The New York herald., 1872-10-30

xne veAuo OF San juan and III
Sister Islands.
Now that the possession of San Juan and IT'D
sister islands is secured to the United States il
will be matter of public interest to know
their importance. When the great navigator,
Cook, first sailed along the North Pacific coast
of America, in eager quest of an Arctic water
passage from Behring Strait to Baffins Bay,
he passed Vancouver's Island under the inn
preston that it formed part of the mainland.
To his midshipman, who gave name to this
island, was due the discovery, twelve years
after the death of his illustrious commander,
OF the insularity of this land, and also of the
existence of the ten other islands lying in the
throat of Juan de Fuca Strait and now ad-
judged to the United States. Having entered
the channel which separates vancouver's 8
Island from Washington Territory before dis
covered by De Fuca but thought to be only an
inlet of the sea, Vancouver landed upon what
was probably the Island of San Juan, in May,
l79l. The landscape, upon which no white
man had gazed till then, was described by its
first European visitors as comparable to the
most elegantly finished pleasure grounds, with
natural lawns robed in luxuriant grass,
diversified by an abundance Of flowers
and fruits and studded with olumps of
noble pines, SO that the explorers were
reminded of certain delightful and beloved
situations in Old England" It is . remark
able coincidence that these islands sustain to
the Continent of North America the Same geo.
graphic and climatic relations as those of the
British Islands to Europe SO that Vancouver
Island has not inaptly been designated 'The
England Of the Pacific" Although made
known in 1791, it was only in 1913 that any
settlement Of civilized man was made upon it,
and its subsequent development has by no
means been SO slow as to disappoint the hopes
entertained of making it q great commercial
and manufacturing centre on the shores of the
Great Western Ocean. When Cook sighted
the American coast, near forty-four degrees,
on March 2, 1778, he named the first visible
promontory Cape Flattery, in allusion to the
beautiful weather he then began to experience.
The observations of all travellers and explorers
since this time abundantly attest the delicious
climate Of this entire section of the North Pa
cifc coast, and prove that Captain Vancouver's
descriptions, made more than seventy-fve
years ago. were not couleer de rose. The Sum-
mers are warmer and the Winters moister and
milder than in England or Ireland. The
shores are bathed by the warm waters from
the China coast and the Kuro-Siwo, or Japan
Gulf Stream, and also swept by the warm Winds
which together spread mantle of warmth,
moisture and fertility not only the coast but
over all Oregon, Washington Territory, Idaho
and Western Montana. The geologic surveys
Of the islands and shores of the waters around
San Juan reveal abundance of mineral forma-
ton. especially COAL copper and magnetic
iron. The fisheries are unsurpassed in the
quality and quantity Of their yield, and the
water fowl and game birds are as plentiful as
on the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, while
the timber is of that colossal type SO marked
on the Pacific coast and so unrivalled for ship
building.
Viewing the secured possession Of San Juan
and the system of islands now to be embraced
in the rectifed map of the United States in
connection with the march Of civilization
towards the far Northwest and Pacific, and
also in connection with the rapid prosecution
Of the magnificent transcontinental railway
from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, there can
be little doubt that solid advantage has been
gained and possession Of great value to the
country has been preserved.
The prusaiam pm RI n M ant ana Uurua-c~