hunters.

The last I remember of the Hudson's Bay fort was during the contest
brought on by the burning question of the day, namely Union and
Tariff vs. Free Port. The mainland represented Tariff and the island
Free Port. Should we join with the mainland with a tariff or remain
Free Port? The hustings was erected in the fort, and the pros and
cons were discussed by the rival candidates. I took part, although
too young to vote, and worked day and night for my friend Amor De
Cosmos, who was in favor of union and tariff, and we won the day,
too.

Before I conclude I would again speak of the large stores in the
fort, which supplied the colonists with all they required except
meats. It was said at the time that you might get anything at the
stores, from a needle to an anchor. This might well have been true,
for it was the repository of all the Company's goods for supplying
their servants with all their necessaries.

One of the first visits I paid was with my mother, as in San
Francisco, and amongst various articles I carried away was a pair of
Old Country boots. These boots I am not likely to forget, as I wore
them so long. The soles were twice the usual thickness of even boys'
boots, and, like a horseshoe, had a row of nails with projecting
square heads a quarter inch thick. These boots left their mark
wherever they went, and, as may be supposed, as I was a strong,
healthy boy with a roving disposition, they travelled considerably.
Wear them out I could not, kicking rocks and stubbing my toes against
everything I came against, for I found them awkward and heavy to
carry, and in fact everything gave way before them. My poor mother
often called out at the marks of the square-headed nails on her
clean floors, which in those days were not covered with carpets or
linoleum, as now. These boots were a feature of the store, and were,
I think, $3.75 or $4 a pair--but enough of hobnailed boots.

CHAPTER IV.

VICTORIA'S FIRST DIRECTORY.

In 1860 was issued the first directory of Victoria, Vancouver Island,
by Edward Mallandaine, an architect, who continued to issue a
Victoria directory at intervals for years afterwards. Through the
kindness of Mr. Mallandaine, who is a pioneer of 1858, I am enabled
to review this relic of early and interesting times, for those of us
who remember them as "the good old times." I shall here give some of
the author's "Prefatory remarks":

"It has been thought by the author of the followi