Colonial Despatches

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 6 of the 26th of January communicating a proposal of Mr Edward Stamp to establish a sawmill and other works in Vancouver Island, and reporting the concessions which you have promised to Mr Stamp in consequence.

I have to convey to youyou my approval of the agreement into which you have entered with Mr Stamp. The transaction cannot of course be completed till after the retransfer of Vancouver to the Crown, but in the meantime the Company will no doubt commence their operations and enter upon their land on the faith of the promise you have given that they shall be at liberty to acquire, at the upset price of the day for agricultural lands not exceeding under any circumstances £1 an acre, thethe land on which their establishments are to be placed, and, in certain specified conditions, additional timbered land not exceeding in the whole 15,000 acres.

It would be desirable to determine clearly as soon as possible the conditions under which the right of selecting 15,000 acres of forest is to be exercised by the Company. The selection should be made in blocks of not less than a certain lengthlength and breadth, and within a certain time.