100 THE NAUTILUS, 



NOTES OF A COLLECTING TKIP TO DEPARTURE BAY. VANCOUVER- 

 ISLAND. 



BY GEORGE W. TAYLOR. 



The account given by Mr, Wood in the October number of The 

 Nautilus of his collecting trip to Monterey Bay tempts me to put 

 on record an experience of my own which goes to prove that our 

 Northern waters are quite as rich in molluscau life as those of the 

 sunnier South. 



Departure Bay is a small bay on the east coast of Vancouver 

 Island, about 75 miles north of Victoria. It is shut in by its own 

 shores on the north, west, and south, and is protected from the open 

 sea on the east by a series of small islands. Consequently, the 

 water, at most seasons of the year, is smooth, and as the depth 

 ranges from 10 to 50 fathoms, and the bottom is varied, being sandy 

 in some places and rocky in others, the bay is a capital place for a 

 dredging expedition. 



In August, 1888, through the kindness of Mr, S. M. Robins, the 

 managing director of the New Vancouver Coal Company, I waa 

 able to spend four days in dredging from a small steam launch be- 

 longing to the Colliery Company, Mucb time was wasted on this 

 occasion in searching for suitable ground, but the result of the four 

 days' work was by no means disappointing, as I took home with me 

 more than five thousand (5,000) specimens of one hundred and ten 

 different species. One of them, since named in manuscript by Mr. 

 Whiteaves as Peden Vancoucerensis, was new to science, and several 

 others were additions to our Vancouver lists. 



In July of the present year, I spent three and one-half days in 

 the same locality in company with Professor Macown, the well- 

 known Canadian botanist and naturalist. We were determined, if 

 possible, to beat the previous record, and therefore worked very in- 

 dustriously. We spent two and one-half days collecting on shore 

 between tide marks, and one day was devoted to dredging over the 

 ground prospected in 1888. 



In the shore collecting my own captures amounted to nearly 

 2,500 shells of 61 species. In the dredging expedition our joint bag 

 reached the grand total of over seven thousand (7,000) specimens of 

 88 species. This very satisfactory result was obtained from an ordi- 



