CHAPTEE XX. 



Nanalmo and San Juan — Resources of British Columbia and Van- 

 couver Island — Minerals — Timber — Abundance of Fisli — Different 

 Kinds of Salmon — The HooUcans, and the|Indian Method of Taking 

 them — Pasturage — The Bunch-grass — Its PecuHarities and Draw- 

 backs — Scarcity of Farming Land — Different Localities — Land in 

 Vancouver Island — Contrast between California and British Co- 

 lumbia — Gross Misrepresentations of the Latter — Necessity for 

 the Saskatchewan as an Agricultural Supplement — Advantages of 

 a Route across the Continent — The Americans before us — The 

 Difficulties less by the British Route — Communication with 

 China and Japan by this Line — The Shorter Distance — The Time 

 now come for the Fall of the Last Great Monopoly — The North- 

 West Passage by Sea, and that by Land— The Last News of Mr. 

 O'B. — Conclusion. 



After our return to Victoria we received a kind 

 invitation from Captain Lascelles to accompany him in 

 H.M. gunboat Fonvard on a cruise to San Juan and 

 Nanaimo. The cruise was most enjoyable ; we inspected 

 the coal-mines of the futm-e Newcastle of the Pacific, 

 and enjoyed most thoroughly the hospitality of 

 Captain Bazalgette and his ofiicers on the noted 

 island of San Juan. 



We had now seen a great portion of British 

 Columbia and Vancouver. We had travelled through 

 the former from Tete Jaune Cache by the Thompson 

 to the mouth of the Fraser, and again through the 

 heart of the country to Cariboo. We found the 

 country abounding in mineral wealth. The extent 



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