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| | Victoria, British Columbia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | The Spanish and British took up the exploration of the northwest coast of North America beginning with the voyage of Captain Cook in 1776, although the Victoria area of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was not penetrated until 1791. |
 | | With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5000 literally within a few days. |
 | | North of the city on the Saanich Peninsula are the Butchart Gardens, one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island, as well as the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Centre of the Universe planetarium[4]. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Victoria,_British_Columbia (2632 words) |
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