"The bay of Victoria runs in a zigzag shape--two long sharp promontories
on the southward hiding the town from view until we get quite close up
to it. A long low sand-spit juts out into it, which makes the entrance
hazardous for large vessels at some little distance below the town, and
higher up the anchorage is shallow. Twice at low tides I saw two or
three ugly islands revealed, where ships would have to anchor. In
short, Victoria is not a good harbour for a fleet. For small vessels
and traders on the coast, it will answer well enough.

"Victoria stands nobly on a fine eminence, a beautiful plateau, on the
rocky shore of the bay of the same name. Generations yet to come will
pay grateful tribute to the sagacity and good taste of the man who
selected it. There is no finer site for a city in the world. The
plateau drains itself on every side by the natural depressions which
intersect it, and there is space enough to build a Paris on. The views
are also good. Across the straits you have the Olympian range washed by
the sea; towards the interior, picturesque views of wooded hills;
opposite, the fine woodland scenery of the country intervening between
it and Esquimault, the Victoria arm, glimpses of which, as seen through
the foliage, look like a series of inland lakes; while in front, just at
one's feet, is the bay itself and its tributaries, or arms rather--
James's Bay, etcetera, always beautiful; and behind, towards the
south-east end of the island, is a view of great beauty and grandeur--a
cluster of small islands, San Juan and others, water in different
channels, straits and creeks, and two enormous mountains in the far
distance, covered from base to summit with perpetual snow. These are
Mounts Baker and Rainier, in Washington territory. Such are a few--and
I am quite serious when I say only a few--of the beauties which surround
Victoria.

"As to the prospects of Vancouver's Island as a colony, I would say that
if it shall turn out that there is an extensive and rich gold-field on
the mainland in British territory, as there is every reason to believe,
the island will become a profitable field for all trades, industries,
and labour. The population will soon increase from Canada, whence an
immigration of many thousands is already spoken of, from Australia,
South America, the Atlantic States,--and, no doubt, from Europe also.
If this happens, the tradesman and the labourer will find employment,
and the fa