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Rare early map of part of coastal British Columbia, the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, and northern Puget Sound. The map was published by the Geological Survey of Canada, as part of the 1878 Report of progress for 1876-77, published by Dawson in Montreal. The map accompanied James Richardson's Report on the coal fields of Nanaimo, Comox, Cowichen, Burrand Inlet and Sooke, British Columbia.
The map shows Victoria, Vancouver ("Hastings Saw M." the first commercial operation around which the settlement of Vancouver developed), and the San Juan Islands, but the main focus is on the geology of the region. The index lists nine geological strata: Crystalline Rocks, Productive Coal Measures, Lower Shale, Lower Conglomerate, Middle Shale, Middle Conglomerate, Upper Shale, Upper Conglomerate, and Tertiary. The conclusion of the map seems to be that there were productive coal deposits all along the west side of the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island.
Coal mining was practiced on Vancouver Island from an early time. Apparently, after First Nations saw Hudson Bay Company burning coal in their forges, they began mining it to trade with the British. Though the industry was not as big as copper mining on the island, it was a major economic force at times, with the last coal mine suspending operations on the island in 2016.
Rarity
The report and map are apparently very rare. OCLC locates on the examples of the Report in the Canadian National Archives, Greater Victoria Public Library, University of Manitoba and Library Company of Philadelphia.
![Carte Qui Contient La Maniere Dont Se Fait La Chasse Des Bouefs Sauvages . . . [Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Calumet Village, Huron & Illinois Indians]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/93146.jpg)
