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The Fraser is very shallow, and the navigation is so much obstructed by shifting shoals and snags that the chanuel has to be rebuoyed every spring. Its defence against an attack by gun-boats could be provided for by a few guns of position and passive obstructions for which there are great facilities in the snags that are found at all parts of the stream.

Burrard Inlet, about 7 miles to the north of New Westminster, seems now to have been selected as the future terminus of the Canada Pacific Railway.

It is a very safe harbour, with good anchorage, but on account of the exceed- ingly strong current that passes through, the entrance can only be entered at the top of the tide, and consequently vessels are frequently obliged to remain in English Bay, where there is good anchorage just outside the mouth of the harbour

to the south.

The entrance of the harbour can be well protected by a battery on the high ground on each side of the first narrows. If the trade of the place should increase very much, English Bay may require protection, and very commanding sites for batteries of heavy ordnance exist on Points Grey and Atkinson on the opposite sides of the bay.

Between Burrard Inlet and Yale, the proposed railway runs close to the Fraser River, which in many places lies within 10 miles of the United States' terri- tory. Above Fort Hope, which is only a small village, the approach to the river from the south and east is through difficult country, and might be opposed by a small body of men; below that point the country as far as the Sumass Hills is less difficult, and from thence to the Straits of Georgia the country is quite open. It was originally intended that the railway for the entire distance should be carried on the north side of the river, which in that case would have given some protection, but I am informed that it is now proposed that for several miles it should pass along the south side of the river, where it will be completely exposed.

With the small force available, the protection of this part of the line will be impracticable against an attack of even a small body of men.

Opposite to New Westminster, on the south side of the Fraser, is a range of hills which, with the flanks resting on the bank of the river, and supported at the eastern end by a hill on the north bank, and on the western end by one of the large islands in the Fraser River, would form a good position to protect New West- minster, but it is too extensive to be held except by a large force.

New Westminster, the railway, and Fraser River being untenable by the force likely to be available for their defence for many years, and the inhabitants of British Columbia being entirely dependent on the Fraser River for their supplies, the whole province must fall in the event of an organized attack in this direction being made from the Washington Territory.

The first step towards defence must be a large increase of population; without this nothing can be done.

The three localities-Esquimalt and Victoria, Nanaimo, New Westminster, and Burrard Inlet are all that at present it seems necessary to consider with regard to land defences, as through them passes the greater part of the trade of the province.

As regards the measures that should be taken for the defence of the Pacific coast of Her Majesty's dominions in the event of war, there are at present only two Powers who would be interested in, and are in a position to threaten, an attack upon this coast, either singly or conjointly, viz., the United States and Russia,

The facilities possessed by the former Power for an enterprise of this character have already been adverted to in a former part of this Report, as well as those of the latter, with the exception of alluding to the fact that Petropaulovski Harbour in Kamtschatka is not more than 3,200 miles from Victoria; and that at Sitka, Wrangel, and other points in Alaska, there are still many Russians that are acquainted with the features of the coast.

With the enormous odds that might be against her in this part of the world, it is of vital importance that England should be able to strike or ward off successfully the first blow, and therefore not only should all requisites for aggressive as well as passive defence be maintained in as fully efficient and prepared state as possible, but also provision should be made to insure the receipt at the station of the earliest intelligence of the breaking out of hostilities. For this reason the formation of a line of telegraph across the Rocky Mountains in British territory is of the greatest importance.

The scantiness of population and the difficulty of reinforcing the station are

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two great sources of weakness; both of these might be greatly reduced by the formation of the Canada Pacific Railway, which will not only give facilities for bringing in troops from Canada, a very great advantage in a war with Russia, but would most probably cause a larger influx of population to Vancouver Island, where the climate, soil, minerals, fish, and other natural productions, hold out great inducements to settlers of all classes. For military reasons, therefore, all pressure that is possible should be made use of to expedite the completion of this railway.

The British-interests that require protection in the North Pacific are at the present time not of very great monetary value; but they are increasing, and with closer connection with the eastern provinces of the Dominion, and through them with Europe, promise a great development. They comprise the settlements on the Plate I. goast, and the ocean trade to and from the Straits of Fuca, the Nasse, Skeena, and Stakine Rivers in the north, and the inland trade of the Straits of Georgia and Fuca.

'The value of the annual exports is 565,000, and the imports 615,000/

From Burrard Inlet to the extreme north of the province the shore of the main- Plate L land is pierced with numerous inlets; these are not adapted to the purposes of trade, the water being generally over 100 fathoms in depth, and offering no anchorage except at the head and some few small places where the streams from the mountains have deposited débris.

The banks are lofty mountains, rising almost perpendicularly from the water, and affording no space for building except at the head of the inlet, where there is usually a valley.

The only industries likely to arise in these inlets are those connected with fur, now becoming scarce; timber, which is plentiful and of superior quality; salmon and other fish, which are very abundant; and minerals, which are found wherever the country is explored. At present the only trade from these inlets is in furs, except from Matlah, Catlah, and Port Simpson, where the anchorage is better: from the Nasse and Skeena Rivers, which are the routes to the Omenica mines, and in which salmon-canning factories have been established; and from the Stakine River, which, although its lower part passes through the United States' territory, is the chief road to the Cassiar mines, and, as the country to the northward is opened up, will be the chief outlet for the mineral and other produce.

The inlets on the western shore of Vancouver Island are of somewhat similar character to those on the mainland, but on a smaller scale, the depth of water being not so great, the anchorages more plentiful, and the mountains not so high or so abrupt; but in none of them is there any settlement of importance, that at the head of Alberni Inlet having been abandoned, and since burnt.

The vessels engaged in trade to the north of the Straits of Fuca are in general small and few in number; the greater number, and the larger vessels, sail to the southward; very few now go directly across the Pacific, but a great increase to this part of the trade is expected to follow the opening of the Canada Pacific Railway, which will be the shortest route from Europe to the western shores of the Pacific.

The defence of the external coast and the shipping must devolve upon the navy, and this defence, under existing circumstances, could not be efficient, for the want of stations south of the Straits of Fuca and in mid-ocean, to which the ships engaged in watching the southern and trans-Pacific trade could resort to refit, &c.

For these defects I feel I am not qualified to propose a definite remedy, and can only repeat the remarks of naval officers, who, so far as I can judge, seem inclined to the opinion that stations are required at Perlas Island, in the Bay of Panama, and near the Alifos Islands, or near Guadaloupe, off the coast of Mexico. It is probable that islands for this purpose might be obtained at the present time more easily than hereafter, when the trade of the Pacific shall be further developed.

No better position for defending the trans-Pacific trade could be obtained than the Sandwich Islands, but over these I understand the United States are endea- vouring to establish a protectorate, and should they succeed in so doing, the command of the trade across the Pacific must fall into their hands.

The second want of the navy would be a station near the mouth of the Straits Plates 1 and II. of Fuca, where a man-of-war could lie to protect friendly vessels coming into the straits, and attack hostile vessels before they could run into neutral water. Esquimalt Harbour is too far from the mouth of the straits for this purpose.

• Not printed.

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

LIITIT CO. 885

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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