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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1880)
June, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. '65 Washington Territory to meet the re quirements of Eastern builders. While this is not an exhaustive topic, it certainly suggests to the unemployed able-bodied men of the Pacific North west an honorable and profitable indus try worthy of their consideration. Finally, if by penning this article we shall have conveyed valuable informa tion to one of the hardy yeomenry of our land, and induced such an one to embark in the enterprise, we shall feel amply repaid for time and pains ex pended. BRITISH COl.HMlilA. the continuation of the Olympian range of Washington Territory, of which range the Vancouver mountain form a part. Mountain of .1,000 feet of in the But. In the order of their are nothing but a chain of mountains- present commercial importance they are, the Douglas fir, red cedar, white pine and spruce fir. On the Nnnaimo river there is said to be enough wood to give work to a large camp for ten years. The Chemainns river valley is densely clad with excellent fir ami spruce for more than thirty miles. In the Cowichau district there is estimated to be 2(),ooo,(XK) board measure of mar ketable lumber. The agricultural crops in the island comprise everything that is grown in Ontario, The yield of nearly everything is great ; oats, 1) bushels ; wheat, .) bushels ; turnips, .15 tons to the acre are spoken ot. Vancouver Island is about 2S0 miles l'eachcs, grapes and tender vegetables long and 50 broad, con taining N,o(x,ooo acres. Its shore line is so deeply indented that the island can be crowed at several points by less than one third of its width of land travel. This feature is, of course, a great ad vantage, as it brings the interior of the island, with its vast wealth of timber and minerals, within easy distance of the sea. The surface of the island is very much broken, the agri cultural land being in small patches and inter spersed with mountains. In the northern divis ion, down to a line ad joining Seymour nar rows and Nootka sound, there are ., 100,000 acres. Of this, only about 77, txx acres are cultivata blc. The central divis ion, hounded on the north by the Qualicum river Alhcrni canal, con tains 2,190,000 acres, of which 57,000 are estim ated to be cultivable. The southern division contains 2,670,000, of which 2W.000 are accounted cultiva- linen well in the Saanich ticuiusula. ble, making a total of iSj,0(x acres of and hopes are entertained of their being Kiiiccssliilly cultivated. About one tenth of the available agricultural land has been taken up, and only onc-quar-ter of that taken up is being cultivated. The chief reason given for the small ness of the quantity is that the settlers who have gone to the island have mostly resorted there for mining and other pursuits more exciting than agri culture. Mr. Joseph Hunter is the au thor of the report about Vancouver Island. The Queen Charlotte Islands lie off the coast of liritish Columbia, liclwecn latitude 52 and The length of are quite common in Queen Charlotte Islands, A lew peaks reach sjaxxifect. The whole of the country is covered with coniferous tree, and these are rendered easy of access by the numer ous fiords which run far into the inte rior. The trees are chielly the Mcn.ics spruce, western cedar, western hem lock and yellow cypress. It , , too far north for the Douglas 11 r. At n Hud son Hay post at Masset, on the north east of the islands, cattle take care of themselves winter and summer. Snow lulls occasionally in , winter, but doci not lie long except on . mountain tops. The quantity of rkln, espe cially 111 Winter, is ex cessive. Gold liai been found on the islands, but not as yet in savins DKIAKti IIOUSK, VICTOKIA, II. C. Fna photo ay k. MayanH O. Mi Dawson quantities, , M ,,,,,.;. or, however, has not been examined. At Skidegatc, ant h rucilc cmd, of excellent quality, crops out, and hat bttfl mined a little. Ilitmnin- 'tis coal is idso supposed, from the gcologiod ap pearances, to be present. Lignites have hern found at several plurra on the coast. Copper ore and magnetic iron ore are also lound. The chief business of I he na tives, who arc Ilaidas, is fishing ami fur hunt ing. There arc about Jooo nutives, who would tie better men If the grog-sellers of Victoria and other towns were more particular as to whom they sold liquor. The report about these inarms m written ny Dr. cultivable laud in the island. It is clear enough that Vancouver will never be agriculturally wealthy. Its varied resources of other descrip tions will, however, make its agricul tural land exceptionally desirable, and will give a high value to the little patches of good soil . found among the hills. There are also, it appears, many small lakes and swamps which could probably lie drained and turned to ac count at small npenat. The chief wealth of Vancouver is in its timlicr, but even that mav hereafter lie eclipsed by its production of coal and other minerals. The island is the islands is Ko miles, and the great .1,..,...!,. w.u.1...l Y... ,.n,l l ...,.l and l-sl !,r,-,l,llh C, .nil,-. A...,,,. I IU .1 ' ll'l Ihr mr, ,4.41,...., awl ... 1 , .. , J- ;,T". 7" Irsvtler in rrieul, lhcl.i.dittuljt,pc,.i.dly the trees attain to proportions unheard the islands arc of little value, as they maaHMwA TIIK IrKIAkI) HuUHK. Loaned 111 pieaWtateihf kpffaan no lb baaatind etif of Victoria, Bfttka CoNuM ItdM Maid ll,u..f win, h Haters, Radoea I lariaaM nrr p.f.rl.rr. It I, , fire-proof t,rl, k Imll.lli.K, well fuinihe,, ami, we art hsppy to Mate, In iIm lurvU of men who kriuw how l keep hotel. Mr. Ilarlnsrl, tors numUr of ftm ''ttlefda cuisine" to th Oukcof Beeea now "chief tic euliine" uf the Il.ui.l, snl the mnj .Isinltei v,, , , lm, (Uninj-r.ioin of thi sapaiei hotel r.,nr attest iu the skin of Mr. II. IhcorTite rl grneml nuiiaernwiil of te Maid H in the haiuU of Mi. kedon, one ..1 (lie Baal plcsunl h'Mcl mm of the t-srlrtc t out. A s plsie to rnl llir summer traftiiori, m I