No. 50

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Graces Despatch
No 31 of the 28th August, acquainting me that the Lords
Commissoners of the Treasury will not object to the acceptance of
Bills for the expenditure in the Colony on Light House Service, to
the extent of £7751.16.10, but instructing me to limit the
expenditure, if possible, to that Amount.

2. I am happy to inform Your Grace that both Lighthouses are now
completed. The Light in the one on Fisgard Island has been exhibited
for the last fortnight, and has already proved of much utility. The
fitting of the Lantern on the Race Rock Tower is rapidly progressing,
and I trust that the Light will be displayed in about a week or ten
days.

3. Yesterday, accompanied by Captain Richards of the Plumper, I
inspected both the Lighthouses, and the condition in which I found
them, and the manner in which the work has been executed afforded me
unqualified gratification; for considering the many difficulties
against which we had to contend we at one time almost despaired of
carrying out the undertaking satisfactorily: in fact had it not been
for the valuable aid rendered by Admiral Baynes in furnishing a
working party for some months the Tower at the Race Rocks could not
have been completed for the really moderate amount it has cost. The
Contractor for that work much miscalculated it. Building in Stone
was an experiment in this Country, and, indeed, as is now apparent,
had his offer been £6000 instead of £4100, the sum would not have
been remunerative. As it was he broke down and could not carry out
his Contract. Consideration and calculation made it manifest that
the foreiture of his Sureties, and the continuance of the work either
under a fresh Contract, or by hired labor, would involve serious
delays, and a considerable increase in expenditure; we, therefore, as
the best expedient, decided to afford all reasonable assistance to
the Contractor to enable him to complete the work; and I am sure Your
Grace will be pleased to learn that it is one calculated to stand for
ages, and such as would reflect credit upon any Country. Indeed as I
viewed the massive Structure I could scarcely realize that, in a
young Colony like this, with chance labor, and with but the rude
appliances at hand, such a work could be produced. Part of the
Stone of which the Tower is built was hewn upon the spot, but from
its extreme hardness the quarrying was found to be ruinously
expensive, and the remainder had to be brought from a distance. The
Tower has a diameter of 19 feet at the base, and 12 feet at its
summit, with a thickness of solid stone wall 6 feet 3 inches at
bottom and 2 feet 3 inches at top; and an elevation of 118 feet above
the Sea Level.

4. Notwithstanding that we have been obliged to allow the Contractor
compensation for many unforeseen expenditures that he was called upon
to make, and for many unavoidable losses that he incurred, I am told
that he still will be a loser on the work by about a thousand pounds,
in fact being a man of but small means he is all but ruined. We have
drawn within a few pounds of the sum named in anticipation in my
despatch of June last, but it is found that when all accounts are
settled we shall still have to make a further expenditure of about
One Thousand pounds; and I trust, under the circumstances herein
narrated, that the Bills which I shall have to draw for that amount
may be duly accepted, for I can assure Your Grace that in addition to
the difficulties with which we have been beset, I have kept the most
watchful eye upon the whole proceedings, and have caused the most
rigid economy, consistent with efficiency, to be practiced on every
hand.

5. I enclose herewith Copy of Notice to Mariners of the exhibition
of the Fisgard Light; and, in conclusion, I trust Her Majesty's
Government, and Your Grace individually, will accept the cordial
thanks of the Colony for the generous assistance extended to us, by
means of which a signal benefit has been conferred not only upon this
Colony, but also upon that of British Columbia, and a national work
completed worthy [of] the great character of our Country.