No. 86

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No.
30, of the 4th of June last, on the subject of the conveyance of
Land in British Columbia.

The Instructions which you have issued to Colonel Moody and to the District Magistrates, to avoid for the future the error which had occurred in the grant of unsurveyed Land in the Colony, appear well
calculated to produce the desired effect.

I must however observe that although it is doubtless very desirable
that Land disposed of before Survey should be subject to the condition
of continuous occupation till the Survey comes up to it, that condition
is not imposed by the 7th Article of the Proclamation. Any confusion
therefore which may result from the omission of that condition is in my
opinion chargeable on the imperfect language of the Proclamation and not
on the Chief Commissioner.