VANCOUVER ISLAND 



6033 



VANDERBILT 



and has occasional level stretches to the south- 

 east. The summers on the island, because of the 

 Japan Current, are delightful. Indeed, there 

 is practically no winter in the southern part, in 

 the vicinity of Victoria, but in the northern and 

 western mountains the winters are often severe. 

 The Island's Resources. Scattered among the 

 mountain peaks are narrow, fertile valleys, 

 ble both for grazing and for planting. The 

 slopes of the mountains are covered with mag- 



LOCATION MAP 



Vancouver Island Is nearly as large as the 

 combined areas of New Hampshire and Ver- 

 mont, and nearly eight times as large as Prince 

 : d Island. 



nificent forests of fir and other cone-bearing 



I. Lumbering, which centers at Comox, is 

 chief industry, but mining is important. 

 Tin- Vancouver coal fields supply a large part 

 of the fuel used on the Pacific coast. Nanaimo 

 is the chief port of shipment for coal. Gold is 

 found in the rivers, and at one time placer min- 

 ing was the only industry on the island. About 

 1860, when this industry was at its height, the 

 annual yield was from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000, 

 nearly ninety per cent of the total output for 

 Canada; the only other province then yielding 



I was Nova Scotia. Copper is also abun- 

 dant, and has been steadily increasing in impor- 

 tance since 1900. The short, swift streams not 

 only bear gold but abound in fish, as do also 

 many pretty mountain lakes. Salmon, 

 herring and sturgeon are plentiful, and there is 

 also an abundance of big game. 



History. The island was discovered in 177) 

 by the Spanish explorer Quadra, but was not 



irnnavigated until 1792, when George Van- 

 couver gave it his namo. The United States 

 in i-land as well as the a<ij.i nt m.un- 



i. but surrendered its claims in 1S4G l>y the 



i'.oundary Treat ncnt 



was made in 1843 at Victoria, which is now tin 



378 



capital of British Columbia. Up to that time 

 the island had been visited only by the trap- 

 pers and traders of the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany, to whom the island belonged. In 1&19 

 Vancouver Island was made a British colony, 

 and in 1866 was united with the settlements on 

 the mainland to form the colony of British Co- 

 lumbia (which see). Victoria, Nanaimo, Al- 

 berai, a port on the Pacific side, Comox and 

 Esquimalt, the naval base, are the principal 

 settlements. There is daily ferry service to the 

 mainland, and a railroad runs from Victoria 

 northward to Alberni. 



Consult Newcombe's The First Circumnaviga- 

 tion of Vancouver Island. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 



the following articles in these volumes: 

 British Columbia Vancouver 



Esquimalt Vancouver, George 



Nanaimo Victoria 



VAN'DALS, a Germanic people who in the 

 early part of the Christian Era occupied 

 Northeast Germany, between the Oder and the 

 Vistula rivers. They spread into Silesia and 

 Pannonia during the Marcomannian wars, and 

 in 406 devastated Gaul and entered Spain, 

 fighting the Suevi and the Goths and Romans. 

 Under Genseric they invaded Africa in 429. 

 Genseric was small and lame, but was so cruel 

 and crafty that he was worshiped by his men 

 and held in terror by all others. Carthage be- 

 came the Vandal stronghold, and the Christians 

 were mercilessly persecuted. In 455 Genseric 

 sacked Rome. He abandoned the city to his 

 soldiers for two weeks, and they plundered and 

 ruined temples, works of art and beautiful 

 buildings. To-day those who wantonly engage 

 in devastation of this sort are called vandals. 

 The Vandal kingdom was overthrown in 534 by 

 Belisarius, a general of the Emperor Justinian. 

 See (ii 



VAN'DERBILT, the naiur of a family in the 

 Tinted States that for nearly one hundred years 

 has exercised a powerful influence upon busi- 

 ness and finance. The representatives of tin- 

 family named below arc its most important 

 in. nibers: 



Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), founder of 

 tin family fortune, was born near Stapl- 

 Staten Mand. V V. With little opportunity 

 for education, he became a ferry boy between 

 Staten Island and New York City at the age of 

 Ben; at eighteen he owned three forries 

 .ind it t\\< nty-one was the possessor of a large 

 fleet of harbor boats. By 1829 he had gain. -d 

 control of the stenin-f< ny industry about New 



