191 7 J The Ottawa Naturalist. 91 



May 6th. With a steady gentle breeze and the ship under easy 

 sails, expecting every instant to make the land, as we were then and 

 had been all the morning running parallel with the shore, a man. being 

 sent up to the mast head, made known at last about four o'clock in the 

 afternoon the joyful new- that land was distinctly visible upon our 

 larboard quarter, bearing west and north-west. This was hailed with 

 delight and satisfaction by all on board, and every eye was immediately 

 directed to that quarter until at length arising above the horizon the 

 shore was seen by all. It proved to be the highlands of Neversink, 

 part of the coast of New Jersey. This was the first part of America 

 that I had ever seen. We sailed alongside the shore till about twelve 

 at night, when we hud to, fired our swivel, and burnt blue lights for 

 the purpose of bringing a pilot to us. After waiting a few hours one 

 came, and carried us safely into Sandy Hook, when we cast anchor. 



It was an unpleasant misty morning and about the middle of the 

 day, it came on to rain, but notwithstanding these untoward circum- 

 stances we all thought that the land and houses, the Island of Staten 

 on one side and part of Long Island on the other, the trees and -hrubs 

 just appearing in their spring array, the fruit trees breaking out into 

 full blossom, never had been more beautiful and verdant, or so pleas- 

 ing and interesting before. In the course of the day, which was the 

 7th May, our vessel lying about three or four miles from the city of 

 New York, a steamboat came alongside and carried all those that were 

 ready and willing on shore. Our ship did not get into dock until the 

 next morning. 



I had no time for making observations upon first landing as the 

 rain poured down in torrents, obliging me to steer directly for the 

 nearest inn or hotel. In the latter part of the day the weather cleared 

 up, the sun came out, and I immediately proceeded to take a stroll 

 through some parts of the city. I was much disappointed with the 

 appearance of the streets, for they were pretty generally covered with 

 a thick mass of dirt, mud, and filth. A bad custom they have also of 

 placing casks, packages, and all kinds of goods, upon the pavement in 

 front of the shops or stores as they are here called, scarcely leaving 

 sufficient room for the public to pass. 



( To be continued). 



THE MEADOW MOUSE OR VOLE. 



By J. Dewey Soper, Preston, Ont. 



Perhaps among the smaller mammals, few are known so well, at 

 least superficially, as the common meadow mouse or vole {Microtus) , 

 the form common to and occurring over Ontario entire, being 

 Microtus pennsylv aniens. The voles are wddely distributed and offer 



