NAVAL STATION OF ESQUIMALT. 168 



doors and window-frames. A writer in the Overland Monthly, soon after the event, put 

 the matter forcibly when recalling the great earthquake of Lisbon. He said, " Over the 

 parts of the city where ships anchored twenty years ago, they may anchor again/'' for 

 the worst effects were confined to the "made" ground i.e., land reclaimed from the 

 Bay. Dwellings on the rocky hills were scarcely injured at all, reminding us of the 

 relative fates of the man " who built his house upon a rock" and of him who placed 

 it on the sand. Four persons only were killed on that occasion, all of them from the 

 fall of badly-constructed walls, loose parapets, &c. The alarm in the city was great; 

 excited people rushing wildly through the streets, and frightened horses running through 

 the crowds. 



California possesses other ports of importance, but as regards English naval interests 

 in the Pacific, Esquimalt, Vancouver Island, B.C., which has a fine land-locked harbour of 

 deep- water, dock, and naval hospital, deserves the notice of the reader. It is often the 

 rendezvous for seven or eight of H.M/s vessels, from the admiral's flag-ship to the tiniest 

 steam gun-boat. Victoria, the capital, is three miles off, and has a pretty little harbour 

 itself, not, however, adapted for large vessels. Formerly the colonies of Vancouver Island 

 and British Columbia, the mainland, were separate and distinct colonies ; they are now 

 identified under the latter name. Their value never warranted the full paraphernalia of a 

 double colonial government two governors, colonial secretaries, treasurers, attorney-generals, 

 &c., &c. ; for these countries, charming and interesting to the tourist and artist, will only 

 attract population slowly. The resources of British Columbia in gold, timber, coal, fisheries, 

 &c., are considerable; but the long winters on the mainland, and the small quantity of 

 open land, are great drawbacks. Approaching Vancouver Island from the sea, the " inside 

 channel " is entered through the grand opening to the Straits of Fuca, which Cook missed 

 and Vancouver discovered. To the eastward are the rocks and light of Cape Flattery, 

 while the rather low termination of Vancouver Island, thick with timber, is seen to the 

 westward. The scene in the Straits is often lively with steamers and shipping, great men- 

 of-war, sometimes of foreign nationalities; coast packet-boats proceeding not merely to 

 Vancouver Island, but to the ports of Washington Territory, on the American side ; timber 

 (called " lumber " always on that side of the world) vessels ; colliers proceeding to Nanaimo 

 or Bellingham Bay to the coal-mines ; coasting and trading schooners ; and Indian canoes, 

 some of them big enough to accommodate sixty or more persons, and carrying a good 

 amount of sail. The Straits have many beauties; and as, approaching the entrance of 

 Esquimalt Harbour, the Olympian range of mountains, snow-covered and rugged, loom 

 in the distance, the scene is grandly beautiful; while in the channel, rocky islets and 

 islands, covered with pine and arbutus, abound. Outside the Straits two lighthouses are 

 placed, to warn the unwary voyager by night. Often those lighthouses may be noted 

 apparently upside down ! Mirage is common enough in the Straits of Fuca. 



Victoria, in 1862, had at least 12,000 or 15,000 people, mostly drawn thither by 

 the fame of the Cariboo mines, on the mainland of British Columbia. Not twenty per 

 cent, ever reached those mines. When ships arrived in the autumn, it was utterly 

 useless to attempt the long journey of about 600 miles, partly by steamer, but two- 

 thirds of which must be accomplished on foot or horseback, or often mule-back, over 



