Page 255 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

BRITISH C OL UMBIA  253

only two rooms. Here, visitors statue of Captain James Cook
can get up close and personal (see p40), who, though he
with some of the world’s most explored much of BC’s coast,
exotic insects. The Victoria never saw Victoria, ironically.
Bug Zoo exhibits more than
50 species of insects, arachnids, P Helmcken House
and myriapoda; it also boasts 10 Elliot Sq. Tel (250) 356-7226. Open
the largest ant farm in Canada, May–Oct: noon–4pm daily; Nov–
comprising a colony of leaf- Apr: call for hours. & 7 8 9
cutter ants. Visitors can wander ∑ royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/
around the zoo independently tbird-park/html/early/earlhelm.htm
or join a free tour during which The home of Hudson’s Bay
the knowledge able guides Company employee Dr. John
share a series of fascinating Sebastian Helmcken was built
facts on their charges. It is also in 1852 and is one of the oldest
possible to hold one of the zoo’s surviving houses in British
friendly tarantulas, a surefire Columbia. The young doctor,
way to get over a fear of spiders. who later helped negotiate Woodburning stove at the historic
Also on display are some glow- BC’s entry into the Dominion Helmcken House
in-the-dark scorpions. The of Canada, built the house with
small gift shop stocks insect- his wife using Douglas additions reflect the change in
collecting kits, edible bug firs felled in the construction methods
snacks, and T-shirts. surrounding forest. in the second half of
Built using the the 19th century.
post-on-sill method The simple but
popular in French elegant dwelling
Canada, it was one contains many of the
of the first residences Sign for Helmcken House original furnishings,
outside the secure including the piano,
boundaries of Fort Victoria. which visitors are permitted to
A second section was added play. Other highlights include
to the house in 1856, and a Dr. Helmcken’s medical kit
third in 1884. Together, the and equipment.
From Fort to Capital
James Douglas fell in love with Camosack, the area known to many
now as Victoria, when he sailed into its harbor in 1842. As chief factor
of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), he was there to establish a
fur-trading post and fort, in part an effort to thwart American
The entranceway to the grand Fairmont expansion into the region. Douglas was welcomed by the
Empress Hotel Lekwammen, ancestors of the Esquimalt and Songhee Nations.
In 1843, Fort Camosack (later Fort Victoria) was established. By the
P Fairmont Empress Hotel end of the decade, the First Nations of the area had signed treaties,
721 Government St. Tel (250) 384- selling much of their land to the HBC. Small farms quickly sprung up,
8111. Open daily. 7 See Where to and the harbor was soon a busy port and a stopping-off point for
Stay p291. ∑ fairmont.com prospectors in the 1858 Gold Rush. Victoria incorporated in 1862,
Completed in 1908 to a Francis four years later becoming capital of the Colony of British Columbia,
Rattenbury design and built on and the provincial capital once BC entered Confederation in 1871.
what were once mudflats and
the site of the city’s unofficial
dump, the Empress is one of
Victoria’s best-loved sights.
Overlooking the Inner Harbour,
the hotel dominates the city sky-
line with its ivy-covered Gothic
splendor. You do not have to be a
guest to experience the luxurious
decor of the hotel’s public bars
and lounges, such as the Crystal
Ballroom, with its Tiffany-glass
dome. Afternoon tea, a popular
Empress tradition, is served daily. View of the growing community of Victoria, 1860
In front of the hotel stands a

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