HERRINGS. 105 



of which you only realise by having a thorough 

 good sniff. Then, if you ever forget it, or wish 

 to indulge your olfactory organ again, your tastes 

 and mine, gentle reader, must widely differ. The 

 oil is extracted and stored away (as described 

 in a previous chapter) in native bottles. 



I have no hesitation in stating my conviction 

 that herring-fisheries established east and west of 

 Vancouver Island, or at different points along 

 the mainland coast, in the Straits of Juan de 

 Feuca, or amidst the islands in the Gulf of Georgia, 

 would turn out most remunerative speculations. 

 It is true that herring-fishing has been tried, 

 but only on the most limited scale. To make it 

 pay; for that, after all, is the primary considera- 

 tion ; capital must be employed, and skilled hands 

 to manage the drying, curing, and packing. Salt 

 can be obtained in any quantities ; wood in abun- 

 dance, to make casks, build houses, boats, or 

 ships ; herrings within millions, requiring neither 

 risk nor skill to catch. The rapidly-growing 

 colonies of Vancouver Island and British Colum- 

 bia offer ready markets for home consumption ; 

 China, Japan, the Sandwich Islands, and the 

 entire coast southward from San Francisco to 

 Mexico, afford facilities for disposing of almost 

 any quantity of preserved fish. Those who un- 



