The new Far West and the old Far EastWilliam Henry Barneby OF THE º ºligan|| . 9% - - - - - THE NEW FAR WEST AND THE OLD FAR EAST, BEING NOTES OF A TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA, JAPAN, CHINA, CEYLON, ETC. w * * * º W: HENRY BARNEBY, AUTHoR of “LIFE AND LABoth IN THE FAR FAR west,” etc. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD, 26 & 27 COCKSPUR STREET, CHARING CROSS, S.W. 1889. [All rights reserved) -- • • • • •• • *::: • • • • • • To THE RIGHT HON. SIR MICHAEL E. HICKS-BEACH, BART., M.P., D.C.L., . PRESIDENT of THE BOARD OF TRADE, As A SMALL TOKEN OF AFFECTION AND REGARD This WOLUME IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. s /…-- Jzz - 4– ~/ ** A. -- **- J-ſ /- 4% s 3.432.2.2 PRE FA C E. IN publishing this volume, I wish to point out to my readers that I have purposely avoided going over old ground. In my last work entitled Life and Labour in the Far Far West, published in 1884, I described many places in Canada, revisited in my recent tour. I do not consider a repetition of the same facts necessary; and though in some cases I may be obliged to mention places visited before (for the sake of comparison), it will be as briefly as possible—Granville, now Vancouver City, in British Columbia, excepted. The new ground in Canada, over which I lately travelled, was a district recently opened up by the Manitoba and North Western Railway, through the “park-like lands of the Fertile Belt; ” from Portage-la- Prairie to Langenburg, and by the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, from Calgary over the Rocky, Selkirk, and Cascade Mountains to the new terminal city of Vancouver. It was owing to the invitation of a friend (the Vice- President of the Manitoba and North Western Railway), who asked me to accompany him in his private director's “car,” over both his own line and that of the Canadian Pacific Railway, that I was induced to make this my third visit to the Dominion of Canada; and the more especially as I was offered facilities for visiting certain /… -- ~~~~ ~ £22 a cº- J-fº- + - 3.432.2.2 PRE FA C E. IN publishing this volume, I wish to point out to my readers that I have purposely avoided going over old ground. In my last work entitled Life and Labour in the Far Far West, published in 1884, I described many places in Canada, revisited in my recent tour. I do not consider a repetition of the same facts necessary; and though in some cases I may be obliged to mention places visited before (for the sake of comparison), it will be as briefly as possible—Granville, now Vancouver City, in British Columbia, excepted. The new ground in Canada, over which I lately travelled, was a district recently opened up by the Manitoba and North Western Railway, through the “ park-like lands of the Fertile Belt; ” from Portage-la- Prairie to Langenburg, and by the Canadian Pacific Rail- Way, from Calgary over the Rocky, Selkirk, and Cascade Mountains to the new terminal city of Vancouver. º It was owing to the invitation of a friend (the Vice- President of the Manitoba and North Western Railway), * asked me to accompany him in his private director's ºver both his ow”e and that of the Canadian * induced to make this my of Canada; and the more facilities for visiting certain Q. * * - /…-- 81 5. FUJI-AMA, JAPAN - - - --- - - - --- - - - - - 160 6. KIGA, NEAR MYANoshita, JAPAN ... - - - • * * * * 167 7. A PARTY AT NIKKo, JAPAN ... - - - - - - - - - - 196 8. ASCENT To A SHOGUN's ToMB - - - --- --- ºr 202 THE NEW FAR WEST. THE NEW FAR WEST AND THE OLD FAR EAST. CHAPTER I. TORONTO TO WINNIPEG.-CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. Prairie Fires—Wooden Railway Bridges—Dining Car—Emigrants' Comforts—A Lonely Station—Change of Reckoning Time—Scotch Settlers—Courteous Officials—Depreciation of Land–Good Land Neglected. WE left Toronto by the Northern Railway, and in ten hours', time reached North Bay Station, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, between Montreal and Vancouver City, about 364 miles west from Montreal. Here we had to wait a considerable time, as the Pacific Express was already two hours late on its journey, so we were able to look about us. North Bay is situated on Lake Nipissing, a rather pretty lake, dotted with islands, and the town itself is said to be a rising place. It is reported that there is some good land in the neighbourhood; but if so, B 2 THE WE W FAR WEST. it is the last we noted on our journey for many miles west. But as it is a “junction station,” there must be a fair prospect of some business doing here. Upon the arrival of the Canadian Pacific train, we travelled along the north shore of Lake Nipissing, passing through forest mostly very much burnt. In the open spaces cleared by fire young self-sown trees were growing; but in other parts, where the fires had not done their work so thoroughly, we steamed through miles and miles of bare, blackened poles, showing what terrible destruction had been caused by the ravages of these unchecked forest fires. Rocks, charred trees, and scrub brushwood formed the order of the day, and succeeded each other in very monotonous regularity. The train kept up a good pace, quickening at times, especially down some of the inclines, where it appeared to go almost too fast; but doubtless this was in order to make up for lost time. I was struck by the great number of wooden bridges we passed over; keeping them in efficient repair will prove a heavy expense some day. On each bridge I noticed water barrels marked “C. P. R. fire barrel" dotted along on each side, in case of fire from falling cinders. Every pre- caution is taken with these bridges; and a number of watchmen are kept especially to examine each of D/VING CAR. 3 the principal ones immediately after the passing of a train. We passed Sudbury in the course of the afternoon, from which place a branch line is being made to Sault- St.-Marie, a narrow strait between Lakes Huron and Superior, over which a bridge was being built (since completed). The country now appeared quite un- inhabited, and we only noticed an occasional settler's or platelayer's log house; but even these were very rarely to be seen. We saw but one saw-mill, and only passed one passenger and one freight train during the day. I cannot see where the traffic to pay for this part of the railway is expected to come from. At present one passenger train is started six times in the week from each end of the line—west to east, and east to west; so there must be a string of trains running at equal distances, for it takes five days fourteen hours to reach Vancouver City from Montreal, and vice versá– the distance being 2906 miles; a long way for the same car to run, but the locomotives are changed at certain points. It is a great convenience for travellers to have the same carriages all the time; though, to home readers, the idea of stepping into a “through carriage” for a run of nearly six days, over a distance of almost 3000 miles, must appear strange. A dining car was attached to our train from 8 A.M. B 2 -- B == § ܺ -- --- Library Cº. º 3}^ Lºuillº." -_ - - º º -> º º º ºv. TTTTTE ºſmº: - OF THE ſ N - THE NEW FAR WEST AND THE OLD FAR EAST. º, :... I º 6 THE NEW FAR WEST AND THE OLD FAR EAST, BEING NOTES OF A TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA, JAPAN, CHINA, CEYLON, ETC. w * …t º BY W: HENRY BARNEBY, AUTHoR of “LIFE AND LABour IN THE FAR FAR west,” ETC. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD, 26 & 27 COCKSPUR STREET, CHARING CROSS, S.W. 1889. [All rights reserved) • • • • • • • • • • • → · • • • • • • To THE RIGHT HON. SIR MICHAEL E. HICKS-BEACH, BART, M.P., D.C.L., . PRESIDENT of THE BOARD of TRADE, As A SMALL TOKEN OF AFFECTION AND REGARD THIS WOLUME IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. /Ct/< v* .^^U*. - •&«. *. /(-o PREFACE. In publishing this volume, I wish to point out to my readers. that I have purposely avoided going over old ground. In my last work entitled Life and Labour in f/ie Far Far Wed, published in 1884, I described many places in Canada, revisited in my recent tour. I do not consider a repetition of the same facts necessary; and though in some cases I may be obliged to mention places visited before (for the sake of comparison), it will be as briefly as possible—Granville, now Vancouver City, in British Columbia, excepted. The new ground in Canada, over which I lately travelled, was a district recently opened up by the Manitoba and North Western Railway, through the "park-like lands of the Fertile Belt;" from Portage-la- Prairie to Langenburg, and by the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, from Calgary over the Rocky, Selkirk, and Cascade .' Mountains to the new terminal city of Vancouver. It was owing to the invitation of a friend (the Vice- President of the Manitoba and North Western Railway), \s who asked me to accompany him in his private director's "car," over both his own line and that of the Canadian Pacific Railway, that I was induced to make this my third visit to the Dominion of Canada; and the more especially as I was offered facilities for visiting certain viii PREFACE. people who had settled there, and who had been guided by my advice in selecting the locality of their future homes. I was anxious to see how they were prospering, and to hear from themselves their impressions of the country; fancying that letters home are not always quite so unbiassed as they should be, but that they often from somewhat interested motives paint the country in too rosy colours. This portion of my book will comprise that under the title of The New Far West. Those uninterested in emigration or farming in Canada are recommended to skip chapters vn., viii. and ix. altogether. After leaving Canada and the United States, I re- turned home via Japan, China, Ceylon, and Egypt—all new countries to me, my experiences in those regions being described in the portion of the volume entitled The Old Far East. I cannot flatter myself that all parts of this volume will be of equal interest to every reader, but the chapters referring to the agricultural lands of Canada may be useful to intending emigrants, and the others are the result of my personal observations, which though cut short and rendered meagre in parts by a severe illness, still I trust may interest those who have not yet visited those far distant lands. In conclusion, I wish to thank those gentlemen who have taken the trouble of verifying my views, and in par- ticular the Rev. Phipps Onslow, of Upper Sapey Rectory, Worcester, who has perused and slightly corrected this volume previous to going to press. W. Henry Barneby. Bredenbury Court, Bromyard, Herefordshire, and Longworth, Hircford. Carilon Club, S.W., June 1889. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. III. IV. V. VI. VII. IX. TORONTO TO WINNIPEG—CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY ... 1 WINNIPEG TO BANFF AND DONALD, OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS—CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY ... ... 11 DONALD TO REVELSTOKE, OVER THE SELKIRK RANGE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY ... ... ... ... 26 REVELSTOKE OVER THE GOLD RANGE AND CASCADE RANGE TO VANCOUVER CITY, BRITISH COLUMBIA—CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY ... ... 38 VANCOUVER CITY, BRITISH COLUMBIA ... ... ... 50 LULU ISLAND AND CAPILANO CREEK VANCOUVER CITY TO VICTORIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND ... ... ... 63 "THE PARK-LIKE LANDS OF THE FERTILE BELT." MANI- TOBA—BINSCARTH ... ... ... ... ... 74 "THE PARK-LIKE LANDS OF THE FERTILE BELT." MANI- TOBA LANGENBURG—CHURCHBRIDGE—SOLSGIRTH ... 92 "THE PARK-LIKE LANDS OF THE FERTILE BELT." MANITO- BA SHOAL LAKE—MINNEDOSA—RAPID CITY NEEPAWA 106 X. VICTORIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND—BRITISH COLUMBIA 121 XI. VICTORIA, B.C., TO SAI> FRANCISCO, U.S.A. 134 XII. THE PACIFIC OCEAN— YOKOHAMA, JAPAN 153 XIII. japan (continued) 170 XIV. japan (continued) 186 XV. japan (continued) 203 XVI. japan (continued) 221 XVII. japan (continued) 232 XVIII. HONG KONG—CANTON ... ... ... ... 245 CONTENTS. CHAP. I'AUl. XIX. HONG KONU—CETLON 257 XX. CEYLON 270 XXI. EN ROUTE HOME—CONCLUSION ... 279 APPENDIX A 291 APPENDIX B 292 APPENDIX C 294 APPENDIX D 1. to IV. ... 298 APPENDIX E 311 APPENDIX F 312 MAPS. 1. THE NEW FAR WEST, FROM LAKE SUPERIOR TO VANCOUVER island ... ... To face p. 148 2. A KEY MAP TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YOKOHAMA, JAPAN ... ... „ 202 3. A MAP OF THE WORLD, SHOWING THE AUTHOR'S ROUTE „ 290 ILLUSTRATIONS. A JINRIKISHA AT YOKOHAMA OX WAGONS STARTING FOR CARIBOO GORGE ON THE FRASER RIVER BINSCARTH FARM, MANITOBA ... FUJI-AMA, JAPAN KIGA, NEAR MYANOSHITA, JAPAN A PARTY AT NIKKO, JAPAN ... ASCENT TO A 8HOGUN's TOMB ... Front 'apiece To fare ti. 39 ... ... ... „ 43 ... ... ... ,, 81 ... ... ... ,, 160 ... ... ... ,, 167 ... ... ... „ 196 ... ... ... „ 202 THE NEW FAR WEST. r THE NEW FAR WEST AND THE OLD FAR EAST. CHAPTER I. TORONTO TO WINNIPEG.—CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. Prairie Fires—"Wooden Kail way Bridges—Dining Car—Emigrants' Comforts—A Lonely Station—Change of Reckoning Time—Scotch Settlers—Courteous Officials—Depreciation of Land—Good Land Neglected. We left Toronto by the Northern Kailway, and in ten hours', time reached North Bay Station, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, between Montreal and Vancouver City, about 364 miles west from Montreal. Here we had to wait a considerable time, as the Pacific Express was already two hours late on its journey, so we were able to look about us. North Bay is situated on Lake Nipissing, a rather pretty lake, dotted with islands, and the town itself is said to be a rising place. It is reported that there is some good land in the neighbourhood; but if so, 2 THE NEW FAR WEST. it is the last we noted on our journey for many miles west. But as it is a "junction station," there must be a fair prospect of some business doing here. Upon the arrival of the Canadian Pacific train, we travelled along the north shore of Lake Nipissing, passing through forest mostly very much burnt. In the open spaces cleared by fire young self-sown trees were growing; but in other parts, where the fires had not done their work so thoroughly, we steamed through miles and miles of bare, blackened poles, showing what terrible destruction had been caused by the ravages of these unchecked forest fires. Eocks, charred trees, and scrub brushwood formed the order of the day, and succeeded each other in very monotonous regularity. The train kept up a good pace, quickening at times, especially down some of the inclines, where it appeared to go almost too fast; but doubtless this was in order to make up for lost time. I was struck by the great number of wooden bridges we passed over; keeping them in efficient repair will prove a heavy expense some day. On each bridge I noticed water barrels marked "C. P. R. fire barrel" dotted along on each side, in case of fire from falling cinders. Every pre- caution is taken with these bridges; and a number of watchmen are kept especially to examine each of DINING CAR. 3 the principal ones immediately after the passing of a train. We passed Sudbury in the course of the afternoon, from which place a branch line is being made to Sault- St.-Marie, a narrow strait between Lakes Huron and Superior, over which a bridge was being built (since completed). The country now appeared quite un- inhabited, and we only noticed an occasional settler's or platelayer's log house; but even these were very rarely to be seen. We saw but one saw-mill, and only passed one passenger and one freight train during the day. I cannot see where the traffic to pay for this part of the railway is expected to come from. At present one passenger train is started six times in the week from each end of the line—west to east, and east to west; so there must be a string of trains running at equal distances, for it takes five days fourteen hours to reach Vancouver City from Montreal, and vice versa— the distance being 2906 miles; a long way for the same car to run, but the locomotives are changed at certain points. It is a great convenience for travellers to have the same carriages all the time; though, to home readers, the idea of stepping into a "through carriage" for a run of nearly six days, over a distance of almost 3000 miles, must appear strange. A dining car was attached to our train from 8 a.m. 4 THE NEW FAR WEST. to 8 p.m., bo there was no occasion for refreshment rooms at the stations; but I do not know how emigrants get on, or what chance they have of buying anything. Their comfort is, however, considerably studied, and they arc supplied with convenient bed racks, like the "Pullman's" in some respects, but with no mattresses. The permanent way and rolling stock of the Canadian Pacific Railway are excellent, and the carriages superior to any I have seen elsewhere, either in the States or Canada. The tariff in the dining car is moderate, three shillings being the fixed charge for each meal, and the catering is very good indeed. There is also a very appreciable difference between the courtesy of the officials of this line and that which I have noticed as conspicuous for its absence in many other parts. A leaf out of the C. P. R. book might in this respect be taken with advantages by employes elsewhere. A traveller between North Bay and Winnipeg, a distance of over 1:200 miles, must not expect to see any rich agricultural lands, for if he does he will be disappointed. Minerals there are said to be in abund- ance, but these are not generally visible at present. On leaving Onaping we continued to pass through forest, lake, and scrub wood scenery, all very monotonous, for about 100 miles. We were told that this forest is about A LONELY STATION. 5 400 miles in length, and every part of it is very much blackened and charred by forest fires. It was a pleasant change when, after some hours of darkness, we caught the first view of Lake Superior at Heron Bay. The engineering work along the north side of the lake must have been exceedingly heavy and difficult to carry through, especially before reaching Jack-fish Bay, where the line is taken through granite rocks of the most formidable description. Jack-fish Station, on the bay of that name, did not appear a desirable situation in which to spend a long winter, its only surroundings consisting of a pair of cabins and a fisherman's boat. After ascending a steep incline, we plunged into the forests and rocks again, and proceeded to Schreiber, a large dep6t for railway people, platelayers, &c., but nothing more. It was, however, quite refreshing to see a few houses again. After this we travelled on through some very good lake and forest scenery to Nepigon Bay, where we crossed the river of that name, which runs from Lake Nepigon, famous for its trout fishing (and also for its mosquitos). The views of Lake Superior from Jack-fish Bay up to Bed Bock Bay were exceedingly fine. During the rebellion in 1885 l the corps of volunteers under General Middleton were conveyed a considerable 1 See Appendix A. 6 THE NEW FAR WEST. distance by the Canadian Pacific Railroad; but at that time the line between Jack-fish and Red Rock Bays (a distance of about 70 miles) was not completed, owing to the very heavy rock cutting before alluded to. The volunteers marched a great part of this distance, over the frozen surface of the lake, and after submitting to great hardships, took train again at Red Rock Bay. We took on board two or three passengers at Nepigon, the first who had availed themselves of the train since we joined it at North Bay, a distance of 564 miles. This tends to corroborate the theory of there not being many local passengers in this part. At Port Arthur we came upon a partially open country, where a few cows were grazing. These were the first we had seen for 629 miles, the whole of the intervening country being ap- parently (so far as we could judge) uninhabited and devoid of cultivation. Port Arthur is very well situated on Lake Superior, and is the steamboat junction for Owen Sound, on Georgian Bay, Ontario. A few miles more and we arrived at Fort William, an old Hudson Bay Company's trading station, and here we stopped to have our train examined after its long run of 1000 miles from Montreal. From this point westwards, the new mode (to us) of reckoning time was used by the railway company, SCOTCH SETTLERS. 7 namely, one to twenty-four o'clock, beginning at midnight. Soon after leaving Fort William we skirted the Kaministiquia river (said to be very good for trout, and almost a virgin stream for fishing), which is well wooded on either side. The trees in this district are untouched by fire, and thus form a most delightful change after witnessing the devastation caused else- where. Lake and forest followed each other in due succession until we emerged at Selkirk Station, about twenty miles from Winnipeg. The settlement hard by was formed some years ago by Lord Selkirk, and named after him. It is said that the settlers here have intermixed very much with the half-breeds; but the present race still speak broad Scotch. There was palpable evidence on all sides that these people are poor farmers, and have made no progress. Shortly afterwards we arrived at Winnipeg, a distance of 1059 miles from North Bay (where we had joined the Pacific Express), and 1423 miles from Montreal. I must confess that I have never seen a more hopeless country through which to run a railway, and I cannot understand how this section of over 1000 miles out of 2900 miles can possibly be expected to pay, except perhaps as a through connection. Briefly speaking, this (say) 3000 miles of railway between Montreal 8 THE NEW FAR WEST. and Vancouver City may be divided as follows— 1000 miles of forests and rock, 1000 miles of prairie and agricultural lands, 1000 miles of mountain and wastes. Four years had passed since I was last at Winnipeg; and during that time the suburbs of the town have been greatly extended, but in the city itself I did not think there was much difference, except in "Main Street"; this has been very much improved, and is now paved with wood, and many of the houses have been rebuilt, some with a rather top-heavy style of "battlement," giving the street a somewhat irregular appearance. The various back streets appear to have been at a standstill, and the magnificent streets laid out to the right and left of Main Street are still unbuilt, and consist of side-walks and telegraph-poles only. Excepting Main Street, all the streets are in a deplorable state of ruts and unevenness; the declivi- ties at the corners appear complete traps, certain to overturn any carriage other than the native buggy. There seemed to me to be a want of "go" about the place in comparison to what I had observed in 1883, and the streets were very empty; but this, I was told, was due to the farmers all now being busy in the country, as harvest operations were in full progress. While at Winnipeg I took the opportunity of visit- DEPRECIATION OF LAND. 9 ing the small property I had purchased in 1881, near Otterbourne, 30 miles south of Winnipeg. Mr. Herbert Power, who has now such a practical knowledge of land in Manitoba, accompanied me, as I was anxious to hear his opinion of the property, and of the quality of the land. On reaching Otterbourne Station, Captain Leckie, the postmaster, drove us out the three miles in a very primitive buggy. First of all we visited the brothers McVicar, who live on a neighbouring section, and whose acquaintance I had made in 1883. Since then their father has built a new house about a mile off; but this was the only improvement I could notice in the Otterbourne district in the last four years. The McVicars were again most hospitable, and, having freely expressed themselves to the effect that they would like to hang "all them speculators," very kindly offered to show me my land. The depth of soil there is about four feet, and Mr. Power, Captain Leckie, and Neven McVicar all agreed that it was land of a very first-rate description. At the same time, this and other land around has gone down in value quite 30 to 50 per cent, since I was last here in 1883; in fact, it is difficult to put a price on it, as there are no buyers. All the land round my sections, except that occupied by the McVicars, is still "unsettled," and held by non-residents. I have io THE NEW FAR WEST. on former occasions pointed out the mistake people make by rushing far West (unless they are miners), instead of settling down on the rich lands of the Red River Valley; and I am in no fear of contradiction when I repeat that this is the best land, not only in Manitoba, but I believe in the whole of Canada and British Columbia. Yet the population is small and scattered, and the money-making power of the settlers does not appear to be very rapid; for when I reminded McVicar of how he had told me when I was at Little Bredenbury before that he could not get married because there were no girls, he replied, "There are no girls at all now, and I could not keep a wife if I had one." As regards the climate here,1 a severe hailstorm had occurred about the middle of July, and had consider- ably injured the standing crops; but it was purely local, and was also very partial, striking one field and sparing the next. The Mc Vicars said that at the time we were there (the end of August) the frost was beginning to whiten the grass. 1 For further information as to climate, see Life and Labour in the Far Far West, by W. Henry Barneby. Cassell and Co., London, 1884. LEAVING WINNIPEG. u CHAPTER II. WINNIPEG TO BANFF AND DONALD, OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. A Burnt Prairie—Untidy Houses—Ogilvie Elevators—A Barren Country—Traffic in Buffalo Bones—A Successful Coal Mine—A Gathering of Monarchs—A Cure for Rheumatism—Primitive Bathing Establishment—An Original Advertisement—Anthracite Coal Mine—A new Field for Alpine Climbers—A Difficult Pass —Change of Time. Leaving Winnipeg for the west, I was exceedingly- sorry not to revisit Southern Manitoba1 by the way, in order to see what improvements (if any) had taken place there since 1883. This district is traversed by the South-Western branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and is a part of Manitoba, in which I take great interest. On account of the superior quality of some of the land, it is a favourite district for bond fide settlers and emigrants, though it has to my mind been somewhat overlooked by the general public. However, by following the route adopted, I had an 1 See Life and Labour in the Far Far Went. 12 THE NEW FAR WEST. opportunity of observing the whole of the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The prairie immediately adjoining the track was much burnt, owing to fires started by falling cinders or sparks from passing loco- motives; and perhaps the comparative absence of "settlement" may be due partly to this, as well as to the fact of the land being held by speculators. The Manitoba and North-Western Railway, and the district adjoining now opened up for settlers, which will be described later on after visiting Vancouver City, branches off at Portage la Prairie. This place T now passed for the fourth time in my life; it is one of the oldest settle- ments, and is almost entirely devoted to wheat raising. The late autumn is, I think, a very favourable time to see the country,—for the stacks are finished, and are dotted about in every direction; but at Burnside (the next station to Portage la Prairie) the wheat-fields cease, and rough unreclaimed land again appears. The wheat- farming round Portage always strikes me as superior to any other in Manitoba or the North-West Territory; round Carberry, too, there is a considerable amount of good farming. Brandon, again, is said to be a head centre for grain growing; but I remember that in 1883, when I insjiected this district, 1 was more struck with the business prosperity of the town, than with the look of the district and the neighbourhood from an agri- OG/LVIE'S ELEVATORS. 13 cultural point of view. Brandon itself now (1887) appears to have developed; several buildings which were in wood at the time of my last visit are now re-erected in stone, and there are also some new public buildings. On the northern side of the station, how- ever, several poor-looking structures have recently been put up, and the neighbourhood of the station generally does not do credit to the rest of the place, being neglected and untidy; this is a pity, as Brandon bears such a good name. The next few towns we passed did not appear to have made any recent progress, till reaching Elkhorn, where considerable improvement was visible; and its neighbour Virden has made even greater strides still. A large proportion of the land passed through to-day is not worth cultivating; I need not mention particular localities, but it must be understood that I am referring especially to lands adjoining the railway. Further away on each side there are many settled houses; and "Ogilvie's" elevators are to be seen at nearly all the stations; these have been, for the most part, erected since my last visit, and are a sure sign of the increased prosperity of the country, which is satisfactor)7. Mr. Ogilvie is the great miller, not only of the province of Manitoba, but also of the whole Dominion of Canada. At some stations there was competition, as I noticed 14 THE NEW FAR WEST. other elevators bearing the name of Messrs. McBean Brothers. Virden has much increased in size since I was last there, and now possesses a cheese factory, a flour rolling mill, an English church, town-hall and school, and many new buildings for the growing population. Leaving Virden we passed several other places which I had visited in 1883, including the capital, Regina, and Moosejaw; and continued our journey westwards over a very bad bit of line (caused, I believe, by the softness of the land over which it passed), where our car, which was attached to the end of the train, shook in the most alarming manner, so that we fully expected it would leave the track. However, all went right, and after a very unpleasant experience of three and a half hours' rocking, the line improved. The country west of Moosejaw, along the Canadian Pacific Railway, appears to be absolutely worthless for farming purposes, until within 40 or 50 miles of Calgary—a great deal is completely desert, with sage bush as the principal crop, and alkali abounds through- out the district. It is true that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company have started trial farms here and there. I cannot say how they are answering, but at any rate they stand alone; no settlers appear to have been tempted to follow the example, for I hardly TRAFFIC IN BUFFALO BONES. 15 noticed any settlers' huts at all. The towns adjoining the various railway stations have, as a rule, not been much enlarged in the last four years. At Swift Current the principal traffic appeared to be huge piles of buffalo bones, which are found here on the prairie in great numbers, and are bought by the traders from the Indians to make into manure. Maple Creek has not made much advance in farming, but this place and Calgary are developing as shipping points for Montana cattle. The Americans send their cattle in bond to Maple Creek, whence they are despatched by rail; there is a duty of 20 dollars a head for each animal imported into Canada from the States. At Dunmore the North Western Coal and Navigation Company make a junction with the Canadian Pacific Railway. This little line is 109 miles long, and has only recently been opened, for the purpose of bringing coal from the Gait coal mines—a speculation started as a company by Sir Alexander Gait a few years ago, and which is proving a great success. Passing Medicine Hat, which has increased a little since 1883, and which for commercial purposes is probably a good centre, owing to the various coal mines in its vicinity, we continued our way through a very barren country, where the prairie was composed of loose shingle and pebbles, and where there was not a house or dwelling of any kind to be seen, except here and there an 16 THE NEW FAR WEST. occasional cabin. As I drove over it in 1883, I know- that this class of land continues to within about 40 miles of Calgary; but there its character changes entirely, and Calgary is recognized as the head centre of the cattle and ranching business. Around Fort McLeod (to the south of the line) is the finest district in the Dominion for ranching, and the various companies and private individuals who follow this calling have already been described,1 and are too well-known for there to be any need for me to touch on the subject now. A stage runs in five days from Calgary to Edmonton, which latter has the reputation of being also a fine country, though better for cattle and horses than wheat growing, owing to the summer frosts. Then again further north is the Peace River district, which is very well spoken of, but not much opened out as yet. At Calgary, which is beautifully situated, there is an excellent Immigrants and Enquiry Office, wdth a large immigrants' shed attached. From here the foothills of the Rocky Mountains are seen, and the scenery rapidly improves, until at Banff, in the heart of the Rockies, it is very grand and striking indeed. This little town (which has sprung into existence during the last twelve months) is situated in 1 Seo Life and Labour in the Far Far West, by W. Henry Barneby. Cassoll and Co., London, 1884. "MO UNTA IN AfONARCHS* 17 a wild rough valley at a spot from which many moun- tain valleys diverge; hence there are not one or two solitary mountains only to admire, but two or three dozen of them, all grand and majestic, but almost devoid of vegetation, except for a few trees growing apparently out of the solid rock. When I saw them the mountains all had a sprinkling of snow, but some of it is annual. They seemed like a gathering of "mountain monarchs" assembled here in conclave. The grandest, to my mind, and I believe also the highest, is the Cascade Mountain, said to be 10,000 feet high, but Banff itself is at such an elevation above the sea that it hardly looks its height; and this is the case with all others in the Rocky Mountain range, as far as my experience goes. Seen from Banff this portion of the range has a rugged grandeur, which would be relieved more or less by its pine forests, if these had not been damaged to an irreparable extent by fires which must at times have made the mountains look as if they themselves were all ablaze. The remnants of the forest are straight pines of no girth, looking, indeed, rather like a plantation; but the soil here, even in the bottom lands, would not allow of much growth. Being detached from the train, and leaving our car on a siding, we took two buggies to view the beauties of the neighbourhood, and drove first to the " City," where 18 THE NEW FAR WEST. there was more bustle going on in erecting houses than in any other place I had seen along the line. Everything was new; the "City " consisted of at least as many tents as houses, but the preparations every- where showed that in another year's time all this would be changed. We crossed the Bow River—a beautifully clear stream almost as blue as the Lake of Geneva—on a bridge made of wooden rafts fastened together; but this bridge is soon to give way to a new and ugly structure of light iron and wood. The road was excel- lent, as all these roads are; they are made by the Govern- ment, for the Dominion has taken possession of a district ten or more miles square here as a National Park (said to be 24 miles long and nine wide). I believe all the bouses and shops here now being run up are under lease, and not freehold. We drove to the source of the Hot Springs, discovered only about three years ago. It is about 1000 feet above the river, and we found a very strong stream issuing from the side of the mountain, the temperature of the water being about 119°. It has all been reserved by the Dominion Government, and six-inch iron pipes have already been laid to convey this valuable property to baths, &c., for the benefit of the public. It is said to be a first-rate cure for rheuma- tism and other ailments. New baths have now just been erected, but the primitive ones of the previous AN ORIGINAL ADVERTISEMENT. 19 year took my fancy most, simply a wooden covering or shed divided into two, in both of which holes about 15 feet by 10 feet were dug out of the solid rock to serve as baths, the water flowing straight through them. The division between the two was of planks, one being for ladies, the other for gentlemen. All this has now given way to a new erection with zinc baths and a large wooden one as a plunge bath, still rather primitive. Into these the hot water rushes fresh from the spring. I could hardly hold my hand in it, so I thought it advisable to decline a plunge in case I should come out lobster fashion. There was no touting; everything seemed open to any one to inspect; and it is evident that as yet Banff has not been spoilt by the tourist element. But I fear in the course of a few years, owing to its attractions and its natural beauties, all this will be changed. There was only one advertisement, and that such a natural and primitive one that no one could object to it. Some poor person who had sought a cure and found it here, had hung up his crutch with this inscription, "The man who used this crutch is cured, and gone home." I think I have never seen anything to compare with the "cave" and natural "basin" here. The former is now approached by a tunnel, but until quite recently the only access was from a small hole above into a c 2 20 THE NEW FAR WEST. natural cave about 30 feet deep, at the bottom of which was a pool of sulphurous water—as clear and bright as crystal—rising from a strong spring below. This cave was till lately perfect, quite round, with a vaulted roof; the walls and dome are all stalactite, at the top of which is the hole through which the steam evapo- rated, which led to its discovery three years ago by a working man who was a "prospector." A little woodeu platform has now been placed all round, for the con- venience of bathers. The " Basin" is about 300 yards away, and is another warm sulphur spring, bubbling up through the rock into a natural pool; but in order to deepen it a little a wall has been erected, and it is now about 6 feet deep by 30 feet square. A little chalet has been built outside with dressing-rooms, but the bath itself is unenclosed. This and the cave are the most perfect baths I have ever seen, and are quite unique; their temperature is lower than that of the hot spring from the mountains mentioned previously. Banff has great natural advantages, but whether its distance from centres of civilization will preclude its being visited by thousands remains to be seen. I cannot help thinking we shall hear a good deal of this little spot in the Rocky Mountains and its national park in the near future; but the whole thing is in the hands of the Government. ANTHRACITE COAL-MINE. i\ From here we visited the coal-mines of the Canadian Anthracite Company, close to the next station east from Banff. This mine only commenced working November, 1886; already there is an hotel, a store, and several houses; about 150 hands were employed, and I was told many more men would shortly be wanted. We walked straight in, a distance of about 400 yards, along a level about 20 feet above the railway; it was very wet under- foot, but there was plenty of space to walk upright. There were two other branches besides the one we traversed, and a good deal of blasting was going on in another shaft, which shook the whole place and made it feel a little uncomfortable: at least so said a Canadian who was walking next me, and who was more accustomed to this sort of thing than I was. Leaving Banff and continuing our journey westward, the sunrise was beautiful, tinting. with a warm red glow all the snow-capped summits of the Rockies within sight. The railway follows the valley of the Bow River, which is guarded by immense mountains on either side, Castle Mountain being the one of the greatest importance. Later on we reached the summit valley, 5300 feet above the sea. This valley appears to be a certain medium width for a time, until it contracts and becomes the Kicking Horse Pass, a much narrower defile. Many of the innumerable mountains 22 THE AWE JP FAR WEST. in this part are still unnamed, and this would make a grand field for adventure for Alpine climbers, with opportunities of giving names of their own choice to these “snow-capped giants” of the Rockies. Here again many trees were scorched and burnt, their blackened stems spoiling the lovely scenery a great deal; but I was glad to see a good growth of seed- lings rising amongst their ashes, so in a few years I hope these forests may be green once more. After passing Silver City (started when silver was expected to be worked here, but now a poor miserable place, a mere collection of shabby-looking log huts), there were unmistakable signs that we were approaching the summit. Frost and a thick snow were visible on the track and adjacent land. The stunted spruce and poplar grew smaller, and the valley and mountains all had a very sterile look. At Laggan our carriage-wheels were examined, and then we steamed for the summit, passing Mount Mac- donald on our way; and, neither stopping at the summit station nor at Stephen, we began at once to descend the western slope of the mountains. From Hector to Field a most magnificent panorama lay before us as we continued our gradual but sure descent for a distance of eight miles. During this time we passed Mount Stephen, a magnificent mountain, 12,000 feet A DIFFICULT PASS. 23 high. At Field there is a comfortable hotel, in the hands of the C. P. R., and half an hour is allowed for breakfast. The snow soon disappeared as we descended to the westward, and the timber began to increase in size; but beyond Field the forests were again terribly damaged by fire, whole mountain sides being quite black with charred timber. Leaving Palliser we entered the canon of the smaller Kicking Horse Pass, where there was but just room for the river and the railway, sometimes indeed barely room for the two. Thus we proceeded for miles, with immense overhanging mountains above us, passing through tunnels, and on the verge of precipices. It is truly a wonder that a railway could have been constructed along such a course; and yet without such a communication as this, the thread could never have been drawn to connect British Columbia with the rest of the Dominion. At one point, where there appeared but just room for the river only, a tunnel had been bored for the passage of the train, but it was through soft material, and not long ago it fell in. A wonderful curve has now been made outside the tunnel bordering on the river bank, and on this the line is laid for the train to twist round; the curve was so great that from our car at the rear end of the train we could plainly see the broadside of the engine. 24 THE NEW FAR WEST. We descended from the Rockies into the Columbia River Valley at Golden City, the station for the Kootenay district. Here I made inquiries about the s.s. Duchess, which, ascending the river 100 miles to Windermere, is a great help to any one wishing to visit the Kootenay Valley. I was, however, told that she could now only go half the distance, as the water in the river was too low; and that in another fortnight, say the middle of September, she would cease running altogether for this season. The railway followed the course of the valley to Donald, distant 2445 miles west from Montreal, and 461 east from Vancouver City. By our watches it was just noon; but this being the commencement of the Pacific section of the line, the time was here put back an hour by the clock. AVe had now crossed the Rocky Mountains, our descent at Golden City having terminated that portion of our journey. On the opposite side of the valley rose the Selkirk range, and this we were next to traverse. The Columbia Valley divides these two chains of mountains, and Donald is most beautifully situated between them. While here, Mr. Baker kindly arranged with the super- intendent of the Pacific section of the line that our car should be sent on with a special engine at 2 p.m., so as to give me an opportunity of calling upon my old friend, Mr. Justice Crease, of Victoria, who was DONALD ASSIZES. 25 holding the Assizes at Donald. I found him sitting in Court, but he soon had an opportunity to adjourn for a time, and we went together to his house, which was nicely situated in a pine forest overlooking the river. I was much struck by the very superior look of the people I saw in Court, many of them employes of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who are a highly respectable class of men, and by the Grand Jury in particular. 26 THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER III. DONALD TO EEVELSTOKE, OVER THE SELKIRK RANGE CAMBRIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. Engineering Skill —A Lonely Station—Magnificent Scenery—The Highest Bridge in the World—Precautions against Fire—Dangers of Winter Travelling—A Narrow Defile—Eight Miles of Snow- sheds—A Splendid Glacier—Strange Effects of a Tornado—Mr. Caine, M.P.—Eailway Loops—Chinese Camps. Continuing our journey westwards from Donald over the Selkirk range, in British Columbia, our route lay first along the bank of the Columbia River. The grade was a steep one, and dangerously liable to falls of stones and boulders and loose earth from above. Our special engine took our car about eleven miles, and we were then hooked on to a ballast train, and conveyed as far as Bear Creek Station, where we had to halt for the night; it being too late, owing to the delay caused by waiting for an eastward-bound ballast train, for us to reach Glacier House Station, which had been our proposed stopping-place. ENGINEERING SKILL. 27 The ascent of the Selkirks is by Rogers' Pass, and is very steep; the track is laid along the face of the mountain overlooking the river, the gorge is a very narrow one, and the scenery is of the grandest descrip- tion; snow-capped mountain peaks were visible on all sides, their lower slopes being clothed with magnificent pine forests. We passed over two very high trestle bridges, one 156 feet high, called Mountain Creek, and the other 298 feet high and 450 feet long, called Stony Creek. Some of the travelling was not very pleasant, for the work seemed so new, and the face of the cuttings was composed of loose sand and shingle, which were continually silting down; we heard that only a few days previously some of these loose boulders had caused the upset of two coaches of the Pacific express, being, in fact, the train from which we had been detached at Donald. The line throughout is a marvellous piece of engineering skill and perseverance; and it is aston- ishing how this continuous chain of passes could have been discovered, which led to the construction of this wonderful line of railway through a wilderness of pine forests, among mountains thousands of feet above the level of the sea, far away from any civilization. The siding at Bear Creek Station, where our car remained for the night, was in the midst of a thick 28 THE NEW FAR WEST. forest, high up on the mountain side, near the top of the Selkirks, far away from any population; but this made no difference to us in our travelling home, as our larder was well supplied for a lengthened outing. It was a beautiful, solitary spot, with the Beaver River flowing far below, and magnificent mountain peaks rising all around, showing their snowy summits over the heads of the tall pine-trees. A station was placed here on account of the water supply; for as there are no houses of any description in the neighbourhood, of course passengers can hardly ever be expected to present themselves. The air was very pure and exhilarating; the weather was perfection, clear, bright, and warm, with only a slight breeze,—and under these very favour- able conditions for enjoyment we passed through some of the most magnificent scenery it is possible to behold in the world. I have previously attempted to describe the beauties of the Rockies at Banff; but in point of scenery they are not to be compared to the Selkirks; and, besides, on the latter the timber is much finer, and the vegetation far more luxuriant. In this respect there is on the Rockies a marked change on the Pacific side, but it is more especially noticeable on the Selkirks, for the trees gradually and strikingly increase in size, and ferns and moss and forest vegetation of every description begin to present themselves in rich profusion. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FIRE. 29 Before breakfast I walked down to Stony Creek Bridge, which we had crossed the previous night. It is said to be the highest in the world, and is supported in the centre by an immense wooden tower, with a smaller one at either end. There was a water tank close by, and an iron hose was run along the top of the bridge near the rails, in order to turn on water in case of fire; at one end was a house for a watchman to guard the structure, which was all of wood. The great care taken by the directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway to insure the safety of its passengers, and to guard against accidents, is noticeable along the whole line, in this and in many other ways. "When the ballast train returned with its morning load, our car was attached to it for conveyance to "Glacier" Station, ten miles further on, where we were to wait the arrival of the ordinary passenger train to take us on to Ashcroft. The route still lay high up on the mountain side far above the Beaver River, through the midst of a fine forest of spruce, hemlock, and fir. We were fortunate in making our trip in what I was told was the best time of the year for seeing this country, viz. September and October; for in the winter there is a great deal of snow, and in 1886 this pass (Rogers' Pass) was blocked for several weeks. Snow commences to fall usually in November, and lasts till 30 THE NEW FAR WEST. March; this latter month and April are generally the most dangerous months here for travelling, on account of the falling masses of boulders and loose gravel, which constitute in a great measure the formation of the mountain side along which the course of the line has been laid. This danger will be very materially lessened by the snow and boulder tunnels now in course of construction; these are beinsr made in the strongest possible manner, and indeed all is being done that can be done for the protection of the trains and their freight; but at the same time these tunnels of course naturally very seriously interfere with the views of the magnificent scenery, which would otherwise be visible from the train. It was our good fortune to see these views as well as it is possible to see them, for our car had plate-glass windows all round, and as it was the only passenger carriage on the freight train, we could procure both front and rear views; the only objection being that when one's attention was startled and riveted by one magnificent bit of scenery, there would come a shout from some one of the party from the other end of the car, to go and look at an equally fine view there; so that there was a constant rushing backwards and forwards from one end of our fifty feet car to the other. In almost the narrowest part of the defile, into the depths of which the sun's rays could seldom if ever MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. 31 penetrate, the fine head of Mount Carroll (5558 feet high) rises above the railway on the one hand, with Mount Hermit (4983 feet high) on the other. Steaming on between these two snow-capped guar- dians of the pass, we continued our way, and gradually the valley widened, and we found ourselves at Rogers' Pass Station; with magnificent precipitous mountains all round us, where the trees, even below the timber- line, failed to find a footing. Mounts Carroll and Hermit were still the grandest objects in the view; and I fully think that no mountain scenery can possibly surpass the scenery here, and that a little further on at Glacier. At Sogers' Pass Station suffi- cient ground had been cleared for the erection of a very small town of wooden shanties, but the stumps of the forest trees were left all around. Soon we arrived at the Summit house of the Selkirk range; and from here the finest view of any was obtained," combining in beautiful juxtaposition rock, snow, and glaciers; with timber and patches of grass on the lower ground; the lights and shadows over the whole being simply perfect. We now passed through numerous and lengthy snow-sheds, extending in places over eight continuous miles of the run. They are made of British Columbian cedar; I should fear there might be some danger of their catching fire when thoroughly dry. 32 THE NEW FAR WEST. Glacier Station (pronounced here "Glazier") is ap- proached down an incline. Here the scenery is most wonderful; on the one side the huge glacier itself coming down from a frowning mountain, guarded by Mount Sir Donald, about 11,000 feet high, and the Syndicate Peak; and then turning the other way there was a beautiful view of the Illecillewaet Valley, on the further side of which rose Mount Ross and a crowd of other mountains, partially clothed with pine forests, which in this case I am glad to say were untouched by fire. There is a small hotel at Glacier, kept by the Canadian Pacific Railway Com- pany, and the manager told me that a large new one was to be built very shortly; fishponds and gardens were already being planned, but I am glad to have seen the place before these contemplated changes are made, for its natural charm and beauty will not be improved by them. We walked up to see the glacier, and on our way passed through forest in a perfectly primeval state, where the ground under our feet was soft with decayed timber. We came upon a most curious section, in a tract of about three acres, which must have been visited by a tornado; the trunks of the trees, black with age, were lying as it were in one huge mass, and twisted and twirled about in every direction. This could not have been the work of an avalanche or landslip, as there was LUXURIOUS TRAVELLING. 33 no break or passage in the forest all round. The glacier is a huge one, but I did not notice any large crevasses like those in the Swiss glaciers, and therefore the effect of the beautiful blue shades caused by these was missing. A mountain peak rose high above the glacier, and to the right of this a new moon was (at 1.50 p.m.) clearly visible. In due time our car was attached to the ordinary train and we proceeded on our journey. Travelling in a private car there are many opportunities for doing little acts of kindness and of showing hospitality, one of which appears to have been appreciated by the author of A Trip Hound the World (Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P.), published in 1888, in whose book at p. 109 I find the following remarks referring to us and our car, which I venture to insert here, to explain more fully an outsider's and total stranger's opinion of the comfort in which we were travelling, and the special advantages we had of seeing the country, which I, for one, fully appreciated, although not for the first time :— "Leaving Glacier House on Wednesday, the 21st, we found attached to the train one of the handsome private travelling carriages which are used by directors and officials on the long lines which cross the American continent, and which are travelling homes of both comfort and luxury. Shortly after starting, a coloured 34 THE NEW FAR WEST. servant brought me a card bearing the name of Mr. Baker, the General Superintendent of the Manitoba and North-Western Railway, a line which opens up a fine agricultural district north of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way. Mr. Baker wished my daughter and me to ride through the beautiful scenery of the Selkirk range in his carriage, which, being at the tail of the train, com- manded a clear view, and he also asked us to dine with him afterwards. He first showed us over his car, in which he lives all the year round for nine days out of fourteen, travelling up and down his line. It was a carriage somewhat longer than a North-Western first- class coach. It was divided into a dining-room, large drawing-room, kitchen, pantry, and two comfortable bedrooms, all handsomely furnished, with a small plat- form or terrace at each end, on one of which were kept the stores in ice-lined boxes, and the other was a sort of balcony on which to sit and view the passing scenery. An admirable dinner was served, consisting of soup, oysters, roast beef, two vegetables, pudding, and dessert, with a cup of excellent coffee. Mr. Baker was taking a holiday with some English friends. The car was shunted at any station along the line which they wished to visit, and the party were enjoying excellent oppor- tunities for sport ou the many lakes along the prairie— the resorts of a great variety of wild-fowl—as well as A TEMPORARY DISAPPOINTMENT. 3; being able to see the whole scenery of the Rockies and the Selkirks by daylight, by hooking on to freight and ballast trains. We left them behind about 10 o'clock p.m. on an arm of the great Shuswap Lake, where they had good duck-shooting next day, while Mr. Baker killed six trout over 2lbs. each." Mr. Caine does not add what he told us, viz., that at the moment the coloured servant (our factotum Frank, a negro) entered the Pullman sleeper and presented Mr. Baker's card, a lively conversation was going on among the occupants (Lord Herschell and Mr. Caine, I believe, among the number) as to the inconvenience occasioned by the presence of the new-comers (our car), for, as it was attached to the rear-end of the train, it was blocking the best view of one of the finest parts of the Selkirks. The invitation alluded to by Mr. Caine worked an immediate change in the aspect of the ques- tion, so far as he was concerned, and I dare say he enjoyed the scenery all the more after experiencing the temporary disappointment caused by our sudden appearance. We proceeded on our journey, descending by what are called the C. P. R. "loops" into the Illecillewaet Valley below. These "loops" are a series of doubles, or zigzags, by which an easy descent is made. Although very well engineered, they cannot be compared with D 2 36 THE NEW FAR WEST. similar zigzags to be seen on some European railways, notably in Switzerland and Italy. We accomplished the descent safely and easily, and then sped on west- wards at a lively pace. The view of the twin mountains, Sir Donald and the Syndicate Peak, was very fine, looking back; there were several smaller peaks in close proximity, which might perhaps be appropriately named after some of the less prominent members of the syndi- cate. As we descended lower and lower, the trees gradually increased in size, and the difference in the vegetation on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes was again most remarkable;—as I have said before, the latter is far more soft and luxuriant. We continued to have lovely peeps of mountains through openings in the forest during the whole after- noon, and much congratulated ourselves on our good fortune in not having been troubled by any forest fires throughout our journey; they are very prevalent in Jul}' and August, and then (as I have found on former occasions) the smoke is so thick that one may travel for days without being able to see anything of the country. We passed the Albert Canon and its tremendous fissure of 250 feet, through which the waters of the Illecillewaet rush; and then soon reached Revelstoke, which may be considered the termination of the Selkirk Pass. An immense number of Chinese were being employed here. CHINESE CAMPS. 37 as labourers on the railway; they were almost the first we had seen, but as we continued our journey we passed by many of their camps—always a pretty sight at night, but rather a dirty one when seen by the broad light of day. There was no "farm land" at Revelstoke, nor indeed had I seen any during the whole day; and it may be roughly said that there are no settlements worth mentioning between Donald and Kamloops. There is also scarcely any attempt at private hotel-enterprise in any of the districts now being opened to tourists (with the exception of Banff); so the C. P. R. will obtain a monopoly through their hotels already built or in course of construction; and a very profitable business they will find it. 38 THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER IV. REVELSTOKE OVER THE GOLD RANGE AND CASCADE RANGE TO VANCOUVER CITY, BRITISH COLUMBIA—CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. A Solitary Walk—An Indian Village—A Fruitful Garden—Irrigation —Destruction of Bunch-grass—Over-grazing—The Sage-bush— Desolation—A Chinese Village — Swiss Scenery—The Fraser Valley—A Deserted Coach-road—An Abandoned Water Route— Disappointed Speculators—A National Eailway. From Revelstoke the country was almost "uninhabited until we reached Sushwap Lake, after passing over the Gold Range; but here there were several settlements besides those at Sushwap and Kamloops; in fact, the land here is better and more settled than any we had yet met with on our journey through British Columbia. As we found we should be delayed on reaching Kam- loops, we decided to stop for the night at Ashcroft, on the Thompson River, so that I might, on the following day, pay a visit to my friend Mr. Cornwall (the late Lieut.-Governor of British Columbia). Accordingly, in the morning the rest of the party went out fishing in º viawn Too Hsılı H8 'ooglºwo HO4 ONI LHw1s SN00WM x0 A SOLITARY WALK. 39 the Thompson, a fine, broad river; and I started to walk the three miles to my friend's house, over a barren- looking, hilly country, with absolutely no vegetation whatever at this time of the year, excepting occasional patches of sage-bush. This surprised me extremely, for I had always understood that this locality was the centre of the "bunch-grass" district. As I ascended the mountain side to reach the valley beyond, I obtained some very fine views westwards, and also of the "benches" of the Thompson, i. e. large flat stretches of land falling gradually lower and lower down to the river, resembling to a certain extent the steppes in Russia. The solitude of this vast and apparently un- inhabited country was very oppressive, and I was not sorry to come to an Indian village, though I found all the inhabitants were out fishing. By the way I called upon Mr. Henry Cornwall (the late Lieut.-Governor's brother); he lives on the old Cariboo Road, in a house which used formerly, before the line of communication was altered, to be a store and house of entertainment for the miners passing backwards and forwards between Victoria and the gold-fields. A good harvest must have been made here in those days of high prices, a dollar and a half (6s.) being the usual price then for a miner's dinner. My friend the late Lieut.-Governor's house was 40 THE NEW FAR WEST. quite a pretty place, with a good stream of water for irrigation and other purposes; quite a necessity on this dry soil, for without irrigation no crops could be grown. I was taken to see the garden and farm. The lawn is planted with English grass seeds, and, being irrigated, is as green as any in England, and the flowers well- grown and bright. The kitchen garden contained all the ordinary vegetables, and besides our common fruits there were grapes. The apple-trees were so heavily laden that there was some danger of the branches breaking; but all this is due to irrigation, and this is the case also on the farm, where I was told the crops had been very good. These lands formed a great con- trast to the hundreds and thousands of acres within view all round, burnt as brown as could be (the end of September), with scarcely a particle of herbage on them. The loss of the bunch-grass will make a material difference in the value of property in this part of British Columbia. Its disappearance is easily accounted for. This grass is an annual, and the country being over-grazed, it was eaten off before it had time to seed; a good deal of it also has been destroyed by being pulled out of the ground by the cattle, as it grows in little tufts with very slight roots. Twenty years ago the whole district was covered with this beautiful grass, of a fine delicate texture, about twenty inches DISAPPEARANCE OF BUNCH-GRASS. 41 high, growing in tufts six to twelve inches apart. If timely precautions had been taken by means of fencing, to allow the grasses to have an interval of rest, things would have been different; but it is too late now, and bunch-grass here is a thing of the past; the result being that where one hundred head of stock could formerly be kept, the land now will not carry more than thirty. It has been rapidly disappearing since 1872, and is now entirely gone; and this disappearance is not local, but almost universal over the whole district to which I refer, of (say) about 300 square miles or so—from Kamloops to near Yale. It is now being to a certain extent replaced by a small kind of sage-bush, which the horses and cattle eat, though they do not much care for it; however, it makes capital beef. They seldom touch the larger bushes, excepting in winter, when their branches are the only things they can get at in the snow. Sage affects the flavour, though not the look, of the milk and butter, giving them a very unpleasant taste. The mountains round have now a most desolate appearance; if they could be irrigated crops would grow luxuriantly, for the sandy-looking soil is pro- nounced to be cultivable; but I fear this would be an impossibility, for the whole district suffers from want of rain and moisture. I returned to the car by a more direct track than the one I had followed in the morning. GORGE ON THE ERASER RIVER. BRITISH COLUMBIA. SCEiWERY IN THE CASCADES. 43 regular Chinese settlement, with a complete Chinese village, at a place called Keefers. One might have imagined oneself in a pleasant Swiss valley; the rugged mountains were replaced by high hills clothed with pine-trees, with wooden farm-houses dotted about here and there. At North Bend (where there is a C. P. R. refreshment house, 25 miles east from Yale) the valley is still broader, and pleasant in every way to the eye; but there is at present no room for farming operations, as the ground is thickly covered with beautiful forests, which are here happily spared from the destructive fires which have ravaged so many other parts. I have said enough to explain that the scenery in these, the Cascade Mountains, is quite different from that in the Rockies or Selkirks, but so far as difficulties and obstacles to railway building are concerned, the Cascades carry off the palm. In my opinion the en- gineering difficulties are greater, and the works much heavier here than on any other part of the line, in- cluding the far-famed works on the north shore of Lake Superior. Before reaching Yale, the Fraser River flows at the bottom of a deep narrow gorge; the rail- way is carried above, along the face of the solid rock, in many cases through a succession of short tunnels. This is work of the heaviest description; and the greatest credit is due to both the Government and the 44 THE NEW FAR WEST. contractor (Mr. Onderdonk, the representative of one of the oldest and most respected of the New York families) for the admirable way in which it is carried out. Wonderful as the whole of the Canadian Pacific Eailway truly is, there is no work so heavy or so well done as this part of the Fraser River Canon; and I think it somewhat a pity there should have been a disagreement (now a subject for arbitration) between the Dominion Government and the Canadian Pacific Railway Syndicate, as to the carrying out of the agree- ment on the part of the Government according to the strict letter of the law. Almost insurmountable difficulties presented them- selves on the Government section of some 350 miles at the western extremity of the line. This portion pierces the Cascade range, and is, as I have said, an exceedingly heavy piece of work; but now that it is all handed over to the syndicate, a claim has been brought forward for some one or two million pounds sterling, as compensation for faulty embankments and frail bridges, and for not coming up in equality to the standard of a stated U. S. Eailway line. I visited a portion of the works in 1883, during construction, and I do not believe there was any intention of putting in faulty work: indeed, my opinion, on the contrary, is, that well laid as the line appears to be A DESERTED STAGE-ROAD. 45 throughout, this western portion as far as Port Moody (the original terminus) is better constructed and more permanent than some other parts undertaken by the syndicate themselves. Gliding smoothly along the track, it makes one almost shudder to look up at the old Cariboo stage- road, following its own crooked route along the moun- tain side; sometimes high up, supported at weak points by trestles and wooden piles, sometimes down on a level with the railway. Yet a few years ago this road was in constant requisition, being the only means of commu- nication. I was nearly travelling along it in 1883, with my friend the late Mr. Meysey Clive, of Whitfield, and Mr. Arthur Mitchell, before the railway was completed, at the risk of an upset, which sometimes occurred. The road is apparently now getting out of repair, which is a pity; it owes its construction to the pluck and energy of the British Columbians, and their great Governor Douglas, and should, I think, be maintained. Of course now that the stage-coach starts from Ashcroft instead of Yale, this section of the road has little or no traffic; but the Fraser Valley is so very grand, that if a good road were maintained, many of the present and future generations of travellers might well be tempted to enjoy its wonders at a slower pace than is possible if whisked past by a locomotive. 46 THE NEW FAR WEST. Yale was reached at last; I believe the place was partially burnt down not long ago, but I thought it appeared to be less prosperous than on my previous visit; probably the railway has had something to do with its decline, as it used to be reckoned the head of the navigation for light traffic on the Fraser. In those days the place was approached by a regular line of flat-bottom, stern-wheel steamboats from New West- minster, giving the traveller an opportunity of seeing this beautiful river. Now an occasional cattle or market boat is the only mode of transit, with the ex- ception perhaps of a birch-bark canoe; and not one in a thousand of those who visit British Columbia by the Canadian Pacific Railway will see the beauties of the river to advantage. As we travelled on, the line lay at a greater distance from the river banks, and only occasional peeps were obtained; but they were very beautiful, and I still think that for river scenery this Fraser River cannot be surpassed. Not only are the mountains most picturesque in outline, but the lights and shades are exquisite, varying as they do from dark purple to soft hues of gray. The variety in the foliage of the trees (especially when we saw it) enhances the beauty of the scene, the dark green of the Douglas pine contrasting well with the lighter shades of the cedar and hemlock, and the blood-red of the maple. DISAPPOINTED SPECULATORS. 47 Hope is the prettiest spot on the river between Yale and New Westminster junction. On leaving it we steamed through a splendid forest of grand old trees, extending for many miles. But little land is cleared in this part; but here and there are swampy- bottoms which might be much improved by drainage. There is a fine marsh between Hammond and New Westminster junction, but at present it is in the hands of the Government; and on the whole, I was a little dis- appointed by the appearance of the land in the valley. At Hammond there is a large brickyard in full opera- tion. Wharnock was a pretty place, and from Mission we had a magnificent view of Mount Baker, the highest of the Cascade mountains in Washington territory. A branch line took the passengers bound for New West- minster, and soon we reached Port Moody, situated at the innermost extremity of Burrard's Inlet. When I was here in 1883, it was proclaimed as the terminus of the C. P. R, and the charter for the line was only granted as far as this. Many hopes have been dis- appointed and fortunes lost by the change. It was always obvious to me that the railway could not stop at Port Moody, but must be carried on at least as far as (if not further than) Granville on Coal Harbour, now designated Vancouver City by a charter obtained in 1886. Port Moody has changed but little since 48 THE NEW FAR WEST. 1883 ; there may be a few new houses, and certainly a great many trees have been cut down; but the absurdly high prices asked for town lots there have had to be withdrawn, and indeed they are at a dis- count. Burrard's Inlet is from one to three niiles broad, and about 14 miles long, including the First Narrows, opposite Capilano; the mountains round are clothed with magnificent forests from summit to base, reaching right down to the water's edge, and it is indeed a fine and imposing entrance to Her Majesty's Dominions. The line from Port Moody to Vancouver City, the terminus, skirts the southern shore, and is about 14 miles in length. Curiously enough, it is only a branch line; the C. P. R. Co. having power to construct such branches as they please, but not to make a main line without applying to the Dominion Parliament. I have now completed my description of the Cana- dian Pacific Railway, as far as the terminus, Vancouver City, and have endeavoured throughout to do full justice to this national undertaking, for such indeed it is. It is impossible to over-estimate its importance to the Dominion of Canada and to the British Empire at large, but the fertility of the district through which it passes is scarcely so impressive as the stranger coming from this side of the Atlantic may probably have been A NATIONAL RAILWAY. 49 led to expect. The fact is that the shortest route was chosen; and one also comparatively but a short distance from and parallel to the American boundary, in order to leave no opening for a competing line between it and the States territory. The result of this is, that the undoubtedly fertile portions of Manitoba and the North-West do not at once meet the eye, for the richest lands lie off the line of route. They are being rapidly opened up by branch lines, which will, as feeders, eventually prove a source of wealth to the Canadian Pacific Railway. At one time (I think for a period of 20 years) this company had a monopoly in railway-making direct south of its course; but objec- tions have lately been raised to this state of things; and although an arrangement was arrived at, heated discussions on the subject are even now in progress,— of which the Red River Valley Railway dispute is an instance. It is sincerely to be hoped that the Canadian Pacific Railway will prove a success; for as a new route to Japan, China, Australia, and India, its value is beyond question, not only from a commercial, but also from an Imperial point of view. But whatever the pecuniary result may be, the energy displayed in its furtherance and completion cannot be too highly admired and commended. 50 THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER V. VANCOUVER CITY, BRITISH COLUMBIA. Surprising Growth of a City—A Novel Sign-post—A Modern Phoenix —Chopping—Enterprise and Energy—Increasing Value of Land —A Public Park—Cutting down a Princess—High Wages—An Inviting District — Opening for Market Gardeners — Xeed of Drainage. I have seldom been more surprised and never so much impressed with the growth of a town, and with the changes made in a short time, as I was upon reaching Vancouver City. Of course I had heard in some measure of the transformation which had taken place, —of trees being cut down and houses built,—but I was quite unprepared to find a real town so far advanced and making such rapid strides towards being worthy of the name of "City." When here in 1883, we drove across from New Westminster through dense forest for 13\ miles over a "corduroy" road to Granville on Coal Harbour, now called Vancouver City. The town of Granville then consisted of a couple of hotels, a Methodist church, a saloon, a telegraph office, butcher's RAPID GROWTH OF VANCOUVER CITY. 51 shop and general store, and three other small buildings; and the population in the neighbourhood consisted entirely of lumber men; the total population of Gran- ville being at the outside perhaps 150 people. Nearly all the inhabitants had turned out to witness our departure on that summer's evening in June 1883, under somewhat uncomfortable circumstances; the fact then being that our driver had exceeded the limits of temperance, and that we had no option but to return to New Westminster in a dark night under his charge. Our start afforded the then townspeople much amuse- ment; but, fortunately for us, we reached our destin- ation in safety. During 1884 the town began to grow, and in 1885 there were about 800 people here. In the spring of 1886 its name was changed from Gran- ville to Vancouver, and it was incorporated as a city; a book of over 100 pages being filled with printed matter in recording this ceremony. The place was totally destroyed by fire on the night of June 13th, 1886, every single house being burnt down with the exception of one hotel; the fire origin- ated from forest fires in clearing the ground. At that time the population amounted to 1800. The re-build- ing actually commenced on the very day following the disaster, viz. June 14th; and the proprietors of one hotel (known then as the C. P. R., now called the 52 THE NEW FAR WEST. Northern) were so energetic as to immediately run up a three-storey building, into which they received some of the homeless people as lodgers, with the roughest accommodation it is true, but still any sort of roof on such an occasion would be better than none. They hung out as a sign for this house, "Raised from the ashes in four days." The population was only 2500 on June 1st, 1887, for at that time Port Moody was still the terminus of the railway, and holders of land there naturally raised legal objections aud obstructions to the line being continued to Vancouver City; and although the latter had by that time been proclaimed as the terminus, yet the company did not gain posses- sion of the entire right of way till January 1887, and owing to an unusually severe winter, did not complete the line until the beginning of April 1887. A rush then set in rapidly, and the population when we were there the following September amounted to about 4000. In November 1888 it was more than double that number, say 8500. There were ten miles of streets laid out and planted with trees on the walks at each side; three of the streets are 100 feet wide, the remainder measure GG feet; the side walks are all eight to ten feet in width. Several of the houses, both com- pleted and in course of construction, are of stone or brick, the remainder being of wood, of a superior, and A MODERN PHCEN1X. 53 in many cases of a very ornamental, description. There are already 64 hotels and saloons, one Church of England church, and Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, each have their respective places of worship—and we were told the Salvation Army was coming! Vancouver City possesses a town-hall, a rolling skating-rink, three banks, and two daily news- papers. There is an excellent Volunteer Fire Brigade, with apparatus worth £2000, and twelve tanks at different points, from which to draw a supply of water in case of need; it is lighted by both electricity and gas, and rejoices in the telephone as well as the tele- graph. A charter had been obtained for street cars, and they are probably in operation by this time. The town is admirably situated for drainage, there being a good fall either way. Drainage works were in pro- gress, but of a primitive description, the material used being simply thick wooden planks nailed together. These can only be regarded as temporary; but the public debt is already £40,000, bearing six per cent, interest, and so it is not advisable to go too far ahead at once; and in fact, until the city' is more fully developed a complete system cannot be laid out, as it is uncertain which set of the tree stumps now covering the lots will draw the greatest amount of population; and there are besides of course rival interests at work, 54 THE NEW FAR WEST. endeavouring from speculative reasons to draw the city in this or that direction. Some idea may be formed of the aspirations of the citizens when I mention that the city boundary extends seven miles long by two and a half broad; of this 1763 acres have already been "chopped" for the "town site." By "chopping" is meant beheading, at about ten feet from the ground, the magnificent Douglas pines, cedars, and hemlocks, which grow to perfection here, and attain a height of from 100 to 250 feet. The trunks and branches are then burnt, but the poor stump remains, charred and blackened but only partially burnt, and is sold with the lot on which it stands; its fate then prob- ably being to be blown up with dynamite or gun-cotton, so that a house can be erected in its place. We saw thousands of these stumps standing all about, many being still on fire (for of course owing to their size they burn for days); and at night the place looked as if surrounded by numerous camp-fires. The majority, however, were burnt out, and remained like black monu- ments mourning their own destruction. This timbered land was worth only from one to ten dollars (4*. to 40s.) an acre a few years ago; but now the 1763 acres mentioned above are divided up into lots—streets and ways of communication excepted—and in the central part of the town lots with 25 feet frontage, and a VANCOUVER WATERWORKS. 55 depth of 120 feet, now command a price of from 2000 to 3000 dollars each, according to position. [This was in 1887, but town lots have much increased in value since that date.] Land within the city limits can even now be bought at from 50 dollars an acre upwards; this, however, of course is on the outskirts. Beyond the boundary it is as low as 10 dollars per acre; but it must be remembered that this land is heavily timbered and very expensive to clear. Great credit is due to the private enterprise which has undertaken to provide the city with water; the original supply being insufficient and of a very inferior quality. The works of this company (called the Vancouver Waterworks Company) will, at an estimated cost of £60,000, pro- vide a practically unlimited supply of excellent water from the Capilano Creek, flowing from the Coast range of mountains on the north shore of Burrard's Inlet. The plan is to convey it by means of pipes first across five miles by land, and then under the waters of the inlet for three more miles; and it will gravitate to a height of 300 feet above the sea level of the city. Ironworks (since completed) were also going to be built by Messrs. McKelvie and Cook; and when we were there the City and Local Government were offering between them a bonus of £7500 in all towards estab- lishing smelting works. 56 THE NEW FAR WEST. As regards other points connected with the city, I may state that the Dominion Government owns about 1000 acres, called the Military Reserve, adjoining the city in the direction of the First Narrows. This it is proposed to turn into a public park, with roads laid out in various directions. Being well-timbered and beautifully situated (surrounded as it is on three sides by water), it will be a great source of enjoyment to the inhabitants. The authorities have destroyed all the trees in the town, with the exception of one solitary one, which will probably be blown down. A short time ago there was another, an immense Douglas pine, called the Princess Louise, but as its existence was considered to be dangerous to the adjoining houses, the inhabitants petitioned to have it cut down, which was accordingly done. The whole country is most favourable for the growth of trees; those in the forests round the city are very remarkable for their size; the principal varieties are cedar, hemlock, spruce, Douglas pine, maple, dwarf maple, alder, dog-wood (bush), and the Oregon vine (creeper). Vancouver City has the great advantage of a naturally beautiful situation, standing as it does on rising, gently undulating ground; on a neck of land between Burrard's Inlet and False Creek (the latter communicating with English Bay), with the lovely Coast range of mountains across the water to the north, and HIGH WAGES. 57 the forests of New Westminster to the south. The First Narrows at Burrard's Inlet are but one mile broad; the tide, which rises about thirteen feet, comes in very rapidly. Shooting and fishing are both good in the neighbourhood, and the waters of the inlet and creek afford capital boating, Burrard's Inlet being very deep close up the shore, and with safe anchorage. The climate is excellent; snow begins to fall in December, but never lies longer than ten, and usually only about three or four days. The latter part of the winter (say January, February, and March) is very wet; but the weather is always beautiful from May to the end of October. Thunderstorms are almost unknown on the coast, but are of frequent occurrence in the interior. Wages in Vancouver City at the time of my visit were as follows:—Carpenters and bricklayers, 3 to 3^ dollars per day; day labourers, 2 dollars per day; farm labourers, 1^ dollars per day and board; house servants (women), 15 to 20 dollars per month. (A dollar is 4*. of our money.) I subjoin a list of distances from Vancouver City to various places in the neighbourhood :—To Victoria, by water, 77 miles; Moodyville, by water, 3 miles; Port Moody, by water, 14 miles; ditto by rail, .14 miles; New Westminster, by road, 13^ miles; ditto by rail, 20 miles; Indian Mission, by water, 3^ miles; Capilano S& THE NEW FAR WEST. Creek, by water, 3 miles; to entrance to North Arm of Burrard's Inlet, by water, 17 miles; to North Arm Settlement at further end of ditto, by water, 25 miles: nearest point of tbe Fraser River, 5 miles. I have purposely avoided saying anything as to my opinion of the future prospects of Vancouver City. I have (however imperfectly) only described its state at the time of our visit in September 1887, and contrasted it with its condition in June 1883, under its old name of Granville. It is the present actual terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway—or rather, it is a mile and a half short of the final point to which the line is now graded, viz. English Bay; but no trains run further than Vancouver at present, and there is no population at all on English Bay, with the exception of one settler's house, standing close to a dense forest of 6000 acres lately acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Vancouver City must rely on its position and resources as a commercial port, and not on becoming the centre of an agricultural district; to the latter it can lay no claim, for the cultivated lands round are insufficient to support even a small population, and certainly not one of the size to which the citizens of Vancouver expect their city will eventually attain. As regards the question of lands and farming, it is rather difficult to say much; the best plan always is for FARMING PROSPECTS. 59 a man to go out, and after personal observations on the spot, to decide for himself what he is most suited for; but I can state at once that British Columbia, west of the Cascade Mountains, is not primarily a farming country, simply because it is so densely wooded, rocky, and mountainous, and there is comparatively so little soil suitable for farming operations, except after great labour and expense in clearing. There are, however, a limited number of places in which suitable land is to be found, and New Westminster may, perhaps, be reckoned as the dep6t of the agricultural district, and, provided he can get the land, no countiy to my mind can be so suitable for an English farmer. The climate is good; the people kind, open, and hospitable; and there are not the same differences in society as in England. Every one is comparatively on the same footing, but it is the footing of "live and let live," with none of the nonsense of universal equality which I have noticed in some other places, and which I have generally found to be more talk than practice. The British Columbian farmer has, I think, an easier time of it, and is more to be envied, than the Manitoban one; his house looks larger and better, and he has plenty of barn room. Of course lumber is cheap enough here, and he can have it for the cutting; and any way he has less chance of being 60 THE NEW FAR WEST. too cold in winter, as the climate here is so very much milder—in fact, milder often than in England. But farming lands being scarce is the objection; and I therefore turned my attention in another direction, viz. to market gardening and fruit raising. Some of the soil is admirably adapted for this kind of enter- prise; and if (as its citizens expect) Vancouver City will shortly have a population of 20,000 or 30,000 people, it is obvious that there, at any rate, a ready sale would be assured. I believe that apple and pear orchards would answer capitally; there are but few of these trees as yet, but those I saw bore excellent crops. I was told that both they and plums and cherries do admirably; and in some parts apricots and peaches also, though generally not so well as the former. Straw- berries, raspberries, and currants answer very well, but gooseberries have so far not been a success, owing to mildew. All root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, beet-root, and indeed all garden stuff, thrive capitally, as I have seen by my own observation. A market gardener, with or without a small dairy farm attached (say 50 or 60 acres in all), should get on very well. It must be remembered that the west coast of British Columbia—i. e. west of the Cascade Mountains—is much more humid and damp, and does not in the least resemble the arid region to the east of the Cascade SUMMARY OF CULTIVABLE LAND. 61 range previously described, such as Ashcroft in the Kamloops district. To give a rough summary, there are about half a million acres of land fit for cultivation in the lower Fraser Valley, of which 150,000 acres or thereabouts are on the rich alluvial delta of that river. Below New Westminster, on Lulu Island, in the Richmond Municipality, there are about 60,000 acres fit for cultivation; and about 90,000 more on the Delta Municipality, which is on the southern bank of the Fraser, about ten miles from its mouth. The rest of the lands lie above New Westminster on either side of the Fraser River, for about 90 miles going up stream; such as Pitt River, Hammond, Port Haney, Mission, Agassiz, Chilliwack, Popcum, and Langley. This latter is mostly wet land, and would require draining, but would then become first-class pasture or root land. It is also said that this soil would do well for hops; but at present it is all mostly used for hay cropping. A large tract of land, known as the Pitt River meadows, lies between Port Haney and New Westminster junc- tion on the C. P. R. ; this is now in the hands of the Dominion Government, and could easily be reclaimed if they thought proper to dispose of it, as will probably be the case. At present these meadows are liable to floods from the Pitt River, and possibly also from the 62 THE NEW FAR WEST. high water of the Fraser; but the erection of the railway embankment just here has kept the latter back a little of late. Lulu Island is as yet only partially farmed, and possesses the advantages of being situated near Vancouver City, and of being almost devoid of trees. It is proposed to connect this island with the mainland by a bridge, and a new road is being made to communicate with North Arm Settlement, on the Fraser River. There is also a line of steamers up and down the river as far as New Westminster from Victoria. Land on Lulu Island can be bought at from 12 to 25 dollars per acre, according to the reclamation needed; this will give a pretty good idea of the value of cultivatable lands generally in this part of British Columbia. Many of the islands in the Gulf of Georgia (westward from Vancouver City, between the mainland and Vancouver Island) are well adapted for sheep-raising. The principal cattle ranches lie to the east of the Cas- cade Mountains, such as Kamloops, Ash croft, Okanagan, Nicola, Osoyoos; but owing to the disappearance of the bunch-grass in most of these places, there are probahly as many cattle there now as the land can support. My remarks about Ashcroft will unfortunately apply to the bunch-grass districts generally; roughly speaking, where it is not yet totally extinct, the present system of feeding is likely to make its disappearance universal. EXPEDITION TO LULU ISLAND. CHAPTER VI. LULU ISLAND AND CAPILANO CREEK—VANCOUVER CITY TO VICTORIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND. City Improvements—Blasting in the Street—Chicken Farms—A CeJar Bottom—A Promising Field for Capital and Energy, or for Energy without Capital—A Thoroughly Successful Emigrant—Abundance of Salmon—A Logging Camp—A Waterwork Trail—Magnificent Timber—Filching a Good Name. From Vancouver City I made an expedition with a friend residing there (whose acquaintance I had formed during my previous visit in 1883) to see Lulu Island. I was told that I should find the 60,000 acres on that island, and the 90,000 acres on the adjoining delta of the Fraser, to be a good farming district, with perfectly flat lands of a uniformly good quality. We started off in a one-horse buggy, but were soon brought to a sudden stop by a number of men rushing across the street shouting and gesticulating. This made me think that a train must be coming; but after we had both jumped out to go to the horse's head, there were half 6+ THE NEW FAR WEST. a dozen loud explosions just iu front of us, and large stones were thrown up some distance in the air. It was only "City improvements," i. e. blasting for some new works in the centre of the street, a kind of thing quite common in a new place like this. We crossed the bridge over False Creek, and then for a short distance followed the new road to New Westminster; getting a fine view (on looking back when ascending the hill) of the city of Vancouver, of Burrard's Inlet, and of the Coast range beyond. For about a mile we had to pass through burning stumps of Douglas pine on each side, as the process of clearing is making rapid strides in this direction, and it appears that all owners of lots think this clearing of their ground a necessity in order to tempt purchasers into their locality. In travelling this new road it seemed odd to find some of the stumps of trees divided in two, the centre being taken out in order to get the proper width of track, instead of being cleared away at once. This shows to what an immense size these trees must have grown, as a portion was left standing on either side of the road. I was told that behind the road-frontage there were a number of chicken farms, and some of these I saw as we passed along. We were soon in the primeval forest, where magnificent Douglas pines were the chief feature, running straight up from 100 to 250 feet A "CEDAR BOTTOM:' 65 high; and then presently came an acre of land railed off adjoining the road, which was the new cemetery. Forest clearing is goiDg on very rapidly round here, and the log roads pushed in here and there showed by the system on which they were laid that they were intended to carry off the finest of the timber to the saw-mills, so that I fear within a few years' time this road will have lost much of its charm. We travelled along a gravel ridge until we reached what is called a " cedar bottom"; and in order to properly appreciate these forest scenes in all their perfection, commend me to a "cedar bottom." The one I allude to is near the North Arm Settlement, and is supposed to have been originally caused by a beaver dam. Although it was a hot day, this place felt cool and damp enough. Hemlock, cedar, and Douglas pine were there, running up to such a height it almost made one giddy to look up; moss four or five feet long hung from and entwined itself around the branches, and the ground must have been covered yards deep with trees of all descriptions rotting with age, lying. on the ground in every possible position. The whole scene was as perfect a picture of untouched natural beauty as could well be imagined, and no description can do justice to it. The skunk lily and a great many different varieties of ferns tended to show the dampness of the spot, and also to make 66 THE NEW FAR WEST. me realize how lovely a fernery can be without the aid of art. We put up our pony at North Arm Settlement, and took a boat across the arm of the Fraser River to Lulu Island, where we were to inspect the lands; the first thing we saw being a capital garden, where the vegetables were the same as those grown in England. Properly cultivated, these lands might be made into excellent farms. Those under crop bear good grain and roots, but I think the soil is especially adapted for market gardening, with or without land for farming attached. It is a peaty loam with. clay subsoil, and stands at a very slight elevation above the stream of the Fraser River. I should think that in spring-time it would under such circumstances be wet; but with a proper system of drainage and with the help of dykes there can be no doubt that these lands might be made very valuable indeed. I was much struck by the com- fortable look of the houses, and by the immense wooden barns for the storage of hay and wheat. There is still a great deal of land open for settlement on Lulu Island and the adjoining delta; but a price would have to be paid for it, for the pioneers in this district have already secured as much as they want for themselves, and more besides, to sell at a profit. Still, as the present holders are generally willing to sell, it A PROSPEROUS EMIGRANT. 67 is not too late to go in, if a man has a little capital, knowledge, and energy. If he does not possess the former of these three requisites, he can meet with employment from a farmer at about 25 dollars a month and his board. One of the settlers here told me that ten years previously he came to these parts without a shilling, and at first had to set to work "logging." After a time he bought on credit an improved farm of 160 acres on this island, and paid off the purchase- money by instalments. He worked hard; his wife doing her share with dairy and cheese-making; and he got on, and after a time bought a little more land; and this sort of thing continued, till now he holds 1500 acres in a ring fence, of which 160 are under crop, with an excellent wooden house, and barns all complete. As to profits, he said he ought that year to have realized 6000 dollars, but that it would not really be more than 4000. However, I think this prosperous emigrant may well be contented with the latter sum, and the acres he has accumulated round him —the result of his own hard work. Now that he is getting old, he said he should be willing to sell the whole or a part of his land. He spoke highly of the climate, saying that everybody enjoyed excellent health, and that there were no mosquitoes—a great desider- atum! "We were offered some milk to drink, for the F 2 68 THE NEW FAR WEST. same hospitality and kindness are shown here as in Manitoba and the North-West. It proved rich and of the best quality, and we found it very refreshing. It may give some idea of the place if I mention that at this particular farm there were roses, honey- suckle, and ivy growing up the verandah of the house, apple-trees in the orchard, and all kinds of fruit and vegetables in the garden; also I noticed that in the fields white clover was growing wherever it had a chance. I fancy the grasses in British Columbia must be good for sheep, as the mutton at Vancouver City was by far the best we had tasted since leaving England. We re-crossed the Fraser by the ferry, and returned through the forest to Vancouver City. Later in the evening there was an alarm of fire in the town, and two blocks of buildings consisting of four new wooden dwelling-houses approaching completion were burnt to the ground in a very short time. The fire brigade did its business well, but water had no chance against such a fabric and such a flame; happily, however, the houses stood alone, and as there was no wind the fire did not spread. It rather shook my confidence in house property here, to see this sudden collapse; but it was very obliging of Vancouver to have a fire like this during the time of our stay, for one had not occurred for some ABUNDANCE OF SALMON. 69 time. Nobody was hurt; and as the property was fully insured, 110 one appeared to care very much. It was on a Sunday afternoon that I made an ex- pedition with a couple of friends to Capilano Creek, whence the water supply for the city is to be drawn. We had a beautiful row of three miles across the inlet, over a very calm sea, and landed at an Indian settle- ment; then, after crossing the creek, we made our way to the opposite bank over the fallen trees, one of which I measured as I walked along, counting 200 feet; it was an old Douglas pine, and probably when standing it was over 100 feet more in height. The creek was full of salmon endeavouring to get up stream; they were so thick in the water that any number could easily have been caught with a landing-net. The Vancouver City water supply was to come from the upper part of the Capilano Creek, and a track was being cut through a dense forest along which the pipes were to be laid. We were told the "waterwork trail" would be four miles long. The woodmen were at work felling the trees, and we followed the trail for a considerable distance, until we came to the logging camp pitched by the side of the river. It being Sunday, no work was going on, and the men—a fine, strong, healthy-looking lot—were sitting about, reading, smoking, or washing their clothes. In the creek below, salmon were continually rising, but 70 THE NEW FAR WEST. they are so plentiful in these parts that no one appears to trouble about them. The logging camp consisted of a number of small tents, and one long one for a mess house, and it all seemed comfortable enough. The cook of the party was just turning out some excellent white bread in long, narrow, crusty loaves. This "waterwork trail" gave me a better oppor- tunity of seeing the forest to advantage than I have ever had before; it was about 30 feet broad, and cut straight through the heart of an Indian Reserve; hence timber merchants had had no opportunity of taking the pick of the trees, for the Indian Reserves are always strictly forbidden ground to the outside public. The trees were truly magnificent: I counted forty stumps of grand old Douglas pines about 18 feet from one another, and almost in a row, which must have stood a good deal more than 200 feet high, their diameter being about five feet. The neighbouring trees, out of the direction of the, track, and therefore still standing, ran up straight as arrows high into the air. Besides the Douglas pine, hemlock, cedar, and maple abounded, their limbs covered often with the beautiful hanging fern-mosses. Preparations were being made to burn the felled trunks and their branches—an opera- tion which I hope was carried out without setting the surrounding forest alight. Any one visiting Vancouver 72 THE NEW FAR WEST. good-bye to our comfortable railway car the "Minne- dosa," which I felt quite sorry to do; for she had been my home for nearly a mouth, in which time I must have travelled about 2000 miles in her (not reckoning several hundred miles of driving expeditions whilst in the North-West territory). It certainly proved a most comfortable way in which to see the country; indeed, I may say it is the only way to see and study it thoroughly. Travelling thus, and being detached at will, the people one meets bring many facts under one's notice, which by going on in the usual way, straight through in a Pullman car, by the ordinary trains, one would miss the chance of seeing and hearing. I left Vancouver City for Victoria, on Vancouver Island, by the s.s. Yosenrite, and had a charming steam to that place over an extremely calm sea, threading our way amongst beautiful islands, covered with trees feathering down to the water's edge. Plumper's Pass was the narrowest part, and here the tide ran swiftly. We had a very good view of Mount Baker nearly the whole of the way, and, after leaving Vancouver City, cleared land was still in sight while passing English Bay. Although Vancouver City has made great progress latterly, it is still only in its infancy. I have always thought its name an ill-chosen one; it requires the word "City" to be added after it in order to distinguish it ARRIVAL AT VICTORIA. 73 from the island of the same name, and this addition is rather an Americanism. Neither do I consider it fair on the island thus to filch its name. But the chief objection really is that it is apt to convey to the outside public a wrong impression as to its whereabouts. Arrived at Victoria, I was most hospitably received by Mr. Justice Crease's family, and though he and Mrs. Crease were still away on circuit, I was taken to stay at their house, by their express invitation. 74 THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER VII. "the park-like lands of the fertile belt." manitoba—binscarth. A Comfortable Eailway Car—The Best Season for Emigration—An Immense Farm—A Vibrating Trestle Bridge—Slovenly Farming —Summer Frosts—A Scottish Land Company—Current Rate of Wages—Method of Engagement—Demand for Female Servants— Contented Settlers—Old Neighbours—Dr. Barnardo's Farm— Sheep and Stock Farming—Wolves. Having now, for the sake of convenience, conducted my readers straight across the American continent by the Canadian Pacific Railway to its western terminus on the Pacific Ocean, I must ask them to return with me once more in thought to the province of Manitoba. If they will glance at the map of that locality, they will see a line of railway branching off the main line at Portage-la-Prairie (56 miles west of Winnipeg), and running north-west to a place called Langenburg. This branch line is the Manitoba and North-Western line; it is as yet only constructed for a length of 180 miles to Langenburg, but is eventually to be carried on to AN IMMENSE FARM. 77 we reached Westbourne, at which place is a fine stock farm, the property of a Mr. Sanford. This farm is said to be about 30,000 acres in extent, and feeds a very large herd of cattle. Travelling on, the aspect of the prairie changed, and between this and Woodside there was a good deal of wood and scrub. There is said to be some good land for grazing purposes round Glad- stone, but after this we passed through a very thinly populated country, with nothing particularly attractive about it till we entered a district called the Beautiful Plains, which from this side is nothing more nor less than a high gravel ridge or plain about a quarter of a mile wide extending northwards for forty miles. The further north-west we travelled from Portage-la-Prairie, the later the crops appeared to be in ripening. I was told to look out for some of the best country along the line beyond Arden; my first impressions, however, were not very favourable, but later on I thought much better of the locality. In the distance we saw the Riding Mountains; they are well covered with timber, and are about 300 miles broad, running about 800 miles in a north-westerly direction. On approaching Neepawa (the Indian word for plenty), we passed quite a little town, at a short distance from the station, consisting of about sixty houses and a large town-hall. The land in this district seemed very 78 THE NEW FAR WEST. much superior to anything I had previously seen; but as I intend describing this part, and indeed the country from the end of the railway back to Neepawa also, on my return journey, I must ask my readers to allow me to take them straight on 91 miles further, to Binscarth, so that I may commence a more detailed description of the country from there. We travelled through a con- siderable part of the night in order to reach this district, 155 miles distant from Portage-la-Prairie; and on waking in the morning found our car at a stand-still on a siding there. Binscarth seemed to consist of a station-house, a store, three wooden houses, the same number of sheds, and a water-pumping windmill. When the line was opened, only a year previously, there was not a single house here; now it will soon become the centre for a large agricultural district. We set off about 6.45 a.m. prairie-chicken shooting; for, to get these birds, one must be out either quite early in the morning, or late in the evening; however, they afford but poor sport in comparison to the English partridge. We started off, a party of six, along the railway on a hand-car, working the machine ourselves with the help of an Icelander. Our course lay over "Silver Creek" trestle bridge, which is 450 feet long and 70 feet high, approached at either end by a high embankment. We passed over it at a rattling pace, but the fact of having A TRESTLE BRIDGE. 79 to cross it at all took most of us unawares; however, whatever my feelings in doing so, it was nothing to the return journey on foot, for that was really giddy work. The sleepers were laid about four or five inches apart, with no ballasting or hand-rail, and the whole bridge vibrated with the wind. I managed to cross all right, but I do not wish to try the experiment again at such a height, on a structure of this description. I saw a few settlements during our walk. The first house was abandoned, and the once-cultivated ploughed lands were one mass of weeds (lamb's-quarter, &c.). It was explained to me that the owner had probably taken up another homestead; but the law enabling this sort of speculation to be carried out was (fortunately for the country) repealed in June 1887. The second farm we noticed looked extremely untidy and neglected, and I thought at first that it also must be deserted; but upon going to the house I found an Ontario man in possession. Although his farm looked so slovenly, he spoke very highly of the neighbourhood and its capa- bilities, especially as regarded rearing cattle and horses, for which he said it was particularly well adapted. It turned out subsequently that this man does a good trade in horseflesh, and that he finds it pay better than grain growing. In observing how untidy his farm looked, he said the fact really was, that as there had So THE NEW FAR WEST. been so many bad years previously, he had last spring left a great part of his land unsown, waiting to see how this one would turn out; however, he expected to get twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre (sixty pounds to the bushel) from what little he had planted, and he allowed that this season the harvest would be an excellent one. The third settler's house I came across was, in appearance and surroundings, very much like an Irish cabin. There was a very good crop of wheat, as yet unharvested; but adjoining this was a field which had been ploughed but not planted, and was now over- grown with weeds and rubbish; while hard by in a third field lay sheaves of corn of a previous year's growth, bound up with string, but left to rot on the ground. This latter crop must have been spoilt in some unexpected manner. I fear the mischief may in all probability be easily traceable to a summer frost; for these are very prevalent in this district, and when they occur are sadly fatal to the corn in ear. For the last few years great damage has been done by these summer frosts, and the farmers in Manitoba are still puzzling over the problem of finding means to get in their seed earlier, so as to reap it the sooner, and thus avoid the consequences of a late harvest. Whilst at Binscarth I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Mr. George Smellie, the able manager of i A SCOTTISH LAND COMPANY. 81 the Scottish Ontario and Manitoba Land Company; a farm started about five years ago, before the existing railway was made; now distant four miles from the station. Under his guidance I was enabled to visit a large tract of country round Binscarth. For several niiles it is much wooded, in patches, and there are a good many nice settlements, especially about Silver Creek. There is a branch line to the north to Russell, at which place there is a quantity of good land. Near Harrowby and Russell Dr. Barnardo has purchased or acquired a large tract of land, and is starting his new home for emigrant boys. The place of the greatest importance as yet in the neighbourhood of Binscarth is the farm under Mr. Smellie's care, belonging to the Company to which I have before alluded. It consists of 350 acres; but the Company's whole estate amounts to 18,000 acres. The average price required for the uncultivated laud is five dollars per acre, but there are no buyers at present. I heard this same complaint made in other parts; and under such circumstances it is almost impossible to value any lands just now. The ordinary emigrant takes up free grants of land on going out; hence the priced lands are almost unsaleable, there being no demand. The soil in this district is twelve to eighteen inches deep, with a kind of clay subsoil, and the land lies about 1800 feet above the sea level. The 82 THE NEW FAR WEST. farm itself is well laid out, and bears excellent crops. I noticed a small flock of sheep, which appeared to be doing well; and there is a large (about 250 head) and successful herd of shorthorns established here, which has taken many prizes at various shows all over the dominion of Canada. The buildings consist of a manager's house, Presbyterian church, a manse for the pastor, a farmhouse for the employes, a large cattle-shed containing every convenience for labour, and a black- smith's shop. The estate is well wooded, and also well supplied with running water, being close to the Silver Creek—a deep wide valley with a good stream flowing through it, which intersects part of the farm. I ascer- tained the current rate of wages at the time of our visit, which information may possibly be of use to intending settlers, but it is only good men who can expect to reach this scale; indifferent workmen or weakly ones would not succeed. I.—Per month for a year's engagement, 20 dollars (£4). II.—Per month for six months, from 15th April to 15th October, from 22 to 26 dollars. III.—Per month for six months, from 15th October to 15th April, 15 to 18 dollars. The above terms include also board and lodging, but not washing. CURRENT RATE OF WAGES. S3 IV.—Per day, from 1 to 1* dollars—usually 1 dollar and food. V.—Per month, any time during the summer, from 20 to 25 dollars. The usual custom in such a large undertaking as Binscarth Farm is to engage men in the spring or autumn for six months or one year, and if they want to re-engage they ask at the end of six months whether they are required for a longer period. Boys are usually only employed at home, for old hands on a farm do not care for the trouble of teaching them; but sometimes they are required for tending cattle from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., out on the unenclosed prairie. Girls are in great demand, and can always readily procure places for housework. In some parts of Manitoba wages are not so high as those quoted above, being only 15 dollars a month for a year's engagement, or at the rate of 20 dollars per month from 15th April to 15th October; or of twelve dollars a month for the winter months from 15th October to 15th April, and a dollar a day for a day's job. Of course as the population increases wages will decrease. The country lying round Binscarth, especially that towards the north, is open rolling prairie, well wooded and uneven, with plenty of sloughs or ponds; and unlike anything I have seen in Southern or Central O 2 84 THE NEW FAR WEST. Manitoba, or indeed elsewhere in the province. It appears to be admirably suited for cattle and horses, and also for sheep. There seems to be no spear-grass (that great enemy to sheep) of any consequence; but I should consider that, on account of the quantity of brushwood and short stunted silver willow existing here, two acres of land here would not be more than equivalent to one in many other districts where there is prairie grass alone; still probably young stock would do better in this country, with the advantage of shade, than in a more open one. My first drive was one of about thirty miles, and it gave me a good insight into the capabilities of the district. I found that with the exception of Binscarth Farm the inhabitants were quite small settlers with but little capital, and very poor farmers. All, however, appeared to be contented and happy, and spoke of the excellence of the season's crops, and were in good spirits about their future prospects, saying that the turn had now come, after recent bad and disappointing years, and that prosperity was now in store for them. The country appeared to be very thinly inhabited, but I fancy a good deal of land is being held, waiting for higher prices.1 Some years ago I formed the opinion that establish- ments similar to the Binscarth Farm would, if dotted 1 See Life oral Labour in Hie Far For Went. SUMMER FALLOWING. 85 about at different points, prove of infinite service for the development of the country generally; not only by the outlay of capital, but as a guide and assistance to sur- rounding settlers, and also by keeping good stud horses, bulls, and sheep, and selling good draft stock. Much more attention is now being paid to summer fallowing than formerly, a system which I have always advocated.1 Rich as the soil is, the settlers have found out that they cannot crop it for several successive years without seriously injuring their holdings. But little care is as yet being bestowed on manuring the land; however, no doubt this will come in time, otherwise it remains to be proved whether the soil can continue to grow crops as abundantly as at present, even if summer fallowing is generally adopted. Mr. Smellie is an excellent farmer, and he fallows his land in rotation once in every two or three years. I am glad to say that settlers here are giving more attention to mixed farm- ing, which is very suitable to this locality; they are also keeping more stock, and of a better quality, and in some cases are endeavouring to rear sheep. But, as my companion pointed out, sheep require a person to tend them, and the ordinary settler cannot afford this expense. Doubtless, however, now that a start has been made in this direction, sheep will soon increase in 1 See Life and Labour in the Far Far West. 86 THE NEW FAR WEST. this country. I have always hoped to see them kept in much greater numbers, and I feel certain they will prove successful and profitable. At Binscarth Station there is a very good spriug of water, but at the farm it was very indifferent. The uncertainty of the quality of the water supply is a great drawback to all parts of Manitoba and the North-West. I did not notice any alkali, and saw but very few golphers. Whilst in this neighbourhood, I took the oppor- tunity of calling upon Mrs. Gwillim and her family, who are well known in parts of Herefordshire, and who emigrated here from Wacton in 1882. I found them at home, and delighted to see me. They have acquired 1200 acres between them, and are doing well, and now that they have got accustomed to the life, they like it and also the country very much. One daughter married a clergyman of the Church of England the year before my visit; they were located a hundred miles away—quite near neighbours in this part! I hear that a sister has recently followed her example. Curiously enough, on the section adjoining the Gillams I found another Herefordshire man, hailing from Led- bury. All the country about here is open rolling prairie, very suitable for wheat growing, and will carry both stock and sheep. We also made an expedition while here to see the DR. BARNARDO'S FARM. 87 lands selected for Dr. Barnardo's Home for Emigrant Boys. The location seems a pleasant one, about four miles from Russell; the land is rolling prairie, a little hilly, with a few trees scattered about, and small patches of water here and there. Dr. Barnardo appears to be buying out existing occupiers as well as investing in unbroken land; thus he will acquire a large acreage in a rincr fence. The out-goinsc settlers do not leave him much behind, for weeds are predominant on the broken land. Afterwards we drove through Russell; a poor miserable place with nothing to recommend it, but I understand there is some good land in the vicinity. A branch line railway was opened from Binscartb to Russell in 1886. Continuing our drive, we passed through a good deal of brushwood, and then came to a fine open country with good corn-growing land. We followed the trail to Silver Creek Settlement, started about five years ago by Ontario men, who I was told were really farmers by trade, and not amateurs like so many of the settlers. They certainly seemed to have rather different ideas about farming to most I had previously seen about here, for their fields were laid out square and fenced in, the lands were clean, the crops good and properly harvested, and the farming altogether seemed done on a good system. Of course they are all on a very small scale; many of 88 THE NEW FAR WEST. these men begin with very little capital and hardly any stock,—perhaps a single cow as the commencement of the future herd. They were all of opinion that sheep would do well, but few appeared to keep them probably for want of capital. One man was the happy owner of seven sheep, and told me he would like to have more. Keeping sheep would, however, either entail employing a herdsman or putting up extra wiring on the fences, which at present consist of only a single one strained from post to post. Sheep-farming is, in fact, as yet in its infancy here; but the sooner all this is changed the better, for I feel that it is a branch of farming which would pay very well. From Silver Creek we had a long drive homewards across the open prairie, losing the trail three times, and getting a very severe shaking on the way. Before reaching home we called upon another settler, who had come to this district five years previously as a lad of 17, accompanied by a younger brother. There was then no railway within 50 miles, but now he has a station only two miles off. The father, being in good circumstances in Ontario, had started him with £600 capital; and he is now the owner of 320 acres, having homesteaded 160 acres, and pre-empted the rest.1 The place appeared well 1 See Appendix E. A PROSPEROUS SETTLER. 89 chosen, and he told me that before settling he had looked out for land combining fair soil, wood, and water, and had succeeded in finding these three re- quisites here. At starting he had lived in a tent during the summer months, meanwhile erecting his wooden house for the winter. He made a kraal for his cattle and fenced in a portion of the land, and possesses now 20 cows and a flock of 27 sheep. There was an air of comfort about this man's place; being surrounded by trees, it had not the same desolate appeai-ance that so many of these houses have, pitch- forked as it were haphazard on the open prairie, with marks of untidiness all around; for, as space is no object, all sorts of things are often thrown down any- where—the waggon-wheels in one place, the waggon- bed in another, the cutter in a third, old preserve cans, rough logs of timber, chopped wood, &c., making up a deplorable mixture, with no real place for anything. Flocks of sheep are scarce in Manitoba, and I par- ticularly questioned this settler on the subject, as his flock of 27 was the largest but one that I had seen in the province. At Binscarth Farm there were 30; but the only others I had seen were the seven sheep at Silver Creek, and a poor solitary one tethered to a rope! The man told me that he had not tried sheep at first, having commenced business with one cow; 90 THE NEW FAR WEST. but that he had since found them do very well. He said his would never cross a creek, did not stray, and did not require tending (but I expect myself that the herd law, when enforced, requires this); he turned them out on unfenced lands during the day, taking them in at night. The water from the sloughs does not do for them to drink. During the winter-time he gave them hay, but he had no shelter for them, so they had to get on without, though he confessed a covered shed would be a great advantage. Of course, however, sheep would not thrive if confined for any length of time in an enclosed building. He sold the wool either to a dealer at the station, or sent it direct to Winnipeg; the butcher usually gave him fivepence a pound for the animal, and this year he had got six- pence a pound for the wool. There is considerable danger in some parts of sheep being picked up by wolves, but this is a subject for the settler's consider- ation, and he must be guided by circumstances. The above is a pretty good description of a young settler's progress with a little capital to start him. It appears that the average herd owned in this district by each settler of five years' standing is eight head of cattle; some have more, others less, and some none at all. I have now attempted to describe some of the country in the Binscarth neighbourhood. The farm SUMMER FROSTS. 91 of that name is of course the centre of attraction, and is a go-ahead concern on which capital has been spent. Indeed all that is possible has been done on the portion of the prairie selected by the Company. It would well repay any one travelling in this part, who may be interested in agriculture, to visit this estate. There is always the danger of summer frosts here, as well as in other parts of Manitoba; and the further north one goes the greater the risk. Immense damage was done in 1885, and again in 1888, to the crops in this way; and therefore I think that putting more than a limited acreage under crop must always be rather a risk, and farmers located here, in what is called " the park-like lands of the fertile belt" (*'. e. the north- western part of the province of Manitoba), should turn it into a stock-raising and grazing district in preference to anything else. 92 THE iXElV FAR WEST. CHAPTER VIII. "THE PARK-LIKE LANDS OF THE FERTILE BELT." MANITOBA —LANGENBURG—CHURCHBRIDGE—SOLSGIRTH. Promising Site for Cattle Banch or Sheep Farm—A German Colony —Settlement of Church Colonization Society—A City consisting of a Smithy and a Finger-post—An Icelander Settlement—A very small School—Volunteer Crops—Kubauka Wheat—Successful Emigrants—A Labourer's Son—A Clergyman's Son—A Tenant Farmer's Son—Dangers of Borrowing and Lending—The 111 Effects of a Boom—A Comfortable Farm-house. We continued our journey by rail beyond Binscarth, and crossed the Assiniboine River at Millwood ; and then steamed for a considerable distance along one side of its beautiful valley. Presently, after ascending to higher ground, we passed through some uninviting country, which continued until reaching Langenburg Station at the end of the track, 180 miles from Port- age-la-Prairie and 236 miles from Winnipeg. The main thing that struck me during the journey bounding the valley was the excellent opening afforded in this part for a cattle ranch, or more particularly for a sheep-run, which could be easily formed on the slopes of the Assiniboine valley, provided enough land could A FLOURISHING GERMAN COLONY. 93 be acquired within a ring fence. The difficulty that would be caused by intermixed sections is, so far as I can see, the only drawback to carrying out such a scheme. At the time of my visit, Langenburg Station consisted only of a station-house, an emigrants' shed, and a few tents; one of the latter being. occupied by a dealer in boots and drapery, and another by a detach- ment of mounted police. Near at hand, however, a very flourishing German colony is located on good land, and is doing well; and the place derives its name from these Germans. At this point railway communication stops for the present, but pioneers are, as usual, already on ahead, awaiting the advent of the line. The information I gleaned about the country further on is as follows:— About 100 miles north-west of Langenburg in the direction of Prince Albert Settlement (230 miles distant from here) is a locality called Salt Plain; it has a great deal of alkali on it, and the water is bad; but the grazing land is good, though a portion of it is very swampy in the spring. From this place to Prince Albert the lands are good for both cattle and horses; but from Prince Albert westwards to Battleford they are again but indifferent. I only had time to visit one place beyond Langen- burg, namely, a new settlement called Churchbridge, 94 THE NEW FAR WEST. started a short time previously by the Church Coloniza- tion Society. The trail leading to it was over the open prairie, and rough enough for anything; the land en route appeared to me to be rather light, and could not be called first-rate. At the time of my visit there was a population-of some 60 or 70 people at Churchbridge; 17 houses and a blacksmith's shop were already built, and a church, school, and general store were shortly to be commenced. I did not fancy the colonists here were quite the sort of people to make good and success- ful settlers; they appeared to be drawn from the well- to-do class in England, rather than from the yeoman, farmer, or agricultural classes; and were generally too far advanced in years to make a fresh start in life under such different conditions from those of the old country. I think the English managers of such societies should use the greatest discrimination in selecting people to send out to a new settlement like this. The settlers' houses already erected are perched up on any little bit of rising ground, and the sites are well chosen. The site for the future city was fixed upon, but if built on the ground selected it will have the disadvantage of standing in a shallow hollow with the ground rising slightly on all sides. When I was there, however, the smithy was the sole representative of the projected city; or perhaps I should say it shared that honour AN ICELANDER SETTLEMENT. 95 with a large finger-post erected close by, pointing east- wards, on which was painted "Barker Street," but no street was there. Beyond Churchbridge there is another new settle- ment called the "Commercial Company," at which a station named Bredenbury was to be located this present year. On our return drive to the railway car, we halted at an Icelander settlement. These people have every appearance of being very hardy and healthy; but the aspect of the house we stopped at did not tempt me to seek admittance. It was built solidly enough, of logs, the sides and roof being both covered with sods of earth; but the little dwelling was out of all proportion in point of size to the number of its inmates ; however, large families are at a premium here. The great object in a new settlement is to build up a population; and though the farming round seemed to be as bad as can possibly be imagined, the Icelander is looked upon with some favour b)' the agents employed in filling up the country; probably because he will be content with less, and take land which others would not hold at any price. The next place we visited after leaving Langenburg on our return route towards Portage-la-Prairie was Birtle, which is very prettily situated on the Bird-tail Creek, and is quite a rising place. The town is, however, 96 THE NEW FAR WEST. on the opposite side of the valley to the railway, which is rather inconvenient. There is some good land round here, much wooded in places; but a good deal of it is in the hands of speculators, hence settling is retarded. We took a long drive from Birtle, calling in to see a school on our way: there were only six scholars present (three boys and three girls), but the mistress said she had as mauy as twelve on her list! She had only just opened school when we called, which she excused on account of the wet grass; but she was evidently a little uneasy at our visit, fancying we were inspectors or somebody of that sort, and was much relieved when reassured on this point. About seven miles from Birtle we came again to the open treeless prairie, extending as far as the eye could reach; the land we crossed appeared thin, and not nearly of such good quality as that nearer Birtle. "We halted for half an hour at an English settler's house; the man had been there eight years, and though not quite satisfied with his past experiences, he said he hoped the change for the better had come; and like all others with whom I had come in contact, he pro- nounced the year's crop to be the best ever seen. He told me that two years previously six of his neighbours had given in and deserted their farms, succumbing to "bad times." According to this man, prices Lad "VOLUNTEER CROPS." 97 completely altered as compared to six years ago; e. g. butter was then one dollar to one and a quarter dollars a pound, and now only fetched about 20 cents; and a 100 lb. bag of flour, which was then worth six dollars, was now sold for two. This great fall in the price of wheat must have a considerable effect upon the amount of land to be broken up for corn; and I have always pointed out the error of recklessly breaking up prairie pasture land, for this cannot be replaced at will. We saw a good many deserted farms in the course of this drive, and in two instances what are called "volun- teer crops," *. e. crops from grain which had seeded itself the previous year. The farms under cultivation were not so well tilled as those about Silver Creek. I had an opportunity of procuring some information from a resident on the subject of the summer frosts which are acknowledged to be so prevalent, and which often do so much damage to the ripening corn. In answer to my inquiry whether autumn seeding might not be adopted instead of the spring seeding (about April) which is almost universally practised, he replied that some farmers were trying it, and he thought it would answer; adding that he had himself observed, on comparing a crop of spring-sown corn with a "volunteer crop," that the latter was much stronger and ripened earlier than the former. What is required in this country is a seed 93 THE NEW FAR WEST. which will mature early in August; and if by means of autumn sowing the harvest can be gathered a fortnight or so earlier than at present, by all means let it be, for this would make all the difference, as even if summer frosts do occur (as sometimes happens) before the early part of August, they are not known then to do any damage to the wheat. Curiously enough, a frost is always expected on the 6th or 7th September, and sure enough on the 6th we experienced a very sharp one, which injured a good deal of outstanding grain. Several settlers told me that autumn seeding would not answer if the ordinary Canadian seeder was employed, for this machine does not plant as deeply as our drills; and the wind here drifts the snow a good deal, leaving the ground bare, and often blowing up when light the sandy soil also. In the case of "volunteer crops," I was told the old stubble would catch the snow and prevent the ground being left bare. Siuce writing the above I have come across the following extract from a Canadian newspaper, wdiich tends to show how very much Canadian farmers have the question at heart of ripening their wheat a little earlier, either by sowing earlier or by procuring a new seed. Referring to the experiments on Russian wheat,1 the Toronto Globe says :— 1 It has since appeared that Kubauka wheat is a delusion. See Appendix 13. "KUBAUKA" WHEAT. 99 "If Mr. Field-Johnson, of Headingly, Manitoba, has not been extraordinarily fortunate in his experi- ments with Black Sea wheat, the value of the North- ^rest will prove vastly greater than has recently been supposed. He states that 'Kubauka' wheat sown on April 28th was ready for the sickle on August 1st, having matured in three months. Red Fyfe, which is worth two or three shillings less per quarter in England, requires nearly four months to ripen, and has therefore been injured or entirely destroyed by frosts again and again in Manitoba. In all respects the 'Kubauka' wheat is said to be the superior variety. If every farmer can do as well with it as Mr. Field-Johnson, the great problem of growing wheat successfully year after year in the North-West has been solved. Nothing has been so necessary to the prosperity of that country as a good milling wheat that would ripen two or three weeks earlier than any extensively sown there hitherto. The announcement of the Headingly farmer is really more important to Canada at large than any piece of news published for years. Upon the development of the prairie the future of the Confederation really depends, and the 'Kubauka' grain may give the Dominion some adequate return for the hundreds of millions risked upon the North-West." Solsgirth was the next place we visited, not many H 2 ioo THE NEW FAR WEST. miles from Binscarth; the laud in its immediate vicinity is more adapted for wheat-growing than for stock-raising; but a few miles further on it improves very much indeed, and I was greatly interested in visiting an estate overlooking Bird-tail Creek. called Biver View, consisting of about 4000 acres, belonging to a Mr. Sharman, an importer of Hereford cattle. This farm has been started about nine years, and has grown gradually to its present size. Harvest operations were in progress, but this holding is almost exclusively a stock farm. The " Herefords " looked well and fresh, much the same as well-bred cattle would look in England in the autumn on a good aftermath. The nearest house to this homestead was two miles off, and Mrs. Sharman complained of the difficulty of getting any female help. Mr. Sharman's house was pleasantly situated, and from the brow of the hill close by we had a beautiful view of the Bird-tail Valley with its winding stream. The next place we came to was Shoal Lake, 15 miles from Solsgirth; and here I was agreeably sur- prised at receiving a visit from one of my emigrant friends, the labourer's son before alluded to. His master had driven him in, a distance of 25 miles, to see me. I found he had engaged himself to his present employer from the 10th June, 1887, to the FRIENDLY ADVICE. 101 10th June, 1888, for £26 and all found, including board and lodging in his master's house. He liked the country and was getting on very well, and thought of taking up a homestead of 160 acres the following year on his own account, after his present engagement was over. A few days later I called unexpectedly on this man at the farm, driving from a place called Rapid City, aud found him just sitting down to dinner with his master's family over a good dish of fried bacon and potatoes. I advised him not to be in a hurry about taking up land, and not to decide on settling anywhere without seeing more of different parts of the country; but after staying his year with his present employer, and getting acclimatized, to travel about a bit the following spring to see other parts of Manitoba. After this, provided he had saved sufficient money to pay for what stock, implements, &c. he would require, to take up land and settle down; but on no account to run into debt or borrow money to make a start. There are plenty of people willing to lend young settlers money on mortgage at a high rate of interest; this may be all very well for the lender, but ruins many a man who otherwise might, by perse- verance and thrift, have saved enough to commence business without help, had he only had the patience to wait. This system of mortgages also acts another way, 102 THE NEW FAR WEST. for in reference to several deserted farms in a certain locality, I was told by a settler that this was accounted for by people having borrowed 1000 dollars or so on the security of the land, and having then absconded with the cash to Dakota. In such a case, on account of the drop in the value of land, or from some other cause, the mortgagees cannot realize what they lent; neither can they re-let the land or farm it themselves (being probably incapable of doing the latter). Besides,. some mortgagees prefer keeping the land on their books to showing a loss of some hundreds of dollars on a particular section, when perhaps they are trying to sell an adjoining one. The farm-house near Rapid City, where the emigrant above mentioned was working, was a frame (wooden) house of about 16 feet by 24 feet. His master was one of the ordinary settlers, occupying his own land; he told me the country was not filling up very rapidly, and that the hitch had been caused by the last boom; this account tallies with what was told me by many others. As regards sheep, he was of opinion that spear-grass would not really injure them (there is not much in this locality), but they would require herding or more fencing, and thus would entail extra labour and ex- pense. Wood was, according to him, the best fence to have, and barbed wire fencing was objectionable. ANOTHER EMIGRANT FRIEND. 103 He told me that the enforcement of the herd law was optional; it had been put in force in his (the Oak River) district, and was observed from 1st June to 1 st October; i. e. during the time crops were likely to be damaged by straying cattle or sheep. While in the Binscarth district I also saw the clergyman's son from Herefordshire, who had emigrated the previous year. He seemed very well, happy and comfortable, and told me he liked the country exceed- ingly, and had already saved a considerable number of pounds sterling. Unlike the labourer's son just men- tioned, he had not engaged himself for a year; for, upon arriving in the country, he had not been able to procure the exact kind of place he wanted, so he had sought and obtained work on the railway. Now that winter was approaching the gangs were being reduced, and as farm work would also be stopped, he would probably not be able to get work in this part through the winter months. He therefore talked of trying for temporary employment in some American city, and of returning here in the spring. From this I dissuaded him, thinking the town-life would not be a good pre- paration for the solitary life and hard work of a prairie settler. He told me he would like to settle in North- West Manitoba, take up land, and start farming. I was quite satisfied, from the account he gave of himself, io4 THE NEW FAR WEST. that he was in a fair way to bo successful, for hard- working young fellows like this are sure to get on; so I wrote to his father, giving my views, and stating that a little help from home, added to what his son had already saved, together with what he could make the following summer, would be particularly useful to bim in enabling him to set up for himself; and I have since heard that my advice was acted upon. The third emigrant I saw was the son of a tenant farmer of my own in England. This young fellow- was doing remarkably well; he had, on coming out, engaged himself to a farmer for a year, from June to June, at the rate of £2 8s. (12 dollars) a month, board and lodging being found him in the house. He was very well indeed, quite happy and contented, and his master's right-hand man, with the privilege of the loan of his gun from time to time,—a privilege which I could see he valued greatly. The farm-house here was one of the best I have seen, consisting of kitchen, dining-room, parlour, and several bedrooms. The living rooms are open to all connected with the house alike, and master and employes all take their meals together. It must be understood that wages are kmer in propor- tion for a year's engagement than for a summer six months' term; but it is much the best plan, at any rate at starting, for a man to engage himself for a year SCARCITY OF WORK IN WINTER. 105 if lie can do so, for he is then secure for the winter months, at which period of the year there is otherwise great difficulty in obtaining employment. I have now given an outline of the progress made by three of the young men with whom I was acquainted; the result cannot be regarded as an unsuccessful start on the part of any of the three. I had intended writing only two chapters on this part of Manitoba, but fearing to make them too lengthy, I find I must devote a third to this subject before resuming the thread of my narrative at Victoria, British Columbia. Note.—The Manitoba and North-Western Kailway was extended 25 miles towards Prince Albert during 1888, and the following new stations have been opened—Churchbridge, Bredenbury, and Saltcoats. io6 THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER IX. "THE PARK-LIKE LANDS OF THE FERTILE BELT." MANITOBA—SHOAL LAKE—MINNEDOSA— RAPID CITY—NEEPAWA. A Successful Shoot—A Cattle-raising District—A Severe Hailstorm —Stacks of Manure—A Thriving Cheese Factory—Mayor and Corporation do not keep their Engagement—Shooting for the Pot —Chickens and Shells—A Severe Thunderstorm—Method of Assessment—The Kootenay Valley—Counsel to Emigrants—Mis- representing Letters—The American Dollar and the English Shilling—A Poor Man's Land—Milk-producing Oxen. We made another trip of inspection through the country round Shoal Lake, taking our guns with us, and killing about 50 wild-duck in the course of our 30 mile drive. When out shooting here it is the custom to traverse these long distances so as to secure a very large range; however, it all often results in but a small bap- in the end. I found the country better than I had anticipated. A great part of the district is, in my opinion, more suitable for cattle-raising than corn-growing, although one farmer I met told me he expected to get that year A PRAIRIE FIRE. 107 40 "bushels of wheat to the acre. In a good year a fine crop of corn may certainly be grown, but I fancy this is "more the exception than the rule, and there is besides no safeguard against summer frosts, which are more frequent in this latitude than further south. At the time of my visit the whole country was unusually dry, there having been a long drought during the previous year; a great many of the sloughs and small lakes were quite dried up, and we were occasionally driven through one of them at a trot. But even when they are full of water, many of them are not fit to use for drinking purposes. When in the neighbourhood of Russell two small lakes were pointed out to me within a mile of one another, one containing salt water, the other fresh. A tremendous prairie fire occurred not long ago in this district (Shoal Lake), extending over many miles, and we noticed some of its after-effects on the trees and brushwood, which were much damaged. This fire must apparently also have burnt up all the prairie fowls in the district, for we did not see a single chicken in the whole day's drive. During another 30 miles expedition in the direction of the Riding Mountains, I was able to see the Strath- clair Settlement. At this place we left the low marshy ground, over which we had hitherto travelled, behind us, and got on to a higher ridge, better cultivated in 10S THE NEW FAR WEST. every way. The settlers here had been visited in the month of June by a severe hailstorm which had com- pletely destroyed many crops of wheat, and must have been especially disappointing in this particularly good season. I counted throughout this drive 150 head of cattle, but only one sheep; perhaps this is partly accounted for by the existence of the Shoal Lake cheese factory, where many of the farmers find a ready sale for their milk. There were several instauces of summer fallowing, but I saw no attempt whatever at hauling out manure for the land. In fact, near the various homesteads we passed, I noticed many stacks of manure which I should think must have accumulated ever since the settlers first came in, about nine years ago, when the Canadian Pacific route was surveyed to come this way. It did not appear to me that any new houses had been erected lately, a fact which rather pointed to the conclusion that immigration was not setting in rapidly in these parts. The houses were nearly all log buildings, built before framed houses were so easily procurable; and partly from this reason, and partly from being really older, do not present as neat an appearance as others I have seen elsewhere; though hardly any can ever be called "smart" in appearance anywhere, for they are quite the exception. In the course of the afternoon I visited a cheese A CHEESE FACTORY. 109 factory, about half a mile from the railway-station and immediately adjoining the lake; it is run by a Mr. Waldock. This sort of enterprise is a comparatively new industry now being started in many parts; and when run by a man who knows his business it is pretty sure to be successful. It is also a great help to small settlers round owning one or two cows, as it affords a ready market for their milk without entailing any trouble; for the proprietor sends many miles round to collect it. This particular factory is run during four months and a half of the year; namely, from 16th May to 1st October, and makes on an average 14,000 lbs. of cheese per month. The proprietor keeps 45 cows at his homestead, some of which are hired from the neigh- bours. He has 52 settlers' houses on his list from whence to collect milk, for which purpose he keeps four teams of horses to send in various directions through the country for a distance of 20 miles round, picking up cans of milk en route. The factory is pleasantly situated, and appears to be a thriving and go-ahead business. The sample of cheese I tasted was excellent, and I was told a ready sale was found in Winnipeg for as much as could be made. The next place we visited was Minnedosa, the largest town on the Manitoba and North-Western Railway after leaving Portage-la-Prairie. It is situated on flat no THE NEW FAR WEST. ground, in a wide valley, through the centre of which the Little Saskatchewan River flows, and is well backed up by hills and rising ground. A very bad and rickety bridge spans the river, and the sooner the citizens replace it by a new one the better; otherwise I fancy we may soon hear of a serious accident. It was from Minnedosa that I visited Mr. Hall's farm, where my tenant's son had obtained his situation, as stated in my last chapter. We passed through good land almost all the way, first ascending the side of the Little Saskat- chewan valley, and then skirting along the open prairie through good grass and clumps of trees till we reached the farm. The house was a capital new wooden one, and was well situated facing a lake, with many trees round it, several of some growth; and the cultivated lands were well laid out, and properly fenced in. In fact, I was surprised to find so nice a place created in the short space of only three years. The oat crop was excellent; the wheat crop had also been very good, but had been, unfortunately, much damaged a fortnight before by an early frost. The estate consists of 480 acres, the land is good and well-wooded, and there is a capital brook of excellent water intersecting the farm, as good to drink as any in England, my emigrant friend told me. Rapid City is 17 miles from Minnedosa, and is A BROKEN ENGAGEMENT. in approached by the valley of the Little Saskatchewan, along which the crops were indifferent. Probably the clamp here affects them, and lands adjacent to a valley are said to be always more liable to summer frosts—a truth we often see exemplified in England in ' the autumn, when the beauty of a flower-garden situated on low ground, or near water, is destroyed by an early autumn frost, while higher ground escapes. On our arrival at Rapid City we were met by a deputation from the Mayor and Corporation, who were directed to give us all the information we required. We arranged with these gentlemen to be met at 5.30 a.m. the following morning, which entailed our breakfasting between 4 and 5 a.m., but our new friends did not keep to their engagement, so after all we started off without them. I did not think much of Rapid City, nor did the attractions of the surrounding country impress me very much after a 40 miles drive; there is, however, some good strong corn-growing land in patches, and especially 20 miles away in the Oak River district, where my emigrant friend the labourer's son is located. Sheep-rearing might be a little dangerous in the Rapid City district, as there is a certain amount of alkali in the ground. There are a great many deserted homesteads in this part. I came across another school ii2 THE NEW FAR WEST. here, with six pupils on the list, and only one actually present. The next district I visited was that of Neepawa— the Indian word for "plenty." It is situated in the county of the Beautiful Plains, to which I have alluded in a previous chapter as containing the gravel ridge 40 miles in length, running through the district. No laud in the district traversed by the Manitoba and North- western railway is so good for corn-growing as that which can be found round Neepawa. The "city" is only a small village about three-quarters of a mile away from the station, but the land round is mostly taken up, and the country well settled. I am sorry, however, to have to add that the frost which occurred on the 6th September did considerable damage to the outstanding grain crop; as a rule, it is gathered in this district before that date, but this year there were some exceptions which suffered accordingly. I made the acquaintance of an old resident at Neepawa, who offered to show me a portion of the country round. He took his gun with him, and in due course we came across a covey of prairie chickens. Much to my surprise he did not allow them to rise, but shot four on the ground and one flying, at which he was much delighted, and returned to me, saying, "I guess I have killed five chickens and brought back SPECULA TION IN LA ND. 113 the five shells," 1. e. for reloading. We went through a very fine agricultural district, the finest I had seen in this part of Manitoba, though more suited for wheat than cattle. The greater part of the land was well settled, and many of the houses had been rebuilt and were of a superior description. I noticed but few cattle and no sheep. Large cornfields adjoined one another, all well fenced in, and the country often resembled some well-cultivated district in the eastern counties of England. Nearer the town the land was uncultivated, which was accounted for by its being in the hands of speculators and mortgage companies. I saw a fine (uncultivated) lot of 640 acres, which was a school lot, and will shortly be in the market. Although discontent is often expressed at the way speculators hold land in Manitoba, waiting for better times, it appears to me that the authorities themselves very frequently set the example by holding back such lots as school lots (which are generally the pick of the township), awaiting better prices: which are usually brought about in consequence of the adjoining sections being taken up and built upon. A "boom" in land is generally charged with being the source of all the evil: when one occurs lands change hands at such prices that they cannot be resold without loss; and although there may be a dulness now, I fancy that the present holders 1 H4 THE NEW FAR WEST. would very soon clear out if they could only get up a boom again on their own account. While here I was overtaken by one of those sudden and terrible thunderstorms which are prevalent in this country. My companion had just predicted a fine after- noon, and yet within five minutes there was a flash of lightning, quickly succeeded by a second, and down came a deluge of rain, and we were at once in the midst of one of the most severe storms I have ever experienced. Fortunately there was a building near, and to it we hurried for shelter. It proved to be the pioneer hut of the neighbourhood, erected about nine years previously, when settlers were first attracted to this district, and when the town of Neepawa (about ten miles off) was not even dreamt of. With a settler's usual hospitality (they are nearly all Ontario people in this part), the inmates at once invited us in to tea, for which meal, with other visitors in the house who had been detained by the storm, we formed a large party. No payment is ever thought of, and to decline the invitation would be a breach of etiquette. The first thing said to a stranger on arriving at a settler's house always appears to be—" Have you folks had anything to eat?" This is the invariable greeting, alike from the humblest and the well-to-do and prosperous; in each case the same genuine kindness and hospitality are manifest. PLAN OF ASSESSMENT. 115 From the description I have now given of the lands adjacent to the Manitoba and North-Western Railway, it will be seen I am of opinion that they are generally more suitable for cattle-raising or mixed farming than anything else. ' Were I selecting land, I think I should turn my attention to the north-west (perhaps Binscarth) for this kind of farming; to Minnedosa for a town centre with good agricultural land around, and to Neepawa for a corn-growing country,—to say nothing of Westbourne, which has already attained notoriety a3 a cattle ranch and breeding establishment. A word as to the plan of assessment in Manitoba may not be amiss here. It is arranged to suit the requirements of the country, and I was told the amount was exactly the same whether the land was let, sold, improved, or unimproved. At the time of my visit the rate was levied on an assumed marketable value of four dollars (16*.) an acre in the Oak River district; this is the same in the Red River valley, although the quality of the land in the two districts is very different indeed. Another subject I asked about was how funerals are managed here, and I found the rule has been to bury a farmer on his own land, but that the Government is now urging the Manitobans to set aside a plot of ground as a cemetery in each municipality. Neepawa was the last place I visited in this neigh- 1 2 n6 THE NEW FAR WEST. bourhood before returning to Portage-la-Prairie, where I had appointed to meet Colonel Baker of Kootenay, with whom I returned to Winnipeg,—seeing that place for the fourth time in my life. I was very much dis- appointed to find from him that, owing to the lateness of the season, and the shallowness of the water in the Columbia River, I should be unable to visit the Koote- nay valley, or see Cranbrook, his place there. From him I learnt that the best time to visit the valley was either the last week in May or the first week in August. He gave me a very glowing account of the valley, which he said was about 200 miles long, by five to 25 miles broad; he considers it essentially a mining country, and not a farming district; there is some good land suitable mostly for cattle and horses, but not enough of it fit for cultivation ever to make it a farming centre. This same view I have since heard so often repeated, that I fancy there cannot be any doubt on the subject. The beauties of the Kootenay valley have been again and again extolled; but the more I hear about the place, the more certain am I becoming that it can also boast mosquitoes not to be equalled, and that they exist in greater numbers here at certain times in the year than in any other place in the world. I close my chapters on Manitoba with a few words on the subject of emigration generally. First, a word of n8 THE NEW FAR WEST. of labour to persuade 3Toung men to quit the country, and so raise the price of wages, nor is it a kindness to the young fellows themselves to induce them (by dangling the "almighty dollar" before their eyes) to face the uncertainties of a new country; and it should always be remembered that a dollar (4*.) only goes about as far in America as a shilling does here in England. So far as my experience of the Colonies and America is concerned, I may say I have never come across such an equitable and healthy climate (take it all round) as our much-abused English one; and to send out old people to be frizzled one month and half-frozen the next, is hardly the sort of action to bring down the blessings of the unfortunate emigrant on one's head. But those who have got acclimatized while still fairly young become contented and happy, and in time condemn the dampness of our English climate as much perhaps as we do the peculiarities of the one to which they have accustomed themselves. The usual answer one meets with from settlers in Manitoba, and especially from Ontario people (who are the most numerous there), is that they are getting on "first-rate." English people undoubtedly like the climate better at the end of three years than they do at the end of the first, and, provided good water is procurable, the population usually enjoy 120 THE NEW FAR WEST. arrival on the other side, and especially if the oxen to break up the land had been purchased. The reply ran as follows (and I have seen the letter myself): "The oxen will supply milk and butter, as well as be useful to cultivate the land." RETURN TO VICTORIA. 121 CHAPTER X. VICTORIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND—BRITISH COLUMBIA. Highly-rented Land—Value of Cleared Farms—Chinaman v. English Labourer—High Prices of Fuel and Provisions—Sharp Practice on a Chinaman—A Prosperous Town—Terminus of Canadian Pacific Railway—A Disappointment that turned into a Benefit— Victorian Industries—Iron-works—Chinese Bootmakers—Magnifi- cent Harbour—Need of Fortifications—A Hint to Young Ladies in England. Having now completed my chapters on the "park- like lands of the fertile belt," and given what inform- ation I can about the land near the Canadian Pacific Railway and its branches generally, I must resume the thread of my narrative at Victoria, Vancouver Island. Once back there, I felt myself as thoroughly at home as in many places in England, although almost six thousand miles away from the old country. During my stay I enjoyed the hospitality of my friend Mr. Justice Crease, at whose house I took up my quarters. While staying at Victoria I was taken by a friend to look at several farms in the neighbourhood, which 122 THE NEW FAR WEST. the owners professed to be willing to sell. One of these was near Gordon Head, to which we drove out past Mount Tolmie and the Bishop's lands. There were some nice little farms along the road before reaching these, but rock protruded very much in places, and from the prices quoted to me of the value of the land, it appears to me that much cannot be bought about here; or, in fact, farm land at all, except in very small parcels. The Bishop's property seemed one of the largest estates lying together, as far as I could see. One farm consisted of about 130 acres, and I was told it was let at 23s. per acre, and the taxes came to about £5 a year more; but this was an old take, and if re- let it would command a higher price. At Mount Tolmie a nice house was being erected, and I was told that the person who was putting it up had purchased the land a short time previously, paying for it at the rate of 115 dollars (£23) per acre. It appeared to consist for the most part of arable land, which is the case almost universally here, for the old grass is broken up. This is a pity, because, lying near to Victoria, one would think grass lands would have been valuable for dairy purposes. On reaching Gordon Head we found the owner at home. His farm consisted of about 140 acres, 50 of which were cleared, and the remainder were rock and timber; there was a wooden house on HIGH PRICE OF LAND. 123 it. The price asked for the land was 50 dollars (*. e. £10) per acre. Of course such a price as this was quite a prohibitive one, for the cleared land was still very rough indeed; but my companion told me that lad the whole farm been cleared, £20 per acre would have been asked. But even had it all been cleared (i. e. cleared of trees), half of it would probably have been rock, for it is only the swampy or bottom lands amongst the rocks—hollows, in fact, holding soil— which are capable of cultivation here. These prices show that it is useless for the ordinary emigrant farmer to come here to take up land anywhere near Victoria, for none that is free is now to be obtained, though some Government holdings untaken up are still to be found in remote parts of the island, with which communication is slowly being opened up. As regards the prospects of an agricultural labourer coming here, a good man would probably find em- ployment, but the settlers cannot generally afford to pay for extra labour, and, when they do, can perhaps get a Chinaman cheaper than a white man. In fact, as the holdings are, as a rule, small, and wages high, an extra man all the year round is out of the question. From the enormous quantity of timber, it is evident that the farmer in these parts must follow the " lum- berer," for it takes a man's lifetime to only partially 124 THE NEW FAR WEST. clear a small farm; so holdings of any size must yet be in the far distance. With some exceptions on the Delta, &c., the present race of farmers appear only to scratch over the soil; and as the quantity of land available for tillage is of very small area, only a bare living can be made out of it. Many of these small farmers were formerly miners, and having made some money by that employment, invested it in partially improved land, and some of them appear to thrive fairly well upon what they get from it. Another day I was taken to look at some other lands, part of which is considered as a probable site for a fort to be erected in due time by either the Dominion or the Imperial Government. These lands were situated in the Esquimalt district, about twelve miles from Victoria, on Sangster's Plain, not far from Albert Head. We started from Victoria, skirting the sea-shore, and drove along past the Four-mile House, by Parson's Bridge and Millstream, and then turned off the road to the left to Goldstream, and passed through a very park-like district, with which I was much struck. Many trees stood out singly, and there were large open patches of grass, which might do well for sheep, if there is enough of it. The land, however, is very light and gravelly. The section ran right to the sea- shore, falling there with a considerable drop, and would AN ISLAND FARM. 125 make an excellent site for a house, or indeed for a suburb of Victoria; the latter can be seen in the distance, and on the opposite side of the straits we had a beautiful view of the Olympian range of moun- tains in Washington Territory. It is a nice row from here to Esquimalt Harbour. At Albert Head is the Quarantine Station, supported by the Dominion Govern- ment. My friend and I took a long walk, in the course of which I saw some beautiful specimens of Douglas pine. Returning to our buggy, we were driven on to a farm of 270 acres, about nine miles from Victoria; it is in private hands, and the owner said he wished to sell at the rate of 14 dollars per acre. I was told it was a good specimen of an island farm. A Scotch- man had been the original settler, and after twenty years' hard work timber felling, he had succeeded in clearing about 60 or 70 acres. I found the cleared land had been freely cropped with wheat, and looked much out of order; the house was uninhabited and tumbling down; the timber had been cut only with a view to selecting large sticks, leaving the stumps standing about six feet above the ground. It would be possible to clear some more of the land, but the remainder (say about 100 out of the 270 acres) was merely rock. The price was £2 16s. per acre all round, 126 THE NEW FAR WEST. but after deducting for the rock, it would really bring it up to £5 per acre, with all the best timber gone. I also suspect that this land (which may be taken as a good specimen of a Vancouver Island farm), situated as it is in hollows and surrounded by rocks, would serve as a catch pit for rain, and would prove very wet indeed at certain times of the year. Rome of the lands round Victoria—such as that on the Church farm, for instance—would not hold water; but as a general rule I think they would all require a good system of drainage after the lumber-man had done his work; and all lands are held at an absurdly high value by their present proprietors. I think such farms as the one just described might, if he could purchase it at a reasonable price, be worked to advantage by a small settler by establishing a poultry farm, and combining this with a small dair)T for butter- making, and a little market gardening; spending any spare time cutting down surplus timber, the sale of which would assist his income. Timber at Victoria now fetches 16*. per cord of 8 feet long by 4 feet high, and wood is still the universal fuel for cooking stoves, though coal is now much used for the house grates; the price of the latter is 36s. to 40?. per ton in the town, and 16*. per ton at the pit's mouth. Chickens fetch 6s. per couple; butter 2s. a pound all the year DEFRAUDING THE CHINAMAN. 127 round; milk 10<£ per gallon; eggs 1*. a dozen in summer, and 3*. a dozen in winter. Horses in this country appear to bear fatigue much better than with us, and will go long distances without a rest; the drive to see the farms described had been altogether about 30 miles, and our horses did not seem at all the worse. To give other instances of the value of land here, I may mention that I was shown another farm near Victoria, for which (uncleared) the owner was asking 60 dollars an acre, and for which he had refused an offer of 50 dollars (£10) per acre. Though this appeared to be good land, with fine timber, yet I cannot but think it was a' high price. On going to see the little piece of land we had bought during our previous visit in 1883, situated on Cordova Bay, now called New Longworth, I found that a short time previously the owner of the land just be- hind it had sold his lot to some Chinese, and in doing so had pointed out the bottom land on our lot as his own. Fortunately for us, the Chinaman found this out in time, and a lawsuit was the result, the purchaser naturally declining to complete his purchase. It was said that our neighbour had given 900 dollars for his lot, and had sold it (with some of ours) to the Chinese for 1500 dollars. Happily the bargain was repudiated before the timber was cut. I have since taken precaution to 128 THE NEW FAR WEST. prevent a repetition of such mistakes as regards our land. Thinking to improve our boundary towards the sea, I offered to purchase three acres from my neighbour on that side; the slip was worth about 60 dollars, and I should have been willing to give 90; but as he wanted the accommodation price of between 400 and 500 dollars, it was useless trying to negotiate. It should be borne in mind that the above relates to lands in the vicinity of Victoria, and that the high prices asked are attributable to that fact, the scarcity of any extent of good lands near the town mainly contributing to support values. In several of the country districts farming is making progress, and the railway constructed between Victoria and Nanaimo has assisted materially the settlement of the district through which it runs. The greater part of the land is, however, heavily timbered, and the settler has to make up his mind that persistence in hard work is the only way by which he can make his property of value. Further north on the island the district of Comox is promising well, aided by coal- mining developments now being extensively prosecuted, and there are still some lands, though none of large extent, to be obtained from the Government in the surrounding districts. Since my last visit Victoria has made decided SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS. 129 progress, though not of the rapid and assertive character shown by the neighbouring towns in Washington Territory. The population has increased, and is now quoted at 13,000 or 14,000, including 2000 Chinese. The place covers a large area, and the suburbs have extended greatly in every direction; comfortable dwell- ings, with occasionally a more pretentious house, having been spread over a good deal of space during the last three or four years. The buildings in the business part of the city have been much improved, notably the new Law Courts and the Bank of British Columbia building; and the general appearance of the principal streets gives evidence of substantial progress. The establishment of Vancouver City as the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway appears to have been a disappointment to many Victorians, who had hoped for the terminus at Esquimalt, as originally settled by "Order in Council" of the Dominion Government; but in reality the new city has been of much benefit' to the trade of Victoria, as attracting a population, and thereby increasing the importance and business of the province. Many Victorians are large owners of property in Vancouver, and are greatly interested in other ways in the advancement of the new town. My impression is that the prosperity of Victoria will be assisted by the growth of the terminal town, and she has the K i3o THE NEW FAR WEST. control of all the trade of the North-West coast, which is increasing in importance and value every year. The capital employed in the industries of the province is chiefly owned by Victorians, and such manufacturing enterprises as exist are chiefly established in Victoria. The Albion Iron Works, with a capital of about 300,000 dollars employed, does an active business, and engages about 100 hands at high wages regularly. The boot and shoe manufacturing employs Chinese labour almost entirely, and turns out a large amount of work. The collieries of the province are largely owned in Victoria. The lumber-mills and salmon fisheries are to a great extent owned or controlled in Victoria, where also the steamship lines doing the inter-provincial carrying trade of the province have their headquarters. The people for the most part are well-to-do, with a very few who could be termed wealthy; and having attained com- fortable circumstances are disposed to take things easily as far as possible, and show a good deal of Conservative tendency. There are very few poor, and the sober, industrious, intelligent artisan is bound to thrive, and finds the place congenial in every way. Wages in 1888 for bricklayers and masons, five and six dollars per day; carpenters, three dollars fifty cents, for good workmen. The public schools are free, but religious teaching prohibited. They are well attended by children ESQUIMALT HARBOUR. 131 of all classes, and the teaching power is good, and well remunerated. Eeligious sects are fully represented. Church of England and Roman Catholics have both a prominent influence, but every sect has a meeting- house, including a Frcethought Hall and Salvation Army Barracks. The tone of the place is still thoroughly British, though perhaps, on account of the more recent accessions of population coming from Eastern Canadian cities, there has been some falling off in that respect since my last visit, and the "old country" is not so much talked about. The natural beauties of the city's suiTOundings are so attractive, that they alone must command admiration, and secure for Victoria an ever- increasing importance as a city; and as to the advantages of climate I have already spoken my praises. Besides my inquiries as to different farms and lots near Victoria, I made an expedition by railway to Nanaimo and Wellington, a distance of 76 miles. The line passes Esquimalt harbour, where I visited the dockyard and the dry dock; the latter is 431 feet long by 65 broad, and 28 feet deep, and must of course be of great service to the Pacific naval station. The harbour is a beautiful one in every sense of the word, with perfectly safe anchorage, and surrounded by finely timbered slopes. So much has been said and written about new fortifications along this coast, that a word K 2 132 THE NEW FAR WEST. here may not be out of place. In my opinion, whatever may be decided as to Victoria and Vancouver City, Esquimalt Harbour at any rate should not remain unfortified. To leave such a magnificent position as this (the finest harbour on the Pacific excepting San Francisco) at the mercy of an enemy would be an error such as I can hardly believe any Government could be short-sighted enough to allow. The rail then proceeds through the forest, running high up alongside Saanwich Arm (a salt-water inlet), and for the first 20 miles or so the country is interesting, and the views very fine; but after that the forest becomes so dense that there is not much to be seen. As we passed Cowitchan Station I noticed that two small hotels were being run up there; and the town of Nanaimo has certainly considerably increased since my last visit. Just before reaching the station there I saw the Vancouver Colliery, where the lamentable accident had occurred the previous year by which 150 men had lost their lives. Six miles beyond Nanaimo we came to the Wellington Colliery, belonging to Mr. Dunsmuir; here a quantity of labourers' houses and one central house were being run up, but there is otherwise no actual town. The coal is loaded close by at Departure Bay. Although very much pleased with British Columbia, I fear it is not a farming country, and in the winter 13+ THE NEW FAR WEST. CHAPTER XL VICTORIA, B.C., TO SAN FRANCISCO, U.S.A. A New Town—An Opening for Farming Enterprise—A Fruit-raising District—Maize v. Wheat—A Coach-drive—"Shell out"—Head- quarters for Tourists—Cable-cars—A Beautiful Park—Rocks and Seals—Effects of Irrigation—The Chinese Quarter—The Failure of an expected " Boom "—A " Header"—Grapes at £2 a Ton- Eight Months without Bain—Re-importing Native "Wine—A Great Future for San Francisco—A Desirable Loan for English Farmers. I left Victoria, Vancouver Island, with feelings of great regret, starting on the s. s. Tacoma for the town of that name in the United States—a run of 110 miles. We touched at Port Townsend, and then at Seattle, which latter place has made prodigious strides in the last four years, and is a thoroughly American town. Tacoma is also very much altered and improved, and where but four years ago only a few houses stood, a large new town. has sprung up in a wonderful manner. This is due to the Northern Pacific Railway Company having declared it the Pacific terminus of their line. The A FRUIT-RAISING DISTRICT. 135 company has also built a fine large hotel (as good a one as I have ever stayed in in America) to supersede the wretched accommodation I remembered so well experiencing four years before. We left Tacoma early the following morning by rail, bound for Portland, Oregon, and passed through a thickly-wooded country, very little cleared, where the farming was very primitive; but still what little arable we saw appeared to be of good quality, and therefore probably extensive farms might by diut of clearing be formed here. Presently the forest became very dense, but the trees were inferior in girth to those of British Columbia. We followed the windings of the Cowlitz River for some distance, noticing clearings in different places, showing that settlers were making the best use of their time; fruit-trees had been planted in many places, and were bearing heavy and abundant crops. Near Kelso Station the improvements were especially remarkable, and it appeared to be a very thriving settlement. At Kalama we quitted Washington Territory, and were ferried, train and all, over the Columbia River into Oregon, through which State we continued our journey. Here the soil appeared very good, and fruit-trees grew luxuriantly. We passed many large open homesteads, and the nearer we approached to Portland the better 136 THE NEW FAR WEST. the land became; in fact, I was very much pleased with what I saw of Oregon State. From Portland the line followed the valley of the Willamette (100 miles long by 40 broad), passing Oregon City and Aurora. After about 20 miles the valley widened out, and I could see that the farms here were of a first-class sort, very different from anything I had noticed for a long time. The information as to prices varied, one man saying they ranged between 15 and 50 dollars an acre, and another putting them at from 30 to 250 dollars; but, anyway, it is clear that this land can be bought at almost the same price as land in British Columbia, and that it is of very superior quality. Some 15 miles from the line, under the Cascade Mountains (I suspect a spur of the Sierra Nevadas), land is still open for settlement at about one and a half dollars an acre,—but it is uncleared. There was a good deal of timbered land near the railway which could be turned to account for farming purposes, and I fancy there is an opening here for an enterprising man. It is said that the rainfall in Oregon is very heavy, but, whether this is so or not, I cannot help thinking the Willamette valley a most desirable place for farming operations, judging by the rich look of the soil and the surrounding prosperity. Night closed in, however, before I could see the valley thoroughly. February is, I am told, the worst month "SHELL OUT." 137 in Oregon State. and it is cold here then for a short time. The next morning we passed through Rogue Valley, a famous fruit-raising district; land here, though not looking very good, is pronounced excellent for this purpose, and commands high prices,—from 100 to 300 dollars an acre. Maize is also grown to a large extent, and is said to pay better than wheat; indeed there were complaints that quantities of wheat were lying idle at the stations, the owners being unable to sell at a profit. At the time of my journey the railway from Portland to San Francisco was not completed throughout;' there was a gap of about 20 miles over the range of mountains called Siskiyous which had to be performed by stage; but the line when finished will supersede the sea route. At a place called Ashland we were accord- ingly transferred to three waggons and a couple of coaches of the "Buffalo Bill" description. Pretty tightly packed, we commenced our journey over at first a fairly smooth road; but at the approach to the mountain " divide," a cry came from the driver on the box, "Shell out;" so accordingly out we all crawled, and the remaining portion of our journey to the summit had to be performed on foot. Before reaching the summit we saw the new tunnel just finished; the first 1 Opened throughout in 1887. 138 THE NEW FAR WEST. engine had passed through it on the previous da\T—so probably I have been one of the last English travellers by the old stage route over the mountain. I had a splendid view from the summit, and walked on alto- gether about ten miles before the first stage caught me up. This Siskiyous range of mountains form a link between the Cascade Mountains (joining the Sierra Nevadas further south) and the Coast range. After crossing the mountains we were in California, and the change was very remarkable as we descended the slopes; everything was parched up and as dry as a desert; but although so dry it was not dusty, and there was a certain amount of cultivation apparent. We frequently noticed large herds of pigs and cattle which appeared to be thriving, especially some of the latter near Montague. Close to Montague we obtained a capital view of Mount Shasta, 14,442 feet high, in the Sierra Nevada range; and the scenery continued to improve, till from a place called Sessions the view was magnificent. Sessions is situated in Strawberry Valley, and would make good headquarters for tourists; but any one wishing to see this beautiful route from San Francisco thoroughly, should go on beyond to Montague —351 miles distant from San Francisco. Strawberry Valley is well-wooded, the sugar-pine being the principal tree, but there are also many spruce. Con- IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 139 tinuing our journey, we descended the canon of the Sacramento at a tremendous pace,—faster indeed than I should think was really prudent on a new line which had only been completed six months before. Night came on quickly, and I fear caused me to miss much of the beautiful scenery; but early the following morning I found we were still in the fertile Sacramento Valley. Everything looked most prosper- ous; we passed fine villages and several towns, and saw large herds of cattle grazing in the fields; but the stubble-fields and the hills were all of a uniform brown tint, for the country was parched and burnt up, as of course must happen when there has been no rain for six months, as had been the case here. The villages looked very pleasant, and the fields around were all fenced in. Everything in the State of California appeared most prosperous, and I believe that such is really the case. We passed Benicia by its huge ferry- boat, which conveys the trains over bodily, and soon reached Oaklands, from whence a ferry-boat took us across to San Francisco. Here I went to the Palace Hotel, where I arrived about 8 a.m., having safely accomplished my journey of 1030 miles from Victoria (British Columbia) in three days two hours. San Francisco is certainly a wonderful place; its growth is perfectly extraordinary, and it is impossible i4o THE NEW FAR WEST. to realize thoroughly the fact that thirty-seven years ago there was absolutely nothing here, where now there is a city with 300,000 inhabitants, and houses and shops to rival anything in London or Paris. The "cable- cars" form a simply perfect means of locomotion, so rapid and so smooth; the ease with which they travel onwards as the conductor affixes a catch to the under- ground rope, makes one pity the poor tram-car horses that one sees labouring along with the ordinary cars. I made a little excursion by cable-car to the Golden Gate Park, a few miles out of San Francisco, at the entrance to the harbour; it is formed out of desert by dint of irrigation. There is a large conservatory and some excellent carpet-bedding; the trees and shrubs were all doing well, and the grass was most beautiful, its bright green contrasting strongly with the brown vegetation around. Leaving the park I went on by train a few miles further to Cliff House to see the view again over the Pacific Ocean, and the rocks crowded with seals. Our little train consisted only of four or five open cars, and the line wound its way through the hills, landing us at about five minutes' walk from the hotel. Part of the return journey I performed by one of the cable-cars, which are great features in San Francisco; indeed, they are almost a necessity of the place, for the city is built on a tier of hills, and without CABLE-CARS. 141 these cars communication between the different parts would be very difficult. The cable-cars are maintained by the Californian Improvement Company, and, as is now pretty generally known, are worked by an endless rope without horses, and go up and down hill with the greatest ease, at a pace of from six to eight miles an hour. The officials connected with them are all of a superior class, and are most civil to both the citizens and strangers; contrasting in this respect very favourably with most of the railway officials on the different American railway lines. Another day I drove out with a friend to the Presidio—the military barracks, near the Golden Gate; there are pretty detached houses for the officers, and capital barracks for the men, all in excellent order. The prison (which is situated on an island) was in full sight, and a beautiful view of the harbour of San Francisco was obtainable. We proceeded past the Golden Gate towards Cliff House, but before descending to it, drove round Mr. Sutio's grounds, which are admirably laid out, and will well repay a visit. The view from thence of the Pacific Ocean and of the territory around was splendid. Trees, shrubs, flowers and grass are all most luxuriant in growth in this garden; yet a short time ago it was only a sandbank, and this charm- ing result is due to constant irrigation. We drove i42 THE NEW FAR WEST. home past the Golden Gate Park—where gardeners were watering the grass in all directions—along a road as level as a billiard-table, and quite 150 feet broad. The roads about here were made by an American General named McDowell, and certainly they do him credit, being most beautifully smooth and broad. The Chinese quarter of San Francisco called "China Town" is quite distinct and well worth a visit. I went to see two " Joss-houses" there (their places of worship); also a Chinese school for girls, kept by some benevolent ladies as a kind of refuge; a gambling-house, and some of the more respectable of the opium smokers' dens. We also visited the theatre, in the upstair part of which the actors reside'; it was filthily dirty, and as dry as tinder, so that if once ignited a terrible blaze would quickly ensue, and the passages are so narrow that I cannot see how it would be possible for the inmates to escape. Another day I made an expedition with my friend Mr. Gwin to Bay Point, to see the ranch there which had formerly belonged to his family, and which I had visited in 1883. We went by rail 34 miles to Martinez, where a "boom" was expected, which every one was talking about, and in consequence of which an excursion train had been run from San Francisco, and a free luncheon (of which of course we availed ourselves) was given at AN EXPECTED "BOOM." 143 the Martinez Hotel. In the window there we saw dis- played a capital show of flowers, and of apples, pears, and black and white grapes, all grown in the open air. The "boom," in town lots and land in the neighbour- hood, was being discussed with much laughter, and to judge by the number of passengers by the excursion train, it must have been a failure. Martinez seemed rather an Italian-looking place, with shade-trees lining the streets and foot-hills rising on one side of the town. We drove from here to Bay Point, passing numerous holdings of from 15 to 30 acres with excellent houses. Great improvements had evidently taken place during the years which had elapsed since my previous visit, for the country was covered with orchards, vineyards, and pumpkin grounds. The people here make a good living by their own labour, without employing many (if any) extra hands. Land here which 25 or 30 years ago was sold by Government at 1^ dollars an acre, now com- mands from 50 to 200 dollars an acre; the rise in value has, of late especially, been very great, and the district I recommended in 1883—Passadora in Southern California—has gone up to an immense price, and is now sold by the foot. Arrived at Bay Point we went over the ranch which in 1883 had belonged to Mr. Gwin, now sold, and called Government ranch; it is worth about 50 to 60 dollars an acre, and with the 144 THE NEW FAR WEST. adjoining ranch embraces an extent of 3000 acres. Since I was last here apricot, apple, and pear orchards and vineyards have been planted, and all are doing well. I saw an excellent crop of lucerne, which was being cut for the fourth time that season, and bears four tons to the acre. Some artesian wells afford a good supply of water, and the place is only two miles from Bay Point Station and the southern shore of San Francisco harbour. By road it is 25 miles from that city, by rail about 40. I should have liked to have seen a "header" in operation—i. e. a machine used in these parts, worked by 25 horses, which heads and thrashes the grain, and leaves it ready packed in bags by the side of the track as it passes along. During our return route we saw immense stores of wheat at some of the stations, ready to be shipped off to England and elsewhere, and my companion said nearly all the carrying trade was undertaken by English vessels. Another expedition I made was to Santa Cruz, going by the narrow-gauge line and returning by the other, and thus seeing two different parts of the country. We passed Alameda, and then steamed on through marshy flats till reaching Santa Clara, a pretty place with good soil, and the fields well fenced in with strong high wooden fencing, as is universally the case in this part of California. Next we came to San Jose*, a very VINE CULTIVATION. 145 rising place, with avenues of trees planted along the sides of the streets. The next place was a very Italian- looking town called Los Gatos, where there is a large new Jesuit College. The hill-sides here were all planted with vines, for the cultivation of which all this part of California is admirably adapted; but, unfortunately, too many vineyards are being started, and the supply is becoming greater than the demand, and grapes are sold now at from 10 to 15 dollars per ton. Nearer the coast is considered even better for vineyards than this district. After leaving Los Gatos we commenced the ascent of the Santa Cruz mountains; the line wound its way upwards along a steep valley, where some very fine timber was growing on the mountain slopes. Unhappily, this is rapidly succumbing to the lumberman's axe. The finest specimens were to be seen near the summit, and at Big-tree Station, where we passed through the midst of a beautiful grove. A great many of the trees I saw closely resembled the Taxodium, but it is impossible to gain any accurate information as to the different species from the inhabitants, who class them all as pine, fir, or spruce, without making any distinctions. Santa Cruz is simply a typical American watering- place, with a sandy beach, and a long,' broad, bright- looking street, with the inevitable tram-car rails laid down the centre. In itself it would hardly be worth 146 THE NEW FAR WEST. the journey to an English traveller, but the country we travelled over by both routes was well worth seeing. The broad-gauge line took me back by the shore, past Monterey Bay, and then right along the promontory on which San Francisco is built. The route was entirely agricultural, with very large wheat-fields, orchards, and vineyards; nicely timbered, though not enough to interfere with farming operations, and there were several towns dotted about. A fellow-traveller told me that when he first passed through the country between San Jose and San Francisco in 1851, in the course of his business as a drover, there was but one house in the whole district. The country is productive and flat, with mountains bounding the distance. For nearly the whole of the way fine specimens of the American (evergreen) oak were dotted about in the stubble-fields. At Gilroy there were very large herds of cattle feeding in the stubbles. It must be understood that as no rain falls here for eight months of the year, and the country is consequently very dry, meadow lands are not much studied; but all the land is cultivated as arable, fruit orchard, and vineyard. Even the steep hill-sides, which formerly escaped the plough and remained as grass, are now being utilized as vineyards. Though excellence in wine-making has not yet been achieved, there is a great improvement in the last few years, and the Californians CALIFORNIAN WINES. 147 themselves now drink their own wines much more than was formerly the case. A red wine called Zinfandell, and a light one Schramsberger, are both good and cheap for ordinary drinking. The usual fault of the wine of this country is that it is too strong and heady, but there is no doubt that a large quantity is exported annually and mixed with French wines. Californians have been known actually to repurchase as French a wine of which the greater portion has been grown in their own State. For both Italians and Frenchmen there is a great opening in California for wine-growing, and also for Englishmen in the industries of fruit and vegetable raising, and corn-growing. Comparing San Francisco for a moment with Van- couver City, we find that while the latter has practically no agricultural district to support it, Sao Francisco, on the contrary, has some of the best wheat-growing land in the world to form a home trade. Its harbour is about 60 miles long, and must be the finest in the States, even surpassing that of New York. The cul- tivation of the vineyards and orchards, which are now rapidly supplanting the wheat-fields, will afford employ- ment to a large population; the grapes are excellent, quite as good as many grown in our English hot-houses, and the pears are first-rate. In Southern California orange groves are much in vogue and answer well; indeed, the h 2 i48 THE NEW FAR WEST. whole of this State must have a great future before it Formerly it belonged to the Mexicans, who only used. it for breeding horses, and did not attempt to develop its resources; they sold it to the United States Govern- ment under the impression that its soil would not grow anything, nor had they discovered its mineral wealth. With respect to the climate here, the inhabitants consider it perfect; there are eight months of dry weather without any rainfall at all, and this is succeeded by four months of wet. The north wind here is a dry and scorching one, the south wind brings rain; and the west wind (which is as disagreeable as our east and equivalent to it) blows for eight months of the year without intermission, and makes the climate trying to strangers; for in the sun it may be very hot, while this cold wind is piercing in the shade. Fogs are very prevalent during certain months; the winter, I was told, is beautiful, and the most enjoyable part of the year; but I think the long drought in summer accom- panied by this cold west wind must be trying until one gets acclimatized. Still, it must be a great com- fort to be certain that there is never any danger of outdoor operations being marred by rain during so many months of the year; and I am sure many of our English agriculturists would in some seasons be only too glad to borrow two months of Californian Siarifords GepglEstnb>.LatdorL w T- A :n y :ll t, ;r st il -o le is ia ;e •49 t every- ed and is green ; many- garden d meat, d other ia must capital place to I at the ed this ilifornia ie State AN OPENING FOR FRUIT-GROWERS. 149 fine weather. Although at the time of my visit every- thing—both grass and stubble—looked parched and burnt up, yet in the spring the mountains are as green as possible, and the wild flowers are beautiful; many of them are carefully cultivated in England as garden and greenhouse flowers. With good bread and meat, excellent vegetables, an abundance of grapes and other fruits, and an equitable climate, life in California must be very enjoyable. For a person with a little capital and a knowledge of fruit-growing it is just the place to come to; but he must not expect to buy land at the same prices now as when I first recommended this locality for small as well as large capitalists. California has had its "boom " in various districts, and the State generally has gone up considerably in value. THE OLD FAR EAST. POUND FOR YOKOHAMA. 153 CHAPTER XII. THE PACIFIC OCEAN—YOKOHAMA, JAPAN. The Oceanic — Chinese Fellow - passengers, Living and Dead — American Immigration Laws — A Profitable Food Contract — Dollars v. Missionaries — " Fish-bones " — Sea-sick Pigs — A Chinese Outbreak—How to quench a Mutiny—Typhoons— First Glimpse of Japan — Sanpans and Jin-rikishas — Human Ponies—Yokohama at Night — The Yoshiwara — A Japanese Theatre — Making a Day of it — Picturesque Streets—Sadie— Rice Crops—A New Use for a Handkerchief—A Complimentary Tea—A Warm Bath—Paper Waterproof Coats and Umbrellas. It was only after my arrival in San Francisco that I decided to go on to Japan. Up to that time, if I extended my tour at all, I had a visit to Australia and New Zealand in view. But circumstances changed my route, and I soon found myself bound for Yokohama, the great seaport town of Japan, a distance of 4800 miles from San Francisco. My knowledge of Japan was very meagre. I had no good guide-book, and the only one I knew of (Murray's) was out of print; so I had to make the most of what information I could glean 154 THE OLD FAR EAST. whilst on my passage to the "land of the rising sun." I sailed in the Oceanic, 3808 tons burden, belonging to the Oriental and Occidental Steamship Company; in reality an old White Star Atlantic liner, which bad found its way to the Pacific after completing its time on the Atlantic, i. e. being superseded there by vessels of a more recent type. It was a good ship nevertheless, and an excellent sea-boat. To most readers an account of a sea voyage is now so familiar that I shall not weary them by repeating the old story. But there is a certain degree of novelty connected with a Pacific voyage which is not to be met with on the Atlantic. To commence with, I found myself to be the only British passenger on board, with the exception of one; the rest of the saloon passengers were mostly Americans; the steerage almost exclusively Chinese, of whom there were no less than 900 on board. Their manners and customs soon attracted my attention, and for choice I would rather not sail again under the same conditions, especially when we were to be fellow- shipmates for 4800 miles, an 18 days' passage. These Chinese were on their way home for their Christmas holiday, which is held some time in February; they have to start in good time on their journey, because on arrival in harbour they have to travel many hundreds of miles, often on foot, to reach their homes. Their AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWS. 155 port of disembarkation was Hong Kong, 1200 miles further than Yokohama, and 6000 miles from San Francisco. They were going to China on pass, and many of them would sell their passes to others; for Chinese emigration to the States is stopped, and only those are allowed to return who can prove they came to America before the law prohibiting any further emi- gration to the States was put in force. The present law in the States against Chinese emigration does not allow any arrival except in the case of merchants or of Chinese who were resident previous to 1881, but this law is much evaded. The present race of Chinese in America have all their food, clothing, &c. direct from China, and send all their savings home; they also under-bid the Americans in the labour market, so it is not surprising that they are not looked upon with much favour by the United States citizens. Before starting on their homeward route they are all measured, and upon their return have to go through a strict examination to show that they are not impostors. Each Chinaman pays 50 dollars (£10) for his passage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, which includes food; the latter I was told cost the company about tenpence per day for breakfast, dinner, and supper; this would leave a profit of about £9 a head, say £8000 for the present load. The dinners seemed to be of various 156 THE OLD FAR EAST. descriptions—some of the ingredients I could not make out, but the chop-sticks played their part with all, and were most diligently and dexterously used. Rice (instead of bread) formed a part of every meal, and for dinner, tea, dried fish, potatoes, with a dash of meat here and there. Every dish or bowl served the whole party in common (in squads of eight or ten), and the chop-sticks seized what was desired. Each of these Chinamen had saved more or less money, and some, I was told, as much as 2000 or 3000 dollars; and all had as much as 1000 dollars a-piece. The Chinese are all inveterate gamblers, so much so that when their money is gone they will play for their food, their clothes —everything they possess. We passed three Sundays on board the Oceanic, and amongst our American fellow passengers there were a certain number of missionaries going out to Japan. It struck me as curious to see the latter conducting an open-air service on the fore hatchway; when within a few yards, really partly on the same tarpauling, and entirely oblivious of the performance of the service (of the object of which they probably had no notion whatever), a number of Chinamen would be playing cards, or what resembled dominoes, conducting their operations to the continual accompaniments of those high-pitched voices so well known to any one who has THE "HEATHEN CHINEE." 157 once been in China, and in opposition as it were to "trie missionaries. Query, would it not have been better for the missionaries to have sought a quieter part of "the vessel for their meeting, instead of setting them- selves down in the centre of a kind of primitive gambling saloon? Or did they think by their example they might possibly convert a "heathen Chinee" by their proximity? From what I have heard, a dollar would go much further than any such gathering as this, as a Chinaman will do anything for money. The Chinese are very much afraid of water, and when one morning I heard of the death of one on board, and later on saw a coffin lashed to the upper deck by the stern of the vessel, I inquired why the ordinary burial at sea did not take place. The reply I received from one of the ship's officers was as follows: "There would be no more Chinese passengers for us if we did." We lost three Chinamen by death between San Francisco and Yokohama, so we had quite a line of coffins to meet our view at each turn of our morning walk. The Chinese are very particular about their bodies being taken back to their native land, whether they are at sea or in a foreign country. Hence the agents who used formerly to import Chinese labour to the States had to guarantee to re-convey them home alive or dead; so if they 158 THE OLD FAR EAST. should die in America their bones have (after temporary burial) to be taken back again, and are shipped off in long wooden boxes under the designation of "fish- bones "—and of these I believe we had a large number in the ship. There was one rather amusing incident on board. John Chinaman is very fond of pork, and it was the custom to supply him with this meat for his Sunday's dinner. Unfortunately we had a gale, and nearly all the pigs died of sea-sickness. The result was that during our last Sunday at sea we were dis- turbed by a great commotion on the lower deck, and by the sudden appearance of the cook, who rushed into the saloon in a terrible fright, his pigtail flying in the air, just eluding his pursuers, some frantic Chinese, who had been deprived of their mess of pork by the supply running short. We rescued the cook, and saved him from the fate which his enemies evidently had in view; their object being, it appeared, to throw him overboard. The deck of the ship was crowded with Celestials, and it took the officers some little time to restore order once more. The row was, .however, quite enough to make one feel how uncomfortable it would be to experience a mutiny on board amongst these people. But their dread of water has a supreme effect in such cases, and one valuable assistance to the en- STORMY WEATHER. 159 forcement of discipline is to turn a powerful water-hose on the crowd, which is a sure, prompt, and effectual means of restoring order! The voyage from San Francisco to Yokohama is across the widest part of the Pacific Ocean, and is too long and monotonous to be interesting. It is one of the longest sea voyages without sighting or touching land in the world; for with the exception of a small island a short distance outside San Francisco harbour, no land is sighted during the whole run of 4800 miles; neither was a single vessel to be seen during the whole time, and this is not the exception, but the rule. The Pacific Ocean is by no means the calm sea it is often supposed to be; on the contrary, it is sometimes exceedingly rough, and we experienced three severe gales, one of which lasted five days; and it was estimated that the waves were at least thirty feet high, which may give some slight conception of the seas we had to go through. It afterwards transpired that we had been just on the outskirts of one of those typhoons or cyclones which are the terror of these latitudes: and on arriving at Yokohama we found that the steamer preceding us (the City of Sydney) had been nearly wrecked in the typhoon we had but just missed, and had arrived in harbour much damaged. During a part of the time the passengers had to seek shelter in the smoking-room on i6o THE OLD FAR EAST. deck, for the water was two feet deep in the saloon and state cabins. In crossing the Pacific it should be remembered that July, August, September, and October are the months during which these typhoons are most prevalent. I was up by sunrise when nearing the Japanese coast, in order to obtain the first sight of Japan; we were off Point Oshima, about 40 miles from Yokohama. It was a bright clear morning, and the extinct volcano, Mount Fuji-ama, 60 miles away, was beautifully distinct with the sunrise on it. This mountain is 13,080 feet high, and is clothed with snow to its summit. The active volcano Oshima, on the volcanic island of the same name, lay to our left, with its smoke (which I had at first taken for a cloud) curling upwards into the clear sky. Soon we dropped anchor in Yoko- hama harbour, and, after 18 days' voyage from San Francisco, found ourselves safely in Japan at last, and 11,964 miles away from England by the P. and 0. route. There were a dozen or more large merchant steamers and some Japanese men-of-war in the harbour; and the crowd of fishing-boats was quite a sight. Directly we stopped, a number of "sanpans" or boats crowded round our vessel, seeking engagements to convey passengers ashore. It was a very lively scene, and a curious one in a foreigner's eyes, for many of ~ Nwdwr º www . . ^m + A "JIN-RIKISHA." !6i tlie boatmen were almost nude, and the competition between them was fast and furious. Having passed the Custom-house I got into a "Jin-rikisha," to have my first experience of one of these conveyances. This is a carriage something like a. very comfortable but adapted Bath-chair, without the leg room, to carry one or sometimes two persons, and SL-t on high wheels, with a pair of shafts in front, between which a man places himself, and sets off with his load at a steady trot of from five to seven miles an hour. It was very odd to be taken along in this way, and reminded one rather of one's first impressions of carriole driving in Norway, only with a human being replacing the stout little Norwegian pony. Yokohama is delightfully situated; I was much struck with the whole of its surroundings, and every- thing showed activity and progress in the shipping department. The Grand Hotel is a good one, and stands well, overlooking the bay. The streets are broad, and in the European town many of the houses are detached villas surrounded by their own grounds. In the Japanese quarter the houses are but slenderly built. The population swarm; many were nearly naked. Blue was the prevailing colour in what costumes were w^orn. I went with a friend for an evening drive through the Japanese quarter—a sight well worth seeing. The 162 THE OLD FAR EAST. streets were crowded with people, and the shops kept open till eleven o'clock at night. The hand lanterns add very much to the picturesqueness of the scene, being always carried by pedestrians, by the jin-rikisha runners, and also by the police when visiting the theatres. We drove through the Yoshiwara—the quarter in which the ladies of the locality sit behind wooden grills, all dressed up in the most gorgeous costumes—the most extraordinary sight I have ever seen. In front of each lady is a little square box or table for tobacco and pipe. We visited a Japanese theatre during our drive. One of these is much the same as another; they open at eight or ten in the morning and the performance continues till eleven at night, the playgoers making a day of it, and taking their food with them. A line of boxes runs round the house, raised about twelve feet above the pit; each box is about five feet square with a board a few inches high all round on which you can sit—the natives all squat on the floor of the pit (for there are no benches), and hang up their clogs at the entrance. The music is perhaps rather better than in a Chinese theatre; one or two instruments are employed (but no tune is perceptible to European ears), and a lad sits in a corner of the stage with two wooden clappers, with which he keeps an accompaniment to the music, beating them by turns upon the floor. Women do not act in the theatres; in JAPANESE STREETS. 163 "the play I witnessed there were four men ballet-dancers about six feet high, who went through all a ballet-girl's movements in a very rough sort of way. We also saw a children's performance, and some very clever juggling. All these places were of the most fragile description, and the scenery corresponded. In front of a theatre and opening on to the street, a curtain is hung, which is drawn up or let down at the discretion of the rope- holder, so as to try and induce the lookers-on in the street to pay their cents and enter. Such attraction, however, is scarcely needed, for the theatres are always well filled. The streets in a Japanese town are very picturesque, both by day and night; but I noticed with regret the advance made by oil-lamps, which are rapidly superseding the old Japanese or Chinese lantern in the various shops; most of these having now a petroleum hanging lamp to show off their goods to the greatest advantage. But in the streets lanterns are still univer- sally used. On our way home we stopped at a restaurant and tasted some hot Sadie*—the national liqueur, made of rice ;—possibly one might appreciate it better if more used to it. Tea is the common drink in Japan; and this Sachd is their only liqueur. From Yokohama we made an expedition to Miyano- shita and the Hatone Pass; going 30 miles by rail to m 1 164 THE OLD FAR EAST. Hodzu and then 10 miles by road in jin-rikishas. As we passed along, the rice harvest was in full operation; and this was my first acquaintance with this form of farming. Seen from a distance, it rather resembles any other straw crop, though of a rush-like description, growing in clusters with the ears dropping over. The grain is of course enclosed in a husk as in our own ears of corn; the rice ears measure about seven inches in length. The plants were always profusely irrigated, therefore the fields of it that I saw were invariably on bottom land; but I am told there is another kind of rice which does not require such constant inundation. In some of the fields the crops were still growing, and in this stage looked very much like some kind of fine rush, natural to marshy land; where cut it was placed in stooks like oats. The cultivated land we passed was all bottom land, rather like an allotment ground; beautifully neat without a weed to be seen; all being done by spade labour. The wet land looked dark and loamy, probably saturated with manure, but the soil where higher and dry had a very sandy appearance. The low hills adjoining these bottom lands were mostly uncultivated, and covered with some kind of brushwood, or with pine. We passed several patches of cryptomerias, bamboo, &c, and one large orangery. Many of the people, both men and women, were out at work in the A LARGE AND POPULOUS VILLAGE. 165 fields; some of the men having no other clothing than a handkerchief. Babies were innumerable, carried about on the backs of children but little bigger than them- selves. Soil or manure was being conveyed in a netting slung on to a pole and carried by two men; vehicular transit seemed quite unthought of for the purpose, nor indeed would it be feasible where the holdings are so small and numerous, and so closely packed together as is the case here. On reaching Hodzu we procured three jin-rikishas for ourselves and our guide; and the road being hilly we had two men to each vehicle and started off at a merry trot. Our coolies were all powerful men, with splendid calves and loins, and ran famously; they were all more or less unclothed. For the first four miles our route lay through one continuous village, swarming with grown people and numberless children. The younger population were more warmly clad than their elders, so I expect fashions in dress will speedily change with the rising generation, and those who do not visit Japan soon will miss seeing it in its primitive state. Even already things are much altered, the better sort of peasantry are as a rule very respectably clothed; the rage for imitating all European manners and fashions and ideas is very great, and at the present rate the "Land of the Rising Sun " will shortly become quite 166 THE OLD FAR EAST. Europeanized. The houses we passed were all thatched with rice straw; the windows were of rice or pith paper, and the interiors showed the sleeping accommodation, viz. : a straw mat on the floor, upon which a mattress is laid. No Japanese ever enters a house with his shoes, i.e. clogs on, and any European omitting to conform to this universal custom is guilty of discourtesy and gives mortal offence. How all the people we saw could be accommodated at night must remain a mystery. The whole sight was novel and strange and most impressive; it made one almost fancy one had been transported back to the manners and customs of some nation living hundreds of years ago. Now and again a jin-rikisha would dash past us with a quarter-clad coolie (or runner) in the shafts, conveying a native lady lolling back with head erect and features set with an air of great importance, holding a large paper parasol. The people when together, appeared always happy, content, and friendly; and their civility to strangers is very marked. We halted at Odawara for our coolies to have some refreshment (which consisted of boiled rice), and we ourselves were put to sit on three mats outside a tea- house, when tea and some little cups and saucers and a charcoal-burner were immediately placed before us; this was called "complimentary tea," and no charge * Nºdwr 'vil H so Nvaw dwa N ſwºix THE KA TONE PASS. 167 was made. Shortly afterwards we began the ascent to Tamanau, and passed some hot springs, travelling by an excellent new road only lately completed. The valley was very pretty, a river running along the bottom, and the sides covered with trees. Arrived at Myanoshita, we dismissed our jin-rikisha men after their ten-mile run (which only cost us four shillings each for two men), and walked on up part of the Hatone Pass, through several villages. It resembled a finely formed shrubbery more than anything else; there were cryptomerias of all sizes in abundance, growing most luxuriantly; also bamboos, orange trees, &c., \d. to 4d. per lb., but mutton (being all imported, mostly from China) is very dear—about 1«. 6d. per lb.; chickens about 9c?. each. Fresh butter is either only made in very limited quantities or else imported in tins; salt butter costs about Is. 6d. per lb. Game is very plentiful, and pheasants are sold at about 8d. each, hares at about Is. id. each; the soil is too damp for rabbits to thrive. 224 THE OLD FAR EAST of being on friendly terms with their Japanese neigh- bours, and the latter fully reciprocate the friendly feeling. It behoves England to be careful, or the Americans will have the preference in Japan, and their customs and ideas will be adopted instead of ours.1 The present policy of the Government appears to be to Europeanize eA'erything; the members of the Court are in European dress; and the army, navy, police, and officials generally all wear European uniforms. These different branches of the State are all most efficiently managed; the police especially are a highly-intelligent, superior class of men, and wherever you travel you may be sure of receiving any needful assistance and constant courtesy from them. Japan is on the brink of a great change. At present the Mikado and his Cabinet have supreme and absolute power, with no appeal; but very soon there is to be a representative assembly for the first time, and the Houses of Parliament are now in course of erection. (Since this was written it is announced that on Monday, the 11th February, 1889, the Mikado pubUcly promulgated the new Constitution, in great state at Tokio.)2 The Mikado and his Govern- ment are the sole landowners in the country, and only grant leases so long as the ground-rent or land-tax is 1 See Appendix C. 2 See Appendix D. A CULTURED PEOPLE. 225 paid to them. Houses and buildings erected on the land belong to the occupier, but if the ground-rent is left unpaid they revert to the Mikado. Some little clemency may be shown as regards arrears in the case of valuable houses or premises, but if the lease is for land only the rent must be paid punctually to the day or the property is forfeited. One person is per- mitted to sell his holding to another, but it remains always subject to the Mikado's taxes, and the tenure would be forfeited in just the same way by any delay in the payment of the ground-rent, for his Imperial Majesty would at once step in, claim the property, and resell it in order to obtain his due. The Japanese appear a happy, contented, and amiable people; most friendly and courteous to strangers, and very simple in their ways. The great rage for all European ways and customs, which now pervades the upper classes, may possibly have the unfortunate effect of introducing European vices as well, and of spoiling the present simplicity of the people. When the country is thrown open (which it undoubtedly will be on the revision of the.present treaty), I question whether the Japanese nation will be much improved by the change, so far as content- ment and simplicity are concerned. Of course, more capital will then be introduced into the country, and HAIR-DRESSING. itj found them most comfortable, keeping the stones from hurting my feet, and a safeguard besides in slippery places ; the price was equivalent to three-halfpence a pair. With the exception of the smiling little maids at the inns, whose manners are most taking, the women are not, as a rule, so prepossessing as the men, especially among the poorer classes. It has been the invariable custom in Japan (though a custom happily now on the decline) for the women to blacken their teeth on marriage. This has a most unbecoming effect, and makes them look much older than they really are. While they keep their mouths shut they are often quite pretty and young-looking, but when laughing this dis- figurement makes them appear old and hideous. Their mode of hair-dressing is not a nice one to our notions— the hair is well larded with grease, and when once in position remains so for weeks; a roll of wood being used instead of a pillow to support the neck at night, in order to prevent the hair from being disarranged. The Japanese are very fond of bathing; both sexes often use the same bath, and at the same time. Until quite recently there was an open bath for the public in one of the thoroughfares of Yokohama, where ladies and gentlemen indulged in a public wash quite regard- less of the passers-by, some of whom would perhaps take their turn subsequently. Occasionally after bathing, Q 2 230 THE OLD FAR EAST. Japanese having a grudge of spite against another would purposely insult him, and the person so affronted had no other remedy than to perform " hara-kiri" on himself, instead of having recourse to legal proceedings (as might be done in England), or calling his adversary out in a duel (as in France). Eeligious festivals are very frequent and great features in Japan. They are held in honour of the different gods—e.g., of the gods of happiness, mercy, fire, sun, war, medicine, writing, &c., and of "the god who hears prayers." There are also popular festivals, partaking of a religious character, in honour of the dead, of the stars, of girls, of boys, of spring, of farmers, of wealth, of chrysanthemums, &c. Many missionaries have been sent to Japan of late years, both from Europe and America, and though probably the adults will keep to their old faith, it is very likely the rising generation will in time become Christians of some kind or another; because a new religion is beinsr sought for as well as a new Constitution. The dis- position to adopt all European habits will very possibly be a help in this respect. Since my return to England I have been told that, at the request of the Japanese authorities, several English high-school teachers have recently been sent out to undertake the education of the daughters of some of the nobility; and with full 232 THE OLD FAR EAST. CHAPTER XVII. japan {continued). Low "Wages—A Cheap "Working Suit—Courteous Officials—A Short- lived Class—Grain Crops—Primitive Implements—An Evil-smell- ing Delicacy—Wretched Horses—Haya and Hagi—Green Tea and Sache—A Possible Field for Settlers—The Five Treaty Ports —Passports—Farewell to Japan. For foreigners without means, such as artisans and labourers, Japan is simply a blank, owing to the very low scale of wages. The natives are extremely neat- handed, skilful and clever, and quite capable of perform- ing all sorts of artisan's work, as well as the ordinary field labour: but carpenters, masons, and blacksmiths, only make from 1». 8d. to 2s. per day; painters and coolies from 1*. to Is. 6d.; and ordinary workmen in the towns from lOd. to Is. 6d. In the country districts the pay is even less, field-labourers only receive from 5d. to 1*. a day (the latter is considered very good pay), and women in the fields earn from 2\d. to 4d. a day. Indeed, people often work simply for their food and A CHEAP WORKING SUIT. 233 clothing; but the former is very cheap, and they are very frugal livers; and as I saw a good many field- labourers with no clothes on at all, the latter item cannot cost much either—and a Sunday suit cannot be needed in a country where no Sunday is kept, so clothes can only be required for grand occasions and cold weather. Maid-servants in private establishments earn about Is. 8d. to 2s.; good men-servants about 6s. 8a. a month; and of course food is provided. To anyone accustomed to hear about American wages, these figures will seem surprising; and it must be under- stood that the service rendered is really excellent; indeed, I think the Japanese would make good European servants. On account, probably, of the low scale of wages, every establishment has an astonishing number of inmates. The lines of railway and the steamboat undertakings belong (as I have said before) almost exclusively to the Imperial Government, which is highly to be praised for the good management everywhere visible. Com- munication between the different ports on the Japanese (;oast is admirably maintained by a constant line of steam-packets; many of which are of English build. As regards the railways, the work has been solidly done, with due regard to permanence, and the best models have been selected for the rolling; stock. The 234 THE OLD FAR EAST. guards, porters, engine-drivers, &c., are all dressed in European fashion; many of them can talk a little English, and there is no difficulty in making oneself understood at the ticket-office; indeed all the station notices, such as "Ticket-office," ""Waiting-room," &c., are put up in English, with an occasional Japanese translation. The officials are all models of courtesy and efficiency, and both on the steamers and on the railways every attention is shown to all classes of travellers alike. The railway stations are of stone or brick; the carriages are of English make, and consist of first, second, and third class coaches, all communicating with each other. The first class are in three compartments, with sliding-doors, the red leather seats are fixed side- ways, like those of a waggonette; the second class are the same, except that the seats are of straw; the third class face the engine, and are uncovered. But these latter are filled to overflowing, whereas the others are comparatively empty. Each train is crowded, the passengers being almost all natives (for they have readily adopted railway-travelling), and the clatter of their wooden shoes or clogs at a station makes quite a din. Although there are hardly any horse-carriages in Tokio, and locomotion is carried on by means of jin- rikishas, yet there are some horse-tramcars which look A SHORTLIVED CLASS. 235 sadly out of place amid their picturesque surroundings. They seem, however, to pay well, for I noticed some in which even standing-room was not to he had. Jin- rikishas are almost equivalent to our hansom cabs in speed, and in the dexterity with which they make their way through a crowd. A good runner is a sight worth seeing, as he steps well out and throws his whole body into every movement, and one's attention is as speedily attracted to such a one as it would be in England to a good horse. The pace at which these men can run, their staying power, and the distances they can go, are all equally subjects of wonder to the foreigner; but it was painful to hear that they rarely live longer than two or three years after taking to this work, but fall a prey to consumption. Nevertheless, the higher pay obtainable attracts them to this vocation in great numbers. During my stay in Japan, I had an opportunity of gaining some information respecting the people and country from an Englishman residing there, con- nected with one of the railways, who was also doing a little farming. As to rice cultivation, he told me the seed was first sown in a patch, the small plants being afterwards drawn, tied in bundles, and deposited in a field—which field is divided among many owners, each possessing only a very small piece of ground indeed. 236 THE OLD FAR EAST. Each individual plant is then put in by hand, about eight inches apart, and throws up five or six stems, bearing an ear apiece. Wet land can only grow one crop, but on irrigated land, a previous crop of some other kind can be taken off before the rice is put in. In harvesting it is cut with a hook, and bound up in sheaves; sometimes being put in small stacks, or round a tree, &c., but often laid by the roadside on straw mats and threshed as soon as dry. The threshing is done by hand in a very primitive way. An upright piece of iron, with long iron teeth like an enlarged comb, is fixed into the ground; between these teeth the straw is pulled in handfuls, and each ear sheds its grain as it passes through. The operation is often performed by a woman, and the rice is afterwards placed to dry in the sun on straw mats. Everything in this country is done by manual labour, for the people have no idea of machinery, and labour is so cheap that the length of time required for such an operation as that described above, is a matter of no importance. My informant said that oats will not grow in Japan, except in the northern island; where sown it develops a thick stem, but scanty ears; if cut green, however, it makes good fodder for horses. Wheat and barley both grow well. What I saw was all hand- planted iu little bunches as neatly and tidily as any GRAIN CROPS. 237 garden work, and looked very thriving—as indeed it well might, for all the lands in Japan are heavily manured, every particle being collected for this purpose. Tea, cotton, Indian corn, rice, millet, buckwheat, mangolds, and a kind of plant resembling a radish, not unlike a long turnip—called "daikon" by the Japanese—grow well. I have never seen the latter plant in England, but it is a great favourite with the natives here, who pickle it in salt. When ready for food it has, to my mind, about the most offensive stench I have ever come across. Kice is the staple food of the country, occupying the same place with the Japanese as bread does with us. Oranges and grapes, and the national fruit persimmon do very well; the climate and soil vary very much in the different localities, and I do not know any country in the world where such a variety of fruits and vegetables can be grown to such perfection. Hay and grass are, however, very poor. The vege- tation on the hills is of no use for stock, for they and the mountains are mostly covered with a kind of reed called Haya; and with a low-growing shrub called Hagi, also a kind of bamboo grass like some of our pampas grass. The consequence is that hay is very dear, for what is wanted has to be imported from America, as 238 THE OLD FAR EAST. is also the case with oats—they are both sold at about Id. a lb.; the hay being pressed. Horse keep is there- fore very dear, and what horses there are are mostly wretched-looking animals (the country ones generally shod with straw), and worth only from £2 to £4 each, and no wonder, for when not wanted they are turned out loose on the mountains, and must have a bad time of it there. When well kept, horses are fed on boiled or crushed barley, bran, rice-straw, and carrots; oats and hay being a great delicacy. Sheep do not thrive well at all, and there are hardly any in Japan; most of the mutton is imported from China, and is very dear. Pigs do well, and it is said when they were first imported about fifteen years ago, there was such a rush for them that they commanded high prices. Oxen also do well, especially about Kobe, and Japanese beef is very cheap, and of first-rate quality; but the cows give very little milk, hardly enough to rear their calves. However, the short supply does not so much signify to the natives as they never themselves use milk. The national drink is green tea and sache; the latter is a spirit distilled from rice or Indian corn, and is very strong. The following places are especially noticeable :— Kobe, for its beef; Kishu, for its oranges; Kooshu, for its grapes; Ogi, for tea; Kioto, for silks and china. A POSSIBLE FIELD FOR SETTLERS. 239 It is a pity that the long ranges of mountains (covered as they are with a sort of vegetation) should be so worthless for stock; but I cannot help thinking that in course of time they will be brought into use, and where suitable, very possibly cultivated as vine- yards. At present they form a striking contrast to the garden-like agriculture of the valleys. The Northern island of Yezo is not nearly so highly cultivated as the Middle and Southern islands of Japan; indeed, I believe it contains large tracts of land as yet only partially developed. The climate there is colder, but very suitable for Europeans; it is said to produce very good crops, and I am told that English pasture grasses will grow there, after the existing bamboo grass, &c, has been ploughed up and destroyed. The central island owes its luxuriant crops in a great measure to the very high state of excellence to which the soil is brought by the constant application of human manure; but Yezo (so I am told) possesses naturally a fine virgin soil, and that in larger patches than on the Middle Island. As yet, with the exception of a radius of 25 miles round the treaty port of Hakodate, foreigners are altogether excluded from the island; but if on the revision of the treaty it should be thrown open for settle- ment, I am not sure but that it might be worth pros- pecting by a man possessed of a little capital and with 240 THE OLD FAR EAST. a knowledge of farming. From what I have said before, it will, however, easily be seen that Japan offers no inducement to any of the labouring classes in search of employment: wages are far too low, and the population is already too great to admit of any such influx. October is considered the best month for travelling in Japan; November and December are always bright and fine, but the days are short and sometimes rather cold. April and May are rainy, but they are the best months for seeing the cherry blossoms in their full beauty (and these and the azaleas and other flowers of Japan are well worth seeing); June, July, and August are all hot, with more or less rain; January is cold and windy, with a little snow. Of course the climate varies considerably in the different parts of Japan, the northern part being colder. As I have previously stated, there are only five treaty ports open to foreigners for trading purposes. A radius of 25 miles round each of these ports is called the "treaty limits," and is open for travelling or trading, but not for residence. Outside these treaty limits every traveller must be provided with a passport, which he can easily procure through his Consul; but until this passport is returned no second one will be issued by the Japanese Government under any circum- stances whatever. The following are the names of the TREATY PORTS. 241 treaty ports, within a limit of 25 miles, round which no passport is required— Yokohama, Niigata, Kobe, Nagasaki, Hakodate (in the Northern island of Yezo), Tokio, Osaka. The two latter are called supplementary treaty ports, and have been opened since the original treaty was made. As I have said, anywhere beyond these limits a passport is a necessity; but for ordinary travellers one for the thirteen provinces round Fujisan will be found sufficient. The following directions are copied from my pass- port. I insert them, thinking they may perhaps prove of interest— DIRECTIONS TO BEARER. The bearer of this passport is expressly warned that he is to conduct himself in an orderly and conciliatory manner towards the Japanese authorities and people. He is to produce this passport to any Japanese officer who may demand it, and he is to be careful to give it up to Her Majesty's Consul at the port at which 242 THE OLD FAR EAST. his journey terminates immediately upon his arrival there. This passport conveys no right to shoot, and the bearer is therefore warned that he should carefully conform to any directions that may be given to him on this subject by the local Japanese authorities. ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS ISSUED BY REQUEST OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT. I.—The local regulations noted at foot must be observed by the bearer of this passport, while in the interior. II.-If bearer does not commence his journey within thirty days from the date of this passport, he must return it. III.-If the bearer, while in the interior, finds that he cannot complete his journey within the time named in the passport, he must inform Her Majesty's Minister by post of the reasons which prevent his doing so. IV.-Refusal to produce this passport to any local officials, such as “Kuchö” or “Kochö,” or to any police- man demanding it, renders the bearer liable to arrest. He should also show his passport to the landlord of any Inn at which he may lodge. W.—The bearer must surrender this passport on returning to the port or place from which he set CHINESE JUNKS. 245 CHAPTER XVIII. HONG KONG. CANTON. A Land-locked Harbour—Effect of Trees on Climate—Dangerous Fellow-passengers—A Eisky Visit—Narrow streets—A Cat and Dog Eestaurant—A Chinese Temple—Watchers on the House-tops —Place of Execution—A Chamber of Horrors—Fortune-tellers— A Clock that has gone for 500 years—Graves with a Prospect— Law Courts—The Rang—Shopping—Jade. My passage from Japan to Hong Kong was an unevent- ful one—very calm the whole way, with beautiful warm weather. There were not many passengers on board our steamer (the Teheran), only two Englishmen besides myself; but the officers were all English. The crew was principally composed of Malays. On nearing Hong Kong the weather was very hazy, and we could not at first see the Chinese coast. We passed several junks, which differ very much in shape from the Japanese ones, and I should think are probably better sea-boats. The rig of a Chinese junk is a main-sail and a jib well forward; the Japanese, as a rule, has only a square sail, which is sometimes divided into three strips. The 246 THE OLD FAR EAST. approach to Hong Kong was very pretty; the trees planted thickly on the island by the British Government were a most refreshing sight to the eye after the long ridges of barren mountains which here form the Chinese coast. I am told that these trees have a very beneficial effect on the Hong Kong climate; they consist mostly of China pines. The harbour is completely land-locked. A great many ships were lying at anchor there, and among them about forty or fifty large merchant steamers. The town rises steeply tier upon tier above the harbour, Victoria Peak forming the summit, at the foot of which are the better class of houses, among which Government House stands out as a conspicuous object. The commercial and Chinese part of the town lies on the flat below, and must be very hot in summer, entirely shut in as it is by hills. I did not make any stay at Hong Kong on this occasion, but went on at once with an English friend on an expedition up the Pearl River to Canton; a distance of about 100 miles. We set off in the evening on board a Chinese steamer, and caught a glimpse of the surrounding scenery before dark. Later on there was a bright moon, and we continued on deck. At first the country was very mountainous, but higher up the river it became more level. Our vessel was armed— e., guns and revolvers were kept ready loaded in the A RISKY VISIT. 247 saloon in case of any emergency or riot with the Chinese on board, who occupied the lower deck. On a former occasion the Chinese had attacked the saloon passengers, hence this precaution had become necessary. The gun- rack is kept open, and a large notice, "Loaded," is placed in front. We reached Canton early in the morning. About four miles below the town an impediment is placed across the river in the shape of sunken junks and piles driven in; only quite a narrow passage is left, just sufficient to allow of one vessel passing through at a time. This obstruction was placed here as a protection some years ago, when we were at war with China. Canton is situated on a plain, and contains about 2,000,000 inhabitants. A given number of Chinese appear to have the faculty of making more noise than the same number of people of any other nation; and as we approached we heard a clacking of tongues and no end of com- motion. On nearing the landing stage we noticed the hosts of house-boats for which Canton is so famous; they were in rows of several boats deep, on the side of the river adjoining the town, and the various little creeks were full of them. Directly our vessel stopped, a multitude of junks and sanpans came up to the side of the ship; for we had about 600 Chinamen on board, 248 THE OLD FAR EAST. and many of them wanted to go on further up the river. The scene was an amusing and a very lively owe, accompanied as it was the whole time by a tremendous jabbering and clattering of tongues. We decided on taking a couple of guides to show us the town, and having engaged an old man, by name "Ah Cum," and his son, we sallied forth, each in a palanquin (a kind of sedan chair), carried by three or four bearers, our guides being accommodated in the same manner. We were soon in the city; such curious narrow streets, only six to eight feet wide, where the passers-by often had to stand on one side to let our chairs through. They were everywhere crowded with people, but we went on at a quick trot, our bearers hallooing and shouting the whole time so as to warn people to clear a way. The Chinese are said not to be very amiably disposed to the Britisher, nor indeed to any other foreigner; so we were rather uncertain as to their reception of us—we found, however, that our chairs were carried along so fast that they had not time to notice the inmates until we each individually came up alongside them. They then evidently often made remarks, and some of them gesticulated and did not look at us in an over-friendly manner; but there was no attempt at following us. A large crowd gathered round directly we stopped anywhere; but they dispersed 250 THE OLD FAR EAST. and it may also be taken as a fair sample of all those in that part of China. The bustle and activity everywhere displayed were very striking, and the offensive smells were less than I had anticipated; indeed I must own that I think in this respect a Japanese town has the advantage (?). Our guides took us first to see a kind of a corn mill, where a number of oxen were at work grinding; then past a cat and dog restaurant (delicacies much appreciated by the Chinese coolie) to the temple of the "Five hundred genii." Here what constituted their morning service was going on, and seven or eight Buddhist priests were chanting four or five words over and over again, which seemed to be the whole ceremony. One of the priests, however, was not above leaving his place and his part in the service, to receive the custom- ary fee of ten sens from us. We had seen so many Buddhist temples in Japan that this one Chinese one was quite sufficient to satisfy us. It is protected by a guard of soldiers, and contains about 500 statues. The most prominent building in Canton is a Roman Catholic cathedral, which at the time of our visit was in course of construction. The houses are all merely wooden shanties, and if a fire occurred there must infallibly be immense destruction. Large vessels of water are placed on most of the roofs, and a sort of 252 THE OLD FAR EAST. fortune told as we passed by, and so serious was his face, and so earnest and absorbed his gaze, that I imagine he fully believed everything he was being told. At this place the crowd was greater than ever, and we had some difficulty in making our way. We of course saw the celebrated water-clock, which is placed in a tower over a gateway, and consists of three large tanks, very ancient and made of bronze, and rather like reversed bells placed obliquely one above the other. The time is calculated by the water, which drops from the topmost tank into the second, and then through the third into a fourth placed lower down, and of rather a different shape. In this latter is an upright piece of flat iron, marked with the hours, which is fastened into a floating board. This board works gradually up as the lowest tank fills, and in this way the time is told. At certain intervals the person in charge writes down the hour on a piece of board, and exhibits it in a conspicuous place outside the tower; the water is taken out of the fourth tank when full and put back into the uppermost one. Thus the operation continues from day to day, and this has been going on for 500 or 600 years. The city wall also was worthy of notice; doubtless it was very strong in former days, but it would not be of much use now against modern artillery. The view 254 THE OLD FAR EAST. form a striking contrast to the Japanese. This dislike to anything fresh may very possibly have had some- thing to do with their anxiety for the comfort of their deceased relatives. We ascended the five-story Pagoda in order to see the view, and noticed another Pagoda in the distance, but had not time to visit it. We returned through the Tartar quarter, and went into the law courts, where some prisoners were being tried. The trial was quite worth seeing; the court was an open space only partially roofed over, the judge sat by a table at which was an official taking notes; before him were the prisoners, five in number. They remained on their knees the whole time, with their heads bowed almost to the ground; and everything the judge said had to be repeated to them through an interpreter, for although all were Chinese, they spoke a different dialect from the judge. Both they and the other prisoners awaiting their turn for trial had chains on their arms and legs. Next we visited a prison, in which the poor men were undergoing a punishment called "Kangs," or "canques," which consisted of a large board, about three feet square, with a hole in the centre just large enough for a man's neck. Through this the head was placed. They stretched out their hands to us, hoping for presents: to one I gave a cigar, to another a few sens, and finally shook hands CLIMATE OF HONG KONG. 257 CHAPTER XIX. HONG KONG—CEYLON. A Pleasant December—An Unhealthy Settlement—A Generous Reason for a Concession—A Lofty Peak and a Happy Valley—A Tasteful Cemetery—An Ineffective Squadron—Chinese Manners and Cus- toms—Curious Contrasts—Why the Fish at Hong Kong are un- wholesome—A Serious Illness—Great Need of Trained Xurses —A Champagne Consuming Settlement—A Compulsory Turkish Bath—Increasing Illness—Ceylon—Tea and Cinchona—Coro- mandels—Cinghalese, Coromandels, and Veddahs—Remains cf Ancient Race—A Hospitable Bungalow. The climate of Hong Kong is warm and enervating; at the time of my visit (December, which is considered to be the pleasantest mouth of the year there,) the weather was beautiful, quite cloudless, with a hot sun, and always a gentle monsoon blowing. It must be terribly hot and close in the summer, and I was told that a kind of haze then hangs over the town for weeks together, for there is no wind to blow it away. The place is, however, sometimes visited by typhoons, which do immense damage to the shipping, and often unroof many of the houses on the Peak. A typhoon in Japan 258 THE OLD FAR EAST. and China is equivalent to a cyclone in India, and is equally to be dreaded. Although much improved from a sanitary point of view by judicious tree planting, Hong Kong is still an unhealthy place; this is attributed in a great measure to the existence of a substratum of decomposed granite, which becomes exposed whenever works are commenced and soil and stones removed. This infects the atmosphere and is almost sure to produce fever. All the mountains of Hong Kong island are covered with plantations, and shade trees grow luxuriantly along the streets. The roads and paths are kept up by the Government, and are patterns of neatness, being swept by coolies every morning. They are mostly made of some sort of hard composition, and are apt to become very slippery; but the downpour of rain is so severe here at certain times of the year that unless made in this manner they are liable to be washed away The harbour is a magnificent. one, and often as many as 40 or 45 large steamers are to be seen lying at anchor. As I have said before, the town is situated on the side of a hill, and the shade trees planted along its admirably- kept roads afford a charming shelter from the burning rays of the sun, but somehow, beautiful as it is, the whole place has au artificial appearance. It has been called the Englishman's grave, and I fear still deserves VICTORIA PEAK. 259 the name in some measure, though now more healthy than formerly. The Chinese Government handed it over to the English in 1843, having then to make some concession or other, and deciding on this place (so it is said) because of its unhealthiness, and thinking the Britisher would be sure to die. I went one day with a friend to the top of Victoria Peak (1600 feet high). We had four coolies each to carry us up in palanquins, but after all we preferred walking the greater part of the distance; a pretty stiff climb, though the road was in beautiful order. From the summit a very fine view is obtainable of Hong Kong harbour and of the surrounding country; the Governor's summer-residence is situated near the highest peak. A tramway was in course of construction a part of the way up the peak, but at the time of my visit it was not in working order. Another day a friend drove me out to see the "Happy Valley" race-course, which is well situated, quite flat, and surrounded by low mountains thickly covered with young plantations. I am told that the races held here are very good ones. On our way home we went to look at the cemetery, which is tastefully laid out, and planted with a profusion of trees, shrubs, and flowers; altogether one of the prettiest I have ever seen. Numbers of British soldiers, and also a good many sailors, have 8 2 362 THE OLD FAR EAST. hospitality shown me there. For some days I did not feel at all well, and in the end I had to give in, and was a prisoner to my room and bed for more than a fortnight, suffering from what the doctor at first feared might be typhoid fever, but which proved to be Chinese malarial fever, probably caught going up the Pearl River at night, or perhaps through this unhealthy climate. No nurse was procurable; the Governor and his secretaries and aide-de-camp were most kind, but of course they had their own duties to attend to. I was waited on by Chinese coolies, who were certainly attentive, and did all in their power for me; but they could not in any way take the place of a nurse, and had my illness taken a more serious turn, I do not know what would have been done. In fact, some kind of a nursing establishment is a serious need iu Hong Kong. In this large city of some 200,000 inhabitants, not a single trained nurse to go out to private families is to be had for love or money. Let those philan- thropical ladies and other persons who devote their lives to rendering valuable help in ameliorating the condition of people in so many parts of the world, give a passing thought to Hong Kong, and start an institution for trained nurses there. It contains a large mixed population, partly European and partly Chinese; but so far as the European portion is con- 266 THE OLD FAR EAST. is; and inland the country is very mountainous, and of so irregular and rugged a character that no one who has not been there can quite picture it from description. I proceeded by train up the valley to Talawakells, my cousin's station, about 80 miles inland from Colombo. For the whole distance the scenery was all much alike, consisting of a succession of valleys, where almost unclothed natives were working their fields of paddy (t. e. rice) under a broiling sun in January; while every bank and hill-top was cultivated by planters (mostly English) who had demolished the ancient bush and planted coffee instead, till that industry failed a few years ago, on account of the shrub being attacked by some disease. Tea and cin- chona (quinine) are now being substituted for coffee, and both are doing well, and proving a great success. Tea seems to be an ever-growing crop, for the pickers go over the same ground every ten days during the season. Those employed for this purpose are mostly natives of the Coromandel coast, and their almost total nudity is striking to a stranger; yet they carry it off with such perfect innocence as they stand with arms akimbo, watching you with their bright eyes. They are lithe and straight-limbed, well-made people; but somehow you feel you are amongst a race who live, as it were, like butterflies; nothing to be afraid of, NATIVES OF CEYLON. 267 nothing to hope for; with no anxiety for the morrow, and requiring neither fuel nor clothes—nor (1 had almost added) food, a little rice being all they care for. Yet such a life is not to be envied, and one cannot but feel a kind of pity for a people who appear neither to think nor care for anything beyond the passing moment, and to be perfectly contented with such an existence. These Coromandel people are fast supplant- ing the Cinghalese, who are the older race in Ceylon. The pay they earn is about 9d. a day, but they are more industrious and energetic than the Cinghalese, who belong to an ancient race now very much degenerated, and are extremely indolent; and this failing is encouraged by the fertility of the country, which, in the lowlands, much resembles that of Japan. Each native family has its own plot of ground, and (what is most curious) often only one wife amongst all the brothers, in order to keep the property from being divided. The Cinghalese are usually looked upon as the native race of Ceylon; but they, like the Tamil coolies, originally came from the mainland. In the low country of Ceylon are the remains of vast cities, which must have been built many years before Christ by a people who have now entirely disappeared, leaving no other trace of their existence than these ruins of almost 272 THE OLD FAR EAST. ago the value of the land was much greater than it is at present. When first English planters settled here, nothing but coffee was attempted; and until the appearance of leaf-disease in this plant the colony was very flourishing, and a good deal of money was made. The disease is easily distinguishable, for if on turning up a coffee leaf a yellow spot is visible underneath, it is a sure sign that the plant is attacked. Since it became so prevalent estates have gone down rapidly in value, and many of the settlers have been ruined. Those, however, who have had the pluck, energy, and above all the means, to stick to their work and adapt themselves to the altered circumstances, are now meeting with their reward. They substituted tea- plants for the infected coffee-plants, and between these shrubs put in cinchona (quinine); the tall, upright stems of which are allowed to grow to about 15 feet high before being cut down. This is done every seven years —much as we might cut down ash-poles; during the seven years' growth the bark (which constitutes the value of the plant) is stripped off yearly, and then the cutting-down process is repeated. There is another method of growing cinchona, by which they do not cut the tree down at all, but merely shave off the outside bark which contains all the sulphates, &c., and then cover it up with moss. The bark then renews, GENTLEMEN SETTLERS. '273 and is ready to be scraped again in two or three years; but it will easily be understood that this continual scraping gradually weakens the tree so much that in the end it kills it altogether. As I have said, the centre of Ceylon is all moun- tainous, converging as it were to a single high summit (Adam's Peak) ; and over all this high ground tea and cinchona planting is becoming universal. The ancient jungle still remains, however, on some of the plains, and I saw a considerable number of tree trunks (mostly felled) still left in some of the plantations; but these are quickly disappearing, for although firing is little needed in this warm climate, the factory furnaces for drying the tea-leaves have, of course, to be kept going. I was much struck by the number of gentlemen settled in Ceylon; and, besides this, an estate owner often, if not always, employs an assistant; partly because he really requires help with so many hands to manage—say, perhaps, 150 men, women, and children on a single estate of 300 acres (for wages are low and the people not great workers); partly also for the sake of the companionship in his bungalow, for the spending so much time in the house as is necessitated by the climate must be dull work for a man alone, and young planters cannot afford to keep a wife. These assistants often pay a premium, so as to get this training to the T r-6 THZ ZLO FAR EAST. only in the ag