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Appendix No. 4. forced within the short period that might be expected to elapse between a declaration of war and a

hostile attack on the station. VANCOUVER ISLAND.

Plate IV.*

In the first place, the only telegraph to British Columbia passes through the United States, and at the time that hostilities were most imminent between England and Russia (in 1876-77), not only were the wires frequently broken, but the messages to the merchants, &c., were often so much tampered with as to be useless. The same inconvenience might be expected to occur again in the event of future trouble with Russia, towards whom there is a much kindlier feeling than there is to England, if not on the part of the United States' Government, at least on that of many of the lower and roving part of the population, of whom there are a considerable number in British Columbia. Secondly, the only routes by which troops and supplies could be sent to British Columbia would be round Cape Horn or from the East Indies. The railway across the United States and that at Panamá would, of course, be closed against the passage of troops and munitions of war. The ships of the British China and Pacific fleets would find full employment at sea, and the garrison at Victoria or Esquimalt would be left to the reinforcements that might be obtained from the local population, which is estimated at about 5,300, exclusive of Indians and Chinese.

The population of the province is estimated at 60,000, including about 40,000 Indians and from 2,000 to 3,000 Chinese.

There is said to be a strong feeling in British Columbia in favour of annexation with the United States, partly due to the Dominion Government having failed to break ground for the railway which, by the terms of the Union, should have been commenced on the 20th July, 1873, and partly because of a feeling that the prosperity of the province would be advanced by a closer connection with the States.

This feeling has been very much strengthened by the protective policy of the Dominion, the chief effect of which, in British Columbia, has been, without any corresponding advantage, to enhance the cost of the necessaries of life, which, from being cut off from the rest of the Dominion, the inhabitants are obliged to obtain from the States, subject to very heavy protective duties.

This feeling would operate adversely to a warm support of an English garrison against an attack, if made by the United States, but not probably if made by any other Power.

On the other hand, in the consideration of the facilities for attack: in the United States there is perfect telegraphic communication from Puget Sound to all parts of the territory, which could be quickly continued to Port Angelos. From Port Angelos, which, as before remarked, has been selected as the United States' naval station in the Straits of Fuca, a railway is projected over favourable ground to Tacoma or Olympia, at the head of Puget Sound, where it will connect with a line already made for 200 miles south of Portland, and soon to be pushed on to meet the head of another line, now in working order, up the Sacramento Valley for 320 miles from San Francisco.

From San Francisco there is direct railway communication, viâ Ogden, Cheyenne, Omaha, &c., with all parts of the States, the journey to New York occupying only six days; a second line, the North Pacific, is now in working order from the Eastern States, via Chicago, as far as Bismarck, in longitude 101° west, in Dakota Territory, and is being rapidly continued to the Pacific shore, either to Portland or to some port on Puget Sound. Other lines are also being continued across the Continent to San Francisco, from St. Louis, &c. The completion of these lines will admit of the United States assem- bling a large force on the shores of the Straits of Fuca in a very short time, and from there, with the steamers and vessels that are to be obtained in Puget Sound, they could be conveyed in a few hours to the shores of Vancouver Islaud or to the Island of San Juan, which, with its secure harbours, lies within 8 miles of Vancouver Island.

The population of the States west of the Rocky Mountains is estimated at nearly 2,000,000. The United States' fleet in the Pacific consists of 5 wooden steamers, carrying 56 guns, in commission; 6 wooden steamers, carrying 37 guns; and 2 iron-clads, carrying 4 guns, under repair.

These are not very formidable, but at Mares Island, at the mouth of the Sacramento River, is a dockyard, in which, with the aid of the rolling-mills in San Francisco, iron-clads have been made, and, There are also in with all the advantages of a railway to the Eastern States, could be made again.

San Francisco Harbour (750 miles from Vancouver Island) several large iron steamers, capable of carrying great numbers of passengers or troops.

The entrance to San Francisco Harbour is protected by very extensive fortifications, which, with their armament of 15-inch Rodman guns, must, although of obsolete character, have been formidable in the days of smooth-bores. Projects have been prepared for their reorganization and rearmament, but on the plea of waiting until European experience shall have shown what is the best kind of battery and gun, nothing is being done to carry the projects into effect. The place has capabilities of being made exceedingly strong.

Russia has at Vladivostock, on the eastern shore of Siberia, a strongly fortified harbour, in direct telegraphic communication with St. Petersburgh, and with a garrison of from 4,000 to 5,000 troops, who can be reinforced in a short time by troops from the interior of Siberia. There are also between 2,000 and 3,000 sailors in readiness to man steamers, for the purchase of which, in the event of war, Russia is said to have agents established at San Francisco.

The Russian North Pacific fleet is said to consist of 10 to 12 ocean-going steamers and a large flotilla of gun-boats for river service. I could not learn whether she has any iron-clads in the Pacific.

Of the fleets of other Powers I could collect no trustworthy information, except that in most of them there are one or two iron-clads, and that in consequence of the rapidly increasing importance of the Pacific trade, these fleets are year by year increasing in the number and power of their ships. It is early yet to speculate on the part that China is to take in the Pacific, but a great change

* Not printed.

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