CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Prince Edward Island is poor in minerals, but 

 its waters are rich in fish cod, herring, mackerel, 

 and hake. The total value of the imports for 

 a year may amount to between ,400,000 and 

 ,500,000 ; of the exports, to 300,000. A railway 

 traverses the whole length of the island. The 

 capital, Charlottetown, on the east side of the 

 island, has about 12,000 inhabitants. The whole 

 population of the province in 1881 was 108,891. 

 Prince Edward Island became a province of the 

 Dominion of Canada only in 1873. 



British Columbia. 



This province comprises part of the North 

 American mainland, together with Vancouver's 

 Island. The former is situated in lat 49 55' 

 north, and long. 115 132 west; and measures 

 about 420 miles in length, by 300 miles in 

 breadth, its total area being estimated at 213,000 

 square miles. On the north, it is bounded by the 

 Simpson River ; on the east, by the Rocky Moun- 

 tains ; on the south, by the United States ; and 

 on the west, by the Pacific and Queen Charlotte 

 Sound. The adjacent island of Vancouver has an 

 area of about 1 8,000 square miles. Each of these 

 divisions formed an independent colony till 1866, 

 when both were united. In 1871, British Col- 

 umbia entered the Dominion of Canada. The 

 interior of the mainland i.e. the region between 

 the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range, 

 facing the Pacific is, on the whole, rugged 

 and lofty ; and though streams are numerous, 

 they do not serve the purposes of irrigation, 

 being often confined within deep ravines. The 

 principal river is the Fraser, which rises in 

 the north-east of the province, and maintains a 

 southerly course, till at Fort Hope it is bent 

 sharply to the right by a mountain barrier, and 

 flows west into the Gulf of Georgia, The sea- 

 board is singularly broken long and narrow inlets 

 of the Pacific running far into the land, forming 

 splendid harbours, and communicating by navi- 

 gable waters with the interior. Vancouver's Island 

 is also in the main a mountainous region, reaching 

 in Mount Arrowsmith an elevation of nearly 6000 

 feet, but possessing here and there, especially in 

 the east and south-east parts, open stretches of 

 fine grass-land. 



The best harbours on the mainland are Burrard 

 Inlet, on the Gulf of Georgia, a few miles from 

 New Westminster, and the chief port for the lum- 

 ber-trade ; Howe Sound, north of Burrard Inlet ; 

 Bute Inlet, still farther north ; and Millbank 

 Sound, which will become valuable as the gold 

 mines on the Peace River attract a population. In 

 Vancouver's Island may be mentioned Victoria 

 Harbour, which is narrow, intricate, and shoaly ; 

 Esquimault, the best harbour on the Pacific north 

 of San Francisco ; Nanaimo, in the neighbour- 

 hood of the coal-mines ; and Barclay Sound, 

 which is safe, but difficult of entrance. There are 

 considerable tracts of arable land in the province ; 

 but the pastures, which are almost endless, are 

 likely to prove more valuable. The forest-lands 

 are also of immense extent, and yield most valu- 

 able timber. The Douglas pine is almost universal 

 on the sea-coast, and up to the Cascade Range ; the 

 cedar, white-pine, and maple are found every- 

 where ; the Scotch fir, the willow, and cotton-wood 

 on the bottom lands. But the lumber-trade is only 



314 



beginning. Whales and seals abound off the 

 northern coasts ; sturgeon are plentiful in the rivers 

 and estuaries ; the salmon of the Fraser River are 

 famous over the American continent ; so are the 

 oulachans, small sprat-like fish, so full of oil, that, 

 it is said, they will burn like a candle. Cod, her- 

 ring, halibut, haddock, anchovies, &c. are caught 

 in great quantities. Of wild animals, the most 

 valuable are the black and silver fox, the sea-otter, 

 red fox, fur seal, marten, and beaver. Buffalo are 

 found on the plains, bears and goats on the moun- 

 tains, elk on the sea-coast, and deer on the islands. 

 The mineral resources of British Columbia are 

 great. Coal is found extensively in Vancouver's 

 Island ; while the mainland seems to possess inex- 

 haustible veins of gold. It is found everywhere, 

 from the frontier of the United States up to the 

 Simpson River, but is only beginning to be worked. 

 In 1 88 1, the value of the total yield of the mines 

 was about 300,000. Silver and copper are also 

 found in large quantities. The climate varies. In 

 Vancouver's Island, and on the coasts of the main- 

 land, it is moderate the temperature ranging 

 from 20 in winter to 80 in summer ; but in the 

 high interior it is more severe, though everywhere 

 healthy. The total value of the exports (mainly 

 skins and furs) from British Columbia to the 

 United Kingdom amounts to about 80,000 a 

 year, and of the imports from the same country to 

 somewhat more. British Columbia sends 6 repre- 

 sentatives to the imperial parliament at Ottawa. 



The North-west Territory. 



This territory, organised as part of the Dominion 

 of Canada in 1875, occupies most of the region 

 formerly known as the Hudson Bay Territory. 

 Originally limited to the districts drained by the 

 rivers falling into Hudson Bay, the Hudson Bay 

 Territory was, after the union of the Hudson Bay 

 and North-west Companies in 1821, held to com- 

 prehend the whole of British America, with the 

 exception of the settled provinces. But the organ- 

 isation of British Columbia in 1858, and again 

 of Manitoba in 1870, greatly restricted its area. 

 The remainder may be regarded as constituting 

 the North-west Territory, which extends from the 

 boundary of Ontario to the Rocky Mountains and 

 Alaska, and from the frontier line of the United 

 States on the south to the shores of the Arctic 

 Ocean in the north. In the north, vegetation 

 is scanty and stunted ; as we travel southward, 

 the pine-forests begin to appear, till in the southern 

 regions on both sides they become dense, with 

 open spaces of lake, morass, and prairie-ground. 

 The whole territory may be regarded as a vast 

 hunting-ground, occupied by buffaloes, musk-oxen, 

 deer, bears, wolves, foxes, beavers, lemmings, 

 ermines, and other fur-bearing animals the skins 

 of which constitute the principal value of the terri- 

 tory. The population consists chiefly of various 

 Indian tribes who roam over the interior ; and of 

 Esquimaux, inhabiting the northern and eastern 

 coasts. 



The Hudson Bay Company, which was char- 

 tered in 1670, was invested, not only with the 

 monopoly of the trade, but also with the abso- 

 lute proprietorship and government of a vast 

 but undefined territory. In honour of the king's 

 cousin, who was a leading member of the cor- 

 poration, the region was called Rupert's Land, 



