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Rh of Buncombe county (1852) and a member of the state House of Commons (1854), and served in the national House of Representatives from December 1858 until the 3rd of March 1861. As captain of a company in the 14th and as colonel of the 26th North Carolina regiments, he took part in the Virginia campaigns of 1861–62. From 1862 until the close of the war he was governor of the state, and from the 20th of May to the 5th of July 1S65, when he was released on parole, was held as a prisoner by the United States authorities in Washington. Having been elected to the United States Senate in 1870 and been refused admission because his disabilities—due to his participation in the war—had not been removed, he took the lead in the fight against " carpet-bag " misrule and was chosen governor in the political revolution of 1876, serving in 1877-79. He was again elected to the Senate in 1878 and was re-elected in 1884 and 1890, serving from March 1879 until his death. Senator Vance was a typical Southern Whig. He disliked slavery and he hated secession. In common with other Whigs, he was forced to remain in the Democratic party after the war by the fear of negro domination. He died at Asheville, North Carolina, on the 14th of April 1894.

VANCOUVER, GEORGE (c. 1758–1798), English navigator, was born in 1758. He entered the navy at the age of thirteen, and accompanied James Cook in his second (1772–74) and third (1776-80) voyages of discovery. After serving for several years in the West Indies, both under Rodney (his commander in the action of the 12th of April 1782) and under Alan Gardner (1786–89), Vancouver, on Gardner's recommendation, was appointed to command an expedition to the north-west coast of America, to take over from the Spaniards the territory they had seized (and, subsequently relinquished) in that region, to explore the coast from 30° N. round to Cook's River (or Inlet), to search for an eastward passage to the great lakes, and to ascertain the true character of Juan de Fuca Strait. Vancouver, accompanied by Lieutenant Broughton, left Falmouth on the 1st of April 1791 and proceeded by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he carefully surveyed part of the south-west coast, especially King George's Sound, whose value as a harbour he pointed out. He next made for Dusky Bay, New Zealand (which he was the first properly to explore), and thence sailing north-east, discovered Oparo Islet (27° 36' S.; 144° 12' W.), and on the 30th of December reached Tahiti, where he was again joined by Broughton, who meanwhile had discovered Chatham Island. After staying about three weeks at Tahiti and several weeks at the Hawaiian Islands, Vancouver on the 18th of April 1792 sighted the west coast of North America (California, then known as New Albion) in 39° 27' N. He examined the coast up to 52° 18' N. with minute care, surveying all inlets, discovering the Gulf of Georgia, and circumnavigating Vancouver Island (named after him). After another visit (February–March 1793) to the Hawaiian Islands, in whose races and affairs he took great interest, Vancouver resumed his exploration of the American coast in April, surveying north to 56° N., and south (past the Spanish Californian settlements) to 35° N. During a fresh stay at the Hawaiian Islands (January–March 1794) Vancouver accepted their submission to Great Britain, but his annexation seems never to have been officially ratified. Quitting the group again in March 1794, Vancouver sailed, by Chernigov Island and Kodiak Island, to Cook's Inlet, which was now proved to be no river. After a fresh survey of much of the coast north of San Francisco, Vancouver set out homewards via Cape Horn and St Helena in October 1794. On the way he made a careful examination of Cape St Lucas, the southern point of Lower California, the Galapagos Islands and some other points. He reached the mouth of the Shannon on the 13th of September 1795 (the Thames on the 20th of October), and immediately set about the preparation of his narrative; but he died at Petersham in Surrey on the 10th of May 1798, before he had completed his task. His brother John, assisted by Captain Puget, published the complete record in 1798.

VANCOUVER, a city and the county-seat of Clarke county, Washington, U.S.A., on the Columbia river about 100 m. from its mouth, about 5 m. E. of its confluence with the Willamette, and 8 m. N. of Portland, Oregon. Pop. (1890) 3545; (1900) 3126 (547 foreign-born); (1910) 9300. It is served by the Northern Pacino, the Great Northern, the Oregon & Washington, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle railways, and by steamship lines, being accessible to sea-going vessels; a ferry connects with the Portland Electric railway. The city is the seat of St James College (Roman Catholic; 1856) and of the state school for defective youth (1886). Vancouver Barracks, east of the city, is an important U.S. military post (established in 1849) and the headquarters of the Military Department of the Columbia (including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, except the part in Yellowstone Park, and Alaska); the military reservation includes some 640 acres. The post commands an excellent view of the Columbia, and of the mountain peaks, Mt Hood, Three Sisters, Jefferson and St Helens. The city has a public library and a public park, and there is a U.S. Land Office here. Vancouver lies in a region of extensive forests and of fruit growing and farming lands; among its manufactures are lumber products, barrels, condensed milk, flour, beer and canned fruit. It was a post of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1828–1846, and was protected by a large stockade, to which settlers fled for protection when attacked by the Indians. It was made the county-seat in 1854, was incorporated as a village in 1858 and was chartered as a city in 1889.

VANCOUVER, a city and port in the province of British Columbia, Canada, on the southern side of Burrard Inlet. Pop. (1906) about 45,000. It is the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific railway. The harbour of Vancouver is one of the finest natural harbours in the world. The city is the largest in British Columbia, and is the chief Canadian shipping port for Japan, China, Australia and the islands at which the C.P.R. mail steamers call. There are regular lines of steamers running between Vancouver and Alaska and the points of connexion with the Yukon territory, as well as lines to Puget Sound and San Francisco in the United States. The port also has regular and frequent communication by steamer with Victoria, and is the headquarters of an extensive coasting trade. In 1886, soon after its establishment, a fire swept, the whole town out of existence, but the inferior wooden buildings at first erected have been largely replaced by stone and brick structures, giving a handsome appearance to the principal streets. Vancouver has well-paved streets and is well supplied with water, electric lighting, electric cars and all the improvements of a modern City. Stanley Park, a large reserve of 900 acres, is one of the principal pleasure resorts. There is also fine sea-bathing at English Bay on the outskirts of the city. The " McGill University College of British Columbia ” at Vancouver is one of the colleges of McGill University (Montreal). There are a sugar refinery and cooperage works, as well as large sawmills, shingle factories and many other industrial concerns. A large wholesale trade is carried on with all the settlements of the province. Vancouver is the centre of the important timber industry of British Columbia.

VANCOUVER ISLAND, the largest of an archipelago of innumerable islands which fringes the Pacific coast of Canada, being at the same time the largest island on the west coast of North America. It forms part of British Columbia. It extends from 48° 20' to 51° N. and from 123° to 128° 30' W., and is thus 285 m. long and from 40 to 80 m. wide, with an area of about 20,000 sq. m., being nearly the size of Nova Scotia, which occupies a corresponding position on the Atlantic coast. It is bounded on the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and is separated from the mainland of the province by the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound. A partially submerged range of mountains, which has been termed the Vancouver Range, runs parallel to the coast of British Columbia; a portion of this range