166 THROUGH CANADA 



projected to run along its banks towards Prince 

 Rupert and also intersects Bulkley Valley, which has 

 pasture land round Aldermere Lake of a light nature, 

 good for vegetables and fruit. Other parts of this 

 extensive valley contain resources for industry that in 

 the near future will be developed. 



Vancouver Island possesses all the natural 

 resources in more or less degree that are distributed 

 over the entire province. These include coal mining, 

 copper smelting, quartz mining, lumbering, fishing, 

 and such like. The railway of the Esquimalt and 

 Nanaimo Co. runs from Victoria to Wellington 

 through scenery as rich in beauty as in intrinsic 

 worth. The Canadian Northern Railway, already on 

 its way to British Columbia, has included amongst 

 its extension a track through the island. 



The agricultural regions are so thickly timbered 

 that the railway company has arranged for the 

 clearing of large tracks. The island is eminently 

 adapted for the growing of grain, vegetables and the 

 choicest fruits. The latter flourish best in the south. 

 In Vancouver and some of the smaller islands 

 extensive deposits of iron have been discovered. The 

 largest quantities contained in the province are found 

 there, and the ore is said to be entirely free from 

 sulphur and phosphorus. 



The Comox district occupies the northern 

 territory of Vancouver, as well as a part of the main- 

 land. There is a stretch of thirty-five miles of fine 



