The Pacific coast extends from Panama westward and northward, without
any remarkable irregularity in its outline, to the tropic of Cancer,
almost immediately under which is the entrance of the great Gulf of
California, separating the Peninsula of California from the main
continent on the east. From the southern extremity of this peninsula
the coast runs generally north-westward to Mount Saint Elias, a lofty
volcanic peak, rising from the shore of the ocean under the 60th
parallel, beyond which the continent stretches far westward, between the
Pacific on the south, and the Arctic Sea on the north, to its
termination at Cape Prince of Wales, in Behring's Straits, the passage
separating America from Asia. The part of the coast south of the 49th
degree of latitude (the American boundary) presents few indentations,
and the islands in its vicinity are neither numerous nor large. North
of the 49th degree, on the contrary, the mainland is everywhere
penetrated by inlets and bays; and near it are thousands of islands,
many of them extensive, lying singly or in groups, separated from each
other and from the continent by narrow channels.
From the mouth of the Columbia forty-five miles of unbroken coast
reaches Whidbey's Bay, called by the Americans Bulfinches Harbour, and
not unfrequently Gray's Bay, which, with an entrance of scarce two miles
and a-half, spreads seven miles long and nine broad, forming two deep
bays like the Columbia. Here there is secure anchorage behind Point
Hanson to the south and Point Brown to the north, but the capacity of
the bay is lessened to one-third of its size by the sand banks which
encroach on it in every direction. Like the Columbia, its mouth is
obstructed by a bar which has not more than four fathoms water, and as
it stretches some three miles to seaward, with breakers on each side,
extending the whole way to the shore, the difficulty of entrance is
increased. It lies nearly east and west, and receives from the east the
waters of the river Chikelis, having its rise at the base of the
mountains, which, stretching from Mount Olympus in the north, divide the
coast from Puget's Sound. From Whidbey's Bay to Cape Flattery, about
eighty miles, but two streams, and those unimportant, break the iron
wall of the coast, which rising gradually into lofty mountains is
crowned in hoary grandeur by the snow-clad peaks of Mount Olympus. Cape
Flattery, called also Cape Classet, is a conspicuous promontory in
latitude 48 degrees 27 minutes; beyond it, distant one mile, lies
Tatouches Island, a large flat rock, with perpendicular sides, producing
a few trees, surrounded by rocky islets: it is one mile in length,
joined to the shore by a reef of rocks, and a mile further, leaving a
clear passage between them, is a reef named Ducan's Rock. Here
commences, in latitude 48 degrees 30 minutes, that mighty arm of the
sea, which has been justly named from its first discoverer, the Strait
of Juan de Fuca, and which Captain Cook passed without perceiving. The
entrance of this strait is about ten miles in width, and varies from
that to twenty with the indentations of its shores, of which the
northern, stretching to the north-west and south-east across the
entrance, gives an appearance of continuity to its line on the Pacific.
Running in a south-easterly direction for upwards of one hundred miles,
its further progress is suddenly stopped by a range of snow-clad
mountain, at the base of which, spreading abroad its mighty arms to the
north and south, it gives to the continent the appearance of a vast
archipelago.
Of the Straits of Fuca and surrounding shores, the latest and fullest
information we possess is that contained in the letter of the _Times'_
special correspondent, published on 27th August. He says:--
"We have now rounded Cape Flattery, and are in the Straits of Fuca,
running up between two shores of great beauty. On the left is the
long-looked-for Island of Vancouver, an irregular aggregation of hills,
shewing a sharp angular outline as they become visible in the early
dawn, covered with the eternal pines, saving only occasional sunny
patches of open greensward, very pretty and picturesque, but the hills
not lofty enough to be very striking. The entire island, property
speaking, is a forest. On the right we have a long massive chain of
lofty mountains covered with snow, called the Olympian range--very
grand, quite Alpine in aspect. This is the peninsula, composed of a
series of mountains running for many miles in one unbroken line, which
divides the Straits of Fuca from Puget Sound. It belongs to America, in
the territory of Washington, is uninhabited, and, like its opposite
neighbour, has a covering of pines far up towards the summit. The tops
of these mountains are seldom free from snow. The height is unknown,
perhaps 15,000 feet. We ran up through this scenery early in the
morning, biting cold, for about forty miles to Esquimault Harbour--_the_
harbour--which confers upon Vancouver's Island its pre-eminence.
"From the information of old miners, who pointed out some of the
localities on the northern coast of California, and indicated the
position of places in Oregon in which they had dug for gold, I had a
strong corroboration of an opinion which I stated in one of my late
letters--that the Fraser River diggings were a continuation of the great
goldfield of California. The same miners had a theory that these
northern mines would be richer than any yet discovered, because the more
northern portions of California are richer than the central and southern
portions.
"The harbour of Esquimault is a circular bay, or rather a basin,
hollowed by nature out of the solids rock. We slid in through the
narrow entrance between two low, rocky promontories and found ourselves
suddenly transported from the open sea and its heavy roll and swell into
a Highland lake, placid as the face of a mirror, in the recesses of a
pine forest. The transition was startling. From the peculiar shape of
the bay and the deep indentations its various coves make into the shore,
one sees but a small portion of the harbour at a glance from the point
we brought up at. We therefore thought it ridiculously small after our
expectations had been so highly wrought in San Francisco.
"The whole scenery is of the Highland character. The rocky shores, the
pine trees running down to the edge of the lake, their dark foliage
trembling over the glittering surface which reflected them, the
surrounding hills, and the death-like silence. I was both delighted and
disappointed--delighted with the richness of the scenery, but
disappointed at the smallness of the harbour. Can this little loch,
imprisoned within natural ramparts of rocks, buried in the solitude of a
forest, be the place which I hoped would become so famous, the great
destiny of which has been prognosticated by statesmen and publicists,
and the possession of which is bitterly envied us by neighbouring
nations; this the place where England is to centre a naval force
hitherto unknown in the Pacific, whence her fleets are to issue for the
protection of her increasing interests in the Western world; this the
seaport of the Singapore of the Pacific; the modern Tyre into which the
riches of the East are to flow and be distributed to the Western
nations; the terminus of railway communication which is to connect the
Atlantic with the Pacific?
"Victoria is distant from Esquimault, by land, about three miles round
by sea, double the distance. The intervening ground is an irregular
promontory, having the waters of the Straits of Fuca on the south, the
Bay of Victoria on the east, and the Victoria arm encircling: it on the
north. The promontory contains three farms, reclaimed from the forest
of pines, oaks, alders, willows, and evergreens. The soil is good, and
produces fair crops of the ordinary cereals, oats, barley, and wheat,
and good grass, turnips, and potatoes.
"I came the first time to Victoria round by water. The rowing of our
boat was much impeded by kelp. The shore is irregular; somewhat bold
and rocky--two more facts which confirmed the resemblance of the scenery
to that of the western coast of Scotland.
"The bay of Victoria runs in a zigzag shape--two long sharp promontories
on the southward hiding the town from view until we get quite close up
to it. A long low sand-spit juts out into it, which makes the entrance
hazardous for large vessels at some little distance below the town, and
higher up the anchorage is shallow. Twice at low tides I saw two or
three ugly islands revealed, where ships would have to anchor. In
short, Victoria is not a good harbour for a fleet. For small vessels
and traders on the coast, it will answer well enough.
"Victoria stands nobly on a fine eminence, a beautiful plateau, on the
rocky shore of the bay of the same name. Generations yet to come will
pay grateful tribute to the sagacity and good taste of the man who
selected it. There is no finer site for a city in the world. The
plateau drains itself on every side by the natural depressions which
intersect it, and there is space enough to build a Paris on. The views
are also good. Across the straits you have the Olympian range washed by
the sea; towards the interior, picturesque views of wooded hills;
opposite, the fine woodland scenery of the country intervening between
it and Esquimault, the Victoria arm, glimpses of which, as seen through
the foliage, look like a series of inland lakes; while in front, just at
one's feet, is the bay itself and its tributaries, or arms rather--
James's Bay, etcetera, always beautiful; and behind, towards the
south-east end of the island, is a view of great beauty and grandeur--a
cluster of small islands, San Juan and others, water in different
channels, straits and creeks, and two enormous mountains in the far
distance, covered from base to summit with perpetual snow. These are
Mounts Baker and Rainier, in Washington territory. Such are a few--and
I am quite serious when I say only a few--of the beauties which surround
Victoria.
"As to the prospects of Vancouver's Island as a colony, I would say that
if it shall turn out that there is an extensive and rich gold-field on
the mainland in British territory, as there is every reason to believe,
the island will become a profitable field for all trades, industries,
and labour. The population will soon increase from Canada, whence an
immigration of many thousands is already spoken of, from Australia,
South America, the Atlantic States,--and, no doubt, from Europe also.
If this happens, the tradesman and the labourer will find employment,
and the farmer will find a ready market, at good prices, for his
produce.
"Should the gold suddenly disappear, the island will have benefited by
the impulse just given to immigration, for, no doubt, many who came to
mine will remain to cultivate the soil and to engage in other pursuits.
If this be the termination of the present fever, then to the farmer who
is satisfied with a competency--full garners and good larder, who loves
retirement, is not ambitious of wealth, is fond of a mild, agreeable,
and healthy climate, and a most lovely country to live in--the island
offers every attraction. Its resources are, plenty of timber, towards
the northern portion producing spars of unequalled quality, which are
becoming of great value in England, and will soon be demanded in France,
now that the forests of Norway and of Maine are becoming exhausted;
limestone in abundance, which burns into good lime for building and for
agricultural purposes; coal in plenty, now worked at Nanaimo, on the
northern side of the island, by the Hudson's Bay Company--the quality is
quite good, judging from the specimens I saw burning--it answers well
for steam purposes, and would have found a ready sale in San Francisco
were it not subject to a heavy duty (of 30 per cent, I think) under the
American tariff; iron, copper, gold, and potter's clay. I have no doubt
that a gold-field will be discovered on the island as it gets opened up
to enterprising explorers. A friend of mine brought down some sand from
the sea-beach near Victoria, and assayed it the other day. It produced
gold in minute quantity, and I have heard of gold washings on the
island. The copper is undeveloped. The potter's clay has been tested
in England, and found to be very good.
"The character of the soil is favourable to agriculture. It is composed
of a black vegetable mould of a foot to two feet in depth, overlaying a
hard yellow clay. The surface earth is very fine, pulverised, and
sandy, quite black, and, no doubt, of good quality; when sharpened with
sheep-feeding it produces heavy crops. The fallen trees, which are very
numerous, shew that the substratum of clay is too hard to produce
anything. The roots of the pine never penetrate it. In some places the
spontaneous vegetation testifies to the richness of the soil--such as
wild pease or vetches, and wild clover, which I--have seen reach up to
my horse's belly--and a most luxuriant growth of underwood, brambles,
fern, etcetera.
"I visited seven farms within short distances of Victoria. The crops
were oats, barley, wheat, pease, potatoes, turnips, garden herbs and
vegetables, fruits, and flowers; no clover, the natural grass supplying
sufficient food for the cattle and sheep. The crops were all healthy,
but not heavy. The wheat was not thick on the ground, nor had it a
large head. It was such a crop as would be an average only in a rich,
well-cultivated district of England or Scotland; far lighter than you
would see in the rich counties of England and in the Carse of Gowrie. I
was informed that the ground was very badly prepared by Indian labour--
merely scratched over the surface. I believe that with efficient labour
and skilful treatment, the crops could be nearly doubled. The oats and
barley were very good crops, and the potatoes looked quite healthy, and
I doubt not will turn out the best crop of all. The peas were decidedly
an abundant crop. Vegetables thrive well, and all the ordinary fruits,
apples, currants, etcetera, are excessively abundant, some of the
currant-bushes breaking down with the weight of their fruit. Flowers of
the ordinary sorts do well, but delicate plants don't thrive, owing to
the coldness of the nights.
"Sheep thrive admirably. I saw some very fine pure Southdowns. The
rams were selling at 100 dollars each (20 pounds) to California sheep
farmers. Other breeds--hybrids of Southdowns, merinos, and other
stock--were also in good condition, and fair in size. Black cattle do
well also. The breed is a mixture of English and American, which makes
very good beef. The horses are little Indian breeds, and some crosses
with American stock, all very clean limbed, sound, active, hardy, and
full of endurance and high spirit, until they get into livery-stables.
"During my stay, the climate was charming; the weather perfection--warm
during the day, but free of glare, and not oppressive; cool in the
evenings, with generally a gentle sea breeze. The long days--the
protracted daylight eking out the day to nine o'clock at night--the
lingering sunset, and the ample `gloaming,' all so different from what I
had been accustomed to in more southern latitudes, again reminded me of
Scotland in the summer season.
"So far as I wandered--about ten miles round Victoria--the landscape is
totted with extensive croppings of rock, which interfere with the
labours of the husbandman. Few corn-fields are without a lot of
boulders, or a ridge or two of rocks rising up above the surface of the
ground. Consequently the cultivated fields are small, and were sneered
at by my Californian neighbours, who are accustomed to vast open
prairies under crop. I have seen one field of 1000 acres all under
wheat in California. But then no other country is so favoured as this
is for all the interests of agriculture.
"The scenery of the inland country around Victoria is a mixture of
English and Scotch. Where the pine (they are all `Douglass' pines)
prevails, you have the good soil broken into patches by the croppings of
rock, producing ferns, rye-grass, and some thistles, but very few. This
is the Scottish side of the picture. Then you come to the oak region;
and here you have clumps, open glades, rows, single trees of umbrageous
form, presenting an exact copy of English park scenery. There is no
running water, unfortunately, but the meadows and little prairies that
lie ensconced within the woods, shew no signs of suffering from lack of
water. The nights bring heavy dews, and there are occasional rains,
which keep them fresh and green. I am told that in September rains fall
which renew the face of nature so suddenly, that it assumes the garb of
spring, the flowers even coming out. The winter is a little cold, but
never severe. I have heard it complained of as being rather wet and
muggy. Frost and snow fall, but do not endure long.
"The climate is usually represented as resembling that of England. In
some respects the parallel may hold good; but there is no question that
Vancouver has more steady fine weather, is far less changeable, and is
on the whole milder. Two marked differences I remarked--the heat was
never sweltering, as is sometimes the case in England, and the wind
never stings, as it too often does in the mother country. The climate
is unquestionably superior in Vancouver."
To resume our description of the coast, the southern shore of the Strait
of Juan de Fuca is described by Vancouver as being composed of sandy
cliffs of moderate height, falling perpendicularly into the sea, from
the top of which the land takes a further gentle ascent, where it is
entirely covered with trees, chiefly of the pine tribe, until the forest
reaches a range of high craggy mountains which seem to rise from, the
woodland in a very abrupt manner, with a few scattered trees on their
sterile sides, and their tops covered with snow. On the north the shore
is not so high, the ascent more gradual from thence to the tops of the
mountains, which are less covered with snow than those to the south.
They have from the strait the appearance of a compact range. Proceeding
up the strait about seventy miles, a long low sandy point attracted
Vancouver's attention; from its resemblance to Dungeness, on the coast
of Kent, he named it New Dungeness, and found within it good anchorage
in from ten to three fathoms; beyond this the coast forms a deep bay
about nine miles across; and three miles from its eastern point lies
Protection Island, so named from the position it occupies at the
entrance of Port Discovery. Vancouver landed on it on the 1st of May
1792, and thus describes its appearance:--"On landing on the west end,
and ascending its eminence, which was a nearly perpendicular cliff, our
attention was immediately called to a landscape almost as enchantingly
beautiful as the most elegantly finished pleasure-grounds in Europe.
The summit of this island presented nearly a horizontal surface,
interspersed with some inequalities of ground, which produced a
beautiful variety on an extensive lawn covered with luxuriant grass and
diversified with abundance of flowers. To the north-westward was a
coppice of pine trees, and shrubs of various sorts, that seemed as if it
had been planted for the purpose of protecting from the north-west winds
this delightful meadow, over which were promiscuously scattered a few
clumps of trees that would have puzzled the most ingenious designer of
pleasure-grounds to have arranged more agreeably. While we stopped to
contemplate these several beauties of nature in a prospect no less
pleasing than unexpected, we gathered some gooseberries and roses in a
state of considerable forwardness."
From this island, lying at the entrance of Port Discovery, commences the
maritime importance of the territory, with, says Vancouver, as fine a
harbour as any in the world, though subsequently he awards the palm to
its neighbour Port Hudson. Its shores and scenery have been thus
described by Vancouver:--
"The delightful serenity of the weather greatly aided the beautiful
scenery that was now presented; the surface of the sea was perfectly
smooth, and the country before us presented all that bounteous nature
could be expected to draw into one point of view. As we had no reason
to imagine that this country had ever been indebted for any of its
decorations to the hand of man, I could not possibly believe that any
uncultivated country had ever been discovered exhibiting so rich a
picture. The land which interrupted the horizon below the north-west
and north quarters seemed to be much broken, from whence its eastern
extent round to south-east was bounded by a ridge of snowy mountains,
appearing to lie nearly in a north and south direction, on which Mount
Baker rose conspicuously, remarkable for its height and the snowy
mountains that stretch from its base to the north and south. Between us
and this snowy range, the land, which on the sea-shore terminated like
that we had lately passed in low perpendicular cliffs, or on beaches of
sand or stone, rose here in a very gentle ascent, and was well covered
with a variety of stately forest trees; these, however, did not conceal
the whole face of the country in one uninterrupted wilderness, but
pleasantly clothed its eminences and chequered the valleys, presenting
in many directions extensive spaces that wore the appearance of having
been cleared by art, like the beautiful island we had visited the day
before. A picture so pleasing could not fail to call to our remembrance
certain delightful and beloved situations in Old England." Both the
approaches to this port, round the extremities of Protection Island, are
perfectly free from obstruction, and about a league in breadth.
Separated from Port Discovery only by a narrow slip of land from a mile
and a-half to two miles broad, which trending to the east protects it
from the north and west, is Port Hudson, having its entrance at the
extremity of the point on the east side, but little more than one mile
broad; from which the harbour extends, in a semicircular form, for about
four miles westward, and then trending for about six more, affords
excellent shelter and anchorage for vessels in from ten to twenty
fathoms, with an even bottom of mud.
In latitude 48 degrees 16 minutes the waters of the strait are divided
by a high white sandy cliff, with verdant lawns on each side; this was
named by Vancouver Point Partridge. It forms the western extremity of
an island, long, low, verdant, and well-wooded, lying close to the
coast, and having its south end at the mouth of a river rising in those
mountains which here form a barrier to the further progress of the sea.
The snow-covered peak of the most lofty of these is visible soon after
entering the strait. Vancouver named it Mount Baker, from the officer
of his ship by whom it was first seen. This mountain, with Mount
Olympus, and another further to the south, named by the same navigator
Mount Rainier, form nearly an equilateral triangle, and tower over the
rest, the giant wardens of the land. From Point Partridge he southern
branch extends about fifteen miles below the island before mentioned;
this Vancouver named Admiralty Inlet. Here the tides begin to be
sufficiently rapid to afford obstruction to navigation; and hence it
parts in two arms, one named Hood's Canal, taking a south-west course,
and the other continuing a south course for forty miles, and then also
bending to the west, terminates in a broad sound studded with islands,
called by him Puget's Sound.
On the east coast of Admiralty Inlet, there is a broad sound with very
deep water and rapid tides, but affording good anchorage in the mouth of
the river. Here Vancouver landed and took formal possession of the
country on Monday, the 4th of June, (with the usual _solemnities_, and
under a royal salute from the ships), in the name of his Britannic
Majesty King George the Third, and for his heirs and successors--that
day being His Majesty's birthday--from latitude 39 degrees 20 minutes to
the entrance of this inlet, supposed to be the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
as well the northern as the southern shores, together with those
situated in the interior sea, extending from the said strait in various
directions between the north-west, north-east, and south quarters. This
interior sea he named the Gulf of Georgia, and the continent bounding
the said gulf, and extending southward to the 45th degree of north
latitude, New Georgia, in honour of His Majesty George the Third. The
sound he named, from this incident, Possession Sound. Of the country
round the sound he thus writes:--"Our eastern view was now bounded by
the range of snowy mountains from Mount Baker, bearing by compass north,
to Mount Rainier, bearing north 54 degrees east. This mountain was hid
by the more elevated parts of the low land; and the intermediate snowy
mountains, in various rugged and grotesque shapes, were seen just to
rear their heads above the lofty pine trees, which appeared to compose
an uninterrupted forest between us and the snowy range, presenting a
most pleasing landscape; nor was our west view destitute of similar
diversification. The ridge of mountains on which Mount Olympus is
situated, whose rugged summits were seen no less fancifully towering
over the forest than those of the east side, bounded to a considerable
extent our western horizon; on these, however, not one conspicuous
eminence arose, nor could we now distinguish that which on the sea-coast
appeared to be centrally situated, forming an elegant biforked mountain.
From the south extremity of these ridges of mountains there seemed to
be an extensive tract of land, moderately elevated and beautifully
diversified by pleasing inequalities of surface, enriched with every
appearance of fertility."
The narrow channel from Possession Sound, at the back of the long island
lying at its mouth, which Vancouver named Whidbey's Island, affords some
small but convenient harbours; its northern entrance is so choked with
rocks as to be scarcely practicable for vessels; but its southern is
wide, and the navigation unimpeded.
The northern arm of the straits commences in an archipelago of small
islands, well wooded and fertile, but generally without water; in one of
them, however, Vancouver found good anchorage, though exposed to the
south, having wood, water, and every necessary; this he named Strawberry
Cove, from that fruit having been found there in great abundance, and
the island, from the trees which covered it, Cypress Island. About this
part the continental shore is high and rocky, though covered with wood;
and, it may be remarked generally, that the northern shore of the gulf
becomes more rocky and sterile, shewing gradually a less and less
variety of trees, until those of the pine tribe alone are found.
Above the archipelago the straits widen, swelling out to the east in a
double bay, affording good anchorage, beyond which the shores become low
and sandy, and a wide bank of sand extends along them about one or two
miles, closely approaching the opposite side of the gulf, leaving a
narrow but clear channel. This bank, affording large sturgeon, was
named by Vancouver after that fish; and keeping to the south around it,
he did not observe that here the gulf receives the waters of Fraser
River from the north. Here the gulf is open, and the navigation
unimpeded, except by a few islands on the north shore; one of them,
named by the Spaniards de Feveda, deserves notice; it is parallel with
the shore, narrow, and about thirty miles long.
Among the natural features of this part of the north shore of the gulf,
must not be omitted, on account of their singularity, the small
salt-water lakes, which are found divided from the sea only by a narrow
ledge of rock, having a depth over it of four feet at high-water. They
are consequently replenished by the sea every tide, and form salt-water
cascades during the ebb and rise of of the tides; some of them, divided
into several branches, run through a low swampy woodland country. Here
also are streams of water, so warm as to be unpleasant to the hand; and
every feature of this district evidences the violent effort of nature in
its production. Except the coast and canals, nothing is known of it;
but its mineral riches are scarcely problematical. The channels between
the several islands which here obstruct the gulf are narrow, deep, and
much impeded by the strength of the tide, which is sufficient in some
places to stop the progress of a steam-vessel, as has been frequently
experienced by the Hudson's Bay Company's steam-boat Beaver; yet
Vancouver found no difficulty in working his vessels through Johnstone's
Strait, the passage between these islands and the southern shore,
against a head-wind; being compelled, as he says, to perform a complete
traverse from shore to shore through its whole length, and without
meeting the least obstruction, from rocks or shoals. He adds, "the
great depth of water, not only here, but that which is generally found
washing the shores of this very broken and divided country, must ever be
considered a peculiar circumstance, and a great inconvenience to its
navigation; we, however, found a sufficient number of stopping-places to
answer all our purposes, and in general without going far out of our
way." From this, archipelago, extending about sixty miles, the strait
widens into a broad expanse, which swells to the north in a deep sound,
filled with islands, called Broughton's Archipelago. This part was
named by Vancouver Queen Charlotte's Sound; and is here fifteen miles
broad, exclusive of the archipelago, but it contracts immediately to
less than ten, and sixty miles from Johnstone Straits joins the Pacific,
its northern boundary. Cape Caution, being in latitude 51 degrees 10
minutes. The entrance to the sound is choked with rocks and shoals.
Here, between Broughton's Archipelago and Cape Caution, another
mountain, called Mount Stephen, conspicuous from its irregular form and
great elevation, and worthy to be named with those to the south, seems
to mount guard over the northern entrance to the straits.
From Cape Caution, off which are several groups of rocks to latitude 54
degrees 40 minutes, where the Russian territory commences, the coast has
much the same character as that already described between the Gulf of
Georgia and the sea, but that its harsher features are occasionally much
softened, and its navigation less impeded. Throughout its whole length
it is cut up by long and deep canals, which form various archipelagos of
islands, and penetrate deeply and circuitously into the land, which is
high, but not so precipitous as about Desolation Sound, and generally
covered with trees.
The islands lying close to the shore follow its sinuosities, and through
the narrow channels thus formed the currents are rapid; those more
detached are more fertile; they are all the resort of the natives during
the fishing season. Their formation is granite, the prevailing rock
north of latitude 49 degrees. Distant thirty miles at its nearest and
ninety at its furthest point from the line of islands which cover this
coast, and under parallels 52 degrees and 54 degrees, lies Queen
Charlotte's Island, called by the Americans Washington. It is in form
triangular, about 150 miles long, and above sixty at its greatest
breadth, and contains upwards of 4000 square miles. Possessed of an
excellent harbour on its east coast, in latitude 53 degrees 3 minutes,
and another on the north, at Hancock's River (the Port Entrada of the
Spaniards), it is a favourite resort of traders. The climate and soil
are excellent, hills lofty and well wooded, and its coast, especially on
the west side, deeply indented by arms of the sea, among which may be
named Englefield Bay and Cartwright's Sound. Coal and some metals are
said to have been found on this island.
On the whole the character of this coast seems to be well expressed by
Lieutenant Wilkes, when he says--"Nothing can exceed the beauty of these
waters, and their safety; not a shoal exists within the straits of Juan
de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, Puget's Sound, or Hood's Canal that can in any
way interrupt their navigation by a 74 gun ship. I venture nothing in
saying there is no country in the world that possesses waters equal to
these."