Along the Northern Line 197 



sons who desire to be sent as missionaries to civilize 

 these trout, are not allowed to take collections in 

 the churches, unless they be ministers. 



There is a noticeable absence of song-birds here, 

 probably because of the density of the original for- 

 ests, and because of the scarcity of trees which bear 

 edible seed. I have not heard a chirrup nor a song 

 except from caged canaries. They are said to be 

 plentiful in the eastern side of the ranges. I have 

 thought, also, that there was too much rain here to 

 suit the birds, but it is insisted that the precipita- 

 tion is but little in excess of what it is on Lake 

 Michigan. I have scarcely had a glimpse of the 

 sun in ten days, though I have watched for oppor- 

 tunities with my camera. Puget Sound is said to 

 be surrounded with snowy mountains in May, a fact 

 which must be taken upon faith, if one stays in one 

 locality. I heard of a Chicago man who took a 

 Seattle friend down to the shore of Michigan to 

 show him the Alpine peaks at Evanston, Hyde 

 Park, and across the lake, but told him he could 

 not see them till the weather cleared up! The 

 annual rainfall here is shown by the tables to be an 

 average of only about forty inches. It is not much 

 short of that in Illinois. But when it rains with us, 

 it rains. To find out if it be raining here, one holds 

 his bare hand out from under his umbrella. There 

 was an exception the day when the Rev. Drs. 

 Hutchison and Major took me out about a dozen 

 miles to catch trout in a fine, large lake. All I 



