Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-09-18
A WONDERFUL ISLAND.
The Curiosities to Be Seen on Queen
CharIottes Island


Probably no other group in the wide
world carries more curiosities. natural
and artificial, than Queen Charlotte
Island; few, I think, have as many in
the same extent of country. The geol-
ogist, the nlineralogist. the botanist,
the anist. and the agriculturalist may
each of them find a wide field for re-
search, while the antiquarian, the the
ologist, and others of thatilk would be
highly interested.
In their strange and wonderful sea
margins, in their not less wonderful
caverns, in which natures mark in
long past ages is written as plainly as
on the pages of book; in their rocks,
whose volcanic contortionS smite the
beholder with amazement; in their
shells, which as fossils are found deep
down in the seams of its anthracite
coal, while near Cape Ball the same
sort are found alive in the sands of the
seashore; of these the geologist can
write volumes.
In their quartz lodges, which have
been traced from shore to shore, in
which gold is plainly visible in coal
measures and other materials, q wide
field may yet be found for the mineral
ogist.
The various kinds of plants belong
ing to these islands, the tiny flowers in
their natural beauty peeping out from
behind the melting snow-drift on the
lonely mountains, the modest lupins
and the luscious straw berries, natures
gift to men, and even the broad-leaved
bush grass-all these, as they follow in
the wake of the receding waters of
Queen Charlotte's stormy seas, would
yield an ample store for the botanist
Among the snOw-clad mountains, by
the wild torrent and the gentle river,
by the lights and shades reflected by
their sunset hills in autumn's shorten
ing days, q boundless range is offered
for the pencils magic skill, while the
broad acres of rich alluvial bottoms
and the unlimited extent of lands
whose nutritious grasses, waving in
the breeze, would lead the farmer to
say: ''Oh, if these lands were mine, and
my tlOcks and herds ranged over the
plenty they afford!" To the antiquari-
an, the ethnologist, and other scien-
lists, the rich carvings on the columns,
and the quaint old legends they depict,
and the legendary lore of the people,
would afford q vast untrodden field.
To the piscatorial disciples of Izaak
Walton an unlimited amount of sport
is furnished by the streams. In them
they can find the silver salmon and the
dainty little trout of the mountain rill.
If tired of these and, wishing larger
sport, let them 90 to the greater depths
OF the ocean, down to where the stormy
depths of winter are never felt, to
where, deep in oceans caves, he will
find q myriad throng of those denizens
of the deep-the black cod.
On these islands even the moralist
will find something in his line. Let
him seek the deserted villages and lin
ger in their ruined halls and study the
works now crumbling to ruin, left be-
hind by their ancient inhabitants. The
tall, carved column, pointing heaven
wards, with its mystical hieroglyphics
from bottom to top. Here is one whose
elaborate carving bears the image of
man on top wearing a storied head
dress. 1t is three circles in height, and
each circle is twelve inches above the
other. These circles show the ruins
to have been the dwelling of chief
Having reached the house let him de-
scend the half-rotten stair down into
the body of the house among the intru-
Sive elder bushes, and note what he
sees. Piled in one corner is heap of
iron, the remains of one unfortunate
ship. What are those boxes, mildewed
and moss covered, piled in the corner?
These are family boxes. Some held
the oil and others the food they used,
while others held their clothes. These
he will find, but where are the people?'
Where are the women whom Captain
Dixon writes of as fair, when they are
washed, as English milkmaids? Where
are they or their descendants? Call
them and echo, through their deserted
halls, in waiiful, mournful numbers,
replies: cali are gone" Ask those
mortuary columns on every hand, and
the answer is still the same: ''All are
gone" Ask the Indians who may be
along with you. and their answer is:
'All are dead" Look among the emp
ty bottles scattered in large humble
all over the floors of the deserted
houses, among the long grass, and to
the boxes on posts among the green
bushes, and you will find the mummi-
fed remains of all that is left of the
people. Victoria (B. c.. Chronicle.