Nanaimo and San Juan--Resources of British Columbia and Vancouver
Island--Minerals--Timber--Abundance of Fish--Different Kinds
of Salmon--The Hoolicans, and the Indian Method of Taking them--
Pasturage--The Bunch-grass--Its Peculiarities and Drawbacks--
Scarcity of Farming Land--Different Localities--Land in
Vancouver Island--Contrast between California and British
Columbia--Gross Misrepresentations of the Latter--Necessity
for the Saskatchewan as an Agricultural Supplement--Advantages
of a Route across the Continent--The Americans before us--The
Difficulties less by the British Route--Communication with China
and Japan by this Line--The Shorter Distance--The Time now come
for the Fall of the Last Great Monopoly--The North-West Passage
by Sea, and that by Land--The Last News of Mr. O’B.--Conclusion.
After our return to Victoria we received a kind invitation from Captain
Lascelles to accompany him in H.M. gunboat _Forward_ on a cruise to
San Juan and Nanaimo. The cruise was most enjoyable; we inspected the
coal-mines of the future Newcastle of the Pacific, and enjoyed most
thoroughly the hospitality of Captain Bazalgette and his officers on
the noted island of San Juan.
We had now seen a great portion of British Columbia and Vancouver. We
had travelled through the former from Tête Jaune Cache by the Thompson
to the mouth of the Fraser, and again through the heart of the country
to Cariboo. We found the country abounding in mineral wealth. The
extent and richness of the gold fields, added to every month by fresh
discoveries, would alone be sufficient to render the colony one of our
most valuable possessions. But the indications that many other of the
most valuable minerals will be found in British Columbia, as in the
neighbouring state of California, are strong. At present, however,
every other pursuit is put aside for that of gold, and the real mineral
wealth of the country is little known. Coal, however, crops out at
Alexandria, Similkameen, and Burrard’s Inlet. In the sister colony of
Vancouver are the magnificent beds of coal, which have been already
extensively and most successfully worked at Nanaimo for the last four
or five years.
The timber of British Columbia is, of its kind, unequalled. The Douglas
pine, with its straight uniform trunk, exceedingly tough and flexible,
furnishes the finest masts and spars for the largest vessels. These
trees often attain a height of upwards of 300 feet, with a diameter of
ten feet. The white pine and the gigantic cypress, the latter exceeding
even the Douglas pine in size, grow together with it in vast forests,
yielding an almost inexhaustible supply. But perhaps the most striking
feature in the resources of British Columbia and Vancouver Island is
the extraordinary number and variety of the fish, which frequent the
shores and swarm in all the rivers. In the spring two kinds of salmon
ascend the Fraser, millions of “hoolicans” crowd into its mouth, and
shoals of herrings enter every inlet. The hoolican is like a sprat,
but a little larger, and is a very delicious fish, rich in oil.
Flocks of gulls hovering over the shoals announce the arrival of these
fish; and their extraordinary numbers may be imagined from the way in
which the Indians take them. The river is literally alive with fish,
and the native fisherman carries a long piece of wood, armed with
sharp-pointed wires on each side, like the teeth of a rake. This he
sweeps through the water as he sits in his canoe, after the fashion
of a paddle, and at each stroke brings up a row of hoolicans impaled
upon the spikes. Three fresh species of salmon continue to ascend the
river in succession during the summer and autumn, and in the winter a
fifth variety makes its appearance in the harbours and inlets along
the coast. We saw some of fifteen to twenty pounds each caught in the
harbour of St. Juan in the month of December. Salmon of some kind is
thus in season all the year round. Trout abound in the mountain streams
and lakes, and the sturgeon frequents the deeps of the Fraser. In
Burrard’s Inlet oysters are found in great abundance; and, in fact,
everything good in the way of fish seems to be collected in this, so
far, highly favoured country.
From the richness and extent of its pasturage, and the dryness of
its soil and climate, British Columbia offers great advantages to
the breeder of stock. But there are certain drawbacks, the principal
of which is that an immense extent of country would be required by
each stock farmer. The only grass is the “bunch-grass.” It covers the
terraces of the Fraser, and the rolling swells and mountain-sides of
the central region. Growing in the separate “tufts” from which it has
taken its name, it fixes but a slight hold upon the light, powdery
soil with its slender roots. Horses and cattle pull much of it up in
grazing, and sheep, which thrive equally upon it, crop the delicate
plant so closely that it frequently does not recover. In this way the
Lilloet flats, which were once celebrated as rich feeding grounds,
have now become bare, dusty plains, on which a few scattered plants of
wild sage and absinthe still remain, where the bunch-grass has been
destroyed. The facts, too, that the bunch-grass requires three years
to come to perfection, and fully recover after being eaten down, and
that, from its mode of growth in distinct tufts, the ground is really
but scantily covered with herbage, confirm the belief that, for a stock
farm to be successful, its range of pasturage must be very extensive.
But there is room enough now, and any who may devote themselves to
the raising of sheep and cattle will certainly reap a rich harvest of
profit. Strange to say, from some cause--either want of capital, or
the prospect of more rapid profit from other pursuits--it has been
little followed hitherto, and the land lies open to the first-comer.
The extent of agricultural land in British Columbia is very limited
indeed. With the exception of a small district between the south end of
the Okanagan Lake and the Grand Prairie, on the road from thence to the
Thompson River; a few other patches of good land in the interior; and
the delta of the Fraser, which is covered almost entirely with dense
forest, and exposed to the summer floods, it is a country of rocks,
gravel, and shingle. The surface of the country east of the coast
range of mountains consists, principally, of a high table-land, from
which rise up mountains and hills, and indented by the valleys of the
Thompson and Fraser, and their countless tributaries. These valleys are
deep and narrow, and their sides generally steep. On the table-land the
night-frosts, prevalent throughout the summer, preclude the cultivation
of almost every description of produce. In the valleys the land is
generally very dry and sandy, or stony, and unless some very perfect
system of irrigation and manuring is adopted, would yield a wretched
return.
In all the instances we saw where attempts had been made to raise
crops of cereals on the terraces of the Thompson and Fraser, or,
indeed, anywhere in the region of shingle and gravel, they had failed.
Cabbages, and vegetables of similar kind, if well watered, seemed to
flourish very well; but the oats and barley were short in the ear, and
the straw weak, stunted, and miserable. Water is sufficiently abundant,
but the soil of the irrigated tracts is so extremely light, and in
most parts underlaid by such a depth of gravel and shingle, that the
water percolates through as through a sieve, and the streams disappear
without spreading over the surface. The decay of the sparsely-growing
bunch-grass cannot have rendered the land rich in vegetable mould.
Occasional fertile spots, of a few acres in extent, occur on the margin
of the rivers, as along the north and south branches of the Thompson
above Kamloops. There are also patches of good land in the vicinity
of William’s Lake, Beaver Lake, and Alexandria, which have proved very
productive. But these rich bottoms and alluvial lowlands are striking
exceptions to the general character of the country. British Columbia,
rich beyond conception in many ways, is _not_ an agricultural country.
Vancouver Island, too, is merely a huge rock, in the hollows of which
vegetable mould has collected. But this is often too shallow to be
worked with the plough, and these fertile oases are generally of small
extent--fit for gardens rather than farms.
In consequence, therefore, of the deficiency of the two colonies in
this respect, their population is still supplied with provisions
from California, and their gold goes into the pockets of Americans.
California is probably the richest country in the world. Possessing
every valuable mineral in inexhaustible abundance--except coal,
which has not been yet found in any quantity--she has also a soil of
extraordinary fertility. Her mountains are of gold and silver, and
her valleys as the land of Goshen. Wheat grows so luxuriantly that
“volunteer crops”--the produce of the second and even third year from
the seed shaken out in the gathering of the previous harvest--spring
up without the labour of man. Fruits of every kind, from the apples,
pears, and grapes of temperate climes, to the pine-apples and bananas
of the tropics, come to perfection within her limits. Oats grow wild on
the slopes of the Sierra Nevada; and in the alluvial plains, besides
the ordinary cereals, flourish maize, tobacco, and cotton.
It is far otherwise with British Columbia. She probably equals
California in mineral wealth, but, being as it were a mere continuation
of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, a sea of hills, a land of
mountains and forests, or shingly swells and terraces covered with
bunch-grass, the former looks in vain for rich alluvial valleys. No
colony has been more misrepresented than this.
In former times, when a preserve for fur-bearing animals under the
sway of the Hudson’s Bay Company, it was reputed to be “little better
than a waste and howling wilderness, wherein half-famished beasts
of prey waged eternal war with a sparse population of half-starved
savages; where the cold was more than Arctic, and the drought more
than Saharan;” and that--to quote the words of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer in the House of Commons a few years ago--“these territories
were bound by frost and banked by fog, and woe betide any unfortunate
individual who might be so far diverted from the path of prudence as to
endeavour to settle in those parts.”[20]
But the accounts sent to this country soon after the first rush of
emigrants to the land of gold, differed widely from the old story.
It was now as much the interest of speculators and property-holders
to attract emigration by exaggerated praise of the colony, as it had
formerly been that of the Hudson’s Bay Company to repel it, and keep
their possession intact by representing it as a barren wilderness.
The most glowing reports were sent home, and were published in the
leading newspapers. The new colony was represented as a very paradise
for the farmer, and many men went out believing this, to find bitter
disappointment in the reality. Neither of the two accounts is correct;
the truth lies, as is usually the case in like matters, between the
two extremes, and we have been induced to set forth the truth somewhat
fully, from a desire to do away with the injurious misconception which
has prevailed on this subject.
Although there is little land fit for agricultural purposes within the
boundaries of British Columbia, the fertile belt of the Saskatchewan
is separated from it only by the barrier of the Rocky Mountains. Of
the beauties and resources of this pleasant land, we have already made
mention in these pages. The rich prairies, with from three to five feet
of alluvial soil, are ready for the plough, or offer the luxuriant
grasses, which, in the old time, fattened countless herds of buffalo,
to domesticated herds. Woods, lakes, and streams diversify the scene,
and offer timber, fish, and myriads of wild fowl. Yet this glorious
country, estimated at 65,000 square miles, and forty million of acres
of the richest soil, capable of supporting twenty millions of people,
is, from its isolated position, and the difficulties put in the way
of settlement by the governing power, hitherto left utterly neglected
and useless, except for the support of a few Indians and the employés
of the Hudson’s Bay Company. And this rich agricultural country lies
but a step as it were from the gold fields. It is the very supplement
required to British Columbia. That communication could be easily
established has been already demonstrated. Why, then, should not the
miners be supplied with provisions from British territory, instead
of from California, and the gold of British Columbia enrich British
subjects rather than Americans?
We would not, however, stop here. The advantages of a route across the
continent of America, which passes entirely through British territory,
seem palpable enough. The Americans, ever in advance of us in like
enterprises--not from individual superiority perhaps, but having a
more liberal and less lethargic government--have constructed a road,
and laid a telegraph line across the continent to California, and have
commenced a Pacific Railway. Greater difficulties had to be encountered
in carrying a road over more barren prairies, where wood and water are
scarce, and which are infested by hostile Indians. The pass through
the mountains in American territory is abrupt and high, unlike the
easier gradients of the Vermilion and Jasper House passes. But all
these obstacles were overcome, and San Francisco is now in daily
communication with the Atlantic States by both post and telegraph;
the latter having paid the cost of its construction in a single year.
The principal obstacle to be overcome in carrying a road across the
continent which shall pass entirely through British territory, appears
to be in the district between Lake Superior and Fort Garry. This region
consists in great measure of swamp and forest, and considerable outlay
and labour would be required to render it passable. But Professor
Hind[21] has satisfactorily proved that the difficulties are far
from insuperable, and not worthy of consideration in view of the
magnificent results which would follow its successful accomplishment.
In California and British Columbia, where far greater obstacles have
been successfully overcome, such objections would be considered light
indeed.
Nearly 200 years have elapsed since Cavalier de la Sale conceived the
project of opening a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific by
a route across the continent, and in pursuit of this scheme, in 1731,
the French Canadians were the first to reach the Rocky Mountains. Since
then the subject has been repeatedly brought before the notice of the
Government and the public.
The dream of the old enthusiasts, of thus reaching China and Japan,
is on the point of being realised--not by Frenchmen or Englishmen,
but by Americans. They have already made the road across the continent
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and as we write, the intelligence has
arrived that a bill has passed the United States Congress, granting
a subsidy for the establishment of a line of steamers between San
Francisco and Hongkong.
Victoria, with the magnificent harbour of Esquimalt, offers far
superior advantages, for the coal-mines of Vancouver Island are the
only ones on the Pacific coast of North America. Victoria is but
6,053 miles from Hongkong, or about twenty-one days’ steaming; and
if a railway were constructed from Halifax to some point in British
Columbia, the whole distance to Southampton would be accomplished in
thirty-six days--from fifteen to twenty days less than by the Overland
Route _viâ_ Suez.[22]
At the present time this subject acquires additional interest from
the projected Federation of the British North American Colonies, and
the uncertain condition of our relations with the Northern States of
America.
The time seems to have come when the Hudson’s Bay Company, having
done good service by a beneficent rule over the territories granted
it, which contrasts strongly with that of the American Fur Companies,
should share the fate of all the great monopolies which have fallen
before it. Lord Wharncliffe has lately brought this question before the
House of Lords, proposing the formation of the north-west territory
into a separate colony, and inquiring whether any steps had been taken
in the matter. But of course the Government had done nothing, and
apparently has no intention of moving.
Millions of money and hundreds of lives have been lost in the search
for a North-West Passage by Sea. Discovered at last, it has proved
useless. The North-West Passage by Land is the real highway to the
Pacific; and let us hope that as our countrymen gained the glory of the
former brilliant achievement, valueless to commerce, so they may be the
first to establish a railway across the continent of America, and reap
the solid advantages which the realisation of the old dream has failed
to afford.
The _cacoethes scribendi_ is upon us, and we would fain run on through
many pages, to describe our sojourn in the fair land of California,
fruitful in strange scenes and curious adventures. But the reader,
wearied perchance by the dull details and prosings of this last
chapter, will agree with us that the book is already long enough, and
we dare not gratify our wish to write more. He might ask, however,
what became of our friend, Mr. O’B. That migratory gentleman, like the
Wandering Jew, or the soul of the celebrated John Brown, is doubtless
still “marching on.” When we returned to Victoria, after our journey
to Cariboo, Mr. O’B. had departed, and his portrait is therefore
wanting in the Frontispiece. He had “moved on” to San Francisco. When
we arrived in that city, he had “moved on” to Melbourne, Australia.
From there he has probably “moved on” to New Zealand, or again reached
India, to circle round to England in due course, happy in any country
free from wolves, grisly bears, and Assiniboines.
The many kindnesses we received from Sir James Douglas, and numerous
other friends in Victoria, must remain undetailed, though not
forgotten. We sailed in the S.S. _Pacific_, on the 20th of December,
for San Francisco; were caught in a white squall off Neah Bay; the
boiler burst; and Christmas Day came off before we reached our
destination.
The glories of the Golden City; the pleasures enjoyed in the society
of Mr. Booker, and the other kind members of the Union Club there;
the wonders of the Big-tree Grove in the Mariposa Valley, where grow
Wellingtonias (called Washingtonias in the States), upwards of 400
feet high--higher than St. Paul’s--on the stumps of which are built
ball-rooms, and on the prostrate trunks bowling alleys; the beautiful
ladies of “Frisco,” as the Californians playfully denominate San
Francisco, and the fraternising rowdies of “Copperopolis” and Columbia
City, must remain undescribed. These things, and how we dreamed through
the voyage down the smooth Pacific, with the languid carelessness of
lotos-eaters; how we escaped the wiles of the grass-widow,[23] and
quarrelled with argumentative Northerners on board the steamer _Golden
City_, are they not recorded in our journals?
We reached Liverpool by way of Panama and New York, on the 5th of
March, 1864, and entered at once into the pleasures of a return home in
the company of old friends, who welcomed us as we disembarked from the
_China_.
LONDON:
CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, BELLE SAUVAGE WORKS,
LUDGATE HILL, E.C.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Mr. Ross, the author of the “Fur Hunters of the Far West,” in his
“History of the Red River Settlement,” makes mention of a storm very
similar to the one described above. In that instance the party were
camping out on the plains; three tents were struck by the lightning,
and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several horses and dogs
were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, that in the course of
a few minutes the flood of water was so great that two small children
narrowly escaped being drowned. A summer rarely passes in Red River
without the loss of several lives by lightning.
[2] About the year 1835 the colony passed into the possession of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, by purchase from Lord Selkirk’s executors. This,
however, made but little change in its condition, the government having
been exercised by the Company, for Lord Selkirk and his executors, from
the first foundation of the colony.
[3] The pemmican used in the Arctic expeditions was manufactured in
England of the best beef, with currants, raisins, and sugar; very
different to the coarse stuff which is the staff of life in the
Hudson’s Bay territories.
[4] Fat seems to be the _summum bonum_ in everything, according to
Indian and half-breed tastes. They say, “What a fine horse! he’s as fat
as possible!” “What a fine woman! how fat she is!” and the same of men,
dogs, and everything. And fat is very important in that country. It is
the most valuable part of food in winter, and horses and dogs will not
stand work in the cold, unless fat.
[5] These Indians believe in one “Great Spirit,” or more literally
“Perfect Spirit,” the Manitou proper, and a great number of inferior
spirits, or lesser Manitous. They appear to address their invocations
principally to the latter.
[6] The skin of a skunk, which had been thrown aside near our hut, gave
out no scent when the frost was very severe, but on the least abatement
of the cold, its odour was perceptible. From the variations in the
intensity of the smell we could judge very closely of the warmth of the
weather. The scent is by no means so disagreeable as it is generally
represented, and only when very powerful is it at all disgusting. The
Indians use the gland which furnishes the secretion as a cure for
headache, and other maladies.
[7] From Dr. Rae, who crossed by the same pass the following summer,
we learnt that a report had reached Edmonton to the effect that we had
all been murdered by the Assiniboine, who was returning rich in the
possession of our horses and property.
[8] Hugh Miller explains the formation of peat-mosses in Scotland in a
similar manner. The timber felled by the Romans to make roads through
the forest dammed up the watercourses; pools were thus formed, which
were gradually converted into mosses by the growth and decay of aquatic
plants.
[9] The bighorn is something like an ordinary sheep, but with very
large head, and curling horns of enormous size. The “mouton blanc”
resembles the common goat, but has soft, white hair, more like wool.
The Indians of British Columbia weave beautiful blankets of this
material. Both the “mouton blanc” and “gris” frequent the highest
crags, and are active as the chamois.
[10] The Iroquois are Canadian Indians, so celebrated in our war with
the French in Canada. They are perhaps the most expert canoemen in the
world, and were employed by Sir George Simpson and other governors
of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in their journeys from Canada through
the Hudson’s Bay territories, most of which were performed by water.
Many stayed behind at the different forts, and at this day Iroquois
half-breeds are met with at the Company’s forts even in British
Columbia.
[11] According to the observations of Dr. Rae, with small aneroid
barometer.
[12] Dr. Rae.
[13] Lieut. Palmer, R.E.
[14] See reports of Captain Palliser’s expedition, published in the
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.
[15] Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860; Dr. Hector’s
Report.
[16] From the observations of Dr. Rae.
[17] From the observations of Dr. Rae.
[18] There is a most striking difference, however, between the general
physique and features of the two sexes amongst the true Red Indians.
The men are tall, and their features bold and prominent, the nose being
generally Roman. The women are generally rather short, their faces
rounder, and the nose squat. This difference was well shown in the case
of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given
in the Frontispiece.
[19] Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company
for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian
tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that
the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the
device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several
Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the
help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as
a common language.
[20] _Vide_ “Prize Essay on British Columbia,” by the Rev. R. C. L.
Brown, M.A., Minister of St. Mary’s, Lilloet.
[21] _Vide_ “Overland Route to British Columbia,” by Henry Youle Hind,
M.A., F.R.G.S., and “Narrative of Canadian Exploring Expedition,” by
the same Author; also Captain Palliser’s Report in the “Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society for 1860.”
[22] _Vide_ Dr. Rathray, “Vancouver Island, and British Columbia.”
[23] A grass-widow in America is a woman who has separated or been
divorced from her husband.
[Illustration: General Map of BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.]
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation
marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left
unbalanced.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support
hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to
the corresponding illustrations.
Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been collected,
renumbered, and moved to the end of the book.
“Andrè” was accented that way consistently.