Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands - Fabulous Western Canada: Capture the Excitement of the Great West! - page 62

5 Shawnigan Lake, a centre for water sports in summer. © Pierre Longnus

modern means of transportation. A number of ferries connect the
islands and the mainland every day.

The history of Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands is an
interesting amalgam of Aboriginal and European cultures. Contact
began with the arrival of Captain Cook in Nootka Sound in 1778;
other English and Spanish explorers followed, opening up a route to
the rich territories of the Pacifi c Northwest, which would later be-
come British Columbia and Alaska. Today, the place names evoke this
meeting between Aboriginal (Cowichan, Sooke), English (Chatham,
Cavendish) and Spanish (Galiano, Estevan) heritages.