IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 I 1.25 I2£ 2.2 |50 "^ Wuu 1.8 U ill 1.6 III Hiotographic Sciences Corporalion •ss ^ O «^ I\,< vViST MAIN STRUT WEBSTH.N.Y. 14.110 (716)S79-4S03 ■^' ,^ elure. 3 I2X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 I •1 t J (237 ) ^ -\ \ , \o\# XVIII.. — Journey into the Interior of British Columbia. By Matthew B. Begbie, Esq., Justice. Communicated by the Duke of Newcastle, f.b.c.s., H. M. Secretary for the Colonies. i?ca(?, December 12, 1859. Justice Begbie to Governor Douglas. Sir, • Victoria, April 25, 1859. I have to report to you my return from the circuit which I have just held in British Columbia, as far as the Fountains, to which point I followed nearly the course of the Fraser River. Thence 1 returned by the Lilloet route and the Harrison River to Langley. I have already had the honour to report, for your information, the proceed- ings at Langley, at Fort Hope, and at Fort Yale. Accompanied by Mr. Nicol, the High SheriiF of British Columbia, and by Mr. Bushby, the Registrar and Assize Clerk, I left Fort Yale on foot on the 28th ult., with an Indian servant, and seven other Indians carrying our tent, blankets, and provisions, for Lyttou, on the forks of Thompson River. Acting on the suggestions of the Chief Commissioner of Land and Works, Mr. Nicol and I made a reconnaissance of the entire road travelled over ; the result of which I hope shortly to be able to plot out and place in your Excellency's hands. There being a considerable quantity of snow on the ground we could not follow the mule-trail, but kept on the right bank of Fraser River until two or three miles below Quayome or Boston Bar. There are one or two restaurants on the road ; one at Spuzzum, one at the top of the hill immediately above Yale, one at Quayome, and another about 18 miles from Lytton ; but we found it would have been an extreme inconvenience to have been without a tent and without a sufficient supply of provisions for the entire route. Tt would even be extremely economical to provide at Fort Yale the whole of the necessary stores to carry round the whole way across the portage between Lake Anderson and Lake Lilloet. Provisions we found to be at unusual prices, flour being Is. ^d. to 2s. per lb., until we arrived at Lake Lilloet. The trail between Fort Yale and Quayome, by which we advanced, is by this time, I should think, utterly impassable for any animal, except a man, a goat, or a dog. It might doubtless be very much improved. In many places a very painful and dangerous ascent and descent of 20 minutes, in the whole course of which the traveller depends almost as much on his hands as on his feet, brings the path to within a few yards of the projecting precipice, through which a few pounds of i)Owder would have made an easy way. But it suggested itself as extremely doubtful whether it would bo worth while at present to engage in any improvements on this part of the line until the far easier Lilloet route be rendered practicable, as it might for a considerable extent very readily be, for carts. Between Fort Yale and Quayome there did not appear to be any land, except a few spots here and there of a very few acres in extent, caiiable of cultivation. But the soi' was rich and well fitted for roots, and at Spuzzum accordingly the Indians haci considerable potato-patches; but nothing like an English farm could be established. Above Quayome the trail to Lytton presents no serious obstacles to prevent a. cart-road being made except in two places. The country above Quayome !• «ki-rvs. o oc 2oS Deuuie's Journci/ into thv Iittcn'ur of livitisli Culitmlna. cl 111 u.uTs its asjicct very much, 'i'licro aiv iiliuost immciliatcly fuumHieiicLis cil" i'citilo Inuil coiii]i;iriitivc'ly fi't'i' iVoiii iiii(lrr\V()( d, Imt tolcvaMy tliii'kly \vi)U(l(!(l with lai';j;(! trtrs ; imt iiKPio tliaii t'liiivciiiciil, liowi'vor, I'or lanuiivj; ]iuriKi.s('s, which iii fciicos, i'lU'l, ami IdL^-liiils, iii|iiilly eunsiiiiii' tiinhcr. Ahdiil halt' a (lay's jounioy beluw Lyttoii a coiisidcrahlc (.'iu'lusiuv of about '200 acns is niadu by iVlU'il trees; a Freuclniiaii, wlmse naiiu; J did not karn, iiitiiidiiig to make a farm liiere. Very many such mi^ht bo made. There arc cousideiable beds of slate opeiiiiiLj on the Frascr River, a cdujilo of miles above Quayume, and these make their np|.oarancc two or three times before arriving at Lytton. At the iilaco where I observed the first slate-bed there is also apparently a S])rin,riccs of provisions in the upper country. Tliey were high enough at I^'tton, where wo were charged 3 dollars a head for each meal, consisting mainly of bacon and hrarth-made bread. It was a great disa]tpointment to us that Captain Travaillot absented him- self from Lytton during the whole oi' our three days' sojouni there. There were many complaints as to the manner in which decisions had been made by him, but in my ^'innion they did not involve any amount of corruption ; but the errors (if any^ were such as might reasonably arise from inexperience, and the absv nee of l)ooks or advice. It Avas a great inconvenience to have no access to any boohs or ]ilans of the town, which were all locked up. There were a few contested lots, but not many ; and 1 should think the difGculties are not hard to settle. There was a ccjsiderable degree of anxiety manifested everywhere for the possession of land ; in some instances the mere right to take the crop was not satisfactory, in other it was acquiesced in. At Jjytton considerable excitement was manifested with reference to some ditch regulations, which were then recently ]iromulgated, and which I Jiad not seen until I found them placarded on Cai^tain Travaillot's office doer. The miners generally alleged that the quantity of water allowed to a ditch was too small ; that in consequence of the lightness of the soil the water in a ditch is lost by percolation ; and although calculated by the (Jovernment to bo sufficient for two sluice-heads, and charged as for two claims, is in fact scarcely enough for one when it reaches the spot worked ; and that lumber is so deaV and scarce (375 dollars per thousand, in fact not to be had in any quantity) that fluming is impossible. The gold they allege to be very uncertain in its deposit, and that small claims may sometimes be worked out in a day, while others may prove extremely valuable. They allege further, that it is very convenient to have, or to be allowed to have, ditches owned by parties entirely unconnected with the claims, who may sell the water in those ditches without limitation as to price or quantity. They did not seem to object to the limitation to sell only to licensed miners. As my own view on the theory which I formed of the geological formation of the A^allcy of the Fraser in this direction is, that the whole valley and benches together are auriferous, and would pay under a large system of water- working, I did not pay great regard to their com[)laints as to the uncertain- nature of the deposits in the claims, which, indeed, I liad from practical experience an illustration of. Mr. .Nicol and myself washed about 20 pans, and obtained 75 cents' worth of gold. The next 5 jians taken from the same s])ot yielded 2 dollars, all in rusty scale-gold. The singular feature of level benches of various breadth, consisting of vast thicknesses of alluvial dejwsits, loam more or less sandy, and waterworn boulders, gravel, and pebbles, the benches being of various heights one above the other, piarallel in their general direction with the course of the river aiid the moiuitains between which it runs, and generally matched on either side of the river, forcibly recalls the "parallel mountain roads," as they are called, among the Grampians in Scotland; which are now generally accounted for by geologists on the theory of the whole space between the boundary hill rangca i 210 IjEUBIe'a- Journey into the Infcn'ur tf British Cohunbia. liaviii'jj 1)0011 ovi^innlly a vast lako,- and uf suaus.sivo c'U'Viiti(»iis of tlio cartli's siirt'atv, a theory to wliicli tlio iioiy,libuuiliuotl of active vulcanic I'aiigLS ai'iioaiu to mo to givo much plausibilily. A' \ *? osit incUuied between BJi, an. A himihir upheaval w^mw occurred, wh\.'h caused the denudation of tho space 6, C C, h. A third denudation, c, 1) 1), c, left the water to flow, no longer in a lake, but contracted to the linuts of a river, in its present bed D D. It is probable that when so large a lake existed above the Forks, it would arrest, as in a trough, — exactly as is done by the miners' sluicing-trough at tlie present day, oidy on a gigantic scale, — all liie finer jjarticlcs of gold brouglit down by the river from the mountain in the distant upper country. It is probable, therefore, that at tlie distant geological epoch, when a long lake or a long series of lakes extended for many miles above the Big Canon — as far as I visited the country, from about Quayorae to some miles above the Fountains, a distance of 80 or 90 miles — the banks and bed of the river below these lakes was not auriferous, at all events not so highly auriferous as at the present day. But on the theory that the sediment at the bottom of these lakes was all more or less auriferous, and that vast quantities of the sediment in successive portions were, upon each successive upheaval of the surface, hurried down by the mighty rush of waters through the Canons, and into and over the smoother country below them, commencing at Fort Yale, we have again an exact repetition of the process witnessed every day in every rocker throughout the country. An enormous quantity of "pay dirt" was at each upheaval cast into the vast sluice of the Fraser. The scale-gold would be all intercepted in the rough beds of the river as it successively grooved out for itself another and another channel through the ancient bed of the original lake, or at all events in the holes and eddies in the rocks in its passage through the Canons. This is the sieve of the rocker, where the scale-gold is — unless the rocker be unevenly worked — always retained. The finer particles, the flour or dust gold as it is called, would be carried over the sieve by the rush of water on to the blanket, and would jjrincipally be retained in tlie first part of the blanket, nearest the sieve. Hill Bar, Prince Albert Flat, and the district generally from Fort Yale to Fort Hope, accordingl}-, are all impregnated with flour-gold, more or less, and generally more so than the country below, or far below Fort Hope. But the whole of the blanket in a rocker is worth searching, and is accordingly searched by the miner periodically ; and we find " flour- gold" accordingly down to Langley. It is a further corroboration of this theory, that while flour-gold does not amount to above 15 per cent, of the gold found at the Forks — 85 per cent., or upwards, of the gold found there 1ft Lytlo: fmiii '> or I ^ 1000: river J i2aoi ' cupioii I'liro C( iiro C(j tlic F : 1000 I : works i diflc; ?. 5 engine ' I'he Fount 4 or 5 It app of bun river, The in gcr resinoi much for firi is no I Wo , Wiinkc nature Bar, 1 I and as ' valley • On 1 Nicol l^lateai , nionly ' fine ric dairy f J niaintr of \vhi( . ,; The M opens ( :^ Thci . a tree ; nated toward ■' so that Froi narrow I fined b ■; On S tents. I VO] UKOnili'.s- Jonrtmj into the Interior of British Columbia. 241 lioiiiii scale-gold- -I have never licavd of a single scale being found at or below Fort'Y.iK'. If this view bo correct, there arc therefore in the benches at and around r.ytlMii dry diggings on tjjc most enormous scale. The district which I visitul fnmi QuayniiK' to tlie Fountains is about 70 miles long, and from 1 mile to ■> or miles wide ; and in many places 100, 200, and 400, in some even 1000 feet thick. Kvory spadeful I believe to be auriferous. The bed of the river pays the whole distance from 5 to 100 dollars per hand per day ; 12 dollars is not unusual. It is, however, probable that the banks high above ^ tlio river could not be worked advantageously without the application of ' Copious washing. But the streams from the mountains on each side are very rare compared with what is found below the Quayome, and water jirivilcgcs are correspondingly valuable. There is of course a never-failing supplyin the Fraser; but many of the benches are GOO, and even, I should guess, 1000 feet above its present bed (by estimation) ; and considerable hydraulic works would have to be imdertaken, and by very dilferent ditches and on diire;?nt principles from those now in force. It would be a question of engineering on a large scale. 'i'he character of the country at Lytton is preserved all the w..y to the Fountains ; and for as far as the eye can reach above the Fountains some 4 or 5 miles the whole of the country is tolerably well adn; *-ed for stock. It appears rather too dry a climate for arable cultivation. Th is abundance of bunch-grass. Wate'* is not everywhere met with on the benches a'>ove llie i river, but the Frai^^r i.^ always there. The soil is sometimes covered with shingles, at other times too sandy ; but in general a light loam. The pine-trees already described appear, by their resinous spiky leaves, which strew the ground in great abundance, to make it much drier than it otherwise would be. These trees would soon be removed for firing, enclosures, and houses, and the country improve accordingly. There is no underwood. We procured horses from the Indian chief Spindlem for carrying our , blankets, &c., over this portion of the route. In consequence of the dangerous nature of one part of the trail, called the " Slide," a few miles above Foster Bar, 18 miles from Fountains, the mule-trail quits the Fraser at Foster Ear and ascends a small stream to an elevated plateau, descending by a beautiful ^ valley to the plateau above the Fountains. "I On the top of the pass we found (7th April) three lakes all frozen. ]Mr. Nicol and I got upon one, and found the ice about 4^ inches thick. This l)lateau, however, wherever the snow was cleared away, showed an uncom- monly rich vegetation in grass, equal almost to that on the Pitt Meadows ; a fine rich black mould, and uncommon advantages (save for its gi-eat cold) for dairy fanning. It ajipcarcd as if an unbounded numlxir of cattle might be ■■ maintained in this vallry, or rather double valley and pass, the lower parts ^ of which seemed well adapted for the plough. I The pass, which we estimated at about 16^ miles long from Foster Bar, I opens on the two vast level plains, on the lower of which Fountains is situated. I These, each of them, contain apparently 1000 to 1500 acres, with scarcely : a tree or deviation from level ; covered only with bunch-grass, and tcrmi- |nated on all sides, except towards the mountains!, by precipitous descents towards the river, each of which we conjectured to >.o not less than 500 feet ; so tliat the upper plateau might be 1000 feet above the level of the river. From hence Fraser River is seen coming down in a suca'ssio." of beds in a narrow bed edged with high narrow benches from tlie north-west, closely con- fined Ijy lofty mountains from 4000 to 7000 feet high. On the southern part of the lower jilateau are a few houses, stores, and tents. This is the Fountains. We had fresh meat here, the first since leaving VOL. XXXI. R 242 IjEGBIe's Journey into the Interior of British Cohnnbia. Forf Yale. We found that Caplnin Travnillot, who liad jiromised lo meet ns hero, bad left on tlie jirovionH day, leaving; word that he woidd wait for us at the point where the Lilloet trail falls on the Fraser liivcr. There wore notifications of the now ditch orders, and that one Mr. Kellcy, who kept storea there, was ap])ointed to receive jxiyment of mining-licenses and other Govern- Xiiont moneys. The price of provisions was higher, if anythinjr, here than at Lytton. The place seemed very dull. 'J'liere were a few miners passing n]i aiid down. Some settlers seemed disjiosed to build ; but the majority of tliose persons 1 saw wore an idle look. The bulk of the miners jmss along the river far below, and, being supplied with their own provisions, they do not climb the high steep bank, at the top of which there is nothing to reward their jiains ; for the stores are of the commonest sort, and tliere are no drink- able liquors, nor, so far as I could see, any facilities for gambling. The sjiot is jn-obably the best in the immediate neighbourhood for a town. We left the Fountains the same afternoon for the place called Lilloet in this neighbourhood, i.e. the spot whore the Lilloet route falls on the Fraser, and which T shall designate by the name Cayoosh. 'Jhe river wnich drains the lakes Anderson and Soton, and falls into the Fraser at this point, is called *' Nkoomptch Falls." l^ut 2 miles aliove the Fraser it receives a considerable accession in the Cayoosh brook, which being more easily pronounced is jirefer- able, and is used in the locality among the whiles to designate the iS,'k;jO)iifeh proper. The trail, which is in general on a bench, with interrui)tions in some places, but which miglit easily bo made into a guod waggun-road, passes in fi'ont of the mouth of the Seclatcpia or Ihidge lliver at 2 miles ; and at 4 miles below Fountains crosses by the ferry recently granted by Captain Travaillot to Aimable Bonnet and Calmel. The tolls are, perhaps, not too high for the present rates of wages and provisions. The right is only granted for a year, and at the end of that time, or of a second year, they mifrht probably be revised. The ferrymen wore about to establish immcdiatel}^ a boat for foot- ]iasscngers oi)posite Cayoosh, as it was found that many people crossed there. 1 saw a good deal of them during several days ; they seem civil and well- conducted men. Caj'oosh is decidedly the most favourable position for a town that I have seen above Fort Hope, apart from its important position at the gorge of the Lilloet route. It is on the right bank of the river Fraser, at some distance from the river, and at a considerable height above it. The level benches on each side of the river, and which are all perfectly free from underwood, extend from above Fountains to a considerable distance below Cayoosh, on the left bank, and terminate a little below the junction on the right bank of the Fraser, a distance of at least il or 12 miles in length, and of a breadth in the whole varying from 1 to 4 miles. There are probably some 20 or 30 square miles of land ready for immediate occupation; the whole of which is fit for some description of farming, and about half of it admirably adapted for any description, either sheep, cattle, or the plough. In some places it is too sandy, in others too stro?ig, for the jilough ; but in those places there is an abundance 'n subsistence. Thefts were said to be unknown, and great care taken of their burdens. And these individuals who work I found extremely fleshy and hearty. My impression of the Indian population is, that tJiey liave far more natural intelligence, honesty, and good manners, than the lowest class — say the agricultural and mining population — of any European country I ever visited, England included. At Cayoosh I tried to cause a grand jury to be summoned to present all these matters formally to me ; but there were not twelve British subjects there. The road from Cuyoosh to Lake Seton, IG miles, according to the point of departure, is in one part not practicable for mules. They ford the stream accordingly at present. The muleteers propose to bridge the stream before the summer floods set in. They have already bridged it in one place, between Lake Seton and Lake Anderson, at their own expense of 180 dollars. "With one exception, there ia no bridge on the Lilloet trail comparable to this ; and with that one exception (worth, perhaps, 80 to 100 dollars), no ten bridges on that trail are together as considerable. This part of the route might be easily made a good carriage-road by means of two bridges, one of which, however, on to the bench at Cayoosh, would be a considerable under- taking. The rest of the distance Avould be a very simple matter indeed. The ground is flat and tolerably clear, the bottom veiy sound, large coarse gravel, affording excellent foundation ; and there is on different slides frfira the clifls any amount of beautiful naturally-broken macadam of any size. The actual trail shrinking from crossing the stream follows generally a narrow, rocky, ])recipitous, winding goat-path along the cliff. The mules follow the other trail partly. On Lake Seton there is excellent access to the water; it never freezes. There are here two or three houses used by the boatmen and muleteers. This R 2 3 21-1 Uegbie'*- Jounicij into the Iiitcriur of Bn'tinh CohrnJiia. little sc'ttlonicnt 1 suggest may Lo calltil Sctou IVmt, 'i'licru is a \ki\\ j^jihiJ wliiile-boat aui.! a scow in bail coiulitiuii on tliis lake. Tlio iiiountaiiis como (IdWii on it SK steeiily for tlic gicatrr juirt of its length on both si'.U's tliat I should consitler a rtiul out of the (question. At tlie ujjper cmi there were also a few houses, and another boat building probably launclied by tins time. It is stated that from the jioint where the aS'koi)in]itch and the Cayoosh join, the valley of the Cayoosh I'roi er leads to another lar:j;e lake, which leads to a jtass, the other side of which det^ccnds on Harrison Lake, a distance of three days. This ])oint of junction of the Cayoosh and Xkoomiitch is of course below Lake Seton ; it would of course be extremely important to discover such a pass, as it would be shurttr tlian the present Lilloet route from the mouth of the liarrisou lliver to the uiiddlc Fraser, (jsjiecially having iu view the very bad access to the upper ends *>(' the Lilloet and Harrison lakes at remberton and Uouglas. I conceive, In iwevcr, that a shorter way may be found, which will not ]iass over any part of the Harrison Elver, and which may proceed by this Caj-oosh Lake across some pass yet to be discovered, down upon a very long valley, which opens upon Fraser lUver from the north-west, and falls ujion Fraser Itiver about lb miks above the Harrison, and which was noticed last January and marked in the reconnaissance then made. There arc a few houses at the upper end eif Lake Seton which 1 suggest niigiit be called beton Head. From Lake Seton to Lake Anderson, about H mile, is practicable for a cart. There seems very little fall in the stream which runs from one lake to the other. It might ])robably be canalized at no great expense ; a steamer coulil then go from the upijer end of Lake Anderson to the lower end of Lake Seton without unloading. I calculated the lengths at 13^ to 14i- miles for Lake Seton, and 12^ to 13 miles for Lake Anderson. They arc generally reckoned 3 miles longer, each of them ; but boatmen usually exaggerate, and I was as careful as 1 could be and reckoned both by estimation and time. A steamer would be very useful, as we found on all the lakes. On every one we found cither a dead calm, or a fresh breeze blowing up or down the lake, sometimes both ways at the different ends, which greatly delays the navigation in the row-boats now iu use. Ou two lakes we had favourable winds ; on two we were delayed for 24 hours by contrary winds. At the upper end of Lake Anderson there is a pretty little site for a small town. The Lilloet trail, properly so called, commences here. It is a cart- way for some little distance ; it might very readily, and for a few hundred dollars, be made practicable for carts for some miles, indeed at a very small expense for the whole distance to Lake Lilloet. It generally follows the old Indian trail, which may be seen here and there swerving to the cne side or the other. It only deviates in two places close to Lake Anderson, and again a few miles before arriving at Lake Lilloet, in both instances ap]'arently to 'd bridging streams which the Indians forded, and which could be bridged, the first for a very few score, the second for a very few hundi'od dollars. The deviations in each case appeared to be larger for the worse. There are many places in which a slight deviation, and the removal of a '[g\w barrow-loads of earth, or of a tree or two, would have effected a great improvement ; but there tlie trail was followed. The other deviation, near Lake- Lilloet, leads by a shorter road over a hill to the lake. The Indian trail proceeds down the watercourse to the lliver Lilloet, some few miles above the \> Jel of the lake where there are rejiorted to be some 5 or 6 square miles of exceedingly rich prairie-land. If the road were carried by a bridge across the Homush or Xoblish I'dver, and again across the Lilloet, it would run nearly on a level rdl the way Hum Lake Anderson, and would open out this fertile valley, and fall on the Lilloet Lake at a point much better adapted for a harbour than that selected, and \\\\\c\\ is I f J Sily ai 11 iicii UiiK;ss ■i(le), t H no 11 there a Ik all 1 1 eKc-iipo bail I (I tllO V'S ^ Lal<( I'ho te placed, Tliia the Ml day bo luiloail rapiilri, lal\c 01 rmicli road ; ; For liilloci Cmijoci Ol' coil ll()t-\V( Iissiies tiarlial ar^c c heii^hl sanio ] thn Ka whioh boiirlK also u ahlu t( lieato. niluiix 6a V pi Till presei the w IHTSCl ;eauli iliuiiii liolliii For i\ to 1)0 Ifci inuiio' enciin only 1 111 wii niird9 Port Douglas undoubtedly present greater difficulties tli;;n all the other part of the Lilloet route ; and tlu! woist part is that immediately falling on the Harrison Lake, which at Iiresent terminates at Tort Douglas. This situation, though romantic a'ld jeaulifiil, and offering to vessels lying in its little lake a secure harbour during seven or eight months in the year, has such natural defects, that nothing but necessity can justify its ado])tion or retention for a moment. For four or five months in the year, if not for a longer period, it may bo said to be inaecossible cither by land or water, except on foot. It is situated at tho foot of a hill. The trail ascends, fur upwards of an hour, immediately from high-water mark, and we found the greater part of this hill euciuuliered with snow to such an extent (I8th Aju'il), tliat pack-mules could only make 10 miles in two days, and were nearly exhausted with that distance. Ill summer-time the snow will not be there, but the waters will then be out, mid it is to be aiiprehen,.jd that some parts of this trail will be less passable in Juno thau in April. The snow though often 1 and 5 feet deep, had begun I f I ( : 1 24 to 1 iim it c son is I 11U( jiui l;-c At du cei to at no StL tni at it lui 2( a l)r or be w m la til b£ cl iti b( d( I n a c b r b q s a a t 5 I 24G BEOniE'* Journey into the Interior of British Columhia. hi melt a ;:;ood deal durinf; the day, tlioua;h it generally froxc ac;nin at nip;lit, and tlio trail was in several places fur 100 yards aidEGBIE'.s Journey into the Interior of British Columbia. 247 T1;i(l as any liarlumr irmst bo at this end of the lake, this side (the cxtrcnio rijjjht (jf the livcr-muutli) oilers tlio best jtosition ; and, with tho aid of tho driftwodd, 11 lioatiiii; bmakwater ini^ht be made. The only winds wliicli we ovur felt, a[i[iareutly Idow up and down the lake; and wc found on our piis.sn;:;>; that tlie winds follow the shores. Jt was surprisin;^', with a if)])ulation so unsettled, so often — a great part of it at least — tlian^inu', and so little habituated to the presence of law or justice, to /iuil v'jry few complaints, none of violent crimes. U was alleged that, li(|U(ir was sold un,scru]mlously to Indians. Some cases of !!.llc'ged breach of contract, which the defendants maintained to bo mistaken contracts, >vere bronyht forward ; and it was also ijiven us to uuder- Btaud that iliuse who broui^ht such circnnistances to our notice were amongst the most audacious infringers of tho law when the ofticers of the law were absent, ]t is of course impossible ever to do sudden justice under any written system of laws, and our elforts were not always successful in endea- vouring to obtain in any way immediate satisfaction. But in a political point of view, these individual mischiefs were lost sight of, when it appeared that there was on all sides a submission to authority, a recognition of tho right, which, looking to the mixed nature of tho population, and the very large predominance of the Californian element, I confess I had not expected to meet. On the banks of the Lilloet there are very remunerative diggings, wliich 1 mention (though well known already) in order to make tho remark that the gold in British Columbia is not all brought down by the Fraser, nor is the source of the gold confined to one region only in the canoe country or elsewhere. The Upper Lilloet Valley is scjiaiated from the Fraser by mountains in such a way as to exclude the idea that its course is through the j'rimeval bed of some lake into which the ancient Fraser emptied all these treasures, or if not, the result would be the saine, since the lake must have included half the colony at least. The lauding and embarking at Port Douglas appears to bo extremely incon- venient. A great part of the town apparently will in June be standing in the water, and so far it will be convenient that barges should come alongside of the stores ; but goods will have to be moved in boats, and I should tliink it must be very unhealthy. It is by far the most active, stirring-looking place we saw, nearly as large as Fort Yale. The shores of Lake Harrison are in general steep to the water, and inac- cessible for roads. There arc some important breaks in the left shore, leading, as is believed, to the Cayoosh Lake. Another, near the foot, is reported by the Indians to lead in three days to the Forks of Thompson River. But tho rapids between the lake and Fraser Paver ofler a very serious obstacle to the navigation here, and it may be that a short portage across from Fraser Itiver into llarrison Lake may be found advisable from a point above the mouth of llarrison I'iver into the lake near the hot spring, which wc did not visit, but named "St. Alice's Well." The distance from the lake to Fraser Eivcr I estimated at 11 J or 12 miles. Tho greater part of this is navigable for vessels of considerable draught. There is a shoal all along the exit from the lake bearing 5 to G feet in its shallowest part. About half-way down to the Fraser a considerable river comes in on the right bank, flowing from the reverse of the mountains, or rather hills, whicli lie west of Harrison Lake. This seems to change ^the nature of the current ; however, from whatever cause, I never saw a river-bed present a similar appearance. The shoals being flat and liable to overflow, the river proper occupies a bed of some mile or mile and a half in width, extremely irregular in depth, gravelly, sometimes 9 feet deep, and at a boat's-length down the stream not 9 inches. The boatmen allege that this is caused by the salmon digging with their snouts. Giving the greatest credit to the fish and lishors for their industry and love of the marvellous, I thought it much ' M*.- 248 I'EauiE's Journey into the Interior of British Cohimhia. moro noivrly rcaomWed the cITcct of tlio "ripiileniark" observed in Bands at low tiilc, mid also in dry sand.i exposed to steady winds. Hut I never saw the ajipearancci on such an cnormons scale. In tho Bunnner, when tho waters arc hi^ili, stern-wheelers can jiass. But it must take a vast increase in tho body of the water, and e([uivaknt to a ;ireal many inches vise in tho Fraser itself, to raise the surface of this |iart of llarrisi.n liivcr by a sinjilc inch, bein<:f very rapid and of the breadth ^ Imve mentioned. Tlie remainder of my route is so well known to your Excellency that I shall j,'!adly brim; this extremely lengthy connnnnication tea close. The chief points which struck mc, to make a brief recajiitulatitju, were, — 1. 'Die ready submission of a foreign population to the declaration of tho will of the Executivo, when expressed clearly and discreetly, however contrary to their wishes. 2. Tho great preponderance of the Callforniciscd element of tho population, and the paucity of British subjects. 3. The great riches, both auriferous and agricultural, of tho country. 4. The great want of some fixity of tenure for agricultural jiurposes. 5. The absence of all means of communication, except by foaming torrents in canoes, or over goat-tracts on foot, which renders all producliims vi' tho coiuilry, exceiit sucli as, like gold, cun be carried \\ilh great case in small Weight and compiiss, practically valueless. JJistaiicoi), Miles. Jounuy. Uouiarks, Fort Yale to— Spuzzem • • 1 Much snow ; regained the river after 4 miles. Quavome (Boston Bar) , , n Ly t- u (Fort Uallas),Thomp- ,, n . son Forks Foster Bar • • H / Fountains • • 1 Cayoosh • • i This is § a day, including the starting, unloading, &c., and ferry : it is a perfectly clear meadow. Seton Foot. Seton Head (length of Lake IJ • • The boatmen say 18 miles. Seton to Lake Anderson) Anderson (the length of Lake • • • • The boatmen say 10 miles. Anderson). Pemberton (on T>ake Lilloet) 24| 2 There is a good halfway- house. Lake Lilloet (length upper lake). Hot springs, incbrding lower 13i 1 lake 6 miles long. Port Douglas (lower end Har- 21 2 Another extra day for mules, rison Lake) hours. 4 days from Lake Lilloet to Port Douglas. Harrison River (from Lake 12 14J From Port Douglas fore winds to Fraser). and down stream. On foot the whole way except on tho lakes and below Harrison Lake. The distances are estimated partly by adding the different distances arrived at as we came along the trail, some by time and estimated rate of speed. We generally walked 7 or 8 hours besides stoppages, sometimes 10 hours.