:.|

I I

1 iil,

^f 'in

ft]

«. /

160

BBITISE COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEB8.

himself a good man. If they come out with a httle
money to invest," he continued, "unless they can
determine not to touch it for at least a year, they will
certainly lose it; for every one with a 'wild cat'
scheme will be sure to catch them. Naturally, they
always go for the * tender-foot,' as they call them."

Another thing that Colonel Baker disapproved of was
the payment of premiums. " What do they want with
that?" he exclaimed. "If the young fellow has legs and
arms and common sense, he ought to be able to work,
ana if he can work he ought to be paid. And he will
learn far more as a workman than in any other way."
He went on to describe to me the very simple nature
of farming in this country; that there were no deap
mysteries which a man required to study, for everything
was too primitive at the present time. " If you take
from a young man the right to earn money — earn his
bread — you take from him the best incentive to get on
and become a useful man."

Then he drew a description of what happened under
the paid- aiium system, every word of which I believe
to be perifcctly true, for I found the practice universally
condemned — except by those who made money out of it.

But if the Colonel was not in favour of the gentleman
emigrant, he was still less inclined to encourage the
working man. ** Artisans and mechanics we don't
require," he said, "and your farm-labourers do not
understand the country ; and then it's hard for them —
very hard. They can't adc^ t themselves. They don't
see it."

i could not but think it was hard, when I remembered
the trees which would require felling, some of them
seven feet in diameter.

But it was not only the clearing of the ground, but
the distance from markets and the expense of road-
making which Colonel Baker was thinking of.

At length I said, ** Tell me of something which you
have done, or which you have seen to he a success in
your own time."

THE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

161

little
jr can
y will
. cat'
, they

)f was
t with
gs and
I work,
le will
way."
nature
deap
•ything
lU take
am his
get on

L under
believe
rersally
it of it.
.tleman
ige the
) don't
do not
hem—
don't

mbered
them

nd, but
i road-

Lch you
icess in

"Well," he said, "you have heard of the settlement
of Bella Coola ? Now, that is a success ! But, in the
first place, we got hold of exactly the right people ; and
then it has taken time. It did not succeed all at once.
But n • it is a success."

It RfceuQS that while there are no free grants of land
in British Columbia, grants were made to the Bella
Coola settlement under extraordinary circumstances.
The emigrants were Norwegians and Danes, most of
whom came from Minnesota. The settlement com-
prised about thirty families, and, in the first instance,
the terms offered them were free grants, on the condition
that they improved their laad to the amount of $5 an
acre, and bond fide personal occupation for five years.
Government built them a school and post-office, made
roads, and constructed a wharf for the accommodation
of steamers.

All these emigrants were known to have a little
capital. They were industrious, thrifty, and hardy, and
they had some previous knowledge of the kind of country.

Yet another reason to account for the success of
the Bella Coola settlement is the situation of Bella
Coola itself. It is on the north-west coast of the main-
land, about four hundred miles from Victoria, in latitude
52° 26' N. ; and probably a more congenial spot for the
settlement of Scandinavians than this river on Bentinck
Arm could hardly be imagined. The settlement is not
merely agricultural, but as it increases — and it is
increasing rapidly, and upon sound lines — the people
^ '11 help in providing the class of fishermen so greatly
needed to ""evelop the fishing industry of the west coast.

The river Bella Coola is navigable for some distance to
small crafts during the summer months, and at the head
of it is the trail knovm as Lieutenant Palmer's trail,
which goes straight into the rich gold country of Barker-
ville and Quesnelle river. It is only reasonable to sur-
mise that there is plenty of ** red gold for the winning "
in this hirterland, to which Bella Coola is the port of
entry.

^ ■

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i

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■^Y^vrvri^-V^tf'mm'I'W'J''?'. ?'W*';L"y»^r '

'""Vp^f*

162

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

■t ■ )

As Colonel Baker gave me the history of this settle-
ment, which was started in 1893, and told me of the
opposition which the plan encountered until it showed
unmistakable signs of success, I could not help think-
ing that the real Colonial policy lay in similar under-
takings.

"If the people could only see it," said the Colonel,
waxing enthusiastic, " here they have the best means of
creating markets for their merchandise. The money so
spent is well invested, for here we are importing butter
from the United States on which we paid a duty last year
of $11,159 for Vancouver Island alone, which duty goes
to Canada, and does not increase our revenue at all."

The Government of British Columbia owns plenty of
land in the Bella Coola district. The terms of pre-emp-
tion are $1 an acre, with bona fide personal occupation,
and $5 for the fee simple. The Government puts down
r.»"ds, and as soon as there are twelve children of an
ag J to attend, builds them schools.

The valley of Bella Coola is inland, situated about
sixty miles from the coast-line, running eastward, and
with a gradual rise from the sea to an altitude of about
nine hundred feet at the head of the valley.

The climate there is much drier than the coast, which
is invariably humid. The temperature during the sum-
mer of 1895 was frequently 95°-96'^ in the shade, and
during the winters of 1895 and 1896 the coldest regis-
tered was 2° above, and 2° below zero. There is valuable
grazing land in the interior, which up to the present
time has had no nearer shipping-point than the Fraser
river.

The settlers have already demonstrated that vege-
taMes of the best quality will grow there, including peas,
onions, cucumbers, and beet-root. All kinds of root crops
answer admirably, especially potatoes, and also small
fruits, such at; English gooseberries and strawberries.
Stone fruits and apples have been planted, and the
trees are flourishing.

The first snowfall comes in November, but this rarely

THE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

163

^ttlo-
[ the
owed
hink-
nder-

lonel,
ms of
ley BO
butter
t year
y goes
ill."
nty of
B-emp-
pation,
s down
1 of an

L about
d, and
£ about

which
le Bum-
[e, and
regis-
[aluabie
Ipresent

Fraser

rarely

lasts, the winter really beginning late in December.
During January there are two or three feet of scow — as
much as five feet have been known — and sleighing lasts
from six to nine weeks. Spring commences early in
April, or the latter part of March.

The higher land is heavily timbered with cedar and
spruce, and it is here that the chief difficulty and cost
of settlement comes in. The land may be pre-empted at
$1 an acre, but $200 per acre should be reckoned for the
felling of timber and clearing of stumps. The cedar
stumps are specially hard to remove, and though the
first year a crop of timothy and alsike may be grown be-
tween them, they must inevitably be dug out. Blasting
with gunpowder, and hauling with pulleys, are the
means resorted to. The following are calculations
offered by the Government Report : —

•' For clearing land of all timber, leaving the stumps bo
that grass can be grown and trees planted, about $100 an
acre."

I think myself that this estimate is rather high. Nor
do I consider it very advisable to plant fruit trees until
the blasting and hauling is over.

There are lands lower down where there are deciduous
trees, and these are comparatively easy to clear. It
must be borne in mind, however, that the land must be
carefully watched and gone over during the summer,
when the stumps of deciduous trees try to start growing
a second time. The Government lieport gives the follow-
ing estimate ; —

" For clearing bottom lands covered with alder, willow,
maple, birch, &c., including removal of stumps, about $100
to 1)125 per acre, without horse-power or machinery."

The following note is worth remembering, in relation
to the everlasting subject of forage : —

*' Time required to clear land would depend upon horse-
power being used ; but it would not be profitable at first, as
all feed would cost too much."

j:fti

■n

1'^ i

■< 'i'lj

164

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

V. I

fyjfj

My conversation with Colonel Baker impressed me
very much with the opportunities which I believed Bella
Coola offered to agricultural emigrants. I afterwards
heard a good deal from other people, both of this district
and of Chilcot, and regretted very much that the time
at my disposal did not allow of my visiting these
places.

With Vancouver Island itself I was greatly dis-
appointed, though many people tried to persuade mo
of its advantages. That it was a lovely spot was un-
deniable, but the chances for emigrants appeared to me
to have been subordinated to other interests. Immense
grants of land had been made to individuals who not only
intended to screw as high a price as possible out of the
purchaser, but their influence in the Government was
sufficiently strong to prevent Government initiating any
scheme of settlement offering similar advantages to those
at Bella Coola. As it was, the island offered a splendid
market for American produce, and the rate of living
being high in consequence, it had not flourished as a
residential centre. There had been a boom in property
in Victoria, but it had died out, for the simple reason
that it was fictitious, and the work of speculators, bond
fide purchasers, and intending residents, not being forth-
coming in sufficient numbers to justify the prices.

I saw that Victoria had no local market. There
was very little money in the place, if the gold hoarded
in oak boxes in the bank by certain rich people was
excepted ; and a distinct aversion to spending money in
the general public made it hazardous to introduce pro-
ducts. Although Victoria is the capital city of British
Columbia, her markets would require more labour, before
money could be induced to circulate freely, than in any
of the back country towns I visited. There was a good
deal of Chinese labour employed, and consequently the
basis offered to a market by the artisan class at home
was altogether lacking.

It is the same with everything else. The water-supply
in the town is a disgrace and a constant menace to

■■K"

d me
Bella
cvards
istrict
time
these

jT dis-
ie me
j,s un-
to me
mense
Dt only
of the
at "was
iig any
those
plendid
; living
id as a
roperty
reason
'S, hond
y forth -

There
loarded
lie "was
oney in
ice pro-
British
before
in any
a good
itly the
t home

-supply
nace to

TEE BO OKIES TO VICTORIA.

165

health. There is abundance of water to be had, only
the energy and enterprise is lacking to bring this much-
needed blessing into Victoria. The roads are rough and
uneven, the gutters stink, the wooden side walks are
frequently so out of repair that they are positively
dangerous. The bridges are known to be unsafe, and
only one vehicle at a time is allowed upon them, and
that at a foot pace. Had I not seen cows turned out to
browse in the thoroughfares I could not have believed
it ; but, owing to the gutters never being cleaned, a rank
growth of vegetation starts in them early in the summer,
and I have seen boys herding cows on this pasture in
Victoria.

The city was founded by the Hudson's Bay Company,
and in the days when the fur trade was a great in-
dustry, Victoria was well situated ; but it is hardly fair
to the great gold industry that the capital of the country
and the seat of Government should be in this remote
corner of the province, and away from the mainland.
Not that the Victorians will admit this. They cannot
see that the trade routes from the mainland must result
in an immense commercial success for Vancouver city.
Already the foundries and shipbuilding trades have
moved over to the superior harbour, and Victoria is left
doing a great trade in importing her own food-stuffs.
Yet one of the " old timers " at Victoria gravely assured
me that Victoria was "the London of the Pacific," a
statement which surprised me much, for I could not
but believe that he spoke in good faith, and I marvelled
that no rumours of the existence of San Francisco had
reached him.

If the people of Victoria exerted themselves to render
the town attractive to residents, Victoria might have a
future. But the habit of the people is haphazard.
Theirs is the day of small things. Most of them
originated in a small way of business, and if the busi-
ness does not diminish they are content ; but should it
once in a decade show a tendency to improve it is taken
for granted that a fortune will arrive some day from

%■

Ij 1

IGG

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

somewhere. At any rate they think themselves successful,
and that being their opinion it is idle to suggest a doubt.

I once expressed a hope that Government should
bring in a scheme for Vancouver Island similar to Bella
Coola, and give free grants of land. The idea was
received with scorn, and I was told that before Govern-
ment gave free grants to agriculturists, free grants, or
an equivalent, should be given to men who would build
houses in the town, for that ** one house in a town did
more good to the country than a dozen farmers."

They were oblivious of the fact that the most solid
basis for a market in general goods is a large well-to-do
agricultural class.

It must not be supposed that the Victorians disregard
wealth. On the contrary, the amount of a man's
income is the question of the day and hour ; and the
figure it makes prescribes at once the social position
assigned to the owner.

Colonel Baker was anr^Ious that I should visit Saanich,
and see some of the agriculture of the island ; but I felt
decidedly that other places were more likely to show
inducements to settlers than this island, where the best
chances with respect to transport and markets were tied
up in the hands of grasping monopolists, and that my
time would be better spent elsewhere. But I collected
the following facts concerning Saanich.

It is a peninsula about eighteen miles from Victoria.
The land is very good, and purchasable at $30 an acre.
The district is suitable for fruit and vegetables and dairy
produce. The wheat appears similar to that in the
Lower Fraser, which is too soft for milling, and is
generally used for feeding purposes. Hops answer well.
The general complaint is that the prices in the local
markets are too low to render farming remunerative.
The price of land is forced up in Vancouver Island by
the private individuals who procured large tracts either
from Government or the Hudson's Bay Company. Labour
is dear, though there is said to be no lack of Japanese
labour at $8 a month with board.

i I

THE BO CRIES TO VICTORIA,

167

m acre.

In the neighbourhood of Victoria improved farms are
offered for as much as $300 an acre, and putting the
cost of clearing at $200 the acre, and allowing for
fencing, etc., $300 is not a high price. What the
emigrant must consider is whether the prices on his
produce will make him a fair return on this outlay, or
whether the same amount of money invested elsewhere
would not bring him in better returns.

The climate of Vancouver Island is mild and very
similar to the south-west of England. There are few
days in winter when it does not rain, and the snowfall
is usually very light.

Though I never heard of any one making much money
in farming, I must also admit that I did not see any
great interest taken in the business. It is easy to live
on a small farm in Vancouver Island, and people seemed
contented to take life easily, and enjoy the sport and
pastime afforded by a thinly populated and densely
forested country. The general complaint I heard on all
sides was that the competition from America cut down
pri- \ unless tariffs were raised agriculture could

n' ' . made to pay. My own view of the case was that
the islanders did not know how to organize and
cultivate the market.

Uncultivated land is taxed * when it is bought from
Government, no improvement placed upon it, and left
unoccupied.

During the conversations which I had with Colonel
Baker we frequently discussed the subject of fitting
emigrants for the Colonies, but we never arrived at any
definite plan. He expressed himself much as follows : —

" I cannot tell what it is which is wanting in the young
men who come out here. I should rather say it is a total
ignorance of the life they are coming to. Let U3 take
mining, and wc shall find that even those who come out as
mining experts know little or nothing about the business —
at all events so far as British Columbia is concerned. For

* See Appendix for summary of Land Act.

I'll

' I

• • !

i '■ m.

168

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

them I think it would be an advantaj^e to go through a
course at McGill University, where raining engineering is
thoroughly understood, and better taught than in the old
country.

" If the young fellows coming out would first learn to do
one useful thing thoroughly ivell, they would stand a better
chance. But they come to me and they say they want some-
thing to do ; and I say, ' Well, what ca7i you do ? ' and they
say they don't know. Then if I put them into something,
many of thp) go on for a time ; but there seems a restless-
ness about them. They don't find they are getting rich
fast enough ; or they hear of something somewhere else
which they fancy they would rather be doing, and so thef
g ) away. There does not seem to be any persistency ia
tnem. They are not wanting in intelligence, and they have
courage enough, but I cannot say that they are industrious.
The one thing they do not seem to have been taught is
to work.

" Then, again, I must admit many of them may be all
right when they start ; but they fall into bad hands on the
way. They stop at places before they come here, and they
get the idea into their heads that cattle ranching is a very
fine thiiig ; that you have only plenty of riding to do (and,
remember, they ride, very well, most of them), and polo, and
shooting, and they think that that ia a very fine life. But
they forget, or else no one tells them, that behind all this
ranching is a business like any other; and if it is to bo
made to pay, it . can only be on the same principles as any
other business — grocery or dry-salters, or any other. But
business principles are the last thing they think about. I
suppose boys at Eton don't learn book-keeping ; but if they
do there, I am sure it is not taught at other schools. After
all," he concluded, "I am afraid I can't offer many suggestions
for the people at home ; except that they should avoid
premiums and remittances, and keep the money till the
young man has learnt to work — and to work at something
till he understands it — and then a little money will be of
great advantage. vCheap capital is sorely needed in this
country ; and if a father has an industrious son who comes
out here, and sees his way to do something at a profit, a few
hundred pounds are well invested, and that is the best way
to invest it."

Icomes
a few
It way

TEE ROCKIES TO VICTORIA.

169

In talking to Mr. Turner, I found that ho thought
much more of the mining development than of agri-
culture. "Go to the mines!" he said. "Go and see
them ; and you will see tliat they are the lever which
will lift this country to prosperity."

Before leaving Victoria I went to see Mr. Milne, of
the Customs, and had much interesting talk with him.
He was thoroughly well informed as to the Yukon
district, and we discussed the Klondyke gold-fields,
which were just then attracting attention. He was very
anxious to see the route opened via Fort Wrangel, con-
sidering that it would be by far the best entry.

I was particularly anxious for a few particulars about
the trade with China. I found that the bulk of Chinese
trade is done through the Chinese merchants themselves.
The Chinese revenue at the port of Victoria for the
twelve months ending June 30, 1897, amounted to
$58,963. For the previous year it was $39,347, showing
an increase of $19,616.

Rice, which is the Chinaman's chief diet, is a peculiar
item in the trade of Victoria. It is imported in two
ways — by private Chinese individuals, who get it in
the rough state, and dress it themselves (this import
is from China, which is rather unaccountable, as the
Chinese Government prohibits the export of rice) ; there
is, besides, an English firm who import from Bangkok.
They have mills in Victoria where the rice is dressed,
and they are able to undersell the Chinese. This is
a curious feature in trade, for here is a profitable
business based solely on the maintenance of an alien
race who object to the food provided by the country.
At any moment these aliens may be forbidden access,
in which case the trade would disappear. But the
other side of the business is that the Chinese appear
to be acquiring a taste for wheat, probably owing to
their residence in the east of Canada, where rico cannot
always penetrate, and consequently a trade is growing
up with China in Manitoba wheat.

In the interim between the decrease of the seal

"i \

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170

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

H ■

industry, which at one time amounted to as much as
throe quarters of a million dollars per annum, and the
commencement of the fisheries, a large trade is done
in opium ; but this business has decreased enormously
since the lowering of duty in the United States. It will
probably rise again when the duty is imposed.

Mr. Milne did not seem to think that as much money
was remitted to China annually as I believed. At all
events there was nothing in Chinese trade returns to
warrant such a sum. On the other hand, the ways of
the Chinese are dark, and difficult to understand. There
are merchants whose wealth is certain, but whose
transactions do not appear; which strengthens the
supposition that they transact their own banking. The
labour supply undoubtedly contributes to the business,
and gold may be remitted to China in nuggets or dust,
and therefore never figure in any banking account.

The superior Chinese are for the most part labour
contractors; but it seems that the labouring Chinese
consider themselves partners in any concern in which
they deposit money. They will pay their earnings — or
a share of them — across the counter, and consider that
the deposit entitles them to a "share." This looks
like co-operation; but what the precise nature of the
transaction may be, or what becomes of the money,
is another Chinese puzzle. No doubt large sums
change hands among the Chinese themselves ; but then
they are strongly addicted to gambling in a variety
of ways, and it is quite impossible to follow them in
the handling of money.

What is quite certain is that, as a basis for a market,
the Chinese cannot be compared to the working class
in England. Mr. Milne summed up their virtues, their
peculiarities, and the advantages to be drawn from them,
in one sentence, which expressed as much bewilderment
as it did admiration. " They are wonderful creatures ! "
he said.

Mr. i: ^ told me that during the year 1896-97, 1169
Chinese paid the capitation tax of $50 each; 205

ich as
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[97, 1169
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7'nE HOOKIES TO VICTORIA.

171

returned within six months; 19 others were exempt
from the tax, being students, etc.

That this is an organized system of emigration, no one
can deny. The merchants and contractors take steps to
regulate the supply as far as possible in accordance with
the demand, and spend the greatest pains in choosing
servants, gardeners, or labourers, suitable in character
and qualifications to the places for which they are
required. Why the Chinese in their thin raiment and
shoes, which let in the water like sponges, should be
more at home in British Columbia than our own people,
is hard to understand. But they possess in high degree
the two qualities which Colonel Baker declared, in
his experience, were found wanting in young English-
men — ** persistence" and "industry."

The revenue from the customs of British Columbia
is handed over to the Dominion Government for general
expenses. At the time of Federation, the Dominion
Government allowed the province an annuity of $50,000
as a relief to taxation for local purposes. All the states
composing the Federation were made similar grants,
according to their population, at a fixed ratio per head,
and they diminish as the population increases.

The costs of harbour improvement works, the building
and maintenance of lighthouses, and the salaries of
judges are defrayed by the Federal Government. The
mail subsidies, education, roads, and bridges are main-
tained by the Provincial Government. Miners' licences,
the sale of lands (except those lands granted to rail-
ways) are also managed and controlled by the Provincial
Government.

This arrangement is decidedly a favourable one for
Canada ; but so far as the province is concerned, it does
seem that the benefits of federation have been purchased
for a high price. If we look at the imports we shall
find that a large share consists of food-stuffs, which
might be grown in British Columbia, could the initial
expense of clearing the land, of drainage, and irrigation
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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

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colony to attract a larger population settled upon tho
land. Taking one item given me by Mr. Milne, I found
that eggs were imported from the States, in number
78,853 dozen, to the value of $13,000, and duty paid on
them to the amount of $3942.

The imposition of duties upon food-stuffs raises the
price of the food-stuffs in British Columbia to the
amount of the duty paid, and preserves the markets in
behalf of the farmers of Ontario and the North-West,
who can raise stuff cheaper than in British Columbia,
under present circumstances. Meantime, the revenue
drawn from the taxes on food-stuffs, which is paid by
the consumer, goes to defray the cost of things of general
or remote interest. Excepting the judges' salaries, it
cannot be said that the expenditure of the Federal
Government is upon anything exclusively provincial,
seeing that harbours and lighthouses concern the trade
of the through traffic quite as much as that of the
province.

Evidently the only means of stopping the continual
drain of money into the States, would be by improving
the position of agriculture and increasing agricultural
settlements. Sooner or later the question of starting
irrigation works, and taking measures to restrain the
Fraser from flooding the lands in the Delta, will have
to be considered by the Government, and funds provided
for these purposes.

The British Columbian Government make no free
grants of land, and, furthermore, exact a royalty upon
all timber sold (even as cordwood *) off the land.

These charges, it is maintained, are necessary in order
to find funds for carrying on the business of the Provincial
Government.

It is open to considerable doubt whether the funds
are administered with a view to encourage the influx
of settlers. At all events, in connection with this sub-
ject, the erection of the magnificent and costly pile
of Government buildings at Victoria (probably after

♦ Fuel,

TEE liOCKlES TO 7ICT0BIA,

173

"Westminster itself the most imposing edifice of the kind
in the Empire) needs some explanation. Standing
where it does, overlooking the rickety bridges and the
poor little town, it recalls the story of the " swell " of
the last century, whose dress was the wonder of all
beholders ; when he came to die he begged to be buried
in his clothes, but some one thinking that the corpse
might at least spare the beautiful waistcoat, discovered
that the grandee hadn't a shirt to his back !

Just such an impression is made upon the stranger
who looks up at these buildings and then turns round to
find the squalid wretchedness of the town, and goes
away into the backwoods to find the settlers struggling
with the enormous initial difficulties of the country.

In conversation with Mr. Milne, I referred to the
Klondyke. He viewed with immense satisfaction the
steps which were at length being taken to establish
the authority of Great Britain and the maintenance of
law and order by reinforcements of the North-West
Police. With regard to the statements in the American
press that the Klondyke was in Alaska, he said that
attempts to stretch the American boundary-lines were
quite in the usual order of things. He had the entire
correspondence and report on the Alaska boundary
question in his office, and showed it to me with the
maps. I understood at last that it is the habitual
practice of the States to worry questions and confuse
issues in the hope of wringing something out of them to
their own good, and that these matters are best dealt
with firmly and with decision.

Victoria receives the stranger most hospitably and
very kindly. I greatly enjoyed making the acquaint-
ance of many of the inhabitants ; but I could wish that,
as the capital of this important province, the people
would take a keener interest in public affairs. The
tincture of the old-time element is very picturesque,
especially as represented by Mrs. Dennis Harris and
Dr. Helmchen ; but the farsightedness I wish for Victoria
must be to the future, and not to the past.

•■>;■■ :■

CHAPTER XII.

TO THE ALBERNI MINES.

It was late in the evening when I went on board the
s.s. Tees (Captain John Irvine), bound for Alberni, on
the west coast of Vancouver Island.

As may be gathered from the name Alberni, the place
was known to the old Spanish adventurers, and the
belief is prevalent that they came to get the gold washed
down in the sands of the river. In recent years the
Chinese were so successful that the spot where they
extracted the gold was called China Creek. In time, a
syndicate was formed, and placer mining was tried ; but
the elaborate machinery and skilful mining engineers
from California failed to extract sufficient gold to make
the undertaking pay, and the flumes and piping had
been taken down. Prospecting was being carried on
in the mountains with immense activity, and it was
rumoured that the mountains behind China Creek and
the ill-fated venture of placer mining, contained quartz
of high assay value.

Should these mines become paying concerns, the
destiny of Vancouver Island will become clear. Alberni,
situated on a river possessing a deep mouth, which pro-
vides access to the heart of the island from a bay called
Barclay Sound, offers a natural harbour open at all
seasons of the year to large vessels. It faces the Pacific,
and suggests an excellent opportunity for taking on
cargoes of lumber and coal, the coal-mines of Nanaimo
being only fifty miles by road from Alberni, But probably

tl
is

TO TBE ALBEBNI MINES.

175

the sea-fishing industry will centre at Alberni. There
is no harbour on the west of Vancouver Island to com-
pare with it ; and if the mines pay, a population will
collect round the bay whose surplus will find employ-
ment in fishing. I repeatedly found in British Columbia
that the hardship of the working class was invariably
due to the sudden cessation of work, which threw the
men out of employment. The " prospects " are the worst
offenders in this respect, as they are never certain to
give paying results. I passed through districts where
the sudden shutting down of mines, left the miners with
nothing to live upon. It must be admitted, however,
that the great defect in the British emigrant is his un-
adaptability, and many men would be useless in any
but one capacity, while others appear to regard a change
of occupation as degrading.

It was midnight before we put out of Victoria har-
bour, and then a fog detained us. The little boat was
terribly crowded. The success of one mine had caused
a rush. There were nine extra berths rigged up in the
saloon, and two people slept on the saloon table. The
stewards gave up their berths, and if they slept at all it
must have been in the hold. But for the most part tho
excitement about ''rock" kept people talking, and call-
ing for whiskies and sodas all night.

The atmosphere below was very bad in the saloon ;
and the ship being oiled with a fish oil possessing a
truly terrible scent, upset me so far that I could eat no
breakfast ; but Mr. Fred Child kindly brought mo some
tea and fruit on deck, and in the fresh air 1 recovered,
and began to take an interest in the scenery and my
fellow-passengers.

We kept close to the coast, which was mountainous,
but clothed with spruce and cedar to the water's edge.
Here and there a sharp peak of rock cut the sky-line, in
the crevices of which traces of snow might be seen ;
otherwise the land, as it rose from the blue Pacific, pre-
sented a deep green mass, the trees seeming to grow
out of the water with no beach whatever.

i'^ V J

■ .;*

i|v!

176 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

We had on board a man who had come down from the
Klondyke, and having been there two years, he was able
to give a fairly comprehensive idea of the country. He
had been successful, and believed that he would succeed
still further if he went back there, but his wife objected
to his risking the hardships. These, he admitted, were
severe. Both his friends and himself had been nearly
starved to death, and he declared that such hardships
would have to be reckoned with by any miners who left
the beaten track, while near the centres the claims were
all pegged out. ** The Klondyke," he said, " was a very
good poor man's country, but that day is past now.
However, I am certain if I went up the coast again I
should succeed just as well, though I should not go to
the Klondyke." I found that he had been engaged in
prospecting from his boyhood, and had boen sent to re-
port for syndicates, as well as individuals, upon the
mines in many districts.

The chief difficulty for the prospector consists in pro-
curing sufficient food-supply. This man had never
known what it was to be without water. He had always
been able to make a fire, except when it was raining
hard. But to carry sufi&cient food-stuff on his own
back up the mountains and across rivers, had been the
unsolved problem which proved to be the element of
failure. As a rule, the prospector depends chiefly on
beans (a white bean, similar to the French haricot) and
bacon. He also carries a gun and some ammunition
(the miner's licence giving him permission to shoot all
through the closed season). But the gun and ammuni-
tion, besides his pick, blankets, mackintosh sheets, and
cooking-pot, make a heavy pack for a man to carry
through a dense forest and over sharp rocks, where at
any time he may miss his foot, roll into a crevice, and
break his leg.

As we were talking, other prospectors came up ; and
I found that most of them could tell tales of immense
hardship and privation. One man recommended carry-
ing a small bag of rolled oats, and said that he always took

TO TEE ALBERNI MINES,

177

some loose in his pocket, and ate them as he went along.
The difficulty that the best of their prospectors appeared
to feel was always this one of food. One man told mo
that it was often impossible to reckon on the length of
time it might take them to get the work finished which
they were sent to carry out, and that sooner than leave
it and return he and his chums had been starved so
that they ate birds' eggs and berries, and were glad to
get them.

This determination to achieve what they attempted,
and the fidelity to their employers, is a marked feature
in the prospector's character, and certainly one which
commands cordial admiration.

The prospectors along the mountains on the shores
of Alberni and Barclay Sound manage differently to
those inland, and incur less risks. Two of them go
together in a boat, with tents and provisions, sometimes
taking a small raft or scow behind the boat, on which
to cook and bake as they go along, thus saving time.
One of them lands at a suitable spot, ascends the
mountain, and penetrates through the forest in search
of out-crops, or indications of gold or minerals. He
carries his gun, a pick, and a small quantity of provi-
sions, sometimes taking his mackintosh and blankets.
His "chum" remains in the boat, on the look out for
signals, such as the lighting of a fire with green stuff, to
throw up thick clouds of smoke, or the firing of the gun,
and judges whether his assistance is wanted or not.
The density of the forest is marvellous, and this, to-
gether with the difficulty of crossing ravines, frequently
makes it impossible to proceed more than two miles in
a day. One man assured me that to make progress at
the rate of one mile in four hours was very quick work
indeed. In some cases the prospector can return to the
boat at night, but more often he sleeps where he is,
and only goes down to the boat and the place where
his "chum" has pitched the tent once in two or
three days. The "chum" judges of his progress by
signals, and moves along the shore. If the signals

; H'

>'il

li;-

' ' :-

178 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

cease, he loaves the boat and goes to see what has
happened.

It seemed surprising to mc that cases of prospectors
being lost altogether wore so rare. It is, however,
commonly regarded as most imprudent for one man to
go entirely alone.

I found a man on board who started as a farmer in
Vancouver Island, but gave up the business in disgust.
He had many bitter complaints against the Govern-
ment, nor did the farmers themselves escape his
censure.

His first point was the exaction of taxes from the
land. He contrasted the slow returns from agriculture
in comparison with other businesses, and declared that
the Government was literally destroying the ground
under their own feet by exacting support from men who
in the first stages had nothing to give.

Firstly, the land is bought for agriculture, whereas
the miner pays nothing but his licence. The sum fixed
for agricultural land is $1 an acre, and $3 a head
entrance foe ; so that a man, his wife, and two
children are taxed for coming to settle in the country
to the amount of $12. There is, besides, the charge
for the fee simple. Thus, before a man can get
into his farm iu this province, he has to pay about
$100, as against nothing at all in the North-West,
where he can get 160 acres free, and embark every
shilling he has in the property. The clearing of land
in Vancouver is a very heavy item ; so that a man can
buy a good farm improved and fenced far cheaper
elsewhere.

Secondly, he disapproved strongly of the policy the
Government pursued in making roads. They did not
employ men to make the roads ; but they paid the
farmers (who knew nothing about road-making) $1
a day to work on the roads. No one superintended
their labour, or saw to its efficiency. Besides, the plan
did not work because it took the farmers off their farms
precisely at the very time when they were most require^

TO THE ALBERNI MINES,

179

the

not

the

3nded

plan

arms

uire4

to be working on their farms. In the winter, which is
the time they are at leisure, no road work can be per-
formed, owing to the heavy rains which fall everywhere
in the island except in Victoria. At the same time he
laid great stress on the laziness and incompetence of
the farmers, especially in the Albcrni district. He
believed in the fertility of the soil, having proved it by
three years of splendid crops, after which he considered
that the fertility diminished unless the ground were
manured.

He had given up his farm and gone into other
business, because Government was so slow in laying
down a road, and when the road was done it was so
bad as to be almost useless. He could not transport
his produce to the nearest market except in small
quantities and at a very slow rate. He said the country
is a good country if it weren't spoilt. It requires cheap
capital, cheap labour, and cheap transport.

I felt that these remarks, by a man of some experience
on the spot, were a useful comparison with the high
praise I had heard bestowed upon Vancouver Island,
and the advantages it offered for settlers.

In Barclay Sound there are a great many islands,
or reefs, curiously arranged in lines. There are still
native settlements on some of these islands, and one in
particular was the burial-place of a native band. The
trees were cut into alleys or groves, and it was possible
to see from the deck of the steamer that something was
fixed to the stems or trunks. The practice of disposing
of the dead by putting them up in the trees was ex-
plained to me to have become customary on account of
the difficulty of burying them on rocks, where soil was
scanty. In Vancouver Island itself cau-ns for native
burial have been discovered, and the skulls bear every
trace of belonging to the same race as that inhabiting
the island at the present time. In the Museum in
Victoria these skulls may be seen ; they are large and
thick, furnished with heavy jaws and powerful teeth.
The practice seems to have been \ v general of

'SI

T'.

■.'•(fl

ill

i :■

180 BRITISB COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

flattening the skull in infancy, so that it bulged out
behind and on either side of the ears.

One of the police constables of the island was on
board, and he assured me that the natives had entirely
relinquished every form of cannibalism. They have
even given up devouring the dead, which was the
last form it assumed. Dances, though still held, are
comparatively tame affairs. Some Indians still wear
masks at the "dog dance;" but the tearing process,
and representation of hunting for prey, and similar
animal tactics, never result in a sacrifice. They are
even careful to put on their oldest clothes before the
tearing commences, instead of their bravest finery, as
on former occasions. He spoke of drink as the greate. '
curse, and attributed its presence to illicit traffic on the
part of skippers from the States.

We stopped at a native reserve which lay on either
side of a creek, and the inhabitants came out in their
canoes to look at us, while we put some bags of flour
ashore for the small store. There were plenty of dogs
of an idle, rufiianly, low-bred appearance. The bones
of a whale lay on the shore, and smelt most offensively.
I counted four bald-headed eagles soaring above the
ship. I believe they were attracted by the raw meat
which our butcher had hung under an awning in the
stern.

I looked to see if there were any totem-poles. I was
told that missionaries had destroyed them ; but one old
canoe, apparently a man-o'-war, was lying high and
dry on the beach, going fast to pieces, and the prow of
this craft was furnished with a painted monstrosity —
half bird, half beast. The wooden houses were all
modern two-story buildings of the plainest and com-
monest design. They gave the creek the ugly ap-
pearance of a modern township, badly kept and
dilapidated.

From this place we went on to Serita, where we
anchored, waiting for the tide to rise, while the captain
went ashore with some of the passengers. The place

TO THE ALBERNI MINES.

181

was chiefly remarkable for its wild scenery and some
copper-ore prospects, concerning which there was a
good deal of discussion on board.

I gathered that there was a tolerably strong desire to
keep Vancouver Island as a *' poor man's country " — that
is to say, to avoid the introduction of big syndicates, and
give the miners themselves a chance to dig out the pay-
streaks in their own claims, and ship the ore to the
little mill in Victoria, reaping the returns themselves.

I employed the time at Serita in fishing over the
ship's side for a kind of flounder, and caught a dozen
and a half. I had, unfortunately, no suitable hook or
tackle, having only trout flies and a baby-spinner; I
caught the flounders by letting down a baby-spinner
with a piece of raw meat on it, weighted with a small
lead.

At about seven o'clock in the evening the captain
camo back, and we went on at once, reaching the
Alberni new townsite about ten p.m., where we moored
till the morning.

By this time I was tired of the small and very
crowded boat, and soon after sunrise the next morning
I got up, dressed, and went on deck. I found that
Alberni itself, for which we were bound, was about two
miles further, and that there was a road leadipg to it
through the forest. I determined to walk the rest of
the way, and accordingly started without waiting for
breakfast.

!-f^:

fy ap-
and

? ■ / . »

Xxe we

iptain

place

I'!

CIIArTER XIII.

ALBERNI.

The Alborni new townsite consistc of a landing-stage,
a shod or wharf, and boyond a small wooden hut,
where the receiver of customs resided, who also managed
the mails.

I saw him come out of his house and finish lacing his
boots outside, in which occupation he was so intent that
ho did not see me, or I should probably have asked him
a few questions as to the way to Alberni.

The road was still under construction — if that can
be called construction which consists in felling trees,
blasting stumps, and choking up gulches with branches.
There is no attempt at drainage of surface-water ; and
though the branches thrown into the little gulches are
intended to form a bridge, in point of fact they elevate
the surface of the water and distribute it over the land.
However, these are but details. To me the whole
experience of that walk was a delight. It was the first
time I had been quite alone in the forest, and at liberty
to stand still as long as I liked, and gaze my fill at the
great Douglas pines, and listen to the weird soughing
of the wind high up above my head, while down below
not a leaf stirred. A few squirrels ran about, but there
seemed to be no birds.

The sun was shining with dazzling brightness, which
made the forest all the more attractive, by reason of the
contrast it offered. I saw, to my surprise, that ferns
grew of many kinds which I should have thought too
delicate for thai* climate. There were also some

ALBERNL

183

wonderful carlet agarics, though it was tho middle
of July. ..t one place, where the sun had a chance,
owing to the falling (through age apparently) of a
gigantic fir-tree, I found some salmon-herrics and wild
raspherrics, and enjoyed an early breakfast, recalling
the miner's story of tho day before.

The Alberni township, I found, consisted of an hotel,
some two or three stores, a few miners' houses, an
assayer's oflice, and the residence of Mr. Huff, the
member for the Alberni district in the Provincial
Parliament. I had a letter for Mr. Huff, and having
delivered it, I went to the hotel for breakfast.

Throughout Canada rigid punctuality is required with
rrgard to meals, and this I had not learnt ; so that it
was a positive shock to my feelings to be told that as
I was " late for breakfast " I could not expect any.
I remonstrated, declaring that nevertheless I did expect
some, and that inns were for the refreshment of travel-
lers, of which I was one. Upon this the landlord
disappeared, and another functionary arrived in tho
person of **the gurl." Every backwood's inn turns
upon two poles — "the gurl" and "the chap." How
often, during the next few months, I was to be sent
backwards and forwards from one to the other of these
officials, I could not at that time foresee ; but I found
" the gurl," in this instance, sufficient for my purpose,
as she set before me a clammy poached egg, which was
not very fresh, some highly odoriferous butter, a glass
of milk, and some excellent white bread.

Outside, the miners sat in the sun, blinking their
eyes and smoking their pipes. In the bar, where I
was destined to go at length in pursuit of "the chap,"
I read a notice : ** No credit given. DonH ask for it."

It told its own tale. The Alberni consolidated mine
had closed down, the pay-streak having " petered out,"
and the men were discharged.

I spent some time chatting with Mr. Huff, who told
me about his fruit-trees, which appeared to be growing
well, although I did not see any fruit on them.

V-

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184

BRITISH COLVMBIA FOR SIHTLKIiS.

Tho towHHito of Albonii is iit i\\v foot of tho mountains
in a valley, which ovc^ntnally inclinoH iipwardH towardu
tho liills or bonehoH, but at itn lowest HOuniH to bo bolow
tho Hurfaoo of tho rivor. It certainly roqiiiroH draining,
and the land niipjht bo valuable for fruit, vofi[otableH,
and hay, but thc^ elinuito in wronj^ Houiehow for corealH.
Some say it is too damp ; otluMH, too dry. Probably it
irt both at wrong RoaHouH. TIk; land in chiolly in tho
hands of i)rivate individuals, who are holding it to
obtain higli pricen. I was able to judge what may
ha])pen in thoHo now townsiteH by examining a piece
of ground opposite the road into which the water from
the river, or else from some Hwamp out of Right, forced
itself. 1 remarked to one of the local magnates that
it should bo drained, upon which he replied, "You see,
wo aro iilling it uj)." 1 looked again, and saw that all
manner of rubbish, together with tho manure f; >m a
neighbouring stable, was being shot into this hole. lUit
the local magnate was rambling on about tho beauties
of the townsite as a winter residence, till I interrupted
him, saying, as I nodded towards tho hole, " That's a

wonderful idea, Mr. ." To my intense surprise he

drove his hands deep into his pockets, and drawing
himself up, ho exclaimed, '* Kirnjthin(j in thin coiintri/
i.s' wondcr/nl ! " I was thinking of tho shortsightedness
of securing a fever-trap in the centre of the townsite ;
for surely as soon as the hole was filled up, and a bouse
built upon it, scarlet fever or typhoid would break out,
and, no one foreseeing the reason, tho place would at
once got a bad name and the rents fall.

I went to Mr. Saunders, the assayer, having made the
acquaintance of his brother, and for the first time in
my life I saw gold assayed. Mr. Saunders had a httle
handmill in which he ground up tho quartz. He then
washed the dust in a small black phial, pouring away
the water and sand after shaking the phial to allow of
the heavy gold sinking to the bottom. The operation
was especially interesting as the quartz was brought
from a new cutting in tho Alberni mines, which it was

ALiiEnm,

185

mght

fervently hoped mi^lit bo RuccoKflful in Htiikinf,' tlio vein
or pay-Btrcnk lost at a liighor elevation.

Tlio rt'Hult of tint asHay wan a lino Kliowing of gold,
and Mr. Sanndors waved the little phial towardn mo in
triumph, exclaiming, "You bring luck! You bring
luck ! See, now, how you bring luck ! "

Miners are exceedingly KuperHtitiouH, and a new-
comer in always regarded curiously, to see whether he
brings luck or the reverKe.

Meantime the steamer had arrived at tho mooring
stage, and I found the street full of men, some in the
miner's dress — light-blue overall trousers and tho
striped blanket coat, made somewhat alter tho pattern
of a Norfolk jacket. Somo of them, judging by their
cowboy hats, were fresh from the prairies ; others had
recently donned the garb, and it was easy to see by
their white hands and carefully kei)t nails that their
previous careers had been spent in some snug ollice
from morning till night.

As 1 walked to tho steamer, a young man in miner's
dress accosted me, and began to catechize mo about
matters South African. Tho American sense of
humour is strangely deli(iient on certain points, and
tho direct way this youth discharged hia inquiries was
as matter-of-fact as if he were putting turnips into
a pulping-machine.

" Is Mr. lUiodes as black as he's painted '?" he asked.

Remembering that the Yankee press is never tired
of reviling Mr. llhodes and all his works, I replied that
this was the first time any suggestion had reached mo
that Mr. Ithodes was a half-caste ; and that if any one had
taken the trouble to tar and feather him, I trusted they
would be suitably remunerated for their pains, seeing
that he was "a great Englishman."

Upon this there was dead silence. Then he began
again, in rather an injured tone —

** That's not what I mean. I want to know if Mr.
Rhodes is a really had man — or not ? "

I represented that speech was, after all, only figurative,

■ f;

i(h

If:,

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186

BlilTlSn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

\-\.

and unless I was quite sure that his (the American's)
standard of morals coincided with my own I could not
venture to reply.

*'Let me advise you," I said, "to think it out for
yourself. What do you think ? Would you be glad to
have him in the States — or not ? "

A bright light shone over the countenance which had
hitherto been as dull as it was colourless.

" You bet ! " he exclaimed. " But we'd find plenty
of use for him there ! "

Something occurred, and I lost sight of this Yankee ;
but as the little crowd shifted, I saw him again, and,
having nothing to do, I said to him, " Which would you
like to have, Ehodes or Kruger ? " Again I watched the
dull look grow over the face, and I knew he was
shamming. I repeated my question, adding, "Mind you,
Kruger is a good Republican ; he*s no Imperialist." My
Yankee friend did not answer, however. He raised his
hand mechanically to his hat, and I left him smiling
with his eyes fixed on the ground.

I found plenty of people at Alberni who were anxious
to show me the mines — even one gentleman, a mining
expert, who had only been in the country three days.
Finally it was arranged for me by Mr. Fred Childs,
that I should visit the Duke of York and Alberni con-
solidated mines, and that Mr. Waterhouse should go
with me. Mr. Childs also kindly placed his room in
the log cabin at the Duke of York at my disposal for
the night.

I intended to go to Clayquot in the steamer and
return in her to Alberni. I was told that Clayquot was
a place with a great future before it, both as a harbour
and a mining centre.

It so happened that the steamer started without me,
and therefore I missed Clayquot. From things which
I heard subsequently, I question if Clayquot will
develop as fast as Alberni, and I believe its advantages
were exaggerated.

Hearing that the Tees could not leave Alberni till

ALBEIiNI.

187

me,
vhich

will
tages

i till

towards midnight, I took my rod and started up the
river, thinking to see some of the country and enjoy
a little of the fishing, which I had heard highly praised.

Mr. Macardie and Mr. Waterhouse afterwards joined
me, and Mrs. Gilliard kindly offered us her canoe ; and
promised to drive after us to the falls, and bring some
tea.

We started, but the sun was hot, and the canoe — an
Indian dug-out — was heavy against the stream. Two
of us had breakfasted early, and somewhat scantily.
The sight of a neat house, painted white, standing in an
ideal garden of old-country flowers, was very inviting,
and Mr. Macardie having landed, presently returned
with an invitation from Mrs. Thompson to go in and
have tea at her house.

It is difficult to describe the impression of comfort,
repose, and cultivation which fell upon one upon
passing through the wicket gate, with its archway of
clematis — especially after the recent experience of
Siwash dwellings along the river shore, the discomfort
of an inn, and the recollection of the crowded Tees.

Inside the archway the garden was sweet with car-
nations, roses, sweetwilliams, and other old-fashioned
flowers. Mrs. Thompson received us with Scottish hos-
pitality; and we were soon devouring delicious bread
ai i butter and drinking many cups of tea with cream
in it. Then we were each given glass dishes full of cool
fresh-picked raspberries, juicy and most refreshing. This
Arcadian repast was followed by a stroll round the
garden, where we stood as in an oasis, and looked out
upon the hills where cattle browsed, and the wild forest
scenery across the river ; after which we climbed down
the rocks, made fast the dug-out, and proceeded on foot
to the falls.

I found that these falls were artificially improved in
order to supply the motive power for a pulp-mill.
There is no doubt that plenty of wood exists which could
be utihzed for pulping ; but this mill had failed to pay,
and was consequently shut up.

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188

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

The place chosen for fishing was just below this dam,
and there were several swirling pools under projecting
rocks. The water as it tore over the dam was of the
gi'ey green colour, which I have always associated with
snow ; yet to all appearance there was not much snow
on the mountains.

Some boys, who appeared to be half-breeds, came to
spear salmon, and took two good- sized ^ "\ in this way.
Salmon will not take a fly in Alberni river. I gave my
rod to Mr. Macardie, Mr. Waterho'iso was collecting
fuel for Mrs. Gilliard's fire, and I sat down on the rocks.

The sun was sinking, and as it dropped behind the pine
trees, a long shadow was thrown from a projecting peak
across part of the river. It is a feature in this scenery
that at sunrise or sunset the peculiar angles at which
the rays touch the slopes or elevations render them more
perceptible than at other times. Just where we had
camped, a sharp bend in the river and the wild con-
fusion of rocks suggested that specially violent volcanic
eruption had happened here. I could trace many lines
on the mountains, as the sun sank, indicating ravines
and gorges, providing untold difficulties in the way of
road-construction and prospecting on these heights,
besides unevenness and uncertainty in the leaders or
veins. This fact seemed worthy of remark on account
of the wonderfully even appearance of the mountains
as seen in broad daylight, an evenness very largely due
to the pine forests.

Meantime the most gorgeous colours were shining
in the clouds, and the river as it rushed past became a
veritable river of gold.

The fishing did not make much progress — several
small trout and two of a pound to a pound and a half
were the only result ; but these formed a welcome addi-
tion to the tea. Strange to say, I caught the two largest
fish with a fly which I had tied myself for bass fishing
at a seaside place in the south of England. It was
made of a pigeon's feather and a piece of scarlet braid.
I had been told in England that black files or very dark

ALBERNI.

189

ones were the only flies for British Columbia. This
I believe to be true of some of the head rivers ; and
early in the season dark flies are said to take well in
Vancouver Island, but the general rule is a large fly,
and the brighter the better.

We had to leave, in order to catch the steamer, just
as the fish were beginning to rise ; yet, alas ! though
we rushed and ran, and rowed the dug-out down stream
at full tilt, we only arrived in time to see the funnel
of the Tecs turning the last corner. I had heard the
faithless creature yelling out her summons to passengers,
and felt certain she was leaving sooner than was ex-
pected ; but our hurry was unavailing.

Fortunately, even at this juncture I was not wanting
in a kind friend, for Mr. Childs had rescued my hold-
all and other effects at the last moment, and had them
taken to the inn. The result w^as that I missed Clay-
quot ; but in order to lose no time I started the next
morning soon after eight o'clock for the Alberni mines.

The horse which they brought out for me to ride was
m a deplorable condition. Large galls, streaming with
matter, disfigured the poor creature's shoulders. Yet
when I complained of having to ride it in such a
condition, they offered to put it in a "rig," as though it
would have been more tolerable to sit behind it with a
collar pressing on such wounds ! Its wretched legs
shook, and, in fact, the poor animal showed every trace
of brutal driving. It was this horse or nothing ; and as
I could not walk the fourteen miles, and felt that if I
did not ride it some one else would probably drive it,
I reluctantly mounted. It is customary to treat horses
with horrible brutality in this Western country, partly
out of ignorance, and partly from a kind of drunken
conceit. They will drive a pair of horses in a stage
along thirty miles of mountains, over villainous roads,
without a bait of any kind, except a pailful of ice-cold
water out of a brook. It would cost them nothing to
take a small bundle of hay or a little bag of bean meal
for the water; and such refreshment would " stay" the

pl|

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190

BBITian COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

horses and bring them in fairly fresh. They actually
boast of driving horses to death ; and if they are charged
with cruelty they say, **You must expect it in this
country."

Certainly there is no lower depths of debasement that
a man can sink to, than when lie blames his country
for his own crimes.

When I met Mr. Waterhouse he was good enough to
take my hold-all on his own mare. He was a good deal
troubled about my mount, and good naturedly lent me
his mare, putting my pack on the hireling and walking
most of the way on foot himself.

We went by the Indian trail, which was the old rath
by which the Chinese found their way to China Creek.
To me, at that time quite unacquainted with these trails,
it seemed a matter of immense difficulty to find the
trail. At one place we found a letter fixed to a tree. It
was from Mr. Saunders, to let us know that he was
riding ahead of us to the Duke of York.

At last we reached a wide stretch of very ancient
forest, the like of which I had never witnessed, and
which yet seemed a famihar dream. It was such a
scene of enchantment as one reads of in old fairy tales,
and I began to wonder whether I had entered into
Grimm's old world of elves and dwarfs. I thought of
Snowdrop, and the Three bears ; or was it a corner of
the Arabian Nights, and were we coming to castles and
caves, and gold and thieves ?

I was perfectly ready for all that was coming. I only
prayed to be allowed to sit still for a ""^w minutes and
enjoy the present.

I gazed all round ; the forest sti tched as far as I could
see, and it was all the same. It was composed of
enormous cedar and spruce, without any undergrowth.
The stems varied from five to eight feet in diameter, and
were three hundred feet high at the least. They were
from six to eight hundred years old. The space between
them was clear, for their lowest branches had died, and
such as were left hanging were lifeless and covered with

ALBEBNI.

191

only
and

moss like long matted hair. Overhead the thick mass
of black branches met far away, and seemed gently to
sway with some distant breeze, but down below was
perfect stillness. Hero and there a tree had fallen, the
relic perhaps of a still older forest, and the trunk lay
covered with moss. It just made a mound like a grave
under the deep golden moss, which covered all the
ground and the lower branches, as far as I could see,
on either side.

No forest that ever I saw in my life could be compared
to this forest. One might wander in it for ever, till one
died, for it was everywhere exactly alike. Nothing about
it resembled our green glades, and I thought of the New
Forest, of Hainault, of Epping, and the Black Forest of
Dhal. There was no trace of the ferocity of the thorny
impenetrable bush of Africa, nor was it to be compared
to the exuberant jungle of Natal. The impression was
of immensity, of majestic grandeur, and all that was
venerable. The spirit above me seemed to breathe the
long wail of a farewell.

There was nothing green or young in this forest. If
an artist tried to paint it, there would have been no blue,
save perhaps a touch of cobalt on the grey stems, or in
the far distance. The colouring was that of old tarnished
silver gilt. The human voice sounded strangely, as in a
vault, and here and there ethereal white moths fluttered
inconsequently from tree to tree, as though they were
good fairies in search of some hidden treasure or forlorn
hope. Now and again, at rare intervals, a bird's shiiii
piping note seemed to fall from above from the upper
world to this region of calm decay.

The trees were dying where they stood. They were
young when the conqueror landed at Pevensey, they
were siowly maturing while England was beating out a
constitution which should give laws to the world, and
now they were sighing out the refrain of their death-
lament as they stood there " wearing away to the land o'
the leal."

After leaving this wonderful forest we came into more

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1 i

192 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

open glades, where trees had been felled by trail-blazors.
Bright sunlight shone through the open spaces, and
there was an abundance of salmon berries ana thimble
berries.

In places, trees had fallen across the trail, over which
Mr. Waterhouse's mare jumped easily, while my mount
clirrbod between the stems with wonderful dexterity.
We crossed brooks over whose sides hung Canadian
maiden-hair, while the watercourse itself was choked
with musk. I also saw masses of yellow mimulus;
and there were various other flowers whose names I do
not know, and whose appearance was new to me. The
soil was a deep deposit of vegetable mould, and in other
places wo came upon clay. This was on what might be
called the benches of the mountains. There were also
round ponds and little lakes. In other places we had to
climb up steep hillsides and over huge boulders.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE Ml«iiJS.

1
» .

About noon we reached the Duke of York mine, and the
first thing we saw was Mr. Saunders* old white pony with
its Mexican saddle — a familiar sight, I was told, on tho
road between Albemi and the mines. Mr. Saunders
himself was dressed in the style approved among miners
— bright blue trousers of some cotton or canvas material
clothed his lower limbs, a short loose jacket hung from
his shoulders, and a wide straw hat shaded his Tace.
His scarlet blanket wai arranged as a saddle-cloth under
the Mexican saddle, and the old pony was guided by a
hempen halter.

We decided to stop at the r>uke of York for luncheon
and to rest the horses.

This placer mine had been started on a very elaborate
scale : no expense was spared, and the best expert miner
in placer mining was engaged to work the concern. The
result was a total failure.

The mine had been prospected before the present
miner, Mr. Leveridge from California, took over the
work ; and he based his calculations upon the prospect-
ing reports which he received upon entering on the
business.

There had been about thirty pits sunk in the gravel
to the bed-rock, and the reports were so favourable that
the company engaged a miner who was thoroughly
competent to make use of the abundant supply of water
and work the mine by hydraulicing. Mr. Leveridge

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194

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

spoke in' the highest terms of the liberality of the com-
pany. No expense had been spared in procuring the
best machinery, and in rendering the working of it
perfect in every respect.

After some months washing, during which time an
immense gap had been forced in the gravelly sides of
the hill, it was found that the gold recovered was not in
sufficient quantity to pay for the labour. An effort was
made to discover the original bed of the river, but with-
out success ; and when I was there the flume was all
that was left, beside a couple of log huts and the sheds
in which the piping and the monitors were stowed
away.

The failure of this enterprise was considered a most
deplorable thing for the country ; and all sorts of
reasons were assigned for it. Not being a mining ex-
pert, I could not attempt to offer an opinion ; but it
was very clear to my mind that the piospecting was
undertaken by oaen who knew little or nothing about
Californian placer mining ; and the miner when he came
accepted their reports and based his calculations upon
them. Now, in all mining business this rule will hold
good, that a man should believe nothing he hears, and
only half what '^e sees. The only way to diminish the
speculative element is to be certain of thoroughly ex-
amining the property, not only with a view to ascertain-
ing i«f} value, but also with regard to the precise nature
of the treatment. The further I went the clearer it
became to me that the different branches of mining
(quartz milling, ore smelting, and placer mining) were
so far removed from one another that few men ever
became experts in more than one branch.

There is a theory held by some persons that the
gold-bearing quartz upon the mountains in Vancouver
Island has only been exposed for a comparatively short
period, and therefore the gold washed down from it into
the rivers, can nowhere be in such large quantities as
to bear comparison with the placer mines in California,
where huge rivers have slowly changed their courses.

THE MINES.

195

ut it
■was
ibout
came
upon
hold
and
the
ex-
ain-
ture
r it
ining
ere
ever

It struck me that the mountain up which wo were
proceeding, first to this placer mine and then to the
quartz mines in the heights above, had been forced up
from the bed of the ocean and carried up with it a vast
coating of cUhris. In some places I saw large quantities
of igneous rock. In others the rock was crumbling like
soft powder, partaking of the nature of sand.

As the forest is burnt or cleared, all this will cTescend
— it is even now being fast washed down into the valley,
together with loose boulders and pieces of float rock.

The mountains will be lowered by this process, the
valleys widened, and where the rivers cannot get away,
owing to a block in their passage, lakes or swamps
will be formed. It may be looking very far ahead to
consider all this ; but in view of the efforts which are
being made in mining, together with the burning of
the forest and the making of roads — with the consequent
increase of population — it is impossible not to foresee
that the process of nature will be hurried.

So far as gold-digging is concerned, such a change
will render it probable that deposits of gold will be found
in all imaginable places — especially as men begin to
drain the swamps for agricultural purposes — without
any one of them justifying measures for gold recovery
of a more elaborate nature than that of John Chinaman
with his blanket and his tooth-brush.

While we were looking at the wash-out, something
startled Mr. Waterhouse's mare, and on our return we
found the ground cut up by her ' oofs, while she had
vanished in the direction of home. This was unlucky,
as my horse was practically useless.

After luncheon, which we partook of in the miners'
old boarding-house — a kind of kitchen, presided over by
a miner's wife in the capacity of cook — we started for
the Alberni mine.

About four miles on the road I dismounted, and fasten-
ing my horse to a tree by the roadside, started to climb
on foot.

At length we reached the new cuttuag of Alberni

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19G

BBITISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEB8.

mine. A short timo previously, the vein which was
being followed from a vertical shaft, was lost ; and Mr.
Dunsmuir's enterprise was so efifectually damped that
he pulled down and removed the machinery, and with-
drew from the concern. However, a practical miner
took the matter in hand. Leaving the shaft which had
been sunk from the surface, and was no longer v/orkable,
owing to the water which they had struck at the time
the pay-streak pinched out, he cut a tunnel into the
side of the mountain. This cut the vein lower down,
and relieved the mine of the water without the necessity
of expensive pumping apparatus. It was this tunnel
which we reached first. We followed it down, the
passage being large enough for two persons to pass. At
the entrance to the tunnel or cave, a blacksmith was
busy at a rude forge, sharpening the crowbars or long
chisels which were used for laying bare the pay-streak.
One of the miners, a gigantic Comishman, went with
us into the tunnel. There was still a good deal of water,
but only sufficient to splash over the lower part of my
boots. Mr. Waterhouse carried a candle ; and as we
went, I could see that the whole rock scintillated with
some mineral, probably iron pyrites. At length we
came to the pay-streak, which varied from half an inch
to two inches in width. It seemed almost incredible that
the whole success of shafting, tunnelling, shipping, crush-
ing, concentrating, hung on following this narrow thread.
After this we went higher up the mountain, to the
other claims, the amalgamation of which with the
Alberni was called the Alberni Consolidated. Here we
saw on the surface the out-crop of the main lead. The
result of careful prospecting, and the opening of the
mountain by tunnelling at different levels, proved three
distinct leads which bisected the main lead. The main
lead averaged two feet and a half in width, with a pay-
streak of sixteen inches. This, it was ascertained, de-
scended for seventy-two feet. The nature of the quartz
varied, some containing a good deal of lime^ othe;:
again being almost pure silica.

THE MINES,

197

read,
the
the
e we
The
the
hree
aain
pay-
de-
artz
her

The assays gave very varying results, and it baffled
even the most experienced miner to form any conclusion
from the appearance of the quartz. There was some in
which no gold was visible to the naked eye, which yet
gave very rich results. To satisfy myself on this point
I brought back a piece of the quartz — or rather, Mr.
Saunders kindly carried it for me, and assayed it before
my eye« ; so that ^ saw for myself that this apparently
useless, *' hungry-looking " stone carried a considerable
amount of gold. Mr. Saunders himself nevertheless
frankly admitted that the assays varied greatly, even in
the same vein.

I was shown where a great quantity of quartz had
been dumped outside the mine ; and this it was ^atended
should be assayed and classified previous to considering
the advisability of erecting a plant for crushing on the
spot. At the present time only the pay-streak was being
dug out, and shipped to the mill of Victoria, in order to
provide working expenses.

After seeing the mine, I went to the miners' cabin — a
log hut perched on a narrow ledge close to a little spruit
of beautifully clear water. Here lived five or six miners,
hailing from Ireland, Cornwall, Scotland, and California,
with a military character known as Captain Fox, who
officiated as their cook and housekeeper — and last, but
not leaut, the domestic cat. All miners like to have a
cat with them, even when they are on tramp. It is
said that the Californian miner, as he goes from one
camp to another with his "swag" on his back, is ac-
companied by a dog who follows him, and a cat who runs
in front. A cat is useful, owing to the swarms of mice
which eat up the scanty pr-^visions, and it is also com-
pany for these men, who though they appear to like
solitude, have a distinctly sentimenta) ''3eling for the
** chum " who shares their hardships an.* adventures.

The miners received me most hospitably and kindly ;
but experience had already taught me to expect this
from them.

They made me welcome to their cabin, which con-

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

sisted of two divisions. The first half was occupied
with wooden cribs, on which lay the blankets in which
they slept, and beyond, a small kitchen with a table and
two wooden settles, where they took their meals. Out-
side was a tin basin, a piece of soap, and a towel.

The evening meal was just ready, but first Swinje,
the cat, had to be shown to me. I was the first of her
own sex she had ever met, and the miners were curious
to see the effect of the introduction. Swinje came of a
mining family, and had been born on the mountain. She
treated me with marked contempt, as though she knew
intuitively all my ignorance and incapacity. Then we
sat down to an excellent repast of grilled ham, tea, and
very good bread ; all which was set before us by Captain
Fox.

As I left the cabin, after signing my name in a book
provided for the purpose, I turned back to where the
miners stood by the door of their cabin, half hidden by
a great spruce pine, and said to them, ** I wish you all
good luck," and the answer came like a chorus from the
open doorway, " We all wish you the same."

It seemed like another page out of a fairy tale, as I
looked back at the tiny hut perched on the mountain,
and the stalwart forms of the miners dwarfed by the
distance. All day long they dug in the mountain, and
came home in the evening.

Mr. Saunders soon followed us down the mountain,
and kindly offered me the use of his pony as far as the
Beaux cabin, where I had left my horse.

It was getting dusk when we r'^sached the Duke of York,
but supper was ready for us in the cabin. The managers
of the mine had erected for their own convenience a com-
fortable log house of four or five rooms— each director
being assigned a room. This afforded shelter to any of
their friends who came up the mountain to visit the
mines. A Mr Kirkwood had arrived just before we got
there. He had been to the Alberni mines, and was to
start early the next morning to visit some other claims
in the neighbourhood. And the next morning, when I

TEE MINES.

199

came out for breakfast, I found that he had already had
his meal, and started ; such is the incessant activity of
the mining business.

After a cup of tea and some bread, we were soon on
the downward road towards Alberni, and on reaching
the new townsite found that Mr. Macardie expected us
to breakfast.

The log hut by the wharf, where he and Mr. Water -
house ** batched," was a model of settler's comfort.
Plenty of buckskins covered the floor, a writing-table with
a green cloth on it, an armchair, a chest of drawers,
two cribs, a stove, a bookcase ; and beside the armchair
I found, on my arrival, a work-basket well fitted with a
variety of cottons, needles, and buttons, and a sock
which Mr. Macardie was darning while he waited for us.
Then we sat down to breakfast in the little kitchen
beyond, and I was amused to hear the two men talk
over their house-keeping arrangements.

" I ji sure farming ought to pay," sighed Mr.
Waterhou^e, "with butter such as this — at forty cents
a pound."

** And eggs," Mr. Macardie hastened to add. " Just
think — fifty cents the dozen ! "

" One thing, though, we do get good tea," said Mr.
"Waterhouse. "We get it from Victoria, and it's thanks
to the Indian trade."

"Yes; but the tea is spoilt with this dreadful con-
densed milk." And so on.

In the afternoon Mr. Macardie and Mr. Child had
arranged a fishing expedition. We drove out some
distance, past a lake to a bend in the river, taking some
food with us and a camp-kettle. It was not till dusk
that the trout would take the fly (a large coachman)
freely, and then none of them exceeded half a pound.
It was nevertheless a delightful evening, and one of my
pleasantest reminiscences of Vancouver Island.

The next morning at about eight o'clock I started
by stage for Nanaimo, a drive of some fifty miles across
the mountains. This led me across the land belonging

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200

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

to the railway company. There was but little clearing
done; but we passed some trappers' huts and a few
prospectors' camps.

At Wellington the country changed to a coal-mining
district, and very wretched and poverty stricken the
place seemed. There were no gardens to the miners'
houses ; far less any kind of park or open-air pleasure
resort for the people. Even the churches and chapels
were of a most wretched appearance.

It was seven o'clock in the evening when I reached
"Wilson's Hotel, Nanaimo; and I felt thoroughly glad
of the opportunity for tidying myself, and for the good
dinner which was being served.

After dinner I went to call on Mr. Marshall Bray,
the gold commissioner, and Mr. Bobbins the manager
of Nanaimo collieries.

Mr. Bray presented me with the Annual Report of
the Minister of Mines, and spoke of the industry as
only in its earliest stages. He recommended great
caution in forming an opinion on the mines.

I found Mr. Bobbins a most kind-hearted, fatherly
old gentleman, and we became great friends. On
the subject of emigration he had a great deal to say.

** You have first almost to make the men," he com-
menced. "They seem handicapped, and not helped,
by their previous education. Some come out and
succeed ; but at times we seem to be inundated with
a very bad class. A dozen or so of young men come
out. Well, they live in shacks, aixd get drunk. I
can't blame the country. Probably they were worthless
before they came; but if so, it was useless to send
them here, for there is nothing here to reform them.

**As to the young men in Canada itself, I can't say
that their education is altogether a success. It is very
good indeed in one way ; but still we actually have the
same problem pressing upon us here, *What shall we
do with our boys ? ' "

From this he went on to tell me of instances where
young fellows had been reduced to the last extremity

TEE MINES.

201

and then bad had the manliness to begin at the bottom
rung of the ladder and work their way up. He had
known men who were the sons of gentlemen, and yet
they had been glad to work in the mines, pushing the
trucks of coal — " So that one was tempted to ask, what
had their education done for them ? "

The next morning Mr. Bobbins took me to see the
shaft of his mine ; but I felt no inclination to descend,
though he offered me to do so. It was raining (I am
told that it rains every day in Nanaimo), but he kindly
ordered out his trap, and drove me round to see a
crofter settlement which his company was establishing
among the miners.

The miners, when in full work, earn as much as
$90 a month, the working shift being eight hours ; but
there are slack times, when the wages fall considerably.

The settlement consisted of five- acre plots, and as
the wives and children assisted in working them, they
were generally speaking very well cultivated. The
land belonged to the company, who had purchased it
from the Hudson's Bay Company ; and the plots were
leased to the miners on twenty-one years' leases, with
the option of purchase. The rental is 50 cents per
acre per annum for two years, during which time the
land is being cleared of trees and the stumps removed.
The rent is then raised to $2.50 per acre per annum
for three years; after that it becomes $10 per acre
per annum until it is purchased.

The purchase price varies from $100 per acre to $300.
The price is practically contingent upon the quality
of the land, its proximity to the town, and the cost
of clearing in the first instance — some land being less
heavily wooded than others. In the case of the highest
price reached ($300), the land was not only near the
town, but comparatively lightly timbered.

Excellent roads are laid down by the company, and
this is a very expensive work, as it includes bridges,
requiring very solid masonry. The company also digs
out water-courses, as the large main drains are called,

1 1 «'
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202

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOE SETTLER8.

into which the crofters can drain their land. In addition
to this, the company clears the trees from its own
land wherever these trees overhang or shade the crofter's
land.

The Government refused any assistance towards the
road-making, but provided a school for the children
of the settlers. The cost c^ the roads has been so
heavy as almost to absorb the entire returns upon
rent, etc. In one respect I could not help seeing that
ultimate gain to the district resulted in the Government
having no hand in the road-making — inasmuch as the
roads laid down by the company were very superior
to any Government work of the kind I had seen
hitherto.

Mr. Fobbins was genuinely interested in the scheme.
He told me, with undisguised satisfaction, that many
of the crofters farmed so closely, as to have acquired
a knowledge of local possibilities such as other farmers
were ignorant of who had farmed for thirty years.

One thing which struck me very much was that
Mr. Eobbins entirely disclaimed any philanthropic
object in this crofter scheme. ** It is to the advantage
of an employer," he said, "to have workmen who are
satisfied with their condition, and who are on the road
to permanent independence. We get more satisfactory
work done by a contented body of men than we should
by a dissolute, roving, unsettled element. The land
was there, lying idle — we had not to buy it. We do not
expect to lose by the scheme. With careful manage-
ment we hope to clear our expenses, and we may even
show a small profit."

I asked him about the labour on these well-kept
acres ; and he told me that the mine had the first claim
on the miner's labour, and that a great deal depended
on the willing co-operation of the wives and the quick-
ness of the children, especially in cases where cows are
kept. These animals were allowed free grazing on the
mountain belonging to the company.

The miner's shift was eight hours below ground ; so

10 are
road

ictory
ould
land
not

aage-
even

|s are
In the

TEE MINES.

203

that even when they were working full time, which
seldom happened for all the men at once, there were
still two hours in the day which he could clevote to his
croft. Besides the dairying, small fruits for sale in the
town were very profitable. One man had made $360
out of half an acre of strawberries. He found that the
miners on these crofts lived well, started their children
well, and were in a good position themselves. He knew
that some of the crofters had made as much as from
$400 to $500 in a year by their land. One man, who
no longer worked in the mine, was able to keep himself
entirely on six acres of ground.

We afterwards drove on to inspect the company's
own experimental farm. About five hundred acres,
lying in a rich valley, had been cleared and drained,
and a big barn erected for storing fodder.

The chief object was the growth of green crops for
the mules in the mines. The mules lived underground,
and all the manure from their stables was carted out
to this farm and returned to the land.

I saw large stretches of oats, clover-hay, timothy-
grass, and also an acreage here and there of potatoes,
which crop appeared remarkably flourishing. They
were invariably put in to clean fresh land. In one
corner there was a swamp, the result of an old lake,
which was partially drained, and still in process of
being reclaimed. I was astonished at the size of the
di'ain-pipes and the heavy outlay for drainage. But
even this swamp could be turned to account, as it was
overlaid with deep peat, which Mr. Bobbins found made
excellent bedding for the mules, and afterwards provided
first-rate dressing for the heavy land. Roughly speak-
ing, Mr. Bobbins considered that the land had cost
him £40 an acre to clear. The drainage he could not
estimate.

I lunched with Mr. Bobbins, and spent the afternoon
strolling round his garden. It was beautifully kept, and
contained all the English fruits and flowers — beautiful
carnations and roses. There was a smooth lawn,

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204

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

tastefully planted with many ornamental evergreen
shrubs and trees.

In the evening I went to see Mr. Marshall Bray
again. I found him very interesting, for he had a long
experience in the affairs of the colony, and was watching
the mining interest very closely, regarding its success as
the best chance for the country.

He was nevertheless emphatic as to the dangers
incident upon mining ventures. At one time as many
as from seventy to eighty claims per month were
registered, representing $40,000,000 of capital. Yet if
one company in a hundred made a successful venture,
the result would be unequalled prosperity. He spoke
very strongly about the hard nature of the rock, and
the costs of working, which he believed would, in
some cases, amount to $15 to $20 a foot. He also
spoke of the fundamental ignorance of many men who
went prospecting and picked up pieces of rock, with
which they pretended to assay the value of a mine.
" * One swallow does not make a spring,' though," he
remarked.

Mr. Bray also condemned the habit of averaging, or
assays in bulk. He strongly advised that the mines
should be carefully exploited, and the ore or quartz
tested at regular intervals, throughout the mine, before
any conclusions as to the payable nature of the property
be declared. He further considered that we might not
yet have arrived at the most economical method of
working all sorts of mines ; and I remarked upon the
hard quartz in the Alberni, which, upon exposure to
damp, becomes almost soluble, like a greasy clay.

The following morning I left Nanaimo for Chemainus,
in a dug-out, with a couple of Indians, who had been
hired for me by Mr. Eandel of the Wilson Hotel. I
wished to go at an hour when there would be sufficiently
low water to shoot the rapids in the Dodds Narrows,
and both Mr. and Mrs. Eandel did their best to arrange
this for me ; but the Indians contrived to trick us, and
the dug-out sailed through the passage in the most

THE MINES.

205

commonplace manner — such is the crafty wiliness of
the Eedskin.

The price I was to pay them had heen stipulated for
me, and the agreement clearly made ; but they never-
theless tried hard to get another couple of dollars out
of me. I was firm, however ; and, as a last resort, a
temporary shipwreck was improvised. The rag of a
sail and the rotten sticks which did service for booms
suddenly smashed up, and the dug-out was lifted bodily
on the crest of a wave and deposited upon some rocks.

The pair of Indians vociferated and made an un-
earthly commotion, watching me narrowly the while.
Failing to get me to join in the excitement, they showed
me handfuls of rags, ropes, and sticks, which they cast
from them with a dramatic air of despair, exclaiming,
** Chemainus ! "

The next wave took us up and lifted us into deep water
inside the rocks. The Indians looked at me and said,
" Two dollars ! " holding up two fingers as they spoke.

I shook my head and laughed; so they presently
commenced repairs, chattering to one another from
time to time and looking a good deal crestfallen.

While we were on the rocks, I noticed a thick growth
of the kind of seaweed which is used in seaweed baths
in the south-east of England, and, therefore, I suppose
the temperature of the water would be about the same.

After a while we started again, and sometimes the
Indians amused themselves with a little paddling, be-
ginning vigorously and then getting tired. Sometimes
they put the sail up, and sat watching it with the naive
insouciance of creatures to whom neither day nor night
signified. Then they would pull it down again, and
take it by turns to seek a little much-needed repose in
the bottom of the boat, while the other resumed a
nonchalant paddling with a lovely red paddle.

Although I found sitting on the flat bottom of the
dug out rather difficult, it was not a bad way of taking
a holiday. Not only was the method of travelling novel,
but the scenery all round me was lovely.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

We passed the islands, and there were duck and a
variety of water-fowl and most exquisite cloud effects.
I was also greatly struck with some rocks at the mouth
of Nanaimo harbour, which had been carved by the
action of the water into most fantastic shapes. They
were hollowed into cavities, rounded and moulded, ^vitli
the effect of a gigantic charnel-house. There were
skulls with holes left for the eyes, and wide grinning
mouths, and occasional teeth missing. Sometimes the
forms were those of antediluvian monsters. Never have
I seen anything so strange as this coast, apparently
strewn with dry bones, most aggressively suggestive to
the mariner of the wreck of some Noah's ark unrecorded
in Holy Writ.*

My dug-out was decorated at the prow with a hideous
countenance painted in red, blue, and yellow.

I had no book with me but a Psalter. These old
songs of the emigrant Israelites are one of my "best
books." Palpitating as they are with human interests,
and yet inspired to such great ends, they offer lessons
of all that is greatest and least. Nor can one bo
unmindful of the heroic leader whose hard task it was
to pioneer these sadly wavering, unsatisfactory people
through the desert, and who, for one unscrupulous
action, suffered the hardest punishment which can be
inflicted on a great man — that of dying with his work
still unaccomplished.

At length I got out my long line and let it trail with
a spoon-bait ; but I only caught one sea-trout of about
two pounds, and afterwards lost my bait on the rocks.

It was late in the afternoon when I landed at Che-
mainus, and proceeded by train to Duncan.

My intention was to fish at Cowichan, but the
accounts given me were so bad that I went on to
Victoria, which I reached at midday on Sunday.

* I regretted afterwards not securing a piece of this curious rock,
which I believe is a kind of soapstone or meerschaum.

l1 with
about
cks.

Che-
It the
Ion to

IS rocki

CHAPTER XV.

THE RUSH TO KLONDYKE. SALMON FISHERIES.
HARRISON LAKE.

At Victoria I found the rush to the Klondyke at its
height. Some miners who had provisioned at Frisco
were very indignant at finding they would have to pay
duties in Canada on their goods ; and an American told
me that "the Klondyke ought to be in America." I
replied that America might have been in Great Britain
if it had not been for the Americans.

No one cared to talk on any other subject than on Klon-
dyke. It was the word in everybody's mouth, and all
the most impossible people seemed bent upon sacrificing
themselves. It was a kind of jumble-sale of humanity.
Only here and there through the streets stalked an old
trail-blazer, whose garb and the little mongrel dog
marked him as a miner. The simplicity of the man and
the consequence of the dog, their silence and disregard
for the rest of the world, formed a momentary resting-
place for one's mind. "Here," I used to think, "are
two living creatures who know what they are about,
what they can do, and how to do it." But the stout
father of a family, aged sixty-five, holder of a comfortable
clerkship, what on earth could he do, bereft of his
regular meals, his comfortable bed, and home surround-
ings? There were many young men with whose
ambition I sympathized ; but how they could expect to
reach the Klondyke upon their slender savings, 1 failed
to see. Only the strong and the hardy, and men whose
hearts were utterly hardened against failure, could bear

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BRITISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

. It

the wretchedness of the life. For others it was a matter
of large outlay to secure the Indians to pack provisions.
Very little calculation would show that the Klondyke
was not all gold, but no one cared to listen to anything
against going there. What are the facts ? No doubt
there is great wealth, although it remains to be proved
whether it is really the richest gold-field. For we have
yet to hear about the costs. Firstly, labour is so dear
that a man must do everything himself or pay at least
$6 a day for such assistance as chopping wood, carryii;:g
water, or cooking. The ground, though gravel, is
frozen as hard as rock for fifty feet deep. For several
months of the year work is only possible under great
diflficulties and disadvantages, such as probably exist
no\i'here else. Lastly, the gold strikes, however rich, are
very uncertain; and the paper reports of the wealth
brought down are made the most of, no comparison being
offered either with returns elsewhere, with the numbers
of blanks, or the cost of original outlay.

The following conversation was reported in the New
Denver Ledge, and though I am unable to vouch for its
having taken place, it certainly gives a very fair idea of
the extravagances and eccentricities in connection with
the Klondyke mania.

" I understand your uncle brought $800,000 back from
Klondyke ? "

" No."

" No ? Why, that was certainly the report."

" Yes, that was the report at Dawson City ; but when
he got to St. Michael's rumour let it drop to $625,000."

*' Well, that's a pretty good sum."

" Of course it is ; but after he had sailed we got word that
the actual value of bis nuggets probably wouldn't exceed
$380,000."

" Still he could do the handsome thing by you if he
wanted to."

'* No doubt about that at all ; but when he landed at Seattle
the newspaper reports from there gave his fortune as only
$110,000."

IBUTABIES

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THE YUKON BIVBR AND

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CHAPMAN &>. HALL LTV, LONDON.

■»-»'

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THE RUan TO KLONDYKE.

209

" Even that is a good deal of money."

" Very true ; but the next time we heard from him he waa
in San Francisco, and the best they could make of it there
was a little less than $50,000."

" Pretty good pay for a year's work, anyway."

" Unquestionably ; but he reached Chicago this morning
with a letter of credit for $3516, which represented the total
value of the gold that he and his partner had brought down
and delivered at the San Francisco mint ; and they want me
to board them for nothing all winter, so that they can have
that for their expenses when they go back in the spring."

Even Mrs. Dupont's Chinaman was in despair at not
being able to go to the Klondyke. He exhorted me to
include that desirable spot in my travels, and upbraided
me with my want of enthusiasm. " You no smart lady
no go Klondyke ! " he said ; but when I told him that I
had refused a free passage, he was ready to sink to the
ground with despair. ** Chinaman he only one leg," he
groaned, " but Chinaman savey go Klondyke."

While I was at Victoria some miners who had been
*' grub-staked " at Seattle were very displeased at finding
their provisions dutiable on Canadian territory. For
British subjects the best way to the Klondyke is by the
C.P.K. from Montreal to Vancouver, and thence via Port
Wrangel, Telegraph Creek, and Teslin Lake.

After a few days spent in Victoria I left my kind friends
the Duponts and went on board the ss. Charmer for
Vancouver. This boat leaves Victoria in the small hours
of the morning, so that it is customary to go on board
over night. No sooner had I sought my pillow in the
retirement of my cabin, than the ship began to utter the
most piercing howls. She yelled incessantly, as if she
had fifty devils inside her, instead of one unhappy first-
class passenger. These heart-rending appeals seemed
to attract some passengers, who came on board extremely
thirsty and kept up an animated conversation in the
saloon. It was not till the grey dawn commenced that
we put out to sea, and the babel ceased.

Mter breakfasting at the Hotel Vancouver, which is

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210

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

one of the best in Canada, and would compare favourably
with any on the continent, I went to see Mr. Coyle and
Mr. Marpole of the C.P.E., who sent me to Mr. Darling
of the Union Steamship Line, and Mr. Maclagan of the
Vancouver World.

I found Mr. Maclagan a wiry intelligent Scot, full of
energy and thoroughly well posted in the affairs of the
district. He was keenly alive to the importance of
developing agriculture. " Two millions and a half,
that is the amount in dollars which we import in the
shape of farm products annually, and what will it be as
the mines continue to develop, unless agriculture wakes
up ? Nevertheless, the first and most important industry
just now is the gold-mining."

I asked him about the Klondyke, but he seemed to
feel less interest in the Klondyke than in British
Columbia. He rather laughed at American aggression,
as though he knew it was only " a pleasantry." Great
Britain, he thought, would take care of those points.
The days had passed when British statesmen gave away
whatever any one asked them for, and America would
** just cool down " when she understood this. He hoped
to see a railway running in from the North-West with the
Duke of Teck for president. The trade had rather
settled down upon San Francisco and Seattle, which
was a pity. But now Captain John Irvine had put on
the Islander from Vancouver, which was a move in
the right direction.

Mr. Maclagan was full of the future of Vancouver,
and I do not think anything he said was exaggerated.
It would be hard to estimate what the trade of such a
port may become if adequately developed upon sound
commercial principles.

Mr. Darling also dwelt upon the future trade of the
port. He was anxious to see more capital introduced,
and hoped it would come when the British merchant
houses understood the opening offered by Vancouver.
He maintained that it was useless putting on ships
unless merchants were prepared to freight them. It was

THE SALMON FISHERIES.

211

on
in

rer,
ted.
a
ind

the mercliants who must see their way to trade. In old
days the Victorians had gambled in real estate. Now
they were investing in mines. But what was wanted
was capital judiciously invested in trade. Had there
been more enterprise and skill in nursing trade, the
merchants would r^ow be in a better position. In which
case the competition of America in the Klondyke would
never have had a chance.

Early in the afternoon I went on by train to New
Westminster, travelling part of the way with Mr.
Marpole,

On reaching Westminster I went in search of the
Leonore tug-boat. Mr. Darling had given me permission
to go anywhere I could in her. I was soon off down the
Fraser river, perched on a high stool in the bows in front
of the captain's steering-box.

It was a wonderful scene. There were myriads of
small canoe-shaped boats,* most of which were gliding
over the grey water of the river with their wide sails
spread to the breeze. Here and there one would drop
the sails and commence hauling in the long drift-net
with the glistening salmon caught in its meshes. Then
up would go the sails again, and off they would go.
The activity and intentness of the men were delightful
to watch.

The boats, the men, the fish, monopolized the river.
There were no mountains, save quite in the distance.
The shores were hidden with a thick deciduous foliage,
chiefly cotton trees, poplars, and maples, though here
and there a cedar or spruce was the more striking,
because of its singularity. The wild grey waters, and
above the wild grey sky, with clouds still wet with rain,
offered a picture for a water-colour artist with a bold
brush.

We passed some islands two miles long or more, but
they were merely incidents in this vast river scene. At
several points we drew up at the wharves to take on fuel
for the furnace, or to deposit fish at the canneries.

* There are 4000 boats engaged in this fishery.

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212 BltlTISH COLUMBIA FOX SETTLERS.

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This gave me an opportunity of seeing several of the
canneries.

Some boats passed us in full sail, returning with their
fish to canneries which employed them. There were
two men in each boat, but in one boat there was a man
and a woman. The fish are killed at once by being
struck with a gaff. They are sometimes strong enough
to tear the nets, and I noticed that one man had a
netting-needle stuck in his belt. The catch was, I
believe, solely a matter of luck. It appeared to me that
beyond the management of the boat, very little skill
indeed was required for this fishing.

There are three sorts of salmon. The first is the
spring salmon, a large fish very similar to what we buy
in fishmongers' shops as salmon. It comes into the
Fraser river in March. Later on comes the sockeye
which is far more abundant, but a smaller fish and of a
darker colour, harder, and less full flavoured. It was
this fish which I saw them catching, and though I could
not weigh the fish, I do not think I saw any above seven
pounds. It is the principal fish for the canneries, and
comes into the river in vast shoals, so that steamboats
are sometimes unable to pass. It lasts for six weeks,
and makes its way up the river as far as Yale, and even
further.

The last fish is called the cohoe. It begins to arrive
in October, and continues for a month. They are paler,
and more tasteless than the sockeyes, and the canneries
do not care much about them.

The fishermen at this business average about $200
each for the season. They are of all sorts and con-
ditions, including Indians and Chinese. Some go into
the business on their own account ; others take what is
called a third share, by giving one share to the cannery
for the use of boat and net, and licence to fish.

As has been stated, no very great skill is required ;
but the work is very unpleasant. It is monotonous,
there is continual exposure to rain and wet, and the
results are always uncertain.

J I

TEE SALMON FISEEBIES.

213

When I had gone sufficiently far down the river, the
captain hailed a tug which was going back to West-
minster, which I boarded.

This boat had a scow (a wooden raft) alongside, into
which the fishermen emptied salmon out of their boats,
for us to deliver at different canneries.

I found this tug very amusing. She ran up and down,
ready to oblige any one, yet kept most discreetly out of
the way of the drifting nets. She made me think of those
heroines in fiction — the maiden aunts of Miss Yonge's
charming stories, who fly to the assistance of various
households in distress, always arriving in the nick of
time, and sure to do the right thing at the critical
moment.

This large-heartedness on the part of the tug enabled
me to see a great deal. We kept in shore going up
stream, partly to have an eye on many curious habita-
tions on the river-bank, which it needed some quickness
to discover.

Two small canoes lay moored to a single plank set on
a pole, which did duty for a landing-stage. As we drew
near, a dog rushed out to the canoes from the heavy
screen of maples and aspens. Almost concealed in the
dense greenery I saw a small hut, or shack, in front of
which there burnt a fire upon the ground, with a black
pot suspended above on cross-sticks. Inside the cabin,
through the open doorway, I caught a glimpse of the
fisherman sitting on a settle before a table, enjoying
his solitary meal. There was just room in the cabin
for himself and his dog — a kind of black collie. I
heard that he fished independently, and sold his catch
wherever he could make the best money, either to hotels
or canneries. It was an ideal fisherman's lodge.

A quarter of a mile further on was another shack,
neither so neat nor so inviting-looking, but there was a
better landing-stage. There was a thrifty little garden,
full of beans and potatoes. This was the cabin of a
Chinese charcoal-burner.

A little further, and we drew up at what was really a

I' fl

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214 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

floating village anchored for the night. They were
small wooden houses on rafts, exactly like miniature
Noah's arks. They were new, neat, and well-painted.
In each house-boat lived two men, and their fishing-
boats were moored alongside. These were the profes-
sional fishermen who fished the Fraser all through the
year. In autumn, a tug moves them up the river, some-
times taking them to Harrison Lake, and in the spring
they float down by themselves on the current.

The next point of interest was an Indian camp. They
seemed well-to-do — many of the tents having shacks
built over them, or a roof of planks laid on poles to
keep off the rain.

None of these people in tents, shacks, or cabins,
paid any rent ; and if they were not making money very
fast, at all events they lived at ease.

A good deal has been written upon the subject of the
cleanliness, or the reverse, of the canneries. I cannot
endorse any statements I have heard on either side. I
believe it to be impossible to guarantee cleanliness, unless
the entire control of the business were in one set of
bands.

It is well-known that Chinese and Indians are em-
ployed in certain canneries, and even if their habits were
all that could be wished in the canneries, it would be
impossible to trace where they went to when they left
the canneries, or what germs they might pick up to bring
back with them. Unfortunately, nothing that I saw
gave me great confidence in the sanitary arrangements
of the towns or settlements connected with the canneries.
Nor can I think it desirable that all the oflfal from the
canneries should be thrown into the river, to float on
the surface, and catch against any obstacle which may
offer obstruction.

However, I have since learnt, on good authority, that
all the points I have remarked upon are undergoing im-
provement. The best-managed canneries might utilize
some special bottle or tin (it seems that glass bottles are
likely to be used in future, instead of tin) as a guarantee

THE SALMON FISHERIES.

215

to the public that neither Chinese nor Indians are em-
ployed in the cannery. But the chief feature requisite
is greater vigilance on the part of the authorities whose
business it is to attend to the sanitary arrangements ;
and the people who have the interest of the canneries at
heart should see that stringent regulations are rigidly
enforced. It is no use blinking the facts. Far-sighted
men look such things in the face, and consider whether
adequate precautions are actively enforced ; and if they
are not, they will be ready to make any temporary sacri-
fice, in order to save from annihilation an important and
useful industry.

I spent the following night at New Westminster, a
second-rate little town with a vile inn. All night the
inhabitants sang songs in the street ; and as I was dress-
ing the next morning I saw a dray and two horses drive
into a plate-glass window. Fortunately, this accident
seemed to wind up the proceedings, as people became so
quiet that I believe most of them went to bed.

It is better to take the boat from Harrison and come
down the river, crossing over by train to Vancouver,
where there is a good hotel, than to stay the night at
New Westminster.

So much is usually said in praise of the Fraser, that
I was surprised to find what a character for being
troublesome the river bears in its immediate neighbour-
hood. There does not seem to be an iniquity which a
river could perpetrate that the Fraser has not been guilty
of many times in its known history. As I went up it in
one of Captain John Irvine's steamers, I found that the
banks are being washed out very fast, with the result
that no ships of any considerable tonnage will be able
to navigate it in the course of another year or two —
though, hitherto, all but the largest have gone as far as
Chilliwack. The loss will not be confined to the steam-
ship lines ; the mines will miss the cheap transport ;
but it means utter ruin to the agricultural settlements.

If appears that the river has changed its bed before,
and is now probably desirous of returning to its old

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216

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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course. There is no doubt that its waters once covered
an immense tract of country. The mud upon the banks,
"where trees grow to the edges, shows at low vmter that
it has been deposited in layers or strata. Only on the
highest ground, which probably were islands, there is
some gravel. But gravel is never found at less than ten
feet above the level of the water, while its usual position
is from twenty to thirty feet above the water.

Government has appointed a committee to examine
the case, and report if any steps can be taken to control
the vagaries of the Fraser. But the commission is
lengthy, and meantime the river " doth as it listeth."

Some way back from the banks, and well out of the
reach of the awful floods whiub occur at regular intervals,
there is a good deal of cattle ranching. This district is
called Matsqui, and runs down to the American border.
On the same side of the river there is a large shallow
lake called Sumas lake, upon the drainage of which
enormous sums have been spent in vain. Had the
same amount been invested in dyking the Fraser river
itself, and clearing its course, to the prevention of floods
and the saving of the banks, there would have been
satisfactory results in two directions. As it is, the
river has eaten its way within a few yards of promising
young orchards, and menaces the homesteads themselves.
Besides, the floods, which occur about once in seven
years, are so terrible in the wide-spread havoc caused
by the strength of current forcing its way to the sea,
that the farmers affected by it lose all the money made
out of their holdings in prosperous years.

The steamer stopped frequently at small landing-
stages, returning quantities of empty butter-tubs and
fruit-boxes, which would be re-filled in time for the
downward trip to Westminster.

I did not land at Chilliwack, as it was far advanced
on Saturday afternoon when the steamer reached the
landing-stage. I preferred to take the opportunity of
going round Harrison lake, returning to Chilliwack on
Sunday evening. I had certainly no cause to regret

HARRISON LAKE.

217

my decision. Harrison river, "which runs out of
Harrison lake, and joins the Fraser at Harrinon bridge,
is a most exquisite piece of scenery. The mountains
there come close to the water. The lake is hidden away
among the cascade range, and, I believe, is very similar
to the other lakes, such as Liloet to the north. The
water never freezes, so that a passage is always open
during the whole year. It is possible that the hot
springs prevent the water from freezing, but the lake
is subject to violent disturbances, and is a dangerous
one for small boats at certain seasons of the year. At
the extreme end of Harrison lake a narrow passage
leads into Douglas lake, at the northern extremity of
which is Fort Douglas. From here an Indian trail
leads northward to Liloet, and it was originally the
road to Cariboo. Fort Douglas was established by the
Hudson's Bay Company, but has long been abandoned ;
even the small church was removed a short time ago,
and if it were not for the prospectors the country would
be left entirely to the Indians.

This was the most weird and peculiar scenery that
I came upon in all my travels. The steamer had been
ascending rapid rivers and climbing through mountain
gorges in a most remarkable manner, bumping her
sides against the precipices and grating her keel on
the bottom. Thus we had gone mountaineering in our
steamer, and reached a lake at considerable altitude.
This brought us near to the peaks of most eccentric
forms and uncouth shapes.

All this district would offer great opportunities for
camping out during the summer months, for any one
with a love of wild nature and capable of fishing and
boating. It would, however, be essential to secure a
good Indian, as it is never safe to venture alone into
the mountains or upon the lake. An Indian would
be useful in putting up the tepee, and in looking
after the ponies and a boat. But he would be useless
in the matter of cooking. Supplies could be procured
by arrangement with one of Captain John Irvine's

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218 BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

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steamers at New Westminster or from Vancouver by the
C.P.B. as far as Harrison bridge. A little acquaintance
"with Chenook would be advantageous, and this could be
easily acquired by one of the phonetic Chenook books,
which I believe could be obtained at the office of Indian
affairs.

The cost of camping out would be about $15 to $26
a week, plus the purchase of tepee, boat, and ponies.
Any one contemplating such a trip for the summer
months would do well to stop off at Banff and consult
Mr. Matthews of the C.P.B. hotel, who has had con-
siderable experience in fitting out shooting or travelling
expeditions in the Eocky mountains. Mr. Wells of the
C.P.E. at Golden, could furnish information as to the
purchase or hire of boats or tepees. The Indians of
the district below Windermere excel in making good
tepees.

Though reliable information could be secured at
these points, the base of operations would be lower
down on the C.P.E. There is a very fair hotel at
Agassiz called the Bella Vista ; and provided the mos-
quitoes were not in the zenith of their career, any
traveller would find much to interest him at Agassiz
in the experimental form, and in driving over to visit
the hot springs or Harrison lake. There are always
mosquitoes in the delta of the Eraser, and probably
they flourish on Douglas lake, but it would always be
possible to move the camp away from the water's edge ;
and a tepee has this advantage over all other tents,
that the mosquitoes can be smoked out at the top, after
which, if the tent is closed all round and the wings at
top folded over, no more mosquitoes can get in till the
morning.

It was towards morning that I was awakened by the
noise made in forcing the steamer up some rapids.
I had lain down to sleep in the saloon, merely removing
my collar and my boots, so that I was soon up and
outside to see what was happening.

It was a most unparalleled scene. The dark masses

^ «

HARRISON LAKE.

219

of the rock towered black above us, and seemed to lean
over as though only recently torn asunder. So close
above us, that it seemed as though a stone might be
thrown to them, were the fantastic peaks shooting
through the ice fields of enormous glaciers. To the
north-west one great star quivered, glowed, and flashed
to its setting ; and as I looked up out of the depth and
the darkness of the rocky chasm and the cruel grey
rapids roaring beneath, I saw the first pale light of a
new day shine suddenly across the peaks and the
glaciers. I seemed to forget everything, and to be only
conscious of a sudden great change, as though the
light which fell from no visible sun was that of the
unearthly Day, when this world and the things of our
human hfe shall have passed away for ever.

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CHAPTER XVI.

,.1 .

CHILLIWACK.

At Fort Douglas Mr. Agassiz came on board. He had
come down from his camp on Fire mountain, where he
was superintending the opening of a gold mine.

Ho showed me a piece of very fine quartz, in which
little lumps of gold were sticking, and seemed very
hopeful about the prospects of the venture.

On our return we stopped for a couple of hours at
Harrison hot springs; and I went to visit the baths.
This lovely spot might be made very attractive. The
heat of the water astonished me, as it is literally boil-
ing, and the supply appears to be inexhaustible. It is
a veritable godsend for the prospector who contracts
rheumatism, and for the victims of accidents of any
kind.

At four o'clock in the afternoon I reached Harrison
House, Chilliwack. This little place is a municipality,
being the centre of a considerable agricultural population,
extending from Sumas 1' ' +o Popcum. In the neigh-
bourhood of Sumas la> in Chilliwack itself, there
are a great many r ^jed mining claims, some of
which are said to I i prospects. As the ore is low
grade, much would uv^pend on the erection of a smelter
in the immediate neighbourhood, which could include
ores from the properties on Harrison lake.

Although a good deal of land lies low in Chilliwack,
and is sometimes affected by the rising of the Chilliwack
river, Chilliwack itself escapes the Fraser floods. Never-
theless, a good deal might be done to improve this

CHILLIWACK.

221

important district if the Government would undertake
a certain amount of dyking and draining. There is no
richer or better land in British Columbia, and it is
suitable for fruits (pears, plums, and apples), vegetables,
dairying, stock, sheep, and pigs, and on the higher
ground for oats and wheat.

If the enormous losses in time of flood could be put
into a scheme for checking the Fraser and regulating
its tributaries, the addition to the food supply of British
Columbia would very sensibly diminish the imports,
besides providing a livelihood for a thousand additional
adult emigrants.

The activity in the mines has made all kinds of labour
very dear and scarce, and during the summer of 1897
it was frequently a case of offering high wages in vain.

The two reasons why the farmers in this district are
really in a struggling condition are floods and mort-
gages. Farmers told me that they considered farming
paid them if they were not flooded oftener than once in
six years.

The mortgage system is simply disastrous. I could
not see where the ruin it entails can be expected to end.
As a general rule, the person as well as the land is held
liable under these mortgages ; so that a man who may
have land subject to floods or otherwise in need of the
application of capital, and at the same time a store
which pays him, may find that the mortgage has been
so drawn up that the lien he believed he had only taken
upon his land, includes his store and all other property.
Even should he abandon his farm, unless the proceeds
of the sale amounts to the whole sum borrowed, he is
still liable. In some cases the bondholder has waited
patiently until the man has worked his store or inn
into a good paying business, and then he forecloses for
a small deficiency, and seizes both personal and real
estate.

The inconvenience of negotiating a mortgage on land
is that real estate is as often apprised at fictitious values
as mining properties. British Columbia has suffered

■!:li

222

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS,

■

severely from "booms " in land as well as the inevitable
changes necessitated by railways and foreign compe-
tition. The boom has forced the price of land up ; the
railways and competition have forced the prices of pro-
duce down. It is not a bit easier to see a profit on a
farm than on a mine, and it is quite as easy to fail in
the one as in the other. But Government stands in a
different relation to the land than any individual can
do, and in behalf of the country can take steps to render
land remunerative, which neither individuals nor com-
panies can do.

The chief essential for the land is cheap money, and
Government can borrow money more cheaply than any
one. There is a line at which legHimate banking ceases
and usury begins, and it is a pity ! .at Government should
not discriminate and put a stop to injurious practices
by opening a sound business itself. But the same
rules or laws cannot justly apply to every kind of
security, and it is this feature in the case which requires
careful handling. There is a jealousy on the part of
bankers whenever Government steps in and poaches
upon banker's preserves. But the question is whether
or no the banks will lend money in small sums at a rate
of interest which is safe for the farmer to mortgage
upon. There are other parts of British Columbia, such
as the Vernon district, where farmers have borrowed at
heavy interest; but the Lower Fraser has suffered
especially, because nowhere else is the temptation to
borrow so strong as here where draining — often of a
very expensive character — must be carried out.

Then we must consider the period at which the loans
were raised. In the early days of the Colony money
was dearer than at the present time. Not that Govern-
ment could not have facilitated cheap loans even then ;
but it did not do so, nor is there any sign to-day of
such a move being contemplated. There is no doubt
of the sincerity of the Government report on the agri-
culture of the Lower Fraser, but there is conspicuous
silence upon the heart-broken condition of some of the

feaiHiiM^

CHILLIWACK,

223

farmers who labour under an incessant drain to mortgage
companies.

In behalf of the mortgage companies, it must be
admitted that when the difficulty in obtaining money
and the cost of clerical work is taken into consideration,
their profits upon small loans are not so great as may
appear at first sight. Then it is clear that from the
fact of mines and railways being able to afiford a high
rate of interest they would expect mortgages on land to
pay interest according to the scale of interest paid in
other concerns. Twenty per cent, on loans for a twelve-
month is not too much to exact from many mining
companies ; and if they can get this, with the same
outlay for collecting as upon land, they are justified in
preferring to invest at 20 per cent.

It is true that I never heard of loans at 20 per cent,
upon land; but I entertain little doubt that at the
time 15 was being accepted upon farms, the loan com-
panies would not have objected to the farms falling
into their hands, and therefore were likely to keep their
terms as high as possible. What very few of them
foresaw was the depreciation in the value of land which
followed the booming times; and from which there is
no immediate prospect of the land recovering.

As matters are to-day, many of these loan companies
are in a critical position. At any time a bankrupt
farmer may give up the struggle and prefer the Klondyke
to the anxieties of farming at a dead loss to himself.
If such cases should occur frequently, the mortgage
companies will find themselves loaded with properties
in default of sums loaned- Instead of drawing a pro-
fitable interest, they will be compelled to pay a tax for
holding unoccupied land. There comes in another
consideration — the fall in the value of land improved
and fenced will bring properties into the market, which
it will very well pay farmers to purchase. They will be
able to enter in and take possession of cleared land with
good roads at $15 an acre, or even less, and that in
addition to good markets and cheap transport. Compared

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224

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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with the price of pre-empting uncleared Government
land, it must be clearly seen that the old jealousy
of the holders of land against Government assisting
emigrants, can no longer avail to get $5 an acre in the
neighbourhood of Comox or Cowichan.

Had the Government some years ago borrowed money
at 3^ per cent., and loaned it to farmers at 4j^ per cent,
(which is all farming ought to pay), they would still
have made a profit — even supposing a special office
had to be opened with a special clerical staff. The
attitude of Government would have been one of co-opera-
tion rather than banking, and wherever a farmer could
pay off half or even a third of his loan, Government
could have accepted the release, though % private
company might legitimately object to the extra trouble
involved. There are objections to Government banking,
which are so well understood that it is unnecessary to
elaborate them ; but they apply rather to old-established
countries. There was no comprehensible reason why the
Government in this young colony could jot have placed
these loans. The result to the Government of the
neglect is that there is dear living — as on Vancouver
Island — owing to the struggling state of agriculture, which
amounts to ruin where there ought to be prosperity. The
result to the loan companies is the working out of the
natural law of cause and effect. They have sown ruin
for others, and will have to reap the crop themselves.

The subject of mortgages upon land forms a set of
questions apart from all others. It refers to the
business part of farming — the accounts — and the market
prices of produce and transport freights. These matters
are interdependent, and no figures can be given to
suit all cases. To do so would be to emulate the
conduct of the old lady who always gave sixpence to
all musicians. She could not see that though what
she gave was the same to her, the effect differed con-
siderably whether the recipient was a man and a
monkey, or a band of twelve men.

There was evening service at Chilliwack, and on

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CSILLIWACK.

225

\yalking down the street I was greatly struck with the
building of the new church. The foundations were
put in in concrete, as even two miles from the Fraser
the water "seeps" in, and at any time a hole dug
four feet deep is sufficient to encourage the river to
make its unwelcome appearance. I met Mr. Allan,
the parson, and he invited me to spend the evening
with him and his wife after service.

I found him very emphatic as to the lack of suitable
training in the young fellows who emigrated from the
old country. He said that they came out "with no
idea of any trade to a country where a knowledge
of some trade is essential, unable and unaccustomed
to do anything for themselves where a man must be
able to do everything for himself.

He illustrated his statements by some very sad stories,
at the end of which he exclaimed, " Ah ! It is a cruel
waste of good stuff ! People at home are so ignorant ;
and they expect so much from the boys. How would
they like it if they had to come out here ; but they say,

* Delightful! Such a delightful life! Oh yes. Eegie
is ranching somewhere in British Columbia ! ' and they
little know what Kegie is going through ! "

Mr. Allan was si ongly averse to premiums. In the
middle of his somewhat vehement declamation he
stopped, and sat silent, gazing before him. Then he
said —

" I was just thinking as I read the first lesson to-
night, that the people stoned the prophets for telling
the truth. That's just the way with people everywhere.
They do not want to be told the truth. But," he con-
tinued, "when I think of the things they do in their
sinful ignorance it makes me despair. Positively many
of them think that the colonies are the right place to
send any member of their family to who is 'iiot very

bright,* as they say. And Yes ; but they do it ! I

have known poor boys sent out to this place — not

* bright ' enough for them at home ! I wouldn't mind
if all the suffering did not fall on the boys. But so

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226

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOE 8ETTLER8.

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long as they get rid of the hoy they are ashamed
of, they don't care either for him or the place he
goes to."

I fear that Mr. Allan did not express himself at all
too strongly. Cases came to my knowledge which I
am prevented giving, because I do not feel at liberty
to publish other people's private affairs ; but if I did
so, I feel sure that all who read them would agree
"with me that language could hardly be found strong
enough in which to censure the ** sinful ignorance"
of people at home.

The next day I hired a buggy and drove over to
Mr. Wells's farm, Eden Bank. I saw some fine wheat
crops outside the town of Chilliwack; but all cereals
here are chiefly grown for stock and poultry feeding. ^

I stopped at Mr. Ogle's store, and he accompanied
me to Mr. Thornton's farm on the bench lands. This
young man was a new settler who had arrived in the
country without a penny. He had built a house for
himself with an axe, fenced his holding, and then sent
for his father and mother (who were Eastern Canadians)
to join him. He had planted a find orchard of selected
kinds of apples, pears, plums, and cherries. This land,
being on the hills, did not require draining, and was
secure from floods.

When I arrived he was busy mowing hay of
timothy and alsike, which was growing between the
charred stumps of pine trees. He showed us with
special pride a vine splendidly fruited, and said that
the previous year's crop had ripened well. The frosts
are not so severe on these hills as in the valley, and
the soil is drier. He showed me some wheat which
his father had sown on the last day of December. It
was winter wheat. The straw was wonderfully long
and the ear full and large. His mother told me that
flour from the white chaffer wheat of that district
made a very good loaf, being moister than the Manitoba
flour. Mr. Thornton said that sheep did very well ;
but the losses through coyotes and mountain lions

CHILLIWACK.

227

were very serious. He had a brother living on the
next farm, but he was just then down at the fisheries.
He went fishing to get capital to put into his land.
He did not think that Sumas lake could ever be drained
satisfactorily, because the water would always come
down from the hills on to the land. It was not merely
the rising of the Eraser which caused the lake to
expand.

On the way to Mr. Wells's I passed some beautiful
hops grown by a Mr. Hulburt. I was afterwards told
that these hops were English varieties, and that they
realized the best price in the London market. I also
drove through a flock of very fine Leicester sheep
which were grazing by the roadside. I understood
that there is no difficulty at all in selling the wool
of this district at good remunerative prices, its quality
being quite above the average. Elsewhere I had .• "ard
complaints as to the low price for wool.

Mr. Wells's land contrasted with that I had recently
seen upon the bench lands. He devoied himself to
the business of dairying, and his land being situated
ia an old river bed, afforded plenty of rich grasses.
It had cost little or nothing to clear the land, there
being no heavy timber, such as pines or cedars. But
the fields were bisected with surface drains. Each
field was enclosed, and contained from three to five
acres. The drains ran into a large drain outside the
fields.

The creamery was on a very large scale, and was
worked by steam, the enth-e business being under the
supervision of a man who did nothing else. Besides
the yield of his own cows, Mr. Wells bought milk
from sixteen farmers on the Babcock test principle —
paying them according to the butter value of their
supplies. The vat was large enough to hold 500 gallons
of milk at a time. From this vat it was passed through
a separator, and the cream went to ripen in a large
tank. The churn could make 400 lbs. of butter at one
churning. There was also a butter worker driven by

m^mmm^Himn

228

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

steam. The use of steam was evidently an advantage,
as the whole process went on at the same time. The
skim milk was mixed with meal and used for feeding
pigs. Mr. Wells found the Berkshires answered best.
Upon the breed of cows he seemed less decided. He
had two hundred, most of which were Ayrshires, but
he had some Jerseys, and one or two shorthorns.

He considered it quite useless to attempt competing
in horse breeding with the ranches at Calgary.

A great feature at the farm was the barn. It con-
sisted of two stories. In the lower one there was
accommodation for 100 head of cattle, besides calves.
The upper story holds 800 tons of hay besides the silo
full of very sweet clover silage. This barn cost $4000
to build. When I was there they were busy running
the hay into the second story, up an incline road
constructed of wooden beams. It was packed upon
light drays, each drawn by two strong horses of the
Eastern Canada type. The hay was thrown up on to
the stack by a power fork, an invention I had never seen
before. It is admirable for use in stacking hay upon
very large or high stacks, and does the work of four
men. By its use I saw a whole waggon unloaded in less
than five minutes. The fork itself catches the hay with
a steel clasp. It costs $4 ; but the most expensive part
is the arrangement of the track and pulleys by which it
runs up to the roof (the barn is 64 feet high), and
deposits the hay wherever it is wanted on the stack.
A man works it by pulling a rope.

Highly as Mr. Wells valued labour-saving contrivances,
he was fully alive to the importance of men who were
competent both by natui'e and training to manage
cattle.

Boots, chiefly swedes or Ruha vega, are kept in long
trenches four feet deep, which is sufficient to preserve
them from such frost as this district is liable to.

We afterwards drove round to see the hay. It was a
very strong crop of timothy and clover, and there was
another barn containing 175 tons. This hay Mr. Wells

CHILLIWACK.

229

intended to sell later in the year in the Bossland
district. He reckoned that his land produced about
three tons to the acre. Of his 400 acres he had only 45
under plough, and upon these 45 acres he spent all the
manure he had, merely grazing his hay-fields. He used
no fertilizers at all.

Mr. Wells believed the district to be eminently suitable
for certain crops. These were hay, small products,
fruit, and dairy products. Wheat he consiclw^ed too
expensive to handle at the present high rate of wages ;
moreover, it would be difficult to compete with the great
wheat lands of Manitoba.

Mr. Wells was far from being a fatalist, yet he
remarked that some men failed and some others suc-
ceeded in farming, as in other walks of life, from no
assignable cause. In farming, he had noticed that
a man often succeeded from happening to hit on the
right thing to do, apparently accidentally. I believe he
said this to caution me against holding up success in
one place as an example of what might be done by any
one anywhere else.

That evening I returned to Chilliwack and made
arrangements to leave the following day.

About three-fourths of the Chilliwack district is mort-
gaged. Farmers are far too apt to take up mortgages,
expecting to be able to pay them off in a year or two.
They are also much too careless about the form of
the mortgage, and are not aware till too late that the
clause rendering them personally liable for the interest
has been inserted. Too much stress cannot be laid on
this point.

A few years ago land mortgage companies revelled in
the Chilliwack district ; and some of them proceeded
systematically, and with considerable foresight.

Their plan was to employ agents whose business it was
to watch the crops and stock on the farms, and get all
available information respecting the intrinsic value of
the property. This was necessary owing to the fictitious
value of land. These companies were too shrewd to

.: k

230

BBITIBH COLUMBIA FOR 8ETTLEB8.

accept even the auction price as the real value. They
played the double game of lending sums upon farms at
figures which they knew were well below the real value ;
and yet they claimed the high rate of interest which the
auction price of land argued that the land should be
able to pay. The matter worked thus : " You say your
farm is worth $4000 as it is. With the application of
$1000 it will be worth more. Therefore you can pay me
interest according to its value at $4000, and eventually
sell your farm at a higher profit." They seldom lent
money at less than 8 to 12 per cent, but the loans
were in amounts far below the commonly accepted value
of the land.

Still, even the most cautious land companies had
really taken mortgages to the full value of the farms,
as has been proved since the disappearance of the
boom. A man who had a farm valued at $4000,
and only wished to borrow $1000, would have found
an agent willing to lend this money, taking a lien
on the whole farm for that amount, bearing interest
at 9 per cent.

In consequence of this state of things, and owing to the
fall in prices for produce, many of the farms have
actually passed into the hands of land companies, who
have agreed to keep on the farmer as a tenant. He
does not make a farthing beyond the small sum allowed
him for living, being personally liable whenever the
value has sunk below the amount borrowed. Nor can
he escape to make a start elsewhere, notwithstanding
that the company will turn him out as soon as they can
secure a good purchaser for the farm.

The mortgage companies are now very glad to get
land taken up, and eager to sell ; but they are much
more discriminating than they were as to taking liens
on farms. They inquire very closely into a man's
methods, in order to ascertain to a nicety how much
they may draw from him without ruining him and
having the farm thrown on their hands. Of all
landlords they are the most exacting. Their difficulty

CEILLIWACK.

231

get
luch

is to get land taken up by people -with sufficient
energy, intelligence, and capital of their own to make
it safe for them to lend money upon it at 8 or 9 per
cent.

The price of land round Sardis is $150 an acre. A
farm of 160 acres, with barns and outbuildings and a
house half a mile from Chilliwack, can be bought for $175
an acre. There are others for $40 to $75 an acre ; and
lower-priced lands are to be had, situated six miles from
the village, which are excellent farms, but they have only
huts or shacks built on them. These would be sold for
about $15 an acre to $40 an acre. There is plenty of
land for $5 an acre.

To render him independent, a man requires about
£300 capital besides the purchase price of his farm.

It is possible to rent farms for a year or two years
at $2 to $4 an acre ; and it is a very good plan for a
new settler to rent a farm and learn the ways of the
country before investing in a purchase. But in all
transactions with land or mortgage companies, the
utmost care must be exercised to avoid liabilities which
may mean ruin. If the property mortgaged to the loan
companies a few years ago were capitalized to-day, the
loss to the companies would be very great. Some of
them are, therefore, holding on to the properties, hoping
to get back half of the value on which they took up the
mortgage. In selling land they will be anxious to add
to the price of land the arrears of interest which the
original owner has failed to pay since he became merely
an occupier. But these arrears of interest are no con-
cern of the new occupier.

There are two ways of buying property in the district
of the Lower Fraser. We will take a farm of 160 acres,
of which 20 acres are cleared with huts and buildings on
it, to be bought complete with the crops standing for
£150. The payment could be made in instalments of
not less than £15 per annum. The company would
probably not hasten the payment at all so long as the
farm was being improved.

'if

232

BBITISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

In addition to the £20 paid on account, a farmer
would require J6100 divided as follows : —

For implements ...

For seed and stock

To get ten additional acres burnt and slashed before

entering upon property

Paid on account

And be should have lu the bank besides

Total

».

100

220

Unquestionably it would be far better to buy tbe land
outright for £150, and be quit of the surveillance and
greed of any land or mortgage company whatsoever.

The climate of Chilliwack is said to resemble that of
Central France. It is out of the range of the coast fogs,
and its worst feature in winter is the cutting wind from
the north-east. Other people compare the climate to
that of Essex in Ontario. There is no doubt that
dredging and dyking the Fraser river would add
immeasurably to the desirability of this district for
settlement.

I left Chilliwack in the afternoon of the 27th of July,
and, there being no steamer, I crossed by a ferry
managed by an old Scot, who had a monopoly of the
business. 1 and two other passengers were driven by
him in a rigg a distance of four miles in an hour and
ten minutes; the sun above us was scorching, and
being cramped up in the rigg, which was driven by
Mac at a foot pace, was most trying. On reaching the
river, we embarked, after sundry delays, in a small
boat, Mac simply dropping the harness off his fat old
horse and turning it loose in the bush. At length Mac
hoisted a sail. We passed some Indians who were
fishing, and their nets were full to bursting of sockeyes ;
they had camped on a sandbank, and their take of fish
was hanging to dry in the sun. On rounding a point,
a sudden gust caught our sail and took us in the wrong
direction. We drew up at a sandbar, to take down the
sail and get out the oars, and on this sandbar there

CHILLIWACK.

233

ill

lac

Ire

le
:e

were seven ravens; they watched our dilemma with
callous cynicism, croaking to one another apparently
about us and our affairs. I felt so incensed at their
human impudence, that I threw a stick at them as we
went off. Will it be credited that these birds ducked
their heads as the stick went over them, and remained
there croaking to each other? I believe them to be
opportunists ; I do not think they hunt, but they take
advantage of whatever comes in their way, and plenty
comes to those who wait.

I joined the C.P.K. at Harrison bridge, and, arriving
at Agassiz, went to call upon Mr. Sharp at the
experimental farm after dinner.

1 \

CHAPTEE XVII.

AOASSIZ.

The English tourist who hool{s a passage in London by
the C.P.K. across the continent imagines that he sees a
great deal of British Columbia as he rattles through in
the cars. And he certainly gets a very fair idea of the
mountains, glaciers, rivers, and forests ; but he is as far
as ever he was from knowing the riches and fertility of
the country.

If he were to "stop off" at Agassiz, he would be all
the better for the rest and refreshment ; and if he were
to visit the experimental farm, he would see sights
such as would convince him that British Columbia is of
a truth a gracious and grateful land. He would also
find Mr. Sbarpe a delightful guide, an enthusiast in
his particular work, and devoted to the cause of
husbandry.

The experience is unique — of finding the small com-
mencement of what we in the old country have inherited
from many generations of agricultural forefathers.

At Agassiz, a rough piece of ground was selected to
test crops, fruits, and shrubs. There are Russian pears,
English apples, American plums — in fact, Hungary,
Germany, and France all contributed to the orchard
at Agassiz. And never in my life have I seen such
crops! Literally, the trees lay down with fruit upon
them as thick as leaves ; but it was the colour and the
quality which struck me especially, and the total
freedom from blight or disease of any kind.

AQA88IZ.

235

TliG cherries are a very good crop, and ripen earlier
than in England. Mr. Sharpe told me that he had had
some ripe enough to gather on the 24th of May.

The peaches are less satisfactory. They grow very
well, forming handsome standards ; but it seems that
the late frosts in the spring and cold wind destroys the
blossom, and consequently the trees seldom bear. There
was one tree literally loaded with peaches about the
size of a florin; when ripe they measured about two
inches in diameter. The apricots, again, did not
succeed ; they grew vigorously and with plenty of good
wood, but they did not bear, or if they did the fruit
was small.

Fruit trees grow very rapidly at Agassiz. Mr. Sharpe
showed me a plum tree which was two and a half feet
high when it was planted in 1892 ; when I saw it (in
1897) it was over 16 feet high, with a splendid top,
plenty of lateral branches, and heavily loaded with fine
fruit. Among pears I was very struck with the old
Bonne Chretienne and the Duchess d'Angouleme, also
some American canning varieties. Pears, plums, and
cherries evidently answered to perfection ; peaches re-
quired shelter from the bitter winds in early spring;
apples were good, but it was a little early in the year to
judge of their flavour ; every variety of small fruit grew
well and bore prolifically.

Mr. Sharpe was strongly of the opinion that all land
where fruit of good quality and flavour was grown
required periodical manuring, if the fruit was to main-
tain its flavour. He recommended potash, lime, and
farmyard manure applied at different seasons. He
had a crop of clover sown round the trees in the
orchard, which he intended to plough in in the autumn.
The idea of a southern slope being necessary for fruit
was contradicted here, Mr. Sharpe having found such
crops as apples were started too early in the winter, and
Buffered in consequence from the late frosts.

Some interesting experiments in vines had resulted in
their being abandoned. Both the growth and the crop

1 I ' <• f^

;i ,s

i \

^ I

i. !

< V

i ' .1

236

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

was e-itisfactory, but the autumn rains and consequent
loss of sun prevented the flavour equalling the Ontario
produce.

In order to render his experiments of wider signifi-
cance, Mr. Sharpe had made plantations of different
kinds of fruit — including English gooseberries, vines,
and peaches — on the mountain at different altitudes.

After luncheon we began to climb to these experi-
mental orchards, the first of which was about 200 feet
above the level of the plain. Mr. Sharpe found that both
peaches and vines answered better than in the plain,
but even here they were uncertain. The fruit was
simply planted where the birch and alders had been
cut down and their rotten stumps kicked out. The
ground was not ploughed or dug, and no manure was
given the trees, the natural soil being a rich light loam.
Spraying he found to be quite unnecessary, except in
rare cases for green fly in early spring.

As we went on climbing from one plantation to
another, Mr. Sharpe gave me an account of such
meteorological notes as he had been able to take of
the climate of the different altitudes. It struck me
that the difference was quite as great as any I had
heard of in Natal.

There was more sunshine on the hills, yet, contrary
to experiences elsewhere, the fruit did not suffer from
frost in consequence. The peach-trees grew less
rampant, but equally healthy, while the fruit ripened
earlier than in the plain, where the fog would often
protect the trees from the effect of sun upon frost. He
ascribed the greater amount of sun on the mountain to
the absence of fog. He had often been working on
the hill in March and early April, and found the sun
unpleasantly hot, and when he returned to the plain
his sun-recorder had recorded no sun that day. It
struck me afterwards that the aspect had something to
do with the immunity from frost. The snowfall in
autumn commences very early in the mountains. He
pointed to the great peak of Che- am (a poetical Indian

AGAS8I2.

237

name, meaning " Beloved *'), and said that snow fell
there as early as the 10th of September.

From time to time we sat down to rest and enjoy the
view over the wide expanse of the Agassiz valley, the
Fraser river, Chilliwack, Popcum, and Sumas lake,
with the American boundary in the far distance. This
early attempt of converting the wilderness into a garden
was very fascinating. The mixture of wild forest and
choice fruits, the freedom of the unfenced orchards,
which yet never suffered from human depredations,
recalled pages in old chronicles when monks first
experimented with the mulberry and vine in the
southern counties of England, and brought the hautbois
strawberry from France. Sitting on a huge sun-baked
boulder, with the gurgle of a stream close by, and
watching a vine throw its wild growth over a rock,
where its branches of half-ripe fruit lay upon the
surface, which reflected and retained the heat of the
mid-day sun, I could fancy that close by I should find
the cave of a hermit, with the crucifix and skull, and
his bed of rushes. Suddenly Mr. Sharpe returned, and
broke in on my reverie by throwing a handful of English
gooseberries into my lap.

We were then 500 feet above the plain, and had got
some way to climb to reach the topmost plantation.
Part of the way led through a thick undergrowth of
silver or paper birch (which grew to almost 60 feet high),
alder, maple, and fir trees. I found a corpse plant,
or, as it is sometimes called, an Indian smoke -pipe,
though it is certainly the most unique representation
of a corpse in a white shroud that could be imagined.
There was also a quantity of the syringa, or wild orange,
goat-beard spirea, Solomon seal, and many lilies pro-
ducing berries, besides thimbleberries, which are very
good to eat.

We occupied the time of our rests by discussing t'^e
oft-occurring and never-failing problem of how to fit the
people at home to enter in and enjoy this fruitful land.
1 could only look on the land in silence as it lay before

til

>' '4

■^

■■IPTC5"

238

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

1 1

me, its great advantages calling to humanity. In con-
trast I thought of the multitudes living on the verge of
starvation, with no prospect but the workhouse.

Mr. Sharpe was not sympathetic. He knew nothing
of these crowded centres. His experience of the failures
who came drifting down the line from the great world
was bitter. He told me how they sank down to be
" lower than Siwashes — especially," he added, " gentle-
men's sons. The graves of many of them are in that
forest, just where they have died."

'* Will you make no bid for the children ? " I asked.

" Not unless they are properly trained to be of some
use, and likely to succeed," he answered dryly.

* * You must bid quickly. There are many against you."

" No one can offer our advantages," he said, slowly.

It was difficult to explain to him what these cities
were like.

" 'We bid,' said Pest and Famine —

* We bid for Hf e and limb ;
Fever and pain and squalor

Their bright young eyes shall dim.
When the children grow too many,

We'll nurse them as our own,
And hide them in secret places

Where none may hear their moan.'

" ' And I'll bid higher and higher,'

Said Crime, with a wolfish grin ;
* For I love to lead the children

Through the pleasant paths of sin !
They shall swarm in streets to pilfer.

They shall plague the broad highway,
Till they grow too old for pity —

Just ripe for the law to slay.

" ' Prison and hulk and gallows
Are many in the land ;
'Twere folly not to use them,
So proudly do they stand.

AOASSIZ.

239

Give me the little children ;

I'll take them as they're horn,
And feed their evil passions

With misery and scorn.' "

*' Is that so •? " he asked, as I finished drawing the
picture. ** All the same, doesn't it seem hopeless to
think of them here ? "

I could not answer him. I felt that so much required
to be done by the people at home to save this awful
waste.

"It's a shame, I think," he said presently, "that
such things should be."

" It requu'es patience," I added, " and there must he
failures. Look at all that Moses went through in train-
ing a people to become a nation. And then — when all
is said and done — the further I go in this country, the
more I am struck with the way our British lads are
pushing the country along. You dwell on the failures,
but I know of successes too many to count ! And if
success comes to your country, it will be through Great
Britain. Nine-tenths of those I have met came out here
avowedly because there was no scope for them at home.
Because a man may fail at home— for the army, for
instance — it is no reason why he should fail in the
colonies, but quite the reverse. High spirits are
necessary to overcome hardship, but high spirits are
dangerous at home. Kecklessness is only courage let
go too far with no worthy object. Even extravaganc<3
out here, if directed well, would be useful.

** Let us take a certain class of men and we shall find
that the very dash with which they went into things
has broken the ice, and since opened a free passage for
steadier craft.

" Look back to the Hudson's Bay Company and the
old North-West, who were not irreproachable. God
Himself has much to forgive ; but if the Bible was not
inspired by Him, it at least shows more knowledge of
human nature than the average man can boast. If

! tm

240

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

)•'

Bometimes natures which bear up under suffering, dis-
appointment, loneliness, and danger, become boisterous
and they * sin with a cart-rope,' I would rather not sit
on the judgment-seat to condemn them."

But I cannot help seeing that there are those here
to-day who are ready enough to tempt these boys. The
ruining of a ** tender-foot " is the livelihood of a certain
set. We are taught to pray, "Lead us not into tempta'
tion" but the law, unfortunately, is too often ready to
punish the sinner; whereas, to be consistent, it is the
tempter, who profits pecuniarily by the sin of others,
who should be mulcted of his gains and pilloried.

Though I spoke thus, I knew very well that there
was much sorrowful truth in Mr. Sharpe's stories, and
we could "bury the hatchet," because 1 believe that no
one is more ready to lend a hand to help a settler than
he is. He was anxious to save me from befriending
worthless objects; besides, he knew the real suffering
which the life entailed on men who are not fitted for it.
It is there that the waste takes place. It is most
obvious in the Colonies, because men's lives are laid
bare in every detail; but it goes on at home, though
it may not be so deadly. The waste is the same in all
classes, but ** the gentlemen's sons are the worst.'*

The education is at fault. Perhaps it is scarcely
elastic enough. There is an idea prevalent that a
gentleman's education compels him to learn certain
things which, in point of fact, in after life he may never
require. The heir to a great estate is taught Greek,
but he is not taught book-keeping ; while the boy
whose father owns the village shop learns what is
essential to the squire. They may meet later in life,
and the boy from the village shop knows more than the
squire.

The pet conceit of the schoolmaster is that public
schools form boys' characters, and fit them for any
position in life. The rest " comes easily," they say.
Ba?-'.ving, commerce — these things can be learnt by sub-
sequtint training ; but the previous training has not been

AGA8SIZ,

241

as good as the schools pretend. There is, besides, a
discipline which circumstances furnish, but which can
never be so well acquired as in boyhood, in dealing
with plain matter-of-fact realities. Perhaps the girls
have hitherto had too much of the *' trivial round and
common task" which directs attention to practical
matters. The boy whose character has been " formed
by a public school " is a complete puzzle. Formed !
It may be so — about as much formed as the ground at
the bottom of the sea. One day there will come an
upheaval — which is not a bad thing, as it often throws
a little light on the stuff the boy is made of, and
provided it only happens once; but even then the
course is not always clear. Too often the forming of
the character has to be done in the rough school of
the world, and it is not till too late that the boy,
looking back, sees what he ought to have learnt and
how he should have been trained. And by this time he
is a broken-hearted man.

Boys may do something towards educating them-
selves, apart from the schools. If they will make up
their minds what they intend to do, they may do much
to train themselves. Not only can they acquire habits
of handiness and self-reliance, which schoolmasters can
hardly give them ; but there is nothing to prevent them
obtaining a fair rudimentary knowledge of common
useful trades.

Girls have done a great deal towards obtaining a
wide basis for their education. They are not content
with book-learning alone. I know a graduate of London
who made her own dresses, and made them tastefully
and well ; and instances abound of girls who combine
the strictest mental training with outdoor sports and
exercises. Further than this, there is a thoroughness
in all they do, which enables them to regard cooking or
nursing as better than accomplishments. Moreover,
those women who appreciate culture are usually the
ones who shine in practical matters as housekeepers.

With the boys there is one distinctly hopeful feature

j'i

j , J

242

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

— they have learnt to appreciate self-inflicted "train-
ing," on the score of the sound physical health or
*' fitness" it ensures. There is something akin to
worship in the way they regard a sound physique.
This must teach them habits of self-control, and give
them the power of directing their energy steadily
towards a given object.

Possibly the so-called best people, as a class, will
always stay at home. They certainly cannot be forced
to emigrate. But I doubt very seriously whether their
advent as settlers would be found much more popular
than that of the others, after they had once been
welcomed with a becoming kid-glove and white- shirt
reception.

The Colonies offer a splendid field for the run-mad
energies for which the old world is too small. For men
who could walk from Montreal to Labrador, leaving
red tracks in the snow from their bleeding feet, who
could explore treacherous rivers in bark canoes, driving
down dark canyons, where not even Indians had been
before, are hardly likely to "get on" in the small
sphere of home life, and it is fortunate that the Colonies
offer them such splendid chances.

It is true that failures at home do go abroad; and
just on this score the Colonies have gained some of their
best men. I know at least of one young fellow in one of
our Colonies who certainly made a pitiable failure at
home. But where he is now his thoughts and energies
are fully engrossed with large schemes, which, if they
succeed, will be of great benefit to the country and the
empire. Had he not blundered execrably at home, he
would never have dreamt of going to the Colonies.
Human nature is so constituted that we cannot expect
all men to behave as if they were in the kingdom of
heaven already. Most of us have many failures to
recover from, and experience justifies me in believing
that the angels of heaven find more to cheer and delight
them in the Colonies than in Exeter Hall itself. It is
ungenerous to harp upon the backsliding of the io^

Les.

lect
of
to

jht
is

AGASSIZ.

243

goats among the many sheep, and gloat over the lives
which have sunk "lower than the Siwash." I own to
a sense of unspeakable satisfaction and gratitude when
I recall how often I have seen my country's flag flying
proudly from some ancient citadel, or with its heavy
folds flapping against the ragged thorn pole at the last
outpost of the desert, realizing that it was young British
energy and pluck which planted it there, and that the
people above whom it flies — no matter their colour,
their race, or their creed — are the happiest and the
freest in the world.

CHAPTER XVIII.

VERNON.

I CANNOT pretend to give any adequate idea of the work
carried on by Mr. Sharpe at Agassiz. This book can
only be regarded as a sketch or index, and merely gives
my own passing impressions. The reader will find
Mr. Sharpe's report most interesting reading. Also
the report of the Department of Agriculture for British
Columbia — a veritable mine of instruction — will repay
perusal by many people who, though interested in
agriculture, have no intention of emigrating themselves.

The following morning shortly after breakfast, Mrs.
Agassiz called for me, with her daughter, and took me
for a drive round the neighbourhood of Agassiz.

I was greatly interested to meet Mrs. Agassiz, to
whom I brought a letter. She was the first of the
New England loyalists I had met. She had much to
tell me of a long experience in British Columbia, dating
from the time of the Cariboo gold rush.

I gathered, from what she told me, that fruit and
vegetables with hay were the crops at Agassiz. She
mentioned potatoes as excelling, so that salesmen kept
cards with Agassiz potatoes to place upon the samples
in their windows. She believed that dairy farming
would answer; but there was no creamery, and she
did not think there were enough farmers to take it up.
Sheep flourished ; but they were only recently intro-
duced, and she was afraid the coyotes would give great
trouble. She was very anxious that I should see some

VERNON.

245

hops, grown on Sir A. Shepney's land, which were
considered fully equal to the best grown at home.

Mrs. Agassiz spoke very kindly of the Indians, and
was much in favour of people endeavouring to teach
them to work. She employed a Chinaman herself, but
she had often had Indians to work for her from time to
time ; and found that with patience and firmness they
could learn almost anything, and be improved almost
indefinitely.

My next stopping place was Vernon, and to reach it I
had to proceed by the C.P.R. through the Fraser canyon.

By the courtesy of the company I was allowed to
travel through the canyon on the cab of the engine.
The story of the exploration which started in the spring
of 1808, to ascertain the course of the Fraser river, is
very well given in Mr. Alexander Beggs' delightful
" History of British Columbia."

"Mr. Fraser, with Messrs. John Stuart, Maurice Quesnel,
and a crew of nineteen men and two Indians, started in four
canoes. . . . The Indians Mr. Fraser met were friendly . . .
they informed him that the descent of the river was extremely
dangerous, that he could not go on, and that the whole party
would meet with destruction if they made the attempt. The
object of the undertaking being to follow the river to its
mouth, Fraser declined to turn back. . . . On June Ist, five
days after they started, the river narrowed to :. canyon, in
which they lost one of their three canoes. On the 5th, the
river contracted to a width of not over thirty yards between
precipices, the water turbulent, noisy, and awful to behold.
They made a portage of a mile over most diflficult gi'ound,
leaving the men harassed by fatigue. On the Gth, finding a
cascade and whirlpool hemmed in by huge rocks, to avoid
portaging, they lightened the canoes and ran the rapids. On
the 9th, the channel contracted to about forty yards, and is
enclosed by two precipices of immense height, which, bend-
ing towards each other, make it narrower above than below.
The water, which rolls down this extraordinary passage in
tumultuous waves and with great velocity, had a frightful
appearance. However, it being absolutely impossible to
carry canoes by land, all hands without hesitation embarked as

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BBITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

it were a corps perdu upon the mercy of the awful tide. . . .
Skimming along as fast as lightning, the crews, cool and
determined, followed each other in awful silence ; and when
we arrived at the end we stood gazing at each other in silent
congratulation on our narrow escape from total destruction."

The journal from which these extracts are taken con-
tinues to relate how the rapids became "worse, if
possible, being a continual series of cascades inter-
cepted by rocks, and bounded by precipices aM moun-
tains that seemed at times to have no end." Even men
of their nerve could proceed no further on the foaming
stream. They were compelled to abandon their canoes,
and started to travel the rugged banks on foot, each
with a load of eighty pounds. They reached the tide
water below Spuzzum, which is the end of the canyon,
on July the 1st, but found the coast Indians so trouble-
some that they started to return by the route they
had come, and reached Fort George on the 6th of
August.

I thoroughly enjoyed this remarkable scenery, and
had time permitted I should have liked to spend a few
days at North Bend, to have seen a little more of the
river. It always seemed to be at war with the moun-
tains — worrying them, teasing them, and fighting to get
its own wilful way, in spite of their best efforts to con-
trol and direct it. Nor was it possible to help rejoicing
with it in its triumph,

I reached Vernon early on the Slst of July, and
having deposited my luggage at the Kalamalka hotel,
I lost no time in going to see Mr. Henderson, of the bank
of Montreal, who afterwards accompanied me to the
Government office to see Mr. Norris.

Vernon is situated in the Yale district, which is full
of valleys and lakes. It is connected with the C.P.R.
by the Okanagan and Shuswap railway, which runs
from Sicamus junction to the northern end of Lake
Okanagan. Agriculturally, this is one of the richest and
finest districts in the whole of British Columbia. Good

VERNON.

247

get
}on-
jing

waggon-roads run through most of the valleys, and the
land is pretty nearly filled up. Steamers run down
Okanagan lake in connection with the trains, and call
at Kelowna and Penticton. It is a very good wheat -
growing district, and is commonly called the granary of
British Columbia — but apples, plums, small fruits, to-
matoes, onions, potatoes, pears, cherries, hops, and
tobacco, all answer well in Okanagan; while in the
lower part of the lake peaches fruit well, and are of
excellent flavour.

Irrigation is not always necessary, but it is not safe to
trust to the rainfall, which is very much less than on the
lower Fraser. In some districts irrigation is essential,
but a great deal depends on the crop. Very little or no
water-storage is necessary. The method is to irrigate
the bench-lands by leading out the mountain streams
which fall upon the hillsides. A peculiar feature here
is the variation in the land under grain. The soil in
some places giving indications of exhaustion, the farmers
have allowed it to lie fallow, turning their cattle in to
eat the volunteer crop, while other fresh land is taken
for wheat.

The valleys run from two to four miles between the
foothills. The crops of wheat run to a ton, and ton and
a half, per acre, and occasionally to two tons. The
quality of the wheat is superior to Ontario, and ranks
next to Manitoba A 1. The wheat and oats are such
exceptional crops in this district, that the farmers have
directed special attention to them ; but it is to be wished
that they would consider planting fruit trees of suitable
kinds, as a stand-by, when the wheat crop fails, which it
is liable to do in dry seasons.

About three years ago the farm^-^rs of the valley formed
a company and raised the capital for a mill. The affair
was started under the Joint Stock Act, but it works upon
co-operative principles. Each farmer subscribed $100.
By this means the buildings were erected, and the
machinery bought. The wheat is received at the mill
upon the current market price. At the close of the year

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

5 por cent, is set aside as a sinking fund. The original
sliareholders receive 5 per cent, on all moneys sub-
scribed by them.

The farmers bring their wheat to be separated and
cleaned by the mill separators and cleaners, and receive
back all the rubbish for stock-feeding purposes. They
each receive a ticket with the amount due to them upon
each consignment written upon it. At the end of year —
after all expenses have been paid, the sinking fund and
interest on capital provided for — the balance is dis-
tributed amongst the farmers according to the tonnage
that each has delivered.

This movement is one of the first steps towards co-
operation, which is a most essential, but strangely
lacking, feature in British Columbia agriculture. It
seems possible that if the farmers continue to co-operate
for milling, that the business may be developed into a
farmers' bank, for loaning money to farmers upon easy
terms. Few things could be more beneficial. Firstly,
it would make all the difference to farmers to pay only
4 or 5 per cent., instead of 8 or 9; and secondly,
every facility would be given them to pay off their
mortgage, in part or altogether, at any time that they
found themselves able to do so.

Of the three mills supported by the district, which are
all good paying concerns, two are owned by K. R Either
and Co., of Victoria, and the third at Armstrong is the
Farmers* Co-operative.

Plenty of machinery is used on the land, in order to
save labour ; and it is always of the best and newest
description.

Though the effects of drought in this country are a
great drawback, there is one feature in the grain-
growing which should not be omitted, and that is, the
late frosts which prove disastrous in the North-West
are here unknown. Provided a farmer can irrigate with
one good soaking after seeding, and another when the
crop is about three-parts grown, he is certain of results.
The expense of raising water to the bench-lands in some

VERNON.

249

5St

districts is a great consideration for a man ^ith small
capital, and cannot be recommended.

Next in importance to wheat is the cattle-ranching.
The worst feature in this businec is the inhuman prac-
tice of starving cattle in winter upon the ranches. Bound
Vernon the thermometer runs down to twenty-five
degrees below zero, and there is a heavy snowfall besides,
which covers up the grass. The wretched cattle die by
hundreds, and no attempt is made to save them. There
are, it is true, a few fenced yards. Often straw, and
sometimes hay, is thrown on the ground. But cattle
require shelter and good water.

It appeared to me to be a mistaken idea of competing
in cheapness with the North-West — whereas it is a case
of accepting smaller profits, and getting the rest back
by some other means.

Of course where men have fifteen hundred head of
cattle, it is unquestionably difficult to devise an econo-
mical plan whereby they may all be fed and sheltered.
But if we look at the ranges we shall see that they have
been over-stocked in most instances, and in fact it may
be said that over-stocking will kill the cattle-ranching
in British Columbia. There are too many cattle for the
ranches as a rule, and it is strange that people in dis-
tricts such as Agassiz could not pick up cattle cheaply
in the autumn, and make a profit by fatting them on
roots and silage. But the ranchers prefer to riak losing
their cattle, and therefore keep more than they have
made provision for. The idea amongst many farmers
is held very strongly that they are being done out of a
profit if they sell anything under the top price. There-
fore, if men cannot sell cattle at first-rate summer
prices, they prefer to let them die of starvation, and
are indifferent to the sound of the wretched creatures
moans.

A good story was told me concerning the farmers'
determination to secure the best price. There were two
brothers, and one desired to sell a portion of his land.
The other was at that time looking out for a piece of

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BBITISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

additional property, and offered a price which was
accepted. A year or so passed, and trouble came,
obliging him to raise money, and he parted with the
piece of land for a third more than he gave for it.
Meeting his brother by chance, he told him what he had
do'ue. The sale of the land was no offence ; but the
idea thai it should have gone for a higher price than he
received, filled the brother with rage, which has never
cooled to this day.

The principle on which the large ranchers work their
cattle, is to let the cattle run loose for three years, and
sell them for the fat summer price of $27.50, which, it is
reckoned, leaves them $15 clear profit when all expenses
are discharged. The land is in very large holdings
where +.his system of ranching obtains, and where it is
not fenced the cosi; of labour in ms^-* aging a great many
head of cattle is very great. Hence there is a percentage
of waste out of which other men might live. These
large territories are not economical farming unless a
man can start in with considerable capital, and fence
and provide shelter.

I could not help attributing the small poor cattle to
the hardships which those which survive must undergo.

The reason why the land has passed into large hold-
ings is partly on account of an old land act, known as
the Homestead Act of 1872. This provide*'' \ at a man
might pre-empt 320 acres at a dollar an -^.Ci But they
could get it free for paying the survey. The charge in
those days for surveying * 320 acres was $20, that is,
six cents, or about three farthings, an acre. They
could take out as many lots of 320 acres on those terms
as they pleased.

The rainfall and snowfall differ greatly in different
valleys. In Kelowna there is no snow to speak of. In
Armstrong there is both more snow and more rain.

At all times the rain is apt to be extremely local. It
is guided by the hills, and there is some reason to fear

* The fee for survey at the present clay amounts to $48 for ;?2()
acres.

VERNON.

251

It
fear

tor 820

that too much cutting down of the forests will diminish
the rainfall.

There are a great many young fellows who came into
this district with little or no capital, and have heen
living very hard, frugal lives, just able to pay their
mortgages. But the exceptionally fine harvest of 1897
will, it is to be hoped, have enabled most of them to
get free of the incubus, and render life easier for them.

At the bottom of Okanagan lake is Penticton, and here
lives "ihe greatest and most succesSi rancher in British
Columbia, Mr. Tom Ellis. I went down the lake and
visited the ranch, but unluckily Mr Ellis himself was
from home. This range probably covers some 50,000
acres. There are smaller holdings, extending along the
shores of "Vaseaux lake and banks of the Okanagan
river down to the American border. A good deal of
intelligence is put into this business, and it may be
cited as the best example of British Columbian ranching.

The system pursued is to turn the cattle loose all the
summer on the mountains; then in winter-time put
them inside fences on the foot-hills, w'here the bunch
grass has not been grazed. It must be understood that
bunch grass has no aftermath, and once fed doNvn is
gone for the year. A limited number are fed, and all
those which are thin or requu'ing care, and the young
stock.

They are divided into herds and kept separate. The
favourite breed is Shorthorn, crossed with Hereford,
which are preferred to the Aberdeen or Polled Angus.
There seems to be an absurd prejudice among the
butchers in favour of heavy horns.

The feed is grown in the flats, where irrigation can
be obtained, and valleys, and consists of oat hay, clover
hay, timothy hay, and grass hay. Taxes are no
higher here than up the valle^ ; and Mr. Ellis appears
to have no difficulty in obtaining labour.

Owing to improved breeding and care, the cattle on
this ranch dress to a better weight — the steers reaching
on an average 700 lbs., and cows 650 lbs. The same

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

practice prevails here as elsewhere of selling cattle for
butchering before they are matured. It is very seldom
that any beast is kept above three years, and at one
time they were regularly slaughtered at two years old.
Mr. Ellis has had steers which made 800 lbs., but I
could not learn whether it was due to age, or breed, or
treatment that they reached this figure.

Mr. Ellis divides his herds, and places them under
ranchmen, and rides round himself to inspect what is
going on.

There is very little snow at this end of the lake, and
the thermometer very seldom drops below zero.

Mr. Wade, a relation of Mr. Ellis, drove me out to
the ranch. I saw the crops growing splendidly in
what was at one time a dry valley. There were great
stacks of hay, clover grass, and timothy. There were
also oats ready for reaping. In the garden I saw some
very fine roots under irrigation. A potato cultivator
had been driven between the rows of carrots and man-
golds, and the water let down in the trough, the earth
having been thrown up over the roots. The soil was
light but rich, being evidently a deposit of silt from the
foot-hills, in what was once an ol^ river-bed. Below
there were boulders which allowed foi plenty of drainage.
Below the boulders there was said to be clay, which
retained the moisture. By digging three feet water
could nearly always be obtained in these flats ; but Mr.
Ellis drew his supplies for irrigation from numerous
small streams which ran into a creek, and when this
became low, which it did towards midsummer, the
necessity of irrigation was passed.

The fruit trees — apples, pears, plums, and peaches —
had suffered from aphis in some years, but diligent
spraying had completely cured them, and they looked
the picture of health. They were loaded to breaking —
some kinds even more so than th-^ trees at Agassiz.
Their branches were propped, but many of the trees
were broken nevertheless. The pea.' s were not so good
as the peaches. Not only were the peach trees breaking

VERNON.

253

jlies —
iligent
Rooked

(assiz.
trees
good

bking

under the crop, but the flavour was delicious, and the
air loaded with the perfume. There were raspberries
still bearing prolifically, and English gooseberries, but
these last were on the wane.

Mr. Wade drove me back to the inn, where I spent an
uneasy night, owing to the crowds of mosquitoes ; and
perhaps my dreams, which were of forests of fruit trees,
were the penalty for the number of peaches I ate.

The foot-hills forming the shore at Okanagan lake
continue some way back from the lake. It is on these
that the bunch grass grows, but Mr. Ellis refreshes the
pastures by sowing suitable grass seeds, which the
cattle tread in. Timothy, red top, and cockstail, answer
according to the dryness or dampness of the soil.

Altogether the system pursued by Mr. Ellis is the
most advanced ranching ; and if he owns a good deal of
land, he certainly turns it to good account. His losses
in winter amount to about one per cent. He also
employs a good deal of labour, paying in winter-time
$30 a month to men for fencing or repairing fences.

I have all the more pleasure in giving these facts
because of two statements which were made to me by
people who are recognized as authorities. In the first
place, I was told that Mr. Ellis's land was only worth $1
an acre; but I do not think that, considering the
business it supports, $1 an acre represents its value ;
though I cannot say what the land might be worth in
other hands, that is to say, apart from Mr. Ellis.

The second statement was made to me at Calgary —
that the British Columbian cattle are so bad that the
butchers will not buy them. This was emphatically
contradicted by Mr. Hull, and I had the satisfaction of
seeing Mr. Pat Burns, with Mr. Ellis, junior, riding into
Eossland with a herd of about three hundred fine cattle
from this range.

From Penticton there is a rough road on which a
stage runs into Trail and Rossland. This is a mining
district nearly all the way ; and when the railway is
opened which is in contemplation, a great deal of the

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

small produce of Okanagan will find an excellent
market.

As it is, the two necessities of Okanagan are cheap
transport and cheap labour. The farming industry has
to support the transport and the labour market, and
with prices ruling where transport is direct, as along the
Spokane-Nelson line, and with the cheap labour in the
States, Okanagan farmers have no chance whatever.
But railways are of little use without telegraphs, and it
is to be hoped that the telegraph will come down the
fertile shores of Long lake to Kelowna very shortly.

The next desideratum is that farmers shall learn to
co-operate. "Without system and control it is impossible
for transport rates to be reduced, or for the market
supplies to be regulated so as to secure prices for the
produce.

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CHAPTER XIX.

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM.

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At Kelowna, where I stopped on my way up the lake, I
found Mr. Smith very much m earnest in behalf of the
Kelowna Shippers' Union. He found great difficulty in
meeting the farmers' rcoted idea that prices could be
secured by withholding produce. This was very easy in
the old days before the railway, but under present
circumstances it was a case of the farmers considering
at what price they could afford to sell, and parting with
as much of their produce as possible directly they saw
all expenses covered and a margin of profit.

The previous year hay, and especially potatoes, could
not be sold for a price which covered expenses; but
when I was there consignments of hay and potatoes
were being collected upon the wharf by the Shippers'
Union, and as soon as they could be bulked into car-
loads, they would be shipped into the mining districts
at car-load rates.

It is manifestly impossible for the railway to deal
profitably with small consignments at odd times, but
specially low rates are allowed for car-load lots.

While I was there the chief difficulty seemed to be the
procuring of an agent to dispose of the produce in the
mining centres. The agents on the spot asked an
enormous percentage, while the fare and time of an
agent sent round to dispose of the produce in the open

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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market was so expensive as to to.ko the cream off the
profits.*

There is often a very strong feeling against the rail-
way which is wholly unreasonahle. The effect of the
railway upon the farmer is to cheapen the transport of
machinery, equalize wages, bring down the prices of
groceries, clothing, and hardware, and enable produce
to be raised in larger quantities than the local market
can consume. But the new cloth cannot be patched on
to the old garment. The old conditions of farming must
be set aside. Under the old system farmers regarded
their stock as to be sold at their own convenience, or
just when they wanted the money. In one place I came
to, I found them still using a system of barter. If a
man wanted a stove he selected a pig and took it to the
store ; if he wanted a cooking-pot he caught a few fowls,
if they were handy. The railway has introduced a
system of greater exactitude, and makes cash the basis
of all business. The first to profit by this change are
the consumers. But ultimately, when the management
of farming is understood upon the same business lines
as mining or trade, it will be found that the farmers have
gained quite as much. There must be the same close
attention to cutting down expenses, the same readiness

* Since writing tlic above I have rccoivod a moHt cnrourapjing account
of tlio progrosH in tlu; work of tho ShipporH' Union. " I am ghul to bo
ablo to r(!port," says tho manugor, " that my stiiy in tho Kootonay resulted
ill ordorH for fifteen car-loadH of vegotabl<!H, and promisoH of ten more, live of
which we aubsequently tilled, and had it not btusu for the sudden closing
of tli(5 Hoason, I should have b(!en able to credit my trip witli the full
number (twenty-five)- As it is, results are more ButiHlactory tliun I ever
anticipated. • . . Organization and belter connt'ctions arc certain to
tell in our favour. It is our intention to introduce machinery where
possible and reduce the cost of production. Wlieu this is done we will, I
tliink, have little to lear from Ame *ican competition. Many farmers who
at first looked with siispieion on us, arc beginning to realize the value of
a concern such as ours, and have signified their readiness to contract for tho
supply of vegetables in quantities. Our total trade to dale is tliirty-sevcn
cars of vegetabhis and hay, and this should reach sixty before tho close of tho
financial year. A small quantity when the extent and possibilities of tho
valley are taken into account, but still a good beginning, and one we
can improve on. It ia satisfactory to know that although the above is a
comparatively poor showing, wehavo handled all there was to handle."

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM.

257

to adopt improved methods, and, above all things, tho
same power of amalgamation in farming as in trade.

Tho point which I could not decide was how far the
small farms could meet the new circumstances. I
came to the conclusion at last that it resolved itself
into the old question of co-operation. But on tho
whole I believe that largo farms with large capital,
and thorough business management, will give the best
returns.

At Kelowna there is a good deal of alkali. This
subject is always an interesting one. At Kelowna I
found that it took two forms, and was called black alkali
and white alkali. The black alkali was found in black
soil, and there was no white powder or efflorescence, but
it was very deadly to vegetation. The white alkali
showed the white crystals in lines on the edges of
surface drains, and sometimes over soil which had been
irrigated. It was looked upon as harmless, if not
beneficial, to any crops, even fruit or tobacco.

It struck me that the alkali was probably in the water
which ran in streams from the foot-hills, though in very
small quantities. The soil on the surface was light sand
and a little clay, underneath it was gravel and boulders.
One man told me that he found it f 'an on some

ground to put in a crop of mange^ v </ few years, as ho
believed these roots checked the alkali whenever it
became too strong in the soil. He seemed to think that
this crop absorbed it, but possibly the deep ploughing
accounted for the beneficial result.

I saw very disastrous effects of black alkali in patches
in certain fields, while on other farms there were several
acres rendered barren by it. In some places the
vegetation turned blood red and died, in others a rough
coarse grass, something similar to pampas grass, but
without the feathery tips, grew, but was utterly useless.
Soon afterwards I passed some fields full of very rich
crops of oats and wheat, growing upon land which was
at one time so strongly alkali as to be considered value-
less. A farmer had taken the land for a bagatelle, and

258

BUlTISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

for years he had been laughed at for wasting his time in
perpetual ploughing and manuring with farmyard
manure. The result as I saw it was that this man had
the finest crops of cereals in the neighbourhood.

The opinion of many people is that alkali in itself is a
positive gain, but the excess of it is poisonous, and must
be checked or reduced. It is even believed that the
reclaimed alkaline lands are likely to remain fertile
longer, as well as to produce better crops, than are non-
alkaline properties.

The tobacco of Messrs. Collins and Homan interested
me extremely. The soil is well suited for tv>is crop at
Kelowna, containing lime, and being annua uj refreshed
by the silt from the hills. As the value of tobacco
depends principally upon flavour, and flavour being
largely a matter of soil, there is a gr- at field for high-class,
intelligent farming. The yield is pretty considerable,
being 2000 lbs. to the acre of pipe tobacco, and about
1200 lbs. to 1500 lbs. of the best Spanish cigar-leaf.
This leaf is especially suitable for wrappers.

Some sheds and stores were erected, and the drying
p^nd storing of the tobacco commenced systematically.

The whole business, however, was only started by the
first planting of tobacco three years previously ; and
as there is no product requiring more experience, not
only in the treatment for the general market, but also
in growing and curing, it is impossible to pronounce a
verdict at present. All that can be said is that
the industry is a very promising one and in good
hands.

As a marketable article, tobacco ranks with tea and
wine, being intimately associated with trade processes,
such as grading and blending to suit the taste of various
markets.

It is, in fact, a large subject from beginning to end, but
extremely interesting, and one offering large pecuniary
profits.

Obviously the possibilities of this valley were only
in their infancy, and were scarcely tested, and more

3a and
jesses,
arious

only
more

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM.

259

farmers were needed to take up more land and invest
more capital.

Before leaving Kelowna I visited Mr. Pridham's farm,
Mr. Smith kindly driving me. I found the difficulty
of transport and its cost dwelt upon. Labour also was
very dear and hard to get. One lady near Kelowna
said to me, " I work harder than a general servant in
England would do." The difficulty found with English
servants was that they assumed too much, and were
more troublesome and less industrious than Chinese.

The difficuly with the men was to find employment
in the winter months. Any man who emigrates should
know how to employ himself in knocking up fruit-boxes,
making simple furniture, repairing harness, painting and
cleaning boats, cutting firewood, cleani^ g and repairing
machinery, or any work by which hd may maintain
himself. He cannot expect the high wages of summer.
A good deal depends on their wives. One woman told
me that "in this country there's nothing to do but to
sit on a box all day : " and such a woman as this is
a positive hindrance in a community.

I went to see Mr. Fortune at Enderby, who has a
lovely farm on the Spallumacheen river. Both he and
Mrs. Fortune received me most hospitably, and here
I had the chance of seeing a good mixed farm — fruit,
cattle, cereals. There were beautiful tomatoes and
maize growing in the garden. The wheat he reckoned
at 60 bushels to the acre. The whole scene was
beautiful — tho peaceful farm lying at the foot of a
great bluff; and the winding, placid Spallumacheen river.

Mr. Fortune was a French Canadian, and he spoke
English with a Scottish accent. Once again I was
delighted to find a Canadian who took a kindly interest
in the Indians, and did what lay in his power to
improve them. He had several Indians among his
labourers, and he told me that he found them '* better
than many whites."

Mr. Fortune accounted for the fact that the farmers
were not well off, in spite of fine crops and evident

i-l

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260

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

industry, by the heavy losses in past years. In the
first place there were cattle thieves. These have been
put down ; but only a few years ago the losses on this
account were very heavy. Then when they started their
capital was eaten into in a variety of ways. He had
himself paid $600 for a machine which would now only
cost $100 ; waggons were $200 instead of $50. ** Before
the railway came," he said, ** we had to pay $10 and
$12 for salt (curing purposes), we now only pay $1.50.
That is how the railways have cheapened freights ; but
now they have reduced prices, and we have to sell
against Manitoba wheat."

The cost of labour Mr. Fortune put down at $25 to
$30 a month, and board $18 to $20 extra.

He had a great opinion of alfalfa, which grew on his
farm without irrigation. He got three cuts off it in
a year, and fed all his stock with it, even the hogs,
making some into hay and using the rest green.

Mr. Fortune summer-fallows occasionally. He also
manures as far as possible. His crops of wheat are
as follows. In ordinary seasons he gets from 45 to 62
bushels to the acre. In 1895 he had 85 acres in wheat,
which produced 62 bushels to the acre.

Soon after taking up his farm Mr. Fortune secured
the water rights of a small mountain stream, which
he can use for various purposes. He irrigates timothy
and clover, and also turns a small grist-mill with it.
The water in this stream runs sufficiently strong for
any purpose up to June 20. Irrigation is unimportant
after that date.

In the morning, before breakfast, Mr. Fortune showed
me two fine sock-eyes which an Indian had speared over-
night in the Spallumacheen.

The winter work on farms, according to Mr. Fortune,
consists of feeding stock, repairing buildings, mending
roofs, putting machinery straight ; ** and it's also our
time for enjoying ourselves by sleighing and shooting,"
he added.

There is a bounty of a dollar a head on coyotes ; but

-'^•-■' — "

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM.

261

tune,

Kiing

our

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I; but

this seems insufficient, and their depredations were
bitterly complained of. A good skin is worth a dollar,
besides the bounty.

Mr. Norris kindly drove me to the B and X ranch,
which was a horse ranch for the coach-line to Ashcroft,
but it is now used for mixed farming. The wheat
crops looked well, but neither the potatoes nor fruit
trees were at all flourishing.

I drove out to Coldstream with Mrs. Craven and Mr.
Hodges on July 8th. On the way we drove over a
rattle-snake. It was too dark to see what became of it,
but it made a great noise in the grass.

This ranch is not the best land i)ossible, and nothing
will answer on it without irrigation. The soil is in
parts a rich dark, alluvial, elsewhere a coarse, heavy
clay.

The fruit trees have been planted with great precision,
but are slow in coming into bearing, as compared with
those at Agassiz. The worst feature in this locality
is the sharp frost early in autumn, which strikes the
trees before the sap has ceased running. There are
five hundred fruit trees of various kinds, but principally
apples, and Mr. Kicardo's intention is to leave the
ground uncropped between them in future, except for
an occasional green crop for green soiling.

The hops at Coldstream are of two kinds — the
Canterbury Golding, and the Washington; a few of
the East Kent have been introduced lately, and seem
to grow well. It seems established that hops can be
grown more cheaply than at home, and of equal, if not
superior, quality, even though irrigation be imperative,
as it is at Coldstream. The initial outlay is very heavy,
and none but large capitalists should embark in the
business.

One great item is the trellising of the vines. This
can be done at $125 an acre (£25), as against $75 to $79
for poles. The poles are out of the question, however,
on account of the high winds. They are also becoming
dearer and more difficult to procure. The trellis is

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

composed of a few stout poles or trees, and some
hundreds of yards of good wire.

The system of irrigation is very simple and inex-
pensive, and applies to the whole ranch. There was
sufficient water in a stream or creek to irrigate all the
low-lying portion of the ranch. A small dam was
erected at a suitable point, not for water storage, but
to enable the water to be turned through a weir and
down a ditch 4 miles long and about 2^ feet wide.
The bottom of the dam was made of stone and gravel,
then a log of wood, more stone and gravel, and another
log of wood. This formed a good wall, against which
a couple of inch boards could be lowered. The sides
of the dam were formed by logs laid across each other,
and plenty of stones and gravel packed behind them.
The whole cost of this scheme was very small ; the
most expensive part being the cutting of the 4-mile
ditch, for which a contractor was paid at the rate of
12 to 15 cents per yard. From this creek water is laid
on as often as necessary, according to the crops of hay,
cereals, fruit, or hops. It is also let out at a dollar a
year to the small holders of 40-acre plots, twice a week.

Considerable care has to be taken in applying irriga-
tion to hops. The water cannot be turned on as it would
upon grass land, and allowed to take its chance. It has
to be disposed of evenly, a cultivator driven down either
side of the vines to form laterals, by which the water
can be conducted over the entire surface. Then, after
the water has soaked into the soil, the ground must
be broken over the surface to prevent it setting and
cracking.

There is no blight of any kind on British Columbia
hops. It is said by some people, though the idea is
contradicted by others, that the thermometer rises too
high for the blight to live.* It probably also descends
too low. In the old country it is customary to plant hops
at first in a nursery, then in the hop garden, and the
third year a crop may be gathered. In British Columbia

* Thermometer 103° in the shade in summer.

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM,

263

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mbia
Ba is
too
lends
hops
the
hia

the vines may be planted in the autumn, and they pro-
duce a crop the next autumn. Or they may be planted
in the spring at Agassiz or Vancouver, and half a crop
gathered in the autumn of the same year.

In Washington the vines suffer from blight, and the
spraying costs $10 to $15 an acre. The hops are not
so good which are produced after blight, and do not
fetch the best price. Mr. RoUins, the bailiff in charge
of the hop ground, showed me that inside the burr, or
blossom, of the hop there was a kind of gold dust or
pollen. The art of drying the hops consists principally
in preserving this pollen in the tiny golden balls as
nature has it in the fresh state. He also showed mo
some sprays of the male hop, which he finds it pay to
grow at about the rate of one to the acre. By so doing
ho secures a more perfect burr, containing the seed of
the hop — a small, round, hard knot. The hop is not
merely improved, but the weight is increased, which is
beneficial to the vendor.

The hop kiln is managed on what is called Meagher's
principle. The hops are gathered by Indians, and
driven up an incline to the centre of the kiln ; here they
are emptied into large wooden troughs and wheeled into
the heating room above hot air apparatus, sufficient
draught being provided by a shaft overhead to draw off
the moisture. They are here sufficiently dried, and
then emptied into big scoops and wheeled into the
cooling floors, where they lie to toughen. These
scoops are splendid contrivances. Each scoop takes
up half a bale ; each bale consists of 75 lbs. to 80 lbs.
There is a press into which the scoops empty the hops,
where the sack has been already stretched to receive
them; the press descends, and a few stitches renders
the saleable condition of the hops complete. Six men
are employed in the kiln — two furnace men, one for night
and one for day ; four others run the rest of the work,
and run out 80 bales a day. It costs, roughly speaking,
a cent and a half per bale to put the hops through the
kiln, including all materials, such as sacking, twine,

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264

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

sulphur, firing, and labour. For 8 cents a pound they
can be put on board at Vernon.

There is manifestly a profit in producing hops at
8 cents a pound, if they sell, as they should, at 15 cents
the pound.

It is not advisable, however, to crop any farm, or
indeed any neighbourhood, too heavily with hops, as
blight is nearly certain to affect areas crowded with the
same crop.

Mr. Ricardo was very pleased with the result of a
small sowing of Bromis-enermis, an Australian grass,
for which irrigation is not essential.

He looked upon the North- West as certain to offer a
good market for the produce of British Columbia, more
especially as the territories fill up ; in fact, it was the
best market at the present time. Fruits of all sorts,
vegetables, and young cattle found a ready sale there.
He said, ** The North -West will buy as many yearlings
and two-year-olds as British Columbia cares to sell."

He was anxious that the Co-operative Agricultural
Societies should arrange with the C.P.R. for properly
constructed fruit cars, with ice-cooling apparatus ; and
believed that these improvements would come as soon
as the fruit trees came into full bearing, and the British
Columbia Fruit Exchange and Kelowna's Shippers'
Union organized the collection of produce into car-load
lots.

Until the Penticton railway was carried through into
Trail and Rossland, he did not think it possible to com-
pete with the United States, owing to the geographical
position.

He did not consider the car-load rates on the C.P.R.
too high ; but the difficulty at present was that, owing
to the fruit and vegetable industry being in its infancy,
they did not produce in car-load lots. This defect
would be remedied by time, and he looked forward with
every confidence to the future. His chief anxiety was
to improve the packing and grading of the fruit. He
]iad devoted p. copsideyable attention to the matter of

KELOWNA AND COLDSTREAM.

265

proper fruit boxes, and to getting them made cheaply
in the slack winter season. He regarded the point of
reducing the cost on every item as highly essential,
and had set apart an old shed for the packing, whero he
took me to see the materials for fruit boxes obtained
** in the flat " from the saw mills in Now Westminster.
To buy the boxes ready-made was the old system ; but
he found that the cost of freight alone to Vernon was
30 cents, while the same number coming up in the flat
cost 18 cents. He showed me the patterns of boxes and
wooden baskets and those which had been made by his
man, and I could see no difference in the quality. He
had a curious machine for stitching the wooden baskets
with wire, called " a stitcher." He purchased it in the
States, and the whole cost, including freight and duty,
was $40.

Mr. Eicardo ascribed part of the cheapness in
production in the United States as compared with
Canada to better methods, and part to the keenness
of the middle man. He also thought that their labour
was cheaper. He hoped to equal if not improve on
their methods, and he believed that co-operation
amongst the farmers would secure for them the profits
of the middle man.

I observed that the point in his mind, to which he
often referred, was the matter of cash. He evidently
considered it a matter deserving as much attention in
farming as in any other business. He kept accounts
very carefully, and checked every item with scrupulous
exactitude. Thus he always knew where his receipts
increased, and in what direction it was worth while
expending in development. He also knew the benefit
of securing a market which paid " spot cash."

Only when the business is looked at in this manner
can it be ascertained whether the industry is in a
sound condition. There are such curious items in
American returns that the only explanation to be
offered is that the industry of raw products is in a
condition of some peril. Trade may appear to be

til

266

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

flourishing, but unless raw i^roducts can make an
adequate return upon labour and capital, the structure
on which trade rests must eventually collapse. At
Walla Walla, in 1896, prunes were sold at 1 cent,
the pound. Mr. Eicardo assured me that the lowest
price at which they could be produced and sold in
Canada was 3 cents the pound.

Hearing of this disparity in price, I felt anxious to
go into the States and learn something of the methods
obtaining there. On the 10th of July I left Coldstream,
and drove forty miles to Grand Prairie. I was accom-
panied so far by yoimg Mr. Browell, one of Mr. Ricardo's
assistants, who enlivened Ihe journey by telling me his
various experiences in British Columbia, in the light-
hearted tone of the English boy who sees humour in
everything, and always manages to alight on his feet.

! i

CHAPTER XX.

GRAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL.

Grand Prairie is approached through arid territory
and gloomy mountain-gorges. It lay in the evening
light — when we drove through it — a broad smiling valley,
standing thick with cereal and pulse crops. Almost
the whole of this produce is fed to hogs. The land
is in small holdings, and each house had its pen for
fattening pigs — White Poland China seeming a favourite
breed — and close by a E,moke-house for bacon and pork.

In this way the cereals, peas, etc., find their way into
market in a condensed form.

The next morning I went on by the stage, driven by
young Mr. Duck, of Ducks, and passed through Mr.
Bostock's land, which chiefly consisted of hay — timothy
and alsike — and by Mr. Craven's ranch and assay
ofiice, two picturesque little cabins standing silent
and deserted, as both Mr. and Mrs. Craven were
staying at Coldstream.

At Ducks I was able to stop a freight train, and
reached Kamloops at about three o'clock in the
afternoon.

I had a fine view of the remarkable scenery of the
Thompson river from the window in the top of the
guard's van, and it was rendered all the more interest-
ing by the sudden bursting of a tremendous storm
of rain, out of a sky which a minute before had been
clear.

The name of Kamloops stirs many memories. In

. I

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2G8

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

1858, at the time of the great gold rush from the
States to the sand bars at the junction of the Fraser
and Thompson rivers, the route taken by the Americans
was via Okanagan and Kamloops.* The Columbia
river v?as crossed at Okanagan by swimming the oxen
and placing the waggons and freight on canoes lashed
together. The oxen were sold for beef after arriving
at their journey's end. The exciting times of this gold
rush, a most interesting account of which is given
in Mr. Begg's History, are still referred to in Kamloops.

From early times this town has been associated with
the cattle ranching, and great ranches still spread for
miles to the north. At the present day over-stocking
has destroyed the bunch grass; and but few cattle
will be found within twelve miles of Kamloops.

I did not hear that the style of the ranching was
better than at Penticton. Indeed, from all accounts, I
gathered that it was less advanced. There is a feeling
that the North-West offers better chances, and that it
pays better to ranch there, and import cattle by train.
Th3re was some talk of introducing sheep farming;
but no one I met advocated this scheme.

The climate of Kamloops is considered highly bene-
ficial to persons suffering from lung delicacy ; and
it is probable that, before long, a sanatorium will be
erected on the hills overlooking the meeting of the
North and South Thompson.

There is a cigar factory at Kamloops, which I visited,
and which interested me immensely on account of the
tobacco grown at Kelowna.

I brought a letter to Mr. Dean, of the Inland Sentinel,
who kindly drove me to visit the Indian School, con-
trolled by some Roman Catholic nuns under a Father
— I believe of the Oblate order.

The school for girls and boys was kept separate.

In addition to religion instruction and reading and

writing, the children were taught useful work. The

boys had their carpenter's shop, and also learnt tailor'

* " History of British Columbia," by Alexander Begg.

^*^ *»*lr*»«j

ghand prairie to trail.

269

Irate,
and
The

lilor-

ing and shoemaking. I was fairly astonished at
the neatness and finish of the work. The girls learnt
cooking, baking, washing, and needlework.

All of them were very bright and happy, and
evidently took the greatest pride in their achievements.
What struck me very forcibly was the kindly sympathetic
tone of the nuns and the Father. There was no doubt
about the discipline; but the children's lives were
made pleasant to them. Nothing, in fact, could bo
better than the teaching and training of these Indians.

I asked the dear old French nun, who went round
with us, what the children's future would be. But
she only chuckled. However, on my pressing the point,
on the score of not quite seeing the position these
choice plants would take — being certainly above their
Indian relations, and yet not on a par with whites —
the old lady observed casually, "You see, they marry
very young; and we keep them here as long as ever
Government will let us."

From which I shrewdly suspect that the good people
will contrive to marry Antoine to Marie, and Henri
to Juliette, settle them in a certain locality, and
"round them up" every Sunday morning to mass; by
which means they will be maintained in good style,
and kept in self-respecting habits. And if this is their
policy, I think it is an excellent one.

There is a home for old miners at Kamloops, a
much-needed institution, for the miner is seldom a
provident man.

The next morning Mr. Newton, a mining expert,
drove me to see the mine called Iron Mask, about
six miles outside Kamloops. This has all the appear-
ance of a very valuable copper property. The tunnel
had been cut for about fifty feet, crossing the main
lead about sixty feet from the surface. Showing the
pay streak is from two to six feet wide.* Where water
had reached the rock it had imbled so that it could

* The point at which I saw it was about three feet, and seemed
increasing.

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270

BRITTSH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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be worked with a shovel. There was a good pile of
stuff lying outside the tunnel v/hich Mr. John Noble
was turning over. The intention was to pack it in
bags to the smelter at Northport. It seemed very
rich indeed, and as it crumbled to loose earth I could
pick little lumps of copper out of it the size of millet
seed.

Mr. Newton drove me further up the hill to see a herd
of cattle, but we were not able to get very near to thorn.
They were evidently a very mixed breed.

On our return we found that Mr. Noble, with the
hospitality characteristic of an old pionc^ , had cooked
us a little meal in his hut, to which we sat down. A
better opportunity of hearing mining methods, and
mining in general, freely discussed seldom fell to my lot.

In the evening I dined with Mr. and Mrs. Searelle, and
went on by train to Eevelstoke that night.

It is a curious and unfortunate arrangement, but all
arrivals and departures, other than by freight train, take
place from Kamloops in the middle of the night. The
hours of darkness are rendered more exciting than those
of daylight. The hotels are constantly on the stretch
to "speed the parting guest," or find accommodation
for those who arrive. One set of travellers has hardly
tumbled out of bed before another set tumbles in, and
lucky are those who possess a Wolseley valise. The
trains clang their bells — howl-yowl, howl-yowl ; the
steamers yell ; so that I felt, as I drove through the
moonlight to the berth reserved for me in the sleeping-
car, that a night and a half in Kamloops would suffice
for a lifetime.

I reached Eevelstoke at nine o'clock the following
morning, and after breakfasting at the hotel and walking
round the town to deliver one or two letters, I went on to
Arrow lake, there took the steamer down the Arrow
lakes. These lake boats, belonging to the CRB., are
extremely comfortable ; both food and sleeping accom-
modation are as good as they can be, and the scenery is
beautiful.

OR AND PRAintE TO TRAIL.

271

\Vc stopped for a short time at Bobson, and I went
ashore to buy some sugar at one of the stores for my
canteen. This is the point where the new line of the
C.P.R. will come out from Rossland, and a smelter will
be erected hero to treat the Eosslaud ores. The
Kootenay river runs out of Kootenay lake, facilitating
the supplies of coke for the smelter by water from
Nelson on Kootenay lake, where the Crow's Nest pass
line will have its terminus.

I was sitting reading in the stern, when a long howl
from the boat's whistle made me look up. On the cliff
to my right rose a gigantic chimney, choking out clouds
of sulphuric fumes and smoke. The hideous thing was
the Trail smelter, which is the very life of Trail, and
will ever be memorable as having achieved what was at
one time considered impossible— the smelting of the
refractory ores of Eossland.

The township was from six months to a year old.
There was no pretence at road-making — no desire even
for comfort. A number of wooden houses, most of
which were not even painted, built in the ugliest manner
possible, presented a mean and most uninviting appear-
ance. Drainage there was none, even decency was at a
discount ; and all looked mean, sordid, and depraved —
a veritable blot on the face of nature.

There were two or three hotels, the largest of which
was closed. The town was undergoing a time of depres-
sion, which meant debt, mortgage, possibly ruin, to
people who had started in a fever to set up stores or
inns. Two prospects which had been opened by the
Home Payne Syndicate, had been closed again for no
assignable reason, and this threw doubt upon the value
of other claims. The rush to the Klondyke had followed,
and, combined with the apparent failure of the Home
Payne properties, had taken all life out of the town.

The great furnace on the hill, which looked like an
outcrop of hell, was smelting two hundred American
tons per diem of precious rock. But this was less by
a hundred tons per diem than they might have been

272

BBITISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEHS.

I ' I

doing, owing to a vigorous dispute as to rates between
themselves and the mines.

I struggled painfuliy up a steep path to the smelter,
the noxious fumes bliuviing and choking me. At the top
I was most courteously received by Mr. Bellingwe, and,
sitting in his cool office, I became deeply interested in
the subject of smelting. It was impossible not to admire
the pluck and resolution with which the apparently
insurmountable diffif^nlties had been met and overcome.
Nothing had daunt Mr. Bellingwe. He sat there
before me sprucely dressed and " well groomed," yet he
had been ready at any instanf. to pull off his coat and
rush forward to do the right- thing at the critical
moment. It was his own handi? which had added the
right flux, and caught the ore just on the turn.
Whether such combined nerve, audMity, and experience
deserve the name of genius or not, this young American
had evidently solved the problem which had baffled
every one else engaged in the business.

The following is the account in the Government
Eeport for 1896 of this record achievement in the work
of smelting.

"The Trail Smelteb.

" The Sampling Mill, daily capacity, 150 to 200 tons ; bin
capacity in the mill, 750 tons. The ore passing through
a 12 X 22 inch Blake crusher, is run through a trommel,
whence the fin "is go to a Constant cylindrical sampler, and
the oversize to a 9 X 15 crusher and rolls, and then to the
sampler and into the bins, until the lot of ore is settled,
from whence it goes to the calciners or the bins from which
it can be drawn in cars to the blast furnace. This sampler
is now being enlarged so as to handle 350 to 400 tons per
24 hours.

" In the Boast House is one O'fiara automatic calcining
furnace. This furnace is 120 feet long over all, and has
two 90-foot hearths, one above the other, 9 feet wide. One
travelling chain passes along the centre of the hearths,
carrying 6 plows and 6 trolleys or chain carriages, at the
rate of about 25 to 35 feet per minute, and as yet veiy little

GRAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL.

273

lOpairfl havo boon rcquirod, tlio chain, plows, and trolleys
Bhowing but littlo sign of corrosion in the furnaco. Fifty tons
of oro crushed to pass a half-inch ring arc roasted per day,
with a loss of 70 per cent, of sulphur contents, tho oro taking
12 to 14 hours to pass through tho furnaces in which ton
fireplaces fired with wood supply the heat. Besides this
furnace, there are in tho furnace-room six circular calciners,
such as used in Butte, placed above the reverboratorics, tho
ore, automatically fed, passing over six horizontal revolving
hearths that discharge alternately from tho rim and centre
upon tho lower one, thence into tho hoppere below that are
immediately over the hearth of tho roverberatory. It ia
designed in this furnace that when onco ignited no further
fuel will be needed than tho sulphur, but they must run
continuously, and on account of irregularity, until recently,
in the operation of the reverboratorics, these calciners havo
not boon used.

"The dust chamber is 180 feet long, 10 X 12 feet inside,
with wing walls from the sides every 10 feet, not over-
lapping, but having a clear space through the chambers
to the chimney, which is 1 tO feet high and 8j feet square
inside.

" Furnace-room, GO X 310 feet, G8 feet to pesik of roof.
Tho ere is being smelted after two methods : — (a) In four
reverberatories, hearths 14 X 22 feet, 40 tons each per 24
hours, in charges of roasted and unroasted ore, slag, and lime-
stone, are now being treated. The fuel is wood ; but as this
is not yet dry enough to give the required heat, coal also is
being used, over 70 tons a day, from the Anthracite Coal
Co.'s mines, on the eastern limits of the Rocky mountains,
whence it is brought over the Canadian Pacific Railroad to
Revelstoke, or Arrowhead, and thence in scows down the
Arrow lakes and the Columbia to the smelter, whence it is
raised up an incline 160 feet by a small steam hoist with
cable and car, to a trestle along which the car can be run to
the shutes wherever needed in the works.

" (6) In a 40-inch circular furnace, 12 feet high to feed
floor, water-jacketed, with six 3-inch tuyeres, also with fore-
hearth, 45 to 55 tons of raw ore are now smelted in 24 hours.
As the amount of sulphur in these ores is low, and that in
the pyrrhotite not available for fuel, as already it is a natural
matte, a typical form of pyritic smelting cannot be used, but

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274

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS,

more or less fuel is necessary, and a very sutisfactory grade
of coke is got from Fairhaven, Washington, although it
carries from 20 to 24 per cent. ash. A small amount of
limestone is added to the charge, but at present a very acidic
slsig, rather thick, but giving a good separation, is flowing,
but very careful handling of the furnace is imperative.
The analysis of this slag gives, SiOg, 42 to 46 per cent. ; FeO,
12 to 19 per cent. ; AlaOj, 14 to 19 per cent. ; MgO., 4 to 6
per cent.

*' A new 200-ton rectangular blast furnace, made by E. P.
AUis & Co., Milwaukee, Wis., after a oomposite design by
Mr. Bellinger and Mr. Wedekind, is being quickly erected.
In this furnace, 120 X 38 inches at the tuyeres, the steel
water-jackets will b*- 6^ feet high ; height to feed door, 14
feet, with 14 6-inch tuyeres with thimbles of smaller size
that can easily be put in for the purpose of experimenting
with the quantity and pressure of blast, for all arrangements
are to be such that tests can be made under varying con-
ditions, to determine the greatest possible eflficiency for this
furnace upon this class of ore. Another feature of this
furnace will be that, besides the movable foi-e-hearth, the
bottom or crucible of the furnace will also be mounted, so
that if required it can be altogether withdrawn from beneath
the water-jackets.

" The bluff on which the umelter stands is sand, but the
top and face of the dump, 120 feet high, is being covered
with slag that flows in sand gutters from the reverbei-atories,
or is wheeled out in the usual slag-pots from the blast
furnace ; but in a short time all slag will run from the
fui'naces into water troughs, be granulated, and then swept
out to the dump, which will be protected from scouring out
by the slag covering.

"In the engine room is a 65-horse power engine, with
a 40-hor8e power engine now on the way. A No. 5 root
blower is now used, but a No. 7 will be needed when the
big blast-furnace is blown in. Power is transmitted by
shafting, but mostly by wire cables running over large
pulleys to different parts of the works. However, steam
power may soon be replaced by electricity, as a plant is
to be ei cted at the foot of the dump and supplied with
Pelton wheels and water under a 250-foot head. On a
tributary of the Columbia, not far from Trail, a very large

GRAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL,

275

water power has been secured by Mr. Heinze who proposes
the installation of an electric plant for the distant trans-
mission of electrical energy which may be brought to tho
mines, as electricity has now become so successful and
economical a factor in raining elsewhere, ^.t present 100
to 120 tons of ore per day are being brought down from
Rossland by the Tramway, but this amount will be greatly
increased. At the smelter 140 to 160 tons, it is stated by
the management (July 29), are being smelted daily, with
a concentration of about 20 tons into one ton of matte, which
matte goes to Butte to be refined ; but already the founda-
tions for a refinery at the smelter are nearly completed, in
which the matte, after being crushed, will be further calcined
in a reverberatory to be constructed, and then re-smelted in
two of the present reverberatories, after which the product
will be treated so as to yield a high grade copper matte for
export, from which 80 to 90 per cent, of the gold and silver
value has been separated for special refining and parting at
these works.

"From 175 to 200 men are now employed, and when all
these improvements are completed, this smelting plant will
be well equipped and capable of handling 350 to 400 tons of
ore daily; and if tho demand increases, a still larger plant
can easily be added."

The railway is owned by the same company as the
smelter. I went on and had a chat with the young
American who manages this extraordinary railway,
which climbs up the side of the gorge from Trail to the
smelter, and goes on to Kossland. From him, too, I
heard how the business had been carried through in
times of doubt and despondency, when nothing was
certain about the Kootenay mines.

These men were Americans, who came bringing their
capital, energy, and skill into British territory; and
we certainly gained by having them.

It struck me as a strange thing that, after the
commercial enterprise was exhausted, the interests of
Americans ceased. I found it pretty much the same
in tovms in the States, and it was invariably so in
British Columbia. It has been explained to me —

176

BBITISH COLUMBIA FOB 8ETTLEBS.

perhaps rather ill-naturedly — that "the American is
intensely close and mean with his money. He will never
part with a dollar unless he sees his way to getting a
dollar and a quarter back on it." I am doubtful myself
if this description is quite true, or if it explains the
case. I found everywhere that the dollar was the only
measure applied to anything in life. In other words,
he accepts cash as the basis of all transactions. If it
be public service, charity, art, or love affairs, it is a
money transaction, and he must see that he gets his
profit somehow. But most assuredly he will risk his
money freely, and with a readiness which is almost
reckless (another matter for surprise, seeing how cal-
culating he is). Calculation has frozen the soul out
of him, and when I had seen a little more of America,
I began to think that natural affection — a thing which
is not negotiable — had died out.

I have heard Americans talk extremely well upon the
state of their country's public affairs. They put the
body down on the table and explained to me its rem. 1:-
able features and points of interest, till the subject
became fascinating. But when public service — action
— is referred to, these men will coldly tell you that
the whole business is " de'jjrading," and they could
not be mixed up personally with their country's
affairs.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that the condition
of the States is one of excitement and uncertainty.
There is such a diversity in the elements, that it is
impossible to look forward to homogeny ; and the most
remarkable fact is that any government should main-
tain even a semblance of authority where the support
is so uncertain.

Among no people hav3 I heard my country spoken
of with such extraordinary bitterness. It would be
thought that the personal character of Queen Victoria,
which has always secured respect, even in Republican
France, might have escaped attack. Whatever the
English people may have done or left undone, there

GRAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL.

271

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is something due to every English lady, and especially
to one whose long life has been an example of kindness
and goodness. But the presumptuousness of America
is of that description which foreshadows disaster. If
public men cannot word their despatches to Lord
Salisbury with civility, the common crowd of America
spare the statesman's country no offensive epithet.
Possibly any attack upon our commercial methods
might be endured. It is not impossible that something
to our own advantage might be learnt by listening
patiently to the list of our errors in this respect ; but
when it comes to a people such as the Americans
charging the British race with ** cowardice,'' the time
has come to make a stand. It is true that they may
be less mad than they appear ; for I noticed that the
single American, and that at all times Americans, when
in a minority, adopt a very different tone. Tbey will
even excuse the vagaries of their fellow-countrymen,
and talk of their own ** affection for Great Britain."
But directly there are half a dozen of them and one
British subject, the tone will be altered. Theiv tactics
are eminently sly, and I am led to believe that even the
best class of Americans rather encourage — certainly
they do nothing to check— the impudence of their
countrymen towards Great Britain; and this they do
from the idea that something may be gained by imperti-
nence. In a word, it is the popular policy of the States,
and it is encouraged by the teaching of the schools and
the press. ** We've got nothing else to teach our
children," said one Yankee to me, " except to hate
England." When it comes to this, the sooner Great
Britain understands the case the better for all con-
cerned ; and let there be an end to calling the Americans
"our cousins." In point of fact the people of the
States are a mixed race of aliens, with a large admix-
ture of the criminal class out of every other nation, and
this explains to a great extent the bitter hostility, the
unreasoning jealous hatred, towards Great Britain,
which is Yankee patriotism. By no nation in the world

'I s
ij f

llJ

1/ ',

278

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOE SETTLERS.

is England so bitterly hated as by the mixture of
peoples in the United States.

I have met Amoricanp "ho assured me that I did
their country an injustice *.* supposing that there was
any unneighbourly feeling on the part of America
towards England. " Were Great Britain to be attacked
by Russia," they cried, ** America would go to her
support." I do not think it impossible that the States
would offer Great Britain assistance, provided they
thought she would win; but it would be upon terms
of their own, and on the usual dollar and a half for the
dollar principle. Their aim would be to secure markets
or territory.

Brt to understand the true inwardness of the situa-
tion, the attitude of the States must be looked at from
Canadian ground.

It was only recently that a programme was openly
preached in the Dominion, which consisted of union
with the United States. Annexation was talked about ;
but Canada, like the New woman, eyed the proposal
with misgiving. She knew enough of ** Uncle Sam's "
morals and previous history not to be misled by the
blandishments of his wealth. " Uncle Sam's " yellow
face became malignant, and if he could not domineer
over Canada he would insult Great Britain. The old
grudge against England was intensified amongst the
most ignorant Americans, and a Minister's only road to
popularity was by offering impertinence to the Empire.

It was astonishing to find how deeply Canada laid
these matters to heart. I found grave middle-aged
men filled with indignation. ** If the prestige of Great
Britain is to suffer, Canada is not afraid. If it is a
case of fighting for the honour of the Empire," they
exclaimed, " Canada will fight while there is a drop of
blood in her veins ! "

The States had sneered at Canada as a poor country
in need of capital, which they would kindly furnish.
But in alliance with Great Britain, Canada knew she
was richer than the States.

QBAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL.

279

Not that it must be supposed that Canada would
refuse to Americans the right to come in and trade
legitimately. The individual American is practically
welcomed everywhere. But it is when they come over
in detachments and settle down with a code of their
own, and assume a control the working of which is in
their own hands, and for their own interests, that the
matter takes another complexion.

The idea of freedom in the American mind is abso-
lutely distinct and novel. It embodies the utmost
freedom to the individual, without the slightest appre-
ciation of the service which is " perfect freedom " and
" the bond of peace." In old times responsibility was
a question, ** Am I my brother's keeper ? " To-day, in
America, the assertion is open and defiant : ** I am not
my brother's keeper. On the contrary, he is only
there for me to exploit him."

Is not this the first principle of disintegration ? Yet
the American's favourite boast is his freedom. They
are "sovereigns" each and all of them; so far have
they proceeded on the road against which the apostle
uttered his warning in the perfect epigram, "My
brethren f he not many masters."

The divisions in America are so well known as to
need no recapitulation in detail. The East is divided
from the West not only on the silver and gold question,
but likewise by the rival interests of agriculture and
manufactures. The South has lately shown an inclina-
tion to side with the West. Labour is writhing under
a tyranny for which no one I met attempted to offer
any excuse, and this has engendered a bitterness which
the worst labour wars have never produced in England.
Above the babel there is no voice strong enough to be
heard continuously. There is no personality sufficiently
commanding to lead; but the mob rushes hither and
thither, endeavouring to push rather than to follow.

One man, in talking on this subject, referred to the
Illinois railway riots, when President Cleveland marched
the soldiers in to put down the riot without waiting for

■ ,

280

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

' at

' I

them to be summoned, as a remarkable instance of the
maintenance of authority. This took place in 1894,
and I have heard the President's move spoken of in a
way which leaves great doubt in my mmd as io whether
such tactics would be permitted a second time.

The army is drawn principally from the labouring
class, and there seems every likelihood that its sym-
pathy would not be on the side of capital.

Cheerful Americans declare that the'" have steered as
close to the wind before without capsizing, and that no
danger is to be anticipated while the central control is
strong enough to deal with insurrection in individual
States. Others say, ** Oh, you do not know my people.
They make a great fuss, but they mean nothing."

This is exactly the point. Does crime unpunished by
law ** mean nothing " ? Does the corruption of the
justiciary "mean nothing"? Does the sullen rage of
the crushed multitude against the few millionaires
*' mean nothing " ? Does it '* mean nothing " that
Americans themselves are continually withdrawing
capital and placing it in British territory ?

From the austere sanctimony of the Pilgrim Fathers,
the Americans have gone with a leap to a condition of
flagrant immorality and unbelief, and to all manner of
fads and superstitions.

I took some steps to procure statistics relating to
crime in the States but the officials to whom I applied,
through the kindnc. s of Mr. Hussey, were unable to
accede to my request. However, I found that they were
given for the year 1896 as follows : — *

Murder cases — 10,650 in a population of 70,000,000.

(This gives about 150 murder cases in 1,000,000
people.)

Lynchings — over 2000.

In Canada the statistics for the same j'ear were —

Murder cases — 15 in a population of 5,000,000.

(This gives 8 murder cases in 1,000,000 people.)

Lynchings — none .

* I obtained the information in Canada, and I have not heard that
the figures have been disputed.

OBAND PRAIRIE TO TRAIL,

281

I will spare the reader statistics of crime of a revoltmg
nature in the States.

It must be borne in mind that in Canada the view
taken of American crime, is not the number of cases,
but that it is the manner in which crime is dealt with,
and the machinery in use for its suppression and con-
trol, which is open to adverse criticism.

A country's moral fibre cannot be tested solely by
murder cases. There are other matters, such as robbery
with violence, which may be considered a minor offence
as compared with train wrecking — a common practice
in the States, but utterly unknown in Canada.

Lastly, the painful subject of social morals cannot
be omitted, and on this score the States can boast a
condition equal to the darkest ages of Paganism.

The sanctity of the marriage tie is ridiculed; and
men aiming at social position admit unblushingly that
they derive a revenue from keeping houses of ill-fame.

Is it strange if Canada withdrew from what we are
told " means nothing," and fixed her eyes upon the
One head of a State whose subjects have girdled the
earth with chains of beneficent rulership? She has
cast in her lot with Great Britain, and her pride is to
point to an administration of law which shall bo as
effective and safe throughout her territory as in any
part of the Queen's dominions. It has drawn down
upon her the bitter animosity of the States. While the
cant about neighbourliness goes on, and the pious
American prays on his knees against war with Great
Britain, the M'Kinley tariff was followed by the
Dingley tariff, and these by the immigration laws,
which go so far as to forbid even Canadian nurses from
attending cases in the States. The Canadian inland
fisheries have been wantonly spoilt, and may even suffer
extinction. The lumber trade is crippled, and at the
present time every effort is made to secure the trade
of the Klondyke to American merchants, exclusive of
Canadian.

But Canada has her revenge, inasmuch as she has

I i

< 1 1

V '

11!

282

BRlTian COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

offered an object-lesson to Uncle Sam which has not
been wholly thrown away. Through her the desperado
from the States has acquired a holy horror of British
law. If an American "sovereign" commits a murder
north of parallel 49, and the crime is proved against
him, he knows that all the wealth of the United States
will not save him from the rope's end.

From Trail I went on the same afternoon to Rossland.
It was an interesting piece of travelling up the side of a
mountain clothed with dense pine wood — the backwoods
of Canada of which one dreams — passed the shutes and
dumps of mines half hidden by the close-growing stems
of the trees, till at last the train stopped at the
Johannesburg of British Columbia.

CHAPTER XXI.

ROSSLAND.

The town of Rossland makes a most favourable im-
pression on a new arrival. It is beautifully situated
beside a stream, which is virtually a cascade, surrounded
by the pine-covered mountain peaks, on whose ledges
are the rich mines of the War Eagle, Le Eoi, Ivanhoe,
Monte Cristo, and many promising prospects.

The town contains about four thousand inhabitants,
and it would be scarcely possible to imagine a more
orderly population. Thanks to the exertions of the
provincial police, under Mr. John Kirkup, the elements
of disorder usual in mining camps are vigorously
suppressed.

Compared with Johannesburg, Rossland is an in-
finitely pleasanter place to live in, and when I was
there immense sums were being spent by the corpora-
tion to straighten and widen the streets — not by any
means an easy matter on the top of a mountain — and
provide a thorough system of drainage and sanitation.
There is no lack of good water, supplied throughout
the town by a water-works company ; and though out-
breaks of typhoid fever were common in the earlier
days of the town, it was evident that neither expense nor
trouble were being spared by the Rosslanders to stamp
out this disease. For a township of ten years old to
have accomplished so much is highly creditable,
especially considering that up to the present time
the pay roll of the mines has been its support, without

284

BHITJSH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLEHS.

I.C

tho assistance of railway works, smelters, or factories
of any kind. The outlook of the town is very promising,
for, in addition to the small line from Trail creek, the
C.P.R. has surveyed a branch from Eobson, which will
be connected with the main line now under construction
through the Crow's Nest pass. The Spokane-falis and
Northern road has already reached Rossland, and places
the town in direct communication with the Northern
Pacific railroad and all parts of tho United States.

As an indication of the wealth in this country, apart
from the actual dividends of the various mines, I was
told on rehable authority that the line could be built by
the C.P.R. from Eobson to Eossland and thoroughly
equipped in five months, and that the ore supplied from
the mines developed at the present time would fully
equal one thousand tons per diem. That is, of course,
supposing the erection of the smelter at Eobson to be
'.aken in conjunction with the line.

Owing to the natural beauty of the situation, and the
interest, geological as well as financial, of the mining
industry, Eossland will be certain to attract a large
number of visitors, travellers, and tourists, which will
dd a fresh — though an uncertain — element to the
community.

I was specially impressed with the determination of
the Eosslanders to eliminate as far as possible the
speculative element in mining, and place the business
on the same footing as that occupied by railways in
this country, and it is to be hoped that London will
give them the assistance which they require and deserve.
Rossland is a natural school of mines, and I had just
missed meeting Mr. Carlyle, the provincial mineralogist.
The prevailing idea in Eossland is that the new-comer,
especially the tender-foot, " doesn't know enough to go
indoors when it rains." Whether my knowledge by the
time I left Eossland would have been sufficient to secure
me from the damp effects of ignorance I cannot say,
but I did my best to profit by the instruction.

Amongst the things that I noted was the increase

ROSSLAND.

285

Irease

taking place in the introduction of the best mining
machinery, such as air-compressors and drills, with
steel boilers, and Edison dynamos. The next feature
was the area of some of the mines (the proved pro-
perties), which seemed to me very large as compared
with their capital. Of course, it is impossible to judge
of the value of a mine by its area ; but when a property
has been developed on the lines of the Le Koi, the area
does suggest certain calculations. The area of the Le
Koi is about twenty-one acres, but including the Ivanhoe
and Black Bear it is seventy- two acres. The Le Roi was
capitalized for $2,500,000, in shares of $5 c ^ch. Even
supposing that all the shares sold at par ^aluo, the
amount of capital compared with the development work
done, amount paid in dividend, the extent of property,
the difficulties in early stages of transport, and the
refractory nature of the ore, shows very skilful and
economical management.

It is probable that the Le Boi, or perhaps another
mine, such as the Centre Star, may find its capital
insufficient. This will very likely be the case where
amalgamations take place, and therefore at no very
distant date these concerns may appeal to the British
public ; and should they do so, they will be among the
best mining properties which have been put on the
London market.* There is nothing of the "wild cat"
about them. Nevertheless, the stock-jobbing operations
in the London market will be sure to provide the
speculative element, ^\..hout which the British public
cannot be interested in mines.

Rossland is eminently cosmopolitan. There were
men of all European nationalities, as well as Americans
and Chinese. The mining fever had seized them all ; but
how differently it affected them ! There may be seen the
pig-tailed Chinaman, fanning himself as he saunters in

* Since writing the above, the Le Roi mine baa been placed on the
London market in conjunction with other properties. It will be a matter
of considerable iutercbt in mining history to compare the efficiency and
economy of the new method with the old one.

28G

BlilTlSn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

his soft white shoes along the pavement, his objects and
occupations a deep mystery, but certain to be involved
in money-getting — his poorer brother bending under a
load of the barbarian's dirty linen, with his pigtail
twisted for convenience round his greasy brow. There
are "the boys" back from the mines, with "a good
rough on them," determined to enjoy the town. There
is the German, with his large tongue and small eyes ;
the plump Jew, insinuating and pushing; the Yankee,
occupied in spitcing in season and out of season, with a
spittoon or without a spittoon. There is the nuisance
of the paper boy, with his eternal " K — E — cveniny
Mi — i — incr; " the water-cart converting dust into
mud ; and the natty-looking restaurant keeper washing
the outside of his house, the pavement, and even the
street beyond, with a liberal douche from a hose.
There is the barber's shop — and I must own to having
loathed this spectacle — where men were having their
faces scraped, while the man who scraped held them by
the nose between his finger and thumb. There are the
ofiices of the mining companies, with " samples " of ore
displayed in the window. Men everywhere in abundance
— standing in knots at street corners, sitting outside the
hotels or bars, or perched in armchairs, having their
boots cleaned in the thoroughfare, and all this crowd,
no matter what other ostensible object they might have,
had but one craze — the mines.

Yet there was want and suffering here sometimes.
The prospectors, who love the hills with an instinct that
is more sporting than mercenary, are, for the most part,
an improvident race ; and if they come back, as many
of them do, having found nothing, they return co suffer
want. They will help each other to a dinner, but if
"times are bad" with many, all at once even this
resource may become exhausted. They are distinctly
not the men to whom charity could be offered ; and if
assistance is given by any one outside the charmed
circle of their own set, it must be done most delicately.
I was delighted to find in "Father Pat " (the English

RO SSL AND.

287

clergyman at EoBsland) one who thoroughly appreciated
and liked the miners and prospectors ; a feeling which,
I believe, was warmly reciprocated by them. As I
walked with him in Bossland, I occasionally overheard
scraps of conversation which, perhaps, were not in-
tended for me.

" Why, Dick ! Did I see you in church this
ovenin^, ? "

" Yee, yer reverence, I was there. The first time for
thirty years. I couldn't stand too much of it at a time,
though. So just when it was getting a bit long I went
outside and had a smoke. I say, yer reverence, it was
good ! I went in again after I'd had a bit of a s Jioke ;
and it all come back to me as I ,/as used to it when
I was a boy, and I tell ye I came down like hell on them
Ah-mens ! "

When I was in Rossland Father Pat was busy
establishinpj a free library and sitting-room, which ho
artfully contrived under the floor of the church. Many
a time had we to perambulate down the hillside to
admire this library.

**A person don't have to belong to my church or
Sunday school," said Father Pat, delivering his in-
vitations as he went along, ** or a ly Sunday school, to be
welcome. Doors are always open — books, magazines
are there. All that any one has to do is to help himself.
There are comfortable chairs. I want those young
men and others who have no places and no homes to
go to."

It was instructive to hear Father Pat discourse
upon human nature. He was best at this when he sat
in the open dc rway of the shack in which he chose to
reside. The ihack, like the library, was always open.
"My experience in this V tern country," he would
say, "is that the more you trust human nature, and
treat people like fellow beings, and not with suspicion,
the better you will find them. If I knew a man was a
born thief, I would throw the doors open to him and
trust him just the same, relying on his better nature not

1 1

■i .

288

BBITISn COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

(■■'

to betray me. Take my advice, young man," he cried,
as a smartly dressed youth in Sunday best was passing,
** and don't be too suspicious of your fellow mortals,
especially if they be dressed in overalls and boots —
rather bev/are of kid gloves and perfumed clothes."

The young man thus addressed started and turned
his head. On seeing Father Pat, he raised his hat and
beamed a silent benediction, and went on his way.

Possibly Father Pat carries his ideas further than
need be. I was obliged sometimes to remonstrate, but
the men understood him. "He's a good man," said
one. ** We know that. There's nothing we can give
him. His reward is ready for him, for all the poor
fellows he's nursed and cared for that nobody else would
bother about. No one can take it from him. He's
recorded his claim right enough."

Those whose interest in mining matters leads them to
desire further particulars of Eossland may consult with
benefit the Annual Report of the Minister for Mines.
In the report for 1896 Mr. Carlyle gives the early
history of Rossland. It is so admirably written, that
I cannot resist giving it verbatim.

" Early in the sixties the placer mines on Wild Horse,
Findlay, and other creeks in East Kootenay, having been
discovered, resulting in the rush there of miners, and the
constant demand for supplies, as there was no x-^eans of
communication between the coast and this district, except
through the United States, with vexatious delays at the
Customs, Mr. E. Dewdney, now the Hon. the Lieutenant-
Governor of British Columbia, was instructed to survey and
construct a trail entirely within British ten'itory, through
the southern part of the province, as a passage to the north
had been proved to be not feasible. In 1865 this trail, since
known as the Dewdney trail, was finished, and in its course
it passed about one mile south of the present town of Rossland
on its way down Trail creek to the Columbia river. Hence
a means of ingress was given to this region, and indications
show that early prospectors werea^^^tracted to the iron-stained
cappings that have now attained such importance and value,

HOSSLAND.

289

since
I course
Issland
1 Hence
jations
Stained

value,

ns a 5-foot hole on the Le Roi and other openings testify,
but the low grade surface rock discouraged them, while the
means of getting such ore to smelting centres seemed quite
out of reach. However, in 1889, Joseph Bourjouis located
the first claim, the Lily May, near the Dewdney trail, which
in 1890 was recorded by J. Bordau. In this year J. Bourjouis
located the Centre Star and the War Eagle, while the
Virginia and Idaho were staked by J. Morris, his partner.
They also discovered the Le Roi, but forbidden by law to
stake more than one claim on the same vein, this piece of
ground became the property of Mr. E. S. Topping by his
simply paying the expense of recording.

•' In November, 1890, Mr. Topping met at Colvillo two
Spokane attorneys, Mr. George Foster and Colonel William
Rcdpath, showed them samples of Le Eoi ore, and offered to
sell one-half interest in the claim for $30,000. These
gentlemen became interested iu this property, went to Mr.
Oliver Durant, a gentleman of long mining experience in the
west, in whose judgment they had full confidence, and he,
also impressed with the ore, finally secured a working bond
on ~ of the property for six months, with the proviso that
during that time he should spend $3000 on the claim.
Although he knew good mining men had condemned the
ore deposits of this region as of altogether too low a grade,
Mr. Durant came up at once, examined the claim, taking
from a shallow cut 16 feet long across solid sulphides careful
samples that returned as high as $60 in gold, at the same
time visiting the Enterprise, Centre Star, Idaho, Virginia,
War Eagle, and Josie. Satisfied with the showings, E. J.
Kelly was left in charge of the sinking of a shaft, from
which during the winter weekly samples.were forwarded, with
great difficulty, to Marcus, Washington, by trail down Trail
creek and the Columbia, samples that assayed from traces
of gold up to $472. In the spring of 1891, after many
vicissitudes, 10 tons of picked, pure sulphide ore from the
bottom of the 35-foot shaft, where the vein was fully 9 feet
wide, were packed out to the Columbia and shipped to the
Colorado smelting works at Butte, when the excellent return
of $84.40 per ton was given as the value of the ore, or 3
ounces of silver per ton, 5.21 per cent, copper, and aboiit 4
ounces of gold. The bond was then taken up, and in the
course of time the remaining ^ were sold by Mr. Topping

! I

290 BltlTISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

to some of the present owners. The Le Roi Gold Mining
Company was then formed, and about 70,000 shares of the
treasury stock sold at a small figure.

*' For over a year Mr. Dnrant had charge of the work,
contending with many obstacles, insisting on the continuance
of development, as ho pertinaciously believed in the ultimate
conversion of this prospect into a valuable mine ; but finally
he decided to sell out his interest to the others, and with Mr.
A. Tarbet bought the Centre Star and Idaho, upon which
nearly 900 feet of work were done at a cost of $25,000, work
that was the main support of this little camp. But the need
of roads was pressing, no c.ivance could possibly be made,
and again through the efforts of Mr. Durant, a trail and then
a road were built up the east fork of Sheep creek from
Northport by the business people of that place, and Captain
Fitzstubbs, Gold Commissioner for West Kootenay, ordering
the construction of a road up Trail creek from the Columbia,
the conditions of the camp were at once made much moro
favourable. With the coming of the financial crisis of 1893,
Mr. Durant, whose unceasing and determined efforts had
overcome many difficulties and disappointments, and
demonstrated that the properties he had so ^aithf ully worked
at were good, was forced to suspend operations until 1895,
when he resumed work on the Centre Star, now organized
into a stock company.

" In the winter of 1893-94, the Le Roi that had shut down
upon tho expenditure of the proceeds from the sale of the
treasury stock, was able to ship by sleighs over the Trail
creek road, the ore that had accumulated upon the dump,
and this netting a good profit, active mining operations were
begun, and tho fast increasing ore shipments, as detailed
elsewhere, bringing handsome returns to those who had
pluckily stuck to this claim, the Le Roi was fairly launched
upon its successful career as a rich dividend-paying mine.
In the mean while, Mr. J. A. Finch and Mr. P. Clark had
been attracted to the camp, Mr. Finch getting a bond on the
War Eagle, which he relinquished after expending several
thousands of dollars prospecting; after which, Mr. Clark,
who had thrown up his bond on the Josie, obtained one on
the War Eagle. In the work hitherto done on this property,
a large shute of low grade pyrrhotite, averaging $14 to $16
in gold to the ton, had been more or less explored, but on

nOSSLAND.

291

mine,
had
n the
jveral
Uark,
le on

going farther west a few hundred feet, by trenching, the top
of a splendid body of good ore, averaging 2:^ ounces in gold,
nearly 100 feet long and 8 to 12 feet wide, was uncovered,
and this mine took its place among the best in the camp,
paying shortly lafterwards its first dividend, February 1,
1895, of $32,500.

" Another strong factor in the rapid progress of the camp
is the conection with it of !Mr. Heinze and Mr. D. C. Corbin,
President of the Spokane Falls and Northern Railroad. Mr.
Heinze, the head of a smelting works in Butte, Montana,
sent in two men to go over the ground, with the result, after
much negotiating, that he made a contract with the manage-
ment of the Le Roi mine that they should supply him with
37,500 tons of ore on the dump, which he would pay for
after the shipment and sampling of each lot, deducting $11
per ton for freight and treatment charges; and also 37,500
tons on which the charges should be at the lowest rates
obtainable in the open market. With this amount of ore
contracted for, a land grant from the Pi'ovincial Government
and a bonus of $1 per ton smelted fx'om the Dominion
Government, Mr. Heinze erected the Trail Smelter and built
the tramway from the smelter to the mine. Mr. Corbin, who
has extended his road from Northport to Nelson, supplied
also with a provincial charter and land grant,* is pushing
his road up Sheep creek from the south to Rossland. Thus
constantly as the conditions improve whereby the cost of
mining, shipping, and treating the ore are materially lessened,
does the limit decrease at which the ore ceases to be profitable,
and much more of the lower grade ore now in sight is made
available."

* This haa been accomplished.

it on

CHAPTEE XXII.

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

The fame of Grand Forks had been greater when I was
further from it ; but even at Rossland I was told such
remarkable things of the agricultural prospects there
that I was determined to go and see for myself.

The place lies close to the international border ; but
to get there I had to go down into the States, travelling
by the Spokane and Northern line. I left the railway
at Boisberg, and continued by stage. The dust was
about six inches thick, and the sun bore with tre-
mendous power. There was but little shade, and the
stage was, I believe, the typical Canadian west country
stage. Some of those delays which occur in travelling
of this kind, detained us in the insufferable heat at
Boisberg, and we finished by racing into Grand Forks
m pitch darkness. The road was little better than
a trail, and was marked and illustrated by the accidents
which had occurred along its villainous length. There
was the place where *' Tom went over (the precipice)
and wasn't killed, though both his legs were broken."
And the corner where the family party made an in-
voluntary descent, but beyond being stur 3d were not
hurt ; though while they were climbing up the rocks to
the road again the trap and horses were washed away
piecemeal by the river. However, people did not
always get off so easily ; and as we left Boisberg the
house was pointed out to me where the usual driver
of the stage I was on was lying insensible from his last
accident.

GRAND FOURS AND SPOKANE.

293

Nor were we ourselves to escape entirely, for as we
dasLed down a bill in the dark we came in collision
with a rock, and the jolt threw the man who sat next
me out of the trap.

Possibly I might have gone myself, but that I was
holding to the bar in front. After a little delay we
pulled up, and the man (it was Mr. Mayne Daley) over-
took us — unhurt save for a bruised shoulder.

On arriving at Grand Forks I missed my purse, and
as I got down from the stage amongst the most evil-
looking set of scoundrels I ever saw in my life, I believe
it was taken from me then. But it was useless to
appeal to the police, nor would the magistrate take aiiy
steps. From inquiries which I made, I found that theft
was the chief of a long list of every possible crime,
which appeared to go unchecked in this place.

Grand Forks is a city. There were about seventy-
nine inhabited houses, counting hotels, the rest were
shacks. The property is held by an American firm,
who have obtained a Charter from the Provincial
Government incorporating the town. This gives them
control of their own police, besides the power to levy
rates, and borrow money on them.

Stages pass backwards and forwards, arriving at all
hours of the day and night. They run to Marcus and
Boisberg (in the States), to Greenwood city and
Penticton, to Nelson and Cascade city. Any one, there-
fore, in a radius of fifty miles, who wants to get away
from the provincial police, can do so very simply by
putting on the dress of a miner and going to Grand
Forks.

The following evening I drove out into the country
to see what the wonderful farming amounted to. I did
not see anything which could compare with what I had
seen near Vernon or at Kelowna. Everything was on
a small scale, and I saw no trace of any organization
such as would be ready to lay hold of markets directly
the railway came through. I had no doubt that the
advent of the railway wo\ild mean the flooding of the

J ■

i. i

294

BRITISH COLUMBI/ FOB SETTLES S.

district with American produce, which could be slipped
over the border at Medway. The land offered no
special advantages, and was held tightly by the company
which controlled the town ; though it was hinted to me
that a few lots would be sold cheaply at first by way
of encouragement.

That night I decided to go on to Spokane, paying
my way by cheque, and consequently left by the stage
at two o'clock in the morning for Marcus, where I took
the train in the afternoon. The heat was exceptionally
trying, and the cars were packed full with holiday-
makers. The American child is an instrument of torture
on these occasions ; and in any other country a special
car would be reserved where they might turn their
attentions upon one another. If the present generation
of Americans leaves something to be desired, it is with a
feeling of utter hopelessness that one regards the future
of this nation of ** sovereigns." The saddest feature in
the matter is that though children in age, they are old ;
there is nothing of the enfant terrible. They are old
with manias and fads, such as surely no children ever
possessed before. Their conversation is a reflection of
their parents, and their departures are calculated
shrewdly, and without the smallest imagination. Fairy
tales would be wasted on this unwholesome breed.
If the tree is to be judged by its fruit, let any one
desirous of guessing the future of America, spend
twenty-four hours in the same house with an American
child. It was my lot to do so once, and when the
experience was over, I wondered who was most mad —
the child, its parents, myself, or the hosts who were my
friends.

At about seven o'clock in the evening I reached
Spokane, and drove with about a dozen gentlemen tv:
Hotel Spokane. Before the omnibus left the station
I was sharply reprimanded for wasting time, becpuse
I stopped for a moment to speak to the conductor of
the car. This was my first introduction to the hurry
of the American. It is the vogue in that country always

OBAND FOItKS AND SPOKANE.

295

to be pressed for time, every one must have a pressing
engagement. I felt for the moment genuinely sorry
to have detained these gentlemen, and made my
apologies as courteously as I could. But they were
listened to in silence with a rude stare. A little later
in my travels, I was told that a gentleman was not in
his office, having an "important engagement,"— I found
that the important engagement meant that he had gone
to ho shaved, and that in the middle of the morning.

The heat was very trying, the thermometer rising
to 110" Fahr. in the shade, and this temperature made
even thinking an effort.

The city of Spokane, during its short career, has
been through the curriculum of booms and fires common
to all western towns. There has been the same process
of suddenly amassed fortunes being as suddenly lost.
The men who yesterday owned the town and commanded
dollars by the million, have stepped down, and the race
who were their clerks have taken their places. The
west of the States is totally distinct in character from
the east, and this applies as much to the population
as to the climate and products, but the difference must
be felt to be understood.

There is no doubt that the smart business man will find
his way facilitated in America, for just in exact contra-
diction to the system of patronage and corruption of the
political life is the simplicity of the commercial. A
man is valued in commerce at exactly his worth. If
he has ability and shows business capacity, he will be
given credit very readily, and will be remunerated
according to his proved value. But just as there is
no price too high for a man who is excellent, so no
amount of interest will avail the incapable, and the
man who is worthless gets nothing.

Unfortunately the estimate of a man does not include
punctilious honesty. It refers to shrewdness in buying
and selling, and to any ingenious contrivance whereby
a market can be discovered or created. Any means
may be resorted to to gain prices, and here step in

296

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

the methods known as rings, corners, etc., which it is not
necessary to pursue, since at the present time they
fortunately do not affect Canada.

Each trade has its own committee to supervise its
private interests. In the case of some kinds of ma-
chinery, of sugar or similar goods, if a commodity is
found to sink below a certain price owing to increased
supply, or diminished demand, the committee is called
and probably decides upon closing the sales of this
commodity in a sufficient number of instances until the
price recovers, paying the closed houses meanwhile as
much as they would receive if they remained open at
the diminished prices. While the trade committees
pretend to enforce protection in order to keep up wages,
the effect is the reverse. The result of closing the
market by protection is to give the capitalist the power
to keep up prices which go to swell his profits, while
the activity of the labourer is crippled by a limited
market, the means of the consumer being narrowed by
the increased dearness of goods.

The cost of primary products has been minimized to
a marvellous extent. In many cases it is the " spot
cash " which alone enables the business to be continued.
But one obvious cause for the crushing down of prices
on raw produce is the high rate of interest on the bor-
rowed capital which farmers are compelled to pay.
This obliges them to get cash in hand, even if they part
with the goods at less than their value, and so forfeit-
ing their legitimate profit.

The next part of the business is that of the middle
man, who will retrieve for his own benefit whatever the
farmer lost on the price, by knowing exactly where to
place the goods, so as to meet a demand. It is clear
that the knowledge of the pressing need of the producer
influences the buyer in the jDrice he offers. It is part of
his business to know exactly what the farmer has to pay
in interest out of the price of so many loads of apples,
and he will ** figure " to himself how much more will
have to go for wages and for living. He will put it as

9P9IS!

GBAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

297

low as he can, and then make his bid. Nor does he
buy because the apples are good apples — he buys because
his information enables him to tell exactly the need of
the consumer, so that again ho can ** figure " precisely
what the consumer can be made to pay.

Everything that the wit of man can do has been done
to limit the cost of production. Besides the use of
machinery, the farmers are caught and held in the iron
grip of mortgages and liens, in many cases strapped
upon them by the commission men themselves ; so that
they are ground down to the last farthing on which they
can exist. But the cost of collection and distribution is
the topic over which the astutest American heaves his
deepest sigh. This branch of trade refers to such enor-
mous enterprises as railway and steamship companies,
into whose working it would manifestly be impossible to
enter in the present small work. But it may be stated
generally, that while in Canada the complaint is made
that the railway bleeds the producer, in the States they
are supposed to bleed the consumer.

We will state a case in milk and cream. We will say
that there is practically unlimited supply and demand ;
the only difficulty being to connect the two. The ques-
tion is one of collection and distribution. i:'irst the
utmost rapidity is necessary ; therefore pace cannot be
sacrificed to economy. Long distances in hot weather
are fatal, and this necessitates cold storage. Then
depots or central receiving houses are required, whence
the commodity can be retailed in small quantities,
which necessitates a staff of men and carts. It is un-
necessary to pursue the matter further, to see the large
sums disbursed in handling this commodity, beginning
with train service, horses, drivers, wear and tear of carts,
rent and wages, all which must come out of the price of
milk and cream, besides its actual value to the farmer.

It will also be seen that railways, in arranging their
tariffs, have to keep themselves perfectly informed as to
markets. They also do their best to ascertain the profit
to the shipper. Few railways wish to let the shipper or

298

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 8ETTLER8.

I I I

I (

commission agent get too much profit. But the com-
mission agent holds a threat over the railway, for, after
all, ho has the last word, seeing that ho fixed the price
paid by the consumer. So he says to the railway,
"All right, put up your rates; the consumer will have
to pay." Then he goes to the consumer and says,
" See how these railways bleed you." Then it becomes
a good topic for the Press and the politician.

But sometimes the railway thinks that its rates are
too low, and agrees with the manufacturer or commission
agent that the town ought to pay more on a certain
article. They probably agree together to lower the rate
on some other goods for which there is less demand.
We will say that a town is totally unsupplied with nails.
Yet nails are so necessary that any price will be paid
for them. The railway sees this, and at once puts up
the rate on nails, though not injuriously; and the
town pays the extra rate, and out of part of the proceeds
the railway lowers rates elsewhere. The part which
railways play in regulating markets, in encouraging or
depressing them, is a very serious consideration in trade.
An economical and expeditious railway is of incalculable
importance.

Then comes the case of competing lines cutting down
each other's rates. This also increases the efforts made
to foster traffic. It is not inconceivable that at this
point railways may interfere politically through the
Press, or by other means, to remove or impose tariffs
between States.

The usual policy of the commission agent is to supply
the home market at a given rate. "When it has absorbed
all it will take at a certain price, the surplus is sent
on elsewhere to the next market ; possibly there may be
more that this market can take without lowering the
price, so the goods are moved on further to the next
market. The arrangements are made by telegrams, so
that there is no loss of time, and the goods are not spoilt
by unnecessary handling. The wire reaches the train,
and the car instead of being detached goes on to the

i;>-;-i'i*v<t-v'

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

299

next market. Now, it is clear that by this means tho
first market pays dearer than it would if all tho produce
were left there, while the last market pays a good deal
less than if it were deprived of these supplies. Tho real
market is no longer in the street of one town. It is in
several towns, and tho dealing is done by telegram and
telephone all along the line.

There can be no doubt that relief of somo kind must
be afforded to congested markets, and it is diflicult to
imagine any other way by which a balance may bo
maintained.

The main difference between tho commission agents
and the railways is that the latter can never lose sight
of long haulages, steep gradients, and return freights.
This is where they suffer most from competition, and in
the present day of many curiously-developed classes of
trade, there is no telling by what means, or where, com-
petition may come in.

One of the most arbitrary features to be reckoned with
is that known as the convenience of the market. It is
impossible to tell how it may operate. It may suit a
merchant to ship goods to one port rather than another,
because a merchant there obliges him or favours him.
Or the matter may refer to very simple causes. A settle-
ment of merchants from Chicago may locate themselves
at Nelson, and naturally they prefer to get their clothes
from Chicago rather than Winnipeg, Montreal, or
Victoria. The banks may even step in. It may be
simpler to do business with Spokane rather than Okan-
agan, because of banking arrangements. There are also
side issues in connection with markets which give one
market a preference over another, good or bad, such as
ports, wharfage, harbour dues, telephones and telegraphs.

From the foregoing it will be quite clear that tho
methods of trade which prevail must be taken into con-
sideration by any man who goes into the country to
avail himself of its possibilities. The farmers of British
Columbia are indignant because, although the railway is
there, they cannot make a profitable use of the facilities

i.\rh;.vj:'s^.: ;

•r-^iS:.:i:jx:-aAi

800

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

which it offers towards securing markets. They have
not yet learnt that it ie impossible for the railway to
ship small and uncertain lots, as, for instance, a crate
of cabbages one week, and none at all the next. If this
is to be the state of trade the single crate of cabbages
will have to pay for the accommodation reserved for it
on days that it does not travel. And if half a car-load
is sent (as the company cannot run half-cars) the whole
car must be paid for. Therefore too much stress
cannot bo laid on the necessity for co-operation.

A great deal of ingenuity and skill is required to
organize and operate a market; and when one looks
upon the dumb brutes — the horses toiling at the plough,
or eating their hard-earned forage in the evening — and
thinks of all the far-reaching results of their patient,
honest toil, so inadequately rewarded, one wonders even
more at the deep root, than at the gaudy flower and
showy fruit. And yet the whole thing is worked out as
part of our necessities, and of this world's limited good.

Different products require totally different handling.
In the case of wheat we have to deal with a staple pro-
duct, and one which, like wool, can be handled at
almost any time. There is no hunting for a market.
Buyers come to the wheat and pay cash. It is bought
F.O.B., and sold outright. Thus it offers advantages
over fruit, which is sometimes sold on a thirty-days'
acceptance. But though staple, wheat is a treacherous
business for speculation. The price drops very easily,
and a man must be backed by large capital. It is
handled on the same plane as stocks and shares, and
has its ** bulls " and *•' bears." In this it offers no
parallel to wine, tobacco, or even tea. Inasmuch as
these products suffer from fashion, wheat again has the
advantage. Then it is shipped at the lowest rates, even
no rates, for it can go as ballast, and thus be sent any-
where with ease. The necks of the sacks are cut, and
the wheat shot down into the hold of the ship. It goes
round the Horn as a return cargo on hardware or spirits.
It will also travel with any other goods, and in this is

_,** -.(p.**)

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

301

Lt goes
3pirits.
Ittiis i9

unlike tea, which cannot bo shippod with any highly-
scented cargo, or fruit which requires cool storage.
Possibly too much stress is laid upon the power if
speculators. They can control the market to a certain
extent by " options " and " futures ; " but the opening or
closing of a market is not really in their hands, and
the price wih ultimately recover to the basis of supply
and demand.

For the year 1897, an exceedingly remarkable year
both in crop and prices, it is comp'ited that the wheat
crop in East Washington was valu?d at $25,000,000.
The crop was exceptionally large, varying from 30 to 40
American bushels per acre. The average price was
stated to be 70 cents the bushel.

The cattle business is divided into two classes, and
this system is likely to prevail also in British Columbia.
There are farms well suited for rearing and breeding ;
and these are quite distinct from the ranches where
cattle can be grazed o.nd fattened cheaper than any-
where else. In such a district as the Lower Fraser,
dairying is a distinct feature, and consequently cattle
breeding comes in also; but there are no ranches
attached to these farms. It will therefore pay farmers
to rear their calves on skim milk and sell them as
yearlings, which is the earliest that the ranchers care
to take them. The Jersey breed will probably be less
favoured, and the cross between Ayrshire and shorthorn
increase. The Holstein or Friesland is said to be the
best cow for cheese, and this breed pure, or crossed with
shorthorn, is always acceptable to the rancher.

The result of this division in the cattle business is
that dealers travel through the country buying up young
stock. Sometimes as many as 1000 bead will go
through Spokane in a single day to the ranches in
Montana. The ranchers will take young things or lean
cattle from one to four years old. The cattle are turned
upon the ranges in spring, and as many as possible are
sold off before the coming winter.

It is no uncommon thing for 4000 head to be turned

' 'ii

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302

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

l;'f

out on one of these large ranges in tlie spring. There
seems to be always money in cattle, and steers for
fattening are said to be a scarce commodity all over the
United States. When I was in Spokane the average
value of beef cattle for the State of Washington was
computed at $25.05j^ per head. I was surprised to find
that cows were quoted higher, at $25.89 per head, and
by some people the price was said to fluctuate from $21
to $30.

The fruit-market in Spokane is managed by large
commission houses, some of which deal exclusively in
fruit, "while others deal in vegetables as well. The
business may be said to have systematized itself in
Spokane, though a good deal is based on the experience
of California. In the commencement California shipped
her goods recklessly, leaving it to chance whether they
sold, were wasted, made a profit, or a loss. The result
was so unsatisfactory to the growers that a number of
tinning factories and evaporators were started in Cali-
fornia, and dried apricots and silver prunes established
themselves in London. California is still the largest
fruit-producing state, and Washington has to act with
due regard to what is happening there. The subject of
irrigation has been there worked up with great care and
success. The times of depression, owing to over-pro-
duction in the local market, have taught the producers
every conceivable device for economy in output, and for
securing markets. The business is older by some years
than anything in Washington, as Washington is older
than British Columbia, and the fruit-trees are matured
and in full bearing.

Spokane has the advantage of geographical position
and the converging lines of seven railways. It must
therefore continue to be a great distributing centre ; and
the railways are so alive to this fact that they do all in
their power to provide information of all kinds conn;.'cted
with the trade to the commission houses in Spokane.
Every day they give details as to exactly how many cars
of produce and of what kinds have been shipped from

>-*iv.;wf»"j»!r.

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

303

$21

California, and for what markets they are bound. Every
care is taken to prevent losses through a glut occurring
in any market at any given point ; so that in the case of
over-production canning is immediately resorted to so as
to limit the supply of green fruit. It is a rigorous rule
never to permit more fruit to be sent in than the market
will absorb.

The first requirement for this market is rapidity of
communication. Nothing is ever done by mails ; it JA
depends upon telegraphs and telephones. ** The whole
system," said a commission man to me, "is on wires."

Besides the Californian business, the commission
houses act as agents for the farmers, handling the fruit
for them at a certain per centage of profit. The commis-
sioners employ agents who are appointed to survey, as
it were, certain districts. These men will remain in
their districts — it may be a valley with a river running
through it — for the whole summer. Their business is
to watch the fruits, ascertain to a nicety what amount
there is, the quality, and the condition. They say
exactly when it is to be picked, and how it is to be
packed, and wire lo the central office to say how many
cases are to be expected, and what the cases contain.
Then they bring the cases down by boat to the point
where it connects with the rail\vay, and their part of the
business is finished.

The central house in Spokane knows, by advices over
the wires, precisely which market requires the products,
and how much each market will take. They then tele-
graph to the railways to have cars in readiness accord-
ing to certain numbers aflixed to them. Each car is
packed with certain products, its number recorded, and
its destination. But after the cars are packed and
started, the central office may hear over the wires that
they have been anticipated in a certain market. They
immediately look up the number of the car, and
telegraph after it and divert it whole to another market,
or in half or quarter car-loads to several markets.

The main difficulty is to gauge e-iactly what a given

ill

304

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

I-

f.'

market will absorb. This depends to a certain extent
on the nature of the product. Lemons are considered
the most uncertain, and an instance was given me of
two extra car loads getting into New York by mistake.
The commission house made up its mind to a dead loss,
as the market was believed to be already fully stocked.
To their surprise, thetwD extra car loads made no appre-
ciable difference in price. There are very few products
in which such a thing could happen without loss, and it
is accidents of this kind which diminish the returns, but
the middleman shelves the chief loss on to the producer.
He has, indeed, the railway rates to defray, but the
producer receives nothing, if he makes nothing.

The position of California with regard to New York is
singular. A glance at the map will show that New
York is at the end of a very long railway haulage from
California. Now, one of the principal products of Cali-
fornia is oranges ; but oranges can come into New York
seaborne at a very small cost from the West Indies.
The railways are, therefore, obliged to make a special
through rate for oranges from California to New York, or
they would lose the traffic altogether. In consequence,
the rate of oranges from California to New York is
actually 12^ cents per 100 lbs. less than from California
to Spokane, which is half the distance.

The commission houses sell to retail dealers in towns,
and the chief business of these retailers is to study and
cultivate the taste of the market. They have always to
guard against a surplus, and yat it is fatal if the market
is under supplied. The best safeguard against surplus
is a large labouring-class population, who will generally
take the surplus at cost price. But if these sales
become too large or too frequent they have the effect of
depressing the market. A second-class set of customers
get wind of the evening sales, and defer their purchases.
The retail dealer falls back on small orders and makes
frequent use of telegraphs, etc. This is especially the
case in a small market such as Eossland, where there
are only about 5000 persons. The consequence is that

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

305

the supply is apt to be restricted. The retailers who
have set up there are not backed with very large
capital, and consequently have very little storage. While
I was in Spokane a dealer had an order through the
telephone for an extra can of milk to be sent up that
night. I could see what an enormous economy was
effected by the use of the telephone in perishable
products.

It is a wonderful sight to see the trains made up of
cars each thirty-two feet in length. On the Sunday that
I was there, twenty-two car loads left. The Northern
Pacific railway had just instituted a fast fruit service
from Spokane to St. Paul. It was at first intended to
send these trains twice a week, but the business grew
and developed to such an extent that a daily service was
being considered.

The Sunday train consisted of twenty-two cars loaded
with peaches, plums, and pears. Seven of these cars
came from Portland, six from Yakima, five from Walla
Walla, two from Spokane, and one each from Ellen-
burg and Hunt's prairie. Two out of the twenty-two
were consigned for Winnipeg. Whenever ten car loads
can be got together they are despatched forthwith as a
special fruit train. These fruit expresses make quicker
time than the passenger trains.

I found it extremely difificult to get any estimate of
the amount of fruit grown in Washington. But, up to
the time of my visit, the fruit from the Snake river was
estimated at a hundred and seventy-five car loads ; but
this is not more than half the fruit from east of the
Cascade range, and the business is increasing rapidly.

It was quite as difficult to arrive at any idea of the
profits derived by the farmers. But the following facts
were given me by an informant, who was, I believe,
most anxious not to mislead me. An orchard, chiefly
apples, but including plums, cherries, and pears, in full
bearing, is worth $200 per acre per annum. One man
with only a five-acre orchard has been saved by it, in
times of panic and low prices for wheat, etc. Large

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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

capitalists in Chicago are turning their attention to the
business. One of them has bought land, and is planting
orchards of four hundred acres in size. There is a
prospect of companies going into this branch of agri-
culture as they have already gone into ranching ; and I
may remark that it has struck me as a very likely way
to realize fortunes in the wheat districts of Manitoba.
There is practical certainty that wheat will command
a high price for the next year or two. Were a large
capitalist to "grub-stake" a dozen farmers in Manitoba,
he would be quite as certain of a large return as if he
sent miners to the Klondyke.

The most profitable fruit is the winter apple. In the
local market of Spokane the price of apples will be
a dollar and a quarter per box; in the general or
export market the farmer gets 75 cents a box. There is
an additional profit to be made in the winter apple, if
the farmer has judgment in selection, and can store his
fruit while the market is flooded. This means a little
outlay. The storehouse has to be kept at an even
temperature, and the fruit must be watched ; but by
reserving and maturing them, he will get another 25 to
50 cents a box for them.

Celery is a very profitable crop, and, it is said, will
grow well wherever apples answer. A great business
is done in celery at Spokane. It flourishes there, and
at Michigan, to perfection. It requires an old lake
bottom, and a stream for irrigation. I have heard that
it is a good crop for land which is inclined to be
alkaline.

It is asserted that there is at the present time as
much agricultural backing behind Spokane as there is
behind Toronto. Toronto has grown up to a population
of 200,000, chiefly, I believe, as a distributing centre.
There is more wheat grown in Eastern Washington
than in Ontario. Spokane is only ten years old, and
has a population of 25,000, and it is said that the
increase is at the rate of 5000 per annum. During
my short stay in Spokane I had no means to verify

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

307

these figures, but I believe them to be correct. It
was impossible not to note the enterprise in building,
although the style of architecture was lamentably
hideous. I was taken to see public buildings, before
which I could only close my eyes ; but they served
their purpose by indicating the immense wealth of the
city of Spokane. The railways ofifered another testi-
mony, but possibly I was most impressed by the
organization of supplies by the big commission houses.

It is an incontestable fact that Spokane has brought
the art of collection and distribution to singular per-
fection. ** I can always get anything I want from
Spokane by telegraphing for it," was the remark I
constantly heard in British Columbia. Any retailer in
Kossland who runs out of butter in the evening can
telephone to Spokane, and will receive supplies the
following morning. Thus economy and convenience
are combined, and it is all a matter of organization.

But the foundation of this present prosperity was laid
in a time of depression. Spokane started, as so many
American towns do, with a rush and a boom. Nine
years ago she boomed — and a wooden town sprung up
in less than two years. A fire ensued, which burnt the
whole place to the ground ; there was practically no
insurance, as premiums were too high; but so great
was their faith in the town site that the people borrowed
money to rebuild the town, and did so in the most solid
and costly style. Had prices kept up, everything would
have gone well; but a set back occurred. Then the
" old timers," who owned the great "blocks," were sold
up. There was the curious spectacle of large buildings,
which quite recently were worth millions, now suddenly
valueless. The money had somehow vanished, leaving
the shell; and the men who were millionaires had to
begin again. But Spokane started on some years of
bad times. Panic blighted the country, brought on by
wild speculation, and the whole city became paralyzed.

Then, when things were at the worst, it entered the
brain of an enterprising Canadian — who, I regret to say,

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BBITian COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEB8.

had gone to the States to find more scope for his
energies — to start an exhibition of the natural resources
of the Si)okane district. This was the origin of the now
famous annual exhibition known as the Spokane Fair.
It consists of fruit, flowers, vegetables, grasses, grains,
and minerals. Its object is manifold. It brings together
producer, consumer, and middleman. The big com-
mission houses at Chicago and St. Paul send repre-
sentatives to meet the prominent fruit-growers, that
they may see what is being produced. The railways
bring these representatives into Spokane free of expense,
with a view to the increase of trade they anticipate as
the result of their visit. Samples of all the products of
the country, from a radius of two hundred miles, being
collected together in one centre, special attention is
paid to render the occasion beneficial educationally.

The agricultural colleges send an exhibition of in-
sects which affect the growth of fruit or flower.
Lectures are held, in which a careful explanation is
given, which insect is noxious and which is useful ; what
steps should be taken to destroy the bad and encourage
the good; the best manner of pruning and planting
trees, together with advice as to selection of kinds.
All these matters are discussed and explained by
authorities, both commercial and scientific.

It is chiefly due to this simple expedient that Spokane
was the first of the Western towns to recover her
prosperity. It is said that the bank clearances show a
greater ratio of increase in the last two years than in
any city in the United States.

Some of the good fortune is due purely to natural
resources, such as soil and climate. In the latter, no
doubt Spokane is somewhat exceptionally fortunate, but
certainly not more so than many parts of British
Columbia. She escapes the blizzards, which are bred
in the Selkirk range and blow across the prairies of the
North- West. The heavy wet from clouds which drop
against the Cascades, and render Chilliwack and the
Lower Fraser humid by incessant rains, does not affect

GRAND FORKS AND SPOKANE.

309

Spokane. The clouds re-form, and pass high above the
sun-baked dry belt from Cisco to Notch hill, and falling
against the Selkirks descend in rains which assist the
Kootenays, and reach Spokane in a lesser degree.

But the mineral resources must not be passed over,
since they have certainly played their part in raising
the fortunes of Spokane. The Cou?: d'Alene mines have
not attracted much outside notice, but they have been
producing silver and lead at the rate of |9,000,000 to
$10,000,000 per annum.

The future of the town will probably show what can
bo done with the enormous water-power in the beautiful
falls of Spokane — the one natural beauty of the place —
situated in the centre of the city. Already electricity
is generated, and a couple of flour-mills worked for local
supplies; but the total horse-power at these falls is
estimated at 32,000 horse-power — almost double that
of the falls of Minneapolis.

The lessons to be learnt from a study of Spokane are
practically unlimited, and as I walked about its streets,
or tore round the suburbs on its cars, I wondered by
what manner of means British settlers could be taught
the lesson in commercial methods on which the success
of Spokane is based. As I looked at its great buildings,
which are ungraceful and devoid of beauty, I contrasted
Spokane with the cities of old — cities that monks and
warriors dreamt about and built, according to their
vows and with their earthly careers, stone by stone —
and then I looked at this fungus set in the plain. I
thought of the terraces with olive and oleander trees —
fitting background to saintly lives spent in converse upon
the Beauty of Holiness. I thought of the colleges, of
the gardens and ancient shades of Oxford, of the aisles
at Westminster where Milton took his exercise.

Spokane, indeed, leaves a want which all its wealth
and success can never fill ; yet it offers suggestions for
solving the most difficult problem in colonial settle-
ment, which is itself the only solution to the problem
of our over-crowded population.

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BRlTISn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

But I can see no reason why a city which has done
so much, and proved her strength, should he denied the
charm and grace of higher things, and I hope most
confidently that in British Columbia the people of the
great cities which will arise will care for and cherish
the culture and beauty of the old world.

CHAPTER XXIII.

NELSON.

From Spokane I went to Nelson; travelling by Mr.
Corbyn's railway, which passes through Colville valley.
This is a very rich agricultural district, though the
farming was not of a high order, the land being in
small farms, and the farmers a rather poor class of
Irish.

My inquiries at Spokane had not given me much
light as to the supplies of Rossland and Nelson. The
duties were said to tell against the business. It seems
as though in such bulky products as hay British
Columbia holds the market. At Trail, when I was
there, two car-loads of eggs were expected from Ontario,
shipped by a large Winnipeg firm. The Alberta
creameries had shipped 40,000 lbs. of butter into British
Columbia; but the demand was still increasing, and
prices tended to rise.

I had occasion to go to the luggage-car to get out
a cloak, and on turning round I found that quite a
quarter of the car was packed with fruit — plums,
peaches, tomatoes, and pears, besides fresh-milk cans,
and one cask filled up with ice which contained fresh
cream. The conductor told me that quite four car-loads
a week of fruit went into Eossland. On Mondays half
a car-load went into Eossland as a rule. It went thus
in small quantities by passenger train, about a quarter
of a car-load a day. There was about a ton of fresh

312

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

fruit going into Nelson with me, besides several crates
of live poultry and milk and cream.

The supplies also go into Nelson from the flats of the
Kootenay river, between Boundary creek and Bonner's
ferry. The imports from this side are largely butter
and hay, but I saw some crates of apples. The trans-
port, being by steamer, is very cheap.

The Nelson smelter is said to be the largest on the
continent. With the recent improvements which were
being added while I was there, the output is equal to
ten tons of copper bullion per diem. The smelter is
owned by the Hall Company, who own also the Hall
mines. I was told that the ore produced by the
company's own properties was sufi&cient for working
the smelter at its then rate of produce, and that never
more than seven per cent, was used from elsewhere.
At that time there were between seventy and eighty
men employed in the blast-furnace, which had a
capacity of 350 tons per diem. Besides the smelting
there was a refining-plant, which was in process of
being doubled.

The ores treated by this smelter are neither of so
varied nor refractory a nature as those at Trail, and
roasting, with its horrible sulphur fumes, is never
resorted to. The process, as I saw it, was first the
shovelling of the ore and limestone flux into the roaster,
or huge furnace, which is shaped like a large coffee
machine. The lower part of the roaster is brick, and
in front of it burned and flamed a fire of pine-logs.
The ore in the roaster is boiled into a liquid molten
mass. The copper, gold, iron, and silver — in fact, the
minerals — sink below, and are tapped and drawn off
in a stream, which runs into square moulds shaped in
sand. These moulds are called matte. The rock, or
slag, which rose to the top of the roaster, descends
as the minerals are drawn off, and is finally left to
cool in the roaster. When turned out, it is a dark
brittle material, somewhat resembling glass. Silica is
a very common flux, and it struck me that this by-

NELSON,

818

product might be turned to account for making glass
bottles for the fruit and fish trade. All the rafters were
covered with slag-wool, a fine brown hair of spun glass
produced by the fumes of the roaster. This material
is very useful for putting between walls or floors and
ceilings to deaden sound. It is also considered fireproof.

The matte is very curious, but uninteresting looking.
It is generally the colour of dirty rusty iron; but
sometimes there is a beautiful moss or copper wire
formed in the cavities, where the air has been im-
prisoned and struggled to escape. If this copper moss
is exposed to the air, it oxidizes and becomes black,
like the woolly hair on the head of a Kaffir. These
moulds are broken or ground up and boiled in the
refinery. As the molten mass boils it is skimmed,
as soup is skimmed of the grease. This process
continues for some hours. It is then run out into
moulds, and appears of a very rich bright copper
colour. The bricks or bars which I saw there were
estimated as follows : four ounces of gold to the ton of
ore, two per cent, in silver, and the rest copper. The
dividing of the metals was effected by another refining
process, which I did not see ; after which a far more
accurate computation of values could be made. The
coke used at this smelter is brought from Namaino,
involving costly freight, which the opening of the Crow's
Nest pass will avoid by bringing in fuel from the coal-
fields in the Eockies. The additions which were being
made to the smelter will enable it to treat the silver-
lead ores, as well as the copper, silver, and gold
smelted hitherto.

The town of Nelson is very beautifully situated upon
an arm or branch of Kootenay lake. It is a clean,
well-kept town, and is the head-quarters of the police.
When the railway comes through from the Crow's Nest
pass. Nelson will become a great distributing centre
and a very important city. The beauty of the scenery,
and the attractions of boating and fishing, mark it out
pre-eminently as a residential town.

314

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

At Nelson I met Colonel Baker, who was travelling
on parliamentary business. I also met Mr. Hussey,
the chief of Provincial Police, and most of the head
officials of the C.P.Il., who were making a tour of
inspection.

Before leaving Nelson I went to see the gaol. It is
here that a goodly list of desperadoes and ruffians of
the worst description have been made to feel the arm of
the law. It was a poor little wooden building, and most
unpretentious in appearance, but the walls were very
thick. I had been asked by one of the police, whom I
met on my travels, to visit the gaol when I came to
Nelson. I met him by accident in pursuit of his duty
(he was tracking a man who had committed a murder),
and as he did not tell me his name, I made no inquiries.
He showed me the cells, which I think were only six
in number, besides the condemned cell. He pointed out
to me the frantic efforts which had been made to bore
through the floor, or work out a bar from the grill by
various prisoners. It seemed that many of them who
found their way to the gaol at Nelson had never realized
what a prison meant, or chains and leg-irons either, and
their fury at being mastered was like that of wild beasts.

Every day they were allowed out in the court-yard for
an hour. This yard is fenced by close wooden walls
to the height of thirty feet, and my guide told me
that emerging from the cells into the fresh air and
finding themselves under the free sky, brought on the
Uf "v worse than ever ; and they rush howling against
♦ )den walls, making desperate efforts to jump or

-it.

The day before I arrived in Nelson the condemned
cell had been emptied of a murderer, againat whom
there had been a very strong feeling. He was guilty of
a peculiarly cold-blooded crime, though he was only a
young man of about twenty-four, whom the constable
described to me as a hardened criminal, who came oufc
to be hanged on the gallows erected in the court-yard
with a grin on his face; and that the last thing he

NELSON.

315

did was to look round at the bystandors and laugh.
I afterwards heard that, though an American, ho was
a Buddhist, and believed that after he was hanged
he would start afresh on another earthly career. The
gallows had been pulled down and put away in a shed,
and a little heap of rough sand and stones in the
lowest part of the court-yard marked the place where
the murderer's body lay buried in quicklime. On the
ground were strands of a new rope, which the constable
told me had been cut up by the spectators to be taken
away as souvenirs.

In the shed with the gallows there was an odd
collection of "properties" stowed away. Some were
the unclaimed effects of people who died without leaving
any address of friends. They were found in miners*
shacks, or empty houses, whose occupants had been
taken to a hospital some way off. I saw a woman's
sewing machine, and thought of the home life which
must once have centred round it. There were miners*
tools, picks, pans, shovels, guns, cooking utensils,
bedding ; some old trunks, corded and sealed, with the
dead owner's name, or some particulars connected with
the finding of it, written on a label and pasted outside.
Near the door was a suit of clothes, which was
" evidence." The murderer, who had just been hanged,
had worn this suit when he committed the murder. I
was struck with the good condition of the clothes — good
boots, a neat (almost new) tweed suit, and a good hat —
I felt sure he could not have been in want.

" Want, no ! " exclaimed the constable. *' He was
just a desperado, and very likely this was not the first
man he murdered. I never came across so hardened a
criminal." He pulled something out of a sieve as he
spoke, shook it, and folded it carefully. ** I didn't know
this was here," he remarked. ** It's the I ;ack mask."

" Surely," I said, " you'll take these things out and
burn them ? "

He put the mask away, and looked at the clothes.
"I'm not sure," he said; "some of tliem, perhaps.

316

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

But they are good clothes, and plenty of men would be
glad to wear them."

" Glad to wear them ! ** I exclaimed.

" Yes," he answered. " Oh, you've no idea — but men
come here sometimes with hardly a rag on them at all —
especially in winter-time. To give you an idea what
they'll wear — and be glad to vvear — you see these irons "
(and he showed me a pair of tremendously heavy leg-
irons). " Well, you see, a man can't pull his trousers on
over thviU, so we have these " (and he showed me a pair
of hideous things, which buttoned up the sides from the
ankle to the thigh). " A man has these leg-irons riveted
on him, and he can button and unbutton these trousers,
but the others he could neither get on nor off. Well,
men have come here so destitute that, when they left,
they've been glad to have these to take away and wear
in the streets. No ! They don't care ! "

I stopped for a moment looking round, and then I
asked, "What is it, this crime? What makes men
criminals in a rich and beautiful country ? "

" It's impossible to tell what it is," he said. " I've
often wondered at it myself. I believe, if most of their
histories were traced, they would begin in small ways
which are not found out. That encourages them, and
one day they get in for a big thing, and it makes them
desperate. They can't forget it, and they know all it
entails ; and they get reckless, and they get mad with
drink, and drink away all they have, and others rob
them. Whatever happens, we mean to maintain the
law in this country, and make it safe. Whoever breaks
the law shall suffer according to law."

After this we spoke of the superstition rife amongst
these people. I had been most struck with it amongst
mining experts, some of whom I found clinging as it
were to the skirts of a clairvoyante. Their superstition
was coupled with an utter disbelief in Christianity, and
resembled nothing I ever met with, except the witch
doctrines of the Kaffirs.

These were, I believe, the distinctive crimes of the

NELSON,

317

-I

country. The crimes of the women had nothing remark-
able about them, and owed their origin to the old
commonplace source of vanity. A vain woman is never
very far from crime.

The rigid enforcement of the health law, and closer
restriction against the sale of intoxicants to men who
are already drunk, are two points to which more attention
might be beneficially directed.

On leaving Nelson I went to Kaslo ; but on board the
boat with me was Colonel Baker, and he recommended
me to travel by way of Jennings to Fort Steele. There-
fore at Kaslo I determined to turn back and take the
boat for Bonner's ferry. Mr. Phipps WooUey was on
board, and I had an interesting conversation with him
respecting many things in the country, with which he
had long been familiar, sucn as the fishing industry.

On my way down the lake, I spent one night with
Mr. and Mrs* Lendrum at Ainsworth, which is a centre
of silver mines shipping to Pilot Bay and the States.
This spot is exactly opposite the old Bluebell mine,
which was one of the first (silver) mines opened in
British Columbia. I was particularly interested at
Ainsworth in two hot mineral springs, which ran down
the mountain. They were evidently highly charged with
mineral matter, of which iron and siHca formed a share.
The water was so hot that I could hardly bear my hand
in one of the springs. I was distressed that the Govern-
ment took no steps to build a suitable hospital, but I
heard that these springs were owned by Victoria people
who were in the Government, and were playing a waiting
game, hoping, no doubt, to reap the unearned increment.

From this point I went on to Bonner's ferry by
steamer, and to Jennings by train, where, to my in-
expressible chagrin, I found the last boat had stuck on
her way up, and was not expected back for a day or two.

There was nothing for it but to put up in the wretched
inn, and endure the predicament as well as I could.

Jennings is situated in a narrow valley, full of depres-
sion and gloom. The sun only shines into it lor a

! *

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318

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

\ '

i'V

limited time, and the great precipices cast their shadows
from side to side. The broad river, with its mighty
flood, goes past silently and stealthily. There are by
its banks some nameless graves, to which the people
have consigned tattered human remains which have
sometimes risen to the surface at this point, and been
hooked ashore. Whence they came, or how they met
their death, whether they were British, American, or
Canadian, is not known. The rocks are sharp, and the
bodies are often stripped of every particle of clothing
except their boots ; and more than that, some are so
gashed and ragged as to be little else than skeletons,
shredded with scraps of sinew.

More failui'es! "And the gentlemen's sons are
always the worpt ! " Some were bound to be British.
Perhaps they v -re good men done to death unfairly ;
perhaps they deserved their fate. But I could not but
tread gently, thinking of them as once they may have
been in the brightness and happiness of childhood, and
the eagerness of youth. I thought of all their parents
felt and hoped ; and whatever their sins, however black
their lives, however injurious to the new country or
disgraceful to the old, I could not condemn without pity
those who had paid the forfeit with their lives, and lost
for ever their chance in this world.

" When you and I behind the veil are past,
Oh, but the long, long while the world shall last,

Which of our coming and departure heeds,
As the seven Seas should heed a pebble-cast.

" A moment's halt — a momentary taste
Of being from the well amid the waste ;

And lo ! the phantom of caravan has reach'd
The nethiug it set out from ! Oh, make haste.

" O threats of hell and hopes of Paradise !
One thing at least is certain ! — this life flies.

One thing is certain, and the rest is lies,
The flower that once has blown for over dies."

CHAPTER XXIV.

FORT STEELE BY THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

My stay at Jennings was cheered by the kindness of
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander ; and I spent most of my time
boating with them, and spent my evenings in their log
cabin near the river.

The fishing is greatly exaggerated, as, indeed, I found
it almost everywhere. Four small trout in an hour
were my best basket. But I heard it was very good ;
and finding the river intolerable, I went to a small
creek, taking my canteen with me and some slices of
ham. I camped there, breakfasted, and fished dili-
gently without getting a rise. At last I saw a trout
jump near the mouth of the creek. It was too far for
me to cast, so I pulled off my shoes, stockings, and
skirt, and waded. I caught my fish; but I cannot
recommend any one to copy my example. The cold of
the water was intense. The stream wos very strong,
and the stones frightfully hard. I had some way to
walk to reach my shoes, and approached them in an
attitude of adoration — typical, I thought, of the mental
condition in which I rejoined the C.P.R. whenever ill-
luck separated me from it for any time.

My camp fire was still burning, and there was some
hot tea in the pot ; and having cooked my fish and eaten
it, and comforted and warmed myself, I returned to be
consoled by the Alexanders, who could not think what
had become of me. By way of variety, I asked them
to dine at my camp, and cooked them a fowl spatch-

320

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

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■■ \

■| !'

cocked, African fashion, as Count Plata had taught me ;
and they called me ** a first-rate cook."

One day we went on an expedition up the river in the
dug-out which Mr. Alexander had made for himself.
He understood poling very well, and had poled many
tons of hay into Fort Steele in this dug-out. We spent
the day at his ranch, and returned in the evening,
skimming down the rapids in the twilight. Beautiful
lights and shadows fell across the hills and forest ; an
eagle sailed overhead ; a flight of duck skimmed across
the surface ; an owl, sitting on a broken pine tree,
inquired, "Who cooks?" And very soon we were at
the landing-stage of Jennings once more.

At last it was finally decided that no more steamers
would go from Jennings to Fort Steele that year,
80 I determined to retrace my steps, and get in by
Golden and the Columbia river. There was a stage from
Kalispelle; but I was too travel- worn to feel equal to
three days' staging. I could also have ridden in over
the trail from Bonner's ferry; but the season was
advanced, the nights were cold, and it was *' Uncle Sam's'*
territory; and though I have taken risks in my time,
I did not care to run the risk of being robbed or
murdered — or both — to gratify the greed of a cowardly
desperado, who, if he were arrested, would buy himself
off with the price of my watch or contents of my purse.
In a word, I knev; that a woman travelling alone would
find the difference between the stars and stripes and
the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew with the blue
saltire of Ireland.

At Bonner's ferry, where I had to spend the night
waiting for the steamer, I found the inn as bad as that
at Jennings. My bedroom was even smaller, the window
more obstinate, and the bed so unpromising, that without
further research I unrolled ray Wolseley valise and
shook out my African kaross. Then I went out and
bought myself a steak, and betook myself to the river
with my rod, I kindled a good fire, broiled the steak
over the ashes, and was sitting on my cloak watching

FOBT STEELE BT THE COLUMBIA RJVEB. 321

the blue reek of my fire, and enjoying the very last of a
deep drink of tea, when a young rancher came ashore in
his boat. He seemed surprised to see me, and stopped
to chat. There was to be a dance in Bonner's ferry,
given by the lady-teachers of the neighbourhood ; and
all the young ranchers from far and near were coming
in to attend the festivity. The prospectors despite such
frivolity. They care for nothing bift the hills ; and
when they come down they like to smoke their pipes
and talk, as long as they are sober enough to speak, of
what they did on the hills.

I fitted my rod together ; and then I saw the dusky
face of an Indian watching me out of the willows on the
bank. I began to cast my line from an old hulk moored
to the bank side. The Si enery was full of colour — colour
so rich that I marvelled how it could be painted. The
colour was li?iuid and transparent, like very delicate old
painted glass when the sun shines through it, and carries
the colour with it, and spreads it as it choses, painting
what it likes. The mountains were blue and bright
crimson; the alder and poplar trees emerald green,
sparkling as their leaves quivered in the evening
breeze; the water still and deep, save where in mid-
stream a shght eddy played round a hidden obstacle, or
a sharp ripple marked a corner in the river bed. The
reflections were perfect, repeating the purple of the clouds,
the white blaze of the sunset, the ultramarine of the sky
above, and the flushing of the lower ranks of clouds.

Turning my head to see if the blue smoke still rose
from my fire, I saw the brown prow of a bark canoe
shoot round the corner. In the canoe was a little old
Indian, sitting on his heels and using his paddle ear-
nestly, though noiselessly.

*• Klahowyah Tillicum ! " * I cried.

He turned a bright, sharp httle face like a bird, and
replied in his soft Indian voice, " Klahowyah Tillicum ! "
Then he added gently, in perfect English, " I'm going
home,"

* " Good day, friend I "

322

BlilTISE COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

" Where's home, Tillicum ? " I inquired.

*' Over there," he replied, still paddling, but nodding
his head to the opposite bank.

" I wish I were going with you, Tillicum ! " I answered.
And that moment I struck a fish, and a low chuckle of
infinite relish was the last I heard of my Tillicum.

Shortly afterwards there came down the captain of the
hulk ; and ho seemed so struck with my capacity for
** rusthng," that he offered me the hulk to sleep in if I
had any blankets.

After this the Indian came out of the willows. He
had a queer old shot gun under his striped blanket. He
came to hide in the hulk and shoot duck, which began
to fly as the sun went down. His thoughts were, no
doubt, d^ep, but he said nothing.

I went on casting my line, but without remarkable
success. The fish were called squaw fish, and were
very game when once hooked. They would not take a
fly, but rose to a roach hook with a piece of meat. The
largest was about a pound and a half, and I caught him
with a baby-spinner, which I shot out on my fly rod.

Suddenly a voice called, ** Good evening," and turning
round I saw an elderly lady standing on the bank.

My fishing was ended, for she came straight down
into the hulk, saying —

** I guess you're English, and I'm a Southerner — an
unregenerate rebel."

Her object in coming down was to invite me forthwith
to her house to stay the night, '''loaf around," and
make myself at home.

I put away my rod and followed Mrs. Maclure, and
spent the rest of the evening listening to tales of the
Southern wars, reminiscences of Thackeray's visit to
Virginia, of young Britishers who fought as volunteers,
and of the slaves " whom my father owned by the
hundred."

•* Yes, it was the Dutch, to begin with — the Dutch of
Pennsylvania — who sold vs the slaves. They brought
them over from their African possessions, and found

FORT STEELE BY THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 323

them too expensive to keep in the cold weather in
Pennsylvania, so they sold them to us down in Virginia.
Oh yes, I know it's the proper thing to pity a slave —
mind you, I'm not saying that slavery's right. ut the
slaves I pity are the poor whites who have to work in
those factories. That's slavery, if you please. My
father's slaves were *^he happiest people in the world.
You should just have heard them with their violins,
singing half the night ; and they composed their songs
as they went.

" * I'm a nigger ! I'm a nigger I
And I dovkt care a damn.
I'm a sight deal better, any day,
Than a poor white man.* "

Keminiscence crowded hard and fast, and when I left
it was with the determination to come back the next
day. I spent the night in my valise, and breakfasted
the next morning on boiled eggs, making m^ own tea.

I lunched with my friend of the previous evening,
and the meal was enlivened by an analysis of the
American girl, the Kentucky girl, the Kansas girl, the
Virginian, and the Pennsylvanian — though upon this
last some delicacy was evidently felt, for the subject
was dismissed with a sentence which I decided to make
my own. " We must be careful not to tread upon Dutch
toes."

At three o'clock in the afternoon I went on board the
Ai?isivort]i, and was soon gliding swiftly between the
green wooded banks of the meandering Kootenay.

My fellow-passengers were miners, prospectors, and
a few Chinamen, and one American woman, who had
recently divorced her husband because she found that
he did " not suit " her.

As we passed along an Indian occasionally shot out
from the banks in his canoe, his bright-coloured blanket,
or red and green sleeveless smock, with a girdle round
the waist, forming an appropriate feature in the scene.
His dusky, wild-looking offspring climbed the trees, and

'.I

824

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

fished from the branches, or played by the banks, ^'here
was an uncared-for, weird air about the children, making
more akin to nature than humanity. They seemed
hardly human, and yet were neither animal nor banshee.
The tepee, with its crossed sticks and the smoke curling
slowly from the top, was just as suitable a feature to the
landscape as the Indian himself.

Every kind of scenery has some corresponding ex-
pression in the human mind, and instinctively recalls
to one the words or emotions or figures expressed by
a master mind, to whom perhaps vaguely the same
kind of scenery originally gave the inspiration. There
are thundering cascades and mountain peaks over
which storms pass and the sun breaks out, and forests
standing motionless with the sparkle of rain-drops on
fir-needles — a visible expression of Chopin's music. And
the same is true of human beings. There are people
whose tone of mind (they are rare enough, God knows)
recalls Fra Angelico's paintings. My travels through
the Kootenays set me thinking of Eudyard Kipling. The
small street, with its miners and prospectors passing to
and fro with their packs upon their backs. Chinamen —
wooden, stolid, secretive, persevering, incomprehensible.
Indians, with their lithe, graceful figures, and purpose-
less, aimless lives. Through it all there breathed an
intense human interebt : it might be brutal, rather than
spiritual, and yet it had such touches of grace as I
could not doubt would redeem it and give its people a
place in Kingdom come.

The steamer passed close to the reclaimed lands of
the Alberla and British Columbia Exploration Company,
which are situated at the extreme south of Kootenay
lake. I regretted not being able to see something of
these lands, but we passed both coming and going in
the dark. The idea of draining, by a system of pumping,
this very fertile land in the vicinity of the mining
markets, is a good one ; but I am unable to express any
opinion as to the soundness of the scheme. The land
is offered at a very reasonable figure, and perhaps

vv.

^^Sm

FORT STEELE BY TBE COLUMBIA RIVEIi. 325

young men might feel disposed to venture on a small
holding; but until the engineering works have stood
the test of some floods, it would be impossible to feel
certain of their reliability.

I went ashore at Ainswortb, and spent the afternoon
with Mrs. Lendrum, going on in the evening to Easlo.
I slept on board, and took the train early the following
morning for New Denver, via Sandon.

The Kaslo and Sandon railway passes up a narrow
gorge, through which a rapid trout stream has forced
its way. It rained, and there was fresh fallen snow
upon the peaks. I could not but deplore the wreckage of
cedar trees all along the line — burnt and ruined — leaving
the stream bare and exposed. As long as it was shaded
it afforded the best ground for spawning trout. Now
it was useless for that purpose ; and as we ascended it
became muddy and turbid with the washings from the
mines.

These streams, which are such a common feature in
Canada, are very companionable. They are the em-
bodiment of mirth and jollity, and superabundant high
spirits. As they came tumbling down in their hurry
to reach the great waters, they seemed to me like
British boys at football. I loved to see them bursting
out of the pine forest and hurling themselves into the
light of day. They came to deliver a golden message
from the heart of the hills, and seemed to laugh at the
prospector toiling, toiUng, while they had found the
gold and blazed their trail long ago.

At Sandon, where we stopped two hours, I went to
deliver my letter to Mr. J. M. Harris. All the shops
and offices were open, and the mules coming down from
the mines with ore as usual, although it was Sunday.

Mr. Harris was in his office with several other gentle-
men, and forthwith we plunged into the silver question.
The " slump " in the value of silver had caused a panic,
and Sandon was paralyzed. Only the richest mines
were working. The fall had been a heavy one, and
the fear was that it might continue indefinitely. The

326

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

price at which the low grade mines had closed was fifty
cents the ounce ; but I had heard Mr. Scott Macdonald
declare that the best mines in Sandon and Slocan
were so rich, and the method ■ of production had been
so cheapened, that the mines would pay until silver
dropped to twenty-five cents the ounce. It is only
natural that the owners of silver mines should complain
at prices which dropped from 84 to 50 cents.

The questions surrounding silver are altogether
different to those relating to gold. It seems that up
to the present time the full commercial use of silver
has not been discovered. Unlike copper, abestos, and
nickel, it has no large industries which demand it
imperatively. It is highly ornamental, and, in common
with ostrich feathers and the like products, will be
dependent to a great extent on the whim of fashion. It
remains to be seen to what extent art can increase its
decorative usefulness.

Beyond doubt it is highly important to ascertain the
lowest figure at which a mine can produce silver at
a paying rate. The cost of production of this metal
is probably lower than any other. There is generally
a by-product mixed with it, such as copper or lead,
which is sufficient to pay the costs, the silver making
a clear profit.

In the Keco mine (near Sandon) the costs have been
reduced to as low a figure as five cents an ounce, from
which it will be seen that the mine, which is one of
the best, will pay handsomely at even a lower figure
than that fixed by Mr. Scott Macdonald. That the
returns from the silver mines are considerable, may be
gathered from the Keco (a comparativly small mine)
paying $50,000 a month in dividends. The Payne mine
was shipping on the reduced price about 500 tons of ore
weekly, valued at about $150 the ton. There are to be
large shipments from Slocan during the present winter
of very high grade ore.

I beUeve that the rush to the Klondyke had caused
considerable chagrin among mine-owners in this district,

.V.

FORT STEELE BY TEE COLUMBIA RIVER. 327

and increased the bitter feeling on the currency queation.
I failed to see how the free coinage of silver could add
to the marketable value of the metal. Certainly it
■would do so up to a point, but when the enormous
output is considered, which would immediately take
place from mines of a lower grade, I could not see
that free coinage solved the problem of values.

It is impossible to use 25 cent or 50 cent notes, and
as the prices of goods become lower in Canada more
silver will be necessary ; in fact, an increased population
would absorb more small cash.

So far as increasing the cash currency of the country
is concerned, it would seem that a larger coinage in
silver would be beneficial. And if a mint were started
in Canada it is incredible that it would not pay, espe-
cially if the dollar notes were recalled. It seems
anomalous that Canada, which is a first-class silver
producing country, should use a paper currency. But
when the subject of the free coining of silver is brought
in there appear to be involved enormously difiicult
problems such as are not suitable for popular agitation.
I found the gentlemen at Sandon keenly excited upon
the subject of bi-metallism. They were ardent silverites,
and were thoroughly at home in this most intricate
question.

Without laying claim to special knowledge, it would,
I fear, be found that British capital would hesitate to
embark in Canada if bi-metallism were introduced.
Perhaps it might be possible to get over this difficulty
by drawing capital from the States ; but it is notorious
that there has been of late less disposal on the part of
the British public to take up American securities, and
this hesitation seems coincident with the unsettled
condition of the coinage. Thus the withdrawal of
capital for Canada from the States might not be pos-
sible except at ruinous interest. Of course, if the States
established a silver standard, and Canada followed, a
link would be forged between the States and Canada.
But at the present tim" all Canadian diplomacy and

328

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

finance has been drawing towards Great Britain — and
that, if I am not much mistaken, means a gold standard.
But in the opinion of the silver kings of Slocan and
Sandon, dollar notes, though detestable as compared to
silver, were preferable to gold.

Perhaps the strongest point which the silverites have
on their side is that the gold standard offers advantages
to bankers and large capitalists which have nothing to
do with legitimate trade values. If this be true or not
I cannot say, but whether any legislature in the world
would be strong enough to approach the subject adversely
to substantial banking interests is a point of consider-
able doubtfulness. The only way in which the demand
for silver could be legitimately increased would be by
an increased wage-earning class. The tendency seems
setting that way. I found in some places that barter
was still resorted to, where I am sure in a year or two
such a thing will be impossible.

I went on in the afternoon to New Denver, a lovely
spot on Slocan Lake.

The following morning I went on board the C.P.E.
steamer, and went round the lake, stopping for two
hours at Slocan City. Throughout this district there
are narrow fertile valleys, but most of the land is held
very strongly by private individuals and land companies ;
so that no produce to speak of is grown in the neighbour-
hood. I found plums selling well which came through
the Shippers' Union from Kelowna. A good deal of hay
also came in this way.

I noticed that a good many miners who had camped
on the shore of the lake were preparing to strike their
camp. They were washing their clothes, and had good
fires, with old tins full of water, into which they threw
their shirts and boiled them. The nights were getting
cold, and they found their tents no longer attractive.

At Eoseberry I left the steamer, and proceeded by rail
to Nakusp. The C.P.R. had recently announced their
intention of locating a townsite at Roseberry, which
should be a port whence steamers and barges should

FORT STEELE BY THE COLUMBIA lilVER. 329

carry produce down the lake to New Denver and Slocan
City.

At Nalcusp there is a good deal of shipbuilding done
by the C.P.R., and a very fine boat was in course of
construction. The scenery on these lakes is so lovely
that American tourists are travelling in increasing
numbers every year. It is a pity that the hotels at
Nakusp are so poor. It is difficult to assign any cause
for the unpalatable and unnourishing nature of the food.
The beef is hard and coarse, the vegetables badly cooked
and stale, the milk tinned ; so that very often after my
dinner I strolled out feeling like one of those unfortunate
cats whom it is some people's policy to feed insufficiently
in order that they may catch mice. As I walked down
to look at the shipbuilding at Nakusp I felt that I should
have been very glad to catch something for my supper.

The following morning early I went on board the
C.P.R.'s boat for Arrow Head, and enjoyed an excellent
breakfast. At Arrow Head, while we were waiting for
the train, a number of cattle from the North-West were
taken on board our boat. They were fine animals, and
were going to be distributed between Slocan, New Denver,
and Sandon. I did not think them in first-class con-
dition; certainly they were not fat, but, considering
their long journey, they had travelled very well and
without mishap.

After spending another night at Revelstoke I went
on to Glacier. The weather had become excessively
cold, as is very often the case about the 1st of September.
I spent two days at Glacier, thoroughly enjoying the
comfort of the hotel and the charm of the wonderful
scenery. The peaks were whiter than usual with fresh-
fallen snow, and the great glacier seemed to come closer
than ever.

The trains stop here at very convenient hours, the
eastward bound in the afternoon and the westward at
about twelve o'clock. In nearly every train I knew
somebody, and on one occasion I met a friend whom
I had last seen in Johannesburg.

330

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

I was more than ever impressed with the vast differ-
ence of British Columbia viewed from the C.P.R. and
the country as I had seen it in my rambles off the
track.

There was something inexpressibly comic in meeting
the tide of tourists in their travelling garb, with their
sticks and kodaks, botanizing tins and butterfly nets.
An old ** trail-blazer," who stopped off to lunch with me
at Glacier, was greatly incensed at the presumption of
the women trippers, who started mountaineering in blue-
bottle veils, and with little satchels. I had some
difficulty in making him control his desire to enlighten
them as to his opinions upon their performances. I
saw some of them looking at him with astonishment
not unmixed with terror ; and I felt that they failed to
realize that the man in a badly washed canvas shirt,
hob-nailed boots, and a cowboy's hat, was a gentleman.

On one occasion I had bca,rded the C.P.K. just as I
had come down from the wilds, but my heavy baggage
lay waiting for me on the platform. It had attracted
the attention of some Americans, who had been reading
its labels, etc., and when the train moved off the con-
ductor of the sleeping-car, who knew me, came to tell
me their remarks. ** Who is she ? " they asked. " Who
is she ? She's got all that luggage, and she's dressed —
she's dressed as if she hadn't got a thing ! "

On the 10th of September I left Glacier for Golden
en route for Fort Steele. The Columbia river runs
northwards between the Selkirks and Eockies, and at
Golden a steamer starts for Windermere. This steamer
was waiting, and I drove down to the wharf at once. It
was the Duchess, who was making her last voyage for
the season, the water having become too low for a vessel
of her draught ; as it was, we stuck continually on sand-
bars, and had to be hauled by a cable wound round a
tree on the bank, worked by a windlass on the ship's
bows.

My fellow-passengers were the usual assortment of
miners and prospectors, and we stopped at points to

mmm

FORT STEELE BY TEE COLUMBIA RIVER. 331

of
to

put them down with their cayuses and "grub," or to
pick them up, or leave provisions. At one place an old
newspaper hung on a stick caused us to run in, and
we found, by a deserted camping-ground, a box con-
taining some letters, with money for their postage. I
happened to catch sight of one of the Ifitters, and saw
the envelope bore a well-known crest. Evidently some
" tenderfoot " had brought his note-paper with him — by
no means a bad idea, for I have been glad to write on
an old telegraph form or any scrap of paper.

Two men on board were old South Africans, so that
we had plenty to talk about; and one of them, Mr. Keyser,
turned out to be the brother of a lady whom I knew in
the old country.

The section of the river up which we were steaming
ran between the Selkirks and Kockies. The river was
about sixty yards across, and ran so smoothly that the
sylvan banks and the great peaks behind them, standing
back beyond wide marshy lands, were all reflected
perfectly in the water. The early frosts had turned the
maples to the rich blood-red of the poinsettia, whUe the
silver birch shook its small foliage like so many golden
sovereigns. Here and there a mountain spruce rose
slim and stately with a crown of red-brown cones like
very large cigars, and a poplar, — green as an emerald, —
from a scrub of cranberries and straggling knucki-knuck,
whose bark the Indians scrape L«nd dry lor tobacco.

There can be no question that these mountains are
highly mineralized, but as merely scenic the effects of
the strange colours of their peaks give them a value of
their own. There was no colour, from brilliant crimson
to violet, from Vandyke brown to cadmium, that these
peaks did not show it, nor any tone, from the most
delicate pearl grey to the richest purple. Then we
came to clififs like marble, with strange hieroglyphics
worked upon them. They represented walls, and the
writing appeared exactly like ancient histories of the
Hittites or Egyptians. Elsewhere they wore piled up
in castles with , . stions. There were broken archways

;332

bujtish cowmsia for settlers.

like the naves of ruined abbeys, and crumbling turrets
set upon old walla. It was incredible that this should
be only the handiwork of nature, and the clay only an
annual deposit of an ancient river baked by the sun of
forgotten centuries.

At first I thought these deposits were similar to those
on the islands at the mouth of Nanaimo harbour, but on
consideration I came to the conclusion that the islands
were soapstone or meerschaum, and these cliffs a delicate
highly pladtic white clay. It might be that they were
gypsum ; but there are beautiful clays in this country,
and it would seem as though some day ceramic works
directed by the intelligence and skill of the Japanese
might produce a very beautiful pottery. When I was
at Cranbrook I brought away a sample of some of the
clay which the Indians prize very highly, and which
they come a long distance to fetch upon their ponies.

Above Windermere our struggling steamer could not
proceed, so we landed to continue our route by stage. I
walked on ahead of the stage, and came down to a garden
in the valley, where a Chinaman was at work irrigating
onions, lettuces, etc , by diverting a stream. Wandering
by the side of the stream, I found an abundance of wild
strawberries of most delicious flavour. In this country
the strawberries produce a second time in September,
and the fruit is very rich and sweet. This is a fortunate
feature, for few crops are so profitable as the strawberry.
There is always a shortage in the market of strawberry
jam, and no means has ever been devised to prevent this.
For even if sufiicient fruit could be grown the season
that it lasts is so short that the factories cannot put up
an adequate annual supply.

After staging some miles we came to a trolley drawn
by a horse, which took us down to a small ferry-boat, on
which we proceeded to Canal Flats, which we reached
after dark.

Canal Flats consists of a single inn, which is the
posting house for Fort Steele. The Kootenay Valley
Land Company obtained a grant of land from the

■

FORT STEELE BY THE COLUMBIA RIVEB. 333

Government of British Columbia to the amount of
27,000 acres for building a canal to connect the
Columbia and Kootenay rivers. A more useful work
could hardly be imagined ; but the way it was carried
out rendered it speedily abortive. On my return
journey I went to see the ruins of this miserable little
canal. It was about twenty feet across, and could never
have been deep enough to allow the passage of a fair-
sized cargo boat. In fact, I was told that it only worked
for one short season ! Since 1889 the land of the grant
has been assessed, and from $4000 to $4500 paid in
taxes. The land has been held in the hope of securing
high prices as the country developed. But the company
has acted perfectly within its rights. No clause was
inserted by the Government as to the reversion of the
land in case of the canal being faultily constructed or
otherwise useless. The only result of the canal at the
present time is to render the navigation of the Columbia
river more difficult than before by turning the water
into the Kootenay.

The following morning at eight o'clock I started bj'
stage for Fort Steele. The road was rough, the stage a
very shaky machine, and the driving execrable. About
noon we reached Hansen's, an inn kept by an enterprising
Dane, who had planted a good garden, where I saw
flourishing apple and plum trees. He had some sheep
in a pen, which he killed ofif one at a time for his guests.
They were a new importation, and regarded with
curiosity.

In this district I heard a great deal of the hardships
of the labourer, and great complaints as to low wages
and uncertainty in employment. It seemed to me that
these matters relate to features which are inseparable
from modern conditions.

The price of labour is regulated by the prices of
commodities, and the prices of commodities by markets.
Enough has been said already to show the arduous and
even hazardous nature of the business which regulates
and exploits markets. The public are becoming more

•^^^n^^smmr

334

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

and more dependent upon markets. There is a decided
diminution of the public which lived upon the produce of
its own farms or estates ; and labour is becoming more
and more an independent factor, as distinct from or
opposed to capital.

In the old days farm-servants lived housed and fed
upon the land, more often than not in their masters'
houses. To a certain extent this was the case also with
rural trades. Local markets were then a feature in
every district, but now their place is taken by shops or
stores supplied from large centres.

In a word, the method of supply nowadays is one of
collection and distribution from large centres, which
doubtless afifords employment to many individuals who
have nothing to do with production. But the markets
in these large centres are contingent upon so many
possibilities that they can never be stable. Hence the
uncertainty in the labour market, which renders it
practically impossible for two-thirds of the people to
look six weeks ahead with any certainty. It is impossible
for Unions to fix wages. It would be better for the
workmen to be more facile and prepared to adapt them-
selves so as to take advantage of any opportunity for
earning money which comes in tlieir way. Upon
inquiry as to what the labourers did when wages were
high, I found that they drank heavily. Upon making
further inquiries, I found that, as a rule, the best paid
men were the greatest drunkards. I came to the
conclusion that quite twice as much destitution was
caused by drink as by low wages or difficulty in procuring
work, and that this is stating the case very modestly.
Wages are, on the whole, considerably higher than they
were, but the uncertainty is much greater.

On further inquiry, I found that the system of creating
small municipalities or corporated cities chiefly de-
pendent upon one man, or one mining company, is
frequently a very mischievous arrangement. These
corporations possessed not only rating powers, but the
power of appointing their own police. As they owned all

FORT STEELE B7 THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 335

the land, they could, if they chose, prohibit any church
being built ; and they sometimes objected openly to the
interference of any minister of religion whatever as
directly contrary to their own interests. These interests
consisted in seeing to it that the miners who came down
from the mines with their pay should ** blow it in," as
the phrase is, in the saloons, bars, and houses which
they (the owners of the township) ran for the purpose of
retrieving the wages. In order that outward appearances
should be kept as decent as possible, every precaution was
taken, such as locking up the drugged or drunken miners
until they were sober, in back rooms kept for the purpose.
It is not too much to say that there is a population in
British Columbia which lives by encouraging the
prostitution and vice of the hard-working class ; and
what this means in loss to the country I gathered from
a story which, as it was told me twice, has doubtless
some foundation in fact. It was a railway contractor
who found his work behindhand solely on account of
the vicious enticements of the crowd who came to his
section point, and set up dancing-saloons and bars.
Twice he spoke to them when two of his men were killed,
and told them what he would do, but they defied him.
Then one day, when the wind was in the right direction,
he sent out and fired the forest. The flames swept down
upon the rising township, its bars and its saloons, and
in a few hours nothing was left but smouldering embers
— after which the work of laying the line proceeded in
due course. The working man will urge his right to get
drunk or be vicious at his own expense, and for the sake
of argument we will grant him the point ; but is there any
device under heaven by which the right of any class in
the community may be justified which enables them to
derive a profit by ensnaring and tempting human beings
to their ruin ? The law of the land is enforced against
robbery with violence, and if British Columbia acts in
accordance with her conduct in the past, she will take
measures to suppress the licensed villainy of the bars in
backwood towns and the worse conditions in small cities.

\(i

336

BBlTlSn COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

In the early days of Cariboo, Sir Matthew Begbie was
commissioned to suppress lawlessness, and where no
precedent existed, to make one; in fact, to create the
law as he administered it. He was a striking example
of what a fearless, just, and far-sighted man can do in
a new country ; and the immunity from crime enjoyed
on the gold-fields of British Columbia, as compared with
the States, is largely due to the characteristic energy of
Sir Matthew Begbie. Many are the stories told of Sir
Matthew's determination to bring offenders to justice,
and the difficulty he sometimes experienced with a timid
jury. One was told me in Victoria, which I believe is
less well-known than others, and as I had it from good
authority I will repeat it.

Sir Matthew had at length succeeded in procuring the
arrest of a gang of ruffians, who had been sand-bagging.
He was particularly anxious for a conviction, and in
summing up he laid down the course, which the jury
were to take in a very direct manner. Nevertheless, the
jury were frightened, and returned a verdict of not guilty.
Sir Matthew then addressed the prisoners. He regretted
that, owing to the conduct of the jury, he was unable to
pronounce upon them the sentence which he had in his
mind; but he would request them that the next time
they reverted to their habits of cowardly violence, they
would sand-bag the present jury. Needless to say that
a judge of this temper cleared Cariboo of desperadoes,
and strengthened the cause of law and order.

At Fort Steele I was gradually nearing the American
border once more. It was a small town which had
boomed when the Crow's Nest railway was decided upon,
the idea being that the C.P.K. would come into b'ort
Steele. This was a delusion, for I believe the railway
never intended to go into Fort Steele. The place owed
its origin to a small fort, which was built for the accom-
modation of some of the mounted police, u der an
officer called Steele. The exploitation of the North Star
silver mine, followed, situated above Fort Steele on the
Kootenay river.

FORT STEELE BY THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 337

Steamers were run during the summer months up the
Kootenay river, from Jennings in Montana, carrying
provisions and mining machinery. The cost of freight
may be judged by the fact that one of these steamers
paid for herself in a single trip. The ore from the
North Star was shipped as return cargo to the American
smelters. Below Fort Steele is the famous old gold-
field of Wild Horse creek, where the first gold rush took
pia^je into British Columbia. Coarse gold is still dug
out there in paying quantities, and it is intended to put
in machinery for quartz milling when the railway comes
through the Crow's Nest.

There was a great deal of chagrin expressed in no
measured terms against the C.P.R. and Colonel Baker,
because the railway survey passed some twelve miles
from Fort Steele, and located itn section point at
Cranbrook. It was openly stated that Colonel Baker
had used his official position to induce the railway to
take this course ; and there was some talk, supported by
a banquet, of bringing pressure to bear upon the C.P.R.
through the interference of the Dominion Government.
It was represented that the railway was wilfully and
wantonly doing despite and damage to a highly pro-
mising township.

I did not wonder at the disappointment in Fort Steele.
It would have made a great difference to the town, and
to the mines in the immediate vicinity, had the railway
come straight into the township. At the same time,
apart from the steepness of the gradients, I saw that
the railway would have to consider the possible cutting
of rates by routes already established.

The Eoman Catholics were beginning to build a small
wooden chapel, which would apparently accommodate
about two hundred persons ; and there were other signs
of confidence in Fort Steele; but I came to the conclusica
that the booming of Fort Steele was a little premature,
and the people who had bought lots were naturally upset.
In this idea I was confirmed by hearing that it was never
the intention of the C.P.ii. to attempt the gradients into

■!""W

■Jsra*"*

338

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS,

Fort Steele. The town already possessed the communi-
cation by water with the railway at Jennings, and a
stage-road from Golden on the C.P.R. So far from
Colonel Baker having induced the railway to come to
Cranbrook, he had purposely bought his land in that
neighbourhood because he believed that the C.P.R.
would eventually pass somewhere in that neighbourhood.
What he did not foresee was that, when the railway came,
it would select the best part of his land, that under
plough and capable of irrigation, on which to locate its
section point.

The fact is, that nothing is more difficult than to tell

Precisely where a railway will pass until every gradient
as been thoroughly surveyed, and the whole plan made
out. If the precedent were to be established that any
small township which cropped up anywhere was to
compel a railway to come into it, railway enterprise
would be impossible, and the commerce of the country
suffer severely, owing to expensive and circuitous com-
munication. The official position of any minister is a
♦hing of the hour, but the game which the C.P.R. is
playing is one which at every point is affected over a
course of about four thousand miles, and which will
certainly outlast the lives of the present generation.

■fi.

CHAPTER XXV.

CRANBROOK — CONCLUSION.

I LEFT Fort Steele the same evening for Cranbrook, where
I arrived at about 9 p.m. It was dark, and as I ascended
the wooden steps I heard men's voices within, and the
barking of a dog. I found Mr. Hyde Baker entertaining
two gentlemen who were interested in the mines of the
district. After an excellent supper of cold partridge, I
retired to rest, and never needed it more than after the
long day's staging over the sand and rocks of East
Kootenay, between Canal Flats and Cranbrook.

The following morning Mr. White and his friend
started on their ponies to the hills, and Mr. Baker drove
into Fort Steele on business, while I remained resting,
and getting rid of the dust of travel.

The harvest operations were in full swing, and a
glorious sight the wide valley presented, stretching as far
as the eye could reach, a mass of golden grain.

This ranch was worked on an expensive system; a
great deal of labour being used. There were no mills
in the neighbourhood, transport was very costly, the
population sparse, so that all this beautiful corn land
was devoted to oats and forage crops. The range had
suffered, in common with all the ranges in the district,
from the herds of wild cayuses, upon which the Indians
maintained some kind of very indefinite rights. These
creatures are absolutely worthless and most mischievous,
and sooner or later some steps must be taken in many
parts of British Columbia to reduce their numbers. It

<-1l

340

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

is said that in the States they have been shot, boiled
down, and exported to France. In the afternoon I
walked into the forest.

These Canadian backwoods exercise a great fasci-
nation over one's mind. Their solemnity and silence,
and their vastness, is full of physical repose, which
leaves the mind free to speculate and to dream. It
was when I was watching the still surface of a great
lake, down to whose very waters the pine trees grew,
that I listened to ■:: v^o.aan from the States summing up
the Canadian character in converse with one of her own
countrymen, and as the conversation proceeded like the
course of a hare, round and round one point, I was able
to take notes.

" Them Ontarios is as green as pumpkins — as pump-
kins, cap'aen."

The captain gave a lively assent, shook his head, and
heaved a sigh.

**And more — they're pore. An' their poverty and
pride go ill together. That's so with them Ontarios.
I'm not denyin' but a gurl from the West is smarter ;
but smartness is not all — not all, cap'aen, nor liveliness,
neither. Now, I've an Ontario, and she's a good gurl, is
Mee-ary. But then, I've trained her, and I've fed her.
You bet — cap'aen, I have."

The captain lost no time in expressing his absolute
conviction on these points.

" Yes, I've fed her and trained her, and she's worth
four and a half, cap'aen. I've four other gurls, but I'd
sooner have Mee-ary than the other four, and she an
Ontario ! And I'm not saying she wasn't green and
pore, and starved — yes, cap'aen — when I had her."

The captain murmured that he had never found the
Ontarios anything else.

I have not the slightest doubt that there is some truth
in the observations of the shrewd but not unkindly
American. Life has been easy to the Canadian in this
country, whose wealth he hardly seems to realize. He
dreams and has aspirations and ideals, and unless his

CRANBR OK— CONCL USION.

341

fighting spirit is aroused he is very gentle. Even the
poorest people have a courteous, gentle manner and
a well-bred air, which even their high estimate of the
value of education, and their marked appreciation of
culture, does not account for. But they are a little
wanting in quickness. Nevertheless, I am convinced
that it is a mistake for the Yankee to underrate e^en the
greenest ** Ontario," as others besides the good lady's
Mee-ary may prove to possess qualities which will bear
" training."

In the evening Mr. Baker returned with Mr. Laidlaw,
and the following day we drove to a distant part of the
ranch, and set up a te-pee. On the way we passed the
carcase of a dead cayuse which smelt most offensively,
and round it were innumerable birds of prey, chieliy
buzzards with red feathers about their beaks. They
had mined the inside of the animal, and the air and
sun had withered the skin till it was as hard and dry
r.s canvas. Mr. Baker assured me that eagles will
eat carrion, a habit which I thought was confined to
vultures.

After luncheon we started walking with the dogs.
Mr. Laidlaw carried a shot-gun, and Mr. Baker a riHe.
We went to see some curious white clay, very smooth
and fine, of which there appeared to be a good deal in a
swamp, which in winter-time was much frequented by
game. This old swamp was probably once a lake, but I
could not understand how the clay came there. It was
as nearly in the centre as possible, and the surrounding
heights appeared all rock and sand. We followed this
swamp till we reached some ' 'Vali pans, on which were
teal and duck. Mr. Baker started them up with his
rifle, and they went away over the place where Mr. Laid-
IfjW was hiding, but out of shot. We came on the track
of a deer near the alkali pond. The water was very salt
and bitter, but it was white alkali.

I could not learn what it was that the Indians used
the clay for. Mr. Baker said, ** to stop up the cracks in
their huts j " but for an indolent people to come so far

342

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEB8.

and to select that particular clay seemed to indicate
that they prized it for other purposes than stopping " a
hole to keep the wind away."

In the evening Mr. White and Mr. Bruce returned.
They had had a rough experience in the hills, for, after a
long climb to the log cabin where they wore to spend
the night, they found it unprovisioned save for a small
bag of flour, and they were badly supplied with wraps.

They looked thoroughly worn out and tired, but they
brought back some beautiful specimens of peacock and
sulphides, and we spent a very interesting evening
discoursing upon rocks.

They were to leave early the next morning, and their
ponies were carefully shut up overnight.

Before seven o'clock I heard them climbing carefully
down from their room overhead, and then there was
dead silence. I got up at my usual time, and marvelled
somewhat at the silence with which they had managed
their departure ; when all of a sudden came a noise like
a charge of cavalry right underneath the window.

Looking out, I saw a herd of wild cayuses with the
gentlemen's ponies in their midst. They dashed
straight past into a corral, and all four gentlemen in
their coat sleeves came after them in hot pursuit.

I was soon outside, and learnt how as usual the wild
cayuses had come in the night, broken down the pen,
and taken the ponies away with them. Then began a
remarkable scene. Mr. Baker took a lassoo, and we
drove the herd past him at full gallop, and, as they
passed, he singled out the horse he wanted, and caught
it round the neck with the lassoo.

In due course we had breakfast, but the gentlemen
were in no hurry to start. Then came other people,
chiefly miners, in search of lost horses enticed away by
these vile cayuses. One young Eastern Canadian had
been searching for his pony on and off for weeks, and
this morning he rode up with it in triumph. But it had
become quite wild. He mounted it, however, and I saw
the creature buck fifteen or twenty times all round the

CliANBIi OK— CONCL USION,

343

id
,d

yard, and jump thirty feet, but without unseating him,
which fact I believe to be partly duo to the Mexican
saddle, the girths of which aro very strong, and the high
peak -n front, a great safeguard with a buck-jumping
pony.

The following day I left Cranbrook for Fort Steele,
intending to take the stage back to Canal Flats ; but on
arriving at the posting-house, I found that the stage
would not run till Sunday or possibly Monday morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards kindly invited mo to stay with
them, which I need not say was very preferable to
remaining at the inn.

In the evening I called to see Mr. Galbraith, who I
found to be well acquainted with the history of Fort
Steele. He spoke very highly of the agricultural
possibilities of the district, and I was especially inter-
ested in hearing the account he gave of apples and
plums. He did not seem able to speak positively
respecting the price of land in the neighbourhood.
Irrigation is undoubtedly desirable; in fact, for vege-
tables and most fruits, it is essential.

The price of all dairy produce is very high ; butter
could not be bought at fifty cents a pound. Condensed
milk was used from the time I left Golden till the time
I returned, except for two days which I spent at the inn
at Windermere. The price of hay is very high, and this
is likely to continue, as more and more forage will be
required for the mines. The fact, however, remains that
the land is strongly held by people who intend to ask a
very high price for it. I heard thirty dollars an acre
suggested as cheap. The C.P.R. has a large grant here,
and will doubtless sell as the railway comes through;
and land which can be irrigated twice in the fore part of
the season is worth buying at twenty dollars an acre.
Two things must be borne in mind — the eaten-out con-
dition of the ranches, and the necessity of securing
water rights. So far as markets are concerned, the
mining prospects were so good in this district, and
scattered over so large an area, that there can be little

■■01

344

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

doubt of an exceptionally good local market. Besides
the North Star, the St. Eugene, and Dibble * mines, the
Mammoth and Wasa prospects had been opened, and
gave highly satisfactory results. The old diggings at
Wild Horse creek were being taken in hand ■with im-
proved machinery for working the quartz leages, and
there is but little doubt that a good deal of mining will
be successfully prosecuted in the neighbourhood of
Moyie lake.

Mr. Laidlaw, who returned with me from Cranbrook,
showed me some beautiful specimens of ore and quartz,
silver, copper, gold, and lead ; and 1 brought away with
me specimens from the St. Eugene, North Star, Dibble,
and washings from the Moyie river and Wild Horse
creek.

On Sunday Mrs. Edwards drove with me to a farm
rented by a Suffolk man who had married an Eastern
Canadian. There was plenty of water for irrigation,
and he used plenty of manure. I never saw roots of
such size and weight. I measured a swede, and found
it to be over t"' feet in circumference as nearly as I
couid judge ; bi j w^as not full grown, and I did not like
to pull it up. The farmer told me that it was difficult
to find food for cattle in winter, and in summer-time the
sand-fiies persecuted the cows so that he was obliged to
shut them up. He believed in men working on farms or
renting a farm for a year or two to learn the ways of the
country, and to get accustomed to the climate. He said
that men became more economical in Canada than they
were at home, and that whereas 2 home a man went to
a shop for anything and everythixjg, in Canada he did
all he could for himself, and so saved his money.

The diatribes against the C.P.E., which frequently

* As -non as the railway is through, the North Star will be the lirgest
shipper among eilver ininea of Cuuuda. At tlie St. Eugene there are
00,000 toLS of ore, carrying 08 per cent, of leud and 50 oza. of silver, ready
for Bhipnient. Tlie Diblde is a group of mines, the ore in tlie lowest
shafts of wliich runs to $400 to tlie tun in gold and silvt^r. Besides the
gold, bilver, copper, and lend of this district, there is an immense oil-bed
un the Moyie river, besides gas-pits, repro^euling untold wea.Ji.

en A NDR OK— CONCL USION,

345

;

help to i'lll a column or two in the local papers in
British Columbia, bear a family likeness one to the
other ; and therefore it is safe to surmise that they are
inspired from the same quarter. The scales in which
they are written are the sharps and flats of the shock-
ing n \opoly, under which the country is represented as
" writhing," or sneers at the " C.P.Ii. ridden Govern-
ment at Ottawa."

As far as the Pi ess of British Columbia goes, it
neither reflects the tone of public opinion, nor does
it lead. Too often it is in a very struggling and im-
pecunious condition, and is glad to grasp at any
linanciiil support which mi y be given it.

The C.P.Ii. occupies the position of a commercial
undertaking, although it is bound by Government
subsidy. This fact affects it not otherwise than if it
were a steamship line conveying mails. But it has an
enormous competition to struggle against in the States.
It is in the position of encouraging an agricultural popu-
lation, for which the Government of British Columbia
has done practically nothing, and to push the supplies
of the mining markets from Canadian sources.

American influence recognizes in the C.P.R. the
strongest bulwark ugainst certain Yankee enterprise — a
strength which cannot be shaken by partisan spirit, and
which it is impossible to influence politically. They
think it would be easy to exploit the railway, and
manage the rates and the markets, were it only run by
the British Columbian Government, or if it occupied a
TDolitical platform in the Dominion. Hence the clamour
m small *' rags " for ** a policy of Federal interference,"
and for '■ railways to be built by the British Columbian
Government in opposition to the C.P.B."

On Sunday evening Mr. Norberry came in to see us.
He gave me a very interesting account of his cattle
ranch. He breeds as few animals as possible, pre-
ferring to buy them at one or two years old. He dwelt
very much on the necessity for sheltering cattle, saying
that shelter was quite as important as forage ; in fact, he

346

BlilTISE COLUMBIA FOB SETTLEBS.

placed it first. He built sheds for his cattle on the
ranches. ** Every hoof of mine can get under shelter,"
he said, " and so they don't want so much food." His
shelters were GO feet by 24 feet, logged and chinked,
with an open space in the centre, as a doorway, about
15 feet wide, and not higher than necessary. Ho said
that wild cattle cannot be fed out of mangers ; the best
way is to load a sleigh and run it along fast, throwing
out the hay by the way. I asked him about the best
breed of cattle, and he said, ** I am sure polled beasts
would be better. I say they would do better without
horns ; but the butchers won't have them ; they give
$2 a head less for polled cattle. Herefords run out in
time, and want fresh blood ; they run to long horns
and long legs. What I want to get to is killing the
horn in a young calf."

Mr. Norberry did not believe that the C.P.E. could
jump about among the mountains of Kootenay like a
goat it cabbage garden ; but he was very desirous of
seeing x^'ort Steele connected by a spur line ; and I
gathered elsewhere, that there was so much faith in
the money to be made by this enterprise, that the people
of Fort Steele were anxious to do it, and reap the
benefit themselves, rather than allow the C.P.R. to
obtain so valuable an asset. Judging, however, by my
private views of Fort Steele, I had doubts on the
subject.

This neighbourhood is a good one for sport. Eocky
mountain sheep, mule-deer, and bear being plentiful
in the season ; duck are also abundant in autumn.
Many were the sporting yarns I listened to. One struck
me as particularly entertaining, and I therefore give it.
A sportsman went out with his gun, walking over the
snow on jnow-shoes. He was walking along the base of
a steep foot-hill, when, on suddenly looking up, he saw
a bear above him in the snow ; he raised his gun, aimed,
and fired ; but hardly had the report sounded, leaving
the air charged with smoke, than he found the bear
rolling down the hill head over heels, and before he

CRANBR OK— CONCL USION.

347

. to
my
the

could move the cveature was close by his side, rearing
itself up on its hind legs. It had purposely rolled down
the hill to avoid being shot.

This yarn is similar to one I heard in Africa of a man
who raised his gun to fire at a lion, and, remembering
it was not loaded, threw up his arms and yelled with
terror in so agonizing a manner, that the lion turned
round and walked away.

Both stories may bo true ; but I think it would be
misleading to allow the tender-foot in Canada, or the
tripper in South Africa, to rely upon lions being scared
by yelling, or to expect bears to roll down the hills
like hedgehogs.

The old diggings of Wild Horse creek are close to
Fort Steele, and at the present time Fort Steele offers a
good base for miners who can purchase their provisions,
blankets, etc., in the different stores of the township.
But in the early days of Wild Horse the provisions
were packed in over the American border, along a well-
known trail which has been very recently improved into
a road. Mr. Edwards told me that, in cutting the road,
the workmen came upon the skeleton of a man who had
been buried not far from a creek which crossed the old
trail. At the back of the skull was a small round hole,
and inside was found a lead bullet. It was remembered
that there were two packers returning with their mules to
Montana ; they had taken up their goods and been paid
off ; the creek at that time was crossed upon fir poles,
laid close together, over which the mules stepped ; a
party followed the two packers a couple of days later,
and coming to the creek they found a tent pitched, and
inside the tent the corpse of one of the packers. His
chum, who showed them the corpse, said that the man's
mule had stumbled and fallen upon him. The story
seemed a strange one, but though they carefully
examined the body, they could find no trace of violence,
nor was there a drop of blood anywhere.

It was nobody's business in those early days to make
inquiries, and, after some discussion, the body was

:(!

348

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR SETTLERS.

buried. Years passed, and the cb"m, who went down
to the States to spend his earnings, died raving mad.
The belief is that he shot his comrade to get his money,
and used for the purpose a small revolver, putting the
muzzle close under the man's long hair. He had ample
time to wipe away the blood before the other men came
down. In listening to this yarn I found myself
wondering whether Bacon wrote an essay " On being
found out."

I left Fort Steele on the 20th of September by stage,
spent one more night at Canal Flats, and drove on the
following day to Windermere.

Here, to my vexation, I was obliged to stay till the
afternoon of the 23rd, owing to the steamboat not
connecting. Windermere possesses one small inn,
where the sportsman or artist would find himself well
fed and treated with every civility.

The neighbourhood is a promising one for agriculture,
cattle attaining a good size. But arable crops require
irrigation, and the ranches are dreadfully eaten up with
wild cayuses. At all events, stock must be sheltered in
winter. The wild cayuses abound along the shores of
the Columbia river, and I thought I had never seen a
stranger sight than these wild, odd-shaped creatures,
galloping to some high point from which they could
look down in safety to watch the steamer. It is a good
plan to descend the Columbia from Windermere to
Golden in a row-boat, especially for duck-shooting.
The duck went overhead in thousands after sundown.

There was so little water by this time in the river,
that only a small steamer could make the passage.
On our return journey we took a
merchandise, and, in consequencCj
and became hung up upon bars.
no sleeping accommodation, but I spread my Wolseley
valise on the table where we had our meals. I sat
down with the crew, who were a mixture of French
Canadians and boatmen, with one old soldier from the
90th Iliflcs who had served during Kiel's rebellion.

scow in front with
we ran into banks
The little boat had

CHANBR OK— CONCL USION.

349

-»

The food was cooked in tin by two Chinamen, and
served in tin, and tasted of tin. After I had strapped
myself into my valise, the door opened cautiously, and
in came John and his satellite. I asked him what he
wanted, and he said he was "going to sleep." I ob-
jected to this, and was trying to look dignified as I
spoke from inside my valise, when the captain came to
my rescue, and John retired to sleep elsewhere ; probably
among the coals.

The object for which I had travelled was accom-
plished, as far as it could be ; and as I sat on the scow,
I felt amply satisfied concerning the wealth and fine
prospects of this Colony for British settlers ; indeed, my
difficulty was to convey an adequate idea of the vast
possibilities for young men who were ready to work
hard. What I had seen far surpassed anything I had
been told of the riches and fertility of this country.

It was a splendid feeling of satisfaction and triumph,
and I longed to be able to express myself in some
suitable form — to gather my friends round me, to dress
in my best, and dine with them to discuss the great
future of British Columbia — instead of sitting alone
upon my valise in a travel-stained suit of jungle cloth
and a battered straw hat.

Before I left Canada, however, I plunged into a scene
of animation and happiness , for it was my good fortune
to be present at the wedding of Miss Herchmer, the
daughter of the Commandant of the North-West Police.
There, upon the prairies, at the little garrison church,
the ceremony took place with all the customary para-
phernalia of a wedding in the old country. The bride's
dress, which was of silk brocade, fitted beautifully ; the
display of handsome presents, the bishop to perform
the ceremony, the troopers in their scarlet coats with
drawn swords lining the aisle, all combined to form a
great occasion. But it was chiefly by the decorations
of the church — the pine-branches and wheat, etc. — that
the Canadian North-West asserted itself.

This was an opportunity, which I thoroughly appre-

350

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOB SETTLERS.

ciated, of seeing somethmg of the fine body of men
known as the North-West Police. Their history has
been well written, their deeds are well known, and
require no comment of mine.

Much to my concern, I had heard rumours of their
disbandonment. For certain purposes, a body of
troopers, such as these police, are unequalled ; and, once
disbanded, they would be difficult to reassemble — at all
events, in the well-disciplined order in which they exist
at present.

In the early days of my travel I met an American
who went out of his way to sneer at the North-West
Police, untii^ I felt obliged to ask him a few direct
questions. He admitted that they preserved order
among the Indians very efficiently, and that such
incidents as the commotion caused by Almighty Voice *
might occm* at any time. But he ridiculed the idea of
Canada requiring an ** armed force," declaring that it
was " out of date," for that " arbitration would be
resorted to in future upon all points in dispute among
nations." "Besides," he added, "it's so expensive.
Canada might employ that large sum spent on the
Police so much better in other ways." I replied that
the PoHce had been sent to the Klondyke, and that if
they had not gone, men of the same stamp would have
had to be found, and they could not be found in a
hurry. Moreover, that Canada had a large frontier to
watch. He looked up quickly at my reference to the
Klondyke, and reverted once more to the costliness of the
Police. I knew that this idea of the cost had been
bruited in Canada by a section of Eastern Canadians;
but I was surprised to find this American urging a
point of the kind, considering that he was not liable.

As I eyed him, a verse from an old nursery rhyme
crossed my mind, but I spared him the quotation. Had
I quoted it, he would probably have slunk away talking

I
a

I '

♦ Almighty Voico made a rising in the early part of last year, and
accounted lor live of the rolico before ho wa3 tukcu and hauged.

CRANBROOK—CONCL USION.

351

about "blood being thicker than water," etc. Yet if
he chances to read this passage, it may be for his good
to know the lines —

" Tho faithful counsel of the mischievous rat,
To the keeper of the house that he lodges at,
By all means, sell tho cat,
And with its price buy cheese and fat."

•*Them Ontarios," I reflected, "is as
pumpkins — if they part with their police ! '*

green as

A short rest at Banff, to enjoy the last of the
mountains, a short stop at Winnipeg, a week at Montreal,
and a few days with my kind friends the Herrings
at Quebec, and then I went on board the State of
California on the ICth of October, and sailed the follow-
ing morning for Liverpool.

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\ i

■taMMMia

APPENDIX.

-**•-

AN EXTRACT OF THE LAND ACT OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Fre-emjption of Surveyed and Unmrveyed Lands.

4. Except as hereinafter appears, any person being the head Who tnay
of a family, a widow, or single man over the age of eighteen "cord un-
years, and being a British subject, or any alien, upon his L^ndsr'^
making a declaration of his intention to become a British
subject before a Commissioner, Notary Public, Justice of
the Peace, or other officer appointed therefor, which declara-
tion shall be in the Form No. 1 in the Schedule to this Act,
and upon his filing the same with the Commissioner may,
for agricultural purposes, record any tract of unoccupied
and unreserved Crown lands (not being an Indian settle-
ment) not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in
extent in that portion of the Province situated to the north-
war i and eastward of the Cascade or Coast Range of Moun-
tains, and one hundred and sixty acres in extent in the rest
of the Province : Provided that such right shall only extend
to lands bona fide taken up for agricultural purposes, and
shall not be held to extend to any of the aborigines of this
continent, except to such as shall have obtained permission
in writing to so record by a special order of the Lieutenant-
Governor in Council.

11. Upon the compliance by the applicant with the pro- Certificate
visions hereinbefore contained, and upon payment by him of °^ record,
the sum of two dollars to the Commissioner, the Commis-
sioner shall record such land in his favour as a pre-emption

2 A

354

APPENDIX,

claim, and give him a certificate of such pre-emption record,
in the Form No. 3 in the Schedule hereto ; and such record
shall be made by the Commissioner in triplicate, the original
to be handed to the pre-emptor, a duplicate to be retained
by the Commissioner for local reference, and the triplicate
to be forwarded forthwith to the head office of the Lands
and Works Department, to be there examined, and if found
in all respects (or, if necessary, after having been amended
by the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works so as to be)
in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to be finally
entered in the Land Office Register, the pre-emptor to be
notified of any alterations being made in the description
of his claim, whose duty it shall be to alter his stakes so as
to agree with the amended description. C. A. 1888, c. 6Qy
B. 12.

The pre-emptor must occupy the land within thirty days
after the date of the certificate of record, or the laud is for-
feited to the Crown, with all buildings and improvements
erected upon it. The occupation must be a continual bona
fide personal residence, and does not admit of absence for
longer than two months, unless the pre-emptor can show the
Commissioner good cause, such as sickness, etc.

No prc-cmptor is allowed to record more than one claim,
but a chartered or incorporated company may pre-empt land
by special order of Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

After recording the claim a certificate of improvement
must be obtained.

22. A pre-emptor of surveyed land, who has been in occu-
pation of his pre-emption claim for not less than two years
provemeD . ^^^j^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^f j^g j-ecord, shall be entitled to receive from

the Commissioner a certificate, to be called a " Certificate of
Improvement," in the Form No. 4 in the Schedule hereto,
upon his proving to the Commissioner, by the declarations
in writing of himself and two other persons, or in such other
manner as the Commissioner may require, that he has been
in occupation of his pre-emption claim from the date of the
record thereof, and has made permanent improvements
thereon to the value of two dollars and fifty cents per acre,
and such declaration shall be in the Form No. 6 in the
Schedule hereto. Such certificate shall be in triplicate, one
part to be handed to the pre-emptor, another part retained
by the Commissioner for local reference, and the third part

Certificate
of im-

APPENDIX.

355

occu-

transmltted forthwith to the head office of the Lands and
Works Department ; and it shall be the duty of the Com-
missioner to note the issue of such certificate on the dupli-
cate pre-emption record thereof retained in the Commis-
sioner's office, 1884, c. IG, s. 20 ; 1893, o. 22, s. 4, part.

25. After the grant of a certificate of improvement as
aforesaid to the pre-emptor, and payment of one dollar per
acre for the land has been made, a Crown grant of convey-
ance, in the Form No. 7 in the Schedule hereto, of the fee
simple of and in the land mentioned as recorded in such
certificate, shall be executed in favour of the said pre-
emptor, npon payment of the sum of five dollars therefor;
bnt no such Crown grant shall be executed in favour of any
alien who may have declared as aforesaid his intention of
becoming a British subject, until such alien shall have
become, according to law, a naturalized subject ; and no
Crown grant shall issue until the pre-emptor or his family
shall have bona fide occupied the pre-emption for at least
two years. 1884, c. 16, s. 23 ; 1891, c. 15, s. 12.

26. No transfer of any surveyed or unsurveyed land pre-
empted under this Act shall be valid, until after a Crown
grant of the same shall have been issued. 1884, c. 16, s. 24.

28. No pre-emption record shall be granted except for
land taken up for agricultural purposes, and no certificate
of improvement or Crown grant shall be issued for such
pre-emption until ten acres at least of such pre-emption
have been brought under cultivation. 1896, c. 28, s. 15.

Crown
^rant to be
issued on
payment of
$1 per
acre.

No trans-
fer valid
until
Crown
grant is
issued.

Pre-emp-
tion re-
cords re-
stricted to
agricul-
tural lands.

Sale of Crown Land.

29. Every person desiring to purchase unsurveyed, unoccu-
pied, and unreserved Crown lands shall give two months'
notice of his intended application to purchase, by a notice
inserted, at the expense of the applicant, in the British
Columbia Gazette, and in any newspaper circulating in the
district wherein such land lies ; such notice shall not include
a greater area of land than six hundred and forty acres, and
shall state the name of the applicant, the locality, boundaries,
and extent of the land applied for; such notice shall be
dated, and shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the land
ppught to be acquired, -i on the Government Office, if any,

Purcbasc
of unsur-
veyed
Crown
lands, not
exceeding
640 acres.

Publica-
tion of
notice of
applica-
tion.

35G

APPENDIX,

Initial post
to be

erected and
marked.

Deposit on
account of
purchase
price.

Survey.

Classifica-
tion of
lands sur-
veyed.

in the district. Ho shall also place at one angle or corner
of the land to bo applied for, a stake or post to be known as
the initial post, at least four inches square, and standing not
less than four feet above the surface of the ground ; and
upon such initial post he shall inscribe his name, and the
angle represented thereby, thus : " A. B.'s N.E. corner,"
(meaning North-East corner), or as the case may be. Except
such initial post is so planted before the above notice is
given all the proceedings taken by the applicant shall be
void. He shall also deposit twenty-five per cent, of the
purchase money with the Assistant Commissioner of Lands
and Works for the district in which the land is situate, together
with his application to purchase (in duplicate), within ninety
days from the date of the staking of the land applied for,
and after the notice of his intended appli"" Hon to purchase shall
have appeared in the British Columhia Gi^zette for two months,
and he shall have the land required surveyed, at his own
cost, by a duly authorised Provincial Land Surveyor; and
such lands shall be surveyed on the rectangular or square
system now adopted by the Government, and all lines shall
be run due north and south and due east and west, except
where from the nature of surveys made it would be impossible
to conform to the above system ; and wherever possible the
said survey shall be connected with some known point in
previous surveys, or with some other known point or
boundary :

(1.) It shall be the duty of the Surveyor to classify the
lands so surveyed as timber lauds, first-class, second-class,
or third-class lands, adopting for the purposes of such classi-
fication the distinctions contained in the next ensuing sub-
section, and he shall make full and accurate field-notes of
his survey, and upon completion of the survey shall file such
notes and a report of his survey in the office of the Chief
Commissioner of Lands and Works, accompanied by a
statutory declaration verifying such notes, and showing the
area of first-class, second-class, or third-class lands which
are embraced by such survey; and such declaration shall
also state whether in his opinion any of such land, and if so
what, is likely to be required for the purposes of a townsite
or fishing station, and whether the granting of such land or
any of it would prevent or hamper the development of any
adjoining natural resources :

. .#■■

APPENDIX.

857

(2.) Lands which are suitable for agricaltural purposes,
or which are capable of being brought under cultivation
profitably, or which are wild hay meadow lands, shall rank
as and be considered to be first-class lands. Lands which
are suitable for agricultural purposes only when artificially
irrigated, and which do not contain timber valuable for
lumbering purposes, as defined below, shall rank as and bo
considered to be second-class lands. Mountainous rnd rocky
tracts of land which are wholly un6t for agricultural pur-
poses, and which cannot, under any reasonable conditions,
be brought under cultivation, and which do not contain
timber suitable for lumbering purposes, as deBned below, or
hay meadows, shall rank and be considered to be third-class
or pastoral lands :

(a.) Timber lands (i.e., lands which contain milling
timber to the average extent of eight thousand
feet per acre west of the Cascades, and five thousand
feet per acre east of the Cascades, to each one
hundred and sixty acres) shall not be open for
sale :
(3.) The Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works after
examination of the report of the survey, the field-notes
thereof, with the statutory declaration of the Surveyor, and
all other documents and information in relation to the
application, and of the character of the land applied for,
which shall be procurable, if satisfied with the information,
and that it is not contrary to the public interest that the
sale should be made (but not otherwise), shall name the
price, based upon the classification provided by the preceding
sub-section, at which the land applied for, or any portion
thereof, may be sold to the applicant, and thereupon, but no
sooner, the sale may be allowed to proceed. The price of
first-class lands shall be five dollars per acre ; that of second-
class lands, two dollars and fifty cents per acre ; and that of
third-class lands, one dollar per acre. The purchase money
shall be paid in full at the time of the purchase, twenty-five
per cent, being paid as before provided, and the remaining
seventy-five per cent, when the survey shall have been
accepted, and the sale allowed to proceed by the Chief Com-
missioner of Lands and Works ; but no right or title can be
acquired to any such land until after such land shall have
been surveyed to the satisfaction of the Chief Commissioner
of Lands and Works.

First clasB.

Second
claiis.

Third
clusa.

Timber
lands not
open for
purchase.

Com-
missioner
to tix price
on basis of
Surveyor's
classifica-
tion.

Purchase

money

payable

upon

acceptance

of survey.

ipi

Leflses for

general

purposes.

358

APPENDIX,

The area comprised in any sale is not to be less than 160
and not greater than 640 acres.

The survey and purchase is to be completed within six
months from the date of application. Before a second
purchase can be made the applicant must satisfy the
Commissioner that be has improved his laud to the value
dollars per acre.

Crown
{grants to
contain
provision
aa to town
luti.

Leases.

(3.) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may grant
leases of Crown I ids which have been subdivided by survey
into lots not excei ang twenty acres in extent to any of Her
Majesty's subjects for the purpose of bonH fide personal
occupation and cultivation, upon such terms and condit'.ons
as may be deemed advisable. No person shall be entitled to
hold more than one lot under such lease. Leases granted
under authority of this clause shall contain conditions bind-
ing the lessee to build a dwelling-house during the first year
of tenancy, and to settle upon, cultivate, and occupy the land
within the meaning of the * Land Act ' and such other con-
ditions as may be approved by the Lieutenant-Governor in
Council. Such lease shall also contain a covenant providing
that the lessee shall, at the expiration of the term of the
lease, bo entitled to a Crown grant of land so leased to him,
provided that nil the conditions and stipulations of the lease
have been faithfully fulfilled.

3. Section 13 of the " Land Act Amendment Act, 1896,"
is hereby repealed, and the following is substituted there-
fore : —

(13.) All Crown grants hereafter issued of lands, the
right to which was acquired subsequent to the 17th day of
April, 1896, shall contain a provision that in the event of
any lands thereby granted being divided into two lots, one-
fourth of all the blocks of lots shall be re-conveyed to the
Crown. The blocks to be so re-conveyed to the Crown shall
be ascertained as follows : — The Chief Commissioner of Lands
and Works shall first select one block and the owner three,
and so on in turn, the Chief Commissioner selecting one
and the owner three of the unchosen blocks until the division
is made. '

APPENDIX,

359

4. The Crown shall have a Hen upon all steamships, rail- Extends
way and stationary enp;incs, smelters, concentrators, and all Cdwd lien
furnaces or machinery in or for which any timber or wood j". _Jy *'
upon which a royalty is reserved and payable in any way or
manner, or for any purpose has been or is being used or
consumed, also upon all steamships, tow-boats, scows or other
vessels, and upon all railway trains, teams and waggons in
any way engaged in transporting such timber ; such lien to
confer the same rights, and to be enforceable in the same
manner as the lien and rights of recovery of royalities
confeiTed by under the provisions in that behalf of the
" Land Act," and amending Acts.

Leases.

51<. Leases (containing such covenants and conditions as
may be advisable) of unoccupied Crown lands, not exceeding
one hundred and sixty (100) acres in extent, may bo granted
by the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works —

(a.) In that part of tho Province situated east of the
Cascade Range, for a term not to exceed five
years, for the purpose of cutting hay thereon, to
any persor or person whomsoever, being bona fide
pre-emptors or purchasers of land appurtenant to
tho meadows desired to be so leased, at an annual
rental of 10 cents per acre :
(6.) For a term not to exceed twenty-one years, for the
purpose of opening up and working stone quarries,
or as sites for fishing stations, on such terms and
conditions, not inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act, as may bo approved by the Lieutenant-
Governor in Council.

Leases.

East of
Cascade
Range.
Hay leases.
Pre-
emptors.

Stone

quarries.

Fishing

sites.

Water,

40. Every person lawfully entitle J to hold land under Land-
this Act, or under any former Act, and lawfully occupying holders
and bona tide cultivating lauds, may record and divert so g" jj ^q^
much and no more of any unrecorded and unappropriated utilize
water from the natural channel of any stream, lake, or river w**^'*
adjacent to or passing through such land, for agricultural or
other purposes, as may be reasonably necessary for such

i»^"

360

APPENDIX.

\ \

purpose, upon obtaining the written authority of the Com-
missioner of the district to that effect, and a record of the
same shall be made with him, after due notice as herein
mentioned, specifying the name of the applicant, the
quantity sought to be diverted, the place of diversion, the
object thereof, and of all such other particulars as such
Commissioner may require. For every such record the Com-
missiooer shall charge a fee of two dollars; and no such person
shall have auy exclusive right to the use of such water,
whether the same flow naturally through or over his land,
except such record shall have been made and such fee paid.
C. A. 1888, c. m, 9. 39.

Free Grants.

v\ . Lieut.- 38. It shall be lawful for thp Lieutenant-Governor in

Governor Council to make such special free jr partially free grants of
free grants. ^^^ unoccupied and unappropriated Crown lands of the
Province for the encouragement of immigration or other
purposes of public advantage, not being bonuses for the
construction of railways, with and under such provisions,
restrictions, and privileges, as to the Lieutenant-Governor
in Council may seem most advisable. C. A. 1888, c. G6, s.
37 ; 1891, c. 15, s. 7.

Reserves
for educa-
tional pur-
poses may
be sold at
public
auction.

Sales and
free (^rants
for dyking
and drain-
ing pur-
poses.

Educational Endowments,

39. Lands heretofore reserved as an endowment for the
ptirposes of education under the -provisions of section 38 of the
" Land Act,** chapter 66 of the Consolidated Acts, 1888, may
be sold by public auction, of which reasonable and sufiicient
public notice shall be given, but not so as to dispose of any
land at less than its classified price. 1891, c. 15, s. S,

32. [Bepealed hy c. 15, s. 6, 1891.]

33. It shall be lawful for the Lieutenant-Governor in
Council to sell any vacant lands of the Crown, or make free
grants thereof, to any person or company for the purpose of
dyking, draining or irritating the same, subject to such
regulations as the Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall see
tit. 1884-, c. 15, s. 63.

fc*\:' t ■

m HI i»i litii

APPENDIX.

361

There are also timber leases, and leases for stripping
hemlock bark. The Government also holds a lien npon
all timber felled for spars, logs, props for mines, shingle or
cord wood.

77. This Act shall not be construed so as to inflict Free
penalties upon free miners engaged iu prospecting, nor "av"fg„
upon travellers, nor upon persons engaged in merely scientific farmers, '
pursuits or exploring, nor upon farmers cutting timber in and others
connection with their farms, nor upon persons cutting cord tiJ^bgf noj
wood for personal use for fuel for domestic purposes and aifected.
not for sale, or cutting cord wood for school purposes. 1896,
s. 28, s. 5.

ASSESSMENT ACT, 1888.

Interpretation Clauses.

Wild Land,

(7.) The words " wild land " shall mean land claimed by
any person on which there shall not be existing improve-
ments to the value, when assessed, of two dollars and fiity
cents per acre on land situate west of the Cascades, and one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre on land east of the
Cascade Range of mountains : Provided always, that the
value of the improvements upon any parcel of the lands of
any person in any district shall exempt an equivalent
number of acres of his land situate in the same district and
adjoining to the land whereon such improvements exist at
the rate aforesaid from the operation of this sub-section.

Under section 6 of the Assessment Act, 1896 : —

There shall be assessed, levied and collected from every
person and paid to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors,
the sums following, that is to say : three per cent, on the
assessed value of " wild land." Provided always that if the
above taxes so assessed and levied are paid on or before
the 30th day of June in each year, but not otherwise, the
collector is hereby authorized to receive, and shall receive in
lieu of the above rates : —

Two and one-half per cent, upon the assessed value of
"wild land."

Mia

..« -S-r** »— •-.

362

APPENDIX.

II.

LIST OF TREES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Botanic&l Name.

AbicB amabilis

„ grandis

„ Bubalpina
Acer macrophyllum

„ circinatum
AIqus rubra
Arbutus Menziesii
Betula ocoidentalis

„ papyrifera
Corn us Nuttallii
Juniperus Yirginiaua
Larix Americana

„ Lyalli

„ occidentalis
Ficea alba

„ Engclmannii

„ nigra

„ Sitchensia
Finus albicaulis

„ contorta

„ monticola

„ Murrayana

„ ponderosa
Firufl rivularis
Populus balaamifera
„ monilifera
„ tremuloides
„ tricbocarpa
Frunus emargiuata

„ mollis
Fseudotsuga Douglaaaii
Quercua Garryana
Salix lancifolia

„ laaiandra
TaxuB brevifolia
Thuya gigantea

„ excelaa
Tauga Mertunsiana

„ Fattouiana

English Name.

French Name.

White fir
Western white fir
Mountain balsam
Large-leaved mrplo
Vine maple
Bed alder
Arbutua
Western birch
Canoe birch
Western dogwood
Red cedar
American larch
Mountain larch
Western larch
White spruce
Western black spruce
Black spruce
Western white spruce
White-bark pine
Scrub pine
White mountain pine
Black pine
Yellow pine
Western crab-apple
Balsam poplar
Cottonw'iod
Aapen
Cottonwood
Cherry

Douglas fir
Western white oak
Lance-leaved willow
Willow
Western yew
Giant cedar
Yellow cypress or cedar
Western hemlock
Alpine hemlock

Sapin blanc
Gros 311 piu
Sapin di'B monta
Erablc

Anne rougo ■ ]

Arbute 1 1

Bouleau 1 I

„ a canot ;l I

Cornouillier M 1

Cedre rouge ^ I

Epinette rougo ^ I
„ dee monta '

rougo I

Petite epinette , S

Epinette noir '

Grossc epinette

Epinette blanche

Cin blanc

Cypres

Pin blanc

Cypres

Pin jaune ou rouge

Pommier

Paumier

,•

Biard

Tremble

Tiard

Lerisier

Pin d'Oregon

Chene

Saulo

Grand cedre
Cedre jauno
Frucho

APPENDIX,

363

III.

its

tot

Dionts

)

JllO

■ouge

OBDINARY EXPENSES OF A VESSEL AT
VANCOUVER.

• • •

Hospital dues per register ton

Health Inspector's feo

Harbour duos

Bill of health, outwards

Pilotage, per foot (each way)

Pilotage per foot (steamers)

Port Agency (according to size)

Discharge of ballast (usually done by ship's

or per ton

Harbour towage

Stevedoring —

General cargo or salmon, per ton

Sugar, per ton

Lumber and timber, per M. ft., according to the

style of cargo and facilities of the ship

Watering .., ... ,,, ... ... ... ...

crew)

Dollars.

0.02
4.00
5.00
1.00
2.00
1.50
25.00 to 100.00

10.00 to
10.00 to

25.00
20.00

27J

80 to 1.00
15.00 to 20.00

RATES OF TOWAGE.

Pilotage District op Yale and New Westminster.

The ports of the Pilotage District of Yale and New West-
minster shall be as follows : —

Port of Vancouver.

Port of New Westminster.

Port of Yale and several landings on the Fraser River.

(I.) The limit of the Port of Vancouver shall be inside
a line drawn from Point Atkinson to the red buoy on
Spanish Bank.

(2 ) The limit of the Port of New Westminster shall be
inside a line drawn between the outer buoys and north and
south sand heads at entrance of Fraser River.

364

APPENDIX,

Dues.

For vessels entering or clearing from the Port of Vancouver
the rates of pilotage shall be as follows : —

Vessels under sail ...
„ in tow of a steamer

under steam

Dollars.

4.00 per foot
2.00
1.50

The pilotage from f ^ Flattery or Royal Roads to a line
drawn from Point Atkinson to the red buoy on Spanish
Bank and vice versd Is not compulsory, but if the services of a
pilot are required, he shall be paid the following fates, viz. : —

Dollars.

From Cape Flattery 6.00 per foot.

„ Galium Bay 5.00 „

„ Beachy Head 4.00 „

„ Race Rocks or Boyal Boads 3.00 „

And for vessels under steam or in tow of a steamer the
following rates shall be paid : —

Dollars.

From Cape Flattery 3.00 per foot.

Galium Bay 2.50

Beachy Head 2.00

Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels under

steam 2.00 „

Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels in tow

of a steamer 1.50 „

New Westminster.

From the lighthouse on Fraser sand heads to New West-
minster : —

For vessels under sail

in tow of a steamer
under steam

n
»»

Dollars.
4.00 per foot.
2.00
1.50

From the lighthouse to Cape Flattery or Royal Roads and
vice versd the pilotage is not compulsory, but if the services
of a pilot are required he shall be paid the following
rates : —

Dollars.
For vessels under sail :

From Gape Flattery 6.00 per foot.

Galium Bay 5.00

Beachy Head 4.00

Race Rocks or Royal Roads 8.00

»»

APPENDIX,

365

For vessels under steam or in tow of a steamer the follow-
ing rates shall be paid : —

Dollars.

From Cape Flattery 3.00 per foot.

„ Galium Bay 2.50 ,,

„ Beachy Head 2.00 „

„ Bace Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels under

steam 1.00 „

„ Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels in tow

of a steamer ... ... 1.50 „

Any fraction of a foot not exceeding six inches shall be
paid for as half a foot, and any fraction of a foot exceeding
six inches shall be paid for as a foot.

,;,, . 1 «■■.> V*'

INDEX.

-*>^

A. B. 0. Exploration Co., 324

Advertising, 37

Agriculture, geneml view of, 59

, co-operation in, 61

Agassiz, 62, 234, 244

, Mrs., 244

Ainswortli, 317

Alberni, 182

Alexander, Mr. and Mrs., 319

Alkali, 257

Allan, the Rev., 225

Americans, 5, 14, 16, 276

, management of mines by, 16,

21
Armstrong, co-oporalivo mill at, 2

Backwoods, Canadian, 340
Baker, Colonel, tlie Hon., 160, 314,

337

, Mr. Hyde, 339

Beanlands, Canon, 79

Begbie, Sir Mathew, 336

Bimetallism, 327

Bonnersferry, 320

British Columbian Fruit Exchange,

Calgarv, 132

Canadian Pacific Railway, 2, 237

Cariboo, 12

Carlyle, Mr., report on Rossland, 288

Cassiar, 12, 34

Cattle ranching, 63, 96, 249, 252,

301, 346
Cayuses, wild, 342, Z ',Z
Chilliwack, 320
Chinese, 75

dislike to Indians, 81

superstition, 80

Coldstream, 261
Columbia river, 336
Co-operation, 248, 257, 265
Oornoille, Mrs., 108

Dupont, Major and Mrs., 81

Edwards, Mr. and Mrs., 343
Ellis, Mr. Tom, 251
Emigration, 64, 66, 76, 84, 225

, education and, 240

, Mr. Robbins and, 200

, Mr. Sharp and, 237

Failure, causes of, 4, 144
Father Pat, 387
Fishing industries, 50
Flax, 62

368

INDEX.

».

Fort Steele, 336

Fortune, Mr. and Mrs., 259

Fraser, Mr., 245

river, 215

Fruit, 62, 231

in California, 304

in Spokane, 302

Galbraith, Mr., 343
Glacier reports, 329
Glasgow Pig Iron Co., 17
Goldeu, 330
Government agents, 90

loans, 222, 224

■ reports, 244
Grand forks, 289
Prairie, 267

Hall smelter, 26

Harris, Mr., 325

Harrison lake, 217

Hops, 62, 261

Home, Sir W. van, 113

Horse-ranching at Calgary, 139

Hosmer, Charles, 117

Hudson's Bay Co., 2, 51

Indians, general account of, 90

, trade with, 33

, vital statistics, 101

Japan, 57

Jennings, 317

Jubilee, the, 121, 128, 133

Kamloop?, ranching at, 251
, 267

Kelowna, 250, 255

Shippers' Union, 255

K'.ondyke, 7, 23, 31, 69, 207
Kootenay, East, 340 ■

Labour question, the, 72, 85, 102,
259, 333

and Chinese, 84, 87

Land companies, 222, 231
Lcndrum, Mr. and Mrs., 317

Macardie, Mr., 199

Maclure, Mrs., 322

Manitoba, 129

Marshall Bray, Mr, 204

Milne, Mr., 169

Mines, American, management of,

16,21

, Cour d'Alene, 309

, Duke of York and Albomi,

193, 197

, general view of, 12

in East Kootenay, 344

, Iron Mask, 269

Le Roi, 19, 24, 26, 285

, London, management of, 17,

, North Star, 23, 336, 344

, Payne, 14, 26

, raising capital lor, 143

, Reco, 326

silver, 14, 326

, War Eagle, 18

Montreal, 111

, Bank of, 28

, market of, 115

Mortgage companies, 223, 229

Nakusp, 239
Nanaimo, 201
Nelson, 311
New Denver, 328
Norberry, Mr., 845

Norris, Mr., 261
Nortli-Wost Police, flSO

Okanagan, 63, 247
Ottawa, 119

Parman, R.M.S., 104
Penticton, 251
Police, 94

Quebec, 108

INDEX.

369

Bailways, 298
Raw products, 42
Retail dealers, 32
Ricardo, Mr., 261
Robbins, Mr. Samuel, 201
Ri bertson, Rev. Dr., 121
RoBsland, 283

Salmon fisheries, 52, 211, 214

Sandon, 325

Saunders, Mr., 194

Seals, 51

Sharp, Mr., 234, 244

Silver, 325

Slocan, 328

SmeltinpT, 23, 25, 272, 312

Smith, Mr., 255

Spokane, 293

Sport, 34G

Strawberries, second crop of, 832

Thornton, ' tr., 28

Tobacco, 258

Trade, general view of, 28

in Spokane, 295

Trail, 271

, smelter at, 272

Travellers' cnmmorcial. 30
Turner, the Hon. J., 159

Vancouver city, 4, 54, 210

Island , 11, 12, 54, 59

Vernon, 62, 246

, chances for settlers near, 66

Victoria, 11, 42, 54

Waterhouse, Mr., 190

Wells, Mr., 226

Wheat crop of 1897... 63, 73, 300

at Vernon, 247

in the State of Washington,

301

Wild Horse Creek, 137, 437
Windermere, 348
Winnipeg, 121

2 B

fRlNTBD BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLESt

-*-*-*"*■ ^v

• ■ I ' . vnm