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NEW WESTMINSTER, SATURDAY, SEP. 23, 1865, MR. ORR’S REPORT. The Report of Mr James Orr, Commander of the Government Expedition, sent out last spring for the purpose of exploring the country watered by the Thompson and Columbia Rivers and their tributaries, is now before us ; and we have to confess to finding ourselves in a somewhat simi lar dilemma with the farmer who drew the ele phant at a lottery. Not that we would be un derstood as in any way disparaging the Report ; for it is both well written and contains very much that is interesting and useful. But from the great length of the paper we are unable to give its place in our columns without doing in justice to other interests. We must, therefore, content ourselves with a brief and imperfect re view of the Report ; and we feel the more free to adopt this course from the consideration that it will appear extense in today’s Gazelle. The first impression received from 8 perusal of the Report is the great physical endurance and per severance exhibited by the members of the party. Ascending mountain torrents through canons whose perpendicular granite walls towered hun dreds of feet overhead, wading up to the arm-pits against the dashing, foaming snow-water, and dragging their provisions after them in rudely constructed boats, scaling mountains to an alti tude of 9000 feet, traversing fields of eternal snow and glaciers in places nearly 400 feet thick, the party must have undergone an amount of fatigue and adventure to which most men would have succumbed. For practical purposes the Re port may be divided, as the Pulpiteer would say, into three general heads, viz., Agricultural, Geo logical and Chorographical.We shall ‘briefly treat of these subjects in the order in which we have enumerated them. Although the extensive district comprised in the Report is mountainous, and largely non-agricultural, yet the valley of the North River’ forms a sufficiently important oasis to entitle it to prominence, whether it is considered as an inviting field for an agricultu ral settlement in the abstract, or as the means of supplying a large mining population which would find profitable diggings contiguous thereto. In respect to this interesting locality we cannot do better than let the Report speak for itself .— «The valley of the North River from Fort Kam loops is formed of extensive flats, many of them miles in length, with an abundance of fine grass ; the soil is of a sandy loam, varying from one to five feet in depth ; the mountains bordering the river,are covered in many places with grass, af fording good summer pasturage for horses and cattle, and are about 500 feet high, and round on the summit. In some places they rise very ab ruptly from the river ; when such is the case they are extremely bare, with the exception of a few fir trees which take root in the crevices of the rocks. The whole of the valley from Fort Kam loops to this point contains fully 50,000 acres of the best agricultural land in the colony. The snow rarely falls to any great depth, and the In dians allow their horses to ran out all the win ter. During the dry season the nights are gen erally clear and a heavy dew falls, which on the higher benches would save the labor of irrigation. Wild onions and strawberries grow in abundance, the latter ripening in June Several large and small creeks were discovered that are not mark ed on the maps, and about forty miles above Kamloops they are sufficiently numerous for the purpose of irrigation, when such a process be comes necessary.” There are other districts alluded to as posses sing a rich, black, loamy soil, with a luxuriant covering of bunch and blue-joint grasses, but not of sufficient extent and importance to claim spe cial notice here. Perhaps the most important re sult of the expedition is the information gained respecting the geological formation of the coun try. Nowhere in the granite range was the color of gold, or traces of the existence of any valuable mineral found, while almost everywhere in the slate formation gold was met with, and in many places in paying quantities. The granite range is distinguished by the sharp and rocky peaks of its mountains, those in the slate range being, to copy from the Report, “ rounded on their sum mits and either densely, timbered or covered with grass.” ‘A knowledge of the distinguishing fea tures and of the exact position of these ranges must be of very great importance to those who may hereafter prospect the country... Mr. Orr describes the granite range as extending “ from the eastern boundary of the Horsefly Valley across the Columbia River,” and says that “Per sons prospecting in the upper country north of Lake Lallado, if they took a north-east or an east course, would be certain to get into the ‘range,” and then adds :— I feel certain that to the eastward of the valley of the Norse-fly no gold will ever be found in paying quantities north of Lat. 52 °. The slate formation runs from the north-west to the south-east,and crosses the North and Columbia Rivers about Lat, 51 °.” Another result of the expedition is the discovery that the maps now extant are inaccurate and incomplete, in 80 farag ther district is concerned ; that rivers and lakes are located at random, while others fire not laid down at all ; and we believe cor rect maps will be prepared in the Lands Works Department. The concluding paragraph of the Report alludes to a subject which possesses an interest of a broader and more national charac ter. Mr. Orr says :— In the event of an in tercolonial road being constructed at some future period, the valley of the North River presents few engineering difficulties. The grade from Fort Kamloops to the summit of the Rocky Moun tains (through the Leather Pass) is so easy that the ascent is almost imperceptible.” The New House of Coxstoxs—The election returns are still incomplete; but, so far as made known to us by the last English mail, the Liberals have a net majority of 24, being a fal ling off of three since the previous mail, instead of an increase as we before expected. Whether the final returns from Ireland will increase or di minish that majority it is difficult to say ; and if it be not considerably increased it is extremely problematical whether Palmerston will be able to command a working majority in the House, where so many members are too liberal and too independent to be relied upon in the hour of need. We observe, with pleasure, that Lord Milton is returned for 8 Yorkshire Riding, not so much because he is a Liberal, as on account of the spe cial interest he is likely to feel in all matters re lating to this colony. ‘The interest arising from his celebrated journey across the continent, as well as the practical experience derived there from, will qualify that talented young nobleman to do good service for those great interoceanic schemes which we look forward to as the means of strengthening and consolidating British inter ests on this continent, and ultimately establish ing the British American Empire. But a still more tangible and direct link connects Lord Milton with us. Ife is a New Westminster rate payer, having become the owner of a number of valuable town lots, when here in 18638, We shall, therefore, look to Lord Milton as a sort of quasi-representative—a friend at Court. Tur “ Colonist” axo J, Desrarv Perverron. —Those who retain the faintest recollection of of the character the ex-Surveyor-General of Van couver Island, bore in the columns of the Colo nist, before, during and after the celebrated Crown Lands Committee investigations, must be shocked at the gross tergiversation displayed by that paper, as exhibited in the highly complimen tary paragraph with which it notices the fact that that gentleman is a candidate for the repre sentation of Esquimalt and Methesen, in the Legislative Assembly. ‘The only way we can account for this glaring piece of “ Jim Crowism” on the part of our contemporary is by supposing that the man who was dismissed from office— and lastly,so, according to the Colonist of some months ago—is now considered a fitting asso ciate for the Editor of that paper, and his con freres, in their determination to subvert the pres ent Government. Supvestor Gold.—The amount of export duty collected on gold at this port during last week reached within a trifle of $5,000, show ing the amount of gold exported during that period to have exceeded $200,000 ; and it must be borne in mind that the $111,000 brought down for the Bank of British Columbia yesterday sennight was not included in last week’s returns, but will appear in this. From these figures it will appear that the actual amount of treasure water-borne for exportation at this port during last week exceeded $300,000. The Craxpenry ‘Trape!—The cranberry season has just commenced, and it is astonishing to see the quantities brought in during the past few days. Mr. Hoyt is in the market for a thousand barrels, and if one may judge from the crowd of Indians which surrounded his place during yes terday, he is in a fair way to get the quantity he seeks. We understand that the cranberry yield this year is unusually abundant, . Couvortine Rervection.—In these Apocalyp tic days, when ‘Thioves are tottering and king doms crumbling to dust—when the ‘ Beast” is lifting its seven heads and ten horns in Europe, and wagging its “Fenian” tail in America— when Victoria is “caving in” and Cariboo is “played out,”it is comforting reflection that goods are prettier and cheaper than ever at J a Clute’s. “Tae La(ros)st Lay or te Mixstret.”— Mr. L. Hoy called our attention the other day to an extraordinary egg, from an ordinary hen. It measured 6 in, « by Thin. A hen that would lay such an egg every morning would be little less valuable in this country,» where: ‘gold is so plentiful and eggs are 80 scarce, than Jack the Giantliller’s hen that laid the golden ges. Wexcoue Orn Sor.—After a couple of weeks of rain and storm, the return of genial sunshine is peculiarly grateful. Night ,before last the clouds cleared away, and the weather has since been more like May than September.” Summer birds have come back again, and vegetation is taking a fresh start.
Newspaper Details
New Westminster British Columbian
New Westminster, British Columbia, CA
Sat, Sep 23, 1865
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anthony B.
GB 07 Feb 2026
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