Colonial Despatches

1. The first operation disposing of public lands, in British Columbia took place here on the 25th of Instant, under the direction of Mr Pemberton, Colonial Surveyorfor for Vancouver's Island.

2. The spot selected for sale was the site of a former establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company, known as "Old Fort Langley", 1 on the left bank of Fraser's River about 28 miles from its debouche into the Gulf of Georgia. The anchorage is good and the River deep enough for ships close into the bank. With a cheerful aspect, a surface well adapted for buildings and drainage—it has the disadvantage of being in part low and occasionally flooded by the River—thegreater greater part of the site is however a dry elevated Table Land, closely covered with bush and lofty pine trees.

3. On the whole it is a place to which public attention was strongly directed as being a very advantageous site for a commercial town. I therefore directed that it should be surveyed and laid out into convenient lots for sale. The main streets 78 feet wide, are intended to run parallel with the River, connected by cross streets at right angles with the former, the whole site covering 900 acres of land,being being divided into 183 blocks of 5 by 10 chains and each of those blocks being further subdivided into 18 building lots 64 by 120 feet in extent, forming in all 3294 building lots.

4. It was arranged that the upset price was to be $100.00 or £20-16-8. There was a large assemblage of people on the morning of the sale, and much competition for lots. The highest price obtained for single lots was 725 dollars, and about 187 lots were sold on the first day's sale and 155 lots on the second day,the the whole yielding a sum of about £13,000, on which a deposit of 10 per cent was paid down and the remainder is to be paid in course of a month, or the lots will be resold. 2

5. The sale is to be resumed on the 1st December and I will further mention the result in a postcript to this letter, should the Mail now daily expected, not leave before that date, and also forward Mr Surveyor Pemberton's Report of the sale.

6. The result of this first experiment is highly satisfactory as intimating theconfidence confidence entertained by the public in the resources of British Columbia, and at the same time yielding a needful supply of money for defraying the necessary expenses of the public service.

7. As much anxiety was felt by foreigners desirous of acquiring property in British Columbia, with respect to the rights of aliens to hold and transfer real estate under the British Crown, I issued a note giving a brief exposition of the question and caused it to be read before the crowd assembled at the sale, and generally circulated for theinformation information of the public, in order that no misapprehension might exist on the subject, and I herewith transmit a copy of that note for your information. 3

8. I am now preparing a measure which proposes to secure to aliens the full rights of possession and enjoyment of any lands which they may purchase of the Crown for the space of 3 years, when they will be required to become British Subjects or convey their rights to other parties who enjoy that privilege by birth or naturalization. That measure being in conformitywith with the spirit of your instructions will I trust meet with the approval of Her Majesty's Government.