Nanaimo and San Juan--Resources of British Columbia and Vancouver Island--Minerals--Timber--Abundance of Fish--Different Kinds of Salmon--The Hoolicans, and the Indian Method of Taking them-- Pasturage--The Bunch-grass--Its Peculiarities and Drawbacks-- Scarcity of Farming Land--Different Localities--Land in Vancouver Island--Contrast between California and British Columbia--Gross Misrepresentations of the Latter--Necessity for the Saskatchewan as an Agricultural Supplement--Advantages of a Route across the Continent--The Americans before us--The Difficulties less by the British Route--Communication with China and Japan by this Line--The Shorter Distance--The Time now come for the Fall of the Last Great Monopoly--The North-West Passage by Sea, and that by Land--The Last News of Mr. O’B.--Conclusion. After our return to Victoria we received a kind invitation from Captain Lascelles to accompany him in H.M. gunboat _Forward_ on a cruise to San Juan and Nanaimo. The cruise was most enjoyable; we inspected the coal-mines of the future Newcastle of the Pacific, and enjoyed most thoroughly the hospitality of Captain Bazalgette and his officers on the noted island of San Juan. We had now seen a great portion of British Columbia and Vancouver. We had travelled through the former from Tête Jaune Cache by the Thompson to the mouth of the Fraser, and again through the heart of the country to Cariboo. We found the country abounding in mineral wealth. The extent and richness of the gold fields, added to every month by fresh discoveries, would alone be sufficient to render the colony one of our most valuable possessions. But the indications that many other of the most valuable minerals will be found in British Columbia, as in the neighbouring state of California, are strong. At present, however, every other pursuit is put aside for that of gold, and the real mineral wealth of the country is little known. Coal, however, crops out at Alexandria, Similkameen, and Burrard’s Inlet. In the sister colony of Vancouver are the magnificent beds of coal, which have been already extensively and most successfully worked at Nanaimo for the last four or five years.