Islands.—Attached to the territory are groups of islands, bordering its northern coast. Among these are the large islands of Vancouver and Washington or Queen Charlotte; the former being two hundred and sixty miles in length, and fifty in width, containing about fifteen thousand square miles, and the latter a hundred and fifty miles in length and thirty in breadth, containing four thousand square miles.[91]
Though somewhat broken in surface, their soil is said to be well adapted to agriculture.
They have many good harbours, and have long been the resort of those engaged in the fur trade; they enjoy a mild and salubrious climate, and have an abundance of fine fish frequenting their waters, which are taken in large quantities by the natives. Coal of good quality is found, specimens of which I obtained. The Hudson’s Bay Company have made a trial of it, but, owing to its having been taken from near the surface, it {280} was not very highly spoken of. Veins of minerals are also said to exist by those acquainted with these islands.
They both appear to be more densely inhabited than other portions of the territory. The natives are considered a treacherous race, particularly those in the vicinity of Johnson’s Straits,[92] and are to be closely watched when dealing with them.
At the south-east end of Vancouver’s, there is a small archipelago of islands, through which the canal de Arro runs.[93] They are for the most part uninhabited, well wooded, and composed of granite and pudding stone, which appear to be the prevailing rock to the northward of a line east from the strait of Juan de Fuca. They are generally destitute of fresh water, have but few anchorages, and strong currents render navigation among them difficult.
The islands nearer the main land, called on the maps Pitt’s Banks, or the Prince Royal islands, are of the same character, and are only occasionally resorted to by the Indians, for the purpose of fishing.[94]
The coast of the mainland, north of the parallel of 49°, is broken up by numerous inlets called canals, having perpendicular sides, and very deep water in them, affording {281} no harbours, and but few commercial inducements to frequent them.
The land is equally cut up by spurs from the Cascade range, which here intersects the country in all directions, and prevents its adaptation for agriculture.
Its value is principally in its timber, and it is believed that few if any countries can compare with it in this respect.
There is no part on this coast where a settlement could be formed between Frazer’s river, or 49° north, and the northern boundary of 54° 40′ north, that would be able to supply its own wants.