THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Sept. 1, 18G5. 
52 NATURAL CAPABILITIES OF 
interior, thread tlieir way through the heart of the range, are confined 
in narrow, precipitous passes, or " canons," through which they rush at 
prodigious velocities on their passage to the sea. So that, dismissing 
from consideration the small fertile patches in the river bottoms, which 
are so contracted and thickly- timbered as to be of little avail for pur- 
poses of cultivation, the whole of this great belt under discussion, the 
Fraser estuary alone excepted, can only be regarded— from its inaccessi- 
bility, and its mountainous and forest-bound character — as an inhos- 
pitable wilderness, practically unsuited to purposes of agricultural 
settlement. Its mineral resources (and the region is not wanting in 
indications of vast metalliferous wealth), have yet to be explored. But, 
although comparatively valueless at present to the white settler, aud, in 
fact, almost altogether unoccupied by him, except in its southern 
extremity, this mountainous belt is not without its substantial attractions 
to the native Indian. Many varieties of furred animals haunt its vast 
forests, and are hunted and trapped in the winter months for the sake 
of their skins and their meat. Indeed, the furs taken in the northern 
part of the Cascade range are of the most valuable kinds, and the 
hunters find a profitable market for them at the various ports and 
trading stations along the coast. Besides these, countless varieties of 
fish and water-fowl frequent the rivers and highland lakes, and furnish 
the Indian with both summer and winter food ; beavers valuable also 
for the sake of their skins, abound at high altitudes in the swamps, and 
wholesome berries and wild fruits grow in great profusion in the valleys 
and river bottoms. 
Emerging from this cheerless tract of mountain and forest, the 
traveller enters the second or midland belt, stretching from the southern 
bounds of the colony to the 54th parallel, and inland to a mean distance 
of about ] 10 miles from the eastern limits of the Cascade range, and 
comprising an area of at least 45,000 square miles. The region thus 
defined, exhibits a marked contrast to the coast district in its scenery 
and physical aspect. It may be described in general terms as a lofty, 
undulating table-land, traversed by numerous low ranges of hills, 
which enclose broad, well watered, and not unfertile valleys. 
A group of rivers in the extreme south flow across the border 
towards the Columbia, but the Fraser is the main artery which receives 
nearly all the streams that drain the central and northern portions. 
Besides the main stream, many of the largest of its tributaries, such as 
the Chilcotin, the Thompson, the West River, and the Quesnelle, flow 
in deep valleys and chasms, far below the general level of the table- 
lands. All these rivers are beset by a constant succession of rapids, 
shoals, and waterfalls, and are, therefore (with the single exception of 
the Fraser), wholly unnavigable ; and they exhibit throughout their 
course river scenery of the grandest description. But the brooks and 
smaller rivers, which traverse the more elevated portions of the plateau, 
are entirely different in character, winding sluggishly, at high altitudes, 
