Vancouver 
t f 
INDIAN CANOE RACE ON EMPIRE DAY—VICTORIA 
coal, iron ore, gold and mercury. Any descrip¬ 
tion of an island that has been so little explored 
must be fragmentary, but its soil is very fertile and 
its fisheries are a wealth in themselves. This 
much can be readily seen by anyone who approaches 
the shores. 
One who has sailed from Seattle or Vancouver 
to Victoria, the provincial seat of government and 
largest city on this 
island, can never 
forget the beauty of 
the voyage nor the 
dignity of the ap¬ 
proach to the beau¬ 
tiful city of Victo¬ 
ria. I he harbor 
lies in front of the 
Parliament build¬ 
ings, and if the first 
sight of a place is an 
index to its beau¬ 
ties, Victoria will 
be pronounced by 
all travelers one of 
the most enchant¬ 
ing towns on the 
American conti- 
nent. The in¬ 
habitants of this 
beautiful city claim that with the multiplication of 
tributary interests in various parts of the island, it 
will become a large and wonderful depot for ship¬ 
building, the equal of Naples or Liverpool and 
full of life and charm. Whether this be so or not, 
it is the distributing point for the island, and a town 
which is already the real outlet to the Orient. 
Vancouver Island, owing to the Japan Current, 
enjoys one of the 
pleasantest cli¬ 
mates in North 
America and as a 
result, the flowers 
and vegetation are 
luxuriant. Victoria 
has become a great 
shipping place for 
flowers. Plant life 
thrives with aston¬ 
ishing vigor, and 
on near-by farms 
tulip beds have 
been started, which 
may sometime be¬ 
come as large as 
those in Holland. 
On the Southern 
portion of the 
island are grown 
Strawberries Grow to Immense Size on Vancouver Island 
They are Sold by the Pound 
3 
