92 EXPLORATION TO THE PEACE RIVER 



once to carry out the instructions already referred to as given tc 

 me before I left Ottawa. I carefully examined the flora in the 

 vicinity of Victoria and collected on Cedar Hill and Mount Tolmie 

 and many other localities. I noticed that, on these two moun- 

 tains, there were many species that seemed peculiar to them but 

 which plainly indicated that a part, at least, of the California 

 flora had worked its way thus far to the north. Since writing the 

 above, I have found that such is the case and that the flora in the 

 vicinity of Victoria has many species that are also found at San 

 Francisco. 



Two facts regarding the climate of Vancouver Island and 

 indicated by the flora are: dry summers and abundant rainfall. 

 The former is shown by the annuals being all in bud and flower 

 by the first week in May and the latter, by the luxuriant growth of 

 succulent vegetation in the low grounds. The general character 

 of the flora, therefore, proves that the climate is warmer than that 

 of England and that the rainfall is periodic, rather than distributed 

 throughout the year, and corresponds with the decrease and in- 

 crease of heat, the summer being very dry. It is a remarkable 

 fact that July, the month of least rainfall on the coast, is the 

 season of the greatest precipitation in the dry region along the 

 Thompson. The difference in the time of blossoming of apple 

 trees on Vancouver Island and that of Belleville, Ontario, is about 

 three weeks. In the beginning of May, 1875, vegetation was 

 said to be unusually backward, and yet it was three weeks, in 

 advance of Ontario. 



Owing to the wetness of the soil, many apple trees, though 

 young, were beginning to show signs of decay, but draining would 

 remedy this and, if the advice I gave to plant orchards amongst 

 the rocks where the oaks abound is followed, no more complaints 

 will be heard about the apple trees dying young. 



Although spring was so far advanced, scarcely any plowing 

 had been done owing to the water in the soil due largely to lack 

 of drainage, and over a month of the best part of growth for 

 cereals was gone. In many places, I saw grass a foot high and 

 expected to find cabbages and other vegetables proportionately 

 advanced but there was nothing to be seen. The climate is 



