Yankees in that remote quarter. There are, as we have before endeavoured to make clear, three channels: that of Rosario Strait (most in use, and "the channel” par éminence) to the east; Haro Strait, with a devious course, between Moresby and Stuart Islands; and Middle or Douglas Channel. It would be better, then, to make the boundary-line course along the middle of the latter, which gives all the large islands to the Yankees, with the exception of San Juan, than to fight about such unimportant territories, the possession of which has been disputed in so truly a Yankee fashion.

The inlets which stretch inland at comparatively small intervals along the coast of British Columbia possess certain general characteristics. They run up between steep mountains three or four thousand feet in height; the water is deep, and anchorages far from plentiful; while they terminate, almost without exception, in valleys-occasionally large and wide, at other times mere gorges-through which one or more rivers struggle into the sea. Burrard Inlet, the most southerly, is, however, remarkable for its good anchorage and for its coal mines. When the Fraser is frozen up, the only access to British Columbia is by Port Moody, in this inlet, and which is only five miles from New Westminster. A right to construct a direct road to Alexandria by Bute Inlet has also been conceded to a company. Two other routes have been proposed from Belhoula Inlet; but, considering the probable extension of the Cariboo diggings northward to the Peace River, Commander Mayne thinks that the line of route proposed by other adventurers, running from Dean's Canal to the Nachuten Lakes, and along the river of the same name to Fort Fraser, will still bear off the palm, particularly if, as is very probable, Stuart River be found navigable for steamers from that place to Fort George, where it meets the Fraser. In the summer of 1859, Mr. Downie explored a still more northward route from Port Essington, but this route is so far north as to be unavailable for the greater part of the year. Port Essington is not a lucky name in the history of colonisation. The Plumper received so much damage in these various and laborious surveys, that she was obliged to go to San Francisco in the spring of 1860 to refit, the British having, as we have before seen, no docks or repairing place in all Vancouver or British Columbia, the shores of which are covered with forest timber! This accomplished, the remainder of the summer was devoted to the survey of the north-east of Vancouver Island, and of Fort Rupert and Queen Charlotte Sound. There is more variety than would be imagined in the details of these surveys-overland expeditions to Nanaimo, ascents of mountains, shooting elk (wapiti) and deer, and, not least remarkable, the account of the earnest labours and successes of the Roman Catholic missionaries among the Indians. After an overland journey to Pemberton, during which they were nearly devoured by mosquitoes, the Plumper was joined by the Alert and Termagant in her labours.

The year 1861 opened by the crew of the Plumper being turned over to the Hecate, newly arrived, and in which they proceeded to explore the west coast, including Nootka, Barclay, and Clayoquot Sounds. These sounds are of the utmost importance, opening as they do a way to the interior of Vancouver Island, in a coast previously supposed to be ironbound and unapproachable. Barclay Sound is, like all the sounds of the

west coast of Vancouver Island, subdivided into several smaller sounds or arms, some of which are very curious, running in a straight line, or very nearly so, five or six miles, between mountains three to four thousand feet high, with a breadth in many places of not more than fifty yards, and yet thirty or forty fathoms deep up to the head, which is invariably flat, with a river running through it. This surpasses anything yet met with even in Norway, the land of fiords and inlets, and holds out great promises to the future. Already a settlement called Alberni has sprung up at the head of this remarkable inlet, in which both coal and limestone are met with. Previous to the discovery of the latter, the colonists were dependent on clam-shells for lime. The soil is also very rich, and the timber magnificent-the Douglas pine, growing to an enormous size, and the white pine, oak, and yellow cypress also abounding. Alberni itself is reached by a natural canal, twenty miles long, which opens out into a large harbour. It is utterly impossible, indeed, to describe all the natural advantages of these different places. Those interested must go to the fountain-head-the excellent work of Commander Mayne. A tract of country has been granted in this sound to the Saw-mill Company, who are carrying on a brisk trade in spars and lumber with America, China, and Australia. It was here that the flagstaff which is erected in Kew Gardens was cut.

On the 15th of August, the Hecate had the misfortune to run upon the rocks, in making the Strait of Fuca, in a dense fog; but was luckily got off only with such damage as to necessitate the usual expedition to San Francisco-a cruise which, in as far as Commander Mayne was concerned, he having received the welcome news of his promotion in Clayoquot Sound, terminated in Southampton docks. In summing up the resources of her Majesty's dominions in the Pacific, Commander Mayne begins by disposing of the Hudson's Bay Company, whose pretensions to any further tenure of such vast and important territories he says should be rightly unheeded. That a waggon-road will some day be carried over the passes of the Rocky Mountains that lie beyond the Red River Settlement, and between that point and British Columbia, he entertains no doubt, and it may, he says, indeed be, that before long the whistle of the locomotive will be heard among them.

Besides gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, and plumbago have also been met with.. Coal, we have seen, abounds in various places. The natural resources of British Columbia are, however, such as to give to it the greatest importance, quite independent of its mineral wealth. After the Cascade, or coast range of hills, all forest-clad down to the shores, are passed, and from Lytton upwards, the country assumes an entirely dif ferent aspect from that of the coast. The dense pine forests cease, and the land becomes open, clear, and in the spring and summer-time covered with bunch-grass, which affords excellent grazing for cattle. Several farms are now established in different parts of this upper and interior country. The position of the Cariboo diggings will soon lead to its settlement, as well as hasten the opening of a feasible road across the Rocky Mountains. Land may now be obtained in British Columbia, under the enactments of the new pre-emption system, readily, and at a very low rate, in those parts of the country as yet unsurveyed; which include, indeed, all but that immediately surrounding the settlements.

An intending settler has merely to fix upon the site of his farm, and give such a description of its locality and boundaries as he is able to the nearest magistrate, paying, at the same time, a fee of eight shillings for its registration. These regulations extend, however, to one hundred and sixty acres only. A settler desiring to pre-empt a larger quantity than that, must pay down an instalment of 2s. 1d. per acre. This payment entitles him to possession of the land until it is surveyed by the government, when the full value at which it may be assessed-which cannot, however, exceed 4s. 2d. an acre—becomes payable. In speaking of the resources of these colonies, the immense supplies of timber, fish, and game of many kinds, must not be omitted or lost sight of. There are also many wild fruits and edible roots and plants. Hops grow very well, and a species of tobacco and tea are indigenous in British Columbia, and are in common use among the natives. A more self-sufficing country it is difficult to imagine.

Lastly, the numerous tribes of natives are, thanks to the discriminating conduct of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies, friendly and well disposed. The missions among them have hitherto been most successful. Upon this subject we find the following interesting remarks made by Mr. Duncan, the most successful of all the missionaries : During my conversation with Captain Richards, he said the business he had just had with the Indians convinced him that it was not our ships of war that were wanted up the coast, but missionaries. The Indian's ignorance of our power, and strong confidence in his own, in addition to his natural savage temper, render him unfit to be dealt with at present by stern and unyielding men of war, unless his destruction be contemplated, which of course is not. 'Then,' asked the captain, why do not more men come out, since your mission has been so successful? or, if the missionary societies cannot afford them, why does not government send out fifty, and place them up the coast at once? Surely it would not be difficult to find fifty good men in England willing to engage in such a work? And their expenses would be almost nothing compared with the cost which the country must sustain to subdue the Indians by force of arms!' Such are the earnest sentiments of one of her Majesty's naval captains while among the Indians." "And such," says Commander Mayne, "I may add, are the sentiments of myself-in common, I believe, with all my brother-officers after nearly five years' constant and close intercourse with the natives of Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia.

ASCENT OF MONTE ROSA IN 1862.

BY A PRIVATE OF THE 38TH MIDDLESEX (ARTISTS).

LEAVING Courmayeur in a voiture we proceeded to Aosta (my second visit), where I again inspected the Roman antiquities, the bridge, the triumphal arch, amphitheatre, &c., all very interesting; but not being now the object of my mission, we passed on to Chatillon, where, leaving the voiture, I took to a mule, half way up the Val Tournanche, to a village bearing that name, and lunched at the little inn of Monte Rosa, kept by an old soldier, who deserves every encouragement, as he supplies all one's wants at moderate charges, and with great good will. I said a word or two in his favour in his "Livre des Etrangers," with which he seemed highly pleased, but it was no more than he deserved.

Soon after quitting this spot we passed a remarkable cascade, which found its way through a deep chasm in the rocks, truly a scene of savage grandeur, and reminding me of many a similar sheet of water in dear old Norway.

From the village of Val Tournanche I walked to Breuil, where I passed a few hours of the night, intending to leave before daybreak to cross the pass of the Col de St. Théodule. At the little inn at Breuil, surrounded by lofty mountains, conspicuous above all of which is the seemingly inaccessible Matterhorn, raising its defiant head unlike any other mountain, I fell in with Professor Tyndall, who was nevertheless about to attempt the ascent. It was late in the evening when he entered the salle à manger (if I may dignify the apartment by that name), and deeply interested as I was with his conversation about the glaciers, would have gladly sat up the greater part of the night with him. As it was, however, I took an abrupt departure at nine P.M., intending to rise at one A.M., and breakfast at two, which gave me four hours rest out of the four-and-twenty, which intention I carried into effect, starting ere break of day with three young men (brothers) from Wadham College, Oxford, who, with their guide, were bound for Zermatt by the St. Théodule. From what I had read of this pass in Murray-viz. "that it is the easiest of the high glacier passes of the Alps,"" when the snow is firm mules are taken across,' I thought I was about to have an easy, agreeable little tramp over the summit, which is nearly eleven thousand feet above the sea-level. But I found myself mistaken, as we had to flounder through the snow kneedeep, and to pass two or three rather ugly places, which Professor Tyndall the previous night cautioned us that we should find. As for any fourfooted beast crossing it in its present state-even a chamois-I should doubt the possibility, and should strongly advise any one proposing to escort ladies across, to make inquiries first as to the condition of the Pass. How any female could have crossed it in its present state I am at a loss to conceive. After passing the summit, we were frequently sinking up to our thighs in snow. If this wading through the soft snow was anything but pleasant, I must not omit to say that the first part of the ascent on terra firma (from Breuil) was most charming and attractive. May-VOL. CXXVIII. NO. DIX.

F

We started in the dark, or nearly so. There was no moon, but the stars were out, and as they began gradually to fade away, the morning star still shone bright, and the dawn of day was most lovely, with its exquisite roseate tints lighting up the snowy peaks of the mountains which surrounded us. I never saw anywhere, in any part of Europe, nor on any mountain-side, hill, or dale, so great a variety and wonderful profusion of the most beautiful wild flowers. It might well be called a carpet, and that, too, of the most lovely mixture of colours.

On the summit of the St. Théodule is a little hut, in which one or two men pass a few weeks during the summer months, and where we got some mulled wine, which was most acceptable. It was a beautiful day, and the Breithorn, glistening in sunshine with its sparkling ice and snow, looked most inviting,

Three hours was all that would be required to make the ascent from this point. There was, moreover, the inducement of accompanying three "fine young English gentlemen, all of the present time;" highly educated, agreeable, good humoured, and with any amount of pluck, but, alas! I failed in the latter to-day. I had been ill at Aosta, probably from the sudden change of climate, for there is a vast difference of climate on one side of Mont Blanc and on the other, and particularly so from the glacier to the valley, and having been only four hours in bed at Breuil, I voted the Breithorn a bore, and declined the pressing invitation of my young friends. They were novices in the work, and seemed rather surprised at my suggesting that they should mount veils, and more so when I recommended them to grease their faces with a tallow-candle. The latter they declined to do upon any terms, but they got some kind of makeshift for the veils. Away they started with their guides, all tied together with the rope, and it was a pretty sight to watch them as they progressed, getting smaller and smaller, and looking like little black specks in the snow on the side of the mountain. After resting a short while on the summit of the St. Théodule, I proceeded with my guide, and arrived at an early hour in the afternoon at Zermatt, delighted beyond measure with the one grand feature of the route, the noble, lofty peaked Matterhorn, that majestic mountain and mass of rock, so angular and so precipitous that the snow cannot lodge long upon it, and envelop it, as it does on nearly all the other mountain peaks which surround it, and which shows its bold, uncovered head in a most remarkable and, as I have said, defiant manner. fessor Tyndall, however, will, I think, accomplish the ascent next season; bad weather frustrated him this last summer. He made the attempt the same day that I ascended Monte Rosa, on which occasion I noticed how the clouds clung like a belt round the Matterhorn all the day, the top, however, being generally entirely clear. I nevertheless doubted his

success.

Pro

Zermatt itself is disappointing, and but for the Matterhorn would have little to interest me. The Riffelberg is the point of attraction. At Zermatt, however, I remained the night, and passed the following day (Sunday).

A friend of mine, a member of the Alpine Club, and a private of the 21st Middlesex (Civil Service), Lord Bury's corps, who made the ascent of Monte Rosa in 1859 (and from whose journal I shall hereafter quote), gives so clear an account of the formation of glaciers that I cannot do