THE HAIDAII INDIANS OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE S ISLANDS. 



QUEEN CHARLOTTE S ISLANDS are a group in the Pacific Ocean, lying off the 

 northwest coast of North America about seventy-five miles northwest of Vancouver s 

 Island, between latitude 51 30 and 54 20 north, and at a distance from the 

 mainland varying from one hundred miles at their southern extremity to about 

 sixty miles at the northern portion of the group. 



They were first discovered by Captain Cook, R. N., in the year 1776, and it is 

 said that he landed on the most northerly portion near a spot now known as Cook s 

 Inlet. Captain Juan Perez, a Spanish navigator, had sighted this land two years 

 previously, but it was not taken formal possession of by either the English or 

 Spanish until 1787, when Captain Dixon took possession in the name of King 

 George the Third, and named the group after the consort of the King, &quot;Queen 

 Charlotte s Islands.&quot; 



These Islands form together a healthy picturesque territory, rich in natural 

 resources, and well adapted to colonization. Nevertheless, for the space of nearly 

 a century no attempt has been made by the English to colonize them. There they 

 lie waste and fallow, yet marvellously productive, and awaiting nothing but capital, 

 enterprise, and skill to return manifold profit to those who will develop their 

 resources. 



The names of this group are North, Graham s, Moresby s, and Prcvost. 



Graham s and Moresby s Islands are the largest, and constitute at least 95 per 

 cent, of the whole area of the group. 



North and Prevost Islands, one at the extreme northwest, and the other at the 

 extreme southeast of the group, are quite small, being only a few miles in area. 



There are a great number of small islands and islets around the main group, 

 particularly on the eastern side. Some of these islets are of considerable extent, 

 but are of minor importance when compared with the main group. 



The general direction of Queen Charlotte s Islands is northwest and southeast, 

 following the general outline of the coast in that region of the continent. 



The widest portion is at the northern end of Graham s Island, a little north of 

 the 54 parallel, and measures, from Cape Fife on the east, to Cape Knox on the 

 west, about sixty nautical miles. 



From the 54 parallel the group narrows towards its southern extremity till it is 

 reduced, at Prevost Island, to about one mile. 



May, 1874. J 



