"CONTENTdm"@en . "Canadian Pacific Railway"@en . "Canadian Pacific Railway Company"@en . "Agriculture"@en . "Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia"@en . "British Columbia--Description and travel"@en . "Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection"@en . "[unknown]"@en . "2017-08-28"@en . "1890"@en . "Pamphlet promoting settlement in British Columbia. Pamphlets contain illustrations, maps of routes of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and text describing British Columbia, bound in an orange cover with art deco designs."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chungtext/items/1.0354837/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " HMLaU-*.-*! Stop Over\nBetween the\nFast and\n*3ritish (Columbia\nThe Canadian |\nPacific Railway Co.\nHave Millions\nof Acres\nOf Choice Farm Lands for Sale; $2.50 per Acre and upwards, along\nthe line of the Railway. The Government also offer\nFree Farms of 16Q Acres\nto Settlers\nSTOP OVER AND EXAMINE\nThe Famous Red River Valley Lands of Manitoba\nThe Rich Wheat Lands of Assiniboia\nThe Incomparable Grass Lands of Alberta\nAmple time is given to ail WESTBOUND PASSENGERS to visit the Company's Land Office at\nWinnipeg, where they will receive valuable Maps and Pamphlets relating to the Country\nWest of Winnipeg. Stop Over Tickets will be given to those desirous of inspecting\nany portion of the Fertile Prairies of the North-West.\nL. A. HAMILTON, C. P. R. Land Commissioner, Winnipeg, Man. ffm^^immmmm.\n& 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31\n_32 33 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 **\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 '\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0-*- \u00E2\u0096\u00A0-'\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0096\u00A0- \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\"\u00E2\u0096\u00A0-\u00C2\u00B0\"\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0Urilrii THE PROVINCE OF\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2^*^^\u00C2\u00AB^*<^r'CM*\nBritish Columbia\n0-a.:n\a.:djAl\nITS RESOURCES, COMMERCIAL POSITION\nAND CLIMATE\nAND DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW FIELD OPENED UP BY\nTHE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY\nWITH MAPS AND INFORMATION FOR\nINTENDING SETTLERS\n\" A. Province which Canada should be proud to possess, and whose association with the\nDominion she ought to regard as the crowning triumph of Federation.\"\nEari, of Dvffebjn; British Columbia Forest Road. CONTENTS\n4\nPage\nIntroductory Remarks ---........5\nTHE MAINLAND OF BRITISH COLUMBIA:\nDescription, Resources, Vancouver, New Westminster and Towns - 7\nVANCOUVER ISLAND:\nDescription, Victoria, Esquimalt, Nanaimo, etc. - - - - - 22\nResources of Island, Climate, etc. ------- 26\nThe Islands of the Straits - - - - \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 - - - - - -28\nTaxada, Queen Charlotte Islands, etc. ------- 28\nThe Gold Fields of British Columbia, Coal, etc. - - - - - 30\nThe Fisheries of the West Coast -------- 33\nThe Forest Trees ,- - - - - 34\nThe Trade of the Province 38\n\"The Climate of British Columbia - 39\nSport and Scenery - - -. -^ 42\nLand Regulatioi.s - - - - 44\nHow to Reach British Columbia - - - 47\nHints to Settlers - ....... 48\n1\nJ River Steamers in British Columbia.\nL British GeLamBiA\nITS POSITION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE\nINTRODUCTORY REMARKS\nCONCERNING the Province of British Columbia, which the Canadian\nPacific Railway so suddenly transformed into an easily accessible and\nprofitable field for commercial enterprise, the majority of people have\nonly very indistinct ideas. This publication may perhaps supply useful information.\nIts object is to impart reliable information of the country, its present condition, its characteristics and capabilities, and the important position it now\nholds, and in the future will more distinctly occupy, in its relations with the\nother provinces of the Dominion, the trade of the Pacific Coast, and the commerce of the world at large.\nThe completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the dawn of a new era\non the North Pacific Coast. The province that has been lightly spoken of as a\n\"Sea of Mountains,\" deriving a certain majesty from its isolation, its wilder\nattributes and undiscovered mysteries, is now traversed by a railway, accurately\ndescribed as the highway between Liverpool and Hong Kong. The completion of\nthis road dispelled the mists of British Columbian solitude, and allowed the current of trade to flow uninterruptedly between the Atlantic and the Pacific.\nThe trade of the past has been mere dabbling on the shores of the ocean of\ncommerce ; a handful of men essaying the work of a million, and that they\nachieved success at all in the then far distant Pacific colony afforded a suggestive\nindication of what is being rapidly accomplished under the new conditions.\nThe history of British Columbia may be-summed - up in a few sentences.\nAfter a number of years, during which British Columbia, under various names,\nwas occupied only by Indians and Traders of the North-west Company, afterwards amalgamated with the Hudsons Bay Company; Vancouver Island, an\nimportant part of the province, was made a colony in 1849. In 1858 the Mainland territory became a colony, with the name of British Columbia, and in 1866\nthe two colonies were united, and so remained until July 20th, 1871, when\nBritish Columbia, retaining its appellation, entered the Confederation of Canada.\nDuring the first years of its cofbnial phase of existence it was governed by Chief 6 BBITISH COLUMBIA\nFactor James Douglas, afterwards Governor Sir James Douglas, with great\nability and unqualified success. To a just and kindly rule he added a courage and\nfirmness that made his word respected amongst the Indians from the Columbia to\nthe Skeena, and when the discovery of gold brought a rush of white men into the\ncountry, he displayed the same ability in governing them.\nUntil the discovery of gold on the Columbia and the Fraser in 1856, the trade\nof the country was almost exclusively in furs, which were collected at Fort\nVictoria, on Vancouver Island, and shipped to England via Cape Horn. The\npeople of British Columbia, walled out of communication with Canada by four\nranges of mountains, and hampered in their intercourse with California by\nnational distinctions, were without any immediate prospect of improvement,\nwhen the confederation of the British American colonies, with an invitation to\nBritish Columbia to join, on terms of unexpected generosity, opened to them a\nvista of possibilities that transformed their apathetic contentment into sanguine\nexpectation.\nAfter the admission of the colony into the Dominion of Canada in 1871, considerable dissatisfaction arose from the inability of the Canadian Government to\nconstruct a railway to the Pacific within the time specified in the conditions upon\nwhich British Columbia had entered the confederation. Remonstrances were\nfollowed by a re-arrangement of terms, which in their turn were not entirely fulfilled, and fresh bickerings arose.\nAt last in 1881 the Canadian Government entered into a contract with a syndicate of capitalists to build a railway from Ontario to the Pacific Ocean, and to\ncomplete and operate it by the year 1891. An Act of Parliament was passed\nembodying the contract with the Syndicate, a company was organized, and work\nwas immediately commenced and prosecuted with such vigor that the last rail in\nthe gigantic railway that now binds British Columbia to the Eastern provinces of\nCanada was laid in November, 1885, six years before the time stipulated in the\ncontract between the Government and the Company. This road has pierced the successive ranges of the Rocky Mountains, Selkirk, Gold ranges, etc.; it has penetrated\nthe unknown country on the north of Lake Superior and opened a way from ocean\nto ocean. The busy life that teems on either side of the Atlantic already surges\ntowards the west, impatient to reach the latent wealth of the Western provinces,\nand to seek on the shores of the Pacific new fields for its enterprise and capital. THE MAINLAND OF BRITISH COLUMBIA\nTHE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OP THE PROVINCE.\nBritish Columbia, the most westerly Province of Canada, lies between the\n49th parallel of north latitude (the international boundary between Canada and\nthe United States) and latitude 60\u00C2\u00B0 N., and extends westward from the summit of\nthe Rockies to the Pacific Ocean, including Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte\nIslands, and others in the Straits of Georgia and on the coast north of it, as far\nas the 54th parallel of latitude.\nEven were there no Island of Vancouver, and no harbor at Esquimalt, British\nColumbia would still be one of the most important provinces of the Dominion, as\nwell from a political as from a commercial point of view. With that island it is\nto a maritime fnation invaluable, for the limits of British Columbian coal fields\ncan only be guessed at, while enough coal has already been discovered on Vancouver Island to cover the uses of a century. The harbors of this province are\nunrivalled, and are so situated that the Straits of Georgia could, without difficulty,\nbe made impassable at either end to hostile ships. Their possession gives\ncommand of the North Pacific, and that in its turn goes far towards dominating\nthe China Sea and the coasts of Japan. The commercial position of British\nColumbia is not less commanding. Besides its coaling facilities, it affords the\nshortest route between Europe and the East. It will soon be the highway to\nAustralasia. Its principal seaport must attract not only a large portion of the\nChina and Australian rapid transit trade, but must necessarily secure much of the\ncommerce of the Pacific Ocean. Its timber is unequalled in quantity, quality or\nvariety ; its mines already discovered, and its great extent of unexplored country,\nspeak of vast areas of rich mineral wealth; its waters, containing marvellous\nquantities of most valuable fish, combine to give British Columbia a value that\nhas been little understood.\nThe author of \" Greater Britain \" says : \" The position of the various stores\nof coal in the Pacific is of extreme importance as an index to the future distribution of power in that portion of the world; but it is not* enough to know where\ncoal is to be found, without looking also to the quantity, quality, cheapness of\nlabor, and facility of transport. The three countries of the Pacific which must\nrise to manufacturing greatness are Japan, British Columbia, and New South\nWales; but which of these will finally become wealthiest and most powerful\ndepends mainly on the amount of coal which they respectively possess, so situated\nas to be cheaply raised. The future of the Pacific shores is inevitably brilliant,\nbut it is not New Zealand, the centre of the water hemisphere, which will occupy\nthe position that England has taken on the Atlantic, but some country such as\nJapan or British Columbia, jutting out into the ocean from Asia or America as\nEngland juts out from Europe.\"\nThe mainland of British Columbia is about 760 miles long and 500 broad, and\nit contains a superficial area variously estimated from 230,000 to 350,000 square\nmiles. Of this a large portion is comprised in the mountains which in four\nranges traverse the greater length of the province. 8 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nThe Rocky Mountains rise abruptly at their eastern base from the plain or\nprairie region of Central Canada. They are composed of a number of more or\nless nearly parallel ranges, which have a general direction a little west of north\nand a breadth of over sixty miles. Between the 51st and 52nd parallels the\nranges decrease rapidly in height.\nThe surface of the country between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific\nOcean may be divided into two subordinate mountain districts, flanking on either\nside an irregular belt of high plateau country, which extends, with an average\nwidth of about 100 miles, up the interior of the province to about 55.30 N.L., and\nis, in fact, a northerly continuation of the great basin of Utah and Nevada in the\nUnited States. On the eastern side of this plateau are mountains that run\ngenerally parallel to the Rocky Mountains. The large islands of Vancouver and\nQueen Charlotte shelter the mainland coast. In the extreme north of the province\nthe mountains generally, except those of the coast range, diminish in height, and\nthe surface has a gentle northerly and north-easterly slope.\nThe coast of British Columbia has been well described by the Earl of Dufferin,\nwho, while Governor-General of Canada, visited the Pacific Province in 1876, and\nin a speech at Victoria on his return from the north, said : \" Such a spectacle as\n\" its coast line presents is not to be paralleled by any country in the world. Day\n\" after day for a whole week, in a vessel of nearly 2,000 tons, we threaded an\n\" interminable labyrinth of watery lanes and reaches that wound endlessly in and\n\" out of a network of islands, promontories, and peninsulas for thousands of\n\" miles, unruffled by the slightest swell from the adjoining ocean, and presenting\n'\" at every turn an ever shifting combination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier, and\n\" snow-capped mountain of unrivalled grandeur and beauty. When it is remem-\n\" bered that this wonderful system of navigation, equally well adapted to the\n\" largest line-of-battle ship and the frailest canoe, fringes the entire seaboard of\n\" your Province and communicates at points, sometimes more than a hundred\n'' miles from the coast, with a multitude of valleys stretching eastward into the\n\" interior, while at the same time it is furnished with innumerable harbors on\n\" either hand, one is lost in admiration at the facilities for inter-communication\n\" which are thus provided for the future inhabitants of this wonderful region.\"\nTHE HARBORS.\nOf the many harbors, the principal are English Bay and Coal Harbor, at the\nentrance to Burrard Inlet, a few miles north of the Fraser River. Vancouver,\nthe terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is situated between these harbors.\nPort Essington, at the mouth of the Skeena, promises to be much used for the\nnorthern gold field traffic, and Waddington Harbor, at the head of Bute Inlet, is\nsaid to be the natural outlet for a large track of valuable country in the interior.\nBut numerous as are the harbors along the coast, their respective merits have all\nbeen duly weighed, and all have been discarded in favor of the harbors in Burrard\nInlet, which have been adopted by the railway. For the coast trade the others\nare all valuable.\nTHE RTVERS.\nOf the rivers of British Columbia the principal are the Fraser, the Columbia\nand the Peace. The Fraser is the great water course of the province. It rises I 10 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nin the northern part of the Rocky Mountains, runs for about 200 miles in two\nbranches, in a westerly direction, and then in one stream runs due south for over\n300 miles before turning to rush through the gorges of the coast range to the\nStraits of Georgia. On its way it receives the waters of a number of other\nstreams, many of which would be rivers of some magnitude in other countries.\nAmongst these are the north and south branches of the Thompson, the\nCbilicoten, the Lillooet, the Nicola, the Harrison, the Pitt, and numerous\nothers.\nThe Columbia is a large river rising in the southern part of the province, in\nthe neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, near the Kootenay Lake. It runs\ndue north beyond the 52nd degree of latitude, when it takes a sudden turn and\nruns due south into Washington State. It is this loop made by the abrupt\nturn of the river that is known as the \"great bend of the Columbia.\" The\nKootenay waters fall into the returning branch of this loop.\nThe Peace River rises some distance north of the north bend of the Fraser,\nand flows eastwardly through the Rocky Mountains, draining the plains on the\nother side. It more properly belongs to the district east of the mountains that\nbears its name. In the far north are the Skeena River and the Stikeen flowing\ninto the Pacific, the latter being in the country of the latest gold mining\noperations.\nThe Fraser River is navigable for river boats to Tale, a small town 110\nmiles from the mouth; and larger vessels, drawing 20 feet; can ascend to New\nWestminster, situated about 15 miles from the mouth.\nTHE FRASER RIVER DISTRICT.,\nOn either side of the river below New Westminster is good arable land. It is\nsubject to occasional overflow, but this quickly subsides, and floods the land only\nfor a short distance from the banks. The whole of the lower Fraser country is\nmuch esteemed for farming. The soil is rich and strong, and heavy yields are\nobtained without much labor. Very large returns of wheat have been got from\nland in this district\u00E2\u0080\u0094as much as 62 bushels from a measured acre, 75 bushels of\noats per acre, and hay that yielded 3J tons to the acre. Good prices are realized\nfor all farm produce. In some places near the river the land requires dyking.\nThis part of British Columbia is fairly well settled, but there is still ample room\nfor new coiners. Those having a little money to use, and desirous of obtaining\na ready-made farm, may find many to choose from. These' settlements are not\nall on the Fraser; some are at a distance from it.on other streams.\nThe climate, described elsewhere, proves to be a great temptation to many.\nThe proximity of the great river and the Canadian Pacific Railway are additional\nattractions. The Thompson is navigable from a point on the Canadian Pacific\nRailway at Spence's Bridge, through Kamloops Lake to Clearwater on the North\nThompson, and through the South Thompson, and Shuswap Lake, to some distance up the Spallumcheen River. The Columbia is navigable between the point\nat \"which the Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the western side of the loop\nwhich the river makes at Revelstoke, and ColviLle, a town in Washington\nState. BRITISH COLUMBIA 11\nBURRARD INLET.\nVANCOUVER, POPULATION 15,000, THE CANADIAN PACIFIC\nTERMINUS.\nAbout two or three miles from the delta formed by the double outfall of the\nFraser River is Burrard Inlet, a land-locked sheet of water accessible at all\ntimes to vessels of all sizes, at the entrance to which are the harbors of\nCoal Harbor and English Bay. Port Moody is at the head of the inlet,\n14 miles above Vancouver City. Vancouver is 75 miles from Victoria and 35\nfrom Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. This, the most accessible and in several\nways best anchorage on the mainland, was the one selected by the Canadian\nPacific Railway at which to make their western terminus.\nOn a peninsula having Coal Harbor on the east and English Bay on the\nwest, the new city of Vancouver has arisen. Rising gently from the sea to an\nundulating plateau thickly wooded with giants of the coniferous tribe, and trees\nof deciduous growth, the site of the City of Vancouver is surrounded by a country\nof rare beauty; and the climate is milder and less varying than that of Devonshire\nand more pleasant than that of Delaware. Backed in the far distance by the\nOlympian range, sheltered from the north by the mountains of the coast, and\nsheltered from the ocean by the high lands of Vancouver Island, it is protected\non every side, while enjoying a constant sea breeze and a view of the Straits of\nGeorgia, whose tranquil waters bound the city on two sides. The inlet affords\nunlimited space for sea-going ships, the land falls gradually to the sea; rendering\ndrainage easy, and the situation permits of indefinite expansion of the city in\ntwo directions. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed to Vancouver.in\nMay, 1887, when the first through train arrived in that city from Montreal.\nThat year, also, the Canadian Pacific Company put a line of steamships on the\nroute between Vancouver and China and Japan. Those two important projects\ngave an impetus to the growth of the city, by placing its advantages entirely\nbeyond the realm of speculation, and the advancement made was truly\nmarvelous.\nA great conflagration, in June, 1886, nearly wiped the young city out of\nexistence, but before the embers died, materials for rebuilding were on their way,\nand, where small wooden structures were before, there arose grand edifices of\nstone, brick and iron. Under the influence of the large transportation interests\nwhich were established there the next year, the building of the city progressed\nrapidly, and during 1887 most of the city plat was cleared of timber, and a large\namount of street work was done. Since that time its progress has been\nunhindered by any disaster. The city is laid out on a magnificent scale,\nand it is being built up in a style fully in accord with the plan. Its residences,\nbusiness blocks, hotels and public buildings of all classes would be creditable to\nany city. During the year 1S88, buildings aggregating in value $1,350,000.00 were\nerected within the corporation limits. The record for 1889 shows even a greater\nresult, the new buildings footing up to a sum of $1,400,000.00. In January, 1888,\nthe city assessment showed a taxable valuation of property aggregating nearly\n$3,500,000.00. In January, 1889, the total assessed valuation of property was\n$6,600,000.00. For 1890 the figures exceed $9,000,000.00. During 1888 $85,000.00 12 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nwere expended in street improvements. The total mileage of graded streets in\nthe city is 40J, and there are 40J miles of sidewalks.\nFacts like these show how rapid the progress was. Vancouver has a thoroughly equipped paid fire department, and has also all the attributes of a live\nmodern city, such as water-works, electric light and gas, telephone, etc., etc.\nSeveral miles of track for an electric street railway are laid. Early in the spring\nof 1890 it is believed the cars will be in operation. Educational interests are\nwell looked after. The new high and central schools, the Roman Catholic\nparochial school, and excellent public schools afford every facility for a cheap and\nthorough education.\nThe business institutions of the city are of a stable character, many of them\nbeing branches of old eastern establishments. There are three chartered\nbanking houses, these being the Bank of Montreal, the Bank of British North\nAmerica, and the Bank of British Columbia, as well as two private banks ; and\nthe total capital represented by them is $50,000,000.00. During the year 1889, the\nCanadian Pacific Railway brought to the city nearly 51,000 tons of freight, and\nforwarded about 40,000 tons. Over 516,000 packages of merchandise were exported\nto China and Japan via the Canadian Pacific steamers, and the imports from the\nsame source aggregated over 574,000 packages; the total tonnage inwards being\n34,427 tons, and outwards 21,801 tons. The Canadian Pacific Company disbursed\nin Vancouver $648,234.65. The local Custom House records for 1889 showed that\nfor the last fiscal year there arrived in Vancouver marine craft carrying inwards\n59,131 tons, and outwards some 214,947 tons ; a grand total of 274,078 tons. The\nCustom House collections were $145,608.79, or double that of 1888. The\ntotal imports were $525,275.00 against $74,868.00 in 1858, and the exports\n$430,782.00, against $121,461.00 in the previous year. The goods shipped to the\nUnited States were valued at $195,474.82 against $20,087.75, and the shipments\nthrough Vancouver from the United States were valued at $1,500,000.00. The\nPost Office business in 1888 was about 150 per cent, greater than in 1887, and last\nyear it was 35 per cent, over that again. These figures show specifically what\nadvancement the city made in the lines which are quoted, and when the fact that\nthe mercantile and manufacturing interests correspondingly increased in importance is considered, a definite idea may he formed of the rapid growth which\nthe city experienced, and this rate of advancement has not in the least abated,\nbut rather increased. Lumbering operations have attained immense importance,\nVancouver being the centre for this industry. The various mills employ 1,500\nhands, and their combined output for 1889 was valued at $2,500,000.00.' Other\nmanufactories flourish in proportion. The city has a well organized Police\ndepartment, a hospital completed in 1888 at a cost of $10,000.00, and one of the\nmostbeautiful parks in the world, known as Stanley Park, another, in the east end\nand one on the south side of the city. Fraternal and benevolent organizations are\nnumerous, comprising lodges of Free Masons, Oddfellows, Good Templars, Knights\nof Labor, Knights of Pythias, Locomotive Engineers, United Workmen, Foresters,\nSons of England, and a St. George's, St. Patrick's1, and a St. Andrew's Society.\nThere are also a Public Reading Room, Young Men's Christian Association, and a\nWoman's Christian Temperance Union. In 1889 there were eleven churches: two\nMethodist, three Presbyterian, three Episcopal, a Congregational, a Baptist, and\na Roman Catholic. There are two flourishing daily and weekly newspapers. 14 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nIn addition to the great transportation lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway\nand the steamship lines to China and Japan and to Australia, the city has connections with all important points along the Pacific Coast. The trans-Pacific\nsteamship lines each receive a subsidy of $500,000.00 from the British and Cana-.\ndian Governments, and the boats that have been employed in the service during the\nexperimental stage of the line are soon to be superseded by new ones specially\ndesigned for that trade. Steamers ply between Vancouver and Victoria daily, to\nNanaimo three times a week, and all Puget Sound ports and to Portland and San\nFrancisco. The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern and the Bellingham Bay Road, and\nother valuable connecting systems, will soon be in working order and give closer\nconnections with the different cities and towns of the Pacific Coast.\nThe following table of distances will be useful for reference :\nMiles.\nVancouver to Montreal 2,905\nVancouver to New York, via Brockville 3,162\nVancouver to Boston, via Montreal 3,222\nVancouver to Liverpool, via Montreal 5,713\nSan Francisco to New York 3,271\nSan Francisco to Boston 3,471\nYokohama, Japan, to Liverpool, via San Francisco 11,281\nYokohama, Japan, to Liverpool, via Vancouver 10,047\nMelbourne to Liverpool, via Vancouver 13,707\nMelbourne to Liverpool, via San Francisco 14,211\nLiverpool to Hong Kong, via Vancouver 11,649\n\" \" via San Francisco 12,883\n\" Yokohama, via San Francisco 11,281\n\" \" via Vancouver 10,047\nVancouver to Yokohama 4,334\n\" Hong KoDg 5,936\n\" Calcutta 8,987\n\" London, via Suez Canal 15,735\nNEW WESTMINSTER.\nThis flourishing little city was founded by Colonel Moody during the Fraser\nRiver gold excitement in 1858. It is the headquarters of the salmon canning\nindustry, and the population in 1889 was about 6,000. It is situated on the north\nbank of the Fraser River, fifteen miles from its mouth, is accessible for deep\nwater shipping, and lies in the centre of a tract of country of rich and varied\nresources.\nNew Westminster is chiefly known abroad for its salmon trade and its lumber business, but the agricultural interests of the district are now coming into\nprominence and giving the city additional stability. The largest and most valuable tract of farming land in the province is in the south-west corner, in the\nvalley and delta of Fraser River, and New Westminster is situated in the midst\nof that great garden. Lulu, Sea and Westham islands, comprising the delta of\nthe river, have an area of over fifty thousand acres of the choicest land. It is not\nheavily timbered, and the rich, alluvial soil yields crops of first quality and in BRITISH COLUMBIA\n15\nsurprising quantity. Three tons of hay are taken from ah acre, ninety bushels of\noats, seventy-five of wheat, and of root crops four hundred to eight hundred\nbushels. At the local fairs turnips weighing forty pounds each have been frequently exhibited ; and oats weighing fifty-five pounds to the measured bushel.\nWhat is known as the municipality of Delta is a similar area lying between the\nFraser and Boundary Bay, on the south. Richmond municipality is to the south\nof Vancouver and north of the Fraser River. The municipalities of Surrey,\nLangley, Maple Ridge and Chilliwack occupy the valley on both sides of the river\nabove New Westminster, and embrace an area of nearly five hundred square\nmiles of the very best agricultural lands. These extend' northward from the\nAmerican boundary a distance of about twenty-five miles, but only include what\nis in the political district of New Westminster. Farming lands reach much\nfarther up the Fraser and also up the valleys of its tributaries, the Pitt, the\nStave and the Siwash. A choice tract, comprising some fifty thousand acres, has\nrecently come into notice on the Stave, and is as yet almost entirely unoccupied.\nThese are all excellent farming lands. They are easily cleared for the plow, and\nthe soil is an alluvium mixed with a clay loam. The agricultural productions\ninclude the common grains, roots, vegetables and a variety or-fruits. A failure of\ncrops'was never known in that region. Dairying is a profitable industry, and it is\ngrowing in importance. While in the valley there is no government land to speak\nof, a considerable portion of the area is yet unimproved and may be purchased at\nmoderate prices. On the northern branches of the Fraser there are still eligible\nlocations which may be obtained from the Government or from the Railroad Company on reasonable terms. In the interior there are large amounts of land of all\ndegrees of fertility and in all sorts of locations, that are waiting for settlers.\nThere are twelve large salmon canneries within easy reach of New Westminster. These establishments represent an invested capital of $500,000.00, they\nemploy over five thousand men during the fishing season, and pay out over\n$400,000.00 a year for supplies. The Fraser River canneries turned out during\nthe season of 1889, 307,586 cases, against 66,616 in 1888. This is one of the most\nimportant industries of that region. Lumbering operations are also extensive\nand profitable. New Westminster has direct connections with all transcontinental trains, and the New Westminster Southern, to connect with the American\nsystem at the boundary, will give that city ample shipping facilities. Here are\n\"located several Provincial and Dominion institutions, such as the Provincial Jail,\nthe Asylum for the Insane, the Royal Hospital, and the Provincial Penitentiary.\nAll the religious denominations are represented, as are also the benevolent and\nsecret societies. The educational facilities are likewise excellent.\nALONG THE LINE OP THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.\nAt Yale, a small town about 90 miles from the head of Burrard Inlet, and at\nthe entrance to the mountain gorges through which the Fraser River rushes to\nthe sea, a change of the characteristics of the country appears. From this point\nto the Gold Range, about 200 miles by rail, the rainfall is slight and uncertain.\nAgriculture is carried on by means of irrigation, a mode preferred by many as\nenabling the cultivator to regulate the growth of his crops, and certainly possessing advantages after the first slight outlay has been incurred. 16 BRITISH COLUMBIA\ni\nFifty-seven miles north of Yale, on the line of the railway, is Lytton, a small\ntown, owing its existence to a now washed out gold bar in its vicinity. Here the\nThompson flows into the Fraser, and from this valley a large district of arable\nand pastoral land begins. In fact over very considerable areas, far -exceeding in\nthe aggregate the arable areas of the coast region, the interior is, in parts, a farm*\ning country up to 2,500 to 3,000 feet, so far as the soil is concerned, which has\nbeen proved to be as fertile as the best on \"the coast. Cultivation is, however,\nrestricted, as a rule, to the valleys and terraces. The soil consists commonly of\nmixtures of clay and sand, varying with the character of the local formation, and\nof white silty deposits. They everywhere yield large crops of all the cereals,\nvegetables and roots, when favorably situated. The climate is much hotter in\nsummer than the climate of the coast regions. Tomatoes, melons and cucumbers\nthrive in the open air in most parts. Very fine fruit can be grown. Now that\naccess to the markets on the Eastern side of the mountains has been opened by\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway, fruit growing will become one of the principal\nindustries both in this and other parts of the province.\nAs a grazing country this wide sweep of territory is unrivalled. Cattle and\nsheep that feed on btmch-grass, which is the pasturage of this region, produce the\nbest beef and mutton on the continent. In the district where the heavier rainfall\noccurs, the bunch-grass is supplanted by red-top, blue-joint and other more\nfamiliar grasses. The bunch-grass country is equally valuable for horses ; it\naffords them excellent pasturage during the winter, for though the outside may\nbe frosted, the heart remains sweet and good, and the animals keep in excellent\ncondition. There is a steady demand for British Columbian horses east of the\nRocky Mountains.\nUP THE FRASER.\nThere are numerous small settlements in this district, particularly up the\nvalley of the Fraser, on the Lillooet, and between the Fraser and Kamloops Lake.\nIn summer a steamer runs on the Fraser from Soda Creek, 150 miles north of\nLytton, to Quesnelle, sixty miles farther up the river, the surrounding country,\nwhich is traversed by the Government waggon road, producing heavy crops of\ngrain and fruit. Beyond this is the Cariboo country, from which a great deal of\ngold has been taken. In 1860 and the following few years a number of gold bearing\ncreeks were discovered in the Cariboo district, great numbers of men flocked to\nthe place, and very large quantities of gold were taken out, but the work was\nmainly confined to placer mining. Rich veins exist, and with the use of proper\nmachinery, which can now be taken into the country, large results will be obtained.\nWestward of the Fraser lies the Chilicoten prairies of large extent, but they are\nnot likely to invite much settlement while quantities of excellent land nearer the\nrailway remain to be taken up.\nKAMLOOPS AND THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT.\nAbout 40 miles north of Lytton the Canadian Pacific Railway turns due east\nto Kamloops, a thriving town situated on the South Thompson, a few miles above\nits junction with Kamloops Lake. Kamloops was originally a Hudsons Bay\nCompany's post, and round this a prosperous little town has grown up, the popnla- BRITISH COLUMBIA 17\ntion in 1889 being 2,000. It is in a good grazing neighborhood, and has been used\nby the H. B. Co. as a horse breeding district. The country round is well settled,\na large number of farmers having established themselves in the neighborhood of\nthe lake, and on the banks of the Thompson, within the last two or three years.\nThis district has many attractions, but in the lateral valleys, as yet mostly\nunoccupied, are tracts of land equally advantageous for farming. The lake is 25\nmiles long, and a steamer runs from Kamloops town to Savona's Ferry at the other\nend. South of this is a hilly, well-timbered country, in which large numbers of\ncattle are raised. In parts it is well-watered with lakes, marshes and small\nstreams, and in the Okanagan and Spallumcheen valleys, the soil is a deep, clayey\nloam, producing good crops of cereals and roots without irrigation. The climate\nof this southern part of the province is healthy, with moderate winters and.there is\nplenty of timber for the use of settlers. A small steamer runs on the Spallumcheen River through the Shuswap Lakes, lying between Kamloops and the mountains, and down the South Thompson to Kamloops.\nTHE NICOLA VALLEY\nForms part of the Yale District and is due south of the main line of the Canadian\nPacific Railway, Spence's Bridge being the principal outlet for this fine section of\ncountry. For many years the Nicola Valley was recognized as the principal grazing and stock-raising section of the province. It still maintains a high position\nin respect of the lines above referred to. Whilst it is specially adapted to pastoral\npursuits, it is no less fitted for agriculture and the growth of all classes of cereals.\nOf late years, now that a market is to be had for the products of the farm, greater\nattention is being given to agricultural pursuits than has been the case in the\npast. The crops already grown are excellent in quality and the yield unexception-\nally large. There is a greater tendency now to mixed farming than in the past.\nIn a few years Nicola Valley will become as famous for its grain, roots, vegetables\nand fruit of all kinds, as it has been for its bunch-grass fed cattle.\nThis valley is also rich in its mineral deposits. Here are to be found gold and\nsilver bearing quartz, as well as placer fields; coal and iron deposits. The principal mines for the precious metals are at Stump Lake and at Coulter's. The coal\nfields are at Coldwater, where magnetic iron ore is likewise found.\nIt is not improbable that one or more lines of railway will shortly pierce this\nsomewhat isolated section of country in the near future. When that is done\nNicola's beautiful valleys, through which run streams of the purest water, teeming with mountain brook trout, will become the home of hundreds of happy,\ncontented settlers.\nThe climate is all that could be desired. There are large tracts of land yet\nto be taken up at Government prices, and under the conditions regulating the sale\nand pre-emption of public lands, which are very liberal.\nTHE OKANAGAN DISTRICT.\nSouth and south-east of Kamloops, and the lake of that name, and the Canadian Pacific Railway, is situated the Okanagan District, believed to be one of the\nfinest sections in the whole province for agricultural and stock-raising pursuits. 18 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nIn this part of the province are to be found the most extensive farms in the pro.\nvince, as well as the largest cattle ranges. Many can count their herds by thousands of head, and their broad fields by thousands of acres. The district is an\nextensive one and within its borders are to be found large lakes, the principal one\nbeing Okanagan, whilst such streams as the Spallumcheen, the Simelkameen and\nother large rivers flow through the district.\nOkanagan is famous as a grain growing country. For many years this\nindustry was not prosecuted with.either vigor or profit. Of late a marked change\nhas taken place in this respect. Samples of wheat raised in Okanagan, sent to\nthe Vienna Exposition in 1886, were awarded the highest premiums and bronze\nmedals.\nOne of the best flouring mills in the Dominion is now in operation at Ender-\nby, some 35 miles south of Sicamous, a station on the line of the Canadian Pacific\nRailway, which is reached by navigation for vessels of light draught. The flour\nmanufactured at these mills from Okanagan grown wheat is equal to any other\nto be found on the Continent. The climate is specially adapted to the growth of\nwheat, which is now reaching extensive dimensions\u00E2\u0080\u0094said to be several thousands of\ntons a year. The capacity of the Enderby mill is 150 barrels of flour per day. It\n\" is operated to its utmost capacity. Farmers here find a ready cash market for all\nthe wheat they can possibly grow, an advantage which every farmer will fully\nappreciate.\nThere are still to be taken up immense stretches of the very best land, which\nis but lightly timbered and easily brought under cultivation. Water is abundant\nin some sections, whilst in others it is scarce, rendering irrigation by artesian\nwells a necessity.\nOkanagan is also a very rich mineral district. Valuable mines are now\nbeing operated within its limits, which extend southerly to the American boundary.\nThe early completion of the Shuswap & Okanagan Railway to Vernon, the\ncapital of the district, from the main line of the Canadian Pacific, a distance of\n52 miles, will prove an immense impetus to this splendid section of country. When\nthis railway is completed it is to be operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway for\nthe owners on a percentage of the earnings. From Vernon there will be first-class\nnavigation up Lake Okanagan for a distance of 100 miles. The country tributary\nto the lake throughout is capital, and will shortly become thickly populated.\nThere is room for many settlers in this southern area, and locations are\nplenty where good soil, excellent pasturage, and an ample supply of timber are to\nbe found. This comprises pine, spruce,, cedar, hemlock, balsam and other\nkinds. On the high lands that back the valleys, forest succeeds forest, the trees of\nwhich attain the enormous growth for which this province is so famous. These\nplaces, like many other desirable localities in British Columbia, were formerly\nreached only by the adventurous who secured homesteads and founded settlements\nthat are now within a day's journey from the line of railway . Tn the region that\nlies between the Shuswap Lakes and the coast range, there are two distinct climates, the dry and the humid ; the one to the north of the Thompson and Fraser,\nand the other between the 49\u00C2\u00B0 and 50\u00C2\u00B0 parallel, each possessing its distinctive\nattraction to settlers. A short distance east of the Shuswap Lakes the Canadian\nPacific enters the mountain passes of the Gold or Columbia Range. This is\nanother region of magnificent timber. The fir and cedar attain dimensions far <\no\"\no\n5'\nCD\nb 20 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nexceeding anything known in the east of America, and only equalled by those\nfound on the west side of the coast range. Their value is enhanced by proximity\nto the prairies, where there is an ever-growing demand for this species of timber.\nTHE KOOTENAY DISTRICT.\nThe Kootenay District, including the Lower and Upper Kootenay valleys and\nthe Columbia Valley, is a most valuable region now attaining considerable prominence. Lying in the south-eastern corner of British Columbia, it is separated\nfrom the North-West Territories of Canada by the Rocky Mountains, and is in\nshape a huge triangle with a base line of some 150 miles resting on the 49\u00C2\u00B0 N. lat.,\nwhich forms the international boundary between that portion of British Columbia and Montana, Idaho and Washington State. About the-centre of this\ntriangle is the Selkirk range of mountains, bending like a horseshoe with the\nopen end towards the south, and within the horseshoe lies the Lower Kootenay\nValley, while the two remaining valleys comprising the Kootenay District, i.e., the\nUpper Kootenay and the Columbia valleys, are outside of this horseshoe, isolating\nthe Selkirks from the .Rocky Mountains and Gold Range. These valleys are\nformed respectively by the Columbia and Kootenay rivers, and in addition to\nsplendid timber, possess considerable wealth of minerals and much valuable land\nadmirably suited to agriculture and grazing purposes.\nTHE VALLEY OP THE COLUMBIA.\nPassing east from Shuswap Lake along the line of the road, there is a sudden\nchange of climate from the region where rain is seldom seen to that where it\nfalls frequently through all seasons of the year, except in the depth of winter,\nwhen at times it becomes snow. This is the Gold Range, and in the valley of the\nColumbia and its tributary streams, including Kootenay Lake and River. This\nsouth-east corner of the province is remarkable for its pasturage lands. It is a\nhilly country with rich grass lands and good soil. There is a great deal of prairie\nland, and about an equal quantity of forest in which pine, cypress and cedar\ngrow luxuriantly, as well as birch and other deciduous trees. An excellent tract\nof farming country is a belt along the Kootenay River, varying from two to ten\nmiles in width. Here the soil is light and bunch-grass grows. There is a series\nof lakes near the river where the valley, which is about fifteen miles wide, has a\nheavy soil, producing grain and vegetables of the ordinary kind in abundance.\nSalmon from the Columbia make their way in great numbers into the Kootenay.\nThe ordinary brook trout are plentiful in the mountain streams. The country\nproduces some of the best timber in the province, and is a good district for\nlarge game.\nConsiderable placer mining has been done in the Kootenay District, and\nrecently some rich quartz ledges have been discovered. Steamers run on the\nKootenay River and Lake, and a company has been chartered to construct a railway to connect these with the Columbia River, and so with the Canadian Pacific\nRailway, which crosses that stream in two places, and with the towns in Washington State.\nAn English company is engaged in a scheme for widening the outlet of the\nKootenay Lake, with a view to reclaiming about 40,000 acres of first-class alluvial BRITISH COLUMBIA 21\nland, on which they intend to form a colony of ex-officers and other selected\npersons. This district is well timbered, yet a splendid grazing country ; it has a\nsufficient rainfall, yet is out of the constant rainfall peculiar to the mountains\nfurther north ; it is a good game country, produces cereals and roots in abundance,\nand is within easy reach of rail. Gold and silver have been found and mined in\nthis southern as well as in the northern parts of the province.\nTHE UPPER KOOTENAY VALLEY.\nWith the Rocky Mountains guarding it from the cold north and east winds,\nand the warm breezes of the Pacific Ocean, the \" Chinook Wind,\" to regulate all\nextremes of temperature, the climate of the Upper Kootenay is healthful and\npleasant. The snow-fall is light, though at times the cold is severe, but cattle\nand horses remain out all winter without shelter or fodder, and keep fat and\nhealthy. The springs are early, the summers warm and free from frosts, and the\nwinters moderate both in duration and range of cold. The valley is lower thari\nthe plains east of the Rockies, its elevation above the sea varying from 2,250 to\n2,700 feet. The soil is good, producing fine crops of wheat, oats, peas, garden\nproduce, etc.; tomatoes, cucumbers, and such delicate growths do well anywhere\nin the valley. Hop culture has not been tried extensively as yet, but wherever\nthe vines are grown as ornaments to houses they thrive surprisingly, proving that\nmore extensive planting would be both safe and profitable. Owing to the shelter\nafforded by the mountains, except with occasional thunderstorms, high winds are\nunknown in the Kootenay valleys. The timber is most valuable, including yellow\npine, fir and tamtirac, the former being a most useful and handsome tree, frequently attaining a girth of twenty feet. Large deposits of excellent steam coal\nhave been discovered in the Crow's Nest Pass, and it is confidently believed that\ngold exists in paying quantities at many points in the valley, including Bui\nRiver, Gold Creek, Moojea Creek, etc., dow in the.hands of enterprising companies. During 1863 and 1864 there was an invasion of miners and much placer\ngold was taken out, over three million dollars being credited to Wild Horse Creek\nalone. From latest reports, the prospects for future successful quartz mining\nappear most encouraging.\nTHE LOWER KOOTENAY VALLEY.\nFollowing the erratic course\"of the Kootenay River in a southerly direction, it\nis found to cross the international boundary and flow for a considerable distance\nthrough American territory. Ere it bends again within the limits of British\nColumbia, it enters the broad expanse known as the Lower Kootenay Valley, which\nends with Kootenay Lake, a beautiful sheet of water some 90 miles in length. The\nriver varies from 600 to 700 feet in width, and the average depth is about 45 feet,\nrendering navigation by the largest steamers safe and easy, the current being slow.\nLofty elm and cottonwood trees line the banks, leaving the valley an unbroken\nexpanse of tall grass, without a tree until the level ends at the pine-covered hills on\neither side. Above these hills rise the mountains to a height varying from 1,500 to\n5,800 feet. There is no question but that this vallev contains some of the most\nproductive land known, and perhaps the heaviest crops of cereals, roots,.hops, etc. 22 BRITISH COLUMBIA\non record might be eclipsed here were it not for the overflow of Kootenay Lake and\nRiver, which occurs nearly every season about June and July, and, while it certainly enriches the soil to a marvelous extent, seriously interferes with agricultural\noperations. Dyking the bottom-lands would of course work admirably, as it has\ndone on the Fraser River, but a better method is now under consideration. The\noutlet of Kootenay Lake is not sufficient to accommodate the surplus water coming\ndown from the mountains, hence the present overflow ; but it is proposed to widen\nthe natural outlet sufficiently to carry off all this water, and reports agree that\nthis can be done successfully. When accomplished, one of the most valuable\ntracts in the province will be reclaimed. The valley is rich in minerals. On\nKootenay Lake immense galena deposits have been discovered, containing a valuable proportion of silver, and mining is easy. On Toad Mountain, near Kootenay\nLake outlet, rich deposits of copper and silver have been located and promise to\nbe of great importance. Two small steamers at present ply upon the lower\nKootenay River and the Lake, and offer a delightful trip. The lake is claimed to\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0be one of the most beautiful in the world, and is a very attractive point for sportsmen. In its clear depths are land-locked salmon, and on the mountains in the\nvicinity .are found grizzly bear, mountain goat and caribou.\nTHE BIG BEND OP THE COLUMBIA.\nBetween the Gold Range and the Selkirks is the west side of the great loop of\nthe Columbia River, that extends north above the 52nd parallel, or 200 miles from\nits rise. This bend drains a gold region not yet well explored, but which has\nevery indication of great -mineral richness, and certainly possesses an amazing\nquantity of fine timber. All the lower plateaus and valleys are covered with cedar\nof enormous size, fir, spruce and white pine, and along the streams are cotton-\nwood, birch and aspen. Within easy reach of the Canadian Pacific Railway is\nenough timber to supply all the vast treeless plains east of the Rockies for ages to\ncome. Gold has been found in paying quantities at many points north of the\nBend, and indications of it on the Ulecilliwaet River and Beaver Creek. This \is\na region of frequent rains,, and snow in winter, and is characterized by a luxuriant\ngrowth of vegetation.\nVANCOUVER ISLAND.\nVancouver is the largest island on the west coast of America, being about 300\nmiles long, with an average breadth of about fifty miles, and contains an estimated\narea of from 12,000 to 20,000 square miles. The coast line, more particularly on\nthe west side, is broken by numerous inlets of the sea, some of which run up to\nthe interior of the island for many miles, between precipitous cliffs, backed by\nhigh and rugged mountains, which are clothed in fir, hemlock and cedar. At\nsome points are sheltered bays which receive small streams watering an open\ngladed country, having a growth of wild flowers and grasses\u00E2\u0080\u0094the white clover,\nsweet grass, cowslip, wild timothy and a profusion of berries. The two ends of\nVancouver Island are, comparatively speaking, flat, but there are mountains in\nthe interior ranging from 6,000 to 8,000 feet on the highest ridges. The interior of\nthe island, still unsettled at any distance from the sea coast, is largely interspersed\nwith lakes and small streams. The surface is beautifully diversified by mountains, BRITISH COLUMBIA 23\nhills and open prairies, and on the east coast the soil is so good, that great\nencouragement is offered to agricultural settlement.\nIn other parts the soil is light and of little depth, but it is heavily wooded.\nThe greater part of these arable tracts is found in the south-eastern portion of the\nisland, in the strip of land lying between the mountains and the eastern coast.\nAt the extreme north there is also some arable land, and a little on the west. In\nthe inland lakes, and in the indentations of the coast, there is a plentiful supply of\nfish, and a fair variety of game on shore.\nThere are many harbors on both sides of the island in which large ships can\nfind anchorage, and very many more available to smaller coasting vessels. The\nprincipal harbor is that at Esquimalt, which has long been the rendezvous of the\nEnglish squadron in the North Pacific. It is situated at the south end of the\nisland, on the eastern side, and can be approached in foggy weather by means of\nsoundings, which are marked on the admiralty charts, for a considerable distance\nseaward, an advantage possessed by very few anchorages, and with the exception\nof Burrard Inlet, at the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, by no other\nlarge harbor on that coast. The scenery of Vancouver Island is exceedingly varied\nand picturesque.\nVICTORIA.\nVictoria (pop. 15,000) is the capital of British Columbia and the chief city of\nVancouver Island. It was formerly a stockaded post'of the Hudsons Bay Company\nand was then called Fort Victoria. It is delightfully situated on a small arm of\nthe sea, commanding a superb view of the Straits of Georgia, the mountains o'f\nthe mainland, and snow-capped Mount Baker in the distance. The city's age\nmay date from 1858, when the discovery of gold on the mainland brought a rush\nof miners from the south. It is now a wealthy, well-built, and very English city,\nwith business and shipping interests of great importance. Victoria is pre-eminently a place to delight tourists, and has ample accommodation for a large\nfloating population, having several comfortable hotels, one or two of which are\nnoted for the excellence of their tables. Various public buildings are also worthy\nof more than passing notice. Prominent among the more important structures is\nthe provincial Capitol on the south side of James Bay, forming quite an imposing\ngroup in the midst of tastefully laid out and well cared grounds. The new Court\nHouse is a massive pile lately completed at a cost of about $60,000. Other good\nbuildings are the City Hall, city and provincial jails, college and school buildings,\nseveral churches and business blocks. Some of the private residences and\ngrounds are remarkably attractive. Most of the manufacturing interests of the\nprovince are centered at Victoria. It has the largest iron works on the Pacific\nCoast outside of San Francisco, and several smaller foundries and machine shops,\nalso many factories, etc., etc. The city is amply provided with educational\nfacilities, both public and private. There are five ward schools, besides the large\ncentral high school, and an efficient corps of instructors is employed. The public\nschools are supported by the Government and controlled by a school board elected\nby popular suffrage-. Besides these there are the ladies' college, under the auspices\nof the Anglican Church, and an academic institution, as well as a primary school)\nmaintained by the Roman Catholic denomination. There are Protestant and\nRoman Catholic orphanages. The city has a public library of about 10,000 24 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nvolumes, and several of the fraternal and benevolent societies also have libraries\nof considerable size.\nVictoria has command of a valuable and extensive steamship service, which\naffords regular communication with China, Japan and Australia. One of the\nfinest steamers on the Pacific Coast plies daily between Victoria and Vancouver,\nand the trip from city to city through the clustered isles of the Gulf of Georgia is\nvery pleasant. Daily boats ply to all important Puget Sound ports, and to points\nnorthward on the island and mainland, and all regular San Francisco and Alaska\nsteamers call at Victoria.\nThe city has for many seasons been a favorite resort for tourists, and appears\nto be steadily growing in popularity, the beauty of its surroundings and the many\ndelightful drives, facilities for boating, etc.,furnishing ample means of amusement.\nThe country for some miles about the city is called the district of Victoria,\nand supports a scattered farming population and furnishes a portion of the\nsupplies of the city, but it is not a particularly, good farming country, being better\nadapted to fruit culture. Here every variety of fruit grown in a temperate\nclimate attains peculiar excellence, and fruit culture promises to become a leading\nindustry in the near future.\nESQUIMALT.\nEsquimalt harbor is about three miles long, and something under two miles\nbroad in the widest part; it has an average depth of six to eight fathoms and\naffords excellent holding ground, the bottom being a tenacious blue clay. The*\nCanadian Government has built a dry-dock at Esquimalt to accommodate vessels\nof large size. Its length is 450 feet, depth 26 feet, and 90 feet wide at the entrance.\nIt is built of concrete, faced with sandstone, and was nearly three years in construction.\nThere- is a small town at the northern corner of the harbor bearing the same\nname, Esquimalt. The nucleus of it are some British Government buildings,\nconsisting of a naval hospital, an arsenal and other dockyard buildings. In the\nimmediate vicinity of these the town has arisen. There are two churches, a public\nschool, two hotels or inns, and a number of residences and business buildings.\nIn the territorial division of Esquimalt there are several farming settlements and\none or two manufactories, including a boot and shoe manufactory and a sawmill.\nEsquimalt is only three and a half miles from Victoria by land, and is connected\nwith it by an excellent macadamized road.\nNANAIMO.\nSituated on rising ground and overlooking a fine harbor on the east coast of\nVancouver Island, is the thriving city of Nanaimo, with a population of about\n4,000, and, ranking next to Victoria in importance. It is seventy miles north of\nVictoria, and depends chiefly upon its coaling interest and shipping business for\nsupport. Nanaimo Harbor is connected by a deep channel with Departure Bay,\nwhere the largest craft find safe anchorage. Vancouver Island bituminous coals\nare now acknowledged to be superior for all practical purposes to any coals of the\nPacific Coast. Four companies operate mines in the immediate vicinity of\nNanaimo, the combined output for 1889 being about half a million tons, most of\nwhich was exported. Large quantities are sent to San Francisco, to the\nI r\n26 . BRITISH COLUMBIA\nSandwich Islands and China, being shipped from either Nanaimo or Departure\nBay. Nanaimo is also the coaling station for the British squadron in the\nPacific. A large number of men find employment in the mines and about the\ndocks, and the town for its siz3 is well supplied with the requirements of a growing population. It has churches, schools, hotels, water-works, telephone etc., and\nsuch industries as a tannery, boot and shoe manufactory, sawmill, brewery, shipyard, etc., and weekly and semi-weekly newspapers. The present population of\nthe district of Nanaimo is about 8,000; much of the land is excellent for agricultural purposes. There is a daily train service between Nanaimo and Victoria, and\nconnections by steamers with the different island and mainland ports.\nThese three places, Victoria, Nanaimo and Esquimalt, all on the southeastern corner of Vancouver Island, are the principal centres. There are smaller\ncommunities on the island, mainly on the south corner, and at no great distances\nfrom the three principal places already spoken of. Such is Cowichan, a settlement on the east coast, about midway between Victoria and Nanaimo, where the\nquality of the soil permits farming to be carried on to some advantage. Saanich,\nanother farming settlement at the extreme south-east. Maple Bay, Chemainus,\nSomenos, all in the neighborhood of Cowichan ; Comox, some 60 miles north of\nNanaimo, in the vicinity of which are some of the principal logging camps;\nSooke, a short distance south-west of Esquimalt, are being gradually developed.\nTHE SOIL OF VANCOUVER ISLAND.\nThe soil of Vancouver Island varies considerably. In some parts are\ndeposits of clay, sand and gravel, sometimes partially mixed, and frequently with a\nthick topsoil of vegetable mould of varying depth. At other places towards the\nnorth of the island on the eastern shore are some rich loams, immediately avail-'\nable for cultivation. The mixed soil with proper treatment bears heavy crops of\nwheat; the sand and gravelly loams do well for oats, rye, barley, buckwheat,\nroots, etc., and where the soil is a deep loamy one, fruit grows well. The following average of the yield of a properly cultivated farm in the Comox district is\ngiven by a member of the Canadian Geological Survey. This is from the best\nland in Comox, but there are other parts of the island not much inferior:\nWheat from 30 to 45 bushels per acre ; barley 30 to 35 bushels ; oats 50 to 60\nbushels ; peas 40 to 45 bushels; potatoes 150 to 200 bushels; turnips 20 to 25\ntons per acre.\nSome of the rocks of the island furnish excellent building material, the grey\ngranite being equal to Scotch and English granites.\nTIMBER.\nThe timber of Vancouver is one of its richest products. Throughout the\nisland the celebrated \" Douglas Fir \" is found, and a variety of coniferous trees\ngrow on all parts of the island. It is impossible to travel without marvelling at\nthe forest growth. This exuberance is not confined to the mammoth fir trees, or\nthe enormous cedars; trees of many of the deciduous varieties abound, so that\neither for lumber and square timber, or for the settlers' immediate requirements\nfor the use of cities, and as arboreous adornments to the homes, the forests of\nVancouver Island have a value that every year will become more apparent. BRITISH COLUMBIA . 27\nCLIMATE OF VANCOUVER ISLAND.\nConcerning Vancouver Island, it only remains to say that in the important\nmatter of climate its inhabitants believe, and with some reason, that they enjoy\npeculiar advantages. They have a mild and even winter, with rain ; the annual\nrainfall is estimated at 45 inches ; and occasionally snow ; an early spring; a dry,\nwarm summer, and a clear, bright and enjoyable autumn. Sometimes the frost\nis sufficiently hard to permit of skating, but this is exceptional. As a rule flowers\nbloom in the gardens of Victoria throughout the year. It is spoken of as England\nwithout its east winds; in reality it is Torquay in the Pacific. Fruits of all kinds\nindigenous to the temperate climates ripen in the open air, and amongst them,\nsome that are in England brought to perfection only under glass. Thunder storms\nseldom break over Vancouver. It is this climate, combined with the situation of\nVictoria, that makes that city such a pleasant abiding place.\nWAGES.\nThe wages earned in Victoria and other parts of the island are, of course,\ngoverned by the demand for labor, and the amounts paid on the mainland, but it\nis unlikely that they will be reduced for many years to the level of those paid in\nEastern Canada. Average figures are about as follows :\u00E2\u0080\u0094Carpenters and blacksmiths, $2.50 to $3.75 per day; laborers, $1.50 to $2.00; miners (contractwork),\n$3.00 to $4.00 per day; fishermen, $50.00 to $60.00 per month; stonecutters,\nstonemasons and bricklayers, $4.00 to $5.00 per day; plasterers, $4.00 to $4.50;\ncarpenters, $2.50 to $3.00; painters, $3.50 to $4.00; ship carpenters and caulkers,\n$4.00 to $4.50; waggon makers, $3.50 to $4;00 ; machinists, $4.00 to $4.50;\ntinsmiths ahd plumbers, $3.50 to $4.00 ; longshoremen, 50 cents an hour.\nAn ordinary unskilled laborer receives $1.50 a day ; if he can lay claim to skill\nenough to attend to a garden he readily commands $2.00 a day.\nFarm servants, engaged by the month, are paid at wages from $20.00 to $40.00\nper month, with board and lodging,* according to the kind of work required of\nthem. A few Indians are employed in the seaboard districts, at $15.00 to $20.00\nper month, with board and lodging, by farmers who understand their character.\nIn the interior, Indians are largely employed as herders and for farm work.\nEMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN.\nWomen servants are well paid. Nurse girls receive $10.00 to $12.00 per\nmonth; general house servants $20.00 to $25.00 a month with board, if they have\nsome little knowledge of cooking and can wash. A great many people employ\nChinamen as cooks at $15.00 to $25.00 a month and board.\nAs in all backwoods settlements, the earlier work is done by men exclusively,\nbut a pioneer soon finds that his new home is not complete without a wife. The\nconsequence is that young women coming to the colony, and prepared to take\ntheir share of the duties of life as the wives of settlers in the back districts, do not\nlong remain as servants or factory girls. They may at first miss some of the\nattractions of a city life, but by industry and \"orderly living, acquire a position in\ntheir neighborhood, and gather about them much to occupy their time and give an\ninterest to their home, and as the years roll on positions of credit and responsibility\ncome to them, that in the early days did not even occur to them as possible. I\n28 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 BRITISH COLUMBIA\nTHE ISLANDS OP THE STRAITS.\nOn the east side of Vancouver, in the Straits of Georgia, that is between the\nisland and the mainland, are innumerable islands of smaller size. Generally they\nare wooded, and some of them have spots well fitted for agriculture. They are not\nmuch sought for by white men at present, as there is plenty of land in places nearer\nthe settlements.\nTAX AD A.\nNear Vancouver is the island of Taxada, opposite the settlement at\nComox, which, from its wealth of iron ore, is destined to be of considerable\nvalue.\nIt is largely owned by speculators. The ore is in a mountainous mass that\ncan be traced for miles, and it can be mined, smelted and shipped without difficulty. It is a coarse, granular magnetite, containing a large percentage of iron,\nwith only .003 per cent, of phosphorus.\nA little to the north of Taxada is a small group of islands, and then the island\nof Vancouver and the mainland approach one another to within two or three miles.\nHere it was at one time intended to bring the Canadian Pacific Railway across by\nway of Bute Inlet on the mainland, and Valdez Island to Vancouver, and down to\nVictoria with the terminus at Esquimalt.\nTHE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.\nNorth of Vancouver Island, and close to the coast of the mainland, there is a\nsuccession of islands continuing to the extreme limits of British Columbia. Of\nthese, the Queen Charlotte Islands are the largest and most important. These\nare a group of which there are three principal islands, Graham, Moresby and\nProvost islands. They are the home of the remnant of the' Hydab Indians, once\nthe finest and most warlike tribe on the coast. They now only number about 800\npeople, who live in villages scattered about the three islands, their principal place\nbeing at Massett and Skidegate, on Graham Island. They are expert canoemen\nand fishermen, and find occupation in extracting oil rom the livers of the dog\nfish, which abound on that coast. A company was started a few years ago called\nthe Skidegate Oil Company, which, by introducing proper machinery for extracting the oil, obtains an excellent article, especially for lubricating. It manufactures, about 40,000 gallons annually, and gives employment to the Indians during\nthe summer months.\nThese islands are heavily wooded, but not with the larger kinds of fir. The\ninterior is mountainous, and there are numerous small streams flowing into the\nbays. Some of these bays afford good anchorage. The soil of the island is not\nrich, and opinions differ as to the quantity of arable or grazing land in the\ninterior. It is believed that there is gold on the islands, and in years past several\nattempts were made to find it; but, probably owing to imperfect methods and the\nopposition of the then powerful Indians, with no success.\nV* z\nCD\nct>\n(A\n3\nt/i\nd\n-?\nCO\nb\nI'lii,.,//\nil\nf\nI\nf 30\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nTHE GOLD FIELDS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.\nIt would be difficult to indicate any defined section of British Columbia in\nwhich gold has not been, or will not be, found. The first mines discovered were\nin the southern part of the province, the next in the Cariboo district, in the centre\nof British Columbia, and at present the richest diggings in work are the Cassiar\nmines in the far north. Recently several new mines have been opened elsewhere.\nGold has been found on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, on Queen\"\nCharlotte islands, at the extreme west, and on every range \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 of mountains that\nintervene between these two extrerfie points. Hitherto the work has been practically placer mining, a mere scratching of the surface, yet nearly fifty millions of\ndollars have been scraped out of the rivers and creeks. Bars have been washed\nout and abandoned, without sufficient effort being made to discover the quartz\nvein from which the streams received their gold. Abandoned diggings have been\nvisited after a lapse of years, and new discoveries made in the neighborhood.\nThe railway now pierces the auriferous ranges ; men and material can be\ncarried into the heart of the mountains and with each succeeding season fresh\ngold deposits will be found, or the old ones traced to the quartz rock, and capital\nand adequate machinery be brought to bear upon them. There are hundreds of\nmiles open to the poor prospector, and there are, or shortly will be, numerous\nopenings for the capitalist. To the agricultural settler the existence of gold is of\ndouble significance. He is certain of a market for his produce, he is not debarred\nfrom mining a little on his own account, and he is never deprived of the hope that\nhe will one day become the fortunate discoverer of a bonanza.\n' In giving evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, a member\nof the Government Geological Survey said : \"After having travelled over 1,000\n\" miles through British Columbia, I can say with safety that there will yet be\n\" taken out of her mines wealth enough to build the Pacific Railway.\" This\nmeans many rpillions. Another gentleman in the same service said that, \"it may\nsoon take its place as second to no other country in North America,\" which is\neven stronger language than the other.\nIn 1860, Antler Creek (on the Fraser) yielded at one time not less than\n$10,000 per day. On one claim $1,000 was obtained by a single day's work.\nIn 1862 a more scientific system of working was adopted ; some companies\nwere formed, shafts were sunk and professional mining engineers employed. The\ngold returns for 1870, for which year an official report was made, from the mines\nof Columbia, Yale, Silionet, Lytton, Cariboo and Lillooet were $1,333,745, in\naddition to large quantities carried away by individuals and purchasers of gold\ndust. From 1862 to 1871 gold to the value of $16,650,036 was shipped from\nBritish Columbia to the banks, and fully $60,000 more was taken out by miners\nand others. The export of gold for 1874 was $1,072,422. Stickeen River, rising in\nthe north-west of Alaska, has been worked since 1875, and still yields well. It\nmust be remembered that these splendid results were obtained by a mere scratching, of a few river shallows then accessible. The total output of gold since its\nfirst discovery in British Columbia, is estimated at $60,000,000. With present\nfacilities for prospecting much heavier returns are expected, for the era of scientific mining in British Columbia has only commenced. UTISH COLUMBIA\n31\nGOLD-BEARING ROCKS.\nIn British Columbia, a belt of rocks probably corresponding to the gold rocks\nof California, has already been proved to be richly auriferous. With a general\nsimilarity of topographical features in the disturbed belt of the west coast, a\ngreat uniformity in the lithological character of the rocks is found to follow from\nsouth-east to north-west. Geological explorations go to show a general resemblance\nof the rocks to those of the typical sections of California and the Western States.\nThe general distribution of alluvial gold over the province may indicate that\nseveral different rock formations produce it in greater or less quantity, though it\nis only where \"co'krse\" or \"heavy\" gold occurs, that the original auriferous veins\nmust be supposed to exist in the immediate vicinity of the deposit. Colors, as the\nfiner particles of gold are called, travel far along the beds of the rapid rivers\nbefore they are reduced by attrition to invisible shreds ; and the northern and\nother system of distribution of drift material have, no doubt, also assisted in\nspreading the fine gold. The gold formation proper, however, of the country,\nconsists of a series of talcose and chloritic blackish or greenish-grey slates or\nschists, which occasionally become micaceous, and generally show evidence of\ngreater mstamorphism than the gold bearing slates of California. Their precise\ngeological horizon is not yet determined.\nSilver has been discovered in several places, and its further discovery will\nprobably show that it follows the same rules as in Nevada and Colorado. The\nbest known argentiferous locality is that about six miles from Hope, on the\nFraser River. The lodes occur at an elevation of about 5,000 feet.\nGreat iron deposits exist on Taxada Island, and copper deposits have been\nfound at several points on the coast of the mainland, Howe Sound, Jarvis Inlets,\nthe Queen Charlotte Islands, and other points. Mercury, cinnabar, and platinum\nhave been found in small quantities during the process of washing gold.\nCOAL ON THE MAINLAND.\nSeveral seams of bituminous coal have been discovered on the mainland, and\nsome veins have been worked in the New Westminster and Nicola districts,\nand other indications of coal have been found in several parts. The large quantities on Vancouver Island of such excellent quality and so well situated for shipment have probably discouraged the search for coal in the interior. The same\nformation exists on the mainland as on the island, and the New Westminster and\nNicola coal-beds are probably small portions only of large areas.\nAnthracite coal, comparing favorably with that of Pennsylvania, has been\nfound in seams of six feet and three feet, in Queen Charlotte Island. Fragments\nof anthracite have been picked up on several parts of Vancouver Island, and this\nwould seem to indicate that the seams found in Queen Charlotte islands will be\ntraced to Vancouver.\nAnd attention to the significance of British Columbian coal discoveries cannot\nbe drawn in a better manner than by quoting the remarks of Lord Dufferin on the\nsubject. \"When it is further remembered that inexhaustible supplies of iron afe\n'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 found in juxtaposition with your coal, no one can blame you for regarding the\n\"beautiful land in which you live as having been especially favored by Providence\n\" in the distribution of its natural gifts.\" WtmfmWi\njv i/i'f\n/\n<3\n/ BRITISH COLUMBIA 33\nTHE FISHERIES OP THE WEST COAST.\nAn important part of the future trade of British Columbia will arise from\nthe wealth of fish in the waters of her coast. Of these the most valuable at\npresent is the salmon. They literally teem in the Fraser and Columbia rivers,\nand frequently passengers on the Canadian Pacific Railway are astounded by the\nsight of broad expanses of river, or deep pools packed almost soKd with wriggling\nmasses of splendid, fish, their motions being distinctly visible from the platforms\nor car windows as the trains roll along. The greater number of the canneries are\non the Fraser River, but there are some in the far north.\nThe salmon make their way for great distances up the rivers. The salmon of\nthe Columbia fill the streams of the Kootenay; those of the Fraser are found six\nhundred miles in the interior. There are several kinds of this fish, and they arrive\nfrom the sea at different dates. The silver salmon begin to arrive in March, or\nearly in April, and continue till the end of June. Their weight averages from four\nto twenty-five pounds, but they have been caught weighing over seventy. The\nsecond \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 kind are caught from June to August, and are considered the finest.\nThe average size is five to six pounds. The third, coming in August, average\nseven pounds, and are an excellent fish. The humpback salmon comes every\nsecond year, lasting from August till winter, weighing from six to fourteen\npounds. The hookbill arrives in September and remains till winter, its weight\nranges from twelve to forty-five pounds.\n^The Government of Canada have taken some pains to acquire accurate information concerning these fisheries, and a statement published by them gives the\nnames of several other classes of fish. Amongst these is the oolachan, a valuable\ndelicate fish, about seven or eight inches long, which comes to the shore in spring.\nIt enters Fraser River in May in great numbers. Farther north it is fatter. It is\nextremely oily and is caught by the natives in great numbers, who extract the\noil and use it for food grease, as some tribes do whale oil. These fish are also\ndried and then burned for candles, being on that account known as \" candle-fish.\"\nThe oil has been bottled and exported to some extent, and is pronounced superior\nto cod-liver oil for medicinal purposes.\nThe black cod, a superior food fish, abounds from Cape Flattery northward.\nIt is very fat, and some of the native tribes use its oil in place of oolachan. Experiments in salting the black cod for eastern markets have proved successful.\nCod similar to the eastern variety, are taken on banks off the coast of Alaska, and\nthe same fish is said to haunt British Columbian waters. Halibut of fine quality\nand large size are plentiful in the inner waters, on the banks off the west coast of\nVancouver Island, and further north. Sturgeon up to 1,000 pounds weight are\nnumerous in the Fraser and large rivers. The surf smelt and common smelt are\nabundant, and valued for the table. Shad are taken occasionally, a result of\nplanting in the Sacramento River in 1878.\nA fish closely resembling the common herring is very abundant. In the\ninterior, besides the brook and lake trout, the whitefish is found in the central and\nnorthern parts of British Columbia. Next, however, to the salmon the most\nvaluable sea product is the fur seal\u00E2\u0080\u0094not found on the Atlantic coast\u00E2\u0080\u0094which has\nyielded nearly $200,000 a year. 34\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nThe native oysters of the province are small, but the large eastern oyster\nprobably would thrive. The eastern lobster should be introduced. Its food is\nmuch the same as that of the crabs, which \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 are numerous on the coast of the\nprovince, and the lobster, like the oyster, would be of great value commercially.\nThe fisheries, however, have been worked principally for the salmon, bat\nmany think that in the deeper waters of the west coast there are banks where\ncod will be taken in quantities not less than those of the Atlantic. The country\nis too inviting to fail in attracting men who have the means and the energy to\nmake their own fortunes. The combination o'f a few men each of small means\nsecures that which in the older east is reserved for millionaires. There are scores\nof men in the fishing trade of England and Scotland who struggle year after year\nfor an uncertain percentage, who, in British Columbia, would find competency in\na few years' working, and hundreds who are no richer at the end of December\nthan they were at the beginning of January, who would experience a very different\ncondition of life on the coast of British Columbia.\nThis coast is peculiarly a land for Englishmen. The climate of Devonshire\nand Cornwall, without the excessive rains, is reproduced along the Straits of\nGeorgia and the west coast of Vancouver; the colder climate of Scotland is\nrepeated from Queen Charlotte Sound to Alaska. These coasts afford wide\nfields for occupation and dispense reward with less niggard hand than in\nthe older home where every loaf has many claimants. There is no rent to\npay, no leave to ask to run a boat ashore. The land is his who occupies it.\nA man who in the British seas toils year in and year out for others may own\nhis own home, his piece of land and his boat, by no man's favor.\nThe chief consumer of British Columbia's salmon is Great Britain, but how\nsmall does the quantity taken per annum appear to be when the vastness of the\nmarket and the demand for cheap food is remembered. With a properly\norganized system the waters of British Columbia could feed the large cities\nof England with food that the poorer classes never taste, and a good profit\ncould be made at the business.\nTHE FOREST TREES.\nIt will be gathered from what has been already said that British Columbia\nis rich in timber. In this respect there is no other province of Canada, no\ncountry in Europe and no state in North America, that compares with it.\nThere are prairies here and there, valleys free from wood, and many\nopenings in the thickest country, which in the aggregate make many hundred\nthousand acres of land on which no clearing is required. But near each open\nspot is a luxurious growth of wood. A settler may be lavish as he pleases ; there\nis enough and to spare.\nThe finest growth is on the coast, and in the Gold and Selkirk ranges.\nMillions of millions of feet of lumber, locked up for centuries past, have now\nbecome available for commerce. Tho Canadian Pacific Railway passes through\na part of this, and crosses streams that will bring untold quantities to the mills\nand railway stations. The Government Department of Agriculture has published a catalogue and authoritative description of the trees of British Columbia,\nin which the several species are ranked as follows :\u00E2\u0080\u0094 BRITISH COLUMBIA 35\nDouglas Spruce (otherwise called \"Douglas Fir,\" \"Douglas Pine,\" and\ncommercially, \"Oregon Pine\"). A well-known tree. It is straight, though\ncoarse-grained, exceedingly tough, rigid, and bears great transverse strain. For\nlumber of all sizes, and planks, it is in great demand. Few woods equal it for\nframes, bridges, ties, and strong work generally, and for shipbuilding. Its\nlength, straightness and strength specially fit it for masts and spars. Masts\nspecially ordered have been shipped, 130 feet long and 42 inches in diameter,\noctagonally hewn. For butter and other boxes that require to be sweet and\nodorless, it is very useful. There is a large export of the Douglas spruce to\nAustralia, South America, China, etc. Woodmen distinguish this species into\ntwo kinds\u00E2\u0080\u0094red and yellow. The one has a red, hard, knotty heart; the other is\nless hard, and with a feeble tinge of yellow\u00E2\u0080\u0094the latter is supposed to be\nsomewhat less lasting, though both are very durable. The Douglas spruce grows\nbest near the coast, close to the waters of the bays and inlets. There it\nfrequently exceeds eight feet in diameter, at a considerable height, and reaches\n200 to 250 feet in length, forming prodigious, dark forests. Abounds on mainland\ncoast; also in Vancouver Island, but not on Queen Charlotte Islands. In the\nsouthern interior of the province, it grows on the higher uplands, and in groves,\non lowlands, where the temperature, rainfall, etc., are suitable. Occurs abundantly on the Columbia, and irregularly in northern portions of the interior.\nThe Western Hemlock occurs everywhere in the vicinity of coast, and up the\nFraser and other rivers to the limit of abundant rainfall; reappears on the\nSelkirk and Gold ranges ; on the coast (particularly Queen Charlotte Islands),\nreaches 200 feet in height. Yields a good wood ; bark has been used in tanning.\nIs like the eastern hemlock, but larger.\nEnglemann's Spru<:e (very like \" white spruce\"), tall, straight, often over\nthree feet in diameter\u00E2\u0080\u0094wood good and durable. Is in the eastern part of\nprovince, and interior plateau (except dry southern portion), what the Douglas\nspruce is on coast. Forms dense forests in the mountains; believed to be the\ntree of the dense groves in upper Alpine valleys of Rocky Mountains ; also\nborders all the streams and swamps in the northern interior, between about\n2,500 and 3,500 feet in elevation.\nMenzies' Spitwe chiefly clings to coast, a very large tree, wood white and useful\nfor general purposes.\nThe Great Silver Fir, so far as known, is specially a coast tree. It grows to a\n. great size, but the wood is said to be soft and liable to decay.\nBalsam Spruce appears to take the place of the last-named in the region east of\ncoast range. Abounds on Gold and Selkirk ranges and east of McLeod's Lake.\nOccurs in scattered groves in northern portion of interior plateau. Often exceeds\ntwo feet in diameter.\nAmong the pines may be mentioned the familiar tree known locally as \"red\npine,\" \"yellow pine,\" or \"pitch pine,\" considered to be a variety of the heavy\nyellow pine (Pinus Ponderosa) of California and Oregon. It grows in open groves\nin the valleys, and on the slopes up to about 3,000 feet. A very handsome tree ;\nhalf the shaft branchless: seldom exceeds four feet in diameter. Is used for building and general purposes.\nThe White Pine (\" Mountain Pine \") resembles the eastern white pine, and may\nbe used for the same purposes. It is found in the Columbia region, on the Gold 36 BRITISH COLUMBIA '\nrange and about Shuswap and Adams lakes, and scattered in the southern portion of the Coast range: also in the interior of Vancouver Island. On the coast,\nthe white pine reaches CO to 80 feet, and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet.\nThe Black Pine (\" Bull \" or \" Western Scrub \" Pine) ogpurs everywhere in the\nprovince, at varying heights. It reaches 60 or even 100 feet in height, but seldom\nexceeds a diameter of two feet. The wood is white and fairly durable.\nThe Western Cedar (\" Giant Cedar \" or \" Red Cedar \") is a valuable tree. The\nwood is of a yellowish or reddish color, and very durable ; splits easily into plank;\nhas been used chiefly for shingles and rails. Abounds in the Columbia River\nregion; on slopes of Selkirk and Gold ranges; at north-eastern part of Shuswap\nLake, and portion of North Thompson Valley; abundantly along the coast and\nlower parts of rivers of Coast range. Occurs sparingly in northern interior. On\ncoast, is often found 100 to 150 feet high and 15 feet thick.\nYellow Cypress (commonly known as \" Yellow Cedar\"). A strong, free, finegrained wood ; pale golden yellow tint; slight resinous smell; very durable ; has\nbeen used in boat-building and for ornamental purposes; often exceeds 6 feet\nin diameter. Occurs chiefly on coast; also in interior of Vancouver Island, and\nabounds on west coast of Queen Charlotte Islands.\nWestern Larch (sometimes called \"Tamarac \"), occurs in Rocky Mountains and\nvalleys of Selkirk and Gold ranges. Stretches westward nearly to head of Okanagan Lake. Not found on the coast. A large tree, yielding a strong, coarse, durable\nwood.\nThe Maple, a valuable hardwood, sometimes well adapted for cabinet-making.\nFound on Vancouver and adjacent islands, also sparingly on mainland coast up to\n55\u00C2\u00B0, and on Queen Charlotte Islands. Occasionally attains a diameter of 4 feet.\nThe Vine Maple, seldom over a foot thick, yielding a very tough, strong, white\nwood, suitable for helves, seems to be strictly confined to coast. The Yeto is found\nin Vancouver Island and on opposite mainland 'shores. It goes up the Fraser\nabove Yale. Very tough, hard wood, of a beautiful rose color. Crab Apple occurs\nalong all the coasts as a small tree or shrub. Wood very hard, but liable to check,\ntakes a good polish and withstands great wear in mill machinery. Alder is found\ntwo feet thick on the Lower Fraser, and occurs as a small tree along the whole\ncoast. A good furniture wood: easily worked and takes a good polish. There\nare two birches\u00E2\u0080\u0094the Western Birch and the Paper or Canoe Birch. Both occur in a\nnumber of localities. The \" Western Birch \" is a small tree, found in the Columbia region. The \" Canoe Birch \" is found sparingly in Vancouver Island and on\nthe Lower Fraser, but is common, and larger, on the Upper Fraser, and in the\nPeace River District. The only Oak in the province, so far as known (except a few\ntrees above Yale), js on Vancouver Island. Reaches a diameter of 3 feet, and a\nheight of about 70 feet, and yields a hard wood, but not very tough, which has been\nused for building purposes and in making kegs. The Dogwood, on the mainland\ncoast opposite Vancouver Island and on Vancouver Island? reaches the dimensions\nof a small tree. The wood is close-grained and hard. Another close-grained\nwood, heavy and resembling box, is furnished by the handsome evergreen Arbutus,\nwhich reaches 50 feet in height and about 20 inches in diameter, but occurs often as a\nshrub. It is found on Vancouver Island and neighboring islands, but never far\nfrom the sea. (ft\ng\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2<\n3\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0o ,\n\u00C2\u00BB>'\n3\n3\na\no\n<\n