Colonial Despatches

I have the honor of enclosing herewith Minutes of the proceedings in the Council of Vancouver's Island on the 4th and 9th of June last. I stated in my communication of the 7th of June the subjects which had been laid before the Council on the 4th of that month. The propositions in respect to the convening and constitutionconstitution of the Assembly were approved and passed without alteration, at the meeting of the 9th of June.

In order to suit the circumstances of the Colony, the property qualification of Members was limited to the ownership of 300, of freehold estate or upwards. To have fixed upon a higher standard of qualification, would have disqualified all the present representatives, leaving no disposable persons to replace them, and it appeared to me impolitic, as well as unconstitutional, to dispense altogether with the property qualification.

You will observe by the said Minutes that absentee Proprietors of Freehold estates are allowed to vote through their resident Agents or Attorneys, after the example of British Guiana.

The division of the settlements into four electoral Districts, admits of a moremore equal representation, and has given more general satisfaction to the Colonists, than a single Poll opened in any one District.

The electors are so few in number that the returns were mere nominations in all the Districts, with the exception of Victoria, where the contest was stoutly maintained by no fewer than five rival candidates.

The elections are now over, and the Assembly is convened for the 12th day of August next.

Since I had last the honor of addressing you, my time and attention have been seriously occupied in providing for the peace and security of the settlements, in consequence of the great numbers of northern savages, who have been, this season, crowding into the Colony. The presence of those people has excited a well grounded apprehension of danger in the minds of the Colonists; but I am thankful thatthat they have hitherto been kept under proper restraint. Our situation may however be compared to a smouldering volcano, which at any moment may burst into fatal activity.

None of Her Majesty's Ships have yet arrived here, as we expected from Admiral Bruce's last communication.

It may probably interest Her Majesty's Government to learn that some very fine specimens of scale Gold have been lately discovered in one of the Tributary Streams of Fraser's River, at a considerable distance from the sea coast.

The persons who made the discovery propose to continue the search for gold, as soon as the river which, was then in a swollen state, falls to its lowest level, and I will do myself the honor of informing you of the result of their explorations. The search for Gold has not been continued with activity on Vancouver's Island, neither does it appear that the Gold DistrictDistrict in the Upper Columbia, referred to in my letter of the 16th April last, has been found productive, as the ascertained export of Gold from that quarter for the last five months is only about 220 ounces.

The high state of the auriferous mountain streams, usual in the early months of summer, may probably have hindered the miners from working with their customary activity, but whether that or the limited extent of the gold District, be the real cause of their want of success, is a matter of conjecture, as I have received no reliable information on the subject.