rmer will find a ready market, at good prices, for his
produce.

"Should the gold suddenly disappear, the island will have benefited by
the impulse just given to immigration, for, no doubt, many who came to
mine will remain to cultivate the soil and to engage in other pursuits.
If this be the termination of the present fever, then to the farmer who
is satisfied with a competency--full garners and good larder, who loves
retirement, is not ambitious of wealth, is fond of a mild, agreeable,
and healthy climate, and a most lovely country to live in--the island
offers every attraction. Its resources are, plenty of timber, towards
the northern portion producing spars of unequalled quality, which are
becoming of great value in England, and will soon be demanded in France,
now that the forests of Norway and of Maine are becoming exhausted;
limestone in abundance, which burns into good lime for building and for
agricultural purposes; coal in plenty, now worked at Nanaimo, on the
northern side of the island, by the Hudson's Bay Company--the quality is
quite good, judging from the specimens I saw burning--it answers well
for steam purposes, and would have found a ready sale in San Francisco
were it not subject to a heavy duty (of 30 per cent, I think) under the
American tariff; iron, copper, gold, and potter's clay. I have no doubt
that a gold-field will be discovered on the island as it gets opened up
to enterprising explorers. A friend of mine brought down some sand from
the sea-beach near Victoria, and assayed it the other day. It produced
gold in minute quantity, and I have heard of gold washings on the
island. The copper is undeveloped. The potter's clay has been tested
in England, and found to be very good.

"The character of the soil is favourable to agriculture. It is composed
of a black vegetable mould of a foot to two feet in depth, overlaying a
hard yellow clay. The surface earth is very fine, pulverised, and
sandy, quite black, and, no doubt, of good quality; when sharpened with
sheep-feeding it produces heavy crops. The fallen trees, which are very
numerous, shew that the substratum of clay is too hard to produce
anything. The roots of the pine never penetrate it. In some places the
spontaneous vegetation testifies to the richness of the soil--such as
wild pease or vetches, and wild clover, which I--have seen reach up to
my horse's belly--and a most luxuriant growth of underwood, brambles,
fern, etcetera.