Farther up the coast Exquimalt, the most formidable fortress on the American Continent, occupies a commanding site.
We were glad to retrace our steps to the steamer and shake from off our feet the dust of that sleepy old town, which never felt a quiver when “Freedom from her mountain height unfurled her standard to the air,” and shake off too that strange feeling which possesses one when treading a foreign shore.
All day long Mount Baker of the Cascade range has stood like an old sentinel, white and hoary, to point us on our way.
Fair Haven and New Whatcomb, the terminus of the Great Northern railway for passenger traffic, are delightfully located on the coast. These towns are growing rapidly. The population is now twelve hundred. The largest shingle mill in the world is located here. It turns out half a million shingles every ten hours. The saw-mill turns out lumber enough every day to build five ten-room houses, while a tin can factory turns out a half million cans a day.
In time Fair Haven and New Whatcomb will be two of the most beautiful towns in Washington. The streets are broad. Green lawns surround handsome homes and pretty cottages.
At noon we passed the forty-ninth parallel, the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions. What a vast expanse of territory had been ours had we adhered to our determination to maintain the fifty-fourth parallel. “Fifty-four, forty or fight,” we said, but gave it up without a blow.
Forty miles across from Vancouver lies the busy collier town of Nanaimo. The Indians discovered the coal fifty years ago. On the knoll near the coal wharves, there is a beautiful grove of madronas. In the surrounding forest gigantic ferns and strange wild flowers grow in great profusion. Berries are plentiful and game abundant.
At Cape Mudge we bid farewell to the Silash tribes. Cape Mudge potlatches are famous for their extravagance. In 1888 a neighboring tribe was worth nearly five hundred thousand dollars. The British Columbia legislature prohibited potlatches and in one year their wealth decreased four-fifths. The prohibition of potlatches quenched their desire to accumulate property.
GORGE OF HOMATHCO.