portion is of the description known as scale gold. The coarse gold specimens that I have seen were found not in the main river but in its small tributaries. From the extreme fineness of the gold, it requires elaborate care in amalgamation, and the use of a large quantity of quicksilver. In consequence of the hazards of the trip from Victoria to the various points on the river attainable by steamboats--the navigation of Frazer river being extremely difficult and perilous-the prices of freight were enormous. From Victoria to Fort Hope, situated on Frazer river, one hundred miles above its mouth, forty dollars per ton, and, as the river became low, and the difficulty and danger increased, fifty dollars per ton was charged. From Fort Hope to Fort Yale, a distance of sixteen miles, which could only be performed in canoes, the freight was twenty dollars per ton, and above that point, the river not being navigable even for canoes for upwards of two hundred miles, provisions were packed generally on men's backs to the various diggings and prospecting grounds above. The cost of provisions being so greatly enhanced by the labor and expense of transportation, the scant yield that in most cases rewarded the labors of the miner, even when he found gold, except in the most favored spots, scarcely sufficed for his support; while thousands spent all the means they had brought with them from California in prospecting without any remuneration whatever from the soil. It will be seen, from the above, that the deposits of gold in the Frazer river region do not offer any weighty inducement for emigration from any portion of the United States. The country is still less attractive in an agricultural point of view. Towards the coast its features are rocks, mountains, and a dense growth of fir trees. The few patches of open land one meets with are fitter for pasturage than the plow. Around Fort Kamloops, on Thompson's river, there is a prairie of some extent, and among the mountains are minute strips of valley land, but these latter are generally so difficult of access as to be almost unavailable for farming purposes. There is at present no land under cultivation by white men in the colony, except, perhaps, a small strip in the immediate vicinity of Fort Kamloops. Eastward, towards the base of the Rocky Mountains, the country is more open, but the climate is more unfavorable to agricultural pursuits than on the coast. All accounts concur in representing the climate as anything but pleasant. Mr. Dunn, a standard authority on that country, writes of it as follows: "The climate is very variable, and the transitions are, though periodically regular, remarkably sudden, if not violent. During the spring, which lasts from April till June, the weather and face of the country are delightful. In June there are almost incessant rains, drifted furiously along by a strong south wind. In July and August the heat is intense, and the ground, previously saturated with moisture, produces myriads of annoying flies and insects. This heat and sunshine are succeeded in September by fogs of such palpable darkness that, until noon, it is seldom possible to distinguish objects at a longer distance than one hundred yards. In November the winter sets in speedily, freezing the lakes and smaller rivers. The cold, however, is not so intense as might be imagined in such a country and climate." From a British army officer, formerly in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, a gentleman of great intelligence, who has traversed nearly the whole region comprised within the newly established colony of British Columbia, I learn that there is no part of the country that will ever justify farming operations of any magnitude or extent. A large portion of the country is covered with water, and the rest is broken, cut up by rocky mountain ridges, and covered with a dense growth of fir and other timber, valueless as lumber, and unavailable for spars, for the reason that there is no possibility of conveying it to the coast. The climate of the southeastern portion of Vancouver's Island is, for the most part, pleasant and healthful, except for a few of the winter months, during which boisterous winds and cold rains prevail ; but the soil is illy adapted for the growth of cereals. On the eight or ten square miles of open land in the neighborhood of Victoria, (the capital and only town of the colony,) there are some well kept farms, and in the patches of land on different parts of the coast. covered with Indian villages, the potato is cultivated with success, and good farms might be established; but with the exception of twenty or twenty-five square miles, which comprise all the clear land of the island, the remainder, two hundred and seventy miles in length, by from forty to fifty broad, is a mass of rocks and mountains and sterile clay, covered with a dense growth of valueless fir and tangled underbrush. Even that portion of woodland which is accessible to the axe would not justify the labor or expense of clearing, as the soil is too barren to yield anything like healthy or remunerative crops. Neither colony, therefore, offered any inducements to our citizens, disappointed in their mining operations, to settle down in the country with the view of tilling the soil. But there is no doubt that, independently of the unpromising character of mining and agricultural operations, the early and rapid abandonment of the colonies by our citizens was induced, in some measure, by the petty exactions and other annoyances to which they were subjected by the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company and the officers of the colonial government. Immediately on my arrival at Victoria I took means to inform myself as to the various causes of complaint alleged to exist, with a view to making such representations to Governor Douglas as might lead to their removal. I found in force a number of restrictions on mining and commercial pursuits, that operated as very irksome burdens, not simply by reason of the amounts exacted in the shape of taxes and other imposts, but because they were known to be exacted without authority of law. I shall proceed to rotice these taxes in detail. I have already said that, at an early stage of the Frazer river excitement, Governor Douglas gave permission for the navigation of the river by American steamers. From the following document, which is a copy of the original agreement, it would appear that the permission was given by him as factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, and not as governor of Vancouver's Island. Copy of agreement. The agents of the Hudson's Bay Company agree to license one or more steamers to ply from Victoria to and on Frazer river, on the following terms: 1. To receive and transport no goods to, on, or from Frazer river, except the goods of the Hudson's Bay Company, or such as they may permit to be shipped, and that for the transport of such goods that the freight do not exceed the following rates, viz: Victoria to Langley, $10 per ton of 2,000 pounds or 40 feet measure ment. Langley to Fort Hope, $10 per ton of 2,000 pounds or 40 feet measure ment. Fort Hope to Fort Yale, $5 per ton of 2,000 pounds. Return rates to be in the same scale. 2. To carry no passengers to or on Frazer river who have not taken out a mining license and permit from the government of Vancouver's Island, and one month's advance thereon. 3. To pay head money to the Hudson's Bay Company at the rate of two dollars for each passenger proceeding into Frazer, or taking passage from Langley upwards; a settlement to be made at the end of each trip, and an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company to be received on board without charge, to attend to such business if required by the Hudson's Bay Company. 4. That all vessels plying to or on the river be commanded and owned by British subjects. 5. That permits on said terms will be continued until expiry of the company's license to trade, in the month of May, 1859. It will be perceived that this license is given by the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company to ply to and on Frazer river. By what right? Great Britain had the right to exclude our steamers from the waters of Frazer river; but if Great Britain did not choose to assert that right, how could the Hudson's Bay Company's servants claim to make conditions with our people, and charge toll for the privilege of entering? Admitting that they had the right of exclusive trade with the Indians, that did not give them control of the Davigation of the river. The conditions show, in a remarkably strong light, the grasping spirit that animated these officials. While other traders, Bri ish and American, were paying forty and fifty dollars per ton freight to Fo.t Hope, they exacted of the steamboat owners, as one of the conditions of opening the river, that they should carry the freight of the company for twenty dollars per ton, thus securing to themselves a large advantage over other merchants trading on the river. Another very remarkable condition is that contained in Article 2d: Every person leaving Victoria for Frazer river, no matter what his business, was compelled to pay five dollars for a license to mine. Of course, under this regulation, the tax was extorted from a great many of our citizens who never visited the river with any intention of mining. I have seen a number of affidavits made by American citizens, setting forth the fact that they had visited Frazer river with no intention of mining; had never mined, and yet had been compelled to take out a mining license. The enforcement of the pre-payment, at Victoria, of this mining tax was abandoned a short time previous to my departure from the colony in November; but for a long time it was rigidly exacted, and a file of marines from the British vessel-of-war at the mouth of the river, was called into requisition, when it became necessary to enforce compliance on the part of a set of rebellious passengers. The third article requires the payment of two dollars head-money to the Hudson's Bay company, by every person entering the Frazer river country. I never could learn why this tax was collected, except that the Hudson's Bay company were the temporary possessors of the land, and they chose to exact this tribute from strangers on entering it. * The fourth article had neither truth nor substance, and was never intended to have any effect. The steamboat owners with whom the agreement was made were American citizens, the boats were American bottoms, sailing all the time under the American flag, and were so declared to be by their owners. The agents of the Hudson's Bay company said the article was a mere matter of form, and so it was inserted. The following is a copy of the sufferance taken out by steamboats (for each trip) under the above agreement: No. 580.-General Sufferance. PORT VICTORIA, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. These are to certify to all whom it doth concern, that sufferance for this present voyage is granted on the conditions annexed to Captain. Wright, to proceed on a voyage to Frazer river with steamer Enterprise and cargo, as per manifest, and that the said Captain Wright hath here entered and cleared his boat according to law. Given under my hand at Victoria, V. I., this 18th day of October, 1858. CHAS. A. ANGELO. Deputy Collector. We would most earnestly impress on all persons about proceeding to the mines the necessity of obtaining licenses to mine from the proper officers at this port, as it will save them much time, annoyance, and may be serious trouble. Mr. Purser Welch, of the steamer Surprise, informs us that on his last trip up some fifty of the passengers, mostly Irishmen, refused to buy licenses, and expressed their determination to disregard the law in this respect. When off Point Roberts, just at the mouth of Frazer river, the Surprise was ordered alongside of H. B. Majesty's war steamer Satellite, boarded by her officers, and the fact of the contumacy of the refractory ascertained, when a file of marines was stationed on board and each passenger obliged to show his license under penalty of being put ashore. These prompt measures brought the rebellious to terms, and they were very glad to be allowed to purchase their licenses and proceed on their journey. We trust all persons arriving in the country will cheerfully obey the laws, as it is their duty, and because we are satisfied such obedience on their part will not only conduce to their own but the public good.- Victoria (V. L.) Gazette of June 30, 1858. For each sufferance for a steamboat the sum of twelve dollars was exacted; and for each sufferance for a canoe, and every other description of boat entering the river, the sum of six dollars. It will be seen that by a remarkable confusion of jurisdictions, this sufferance tax is collected by the collector of the port of Victoria, an officer of the colonial government. Thus far, the taxes imposed were— For mining licenses, renewable at the end of each month....... $5 00 Sufferance for a steamboat for each trip.... 2.00 12.00 600 From canoes and other small boats passing up the river these imposts were collected in this wise: A hermaphrodite brig, named the Recovery, formerly owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, but afterwards put in commission and commanded by a lieutenant in the British navy, was stationed above the mouth of the river, and by her every boat passing up was hailed and ordered alongside. If the passengers were so unfortunate as not to have means to pay mining license, head-money, and sufferance tax, their watches, pistols, knives, or other personal effects, were held in pledge for payment. In the absence of such personal effects, bags of flour, beans and coffee, hams, and other provisions were retained, and I have been assured that the deck of the brig was covered with those articles. It is but just to add that the officers immediately charged with the performance of this unpleasant service acted with all gentleness and humanity compatible with their orders, and that they endeavored, by every means in their power, to mitigate the rigor of these amercements. In addition to the taxes above enumerated, a duty of ten per cent. ad valorem was imposed on all goods imported into the Frazer river country. It is almost unnecessary to say that this duty is wholly unauthorized by any existing law. Latterly it was pretended that it was levied for the behoof of the government, but the fact that it was collected by Mr. Finlayson, the financial agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, and not by the collector of the port, in addition to other circumstances, would lead to the belief that it was imposed by the company and for their own benefit. A letter is in existence from Mr. Finlayson to Mr. G. B. Wright, a contractor on the Harrison Lillooett trail, in which that gentleman promises that the goods imported by Mr. Wright up Frazer river, for the subsistence and clothing of his men, shall not be charged with this duty of ten per cent. as long as the license of the company shall continue in existence, but that after its expiration they will have no control in the matter. If the duty had not been imposed by the company, they certainly would have had no power to remit it in Mr. Wright's case. I shall be enabled in a few days to furnish a certified copy of this letter. The following is a copy of the permit granted on the payment of the ten per cent, duty: |