PART I.-CLIMATE AND RESOURCES.

The people of Victoria (the capital) and its neighbourhood in the southern part of Vancouver Island, consider their local climate to be the best in the province, and certainly the winter there and generally upon the island is mild and open; but this preference is not shared by the people of the Lower Fraser district, or of the interior district of Yale, who consider that the climates of their respective localities have peculiar advantages as regards both health and enjoyableness. Large portions of the south-east of the province (on Mainland), particularly about the head-quarters of the Columbia, where at present there are few settlers, probably have as fine a climate as any other section. On one point all are agreed,-the general healthiness of the British Columbian climate everywhere.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL THE MARQUIS OF LORNE'S OPINION AS TO THE CLIMATE.

His Excellency the Marquis of Lorne, who visited the province with his wife, Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, in 1882, and travelled in the interior as well as along the sea-coast, remaining until the 6th December, described the climate as follows, in a speech at Victoria :-

"No words can be too strong to express the charm of this delight"ful land, where the climate, softer and more constant than that "of the south of England, ensures at all times of the year a full en'joyment of the wonderful loveliness of nature around you.

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Agreeable as I think the steady and dry cold of an eastern "winter is, yet there are very many who would undoubtedly prefer "the temperature enjoyed by those who live west of the mountains. "Even where it is coldest, spring comes in February, and the country is so divided into districts of greater dryness or greater moisture, “that a man may always choose whether to have a rainfall small or great." (See Appendix B for His Excellency's Speech in full.)

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CLIMATE.

(WHY GOOD.)

"On the western side of the North American continent, the summer heats are modified by the boreal currents and melting snows of the watersheds, while the severity of winter is not increased by a sweeping arctic current such as washes the eastern shores.

"Arctic currents do sweep down, however, and in summer are felt far south, below the latitude of San Francisco, but, more diffused, they do not lower the temperature in a corresponding degree, and the coast, open to the warm rays of the western sun, and the moist

westerly winds, presents to equal latitudes on the eastern side very unequal isothermal conditions." (Prize Essay on Vancouver Island, 1862, by Charles Forbes, M.D., M.R.C.S., Eng., Surgeon, Royal Navy.)

CLIMATE.

(WHY GOOD.)

"The climate of British Columbia, west of the Cascades, including Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte's Islands, is wonderfully like that of Great Britain, except that the summers are very much drier. A warm current of water flows down the west coast of America, just as the Gulf Stream flows up along the coasts of Great Britain, and in its passage warms up the coast from Alaska to the Columbia, and gives to the western slope of the Cascades those forests which are the wonder of the world. The vapour rising from the warm sea is blown inwards, and, becoming condensed by the cooler air of the land, falls in rain or fog upon the slopes and valleys and produces the moist climate of the winter and spring. During the summer months the temperature of the land and sea are slightly reversed, and the land, instead of condensing the vapour, dissipates it--at least, in the neighbourhood of Victoria.

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The valley of the Fraser below the Cascades is included in this region, and has a climate much like that described above, except that I would expect a wetter summer than there is on the coast. Twenty-five miles above Yale we pass the outer Cascade Range, and in doing so pass from almost constant rain to the opposite extreme. About the island of Formosa, on the eastern coast of China, a current analogous to the Gulf Stream is observed moving to the north-east. It passes Japan, and part of it enters Behring's Sea and warms the northern part of Alaska, while the other part is deflected farther to the east and passes down the west coast of America, carrying with it the heat necessary to produce the exceptionally warm climate of Vancouver and the west coast generally. It is this stream which gives the heat and moisture that are the cause of the magnificent forests found from Alaska southwards.

The climate of the coast is so much like that of England that there should be no better climate for natives of Great Britain; while that of the mainland above the Cascades ought to be exactly suited to Canadians, as the climate is nearly the same as we have in the east,* except that it is drier for the most part. I think that on the whole British Columbia has a very healthy climate, and one that would tend to long life." (Professor John Macoun, Botanist, Geological Survey, Canada, Evid. Canadian Commons Committee.)

*The winter in that part of the Province is much shorter than the winter of Eastern Canada,

CLIMATIC VARIETIES.

"As a general fact, it has been stated that the winter temperature on the Pacific coast, as compared with localities on the Atlantic coast, is equal to at least 10° of latitude in favour of the former. For example, Quebec which is in about the same latitude as the mouth of the Columbia, has a severe winter; while in the latter locality it is as mild as in the south of England. The southern portion of Vancouver Island may be spoken of in a similar manner, except that it has a greater summer heat with less humidity. In the vicinity of Victoria the greatest temperature in the shade in July and August appears to range from 80° to 90° Fahrenheit, while the thermometer in winter seldom goes as low as 22° below freezing, and some winters there is no skating at all except on "rollers." In a province as large as British Columbia, however, it is possible to get every kind of climate, the changes taking place imperceptibly. If we cross the gulf to New Westminster on Fraser river, the air is more moist and the temperature, though not so great, is more equal, but in winter the cold is slightly greater. The upper country is drier and hotter in summer, especially from Thompson river towards the southern frontier east of the Cascade range. Similar remarks may be made concerning the country northward towards Alexandria. In these regions the winter cold is comparatively sharp. In the northern portion of the province above Alexandria on the Fraser, in spite of the elevation, the summers are warm, and in winter the cold though considerable is not excessive. As a rule, the interior remote from the coast has none of the severity which would distinguish localities in the same latitude east. The coast climate may be said to extend above Yale; then come evidences of a drier climate, and at Lytton, 57 miles above Yale, there are evidences of a hot, dry summer. The greatest degree of winter cold seems to be reached in the mining districts about Cassiar. The above is a general view of the characteristics of the climate of the province as given by the best authorities. In the neighbourhood of Victoria, in the southern portion of Vancouver Island, strawberries, cherries, plums, apples, pears, and other fruits ripen freely, and the settled portions of Vancouver Island produce the ordinary cereals abundantly. Vegetables, in particular, grow luxuriantly and attain to gigantic proportions. The adjacent islands are noted for their fine mutton. island climate is particularly adapted for raising a superior quality of hops. The valley of the Fraser presents the same general characteristics in point of climate and productions; but when the interior is reached (by the interior we mean the great central basin lying between the Cascade and Rocky ranges of mountains) there are found large areas clothed with vegetation which furnishes the best description of food for cattle. In this basin--where the summers are dry and warm--grapes, tomatoes, and melons, in addition to the more hardy vegetables and fruits, grow in abundance, and with railway communication completed to the coast, many of the articles

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which it does not pay now to raise in the interior, will find a ready market. Surely such a climate must present great advantages to the intending settler, who is thus enabled to continue his labours all the year round with corresponding profit, without having to struggle with long and severe winters as in Manitoba, where the thermometer sinks to 45 degrees below zero and the winter lasts six months, during which cattle must be housed and fed." (From "Colonist," Victoria newspaper, Jan. 18, 1883.)

CLIMATIC VARIETIES.

“The varieties of climate may be named as follows: the West Coast, the Western Interior, the Canadian, and the Arctic. The first, with an equable climate and heavy rainfall, is characterized by a correspondent luxuriance of vegetation, and especially of forest growth. This region is that west of the Coast Range, and is well marked by the peculiarity of its plants. In a few spots only-and these depending on the dryness of several of the summer months owing to local circumstances does a scanty representation of the drought-loving flora of the Californian coast occur. The second is that of the southern part of the interior plateau of the province, and presents as its most striking feature a tendency to resemble in its flora the interior basin of Utah and Nevada to the south and the drier plains east of the Rocky Mountains. It may be said to extend northward to about the 51st parallel, while isolated patches of a somewhat similar flora occur on warm hill-sides and the northern banks of rivers to beyond the Blackwater. In the northern part of the interior of the province, just such an assemblage of plants is found as may be seen in many parts of Eastern Canada, though mingled with unfamiliar stragglers. This flora appears to run completely across the continent north of the great plains, and characterizes a region with moderately heavy rainfall, summers not excessively warm, and cold winters. The arctic or alpine flora is that of the higher summits of the Coast, Selkirk, Rocky, and other mountain ranges, where snow lies late in the summer. Here plants lurk which deploy on the low grounds only on the shores of Hudson Bay, the Icy Sea, and Behring's Strait." (George M. Dawson, associate R.S.M., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Canada.)

CLIMATIC VARIETIES.

"The fine climate should be known everywhere -variable, but healthful and agreeable --nights cool, very suitable to the Englishman, and, indeed, to all races and temperaments the altitude, irregularity of surface, serene air and absence of marshy plains, promise health and long life to the settler--no malaria or ague-good in cases of functional and nervous debility-makes people feel vigorous and wide awake--the climate of a large part of the East Cascade* region not

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This is the common name in the province for the country east of the “Coast Range."

unfavourable for chest affections. Over a great portion of the province the climate is that of England, with rather agreeable differences-no biting east winds, for instance. Over another portion, the climate resembles that of France. The larger lakes do not freeze over, nor do the large rivers ever close entirely up. Severe winters seem to come about once every eight or ten years, but what we call "severe winters" are less severe than the ordinary winters in Eastern Canada or the Northern States of the Union. Elevated districts, of course, have the climate that everywhere belongs to them, but even the roughest mountain climate in British Columbia is healthful.

WEST CASCADE REGION.

Near the sea-say, west of Cascade Range generally, and in Vancouver Island, seldom over 80° Fahrenheit in shade on the hottest day in summer, and rarely falling to 20° Fahrenheit in winter. Genial, though rather humid; humidity increases as you go north. Summer beautiful, with some rainy days; autumn, bright and fine; winter, frosty and rainy by turns; the spring very wet. Snow falls seldom to the depth of a foot --melts quickly. When the atmosphere is clear, heavy dews fall at nights, and fogs are common during October and November; summer mists rare, partial, and transitory; no tornadoes, such as sweep over Illinois and other Northern States of the Union, and occasionally visit New England. Brilliant weather in winter, sometimes for a month at a time. I include Vancouver Island above as part of the "West Cascade region," because the climate is similar. Of course, were the matter gone into exhaustively, the island climate would present insular peculiarities.

EAST CASCADE REGION.

Climate different from the climate west of Cascade Range. Heat and cold greater; almost continuously hot in summer, but not so as to destroy vegetation. Little rain; warm rains, perhaps April and May again, but not always, in August and September. Winter changeable; November frosty; December, January, and February cold and wintry, but generally clear and sunny; little ice; snow say a foot deep on an average of years-melts quickly, winds melt it, and often leave ground bare for weeks. March and April variable; plains then begin to show grass. Hill-sides, in some places, show green grass in March. Irrigation generally required in this region.

The above description applies to an immense territory in the southern portion of the "East Cascade region." The description must be modified as regards certain districts. Approximation to the Rocky Range, or to the rugged Cariboo and other mountains, has its natural effect; trees abound, more rain falls, snow is deeper.* On

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Sometimes the winter is mild at Cariboo. A telegram to a Victoria newspaper, Jan. 17, 1882, says "weather still mild, with little snow."