- 1087 S*^ 
 
 .D32 
 
 :opy 1 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA ; 
 
 ITS 
 
 Condition and Prospects, 
 
 iOil, i&iW^Wl 
 
 AND 
 
 MINERAL RESOURCES, 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 By henry DeGROOT 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO : 
 
 Printed at the Alta California Job Office, 124 Sacramento street, up stairs, 
 
 1859. 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 The contents of the following pages, were origiaally published in the columns of the 
 Daily Alia California, where they appeared in a series of articles prepared for that paper. 
 And although they have thus obtained a vast publicity, the writer has been encouraged to 
 think it might serve a useful purpose, to present them in a collected shape, as furnishing in a 
 narrow compass, the information most desired by the general reader, touching the country of 
 which they treat. The proximity of our State to the gold fields of British Columbia, notwith- 
 etanding their unhappy experience, naturally attracts the attention of our people that way ; 
 and it was with a view to placing before them the most recent and reliable intelligence from 
 that quarter, that the writer engaged in the humble work in question. It was for this, and 
 not because of their literary merit, he has been led to collect these fugitive pieces and present 
 them in their present more pretentious form. 
 
 f' 
 
 0^1 
 
 ^^-u 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA: 
 
 ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 Having spent the greater part of the past 
 8even months traveling through the interior of 
 British Columbia, in the capacity of newspaper 
 correspondent, the writer has since his return 
 been frequently applied to for information 
 touching that region, by parties desirous of 
 emigrating thither, or by others willing to can- 
 vass the inducements for doing so. As a means 
 of answering those inquiries, and embodying 
 the latest authentic intelligence from a quarter 
 which, despite their recent disappointments, has 
 not ceased to interest our people, he has 
 determined to publish a short series of articles 
 on the soil, climate and natural resources of 
 that country, selecting as the medium the 
 columns of our oldest and most widely ex- 
 tended journal. The w-riter engages in this 
 task the more readily from the fact that he 
 has, hitherto, found little inducement to pub- 
 lish any considerable portion of the copious 
 notes kept while journeying over Vancouver's 
 Island and the main land ; and for the further 
 reason, that his views as heretofore exhibited 
 are lacking in entircness, several lengthy 
 letters designed for publication having failed 
 of that end through the uncertain modes of 
 transmission incident to the remote localities 
 where they were written. 
 
 This purpose, then, of placing before the 
 public the information gleaned during his 
 travels in a summary and consecutive shape, 
 will form the author's excuse should certain 
 of his ideas seem familiar to the reader, or 
 should something of repetition appear in what 
 he may now have to say. It will be his aim, 
 however, to avoid reiterating what is already 
 well known, and to adduce as many new facts 
 in the present writing as he shall have in 
 possession or be able to command. It consti- 
 tutes no part of his plan to write a formal 
 "Vindication of the Fraser River Mines;" 
 or to frame apologies for the failures that have 
 so frequently attended their working. This is 
 a business to which he has not felt called — a 
 work, the performance of which, in theabsence 
 of any disposition or motive on his part, must 
 necessarily be left toothers. 
 
 Yet it is but just a proper exposition should 
 be given of the causes that led to these failures 
 80 continuous, general and disastrous, as to 
 have well nigh destroyed all confidence in the 
 mineral wealth of a country, which, but ten 
 months ago, was, by many, deemed a rival, if 
 not the peer, of California. Candor compels 
 
 the admission that these untoward results 
 were attributable to the precipitate action of 
 the adventurers themselves, coupled with mani- 
 fold and all but insuperable obstacles inter- 
 posed between them and their field of opera- 
 tions, quite as much as to the limited area or 
 non-productive character of the mines. A 
 slight examination of the country to be pene- 
 trated, and of the circumstances under which 
 this immigration took place, can hardly fail to 
 confirm this opinion, and impress its justness 
 upon every candid and dispassionate mind. 
 No special pleading should be tolerated in 
 behalf of these mines, nor should any attempts 
 be winked at for glossing over the fearful 
 perils and fatal catastrophies that attended 
 their opening. We have had enough of this 
 — and too much, as the thousands returning 
 empty-handed, and the hundreds who will no 
 more return at all, can testify. Still, it is meet 
 the public be possessed of all the facts, to the 
 end, that being fully advised they may fairly 
 judge and intelligently act for themselves. 
 
 It is, moreover, important that the residents 
 of California properly understand the relative 
 postion of their own State and these new com- 
 munities about being planted on their northern 
 border, and that they fully appreciate the re- 
 ciprocal advantages likely to arise therefrom 
 in the future. This is a point on which, owing 
 to a perverted sentiment of patriotism, or a 
 narrow feeling of national jealousy, or, per- 
 haps, to thej low stand-point from which the 
 subject has been viewed, there is much misap- 
 prehension in the minds of our citizens. We 
 have been apt to consider these colonies of 
 British Columbia and Vancouver as necessarily 
 antagonistic to the interests and progress of 
 California. It has been our wont to regard 
 them simply as rivals — competitors entering 
 the field to bid for population — decoying 
 sojourners from our midst, and diverting new- 
 comers from our shores. Some have even af- 
 fected to see in these distant provinces, so sit- 
 uate on the outer verge of the British empire, 
 the instruments wherewith England hopes to 
 check our growth and impede our march to 
 greatness, if indeed they may not be the germs 
 of a power which is one day to arise and over- 
 shadow our Pacific Republics. 
 
 That England has great purposes to effect in 
 this part of the world, is no doubt true ; that 
 she has grand projects on foot, looking to a 
 union of her North American colonies, and 
 
6 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 light draught steamers to Fort Yale, a point 
 110 miles «ibovc its mouth. Harrison river can, 
 under like circumstances, be ascended to Har- 
 rison Lake, a distance of ten miles from its 
 junction with the Fraser, securing steamboat 
 navigation on that route, by means of the river 
 and lake, for over fifty miles. Small steamers 
 could also run on the Fraser between the 
 Upper Canon and Thompson's Fork, a stretch 
 of twenty-five or thirty miles. The upper por- 
 tions of this river, however, as well as nearly 
 all the others throughout the territory, gener- 
 ally flow with a strong current, broken in 
 many places by falls and rapids, and hence arc 
 little adapted to steamboat navigation. 
 
 LAKES. 
 
 British Columbia is in every part thickly 
 studded with lakes, some of them of consider- 
 able raagnftude, and nearlv all remarkable for 
 their great depth of water, a feature traceable 
 no doubt, as a general thing, to the abrupt 
 character of the mountains in which they arc 
 imbosomed. Some of even the smaller have 
 been sounded to a depth of 400 feet without 
 finding bottom. In shape, they are usually 
 long and narrow, and in several instances lie 
 in chains linked by connecting streams along 
 deen depressions, to all appearance the beds of 
 former rivers. Some of these lakes are between 
 fifty and sixty miles long, and from eight to 
 ten broad. The water is cold the year round, 
 and, for the most part, exceedingly clear. To 
 this, however, there are exceptions, as, for ex- 
 ample, the Lilooet, the color of which is a dirty 
 green, caused probably by its feeders running 
 over a species of argillaceous earth, that im- 
 parts to the water its turbid appearance. A 
 few of the smaller are somewhat alkaline, but 
 not to a degr-^e that forbids their use. During 
 the summer months salmon of an excellent 
 quality abound in both the rivers and lakes, 
 and form the principal food of the natives, who 
 take them in large quantities, consuming what 
 they require while fresh, and curing the balance 
 for winter \ise. The salmon season extends 
 from June to October. 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 The climate of the Pacific coast, as is well 
 known, is no where so severe in the same par- 
 allel of latitude as that of the Atlantic, the 
 difference varying from 15 to 20 degrees — that 
 .s, we have to go some 1,200 miles further 
 north on the Atlantic side of the continent to 
 find a mean-winter temperature corresponding 
 to that on the Pacific side. And though the 
 climate of British Columbia forms no excep- 
 tion to this rule, it is somewhat varied, certain 
 belts of country being warm and dry, while 
 others are moist and of a more equitable tem- 
 perature. Thus we have a district extending 
 from the mouth of Fraser river inland about 
 150 miles characterized by a humid climate, 
 and in which the thermometer of Fahrenheit 
 rarely falls below ten or rises above ninety de- 
 grees in the course of the year. Throughout 
 this region rain is abundant during the spring, 
 summer and autumn, falling not only in fre- 
 
 quent showers, but continuing sometimes for 
 several days together. Snow also fiills here 
 in tiie winter from one to two feet, often more 
 in the northern part of the district, though 
 hardly so much near the sea. It is not apt to 
 lay more than a week or two at a time, it then 
 melting and the ground remaining bare for a 
 like interval, to be again succeeded by an- 
 other fall, and so on throughout the winter, 
 which generally breaks up in the early part 
 of March. The damp and cloudy weather here 
 prevalent during the summer prevents the heat 
 reaching so high a point as farther in the inte- 
 rior. When the atmosphere is clear heavy 
 dews fall at night, and fogs at all seasons of 
 the year are common. 
 
 Beyond this wet section of country, the 
 northern limits of which crosses the Lilooett 
 route in the vicinity of Anderson's lake, and 
 the Fraser between the Uper Canon and the 
 Forks, lies a district of about equal breadth, 
 characterized by greater heat and aridity, and 
 which though situate further north and gene- 
 rally more elavated, is scarcely any colder in 
 the winter, and has even less snow than the 
 country further south along the lower Fraser. 
 North of this, again, is another belt having a 
 more humid climate, showers beine frequent 
 in the summer, and the winters somewhatmore 
 rigorous. 
 
 Taken altogether then, the climate of British 
 Columbia though subject to much fluctuation, 
 and varying with locality, cannot be consider- 
 ed one of great severity, neither the heat of 
 summer nor the cold of winter reaching such 
 extremes as in Canada, or the northern States 
 of the Union. As evidence on this point, it 
 may be stated that the snow f.long the valleys 
 of the Upper Fraser and its tributaries, rarely 
 ever exceeds eighteen inches in depth, and 
 for the most part does not even reach six 
 inches, while a great portion of the time there 
 is none at all on the ground during winter. 
 The larger lakes never freeze over, nor does 
 the Fraser or other large streams ever close 
 entirely up. Stock is able to sul)sist on the 
 bunch grass throughout the winter, and even 
 work animals keep in tolerable condition on 
 the rushes that grow in the bottoms without 
 other feed. On the divides and more elevated 
 places, the depth of snow as well as the degree 
 of cold, depends of course on the height of the 
 locality ; the traveller encountering snow in 
 some places he may have to pass, twice as deep 
 as that found in the valleys There was no 
 snow or frost of any consequence on the Upper 
 Fraser river last year, "until about the first of 
 December, when the weather suddenly became 
 cold, the snow fitlling to a dei)th of five or six 
 inches, and even a foot, on the lower part of 
 the river. The smaller streams and the ditches 
 at the same time became covered with ice, and 
 the ground froze to the depth of several inches, 
 interfering seriously with, and for the most 
 part putting a stop to mining operations. This 
 weather after continuing for two or three 
 weeks, moderated, and for the next five weeks 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 but little snow fell, while the thermometer in 
 two or three instances only, went below 20 de- 
 grees, fluctuating between that point and 45 
 degrees. 
 
 After this mild period came another spell of 
 cold and varying weather, which held for three 
 or four weeks, when the snow and ice mostly 
 disappeared, and the Indians leaving their 
 winter houses, declared that seaso» at an end. 
 
 The miners also got to work in their claims, 
 and havcnot since been interrupted. This was 
 early in the month of March, since which 
 time the weather has been constantly growing 
 warmer, the thermometer having fallen but a 
 few times below the freezing point. During 
 -Vlarch the weather was showery, with some 
 slight frosts and falls of snow in the early part 
 of the month. 
 
 Much the same kind of climate as above de- 
 scribed, prevails throughout the regions lying 
 between and bordering on the Kamloops and 
 Great Okiaagan lakes, as well as the extensive 
 districts to the north and east. 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 About the mouth of Fraser river, and extend- 
 ing up that river forty or fifty miles, the country 
 is mostly level and somewhat swampy. With 
 the exception of a few small prairies, and some 
 inconsiderable clearings near Fort Langley, it 
 ia covered with a dense and heavy growth of 
 timber, as are also the adjacent mountains as 
 high as the limit of vegetation, above which 
 they are clad with perpetual snow. The lower 
 l)Orti«is of this flat laud near the mouth of the 
 river are nothing but an extended marsh, being 
 overflowed by the tides and the stream at its 
 higher stages, and from the tall thick growth 
 of flags with which they are covered strongly 
 resemble the tule lands of California. The 
 soil of the prairies and dryer parts, consists of 
 a black vegetable mold, being warm and fer- 
 tile and capable of producing abundantly of 
 vegetables and ccretls, as the spots about Fort 
 I.iangley, cultivated for many years to grain 
 and potatoes, amply prove. In places, how- 
 ever, there is rather too large an admixture of 
 sand with a substratum, of gravel and decom- 
 posed granite, causing the soil to leach and 
 thus readily part with its fertilizing properties. 
 The prairies are covered with rank grass from 
 which the Company have been in the habit of 
 making hay for their winter use. 
 
 On the southern limit of this flat country and 
 lying partly on either side of the line, is the 
 Smess prairie, of great fertility and considera- 
 ble extent,which, together with the Chilliwhaick 
 and also the Lilooett meadows at the head of 
 Lilooett lake, will hereafter claim a more par- 
 ticular notice as constituting the most valuable 
 portions of the district under consideration. 
 
 In passing north we next come to the country 
 of the Upper Fraser, with its dry climate, fer- 
 tile bottoms, table lands and prairies covered 
 with bunch grass and scattered pine trees.,^ 
 Here there is a great deal of good land, equally 
 fit for trardening and farming with an unlimit- 
 ed amount of pasturage, grass growing every- 
 
 where, even to the tops of the mountains. The 
 only drawback to the successful cnltivation 
 of the soil in this region would be the drouth, 
 which might render irrigation necessary except 
 in the more moist and fertile bottoms. That 
 much of the sell is sufficiently rich in 
 itself to produce good crops, admits of no 
 doubt, yet to insure that result irrigation, for 
 which there are, fortunately, great facilities, 
 might, in many cases, be required. The same 
 remark will probably apply with equal force 
 to the vast region east of the Cascade Range, 
 where, it is admitted, there are large bodiea 
 of land possessing a verj- prolific soil, and sup- 
 plying exceedingly desirable places for settle- 
 ment. 
 
 SCENEKV. 
 
 The scenery in almost every part of British 
 Columbia is unique, bold and impressive, while 
 in some sections it assumes an aspect of wild 
 and gloomy grandeur. Vast mountains, cleft 
 to the base by hideous fissures, gigantic for- 
 ests tangled with undergrowth, sullen lakes 
 shaded by lofty cliffs and skirted by sedgy fen- 
 lands, sunless valleys, ariil pl;iins and rolling 
 praries, majestic rivers, cascades, snow-peaks, 
 precipices and foaming torrents foim some of 
 the prominent features of the scenery every- 
 where met with. To the east of the Cascade 
 range the scenery is less striking and varied 
 than elsewhere, though scarcely less attractive, 
 the country abounding in fertile bottoms, 
 watered by numerous wood-fringed streams, 
 and in high praries covered with grass and 
 flowers and a scanty growth of trees. The 
 same description of soil and scenery applies 
 to the valley of Salmon river, and all the 
 southern tributaries of Thompson's Fork, aa 
 well as to the region about Lake Sushwap and 
 the great Okinagan. In going north on the Up- 
 per Fraser and its branches, some variation in 
 the landscape is observable ; the plains are 
 narrower and the mountain sides more wall- 
 like ; springs and streams are more frequent, 
 and timber more plentiful, the hills beingoften 
 well wooded, and the praries embossed with 
 clumps of trees. A novel and highly pictur- 
 esque feature is here presented in the terraced 
 banks and park-like parterres running for 
 miles along the deep-chasmed Fraser. Noth- 
 ing can surpass the beauty of these table lands 
 rising in regular gradations, often three or four 
 tier higii, and extending l)ack a great distance, 
 their slopes as even and their angles as sharp 
 as if they had bcenshaj)cd by the hand of man. 
 Indeed, it is hard to believe, in view of their 
 uniform declivity and clean cut edges, that 
 something of art has not been employed in 
 laying them out, or governing their construc- 
 tion. 
 
 In truth, there is scarce any part of this ter- 
 ritory' in which even the untutored eye fails to 
 detect something calculated to awaken pleas- 
 urable emotions ; some object in nature ap- 
 pealing to our appreciation of the beatiful and 
 vast. The snow cones, when the sky is clear, 
 are especially fitted to arrest the attention and 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 challenge the admiration of even the most 
 stolid and prosaic. Cold, pure and sky-pierc- 
 ing, the nearest, though afar off, seem strangely 
 present, while the more distant, as they recede 
 further and further, fade into cloud-like pavil- 
 ions scarce distinguishable from the atmos- 
 phere into which they seem about to dissolve. 
 Hardly less grand, and evem more attractive, 
 are the water-falls often met with in the moun- 
 tainous districts. Sometimes these have a 
 perpendicular fall of a hundred feet or more ; 
 sometimes they rush down the mountain sides 
 in a straight shoot two or three thousand feet, 
 the water so dashed into foam that it resem- 
 bles long frills of drifted snow, or wavy threads 
 of silver. Occasionally there are startling 
 sounds as well as strange sights to arrest the 
 attention of the traveler in these solitudes. At 
 times a heavy sound like buried thunder may 
 be heard issuing from the cavernous gates, and 
 resouuding through the chambers of the moun- 
 tains. It is an avalanche or land-slide, things 
 not unfrequent when the snow melts and the 
 frost leaves the ground on the approach of 
 warm weather. Taken altogether, the scenery 
 of British Columbia is exceedingly picturesque, 
 varied and majestic, affording a rich and am- 
 ple field for the explorations of the tourist, as 
 well as the inquiries of the savant and the study 
 of the artist, some of whom have already 
 sought it in the prosecution of their researches 
 and the exercise of their calling. 
 
 SALUBRITY. 
 
 That the climate of Vancouver's Island, as 
 well as of the main land, is extremely favor- 
 able to health is pretty well established by the 
 experience of the large number who visited 
 that section last year ; as also by the testimony 
 of the old residents, nearly all of whom have 
 been remarkably exempt from disease. Not- 
 withstanding the hardship, deprivation and 
 exposure to which thousands of the Fraser 
 river adventurers were subjected, and the 
 severe labor they were called upon to perform, 
 there was very little sickness amongst them, 
 while the deaths from disease were almost 
 none at all. When it is considered that these 
 men were, as a general thing, very unfavorably 
 situated for the preservation of health — many 
 of them proceeding to the mines in open boats, 
 crossing a stormy gulf in their passage, toil- 
 ing up rapid streams week after week, en- 
 camping on the damp ground, almost con- 
 stantly wet from the falling rains, or wading 
 in ice-cold water, exhausted with dragging 
 their boats up rapids, or making portages 
 round falls ; often annoyed by Indians, and 
 uot unfrequently suffering from insufficiency 
 of food — it speaks well for the sanitary charac- 
 ter of the climate that they should have expe- 
 rienced such a general immunity from sickness 
 and disease. N»t only so, but these men, 
 with scarcely an exception, increased largely 
 in flesh at the very time they were being sub- 
 jected to these deprivations and toils — adding 
 to their weight beyond precedent, and enjoying 
 more robust health than ever before. It was 
 no uncommon thing to hear men boast of this 
 
 increment, which in some cases, was really 
 quite extraordinary. 
 
 The circumstances under which the first 
 emigration to Fraser river took place, were 
 certainly as little conducive to health as those 
 attending the early settlement of the Califor- 
 nia mines, yet the proportional amount of 
 sickness in the two cases, shows greatly to our 
 disadvantage — the difference being as three to 
 one against us. 
 
 The most frequent cause of ailment in 
 British Columbia has, thus far, been rhuma- 
 tism ; apparently the only endemic disease as 
 yet developed in the country; though it does 
 seem a little strange that fever and ague should 
 scarcely be known, though there is much 
 overflowed and marshy land, productive of 
 those miasmatic exhalations on the presence 
 of which this malady is dependent. That this 
 maleria is so little virulent is probably owing 
 to the fact that the district where it most pre- 
 vails, is situate near salt water, being thus 
 influenced by the sea breezes and the tides. 
 But whatever the cause, it is undeniable that 
 the climate of British Columbia is both invig- 
 orating and S9.1ubrious, and one to which the 
 immigrant may repair with as little apprehen- 
 sion as to any other on the coast, or perhaps 
 any other on the face of the globe. 
 
 INDIANS. 
 
 The native races dwelling in the territory 
 of British Columbia, although resembling each 
 other in their physical appearance and other 
 leading characteristics, indicating iden#ty of 
 origin, are still divided into numerous tribes, 
 each having a distinct name, and for the most 
 part, speaking a different language. In some 
 instances they seem to have been grouped into 
 larger communities or confederations, having 
 the same appellation, being that perhaps of the 
 most powerful or influential of their number. In 
 other cases names have been supplied them by 
 the whites, but which, suggested often by 
 mere caprice or accident, do not appear to have 
 been recognized very fully by the aborigines 
 themselves. Thus the term Carrier was ap- 
 plied at an early day to the tribes living along 
 the upper Fraser; and still later the word 
 Couteau was used to designate not only the 
 inhabitants, but also tlae country further 
 south ; it being a corruption of the Indian 
 Nicoutameen, the name of a numerous tribe on 
 the lower Fraser, and which from its resem- 
 blance to the French, couteau, a knife, was 
 readily converted into that term by the voy- 
 agc'urs. The applicationof a word ofsuch san- 
 guinary significance to this people, was some- 
 what vial appropo, since, as would seem, they 
 were rather distinguished for theirpacific pro- 
 clivities, than otherwise. At best, there would 
 appear to have been much confusion in the 
 manner of naming these tribes, scarce two 
 authorities agreeing as to the title by which 
 any particular portion of them should be 
 known, or the precise limits of their territo- 
 rial possessions. Some writers have made the 
 entire number of people occupying this region 
 to consist of two great nations ; the Takali 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, «fec. 
 
 or Carriers, at the north, and the Atnahs or 
 Sushiwaps further south. Some have divided 
 them into Chilcotins, Kuz Lakes, Naskotins, 
 Talkotins and Atnahs or Chin Indians. While 
 others have designated them by still different 
 names, or assigned to them boundaries widely 
 diverse. From all which it is evident their 
 tribal limits are illy defined, and their geo- 
 graphical nomenclature sufficiently crude and 
 unsettled. 
 
 To account for this confusion and illustrate 
 how these territorial boundaries may be made, 
 to suffer a nominal expansion, a ease of recent 
 occurience., might be cited as in point. The 
 Lilooett] nation, once powerful, but now re- 
 duced to a few hundred persons, having given 
 their name to a lake and river near their vil- 
 lage, the same came afterwards to be applied 
 to the new route opened by Government along 
 these waters, and, finally to the country adja- 
 cent, until at present the whole region is in 
 popular parlance termed the Lilooett, and it is 
 common to hear both whites and Indians 
 speak of going to the Lilooett, when perhaps 
 they simply mean the terminus of the Trail, 
 or other point far distant from the home of 
 that people. Extended inquiry, however, into 
 this branch of knowledge, could hardly prove 
 profitable, since the Indian notions on the sub- 
 ject are quite as crude and indefinite as those 
 of the whites. Nor is it at all a matter of 
 practical moment, since in addressing these 
 races, it will be found a sufficient lingual at- 
 tainment to have mastered the terms "Siwash" 
 and " Clootchman," these being well under- 
 stood by all,^and as likely to insure attention 
 as words expressive of individual or national 
 entity. 
 
 Each village, or tribe, is governed by a Tyhee, 
 or chief, whose authority, though rather arbi- 
 trary, does not seem to be very extended or 
 well defined, being as much dependant on per- 
 gonal prowess and wealth, as on any fixed rules 
 or hereditary rights. The amount of property 
 possessed by these Sagamores, such as canoes, 
 horses, blankets, guns, wives, slaves, etc., 
 mostly determines the extentof their influence, 
 and consequent authority, not only with their 
 own people but also with their neighbors. By 
 the same rule is measured the degree of honor 
 to be awarded them after death. Besides these 
 leading men, there are Sitcum Tyheefi, or half 
 chiefs, who aid the principals in the discharge 
 of their duties, or act for them in their absence. 
 
 A fierce spirit of animosity prevails amongst 
 many of these tribes ; a feeling that formerly 
 manifested itself in sanguinary wars, wherein 
 whole communities were cut off or reduced to 
 slaver}'. Since the presence of the whites 
 amongst them, this hostility has been so far 
 restrained as to spend itself for the most part 
 in private feuds, murders and petty skirmishes, 
 with occasional forays on a weaker neighbor, 
 often attended with circumstances of treachery 
 and cruelty, and almost always conducted in a 
 manner reflecting unfavorably on the magnan- 
 imity and courage of the party assailant. To 
 
 pretend, however, that these Indians are any 
 worse, or to claim that they are any better than 
 like races elsewhere, or to say there is any 
 more or any less virtue and intelligence extant 
 amongst them, would be disingenuous, and ar- 
 gue an ignorance of savage life generally. As 
 with similar types of men elsewhere, their vir- 
 tues are few and leeble, their vices multiplied 
 and inveterate — appetite being apt to predomi- 
 nate over the sense of right, and passion over 
 reason ; j'ct they are by no means a dangerous 
 people to dwell amongst, or a difficult one to 
 manage, as the success of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company in their dealings with them fully 
 shows. The tribes about Kamloops and on the 
 upper Eraser, even to the far north, are espe- 
 cially honest, intelligent and tractable, and 
 withal, generally well disposed towards the 
 whites. They are also physically greatly the 
 superiors of the tribes further south, being 
 much more athletic and well formed. Their 
 features, too, are, as a general thing, more re- 
 gular and prominent, some of them having a 
 contour of face highly classical ; a circum- 
 stance less attributable, perhaps, to any ori- 
 ginal superiority of the race, than to the pres- 
 ence of the whites amongst them. Indeed, it 
 is well known that the Jesuit missionaries, at 
 an early period in the colonial history of 
 Canada, in their zeal to propagate the tenets of 
 the church, penetrated to the remotest parts of 
 the continent, carrying their religion far beyond 
 the limits of civilization, and planting it on the 
 distant banks of the Saskatchawan and the 
 Eraser. Here for years^ secluded from the 
 world, these holy men labored with results so 
 beneficial to the spiritual and material nature 
 of their neophytes as have led the devout to 
 canonize them for their self-denying toil, and 
 the physiologist to infer that the Good Eather* 
 had impressed soraethingof their own physical 
 lineaments on these rude children of the wil- 
 derness, while seeking to engraft the shoots of 
 evangelical truth on their simple faith. 
 
 The extent to which the efforts of these 
 early heralds of the Gospel were successful, is 
 evinced not only in the somewhat improved 
 morality of these northern tribes, but also by 
 the extent of their knowledge of the cardinal 
 doctrines, and their familiarity with the cere- 
 monial observances of the church. The stran- 
 ger is surprised on falling in with these people 
 to find them making the sign of the cross in 
 token of their Christian belief, while kneeling, 
 genuflexion and the murmuring of set prayers 
 are practiced on every befitting occasion. The 
 •rucifix is universally regarded as an object of 
 veneration, and it is related by the voiiagcurs 
 who have penetrated tar into the interior, that 
 it is no uncommon thing to find rude cros es 
 la'nted on the lodges and deserted huts, or 
 cut on the trees \\\ those distant wilds, to which 
 the natives bow in daily adoration, paying 
 them genuine homage as the emblems of a 
 higher and better futh, taught them by men 
 who came to Ix ncfit and bless, instead o\ 
 cneat and despoil them, as has since too often 
 
10 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 been the practice of the whites. As evidence 
 of the progress made by these people, not in 
 the mere rituals only, but also in the essential 
 doctrines of the Christian religion, as well as 
 of their generally enlightened notions of 
 morality and justice, an incident may be ad- 
 duced that occurred at the Fountain in Jan 
 uarylast: An Indian, belonging to the vil- 
 lage at that place, having committed a trifling 
 offence, fled to the north, taking refuge with a 
 powerful tribe, governed by a chief named 
 Guillaunie, in the neighborhood of Fort Alex- 
 ander. This personage, whose authority is 
 very extended, being recognized in a general 
 way by most of the tribes north of the Foun- 
 tain, and who had already heard of the diffi- 
 culties between the Indians and the whites the 
 preceding summer, instead of screening the 
 fugitive by affording the coveted protection, 
 had him arrested, and setting out with a 
 numerous retinue, brought him in mid-winter 
 all the way to the Fountain, a distance of 
 nearly two hundred miles, where he delivered 
 him into the charge of Alexander MacCrellish, 
 then an official at that place. 
 
 This gentleman, in view of the trifling 
 nature of the alleged offence, handed the 
 accused over to his own people, to be dealt 
 with as they might see fit. A council having 
 been called, and the case examined, the pris- 
 oner was found guilty, and condemned to be 
 publicly whipped, a sentence that was forth- 
 with carried into effect. This species of pun- 
 ishment is one of which the Indian has a 
 special dread, not so much for the physical 
 pain attending as l^e social degradation at- 
 taching to its infliction. After receiving it, 
 the culprit, unless previously rendered insensi- 
 ble to shame, is apt to avoid, for the time be- 
 ing, the society of his fellows, and withdraw- 
 ing, sit apart, bowed down with a sense of 
 humiliation. From the stigma of his disgrace 
 he is not readily relieved, unless restored to 
 good i-tanding at the time by those who have 
 decreed his punishment — an act of clemency 
 frequently extended to the culprit on his mani- 
 festing a due degree of contrition, coupled 
 withthepromiseofameudment. Our hero onthis 
 occasion, having placed himself in this category, 
 was graciously reinstated by the considerate 
 and kind hearted GuiUamne^ who had just be- 
 fore passed sentence upon him. The act of grace 
 was conducted as follows : — A bountiful feast 
 having been prepared — the supplies generously 
 donated by Mr. MacCrellish — all the prin- 
 cipal men were gathered about the board, after 
 which, a lilessing having been invoked in true 
 Christian style, the transgressor was beckoned 
 to draw near. This he did, approaching on 
 his knees, when the old Chief, placing his 
 hands on the repentant's head, kindly soothed 
 his sorrow and quited his sobs, whispering to 
 him in the meantime words of consolation and 
 encouragement, and finally imploring the aid 
 of the Great Spirit to strengthen hisgood reso- 
 lutions, pronounced a benediction, declared 
 his forgiveness, and invited him to partake of 
 the repast, a privilege denied other attendants. 
 
 From the above, it will be seen that these 
 people, however we may call them savages, or 
 treat them as such, are by no means deficient 
 in the religious sentiment, or ignorant of the 
 code of Christian ethics. It is not always that 
 criminal cases are adjudicated with so much 
 good sense as in the example just recited ; nor 
 is it every tribunal that so effectually attains 
 the true aims of punishment, while it so fully 
 vindicates the claims of justice. Indeed, a 
 finer instance of well directed benevolence — of 
 the rigor of law, tempered with merited cle- 
 mency, is not often met with. Nor would it be 
 easy to find, even within the pale of civilized 
 life, one endowed with more native goodness, 
 or whom we would so instinctively trust, as 
 this same unschooled Chief of the Carrier Na- 
 tion. When looking into his calm and benig- 
 nant face, one can hardly believe that the la- 
 bors of the contemned and world-feared Jesuit 
 were all fruitless of good, since he sees there- 
 flex of their teachings there, and reads in every 
 act of this old man's life a living illustration 
 of the doctrines of Jesus. 
 
 The foregoing case has been presented thus 
 broadly not so much for its intrinsic interest, 
 as because it serves to throw light on the con- 
 dition and character of a race with whom 
 some portion of our own people may hereafter 
 come in contact, inasmuch as they inhabit a 
 district in which the most prolific part of the 
 Fraser river mines is supposed to be located. 
 Being timely advised as to the disposition or 
 other peculiarities of the natives, those enter- 
 ing their territory will know how to approach 
 and regulate their intercourse s'ith them, thus 
 securing advantages that might otherwise be 
 lost, and avoiding difficulties into which, 
 through ignorance or misapprehension, they 
 might be betrayed. As has been stated then, 
 the Indians on the upper Fraser are morally 
 and physically superior to the tribes further 
 south, as well as those generally met with on 
 American territory. And although they are 
 averse to having the whites enter their coun- 
 try, there will be no active opposition, once 
 they find it inevitable. Indeed, by the ob- 
 servance of a little tact and good management, 
 the new comers may not only gain easy ingress 
 to the country, and procure the objects of their 
 visit in peace, but also secure the friendship of 
 the natives and render them highly serviceable 
 to them in their labors. 
 
 There are two lines of policy or modes of 
 treatment, either of which is tolerably effective 
 in the conduct of our intercourse with the In- 
 dians. One of these adopts the plan of yield- 
 ing to his caprices, falling in with his notions, 
 and accommodating ourselves to his peculia'./ 
 ities and modes of living, as is apt to be the 
 practice of the French. The other consists in 
 treating him with kindness and justice, but at 
 the same time making i'f^.w concessions to his 
 views or wishes while we sternly mould him 
 to our own purposes, and compel him to yield 
 in everything essential to our success and 
 comfort. 
 
 Either of these modes, as has been stated, if 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 11 
 
 consistently cnrricd out, will answer very well, 
 but it is the niisCortuiic of the Americans that 
 while they attempt both they adhere strictly 
 to neither, it being too much their custom to 
 bully and abuse the Indian at one time, thus 
 arousing his enmity and opposition, and to 
 trifle with him at another thereby encouraging 
 him to disobedience and incurring his con- 
 tempt. By pursuing a course dignified but 
 conciliatory, kind but firm, the troubles, or 
 rather miserable squabbles, into which our 
 people are so apt to be involved, might for the 
 most part be avoided. Let it be borne in mind 
 that the tribes of which wc are speaking are 
 not the degraded, sensual creatures elsewhere 
 met with, ready to submit tamelj' to the indig- 
 nities of the white man, or pander to his lust. 
 With these, female purity is carefully preserved 
 and high)}' prized — conjugal infidelity or other 
 species of incontinence being of rare occur- 
 rence. If our people will bear these facts in 
 mind, and regulate their conduct accordingly, 
 they will have little to fear from the opposition 
 or enmity of these not very sanguinary, nor yet 
 altogether savage tribes. 
 
 POSTS OP THE Hudson's bay company. 
 
 Locat(d in various parts of British Colum- 
 bia the Hudson's Bay Company have a number 
 of forts or trading establishments for carrying 
 on their traflic with the native tribes. These 
 posts generally bear the name of some member 
 of the Company, or other individual prominent 
 in their service. They are all constructed on 
 the same general plan, differing only as to the 
 number or dimension of their buildings, being 
 governed in these particulars by the impor- 
 tance of the trade at the point where they are 
 located. In founding a post reference is always 
 had to accessibility, the number of Indians, 
 and the abundance of fur-producing animals 
 in the neighborhood. It is also desirable that 
 there be seme good land convenient, tliat a 
 sufficient supply of grain ftnd vegetables may be 
 raised for the wants of the place. These latter, 
 liowever, and even bread have often to be 
 dispensed with by these hardj' employes of the 
 Company, their only food being salmon or 
 other fish, with such wild fruits as the Indians 
 may gather, and an occasional contribution of 
 game. Of the Intter they obtain but a very 
 scanty supplj^ every species of animal being 
 scarce throughout the Territory owing to the 
 pcrtenacity with which they have long been 
 hunted both for their petries and flesh. Yet, 
 at a number of these establishments, not 
 only gardening but also farming, has been car- 
 ried on to a considerable extent, while large 
 numbers of neat cattle have been raised and 
 n some instances also sheep. 
 
 The site selected for these forts is generally 
 a spot on the bank of a lake or river, suffici- 
 ently elevated to command the surrounding 
 country. The buildings are constructed of 
 hewed timber, and vary from a single block- 
 house to fifteen or twenty in number. They 
 consist of one or two large houses for the ac- 
 commodation of the officers and clerks, and 
 
 others, the quarters of the laborers and me- 
 chanics ; also spacious storehouses for the re- 
 ception of goods and furs, with shop? for car- 
 penters, coopers, blacksmiths, &c., and a powder 
 magazine, built of brick or stone. The more 
 important posts have, in addition, a school- 
 house and chapel. The whole establishment 
 is surrounded by a stockade fifteen or twenty 
 feet high, inside of which, near the top, is a 
 gallery, with loop-holes for muskets. This 
 picket-work is flanked with bastions of which 
 there are generally two, placed at diagonal 
 corners These mount several small pieces 
 of cannon and are also amplj* pierced for mus- 
 ketry. Seen from a distance these posts pre- 
 sent a rather formidable appearance, and 
 though capable of offering but slight resistance 
 to artillery, have ever been found sufficient to 
 overawe the Indian or resist his attacks. 
 
 FORT LANGLEV. 
 
 In ascending Eraser river, the first fort 
 arrived at is Langley, on the south bank of 
 the river, twenty-five miles from its mouth. 
 It is an old and extensive establishment, at 
 present under the supervision of Mr. Yale. The 
 Company have a large farm at this plnce, with 
 a considerable amount of stock. The land, 
 cleared of heavy timber, is said to produce 
 good crops, and in the garden attached to the 
 fort vegetables grew last summer with the 
 greatest luxuriance, while the apple trees were 
 loaded down with fruit. There are many little 
 {irairies in the neighborhood, which being cov- 
 ered with coarse grass, afford ample feed for 
 slock as well as hay for winter use. The Com- 
 pany had large stores of goods at this post last 
 season, it being a sort of distributing point to 
 places above, and to which many of the miners 
 and traders came for supplies. There is an 
 Indian village on the opposite side of the river 
 containing the remnant of a once numerous 
 tribe, but like most of the race in this part of 
 the countiy, they have become not only greatly 
 reduced in numbers but sadly demoralized, 
 and it is questionable whether their services or 
 trade can hereafter prove of much advantage 
 to the Company, or any one else. 
 
 FOKT HOPE 
 
 Is the next post met with in going up the 
 river, on the same side with Langley, and sev- 
 enty miles above it. It is an old settlement, at 
 present in charge of J\Ir. Walker, and consists 
 of three block buildings within a picketed in- 
 closure. Being of limited capacity and some- 
 what dilapidated, additional houses have been 
 erected for the accommodation of the very ex- 
 tensive trade carried on, this place having thus 
 far proved the head of steamboat navigation. 
 Suitable steamers, it is thought, can run to 
 Fort Yale during high water, the Umatilla 
 having reached that point once last summer. 
 The passage, however, will always be attended 
 with difficulty and some degree of danger. 
 
 FORT YALK. 
 
 This place is fourteen miles above Fort Hope 
 and on the opposite or west bank of the river. 
 The original post consisted of a single log hut 
 
u 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 of small dimensions, ivithout any palisade or 
 ot'lier military surroundings. Last year a large 
 block store in addition was erected. This has 
 since been kept well stocked with goods, which 
 have been sold at a moderate profit, however 
 the market might at times have justified higher 
 prices. The post is named after Mr. Yale, now, 
 as has been stated, Chief Trader at Langley. 
 He is an old and efficient servant of the Com- 
 pany, having been on Fraser river over thirty 
 years, during which time he has been but once 
 absent from the Territory. Mr. Alvord is at 
 j>resent Superintendent at this place. 
 
 FORT DALLAS AND FORT BEEENS. 
 
 The former of these posts is situated about 
 fifty miles above Fort Yale, on the east bank of 
 the river, and three miles below the mouth of 
 Thompson's Fork. It is named after Mr. Alex. 
 G. Dallas, a son-in-law of Governor Douglas, 
 a gentleman whose efficient services and liberal 
 views have alike secured him the confidence of 
 the Company and the respect of the public, and 
 who, in the estimation oi all, is deemed justly 
 to merit the compliment thus paid him. The 
 buildings not yet occupied, being in an unfin- 
 ished state, are located on a handsome grassy 
 eminence, overlooking the river, toward which 
 it slopes with an even and gentle declivity. 
 They will be completed and brought into use 
 ihe present summer, there being a numerous 
 raining population in the vicinity. Fort Berens, 
 also named after a member ot the Company, is 
 situated on the same side of the river, fifty 
 miles above Fort Dallas, at a point opposite the 
 terminus of the new trail opened through the 
 Lilooett country to the upper Fraser. It occu- 
 pies a magnificent table land, commanding a 
 view for many miles up and down the river, 
 and though laid out on an extensive scale, is 
 in a still more unfinished state than Fort Dal- 
 las ; yet,like the latter, is to be finished and oc- 
 cupied during the present spring or summer. 
 
 FORT KAM LOOPS. 
 
 Making a deflection one hundred miles east, 
 we arrived at Fort Kamloops, also called Fort 
 Thompson. It is situated on the North Branch 
 of Thompson's Fork, near its junction with the 
 main stream, and a little above the head of 
 Sushwap Lake, in the midst of an extended and 
 highly fertile bottom. It is the only post the 
 Company have in the interior of British Colum- 
 bia to the east of Fraser river — Fort Colville, 
 on the Columbia, at one time thought to be on 
 the English, having been ascertained by the 
 late survey to be on -the American side of the 
 line. It is the intention of the Company to 
 carry it to their own side this summer, and 
 re-erect it under the name of Fort Shepherd, 
 as a mark of respect for the present Governor of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company. There are several 
 hundred acres of land under cultivation near 
 Fort Kamloops, a large proportion being 
 planted to potatoes, which grow here with lit- 
 tle culture, and of an excellent quality. Wheat 
 and other cereals also thrive well, the yield 
 being abundant and the crop quite certain. 
 There is also a fine range for stock in the 
 
 neighborhood, the cows and oxen, of which 
 there are several hundred head, with a large 
 number of horses, keeping fat through the 
 summer, and in tolerable condition through 
 the winter, though none except the working 
 animals receive any fodder, unless, perhaps, it 
 be a little straw. The Indian Chief, Paul, liv- 
 ing near the Fort, owns a large amount of stock, 
 the sale of which to the whites of late has ren- 
 dered him quite wealthy. This post is under 
 the management of chief trader McLean, a 
 man held in great awe by the surrounding sav- 
 ages, from his summary and decisive manner 
 of dealing with offenders. Indeed, he is quit^ 
 remarkable for his reckless intrepidity, even 
 amongst a class distinguished for cool and 
 determined courage. 
 
 FORT ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Returning, and follwing up the Fraser over 
 150 miles above Fort Berens, we arrive at Fort 
 Alexandria, or as it is commonly called, Alex- 
 ander, being named after Sir Alexander Mac- 
 Kenzie, who indicated the spot as favorable 
 for a station as early as 1793. Having reached 
 this point on his journey ot exploration, this 
 celebrated traveler being advised by the natives 
 of the dangerous navigation of the river below, 
 and conscious that he was already near the 
 Pacific, directed his course toward the west, 
 and stricking the Salmon river, followed it to 
 its disemboguement in one of thosedeep canals 
 that penetrate the coast of British Columbia 
 in such a remarkable manner. It is the prin- 
 cipal post of the company in this region, being 
 a sort of depot for receiving the produce 
 gathered at the stations still further on, of 
 which there are a number, all however of 
 secondary importance. This Fort is situated 
 on the east bank of the Fraser, nearly in lati- 
 tude 52° N. The country adjacent is open and 
 picturesque, and is said to afford good hunting 
 grounds, whence the Indian procuring an 
 abundant supply of skins, that trade has always 
 been active at this point. 
 
 To the southwest of Alexandria, some fifty 
 miles, is Fort Chilcotin, on a river, near a lake, 
 and in the country of a tribe all bearing the 
 same name. These people were once numer- 
 ous, and their land abounding in beaver and 
 other fur-producing animals, it was deemed 
 advisable to establish a post amongst them. 
 Subsequently, however, their number being 
 reduced through war and disease, their trade 
 proved profitless, and this station like several 
 others further north, has been abandoned or is 
 occupied only as occasion may require. In 
 this catalogue may be enumerated Fort George, 
 one hundred miles north of Fort Alexandria, 
 at the junction of Stuart and Fraser rivers, 
 and the still more inconsiderable stations of 
 Fort Fraser, McLeod and St. James. 
 
 FORT SIMPSON. 
 
 The only remaining post requiting special 
 mention is that of Fort Simpson, situated on 
 Chathams Sound, in the extreme northwest 
 corner of British Columbia, adjacent to the 
 Russian Possessions. Located on a fine bar 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 13 
 
 bor, the neighboring waters abounding in fish, 
 and the land in wild animals, the centre of a 
 large number of active and thrifty tribes, it 
 enjoys a large and lucrative trade. It is the 
 mart for all the various northern Indians, being 
 frequented not only by those on the main land, 
 but also by the inhabitants of Queen Char- 
 lotte's Island, and the Russian Possessions. 
 It is called after Sir George Simpson, formerly 
 a Governor of the Company, and is frequently 
 visited by steamers from Victoria, which carry 
 up large quantities of goods adapted to the 
 Indian trade, and return freighted with the 
 commodities procured in exchange.- 
 
 GOLD MINES — THEIR EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 The existence of gold on Thompson's Fork, 
 and possibly on other tributaries of the Fraser, 
 has been known to the Hudson Bay traders for 
 the last five or six years, the Indians having 
 been in the habit of bringing in small quanti- 
 ties and exchanging it for other commodities 
 during this time. Mr. McLean, Chief Trader 
 at Kamloops, procured some dust from the na- 
 tives as early as '52, since which period more 
 or less has been receivedat this and other posts 
 of the Company, chiefly on Fraser river. The 
 amount thus obtained, though perhaps consid- 
 derable in the aggregate, was not so large as 
 commonly conjectured, having been insufficient 
 to awaken a suspicion in the minds of these 
 traders that diggings remunerative to white 
 labor existed in that quarter ; at least so little 
 did they concern themselves about the matter, 
 that others were left to make the final discovery 
 which has resulted in so rapidlypopulatingthe 
 country. The finding of paying placers in this 
 region was not an event, however, of such sud- 
 den or recent occurrence as is generally sup- 
 posed, various parties having prospected the 
 banks of Thompson's river and its branches at 
 different times since theopening of the Colville 
 mines in the fall of '55, and always with re- 
 sults showing that moderate wages could be 
 made on that stream, thoughnotsuch aswould 
 then justify men remaining, the prices of pro- 
 visions being enormously high, and the Indians 
 disposed to be troublesome. During the sum- 
 mer and fall of '57, a number of persons, being 
 mostly adventurers from Oregon and Washing- 
 ton Territories, or the Colville mines, together 
 with a sprinkling of half-breeds and Canadian 
 French, formerly in the Company's service, 
 made their way into the country on the upper 
 Fraser, where, prospecting in the neighbor- 
 hood of the forks, they found several rich bars, 
 on which they went to work, continuing opera- 
 tions with much success, until forced to leave 
 from want of provisions ori the approach of 
 cold weather. Coming to Victoria, or return- 
 ing whence they came, these men spread 
 abroad the news of their good luck and laid 
 the foundation for the excitement that soon af- 
 ter followed. 
 
 This intelligence reached San Francisco 
 early in '58, and being confirmed by subse- 
 quent reports, spread rapidly through the State, 
 affecting every class, and causing a general 
 
 stampede, until culminating about the middle 
 of July, the movement had transferred full 
 twenty thousand people from California to this 
 new field of enterprise and exertion. How 
 this all turned out in the end it is now useless 
 to inquire, nor is it worth while to attempt in- 
 dicating the particular agencies through which 
 it was brought about. Some have attributed 
 it to the efforts of the shipping interest opera- 
 ting through the press, while others, with more 
 reason and fairness, have detected its main 
 spring in the private advices sent from the 
 mines, and the naturally impulsive spirit of 
 our people, who, in like case, have ever shown 
 a penchant for acting first and deliberating af- 
 terwards. That the newspaper press can be 
 justly charged with any such complicity no 
 well informed person will contend, since it 
 would be difficult to find a single line in the 
 editorial columns of any journal in the State 
 calculated to magnify the wealth of those 
 mines, or encourage emigration thither. If 
 the directors of the press published letters, or 
 extracts from other papers calculated to pro- 
 duce that end, it was simply discharging their 
 duty as impartial, journalists, which require* 
 they shall present every side of a question en- 
 gaging the public attention, however it maj- 
 conflict with individual interest or their own 
 private opinions. 
 
 The truth is, every class of persons was more 
 influenced by private letters received from 
 parties who had already proceeded to Fraser 
 river than by anything that appeared in the 
 newspapers. It cannot be forgotten, that the 
 mining community, recalling how often they 
 had been mislead by similar rumors, took 
 every precaution to guard against their being 
 deceived in this instance; companies and small 
 camps frequently delegating one of the most ex- 
 perienced and trusty of their number to go 
 and examine what foundation there might be 
 for these flying stories, and report accordingly. 
 And it was on these reports, or intelligence 
 derived through like sources, that people for 
 the most part acted. Sometimes a secret note 
 addressed to a friend advising a hasty visit to 
 the new Dorado, would gain publicity, and 
 forthwith a general scamper would ensue, 
 scores rushing away who never would have 
 thought of going from anything they might 
 see in the public prints. More than once a 
 single letter so received from a precocious ad- 
 venturer has had the effect to depopulate a 
 farming district to an extent that seriously 
 interfered with the gathering of the harvest. 
 But why this vindication of the newspaper 
 press, or wherefore these excuses for the con- 
 duct of our people? Perhaps they did not err 
 in their judgment so widely, or act so very 
 foolishly after all. Let us review a little and 
 see how this is. 
 
 Here was a river reaching many hundred 
 miles inland, the banks of which along its low- 
 er portion were rich in gold, to all appearance 
 washed down from above. Upon several 
 tributaries of this river good diggings had also 
 
14 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 been found. Adjacent to the region traversed^ 
 by it, and lying between the same mountain 
 ranges were extensive placeres, that had been 
 successfully worked for years. AVhat was 
 there then, so preposterous in supposing an 
 auriferous region existed along the banks of this 
 stream ? Was it not reasonable to conclude 
 such was the case ? Was not this a fair de- 
 duction — an inference warranted by geological 
 Kcience and our gold mining experience? Of 
 course it was; and herein the press has ample 
 justification for the course it pursued, and every 
 I'raser-river adventurer a sufficient reason for 
 the hope that was in him. It must be admit- 
 ted we were mistaken — possibly in our esti- 
 mate of the magnitude and value of these 
 mines, though this remains to be proved ; but 
 certain it is, we misapprehend theirprecise lo- 
 cality, and the difficulties we should have to 
 encounter in reaching them. Apart from this, 
 no very great blunder was committed after all. 
 We had what seemed safe data for action; and 
 however we may now speak of it as a delusion, 
 or denounce it as a humbug, it is not always 
 our people have so sound a basis for theirfinan- 
 cial and commercial speculations, or industrial 
 projects, as had this widely execrated and suf- 
 ficiently unfortunate Eraser river movement. 
 And although it has become the fashion to rank 
 it with Gold lake expeditions and South sea 
 schemes — projects purely speculative or whol- 
 ly visionary— it may safely be affirmed that 
 before two years more shall have passed, these 
 mines will redeem themselves from the odium 
 of the comparison, if they do not fully realize 
 the expectations of the pioneer crowd, all of 
 whom sought them too early, and many of 
 whom left them too soon. That this opinion 
 of their future may not seem too sanguine, let 
 ns examine for a moment. 
 
 THEIR PRODUCTIVENESS AND EXTENT. 
 
 If we begin at Fort Hope, and follow up Fra- 
 ser river to the vicinity of Fort Alexander, we 
 shall have passed over a stretch of country 
 more than 300 miles long, all of which is 
 auriferous. Some pay diggings have been 
 found below Fort Hope, and to what extent 
 the country above the highest point mentioned 
 may be gold producing, has not yet been ascer- 
 tained. Nearly all the bars within this scope, 
 «ome of which are verj'^ extensive, contain a 
 large amount of pay ditt. The high banks in 
 some places have also shown a good prospect, 
 while gold in small quantities has been found 
 even on the table lands and sides of the moun- 
 -tains. But the gold fields of British Columbia 
 are not confined to the banks of the Fraser. 
 Several of its tributaries are known to abound 
 in the precious metal ; the yield of some hav- 
 ing been quite as prolific as any part of the 
 main stream itself. The banks of Bridge river, 
 for forty miles up, have furnished very satis- 
 factory diggings, the dust being coarse, of good 
 quality and easily saved. The bars on Thomp- 
 son's Fork, as high up as Nicholas river, have 
 uniformly paid fair wages. Above that they 
 have not generally, thus far, proved remuner- 
 ative. Along Nicholas, Bonaparte and Tran- 
 
 quille rivers, all branches of the Fork, the dig- 
 gings that will pay moderate wages — saj' four 
 or five dollars per day — may be measured by 
 the acre. On the latter stream parties mining 
 with rockers, averaged five dollars a day, dur- 
 ing all last autumn. It has been prospected for 
 forty or fifty miles, showing dirt along all that 
 distance that would paj- equally well. Gold has 
 also been found in other directions, and on wa- 
 ters far separated from the Fraser. On the Liloo- 
 ett river, reaching from one end to the other, are 
 numerous bar? on which small wages can be 
 made. The extreme fineness and levity of the 
 dust, however, together with the long contin- 
 ued stage of high water, the bars being gen- 
 erally low, will preclude any chance of success- 
 ful mining on this stream, unless carried on 
 by some improved process, or during the three 
 or four months preceding the commencement 
 of cold weather. 
 
 Such are the limits of the Fraser river gold 
 fields as ascertained by actual exploration. 
 How much they may be enlarged by future 
 discoveries, or how rich these partiallj' pros- 
 pected streams may eycntually prove, is matter 
 for conjecture. That the multitude who re- 
 sorted to them have been put poorly rewarded 
 for their loss of time and oullaj' of money — 
 that capital has met with indifl'erent returns, 
 and merchandise netted but sorry profits, is 
 lamentably true. Yet all this loss, disappoint- 
 ment and disaster, is not to be set down to the 
 narrow limits or poverty of the mines. As has 
 been said, the laborer could not reach the 
 actual mining district until too late in the 
 season for successful operations. Besides, a 
 vfry large percentage of those who went to 
 Fraser river were either mere speculators and 
 adventurers, or persons mentally indisposed to, 
 if not physically incapable of doing hard work. 
 As to the pecuniary loss attending invest- 
 ments in that quarter, let us xsk ourselves 
 how mtich of this iiay be traced to the most 
 wild and absurd kind of speculation — to build- 
 ing towns, erecting wharves, and cutting trails 
 where nature never intended, and the require- 
 ments of business never called for such im- 
 provements? Thousands and hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars were thus spent in futile 
 attempts at building up cities where none 
 were needed, and in ridiculous endeavors at 
 forcing trade into costly and impracticable 
 channels. Let the forced growth of Port 
 Townsend, and the unwholesome impetus giv- 
 ing to nearly every other place on the Sound, 
 producing overtrade and a fictitious rise in 
 real estate — let the acres of ruins and piled 
 water lots at Whatcom, the foolish outhiys at 
 Point Roberts,Semiahmoo and Sehome, together 
 with the spirit of reckless expenditure and 
 insane speculation everywhere exhibited, come 
 in for their proper share of the losses incurred 
 by these unfortunates, and which have so gen- 
 erally but unjustly been charged to the ac- 
 count of Fraser river. 
 
 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 
 
 It being evident, then, that the scope of pay 
 diggings in British Columbia is sufficiently 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 15 
 
 extensive, the question arises as to their rich- 
 ness, or rather theircapacity to give immediate 
 and profitable employment to any considerable 
 population. The practical point to be decided 
 is, whethereverything considered, better wages 
 can be realized there than in the mines of Cali- 
 fornia. Of course, it is not to be expected that 
 any person, however much he may have seen 
 of the two countries, or however conversant 
 he may be with their comparative advantages, 
 will assume to advise which should be chosen 
 as a field for mining operations. So much 
 depends on circumstances — the situation of 
 parties, their fitness to endure hardship and 
 exposure, on the increase of facilities for reach- 
 ing the interior of British Columbia, and a 
 variety of considerations, applying with greater 
 or less force in each individual case, that any 
 advise given on this point would necessarily be 
 qualified to an extent rendering it nearly value- 
 less as a general rule of action. The most that 
 could be expected of one treating on the subject 
 is thata full and candid statement of facts should 
 be given, leaving each one to judge for himself 
 as to the propriety of going or staying. It is 
 the opinion of very many who have visited 
 these northern mines that a hardy and per- 
 severing man, being without a mining claim 
 here, or sufficient means to buy into one, might 
 for the next few years make more money there 
 than in California. This, however, is on the 
 supposition that he is capable of not only doing 
 hard work, but also of subsisting on coarse 
 and scanty fare, and that he can be absent for 
 a length of time without serious inconvenience 
 to himself or others; and also, perhaps, on the 
 further condition that cheap and expeditious 
 means of transportation be supplied between 
 the head of steamboat navigation and the 
 mines, since, with the present inadequate 
 means of carriage, the inducements for emigrat- 
 ing to that quarter are greatly diminished, the 
 cost of subsistence in these mines being enor- 
 mous ; not less in the more remote localities 
 than the combined exptnse of living and the 
 price usually paid for labor in this State. That 
 additional improvements will shortly be made 
 for effecting that object, either by the Colonial 
 government engaging in the work or encourag- 
 ing others to do so, there is every reason for 
 believing, from the prompt and liberal mannea 
 in which it has hitherto responded to demands 
 of this kind; nofless than $150,000 having 
 already been expended from the public treasury 
 in opening new routes, or in endeavors to 
 facilitate the carriage of goods into the mines. 
 From present indications, it may be safely in- 
 ferred that the cost of passage and freight over 
 these routes, heretofore oppressively high, will 
 be reduced one hundred per cent., if not more, 
 during the coming summer, causing a corres- 
 ponding reduction in the expensesof the miner, 
 and a like increase in the net profits he will be 
 able to realize from his labor. Should this be 
 done, there is little doubt that men of moderate 
 means might, unless going in too great num- 
 bers, do quite as well for the present on Fraaer 
 
 riveras on any of the streams in our own State. 
 One advantage in these comparatively fresh 
 mines is that every man can be his own master; 
 he can own his claim and work it himself; 
 none need be hirelings, and none need be idle; 
 whereas, in California it is quite different.ij 
 is not every miner who can be a proprietor 
 here ; nor is it always that a man can get work 
 when he wants it. 
 
 It requires capital to buy into a claim here, 
 or else much time must be spent in prospecting 
 before one is found, and then not always with 
 success. There, no persevering and industri- 
 ous man need have any difficulty on this score; 
 none need hire out their services, or be com- 
 pelled to go for a length of time without em- 
 ployment. In saying this, of course we mean 
 on the upper Fraser and its tributaries, where 
 alone, the real mines are, and to which most 
 new comers must make their way if they ex- 
 pect to be successful. The writer is aware 
 how little short of seditious this sort of 
 language will be regarded by those who fear 
 the transfer of a few thousand men, the mere 
 shifting the point of consumption from one 
 place on this coast to another, will effect the 
 ruin of California. But still he is of opinion 
 that a candid statement of facts can never 
 work harm, and that labor, while it should 
 never be diverted into profitless channels, 
 should always be left to seek its most remu- 
 nerative field. There are sufficient discour- 
 agements to emigration to the Fraser river 
 mines without recourse to misrepresentation 
 or concealment. Their remote and inaccessi- 
 ble position, the exorbitant prices of provis- 
 ions prevailing at present, the cold winters and 
 long continued stage of high water, with many 
 minor difficulties and objections, make up a 
 formidable argument ngainst their claims to 
 attention, and will no doubt check any undue 
 diversion of our people that way. Yet in the 
 face of all these discouragements, there i8 
 good reason to believe some thousand of the 
 more hardy and adventurous of our popula- 
 tion, with an indefinite number of the idle and 
 unemployed, might repair to these northern 
 mines with profit to themselves and no great 
 detriment to the public. Indeed, whatever of 
 damage certain interests may have suffered 
 from the begira of last year, it cannot be de- 
 nied that much good resulted to this commu- 
 nity in the happy riddance of a large number 
 of worthless and non-producing members 
 effected through its agency. 
 
 Thecitiesand towns throughouttheState had 
 become sadly infested by a class of lazy, list- 
 less drones, some discouraged through want of 
 success, others broken down by dissipation and 
 vice — some vagabonds from force of circum- 
 stances, and some from force of habit, yet all 
 more or less a burden to their friends and a 
 nuisance to society, and who, but for some 
 stimulous like this Fraser river excitement, 
 never would have made another honest effort 
 to earn a livelihood ; but who, aroused by the 
 prospect of easily acquired wealth, again be- 
 
16 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 took themselves to labor, and having thus es-. 
 caped from the thraldom of a vicious indolence,' 
 will be likely, in most cases, to recover their 
 lost standing, and do something for themselves 
 hereafter. And hence, however much individ- 
 ual injury may have resulted from this Frazer 
 river movement, it was not all a loss to the 
 public at large. Deeply as we may deplore 
 certain of its effects, it still left traces of good 
 behind it. Like the winds that sweep over our 
 city, it carried away the pestilential effluvia 
 that otherwise stagnating, become the pregnant 
 agents of disease and death. And it would 
 hardly be matter for regret were our large 
 towns more frequently the subjects of these 
 visitations, so effectual in purging the social 
 atmosphere, and relieving community of its 
 vagrant and vicious members. 
 
 IMPROVED PROSPECTS. 
 
 Notwithstanding the difficulties in the way 
 of reaching the gold fields of British Columbia 
 are still formidable enough, there is no doubt 
 that they have been greatly diminished since 
 last year, and that the chances for success in 
 mining are manifold better this season than 
 they were last. The locality and character of 
 the diggings are now understood ; the peculi- 
 arities of the seasons and climate are known ; 
 the Indian annoyances have ceased ; new routes 
 have been opened, and steamboats placed on 
 the rivers, adding security to life, and cheap- 
 ening transportation and travel ; while com- 
 fortable places of entertainment have been 
 opened at all the central points, and at con- 
 venient distances along the principal thorough- 
 fares. Of provisions, if not over cheap and 
 abundant, there will always be a sufficient 
 supply to insure the miner from starvation, 
 and at reasonable prices. Lumber, an article 
 so necessary for successful mining, will here- 
 after be procurable, as also will fresh vegeta- 
 bles, on a due supply of which health is so de- 
 pendant; ditches and reservoirs will be, and to 
 some extent have already been constructed, 
 affording a steady and ample supply of water 
 on bars where otherwise nothing could be 
 done. Men becoming familiar with the periods 
 of high and low water, will be able to take 
 advantage of the same for the purpose of min- 
 ing ; while acquaintance with the eddies and 
 rapids will enable tiem to avoid many of the 
 dangers of river navigation. Trade monopo- 
 lies, so far as any existed, having ceased, and 
 mining licenses having been practically abro- 
 gated ; what with courts and peace officers at 
 all the more populous points, and the prospect 
 of escorts for the transportation, with places of 
 deposit for the safe keeping of the miner's gold 
 dust, we cannot see what ground there can be 
 for complaint as to existing regulations, or the 
 manner in which life and property are protect- 
 ed in these mines. 
 
 Comparin^this year with'last, there is hardly 
 a single view in which the mining interest and 
 the prospect for success has not greatly chang- 
 ed for the better. This is not said with the 
 remotest view to encouraging parties who may 
 
 have a tolerable business or situation, or even 
 a good prospect of such in California, to leave 
 the same and repxirto these distant gold fields 
 in the hope of bettering their condition. Let 
 no one who has a living business here, or em- 
 ployment at fair wages, or the means of secur- 
 ing either, think for a moment of abandoning 
 the same and resorting to Fraser river. We are 
 not writing for such. Neit her are we writing 
 for speculators and traders, or the non-produc- 
 ing fraternity, who seek to live by their wits 
 rather than hard work. To this class the in- 
 ducements for migrating northward are indeed 
 slender. But to the ill-rewarded hard worker, 
 the unemployed, to all such in fact as come 
 within the category before mentioned, we have 
 thought fit to say British Columbia opens, per- 
 haps, for you as good a labor-field just now as 
 California ; venturing to indicate, at the same 
 time, the improved condition of things in that 
 quarter as warranting the suggestion. In tne 
 opinion that these mines will better reward any 
 class of laborers whatever, than those of our 
 State, we may be mistaken ; but there is little 
 ground for mistake in what has been said as to 
 the increased facilities for travel, and the im- 
 proved chances for success this season as com- 
 pared with the past. If we examine the con- 
 dition and progress of affairs last year a little 
 more in detail, the truth of this remark becomes 
 fully apparent. 
 
 In the first place, a large proportion of the 
 miners, on reaching Victoria, were delayed at 
 that point a long time ; some waiting for the 
 river to fall, but more because they were una- 
 ble to proceed, either from want of means to 
 go on the steamers, or the inability of , the lat- 
 ter to carry them. Here 'ibey idled away their 
 time doing nothing, or engaged in building 
 boats in which, when completed, they embark- 
 ed for the mines. These craft being small and 
 badly constructed, and as a general thing, still 
 more badly navigated, met with many disasters', 
 often of a fatal character, in crossing the gulf 
 or attempting to ascend the rivers, and were 
 no longer ot Uny value after the owner had 
 reached his point of destination, Taking into 
 the account the original cost of these boats 
 and canoes, varying from fifty to a hundred 
 dollars each, together with the loss of time and 
 property, to say nothing of life, occasioned by 
 this species of navigation, the damage sus- 
 tained by the miner in being forced to resort 
 to it, was incalculable. 
 
 Having reached the mines, or, rather, got as 
 far up the river as practicable, the adventurer 
 found all the bars worth working completely 
 occupied or under water. Thus conditioned, 
 he had either to return, remain an indefinite 
 period doing nothing, or attempt forcing his 
 way further up. A majority chose to come 
 back; many staid until the water went down 
 — a part doing well and a part very little, 
 owing to the impossibility of all getting claims. 
 Of those who pushed on to the Upper Fraser, 
 some going by the Brigade Trail, and others 
 through the caiions, or over the Lilooett route, 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE. RESOURCES, <fec. 
 
 17 
 
 all arrived so utterly impoverished, or com- 
 pletely broken down, as to be unfit to do any- 
 thing. Setting out with scanty stores, these 
 had become exhausted by the length of time 
 they were on the way, or been taken from them 
 by the Indians. Yet, living on fish and berries, 
 such of these men as had fortitude to remain 
 and make a trial, nearly all did well, some 
 taking out large sums of gold, though having 
 only the most rude and imperfect implements 
 to work with. When, later in the season, 
 provisions began to come in, prices ranged 
 from one to two dollars a pound — yet so good 
 were the diggings that the miners were vastly 
 more concerned about the supply than the 
 price. And so these men on the Upper Fraser 
 lingered on through the fall, waiting impa- 
 tiently for the completion of the new Lilooett 
 trail, when it was expected provisions would 
 be more abundant and cheap. This work, 
 however, not being finished until too late to 
 get in supplies for the winter, nearly the en- 
 tire population was obliged to vacate this 
 region on the arrival of cold weather. 
 
 And here, again, is another item, which in 
 estimating the value of these mines by the 
 yield of last season should be set down to their 
 credit. In the prosecution of this valuable 
 improvement, over five hundred men were ab- 
 stracted from the mining population and 
 kept on this work throughout the entire 
 season. A good many were, also, in like man- 
 ner engaged opening trails along the Fraser, 
 or elsewhere, or in other pursuits foreign to 
 the business of mining. This, with the extent 
 to which labor was diverted for the purpose of 
 building boats, digging ditches, chastising the 
 Indians, and various other objects, taken in 
 connection with the fact that much time was 
 foolishly lost in waiting for the falling of the 
 water, and the additional fact that mining 
 operations were mostly confined to the Lower 
 Fraser, the mere entrance to the mines, all 
 goes to show that large allowance should bo 
 made when calculating the aggregate yield of 
 these mines the past season. 
 
 As has been said, many of these serious in- 
 terferences with mining industry, as well as 
 much of the heavy expense alluded to, may be 
 avoided the present season. The miner, on 
 reaching Victoria, can proceed at once, and a 
 small cost, directly to the head of steamboat 
 navigation on comfortable steamers, a number 
 of which are already on the route, while one 
 of our first class Sacramento river boats is 
 about leaving to be employed in the same ser- 
 vice. With these accommodations the vex- 
 atious and ruinous delays at Victoria, the dan- 
 gerous passage of the Gulf, with the tedious 
 toilsome, and still more perilous ascent of tlie 
 rivers, with the hard work, exposure and ex- 
 pense incident to travel on this part of the 
 journey in the early day, will be avoided. The 
 portages will also be made the present season 
 with much greater expedition, comfort and 
 economy than before, as a sufficient number of 
 animals will, no doubt, be brought upon them 
 
 : as soon as required. This seems proba6ie 
 from the fact that over three hundred pack 
 animals were wintered at Bonaparte river, for 
 the purpose of being placed on the Lilooett 
 route this spring, while a considerable num- 
 ber have been shipped from San Francisco, 
 and several trains have set out from Oregon 
 for the same destination. With these facili- 
 ties, then, for reaching the centre of the Fraser 
 gold fields, with the Indian tribes pacified or 
 overawed, and a boundless extent of virgin 
 mines stretched out in every direction, it 
 would seem as if good wages ought to be made 
 there this summer, notwithstanding provisions 
 may be high, and other expenses somewhat 
 greater than in California. For the benefit of 
 such as may feel inclined to try their fortune 
 in that quarter, the best routes to be taken 
 will next be pointed out, to be followed by a 
 notice of the mining rules and regulations in 
 force, and a few practical observations of a 
 general character. 
 
 ROUTE.S TO THE INTEROR. 
 
 Parties bound to the Upper Fraser, that is to 
 say any {)oint over thirty or forty miles above 
 Thompson's Fork, should go by the way of the 
 new Lilooet route, as being not only the mosi 
 safe and expeditious, but also the cheapest. 
 In fact the route by the river, ascending 
 through the caiions, is nearly impracticable 
 expect at a low stage of water, and even then 
 is attended with much danger and delay, there 
 being several portages where not only the 
 cargo but the boat itself has to be lifted from 
 the water carried over the rocks, and 
 launched above the rapids. A trail has been 
 commenced between Fort Yale and the Forks, 
 which, when completed, as it will be this sum- 
 mer, will afford tolerable facilities for travel 
 betw-een these two points. In going to the 
 vicinity of the Forks this trail or the river 
 must necessarily be taken, but in going to the 
 upper country, to which the great mass of the 
 mining population must repair to find profi- 
 table employment, the route indicated should 
 be chosen. The diggings below Thompson 
 river, being mostly confined to the bars along 
 the Fraser, have not capacity to employ more 
 than four or five thousand men, while that 
 portion of them below the canons, and to which 
 nearly the entire population was restricted last 
 summer, would scarcely afford room for two 
 thirds that number. Hence, in the cent of 
 any large influx of people, a majority would 
 be obliged to betake themselves to the Upper 
 Fraser. 
 
 Supposing this his point of destination, then, 
 the miner takes the steamer at Victoria and 
 proceeding to Langly, or such other point as 
 this steamer connects with the lighter draft 
 boats running above, he is there transferred to 
 the latter, which carry him to Port Douglas, at 
 the head of steamboat navigation. The dis- 
 tances on the route thus past over are as fol- 
 lows : F"rom Victoria due north, to the mouth 
 of Fraser river, passing through the canal 
 de Harro, 65 miles ; from the month of the 
 
u 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 river to Fort Largley, 25 miles ; thence to 
 the mouth of Harrison river 35 miles ; up Har- 
 rison river 7, aud across Harrison lake to Port 
 Douglas, 43 miles ; making the entire distance 
 of stea'Tiboat travel 175 miles. The time re- 
 q'.iired to make this distance by steamer is 
 about two days — less if the Gulf be crossed 
 during the night. With sail boats or canoes 
 it is II' good passage if made in a week or ten 
 il.iys ; hence the bad economy of attempting it 
 m this sort of craft, to say nothing of danger, 
 must be obvious to the most inexperienced 
 m-iriner. At low water, steamboat navigation 
 • ■s somewhat interfered with on the Harrison 
 river by a series of shoals, which at sucli times 
 causing rapids, it is difficult for even the light- 
 est draft steamers to ascend. At all other sea- 
 sons such boats go up with the greatest facil- 
 ity, there being plenty of water, and the current 
 scarcely perceptible. The Government has 
 usatured a plan for obviating this difficulty, 
 wJiich will be carried into etfect the coming 
 .sntunm. Across the first portage from Port 
 Dougl.is to Lake Lilooett, 35 miles, there is a 
 tiMiIe trail. This trail, constructed last year at 
 a heavy cost to the Colonial Government, leads 
 through a dense wilderness, and being gene- 
 rally in good ccnditioa, can be crossed by pack 
 trains in about two days. Over this part of 
 (lie route there is canoe navigation, by means 
 of the Lillooet triver, connecting Harrison and 
 Lillooett lake. But it is difficult and hazard- 
 ous, especially when the stream is high, and 
 many lives were lost, last summer, in attempts 
 to ascend it; but there was then no other mode 
 of getting over this portage, there being not 
 even an Indian path across it. Now it is other- 
 wise, and though packing is rather high aj 
 ))rc.se!'.t, it will no doubt be reduced as the sea- 
 son advances, and should in no event tempt 
 parties to try the dangerous alternative offered 
 by the navigation of this fatal river. The price 
 of packing over this portage, last season, was 
 eight cents a pound ; this year it will probably 
 be less, as the number of animals will be great- 
 ly increased. The cause of these high rates 
 was the scarcity, or rather entire absence of 
 grass in this vicinity, compelling the owners of 
 Rnimals to purchase hay and grain, at heavy 
 expense, for their subsistence. 
 
 Having reached Lilooett Lake, travelers are 
 passed over in small boats, animals and large 
 lots of goods in scows — passage $2, freight 
 half cent a pound. The modes of conveyance 
 «nd the prices charged on all the lakes, of 
 which there are iSree along this line, are the 
 same. From Lake Lilooett to Lake Anderson, 
 25 miles, is another mule trail. Packing, 
 however, ou this is much less than on the 
 other, the distance being shorter, the road 
 easier, and feed more plentiful. At the south 
 end of this portage are the Lilooett Meadows, 
 consisiing of several thousand acres of mag- 
 nificent prarie land covered with a heavy 
 growth of grass, fit alike for haymaking or 
 pasturage. Approaching the other end, the 
 forest begins to open and bunch grass shows 
 itself in considerable quantities, affording 
 
 ample feed for stock, and rendering their keep 
 much less costly than on the first portage. 
 This part of tue journey can be made comfort- 
 ably in a day and a half or even a day by 
 footmen, the road, tor the most part, always 
 being in good condition. Having crossed this 
 portage, we arrive at Lake Anderson, 16 miles 
 long. Over it, next comes the short portage, 
 one and a fourth mile long, with a wagon road 
 and a team in readiness to convey freight over 
 at the same rate as on the lakes. Having 
 crossed it, the traveller is brought to the last 
 and largest lake of the gaetip, being Lake 
 Seton, 18 miles long, and extending to within 
 four miles of Fraser river. From its foot, good 
 trails extend in every direction into the mines, 
 and all parts of the interior. Here also ani- 
 mals can be procured at low rates for packing, 
 large bands being constantly kept for that 
 purpose. Though the cost of transporting 
 goods will vary with dist'ance, it is uniformly 
 less here than along the route further south, 
 since at this point animals coming in from 
 Oregon accumulate, and grass is abundant, 
 growing not only in the bottoms, but also ou 
 the prairies, and even against the sides of the 
 mountains. Traveling and packing through 
 this region is not at all difficult, the country 
 being open and the trails keeping along on the 
 table lands, often for miles without interrup- 
 tion. 
 
 But having piloted the miner thus far, ho 
 may safely be left to shift for himself, since he 
 is now over the most difficult part of his jour- 
 ney, and pretty well advanced into what may 
 be considered the gold fields, proper of British 
 Columbia. Indeed, when he shall have ar- 
 rived at the terminus of the Lilooett route he 
 will be, longitudinally, at the centre of the 
 Fraser river mines, with, at least, one hundred 
 and fifty miles of auriferous country to the 
 north, and fully as far above the first digging.^ 
 met with in ascending the river. Here in the 
 enjoyment of a healthful and invigorating cli- 
 mate ; with an atmosphere exempt from sud- 
 den change of temperature and undisturbed 
 by storms ; encouraged by liberal mining re- 
 gulations, and protected by impartial laws ; 
 in the midst of a beautiful open country and 
 wide-spread virgin mines, the adventurer may 
 reasonably anticipate a success commensurate 
 with his efforts, and rray justly consider him- 
 self unfortunate if he fails to reap an ample 
 reward for all his loss of time, his heavy ex- 
 pens and toil. 
 
 LIBERAL POLICY TO BE I'UUSUKD. 
 
 As has been stated, England, no doubt, 
 entertains the purpose of carrying out a variety 
 of grand projects in her British American 
 possessions. The consummation of these 
 plans will, from their very nature, involve a 
 necessity for populating as speedily as practi- 
 cable her territories on the North Pacific. As a 
 means of hastening that end, she will be im- 
 pelled to the adoption of a liberal policy in 
 governing the colonies about springing up in 
 that region. This she has signified her inten- 
 tion of doing, in the most open and positive 
 
ITS SOIL, CLLMATE, RESOURCES, Ac- 
 
 id 
 
 manner, and not satisfied that the world sliotild 
 remain in doubt as to these her beneficent de- 
 signs, or be left to infer them from any vague 
 and apocryphal authority, the Colonial Secre- 
 tary, speaking the sentiments of the home gov- 
 ernment, has enjoined on the representative of 
 the crown in that quarter a strict compliance 
 with these views in all his official conduct and 
 transactions. And not on a single occasion 
 only, have the instructions of this functionary 
 been made to embody these the desires of the 
 Imperial Parliament on this subject. The 
 entire dispatches issued from his ofiice breathe 
 the same spirit, revealing the earnest wish of 
 the government in the premises, and giving 
 assurance that a broad and generous policy is 
 to be impressed on the administration of pub- 
 lic affairs in these provinces. The system of 
 measures already initiated for the regulation 
 of trade, the management of the mines, the 
 disposition of the public lands, and the protec- 
 tion of the various leading interests, are such 
 as will be likely to invite capital, foster indus- 
 try, stimulate enterprise, encourage immigra- 
 ti<m, and lead to a speedy development of the 
 re;!ources, and a rapid and permanent settle- 
 ment of the country. In all their public acts, 
 it must be conceded the home government has 
 thus far evinced an earnest desire and a firm 
 determination to advance the prosperity of 
 these colonies, securing to their inhabitants 
 all those civil rights which the English so emi- 
 nently enjoy, and conceding to them the 
 largest political liberty compatible with their 
 position as a dependencj' of the empire. Nor is 
 this liberal policy to be confined in its opera 
 tion to her own people. England welcomes 
 to these colonies every class of foreigners, 
 guaranteeing them the same social, commercial 
 and industrial privileges as secured to her own 
 citizens, and that whether they come as mere 
 adventurers, or with a view to permanent set- 
 tlement. Especially has this kind and concili- 
 atory disposition been evinced towards Amer- 
 icans, who have been particularized as a de- 
 sirable population, on account of their experi- 
 ence in mining, and their usually industrious 
 and energetic habits. So solicitous has the 
 government seemed for the maintenance of a 
 good understanding with this class, that the 
 authorities, more particularly the naval forces, 
 have been cautioned against indulging in any 
 undue display of power, or the wanton com- 
 mission of any act calculated to awaken oi>po- 
 (iilion, orlead to a conflict between themselves 
 and those of a dififerent nationality. It is also 
 suggested in this connection that the Governor, 
 availing himself of his influence and popularity 
 with the Americans, might readily induce 
 them to cooperate with him at all times in 
 enforcing the law and preserving order ; and 
 furthermore, that since the adoption of a more 
 popular mode of governing may soon be ren- 
 dered expedient, it would be well for that offi- 
 cial to provide for the election of a legislative 
 assembly, and call to his aid a council, part of 
 which should be composed of miners, chosen 
 by themselves. These declarations of the 
 
 mother country, so oft repeated and positive, 
 sufficiently foreshadow her purposes in regast! 
 to these colonies, and may be taken as an 
 earnest of the policy to be observed in the 
 future conduct of their affairs. Certain it b, 
 reposing in these assurances, the emigrant may 
 repair thither confident that he will be ani- 
 plied protected and fairly dealt with, wliile 
 every facility will be afTordcd him to engage in 
 mining, or acijuire a portion of the public 
 lands, with a prospect of participating to some 
 extent in framing the laws and regulations by 
 which he shall be governed. 
 
 LICKNSES, DUTIKS, SUKKKRANCK.S, AC. 
 
 This entire class of iuijiosts and permits were 
 levied or allowed by Gov. Douglas, in his two- 
 fold capacity as Agent of the Hudson's B.-iy 
 Company, and representative of the Crown. 
 Thus, the license to mine, the permission to 
 import goods, and the sufferance to navigate 
 the inland waters of British Columf)ia, were 
 granted by virtue of his viceroyal character, 
 and the funds accruing formed a j>art of the 
 public revenue. This fact is announced in his 
 proclamation on the subject, wherein liestatea 
 that these duties are imposed by virtue of au- 
 thority duly conferred upon him, and for the 
 purpose of providing means to defray the pub- 
 lic expenses of the Colony. Head-money, 
 licen es to trade, &c., are presumed to have, 
 been exacted by the Governor in his capacity 
 as the executive of the Company, under warract 
 of their claim to the exclusive right to trade in 
 the territory, and of their being in the legal 
 possession of the same. It is true, the validity 
 of this claim has constituted the subject of 
 much popular discussion, speculation ard 
 complaint, but the fact that its exercise ha« 
 been acquiesced in by the Ciovernment for ho 
 many years, seems a virtual acknowledgment 
 of its genuineness, a conclusion at which those 
 adversely interested in the question would 
 seem to have arrived, since no legal nieasureg 
 have ever been taken for testing its soundness, 
 not even the law officers of the Crown being 
 willing to institute pro(^eedings for that juir- 
 pose, on Government account. 
 
 The Company argue that the clause; in tiic'r 
 charter, conferring upon them the e\c!u=iiv<; 
 right of trade with the Indians, extends by 
 implication also to the whites, the latter not 
 being mentioned, though intended, fur the 
 reason that there were at the time no wiiites in 
 the territory thus subjected to their jurisdic- 
 tion ; and, that at all events, the exercise of 
 this right carries with it the force of law from 
 long and uninterrupted usage. Be that as it 
 may, it is now too late to call in question tho 
 legality of these acts, or to insist that tlir-y 
 were in their nature usurpations or exactio::8, 
 since whatever there may have been in them 
 illegitimate and informal, has been cured and 
 legalized by subsequent proclamations of tf;e 
 Executive, sanctioned by the Home Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The amount of head money charged by the 
 Company was $2, for every person entering 
 the mines. This, however, with all trade lieen- 
 
20 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 ses. except such as spring from municipal reg- ; 
 uiations, being now discontinued, requires no \ 
 further notice. The following is the schedule i 
 of duties payable on goods imported into Brit- 
 ish Columbia. All kinds of fresh meat, fish, j 
 fruits and vegetables, lumber, hay, quicksilver, | 
 poultry and live stock ; all sorts of farming i 
 laiplements, seeds, plants, salt, books and pa- I 
 ners, cloths, baggage, professional implements, j 
 &c., are admitted free of duties. On all other j 
 articles a ten per cent, ad valorem duty is 
 charged, with the following exceptions : Flour 
 50 cts. on every 196 lbs. ; beans and peas 12.} 
 eto. on every 100 lbs., and every kind of grain 
 to be used as food, one-half that amount. 
 Liquors are required to pay a duty of §il per 
 gallon ; wines 50 cts.; ale, beer, porter, and 
 cider 12^ cts. Victoria and Esquimalt being 
 fcee port's, all goods landed there are exempt 
 from duty, vessels simply paying the ordinary 
 port charges. Vessels destined for British 
 Columbia can pay the duties at either of these 
 ports, or proceed direct to Qneenborough, on 
 Fraser river, which is now a port of entry, 
 a:id make payment there. 
 
 Touching the sufferance extended to foreign 
 bottoms, allowing them to enter Fraser river. 
 Governor Douglas in the exercise of the discre- 
 tionary powers conferred upon him, so far in- 
 terfered with the navigation laws of England 
 as to permit steamers and large vessels, what- 
 ever their flag, to clear for Fort Langley on 
 payment of $12 each trip, small boats $6, a 
 course in which he was amply justified by the 
 pressure of circumstances and the exigencies 
 of the times. As a condition, steamers were 
 required to pay the Company $2 head-money, 
 for each passenger they should carry; to stip- 
 ulate that they would convey none who had 
 not taken out a mining license and paid $5. 
 being one month's advance thereon, and also 
 that they would carry no goods except those of 
 the Company or such as they might permit. 
 
 For the privilege of entering the mines every 
 person was required to pay a royalty of $5 a 
 month. But this, as was also the case with 
 head-money, was not very rigidly enforced. 
 Passengers proceeding to Fraser river on the 
 steamers were obliged to pay these dues, the 
 vessel being held accountable therefor, but in 
 most other cases they were evaded, and in very 
 few instances was more than one month's li- 
 cense ever paid. Hereafter, it is probable, this 
 impost will be entirely dispensed with, an ex- 
 port duty being substituted in accordance with 
 the popular desire, and in compliance with a 
 suggestion of the Home Goverment to that ef- 
 fect. 
 
 MINING RULES AND REGULATIONS. 
 
 For the purpose of making temporary rules 
 aad regulations, and carrying out such per- 
 manent ones as government may determine 
 upon, a Crown Commissioner for the gold- 
 fieids has been appointed, having a requisite 
 number of assistants. The size of raining 
 claims was in the first instance fixed by gov- 
 erament, being limited to 144 square feet to 
 
 each person. The object of restricting the 
 miners to so small an area was that they might 
 be kept in as compact bodies as possible, since 
 they could thus more easily be supplied with 
 provisions, and the better protect themselves 
 against the Indians. Subsequently these 
 limits were enlarged, and the size of claims 
 fixed at 25 feet frontage in rivers, and 25 feet 
 of the bed of a creek or ravine, and 20 feet 
 square of a table land or flats, to each person. 
 These regulations, however, have been but 
 little regarded, the miners going on and fixing 
 the size of their claims, and establishing such 
 rules for holding and working them as they 
 deemed expedient, a practice with which the 
 Commissioner and his assistants have not in- 
 terfered to any great extent. It is probable 
 however, that the authorities will assume a 
 greater control when affairs shall become a 
 little more settled, introducinga comprehensive 
 and well digested system, based upon a general 
 survey of the gold fields, and made to conform 
 to that now in force in Australia, with such 
 modifications as experience may suggest or 
 circumstances require. 
 
 Indeed, the Governor has been instructed by 
 the Colonial Secretary to see that a proper 
 system for managing and working the mines 
 be devised and brought into force to the end 
 that this branch of industry be controlled by 
 uniform and well-known rules, rather than by 
 a variety of local regulations, dependent on 
 usage and chance. In maturing this system 
 he has been advised to avail hinselfof the 
 services of Chief Justice Bigbie, and to call to 
 his aid a number of miners, to the end that he 
 may have the benefit of the legal learning of 
 the one and the practical experience of the 
 other, and thus construct a mining code which, 
 while it shall duly guard the rights of the 
 Crown, will secure to the miner every possible 
 advantage. In this manner apian would, no 
 doubt, be instituted, which, from its uniform- 
 ity and stability, would prove alike satisfactory 
 to labor and capital. On the whole it may 
 fairly be concluded that a liberal policy will 
 be adopted, and that government interference, 
 so far as exerted, will be for the convenience 
 and protection of the miner. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY AND PRODUCTS. 
 
 !!^Although British Columbia affords a grand 
 field for the explorations of the traveler and 
 the study of the artist, it holds out little induc- 
 ment to the student of Natural History, the 
 absence of nearly every kind of animal life be- 
 ing strikingly apparent. One may travel for 
 days through the woods, or over the plains 
 and lakes and scarcely see a living thing, 
 except, perhaps, fish, which only at certain 
 seasons are abundant. These remarks, how- 
 ever, only apply to the interior, since along 
 the sea shore animated nature is more prolific, 
 the waters being in every species of marine 
 production especially abundant. Amongst the 
 land animals the principal kinds met with are 
 deer, of several varities, the elk, bear — both 
 black and grizzly — panther, lynx, wild-cat, 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 21 
 
 wolf, and mountain sheep. The latter is a 
 large animal weighing, when full grown, sev- 
 eral hundred pounds. It is covered with long 
 hair, resembling coarse wool, and supplied 
 with enormous crooked horns, upon which it 
 is said to strike when throwing itself from 
 precipices in seeking to escape pursuit. 
 
 The flesh is esteemed equal to that of the 
 domesticated sheep, but it is rarely the hunter 
 makes a prize of one, or even gets a sight of 
 them, they being exceedingly solitary in their 
 habits, keeping always on the tops of the most 
 wild and rugged mountains. Even when the 
 snows fall deep, they do not come down as do 
 other animals, seeking the milder climate and 
 more abundant feed of the valleys. There are 
 also foxes, marmots, rabbits, minks and mar- 
 tins, and along the streams beaver and otter, 
 though these animals are now very scarce, as 
 well as shy, having been so much hunted for 
 their peltries and furs. Amongst the inferior 
 animals are skunks, squirrels, mice and a sin- 
 gular species of bush-tailed rat, said to be 
 naturally mischievous, a reputation it seems 
 ambitious to deserve, meddling with everything 
 about the traveler's camp at night, and run- 
 ning over his person with the greatest famili- 
 arity. These easy habits are probably owing 
 to the immunity from harm guaranteed it by 
 the Indian, who scruples not to feed upon every 
 other form of animated matter, save only the 
 rat and the raven. These, owing to a natural 
 repugnance, or more likely in his case, to some 
 superstitious notion, the Indian never eats, 
 even in his extremest need. 
 
 While animals are scarce in this region, of 
 birds it may be said there are almost none, 
 since, with the exception of water-fowl, you 
 may not see one in a day's travel. Geese, ducks, 
 swans and brant, however, gather in clouds 
 about the lakes, and inlets, in the proper sea- 
 son. Pelicans, cranes and loons are also to be 
 found aboutthese places at all times. Of the feath- 
 ered tribe, are occasionally seen the eagle, hawk, 
 cormorant and raven. Owls are at times heard, 
 but not often. There are, also, a few wood- 
 peckers, bluejays, larks and a small dusky 
 ground-bird, with a few quail, and a good 
 many grouse, the latter always fat and tender. 
 The raven resembles that of California, being 
 large, and uttering the same harsh croak. 
 Near the sea, gulls and several other kinds of 
 aquatic animals hover about in great numbers, 
 affording the natives much acceptable food by 
 means of their flesh and eggs. The pelican 
 being a clumsey bird, also falls an easy prey to 
 the Indian. 
 
 Fish, small and of an inferior kind, are plen- 
 tiful in the lakes and streams at all seasons, 
 but salmon, the only really valuable fish, is 
 abundant only from June till September, 
 being best and most numerous in August. 
 This is a most delicious fish, being large, rich 
 and oily, easily caught and readily cured, 
 and hence most valuable both for the white 
 and Indian. An inferior kind of salmon is 
 taken during the fall months, called the hook- 
 bill, from its having a beak like » parrot. 
 
 It has small, sharp teeth, is covered with livid 
 spots, and its flesh is soft and flabby. The 
 whites do not care to eat it, nor is it much rel- 
 ished by the natives. Fine trout is caught in 
 the streams during winter. The Indians 
 adopt various plans for taking the larger fish, 
 spearing, the wier and basket being the most 
 common. A small species of smelt, but little 
 worth, swarms in some places ; sturgeon of 
 large size and excellent quality are frequently 
 caught in the Fraser. In Lake Okinagan, and 
 in all the streams along the Oregon trail, 
 trout weighing from one to two pounds and of 
 fine flavor, are caught with the greatest 
 ease, men taking them out with nets by the 
 wagon load, and by wading into the water, 
 catching them with their hands without diffi- 
 culty. In the inlets and all tide waters, fish 
 of every variety abound in incredible quan- 
 tities; nor are oysters, clams, mussels, or any 
 other kind of shell fish wanting. Of reptiles 
 and insects, except mosquitoes, confined to the 
 Lower Fraser, and a few other localities, Brit- 
 ish Columbia has but few. There are some 
 rattle snakes, with a few others of a more 
 harmless kind. The lizzard seen in Califor- 
 nia, is not common, nor is the tarrantula, or 
 centipede met with. Indeed, the whole coun- 
 try is remarkably exempt from both animals 
 and reptiles of a hurtful or obnoxious kind, 
 being in this respect, if no other, a very de- 
 sirable abode for man. 
 
 TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, <tC. 
 
 The Southern, which may also be called the 
 rainy portion of British Columbia, is a densely 
 wooded country, both the mountains and plains, 
 with the exception of a few inconsiderable 
 prairies, being covered with thick and stately 
 forests. So closely do the trees stand, and 
 withal so tall and straight, that the united- 
 navy yards of the world might draw thence 
 their supplies for years, without more than 
 partially exhausting these spacious and majes- 
 tic forests. To the north and east there is less 
 timber, the country being open and the only 
 wood met with, except in the bottoms, being a 
 species of pitch pine scattered sparsely over its 
 surface. It never grows large, being not over 
 a foot or two in diameter, and is not much es- 
 teemed for making lumber, though being 
 straight and of suitable size, it is very conve- 
 nient for building log cabins and for similar 
 uses. Many of the prairies in these sections 
 are entirely destitute of trees, although the 
 growth along the streams is in most places 
 abundant and varied. The prevailing timber 
 everj'where is pine, fir and spruce, of different 
 varieties, with hemlock and cedar, and a small 
 sprinkling of birch, oak, ash, yew and maple. 
 In the swamps and along the water courses 
 willow, alder, cotton-wood and balm of Gilead 
 are found ; the latter always attracting notice, 
 its unctuous buds glittering with healing gum 
 and filling the air with balmy fragrance. To 
 this tree the native tribes, as have the whites 
 from the earliest ages, ascribe many medicinal 
 virtues, assigning it an important place in their 
 pharmacy. It here grows to a majestic size. 
 
5^2 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 The alder also grows up into a tall slender 
 tree, free from limbs, and hence useful for 
 fencing purposes and easily cut into fire-wood. 
 The yew, very scarce, is a hard, tough wood, 
 resembling hickory. The Indian uses it for his 
 bow, and the white man for pick and axe helves, 
 it being about the only stuff found in the coun- 
 try suitable for these and similar purposes. 
 The maple and ash are both of the soft varie- 
 ties and fit for little else than fence and fire- 
 wood. The bark of the birch is full of a re- 
 sinous substance, which readily igniting and 
 burning with a bright blaze, is used by the In- 
 dians for kindling fires and for torches. From 
 the cedar rails, shingles, and even clapboards, 
 are easily split; while the spruceand fir, the lat- 
 ter also called Oregon fir and Douglas pine, af- 
 ford the best material for piles, spars and every 
 species of lumber. The oak being the same as 
 that found in California, is mostly confined to 
 the country east of the Cascades, and even there 
 it is not abundant. The redwood, or anything 
 resembling it nearer than cedar, does not grow 
 in British Columbia. Everywhere the size of 
 the timber varies with altitude ; that in the 
 lower valleys being of gigantic dimensions, 
 and dwindling, as we ascend the mountains, 
 into mere shrubbery, until, at a height of five 
 or six thousand feet, we reach the limit of ve- 
 getation — the line of eternal snow. 
 
 Although British Columbia shows great pov- 
 erty in the animal kingdom, the vegetable 
 world is sufficiently varied and prolific. In- 
 deed, it is not often, except in tropical cli- 
 mates, that a richer botany is presented to the 
 .student of nature. Flowering shrubs, escu- 
 lent roots, medicinal plants, wild fruits and 
 berries are everywhere abundant. In its 
 Flora it strongly resembles California, the 
 prairies being covered and the woods filled in 
 the spring with the same superfluity of gor- 
 geous flowers, though there, owing to the 
 more timely rains, they are not so short lived 
 as with us. Nearly everywhere in the forests, 
 the wild lilac and the snow-drop, and on the 
 plains, the wormwood and cactus are seen as 
 in the southern portions of this State. For 
 curative and like purposes, the natives make 
 use of a great variety of plants, though the 
 medicine-men rely much on their powers of 
 exorcising — being simply the mesmeric influ- 
 ence they are able to exert for driving away 
 the skookums, or evil spirits, that are supposed 
 to be the cause of disease and death. There 
 are a variety of shrubs from which they make 
 tea to be used as a beverage, and some of 
 which, to the taste, is not unlike the drink 
 made from the Chinese leaf. In the bark of 
 the tender hemlock they find a remedy for 
 diarrhoea, while the young sprouts of the 
 raspberry, is eaten in the spring, for the pur- 
 pose of correcting disorders of the blood. 
 The leaf of the bear-ben-y is dried, either in 
 the sun or over a fire, and then smoked in a 
 pipe, being mixed with tobacco, when they 
 have any. The effect produced, though very 
 slight, is similar to that of tobacco, yet it does 
 not taste at all like that substance, being in 
 
 fact quite insipid and nearly tasteless. Of 
 roots, the Indians have the potato, introduced 
 amongst them by the English, and a variety 
 indigenous to the country, the most valuable 
 of which is the carumass, resembling a small 
 white onion. Their potatoes, of which nearly 
 every tribe raises some, are excellent, being of 
 the species known as lady-fingers, that never 
 fail to be dry and solid when grown in a 
 proper soil. The wappatoo, the root of the 
 fern, and of certain flags, some of which are 
 not only palatable, but highly nutricious, are 
 also baked and eaten. 
 
 But of all the comestibles in the vegetable 
 world, the most valuable to the Indian are the 
 wild fruits and berries. On these, next to fish, 
 he is morally dependant for subsistence, and 
 fortunate for him it is, that they grow so plen- 
 tiful, and last for so great a portion of the year. 
 Of fruits, he has the wild plum and cherry, the 
 crab-apple, the prickly-pear, and several 
 other kinds ; while of berries, there is an al- 
 most endless variety, including the strawberry 
 and raspberry — coming earliest in the Spring — 
 the blackberry, whortleberry, blueberry, scar- 
 let currant, the gooseberry, bearberry, the sal- 
 lal and many others; these being the kinds 
 most common and abundant. Cranberries, 
 also, abound in the marshy places. Of all these 
 the sallal is perhaps the most acceptable 
 and serviceable to the Indian, as it is 
 easily gathered, very nourishing, readily 
 preserved by means of drying, and lasts 
 the latest in the season — lianging on the 
 bushes until December. The leaves of the 
 bearberry are dried, as above mentioned, and 
 used as tobacco, being then called guer-lo-e- 
 chintl. There is also a singular fruit called the 
 Oregon grape, growing on a low bush, having 
 serrated prickly leaves. It is worthy of men- 
 tion only as a curiosity, being so sour, even 
 when ripe, that nothing can eat it. The fore- 
 going, by no means fill the catalogue of fruits, 
 and berries growing wild in British Columbia, 
 yet they serve to show that nature has been 
 generous in this department, and prove that 
 the Indian, thus supplied, but for his indolent 
 and improvident habits never need want, much 
 sess perish, as he sometimes does, through 
 Iheer starvation, during the season of winter. 
 
 GRASSES. 
 
 The indigenous grasses of British Columbia 
 are very similar to those found native in Cali- 
 fornia. Wild timothy or prairie grass, some- 
 times mixed with clover, covers the rich bot- 
 toms and prairies to the south, bunch grass 
 growing with the greatest luxuriance, even to 
 the tops of the mountains, throughout all the 
 open country. Swamp grass of different kinds, 
 some being fine and nutricious, others almost 
 as coarse as tules, abounds along the borders 
 of the lakes and in other marshy places. On 
 the Smass prairies about 30 miles southeast 
 of Fort Langley, are many thousand acres 
 covered with wild timothy and other nourish- 
 ing grasses, from which hay of excellent qual- 
 ity could be made with the greatest facility, 
 the growth being very thick and standing four 
 
 I 
 
ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, &c. 
 
 23 
 
 or five feet high. Alonpj the Chilliwbaock, :i 
 small river entering the Fraser live miles be- 
 low the mouth of the Harrison, are also fine 
 opportunities for cutting hny, the grass being 
 equally as good, though not so much of it as on 
 the Smass. Hay cut here could easily be got 
 to market — the Chilliwhaoik being navigable 
 for light draft boats for some distance. The 
 best place, however, for making hay, market 
 and facilities for cuttitig/being considered, is 
 the Liluoett meadows, at the head of the Lil- 
 ooett lake. Here the grass is equally as good, 
 and nearly as abundant as at the Smass, while 
 the great number of pack animals employed 
 will always create a demand for it at remuner- 
 ative prices. The soil on all these prairies 
 consists of a rich sandy loom, rendering them 
 the most valuable districts for agricultural 
 purposes of any in the Colony, except, perhajis, 
 some of the valleys in country of the Similk- 
 araeen and the Okinagan, a region that has 
 advanced much in importance since the recent 
 ascent of thefColumbia to Priest's llapids by 
 the steamer Col. Wright on her late trial trip, 
 an event of consequence to the entire country 
 east of the Dalls, and particularly to that un- 
 der consideration, the head of steamboat navi- 
 gation having thus been brought within a 
 sFlort distance of Fort Okinagan. All these 
 fine tracts of land offer great inducements to 
 settlers, they being equally adapted to the 
 raising of grain and stock, govtrnment"allow- 
 ing them to be occupied until such time as 
 they can be surveyed and brought into mar- 
 ket. Cattle require no feed here during the 
 winter, except such as they can themselves 
 pick, while grains and fruits of every descrip- 
 tion grow with as much thrift and as little cul- 
 ture as in any other part of the world. 
 
 MINERALS. 
 
 Although gold at present forms the most at- 
 tractive, as well as the most ready source of 
 wealth in British Columbia, it by no means 
 constitutes the only valuable mineral in the 
 country. A great variety of other metals, 
 though as yet but little sought for, have been 
 met with, some in quantities indicating large 
 deposits. Silver ore of the richest quality, has 
 been found at several localities, portions of 
 which, on being analyzed have shown ninety 
 per cent, of pure silver. At two points on the 
 Lilooett river, and also at a i)Iacc near Kam- 
 loops, ore of this description has been taken 
 from veins cropping out at the surface. On 
 the east bank of the Lilooett river, at the outlet 
 of the Little lake, is a silver vein of large size, 
 well known to the Indians in the vicinity, and 
 from which a Mexican, a man of scientific at- 
 tainments, and well versed in the working of 
 silver mines, took several specimens last fall, 
 pronouncing them unusually rich. Specimens 
 of copper, nearly virgin, have been obtained on 
 the Fraser, above the Fountain, and on the 
 river opposite that place, lignite, or bituminous 
 wood, of the earthy variety, exists in such quan- 
 tities as to have been used by the miners for 
 fuel. It is found in detached pieces, worn 
 round like pebbles ; is of a brownish-black 
 
 color, nearly as light as water, very friable, 
 and burns freely ; when blown it sends forth a 
 light blaze, whence it would probably be use- 
 ful for blacksmithing purposes. Iron, coal, 
 and traces of cinnabar are frequently met 
 with. 
 
 Platinum, agates, cornelians, and quartz, 
 both crystalized and massive, occur, in all 
 parts of the interior. Excellent lime-stone, 
 marble of t!ic purest variety and very accessi- 
 ble, granite and many other varieties of build- 
 ing stone are common. But since this class of 
 productions cannot be rendered immediately 
 available, as agents of wealth, it will hardly 
 be necessarj' to enumerate them more fully at 
 present. 
 
 Mineral and warm springs are features of 
 the country. One of the latter, on the trail, 22 
 miles from Port Douglass, on the Lilooett trail, 
 has been found highly beneficial, in cases of 
 dispoeptia and rheumatism. The water, in a 
 volume of about four square inches, issues 
 from a conglomerate rock, at a temperature of 
 190°, with a gurgling sound, coming at inter- 
 vals from the interior of the rock. The water 
 smells of sulphur, and is slightly impregnated 
 with magnesia, lime, salt, etc. The Indians 
 resort to this spring at all times, bathing in. 
 and drinking freely of the water, having, to all 
 appearance, great faith in its remedial proper- 
 ties. 
 
 THK MINES AND MINING PROSPECTS. 
 
 Before concluding the present series of arti- 
 cles, it may perhaps be well to make some fur- 
 ther mention of the gold deposits in British 
 Columbia, and to inquire after the mining 
 prospects the ensuing summer, as based on the 
 latest and most reliable intelligence from that 
 quarter. Space will not permit of any detailed 
 statements or lengthened investigation of this 
 subject at present; yet, as the shipments of 
 gold dust out of the country, may be consider- 
 ed a very fair index of mining prosperity, let 
 the sums transmitted through the two Express 
 companies doing business in Victoria, for tiie 
 month of April, being the latest .statistics we 
 have on the subject, be taken as evidence on 
 that point. Between the 11th day of April, 
 then, and the 10th day of Maj', these two 
 houses brought down $195,000, on aicjunt of 
 shippers. During the same period, it is esti- 
 mated that .?75,000 additional, ctme in private 
 hands, making 8270,000, exported from Victo- 
 ria to this port, in these 30 days. Mean'ime, at 
 least, $30,000 more was carried away, by the 
 steamer Constitution, and by sailing vessels run- 
 ning to different points on the Sound, in pay- 
 ment of cattle, lumber, vegetables, and other 
 commodities, largely imported into Victoria 
 and British Columbia, from Oregon and Wash- 
 ington Territory, giving a total of $300,000 ex- 
 ported during the month of April, and which 
 may be supposed to represent the product of 
 the mines for the preceding month of March. 
 If we further suppose there were $3,000 men — 
 rather a high estimate — at work in the mines 
 digging out this amount, and that they labored 
 twenty out of the thirty-one days in that 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 lllllllll 
 
 017 516 359 
 
 24 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA, 
 
 month — another high estimate, Sundays and 
 stormy weather being deducted, this would 
 give an average of $5 a day, to the man, a re- 
 turn comparing favorably with the wages real- 
 ized in our own mines ; while it will not be 
 pretended, whatever other hardships men may 
 have to endure, that the labor of mining is as 
 severe in British Columbia as here, operations 
 there being mostly confined to a foot or two of 
 the top dirt. 
 
 That a few should have returned from the 
 Upper Fraser, dissatisfied, as is represented to 
 have been the case, is not surprising, consider- 
 ing that over two thousand hurried to that 
 section in advance of supplies, and many of 
 them before the winter was fairly over. It is 
 obvious those who had already returned to 
 V^ictoria, must have done most of their pros- 
 pecting in the month of March, or early in the 
 month of April, at a time when provisions were 
 yet scarce and the cold weather had hardly 
 abated. 
 
 The following letter, one of several recently 
 received from the Upper Fraser, will serve to 
 illustrate the character of the diggings in that 
 quarter, and to show in what estimation they 
 are held by a practical miner, who has now 
 been in that country over a year. The purport 
 of the other letters is very similar to that of 
 the one presented. Rocker Rouge, near which 
 place the writer was encamped, is about 150 
 miles above the Fountain, and 160 above De 
 Rous' ranch, the place mentioned in this letter : 
 Upper Fraser River, April, 1859. 
 
 As you wished me to write if I went above 
 mountain I send you a few lines by a man going 
 down to Port Douglas after goods. I don't know 
 the day of the month, but it is the last of April. We 
 left Jo DeRushe's ranch about four weeks ago, and 
 came up on the east side of the river, packed three 
 horses, and were about a week coming up. Found 
 ice on the trail coming down the steep hills and had 
 to unload a number of times. We came by the 
 slide, and found trouble getting by that place, and 
 I would advise parties coming to go round, as there 
 is an easier road by going a little further to the 
 east. I have heard of a shorter route being found, 
 keeping on the west side of the river and leaving 
 it near Bridge river, an 1 taking a cut oflf back of 
 the mountains, but I don't know how it is. We 
 prospected some coming up and found a good show 
 all along, but concluded not to stop, as we heard it 
 was better up here. It is not much use to prospect, 
 for the gold is too fine to save with a pan, and you 
 cannot tell unless you work some with a rocker, and 
 we did not want to stop and make one then. In 
 some places we found coarse gold, but thought we had 
 better come on to this place. This bar has no name; 
 it is a little below what they call Rocher Rouge. 
 While one of my partners and a Frenchman went 
 above prospecting I stopped here with the other 
 and cut down a tree and made a rocker, and we 
 have worked eight or nine days, making eleven 
 dollars a day to the band, but the gold is fine, and 
 we loose a great deal ; with quicksilver, I think we 
 could make an ounce. But the diggings are not 
 deep, and I do not think will last long ; we only 
 wash about a foot on the top, then the dirt grows 
 poorer, but we have not tried it very deep yet, and 
 there may be a layer of pay dirt below. With 
 sluices big wages could be made here, for a while at 
 
 least, but there are no saws, and the timber is very 
 poor here, nothing much but poplar and cottonwood 
 near the river. There is some scrubby pine back, 
 but it is not much worth. The country here is not 
 mountainous as on the Lower Fraser; it is sandy 
 and knolls and hills, and plenty of grass and some 
 good spots for farming. It is a very pleasant 
 country, but hard to be reached, and I would not 
 advise those in California who are doing well to 
 leave to come here, for it is a long journey to come 
 and costs a great deal, and then the seasons here 
 are short, nothing to be done for four or five months 
 in the winter. 
 
 The cost of living, too, is great, nothing to be 
 bought for less than a dollar a pound, and most 
 things costing a dollar and a half, and in this cli- 
 mate men eat a great deal. If we had to buy our 
 provisions, I think it would cost us four or five 
 dollars a day. We have enough to last six weeks, 
 by which time we are in hopes goods will be 
 cheaper. The high prices are now owing to pack- 
 ing animals being scarce, though there will be 
 several hundred horses on this route in a few days, 
 when packing will be lower. There is plenty of 
 grass here, and animals can be kept cheap. The 
 Indians have a good many horses, but they ride 
 them to death, and they are not fit for anything. 
 
 My partner, who has been 25 or 30 miles above, 
 found good prospects and larger gold, and we think 
 it washes down, and that a better gold country 
 must lay north of this. He says it is a beautiful 
 country and more timber up there. We shall stop 
 here and try to get in sluices, when I think we can 
 double our present wages, though it may not pa}' to 
 go to that expense unless the diggings prove 
 deeper. There are a good many coming up this 
 way, though but few have got thus far as yet. 
 Some have gone above us, and are at work, and 
 some have gone back not able to stand the press- 
 ure of the hard work and high prices of goods. I 
 think we shall make a good summer's work here, if 
 we can get provisions, of which there is no doubt. 
 We have brought along twine for making fish nets, 
 and expect to catch plenty of salmon this summer, 
 with these and some wild fruits we shall get along 
 well if the mines do not disappoint us. The In- 
 dians are not at all troublesome ; they are a better 
 race than those further south, but we have seen but 
 little of them as yet. They seem a little shy, 
 especially the women. I have seen some of them 
 have pieces of gold, but not to amount to anything. 
 It is not wash gold, and must have come from dry 
 diggings, or high on the banks. 
 
 We found snow on our way up, about five or six 
 inches deep at places on the trail, but it soon dis- 
 appeared. There has been thick ice in the river, 
 but it has now left and the weather is mild and 
 pleasant; no stormy weather of any account since 
 we left. The Indians say this has been a hard 
 winter. From what I can learn, the summers hero 
 are very warm and have seasonable rains. If so, 
 I think plenty of vegetables could be ravsed, as the 
 ground looks good. 
 
 My advice to those in your State is, to ;emain 
 where they are until this country is more explored 
 and better roads are built to jget into it. J. M. D. 
 
 The foregoing letter, as has been stated, is one of a 
 number lately receied from the Upper Fraser, the tone 
 of some of which is more encourag:ing, and of others less 
 so, than that of the one here preeenrcd. this haTing been 
 selected for publication because it fairly represents the 
 average opinion of the whole, and because the writer is a 
 candid man and an expsrienced miner, whose opinions 
 are entitled to respect and credence.