The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-07 00:00:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Another blue-book relating to British Columbia
hat; just been printed, extending over the six months
from the beginning of October, 1858, to the end of
March, 1859. The information relating to the
colony, both as a gold field and for settlement, is of
an interesting character. Governor Douglas made
another visit to Fraser River in October, for the
administration of justice, and to lay out towns at
Fort Hope and Fort Yale, in whose neighbourhoods
considerable populations were residing in tents and
log-huts.' The Indians made many complaints of
the encroachments of the Europeans, but, all cir-
cumstances considered, order seems to have been
preserved in a manner most creditable to all the
parties concerned. Governor Douglas defends the
Hudson's Bay Company, in one of his despatches,
from the charge of injustice and oppression. "On
the contrary," he says, "it w ould be an easy
matter to prove that they have been of signal ser-
vice to their country, and that the British territory
on the north-we:st coast is an acquisition won for
the Crown entirely by their enterprise and energy,
for on commencing- operations in this quarter, the
whote coast was held by foreigners, and it is only
since 1846 that they have derived any real protec-
tion from the licence to trade, as until that epoch
the trade was open to the citizens of the United
States in common with the company. A sense of
justice leads me to exert the little influence I pos-
sess in protecting from injustice men who have
served their country so faithfully and so
well. At this moment I am making use of
their establishments for every public office, and
to their servants, for want of other means, I
commit, in perfect confidence, the custody, of the'
public money." It must be borne in mind, in
estimating the value of the foregoing, that Governor.
Douglas was at that time a servant of the company,
which office he only resigned on having the govern-
ment of British Columbia added to that of Vancou-
ver's Island. He submitted to the Colonial-office, in
the same despatch, the claims of the colony to a
grant of £200,000 from the Imperial Treasury, for
the purpose of making roads and erecting the ne-
cessary public buildings ' • but it was intimated to
him that the colony must bear its own expenses, and
that nothing must be undertaken for which local
revenue was not sufficient to provide. An exception
was afterwards made in favour of two lighthouses,
oneon Bonilla point, in the Strait of Fuca, opposite
Cape Flattery (where the Government of the
United States has erected a lighthouse), and the
other on the Race Islands, a dangerous cluster of
rocks at the S.E. point of Vancouver's Island, and
nine miles from the harbour of Esquimalt. One-
half of the expense of erecting these was promised
by the Imperial Government. The. first sale of
public lands took place towards the close of No-
vember, the spot selected being the site of a former
establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company,
known as Old Fort Langley, on the left bank of
Fraser River, at about 28 miles from its mouth.
The anchorage is good, and the water deep enough
for ships close to the bank. With a cheerful aspect,
and a surface well adapted for buildings and drain-
age, a portion of the old site has the disadvantage
of being low, and occasionally flooded by the river.
The greater part of the locality is, however, a
dry, elevated table land, covered with pines and
bush. Governor Douglas was induced to have it
surveyed, from public attention having been
strongly directed to it as a very advantageous site
for a commercial town. It was divided into build-
ing lots, 64 feet by 120, the upset price of which
was fixed at £2O. There was so much competition,
however, that £145 was obtained for same of the
lots, and the average price realised was £4O. About
350 lots out of 3,294 were disposed of, the whole
yielding about £13,000 ; but the interest in the
site was much weakened shortly afterwards by the
selection of a spot on the opposite side of the river,
and about 18 miles lower down, as the site of the
future capital of the colony. " The colony of Bri-
tish Columbia," said Governor Donglas, in suggest-
ing this spot, " possesses an extent of about 500
miles of sea coast, stretching from the point where
the 49th parallel of latitude first strikes the coast
to the line of the Russian possessions in Portland
Inlet. That circumstance obviously suggests the
necessity of establishing more than one seaport,
where vessels may -enter with cargoes of foreign
goods. One, and that of the greatest present im•
portance, should be established at the entrance
of Fraser River, and another in some con-
venient and accessible harbour on the coast,
north of Vancouver's Island. The ship chan-
nel into Fraser River winds in a tortuous
and narrow passage between sandbanks, and
has a depth of water sufficient for vessels drawing
18 feet. Beyond the sands the river increases in
depth and the current in force and velocity. The
banks of the first ten miles are low, being only a
few feet above the water, and there is a wide extent
of marshy land on both banks. That low district
passed, the country presents a new aspect, being
more elevated and covered with pines and other
forest trees. That is the point where the seaport town
earlobe established to the greatest advantage, as it
is accessible to sailing vessels, which, owing to the
lofty banks on both sides of the river beyond that
point, can rarely depend upon a fair wind, or ascend
further without using the warp, or byythe help of
steam." It seems to have been originally thought
advisable to locate the capital of the colony at the
town laid out in November at Old Fort Langley;
but Col. Moody reported against that site, on military
grounds, and in favour of the north bank of the river.
The latter spot received temporarily the name of
Queensborough, pending her Majesty's selection of
an appellation, which Governor Douglas has hoped
would associate the future capital with some mem-
ber
of the Royal family; but the name which her
Majesty was pleased to bestow upon it is New
Westminster. The unfavourable accounts of the
gold diggings which appeared some time ago in
the San Fi ancisco journals are not confirmed by
those despatches, as the diggers, even at the com-
mencement of last winter, were still earning from
five to 20 dols. a day. The chief drawback was the
dearness of provisions, owing to the want of roads,
which were in course of being provided. The great
work of the season, the road by Harrison's river to
a point on Fraser River, beyond the mountaihs, was
completed; and a number of mule. trains were en--
gaged in the transport of supplies for the mining
populations of Lytton, and the districts beyond
that town. This has been an arduous undertak-
ing, and cost about £lO,OOO. The difficulties en-
countered were more serious than had been antici-
patel, arising in a great measure from the want of
experienced conductors ; but Governor Douglas
states that the work could not, in his opinion, have
been done under any circumstances at a cheaper
rate. The impression that Harrison's River was
navigable into the lake of that name Was dispelled
by the discovery, when the,river fell to its lowest
state in the winter, of a shallow rapid, about half-
a-mile long, near the entrance of the laiie. When
that obstacle is removed, there will be free passage
for steamers of light draught through Harrison's
Lake and to Port Douglas. Deposits of gold were
constantly being found in new localities, and a
specimen of fine copper was found about eight miles
below the confluence of Bridge River. It was re-
ported that silver had been discovered near Fort
Yale, but the specimens taken to Victoria proved.
valueless. The Board of Trade returns of the im-
portation of gold having shown an introduction of
that metal from British Columbia on only one occa-
sion, and then to the extent of no more than £B,OOO,
Governor Douglas gives estimates and returns
which, without professing to be absolutely correct,
serve to give an approximate idea of the quantity of
gold exported between June and the end of Sept,
and remaining in hand at the latter date, and accord
inn to which the total production was 106,3050 z. He
believes the actual produce of gold to have exceeded
this amount, an impression derived from the official
returns of goods imported into Vancouver'a Island
during the quarter ended September 30, amounting
to £231,376, nearly the whole of which appears to
have been absorbed in supplying the requirements
of British Columbia, and to have been paid for in
gold dust. The latest accounts sent home by Go-
vernor Douglas confirm the previous opinions of
the great mineral wealth of that colony'. Specimens
of gold from Harrison's River were obtained in'
December, adding force to the opinion that the
country in that direction is probably not greatly
inferior to Fraser River itself as an auriferous dis-
trict. Bridge River was at that time the favourite
gold district, and specimens of silver and copper
had been obtained. Reports continued to be re-
ceived during all the earlier part of the present
year of rich deposits of gold in and about Bridge
River, and a lump of pure gold, weighing an ounce
and a half, had neen found. About the end of
March great excitement was created in Victora. by
the exhibition of a nugget of pure gold, weighing
Hi ounces, procared by the agents of the Hudsun's
Bay Company from the Indians of Queen Char-
lotte's Island. There is a generally prevalent im-
pression, founded on the discovery of gold in that
island in 1851, that it will yet become a productive
gold' field. Among the pieces collected at that pe-
riod was a lump weighing 27 ounces. The real im-
pediment to the development of the mineral riches
of British Columbia appears to be the difficulty- of
access to it. A road through the valley of Fraser
River, from the coast to the forks of Thomp-sion?4
River, is much wanted, to open the country for set-
tlement, for travelling when the river is either
flooded or ice-bound, and for driving live stock be-,
tween the interior and the coast. This great work
1
has been some time in progress, and was expecte
to be completed before the close of the present sea
son.