COLUMBIA, Tharristr, since 1871 a province of the Dominion of Canada, is divided into two parts—the mainland, commonly called British C.; and Vancouver's island (q.v.). These were formerly independent colonies, but were united in 1866. The total area of the province is estimated at 220,000 sq.m. As Vancouver's island is separately treated, the present article, as far as possible, will confine itself to an account of the mainland, which is situated in let. 49' to 55° n., long. 115° to 102° w., and measures about 420 in. in breadth by 300 in length, its total area being estimated at upwards of 120,000 sq. miles. Its northern limit, as settled by act of parliament in 1858, follows the Simpson river to the Pacific ocean on the w., and the Finlay, an affluent of the Peace, to the Rocky mountains on the east. Running parallel with the chain on the e. border, which itself rises, in Mt. Brown, height of 16,000 ft., two ranges divide the width of the country into three sections of drainage. In the e. are head-waters, which find opposite outlets in the estuaries of the Columbia and of the Mackenzie; through the entire middle and part of the e., the Fraser maintains a southerly course, till, at fort Hope. it is bent sharply to the right by a mountain barrier, so as to enter the gulf of Georgia barely within the international boundary;* and lastly, across the w.. a series of streams, generally meeting long and narrow inlets of the ocean, and terminating in the Skeena, which, with its upland reservoir, Babine lake, of 100 m. in length, is but little inferior to the Fraser itself. The principal harbors are Burrard inlet, on the gulf of Georgia, a few miles from New Westminster, and the chief port for the lumber trade; Howe sound, n. of Burrard inlet; Bute inlet, still farther n.; Milbank sound, which will become valuable as the gold mines on the Peace river attract a population; the river Skeena, now ascended by steam-vessels, and one of the routes to the Ominica gold mines; and the river Nass, near the frontier of Alaska, watering a region also believed to be rich in gold.
The interior of British C., i.e., the region between the Cascade range and the Rocky mountains, is, on the whole, rugged and lofty, and though rivers are numerous, they do not serve the purposes of irrigation, being often confined within deep ravines. Still the tracts of arable land are of considerable extent, and very fertile. lu 1872, some land 1700 ft. above the sea-level, yielded, under proper irrigation, 40 bushels of wheat per acre. The pastures of British C. arc, however, likely to prove much more valuable than its arable ground. They are almost endless in extent. On the Cariboo road (between Soda creek and Quesuel), there is a plain 150 in. long, and GO or 80 wide; and between the Thompson and Fraser rivers there is an immense tract of grazing land. The hills and plains are covered with bunch grass, on which the cattle and horses live all winter, and its nutritive qualities are said to exceed the celebrated blue grass and clover of Virginia.
The forest lands are also of vast extent, and yield most valuable timber. The prin cipal trees arc the Douglas pine, Menzies fir, yellow fir, balsam hemlodz, white pine, yellow pine, cedar, yellow cypress, arbor vita, yew, oak, white maple, arbutus, alder, do2r-wood, aspen, cherry, willow, and cotton-wood. The Douglas pine is almost uni versal on the sea-coast and up to the Cascade range. The cedar, white pine, and maple are found everywhere; the Scotch fir, the willow, and cotton-wood on the bottom-lands. But the lumber-trade is only beginning: the value of the exports, in 1S70, amounting to little more than £25,000. The Fraser river and its tributaries, with the numerous lakes communicating with them, furnish great facilities for the conveyance of timber. The lower Fraser country especially is densely wooded. Smaller streams and the numerous inlets and arms of the sea do the same thing for the region further north.