174 ANDREW FISH
Lieutenant Adam D. Dundas of the Royal Navy, who had spent two years on the Northwest Coast, in a confidential report to the British Government, advised strongly against the grant. 7 . He considered the island "highly favorable for the es- tablishment of a colony" but had "no hesitation in saying that their [the Company's] system would be wholly and totally inapplicable to the nursing of a young colony". However, Sir J. H. Pelly, the Governor of the Company in England, by means not difficult to conjecture, had more power with the Government than all his opponents combined. The matter was debated in the House of Commons and the members of the administration were bombarded with hostile letters but all to small purpose. In 1849 the Crown granted the whole of Van- couver Island to the great Company on condition that it should be opened up for settlement.
"The grant is embodied in a charter, which .... grants the land of Vancouver's Island with all mines to the Company. The condition of the grant is declared to be the colonization of the island. With this object the Company are bound to dispose of the land in question at a reasonable price, and to expend all the sums they may receive for land or mineral (after the deduction of not more than ten per cent for profit) on the colonization of the island, reserving also to the Crown at a reasonable price such land as may be required for naval establish- ments.
"The manner in which these provisions are intended to be enforced is this. The Company are to certify every two years the number of colonists and the amount of their land sold; and after five years Her Majesty's Gov- ernment has power to cause a farther enquiry to be made into the condition of the island. If the result of this enquiry be that the Government is satisfied that the con- ditions of the grant are not fulfilled, the grant may be revoked.
"When the Company's license to trade terminates, i. e., in 1859, Government may repurchase the land on payment of the sums expended by the Company on the island and the value of their establishments." 8
7 Report of the Provincial Archives Department of the Province of British Columbia, 1913, p. 49.
8 Ibid, p. 71.
