Chapter XX

Nanaimo and San Juan--Resources of British Columbia and
Vancouver Island--Minerals--Timber--Abundance of Fish--
Different kinds of Salmon--The Hoolicans, and the Indian
Method of Taking them--Pasturage--The Bunch-grass:
its Peculiarities and Drawbacks--Scarcity of Farming
Land--Different Localities--Land in Vancouver Island--
Contrast between California and British Columbia--Gross
Misrepresentations of the Latter--Necessity for the
Saskatchewan as an Agricultural Supplement--Advantages of
a Route across the Continent--The Americans before us--
The Difficulties less by the British Route--Communication
with China and Japan by this Line--The Shorter Distance--
The Time now come for the Fall of the Last Great Monopoly--
The North-West Passage by Sea, and that by Land--The Last
News of Mr. O’B.--Conclusion 385

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
OUR PARTY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS _Frontispiece_.

OUR NIGHT CAMP ON EAGLE RIVER.--EXPECTING THE CREES 68

OUR WINTER HUT.--LA BELLE PRAIRIE 76

A MARTEN TRAP 102

SWAMP FORMED BY BEAVER, WITH ANCIENT BEAVER HOUSE AND DAM 179

FORT EDMONTON, ON THE NORTH SASKATCHEWAN 183

THE FOREST ON FIRE 225

OVER THE MOUNTAIN, NEAR JASPER HOUSE 231

VIEW FROM THE HILL OPPOSITE JASPER HOUSE.--THE UPPER LAKE OF
THE ATHABASCA RIVER AND PRIEST’S ROCK 232

CROSSING THE ATHABASCA RIVER, IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 245

THE ASSINIBOINE RESCUES BUCEPHALUS 259

OUR MISADVENTURE WITH THE RAFT IN CROSSING CANOE RIVER 271

A VIEW ON THE NORTH THOMPSON, LOOKING EASTWARD 275

THE TRAIL AT AN END 281

MR. O’B. TRIUMPHANTLY CROSSES THE RIVER 292

THE HEADLESS INDIAN 296

THE TERRACES ON THE FRASER RIVER 338

YALE, ON THE FRASER RIVER 345

THE “RATTLESNAKE GRADE.”--PAVILLON MOUNTAIN, BRITISH COLUMBIA;
ALTITUDE, 4,000 FEET 356

A WAY-SIDE HOUSE.--ARRIVAL OF MINERS 357

A WAY-SIDE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT 357

MINERS WASHING FOR GOLD 370

THE CAMERON “CLAIM,” WILLIAM’S CREEK, CARIBOO 371

GENERAL MAP OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, SHOWING THE AUTHORS’
ROUTE ACROSS THE CONTINENT (_Bound with Volume._)

MAP OF THE WESTERN PORTION OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, SHOWING
THE ROUTE ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS BY THE YELLOW HEAD,
OR, LEATHER PASS INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA, ON A LARGER SCALE.
(_In the Pocket._)