278 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



aware of the existence of the coal long before any 

 white man had discovered indications of its presence ; 

 and how Dunsmuir, now past the prime of life, with 

 his pick and a companion, had commenced a search 

 for fresh proofs of the seam ; how the companion lost 

 hope and patience, and gave up, just before Dunsmuir, 

 under the roots of a fallen tree, found accidentally 

 what he sought, of which discovery many different 

 semi-sensational tales are related; how from small 

 beginnings, with a mule-truck and a line of wooden 

 rails, coal of the best quality was shipped in a schooner 

 to Victoria, then a smaller town than it is now, and 

 peddled for house use. From this homely commence- 

 ment, with pecuniary assistance from the right 

 quarter, grew up the costly and remunerative enter- 

 prise which has made Departure Bay, Nanaimo, the 

 coaling station on British soil for most of the North 

 Pacific Ocean steamers, and turned the once needy 

 prospector into a millionaire, the exact amount of 

 whose wealth is unknown even to himself. He is 

 now the uncrowned king of Vancouver's Island. 



The owner and captain of the steamer was a fair 

 example of an eager, enterprising Scotchman, steadily 

 and gradually amassing money in one of our British 

 colonies. 



Like most traders in a country where timber is 

 plentiful and cheap, he had on more than one 

 occasion been " burnt out," but had been enabled 

 each time to make a fresh start. He had filled 

 different positions in connection with the mines, and 



