THE POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 621, 24 October 1863, Page 6

THE POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

The Bishop of British Columbia, who, as the Rev. G. Hills, wa^ long identified with St. Nicholas's Church, Great Yarmouth, deliveied an address tr> his old parishioners on the 17th, in the eourso of which he said that, in 1868, when the colony was organised, hi h expectations were entertained with respect to its fut'ire, and he was able, from his own observation, to confirm those anticipations British Columbia was destined, at no distant date, to occupy a remarkable positbn among tte dependencies of Great Britain. British Colombia occupied somewhat the same position upon the western coast of Worth America as England did upon the western coast of Europe, and the colonists felt as to climate completely at home. There was a wrstern aspect in both cases, and the influencs of the Gulf stream was also felt. England owed her peculiar climate, in a great measure, to the Gulf streim— a current of warm water setting out of the <..utf of Mexico, striking across to Britiin, elevating the isothermal live, and preventing England from bang like Spitsbergen or Iceland in the matter cf climate. A 3imilar influence operated upon the coast of Vancouver and Columbia and the Aleutian islands, just below Behring's Straits; thus the camphor tree, which grew only iv J apan, wa3 cast upon those islands, tha inhabitants of which depended for their wood upon what set in through the current. Columpia was destined to be a commercial country of great importance, as it was the only British territory upon the whole ot the western coast of North and South America, and trade was increasing iv the Pacific. He onwed the Isthmus of Panama the othef day, and found that no lesa than four regular lines of steamers now touched there to meet the in-sreannj? traffic. 1 opuiation, too, was continually spreading over the western side of the American continent. Every ten days a steamer passed round, and brought a great number of passengers from New lork to San Franciso. There were a'so arrivals by another route, while numbers were continually passing over the great pi ans of A ineriea to tbe western side. The American war had increas:d this movement, for it had so unsettled the population, espcially in fhs border States, that many had given up their property, and !

bad started away for the western fide. Atvhisvcsy time 100,000 people were in movement, engaged ip. one great exodus, with their waggons, their families, and their households, and were passing over to the \7e3tern side, bidding adieu for ever to the eastern side. Ihe war in the eastern Etate9 of America had operated also upon the inhabitants of California, and led them to regard that country as their future home. He preached one day in the Protestant Cathedial of San Francisco to a large anl enlightened congregation, and from what lie learned in that great city -which, although only fifteen years aid, contained a population ot 100,000 -he came to the conclusion that California was approaching that position as a nation which would enable her inhabitants ere long— and perhaps very s\ e c .dily, inconsequence of the war — to cv-t otf their connection with the east, and found a western power in the Pacific. San Brancisco wa3 now beginning to be supplied from British territory, in consequence of the increased quantity of British shipping attracted to Vancouver. We might see now, then, the commencement of that distribution ot' British commerce which would take place from Victoria, destined to be the Queen of the Pacifio, rec2iving the shipping of the world, and distributing Bri^, ish produce &ud mannfactures through the vast legions which were being opened up to the American continent To show how mutters were growing in this respect^ he might state that, last year, one of our. hig'sfc shipowners, Mr Lindsay," sent round four large steamers to ply between the western coast _of Ain r rica and China and Japan, countries now openel to our trade and commerce. Another matter of import aice was the prospect of a line of railway ri.-hfc across the British territory, irom one ocean to the other The Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were well-known to Engli.-limen; but there was an immense country between Canada and Columbia, which was less fatuiii»r to them. During tin la c l few months, the Old Hudson Bay Company, which had the fee simple of Ibis va'tregion had remodel ed itself, enlarged its capita 1 , and adopttd plans for the purpose of opening up a district twice the siz^ of France. A tel graph was bein^ formed, which would c nnect the Atlantic and tl\s Pacifio. A waggon road for emigrants would so"n also be commenced, and tbe Duke of Newcastle stated in a speech in the House of Loids, a few weeks eif.re, that, if the lailway which was in contemplation to connect the Atlanti? with the Pacific, could be carried out, it would work a greater resolution in the comuiTce of the w>rlil than was effected by the discovery of the Cipe of Go-d Hope. In addition to nil these circumstances, there was gJd, a'ld we know how potent the influence of gold was iv drawing a population to a country, and how it had pleased God to make use of that means for building up great populations. We saw how Australia had been formed iu*o a nation, and how California had drawn over a va*t population from the e&s-tern states of America. Now m c ,n were being attracted in a similar manner to British Columbia, and perhaps nothing else but gild'woulil have opened up the country so coon. As was the cisc, however, with most new count ie3, Bnti'k Columbia w,is a very rough hind, requiring hard handed men to cuter upon the work before them. He bai often been st.-uck on witnes-ing the hardships which men would undergo fur the sike cf gold, which, after all. they neva- realU^fl. When young men ha! called upon him in Victoria with letters of introduction, he had frequently given them advice which had rather astonished thorn, ile had _ recommended them before they started for the mines to go and work upon the roads for two mouths, that th«y iiii 2 ht harden their hands and fi»d out wh;st sort . f life they would hare to lead. The god of British Columbia required men of good nerve and enterprise to work it. Steady people of this kind would do well, but no soft hr.n 'ed idlers were wanted. The first discovery of gold took place in 1850, in the lower part of the Fraser Kiver, at a place called Vale, just above New Westminster. People rus>hetl iv from California, and a good many made their fortunes out of the dust, but it wag nothiog at nil to what was afterwards discovered. It was in Cariboo were the greatest amount of mining was being carried on • and in a letter whijh he received the other day from British Calumbia he was told that a vast number of miners were at work there, and that the unlucky ones were getting as waee3 for labor, L 2 per day. lie would leave the meeting, then, to guess what tho lucky ones got. After recording instances of successful digging, the ri^lit rev. prelate said there was no doubt but that therp was a wile spread produc. tion of gold; and therefore it was certain, judging from the history of other cojntries, that the resources ot British Columbia inu't attract on this account a considerable population. Miners must be fed, and how was this to be done ? At present they were ful upon the packhorse plan, and good's were carried so up to Cariboo. Flour cost last year at Cariboo 6a per Ib. and even now it costs 5s per lb. last year some few farmers who had settled were coining money ont of the farmiug mine, which proved a more certain affair than 1 the gold. One Oregon farmer started from lm farm last year with 50 horseß laden with bacon. Each horb carried 250 lbs, and he sold his produce at a profit of LIUOO. He mentioned this to show that if a man found it to his advantage to be able to supply the nrinew with the produce of his farm, what enormous profits would he made by farmers, if they were to go aud settle upon the lauds of the colony. Another resource of the coloDy was the abundacce of fish it possessed. S tlraon were in such plenty that they lay thick upon each other in shoals iiuc big fish, such as might be seen in the shops of London. Cv travelling up the rive-s in a cajaoe thsy had often struck against the boat, and sometimes his men hnd knocked one in the head and dragged it in. One of our ships, the Satellite, let wn the net for a draught, off San Juan, and tonk 600 salmon nt once, while on another occasion the crew of the fame ship took over 600. He had noticed, too, as many as 50 salmon all leaping and jumping out of the water at one time. Again, herring were very abundant, although at presenUhere was a want of enterprise, and omy small fish along the shore were taken.— -.European Times.