352 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



subside, and allow tliem to proceed to the diggings. 

 Amongst this immense assemblage of people — the 

 majority of them the most desperate and lawless of 

 the Californian rowdies — Governor Douglas, without 

 the aid of a single soldier or regular police-force, 

 preserved an order and security which contrasted 

 most forcibly with the state of things in San Francisco 

 and Sacramento under similar circumstances. The 

 city wore a very thriving aspect when we visited it, 

 and could already boast of several streets. The 

 whole traffic to and from British Columbia passing 

 through it, has rapidly enriched its merchants, 

 and handsome brick stores are fast replacing the 

 original wooden buildings. 



We had by no means relinquished our intention 

 of visiting Cariboo, although we had failed to reach 

 it by the direct route we had originally projected. 

 At Victoria we w^ere more than 500 miles distant ; 

 winter was fast approaching, and there was therefore 

 no time to be lost in setting out. We stole a day or 

 two, however, to introduce the friends we delighted 

 to honour — Mr. and Mrs. Assiniboine, and their 

 son — to the wonders of civilisation to be found 

 in Yictoria. To this end, we clothed them in 

 gorgeous apparel, seated them in a ''buggy " drawn 

 by a pair of fast-trotting horses, and mounting the 

 box ourselves, drove them in state to Esquimalt. 

 They sat inside with great gravity, occasionally 

 remarking on the difference between bowling 

 along a capital road at the rate we were going, 

 and advancing only two or three miles a day, by 

 hard labour, through the forest. Having shown 



