VANCOUVER ISLAND. 39 



that, as a rule, have a rapid descent, and empty 

 into inlets or arms of the sea, everywhere in- 

 tersecting the coast-line, east and west of the 

 watershed. Lakes, large and small, are common, 

 from the summit of the hills to the flat gravel 

 lands near the coast; dense pine-forests clothe 

 these hills to their very tops. On the open 

 lands, misnamed prairies, the scrub-oak (Quercus 

 garryana) grows so gnarled and contorted that 

 stock, branch, twig, and even the very leaves 

 look as if they suffered from perpetual cramp. 

 Alder, willow, black birch, and cottonwood fill 

 the hollows. 



The climate of the island is milder and more 

 equable than it is on the adjoining continent, 

 and closely approximates to that of Great Britain. 



The shortest road to an Englishman's heart, 

 says the adage, is down his throat; and being a 

 road a good deal travelled, is it to be wondered 

 at if fish (especially such as are welcome tra- 

 vellers down this same ' red lane ') should have 

 been the first objects of practical Natural History 

 to which the naturalist, fresh from the ' old coun- 

 try ' and seventy-two days' imprisonment on 

 board-ship, turned his attention? The first fish 

 I saw and tasted was salmon ; and to the Salmon 

 and its haunts I at once introduce you. 



