ne, when this attempt was successfully made, the waters
of the river had already begun to rise, in consequence of the melting of
the snow from the Rocky Mountains, from which it springs. But they were
then by no means at their full height; and even if the river be only
navigable by vessels of small draught, that is a fact of very little
importance as compared with the certainty that it is navigable at all to
so considerable a height. Fort Hope is, as we have said, about one
hundred miles up the river--that is to say, about one hundred and ninety
from Victoria in Vancouver's Island, the voyage across the Gulf of
Georgia being about ninety miles. The rich diggings between Fort Yale
and Fort Hope are, therefore, not so far from the fertile land of
Vancouver's Island as London from Hull and the distance from Victoria to
the mouth of the river, where gold is at present found inconsiderable
quantities, is not so great as the distance from Liverpool to Dublin.
Now, as almost all the importance of a mining district depends on easy
communication with a provision market--and the very richest will be
rendered comparatively insignificant if provisions can only be carried
thither at enormous cost and labour--no fact has yet been established of
more importance than the easy navigability of the Fraser River.
Immediately above Fort Yale, which is twelve miles higher up the river
than the point reached by the steamer, a succession of cataracts begin,
which, of course, interrupt all navigation, but thence even to "the
Forks," or junction between the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, there is
certainly not more than one hundred miles of road, which, as we learn
from the government map, are mostly practicable for loaded waggons.
Hence it is evident that the new gold district will be easily accessible
both for English merchandise from England, and for the provision market
of Vancouver's Island.

In explanation and refutation of the prejudice which almost universally
exists against the climate and soil of North America generally, but
especially of the divisions included in the Hudson's Bay Company's
Territories, we cannot do better than quote the following just remarks
from the Reverend Mr Nicolay's treatise on Oregon. He says:--

"A predisposition towards one opinion, or bias to one side of an
argument, too often warps both the judgment and the understanding; and
one man in consequence sees fertile plains where another could see only
arid wa