Facts and Figures Relating to Vancouver Island and British Columbia

CHAP. IX.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS TO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF INTENDING

EMIGRANTS.

PERSONS emigrating frequently form too high anticipations of becoming suddenly wealthy, and therefore become too soon disappointed; and some who, from some cause or other, do not carry with them the elements of success, reason thus: that because they have failed in everything they undertook at home, the time has come to repair their fortunes abroad. Never was there a greater fallacy. They forget, that of any family with whom they are acquainted, the members who have emigrated are the boldest and the most enterprising; that from home" the stronger sex, the stronger age, the stronger hands, the stronger will, are ever flying; " and they are, therefore, on their arrival in the colony, disappointed to find superior competitive talent in every walk of life.

Of the former class, the best illustration I can give is to select, almost at random, one from a bundle of letters from enquiring emigrants, which will convince indifferent person, any that the caution is not misplaced. The following is an extract :

"Dear Sir,- Confident that you will do for me the best you can, it is, I know, almost idle for me to specify any particulars as regards my own views; but I may mention, I would of course like to get a spot of land as

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GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

near as possible to the site of a new town, near a good harbour, or on a good river, where trade would be likely to be actively carried on; and having a taste for beauty in scenery, and delighting, as well as all my family, in the sea, I would, if practicable, like to have with approximation to the sea, beauty in scenery, a place having a constant supply of fresh water, well wooded, lying well to the south aspect, with land of good quality, having shelter from any prevailing winds, free of marsh or swamp, having a limestone or other quarry upon it, whereby building materials could easily be got; but there are many, many other advantages which you might see, which would outbalance any ideas or suggestions of mine, such as a coal mine, a good mill site with good water power, which in a new country is not a bad speculation; building ground or the probable site of a ship's quay, or a locality where a town is likely to spring up. would be made in a short time, &c.

"I have, &c.

My fortune

The writer will not be angry with me, I am sure, for publishing a portion of a letter which affords no clue to his identity; particularly as, knowing him to be both talented and deserving, in doing so I express a sincere wish that he may become possessed of the quay and the coal mine too.

I shall here take the liberty of addressing a few remarks to the different classes of persons likely to contemplate emigration.

First, persons seeking government offices, and whose names are written down on lists, are very numerous in the colony. The salaries are generally inadequately

low. With such an object in view, I would recommend any one not to emigrate until he had first procured an appointment to whatever office he might be in quest of.

All the professions are overstocked; this, of course, includes the bar, the church, engineers and surveyors, &c. Private tutors, governesses, and anybody that can teach any thing would do remarkably well in the country.

I am not aware of there being any ladies' school in the island, a want much felt.

Artists are seldom met with. It seems strange that it does not occur to some enterprising publisher in England, to commission an artist, so as to reproduce in England some of the majestic views of the country. Those published by Dickenson and Co., New Bond Street, and one of Victoria, by Day and Son*, all which are very true and characteristic, are the only views I have seen. If it pays newspapers to depute special correspondents, seedsmen to employ collectors, &c., why should not art pay also? Let us hope that some of the talent so assiduously expended on the Cam and Isis may yet find a profitable vent abroad. Richmond is very beautiful, but rather confined and flat; it only wants the cascades in the foreground, and Mount Hood or Mount Browne glittering in the distance, to make a picture of it.

ments.

To capitalists these colonies offer the greatest induceAs a rule, the newer the colony the higher is the rate of interest, and the more numerous the openings for investment. For instance, a good brewery would succeed well, judging by the immense consump

Lithographers to the Queen, Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn.

tion of bottled ale and stout in the colony. Hops thrive remarkably well. Many of the productions of the country might be traded in with advantage; such as timber, salmon pickling, oils, bear's grease, large quills, hemp, porpoise leather, deer horns, skins, &c.

Money in Vancouver Island can be lent on good security, at rates ranging from 25 to 30 per cent. per annum; and the opportunities for investment are so varied, and the field so immense, that I should altogether exceed limits allotted in attempting to specify.

The admirable openings that exist for farmers with small capital in Vancouver Island and in British Columbia, will appear evident from a perusal of the foregoing pages.

Assisted by every circumstance which at home would be an encumbrance or an impediment, with a market close at hand, and high prices for every thing he can produce, the farmer's prospects are extremely promising; and, in consequence of the dearness of labour in every department, the larger his family the wealthier he is. There is nothing to deter a farmer in the fact that the extent of prairie land is small compared with that occupied by forest, lake, and mountain. At the present time there is abundance of open land in both colonies not taken up. If there is a preponderance of timbered and waste land, compared with land ready for the plough, this condition must make the latter all the more valuable, as population, and with it the demand for land, increases. So that, regarded in a self-interested light only, the less the good land the better for the farmer, provided he loses no time in taking advantage of the very liberal land regulations recently adopted; otherwise, every season of postpone

ment must inevitably, on his arrival, push him farther from the chief towns and settlements.

As the rates of labour are of course regulated by those of San Francisco, the annexed schedule, taken from the Mercantile Gazette, San Francisco, Jan. 4th, 1860, is here appended.

RATES OF LABOUR IN SAN FRANCISCO.

Blacksmiths, per diem