APPOINTED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR 253 



Lake and, crossing it, took the trail on the west side and proceeded 

 to Alberni. I found the altitude of the highest point a little over 

 1,300 feet, but the walk was nothing after what we had been 

 through. At Alberni, Tom obtained a canoe and in it we went 

 up the river to Stamp Lake and collected many species of plants 

 not hitherto seen. In returning to Alberni, we went down the 

 arm a few miles below the old saw-mill and decided to camp, as 

 there were a number of meadows there that I thought would yield 

 a large number of species I had not seen so far. When it came 

 time to retire for the night, Tom and his son repaired to the canoe 

 and my son and I went to a little knoll in one of the meadows and 

 spread our blankets, covered ourselves with the waterproof, and 

 lay down to sleep. It chanced to be the full of the moon at this 

 time and, a spring tide flowing in the night, raised the water so 

 high, about twelve at night, that, in stretching out my feet, I 

 pushed them into the water, by which we had become surrounded, 

 and was awake in a moment. I woke up my son and we gathered 

 up our blankets and stepped on the top of the knoll surrounded 

 by the flood, with the full moon lighting up the whole of the 

 vicinity. Some distance away, I saw a piece of wooded country 

 and I told my son to stand where he was and I would wade in 

 that direction and, possibly, I could reach the high land. I did 

 so and reached where the water was quite shallow at the edge of 

 the woods and called to him to come across, which he did, and 

 we retreated into the woods beyond where the water was and sat 

 down and waited to see if the flood would rise any higher. In a 

 short time, we saw that it began to recede and we spread our blan- 

 kets in the woods and lay down and slept until morning. 



During the next week, we had a most delightful time in 

 going down the Canal to the open sea at Cape Beale. When we 

 reached there, the Pacific swells were so great that I would not 

 venture from behind an island, where we were camped, while Tom 

 and the boys went to Cape Beale. While sitting there, I could 

 see them rise on the top of a wave, apparently far above my head, 

 and, in a moment or so, they would disappear and again rise a 

 greater distance away. 



After returning to Qualicum, I bade Tom farewell and 



