Separate

Since I last had the honor of reporting on the state of
affairs in this Colony, I have received various communications
from the District Gold Commissioner, the substance of which I
will now lay before your Grace.

2. A report from the Gold Commissioner at Hope dated 31st January represents that district as being in a perfectly tranquil state; that about 300 miners were then employed in
that vicinity a large proportion of whom were Chinese; and
that it was probable there would be a considerable emigration of that
class towards Rock Creek and Shimilkomeen in the course of the spring.

The river communication from New Westminster had been closed
by ice for eleven days, but was then open and the Steamer "Hope"
had arrived on the preceding day, with some freight which was
carried at the reasonable charge of Twenty shillings a ton.
Food was abundant in the District and prices moderate, as will
be observed from the enclosed statement.

3. The miners at Shimilkomeen had not been able to do
much work on their mining claims in consequence of the coldness
of the weather, and the River being covered with drift ice.
Bench diggings had however been discovered by several mining
companies which were expected to yield from Twenty to Thirty
shillings a day to each man employed in washing. Many new
houses were being erected, and deals and other material prepared
for the operations of the coming season. Bread stuffs and other
articles of food were not abundant and the price of those articles
much higher than at Hope. Great exertions were being made to forward supplies by the mountain road opened last summer which is practicable even in winter notwithstanding the depth of snow. It is now therefore apprehended that the Miners in that District will suffer from want of food.

4. Mr Commissioner Sanders reports that the Yale district
continues in a satisfactory state. Mining is carried on to an
equal extent, but he is of opinion with less remunerative results
than last year. The Mining claims are with few exceptions in
the hands of the Chinese, there being about Two Thousand of this
people within the district. As a rule they have been successful
and many have returned to their homes the possessors of from
Two to Four thousand dollars. There are but few white miners,
and the major part of the small number still in this district intend to leave for Rock Creek or the Carreboeuf Country in
spring. The total number of miners wintering in the district
is about Three thousand. There are about Two Thousand Chinese
in Yale and its environs alone. The cold weather had put a
stop to all mining operations. The enclosed extract from Mr
Sander's report contains some interesting information respecting the state of trade, and the public works in progress, especially
the road leading from Yale to Lytton.

5. The accompanying tracing of the boundary line of British Columbia and the Territory of the United States lately received from Mr Cox, Gold Commissioner at Rock Creek exhibits the position of the 49th parallel as respectively marked on
the ground by Her Majesty's and the United States' Commissioners.
The line as determined by Her Majesty's Commissioner runs south
of and includes a small town built some months ago by American
Citizens who having full confidence in the accuracy of the line
previously traced by the United States Commissioners proceeded to build upon and occupy the site. It is by no means certain
which of the two lines will be finally adopted as the true
line of demarcation between the two countries, but it is very
important on public grounds that the point should be settled
without delay while the commissioners are on the spot, or it
will give rise to numberless difficulties and become a fruitful
source of contention between the frontier settlers on both
sides. I would therefore take the liberty of suggesting to
Your Grace that instructions should be forwarded through the
proper department to Colonel Hawkins, Her Majesty's Commissioner for determining the boundary, relatively to that effect. The
enclosed extract from Mr Cox's report of the 16th January to
the Colonial Secretary will convey in his own words the latest information from the mines on Rock Creek.

6. The last report from Mr Elwyn the Gold Commissioner of
Cayoosh District is dated on the 16th of February. The melancholy fate of Mr Price, a respectable tradesman, who was barbarously murdered in his own house at Cayoosh on the evening of the 1st of February, has excited an intense sensation.
The authors and object of the crime are unknown, it is supposed
however to have been committed by Indians and three of those
people have been taken into custody on suspicion, and duly
committed for trial at the next assizes. The weather was
already warm and pleasant at Cayoosh and the exodus had commenced of Miners and mule trains with supplies for the upper Country.
Their departure being probably hastened by the arrival of
several Miners from Alexandria with reports of some wonderfully rich discoveries on Bear River, a stream which discharges into the South branch of Fraser's River above Fort George. These
men assured the Gold Commissioner that Twenty five shillings
worth of gold had been washed out of a single bucket full of
the auriferous earth, and though he freely admits that there
may be some exaggeration in these statements, yet he seems to
entertain no doubt of their general accuracy nor of the fact
that very valuable discoveries have actually been made during
the present winter in that quarter. Mr Elwyn also states that
the bridge over Frasers River which was in course of erection
by a private company near Cayoosh was accidentally destroyed
when more than half of the work was finished and the enterprise
is therefore abandoned for the present a circumstance which I
much regret not only on account of the travelling public who
will be put to much inconvenience through the want of a bridge
at that point; but also of the spirited adventurers who have
sustained a heavy pecuniary loss and whose enterprise merits
a better fate.

7. There is no further intelligence of much importance
from the mining Districts.

8. The reduction from ten shillings to four shillings
and two pence per acre in the upset price of country land
will no doubt give an impulse to the settlement of the country,
but the change has been so recently made that we are not yet
able to judge of its practical effects. We are however at
present engaged in opening roads through the forests into
the more fertile Districts around New Westminster in order to
render them accessible and to remove every serious impediment
to their early settlement which, by that means, will be
greatly promoted.