VANCOUVER ISLAND 



AND 



BKITISH COLUMBIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



CALIFORNIAN GROUND-SQUIRREL BURROWING OWL AND GREEN- 

 RACER SNAKE SKUNK AND ITS ODOUR RETURN TO VANCOU- 

 VER ISLAND KEYHOLE LIMPET AND PARASITE (LEPIDONOTUS 



LORDl) DENTALIA OR MONET- SHELL. 



THE CAMP of the Commission is pleasantly 

 situated in a hollow, rather than a valley, between 

 rounded hills, perfectly bare of timber, that form, 

 as it were, a background to the little town at the 



' < > 



Dalles. A small stream trickled near the tents, 

 with only a few gnarled oaks growing on its 

 banks. 



Two animals are seen constantly, and appear 

 in unusual abundance. One dwells amidst the 

 rocks, that are piled in vast masses at the foot of 

 the ravine, where we are camping, and is equally 

 plentiful along the rocky banks of the Columbia 

 river to the valley of the Des Chutes, beyond 

 which, in the direction of Fort Colville, it is never 



VOL. II. B 



