On two separate occasions he’s told people in Los Angeles that he’s from Canada and they’ve asked about igloos. An allegedly well-educated New Yorker once listened carefully to his explanation of where he’s from—southwestern British Columbia, an island between Vancouver Island and the mainland—and then asked, apparently in all seriousness, if this means he grew up near Maine.
"We have both been talking about you. Cosette loves you so dearly! You must not forget that you have a chamber here, We want nothing more to do with the Rue de l'Homme Arme. We will have no more of it at all. How could you go to live in a street like that, which is sickly, which is disagreeable, which is ugly, which has a barrier at one end, where one is cold, and into which one cannot enter? You are to come and install yourself here. And this very day. Or you will have to deal with Cosette. She means to lead us all by the nose, I warn you. You have your own chamber here, it is close to ours, it opens on the garden; the trouble with the clock has been attended to, the bed is made, it is all ready, you have only to take possession of it. Near your bed Cosette has placed a huge, old, easy-chair covered with Utrecht velvet and she has said to it: 'Stretch out your arms to him.' A nightingale comes to the clump of acacias opposite your windows, every spring. In two months more you will have it. You will have its nest on your left and ours on your right. By night it will sing, and by day Cosette will prattle. Your chamber faces due South. Cosette will arrange your books for you, your Voyages of Captain Cook and the other,--Vancouver's and all your affairs. I believe that there is a little valise to which you are attached, I have fixed upon a corner of honor for that. You have conquered my grandfather, you suit him. We will live together. Do you play whist? you will overwhelm my grandfather with delight if you play whist. It is you who shall take Cosette to walk on the days when I am at the courts, you shall give her your arm, you know, as you used to, in the Luxembourg. We are absolutely resolved to be happy. And you shall be included in it, in our happiness, do you hear, father? Come, will you breakfast with us to-day?"
I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, for his life, point out one single peaceful influence, which within the last sixty years has operated more potentially upon the whole broad world, taken in one aggregate, than the high and mighty business of whaling. One way and another, it has begotten events so remarkable in themselves, and so continuously momentous in their sequential issues, that whaling may well be regarded as that Egyptian mother, who bore offspring themselves pregnant from her womb. It would be a hopeless, endless task to catalogue all these things. Let a handful suffice. For many years past the whale-ship has been the pioneer in ferreting out the remotest and least known parts of the earth. She has explored seas and archipelagoes which had no chart, where no Cook or Vancouver had ever sailed. If American and European men-of-war now peacefully ride in once savage harbors, let them fire salutes to the honour and glory of the whale-ship, which originally showed them the way, and first interpreted between them and the savages. They may celebrate as they will the heroes of Exploring Expeditions, your Cooks, your Krusensterns; but I say that scores of anonymous Captains have sailed out of Nantucket, that were as great, and greater than your Cook and your Krusenstern. For in their succourless empty-handedness, they, in the heathenish sharked waters, and by the beaches of unrecorded, javelin islands, battled with virgin wonders and terrors that Cook with all his marines and muskets would not willingly have dared. All that is made such a flourish of in the old South Sea Voyages, those things were but the life-time commonplaces of our heroic Nantucketers. Often, adventures which Vancouver dedicates three chapters to, these men accounted unworthy of being set down in the ship's common log. Ah, the world! Oh, the world!
The broad expanse of prairie-land in the western provinces of Canada is well suited for the cheap and expeditious building of railways. The first connexion with the United States was by two railways coming down the Red River valley. But the desire for Canadian unity led the Dominion to assist a transcontinental line connecting Manitoba with eastern Canada. The building of the Canadian Pacific railway through almost continuous rocks for 800 miles was one of the greatest engineering feats of modern times. Immediately on the formation of the Canadian Pacific railway company branch lines were begun at Winnipeg and there are eight radial lines running from this centre to all parts of the country. Winnipeg is thus connected with Montreal on the east, and Vancouver on the west, and is the central point of the Canadian Pacific system, having railway yards and equipment equalled by few places in America. In opposition to the Canadian Pacific railway a southern line was built from Winnipeg to the American boundary. This fell into the hands of the Northern Pacific railway, but was purchased by the promoters of the Canadian Northern railway. This railway has six radiating lines leaving the city of Winnipeg, and its main line connects Port Arthur on Lake Superior with Edmonton in the west. The Canadian Northern railway has a remarkable network of railways connecting Winnipeg with every corner of Manitoba. The Great Northern railway has also three branch lines in Manitoba and one of these has Winnipeg as its terminus. The grand Trunk Pacific railway, the great transcontinental line promoted by the Laurier government, passes through Manitoba north of the Canadian Pacific, coming from the east deflects southward to pass through Winnipeg, and then strikes northward in a direct line of easy gradients to find its way through the Rocky Mountains to its terminus of Prince Rupert on the north coast of British Columbia. Entry: 1902
The Douglas spruce (_Pseudo-tsuga Douglasii_), one of the finest conifers, often rises to a height of 200 ft. and sometimes considerably more, while the gigantic trunk frequently measures 8 or 10 ft. across. The yew-like leaves spread laterally, and are of a deep green tint; the cones are furnished with tridentate bracts that project far beyond the scales. It forms extensive forests in Vancouver Island, British Columbia and Oregon, whence the timber is exported, being highly prized for its strength, durability and even grain, though very heavy; it is of a deep yellow colour, abounding in resin, which oozes from the thick bark. It was introduced into Britain soon after its rediscovery by David Douglas in 1827, and has been widely planted, but does not flourish well where exposed to high winds or in too shallow soil. Entry: YEW
_Canada._--Registration of _title_ was introduced in Vancouver Island in 1861, was extended to the rest of British Columbia in 1870, and was in 1885 adopted by Ontario, Manitoba and the North-West Territories. Only Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island retain the old English system, plus registration of deeds. The three provinces which have adopted registration of title have adopted it in somewhat different forms. In British Columbia it is similar to Lord Westbury's Act of 1862. The North-West Territories follow closely the Torrens Acts. The Ontario Act is almost a transcript of Lord Cairns's Act of 1875. The fees are very low, seldom exceeding a few shillings, but all expenses of the office are paid from this source. The Ontario registry has five district offices, as well as the central one at Toronto. This is apparently the only colonial registry not open to public inspection. Entry: LAND
CHICAGO, a city, a port of entry and the county-seat of Cook county, Illinois, U.S.A., the second city of the United States in population, commerce and manufactures; pop. (1900) 1,698,575; and (1910) 2,185,283. It is situated at the south-west corner of Lake Michigan (lat. 41° 50', long. 87° 38' W.), about 913 m. distant by railway from New York, 912 m. from New Orleans, 2265 m. from Los Angeles, and 2330 m. from Seattle. The climate is very changeable and is much affected by the lake; changes of more than thirty degrees in temperature within 24 hours are not at all rare, and changes of twenty are common. The city is the greatest railway centre of the United States, and was for several decades practically the only commercial outlet of the great agricultural region of the northern Mississippi Valley. Trunk lines reach E. to Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore (the nearest point on the Atlantic coast, 854 m.); S. to Charleston, Savannah, Florida, Mobile, New Orleans, Port Arthur and Galveston; W. to the Pacific at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, and to most of these by a variety of routes. In 1905 about 14% of the world's railway mileage centred in Chicago. Entry: CHICAGO
_Mining._--Mining is the principal industry of British Columbia. The country is rich in gold, silver, copper, lead and coal, and has also iron deposits. From 1894 to 1904 the mining output increased from $4,225,717 to $18,977,359. In 1905 it had reached $22,460,295. The principal minerals, in order of value of output, are gold, copper, coal, lead and silver. Between 1858--the year of the placer discoveries on the Fraser river and in the Cariboo district--and 1882, the placer yields were much heavier than in subsequent years, running from one to nearly four million dollars annually, but there was no quartz mining. Since 1899 placer mining has increased considerably, although the greater part of the return has been from lode mining. The Rossland, the Boundary and the Kootenay districts are the chief centres of vein-mining, yielding auriferous and cupriferous sulphide ores, as well as large quantities of silver-bearing lead ores. Ores of copper and the precious metals are being prospected and worked also, in several places along the coast and on Vancouver Island. The mining laws are liberal, and being based on the experience gained in the adjacent mining centres of the Western States, are convenient and effective. The most important smelting and reducing plants are those at Trail and Nelson in the West Kootenay country, and at Grand Forks and Greenwood in the Boundary district. There are also numerous concentrating plants. Mining machinery of the most modern types is employed wherever machinery is required. Entry: 4
_Religion and Education._--In 1901 the population was divided by creeds as follows: Church of England, 40,687; Methodist, 25,047; Presbyterian, 34,081; Roman Catholic, 33,639; others, 40,197; not stated, 5003; total, 178,654. The educational system of British Columbia differs slightly from that of other provinces of Canada. There are three classes of schools--common, graded and high--all maintained by the government and all free and undenominational. There is only one college in the province, the "McGill University College of British Columbia" at Vancouver, which is one of the colleges of McGill University, whose chief seat is at Montreal. The schools are controlled by trustees selected by the ratepayers of each school district, and there is a superintendent of education acting under the provincial secretary. Entry: 1904
The chief cities are Victoria, the capital, on Vancouver Island; and Vancouver on the mainland, New Westminster on the Fraser and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Rossland and Nelson in West Kootenay, as well as Fernie in East Kootenay and Grand Forks in the Boundary district, are also places of importance. Entry: 4
_History_.--The history of the islands before their discovery by Captain James Cook, in 1778, is obscure.[9] This famous navigator, who named the islands in honour of the earl of Sandwich, was received by the natives with many demonstrations of astonishment and delight; and offerings and prayers were presented to him by their priest in one of the temples; and though in the following year he was killed by a native when he landed in Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii, his bones were preserved by the priests and continued to receive offerings and homage from the people until the abolition of idolatry. At the time of Cook's visit the archipelago seems to have been divided into three distinct kingdoms: Hawaii; Oahu and Maui; and Lanai and Molokai. On the death of the chief who ruled Hawaii at that time there succeeded one named Kamehameha (1736-1819), who appears to have been a man of quick perception and great force of character. When Vancouver visited the islands in 1792, he left sheep and neat cattle,[10] protected by a ten years' taboo, and laid down the keel of a European ship for Kamehameha. Ten or twelve years later Kamehameha had 20 vessels (of 25 to 50 tons), which traded among the islands. He afterwards purchased others from foreigners. Having encouraged a warlike spirit in his people and having introduced firearms, Kamehameha attacked and overcame the chiefs of the other kingdoms one after another, until (in 1795) he became undisputed master of the whole group. He made John Young (c. 1775-1835) and Isaac Davis, Americans from one of the ships of Captain Metcalf which visited the island in 1789, his advisers, encouraged trade with foreigners, and derived from its profits a large increase of revenue as well as the means of consolidating his power. He died in 1819, and was succeeded by his son, Lilohilo, or Kamehameha II., a mild and well-disposed prince, but destitute of his father's energy. One of the first acts of Kamehameha II. was, for vicious and selfish reasons, to abolish taboo and idolatry throughout the islands. Some disturbances were caused thereby, but the insurgents were defeated. Entry: HAWAII
In the United States of America the Appalachian mountain system, from Pennsylvania southward, roughly marks the line of the chief coal-producing region. This group of fields is followed in importance by the "Eastern Interior" group in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and the "Western Interior" group in Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. In Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and along the line of the Rocky Mountains, extensive fields occur, producing lignite and bituminous coal. The last-named fields are continued northward in Canada (Crow's Nest Pass field, Vancouver Island, &c.). There is also a group of coalfields on the Atlantic seaboard of the Dominion, principally in Nova Scotia. Coal is known at several points in Alaska, and there are rich but little worked deposits in Mexico. Entry: C
Yet another outcome of Captain Cook's work was the voyage of George Vancouver, who had served as a midshipman in Cook's second and third voyages. The Spaniards under Quadra had begun a survey of north-western America and occupied Nootka Sound, which their government eventually agreed to surrender. Captain Vancouver was sent out to receive the cession, and to survey the coast from Cape Mendocino northwards. He commanded the old "Discovery," and was at work during the seasons of 1792, 1793 and 1794, wintering at Hawaii. Returning home in 1795, he completed his narrative and a valuable series of charts. Entry: PROGRESS
Oats of fine quality are grown in large crops from Prince Edward Island on the Atlantic coast to Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast. Over large areas the Canadian soil and climate are admirably adapted for producing oats of heavy weight per bushel. In all the provinces of eastern Canada the acreage under oats greatly exceeds that under wheat. The annual average oat crop in all Canada is estimated at about 248 million bushels. As the total annual export of oats is now less than three million bushels the home consumption is large, and this is an advantage in maintaining the fertility of the soil. In 1907 the area under oats in Ontario was 2,932,509 acres and yielded 83,524,301 bushels, the area being almost as large as that of the acreage under hay and larger than the combined total of the other principal cereals grown in the province. Canadian oatmeal is equal in quality to the best. It is prepared in different forms, and in various degrees of fineness. Entry: AGRICULTURE
_Physical Features._--British Columbia is essentially a mountainous country, for the Rocky Mountains which in the United States lie to the east of the Great Basin, on running to the north bear toward the west and approach the ranges which border the Pacific coast. Thus British Columbia comprises practically the entire width of what has been termed the Cordillera or Cordilleran belt of North America, between the parallels of latitude above indicated. There are two ruling mountain systems in this belt--the Rocky Mountains proper on the north-east side, and the Coast Range on the south-west or Pacific side. Between these are subordinate ranges to which various local names have been given, as well as the "Interior Plateau"--an elevated tract of hilly country, the hill summits having an accordant altitude, which lies to the east of the Coast Range. The several ranges, having been produced by successive foldings of the earth's crust in a direction parallel to the border of the Pacific Ocean, have a common trend which is south-east and north-west. Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands are remnants of still another mountain range, which runs parallel to the coast but is now almost entirely submerged beneath the waters of the Pacific. The province might be said to consist of a series of parallel mountain ranges with long narrow valleys lying between them. Entry: BRITISH
KWAKIUTE. Wakashan. (1) About 2000 in Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Decreasing. (2) Considerable in places. (3) Improvement recently. Anglican and Methodist missions--former counting 469; latter, 19 members; rest, "pagans." (4) Boas, _Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1889, 1890, 1896. Rep. _U.S. Nat. Mus._, 1895, and other writings; Boas and Hunt, _Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._, 1902. Entry: KWAKIUTE
The Coast Range, sometimes called the Cascade Range, borders the Pacific coast for 900 m. and gives to it its remarkable character. To its partially submerged transverse valleys are due the excellent harbours on the coast, the deep sounds and inlets which penetrate far inland at many points, as well as the profound and gloomy fjords and the stupendous precipices which render the coast line an exaggerated reproduction of that of Norway. The coast is, in fact, one of the most remarkable in the world, measuring with all its indentations 7000 m. in the aggregate, and being fringed with an archipelago of innumerable islands, of which Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands are the largest. Entry: BRITISH
_Talismans and Amulets._--Inanimate objects as well as living beings are credited with stores of magical force; when they are regarded as bringing good, i.e. are positive in their action, they may be termed "talismans"; "amulets" are protective or negative in their action, and their function is to avert evil; a single object may serve both purposes. Broadly speaking, the fetish, whose "magical" properties are due to association with a spirit, tends to become a talisman or amulet. The "medicine" of the Red Indian, originally carried as means of union between him and his _manito_, is perhaps the prototype of many European charms. In other cases it is some specific quality of the object or animal which is desired; the boar's tusk is worn on the Papuan Gulf as a means of imparting courage to the wearer; the Lukungen Indians of Vancouver Island rub the ashes of wasps on the faces of their warriors, in order that they may be pugnacious. Some Bechuanas wear a ferret as a charm, in the belief that it will make them difficult to kill, the animal being very tenacious of life. Among amulets may be mentioned horns and crescents, eyes or their representations, and grotesque figures, all of which are supposed to be powerful against the Evil Eye (q.v.). Tylor has shown that the brass objects so often seen on harness were originally amuletic in purpose, and can be traced back to Roman times. Some amulets are supposed to protect from the evil eye simply by attracting the glance from the wearer to themselves, but, as a rule, magical power is ascribed to them. Entry: II
CLAYOQUOT. Wakashan. (1) 224 in the region of Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island. Decreasing. (2) No data. (3) Rather stationary, but beginning to improve. Influence of Catholic mission and industrial school. (4) See Nootka. Entry: CLAYOQUOT
British Guiana 1803 Capitulation. Tasmania 1803 Settlement. Cape of Good Hope 1806 Capitulation. Present limits not attained until 1895. First British occupation 1795-1803. Seychelles 1806 Capitulation. Mauritius 1810 " Manitoba 1811 Settlement by Red River or Selkirk colony. Created province of Canada 1870. Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 1815 Military occupation. B. Columbia and Vancouver Island 1821 Settlement under Hudson's Bay Co. Entered Canadian confederation 1871. Natal 1824 Settlement. Natal Boers submit 1843. Queensland 1824 Separated from New South Wales 1859. West Australia 1826 Settlement. Victoria 1834 Separated from New South Wales 1851. South Australia 1836 Settlement. New Zealand 1840 Settlement and treaty. Hong-Kong 1841 Treaties. Kowloon on the mainland added in 1860; additional area leased 1898. Labuan 1846 Cession. Incorporated in Straits Settlements 1906. Lagos 1861 Cession. South Nigeria amalgamated with Lagos, under style of Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria 1906. Basutoland 1868 Annexation. Fiji 1874 Cession. [v.04 p.0609] W. Pacific Islands, including 1877 High commission created by order including Union, Ellice, in council, giving jurisdiction Gilbert, Southern Solomon, over islands not included in and other groups other colonial governments, nor within jurisdiction of other civilized powers. Protectorates over all these islands by 1900. Federated Malay States 1874-1895 Treaty. Cyprus 1878 Occupied by treaty. North Borneo 1881 Treaty and settlement under royal charter. Protectorate assumed 1888. Papua 1884 Protectorate declared. Nigeria 1884-1886 Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. Chartered Co.'s territory transferred to crown, and whole divided into North and South Nigeria 1900. Somaliland 1884-1886 Occupation and cession. Protectorate declared 1887. Bechuanaland 1885-1891 Protectorate declared. Southern portion annexed to Cape Colony 1895. Zululand 1887 Annexation. Incorporated in Natal 1897. Sarawak 1888 Protectorate declared. Brunei 1888 " " British East Africa 1888 Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. Transferred to crown 1895. Rhodesia 1888-1893 Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. Zanzibar 1890 Protectorate declared. Uganda 1890-1896 Treaty and protectorate. Nyasaland 1891 Protectorate declared. Ashanti 1896 Military occupation. Wei-hai-wei 1898 Lease from China. Pacific Islands-- Christmas, Fanning, 1898 Annexed for purposes of projected Penrhyn, Suvarov Pacific cable. Choiseul and Isabel Is. 1899 Cession. (Solomon Group) Tonga and Niué 1900 Protectorate declared. Orange Free State 1900 Annexation. Formerly British 1848-1854. Transvaal and Swaziland 1900 Annexation. Formerly British 1877-1881. Entry: A
_Agriculture._--Although mountainous in character the province contains many tracts of good farming land. These lie in the long valleys between the mountain ranges of the interior, as well as on the lower slopes of the mountains and on the deltas of the rivers running out to the coast. On Vancouver Island also there is much good farming land. The conditions are in most places best suited to mixed farming; the chief crops raised are wheat, oats, potatoes and hay. Some areas are especially suited for cattle and sheep raising, among which may be mentioned the Yale district and the country about Kamloops. Much attention has been given to fruit raising, especially in the Okanagan valley. Apples, plums and cherries are grown, as well as peaches, apricots, grapes and various small fruits, notably strawberries. All these are of excellent quality. Hops are also cultivated. A large market for this fruit is opening up in the rapidly growing provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Entry: 1904
_Shipping._--The Canadian Pacific Railway Company has two lines of mail steamer running from Vancouver and Victoria: (l) the Empress line, which runs to Japan and China once in three weeks, and (2) the Australian line to Honolulu, Fiji and Sydney, once a month. The same company also has a line of steamers running to Alaska, as well as a fleet of coasting steamers. Entry: 1904