, 1877-01-06
UNDER TWO FLAGS.
A CHRISTMAS VISIT TO THE
CITY OF VICTORIA.
THE GEM OF THE ARCHIPELAGO !

THE GEM OF THE ARCHIPELAGO !!
1t is almost incredible that run of
three hours on an ordinarily rapid
steamer would bring an American into
the midst of people speaking the same
tongue and worshipping the same God,
yet essentially different in manners and
customs. The Englishman of Victoria
is one whose isolation from the land Of
his birth only makes him the more tena-
cious of his rights as British subject
and more mindful of the education be-
slowed upon him III the tight little is
land whose commerce whltens every
sea and whose language is flashed across
every continent by the captive voice of
thunder. So it was that We landed
from the tidy little steamer North. Paci-
fic, week ago, to spend n few days
with some old friends in Victoria DUR
ing the Christmas holidays.
THE MUSHROOM CITY
Which sprung up in 1858. has now a
quiet look, though the substantial Eng
lish style of architecture on business
buildings, will look just as well half a
century hence. Take the great ship
ping firms of New York-Grinell, Min
turn & Co., Kermit u Carow, Rowland
4 Aspinwall--they did their millions
of foreign trade in dingier buildings an d
with rustier sign-boards than those of
Victoria. Again, the present Ameri-
can class of business buildings in Re
naissance style, belongs to the shoddy
era of such men as Fisk, Holiday and
Jerome, rather than to tine matter Of
fact days of the Aspinwalls. Grinnells,
Lennoxes or Whi:neys. John Bull new
er wears cassimeres save on festive oc-
cssions but marches along in modest
gray tweeds while Jonathan swaggers
by him in doeskin. OF late,
ENGLISH STYLES
Of dress have become fashionable, such
as heavy box-toed shoes and Cheviot
suits. These the American wears now
because they are the style. while John
Bull wears them because they are COM
Portable. 1t reminded US of New York
in our boyhood days. to see these quiet
stout old gentlemen, in their heavy Ul-
sters walking about and laying in their
Christmas marketing. We make the
money here, but they have the most
real comfort. Go into their parlors and
instead of rosewood mounted with reps
or brocateile, you will find heavy India
teak chairs and sofas, covered with ma
room Russia leather. There may be a
shoddy element in England, but GER
tainly none OF it has got to Victoria.
'THE ROYAL CITY,
Had on its holiday garb as we landed.
Forests of young expresses and cedars
had been hewn down to decorate Fort,
Yates and Government streets, till We
half-reallzed the dream of the Thane of
Cawdor, that "Birnam wood had come
to Dunslnane. Toys glittered in the
variety stores, with groups of ruddy
children huddled about the windows;
confectioners had beggared the speci-
men books of the saccharine art, to
bring forth sugar generals with eyes
that recalled Ben Butler. the cabalistic
and the jewelers. shops were resplend-
ent in table plate and horologery of all
sorts. The very hack horses in front of
the Adelphi and Alhambra saloons, had
tiny American and English flags Co
mingled in their bridle-blinIs. But
THE BUTCHER SHOPS
Were the sight of the season. Covent
Garden and Leadenhall, in London,
may sulpass the markets of Victoria IN
quantity, but as for quality -jan,ais
The stall-fed beeves OF Saanich hung
side by side with the slaughtered mon
archs of the bunch-grass pastures on
the mainland; flat tailed Mongolian
sheep were strung out by scores along
side the luscious Southdowns, such as
New Yorker only sees after ''Cu-
harder" has arrived; obese porkers from
the wheat fields of Boisfort and Cowlitz
Prairie hung beside tiny roasters that
had bled and died beneath thu. Cross OF
st. George; while even Bruin, the black
muzzled guardian of the lonely glens
beyond Sooke or Comox, had been
slaugh tered to lend his presence to the
great show. So they all were
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUMINATED
With wax candles on every carcase. We
gazed in awe at the exhibit, as We re-
membered that one of Victoria's mos,
prominent citizens was ramesake Of
him whose "wife could eat no lean;'
and wondered how be could make out g
Christmas dinner. The saloons were
all decorated with evergrcens, and iI
most of them were raffies of some sort
either of jewelry or horses. We visited
10. Lovett's, where we found the veter-
an publican mixing cocktails for the
Lord Mayor and coterie of friends
dropped in at the Adelphi and bough
two tickets in diamond rattle, after @
smile with Borthwick; and finally drop
ped down at the Boomerang, with rare
old Ben. Griffin, for grilled bone ano
pot of Bass Portraits of rare genius
es-brilliant men and women, long since
gone over to the silent majority-gazed
at us from the dingy walls of the little
room that seemed filled with whispers
from
LIPS NOW MUTE AND COLD.
After while we strolled over to Henry
Saunders for chasse cafe and ther
walked ont with him to his brothers s.
where we saw the thoroughbred fiily
Nelly Howard, which won the race here
last year. This daughter of the en-
chanted horse -Norfolk-has thickened
out into great strapping mare anc