Victoria and Vancouver: Gateways to Canada1936

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Narrator:
Just off the extreme southwestern coast of Canada lies the picturesque little city of Victoria, chief seaport of Vancouver Island and the capital of British Columbia, the most westerly of Canada's nine provinces. The history of Vancouver Island goes back to the thrilling days of fur trading, when Russian adventurers crossed the northern Pacific to Alaska and later made their way down to Vancouver Island, which had already begun to attract fur traders from most of the seafaring nations, including Spain and England, the chief contenders for ownership. Due largely to the diplomacy of the British captain George Vancouver, war between England and Spain was averted, and the island, which now bears the name of Vancouver, became part of the British Empire.