The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-17 00:00:00

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rBrA,

(From a Correspondent of the Daily News.)
VICTORIA, DEC. 26, 1858.
Colonel Moody, family, and staff, together with
Captain Gossett, arrived here by the mail yester-
day; but although they had been expected for
weeks, and the hotels here are notoriously unfit for
ladies or families, not the slightest preparation of
any, kind had been made for their reception. They
landed in sleet and rain, making their way in a
pitiable plight up from Esquimault in expectation
of fin ding shelter in Victoria ; but shelter there was
none, and, after ransacking the town and rumaging
every little cheerless weather-boarded hut in the
suburbs, the colonel and family were obliged to re-
treat to Esquimault, and take up their temporary
quarterso n board the Satellite, until a great barn-
like wooden building, next the Post-office, was
cleared out for their reception. This lodging con-
sists of three apartments, the main room constitut-
ing the parlour, drawing-room, reception-room,
and public office of the new lieu-
kitchen, scullery,
tenant-governor; and 4there Mrs. Moody, like a
true soldier's wife, with her interesting children,
sits in a spirit of serene resignation, in an uncar-
peted insular space within a sort of counter-table,
looking apparently as cheerful, happy, and ab-
stracted as if installed in the most recherche bou-
doir. Were I Governor Douglas, methinks I would
have issued stealthy orders beforehand to have the
great waste house scrubbed out with soap and
water, to put rush mattings on the floors, plain
blinds upon the windows, a few cheap chairs and
tables in the sitting-room, a few rough stretchers,
with coarse bed-clothing in the dormitories. I
would, furthermore, have had a slab-shed slyly run
up in the rear to do duty as a kitchen, and then,
laying aside the stilts, I would have made a call of
kindly welcome on the new arrivals; and I fancy
I could have derived infinite gratification in catch-
ing the colonel's look of obligation, in seeing his
lady's smile of gratitude, and in hearing the de.
lighted little ones exclaim in ;tones of ecstacy,
" Oh, dear mamma, what kind, good man prepared
this nice warm house for us, when you said you
would have to live in a cold tent?"
A troop of sold-out young soldiers and bowled-
out young gentlemen of the fast school, arrived by
the same boat, who made it a point, no doubt, to
travel in company with the Colonel, and give him
to understand, in the course of the voyage, that if
any difficulties should beset him in the new colony,
they, would be ready at his beck to enrol themselves
as official volunteers, and take any form of service
he might employ them on for his personal advan-
tage or the public welfare. I fear the " haw sible"
aspect of the metropolis was infinitely depressing to
those self-expatriated young swells ; but they were
somewhat compensated, I dare say, for their disap-
pointment in that respect bythe curious admiration
of the Indian population, who gazed in a state of
awe-struck wonder at their shiny boots, their loud
patterned trowsers,their chains and pins, and rings
and studs, and their many other exquisite external
ornaments, quite new, and attractive to the primi-
tive gaze of the island aboriginals. The follies of
foppery, however, will soon be eradicated by a little
goldfield discipline, and I am quite prepared to see
those young men settle dewn into useful citizens.
Their presence, moreover, is to be welcomed, because
it deprives the government of any excuse for per-
sisting in a most objectionable practice, and one
which has given rise to exceeding dissatisfaction
in the public mind—l mean the habit of employing
foreigners in all offices of trust and emolument.
The apology heretofore was that none others were
to be found, but now that British subjects of cha-
racter and education are coming amongst us in num-
bers, the citizens expect not only that this uncon-
stitutional system will be discontinued for the
present, but that all past appointments of the kind
shall be cancelled. They cannot be sanctioned by
British law, which will cease to be respected, or
even obeyed, if administered through such channels.
DEC. 30.
Chief justice Begbie maybe said to have made his
official debut this morning in the publication of an
elaborate document, setting forth the various rules
and fees of court, and specifying the terms under
which barristers and attorneys of other British
colonies and American lawyers will be permitted
to practise in British Columbia. It is an ably drawn
manifesto in so far as the composition is concerned ;
but it concedes a new principle, which has elicited
vehement dissatisfaction from an interested few, and
will, no doubt, challenge considerable discussion
amongst the community at large, engendering, as it
does, an apprehension that with the thin end of the
wedge in, as temporary practitioners in our law
courts, our keen, insidious cousins will endeavour
to open up a free entry to many other important
rights and privileges hitherto regarded as inacces-
sible to foreigners. From all I can learn of the
Chief Justice's character and feelings, whether as a
British subject or a British dignitary, I believe if
any other expedient could have been devised
whereby the ends of justice would be attainable he
never would have advised or sanctioned the step in
question ; neither is there reason to apprehend that
the national honour or the dignity of the high pro-
fession to which he belongs will suffer slight or
blemish through his instrumentality.
Under the official edict alluded to, American
lawyers of approved character and reputation are
permitted to practise for a period of six months only,
before the expiration of which time it is expected
that a sufficient number of duly qualified men may
arrive from the old country to cope with the in-
creasing litigation of the colony. But, considering
that at present there is only one British barrister
and only one qualified attorney (a Canadian) in the
two colonies of Vancouver's Island and British
Columbia, while it is certain that the population
will increase enormously, particularly in its
American element, during the prescribed period,
I cannot see how the difficulty could have been
otherwise surmounted save by suspending
all legal proceedings, leaving crime to flourish,
. and putting up the shutters of the temple
of justice until the members of the long robe at
home could be induced to favour us with the light
of their countenances. Even with the übiquitous
powers of Sir Boyle Roach's bird, together with the
versatile talents and energies of a Brougham and a
Pearson, I am wholly unable to conceive how one
barrister and one attorney could keep pace with the
business of two colonies, following one court into
the fastnesses of the Upper Frazer, then appearing
anon in another, simultaneously sitting in the capital
of Vancouver's Island, and drafting at the same time
the acres of conveyancing required in the alienation
of land from the crown, and the subdivisional sales
from large to small speculators, in colonies where
the leading aspiration of every man is to get hold
of a town allotment or a country farm.
The loudest, in fact, the only, inveighers against
the temporary privilege are a few Canadian lawyers
of "easy patriotism," who come within the category
.of a class known as " whitewashed Yankees," from
having discarded, in as far as they could, their alle-
giance tothe British crown by declaring their inten-
on to become citizens of the United States. The gist
of their grievance is that previous to enrolment
they are required toi swear, amongst other matters,
" that they never
which debars thienmr: changed their allegiance,"
freomt privilege of British
subjects. But,
humble_ opinion, their remon-
strances or eomplaints should be rather scorned than
heeded ; nor can I understand how men guilty of
voluntary reneg-adism, who " specially" forswear
their fealty to Queen Victoria, and deliberately re-
pudiate the sacred ties of fatherland, can rationally
expect either sympathy or relief. I plead
guilty y
to
a regret, that the constraint of necessity extracted
a. very objectionable coocessifhroenihaCshiopepd tof Justice
ose
Begbie, but I regard the barrier
the "whitewashed" gentry as a trait of quite a re-
deeming character. There is a rumour that our soli-
tary barrister is determined to take high ground
with respect to American practitioners at the coming
law sittings,. but I trust he will alter his intentions.
Roman Catholic voyageurs are reputed to consider
themselves absolved from the obligations of fasting
g
aid penance when they'et into twelve-fathom
wai`er, and I think a British barrister located to the
wests,vard of the great Sierra Nevada might re-
nounce the strict prescriptions of the benchers in
favour of an extemporised arrangement calculated
to conduce ,3/40public convenience as well as personal
emolument. Dut referring once more to the " white-
washed Yankeeg," I trust his Excellency Governor
Douglas will see the necessity as well as the pro-
priety of having aff oath of allegiance similar to that
framed by Chief Justice Begbie administered to
public officials of all ranks in both colonies ; for
already there is a large influx of the whitewashed
class from the neighbostring American territories
looking for appointments, and I cannot persuade
in7self to believe that parties swallowing the sub-
,ionsed preliminary oath can be considered either as
trustworthy or legally eligible for public em-
ployment under the British Crown—" I, A. 8.,
do solemnly declare on oath that it is bona fide my
intention to become a citizen of the United States,
and to renounce, for
ever all allegiance and fidelity
to all and any foreign prince, potentate, State, and
sovereignty whatever, and particularly to Victoria,
Queen of the United Rie, gdom of Great Britain and
Ireland—Sworn, A. B:'
In reference to American entanglements, another
question of considerable importance
has arisen with
regard to the right of American.built vessels to ply
or trade along the coast, or on the internal waters oft
British territory. Some of the authorities
first inclined to the opinion that the mere ru e rnei
na
up of the British flag constituted a sufficientseaesangt
for such an intrusion ; but after further considera-
tion it was deemed indispensable that before an
American bottom could be entitled so to trade she
~should pass by sale into the possession of a British
owter, and under this edict of the Executive Council

a register has been given to the American steamer
Maria, granting her thereby a license to trade coast-
wise or on the internal waters of Vancouver's Island
or British Columbia. As to the obliation of
sale and transfer, it only constitutes a less facile, but
not one whit a more efficacious, mode of protecting
bonafide British shipowners from foreign competi-
tion than the hoisting of the union jack; for, with-
out meaning any offence to our sharp cousins, I may
remark that their political and commercial morality
is of a broad latitudinarian character, inaccessible
to " compunctious visitings ;" nor do I believe an
average Yankee conscience would suffer any greater
degree of violence in concocting a mock bill of sale
than in running up our national ensign at the main.
It may be objected " that there must be two parties
to a contract ;" but I beg leave to remark to any
such objection that until the standard of British
citizenship is more clearly defined, both in the re-
lations of public and private life, very little difficulty
will exist in finding a second party, either in Van-
couver's Island or British Columbia.

JAN. 1,1859.
Since the black raw weather softened down into
a mild genial temperature, for several successive days,
leading sanguinenew-comers to believe that an early
spring season was about to make amends for the late
rigours, so prevailing did this anticipation become,
that numerous late arrivals from the Upper
en route to California, determined to remain in Vic-
toria, while several of the more impulsive absolutely
returned up river by the Otter yesterday to com-
mence their operations. This morning, however,
was ushered in with a tempest o. frigidf wind and sleet,
which still hisses and spits with venom
through the shingled roof as I write, blistering the
paper with wet blots, which you must not mistake
as having been caused by tear
drops of regret at
my new-year prospects in this "new and happy
land," as Henry Russell would call it. I might, I
acknowledge, be much more comfortable airing my
slippered feet before a gentleman's seacoal fire in a
small Pimlico parlour; but the few temporary chills
and drawbacks endured by those who help in rocking
the cradles of these infant colonies will be amply
compensated for on an early day, and hopeful minds
will cheer and sustain them against physical incon-
veniences until that day comes round. The men
who could think repiningly of carpets and easy
chairs and. spring mattresses, early lamb, and the
other delicacies of the season, won't do for the cas-
cades and the frozen rapids. We want lads with
good hearts, willing hands, and good digestions,
whose motto is "never say die." And to as many
of this class as come, rewards proportionate to their
industry await them, not alone on the goldfields,
but in the fields of agriculture, in the lands of pas-
ture, in the pursuits of trade and handicraft, and in
the varied paths of professional employment. This
is no highly-coloured nor inflated prediction. The
great and immediate results which followed the
auriferous development of California and Australia
will likewise accrue in British Columbia when her
golden resources are fairly brought to light, as they
will be in the course of a very few months, for
every day since I last wrote brings to hand accu-
mulative evidence of the abounding and wide-spread
deposits of the precious metal in the vast regions
watered by the Frazer and its countless tributaries.
Last evening I examined some splendid samples of
large nuggetty water-worn gold, from Bridge river,
which its owners said they picked from the crevices
of rocks into which it had been washedby the rapid
current ; and as these crevices are considerably
above the bed of the river, immense returns are
very naturally looked for when the waters so far
subside as to allow the bar and bottom to be care-
fully worked. But this is not all, rich dry diggings
have been discovered in various quarters. In a
locality called La Fountain, at the head of the Lil-
lovet trail, a great district of comparatively level
country has been found to be auriferous throughout;
and 80 miles beyond it, in a north-easterly direc-
tion, between the Cascades and the Rocky Moun-
tains, there is a vast open fertile prairie region,
called the Canoe country, which yields largely, all
the samples from there that I inspected being of a
most beautiful character. In a word, if the Go •
vernment and the wealthier mercantile classes
are equal to the occasion, supplying sufficient
means of reasonable travel and moderate freight,
in proper time, no doubt whatever exists
but that the amount of treasure which will
be dug up, and the consequent trade which must
follow, will astonish even the most prejudiced
hunters in the older gold-producing countries. In
my next you may look forward for information
founded on strict ocular demonstration, as I have
made arrangements to ascend the Frazer to its
upper waters immediately after the arrival of the
next European mail. The rivers are tolerably low
at present, and still steadily falling, so that I shall
be on the ground in the most favourable season for
seeing the bar-washing operations, but my prin-
cipal attention shall be directed to examining and
prospecting for dry diggings and quartz reefs,
which must always constitute the principal field
for money operations during the summer season,
when the rivers will be at their greatest height.
There are two saw mills at work on the Frazer
River, and the requisite machinery for several
others has been ordered from San Francisco, so
that there is every reason to hope that quartering
and weatherboards will be cheap and abundant in
the mining districts, enabling diggers to establish
themselves in comfortable and comparatively sub-
stantial quarters before another winter overtakes
them.
In the absence of business there is abundance of
gossip, and most stores, offices, and hotels gather
their daily groups, who discuss politics, prospects,
and small local matters. Having got the freedom
of the city without the ceremonial of a snuff-box, I
am permitted to take part in the conversaziones,
but I apprehend I have lately given umbrage to
my new acquaintance by originating the idea that
it is on the cards to erect an independent capital for
British Columbia, if not on the waters of the Frazer,
on some of the numerous inlets which indent its
seaboard, some of which penetrate between sixty
and eighty miles into the interior, almost without
soundings, and with the boldest of beaches—all of
them sheltered throughout, while those called
Hone's and Lewis' Inlets take directions with re-
spect to the gold regions which would curtail the
distance from thence to the coast one-third, and
considerably diminish the difficulties of transport as
well. But the government discourage private ex-
plorations. Their policy is clearly an emanation
of Hudson-Bayism, and it is, in my estimation,
equally palpable that so long as our colonial rule
here continues to be impregnated with the hide-
bound selfish policy of that effete company, and
imperial interests are made to succumb to the grasp-
ing greed of its insatiable proprietary, we shall pro-
ceed in a halting unsatisfactory manner, having the
island exalted at the expense of the mainland at
every opportunity, only because every Hudson Bay
Company's governor, chief-factor, factor clerk, func-
tionary, and hanger-on, owns land in Vancouver's
Island and possesses town lots in and around Vie

toria which would be depreciated 100 per cent. be-
low their present estimate if each colony, in Ameri-
can phrase, " was upon its own hook." It is their

.. ~ -
vital policy, therefore, to continue, and strengthen
the colonial copartnership which at present exists.
Hence the discouragement of an expedition which
might possibly precipitate the discovery of a harbour
in the main and put . the nose of Victoria out of

_oint. Hence the inactivity of the surveying squad-
ron at Esquimault, which has let a season pass
away without as much as buoying the channel
through the bar entrance to Fraser River, lest even
the full advantage of that recent discovery might
become in any wise antagonistic to the metropolitan
sovereignty of the island capital. This much, how-
ever, is known, that there is a depth of 22 feet at
high water in the channel, and that the bottom is
of a nature which can be most easily dredged, while
the impetuous current of the river affords a guaran-
tee that any artificial deepening of channel will be
kept free from sudden accumulations of deposit.
What, then, is to prevent Langley, from becoming
the port of entry for British Columbia in case no
better is discovered ? The bar of the Mississippi
in 1830 was no better than the Fraser, and yet
of the greatest maritime and commercial cities in
the world has arisen on its banks In its natural
or early state, I believe there was only 17 feet
over the bar of the father of waters, and at present
its outside limit is 27. What then is to prevent
Frazer that of the from being deepened in the
same ratio ? ancl:arf thaelre are no cotton bales on '
which to erect a capit
annual
w e can find piles of gold for
the purpose, and supply a
from the scourge of an which will be free
the citizens of Victoria i, ours a "
g7e- " But, say
a free port.
is
Columbia ?"
Wherein lies the advantage to British
I replyenjoy the benefits of untaxed imports,
cerdsnsiroffiedeilain
and levy duties on that propert
the
Pritish Columbia, spending. . pro
salaries and in the beautification of your capital.
Let the miners, who will constitute the bone and
sinew of the colony, eat untaxed bread, also wear
untaxed clothes, and use untaxed implements, if
need be, which they can have all the cheaper, too,
from being imported direct. The freight and insu..
rance from London will be the same to Langley as
to Victoria. So that over and above the scale of
duties imposed under the present system on goods
.
going into consumption in the Frazer, there is to
be superadded the intercolonial freight from Vic-
toria to Langley (12 dollars per ton), and the in-
surance, which I take it will be quite equal to
that charged on the long voyage. Thus, putting
duties, extra freight, and insurance together, the
Vancouverites would be enjoying the necessaries
and luxuries of life some 15 per cent. cheaper than
the British Columbians, who are looked up to as
the future producers of that staple which is to de-
fray the cost of government, sustain commerce,
support trades and professions, and promote the