growth of wheat. The land that Mr. Davidson has pre-empted has produced excellent crops, a small patch of less than half an acre has returned twenty bushels of wheat, and the turnips and cabbages would be considered fine in any country. Mr. Davidson owns several head of cattle, a yoke of oxen, waggon, and other agricultural implements. Finding his experiments so successful, he is preparing to farm next year more extensively, and is anxious to purchase land in addition to his pre-emption claim. Several white men and Indians are at present in his employ. A substantial and commodious log-house has been built, and farm buildings are in process of erection. The price of vegetables on the ground has ranged from 20 cents a lb. to 12, onions excepted, which have never been sold for less than 50 cents a lb. Several of the hills that enclose the valley of William's Lake are covered with pasture of the finest description, and in the valley and on the slopes are hundreds of acres of prairie that would repay the labour of the agriculturist. The timber on these hills principally consists of Douglas pine, larch, fir, and balsam; the larger trees make useful lumber, free from knots. Since the Governor resided in this district, the weather, during the early part of September was unsettled, but it had been exceedingly fine from the middle of that month till November; when latterly the frosts had been sharp at night, but the thermometer in his tent ranged between 60° and 70° during the middle of the day. The Governor had been enabled from the central position of this spot to transact a good deal of business with miners and traders returning from the upper country. The Indians around here seem well disposed; some work well and readily, and are very intelligent, and would be, it was thought, susceptible of the influences of civilization; others, on the contrary, are extremely indolent, and neglect providing against the wants of to-morrow if supplied with food for to-day. As there has been a dearth of salmon this summer, it was much feared they will suffer severely this winter; the greater number talk of wintering on the Thompson River and at Cayoosh. The Governor received intelligence from Hope and Yale up to the 29th of November. The Gold Commissioners reported that the weather had been so far most favourable for mining operations, and that nearly all the miners in those districts had built comfortable houses, where they intend to remain for the winter. Some miners from the Caribœuf country had lately arrived at Hope with very fine specimens of lump gold worth from 17. to 81. a piece; their object being to remain at Hope until the winter is over, when they propose returning to their distant mining claims. The miners at Shimilkomeen were making fair wages, varying from 30s. to 60s. a day to the man; and there was a sufficient stock of food in that part of the country to last till spring. In consequence of the number of new steamboats which have been lately built here and commenced running on Fraser River, the charge for freights from this place to Hope has fallen to 20s. a ton, being a reduction of 300 per cent. on the former rates of transport.

In July, 1861, Governor Douglas continued the description of the country since his departure from Lytton.

Leaving that place he travelled for thirty-five miles along the banks of Thompson's River by a good horse road lately made at a trifling cost, and successively visited the Buonaparte and Hat Rivers, and the Pavilion, where he fell upon the Fraser, and followed it downwards to Cayoosh. The district comprehended within those limits is exceedingly beautiful and picturesque, being composed of a succession of hills and valleys, lakes and

rivers, exhibiting to the traveller accustomed to the endless forests of the coast districts, the unusual and grateful spectacle of miles of green hills, curving slopes, and level meadows, almost without a bush or tree to obstruct the view, and even to the very hill-tops producing an abundant growth of grass. It is of great value as a grazing district, a circumstance which appears to be thoroughly understood and appreciated by the country packers, who are in the habit of leaving their mules and horses here when the regular work of packing goods to the mines is suspended for the winter. The animals, even at that season, are said to improve in condition, though left to seek their own food, and to roam at large over the country, a fact which speaks volumes in favour of the climate and of the natural pastures. It has certainly never been the Governor's good fortune to visit a country more pleasing to the eye, or possessing a more healthy and agreeable climate, or a greater extent of fine pasture land; and there is no doubt that with a smaller amount of labour and outlay than in almost any other colony, the energetic settler may soon surround himself with all the elements of affluence and comfort.

Notwithstanding these advantages, such have hitherto been the difficulties of access, that the course of regular settlement has hardly yet commenced. The cold is never severe; the greatest depth of snow in 1859 was twelve inches, and the following winter it did not exceed six inches. Ploughing commences about the middle of March. The summers are generally dry, and Mr. Reynolds was of opinion that irrigation will be found an indispensable application in the process of husbandry in this district. In the dry summer of 1859 he kept water almost constantly running through his fields; but applied it only twice during the summer of 1860, when the moisture of the atmosphere proved otherwise sufficient for the crops.

The numerous streams which permeate the valleys of this district afford admirable facilities for inexpensive irrigation; so bountiful indeed has nature been in this respect, that it is hardly an exaggeration to say that there is a watercourse or rivulet for every moderate-sized farm that will be opened in the district. A few successful experiments in husbandry will give confidence, and add to the number of the farming class, which continues to be in a lamentable minority in every part of the colony, even in districts where one would suppose mining to be a less profitable pursuit than the cultivation of the soil.

The mining districts of Thompson's River, and of the Fraser below the Pavilion, have been almost abandoned by the white miners of the colony, who have been generally carried away by the prevailing excitement to the Caribou and Antler Creek mines; and their claims are now occupied by Chinamen and native Indians, the latter especially exhibiting an unwonted degree of activity in mining. Their daily earnings sometimes reach the large sum of two pounds sterling, and never fall short of eight shillings, so that they are becoming exceedingly valuable to the colony, both as producers and as a tax-paying population. The Governor, in fact, ascertained from the official returns of Yale, that thirty per cent. of the amount of roads' tolls was levied directly on the goods of Indians leaving that place; and from their numbers and habits it may be fairly assumed that forty per cent. of the whole revenue collectively accruing from tolls and customs falls on them.

The mines on Tranquille River have lately attracted much attention, in consequence of quantities of coarse gold having been found in pieces

weighing as much as three quarters of an ounce; and the discovery of a stratum of auriferous earth, in mining phrase " pay dirt," from three to four feet in thickness, at a much higher level than the present bed of the river, which until then was supposed to be the exclusive depository of gold. This circumstance has given a new direction to the industry of the place, the miners having less faith in surface diggings, and being generally impressed with the advantage of deeper sinkings, which may probably reveal, as was the case in the gold fields of Victoria, greater wealth than has yet been found; and this, in the Governor's opinion, is simply a question of time

There are extensive flats or holmes in the valley of the Thompson that give a large return of gold; but being above the river, they cannot be worked to much advantage until water from a higher level than can be applied to sluicing is brought into play. Several smooth water-worn nuggets, weighing as much as two ounces, have been found on the Thompson below Lake Kamloops; and diggings have been lately discovered on three of the affluents of North River (north branch of the Thompson). The streams flowing from the eastward into Okanagan Lake are also reported to be highly productive of gold-facts, which all tend to support the theory alluded to in the Governor's despatch of the 4th of June last, regarding the existence of a vast auriferous ridge or water-shed, extending from Rock Creek to Fort George, and dividing the Columbia from the waters of Fraser River.

In September 1861, the Governor informed the Duke of Newcastle that there was a continuous exodus of the mining population from their respective districts towards the "Cariboo.”

The most extraordinary accounts of the wealth of that gold-field are received by every succeeding steamer from British Columbia; and those accounts are confirmed by letters from the merchants and traders of the district, and by fortunate adventurers who have realized, by a few weeks' labour, their thousands of dollars. It would in fact appear that Cariboo is at least equal, in point of auriferous wealth, to the best parts of California; and it is believed the gold deposits of British Columbia will be found to be distributed over a far more extensive space. The Governor was unable to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion as to the average daily earnings of miners in the Cariboo country, but some idea may be formed of the large sums realized, from the fact that 195 ounces of gold were taken in one day out of a single mining claim; while ordinary claims yield as much as forty and fifty dollars a day to the man: but perhaps the most telling circumstance is the high price of labour, which has attained to the extraordinary sum of ten dollars a day; and any number of men may find employment at that rate of pay. The Cariboo gold district was discovered by a fine athletic young man of the name of McDonnell, a native of the island of Cape Breton, of mixed French and Scotch descent, combining, in his personal appearance and character, the courage, activity, and remarkable powers of endurance of both races. His health has suffered from three years' constant exposure and privation, which induced him to repair, with his well-earned wealth, to this colony for medical assistance. His verbal report was interesting, and conveys the idea of an almost exhaustless gold field, extending through the quartz and slate formations, in a northerly direction from Cariboo Lake. The following well-attested instances of successful mining at Cariboo may prove interesting, and will probably convey

to her Majesty's Government a more precise idea of the value and real character of this gold-field than any mere generalizations.

John McArthur and Thomas Phillips arrived here from Cariboo on the 17th of August last, with 9,000 dollars worth of gold-dust in their possession, being the fruits of three months' residence at the mines. They arrived there on the 1st day of May, and left again on the 1st day of August, having previously sold their mining claim at a high price to other persons. Their largest earnings for one day amounted to 525 dollars; and no single day's work yielded less than 25 dollars. Both those persons have been mining in California, and are acquainted with its resources, yet they give it as their opinion that Cariboo, as a "generally paying" country surpasses the best days of California. Mr. Patterson and brother arrived at New Westminster by the steamer of the 14th instant, with 10,000 dollars worth of gold-dust, the produce of five weeks' work at Cariboo. The Governor inspected their treasure, of which they were justly proud, being the well-earned reward of their skill and enterprise. Mr. Patterson's mining claim was on the Lowhee, a tributary of Swift River, and about 16 miles distant from Antler Creek. The ground was composed of gravel and many quartz boulders, and the depth to the bed-rock was from four to six feet, beyond which he did not attempt to penetrate, though the richest deposit of gold was immediately over the bed-rock. The largest day's return from the claim was 73 ounces of gold, worth about 1,200 dollars; on another occasion he received 70 ounces at the close of a day's work. The gold is in rough jagged pieces, the largest found by Mr. Patterson was over six ounces; but on the next claim to his, a piece of ten ounces was picked up by the lucky proprietor. Mr. Patterson sold his mining claim before his departure from Cariboo, and is now returning to his native country, the United States, with the wealth he has so rapidly acquired in British Columbia, this being one of the evils to which the colony is exposed through the want of a fixed population.

On the subject of the grants of land for religious purposes, the Duke of Newcastle wrote to Governor Douglas, on the 19th May, 1860, that he approved of the grants of about one acre each already made to the clergy of the Church of England and the Methodist Episcopal Church as sites for a church, school, and dwelling-house, and that the Governor would also be at liberty to make similar grants in all towns in the colony where ordained ministers of the Gospel may take up their residence, and where congregations might be established and require their assistance; but that care should be taken that the land shall be appropriated to the purposes for which it was intended, and that it shall be so conveyed as to be secure against the possibility of misapplication in future years.

As to the further proposal, that free grants of 100 acres of rural land should be made in aid of every cure established in British Columbia, and not otherwise supported at the public expense, the duke considered it to be open to serious objections. The experience afforded by other colonies tends to show that where a clergyman in a new colony has to depend on his land for his principal means of subsistence, he must, to make it answer, devote to it so much of his time as seriously to interfere with his usefulness; and unless he does this, the endowment becomes only an apparent, not a real provision for him. He cannot let it, because land in a new settlement is never, except under very peculiar circumstances, taken on lease, and to employ hired labour would generally be beyond the means of a clergyman so situated.

For these reasons the Duke of Newcastle was unable to sanction the measure which the Governor proposed. The practice of making grants of land as endowments to livings in the colonies has been generally discontinued for many years, and the Duke much doubted whether it was not better for a clergyman to depend entirely on the liberality of his congregation than to be provided with an endowment which, though no substantial assistance to him, may be an excuse to such of his congregation as are disposed to withhold their aid.

With reference to the same subject, another despatch was sent on the 26th October by the Duke of Newcastle to the effect that, though for the reasons already communicated, the Secretary of State could not sanction the grants of rural land, he saw no objection to the Governor affording a temporary pecuniary assistance to ministers of religion in British Columbia from colonial funds, if those funds are adequate for the purpose, and if he had sufficient reason for believing that such an appropriation of public money will not be unacceptable to the colonists.

Charged as the Governor was with the task of expending, on his own responsibility, the produce of the taxes, it was peculiarly necessary for him to avoid the appearance of individual preference or partiality. The Duke thought, therefore, that the public aid given to ministers of religion should not be confined to any specified denominations, but should, if possible, be determined by a generally intelligible rule, which, while furnishing some security against useless or improper appropriations, will not suggest any distinction between ministers of different persuasions, who may be exerting themselves with equal earnestness for the good of the community. It might be required, for example, as a condition to any grant of money, that a memorial should be presented to the Governor, signed by a certain number or proportion of persons resident within a certain district, and either offering to meet the Government grant by certain immediate or annual contributions of their own, or stating that from some source or other such contributions had been made. This, however, was merely suggested by the Secretary of State as an illustration. He was fully aware that the Governor's own knowledge of the exigencies of the colony, of the temper and wishes of the population, and of the assistance to be derived there from religious persons or societies, would enable him to choose his own course in a matter of detail more appropriately than he himself could do. But, in any case, the Governor should take care to make it clearly understood that any assistance of this kind is temporary, and that if given in the form of an annual payment, all those who receive it must not calculate on retaining it after it has ceased to be sanctioned by the public opinion of the colony, and consistent with other demands on the revenue.

69,950l.

The colony was increasing in extent and population. In 1860, its area was 200,000 square miles, and its population 11,816. The revenue amounted to 58,3967. and the expenditure to The shipping entered in 1860 was 31,551 tons, and, in 1861, 16,025 tons; and cleared, in 1860, 31,488 tons, and, in 1861, 15,817 tons. The amount of imports. in 1860, was 257,3897., and, in 1861, 282,880. And of exports, in 1860, 11,400., and, in 1861, 12,6867. The articles of exports were-furs, 10,000l.; ice, 830l.; and lumber, 6831.