In 1858, the discovery of gold in the basin of the Fraser river, on
the mainland, attracted a large number of gold-diggers from California,
and among them a considerable body of Chinese. To maintain order among
a motley population of lawless habits, British Columbia was formed into
a colony, with its capital at Victoria, on Vancouver's Island.

Official returns, made a few years ago, gave the number of Indians in
British Columbia as 31,520, distributed over the islands and mainland.
They belong to several distinct families or nations, speaking distinct
languages, subdivided into a multitude of tribes speaking different
dialects of their own. Thus the Hydahs of Queen Charlotte's Islands are
altogether distinct from the Indians of Vancouver's Island, where,
indeed, those on the east coast are distinct from those on the west.
Again, on the mainland, the Indians on the sea-board are distinct from
the Indians of the interior, from whom they are divided by the Cascade
range of mountains. These inland Indians are of more robust and
athletic frame, and are altogether a more vigorous race.

Among the coast tribes, however, there are great differences, those to
the north being far superior to those in the south. Those who know the
Indians well declare that it would be impossible to find anywhere finer
looking men than the Hydahs, Tsimsheans, and some of the Alaskan
tribes. "They are," writes one, "a manly, tall, handsome people, and
comparatively fair in their complexion."

The Indians on the sea-board of the mainland, and those on the east
coast of Vancouver's Island who have affinity with one another, have
been grouped into three principal families or nations. The first of
these is met with at Victoria and on the Fraser river, and may be