Robert Brown, a twenty-one-year-old Scotsman, arrived on Vancouver Island in 1863 for the purpose of collecting seeds, roots, and plants for the Botanical Association of Edinburgh. Relations with his employer quickly deteriorated, however, and when the opportunity arose in 1864 to head the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition, Brown eagerly accepted the position as its commander. During the four and a half months of the expedition, Brown kept a journal which is published here for the first time. It is remarkable for its record of life on Vancouver Island over a century ago and its description of the island's pristine wilderness as well as for its proposals for future economic development. The accounts of agricultural settlements at Cowichan, Chemainus, and Comox and of the coal-mining town of Nanaimo are among the earliest available.

John Hayman is a member of the Department of English at the University of Victoria. He is the editor of John Ruskin Letter from the Continent 1858 (1982). He was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for historical writings by the British Columbia Historical Federation for Robert Brown and the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition (1989).

John Hayman's profile page

Valuable as a primary source of information on Vancouver Island when it was still in its pristine state ... meticulously prepared and should be part of any large collection of B.C. history.

BCLA Reporter

Recovers Robert Brown from relative obscurity and establishes him as an important British Columbia explorer and ethnographer ... an important contribution to the early history of Vancouver Island.

The Beaver

An attractive volume, carefully edited a deserving of a wide readership. Too few books of substance have been published about Vancouver Island. This one is a significant addition.

BC Studies