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