• 144 



waters of the mighty Mackenzie and Peace and their great tributaries, 

 as well as on the great inland seas of that great land, suitable steamboat 

 accommodation will present the necessary means of transport, and carry 

 to the outside world the rich harvests which ere long will be produced 

 from the boundless and fertile plains of that district. 



In British Columbia, the work of the last twenty years has made 

 us very familiar with the immense value of the coal fields of Vancouver 

 and with the inexhaustible forests wliich are found, not only in that 

 island, but at many points on the mainland. The mapping of many 

 of the gold fields of the interior has also been done, and the complicated 

 structure of the great Rocky Mountain chain worked out to a very 

 , large extent. The presence of mineral deposits in this region has been 

 established, which may be found before long, upon their development, 

 to equal in value those which have of late years enjoyed a woi-ld-wide 

 renown and which occur in the prolongation southward of this same 

 mighty i-ange among the western states and territories. Further to the 

 north, we now know well the value of the coal fields of the Queen 

 Charlotte group, and have a fair idea of the extent and resources of the 

 great territory traversed by the Yukon and other rivers, with many 

 facts relative to the distribution of the gold which is found in that sec- 

 tion and of its general geological conditions, further particulars of 

 which you will doubtless be privileged to hear during the present lecture 

 course from some of those who, from an intimate personal acquaintance 

 with this field, are best fitted to discuss the subject fully. 



In addition to all this work in the departments of geology and 

 mineralogy, the study of the flora and fauna of the country as a whole, 

 has been carried on at many points, extending from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, of all of which our knowledge is great and accurate, while, in 

 the kindred science of paleontology, a reference to the volumes issued 

 during the last fifteen years will serve to show what great strides have 

 also been made in this direction. This is particularly true in connection 

 with the great areas of cretaceous and other closely associated formations 

 which occupy such a wide extent throughout our North-west, 



As already stated, the particular history of any one of these fields 

 of investigation would furnish abundant material for a talk of hours 

 instead of minutes. It will, however, I trust, be apparent to all who 



