rapid, which, however, is no great obstacle, as, close to the shore, in the eddy, a canoe is easily towed past it; the fact being that the steamer "Umatilla" has plied between the points mentioned. And again, of certain Indians, "they all prefer their meat putrid, and frequently keep it until it smells so strong as to be disgusting. Part of the salmon they bury underground for two or three months to putrefy, and the more it is decayed, the greater delicacy they consider it."

I read this passage to the infinite amusement of a gentleman well acquainted with the part of the country to which it relates, and who had six times crossed the Rocky Mountains, without as much as hearing of anything of the sort.

It is impossible to do justice to this subject, without considering with it the nature and extent of our relations, commercial or otherwise, with the Foreign States adjacent. San Francisco is at present the great centre of commerce, and holds as it were the keys of the Pacific; despatching annually her mercantile fleet of 2000 sail, and 600,000 tons, to almost every port of importance in the world. Our principal trade is with her: Washington and Oregon supply our miners with beef and flour; Victoria is built principally with timber from Puget Sound; any spars of consequence that have as yet been shipped by English merchants were hewn in Admiralty Inlet; and the only communications, postal or otherwise, to the country are by American roads or in American steamers. And if it can be at the same time shown, as I think it can, that our natural advantages are in many respects, in point of situation and products, superior to those of California,

* Dugald M'Tavish, Esq.

this consideration may tend to increased exertion, and may prompt us to enter into friendly and not unsuccessful competition, to share the commerce which San Francisco now monopolises.

Although, as I before mentioned, in point of facts produced, these pages may, in part, be regarded as a compilation, instances will occur in which I shall have occasion to express unreservedly my own opinions; and as I write, not in an official capacity, but as a private individual, and in doing so violate no confidence, nor use any information to which the public could not have had access equally with myself, such opinions, if inconclusive or even injudicious, cannot do harm, since this hypothesis would deprive them of force, and since they are at best but the opinions of a unit of the community addressed to the mass.

The substance of some short despatches of my own, written to the secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company, I readily obtained permission from Mr. Thomas Fraser, the present secretary, to print; extracts from them appear in the Appendix.

In venturing to impugn the policy adopted towards these colonies at their foundation, years ago, now generally accepted and become almost hereditary, I disclaim any allusion to the talented gentlemen who preside over the Colonial Department, nor have I the least ambition to identify myself with a class which exists, I presume, in most colonies, who hold that rulers at a distance are necessarily imperfectly informed. On the contrary, I would be ungrateful as well as culpable, if I did not acknowledge the kind interest, as well as the intimate knowledge of circumstances and places in these colonies, manifested by all the gentlemen of the Colonial Department with whom I have had the

PUBLICATION NOT ILL-TIMED.

7

honour to converse. In one respect especially they stand on vantage ground: disinterested and aloof from petty animosities and party politics, their decisions are arrived at with a judgment unbiassed, and with conscientious impartiality.

Nor can it be said that these remarks are inopportune at a time when England, councilled by statesmen of unsurpassed ability, cannot but regard with concern the continued exodus of almost the whole natural increase of Ireland* (some 70,000 or 80,000 a year) to people, not her own colonies, but to swell the millions of the states adjacent, because they hold out to the emigrant facilities so obvious and inducements so inviting, as, in the opinion of these, to neutralize the benefit of living under the flag of Great Britain; when the necessity for quicker communication with Australia and China is every day more apparent; and, when want of population has more than once led the country to the verge of war, and plainly shown that in launching this new colonial adventure upon the waters of civilisation, measures should have been at the same time taken to man the vessel with a British crew.

In conclusion, I would merely observe, that the same reason that induces me to publish,-the scantiness of our information on the colonies in question,-compels me to make the publication short. No advantage can be gained by diluting the little reliable information we possess.

* Vide "Times' " leading article, May 3, 1860.

8

CHAP. II.

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.

SALT WATER AND FRESH WATER NAVIGATION. -PROPORTION OF OPEN AND WASTE LAND. FLORA. FERTILITY. -PROFITS OF CULTIVATION. -STOCK.- - TIMBER. MODE AND TERMS OF SALE OF LANDS.

FISHERIES.- GAME.

General Appearance.

STEAMING for the first time eastward into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the scene which presents itself to a stranger is exceedingly novel and interesting. On his right hand is Washington Territory, with its snowy mountain range stretching parallel to his course for sixty miles, flanked with Mount Ranier and culminating in the centre with Mount Olympus. Of these mountains the base is in some places at the coast, in others many miles from it. This range is occasionally intersected with deep and gloomy valleys, of which the Valley of Angels is the gloomiest and most remarkable; and every succession of cloud and sunshine changes the panorama. On his left is Vancouver Island, in contrast looking low, although even there as late as June some specks of snow may be detected on distant mountain tops. Straight before him is the Gulf of Georgia, studded with innumerable islands, which, to be seen to advantage, should be viewed toward evening, when, as is often the case, the sun is reflected from waters as smooth as those of an inland lake. the background is British Columbia, and furthest of all the Cascade Range, and glittering peaks of Mount

In

HARBOURS OF THE PACIFIC.

Baker. At first sight the whole country appears to be clothed with forest, for it is not until we travel inland that we ascertain that in the lowlands the pines take frequently the form of belts, enclosing rich valleys and open prairies, lawns in which oaks and maples, not pines, predominate; marshes covered with long coarse grass, and lakes fringed with flowering shrubs, willows, and poplars. Nor is the scene in the strait wanting in animation: vessels trading with the sound, steamers, canoes filled with painted Indians, enliven the picture, to say nothing of vast numbers of waterfowl, which awaken the echoes on every side.

Navigation.

It appears far from improbable that this strait will ultimately become the great commercial thoroughfare for the commerce of the North Pacific, and that Juan de Fuca, when he discovered it 260 years ago, was right in his conjecture that he had found the northwest passage. This idea is strengthened by an examination of the ports which lay between San Francisco and the strait. That this coast line, nearly 600 miles in length, should not possess a single respectable harbour is a very remarkable fact. Of these harbours so called a sample or two will suffice. Retracing our steps, Humbolt is the first harbour of importance north of San Francisco: so still the water, it looks like an inland lake, with a country in the back ground of exceeding beauty; but the entrance is guarded by a heavy swell extending for miles along the shore, and by foam and breakers reaching far to the west. I first visited it in 1851 in the steamer "Sea-Gull;" the steamer "Preble" was a short distance in advance. The passengers, from a dislike to salt water, or to avoid risk of