THE FAR WEST
The province of British Columbia, which is separated from the rest of
Canada by the great range of the Rocky Mountains, is itself a "sea" of
tumbled mountains, which reach all the way from the Rockies to the
Pacific Ocean, and, like the northern portion of the Dominion, is
covered with forests. Here again there are several large rivers, such
as the Fraser and the Columbia, and a great many lakes. British
Columbia is an exceptionally highly favoured region. Not only is she
rich in natural resources--minerals, fish, lumber, fruit--but she can
boast of scenery which can vie with that of Norway, as with that of
Scotland, and even with the scenery of Switzerland.
Take, for instance, the Grand Cañon of the Fraser River. This is "a
narrow gorge, where the river winds its tortuous way between great
broken walls of cliffs, dashing against the huge black boulders which
lie in its path, covering them with white foam and spray. As the cañon
expands, the scene is varied by glimpses of Chinese gold-washers on the
gravel-bars, or Siwash Indians fishing with dip-nets from the rocks for
salmon; while here and there are scattered drying-frames festooned with
red flesh of the salmon, and fantastically decorated Indian graves give
a weird touch to the scene. Here the mountains of the coast range,
which the river passes, rise to heights varying from 6,000 to 9,000
feet above the level of the sea. They are extremely rugged and densely
wooded, the south and western slopes especially, luxuriantly covered
with the characteristic growth peculiar to the humid climate."
Although the interior of British Columbia is a sea of mountains, like
an ocean suddenly turned into stone when in the grip of a mighty
tempest, the hollows between the broken mountain-crests consist of a
number of long narrow valleys, many of them filled wholly or in part
with lakes. On a still, peaceful day in summer or early autumn nothing
in the world can be lovelier than one of these lakes--Kootenay, Slocan,
Arrow, Okanagan. The face of the water is like a sheet of highly
polished steel, of a pure greenish-black colour, and every tree and
stone, and every hut, on the mountain-sides around, and even every
cloud in the sky above, is reflected on it with marvellous
distinctness. The hollows of the mountains are filled with a soft but
rich purple haze, or it may be a scarf of white, fleecy cloud hangs
across the shoulders of the mountains, while another veil of delicate
lace-work drapes their crests. As you gaze at the witching beauty of
the scene, you feel your heart soften towards the great mountains. You
imagine they do not know how to frown or be angry. You think it would
be impossible for storm or tempest ever to rage or ravage against them.
Mountains, forests, green pasture-lands, blossoming orchards, the lake
itself--the whole scene is so wonderfully peaceful, so gloriously
lovely.
The bare walls of rock, sprinkled with forest trees, the jagged,
pinnacled outlines of the mountain-tops, the cappings of perpetual snow
which frame in some of these lakes, recall to the observer the stern
grandeur of the Norwegian fjords; while the little towns and orchards
which cling to the foot of the mountains conjure up unforgotten visions
of Lucerne and Thun and similar beauty spots of Switzerland.
Apostrophizing any one of the little towns on the shore of any one of
these beautiful sheets of water, you might say:
"The pearly lustre of thy sky
Will vie with that of fabled Greece.
Thy air--a buoyant purity!
Thou fold'st thy hands in perfect peace--
The innocent peace of the newly-born,
The stillness that heralds th' awakening morn.
"Sweet crystal waters bathe thy knees,
And hold a steel-bright mirror out,
Reflecting mountains, sky, and trees
Till dimpled by the leaping trout.
Thy lake--it is playful and wayward of mood,
Like maiden coquettish who's over-woo'd."
Among the most striking features of the interior of British Columbia
are the Selkirk and Purcell ranges, which wheel round the northern end
of Lake Kootenay, and stretch some distance down its eastern side. The
lofty, rugged, sharp-cut peaks of these ranges "receive and break most
of the heavy rain-clouds which blow in from the Pacific. There is
therefore more rain and more snow, and consequently the soil receives
more moisture, and the growth of forest and farm is more dense. The
lower slopes, beneath the snow-line, except where the bare rock refuses
to sustain life, are clothed with impenetrable forests of spruce,
cedar, and hemlock, of which the underbrush is the most difficult
barrier to exploration."
"These characteristics give more richness and contrast in the colour.
On a clear day the snow-capped summits and crested peaks, tinged,
perhaps, with the crimson glow of the setting sun, glisten and sparkle
with dazzling brilliancy. Great luminous spears of transparent blue
ice cut down into the dark rich green of the forest, which is blended
into the warmer tints of shrubbery and foliage in the foreground.
Great castellated crags of white and green rock break through the
velvet mantle of forest. Blueberry bushes and alders, with
white-flowered rhododendrons, adorn with delicate tracery the trailing
skirts of the forest, and rich-tinted red, purple, and yellow
wild-flowers nestle in the fringe. All this, rising against the clear
blue of the sky, while soft veils of mist rise from the valleys,
floating across the face of the mountains, or break and hang in fleecy
tassels upon the edges of cliffs and crags, makes a study in colour and
grandeur beyond the power of human artist to depict or poet to
describe."
This description applies almost equally to the Rocky Mountains, the
backbone that stretches from north to south of the continent, the
gigantic barrier which separates the flat prairies from the broken
coast districts.
In Canada they all wear glistening snow-caps, while glaciers of
enormous extent rest in their awful cañons, and their hoary sides are
laced with the most beautiful green-blue mountain torrents which leap
from dizzy heights in cascades of dazzling beauty. Some of the most
imposing scenery of the Rockies is enclosed within the great National
Park at Banff, an area of 5,732 square miles of mountains, and here is
a great game preserve, where are found bear, moose, elk, deer, mountain
sheep and goats, and many smaller animals. No one may shoot or trap
here, and it is expected that the number of wild animals will greatly
increase. There is, too, a large herd of buffalo maintained in the
park.
In the forests, on the slopes, grows the famous Douglas fir, which
reaches a great size and height; trees 30 feet across the trunk are not
uncommon, and there is one in Stanley Park, Vancouver, which your
cabman is sure to show you should you visit that city, which has a hole
in the trunk so large that parties of tourists stand in it to be
photographed. The climate is so mild that winter is replaced by a
rainy season, and roses bloom outside all the year round. This makes
the famous Okanagan and Kootenay valleys so suitable for fruit-culture.
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia. It is situated on
Vancouver Island, on the Pacific, and its climate and natural beauty
have made it the home of choice for many English families retiring from
service in the Orient, and so it is the most English of Canadian
cities. Vancouver is the commercial capital, it is the terminus of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, and from its fine harbour steamship lines run
to China, Japan, and Australia. Prince Rupert is a new port farther
north, and is the western terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
now being built across the continent.
[Illustration: MOUNTAIN SCENERY NEAR HOWE SOUND, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
PAGE 4. _T. Mower Martin, R.C.A._]
British Columbia has been called a "little paradise on earth," and if
beauty of scenery, and the poetry of Nature, and the contentment,
prosperity, and happiness of man can anywhere combine to make a spot on
this earth anything approaching to a paradise, assuredly that spot is
to be found in the fairest province of the Dominion of Canada. And how
many of the names of the little towns which cling to the feet of the
mountains mirrored in these lakes have not only musical, but richly
poetic names! Who can listen to such words as Kelowna, Summerland,
Nelson, Vernon, Castlegar, Halcyon, Mara, Kootenay, Slocan, Okanagan,
without feeling a thrill of poetic delight? Were these names as
familiar to the mind as are Lomond, Katrine, Leven, Blair Athole,
Glencoe, Inveraray, Oban, they would not fail to conjure up as many
pictures of surpassing scenic beauty as do those pearls of the Scottish
Highlands, especially as in many respects the physical features of the
two regions are somewhat alike.
And the coast districts of British Columbia are every bit as remarkable
as the mountainous lake districts of the interior. They, too, bear
more than a superficial resemblance to the west coast of Scotland.
Like the latter, the western shore of British Columbia is cut into
deeply by the ocean. Like the west of Scotland, again, the numerous
bays and fjords are rock-bound, and long and winding. And, once more,
like that same Scottish ocean marge, the Pacific coast of this Canadian
province is thickly studded with islands, varying in size from a tiny
dot of rock to Vancouver Island, which is about half as big as Ireland,
and studded with mountains which rise up to from 6,000 to 7,500 feet.