States temporarily disturbs the advance, the line of civilised settlers advances westward over the prairies. From our sparse settlement of the Red River draw a straight line south to the Gulf of Mexico, and it will mark where the tide of population is now creeping up like a flowing sea upon the solitudes of the Far West, where linger the vanishing remnants of the Red race, who once spread as lords and occupants over the whole continent. Like the last of the great mammoth bulls, which the Indian legends represent as defying the thunders of Manitou to the last, standing at bay on a summit of the Rocky Mountains, tossing the flaming thunderbolts from his massive front, and yet forced at length, discomfited but not subdued, to plunge and disappear in the waters of the Western Ocean,-not less unyielding is the nature, not less certain the ultimate fate, of the red tribes of the ever-narrowing prairies. Civilisation, at the rate of nine miles ayear, is marching against them from the east, wresting from them their hunting-fields, forcing them back towards the sandy desert and the rocky Cordillera; while beyond the mountains the ground is being occupied, and their retreat cut off, by the fringe of fast-growing settle ments of the pale-faces along the shores of the Pacific.

It is long since Balboa, "from a peak in Darien," first beheld the rolling expanse of the Pacific three centuries and a half have passed since the Spaniards began to settle on the western coast of America, beyond the Andes and the Rocky Mountains; but it is but as yesterday that the shores of the Pacific have been reached in their westward march by the AngloSaxons. Hardly a dozen years have elapsed since the rush of goldseekers first began to redeem from utter solitude the coast of California, and to erect a civilised state on the western slopes of the Cordillera. Not long before then, the British race had reached the out

skirts of the Pacific Ocean from the other side of the world. Australia and New Zealand are the great outposts of our power, the solid bulwarks of our advance in the Southern Pacific; while, further north, from Hong Kong, from the coal island of Labuan, and from the new settlements in Borneo, we now begin to invade the very haunts of primeval nature in the Indian Archipelago. British Columbia, in the temperate regions of the North Pacific, now completes our leaguer of that virgin ocean. From the east and from the west alike, we have reached and settled upon the opposite shores of the Pacific; and before the present century be ended, we shall see those two different streams of Anglo-Saxon migration meeting, and forming new and important relationships on the shores and islands of that ocean which, last discovered, seems destined to witness the crowning achievements of the adventurous British race.

Only five years have elapsed since the discovery of gold mines on the Fraser River (in 1858) first began to raise Victoria, now the capital of Vancouver Island, from an unimportant station of the Hudson Bay Company, into a flourishing commercial town. Then it was that the British territory beyond the Rocky Mountains was taken from the jurisdiction of the Hudson Bay Company, and formed into a colony, by the statesmanlike foresight and able superintendence of Sir E. B. Lytton, then Colonial Minister. That was a wise step in every respect. The discovery of the gold deposits was attracting a medley throng of not very scrupu lous immigrants, whose influx rendered necessary an efficient executive, in order to prevent the colony from falling into anarchy. A moderately strong government was called for to prevent any mischievous attempts at annexation" on the part of the American immigrants from Oregon and California. It was needed also to assist and direct the nascent energies of the

colony in the course best suited to secure for it the prosperous future to which its advantages of position and resources entitle it to aspire. The aspect of Vancouver Island, as the emigrant approaches it from the sea, is not very inviting in a utilitarian point of view. The is land, which is 270 miles long, by 40 to 70 in breadth, consists of a mass of rounded, and in some parts rocky hills, densely covered with sombre forests of pine. The native Indians say that there are level tracts in the interior, and also a line of water communication (somewhat resembling the Caledonian Canal) right through the island; but so far as has yet been ascertained by actual survey, it is at the southern end of the island, around Victoria, that the chief portion of comparatively level land is to be found. There the soil is unquestionably good, and well repays the cultivator. But it is its harbours, its favourable position for maritime commerce, and its mineral wealth, which constitute the peculiar value of the island. Coal-mines of considerable extent and fair quality have already begun to be worked at Nanaimo, not far from Victoria; and it is believed that this invaluable mineral is to be found in various other parts of the island. Rich mines of copper have also been found; and the presence of iron has also been noticed, although it is impossible as yet to say to what extent this metal exists in a state that will repay the cost of extraction. Another native production, which will for a long time to come be valuable to the colony, is the timber, which supplies abundant store of fuel, and furnishes the finest material for masts and for building purposes. There is a good deal of oak also, but for the most part of a stunted kind. The natural harbour of Victoria is not first-rate, and cannot at present admit ships which draw more than seventeen feet of water; but three miles off, at Esquimalt, there is the finest natural harbour on the whole

American coast of the Pacific, from Behring's Straits to Cape Horn. At present, and without the slightest artificial improvement, ships of the heaviest tonnage can unload close to the rocks. "Esquimalt," says Captain Barrett-Lennard, himself a sailor, "possesses a splendid harbour-consisting, properly speaking, of two harbours, each of which is capable of receiving vessels of the largest tonnage, even to the Great Eastern herself. A whole fleet might here find secure anchorage." It is now the station of the Pacific squadron; and, as Dr Rattray, R.N., suggests, it might be made, with great advantage to the service, the sanatorium of our squadron in the China seas. Indeed, there is much to be said in favour of making Esquimalt the headquarters of both sections of the fleet which we maintain in the Pacific; and probably it will become so as soon as a direct overland communication is established between Canada and British Columbia. It is also the best station for whalers in the North Pacific, being much nearer their scene of operations than San Francisco, whither they at present resort. Rich fisheries of cod, herring, &c., exist along the coasts and in the seas adjoining the island, which ere long will furnish valuable produce for export.

Sailing through the Strait of Fuca, and winding in a semicircle round the southern end of Vancouver Island for two hundred miles, we find ourselves in the Gulf of Georgia (as the arm of the sea is called which lies between the island and the mainland of British Columbia), opposite the mouth of the Fraser River; and proceeding fifteen miles up the river, we arrive at New Westminster, the capital of British Columbia, occupying a commanding and well-chosen position on the north bank. Steaming seventy-two miles further up the river, we come to the town of Hope, and fifteen miles beyond that to Yale, which is the terminus of the steamboat navigation; for im

mediately above that town the river has to force a passage through the low mountain range which skirts the coast, and between which and the Rocky Mountains lies the basin of the Fraser River and its tributaries. This basin is called the "Upper Fraser" (the "Lower Fraser" being the shorter portion of the river which reaches from Yale downwards), constituting the northern portion of the province, and containing the great pastoral and agricultural portion of British Columbia. Another district which affords scope for agriculture and pasturage lies in the south-eastern part of the province, around the upper waters of the Columbia or Oregon River-the subsequent course of which stream is through American territory.

The great attraction of British Columbia at present, we need hardly say, is its gold and silver mines the former of which are probably the most valuable in the world. The famous "Cariboo Diggings" are four hundred miles up the Fraser River; and as there are few roads, even of the rudest kind, yet made, and the track lies through a densely wooded country and over the rocky heights of the coast range, they are all but inaccessible to the majority of emigrants. A perfect rush of immigrants took place from California in 1848, when gold was first discovered in the Fraser River; San Francisco, we are told, appeared almost deserted; but the greater part of those immigrants rushed back again almost as fast as they came. It was not that gold was scarce on the contrary, every year richer diggings are being found; but there was no means of transit, and provisions, even though selling at exorbitant prices, were hardly procurable. These obstructions to the working of the gold-fields continue in formidable force at the present time. The price of labour is so high, and the force at the disposal of the executive is so small, that road-making can only proceed at a

slow pace. Provisions too, although no longer at an exorbitant price at Victoria, are still exceedingly scarce and excessively dear in all the region of the "Upper Fraser," so that the small capital of the emigrant is often exhausted before he can fairly begin work at the diggings. Those difficulties it is, and not the climate or any deficiency of the mines, which have driven away so many intending settlers, and given rise to so many bitter complaints.

The question of climate and soil, in regard to Vancouver Island and British Columbia, is one of the first importance; and it is also one upon which a remarkable diversity of opinion has been recently expressed. Within the last few months no less than three books have been published on British Columbia-one by Mr Macdonald, late of the Government Survey Staff of that colony; another by Dr Rattray, R.N., who dates his preface from Esquimalt, the station of our Pacific squadron; and the third by Captain Barrett-Lennard, who made a yacht voyage round Vancouver Island, and thereafter journeyed to Cariboo. The first of these gentlemen, who must have ample personal experience, but who gives no statistics, pours out an anathema against the whole region, and warns every intending settler to betake himself elsewhere. Dr Rattray, on the other hand, speaks highly of the climate of both colonies, and, while pointing out the small extent of arable land in Vancouver Island, speaks confidently of the pastoral and agricultural resources of British Columbia. Captain Barrett-Lennard expresses similar opinions. "In the interior of British Columbia," he says, " are vast tracts of great fertility, capable of conversion into the finest agricultural and pastoral lands.

There are extensive open districts of the finest grazing land imaginable, capable of supporting innumerable herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. . . . The climate is remarkably healthy and bracing, and the air pure. As we advance into the interior, we find

the cold, during winter, increase in intensity; at the same time the climate is less moist, and less subject to sudden and frequent changes than on the coast. This being the case, it will naturally be inferred that, with a corresponding excellence of soil, any of the ordinary household vegetables grown in England may be raised here. That this is the actual fact I can testify from personal experience." These remarks apply to British Columbia, the climate of which is inferior to that of Vancouver Island; but speaking of the climate of both colonies, he says, "The extremes of heat and cold are seldom felt to be at all inconvenient; and there are, I apprehend, few parts of the world in which the Englishman will find a climate more resembling his own." Dr Rattray, who gives tables of elaborate statistics, says that the climate is fully equal to that of the south of England, and that the health of our crews on the station is even better than at home. The mean annual temperature of Victoria is a shade higher than that of New York, ten degrees higher than that of Quebec, and seven degrees higher than that of Toronto. The climate of Vancouver Island, moreover, is remarkably agreeable, and is totally exempt from the extremes of heat and cold which characterise that of Canada. As Dr Rattray's opinion carries weight from his professional position in the colony, and is substantiated by irrefragable statistics, as well as by the independent testimony of Captain Barrett-Lennard, we cannot but accept it as the true statement of the case, and must dismiss Mr Macdonald's as thoroughly unreliable.

The size of Vancouver Island is only one-fourth that of England and Wales, but the adjoining territory of British Columbia is nearly twice as large as the United Kingdom: so that those sister colonies (which it would be well to unite into one) are together fully twice the size of the British Isles. In climate, as

we have seen, they closely resemble the British Isles; like the mother country, also, they are unusually rich in minerals; and in almost every respect they occupy the same position on the western side of the New World, as England does on the western side of the Old. The chief obstacle which obstructs the rapid growth of these new colonies is their great distance from England and the other countries from which settlers may be expected to come. It is farther from England to British Columbia by Cape Horn, than it is from England to Hong-Kong by the Cape of Good Hope. It is this farthest route which regulates the accessibility of the colony, for the only shorter one at present in use (across the Isthmus of Panama) is considerably more expensive. What is wanted-what is indispensable to the growth of our colonies on the Pacific, and their continuance in allegiance to the British Government-is an overland route from the Canadas. When speaking on this subject a year ago, Sir E. B. Lytton stated that, had he continued in office, it was his intention to have formed new settlements in the region between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains, where as yet the Red River Settlement stands alone. These settlements would have been the piers, as it were, of a line of communication bridging over the vast solitudes which now separate Western Canada from British Columbia, and binding together all our North American provinces, from the mouth of the St Lawrence to the shores of the Pacific. How advantageous such a line of communication, however imperfectly constructed, would be to British Columbia, will be evident from the fact, that a Mr Lawrin, an old Californian miner, speaking from personal experience, in 1858, stated that he could travel all the way from St Paul, on the Mississippi, by the Red River and Saskatchewan, across the Rocky Mountains, by the Leather Pass, to the Cariboo diggings, for less money than an emi

grant would have to spend in reaching the same place from the mouth of the Fraser River!

That an overland line of communication will be established, and speedily, between Canada and British Columbia, there can be no doubt the only question is, What degree of efficiency and substantiality is this line of communication to assume? Is the great project of an interoceanic railway, uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a route through British America, to be accomplished? or, from Lake Superior westwards, is there only to be an established track, with stations at intervals (caravanserais, in short), where travelling parties may rest and replenish their stores A glance at the map will show that, great as is the breadth of America at this point, the geographical facilities for establishing an interoceanic communication are at least as great. From Halifax on the Atlantic, to Victoria on the Pacific, the distance is 2500 miles. Over one-half of this distance, from the Atlantic to the head of Lake Superior, the chain of the Lakes and the St Lawrence affords a line of watercommunication not only unparalleled, but unapproached in vastness and excellence by any in the world. For the last dozen years, sea-going vessels have been able to sail from any point on Lakes Huron and Michigan downwards to the Atlantic; and not seldom within that period have vessels sailed from Chicago direct to Liverpool, without ever breaking bulk. Now that the obstacle presented by the rapids of the Sault St Marie, at the eastern outlet of Lake Superior, have been obviated by a canal, large sea-going vessels may sail from the very heart of the American continent to any part of the world. Steamers already ply on Lake Superior-an inland sea, four hundred miles in length by a hundred and fifty in breadth; and every year the line of the lakes and St Lawrence is becoming of more importance to the American States

which already stretch beyond the further extremity of Lake Superior. The Grand Trunk Railway, which already extends to the western limits of Canada, and affords a rapid communication between Portland and the eastern shores of Lake Huron, affords another magnificent highway from the Atlantic towards the heart of the continent; although its further progress westwards is likely to be slow. This great railway, or rather a continuation of it, at its eastern extremity, passes through American territory,-its Atlantic terminus being Portland, in the State of Maine. As the navigation of the Gulf of St Lawrence is impracticable during the winter months, the line of steamers subsidised (to the amount of £104,000 a-year) by the Canadian Government to ply between Galway and Quebec, has to sail to this American port during winter. This is an unsatisfactory arrangement, and we are glad to hear that it is about to be superseded by a better one. A new line of railway (called the Intercolonial Railway) is about to be constructed from Canada to the Atlantic, which shall run entirely through British territority, and shall have its terminus at Halifax; and as soon as it shall be completed, the Canadian line of steamers will run to Halifax all the year round, instead of alternately to Portland and Quebec. With the view of aiding the British Provinces in the formation of this new line of communication with the mother country, it is reported that the British Government has resolved to relieve the Canadian Government to the extent of four-fifths (£84,000) of the postal subsidy which it pays to the line of steamers; and also promise that, as soon as the Intercolonial Railway is completed, they will pay the entire subsidy. Canada is well satisfied with this arrangement; for as soon as the new scheme comes into effect, she will secure an annual saving of £84,000, which will not only pay her proportion of the interest on the cost of