of transportation facilities-a drawback which will soon be removed. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway will traverse this region. LILLIOOET.

In natural features Lilliooet resembles Yale. It is largely a pastoral country, well adapted to dairying, cattle-raising and fruit-growing. Placer and hydraulic mining is carried on successfully and quartz-mining is making fair progress, but railway communication is needed to ensure profitable operation.

WESTMINSTER.-One of the richest agricultural districts of the province is New Westminster, which includes all the fertile valley of the Lower Fraser. The climate is mild, with much rain in winter. The timber is very heavy and underbrush thick. Westminster is the centre of the great lumbering and salmon-canning industries. Its agricultural advantages are unexcelled in the province, heavy crops of hay, grain and roots being the rule, and fruit-growing to perfection and in profusion. A great deal of the land in the Fraser Valley has been reclaimed by diking.

CARIBOO AND CASSIAR.-The great northern districts of Cariboo and Cassiar are practically unexplored and undeveloped, although in the early days parts of them were invaded by a great army of placer miners, who recovered about 50 million dollars in gold from the creeks and benches. Hydraulic mining on a large scale is being carried on by several wealthy companies at different points in the district with fair success, and individual miners and dredging companies are doing well in Atlin. Recently large deposits of gold and silver quartz were found on Portland Canal and on Windy Arm, which give promise of rich returns. Large coal measures have been located on the Telqua River and at other points, and copper ore is found in many localities. The country is lightly timbered and promises in time to become an important cattle-raising and agricultural district, as there are many fertile valleys, which are attracting settlers. In the southern part of Cariboo, along the main wagon road, are several flourishing ranches, producing good crops of grain and vegetables which, with the cattle raised, find a ready market in the mining camps. The Grank Trunk Pacific will traverse this district.

COMOX. The northern portion of Vancouver Island and a portion of the opposite mainland is known as Comox District. It is very rich in minerals and timber, and there is considerable fertile land between Comox Bay and Campbell River, a distance of thirty-five miles-the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company is prospecting a line of railway through this fine district. The deeply indented coast-line and the adjacent islands afford fine opportunities for the fishing industry, which is now being developed on a considerable scale. Although sparsely populated as yet, perhaps no other area of British Columbia of similar size contains so much and varied natural wealth, represented in timber, minerals, fish and agricultural land, the last-named, though considerable in aggregate, being, comparatively speaking, the least important. Many of the islands contain good land, and in the vicinity of Comox there are some excellent stretches; while north from Seymour Narrows to the head of the island there are considerable areas which, if drained and cultivated, would make valuable cattle ranges and meadows. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway will traverse this mainland to its terminus at Prince Rupert.

VANCOUVER ISLAND.-Not the least important portion of British Columbia is Vancouver Island, which, from its great wealth of natural resources and its commanding position on the Pacific Coast, is fast becoming one of the richest and most prosperous districts of the province. Coalmining and lumbering are the chief industries, and fishing, quartz-mining, copper-smelting, ship-building, whaling, and other branches are being rapidly developed. The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, running from Victoria to Wellington, serves a section of country which it would be difficult to surpass anywhere in the world for beauty of scenery and natural wealth. There are prosperous agricultural communities along the railway and in the Comox District, and several mines are being developed. There is quite a large area of agricultural land, but it is heavily timbered and costly to clear by individual effort. The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company has arranged for the clearing of large blocks of its land grant (which consists of about 1,500,000 acres) and it is expected, through the exercise of economical methods in