76 WATER BIRDS' EDEN. 



indescribable torture ; the prickles are so sharp 

 and hard, that they slip through ordinary leather 

 like cobblers' awls. We had to tie up our dogs 

 and horses, for the latter, getting the prickly 

 knobs into their heels, kicked and plunged 

 viciously until exhausted. The dogs got them 

 fast to their feet, and, impatiently seizing the 

 vegetable pests, only aggravated the mischief by 

 transferring them to the tongue and cheeks. I 

 have no hesitation in saying, a dog must inevi- 

 tably die from starvation if he ventured to cross 

 this waste alone ; the cacti once in his mouth, un- 

 aided he could never free himself. A low ' di- 

 vide' separates this valley from the Similkameen, 

 the water from the lakes eventually finding its 

 way into the Columbia river. If there is an Eden 

 for water-birds, the Osoyoos lakes must surely 

 be that favoured spot. At the upper end, a per- 

 fect forest of tall rushes, six feet in height, 

 afford the ducks, grebes, bitterns, and a variety 

 of waders, admirable breeding haunts safe alike 

 from the prying eyes of birds that prey on their 

 kindred, and savages that indiscriminately eat 

 anything. 



The water, alive with fish at all times, is in 

 the summer crowded with salmon. In the pools 

 on one side of the lake, I obtained a new 



