JOHNSTON’S STRAITS. 157 
no scenery that was comparable, in wild gran- 
deur and picturesque grouping, to the scenery 
on my left. The coast-line of Vancouver Island 
presented a series of small projecting headlands; 
the bays and creeks between, seldom rippled by 
the breeze, are very Edens for wildfowl. In 
the background, the hills rise sharp and conical, 
at this time crowned with snow, but all alike 
densely timbered. In the distance, Hardwicke 
Island, like a floating emerald, hid the water 
beyond it. To the right, islands of all sizes 
and shapes, so thick that one might suppose it 
had rained islands at some time or other: on 
the least of them grew pine-trees, any of which 
would have made a mainmast for the largest 
ship ever built. I have again and again threaded 
the intricate passages through the ‘Lake of a 
Thousand Islands,’ in the Great St. Lawrence; 
but I say, without fear of contradiction, that 
the scenery from Chatham Point to the mouth 
of the Nimkish river is wilder, bolder, and in 
every respect more beautiful, lovely as I admit 
the Canadian scenery to be. 
The ship-channel hugs the shore of Vancouver 
Island, passing close to Cormorant, Haddington, 
and Malcolm Islands, and the mouth of the 
Nimkish river, navigable for canoes some con- 
