VANCOUVER ISLAND 
AND 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
—_—_<Se 
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 
LORDI)——DENTALIA OR MONEY-SHELL. 
Tue 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. Il. B 
