No. 71

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches No 9 of the
3d of November last, and
No 92 of the 4th of February, reporting the
site which you had selected on the banks of the Fraser River for the
Capital and Sea port of British Columbia.

I am glad to perceive that
both Colonel Moody and yourself agree in opinion that the locality you
have described is the one best adapted for the purpose. It appears to
have been judiciously selected, and I have to approve the steps you have
taken to survey and subdivide the site into building lots for sale.

I communicated your despatch to the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty and the Secretary of State for War, and I transmit to you, for
your information, the Copies of the letters which I have received from
those departments in answer. I have to call your attention to the
remarks offered by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty with regard
to the necessity for stationing a pilot vessel at the entrance of the
River, and to the selection of a port in the northern portion of the
Colony.