"1dff84b4-88ff-4890-9f45-7441fa09b9aa"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1586022"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "De Groot, Henry"@en . "2015-05-08"@en . "1859"@en . "\"The author, a newspaper correspondent, spent seven months travelling in the Interior.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 11.

\"The contents of the following pages, were originally published in the columns of the 'Daily Alta California,' where they appeared in a series of articles prepared for that paper.\" -- Preface."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0221821/source.json"@en . "24 pages ; 25 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " BRITISH COLUMBIA;\nITS\nCondition and Prospects,\nm\n5^\nmm, ii!S\u00C2\u00BBl9\nAND\n-:i \u00C2\u00A3 kvuiiiiuo. zi.\nMINERAL RESOURCES,\nCONSIDERED.\nBy HENRY DeGEOOT.\nSAN FRANCISCO :\nPrinted at the Alta California Job Office, 124 Sacramento street, up stairs,\n1859.\nj\nj\nI\ni PREFACE.\nThe contents of the following pages, were oSpgiaally published in the columns of the\nDaily Alia California, where they appeared in a series of articles prepared for that paper.\nAnd although they have thus obtained a vast publicity, the writer has been encouraged to\nthink it might serve a useful purpose, to present them in a collected shape, as furnishing in a\nnarrow compass, the information most desired by the general reader, touching the country of\nwhich they treat. The proximity ef our State to the gold fields of British Columbia, notwithstanding their unhappy experience, naturally attracts the attention of our people that way ;\nand it was with a view to placing before them the most recent and reliable intelligence from\nthat quarter, that the writer engaged in the humble work in question. It was for this, and\nnot because of their literary merit, he has been led to collect these fugitive pieces and present\nthem in their present more pretentious form.\n/\u00C2\u00A3o.\nT) ^ X^l\nBRITISH COLUMBIA:\nITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\nHaving spent the greater part of the past\nseven months traveling through the interior of\nBritish Columbia, in the capacity of newspaper\ncorrespondent, the writer has since his return\nbeen frequently applied to for information\ntouching that region, by parties desirous of\nemigrating thither, or by others willing to canvass the inducements for doing so. As a means\nof answering those inquiries, and embodying\nthe latest authentic intelligence from a quarter\nwhich, despite their recent disappointments, has\nnot ceased to interest our people, he has\ndetermined to publish a short series of articles\non the soil, climate and natural resources of\nthat country, selecting as the medium the\ncolumns of our oldest and most widely extended journal. The writer engages in this\ntask the more readily from the fact that he\nhas, hitherto, found little inducement to publish any considerable portion of the copious\nnotes kept while journeying over Vancouver's\nIsland and the main land; and for the further\nreason, that his views as heretofore exhibited\nare lacking in entireness, several lengthy\nletters designed for publication having failed\nof that end through the uncertain modes of\ntransmission incident to the remote localities\nwhere they were written.\nThis purpose, then, of placing before the\npublic the information gleaned during his\ntravels in a summary and consecutive shape,\nwill form the author's excuse should certain\nof his ideas seem familiar to the reader, or\nshould something of repetition appear in what\nhe may now have to say. It will be his aim,\nhowever, to avoid reiterating what is already\nwell known, and to adduce as many new facts\nin the present writing as he shall have in\npossession or be able to command. It constitutes no part of his plan to write a formal\n\"Vindication of the Praser River Mines;\"\nor to frame apologies for the failures that have\nso frequently attended their working. This is\na business to which he has not felt called\u00E2\u0080\u0094a\nwork, the performance of which, in the absence\nof any disposition or motive on his part, must\nnecessarily be left to others.\nYet it is but just a proper exposition should\nbe given of the causes that led to these failures\nso continuous, general and disastrous, as to\nhave well nigh destroyed all confidence in tne\nmineral wealth of a country, which, but ten\nmonths ago, was, by many, deemed a rival, if\nnot the peer, of California. Candor compels\nthe admission that these untoward results\nwere attributable to the precipitate action of\nthe adventurers themselves, coupled with manifold and all but insuperable obstacles interposed between them and their field of operations, quite as much as to the limited area or\nnon-productive character of the mines. A\nslight examination of the country to be penetrated, and of the circumstances under which\nthis immigration took place, can hardly fail to\nconfirm this opinion, and impress its justness\nupon every candid and dispassionate mind.\nNo special pleading should be tolerated in\nbehalf of these mines, nor should any attempts\nbe winked at for glossing over the fearful\nperils and fatal catastrophies that attended\ntheir opening. \"We have had enough of this\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094and too much, as the thousands returning\nempty-handed, and the hundreds who will no\nmore return at all, can testify. Still, it is meet\nthe public be possessed of all the facts, to the\nend, that being fully advised they may fairly\njudge and intelligently act for themselves.\nIt is, moreover, important that the residents\nof California properly understand the relative\npostion of their own State and these new communities about being planted on their northern\nborder,.and that they fully appreciate the reciprocal advantages likely to arise therefrom\nin the future. This is a point on which, owing\nto a perverted sentiment of patriotism, or a\nnarrow feeling of national jealousy, or, perhaps, to the* low stand-point from which the\nsubject has been viewed, there is much misapprehension in the minds o'f our citizens. We\nhave been apt to consider these colonies of\nBritish Columbia and Vancouver as necessarily\nantagonistic to the interests and progress of\nCalifornia. It has been our wont to regard\nthem simply as rivals\u00E2\u0080\u0094competitors entering\nthe field to bid for population\u00E2\u0080\u0094decoying\nsojourners from our midst, and diverting newcomers from our shores. Some have even affected to see in these distant provinces, so situate on the outer verge of the British empire,\nthe instruments wherewith England hopes to\ncheck our growth and impede our march to\ngreatness, if indeed they may not be the germs\nof a power which is one day to arise and overshadow our Pacific Republics.\nThat England has great purposes to effect in\nthis part of the world, is no doubt true ; that\nshe has grand projects on foot, looking to a\nunion of her North American colonies, and\nL BRITISH COLUMBIA,\nthe opening of a highway from ocean to ocean,\nshe does seek to disguise. That these new\nsettlements on our north are yet to become\ncompetitors for the trade of the East, if not\nthe commercial supremacy of the Pacific, it\nwere useless to deny. Entrepots are soon to\nspring up on these hitherto undisturbed waters ; there will be ship-yards and fisheries\nthere, and to these lands will a numerous people go to dwell and to mine, beyond a perad-\nventnre. If we imagine such things will not\ncome to pass, or flatter ourselves that we can\nretard them by our silence or defeat them by\nour opposition, the sooner we disabuse our\nminds of these beguilings the better. Yet, in\nall these aims of England, so bold, far-reach-\ning, and vast, there is really nothing calculated\nto excite our hostility or alarm our fears ;\nnothing which a magnanimous people should\ndeprecate, or a young and enterprising nation\ndread.\n. On the contrary, this opposition is the very\nthing which, of all others, we most need, and\nwhich, instead of proving detrimental to our\ninterests, would serve to promote them in a\nvariety of ways. Of all the nations on the\nearth we, of California, are suffering the most,\nfrom the want of a stimulus to arouse our dormant energies\u00E2\u0080\u0094some outside pressure to terrify\nU3 into union and activity. Separated from the\nolder communities, with their schemes of internal improvement and other excitant and\nenergizing agents; penetrated by inert masses\nof savage and semi-barbarian life, and surrounded on every hand by peoples of low intellectuality and unaspiring aims ; never did a\nState so much need the stimulus of a generous\nrivalry as ours. Out among the islands we encounter an enervated and decaying race, too\npoor to inflame our cupidity and too imbecile\nto provoke opposition : while stretched along\nour south lies poor, ill-faring, ill-fated Mexico,\nlikewise dying, and too far gone to evoke the\nspirit of \" high emprise,\" or engender a feeling of emulation within us; too far gone to be\nuseful, even as an antagonizing agent, and\nhenceforth to serve only as a sort of territorial\ncatacomb, whence may be dragged a carcass\never as required by that false sense of aggrandizement, which lusts for lands without citizens, and dominion without power.\nThus circumstanced,we are fortunate in having a rival like England to arouse us from our\ntorpidity, to stir our pride and spur us on in\nthe noble contest for opulence and empire.\nNot only this, but the settlement of those ter-\nritoritories so contiguous to our own, must\nspeedily inure the great gain of our people\nby furnishing a steady and lucrative market\nfor almost every species of their surplus products, especially those of the orchard, the\ndairy and the farm,since neither of these colonies\nwill be able, for some time at least, to supply\ntheir own inhabitants with these staples. In a\nword, whatever brings immigration to this\ncoast must necessarily advantage California\nand Oregon, as from them must be obtained\nthe breadstuff's and other prime articles necessary for their subsistance. And so, again, any\nlarge influx of miners or other transient persons drawn this way, whether by the discovery\nof gold, or other attractions, must, in the end,\naugment the population of California, since the\nmanifest superiority of her soil and climate\nwill determine many of them to seek her borders when contemplating a permanent settlement.\n\"Wherefore, view it as we may, while we\nshould adhere strictly to facts in speaking of\nthe resources of these colonies, and abstain\nfrom all undue effort at encouraging emigration thither, it little behooves the friends of\nCalifornia to underrate the advantages of her\nnorthern neighbor or seek to disparage her\nclaims in the estimation of those abroad. It\nrequires but an ordinary share of intelligence\nto see how certainly our welfare must be promoted by her growth, and how intimately our\ninterests are connected with hers. The peopling of her territories will tend to populate\nours ; the increase of her affluence will add to\nour wealth, and the progress of her people\nmust inevitably react on our own.\nBut however we may regard the advent of\nEngland upon our shores, or whatever estimate\nwe may set on the value of her possessions in\nthis quarter, one thing is certain, we have now\ngot to meet her on this side the globe, as we\nhave met her on the other, and encountering\nher enterprise and capital; her practical, patient industry and persistence of purpose, dispute with her for the trade of the East and\nthe empire of the seas. It is no mean stake to\nplay for this\u00E2\u0080\u0094a traffic which, in the middle\nages having successively enriched the commercial republics of Venice, Genoa, and the\ntowns of the Hanseatic, at a biter period\npromoted Spain and Holland to the pinnacle of\nmaritime greatness, has now come to be the\nsubject of the grandest contest recorded in the\nhistory of commercial enterprise. The building of a trans-continental railroad, like the discovery of the Cape, will divert the trade of the\nOrient into a new channel, scattering affluence\nalong its route and ultimately securing politi-'\ncal predominance to the nation who shall enjoy it. Where it runs there wfjl be population,\nand wealth and power ; there will be cities and\nworkshops and cultivated fields, with all the\nglo.ious attendants of civilization ; and where\nit terminates there will be the emporium of the\nPacific\u00E2\u0080\u0094the permanent metropolis of the Occidental world.\nIf England shall precede us in the accomplishment of this work she will have gained an\nadvantage which we cannot readily overcome,\nand which must eventually force .us into the\nrank of a second rate power. As yet, the field\nis clear, and we have a long way the start, yet\nall these advantages will be lost if we longer\nwaste our time in idle dalliance, or suffer our\naction to be impeded by sectional jealousies\nand distracted councils. The time has come\nfor harmonizing our differences and dismissing ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, Ac.\nthese feelings of distrust\u00E2\u0080\u0094for uniting our efforts\nand entering vigorously on the prosecution of\nthe great work to which our duty points, and\nour destiny invites us.\nDDTY QF THE PRESS.\nIt being apparent, then, that the early settlement of the. British Provinces on this coast,\nand the rapid development of thgir resources,\nboth material and industrial, cannot fail to react beneficially on our own State, policy dictates that we encourage emigration thither by\nevery convenient and laudable means in our\npower. That the newspaper press presents the\nmost fit and available agent for effecting that\npurpose, by broadly diffusing correct informa-\n. tion in regard to the country in question, must\nbe obvious to all. Hence, the accomplishment\nof that object may well be considered a part of\nits legitimate duties, since it will tend to subserve the interests of our own people at the\nsame time that it vindicates itself against the\ncharge of dealing unjustly with those Colonies, and renders a good service to the world\nat large. Even if the favorable accounts thus\npromulgated should work the temporary with-\"\ndrawal of a few thousand people from our\nshores, this same intelligence, acting on the\npopulous commnities of the Atlantic slope and\nthe Old World, would soon more than compensate for that loss\u00E2\u0080\u0094bringing us five, perhaps,\nultimately, ten inhabitants to supply the place\nof every one so abstracted. \"Wherefore* while\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2it can hardly be said the journals of California\nhave generally acted unfairly toward this, our\nfirst competitor for population and commercial\npower on the Pacific, it is yet to be hoped that\nwhatever of seeming jealousy may heretofore\nhave been manifested, or whatever of injustice\nmay have been unwittingly done her, our newspaper press, acting in the liberal and catholic\nspirit of the age, will for the future secure our\nnorthern neighbor a full and candid hearing in\ntheir columns.\nDESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.\nBefore proceeding to speakof thegold mines\nof British Columbia, it may be well, as a means\nof illustrating their position and routes of approach, to present a brief description of the\ngeography and natural features of the country,\nin Avhich they are located.\nThe territory constituting what is now the\nProvince of British Columbia, lies between\nthe 49th and SYth degrees of north latitude,\ncorresponding in area with what was formerly\nthe department of New Caledonia. By the late\nact of Parliament, withdrawing it from the jurisdiction of the Hudson Bay Company, and\nerecting it into a Colony, it is bounded as follows : on the south, by the frontiers of the\nUnited States ; on the east, by the main chain\nof the Rocky Mountains; on the north, by\nSimpson's river, and the Finlay branch of the\nPeace river, and on the west, by the Pacific\nOcean. It embraces within its limits Queen\nCharlotte's Island, and all the other islands\nadjacent to the coast, except that of Vancouver.\nAs thus bounded, it has Washington Territory\non its southern, and the department of New\nCornwall on its northern border; while its\nwestern is skirted by the waters of Qneen Charlotte's Sound and the Gulf of Georgia., which,\nwith their numerous canals and inlets deeply\npenetrating the main land, impart to the coast\na very irregular outline. As will appear, from\nan inspection of its limits, British Columbia is\nan extensive region, being nearly 5C0 miles\nlong, from north to south, and 400 wide, thus\ncontaining nearly 200,000 square miles, one-\ntenth more land than the State of California.\nMOUNTAINS.\nThe southern and middle portions of this\nterritory are generally rugged, being crossed\nby several mountain chains of considerable\nelevation and extent. The northern part is\nsaid to be more level. These mountains,\nwhich consist mostly of the Rocky, Cascade\nand Coast Range, with their various spurs, are\nso ramified and diffused as to constitute a single group rather than separate ranges. Their\naverage height is between four and five\nthousand feet, though many of the peaks are\nmuctr more lofty. Some of them lie in long\nridges consisting of shapeless masses of rock ;\nsome are craggy, precipitous and impending,\nwhile others shoot up in splintered spires, or\nare rounded into huge domes like segments of\na shattered world. The lower portions of\nthese mountains are covered with forests, the\nhigher with snow the entire year, which melting keeps the streams heading in, or running\nnear them at a high stage until late in the\nsummer. Nothing can exceed the grandeur of\nthese snow-fields as seen from a distance on a\nclear day, or equal their loneliness and desolation as impressed on the mind when we come\nto visit them. Viewed from the trail along the\ndeep valleys, they are apttoinspire the tourist\nwith a wish to explore their cold and lustrous\nsolitudes. A single day's travel, however,\nacross their still and pathless wastes will be\nvery likely to extinguish that feeling, especially\nif the journey be made in thin clothes, and on\nshort rations, as the writer's experience enables\nhim to attest.\nRIVERS.\nBritish Columbia is not only a land of mountains, but also of lakes and rivers, the latter\nbeing numerous, and in some instances, of large\nsize. Of the entire number, Fraser river is\nmuch the largest, receiving, in fact, the waters\nof nearly all the others, as it passes longitudinally through the centre of the entire territory\nIts principal branches beginning at its mouth\nare, on the left side, Pitt, Harrison, BriAge,\nChillicoaten, \"West-Road, Stuart and Salmon ;\non the right, Anderson, Thompson, Quesnel and\nRough Poplar. It has besides, a vast number\nof smaller tributaries, many of which are swollen into considerable streams during summer.\nMost of its larger branches take their rise in\nextensive lakes and marshes that abound near\ntheir sources ; the smaller chieflly head in the\nmountains and are fed by the melting snows.\nNone of these streafas afford extended facilities for navigation, except the Fraser, which,\natastage-of high water, can be ascended by BRITISH COLUMBIA,\nlight draught steamers to Fort Yale, a point\n110 miles above its month. Harrison river can,\nunder like circumstances, be ascended to Harrison Lake, a distance of ten miles from its\njunction with the Fraser, securing steamboat\nnavigation on that route, by means of the river\nand lake, for over fifty miles. Small steamers\ncould also run on the Fraser between the\nUpper Canon and Thompson's Fork, a stretch\nof twenty-five or thirty miles. The upper portions of this river, however, as well as nearly\nall the others throughout the territory, generally flow with a strong current, broken in\nmany places by falls and rapids, and hence are\nlittle adapted to steamboat navigation.\nLAKES.\nBritish Columbia is in every part thickly\nstndded with lakes, some o'f them of considerable magnitude, and nearly all remarkable for\ntheir great depth of water, a feature traceable\nno doubt, as a general thing, to the abrupt\ncharacter of the mountains in which tbey are\nimbosomed. Some of even the smaller have\nbeen sounded to a depth of 400 feet without\nfinding bottom. In shape, they are usually\nlong and narrow, and in several instances lie\nin chains linked by connecting streams along\ndeep depressions, to all appearance the beds of\nformer rivers. Some of these lakes are between\nfifty and sixty miles long, and from eight to\nten broad. The water is cold the year round,\nand, for the most part, exceedingly clear. To\nthis, however, there are exceptions, as, for example, the Lilooet, the color of which is a dirty\ngreen, caused probably by its feeders running\nover a species of argillaceous earth, that imparts to the water its turbid appearance. A\nfew of the smaller are somewhat alkaline, but\nnot to a degree that forbids their use. During\nthe summer months salmon of an excellent\nquality abound in both the rivers and lakes,\nand form the principal food of the natives, who\ntake them in large quantities, consuming what\nthey require while fresh, and curing the balance\nfor winter use. The salmon season extends\nfrom June to October.\nCLIMATE.\nThe climate of the Pacific coast, as is well\nknown, is no where so severe in the same par-\n. all el of latitude as that of the Atlantic, the\ndifference varying from IS to 20 degrees\u00E2\u0080\u0094that\ns, we have to go some 1,200 miles further\nnorth on the Atlantic side of the continent to\nfind a mean-winter temperature corresponding\nto that on the Pacific side. And though the\nclimate of British Columbia forms no exception to this role, it is somewhat varied, certain\nbelts of country being warm and dry, while\nothers are moist and of a more equitable temperature. Thus we have a district extending\nfrom the month of Fraser river inland about\n150 miles characterized by a humid climate,\nand in which the thermometer of Fahrenheit\nrarely falls below ten or rises above ninety degrees in the course of the year. Throughout\nthis region rain is abundant during the spring,\nsummer and autumn, falling not only in fre\nquent showers, but continuing sometimes for\nseveral days together. Snow also falls here\nin Hie winter from one to two feet, often more\nin the northern part of the district, though\nhardly so much near the sea. It is not apt to\nlay more than a week or two at a time, it then\nmelting and the ground remaining bare for a\nlike interval, to be again succeeded by another fall, and so on throughout the winter,\nwhich generally breaks up in the early part\nof March. The damp and cloudy weather here\nprevalent during the summer prevents the heat\nreaching so high a point as farther in the interior. When the atmosphere is clear heavy\ndews fall at night, and fogs at all seasons of\nthe year are common.\nBeyond this wet section of country, the\nnorthern limits of which crosses the Lilooett\nroute in the vicinity of Anderson's lake, and\nthe Fraser between the Uper Canon and the\nForks, lies a district of about equal breadth,\ncharacterized by greater heat and aridity, and\nwhich though situate further north and generally more elavated, is scarcely any colder in\nthe winter, and has even less snow than the\ncountry further south along the lower Fraser.\nNorth of this, again, is another belt having a\nmore humid climate, showers being frequent\nin the summer, and the winters some what more\nrigorous.\nTaken altogether then, the climate of British\nColumbia though subject to much fluctuation,\nand varying with locality, cannot be considered one of great severity, neither the heat of\nsummer nor the cold of winter reaching such\nextremes as in Canada, or the northern States\nof the Union. As evidence on this point, it\nmay be stated that the snow along the valleys\nof the Upper Fraser and its tributaries, rarely\never exceeds eighteen inches in depth, and\nfor the most part does not even reach six\ninches, while a great portion of the time there\nis none at all on the ground during winter.\nThe larger lakes never freeze over, nor does\nthe Fraser or other large streams ever close\nentirely up. Stock is able to subsist on the\nbunch grass throughout the winter, and even\nwork animals keep in tolerable condition on\nthe rushes that grow in the bottoms without\nother feed. On the divides and more elevated\nplaces, the depth of snow as well as the degree\nof cold, depends of course on the height of the\nlocality; the traveller encountering snow \"in\nsome places he may have to pass, twice as deep\nas that found in the valleys There was no\nsnow or frost of any consequence on the Upper\nFraser river last year, until about the first of\nDecember, when the weather suddenly became\ncold, the snow falling to a depth of five or six\ninches, and even a foot, on the lower part of\nthe river. The smaller streams and tho ditches\nat the same time became covered with ice, and\nthe ground froze to the depth of1 several inches,\ninterfering seriously with, and for the most\npart putting a stop to mining operations. Thit\nweather after continuing for two or three\nweeks, moderated, and (or the next five weeks ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\nbut little snow fell, while the thermometer in\ntwo or three instances only, went below 20 degrees, fluctuating between that point and 45\ndegrees.\nAfter this mild period came another spell of\ncold and varying weather, which held for three\nor four weeks, when the snow and ice mostly\ndisappeared, and the Indians . leaving their\nwinter houses, declared that season at an end.\nThe miners also got to work in their claims,\nand have not since been interrupted. This was\nearly in the month of March, since which\ntime the weather has been constantly growing\nwarmer, the thermometer having fallen but a\nfew times below the freezing point. During\nMarch the weather was showery, with some\nslight frosts and falls of snow in the early part\nof the month.\nMuch the same kind of climate as above described, prevails throughout the regions lying\nbetween and bordering on the Kamloops and\nGreat Okinagan lakes, as well as the extensive\ndistricts to the north and east.\nSOIL.\nAbout the mouth of Fraser river, and extending up that river forty or fifty miles, the country\nis mostly level and somewhat swampy. \"With\nthe exception of a few small prairies, and some\ninconsiderable clearings near Fort Langley, it\nis covered with a dense and heavy growth of\ntimber, as are also the adjacent mountains as\nhigh as the limit of vegetation, above which-\nthey are clad with perpetual snow. The lower\nportions of this flat land near the mouth of the\nriver are nothing but an extended marsh, being\noverflowed by the tides and the stream at its-\nhigher stages, and from the tall thick growth\nof flags with which they are covered strongly\nresemble the tule lands of California. The\nsoil of the prairies and dryer parts, consists of\na black vegetable mold, being warm and'fertile and capable of producing abundantly of\nvegetables and cereals, as the spots about Fort\nLangley, cultivated for many years to grain\nand potatoes, amply prove. In places, however, there is rather too large an admixture of\nsand with a substratum, of gravel and decomposed granite, causing the soil to leach and\nthus readily part with its fertilizing properties.\nThe prairies are covered with rank grass from\nwhich the Company have been in the habit of\nmaking hay for their winter use.\nOn the southern limit of this flat country and\nlying partly on either side of the line, is the\nSmess prairie, of great fertility and considerable extent,which,together with the Chilliwhaick\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2and alsc^the Lilooett meadows at the head of\nLilooett lake, will hereafter claim a more particular notice as constituting the most valuable\nportions of the district under consideration.\nIn passing north we next come to the country\nof the Upper Fraser, with its dry climate, fertile bottoms, table lands and prairies covered\nwith bunch grass and scattered pine trees.\nHere there is a great deal of good land, equally\nfit for gardening and farming with an unlimited amount of pasturage, grass growing every\nwhere, even to the tops of the mountains. The\nonly drawback to the successful cultivation\nof the soil in this region would be the drouth,\nwhich might render irrigation necessary except\nin the more moist and fertile bottoms. That\nmuch of the soil is sufficiently rich in\nitself to produce good crops, admits of no\ndoubt, yet to insure that result irrigation, for\nwhich there are, fortunately, great facilities,\nmight, in many cases, be required. The same\nremark will probably apply with equal force\nto the vast region east of the Cascade Range,\nwhere, it is admitted, there are large bodies\nof land possessing a very prolific soil, and supplying exceedingly desirable places for settlement.\nSCENERY.\nThe scenery in almost every part of British\nColumbia is unique, bold and impressive, while\nin some sections it assumes an aspect of wild\nand gloomy grandeur. Vast mountains, cleft\nto the base by hideous fissures, gigantic forests tangled with undergrowth, sullen lakes\nshaded by lofty cliffs and skirted bysedgy fen-\nlands, sunless valleys, arid plains and rolling\npraries, majestic rivers, cascades, snow-peaks,\nprecipices and foaming torrents form some of\nthe prominent features of the scenery everywhere met with. To the east of the Cascade\nrange the scenery is less striking and varied\nthan elsewhere, though scarcely less attractive,\nthe country abounding in fertile bottoms,\nwatered by numerous wood-fringed streams,\nand in high praries covered with grass and\nflowers and a scanty growth of trees. The\nsame description of soil and scenery applies\nto the valley of Salmon river, and all the\nsouthern tributaries of Thompson's Fork, as\nwell as to the region about Lake Sushwap and\nthe great Okinagan. In going north on the Upper Fraser and its branches, some variation in\nthe landscape is observable; the plains are\nnarrower and the mountain sides more walllike ; springs and streams are more frequent,\nand timber more plentiful, the hills beingoften\nwell wooded, and the praries embossed with\nclumps of trees. A novel and highly picturesque feature is here presented in the terraced\nbanks and park-like parterres running for\nmiles along the deep-chasmed Fraser. Nothing can surpass the beauty of these tablelands\nrising in regular gradations, often three or four\ntier high, and extending back a great distance,\ntheir slopes as even and their angles as sharp\nas if they had been shaped by the hand of man.\nIndeed, it is hard to believe, in view of their\nuniform declivity and clean cut edges, that\nsomething of art has not been employed in\nlaying th em out, or governing their construction.\nIn truth, there is scarce any part of this territory in which even the untutored eye fails to\ndetect something calculated to awaken pleasurable emotions; some object in nature appealing to our appreciation of the beatiful and\nvast. The snow cones, when the sky is clear,\nare especially fitted to arrest the attention and 8\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\nft\nchallenge the admiration of eveD the most\nstolid and prosaic. Cold, pure and sky-piercing, the nearest, though afar off, seem strangely\npresent, while the more distant, as they recede\nfurther and further, fade into cloud-like pavilions scarce distinguishable from the atmosphere into which they seem about to dissolve.\nHardly less grand, and evem more attractive,\nare the water-falls often met with in the mountainous districts. Sometimes these have a\nperpendicular fall of a hundred feet or more ;\nsometimes they rush down the mountain sides\nin a straight shoot two or three thousand feet,\nthe water so dashed into foam that it resembles long frills of drifted snow, or wavy threads\nof silver. Occasionally there are startling\nsounds as well as strange sights to arrest the\nattention of the traveler in these solitudes. At\ntimes a heavy sound like buried thunder may\nbe heard issuing from the cavernous gates, and\nresounding through the chambers of the mountains. It is an avalanche or land-slide, things\nnot unfrequent when the snow melts and the\nfrost leaves the ground on the approach of\nwarm weather. Taken altogether, the scenery\nof British Columbia is exceedingly picturesque,\nvaried and majestic, affording a rich and ample field for the explorations of the tourist, as\nwell as the inquiries of the savant and the study\nof the artist, some of whom have already\nsought it in the prosecution of their researches\nand the exercise of their calling.\nSALUBRITY.\nThat the climate of Vancouver's Island, as\nwell as of the main land, is extremely favorable to health is pretty well established by the\nexperience of the large number who visited\nthat section last year; as also by the testimony\nof the old residents, nearly all of whom have\nbeen remarkably exempt from disease. Notwithstanding the hardship, deprivation and\nexposure tc which thousands of the Fraser\nriver adventurers were subjected, and the\nsevere labor they were called upon to perform,\nthere was very little sickness amongst them,\nwhile the deaths from disease were almost\nnone at all. When it is considered that these\nmen were, as a general thing, very unfavorably\nsituated for the preservation of. health\u00E2\u0080\u0094many\nof them proceeding to the mines in open boats,\ncrossing a stormy gulf in their passage, toiling up rapid streams week after week, encamping on the damp ground, almost constantly wet from the falling rains, or wading\nin ice-cold water, exhausted with dragging\ntheir boats up rapids, or making portages\nround falls; often annoyed by Indians, and\nnot unfrequently suffering from insufficiency\nof food\u00E2\u0080\u0094it speaks well for the sanitary character of the climate that they should have experienced such a general immunity from sickness\nand disease. Not only so, but these men,\nwith scarcely an exception, increased largely\nin flesh at the very time they were being subjected to these deprivations and toils\u00E2\u0080\u0094adding\nto their weight beyond precedent, and enjoying\nmore robust health than ever before. It was\nno uncommon thing to hear men boast of this\nincrement, which in some cases, was really\nquite extraordinary.\nThe circumstances under which the first\nemigration to Fraser river took place, were\ncertainly as little conducive to health as those\nattending the early settlement of the California mines, yet the proportional amount of\nsickness in the two cases, shows greatly to our\ndisadvantage\u00E2\u0080\u0094the difference being as three to\none against us.\nThe most frequent cause of ailment in\nBritish Columbia has, thus far, been rhuma-\ntism; apparently the only endemic disease as\nyet developed in the country; though it does\nseem a little strange that fever and ague should\nscarcely be known, though there is much\noverflowed and marshy land, productive of\nthose miasmatic exhalations on the presence\nof which this malady is dependent. That this\nmaleria is so little virulent is probably owing\nto the fact that the district where it most prevails, is situate near salt water, being thus\ninfluenced by the sea breezes and the tides.\nBut whatever the cause, it is undeniable that\nthe climate of British Columbia is both invigorating and salubrious, and one to which the\nimmigrant may repair with as little apprehension as to any other on the coast, or perhaps\nany other on the face of the globe.\nINDIANS.\nThe native races dwelling in the territory\nof British Columbia, although resembling each\nother in their physical appearance and other\nleading characteristics, indicating identity of\norigin, are still divided into numerous tribes,\neach having a distinct name, and for the most\npart, speaking a different language. In some\ninstances they seem to have been grouped into\nlarger communities or confederations, having\nthe same appellation, being that perhaps of the\nmostpowerfnl or influential oftheir number. In\nother cases names have been supplied them by\nthe whites, but which, suggested often by\nmere caprice or accident, do not appear to have\nbeen recognized very fully by the aborigines\nthemselves. Thus the term Carrier was applied at an early day to the tribes living along\nthe upper Fraser; and still later the word\nCouieau was used to designate not only the\ninhabitants, but also the country further\nsouth; it being a corruption of the' Indian\nNicoutameen, the name of a numerous tribe on\nthe lower Fraser, and which from its resemblance to the French, couteau, a knife, was\nreadily converted into that term by the voy-\nageurs. The application of a word of such sanguinary significance to this people, was some-'\nwhat mal appropo, since, as would \u00C2\u00ABeem, they\nwere rather distinguished for theirpacific'pro-\nclivities, than otherwise. At best, there would\nappear to have been much confusion in the\nmanner of naming these tribes, scarce two\nauthorities agreeing as to the title by which\nany particular portion of them should be\nknown, or the precise limits of their territorial possessions. Some writers have made the\nentire number of people occupying this region\nto consist of two great nations: the Takali ITS SOIL;, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\nor Carriers, at the north, and the Atnahs or\nSushiwaps further south. Some have divided\nthem into Cbilcotins, Kuz Lakes, Naskotins,\nTalkotins and Atnahs or Chin Indians. While\nothers have designated them by still different\nnames, or assigned to tbem boundaries widely\ndiverse. From all which it is evident their\ntribal limits are illy defined, and their geographical nomenclature sufficiently crude and\n'unsettled.\nTo account for this confusion and illustrate\nhow these territorial boundaries maybe made\nto suffer a nominal expansion, a case of recent\noccurrence, might be cited as in point. The\n.Lilooett] nation, once powerful, but now reduced to a few hundred persons,- having given\ntheir name to a lake and river near their village, the same came afterwards to be applied\nto tlie new route opened by Government along\nthese waters, and, finally to the country adjacent, until at present the whole region is in\npopular parlance termed the Lilooett, and it is\ncommon to hear both whites and Indians\nspeak of going to the Lilooett, when perhaps\nthey simply mean the terminus of the Trail,\nor other point far distant from the home of\nthat people. Extended inquiry, however, into\nthisbranch of knowledge, could hardly prove\nprofitable, since the Indian notions on the subject are quite as crude and indefinite as those\nof the whites. Nor is it at all a matter of\npractical moment, since in addressing these\n-races, it will be found a sufficient lingual at-\ntainmcnt to have mastered the terms \"Siwash\"\nand \" Clootchman,\" these being well understood by all,\"and as likely to insure attention\nas words expressive of individual or national\nentity.\nEach village, or tribe, is governed by a Jyhe'ey\nor chief, whose authority, though rather arbi-\n. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 trary, does not seem to be very extended or\nwell defined, being as much dependant on personal prowess and wealth, as on any fixed rules\nor hereditary rights. The amount of property\npossessed by these Sagamores, such as canoes,\nhorses, blankets, guns, wives, slaves, etc.,\nmostly determines the extent of thqir influence,\nand consequent authority, not only with their\nown people but also with their neighbors. By\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 the same rule is measured the degree of honor\nto be awarded them after death. Besides these\nleading men, there are Sitcinn Tyhees, or half\nchiefs, who aid the principals in the discharge\nof their duties, or act for them in their absence*\nA.fierce spirit of animosity prevails amongst\nmany of these tribes 5 a feeling that formerly\nmanifested itself in. sanguinary wars, wherein\nwhole communities were cut off or reduced to\n.. slavery. Since the presence of the whites\namongst them, this hostility has been so far\nni restrained as to spend itself for the most part\nin private feuds, murders and petty skirmishes,\n-, with occasional forays on a weaker neighbor,\noften attended with circumstances of treachery\nand cruelty, and almost always conducted in a\nmanner reflecting unfavorably on the magnanimity and courage of the party assailant. To\npretend, however, that these Indians are any\nworse, or to claim that they are any better than\nlike races elsewhere, or to say there is any\nmore or any less virtue and intelligence extant\namongst them, would be disingenuous, and argue an ignorance of savage life generally. As\nwith similar types of men elsewhere, their virtues are few and ieeble, their vices multiplied\nand inveterate\u00E2\u0080\u0094appetite being apt to predominate over the sense of right, and passion over\nreason ; yet they are by no means a dangerous\npeople to dwell amongst, or a difficult one to\nmanage, as the success of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany in their dealings with them fully\nshows. The tribes about Kamloops and on the\nupper Fraser, even to the far north, are especially honest, intelligent and tractable, and\nwithal, generally well disposed towards the\nwhites. They are also physically greatly the\nsuperiors of the tribes further south, being\nmuch more athletic and well formed. Their\nfeatures, too, are, as a general thing, more regular and prominent, some of them having a\ncontour of face highly classical; a circumstance less attributable, perhaps, to any original superiority of the race, than to the pre's-\nence of the whites amongst them. Indeed, it\nis well known that the Jesuit missionaries, at\nan early period in the colonial history of\nCanada, in thejx,zeal to propagate the tenets of\nthe church, penetrated to the remotest parts of\nthe continent,carrying their religion far beyond\nthe limits of civilization, and planting it on the\ndistant banks of the Saskatchawan and the\nFraser. Here for years, secluded from the\nworld, these holy men labored with results so\nbeneficial to the spiritual and material nature\nof their neophytes as have led the devout to\ncanonize them for their self-denying toil, and\nthe physiologist to infer that the Good Fathers\nhad impressed somethingof their own physical\nlineaments on these rude children of the wilderness, while seeking to engraft the shoots of\nevangelical truth on their simple faith.\nThe extent to which the efforts of these\nearly heralds of the Gospel were successful, is\nevinced not only in the sftmewhat improved\nmorality of these northern tribes, but also by\nthe extent of their knowledge of the cardinal\ndoctrines, and their familiarity with the ceremonial observances of the church. The stranger is surprised on falling in with these people\nto find them making the sign of the cross in\ntoken of their Christian belief, while kneeling,\ngenuflexion and the murmuring of set prayers\nare practiced on every befitting occasion. The\ncrucifix is universally regarded as an object of\nveneration, and it is related by the voyageurg\nwho have penetrated far into the interior, that\nit is no uncommon thing to find rude crosses\ntainted on the lodges and deserted huts, or\ncut on the trees in those distant wilds, to which\nthe natives bow in daily adoration, paying\ntbem genuine homage as the emblems of a\nhigher and better faith, taught them by men\nwho came to benefit and bless, instead of\ncheat and despoil them, as has since too often 10\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\nI\nbeen the practice of the whites. As evidence\nof the progress made by these people, not in\nthe mere rituals only, but also in the essential\ndoctrines of the Christian religion, as well as\nof their generally enlightened notions of\nmorality and justice, an incident may be adduced that occurred at the Fountain in Jan\nuarylast: An Indian, belonging to the village at that place, having committed a trifling\noffence, fled to the north, taking refuge with a\npowerful tribe, governed by a chief named\nGuillaume, in the neighborhood of Fort Alexander. This personage, whose authority is\nvery extended, being recognized in a general\nway by most of the tribes north of the Fountain, and who had already heard of the difficulties between the Indians and the whites the\npreceding summer, instead of screening the\nfugitive by affording the coveted protection,\nhad him arrested, and setting out with a\nFrom the above, it will be seen that these\npeople, however we may call them savages, or\ntreat them as such, are by no means deficient\nin the religious sentiment, or ignorant of the\ncode of Christian ethics. It is not always that\ncriminal cases are abjudicated with so much\ngood sense as in the example just recited; nor\nis it every tribunal that so effectually attains\nthe true aims of punishment, while it so fully\nvindicates the claims of justice. Indeed, a\nfiner instance of well directed benevolence\u00E2\u0080\u0094of\nthe rigor of law, tempered with merited clemency, is not often met with. Nor would it be\neasy to find, even within the pale of civilized\nlife, one endowed with more native goodness,\nor whom we' would so instinctively trust, as\nthis same unschooled Chief of the Carrier Nation. When looking into his calm and benignant face, one can hardly believe that the labors of the contemned and world-feared Jesuit\nnumerous retinue, brought him in mid-winter I were all fruitless of good, since he sees the re-\nall the way to the Fountain, a distance of flex of their teachings there, and reads in every\nnearly two hundred miles, where he delivered act of this old man's life a living illustration\nhim into the charge of Alexander MacCrellish, of the doctrines of Jesus.\nthen an official at that place. The foregoing case has been presented thus\nThis gentleman, in view of the trifling broadly not so much for its intrinsic interest,\nnature of the alleged offence, handed the as because it serves to throw light on the con-\naccused over to his own people, to be dealt dition and character of a race with whom\nwith as they might see fit. A council having some portion of our own people may hereafter\nbeen called, and the case examined, the pris- come in contact, inasmuch as they inhabit a\noner was found guilty, and condemned to be district in which the mosi prolific part of the\npublicly whipped, a sentence that was forth- Fraser river mines is supposed to be located,\nwith carried into effect. This species of pun- Being timely advised as to the disposition or\nishment is one of which the Indian has a other peculiarities of the natives, those enter-\nspecial dread, not so much for the physical ing their territory will know how to approach\npain attending as the social degradation attaching to its infliction. After receiving it,\nthe culprit, unless previously rendered insensible to shame, is apt to avoid, for the time being, the society of his fellows, and withdrawing, sit apart, bowed down with a sense of\nhumiliation. From\"the\"Stigma of his disgrace\nand regulate their intercourse jvith them, thus\nsecuring advantages that might otherwise be\nlost, and avoiding difficulties into which,\nthrough ignorance or misapprehension, they\nmight be betrayed. As has been stated then,\nthe Indians on the upper Fraser are morally\nand physically superior to the tribes further\nhe is not readily relieved, unless restored to I south, as well as those generally met with on\ngood standing at the time by those who have American territory. And although they are\ndecreed his punishment\u00E2\u0080\u0094an act of clemency averse to having the whites enter their coun-\nfrequently extended to the culprit on his mani- | try, there will be no active opposition, once\nfesting a due degree of contrition, coupled\nwiththepromiseofamendnient. Our hero onthis\noccasion, having placed himself in this category,\nwas graciously reinstated by the considerate\nand kind hearted Guillaume, who had just be-\nthey find it inevitable. Indeed, by the observance of a little tact and good management,\nthe new comers may not only gain easy ingress\nto the country, and procure the objects of their\nvisit in peace, but also secure the friendship of\nfore passed sentence upon him. The act of grace I the natives and render them highly serviceable\nwas conducted as follows :\u00E2\u0080\u0094A bountiful feast to them in their labors.\nhaving been prepared\u00E2\u0080\u0094the supplies generously There are two lines of policy or modes of\ndonated by Mr. MacCrellish\u00E2\u0080\u0094all the prin- treatment, either of which is tolerably effective\ncipal men were gathered about the board, after in the conduct of our intercourse with the In-\nwhich, a blessing having been invoked in true dians. One of these adopts the plan of yield-\nChristian style, the transgressor was beckoned ing to his caprices, falling in with his notions,\nto draw near. This he did, approaching on and accommodating ourselves to his peculiar\nhis knees, when the old Chief, placing his ities and modes of living, as is apt to be the\nhands on the repehtant's head, kindly soothed practice of the French. The other consists in\nhis sorrow and quited his sobs, whispering to treating him with kindness and justice, but at\nhim in the meantime words of consolation and the same time making few concessions to his\nencouragement, and finally imploring the aid views or wishes while we sternly mould him\nof the Great Spirit to strengthen his good reso- to our own purposes, and compel him to yield\nlutions, pronounced a benediction, declared in everything essential to our success and\nhis forgiveness, and invited him to partake of comfort,\nthe repast, a privilege denied other attendants. | Either of these modes, as has been stated, if ITS SOIL; CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\n11\nconsistently carried out, will answer very well, ' others, the quarters of the laborers and me-\nbut it is the misfortune of the Americans that chanics; also spacious storehouses for the re-\nwhile they attempt both they adhere strictly ception of goods and furs, with shops for ear-\nto neither, it being too much their custom to penters, coopers, blacksmiths, &c,and a powder\nbully and abuse the Indian at one time, thus magazine, built of brick or stone. The more\narousing his enmity and opposition, and to important posts have, in addition, a school-\ntrifle with him at another thereby encouraging house and chapel. The whole establishment\n.him to disobedience and incurring his con- is surrounded by a stockade fifteen or twenty\ntempt. By pursuing a* course dignified but feet high, inside of which, near the top, is a\nconciliatory, kind but firm, the troubles, or gallery, with loop-holes for muskets. This\nrather miserable squabbles, into which our\npeople are so apt to be involved, might for the\nmost part be avoided. Let it be borne in mind\nthat the tribes of which we are speaking are\nnot the degraded, sensual creatures elsewhere\nmet with, ready to submit tamely to the indignities of the white man, or pander to his lust.\nWith these, female purity is carefully preserved\nand highly prized\u00E2\u0080\u0094conjugal infidelity or other\nspecies of incontinence being of rare occurrence. If our people will bear these facts in\nmind, and regulate their conduct accordingly,\nthey will have little to fear from -the opposition\nor enmity of these not very sanguinary, nor yet\naltogether savage tribes.\nPOSTS OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.\nLocated in various parts of British Colum-\npicket-work is flanked with bastions of which\nthere are generally two, placed at diagonal.\ncorners These mount several small pieces,\nof cannon and are also amply pierced for musketry. Seen from a distance these posts present a rather formidable appearance, and\nthough capable of offering but slight resistance\nto artillery, have ever been found sufficient to\noverawe the Indian or resist his attacks.\nFORT LANGLEY.\nIn ascending Fraser river, the first fort\narrived at is Langley, on the south bank of\nthe river, twenty-five miles from its mouth.\nIt is an old and extensive establishment, at\npresent under the supervision of Mr. Tale. The\nCompany have a large farm at this place, with\na considerable amount of stock. The land,\nbia the Hudson's Bay Company have a number cleared of heavy timber, is said to produce\nof forts or trading establishments for carrying good crops, and in the garden attached to the\non their traffic with the native tribes. These fort vegetables grew last summer with the\nposts generally bear*thename of some member greatest luxuriance, while the apple trees were\nof the Company, or other individual prominent loaded down with fruit. There are many little\nin their service. They are all constructed on\nthe same general plan, differing only as to the\nnumber or dimension of their buildings, being\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 governed in these particulars by the importance of the trade at the point where they are\nlocated. In founding a post reference is always\nhad to accessibility, the number of Indians,\nd\nprairies in the neighborhood, which being covered with coarse grass, afford ample feed for\nstock as well as hay for winter use. The Company had large stores of goods at this po3t last-\nseason, it being a sort of distributing point to\nplaces above, and to which many of the miners\nand traders came for supplies. There is an\nand the abundance of fur-producing animals Indian village on the opposite side of the river\nin the neighborhood. It is also desirable that containing the remnant of a once numerous\nthere be some good land convenient, that a tribe, but like most of the race in this part of\nsufficient supply of grain and vegetables may be the country, they have become not only greatly\nraised for the wants of the place. These latter, reduced in numbers but sadly demoralized,\nhowever, and even bread have often to be and it is questionable whether their services or\ndispensed with by these hardy employes of the\nCompany, their only food being salmon or\nother fish, with such wild fruits as the Indians\nmay gather, and an occasional contribution of\ngame. Of the latter they obtain but a very\nscanty supply, every species of animal being\nscarce throughout the Territory owing to the\npertenacity with which they have long been\nhnnted both for their petries and flesh. Yet,\nat a number of these establishments, not\nonly gardening but also farming, has been carried on to a considerable extent, while large\nnumbers of neat cattle have been raised and\nn some instances also sheep.\nThe site selected for these forts is generally I Fort Yale during high water,\na spot on the bank of a lake or river, suffici- having reached that point once\nentiy elevated to command the surrounding The passage, however, will always be attended\ncountry. The buildings are constructed of with difficulty and some degree of danger.\nhewed timber, and vary from a single block-1 fort tale.\nhouse to fifteen or twenty in number. Theyj This place is fourteen miles above Fort Hope\n' consist of one or two large houses for the ac- and on the opposite or west bank of the river,\ncommodation of tile officers and clerks, and | The original post consisted of a single log hut.\ntrade can hereafter prove of much advantage\nto the Company, or any one else.\nFORT HOPE\nIs the next post met with in going up the\nriver, on the same side with Langley, and seventy miles above it. It is an old settlement, at\npresent in charge of Mr. Walker, and consists\nof.three block buildings within a picketed in-\nclosure. Being of limited capacity and somewhat dilapidated, additional houses have been\nerected for the accommodation of the very extensive trade carried oh, this place having thus\nfar proved the head of steamboat navigation.\nSuitable steamers, it is thought, can run to\nthe Umatilla\nlast summer. 12\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\nof small dimensions, without any palisade or\nother military surroundings. Last year a large\nblock store in addition was erected. This has\nsince been kept well stocked with goods, which\nhave been sold at a moderate profit, however\nthe market might at times have justified higher\nprices. The post is named after Mr. Yale, now,\nas has been stated, Chief Trader at- Langley.\nHe is an old and efficient servant of the Company, having been on Fraser river over thirty\nyears, during which time he has been but once\nabsent from the, Territory. Mr. Alvord is at\npresent Superintendent at this place.\nFORT DALLAS AND FORT BERENS. \\nThe former of these posts is situated about\nfifty miles above Fort Yale, on the east bank of\nthe river, and three miles below the mouth of\nThompson's Fork. It is named after Mr. Alex.\nG. Dallas, a son-in-law of Governor Douglas,\na gentleman whose efficient\u00C2\u00ABervices and liberal\nviews have alike secured him the confidence of\nthe Company and the respect of the public,and\nwho, in the estimation of all, is deemed justly\nto merit the compliment thus paid him. The\nbuildings not yet occupied, being in an unfinished state, are located on a handsome grassy\neminence, overlooking the river, toward which\nit slopes with an even and gentle declivity.\nThey will be completed and brought into use\nthe present summer, there being a numerous\nmining population in the vicinity. Fort Berens,\nalso named after a member of the Company, is\nSituated on the same side of the river, fifty\nmiles above Fort Dallas, at a point opposite the\nterminus of the new trail opened through the\nLilooett country to the upper Fraser. It occupies a magnificent table land, commanding a\nview for many miles up and down the river,\nand though laid out on an extensive scale, is\nin a still more unfinished state than Fort Dallas ; yet,likethe latter, is to be finished and occupied during the present spring or summer.\nFORT KAMLOOPS.\nMaking a deflection one hundred miles east,.\nwe. arrived at Fort Kamloops, also called Fort\nThompson. It is situated on the North Branch\nof Thompson's Fork, near its junction'with the\nmain stream, and a little above the head of\nSushwap Lake, in the midst of an extended and\nhighly fertile bottom. It is the only post the\nCompany have in the interior of British Columbia to the east of Fraser river-\u00E2\u0080\u0094Fort Colville,\non the Columbia, at one time thought to be on\nthe English, having been ascertained by the\nlate survey to be on the American side of the\nline. It is the intention of the Company to\ncarry it to their own side this summer, and\nre-erect it under the name of Fort Shepherd,\nas a mark of respect for the present Governor of\nthe Hudson's Bay Company. There are several\nhundred acres of land under cultivation near\nFort Kamloops, a large proportion being\nplanted to potatoes, which grow here with little culture, and of an excellent quality. Wheat\nand other cereals also thrive well^the yield\nbeing abundant and the crop quite certain.\nThere is also a fine range for stock in the\nneighborhood, the cows and oxen, of which\nthere are several hundred head, with a large\nnumber of horses, keeping fat through the\nsummer, and in tolerable condition through\nthe winter, though none except the working\nanimals receive any fodder, unless, perhaps, it\nbe a little straw. The Indian Chief, Paul, living near the Fort, owns a large amount of stock,\nthe sale of which to the whites of late has rendered him quite wealthy. This post is under\nthe management of chief trader McLean, a\nman held in great awe by the surrounding savages, from his summary and decisive manner\nof dealing with offenders. Indeed, he is quite\nremarkable for his reckless intrepidity, even\namongst a class distinguished for cool and\ndetermined courage.\nFORT ALEXANDRIA.\nReturning, and follwing up the Eraser over\n150 miles above Fort Berens, we arrive at Fort\nAlexandria, or as it is commonly called, Alexander, being named after Sir Alexander Mac-\nKenzie, who indicated the spot as favorable\nfor a station as early as 1793. Having reached\nthis point on his journey of exploration, this\ncelebrated traveler being advised by the natives\nof the dangerous navigation of the river below,\nand conscious that he was already near the\nPacific, directed his course toward the west,\nand stricking the Salmon river, followed it to\nits disemboguement in one of those deep canals\nthat penetrate the coast of British Columbia\nin such a remarkable manner. It is the principal post of the company in this region, being\na sort of depot for receiving the produce\ngathered at the stations still further on, of\nwhich there are a number, all however of\nsecondary importance. This Fort is situated\non the east bank of the Fraser, nearly in latitude 52\u00C2\u00B0 N. The country adjacent is open and\npicturesque, and is said to afford good hunting\ngrounds, whence the Indian procuring an\nabundant supply of skins, that trade has always\nbeen active at this point.\nTo the southwest of Alexandria, some fifty\nmiles, is Fort Chilcotin, onariver,neajr a lake,\nand in the country of a tribe all bearing the\nsame name. These people were once numerous, and their land abounding in- beaver and\nother fur-producing animals, it was deemed\nadvisable to establish a post amongst them.\nSubsequently, however, their number being\nreduced through war and disease, their trade\nproved profitless, and this station like several\nothers further north, has been abandoned or is\noccupied only as occasion may require. In\nthis catalogue may be enumerated Fort George,\none hundred miles north of Fort Alexandria,\nat the junction of Stuart and Fraser rivers,\nand the still more inconsiderable stations of\nFort Fraser, McLeod and St, James.\nFORT SIMPSON.\nThe only remaining post requiring special\nmention is that of Fort Simpson, situated on\nChathams Sound, in the extreme northwest\ncorner of British Columbia, adjacent to the\nRussian Possessions. Located on a fine bar- ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\n13\nbor, the neighboring waters abounding in fish,\nand the land in wild animals, the centre of a\nlarge number of active and thriftv tribes, it\nenjoys a large and lucrative trade. It is the\nmart for all the various northern Indians, being\nfrequented not only by those on the main land,\nbut also by the inhabitants of Queen Charlotte's Island, and the Russian Possessions.\nIt is called after Sir George Simpson, formerly\na Governor of the Company, and is frequently\nvisited by steamers from Victoria, which carry\nup large quantities of goods adapted to the\nIndian trade, and return freighted with the\ncommodities procured in exchange, j\nGOLD MINES\u00E2\u0080\u0094THEIR EARLY HISTORY.\nThe existence of gold on Thompson's Fork,\nand possibly on other tributaries of the Fraser,\nhas been known to the Hudson Bay traders for\nthe last five or six years, the Indians having\nbeen in the habit of bringing in small quantities and exchanging it for other commodities\nduring this time. Mr. McLean, Chief Trader\nat Kamloops, procured some dust from the natives as early as '52, since which period more\nor less has been received at this and other posts\nof the Company, chiefly on Fraser river. The\namount thus obtained, though perhaps consid-\nderable in the aggregate, was not so large as\ncommonly conjectured, having been insufficient\nto awaken a suspicion in the minds of these\ntraders that diggings remunerative to white\nlabor existed in that quarter ; at least so little\ndid they concern themselves about the matter,\nthat others were left to make the final discovery\nwhich has resulted in so rapidly populatingthe\ncountry.i The finding of paying placers in this\nregion was not an event, however, of such sudden or recent occurrence as is generally supposed, various parties having prospected the\nbanks of Thompson's river and its branches at\ndifferent times since the opening of the Colville\nmines in the fall of '55, and always with results showing that moderate wages could be\nmade on that stream, though notsuch as would\nthen justify men remaining, the prices of provisions being enormously high, and the Indians\ndisposed to be troublesome. During the summer and fall of'57, a number of persons, being\nmostly adventurers from Oregon and Washington Territories, or the Colville mines, together\nwith a sprinkling of half-breeds and Canadian\nFrench, formerly in the Company's service,\nmade their way into the country on the upper\nFraser, where, prospecting in the neighborhood of the forks, tiiey found several rich bars,\non which they went to work, continuing operations with much success, until forced to leave\nfrom want of provisions orlthe approach of\ncold weather. Coming to Victoria, or returning whence they came, these men sprgad\nabroad the news of their good luck and laid\nthe foundation for the excitement that soon after followed.\nThis intelligence reached San Francisco\nearly in '58, and being confirmed by subsequent reports, spreadrapidlythrough the State,\naffecting every class, and causing a general\nstampede, until culminating about the middle\nof July, the movement had transferred full\ntwenty thousand people from California to this\nnew field of enterprise and exertion. How\nthis all turned out in the end it is now useless\nto inquire, nor is it worth while to attempt indicating the particular agencies through which\nit was brought about. Some have attributed\nit to the efforts of the shipping interest operating through the press, while others, with more\nreason and fairness, have detected its main\nspring in the private advices sent from the\nmines, and the naturally impulsive spirit of\nour people, who, in like case, have ever shown\na penchant for acting first and deliberating afterwards. That the newspaper press can be\njustly charged with any such complicity no\n| well informed person will contend, since it\nwould be difficult to find a single line in the\neditorial columns of any journal in the State\ncalculated to magnify the wealth of those\nmines, or encourage emigration thither. It\nthe directors of the press published letters, or\nextracts from other papers calculated to produce that end, it was simply discharging their\nduty as impartial journalists, which requires\nthey shall present every side of a question engaging the public attention, however it may\nconflict with individual interest or their own\nprivate opinions.\nThe truth is, every class of persons was more\ninfluenced by private letters received from\nparties who had already proceeded to Fraser\nriver than by anything that appeared in the\nnewspapers. It cannot be forgotten, that the\nmining community, recalling how often they\nhad been mislead by similar rumors, took\nevery precaution to guard against their being\ndeceived in this instance; companies and small\ncamps frequently delegating one of the most experienced and trusty of their number to go\nand examine what foundation there might be\nfor these flying stories, and report accordingly.\nAnd it was on these reports, or intelligence\nderived through like sources, that people for\nthe most part acted. Sometimes a secret note\naddressed to a friend advising a hasty visit to\nthe new Dorado, would gain publicity, and\nforthwith a general scamper would ensue,\nscores rushing away who never would have\nthought of going from anything they might\nsee in the public prints. More than once a\nsingle letter so received from a precocious ad-'\nventurer has had the effect to depopulate a\nfarming district to an extent that seriously\ninterfered with the gathering of the harvest.\nBut why this vindication of the newspaper\npress, or wherefore these excuses for the conduct of our people ? Perhaps they did not err\nin their judgment so widely, or act so very\nfoolishly after all. Let us review a little and\nsee how this is. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nHere was a river reaching many hundred\nmiles inland, the banks of which along its lower portion were rich in gold, to all appearance\nwashed down from above. Upon several\ntributaries of this river good diggings had also 11\n14\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\nbeen found. Adjacent to the region traversed\nby it, and lying between the same mountain\nranges were extensive placeres, that had been\nsuccessfully worked for years. What was\nthere then, so preposterous in supposing an\nauriferous region existed along the banks of this\nstream ? Was it not reasonable to conclude\nsuch was the case ? Was not this a fair deduction\u00E2\u0080\u0094an inference warranted by geological\nscience and our gold mining experience? Of\ncourse it was; and herein the press has ample\njustification for the course it pursued, and every\nFraser-river adventurer a sufficient reason for\nthe hope that was in him. It must be admitted we were mistaken\u00E2\u0080\u0094possibiy in our estimate of the magnitude and value of these\nmines, though this remains to be proved ; but\ncertain it is, we misapprehend their precise locality, and the difficulties we should have to\nencounter in reaching them. Apart from this,\nno very great blunder was committed after all.\nWe had what seemed safe data for action; and\nhowever we may now speak of it as a delusion,\nor denounce it as a humbug, it is not always\nour people have so sound a basis for theirfinan-\ncial and commercial speculations, or industrial\nprojects, as had this widely execrated and sufficiently unfortunate Fraser river movement.\nAnd although it has become the fashion to rank\nit with Gold lake expeditions and South sea\nschemes\u00E2\u0080\u0094projects purely speculative or wholly visionary\u00E2\u0080\u0094it may safely be affirmed that\n'.before two years more shall have passed, these\nmines will redeem themselves from the odium\nI of the comparison, if they do not fully realize\nthe expectations of the pioneer crowd, all of\n(whom sought them too early, and many of\nwhom left them too soon'. . That this opinion\nof their future may not seem too sanguine, let\nus examine for a moment, j\nTHEIR PRODUCTIVENESS AND EXTENT.\nIf we begin at Fort Hope, and follow up Fraser river to the vicinity of Fort Alexander, we\nshall have passed over a stretch of country\nmore than 300 miles long, all of which is\nauriferous. Some pay diggings have been\nfound below Fort Hope, and to what extent\nthe country above the highest point mentioned\nmaybe gold producing, has not yet been ascertained. Nearly all the bars within this scope,\nsome of which are very extensive, contain a\nlarge amount of pay dirt. The high banks in\nsome places have also shown a good prospect,\nwhile gold in small quantities has been found\neven on the table lands and sides of the mountains. But the gold fields of British Columbia\nare not confined to the banks of the Fraser.\nSeveral of its tributaries are known to abound\nin the precious metal; the yield of some having been quite as prolific as any part of the\nmain stream itself. The banks of Bridge river,\nfor forty miles up, \"TTave furnished very satisfactory diggings, the dust being coarse, of good\nquality and easily saved. The bars on Thompson's Fork, as high up as Nicholas river, \"have\nuniformly paid fair wages. Above that they\nhave not generally, thus far, proved remunerative. Along Nicholas, Bonaparte and Tran-\nquille rivers, all branches of the Fork, the diggings that will pay moderate wages\u00E2\u0080\u0094say four.-\nor five dollars per day\u00E2\u0080\u0094may be measured by\nthe acre. On the latter stream parties mining\nwith rockers, averaged five dollars a day, during all last autumn. It has been prospected for\nforty or fifty miles, showing dirt along all that\ndistance that would pay equally well. Gold has\nalso been found in other directions, and on waters far separated from the Fraser. On the Lilooett river, reaching from one end to the other, are\nnumerous bars on which small wages can be\nmade. The extreme fineness and levity of the\ndust, however, together with the long continued stage of high water, the bars being gen-:\nerally low, will preclude any chance, of successful mining on this stream, unless carried on\nby some improved process, or during the three\nor four months preceding the commencement\nof cold weather.\nSuch are the limits of the Fraser river gold\nfields as ascertained by actual exploration.\nHow much they may be enlarged by future\ndiscoveries, or how rich these partially prospected streams may eventually prove, is matter\nfor conjecture. That the multitude who resorted to them have been put poorly rewarded\nfor their loss of time and outlay of money\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthat capital has met with indifferent returns,\nand merchandise netted but sorry profits, is\nlamentably true. Yet all this loss, disappointment and disaster, is not to be set down to the\nnarrow limits or poverty of the mines. As has\nbeen said, the laborer could not reach the\nactual mining district until too late in the\nseason for successful operations. Besides, a\nvery large percentage of those who went to\nFraser river were either mere speculators and\nadventurers, or persons mentally indisposed to,\nif not physically incapable of doing hard work.\nAs to the pecuniary loss attending investments in that quarter, let us xsk ourselves\nhow much of this may be traced to the most\nwild and absurd kind of speculation\u00E2\u0080\u0094to building towns, erecting wharves, and cutting trails\nwhere nature never intended, and the requirements of business never called for such improvements? Thousands and hundreds of\nthousands of dollars were thus spent in futile\nattempts 'at building up cities where none\nwere needed, and in ridiculous endeavors at\nforcing trade- into costly and impracticable\nchannels. Let the forced growth of Port\nTownsend, and the unwholesome impetus giving to nearly every other place on the Sound,\nproducing overtrade and a fictitious rise in\nreal estate\u00E2\u0080\u0094let the acres of ruins and piled\nwater lots at Whatcom, the foolish outlays at\nPoi nt Roberts,Semiahmoo and Sehome, together,\nwith the spirit of reckless expenditure and\ninsane speculation everywhere exhibited, come\nin for their proper share of the-los^es incurred\nby these unfortunates, and which have so generally but uijustly been charged to the account of Fraser river.\nINDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION.\nIt being evident, then, that the scope of pay\ndiggings in British Columbia is sufficiently ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, Ac.\n15\nextensive, the question arises as to their richness, or rather their capacity to give immediate\nand profitable employment to any considerable\npopulation. The practical point to be decided\nis, whether everything considered, better wages\ncan be realized there than in the mines of California. Of course, it is not to be expected that\nany person, however much he may have seen\nof the two countries, or However conversant\nhe may be with their comparative advantages,\nwill assume to advise which should be chosen\nas a field for mining operations. So much\ndepends on circumstances\u00E2\u0080\u0094the situation of\nparties, their fitness to endure hardship and\nexposure, on the increase of facilities for reaching the interior of British Columbia, and a\nvariety of considerations, applying with greater\nor less, force in each individual case, that any\nadvise given on this point would necessarily be\nqualified to an extent rendering it nearly valueless as a general rule of action. The most that\ncould be expected of one treating on the subject\nis that a full and candid statement of facts should\nbe given, leaving each one to judge for himself\nas to the propriety of going or staying. It is\nthe opinion of very many who have visited\nthese northern mines that a hardy and persevering man, being without a mining claim\nhere, or sufficient means to buy into one, might\nfor the next few years make more money there\nthan in California. This, however, is on the\nsupposition that he is capable of not only doing\nhard work, but also of subsisting on coarse\nand scanty fare, and that he can be absent for\na length of time without serious inconvenience\nto himself or others; and also, perhaps, on the\nfurther condition that cheap and expeditious\nmeans of transportation be supplied between\nthe head of steamboat navigation and the\nmines, 6ince, with the present inadequate\nmeans of carriage, the inducements for emigrating to that quarter are greatly diminished, the\ncost of subsistence in these mines being enormous ; not less in the more remote localities\nthan the combined expense of living and the\nprice usually paid for labor in this State. That-\nadditional improvements .will shortly be made\nfor effecting that object, either by the Colonial\ngovernment engaging in the work or encouraging others to do so, there is every reason for\nbelieving, from the prompt and liberal manne.t\nin which it has hitherto responded to demands\nof this kind; not less than $150,000 having\nalready been expended from the public treasury\nin opening new routes, or in endeavors to\nfacilitate the carriage of goods into the mines.\nFrom present indications, it may be safely inferred that the cost of passage and freight over\nthese routes, heretofore oppressively high, will\nbe reduced one hundred per cent., if not more,\nduring the coming summer, causing a corresponding reduction inithe expensesof the miner,\nand a like increase in the net profits he will be\nable to realize from his labor. Should this be\ndone, there is little doubt that men of moderate\nmeans might, unless going in too great numbers, do quite as well for the present on Fraser\nriveras on any of the streams in our own State.\nOne advantage in these comparatively fresh\nmines is that every man can be his own master;\nhe can own his claim and work it himself;\nnone need be hirelings, and none need be idle;\nwhereas, in California it is quite different.ij\nis not every miner who can be a proprietor\nhere ; nor is it always that a man can get work\nwhen he wants it.\nIt requires capital to buy into a claim here,\nor else much time must be spent in prospecting\nbefore one is found, and then not always with\nsuccess. There, no persevering and industrious man need have any difficulty on this score;\nnone need hire out their services, or be compelled to go for a length of time without employment. In saying this, of course we mean\non the upper Fraser and its tributaries, where\nalone, the real mines are, and to which most\nnew comers must make their way if they expect to be successful. The writer is aware\nhow little short of seditious this sort of\n[ language will be regarded by those who fear\nthe transfer of a few thousand men, the% mere\nshifting the point of consumption from one\nplace on this coast to another, will effect the\nruin of California. But still he is of opinion\nthat a candid statement of facts can never\nwork harm, and that labor, while it should\nnever be diverted into profitless channels,\nshould always be left to seek its most remunerative field. There are sufficient discouragements to emigration to the Fraser river\nmines without recourse to misrepresentation\nor concealment. Their remote and inaccessible position, the exorbitant prices of provisions prevailing at present, the cold winters and\nlong continued stage of high water, with many\nminor difficulties and objections, make up a\nformidable argument against their claims to\nattention, and will no doubt check any undue\ndiversion of our people that way. Yet in the '\nface * of all these discouragements, there is\ngood reason to believe some thousand of the\nmore hardy and adventurous of our population, with an indefinite number of the idle and\nunemployed, might repair to these northern\nmines with profit to themselves and no great\ndetriment to the public. Indeed, whatever of\ndamage certain interests may have suffered\nfrom the hegira of last year, it cannot be denied that much good resulted to this community in the happy riddance of a large number\nof worthless and non-producing members\neffected through its agency.\nThe cities and towns throughout the State had\nbecome sadly infested by a class of lazy, listless drones, some discouraged through want of\nsuccess, others broken down by dissipation and\nvice\u00E2\u0080\u0094some vagabonds from force of circumstances, and some from force of habit, yet all\nmore or less a burden to their friends and a\nnuisance to society, and who, but for some\nstimulous like this Fraser river excitement,\nnever would have made another honest effort\nto earn a livelihood ; but who, aroused by the\nprospect of easily acquired wealth, again be- 16\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\ntook themselves to labor, and having thus es-j have a tolerable business or situation, or even\ncaped from the thraldom of a vicious indolence,! a good prospect of such in California, to leave\nwill be likely, in most cases, to recover their the same and repfXir to these distant gold fields\nlast standing, and do something for themselves in the hope of bettering their condition. Let\nhereafter. And hence, however much individ- no one who has a living business here, or em-\nual injury may have resulted from this Frazer plo;, ment at fair wages, or the means of secur-\nriver movement, it was not all a loss to the ing either, think for a moment of abandoning\npublic at large. Deeply as we may deplore the same and resorting to Fraser river. Weare\ncertain of its effects, it still left traces of good not writing for such. Neit her are we writing'\nbehind it. Like the winds that sweep over our for speculators and traders, or the non-produc-\ncity, it carried away the pestilential effluvia ing fraternity, who seek to live by their wits\nthat otherwisestagnating, become the pregnant rather than hard work. To this class the in-\nagents of disease and death. And it would ducements for migrating northward are indeed\nhardly be matter for regret were our large I slender. But to the ill-rewarded hard worker,\ntowns more frequently the subjects of these the unemployed, to all such in fact as come\nvisitations, so effectual in purging the social within the category before mentioned, we have\natmosphere, and relieving community of its thought fit to say British Columbia opens, per-\nvagrant and vicious members. haps, for you as good a labor-field Jttst now as\nimproved prospects. California; venturing to indicate; at tbe same\nNotwithstanding the difficulties in the way time, the improved condition of things in that\nof reaching the gold fields of British Columbia quarter as warranting the Suggestion. In tfte\nare still formidable enough, there is no doubt opinion that these mines will better reward any\nthat they have been greatly diminished since\nlast year\", and that the chances for success in\nmining are manifold better this season than\nclass of laborers Whatever, than those of our\nState, we may be. mistaken ; but there is little\nground for mistake in what has been said as to\nthey were last. The locality and character of the increased facilities for travel, and tho im-\nthe diggings are now understood ; the peculi- proved chances for success this season as cora-\narities of the seasons and climate are known ; pared with the past. If we examine the con-\nthe Indian annoyances have ceased ; new routes dition and progress of affairs last year a little1\nhave been opened, and steamboats placed on more in detail, the truth of this remark becomes\nthe rivers, adding security to life, and cheapening transportation and travel; while comfortable places of entertainment have been\nopened at all the central points, and at convenient distances along the principal thoroughfares. Of provisions) if not over cheap and\nabundant, there will always be a sufficient\nsupply to insure the miner from starvation,\nand at reasonable prices. Lumber, an article\nso necessary for successful mining, will hereafter be procurable, as also will fresh vegetables, on a due supply of which health is so de-\nfolly apparent.\nIn the first place, a large proportion of the\nminers, on reaching Victoria, were delayed at\nthat point a long time ; some waiting for the\nriver to fall, but more because they were unable to proceed, either from want of means to\ngo on the steamers, or the inability of atbe latter to carrythem. Here *hey- idled away their\ntime doing nothing, or engaged in building\nboats in which, when completed, they embarked for the mines. These craft being small and\nbadly constructed, and as a general tiling, still\npendant; ditches and reservoirs will be, and to more badly navigated, met With many disasters,\nsome extent have already been constructed, j often of a fatal character, in crossing the gulf\naffording a steady and ample supply of water or attempting to ascend the rivers, and were\non bars where otherwise nothing could be no longer ot any value after the owner had\ndone. Men becoming familiar with the periods reached his point of destination, Taking into\nof high and low water, will be able to take! the account the original cost of these boats\nadvantage of the same for the purpose of mining ; while acquaintance with the eddies and\ndangers of river navigation. Trade monopo\nlies, so far as any existed, having ceased, and\nmining licenses having been practically abrogated ; what with courts and peace officers at\nall the more populous points, and the prospect\nof escorts for the transportation, with places of\nand canoes, varying from fifty to a hundred\ndollars each, together with the loss of time and\nrapids will enable tt em to avoid many of the property, to say nothing of life, occasioned by\nthis species of navigation,: the damage sustained by the miner in being forced to resort\nto it, was incalculable.\nHaving reabhed the mines, or, rather, got as\nfar up the river as practicable, the adventurer\nfound all the bars worth working completely\ndeposit for the safe keeping of the miner's gold I occupied or under water. Thus conditioned,\ndust, we cannot see what ground there can be he had either to return, remain an indefinite\nfor complaint as to existing regulations, or the\nmanner in which life and property are protected in these mines.\nperiod doing nothing, or attempt forcing his\nway further up. A majority chose to come\nback; many staid until the water went down\nComparing this year withlast, there is hardly \u00E2\u0080\u0094a part doing well and a part very little,\na single view in which the mining interest and owing to the impossibility of all getting claims,\nthe prospect for success has not greatly chang- Of those who pushed on to the Upper Fraser,\ned for the better. This is not said with the some going by the Brigade Trail, and others\nremotest view to encouraging parties who may through the canons, or over the Lilooett route ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, Ac.\n17\nall arrived so utterly impoverished, or com-1\npietely broken down, as to be unfit to do anything. Setting out with scanty stores, these\nhad become exhausted by the length of time\nthey were on the way, or been taken from them\nby the Indians. Yet, living on fish and berries,\nsuch of these men as had fortitude to remain\nand make a trial, nearly all did well, some\ntaking out large sums of gold, though having\nonly the most rude and imperfect implements j\nto work with. When, later in the season,\nprovisions began to come in, prices ranged\nfrom one to two dollars a pound\u00E2\u0080\u0094yet so good\nwere the diggings that the miners were vastly\nmore concerned about the supply than the\nprice. And so these men on the Upper Fraser\nlingered on through the fall, waiting impatiently for the completion of the new Lilooett\ntrail, when it was expected provisions would\nbe more abundant and cheap. This work,\nhowever, not being finished until too late to\nget in supplies for the winter, nearly the entire population was obliged to vacate this\nregion on the arrival of cold weather.\nI And here, again, is another item, which in\nestimating the value of these mines by the\nyield of last season should be set down to their\ncredit. In the prosecution of this valuable\nimprovement, over five hundred men were abstracted from the mining population and j\nkept on this work throughout the entire\nseason. A good many were, also, in like man- |\nner engaged opening trails along the Fraser,\nor elsewhere, or in other pursuits foreign to\nthe business of mining. This, with the extent\nto which labor was diverted for the purpose of\nbuilding boats, digging ditches, chastising the\nIndians, and various other objects, taken in\nconnection with the fact that much time was J\nfoolishly lost in waiting for the falling of the\nwater, and the additional fact that mining\noperations were mostly confined to the Lower\nFraser, the mere entrance to the mines, all\ngoes to show that large allowance should be\nmade when calculating the aggregate yield of\nthese mines the past season.\nAs has been said, many of these serious interferences with mining industry, as well as\nmuch of the heavy expense alluded to, may be\navoided the present season. The miner, on i\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2reaching Victoria, can proceed at once, and a\nsmall cost, directly to the head of steamboat\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0navigation on comfortable steamers, a number\nof which are already on the route, while one\nof our first class Sacramento river boats is\nabout leaving to be employed in the same service. With these accommodations the vexatious and ruinous delays at Victoria, the dangerous passage of the Gulf, with the tedious\n'toilsome, and still more perilous ascent of the\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2rivers, with the hard work, exposure and expense incident to travel on this part of the |\n{journey in the early day, will be avoided. The\nportages will also be made the present season\nwith much greater expedition, comfort and\neconomy than before, as a sufficient number of\nanimals will, no doubt, be brought upon them\nas soon as required. This seems probable\nfrom the fact that over three hundred pack\nanimals were wintered at Bonaparte river, for\nthe purpose of being placed on the Lilooett\nroute this spring, while a considerable number have been shipped from San Francisco,\nand several trains have set out from Oregon\nfor the same destination. With these facilities, then, for reaching the centre of the Fraser\ngold fields, with the Indian tribes pacified or\noverawed, and a boundless extent of virgin\nmines stretched out in every direction, it\nwould seem as if good wages ought to be made\nthere this summer, notwithstanding provisions\nmay be high, and other expenses somewhat\ngreater than in California. For the benefit of\nsuch as may feel inclined to try their fortune\nin that quarter, the best routes to be taken\nwill next be pointed out, to be followed by a\nnotice of the mining rules and regulations in\nforce, and a few practical observations of a\ngeneral character.\nROUTES TO THE INTEROR.\nParties bound to the Upper Fraser, that is to\nsay any point over thirty or forty miles above\nThompson's Fork, should go by the way of the\nnew Lilooet route, as being not only the most\nsafe and expeditious, but also the cheapest.\nIn fact the route by the river, ascending\nthrough the canons, is nearly impracticable\nexpect at a low stage of wat&r, and even then\nis attended with much danger and delay, there\nbeing several portages where not only the\ncargo but the boat itself has to be lifted from\nthe water carried over the rocks, and\nlaunched above the rapids. A trail has been\ncommenced between Fort Yale and the Forks,\nwhich, when completed, as it will be this summer, will afford tolerable facilities for travel\nbetween these two points. In going to the\nvicinity of the Forks this trail or the river\nmust necessarily be taken, but in going to the\nupper country, to which the great mass of the\nmining population must repair to find profitable employment, the route indicated should\nbe chosen. The diggings below Thompson\nriver, being mostly confined to the bars along\nthe Fraser, have not capacity to employ more\nthan four or five thousand men, while that\nportion of them below the canons, and to which\nnearly the entire population was restricted last\nsummer, would scarcely afford room for two\nthirds that number. Hence, in the e^ent of\nany large influx of people, a majority would\nbe obliged to betake themselves to the Upper\nFraser.\nSupposing this his point of destination, then,\nthe miner takes the steamer at Victoria and\nproceeding to Langly, or such other point as\nthis steamer connects with the lighter draft\nboats running above, he is there transferred to\nthe latter,which carry him to Port Douglas, at\nthe head of steamboat navigation. The distances on the route thus past over are as follows : From Victoria due-north, to the mouth\nof Fraser river, passing through the canal\nde Harro, 65 miles; from the mouth of the \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n18\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\nW\nriver to Fort Langley, 25 miles; thence to\nthe month of Harrison river 35 miles ; up Harrison river 7, and across Harrison lake to Port\nDonglas, 43 miles; making the entire distance\nof steamboat travel 175 miles. The time required to make this distance by steamer is\nabout two days\u00E2\u0080\u0094less if the Gulf be crossed\nduring the night. With sail boats or canoes\nit is a good passage if made in a week or ten\ndays; hence the bad economy of attempting it\niu this sort of craft, to say nothing of danger,\nmust be obvious to the most inexperienced\nmariner. At low water, steamboat navigation\nis somewhat interfered with on the Harrison\nriver by a series of shoals, which at snch times\ncausing rapids, it is difficult for even the lightest draft steamers to ascend. At all other seasons such boats go up with the greatest facility, there being plenty of water, and the current\nscarcely perceptible. The Government has\nmatured a plan for obviating this difficult}-,\nwhich will be carried into effect the coming\nautumn. Across the first portage from Port\nDouglas to Lake Lilooett, 35 miles, there is a\nmule trail. This trail, constructed last year at\na heavy'cost to the Colonial Government, leads\nthrough a dense wilderness, and being generally in good condition, can be crossed by pack\ntrains in about two days. Over this part of\nthe route there is canoe navigation, by means\nof the Lillooet t river, connecting Harrison and\nLillooett lake. But it is difficult and hazardous, especially when the stream is high, and\nmany lives were lost, last snmmer, in attempts\nto ascend it; but there was then no other mode\nof getting over this portage, there being not\neven an Indian path across it. Now it is otherwise, and though packing is rather high aj\npresent, it will no doubt be reduced as the season advances, and should in no event tempt\nparties to try the dangerous alternative offered\nby the navigation of this fatal river. The price\nof packing over this portage, last season, was\neight cents a pound ; this year it will probably\nbe less, as the number of animals will be greatly increased. The cause of these high rates\nwas the scarcity, or rather entire absence of\ngrass in this vicinity, compelling the owners of\nanimals to purchase hay and grain, at heavy\nexpense, for their subsistence.\nHaving reached Lilooett Lake, travelers arc\npassed over in small boats, animals and large\nlots of goods in scows\u00E2\u0080\u0094passage $2, freight\nhalf cent a pound. The modes of conveyance\nand the prices charged on all the lakes, of\nwhich there are three along this line, are the\nsame. Prom Lake Lilooett to Lake Anderson,\n25 miles, is another mule trail. Packing.\nhowever, on this is much less than on the\nother, the distance being shorter, the road\neasier, and feed more plentiful. At the south\nend of this portage are the Lilooett Meadows,\nconsisting of several thousand acres of magnificent prarie land covered with a heavy\ngrowth of grass, fit alike for haymaking or\npasturage. Approaching the other end, the\nforest begins to open and bunch grass shows\nitself in considerable quantities, affording\nample feed for stock, and rendering their keep\nmuch less costly than on the first portage.\nThis part of tne journey can be made comfortably in a day and a half or even a day by\nfootmen, the road, for the most part, always\nbeing in good condition. Having crossed this\nportage, we arrive at Lake Anderson, 16 miles\nlong. Over it, next comes the short portage,\none and a fourth mile long, with a wagon road\nand a team in readiness to convey freight over\nat the same rate as on the lakes. Having\ncrossed it, the traveller is brought to the last\nand largest lake of the group, being Lake\nSet on, IS miles long, and extending to within\nfour miles of Fraser river. From its foot, good\ntrails extend in every direction into the mines,\nand all parts of the interior. Here also animals can be procured at low rates for packing,\nlarge bands being constantly kept for that\npurpose. Though the cost of transporting\ngoods will vary with distance, it is uniformly\nless here than along the route further south,\nsince at this point animals coming in from\nOregon accumulate, and grass is abundant,\ngrowing not only in the bottoms, but also on\nthe prairies, and even against the sides of the\nmountains. Traveling and packing througn\nthis region is not at all difficult, the country\nbeing open and the trails keeping along on the\nI table lands, often for miles without interruption.\nBut having piloted the miner thus far, he\nmay safely be left to shift for himself, since he\nis now over the most difficult part of his journey, and pretty well advanced into what may\nbe considered the gold fields, proper of British\nColumbia. Indeed, when he shall have arrived at the terminus of the Lilooett route he\nwill be, longitudinally, at the centre of the\nFraser river mines, with, at least, one hundred\nand fifty miles of auriferous country to the\nnorth, and fully as far above the first diggings\nmet with in ascending the river. Here in the\nenjoyment of a healthful and invigorating climate ; with an atmosphere exempt from sudden change of temperature and undisturbed\nby storms ; encouraged by liberal mining regulations, and protected by impartial laws;\nin the midst of a beautiful open country and I\nwide-spread virgin mines, the adventurer may\nreasonably anticipate a success commensurate\nwith his efforts, and tray justly consider himself unfortunate if he fails to reap an amplo\nreward for all his loss of time, his heavy cx-\npens and toil.\nLIBERAL POLICY TO UK ITItSI'KI).\nAs has been stated, England, no doubt,\nentertains the purpose of carrying oat ft variety\nof grand projects in her British American\npossessions. The consummation of these\nplans will, from their very nature, involve a\nnecessity for populating as speedily as practicable her territories on the North Pacific. Am\nmeans of hastening that end, she will be impelled to the adoption of a liberal policy in\ngoverning the colonic* about springing up in\nthat region. This she has signified her intention of doing, in the most open and positive ITS SOIL, CLIMATE* RESOURCES, &c.\nlft\nmanner, and not satisfied that the world should\nremain in doubt as to these her beneficent designs, or be left to infer them from any vague\nand,.apocryphal authority, the Colonial Secretary, speaking the sentiments of the home government, has enjoined on the representative of\nthe crown in that quarter a strict compliance\nwith these views in all bis official conduct and\ntransactions. And not on a single occasion\nonly, have the instructions of this functionary\nbeen made to embody these the desires of the\nImperial Parliament on this subject. The\nentire dispatches issued from his office breathe\nthe same spirit, revealing the earnest wish of\nthe government in the premises, and giving\nassurance that a broad and generous policy is\nto be impressed on the administration of public affairs in these provinces. The system of\nmeasures already initiated for the regulation\nof trade, the management of the mines, the\ndisposition of the public lands, and the protection of the various leading interests, are such\nas will be likely to invite capital, foster industry, stimulate enterprise, encourage immigration, and lead to a speedy development of the\nresources, and a rapid and permanent settlement of the country. In all their public acts,\nit must be conceded the hqpie government has\nthus far evinced an earnest desire and a firm\ndetermination to advance the prosperity of\nthese colonies, securing to their inhabitants\nall those civil rights which the English so eminently enjoy, and conceding to them the\nlargest political liberty compatible with their\nposition as a dependency of the empire. Nor is\nthis liberal policy to be confined in its opera\ntion to her own people. England welcomes\nto these colonies every class of foreigners,\nguaranteeing them the same social, commercial\nand industrial privileges as secured to her own\ncitizens, and that whether they come as mere\nadventurers, or with a view to permanent settlement. Especially has this kind and conciliatory disposition been evinced towards Americans, who have been particularized as a desirable population, on account of their experience in mining, and their usually industrious\nand energetic habits. So solicitous has the\ngovernment seemed for the maintenance of a\ngood understanding with this class, that the\nauthorities, more particularly the naval forces,\nhave been cautioned against indulging in any\nundue display of power, or the wanton commission of any act calculated to awaken opposition, orlead to a conflict between themselves\nand those of a different nationality. It is also\nsuggested in this connection that the Governor,\navailing himself of his influence and popularity\nWith the Americans, might readily induce\nthem to cooperate with him at all times in\nenforcing the law and preserving order; and\nfurthermore, that since the adoption of a more\npopular mode of governing may soon be rendered expedient, it would be well for that official to provide for the election of a legislative\nassembly, and call to his aid a council, part of\nwhich should be composed of miners, chosen\nby themselves. These declarations of the\nmother country, so oft repeated and positive,-\nsufficiently foreshadow her purposes in regard\nto these colonies, and may be taken as aH\nearnest of the policy to be observed in the\nfuture conduct of their affairs. Certain, it is,\nreposing in these assurances, the emigrant may\nrepair thither confident that he will be am-\nplied protected and fairly dealt with, while\nevery facility will be afforded him to engage in\nmining, or acquire a portion of the public\nlands, with a prospect of participating to some\nextent in framing the laws and regulations by\nwhich he shall be governed.\nLICENSES, DUTIES,' SUFFERANCES, &C.\nThis entire class of imposts and permitawere\nlevied or allowed by Gov. Douglas, in his twofold capacity as Agent of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany, and representative of the Crown.\nThus, the license to mine, the permission to\nimport goods, and the sufferance to navigate\nthe inland waters of British Columbia, were\ngranted by virtue of his viceroyal character,\nand the funds accruing formed a part of the\npublic revenue. This fact is announced in bis\nproclamation on the subject, wherein he states\nthat these duties are imposed by virtue of authority duly conferred upon him, and for the\npurpose of providing means to defray the public expenses of the Colony. Head-money,\nlicences to trade, &c. are presumed to have\nbeen exacted by the Governor in his capacity\nas the executive of the Company, under warrant\nof their claim to the exclusive right to trade in\nthe territory, and of their being in the legal\npossession of the same. It is true, the validity\nof this claim has constituted the subject of\nmuch popular discussion, speculation and\ncomplaint, but the fact that its exercise has\nbeen acquiesced in by the Government for so\nmany yearsy seems a virtual acknowledgment\nof its genuineness, a conclusion at which those\nadversely interested in the question would\nseem to have arrived, since no legal measures\nhave ever been taken for testing its sotmdness,\nnot even the law officers of the Crown being\nwilling to institute proceedings for that purpose, on Government account.\nThe Company argue that the clause in their\ncharter, conferring upon them the exclusive\nright of trade vt ith the Indians, extends by-\nimplication also to the whites, the latter not\nbeing mentioned, though intended, for the\nreason that there were at the time no wMtCS fa \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nthe territory thus subjected to their jurisdiction ; and, that at all events, the exercise -of\nthis right carries with it the force of law ffiafej :\nlong and uninterrupted usage. Be that as it\nmay, it is now too late to call in question the\nlegality of these acts, or to insist that they\nwere in their nature usurpations or exactions,\nsince whatever there may have been in them\nillegitimate and informal, has been cured and\nlegalized by subsequent proclamations of the\nExecutive, sanctioned by the Home Government.\nThe amount of head money charged by the\nCompany was $2, for every person entering\nthe mines. This, however, with all trade lieeo- m\nm\nw\n/<\n20\nBRITISH COLUMBIA.\nses, except such a3 3pring from municipal reg- each person. The object of restricting the\nulations, being now discontinued, requires no miners to so small an area was that they might\nfurther notice. The following is the schedule be kept in as compact bodies as possible, since\nof duties payable on goods imported into Brit\nish Columbia. All kinds of fresh meat, fish,\nfruits and vegetables, lumber, hay, quicksilver,\npoultry and live stock; all sorts of farming\nimplements, seeds, plants, salt, books and pa-\nDers, cloths, baggage, professional implements,\n&c, are admitted free of duties. On all other\narticles a ten per cent, ad valorem duty is\ncharged, with the following exceptions: Flour\n50 cts. on every 196 lbs.; beans and peas 12J-\ncts. on every 100 lbs., and every kind of grain\nthey could thus more easily be supplied with\nprovisions, and the better protect themselves\nagainst the Indians. Subsequently these\nlimits were enlarged, and the size of claims\nfixed at 25 feet frontage in rivers, and 25 feet\nof the bed of a creek or ravine, and 20 feet\nsquare of a table land or flats, to each person.\nThese regulations, however, have been but\nlittle regarded, the miners going on and fixing\nthe size of their claims, and establishing such\nrules for holding and working them as they\nto be used as food, one-half that amount, deemed expedient, a practice with which the\nLiquors are required to pay a duty of $1 per Commissioner and his assistants have not in-\ngallon; wines 50 cts.; ale, beer, porter, and terfered to any great extent. It is probable\ncider 12\u00C2\u00A3 cts. Victoria and Esquimalt being however, that the authorities will assume a\nfree ports, all goods landed there are exempt greater control when affairs shall become a\nfrom duty, vessels simply paying the ordinary little more settled, introducing a comprehensive\nport charges. Vessels destined for British and Well digested system, based upon a general\nColumbia can pay the duties at either of these survey of the gold fields, and made to conform\nports, or proceed direct to Qtteenborough, on to that now in force in Australia, with such\nFraser river, which is now a port of entry, modifications as experience may suggest or\nand make payment there. circumstances require.\nTouching the sufferance extended to foreign Indeed, the Governor has been instructed by\nbottoms, allowing them to enter Fraser river, the Colonial Secretary to see that a proper\nGovernor Douglas in the exercise of the discre- system for managing and working the mines\ntionary powers conferred upon him, so far in- be devised and brought into force to the end\nterfered with the navigation laws of England that this branch of industry be controlled by\nas to permit steamers and large vessels, what- uniform and well-known rules, rather than by\never their flag, to clear for Fort Langley on a variety of local regulations, dependent on\npayment of $12 each trip, small boats $6, a usage and chance. In maturing this system\ncourse in which he was amply justified by the he has been advised to avail hinselfof the\npressure of circumstances and the exigencies services of Chief Justice Bigbie, and to call to\nof the times. As a condition, steamers were his aid a number of miners, to the end that he\nrequired to pay the Company $2 head-money, may have the benefit of the legal learning of\nfor each passenger they should carry; to stip- the one and the practical experience of the\nulate that they would convey none who had other, and thus construct a mining code which\nnot taken out a mining license and paid $5, while it shall duly guard the rights of the\nbeing one month's advance thereon, and also Crown, will secure to the miner every possible\nthat they would carry no goods except those of advantage. In this manner a plan would no\nthe Company or such as they might permit. doubt, be instituted, which, from its uniform-\nFor the privilege of entering the mines every ity and stability, would prove alike satisfactory\nperson was required to pay a royalty of $5 a to labor and capital. On the whole it may\nmonth. But this, as was also the case with fairly be concluded that a liberal policy will\nhead-money, was not very rigidly enforced, be adopted, and that government interference\nPasseugers proceeding to Fras.er river on the so far as exerted, will be for the convenience\nsteamers were obliged to pay these dues, the and protection of the miner,\nvessel being held accountable therefor, but in natural history and products.\nmost other cases they were evaded, and in very | ^Although British Columbia affords a grand\nfew instances was more than one month's license ever paid. Hereafter, it is probable, this\nimpost will be entirely dispensed With, an export duty being substituted in accordance with\nthe popular desire, and in compliance with a\nsuggestion of the Home Goverment to that effect.\nMINING RULES AND REGULATIONS.\nFor the purpose of making temporary rules\nand regulations, and carrying out such per-\nfield for the explorations of the traveler and\nthe study of the artist, it holds out little induc-\nment to the student of Natural History, the\nabsence of nearly every kind of animal life being strikingly apparent. One may travel for\ndays through the woods, or over the plains\nand lakes and scarcely see a living thing\nexcept, perhaps, fish, which only at certain\nseasons are abundant. These remarks, however, only apply to the interior, since along \"\nmanent ones as government may determine I the sea shore animated nature is more prolific\nupon, a Crown Commissioner for the gold- the waters being in every species of marine\nfields has been appointed, having a requisite production especially abundant. Amongst the\nnumber of assistants. The size of mining land animals the principal kinds met with are\nclaims was in the first instance fixed by gov- deer, of several verities, the elk bear\u00E2\u0080\u0094both\nernment, being limited to 144 square feet to | black and grizzly-j-panther, lynx wild-cat ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\n21\nwolf, and mountain sheep. The latter is a\nlarge animal weighing, when full grown, several hundred pounds. It is covered with long\nhair, resembling coarse wool, and supplied\nwith enormous crooked horns,.upon which it\nis said to strike when throwing itself from\nprecipices in seeking to escape pursuit.\nThe flesh is esteemed equal to that of the\ndomesticated sheep, but it is rarely the hunter\nmakes a prize of one, or even gets a sight of\nthem, they being exceedingly solitary in their\nhabits, keeping always on the tops of the most\nwild and rugged mountains. Even when the\nshows fall deep, they do not\" come down as do\nother animals, seeking the milder climate and\nmore abundant feed of the valleys. There are\nalso foxes, marmots, rabbits, minks and mar- j\ntins, and along the streams beaver and otter,\nthough these animals are now very scarce, as\nwell as shy, having been so much hunted for\ntheir peltries and furs. Amongst the inferior\nanimals are skunks, squirrels, mice and a singular species of bush-tailed rat, said to be |\nnaturally mischievous, a reputation it seems!\nambitious to deserve, meddling with everything\nabout the traveler's camp at night, and running over his person with the greatest familiarity. These easy habits are probably owing\nto the immunity from harm guaranteed it by\nthe Indian, who scruples not to feed upon every\nother form of animated matter, save only the\nrat and the raven. These, owing to a natural\nrepugnance, or more likely in his case, to some\nsuperstitious notion, the Indian never eats,\neven in his extremest need.\nWhile animals are scarce in this region, of\nbirds it may be said there are almost none,\nsince, with the exception of water-fowl, you\nmay not see one in a day's travel. Geese, ducks,\nswans and brant, however, gather in clouds\nabout the lakes, and inlets, in the proper season. Pelicans, cranes and loons are also to be\nfound aboutthese places at all times. Of th e feathered tribe, are occasionally seen th e eagle, hawk,\ncormorant and raven. Owls are at times heard,\nbut not often. There are, also, a few woodpeckers, bluejays, larks and a small dusky\nground-bird, with a few quail, and a good\nmany grouse, the latter always fat and tender.\nThe raven resembles that of California, being\nlarge, and uttering the same harsh croak.\nNear the sea, gulls and several other kinds of\naquatic animals hover about in great numbers,\naffording the natives much acceptable food by\nmeans of their flesh and eggs. The pelican\nbeing a clumsey bird, also falls an easy prey to\nthe Indian.\nKsh, small and of an inferior kind, are plentiful in the lakes and streams at all seasons,'\nbut salmon, the only really valuable fish, is\nabundant only from June tttl September,\nbeing best and most numerous in August.\nThis is a most delicious fish, being large, rich\nand oily, easily canght and readily cured,\nand hence most valuable both for the white\nand Indian. An inferior kind of salmon is\ntaken during the fall months, called the hook-\nbill, from its having a beak like a parrot.\nIt has small, sharp teeth, is covered with livid\nspots, and its flesh is soft and flabby. The\nwhites do not care to eat it, nor is it much relished by the natives. Fine trout is caught in\nthe streams during winter. The Indians\nadopt various plans for taking the larger fish,\nspearing, the wier and basket being the most\ncommon. A small species of smelt, but little\nworth, swarms in some places; sturgeon of\nlarge size and excellent quality are frequently\ncaught in the Fraser. In Lake Okinagan, and\nin all the streams along the Oregon trail,\ntrout weighing from one to two pounds and of\nfine flavor, are caught with the greatest\nease, men taking them out with nets by the\nwagon load, and by wading into the water,\ncatching them with their hands without difficulty. In the inlets and all tide waters, fish\nof every variety abound in incredible quantities; nor are oysters, clams, mussels, or any\nother kind of shell fish wanting. Of reptiles\nand insects, except mosquitoes, confined to the\nLower Fraser, and a few other localities, British Columbia has but few. There are some\nrattle snakes, with a few others of a more\nharmless kind. The lizzard seen in California, is not common, nor is the tarrantula, or\ncentipede met with. Indeed, the whole country is remarkably exempt from both animals\nand reptiles of a hurtful or obnoxious kind,\nbeing in this respect, if no other, a very desirable abode for man.\nTREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, AC.\nThe Southern, which may also be called the\nrainy portion of British Columbia, is a densely\nwooded country, both the mountains and plains,\nwith the exception of a few inconsiderable\nprairies, being covered with thick and stately\nforests. So closely do the trees stand, and\nwithal so tall and straight, that the united\nnavy yards of the world might draw thence\ntheir supplies for years, without more than\npartially exhausting these spacious and majestic forests. To the north and east there is less\ntimber, the country being open and the only\nwood met with, except in the bottoms, being a\nspecies of pitch pine scattered sparsely over its\nsurface. It never grows large, being not over\na foot or tvfo in diameter, and is not much esteemed for making lumber, though being\nstraight and of suitable size, it is very convenient for building log cabins and for similar\nuses. Many of the prairies in these sections\nare entirely destitute of trees, although the\ngrowth along the streams is in most places\nabundant and varied. The prevailing timber\neverywhere is pine, fir and spruce, of different\nvarieties, with hemlock and cedar, and a small\nsprinkling of birch, oak, ash, yew and maple.\nIn the swamps and along the water courses\nwillow, alder, cotton-wood and balm of Gilead\nare found / the latter always attracting notice,\nits unctuous Duds glittering with healing gum\nand filling the air with balmy fragrance. To\nthis tree the native tribes, as have the whites\nfrom the earliest ages, ascribe many medicinal\nvirtues, assigning it an important place in their\npharmacy. It here grows to a majestic size. 22\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\n31\n#\nThe alder also grows up into a tall slender\ntree, free from limbs, and hence useful for\nfencing purposes and easily cut into fire-wood.\nThe yew, very scarce, is a hard, tongh wood,\nresembling hickory. The.Indian usesitfor his\nbow, and the white man for pick and axe helves,\nit being about the only stuff found in the country suitable for these and similar purposes.\nThe maple and ash are both of the soft varieties and fit for little else than fence and firewood. The bark of the birch is full of a resinous substance, which readily igniting and\nburning with a bright blaze, is used by the Indians for kindling fires and for torches. From\nthe cedar rails, shingles, and even clapboards,\nare easily split; while the spruce and fir, the latter also called Oregon fir and Douglas pine, afford the best material for piles, spars and every\nspecies of lumber. The oak being the same as\nthat found in California, is mostly confined to\nthe country east of the Cascades, and even there\nit is not abundant. The redwood, or anything\nresembling it nearer than cedar, does not grow\nin British Columbia. Everywhere the size of\nthe timber varies with altitnde ; that in the\nlower valleys being of gigantic dimensions,\nand dwindling, as we ascend the mountains,\ninto mere shrubbery, until, at a height of .five,\nor six thousand feet, we reach the limit of vegetation\u00E2\u0080\u0094the line of eternal snow.\nAlthough British Columbia shows great poverty in the animal kingdom, the vegetable\nworld is sufficiently varied and prolific. Indeed, it is not often, except in tropical climates, that a richer botany is presented to the\nstudent of nature. Flowering shrubs, esculent roots, medicinal plants, wild fruits and\nberries are everywhere abundant. In its\nFlora it strongly resembles California, the\nprairies being covered and the woods filled in\nthe spring with the same superfluity of gorgeous flowers, though there, owing to the\nmore timely rains, they are not so short lived\nas with us. Nearly everywhere in the forests,\nthe wild lilac and the snow-drop, and on the\nplains, the wormwood and cactus are seen as\nin the southern portions of this State. For\ncurative and like purposes, the natives make\nuse of a great variety of plants, though the\nmedicine-men rely much on their powers of\nexorcising\u00E2\u0080\u0094being simply the mesmeric influence they are able to exert for driving away\nthe skookiims, or evil spirits, that are supposed\nto be the cause of disease and death. There\nare a variety of shrubs from which they make\ntea to be used as a beverage, and some of\nwhich, to the taste, is not unlike the drink\nmade from the Chinese leaf. In the bark of\nthe tender hemlock they find a remedy for\ndiarrhoea, while the young sprouts of the\nraspberry, is eaten in the spring, for the purpose of correcting disorders of the blood.\nThe leaf of the bear-berry is dried, either in\nthe sun or over a fire, and then smoked in a\npipe, being mixed with tobacco, when they\nhave any. The effect produced, though very\nslight, is similar to that of tobacco, yet it does\nnot taste at all like that substance, being in\nI fact quite insipid and nearly tasteless. Of\nroots, the Indians have the potato, introduced\namongst them by the English, and a variety,\nindigenons to the country, the most valuable\nof which is the carumass, resembling a small\nwhite onion. Their potatoes, of which nearly\nevery tribe raises some, are excellent, being of\nthe species known as lady-fingers, that never\nfail to be dry and solid when grown in a\nproper soil. The wappatoo, the root of the\nfern, and of certain flags, some of which are\nnot only palatable, but highly nutricious, are\nalso baked and eaten.\nBut of all the comestibles in the vegetable\nworld, the most valuable to the Indian are the\nwild fruits and berries. On these, next to fish,\nhe.is morally dependant for subsistence, and\nfortunate for him it is, that they grow so plentiful, and last for so great a portion of the year.\nOf fruits, he has the wild plum and cherry, the\ncrab-apple, the prickly-pear, and several\nother kinds ; while of berries, there is an almost endless variety, including the strawberry\nand raspberry\u00E2\u0080\u0094coming earliest in the Spring\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe blackberry, whortleberry, blueberry, scarlet currant, the gooseberry, bcarbcrry, the sal-\nlal and many others; these being the kinds\nmost common and abundant. Cranberries,\nalso, abound in the marshy places. Of all these\nthe sallal is perhaps the most acceptable\nand serviceable to the Indian, as it is\neasily gathered, very nourishing, readily\npreserved by means of drying, and lasts\nthe latest in the season\u00E2\u0080\u0094hanging on the\nbushes until December. The leaves of the\nbcarbcrry arc dried, as above mentioned, and\nused as tobacco, being then called qucr-lo-e-\nchintl. There is also a singular fruit called the\nOregon grape, growing on a low bush, having\nserrated prickly leaves. It is worthy of mention only as a curiosity, being so sour, even\nwhen.ripe, that nothing can eat it. The foregoing, by no means fill the catalogue of fruits,\nand berries growing wild in British Columbia,\nyet they serve to show that nature has been\ngenerous in this department, and prove that\nthe Indian, thus supplied, but for his indolent\nand improvident habits never need want, much\nsess perish, as he sometimes does, through\nlhcer starvation, during the season of winter.\nGRASSES.\nThe indigenous grasses of British Columbia\nare very similar to those found native in California. Wild timothy or prairie grass, sometimes mixed with clover, covers the rich bottoms and prairies to the south, bunch grass\ngrowing with the greatest luxuriance, even to\nthe tops of the mountains, throughout all the\nopen country. Swamp grass of different kinds,\nsome being fine and nutricious, others almost\nas coarse as tules, abounds along the borders\nof the lakes and in other marshy places. On\nthe Smass prairies about 30 miles southeast\nof Fort Langley, are many thousand acres\ncovered with wild timothy and other nourishing grasses, from which hay of excellent quality could be made with the greatest facility,\nthe growth being very thick and standing four ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c.\n23\nor five feet high. Along the Chilliwhaock, a\nsmall river entering the Fraser five miles below the mouth of the Harrison, are also fine\nopportunities for cutting hay, the grass being\nequally as good, though not so much of it as on\nthe Smass. Hay cut here could easily be got\nto. market*\u00E2\u0080\u0094the Chilliwhaock being navigable\nfor light draft boats for some distance. The\nbest place, however, for making hay, market\nand facilities for cutting being considered, is\nthe Lilooett meadows, at the head of the Lilooett lake. Here the grass is equally as good,\nand nearly as abundant as at the Smass, while\nthe great number of pack animals employed\nwill always create a demand for it at remunerative prices. The soil on all these prairies\nconsists of a rich sandy loom, rendering them\nthe most valuable districts for agricultural\npurposes of any in the Colony, except, perhaps,\nsome of the valleys in country of the Similk-\nameen and the Okinagan, a region that has\nadvanced much in importance since the recent\nascent of theJGolumbia to Priest's Rapids by\nthe steamer Col. Wright on her late trial trip,\nan event of consequence to the entire country\neast of the Dalls, and particularly to that under consideration, the head of steamboat navigation having thus been brought within a\nshort distance of Fort Okinagan. All these\nfine tracts of land offer great inducements to\nsettlers, they being equally adapted to the\nraising of grain and stock, governmentSallow-\ning them to be occupied until such time as\nthey can be surveyed and brought into market. Cattle require no feed here during the\nwinter, except such as they can themselves\npick, while grains and fruits of every description grow with as much thrift and as little culture as in any other part of the world.\nMINERALS.\nAlthough gold at present forms the most attractive, as well as the most ready source of\nwealth in British Columbia, it by no means\nconstitutes the only valuable mineral in the\ncountry. A great variety of other metals,\nthough as yet but little sought for, have been\nmet with, some in quantities indicating large\ndeposits. Silver ore of the richest quality, has\nbeen found at several localities, portions of\nwhich, on being analyzed have shown ninety\nper cent, of pure silver. At two points on the\nLilooett river, and also at a place near Kamloops, ore of this description has been taken\nfrom veins cropping out at the surface. On\nthe east bank of the Lilooett river, at the outlet\nof the Little lake, is a silver vein of large size,\nwell known to the Indians in the vicinity, and\nfrom which a Mexican, a man of scientific attainments, and well versed in the working of\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2Silver mines, took several specimens last fall,\npronouncing them unusually rich. Specimens\nof copper, nearly virgin, have been obtained on\nthe Fraser, above the Fountain, and on the\nriver opposite that place, lignite, or bituminous\nWood, of the earthy variety, exists in such quantities as to have been used by the miners for\nfnel. It is found in detached pieces, worn\nround like pebbles;. is of a brownish-black\ncolor, nearly as light as water, very friable,\nand burns freely ; when blown it sends forth a\nlight blaze, whence it would probably be useful for blacksmithing purposes. Iron, coal,\nand traces of cinnabar are frequently met\nwith.\nPlatinum, agates, cornelians, and quartz,\nboth crystalized and massive, occur, in all\nparts of the interior. Excellent lime-stone,\nmarble of the purest variety and veryaccessi-\nble, granite and many other varieties of building stone are common. But since this class of\nproductions cannot be rendered immediately\navailable, as agents of wealth, it will hardly\nbe necessary to enumerate them more fully at\npresent.\nMineral and warm springs aTe features of\nthe country. One of the latter, on the trail, 22\nmiles from Port Douglass, on the Lilooett trail,\nhas been found highly beneficial, in cases of\ndispceptia and rheumatism. The water, in a\nvolume of about four square inches, issues\nfrom a conglomerate rock, at a temperature of\n190\u00C2\u00B0, with a gurgling sound, coming at intervals from the interior of the rock. The water\nsmells of sulphur, and is slightly impregnated\nwith magnesia, lime, salt, etc. The Indians\nresort to this spring at all times, bathing in,\nand drinking freely of the water, having, to all\nappearance, great faith in its remedial properties.\nTHE MINES AND MINING PROSPECTS.\nBefore concluding the present series of articles, it may perhaps be well to make some further mention of the gold deposits in British\nColumbia, and to inquire after the mining\nprospects the ensuing summer, as based on the\nlatest and most reliable intelligence from that\nquarter. Space will not permit of any detailed\nstatements or lengthened investigation of this\nsubject at present; yet, as the shipments of\ngold dust out o\u00C2\u00A3the country, maybe considered a very fair index of mining prospsrity, let\nthe sums transmitted through the two Express\ncompanies doing business in Victoria, for the\nmonth of April, being the latest statistics we\nhave on the subject, be taken as evidence on\nthat point. Between the 11th day of April,\nthen, and tiie 10th day of May, these two\nhouses brcfcglit down $195,000, on account of\nshippers. lJuring the same period, it is estimated that $75,000 additional, came in private\nhands, making $270,000, exported from Victoria to this port, in these 30 days. Meantime, at\nleast, $30,000 more was carried away, by the\nsteamer Constitution, and by sailing vessels running to different points on the Sound, in payment of cattle, lumber, vegetables, and other\ncommodities, largely imported into Victoria\nand British Columbia, from Oregon and Washington Territory, giving a total of $300,000 exported during the month of April, and which\nmay be supposed to represent the product of\nthe mines for the preceding month of March.\nIf we further suppose there were $3,000 men\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nrather a high estimate\u00E2\u0080\u0094at work in the mines\ndigging out this amount, and that they labored\ntwenty out of the thirty-one days in that I\n24\nBRITISH COLUMBIA,\n1\nI\nmonth\u00E2\u0080\u0094another high estimate, Sundays and | least, but there are no saws, aud the timber is very\nstormy weather being deducted, this would poor here, nothing much but poplar and cotton wood\ngive an average of $5 a day, to the man, a re- near tne river. There is\nturn comparing favorably with the wages real- 'l ,i,c u ' ' ' \", '' M\nized in our own mines ; while it will not be\npretended, whatever other hardships men may\nhave to endure, that the labor of mining is as i coantryj but hard to be'reached, and I would not\nsevere in British Columbia as here, operations advise -those in California who are doing well to\nthere being mostly confined to a foot or two of leave to come here, for it.is a long journey to come\nthe top dirt. and costs a great deal, and then the seasons here\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 That a few should have returned from the are short, nothing to be done for four or five months\nUpper Fraser, dissatisfied, as is represented to I in the winter.\nome scrubby pine back,\nThe country here is not\nmountainous as on the Lower Fraser; it is sandy\nand knolls and hills, and plenty of grass and some\ngood spots for farming. It is a very pleasant\nhave been the case, is not surprising, considering that over two thousand hurried to that\nsection in advance of supplies, and many of\nthem before the winter was fairly over. It is\nobvious those who had already returned to\nVictoria, must have done most of their prospecting in the month of March, or early in thej\nThe cost of living, too, is great, nothing to be\nbought for less than a dollar a pound, and most\nthings costing a dollar and a half, and in this climate men eat a great deal. If we had to buy our\nprovisions, I think it would cost us four or five\ndollars a day. We have enough to last six weeks,\nby which time we are in hopes goods will be\ncheaper. The high prices are now owing to packing animals being scarce, though there will be\nmonth of April, at a time when provisions were\nyet scarce and the cold weather had hardly I several hundred horses on this route in a few days,\nabated. j when packing will be lower. There is plenty of\nThe following letter, one of several recently\nreceived from the Upper Fraser, will serve to\nillustrate the character of the diggings in that\nquarter, and to show in what estimation they\nare held by a practical miner, who has now\nbeen in that country over a year. The purport\nof the other letters is very similar to that of\nthe one presented. Rocher Rouge, near which\nplace the writer was encamped, is about 150\nmiles above the Fountain, and 160 above De\nRous' ranch, the place mentioned in this letter :\nUpper Fraser River, April, 1859.\nAs i you wished me to write if I went above\nmountain I send you a few lines by a man going\ndown to Port Douglas after goods. I don't know\nthe day of the month, but it is the last of April. We\nleft Jo DeRushe's ranch about four weeks ago, and\ncame up on the east side of the river, packed three\nhorses, and were about a week coming up. Found\nice on the trail coming down the steep hills and had\nto unload a number of times. -We came by the\nslide, and found trouble getting by that place, and\nI would advise parties coming to go round, as there\nis an easier road by going a little further to the\neast. I have heard of a shorter route being found,\nkeeping on the west side of the river and leaving\nit near Bridge river, and taking a cut off baek of\nthe mountains, but I don't know how it is. We\nprospected some eoming up and found a good show\nall along, but concluded not to stop, asj^ve heard it\nwas better up here. It is not much use to prospect,\nfor the gold is too fine to save with a pan, and you\ngrass here, and animals can be kept cheap. The\nIndians have a good many horses, but they ride\nthem to death, and they are not fit for anything.\nMy partner, who has been 25 or 30 miles above,\nfound good prospects and larger gold, and we think\nit washes down, and that a better gold country\nmust lay north of this. He says it is a beautiful\ncountry and more timber up-there. We shall stop\nhere and try to get in sluices, when I think we can\ndouble our present wages, though it may not pay to\nIgo to that expense unless the diggings prove\ndeeper. There are a good many coming up this\nway, though but few have got thus far as yet.\nI Some have gone above us, and are at work, and\nI some have gone back not able to stand the pressure of the hard work and high prices of goods. I\n! think we shall make a good summer's work here, if\nwe can get provisions, of' which there is no doubt.\nI We have, brought along twine for making fish nets,\nand expect to catch plenty of salmon this summer,\nbwith these and some wild fruits we shall get along\nwell if the mines do not disappoint us. The Indians are not at all troublesome; they are a better\nrace than those further south, but we have seen but\nlittle of them as yet. They seem a little shy,\nespecially the women. I have seen some of them\nhave pieces of gold, but n\"t to amount'to anything.\nIt is not wash gold, and must have come from dry\nI diggings, or high on the banks.\nWe found snow on our way up, about five or six\ninches deep at places on the trail, but it soon dis-\n[ appeared. There has been thick ice in the river,\nbut it has now loft and the weather is mild and\ncannot tell unless you work some with a rocker, and | pleasant ;^no stormy weatherof any account since\nwe did not want to stop and make one then. In\nsome places we found coarse gold, but thought we had\nbetter come on to this place. This bar has no name;\nit is a little below what they call -Rocher Rouge.\nWhile one of my partners and a Frenchman went\nabove prospecting I stopped here with the other\nand cut down a tree and made a rocker, and we\nhave worked eight or nine days, making eleven\ndollars a day to the hand, but the gold is fine, and\nwe loose a great deal; with quicksilver, I think we\ncould make an ounce. But the diggings are not\ndeep, and I do not think will last- long; we only\nwash about a foot on the top, then the dirt grows\npoorer, but we have not tried it very deep yet, and I candid man and an experienced miner,\nthere may be a layer of pay dirt below. With \u00C2\u00BB*\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 entitled to respect and credence,\nsluices big wages could be made here, for a while at\nwe left. The Indians say this has been a hard\nwinter. From what I can learn, the summers here\nare very warm and have seasonable rains. If so,\nI think plenty of vegetables could be raised, as tile\nground looks'good.\nMy advice to those in your State is, to lemain\nwhere they are until this .country,is more explored\nand better roads are built target into it. J. M.. D.\n, The foregoing letter, as has been stated, is one of a\nnumber lately recei ed from the Upper Fraser, the tone\nof some of which is more encouraging, and of ethers less\nso, than that of the one here presenred. this having been\nselected for publication because it fairly represents the\naverage opinion of the whole, and because the writer is a\nwhose opinions "@en . "Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5161976"@en . "Pamphlets"@en . "F5804.2 .D3:1-2"@en . "I-0085"@en . "10.14288/1.0221821"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "San Francisco : Alta California Job Office"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca."@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. F5804.2 .D3:1-2"@en . "British Columbia"@en . "British Columbia; its condition and prospects, soil, climate, and mineral resources, considered"@en . "Text"@en .